Well not quite, but it would only take having a few pets in the house to get us to that point I'm sure!
I managed to get up early again this morning. I went back upstairs at 6am as Peter was crying, having done a few things but not all that I'd wanted. He certainly wasn't ready to get up yet, so I shoved Sarah up a bit and got into our bed with him to feed him. Sometimes he'll go back to sleep for a bit (and as everyone had gone to bed a bit late last night I figured they could all do with just a bit longer this morning). He didn't go back to sleep in the end. Come 7 o'clock I was finally downstairs with him getting him dressed and making breakfast for him and all of the other sleeping bunnies in the house. For a while there it was a bit of a squash and a squeeze with 5 in a bed that can normally hold a maximum of 3 (when it has to!) I think we must have been too sleepy to do anything about it last night. I remember waking up at one point in the night to hear very deep breathing (coming from Michael) and very small breathing (coming from Sarah I thought - she normally the first to sneak in!) Then sometime later, Sarah climbed over me and snuggled down in between us, so it had actually been Rebekah with us all that time. My gratitude this morning is for the fact that Rachel and Hannah have long since got into the habit of sleeping happily throught the night, and Peter's mostly there too. Now we just need to wake up enough to remind Sarah and Rebekah where their beds are. :o)
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Time for a change
We had a bit of a change at church this week - in terms of our bishopric that is. Our old bishop, Bishop Richard Hannis, had been a wonderful bishop but had been there for about 5 years I think and was ready to be released. The responsibility now falls upon our new bishop, Bishop David Mills! Debbie, I think you will remember his two counsellors, Daniel Top (1st counsellor) and Craig White (2nd counsellor). They'll do a great job I'm sure. My Dad took a few photos after they were set apart in the evening, and after Dad had ordained David to be a High Priest. They each received a lovely blessing. It was easy to see that David was the clear choice for the next bishop, but also to see how he and his family have been prepared in the last couple of years, and especially recently, for this calling. I mean in every way - spiritually, financially, with their home, transport needs met, Rachael and David's previous callings/jobs at church - how they have grown in them and learned from them, and even David's job. So even though it is a change to adjust to for them, I am sure they will do just fine. Actually, I was thinking the previous Sunday watching David at church as though he already acted like a bishop in his dealings with people - formally and informally. One of those preparations I guess. :o)
Our old and new bishop.
Maybe it was because of his tie!
Our new bishopric, in height order!
We had eaten as a whole family at David's house in the afternoon, and were heartily entertained by Sarah's latest party piece, her 'Granma laugh" as she calls it, which is very funny. Not after her Granma, but Angelina Ballerina's Granma apparently!
I also had the added bonus of having to travel with my parents to the setting apart, who were also attending an evening fireside (a meeting, not including a fire!) that the youth of the stake were putting on. That meant I had to go early to get to that too. I was delighted to find when we got there that it was a musical fireside, with a fantastic youth choir, and then various of the youth also reading various scriptures, quotes, and sharing their testimonies. It was lovely to hear their testimonies, and especially the music which I always love.
Our old and new bishop.
Maybe it was because of his tie!
Our new bishopric, in height order!
We had eaten as a whole family at David's house in the afternoon, and were heartily entertained by Sarah's latest party piece, her 'Granma laugh" as she calls it, which is very funny. Not after her Granma, but Angelina Ballerina's Granma apparently!
I also had the added bonus of having to travel with my parents to the setting apart, who were also attending an evening fireside (a meeting, not including a fire!) that the youth of the stake were putting on. That meant I had to go early to get to that too. I was delighted to find when we got there that it was a musical fireside, with a fantastic youth choir, and then various of the youth also reading various scriptures, quotes, and sharing their testimonies. It was lovely to hear their testimonies, and especially the music which I always love.
