Welcome 2013 It's been a Long and Bumpy Journey!

I can't quite believe another year has gone by without me blogging here - well I can, but.... It has been a year of big changes and preparation and getting ready and waiting and waiting and waiting. It has tested me and pushed me to the limit. Almost. At times. A year of uncertainty. The doors I pushed in 2011 finally opened in 2012. A dream finally fullfilled in an unexpected way. My excuse for not blogging here? I am finally a Mum and loving it. I have been pushing the doors of adoption for the last 2 years. It has been rather all consuming it has to be said and most of my free time was taken up with form filling in, visits with professionals, compiling files ready for approval. At times I felt as if my creativity was being stifled, although I did my best to keep my creativity going. It has been in the writing for the assessments, where you spend hours and hours each week pouring out your heart and inner being. Months of preparing files with photos of evidence of childcare experience, which I scrapbooked! Further months getting the room ready and preparing a scrapbook of photos to introduce my little girl to her new home and surroundings - and of course the cat! More of all this later! Anyway, finally, here we are. It has been a long journey and lots of uncertainty and a very bumpy ride. Finally we are now both home and doing well. I am loving it but have been too knackared to do much creative in the last few months since we both arrived safely home. The creative things I have done over the last 2 years: scrapbooking, decorating, have all been kept a little quiet as there was so much uncertainty surrounding the process. Getting the room ready:

The cat is adjusting well to having a wee girl chase him everywhere and runs and jumps fast to escape.She, shrieks with delight when he sits on her artwork - usually on her glitter glue!

mid October 365

A busy week and then a fun weekend away with friends
Sunday 283/365 The Learn Something New page done with a shopping list!

Monday 284/365 Let's see if my ever changing timetable works this coming week.

Tuesday 285/365

Wednesday 286/365 Art Club!

Thursday 287/365 Kat we love you and wish that you would comeback here forever!

Friday 288/365 Zoe's amazing cake designed as a game of Settlers of Cattan!

Saturday 289/365 pumpkin grown by Natalie and Jono and soup made by Jono.YUM!

Monday

Monday after a Sunday is always tough.
I always find it hard to get out of bed, wrestling with my cozy bed and the dilemma of just how many times I can realistically press snooze.
I love the weekends so much.
Saturdays, to laze around, catch up with washing, shopping and cleaning.
Then Sunday, yesterday, I had fun catching up with friends over a relaxing lunch after church.
I love girlie chats and pots of tea, don't you?
Of course, it was also Father's Day but we still managed to find space in our favourite cafe to eat and catch up.
I chose my favourite:

but I could have had this:

Then time for Lemon cake. I hoped it would be nicer that the one I made this weekend. It looked nice. Hmm. Nah. Dry.

It had been a tough decision because I also liked the look of this:

I should have had the coffee cake.
Next time.
So, Sunday came and went and it became Monday.
I fought the will and duvet and got up, went to work.
Swam at the gym to relax on the way home.
Ahh.
Home.
Wimbledon.
It's back.
Welcome back Wimbledon.
I have missed you.
I can't play tennis, not at all.
Not even for toffee.
What does that phrase mean?
Anyway, I can't play and have yet to go and watch a match.
I will be watching you on the telly and eating a few strawberries too.
And maybe a Pimms?

Encouragement Consequences Night

We had so much fun last night.
Encouragement Night with a bit of a fun twist:-)

We all loved our goody party bags with a few extra surprises inside and each turned up with a small gift for each other and had written a verse or some things down about how we that person encourages us.
I was very blessed to get a lovely candle, some dusky pink icing colouring and some lovely notelets! I also had some very encouraging words written down to go with each gift, that I will treasure, use and try and put the words of life into good practise in my life!
After we had shared our gifts and verses and thoughts with each other - and eaten cake and drunk tea - we played our game of consequences - with an encouraging twist!
We each wrote one line or so to answer each question and then folded it over and then passed it on to do the next. We wrote each of our names on the bottom of the paper so that we didn't write on our own!

