Life at Mount Hill Cottage

South Dorset Summer Hols

2011-08-19T21:18:00.010+01:00

I added this one of Simon in so you would know he was there too. He rarely appears in photos but is keen to take the photos. He enjoyed our holidays. He wore his wool coat pretty much every day, and read three books. I actually read a Colin Dexter book (Inspector Morse) and felt pretty English savvy when I could understand and enjoy it. I suppose I am a true anglophile now...it just happens.

Very close to nature. Some of the kids actually wanted to touch the cows. I related my concern about how cows can kick! I later used that wish to motivate them to carry on our hike as we kept seeing signs saying they were in the fields we were entering. I should say I used it to motivate the crying whining tantruming child to keep going. She didn't seem to care and only wanted water, ice cream and for me to carry her.
I spotted some beauty while I waited for a few dawdlers.
Some caves up there were off limits but we got to see some divers just down there on the right off those rocks.
We went off road and up onto a more hill and glen path. Ainsley was far beyond the rest of us.
Sometimes food was a good tool to use for encouragement to go on yet another hike. I had to stop saying "hike" and say walk for Charlotte after the first one or she would begin to protest.
This was the yummy side sauce we decided to buy instead of buying extortionate side packets for .25p each. For fish and chips you need lots of vinegar and enough ketchup. They were very tasty after our long trek to Durdle Door.

Beach feet. Eldest and youngest girl toes.
being motivated with pasty and quavers.
A bit of drama to break up our comedy.
It's Us!
Ainsley and others checking out the waves-they were huge and scary.
My angel number two doing an ever so serious pose down against the rocks at DD.

Beautiful views of coastline along from Durdle Door (Dorset).
Durdle Door just like in Nanny McFee
Opposite Durdle Door-Man O'war Beach
Ainsley at Durdle Door.
Our car is somewhere down there. It is such a steep descent up the path you quickly can look back and feel your hard work is getting you somewhere.
Bronwyn and Sage starting up the steep climb to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove.
Here we found some plums...seemingly unwanted. Simon and I had walked from our campsite over to Corf Castle. Just as we entered the village we found them. I ate as many as I could, then vowed to return in our car the next day. The walk was nearly three miles...we took a train back to the campsite costing £4.00 each (one way) and that was supposedly cheaper than the day rate! We decided the children didn't need to actually ride on the steam train after all ;-) I made some jam late one night out of the remains of our plum scrumping. It seems a bit sharp even after loads of sugar but Saxon loves it! He was so happy to find the second jar in the fridge.

Ainsley was very fortunate to not have had her phone taken away. We did complain a little bit because this BB was part of her anatomy, but we were able to find out about the riots and what was going on around the country. We were so glad to be away in a safe cozy place with our famdamily.
We were seeing this instead of news of riots. Jurrasic coastline.
I snuggled under my duvet, the one we bought after I discovered someone had not packed the duvet from our bed. I woke up quite furious the first night when I couldn't get warm. Thankfully there are many shops nearby for folks just like us and I slept warm and cozy thereafter. That someone did apologise and once he bought this duvet I thought I should forgive him.
Sage and Saxon finding crabs.

The tiniest hermit crab I have ever seen.
Sage looked very immersed in her books each night.

Ainsley braving the cold wind for the sunshine.
Char on the beach after our hike to Old Harry Rocks.
A s you can see from the huddle it was a bit fresh.
Bronwyn hitting the beach even though there was a freezing wind.
Our walk to Old Harry Rocks.
What a nice brother!
Sisters at the top

The beach after Old Harry Rocks. Charlotte found an R shaped stick and was happy because she knew it was in her name.

Sisters Are Forever!

2011-08-15T01:28:00.002+01:00

Ainsley and Sage are at EFY right now!!! I miss them but know they are having amazing experiences. Can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!

And summer begins!

2011-07-25T22:12:00.005+01:00

Charlotte is excited

we found this wasp nest

"Mom, look! I'm a farmer"

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

2011-03-09T23:16:00.004Z

Sage turned fourteen on the very last day of February. She loves to read so I got her a new book and a pashmina scarf for her special day. Here are a few self taken photos of the hundreds we see on our computer. She had her friends over for the weekend to celebrate and go to a dance with her. They liked my chili because not everyone here knows how to make it so I felt very talented indeed for making a huge pot on the Friday that was gone by Saturday night. Sage knows how to have a good laugh, she can see the funny side to most things. She is extremely helpful when I need a right hand woman. I am very grateful she is my daughter and I get to share her life. She has a beautiful soprano voice and is learning to play the violin and piano. Her favourite classes are drama and music.

