No place like home

On the move...

2011-06-06T06:54:00.004+01:00

Update : It's time to move. I have loved logging into blogger for the last 4 years and writing about our little family. It has been such an important part of my life, and has helped my to focus on what is good about life. However I've found it hard to focus on two blogs at the same time and a business, so I have decided to bring everything together under one roof and have splashed out on a new all singing, all dancing, website - www.emilybealephotography.com

So sadly I will no longer be posting here. I will leave the blog turned on, I would hate to loose all the journaling and photographs and happy memories contained here. But all our new adventures will be posted on the new website & blog. It's all up and running, so I'll meet you over there!

So sorry for the lack of posts here last week. It was the school holidays and I was busy playing with my boys. The rest of my time was spent working on a little project. I'll reveal all when I'm done! Hope you're all well, and thanks for stopping by the blog.

Just playing...

2011-05-26T19:05:00.002+01:00

I needed to practice some new camera settings this evening, and needed something to practice on - my boys were less then happy. Tayler struggled to open his eyes.

Nathaniel had to think about it.

Jarom joked around.

But the cake stayed perfectly still, showed my it's best side, and knew that it didn't need to smile at the camera or say 'cheese' for me to take the perfect picture.

Tay...

2011-05-25T14:00:00.004+01:00

Recently we stopped calling Tayler 'Tink' for short and started calling him 'Tay'. I guess that's what happens when you get older, you put away the childish things and move on to things that more 'cool'. So today's post is all about 'Tay'.

The progression of (Tayler's) Tay's Muscular Dystrophy is becoming more apparent. We have known this day would come, and have been prepared for it through steady progression of his disability, and the support of incredible kind and helpful medical professionals. But have recently become aware that school need to be on board too. Tayler's teachers mentioned that we would need to meet together to discuss his needs some months ago, however we weren't able to all meet together until today. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the meeting, I guess a little of what happened really. I pictured us sitting and discussing Tayler's increasing needs, with the support of his amazing physio adding weight to the issues that needed to be raised. I didn't realise I would need her valuable input quite as much as I did.

The meeting involved me discussing the list of concerns we have about Tay - poor concentration, extreme tiredness, poor motivation, lack of sociability, falling, tripping, inability to run, reduced upper limb strength, poor eating habits, low self esteem, and his current acknowledgement of his disability. The list is long. And although each item on it causes us and Tayler daily discomfort and distress, I have to say that we work through and cope with each one. Life is good, we are happy. But it was important to talk about each of these areas so that school are aware of how they can help. A very important lesson I learned today. If you don't ask for help, people simply won't even be aware there is a need. It's not that people are uncaring, they just won't be aware there is even a problem. And on the plus side, we wouldn't have been aware that we have another pool of incredibly caring helpful people to support us. More support = a very happy me!

So how can school help? Here's a copy of our action list. I am overwhelmed with their support to say the least. And know that the most important person, the one at the center of all it all - Tayler, will feel the same way I do. This 'to do' list couldn't be better.

Actions (for school & home)

Staff support for Tayler’s wheelchair use - someone provided to manage & push Tayler
PE - swimming - Tayler to swim throughout the year
PE - all curriculum - Tayler to be allowed to do separate activities (report writing, photography etc) for all PE activities (especially summer sports day).
Laptop - school to provide access for Tayler to laptop & time on computer programs to teach keyboard skills. Also follow-up at home with access to internet based programs.
School to provide Tayler with extra support/counseling to build self esteem. And support Tayler to build good friendships (Tayler to be with his best friend).
School to apply for ‘Audit Funding’ for Tayler for LSA support & daily school based exercise program to be established. Physio to write report.
6 months time - another meeting (November 2011) to discuss implementation and any changes.
Me - is there a profession we can have access to for classroom inclusion presentation?
Physio to follow-up with occupational therapists re: referral, school support (exercise program) & a report from them for ‘Audit Funding’.

I'm sure it will take a while to implement, but I'm hopeful we will eventually get around to doing each item on the list. I'm so grateful for having my boys in such a fantastic school!

Super douper...

2011-05-23T13:10:00.003+01:00

Sunday evening Ashleigh came over to play. Nathaniel's best friend is Ashleigh. He talks about her all the time, and loves playing with her. They love to play together, it's so nice to watch them really enjoying spending time with each other. They toddle around in the garden, read stories in Nathaniel's room, and make the biggest messes together in the living room.

Yesterday golf was the game of choice - or rather how many uses can you find for a golf caddy? Ashy got her pretty Sunday dress wet so Nathaniel came to the rescue with a pair of super pj's - he wanted to wear his of course too! It's so great to have good buddies!

The peonies came out in the garden this week. They are truly my favourite flower, and I love the particular variety in our garden. I think I'll have to invest in a few more bushes - different varieties and colours. I'm sure I say it every year, and never actually get around to doing it. This week it's the Chelsea flower show, it always reminds me of mum, she loved it there. I'll have to find out what peonies they have on show. This is my record of this year's beautiful blossoms from my bush. I love macro photography - a different way of looking at something can help you to appreciate it on a whole new level. Ummm - lovely!

Father and sons camp 2011...

2011-05-22T14:11:00.004+01:00

Only 30 minutes from home, this years campsite was really fantastic. An area of outstanding natural beauty, the the site of an ancient Roman fortress, the boys were really spoilt. Jason captured it all so well in pictures.

My boys look forward to camp all year round. They absolutely love building fires, whittling wood, climbing trees, spending time with their Dad and generally just being boys.

The Set-up - tents and transport.

It's great to have evidence that my boys can work hard. Apparently Tayler loved this job and stayed when all the other boys went off to play to make sure the job was finished.

A little band of brothers. Walks are an important part of camp, and apparently this years's walk was 6 miles long! Jarom exhausted himself, and is taking an extra day to recover, whilst Tayler and Daddy did the sensible thing and only did a very short version of the walk before heading back to the camp site.

Tayler and Jason found company on the way back to the campsite. It's so good to have great friends to share good times with!

Jarom loves carving wood. He has asked for his own knife every year since he started going to camp age two. We promised him that for his twelfth birthday he would be responsible enough to have one - thinking in our naivety that twelve was such a big age and would take much longer to arrive. However Jarom's twelfth birthday is only a few months away, and several cut fingers are indicating that he may not be quite as responsible as we hoped he would be. A promise is a promise, and we need to keep ours, maybe we can find a super safe, and very blunt bladed, guaranteed not to chop your finger off variety of knife?

Whittling away!

The boys love spending time together.

And after all that play, it's time for a nap. Jason found Tayler sleeping in the footwell of the car. Being exhausted and needing a cozy quiet place to bed down Tayler must have tunnelled his way into his particular position.

And now home, the boys have brought with them - dirty stinky clothes that smell of camp fires; cuts and bruses; but lots and lots of great memories! It's what childhood is all about!

Whilst the boys are away, mummy goes shopping...

2011-05-22T13:45:00.003+01:00

With Nathaniel in tow, of course! And what did we buy? Nathaniel has been in need of a new coat, his old one was too small (size age 12 months), and he had well and truly worn it out. We spotted this one in our little boutique store in Weston and couldn't resist it. Who doesn't love dinosaurs. Nathaniel tried it on in the store and strutted around in it - he knew he looked good. We thought we'd have a little fashion show when we got home!

Waterproof with a nice warm towelling lining!

With Crocs to match!

I know I may be jinxing the British weather we've been having recently, but it's rarely dry over the summer. I think we'll get lots of use out of this little jacket! Plus Crocs are the perfect all weather sandal.

So that's what we've both been up to whilst Daddy took Jarom and Tayler to father & sons camp. Everybody was happy!

Authentic Battle Damage

2011-05-18T06:45:00.002+01:00

A few days ago my boy went over to his cousins home to play. Whilst in the garden the strimmer threw up a stone into his face. He came home and proudly announced his battle damage. He wished the stone had been just little bigger and had hit a little deeper, in order to make a really cool scar.

The offending rock.

I'm glad it wasn't a little bigger. A little harder. Or a little higher up his face. Phew. A close shave really!

I've been spending some time with my beautiful sister and her beautiful daughter this week. I'll be taking pictures today. Unfortunately that means I won't be posting much here whilst I'm so busy. So, I'll see you soon.

Baby Maysie

2011-05-14T07:11:00.003+01:00

Last night I went to visit with Kate, Tim and Maysie for the first time since Maysie's arrival. What an absolute cutie that little girlie is. Kate already feels she is a sweet natured little girl because she has been so good - sleeping and eating well. She likes to be swaddled tight and sleeps well either in Mummy or Daddy's arms or on her comfy big feeding cushion.

She didn't seem very impressed with my big camera (we had disturbed her from a snooze and cuddle with her Mummy though).

Ahh, but then she turned on the charm and gave us a cute little smile. At only 24 hours old, we were very impressed.

A quick look over to Mummy for reassurance. What a sweetie pie.

And little wrinkly toes.

I am so impressed with my little sister and how she has taken to motherhood. Timmy too is the most attentive Daddy and husband, he absolutely dotes on his two girls. I am so happy for them, words fail me. I just can't wait to see them again and give that little one a cuddle.

Bedtime...

2011-05-12T19:35:00.000+01:00

At bedtime this evening we received the news that my sister Katy has finally had her baby. She was due to arrive on 29th April, and so is almost two weeks late. That is a tradition with us 'Mays' women - mum was late with both Katy & I. I was late with Jarom & Tayler. Kate was late with Maysie. Katy was in labour for almost 3 days, so we are so proud of her endurance and strength. I have to so we were incredibly relieved when the phone rang this evening with the news from proud daddy uncle Timmy - 'A baby girl, born at approximately 6pm Thursday 12th May, weighing 8 lbs and half an ounce. Baby has lots of hair (like her mummy), and both Mother & baby are doing well.'

The boys faces were full of delight when we told them. Another little person has joined our family. We are all so excited to meet her.

We had a little visitor in our garden...

2011-05-08T19:17:00.003+01:00

He sat on our fence and looked a little like this ...

He hasn't visited before, so we decided to give him a snack.

This was all we had, besides bird food.

My boys thought this song (also by Insideout A Capella), by their favourite group was a fitting tribute to him. I apologise.

Once there was a Snowman...

2011-05-08T19:13:00.001+01:00

This is our family's Sunday afternoon favourite. Watching the boys jam out to it is hilarious. Enjoy!

In Her Shoes...

2011-05-05T11:37:00.009+01:00

I read a series of blogs recently out in cyber space looking at the lives of several busy mothers. The posts were entitles 'In her shoes'. I loved the idea of this. Documenting a whole day of my busy life. Recording all the little things I do so that I can share, and also one day look back and remember where I was and where I've been. My life is going through a process of change right now. I have been extraordinarily busy over the last three years and whilst they have been the most challenging times, I have also had moments of inspiration, clarity and deep deep joy. I have lived the last three years trying to make the most of every minute and I never want that to change. So here I go, a day in the life of me, this is what it's like living in my shoes...

My alarm goes off at 6:00am - I always hit the snooze button for an extra 5 minutes. Then I love to start the day with prayers and scripture study. I can rest easy then, knowing my day has started in the best way possible and that I have done the most important things first.

