Halfway there!! Yay!
Archive for June, 2010
It was hard this month as things have been a bit hectic but I managed to complete my 6th hunt in a row 🙂
Over at The Gallery this week the theme is creatures.
The only creatures that feature heavily in this house are this pair…
Meet “Teddy Bear” who belongs to Katie and “Woof Woof” who belongs to Robyn. They go to bed with the girls every night and are very much a part of the family!
I couldn’t decide how to do todays posts… my dad and Anthony both deserved some words and photographs and so in the end I decided to give them a post each. This comes on behalf of Robyn and Katie too.
Anthony is a wonderful Daddy to our girls, a really great Daddy.
The love that they have for eachother is so clear to see. My husband wears his heart on his sleeve.
A few weeks ago Robyn asked some questions about Anthony being her step-dad. It upset me at the time that her “real” dad had been feeding her information that was confusing and unkind. Today though she made it clear that she knows and understands what makes a father different from a Daddy.
Thankyou Anthony for being such a great Dad. You are one special man xxx
It is no secret that my Daddy is my hero. Here we are together when I was aged 11.
He is not only my dad but a great friend too. We laugh together nearly every day and I know he is always there if I need him.
I feel so lucky to be able to call him my Dad. He really is the greatest. This photo was taken on my wedding day.
I love you Dad. Happy Father’s Day xxx
Today it is my birthday and I’d like to share the words that were in my birthday card from my two wonderful daughters:
Mums teach us manners
and simple common sense –
Where to find the greatest deals
at minimum expense.
They hug us when we’re hurting
and teach us right from wrong,
They’re kind and gentle hearted
while always keeping strong…
There’s nothing they can’t handle,
they do it all somehow –
And who’s the greatest mum of all..?
She’s holding this card now!
Being a mother means the world to me. I truly believe it is the most rewarding job that a woman can do. Creating human beings and nurturing them into people to be proud of is something short of magical.
I feel so honoured to be a mother. I only hope I can make my girls as proud of me as I am of them.
I keep getting messages from wise people about “Turning up”. First of all my dad in his sermon on Sunday spoke about “Turn up, pay attention, tell the truth and leave the results to God” and then my dear friend Mel wrote a blog post about how important it is to show up and keep calm.
Yesterday I went swimming. I love swimming but I’m not very good at showing up. Once I am there I love it but the actual getting up and out of the house, the walking through the park to get there part is what I struggle with. I sat and thought about it on Monday evening and decided to buck my ideas up. So, after a positive review meeting for Katie with various health/child development professionals I turned up at the swimming pool.
When I arrived the receptionist said to me “There are school children in the pool, did you know?”. I replied saying “Yes I did know but it’s ok, there is part of the pool sectioned off and the children are not my responsibility!”. She laughed and said “Yes, that is true!”. Once upon a time that would have been enough for me to think again about going in the pool. I still turned up. I worked out that I swam half a mile yesterday. That’s not bad going for someone so unfit like I am and do you know what? I really, really enjoyed myself.
We have had so much uncertainty in our little family over the last couple of years and in the last 6 months since I started to think positively about things the uncertainty doesn’t bother me anywhere near as much. If I turn up, pay attention to what is happening (ie. don’t bury my head in the sand), tell the truth about what is happening (including telling other people that we are looking at things positively – you would be surprised at how many people think this outlook is most peculiar!) and then leave the rest to God then things work out just fine. Sure, there might be some little hiccups along the way but if you have faith then things will work out.
Turn up, do something you might have reservations about doing, pay attention to it and tell the truth about it. The rest will work out ok. I promise you.
This post was totally inspired by Mel over at Me, Myself and Other Things. Turn up, give her a visit for she is a very wise woman and a very dear friend.
Our half term break
Posted: 7 June 2010 in Days Out, FamilyTags: days out, Half term, school holidays
I love school holidays. I love having the chance to spend more time with my girls and doing different things with them. Katie has been delightful this half term which meant we got to do lovely things together. It makes such a difference to everyone’s moods!
