My beautiful girls and handsome boy

We've had a bit of a gentle week this week, it was exciting having Nanah and Grandpa coming to visit and deliver the ukelele. I have been really pleased with how well the children have been doing at playing together.

Mia set up a shop in her room. It was lovely seeing her select her goods, price them and add up the totals.

Ismay has been making her own music all week. I have enjoyed watching her enthusiasm for learning new chords so she can play songs on the ukelele.

Eden continues his passion for Starwars. He is getting a bit fed up of his sling so I let him have it off for a while.

The girls are doing so well at making their own lunches, I am so grateful for all their help.  This week I am so grateful for my family, they truly make my world more beautiful.

The Ukelele gets delivered

Well, after a couple of months wait, the time finally came to have one of the ukuleles the children made in the summer delivered. When I told the children that Nanah and Grandpa were coming, they were so excited, and when grandpa handed over the case they were thrilled to open it. Just like Christmas morning!

They listened with rapt attention as grandpa showed them how to play it.  

Mia and Imsay then took turns, Mia appeared to be quite the natural, I'm looking forward to hearing them learn to play more (I think!!!!), although not when they are supposed to be sleeping as they did last night!

The Howletts come to stay

Our children have been desperate for a visit from the Howletts and they were lucky enough to get one this weekend. Us parents beamed with happiness as we watched our gorgeous children hug each then run off to play together. 

No sooner had Jarom got out the car the boys began straight away to play with their light sabres. Look at the sheer joy on their faces, they are clearly thrilled to be able to play together.

 The girls enjoyed chalk drawing outside (a project initiated by Ismay).

Clare very kindly brought us a meal (another bad week of sickness for me) and the boys showed us how bread should be cut.  Apparently Clare and I have deficiencies when it comes to slicing a loaf!

Jason bought a play station back in February, but we haven't let the children play on it as we try and encourage them to play with each other and read when they are at home. However, we decided that having the cousins come to play was an occasion to crack it out and boy, did they have fun playing a racing car game.

The children had talked about the sleeping arrangements for weeks in advance of this visit. Eden wanted to put the tent up in his room and the boys slept there.

Amelie initially started off with the boys, but she ended up gravitating towards the girls and at 10:30, was finally asleep.

Eden and Jarom awoke at 4 asking for breakfast.  We took them back to bed and told them to go back to sleep. At 7 they were all up and chatting over breakfast.  We really enjoyed listening to their cute conversations.  They all play so well together.

Then it was time to get ready for Church.  Such a gorgeous gaggle of kids.  We let them watch Star Wars as a treat before and after Church.

We are so blessed to have loving family. Thank goodness for them and for the blessing of having cousins that also love and adore each other. Thank you for coming down Jordan and Clare, we love you.

Conference and commitments

We love General Conference. For me and the children it is the one time in the year we get Daddy all to ourselves on a Sunday.  Don't get me wrong, it is a privilege to have supported Jason as he has served on first the Branch Presidency, then the Bishopric and then the Stake Presidency for 12 of the 13 years of our marriage, but sometimes the kids just want their daddy to sit with them in Church.

We were all excited as we were getting ready.   The boys (Jon and Jason) went to priesthood and Zara and I stayed with the children who played very nicely together.  Then the boys came home, we sat down to lunch and Eden started to have a mega tantrum.  Boy can that boy tantrum! It lasted all the way to the chapel, all the way through conference and all the way back to the Kyds house.  At first I started to feel really cross that I was getting to spend yet another Sunday by myself but then I started to feel gratitude for being able to listen to the sweet messages peacefully. As I listened to the Saturday afternoon session which focused on kindness,  I realised the amazing example that my husband sets to me.  He very calmly and without fuss, sat with Eden, allowed me to be with the girls and let me have a break from my adorable, yet sometimes demanding son. As I sat alone in the pews I realised, perhaps more than ever just what an incredible man my husband is.  I have once in my life seen him really angry, I have on three occasions seen him shed tears.....that is not to say he doesn't feel sadness, pain or hurt, far from it, he chooses to see the best in people and the situations he finds himself in. He is without doubt, the kindest person I know. He looks for the best in everyone.  As we headed home from Church, I resolved that I too wanted to be kind, and take with me those messages from the Saturday afternoon session.

