I Am....

Some time ago I made a little book with some ladies from my church. It's filled with Bible verses about who I am because of Jesus & other promises from God. It was a bit plain with just white pages & text so I decided to do a little arty piece relating to each verse. It also helped me to think on what the verse means & encourages me to actually look at the book from time to time because it's pretty! This verse is 2 Timothy 1:7. I had fun sewing felt hearts, stars & butterflies onto circles of felt. It is to remind me that God has given me a spirit of love (the hearts), power (the stars) & a sound mind (butterflies). It is all done in my favourite rainbow colours of course!
This hearty arty sewing was inspired by Ruth Rae & is based on the Bible verse 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 'I have been established, anointed & sealed by God.' (You can click on the photo to see it better).
I had a little bit of fun with tiny 'price' tags here to remind me that I have been bought with a price when Jesus died for me on the cross. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 'I have been bought with a price & I belong to God.'
Fun little sizzix people all different but all valuable & needed in the Body of Christ, the church. Annie-Joy likes to pick out which one is her, or Jordan, Timmy, Luke or me! 1 Corinthians 12:27 'I am a member of Christ's body.'

A little bit of scrapbook style with buttons & lace. Ephesians 3:12 'I may approach God with freedom & confidence.'

Splatty paint, gems, buttons, skeleton & paper oak leaves reminding me that the old has gone & the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

This is what the outside of the book looks like. It's only small & can be tied up with ribbon. It's bulging somewhat now with all the beads & stuff but I like it! :o) I still have many more verses to make art for but I think it will take me a little while. Good fun though. Hope all who read are well. Enjoy your weekend! PS It's STILL raining here!! The boys are having fun at a local church holiday club though so it's all good. :o)

The Boy Loves Footy

This boy loves playing football!

He loves to welly the ball as far as he can too! We are forever 'loosing' balls in various neighbours gardens. Jordan has learnt to knock & apologise & ask for his ball back politely. He is slowly learning to take more care too!

Last term Jordan, Timmy & Luke joined our church's Boy Brigade Company. They are loving it so much! The crafts, the games, new ways to learn Bible verses & pray, the army style drills, the uniforms, the new friends... The BB leader was especially excited that Jordan was joining the Junior Company as it meant that at long last they had enough boys for the regional 5-a-side competition! (The Anchor Boys, which is Timmy & Luke's age group is very large as is the Seniors. Not sure why Junior Company is so small). Anyway, one Saturday in July we all went to watch as all the BB Companies joined to play football. This is Jordan's team having a team huddle with one of their BB Captains.

It was fun even though it was very competitive- there is a lot of rivalry between companies as many of the leaders used to be kids in the BB with the other company leaders. They've all grown up together- it's like a big family I guess. Jordan's team came third. Not a bad effort when you consider they had to use everyone from the Junior Company & didn't get to pick the best of the best like the other companies could. The star player was actually a girl from another BB Company. She was a very good goalie! The photo is of Jordan's sweet little shoes covered in astro turf 'fluff'! Hee hee!

Jordan also loves to run! He is very very fast! He loves to race his Daddy (who is also very very fast)!

Unlike Jordan, Daddy needs a sit down after a race! Annie-Joy loves her Daddy. :o)

She Sees, She Paints

Many years ago I purchased some large canvases from the 99p Store. I um-ed & ah-ed about what I should paint on them until last month I decided I really needed to just get on with it! I retrieved the two canvases from the garage floor where I had stupidly stored it underneath a heavy box. One canvas had ripped slightly in the corner so I thought that one would be a great place to start experimenting with doodles & techniques. I began painting while Annie-Joy watched a little bit of telly but she soon realised what I was doing & wanted to join in.
At first I wasn't keen, & then I thought 'Why not?' after all the canvas was ripped & I was only experimenting anyway. As it turned out, AJ couldn't reach very high up & the part where she so liberally applied her paint was right where the hole was.....

....She used so much paint it actually healed up the tear! It was such fun to watch her create & to see her pride in her artwork. When her brothers came home from school that afternoon she could NOT wait to show them her painting. They were impressed!

I carried on painting & doodling for a while. I love how the water & paint separated here in a crackly way. Luke & Jordan thought that the blue circles were flowers.

I had fun spattering paint over the canvas out in the garden & got totally covered in red acrylic paints! I added a paraphrase of the Bible verse 2 Timothy 1:6 'keep using the gift God gave you. Let it grow as a small flame grows into a fire'

I stamped leaves & dots & all kinds of other little bits over the canvas & added words in black ink such as grow, bloom, establish, plant etc. The photo above is the part where Annie painted by the way!

I doodled.....

....and played....

....and doodled some more until......

.... I was finished! It was a lot of fun & I am so pleased to have a piece of artwork that AJ & I did together that we can treasure in the years to come. :o)

How To Ride A Bicycle

Step 1: Take a lovely bike to the park

Step 2: Push bike to top of a hill

Step 3: Sit on bike at top of hill & prepare to push off!

Step 4: Hurtle down hill at an alarming speed!

Step 5: Carry on off into the sunset until momentum stops!!

Warning 1: Riding a bike can be hard work!

Warning 2: Riding without putting your feet on the peddles may be fun but....

