the6masons

Exam results day!

2009-08-27T18:36:00.002+01:00

An exciting day today - Joe finally got to find out the results of all his hard work... well done, Son.

It was very emotional for all concerned, making the last visit to King's - very sad to have 'no good reason' to go back to the lovely old place, but I guess we have to really move on now...

A trip up to the downs for a cappucino on the hill and the chance to reflect on the bigger plan that he's taking another step forward in - nothing better than a really big sky to put things in perspective :o)

Here it is!

2009-07-19T13:51:00.003+01:00

Finally a picture.

CBT out of the way - well done

(please be safe)

The boys are happy!

2009-07-17T12:11:00.001+01:00

tevez-poster1
Originally uploaded by Manchester City FC - Official

Like it?... Luv it.

Guess who?!

2009-07-11T14:20:00.002+01:00

... license... insurance... test... gear... and of course the bike... finance... it all adds up! He's working hard though, and is just about there. Test today and collecting the vehicle afterwards; watch this space!

No way

2009-07-08T13:00:00.002+01:00

it's so helpful having Joe at home... yesterday he fixed the washing machine for me - for real, wow, the pump looked bad

Scrapbooking!

2009-07-08T12:47:00.004+01:00

The gap-filling is off to a good start... thank you so much for taking the trouble to email; every memory is so precious and will be gratefully entered into the 'Mason History' scrapbook for our little loves to recall all their influential early days... I've put some outline comments into the blog here, to hopefully continue to inspire recollections, but most of the detail is going into the scrapbook itself x

Trying to fill in scrapbook gaps!

2009-07-05T13:15:00.005+01:00

I'm trying to fill in scrapbook gaps and I'd really appreciate help, if anyone has anyone has any dates or memories that might be popped in...

I've created a basic framework of dates as posts and maybe these will trigger memories of around key times?

Please, please... even the smallest or seemingly silliest mention would be appreciated!! (Also any corrections you might see that need putting in, eg wrong dates!) Hopefully there are some folk out there who remember us, in one way or another???

Those of you able to post directly to this blog (you know who you are!) please help me build this - with our family members disappearing fast, it's a desperate race to try to get this memories in place :o)

Easter blessings!

2009-04-12T07:00:00.003+01:00

Phoebe's message :o)

New phone day 3

2009-04-05T07:20:00.002+01:00

Gettin the hang of it (dinosaur that I am!) with a lot of help from my Joe... Still discoverin loads of things it can do -slowly draggin myself in2 the 21st century!

google, of course (click here!)

2009-03-16T18:16:00.004Z

Might have known that Google would have a solution. This is a lovely little device that enables you to incorporate every little twist and turn of your journey into your measurements (and there were a few!)

lots of fun. Little things, I guess!

It seems the little ones covered 2.30843 miles today! and they weren't remotely tired!

Walk home from school...

2009-03-16T17:59:00.002Z

I wonder whether there's a website that measures distances walked (or meandered) across country? I've used routefinder-type-thingys in the past to measure distances travelled, but today we went off-road and would like to know how far the little ones walk for when I get fit enough to run it (don't laugh). Will keep looking... suffice to say that we had a wonderful walk home from school today across fields and parks and lanes. Yoda is thrilled and the children all arrived home relaxed and settled down to their homework beautifully (!) and are now enjoying a dusk bounce on the trampoline. Lovely.

yoda or amphibian?

2009-02-14T19:08:00.001Z

2009 february
Originally uploaded by the6masons

feelin green n slimy!.... we've had the face paints out practising again... for what, I don't know, but it was loads of fun.

Pink Princess Pussy Cat

2009-02-14T19:06:00.001Z

2009 february
Originally uploaded by the6masons

Feelin pink & furry!

2009 feb anni & padme

2009-02-12T20:14:00.001Z

2009 feb anni & padme
Originally uploaded by the6masons

New additions to the family... where will it end?!

Will has had a wonderful evening, going to tea at his friends house; ending up with two new guinea pigs AND a visit to cubs; in his element!

Lovely day!

2009-02-11T16:37:00.006Z

Today was one of those rare, unexpected lovely days that come along once in a blue moon...

After a week stuck off school because of the snow, the three little ones were struck down with a heavy colds, sore throats and temperatures. The older two bounced back fairly quickly, but poor Bea was a bit sick yesterday morning, which meant she wasn't allowed back to school for 48 hrs... with Dad due into work early this meant a rare 'mummy day' and with Bea bouncier than ever, we got up to lots of fun while she waited for her parole!

