Blessings.

A few things that I have been thankful for this last week.

41. Time for coffee and prayer with a friend.
42. Blue sky peeping out for the afternoon.
43. A new working shower in our en-suite.
44. A working fan in our main bathroom.
45. Brighton - and a day out shopping ethically.
46. Happy children playing with scraps of cloth for hours.
47. Listening to my girls role playing great friendship behaviour with their cuddly toys.
48. The anticipation of being able to book a fab summer holiday.
49. The weighing scales in the bathroom of the hotel we stayed in last week.
50. The opportunity to stop most of my medication to see what happens without it.
51. Listening to my eldest play her clarinet with new confidence.
52. The cosiest and most comfortable bed in the world - right in my bedroom.
53. A low energy lightbulb in a lamp in my living room that I can have on all day reminding me of the Light of Christ, each time I look at it.
54. The word LOVE made and put up in my kitchen.
55. The promise of spring peeking out in my garden.
56. Friends to do swaps with, tripp trapp chair for a dog cage - fabulous!
57. Fantastic people running great clubs for my 12 year old, puppets and church youth group are favourites at the moment.
58. Not having to use my personal diary, just the family calender which only works 1 month at a time.
59. Furry buds developing slowly on my magnolia tree out of the front window.
60. Listening to the central heating pump jumping into action when the temperature lowers.

My Friend Helen.

My husband and I have had the great adventage of getting away for a night this last week, thanks to my parents braving the snowy conditions and coming to look after our 3 children.  We left home on Thursday morning and took a leisurely drive to Sydenham, South London to visit a very very dear friend Helen (she was my bridesmaid).  Since getting married about 18 months ago we hadn't seen her and so it was a great pleasure to go and visit her in her new home and with her 6 month baby boy!  He has the most stunningly gorgeous big blue eyes.  Helen was the person that introduced me properly to my now husband, our friendship has gone through what I would consider  'normal' times, sometimes seeing each other lots, some times having spaces, some times having to confess to behaviour that has affected each other or our other friends. 

It sounds very trite to say that it is during bad times you really know who your friends are, but I have to say that I have really found this to be true with Helen.  I have watched her be a gracious and loving sister when her sis was diagnosed with cancer.  I have seen her stand by practically and emotionally when one of her closest friends husband died just after Helen got married.

But as a friend to me she has just been quietly wonderful, especially over this last year.  She has called me at just the right moments and listened to my grief and frustrations when my sister died.  Having taken on teenage step children since marrying her lovely husband she is aware of the tangle of emotions that surround taking on roles in the lives of children whom those we love, love deeply.  However she is also deeply aware of the differences in our experiences, which probably have advantages and disadvantages on either of our sides. 

So Helen, this blog is about you! I hadn't quite expected it to be quite so gushy over you, but there you go, I love you deeply and thank God for having you in my life.

How amazing  God given friendships are, some may last just for season, but some you hope will last for a lifetime.

My husband and I did move on to have our night away after a fabulous home prepared soup and a good few hours chatting with Helen, but I shall leave the rest of our stay away for another blog.

One Thousand Gifts.

St Francis Church of England Primary School last wednesday.

It's been a funny old week gone by.  Last week has been one of the coldest and snowiest I have ever known in this country.  After having the children home for 2 weeks holiday over Christmas and new year they all went back last Tuesday.  Then the snow came, my 12 year old did not return to school for the rest of the week (It is at the top of a hill!), my 8 and 10 year olds had a half day on Weds and were in for the full day on Friday.  This obviously gave us all a few challenges - I was selfishly yearning for some time to myself.  The younger children were extreemly put out knowing the eldest was home while they were at school.