New Beginnings

2011-03-09T22:43:00.003Z

So a month ago I had a look and realised I had not written here for nearly a year and was quite surprised. I feel like writing again but am unsure as to how to catch up on a year's worth of life in our family. I think to take the pressure off myself I will simply write when I feel like it and see how often I can do it and write one post at a time. This should be fun for me and fun for you.

I have passed the halfway mark to be finished with my course now and that helps me measure where I have been and how close I am to reaching that goal. It has not been easy to say the least, to become a Nursing Student and still be The Mom. I have had to let go of my hopes of perfect assignments as I have not been particularly good at managing my time. I am hoping to improve with every assignment. I have identified my misconceptions that have since been done away with:
A) that the kids would take over the housework like they said they would when I was applying to the course
B) that it would be easy because it was what I wanted to do and felt so good about starting it
C) that my essays would be fantastic due to my literary husband's support

Ok so the kids have come a long way, and do what I ask usually. Somehow no one took over my role of seeing what needs to be done and just doing it (Come on teenagers!). A spit spot house is simply not a child's priority. I accept that. They should still be enjoying childhood, with some responsibility. Simon and I are working with them more as that seems more motivating for everyone and it gets the work done quickly. The teenagers care. They care so much...when someone is coming over so my plan is to invite people over at least twice a week when possible because what they can do in half an hour is amazing if they know someone is due to stop by :-)

Sage is a TEEN!

2010-02-28T22:25:00.004Z

My Sweet girl Sage has had her birthday today and is now beginning an important period in her life. She is already a lovely girl and I can imagine her continuing her present successes into the future. She is a good student as reported by all of her teachers and she is almost always found reading on her bed. She is studying violin and is starting to have a lot of fun playing with me on the Piano or with Ainsley on her Cello. Her sisters and brother love to play games and have fun with her. I love how she is a willing helper and gets up and ready for school independantly. She is hard working and dependable and I am so grateful to be her mother.

Next month she and Ainsley will travel to Belgium and France with the youth from church. It was fun to renew her passport photo and see how much she has changed over the past five years.
We love you Sage!

Running in the rain lately

2010-02-28T21:39:00.005Z

Hello my dears. I have been a very naughty blogger and am way behind on recording the events of these past Autumn and Winter seasons. My excuse is that I started to work at the hospital in September 09 and have just been in my own student nurse world since then. Working as a nurse has been interesting and I feel another realm has opened up to me that I was not aware of before. I started working at a West London hospital on a Colo-Rectal/General Surgical Ward. Before I could say cholycystectomy I was removing catheters, nasal gastric tubes and cannulas from our lovely post op patients. I was able to stand in theatre watching bowel surgery up close and personal. I have the utmost respect for the multi-professional teams that make surgery safe and possible. Working on this ward has also helped me to reinforce my healthy eating and lifestyle habits. I do not ever want surgery however 'safe' it may be:-)
At the beginning of February I started to jog with a friend. She has run marathons before and is at a greater fitness level I should say. She has been fabulous at encouraging me, showing up in the rain and generally being a great running buddy. This past week I had a wonderful breakthrough: I can now run over two miles without stopping to walk at all. I run with her three times a week at the moment and want to increase that to four times starting next week if possible. I think I shall need to go on my own a couple of times due to my early schedule at my new placement. I finished at the Hospital and now am at a residential home for people with epilepsy and learning disabilities. I love this place. I am enjoying seeing the world from someone else's very different viewpoint. I love how accepting the service users are and how much fun we all have during the day. Best of all it is a lot like what I do with my own family so I already feel like I am good at it. I have learned to start peg feeds, administer meds into pegs and to use music and touch to help calm someone. I am presently working with a young man who is autistic and has epilepsy. He seemed very easy to care for until the end of the first day, he had a siezure and afterwards started running at full speed and we couldn't get him to stop. He was in the zone!- and he ran outside in his socks. It is rainy and muddy this past week. He eventually was ready to stop and was ok but I can see how some would consider this challenging behaviour. Hope to catch up more soon.

Holidays in Dorset

2009-08-10T23:38:00.007+01:00

Beautiful view from left side of beach in Swanage
Daddy and his girls
Ainsley was very intense about the design and construction of this sand. Perhaps she'll be an architect like her uncle. She is very creative and still says she wants to do hair, and I always add that it would be a great way to earn money while she is at university studying...other things.
Saxon is winding down and feeling chilly here. He went in the water a lot with our blue dingy.

