New Year Goals

I don't do New Year 'Resolutions'... but I am a big fan of making goals. Last year, I couldn't find my notebook (due to moving) to organise my goals in, and I didn't really make any goals as a result... I found the book last week! It was fun looking over past goals. I'm not going to share my goals on here, but I'm going to list the categories I make my goals under, in case I lose my notebook again! It may seem a lot of categories, but I like to be specific about things! It's good to have a 'vision' for the year...

~ Spiritual

~ Family

~ Educational (for the kids mostly)

~ Financial

~ Personal Learning/Devolopment

~ Serving the Church/Others

~ Health & Fitness

~ Organisational

~ Home Maintenance

~ General

Christmas Day

Some Snapshots of our Christmas...

... more frost than snow...

 

 ... opening stocking presents...

... breakfast by candlelight ...

... Jesus, the Light of the World...

... opening the 'gifts of gold' (the kids openened their Frankincense and Myrrh gifts on Christmas Eve)... Playmobil Police for Spike and many Sylvanian things for Bubs...

Lunch! A very simple roast... simply together...

Bubs and I went a walk to clear our heads, which are a bit full of cold... it was VERY icy and slippery, but it was good to get out...

...Visited with family in the afternoon...

...finished the day as it started... by candlelight...

Weekly round-up

A quiet week before Christmas...

Our tiny sprinkling of snow! Rather insignificant considering the amoutn of snow elsewhere in the country! It's been TOO cold here to snow.

Frozen spider webbs

Frost on trees

Braving town to shop for necessities

Making sure the birds have enough

 

The tree from outside, and inside

Our Nativity scene

Playing some games

In Birmingham... the Bull Ring and shopping centre

The Craft and German Market in Birmingham

Pretending to skate on the ice at the top of the fountain

Watching the world go by from the warmth of the coffee shop.

Weekly round-up

A quiet week... a few images...

Making soap

A walk in the Wyre Forest... the Robin who followed us

A visit to Bodenham Arboretum... to do the Nativity trail... in -4c... it was cooooollllldddd! Love the idea of picking my own Christmas tree!

Snuggling up and reading... visiting some 'old friends' of mine from my youth... the language is just lovely in these books... many words I don't know the meaning of but, o, so descriptive!

A morning at the Wyre Forest... looking at the frozen water... and making Christmas decorations in the craft workshop... the finished products are lovely - so simple, yet so effective... and the kids had fun!

Nearly at the end of our Advent reads.

Weekly round-up

 We started the week by deciding to brave an outing with a Home Ed group we haven't been to before (yeah, I know... very brave of us, huh?!) at a location we haven't been to before...

All ready to skate...

er... where is everyone? Ah ha... the receptionist informs us that the group hasn't been seen here for a while, she's not sure if they're still meeting or not! Maybe I should have got in touch with someone first! O well... we made it here, so best enjoy ourselves anyway (and we were allowed in for the special Home Ed group price too... which was a blessing, considering a certain wee chap put one foot on the ice and declared it too slippery and that he wasn't going on AT ALL!)...

... nope, absolutely NOT going on... not once in the whole hour we were there!...

But Bubs was very brave and skated around the whole rink, holding on, but that's ok, eh?... and I went on wobble, wobble... slip, slide... for a short while! (well, you know... had to watch Spike off rink...) It was a good experience for them anyway... as we've only ever been to an Ikea version of an ice rink before (ie, plastic, not real ice!).

We've had some Library time this week too.

And some science revision... we have been seeing how plants can reproduce without producing seeds... so we took a chunk of potato that had some 'eyes' and potted it up a couple of weeks ago... and now it is growing... from the eyes...

 Fun with nails... ok, they're not real! But Bubs had fun with them.

Someone's Christmas present?! They're still producing these boats quite regularly from the yard opposite us.

In a sleigh... waiting for Papa Noel...

... just Bubs... no way would Spike be seen with this guy! For some reason Bubs has wanted to do the whole 'Santa' thing this year... don't know why... we've never encouraged it! So, I indulged her... and she got a very nice book out of it!

Round the corner (we were at Hartlebury Castle), we spy this... oooooooo, I'D like to have a go on THAT!

So, I roped my lovely daughter in to come with me (sadly, Spike didn't like the idea... so he stayed with Grama)... I felt like I was in a Period Drama!

One happy mummy!

Here's the kids dressed up in their new smart clothes... they didn't really want to be serious!