Saturday 24 July 2010

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for

1. the fun we've had together planning our Moon Celebration

2. my husband cooking me a lovely meal downstairs while I sit with my boy and Dream

3. the closeness of family

Friday 23 July 2010

Wishing Jars


Yesterday the children and I made Wishing Jars as gifts for their teachers. They looked beautiful and everyone had great fun making them. 


They had a jar for each recipient and filled it with an assortment of items, each representing a wish they had made for their teacher. We used buttons, tiny decorative pegs, flower beads, crochet trinkets and feathers. A butterfly was attached to the outside to look after all the wishes.
It was great fun dreaming up wishes for someone else. The girls decided on the wishes to make for their own teacher and then popped a list inside the jar with them on it. They also gave instructions on how to add more wishes to the jar.


A few of the wishes they made were:


have a great holiday


feel like a child again


meet new friends


have a surprise


feel brave like a lion


find a unique pair of shoes


have a day off.......


One of the girls wanted to wish for a lovely boyfriend/Prince Charming/to fall in love,  for her teacher but was embarrassed to write it on her list...... the wish was made though!

We also made a jar for ourselves. A beautiful large jar with some lovely wishes within it already. May they all come true......

Let Them Be Little




Last Day of the school term today - tissues at the ready for the over emotional amongst us [blush]!

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Treasure every moment


There are two days left in the school term. Just two days with my smallest being at home as a pre-schooler - how does time fly? I'm looking forward to the summer break with the children and spending time with them all. It's so precious!

~My Dreams,
 (1) to write them all a special letter, and
 (2) to share my thoughts and memories with them about myself at their age:
I hope to have a deeper understanding of myself and also of each of my children in doing this.
I have many thoughts and ideas of what I would like to write to them already.

The way we communicate efficiently differs within our varied relationships.
My second daughter and I have a shared diary that we have been writing in for the last 18 months. She writes about her thoughts and feelings every day and I respond to her. She is able to write about anything  at all or ask me questions that maybe she didn't get an opportunity to ask during the day. It's an amazing thing to be able to do together and I feel blessed that we can communicate and have an extra bond between us which we may have missed without the diary.

Over time I have noticed that she is much more willing and able to vocalize her negative thoughts and feelings and I know that her diary has helped with this.

I pray that the lines of communication between us all will continue to remain open as time travels onwards.


Gratitude Today


1. My children have a lovely relationship with their grandparents - what could be better?


2. The kindness of my friend and a lovely swim for us all


3. Happy memories 

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Tourist photo

Today so far:

Reiki ✓

Meal Blessing ✓

Accept a compliment ✓ - not very well but I did say thank you!

Feel comfortable having my photo taken ✓ not exactly happy or comfortable but I graciously looked away and tried to look cool and unaware while the Japanese lady took a photo of me in my car.  She may well edit me out later!
(actually with that last comment I think I failed on this one didn't I?)

Full Moon celebrating and planning ✓

Woke with a smile ✓

Meditation with my smallest being ✓

And it's still only 3pm and I have 981 days left!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Monday 19 July 2010

982 Days and not counting

An evening of merriment and chat last night led to me deciding on the final number 15 - a Murder Mystery Party! - Thanks Sonia

My love of mysteries and intrigue started with Enid Blyton way back when ..... and I had a desire from a young age to be a part of a murder mystery evening/weekend.

Ta-da! The time will be soon. I'm very excited. No details to be disclosed yet - it would be awful to ruin the surprises.

So there we are: 99 wishes and 982 days to go

Gratitude List for today

1. My husband working from home today - even though I wasn't at home for most of the day myself, just knowing he was there made me happy

2. The sun shining through the clouds again.

3. Friends for their smiles, laughs, and support

Sunday 18 July 2010

July Full Moon 2010 Celebration





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"The Full moon is a time for positive growth and change- setting up new plans or resolutions and releasing old unwanted patterns of behaviour,  bad habits  or experiences.
A time to focus on your hearts desire and look forward to your future...."



Monday 26th July 2010

8pm - 1am 










Sparkly cocoa and rose playdough




Not really a part of my list but it all looked and smelt so lovely when were making play dough that I couldn't resist sharing it:

The chocolate ice cream dough was made with cocoa, rosewater and pink glitter. It's such a gorgeous colour and smells divine!

The strawberry pink was dyed with rosehip tea bags and had a few drops of rose oil added to make it smell amazing.  Iridescent Barry M glitter added an extra bit of magical sparkle.

Top tip -  Johnson's Baby Oil has never been a favourite of mine - except for when making play dough!

Sunday 11 July 2010

Full Moon and a Midnight Picnic

While toasting marshmallows and singing around the campfire with our friends last night we made a loose plan to tackle another Dream or two.

This month the full moon will be on 26th July. We're going to invite our local friends and families to come and celebrate with us and have an evening of fun.

