Anyone for tennis?

This weekend I had the chance to go and see the semi-finals of the tennis at the Queen's club.  My friend Clare - a school friend I hadn't seen in years - is properly into tennis, and she enters the ballot for tickets for Wimbledon and Queen's every year.  It was my good fortune that she'd got tickets for this year, and that she was looking for someone to go with her.  Hoorah! :o)  Here we are, enjoying the sunshine...:

We travelled down as a family, as the boys thought it would be a good opportunity to go and do some London things...  They dropped me off, and went to visit the Monument, Tower Bridge and have a general wander about.  This obviously had to involve going on a tube train.  Small boy heaven...

I met up with Clare, and we had the chance to catch a little bit of the Doubles Quarter-finals, before heading into Centre Court for the main event...:

Andy Murray was in impressive form.  A bit too impressive for us actually, as we would have liked the match to go on a bit longer.  Still, it's great to think that Andy is in this sort of form before Wimbledon, and he showed he can battle through a longer, grittier match by beating Jo Wilfred Tsonga in the final yesterday...

After Andy Murray had finished his demolition of Andy Roddick, we got to see James Ward have a good tustle with Tsonga.  I was chuffed that I'd got to see two Brits on my first ever trip to a tennis tournament.  James did very well.  I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.  I'm glad his run at Queen's has got him a wild-card for Wimbledon; he certainly deserves it.

A lot of spectators left at this point, but for those of us who stayed - there was a feast of Doubles.  We even saw arguably the best doubles exponents of all time - the Bryan twins.  If you want to be good at doubles, play with your twin - one right-handed, one left-handed - start practicing when you're tiny, and basically read each other's minds...  Amazing to watch...

The end of the day came, and the rest of my family snuck in to find me...  Even being given some souvenir tennis balls on the way:

So now we are playing tennis in the garden even more than we were before.  Joel likes to pretend he's Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal...  Good choices, I'm sure you'll agree.  At the moment, Nathan just wants to be the ball boy :o)

Let's look at the map

Last week, as it was half term, it seemed like a good idea to let Joel (and thus, all of us...) have a go at orienteering...

Paul (aka Daddy), really enjoyed orienteering at school, and at university - as it combines two of his great loves; running and maps.  Recently, Paul has done a few orienteering events with a local club - The Octavian Droobers - and having talked to Joel about it, he was really keen to have a go.

So, on Wednesday afternoon, we packed a picnic, put on our sporty clothes(!), and set off for some woods near Harbury.

I have to confess to being slightly dubious.  After all, I am really not built for running; I'm pretty terrible at it.  I'm also prone to turning the map round when navigating, much to the amusement of my husband...  Also, the event started at 6pm - which is always tea-time in our house...  I wondered if the changes to the usual routine and general exhaustion might be a recipe for disaster.  Not to mention wondering what would happen if the smallest boy just decided he couldn't go any further... 

We got there early, and thanks to some spectacular organisation (by the organisers...) we were actually able to start at 5:30pm...  Marvellous.

They gave us a map (see below...), and an electronic gizmo, and then we had to start at the triangle, and navigate ourselves round the course - using our clever gizmo to show we'd found all the control points.  (NB - for the uninitiated - these are red and white flags, with numbers to search for...  A genius plan if you're trying to get children like mine to find anything: 'Come on, who can find number 118??'  Very clever...)

My cunning plan was to all stay together, but let Paul and Joel run ahead a bit - which allowed Nathan and me the chance to catch up whilst they were navigating where we were going next.  Amazingly, this pretty much worked...  Although it required running - it was short sharp bursts of running, whilst encouraging Nathan along - the best sort of running.  Nathan did also require the occasional piggy back - whilst also had the additional feature of slowing Paul down.  Very useful.

We made it round in the respectable time of 30:36, which wasn't bad considering three out the four of us had never done anything like this before...  We were also pretty chuffed when we discovered our Result! (click on the link and find us if you can...)

We all felt we'd very much earned our picnic afterwards; although (naturally) Paul didn't eat anything until he'd gone out and completed a much longer and more difficult course...

So - all in all, we had a good time together out in the sunshine, with exercise, and maps, and a crash course in how to use a compass, and a picnic tea.  Can't be bad.  Worth trying if you fancy doing some running, but don't want to be bored...

