Citizen of the Vernacular Republic

So much...!

2010-06-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot happening lately.

And yesterday we decided that to 'get away' from it all, we'd book a trip and go to the snow. Couldnt find any accommodation left (its going to be school holidays) so instead, we are going to New Zealand. So in 2 weeks time...it looks like we're getting on a plane and getting outta here for a while. Noice!

Happenings...
- Sick. Jayde got really sick for a while (a month & still going). Like walking pneumonia sick. Levi also got sick. Jack also got sick and took his first day off work (sick leave) since he chopped half his finger off in 2005. *sigh*. Winter.

- New ministry @ church. Playtime for ages 0-5; Tuesdays 10-12. Crafts, stories, music and play. Our church has had a new fence/play equipment installed and its all very cool & exciting. First week we had over 20 mums & bubs...most of which dont go to our church, so that was great!

- VBS coming up in one more week. Im being prayerful for this because our church really doesnt have a bunch of school aged kids but we manage to usually get between 70-120 kids each day. Hopefully we'll have similar numbers (or more) this year. We have been encouraged to see one of Jaydes best friends from school (non Christian home) coming to Awana with her each week this term and are hoping that it continues & she can come to VBS as well. Her older brother has also started coming the last couple of weeks. Yay :).

- Hospital. Blegh. I was in hospital for 5 days last week. Am still not back to usual but am hoping to be soon because when I cant drive and do 'stuff', our life gets even more chaotic. I also cant go to New Zealand unless I get the all-clear from the doctor (which Im hoping to have later today).

- We got a new laptop...which promptly decided to chew up our monthly quota of internet usage (15GB) in 3 days with windows 7 updates & security updates etc. *scowl*. We were only 6 days into our billing cycle...which means that for the next 3 weeks we are back to dial-up speed internet. I know I know...worse things in life...but still...stupid computers.

- Jaydes school report came home and she did really well. Very pleased with her efforts even if she's not the nerd I thought I'd have :). Yesterday she finished reading the Adventures of the Wishing Chair which appeals to her imagination immensely. She has also taken it upon herself to do a daily bible reading for the family at the dinner table. We had an interview with her teacher who said that she is 'perfect' and an 'angel' (her words!) and kind, compassionate, responsible, trustworthy, honest and that everyone loves her. Marcia Marcia Marcia! Thats a relief because we always wonder how she behaves when not at home. I know Jayde isnt 'perfect' or an 'angel', but she is such a blessing and a joy to us; my cup overflows!

- Volunteering for too much stuff...am going to try to cut down and be a better steward of my time. Unfortunately blogging has taken a backseat.

- We had a long weekend in the middle of June. We travelled down to my mums place and used it as a base to travel to Wombeyan Caves. I have previously done a fair bit of abseiling and canyoning and have also been to most of the 'big' caves & drops within several hours of Sydney. But I had never been to Wombeyan before. It was sooo pretty...and even though we were the worst parents ever for dragging Jayde along when she was so ill (didnt realise how bad she was)...we had fun. I have been reading Levi the 'Going on a Bear Hunt' book for a while now and the minute we started bushwalking he started reciting the book. When he realised we were actually going into a cave he kept his eyes wide open in case we found a bear! So funny. Cant wait to go back...maybe camping in summer.

- Will attach pictures of some of the caves down below. Very hard to convey the sheer size inside. Also crisp shots are nigh impossible given that I didnt want to use my flash and I had no tripod, so bear with me.

The trek up the hill was pretty steep (okay, Im pretty unfit but still...) and here we are just before we start the descent to the entrance of the cave.

Best picnic food ever after a long walk- scotch eggs! Yum!

Also tried taking some portraits of Jayde & the levi the next day. Its always when I *want* to take pictures of them, that they dont work out! :). Here's one...with more to follow when I get time.

Has it been that long?

2010-05-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Eeep! Has it really been that long since I blogged?

A random post of a few things lately. (Btw, have updated my cameras firmware but havent been able to test the noise problem outside yet...inside seems better...not great, but better).

Sydney winter. Basically...it gets colder and sometimes it gets wetter. Last year I didnt even bother unpacking all of our jumpers (sweaters) and heavy jackets...but this year I have because I think its going to be a cold one.

However, in winter, most of our trees stay green and we even manage to retain some flowers in the garden. I love going outside in our yard with the camera. I always see something that directs me to the Creator in a new appreciation and wonder at all that He has wonderfully made.

These are some of the last frangipani blooms of the year...this tree is right outside our bedroom window and they smell...gorgeous!

K, not really flowers, but rainbow lorrikeets. In the afternoons, the trees outside our yard are alive with movement and screeching as these bright coloured beauties get their afternoon snack.

(Sorry about the image quality....still waiting for a telephoto lens to come my way....).

Roses. We have lots of them....pink, white, yellow, red....so pretty.

I always see these on tombstones...and by our mailbox :)

I'm not entirely sure what this is called, but it only flowers for a day or so and then dies. Every year I tell myself Im going to get a picture, and this year I thought I'd missed my opportunity again, but found one right at the back of these shrubs...the picture really doesnt do it justice.

Bougainvillia- very pretty but watch out for the thorns!

Visitor! My sister came up to visit us last weekend.....it was soooo nice to see her :). We all went out and had a great time...wahhh, I wish we lived closer!

I'm also getting old :). Here is the lovely birthday 'cake' (gluten free pavlova) that Jack organised. I was very surprised! But YUM!

And birthday flower delivery....

And second birthday flower delivery..... :).

And blood tests...argh.

Here's a story. You might think its silly but its not to me.
I was driving to the place where my blood tests were held at. It was in a suburb in the city that I dont usually go to so I wasnt familiar with it except to know that parking is a real pain in that area. I came to an intersection and there was the option to turn left, go straight, veer right or turn right. I knew I was meant to veer right, but got stuck in the turning lane and had to turn right. As I travelled down the street a lady got into her car up ahead and pulled out of a space, so I pulled in there to look at the map and figure out where I needed to go. I looked up at the street sign and it said 'Regent St'. I was on the right street! I looked at the address and then at the shop numbers...and I was at #46. The exact number I needed to get to. This might not seem like a big deal....but I had asked God to go before me and prepare a place for me, particularly with parking because I didnt want to run late or have to walk far with my foot. I was just flooded with thankfulness. He has His hand on us in all the little things and so we literally can go through each day being overwhelmed with his provision and loving kindness.
'I know that the Lord is always with me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his priases!' (Ps 16:8-9).

And the goofiest girl in the world! Here she is dancing & singing whilst cleaning her room. What a goofy look!

I've also been busy trying to acquaint myself with the new sewing machine. We are going to be friends. Maybe. I havent decided yet. But its a friendship that needs nurturing with lots of time & chocolate. My old friend the vacuum cleaner hasnt been seen for days :S. So far I've made...a little bag, 2 aprons, embellished some clothes and made a tunic/kaftan type thingy. Should I blog them? Eep. Im so not a master-crafter.

Tomorrow it's Jacks birthday. The kids got him a really nice watch. He is very fussy with watches- we saw the perfect one...right dial, right extras, right size band, right type of band....it was titanium which is really durable for work...annnnnd it was $900. Umm. Nup. We settled on something not quite as nice, but a much better deal! Tomorrow night Jack and I are headed into the city to go out for dinner and then see the musical Cats. Should be good!

Am finally on the home stretch of the church directory making. Yay, that will be a big project completed. Then there's Jaydes class yearbook pages...and more pictures and...and...lots to do.

Sorry my blog is so boring & sucky. Maybe next time I'll have something worth posting :).

T.O.T

2010-04-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

Ten On Thursday??

1- HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER! Love you soooo much! Hope you had a very special day...yesterday...:D

2- Yesterday I entered a photo on PW's flickr group. I usually dont bother, but tried with the macro entries last week and didnt get chosen. Since this week is landscapes...and they are not my forte...didnt think I'd stand a chance. But I'm up there on her group 2 selections! Hooley Dooley! So c'mon blogging friends- go and leave some nice comments :D. About 50% of comments have been along the lines of 'the pictures are so PS'd that they dont look like real pictures etc'. :S Okay, I confess, I ran a boost action...and did a little vignette...and some levels adjustment. But the rest was just slow exposure and an oil spill on the rocks..:P

3- Jack got me a sewing machine. I am going to teach myself how to sew :). I have no idea what Im doing. But so far...I've had lots of fun buying material & other random sewing things I may need along the way. Yesterday I washed a full load of various fabrics...and hung them out to dry...and then ironed it all for 3 hours :S. This process is not as fun as I thought it would be.....

4- Tired! We finally got some coldish weather. Sun in shining, but there is a chill in the air. Perfect! But it makes you feel so...sleepy all the time.

5- Jayde is back at school for Term 2 of Year 2. It's all systems go! Jayde came home last week and remarked on what an 'excellent listener' she was. I asked her if that was what her teacher had said and she replied 'no, I could just tell myself that I was listening excellently'. lol.

6- 17-18th April. This weekend was a busy one. Jayde was a flower girl (and I was a matron of honour). Jayde also played in the State Championships for t-ball...about a 1.5 hr drive from the wedding. So she went from this

to this

and back to this...

7- The wedding was lovely. I felt like a christmas ham, but it was all good. Everyone laughed and awww'ed at my speech which was a great relief for me! The ceremony & reception were really wonderful...bride was heartbreakingly beautiful...great weekend!

8- T-ball tournaments are intense! 10 games in 2 days. The two top teams were like robots...they never dropped a catch or missed a hit. They were making triple plays constantly...some innings lasted 2 minutes or less. Crazy! Jayde's team did well, and came 5th from 12. They wouldve been playing for 3rd or 4th, but lost the deciding game by 2 runs right at the end. We had some 'proud parent moments' where you dont want to brag but feel so relieved for your child :). Jayde is the shortest & youngest on her team (she is 7 and most of the team are 9 or 10). The coaches on the other teams would see her step up to bat and call in all the outfielders to come closer. HA! She smacked balls clear out of the diamond every time...none were caught out...phew. No home runs, but she got to 3rd base off almost every hit. She makes me feel so lazy and unathletic.

9- Went to see a podiatrist specialist person. Turns out not only do I have the heel spur, but I have torn the plantar fascia tendon in my foot. Had to go and buy some mens running shoes with inserts. How can you wear running shoes everywhere without looking bogan?

10- At school scripture on Tuesday, Jayde was affected by the 'new creation in Christ'/butterfly metaphor. She came home with a fire & brimstone sermon and got her wires confused when she explained to her brother that 'you know how greedy little caterpillars turn into butterflies? Well we are like dirty, filthy little rats that turn into butterflies when we let Jesus be in control of our hearts'. Ummm. okay. They also sang 'bullfrongs & butterflies'...which was one of Jacks favourite songs as a child. BOOOO to all the people trying to eliminate scripture from our public schools & replace it with 'ethics' classes.

10.5- My camera is looking like something is VERY wrong with it. I am getting huge amounts of unfixable noise in both horizontal & vertical bands. eeep. Suggestions?

Yes, Aunty H....

2010-04-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

She is growing up....*sniff sniff*.

Love you guys!

Unintentional cowgirl?

2010-04-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

You know how in western movies the cowdudes always have awesome spurs clanking on their strong, leathery boots? Those are cool.

Well apparently if you have size 12 feet and are therefore consigned to wearing thongs or converse for the rest of your life, you can grow your own heel spurs. On your heel bones. Those are not cool.

For a while now I have been getting some excruciating pains coming from my left foot. Had some xrays on thursday...turns out I have a heel spur. And all the tendons in my foot are highly inflamed- this is the part causing the chronic pain.

Felt very miffed at the doctor, my husband, my mother, the podiatrist, for pointing out the obvious- I need better quality shoes (sorry Chuck). WHERE can I find such shoes? The only female shoes I can see in my size...are either creepy black lawn bowling shoes that probably come alive and choke you in the night....or 6 inch glittery platforms-obviously made more for non-females in wigs that mime to Abba songs on Oxford St.

Whinge fest over. Its not the end of the world. My feet still work. (And its not like I ate my own poo or anything).

It is finished!

2010-04-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

I usually try to stick to generic, family related posts on my blog. This isn’t because I don’t want to share details of my Christian walk, but that I don’t ever want to type something on the www that may confuse others or inadvertently cause them to stumble. I am constantly humbled and overwhelmed with my ignorance, so I much prefer to take the student’s position.

This Easter has been special for our family. Sure, each year we focus on Jesus, our Lord and Risen King, but this year we have spent a lot of time trying to imagine what it would have felt like from various perspectives;
-What the women would have felt as they watched Christ die. What his mother felt watching her son in excruciating pain. What they felt waiting for the Sabbath to be over so that they could tend to Jesus’ body.
-What the disciples would have felt…they didn’t seem to understand what Jesus had foretold…they must have felt very confused and heartbroken.
- What Pilate would have felt as he washed his hands of the situation.
- What the soldiers felt as they scorned and scoffed and spat on him….and then what they felt as the Creation itself responded to Christs death-…surely this was the Son of God!
- What the thieves either side of him felt. Why was one heart hard, and not the other?
- What the Pharisees felt. Were they smug? Did they feel ‘righteous’? Were they fearful?
- What the average passer-by would have felt as they witnessed his crucifixion.

Trying (however feebly) to think about what these groups of people may have been feeling, has laid Easter on our hearts in a different way this year. Especially when we emotionally realise that we can claim no better behaviour than the worst of his persecutors.

On Easter we traditionally greet each other with ‘Christ is Risen’/’He is Risen indeed!’. We talk a lot about Christ conquering our two greatest enemies- sin & death.
The thing that struck me (finally?) this Easter…(and please forgive me for not being able to articulate this properly)…

Was that I think about the crucifixion and separation from God etc…as the punishment for my sin. I think about Christ’s resurrection as Jesus’ victory over sin & death. I never really thought about the significance of it in the sense of, God raised Jesus from death, signifying that the sacrifice, the payment, was acceptable in His sight. It wasn’t just a great victory, it wasn’t just a fulfilment of prophecy, but in the Father’s eyes, it was an act sufficient to cover all my sin. And yours. I can rest assured knowing that Christ intercedes for me, He advocates my case, and in His resurrection, God has indicated that my penalty has been paid in full. So rather than just thinking ‘my ransom has been paid in full’ because of what Jesus did on the cross…and ‘my ransom has been paid in full’ because Jesus beat sin & death…I am also thinking ‘my ransom has been paid in full’ because God has shown the debt paid, through his raising of Jesus from the dead. (non-sensical? dont worry, its me, not you).

And it only took me 8 years to ‘get’ it. I suppose that I have known this in various ways; I mean, I understood that Christ’s resurrection was symbolic of His victory. I think I had always just assumed that since God knew we would sin (and planned for, and foretold, and sent Jesus), that the payment would be inevitably sufficient. But the clarity of God accepting this sacrifice, really hit home for me finally. To sort of ponder that Jesus could have come, could have been crucified, could have been buried…and God had no obligation to accept this sacrifice and declare it ‘enough’. Maybe if I had grown up in a Christian home, this might be a ‘salvation 101’ deal and people will pity me for my shallow processing of the event upon which our salvation & faith is founded on. But, I figured I would share it anyways, as I wished you all a joyous Easter!

There is no such thing as ‘too unworthy’, no situation that Christ’s sacrifice will not cover. He is bigger than that. And it is finished.

How Cwoss Buns

2010-04-02T20:48:00.001-07:00

I dont know why he gets this cheeky when he realises I have my phone recording him. *shakes head*

Last week about mid morning, Levi did the 'Im huuuunnngwy mummm' drone. I asked him what he might like. He said without hesitating 'Bunges!' (bun-jes). I was confused. I went through our cupboards & fridge pointing out food options, when finally he shook his head sadly and sniffed... 'there are no bunges'.

We walked past a bakery the next day, and Levi jumped up, pointing at the bakery, squealing 'BUNGES!!!'. He meant...hot cross buns.

He loves hot cross buns.

Jayde also loves hot cross buns, and tried to tell Levi that we eat them at Easter as they remind us that Jesus died on the cross. Levi looked at his bun skeptically and said 'but he didnt die on this bunge'. *sigh*.

Wettest holiday ever- day 2 & 3

2010-03-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

Started out Day 2 by heading straight to Seaworld. In the rain.

Fortunately, I packed raincoats for the kids. But Jack & I swung by the shops before heading to Seaworld to pick up two trendy ponchos & a couple of umbrellas. *smart*.

Carousel rides. I think I enjoyed it more than the kids! hehe.

Had to go see the polar bear. Do you see it? Right behind Jayde?

Right there- next to her...that big, white blob.

Oh, this shot is better... he was HUGE.

Stopped in to see some Sesame St theatre. S. St always creeped me out as a kid. Levi is a big Oscar fan though....

(photo taken by Jayde)

Then it was off to see the dolphin show. In the rain.

Excuse the photos- it was really too wet to be changing lenses!

Then some more rides...

Then we headed over for this all day buffet lunch type deal. Apparently you can go in and out as many times as you want in one day. If only we'd realised this earlier.... :). We went in just once.

Then checked out the seal show. In the rain.

Our kids made other wet kid friends.

Over to the sting rays.

Very mouldy.

Jayde touched them...

Levi touched them....

Jack touched them....

And I fed them... :). Actually, we all fed/touched them...but this was the only picture I had of feeding them. Our hands stunk for hours.

The kids loved the log ride. So Jack sat down. And I took them on the log ride. 8 times in a row. The best part about rain...is that there are no queues.

Levi walked around the entire day with no tanties, crankies or sulkies. He had a lot of cheekiness though.

Dad took Jayde on some 'bigger' rides...

Jayde took Levi on some 'little' rides...

Jayde was a big hit with the little kids....

We left Seaworld right at closing after a nice hot chocolate.

Then we headed out for the Seaworld 'city lights' cruise- which was part of our ticket. I dont really know why we went!? lol. I think if we had realised it was 2 hours long...we might have gotten back in the car!

I think we went mostly because Jack and I were too tired to drive back to the hotel.

There were about 10 people on board a 3 decker cruise ship. *giggle*

I took this photo in the pouring rain. It has terrible noise. But the sky was pretty. Wouldve been reallllly nice if the sun was actually setting after a sunny day :).

The most exciting thing about the cruise for the kids (okay, AND the adults) was the orange juice.

This is Levi's "can I have some peeeease?" face...

This is Levi's "you havent given me an answer yet but Im going to grab it anyway and smile and try to get you to say yes" face...