There was a lot of sniggering, laughter, giggles shared, exchanged and enjoyed.
Here is the list of the questions we did for our Encouraging Consequences Night!
1. what qualities and strengths does this person have
2. name a funny moment you had with them
3. describe this person in 3 words
4. what famous person does this person remind you of
5. what colour do they remind you of
6. how does this person make you happy
7. what animal would they be
8. what would you say this spiritual gifts are
9. what flavour cupcake would they be
10.If you could spend a day with them, what would you do
11.say something random about them
12. if they were a sport what would they be
13. write the first object that reminds you of them, that comes to your mind.
I have some amazingly encouraging friends, do you?
How do you encourage your friends?
Maybe you would like to encourage one of your friends...?
Have fun playing Encouragement Consequences!
I did x

Getting Ready for Encouragement Night

Tomorrow night is Encouragement Night for us ladies.
I can hardly wait!
We meet each Thursday and eat loads of cake and laugh til we cry at the stories of our lives for this past week but this week is extra special! Every now and then, we try and actively encourage each other, nurturing the gifts within us such as laughter, creativity and encouragement.
It helps us celebrate and enjoy life and our adventures, mis-haps and to affirm each other for how we see each other's gifts, skills, talents and value our friendship.
We try and be creative!
One time we did it as pass the parcel, where we each wrote out a favourite verse and had a wee gift to go with it. All the wee parcels were wrapped in between layers of paper. You pass the parcel round and when the music stops, you undo a layer! The prize for that layer is revealed, then the music starts again and the parcel continues to pass until the music stops again.
Get it?
It is a classic British childhood birthday party game!
We love it!

So, in our variation of pass the parcel, the encouragement cards and gifts and verses formed the layers of the parcel.It was a bit random and surprisingly, no-one got their own verse. The one I got was a real encouragement to me: about God binding up the broken hearted. The verse was written on a cloud in the shape of a heart and came with some funky plasters with words like OWW, or OUCH!

Other times we have picked names (out of a teapot) and prayed for that person during the week and written it down in a card for them. This encouragement was the verse about the Son shining on the righteous, complete with some rather yummy smelling body lotion called: "Righteous Butter"

This time, we are doing a bit of a game based on the childhood game of "consequences". With a twist of course!
In the original game each person has a piece of paper and writes an answer to a question, for example favourite holiday place, most embarrassing moment, boy's name etc. After each category it is folded down and then passed on to the next person. It can be done with drawing people, with each fold being parts of the body like head, neck, etc.
When every one has had their turn the paper is unfolded and shared/admired/read out etc making no snese at all for the snetences, or for the drawn figure, producing lots of laughter.
Tomorrow, we will do things like write down the funniest thing the person has done, what verse reminds each of us of them, bringing an object/gift/homemade craft for each person to encourage them.
Oh, and I almost forgot.
Party bags!
We are each having a party bag that by the end of the evening will be filled with Encouragements for each of us.
We have written a list of things to write/bring to go inside during the evening!
I can't wait.
More news to follow- of course I can't spoil the surprise, yet!
How do you encourage your friends?

A Bit Of A Hen Do - Part 2!

So the presents for the Bride to be arrived in one piece.
Phew!
We went out to eat here:

Eat as much as you like.
Buffet style.
Hummus, crispy duck pancakes, curry, mint mouse, cheesecake and sweets and fruit.
Delicious.
Yummy food.
Stuffed.
Too busy eating to get some pictures of the food.
Sorry.
The Bride to be(my niece):

loved it all.
A lovely Girls Night Out!
I wore my lovely posh shoes, of course.
I teetered and tottered, bravely, pretending I was "fine" and tried to keep up with everyone who had worn sensible shoes, convincing myself that I was walking eligantly and not going at a snails pace.
The Mother of the Bride to be(my sister in law) couldn't walk in her shoes either...
but they do look great don't they?

It was lovely spending time with my "ex-family", whom I love dearly and remain close to, perhaps surprisingly, despite being divorced for many many years.
It doesn't generally follow a break-up to maintain good friendships with the in-laws, sister-in laws etc, but this family has a special place in my heart and they would say I the same in theirs too, I think.
It is fun to break the rules, anyway isn't it.
We love to laugh and see people's faces when I am introduced as "the ex-sister in law". We wait for the cogs to turn in people's heads and then say "Oh," and still look perplexed.
We just giggle.
It really is a story of mourning into dancing.
Maybe I will tell you one day.

Ridiculously Delicious Sunday

It really was the most ridiculously delicious Sunday Lunch with the Girly Cake Chicks and our friends.
We do this not often enough but love it all the same.
Our housegroup and husbands and friends. We compile a list and invite everyone.
Simple!



