A day in the life. . .

I have a sick girl, sweet Josie has a temperature of 102 today and just isn't feeling well at all. I didn't realize she was sick until later in the morning. I should have known when she didn't eat any breakfast, but things were too chaotic with Dugald being gone and me trying to get everyone up and dressed and googling maps to find out where Meg's soccer game was to be played. And Meggie spilled her milk all over the table. And the dog and cat needed to be fed. And the dishwasher needed to be unloaded so I could get the breakfast dishes in seeing as we have a mouse and all. Have I mentioned there is at least one mouse, and probably a family of mice, living in our kitchen somewhere? This despite the cat and our valiant efforts to vacuum, empty the trash and take out the compost every night. So, poor Jo got shuffled along and we went to the game, dog and all.

Oh yeah, another missed sickness clue, when I was trying to herd everyone to the car I found Jo huddled in her room by the heat vent. She was cold, but that didn't register with me right then, I just told her to get in the car. Not my best mothering story.

So, we got to the game and little Jo told me she didn't feel well and I finally looked straight at her, just her, and noticed she was in fact quite flushed. And shivering. I felt her head and knew that she had a temperature and then I felt awful and wished we hadn't come to the game. I'm not the best sports-fan mom anyway, I like to pawn soccer games on to Dugald when I can, because it's just too much to try and watch three small children AND catch my player's eye every time she looks to make sure I'm watching. But, with Dugald gone I felt it my duty to the team to get us there. Once I realized I had a good excuse to leave I would have used it, because honestly poor Josie was so uncomfortable, but every player on Meg's team was on the field and there were no substitutes and I couldn't bring myself to disappoint Meggie and the rest of the team by pulling her out to go home. And, since I'm not at all the games, I don't know any of the other parents well-enough yet to entrust my child to them for a ride home (or to even be so bold as to ask ). So we stayed.

I have to hand it to Josie, she was a trooper. The grass was so wet we couldn't sit down and unlike America nobody brings lawn chairs and umbrellas to sit under, and I think I sold mine in my Texas garage sale anyway, so Josie just shivered on one side of me while Rico sat on the other. Katie and Ellie went exploring and it wasn't five minutes before Katie came to me covered, head to toe covered, in mud. She'd slipped. What a mess.

The upside is I did get to know one of the other parents. He sidled over to me and introduced himself right before lighting a cigarette and exhaling in my face. He wanted to talk American politics, my favorite. I jest, I jest. I have to say it was kind of him to come meet me and talk, I'll just say we have very different perspectives on a lot of things. Not that he knows that because of course I just smiled and nodded and gently reminded him that I did come from Texas, just like GW. So, you know, be a little respectful. 'Kay?

We came home and Meggie and Katie were immediately sent to the shower and all their clothing was put in the washing machine because good grief they were filthy. Then I let them all watch a movie - Josie snuggled with her hot water bottle under her blankie and quilt from Grandma on the couch. It wasn't the Saturday I expected, but there is something so precious about a sick child, and it moves my heart to see her suffering and it makes me want to spoil her rotten. So I filled her glass with Sprite and practically hand-fed her bits of oranges, apples and crackers while she watched the movie. I had an hour and half of bliss - quiet children!

The rest of the day has been pretty much like that. Usually I would have cabin-fever because they'd be climbing the walls but I had a supply of movies on hand to counteract that. Instead I had a long, uninterrupted time on the computer, read some for my Mercy Ships presentation, almost fell asleep myself, finished cleaning the kitchen, put out the laundry and organized dinner. All in quiet. Amazing.

Tempted

Today I've been web-surfing on some of my favorite U.S. websites. It's incredibly tempting, despite the fact that we don't need any clothes, because they are ALL having their summer sales. However I am still culling closets (we have two for all six of us) to try and get rid of stuff so that we can actually find what we need amidst all the clutter. But I do so love a bargain, and the prices are sooooooo lowwwwww. That is if I don't factor in shipping.

Oh yeah, and Meggie will definitely need stuff, she's growing!