This is Levi's "I won!" face...

And after the cruise we drove back to the hotel and crashed.

The next day was the wettest and probably the most low key day of the trip.

Jayde lined up Levi & their Seaworld souveneirs and played photographer.

(by Jayde)

Since she was in a 'photo' mood. I took her photo outside our hotel room. In the drizzling rain.

She looks so grown up here. *sniff*.

We then went outlet shopping. The Gold Coast is the place to be for all kinds of surf brands etc. We dont have ROSS over here. This is the next best thing.

And dont worry, Im not really a superficial consumer.....most of the time.

In the afternoon we went swimming back at the hotel. In the rain.

Jack took Levi in the hot spa.

And I raced Jayde to pick up toys from the bottom of the pool.
Which was very funny.

Finished the day with dinner and a movie.

And thus ended day 3.

Tax Matters

2010-03-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sure my devoted blog followers (all 4 or 5 of you) are wondering why I havent posted the next installment from our recent holiday.

The IRS.

Thats right. I'm blaming the IRS.

Because recently we found out some things.
Such as:
- If you are a US Citizen, even if you live and work and pay taxes overseas, you still have to submit a tax return to the IRS.
- If you are a dual citizen of the USA and another country, no matter where you live & work, you still have to submit a tax return to the IRS.
- If you are an expired permanent resident, but still have your expired green card, you are still treated as a US resident for tax (not immigration) purposes, and still have to submit a tax return to the IRS, even if you cant live or work in the USA.
- If you have children who were born into a US dual citizenship mess, they will still have to file 2 income tax returns (once earning income) if they live in a country other than the USA.
- IRS paperwork is time consuming.
- Accountants dont like doing tax returns that involve international tax law; the ones that will do international tax law...are ex pen sive.
- Even if you despise mathematics, you can still teach yourself to conquer the mountain of IRS paperwork and submit your own tax returns.

So basically, the reason I havent blogged, is that I've been doing 6 years worth of back taxes for the IRS. 2004 was confusing...we had income from both countries. 2005 was slightly less confusing. 2006 the tax system changed, and since its within the statute of limitations to receive a refund, I changed the way we filed our return. 2007-2009 were tedious yet less painful, since I had some idea of what to do.

If by chance, one day, you stumble across my blog and find yourself in our situation....here's what we did.

- 2004 & 2005- Standard 1040 form filing jointly; 2555 EZ (one for each of us) the Foreign Income Exclusion form. The 2555 EZ is basically a form which wipes out your foreign income if you earn under the limits and fulfil a bunch of other criteria. Therefore, you have no taxable income, and no US tax is payable. If you use this form, the IRS will assume that you always intend to use this form. Cool.

- 2006-2009 Standard 1040; A statement REVOKING our choice to use the 2555EZ in 06; A 1116- Foreign tax credit form; A 8812- additional child tax credit form.

Why should you revoke your decision to use the Foreign Income Exclusion?
There are many reasons. But if you have children who are US citizens, and you live in a country which pays higher taxes than the USA, then its definitely worth considering.
Rather than having your income excluded, you get a foreign tax credit. So taxes you pay overseas are converted and converted and so on and so forth...and ta-da...you dont owe any US tax. It also leaves you eligible to claim credits on your tax return. You realise (unfortunately) that you are ineligible for the child tax credit. HOWEVER you may be able to (and probably can) claim the 8812- Additional Child Tax credit. This is usually $1000 per child. And since you dont owe any taxes, it is issued as a direct refund. In theory. I'm still waiting to mail our returns to see what the IRS reckons :). But during my conversation with an IRS international tax law specialist, he said that it should work out, provided you file them within the statute of limitations to receive a refund.

The negative to revoking the 2555-EZ...is that you cant use it again within 5 tax years, which is a big call to make. Since we were virtually 5 years behind, it wasnt so hard for us to decide.

Another caution, be wary of different financial years. The US financial year runs from January-December. Compare this to the Australian financial year which runs July- June. And you can end up with a mess.

Remember, dont ever mess with the tax man. He ALWAYS wins.

:)

Our holiday- Day 1

2010-03-09T16:58:00.001-08:00

Thought I better blog about our brief trip last week up to "sunny" Queensland. For those of you not familiar with tourism up that way, the national slogan is 'beautiful one day, perfect the next'.

Ha. It rained basically the entire time we were there. It wasnt cold..oh no. It was HOT, and humid and steamy. :S.

The good news is...is that we didnt let it spoil our wholesome family time together. In fact, the weather was so wet, it was actually hilarious. By the end of each day, we had gone through at least 2 sets of clothes each...for once, I under-packed.

So back to Day 1. Or actually Day -1. We get a call from the airline saying that our flights had been cancelled. Nevermind that we paid 10 whole cents per ticket, we want our flights! They re-routed us through the international terminal. I thought it was Singapore but we ended up getting on a plane to Osaka, Japan. Those of you who know me...know that Japan is a destination I have longed to travel to, have tiptoed around, and am yet to see. Waah. I just wanted to stay on the plane. So aside from having to get up extra early (because we had to check in 3 hrs early instead of 30 mins) it wasnt too bad- international flights get more leg room. We must look extremely suspicious because we get mauled by customs every flight we take. Hmph.

So Day 1. Early start. Very early. *yawn*.

This is Jayde looking relatively bright eyed at the airport. I was so glad we werent getting on 2 back to back 16 hour flights. That was a good feeling for my red, bleary eyes.

The plane ride was uneventful and actually enjoyable. Weird. The car rental company kindly supplied us with an almost brand new car. It had buttons and functions that I didnt even know existed.

This photo was taken outside our room, 2.5 years ago, the last time we were there. We had the same room this time. This is what it looked like then....and what it wouldve looked like on our trip, had the weather been more cooperative. There's a beach off to the left, and beach volleyball courts etc. Not the Hilton, but not too bad.

Within minutes of our arrival, Levi had spotted a jumping spider. A very tiny, pretty one.

And within minutes after that he had flicked it and made it jump so much that the poor thing just internally combusted & died. Poor jumping spider. I felt bad.

We then got in the car and went for a drive up to some glow worm caves. There was a sign saying 'STRICTLY NO PHOTOGRAPHY' and then of course when we got into the caves the guide said, you can take photos in here, just not when we get to the worms. Hmph. Fortunately, I had a little P&S in my bag but it doesnt take a good photo. Anyway- we saw the glow worms. Heaps of them. Its very pretty, but a massive den of death when you consider what they feed on.
Jack was into it.

After the caves we took a bushwalk in the drizzling rain. We saw a lot of bearded dragons which was cool.

We then drove up to the top of Mt Tamborine to check out the view & eat a picnic lunch.

The only salvagable picture of the view...

Then this ant decided to take a nature walk on Jaydes shirt...

Then Jack decided to let it walk through the jungle of his arm hairs...

Then Levi rewarded her by dropping half his lunch on the ground... (look at those mandibles!)

I realised that we were really weird.

Then Jayde cemented this realisation by getting a different species of ant to crawl on her arm.

I saw this little ladybug on the edge of the cliff...

And we enjoyed a treacherous ride down the mountain & back to the resort.

I took the kids swimming in the rain while Jack BBQ'ed dinner.

Levi is not too keen on the water. He thinks there are sharks everywhere...even in swimming pools. *sigh*. But once he gets in, he doesnt want to get out.

Jayde loves the water but gets chronic ear pain & issues afterwards. *sigh*.
I dont know why or how she's smiling under the water. *shakes head*

And so that was day 1.

Aside from the massive domestic fight that went on in the room next door for 2 hours. They got kicked out at 11pm at night. Yup. That was...that. And I never ever ever ever will let a day go by when Im not thankful for having the kindest, most patient, loving, caring husband in the world!

Happenings

2010-02-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

I have had a very busy couple of weeks. Lots of things happening at this time of year as everyone rushes to enjoy the last days of summer. I got quite sick with a bad flu and spent a whole week doing not much at all. I couldn’t even edit photos because staring at the computer made my eyes water. So Im still trying to catch up on all the housework & other work that I ignored in my sluggishness.

Various things of late…
- We have renters for the CDA house; thank you Lord!

- We are now doing a bible study on Jonah. Hmm. So much more there than I thought.

- We finally succumbed and got a Tom Tom GPS unit. I turn it on all the time now just to see if my daily routes are the fastest according to sat nav :). I love saying ‘sat nav’. It makes me feel technical.

- This weekend we watched Jaydes first sporting tournament. Hmm. She takes to sport like a duck to water. *sigh*. I was so hoping to have little nerds like me. On the plus side, she hit her first home run, which she was very excited about.

- Council clean up time. This means we get to dump all our junk outside the front of the house and the council (or miscellaneous members of the public) will pick it up and carry it away. I love getting rid of stuff and watching how much stuff people take before the council comes.

- I want to throw our couch out on the street. Its behaviour is out of control. It’s basically recliners with a large centre console. I cant remember why we got it since its built for bachelors and not a family! Now the recliners wont de-recline without a big kick. The bolts are falling out of the middle so randomly something will just collapse inside and you will find one side of your bottom perched 3 inches higher than the other side. Its like a jerky carnival ride. Or a really unpleasant surprise if youre a guest. Jack invited some guys over to watch the superbowl and I stared at him in horror…knowing…that inevitably…we would be putting in an insurance claim because our couch killed someone. Unfortunately we cant get a new couch because our budget scowled at me when I mentioned it :S. Its now a stand-off. I spend my days staring at the evil black couch in silent hostility secretly willing it to pack up its bad attitude, faulty bolts and spine-snapping springs and just leave. Or at least ask a really nice modular leather friend to come visit.
- Personification. That’s all. Im an English teacher. I don’t actually like…talk to my furniture. *clears throat*.

- Heat. On Monday night we sweltered in sweat all night. It remained at 30’C (87’F) the entire night. No breeze. No air con. Just a fan swirling the thick, hot, suffocating air around us. I cried. I finally fell asleep though…and 7 minutes later the alarm went off.

- Pomegranates. We have heaps. This is the first season that they haven’t been attacked and demolished by birds. I reckon its because of all the tree lopping we did earlier this year. So now I just have to figure out something cool to do with them. Any suggestions?

- I was looking at bugs in the flower patch with Levi the other day. We flipped up some flowers only to see about 8 thick vines of cherry tomatoes growing like wildfire. Some cheeky bird has obviously spread the seeds there. The cherry tomatoes we actually planted, about 6 metres away, are nicely trussed and well…struggling to produce anything worthwhile. Green thumb I have not, although I think I've figured out a gardening secret. Dont care. Dont waste your energy. Just plant the seeds, forget to water them, dont bother using any fancy fertiliser or gardening techniques. Otherwise...your plants will be barren prima donnas. Play hard to get. Wait...thats advice for something else.

- Is everyone bored yet? Thanks for reading about the mundane in my life. I needed to get that off my wheezy chest before…
OUR HOLIDAY.
Yup, the time has come for us to get on a plane and get outta here. Only for a few days. But ahh..sunny Queensland here we come. Am so looking forward to getting away with Jack & the kids. We’re headed up to the Gold Coast for some scenic drives, theme park action and the best Camembert cheese I’ve ever tasted.

Well, I guess I should go do something productive now. Like neglect the garden.

12 on Tues

2010-02-09T03:17:00.000-08:00

1- Jayde is back at school and thus the ‘routine’ of our lives returns. I am so overwhelmed with ‘little kid’ learning and the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ that they are doing. It seems like they grow so unbearably fast! Jayde is now at the ‘question’ age. This means that we no longer are being asked intelligent questions, but now have random questions from a broad variety of subjects reaching our ears non-stop. For example: 'how many days in a year? Have I been alive for one year? When we go on holiday, will dad still go to work? Is your shoulder or elbow stronger? Why don’t cockroaches camouflage themselves? Why do we need to tell the time when no one is asking?'. This also goes along with other miscellaneous ramblings, for example: 'I taught myself how to fly, I jumped off the couch and flew for a whole second!; Mum, are you speeding? Because speeding is reallllly bad. Are you speeding now? How bout now? Is that sign how fast you can go? How fast are you going?' Hmmmmmmm. I love her so much. She is the most sunshiney smiley sweethearted girl…but this phase is really testing my patience.
2- Im thinking about going back to university in the second semester. I know, I know…
3- I changed Awana positions this year and am now the Awana secretary. Big job, but I am loving it already :)
4- Am in charge of making a new church directory. Anyone know of a really simple program to do this (with photos)? The ones I can find online are not what Im looking for, but am happy to take recommendations.
5- I have a desperate craving to order the Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant to read. I read them when I was pregnant with Jayde and they keep popping into my head. Then I remember that I shouldn’t read so much fiction :S.
6- Jack just ordered a bunch of Agapeland CDs. Must be a nostalgic month!
7- I played netball tonight and we won by 4 points. Woohoo. Shame it wasn’t my normal team and I was just filling in on a friends’ team.
8- Havent had any chocolate for just over a week. You laugh, but I seriously am a sugar addict.
9- Did I mention that a week ago my bridesmaid dress came in? AND THAT I CANT FIT INTO IT? Did I mention I had to ORDER ANOTHER ONE IN A BIGGER SIZE to my absolute disgust and embarrassment. Even if they let out the seams and put in an extra panel I wasn’t going to get into it. In fact, rather than losing weight, I have done nothing but gain weight. Im considering turning it into a matron of honour joke ie ‘not many best friends would put on weight just to make the bride look thinner’…but I don’t think that will go down so well. *cry* *wah* *boo hooimafatpiiiig*. :Last week was ‘doppleganger’ week on facebook. I considered changing my picture to Ursula…
10- Its come to this. My name is Karina, and I am a sugar addict. I pledge to be…fit…by Christmas.
11- Anyone wanna join me? *crickets chirp*
12- Levi is…totally toilet trained. Hasn’t wet the bed in several weeks or had any day time accidents. Cooooool!

An Unusual Sight...

2010-01-31T14:58:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning I read that aside from a full moon that night, we were meant to be able to catch a view of Mars (with the naked eye) below the moon.

Im not really into 'space'; I mean, I still thought Pluto was a planet. But we figured that since the sight only rolls around every few decades, we should take the kids somewhere to get a good view. The conditions werent ideal for pictures....and I think Jayde enjoyed burying her brother in the sand more than viewing the red planet; but we tried.

So here is the moon....and planet Mars (the little dot)....as seen on Saturday night.

Planet Mars was like this exceptionally bright, huge, brilliant star and redder than this shows; the picture doesnt do it justice. And the moon was shining 30% brighter than normal, it was really light and kind of eerie.

Here is the moon rising. We had gotten there just as it started coming up, but it rose VERY rapidly...before I could even set the tripod up or get the camera out of the bag. Crazy.

And like most trips out with my family (and camera) I come away with a new appreciation and thankfulness of Gods wonderous creation.

10 on Tuesday

2010-01-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

1- Obviously; praying for those suffering in Haiti and those who are there to assist. So terrible and much beyond my scope and comprehension. We continue to pray but have turned off the news; its so graphic and my heart just breaks.

2- Feel pathetic posting about anything trivial given the immense suffering of others in the world.

3- Took the kids to the park with a friend today. Sat down in the shade near some boulders and my best pair of casual pants got caught on a sharp piece of rock and tore down the back. When we came home, Levi had a nap before waking up with a huge fever and having another febrile convulsion. I had to leave to go do a photoshoot down at the beach and felt like a rotten mum. At the beach, my bag containing my wallet among other ‘valuables’ got stolen. I got salt spray all over my best lens. Then on the way back to the car I trod in a huge dog poo with my bare feet! By the time I stopped at the police station & got home, dinner was all eaten. I cancelled all our bank cards & other various official cards to protect us from identity theft. Then a lady called me and said that she had mistakenly taken my bag home by mistake. Then we spent the night driving 45 mins each way to pick it up. The end. The entire time I couldn’t complain, knowing that there are people who have lost everything and everyone and that not only do I still have the people that love me, but the assurance of Gods mercy, grace and redemption.

4- Christmas seems so long ago. We had a really nice Christmas. Church on Christmas morning then we went down to my mums place, a couple of hours from here. Any time of the year is a great time to share the gospel message, but Christmas gives us the chance to present it in a way where people almost feel rude not listening. The weather was uncharacteristically miserable, with plenty of rain, but we enjoyed ourselves and the opportunity to spend time with my family. Despite the rain we still attempted to take a scenic drive on Boxing Day; we saw several groups of kangaroos (yay for Jack) and an old pioneers cemetery (yay for Karina).

5- We heard this week that our offer on the house in CDA was accepted! Just need to send the cheque off and sign some papers and its done. We have been so thankful to see God clearly open these doors. Not only did we get it for a great price, but the exchange rate went up even more than we were hoping. He knew our needs and provided in full as he does with everything from carspaces, to bread and milk to cars and homes. I never thought we would own our own home *shakes head in wonder*. We feel very blessed and pray for wisdom in our stewardship of finances, as well as our time. If you know of any families wanting to rent a home in CDA let us know; its very close to the CDA Christian centre etc. It looks small in ths picture but its actually a pretty reasonable size of 1900 sq ft, plus the double garages; heaps of storage; a walk in pantry & walk in robes, built in 2008. Waahh, why couldnt it be in Sydney?!

6- Only a week left of summer holidays before Jayde heads back to start the 2nd grade. I feel lonely already just thinking about it. Didn’t get to spend the time exactly as I desired, but its been lovely just the same.

7- Our home here is turning into bug-city again. Antlantis is taking shape, with a queen ant laying eggs; while last night we finally succumbed to the kids’ begging and dragged out a cage for some stick insects which have been feeding in our front yard each night. Looks like they are all baby titans; one of them is male and so we are thinking that these are the hatchlings from the 300+ eggs we harvested and threw down last year. Its kind of a pain because aside from visitors thinking we are totally weird, I cant vacuum or spray anything in the air without moving the cage into a different room. For the love of bugs!

8- The extension is coming along nicely. These were taken a couple of weeks ago, the walls are actually up now etc but I haven’t had time to take photos. Exciting!

9- Last night I forgot that we were meeting Jacks boss for dinner. Which meant that I had 20 mins to get ready (I was at total-frump stage), so I went out looking quite tragic. On the plus side, I didn’t have to cook dinner tonight, which was highly convenient. Am taking recipes for suggestions for dinner tomorrow night. One of my 'to-dos' this year is to try more new recipes.

