12th December - 13 sleeps until Christmas and I am actually feeling fairly festive. Letters to Santa have been written and posted and the Christmas tree and decorations went up yesterday . The majority of the cards have been written and posted (although I have a few still to make) and the presents have all been bought. The children have just one more week at school and then we will be on the final countdown to the big day. I can't wait. Since I last posted I have opened another 6 advent gifts. I was sad to learn just after my last post that this advent swap will be the last one on UKScrappers. I had said that I was unsure whether I would take part again and now the decision has been made for me. It won't be the same next year without my little gift each December morning, but it was good while it lasted.
I have now opened 6 of the gifts in my UKScrappers Advent Swap box and have been thrilled with them all. (apologies for the awful photo) Every year some of the people who take part in the swap seem disappointed (to put it mildly) with what they received but I can honestly say that during the 4-5 years that I have taken part I have never once been unhappy with the gifts I have received. Judging by some of the comments people make, it seems I have been very lucky! OK, occasionally a gift isn't quite to my taste but it can usually be used in someway or another or altered to make it fit in more with my style. I've never had anyone say they haven't liked the gifts I have sent them either and I really look forward to the swap. But, that said I am beginning to wonder whether in view of all the negative comments that have been posted on forums this year about the swap whether I will join in next year. 
seat. 24 little guests are coming to the party and yesterday and today I made the cake. After the stress last year of making the cake I vowed never to make another, but I relented and this year I made a 'Spongebob Square Pants' cake. Considering how difficult it was last year to make the cake this year seemed a dream. Last year I used a bag of catering cake mix, struggled with the quantities and when it was made it tasted foul! This year I just used a tried and tested recipe for a Victoria Sandwich , doubled up the quantity I would use for a standard 7" cake and the 'trimmings' which I tasted were really yummy. Spongebob has now been iced, looks fab and is ready in his box to take to the party tomorrow. I'll report back hopefully next week on how the party went and hope to have some photos too.