Then it's time to get washed and dressed. The morning routine is a 'tag-team' effort. Jason always feeds the boys and has them for the first hour of the day so that I can have some time for myself. He is a super-husband and I love him. I will change many bottoms during an average day.

My usual routine involves assisting my dad with his needs. These are some of the things that will be changing soon. Once dad is ready for the day, it's time to take the boys to school. Jarom likes to ride shot-gun. The younger boys sit in the back.

Jarom likes to jump out of the car first and walk the rest of the way to school. I always walk Tayler into school and stand with him in the playground. We talk about his day ahead, and have lots of interesting conversations about everything from the meaning of life to the latest Lego creation he is making. Today's conversations starts with - 'You know Mum, it's not fair...'

Once we have seen Tayler into his classroom. Nathaniel and I head home.

Most of the time we go home to help Grandpa, and occasionally we run a few errands before lunch. But today we are able to go to the park. Having free time is something we need to get used too. I really want to make the most of that too. I have trips to the park and the museum planned, toddler groups and swimming lessons. We also want to make the most of our beautiful seafront, so we'll be heading down there weekly for a jog (Nathaniel will be on his scooter) and a piece of cake in one of our fab little cafes. Sounds wonderful doesn't it. Today it was the park - we have several, and we're going to try each one and find our favourite.

Most of our mornings over the last two years have involved these syringes. They make great water squirters by the way. But their most important role has helped my dad stay chest infection free this year, which ultimately means his life is prolonged. And that is a truly wonderful thing! The job of using these syringes, will now mostly been taken on by some fantastically kind individuals, so that I can spend a bit more time with Nathaniel, and leave the house a little more then I do currently.

Funny story : As we left the house this morning for the school run, a grandpa and his two small grandsons approached us, with a very important request. Could they use our bathroom? Of course, I was overwhelming grateful that they had thought to ask. Hooray for humanity! I thought. I know that may sound a little silly. But I felt so glad that a stranger had asked, and that I had the capacity to say yes. And our bathrooms - although they wouldn't win awards - they are a lot nicer than any public toilets. This was my thank you gift. They honestly shouldn't have. But I was very grateful.

Dinner time. I always think carefully about what to cook for my family. We have a two-weekly schedule, and a monthly plan. We eat more fish, and a lot less meat then we used to, and I cook a different soup every Sunday. I love cooking food that my boys ooh and aah over. I like to make them happy by cooking food that tastes good and helps them to be healthy.

Speaking of healthy. Nathaniel developed another infection, so it was a bath before bed for him. Such a cheeky little guy. You can't help but love him.

When the boys are in bed I get down to some serious work. Only for an hour or two, but this is how I am managing to develop my business. I do of course use nap times (and any other spare minute I can get), what would I do without them? But today all I had was the evening to do my work. I edited pictures I had taken over Easter, I'll post a sample of pictures on my photography blog within the next couple of days.

So that's me & my shoes. I'll finish the day by helping dad to bed and then watching a little TV to wind down from a busy day. Then it's off to bed, I need my sleep, 8 hours is best, but I can survive on 7 for a few days before I get super grumpy.

So that's a little of what it's like to spend a day in my shoes. Nothing particularly inspiring, but it's my life and even in the simple stuff I try to live it well!

This boy is trouble... Part 2

2011-05-01T19:37:00.003+01:00

It seemed a little too quiet this evening after I returned Nathaniel for the 10th time to his bed. So I opened the door to take a quick look and this is what I saw.

I have heard these horror stories from other mothers - when the toddler gets into the nappy cream, but up until this day I was suffering from some sort of negligent pride that this sort of thing would never happen to a mother like me - I'm a third time round mother of boys! How wrong I was. I am pleased that my reaction was patient and composed - I went for the camera first! Then it was a rough strip wash, a small bedroom makeover (to make sure all offending items were well out of reach) and then straight back to bed.

It's his little face that kills me - He was so proud of himself when I walked in - 'Look Mumma, look what I did', but that rapidly disappearing smile says it all - oops I think I may be in trouble again!

A right royal occasion...

2011-04-29T07:42:00.003+01:00

We eagerly awaited the big day here in our home. TV's & radio's were on in every room. We do love a party! A wedding is always a magical occasion, but a prince and his bride - extra special!

This is how I watched - via the internet as I worked. Jason watched downstairs and couldn't pull himself away from the action.

We loved it all the Abbey, the music, the dresses. What a special day it's been. There's been special kind of atmosphere, an excitement in the air, and certainly a coming together of community with a shared feeling of pride in our country.

Later we celebrated with our neighbours as they held a street party.

The boys LOVED playing football.

Delicious cupcakes - nope, I didn't make them.

How our street looked.

Nathaniel enjoyed his piece of cake.

And Tayler couldn't resist the ham sandwiches.

Easter looked a lot like this...

2011-04-26T12:51:00.007+01:00

It's been hanging on our door for over a month, in anticipation of the Easter holidays.

Our holiday started with fun at our local green. The boys enjoyed a great time playing Frisbee and hide and seek in the woods.

Nathaniel shows his skill at picture taking ...

Cricket celebrations from Jarom - where did that ball go to?

Playing guitar in the sunshine...

Nathaniel getting his groove on.

Oh, how he loves his Uncle Timmy ...

Easter Sunday, and the traditional Easter basket goodies. Lego. Hotwheels. Tech Deck. Enough said.

After just a few hours, we were reduced to a few M&M's and a tiny bit of wrapped up chocolate.

Easter Monday, and the Baby Momma's (Auntie Katy & Auntie Chessy) amongst us fancied the cool & shade of the local woods. (We wished there were bathrooms too!)

The boys loved the activities in the woods. Extreme swinging.

Den building.

More swinging - which brought on the most extreme fit of giggling I've ever heard from my boy.

There's nothing like the feeling of a swing.

Ashley not to be beaten by the boys got in on the action too. Bursting bubbles was her favourite activity of the day!

But she also tried her hand at climbing. Go for it girly!

More Easter egg hunting. But I think by Monday evening the little ones were all chocolated out!

I loved their 'follow my leader' approach to the whole event.

A word of warning - chocolate bunnies don't tend to do well in heat! This one became a little mutated - but my older boys thought it was hilarious!

The end of another successful holiday. We ticked off a lot of activities on our 'to do' lists. But now it's back to school. For all of three days - before the next four day weekend! And that one is stacking up to be a right royal celebration!

A birthday party invitation...

2011-04-18T09:20:00.002+01:00

Our sweet niece turned 4 last week. My, how the time flies, has it really been 4 years? I guess there's the candles on the cake to prove it. It seems like just yesterday that she was born, such an anticipated baby. We were all so full of joy. Jason raced to the hospital to see this little one on her first day, how proud he was of his little sister and her new baby. And here we are four years later and that little baby has grown into the most beautiful little girl. Confident and fun loving, she is a loyal and caring friend. What a joy it is to have her in our family!

Nathaniel was privileged to receive an invitation to the sweetest girly party ever. Bouncy castles & bubble machines, pass the parcel & musical bumps, a castle cake fit for a princess, and the yummiest selection of party food ever seen. Nathaniel needless to say had a wonderful time. With camera in hand I had the pleasure of documenting the fun - what better gift to give then the gift of pictures. Priceless memories to be treasured for years to come. Happy 4th Birthday Sweet girlie, we all love you very much!

We made a chocolate cake...

2011-04-15T16:50:00.002+01:00

Nathaniel loves to bake. And of course loves licking the spoon, but please forgive the licking of the knife - I know, I know! This afternoon we gave a new recipe a go and throughly enjoyed ourselves dancing to the tunes on the radio and eating the remaining frosting.

Not so happy with having pictures taken...

But always a poser ...

Licking the last of the frosting, wherever it happens to be ...

This boy is trouble...

2011-04-14T19:10:00.002+01:00

This little boy is fast becoming a real handful and no amount of discipline seams to work on him. Anyway, how do you discipline a two year old? We've tried the 'naughty step' - he literally jumps straight off it. We withhold treats - he whines and whines until you can distract him enough to take his mind off of the treat. We send him to his room - he jumps on the bed and plays with his favourite things. We point our finger and tell him he has done something very naughty - he puts his hands on his hips and 'growls' back. All of his reactions to our poor attempts at a telling off involve a smile and a giggle, he honestly sees life as one big fantastic game. What do we do?

In my heart I hear the word - Patience. Just be patient with him. I know that I need to be firm, not laugh myself in the middle of a 'telling-off' moment and be consistent. Let him know when he has behaved badly, and help him to recognise his mistakes. 'Sorry' is an incredible important word in our home, and I won't settle for anything less then a full and proper apology, even from my two year old. It's just incredibly hard to do when this boys is so stinkin' cute.

Late night crafting...

2011-04-13T14:17:00.000+01:00

I love bunting. I have made several lots over the last few years. I'm not perfect at sewing, but I can just about do the job. Last week my sister had her baby shower and I thought it would be nice to make some bunting to decorate. It couldn't be simpler. Sew two triangular pieces of fabric together back to back along two sides, then trim the edges and turn the right way round. Attach each flag along a length of bias binding or ribbon, then sew. Easy. Just don't leave it right to the last minute like I did, sewing like a crazy woman into the night.

'T' Days...

2011-04-12T12:44:00.002+01:00

Have I talked about 'T' days before? We have a slight gaming addiction here in our home. The Mac's, ipad, the DS's and the Wii, my boys are obsessed. I had tried for many years to bring this under control and create happy balanced children. My boys do love to read, Jarom loves stake boarding, his scooter and football; and Tayler loves to swim. But after Jarom developed a mild form of epilepsy which was induced by light (especially the light emitted by games consoles), we knew we needed to make some changes as a family. So we have made a few family rules, that we find really help.

Firstly we half the manufacturers game playing time - if they say an hour, we say half an hour. Secondly you must have a break from gaming for an equivalent period of time - if you've played for half and hour take a half hour break before playing any more games/or watching TV. Thirdly, if you've been watching a game over another's shoulder, that's classed as playing, and you'll need a break before playing yourself. Finally we have 'T' days (Tuesday's and Thursdays) where we take a break from TV and games consoles.

We've been doing this for a year now, and although we're not always perfect, it is making a difference. My boys are learning there is more to life then games. And Jarom has been symptom free for over a year and has been discharged by his doctor. So hooray for 'T' Days! Do you have anything that you finds brings balance to your life?

Pretty things...

2011-04-10T18:51:00.004+01:00

Spring seems to have come so quickly this year, there are so many new blossoms, flowers and leaves. It's a wonderful sight and it makes me happy.

Nathaniel picked these pretty flowers from Nanny's garden, he was so excited to bring them home to give me.

I bought these because they reminded me of mum.

This is my Camellia bush in the front garden. I've never done anything with it and each year it grows a little more and produces the most beautiful flowers - I love that.

We went for a short walk yesterday to our local high street and saw so many beautiful blossom trees. They seem to be the tree of choice Weston-super-Mare. I loved the delicate pink of this tree, the blossoms were just bursting from it.

Our plan for the Easter Holidays...

