Fireworks

Last night we had dinner with good friends of ours and we had a blast – literally. After we had indulged in a good meal we  watched some fireworks with the children. It brought back memories to me of when I was growing up. Guy Fawkes was quite a celebration when we lived in a farming community. I remember the huge pile of firewood for the bonfire and the guy that was made to put on top  before it was lit. Sparklers were always a favourite of mine as a child.

The kids really had fun – all except A3 who was scared of the noises and watched from the window indoors. He was a bit skeptical about the sparklers too!! All in all a fun evening.

Here are some photos I took – I wanted to try out my night photography but somehow the settings weren’t right I think. Nevertheless they came out quite pretty anyway. I will have to read the manual!!

 

 

 

 

 

Little dreams, bunnies and more….

I couldn’t resist taking A3’s photo this morning as he was sleeping so peacefully and he looked so cute and relaxed. There is nothing more beautiful than a sleeping child!!

I had a huge chuckle the other day as we have finally put Tinkerbell and Rascal together as she is old enough to breed. We want the kids to have the experience of baby bunnies (but I think once will be enough). We watched them for awhile and the saying “breeding like rabbits”  is oh so true. The poor girl ended up running around the hutch after she had had enough. Z9 made this comment and I couldn’t help laughing – it was so funny. She said, “Rascal, I know that feels nice but you need to be considerate to your lover – she has had enough now!!”  Out of the mouth of babes… and what truth there was in it. Heee hee kids can be so funny!!!

So now we have separated them again to give her some peace and he is sulking big time. Now we wait to see if there will be any baby bunnies in a month.

We are heading to exam time in three weeks and M15 is studying hard. She is certainly more diligent than I ever was – I was a crammer just before the exams so I am glad that I don’t have to chase her – she’s a star!!

I am so pleased that I decided to be more organised this year for Christmas. Usually I am running around trying to get gifts at the last minute and with no budget. I have been laybying presents for the children and they are almost paid up so it should be stress free and plain sailing this year – hooray!!! I just can’t believe that the year is almost over – time flies as you get older.

Things about me….

Here is a list of things about me that you may or may not know:

1. I was born in the same hospital as my husband – just 11 months before him.
2. I love reading medical thrillers.
3. I was a good swimmer in high school.
4. I am a trained primary school teacher
5. I love coffee.
6. I am writing a novel.
7. Photography is my latest passion.
8. I have lived in 15 houses in 20 years of marriage.
9. My best friend is my husband.
10. My favourite colour is green.
11. I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy.
12. I have taught myself to play the keyboard (acceptably)
13. I love the country and would live there by choice.
14. I love shopping for bargains.
15. Cooking is a joy to me.
16. Usually I always experiment with a recipe when I am having guests.
17. My favourite meat would be roast lamb.
18. We lived on a farm for two years.
19. My husband made our bed himself.
20. I mow the lawn occasionally.
21. I hate hanging up washing.
22. I don’t iron!! (Only when it is vital).
23. I always cry at weddings (Except Jill and Kevin’s wedding – see you tube clip on my fresh encounters site)
24. I am not a typical female nester – I like to move around and have change (hence the many homes we’ve lived in.)
25. I like adventure and challenges in life.
26. I am developing a greater love and heart for those who are poor and needy.
27. I get very annoyed with people who spend time and money saving whales ( even though they need saving) when babies are mercilesly killed in the womb and no one cares.
28. I think being politically correct is a waste of time and hypocritical.
29. I appreciate honesty in people.
30. I enjoy my children.
31. The  best things that have happened in my life are: knowing Jesus personally, giving birth to my aewesome kids and my wedding day.
32. The thing I would like most right now is time to tell my family about Jesus love.
33. I love to worship.
34. I have plenty of freckles.
35. I love to ride rollercoasters.
36. I have never broken a bone yet and hope I never will.
37. My first pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
38. I have not slept through the night in three and a half years.
39. If I could travel anywhere in the world I would love to go to Greece, Italy and the Maldives.
40. I have travelled to Mexico, USA, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany.
41. I believe hospitality is more about heart than the quality of the meal you serve.
42. I have learned to be creative when times have been tight.
43. I  still love it when my husband gives me flowers.
44. I have always wanted a small tattoo.
45. I used to smoke my dad’s cigarettes when I was a teenager out of my window at night.
46. We sponsor a little girl from the Philippines.
47. I miss my family back in SA.
48. I am so grateful for the family God has blessed me with.
49. I am terrified of snakes.
50. Did I mention that I love coffee……

 

Citizenship

We have been waiting almost a year to be granted citizenship of New Zealand. When I applied for us, I wasn’t sure whether we qualified and I took a bit of a chance applying. The only reason I applied when I did, was because I felt God prompting me to do it. Well, when He prompts me I have learned to listen and it has paid off!! We are thrilled to have been notified that we have been granted citizenship and now all we have to do is wait for a ceremony to take place. I am hoping that it will be very soon and that  we can do this before the end of the year. God is so good to us.