This is Swanage on the Tuesday. After putting up our tent in the spitting rain the night before, this did not seem a bad day. The water was gorgeous and the beach was not over crowded. A perfect start to our holiday. I thought Simon would be very guarded about his eye after just having surgery two weeks ago, but he could only sit at the sidelines for a few minutes before hopping off and going over to dig in the sand with the kids. By the end of the week he was ready to drive again. It may be my driving, or it may be that he had recovered so well by then he felt confident enough, he didn't say. I had a lovely time people watching and went for a nice walk along the pier with Simon and Charlotte to find some food for our crew. We ended up with some having Cornish Pasties and some having Margarita Pizzas (fancy way of saying cheese pizza so you aren't so annoyed by your unadventurous children). There was a guy who had a crepe stand and you could get pretty much anything sweet or savoury in a crepe or thin pancake. After our failed trip to Cornwall (because of the emergency eye surgery) I wanted a pasty and it was worth eating a days worth of calories in one go. Most food tastes delicious when you have been out walking on your holiday and you do not have to prepare it. We spent three hours here before it did finally rain us back to our protective tent.

Bronwyn goofing

2009-06-25T14:21:00.001+01:00

Charlotte having a go on Saxon's Go-Kart

2009-06-25T14:20:00.005+01:00

2009-06-25T14:20:00.003+01:00

Bouncing Boy in Speedo

2009-06-25T14:18:00.002+01:00

We do speedo in England.

Ainsley's First Cello Concert

2009-06-25T14:12:00.005+01:00

2009-06-25T14:12:00.002+01:00

2009-06-25T14:11:00.001+01:00

2009-06-25T14:08:00.003+01:00

2009-06-25T14:08:00.002+01:00

2009-06-25T14:06:00.001+01:00

2009-06-25T14:05:00.001+01:00

2009-06-25T14:02:00.001+01:00

2009-06-25T14:01:00.001+01:00

2009-06-25T13:59:00.001+01:00

Sweet Charlotte after church on Father's Day 2009

It is Summertime!

2009-06-25T13:54:00.006+01:00

It's official. I am a Student Nurse.
Posing after church on Sunday. Got some new clothes for summer!

On a PoSiTiVe NoTe

2009-05-24T21:43:00.003+01:00

Summa time. 5 Reasons I heart England:
1. This place is GREEN CITY. Imagine what the Garden of Eden would be like...this is it only with a little bit more toil than they had to do for our lifestyle.
2. I heard a piper piping his bagpipe this past week. It was across the street from the pre-school, in a field with horses roaming. Do you have this by your pre-school?
3. The air I breathe in is clean and I feel it is doing my body good. It also smells sweet right now due to the quantity of flowers and grass about. In Phx I sometimes wished I could go inside a sterile environment like Bubble Boy so that I could breathe clean air.
4. The earth cools off on summer evenings here. After a gorgeous day of sunshine, when we've had our fill of UV rays, it gets cool and fresh which seems very natural unlike the hot oven like nights of urban heat I was used to.
5. I am very happy my children elocute properly at least sometimes now: wa-ter instead of wa-der, hate-ed instead of hade-ed, and my all time favourite: impor-tant instead of impor-unt.

We started to sew!

2009-04-11T15:02:00.003+01:00

Ainsley finishing off her PJs at home

Ainsley and Sage both made some pyjama bottoms with the YW. They had a sleepover and this was in preparation for it. It was fun, a project with a goal and they both had fun working on it and going to the sleepover. Ainsley was able to find out how to work our machine, and I found the handbook when I cleared off my ironing board. We found some good instructional videos on YouTube. So wooo hooo! We can let the sewing begin. We found a fabric warehouse in Cowely close by and thought of beginner level projects for both Ainsley and Sage. We decided on some soft fabrics to make some blankets. Also bought some cute plaid to sew more pyjama bottoms. We will post the results! I love Easter Break:)

Charlotte Turns Three

2009-04-11T04:59:00.007+01:00

Big sister after opening the gifts in the morning. Ainsley had fun planning. C is chewing one of the gifts. Gum is wonderful to a three year old. I later had to scrape it off my dishes after lunch... it melted in the hot water:)
Pure delight preparing to take dolly for a test drive.
Showing some love to Auntie Gwen after opening her gift
This is where she recognises her new trike that Saxon brings in.

Saxon held the matches patiently waiting to light the candles.

Charlotte Iona had a birthday this past week. I must say this child is super girl. She can do everything for herself in her minds eye, the trouble happens when we don't support her assumptions. It sometimes takes every ounce of wit inside of my slow functioning brain to induce cooperation for simple things such as wearing clean clothes that match. Even when two choices are presented, she has a specific purple skirt and a specific shirt that was worn two times already that she believes she must wear or the sky will fall. Really it is my ear drums that are falling out or failing because she has wonderfully strong vocal chords and equally healthy arms that swiftly remove clothing I flailingly attempt to force on when my schedule is no longer to schedule. Fortunately the milestone of birthday number three has arrived, and now we can see the distant frustrating behaviour disappearing every hour she is three! She was delighted to find she was showered with lots of cards and gifts. Her sisters wrapped some gifts for her to open in the morning. We then went to our local park bringing some ice lollies as a treat. They ended up being very strange, they were just not the right texture to feel like you were eating a Popsicle. They had gelatin in them. I was going to throw mine away still in the package but my nice pal Simon said he would slurp mine up for me. We spent the afternoon there playing soccer, frisbee and on the park equipment. Charlotte copies most things Saxon does and because he took off his shoes and socks to run up and yes down the big slide standing up, so did she. I made a few grunting noises and held out my arms in case she slipped, because I am a good mom like that. The big birthday surprise was a 'new bike' as she calls it. She later had her first mega owie as Saxon had hijacked the new bike and she tried chasing him down and ended up with a bleeding knee. Saxon has since been forbidden to get on the trike.

