Christmas Past

Hi Everyone!

Well this is a little bit of cheat but as I this is posted I will be in a barn on a farm stood on a hay bale dressed as an angel in the freezing cold so I am pre writing this! It was orignally going to be a post about what I am looking forward to about Christmas but I decided against it and decided to do a blog post about my past Christmas' with the family and what it was like for me growing up! 

As a child I loved Christmas so much because it meant no school, Santa and that we had the Christmas tree up looking so sparkly and festive! We would alternate years of having Christmas at home or at my Grandparents up until I was about 15, then we started going to my Grandma's for Christmas Eve, sleeping over then going to my Uncle and Aunties for Christmas Dinner. I am feeling rather nostalgic at the moment and think that this post is a suitable start to December!

I have hunted down photos from our vast collection of photo albums and thought it would be easier to write about the Christmas' by using a photo/ collection of photos! 

In this photo I was probably 1 year old so it would have been my second Christmas and I can't remember this at all so its a new photo to me too! I would like to apologise now for the awful carpet and nasty green walls with the curtains matching the sofas. The early noughties were a dark time for interior design and it definitely doesn't look like this anymore!

I would have been about 3 or 4 in this photo (I can tell by the length of my hair) and this was when I got my first bike with stabilisers and a baby doll seat because I was that extra! I would later add sparkly tassels to the handlebar. I do remember this year vaguely as we had Christmas Dinner at my grandparents but being that young and being so excited for Santa was so magical as a child, its such a downside to growing up and losing that magic.

Now Ladies and Gentlemen, here is Charlotte Forster's Stage debut as a dancer in the nativity aged 4. I mean we all remember the dancers at the Nativity! In this version though we had elephants, giraffes and zebras. By all accounts there was a rave at this nativity in the stable! Please ignore my fringe I had no say in how my hair would look until I was 12. As you can tell I was totally thrilled at being a non credited dancer when I was destined to be Mary. (This would never happen for me)

 And here we have Charlotte the Angel aged 5. I was working my way up the Nativity ladder to a character that was actually at the birth of Jesus. I remember that only a few of us were picked to be Angels that year and getting my name picked out of the quality street tin was like a ticket to ticket to being queen bee! Doing the Nativity or end of term play was my favourite thing about school as it meant no lessons and a chance to do what I love which was performing. Little did I know that I would remain a bloody angel until I was 18. 

 After consulting with the family we came to the conclusion that this was taken on boxing day sometime ago but the exact year who knows! Can we all appreciate the fashion of a young Charlotte. The tartan dress with knee high socks and jelly shoes was a classic. I was trendy before it was cool!

 This year I was really unwell for both my birthday an Christmas as my birthday is the 21st. I basically slept my way through Christmas on my Grandads lap and kind of trapped him but I don't think he really minded. This was when I was 7 I think and this year was one of the best as I saw my first proper show at the Sunderland Empire which was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and its what started y love of Theatre. This year I didn't eat much Christmas Dinner because of how ill I was. Also loving the poncho life!

Here's another photo of me sleeping. What I do best!

 Here is the whole family on Christmas Day at my Grandparents which is the only photo of all of us. This was I think the last Christmas before my Grandad sadly passed away in 2007 but I can't really remember.  

 This was boxing day from the same year as the whole family photo as me and my cousin both got these Disney Princess Dressing tables and I was obsessed with mine! Here you can see me eating my breakfast at it making it a multi use present. 

This was the last photo of my proper childhood Christmas' when I still believed in Santa and that Christmas was at my Grandparents but it was the year of the Groovy Chick scooter! Any of you the same age as me will remember Groovy Chick! This was also the last year that we had a real tree as the next year we got the artificial tree. Maybe this was the sign of the end!

So thats my family Christmas Past and what better way to start December than reflecting on good times! Let's hope the Nativity is going well for me and that I haven't frozen to death or fallen off a hay bale!

Charlotte x