Nativity plays and parties

I make no apologies that this post is crammed full of pictures and the text is going to run out well before the photos do so do scroll down and look. We are well and truely in the throws of Christmas here. Our week began with the carol service and nativity play at Hope and Ellie's school. Ellie was Mary and, as you can see, adored it! The retiring collection was taken for CHASE and we all found that very moving. William and I were at CHASE yesterday. It should have been William's nursery party but he has been unable to go to nursery for 3 weeks because of Great Ormond Street, his line infection and the timing of the IV antibiotics he was on until Sunday. He has had a nasty cold too which had turned into bronchiolitis. He is on oxygen overnight again at the moment which is a bit of a set back as his chest has been so good since the surgery he had last year. He is clear of bugs now but seems to have a lot of inflammation and "gunk" on his chest still so we are doing physio and loads of inhalers and a little whiff of oxygen to keep the levels in his blood up overnight. Although his is not too poorly and very happy, he is easily tired and overwhelmed and very clingy so I felt that he would get upset at the nursery, in the same way as he did when he first began. He would have been on the TPN and so in "Darly Dair" too which is not usual for nursery as it is usually in the afternoon. This would have frustrated him. In the end, we went to the hospice for some relaxing music therapy and some crafts. I was sad that he missed his first nursery party. When we got back, all his cards and a present and Tellytubby balloon were waiting for him which made him very happy (especially the balloon).










Today, we were back at Great Ormond Street, but this time for the Christmas party, and wow, what a party!!! The girls had been given permission for a day off school to come too and so we went for all of us, even though William is still a bit under the weather. He totally enjoyed it too! The party was in a marquee in a children's park behind the hospital. As we were waiting to go in we had carols from the cast of The Phantom of the Opera and met dancing snowmen and rabbits. Once in, the children were given cowboy hats and tiaras and we were given a time to see the REAL Father Christmas in the grotto. We were then flanked by storm troupers as we went into the main party area - even I found that exciting! Batman and X-men were there along with Felicity Wishes fairies (Ellie's favourite!). We saw Father Christmas first and then Ellie settled down to make fairy wands and tiaras and both Ellie and William made wish boxes and Christmas stockings. Hope was not too interested in the crafts and opted to sit at the table and enjoy the sweets and chocolates that were bought round on platters. Hope was very excited to meet Kevin Wicks from Eastenders and both she and Ellie were very excited about meeting 'Girls Aloud". Their music, along with other popular hits, was playing for the disco and as the children left they were given that music played on a special CD with messages from the artists. That has already enjoyed plenty of airplay! William's absolute favourite was Rudolf and the cuddly rabbits and snowmen. When he saw them wondering around, he held out his arms and said "cuddle" and then cuddled and cuddled them with his head buried in their fur. He must have made their morning! As we were leaving, one of the organisers commented on how happy William is and how she had been watching him and every time she looked at him he was beaming and laughing. That makes me so pleased because he is a happy little thing that brings so much joy to us and I am so glad he does to others too. We struggled home with the things William and Ellie had made, balloons, huge teddy bears and goody bags, given by Father Christmas, filled with books, comics, magazines and bits and bobs. Ellie kept on saying that today was the best day of her life and thanked William over and over again for being in hospital so she could be there. It is lovely when all 3 children have such a good day together. I was so impressed with the party and the generosity of those whon gave their time, money and those who donated gifts. We were lucky to have been at GOSH at the time the party and who to invite was on people's minds. There are so many sick children who are cared for in other hospitals though and I do wish that such opportunities were available for them too. It was a truely magical day and the girls can't wait to tell their friends and show their autographs and photos. It was a day we will always remember.