Rjjm.net

You have to take a look at my brother- in- law's blog (if you don't already.) His last few posts are essential reading, both for the very sensitive musings on 'homemakers' and the link to the wierdest news story of the year!

All about me

Well, I know this is self-indulgent but I noticed that Alana had posted her answers to one of those emails that you get that ask you all about yourself, and I thought I'd do the same thing!

WHAT COLOUR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? I couldn't possibly answer that question- it's all about mystery!WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Well, I can vaguely make out CBeebies downstairs, but up here it's blissfully quiet
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A tropical fruit ice-lolly
IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Black- sophisticated and mysterious
HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? S.A.D.-inducingly miserable
LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My big sis.
HOW ARE YOU TODAY? Hmm... sleepy
FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? depends on my mood, the company, what's for dinner... mostly girly drinks like Baileys or archers, frou-frou cocktails, or a good Pimms concoction...
FAVOURITE DRINK? Diet Coke- it's my addiction and my saviour!
FAVOURITE SPORTS? Lifting the remote
HAIR COLOUR? Black once each month, brown really
EYE COLOUR? Cow-brown
DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, but I should wear my glasses
SIBLINGS? 3 unique sisters
FAVOURITE MONTH? Probably July; almost the holidays, the beginning of the holiday, some sunshine, my hubby's birthday... or December of course
FAVOURITE FOOD? Roast beef with all the trimmings, Chilli & chips, Mexican, Kebab meat & chips with garlic mayonnaise, Duck anything (Roast, grilled, curry...), Mum's crumble, M-i-laws chocolate trifle
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Oh gosh, I think it might have been Muppets in Space! Let me redeem that by recommending Lagaan to everyone
FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR? I'm stumped. Probably a day at Christmas-time. Maybe my kid's birthdays? No, Easter Sunday for everything that it means
ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT? I liked Alana's answer: No - but too married (and in love obviously)
SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
HUGS OR KISSES? Probably hugs- they can be given and recieved by a wider number of people than kisses
RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS? I don't like this question. It's ridiculous! There's no contest. If you have to ask then I don't think you've ever had a relationship worth anything, and you're missing out on all the good stuff!
CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? That is a hard question to answer, it totally depends. Today, a resounding CHOCOLATE!
WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Servant Leadership for Slow Learners, What most women want, Why did I do that? I fancy reading 'Why Buffy matters', 'There and back again' and 'Married to genius' next.
WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Returned Caleb to his bed repeatedly for an hour and a half then went to bed myself. Thrilling!
FAVOURITE SMELLS? Anything rose-scented, babies, Flower by Kenzo, Corsica after the rain, baking, Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier, citrus things, coffee (but don't make me drink it!)
WHO/WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Obviously, Jesus. My parents, Mother Teresa, missionaries, mums, my friend Anna
BUTTERED, PLAIN, OR SALTED POPCORN? Butter AND salt, or sweet
FAVOURITE CAR? Whatever car we have when I finally learn to drive, probably!
FAVOURITE FLOWER? To recieve: Lillies or orchids; for memories: african daisies, and the roses we had at our wedding; in my garden (one day!): Agapanthus, Jasmine, passionflowers, cosmos...
HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING? 3
CAN YOU JUGGLE? IF YES HOW MANY? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.... no
FAVOURITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Sunday- we have the best church in the world, it's the only day Mark doesn't work, and at the moment it's when I get my 'Lost' fix!
RED OR WHITE WINE? white, or a nice Rose
WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY? Scrummy roast at my big sisters, theatre tickets for next week
DO YOU OWN A DONOR CARD? I have done in the past but I'm a serial purse-loser!
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? That depends, which time?
EVER BEEN IN LOVE: Ah, I remember it well...

10 Years Ago I:
-was in my final year of (mandatory) school, doing my GCSEs
-was cultivating my Diet Coke habit
-was planning a life on the stage
-had it easy!

5 Years Ago I:
-realised I could no longer be called a 'newly-wed'
-had a kitten as a baby-substitute (now simply known as 'the fat one')
-felt old at 21
-was relieved that Mark could finally earn us some money!

1 Year Ago I:
-was newly pregnant, and very sick
-had a huge new house (what happened to all that space?)
-wanted to paint everywhere
-was unprepared for 'the terrible twos!'

Yesterday I was:
-very tired
-enjoying making collages with my grown-up boy
-feeling besotted with my baby daughter
-reading Alana's answers and wondering where my life went!

5 Songs I know all the words to:
I think we're alone now- Tiffany
The man who sold the world- Bowie/Nirvana
Big Spender- Shirley Bassey
Jesus Freak- DCTalk
Amazing Grace (If I'm concentrating!)