2011-04-10T08:31:00.002+01:00

Fail to plan and you plan to fail! We often find that the holidays go so quickly that we get to the end of them and wonder were the time went and what we managed to accomplish. Last Summer I made a list of activities and we managed to do almost all of them. We had such a great holiday, spent very little, and really enjoyed each day we spent together. The Easter Break this year feels like such a long time - 2 weeks & a day, then an extra day at the end of that week (the royal wedding), and another bank holiday tagged on for good measure - whoop-dee-doo!

So this is our plan. Will we fit it all in? I'm not sure. But we're going to give it a good try!

Baby Shower...

2011-04-09T09:53:00.005+01:00

My beautiful sister is having a baby - in just 3 weeks! I'm so excited for her, and for Timmy her husband. They're going to be the most amazing parents. Yesterday evening we held a baby shower for her. It was definitely a 'we' hosted event because so many friends and family members contributed to making a really fun evening - all in honour of the celebration of the arrival of little baby Maysie!

I bought Tulips to remind us of Mummy, they were one of her favourite flowers, and when I see them I think of her. I edited and printed baby pictures of Mummy (Kate) and Daddy (Tim) as a gift for Maysie. I thought they would be fun additions to her nursery.

My other genius idea, (I'm actually amazed that I came up with it all by myself, I'm not that clever), was to have friends near & far offer little bits of advice to Kate. These were written down for her to read and I will be transferring into a beautiful baby book combining photos of Maysie, journal pages for Kate & Tim & these beautiful heart felt pieces of advice. I can't wait to put this little project together. I just have to wait for our little bundle of joy to get here.

Little nibbles, everyone contributed, how kind! (I made the bunting).

Crazy baby shower game anticipation!

Guess the chocolate in the nappy poo-poo game - don't ask - it's completely gross! (But alot of fun!)

Beautiful gifts, everyone was so very kind, Kate felt completely overwhelmed.

My favourite gift was from Kate's very best friend Cheryl. She made Kate cupcakes. These were absolute cupcake perfection. I have serious cupcake admiration, I admire anyone who can create beautiful things. And these were not only beautiful, but very yummy! Perfection.

Close up! Aren't they adorable - I just love the edible tiny footprint confetti. Amazing!

It was a really fun baby shower evening, and we are all now eagerly anticipating the arrival of baby Maysie.

Budding Picasso!

2011-04-07T13:50:00.003+01:00

Nathaniel's first experience with paint. What do you think?

I loved watching him enjoy the experience. The look of enjoyment and concentration on his face were priceless. He wanted to try every colour and print with every stamp. He loved getting messy, and thought that printing with his hands was incredible. How wonderful it was to enjoy this first time moment so much together.

With so much to do here at home, it's almost understandable that Nathaniel has never experienced paint before today. But that makes me feel a little sad.

The solution to my problem - my friend Debbie invited us to her mother & toddler 'Messy Play' workshop. It's the perfect environment for Nathaniel to play, be creative and get throughly messy, and I don't have to worry about the tidy-up! We'll definitely be making this part of our regular weekly routine!

School Easter Projects...

2011-04-07T10:02:00.003+01:00

I was so excited to receive a text message from school to say that my boy's would be having their annual Easter display yesterday afternoon. I thought 'How wonderful - a parade of hats, bags, Easter gardens & baskets, I can't wait!' I love celebrations! I arrived at school to find the children tucked away in their classrooms busying themselves with work and our projects, and tables displaying items the boys had made. I must admit I was a little disappointed - where were the parades, and the hats? Hump. Never mind, the boys had put a lot of effort into their Easter creations and I thought they were lovely.

Jarom's Easter bag - the one with the pipe cleaner writing - I thought it was a nice touch!

Tayler's Easter basket is harder to spot. I couldn't even find it myself, hence it's not the focus of this picture. The clue is in the fact it has no handle (he just didn't get round to adding that), and it's in the very far left of the picture, the one with the silver egg - very space age!

More about conference...

2011-04-05T06:52:00.002+01:00

We had such a lovely experience listening to General Conference over the weekend, and I encouraged everyone to record their favourite quotes and special inspirations, which we shared together last night in family home evening.

There are still so many talks we haven't listened to, I've been getting up early and listening to the ones I missed. I've enjoyed this new morning routine, and hope to continue with it for a few months, until next conference in October.

So what were our highlights?

Jason enjoyed Priesthood session, and with Jarom fast approaching becoming a Deacon in the Priesthood, felt particularly impressed to work on his preparation.

Jarom noted that many talks mentioned missionary work. He recorded the question 'Will this buy me bread?' from President Uchtdorf's talk, in relation to the church's welfare programme and the blessings of the gospel. That was a really strong theme from conference. I also really enjoyed this talk.

Tayler loved the music, and particularly enjoyed the hymn 'Have I done any good in the world today'. I think we all felt inspired by that too. It was sung so beautifully.

As well as enjoying conference, Dad noted that the movie the church made Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration, was now available to view online. It is the first time the church has shared a full-length film on the internet, and I was able to sit and watch it. I was so touched by the carefully crafted acting and story telling, which I believe is a very realistic portrayal of real life events. It explains so beautifully the importance of modern prophets, the purpose of temples and the eternal nature of family relationships. I've also been able to share a link to the movie here on my blog. So sit back and enjoy - it's a long one, so get comfy, an I suggest a box of tissues at the ready might be a good idea, it's a weepy! I think we'll have a movie night soon as a family, and watch this together, the boys and Jason haven't seen it yet. Enjoy!

What an amazing mother's day weekend...

2011-04-04T11:26:00.005+01:00

This weekend was so fantastic, not only was it mothers day on Sunday and I enjoyed an extra helping of love from my boys, but it was also General Conference and I got to enjoy listening to some fantastically uplifting and inspiring words from our church leaders. A truly amazing weekend.

These were the cards I received from my boys. They had put so much love and thought into them.

Mother's day breakfast! It's a tradition in our family, and I love it. Jarom later confessed that what looked like a lovely drink of orange juice was actually made up of Nathaniel's unfinished leftovers! Nice!

My mother's day gift - a herb garden for my window ledge.

Mother's day smile!

Jarom cooking my mother's day lunch - Butternut Squash Risotto - my favourite!

Everyone enjoying conference. I particularly love how Nathaniel got himself comfy in the bean bag. He loved his conference worksheets & clipboard, it kept him entertained for all of 5 minutes!

Monday motivation...

2011-03-28T08:38:00.001+01:00

My Monday morning needs a boost, and music is the perfect way to get me moving. I L-O-V-E Mindy Gledhill's music, so this tune is perfect for today. Enjoy.

Springtime with my boys...

2011-03-25T13:25:00.004Z

Spring is well and truly here and we are loving the beautiful weather we've been experiencing over the last few days. It really has been perfect - not too hot and not too cold - this feels like the perfect summer weather, and it's only March. Glorious!

Although my boys have been busying themselves at school over the last few weeks, Nathaniel and I have been at home - looking after each other and Grandpa. Nathaniel has had yet another nasty cold and now has an eye infection, what a poorly little boy he's been.

Being at home has provided me with the opportunity to tidy my files and organise myself a little better. I do love being organised. It's like a kind of therapy for me. Though I do find it can tend to lead me to be a little OCD! Whilst organising the photographs yesterday I found these three beauties which I had not shared.

A typical Tayler pose full of mischief.

Bright eyed cuteness from Nathaniel.

And down right cool from Jarom.

Oh how I love my beautiful boys!

Look what we found today in our bin store...

2011-03-20T17:45:00.002Z

What a little beauty, and if you want to find out more about the peacock butterfly go here. It must have been in there hibernating over the winter months - yep butterflies hibernate, (didn't know that until today) they do live longer than a few days! So this little thing had been in our bin store all winter long (hope it was cozy in there), but the pretty display wasn't really for our benefit, this particular butterfly assumes this position when he is politely saying 'Get Lost!'

'Testing, testing, 1-2-3!'

2011-03-13T18:39:00.003Z

A little walk in the woods this morning provided me with some fun new pictures of my boys (more to follow). I m practicing a new way of editing and experimenting with some new techniques. It's all very time consuming, but quite satisfying. One thing's for sure, my boys have truly had enough of having their picture taken and so, to satisfy my need to snap a picture of anything that moves, I will be doing a children's casting call soon as part of my business. I'm looking forward to new faces to photograph!

No time to breath...

2011-03-12T14:16:00.002Z

It's been so busy here at home over the last few weeks. The lack of pictures and blog posts has made me sad. We have had some happy times though, and each of us has worked hard in our own way.

Daddy is working hard at work, the pressure is strong at the moment, but we are grateful he has work.

Jarom is working hard at school, his SATs exams will be in May and we are so proud of the effort he is putting into revision. The marks are improving and last week he got the first 40/40!

Tayler always works hard, swimming is his biggest love right now and he went up to the deep end of the big pool for the first time this week.

Nathaniel is working hard overcoming a cold. He is feeling grumpy and under the weather. He seems to have had a cold since his birthday.

Grandpa is working hard looking after us all and all the members of our extended family.

And me? Well I'm just picking up the pieces, and at the moment trying to work on my photography business a little more.

We headed over to the park to take some pictures, my boys posed for a couple, but the have seriously had enough of me taking their pictures.

They need hair cuts!

Chips and the pier

2011-03-06T07:58:00.003Z

When Auntie Gen came to visit last weekend we all headed down to Weston-super-Mare sea front for a walk and a bag of chips.

Nathaniel enjoyed sitting next to Grandpa, and ate surprisingly well with so many distractions around.

Little Ashleigh discovered Heinz Tomato Ketchup for the first time - and couldn't get enough of it. She sucked it off of all her chips - yummy!

We all enjoyed Auntie Glen. She is so much fun to be with and tells the most wonderful stories!

We walked down the pier and enjoyed an ice-cream in the new parlour. Ashleigh enjoyed her whippy ice-cream with a flake on top.

Nathaniel had his in a tub, just like his grandpa.

Such a cheeky little boy.

Ashleigh really enjoyed her ice-cream!

Then we all headed home, walking back along the newly refurbished sea front.

World book day - 2011

2011-03-04T17:08:00.002Z

The last two weeks have been incredibly busy, and here's why -

It was the end of term holidays last weeks and the boys were busy visiting friends, having Nerf wars and movie nights.
I had several engagement photography sessions - loved every minute of them!
Auntie Glen came to visit for the weekend - we spent time together as a family, went on the pier and enjoyed each other's company immensely.
The boys went back to school - and I had a lot of cleaning & tidying to do.
Tayler had his neuromuscular consultant's appointment - we have to make a return visit for the physio. appointment - long story!
Jarom & Tayler enjoyed World Book Day celebrations at school - pictured above are Jarom Beale as Percy Jackson (the lightning thief) and for the second year running our prize winner Tayler Beale as Mr. Twit (Roald Dahl's Twits!). He grew a little too attached to the beard and walking stick, the stick belonged to his 4x Great Grandpa, and he loved it!

So a busy couple of weeks, hopefully I will now be able to resume normal service and may even manage to update my photography blog!

Expressions of a loving husband...