It all got me thinking a lot about Home Education.  Having several friends who home educate, I have always wondered if it were something that I should be doing.  I most certainly agree with all the reasons that they do it and do not agree with opponents of home education on any of the reasons they give for it not being appropriate.  So surely if you can see that there are only advantages to do it - I should do it!  However there is one big obstacle in the way that was most definately born out to me this week - I am just toooooo selfish.  I love having time to myself doing things without the children.  I sometimes even pray that I could be 'called' to do it, but then I have experiences like last week which seem to just make it seem an impossible dream.  I did attempt to do a few 'formal' bits with the eldest (12), she is very dyslexic, probably has attention deficit disorder and a reading/writing age of around 8 years.  I found the whole process just so difficult and certainly think my attempts to build her up soon come crashing down with one wrong word from me.

So this week I am going to try and focus on my children without the guilt of feeling as though I should be home educating them and see if I can build them up and improve their self confidence through daily 'normal' interactions with them.  I'll let you know how I get on next week!

21. The prompt arrival of an angel of an engineer to fix our central heating on the coldest day ever!22. Children getting up and ready for school without me moaning at them.
23. Schools which support my children and let me indulge my own selfishness with time alone.
24. The clickety clack of my knitting needles.
25. Parents prepared to come and help me nurture my marriage.
26. The wise words of Richard Foster in his book on Prayer.
27. Discovering we have a new couple joining our Parish from a similar church background to myself and a heart to see change.
28. For the person who has offered to help with my job while I am not there.
29. For quiet conversations on the street.
30. A yearning for reconciliation which is growing in my heart.
31. The generosity of friends with their time and gifts.
32. A thaw of the icy roads and pavements which is taking place as I write today.
33. The loss of my pride, enabling me to use a walking stick which means I am walking more and better.
34. Cuddles from my 10 year old.
35. Acceptance of consequences from my 12 year old.
36. The steadfast friendship of a best friend for my 8 year old.
37. My little night time reading torch which helps me to while away awake hours of the night without disturbing my sleeping husband.
38. Pictures discovered that were hidden away and now hang on my walls.
39. The comfort and warmth from home cooked meals.
40. The freedom from colds which the whole family have been enjoying so far this winter.

Home Made Christmas Presents.

Money has been a little tighter since I made the decision to stop working for 6 months, with a little more time on my hands, this meant I could actually make some Christmas presents - something I have always wanted to do, but only ever managed the odd present here and there. 

This outfit was made for one of my God daughters 'Baby Annabel' dolly.  I used fabric from my 'store' which I have to say is not very large anymore since I did a big clearout earlier in the year.  Thankfully these bits sort of go together and I am quite pleased with the results.  I use an electric sewing machine and even the poppers for the shoulders and the elastic in the headband were from my 'store'.  It took me about a day in all to complete it, though was doing lots of other things as well.

This small outfit was for another of my God daughters.  She had been to stay overnight for the first time this year and Bear had come along with her.  We chatted quite a lot about Bear and I asked if he had any clothes.  The answer was no, so I asked if she might like to have some for him to which she said yes, so she decided that a coat and hat would be a good place to start as he might get chilly in the winter.  The ball of wool cost me £1.99 and it took me several evenings to complete.

These cross stitched rulers were my first venture back to cross stitch in a very long time.  In my late teens and early twenties I used to do loads and have several large pictures that I did for myself as well as several family members having some as well.  I brought the rulers (which have a removable top so that you can insert the fabric) last year when they were on sale for £3.50 each, I made 3 altogether, these two are for two of my nieces.  'I also made one for a young lad, with his the letters of his name made us with 'stuff' that he likes (trains, cornet, football, etc).  Each one took me about a week of evenings.

This scrap book was for my son, it is the first time I have attempted to do one, having yearned to for quite some time.  The album cost me £2.99 and included 20 plastic leaves in it.  I then spent about £10 on nice card, paper and stickers to help create it.  I was also able to use lots of bits that I already had.  I buy photo paper in bulk, so had plenty of that.  I also do a lot of card making and so have lots of stamps,  cutters and other crafty bits that helped to make each page unique.  This wasn't the cheapest present to make but I felt well worth the effort and love the fact that my son has found a 'secret' place in his bedroom where he keeps it (I've no idea where that is!).

