Silver White Winters That Melt Into Springs......

Well not much melting going on here! Yet another day with all the children off school - this time due to extreme ice !! Initially slightly apprehensive of what yet another day of everyone at home may bring - it actually turned out to be another nice chilled out day!

We started off with a spot of baking ...well actually our eldest daughter did! I stepped back, and let go of my need for control and let her bake some chocoalte chunk scones on her own (well OK , with a little bit of supervision!) She actually did a great job, and they turned out lovely. What was even better was that she loved being able to do it on her own, and was even heard to exclaim "this is better than watching TV anyway" (TV is currently banned due to a bit of TV overload in recent weeks and VERY untidy bedrooms!)

I must admit that I did then waver on the TV ban, we all watched The Sound of Music, with sing-along lyrics and popcorn!(well a DVD isn't really TV is it?!) I do love that film, and there's nothing like good sing song for raising your spirits!

And I even managed to get a bit of sewing done! I have introduced some PINK into our room! I made a new seat cushion cover for the rocking chair in our room and two little cushions! It is the start of my plans to redecorate our room!

Also on the creative front I have managed to finish knitting a hat for our eldest daughter,and have also finished her bed pocket tidy.

And my serioulsy lovely Tilda Home Sewing and Spring Time crafts books arrived, not too mention my Jean Greenhowe JiffyKnits pattern booklet and there is soooo much in there I want to make! So now all I need is a few more hours in the day and all will be good!

Favourite Photo Meme....

Oh gosh! I have been tagged my The Mad House for the Favourite photo Meme.


Great! was my original thought. Then Oh Dear! I love photos. I love taking photos. I have a camera I love and I take photos whenever I can! As a result I have a LOT of photos.


I also have a lot of children! And I have favourite photos of each of them, and favourite photos of various groups of them. So how on earth do I choose just one?? So many of my photos remind me of something special. Some of them were a special occassion, others just an ordinary day but a happy moment captured forever.


After a lot of pondering I managed to pick out one. Whilst I have ones I love of each of the children I have chosen one of my 7 year old daughter. It was taken out on an ordinary walk on the hill behind our house. The children were all messing around, skipping, dancing and jumping as we walked along. It was a lovely summers day. Everyone was relaxed ,and happy just being together. I love this photo because I feel it captures the wonderful carefree spirit of childhood. It aslo captures the "dreamer" side of my daughters personality.


For me it sums up a little bit of the world through a child eyes, where anything is possible, and no obstacle insurmountable. A world lived and enjoyed to the full in the moment. A world which I should try to live in a little bit more each day!

Reach for the Stars....

Moving forwards....

So today the children were back at school. Christmas holidays and snow days all over. And not before time I set to trying to restore the ouse to rights! A house full of 6 children for several weeks takes a fair battering!! I made some progress, and it was kind of refreshing to clear away some of the clutter, re-establish old routines and feel as if we were moving forward.

I love Christmas,but I must admit that I love Spring more. Ican't wait for the Spring, and always delight in those extra few minutes of daylight that start to creep in after Christmas. I also have a little tradition of always buying a bunch of daffodils after all the Christmas decorations are down, to cheer the place upand remind me that Spring is around the corner. I was slightly shocked to see 2 shelves of Easter Eggs already filled at the supermarket today though!! Much as I love to look forward that did strike me as slightly over the top!

I have also been discussing with an old work colleague today about returning to work.It is a very scarey idea for me. Before children I had a professional career, but for 4 years I have been a stay at home Mum. I absolutely love that I have been able to do this, but raising 6 children on one salary is a challenge! So it seems that it may be time for me to step tentativelyback into the world of work - part time! I am going to try to embrace this new stage of my life positively and calmly. I am becoming much better at realising that life is an ever changing journey, and being prepared to shift path every now and then is a good thing!

But for now I am just going to enjoy the weekend and have lots more fun in the snow!

This year I will....ENJOY !!!

ENJOY....... yep that is going to be my word for 2010.

I stumbled on this idea from the wonderful Country House and Home's blog. It was linked back to the original idea which I think is brilliant.

And so, after some pondering, it hit me what my word should be....

ENJOY

A simple word. But a much needed one for me just now. Life with 6 children is hard work. It is often hectic, always demanding, often a little overwhelming. Sometimes amidst the chaos it is easy to get bogged down in the drudgery of everyday life, and then it becomes too easy to forget to have fun and to enjoy life.

This year I want to enjoy life more. I am going to make more of an effort to do things I enjoy - new and old. I am also going to make an effort to enjoy the things I do - no matter how mundane - in some small way. I am going to grasp enjoyment from any situation, and make the most of it. We will enjoy more things together as a family, and I will also allow myself to enjoy more things quietly on my own.

Enjoying things makes me happy,and when I am happy I am a nicer person and a better Mother.

This year I am going to enjoy something each and every day!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Today we got snow! Not the almost snowy powdering that we have had on and off for a couple of weeks,but proper,build a snowman snow. And so the schools were closed, and we all got to have fun at home building snowmen , throwing snowballs and baking yummy biscuits to eat with hot chocolate. It was like an unexpected extension to the Christmas holidays, and all the more fun as it was an added bonus, with nothing to do but make the most of it!

Hard work - building snowmen!

Snowflakes - yummy!!

Frosty the snowman!

And then some home baked biscuits to warm us up!

And it looks like tomorrow will be more of the same! A snowy and snuggling kind of day! We love the snow!

Return to school...and getting to know my sewing machine!

Today was the return to school... a sort of "back to normal"day. In some ways I am gald to get back to a bit of steady routine, but none the less it felt quite sad and strangely quiet once 4 of the kids were at school this morning! I have done some catching up...the house always suffers during school holidays!

Then I went to buy some (cheap!) fabric for an idea I had.....The girls room is badly in need of more storage solutions for the many milions of little bits and pieces they seem to have. And so I made storage pockets to hang over the rails on their cabin beds. The whole sewing machine thing is turning out to be alot more tricky than anticipated! My finished product is far from perfect - I think I may add a couple more straps to help with sagging...their are areas of seriously dodgey sewing....but none the less it looks pretty anddoes the job. I am trying to be patient with mylearning this skill. I do tend to expect myself to be able to everything perfectly straight away...but need to take it slowly! On the positive side I can now wind the bobbin and thread the needle without having to refer to the manual, and there were areas of almost straight sewing in eveidence! I am going to make a couple more for the other girls beds, and hopefully each one will be a bit better than the one before!

Yesterday I went to a wedding. It was the wedding of a friend that was actually a bridesmaid at my own wedding 12 years ago. It was beautiful. It brought together a lot of my oldest and dearest friends, whom I must admit I have been very bad at keeping in touch with. None the less we all took up from where we left off as true friends always seem to. It was a wonderful day, and brought back memories of bygone eras of my life! It also made me determined to make sure I am better at staying in touch with them all from now on. They are wonderful friends and my life is made richer for having them as part of it.

I did unfortunately drink what was possibly slightly more than was advisable, but even spending today with a headache, it was still worth it!