'Dancing on ice' at the park was a laugh... especially when Yoda did his best to pull us over and we had no means to resist! Playing Simpsons top trumps & Happy Families was the usual fun, but best of all the the cake shop - where we baked lemon cup cakes 'injected' with jam surprise and topped with pink icing and sprinkles - Phoebe then displayed these in her shop with full signage, check out and everything! Shame we have to go back to work and school tomorrow, really.

2009-02-08T13:01:00.000Z

Hi, after unexpected technical difficulties the 3rd mason is back under the Alias - JAMM

joe's basement...

2009-02-04T20:22:00.004Z

joe's in business... in the absence of available saturday jobs, he's having a go at lending a hand to those with too little time or technology or whatever.... an old idea made new by a 16-yr-old!

http://joesblogbasement.blogspot.com/

Where does the time go? Click here for a blast from the past :o)

2009-01-18T10:29:00.019Z

Over 17 years ago now... I can't believe how long it's been since these have seen the light of day, but our dear Joe has purchased a scanner and now he's on a mission to get all the pre-digital pictures (thousands) in... I'll try to only put the odd gem onto here for the memories, but it's lovely to dust these off again :o)

where is everyone?

2009-01-17T07:30:00.003Z

here I am, at home on a saturday morning for the first time in ages, and its just me n Yoda! Perhaps it's because they don't want to come near me cos I've been up all night being poorly... or maybe they always sleep in like this when I'm at work!? I'll just stay here quietly (near the loo, where I need to be!) and see how long it takes...

lover

2008-11-18T20:00:00.003Z

i have a boyfriend called matt hes sweet kind loveing and very cool

my friends

2008-11-18T19:35:00.002Z

my bffs are mia and zoe abd my friends are georgia lauren kayarna tigen,abbie.h,ellie.w., ellie.m. and abbie.g...x

my boyfriend is Matt...x

That's my girl!

2008-09-28T13:49:00.002+01:00

Lauren's jumping! Fab! :o)

August

2008-08-12T01:41:00.002+01:00

It's nearly time for Lou to wake up on her 11th birthday! Thinking back to this time all those years ago is incredible - where does the time go?

It's been a busy couple of years with lots of changes, but someone said to me that 'that's life and what keeps it interesting'. That kind of interesting is something I could do with a little less of at the moment, because it's exhausting keeping up with change all the time - it seems to be such a predominant feature in our lives - but I guess we just have to accept it.

The next few months are going to see huge changes again for our family, so watch this space... we're entering a turbulent season again and I'm praying that we keep it together because it would have been nice to have a more settled time after the past 18months, but to go back to the original thought; where does the time go? It flies by and very little stays the same.

Half way!

2008-03-31T17:12:00.003+01:00

Half way through the Easter hols and I can't believe how fast they're going!

Lou spent the day at her stables today - came home worn out and smelly, but incredibly happy :o)

Joe got the train to Harpenden with some friends and I took the two younger ones out to lunch and the library with friends we haven't seen for a while...

... aah the stuff holidays are made of! Swimming, shopping, park,... something new every day. Eye tests tomorrow - what other fun ideas can we come up with, I wonder???

PP4S

2008-03-24T19:09:00.002Z

Lauren and Will are very excited about singing with their school choir this Wednesday at Prom Praise for schools. You can find out more about the event at this website...

www.allsoulsorchestra.org/index.php?m=10

Watch this space for a few piccies, hopefully!

Happy Birthday, lovely Will!

2008-02-10T07:23:00.001Z

OUR BIG EIGHT BOY!

new spidey slippers

another fab Auntie Val creation

arriving at the zoo

first the seal show for a good drenching!

pit stop for a re-fuel (Will getting very excited!)

watching the penguins being fed

at the observation point

watching the train (with ice creams, of course!)

watching the lemurs waiting for their tea

We love you, Willoughby x

Happy times at our local zoo... 5 hours, loads of running around, beautiful blue skies, crisp, warm weather, great company (a couple of best mates missing but hopefully we'll do a re-run with them another time)... all the best ingredients for an 8 yr old (and his parents!)

What's a Mum to do...?

