~*~Life as Me~*~

Lots of changes coming....are YOU going to part of it?

I can barely type because i'm so excited about all the things that are about to come alive on this blog!! Ok, breathe....1...2...3...Ok i'm calm! :) Seriously its just going to be so exciting that I urge you to sign up for email alerts through my newsletter or subscribtion.

Ok, lets to a quick run of what's coming up:

• Tomorrow I shall be featuring the lovely Debbie Chialtas from San Diego. You will definitely want to check back because she has some deliciously fun, funky and fantasic dirty talk come clean about! ;)
• Friday is the FIRST giveaway on this blog and are you going to LOVE it or what?!!
• Each month I shall be listing on the top right a list of blogs or sights that I am personally recommending for that month. They will cover any subject that has grabbed my attention that I know is worth sharing.
• I shall also be doing more 'shout outs' for a particular site or blog that has a specific item or service that I am confidence others will make use of.
• I am currently working on ways to motivate our kids into fun but educational activities, each idea is a tried and tested method on my own kids and come with no guarantee other than that of my own opinion based on the differences of all four of my kids!!
• Questions and Answers. On a monthly basis I shall be doing a question and answer article from some well known bloggers/media faces. Before the interview there will be the opportunity to add your questions to my list.
• Weekly spiritual thought to theme your week. Whether you are a single person or have 22 kids it will be something to uplift, motivate and encourage you in your every day life.
• More ideas are still coming in....but if you wanna add one to my life please feel free and leave them in a comment or email me.

On the far right of this blog you will see a growing list of lil icons to click on, if you want to be added there please send me the appropriate sized link with <a href, <div align or <iframe in the starter of the code. The only thing I ask is that each link from this blog HAS to adhere to a Christianlike outlet that will not compromise me or my readers integrity. I also dont mind businesses but email me first. I am super supportive of crafts, mums, families, lds, religious, women and childrens safe/fun blogs and sites so if you have one and want a bit more exposure, just drop me an email. Please be prepared to link back to me though, fair is fair right? :)

My blog is still MY blog. It will still hold any antics of my life and that of my family. The new ideas are purely to incorporate more of my interests here to enable me to share them with anyone who is interested.

So on that note I am going to now share some photos of Princess Kirsten the other night at silly o'clock outside in the snow...which was actually quite lucky cos by the time we were up the next morning it was all gone!!

This was just 30 minutes after it started!

Not the best photo but i'm kinda struggling with this new camera I have!! I really ought to get a personal tutor to teach me!! :)

Charley loves, loves, loves baking and helping in the kitchen, no matter what i'm doing he wants to help. He still sings the Wonderpets song when he helps clean up toys or tidy his room so I'm continuously singing 'Lets get to work......teamwork' at the top of my voice so wherever he is in the house he knows i'm still 'with him'!!! So, here's Chef Charley:

This is his proud stance...after proudly showing me that he CAN wear wellies with shorts and 'MUM I dont WANT to wear my glasses!' 'Ok' I say 'but YOU will when you cant see what your putting in the mixing bowl!!' He sighs and walks off to get them!! ;) Then he cleverly puts together all the things we will need to make his beloved cupcakes...with NO intervention or clue from us!!

My boys sees the project through to the end, even the final tasting to ensure the finished goodies are up to standard!! :)

Charley wasn't impressed with the snow. We asked if he wanted to go out and play for a while, he got all excited, got his wellies, hat, gloves etc went out side and within minutes he was back in. I asked why he didn't want to play in the snow and he said:

'Cos Jesus hasn't finished sending it yet and I dont want it on my hat'

I guess that's made that clear then!! :)

~*~Debs~*~

Returned! :)

I cant believe its been 2 weeks since I last blogged! The sad thing is I cant honestly say i've missed it either which is a  BIG thing for me to say! I'm not getting bored with it I have just spent a LOT of time OUT of the house doing some stuff to move my life forward, more opportunities creating memories with my kids and much one on one time with them and my family. It's been totally awesome and given that its winter and i'm normally a hibernater I admit its just great to make that change and get the kids out there in that winter air doing stuff, even the kids love it.

So, what we been up to? Well we have done a lot of walking, we've been doing some bird spotting for Prince Charley was SO wanting to do it. I dont think he really knew what it was about but he wanted to try it! Off we trotted to the library to get a book on the common birds so we could identify them, of course Charley was quick to match them up and tried hard to pronounce their names!! It was a great couple of hours, especially when we found a tree to hide in and eat our sandwiches!! LOL The photos didn't quite turn out though, i'm not sure if it was the weather or the camera cos they looked like they were taken in a smokey room!!

We spent a few hours at the soft play area in Tewkesbury, Charley loved it and made a few 'friends' whilst there, including a mature gentleman who heard all about the tree-house, his Fireman Sam Action Station he's having and his visit to the fire station!! The gentleman was just wonderful with him though and loved his company! Dinner was particularly good in that place too, usually when we've been there they manage to get the order wrong or its cold but we were pleasantly surprised! A few pics:

Enter....

