'Night night mummy'

One of my favourite things that Livia is doing at the moment is, when I put her to bed (or even just say 'it's time for bed'), she says 'night night mummy'. Except it doesn't sound like that to anyone but Jon and I - more like 'nah nigh nuh-nee'. She always has the biggest smile when she says it, like she knows that she's being clever and that we love hearing her say it. It makes my heart so fuzzy and always puts a smile on my face. It's something she learnt on holiday so there's the reminder of that too. It's such a precious little moment that I had to write it down.

Has feminism made us selfish?

A quick thought I had this morning was over J's packed lunch for work. I have never made his sandwiches for him. It's always been something where I've thought, 'he's a grown man, he can make his own lunch.' Quite mean-spirited of me really! 

But this morning it dawned on me that J happily looks after my car for me (checking oil, topping up the water etc), he deals with all our bills, manages our finances daily, deals with utilities companies etc etc. He also helps out lots with the children. He definitely isn't the fifties-styles dad, coming home and putting his feet up whilst I wait on him. 

So what's gone wrong? Obviously there are jobs I do which J doesn't; I take on responsibility for the children's medical appointments, preschool/school matters and general organisation of the house and I'll do the majority of the laundry and cleaning. But what about the sandwiches? When it comes to a job that's done solely for my husband, why do I struggle?

I believe that feminist attitudes which make us think that women shouldn't be waiting on men, can influence how we act in marriage. I wanted to resist falling into the stereotypical 'woman at home' image but this can make me selfish and mean-spirited. What happened to the Biblical model of out-doing each other in showing love?

So next week I am going to surprise my husband by making his sandwiches. Not out of subservience but out of love and appreciation for all he does for me.

'And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.' Colossians 3:14

School preparations

I love school. I think I've always loved school (dork!). I really enjoy learning and the sense of community and exploring potential. I teach in a secondary school and every day I drive to school I feel very blessed to do my job (it's true, honest!). 

One of my favourite parts of teaching is the relationship between pupils and teacher. I went on a school trip yesterday to Cirencester and the Roman villa near there. It was such a beautiful day and a very pretty place to visit, set in a valley in the Cotswolds. It was fun to get to know the girls I teach a bit better and to spend a day with them; playing word games on the coach, judging a gymnastics competition in a lunch break and watching them enjoy experiencing a real Roman villa.

I've been thinking lots about school recently because we are in full-blown preparation for Chloe starting in September. We had a meeting last night where we told the class she is in (with her closest friend from preschool hurrah!) and all the things we need to buy/get ready. We also met her teachers (a job share) and they are so lovely! I'm very pleased she will have such kind, approachable ladies looking after her.

I am very pleased with the school we have chosen for Chloe. Things are a bit up in the air at the moment with our house move (survey showed some issues that need resolving and things are generally quite slow), so it's nice to have school sorted. Knowing how faithful God has been in this, helps me to trust that he will provide a home for us too. 

I love that my little girl is about to start the adventure of school and discovering more about the world and who she is. I'm excited to see her develop her potential. I just know she'll cope well because of lessons we've taught her at home, in terms of behaviour and attitude. I know her confidence in new situations will really help. I'm also feeling challenged about my potential. Is there anything new God is calling me to? It's so easy to be stuck in everyday behaviour and not attempt new things. I'm going to give it some thought and get back to you!

Thank you Lord that you love to teach us new things. Thank you that you want us to grow and change, not just stay static. Help me to accept instruction, say 'yes' to new challenges and be eager to make new friends; just as I am encouraging Chloe to. Please be with all the other families I know who have children preparing for school too. Please protect us all in this season of transition.

Catching up

Hello hello! I feel like doing a bit of a catching up post because I haven't really written anything post-holiday (although I posted the holiday blogs after I got back so maybe it doesn't seem like I've been away for a bit?!). There's lots of exciting, super fun things going on at the moment which I wanted to share with you too!

Work is slowly beginning to wind down for the summer hols. I love this half term because it's full of things like sports day, house competitions, post-exam celebrations, saying goodbye to the 6th form and generally just a lighter work load and sense of excitement. 

