What Did I Do This Weekend?

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Well, we had lots of fun family time and a good time with friends on Saturday night. But mostly, I was sewing and then ripping out seams because I did it wrong. Thank goodness my husband can read directions better than I can. :) He walked in several times and said something about the pattern and when I re-read it, I realized I was really clueless and wondered why the heck I even bought this machine.

Just kidding. I'm enjoying it, just had a little trouble this weekend. I'm going to bed now and will face this mess in the morning. Maybe.

Washing Up Liquid?

For those of you who watched American Idol this week....

washing up liquid=dishwashing liquid

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And, since they show AI here on Thursdays and Fridays, I will not be able to read some blogs until after we see it since some of you write about who gets voted off. :(

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Week in Review

I got a few hours out to go look around town, which was lovely! We have a new T.K. Maxx here, yes, it's just like T.J. Maxx. Not sure why the letter change. I walked every aisle, every floor and found some little goodies....

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A picture frame that I thought was funny, I have cute napping pictures of the girls so I'll have to choose one for this frame. This mug matches absolutely nothing in my house, but I just thought it was sweet and I needed some extra motivation to get up in the morning. For some reason I thought this cute mug would help, but in reality, it hasn't. But it is fun to drink tea out of. :) And finally, two tea towels to make an apron from that sewing book I love so much.

Cerys enjoys playing with felt, and here we have some members of our family...

First we have Mimi, and I love your earrings Mimi! :)

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Then we have Papa...not sure why you have a nose on your head, but she was very proud of it! :)

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And now we have Gigi-love your pink hair mom and huge bow earrings. :)

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We played a little bit of dress-up

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and Candy Land...please tell me why I thought this would be a fun game, it's really only a source of frustration right now.

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And finally, Hide-and-go-Seek...

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Thankfully, she made it pretty easy for me!

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Zebra Crossing

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I just want you to know that this afternoon when we were running an errand, I grabbed my camera as we were walking out the door and told Marc I needed to take a picture of a zebra crossing. Funny thing is, he kind of knows now when I take random pictures that it's for the blog. It's all for y'all, I want you to experience my world. :)

This is a Zebra Crossing. In the UK a "z" is pronounced like "zed" so if you can imagine saying the z not like we are use to saying it...this is confusing. It would not like sound like zebra, but "zehbra" if that makes ANY sense at all. You can see from the black/white stripes on the ground that this is where it got it's name. A "zehbra" crossing gives pedestrians the right of way, so all traffic must stop if one is crossing. It's always a good idea to look both ways before you step out into the zebra crossing because, well, it's just a good idea. Cars don't always see you and don't always stop. I think zebra crossings were made quite famous from the cover of Abbey Road the Beatles album, they were shown on the cover walking across one. That particular one is in London. On Abbey Road. Aren't you glad I cleared that up for you? :)

If you want to read more about zebra crossings, go here!

**Thanks Anna (see comments) for reminding me about all the other kinds of crossings! And I have not lost it! :) Life is just strange here sometimes! :)

The Best

I've just had THE BEST afternoon I've had in a while. And it involved staying home, wrapped up in my warm fleece blanket, a cup of coffee and my Bible. AND...are you ready for this...BOTH girls are still sleeping! Yes, BOTH of them!!!! Can you hear the Hallejuah chorus? I can. It's a quiet, dark afternoon (on days like this I enjoy the darkness) and I just spent some uninterrupted time with God and it has refreshed me in so many ways!

We are headed over to Pontypool tonight to visit with some friends, so I look forward to a fun evening! Hope you're having a great day today!

P.S- what is up with spell-checker not working? anyone else have this problem?

P.S.S.- on the way home this morning we had to stop in front of a house for a zebra crossing (I'll explain that one later) and the house was old and the paint was chipping off...Cerys says, "Mom! Look at that house, the skin is coming off!" I love 3 year olds.

From The Heart

I've got so many things I would love to blog about, but just don't feel like it would be wise. We want you all to know that God is doing some amazing things here among university students! We started a home group 4 weeks ago and we've had 5-6 each week and they are just a lovely group of people! We meet every Monday night around 8pm till whenever...which means I try to hold all my yawns in! :) I love that they are so friendly and want to hang out here...the snacks and drinks probably help too. :) They have been so open and honest in their struggles, and have taught Marc and I a lot about post-modern thinking. Several of these that are coming on Monday were not raised in a Christian home, which I find quite refreshing to be honest- if that makes sense. They say things that really make me think about why we do certain things or practices as Christians. They have no "baggage" as it were. I hope I do not offend anyone by saying these things. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm thankful for the Christian home I was raised in! I'm thankful for the influences I had growing up in our children's department and youth department at our church! But I do think there are certain things we were taught to do that really have little to do with being a Jesus follower!