Dunstaple Downs

2009-04-11T02:31:00.012+01:00

A yummy end to our hike.
Being a family is so FUN!
Sister love.
A recently furrowed field shows off what I love about England.
We go together like rama lama lama kadinky dinky do! or something like that.
Saxon kindly lent his Spidey Hat for Dad's chilled ears
We headed out for the top of that hill in the distance.
The hair tells you it is very windy here.
Do you see a glider somewhere here? nice clouds any way, I have always loved puffy clouds
These are a few of my children in the distance.. First thing when we got there they ran down this hill.
Our family are on Easter Break from school. We have been soooo chilled out and have enjoyed staying home without a schedule. On Wednesday we tore ourselves out of bed to go to the orthodontist. After ten years of wearing my plastic over the teeth retainer I had a simple small wire cemented to a few of my bottom teeth that morning, why did I not think of that nine years ago??? Ainsely had her wire changed. When we got home I felt like celebrating my new found freedom from my old retainer and we took off to a place called Dunstable Downs. It was a beautiful scenic place that is very high up. We saw many people flying kites, and we saw both glider planes, and hang gliders. The wind was so strong in places it could hold us up when we lent into it. We looked around at all of the kites being crashed and flown, then we went for a stroll, then turned around and followed a path out to the top of a hill overlooking the beautiful green land. We made it back to the visitor's ctr and ate some hot chips before heading home.

AfTeR gEttiNg EaRs PiErCeD

2009-03-16T23:54:00.002Z

Visiting Friends Up North

2009-03-09T17:24:00.005Z

Charlotte having a go
my hero
Carl cookin' oatcakes (bacon, cheese, mushrooms and even baked beans heated under the grill on an oatcake which is a healthy version of a crepe in my opinion, and nicely rolled up with some brown sauce...I am sooo hungry now!)

playin' games
Lil Liza

We took off for a weekend with friends. We had a fun drive up north Friday evening to stay at Carl and Sarah's house in the midlands (Shropshire I think). Simon had a wee migrane so hit the hay but woke up later when C+S got back from their date so we could all have a chat. It was our anniversary weekend and we enjoyed a lovely Indian take away to celebrate with our mates. I loved seeing Sarah's house (I want to be like her in the artsy-creative-talented dept.) and getting together with them as it had been a few years. They are lovely. Carl cooked oat cakes for us in the morning and were simply fabulous hosts to our family. We attended church with them and I was overcome with emotion after we walked into the meeting and sat down, they had already begun to sing the opening hymn and I started to sing as I walked in because it was a familiar song. After we sat down I felt this choking emotion swelling in my throat and tears were running down my face, I turned to Simon and was laughing at myself because I really had no idea why that would suddenly happen. I quickly realised it was the wonderful saints singing around me, the members in that ward were so into singing, it was loud, and the Spirit of God was a powerful force coming into my ears and penetrating my heart. I was so grateful to them. Each time we sang it happened again. It was such a gift to me to feel that. We had to drive back home Sunday as the older girls had a New Beginnings meeting in our ward. While we were there we did some fun shopping at a huge discount mall. We felt like we were at home in America with so many sales and cute things. The girls liked the Claire's shop, I liked the Pumpkin Patch, and Animal outlets. We all liked many many discounted items and came home with some goodies. It was an alternative to our walk in the rain... the girls were quite satisfied with the trade in activities, the boys...well, they would rather clean a house I think than go shopping.

Sage is a YOUNG WOMAN.

