Stop and Smell the Gerbera's

2011-12-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well we have hosted the first family Christmas celebrations...A Gingerbread House decorating competition.

For half of us it didn't really get further than trying to get the house to stay up!!. I am still feeling the frustration of not getting to do the fun part of adding my decorations, let me just share the biggest disappointment of all my licorice laces with tiny colored balls to be placed around the house as outdoor fairy lights and my snowman and snowballs ready for the garden. Instead our team was left with a house that had decided to condemn itself!!. well 3 teams managed to have not only a house that was standing (an achievement in itself) but decorated. the winner of the under 16's was Jack who team member couldn't make it so he managed this all on his own and got the reward of both prizes!!. the Winning team for the over 18's goes to Kirsty and James with a very traditional Christmas cottage scene. Sam and Jon's entry is worthy of a mention too, one for standing up and two because it was a very close call decorated in a more modern way with edible spray of gold and silver and decorated very well.

So for the rest of us it was a mixture of frustration and complaining about Ikea Gingerbread Houses and laughing at the total disaster. I still think my plan of a log cabin would have been a worthy entry if only it would have stayed up!!

Oh well there is always next years competition of decorating the perfect Christmas cake!!

Getting Ruby over her fear of Christmas trees

2011-11-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

So Christmas tree therapy has commenced in the Anstey household.

Step 1 Harry and Jess hung treats on the little tree hoping she would take them off!. not sure this is a good thing long term as can see if she overcomes her fear my big tree getting dismantled bit by bit!

step 2 Sat Ruby on my lap showing her pictures of lots of pretty Christmas trees. seems to have gone well she doesn't seem scared on pictures of them.

step 3 show her the small tree again......Screamed with fear!!

Looked up if there is a name for people suffering from fear of Christmas trees.......

Its called christougenniatiko dentrophobia..

Wonder if there is a support group nearby!!

2011-11-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

This Christmas all the family are aiming to have as much fun as possible doing fun things together and have taken the amount spent on presents to a level that leaves no one feeling like any of the fun is taken away by pressure.

We are kicking off with a Gingerbread house decorating competition at our house with Christmas nibbles and drinks.

Now I won't be talking on here about my plans with Gary for ours as the children are known for a bit of snooping.

So as a family that enjoys Christmas everyone is starting to get excited and come up with plans for the different Christmas themed evenings at theirs.

So as one of my children has already put her tree up at hers! (its only November!) Jess arrived home with a very small tree no bigger than 1 foot high to put in her bedroom for her and Ruby.

As she got it out to show us all Ruby reveled her total dislike and fear of it in no uncertain terms. Then when later I was talking about where I was going to place our Christmas Tree, Ruby started screaming at the mere mention of it and madly looking around to see where it was.

Not sure where this has come from and what we are going to do about it as we usually have a very large tree!!

2011-11-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

Right in the center of Bristol is my most favorite place to visit.

St. Nicholas Market.

Growing up it was the playground and occasional work of Dishes (stood on an upturned milk crate to reach the sink) at the market cafe my Uncle owned. Or helping (eating) from the deli stall that my Mum and Auntie's worked for my Uncle. All us children would spend our school holidays there.

then as a teenager working for the book stall till I left school.

I just love everything about the place and every time I start to enter the market I can feel myself relax and just soaking up the atmosphere.

I love the way it has evolved and become the source of such variety of food, also how you can just sit and enjoy as we did on Saturday an Italian chocolate with all my children people watching. Because maybe that's one of the best things it has to offer, such an ecliptic mix of people and the chance of finding such lovely things as the handmade wool blanket next to someone selling balloon bouquets.

One day my dream is to have a stall, it's a dream that has never gone although it has changed many times over the years of what that would be a cafe, bookshop ,party shop, unusual gifts the list is endless and sometimes that really doesn't matter just to be there selling again being part of that whole vibe draws me.

So highlight apart from the lovely chocolate, the Italian leather handbag, spending time with all 6 of the children and sister who equally love the place was watching them barter with the purchase of two hats for Jack and Harry and the man selling having just as much fun as the older ones teaching the boys its great fun to barter in the market and threatening to give the £2 saved to the older ones saying they had done all the work to get it and encouraging them to always go for it as they could have walked off without any money off .

Love that place and if you visit Bristol and want to grab a bargain go see the hat man and have some fun

2011-11-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

A rare quiet moment in what has been a very busy couple of weeks. hence the lack of blogging!

Confession number one....I haven't stuck to the chuck one thing out each day..although still go around with the attitude of do we want need get rid of this

Confession number two...the garden still needs stage one of clearing ready for new.

Life has been full of Rugby..taking and watching, St. Johns Ambulance..taking

Spending time with all the family.....including two Halloween parties, the first one for all the grandchildren and all their cousin's. involving lots of sweet treats and apple bobbing, and pinata. All the grandchildren dress as characters from Monsters Inc. The second party was geared more towards the adults although all children and teenagers having great fun..this involved lots of great food done in true Halloween style. Black Russians and a blood coloured punch with floating frozen hand and jelly shots. followed by what is now becoming the annual 'Bush Tucker' trail style game.

I was out on the first round and have nothing but admiration for all who tried such things Squid, tongue Wow the teenagers were impressive!!.

Already planning next years Hogwarts party.

Now planning Christmas..this year we are spending less on presents and more on having fun..so off to Clearwell caves to meet Santa. Westonbirt for the Christmas lights. Gingerbread house decorating competition and the usual secret Santa...plus loads more

2011-10-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

So today has been one of those days where I haven't done very much. Hubby on nights so don't sleep so well and just feel tired.

Still keeping to the challenge of getting rid of stuff...mainly coming from the Garden at the moment but did chuck out another top.

Thoughts today is how to keep just living in the present when sometimes the past tries to capture your thoughts.

Next week would have been my Mum's 70th birthday and the plan was to hold a tea party inviting everyone who knew her and raising money for Ovarian Cancer. But we have all decided that is not very practical at the moment so need to rethink what we are going to do instead.

Other thoughts of the moment is the current trend to tear into Mum's these days. If it's not about teenage mum's being talked about badly the other day it was all about older Mum's being selfish for having their children late in life and how unfair it was to their children. Or the constant bringing down of single parents. then to top it all there was an article about Working mum's and how they overcompensate or stay at home mum's and how they over parent!!. I just really hate this whole bringing and tearing down of Mum's..As soon as a child is seen to do something wrong its blame blame blame!! No wonder Children are getting the message of no accountability for their actions they only have to pick up a paper to read how everything is their parents fault!. Now I am sure there truly are some Mum's who really don't care but the idea that this is what is really wrong with society is not a view I hold to. Being a Mum of 6 and knowing that you could both hold me up and pull me down depending at what stage of my journey as a Mum you want to look at! depending which of my children at which particular time is whether you will pat me on the back or look down on me. Guess what you would be wrong both times!!!. Its time we started encouraging Mum's, it's time to go against the trend and stop this Judging attitude. Its time to celebrate all types of Mum's and stop making them feel like they are not good enough we have heard for years how damaging this is to children. Guess what its damaging to MUM'S, and that is not good for them, their children or society. In fact I would go as far as to say that this is one of the biggest reason's things are breaking down in society. Just imagine you put everything into something, it means everything to you, you are constantly doing and trying to be the best you can and yet all you encounter is negative feed back both from society. Lets just focus on the teenage mum a minute. You are constantly hearing how you deliberately got in this situation how you sponge of society how you expect the government and tax payers to pay for you and your child, how your children are growing up disadvantaged. How about if everyone started saying how great teenagers who found out they were pregnant are great at rising to the challenge in most cases, how lots of them go on to study and care for their children, how well they support each other and how they overcome lots of prejudice and slurs everyday even from strangers and yet get up and carry on doing a great job.

Yes if this is coming across that it must be personal with me you are right. my beautiful daughter is a teenage mum and a great great mum to my lovely granddaughter. so that puts me in the bad mummy role as her mum and her in the bad mummy role for her child. the assumption will be I must of been a teenage mum...Sorry to disappoint no I wasn't. the assumption being that she would be a mum who didn't breast feed sorry you are wrong again. I could go on and on, but really all I want to say and all I think is lets help Mum's to feel good about themselves. lets stop attacking each other and lets stand together in our differences, in our failures in our successes.

Lets just see if we stop saying negative things about Mum's old young fat thin working not working and accept none of us are perfect and are little darlings are capable of being less than perfect regardless and in spite of us that just maybe we will all be better at this incredible challenge of being a Mum.

Guess what I miss my Mum everyday and guess what she made mistakes and I don't want to remember her any other way.

2011-10-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

Well the hubby has a few days off and so we are getting stuck into the garden. to be honest yesterday it was Hubby doing all the work and me thinking and planning how I would like it to look. stopping to watch my guilty pleasure of New York housewives. I know the programe is full of grown women acting like mean girls, caring about things rather than people too much. but I am drawn to watch it. I like seeing their houses, love checking out the style and how they do their parties. So although there's a lot not to like about it...the truth is I love watching it.

Anyways back to the garden. while watching the New York housewives they showed one of their gardens in a town house in New York. It was inspired so the housewife said on an English come french garden (whatever that is) anyways it gave me inspiration of the way forward so no longer feel so guilty that Hubby was now doing all the work and realize that my role of visionary is vital to the project. so with that in mind spent further time researching via pininterest on garden inspirations. Then helpfully relayed all my thoughts to hubby who didn't seem that interested and kept mumbling to himself about there being a park down the road at my suggestion of a lovely natural wood childrens swing set.