2008-01-28T12:58:00.000Z

Lou has been complaining of stomach cramps for a couple of days now. As she sometimes suffers from the dreaded 'lack of fibre' problem, we had been putting it down to that (there are no other symptoms), but this morning after I'd gone to work, she woke up and felt unable to go to school - the first time I've not been there when one of my little ones needed 'mummy attention'!

John stepped in admirably, got the other three to school and took Lou to the doctors before tucking her up in bed and spending the rest of the morning working from home.

Just waiting on test results now, but the doctor wasn't overly concerned. She's given Lou tablets for her cramps and she's now sleeping peacefully.

So now I'm trying to come to terms with the adjustment of the reality of working - I guess we knew it was going to happen but it still feels odd now that it has... gotta cut the apron strings sometimes, I suppose.

How cool are they?

2008-01-20T08:18:00.000Z

Off to the movies to see 'I am Legend' - rated 15 - because now they all are (15, as well as legendary).

Yep, I know I sound SO old, but how grown up do these boys look (they'll hate me for saying that, but...). Can't believe it.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the gene pool.... sorry Will - you're gorgeous really x x x

15! I can hardly believe it!

2008-01-10T13:20:00.001Z

Happy birthday,

precious young man!

eggies for breakfast!
the cake - thanks to Auntie Val
even bigger bruv x

Loving memories of Grandad Bill, who passed away on this day last year and also cousin Linda who was with us for Joe's party but passed away soon after, also Gramps of course who passed away in June - always in our hearts. Three people who were very sorely missed over Christmas and today.

Greetings!

2007-12-15T13:50:00.000Z

Have a look at our Christmas Greeting! ho ho ho x

http://www.everyclick.com/santaswing.html?mid=25010310

Cooool dentists!

2007-12-13T17:02:00.000Z

Will wanted to put this picture in 'x-ray' mode because the new dentists today took a digital x-ray of Lauren's teeth... cooool! Within seconds we were admiring her new wisdom teeth forming in the depths of her gums. The wonders of modern science!

Snooker loopy

2007-12-09T18:47:00.002Z

Will and Phoebe have had their turn, now it's mine & Lou's. It's great fun!

Cold but lots of fun!

2007-12-09T18:23:00.000Z

Horse riding; cold but fun. I did lots of work off the lead rein today on Piccolo. The lesson was great and very exciting.xxx

Snooker table!

2007-12-09T15:54:00.000Z

New snooker table - wahey!

2007-12-09T08:01:00.000Z

I want to say 'GOD LOVES YOU' :o)

Perfect weekend?

2007-12-08T23:10:00.000Z

I'm hoping that Joe is pleased. He appears to be having what could be said (for a teenage boy) to be the perfect weekend.

His football team played and won a match this morning (he wasn't picked for the team, but went along to support anyway). He then brought home two of his best mates and after they'd all peeled all the mud off they headed into town to a 'world-famous in Luton' chinese buffet restaurant where they met more friends (among them 3 lovely ladies; I'm still working out how they managed to be conned into going along). The afternoon was open to them and with lots of options (movies, bowling,..) they decided to go Christmas shopping together, then came home to the beloved wii and with only a short break for pizza and a bit of mac-time, resulted in a move to the bedroom to continue the gaming...

Phoebe has also had a wonderful day and is SOUND asleep, happily worn out from going to a Christmas party at her friend's church in the morning and back for lunch and a play in the afternoon.

The other two simply basked in all the extra attention they received and made plans for their turns... will see what pictures can be mustered.

In the meantime can we all just say a hearty 'well done' to Zoe and that we're really proud of you! More details on that as permissions are confirmed :o)

work life

2007-11-05T19:04:00.001Z

After Dad died I gave up work at YWAM and the coffee shop - not being able to face it any more - not anyone's fault but my own.

Probably out of some desire to move on in some way, but certainly out of a need to try to rescue ourselves financially, I took a temporary job @ harpenden M&S. This turned into a permanent contract after Christmas, but the hours were very difficult for all the family.

Friends United - Jungle!

2007-10-15T19:01:00.001+01:00

Dad died on the day of one of the last planning meetings, so I went a bit 'off line' for the rest of this event ... but an excellent time was had by all and we still managed to be involved as a family

Joe's trip to Latvia with Dawn Kids

2007-10-05T18:58:00.000+01:00

Phoebe starts 'Big School' (reception)

2007-09-10T19:03:00.000+01:00

THANKS!

