?!?!?

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We took the girls to our local park today and "Father Christmas" (as they say here) was on the slide?!? He was being filmed for something, so who knows. It was quite amusing watching him trying to get down the skinny slide! The girls thought it was humorous too. :)

I don't have the energy to explain to you what happened at Legs, Bums and Tums today. Our teacher is on maternity leave now (until April- ya, they get a long time here!!!) As I showed up for class today, I knew something was not right...I heard really loud music, a lady's voice TALKING REALLY LOUDLY and no circuit stations set up. Let's just say my body is in a state of shock right now because as our new instructor so eloquently put it "WHY ARE WE HERE LADIES? LET'S WORK THOSE LEGS! YOU CAN DO IT! KEEP GOING! LUNGE! LUNGE! LUNGE!" I kept telling myself that this is what I get for eating those Krispie Kreme donuts Marc brought back from London on Tuesday. ;)

I might be really slow tomorrow.

T-minus 2 Weeks...

and we will be in Dallas for vacation!

LaHacienda Ranch, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Willowbend Mall, Grapevine Mills Mall, Arby's, Sonic, Target, celebrating Cerys' 3rd Birthday, Thanksgiving.....pumpkin pie...yummmmmm

Oh, and we get to see lots of family and friends too! ;)

Options

In case you are wondering, I went with option 3. It was not too bad, after I battled with the new parking pay stations they put in- took me 3 times standing on the street with the girls to figure out how to pay the stupid thing! It kept telling me on the screen that "payment was aborted, payment was aborted!" I was about to say "I'm about to abort this whole mission and go home!" when it finally took my money. I went to the 3 stores I had in mind and that was all. And, I didn't get a Starbuck's. I just couldn't spend the money. It smelled lovely though from the top floor of the bookstore. The big plus of the day- both girls took a great nap today and I got one in too...oh, and Marc just got home so we are all happy! ;)


Marc left the house this morning at 4:45am. He'll be in London until this evening for something. So, I have several options today.

1. Stay home all day/evening and try to keep the girls entertained.

2. Walk up to the library and return our books and that will take up to an hour, as you know from our last trip to there!

3. Load the girls and the stroller in the car and hit city centre for a few last minute Christmas gifts that I need to take back to TX in 2 weeks!

I'm still trying to decide. Option 1 doesn't seem very appealing to me, even though I like staying home. I cleaned and got caught up on laundry yesterday....and even made it to Legs, Bums and Tums y'all!

Option 2 would be a good chance to leave the house for a bit and get some fresh air. And it's not raining so far this morning, so that's always good!

Option 3 is time consuming and it's expensive to pay for parking in city centre-unless I take the bus which I don't have any change and you have to have exact change to ride the bus and I don't really feel like cramming us all onto a crowded bus. But it would be fun once I got there- maybe. Plus, we have a new Borders Bookstore y'all! Can you believe it!?! And it even has a Starbucks on the second floor! And it's right next to TK Maxx (yes, it's just like TJ Maxx)...

Option 3 is sounding pretty good if I can muster up the courage and strength to get us all dressed and into the car. Don't tell Marc, but I might just peek into TK Maxx and then head over to Borders for a Cafe Mocha.

And I'm sure the girls will be totally pleasant and cooperative! ;)

Jesus Called

After a rough night, no particular reason, just 2 girls waking frequently...one just needed a pat on the back, the other one asking a few times if she could go downstairs. "It's 3am sweetie, I don't think so." I'm sure you can figure out which one asked that.

It's 7am, the sun is coming up and Cerys is watching "Go, Diego, Go". I sat down to do my devotional, "David- 90 Days with a Heart Like His" by Beth Moore. It's taken me a bit longer than 90 days, but at least I've just about completed it. I'm on day 88. I started this one in May. Oh well. :) Anyway, I've mentioned before the devotion by Sarah Young called "Jesus Calling," I just have to tell you what today's was all about. Here goes...

