My Love Affair with Mr. Maple

I have never believed in love at first sight,

The very notion seems just too contrite.

But have you heard of "Love at First Taste?"

I'd pooh-pooh that with much less haste.

Mr. Maple and I were introduced but four months ago;

Just at the thought, my cheeks are a-glow!

Oh don't worry, I still love my husband,

I speak to you of biscuits from a far off land!

So smooth and creamy, dare I say divine;

I have to remember they aren't all mine.

I made the mistake of thinking that I,

Would be able to find more easily online.

The box that we had, we were given as a gift,

A true natural high, a sugary lift!

And when they were finished, oh what distress,

It really was a grieving process.

Just as I finally learnt to accept it,

We went to my parents' to be 'oh-so-festive';

To try to block out the withdrawal pain,

And learn to enjoy maple-less life again.

What bittersweet joy mingled with fear,

As excited whooping I did hear,

Exclaiming that there was a parcel of biscuits,

I must admit I started to fidget!

Oh Canada! You know how to tempt!

From this addiction I'm not exempt.

The process has started again - gone full circle,

I am going to need some kind of miracle.

To break the chains once was hard enough,

Now I don't want to let go of this love.

Now only eleven biscuits remain,

Before they run out I'll be buying a plane!

Time for a cuppa

Perfect mug, eh?

Bulldozing...

...his way out of his second year and speedily into his third. We have a cheeky little two year-old. How did that happen?!

Quite proud of how the crazy cake turned out. We were going for a digger, which I've since been informed by my construction-site-operator brother is actually a bulldozer. That's fine, it's in the right family of vehicles at least! Or is that a false statement too? :) We initially made a chocolate orange marble tea loaf/cake but quickly realised we needed more cake to work with for the shapes we were going for. This was all just based on a picture we saw of a similar cake but having no recipe to work with made it extra challenging and therefore extra fun! When we realised fairly late on in the evening that we needed more cake (when does one ever not need more cake, incidentally?!) we decided there wasn't time to make another chocolate orange loaf we settled on whipping up a quick Victoria Sponge with which we could make the rest of the body of the bulldozer. This would work okay visually since the whole thing would be covered by fondant icing (which by the way took literally hours to colour. Insanity!) What I hadn't really thought through was the fact I was using chocolate orange buttercream like glue. And like there was no tomorrow! Victoria sponge and chocolate orange buttercream is an interesting taste experience. 

It was a lottery as to what kind of cake you got but overall I think it was a success. Noah recognised it as a digger and that is all we cared about. Hooray! Happy second birthday little treasure. What a ride it has been so far. A bulldozer is certainly appropriate for representing what you've done to our lives - and our house! We love you more every day and that's a fact.

Re-Entering the "Blog-osphere"

At the risk of repeating myself (again): Oh my life. How has it been more than EIGHT months since my last blog post? Actually, I know exactly how but I am still pretty shocked. It is so tempting to just abandon this blog altogether and start a new one as life is certainly in a different season to where we were when I started this blog. However, I don't want to keep starting new projects so the blog will just have to move with the times and evolve.

But first it needs resurrecting! So here I am. Making a tentative statement that I am back. Let's see if it lasts.

Another little taster...

Little video from the farm trip today....

Believe it or not, this was when Noah had calmed down a little bit and I was able to even contemplate taking my eyes off him for two seconds to video him. Before this he was running soooo fast squealing a LOT towards all the animals. So funny, but equally exhausting! Lots of photos tomorrow in a whole other post!

What a difference a year makes!

28th February 2011

28th February 2012

(Oh and yes I'm wearing a waterproof - it was the only thing I could find at very short notice that could be easily cleansed of painty toddler handprints!)

An Extra Day to.... Blog?

Oh dear, I've lost it on the blog front again haven't I! I just checked in and realised it was exactly a month ago today that I last wrote a post. If this had been last year (or the two years before that) it would technically have been over a month ago, but 2012 is a year of the leap. So I can be consoled over my lack of effort by telling myself that I'm still managing to pop onto my little blog at least monthly. Not that it makes much of a difference to anyone but I like to scribble a few random thoughts, anecdotes or pictures to remind me of what's gone on when I look back. To clarify, I don't scribble the photos; I upload those. Except actually, I do have a photo to upload of a picture I kind of scribbled, kind of sketched.

I hadn't even thought about drawing since before I had M.E but having got stuck into creating Noah's 3rd & Bird mural, and then some canvas paintings of In the Night Garden characters, I've rediscovered a forgotten love of arty things. I'm hoping to start sketching things every now and then, if only to feel like I have basic skills besides nappy-changing and nursery rhyme-singing, worthy and valuable as I believe those skills to be!

Watch this space....