Follow....

Prepare....

Ooops....lunch first!! :)

Then its play time, at last!

Doh! Just as Kirsten clicked the camera, he hid behind this!!! Sometimes this boy just does not like the camera on him, just like when we went to the fire station...

But, it was all worth it for the hour that Claud spent showing him the inside of the fire engine and all the tools, masks, machines, monitors and buttons. Charley was totally loving it till the second he saw the camera. Doh

For an hour before we went with Claud, we stood and watched the other firemen do a drill, they were working on the hoses, putting out car fires, working on strategies, speed etc. Two of the guys thought it was oh so funny to spray us from up their tower, we hopped and jumped around, laughing and giggling like kids (oh, we ARE kids!!!) Charley got so much attention he loved it, he asked so many questions that I stood gobsmacked wondering where he knew all this stuff from! I know I encourage books and educational programmes but this stuff was way advanced than his 4 years! When we got back we started planning a little book of his own where we could add some pictures and he could tell me what he remembers and i'd write it down for him. We got as far as choosing the papers and the colours before he decided on this was the next activity on the menu:

Good ole Postman Pat packet cake mix!! Kept Kirsten and Charley giggling and team working for a while, even Jay got in on the act but took off as soon as his brother phoned!!!

Although this was an indoor activity for them they chose it and they love doing simple things like this. I, on the other hand have had a bug for being outdoors, no matter how cold it is, so again I dragged Charely out to get him all excited outdoors, this was my next attempt:

See the foggyness going on? It wasn't even raining or foggy! I guess I just need to learn more about my camera or sumat but this, to me, is a pretty crap picture for the supposed quality of the camera I have! Ok rant over!! Lol

Kirsten has got into cardmaking since our time at the Relief Society Enrichment Morning a couple of weeks ago. She has made a big dent in her list of how many she needs and who for, she's spent hours cutting, glueing, trimming, stamping and designing some lovely cards, she is well into it look...she didn't even know I was behind her!!

As for my 19 yr old he spends a lot of time on the phone chasing up apprenticeships, college courses and possible opportunities in the army and police force. On this occasion he is on a looooong call to my 18 yr old.......nothing like brotherly love and a cuppa eh? :)

Last but not least we have a new addition to our family. A little late but Tilley is my belated 40th birthday gift from my kids....wanna meet her? You sure? She's oh so sweet! Here ya are:

She's all black, very timid and showing Jakeyroo just who is boss!! She sits in the strangest places though....right now (and i'm taking this photo just to put in here right now) she is on top of....

the dvd stand! She's eaten her food, knocked the dish off half way through then moaned cos she didn't want to get down and get it! So I gets up, scrapes it back in the bowl and hands it to her. Oh I could just see that look in her eyes saying 'yeah, I got you right where I want ya'!! It wasn't enough for that though, she also decided that my keypad is rather exciting, she likes to walk up and down the keyboard, stop now and again to look at me, purrs then trots again. I'd love to know what she is thinking when she does this strange stuff!

Well, I haven't covered swimming, bowling, the bike ride, the walk by the river or the tree climbing....but I guess I should be more concerned with doing my scrapbooks than blogging but I just love the whole sharing thing anyway, when I can.

If anyone remembers the 90 things out before 2009...I have accomplished about 16 things so far. Individually its more but what i've done is make up full outfits of Kirsten's old clothes, put them into bundles and bagged them for their new homes. Photos will come in the next few days when I got that far down on my to do list!! Today Kirsten and I are working on some maths, not my best subject but it has to be done.

I believe our long awaited house move will take place very, very soon, its a 3 way deal and each of the houses are what the new tenants want, I know I am ultra excited to be getting a bigger house and being closer to my family up in the Midlands! For the first time since my previous marriage broke down I feel like I am finally gaining some control on my life to make such choices. I am handing over the teaching assignments I get offered in local schools and community groups to a local lady and restarting in due course when we have got settled in our new home. I must admit though that i'm looking forward to working outside the home part time, the whole home business thing is challenging in ways that compromises a lot of what I want for my family so scrapbooking and projects will become a hobby again. From time to time I will do some classes/projects on my website but for the time being i'm taking the heat off myself and refocusing on what's real, my family. I am SO looking forward to Gloucester being a part of my past, it has not been a good experience for us in many ways. On the other hand we have all learnt a lot, we have grown from our challenges and been strengthened in our faith, ourselves and in our ability to work through trials. Life isn't meant to be easy, but we are just so grateful we have each other to lean on, not the mention the love and guidance of our Father in Heaven.

On that note, i'm off to see if I can remember even the slightest thing about Algebra!! Nice? NO WAY!!! :)

~*~Debs~*~