So today am thinking maybe taking more of an active role and persuading as I go. although already hearing mutters of 'well if you want it to be over cluttered', knowing my real dislike is for things to be over cluttered!!!. Might have to spend some more time researching the way forward in creating the best possible use of this outdoor space.

2011-10-10T11:49:00.001-07:00

Well Sunday was another day dominated by rugby...went to watch Jack play.

So today it has been all about deciding what to do with the garden. Gary has spent most of the day stripping it back so we can restart with a blank canvas.

So the main objectives are a place we can sit comfortably in. A great space for the grandchildren to enjoy. We want to take it back to grass and lots of colour and textures and fragrance.

for now will be just stripping and get rid of anything no longer want and just general tidying ready for the winter months, then in spring we will work on bringing in the new.

thoughts at the moment are wigwam. possible climbing swing set to go alongside the play house and reading corner with my fictional places sign.

Then nice comfortable patio set. turf, climbers, outdoor lights, outdoor christmas tree, and plenty of planting around the edges.

2011-10-08T03:15:00.000-07:00

Interesting day ahead.

Watching my son-in-in law play rugby with the boys, hubby and , daughter and grandson's.

Followed by a cocktail party for a friends birthday.

So in preparation have had my nails done all in different neon colours.

Need to fit in a look at what needs to go today..After yesterday's marathon sort out in the kitchen will be looking at my wardrobe to choose. I like only getting rid of one or two things at a time from there as it gives me time to really look at and try on and decide what needs to go and helps give me time to really process what way I want to go in style.

Have been using a great site called pininterest which is basically virtual style boards and you get to nose at other's lots of them are American and its great to see coming trends. love it for the inspiration it gives me. have been using it for everything party planning, recipes, home style planning the garden and loads more. Great fun. Now about to start a board to inspire me in what I want to wear that really reflects who I am.

2011-10-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

Well its not even Lunch time and we have already sorted loads of stuff to be either passed on or got rid of. the area today was kitchen equipment. Wow how much we collect in this area!!.
Now just in case you are all wondering that this is something we don't do regularly that so not true. So its even more shocking how much stuff still accumulates or gets held onto in the maybe one day it might be useful.
I can not express enough how lighter you feel after doing this. what a great sense of achievement. Also how much easier life is becoming when we have got just what we need and want to run our lives happily.
So benefits grow daily here is just a few.
I have started wearing some tops that have just been sitting in the wardrobe thinking they didn't fit. (they do Hurrah) and had two complements on the one I choose to wear yesterday.
My house looks tidier.
the things I like are catching my attention and I feel little burst of happiness as I walk around the house.
No money has been spent to achieve this just making good use of what we already had.
It takes a smaller amount of time to clear up the more pots and pans you have I've come to realize the more you use.
The bigger versions of pots and pans that are no longer needed day to day put away in another cupboard and not out on general use, has the knock on affect of being able to fit more in dishwasher so even that job is now faster.
Last but not least Jess has now taken on the challenge and is starting to feel good as she improves and makes her space better for her and Ruby.

2011-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday's stuff to get rid of became a top that was nice but would suit Jess better so although not out of the house still out of my wardrobe and into hers.

So today's thoughts have really been surrounding something that has been going on for a long time. Not going to explain fully to protect privacy but hopefully will still come across what is for me a very important thought.

So here goes, I've got a relationship not with family or friend but one that has to kept for a reason. maybe insert here someone you work with regularly (probably the best way to describe it ) you need this relationship to work but you really struggle with the person. you need to be assertive but you also need to make sure that however annoying you find this persons way of communication and actions that it would be a bad move to make it worse.

so for ages I have not liked the affect this person has on me and have spoken to people i love and respect to check out if it is something that I need to change to improve this. feedback has been mainly under the heading of ignore, don't worry, be assertive and tell them (not angrily) put boundaries in. No its not you been sensitive its someone stepping over a line. politely but firmly point it out.

so anyway today's 'now' moment came....I have been tempted to force it unnaturally on many occasions also very tempted to angrily say what I know has been needed to say.

The opening was there for me today to state what needed to be said with no offence taken put firmly in place my boundary and guess what. It was no problem for the other person and was understood it was my right to do this.

so thoughts for today..... is it because I am british?, working class and my upbringing makes it very difficult to deal with situations like this. why do I hesitate to politely stand up for myself when someone else has no problem being rude. then usually end up feeling stressed and annoyed or worse letting it build up till it ends in anger.

Why do I worry so much about what someone who I actually am not impressed with the way they say and do things will think if I stand up for myself

Ah well got there in the end and the perfect moment was given so it could be said in a non point scoring way :)

2011-10-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Change of name again..thought roses are a bit old fashioned and love Gerbera's so as this blog is evolving to be very much a Now seemed more fitting

2011-10-05T04:17:00.000-07:00

so what did I chuck out yesterday...one piece of clothing...reason was that with a critical look it really was past its best and looking very tired.

Had a lovely day yesterday spent with hubby on day off discovered a new place to shop on the Gloucester road and treated myself to a beautiful pink scarf bargain for £12. this is also one of the positives about getting rid of stuff you don't want there is room for things that you really do want.

Then went to watch Jack play rugby for school team. one proud moma!! was stood on sidelines and a few of the other parents were talking about how good he was. step up and say that's my son :).

Realized I could quickly turn into competitive embarrassing Mum very quickly. Oh well Jack is eager for me to come again so can't have been that bad.

Today enjoying spending time with Grandson and still laughing at length of text with instructions from his Mum.

Thinking about today:

Enjoying every moment possible

What to get rid of today...Gary had a tooth taken out not sure that counts

Being mindful when shopping at Cosco

2011-10-04T02:56:00.000-07:00

Well more on this de-cluttering......Was reading an article that sets a challenge to throw at least one thing out every single day for a year!

so I am thinking today about taking this challenge up

so here is my for and against

for

It would be a great to make this way of thinking a daily thought of what we still want or no longer need. becoming more of a way of life rather than a season.

would make it less of a task and could fit into the busiest of days

against

what if i couldn't find something I want to get rid of run out of things...sure this will prove to be an unnecessary fear. due to the way stuff just seems to get in one way or the other.

The writer of this article found that it made them even more mindful of what they brought and if they really wanted or needed it.

they have found a natural by product has been that they waste less money on thoughtless purchases and feel good about the things they have as they have really spent time considering each item in their lives giving them a new sense of satisfaction and enjoyment in them after they've passed the test of do I really want you.

So yes after consideration I am going to take this challenge on..so off to look for what needs to go today.

2011-10-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

So have been on a real simplify our lives agenda which has been lots of journey's to the tip and charity shops

If you want to stay in the Anstey household (people excluded from this criteria!)

you have to be used regularly or seasonally

you have to be liked visually or practically

We have to want to choose you if we were going out today to look for you

We have become addicted to de-cluttering our stuff..Both me and Gary have always been quite good at this but now we have taken it to a whole new level

It has become a daily cry I never liked this what do you think..no me neither. or a shout of we don't want this do we....no I don't.

It is so freeing, I need to say this again IT IS SO FREEING

Its shocking how many emotional attachments and memories and feelings are in STUFF....

Those clothes you force yourself to see every time you go to the wardrobe that you are going to fit into (but haven't) guess what they aren't inspiring you they are reminding you to feel many negative emotions which probably are helping you to comfort yourself with the food. Because the real truth is Even if you lose the weight guess what you aren't going to wear them because if you do lose that weight you are going to be running to the shops to buy lots of lovely new clothes

they are also giving you a false idea that you have enough clothes. so when you go to go out you try lots of outfits on that don't fit or flatter you...so the best way to inspire you is to buy and keep clothes for now that fit you now that you like now that you look good in now. When we feel good about ourselves when we no longer opt out of going somewhere because of the awful process of trying the clothes that don't fit and come to believe that we will naturally treat ourselves and our bodies better

A quick up date on family life

2011-10-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

so my last but one post talked of the arrival of Ruby and this catch up starts with the newest arrival to our clan Harvey-Jon Earl who arrived very battered and bruised and left his mummy in much the same condition yet has thrived and proved to be such a strong baby. Sam is nearing the end of her maternity leave with Jon soon to take over for 3 months due to changes in the law regarding Dads taking some of the leave.

2011-10-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Every post usually starts with it's been ages since I've blogged!! this one is probably the longest time of not using it.

so why now start to reuse??? well I have been reading a few blog's lately and have enjoy them so am going to start again Also maybe just back in that space that it appeals to put things down in writing again.

I am going to change the name and probably with it will come a new feel to it.

so Are we there yet... is now going to become stop and smell the roses. Not going to go into any big explanations as don't want to put limits on it but just the sense of sharing things that interest me right now, things I am thinking or doing right now hopefully all will be come clear as blogging commences

2010-06-19T03:19:00.001-07:00

Well soooooooo much has happened since my last post

Ruby Elizabeth Maxine Anstey-Williams has arrived and she is beautiful

Jess is doing an amazing job as a Mum so so proud of her

Sam is now Mrs Earl and we had a wonderful day celebrating with her

The above 3 sentences does not even begin to describe the wonderful times we have been having as a family

2010-04-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well Jess is now 4 days overdue. The boys are still home on easter hols and so trying to keep them amused while Gary is working hard has been challenging at points. ?Its hard to plan days out with the not knowing when the baby is coming. At least the weather has been good which has made things easier.

We need to get the kitchen floor sanded and Gary had arranged next week off to get it done as we had wrongly guessed that the baby would have been here by now. So unless she comes in the next couple of days not sure when he is going to be able to get it done in time for Sams wedding.

