What we've been up to. . .

Sorry for the lack of blogging - it's been a crazy month! Dugald was gone for a little over two weeks in Seattle, then he came home for two nights and was off again for another week to Sydney. We missed him but the girls were good and we did well, it's just really hard to single parent. I didn't have time for much extra so taking photos of the girls and blogging fell by the wayside I'm afraid. I've spent considerable energy, research and prayer trying to find us somewhere to live. We have to move out of our rental by January 19th and we haven't found anything yet. . . we tried for two houses but were seriously outbid. I am now looking at rentals but those are scarce as well. We could move out of our suburb but I feel very strongly about doing whatever we can to stay in Karori as most of our friends and connections are here. We'd appreciate your prayers.

Now that the hubs is back I'll try to be a bit more present on the blog! It's a busy time of year down here in the Southern Hemisphere. Not only do we have Christmas busyness like everyone else, but we also are faced with the end of the school year busyness. The girls only have one more week of school and there are parties to go to, chapel services, prize-givings, shared lunches, etc, etc. They've loved their year at school but I think we are all excited about the slower days of summer and spending more time together as a family. 

Katie in her panda hat just thinking.

Ellie enjoying the sunshine in her penguin hat while she does some painting.

Meg and her friend Katie on a walk to the shops - nerds!

 Katie's school disco was held during the time Dugald was in Seattle. Marsden combines the Year 5's and 6's for the disco and it's girls-only (Marsden is a single-sex school). I was on the planning committee for this year and a lot of thought and effort went into making it a special night. The festivities began as soon as school was dismissed and the girls headed over to another room for "after-school club" where they got dressed and some older girls were there to paint their nails and do their hair for them.

Katie and Jemma in their coordinating colors

Having her nails painted. 

The lanyard around their necks were their tickets which also had stars for them to throw into the wishing well for spot prizes. All was going perfectly - the mom's that were meant to make the snacks for after school had all shown up and there was plenty, the Year 13's had come to help the girls with hair, makeup and nails, the Cultural Center was decorated beautifully, the food mom's were in the cafeteria cooking up a delicious meal. . . .

The only problem, and it was a big one, is that the DJ hadn't shown up. When we phoned him to find out where he was it turns out he hadn't had our disco in the books (it was booked a year in advance by the previous year's committee) and he was in another town. To make a long and rather stressful story short, I ended up being the DJ with some help from mine and other's iphones and the technical department at school. The Year 13 girls stayed around and emceed the event and sorted some games and whatnot. Another girl ran to the upper school and got lights and a disco ball. Somehow we made it all happen, the girls had fun, and the school has decided we may not need to spend the $450 on a DJ for next year's disco. . .

Anyway, I will try to update more often than once a month! Thank you for sticking around those of you who have been checking on us here.

Happy Birthday G.G.!!!!

Lots of love from all of us. . .. Dx

Ballet Exam Time Again

It's that time of year again - ballet exams for the older three girls. They've each worked very hard this year and we look forward to seeing if their results reflect that. Each one of them came out beaming so regardless of their scores it was a great experience. Meggie did grade 5, Katie grade 4 and Josie grade 2. 

Katie with her teacher Ms. Tarrant and her group of Scarlett, Pippa and Ruby.

Meggie's group - Olivia, Georgia and Miriam.

Waiting patiently and practicing since they could hear the piano music from upstairs in the downstairs studio where the girls got ready.

Josie and her partner Celia and their teacher Mrs. Miles.

Hugh's 90th Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated Hugh's 90th in Palmerston North a few weekends ago - he actually turns 90 on November 14th, but we partied the last weekend of October because that was the best time for most of the family. I forgot my camera, along with half my brain, but I gave Meggie my phone and she got some fun pics. Dugald bought me a new small camera (I've been wanting one but not bringing my good camera was definitely unintentional!) but after the first few shots I used it for video because of course my video camera was in the bag with my good camera. Grr.