My Heart is Full

Today was another icky Wellington day weather-wise, wind and rain, cold, etc. . . so I didn't wake up feeling as grateful as I could have, but it wasn't all bad either. . . Dugald is home, he didn't have to so much as get on the phone for work, it's pancake day, I got to sleep in a little bit, etc.

After a leisurely breakfast, a cup of coffee and perusal of the paper I was feeling good enough to head out into the wind and rain with Meggie and Rico for his daily walk. It was such a joy to go with Meggie - I rarely have one-on-one time with the girls so this was a real treat. She's such a planner and organizer and she's full of dreams and visions and plans for all of our lives (don't know where she gets it) that it's just fun to listen to her talk...and talk...and talk. Thankfully in her chat she determined that she was now going to take full responsibility for Rico - not financially, she was quick to point out, but in every other regard he was to be her dog. She even said she wanted all the money she earns or gets as a gift to go into her dog fund so she could one day even pay for his food and toys. (That didn't last too long however, more on that later.) I told her I was ALL for that and would support her completely.

When we got home I needed a shower, she needed dry clothes, and the other girls were dressed up as ballerinas and dancing in the living room while Dugald set up the computer from his old Texas office here in the "office" of our home - bye bye teensy tiny laptop screen, hello flat screen. Whoo hoo. I sorted out some lunch and then we decided to head out to the mall for some browsing and then to see "Kung Fu Panda" at the movie there.

We only managed to make it to "The Warehouse" before the movie, which is New Zealand's version of Walmart, only not nearly so big, not nearly so cheap, and not at all familiar. I wanted to get a food processor and the girls wanted to buy games for their computers with their hard-earned cash. Remember what I said about Meggie earmarking her cash for the dog fund? It was spent in the first store.

I was disappointed to find they only had one processor, and it ws $50 and looked like it might fall apart before we got out of there, so I didn't get that. But I DID get these adorable flannel pajamas for the girls, on sale no less, for a whopping $8 each. Aren't they cute??


Meggie and Katie both bought themselves new games, here is Meg sorting hers out. Poor Katie, she is the saver of the bunch and never, I mean NEVER, spends her money but she did today and then, Katie being Katie, she lost the game somewhere in the movie or the mall. I am so sad for her. It's so her though. Katie holds material things very lightly which makes her a fabulous sharer of toys, a good saver of money and many other great qualities. The downside is she just doesn't make keeping up with things, or taking the very best care of them, her top priority. So, sadly, she arrived home sans game and was terribly upset. As were we. I called the movie theater to see if anyone had turned it in and no one had yet, but we're still hopeful it may turn up somewhere.

I did get a fun new food processor after the movie and I can hardly wait to try it out, all the recipes I've been avoiding I can now dig back out, figure out how to convert from Imperial measurements to metric and then start cooking, yeehaw!

We came home to find a note on the door from our neighbor, Lucy, who I have employed to walk the dog with Meggie a few times a week. She just was letting me know she couldn't walk him today, etc. Underneath her note, on the same paper but in different handwriting, was another note from our neighbors up the street whom we have never met saying they returned the dog to our house as he had taken himself for a walk. Dugald wondered aloud how they knew it was our dog but I gently reminded him that EVERYONE knows Rico - first of all there was the tragic night he didn't want to stay in his kennel and barked all night, and secondly he greets everyone who walks by from the gate of our house. In fact, I reminded Dugald that just the other night when he went to take out the trash he met Bill who had parked across the street, gotten out of the car and come to talk to Rico. Apparently this Bill and his dog love Rico and chat with him whenever they go for walks. They like Rico so much that Bill stopped even without his dog to say hello. Go figure. Anyway, we're still not sure what went down but the best I can figure is that Lucy inadvertently left the gate open and Rico went for a stroll. I'm very grateful for the unknown neighbors who found him and will have to take them some cookies tomorrow to thank them.

More Pool Fun

So yesterday we hung out at the pool after swimming and waited for this:
They didn't bring the inflatable out until 1:30, so it was another three-hour day at the pool for us, but look at the anticipation on these goggle-marked faces:
They thought the wait was totally worth it!
Josie wanted to play on it too - here she is in line, obviously the shortest participant!
Not that she cared, she wouldn't have missed it for anything.


Thankfully Ellie was happy to just hang out in the kiddie section. It's always better when things are her choice rather than being told she can't do something :).