2009-03-08T16:30:00.017Z

Before.....
Our dearest second daughter Sage has just had a birthday and a very important one at that. Turning twelve means that Sage is considered a Young Woman at church and gets to do fun things with girls aged 12-18 once a week and also attends a class with her age group on Sundays. AND.....She was able to FINALLY get her ears pierced. We went to Claire's at the mall and a strange man looking like he was trying to stay fifteen long past fifteen was the one who did the piercing. She was very nervous but determined. We were going to choose birthstones for the studs but we didn't see any birthstone studs so I told her to choose the ones she liked best. We both liked the flower diamond looking ones. Here are some photos of her around her birthday. She is a beautiful girl and I enjoy her company. She has recently started to love to cook and has decided to cook dinner on Monday evenings to help me out while I am going to school. What a sweetie. Her favourite foods to make are cakes and sweet things:) A girl after my own heart. (if you want to really see her new ears then click on the photo and it should upload a large photo:) Sage is always found with a book in hand. She cannot get enough Stephanie Meyer and rereads all of the Twilight series and The Host as she has been collecting them again since we moved here. The first time she read them they were either library books or lent from friends apart from the first one which she got for Christmas in 2008. She has remained a devout fan and I am happy to see her so into something. Ainsley gets to have a free ride as she has Sage read aloud to her. They stay up much too late but what a great reason to stay up, reading with your sister, or simply reading.

After.

Second Honeymoon but MUCH better

2009-02-05T00:03:00.004Z

My impending anniversary meant I was able to make last minute plans to go away with Simon when he had a business trip to Solihull. The rents stayed at our house looking after the children and we had an amazing time together. Before we left I kept pausing in the middle of my house wondering what else I needed to do before I could leave. It showed an obvious lack of experience in this area. This is the beginning of me taking more time for myself this year. I say let's do that once a month...pleeeeeease. I realised later it had been nearly 8 years since we had gone away alone. Perhaps having children grow up has its upside-a euphoric feeling when alone in a hotel with husband. Relaxation took on a new meaning.

Snow Play at East Common

2009-02-04T22:23:00.033Z

I saw this play area on the common where Ainsley goes for cello lessons. We took her to her lesson to make up for Monday when the roads were not gritted yet and we didn't go anywhere. Simon and I stopped in the town and got subs from Subway for a lunchtime surprise and after eating I drove all of the kids here to play. This is just under a mile from our house. Sage and Ainsley are making plans to ride their bikes back here soon. It felt so good to go out after being in with coughing people all weekend. I had all of my paperwork for my Nursing course finished and I was free to par-tay! So we did some snow play.

Notice anything different? Ainsley has braces on her teeth now. She is very happy to have treatment started. The sooner to a perfect smile, and they don't have to do extractions like in the olden days....she is going to have a neat looking contraption soon to wear instead called a block. She thought she would have to wait a year for braces so I am serious when I say she is happy about getting them last week.

She does have mittens that match her coat....she is two though and changed her mind about what would be best. After living in a warm climate it has been a challenge to teach her the need for such things. She was out in her pajamas and slippers the first day it snowed. She did learn how fingers can hurt when they get cold and hence the agreement to wear these mittens.

Saxon was reluctant for photos at first.

The smiles say it all.

Bronwyn and Ainsley getting ready. Ainsley had her first bad hair dye experience last week, but it looks decent even though it is not the look she was going for. The colour came out ginger instead of blonde and only seems to have coloured the roots...but it looks almost natural at times. Maybe I won't have to spend money to fix it after all...

This part of England is not accustomed to much snow. We had nearly six inches by our house over the course of two days. School was canceled and that meant more playtime! Sage and Charlotte are here posing where you get onto the zip line. Charlotte got whacked a couple of times by the return trips before we figured it wasn't a good place for a small person to stand.

Oh, What do You do in the Wintertime, When all the World is Cold?

2009-01-12T01:42:00.002Z

Our Tree of Change

2009-01-12T00:44:00.002Z

This tree is what we view outside our upstairs hall window. We all have been known to call out in the morning at something exciting we see out of this window, such as a deer, a squirrel, the herd of horses that roam the fields, or perhaps a foraging pheasant. When we hear the exclamation it is customary for all to rise up and quickly go to the window to see if we too are able to glimpse the same as the caller. We consider it a great start to the day when we get there in time to share it. Other times, we aren't as fortunate, but we can always see this beautiful tree. This is how it looked in the autumn, a couple of months ago.

The nourishment that keeps me going.

2009-01-11T22:46:00.004Z

Here is Charlotte after raiding the hair accessory drawer. She put about three headbands on and asked me if I want to "take picture Mommy?" . You Betcha! She is delish.

End of year catch up.