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Our warm Christmas
Christmas for us this year ended up as a wrappedupwarminablanketstayingindoors type of Christmas. Some of us had just about shaken off our illnesses, whereas some were just getting them. So we stayed indoors and had a simple Christmas day (accompanied by our gifts from other people) and Boxing day at home (including gifts from each other). We had a candle-lit (and daylight-lit) cooked breakfast in the morning - plenty of yummy protein to help us get well! That was a treat. We also sort of saw Emma and Will and family by video conference over the internet later in the day. It was just as our Christmas dinner was ready, so we were pretty hungry this end, and struggling to see everyone because the picture quality coming in to us was pretty slow in coming. Something to work on in the future. Mostly the girls were a bit stuck for words as they couldn't see who they were talking to. Peter however waved happily whenever he heard anyone say "hello Peter", whether he could make out a person or not. Cute little boy. It was just a bit confusing this end is all. Still great to do though and we're very glad we did. It was interesting to see the girls get totally animated as they really enjoyed speaking with the same family members on the telephone several days later. I think they just didn't have anything in front of them to distract them that time. We'll have to see if there's anything we can do to improve that picture in the future.
Opening our gifts seemed for a while this year like it was going to be a bit disappointing, as it seemed to change the feeling we'd had all month as we focused on other people more than ourselves. Despite it being fun, we had really enjoyed the spirit of Christmas that came with all of the active and giving type of things we had involved ourselves in, and getting things for yourself just doesn't come close. I started to feel part way through that the children were starting to feel quite greedy and losing the enormous happiness they had enjoyed throughout the month, but it was nice to see that go in the end. We stopped after opening the gifts others had give them and saved ours for the next day. So instead of 'getting' more, they just spent some time enjoying what they had already been given, which was far more enjoyable. It was also nice to see that the gifts they valued were not expensive things. Sarah and Rebekah totally loved a little gift somebody gave them where you scratch at the surface to create a multi-coloured picture - it seemed to be their favourite. It made me kind of feel that I wished I hadn't spent anything on them ourselves but kept the money to go towards experiences for them - something I seem to recall considering for birthdays in the past. They received plenty, they enjoyed it all, and some gifts were things they had hoped for, longed for, and even needed, plus toys that will get an enormous amount of continued use, but the most memorable parts for all of us really are the things we enjoyed DOING together and with others. We'll see how simple we manage to keep Christmas next year! :o)
Our traditional acting out the nativity (that we ALWAYS do on Christmas day before we open any gifts) hasn't happened yet - we just weren't well enough for it not to be a chore instead of something special. This year we read the Christmas story together first instead, which I think normally happens on Christmas Eve in our house. Yes I did say "yet". Our Christmas decorations are still up for Michael's birthday (tomorrow - I may actually post this just in time!) as he likes to do. His gifts are waiting under the Christmas tree, and we'll enjoy the tree lights one more time tomorrow if I remenber to put them on! It makes the house a bit more festive really. I hadn't planned to this year - it was all going to come down along with most other people's decorations to get our house sorted before getting a few DIY jobs done, but we got ill again after Christmas too (maybe from going out in the cold too soon over Christmas?), so why not. I nearly took some down on Friday just to get the place sorted, but resisted in the end. So anyway, with decorations still up, everyone's lovely cards included, we may actually have a bit of time acting out the nativity with some friends this week. It seemed a bit strange to leave it this late, but 3 out of 4 girls are very eager to do it, and it'll be a fun thing to do anyway - they love getting dressed up and acting things out. I guess Daddy will be the donkey again, and maybe the camel (only one camel in our little production I'm afraid). Last year he looked particularly interesting as the donkey with some super ears I think he'd made from a pair of socks. :o)
It was fun to have Nanny come and stay with us for a couple of days after Boxing day, and was great for us not to have to brave the cold just yet, but continue to get well instead. It was just the extra bit of time we needed. We had our pyjama party with Nanny as planned, and the next day Nanny enjoyed some grandchildren time, and the children enjoyed some Nanny time, while Michael and I enjoyed some getting "the little room" sorted time on our own for a few hours. By the evening, the little room had finally changed into Peter's room, and he happily spent his first night sleeping in there. I'm pleased to report as well that in the last week he has had one night where he stayed asleep in there until 6.30 am (amazing) followed soon after by a couple of nights where I actually woke up and got ready the next morning before he even woke up once (I wasn't up early either). So he seems to be enjoying his sleep as much as we are enjoying ours (when Sarah and Rebekah let us). Since we got back home after Christmas they have made a renewed attempt to climb into our bed through the night, or get us up with one problem after another. Peter's sleeping well anyway!
