The Mrs - 36.5wks

The Mrs at 25wks with our first summer baby

We really need to come up with a nickname for this little one - anyone have any suggestions??

The pregnancy is going well. Baby's heartrate is 145 and is nice and active.

My Friend, an inspiration!

As many of you know, I was focussing on my weightloss last year - and did not too badly with it. After taking a little hiatus this year ;) I plan to carry on until I reach my goal.

But, I wanted to share with you a friend of mine who has really inspired me. She is the one who encouraged me to get started and to carry on, no matter what.

She began her weight loss early last spring... and she has now *reached her weight loss goal*!! Well, she actually reached her goal a couple months ago and is now very successfully maintaining her goal weight.

Sometimes when when one is significantly obese, the end goal looks SO far away. One can look at the scale and see the numbers and think - Oh Lord! I have 70 (80, 90, 100, 150!) pounds to lose!! How can I ever DO it??!! It's impossible!

And it's true. Fighting the battle against obesity is impossible - in our own strength. But if we look to the Lord and ask him for help - help to break the addictions to food, help to overcome gluttony, help to be consistant and faithful to exercise - if we ask for help with these things, it IS possible, with the grace of our Lord.

There is often so much emotional baggage wrapped up in obesity. One does not become obese overnight - but over years. And what were the triggers for that to happen? It is never just one thing, but a multitude of reasons all bound up together. And with prayer and fasting (literal fasting!), the Lord can untangle the web of emotions, bringing healing and wholeness.

My friend went through this journey last year - and she has done and is doing SO well. I am very excited to see how the Lord has worked in her life this last year and how he has completely transformed her.

Here is my friend "J" before:






Here is my friend "J" now:








My friend lost over 80lbs last year!

Doesn't she look amazing!? The change in her - both inside and out - is incredible. I am so proud of her for sticking with it and working through it.

She is my inpsiration.

May the Lord bless you "J" for your faithfulness to him this year.

Christmas 2009

Work Christmas party

All dolled up for Big Mr's work Christmas party...

Playing around with my new photo software

My new computer came with Adobe Photoshop elements... I have been playing around with it a bit (you can really lose track of time that way!!!)

Here is a pic of Mr Man sailing his boat this summer:

Walking through the 100 Acre Wood

The 100 Acre Wood

A couple weeks ago we went to Winnie-the-Pooh's 100 Acre Wood in the Ashdown Forest in Kent.

My weight loss journey

As many of you know I am striving to lose some weight. I am doing the atkins diet as well as exercise. My exercise programme fave is hands-down T-TAPP. Absolutely amazing programme - and it works!! I have not yet reached my final goal.... but I have lost 27lbs so far and I am very excited about that! At the end of the day though, all glory to God because without his help, I would not have come this far.


Before:






After:

Aunty A came for a visit

We just spent a busy but lovely week with my sister "Aunty A".

Here is a pic of her and I on the last day, just before taking her to the airport.

Amazing find at the charity shop

We were out and about last week and I came across an amazing find .. and I just could not resist!

Twycross Zoo pt 2

I really enjoyed the elephants!

Whose are whose??

Anyone want to make a guess as to whose eye belongs to whom??

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.

The Outtakes

For anyone wondering why the photoshoot is not that fab - this is what I have to work with! LOL LOL

{Junior - Look at the camera.. Look at mummy.. Over here over here.. Open your eyes this time.. No, don't walk away, sit still..} hehehe

Now who does Junior look like?!?

I think there is a strong resemblance - what do you think??? And who is the other picture of?

Planning the Plot

I found a REALLY cool website which allows you to plan out your vegetable plot and design your vegetable garden. It lets you make as many garden plans as you like, and you can base your current year's plan on a previous years plan as well. If you do that, then it will tell you where *not* to plant your vegetables based on crop rotation. Very convenient! It is SO easy to use and user friendly. And it is FREE to use for 30 days... after that, if you decide you like it, you can continue using it for only £15/year. Very reasonably priced too!

Check it out for yourself!