10- Lately the world has seems to be getting even more and more vulgar, anti-Christian and depraved. I don’t know if this is because I am drawing further away, or because ‘it’ is becoming closer. If that even makes sense. Either way, it’s disturbing. Part of me wants to run, part of me wants to hide, part of me wants to fight; but I know I need to just stand firm.

Three....

2009-12-21T00:34:00.000-08:00

It is Levi's 3rd birthday today! My baby boy...is ...not a baby.

I have no expectations for the coming year...but I hope to remember to enjoy each day with this precious boy... to cherish each moment, each laugh, each hug, each tickle.... to be thankful for it all...even the tantrums.

I love him sooooo much.

As Jayde would say, 'my bones feel like they are going to break!'.

Thank you Lord, for blessing us with this son.

But most of all, for sending yours.

T.O.T

2009-12-15T05:23:00.000-08:00

1- Busy time of year. Busy.

2- We are putting in an offer to buy a house in CDA. Oooh. Scary, happy, eek! I hope its accepted. We also need an accountant or financial adviser that can do international taxes…heelllllp!

3- Im eating too many dates and chocolates again. So sweet. So very sweet. I don’t drink or smoke or eat wheat products….but its clear I have a sugar addiction. Probably to cope with my lack of sleep. We figured that I average 5 hours of sleep each night. One of my new goals is to sleep more (way more) and eat less (like, way less).

4- Jayde had diahorrea and felt ill tonight. Her throat is also sore. Why does this always happen the last day before school holidays start? I hope she feels better in the morning.

5- Earlier this week I had severe gluten poisoning. I ran out of the shops into the restrooms in a tremendous hurry. Through a crack in the stall, I saw a man come in and thought he was a pervert or a kidnapper and inwardly freaked out. Then I checked the door on the way out and realised that I had indecently breached the gender boundaries in society. *blush*

5- Did I mention there’s one day before school holidays? Our little girl is finished first grade! Time has flown… *sniff sniff*.

6- Over New Years we are going camping. Just a 4 day trip, only an hour and a halfs drive away. We are going with another family who are great friends of ours, its going to be so much fun. J

7- Levi has developed a serious stutter which makes it hard for him to put words together or say ‘I’, ‘you’, or ‘yes mum of course I will obey you without question’ etc. I thought I was imagining things or being overly critical, but then a friend of ours (early learning specialist) noticed it and approached me. Its getting pretty bad. I should probably take him to a speech pathologist? Arghghgh.

8- Levi also needs to go to the dentist. People are starting to call him Fang. (When I say ‘people’, I mean Jack). Fang decided to grow an extra tooth. There’s no symmetry anymore. And the worst part is, it looks like an adult tooth. Dentist, post haste, methinks.
8b- Levi got his hair cut today. He looks like a clown. His hair looks like its been constantly static electrified and theres nothing I can do about it. Poor Levi.

9- Extensions are underway on the deck. Its no longer a deck. It has frames, and siding and a roof and wires draped around. Cool.

10- Every single night at 1150pm our neighbours business alarm goes off. It GOES OFF for ages. Like 15 minutes or so. How does this happen? HOW CAN IT HAPPEN EVERY NIGHT AT THE SAME TIME?

10b- there is also a BIRD that starts squawking at 130am every morning. Like when its still dark. That bird is beyond confused. Am I on some reality show where frustrating environmental factors are introduced just to see if they annoy me? If so, its working.

11- 1215am- Jayde just vomited. Darnit. I didn’t mention it, because it may sound like bragging, but she was selected out of 126 kids to represent Year One in the school talent quest tomorrow. Looks like she will probably miss out, poor kid :(

1226am- I feel queasy. Is it the vomit smell or a stomach bug? Only time will tell....

Decisions decisions...

2009-12-10T00:36:00.000-08:00

Just a little update from me...

Yesterday I got offered a dream job.

Its at a local sports high school. Local high school spots are almost impossible to come by...
Its with teaching staff that I really like....happy collegues= happy workplace...
Its with kids that really need someone who can make a difference....God has been equipping me for this....and I have had a special burden in my heart for the kids I've previously taught at this school.
It starts with a salary of 55K and I get 12 weeks of 'holidays'...
My day finishes at 250pm, which gives me plenty of time to pick Jayde up from school at 325pm....
Its full time.

I hate the last part.

Not because Im anti-daycare or preschool.
Not because Im lazy.
Not because Im opposed to the idea of women in paid employment.

But because I dreamed of next year. I dreamed of less 'intensity'. I dreamed of spending time with (what will be) my 3 year old son, of golden days....

It is financially difficult to live in this area at times. Living can be expensive and Jack works six days a week to provide for our family. His job has been....stressful (to say the least) for the last few months. I dont know if this is God opening a door to try and take some of this burden off Jack? I dont know if its a door opening to ministry with kids that need Christ in their lives? I dont know if its a distraction from the main ministry of my life...rearing our children!?

I dont know what to do. And I have to let them know by tomorrow morning. Either answer will dramatically alter the course of our lives.... If you read this in time, please pray for us as we seek God's will for our family.

So, what DID I buy?

2009-11-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

*disclaimer: these photos are for illustrative purposes only. They were hastily shot and do not represent the great capabilities of the Canon 100mm macro!
**2nd disclaimer: this purchase is probably in the hands of the wrong person. I dabble in craftiness, but alas, I lack the true genius of other craftswomen that have come before me. Including Terah...if you have ever received a Christmas card from that woman you know what Im talking about.

So, this is what the impulsive, spontaneous purchase was.

150 buttons. That’s right, and I so DESPERATELY NEEDED them that I paid an extra $9 to have them shipped express…patience is clearly not one of my virtues :S

The reason I needed these buttons?
It all started at Jaydes school spring fair…which is a pretty big fundraising event. (I think they raised $47,000 from one day 9am-4pm. Not too shabby!).

At this school fair, I came across many lovely stores. But I also came across a VERY lovely store. A store that sold this. In my daughters size. No two alike. I just loved it. Ka-ching.

I adored the sleeves.

and the crochet embellishments...

and I love that its LONG. If you have been born with an abnormally long torso (like myself and my daughter) you will understand a love of long tops. And if you even have a daughter, you should have a love of long tops...you know, the kinds that cover their midriff? :P

Now, has anyone ever tried to find a mint-coloured or white & mint coloured hairband? Sure, I could’ve gone with plain white, but with the gorgeous mint-coloured crochet on the singlet I had to find something that would set it off. I searched high and low but couldn’t find anything close to matching.

I’ll make my own I thought! Knowing that there was a fabric sale that very evening I decided that I would buy mint fabric. Since scrunchies are out of fashion (only by 19 years or so) I decided to make yoyos with flowers in the middle, then I thought BUTTONS in the middle. Then I thought...you desperately need to order self-cover buttons right at this very second before they run out of stock and metal deposits throughout the world. I had ideas. Big ideas. But uhh…they don’t always translate into reality :) This is how my first one came out…I used two buttons, one large button on the bottom, one small one on the top.

It matches the shirt perfectly, see?

Then I made a pink one…like it?

Then I used some spare uniform fabric to make 2 plain covered button hair ties to match Jaydes school dress. So cute. She’s currently wearing them at school so there’s no picture. But Im hoping she'll start of a fashion fad so I can sell them. Wow. I could make millions. Well actually, I could probably recover my costs is about all…. :S

So there you have it.
My spontaneous purchase that I may live to regret.
If you desperately like them, and would love to take photos of your little girls in them, let me know what kinds of colours and I’ll make some and gift them to you. They wont be perfect. I am a hopeless seamstress and am a bit heavy handed with glue, but I can only get better with practice right? They are also very light to mail- yay! This offer is only for my umm regular readers…not that my blog generates many hits aside from them…hrmm.

10 on Tuesday

2009-11-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

1- I finished! I’m finally finished university! 9 years, 2 universities, 100 assignments, 4 practicums, 2 published essays, 1 seriously supportive husband and 1000000 migraines later…Im done! What a great feeling!

2- I’m just explaining this because Heather made a comment about graduating with honours….the Australian University system doesn’t do graduating with honours. If you want an honours degree it’s an extra years worth of study plus about a 20,000 word thesis. Eep. On the positive side…I’ve been invited to do both an honours degree or a masters degree…neither one of which Im remotely interested in accepting right now. Im interested in a life that doesnt involve books or school. Wait...Im a high school teacher now. Noooooo!

3- This morning I went to a beach that I never go to. I don’t know why I never go there. It was beautiful. There were so many insects. ;)

4- Toilet training…why do we call it that? Its not like we’re training the toilet to do something new. It would be nice if it COULD do something new. Like alter its bowl shape to catch all the wee that my son insists on squirting on the freshly cleaned floor. Or maybe it could make a warning sound when he attempts to leave the toilet without wiping his bottom… for example ‘skidmark alert’ or ‘Stop! Risk of spreading faecal matter through living quarters imminent, I repeat, stop!’. Seriously, Im just waiting for some horrid poo-related disease to strike down our family.

5- Jayde started piano lessons back in August at a music school. Her teacher is a really cool Christian guy. I guess the music school has put together a little rock band of kids cos tonight Jayde came home with the news that she is going to ‘be playing keyboard in a rock band…with other instruments that are even cooler than mine that I wanted to learn before you said I had to do piano’. I hope they can rock-out to the c-major scale, cos that’s about all she’s got!

6- Tonight I am having my first real ‘girls night’ with Jayde. We’re gonna eat Sushi and then go to a 2 hour sale at a craft/fabric store. What an exciting life I do lead :S

7- This morning I made a spontaneous purchase I may live to regret. Jacks expression was not wholly pleased, nor displeased, just confused. Why do I always have that effect on people??

8- On Saturday night we’re attending my high school reunion. Hmmm. I was excited….6 months ago when I purchased the tickets. But now Im at my heaviest weight of all time. Which is depressing. Im not being vain… again I am confronted with a spiritual lesson related to my physical one. And spiritual lessons have abounded this week in ways that I'm not going to blog on just yet.

9- At 430am Monday morning I actually hallucinated. I basically lived on 2-4 hrs sleep per night for the 10 days preceding and finally got my last assignment in about 4am. When I got to bed, I laid there consciously dreaming. It was very strange. And when I got up at 7am Jack said I was ghostly white and shaking terribly. I’m now slightly paranoid that I was drugged…or that I have the beginning of some horrid poo-related disease that will strike down our family.

10- This summer is shaping up to be HOT. Last week we had a 37’C day…which is like 99Farenheit; it was also 94% humidity. It was followed by 3 days of solid rain. Hot AND sticky. Deodorant is my friend. Spandex is not.

Ten on Tuesday

2009-10-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

I’ve never done a ‘ten on Tuesday’ before. I may not ever again. But Crystals blog inspired me, so here it is.

-I am so close to freedom. Im not talking about an ideological or theological sense…but free from study and books. Just 4000 words and a pleasing grade between me…and ‘it’.

-I’ve been thinking about how weird I am lately. I think Im really weird. Late at night I come up with crazy ideas. Like virtual marketing. Or baking novelty cakes with harmless body cell waste.

-My best friend…well, old best friend, is finally moving back from London. When I moved back from living in Idaho, she moved to London 3 months later. When she visited Australia, we went to Indonesia. Now that she’s moving back Im wondering if this is our cue to move overseas…you know, because I like patterns even if they make no sense.

-Jayde shaved suds (and skin) off her upperlip yesterday in the bath. FYI, I don’t do this, so I don’t know where she got the idea. We just heard the yell and saw the blood. But when I told her she might grow a moustache she started crying and said ‘I’ll never get married now’. I felt like my heart was black. Very black.

- Most of the time I am reconciled to having celiac disease. What I really don’t like is people thinking it’s a ‘diet’ and offering me wheat/oat/rye/barley loaded foods. Its not just about not eating gluten….its an autoimmune disorder. I get sick and fatigued and my bone density is that of a 46 year old woman. Its not worth it!

- Jack and Jayde had hair cuts yesterday. So hot right now.

- When I commented on Terah’s blog today the comment verification box said ‘lober’. I took this as a subliminal message that blogger thinks Im a loser. I mentally retaliated that blogger without the ‘l’ is bogger…slang for toilet. Then I realised I was having an imaginary conflict with a social computing tool and that the social computing tool was right.

- Do all Americans eat with their fork in their right hand and knife in their left hand, or is this just a regional/in-law family thing? I’m not a snob but cross-cultural table manners result in some icy stares at our dinner table.

- I played my first game of netball since 6th grade last week. It was awesome. I love my team and surprised myself. Then I went home and ate chocolate.

- I want to learn how to play the didgeridoo…but Im afraid of failure.

Chalk & Cheese

2009-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Sweet and sour.

A dreamer and a determined one.

One creative, one destructive.

One carefree, one calculating.

One lost in an imaginary world, one firmly anchored in realism.

One spontaneous, one meticulous.

A girl who is too happy to fuss, and a boy who cares so very deeply.

I know I shouldnt compare.

But sometimes, on the same day, in the same place....

I see them.

Like two different sides of the same scene.

Both needed.

Both beautiful.

Both devoted to each other.

Both embedded in my heart.

I wouldnt change a thing.

My cup overflows!

When She Was Five....

2009-10-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

I was looking through the archives and found this from last June. My 5 year old girl.

She's now 7. New teeth. Darker hair. Sweeter smile. Wiser eyes. Selflessly impractical, frustratingly patient, goofy as ever...a gift so precious I can hardly breathe.

I cant bear the thought of it continuing...this 'growing up'. But I couldnt bear the thought of it not continuing either. Where has the time gone? Why has it gone so fast? What a chastizement to cherish each moment and each day.....

Oh God, please give me wisdom and patience and grace! Help us raise our children to know and love you. Have them bear good fruit. Amen.

A favour...

2009-10-18T15:26:00.001-07:00

I'm hoping that those of you who read my blog from time to time might do me a little favour.

As part of one of my classes I have to design different eLearning tools (blogs, wikis, virtual classrooms etc) and I have finished creating my blog example. If you have time, could you check it out at www.readingpics.blogspot.com and let me know what you think. It doesnt really matter about the content so much, just that the blog itself is functional etc.

Thanks much!
-k.

What else do you do...?

2009-10-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

Jayde is in the middle of her 2 weeks of school holidays.

So far we've had....rain, rain, wind, hail, rain, hail, wind, wind, rain....pretty much just this kind of weather every.single.day. After teasing us with 2 months of hot, dry weather....its a cruel blow indeed. Did I mention I have five uni assignments due before the end of this month? And that the lack of an outdoors play area is umm...turning me into a desperate woman.

So what else do you do? After you've exhausted all the puzzles, board games, books, movies etc the kids can handle? When the only game they desire to play is to kamakaze bomb off the top of bunk beds and hope that they land on a beanbag? When all the negative ions outside have made them giddy and crazy and wild and unruly? When you break out in a gastly hairline stress rash and feel like hiding from your own children?

You let em sing.

To hear Jaydes efforts, test out the new music player :) I cant decide which one I like best...I know its slightly painful but still, its CUTE! Do it! (and seriously, can someone please try it out so that I know it doesnt just work in my browser?).

Ahhh. I know it may be unpolished. And pipey. And warbley. But to a mothers ears...its so sweet.

Maybe even just a small taste of what God must feel as we sing our praises to Him.

Bug head

2009-10-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Jack loves bugs. I hear he always has and Im guessing he always will.

We live with 'insect-injections' in most conversations; the random trivia he knows about insects would put most entomologists to shame.

And while some of us are off creating useful posts about castles and pirates and maidens....and admiring scenery and having (bug-free) conversations....Jack will be scouring the dirt...watching ants, gazing at slugs and quietly snapping away with the camera. We must look like an odd family. A very, odd, family.

But with shots like these, I guess I can put up with all the mantismania a little longer.

Once upon a time....

2009-10-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

...there was a watch tower. This tower guarded the treacherous waters of Botany Bay, the only entrance to Ozland. Many a mean and scurvy-ridden pirate stealthily tried to negotiate the difficult harbour, in an attempt to smuggle forbidden goods ashore and partake in other activities of ill-repute.

But guarding this watch tower was a sweet and fair maiden, the bravest maiden in all Ozland.

Her name was Jaydolyn.

She was brave and courageous...

...and protected the watch tower (and the shores of Ozland) with skill, wisdom and a plastic sword.

And one day, the fiercest pirate known in those days snuck ashore...right up to the watch tower door.

He was mean.

(I mean, REALLY mean...)

Skilled in the arts of breaking & entering, he attempted to take seige of the tower...

But brave Jaydolyn would not be deterred by his fearsome reputation. She jumped down from the watchtower (where she was pretending to be a statue) and began to fight.

They fought. A dramatic battle, a parrying of swords so brilliant it later went on to inspire a 20th century movie scene (The Princess Bride).

And on this day we honour Jaydolyn. Her victory over the ever-cheeky and rotten pirate Left Eye, ensured Ozlands safety forever and ever.

The End.

Learning Resources (that I LOVE)

2009-09-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share one of my favourite, fun, learning tools. I used to use these as a child, and recently discovered a company which sells them.

First, you need sets of books. They range from pre-reading and pre-number skills up to calculations, numeracy & literacy skills.

Eg. Pre-Reading book 1, which I use with my 2 yr old son.

You need a set of tiles...

You open the case so that the clear cover is over the bottom section of the book. You then answer the 'questions' on the top page, by placing the corresponding number over the answer square down the bottom.

For example (sorry the picture is not better), this exercise is a simple matching game. It asks you to place #1 on the blue tennis racquet...so you put the #1 tile on the blue tennis racquet at the bottom.

And so on for the rest of the tiles.

When all the tiles are placed on the corresponding answers....

You close the case...

Flip it over, and see if your pattern matches the 'marking' pattern on the book page.

Watch your child cheer and choose another page to do while looking quietly pleased with themself...

And start again...

They arent all simple matching games. Some of them can be quite tricky actually.

They also have phonics building activities....

Number games....

And calculations too...

Really fun. I just like seeing all the different patterns you can make. But our kids really love them. And for the most part, its relatively independant and they can self-check. Thats a good thing!

If anyone is interested, I would be happy to order a tile-pack and 2 books of your choice IN EXCHANGE FOR...my need for Mead. While we were in the US last year I picked up a couple of Mead's Primary Journals in Walmart. They have a space for illustrating and a space for writing. I cant quite find the Australian equivalent. :( If anyone would like to volunteer for an exchange of materials that would be great. If not, I can just sucker in some relatives to mail some over...(right Heather? :P ).

Hahahahahaha house

2009-09-24T21:18:00.001-07:00

So...