Cornwall Park

Today was a public holiday and the weather was very mediocre but we needed to get the kids out into the fresh air. We decided to go to Cornwall Park which is about 15 minutes from our home. This is beautiful parkland with farm animals, old stone walls and amazing trees right in the middle of the city – our piece of country right here!!! The kids had great fun clambering over the walls and being with the animals, all except M15 who was rather tired as she had just returned from a two day hiking expedition. I am very proud of her as she hiked for 8 hours on the first day and for 6 hours the second day with an overnight spent in a tent on the trail. She has tender feet and a sore back from carrying her pack which contained everything.

 

I managed to get some great photos of the kids as well.

 

 

 

I  love being able to be creative with my new camera in taking shots of part things, like Z9 on thewall, without fully getting her in the shot. Makes it more interesting don’t you think?

 

 

 

I have decided to try and go for natural shots as the kids get tired of posing for me and they are more natural and fun – just harder to get of course as they move so fast.

 

 

 

 

There were many amazing birds and animals for the kids to see too. This pheasant was stunning!!

 

The sheep were cool too!! Now if only my kids would pose as nicely as this sheep did for me!!

 

 

And then there were cows as well.

All in all a great day and New Zealand at its finest.

Preschool

A3 has been longing to go to school forever. His little friends have all started kindergarten and he was feeling left out. My problem was that I work the middle hours of the day and every kindy I could find had set hours and sessions, all of which did not suit me. Finally I managed to find a preschool close to work that had flexible hours and even better – a space almost immediately for A3.

So, last week my little man began “school”. He has had a ball and loves it – no problems settling there!! His favourite thing is the very large sandpit at the school and the great jungle gyms. So for a few hours a day while I get to work, he gets to play, paint, sing and have stories and so much more. I loved kindy as a child – I hope he does too!!

Homeschooling…. who, me?

A while ago I mentioned that I had applied for three different colleges for E13 to attend next year, all of which were out of our zone. This meant his name was put in a ballot and a certain amount were drawn out for placings. Well E13’s name was not drawn out of any of these ballots. This leaves me with only two choices for next year. I can put him into the college that we are zoned for or I can homeschool him.

I really do not want to place him into a certain college we are zoned for, as I have heard very unpleasant things about this college. I know of two other people who regret placing their kids there – one is doing community service as we speak and hasn’t fitted into any school since being badly bullied at this college. The other kid has been influenced by a bad element and has been ditching school regularly.

My other option is to homeschool him for awhile – I don’t see this as being forever but for a short season. In a way I feel like this is what God is prompting me to do. E13 does not have a passion for school. He has the sense of humour that teachers either love, or really hate and there seems to be no middle ground. This causes some hair raising moments. Mostly I would love him to begin enjoying learning again, and as I have some teacher training and I know him well, I think that we could work on that. 

I would really love to share all that is happening in our lives, but for the moment I need to hold back a little till things fall into place completely for us. All I can say is that we do not believe we will be in this city forever, and so this could be a great season for E13 and I to bond. I have never been keen to homeschool my kids – I do like some space from them at times (sounds terrible I know, but every mother needs some time out) . I admire those mums that choose that path, so I know that this change of heart of mine must be God prompted and the fact that hubby is not dead set against it when he hasn’t been keen for homeschooling either makes me think that God is wanting us to draw our young man back into his family. We have seen E13 finding church very boring and tedious as he hits puberty and he can’t understand why we make him go. Really, all he is trying to do is work out who on earth he is at the moment. He is a unique combination of sensitive, creative and wildly witty and although he challenges our boundaries, he is not rebellious. So, I think I can school him and lay in some exciting spiritual foundations at the same time – HOPEFULLY!!!!

more photos!!

Here are a few more photos of the family – probably more for our family than anyone else as we live so far from them and this blog is a good way for them to see how the kids are looking/growing etc.

M15 looking gorgeous as ever. 

 

What a cutie!!

 

Yay!! We found a coconut in the water!!

 

The Two “Rascals” – E13 and Rascal the Rabbit!!  I’m not sure which one has longer hair!!

photo fun

Yesterday I managed to play a little with my new camera. We went for a walk in the very rare sunshine that had peeped out for a moment and I managed to try out different settings on my camera. By far my favourite will probably be the macro and super-macro functions that enable you to take very detailed close up images. It works brilliantly.

Here are some photos I took using the super- macro function.

 

This was just really a weed growing on the side of the beach – looks lovely don’t you think?

 

This succulent plant came out beautifully!

Then I tried out the macro function on close ups of my children and this is the result.

 

It’s really hard to photograph A3 as he moves so fast – might need to try out shutter speed on him!!

 

This is lovely – caught Z9 blowing bubbles and I love the effect.

 

 

And then I got M15 on camera too – if you move in this house now, you will be snapped!!

 

 

I also took some scenic photos and some craetive ones – had great fun doing it too.

 

Early birthday

Hubby recently sold his prized possession (his racing bike) on my favourite auction site for a whopping amount. He then bought me an early birthday present on the same site – the camera upgrade I have been dreaming about for a very long time. He feels that my blogging has been so good for me and wants me to have good photographic memories to go along with them. Again he scored a bargain as we saved $200 on the camera by winning it on auction. So Iam planning to do a little playing with my new toy this weekend to see how it goes – really looking forward to that. I am a very blessed woman and very thankful to God for the man in my life!! He is generous to a fault.