We were really glad that Tom could come over the next day (on the Saturday). When we were finally packed up and ready to go, we went for a game of bowling with him and Nanny. We all enjoyed that. Rachel and Hannah bowled without the use of the ramp for the first time, and Peter was so excited by these fun balls that he was just desperate to pick them up and have a go too. So he shared a few goes with me. He 'helped' me to pick the ball up (ball in my right hand, Peter in my left arm) and gave it a big hug before I bowled it down the alley. With Peter's giggly magic helping we actually got a strike and a couple of spares among the usual rolling into the gutter before reaching the end! The girls of course did much better than their Mum. They had the barriers up on their lane and Sarah and Rebekah used a ramp to roll the balls. Peter did try that once - very excitedly! Rachel and Hannah soon got the hang of it and Rachel scored in the high 90s, with Hannah reaching 101. Yay! The children really enjoyed that. I think the last time we'd been was about 18 months before, when I was expecting Peter and had to use the ramp along with the children!
When we were done, Nanny and Tom between them drove us to Kidderminster (them to go home, us to go and stay with Granma and Gramps).
It was really nice for the children to go to Primary together in Kidderminster on the Sunday. Rebekah stayed in Primary for the whole time, as a build up to going properly into Primary in Coventry the following week (the children's classes and activities at church). We had a lovely meal and some altogether time at Nanny's house after church too, which was nice.
Then before bed that night we shared Christmas gifts with Granma and Gramps and they with us. There were some squeals of delight at receiving more wooden train track to allow their creations go a bit further, and everyone suddenly turned stripey. Don't they look beautiful, as well as snuggly warm? :o)
On Monday we went to Bridgnorth for an outing in both Granma and Gramps' cars. It was the first time we have been able to walk around a town (rather than a wood, country park, etc.) without our girls minding. It must have been the novelty of being there with their grandparents I think. They certainly enjoyed themselves, as did we all. We enjoyed our trip down to the lower town in the funicular railway, and racing Daddy back up again. They thought he was mad to climb up all of those steep steps, but he won, even if he did look like he was going to fall over from doing it! He enjoyed the little challenge - couldn't pass it up. :o) It's a lovely town that looks like it should be beside the sea somewhere - fun to walk around.
That night after tea was another pyjama party, complete with popcorn and fruit. We had a lot of fun watching Bob the Builder this time! We thought Peter would enjoy this one along with us and we were right. As soon as he was finished with his popcorn and grapes, he was up and dancing to every little snippet of music he heard. That was as much fun to watch as the video itself! He has a knack of reacting to music (even in his sleep) by spontaneously conducting it or dancing to it. I guess he hears enough music through the day, as he also has the same ability that Sarah and Rachel have always had to sing things perfectly. He likes to play that game with noises of course, but also if we sing something to him he sings it right back pitch-perfect. It makes for a fun game to play with him sometimes.
On Tuesday, Granma seemed to have caught a chill and needed to stay indoors so she didn't get really ill before going back to work the next day. She helped us get to Hurcott Pools though, another place we had never been to, where we went for a lovely fresh walk with Gramps and Louise (a friend of mine from school). The girls pretty much clung to Louise. We hardly ever get to see her, but they enjoy her company so much when we do. Hannah (who was named after Louise) was by her side the whole time. Sarah was our guide for the journey, and always knew which way would be the most fun and adventurous. Can you see the picture with us trying to choose which way to go (all pointing in different directions)? Guess who got to choose! When Gramps asked her to show him which way she thought we should go, she didn't bother with pointing, she just zoomed off in that direction, and we had to follow. :o) She also made the most fantastic dog alarm - having bounded off ahead, she would frantically come running back if there ever was one in sight. We saw quite a few dogs as well enjoying a new year's day walk themselves. Not your ordinary dogs, but Red Setters, an Old English sheepdog, huskies (or similar) and the like. Hurcott Pools is obviously THE place to walk your dog! Meanwhile Peter discovered a fun game where Mummy and Daddy said "1..,2..,3..,GO!" and swung him through the air. It was too much fun to miss again, so in the best way he could he kept on and on saying "uh..,uh..,uh..,OH!" and off he would swing again. That game lasted quite a while.