2007-09-10T13:40:00.001+01:00

It's been a long while... it's been a massively 'random' year so far; let's hope it's a bit quieter from now on! Hoping to get back to posting again a little more... maybe even putting on a few pics of the things the six of us have been getting up to over the summer, in our effort to bring some vague sense of normality back to our household.

In the meantime, just wanted to say a huge 'thank you' to those of you that have prayed with us, cooked for us, listened to us and generally been there with us through these dark months. Hopefully the sun will start to shine for us a bit again and we can move on as a family now?

Blessings...

Where does the time go?

2007-05-26T04:05:00.001+01:00

Bill,.. Linda, Joe's ski trip, SATs, School Arts Festivals, Birthdays, Sleepovers, Blocked Drain, Netball, Dawn Kids, Planning for half term..., the brothers football & party, Alpha, Imacs, Trampoline, broken finger, Legoland trip, The Wii!, Swimming Gala, Home Group, Praise & Prayer, YWAM, Tennis, Coffee... Dad's brain tumour, Camping plans, New Wine Women's Day, POD, Sunday School, Piano with Carol, Tortoise-sitting!, our little 'allotment', enforced bathroom renovations, Shakespear trip, moving plans (bedrooms, not house), John's football, card-making, pets, driving the mini-bus!, Word in the Spirit Week, parent's evenings, Fiddler on the roof, bike riding, wobbly teeth, football at the park... no particular order; sense, size, priority... just random things that I can remember and things we may be able to get back to and blog on later?
There's been a lot going on this past year - haven't blogged as much as we'd liked/planned. It'll take all year to cover this stuff. We've been very introverted - but there always seems to be so much going on - our fault; easier to keep busy. Looking forward to a chance for rest, but realising that we need to accept life the way it is and stop waiting for that day! How to do that is the question; only one way, I guess (in the words of a song!).

JOe's ski trip

2007-04-05T16:06:00.000+01:00

Easter business...

2007-03-28T23:31:00.000+01:00

This is Phoebe's Easter Bag - to help her remember the Easter story. See if you can identify the elements and what they are reminders of! (Answers in a later post...)

The Nintendo DS's are never far away (puppies to be fed n walked...)

Loads to do, though - with the last day of term approaching and those Easter 'blessings' to make...

Just the mess to clear up now...!

the cool skier

2007-03-27T21:21:00.000+01:00

Sking

2007-03-27T20:35:00.000+01:00

In a few days time ill be going sking. This is going to be excellent fun, especially as i'm going with all of my mates. I really can't wait to go and the house over the last few days has been in uproar as I unpacked, repacked then packed again. At the moment I only have an electric adaptor left to pack; but I'm sure that when I come back i'll have a list as long as my arm of things that i've forgotten. Anyway thinking positive, its going to be a great week and i just can't wait to go!
Posting Again Soon!

Look what we made...

2007-03-25T21:53:00.000+01:00

I slipped off to London for the day yesterday and came back to find our garden 'project' completed! Well done, all - the hard work's paid off.

This one's for Tabba

2007-03-23T21:52:00.000Z

Hey, look! Will's teeth are falling out too! He feels so grown up.

Cool colouring mat

2007-03-20T21:50:00.000Z

Had to capture Phoebe with this because she enjoys it so much as you can see...

Happy Mothering Sunday

2007-03-18T22:09:00.000Z

The next phase of our garden project is underway.

Thoughts with Josephine more than ever today x

Me n my bruv

2007-03-10T21:29:00.000Z

Helping Phoebe to plant the sunflower he got her :o)

Most excellent park discovery

2007-03-09T20:00:00.000Z

After Will went to a friends for a sleepover (which he loved!!!) we went to meet him at this fab park and had an excellent time ;o)

Singstar superstars!

2007-03-08T19:58:00.000Z

Singing their hearts out!

Phoebe's Cinderella carriage

2007-03-07T19:57:00.000Z

As well as singstar, Grandma organised this!

Phoebe's 4th birthday

2007-03-07T19:22:00.000Z

Happy Birthday, Sweetie x

Pass-the-parcel

The controller of the pass-the-parcel music (bless 'im!)

Birthday cutie with her 'goodies'

More cats

2007-02-27T21:44:00.000Z

Apologies, but they are cute!

woodwork & modifications

2007-02-27T21:28:00.000Z

whatever will they think of next?