Today has been lovely as well - cold, but nice and sunny. We were invited to a friend's house in Lower Hutt for lunch after swimming and we all had a very nice time. Have I mentioned before how incredibly hospitable Kiwis are?? I don't know why I am noticing it so much because I really think Americans are quite hospitable too, but regardless of why, I am grateful. It's been such a help in moving to a new place to have people pursuing friendships with us, we are thankful.

I'm working on our plan for school for next year, we have all of our curriculum so now I just need to sort out our time so that everyone gets what they need, including me. I'm hoping to somehow incorporate some exercise in there - those of you who know me well know that A. I am not a morning person and B. I don't like exercising alone. So, I'm going to see if there is a class somewhere I can somehow work into my schedule and/or schedule time during the day for me to exercise to a DVD. I'll let you know how it goes - but sadly I've gained about 7 pounds since we've been here and that just has to stop. I so wish I was someone who loved exercise. . . but I'm really going to try and start eating better and exercising more and maybe even finally get my hair done and see if that doesn't just infuse me with new energy! Maybe I'll turn into a triathlete like my sister who is going to NYC to compete - go Ali!!!

Lots of love to all!!!

These girls were there too. . .

Meant to post this one yesterday too!

Cutie Patootie

As promised here are some photos of Miss Ellie. They aren't really the best, especially unedited, but she is so stinking cute I decided to post them anyway!

Goggle girl

In this photo she was blowing bubbles to move the toy that is in front of her.

See that face? That face that is just BARELY above the water? It's the face of a girl with no fear.

The floating on her back isn't her favorite part, but she still just gets in there and does it!

See what I mean? Does this kid look stressed out?

Ellie Bell did much better today with her listening and once again I jumped up once or twice thinking she was about to drown, but she was fine. I remember my niece, Anna, swimming a few summers ago and looking like she was always about to drown - that's what Ellie reminds me of, it's hard to know if she's going under on purpose or if she needs rescuing. She only came up sputtering once though, so mostly she's doing it on purpose!

A friend of ours, Julia, and her two boys met us at the pool so we were there from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. That might not sound like a long time, but when you are constantly doing a head count to make sure everyone is present and accounted for it can add up! We had a ball, but boy were we all tired when we headed home for a late, late lunch. The girls and boys were great and ate outside, even though it was a bit chilly, and played with the dog while Julia and I had coffee and chatted. I'm so glad the sun was out today, it made walking home from the pool much more pleasant.

We're still here!

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, tragically our main computer has died. I'm trying not to mourn too much, but it did have all my photos on it that I've taken since 2004. Thankfully we paid to have the entire contents backed up to an internet service called "Carbonite" before we left Texas, so theoretically we should be able to retrieve almost all but the most recent. I also have backed them up onto CD's or DVD's on occasion, so that too is an option. But still, it's a pain. Another annoyance is that I had all my favorite sites bookmarked on that computer. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Anyway, we are all sharing Dugald's laptop until my new computer arrives and I've gone crazy and ordered a Mac!!!! I am SO excited - I guess because of my love affair with my ipod and my dreams of an iphone (which we can't yet get here :(). I used to always work on a Mac when I did the Mercy Ships newsletter, but of course it's been more than 9 years since then. I'm hoping to be able to transition well and I'm looking forward to the computer being more intuitive for the things I like to do on it - photos, dvds, scrapbooks, calendars, cards, blogs, yada yada yada. The beloved thing should arrive in a week. I didn't get to pick out anything so I don't even really know what I'm getting, Dugald took care of all that (basically sorting out what would be cheapest :)) so it will be a surprise when the box arrives.

Speaking of Mercy Ships, I got to give a talk in Palmerston North to introduce some ladies there to the ministry and I have to say that I'd sort of forgotten how much I love Mercy Ships and what they do! It's crazy, but sitting and preparing what I wanted to share and watching some video clips I was so moved and the thought even entered my head that I wouldn't mind going back one day with the family to live on board in Africa. Now, it's probably very unlikely to happen, I'm pretty sure there is not a crew position available for Rico, but, seriously, I was reminded again of how grateful I am for the time I did get to serve with them, for meeting my amazing husband on board, for the friends we made, for the way my own life was changed, but most importantly, for giving my life in service to those without hope, even if just for a short time and in a small way. It was a privilege. Thank you to those of you who read this blog and supported me. If you would like to know more visit www.mercyships.org.