2010-03-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

Time as flew by since the last time I blogged. We have achieved lots of work on the house and it is starting to look really lovely. full marks to my husband for his talents and dedication to the project.

We managed a lovely Hen weekend in London for. The cocktail making was the highlight for us all with great food for lunch and the opportunity to learn and make lots of different types and get to try them all!! totally recommend it and as there is a Revolution Bar in Bristol we are all trying to figure out an occasion to use as an excuse to do it again!!.

Then this last weekend was Jess babyshower...all things pink!! it was lovely to see everyone enjoy all the games fun and food. Jess was totally overwhelmed with all the lovely gifts.

She is now on the very last leg of her journey to becoming a Mum and we are all excited to meet the newest member of our tribe

Not long now for Sams wedding....its going to be amazing as so much thought has gone into it and also we couldn't be happier to welcome Jon as our new Son-in Law

Then.....Looking forward to some great weather so we can chill and relax for the Summer

2010-01-23T06:13:00.000-08:00

Well we are now fast approaching the end of Jan birthday season in the Anstey household the girls have turned 24 and the boys 12. only mine left to celebrate on monday. I heard the girls are making me a birthday cake (something they have never attempted before!!) so should be interesting. Dan has already brought me one as a back up!!.

So there are now massive changes ahead for the family this year......My darling daughter Jessica is pregnant and due on April 11th!!..... a statement that doesn't begin to express all the different emotions........we are to become the proud grandparents of a Grandaughter...the first girl in family since Jess herself........so we have been doing all the pratical working out (a fav pastime in the Anstey house!) of that favourite game of moving the bedrooms around again!. we have learnt from past experiance and so walls and carpets are always netural these days with colour added by easy movable objects only!

We are also heading fast to Sams wedding and in the process of doing the house up so our lives are becoming very hectic. I am really happy that my job is so flexiable and that I work from home.

2009-12-15T00:36:00.000-08:00

well its great to be working again and earning some money. There is such a good feeling about doing that.
Christmas is fast approaching and I am very organised this year its been very stress free so far.
This year has been great watching Josh reactions to all the christmas stuff. He has loved meeting Santa and is enthralled with him (just like his mummy always was!). He love the BV carol service and asked if he could stay for always!.He has changed from last year that he loves joining in singing at his nativity play and was picked for Joseph. But wouldn't wear the clothes, he is not into the dress and teatowel. We get to see him today so have promised a prezzie if he dressed up today.
He has said he is fed up with all the secrets as he has realised there is hidden things upstairs and is sure i have taken his cars toy home with me for myself as he caught a glimpse of it and then it disappeared so as I left about the same time he is sure its me wanting it for myself!!.
Jacob is just enjoying taking anything he can get off the tree and is not impressed with Santa at all. He screamed in his face and snatched his present and then hid behind his mummy.
So here's looking forward to a fun filled christmas

2009-09-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

so the boys are settling in to secondary school.......

so that leads to the next question what next for me????

now there are always many things i could spend my time doing....... suggestions welcomed on a postcard!!.

do i go for easy option one a job that pays ok. fits around family life OR...........????!!!!

so at the moment its a case of listening, looking, thinking, wondering and soon taking a step to trying

2009-09-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

well jack and harry are enjoying their last weekend ready to start secondary school on monday

i have just about survived the 6 weeks holidays!!

jess is just about to start her last year

little josh has just started rugby tots

we are heading for jacob and josh birthdays very soon jacob turning 1 and josh turning 4

so time as always is not standing still

2009-07-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Its a big day in the life of Jack and Harry today as they have their last day at junior school.
We all went to their leavers service yesterday..........lots of film footage from them all of their thoughts of their time at the school and thoughts about going to a new school.....lots of pictures from the days at the school......great performances of dancing, singing, poetry and music all expressing their feelings......it was very moving

for me it is also an end to having children at junior school after many years.....taking a glance at the older 4 children who 3 are now adults (wow) and jess who is fast heading to her last year at school and has this week been doing work experiance i know that their time at secondary school will past by very fast......
as today my thoughts are with them i can clearly picture every other one of the childrens leaving services and even my own at the same school!!!

2009-06-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

its dan's 18th birthday today and i just want to list a few things that i love about my son
he has a great sense of humour
he has overcome all of lifes challenges that has come his way
he is loving, kind, and charming
hes a great son uncle brother
hes great to spend time with and is willing and loves spending time with me on our own. he has fabulous relationships with his brothers and sisters and brother-in-law
hes a very capable and talented person who uses his gifts for others
he has the ability to charm all of us into doing stuff and is open with that!!!

i am so proud of the boy he has been and now hes a man!!!. how blessed are we as a family to have him.

2009-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

well as Gary is on nights thought i would take the opportunity to update my blog..

well this year seems to be flying by and we are heading very quickly into the next two important celebrations for our family, firstly my nephew josh and then Dan turning 18... wow!!!

as i've mentioned in previous blogs this year had had and still to come some great family celebrations and its great to spend sooooo much time on celebrations this year.

i think this year has been great for recovering a sense of some parts of who we are as a family in that we love to celebrate and get creative doing it.

so we had even added to this with our ' ere come dine with I' the anstey bristolian version of come dine with me. kick started off with the taylersons giving us the name and theme of a very funny bristolian evening with karoke singlong and great food. followed by sam and jon giving us an evening at the "Badgeworth Tavern" turning their home into a pub for the night with great pub food and playing darts all night.
next is Dan and goodness knows what he will come up with but i have heard a few rumours of world war two themed evening with blackouts!!, or the typical british bbq. lastly it will be me and Gary.... but i am not giving anything away but as always we play to win!!. when we have finshed this round the next round is the credit crunch round and we all have to stick to budget set.

well thats it for now need to go and plan and plot..ttfn

2009-03-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

if my aim this year is to learn all about celebrating then this year so far is going very well!!!.
have just recently enjoyed a wonderful mothers day (what a great day to have six children!!).
a new feature of this year was the older ones settting me questions about them all and in exchange for correct answers i was rewarded with a present, thankfully i knew all the answers!!.
even as this month draws to a close we finish it as a family celebrating my dads and his twins 70th,

2009-02-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

time for me is moving very quickly this year.... tomorrow we have pancake day which has got to be one of my personal favorite days from childhood. so many happy memories of my mum making pancakes and allowing us to have a go at tossing them. this year hopefully josh will be able to try his hand at tossing one.
then the next day is jessica's 15th birthday, Wow, my little girl is growing up so quickly.
at the moment i am fighting a nasty flu virus and thought i was on the winning side until today when it has hit back hard with nasty symptoms. so hoping that i will feel much better tomorrow.
recently we have been spending a lot of time up by the suspension bridge where there is a natural slide down a small part of the cliff and it is proving to be a real hit with all the boys in the family. i was persuaded to go down and gravity worked against me much to the familys mirth as i went twice as fast down in a most undignified way!!. but at least i fared better than the poor lady who went after and split her trousers!!!
so as feb is drawing so quickly to a close my mind is on march and all that is already in the diary looks like a lot of celebrating ahead with my dad and his twins 7oth birthday. dans, girlfriends 18th, and sams fiance birthday. It has really struck me this year how due to the increasing size of our family how many celebrations we now have.......and as i reflect back to how many hard times we have had i love the fact that each and every one of us Espically my grandson josh loves to celebrate.....in fact my discipline this year is to celebrate and model that to my family just like my mum taught me as a small child that out of a few eggs, some flour and milk what great fun could be had....so get the pan out

2009-02-11T01:55:00.000-08:00

well along with the rest of bristol we have been having fun in the snow. its funny how for us brits the smallest amount of snow brings the city to a standstill as we are just not prepared for it. Its great how everyone turns in wonder at the first hint of snowflakes.

the title of my blog is about a journey with constant cries of 'are we there yet'.....with excited cries of 'no, but we can see the sea'. this year brings a sense of being on a part of the journey that will cover plenty of ground, one because it needs to, two because it symbolises where we are at as a family

WHY?
we are currently focusing on decorating the house
we are at the stage of preparing jack and harry to embark on the transfer from juniors to secondary school
Gary is soon to be undertaking another degree
we are in the process of planning a wedding with samantha
jess is at the important stages re GCSE'S

the list above just includes the known things that we are commited to.....
then there are the things that we feel, want, need, to place in varying ways and importance

our relationships with...God, husband, wife, father, mother, grandparents, daughter, brother, sister, inlaws, friends...
how we spend our time.......
how we spend our money.....

the older i get the more intentional i realise i want to be about all the above.... (i have always been very focused regarding this)

yet within all this i want to keep an intentional balance of staying chilled and 'smelling the roses' as we go beause to end where this blog started i wouldnt miss the wonder and fun of the snow for anything even though after a while it gets a bit annoying how much it stops us getting on with the things we need to be doing after a very short time

2008-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

well the ansteys have had a very good christmas in spite of Gary having to work most of it on nights!!. we had a wonderful christmas lunch with the whole family which is ever increasing. cooked by Gary and Harry mainly. lots of great moments of stockings, lovely presents, good food and lots of tradtional games.
we have lots to look forward to with more celebrations in the near future.
firstly Sam and Jon getting engaged... so have been busy sorting out a cake and decorations for a party to celebrate followed by planning the Wedding.
looking forward with interest to what the New Year has for us all as a family
looking back on this year with gratitude for a great year...

so my thoughts as this year is coming to a close.........
a yearning and hunger for God...

