How do you stop...

We have so much chocolate in our house!!!!

For Christmas we were inundated with gifts of chocolate, biscuits, sweets of all descriptions, and are now flooded!

My no sugar rule seems to have gone out of the window, and I am feeling very lethargic for it. 

How do you stop people buying sweet treats for gift or for your children???

Does anyone have any ideas? 

I feel mean just getting rid of it all, as the children are old enough to know who bought them it and how much they have left, so I cant even sneak it out!!!

My kids are very good at only having it when they are told, but it's me!!!! there is so much temptation around, it's driving me crazy!!

I can't wait to get back to eating our usual food ALL the time! 

Raw Milk arriving in a few days, so let the healing begin!!

Consumerism gone mad??

Is it just me, or has Christmas just got more and more about "STUFF"???

As we approach this special day, every year seems to become a competition of who can spend the most amount of money on the most amount of stuff for the most amount of people and win!!

When did this happen???

I didn't grow up in a Christian house, so it was never really about Christ, unfortunately, when I was a kid, but we always spent time together, watching various films as a family, and just enjoying each other's company, with good food and a gratefulness for the things we did get!!

Now that I have grown up ( a little....), I want to instill some of the same things in my children; spending time with those you love and a gratefulness for what they have, but also an appreciation for the greatest gift mankind was every given.

A way back to God.

This holiday is not about Stuff. Jesus was given meaningful presents by the Magi, and a small, thoughtful present is the most we have done this year. Instead, our focus will be along the lines of the American Thanksgiving. We give thanks for our family around us, who have thoughtfully given us presents. We are thankful for the special treats and food we can put on our table, and the means to do so. We are thankful for a roof over our heads and heating and lighting. 

But most of all, on Christmas day, Santa falls by the wayside in the presence of the KING of kings and the Lord of lords, our most precious gift, Jesus Christ. 

So there is no mad rush on Christmas Eve in our house, there are no £££££ signs in our children's eyes as they stare at a mountain of useless "STUFF" that will be forgotten by suppertime. There will be fun and laughter, thanksgiving and prayer, and Jesus.

Amen.

It's ALIVE!!!!!!

I'm very impressed!!

I've been making a Ginger bug for my fermented Ginger Beer and I think it's now ready!!!

I found the recipe Here and have been trying it out, having never tried fermenting before.

It looked like slush for days, but the recipe says that it is ready when it starts to bubble as you stir it.

It's BUBBLY!!!! 

I'm really looking forward to making this, as it is a healthy, probiotic soda, and I do have to say, I get a little bored of drinking just water.....

So another week of fermenting in the bottles, and we will be ready to taste.

I will let you know how it all goes....

Happy Birthday Smudge!

My Little Smudge is 11 today!

I can't believe it! where did the time go???? 

We always tell "The Birth Story" on birthdays in our house. Little bud is different because, as he's adopted, we have his "Gotcha Day" story instead, about the day he came to live with us. 

Smudge's birth story was that he was our rainbow baby. I have a history of very large babies, something we didn't realise until in the middle of giving birth to my daughter!!! (A harrowing tale for another time...) 
Because of this, I was checked, scanned and monitored very closely through the next 2 pregnancies, and when I was scanned at 37 weeks, and he was measuring 9lb1oz, they decided to induce me at 38 weeks! (As an older and wiser mama now, this is not something I would allow now, however I was 22 and easily swayed by the authority of the midwife and doctors.)

The labour it's self was pretty straight forward, but the panic of the midwives when I was ready to push caused him to get stuck. (that, and the fact that they had AGAIN put me on my side, and although I have broad hips, that sucker was not budging that way.) I managed to tell them I want to be on my back and when I moved, so did he!

The result was a very blue faced, Beautiful baby that weighed exactly 10lb!!!! 

Over the course of the next few days, his face went from blue to purple, then to red, then to yellow, as he developed jaundice (!) and then finally to a plump pink! Hence the rainbow baby.

So, as we do every year, I retold the Birth story, and Smudge snuggled in and smiled as he listened. See, some family traditions just make you feel home......

Happy Birthday Smudge x