August

August saw me donate my first unit of blood! I already knew my blood group is O Rh - but had never actually donated - it has been something I had thought about for some time but ever actually got round to doing. Really pleased I did! August, in general, was a very busy month! Summer holidays! Therefore days out, Sophie's 6th birthday, my cousin Jamie's wedding and a trip to Torquay amongst other things. Thinktank Ryan had been going on for ages about how much he had enjoyed his trip to the Thinktank and how much he would like to return! Sophie turns 6 Sophie had been waiting for the day for what seemed like ages for her birthday to arrive. She finally got her new bike! She celebrated by having a party at home and inviting friends to join her. We had a bouncy castle, which ALL of my children made the most of using, McDonalds and generally entertained themselves. Sophie's Yr1 teacher made her birthday cake - Thanks Mrs Smith! Torquay We spent the latter part of August in Torquay - we stayed at a Caravan Park whilst Colin's parents (and sister) stayed at a local B&B. We had a great time. Jamie & Laura's Wedding ...were married on Sunday 30th August (Amanda & Daniel's 1st Wedding Anniversary)at the Bromsgrove Hilton.

October

We are rapidly approaching the end of October..... as I sit here writing this we are also at the end of the Half term break. Tomorrow is Halloween but is also a time that we are celebrating the marriage of my dad and Helen - they actually got married on the 25th September in the Cayman Islands. A "reception" is being held at the Newton Park Hotel.
This week as I mentioned has been half term. Last night we were joined by Colin's niece, Natasha and her family, and Colin's parents... where we enjoyed pizza, curry and catching up!
Wednesday, Josh and I went with some of the other youth from our ward to visit the London Temple - the first time for them, and the first time in ages for me. We had a great day - the youth were able to go inside which was an added bonus. There is a visitor's centre there now, where they watched a movie. Didn't get back home until 8pm... the traffic was dreadful on the M25.
Last weekend Josh attended the Birmingham Stake Youth Convention - I was able to spend most of Saturday there. They participated in service projects, chair football, workshops and finished with a testimony meeting.

June and July....

Life is too busy - or at least has been for the last few weeks. Minutes blend into hours, hours into days, days into weeks!
Time finally to pause (or at least I hope!). School is out until September 7th. Youth Camps have come and gone. YW Cam was held at Meriden and YMs at Blackwell (the same venue as last year). Laureen & I accompanied 10 of our girls - unfortunately 3 of them left early.
Josh had a great time at YM camp - he and Brad(Mason)shared a tent and took atin of camp pranks but didn't manage to unleash them to the world.
Earlier in the month we visited Amanda, Daniel, India & Aldous for celebrations (India's 5th birthday and Aldous' Naming Ceremony).

Josh has now officially left Middle School - Celebrations included a Leavers' Prom. Just before breaking up from school he was been awarded the Drama Prize and Karate Practitioner of the year award. Ryan received his SATs results and was pleased with the outcome.

March - May

Some time has passed since my last entry. Since then we have celebrated birthdays, baptisms and births... The weekend of the 21st March we started off by attending The Waterfront restaurant at Barton Marina to celebrate (a few days early) the 60th birthday of my mum whichwe followed by a walk around the grounds before we left to attend celebrations for Brenda's 75th birthday. The following day was Mothering Sunday. We held a BBQ at our home where we were joined by family members... Colin, Ethan & I all celebrated our birthdays in April aswell as visiting Centerparcs....

April 25th was the day of Ethan's Baptism and also turned outto be the day my new nephew was born, Aldous Paul Heaf. A date we won't forget in a hurry. We had the opportunity to visit Amanda, Daniel, India & Aldous the first weekend of May. This last bank holiday weekend we had a BBQ at our home to celebrate yet more birthdays - that of Amanda (27th May), Stacey (31st May) - 30, Joshua (2nd June) - 13 and Helen (9th June). Amanda & co weren't able to get up in the end due to traffic in London - they were at a standstill for 2 1/2 hours and eventually gave up. After the BBQ we went for a walk in the Lickeys...the weather was glorious.
NEWS....Dad & Helen are now engaged - watch this space for further information.