2008-12-04T16:37:00.000-08:00

its late and i should be in bed but for some reason dont feel tired...so thought i would just put some thoughts down...
i have often pondered the way that emotions that are so opposite like happy and sad co-exist at the same time within.
that even at the most darkest moments there are some of the brightest moments.
that contentment and discontentment sit side by side.
not that these emotions, feelings are fighting each other but that they are both there equally felt.

in times of change its easier to be more aware.
i like that i have always been able to feel happy as well as sad
that i can see bright moments in dark places
contented as well as discontent

maybe the one that i love the most is the ability (gift) to laugh (find things funny) in the worst of times.
maybe the best thing of all is that this isnt written because things are tough at the moment, actually they are quite good. i am not pondering this to jolly myself along to see good things in hard places
i just find it amazing that when i feel totally hopeless i realise that ive not lost hope

2008-12-01T00:54:00.000-08:00

well its been a while but speaking to someone the other day (you know who you are!!!). i realised that its good even if its not very often to keep this blog going. so for a long time its really been about making a decision to pick out the reasons i have to be thankful and using this space to in some small way be a reminder that even though the anstey family journey has been a bit bumpy at times that we take time to enjoy the great moments thread throughout.

so whats been going on with us
well there has been big changes Kirsty and james and josh and jacob no longer live at the end of our road after 4 years of them living so close they haved moved (and some might say defected to the dark side!!!) to kingswood. this is a great move for them a lovely house with an amazing garden which is going to be great for them as a family. the even b
igger change for us as a family is that they have taken Dan with them as their new lodger. which is such a great first gentle step for him and also great for kirsty and james to have help in taking on a much bigger place. for us it makes it easier to know that he is safe with great people and to have a little laugh to ourselves knowing that kirsty is good at helping him realise that he is not still living with his parents!!!. its been a big change for the younger 3 and i would like to report that they were busy adjusting to big brother leaving but they were to busy plotting and planning what they were doing with his bedroom!!! i think we all realise that if the girls are anything to go by we will see dan more now he has moved out than before!!!.

so not long now to christmas and i am really looking forward to it this year. i am quite organized and so hopefully it should be chilled and full of fun.

so this year has brought lots of changes and its not even over yet...there has been some great things happen for us as a family and some hard things to deal with a long the way.....
so reasons to be thankful ...........
the lovely Jacob......that he is strong and has survived some tough moments with his health and gone from strength to strength
Josh...lots of changes for him a little brother he adores, starting and loving preschool and a lovely new house and more important garden to explore and have adventures in
Harry.... becoming a great cook. and a wonderful year at school
Jack.... having a good year learning new skills and developing a new love for reading.
Jess.....a fantastic year both home, school, and just about everything
Dan....big changes..fulltime work and moving out....
kirsty.......mum of two.....lovely new house
sam.....new job...life going really well
Gary ...graduated and enjoying first posting...plotting and planning for next step

and that leaves me....one very happy wife and mother.......proud of all they have achieved and who they are ...

2008-10-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

well its really been a long time since i blogged. so whats been happening to the anstey clan........ well the biggest news is the lovely addition of baby jacob.... so now we have two lovely grandsons which is fantastic. we have also had the oldest grandson starting preschool today so lots of changes for kirsty. its amazing to think that 19 years ago i was taking her to the same preschool. also this week i have been filling in forms for jack and harry to start secondary school for next september. i am so looking forward to christmas as they will all be coming to us and we are planning some great times.

2008-07-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

what a sad sight of the grand pier at weston on fire. that greeted us all this morning so many happy memories both as a child and with my own children and more recently my grandson. a visit was already planned for this latest school holidays.

2008-06-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

the last post on this blog was about getting the wii unfortunatly we got burgled and it was taken along with the laptop. it has since been recovered and is currently along with other things with the police. it doesnt look like its going to be return very quickly. so today i have purchased an ibook, which i am very pleased with so far. it was the lovely josh t who converted me to them when he was staying with us when our lap top was stolen and would let us have a lend of his. so firstly dan has had one for his birthday and then ive now got mine
well being burgled was horrible not for what we lost but emotionally and knowing that we were in the house while gary was on nights, not nice!!. but you just cant let it get to you.
oh for thoose who know when dans birthday is and wondering how he already has his present, me too!! that boy is too charming , but credit where credit is due he did scource my ibook at a great price.

2008-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

well whats new in the anstey household........., its holidays for the kids and gary was on nights so we invested in a wii, which for anyone who remotely knows our VERY competitive family will realise has been a great hit with our family. not sure its been that successful for the noise level with lots banter going on. we have already worked out how to play darts sitting down , (jack even lies down) rather undoing the object of making kids more active but creative non the less. it has been hilarious to watch some playing and one who will remain nameless has resembled a penguin and a rather naughty person taking a video and threatening to put on you tube!!!,

2008-03-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

had a great moment yesterday of seeing the scan of number 2 grandchild. watching the screen and seeing so clearly this perfectly formed baby was such a special moment. the verse of how God knits us together in our mothers womb was in my mind the whole time. how incrediable that we can get a glimpse of that, whatever would the psalmist have made of scan machines bringing vividly alive his words. for me it just makes my heart turn to worship and stand in awe of God the creator of life.

2008-03-03T09:47:00.001-08:00

well mothers day is certainly a great time to have 6 children. my day started with breakfast in bed made by the lovely jack all on his own and with no prompting or help. although he did help me to eat it as it was quite a feast and definately included some of his favourite things!!. followed by the lovely daffodils and a great card from the younger 3. followed by a yummy, mummy cup and the biggest box of chocs you could ever wish for from the lovely dan. followed by greens and blacks choc and a big kiss from the lovely grandson and some lovely hand made fridge cake and iced biscuits made by him and his little cousin supervised by uncle jack. with a lovely garden plant from kirsty and james . a lovely pampering day of facial and other bits and pieces and an outfit from the lovely sam. and then a great husband who organised a mothers day lunch with all of them and prepared a feast with help from the girls partners. and even dans girlfriend bring a bottle of wine for me. and then to top it all a lovely present from my best mate who allways likes to buy a pressie as we laughingly refer to her as child number 7. another bottle of wine from sam and some great cards from all of them. yes they certainly have done their mother proud. a little bit of a different story than when i was a little girl about 9 or 10, my dad gave me some money to get my mum a present so off i went to the shop and saw this lovely little bag that i really liked so i brought that for myself and with the little bit of change brought a small bag of maltezers. when i got home i got a little plate out and put a paper doily on it and open the bag of chocolates and eat a few and then left a couple on the plate and presented them to my mum the next day. feeling a tad guilty but i still remember the lovely bag!!!!. so welldone to my lovely children for being a bit more generous than their mother!!!

2008-02-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

last friday was my aunts furneral, which was both sad but with a great sense of celebration of her life. we all went for a cream tea after which was a great way to remember her as she loved her cream tea's. this friday it will be four years since my mum died and as a family we will take time out to go for a meal one of the things my mum loved to do with us all, and take time to remember some of the great memories we have. at my aunts furneral last week it was said that the greatest last gift we have is that of remembering. i dont know if it is the greatest but its good to remember some of the fun stuff,......so heres some stuff i am choosing to remember this year.

my aunt and my mum working on the deli stall in the 70s down st. nicholas market serving different stars performing at the old vic and bristol hippodrome and telling us kids who they were, after debating between the two of them who it was.
spending all our summer holidays down the market with them as my mum and 2 aunts worked there so all us kids would have to either keep out of trouble or help in either the market cafe or the deli stall (known as the cheese stall) both owned by my uncle and when we were old enough getting ourselves employed on other stalls, for me the book stall. great memories of them letting us kids eat the youghurts that had that days date on them as they wouldnt be able to sell them the next day.
days out to clevedon with both our familys and lots of dodgy perms on us girls!!!!.
a scar from a burn that i got after nagging my older cousin to let me have a go at ironing when my aunt left the room, i got a biscuit as i had already got hurt and my poor cousin got sent to bed without her tea!!!
all us girls being brought the same outfit from the clothes store next door as soon as new stock came in!!!. great days, fun filled days, lots of telling offs for the mischief all of us would get into but after all there was 11 of us kids .

2008-01-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

nearly at the end of the busy birthday month and pleased to say j and h had a lovely birthday and are very pleased with their heelies and all the other lovely presents. glad to say its only mine left which i dont really have to do much about.
have now got a lovely picture of all the children in my front room and every time i look it makes me smile. not only is it a very natural pic of all of them, they are all laughing and have just jumped on a sofa. its great. it really for me represents how far we come that we are all just getting on with life and having fun and are relaxed.
the photography is great in that they all look like they are just about to move and that is a great way to describe all our thoughts for this coming year, a year where we just get on with what ever comes our way and what the year has got for us but from a place of rest, recuperation and relaxing...........
there already are a few indicators of some things for this year and a few possiblities and as always just hints and nudges of the things to come only knowing in part................as my birthday approaches i really want to grasp hold of, pursue greatly how to make the most of all this year brings.