I was also able to make several bracelets for other God children, friends and family members, I didn't get any pictures of these but did blog on them some time ago you can see the post here.  All the bracelets were made with materials I already had. 

So I have to say I am rather proud of how much I got made and the fact that I used mostly bits that I had in my cupboards!  I started in October - maybe this year, I might get myself organised to start even earlier and might get even more done.

The 12 Days of Christmas.

On the First Day of Christmas we celebrated with gifts

for each other and a celebration meal all together.

On the Second Day of Christmas we travelled to Bri's sister

and again exchanged gifts and had a celebration meal.

On the Third Day of Christmas we spent family time together,

watching Ice Age 3 and playing with our gifts.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas I took the children into town

to spend their Christmas money.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas the children and my husband had

a long cycle ride around where we live.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas I took the children ice skating

and then we went to visit a little puppy and fell in love.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas I had a migraine and spent the day in bed,

the children and my husband spent time with friends.

On the Eigth Day of Christmas we had a quiet day

On the Nineth Day of Christmas we had a family day out exploring some

of our Great English Heritage.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas we went to a friends church and

worshipped happily together as a family.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas we took down the Christmas decorations

and lovingly wrapped them safely away.

On the Twelth Day of Christmas, all the children went

back to school and I thanked God for all the Good times we have had.

One Thousand Gifts.

Okay so I am a day late already, fine start to a new year and a new project.  I am not going to be put off though, towards the end of last year I started regularly reading a fantastic blog by Ann Voskamp, it is called Holy Experience and one of the things she regularly hosts is One Thousand Gifts, Multitude Monday.  You can find her site and more explanation of this here. 

1. Time to sit in front of a lovely warming fire.
2. Healthy children.
3. Friends and family who appreciate home-made gifts.
4. A husband who adores me.
5. Dry weather so that I can take a walk.
6. Food in my cupboards.
7. Hot cups of tea.
8. Scrabble on Facebook.
9. The smell of freshly laundered bedding.
10. The anticipation of getting a new puppy.
11. Family meals together.
12. Reading lovely stories to my children.
13. Head lice free hair for my son at last!
14. The opportunity to enjoy all 12 days of Christmas.
15. The time to blog.
16. A neat and tidy craft cupboard.
17. A finance plan finished for the year.
18. Watching my Amaryllis growing almost an inch every day!
19. Children who give me unconditional love, even when I discipline them.    
20. Scrapbooking

Stonehenge and Old Sarum

Today we have had a lovely trip out and put a little culture into our Christmas Holiday break before the children go back to school next week.

Our eldest has never been to Stonehenge which is less than an hours drive from us, as she has had mention of it in books she has read we though this would be a good start.

We decided on a no games in the car day (electronic stuff), as we knew we would be doing some driving through beautiful countryside.  So listening along to I am Jem Cooke we made our way just beyond Salisbury.

It was busy but no queuing to park or get in.  To my surprise the two smallest (8 & 10 yrs), did not want audio guides, so I managed not to moan at them and just made sure I had one that I was willing to give up!

I used the opportunity (my second visit) to look more closely at the stones, take some photos and just enjoy being there.

Before being1/2 way round I found I was correct to have been willing to give my audio guide away as my 'fact gannet' son took full advantage of it in the end.  Even the youngest pinched her dads before the end of thevisit (after hearing one of the older ones mentioning it was talking about Merlin).

After a quick warm up and lunch in the car (me using my new flask that I had for Christmas!), we drove back towards Salisbury to visit Old Sarum.

There were no audio guides here (being a much smaller and lesser visited site I suppose).  However the signs were great and after reading a few aloud to the children they ran off to do some discovering of their own.

The ground might have been frozen but it was nice to feel that our brains and bodies had walked where others in generations before us for 5000 years had done before us.

To finish our day out as we were leaving we watched a magnificent hot air balloon float by, what a way to see these sights.