Ryan's 11th Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Ryan's birthday as a family - Ryan had previously celebrated with his friends by going to the cinema to see "Hotel for Dogs" and then after food by going to the Crystal Leisure Centre to swim...
Ryan was up bright and early. Colin had already left for work but had cleared it with Ryan to open hos gifts. He had requested bacon & eggs sandwiches for breakfast then got ready quickly for school so that he could enjoy his gifts more fully.
After he was packed off to school, I set about making his birthday cake - a chocolate and sweetie extravaganza.
After school Joshua had his Year 8 Parents Evening - all the teachers expressed how exceptionally well he was doing and what a lovely boy he is....
By the time we got back to the house mum had arrived to accompany us to the Hungry Horse in Droitwich - Ryan's choice of venue for the night. We were joined by Colin's parents and sisters Rochelle & Carolyn and her husband Keith and son Greg - Lynsey couldn't join us as she is still on her travels - China being her location as I write this.

A walk in the woods

This week the children have been on half term - the start of the week saw the children at my mum's house - I collected them yesterday and then met up with my dad for a while - catching a bite to eat at KFC before we left......
Josh was delighted to get his bike back up and working, and he and Ryan and Ryan's friend Ashley went on a bike ride around our neighbourhood whilst Colin & I took Sophie & Ethan on a walk in Pitcheroak woods - it was very boggy in places so our walk was cut short - by the time we got back to the car, Sophie & Ethan were a little miserable - Ethan, because we didn't let him go on the bike ride and Sophie because she wasn't allowed to bring back half the woods with her! Oh joy!

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day - Colin & I exchanged gifts in the morning - then not a lot else as I haven't been well these past few days - antibiotics hopefully starting to kick in now! Mum came over yesterday too - we are on half term and the chidren are going back with mum until mid-week..... as I write this everyone is at Church bar me! Looking forward to feeling "normal" again soon!
Happy Valentine's!

Snow days..... at last

The past two days has seen the children off school due to the "heavy" snow we have had.
Josh and Ryan took the opportunity to build a snowman...
....and throw loads of snowballs.
Several children from our neighbourhood seemed to congregate in our back garden...nothing unusual! More snow predicted over the weekend - watch this space!

Finally..... a snow day.....or two!

The last two days the children have been off school due to the snow!
Josh & Ryan were very keen to create a snowman.
It felt at one point as if half the street were in our back garden.
Tesco were unable to deliver our shopping so once Colin got home and the roads were passable, we ventured out to buy groceries - we couldn't get over how quiet Tesco was - a real pleasure to shop there yesterday!

February already

I can't believe how quickly time has flown and that we are in February already. The past two days we have had some snow - not enought though to warrant a "Snow Day".
Finally booked somewhere to go for a Summer break - we're off to Torquay for a week. Struggle now to find time with Colin driving and being self-employed... just have to make the time happen. Off to Centerparcs in April for the weekend so we are looking forward to that. Roll on April.......

Post-Christmas Report

The holiday season has come and gone so quickly - a great time has been had by all, even if a little hectic at times...
Christmas Eve saw us at the Chapel for our Nativity and Carol Service - this year Ryan took the parts of Father and Head Shepherd - he sang a solo and a duet. Ethan was the donkey and Sophie a camel. The quality of the photos isn't great for some reason, but you get the idea...
Christmas morning, the children woke up at a respectable time - 7.30ish. We always share the Christmas Story before the exchanging and opening of gifts and this year was no exception. This was the first year it was purely us for Christmas Lunch - friends joined us later, but we have never been on our own. We had a great time - the children had opportunity to chill and enjoy their gifts. Colin was adament he didn't want Turkey this year - so as a compromise we had Beef, Gammon and a beautiful Frre-Range Chicken.
As I mentioned we were joined in the eveningby some friends - it was like a divide of the sexes at one point with the "boys" in the conservatory playing Super Mario-Kart on the Wii and the "girls" singstar-ing it in the lounge.
Boxing Day we were joined by Ray, Brenda & Rochelle, and on the Saturday Dad & Helen came over.
Sunday was the "Summers" Day at Ray & Brenda's. We had got together on the 12th for a pre-Christmas event with all the Summers including Mike, Neil, Natasha & co but this time they did not come. I say everyone - Lynsey was not there - she is travelling at the moment and expected back in the UK around April/May time. She spent Christmas Day on New Zealand and New Year's Eve in Sydney...
I've run out of time - more updates soon.