Until March 29th, if not before, night night ;)

Weakness

"My grace is sufficient for you"

"My power is made perfect in your weakness".

I am so thankful to God that He reminds us of this powerful, incredible truth on a regular (nay, frequent!) basis. In our family right now it is a huge part of how we're getting from day to day - or more accurately, from night to day. If you're feeling weak or broken or burnt out or beaten down, you're in the best possible place for God to reach you and do the work He needs to do in you; the work He desires to do in you will enrich your life in the long run.

When we feel strong, when we have everything under control, when we know exactly what to do and how to do it, when we have the strength required for the task ahead, we can forget all too often that we need Jesus.

For those who are weak, struggling, in pain, worn out, (insert whatever weakness is yours here)....our need for Him is so great that we just cannot ignore it. Leaning on Him can sometimes be the only way we get through a day or a week. It's then that we see His power at work; we see Him do things and bring us through situations which we could not overcome or achieve in our own strength. I totally understand why Paul said he "boasted" in his weakness. It can almost be a relief to realise that we aren't meant to battle through these things all alone. Thank God that He allows certain situations and challenges to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we can find Him. He's there, waiting to perfect His power in our weakness. I believe Him when He says His grace is sufficient. It is always there, it never runs out and it lifts my head and heart. And when we accept that grace, we allow His power to shine through. Please Lord help us to do that.

Why I'm not "religious"

Flying Start Fame



I got recognised yesterday at a children's Christmas party. Four times!

Why? Because of this blog, would you believe.

I'm going to be even more careful what I write on here since it appears that more people have read at least one post than I ever thought would. The post in question is this one last month, all about the wonders of "Play Jane," our Flying Start friend with all the messy play ideas (and materials!)

After we had our final session with Jane last week, I gave her the gift of a collage of photos taken over the months of fun we'd had with her, along with a print-out of the blog post I wrote about her, both of which were intended simply to show our appreciation and huge gratitude to Jane. I thought it said it better than any cheesy card I could write to her.

Thing is, the collage attracted some attention back at the Flying Start office and that spiralled as more people saw it and read the blog post (eek!) It got into the hands of Jane's boss, then her boss's boss. And according to the people who recognised me at the Flying Start party yesterday it is currently with the Chief Executive of Flying Start as a whole! Self-conscious doesn't even begin to cover it - the thought of all those strangers reading what I wrote, without any expectation that they would ever see it is a bit weird.

I'm incredibly glad though to know that Jane and other staff were so touched by something so simple but also gobsmacked that apparently they rarely get thanks. I would imagine they would be showered with praise and gratitude on a daily basis for the work they do but evidently our appreciation is not normal and their reaction proves it. It shows how important it is to let people know when they make a difference in our lives, I guess.

Thank you Flying Start, once again!

:)

Gratitude

“@MaxLucado: Cranky? List 10 good things about ur life. God cures grumpiness with gratitude.”

Yes, cranky is a word I might use to describe myself this week (at times, not constantly!) However, gratitude is something I feel so strongly about; I have a lot to be grateful for. Let's do as Mr. Lucado suggests and narrow it down to ten things!

1) My faith in, relationship with and experience of Jesus Christ.
2) Fantastic, selfless husband. He's my best friend.
3) Beautiful, precious son.
4) Fabulous family.
5) Wonderful friends.
6) A home and food: two bare necessities (are you humming it too?!) never lacking, however tight things get.
7) My health returning.
8) The bar of Lindor chocolate in my cupboard, just waiting to be attacked!
9) Laughter. Whether it's triggered by the hilarity of some people in our lives or entertaining programmes like Miranda or How I met your Mother, for example.
10) Flying Start and the support they provide.
11) {Yes, eleven! I'm breaking the rules.} Freedom. Sure there are big problems in our society and politics but we are a free country.

And specifically today I am grateful for:

1) Home-made mincemeat cake. Yum.
2) Calpol.
3) CBeebies. Specifically, 3rd & Bird and In the Night Garden ;)
4) That Lindor bar. Yes it is worth mentioning twice!
5) The book, "The Science of Parenting."
6) The Internet, specifically twitter, Facebook and hotmail. Keeps me feeling connected and did even when I was too ill to leave the house for days and weeks on end.
7) It being Friday.
8) NCT for introducing me to one or two very nice new friends.
9) A 40% off voucher for a shop I need to visit anyway.
10) A potential tax rebate :)

Thank you God. I am grateful.

An Advent Calendar Worth Opening

Check this out each day guys, I reckon it will be worth your time. A couple of minutes each day. The first one is a bit longer but after that, it will literally be a few minutes. Be blessed...

http://www.igniteme.org/advent-calendar/index.php#

I blinked...

...and he went from baby to proper little boy.