Breaking News!

There's a bunch of stuff that I could blog about, but I don't have time to do that right now. So here's the latest breaking news in our house... Levi has decided to walk!! He's been on his feet since he was about 6 months old so we thought he would be an early walker. He tricked us and has put it off until now! For the last few months he has been walking holding on to just a finger or two and refusing to let go, but on Thursday afternoon he decided enough was enough. After coming home from picking up the kids at school, I set him on his feet as we got in the front door and he took off on his own down the hallway in into the front room! Since then he's been walking everywhere! Here's a video to prove it! (Sorry I can't seem to rotate the video so you'll either have to turn your heads or you monitors!)




Also - I got my passport back on Thursday! Unfortunately it was too late to get to China for the concert that I wanted to go to, but I am now working on getting a Visa so that I can visit mom after the Easter holidays. I'll keep you all posted.

10 Minute Talk

Just thought I'd take 10 MINUTES and post some of the things that we are up to/ thinking about etc.

I am still waiting on my passport (hopefull it will come in the next few days) so that I can do more paperwork in order to finalize my trip to China to visit Mom.

Abigial (actually WE) have been given a wonderful news of a GREAT offer for her to go to a PRIVATE CHRISTIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL (Thames Christian College)! We are amazed at how God has worked in this situation.

Levi is still NOT walking.

Aleah is still loving school. As she goes to bed each night she say...'In the morning, wake up, have breakfast, what are we going to do?' We respond on weekdays of course - 'go to school'. She clasps her hands and shouts 'yes'!

Sam loves playing with transformers, and legos. (either physically or on the wii)

Dean is not preaching this week! Whew!(He's preached the last 2 Sundays - due to the new arrival in our Pastor's family)

That's my 10 Minute Talk for today. Thanks for listening!

World Book Day 2010

Today was World Book Day at the children's school. I found out on Friday that they would be having a 'favourite book character' dress day. We have had a CRAZY few days - Abby broke her finger, our pastor's wife had a baby so Dean needed to preach on Sunday, funeral of a dear old friend, secondary school places announced...the list could go on, but I can't take time now.

ANYWAY, last night all the children were talking about what/who they wanted to be and I got into action!

Abigail new that she wanted to be 'Nancy Drew' - this seemed quite straight forward except that this Nancy Drew wanted to have all matching accessories etc. it took a while to convince her that she would still be Nancy Drew without EVERYTHING matching!



Sam wanted to be one of the 'Wild Things' from 'Where the Wild Things Are' but unfortunately lack of time and resources ruled that out. We finally decided on 'Billy Bonkers'.


Thankfully we have the resources of the church's playgroup dressing up box so I decided that Aleah could go as Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz'.


After a few improvises and some hot glue everybody was ready to go! The school had an assembly at the end of the day and paraded all those who participated on the stage. Many of the teachers also took part - which the children all love!

Sam's Birthday

We celebrated Samuel's 9th birthday a few weeks ago (16/02). The kids were off school that week (half-term) and Dean took the day off so we could spend the day together celebrating. We opened presents in our birthday tradition way - everyone piles on to our bed(I wonder what that will be like when they are teenagers?)- video cameras rolling etc. We had to rush a bit due to the fact that Dean had booked the bowling lane for 9:10 am!!! (1 pence a game before 9:30...bargain!) We picked up cousin Jonah and had a great time bowling.
Last time we went bowling Levi was happy to remain in his pushchair - this time is was a completely different story! It may be a while before Levi comes bowling with us again...it was hard work!


We then grabbed some lunch before heading of the cinema! (Levi was booked in with Nanny, thank goodness!) Sam had asked for gifts of money this year. There was a particular toy that he wanted that was quite expensive. He was told by his parents to save his pocket money. Word got round to family members and Samuel soon had (more than) enough money to purchase his 'treasure'! We still felt it was a bit much for a boy to spend on one toy, but after a little investigation I found a shop that was selling it for £30 cheaper than most! So the day after his birthday we took him to the shop to purchase his 'treasure' - he was thrilled that he had money left over!

The Shuffler

No two children are alike! That's what I've learned after having 4 children! Oh sure, there are many similarities but equal with that are their differences! So, in our family we have had :'No Crawling, Get up and Go - Girl'(Abigail was walking @ 10 mos - never crawled), a 'Take It As It Comes Boy' (Sam just crawled until about 17 mos), 'Status Quo Girl' (Aleah crawled, and then walked just after 12 mos), and now we have 'The Shuffler' (Levi's fastest and most used mode of transportation!)
Had to post a video of this before he starts walking. He is pretty confident on his feet but likes the security of a finger or two!

Christmas Leftovers

Here are a few pictures that I didn't get around to posting yet from Christmas. We've got...

Christmas Pyjamas

The Nativity Set that Abigail made out of toilet paper tubes.

The newest addition to the family - Cousin Amelia Grace Wilder (14/12)

A funny video of our Christmas Eve walk in Richmond Park with Uncle Russell, Auntie Katie, Jonah and Noah

School Time!

Aleah started school today! (Nursery) Everyone in our house has been eagerly awaiting this day. Abigail and Sam are very excited to have Aleah with them at school, Aleah is very excited to be in a uniform, using her lunchbox, and all the rest! She will be greatly missed throughout the day - it is already very quiet here without her!




Aleah went in and very proudly hung up her things - PE bag, book bag, coat and hat - placed her lunchbox on the counter - 'wrote' her name on her registration card - while simultaneously eyeing up all the things that were set out to get them involved. Dean, Levi, and I left her painting a picture for us!