saturday...aaahhhh

A full Saturday at home, lovely!
Yesterday, M and I met my sister in London to go and see a show called Christmas Baking Time at the Hammersmith Lyric (aimed at 3-6 year olds) - which was great fun, as was our wander along the South Bank to the Christmas market and a chin wag in a cafe while M slept after all the excitement!
I was away last weekend on a conference for 3 days and so had kept this weekend scored out in the diary to make up for it. We made the most of it...got up at 7.30am and set about the bathing and washing and hairdrying routine of 3 people! we were eventually ready by 10am...and headed off to Growing Together nursery that I mentioned a few posts ago. They have a Jack and the Beanstalk walk through Christmas display which was fun and we also bought some yummy cakes and a joint of lamb and some other bits....
By the time we were back on the outskirts of our estate, M was asleep so we headed home for some lunch, watched some TV and had a short snooze! lovely.
Then headed into Maldon to get some specific Christmas pressies, check out the Christmas lights and for M to get her face painted at Maldon deli.

 This is us on Stir Up Sunday making our Christmas cake...

It's been a great weekend so far! Tomorrow, CGC Maldon doesn't have a morning service, so we are going to All Saints for the first time as a family...a bit of a transition...have no idea what it will be like or what M will think of it! Bit different certainly, friendly, hopefully, and no doubt Advent-y as tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. Which reminds me, I must get out our Advent Calendar with pockets for the back of the door, ready for Tuesday morning.

a sunday night catch up!

November is half way through and 4 weeks tomorrow our Baby Bean will turn 3!! Who could believe that, least of all us! Plans are in place for her small scale birthday party here at home with a fancy dress theme...and the usual party games and kids food. We'll also be making some Christmas decorations, watch this space!! The weekend before her actual birthday will be a bit quieter, just the three of us, getting our tree and going out for lunch at her favourite pasta place with her favourite friend...! Bless...three years ago today I was HUGE!!


Last week went in a whirl - I was working a lot of evenings and also working very hard on a presentation movie for our Youth Strategy presentation at Synod yesterday - it took me hours!! But I'm really pleased with it and post it here for your perusal! 



We had Lacey Theatre Company performing at the Town Hall last night which was excellent - their one woman show called The Story so Far. It was great - thought provoking, funny, full of variety and really engaging, all focusing on the great storyteller, Jesus. The amazing thing about Lacey is that they do some much work in schools and they don't charge a fortune...£300 for a day in school with a performance and workshops...bargain I think and totally geared to the Key Stage 3 RE curriculum. Go on, book em!!


Today has been the usual busy Sunday - church this morning (CGC) with the dedication of our friends Tim and Kath's son Caleb. Followed by lunch with the lovely Stone kids and then GIraffe here...on God's protection which was fun and random in equal measure!


So, now I'm catching up on some ebay bids for playclothes to get M through the next month or so...she keeps growing. And watching Strictly...so don't tell me the result!
I have some reflections to post which are only brewing in my mind at the mo about our church move and the next season for us...so watch this space.
Happy Sunday!!

an unexpected weekend of time

This weekend we were supposed to be running a Youth away day at Asheldham Centre, down on the Dengie. However, it was cancelled due to lack of numbers which has given us an unexpected Saturday to do nothing.
However, Saturdays doing nothing are not really possible with a toddler, so we have done some lovely things and had a splendid day! Let me tell you how it panned out - and it's not done yet!




Andy was Street Pastoring in Chelmsford last night and despite a not too busy night, didn't get in til 4.40am - so M and I kept quiet this morning, having a leisurely breakfast and watching Angelina while also ploughing through a few new library books and doing some drawing.


Andy stirred around 10.30am - just as M and I were about to go off out.  I had found a new Garden Centre advertised in a local freebie magazine which had a farm shop and animals and a shabby chic style Christmas shop! It seemed like a nice cheap and lazy option for a beautiful autumn day and when Andy heard what we were doing, he decided to join us! We were delighted to make a great find, just 8miles away from us!
Growing Together doesn't seem to have a website but it is in Smythe's Green near Layer Marney, just west of Colchester. They have a great selection of plants and bulbs, a fabulous farm shop with local meat, fish and groceries as well as scrummy cakes which you can eat on site with a cuppa - always a winner! They also house a variety of animals - ducks, hens, pigs and all in all, it was a fab 2 hours! We love Barleylands, but it is expensive for how long it keeps M's attention and while M isn't even 3 yet, she is perfectly happy with viewing animals and getting her hands dirty here, rather than a purpose built entertainment venue for kids! Long may it last!
On the way back, we popped in to Oasis Christian bookshop in Tiptree, got a couple more Christmas pressies (I did well yesterday and am pretty confident I'll be shopped out by end November!) and then bought some chips from the chippy to bring home for lunch. Yummy - M declared 'this is my best lunch ever' - her father's daughter indeed! She didn't like the mushy peas tho!
I've chilled out with some chores at home this afternoon while M napped - including wrapping some parcels to send to friends with new babies and some gifts to go to the States in time for Christmas. I've also got ahead with the roast dinner for this evening, while Andy has headed out for a small but significant event in Maldon this afternoon.