We were grateful for Gramps offering to give us a lift back home to Coventry on Thursday. Only Peter and I took advantage of that offer, along with our luggage. That made it far less of a treck to get everyone else back home on the train - they were so looking forward to their journey on the train that they couldn't not do it, freezing as it was, and it didn't make sense for Gramps to make two journeys anyway.
Chaos has reigned a little as we've settled back down and battled winter illnesses a bit more since then. Rachel and Hannah have been making good use of their new recorders, and are eager to practise each day - that and the piano mostly, and we are back to our normal adventures.
That's it for now - it's birthday time tomorrow!
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
Happy Christmas!
Well, I guess I just wanted to say HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
We have enjoyed a month of Christmas preparations and fun. Before we handed our car over to David and family we made sure we fulfilled those of our Christmas wishes that required transport. We visited the London Temple, and actually managed to stay over there for a night, which was fun. We rode one more time on a friend's pony. Everybody enjoyed a ride, abd Rebekah really did fantastically without anybody holding onto her this time. She was worried still to start with, but once she got into the stride, or the "wiggle, woggle, wiggle, woggle" as she said most of the way around the field in time with her movements, she did brilliantly and really enjoyed herself. We also visited an equine rescue centre (for horses, ponies and donkeys) which Michael and the children had found the previous month and really wanted to go back to. Peter just loved wandering freely around finding yet more horses and ponies everywhere he went. He especially loved the Shetland ponies, which is fun as he looked just the right size to ride one.
From there we went to Stratford on Avon where we have been for the previous few years at Christmastime to see their lights. We ended up having a day there one year as a family and by chance it was the day the town Christmas lights were being turned on. They were really nice, and we had such a nice time that we returned for that again the next year. Last year and this we went in December rather than late November, and went instead for a free ride on a tour bus (open-topped double decker), which gives some history of Stratford and also takes you around the lights. We had fish and chips for our tea there (in the chip shop this time, out of the rain). Last year I remember going a week later than we had planned because of bad weather. This year we were getting rid of our car and couldn't do that, so we had a rather wet and windswept ride on an open-topped tour bus. My mad and determined older daughters decided they were going on the top, on the back seat as they had wanted to, no matter what. So Michael stayed downstairs in the dry with Peter, and I accompanied 4 damp girls, well equipped with dome umbrellas that they could sit inside and see through on the back of an open-topped bus. Of course once we moved away, it got rather windy, so Rachel and Hannah who were sharing an umbrella were tugging hard on it to keep it down. Whereas I was across the aisle from them tugging hard on Rebekah's and Sarah's two separate umbrellas to stop them (and probably us with them) from being blown away! Unlikely I know, but it felt like it! Needless to say one of those umbrellas was bent totally out of shape and had a whole in it when we got back downstairs. As soon as we set off on the tour Rebekah, and shortly afterward Sarah wanted to be with Daddy downstairs. Well, you try walking along a wet and slippery open-topped bus in the wind and rain when it is moving, and then getting down a steep spiral staircase with a 3 and a 5 year old. Not I! We had another ride after that - all in the dry this time. Then we wandered back to the car through the Christmas market and across the river. Some of us were drenched, but actually nobody seemed to mind. It was a lot of fun!!
