False Alarm

No big storm here after all which is fine by me. I had a good friend a few years ago who loved, loved, loved storms and rain and whatnot. I can't really relate to that, I'm a sunshine kind of girl. Above are some photos of the girls doing some rainy day art at the table.

Sorry I haven't been posting much - I'm not in the pit of despair, so don't worry, but we just haven't ventured out much in this weather so I have no new adventures to report.

Today my hairdresser, Olivia, came with her husband and took Rico on a 45-minute walk!!! Yay!!! That right there is some provision from the Lord because I can't even begin to tell you how guilty I feel when those big brown puppy dog eyes beseech me to play with him every time I pass a window or open a door. We have lots of windows in this house so he just follows us and plops down outside wherever we happen to be in the house--right outside the window just waiting to see if we acknowledge him.

Last week we went to Johnsonville to participate in some "homeschool swimming" classes. We were there for hours as I signed all four girls up and they were in four different classes separated by a half an hour each. It was an indoor pool, of course, but even so it was freezing in there! Ellie jumped in, jumped out and flat out refused to do her lesson. Reasoning with a blue-lipped shivering 3-year-old is not my forte so I just let her get dressed, but I was worried, we had hours to go and I hadn't brought any back-up entertainment. I did have food, so I tried to make lunch last as long as possible. The challenge there was keeping her from eating the food I'd brought for her sisters. The rest of the girls managed to survive the frigid waters by alternating swimming in the pool with time in the jacuzzi. That extra dollar each was totally worth it! They all did well, all were the youngest in their groups, and now I am shopping for wetsuits. I just ordered one for Ellie for $10 from the New Zealand equivalent of ebay but I couldn't find them for the other girls. I think the jacuzzi will be cheaper for them anyway!!! The only wetsuits I saw in shops online were $80 each. We're going to try another week without them.

The other thing occupying all of my spare moments, both of them, is my current project of uploading all our home videos onto my new computer so I can then burn them to DVD and the girls can watch them on tv. I am almost done and sadly I seem to only have a random sample of the videos we've made over the years. I have hours of footage of Meggie between birth and 18-months-old, but Katie's birth and first months are mysteriously missing. We catch up with her at around 6-months-old. Then I do have Josie's birth and early footage, but none of Ellie. In fact the only video I have of El is what was in the camera when we arrived. Oh dear. They will probably need counseling if I can't find the videos!! Some of it is quite adorable and I will try to post snippets here somehow, it just may take a little while.

Ok, I must go read bedtime stories so Daddy can do Bible and prayers. . . talk soon!!

Thank you for being you!

You guys are all great, thank you for the calls, emails and words of encouragement! More than anything thank you for your prayers. I was so hesitant to write that I am struggling, but now I am glad that I did because of your loving responses.

Yesterday I had a surprise three hours off when my sweet nieces Hettie and Alex came over to play with the girls. It was their last day of school holidays and it was so sweet of them to spend it with their little cousins. I had a nice long lunch with my dear friend Julia and ran a few errands all by myself and it was lovely and refreshing. Though it was quite cold the sun was out, and for me that makes all the difference in the world!!!

Dugald went to Auckland yesterday on business and wasn't supposed to be home until 10:30 pm, but they were/are forecasting a big storm - high, high winds, rain and cold - so he managed to get on an earlier flight and was home by 8:30 pm to tell the children goodnight. I was worried he wasn't going to get home at all for a few days so I'm glad he beat the weather.

That's really all from here - I went shopping yesterday and the grocery store was packed with people all talking about the storm, it felt a bit like Florida preparing for a hurricane! Since Dugald still wasn't home and I wasn't sure he would get back I stocked up on food and bought enough for the entire weekend. That may sound like no big deal but if you could see the size of my refrigerator you'd understand why it never happens. I got home and had to really work to get everything put away. By the way, just a curious aside, New Zealanders don't put their eggs in the refrigerator! They aren't even refrigerated at the grocery store.  .   . 

Thanks again for all of your love and support!!! Hugs to everyone.

I made this on the computer today, if you'd like to give it a go link to www.wordle.net and you can create your own. I couldn't get it to upload at normal size, so if you'd like a better look just click on the image and it will enlarge it.