Eden refusing to co operate

This was taken after conference, he still wouldn't cooperate. 

We ate dinner with the Kyds and talked about what we would do to ensure that we could be kind to ourselves and those around us.

On Monday, we were really privileged to have Linda come for dinner as she is moving back up north.  Jason has been Linda's home teacher for some time, until I went into hospital. Linda has been an incredible example to our family and as she has got to know our children over the years, our children have grown to love her. They helped me prepare the dinner.

After dinner we had family home evening and we focused on the Sunday Morning session talk by President Monson. He talked about a family who's home was humble but because of the kindness and love of the people that lived there, people wanted to be with that family.  We made a commitment to be more kind and loving, not only to each other as a family, but to all those around us.

After we'd finished, Linda taught us a fun new game which we will be playing again, I have no doubt. The final ended up with Linda and Jason, but Linda took the winning crown.

We will miss Linda dearly, but the legacy that she has left our family, that of love and kindness will forever be etched on our hearts.

The Only Way is Essex (apparently, so I've heard!)

Jon Kyd was one of our favourite missionaries. When we moved into Telford second Branch 12 years ago, we made a point of having the missionaries over for dinner every Sunday as my brother was out  serving his mission and we wanted to treat the "boys" as we would want Jordan to be treated.

We built a really good friendship with Jon, and he asked us to take care of an investigator, Zara Chetwood, before he left the area.

Well, when he came back off his mission he went and married Zara, and our friendship with the Kyd family continues to this day. We have for many years spent time visiting Essex and London and always  incorporating  a game of Articulate into the mix (Zara and I have yet to be beaten by the boys).

So this weekend, we decided it was high time we went to see the Kyds again. After the long drive to Essex we went to an American diner for lunch on the seafront at Southend on Sea.

The kids loved the authenticity of the place, it was very cool.

The girls loved chatting together.

Oliver is such an amazing young man, hard to believe this handsome teenager was just a toddler when we first knew him. Eden enjoyed having a big boy look after him.

Jason enjoyed taking pictures of his food!

I enjoyed time with Zara and Jon, so good to catch up and chat.

We let the children make their own sundaes. That was a lot of fun, especially seeing their faces when we got the squinty cream out.

The following day we watched conference all together. Here is a family photo we finally managed to take once Eden had finished his tantrum!

After conference, we let the children chill out. They had amazing fun playing in Jon and Za's massive back garden.

We love the Kyd family. No matter how many years go by, we always have amazing fun together, each time we meet bringing just as many laughs as the last. The love that binds our families has seen us through some pretty tough times. I can see us playing Articulate when we are 80, and I'm sure Zara and I will still win!!! We love you Kyds.

In the wars again

What is it with boys and broken bones? Today, just as I was about to redraft my methodology chapter for the third time,  I got a call from school to come right away.  Turns out Eden had fallen over at lunch time and had hurt himself. The Headteacher and deputy head were marvellous and had managed to calm him down and advised me to take him to A and E.  I wasn't convinced there was anything wrong and felt really guilty bringing him in.  All over A and E were signs saying "This is for real emergencies only".

I soon repented of this when the doctor showed me his X-ray. Collar bone clean broken. Poor lad. He'd been so brave I thought he was faking!  

Here he is at hospital. Apart from a few whimpers, he was very brave.

We were at hospital for a few hours and when we got home, Ismay and Mia were very kind to their brother.  Ismay wanted to give him his medicine, Mia helped him brush his teeth and we all tried to make him comfortable.

It was incredibly difficult to get him dressed, so in the end I just let him sleep in his school shirt.  He was really uncomfortable in the night and woke up several times bless him. He's not allowed the sling on at night in case he strangles himself, but he'll need to wear it in the day for the next three weeks. And no sport for six weeks at least. He's going to be like a caged animal.

He won't be able to wear a jumper for a while, so he was very chuffed to go to school in his hoodie.

One of the traditions we have in our house if you are ill is you get to choose tea. Eden requested "French" dinner, which means cucumber salad, Parma ham, pate, cheese, bread and soup. Not sure why Ismay looks so grumpy here!