Loads of food: I roasted chicken and beef and everyone brought yummy salads, bread, cakes, cakes and more cakes. It really was full house with about 16 of us and 2 very special little people too.
Oh, and a very big birthday cake made by Abbie for Jen too!

Good times and wonderful friends.

All Star Thursday Night Creations

Ooh, I had sooo much fun on Thursday Night at Rachel's with the girly cake chicks.
This week, it was Rachel's turn to share something creative with us all to learn.
She taught us (or tried to teach us) to make star books!
We each had 3 sheets of double sided scrapbook paper. Gorgeous shades that Rachel chose for us from Basic Grey and 2 squares of thick cardboard and some yellow ribbon.

First though, tea, coffee and this delicious yummy cake that Rachel made.

Now, I won't pretend that the evening was easy. Competition was fierce, as was the laughter when one of us rushed ahead, or got it wrong, or misunderstood. Rachel kept saying to us, this isn't a race and it isn't a competition.
Harsh words.
Tough lessons learned.
Did we listen to her?
No.
Did we learn?
The hard way.

The things that went wrong, typically, were when we were asked to cut out 5x rectangles in 3 different sizes for our book pages. Abbie cut some of her rectangles with the plain titled edge that is along the basic grey 12x12 squares. Oops.

A few of mine were perhaps not "exactly" measured. More the "ish" variety.
Anna claimed to draw lines to cut and then cut along completely different lines. Abbie folded her rectangles in half the wrong way.

Anyway, after we had cut out our 15 rectangles, we sorted them into our favourite colourways and cut a square out of the 5 smallest rectangles.

They look like the top of a pinafore dress. Then fold them into "W" shapes. Then use loads of double sided sticky tape and stick the outside edge of the smallest to the middle, and then the middle to the largest. The small and middle stuck rectangles will now look like a "w" and the middle to biggest rectangles will now look like a "v" shape. Do this 5 x times.

I got carried away with all the double sides sticky tape and in my eagerness to make my star book, having seen a picture of the star book displayed in all it's beauty in a complete sphere,stuck my pages together in a complete spherical star shape. With tape. Without all the cardboard book cover . Or the ribbon.
"Ta Da!" I said, proudly admiring my creation.
"Did you stick it?" Rachel said.
"Yes" I said.
"Did you already do your book covers?" she enquired.
Oops.
That would be a No, then.
Everyone giggled as Rachel pointed to my 2 as yet unused bits of cardboard and ribbon, just lying there.
Everyone else was, by now, making their book covers and their "stars" were merely star shapes in folded form, loosely tied with their ribbons, so their creation could either be a book or a star.
Theirs were not stuck, fixed, securely, like mine, with the 5 sets of rectangles fastened with the last 4 edges attached with double sided tape to form an albeit a perfect spherical star. A beautiful decoration, yes, but not a star book.
So much for it not being a race.

Thankfully, Rachel is a whizz with a scalpel knife set and my "book" was quickly restored from it's brief "star-stuck" glory.
Phew. Thank you Rachel for coming to the rescue with your tools and skill.

And here is my star book.


You cold stick photos in in before sticking the pages together and without folding it into the "w" shapes, or we thought you could hang words on ribbon like star/beautiful/unique or record some of your "star" moments in your star book.
Thank You Rachel!
You are a star!
For more fabulous ides, check out Rachel's blog here.

Thankful Girly Cake Chicks

During this last week, my friends (the Girly cake chicks) and I have been focusing on being thankful. We meet together every Thursday as we are a house group, as part of our local church. There is always cake and laughter, sometimes tears and often something creative to share.

I wrote my list on being thankful on my blog, so I had my laptop for my show and tell!
Read it here
Here are some of the things the lovely Girly Cake Chicks, are Thankful for:

First up was Jen to share. She couldn't make it so she sent it to us!
She said she was thankful for us! (Aww!) Friendship is powerful isn't it!

Emily had an interesting choice, including loo roll!!!
Her list of Thankfulness had begun with the inspiration for the book: Love Mercy, about a lady and her journey from following the "American Dream" to discovering the Kingdom of God.
So she was very thankful for Loo Roll and flushing toilets.

Abbie shared her top 10 favourite things to be thankful for and included this book that had helped her. The book that inspired this was " If you want to walk on Water, you need to get out of the boat" by John Ortberg.