Phoebe's Jessie picture

2007-02-27T19:55:00.001Z

Just love this!

The show must go on..

2007-02-22T22:03:00.001Z

After weeks and months of rehearsals Joe has done really well to get through the first night of the show - the first of three performances.

Although he's had to carry on in spite of sad circumstances, perhaps it's given him something to focus on as he's done really well and we're very proud of him. Great stuff, son.

Pancakes galore

2007-02-20T21:48:00.000Z

We had to have a bit of fun with pancakes and decided to design our own...

Linda's funeral

2007-02-15T22:03:00.000Z

Will's 7th birthday cake

2007-02-06T19:53:00.000Z

After the party (which we only got video of so will have to extract stills...) back at home

Lauren away

2007-02-05T21:46:00.000Z

Difficult though it was to let her go, Lauren's all ready to head off on her trip with her classmates... more pics to follow when we work out how to download from her camera

a couple of links

2007-02-05T06:23:00.000Z

Well I was going to post a couple of lovely pics of our Dad, Father-in-law, Grandad on the day of the funeral, by way of explanation of why we haven't been posting. As everyone knows anyway, he died on Joe's birthday (but we felt we ought to go ahead with the party the following Saturday so it wasn't all sad associations for Joe).
With Linda dying exactly a week later, I won't be getting onto that for a while. So instead here are a couple of links, for the memory, that folk have set up for her.

linda 1 and linda 2

Bill's funeral

2007-01-25T22:02:00.000Z

Happy Birthday, Joe

2007-01-15T09:54:00.000Z

Our older son (big brother) had his 14th birthday party on Saturday. Hopefully a great time was had by all - an hour of football followed by an hour of basketball at the leisure centre. Then home for pizza and all the paraphenalia that goes with that in front of the play station. You're growing up son (brother) and rather wonderfully, if we might say so x

Joe's 14th birthday

2007-01-10T17:48:00.001Z

Party a few days later because Grandad Bill passed away on the day of Joe's birthday. The party when it took place, was with all the boys from his class playing 5-a-side football at Stopsley Leisure Centre. Gary and David helped, so Josephine and Linda came to spend the afternoon with me and the girls - Linda being the rose among smelly thorns when the boys all returned!

My pets

2007-01-05T19:27:00.000Z

These are my pets and I love them x

(not including my fish, of course!)

2007-01-05T12:57:00.000Z

High times and holidays... we've had a lovely break, but now I guess we have to get back to the real world.

Here are a few piccies we have permission to publish (our immediate family!) any offers of contributions very welcome... please post a comment or link! Sadly we didn't get the camera out much this year, but we captured a few 'kodak moments'!

Happy New Year to anyone we haven't already seen x

One sunny winters day

2007-01-02T19:49:00.000Z

Childhood memories of this place...

Elf yourself

2006-12-21T16:35:00.000Z

Couldn't resist posting these links... how funny are they? Many giggles all round :O)

Phoebe - Lauren - Will

Performance, yes... piccies, no

2006-12-17T23:46:00.000Z

Yep performance went well yesterday, but no piccies - will have to wait for any 'offical releases'! It went even better tonight though, which was wonderful. Really enjoyed it - maybe everyone was just more relaxed, but it all seemed so good... didn't want it to end, after all this time waiting for it to be here and suddenly it's over.

Were invited to an awesome after-show party, which the children thought was WONDERFUL - madly late for us, but so touching to be included.

Been a long day, though. Lovely (if long!) children's performance at church this morning. Really good fun and the unusual thing about it was that the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves so much up there that they hardly noticed the audience was there!

Home for lunch - Mum had arrived early for the day to catch both performances, so we had a roast in between and lolled about for the afternoon just recharging a bit, which is a good job really!

Must head off to bed though - thank goodness we don't have to get the kids out of bed in the morning!!

is this fast enough???

2006-12-16T16:01:00.000Z

Ha, ha, ha - we were playing around this morning getting Joe's beard for his performance tonight 'right' (or stubble, at least) and suddenly stepped back and realised that he looks about 35!! Is this a sneak preview of what he's going to look like?!

Had a lovely lunch today, seeing dear friends we haven't seen for a while as well as other dear friends we see more regularly...