Robyn went away to stay with her dad from Saturday until Wednesday. It works well now that she only goes for half the week. I’m much happier with the arrangement. We missed her loads but it was nice for Katie to have the attention from both me and Anthony for a couple of days.
On Sunday we made biscuits together. This is something we don’t do enough. It was such fun and Katie was so proud of what she created.
On Monday we went to Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway for a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. Katie loves Thomas and so it seemed a perfect thing to do while Robyn was away.
Tuesday was a lovely lazy day for me and Katie. Anthony was back at work after his long weekend and so we enjoyed some Mummy & Katie time. We had a wonderful day together.
On Wednesday I decided to brave taking Katie on the train to Manchester. It’s only a 35 minute journey so not too far. I met Robyn at Victoria station and got a nice surprise when her dad handed over £50 in birthday money that she got from relatives while she was away. Katie was still being a good girl so we headed to Primark and got the girls some new summer clothes. I love Primark for cheap kids clothes and it was lovely for Robyn to choose what she wanted with her money. I also took them into Next and got them a nice outfit each in there.
It felt so wonderful to be out shopping with my girls. It was the first time EVER I have felt able to take them both on the train and be independent with them. I walked through Manchester with my head held high because for the first time in ages I felt normal… Anthony was at work and I was shopping with my girls. I cannot tell you how much I have longed for the day I could do that. I felt so proud.
On Thursday we had Robyns best friend and her little brother (our godson) round while their mum went to work. We played outside and had chippy chips for lunch. We made chocolate chip cookies and had a lot of fun!
Friday was a good day too although it started badly for Anthony with a migraine. He went to work but was sent home again. Ironically he began to feel better when he got in so we took the opportunity to go out with the girls. We took them out for lunch and did a spot of shopping before dropping them off at my mum and dads. My sister collected them later on and they stayed at her house overnight. This is because we went away!
We booked ourselves into a hotel just 30 miles away for the night and what a wonderful time we had! We sat outside with a pitcher of Pimms and Lemonade after we had checked in and then enjoyed a swim and chilled out in the spa pool. Dinner was delicious, I had mussels and chips (a real favourite of mine) and Anthony had ostrich steak.
The only thing that put a damper on the night away was when the car wouldn’t start the next morning. We called Green Flag and luckily they got us going again.
All in all we had a superb half term and I’m really looking forward to the summer break. I feel confident that I’ll be able to manage some days out with the girls and that makes me really happy!
I trawled through the archives for this weeks entry to The Gallery and came up with this shot…
Delicious food and wine that was shared with my lovely family on Easter Day this year.
My mum has some testing times ahead in the next few weeks. With a bit of luck she won’t be able to share Easter dinner with us next year. That sounds wrong, right?! Let me explain…
In a couple of weeks she is going to attend a BAP (Bishop’s Advisory Panel) which is essentially a selection conference. She has been going through the process in the hope to be selected to train as an ordained minister in the Church of England. If mum gets selected she will be away for Easter next year. While it will be sad to not spend Easter with her (I think it would be the 1st time ever in my 32 years since she gave birth to me) it would be wonderful if the reason behind it was that she was in training.
So this post is for my mum. I know she would appreciate any thoughts and prayers from any of you in the next few weeks so that Gods will may be done.
This months list looks a bit scary although I’ve managed to do lots with my archives, yay! Join in here.
1. Abandon hope all ye who enter here
2. An elephant in the room
3. Bald as a coot
4. Belly up
5. Born to be wild
6. Bubbly
7. Call the fashion police!
8. Desolate
9. Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung
10. Jazzy
11. Lost
12. Mad, bad and dangerous to know
13. Microcosm
14. Night Light
15. Prized Possession
16. Reflecting
17. Smile though your heart is aching
18. The north wind doth blow
19. Veteran
20. Walkabout
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