Thoughts

Moving is hard. It's harder than I remembered when I contemplated this move. It's harder now that I have a family. Yes it's an adventure, but it sure can be exhausting physically, mentally and spiritually. I can't do it in my strength. I'm learning more about what it means to rest in God, but I am not there yet.



Some of you have said that in reading this blog it sounds like we've moved right into a fairytale. Well, it's been wonderful for sure, but I will say that normally I try to only blog about the good things. There are hard things too, as I am sure you must realize. I'm not sure if I will even post this, it's scary for me to be so vulnerable. I also don't want to come across as weak, as ungrateful, as unable to cope. I'm just having a hard time. My pride makes it hard for me to remove the mask and let you see the struggle.



I miss the familiarity of America. I've moved a lot, I've lived in Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. But with every move the basics stayed the same - same road rules, same shops, same grocery stores (or at least the same products). I also had shared experiences with the culture despite the state - I understood the politics, the religious affiliations, the social fabric of a community. I feel like I don't understand any of that here. I am totally and completely out of my element and that rocks my world because I like control, I like planning, I like routine. I don't really like learning curves that go on for too long. I fear being the one my children look to for their emotional compass, because sometimes I'm sad. I don't like feeling so alone. So I am struggling with those things.



In my quiet time I was reminded of these words of Jesus from The Message in Mark 8:



"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how."



I am not in control of my life, ever. I need this gentle reminder to let Him lead.



In Matthew 11 "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you." Those are Jesus' words. They are true. I believe them. I am embracing this God-life as I know how. Help me Lord when it feels too much to not give up, but to open my arms wider and embrace more of You.



I am being stretched in my relationships too - my relationship with God especially. Is He really enough for me? I believe that He is, I have always believed that, but now I'm having to walk in in the reality of it for a season. Again. I've been through periods of loneliness before. Sure we've made some friends, but friendships take time to develop and we're only just starting. I have a great husband too, but I don't see him as much as I used to or as much as I feel like I need. I am mourning the loss of a lifestyle that I took for granted. Life is harder here because of its unfamiliarity, because of the increased physical demands, because of choices we've made. Jesus says, "You're blessed when the tears flow freely. Joy comes with the morning." Luke 6.



Again, in my quiet time God gently speaks to my heart. In Mark 6 when the disciples interrupted Jesus' teaching because it was getting late and the people would need food Jesus told them, "You do it. Fix supper for them." They were baffled - there were 5000 people and only five loaves of bread. But Jesus blessed the food, started passing it out, and there was plenty - leftovers even. Again in Mark 8 Jesus tells the disciples to feed his listeners and AGAIN they ask him how. Two chapters ago they saw Him miraculously provide above and beyond what they needed. I love that. It's not just me that has to learn the same lessons, or see God at work in my life in miraculous ways over and over. We are like sheep. God graciously included these stories so I would know that I am not alone. Thank You sweet Lord.



I don't know why I am sharing all this here. I think I'd like to ask those of you who pray to please pray for me. God is faithful and He is with me and I know His joy, the kind that isn't dictated by circumstances, so for that I am grateful. I don't know how it's even possible to get through this life without Him. I am in a beautiful country, surrounded by kind people, part of a loving family. I am not alone. I wake up each day determined to look for the good, and it's never hard to find, but sometimes the relentlessness of the other things dampens my spirit, weakens my joy and batters my emotions. Sometimes I really do just want to go home.



Thank you for journeying with us through this blog, I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing and encouragement it is to me when you tell me you are keeping up with us this way. I feel like we aren't forgotten and I feel a little less alone. I hope to be faithful to what God has called us to, I hope to be a helpmeet to my husband, I hope to model for my children how to walk with God and in His joy even when things are hard. I want to create a home that is warm, inviting, joyful, stimulating . . .a place where the presence of God is felt and where people feel loved. I'm not there yet. . .



"Why are you so polite with me, always saying 'Yes, sir', and 'That's right,sir,' but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on." Luke 6. Lord I want to work your words into my life. I want to be changed by You. I want You - Your Words, Your ways, to be my foundation, my cornerstone, my rock. Lord I am guilty of being "polite" and then just doing my own thing. Please forgive me. Your words are hard- they go against my sinful self-interest and self-promotion. It is not "natural" for me to be who You created and desire for me to be - it is supernatural. Work in me by Your Holy Spirit I pray.

All Aboard!