Sadly we didn't think to get the camera out until later, when nearly everyone had drifted away, but here is a snap of the cheeky line-up that was left at the end (parents not included!!). Mental note to next time try to remember to get pics at time - especially when the kids seem to grow a foot or two between visits!!

Off to the opening evening of Mary's Diary this evening... don't know whether we'll be able to post any pics of that later, but hopefully will.

P.S. How's that for fast posting - same day and everything!

15 years...

2006-12-14T19:00:00.000Z

Can't believe we've passed the 15 year milestone but there you go. Had a lovely anniversary lunch at the Gingerbread Man and a very leisurely sort of day with Phoebe's 'Whoops-a-daisy Angel' show in the morning and the other children in their Carol Service in the afternoon.
All round a very yummy day...

funny that...

2006-12-08T20:26:00.000Z

I've heard it said quite a few times that for every harsh word/action/whatever, it takes 10 good words/etc., to rebalance.... so as a result, I find it interesting how, as a parent, you can take a whole afternoon, evening or even entire day of 'abuse' from little ones and yet one little smile or comment can make the effort to grit one's teeth all worth while!

Will had one of those days today (and has had a few lately!) where everything is too much trouble. It's taken every ounce of control sometimes to keep encouraging him to persevere and not just lose it with him... then tonight at bedtime he turned round with an absolute gem...

'Mummy, I thought you was being mean sending me to bed early tonight (we usually stay up later on a Friday) but now I understand that you just wanted to help me get through the weekend and enjoy it (we do have a suitably exciting time ahead; decorations to put up, Christmas show rehearsals, youth group social and the last week of school before Christmas next week...)'. What a star!

Sometimes I wonder whether anything goes in, or if they just think I'm always being horrible.

Definate 'Thankyou Father' moment :o)

Bill's decline and more of my Dad...

2006-12-05T15:57:00.000Z

Bill was in and out of hospital by now, having had a stent put in at Harefield.

Having seen my Dad a few times since the first contact again in the summer, he wanted me to go shopping with him for the kids Christmas presents... We went to the Bookshop in Crescent Road and he bought the ‘Sing a new song’ picture for me & John, as well as an angel necklace for Lauren. He got Joe ski gloves and goggles for his upcoming ski trip with the school; Will some goalie gloves from Matalan with an outfit and a pretty outfit from there for Phoebe too - treasured more than ever now.

long time, no see...

2006-12-03T14:15:00.001Z

Even though it's been a busy few weeks, it's a shame we've neglected the blog - guess it's a question of finding a way to fit regular visits into our day. We don't always seem to have anything of any interest to post, either, but I guess for reference in the future, it'll be fun for us to look back on all the milestones - large & small!

Recent health 'hiccups' have included little Pheobe struck down by a bug on Tuesday night, but bouncing around again by Thursday. Grandad Bill is back in hospital, having come out after 3 wks for a grand total of 6 days - let's hope he gets properly better this time! Joe's in bed at the moment, but hopefully just overtired - too much growing going on, I think.

This weekend the big highlight has been the annual visit to the star of the Father Christmas story - old Santa himself! We went to Mum's local garden centre for a sleigh-ride and walk through 'wonderland', followed by a home-cooked meal afterwards.

Joe, not wanting to be caught on camera! (he loves it really)

Joe's been busy (as usual) with his rehearsals & homework. He brought home a sample of his DT - a penguin pen holder - not in the happy feet theme, but rather stylish non-the-less!

Lou has got smart new glasses... very gorgeous x

Phoebe has been learning about saying sorry (a most important lesson in life!) and came home with her lovely heart - the dirty 'muddy' side shows what your heart looks like when you do bad things and the BEAUTIFUL decorated side shows how it looks again when you say sorry!

She also enjoyed meeting Fifi and Bumble who were in town to switch on the Christmas lights, although it was a bit overwhelming too!

Will has been on a class trip to Mill Green Museum, which was lovely - we brought home flour that was ground there and we baked bread with it!
They also got to dress up in clothing from the era that the mill was in operation, and do corn plaiting, which was fun!

Finally, a glimpse of the lovely weather we enjoyed on a recent occasional day from school, flying kites...

that's all ... for now!