We've done some other fun things too, most of which have included giving in one way or another instead of receiving. That has made it a really special Christmas so far. Now the girls are nestled all snug in their beds, and have been really excited to put out their stockings tonight and to open a few presents too. More and more people have been handing us gifts, so there are a few to keep them going! :o)
We have a few more Christmas wishes to be fulfilled this week. One is to see our family in America tomorrow. We'll have a video conference with them. Another is to have Nanny come to visit us (she'll actually be staying with us for a couple of days). Then there's the all important pyjama party, complete with a video and popcorn of course. A few other things too. We'll be enjoying them, this year as last through our illnesses. Last Christmas day Sarah was too ill to share our Christms dinner, We ended up having a second one on Boxing Day just for her. Well, we've been knocked for six with a nasty virus again and have been taking cover and hiding away under blankets for the last two weeks. Now it is Sarah's turn again for the illness - bad timing! Hannah is the only survivor so far, and we hope she stays that way. If we're well enough we'll also be going to stay with my parents for a few days from Saturday onwards, though we'll stay away if we're ill so they don't come down with it too. I think there'll be enough presents to keep the children busy anyway even if they are quarantined a little longer.
We hope you enjoy a very healthy and happy Christmas, and actually we hope we do too. :o) So we wish plenty of love light and laughter to you all.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
We have enjoyed a month of Christmas preparations and fun. Before we handed our car over to David and family we made sure we fulfilled those of our Christmas wishes that required transport. We visited the London Temple, and actually managed to stay over there for a night, which was fun. We rode one more time on a friend's pony. Everybody enjoyed a ride, abd Rebekah really did fantastically without anybody holding onto her this time. She was worried still to start with, but once she got into the stride, or the "wiggle, woggle, wiggle, woggle" as she said most of the way around the field in time with her movements, she did brilliantly and really enjoyed herself. We also visited an equine rescue centre (for horses, ponies and donkeys) which Michael and the children had found the previous month and really wanted to go back to. Peter just loved wandering freely around finding yet more horses and ponies everywhere he went. He especially loved the Shetland ponies, which is fun as he looked just the right size to ride one.
From there we went to Stratford on Avon where we have been for the previous few years at Christmastime to see their lights. We ended up having a day there one year as a family and by chance it was the day the town Christmas lights were being turned on. They were really nice, and we had such a nice time that we returned for that again the next year. Last year and this we went in December rather than late November, and went instead for a free ride on a tour bus (open-topped double decker), which gives some history of Stratford and also takes you around the lights. We had fish and chips for our tea there (in the chip shop this time, out of the rain). Last year I remember going a week later than we had planned because of bad weather. This year we were getting rid of our car and couldn't do that, so we had a rather wet and windswept ride on an open-topped tour bus. My mad and determined older daughters decided they were going on the top, on the back seat as they had wanted to, no matter what. So Michael stayed downstairs in the dry with Peter, and I accompanied 4 damp girls, well equipped with dome umbrellas that they could sit inside and see through on the back of an open-topped bus. Of course once we moved away, it got rather windy, so Rachel and Hannah who were sharing an umbrella were tugging hard on it to keep it down. Whereas I was across the aisle from them tugging hard on Rebekah's and Sarah's two separate umbrellas to stop them (and probably us with them) from being blown away! Unlikely I know, but it felt like it! Needless to say one of those umbrellas was bent totally out of shape and had a whole in it when we got back downstairs. As soon as we set off on the tour Rebekah, and shortly afterward Sarah wanted to be with Daddy downstairs. Well, you try walking along a wet and slippery open-topped bus in the wind and rain when it is moving, and then getting down a steep spiral staircase with a 3 and a 5 year old. Not I! We had another ride after that - all in the dry this time. Then we wandered back to the car through the Christmas market and across the river. Some of us were drenched, but actually nobody seemed to mind. It was a lot of fun!!
We've done some other fun things too, most of which have included giving in one way or another instead of receiving. That has made it a really special Christmas so far. Now the girls are nestled all snug in their beds, and have been really excited to put out their stockings tonight and to open a few presents too. More and more people have been handing us gifts, so there are a few to keep them going! :o)
We have a few more Christmas wishes to be fulfilled this week. One is to see our family in America tomorrow. We'll have a video conference with them. Another is to have Nanny come to visit us (she'll actually be staying with us for a couple of days). Then there's the all important pyjama party, complete with a video and popcorn of course. A few other things too. We'll be enjoying them, this year as last through our illnesses. Last Christmas day Sarah was too ill to share our Christms dinner, We ended up having a second one on Boxing Day just for her. Well, we've been knocked for six with a nasty virus again and have been taking cover and hiding away under blankets for the last two weeks. Now it is Sarah's turn again for the illness - bad timing! Hannah is the only survivor so far, and we hope she stays that way. If we're well enough we'll also be going to stay with my parents for a few days from Saturday onwards, though we'll stay away if we're ill so they don't come down with it too. I think there'll be enough presents to keep the children busy anyway even if they are quarantined a little longer.