Meet the veggies!

Since my last blog and strawberry related discussion, I can report that our new strawberry plants in the garden are doing well, and actually now have something resembling strawberries on them.  Nathan is, of course, very suspicious of them - as they are tiny and not even red.  Ah well, at least I know he won't try and pick them before they're ready.

In other garden related news (I know, scintilating stuff this gardening!), the great tits in the bird box definitely have some babies.  You can hear them tweeting away (yes, real tweeting - not social networking...) just by standing in the garden.  I'm hoping to catch sight of them at some point...

And finally for this little blog post, something (also garden related - I know - it's seemless isn't it?!) to hopefully make you smile.  Any of you who have to spend a certain amount of time each day with CBeebies will hopefully recognise this...

Simply take...

Simply take, a tired and slightly worn out person - a mother of small children is best

Sprinkle with sunshine...

Remind said person that it isn't actually winter anymore.

Exercise.  I find a bike ride is best.  This encourages wakefulness, and also feelings of post-exercising virtuous-ness.

Plunge in shower.
Rinse off dirt, snot, grime, and any other debris. 
Complete ablutions until satisfactorily clean and smooth.

Dry.

Moisturise.

Steer towards wardrobe. 
Remind subject that clothes other than jeans exist.
Dress according to taste.

Provide cup of tea to get over the shock of wearing skirt.

Consider painting toe-nails.
Decide not to get carried away.  It is only April after all.

Straighten hair.
Add necessary accompaniment to face; in this case - a smile.

And now you're done.
You're not just a mummy.  You're a nearly ready for summer, even if it's gone a bit cloudy mummy.

I laughed until I cried

Chris Evans (he of Radio 2 Breakfast Show fame - amongst other things...) earlier said that children on average laugh over 60 times a day, where as us adults only manage a measly 14. 

And so today, to help your laughter count,I give you MercyMe, and their 'Cover Tune Grab Bag'...  MercyMe are a 'proper' band, with some really good tunes, however - this is them, letting their hair down a bit.  Make sure you watch till at least 2:06...  So funny...

Thank you so much to Anna at lifeinthelittletreehouse for putting me on to this x

Curve-ball Questions and Winter Warmers

Yesterday I went on a school trip with Joel to Kenilworth Castle.  This was good fun, although it was exceedingly cold...  It was bitter, particularly in the morning when it was grey and blustery.  The sun did make a valiant attempt to break through later on though; unfortunately, by the time it had had any noticeable affect on the temperature - it was time to get back on the coach...  Oh well, that's life I suppose.

We had never been more appreciative of coats, hats, gloves, scarves and wellies. And for the flask of tea which I'd brought...  We huddled together for warmth like penguins.  Shivery doesn't cover it.

Part of the day was spent following 'English Heritage James' around different parts of the castle.  EHJ had an interesting job keeping the kids interested, but he did it well; asking the children to compare the rooms / ruins we were in, with their equivalent rooms / ruins at home.  The things that are obvious to adults aren't always the things children notice however - and this did lead to some slightly unusual questions and comments from the little darlings...:

"When is it lunch-time?" (When we'd just arrived...)
"If I was rich, I wouldn't have a picture of Samuel Pepys on my wall"
"Are you a doctor?"
Child: "Oak isn't wood" EHJ "Yes it is, it comes from oak trees" Child: "No it doesn't"
"Where are the horses now? Are they dead?"
"Did the princesses do any jousting?"
"I couldn't find any treacle balls..." (trebuchet - I think...)

EHJ coped manfully with the curve-balls he was thrown, considering the complete unpredictability of children and what they will ask...  The children left happy, having had a brilliant day.  To be honest, they were thrilled just by the coach ride there and back; so all the fun in-between was just a bonus.

Whilst looking out the window on the way home, we noticed a field of horses - also wearing their winter warmers...  They had quilted coats on.  You know it really is cold when the animals need clothes.  I was musing with a fellow mum that maybe the horses could have done with hats, gloves or maybe ear-muffs...  Oh how we laughed...

Rain

I don't expect I'm the only person who's moderately depressed by the weather today.  Here we are - half term holiday - both boys at home - and it's rained solid all day.  And yesterday too.  Marvellous.