We've been praying for a while about whether or not to buy a house; I actually dont care so much about owning anything but I think for Jack its more important. I dont really like the idea of being a slave to a mortgage and homes in this area are pretty expensive....but if thats what God wants for our family Im sure He will open those doors.

Well a long time ago I typed in criteria at realestate.com.au, which will basically email me every time a new house gets listed that is within our price range & search criteria. Its pretty rare that a house comes up in that range....

Just last night, I had 2 people email me asking if I could take photos of their kids against graffiti walls. They had seen the ones I had taken of Levi (and another little boy) and wanted something similar. I remarked dryly to Jack that we should just get some 'boyz' to tag the wall by our new back fence...so I could have a graffiti wall whenever I need it :P

This is the house that came up in my search criteria today. HA HA HA HA HA. God has a very funny sense of humour!

On a more positive note, last Saturday night I was talking about blowing our savings on a trip to Turkey & Greece. I have been to Turkey & Lesbos before exactly 10 years ago this month, but Jack hasnt and well, I am a bit travel obsessed. I was talking about how we could do a 'Pauls missionary' trip...go through the places of the 7 churches of Revelation, Tarsus, check out Troy, Mt Ararat & go to Greece etc. Maybe even skip over to Cairo & Petra for a few days. Sounds good to me! Jack (ever cautiously) replied that it sounded fantastic but didnt want to rush into anything. I got giddy with excitement. Just the thought of this sort of thing makes me physically giddy. Giddy. GIDDY. In fact, Im giggling in giddiness right this second. Anyways...the next morning our Pastor was up in the NT and so an elderly man from our congregation preached. He said he was GOING to preach from Revelation....but had decided to give us a history lesson on- THE 7 CHURCHES OF REVELATION! I was on giddy overload.

If you feel the urge, be praying that we can see Gods will for us; we need some counsel on making wise financial decisions. I dont want to make home ownership or travel an idol or stumbling block for our family.

An Apocalyptic Moment...

2009-09-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

This morning, behind our blinds, there was a vibrant amber coloured glow. When we looked outside everything was glowing bright orange...and its now sort of a strong sepia. In the air hangs a very thick mist - but its made out of dust, not water. We've also got winds of up to 100km an hour. Very strange.

Took this photo out of this mornings online news to show you what I mean....

Photo by Kate Geraghty at SMH.com

http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/environment/dust-turns-sydney-sky-red/20090923-g0tw.html?selectedImage=1

This is an accurate representation. So odd!

Because of all the dust, flights have been delayed, highways have been closed...hmmm. Whether or not its just a dust storm, it does make you stop and think about the end of the world as we know it........am I ready? are we ready? are you ready?

E.I.T

2009-09-19T02:54:00.000-07:00

Entomologist. In. Training .....?

The first stick insect for the season; a small female titan.

The girl is always finding bugs. She's weirdly cool...I love it!

Sweat and blood and backyard blitzing

2009-09-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

So probably not quite as dramatic as the title suggests...but last week we had some major backyard action going on. With Spring here and uni assignments due...I'll do anything to get out of schoolwork :P

(Excuse these pictures. I didnt take any 'before' shots, so had to sift through pictures from a long time ago, some are pre-DSLR. And really, I was so exhaustified that the after-shots were just a few quick clicks).

Our backyard isnt fantastic. Our grass is weird and gets bindis. One third of the lawn always gets mossy & muddy and so each year we dump gravel on it...just...because.

The back corner has always been scary. Like...scary. All covered in webs. I just know there's 10,000 Sydney Funnel Webs waiting in there to kill us. And who knows about the snakes. So anyways- we dont "go there".

This is what it looked like...

(Just look past the cute lil girl practising soccer to the tangled jungle behind her)

No one ever really ventured beyond where her feet are in the first shot.

The problem of ivy. See, some smart person 20 years ago decided to plant a little ivy. The person probably intended to keep it in check by not neglecting their garden. This ivy has become king of the jungle. It has crept along almost the entire driveway. Covered the fence. And strangled 4 trees. See the tree behind these leaves? Slowly being choked to death....

See the ivy just inching itself down the driveway...*shudder*. Oh, and dont forget to notice the mossy grass- it never gets any sunlight. I have many analogies for ivy & sin. But I wont get started!

The back fence. This photo doesnt show it clearly, but that falling-apart wooden fence at the back of the other falling-apart lattice fence, was getting dangerous.

So in went the shed a while ago. And finally last week we collaborated with our neighbours to put up the back fence. Yay. No more tetanus shots :). And rather than pull down the lattice fence, we spruced it up with a few nails and a coat of paint. The vegetable garden is still protected from little hands :)

We also had those poor ivy-choked trees lopped. Four of them. Four trees gone. Ooh, we have neighbours that I never knew existed!

But alas, this was the condition of the fence behind those four trees. See that patch of nothing at the base of the fence? That was where a car engine from 1976 was dumped. Fortunately Jack has friends with trucks....big towing trucks with chains and thingamabobs that can haul car engines away.

This is pretty bad.

And since I didnt take any photos of all the ivy pulling and fence building, or the numerous loads of green-waste, here are some photos of what ended up happening last week...

We now have a woodshed. This is the jungle corner! Do you see how much space we werent utilising? You cant see it because of the angle, but this is a good 3 metres deep! See that alleyway? Thats bigger than some Japanese bedrooms. And when I cleared out that alleyway It was BLOCKED. It was FULL of ivy trunks- they were massive. Time to break out the poison!

Ooooh, look at that nice new colourbond fence. And there is actually sunlight on the grass. My washing is drying about 4 hours earlier each day. And we probably can let the grass grow back rather than dumping gravel on it. Yahooo!

Previously, one third of this picture would've been 'jungle'

Look at that nice clean driveway. Someone must have worked really hard to make it so clean *meaningful stare*

And whats next? Well, we need a carport cover to go here....

And see the deck up the top?

The deck...the site of all our BBQs and hot tub fun?

Its getting axed. Thats right folks, 2 big new rooms are being built in the next 3 months or so.

But we're gonna get someone else to do that. Because Im still cleaning dirt out of my nostrils.

(well, actually its because our council is pretty strict and its just better to get a professional to do it. That way my buillding ignorance remains concealed, and Jack doesnt have to take time off work).

Spring has a way of making things happen.

It must be....

2009-09-04T18:10:00.001-07:00

SPRING!

Seven already...

2009-08-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

I love this girl!

I am

VERY

THANKFUL

to have the honour of being her mother.

Seven years young today....

She is the sweetest daughter and big sister. Quick to share...compassionate...kind. Wild and crazy....a prankster....rarely without a smile or thoughtful word to cheer you up. Easy going, but self-righteous...an extreme rule follower....but also a leader. This little body of contradictions brings a joy that drills to the depths of my soul.

Another year of celebration and thanksgiving for our precious girls.

Boys will be boys...

2009-08-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

...and trust this boy to find a locust- a symbol of destruction. Figures.

The boy...

2009-08-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Had to get some pictures of the boy before winter is over....
(I used PW's 'colourised' action on these, plus my own monkeying around on photoshop. I've just attached thumbnails because there are so many, but if anyone is curious to see how the new 35mm 1.4 is performing Im happy to attach a larger file :) ).

(a friend remarked that he looked like he was weeing against the wall. Perhaps I shouldve recomposed this one!).

I love these because they were taken where I grew up, so I wanted a retroish feel. We used to live pretty much opposite this exact spot. My feet have pounded this pavement hundreds of times. I love it that I can get pictures of my own kids in my own childhood haunts.

(I used PWs seventies action, as well as a texture from CoffeeShop, and some more photoshop monkeying).

When we got home I felt slightly sad realising how big he is now...and later that night he curled up on the couch and reminded me that he's my little baby afterall.

I really dont like....

2009-07-25T04:41:00.001-07:00

...finding one of these above a doorway I have to walk through. I parked in the garage and was loaded with groceries and I find this above the door that leads inside. *shudder*. He backed right up into the corner like he was doing me a favour.....you should see him fully extended.

I went inside. The kids got excited. I thought about spray. Then I thought about a container. Then I thought about the camera. Camera won. Spider stayed "till dad gets home". Unfortunately when dad got home, spider had moved on. Has probably now made a new home behind the visor in the car.

I know its not blog worthy, but ever since experiencing 'white' winters overseas, I just dont understand why the flies, mosquitoes and spiders cant leave us alone for a couple of months out of the year.

At least he posed.

And then decided to (lick?) clean every leg. I found this intimidating...like I was a piece of sushi and he was a Japanese food critic.

Im also not a fan of waking up early in the morning to find this going on.

Not only is it noisy, but its really annoying. They have decided to put another lane on the road outside our house. So they will be ripping up our driveway. This will be really dangerous for us driving out when its completed. Its hard to get good visuals of oncoming traffic with those huge trees...let alone when they shorten our viewing space by a couple of metres. Hmmmmm. I know I sound cranky. And I apologise. Those jackhammers are giving me really bad headaches.

The footpath has now become a ditch. My name was on that footpath. *sniff*.

I guess it does put another 3 metres of road between me and the bakery across the road (which is, in part, responsible for my expanding waist line). I do like that. I also like that the huntsman is not a Camel Spider. I have consistently been terrified of Camel Spiders for several months now (thanks Chad :) ).

Thanks for reading about the mundane in my life! Im off to enjoy the last weekend before school and uni resume. Ahh, I love breaks. Even if they are full of noise and spiders :) But mostly I love that I have time to really cherish the ones I love and make new memories together. And in a years time I wont remember this spider...but I'll remember Levi's excited reaction and his garbled re-enactment to Jack. And we wont remember the pounding of jackhammers, but will see all of our names scratched into the new driveway. And all the dozens of pictures of flowers we've taken wont matter...but knowing that we stopped to smell them and talk about Gods creation will last. I love that.

Photo frustration....and babies

2009-07-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

We took the plunge and got a 50D. We did this mostly because Jack is into photography and I am always running off with the camera (and then asking him to recharge the batteries *guilty look*). Its fun going places and seeing great views...but when you really want to be the one holding a camera and feel like you have to fight your spouse for a shutter click...its probably not an optimal experience.

So yay, now we are both camera equipped for our journeys all around....(oh wait...we're trying to save $ so our 'journeys' will be limited to an hours radius or so of our house :) ). Im so excited to be able to go out and have fun as a family and share such a fun medium with my sweet.

Now with this in mind I bring you my frustration. I kinda am not liking the 50D. I thought I would love it. I was ready to love it. There is a lot I am impressed with. But I seem to be getting REALLY bad noise compared to the 40D...??? Last week for example, I took some maternity portraits and used a 24-70 L and studio lighting and still had noise issues at 100%. Yesterday, I used this lens and my 100mm prime and a 580 EXII flash and still had similar issues. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this, or have I just got a dud camera? I really thought my mismanagement of light was the issue but Im thinking that its not. We also got a new huge monitor and I wondered if somehow it was just showing things in more detail, but I compared it to the 40D pics and its not. hrmmm. And I guess that unless someone wants to print it at a ridiculously large size, they probably wont notice...but I dont like that its there, particularly in high contrast areas.

Yesterday I got to take photos of the youngest lil girl in our church congregation. Little Susannah is just 12 days old. Cuteness. See?

She's just like a lil doll.....Heather made this flower- isnt she talented? (Heather- I could EASILY sell these for you over here....pleaaase make some more?).

She just didnt want to go to sleep the whole time! haha. She slept for maybe 5-10 minutes....cheeky chops.

But when she did sleep, I *tried* to make the most of it. Where is Terah when you need her?

I know its been done before...but I love this shot.

Then I began my search for the perfect newborn toes shot...it didnt happen, but I had fun trying! :)

So yes, photos and babies and mostly all things fun for me this week. I even managed to completely clear out the rest of Jaydes room. AND our storage shed. And our own bedroom. I even scrubbed the ceilings on monday. I think with all the pregnancies and babies around me I am going into sympathy-nesting! hehe. Next week we have VBS...and then a week of delicious school holidays with my girl. I have stuck to my diet for 3 whole weeks as of tomorrow...and yesterday I found out I got the top mark in my uni classes. Oh happy days!!! The one spanner in the works this week was a bout of flu from the kids...Levi had another febrile convulsion with an ultra high temperature, but after just 2 days of antibiotics they are bouncing at their bounciest. (And....*whispers* so far...I...am...not....sick).

Thank you Lord for this rich time of rest and joy and peace...thank you for making even the yuk jobs a joy and a service to my family. I pray that my focus will be on you and your glory and not on mine & earthly rewards. Amen.

Photo stuff...

2009-06-28T16:39:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we all got to go to the Imaging Technology Show at Darling Harbour. It was amazing! They had a whole bunch of photo-related 'stuff'...

It was great!

Some cool things:
- I got to try the 85mm 1.2L on my camera. Yay Canon stand!
- Got to take part in a lighting tutorial by Peter Coulsen. He showed us how to set up lights one by one to catch ambient light, then skin glow, eye catchlights, hair etc etc. Cool. The pictures coming straight out of camera for him...were stunning. Decided I should ditch photoshop and practice more.
- Then saw photoshop/lightroom demo...decided to retain photoshop until I can get Lightroom :)
- Saw a tonne of machines and imaging things. Impressed with the new munki monitor callibration system. Also considered getting a loan for $40,000 so I could make photo books. Jack thought I was being hasty..... (:P). Decided to convince my sister she should buy one instead (she owns the largest graphic/signwriting business in the Snowy).
- Got some great photo mags for free...and all the usual stuff. Even randomly had a huge canvas print of the taj mahal given to us....???
- Caught the gallery for an Australia wide photo comp...I love looking at other photos...inspiring!

Looks like they are planning another one in California next February. Should be a good time if you're headed to Cali by any chance....the Sydney version was anyway.
http://www.pmai.org/pma_2010.aspx?id=16736

This week....

2009-06-25T22:39:00.001-07:00

This week...

Jaydes ear op went very well and it seems like she's hearing much better. I cant help but admit that although I knew it was a relatively safe operation, my heart just broke watching her go under general anaesthetic. What an awful feeling.

Her ears hurt "a LOT" afterwards. But she's right as rain now. Thank you Jesus for keeping her safe and that her ears are now functioning! Im so thankful to live in a place where medical care is available to us.

(she looks so sad! The gas really upset her after the op, she got quite sick).

I had my last assignment for this semester due today. After several nights of going to bed at 3am and getting up at 7am...its done . Why do I leave things till the last minute? Thank you Lord for giving me all the energy, strength and patience I needed to get this done on time.

I missed out on lots of stuff this week because of my earlier procrastination :(. Baby showers, soccer, womens lunch and just other random things. I also missed going to the game. Ususally I wouldnt mind too much only this week we had invited some friends...but Im glad Jack got to go, and that they won. These are the sms' he sent to me as I sat slaving away on my miserable essay. Theres some lessons here, and Im listening.

Poor Jayde and Levi spent all week cooped up inside the house since it was raining most of the time. This is how Levi amused himself...

(I love how he says 'all done' and then rips the paper off the piano, before also throwing the last little scrap on the floor. Its his personality...destructive, yet precise. Also, note the hypocrisy. Im too busy to play with him, but not too busy to record him playing...hrmm).

In a truly pathetic note, I also changed shower curtains. I've had the same shower curtains since before I became pregnant with Amber. They were made out of an unusual fabric and beautiful and light and breezy. I remember showering with them throughout the pregnancy and the morning of my labour. I remember coming home and clutching onto them as I bawled. So somehow, they were one of my last tangible connections with her....and I finally got around to saying goodbye. After the new curtains were on I washed the old ones and hung them on the line to dry. It rained for a week straight before I could get them off the line. I couldnt help but feel like my sorrow was being washed away. That the Lord had sent some special message to let me know that he knows my pain and he loves me. And that joy comes in the morning.

And today the overcast sky was replaced by the sun.

And I finished my assignment.

And a new baby girl is being born. (right now actually, a friend is in labour!)

Now I have a couple of weeks of freedom....ahhhhhhhhh...what a sweet feeling.

And there are so many things I want to do in this time.

But right now, Im off to delight in the Lord....

'Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done' (Col 2.7).

Pilgrims Progress

2009-06-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Last month I was able to grab a copy of 'Pilgrims Progress-Journey to Heaven' on DVD.
This weekend we finally had a chance to watch it.

Before I give my thumbs up/down; I should explain that John Bunyan's 'Pilgrims 's Progress' was one of the first books I ever read after getting saved (heavy huh?). Needless to say, it made a big impression. So when I saw this DVD version of Christian's journey from the City of Destruction to Heaven...I had to get it :).

As a qualified English teacher, I realise the original language of the classic novel can be hard ploughing for today's youth (and others!), unless they are particularly motivated or really enjoy that form of text. I have never read the 'modern' versions of the book, with the exception of a childrens version, so I cant comment on those. But I definitely recognise the value of utilising visual interpretations of classic texts, as long as adequate discussion and comparison is made.

The DVD is well worth watching. If you have read the book, you will probably have a much better intial understanding of what is going on. I thought the mix of modern and classic was appropriate and done well, although initially Jack disagreed (he was expecting more of a fantastical Lord of the Rings style film). The language and setting is easy to understand, although the allegorical elements will require thinking from people who dont have a background in the novel. Overall, the general messages of the book (personal sin, repentance, forgiveness, salvation, the journey of a Christian walk, the joy of heaven) come across clearly.

Like many book-based films, the novel explores in much more detail the characters, ideas, language, emotions, motives, themes etc- this often leads to disappointment from the novel-loving viewer (in my opinion). And given the time limitations and the translation from written to visual text, the film may appear to be a watered-down interpretation of Bunyan's classic novel. You just have to deal with it. I would've liked to see a bit more of the intensity of the novel as far as the unexpected and daily struggles- using film techniques to their advantage rather than a 'make a movie by numbers' approach. But I'll just have to deal with it :). There are some solid digital special effects, but this is not a Hollywood blockbuster- dont have that expectation.

If you have kids, watch it first. There are some characters that look SCARY. Very. If you have older kids, consider doing a 3 way comparison between the original text, the film and the Bible.

Whether you have or havent read the original book, go ahead and give this film a go. Its worth watching- a really enjoyable and edifying way to relax for a couple of hours.

Hat Food

2009-06-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

I trialed the ice cream cone, cake and cookie method. It didnt really work for me. My cones kept cracking every time I tried to put the cake inside...there was no way I was going to get out 60 or so of these.

