LivingwithKids

I hope you had a lovely Christmas. We were up early this morning as usual (the puppy doesn't have any concept of the phrase 'lie-in') and I decided it was a good opportunity to hit the sales. No, I don't mean rushing to the High Street to trudge my way at a snail's pace along behind thousands of other shoppers (this is not my idea of fun). I mean online.

My absolute top tip for sale shopping - particularly in the current climate - is to only buy things you know to be useful, and hopefully believe to be beautiful. Some of the best sales are at M&S , Mothercare , John Lewis and Laura Ashley- they have up to 50% off -and Debenhams have up to 70% off. Plus you get money back for your kids if you shop through KidStart. To see a full list of the best sales and how much you could get back for your kids, click here.

Happy shopping!

As this is the last post before Christmas I thought I'd share a couple of festive-looking pictures with you:

Here's a picture of our old dog, Taupo, after he'd been rolling in the snow back in February. We lost him in the summer and miss him heaps. I'm glad he got to play in the snow one last time.

And here's our puppy, Yoda, enjoying the snow yesterday. His adventures are just beginning.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Lizx

The presents and outfits may vary, but Christmas Day is pretty predictable in our house:

1. Despite Mum and Dad having gone to bed late the night before, we are all up by 7am at the latest because the offspring want to open their presents. This is an improvement. One year they were up at 4.

2. We always have a cooked breakfast - usually waffles with maple syrup, bacon and eggs - despite the fact we will be consuming our entire body weight at a big dinner later on. It always falls on me to clear up, while the Man of the House 'helps' the offspring with their new toys/games.

3. We do not watch the Queen's Speech.

4. Having consumed the aforementioned giant dinner, Granny will fall asleep on the sofa. She will snore loudly, much to the amusement of her grandchildren. Meanwhile someone (usually a small person) will complain of feeling sick. They may even be sick.

5. We will try to play a new board game, but none of the adults will read the instructions properly and inevitably we will become hopelessly confused and the kids will lose interest.

Those are our Christmas Day traditions - what are yours?

E-cards have always seemed a bit impersonal to me - but if you've forgotten to send someone a card, they can be a useful way of letting someone know you're thinking about them. And Tesco have come up with a great idea this year.

They will donate 5p per card for the first 100,000 sent to the Woodland Trust. If you want to send a card, simply click here.

Our postman - or at least the one we've had the one for the past fortnight - has taken to calling me by my first name. Now, admittedly he does deliver quite a lot of post addressed to me. But I feel slightly uncomfortable with this sudden burst of familiarity, particularly as I haven't a clue about his first name. Should I take the trouble to find out? Does your postman call you by your first name? I'd love to know what you think.

It's snowing outside today, but I've still been doing the grocery shopping - from the comfort of my sofa. After a lot of 'discussion' the main event is at my sister's this year, but obviously we still need food for the rest of the festive period. If you've never tried online grocery shopping, I can't tell you how brilliant it is to be able to order all your basics and leave the heavy lifting to the delivery guys. They'll even carry it through to the kitchen for you, if you want them to.

And it's also a really easy way to buy wine. In addition to ginger wine we always like a bottle (or several) of something sparkling at Christmas - if you're the same, here's my pick of the best: Sainsbury's has a fantastic selection, but the Nerello Prosecco (£6.99) is especially delicious. Beringer's Sparkling Rosé (£6.39, available from Ocado is also excellent. Tesco  has Freixenet's Cordon Negro Brut for £6.98 - crisp and clean and perfect for impromptu get-togethers with friends and family. And if only champagne will do, Majestic has an incredible range, including the outstanding Canard-Duchene for £25.49 and delicate and wonderful Laurent-Perrier for £37.49 - plus some fab discounts for multi-buys, and if you shop through KidStart you get 2.5% back for your kids.

Cheers!

Well as Joe McElderry and Rage Against the Machine battle it out for the Christmas No 1, it occurred to me that neither of them are really Christmas classics - the kind of songs you and your family will want to listen to again and again. We grew up listening to the likes of Jona Lewie's Can You Stop The Cavalry and The Waitresses' Christmas Wrapping . Springsteen's Santa Claus is coming to town always makes me feel Christmassy whenever I hear it. Ditto Wham's Last Christmas . Cliff Richard's Mistletoe and Wine and The Frog Chorus do not.

