Blogging through the alphabet {Family, Friends, Fellowship, Faithfulness and Fires}

This week has been, and will be, a full one. (Hence the quietness on the bloggy front....)

We have done school work, been to our homeschool co-op, and had my parents for a visit.

Or, as Abi said "When will Grandpa and Grandma be here for the sleepover"!!

I love it when they come to see us. They live about an hour and 45 minutes away, so not close enough for very frequent visits in either direction. We hadn't seen them since the New Year, so it was a joy to have them here. I had a couple of shopping trips out with my Mum, which was lovely. I was able to leave some children at home with Grandpa, AND I had Grandma to help ME! If you don't have children, you won't quite understand why that is meaningful. If you have lots of children, you WILL! Having lots of children is wonderful, but it does rather restrict you from having "normal" shopping trips.

Today, we had co-op.  The children learnt about different elements relating to the Great Fire of London. It's a fascinating event, and I learnt many new things in our lessons yesterday.

We had older children writing diary entries, like Samuel Pepys, we had everyone baking apple cakes, as a nod to the fire starting in a bakery, on Pudding Lane, and we had arts and crafts relating to period costume, and about the fire of London.

That was too fun NOT to share with you, so here it is..

Abi's

Elijah's

Simeon's

Susie's

My lovely SIL, Anna, led the activity, and the children had a lot of fun - and I spent a lot of time telling Simeon not to wear the paint! You begin by painting the paper like fire, then you cut out an outline of a skyline, on the black paper, and stick it over the painted page. Simple, but very effective!  I have to say, Anna also did a good job of teaching the children about the fire, because my 7 year old was busily telling me all about it on the way home!

I was responsible for teaching some scripture to the children, so I will share it with you, as it was interesting to make a connection between the Fire of London, and a Proverb!

I will begin by telling you how they managed to extinguish the Fire of London.  Due to the wooden houses being so close together, the fire had been spreading uncontrollably for 4 days. It was devised that if they set explosives and blew up a whole section of houses, the fire would lose its fuel source - the wooden houses, and could be stopped from progressing, before it got to the stockpile of explosives stored at at the tower of London. SO, that's what they did, and it worked! I didn't know that until the other night.  Then, I tried to finalise which verse to teach, searching the word "fire" and found THIS.

 "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth."

Proverbs 26:20 

Now, how perfect is THAT verse?? Did you even know it was in the Bible?  I didn't!

It illustrated an important truth, PERFECTLY.

I talked to the children about talebearing, and what it is. Not telling lies, as my children keep thinking it means, but spreading things about others, just to cause trouble. Telling me what another sibling has done, just knowing it will get them in trouble, and make themselves look better. It can also be further applied to spreading gossip, or telling people things it's not your place to tell them. Bearing a "tale".  We ALL fall prey to being unwise about how we use our words.  Just like the fire of London, if we are mean, and talebear about others - spreading word of another's failings or sins - telling people things it's not our place to tell them - spreading information for the wrong motives - it causes strife. We cause problems, feelings of sadness and contention, by unwisely passing word around that we have no place to share.

As I told the children, there ARE times when it's important to share information - if a child is doing something dangerous, hurtful, or damaging, I NEED to know about it, to deal with it. That's different. Also, similarly, as Christian adults, it's important to pass on certain information, if needed.  Calling out false teaching, speaking to another parent about a child who is being hurtful, or speaking privately to a person in authority about sinful practice you have found.

So many other things, however, are just people not thinking, before they speak. As James says, the tongue is like a little spark of fire, that can spread and cause a LOT of damage, if used unwisely.  I truly felt my own heart needed the teaching, as much as the children's did!

This weekend heralds my "friends and fellowship" part of "F".

It's our Annual Service of Thanksgiving, in our Church.  Rather than having a "Pastor's Anniversary", we turn the emphasis upon the Lord, and what He has done for us - giving Him thanks for another year of blessing and encouragement. God is good, and we have much to be thankful for in our small fellowship. We have people who work together, and who love the Lord.  They are such an encouragement, so often, to us.  We have seen growth and change, including a youth meeting which has been really well attended (in our small Church regard!).  God has kept us and blessed us as a family - we have had a new baby, and our children are all healthy and well.  We have an amazing home, and wonderful family and friends.

People will join together tomorrow, to thank the Lord for His goodness, and hear God's Word being preached. Our good friend, Oliver Baker, will be preaching Saturday, and Sunday. The bonus is that Robert is blessed, as he gets a Sunday with a break from preaching, and is taught, instead. Extra bonus - he often sits beside me, in the "pews", which is rare!

We have many friends coming and going through our home, over the weekend, which is also a joy. I will have 31 for lunch on Saturday! Fun times!

Now, I must go - I have baking to do for after tomorrow's service - hey, that's FOOD! Another "F"! Maybe I should get around to sharing some of my favourite recipes at some point?

I trust you all have a blessed weekend, and I will try and get some more posts out next week, subject to how busy I am having fellowship with visiting friends!

Chatting with Patrice {'av an avacado}

Hiya Patrice!!! We have spring springing up around us here.  Lots of pretty bulbs coming up, with lots of colour.  Weirdly, despite getting sunnier and brighter, we have had a few frosty mornings. It's weird because we have had such a mild winter, and NOW frost?? Hey ho!

Onto our chat!

1. Do you like avocados?

Do I EVER!!! 

When I started doing Whole30 for the first time, I was THRILLED to learn that avocado is a healthier fat, and is one that can be eaten EVERY DAY!!!! I love the creamy texture of a really ripe avocado, and I  would put it through a salad, mixed in with a can of tuna, or I make guacamole.  

