Exciting Times

Hi everyone! Thought I'd do a quick update on a few exciting things that have taken place at our house.


(terrible picture of me - btw!)

1. I passed my drivers' test! I actually hold a UK Driving Licence...it's only taken me 12 1/2 year!!!! (Actually I've only been serious about it for about 2 years)
I took the test in our van! I am now a free woman! Praise the Lord!!!

2. Levi is starting solid foods!! Doesn't time fly!! Can you believe that he is 5 months old already! Here's a shot of Levi enjoying his first taste of 'real' food.



Hope all of you are doing well.

Tackle it Tuesday or Works for me Wednesday (By the time this got posted it was Thursday!)

First of all, let's say I'm a little confused today. I kept jumping between thinking it was Tuesday, then realizing it was actually Wednesday! Bank Holiday Monday has really thrown me a bit, it more ways than one. Having everyone around for an extra day makes a bit more of a mess, and routines get thrown off a bit too! I have a laundry schedule in order to keep the piles of laundry down. The girls in our house create more laundry than the boys. I'm not sure if that is because of their age (10 and 2+) or just how things are. The 2 year old enjoys life, and is therefore elbow deep in it (usually food) which is the reason she creates a lot of laundry - the 10 year old 'fashionista' also brinks on lazy, so when asked to clean her room/put clothes away it is a lot easier to dump them in the dirty clothes basket than to fold/hang them up. The laundry schedule is that I do the children's laundry on Monday and Thursday (I also try and stick to only 2 loads per day so that I don't get too overwhelmed with folding and putting away),so when Monday came and went and no laundry was done this creates a problem for the rest of the week. The other problem (which fits in with Tackle it Tuesday) is that I have been given lots of clothes for the baby, and I have a mother-in-law who LOVES going to car boot sales. Looking around my house this weekend I spotted lots of little piles of baby clothes at various sizes in bags scattered around cluttering up the place. So on Tuesday I decided to tackle it! This is quite a task considering I have a 2 year old who needs to be entertained and 4 1/2 month old who is on a 4 hourly feeding schedule. Thankfully, my mother-in-law took Aleah out for bit which meant I was able to get A LOT more done! Levi was quite happy to watch me sort when he wasn't feeding or sleeping.

I felt quite satisfied with my work at the end of the day, which is pretty much why I feel that I have to share with others. So here we have 3 bags to take to charity, baby equipment to go back up into the loft, clothes for Levi to grow into sorted into seperate bags withhin a BIG Ikea (got to love that place) storage bag that will also go up into the loft. Now to just get my dearest husband to put all these things where they need to go! I think that especially for stay at home Moms/Mums, sometimes you just want to share what you've accomplished with others and hope that it encourages/inspires others to tackle something they've been putting off. Needless to say, while in the midst of decluttering/organising I saw many other jobs that needed doing. (In the photos you'll notice that the woodwork needs repainted...a job to add to the 'honey-do' list) Here's a photo of the next area to tackle....some shelves in my bedroom that are being used for...????)

Life in the Dryden household

Life seems pretty busy here, and I know many of you want to hear what's going on so here's your quick 'what we are up to' note. We have recovered from our recent church holiday - we went to a Bible Conference - New Word Alive with some other members of the church. We had a great time! The kids enjoyed their Bible clubs and all the fun activities that were around (swimming/beach). We came back with lots of laundry and a cold/flu that we seem to be passing around. We had a lovely visit from some old friends of mine last weekend. I used to babysit their 2 girls when they were toddlers - 1st grade, they are now in there early 20's!! YIKES!!! I am starting to feel my age now...especially when I was reminded that my 'baby' brother will be turning 30 on Saturday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBBIE!!!there is a card on its way!
Dean is still currently working 2 jobs, (for the church and the local council) but we have had a huge answer to prayer about this. The church has voted to take Dean on full time starting in September. This is great, it means that he can really focus in on ministry.
I am at home fulltime and continuing to organise the family/house so that it can run the best way possible. I am still overseeing the Children's ministry and Friday mum's and toddlers playgroup.
Abigail is almost finished Year 5. When she's not in the classroom she is busy with piano, violin, Jazz (street) dance, and when able to she enjoys shopping.
Sam is almost finished Year 3. When he's not in the classroom he is busy with piano, building things, making his baby brother laugh, and when he can he loves to swing a golf club with his dad.
Aleah is hoping that everyday is her turn to go to school. She would be quite happy in a nursery classroom but for now will have to be content dong stuff with me! As I finshed typing this I opened a letter from the kids' school which informed us that Aleah has been given a place in the nursery class in January 2010! Praise the Lord! It is very difficult to get into the school so this is really exciting news!! She loves all her friends (which pretty much includes everyone in the world!) She is recovering from a pretty bad case of tonsillitis this week! (pray that she hasn't shared it with Levi)
Levi is growing fast! He is 4 months old and we are really starting to see his personality shine through. He is very laid back, and happy. He is starting to give us great big belly laughs when he finds something funny...usually his big brother Sam is involved!
That is what we are up to at the moment. Hope you have enjoyed reading about us!!