We hope you enjoy a very healthy and happy Christmas, and actually we hope we do too. :o) So we wish plenty of love light and laughter to you all.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Thursday, 20 December 2007
From 4 wheels to, um, ... 12 or so!
Well, for quite a long time now Michael and I thought that we would not always have a car. Two months ago we felt quite strongly that we should get rid of our car, and we nearly did it, but not quite! Then a month ago my brother's family car (the one that had been ours before) decided that it was going to stop working, and it turned out to be way too much to fix. That was the push we needed. We offered our car to David's family and prepared to go car-less. Not a big deal for most of the population of the world I know, or even for other families as large as ours. However, the big red people-carrier (or family bus) that we had been driving had certainly made many things possible for quite some time that would not have been otherwise, and we have enjoyed that travelling freedom. Maybe now is a time to work a bit more to get places, maybe it will reduce our carbon footprint a little, or maybe, actually, it just allows us to work within our budget a bit better.
So as of a week ago we left our four wheels behind (round the corner at David's house to be precise) and we are walking, taking the bus to church and the girls' ballet class, and riding bikes to as many other places as we are able. Now that we have the lights and everything else we need for winter riding, riding the bikes won't cost us anything so they are definately preferable. We had been having a lot of fun going for rides as a family over the summer - mostly around a 2 1/2 mile block from our house and around the nearby woods. Rachel and Hannah are pretty strong riders. Rebekah made the block just fine, as did Sarah although quite wearily toward the end. Peter always had a nice ride and often liked to cuddle me from behind. :o) We felt the need to get bikes sorted for everyone, and a bike seat for Peter on the back of my bike which helped us be able to have that fun exercise over the summer. We now also have a couple of trailers bought 2nd hand for not too much but in great condition, which means we can still ride long distance with the 3 younger children in trailers. Especially good for winter journeys, and handy for shopping trips now too. So instead of our easily recognisable family bus, we are now travelling on anywhere between 12 and 16 wheels (training wheels/stabilisers included) :o).
Things are taking longer, which is to be expected. Life will sometimes go a little slower in what can be achieved in one day - also to be expected. It is taking a little bit more initiative to make some things work. We've used the internet and postal service a bit more for Christmas presents! We also see a lot more of the world around us as we pass it by at a much slower pace though, which has been nice on occasions and hopefully come spring and summer especially will be even more enjoyable. You never know, we may even end up a bit fitter because of it! Of course it was the first day or being car-less that the freezing weather really decided to set in. Typical. Come summer, riding everywhere will be a breeze! :o)
So as of a week ago we left our four wheels behind (round the corner at David's house to be precise) and we are walking, taking the bus to church and the girls' ballet class, and riding bikes to as many other places as we are able. Now that we have the lights and everything else we need for winter riding, riding the bikes won't cost us anything so they are definately preferable. We had been having a lot of fun going for rides as a family over the summer - mostly around a 2 1/2 mile block from our house and around the nearby woods. Rachel and Hannah are pretty strong riders. Rebekah made the block just fine, as did Sarah although quite wearily toward the end. Peter always had a nice ride and often liked to cuddle me from behind. :o) We felt the need to get bikes sorted for everyone, and a bike seat for Peter on the back of my bike which helped us be able to have that fun exercise over the summer. We now also have a couple of trailers bought 2nd hand for not too much but in great condition, which means we can still ride long distance with the 3 younger children in trailers. Especially good for winter journeys, and handy for shopping trips now too. So instead of our easily recognisable family bus, we are now travelling on anywhere between 12 and 16 wheels (training wheels/stabilisers included) :o).
