Just sneaking in...

...to wish you all a merry Christmas.

Christmas is a busy time with lots of kindergartenparties, violin recitals, sneezing and coughing, shopping and cooking and visiting relatives and cleaning the house. And I like to throw in some sessions cuddling up on the sofa, or sitting under the tree and sing Christmas carols with my kids, or waltzing through the house to the Pogues with my husband. And longing for spring, when the weather is good enough to take proper photos with my point and shoot, and we can spent a lot more time outside again.

Since I haven´t been here a lot lately, I thought I´d post all my favourite Christmas music all in once?
And if you still need a quick gift for someone, go ahead, make them a CD, draw a cute cover, and off you go.
Here´s my selection this year:

1. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues This one always cheers me up and makes me smile all over and dance. If nothing brings me in a Christmas mood, this does!
2. Father Christmas - U2 Now, ain´t this stunningly beautiful?
3. Deck the Halls - Dave Days Lovely punk version to get the kids jumping round the tree. And how he throws in my favourite Pachebel canon - now, that´s epic!
4. All I want for Christmas is us - Jason Mraz and Tristan Prettyman Oh, I´ve been loving this for years! And I can play it, too :)
5. Evergreen - Gavin Mikhail I love this song. And the video is cute, too. For some annoying reason, I can´t watch it in Germany, though. But I guess if you live outside Germany, you can, so I´m linking this up here. 
6. Winter Song - Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson Playing in front of The President himself :)
7. Celtic Carol My kids love this elf - oh well, I do, too!
8. Under the Mistletoe - AJ Raphael cover If the Biebs comes in disguise of a well done cover, I take him :) I love about this song that it doesn´t sound like winter at all - it sounds like sitting in the sun with a guitar in summer. If you listen closely, you can even sing "I´m yours" by Jason Mraz over it, and imagine being on a beach :)
9. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - Michael Henry and Justin Robinett I find this song a little annoying, I must admit. But that´s what Christmas songs are all about, right? Plus, I really like these guys playing the piano. 
10. Last Christmas - Taylor Swift Of course I need to post this one. I mean, I´m living with a person who bakes a cake and lights a candle on December 13th, when it´s Taylor Swift´s birthday. Same person also played this song with her band this year, perfectly ignorant of the fact that this song has been terrorizing people since long before Miss Swift was born. But you know, a good starcrush still makes me smile :)

And I´m sending you off with a) a picture of my sons riding the Christmas train: 

And my current very, very favourite Christmas song:

Go, celebrate. Hug the ones you love, eat good food and give good presents, and unwrap some yourselves.
Lots of Love from all of us,
Helen