Stephen Carter is licensed/installed as the new Rector of All Saints Maldon this afternoon and his arrival is the beginning of the transition for us into our new church and season. From tomorrow, Andy will be dividing his time between All Saints and CGC Maldon, getting to know Stephen and preparing for us to move fully as a family in January. In order for Andy to progress on the journey of discernment and selection for ordination, we need to be in an Anglican Church and we need to have a 'recommend' from the priest there! So welcome Stephen and family, and we look forward to getting to know you and pray God's blessing on you as you begin your time in Maldon. It is good to see, from his newsletter linked to above that young people and children are a priority for him...reassuring as parents and with our other hats on!


I'm grateful today for extra time - just to be and to think at what is a time of much change in our lives. M has been great company the last couple of days, her insightfulness into things we forget to or no longer notice is often a real awakening. It's crazy to think that in just over a month she will be 3, we have nearly been in Maldon for 4 years and I am now in the 4th academic year of my job. God has really been doing so much - settling us at the right time, enabling us to deal with many aspects of uncertainty that have been present, drawing amazing people into our lives and at the right time is now moving us into a new 'place' with a new worshipping community, but still in a place that we love and surrounded by people who love us. That is the crux of the church - it is the kingdom of God and it doesn't matter what building you are in, or who leads you or preaches to you or who you affiliate yourself with, it is the seeking of God and of his loving community that will make a difference to those around us.
I leave you with this quote from the brilliant and irrevent Archbishop Cranmer blog:
Being Anglican can be one of the most difficult Christian paths to follow: one often feels that one is neither one thing nor another; as was once observed, that one is somehow 'crucified between the two thieves’ of the Puritans and the Papists; suspended between doctrinal fanaticism and superstitious ritualism. 

Pretty Handmade Recipe Book

I'm compiling some of our favourite (original and stolen) family recipes as gifts this Christmas and will be taking my inspiration from here:

Pretty Handmade Recipe Book

Letter from God

This is a great clip - lots to prompt discussion and a cool track too! also posted on my work blog

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juggling

I'm still deciding whether I have successfully juggled my time over this half term. The guilt of the full time working mother has kicked in this morning as I have risen at 5am in order to work so that I can have time with M and Andy and then with my mother who arrives later today.
I didn't want to take any time off this week during half term when both the Bean and Andy are at home, as I'd like to have a couple of days leave later in November for Christmas and M's 3rd birthday preparations on 14th December. I also want to take a full 2 weeks off over Christmas and New Year as we do so much travelling. 
So, these last few days I've tried to juggle work at times when I would normally be sleeping or watching telly so I can have time with Andy and M and the fun things they have been doing.
So, 5am start this morning...6 am yesterday, managing 5/6 hours work before midday. Last night I babysat for some friends in our babysitting circle and I worked for 3 of the 4 hours I was there.
I'm tired...and I was ill on Tuesday too with a sicky bug or something, so time is even more stretched. But through it all, I'm looking forward to all aspects of my life, generally! The Labyrinth we are doing in St Albans Diocese on Friday is exciting and creative and stretching in terms of theology as well as good youth work. The time we've had with M this week and with each other, particularly because we have all been ill and run down at various times has also been precious - quiet, relaxed, homey.
I can't imagine having to work full time and not love my job - but equally I wish sometimes that I could have more days without feeling that something else is tugging at my sense of responsibility - M and Andy and home life when I'm working, work and deadlines and ideas for development when I'm at home being mummy....


Jenny Baker over at Sophia blogged on some stuff around this issue yesterday and I know she has commented on my previous post about us getting a cleaner and how I felt about that with all it's mixed emotions. I think these times are helpful reflections for me and perhaps you, my friends, will help me be real about my drivers to do what I do and why I work like I do - hard!


Here is some text from Jenny's post:

"There's no doubt that the demands of work on both men and women have a big impact on family life and social relationships, particularly the culture of working long hours that seems as endemic in the church and in Christian organisations as in business. That doesn't just apply to couples; people who are single can have as much expectation or pressure to work long hours.  Helen Jarvis from Newcastle University has identified eight 'drivers' for working long hours:

• tight deadlines due to working in competitive or under-resourced fields
• demand-led services - a few workers have to put in long hours to meet a seasonal demand
• portfolio worker survival - people on insecure or short-term contracts put in long hours to show their commitment or to update their skills
• enthusiasm for the work and a 'can-do' culture
• presenteeism where people feel they have to be seen at their desk or in the workplace to show their commitment
• moral obligation due to loyalty to colleagues or to the cause you're working for
• financial incentives - working overtime or more hours when self-employed means you have more to spend
• 'macho' goal-oriented motives - the lunch is for wimps mentality

I'm self-employed and I know how easy it is for work to expand to fill every available moment. So join me in a moment of reflection - do the hours you put in at work have a detrimental effect on your relationships with friends and family? Which of these drivers is behind the long hours that you work and do you need to resist them? Are you making enough space for rest and restoration?"


I'm really looking forward to going on Youthwork the Conference this year and also taking in the Retreat for the 24 hours before - although it will mean me being away from home for 3 nights which I have only done once before, I am sure it will be a great opportunity and an enforced one too!