I know I should be grateful that it's not freezing too.  It is February after all.  A while back, in fact one of my earliest blog posts, I wrote a song about the rain - and then it was August.  It just shows, no month is immune from the 'rainy day blues'...

So - to cheer me, and hopefully you, up a bit - I thought I would try and list a whole load of songs that mention rain... 

So here we go:

1. The Rainy Day Blues - Me!
2. Purple Rain - Prince
3. Rain - Mika
4. Rain - The Beatles
5. The rhythm of the rain - The Cascades
6. I can't stand the rain - Ann Peebles (This was famously covered by Tina Turner - but this is better!)
7. Singing in the rain - Gene Kelly - or maybe this one!

Now - add your own...
And hope it stops soon xx

Reasons to be Thankful, 1,2,3...

I stumbled across this looking for something else...  It's genius!! :o)

I've always liked Paulo Nutini and his slightly random lyrics and accent - he's a bit difficult to understand at times, but this song is definitely worth the effort...  Particularly when you've got some words on the screen to help you.

It made me think about how often we take for granted the things that we have.  Not many of us spend time being thankful for 'food in my belly and a licence for my telly'...  But I think we would be happier if we were a bit more grateful.  Maybe it would help us to focus more on what we have, rather than the things we haven't got that we'd like...

My kids are an example to me in this.  Each evening when we have tea, we try to remember to thank God for the food He's given us, and for anything else they want to mention.  They often come out with all sorts of random, if slightly mundane things: playing on the computer (Thank you Lord for CBeebies online - you have helped me cook so many meals...), sausage sandwiches (whilst eating something else), playing with friends, favourite toys...  My friend's daughter thanked God for Asda in her prayers recently...

So today, I will mostly be being thankful. 

For funky tunes to dance to, for good friends, for cups of tea, for my fabulous children, for Jesus, for my husband (so often taken for granted, but not today - love you x), for hot meals (those I haven't had to cook, and those I have), for a licence for my telly, for the opportunity to blog, for singing, for all the bits of my body still working as they should, for the people who smile at me when I'm playing the guitar at church, for chocolate, for central heating, for my comfy bed...

Thank you xx

500 miles

To the tune of 500 miles - by the Proclaimers...


When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the Mum who's waking up for you.
When you're screaming, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm going be getting your breakfast just for you.
When you get dressed, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be finding your favourite pants for you.
When we go out, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be doing the school run - saying 'Phew!'

But I would walk 500 miles,
And I would drive 500 more.
Just to be the Mum who went a thousand miles
To prove I love you more.

When I get home, well I know I gonna be, I'm gonna be doing more washing - that is true.
Going shopping; making sure I have exactly the right contents for your lunch box and a stew.
Do the ironing, and the cleaning - even scrubbing something unidentifiable off the loo.
Check my watch then, and it's time for the next portion of the school run yet again - well, whoopee-doo!

But I would walk 500 miles
And I would drive 500 more.
Just to be the Mum who went a thousand miles
To prove I love you more.

(Now add your own extra verses - and da la da daas...)

The best present of all?...

Apologies to those of you who are getting a bit sick of nativity related posts - I did write the last one about statistics... (purely in the interest of balance you understand!)  I have already admitted in the Christmas Decathlon that I find the run up to Christmas to be a bit of a multi-event exercise in exhaustion, but still - this weekend's episode was too good to miss.

On Sunday our church congregation did it's first nativity service.  We meet in a primary school on the housing estate where I live.  We're part of an established church in the local area, but have set up this congregation to take the church to where the people are.  It seems to be working - we had lots of visitors this week, which was great.

The morning hadn't started too well however.  Three very important people (not the three wise men - they came later...) were unable to be at church for various reasons.  The leader of our merry band was out of the country, unable to return due to the snow.   His wife - who happened to be doing the sermon - was stuck trying to collect their son who was also struggling with snow related air travel problems.  The third absentee was co-ordinating the whole service, including the nativity element itself; well - she was poorly to a level of not being able to leave the house...  We found out about these problems on the morning of the service...  Oh crumbs.  Time to keep calm and carry on!

I found a book with a nativity story in it (a present from my Mum recently - Thanks Mum, good timing!) and took it along, thinking that it would at least help us cover the nativity element of the service.  I'd got some carols and songs sorted already, and some help from a lovely lady to play the piano (Carols and guitars don't always mix...), so at least we had something to sing... 