2008-01-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

well today is my beautiful eldest two girls birthday and its incrediable to me that they are now the grand old age of 22. spending time with them today i look at them both and am so proud of who they are. when i found out i was pregnant with them both, i was so over the moon (not always the reaction people have to being told you are having twins). i couldnt have been more happy and even now i can picture them the first time i gazed down and saw them after coming around from having them, after months of being told they were boys and naming them samuel and ben!!!!. it was great to meet samantha and kirsty and great to know that i got to be their mum so for my two beautiful girls thankyou God and i pray your continuing blessing on their lives today and for this coming year

2008-01-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

well another year is upon us. in the anstey household we have being having a great time over the christmas period and tomorrow its back to school for all the children after what has been a very sucessful christmas. lots of great presents, good food, drink, lots of games and lots of nice friends all through the hoildays. Gary had to work most of the holiday but it still worked well. the favorite game we played has to be poker face.
as we all reflected on the past year it was great to hear all the different things that all the family have enjoyed. then hearing all the different things that we want to work on, achieve, change next year.
i think its fair to say that all of us are determined to make the most of this year

2007-12-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

at times its so easy to get into a negative way of viewing things and so for me this past year to blog every now and again was a discipline to take time and be thankful. its been a great thing to do and has helped me to take time to really think about the great things big and small to be thankful for in my life.
today was garys first day after qualifing in his new job, he had a great day....for that i am really thankful for as he has been such a great husband and dad and to see him look at me tonight and laugh that he has actually achieved what he set out to do many years ago makes me thankful.
to see how well my children are doing also makes but more importantly who they are becoming is also something that makes me thankful.
recently to rediscover some of the things that i really love to do and feel passion arising inside of me that makes me thankful
theres one thing that is capturing my heart at the moment, that is a God who loves me and pursues me with passion..........all through my life there has been many moments that have overwhelmed me that he loves me soooooooo much that he pursues me!!!!!!!!. he works hard on my behalf......... sometimes i sit and ponder.........sometimes i sit and remember.............sometimes it just comes with a force and a passion how much he loves me..........

2007-12-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

just having a little chuckle at jack and harry who went to school dressed like boys from 1940s, they looked so adorable and very much like my dads school photos. well the christmas tree is up and the house is filled with the aroma of pine, have started wrapping presents, weve done the panto oh yes we did, been around the neighbours for mincepies and mulled wine, gary finshes uni today and finished his old job yesterday, ready to start his new job on monday, all is fairly calm so lots of reasons to be thankful

2007-11-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

reasons to be thankful, cheerful and grateful...................
well having just survived and came out of the other side of a paticularly nasty sickness bug that managed to get all of us in the household its amazing how good life can seem.
for some beautiful flowers received
for a great dining experiance at the colleys supper rooms
looking forward to going to the panto on saturday and pracitising our shouts of 'hes behind you' 'oh no he isnt'. the panto isnt just great fun and starts off the festive season in this house but its a very special time for us all as it is ran by the family after burns club and is an opportunity to deal in a great way anything that still comes up at this time of year for any of us about the house fire we had. but it is great that it also comes as a marker of how far we have come and also we have been able to reach out to some of the new members. such a healthy and fun way to do family counselling, its also great to apply that to maybe other areas of our lives. it always reminds me of Gods way of getting his people to remember important times of rescue in the old testament marked with food and parties what a great way it is to sit around eating food and having a panto but still having serious moments of reflection. i love how the jewish people tell the story of esther almost like a panto with boo and jeers for the baddie and how interatctive it is...............so on saturday we will be booing and hissing and eating and laughing and listen to some peoples stories and telling them ours and reflecting how far God has brought us

2007-11-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

well its been a full on time recently..... weve managed to fit in garys birthday my new son-in-laws birthday and celebrations of both including a chinese banquet, and a visit to italians. a day trip to bath (always a good choice in my opinion) a dash to the hospitial with a not far off giving birth lady!!!. the usual stuff thats involved in a family our size. but the most funny time weve had this week is a photo session for our six children. as we arrived it was the faces of my lot as they heard the current family who were being instructed to be like fishes and also to jump up and down and run around. for that moment priceless. but then we get on to our own photo session where they are asked to play fight, run around , pile on top of each other and more. unhelpfully at the moment me and gary are killing ourselves with laughter as our children are being just like we would and not really going for it!!! (bar the pretend fighting!!!). piling on top of each other for maybe a family of 2 may work, for my lot!!!!!!!!!!!! the photo session wasnt all bad and they coped well with it but it was worth every moment to see my children and gave us the biggest laugh ever.......going to see the previews this week and steeling myself for a lot of emotional blackmail by the sales people which usually is a waste of their time but beautiful images of my children are i confess going to be hard if not impossible to resist!!!!!. every time i say i am going to set a budget and stick to it i get The Look, from gary as if to say not in a million years. but whatever happens it will be good to get some great photos of all the children having fun and almost a statement in its self of how far theyve come after such a hard time!!!, even rereading that last statement i can see i am going to be a salespersons dream!!!. will probably spend the next couple of days fasting and praying for selfcontrol and at the least will have saved some money to put towards photos

2007-11-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

things i am enjoying at the moment.........
new series on revelation that started on sunday, one of my favourite books.....for me its just one of the books that brings such comfort, which may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think about revelation!!!, its where we get such great truths like Jesus is who holds the keys.........cant imagine anything more comforting than that.
my family......weve just had some great times recently times to just be and times to have fun
jodi picoult books, not my normal read but i am really enjoying reading them.
Gary having his first job ready for qualifing, also for him being asked to be best man for one of his friends. its great that hes getting some nice things happening as he has been so faithful to our family.

things i am looking forward to .........
whats next........there is so many possibilites for change now we are entering a new season that i am slowly getting a bit excited at what that could mean.
our family diners club............our eldest girls have come up with this great plan that we have a map and blindfolded put a map pin in and whatever that country is we will research, cook, drink and have music etc.. so we get to slowly work around the world..... i am looking forward to learning more and trying different food, but also its great that the girls and their partners want to spend time doing this with me and Gary we both feel very privilaged with the relationships we have with them and their other halfs who are already working out maps and getting ready to host this monthly event. in addition we are all going to go out on a regular basis and make it a different resturant each time (this we have already started )
mostly though i am looking forward to God working in me and my familys life, healing us where necessary, giving us back our confidenance, making us stronger, drawing us closer, helping us in our brokeness and protecting us while we are still so fragile

2007-11-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

have been thinking a lot recently........ feel that it has been a period that has thrown up lots of questions and thoughts.

2007-10-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

today is a great day in the anstey household, espically for gary as he has found out that 4 years of hard work has been rewarded and he knows he has his honours degree!!! this has been an incrediable journey for someone who suffers from dyslexia, but also more impressively has never given up, through all that life has thrown at us as a family during this period, at times the best course of action sometime appeared to be to give in or defer his goal. so good on you gary for all that you have achieved, at a high cost. you so deserve this, such a great example to our children!! as we sat many years ago praying about this very day God has been good and remained faithful to all that you hoped and dreamed for, we may have picked up lots of bruises along the way but YOU MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as i was writing this dan appeared in from school and Jack said Dan i need to tell you the good news...................Weve got a lamborgini (prob spelt wrong) on the need for speed psp game!!!!!!!!!!!!, sorry gary somethings are more important to a 9 year old!!!!!

2007-10-10T02:13:00.000-07:00

so what has been happening...........well mainly being amused by my lovely grandson. he has now taken to calling me mum, in the same tone as all my children use, he still says im nanny but thinks that this way of calling me is the way to go.. he calls his mum mama. if you ask him who i am he will say nana. but when he wants me its mummm!!!, he walks in my house and shouts mumm, ready, and wants to go out somewhere, when we go in a shop he will point at things and say thats nice, thats nice. having a 2 year old tends to let you know about the things you tend to say most!!. when he wants jack and harry he calls boys, very loudly!!!!. potty training was easy as he wanted to be like jack and harry and pefers to go on the toilet just like them, he is very proud of his boxers!!!.

2007-09-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

have had a bit of a break from blogging main reason being my new found friend facebook. i like face book it enables me to talk to friends and if im really honest i like it because of pacman. its a game that reminds me of my youth and the lost of a boyfriend (not a great loss!), because i would always find pacman more interesting on a night out down the pub. its probably pacman that helped me to realise that he was not the one for me!!!!. but i must admit facebook has that schoolground horror, question is any boby going to be my friend???!!!!!., luckly the answer has been yes, imagine the horror!!!!!!!!. blogs have always been an up and down relationship with me, i never blog what i would really like to blog. but i love the theraputic banging away at the keyboard that seems to in some way release something in me, how ever trival it maybe. theres a longing to be heard in all of us!!!, then a fear of not being understood or even rejected. maybe thats why im leaning more to facebook at the moment as now the 'will anyone be my friend' bit is over and my pacman score is a little bit more decent than that first attempt! (which was pitiful) im getting to chat with people i havent been able to for a while and its kind of nice. reasons to be espically grateful is garys dissatation has now left the building!!!!! and all children are all in school. which for me will do very nicely thankyou..........so see you on face book if you want to be my friend???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Its only a confetti gun!!!!!

kirsty and james wedding

2007-08-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

mr and mrs taylerson
all the girls
didn't they scrub up well!!!!
josh having fun!
the proud parents

2007-08-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

twas the night before the wedding! bride to be totally chilled. groom relaxed. 1 bridesmaid still practising walking in her high heels. 1 bridesmaid having all the nerves for her twin. two pageboys getting excited. 1 pageboy oblivous to everything. 1 car valeted and ready. 1 house ready, then not, redone, then ready on never ending cycle!. spray tans developed nicely ! father of the bride laughing to himself at his speech!!!. one mother of the bride chilled.......all is well, and all lived happy ever after the end, (till tomorrow!!!)

well done Dan!!!!!

2007-08-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

reasons to be very thankful. dans results came through today and he passed all of them with good grades. everything we hoped for, so on to 6 form with a level playing field.