So I adapted the idea, to marshmallows on biscuits.

First, you need a goofy assistant.

Sorry, snot-nosed, filth-encrusted, eager-to-steal-every-marshmallow, sibling of the assistant- you are banished to the living room with daddy.

(but I have a happy face mum? Cant you see I've put on my happy face???)

Then you need some of these...or any other kind of biscuit. I chose Arnotts Mint Slice's because they were already covered in chocolate and they're delicious (and I was feeling tired and lazy).

A good quality cooking chocolate....*droooooooooool* (is it wrong that my sweet tooth even extends to compounded chocolate?)

Marshmallows...

X-treme Sour Straps...or any other kind of strappish sweet, eg licorice, roll ups etc.

And something for a hat buckle. I used mini m&ms.

Watch child assistant cut straps into hatbands (ignore the almost cutting off of digits and take photos instead).

Mmmm, delicious straps....

Ready the biscuits by laying them all out on some sort of chopping board that you dont mind getting dirty. I had to use 3 boards because I was making a lot of them.

Then get something ready to melt the chocolate. I occasionally use the microwave, but I find this method to be a bit inconsistent...I basically burn the chocolate 1 out of 3 times. So I decided to pull out the fondue saucepans...this gives a much more even and smoother melt in my opinion. Or it could just be that our microwave needs to be replaced.

Watch the chocolate start to melt and try not to drool into it...you should never mix saliva (or water) with melting chocolate.

When its nice and smoooooth....

Dip in a marshmallow until its coated in chocolate. I like this little chocolate spoon. I dont remember where I got it, or how much it cost, but they're great. It lets all the excess run off quickly. You can also tap it on the side of the saucepan for any additional drops you want to get rid of.

Then you quickly place the marshmallows on the centre of the biscuits.

Before the chocolate sets, wrap some of your cut up straps around the marshmallow to make a hat band...

My fingers were too messy to document the next part. But you just take some mini m&ms or whatever you fancy and press it on to make a hat buckle.

Place trays/boards etc into the fridge to set.

Realise that with all of this going on, dinner is now a very sad and sorry state of affairs. *sigh* at overcooked lump of meat and put it aside to rest.

Catch assistant sneaking lollies while you're sighing at sad lump of meat.

Start process of making next hat-themed treat.

You need some mushroom bites....

And peggy pig & pals....

Ahh, look at little Peggy and her pals....the cleanest farm animals I've ever seen

(You can also talk to the animals at this point. Eg:

'Peggy, would you like a little hat peggy-poo?'

'Peggy, you're stuck on this farm but I know you've always wanted a holiday in Mexico- you'd look great in a sombrero...'

And other statements that reflect your tired, emotional state.

Dab chocolate on the animal head before placing an upside down mushroom over the top of it. What? IT'S HAT-ISH. The chocolate also doubles as mud...so dont worry if your animals get a little dirty at this point.

They just look so much happier now dont they?

Its a good idea to retain the trays from the biscuit packets. The animals stack nicely in these and you can put them in there, then in the fridge to set.

And speaking of the fridge, lets see how the hats turned out....

Not too bad at all! Not overly crazy- I probably couldve used sprinkles or even dunked the whole thing in coloured white chocolate. But whats done is done.

Mmmm, but what to do with all that leftover milk chocolate?

(Consider running to a dark corner of the house and secretly binging on it like a rabid monkey)

Then consider bag of rarely used chocolate moulds. Poor chocolate moulds.

Make some koalas. And then some frogs. Thats much more civilised.

And everyone's happy.

Thanks for the idea's, particularly Heidi for the hat-cones, which were the inspiration for this; and Shelby for the games etc. Im also going to serve popcorn in party hats as suggested. Fun!

Now Im off to prep the hall for all the games etc.

Help/ideas needed please!

2009-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Calling all bloggers- I need your creative input. Over my time reading the blogs on my list I have come to really respect the diverse talents, skills, advice and knowledge of you all.

So I need some help with a couple of things.

Firstly- I am planning a crazy hat night for my Awana club. Any ideas on games for kids aged 3-8. Also, food- Im really stuck on hat themed food...

Secondly- my best friend (well, aside from Jack) is getting married. I am going to be her matron of honour. We have no idea what we're doing. I need all your input for the very best/cutest/prettiest wedding/engagement ideas you've seen. Particularly for invitations, food, table dressings etc. C'mon girls- I know you guys are seasoned troopers when it comes to this stuff! You know- all those little ideas you've thought were really cool and you wish (or did) have them at your own wedding.

Btw- this is the dress Im wearing. *gulp*. (I have 10 months to get my body to look like that. Hrmm...sooo not going to happen!).

And it seems Jayde will be wearing this dress in off-white with red sash.

Ideas please?

Soccer moments

2009-06-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Its so easy as a parent to get into the glorification of our kids. I'll try not to do that too much this post.

Our girl is a really tender hearted sweetie. Her compassion, kindness and patience put me to shame. She is friends with everyone, but she's always had a very tomboyish/imaginative element to her personality. She really enjoys looking for bugs, stomping around in mud and most of the time if you cant see her outside its because she's up a tree.

Jayde never went to preschool and really only had exposure to other children her age at playgroups, bible studies, church & so on. So a couple of years ago we started her playing soccer...for my old club...the Redbacks! :)

This is her very first day at grading....

This was her first match. She wasnt scared of anything. This kid turned out to be in her class at school the next year, and again this year, and is now one of her good friends! :)

(excuse the photo quality, this was pre-DSLR, and during rain)

The first year she had a fantastic team. The parents were lovely, the kids were so nice...and they've been playing together ever since- 3 indoor seasons and now, their 3rd outdoor season. We've made some really treasured friendships....sure makes the 7am setups more bearable when youre doing it with people whose company you enjoy! :) The kids are never coached to win. The first year they concentrated on passing/sharing the ball. The next year they concentrated on teamwork. This year they are getting some more skill development because the club has a professional trainer coaching practice...but our kids are just as proud for making a good pass to each other as they are for kicking a goal.

This was her first game of the season last year. Im really not trying to brag...but we stopped counting after she scored 12 goals. It was almost embarrassing...I guess we fed her a great breakfast that day! I felt so bad for the other team...it doesnt matter how 'feministic' society is getting...boys still hate getting beat by a girl.

In 3 years of playing soccer, she's developed some peculiar styles of play. We call this one the flying kick. Makes me giggle every time! She just gets so elevated!

Last year a guy at our church came back from a year in Columbia where he was involved with youth missionary. He played A LOT of soccer. And at a friendly kick around at church he said to Jayde 'youre fast, but you need some skillllllzzz' (showing off his very deft and dazzling soccer feet).

So she got some. (She gets this from Jacks side of the family...they all have fancy schmanzy footwork it seems- particularly uncle mike).

(K, this doesnt look particularly fancy...it was a fancy dribbling process up the field though. Maybe if we could afford a good telephoto.....)

Did I mention she has no fear? She's like a kamakaze when it comes to tackling. She gets this from me. I still play soccer each week.

Because all the kids on her team are Aug-Dec babies, they end up playing with kids who are a good 8-11 months older than them. We look like little runts most of the time.

Now, we are not proud of this, even though I dont think it was intentionally rough.

After these pics were taken, she got a big lecture about tucking her arms in!

Please note- the boys face is already scrunched up before the tackle!

And she's been trying to stick her arms in ever since. Although its come at the expense of her tongue hanging out (I have enough pictures of this for a whole new post).

She's always fallen down quite a lot. At first we thought it was that she was just uncoordinated. Then we thought it must be shoes that were too small. Then we thought it was a balance problem with her ears. Now we think its all three. She's spent a lot of time on the ground...its comical! But I gotta say, she jumps straight back up again and is back in the game...she is one tough cookie.

She's been smacked in the head/stomach/legs with the ball and gotten straight up.

She's been kicked down.

She's been pushed down (yes, actually pushed)

She's done some dramatic falls...

And some clumsy falls....

And I think sometimes she falls down to catch her breath :P

She is pretty tough, and not intentionally rough. She has never really cried, despite hundreds of falls and the odd ball to the head.

And last Saturday, while playing a particularly rough team, she got an elbow to the mouth. No one else saw it except me (of course!) and she started bawling and heading straight for the sideline. Their coach basically implied that I was lying. But really...do fat lips come out of no-where? Hmph.

(you cant actually see the blood that was inside her mouth...but it was messy. This is after an ice cream- which I maintain still does heal all wounds).

This was our first genuinely unpleasant experience in 3 years of soccer....6 'seasons' if you count all the indoor ones. And I was so proud of her for getting back in the game after just a couple of minutes.

She is a little missionary with her team, she prays and talks to them about Jesus. And they are really nice kids....who knows what impact our family will have on theirs in years to come? We have been able to use so many of her soccer games to help teach her about biblical principles. Again, a whole other post...or 10.

She wants to play soccer at the Olympics. (Of course, this is in combination to flying to Mars with NASA and owning her own rocket by the time she's 18). There is just one major problem with that.... Jack and I might have a heated discussion about which country she should play for!

Something sweet (in exchange for something neat)

2009-06-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when my mother visits...well, it can be slightly stressful. She does have a bit of a surprise inspection 'white glove test' thing, and usually the day before she comes I have a frenzied cleaning session in a rather desperate attempt to prove my domestic prowess.

Unbelievable, yet true, over the years the cleaning sessions have become less frequent...possibly because the daily/weekly sessions are more frequent, or possibly because I've realised she probably just doesnt care. I realised that she never genuinely feared for our hygeine (although there was that time with the mouldy, fermenting tomato at the bottom of the fridge *shudder*). Its that she wants my husband to have a bride that reflects all the homemakerish qualities that were no doubt passed onto her by..her mother.

The truth of the matter is I was WAY too busy growing up to pay much attention to the best methods of cleaning, or the delicate details of gourmet cooking. I'll include my horrible first encounters with sewing at the bottom of this blog but lets just say it wasnt pretty. My mother spent a good deal of her life in Africa...you know, back in the days of apartheid with servants that helped raise the kids and run the household...after an exotic African fly laid eggs in my fathers underpants (resulting in maggot-filled boils I might add), my mum has an obsessive compulsive attitude to ironing. I iron only when necessary. And only when I think about the maggots. I see crumbs, she sees an inevitable plague of rat-sized cockroaches. We're different.

And while I succeeded and excelled in many areas of my adolsecent life, I dont think anyone expected me to be married and with child at the ripe old age of 20. And I realised that all the time I'd devoted to accumulating a resume that evidenced my supposed genius, my community spirit, my athletic skill and my (limited) musical talents....had left me very inept and unqualified to be a mother or a wife...or at least, the kind of mother & wife I want to be. I think my mother realised this a long time before I did. But I am so glad to have a mother that really can cook up a storm, that is meticulously neat, that is motivated in the home....that will field endless phonecalls of 'how much paprika?' or 'vinegar will clean it did you say?'....that accepts me despite my domestic flaws.

Tomorrow my mum comes home from a trip to England. My uncle died a couple of weeks ago and my mum travelled over to see the family. Since Im her taxi ride from the airport before she rushes home, I wanted to do something a bit sweet for her. She's never been a fan of conventional flowers, she's far too practical for those (and they prolly wouldnt handle the long drive to her house either). But she does like her sweets. Particularly ferrero rochers. Previously I helped make mini rocher bouquets for a Greek wedding, but having no foam balls or doilies, I settled for a remake of the fruit bouquet I made a while ago.

First I took the leftover green skewers. I found some fabric (tissue paper would have been better but I was out of this as well) and cut it up into squares. I then threaded the fabric squares onto the skewers.

I then placed a ferrero rocher chocolate onto each skewer.

Using floral wire I placed the fabric around the chocolate...like a flower sort of. If I had any, I would've used green floral tape over the wire so it wasnt visible.

I had a little bit of floral foam in the cupboard, and shoved it into a vase (this was actually a new vase) with some pwetty lil rocks to weigh it down. I then shoved in the skewers in what I pretended was a delighful flower arrangement. I then put a couple of little paper flowers in the gaps (you know, because Im really exaggerating the artifical nature of what Im doing). I tied a completely incompetent bow around the vase and voila...

One ferrero rocher chocolate bouquet. Kinda. And much more exciting than a box. It didnt take long, it wasnt hard, but I felt crafty at least (just let me have one moment in the sun).

Its the thought that counts.

And it will hopefully divert her from the miniscule crumbs accumulating behind the fridge.

And oh yes, my first sewing experiences. Year 7. Sewing class. Goal- design and sew a pair of boxer shorts. While ALL the other kids in the class brought in beautiful silk and satin fabrics...my mother grabbed a harsh, tartan-checkered cotton from the bargain bin at the craft store. Nice. Mortified, I refused to take the fabric into class. I'd secretly sneak in and try to finish the shorts at lunch time when no one was looking. But my sly efforts were soon exposed because part of the assessment was to model the shorts, in front of the whole school, at a fashion parade. And while all the other girls shimmied down the catwalk in their silky glamour, I clomped down the catwalk like a freaky scottish reject. Lets just say I hated sewing from then on. Although I wish, wish, wish I could sew now...I'd really learn to love how to do it properly one day.

Cleaning out the closet..

2009-06-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

I probably shouldnt post this. But this is what happened when I went to work for 4 weeks. Total chaos. Decay. Filth. A breeding ground for disease and bacteria. Disgustification. Jayde's room.

Last week I finished four and a half weeks of full time teaching and right afterwards I was faced with this. This rotten mess is what happens when I am not constantly nagging and pointing at checklists of cleanliness that must be maintained; when I am not sergeant-majoring my little worker-ant children to battle their messy ways; when I spend all my time making creative and inspired lesson plans and neglect domestic duties. I am the mother of pigs. This is ironic, given my love of all oinky and snoutish things.

I think it reached a stage where she just gave up trying.

Since I have an assignment due later this week, I decided to fix this problem- (I'll do just about anything to avoid tackling the mountain of academia waiting to drain out all my brain juices).

3.5 garbage bags of rubbish, 2 garbage bags of too-small clothes, 2 boxes of too-cold clothes, and 2 bags of give-away toys later (at this point I was too dirty, dusty & sweaty to pull out the camera), I could walk in this room without fear of getting salmonella poisoning or some such thing. (Salmonella you say? Surely karina's exaggerating again. Im not. I found half a stale peanut butter sandwich wedged in amidst the chaos...nasatay! [really bad joke I know]). I'll admit Jayde's room does cop a lot of extra 'stuff'. She gets all the board games & a lot of craft supplies shoved in her wardrobe, but she has plenty of room for it. I think I got rid of a whole trees worth of paper out of that room. I was impressed (tragically enough) that there were no cockroach or mouse poos anywhere...and that the closet didnt mount a counter attack and suffocate me in an avalanche of clothes and dirty underpants that Jayde was putting back into her drawers!!! eww!

Much better. Note the empty shelves and the way the drawers close with ease. Does this mean Im allowed to go shopping again? The best part? This picture was taken 4 days after the clean up. It is staying clean and tidy...well, the wardrobe is at least.

And upon reflecting on the good suggestion to rennovate her room, it occured to me that yes, there was a spiritual lesson here. When we neglect to be in Gods Word and neglect to daily seek His will and submit to Him, it is very easy to end up in a messy spiritual state. Dirty undies start getting thrown back into the wardrobe, drawers are busting out and can no longer function, rubbish piles up everywhere....and it all starts with neglecting to do the little things. That childrens song *sing* 'read your bible, pray every day (x3): and you'll grow, grow, grow' is so true.

Now Im off to look for Jayde's AWANA shirt...I have an awful feeling that its been gobbled up by the boxed-up summer clothes.

My Blokes Birthday!

2009-05-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

My husband is getting old! :) We decided that this year we'd all go out for a really nice dinner to celebrate. We went to a place called Opah's- its right on the beach and makes the best Greek food I've ever tried. I've only eaten there twice before, it can be kinda spendy, but I cannot emphasize enough how delicious the food is. Best of all, almost everything is gluten free. Awesome!

We had:

To start: Tzatziki, Yellow Split Pea Dip, Vienna Bread (& carrots & cucumbers)
- Haloumi Cheese- pan fried in butter? (sooo delicious)

- Flash Fried Calamari (very salty and known as one of the best calamari dishes in syd)
- Dolmades- generally not a big fan of these but the one's at Opahs are delicious, the vine leaves dont taste bitter at all.

- Tiropites- I didnt have these because of the pastry but Jack and the kids really enjoyed them!
- Chicken Souvlakia- who doesnt like meat on a stick?

- Souzoukakia- really yummy meatballs- tasted very different to my boring traditional recipe- I think they used fennel (?)
- Saganaki Prawns....again, so good!

- Spit Roasted Lamb with Baked Lemon Potatoes & Carrot. Jack had never tried lamb he liked before moving to Australia. I dont know if its because its a main food staple for most Aussies & is therefore fresh, or what...but this is now his favourite!

- Pavlova topped with kiwis and strawberries. Not only was this gluten free, but they even served it with big sparklers just because they knew it was Jacks birthday! I was really impressed. We barely had enough room in our bellies to stomach any dessert but Im glad we managed it...especially since the 'sweets' part of the meal is the one I always enjoy!

I wouldnt usually dedicate a blog post to a restaurant menu- but the wait staff were SO nice, SO helpful and just made it a really enjoyable night out.

Here are a couple of snaps I took as we were getting ready to go out. Dont worry about Jacks 'mean' face. He just will not put on a nice smile for photos...have to go 100% candid with him!

Not a great photo but he looks so grown up!

They are so goofy!

Now for the serious part....

My husband is the best! There's no point arguing, its the truth :)

I am so very thankful to be married to a man who loves the Lord!

I am so thankful that he is a reflection of Christ's love in everything he does.

He loves our family in a way that manifests itself in unbelievable kindness, patience and care.

I am constantly surprised at the amount of people whose lives he has touched in positive ways, he takes care of complete strangers with the same love.

He works 6 days a week to provide for our family, so that I can stay at home and be a mum.

He spends his spare moments focused on being active in love and training our kids to know and love and serve God.

He serves us in all the little ways, as well as the big ones.

He leads us with wisdom and respect. I am excited to be his right hand gal.

He makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out.

I love him! And I hope we get to spend many many many more birthdays together.

My little update

2009-05-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, is it really the middle of May already? This year has been flying by so fast! I really must be getting old because I used to remember waiting for weekends to arrive- it felt like a month! The 6 week summer holidays felt like a whole year had gone by. Whatever happened to those days?