2011-02-18T13:24:00.002Z

I have recently been suffering with headaches that last most of the day. Jason wondered if it was because I was not drinking enough water. Each day this week he has loving placed six glasses along the window ledge in the kitchen to remind me to drink. I have been so grateful for his care for me. I have actually found that it has worked a little. My headaches have deceased as the week has gone on, and I have started to drink more. I am grateful for my constant reminder to remember to look after myself.

Muffins x2

2011-02-16T14:42:00.003Z

Yesterday my little niece came to play with Nathaniel. Isn't she just adorable. I noticed that her baby features are changing into little girl features now, and I think she's just beautiful!

Nathaniel and Ashleigh really are best buddies, they love playing together. And I mean together - if one does it the other has to, if one has something the other has to have one too. It's just too cute. Yesterday they decided to climb into bed and read each other stories - 'You want story Baby?' Nathaniel asked. He still calls her 'Baby'. I think it's sweet, I almost hope he never stops.

Today's news is another successful muffin. And here's a big o'll picture to prove it. I wish there was smellivision, they really do smell and taste as good as they look. I'll post the recipe if anyone wants it.

Skinny Jeans and boots...

2011-02-15T17:10:00.003Z

I've been looking for a new pair of boots for several years now. I bought my last pair a few years before having Nathaniel and despite being Doc. Martins I had completely worn away the tred on the soles. So I've been looking a new pair that were safe to walk in - I only have to look at ice and snow and I fall over and were a little more feminine - DM's aren't always considered the prettiest of boots.

I found a pair from hush puppies last week - just what I wanted, half price and my size! Yes! So Jason gave me permission to order them - Valentines day was coming up. Yesterday they arrived.

What do you think? I know I probably need to invest in a proper pair of skinny jeans, but the boots are pretty and really comfy. Katy remarked that all I need now is a horse. To that I say - 'Howdy Ya'll, ya like'n my new boots?'

I think they're pretty!

I {heart} You!

2011-02-14T13:51:00.003Z

I love my crazy soppy husband. I love how he gets up early with each of our boys and how he unloads the dishwasher and makes the sandwiches each morning. I love how hard he works for us as a family, and how he rides to work each day on his bike so that we can have the car. I love how he always complements my cooking 'If I ordered this in a restaurant, I'd be so impressed, I want to eat there again' - I love how he say's the same thing each time. I love how he sincerely asks me how my day has gone, and listens supportively to me. I love that his favourite hobby is me, and that when he needs someone to hang out and spend time with, his choice is me. I L-O-V-E him.

Happy Valentines day!

Family Movies

2011-02-13T08:16:00.003Z

We love a good movie as a family. We really enjoy sitting together with the pop-corn being entertained by a really good story. We particularly love a story that has it all - laughter, tears, tension, and best of all a happy ending.

Picking a favourite is ridiculously difficult. Dad likes a good thriller with some deep twists, Jason enjoys a good war film, Jarom likes a comedy, Tayler too likes a good laugh, Nathaniel loves Toy Story. I have an eclectic taste. I love a good chick flick, but I have high standards, there're aren't many truly good chick flicks that make the grade. I also love really silly comedy that makes me laugh and good period dramas. There are some movies that I could watch over and over again and I love every minute of them. 'Up' is one of those movies. Disney really did some genius story telling there, the music - amazing and animation - just beautiful. So here's a little clip for you to enjoy. We watched it together as a family on Saturday, and I thought of Valentines day which was fast approaching. Enjoy!

Some photography homework...

2011-02-11T12:56:00.003Z

This morning Nathaniel and I were out about about in Weston-super-Mare. We were taking photographs of Weston landmarks to use in some up and coming photography sessions for my business. We were privileged to see the new fountain being switched on for one of the first times, just flukey we were there, but I was really pleased because it looked great!

Nathaniel wanted to have a look at each picture I took.

We took his new scooter and he really enjoyed being Mr. independent.

He absolutely loved the new fountain. It wouldn't have taken much persuasion to get him to go paddling, even though it was pretty cold.

The fountain in full force - so pretty.

I love the seating they've built around the fountain. Modern. Functional. But I think the use of chunky wood and slate is pretty too.

We also looked at other locations - beautiful stone seated areas in the middle of town.

The bandstand in the park.

And the avenue - also in the park.

I realised that I hadn't visited these areas much in the last few years, and had forgotten they were even there. Sometimes it's important to take a moment and see the beautiful architecture, and use of materials in our towns and cities, and sometimes you just need to look past the graffiti and see an object as it was originally intended to be seen.

The perfect muffin?

2011-02-09T09:35:00.004Z

On monday I bought some blueberries from Asda - they were only a £1. I love blueberries, especially in muffins. All I needed to do was find a better recipe and method of cooking them then I currently had. So I googled blueberry & banana muffins (I also had old bananas to use up) and found this recipe for - Cinnamon, banana and blueberry muffins. The fact that they baked well, have no sugar inside them, and taste a-m-a-z-i-n-g could make them the perfect muffin.

Ingredients

250g/9oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus ½ tsp extra for the topping
pinch of salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed
150g/5oz blueberries
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large free-range egg
185ml/6fl oz milk
50g/2oz caster sugar

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line eight holes of a muffin tin with paper muffin cases.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the banana and blueberries and, using a fork, lightly toss the fruit through the flour.
In a separate bowl, lightly whisk together the honey, vegetable oil, egg and milk.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (don't over-mix or your muffins won't be as light in texture). Spoon the batter into the individual muffin cases.
Mix the extra half a teaspoon of cinnamon and the caster sugar together and sprinkle on top of the batter.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until risen and lightly golden. Serve warm from the oven.

Bad hair day!

2011-02-07T19:04:00.002Z

Do you sometimes suffer from a bad hair day? Nathaniel had it tough today. After trying to remove the remains of his baby cradle cap with baby oil yesterday, we discovered it is incredibly difficult to wash it out. We had to wash his hair again this morning, but had to put a hat on him before rushing out on the school run. When I got home and took off the hat, this is what I discovered. Could it become a new trend? Umm, I think not!

Tayler turns 8

2011-02-07T18:25:00.005Z

Tayler chose @Bristol to celebrate his 8th Birthday, it couldn't have been a more perfect choice for our clever inquisitive little boy. He had an amazing time there - investigating and exploring science. Perhaps his favourite area was the bubble making zone - he had so much fun and went back several times to play again.

Jarom also got in on the excitement.

Tayler - master bubble blower!

Tayler is such a Morph fan, he loved this fun zeotrope.

Playing with the water wheels, canals, pulleys and dams. Jason and I also had a great time, Nathaniel thought he was in heaven - so much to do, so little time!

Sunday was the day of Tayler's official birthday. His gifts included a game for his DS and a lego movie, he recently got into drawing, so we bought him some pencils, paper and a 'how to draw' book. Grandpa bought Tayler a new set of scriptures.

After church in the evening, Tayler was baptised a member of the church. Tayler has been looking forward for this day since Jarom his older brother was baptised when he was 8. He was well prepared and really enjoyed the whole experience. He thought the water was lovely and warm and I could tell by the way he threw himself at me for a big hug that he was completely happy with the choice he made to be baptised. During the closing prayer of the service, he leaned in close to me and whispered 'Thanks Mum'. My heart was full. I feel it is such an important part of my role as a mother to teach my boys well, and help them to make good choices. Sharing with them my love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having them live and love those teachings too, brings me the greatest joy. Tayler's little 'thank you' yesterday meant so much to me. It confirmed to me that the hard work is worth it, and sometimes really appreciated!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2011-02-04T14:35:00.003Z

Last night we had a big celebration dinner to mark the Chinese New Year. We all enjoy Chinese food and thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to indulge ourselves with spring rolls and duck pancakes - yummy. It's becoming quite a Beale family tradition to celebrate other countries festivals - first American Thanksgiving and now Chinese New Year. Nathaniel helped me to make Chinese dragons to decorate the table, and we had party hooters to honk. I even made lucky little red envelopes to put the boys pocket money into, which is a sacred Chinese custom, (the boys particularly loved this!).

I'm sure will continue through the year to find inspiration through other cultures and enjoy the amazing food they eat in celebration.

Thoughts about January & The Joy of Love...

2011-02-01T14:23:00.002Z

On the whole I think I did quite well trying to take a picture a day during January. I think I managed about 14 pictures out of 31 - that's two a week - I'm going to look on the positive and say that's not too bad for my busy life! I will continue to try and take a picture a day (umm, two a week) for the rest of the year. Check back and see if I manage it.

Something that may help me is the 'Joy of Love' photography course by Kelly Willette. I signed up at the beginning of the year and I'm looking forward to my daily dose of photography inspiration for the month of February.

Today's picture - photographing someone you love doing what they do.

Umm - Nate watching Toy Story 2 ought to do it. I couldn't count the number of times he has - yet it still holds his attention to the end and I guess still holds a little mild peril! He is absolutely in love with Buzz and Woody.

It's not too late to sign up for the course - click the link above and take a look. Not only are there ideas to inspire, but simple technical details to help you improve your pictures, oh and it's FREE!

Grinding wheat...

2011-02-01T11:12:00.002Z

Why did grinding wheat hold such fear for me? I've had it as a personal goal for many years now to grind wheat and make it into bread, like a good Mormon Mummy. I joke, but I know the health benefits of doing this (plus the benefits to my pocket - it's so much cheaper!). Yet, it's taken me until the 13th year of my marriage and my 12th year of mummy-hood to pluck up the courage to do this. I had very willing helpers, and actually can't take much credit again - I baked the bread, but Jason was the one who got the equipment out of the cupboard and the boys kept an eye on the little grinding machine as it whizzed away. A real family effort. It was so easy and our homemade bread tasted amazing. This is definitely going to become a weekly Sunday tradition in our home.

Where did I go wrong?

2011-01-29T07:50:00.003Z

I love to bake. I have several tried and tested recipes that I love to use. This year I am trying to perfect those I and add a few more to my collection. I found a recipe a few years ago in a supermarket magazine for some delicious cranberry and ginger muffins. I made them a few times and they were delicious. I felt like a good cook, they tasted, and looked really great. This Christmas I pulled the recipe out again and tried it. They tasted awful - they were dry beyond dry and rock solid. Where had I gone wrong? Not to be beaten I tried again, this time with slightly different ingredients. Surely apricots and ginger would be a lovely combination for a muffin? Unfortunatly I ended up with the driest most unappetising muffin creations on the planet. (Maybe a slight exaggeration - but remember I'm a perfectionist and I love to bake, I'm feeling a little miffed).

Could it have been the apricots?

Or maybe one of the other ingredients? Was my baking powder just a little past it's best?

Was it the way I mixed it? Too much, too little?

Could it have been the silicone mould I used? Could it have stripped the moisure from my little cakes?

Well, whatever it was I feel a little beaten. This pathetic little cake has me beaten. I'm not sure I will ever try that recipe again. I'm going to look out for other tried and tested recipes, I crave a yummy moist muffin that I can say proudly that I made myself.

Getting crafty...

