WEEKLY UPDATE: 1st – 7th December | Birthdays, Theatre Trips & Festive Family Fun 🎄

Dec 8, 2025
6 min read

Updated: Jan 25

The first week of December in our house is always all about birthdays before Christmas — two celebrations back-to-back before we even start properly thinking about the festive season. And this one was especially busy — packed with birthday celebrations, festive shows, and lots of family time. It was one of those weeks where every day felt full, but in the nicest possible way.

A Calm Start Before the Chaos 🛁

Monday began with a rare quiet moment — a relaxing bath to ease into what I knew was going to be a very busy week. It didn’t stay calm for long though, because I quickly switched into full birthday prep mode for Alice’s party.

I spent most of the day baking biscuits, decorating cupcakes, and decorating Alice’s birthday cake. I love doing things like this for the kids — it’s a lot of effort, but it always feels worth it when you see how excited they get.

That evening, I headed into Manchester to HOME to see the UK premiere of Freaky Friday The Musical (gifted tickets). I had such a brilliant time — it was fun, energetic, and exactly the kind of feel-good musical you just can’t help smiling through.

👉 You can read my full review HERE

Once I was back, it was straight back into party prep — finishing the cake, making chocolate lollies for the party bags, and chocolate sticks for the party too. It was a late one, but everything was finally ready.

Alice’s Birthday & Stitch and Angel Party 🎂💕💙

Tuesday was Alice’s birthday, and we all woke up feeling excited (and slightly tired!). While Alice was at school, Lawrence and I decorated the house for her Stitch and Angel themed party — balloons, banners, and lots of pink and blue everywhere.

When she got home from school, she got changed into her birthday outfit — a T-shirt I had made that said “Alice is 8” with Stitch and Angel on it, along with some leggings. She then opened her presents, and while Alice and Leo played with her new toys, I started preparing the food for the party.

My children and I are fussy eaters (autism), so I always keep party food quite simple. We had lemon and herb chicken, chorizo and peppers skewers, BBQ chicken, chorizo and peppers skewers, potato wedges, chicken goujons, pizza, sausage rolls, and garlic bread with cheese, along with the usual snacks and crisps — Alice’s favourite food is crisps, especially Skips. We also had all the sweet treats I’d made, including cupcakes, biscuits, and chocolate sticks.

Once the guests arrived, we ate the food and then played some party games. We played pass the parcel, musical chairs, and musical statues, and everyone had a go at trying to get sweets out of the Angel piñata I made. At the end of the party, everyone went home with a party bag full of goodies and a piece of cake. It was so lovely seeing her surrounded by everyone she loves, and she had the best time. Watching her enjoy herself so much made all the baking, decorating, and late nights completely worth it.

Midweek Reality & Tattoo Drama 😅

Wednesday was mostly about cleaning up from the party, while Lawrence headed off to get his tattoos done — which were for his 40th birthday and Christmas present.

When he got home, he told me they’d only managed to get one tattoo done and that he had to go back the next day for the second one. He’d originally told me it was going to cost £450, and he’d already spent about £100 on aftercare products and new clothes to accommodate the tattoos while they healed… so when he then told me it was going to cost another £450, I was not impressed — especially as I’d also bought him concert tickets to see Amy Macdonald for his birthday.

Let’s just say… he’s not getting any birthday or Christmas presents next year 😂

I spent the rest of Wednesday writing my review for Freaky Friday The Musical and creating a reel and social media posts for it, so I could get everything shared while it was still fresh.

A Big Theatre Milestone 🎭

On Thursday, Lawrence headed off again to get his second tattoo done. They’re on his calves and quite big, so it took most of the day and he didn’t get home until around 4pm. While everyone else was out, I baked a small batch of cupcakes and biscuits for Lawrence’s birthday party at the weekend.

When the kids got home from school, we had our dinner, then Leo went to his grandparents, while Lawrence and I took Alice to the press night of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at The Lowry (gifted tickets).

The show started at 7pm, so we arrived around 6.30pm and headed to the press desk to collect our tickets and programme. They also said we could choose a gift from a selection of the show’s merch — I think the options were a beanie hat, keyring, magnet, or a lion plush, and of course Alice picked the lion plush.

We then took some photos at the photo opportunities, including a replica of the wardrobe itself and a giant Aslan head made from flowers, before heading into the auditorium to take our seats. We were in the stalls, Row J, seats 16–18, and the view from those seats was fantastic.

At the interval, Alice was super excited to get some ice cream — she chose chocolate, and she was really excited for the second act because she wanted to see Aslan the lion.

It was such a special night, and even more special because it was Alice’s first time seeing a full-length play. She was completely captivated from start to finish — the set, the costumes, the music, everything just worked its magic. Seeing her so engaged and excited was honestly one of my highlights of the whole week. It felt like such a milestone in her little theatre journey.

Once we got Alice to bed, I stayed up late writing my review for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and creating social media content for it, because I wanted to get everything shared while it was still fresh.

👉 You can read my full review HERE

Creative Friday & Festive Theatre 🎅

On Friday, I designed some musical theatre themed cupcake and biscuit toppers for Lawrence’s party and printed them onto icing sheets using my edible printer. I then cut them out and added them to the cupcakes and biscuits I’d made the day before, which was really fun to do.

That evening, I took the children to Waterside Arts in Sale for the press performance of Father Christmas, based on the book by Raymond Briggs (gifted tickets). My brother came with us, as Lawrence was heading to see Amy Macdonald at the O2 Apollo Manchester, which was his birthday present from me.

The show started at 6pm, so we arrived around 5.30pm. We had some photos at the photo opportunity, then looked at the merch — I ended up buying two Snowdog plushes, one for each of the kids, which were £10 each.

On the way into the auditorium, the children were given a little paper bag with a carton of milk and a Santa cookie inside, which was such a lovely surprise and they absolutely loved the cookies.

We were sat in Row J, seats 9–12, and had a great view. It was a really sweet, festive show and such a nice way to kick off the weekend.

Once I got the kids to bed, I stayed up late writing my review for Father Christmas and creating the social media content for it too, so everything was ready to share.

👉 You can read my full review HERE

Lawrence’s 40th Birthday Party 🎉

Saturday was Lawrence’s 40th birthday, and we spent the morning decorating the house for his party. We went with a gold and black colour scheme, blowing up balloons and putting up streamers.

I then made the party food while Lawrence relaxed and played with the children. When the guests arrived, we enjoyed the food and had a really nice time catching up with friends we hadn’t seen for a while. It was relaxed, fun, and a lovely way to celebrate such a big birthday.

King Pins & A Cosy Ending 🎤🎳

On Sunday, the children went to their grandparents, while Lawrence and I headed to King Pins in Manchester to continue the celebrations with friends.

When we arrived, it was lunchtime, so we ordered some food — I had salt and pepper chips, Lawrence went for loaded fries, and we got some garlic bread to share.

We had rented the karaoke party room for half an hour, so we were able to eat in there. The karaoke was so much fun, but 30 minutes definitely wasn’t enough!

After that, we did duckpin bowling, tech darts, and shuffleboard, and it was such a fun afternoon. It really did feel like the perfect way to round off such a full-on but happy week.

When we got home later on, my parents dropped the kids back home, we got them settled into bed, and then collapsed on the sofa and watched some TV, feeling completely exhausted after such a busy week.

A Week to Remember ✨

This week was full of birthdays, theatre, family time, and little creative moments, and even though it was busy and tiring, it was one of those weeks I know I’ll always look back on fondly.

The kind of week that reminds me just how much I love these ordinary-but-not-so-ordinary family days. 💜