2007-08-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

had final meeting with glass boat today and dropped off cake. also went with gary and picked up his suit and all the waistcoats today. he looked great in his suit, i think i better invest in a few tissues for the day. with all my boys dressed in suits and waistcoats. the girls in their beautiful bridesmaid dresses and of course the bride in hers its more than a wife and mum can bear!!!. will definately get gary to help me put a few well chosen photos up after.
so reasons to be thankful. everyone relaxed. a lovely lunch out with my hubby and a makeover by the clinque stand with a few little bits to take home with me all paid for by my boots reward points which i having been saving up so reasons to be thankful quite a few!!!!

2007-08-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

was in a supermarket queue today behind a lady and her son about 9 years old. he wandered off and came back with some sweets, 2 packets. can i have these mum. no put them back there bad for you. boy goes off comes back with 6 much bigger packs of sweets. mum very stressed at this point. what are you doing put those sweets back your teeth will fall out. boy replys but one of them are for you. mum replys i cant eat them thats what gave me my ulcer. stop being silly put them back. boys stands there. mum takes two of the packets as says oh go on then you can have these 2 for you and your sister. then looks at the boy and grabs the rest okay you can have them all, but dont be so silly next time all the sweets will rot your teeth and they will fall out. now dont be so silly next time and off they went. Harry turned to me and said that boy wasnt silly was he mum he got exactly what he wanted it was the mum who was silly wasnt she!!!!!!!!. the whole queue cracked up laughing

2007-08-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

well its been a while. so as one of my great friends puts it 'whats bin 'appening then?'...............lots of things, i suppose the first thing to confess is we all wimped out of the camping, weather forecast was sooo bad. now normally we would all feel like we missed out as its so good to get away and is great to come back with renewed vigor. but to be honest i think we all enjoyed swaping it around and doing some really great fun days out and happily came home to our beds. we were very disciplined at not doing any of our normal routine and we really grasped every bit of good weather and hit the beach when it was. yesterday we took the boys to london and went on the london eye which was great, also did lots more of the sights and managed lots of tube rides as the boys love them. tonight me and Gary went to waggamamas for some really great food to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we did it a day early because kirsty has her hen do tomorrow. the wedding is now just over a week away, but thankfully there isnt really much left to do but enjoy.
so things to be thankful about.........a great husband.......some cool times out.........a very relaxed and happy anstey family household, (most of the time!!!)

2007-07-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

the series on Grace has been great at church these last few weeks. combined with my current reading of Sex God by rob bell, has done a lot of great things, ive been encouraged, reassured, convicted, repented, shuffled around, looked around. laughed at myself, felt God laughing with me, recieved healing, felt my wounds bound up, moved to look up!!!!and loads loads more. its great when God ministers in power through preaching and teaching, and general obseveration.

my favorite line from the book is It seems to be about this and really its about that......... a quick example of this is a couple arguing over how to slice a tomato, when really its about other stuff, that really is about something completely different............you have to really read the book to understand what im writing but its something that has totally captured me to ask my self constantly what is this really about.....how im feeling, reacting to something..........and then what is what ive discovered its really about........really about!!!!!!

my favourite quote from Mr Cole on sunday was his parting shot of the story of Jonah gives us all hope as it shows that God uses grumpy old prophets to reach the lost (and with probably the most sucess of any evanglist numbers wise!)

2007-07-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

things im loving at the moment........Sex God by rob bell., my new purse style bible. my new birkinstocks x2 and just so it doesnt look like its all about material things, the beautiful rainbow on the way to wbs last night. a lovely unplanned sunday roast at the Boca Bar after church on sunday, (totally recommend it). A very moving clip from 'The Whizz' that God is using.

even though ive used this blog to try and stick to the discpline of looking at what im thankful for sometimes its good to bring a balance into this, so heres what im not looking forward to...........yes its heading to that dreaded time of year.........packing for camping........having a quick read on toms blog and hearing that the weather was quite bad at the Gower last weekend(even though its a little known fact that it rains the least in the Gower than the rest of Wales, try telling that to the Via crowd!!!) I now am mentally trying to work out what we will be needing to take, how its going to fit, (its the only time of year i miss the transit van), plus this year we are going for longer and someone who will remain nameless decided that it would be a great idea to take some bikes this year!!!

2007-07-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

more wedding preps going on in our household. makeup and hair trials taken place tonight. seeing kirsty brought us all to tears including the makeup and hair person, but seeing as she is part of our family one of my many cousins who helpfully qualified just in time to do the wedding. it was just one of those moments when seeing her it hit us all how we all wished my mum could have been there to see her. my cousin was always very close to my mum and it just seemed so moving that she had created this perfect hair and makeup and kirsty looked so amazing that it just got to all of us. well best that we all get it a bit out of our systems now before the big day. then me and jue spent a while after everyone had gone talking about mum which was good really even if it meant a few more tears. oh well it was bound to happen with us knowing only to well how much she would have loved this day.
so things to be thankful for.............makeup, and hair went well for all of us......bar a few tears!!!
rest of plans are coming on well......... but most importantly yet again im thankful for having such a lovely mum who everybody who knew her cant help but miss at the same time as being moved to tears then being moved to laughter because of who she was

2007-07-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

well what have i been up to since ive last blogged. wedding preparations, wedding preparations and a little more wedding preparations. oh and just for a bit of light relief a few trips to ikea. on top of that hubby very busy. plus the family annual trip to the gower under canvas growing ever closer. Actually where i should now be booking us in for marriage therapy we are surprisingly okay. although when i asked the florist today about wedding photos and also had to ask kirsty how to spell my own name for the wedding rsvp and then Gary rang his brother to wish him a happy birthday today a month late!!!!!!
but actually ive lots to be thankful for so here goes......... all plans for wedding going really well and one happy daughter and future son-in-law. 2 lovely lads in the shape of dan and josh t. who put together the first lot of ikea funiture, even if they did manage to chuck away one part down the tip not realising it was for one of the units!!!!, and had a seriously large bag of screws left over!!!! they did do a great job and worked really hard i just think maybe jue will want gary to put her new bed together as a few screws and a bit missing could have a more drastic impact!!!!!!

2007-06-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

loved the new shrek movie, was a bit worried that it would turn out not so good but for all of us who went tonight we loved it, if laughter is healing then we certainly had a lot of healing going on tonight.

2007-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

having a proud mum day regarding the lovely Dan. we all went to the 6 form centre today to confirm details of Dans admission. to hear from the head regarding dan and the way the school views him and how impressed they are with what he has acheived in such tough circumstances and the postive feedback from both his main school teachers and the home school teachers also the decision that they are happy to have him without it even depending on results of his exams. to see the affect of the heads words on Dan. the way the head explained exactly why they would not only accept him but would welcome him. Its the way we feel about it all but to have this man say it was a bit of a tear jerking moment for his parents, his last words was go and have a great holiday dan you deserve it for all youve acheived!!!!!, what a great moment for dan and an extra early birthday present in time for his 16th on sunday. Dan never missing an opportunity managed to secure which teachers he would have and which classes had the best girl ratio in his favour!!!!!!(maybe not the best help in keeping his mind on the learning but none the less thats my boy, see an opening and goes straight for it

2007-06-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

spent a lovely day getting more things sorted for kirstys wedding. visted the venue the glass boat after their recent refurbishment. Its such a great place for her wedding, its got such great memories for our family already as thats where me and gary had our wedding reception and its also where we held mums surprise 50th birthday . its funny to think thats where they have decided to get married.
managed to get my mother of the bride hat!!!!, which is shocking as i dont do hats and was very surprised to find one i liked so snapped it up, they even gave me a free hat box. all in all a very productive day with a nice lunch in st. stephens cafe, and a stop of in starbucks, a few more purchases for kirsty, and both of us buying some stuff that was demostrated (neither of us can ever resist things when they are demostrated, jues made of sterner stuff!!!!) so things to be thankful for all of the above plus a husband who willingly picked us up to save above hat in box having to travel home on the bus, and who shares the same weakness for demo products so completly understands the need to buy!!!!.

2007-06-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

Its only been a few hours and ive already started moving things around in home. I just love change of any sort. it energizies me. maybe its not change, but space, timewise, end of routines, it just seems to excite me with a whole concept of excitement, A God sort of excitement that anything could be on the horizon and not the same old same old of knowing what is planned day to day. I knew i would feel relief when the tutoring stopped as for me it felt so restrictive. I knew the longing for days of old of just responding to what i felt like doing or felt i should be doing and having the freedom to do that. in my house and choosing to go outside is now mine again is bliss. To say that i feel like a bird who has been let out of her cage. maybe because there is so many people with needs and demands in my life, needing me to quite rightly be there for them, to yet again have a few hours in the day to re-energize, body, spirit and soul feels great!!!!

2007-06-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

last exam for dan tommorrow. roll on the freedom for both of us. Dan will finish no later than 11 am and 15 mins later will be out the door on the way to salcombe for a well earned break on his friends boat. I'm just so proud and grateful for all he has achieved. its been a tough year but to have turned a tough situation around and now plans for 6 form back in place is testament to his strength and commitment and Gods goodness and refusual for his plans to be robbed for Dans life. i know he couldnt have acheived this without the help from the hospital home tutors and the way they helped was great, they really believed in him and helped him to start beliving in himself that all was not lost
A bit of a blank canvas for me in some ways as so much had to change or be given up . lots of things learnt along the way. Ive changed, the family has changed.............but i can see the sea!!!!!!!. my blog name comes from my own childhood and also my childrens when ever a long journey was undertaken the cry as im sure is true of any car with children in it is our we there yet. my recent new addition of no but i can see the sea was to capture the season im in now of when we were children great excitment would come on us when you could at last glimpse the sea the cry of our we there yet became less urgent.