This weekend we took the girls to visit the m/v Doulos docked in Wellington Harbour. It was such fun taking them onboard for a tour, the ship reminds us both of the Anastasis where we met. Surprisingly, at least to me, the Doulos is about 30 years older than the Anastasis. 

Just being at the port, walking the gangplank and being onboard a ship brought back a flood of memories! The ship even smelled much the same as the Anastasis, a mix of seawater, diesel fuel and old age I suppose, but a smell I remember fondly. The girls were a bit apprehensive just walking up the gangway, and they remained slightly nervous going up and down stairs throughout our tour. 

These photos are out of order because of my inferior uploading skills, but anyway here is Katie getting her "Passport" stamped by our lovely South African tour guide.

The girls all at the lookout. . .
And on the bridge. . .


On the dock with daddy and the best shot I could get of the ship which doesn't really do it justice . . .
Walking, carefully, up the gangway. . .
Overlooking the bow. . .
Getting our "Visitor" passes for our tour. . .
A view off starboard of Wellington Harbour.
It was so fun sharing this experience with our little ones who wouldn't even have been here if we hadn't served with Mercy Ships. We all came home with visions of serving on the African Mercy at some stage. . . is this of God??? 

I got my new computer, my new Macintosh computer (does anyone say Macintosh anymore? Or is it just Mac now?) and I am LOVING it! I haven't been this excited about a new toy since my dad gave me my camera (a digital Canon Rebel that I love, love, love). I'm having to learn how to use a Mac all over again but it is fairly intuitive and it's coming back to me pretty quickly. Plus Macs have the best packaging ever. I am a salesman's dream when it comes to pretty packaging and Mac does it very well.  I should have taken a picture of the size of my PC and the size of my new Mac. Instead of sitting on the floor in all it's hugeness, the little box sits right on my desk taking up very little space and accumulating very little dust which is a miracle in this house. I wish I had bought a new screen as well, with the camera built right in, but my screen didn't break so hopefully the computer master (Dugs) can get my Logitech camera to work with this system so we can soon Skype again. 

I have piles of old videos from our video camera that I need to burn to DVD and last night I pulled one out and uploaded it to the computer to see how it all works. It was so easy!! I am ecstatic and the girls were loving getting to watch home movies again. I may even get fancy and put a clip in here just for fun. I may get tripped up trying to upload it to blogger, but if I do I'll just start an imac video page and send those of you who are interested the link. Such fun.

Today we officially started our new school year. I have a schedule all typed out and for the most part we are doing well sticking to it. However, and this is a problem, this is my exercise time and here I am blogging. Meggie and I did take the dog on a 45 minute walk this morning before Dugald left for work so I am sort of counting that. I'm going to have to ease back in to working out I think. 

It's beautiful here today - the sun is shining!! I wanted to get out and rake up leaves in our garden but I didn't have time for that built into our schedule so I was a little ferklempt (spelling?) as to how I could get it all done when I had the bright idea of having Meggie and Katie make lunch for everyone. I asked them if they would do it and they were pretty darn excited about the challenge so I raked while they made lunch without any help at all from me. Poor Meggie has a few small cuts on her fingers from trying to cut the carrots, but other than that they did a fantastic job. 

That's it from us! Lots of love to all . . .

I gave in

I was having a little contest with myself to see how long I could go without getting my hair done. I've only had it done once since we moved here in January and I wasn't that thrilled, so I was putting it off. I should say I wasn't that thrilled and it cost a fortune. 

I made it until two weeks ago when I could stand the grey no longer and bought some bottled color at the grocery store. The girls and I had big fun doing it while Dugald was away, and when he returned I had light brown hair. All over. The problem was I must not have left it on long enough because I was still seeing grey hair all over the place. And my thick hair was getting puffier by the minute. It is so thick that whenever I get it cut they have to thin it out for me and that had not been done in a loooonnnggg time so I was looking pretty scary. I should have taken a before picture, but it wouldn't have been that impressive since I've been wearing it in a ponytail constantly.

All that to say, and I realize this is getting wordy, I tried a new place today. It was the last day of the school holidays and therefore my final opportunity to have a daytime babysitter so I booked an appointment at the last minute and was scheduled with the new girl (of course).

So, it was with a bit of fear and trepidation that I got on the bus and headed downtown for another stab at getting a haircut I liked. The fear and trepidation had to do with the cost, obviously I'm not too worried about wearing hair that looks horrible since I've been doing that for months. 