We still eagerly await hearing from the lovely Rachel and Anna, who also couldn't make it.

We did have plenty of time to eat cake! my party political Election Night Cupcakes.


Isn't it great to have a chance to take a fresh look at thankfulness?

Want to share your thankful list?
Post it here with this link.

Wednesday Already?

Going back to work this week has been a jolt to the system and yet I can't quite believe it is Wednesday already. It is quite nice though. Only 2 more sleeps until the weekend.
Before the weekend though, I have my evening with the girls tomorrow night. Just a little alot excited. We chatted about the term ahead and thought about ideas we could do each week. One of the girly chicks, Abbie our talented artist, made the list all fancy on a designed and printed this postcard for each of us. Isn't she clever?High on the list came cake and our lovely encouragement nights and cheese and biscuit nights too! We are going to do some creative sharing nights where we will each take turns with leading a night with something creative to share and for us all to try. It should be great fun. I have to decide what I am going to do as we are such a creative and crafty bunch that it is hard to think of something at the moment. Hmm.What to do? I guess I can see what some of the other ladies do first as I am way down the list. We also decided to study a book together. We chose this book: "Live Like You Mean It" by Eric Delve. It carries the subtitle: "Discover the life you were made for" and so far it is quite good. We thought it would both challenge and be something to take us deeper in our desire to know God more and to hear his heart for the best for our lives. Only just started and we are looking at the first 2 chapters tomorrow!

Eggstra Special Easter.

Last night we girly chicks had a bit of an Easter Extravaganza! however, the winner of our Easter Egg hunt was not me! 34 mini eggs, 4 creme eggs and 3 big eggs was quite a find! We each decorated these wooden flowers photo frames I spotted. We used metallic paints and then used deco pens and gems for the finishing touches. There was plenty of time for cake, of course. I had a go at making some tiers. My first attempt. The bottom tier is white chocolate cake with white chocolate butter cream icing. The top 2 tiers are polystyrene dummy cakes! I am having a trail at this balancing art as I am doing my niece's wedding cake in June! she wants fresh flowers round each tier, so I thought I would use some pretty Easter colours for this one.I used a cupcake filled with a few mini eggs and a chick with some raffia for a nest as a rather cute cake topper. Happy Birthday Abbie! I made Easter cards too! A bit like the Easter bunnies I made, they apparently could have been done by a 3 year old! They are fun and cute though and set our Easter table off nicely filled with chicks and mini chocolate eggs. My last Easter decoration is my Easter tree! It is a bit wonky in the glass vase! I tried stuffing oasis in the bottom and adding raffia around the edges and that was when I realised it was my wonky Easter Tree. I placed a few mini chicks in the nest effect and hung my Easter decorations on the heart branch I picked up from the garden centre this week. I added a glass painted egg, a bird, a fairy, a heart and a hen and a beautiful embroidered felt egg.I wish I could say that I had made it myself but I bought it. I love it. I love it all. My very own wonky Easter tree. Have an Eggstra Special Easter!

Encouragement Night with the Girls

It is great to encourage each other isn't it? We girls look forward to our encouragement nights very much indeed! We try to do them as something special and fun regularly as part of our weekly gatherings every few months. Sometimes we do a pass the parcel game with a favourite verse and something as a reminder like a small gift to go with it. This time we decided to do individual encouragements and picked our names from a teapot! We had to do it several times because some people kept getting their own name! We prayed for our named person during the week and asked God to remind us of the things about that person that we are special to us and perhaps a verse from the Bible to go with it to encourage them. We then wrote it out in a card and if we wanted to put it together in a creative fun way to share with them the following week.
We were all very encouraged. I love the verse that Abbie had about God shining on the righteous - complete with some righteous body butter that smelled fabulous! Flowers for Emily for God bringing colour and vibrancy, The word Joy on a card and I loved my card from Emily for me. A beautiful handmade card with a heart and things growing out of it. An encouragement for me that God's blessing does not depend on happiness but comes from His heart of love with the verse from Psalm 86 v 11 and 12:
"Teach me your way, O Lord and i will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that i may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name."
we love Encouragement Nights and there is always plenty of time for the usual tea and coffee and cake! This last week we had Cheese and even individual cheesecake cupcakes! Yummy!
Do you do Encouragement times with your friends?
I'd love to hear your ideas!
This week we are doing an Easter egg hunt around the house!