2007-06-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

well im sat here now as Dan is doing his biology exam in the other room and Gary is at uni. cant really get on with anything else at the moment and so i thought i would have a look at the B.V site. which has been mixed as most people havent updated their blogs for a while so nothing new to see. but it was good to have a look at the ones who have espically the photos. i really must learn how to put some on my blog.
well things im thankful for at the moment is..........being taken out by Dan last night to the cinema just him and me. (how cool is it that my teenage son wanted to do that with me!!!!!!) i gave up my fav night of t.v to go as i wasnt going to miss up on that opportunity. we went to see spiderman 3, which to be honest wasnt as good as the other 2 in our humble opinions but still had a few moments. too be honest we both thought it went on too long. I know jack loved it when he went the other day.
Jess is in france at the moment and not back till friday. missing her but glad she has this chance of going. jess is such a girly girl what with her pink suit case full of pink clothes and the amount of stuff required for 5 days was staggering. every time i turned round she was cramming something else in. she has this great job for the local deli where she works for a couple of hours once a month and earns money plus gets to bring home some of the produce. its all organic and home made by the owner so we get to enjoy the fruits of her labour as well. this week it was olive bread, homemade pizza, fetacheese tart, and a lovely almond tart. she also brought some goats cheese as a present for yours truely from a guy who had a stall next to them. her boss also treats her to smoothies and a soup for lunch. how cool is that.
J and H settling back to school and home after both being away sperately last week. Jack was so sweet as he really missed harry sooooooo much. harry got to do some really great things like canoeing and speedboat, also days out to places like monkey world and the beach. jack got to go to the cinema and swimming and cycling and got taken out for meals. its great that all the children are having such a good time. that when they are going off to do stuff that its not because anyone is in hospital as has been their experaince for so long its just for fun

2007-06-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

well its exam time in our house, Dan had his first exam today, we had to change the clock for another one as the invigilator couldnt cope with our backwards one. so far so good, counting the days him and me both as invigilators coming in every day until the 15th now. had a great weekend lots of quality and quantity time with hubby as all children were in different places. now its time to put head down as hubby busy beavering away number crunching as he calls it.
so things im thankful for.........Dan and how well he is coping.........a great meal cooked by daughter number 1, it was totally fab. a lovely pin badge given to me by a close friend in memory of my mum as boots are selling them in aid of ovarian cancer screenings to help in the fight against the silent killer as its know. as from our experiance with mum it certainly will be great if this can be detected sooner so the sucess rate can increase. its actually 4 years ago this week that we discovered that mum had it, so its very timely to receive this pin and if you happen to pop in boots for just a pound you too could help in this fight against such an agressive form of cancer

2007-05-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

its been a funny old couple of days, ive been asked questions i dont know the answers to, questions i dont want to answer, and have got questions that i wish i didnt have myself!!!!. obscure for you readers im sure. im tired but my brain wont switch off. so what have i enjoyed been thankful for..............
being invited to and taking part in big sis thankyou meal . it still overwhelms me that she has survived and is alive when i stop and remember.
the other thing that im thankful for tonight is that no weapon forged against us will prosper

2007-05-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

reading matt.t. blog about what life was like for him 10 years ago, it got me thinking what was going on for me 10 years ago. pregnant with J and H, but not yet knowing that it was twins. sam and kirsty not even at secondary school. A house with no teenagers!!!!!! a very funny little 5 year old by the name of Dan. and a little cute jess 3 years old adoring her big brother. Gary working on oncology. In 10 years time................... sam and kirsty will be 31 years old, the age i was 10 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Dan 26 and jess 23.....and jack and harry 19 years old. and josh 11 years old............ me and Gary thats a tough one going by the last 10 years being surprised by where and who we are. with this wild and untamable God in charge

2007-05-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

was interested to discover that in France the second twin born is considered the eldest as they believe the first baby conceived is then 'blocked in 'by its younger twin. i know of two children in this family who would believe the french to have got this right!!

2007-05-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

well its been a while. have sometimes come to blog and then changed my mind. its always hard to know what you want to blog or if you even want to blog at all. tried to use it as a discipline to take a moment to thank God for all the good stuff recently. the title still needs changing again as although it expresses the im on a journey bit, and the struggle with wanting to get there, (where ever there is??, i know long term of course!!!) but it doesnt really represent where my heart is of learning to live for today, enjoying the moment. i dont want one or the other but both. a pressing on, but stopping to smell the roses sort of title.

well things ive enjoyed lately........well my list as always would be the time and fun i have with family.
one thing ive enjoyed today was face painting at the wellness fair. now with out going into details. (there goes that blog or not to blog thing again). i wasnt sure if i would be there until quite last moment. so its been great to go and join in and serve the people of bradley stoke. met some great children and had some good chats with a few parents and had a laugh about some moments. so heres a cross selection of some of the moments throughout the day. two teenage boys asking if we would face paint cannibis leaf on their faces!!!!. great chat with a dad about why we werent charging and who we were says hes coming next sunday to see a church who gives away free drinks (quality ones!!) provides a bouncy castle and facepaints and gives popcorn away!!!!!!. asked if we would face paint at a childs birthday party next week. a great group of boys about 12 years old stood out for me they were so nice and so thankful and its not often you get to interact with that age group with face painting!!!. a couple of football faces seemed to do the trick. and just the little cuties that sit so still and look in the mirror and look so pleased with their faces. all the mums and dads looking so relieved and thankful that there was no charge as a mum i totally relate to that and its great to have been able to take part in that. so thats what im thankful for today

2007-04-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

its been great to be able to have some fun days out with all this lovely weather for the bank holiday. A great trip to Bowood. a beach day at poole, a nice meal out with daughter number 1 and new boyfriend. popped into cosco today to replenish food and came out wheeling an igloo cool box. its a bit worrying that little josh reconises when we pull up outside cosco and his face lights up, due to free food samples!!!!. yesterday was sooo restful on the beach just sitting and looking at the sea does something great inside me. watching the boys and jess, and Gary, and josh and james digging and creating while me and kirsty and jue sat in deckchairs with a coffee, book in one hand bliss. I strolled down to the water with josh for a paddle. got icecreams and coffee. and that is more or less the only activity for me. Jue and harry went on a long walk. Kirsty got out of her chair about the same level as me and all children blissfully happy yes all is well in the Anstey household how couldnt it be

2007-04-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

There has been words and pictures given over the years regarding me and mine. sometimes the walls and barriers have been too high to even take a peek at the promised land, sometimes weve stood on top of mountains looking down. seeing a rough journey ahead, sometimes the way has been smooth sometimes the way has been rough. theres a journey that started with a prayer many many years ago, that prayer has had to be expanded to include others and become much bigger. bit by bit weve moved forward. walls and barriers have come down one big one remained on one side of the land. now it has been removed, the journey continues.
I stand in awe of your deeds

2007-03-26T02:03:00.000-07:00

reading an interesting book about sister genevieve, a catholic sister who was headteacher in the falls road, west belfast before during and after the troubles. one of the things that has struck me the most is her attitude towards the poor. 'helping our brothers and sisters who are poor to get back on their feet,keeping in mind our aim of making the poor person less and less someone who needs help. for her this meant giving them an ambition, a stake in the future, particularly through academic qualifications. also another quote. a poor person will only forgive you giving them bread if you give it with love' this quote has captured my attention. pondering it and chewing it over it hits me anew how true this has been in my own experiance. That giving with out love is what builds the biggest resentment and barriers up in a person unfortunately on the receiving end but giving given with a loving heart is so healing, the former almost confirms that we are an object for pity and is patronising and makes the giver feel all the benfits. the latter restores our hope that we are significant that we are valuable and we are loved and cherised.

2007-03-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

things ive enjoyed recently are as follows. lovely presents from all the children and grandchild for mothers day. there are some great advantages to having lots of children!!!!!!
a really fun time at bowling with all of them we now have to have two lanes to accomodate all of us. some great meals cooked by big sis!!!!. my invitation voucher book. boots current £5 off vouchers, all the lovely things ive got with them!!! my new blog name.

2007-03-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

had a great evening the other night at a Q & A with Andrea levy the author of small island. when she read an extract from the book of one of her characters Gilberts speech regarding his first impressions of England it was totally mesmorising. really enjoyed how gracious with a great sense of humour and determination to see racism from all angles, and the effects on immigration on both sides. that although immigration and the effects are so obivously central to her in her writing that she remains first and foremost a storyteller. loved the book. felt privilaged to hear the author explain some of her thinking and the incrediable research that went into it. the best quote from her was a good researcher collects all this information and then feels free to leave it out and get on with writing the story. great evening recommend to all the book evenings arranged by central libary next one coming in may plenty of time to read the book before going

