Catch up #2

What can a girl do when she is awake in the middle of the night...? Pray? Yes I will, but also reminisce about earlier months of this year. Just because I have some cool pics to post...
So lets see now.February - Mr Wibbs moved down to Devon during possibly the snowiest week of the decade. To start his new job here......at Pennywell farm; hoping it wouldn't be too long before his family joined him down there in the West Country.
(It would seem God had other plans, for whatever reason.)We did make it down there for a couple of extended week ends, but mostly, Mark has been bravely trundling up and down the motorway on Saturday evenings, to rejoin his little familyDo daddy thingsAnd take me to Prague for a couple of daysIt's a pretty gorgeous city, even in the pouring rain...!...oh yeah, Sam managed to sneak into one of our bags...so we took him along for the ride ;)...and he also enjoyed the 5* hotel we booked into, courtesy of the groom, whose wedding we were there for, and whose best man was, of course, Mr Wibbs himself(...doesn't he look dashing and oh-so-British in his top hat and morning suit...??!!!)(the bride and groom)
And so we have been looking forward to the day when we can all be reunited as a family to enjoy Devon sunsets...

Back massage and sunbathing

It's a sunny day and I am child-free until 5 pm...
I had a much-needed back massage this morning and now, guess what...??I am sunbathing.
Yeah.
You heard: SUNBATHING!!!
I haven't sunbathed properly in years probably...Loving it...
Thank you Lord.

The Stuff of Summer: pudding...

...Wild organic blackberry and apple crumble...
Yummy...!!

...because I'm worth it...

We are sending our eldest son Samuel to a Scripture Union holiday this summer for the first time. In fact - he should be there by now; Mr Wibbs was dropping him off as I think I would've found it a little traumatic, to say the least...

The way this opportunity became available has God's fingerprints all over it.

At the beginning of the summer holidays, or rather two days into them, I was already crying out for a break from Sam. He was going round in circles, constantly bored and at a loose end; and driving me and his little brothers nuts in the process.

One evening I went for a walk alone, as is my wont, and I cried out to God. I then sent a few texts round asking for prayers. Mum soon phoned me in response (both our sets of parents are such a godly, wise support for us...even though we are sometimes not so gracious in receiving their advice and counsel...); as we chatted it became clear that I was going to have to think of a way to send Sam away in the summer holidays, at least some of the time, ie a week or so, so that he could be with kids his own age, experience something different to home/school life ... and also so that I wouldn't go completely insane trying to keep him occupied for six whole weeks.

(and yes, that sentence was too long.)

Dad immediately started looking online for SU holidays, just to see what was 'out there'. Just out of interest. Just in case maybe, just maybe, there might to be something Sam might be able to go to THIS SUMMER... A link to this holiday arrived in my inbox less than 15 minutes after I'd finished talking to Mum on the phone, and less than 24 hours later, the booking forms were in the post with a cheque...!! The holiday seemed a perfect fit for Sam: a week-long adventure bible 'camp' for 8-11 year olds, AWAY from home, a really decent price (£158 all-inclusive) and only about 45 minutes drive from where we live! And the best thing about it?? ...there was ONE SPACE LEFT FOR A 8/9 YEAR-OLD BOY.

Perfect!!!
Too perfect to be a coincidence, really.
Which is how I know it was God-ordained; He planned it all.

Because Sam needs this, and it is going to benefit him in every conceivable way, and especially in his walk with the Lord.
I know he will be in good hands and looked after by people who will love him, accept him, and pray for him.

So I can relax and have some 'respite' from this challenging little boy of mine, safe in the knowledge that he will be FINE.
Because I need and deserve a break.
Because I'm worth it.

Balloons in the sun and broken toes

Lovely days can sometimes end in tears. Accompanied by much loud swearing.
I went on a date with my man last night... We both made ourselves look nice and I wore pretty flip flops (or 'plip plops' as Ben likes to call them).We ate at the local curry house, a new little restaurant which actually serves a pretty decent Balti - he and I respectively had a beer and a large glass of red wine (can't abide beer myself) and I was giggly, which is a lovely feeling sometimes...
Walking home I insisted on taking the short-cut which included a tiny unlit 'woody' stretch of path.
And being a little unstable on my legs after ONE GLASS OF WINE, I tripped over a protruding tree root and caught my little toe on it quite badly....
I think I may have broken it?This morning I am in a lot of pain but I am assured there is nothing to be done but to strap it up and endure, hoping it gets better soon. A good excuse to put my feet up for the week end anyway...!!(...admittedly it has become a pretty shade of purple which is very much a 'summer' colour...!! And I am a 'summer'. Yes: silver lining and all that)

The few preceding hours saw us celebrating the end of Ben's time as a preschooler at a cute little party which was laid on by his wonderful nursery teachers.Ben had a ball, once he got in the swing of it......and was let loose on all the party food!They even had a cake and a little present for each child, it was utterly delightful...Ben cycled home with a balloon attached to his bike, looking a few inches taller and a bit more grown-upMy baby is now ready to launch himself with open arms and funky dance moves, into the big wide world of school education... I am so grateful......and so is he, I suspect!!

The Stuff of Summer

Sun-ripening wild blackberries and little red coxes growing randomly on an apple tree just outside our house...generously waiting to be picked and then made into a delicious apple&blackberry crumble sometime in the next few days.Children sneaking out for an early-morning bounce in their PJs before dancing barefoot back into the house for breakfastRefreshing bite-sized chunks of juicy watermelon ready to be feasted onPlaying on the new waterslide purchased yesterday, on the advice of a dear friend who, herself being in possession of identical slide, guarantees hours of hilarity and muddiness if used apropriately(...yes, that does indeed mean cute little naked bottoms are preferable to nylon-clad ones...)Decorating gingerbread men (again)...because they're there......and because we can...While daddy continues to look for our dream-home...and mummy makes puke-coloured playdough...that munchkins subsequently play with for hours when the weather has turned to rain - againSuch is the Stuff of Summer in our parts. Pretty much.