For the last couple of weeks I've been teaching at a local technology High School. I've previously taught at other schools, but have found this one quite demanding. I have 5 classes ranging from 8th-12th grade. Its been hard at times- some of the kids are pretty out of control. Fortunately, in previous teaching experiences, I have picked up a few tricks that tend to serve me well. Thought I'd share them, because I think they work well with anyone working around young adults. 1- Learn their names unnaturally fast, and use them. Do this with their interests as well. 2- Be authoritative, yet honest and vulnerable. Dont try to suck up to them & become their best friend overnight. But always have the view of establishing a genuine (appropriate!) relationship with them. 3- Share your stories. Use your experiences to make lasting examples- kids tend to remember these points much more. 4- Pick your battles and let go of the small stuff. 5- Dont take yourself too seriously! If youre the first one to laugh at yourself, they probably wont try to laugh at you!

I have just a few more days to go and have already (fortunately) received a wonderful report from my head teacher. I dont know how people manage to work full time with children- the last 4 weeks have taken their toll on us! Not just in all the physical things like cleaning, laundry, meal cooking etc, but emotionally- I have really struggled to be away from the kids- even if its just 6 hours a day! Im sad to say that they probably dont miss me as strongly as I miss them!

It was my birthday this week and although I was quite busy, it was a great day. My husband is the sweetest in the world- he treats me so very well...I am so thankful to have a husband who loves the Lord!

I am not big into gifts etc, but I did manage to *score* CS4! I havent had a decent go with it yet, but from what I've seen I like it! A friend of mine has recently purchased a program called ACDSee Pro, and I have been really impressed and was looking at getting it. The differences between pictures are mind blowing! But I have a feeling that CS4 is going to be just as good, if not better.

On the weekend we took the kids out to a local peninsula to see a 'shipwreck'. Despite it only being about 15 minutes away, we'd never gone out there before, mostly because it involves going over slippery rocks at low tide and we didnt know how the kids would handle it. But it was a great hike. Unfortunately, the shipwreck was fairly small (compared to how I had imagined it!) and I unknowingly managed to press a custom function on the camera and couldnt figure out why it wasnt working! I had all my settings in, no blinking lights, and then the camera would act like it was taking a photo, sound like it was taking a photo, and yet there was no photo. Auto modes were fine, but not in manual! I thought it might be the exposure lock but didnt know how to fix it! Since it was dusk I was running out of time and missed the good light. :( Another photographer was there (who I recognised from flickr oddly enough) and seeing that he was carrying an almighty 5D I asked him for advice. After a few minutes of looking and checking and scratching his head, he suspected it might be a custom function that needed cleared- and it was. I had cleared the camera settings, but not these. Yay for him! Got just a couple of shots-none very impressive- but at least I had something to play with in CS4. And a reminder that I need to re-read my manual and enroll in a photography course as soon as my degrees are done!

So far in CS4, I like a couple of things. It has an adjustment panel on the side which lets you do all the normal adjustments on a new layer, without you having to make a new layer and access them through the image menu. It also has a new adjustment feature called VIBRANCE, which basically will let you saturate particular colours etc, without oversaturating them. I havent tried it on a portrait yet, but I used it on the following image to enhance the reds in the sky, its kind of like a saturation tool, only its intelligent! No matter how far you zoom in, there's no evidence of oversaturation or pixel damage. And talk about zoom- you can zoom in by clicking with the mouse. You can also zoom RIGHT in to view individual pixels basically. Pretty cool. The other feature I messed around with which is also neat, is the content aware scaling. It will resize an image for you without disturbing the 'main' features. For example, I could make a landscape shot of this image, pretty much without altering the rocks etc. Difficult to describe, I'll have to make another post on this...one day...when I have time!

Not of the shipwreck- but of the rocks near the shipwreck. Where's Lance when you need him? He could really do a place like this some justice! We trekked back in the dark (I came home covered in sandfly bites) with Jayde and Levi 'sounding off' a la the Elephant Parade in the Jungle Book. Levi did most of his 'sounding off' while riding Jacks shoulders, and Jack also copped the backpack and water bottle. *guilty look*

There is something about walking up a steep hill, on a sandy track, in the dark, engulfed by the smell of fresh grass and salty spray, holding the hands of your loved ones, that makes you so so so glad to be alive, and thankful (so very thankful!) for God.

Poor Jack...

2009-04-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

My husband.
I am so thankful for this man!
Over the last 3 days he has cleaned up over 70 bowls of spew.
He has washed 3 sets of sheets.
He has soothed 3 feverish brows...over and over and over again.
All with a sympathetic heart and loving kindness.

It wasnt the Easter celebration our family thought we'd be having.
And while I cant profess to have gleaned any new wisdom in relation to Christ's death and resurrection this year, I did have one (horribly graphic) thought. Which I probably shouldnt share...

While sitting on the toilet, bowl in hand, being very sick...I thought to myself that there could be nothing more demoralising or degrading. Until I thought of the sheer pain, degradation and suffering of Christ on the cross...and thats just the physical part. Sure puts a bout of gastro into perspective.

This and that and nothing much at all...

2009-04-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

Levi was in hospital yesterday. He came up to me quite aggro, waving tissues and rubbing his nose. After looking up his nose, I saw...a hole. A normal shadowy dark nostril hole. I rolled my eyes, thinking about what a whinger he is becoming. No temperature, no cough, no runny nose....youre fine, go play. Is there an award for worst mother of the year? 10 minutes later this behaviour is continuing so I tip him back closer to the light and there it is. A big green bead wedged riiiight up there. How could I have not seen this before? So down to the doctor we went...it came out quite easily given that my attempts at home with massage & tweezers didnt help at all. But I hate going to the hospital...it reminds me of Amber in all the worst ways.

And aside from this blip, I have been feeling pretty productive lately. We are at a really busy time in our lives right now. And rather than let the cooking & cleaning & 'stuff' get neglected while I focus on studies & other committments, I've held onto the reigns. I made it to bible study and my soccer game...I cooked, cleaned, shopped...and somehow everyones sheets got washed and the fridge got defrosted. And my particularly difficult university assignment due today also got handed in. Nice. Another one due in 10 days time. Im tired, but happy.

But today I had a moment. A moment I havent let myself have for a while now. I saw one of my camera-buddies today who has a one week old girl. I fired off a couple of shots for fun and all of a sudden I was a mess. Seeing her sweetly sleeping face reminded me so very much of Amber. Of what its like to hold a baby girl and love her so much...and know youre never going to see those eyes open. I know it sounds morbid. I know its been 3 years. I know in my heart I was full of joy for this couple. But I ache. And all I could think of was my empty arms and I had trouble remembering just how full our lives are and how much God has abundantly blessed us. I dont know why this happened to me today, it doesnt happen when I see other babies, but I just felt so down and so selfish for feeling sad, when I have much to be thankful for.

On the way home in the car my ipod decided to play 'sweet child of mine'- my ringtone when I was pregnant with Amber. So I hit skip and then 'wake me up when september ends' came on- the song that played over and over during the worst September of my life. And I had a bit of a cry, hoping the kids wouldnt notice. And when I came home Levi pulled my knitting off the needles. And Jayde spilled glue all over her brother and the carpet. And I sent them to the bedroom to get changed and play so I could cook dinner in peace. And when Jack came home from work he called me 'sweet baby' and gave me a kiss before walking in to see the kids. He was met with this....

The outfit Jayde dressed her brother in. Crocodile gumboots. Too small tracky dacks. Her own underpants over the top of said tracky dacks. A spider t-shirt. A broken zorro-style mask. And his glue-covered shirt tied nicely around his head. How do you not smile at that?

I figure God is trying to tell me something, tugging at my heart all day. And when it takes your son in girls underpants to acknowledge your blessings, its probably time to stop and listen. And I open up to this exact spot "Dont worry about anything; instead, pray about everything...His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in christ Jesus'. (Phil. 4:6-7). And as I talk to the Lord I am given a real peace, a peace that will send me to bed with a smile on my face and a joy in my heart. A peace that reminded me of God's only begotten son, who died to cover my sin. Of His empty arms as millions of people go about their lives never to open their eyes to the Truth, the Way & the Life. Of my thankfulness to be in His arms.

And although I dont suppose tomorrow will be any less busy, Im looking forward to the day. To know that no matter what is waiting around the corner or how I might feel about it, God is here. He is so faithful. And I dont post this because I think anyone will find it particularly interesting or useful or entertaining, but I hope it encourages even just one. I'd love to hear some stories of Gods faithfulness in your lives this week, if you care to share.

Baptism- MINE! :)

2009-03-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

After years of waiting I finally took the plunge and got baptised today! It was such an awesome experience. It was exactly the way I had always yearned for….like a dream come true!

So I thought I would share a few notes on baptism that our pastor shared with me (and some of my additions), as well as a brief testimony, since really this was a big part of what I got to share today.

Firstly, who may be baptised?
Believers!
- Those who have heard and believed the gospel.
Mark 16:15,16 ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned’.
Acts 2:41 ‘Those who accepted his message were baptised…’.
- Those who have received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:44-47 ‘ 44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues[a] and praising God. Then Peter said, 47"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
- Those whose lives demonstrate repentance
Matt 3:7,8 ‘7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.’
Acts 2:38 ‘38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’

Why should Christians be baptised?
-Not for salvation. The NT clearly states that salvation depends upon repentance and faith alone. Eph 2:8-9 '8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast’
- Because Jesus commanded it in the great commission. Matt 28:19 ‘19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’
- Because the early church practiced it. Acts 9:18 ‘18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,’ (along with many other references…Acts 8:12, 38; 10:48; 16:15,33; 18:8).
Paul even took it for granted. 1 Cor 1:13 ‘ 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into[a] the name of Paul?’.
- Because it is a public testimony that we are Christians. An outward expression of our inward!

Why baptise by immersion?
- It seems like it was the method used in the NT church. Immersion was certainly the method used in Judaism and we understand baptism in the early church to have been patterned on this practice.
- Because the word ‘baptizo’ means to immerse. For example, someone dying cloth would ‘baptizo’ the cloth in the dye. It would be very hard to dye the whole cloth if only a small part of it was dipped in the water.
- Because the NT references to baptism imply immersion. Matt 3:16 ‘16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him’. Acts 8:38 ‘38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him’.

Objections to Baptism
“I am not a Baptist”. Neither were the people spoken of in the book of Acts. It’s something for all Christians, not just those of a particular denomination.

“I have been baptised as an infant”. Many churches have ceremonies involving infants. Dedication is basically a ceremony for parents. Christening is a naming ceremony. Infant baptism is argued for on the basis of the baptism of households (Acts 11:14; 16:15,33). However, the NT always links baptism with hearing the gospel, understanding the gospel, repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. There are no direct references to infant baptism in the NT.

“The baptism of the Holy Spirit has superseded believers baptism”. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is when we are immersed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit when we repent and believe. This happened to all the NT believers also and they were subsequently baptised in water.

“I wont be able to live up to it”. It’s a statement of what has happened inside, not a vow of perfection.

Our pastor met with me to go through all these things, among others. I have wanted to get baptised for about 8 years, and have never quite found a pastor wanting to sit down and seriously discuss this with me, and make an extensive study. I am thankful, so very thankful for our church and our pastor (Earle McKay).

I got baptised with 2 other people this morning. One was a young man, 17 years old, who grew up in a Christian family at the church. He was saved at a young age and grew up knowing Christ, heavily involved in all aspects of church worship & service. He realised there was a time that it was too easy for him to just ‘go through the motions’. That there was a definite turning point where he wanted to get serious about Gods purpose in his life. While he didn’t have a ‘road to Damascus conversion’, his testimony was so special for me to hear.

The other lady was in her 60’s. She grew up going to church in England after WW2. She had always used God like an “ice pack”. There when she needed Him, and when she was done “using” Him, put him back in the freezer to be ignored. Her sister had been saved for quite some time and would always speak of Gods love and grace. She had a peace and a joy that this lady longed to have. About 8 years ago she realised she needed God and walked into our church. For the first time in all her life of attending different churches when she needed something, she felt comfortable and at home. She began going to bible studies and actually reading the scriptures for the first time. And she now loves the Lord. This woman has been such an encouragement to me with her spiritual wisdom and it was a great blessing to be baptised today with her.

The first time I was asked to give my ‘testimony’ I looked blankly at the people that were asking. As a brand new Christian, the word sounded like a foreign lingo to me, I was ignorant of not only God’s word but of the meaning of all the big, ‘scary’ sounding words that run in Christian circles…testimony, repentance, salvation, redemption, sanctification…they sounded so intimidating.

I did know about one word though. I knew about sin. I was raised in a secular home, and by the time I was 18 I was literally drowning in sin. I don’t need to go through my life story, but I was depraved and living a very dangerous life. Through a friend, I ended up talking to Jack (now my husband) online every now and then. His roommate described him as weird, he never partied, never got drunk, read his bible daily. I would make fun of Jack in my own way, I was “too intelligent” to believe in the Bible and I actually had never encountered anyone with the genuine kindness Jack displayed. It took me a long time to accept that he was actually that ‘nice’, that kind, that caring…about a stranger. Over time as I spoke to Jack more I began to take our conversations about God seriously. With Jacks prompting and my own research I found out that the bible was a ‘valid document’ and Jesus Christ was an historical figure. I began asking more questions and Jack would always point me to the scriptures. Over time I realised that I desperately needed God, but unwilling to make changes in my life, I continued to try and find pleasure in the things of the world. But the harder I tried, the less satisfied I felt. I found no contentment, just restlessness. You know those cartoons with the good little angel that sits on one shoulder? I had a case of that, really bad. And one night I realised that I was not going to escape from God. That he loved me too much to let me go. The Holy Spirit had convicted me of my sin, of Christs work on the cross, of Gods grace, of his love for me however unworthy I felt. And so I asked him to take over my life. Jack gave me a verse with the task of finding out which passage it was. It was Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths”. I searched through the book of Proverbs in the old bible I had, and I couldn’t find it. So I borrowed a neighbours bible and I couldn’t find it. Finally I googled it, only to find that I had read it several times, along with the entire book of Proverbs…its just that there were slight variations in the text with different bible translations. I was that ignorant of the Bible, of Gods Word, of everything. This is a serious blow to someone who had always been considered successful by worldly standards. I recall ringing up a Christian girl I went to high school with and telling her that I thought I was saved. Im sad to say that because of who I was before, she just couldn’t instantly accept my ‘conversion’. And those who knew me best refused to accept it either, expecting me to be the same “fun” person I had always been. I split with my boyfriend, I was miserable at work and felt inwardly unhappy around my friends. Being very discouraged, not knowing any other Christians, being intimidated by churches, and having friends who thought it was all a big joke I was playing…I was encouraged to go travelling which is when I ended up heading over to meet Jack. A whole other story…which yes, eventuated in one of those weird “we met on the internet” marriages but the last 7 years have been amazing!

In the last 8 years (well, more when I look back) God has shown himself to me in amazing ways. He has given me great joy in times of unhappiness. He has given me peace in times that are chaotic. He has given me hope and comfort, when all seems lost to those who don’t know him. While Im no theologian, I now have just a small understanding of those big words that sounded so intimidating when I started my Christian walk. Repentance- realising my sin, desiring to change and turning to Christ for forgiveness and change. Salvation- being saved from spiritual death by grace through faith; Redemption- Christ fully paying the ransom on the cross for my sin, so that I can be delivered from sin and reconciled with God; Sanctification- being set apart, letting the Holy Spirit work in me to conquer sin, and transform me to be used for Gods purpose and plan. And testimony- what I have just shared with you.

I wish I could end with my favourite verse. I simply have far too many to choose just one. But I love this one, Lamentations 3 :21-24
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

One More Macro- my personal best?

2009-03-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

I didnt just post this to scare Heidi....

Last night across our driveway was this Orb spider building his very sticky web.

I shot 3 frames. The first was well over exposed, the 2nd way underexposed and the third (after getting the flash settings correct) was just right (or so I reckon). This is a thumbnail of the full image, (sans the white border which isnt showing up), and the only editing was some sharpening. Very happy with this for handheld, especially with the wind last night.

This is the part I posted just to scare Heidi- haha, just kidding. I know this sounds unbelievable...but years ago when I was in the air force cadets, we had a weekend bivouac where one of the night activities was a 'capture the beacon' exercise. Being a fun loving sergeant at the time, I designated my 2 corporals to lead the cadets in my section while I teamed up with 3 other NCOs to go and capture this beacon. We went the longest possible way in order to attack the beacon from the back side (a side that the officers regarded as inpenetrable). And because it was so difficult and time consuming, we were bush bashing as fast (and quietly) as we could. I walked through about six (or more!) of these webs that night. We got the flashing beacon, and extracted it too (setting a still unbeaten squadron record), but we were head & torso covered in the stickiest, strongest web ever. Im talking like violin string strong. Ugh. And with webs at night, comes spiders. We ended up getting orb spiders on us too. It was kinda horrific really. Thanks to the thick fatigues and our manic swatting and frantic whispers of 'get it offffff meeeee!!!!', none of us were bitten, not that they are lethal anyways. The entire trip back to our camp whoever was walking in front held their hands up in front of their face. The racing adrenalin from carrying the captured beacon, the pressure to get it back to camp on time, and the fear of walking through the bush in complete blackness & running into more webs made it an unforgettable night. I guess it serves us right for ditching our responsibility in order to seek personal glory.

You know its true love when....

2009-03-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

... he buys you a toy to help you take pictures of flowers that will last a long time, rather than buying you flowers that last a couple of days (not to demean the sweetness of a flower bouquet!).

Since Jack got a bonus this week at work, and since we are being encouraged to stimulate the economy, my sweetheart got me my very own ring flash! This baby is so cool! I came home from Awana at 6pm tonight to see Jack sneaking a package inside. By 615 I had it mounted and was romping around the backyard looking for something to shoot, hehe. Typically, all the roses and waratahs we usually have are dying at this time of year so I shot these random things just to get a feel for it.

I was impressed with the colour retention of these thorns but the flash made it come out looking a little plasticy. The background also came out a fair bit darker than it was although it was already evening light. I also had problems with the flash flashing out detail...but managed to adjust it after a couple of shots.

Hey, dont judge me. Im not making art, I was desperate for something to point at!

Something is getting into the leaves...

Clearly, we have a snail problem.

Then this little guy showed up. He is not much bigger than a grain of rice. Must be a hatchling (?), he was almost translucent. I cant help it, I love preying mantis's and I've seen nymphs but never one as small as this little guy.

