The cheekiness of my boys.

My stomach was really bad during Church today, it was all I could do to stay in during the Primary Presentation.  The children were fabulous and we were so proud. It was lovely to sit by Jason throughout sacrament. 

When we got home, I had to let the boys get their own lunch as I couldn't face food.  Jason decided to teach Eden how to make beans on toast and made this photo collage to show me.  They both think they're real pros in the kitchen now!

Our "little Miss Independent"s

Firstly, I feel that I should acknowledge Jason for his role in keeping this blog updated. It's thanks to his technical abilities, knowledge of various apps to do photo collages and his help particularly with chornoloicising the photos that I can keep track of our lives. He's so good at uploading the many photos we take and storing and saving them, I couldn't do this without his input so thank you, it has saved me from the many hours I used to spend scrap booking and journaling for each of our three children.

So this week, I want to celebrate the fact that our girls are becoming increasingly independent. Let's look at Mia first:

Mia loves to draw and I have been pleasantly surprised to see her branch out from her usual fairy/princess tableaux.

Mia collected a dead butterfly she found on the floor and used a variety of medium to create a really pretty canvas. She also attended her first "Women's conference", and had the confidence to go by herself with the Primary President. (Jason was working away, it broke my heart to not be able to take her myself). Still, I was proud of her choice to go alone and even more impressed that she could tell me the names of some of the apostles who spoke.

She also had a go at baking on her own having done some at school. We were very impressed by her desire to try something new - normally she prefers to spend her time drawing.

She is also becoming better at doing her homework, though it still requires a collossal effort on our part to encourage her.  We are nonetheless proud of the steps our "big" girl is making in becoming an independent learner.

Now to Ismay, well as anyone who knows her can testify to, she is and was born an autonomous little spirit. She has always forged ahead by herself, doing what she wants to do.

She has been studying the Stone Age at school and one day decided to create some kind of volcanic landscape which she promptly turned into a science experiment, mimicking an activity she had done at school. (Jason and I just watched dumb founded as she bossed us around getting us to fetch the various "ingredients").

Then one day she came home saying she had baked "sponge henge" at school and asked if she could make cakes. She recalled the recipe (including measurements) from memory and produced a very edible if somewhat rustic ally decorated cake totally independently (with the exception of putting it in and out of the oven!)

Ismay is always reading and in one of those free supermarket magazines I had picked up,  she happened upon an experiment to do with how clouds are formed. She asked me for the equipment and then carried out and recorded her experiment. She even "up-levelled" the orginal instructions!

She is constantly doing things. This Saturday morning for example was filled with craft after craft after craft. Her thirst for knowledge and hunger to make and do is insatiable!

I love this last picture, and I know that it will really make you smile Mummy. One day, the girls decided to make a breakfast for us. They must have used every single random ingredient in the kitchen and it looked and tasted somewhat "different"; however I love and appreciate the sentiment behind it.....wanting to do something nice for mummy and daddy. Remind you of a certain incident in Oakengates Mummy?

Through their eyes

My friend Sammy and I were talking the other day about how we love to use Facebook to keep track of our lives, children's achievement, "funnies" and firsts. As I was scrolling back to when I first joined, I giggled at the conversations  I had with my then toddlers.  Now they are growing up, we have an exponential amount to talk about, and I enjoy our times after school where both Jason and I talk through what is going on in their lives. 

Here is a little glimpse into their little personalities.

Mia

Mia uses the same tactic every evening before bed.  She asks to talk to either myself or J. I do enjoy this time, but I also think she enjoys procrastinating going to sleep!  Last night I took them all to a rugby club as the man that runs the after school club of tag rugby that they go to suggested they try that.  It was lovely to watch them adapt to a new set of circumstances.  I was impressed with. Mia's catching skills and how quickly she managed to get used to being with new people.

On the walk home, I asked her if she had enjoyed her experience. She was perfectly frank with me: "to be honest Mummy, I just wanted to be in on the action, but I was just learning how to pass!"  On the way home (we walked cos Daddy needed the car), our big conversation revolved around the type of person she was going to marry. It was very interesting listening to her ideas. She was sure she wanted to marry someone that respected her and her beliefs, on that she was quite clear. She also informed me that she wanted to have three girls named Hope, Joy and Happiness. She also told me she wanted to be sure that her daughters wanted those names. I asked her to elaborate on this and she said she didn't want her girls not to like their names as they would have them for the rest of their lives. It intruiged me that she is already becoming self conscious about hersel and made me wonder at what point we start to question ourselves and become aware of what others think.

Ismay

Ismay absolutely adores school and can pretty much fit in anywhere. She is extremely confident and loves to read anything she can lay her hands on. The other day she was looking through one of those free supermarket magazines and found an experiment to create a rain cloud. She cut it out of the magazine and informed me that she wanted to perform this experiment. I asked her to involve her brother and sister, but they were more interested in playing Lego. Unperturbed, she forged ahead with the experiment, asking me to assist. I loved watching her concentration and determination.

I love how she is so interested in learning and finding out about the world around her.  She collected the materials, recorded the experiment and asked me to help her with the ice.  She is constantly hungry for knowledge and will read and write at any given moment.