If you receive our newsletter, we will be getting one out to you soon about more detailed things that are happening here! I've (Charity) had several good conversations with two women I've met...oh, how I would love to tell you about them here, but I can't. I'm just amazed and thankful that God can use me- a stay at home mom who's up to my ears in laundry and toys- some days I feel like I have very little contact with people outside my house and the times I do go out it's for doctor appointments or the occasional coffee with a friend. But everytime, I meet people...people who are hurting. I had a conversation last week with a woman I've met a few times before and she shared some deep hurts with me. I kept asking God, "Why is this woman telling me all of this! I barely know her!" But God is so good and gracious that He keeps allowing me to have these conversations! I keep telling Him I'm not qualified- all I do is change nappies and feed mouths! :) I'm not qualified to tell these people how to fix their problems or what to do in certain situations!!! All I can do is pray that God would give me the words to say and the big one for me- the courage to say them! And He's been faithful EVERY time. Every time.

I say all of this so that you will be encouraged and know that your prayers for us are not in vain. God is using you- you not only encourage us, but when times are hard here it helps to know that we have people lifting us up and it keeps us going! Living conditions here are not bad- of course- as compared to Africa or many other places. We have an indoor toilet, heating, a nice house, etc. But it's dark here- a spiritually dark place. We had some dear friends come stay with us a few years ago, on their way back to the states from another country that they had been serving in. Living conditions were rough for them. But spritiually speaking, many things were happening! After a few days of staying with us they commented how this was a dark place, a lot harder than where they had been living. I think about that sometimes and am reminded that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world!

We appreciate you and your prayers for us!

3 Year Olds

Every Monday we ride the bus (although we occasionally get to have the car) to our music and dance class in city centre. It's not a far ride at all, but just a hassle some days...like today...to get our hat, gloves, and coats on and get Bales into the stroller, etc. Why is it that I get so flustered trying to get a 3 year old to get her fingers in the right holes for her gloves! It makes me want to throw them across the room and scream FORGET IT! :)

We were running late and I was afriad we would miss our bus, so I rushed us to the bus stop. It was in the low 30's and we were freezing!!! The one thing I found to be thankful for this morning was that it was sunny and dry!

Our music class is only 45 minutes long, but for some reason the last few weeks both girls have been asking for a drink and a snack right in the middle of class...and Bales will say "DINK, DINK, DINK" until she gets it! So today I gave them some pretzels and water to drink while we were riding on the bus and it all went well. I was quite pleased. When you feel like that, you know it's about to go downhill....

After we get off the bus we have about a 3 or 4 minute walk to the building. I lectured the girls on the way there saying that we had already had our snack and drink and they were not to ask during class for them because they just had one and it gets all the other children excited and wanting a snack too. Cerys told me she would not ask for anything during her class and Bailey said "Wes Wam" to me. Glad we're all on the same page.

3 minutes before the end of class:

Cerys: "MOMMY, I DIDN'T ASK FOR A DRINK OR A PRETZEL TODAY AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME?"

Bailey: "DINK DINK DINK DINK WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DINK DINK DINK DINK"

Lost?

It's been a fairly quiet weekend so far around here, but I did think of something funny that happened last Sunday night. I shall share that with you now.

The new season of LOST started here a few weeks ago and Marc is a big fan. I watched the first season a while back and was just so confused I gave up. I mean, how unrealistic. (it's a joke!) However, after watching the first episode of this new season with him a few weeks ago I got hooked! So, last week we were sitting down to watch it and I asked:

Me: Ok, Honey, I know I haven't watched this in like forever, but is there any way you could just briefly explain what has been going the last few seasons, you know like, real quick?

Marc: Blank stare.

Me: Really? You can't just catch me up real fast, it's about to start?

Marc: Umm, No.

Me: Okay, thanks.

I'm home!

Thanks for your prayers for us today. My surgery went well and I was back home around 3:30pm, just in time for the girls to be up from nap/rest time and ready to play!!! Ha. Things went fairly smoothly at the hospital, I only had to tell 3 or 4 nurses that I was pretty sure I was just having local anesthetic, but they kept telling me I was going to be put to sleep. I was slightly worried about this, but thankfully my doctor came in about 15 minutes from surgery time and asked if I had any questions... Ummm, yeah I do! He just laughed and told me not to worry, it would be local and it would only take about 15 minutes...and he was right!

It was a bit strange staying awake (but I would rather that than be put to sleep, I hate that!!!), me and the nurse just walked up to the "theatre" (operating room) together, there was no need for a ride in on the gurney. I walked right into the theatre and hopped up on the bed, but I was a bit nervous seeing all the equipment and machines. They were all very friendly though and were making guesses while the surgery was taking place about where my accent was from and what on earth I was doing here. At least the conversations allowed me to not dwell so much on the fact that I was being cut open. Ha. For those who are wondering about my surgery, everything is okay- I am okay-they removed a small lump/knot in my leg. I even got to see it-only because I asked. :) I can't remember the name of it, but it's basically a fatty lump (yes, I don't think I needed a doctor to tell my I had a fatty lump in my thigh, I'm quite aware it's fatty!!!) and to be sure he thought it should come out. It was quite deep, so I have stitches and a bandage on it. He will send it off, but he doesn't show any concern about it, so I am feeling okay about it. He said it was most likely caused from a trauma to the leg and a lump formed. If you or someone you know has ever had this, please don't write me and tell me horrible things because I really don't need anymore "what if's" floating around in my head. Thanks. Those that know me well, know exactly what I'm talking about. :)

Thanks for your prayers! Have a great week. I've got lots of sewing projects lined up! What are you up to this week?

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