The children - and a couple of the menfolk (!) - are keen on having a talent show too. We'll all have a meal together sing with the guitars around the fire, play some games and hold a midnight picnic.

Cross fingers for great weather!

Only 98 dreams!!

Ooops! Looking through my list this morning I've just noticed that I don't have a number 15!!

This means I only have 98 dreams and wishes on my list.

I'm open to suggestions - please be kind

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Day 5 Gratitude

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Anon

So my first dream -

*79. My Gratitude Journal

Today I am extremely grateful for

1. The precious time spent with my boy strawberry picking - complete with red faces :)

2. The strong network of friendship and support that my daughter has within your school year. They all pulled together today and showed me what was important in life. It brought a lump to my throat and a big smile.

3. All the conversations I have had and messages I have received from the wonderful people in my life who care.

Thankyou!

Monday 5 July 2010

My 99 Dreams and Wishes

1. Have a midnight picnic

2. Visit Venice - thanks Liz!

3. Make 1000 origami cranes

4. Write a letter to 40 people who have inspired me in my life - Thanks Ceri!

5. Have a party for all my friends and family

6. Learn a new skill out of my comfort zone

7. Go skinny dipping

8. Make some special gifts for my friends and post them to them

9. Share champagne with the girls of Brian - thanks Brandy!

10. Practice Reiki daily

11. Write a childrens book

12. Paint a self-portrait

13. Go on a meditation retreat

14. Invite a fairy family to tea

16. Have a special day out with each member of my family

17. Mould, nourish, nuture, love and respect my body

18. Use a positive affirmation every day when I look in the mirror

19. Sleep under the stars - thanks Allan!

20. Incorporate another family's tradition into my family's life

21. Make 5 new friends

22. Make something beautiful for our home

23. Find time for peace/meditation/me every day

24. Dust off my harp and learn to play a piece for a performance to friends

25. Revisit a special place from childhood

26. Create time for a regular family relaxation time

27. Make a wishing jar/wishing tree

28. Remember what it was like to be each of my children's ages and share this with them

29. Wake each day with a smile

30. Dance in the rain

31. Write a letter to all my loved ones who have died

32. Write a letter to myself, aged 6

33. Write a letter to each of my children to be opened when they are 18

34. Inspire someone else to become a Relax Kids Teacher

35. Tell my children and husband why I love them every day

36. Write a letter to myself to be opened on my 50th birthday

37. Learn to belly dance

38. Ask 40 friends who I admire and am inspired by to suggest a book and read them all

39. Have a Famous Five/Malory Towers party

40. Donate blood

41. Send a message in a bottle

42. Go barefoot for a day

43. Learn to play a few tunes on the guitar

44. Submit an article for publication in a magazine

45. Invite someone inspirational to tea

46. Eat Raw for a month

47. Rediscover drawing and colouring-in as a fun activity

48. Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day

49. Have a month of buying nothing but food and essentials

50. Tell friends/family/strangers if they have inspired me or made me happy

51. Spend a day visiting all the places on the Monopoly Board - thanks Pippa!

52. Interview someone about their life

53. Get the gear - thanks Colin!

54. Give a present to 3 strangers

55. Bake a cake once a month as a gift

56. Plan my funeral songs

57. Organise our family photographs into memory books

58. Complete an unfinished project

59. Learn a new skill from one of my children

60. Comfort a stranger

61. Improve my story telling skills

62. Make a rag rug

63. Make an exploding volcano

64. Have a candle lit meal once a week with my husband

65. Camp in the garden

66. Celebrate the full moon each moon as a family

67. Encourage the family to find/create their own private Thinking/Quiet Space as well as the family area

68. Give prayers/thanks/blessings at meal times

69. Learn to accept a compliment graciously - thanks Nanny still working on this!

70. Learn to feel comfortable with having a photograph taken

71. Search for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow

72. Go to a castle dressed as a princess

73. Take a course in hypnotherapy

74. Make myself a crown

75. Wear my crown to a dinner party

76. Have a date with my husband in another country

77. Get in touch with my missed special friend

78. Make a long long daisy chain

79. Keep a gratitude journal, listing three new things I am grateful for that day

80. Go geocaching

81. Host a games evening

82. Help the children with creating our nature table

83. Feed the birds

84. Laugh at my mistake

85. Have fairy dust close to hand at all times

86. Give only homemade gifts to my family for one Christmas - sorry folks!

87. Take a deep breath and go for it

88. Know that everything will be okay

89. Ask for comfort if I need it

90. Recognise the people or situations in my life who are making me unhappy and work for a positive outcome

91. Skip everywhere for a day

92. Be buried in the sand

93. Swim at Lulworth Cove early in the morning while everyone sleeps

94. Laugh til my tummy aches

95. Spend midnight on Tower Bridge

96. Have a day out with my sisters

97. Spend time watching the clouds drifting by

98. Learn a new skill from my mum

99. Take my children to Greenwich Park