2011-01-28T16:39:00.003Z

I love a cute and easy craft project and this one is both. I have loved the sweet flowers that have been so fashionable to wear over the last few seasons. I've looked at them in the shops, but not wanted to pay the crazy prices, so I own very few. However I recently found the easiest tutorial and decided to make my own. Simply cut poly-satin into decreasingly smaller circles, heat edges with a candle so that they curl, and then stitch together. How simple. The process of heating the poly-satin is also quite satisfying - be careful it doesn't burn if you fancy giving it a go. So what am I going to do with my little flower - well I could turn it into a broach? Maybe it would look cute on an alice band in my hair? Or maybe i'll attach it to a necklace? One thing is for sure I'm slightly addicted to how easy they were to make.

Today's snapshot...

2011-01-28T14:21:00.002Z

Tried to go for a cool retro 70's feel with this one (apart from the hat). Nathaniel was not playing ball today, and this was all I managed to get from my little stinker. But it's a cute one. He's wearing the hat we have put aside to be part of Tayler's WWII evacuation day costume - next week's special school activity day. Thought I'd get the hat out of the dressing up box, dust it off, and put it in Tayler's room so it's ready to go.

5 minutes of portrait photography ...

2011-01-26T14:06:00.001Z

Tayler's Homework...

2011-01-26T13:55:00.003Z

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday are Tayler's homework days. He works so hard. He usually has reading, spellings, times tables and a work sheet to do over the three days. He will spend an hour on his homework. In comparison Jarom does very little homework. Spellings and times tables are so easy he only needs to glance at them once and he'll get 10/10. He reads at night before he goes to sleep. And homework sheets usually only take him half an hour - any longer and he moans unbearably. I have started setting him extra maths homework recently.

Tayler works 10 times harder then Jarom does. My boys are so different in so many ways. I feel positive that the support I give Tayler each night helps to push him forward academically. I'm proud of him. And I look forward to helping Jarom with homework from secondary school in September!

Extreme sports...

2011-01-25T10:00:00.002Z

Yesterday Jarom and Tayler went to play at the skate park with their cousins. Not to be outdone Nathaniel wore his knee pads and helmet round the house as he scooted around.

Lunch...

2011-01-24T14:06:00.002Z

This is such a typical snapshot from our lives as a family. Nathaniel and I sit each day at 11:45am and have lunch together - sometimes it's a jam sandwich, sometimes ham, or our favourite cheese. We always have a piece of fruit and a bag of crisps. Nathaniel never east a whole bag, so I make a bag last a couple of days. If we're really lucky we have a piece of homemade cake or a cookie. This particular lunch was a sausage for Nathaniel. He loved it! He even asked for more several days later, but it was all gone, daddy had eaten the last one!

A mother's musings...

2011-01-19T12:20:00.003Z

Today I don't seem to be able to get anything done, though my list of 'thing's to do' grows bigger by the second. I often seem to measure my progress in life by the things ticked off on the list. What I should probably consider are the things I accomplish that are never written down - today I :

Read my scriptures, it was a really nice way to start the day.
Wiped Nathaniel's 'snotty' nose more times then I care to recall.
Kissed my husband and told him how much I love and appreciate him.
Stayed calm when my oldest son recalled his bad behaviour at school.
Pondered the effectiveness of a YW activity I ran yesterday evening, and determined that I would make some changes within myself to make it better next time.
Did some washing and carefully made dad's bed with new sheets.
Patiently corrected my two year old when he shouted at me.
Tidied a little.
Looked after my daddy.

I guess I have accomplished something after all. And the day isn't over, there is still time to get back to the other list.

Just practicing...

2011-01-18T10:00:00.002Z

My boys were very good last night for family home evening. I needed willing subjects to practice my new lights on, and they were very obliging - for all of 5 minutes. Thanks boys. At least I know they work when I plug them in.

MIA.... Sorry

2011-01-17T16:34:00.003Z

Hey Howdy Hey, I'm back. Last week was such a crazy busy week - Grandpa had a birthday, then Jason and then we had fun family time over the weekend. It all ended in me becoming exhausted (still suffering a little), and not taking pictures. Darn it - I had such big plans for a photograph a day! So may be I won't manage a photograph a day, but I will manage several each month.

So today's snapshot is from my game of Scrabble yesterday with my 11 year old - Jarom. I often call him my genius, and yesterday was no exception. He won our little game by over 60 points with an incredible score of 273. Genius. And it was his first ever game. Have I already mentioned that my son is a genius? So how did he manage this? With words like - Hilarious and Valhalla (he had to explain the definition to me). Genius. Enough said! So I'd like to think that because I'm his mother that I can take a little credit - maybe the genes, or maybe the love of reading I instil in him, but not I'm really not sure I can take any credit at all!

My personal goals 2011

2011-01-05T16:26:00.006Z

I have been writing new years goals or resolutions for as long as I can remember. A Few years ago, in order to be more organised I decided to give more structure to my goals. My goals are now based upon my roles & purposes at this stage in my life. The scriptures inspire me to stay on track.

Mother - Proverbs 31:27-28 ‘She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed;’

Prepare Tayler for baptism, continue to support him with swimming & school.
Help Jarom to complete ‘Faith in God’ program & receive the Priesthood. Prepare for secondary school.
Help Nathaniel to settle in nursery & potty train during the summer ready for preschool 2012.
Read the Book of Mormon this year - as a family & as a personal goal.
Prepare healthy & nutritious foods for the family - sprout beans & use wheat.
Set a good example by exercising.

Wife - Proverbs 31:11 ‘The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her’

Spend quality time with Jason regularly.
Listen carefully to him & support his ideas as patriarch of the home.

Daughter - Exodus 20:12 ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’

Patiently care for Dad’s needs.

Sister - Colossians 4:6 ‘Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.’

Communicate with my brother & sister regularly.
Do not set high expectations for them.

Calling’s - Isaiah 54:13 ‘All thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children’.

Encourage the YW to complete their personal progress - use Fast Sunday’s to inspire.
Use reminders to encourage the YW
Plan and conduct monthly activities that will encourage the YW complete their personal progress.

Photographer -Philippians 4:8 ‘Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’

Improve my skills as a photographer.
Grow the business - use facebook & charity events.
Use ‘love’ to motive the decisions I make to help the business grow.

Today's picture - my crazy boy - sitting on the desk in the office pulling faces. A face only a mother could love?

An important date for our diaries...

2011-01-04T14:24:00.002Z

Tayler turns 8 on the 6th February. Birthday party plans still to be arranged, but one thing is for sure, he'll be getting baptised. As a parents, we just can't express how wonderful it is to have each of our boys turn 8 and choose to be baptised. We are so proud of them for the decision they have made.

Tayler and I worked on a baptism programme on Sunday and checked the details with Bishop at church. Here's a copy for you to see -

We haven't asked anyone to actually do any of the assignments yet - better get to that quickly!

Here's Tayler's baptism invitation too. There are so many friends and family members to inform, it's always easier to send an invitation.

We will of course take pictures closer to the big day.

Daily Snapshots 2nd & 3rd of January

2011-01-03T19:30:00.003Z

Sunday Evening after church we made homemade soup for dinner. It was fun to make together and Tayler enjoyed extra helpings of bread & butter. Making more homemade soup is one of my personal goals for the year. I'm hoping to help us to be healthier and then start making my own bread to go with it. Yum!

Today's picture is of Nathaniel in his new 'Big Boy Bed'! Wow wee! This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision for me today, but he's proven that he's ready for it. He loves getting comfy in everyone else's 'big beds' in the house, even Grandpa's - Nathaniel jumps in as soon as Grandpa get's out. So I thought why not take the side off of his cot-bed? He is 2 now after all, and not a baby anymore. We've had a few tears from him, but only because he knows he's not allowed to get out of bed and play with the toys. Hum, we'll see how long his good behaviour lasts.

Our family goals for the New Year!

2011-01-03T15:18:00.004Z

We have two major goals for 2011 as a family

To take a photograph a day of our family life - some call it project 365. We're going to call it 'Daily Snapshots'. At the end of the year we'll gather all our photographs and put them in a photobook, then we'll have a wonderful record of all we've done and how we've grown.
Read the Book of Mormon. Each of us will read the Book of Mormon by ourselves this year. We'll continue with our family study at dinner time, but each of us will read in our own time. Nathaniel has been let off a little, he can read the Book of Mormon reader. We're so excited about our goal - the boys are off to an amazing start competing to see who can read the most in one sitting. We downloaded some really cool charts to measure our progress. Cute huh!

Rocking in the New Year...

2011-01-03T15:08:00.004Z

The very talented Nathaniel Beale held his very first rock concert to entertain us all on New Year's Eve. We were all very impressed! We also spent some quiet time playing with Nanny's gift of Play-dough! Thanks Nanny, Nathaniel loved this! When Nathaniel was rocked out and in bed, Daddy, Jarom & Tayler went out to the ward barn dance and New Year's Eve party. Thay had a great time - Tayler let Daddy know he was only there for the food, but surprised him by dancing the night away. Grandpa and I stayed in to babysit Nathaniel and watched a movie. We have certainly had a wonderful 2010. We have enjoyed every minute of being together as a family and look forward to the events 2011 will bring. Happy New Year to all our family & friends.

Picture a Christmas!

2010-12-29T18:25:00.004Z

Preparation starts on Christmas Eve - it's traditional for Jason and Jarom to prepare the vegetables, they do a great job, and I'm so glad it's one less thing for me to do. In the evening we attend the carol concert at church, and then it's home to bed. We try to get the boys into bed at a reasonable time so that they can get a good night's sleep - also so that we can get all the gifts placed by the tree.

In the morning when the children wake, they can open their little stocking gifts. This year - Sponge Bob sponges, mini lynx kits & Toy Story wash mits, plus the usual chocolates. Then it's down to the tree to see the gifts there, but these aren't to be opened until we are all dressed and ready for the day. We read the story of the nativity, and say a prayer. Then the craziness begins! This year there where gifts for 3 families by the tree!

Tayler was the first to open a gift - a towel with his swimming badges sawn on. We are all so proud of him this year. Then treats of - Lego & guitars were unwrapped. The boys all enjoyed a jamming session with uncle Timmy, even little Ashleigh joined in and danced along. After dinner and a little nap it was time to say goodbye and bid our guests farewell. We really do love being all together - we laugh and cry and love each other, and look forward to when we will all be together again - just a week to go, and we'll be wishing each other a Happy New Year!

Our little man turns 2...

2010-12-28T20:46:00.002Z

I couldn't not share the events of Nathaniel's birthday. He woke early, (he's been doing that a lot lately) and opened his gifts - Thomas Lego and a Scooter. He loved his scooter and rode it all day long, up and down the office and kitchen. Later in the afternoon we invited some of Nathaniel's friends over for a cowboy style party - cowboy hats and bandannas - cool! We invited Ashleigh, Rebecca, Alannah & Brooke, Noah, Elijah & Issac. Due to the weather and not everyone could come, but it was so nice to spend time those who were able to make it. We had yummy cake & yoghurt, fruit, sausages & pizza for tea. Nathaniel seemed to have a lovely time, it was so nice to share his birthday with friends and family.

Dreaming of a white Christmas?