Not much else is happening around these parts. Dugald left this morning for Aukland and won't be back until tomorrow night (Sat). It's a bit of a bummer because I so love the weekends and having him home with us. He'll be back on Sunday and leave again on Monday, back Tuesday night. Crazy. We will get to be together Sunday though and some friends have invited us over for afternoon tea, so we all have that to look forward to. The girls and I are going to have a "Girls Night In" tonight - we're going to get take-aways, deep condition our hair, paint our nails and watch a girly movie. I may even let one of them sleep in my bed, depends. . .

We've had to cancel our upcoming trip to Napier due to Dugald's work, I have to say I'm still adjusting to him not being self-employed and being at someone else's beck and call. But, that said, I do think he likes so much what he is doing and working with other people that it tips the scales this way. Despite cancelled vacations. Actually not cancelled, postponed. We are still going to Palmerston North on Thursday for me to give the talk on Mercy Ships, and we'll get a nice day with his parents, so that's something to look forward to! I do hope I get a few minutes on my own before Thursday to actually prepare what I want to say, it's so much better than when I wing it!

Rob was on Bloomberg in London this week. I missed the live telecast (could have watched it on the internet but I was picking up the girls from Musical Stars). I hear he was good (from his parents and his brother, but I believe them). Dugald said he talked about falling house prices in the U.S. and how it's probably going to continue. I said to Dugald that we should have Rob let us know when he thinks the market has hit rock bottom (we're absolutely not good at real estate, terrible in fact, but I have loved where I've lived) so then we can buy a house there and just rent it out until we move back. That's of course assuming we have some money, and assuming we don't end up buying here, which we really don't think we can do anyway but it's hard to find a rental that allows dogs, and I have to say I now know why.

Hope all is well in your world! Here is a link if you want to see a couple of minutes of Rob's interview:
http://www.bloomberg.com/avp/avp.htm?clipSRC=mms://media2.bloomberg.com/cache/vgH6jCxs68co.asf

Meet my husband. . .

Dugald took the personality test too. . . meet my hubby:

You Are An ENTP

The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression. You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything. Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off. You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments. In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love. And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear! You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor. At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision. How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial

What's Your Personality Type?

Personality Change

It's seems I've had a personality change in the past few years, at least a little bit! The Myers-Briggs personality test is well-known and I've taken it several times over the course of my life. I've always been INFP, which I think means Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perception. Well, a friend had this test on her blog, so for fun I decided to take it, and now I am INFJ. I went back and changed a few answers that I could have gone either way on and the results stayed the same, so this, apparently, is me:

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's Your Personality Type?

If you want to take the test for yourself click the question above or go to http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/

I'd love to hear what you come up with! I think for the most part my description is accurate, though it's definately wrong when it talks about my infinite patience!

Talk to me people. . .

Just playing around

I began blogging when we moved to New Zealand as a means to keep in touch with family and friends. I've also decided it might be a good thing to print out at the end of each year and just stick in the back of our family scrapbook. Now that I've discovered a bit of the blogosphere (not sure I'm spelling that right) I've enjoyed reading the blogs of others and establishing a sort of virtual community where I can find inspiration, encouragement, fellowship, shared interests or just get in a good laugh when I need it. As I've explored I've noticed that my blog's template, which is just the basic layout I use, is kind of generic. I've been playing around with ways to make it a bit more personal, thus the ever changing picture at the top. The current photo was taken on one of my morning walks, and I haven't actually posted it before because it doesn't even come close to capturing the beauty of sunrise over the harbour - partly because of the amateur photographer, partly because I was a bit late that day, and partly because it was overcast.

Just wanted to let you know why things may look different here from day to day. . . I'm just playing around and trying to learn how to do all this fancy stuff.

We're still here...

I haven't blogged for a few days because I just haven't had a coherent thought or any great family activity to post photos from. . . so I just thought I'd share some random recent occurrences.