Wednesday

2006-11-08T20:39:00.000Z

Hiya
Today I Had Dawn Kids, its a school club where we do worship, singing, dancing & Drama.
And the best thing is its all praising God!
On a down side though, our family has now had not 1, not 2 but 3 hospital worthy injures in the past week. First grandad, then my two aunties. I can't believe it! Its been a real bad week . :-(
ANYWAY, our family's involved with this years christmas production at the church!
Supriseingly I got a main part,(joseph). So lots singing practise going on at home!
BBS BYE
X
(BackBloggingSoon)

Back to the real world...

2006-11-06T17:17:00.000Z

Just catching up after a busy weekend... it's great to be all back to normal again, thank goodness that week's out of the way! Just waiting to hear Grandad Bill's results now - let's hope they're positive :o)

A couple of piccies capturing the happiness of Lauren and Will when they returned home from school on Friday, having had their first piano lessons. They were very pleased with themselves and they love their teacher, YAY!

We had a quiet evening, generally 'licking our wounds' a bit, followed by the usual Saturday morning slow wake-up, lazy breakfast.

Guess where we went on
Saturday evening....

Fireworks evening at School!

... the girls loving every minute of it!!

The boys were there too, enjoying the hot soup, baked potatoes and sausages. A lovely, sociable time - they were far to busy to stop to be caught on camera! Friends came back with us after all the washing up was done, which was a nice way to round off the evening.

The morning service was great the next day and the children loved their groups, as usual. Lou's rehearsing a drama as her group are taking over the whole church for the morning in a few week's time... should be fun!

Sunday afternoon saw a few tears and tantrums and Joe & I struggled to get to grips with a few sound/compatibility issues on the pc, but it was all resolved eventually and we can now use the links the clever techno-guys have made to the music for the Christmas performance to get some serious practise underway...

-x-

Brainstorm

2006-11-03T08:55:00.000Z

It's been an unusual few days for the Mason household.

During the day on wednesday, Grandad Bill suffered a small heartattack which finally sent him into hospital (after what could have been a warning just over a week earlier). He suffered another one that evening. He's stable but weak and is being transferred to a specialist heart hospital on the weekend for an angiogram and possible angioplasty... suffice to say he's in our prayers.

Finding a friend in the same ward upon going to visit Bill was an unpleasant surprise, but hopefully he's going to be fine and it was just a scare, GW.

Completely trivial by comparison, but nevertheless disruptive to our daily life, I was struck down by a migraine on wednesday afternoon which put me out of action. Probably only a side-effect of this hideous cold and cough we all have, so hopefully soon to be completely gone, but horrid all the same.

So John (bless) has taken up the reigns and been running the children to and from school, as well as visiting the hospital and trying to carry on with his normal responsibilities! He's getting a welcome reward, hopefully today, when he goes for a nice lunch at an awards ceremony in London :o)

It's amazing how little things align to smooth the way slightly, at times like this though. Wednesday afternoon I was looking forward to an arrangement I really didn't want to miss, but it was cancelled so I didn't have to let anyone down. That evening, home group was supposed to be at ours and everyone wonderfully swung into action and relocated with very little notice. Thursday, Phoebe would normally have been at home with me, (wanting full-on entertaining!) but there happened to be a travelling farm visiting pre-school so all the children were invited to attend (leaving her worn-out enough in the afternoon to need a nap anyway!). Today I can't go into the coffee shop as I normally would, as they've been running low on staff, for various reasons, all week and are therefore not opening today - so that gives me one more welcome morning to rest before returning to the school run and heading into the weekend!

All round not making for an entirely exciting blog, but hopefully that explains the absence of trivia lately!
...on it goes, John just limped home from dropping the children to school with a flat tyre on my car. Thank goodness we have the other one to carry on with. I've run him to work, so there's the added bonus that I had him with me the first time I took to the wheel again :o)

Football Score

2006-11-01T17:33:00.000Z

No3 here,
in case you were wondering the final score for our football team yesterday was 13-1 to the oposition. We were slaughtered, but had gr8 fun.
See u soon!