5 Ideal Places for running away to:
Bed
Paris
Corsica
Wherever family is
One day, hopefully, Egypt

5 Items You'll never see me wear:
Hmmm, never is a dangerous word! I think I can safely say:
-dungarees
-a boilersuit
-something that you can't wear underwear with(!)
-a mini-skirt
-a bikini ever again, probably

5 Biggest Joys in Life:
My family
My salvation
The confidence that I have found my soulmate
Being able to give to and serve others
Lately I have learnt that I should rejoice in my liberty and comparative wealth, and not take it for granted

5 Favorite Toys:
My little doll, I mean baby, Elodie!
Caleb when he's giggly
My laptop- my lifeline, my blog-fix, my passport to the information superhighway...
My digital camera- making me a memory-capturer extraordinaire
My stereo- music makes everything better, and a 25cd-player is just pure indulgence!

Recipes (again)

As I tried to come up with a plan for this next months food, I came across the recipes for our Anniversary dinner, and remembered that I was going to post them, so here they are:

Duck and Mango Salad:
Serves 4

4 Duck breasts
4Tbsp balsamic vinegar
125g bag salad (something herby or interesting in some way!)
6 spring onions, shredded lengthways
1 ripe mango, stoned, peeled and thinly sliced
A little salt

Score duck 3-4 times across the fat. Put half the vinegar in a small bowl and put in the duck, skin side up, for 20 mins. Scatter fat with salt. Heat frying pan over high heat and add duck, fat side down, cook on a medium heat for approx. 10 minutes, then flip and cook for approx. 5 mins. Remove from heat, allow to rest for 3 minutes before slicing. Toss salad, spring onions, and remaining vinegar. Serve.

Frosted fruit in chocolate baskets:
Serves 4

200g/ 7oz plain chocolate
115g/ 4oz mascarpone cheese
11g/ 4oz greek style yoghurt
2tbsp icing sugar
1tbsp brandy
165g/6oz fruit (I used a blackforest berry mix)
1 clementine (not essential)
granulated sugar for dusting

You will also need non-stick baking paper

Cut 4 18cm (7in) squares of baking paper and mould each fimly around a jar/ tumbler to make a flat base in the centre, place each in a small bowl/tumbler to support the sides.
Melt the chocolate and divide into the paper moulds, spread the chocolate up the sides, creating jagged edges. Chill in the fridge to set.
Mix together mascarpone, yogurt, brandy and 1tbsp icing sugar. Carefully remove paper from the chocolate baskets and spoon in the mascarpone filling.
Moisten the fruits with a littl water (this will be uneccessary if you are using frozen fruit) and 'frost' with granulated sugar. Garnish with mint sprigs and sift remaining icing sugar over the top. Voila!

They were both dead easy and really yummy. Our tummies recommend them!

Recipes

The cost of our grocery shopping has been creeping up and up lately, what can I say- I comfort eat as it is, but recently food is the new sleep! So I want your scrummiest budget recipes please. I know I can look online/ in our millions of cookbooks but I want things that are tried and tested. So, what's your end of the month speciality?

Wistful sigh

Why does real life have to get in the way of watching 24?

Existential nursery rhymes

Caleb's convinced it's 'Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder if you are.'

More cute bedtime antics

Well, I've been calmly putting him back in bed for the past 50 minutes or so, and just felt like reporting on two very cute things Caleb's done in that time. Firstly, he came out of his room and wandered down the hall towards the study where I am, but instead of coming in, just settled down outside with his book and started reading - I think because there was light to read by! And then, about 20 minutes after that, he came out of his bedroom with his Elmo toy, lay it down at the top of the stairs and said 'Give a nap'. I put Caleb back, and the next time he came out, he crept across the hallway while I was watching (you know, back hunched, all quiet - proper creeping), put his little teddy next to Elmo and snuck back again.

Actually he's been pretty good all day today, which was a relief as I had the kids on my own all day to give Heidi some shopping time with someone who actually enjoys it. Well, astonishingly good behaviour bearing in mind the fact that we were up watching Jonah: A Veggietales Movie at 5:30am after an hour's kicking-off. We did some painting, he fell asleep on the sofa (a definite blessing! Of course, Elodie woke up just at that moment.), we went to the toy shop, he watched The Iron Giant for the first time. Oh dear - I've just given away the fact that my parenting skills don't extend much further than switching on the TV. Never mind. I have other talents. Latent ones.

Wierd page

This looks very tongue-in-cheek to me, but I almost took it seriously at first! Look carefully...