.....can cause you to fall off & may result in injury!! (Don't worry Luke was fine- he has a flair for the dramatic!). Thankyou to my parents for helping Timmy & Luke learn to ride their bikes without stabilisers. Special thanks to my Dad for removing the stabilisers & for servicing the boys bikes! It is much appreciated! :o)

News Boys

At the end of term Timmy & Luke did their class assembly. Annie-Joy & I got to watch! Timmy was the main news reader for the holiday themed play. He was brilliant & despite not trying very hard to learn his many many lines, delivered a near perfect performance on the day. He is sitting next to one of his best friends, Louise. They made a great newsroom team. Doesn't he look handsome in his posh shirt & tie?
This is Luke's moment to shine! He was one of the few who we could actually hear speaking his lines even though his postcard was in front of his face!
Timmy's postcard was part of the wall display. It reads 'Dear All, I am at Blackpool. I am having a wonderful time. I am on the fer. Love Timmy xx' I love that he has spelt 'fair' in his Scouse accent!

If you think Luke looks peaky you'd be right! He woke up on assembly day feeling sick but as Lee had to go to an important work meeting he had to walk to school with the rest of us anyway. Actually, I put him in AJ's pram as he was too wobbly to walk himself, poor boy! He did a great job throughout the assembly although he lacked his usual zest & enthusiasm. I took him home again after the assembly finished & he had a good rest for the day. His postcard reads 'Dear All! I am I went! to Formby Beech!' I think he must have learnt about exclamation marks recently!!! :o) The children all performed really well. It was a delight to see them singing the Barbecue Song with such gusto. Timmy & Luke particularly enjoyed the lines about soggy sausages & sitting on the burger buns! What fun eh??

Summery Things

We have forgotten what sunshine is here in the North West but back in May & June it was scorching hot! Lee went away on his annual work conference for 7 days & the kids & I had some fun at the National Wildflower centre. We arrived early & it was already unbearably hot! Timmy & Jordan have become brilliant at climbing on this play equipment....
... Luke prefers to play on the smaller things like the train & play railway station. He loves these 'cute froggies' & had to have his photo taken beside them!

We went for a wander around the woodlands in the wildflower centre too cool down a little. We found a new sculpture hidden away behind some trees. It's a huge, huge wooden & metal bluebell plant!

The bells actually ring too....

....much to the children's delight!! They are very very loud! :o)

The woodland pathway has been extended since we were last at the centre. The Flower Head man sculpture has moved too. I wonder, did he walk or was he carried???

The living willow tree tunnels were great- quite magical. The ponds had dried out but the bridge was still fun to trip trap over like a little Billy Goat Gruff. No trolls were spotted on that day though.

Our garden saw much activity in the early summer months. Picnics & meals were eaten outside which always causes much excitement in the Davies household. I made marshmallow cloud cakes one Saturday. They were fun to make in reusable cupcake cases.

Annie wasn't sure about the marshmallows at first!

Mr Frog visits our garden regularly too. It's nice to have an old friend hop by every now & then even if he does make me squeal when he jumps unexpectedly as I am weeding the flower bed!

Nothing says 'summer' like a daisy chain! I spent a happy afternoon in the playing fields with the rest of the tribe & my parents making an extra long chain one Sunday afternoon. It's very therapeutic. My Dad looked good wearing it when I had finished making it!!

Party People

Here are a few piccies from recent celebrations & other exciting things! Annie-Joy had her first party invitation in her own right earlier on this year. She was very excited to go in her party clothes with a little bag full of presents! Her brothers were miffed that they didn't get to go too & AJ did miss them terribly for the first hour of the party! She clung onto my leg & wouldn't play for a long time! By then end of the party she was having a lot of fun with her friend Iris.
Lee's cousin turned 18 this year & we all went to the 'grown up' party one Saturday night. The kids really enjoyed the disco, the balloons & the buffet. They all did really well staying up so late & we even got a tiny lie in the next morning! It was great to see our kids playing with lots of their second cousins & to meet various Great aunts & uncles for the first time (Lee has a VERY big family).

Here are some of the cards I have made for birthdays so far this year. I had fun sewing felt cupcakes & experimenting with paints, inks & my eyelet punch!

One of Timmy & Luke's friends from school was christened so we all went to the party (we couldn't go to the church service as it was the same day as Lee's conditional baptism!). It was loud & long but the kids had fun! The boys & another friend all had their faces painted like Sonic the Hedgehog! The face painting lady was rushed off her feet all afternoon & by the time she got to our boys she was a little frazzled. She said her Sonics got more & more impressionistic the more she did! Can you tell whose she did first & last??

My Uncle Ben had an operation last month & the boys drew him get well cards. They had a lot of fun creating fabulous rainbow designs with snails & cakes & sunshine! Ben really appreciated them. He is on the mend now & we are all looking forward to seeing him later this month.

I made my friend Fliss a birthday cake in the style of her wedding cake (see here & here) as she told me a while ago that she & her husband never got any of their own wedding cake at their wedding! So I made a special lemon madeira cake with homemade lemon curd & buttercream filling & decorated it in the same colours as their wedding cake. I added lots of sparkle too as Fliss does love her glitter! :o)

This lovely yellow rose is part of a bunch of flowers that my friend gave me to say thankyou for looking after her daughter for the day while she went to watch the tennis at Wimbledon! It was fun! Annie-Joy & Annaliese get on like a house on fire & we had a great time playing in the garden & walking Annaliese to nursery school. Annie is very keen to start nursery herself now that she has seen how much fun it looks!

Well, that concludes a little update of some of our activities of late. I shall endeavour to be back here very soon with more piccies of exciting things like our flooded garden, home grown sunflowers & tomatoes & bike riding boys! Hope all who read are well! TTFN! :o)