Giving Thanks

Yes, I will say at the start that I'm fully aware it is not yet Thanksgiving. However, I am also aware that I need to be giving thanks much more frequently than once a year. :)
Living in England has loads of delightful things that come with it. It also has loads of not so delightful things and some things that make me need to spike a volleyball in a way that dents the court. I'm sure that anyone living in a foreign country comes across this phenomenon.
I have a really distinct memory from my childhood. After some sin incident (likely grumbling or complaining) my mom made me sit down with a piece of paper and write a list of things I was thankful for. I believe that the requirement was at least 20. By item 15, I was on to her little game, but I was also very starkly aware that my list could be MUCH longer than 20 and that I didn't have a case for my grumbles.
Given that I have found myself too easily going to the list of complaints lately, I thought I should pull out that old lesson and make a list of things I am thankful for here. So here we go. Don't worry it won't be even close to exhaustive and this is more for me than you readers and I do have two kids now, so this can't take TOO long. :) Here we go:
1. God saved me despite the massive ball of sin that I am.
2. Christ died for me which is still mind boggling and hurts my brain when I ponder it deeply.
3. I was born and raised in the wealthiest country in the world, which had many blessings.
4. I was given to a strong Christian family.
5. I have 3 siblings with whom I have loads of terrific memories.
6. On the memory front, I have tons of those with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles that I treasure.
7. The 3 siblings all married people that I happen to really like (hey not everyone gets that!) and I have the best nieces and nephews ever.
8. I received a priceless education which will continue to pay dividends til I die
9. I had dear friends growing up and one with whom the laughs still roll on even over skype. (Shout out Natali Monette!)
10. I had the best job in the world for 9 years and could write hundreds of things to be thankful for off of that.
11. I switched jobs to marry my husband for whom I am daily grateful.
12. My new job is uber challenging (yep some of the reasons for the grumbles) but also so deeply fulfilling and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
13. My son is Colin
14. My daughter is Chloe
15. I can say words like 'son' and 'daughter' and 'husband'. There was a time I thought I never would.
16. God made oceans with which I have an eternal love affair
17. God also came up with seasons and I'm pretty stoked about it
18. Current season is autumn and that means spices and pumpkins and crisp air and bread and soup and bonfire nights and turkey and...... three months of build up to December 25th. I mention that quietly as some feel they must wait til December 1st. :)
19. Chores are tiring but the glow of satisfaction with a clean home is lovely.
20. I like the way our living room is coming together.
21. I enjoy making a beautiful table in our dining room
22. We have a back yard. The possibilities are many!
23. Mark has a great job that allows us to save for moving back to the US
24. Speaking of the US, we get to go for Christmas--my first one back since my marriage!!
25. I love Sunday evenings with Will and Katie.
26. My son loves Sunday evenings with Will and Katie and we're loving their relationship (godparents)
27. I am endlessly enraptured by small toes
28. Mowing the lawn makes me feel ridiculously good
29. I adore baking
30. My recovery after this pregnancy is going really well
31. Mark and I are unashamed Costco junkies.
32. UK Starbucks are carrying pumpkin spice lattes this year!
33. I love gumtree (UK Craig's list) and the fun furniture we've got off of it.
34. We have a proper guest room in this house
35. I can call Brooke Newman anytime because we're in the same timezone and can understand each other's joys and burdens in a way others can't. :)
36. Walking everywhere helps with the weight loss!
37. I like living in a village.
38. Trains are the way to go.
39. Volleyball still makes me feel great.
40. I can hang laundry outside

As I said, there could be more, but 40 is a good number so I'll stop there! Off for  a walk...

And Colin figures out why all the pink has showed up

So two became one. Then two became three. And now two has become four. Now, most of you know how rubbish I am with math, but if you think about that, I am correct. :)
Two weeks ago we welcomed Chloe Elizabeth Julia Wilson into the world! Born on the birthday of my lovely grandmother, our little girl now seems as though she has always been part of our lives. She is sweet, there's no other word for it. Little kissable lips and big blue eyes that are already very keen and interested, very like her brother at that age.
Mummy is quite pleased to have the girl/boy tally evened out as well as having an excuse to buy tiny girl shoes. :) Colin got lots of cute little boy shoes, but seems to have serious ethical objections to wearing shoes--ever. I think he believes he was born into a tropical climate as he also frequently objects to trousers and can be found triumphantly waving them in the air, shortly after being dressed. Our recent heat wave has been Colin's style exactly as he has basically lived in his diaper.
But he has loved being a big brother and Chloe is enduring some vigorous hugging and pats on the head. He likes to pat her back to help her burp and point to her nose and eyes and then to his own.
Yes, it's been an adjustment from one child to two, but to be honest, we're finding it relatively smooth. I'm sure the big challenge will come from two to three, but we'll cross that bridge, when, Lord willing, we cross it. :)
So here she is!!