Going for a bit of an abstract macro here...

Hope the mantis survives, but he doesnt stand a chance in our garden. Our entire backyard is dotted with these annoying garden spiders tucked up in leaves. Seriously. For every metre of shrubbery/trees there are about 3 or 4 of these things. It feels creepy. I might have to video it, just to demonstrate how many of these there are! Wherever you are little mantis, good luck mate!

This fly was odd looking...not the usual kind of fly we have buzzing around. Oooh, imagine if I've discovered a new species..."I found a fly" could be my claim to fame!

Cacti have weird looking flowers.

So yes, trial results were okay. I'll have to head to the park to find something worth shooting. My peeve with the flash so far is that you have to take the front filter off the lens to fit it on. Seems kind of pointless to drop a bundle on the best filter you can get, and then not have it on.

Now to go to something completely random. I went to a baby shower this weekend and made my first fruit bouquet. Yes, I would never have known about fruit bouquets if it werent for blogger. Not because we dont have them in Sydney, but because Im just ignorant of such things. It wasnt perfect, I would do some things differently next time, but I was quite impressed for a first go. Especially since Jack was down in South Australia for work and I had to contend with melonaholic kids who were like crazed indonesian monkeys trying to steal everything as soon as I'd cut it up.

So aside from having a brag (yes, its sad isnt it) I thought I'd share, since a few bloggers I know may be having baby showers of their own soon. Handy tips..? Pre dye the skewers green, its a nice touch and people notice. :P Find cookie cutters that work for different flowers. I had to hand cut the pineapple and the watermelon...not so good. Dont cut the fruit too thick or it will slide down the skewer. Buy more strawberries. Use mint leaves as well as parsley to fill in the blanks...makes a nice mix of aromas and looks alright too. The hot tip: WEIGH the basket down with something before you start arranging the fruit. I found out about this the hard way. I ended up using those little glass pebbles you put in the bottom of vases/fish tanks etc. In hindsight, I probably should have also wet the floral foam. If you want a more dessertish feel, dip some of the fruit in chocolate. Yum.

Ta da!

Final tip: anchor this securely in the car for transportation, or it will tip over at the first incline in the road, ruining all your hard work and leaving you with a fruit bouquet that looks like it fell into a jungle bamboo pit. (But even if this does happen, dont cry, people will still eat it all out of kindness :P ).

Brain meltdown

2009-03-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel as though your brain is bursting with thoughts on absolutely everything, but you haven’t given it the time to reach a conclusion on anything? This is the way that I have been feeling lately. Very busy. Very contemplative. Very on-overload. Too much going on. Home. Church. University. Photo jobs. Jack working. Social commitments. Health issues. Kinda nice to sit down with a cup of tea, log onto blogger & read/write a few thoughts.

Some random thoughts…

Separation- my SIL posted an interesting blog on this a while ago . Particularly interesting to me because its something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. As a city dwelling Christian there is an introspective review that goes on when you come across other Christians pursuing a sort of isolationist policy. I have been praying about the issue of separation from the world for some time. I want to be sure that if physical separation is what God requires of our family then we are seeking His will and submitting and obeying unto Him. But the more I pray about it, the more I am convicted that we are in the right place at this point in time. And really, when you are surrounded by worldliness, when it slaps you in the face and is even encouraged, you have a tremendous opportunity to let your light shine by living a godly life. A verse that struck me quite a while ago was Dan 12:3 " Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever".

I realise that we live in a western country and are materially very blessed compared to many in this world, but in the context of our environment we have made a real effort to spiritually set our family apart. Sometimes this has resulted in a material separation as well, but we have always determined that our daily lives should be a witness, that we should view our lives as a ‘mission field’, in the sense that all Christians should be living testimonies to the love of God. This isn’t always easy…being called to adopt traditional gender roles when most mothers work; biblical discipline when most people consider spoil/bribe/ignore/neglect as ‘discipline’; saying no to worldly things that are either offensive to God or just not right for our family. But also saying yes to many things, being part of our community, developing genuine relationships with the unsaved and offering them physical and emotional support, breaking our kids into the world in a controlled environment- not easy when a part of you wants to bubble wrap them for the next 30-90 years.

So many people have been drawn into relationships with us, curious to know how they can obtain the peace & joy that they see radiating through our family. We aren’t perfect, and I know we have failed our Master many times, but I know he has a plan for us here. I even had one (unsaved) woman tell me that she physically saw a light in me. That I walk through the playground as if I have not a care in the world, always smiling, always at peace (huh?!). Me! A depraved and wretched sinner brought (and bought) humbly into Gods’ fold. A light? Wow…the Holy Spirit IS transforming me.

There arent enough words to describe my husband in this post...but I feel daily honoured and privileged to be his wife. I'll have to talk about that another time. Our daughter Jayde is a real character. Cheeky. Funny. Kind. Patient. Compassion that puts me to shame. She has shared the gospel with over 60 kids in the last year. I mean directly given testimony and shared Gods word with them. Yes His Word! She is a scripture memorising nut…and her grasp of ‘what it all means’ just humbles me. She befriends both bullies and underdogs… she was born for conflict resolution but isn’t a leader. Her constant cheerfulness wins the most stubborn hearts over. Watch out if she ever gets upset with you, she can unleash a very calmly delivered bullet to the heart as she delicately reminds you of Gods right and wrong. She cries for her own sin, and the eternal salvation of her friends. She is conquering her self righteousness. She might occasionally upset children by being a stickler for the rules…but still gets invited over to play at the end of the day. I think initial apprehension from parents about the “really Christian” family at school, has blossomed into a host of good relationships that have allowed me to directly share the gospel with quite a few mothers.

The area we live in is excessively wealthy. Most of the kids Jayde goes to school with live in literal mansions. Tennis courts, yachts, boat houses, indoor swimming pools, jet skis, private beaches in their backyards…its mind boggling as an adult. We don’t own our own home…we are looking at 400K for a 2bdr apartment…and double that for a house. We don’t drive fancy European import cars. I grew up in this area and although I felt the “material divide” from time to time, it never bothered me because I saw the ugliness that comes with pursuing extreme wealth. I don’t resent wealth, Prov 30:8 sums me up “Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs”. I have seen up close how material riches can cause spiritual poverty. Also to make a generalisation, increasing materialism (particularly in the western world) has already resulted in spiritual decline. And while I believe it is possible to have both spiritual and material riches, I would imagine it to be a tremendous responsibility lest the blessing become a stumbling block. And isn’t that ridiculous in itself? To consider our family as materially ‘unwealthy’ when there are so many with so much less in the world? Nevertheless in the context of our environment, we certainly aren’t the Jones’s.

So where to from here? What direction is God taking our family? We always planned to evaluate our situation when I had finished my university degrees, which should be at the end of this year. Do I keep going? I’ve been recommended to do history honours, or a Masters of education. I’ve had 3 academic works published (proof that ‘academics’ can be just as idiotic as everybody else). I’ve been offered a dream job starting next year. Eep. I don’t really want to work away from home while we have small children. Its probably not wise to incur additional university debt if I don’t plan on earning money either. Jacks job seems relatively secure, but should he stay or go? We are part of an amazing church…it is our perfect fit. The only “problem” is that families keep leaving…to go be missionaries for New Tribes, or MAF or other organisations around the globe. Is that why we were called to this church? To join an ‘external’ missionary field? Is that why I am finishing my degrees? Is that why we have trouble figuring out what we’re saving for? Why we don’t feel peaceful about committing to a mortgage for the next 30 years? Is that why we have always loved travelling to other places and countries? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but we are praying. And if you feel urged and made it this far, you might pray for us too.

Fly me to the moon....

2009-03-01T23:49:00.000-08:00

This is silly but cute. I know, I know, kids say the funniest things all the time and they are usually only funny for the parents. But I had to write this down. Jack was just helping Jayde brainstorm ideas for a school project....he mentioned something about going to the moon. And she said, 'nah, thats okay... the moon's really good but its not that exciting'. With eyebrows raised Jack said 'oh really?! Have you ever been to the moon?'. Jayde replied with certainty 'yeah, remember? We went there in that thing that went straight up into the sky?'. As we looked on confused, she clarified 'when we went to America, near the big dinosaur movie...'. Both of us giggled, realising that she meant the Space Needle in Seattle, which we visited after taking them to see a dinosaur IMAX presentation. hehe. Cute.

A (trivial) correction...

2009-02-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

Upon showing Jayde my last blog she remarked that she actually did like SOME dresses, she just didnt like getting them dirty (probably she doesnt like being scolded about it *guilty look*). This is a bit of a problem for her, given her affection for tree-climbing, dirt piles and mud puddles. She does have her little lady moments though... and determined to prove this to me she donned & posed in her favourite skirt....incidentally, its black...very hard to get dirty, and with its 'foofiness' it really does tempt the toughest tomboys! This worked out perfectly, as I needed to shoot the hat anyways which was given to us from mum&babe. (I cant wait for winter time...city streets, scarves and winter hats always make delicious photographs!).

And as a reminder, she remarked that being a nice lady "isnt about dresses anyway. Its about loving others more than yourself, teaching children about Jesus, and never putting your elbows on the table or farting like dad does". *sigh* ...I wish I could just pause this time in our lives and live in it always. Isnt that pathetic of me?

Time to get Old School!

2009-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Naw, not the cool old school of the 80's.... we have plenty of that already :P

I'm talking about really old school. Like historical, antique-freak loving, convict era old school.

I bought Jayde the cutest dress in Chinatown and it reminded me of something old fashioned. Of course it doesnt really reflect the styles of Australia's convict eras....but it does remind me of a time gone by. I had to get some photos of her wearing the dress before it got too small and before our summer fades completely.

So since Im sick, I decided to take a morning off editing wedding photos (arghghgh! Im never doing another wedding again!) and indulge in some pics of my little girl.

We went to Vaucluse House, in Sydney. It was one of the first 'big' estates in Australia's colonial times. Reminds me of how thankful I am for flushing toilets, refridgerators, fan forced ovens and vacuum cleaners. But it also makes me wish I could experience living in a society with no televisions, computers, cars....where most people were "Christian-minded" (and hopefully genuine Christians) and of course, where I could go swooning about in a puffed sleeve dress (thats right, an Anne of GG reference) with a pink parasol (thats right, Sound of Music reference) and have it be perfectly acceptable. Upon seeing the nursery I was impressed with the toys and the dedication to other pursuits- music, art, embroidery, chess....no Nintendo DS's there.

Please forgive the amount of pictures below...I couldnt decide which ones to post...and believe it or not I have tonnes more that Im aching to post and wont!

Yes, my soccer playing, chuck wearing girl is in a dress! I have evidence!

This was taken through a mirror in one of the family rooms. I wonder if this was their version of the 'naughty corner'? lol. (We dont have a naughty spot in our home but if we had 10 kids we might have to!).

The 2 borders are shots of the actual wallpaper. Some of the walls were sooo pretty...butterflies amidst flowers...really very artistic.

Just one of many staircases...

Jayde in the stables. A bad time for me to start practising different camera settings. Didnt get the shots I wanted at all...maybe next time.

After eating lunch....doesnt she look blissful?

Oops, cant forget a mandatory hat shot!

...or two...

...eep, or even three...

cuteness.

very unspectacular....but the only shot that shows her missing front teeth!

Levi waiting for a kiss...haha.

I had to post this, it was kinda funny. While wandering around the gardens she just ran right up to peek under these flowers..."mum! look! if you look up here you feel upside down!". O...K....

For memories sake.....

Crystal @ http://snapshotsofagreatlife-crystal.blogspot.com/- if you're reading this, thanks so much for helping me enlarge the pictures on the blog. Also, I dont know if its my browser, but I've tried commenting on your last post for several hours now, and it just wont load a verification word.

We are crafty!

2009-02-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

We are all stuck home with a horrid flu at the moment. It suddenly came out of nowhere and gave us the sweats, chills, sore throats and clogged up nasal passages that everybody dreads.

So I kept Jayde home from school today, and finally got around to giving her a french knitting tool. When I was young, I had to make do with a toilet paper roll & four paddle pop sticks glued around it....but ya know, I figured we could afford the $4.99 and shell out for the genuine article.

Jayde took to it like a duck to water, and so I snuck in some quick shots. These are so different for her, usually she loves the camera...today it was like "mum, must you?". She was all content until baby brother decided to wiggle his nappy right in front of her...while I couldnt help giggling, she sure had a scrunched up look on her face...rarely do we see cranky looks from our girl.

Moment of 'fame'

2009-02-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

We live just 2 blocks away from a professional football stadium and ended up getting to see a lot of their games last year. Our family was on television several times, and we had a lot of comments from both friends & strangers who seemed to recognise us! How embarrassing! We are now known as the die-hard, face painted, banner making Sharks fans...arghhgh!

Several weeks ago a friend I know brandished a glossy 2009 Sharks Membership book at me gushing about how I must've looked at it 100 times. Thinking she was referring to our 'passion' for the team I remarked that I hadnt yet looked at a copy. She gave me the 'youre joking!' stare down and said "well...it IS Levi isnt it?". "What's Levi?" I replied. She flipped to the 2nd last page and there was our son....being used to advertise baby memberships!

Well my first reaction was one of surprise. My second reaction was one of annoyance. I mean, I worked for this club for several years...surely someone would know he was my son? And anyway, how could they just use his image to blatantly advertise something without our permission? I can understand his image appearing on tv or a newspaper editorial...but for a glossy catalogue? Isnt that like, illegal? Hrmm. I also found out that the brochure is online here too...

http://www.sharks.com.au/fileadmin/2007_site/user_upload_2007/2008_Membership/2009_Membership/sharks_membership_09.pdf

It frustrated me because we were always turning down offers for Jayde to do catalogue work when she was young, because we felt like it wasnt for our family, and now not to even have a choice with Levi...its a little irritating. It also got me thinking of our image, as Christians, are we as protective of them as we should be? I'll have to follow up with where these thoughts have led me at a later date.

I ended up calling and getting a free baby membership for Levi, a kids membership for Jayde, and a substantial discount on a family pass for the whole season. So yay- it turned out to be quite a blessing. Jack sure is happy. Several kids & parents from Jayde's school have asked if its Levi, and really....he does look kinda cute...dontcha think?

Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the lounge room wall...

2009-02-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

One of the negatives of getting rain in Sydney, is the imposition of your friendly neighbourhood huntsman! Frequently these big, hairy, scary looking spiders sneak into your home when its wet outside, and decide to park on a main wall or roof. One minute they're not there, the next minute they are. Although their size & dark red fangs are pretty intimidating, they arent fatal. Yay. Unlike most of the spiders in Sydney, this one may send you to hospital with a nasty bite, but is not going to send you into cardiac arrest 20 minutes later.

Hot tip: Never leave your car windows rolled down, not even a couple of inches, when there's rain in sight. Huntsman spiders LOVE to crawl in there and hide behind your sunvisor/rearview mirror, so at the most inappropriate times they can suddenly crawl out and cause total road chaos. I have many more huntsman experiences, like the time I walked upstairs and saw literally about 1000 or more baby huntsmans covering the entire roof and walls......Or the time that Jack saw his first huntsman (it was HUGE) and he held a US quarter next to it for a photo op (to demonstrate size to his folks) and the spider proceeded to jump on the back of his neck....but they are stories for another time & place.

Below is a mobile phone video I took last night as my husband expertly demonstrated the catch and release method for these spiders. Why not break out the baygon? Well, aside from the weird fact that we actually (voluntarily) keep a few different, live insects in our home...Huntsman spiders are pretty handy to have- outside that is. They kill a lot of cockroaches and mozzies...so we prefer to let them go if we can.

This is a photo of a hunstman I took about 3 weeks ago. I was walking the kids up our street and saw it on a tree trunk. Aint he cute? Okay...maybe not.

Days like this...

2009-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

In the early hours of the morning I had a nightmare. Like, a wake up screaming kind of dream that makes you uneasy and emotionally fragile.

At 715am I got up. Its raining. I dig through the closet and find 'rain' clothes, sadly realising that my waistline is expanding in an unacceptable way and my choice of attire is very limited because of this problem.

As I walked downstairs I felt a crippling pain surge through my knee...I hurt it playing soccer on monday night and I still have a lump on it the size of a golfball. :S I put clean 'rain clothes' on top of the washing machine in the downstairs bathroom, thinking I will have a quick shower while the kids eat breakfast.

Got the kids up. Made breakfast. Watched kids eat breakfast while I folded laundry. Felt defeated...yesterday was the first day in months that I failed in my 'laundry goal' - that is, to wash, hang & dry, iron, sort, put away everything the same day. Feeling defeated prompts me to put another load of laundry on...which I do....and absentmindedly put my clean clothes, in my mind, the ONLY POSSIBLE COMFORTABLE CLOTHES I had to wear today, into the machine. Before I realise, its too late. They're wet. They're covered with suds. They've been mixed with the unclean. *sigh*

Remembered that Jayde's homework was due today. Remembered that we didnt do last nights homework because I was working with her on bible verses for AWANA, while preparing Cubbies lessons and complaining about my knee. Jayde does homework at record speed and I wonder why she cant do it that fast every day?

Jayde goes to pack her school bag and her lunch box isnt in the fridge. Thats right, I forgot to make lunches last night. I check and see that Jacks lunch box is still here and realise that poor husband is at work without lunch also. Quickly make her lunch so she can put it in her bag. Get Jayde off to school.

Levi walks around giggling his sly little naughty laugh and I wonder what he's done. I notice he seems particularly proud of himself and know that Im in for something big. I follow him into Jayde's room, noticing that he is walking in a particularly footloose and fancy free manner...at the same time a whift of an unpleasant odour assaults my nostrils..'where is his nappy', I wonder? His poo covered nappy is laying in the middle of Jayde's bedroom floor. Levi has finger painted poo faces all over her mirrored wardrobes. His hands are covered in poo. I immediately run to the change table (ouch! my knee again!) and go to grab some baby wipes for his hands....there are no wipes. None. I carry child to sanitation station (bath) and wash his hands. I hurriedly limp to kitchen and fumble with only child proof cupboard to obtain urgent cleaning supplies. Somehow mess is cleaned up.

I have shower/bath with poo child.

After shower I realise I only have enough deoderant to spray under one arm. Choose between using husbands deoderant for other arm, or making personal hygeine concession given rainy weather conditions. I choose concession.