2010-12-20T13:01:00.003Z

I guess it's going to be a white Christmas here in Weston-super-Mare, we have been caught heavily by this year's big freeze. My boys are loving it - they could stay out in it all day. I am less enthusiastic. My big worry - will Asda be able to deliver my Christmas food shop? If not I'll have to face the queues at Sainsbury's. In theory this wouldn't be too terrible, I have most of my food stored in the freezer, it's just the last minute fruit, vegetables, milk & bread I need to get, and the little bits for Nathaniel's Birthday party. Unfortunatly, this could turn into a nightmare - I'd have to get Jason to drive me (I HATE driving in the snow), so we'd have to take Nathaniel and possibly the other boys - oh, no! I'll just have to phone Asda and plead with them to deliver!

My boys have made the most amazing snow fort ever! And with the amount of snow that has fallen in the last few hours that baby is only going to get bigger! It's so great to see them working together and enjoying being outside. I'm so glad they're not transfixed by their electrical games & the TV! I guess, (despite the shopping) I'm also saying hooray for snow!

Probably the best mince pie recipe in the world ...

2010-12-14T13:06:00.005Z

Several years ago my dear mummy gave me the very best mince pie recipe. It was given to her by a dear friend, and our Christmas's just wouldn't be the same without it. I have to confess that the first time I made them it took me all day, and I swore I would never make them again! How ridiculous to make mince pies that take all day when I can simple buy them from Sainsbury's! My mum would patiently reply that they taste so much better, and that they were worth it. She was right, as always. The taste, the smell, the crumbly almond pastry - yum, yum - seriously addictive.

So when Mummy got poorly and I started to host Christmas I knew I would have to take over the mince pie duties. I made them to please Mum, and now even though she's not here I still make them in her memory. I have actually grown to love making them - and yes they still take me all day to make.

This year they actually took me two days. I always make a massive batch - umm, I lost count at 7 dozen. Some of them will be given to the sisters I visiting teach, and some to our neighbours, Jarom and Jason have already eaten way to many. I really want to save them for Christmas week, so I've frozen the rest.

Speaking of gifts. We really enjoyed the Christmas devotional on Sunday, and Jason and I especially liked this version of 'What shall we give the the babe in the Manger?', just beautiful. I hope you enjoy it too.

Winter wonderland...

2010-12-08T06:22:00.002Z

I can't remember a time when I have ever seen such an amazing frost. We woke yesterday to an icy frosting that covered just about everything. It stayed all day because the temperature didn't rise above -3. I also don't think it has ever stayed so cold for so long.

My boys are so upset that it has only snowed once. They would have stayed out all night in that snow if they had known. Jarom loves it so much. It's nice to see him so excited. This was our conversation yesterday. 'Mum, it's sooo not fair. Why doesn't Heavenly Father send us snow, when he sends it to so many other people?' My response - 'Unfortunately Jarom, today Heavenly Father is answering my prayers and the prayers of everyone else who doesn't want it to snow. Sorry.'

I am, unlike my oldest boy, not a big lover of snow. I love to look at it when it's freshly fallen, there's probably nothing more beautiful. But unfortunately it makes me feel so trapped and scared. I hate traveling in it, and I simply can't cope with the cold - it makes me grumpy. So I apologise to my boy, but I will continue to pray for it not to snow! The beautiful frost can stay though, as long as the roads and paths don't get icy.

Wishing you a very ...

2010-12-07T11:30:00.004Z

We've been a little busy here, and I'm sorry for not blogging last week. I had a client's photograph's to edit and Christmas gifts & cards to wrap and post abroad to my family. I have also tried to do more home baking, in an aid to reduce the unhealthy processed foods we eat, so I've been baking cakes, muffins and biscuits. My boys have really loved it, but they actually seem to eat so much more, I'm not sure I can keep up!

We decorated our home for Christmas. I love keeping it simple with lots of little things around the home.

Christmas Wreaths - I love these!

Our woolly stockings - we hang them here, in anticipation, because we don't have a fireplace and we keep our tree outdoors.

Just love this cute little print out, I got it from eighteen25, a really great crafty blog I love to check in on.

Our Advent train. Full of Christmas songs to sing together and nativity scriptures to read each day.

Our Tree! We managed to keep it alive all year long!

I just love Poinsettias, they remind me of my Mum, she would always have one in the home over Christmas, and she was such a genius with plants she could keep it looking good all year long. Note : they are super poisonous so I keep it well our of the reach of the boys!

My favourite Christmas decorations. Jason bought the nativity set for me a couple of years ago, the wreath usually sits on our front door, but I think it looks really pretty here, and this picture is my all time favourite. I like so many of Liz Lemon Swindle's paintings, but this one is my favourite it is entitled 'Be it unto me'. Looking at these beautiful images each day really helps me to focus on a more Christ-centred Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving...

2010-11-26T12:42:00.004Z

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving. We started with a special family home evening a few weeks ago where we introduced a little gratitude project - a poster where we record all the things we're grateful for. The inspiration came from an idea by Becky Higgins. The boys really enjoyed leaving little notes and thoughts on the board. It was really fun reading them to. We decided to celebrate thanksgiving this year because of a special talk given at General Conference. It is really true that -

"We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Said the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”"

Sometimes we can all focus a little too much on the things we don't have, I know I have. But right now focusing on by blessings has really filled me with a sense of gratitude.

So what better way to recognise our gratitude then with a thanksgiving dinner with family & friends. We had - Turkey, corn muffins, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sausage meat & cranberry stuffing, maple carrots & parsnips, green beans, and Rootbeer- Yummy, yum, yum!

After dinner we sat together and watched 'Elf', our all time favourite Christmas movie. It's true that thanksgiving is a wonderful way to welcome the start of the Christmas season. We certainly all felt the spirit of thanks and of giving and those little happy stomach tingling feels which means Christmas is on the way. This is definitely a tradition that we will continue as a family we all had such a wonderful evening together.

Life returns to a new normal...

2010-11-24T16:40:00.003Z

I'm so glad it's finished. I hated the mess and not seeing my husband for a week whilst he worked on this project for me, but it's mostly over now. There are a few things to tweek, but it is a functioning office again. I wish it looked a little prettier, but it is clean and tidy and everything has a home. It is so inspiring to have a clean & tidy place to work. And boy do I have a lot to do. See that basket in the corner? That's full of just half the Christmas projects I have set myself to do, never mind the business to run, the pictures to take and edit, and the other family chores. I not moaning, honestly, just grateful for a lovely space to work in.

Did I mention we've started our count down to Christmas? I am really looking forward to it this year. Each time I watch the Christmas TV commercials I get all excited. Despite what has been said about cruelty to animals, John Lewis have produced a lovely advert this year, it's my favourite, and I just love the music by Ellie Goulding.

Cozy Kid...

2010-11-14T15:38:00.002Z

This week Nathaniel and I picked up a cute new hat, gloves & mitten set from Sainsburys. Don't you just love mittens? He chose them himself, he is into trains right now, so of course he chose the Thomas set. When we got home and tried them on properly he decided he didn't like them after-all. Typical. It's tough, my boy is just going to have to learn to like them especially as the weather has really turned cold this week and it's carnival tomorrow evening.

So this week is looking like it's going to be really busy - Monday - Carnival, Tuesday - Young Women's activity at church, Wednesday - Relief Society Activity at church, Thursday - Gym Induction (Yep, my wonderful Husband has paid for me to join the gym!), Friday - Night off (Hooray), Saturday - 2 x Photography Sessions. Not to mention - the office & loft makeover Jason has taken the week off for, and a whole bunch of appointments and activities for the boys. I'm apologising in advance if I don't get around to blogging much over the next week or so, but be prepared for a mammoth post when things settle down. I actually love being busy, my life feels so fulfilled and I'm actually really thankful.

I'll leave you with this weeks Mormon Message, I really love this one, and it ties in so well with a family home evening we had last Monday where we challenged the family to be more grateful for the blessings around us. Enjoy!

Thumbs up!

2010-11-11T13:42:00.002Z

So my little man loves to do 'thumbs up' right now, Grandpa taught him how. He does it to say goodbye, when he's happy, or wants to show that he's buddies with you. He also does it when he breaks free of your hand in John Lewis and tears through the store at break neck speed whilst waving hello to everyone he passes - it's funny now, but so not funny at the time!

Yesterday I asked him if he wanted to have his picture taken, so he settled himself down, crossed his legs and adjusted his position for a couple of snaps. When we asked him for a smile, he suddenly got all moody, we see this face a lot around here at the moment.

This boy really is incredibly funny. The little things he does and says - yep all those jabbering sentences are suddenly starting to make sense. It's so much fun to watch him grow into a little man, I'm loving every minute of him.

My Wimpy Kids ...

2010-11-10T20:45:00.003Z

Today, this arrived in the post!

Not due for general release until tomorrow, it arrived a day early!

My boys were cartwheeling with excitement!

Jarom & Tayler are huge 'Wimpy Kid' fans - they love these books and have gradually collected the whole set. This latest addition to the collection was their must have item. I was supposed to save it for Christmas, but couldn't resist giving it to them early.

I've read some of the books myself, and they are hilariously funny. I highly recommend the do-it-yourself diary, it's great for getting your children into journal writing.

So my lucky boys have this book to enjoy. Yes they've been fighting over it, and have to take turns, just like playing with the wii, I love that!

Jarom has almost finished, he's been reading non-stop whilst Tayler went out for his swimming lesson, Tayler will soon have it all to himself.

This week's to do's...

2010-11-08T12:38:00.002Z

Taking pictures of our beautiful tree. It's almost the end of the autumn season and our little tree has lost most of it's leaves, but there were a few left in order to take a picture. We bought our tree two years ago when we had all the work done on the house, it's a Mountain Ash and the variety is call 'Joseph Rock'. So our little 'Joseph' has only grow a foot in the last two years, and the summer was hot so he didn't do too well, we had to water him a lot and felt like we were going to loose him on a few occasions. But he pulled through, and this Autumn we had the most beautiful display of deep red leaves - don't you just love Autumn.
The usual washing, ironing & house cleaning.
Visiting Teaching - Wednesday & Friday.
Organising the next YW personal progress night at church for the girls.
Making Christmas gifts for my sisters.
Writing the annual Christmas letter.
Buying more Christmas gifts.
Working on my photography business.

Sometimes I really wish I could clone myself, there's so much to do and seriously not enough time to do it in!

Halloween Weekend Recap...

2010-11-04T12:07:00.004Z

(Left to Right & Top to Bottom)

1. The very hungry caterpillar waiting for guests to arrive.

2. We all love our halloween decorations. They have all been taken down now, and packed away in their box, ready for next year.

3. Cute little Peppa.

4. Really scary!

5. The most amazing pumpkin. This was made as a gift for our party by my good friend, thank you so much, we all loved it!

6. Trick or treat - one of them was a chocolate covered onion, but which one?

7. Our very own magic show! Wow, I've not laughed that hard for a long time. Uncle Timmy is amazing.

8. Hot toasted marshmallows & S'mores! Our favourite part of the Halloween party. Jason is so good to set it up for us.

9. Witchy Magician's assistant Kateos Far-ranty!

It was wonderful to be able to open our home to friends and family for our party. Everyone dressed up and really made an effort. We also had some really yummy treats to eat.