We met up at the school, and pieced together what we had.  Someone else had brought a replacement craft activity for the children, and another super on-the-spot thinker set about writing a short talk.  Adrenalin + Holy Spirit = Super Efficiency!  We've spent the rest of December looking at how 'Nothing is impossible with God' (Luke 1:37), so I guess it was only right that we started putting it into practice...

The singing went well, although undoubtedly the highlight (for me at least) was when we sang a song called 'Come and join the celebration'.  Joel had been singing this one at school, and (not just because I found it difficult to play - honest...) he sang it really well, so I got him up to the front to lead the singing - microphone and all.  Marvellous.

After this, the Nativity itself was next.  I lifted the toy baby Jesus and the little manger centre stage as requested, only to notice something peaking out of Jesus' swaddling clothes...  It was a partially eaten, pink ring doughnut!  Oh, how we laughed...

The rest of the service went without a hitch...  The nativity was great, the singing was full of gusto, the talk was thought-provoking, and the cup of tea at the end was a master stroke.  All in all, it was Christmas in a nutshell; glorious, despite the circumstances (after all, the first Christmas hardly looked like a gloriously slick production...  Apart from maybe the angelic chorus - but then they'd had a chance to practice!)  The best present of all was (and is) Jesus, although it did remind me of a joke I knew (slightly altered for my own purposes of course)...

To a child at a nativity service...
'What's pink, round, and covered in sprinkles?'
Bemused child:
'I'm sure the answer should be Jesus - but it sure sounds like a doughnut to me'

Happy Christmas everyone. Gxxx

5000... well, nearly...

I don't mean to be cryptic. 5000 (or actually at time of writing - I should say 4959; Joel would be very unimpressed with any inaccuracy, especially related to numbers...) refers to the number of page views on my blog.

I wrote once before about the exciting (if slightly geeky) joys of having available statistics on my blog.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who read my ramblings; especially those of you who comment encouragingly, or (insert fanfare here!) actually dare to publically 'follow' my blog.  It does seems odd having 'followers' - a strange, cult leader-ish term I know.  But it is lovely to know who I'm writing to...

Over the course of the last five months people in the UK, USA, Thailand, Burkina Faso, Germany, Finland, Canada, Russia, Spain, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Australia, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia, The Philippines, Singapore, Colombia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all read my blog.  I'm very honoured that anyone reads it at all, to be honest - let alone people in parts of the world I've never been to, who I've never even met.

So thank you for taking a minute out of your busy day to read this.  And do feel free to say hello!

How do you solve a problem like Strictly X Factor Idol? Get me out of here...

I guess it won't be a surprise to any of you, that our family choose Strictly Come Dancing as our reality (really? I guess it's not like any reality I've ever seen...) TV show of choice.  We even - thanks to my parents - have some special Strictly scoring cards that get waved aloft each week.  The boys like scoring everything at the moment actually.  I get marks out of ten for the dinners I cook, and for my guitar playing and singing at church on Sunday; one week recently Joel gave me 9.3...  I know, the .3 made all the difference!

Joel is struggling to decide who his favourite Strictly couple are, as there is often someone different at the top of the leader board, and he wants his favourite to be the best all the time.  He has decided that once someone gets the magic 40 points - they'll be his favourite for ever...  I know; the pressure's on for the couples now - who wouldn't give anything for that lofty achievement??

Personally, I've also been sneakily watching a bit of X factor once the kids are in bed.  I know, I know - it's really quite bad - but it's good telly for ironing to...  Especially when the brain is too tired for anything less vacuous (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it...).  I, like a lot of people, can't really comprehend the attraction of Wagner.  I can't believe anyone would actually spend even a few pence to vote for someone who is obviously such a terrible singer.  Each week, I hope that common sense will prevail, and each week I am disappointed; however, the same is happening on Strictly too with Anne Widdecombe and Anton...  That said - I think Anton deserves all the votes they get for sheer perseverance, and for dogged cheerfulness.

I have less sympathy for X factor, who should have understood the public's desire to get one over Simon Cowell after last year's Jedward fiasco...  Wagner might win - just because of how much the public want to feel in charge.  And actually, if Simon and his cronies had really cared about it being a true talent contest, Wagner would never have made it past the first audition.  Mr Cowell, you only have yourself to blame.