Chloe also has loads of saying goodbye to preschool events (a graduation?!) and introduction to school meetings too. I have joined a Facebook group with other mums with children in the same year group at the school and we organising meet-ups which will be fun. I'm a little nervous about meeting a whole new crowd (I feel like I'm the one starting school!) but it will be really nice for Chloe to get to know people really well.

Lots of babies are being born to people who are very special to me. Some close friends had a beautiful little girl this week and I got to have a cuddle today which was lovely. Chloe also had a turn and was so grown-up about it; love her. I've also got a new nephew who I haven't met yet but am also very excited to spend some time with. And we have more friends having their third baby at the end of the month. Love babies!!

Last but not least, my parents are back for a visit in 5 WEEKS time! And J's brother and his family are over from the states in July too. Busy busy busy.

I love having things to look forward to, let alone wonderful summer weather and being outside more with the girls. I think the next few months are going to be very special.

Ps - I also wanted to say that I am trying to not to retreat onto here too much, as I am working hard on writing at the moment and I often come on here to delay getting down to it. I feel so inspired to push myself to complete something that I don't want to lose that motivation! However I will keep updating here, it just might not be as frequent. 

Have a great weekend :)

Remember The Beach

A poem. I hope you'll indulge me.

Remember The Beach

Skins of sandy freckles and a coconut sheen;

The cold, energetic tide bounding back as we jump forward;

Yellow-blue above marrying grey-blue below as far as we can see;

Hills in the background; an impressive view mostly ignored.

We enjoy the feel of sand through our fingers and the sun on our backs;

We make wonky castles that are too dry and fall down;

The moat drinks buckets of water carefully collected again and again;

We give up and search for interesting stones instead:

Smooth green glass, worn white pebbles and pearly pink shells.

We gobble down ice creams, tongues curling round cones;

Licking drips, licking fingers clean; sickly sweet strawberry.

The light comes in lower now, painting our flushed faces;

A feeling of thankfulness, intransigence and simple pleasures,

Makes our hearts happy and unites us in our remembering.

France Holiday, Part 4: Beach days and the long journey home

Ok so this is a little late in coming, sorry! We arrived home on Sunday. Let me update you on the last bits of the holiday.

After travelling to Barcelona, we were keen to have some less busy days before we journeyed home. Thankfully the weather was beautiful on the Thursday and Friday (except when I offered to swim with Chloe for her early morning swimming lesson!), so we spent lots of time at the beach. The campsite had access to the beach (down a long, sandy path which was a bit of an effort with the buggy!). It was also really empty which meant that we could easily keep 'the poxy child' away from people.

The beach was perfect for all of us, as there was something go everyone. Livia became obsessed with the sand; she loved scooping it into the bucket with her hand and then tipping it all out. She also enjoyed when we buried Chloe! Chloe really loved the sea and playing in the waves. J's challenge was also burying Chloe and making sand castles even though it wasn't the best kind of sand for that. I liked sitting back in the sun and seeing everyone so happy!

The one excursion we made was to a place called Chateau Valmy; a large house (not open to the public) which had beautiful gardens you could wander about in. It was set into the hills overlooking Argeles and the sea so the view was gorgeous. We had a picnic and enjoyed exploring the slightly treacherous paths up the hill.

The journey home was not too awful. The first day went very smoothly - not a cry from either child and no traffic at all. We stayed in the same stop-over campsite but the weather was much better than before! We were so sweaty from being in the car that we all went for a dip in the pool (even Livia who was all scabbed over at this point, lovely).

The second day was longer and by the time we got to the ferry we were very fed up with travelling. We had a nice dinner on the sparkling new ferry but then got stuck for over an hour in a queue on the M25 once back in England. Sigh.

The post-holiday have started hitting me the last few days. It was such a nice experience, being just the four of us and having only the responsibility I deciding what to do each day. Our lives at home are so complicated, often with fun things or things we're passionate about, but it can feel like too much sometimes. Getting away was something we really needed and I'm so glad we went.