1. We "registered" with the local medical clinic. In New Zealand the entire family goes to the same clinic to see a doctor. Since we've recently had three birthdays and I am used to taking the girls to the doctor every year I decided to go on in and get registered. I also am finally equipped with their shot records, very important documents I forgot to leave Texas with so thanks Lori for getting them for me. And, what tipped me over the edge and made me finally go down there, was the fact that Ellie was complaining that it hurt everytime she went potty. I know enough to know that her lack of a fever meant she was probably fine, but decided to go anyway despite the fact that I'd almost rather get a root canal by myself than take all four girls to the doctor's office. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly we were able to get an appointment, and once we got there with how quickly we were seen - we waited about two minutes! We saw Dr. Coffee, I'm not sure if that's how you spell it but it is how you say it, a very quiet man, about my age, and from Ireland. He was very kind and gave Ellie a quick exam and then sent us on our way with a cup for a urine sample and told me to drop it back by sometime later that afternoon. All that for a total cost of $14! Oh, and he also said none of the girls needed shots this year. And, as expected, Ellie is just fine.

Now I REALLY loved our doctors in Texas, I really did, they were all our good friends, but the medical system was never my favorite. We'd get the craziest bills in the mail and we never did know what they were for or whether our insurance should have paid it or we should have or whatever. We were also paying close to $1000 month in insurance just for me and the girls (until we switched to a Health Savings Account months before we left) - and aside from my thyroid being taken out several years ago we are all healthy! I haven't been here long enough, nor do I know enough about socialized medicine, but I have to say I just had a really good experience. The downside, or one of the downsides, is that our taxes are crazy high to pay for all of this. Also I believe there is a bit of a crisis here in the medical profession as far as keeping good doctors around, for various reasons. I'm just trying to look at the bright side, especially since leaving our friends and trusted medical advisors in Texas was a bit fear-provoking for me. So far, so good.

2. I taught Sunday School for the first time in our church here and it didn't go quite as I had planned. My sweet friend Julia, mother of two boys, told me that I am too used to being around girls. I had planned a nice little interactive discussion of the story of Zaccheaus to follow-up the video we watched as a part of a series. I had barely started speaking when one of the boys raised his hand, and I was impressed that he raised his hand, and shouted at the same time "Can we just play games now?". Oh yes, I also might mention that the class was twice the size it normally is due to a vote in the congregation that day that people felt quite strongly about. I realized the children were not going to go with my original plan so I rushed through and went right to the games I had planned - which, sadly, were not games that involved running around and using up tons of excess energy. I did a game where I passed around a bowl of Smarties (like m&ms) and told everyone to take some. When they all had the ones they wanted I told them that for every Smartie they had in their hand they had to tell us all something about themselves. It started off fine, but then we got to a boy I don't know and he said, quite seriously, "I hate my father". Nice. We moved right along and got to another boy who is fairly new to our church and a bit of an outcast and I was worried as to whether he'd participate at all, we've actually had to physically bar him from leaving before, he marches to the beat of his own drummer you might say. Anyway, he did play much to my surprise, only he said he had a green cat, to which the other kids (mostly the boys I have to say) shouted, "Liar, you don't have a green cat!"

3. Rain, rain go away come again another day. It's raining again today. Ick.

4. We're almost done with our school year that we began last August! Moving has a way of setting you back a few months. Anyway, to celebrate we're going to have a weekend away. I am speaking to a group of women from Margaret's church on the 3rd of July about Mercy Ships, so we will all drive there as a family and spend one night with them. Then on Friday we are planning to drive to Napier, a city I've been wanting to see and never have on previous trips. It's called New Zealand's Art Deco city. Here's a little trivia from Wikipedia for your further education:

On 3 February 1931, Napier was levelled by an earthquake. The collapses and ensuing fires killed 258 people. The town centre was destroyed and rebuilt in the popular Art Deco style of the time. Some 40 km² of today's Napier was undersea before the earthquake raised it. [3]
Although a few Art Deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s , most of the centre remained intact for long enough to become recognized as architecturally unique, and from the 1990s onwards had been protected and restored. Napier and South Beach (Miami) are considered by many Art Deco enthusiasts the two best preserved Art Deco towns, Miami Beach being mainly in the later Streamline Moderne Art Deco style. As of 2007, Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. [4]

I don't think we'll tell Meggie about the earthquake, she worries more than I do! The area is also a great wine-growing region so we'll look forward to that too, and there are fun things for the children as well, but really we are just going to have a quiet weekend together as a family and regroup so we can start right in to our next school year when we get back.