GrowVeg

Here is our tentative plan for this years garden. I should say that this is not written in stone at all and very much subject to change and it is very optimistic. Considering how much work is needed to clear the lot, we likely won't be able to plant the entire garden this year. Take a look and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know :D (click on it to make the picture bigger)

New reading material

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I am currently reading Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management__

While this book was written in 1861, when Mrs Beeton herself was only (shockingly!) 21 years of age, it does offer many pearls of wisdom for the modern reader.

Such as:

FRUGALITY AND ECONOMY ARE HOME VIRTUES, without which no household can prosper. Dr. Johnson says: “Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance, and the parent of Liberty. He that is extravagant will quickly become poor, and poverty will enforce dependence and invite corruption.” The necessity of practising economy should be evident to every one, whether in the possession of an income no more than sufficient for a family’s requirements, or of a large fortune, which puts financial adversity out of the question. We must always remember that it is a great merit in housekeeping to manage a little well. “He is a good waggoner,” says Bishop Hall, “that can turn in a little room. To live well in abundance is the praise of the estate, not of the person. I will study more how to give a good account of my little, than how to make it more.” In this there is true wisdom, and it may be added, that those who can manage a little well, are most likely to succeed in their management of larger matters. Economy and frugality must never, however, be allowed to degenerate into parsimony and meanness.

THE CHOICE OF ACQUAINTANCES is very important to the happiness of a mistress and her family. A gossiping acquaintance, who indulges in the scandal and ridicule of her neighbours, should be avoided as a pestilence.

IN CONVERSATION, TRIFLING OCCURRENCES, such as small disappointments, petty annoyances, and other every-day incidents, should never be mentioned to your friends. The extreme injudiciousness of repeating these will be at once apparent, when we reflect on the unsatisfactory discussions which they too frequently occasion, and on the load of advice which they are the cause of being tendered, and which is, too often, of a kind neither to be useful nor agreeable. Greater events, whether of joy or sorrow, should be communicated to friends; and, on such occasions, their sympathy gratifies and comforts. If the mistress be a wife, never let an account of her husband’s failings pass her lips...

IN PURCHASING ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL, whether it be a silk dress, a bonnet, shawl, or riband, it is well for the buyer to consider three things: I. That it be not too expensive for her purse. II. That its colour harmonize with her complexion, and its size and pattern with her figure. III. That its tint allow of its being worn with the other garments she possesses. The quaint Fuller observes, that the good wife is none of our dainty dames, who love to appear in a variety of suits every day new, as if a gown, like a stratagem in war, were to be used but once. But our good wife sets up a sail according to the keel of her husband’s estate; and, if of high parentage, she doth not so remember what she was by birth, that she forgets what she is by match.

CHARITY AND BENEVOLENCE ARE DUTIES which a mistress owes to herself as well as to her fellow-creatures; and there is scarcely any income so small, but something may be spared from it, even if it be but “the widow’s mite.” It is to be always remembered, however, that it is the spirit of charity which imparts to the gift a value far beyond its actual amount, and is by far its better part.

A HOUSEKEEPING ACCOUNT-BOOK should invariably be kept, and kept punctually and precisely. The plan for keeping household accounts, which we should recommend, would be to make an entry, that is, write down into a daily diary every amount paid on that particular day, be it ever so small; then, at the end of the month, let these various payments be ranged under their specific heads of Butcher, Baker, &c.; and thus will be seen the proportions paid to each tradesman, and any one month’s expenses may be contrasted with another. The housekeeping accounts should be balanced not less than once a month; so that you may see that the money you have in hand tallies with your account of it in your diary.

Some information is timeless, it seems.

Baking Bread

Recently I tried my hand at baking bread. It didn't turn out too badly.





The loaf in the middle which looks a bit lumpy, is actually cinnamon loaf! Yummy :D

Some books that I am currently enjoying are

Grow Your Own Fruit



Grow Your Own Veg




The Allotment Handbook



As you can see my reading selections follow a certain theme...

Book contest

I‘m joining in a book drawing on Writing Canvas for In Faithfulness, He Afflicted Me by Lynnette Kraft.

I’d like to receive this book for myself because it is so rare to meet other mothers who have lost more than one child. Lynnette has been an encouragement and inspiration to me and I would love to read her book.

Join me in this book drawing
here.