LIFE IS LOVELY: We are feeling the magic of Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, we begun our festivities over the weekend with some Christmas activities to get into the holiday spirit.

Each year as Elijah gets older he becomes more and more aware of Christmas, now celebrating his fourth one he is looking forward to all the toys he'll get to unwrap come Christmas morning.

Having only just turned one Layla is still too little to know what's going on but I'm sure she'll enjoy seeing all the pretty lights and playing with wrapping paper.

As much as Christmas Day is great, I also enjoy the build up to Christmas watching Christmas films, visiting Santa, Christmas markets and more.

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Since Elijah was born it's become a tradition to visit Richardson's Garden Centre near Dalton Park to check out the Christmas decorations and see the real life reindeers.

For me seeing the reindeers truly is the start of the festive season and I look forward to it each year.

And as part of seeing the reindeers it's always tradition to get a picture with them too, but getting a picture with two children isn't the easiest.

It was a mixed reaction from the two of them about seeing the reindeers but there was no tears so I'd say it was a successful visit.

What is the most magical time of year has to be marked with a Christmas tree.

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We transformed our sitting room into a festive cosy area with our Christmas tree that Elijah helped decorate. We also put up a lit up garland on our fire place and some festive ornaments.

Once the days draws to a close there's just something wonderful about turning those Christmas lights on and oozing festivity throughout the home.

With December just a matter of days away the next stop to Christmas is opening the advent calendars.