"Linger in my Presence a while. Rein in your impulses to plunge into the day's activities. Beginning your day alone with Me is essential preparation for success. A great athlete takes time to prepare himself mentally for the feat ahead of him before me moves a muscle. Similarly, your time being still in My presence equips you for the day ahead of you. Only I know what will happen to you this day. I have arranged the events you will encounter as you go along your way. If you are not adequately equipped for the journey, you will grow weary and lose heart. Relax with me while I ready you for action."

Now I needed that today. I had to rein in all kinds of impulses like checking other blogs first thing, get the clothes out of the dryer that I had forgotten about last night, unload the dishwasher, and a few other things. I'm so glad the Lord used a certain little girl to wake me up at 6:30am so I could come downstairs to be in His presence. After reading about Elizabeth Prentiss last week, and how her husband told her these years in her life were for action- I thought the last sentence of this devotion was fitting.

I hope you get some time alone in His presence today.

Coal House (I know...) and Pumpkins

I'm sure you are tired of me talking about Coal House. Too bad, you have 2 more weeks of it.

I'm so proud of the families in Coal House, last night's episode showed them slowly adjusting to life in a miner's community and getting the hang of things! It was one of the mom's 40th birthdays and all the children and the 2 other moms gave her homemade gifts. I was so proud of them....they embroidered little pieces of fabric, and they even made some kind of bread or cake and used currants (raisins) to make a "40" on top. And get this...they even crammed into her little cottage that night, as they presented her with the gifts, and entertained each other by singing and playing games....no TV, computer, or anything modern. I know, what a shock. ;) It was just great to watch these families come together and have a good time with just each other! One of the dads used his carpentry skills to carve out a toy gun for his little boy. I was getting all emotional again as the dad handed the boy his little toy gun, the boy was so proud he ran off making those shooting noises that boys make. They've battled sickness of all kinds this week, even one of the little boys came down the chickenpox!!! Can you imagine, of all the weeks for chickenpox and you are in 1927! Well done, Coal House families!

In other, non-Coal House news, we carved a pumpkin last weekend. Cerys was not too sure about putting her hand down in it, but she had fun anyway. We have named him "Jack" and Cerys asks us if we can "turn on Jack" while we eat dinner. :)

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"Not too sure about this dad"

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Jack all lit up!

More Lessons From Elizabeth

I will have you know that the 2nd episode of Coal House aired at 8:30 tonight, but my precious husband is not here, so we are recording it and watching it as soon as he gets home! I wanted to just watch it without him, because I'm sweet like that, but I told him I could hold off till 10pm exactly, so he better be walking in the door in the next few minutes or he might miss it.

Anyway.

I was thinking back to how much time I had on my hands before the girls entered our lives and I remember times in Pontypool when Marc was out of the house, and it was just me and the dog Skip. Those of you not fortunate enough to have known Skip, you missed out. ;) Skip and I would curl up on the couch (yes, he was capable of sitting still!) and I would read my Bible and listen to music. I had such great times with the Lord in that little tiny flat above the church. I was thinking about all of this the last few mornings, when Cerys has been wide awake at 6:45am. I try to come downstairs before she is awake to read my Bible and get things sorted out for the day, but inevitably, she hears me open the child safety gate at the top of the stairs. And our house is old, so the wood underneath the steps creaks all the way down! Argh! I try to sneak every so quietly but most of the time, she darts out of her room and wants to come downstairs with me. Oh the days when I could have some solitude at any time of day! ;)

In reading Elizabeth Prentiss, More Love To Thee that I have mentioned before, it talks about her life before children. Before she was married, she taught school in Richmond, Virginia and would enjoy hours to herself each morning and evening to spend time with God. A few years and several children later,

"She found the demands of day and night exhausting. No longer could she maintain her routine devotional times...Lamenting the poverty of her spiritual state she began to miss those rich devotional hours of her time in Richmond. George (her husband) tried to comfort her, telling her that the Richmond years had been the time for contemplation: this season of her life was for action. God would not demand of her a consistency in prayer that was simply impractical. But despite her husband's best efforts Elizabeth still felt miserable."

I had to laugh at how she didn't feel better even after her husband tried to encourage her. How many times has Marc said to me "you are being too hard on yourself" or "stop beating yourself up over this!" The fact is, this time in my life is for action. I don't have a choice. I have a husband and 2 sweet girls to look after. Surely God is pleased with my efforts, as I call on Him in the midst of washing dishes or changing nappies.