Olivia, that's her name, was great! I mean she did a good job fixing the mess I'd made of my hair, but what was really great was that she was so fun to talk to, I feel like I have a new friend. And, and this is the VERY best part, she offered to walk the dog, asked if she could even! For free!! Yippeee!!!! She doesn't live too far from us, she's in Kelburn, and she loves animals and recently had to put down the dog she'd had since she was 14. I am elated - not about her dog, but about her interest in ours. 

Another great thing - she and her husband just moved back to Wellington from Auckland and so they are staying at her parent's house for awhile while they get re-settled. I asked if they might be interested in house,dog and cat-sitting sometime and she said of course she'd love too. Now if we can just pry Dugald away from his job we can go away knowing the animals will be well looked after. 

Dugald came and saw me and brought me lunch while I was getting all done (I was there for hours) because his office is just across the street from the hairdresser. It was fun to see him in the middle of the day and he got to meet Olivia. When I chatted with him later to tell him all this exciting news and give him the rundown on her family it turned out he knows who her father is, he was with TVNZ for awhile so he's pretty well-known (except of course to me).

After my hair appointment I met up with Dugald again and we went to see the Doulos which is docked at Wellington Harbour and reminds us of our time on the Anastasis. The ship must be from the same era because they really do look alike. There was a big book sale onboard so I went for a browse since I still can't get over book prices here. The prices were a lot more reasonable but the books were all pretty old and I already had, or had read, everything they were selling that I was interested in so I went away empty handed but it was still fun.

All in all I was gone for most of the day which was a lovely break and I got to do some grown-up things without my little darlings. I came home refreshed and much better looking and ready to dive in and start our new school year next week. Woo hoo!

I am from. . .

I am from flip-flops and sand between your toes, Evinrude motors and warm sunshiny days.

I am from warm colors, the smell of  the sea, scrubbed pine floors and gentle breezes. 

I am from palm trees and sea grass, seagulls and pelicans, the sound of waves lapping the shore. 

I am from big family gatherings, great southern food, boating and biking and backyard barbecues.

I am from a home full of laughter, tears, joys and sorrows, the sounds of family.

I am from those who celebrate together, grieve together, and get together for no reason at all 

From "Be nice to your sister, she's the best friend you'll ever have." to "Because I'm the mom, that's why."

I am from those who fear God, who worship Him in the most formal tradition, who reverence Him. He has always been a part of my life.

I am from Mississippi, Florida and now the world. 

I am from fried snook, smoked mullet, conch fritters , crabcakes, greek salad, stone crabs and key lime pie.

From the lineage of he who keeps the world safe from crime and she who makes the world a place we want to be. 

From he who knows the peace and comfort of the sea and she who knows the peace and comfort of the Lord.

I am from that place in the heart that is only remembered fondly, the memory of which is sacred, and the re-creation of which is but a dream.

Oh-ba-dee-Oh-ba-da

Life goes on. . . la la la la life goes on.



If you don't know that song I'm sorry, I just can't get it out of my head for some strange reason. Probably because I don't have much to post about. . . our life is going on. . . but it's all good.



It's week two of New Zealand school holidays, which means it's week two of Morrison half days. And week two of more relaxed days. I'm really glad the girls do the activities they do, and I'm always tempted to add more rather than drop any, but boy, these days of not having to be ANYwhere are welcome. I mean besides swimming. Our afternoons are nice and free. Today the girls and I took Rico for a long walk and stopped for hot chocolate along the way. We hit the post office (to send sweet baby Cassie a welcome to the world gift), the library (to return overdue books, oops), to the local Christian bookstore (had about 100 books in total, not kidding) and to Pippa's house to return socks. All in all very enjoyable.



We had a lovely Sunday after a blustery Saturday. It is not a good thing how much my level of optimism is tied to the weather. Sunday was good, no it was great. I love our church, I love the people we know that attend there, I love setting that day aside to worship and to rest. I just love it.



The children are all doing well - Ellie has mastered the potty, she can be trusted on long car trips, long walks, trips to the grocery store. Meggie is taking on more and more responsibility and liking it. Katie is keeping us all social. Josie LOVES school. Loves, loves, loves school. Dugald is over the current crisis at work. For now.



Oh-ba-dee-Oh-ba-da life goes on, la la la la life goes on. . .

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!!!!