I love them.  That's what.

2.  Have you ever gone on a roller coaster?

Not a proper one. A lame one. And  that, quite simply, was enough for a lifetime!

No desire, WHATSOEVER, to go on one. 

Never.

Ever.

3.  Do you do cross stitch, needlepoint, crewel work, or needle punch?

I cross-stitched in years gone past. Not my thing now.

My Mum cross-stitched a lovely design which I keep on my kitchen window ledge as a reminder.

Now, crochet?.....

4.  Do you cook with gas or electric?

Now, here's a sore subject. 

Electric.  Sad days.  I dislike it intensely. It's an induction hob, ceramic. Currently, it seems to be even harder to control the heat than usual, which is hard enough as it is.  You can't just leave things to gently simmer, and there is no instant heat when you need it. My dream cooker is large, with gas ho and electric oven.

Don't get me started on my electric fan-assisted oven which is cooking unevenly just now....

5. Tell me something good, pleasant, or uplifting. Please.

I have wonderful friends.  I just had friends visit at the end of last week, and it was such a joy.  Good friends are a blessing.  They are a God-given delight, and can truly enrich your life and uplift your soul.  I had a bad week last week, then my friends came.  The Lord knew how my week would be, and that these visits would be a balm to my soul.  

 One friend made me laugh - proper belly laugh - for the first time in days. She gave me good advice and shared in some fun baking.  The other friend helped me in so many practical ways - even just holding my baby whilst she slept, and whilst awake, to free up my hands for other things. I think my friend would say that was win-win!!!

People, appreciate the people God has given YOU in your life. 

As ever, lovely to chat, m'dear!

Menu Planner

I was discussing menu planning with a group of friends on Facebook, and I said I would share my menu planner.

I have only been doing this for 3 weeks - this one will be my fourth.  It has been working really well for me.  It helps me with my online grocery shop - it helps me to be more organised in my daily routine. Now I often will get dinner ready before breakfast, whether we are eating dinner in the middle of the day, or at the end of the day.  It saves me from rushing around trying to get things ready, either whilst I am trying to do school in the morning, or when Elijah is getting grumpy at the end of the day (or we are calmly running about, getting tidy before Daddy gets home!).  The day definitely runs more smoothly if dinner is sorted earlier in the day.

I would really like to start using my slow cooker more, as well, but that's a whole other blog post!....:-)

I have a master list of dinners that I make.  I first of all check my diary for the week, and see if there are any strange or startling dinner plans for the week (read "going out, people visiting, giving the children ravioli from a tin, sorry, special dinner for Robert and I and an alternative dinner for the children....").  Then, based on my general plans, I devise a menu from my master list of meals.  Rule of thumb seems to be that I always have 1 chicken dinner, 1 minced beef dinner, 1 pasta dinner, and fill in the gaps with whatever else I feel like having!  I will add here - THERE IS NO PLAN FOR A SUNDAY.  WHY?   Because we ALWAYS have a roast on a Sunday, so no planning involved (other than remembering to take the joint out first thing on a Saturday so it is defrosted in time....oh yes, and making sure you know what it is first, before taking it out of the freezer, so you don't THINK it's going to be pork, only to find out it's gammon, when you had written roast gammon into the menu for Wednesday already.....oink oink.....*whistles* ).  Also, tea time on Sunday only involves the children, and once a month we have tea at Church. (Actually, I don't usually have the same lunch as the children anyway, as mine involves lovely weight loss items like Ryvita, which doesn't work well with PB&J or chocolate spread on it....) Breakfast time on the Lord's Day is also less formal, and often the children just eat as they appear out of bed.  The rest of the week is more set in stone, but that's a whole other blog post.....(I think I may end up saying that a LOT....?)

Ok, back on to topic.  Where was I?....yes, master list, filling in meals around commitments.  Yes, so there we have it.  I try and make sure I don't always have the beef on the same day, or the chicken, or whatever.  I don't like to be that predictable!....There ARE certain meals that we would happily eat every week, however. Bolgnaise and pasta feature regularly, although we may vary the form of the pasta....spaghetti, fusilli, lasagne.....or in my case, always whole wheat, and whatever is on offer....why?...well, that's a whole other....yes, as I was saying.....

Macaroni cheese is another firm favourite.  We have it with bacon in it. Yum, yum.

This week I threw in a chicken dinner that I loved growing up.....Caribbean Chicken.....I'm afraid it went down like the proverbial lead balloon, much to my dismay.  And my children are NOT picky eaters.  Sad, heartbroken Mummy. Will be scrapping THAT one off the master list.

Onto the menu plan.  Voila.

Menu Planner

I created it from a basic grid design on Word, of course choosing my favourite colour of green as my border! Something Cath Kidston-ish would have been preferable, but unfortunately Microsoft Word doesn't seem to have that as an option.....pah.....You should be able to use it, edit it, and just change the content to your own lovely dishes of delight!  If you can't, let me know!

Ah, yes, you can see I have a section for adding any notes, or items I need to get in my shopping which may be different from the "norm".  

I have it in A5 format, as that fits nicely into my Binder once I trim it up.  I keep them in a zipper file in my Prayer Journal/Home binder, so I can get them in and out easily, but still see through the plastic.  

tada....

So, there you have it.  If I left out any crucial elements in my tired, 1/2 an hour to midnight, over-an-hour-later-than-my-normal-bed-time state, then please tell me!  Nicely.  Please.

I trust this may be of use to someone, somewhere.  And, never say I don't try and do things for those who ask nicely......;-)