Sleep deprivation

I know it's terribly domestic, but I just have to post about our ridiculous night/morning. We've blogged a lot about our lack of sleep these last few months, but since Caleb moved into a big bed things have become insane. Unluckily/luckily for us, Elodie is starting to be able to sleep through the night (luckily- there's an end in sight/unluckily- Caleb won't let her!) Last night though, Mark and I managed to really stuff them both up. The saga starts on Wednesday evening when Caleb woke up with a full-on cold, completely inconsolable. We got him up, gave him water, medicine, cuddles etc. but when we put him back to bed I went with him, and 'slept' on the spare mattress on his floor because he was still so upset. He's usually cheerful when he has a cold, but the accumulated tiredness of the last couple of months has just done him in. Well, I spent most of that night stroking his back, catching him before he got to our bedroom door, and cuddling him on the armchair in his room. By the time Mark's alarm went off , all four of us were snuggled up in the same bed!

Despite sleeping less than I did, Caleb was unable to drop off to sleep until 3.00 yesterday afternoon- which spelt disaster at bedtime on a housegroup night. So, I went upstairs to fine-tune my plan for the evening's worship and set the alarm for 4.00 so that I wouldn't let him sleep too long. Now, you can see where this is going can't you? Unfortunately I did not! Not only did I not re-set the alarm, I went to bed at the same time as the kids so I wasn't even reminded to when Mark flicked it on before he went to bed. The twist is, when Mark got out of bed at 4am to switch off his alarm, he stepped on a sleeping Caleb- who knows how long he'd been there! So, Caleb wakes up and Mark- believing it to be 6.30- just puts him in our bed for a cuddle. When I urge Mark to get up again so that he doesn't fall back to sleep he realises it's still the 'night' and gets back in to bed where we all start to drop off. Now, though, Elodie has been disturbed and feels she needs a drink, so we're all awake for real this time! By 5.00 all hell has broken loose, as Mark is attempting to get Caleb back in his own bed, I have settled Elodie back twice but have resorted to cuddling her in bed with me while Caleb kicks off, and we're all very confused about how we got into this mess...

Which is all just a long way of saying we're all knackered!

Hurricane Rita

Please pray for those who are being evacuated or having to make the decision to go. Lots of people had relocated from New Orleans and are having to move on again, that must be soul-destroying. One of our regular readers and commentors, Praynlady, is one of the people in Rita's path; please pray for Colleen and her family while they go through this agonising time. To make contact with someone by 'chance' and then have the opportunity to hold them up in prayer is a priveledge (sp?) I think. I know that Coleen's not thinking about checking blogs or anything, but Praynady I said some prayers to the Big Man for you guys today.

Things that are magic...

Add whatever you like to this list of things that are actually magic:

• The internet (It's just amazing! It took me several years to come to terms with the fact that there were actually technical reasons why the whole thing works. But is it infinite? If someone can answer that, I'd actually be interested...)

• DVDs not having to be rewound - still love that one, and I will never forget the first time I just pressed eject!

• WD-40 - a spray that stops squeaks??!! How is that possible? Heidi likens it to 'Invisiblity Spray', it's that magic.

Go on, keep the list going!

Sudoku

Anyone else addicted to this game? Pure logic. Beautiful, especially when you need a break from re-writing your departmental handbook , and it's quarter past midnight on a Saturday. Sometimes I hate my job (quite a lot recently actually).

Left-handers happier?

Okay, so Heidi and I have found a template we both like, which doesn't shunt our sidebar down to the bottom of the page, but which is annoying because it's on the left not the right. But we did think that maybe the lefties among you (Sarah and Nikki particularly, as you are two of our most regular readers) would appreciate it. Maybe you don't care.

Oh, and after an hour of getting out of his big boy's bed onto the landing and being put calmly back again, we discovered Caleb finally asleep ... on the armchair in his room. Crazy nutcase son of ours.

How cute?

Tonight, after being behaving like he was posessed all day Caleb did the cutest thing at bedtime. We said night night and exchanged kisses and when I said 'I love you' he said 'I love you Mummy. I love you Jesus.'
Of course, I've lost count of the times I've had to put him back in his bed since then. But it's somewhat easier to do when he's this little cherub than the hitting, screaming, scratching, whining, biting boy that we had to put up with for the rest of the day!

Our posts have become somewhat mundane of late...

...so I thought I'd just share this verse that I'd never really noticed before:

'So do not give up your hope which will be greatly rewarded. For, having done what was right in God's eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you.' (Hebrews 10:35-36)

It seems so contrary to the contempory mindset of instant gratification and quick fixes. But it's really encouraging I think. A lot of us have probably done the hard thing or 'the right thing' and wondered what worth it really had. Sometimes it seems like God sticks you with a rotten set of circumstances then just leaves you there. But if you know anything about God at all, you'll know that that's completely against his nature. This verse seems to say that you don't even need great faith, or extravagent deeds or the 'right' prayers. I guess if you have God on your side, hope actually means trusting in Him.

