Little Giraffe.

It was Christmas Day in the Stevenson house but no-one awoke before eight. Then, suddenly the house was full of people: Nine of us, plus Molly the dog.

Hanna plays Nigella.

Our son Nick had just the one day off from his job in the Apple Store, but James, Jo, Jake and Thea joined us for a few days and then Robin came up for Boxing Day. We got through a lot of food and drink!

Every-one approaches the opening of presents in a different way. Nick takes ages over each one while Dan would open them all in a few minutes and then ask for more! The rest of the family falls somewhere in between but it's the Dan Frenzy that dictates the need for a present-opening strategy.

In past years we have made sticky labels with our pictures on, so that Dan can tell which are his. He still opened all of them, but at least tore into his own gifts first. This year we tried bringing the presents into the room in batches, so we all had two or three to open in a session. It worked really well and spread the gifts out through the day.

Between the bouts of paper shredding, we all got involved in cooking, but Hanna played the part of Nigella Lawson as usual. Her sexy, tv-chef image was enhanced with a lovely pink apron made specially by Thea and bulked out with two bags of marshmallows that had to be kept away from Dan. I love that look.

I won't bore you with endless lists of presents and food items, but I have to highlight the fact that this is the year of the "Onesie". If you haven't seen one yet, you will.  The idea is that you lounge around the house in a one piece pyjama suit and, paradoxically, the more ridiculous you look, the cooler you are!

Our grandson Jake must be über cool as he sported a giraffe suit for two whole days. Molly the dog had a special suit to wear too; a nice knit number in purple.

As for really useful gifts. James and Jo gave us our own slow-cooker, which is a gift that may just transform our lives and give us a bit of time in the evenings.