That's all our news! We love to hear from you so email us when you can.

It wasn't Father's Day

Just thought I should post a brief explanation as to why I wasn't blogging this weekend about what a fantastic daddy Dugald is - and he is amazing. It's because it wasn't Father's Day here, so we didn't celebrate him in a special way, especially since it was Katie's birthday. Apparently the Kiwis celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday in September. So, please don't think I forgot my dear husband, who is truly a father to be admired, you will be hearing about him in September!

What we do during ballet. . .

Josie takes ballet on Monday and Katie takes on Friday so we are there a lot. There is a little waiting room where the parents can sit if they'd like, but you can't see in to the dance studio and the room is quite small. So, the other three children and I usually take Rico down to Karori Park. There is a stream that runs alongside of the park that Rico and the girls love to splash around in. I am not convinced it is the cleanest water, but it is a much better alternative than being cooped up in a little room for an hour or a half hour (depending on who is having a lesson), so we take the risk.

We go to the creek rain or shine because the girls and the dog come home wet regardless. Yesterday it was quite cold but that didn't stop anyone from getting in! We bravely let Rico off the lead to play and usually it works out quite well. However, yesterday right as Ellie was telling me she needed to go potty Rico took off after two other dogs- chihuahuas no less. Needless to say they were terrified! I ran after Rico yelling for him to come and told Meggie to hold on to Ellie. Thankfully the owner of the wee small dogs was ok with Rico bounding after them and once I managed to get the lead back on him she wanted to have the dogs get used to him. So, disaster averted. Once they moved on we made it to the bathroom, but not a moment too soon. Just thought you might want to know :).

Another Sunny Winter Day

We had another great weekend here in Wellington! The sun was shining, we celebrated Katie, life is good. On Saturday we decided to head back down to the waterfront and rent a "Crocodile Bike" for a little while. Unfortunately, since we were biking, we couldn't take Rico. Here he is, with Willow, watching us leave. How sad is that?
Anyway, we got down to the marina and loaded up the bike ready for our next adventure. . .

It was sunny, but that doesn't mean it wasn't chilly!

The Birthday Girl just enjoying her day.

We took a short break for gelato - we said we were going to get hot chocolate, but when we saw the gelato we couldn't resist and only daddy ended up with a hot chocolate.

We parked our bike right outside this cute little cafe. . . and tucked inside for some tasty treats!

Then we had to use up all that extra energy, and warm up a bit, so we pedaled over to the play area and let the kids run around awhile. Here comes Josie down the big slide.

After returning the bike we tried our hand at rock climbing. . .only daddy made it to the top! Here's Katie looking a bit like SpiderGirl.

Meggie did pretty well also!

Since Josie didn't make much progress on the wall she decided to show off her prowess on the bar. . .

The afternoon ended after a trip to the bookstore where Katie got to spend some of her gift certificate from Grandma and Grandpa.

By the by, Katie is wearing her new outfit from American Girl that matches the new outfit her doll got, thanks Mimi and Big Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Katie Anne!

Our sweet Katie turned 7-years-old today! Katie is a joy to our family and she is so easy to love. It's hard to believe she's only 7 because in our family she is one of the big girls. We (Dugald and I) often lump her together with Meggie and expect things of her that are probably a bit beyond her years, but she rarely disappoints. Katie Anne we love you and are so proud of you!
Katie has started taking riding this year and she's doing very well. I think her ballet training helps as she looks so elegant, balanced and confident up in the saddle. There have been a few times where she has struggled, but she has bravely and diligently kept at it until the end of her lesson despite her fear, she has the makings of a champion I think!

This smile is infectious. Sometimes it gets her or her sisters in trouble when we are supposed to be doing schoolwork, or if we are somewhere that Mommy wants them to be calm (church, grocery store, etc) and she gets a case of the giggles and next thing you know everyone is rolling in the aisles ( sometimes literally). That's Katie though - funny, fun to be around and spreading joy.

And she is a gifted ballerina. I'm probably a bit biased, but I do think she is a natural when it comes to ballet.

The kid was born in Texas, and she's a cowgirl wannabe! I enjoy watching her learn her English riding skills and horsemanship but she thinks barrel racing would be a blast - so she may return to Texas one day performing in the rodeo!