2009-01-11T22:24:00.005Z

OK I need to get my act together and catch up here. We had a most wonderful Christmas with much surprise and that is an important aspect to me on Christmas morning. The favourite gifts are probably the Wii and the new bicycles. I was the recipient of a hip ipod nano and have just now started to learn how to use it. I think Ainsley and Sage have used it as much as I have even though they have their own mp3 players. They put a Stephanie Meyer book on it (The Host) which Sage read already but she can't seem to tire of SM books. The best thing about Christmas break was finishing the preparation for our church talks and giving them and the responsibility being over to do that! After that I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday. Everyone gave a talk except Charlotte. We were first asked to speak on the Sunday before Christmas, and then a week before that date, we were told they forgot they had asked someone else months ago and put us to the week following Christmas. So for three or four weeks I had (chose) to worry about getting everyone on board to sing and give a short talk about Christmas at church. It went well, we didn't really seem nervous on the day amazingly. The children and I sang 'Stars Were Gleaming' and 'Picture a Christmas' and I sang ' The True Messiah' as a solo before I gave my talk. I spoke of how the birth of the Saviour was a miraculous event and then shared two events from my life which were miracles for me.
Sage enjoyed doing a lot of baking over the break and it has conitinued on with her making brownies while I took a nap today. The bad thing about that was that she didn't ask me which recipe was a winner out of the many I have and she decided to do a variation of a recipe and then her sister decided it wasn't quite cooked when the beeper went off and put it in for another equal amount of time...that=rock hard brownies. They did taste good, because she used my gourmet cooking chocolate and there was a small under layer of the rocky layers that was chocolate and chewable:) I must say that I do love her initiative.
What do I feel about starting a new year?
Those of you who know my life story can say with me, we shed no tears for the passing of 2008. The energy of a new beginning is so much lighter and the events of the past have passed over us now. I look back with gratitude for blessings poured down upon our family leading us to the wonderful life we have now.

My Favourite Teenager

2008-12-12T21:06:00.006Z

Ainsley had headache for the past couple of days and said she couldn't go to school. Here she is after watching some YouTube videos about curling your hair with your straightening tongs after which she felt well enough to have a go on her own hair. I saw the photos as I uploaded mine:)

Later on she went with the Young Women at church (said she was feeling better then)and made these cookie in a jar Christmas gifts. She said she was still having headache when she got home and probably wouldn't be going to school the next day. The next day she felt the inspiration to open the jar and make the cookies. (instead of gifting it to someone for Christmas) She did mention that desire to me when she brought it home but I suggested we at least enjoy it as a festive decoration for a few weeks before using it. She phoned me on my mobile to inform me of her baking "but don't worry I took a picture of it" she reassured me. She loves cookies and I think all the time on her hands the past few days left her in want of a challenging activity. The cookies turned out beautifully but she thought they all belonged to her. We did manage to each get two after dinner, they were YuM-E . She was thoughtful in making some tiny cookies that went to Charlotte and Saxon, served on Charlotte's tea set. Her headache seemed to be only a moment away whenever I mentioned it over those two days but she managed to enjoy her time at home. That evening I said to my husband, that we need to reiterate our family rule that if you are not hacking up your lungs or feverish, you can sit through your lessons at school.

Here is Ainsley bowing her new instrument; a 1/2 size cello. She has been enthusiastic to say the least and I am a happy mum about that. I think it was pure inspiration on both her and my parts to have her study the cello instead of the violin.

Sixteen Years is a Small Section of Eternity.

2008-12-12T13:53:00.005Z

Simon and I went on a dinner date to celebrate meeting each other sixteen years ago tonight. We enjoyed a meal at a local pub/restaurant( Fox and PheasantCarvery) that uses traditionally farmed free range animals and veg. The ambiance was perfect, the only other people were a family of four adults on the other side of the room. We could actually hear the soft music and didn't have to speak loudly to listen to each other. We laughed about what we had learned about each other over the years that we had no idea about when we first met. We enjoyed each other's company for the nearly two hours we were there. I was so full I brought half my dessert of double chocolate fudge cake(hot fudge sauce!) with vanilla ice cream home for the kids to eat. They didn't mind at all. You can tell I need to get out more, because I needed fashion advice and hair help from my girls. Here's what we ended up with:

Happenings of Monday

2008-12-08T23:20:00.005Z

Today was a fun day. I took Charlotte to the playgroup at the church in the village. It is a place where mums socialise whilst the babies and toddlers have a little play with lots of toys, puzzles etc and we gather to do a nursery rhyme/singing time thang. Charlotte liked to ride a plastic tricycle today and burst into tears when another child hot rodded away with it while she was sat down eating her buiscuit. She seemed very tired and dramatic which I want to attribute to either her stage of development or her lingering cold and not to my new late night blog reading habit that prohibits me devoting my attentions to her all evening. She has different things she prefers at each of the two play groups we go to: to the one at the village church she likes the toys you can ride the most right now and getting to eat cookies after the singing. For the other one we go to in the hall at FC (another village 2miles away) she goes for the play dough every time and again the passing tin of buiscuits after singing time. Sometimes I come home from taking the younger two children to school and get busy with "stuff" and try and talk up a tv show to her instead of taking her to playgroup. Am I a bad mother...well today I felt like an ideal mum because I came home and did what I wanted to do....getting the laundry rotated and writing letters to the school about absences during our GREAT ILLNESS and I was also able to take her to play for an hour and touch base with a couple of friends at the playgroup. It was win win, but many times I tell myself " she just wants cookies and just make her some play dough already so you don't have to feel obligated!". If I am honest though I need to get out of my house and talk to other women...it always lifts my spirits and I don't regret spending the time once I get out my door.