One day I'm sure that I will be able to have uninterrupted quiet times again. And I will probably miss the interruptions dearly.

Because I'm Slightly Obsessed...

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We drove over to Blaenavon today, to see the miner's cottages where the BBC is filming Coal House. The cottages are in the same "complex" if you will, as the old Blaenavon Iron Works, not far from Big Pit.

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Here are the cottages, you can't see much except the scaffolding with cameras. The 3 families are in the white cottages directly behind that little brown building.

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Ohhh, we even got to see camera-men and some clothes hanging out on the line! I was just slightly giddy at this point, hoping to see the women and babies, but we didn't see anyone. The men, age 13 and over work in the mines all day while the younger boys and girls are in school.

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We spoke to a nice lady who quickly came out to greet us and tell us we could not tour the iron works because of the filming. I, of course, acted as if it was no big deal and that we just happened to be strolling by. :) She said the families moved in last Monday, so they've been there a week now. Last night aired the first episode and I am just too attached already. I don't really know what it is, but I just want to know everything...what they are eating, how they are coping, how the baby is doing, etc. Last night I was in tears with one of the mom's as she was going to buy some milk from the little sweet man that came by with his trolley full of vegetables and food, but he had run out of milk so she could not buy any for her baby. She was crying and said she just wasn't prepared to hear that he sold his last bottle of milk just up the road...guessing that would have been typical in 1927.

Anyway, I'll leave you now. Just had to show you!

Coal House

There is a new TV show starting tomorrow, and airing on the BBC for the next 3 weeks. It's called Coal House and it is going to be so interesting! Here's a bit about it from the BBC website...

"The chosen families will leave all 21st century luxuries behind for this television series, swapping a modern high-tech life for a 1920s miner's cottage in the Welsh hills of Blaenavon. All traces of creature comforts will be removed: no TV, computer, washing machine, central heating or hot running water.

For the men and boys over 14 there will be the harsh reality of long walks to work over mountains in all weather, to face a long day as coal miners at Blaentillery No.2 Mine - the last working mine of its kind in the UK.

Meanwhile the women will have to run the home under 1927 conditions, keeping the children fed, watered and clean. Even making a cup of tea will involve the hard work of collecting water from a pump and lighting a fire. "

You can go here to read more about the 3 families that are participating. They are all from Wales. The interesting thing to us is that Blaenavon is only about 10 miles north of Pontypool where lived for two years! (And if you visited us in Pontypool, we probably took you to Big Pit the coal mine...this is taking place right next to it!) It gets cold this time of year (and that's with the heat on!) so I'm really feeling it for these families! Especially the family that has a 1 and a 2 yr. old. :) I'm not sure if you will be able to keep up with the show on the website, but I'm sure I will write more about it.

Marc thinks it would be fun. Of course he would. Me, not so sure. But he did tell me "You can do anything for 3 weeks!" Which is probably true. I do recall saying to him many years ago, "Oh, I don't think I could ever live overseas."

A More Polite Version of 'Wheels on the Bus'

I think the British can be more polite and proper in the way they word things. Here is an example of 'Wheels on the Bus' that we sing every week at Jolly Tots. (Have I told you about Jolly Tots?)

The driver on the bus says 'move along please' instead of 'move on back!'

The mommies on the bus say 'chatah chatah, chatah' (chatter) instead of 'Shh! Shh! Shh!' (one mum said to me, 'oh we would never shush our children!' oops!)

The daddies on the bus go 'read, read, read' (act like you are reading a newspaper) ha!

...and instead of 'all through the town' we sing 'all day long'

Now you can imagine Cerys singing at the top of her lungs the first time we sang this song. Everyone stopped and looked at us. :) We are now singing the 'proper' version at home!

Other songs we sing at Jolly Tots-

'Baa Baa Black Sheep'- which makes much more sense after living here!
'Postman Pat'
'Grand Ole Duke of York'- again, much better sense singing it over here!

Posterous theme by Cory Watilo