On another note, we got to watch Katie at ballet on Friday. Here are some pics I managed to snap before my camera battery died.





It's school holidays here (again!) so Ellie had her first swimming lesson. She's taking daily for the next two weeks. She was so cute - the youngest in her group by at least a year. She had some listening issues, but NO fear. I'll have photos tomorrow because I was busy charging the battery today. That's another funny thing about living here - we only have one step-down converter which we use to charge anything and everything American - our Vonage phone, my camera, the girls' Nintendos, etc. The things cost $90 or I might buy another one, but anyway, we try to only charge overnight so we can use the phone during the day should someone HAPPEN to call us on our "Florida" phone number. But back to Ellie, she was so brave and did what she needed to do and didn't cry at all, unlike half her class. So, I'll take pics tomorrow and post them then.

After swimming we all went with our friends the Shephards to see "Puss in Boots" downtown. It was FREEZING as we walked from our car (felt like miles) to the show, but worth it. The girls loved it and it was well done. And Allison, bless her, has taken the older three for some playtime and Ellie is blissfully sleeping, so I have two hours of quiet!!!!!

Thank you for sending me your personality profiles, I loved reading them! It's amazing to me how accurate they were. Have a great day!!

The Mice Just Don't Get It And Other Tragedies

The mice are disappearing from the kitchen one by one by way of Willow's mouth. The problem is, she thinks they are fun toys and she drags them all over the house before they are good and dead. She found one while Dugald was away when the girls and I were having our "Girls Night In". We were happily ensconced in beanbags and on the couch munching away on our dinner when she came out and dropped her prey right in the middle of the floor. Ooohhhh. Iccccckkkkk. Lots of screaming. Lots of scampering. One irate cat. She grabbed the mouse again and tried to run and hide from us, so I ran around closing doors as quickly as possible to keep her from dragging said varmit into corners, crannies or closets where I may never see it again. After much chasing, and actually getting growled at by the cat - yes growled - I managed to plonk a dish over the top of the mouse, scootch it over near the back door, slide the dust pan under the bowl and hurl it outside. Only to have the dog catch it. Oh well, he took it to places unknown and I'm sure it didn't survive.

So, last night, just as Dugald got home, Willow presented us with another mouse. I have pictures this time and thankfully Daddy was home to deal with it. Swoosh, as Meggie likes to say.

In another news, I think my main computer, the one I use for the girls school (Spanish, Keyboarding, Spelling, etc) has died. It's been acting strangely ever since we moved here, starting when Dugald accidently turned it on before switching the power voltage switch, and now I think it's dead. I'll know for sure when he comes home and examines it. It also has all my pictures on it, but at least most of them are backed up.

Finally, the third mouse appeared, dead already this time, in Willow's mouth just five minutes ago. I knew we had a family, I just hope now that is the last of them. Oh and it's 62F INSIDE my house, with the heat on. I am freezing. Bye!

All is well, Daddy's home!

Josie is feeling much better today - she must have had a 24-hour bug of some sort, today she's all bubbles, joy and enthusiasm as usual.

We had riding again today and the girls went on their first "trail ride" around the property with Val. Here's Meg on Charlie:
And Katie on Sheba with Val in the middle.
And off they go. . .
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, for some reason the Thompsons had a sheep in the play area where Josie and Ellie usually hang out. So we went over and introduced ourselves. He or she was quite funny, she allowed us to get close and even pet her, but then when we'd turn around she would head-butt us in the manner I've always attributed to goats.
Though they look a teensy bit scared here, they really weren't, in fact we tried to get the sheep to do it so I could get a picture, but she didn't want to perform on command, so I eventually gave up.

This is the end of another term so parents once again got to watch at ballet - we're usually banished from the classroom which is fair enough given how some of these adorable little ballerinas were showing off for their mommies! Josie, I have to say, was quite professional and focused, and she totally loved having all of us watch her.

Here she is with her sweet friend Bella who we had tea with last Tuesday. Bella's sister, Georgia, is Katie's age and all the children play really well together.
Dugald got home tonight and is with us for at least a few days before another possible trip - and he came back bearing gifts for me, an OK Magazine and Verbena bubble bath from L'Occitane. So, I'm going to wrap-up this post and go warm up and unwind, whoo hooo!!!!