I volunteer in B's Y3 class on Monday afternoons and usually just listen to individual students reading their new books for a few pages. It is so cute I wish I could film them for you. I love the accents and they vary greatly even here in one school class. B is always beaming because I am present and that is why I do it mainly, because I have the time right now to do so. I also started to do random days in S's Y1 class and will be helping tomorrow afternoon to finish up their Christmas play attire. Don't know what it is yet but know the sewing has been done, so I think gluing fabric or something. It should be fun:)

After school we all meet up at the homestead and I was too tired to protest the tv being on so watched an actual game show that has math and word construction so let's say it was edutainment and then reminded eldest daughter that today was her first cello lesson~hurray!

We went and I sat in the kitchen as advised by the teacher as she said they had been out all day and hadn't heated the other rooms of the house. Her husband came home from an art class into the kitchen and we had a lovely chat about art, living in Germany, and music teachers. He showed me his charcoal sketch pad with very naked ladies posing and instead of laughing and showing how immodest I thought they looked I instead acted very non shocked and like I see someone's drawings of naked people every day. I did have to remark that the models must feel very confident to stand around without any clothes on whilst people stared at them for an hour. I think he said it was a challenging job or something. I then said "Yes you would need to have a lot on your mind " (as the naked person doing nothing but holding your body in a position for an hour, your naked body). Does that make any sense at all? After that we looked around and he said all of the art in the kitchen was his work, a lot of watercolours, then he invited me to go upstairs and showed me his studio with some of his present projects of acrylic paintings. Lovely big house, a bit uncomfortable but I am trying to trust people and to remember most people are good. The doorbell rang and the lesson was over as the next one had arrived. Good timing to end my upstairs tour. I collected Ainsley, her teacher seemed very enthusiastic saying she was able to read the music well today already. She plucked several songs then bowed them and I could hear her playing with her teacher when I was talking in the kitchen. Ainsley and I were buzzing with excitement at the fabulous opportunity it is for her to play cello. She said it feels very natural and she can picture herself playing it. I said "wonderful as you will be playing it for many years" hopefully!

We then came home and she got the cello into the living room and showed everyone her new instrument, she didn't ask if they were interested but they seemed keen once she unveiled it from the case. The next hour was noisy while I made bean salad salsa and quesadillas for dinner. I could hear Ainsley madly bowing every string over and over again, and Sage had got her violin out and after playing a few notes together decided her violin was slightly out of tune so she spent the next 55 minutes of the hour pounding or singing the same note on the piano while she tried to tune her violin. She kept calling me to go help her. It was a good time to say no thank you I am making dinner. Then S and B started with their recent habit of I'm going to hurt you if you compete with me and so you get the picture of me trying to prepare dinner amongst this...one must be patient if one's children will feel free to discover their talents...I did fairly well until Charlotte started saying her "I want my chocolate" mantra and pointing up to her advent calendar as she has been doing for small parts of each day since December 1st. That is the point I asked where DAD was. HA HA. Of course he was upstairs snoozing with a book and I chuckled to myself as the sounds would surely wake him soon and he would come and at least be the ref for B and S. He did show up once I said dinner was pretty much ready and we all sat and ate a fairly healthy meal. Funny what woke him was a child shaking his arm saying his food was ready, not the family noise downstairs. Talk about inequality! My ears are definitely not equal to my husbands.

S had the lesson for FHE which Ainsley asked him to improve upon by having a treasure hunt just as he was gathering everyone to start. Being the open to suggestion parent he is, he made one while I found a cream cheese brownie recipe online and prepared it. Once it was in the oven I stayed in the kitchen enjoying the very quietness of it just being me licking the spoon not realizing FHE was nearly over. I went in at just the right time to play Joy to the World on the piano. Great timing. I can't remember missing FHEever but I could hear them reading scriptures interspersed with my daydreaming and contributed by playing the song and saying family prayer. I'm happy with that. We enjoyed eating the brownies with ice cold milk and that was the gist of my day.