Things are taking longer, which is to be expected. Life will sometimes go a little slower in what can be achieved in one day - also to be expected. It is taking a little bit more initiative to make some things work. We've used the internet and postal service a bit more for Christmas presents! We also see a lot more of the world around us as we pass it by at a much slower pace though, which has been nice on occasions and hopefully come spring and summer especially will be even more enjoyable. You never know, we may even end up a bit fitter because of it! Of course it was the first day or being car-less that the freezing weather really decided to set in. Typical. Come summer, riding everywhere will be a breeze! :o)
Thursday, 13 December 2007
An English Thanksgiving!
I have been trying to put this on here for a while, but we have been quite busy for the past few weeks.
This year, on 22nd November (which is now three weeks ago) we celebrated Thanksgiving along with our family (and friends) in America. It might seem strange to do so, not being American and with the reason behind much of why thanksgiving happened in the first place, however we have a lot to be thankful for, and looked forward to the opportunity to have a day dedicated to thankfulness, and especially as it was intended, to praising God for all that he has done for us. A primary reason for us also was that we have a sister and brother (with family) in the States, along with many others that we love, and this was another opportunity to be a bit nearer to them by sharing in some of the things that they would be doing, albeit many many miles away. Our family in America we have to spend time with in different ways to get to know one another and be close to them, as we just don't get to see each other in person.
Well, thank you to all of you that shared your own thanksgiving traditions with us. Thank you Debbie for your especially thoughtful response. We enjoyed reading them and there are some that we didn't manage this year that we might well try out in the future as we are hoping this will also become a tradition for us. It is fun to know the kind of things you would be doing.
That week wasn't my best of weeks, nor that day my best of days (in terms of how I was feeling), but we kept things simple and had a lovely time. We had looked at the history of thanksgiving over the previous few days and the children enjoyed learning something about the colonialists/pilgrims and what was effectively the first thanksgiving. That was really a harvest festival to us, and our meal reflected that partly. We did in the end go with partly 'traditional' food for our celebration meal. We enjoyed a free-range chicken (not turkey!), and mashed potato, gravy, cranberry sauce (we made our own in the end so that it would fit in with our no-sugar diet!), green beans, carrots, a big mixture of roasted vegetables - parsnips (mmm!), peppers, mushrooms, leek, sweet potatoes, garlic, etc., and then a baked butternut squash with some soya mince and cheese. Oh, and we also had sweetcorn (corn-on-the-cob) which Peter was especially thankful for! We didn't eat the squash in the end - we had that over the next couple of days instead along with some of the left-over veg. We had chosen some fruit we really like for dessert, but really didn't want it in the end as we were so full, so kept that for another day too! In future we might go for apple pie for a dessert, and I have a recipe for pumpkin pie (no sugar again) that we'll try out at some point, but maybe when we grow our own again in the next couple of years!
Rachel and Hannah really enjoyed helping out with preparing our meal and decorating the table in the morning while the little ones played and Peter had his nap. Then before our meal we had a few pieces of corn on our plates and thought about how the pilgrims for a long time really didn't have much food (like many others in the world now). We each took turns putting a piece of our corn into a glass as we shared things that we were each thankful for, until the corn was all gone, and we then had a special prayer of thanks. Then we filled the table with food that we really were thankful for (partly as it's food we don't normally get to eat!) We had coloured leaves decorating our table as a reminder of all things natural that we are also very thankful for.
We went for a walk in some woods near our home during what was left of the afternoon, and enjoyed exploring a part we hadn't visited before, which came out into a lovely grassy clearing in the middle. We gathered some fresh holly while we were there - that was the first of our Christmas decorations to go up that evening when we got back home. That was our only decoration for a while, tied up with some Christmassy ribbon, as despite our intentions to follow the tradition of decorating for Christmas right after thanksgiving, we had a lot happening here at the same time and didn't get organised enough - maybe next year?! I did manage to paint over some of our walls the day before though while Michael and the children went to visit their Nanny, so the house was looking pretty smart!