We always really enjoy our Autumn/Halloween celebration. It's so good to do it in our own way. Nothing scary and nothing gross, but everything family orientated and about making memories and having fun. Really looking forward to next year!

A very happy 60th Birthday!

2010-10-27T10:18:00.003+01:00

On Monday we got together as a family to celebrate Mum's 60th birthday. We couldn't let such an important day pass without recognising it in a small way even though Mum wasn't with us. We had a nice lunch - one of Mum's great soup recipes, Leak & Pea, with some delicious fresh bread. Then for desert I made Mum's amazing Nottingham Ginger Cake. It's been a while since making it, but boy did it taste good! Just perfect for all the ginger lovers in our family (Jason ate about half of it), and great for all the expectant mothers (ginger helps with sickness). We then took some flowers and a balloon over to Mum's grave. It's so peaceful there. The boys thought it would be fun to release Mum's balloon.

Thought it would be fun to post Mum's Recipe for you to try too.

225g/8oz Plain Flour

3 to 4 level teaspoons ground ginger

1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

125g/4oz butter

125g/4oz brown sugar

225g/8oz golden syrup

150ml milk

1 egg

1. Line a 7 inch square high-sided cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Sieve the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda together into a mixing bowl.

3. Melt the butter with the sugar, syrup and milk over a low heat, stirring all the time. Cool a little.

4. Beat the egg.

5. Add the liquid ingredients with the egg to the dry ingredients. Mix well then beat for 5 minutes.

6. Pour into prepared tin & spread evenly.

7. Cook in a cool oven, 150 degrees C, Gas 2, for about an hour until it is springy and leaving the sides of the tin.

8. When cooked turn out carefully, remove the paper and store in an airtight tin for a few days to let it become sticky.

We didn't have time for that last part the cake was devoured within the first 24 hours, and it still tasted great. Wonder what it would be like to leave it for a few days? Would it taste even better?

School admissions

2010-10-25T18:36:00.004+01:00

The time has finally come to choose a secondary school for Jarom. I've been waiting and worrying about this for the last 11 years. When we first moved to Weston-super-mare I must admit the local secondary schools did not have a great reputation. They could hardly be any worse then the inner city Nottingham secondary school I attended, but of course you always want better for your children. I must also say that despite my secondary school not being the best academic achiever, I did love my time there - wonderful teachers & friends.

So the time has come to 'choose' with Jarom. I say 'choose', we have looked into this very carefully and Jarom may not have a choice at all even his catchment area school is highly over-subscribed. But to appease us and make us feel as though we might have a choice our local education authority allow us 3 school preferences. There are only 3 schools that we could choose due to transportation factors - one is our designated catchment school, one equal in distance and one a much further train ride away.

So over the last month we have visited each of the three schools several times, both for their open evenings and for guided tours. We have been very impressed with each of the schools we have visited. I feel so grateful to know that despite our choices or preferences Jarom will get a good education at any one of these schools. What a relief. We then had the difficult task of placing our choices in order of preference. These sheets really helped us organise our thoughts. Finally after thoughtfully considering each one, and praying about it we finally made our choice.

Priory Community school
Backwell School
Worle Community school

Priory seemed to out-shine the others on so many levels. It's learning environment appears to be superb, academic standards are constantly on the rise. They are a special status school for technology, Jarom could take GCSE's in engineering, he loves the thought of that. The school is close - a bike ride, walk, or even bus trip away.

So those are our choices, and this morning I submitted Jarom's application via the internet.

I am so glad it's done.

Sunday Afternoon ...

2010-10-24T19:52:00.003+01:00

I do love to get the camera out on a Sunday afternoon, many of my previous posts are a testament to that. So here are today's pictures, how grateful I am for the Sabbath. We all slow down and enjoy just being with each other. Today's Sunday involved - Boys, pancake mix and chocolate spread!

I must mention that my pancake mix (thank you Costco) is a really great food storage item. There's no need for milk or eggs or any other ingredients - just add water! I love that. If we have an emergency in our home, and we just have to rely on the food in our cupboards we could survive at least a week on pancake mix, and of course our other food storage must have item - chocolate spread!

Views from today

2010-10-22T14:16:00.003+01:00

Today is a busy mummy day. Rushed off my feet looking after everyone, but I needed a little time to myself, so I got out the camera. Here are my views from today -

Autumn is here and I love to decorate my home to celebrate the season.
Lunch - very uninspiring today, but Nathaniel ate all of his, which is quite a miracle. I did have to cut all the crusts off though.
Bullets - my home is covered in these little pieces of foam - it's so easy to shoot them out, but impossible it seems to pick up!
My boy is sick today. Poor Tayler. He always gets sick. So no school for him today, and the sick bowl as his constant companion. Jarom is also suffering with a heavy cold today. On the up side at least I didn't have to do the school run.
My washer and dryer - what would I do without them?
I've washed my hands so many times today, I couldn't possibly count how many. My hands are so rough and chapped, this is a life saver today.
I still haven't looked at my lesson for sunday - must get round to it.
These arrived this week - they're the cutest little business cards ever!
My side of the bed - I can hear it calling me!

Over the weekend...

2010-10-21T13:43:00.002+01:00

We had a really busy weekend as a family, but a fun one. We had dear friends come to stay, and we so enjoyed their company. It was great to have some girls around the house, and I thought my boys were really well behaved and played with the girls so well. We went for walks and ate good food, we also enjoyed good music too - almost too much fun to cram into one weekend. The crowning event was a Saturday evening get together for former residents of Nottingham who have moved to Weston-super-Mare all 21 of us to be precise - so glad the children ate in the garden, I have large kitchen table, but not that large!

The rest of this week has been spent organising church activities. I have really enjoyed sharing thing week - flower arranging (of sorts) on Tuesday and photography last night. For more details on what I shared during my photography class see my photography blog, the link is above.

Lego creations

2010-10-13T14:38:00.004+01:00

Every Tuesday Tayler goes to lego club with his best friend James. The boys have such a great time, and I feel so grateful for good teachers who give up their lunch time for my boy to enjoy his favourite hobby. Lego really is his first love. James came over for tea last night and the boys busied themselves making more lego creations, I promised I would take a picture for them. So here you go boys - does your army have a name or special mission? I hope that rebel leader knows there's a storm trooper making a sneaky attack up the ladder!

Just me and you...

2010-10-13T14:30:00.002+01:00

Today we went to the park - just me and you. I took photos of you and you ran and held my hand and enjoyed throwing the leaves. You were such a good boy as you waited for mummy to get the camera ready, you held on tight till we shouted - 'ready, steady - throw!' When I asked you if you wanted to go and play on the swings you shook your head and pointed to where you had been running earlier and said 'run?', I let you walk holding my hand instead. It was so much fun being with you today, you are such a special boy and I love you oh so much. You are such a blessing in my life, just like your big brothers. Thank you again for playing with me in the park.

An invitation...

2010-10-09T13:47:00.002+01:00

We'd love to invite everyone, but our home just wouldn't be able to fit you all in, this year it's just family. But we can't wait, this is one party we all really enjoy. So - Beale's, Hayes's, Plumridge's, Mays's & Farrant's - fancy coming to our little party?

There'll be - apple bobbing, donut game eating, chocolate gorilla racing, mummy making, hotdog munching fun! We hope you can make it. Dress-up is a must, but nothing too gruesome or scary. For a few ideas Nathaniel is going as - the very hungry caterpillar, Jason as - Captain Jack Sparrow, Me - Little Miss Muffet, my boys - well, they haven't decided yet.

If you can bring a desert, something halloween themed if possible, that would be wonderful. I know Nanny is making a scary bakewell tart - yummie!

Jason would also love his family to gather for a family photograph in the afternoon in Ashcombe park - without scary costumes!

I think it's going to be a great day.

What happens when you let your little ones take the pictures?

2010-10-09T07:30:00.002+01:00

This happens! Nathaniel really loves to use the camera, not my really expensive super-duper pro camera, but our little hand held Pentax camera. It's about 5 years old now, the tech is outdated and so I'm not that precious about what happens with it. I'd much prefer that Nathaniel develop a love of picture taking. So it gets bashed about, chucked down the stairs and slobbered on, but he loves it.

These are the pictures of our recent trip to Puxton Park our local hang out on a weekday morning. We get there super early so that we have the place to ourselves then run around enjoying spending time with each other and experiencing the thrills of all the big slides. So a couple of the pictures were taken whilst on the slides and some whilst playing in the toddler area, I think they demonstrate my boys growing skill with the camera - ha, ha.

I actually think they are really fun pictures, maybe even important. They document an important part of our lives together. I hope Nathaniel looks back on them and thinks... 'my mum was cool, she spent time with me and we had so much fun together!'

Conference weekend as a family

2010-10-03T16:11:00.002+01:00

It's our annual conference & weekend family photo shoot. This year we had the privilege of using the new pro camera, and boy, can I tell the difference. Just need to practice a little more with it, I'm feeling a little out of my depth again.

But there's nothing better then having the sweetest little niece to photograph, she is such a cutie, and having 'Mr Bun' on hand was a great comforter - thanks to grandpa.

Now looking forward to the third session of conference. We've really enjoyed listening and the boys have particularly enjoyed sweets and taking notes on the ipad.

Bonkers part 2

2010-09-29T06:49:00.002+01:00

Here are a few of the 'less artsy' pictures I took on Sunday.

I love Nathaniel's pose - that's his 'ready, steady, go' pose - and then he's off at lightning speed to cause trouble somewhere! Isn't the bandstand great? I took some photographs for a friend here a few weeks ago, I'll be posting pictures on my photography blog soon.

Nathaniel does not look impressed with Daddy planting a big one on Jarom. I'm sure Jarom is pretty mortified too - he's 'too big for it now, and ow Dad, not in public!'

I love this shot of Tayler, he was just loving all the conkers he found, nice!

A big pile on. The boys thought I was nuts getting them to do this. It actually doesn't make for a great picture, but the boys got to have fun and squish Jase in the process - great!

Photo sessions with mum have never been so good!

Bonkers for conkers!

2010-09-27T13:51:00.002+01:00

Last week it was blackberries and this week it's conkers. I love this time of year.

Yesterday's Sunday walk to us to Ashcombe Park. We discovered a whole new side to it too, a quieter, more picturesque side. Isn't it pretty? Jason was worried we may have missed all the good conkers this year, so we chose to go to our local park to check out if there were any left.

We discovered a few lone trees at the bottom of the park that no one had bothered with, and with them found the biggest horde of conkers my boys had ever seen (Jason included). They went crazy for them. They gathered the biggest pile they could and then carted them all home. We had a lot of fun taking pictures and making special creations out of out new found treasures. I post more pictures tomorrow, but for now I'll leave you with the serene park scenes.

This week I have been ... Visiting Teaching ...

2010-09-23T06:45:00.003+01:00

This week I have spent some time with my friends visiting teaching. I am so grateful for this programme in the church, it's so great to get together and just talk. I have been so super busy over the last few weeks, I really had to struggle to find the time, but it was definitely just what I needed, to spend time with people I really love and admire.

