Hello and happy Sunday! It’s the end of a fun but long day. I’m fairly tired and somebody seems insistent on kicking my right hip over and over, so I’ll keep it short!

Highlights of this week include the deanery clergy BBQ, Bluey live and the Pet and Confirmation services today.

One challenge has been my body seeming to need either a nap or an early night every day, which hasn’t always been possible.

Ta-dah moments (or ‘getting it done’ moments) include doing Nathan’s expenses, getting Sophia transferred to my dentist and doing some key admin like the PCC papers for Tuesday and making a safer recruitment spreadsheet.

God moment: you know I hate to be vague and like to be as transparent as possible, but sometimes in the interest of confidentiality I just can’t. But I put a person on the prayer list at church a few weeks ago and amazingly, God has just suddenly and unexpectedly turned the situation around.

Mum moments: Sophia got stuck into cooking one night when we were having fajitas and she cut up and cooked the mushrooms in a little pan. The heat was on very low and I was obviously watching like a hawk! It was nice, though, because Nathan also fetched some homegrown salad leaves from the garden and I made the chicken mix and salsa. It was a proper team effort! Photo at the top.

AThere was a deanery confirmation this afternoon, hosted by St Giles. Nathan has been working hard all week to make sure it went smoothly and it’s given him a good excuse for a tidy up! Anyway, he stumbled across a little mace and decided that as the wardens were escorting the Bishop into church with their wands (yes, wardens technically have wands), Sophia could also carry this little mace. It’s not the kind of thing I’d have done, as we aren’t that big into processions and the like at ASSF, but she was very excited about meeting the Bishop and carrying her stick, and it was quite cute.

What Sophia said: Sophia decided this morning that she wanted a go on the microphone twice in church today! During Good News Stories she told everybody that she went to see Bluey yesterday and when I was asking people what their favourite animals were, she said ‘giraffe because they’re so tall and big!’. She’s never really wanted to share in front of people before, even when we’ve had a little go beforehand. I was very proud.

Added to this, Sophia ordered herself a teacake and a babyccino all on her own at the Hub on Friday morning! How many toddlers have a community environment where they feel happy and confident enough to do something like that? We are very blessed.

Next week: I’m looking forward to a trip to London to see Hello Dolly with Mum, Gran and Isabelle!