Our sweet tiny girl

Big brothering

My little face

The fam!

Seasons

Again, it's pretty terrible how I neglect this, but I really have a pretty good excuse this time. We moved, we totally revamped the new yard, painted in the house, went up North, hosted a Father's Day celebration bbq, had a friend stay for 10 days and went to Salisbury for an ordination. Oh yes, and I'm uber-pregnant. Is that enough? Do I pass? :)
I speak rhetorically though, as all those things are actually not the topics here.
Now that I have a moment to sit and reflect, I thought I would share what God has placed in the forefront of my mind.
My daughter is to be born Lord willing, on the 16th of this month by c-section. As it happens this is my grandmother's birthday, and all things point to it being her last on this earth. It is quite possible that Grandma may not even make it to that 89th birthday. And so as I get heavier with my child and very ready to say hello to her, I also have a heart getting heavier as I get ready to say good-bye to my last
grandparent.
My heart is not heavy in despair. It is the natural sadness that all dear partings produce. But I am reflecting on the seasons of life and the way God has particularly put them in sharp relief this time around. I prepare to welcome a new life to the world likely within days of my Grandmother entering a new life of eternity with Christ. How's that for God's storytelling? Die to live. Emerge to new life from the womb and emerge to new life from the tomb.
Each time I've stood on a train platform in the last few days, I ponder the great metaphor it is for this parting. Lewis got that very well and both Grandma and Grandpa Garfield loved his writing. My grandfather's gravestone reads 'This is the Morning' which all you Narnia lovers know is from "The Last Battle". My grandmother has waited for 11 years to join my grandfather in that morning and it looks as though it is dawning.
We'll tell our daughter about the woman whose birthday she shares. She won't meet her in this life, but she'll have a very special connection to her for all her days. We pray that our daughter will walk in the footsteps of one of the most godly women I've known.
We love you grandma--your dream is ending, your morning is coming. Enjoy the rising sun and the Risen Son. We'll hug you on the platform and watch you board. The tears are temporary.

Spring brings lots of change!

So once again, I have let the blog slip through my fingers. But in the wake of spring cleaning, I decided that I should include a clean of the blog and adding to it! :)
And lots of things have occurred since the last post, all of them a marvellous example of God's goodness to us.
We now know that we're expecting a baby girl in July.
Colin started walking.
Mark got a new job starting next year at Clifton College, a private secondary school here in Bristol.
And we have found a house to rent in Shirehampton.

We move the first weekend in May and I'm looking forward to having a garden (yard, American friends) for the first time here! Especially now that Colin is so mobile I'm glad for that!
I thought I should post a few pics of our spring happenings as well as what our crazy boy has been up to.

Lately, we've discovered that climbing into the drawer is fun

Watching kids kick the ball. It's very exciting

Walking outside in his big boy shoes

Sunshine on spring flowers

Reading with Daddy

Since our son is always in motion, I'm glad I caught him briefly not flipping pages. :) 

Pink Velvet Roulade

So I haven't made a roulade since college. And I was really pleased with the results. I wanted to do a practice run as the roulade makes up part of the Southern Bombe I'm making for Valentine's Day. So here tis. Also, I can't say enough good things about the Wilton color gels. The burgundy made this beautiful pink color!

Winter Wonderland

Well I did it again. Stopped paying attention for ONE second and 2 months went by. Sigh. But I'm back finally and trying to keep up with everything!
I should mention how delighted I am to have my first proper English snowfall. The English aren't as delighted but too bad. We have had almost a WHOLE week with snow on the ground and it's been falling on and off fairly consistently as well. Of course this does make it awkward for those of us without cars who are trying to push buggies on unshoveled pavement (apparently, no one here can be bothered to take responsibility for their own sidewalks. Grrr...) but hey it's pretty. And I was trying to explain to people how great this is because it makes us appreciate spring so much more. Usually English weather just slouches into April and then realizes that it can cheer up and pop out some daffodils. Now, I shall feel as though we have properly had four seasons. :)
And of course, this sort of weather is the perfect excuse for me to be baking so today's project is a pink velvet roulade cake. Sounds fancy but really isn't too hard. It looks quite pretty though, so I shall post pics on a future blog.
We've also had fun introducing Colin to his first snow. Sadly, we couldn't let him crawl around as we don't have a snowsuit yet, but he did like touching and eating it while we held him. I'm already looking forward to when he's old enough to go sledding. And then, quite contrarily, I don't want him to be that old because it means he's growing up!! But each stage is fun, so I'm trying to remember to live in the moment.
Anyway, here's some pics of our Bristol snow!!