2007-02-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

am still sticking to remembering all the things im thankful for as its easy to let the good things go by and centre dwell on the hard tough things so recent list as follows
Jessicas birthday celebrations going really well and taking the time as a family to remember all our favourite things and memories of her. Harry having a great time away first ever on his own for 2 days . his face when everyone of us plus 2 turned up to collect him. Jacks love and concern when he was going if he was going to be alright. handing over Dans coursework now finished and sent off. more opportunities to watch Gods kingdom at work in those dear to me. Fame the musical it was fun!!!. taking jack out for treat day and him getting up at one point coming over with a big hug and saying thanks mum youve treated me like a king today. little josh covered with some of jess chocolate birthday cake with his thumbs up sign!!!
over the years ive realised along with a lot of other things i say that some things are a very bristolian thing to say. one of them being if anyone asks you how you are the reply is always not too bad. it was only as non-bristolians responded as if this meant there was something wrong or things were not all that good that i stopped and pondered that it was coming from a negative or at least resigned possibly workclass orgin that for us not too bad was really good as in the scheme of things to have a not too bad life was blessed indeed. now for me it was just a learnt response not even thought about until people who werent used to it seemed to think that indicated not too bad, also meant not too good!!!!!! why do i write about this well when youve been through a lot of trauma i think you get into a similar way of thinking a expecting the worse. or settling for a not too bad as now being really good in the way that my ancestors would have first thought when they used the not too bad response. one of my ways of counterbalancing that is too think dwell on remember the good things. i think us bristolians werent that much different from the isaralities who found it hard to remember the good things and God gave them all the help with instructions and feast days to help them to remember. so for me to take the time out and choose to sit for a few moments and remember that actually life is good, and God is good. now i dont think im ever going to change answering not too bad if you ask me how i am as my fellow bristolians know its just what we say!!!!! even if im not and even if i am

2007-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

well its great that its half term a welcome break to the routine roll on freedom to do a few different things with the children this week. ending with the lovely Jess teenager celebrations and a trip down memory lane to see Fame the musical. last week was very tiring in many ways. but as always some good things along with the hard. Its great the freedom of not having Tutors coming to the house so the plan is to enjoy as much as possible.
trying to stick to remembering and being thankful for the good things and not miss or overlook them so here goes............... things ive enjoyed this week some great kingdom moments with family. good food. a lovely valantines day (apart from irrating people at cinema sat in front of us who talked and intrupted whole film) looking through old photos and watching children laugh at us for the 80s icons that we were. being reminded of all the great memories as a family recorded in pictures. looking through our wedding album. Dan finshing his course work and being in the postion of having catched up on so much . daffodils being available my favorite flowers.

2007-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

its going to be 3 years since my mum died on thursday and with it following valentines day it always gives me the opportunity to remember how much i was loved by her. as much as i feel more free to remember all the great memorys the sadness is still very much there. its great that its not consumming and there is freedom to laugh as well as cry. its great also to look at my family Jess soon becoming a teenager. Today i said goodbye to kirsty and josh and everytime i went to walk away he kept shouting nannie and waving madly. i flashed back to a time when i held kirsty (and sams) hands and and it was my mum who was trying to leave but the same for both of us it was too great a moment to walk away from. evenually we parted and yes a hidden tear in my eyes both for the great moment of now and for that other special day. but on my face a smile for all that has already been, what is happening and whats still to come

2007-02-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

things im enjoying at the moment............
Josh saying Ninner (dinner) nanny, getting his coat and holding my hand heading for his door, how could i resist so one extra for dinner, priceless!
Going to watch Jack and harry receiving Gold awards at school today
Kingdom moments with people i love and care about
A great day at Bath visiting two of my fav shops fatface and lakeland plastics and finding good bargins in both!!!!!!
Great community meals cooked by resident chef
Psalms
going to cinema with Gaz to see James Bond
Being me
having big sis living with us
sharing good times with great people

comments!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-26T03:43:00.000-08:00

Hi all who have been commenting on my blog and i havent realised. so very sorry if i has looked like i didnt respond, they were hid away and until some kind people alerted me didnt know i had any. will change settings so they come through and i will savor all the kind birthday wishes and thoughts from you all!!!!!!!!! well just a quick up date to say i had the most wonderful birthday yesterday and had so many kind things given and done for me thankyou to all who made it so special you know who you are!!!!!!. Tonight i am having a champanyne murder mystery party to celebrate and cant wait its going to be a great laugh. update on Ansteys is life is good God is good and we are in a good place. family has extended with big sis moving in and weve regained the ability to Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! update with maybe a few photo soon

2007-01-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

jack and harry had a great 9th birthday yesterday and we finished off the evening with all our favourite jack and harry stories!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

well its been quite a while since i last updated. the last few weeks have been very full on with christmas, new year and the start of birthdays in the Anstey house hold kicked off yesterday with the girls 21st. I was reflecting on the fact that I was 21 when i had them, now here were those tiny babies 21 years old !!!!. its been a full two days of celebrating finishing tonight with a great game of poker with family tonight. I won which i think is only fitting since they both couldnt have won and after all i did give birth to them. we have spent the last couple of weeks full on with family fun, games and plenty of food and drink and im really starting to realise how many of us there is as they are all getting older and with the additions of grandchild and partners. last year was one of the toughest years this family has faced but it has been great to see Gods grace and the year ended well not just because it ended!!. but it really ended well with his peace and joy. this year there is lots of nice things to look forward to espically Kirstys wedding. also Garys final year of his degree. as all years i know it will be a mixture but i really sense Gods love and favour over it already. I dont think its connected to what actually happens but just an increased awareness of his love and faithfulness to us. when i look back over last year i see something really special which may sound kind of strange to anyone who knows even some of what the year was like for our family. God is great like that he takes what was meant for harm and turns it around and blesses us.

2006-12-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

I just love taking the children to the pantomine, this year the priceless moment of Jacks face seeing the Dame for the first time with a loud WHAT THE????!!!!!!!!!!!, followed closely by said Dame forgetting wig halfway through and trying to ignore the childrens crys of wheres your hair gone!!!!!!

2006-09-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

Its joshua 1st birthday today and it has been a real privilage to spend most of the day with him. his face when anyone turns up and starts singing happy birthday is soooooo funny. dont know if hes wondering why people are doing this or his look is down to all of our lack of ability to sing in tune!!!

2006-09-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

have decided that its easy to forget all the good things and dwell on the not so good so am going to share things ive enjoyed today......... a great meal cooked by my Dad. spending time with Jess. spending time with sam and kirsty going shopping for Josh birthday party and helping to plan it. having conversation with a friend and sharing thoughts with them. a present from big sis. a calm quite house this evening allowing me to share time with Gary and hear about his day. waking early and spending time alone with God. seeing jack and harrys happy faces on returning from school. watching Josh walking, and receiving loads of kisses from him. watching Dan gel the boys hair so they would feel good going to school. a nice sunny day. the car returning all fixed and paid for.

2006-09-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

well what has been going on in the anstey household. car breaking down car in garage money paid car returned, just one of lifes minor set backs not good timing for said car to go wrong as all my children have grown so much it has been a time of whole new uniforms. but we have survived and sometimes thats the biggest blessing and can bring the biggest amount of peace. two children have returned to school today and looked so smart and very sweet. the others return on wednesday. my grandsons birthday is coming up and its incrediable to me that he is going to be 1. he has just started walking and is so proud he stops and claps and then waits for us to clap, which his adoring fan club willingly do. he has now started running and i realise fully now the saying running before you can walk!!!!!. whats got my attention at the moment is proverbs and espically proverbs 31. also for my book club in complete contrast we have been reading catch 22. Had very funny conversation with J and H, explaining what a catch 22 was. H then proceeded to explain to older children what it was refering to it as catch 34!!!, i just love the way things capture his interest and he will question and question until he has fully understood, then take it further and try and find a loop hole in it. have expanded J and H musical tastes this week and introduced them to T. Rex, which they loved so what with them singing Jonny cash, and dancing along to the Blues brothers i feel that im really starting to educate them!!!!!

2006-08-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

theres something about this time of year that i really quite like. maybe its about having gone a slower pace with less structure and plenty of visits to the beach but for me its almost like the start of a new year. with all the children going back to school next week its a chance to clear out and make room for new things. always when i started the new school year i loved the whole new exercise books, new clothes, new stationary, new teachers, new beginings. this holiday i have spent time doing things i havent done before and it has been fun. i have had great times with my family and great individual times with all the people closest to me. my heart is calling me to continue to make enough space to continue to do the things i really want, to be doing, my heart is calling me to keep a diary less filled with things that i dont want to be doing.

2006-08-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how wonderful your house is after you have been camping!

2006-08-16T04:53:00.000-07:00

things have been a bit rough going lately. anyway im having this chat with God about it all, how im struggling with how it seems to be like walking in mud in some aspects of my life. He then asks why im not using the tools hes given me. i look down and at my feet is a workmans bag, quite old scruffy and well used, but not for a long time . is that mine i ask. he opens it up and inside is an axe. very rusty and quite brutal looking. my heart sank I dont want to use that. it will cause damage. he takes it out the bag and smiles. i suddenly realise ive given the right answer. he then gives with a shiny impressive sword. in myself i have struggled filling very hopeless about certain things and know i have been slow if not totally inactive in dealing with them, feeling like I will only make things worse suddenly God restores me i dont have to sit back passive hes given me all the tools i need to get the job done. any old tools left from my old way of dealing with things that i no longer want to use as i see them for what they are damaging and causing carnage inward and outward is no longer the only option.

2006-08-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

well, we had our new bank cards for a few hours, till we decided to go up to the balloon festival, lost them and our car keys. fustrating hours followed of visits to security, walking away from site to be picked up due to traffic. cancelling cards, speaking to numerous and same people for next couple of hours from our car insurance. lots of prayer, till finally some kind person handed them in at 10.30 pm. now at least this week weve got a chance of them arriving before we leave on friday.

2006-08-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

just got back from first lot of camping, even though i vowed last year that my camping days were well and truely over. the new tent helped somewhat, much easier to put up and a lot warmer. it was great to see my grandson with his first visit to the beach and see how much he loved it, also he seemed to thrive on the camping and loved every moment. having just a couple of days break then off for some more camping on the annual trip to the Gower. had a terrible week leading up to going ending with our account being emptied by someone who decided to have a large shopping trip at our expense. not good the day before going away to say the least. so its nice to come back feeling more like myself.