Her ability just astounds me.  Here this picture shows how she has identified ways to "up level" the instructions by adding in some conjunctions of time.

Eden

Eden -when not at home- is a generous, caring and popular boy. He has many friends, in fact on our walk up to school, he has many people calling after him and asking him to play. He asked to go to a kids rugby club this week. I took him and was amazed to see how quickly he spotted one of his friends from school. He very quickly made sure she was ok, waited for her to get ready, then set off straight away to warm up with her. 

I was impressed with how considerate he was in making sure they had equal turns at catching and throwing the ball to each other. As his mother, I frequently see a side to him where he screams when he doesn't get his own way, so it was reassuring that at least with his peers, some of what he's been taught at home has rubbed off!

Here are our gorgeous girls who both one player of the week in their tag rugby club so get to share the medal. Such a cute photo of these beautiful faces.

And here is the man that makes it all possible. Our children wouldn't be who they are without the guidance of their caring, generous, kind hearted father. His hardworking, devoted attitutude to everything he does enables our children to be who they are.

Autumn is coming

Jason and I were just saying how quickly this month has gone by. As soon as the children go back to school, life becomes a veritable whirlwind of appointments, clubs and homework.

It has been very odd not working, and I am having a hard time adjusting after 22 years of earning my own money. (I remember Daddy taking me to work in Home Improvements as a Saturday girl when I was 14, and I've worked either full or part time every year since). However, it has been nice when on days when Jason is in the office to have been able to catch up with him and have lunch together. I love this man so much. He works so hard to give us all we need.

We enjoyed a Sunday after Church having the Daniels over. The children (under the supervision of Faith) did a great job making cakes for dessert. We have enjoyed being able to eat outside in this glorious weather.

Both Jason and I were away at the same time, and Nanah very kindly came down and watched the children for us. They were so excited that Nanah was coming for a "sleepover". Staying over in. Oxford, I got to explore the city for the first time since enrol long as a PhD student last year.  It was beautiful but I really wished I could have had Jason and the babies with me.

When Jason came home he set up garden tennis for the children and they had a few games outside in the garden. The children absolutely adore their father and I am so grateful that he makes the most of every minute he is at home to spend time with them.

We decided to explore Lyth Hill on the Saturday. Jason and I hadn't been there together since we were dating so it was lovely to take the children. I have really gone off cooking since eating causes havoc to my body so Jason treated us all to take away so I didn't even have to make a pic nic!

This week during FHE, we talked about how we needed to get better at doing our homework.  Jason said to the children that he wanted them to do their homework first thing after school on Friday and then they could have a treat.

Sure enough, they were as good as their word.  So the treat they chose: to all sleep in the same bed together. This really made our hearts melt. They can argue and be so grumpy at times but when we see them like this, we realise what a blessing it is that they are all so close.

We realised this week that it had been almost a year since we had seen the Stovalls so we invited them over as they had to journey to Wales this weekend anyway.  It was really lovely to catch up with them all.

The highs and the lows.

So the beginning of this month is the part I hate. Seeing my babies go back to school. So, I decided to do something a bit different. I made schuletute for the kids just like the German tradition. A little acknowledgement to the bits of German culture Jason picked up whilst on his mission.

They loved it.

However, it is also the time where PhD stuff gets crazy as the new academic year begins. So in a way it's been a blessing to have some child free hours to get on with things.

Jason has been fab at helping me set up spreadsheets for my data analysis. Especially on the days where I have been poorly.

It has also been strange not going to work for the first time since I was 14. But equally this has been a blessing considering that my body needs a rest due to the continuing health problems.  Although there have been some advantages to being ill.

I have a fantastic physio, and with his help he has put together a realistic training programme so I can get back running. I have also been blessed with an amazing training partner who is patient with me as I dash for loos and helps me keep motivated when I get frustrated at not being able to do what I used to.

A radar key to access the disabled toilets!!!! No more queuing for the ladies.

Daddy has been amazing, and has spent as much time as possible at home and helping the kids. We have also been encouraging the kids to be more independent. Here they are making breakfast. We have also been teaching the girls how to make their own packed lunches.

 

He's also taken the kids out so I can rest as much as possible. He's taken them swimming, to the cinema, and here they are up the Wrekin.

Jason and I have tried to maintain normality for the kids over these last thirteen months, but we also felt it important that they knew that mummy was ill and that she needed to get better. After I came out of hospital, we noticed that they started to become a lot more clingy and so one day, following the suggestion of a friend who is a therapist, we decided to make "Worry boxes". They write down their concerns and place it in the box and the worry fairy comes and takes them and writes how they can solve the problem. It's been great so far so a big thank you to Leanne for suggesting this to us.

I am so grateful for this man. He is without doubt one in a million. He has had to deal with the sorts of things in his thirties that you shouldn't really have to consider until you're old and decrepit.  The longer I am married to him the more I come to admire him. 

Thank you Jason, you are the kindest, most loyal, thoughtful, devoted man I know and I wouldn't be here today without you.