Ugh, no I DO NOT like this template

We'll have to change it to something less ugly. I apologise for inflicting something so bland and stark on you all. My husband is sleep-deprived, his judgement is impaired...

Not deliberately time-wasting!

In an attempt to (quickly) sort out the empty column on the right hand side of our blog (which I thought would correct itself eventually, but was wrong), I've changed the template. But i stupidly forgot to copy our links anywhere, so will have to re-insert them, and it's just a bit of a fiddle. But I haven't blogged on here for ages, and I have the surprising pleasure of being at home while Caleb & Heidi are at a b'day party, and Eddie's sleeping. Bliss! I have done some DIY too - put up an old mug rack in the built-in wardrobe for my ties, and fixed one of the drawers under the bed. So I'm not being a total waster...

Hooray for Tescos!

Our new hoover arrived today. It said 3-7 days on Tuesday when I ordered! I'm ashamed to say it's made my day...

BLACK SMOKE SHOULD NEVER EVER COME OUT OF YOUR VACUUM CLEANER!! ARRRGH!

Duck and Mango salad

We're not very good at doing things together, or planning special time for us both. Somehow, we seem to be even worse on our Anniversary- we think we might remember a time when we went out for dinner to celebrate but we weren't sure this evening when we thought about it. So this year I decided I would at least try and make the effort and I dug out a few recipes that I had kept for just such an occasion. I put Mark in charge of the main course (I even let him help me choose it!) and I made dessert and a cocktail-thing. Of course, we didn't have time to do anything other than eat before 'Lost' so it was worth making the effort with our dinner at least! Well, we actually enjoyed preparing food for each other, and were quite impressed with the results. It's nice to be able to surprise each other occasionally.



Not very romantic I know, but we bought a new breadmaker for our anniversary (we had one that died when we moved to Carterton) so any recipes/ mixes that people can recommend would be welcome. We're in a bit of an experimental mood with food at the moment. Ready for a break from the norm.

Marrow

We've just been given a decent-sized marrow from the 'church' allotment. I think I remember the odd stuffed marrow during my childhood. Recipe ideas please!

Chilled day

Felt a bit bleurgh today so I ducked out of handing out flyers for tomorrow's church and stayed home with the kids- which was a real pleasure. Caleb was a sweetheart, very obedient, fun and loving. Elodie's still not too cheerful, but that's so much easier to deal with when Caleb's in a great mood! This afternoon, I hatched a plan to give me a bit of a break and everyone else some fun. Mark took Caleb and Joe to the Wildlife Park, and Elodie and I had Emma over to play. Cunning on my part because having two babies means I can't get on with any boring stuff, but I don't have to expend any energy coz they amuse themselves. Every body wins. It was lovely to spend a bit of time with Emma, who I feel we don't yet know very well- the boys sort of monopolise your attention when all the kids are together. It was nice to recognise bits of Anna and Joe in her, and see that there's something familiar about her already! She loved touching Elodie's face, and Elodie loved watching someone who was more stationary than her big brother. Hopefully they'll develop a bond like their big brothers have...

Six LONG years!

In honour of our anniversay on Sunday Caleb and I made heart shaped cookies for Mark to come home to today. How soppy is that?

On a lighter note...

After my rant about overexposure to the whole Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes thing way back whenever it was, I was delighted to stumble across this site.

ARRRRRGH!

All our efforts to make the last few days of the holidays actually feel like, y'know, a holiday have completely thrown me out of synch with routine and real life. Mark's only been back to work for one sweet day and I'm ready to sell our children!

First of all, I have got used to a bit or a lot of a lie-in in the mornings, so I had a bit of a shock today (I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON!) this was compounded by Elodie's refusal to feed first thing. Then it didn't take me long to figure out that neither of my children have had enough sleep over the last couple of days, which everybody knows magically turns your darling angels into monsters. Elodie I think is just fighting against her immunisations and her body needs more sleep to cope- by her lunchtime nap she looked like she'd been punched in the face, her eyes were so tired. And I can't really blame her, but I spent most of the day running to her aid only to discover she's just experimenting with really loud squeals! Actually, it's a pretty nice stage- she's starting to communicate and is finding her voice. It's just that for some reason that escapes me Caleb started biting her today and I'm getting kind of paranoid about them being in the same room together.

Also, had to administer Caleb's first proper smack this afternoon (no nappy to protect him from reality) which was sort of heart-breaking, but at least he understands how hurtful it is to harm others now. And he does have a clear system of discipline so he knew it was coming. I'm not backing down on the rules because it's hard for me- it's not worth creating a manipulative Mummy's boy just for an easy life! Well, on that controversial note it's time for housegroup, I may salvage some of this day yet...