Oh well, at least I haven't succumbed to watching the jungle yet...

Words and Letters

It's always exciting when your kids learn to do something new...  Having learnt all his letters now, Nathan is just starting to look at letters together - and work out the words that they spell. 

It's great when he introduces himself.  For days now he's been saying "Hello - it's me - Nathan!" by way of introduction; but yesterday when talking to a friend of mine, he said: "Hello - it's me - Nathan - n-a-t-h-a-n - Nathan!"  Marvellous.

Obviously, the opportunities for reading are endless, after all - there are words everywhere.  It's always interesting what takes his attention; it's not always the things you would expect.

Yesterday he was very proud having read the word 'bus' - no surprises there.  Transport features very highly in Nathan's favourite things.

What made me laugh, was when - sitting at the dinner table - he finished his drink - sat looking at the bottom of his glass - and pronounced: "i-k-e-a - Ikea!"  Of all the words in all the world... :o)

The 12 days of school term

On the first day of school term my young son gave to me: a lunch box full of debris

On the second day of school term my young son gave to me:
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the third day of school term my young son gave to me:
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the fourth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the fifth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the sixth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the seventh day of school term my young son gave to me:
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the eighth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Eight bits of paper
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the ninth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Nine smily stickers
Eight bits of paper
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the tenth day of school term my young son gave to me
Ten new instructions
Nine smily stickers
Eight bits of paper
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the eleventh day of school term my young son gave to me:
Eleven writing homeworks
Ten new instructions
Nine smily stickers
Eight bits of paper
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
And a lunch box full of debris

On the twelfth day of school term my young son gave to me:
Twelve un-named uniforms
Eleven writing homeworks
Ten new instructions
Nine smily stickers
Eight bits of paper
Seven jolly phonics
Six bags of haribo
Five gold stars!
Four broken pencils
Three party invites
Two reading books
AND A LUNCHBOX FULL OF DEBRIS!!!

Hello Djibo, this is Rugby calling...

Something slightly mystical (OK - mystical to me) happens once you've been blogging for a month.  The good burgers of Google add a new feature to your blogging set up which enables you to find out all sorts of fascinating things; they call this bit 'Stats'.

For example, it tells me where in the world people are reading my blog - hence the title...  I have some friends living and working as missionaries in Djibo, Burkina Faso (Hello Mark & Cheryl!) - so I have a pretty rock solid idea that they are the Burkina readers...  However, amazingly - there's people all over the world reading my humble little blog.  Who are the people in the Netherlands / Italy / France / USA / Canada / New Zealand etc etc reading my blog?  How many countries can one blog get to anyway?

I can also tell you how many people read each blog post.  For example, the most popular one so far was 'So here's the thing...'  A blog about keeping romance alive in long term relationships.  I'll be writing more about that soon - so watch this space.

I even know whether people are using Windows, Macs, iPhones or blackberries...  I know - it's bonkers.  What am I supposed to do with all this information?  (Don't worry - I can't see what colour your eyes are, or tell what you're thinking...  Big sister is not watching you!) I have to confess to loving the fact that it all appears in pretty graphs and tables though; who knew statistics could be so addictive?

I would love to know where you are reading this - and who you are - whether you're somewhere exotic, or somewhere closer to home.  Please add a comment at the bottom (even if it's 'in the bath in Bognor!')

Oh - and Thank you to all of you who have clicked on an occasional interesting advert on my blog.  It does make me a few pennies, and I am very grateful. xx

Fancy A Brew?

Over the weekend I was having a cup of tea with some friends, and they were surprised to hear that I only started drinking tea at university. 


I did my midwifery degree at the University of Central Lancashire.  Up until this point I'd lived in Buckinghamshire, so moving to Preston was a bit of a shock to the system...


We spent a lot of our first year doing placements with community midwives.  It was at this point that I discovered how truly devoted people from Lancashire are to drinking tea.  After being asked: "Fancy a brew?" in every house we visited at least ten times every day, I realised I was going to have to start drinking tea if I was ever going to fit in! 
I only discovered the Lancashire Hotpots today, thanks to my friend Sarah - this song is a homage to the tea drinkers of Lancashire...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM1jQ8cIFuU&feature=related


I'm off to make a cuppa xx