Christ is Risen...Hallelujah!

 

Happy Resurrection Day!
We hope that you all have enjoyed the day celebrating the Risen Lord!
We had a great day with the fellowship here at Twynholm, then we went to Dean's parents' house for food, fun and fellowship. We even got to speak to my mom in China, and Dean's brother and sister-in-law in Canada. I tried skyping a few others but you weren't answering!! Hope to talk to all of you soon!
Here's a few picutres of the kids...I finally got all 4 of them together - next task is to get them to all smile for the camera ...together!!!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mothering Sunday in the UK. Also known as Mother's Day. I was woken by the scufflings of some excited children being organised by their father. A little while after a few discussions of who was going to carry what, they all walked into the bedroom to wish me a very happy Mother's Day. Abigail had made me a card and a cup of tea (I love that she is old enough to be able to do this without fear of hurting herself), Samuel buttered the toast, Aleah helped me drink my orange juice, Dean 'made' me flowers (and gave me a gift card to one of my favourite stores),and Levi smiled and cooed. It was a lovely way to wake up.

We went out for lunch after church with Dean's family, and throughout the day my children expressed their love for me in various ways. I received many kisses and cuddles from all of my beautiful children. What blessing they are!

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3

Catchin' up

Hey guys!!! It's been a while hasn't it!?! Yep, I've been busy doing STUFF, and other STUFF. I've also had problems with my memory cards and I think that little hands (and maybe not so little) have hidden and or dropped one or two of the memory cards down the floor boards of our front room! How frustrating!! I'm quite sad about it because not only do I have to get a new memory card but I wasn't able to get all the pictures off before the card(s) went missing!!! :(
So, to keep those of you who want to see recent pictures of the the kids here are a few snaps of Levi and Aleah in the the bath, Sam dressed for 'Red Nose Day' at school, Abigail showing how she feels that her class had to go on a trip on 'Red Nose Day' and therefore had to wear their uniforms when everyone else was doing fun things.

Friday Fun

Today there was a book signing at a local bookstore by one of our favourite children's authors, Julia Donaldson. Her most well-known book is 'The Gruffalo'. I decided it would be fun to get our copy of the book signed by her. I picked up the oldest 2 from school and off we all (the little ones as well) went to see if we could meet the author. The bookstore had also advertised that 'the Gruffalo' would be visiting the store as well. There was quite a line waiting by the time we arrived. I wasn't sure about waiting in a LONG line with 4 children, and Levi was needing to be fed as well! But, I decided to go for it. Thankfully, I had arranged for Dean to meet us at the shopping center when he finished his afternoon job. Anyway...just shortly after I started feeding Levi his bottle, back-up (Dean) arrived and we managed to keep everyone calm as we waited for an hour and a half. I am pleased that we did wait, because the illustrator, Axel Scheffler, was signing as well. They were both very formidable and Axel drew a little picture in each book. Sam was quite impressed with the speed of his drawing, and that it looked exactly like the characters in the book.
We were able to have a little photo op with 'the Gruffalo'. Aleah wasn't too sure about this character with ...knobbly knees, and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of his nose...As you might be able to see from the photo, she did not want to take her eyes off this guy for one second.