So the message to teach to each other this month was about our responsibility to teach the rising generation. It was a good message. I have pondered it and thought about what I shared, and feel disappointed that my heart wasn't in it. So I'm doing a 'do-over' and sharing my thoughts with you.

I switched on my computer this morning to find a talk Jason had been reading by Elder Robert D. Hales, he had been using it to prepare his training lesson for the church youth leaders this evening. I thought I would read it through for my early morning study this morning. I was impressed with something he said in relation to teaching our children -

"There is no substitute for seeing the gospel lived in our daily lives. The stripling warriors did not have to wonder what their parents believed. They said, “We do not doubt our mothers knew it” (see Alma 56:47–48). Do our children know what we know?"

This is the message I wanted to share whilst visiting teaching. It reminded me of a recent church message that I really enjoyed watching, hope you enjoy it too.

Autumn is in the air...

2010-09-13T19:55:00.002+01:00

We all love the Autumn season in our home. We love the cosy feeling of evenings together, celebrating Jarom's birthday, Halloween treats, Christmas just around the corner and blackberry picking. Ummm blackberry picking. We went up to our favourite spot on Sand Point to collect berries again this weekend and gathered a good crop. Nanny has said she will make them into a crumble for us, yummy, she makes the best crumbles. How wonderful it feels to go on a walk and harvest the scummiest treat, for free. I love the free bit. My weekly shopping budget is taking a huge hammering at the moment, I just don't seem to have enough money to feed my 5 hungry men, so free food sounds great to me.

My challenge to you is to go blackberry picking too, enjoy the sweetness of free food. Leave a comment if you do, and let me know what delicious yumminess you make with your berries.

Who knew brushing your teeth could be so much fun?

2010-09-12T20:18:00.002+01:00

He does look like he's having fun doesn't he. On this particular morning he really was. He was singing and dancing and loving brushing this teeth. Usually it's a different story...

He's grumpy and yells like I'm attempting to torture him. I have to pin him down and scrub quickly so that I make the most of what little time we have before he makes himself really upset. He likes the taste of the toothpaste which is good, I guess, but he just wants to suck it off the brush, so again, I have to make a quick dash attempt to clean as many little teeth as possible before he sucks all the toothpaste away. This is not good dental hygiene. Lets hope all the brushing is worth it because tomorrow Nathaniel has his first trip to ... the dentist.

What have we been up to over the last week?

2010-09-09T12:51:00.006+01:00

You've probably been wondering where we've been. Sorry about the lack of blogging. We've been extra busy this week.

Nathaniel has been - playing, enjoying spending time with his grandpa, watching cbbies, and playing in the garden (when it hasn't been raining).

Tayler has been - enjoying being back at school, playing with his friend and going round for dinner, swimming at his swimming lesson.

Jarom has - gone off to Kilve, bet he's having the time of his life!

I have been investing a lot of time and energy in the usual motherly duties and also putting in extra time establishing my photography business. I am now officially registered, insured and just about ready to go. Click on the link to my business blog site if you'd like to see what I've been up to.

Jason has been wonderful this week - going to work, making all the lunches in the morning, proof reading all my contracts and price lists, going to church meetings etc.

And why, after all that, have I posted a picture of my son picking his nose? No other reason but the fact I thought it was funny and light hearted, and we all need that after such a busy week.

Pictures at sunset

2010-09-03T14:22:00.002+01:00

Our last few days before heading back to school have been really busy. We've crammed in the activities right to the very last minute. On Tuesday my Auntie (My Dad's Sister) came to visit from Bournemouth, and we had a lovely few days together. We took the boys to Puxton Park on Wednesday and in the evening headed down to the beach to snap a few pictures.

It was nice treat for Tayler staying up a little later to enjoy his last night of freedom before school.

Jarom chose to stay home and discuss Birthday presents with Grandpa and uncle Tim. These are my first pictures using evening sunlight. I'm not overly impressed myself, not sure what all the fuss is about really. The look of these pictures has been really key this season. I guess Tayler's face says it all. I much prefer beautifully defused woodland light - umm, lovely! Anyway, it was nice being out in the evening with the camera in hand.

So my boys are back at school, and they gave their first day back experience 8 out of 10. Not bad! I'm really pleased that they had such a good time. Let's just hope it lasts.

Today my boy made lunch... for all of us!

2010-08-31T12:59:00.002+01:00

I was so proud of my boy for helping me with the shopping and then making lunch, I thought it deserved a blog post. This boy certainly is growing up fast, and quickly approaching teenage-hood. His 11th Birthday will be in a few weeks and guess what? He wants a guitar. First skateboards, now guitars, what next?

This picture was taken in Bristol yesterday at the docks. We had a lot of fun there as a family, and would love to go back again soon. I have a promise to keep to Tayler that he can go and see the 3D shark movie. There was certainly a lot of atmosphere and lots of families enjoying the sights, the steam train and the fountains. We'd highly recommend it.

The things we do for toasted marshmallows...

2010-08-29T15:18:00.005+01:00

We didn't make it to ward family camp this year and so instead we (Jason) built a fire in the garden and made 'delicious hot S'mores' (Toy Story Quote). We went over the the beach and then the woods to gather firewood, and I snapped a couple of pictures whilst we were there.

Tayler looking very handsome.

Nathaniel looking off to the middle distance (and a little over exposed, I hate that!)

My unedited images montaged.

And finally a little quiz for my boys.

Winner gets a prize.

I'll post the answers later.

After much deliberation Dad and I worked out some of the answers to guess the mushroom, it was actually really tricky, and we're still a little uncertain about some of them, we've given it our best guess. What I have learnt its that you can never be too careful about mushrooms.

1. Hare's Foot Inkcap Mushroom (Poisonous) 2. Sulfur Tuft (Poisonous) 3. King Alfred's Cake Fungus or 'Cramp Ball' (inedible) 4. Possible Bay Boletus Mushroom (edible - but I wouldn't try it) 5. Amenita or Destroying Angel (incredibly poisionous!) 6. False Death Cap (Poisonous).

So there you go. I thought that number 5 looked like a lovely looking mushroom, all white and clean, surely that one would be edible - wrong! It was the most deadly of the lot!

It was great to go mushroom spotting, but I wouldn't recommend eating anything you find, or even touching them!

Grateful... veggies & music

2010-08-26T14:36:00.003+01:00

It's been a while since my last grateful post, that doesn't mean I'm not grateful, just that I've been enjoying my blessings so much recently, I haven't had time to take pictures of them.

So last night we had (5+1+2+3=11) 11 for dinner. I love a busy home. I had dinner all planned, and yet some of the main ingredients had escaped my shopping radar. I was missing onions and garlic for the risotto. I thought I was going to have to abandon my plans and order take-away, but them dad reminded me we still had spring onions growing in the garden - hooray - dinner was saved! It tasted pretty good too, thanks to Chessie's culinary talents!

I have been a huge fan of Mindy Gledhill for a long time now. Her latest album was released just a few days ago, I downloaded it from itunes yesterday - I've already listened to it about 5 times since - I L-O-V-E - love it! It is absolutely where my musical tastes are right now. Such a joy to listen to good music - I highly recommend it, (and her other albums too).

Our last full week of the holidays...

2010-08-26T14:14:00.002+01:00

It's been a little quiet here this week... but yesterday I got out my camera...

My beautiful Tayler, my beautiful niece and my beautiful little big boy.

Reviewing the school year

2010-08-20T21:11:00.003+01:00

For the first time this year I have properly organised the pictures and work the boys have brought home from school. Tayler in particular has really made some great improvements this year. He has worked so hard, and I am glad that his hard work was rewarded with a good report at the end of the school year.

I love Tayler's art work at the moment, it is so full of the innocence of childhood, and simply makes me smile when I see it. He made many of these pictures during art week at school, something that he loved being apart of. I particularly love his dragon (It's been hanging on my fridge for the last 6 months), and his owl (part of the work he did on nocturnal animals), I love the technique he used to capture the feathers. Tayler really enjoyed the last piece of topic work he did with his class this academic year - dinosaurs! He brought home some beautiful pieces of written work and some lovely drawings. He spent many hours at home working on his own dinosaur project too.

I am excited about Tayler going into year 3 in September, it will be quite a big jump for him, I am sure it will mean many long hours doing homework together.

I love recording my children's progress at school, and have been interested to see that Becky Higgins is giving away a free Personal Yearbook Project that will be so much fun to complete with the boys for the next academic year. As it's Jarom's last year in Primary school I especially feel the need to document it all.

Knock & Run Treats...

2010-08-17T12:59:00.003+01:00

My boys love to play knock and run, accept we leave treats on the doorstep! We started this little family tradition a few years ago with Christmas treats, we did it so that the boys would get to know how good it feels to give to other people, what we didn't expect was how much they would love the knock and run part.

When I saw these cute treats on one of my favourite blogs I thought it would be fun to extend our tradition into the summer. So our treat buckets are filled with un-frozen ice pops ready for a lucky family to freeze and enjoy, the buckets were on sale from Sainsbury's (our local store has all sold out now), and the little tag came straight from the website, but you could just click on the image above, save to your computer and print.

We only have a few to send, but maybe one will come to you!

Our little holiday to Dorset...

2010-08-15T10:35:00.002+01:00

We had such a fun packed holiday, and tried to cram in as much as we could in a few short days.

We started out at Bovington Tank Museum - such a great experience, our boys (Jase included) loved it! But as you can see from the picture below the boys were more interested in their own tanks then the ones in the display.

We had some great food whilst camping - my one rule for camping was that I didn't want to cook - so we ate out for every meal - what a treat! McDonalds for breakfast was a huge hit, TGI Friday's was our favourite (great burgers - yum!), and Chiquito's was a fun experience (Lucha Libre Baby!)

We also spent a day in Lulworth, one of our favourite places - the cove was busy (tide was in), so no fossil hunting, but Tayler and Jase did go for a ride on a speed boat to see the other coves. We went over to Lulworth Castle to watch the knights Joust and also saw the most amazing birds in the Falconry display, heard a fascinating talk about Medieval wars and gunpowder, and enjoyed viewing the castle. (Below - Tayler dressed as a knight!)

We finished off with a couple of trips to Bournemouth one in the evening to see the street performers, and another on Saturday morning to the Aquarium - both really fun experiences.

So we're back home now to the warmth of cozy beds - and the hugest pile of washing you've ever seen, how is it you go away for just a couple of days and end up with a months load of washing when you get back? Must just be one of those natural phenomenon - the sign of a good holiday.

Back in a couple of days...

2010-08-11T18:12:00.003+01:00

We are off on holiday for a couple of days, see you when we get back!

Location scouting...

2010-08-08T20:10:00.004+01:00

This weekend we had fun photographing various locations to take great photographs in. We found a few great spots on a walk we took in the woods this afternoon, and yesterday we hunted down some great places.

Grassy salt marsh at Sand Bay, Urban grunge at the Westlands Industrial Estate, and in typical Somerset tradition a Cider farm orchard belong to Thatchers - cool huh!

These locations are so great, I will definitely be using them for my family photography shoots. Plus they were pretty fun to visit as a family too (even though it doesn't look like it in the pictures!).