And she's quick! This girl can catch birds in her bare hands, kind of a super power I'd say.

We call her Katie kitten as a nickname sometimes so this picture seemed appropriate as we celebrate Katie and her gentle nature.

Happy Birthday blue-eyed girl - our prayer for you this year is that "you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. . ." Col 1:10-13

The Art of Hospitality

Last night we had a lovely evening over at Rob and Liz's. Margaret and Hugh were in town for the night, having driven up to watch their grandsons (and our nephews) Hugh and Elliot playing in a rugby match. So, after having spent the entire day on a blustery, wet, cold field (which the Kiwis call a pitch if I remember correctly) watching Scots College (Hugh and Elliot's team) crush the competition, Rob and Liz invited everyone back to their place for dinner. We didn't watch the match -shame on us - due to the weather and various other commitments - but we did go over in the late afternoon and we stayed for dinner. Julie was there with her five - but she and the younger three had to leave almost as soon as we arrived so that Elliot could get to another sporting event. It was lovely to see them even if only for a few minutes.

As soon as we arrived Liz brought out an enormous trunk FULL of Groovy Girl dolls and accessories for the girls. They were enthralled, and sweet Hettie got down on the floor and played with them and basically looked after them so I could enjoy some adult conversation.

Lloyd and Julie's oldest two, having a car of their own, were able to stay and visit awhile longer. Here is a picture of Bella and Maddie with Margaret and Hugh (sorry Maddie that I caught you with your eyes closed).

Rob was the main chef for the evening and cooked up a lovely meal for all of us of lamb chops, sausages, green beans, some pastas and various salads. He and Liz manage to make feeding a crowd of 12 look effortless.

Meanwhile we all just kicked back and chatted . . .

Dinner was delicious and the company even better.

Hugh entertained us after our meal. . .

and Katie played a game of changing faces with Grandpa. Hand goes up over face, smile! Hand goes down over face, frown. Somehow this always entertains.

Anyway, reflecting on the night and the joy of being together with family I couldn't help but think of what a gift hospitality is to those who receive it. I looked it up in the dictionary and here is how Merriam-Webster's defines it:

1 a: given to generous and cordial reception of guests b: promising or suggesting generous and cordial welcome c: offering a pleasant or sustaining environment2: readily receptive : open

Rob and Liz blessed us last night with their generous hospitality. I only hope that when friends and family visit our home they feel as generously welcomed and received. Thanks for a lovely evening!!

Sunday in the City

We had a glorious Sunday!! The sun was shining brightly all day, we spent time with friends and we hung out together as a family too. Just perfect!

After church we went to lunch with our friends the Colemans - we had invited them to go have dim sum with us downtown. Sadly I didn't realize the need for a reservation so we couldn't go there, but we made the best of it and walked over to Te Papa, a fabulous museum, and had lunch in the cafe and then let all the kids go play awhile.

After they left our family went for stroll along the waterfront to enjoy the sunshine. We saw these two ducks courting, and pretty soon the girls got a biology lesson, very exciting!

I'm throwing in some scenic shots for my American friends and family who haven't been to Wellington before.

A fun play area right along the shore. The slide is awesome!

I would absolutely LOVE it if our next house could have a view of the water, it's just so lovely.

Ellie got a little tuckered out towards the end of our walk, so Daddy gave her a ride.

Lots of people were biking and skating so we promised the girls the next time we were in town on a sunny weekend day we'd rent bikes and join them. They also want to rollerblade, but I'm not sure Wellington is ready for all of us on roller blades!

After our walk we headed home in the car to pick up Rico and take him down to "crazy bay". It's actually Evans Bay but he goes crazy with delight whenever we take him so we've renamed it!

Here is a picture of Josie - her hair was making us all laugh.

He's a happy dog, he's a happy. happy dog!

After all of our trials and tribulations with the kennel, Rico is at last quite happy in it and now he is just a joy to have in the family. He's such a good puppy and the girls adore him and even Dugald is fond of him (he didn't really want to get a dog if the truth be told).

This is a sign you don't see at home. . .

Hope you had a great weekend too!!!