2006-10-31T20:45:00.000Z

Tuesday. Woke up to the songs of the new Christmas production. Have to have 2 learnt by next monday's meeting and it looks like the whole family's going to be learning them (again!), even though it's only Joe performing!
Everyone had a good & normal day, except poor Joe who had double PE in the morning, an away match with the school soccer team in the afternoon followed by school's easter performance rehearsals after school! He just about fell asleep in his pumpkin & kumara soup when he got in, poor thing. Shoved him through the bath and off to bed; all four are snoring now (John's gone to watch LTFC play, with the other guys from home group)

2006-10-30T20:05:00.000Z

Monday. Back to normal after half term. Thankfully daylight saving started yesterday, so it was a bit easier to get up in the morning. Everything as usual today - nothing unexpected happened... until the evening when the first meeting for the Christmas production was held - very exciting :o)

2006-10-29T20:38:00.000Z

Sunday, yep - the friends united reunion service. Went well, was great fun. Purple didn't win, but all the groups tried really hard, so it must have been a difficult decision.
Spent the afternoon in a state of exhaustion; think the week and the cold's we've gone down with have really caught up with us. Worth it, cos it was a great week, but just needing to get back on form for the week now!

2006-10-29T09:14:00.000Z

Sunday, friends utd celebration today! Hopefully all my group will be there. Wilf's gonna do a presentation and the final points will be revealed. Hope group seven have won!

Back again l8r :o)

2006-10-28T23:06:00.000+01:00

and here's BOO!

2006-10-28T22:29:00.000+01:00

Hold everything, Will's here ....

2006-10-28T22:15:00.000+01:00

Dad's on board...

2006-10-28T21:56:00.000+01:00

joe's arrived (skunk boy)

2006-10-28T21:54:00.000+01:00

Hey, Lou's here!

2006-10-28T19:35:00.000+01:00

Well, we've been sent links to a few peoples' blog pages now and we figured the time had come for us to venture into blog-space ourselves... who knows what may unfold here, but going by our previous adventures, hopefully it won't be boring! Maybe can even use it to stay in touch better. Fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy ride....

Wilf's wacky workshop & Bill

2006-10-05T15:53:00.001+01:00

We had a mad few weeks helping make props for the set, but the whole thing was tragically overshadowed by John's Dad, Bill was taken into hospital, which meant John was sidewalled at this time. Joe & I helped on team with the year 6 group... our first experience of FUtd.

another bombshell...

2006-09-05T15:47:00.003+01:00

another bombshell that unsettled our family to the core was when a friend that had been such an inspiration to John, lost his job... something we'll always struggle to come to terms with.

Lauren's 9th birthday

2006-08-12T19:14:00.000+01:00

Lauren turns 9

New Wine again!

2006-07-05T15:37:00.001+01:00

Carol & Mark’s first venture to New Wine. Liz & Tim leaving to go away to vicar training college straight from New Wine :o(

Lauren chose to do a week-long workshop at her ballet school for her birthday present, which was the week Joe was away at Ignite. Unfortunately the show at the end was at the same time as I had to go collect Joe, but Daddy made it there and Joe and the others all called in to see Liz & Tim in their new home on our way back from collecting Joe from Alton.

not so good though,

2006-06-30T15:45:00.000+01:00

...not so good was the burglary we suffered while sleeping the night after the Summer Fair - we were at a lost to know what to do, and were very grateful for help with getting the kids to school from pupil’s parents and their support.

Father's Day

2006-06-24T15:40:00.000+01:00

In an unexplainable moment of hope, I drop a father’s day card into Auntie Phyllis to give to Dad, with a tentative enquiry about getting in touch, after several years... days later he calls round to say 'Hi'.

New School

2006-05-05T15:28:00.004+01:00

Life continues in the whirlwind way that it's undertaken of late...

For the last half term of years 8, 3 and 1, Joe, Lou and Will started at The King’s School and Phoebe at Highfield Pre-school in Mrs E's group; the Lambs. The Senior Arts Festival & Sports Days were a lovely taste of things to come.

With the occasional day of having all the children at school, I try to volunteer outside the home rather than face the empty house (& housework) - also in an effort to try to get to know new people, (in my usual inept way) having failed miserably, as usual, to keep in touch with old friends,... YWAM and the SBC coffee shop are kind enough to have me for a few hours a week.

Narnia performances and our poor Aslan!

2006-04-05T15:24:00.002+01:00

Easter and time for the Grease and Narnia performances - phew! Busy times. Through his work in the play, Joe met some lovely kids that went to The King’s School and very much impressed us all as a family- leading us to find out more about the school...

Tragically, we also discovered our little Aslan had kidney cancer at this time, too and he very quickly passed away :o(

Phoebe's 3rd birthday

2006-03-07T19:21:00.000Z

Phoebe turns 3