2008-12-06T23:32:00.000Z

Upon my return, Sweet Charlotte was sorting and stacking her wooden blocks. The older girls were very impressed because she simply did it whilst they watched a movie. She is two and full of life. She speaks very cleary and has been talking a lot about "adagascar" because the older kids went to see the part 2 on Friday night and brought back some fun stickers for her.
This is where we turn again and head toward our home. The last leg of the walk.
This is a church we came upon at the end of one of the paths. Simon thought it to be Norman because of the style. We met the Reverend coming up the path as we were taking photos and Saxon was climbing on gravestones (he is a six year old boy). He was very friendly and invited us to Christingle service on Sunday at 4 o'clock. Here is what I found out about this particular church:

CHURCH

The church of ST. MARY consists of a chancel, nave, south porch, and western tower. It is built of rubble in the styles of the 13th and 14th centuries.

In 1767 the church was found to be in need of repair and a rate was levied for its restoration. (fn. 78) This church, however, was pulled down in 1852 and the present one built to the north of it on the east side of the village, some fittings from the former church being preserved. In the chancel, on the south side, is a brass with figures of Robert Fulmer, 1498, and Joan his wife, and of two sons and two daughters. The inscription, however, does not fit the indent and the woman's dress may be of a slightly earlier date. On the north side, there is a brass with figures of Margaret wife of Edward Bulstrode, 1540, and of her ten sons and three daughters; the inscription is a palimpsest and has on the reverse an inscription to Thomas Totyngton, Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, 1312. Above the figures is the indent of a shield, two pieces of which, also palimpsest, are now in the rectory. The obverse shows a quartered shield of Bulstrode impaling a bend with three cinqfoils thereon; on the reverse is part of a representation of the Resurrection.

The font has a 12th-century circular bowl with a 15th-century stem and base. Upon the bowl have been carved, probably in the 15th century, eight small designs, including shields, heads (one of a bishop) and roses. There is a 17th-century cover of wood.

There is a 17th-century painting on canvas of the Ten Commandments, with illustrations and biblical explanations, in the vestry, given to the church at the end of the 18th century. In a frame on the south wall of the chancel there is a piece of red velvet, said to be part of a cloak given by Charles I for an altar frontal.

There is a ring of four bells: the treble and second dated 1908 by Mears & Stainbank; the third by T. Mears, 1808; the tenor recast in 1908 from a bell dated 1681. The old treble by Bryan Eldridge, 1640, inscribed 'Gloria Deo in Excelsis,' is still preserved.

The plate includes a small paten of 1634 and a cup of 1700.

The registers begin in 1539.

Saxon likes to pose...he does have the influence of many young ladies who also like to pose so forgive him. He likes to find a stick to carry whenever we walk anywhere..including every day on the way to school, and every day on the way back from school. Usually he waves it about and uses it as an extension of his arm to keep Bronwyn or anyone from passing him. When we get to our car he hides them nearby because I won't allow them in the car. Today he said "This will be my walking stick forever." Daddy reminded him he will grow taller and soon it would be too small. I am enjoying him exactly this tall and a small part of me wishes he would stay this way forever. When we started the walk we asked him some general questions to see if there was anything he had on his mind to talk to us about...he jumped ahead of me and said "And no, I'm not getting married!" He is so fun, he thinks he wants to still live with us when he is a grown man. He is always telling me he wants to just stay with me after his mission. We'll use that to embarass him one day when he brings a date home.
This is a trail marker and me learning to use a fancy shmancy camera. I'm enjoying it!
This is a mole hill. So next time you are making something big out of something that should be small, this is how small it should be and you are making it into a mountain instead. Saxon ran around poking them with his walking stick hoping to see a mole or perhaps kill one.
This is a house just where the trail turns and goes south. It is a lovely tranquil place round here.

Some other things we saw on our walk: The Holly and the....this is a female holly bush.

This is some Ivy growing wild on a tree. In AZ I only saw ivy painted in kitchens.

(Saxon's) Mummy Daddy Time

2008-12-06T22:52:00.000Z

This afternoon I decided I wanted to go for the circular walk behind where we live. It is over two miles long and goes through woodland past some fields with horses and sheep and to a nearby village called Hedgerly then back around again to where we live. I haven't walked it much recently since the weather has been colder and aslo I have been parking further from the village school so that the children and I have to walk about half a mile to the school so I have felt like I was walking enough. A good walk clears the mind. Unless of course you are listening to your ipod, which I have never done because I like to hear what is going on around me, and I would be afraid of someone sneaking up to get me and not being aware of it if I was rocking out in my own world.

The other children were chillaxin and the littlest one was asleep. Saxon was the only one gung ho besides Simon and I so we set off as a group of three.

2008-12-06T11:17:00.000Z

It is a sunny lovely day in England and I decided yesterday that blogging would make me a more happy person. I was able to read blogs from friends and neighbours in AZ recently and felt connected to my life there again and amazingly more whole, so I figure having my own blog would be a fantastic way to connect with my friends and family all over the world. It is one way of journaling and also a way to express creativity. I know I am a busy lady but I can type fast and think I'll be able to figure out how to post photos etc. Time will tell.