We finished off our day with tea/dinner and a pyjama party - we watched a video while enjoying some popcorn - all of us in our pyjamas. :o) That's one of our family traditions that the children sometimes choose for birthdays, and that we tend to do on Boxing day (day after Christmas day) and now sometimes at least for Thanksgiving too!
We hope all of you that are American enjoyed your own celebrations. It was nice to be thinking about you all in a different way while celebrating along with you. Somewhat belatedly, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
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This year, on 22nd November (which is now three weeks ago) we celebrated Thanksgiving along with our family (and friends) in America. It might seem strange to do so, not being American and with the reason behind much of why thanksgiving happened in the first place, however we have a lot to be thankful for, and looked forward to the opportunity to have a day dedicated to thankfulness, and especially as it was intended, to praising God for all that he has done for us. A primary reason for us also was that we have a sister and brother (with family) in the States, along with many others that we love, and this was another opportunity to be a bit nearer to them by sharing in some of the things that they would be doing, albeit many many miles away. Our family in America we have to spend time with in different ways to get to know one another and be close to them, as we just don't get to see each other in person.
Well, thank you to all of you that shared your own thanksgiving traditions with us. Thank you Debbie for your especially thoughtful response. We enjoyed reading them and there are some that we didn't manage this year that we might well try out in the future as we are hoping this will also become a tradition for us. It is fun to know the kind of things you would be doing.
That week wasn't my best of weeks, nor that day my best of days (in terms of how I was feeling), but we kept things simple and had a lovely time. We had looked at the history of thanksgiving over the previous few days and the children enjoyed learning something about the colonialists/pilgrims and what was effectively the first thanksgiving. That was really a harvest festival to us, and our meal reflected that partly. We did in the end go with partly 'traditional' food for our celebration meal. We enjoyed a free-range chicken (not turkey!), and mashed potato, gravy, cranberry sauce (we made our own in the end so that it would fit in with our no-sugar diet!), green beans, carrots, a big mixture of roasted vegetables - parsnips (mmm!), peppers, mushrooms, leek, sweet potatoes, garlic, etc., and then a baked butternut squash with some soya mince and cheese. Oh, and we also had sweetcorn (corn-on-the-cob) which Peter was especially thankful for! We didn't eat the squash in the end - we had that over the next couple of days instead along with some of the left-over veg. We had chosen some fruit we really like for dessert, but really didn't want it in the end as we were so full, so kept that for another day too! In future we might go for apple pie for a dessert, and I have a recipe for pumpkin pie (no sugar again) that we'll try out at some point, but maybe when we grow our own again in the next couple of years!
Rachel and Hannah really enjoyed helping out with preparing our meal and decorating the table in the morning while the little ones played and Peter had his nap. Then before our meal we had a few pieces of corn on our plates and thought about how the pilgrims for a long time really didn't have much food (like many others in the world now). We each took turns putting a piece of our corn into a glass as we shared things that we were each thankful for, until the corn was all gone, and we then had a special prayer of thanks. Then we filled the table with food that we really were thankful for (partly as it's food we don't normally get to eat!) We had coloured leaves decorating our table as a reminder of all things natural that we are also very thankful for.
We went for a walk in some woods near our home during what was left of the afternoon, and enjoyed exploring a part we hadn't visited before, which came out into a lovely grassy clearing in the middle. We gathered some fresh holly while we were there - that was the first of our Christmas decorations to go up that evening when we got back home. That was our only decoration for a while, tied up with some Christmassy ribbon, as despite our intentions to follow the tradition of decorating for Christmas right after thanksgiving, we had a lot happening here at the same time and didn't get organised enough - maybe next year?! I did manage to paint over some of our walls the day before though while Michael and the children went to visit their Nanny, so the house was looking pretty smart!
We finished off our day with tea/dinner and a pyjama party - we watched a video while enjoying some popcorn - all of us in our pyjamas. :o) That's one of our family traditions that the children sometimes choose for birthdays, and that we tend to do on Boxing day (day after Christmas day) and now sometimes at least for Thanksgiving too!
We hope all of you that are American enjoyed your own celebrations. It was nice to be thinking about you all in a different way while celebrating along with you. Somewhat belatedly, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
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