Thank you Lord for watching over us on holiday and blessing us with a really lovely time. Help us to remember this feeling of being united as a team as we go back to our normal day-to-day lives.

France Holiday, Part 3: Exploring and Sickness!

It's now Wednesday and much later than I planned on writing again. So much has been happening that I haven't had the energy to write any of it down.

We'll start with the good bits. In the last 4 days we have been doing lots of exploring the local area. We visited our local town Argeles first. To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment, feeling like a party town with lots of bars and touristy shops and not much else. The beach was lovely though and Chloe had a go on a fairground ride.

We then visited Collioure which was lovely. It's full of character and has a walled chateau from the 17th century. We paid to go inside and it was well worth it. Chloe loved exploring the tunnels which were only lit by lanterns. 

We also visited Perpignan, which seems good for shopping and has a nice area to eat next to a river. We were a bit worn out that day so I don't think we saw all there is to see in Perpignan and headed home quite quickly.

The biggest excursion we made was to Barcelona. It's only a 2 hour drive from where we are staying so we felt it was worth the trip if we could make it work. It was a beautiful city - so many interesting things to see down every street; I loved all the gorgeous balconies and shutters, especially in the gothic quarter. The Gaudi cathedral is also pretty amazing. However it was difficult to do it all in one day and with two worn out children. The journey back was not fun, especially as it was raining so hard I thought we might have to pull over!

The main downside to all of this is that Livia has gone down with chicken pox. Probably the worst thing she could get when you are staying on a crowded campsite! It means we can't take her to the pool or to the kids clubs. We have been on the day trips but kept her away from people and not taken her in cafés or restaurants or on public transport. It's very frustrating and I did get quite upset about when the spots first appeared; mainly for Livia, who loved both the pool and kids clubs the first few days. But we are all trying to keep the holiday as fun as possible. Thankfully Livia seems quite happy in herself, just very spotty!

I won't go on, but also add to that Chloe going down with her usual post-swimming ear infection with runny nose, sickness and temperature. And J also getting a cold and temperature. Tuesday night was a bad night with all four of us awake most of the time! But Chloe and J are on the mend now so our last few days should be good ones. The weather is looking nice too :)

France holiday, part two: Settling in

It's now Sunday, our second day in Argeles. Our time so far has been spent on site and getting supplies from the local supermarche. There's so much to enjoy that it's nice to have a few days away from the car!

The campsite is great for the children. The pool complex is what sold the site to us and has definitely been worth it. It is heated so can be used even when the weather isn't hot. It has a large deep pool for adults, a toddler pool, a children's pool and a series of slides/flumes. 

We also chose this park for the kids' clubs. Chloe and Livia can both go to the Mini Fun Station which has organised activities based on a theme. For examples yesterday was pirates and they designed a map and went on a treasure hunt. The kids' workers are so enthusiastic and friendly. As the children are young, we don't leave them unattended, so we are still having time as a family but they are entertained too. They also have swimming and cycling lessons free of charge. Chloe swam for the first time without arm bands this morning! I sound a little like a Eurocamp rep ha! But this is a definite plus of holidaying this way.

The not-so-great things have been really chilly evenings. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny, today is quite cloudy. At night the tent gets very cold so we have been bundling the girls up in lots of layers and blankets. 

The campsite is also showing some signs of wear, except for the pool complex which is new. It's mainly the toilet blocks which could do with some updating - they're clean but don't have soap dispensers or dryers (which others normally do!). But the water is hot and they have hair dryers plug in points so I'm mostly happy!

We're finding it a little challenging keeping a track of Livia near the tent. Chloe will wander round our plot and play her own imaginary games quite happily. But Livia's mission seems to be to escape us by walking off down the road. 

So far we are having a lovely time as a family. I wouldn't describe it as relaxing but then I'm not sure that is a possibility with two young children! I'm looking forward to them both being confident swimmers and being able to allow them more freedom in the pool whilst we sit and watch.

I will post again in a few days time :)