Just love this!

Was at a business conference today for Phoenix and people have been sharing this poster! 

Love it :)

See products and info online at    -    www.phoenix-trading.eu/web/annewilson

Before I Go To Sleep

I have finished Water for Elephants - still not terribly fussed by that one - just didn't feel much connection or love or strong emotion of any kind for the characters which is normally key for me. So, anyway I am now reading 
Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson, one of Richard and Judy's top picks.

It's a debut, different...again not yet really feeling the love about it and not overly compelled to pick it up but I'm hoping I will get into it more...early days. 


**edited. Got more into this, it's pretty good but you can still work the ending out though!

Doves

Yesterday we made glittery doves with tissue wings at Sunday Club and coloured in pictures and made a dove collage for the wall. We had yogurt raisins and oranges for snacks - lots of children were away so it was pretty quiet. 

Best Friends

A rare visit from my best friend and her family on Saturday - lunch...one pan chicken, classic cheese and onion pie, potato wedges, celery and apple salad and avocado and cucumber salad followed by pavlova. We walked to the swing park, chatted a little (never enough!) and opened Christmas presents - all lovely and the visit was over all too soon. They had another appointment for dinner and then back to Scotland on Sunday morning. 

Martha & Kez

Josh never still!

Tirzah, Kez and Martha

Abi

 Paul & Mike comparing woodburning stoves!

Pirates and Princesses

We had a lovely day back at Nature Tots being pirates and princesses...hats and crowns were made, pirate ship pictures and wands made.

Collecting pieces of eight in the mouse maze

Glittery potions in the field - Martha called hers "Nature Water"

Treasure map

Painting

We are doing lot of painting these days, rainbows and animals and lots of fish. 

Gingerbread Love

 A yummy gingerbread lady left over from our Christmas treats :)

Guests from Oz

Friends returned from OZ for a trip and popped up to visit in Kenilworth so we had a lovely time catching up with them and meeting their new little baby.

Sunday lunch in town

 Lots of friends came to see them

Conference

Had a great conference at Solihull this weekend for my business - hotel was lovely and talks good. Dinner on Saturday evening was fabulous! Goals for 2012 considered and plans written - I am home feeling inspired!

Twelfth Night

Martha decides to wear bunny ears to Tesco and when we visit friends for a playdate - we are ready for spring!!

Beautiful tulips to make the house less bare now that the decorations are gone. 

Eating up the Christmas chocolate after reading  about "Zoe and Beans" going to the north pole and meeting a polar bear. 


The Christmas season is over for sure now and I'm quite glad to get the house back to normal and be returning to some routines. I loved the twinkly tree this year and we had a great time but it feels like a new start now that it's all packed and tidied away. 

Water for Elephants

 I have been reading Water for Elephants - am almost half way through and it has taken a while for me to get into it. Still not sure what I make of it although I love the circus and find it fascinating. I will persevere and will probably order the DVD to watch from Lovefilm too. 

Winter Walk

We went for a walk on Monday with friends from church. The skies were blue and the sun was bright - it was beautiful...the day before the winds and rain started. We had a good walk, met a horse and went back to a house in Fen End for a shared lunch before heading home. 

A new year...

What will it bring this time? 

Last year we had some truly lovely times - family fun, trips away, great strides forward with Martha and new beginnings but we also suffered loss. My lovely friend Ann lost her battle with pancreatic cancer and left behind her husband and three beloved children. Her funeral was both terrible and a wonderful tribute and the days are long without her, for her family and for the rest of us. 

We step forward into 2012 thankful for friends, family and faith, memories of times past and hope of times to come. 

Grown up Girl

This holiday we transferred Martha from her cot to her bed. I really didn't want to do this as I fear nap time will be over!! but she was really ready for the move and excited to have her own bed. 

She has never really been happy in that cot - when she was born she had a Moses basket then temporarily, a carrycot after we moved and both of those she really liked but she never really settled in this cot and I think it was because Mike put the cot up one day when I was out working and she was popped in without any warning or sense of ceremony. 

You would think that the lack of occasion may be a good thing for a little one, a small re-arrangement, a stress-free, easy move but that has not proved to be the case. It's one of the few things she has been unhappy about, ok and accepting but not really happy whereas this bed is really fun for her and she leaps in (and out of) it with great joy!