But my absolute favourite Christmas record is E17's Stay Another Day. What's yours?

I don’t want to panic you, but there are just eight shopping days left until Christmas. Eight days! OK, deep breaths, everyone. Here are some ideas for stocking fillers:

For her: These Fruity Beauty Bath Cupcakes from M&S are adorable (£2.50 each) and this Cole and Mason ‘Animill’ salt and pepper grinder is also super cute (£7, available from Debenhams).

For him: Something practical, but useful. An electric toothbrush with a built in timer, in fact. The Oral B Vitality White and Clean (£29.35, available from Argos) is ideal.

For them: The Ben 10 10cm Alien Force Action Figures (RRP£4.97) are sure to be a big hit and keep them quiet until they can open their main presents, as is the Tamagotchi Music Star (£9.68). Both available from Toys R Us. You can  find out what our Mum Testers thought of some of this year's toys here and you can find more great stocking fillers over at The Great Toy Guide

For everyone: After extensive sampling (in the name of research, of course) my little testers have come to the conclusion that Lindt’s Santa (£3) and Snowballs (£2) available from Ocado and Tesco, and Thornton's Santa and Reindeer (£3.49) are especially yummy.

And don’t forget, you can get KidStart savings when you shop IN STORE at House of Fraser, JoJoMamanBébé and Goldsmiths by registering your cards.

Happy shopping!

One of the biggest-selling gifts this Christmas, apparently, is the slanket , a sort of snuggly blanket that envelops your entire body. The effect is slightly caterpillar/Jabba the Hut, depending on your body shape.

Although I can see the appeal in the current cold snap, I would imagine wearing one encourages you never to leave the sofa. However, if you are planning to buy one, either as a gift or for yourself, they sell them at Lakeland, Firebox and Play.com.

Saturday morning we boarded the Eurostar at St Pancras for our much anticipated daytrip to Disneyland Paris.

Despite the bitter cold (gloves, hats and layers essential), there was a wonderfully festive atmosphere, with an enormous Christmas tree, beautiful decorations lining Main Street and of course lots of Christmassy music.  Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear’s Laser Blast, where the kids thought it was very funny hearing their favourite characters speaking in French. Then Peter Pan’s Dream Flight - thank goodness for FastPass, there was a long, long queue for that one - before hitting Big Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril in quick succession (against my better judgement, but apparently I was the only one who felt sick). We slowed things down a little with It’s A Small World (still my favourite ride) and Snow White, or Blanche-Neige, as she’s known there. It was just too cold for Dumbo the Flying Elephant, I’m afraid.

Then it was on to the fantastic Tower of Terror – the feeling of dropping from a great height made us all giddy with excitement. Lots of screaming and laughter on that one. We queued without complaints for Crush’s Rollercoaster, but just as we were about to board the ride broke down. After all that queuing it seemed silly to leave, and 20 minutes later the ride was fixed. Was it worth it? Well, the kids certainly thought so, but to be honest my head didn’t stop spinning for hours afterwards.

And when we weren’t on the rides, we still had time to watch the fantastic show starring Mickey, Minnie, Donald and (our fave) Pluto. That’s the great thing about Disneyland Paris - once you’re there, there’s so much to see and do, which makes it brilliant value.

My only criticism, as ever, is the food. Why, when France has a reputation for some of the finest food in the world, does the food at Disneyland Paris have to be so awful – overpriced and poor quality, with horrendous queues, even for the ‘fast’ food? My advice – if you’re going for the day, take your own. (Maybe it’s time for a panel of mum testers to give you some honest advice, Disney?)

Even the lack of gastronomic delights, though, couldn’t spoil the magic. In fact our visit to Disneyland Paris was the ideal way to get into the Christmas spirit. As we left the park, Sleeping Beauty’s castle was perfectly illuminated against the night sky.

Back on the train all the children slept and let their mummies and daddies have some rest were wide awake and VERY noisy, totally hyped up by their Disney experience. ‘Boys wear pants and girls wear knickers,’ a small boy shouted loudly at one point (nothing to do with us, I hasten to add).  It’s a small person’s world, after all.

*Eurostar operates a daily direct service in each direction to Disneyland Resort Paris. Fares are from £44 return (child aged 4-11) and £59 return (adult) and children under 4 travel free (not allocated a seat). For more info on Disneyland Paris, click here