Phone rings. Friends' grandma has died. I basically half grew up with this greek family, her grandmother was my Yaya too. Sad, but knew it was coming. Wonder about Greek Orthodoxy. Call my mother to let her know so she can come up for the funeral next week, remind my mum of eternal life without God and am met with awkward silence and again the answer of 'Im so glad you have your faith Karina. I dont know about all that stuff but Im a pretty good person, I always try to treat people well'.... how come I can teach 3 year old kids about sin, but my mum still doesnt get it?

I check my diary. Oh yes, realise that yesterday was pay day, which means today money is in the bank. I realise we still havent agreed on a formal budget...one of our main goals for this week...and I am probably going to wreck it all before it even begins because I have to go shopping today and also donate to the bushfire appeal...*groan*.

I pay one bill, then notice another is unusually high. Ahh, mobile phone bill. I lost my moblie phone on our wedding anniversary. I called the phone company a day later to get them to 'stop' anyone from making calls, apparently this takes 4-6 hours from when you call them. Cos I had about $25 worth of calls put on my phone in that 4-6 hours. Call phone company. Am just slightly cranky at 4-6 hour time period. Explain that I shouldnt be accountable for any calls made immediately after I inform the phone company. Talk to operator based in New Delhi and make no headway. Unleash my fury. Inform operator that I have been a customer of this company for years. So long that when the phone went missing, I was eligible for a free one. Yet, because of the plan we are on, they werent offering any free ones. So what does that say? I am a loyal customer who always pays our bills on time...and it means nothing to them! Meekly accept $10 "good will" credit before heading online to pay bill.

Its only 947am.

Think that I just want to force Levi to have an early nap so I can crawl back into bed when I am met with a verse at the bottom of my diary page...
"All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God" (Deut 16:17). Okay Lord, I will go.
Next page
"No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:18). Thank you Lord!

Give me strength, wisdom, peace, joy and thankfulness as I go about this day Lord! Forgive me for my pride, immaturity, selfishness, wastefulness and greed! Amen.

Prayer Needed....

2009-02-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

My heart just broke today as the death toll from the Victorian bushfires continued to rise. More than 130 people dead, with the toll continuing to rise. 800 homes destroyed, with more to come, many of these people without insurance losing everything they own. Many have watched their children, family or neighbours die, and their livestock and fields burn to the ground. There is nowhere for them to go. Firefighters have pulled many dead families out of their cars trying to escape the blazes. Hundreds of people are missing. There are 31 fires raging in Victoria, some travelling at 19 miles per hour......and 6 of them are out of control. There are 50 fires in NSW. It is being described as Australia's worst national disaster. In northern Australia, we have extreme flooding, again causing destruction and death, and straining our resources for emergency relief. On the news we are flooded with disturbing images of running sheep and cattle on fire, of people so badly burned that they look like they are dead, and other unspeakable things.

Already people from everywhere are chipping in to help. Not just our government and major corporations, but almost everyone you meet on the street. Pray that we who have much would give freely to those who have none.

I would like to urge everyone to help in the spiritual sense. Please pray for our country. Not just for material provision & repair, but that this tragedy would open peoples hearts to God. Pray for active witnesses for Christ. Pray that this earthly devastation would yield a harvest of souls for the Kingdom.

Where did she go?!?!?

2009-02-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, more 'old' files that I've been exploring on the external hard drive.

I came across these mobile phone videos of Jayde when she was 3. What happened to her? Where is my gorgeous little girl with her cute little voice and light blonde bob? Who walked around always with a big stick pretending to be Moses? Who re-enacted 'the last supper' every time she was given a red drink!? Who requested 'spiderman' at every face painting opportunity despite never seeing a spiderman movie or owning any spiderman toys? Who smuggled a toy gun & sword into a fairy party under her dress? Who built spare 'homes' for the ants? Who danced unselfconsciously to Tchaikovsky- half fairy, half baby-elehpant? Who accepted every explanation I ever gave without question or confusion? Oh, how I miss this time with her!

She used to lure in these giant cockatoos with bread or seeds...then stand there until she became a part of the 'flock' before suddenly scaring them away. I know it sounds a little terrible, but it was kinda funny.

She's now 6 and seems so grown up. She's so kind, and so patient with everyone. Her compassion for people amazes me daily. On the rare occasion that she feels a little scared she whispers that God is with her and she will not be afraid! She is the best big sister I've ever seen (okay, her female cousins do a pretty good job too ;) ), and Levi adores her. She has a tonne of friends, and shares the gospel with them all. She is always looking to help and uses a lot of initiative. She's thankful for all the little things and has complete trust in God's will and provision. She has her naughty moments, but many of them are self confessed. She makes genuine repentance and shows strength in resisting temptations to continue in disobedience. She can be very cheeky and has a great sense of humour. She's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she's still a pretty sharp tool. She loves us, and tells us all every day. I love her so much that my eyes become teary and my heart palpitates in my mouth or as Jayde describes emotional intensity "like my bones are going to explode". One day, all too soon, another 3 years will have gone by. Sometimes I wish I could see the future...that I could see what kind of adult she'll be...but Im quickly reminded that I better enjoy her RIGHT NOW. Time flies, and there are no second chances to relive yesterday.

And she still builds spare 'homes' for the ants.

Photo Album- Beautiful north Idaho

2009-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Because of the recent crash of our computer I had the opportunity to re-examine a lot of the photos on our external drive. I had a bunch from our trip to the Northwest, last October, that I never posted and thought I'd do so before this year goes into insanely busy mode (its actually already started but never mind...).

This is Jayde on the Granite Lake dock... sorry about the thumbnails, the big versions look much better...but take too long to upload!

Jayde again, on Granite Lake.

We took a hike on Jack's parents' property. This is the site where his eldest brother was/is planning on building- what a view! And thanks cousin Rachel for taking the shot!

Jayde & Levi walking through some fields on Jacks parents property. She was trying to keep him away from the huge bonfire we had going! lol. This is in the valley in the background of the above family shot.

Hope, Idaho. When we lived over there I did a paper route once a week in Hope & the surrounding area. It was sooo pretty. This place, I always saved for my last stop, and I would reach it about 530am, I got to see a lot of really nice sunrises...and so many deer! Unfortunately we never made it out on the trip for a sunrise, but caught a sunset instead.

Hope, Idaho.

A piece of driftwood on the shore, Hope, Idaho. I thought the driftwood was kinda cool. Driftwood has saved many a life, and this one is shaped like a cross, the symbol of Jesus Christ, our eternal Saviour.

The "Long Bridge", Sandpoint, Idaho. This was just a random stop when we realised we were about to leave without having taken any pictures of the Long Bridge to show our friends back in Aus. What I realised is that the bridge & the surrounding area are way too beautiful for me to capture! But still, I'm really glad we ended up making this stop!

Lake Pend O'reille x3

Up in Bonners Ferry...at the Kootenai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Thistles, Bonners Ferry, Idaho

Treeline, Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

We call it 'Autumn' but I can see why they call it 'the Fall' (well, this and all the brilliant coloured leaves everywhere :) ).

I have tonnes more photos- we got some cool shots in Seattle. My favourites are probably the family shots, which I am hoping to put into a photobook some day. Still, there is no doubting the sheer beauty and majesty of Gods creation, particularly in the north of Idaho!

Meet the new Pookiebot!

2009-01-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

We went down to the store and bought a new computer. Unfortunately the backup I had running onto an external hard drive didnt work properly, so I lost quite a bit of stuff. Mostly I'm mourning the loss of my university assignments...fortunately I have these in hard copy. And then there's all the other little things that are left behind...random pictures, photoshop brushes, browser favourites, music, freeware programs like E-sword & Easy thumbnails etc. Oh well, not really a big deal in the scheme of life.

Thanks so much Lyle for your help. Your comments helped affirm that it wasnt going to be a problem that we were capable of fixing on our own. I have a couple of friends in IT...it just happens that all of them are away at the moment. But maybe I can ask them to check out the old comp sometime in the future for recon & recovery!

Since Im talking about computers- does anyone have CS4 and is it worth upgrading over from CS2?

Space, glorious space....

Help! Our computer is dying...opinions needed!

2009-01-30T16:44:00.000-08:00

For the last week or so our computer has been dying.

We havent installed anything new, or downloaded any new applications etc. We have a virus/security program running all the time which has turned up nada.

I've cleared the internet cache. And still...the internet seems to run slowly. Its not our ISP, because the laptop internet works just fine. There is plenty of 'space' left. In fact, I've swapped almost all our pictures/music/large files over onto an external hard drive....

The computer is struggling to load, and last night gave me a blue screen of death with 'kernel-data-inpage-error' on it.

Its not that its not working...its that its working very slowly and frequently failing. Eeep.

We've had it for about 4 years. I guess it means its time to upgrade? Or is it time to repair? A lot of my university degree requires computer & internet access....so I dont want to get stuck in the worst possible time without a reliable machine.

I knew that computers were expensive, but when you need a new one, they seem really...expensive.

Whats the most important thing to look for? A good processor....more hard disk space? or more memory? I'm looking at this one at the moment....

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33Ghz OR Intel Core Quad Q 9550 2.83 Ghz. Which is better? One has more Ghz, but the other is newer?
- 775 Pin NetBurst Micro-Architecture Pentium 4 Processor
- Intel Chipset Motherboard – Support Intel Celeron, Dual Core, Core 2 Duo, Core Quad CPUs
-Latest Pentium 775pin ICH7, Hyper Threading, Prescott and MMX Technology & Re-Programmable Flash Plug & Play BIOS
- Super Fast Synchronous Pipeline Burst CACHE Built-In On CPU
-On Board 1xEnhanced "Ultra DMA 100/66 Bus Master" IDE Controller (Up to 2 IDE Devices), 4x DIMM Slots And Floppy Drive Port
-On Board 1 x (16x) PCI-E Port, 4xEnhanced USB Ports
-"640GB" 7200rpm Enhanced Cached IDE Dual Channel Hard Disk Drive
-"4GB" DDR2 800 (Double Data Ram)– Memory-High Speed W/EPROM (Intel Approved)
-"512MB" Nvidia GF 9600 GT PCI-E Video Display Card-Support OpenGL Full Screen MPEG True Colour Accelerator
-22" LG W2242T-BFDVI 5ms Wide Screen A grade LCD Monitor
-Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive-Enhanced Cached IDE (Support CDRW, MP3, Digital Audio Extraction)
-ASUS "6 Channel" AC97 Digital Audio Stereo, Plug & Play Sound Card(Integrated)
-Quality SUB-Woofer 2.1 Channel Powered Amplified Shielded Speaker System
-Asus Deluxe ATX Medium Tower Case
-"Genuine" PS2 Keyboard & Ergonomic USB Optical Mouse
-1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
- Multiple memory card reader
-Integrated Gigabit Network Card and Firewire 1394
-56Kbps V90 Internal Modem
-WC-604G Wireless ADSL 2/2++4 Ports
-Windows XP Home or Windows Vista Home Basic Full Version (CD + Manual)

It sounds so confusing. Is this a 'good' computer? We primarily use it for regular internet useage, word processing & spreadsheets (mostly pdfs or word docs), Jack plays games occasionally, lots of photos..photos...more photos...(when I shoot in RAW they can be up to 14MB per file...), photo post production, making home movies on dvds, playing music, umm...so yeah. If anyone knows their bickies when it comes to computers, I'm all ears.

A lazy sunday arvo...

2009-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

Temperatures last week soared up to 43 C! Thats 110 F, for those of you who dont do celcius. Couple that with 80% humidity...and a trip to cool off at the beach seems mandatory!

Jack and Levi- Jack had just rinsed Levi off in an attempt to get him dry and 'sand free' before heading back to the car (this is an impossible task in case you were wondering).

Levi trying to smile!

We chose a quiet beach relatively close to home. While this beach lacks the spectacular waves and sands of other local beaches, it also lacks crowds. I love having an empty beach all to ourselves. What a blessing!

Jayde getting 'dumped'. She is so fun to watch in the surf. She's so brave.

Levi the sand thrower....one of his throws went terribly wrong and the wet sand ended up all over his head. lol. Oh and yes, I know that his swimmers are too small...his others are too big. Hrmm.

Just a closer look...

Embarrassments!

2009-01-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

So I got tagged to tell my most embarrassing moment. “No worries”, I thought…but upon reflection, I realised I had all kinds of ‘most embarrassing moments’…each for different reasons. The thing is, is that ‘embarrassment’ is part of who I am. I say the stupidest things at the most inappropriate times….I am constantly clumsy- I do the unthinkable such as trip over ‘air’ or fall upstairs. Keeping these characteristics in mind, I hope you’ll forgive me for bracketing some of my ‘most embarrassings’ (the ones Im willing to tell) as follows. *Disclaimer, some of these aren’t so much funny, as gross & off-colour…sorry.

Prideful Humiliation Embarrassment

The Christmas after Jayde was born I was asked to sing at the Christmas Eve church service. I had never sung (by myself) in church before…but given my high school history of being in a jazz band, a rock band, leads in the school musical, successful debater and public speaker (yes, yes I was a nerd wasn’t I?)…I didn’t think I’d have any issues. I was only asked on the 23rd of December. So we chose a song, I practiced it, and came to church a little early on Christmas Eve as planned. The night was cold and snowy…not great for voices, and since Jack was working I felt a little frazzled driving on the icy roads with Jayde in the car (yup, Im also a driving wimp). Before the service several people came up and mentioned how excited they were to hear me sing…and my heart started pounding. I had only found out the day before…I wasn’t even in the program…how did everyone know? Eeep. Before the service even started, I got called up to sing…to start the service. No one mentioned I’d be FIRST. I handed Jayde to her grandma (did I mention most of my husbands whole family was there) and Jayde began fussing. And basically…I just…choked. Mental blank…lyrics gone…hands shaking…meltdown. Worship turned ugly. Completely beyond embarrassed. (I also had to suffer awkward silences the rest of the evening at my in-laws’ every time the music program was mentioned…which my brother in law had led).
In hindsight, I took a couple of valuable lessons away from this. Firstly, that my priority should have been on praise & worship to God…not on my own abilities. Secondly, that my strength and comfort should have come from God…not from confidence in my own abilities. Thirdly…it was the first time I had publicly sung since getting saved, and for some reason it made me actually care about people and what they thought of me (not as in Karina but as in Christ-in-me) whereas before I was completely okay with embarrassing myself for the sake of a good laugh. Lastly- we need to use our gifts with a main purpose and passion of glorifying God. *sigh*

Accidental Public Embarrassment

For my best friends 18th birthday, another friend and I had chipped in to hire some Harley Davidson’s for a couple of hours and we were all going to go out for a spin. So we put on our leather jackets, cool as can be, and hopped onto these immaculately maintained Harleys…with these male drivers all suited up…we were rolling hard. As we drove down our Shire’s main artery road…my friends began to point at the bike I was on. *thumbs up* I gave them with a smile. Yet still…they continued to point. For those of you accustomed to riding on motorbikes you’ll know that the wind factor is fairly intense. And that, when wearing a helmet and glasses and hugging onto the back of a strange man for dear life, its not 100% convenient to look directly down. But I managed to look down. And found that the button-down shirt I was wearing had completely undone. It was now flapping to the sides with my leather jacket, and my gut and horrible tan-coloured bra were on display for all to see and laugh at. And of course, I couldn’t fix the situation until we had stopped for a rest. Very Embarrassing.

Bodily Function Embarrassment

While travelling in Turkey with some friends several years ago I ate or drank something that really didn’t agree with me. The quality of toilets in Turkey is about -9 in general, not that it mattered at this particular point, since I was on a bus travelling a very lonely, mosque-dotted, road from one side of Turkey to another. In the middle of nowhere, I couldn’t stand it anymore and asked the driver to pull over. Me, and another friend, jumped out of the bus, ran behind the first (sparse) shrubbery we saw, and had business to do. After relieving ourselves I looked up and realised that given the downward slope of the land we were on, and the height of the bus, everyone on the bus could CLEARLY see everything we were doing, even though at the time it seemed like the bushes would be adequate cover. We got a round of applause (and some wolf whistles ???!??) upon re-entering the bus. Hmm.

Health Scare Embarrassment

This one is beyond the realm of grossness. Will any of you ever look at me the same way again? I was in a public restroom (I have a phobia of these generally) but again (!) had some chronic bowel issues. I wiped…and accidentally dropped the soiled toilet paper…and as it dropped to the ground it kind of fluttered into the next stall. I heard a scream, a vulgar word, a muttering about 'nasty women', before I said ‘sorry’ (and started giggling, which I automatically do in the most inappropriate situations!!!!) I sat in the stall for a LONG time just in case people were waiting to brand me with a hot iron or something. (And yes, I did go and dispose of it etc). Ahem. I’m sorry for sharing that but you did ask….

Brain Dead Embarrassment

On our recent trip to Idaho I had the pleasure of eating several meals at my sister-in-laws home. One night after dinner, we sat in the lounge eating dessert and watching television. I finished mine and placed the bowl on a table which contained a pot plant. While I was watching television, Levi came along…played with my spoon and used it as a little shovel in the pot plant. I saw this, told him to stop it and sent him on his way. Some time later I picked up my bowl to take it away, and mentally I saw something on the spoon so I licked it in response. I had a mouthful of dirt. And said “my mouth is full of dirt isn’t it?”. I never saw my brother-in-law laugh so hard. Or my niece. Or my nephews. And my sister-in-law was gracious enough to stifle her laughter a little. I handled the situation well (ie, rinse it off, make a joke “pica rears its ugly head again” and ignore). Btw, the same day I had gone shopping with this family and despite everyone else exiting in a different direction, I continued to walk straight and slammed into a glass window. Im 26! Will it ever end?

Cross Cultural Embarrassments

Most of these have revolved around vocabulary issues such as;
*Jug = pitcher. I went to a buffet in Las Vegas and asked for a jug of water. The guy looked at me oddly and proceeded to bring out 3 ‘pitchers’.
*Rubber= eraser/condom. At the grocery store while pregnant with Jayde I was digging for change in my bag at the checkout. Jack said “whats that?” I said “just a rubber”. The checkout chick giggled. Jack went beet red. I noticed the reaction and pulled it out…”oh, an ERASER, she means an ERASER” Jack hastily reassured anyone listening.
*Thong (footwear in Australia)= flip-flops/ g-string style underwear in America. I didnt understand the look on my mother-in-laws face when I invited her to go shopping for new thongs. :S

*Fanny= backside in America, and a womans privates in Australia. Don’t say fanny in Australia! I heard a mother remark in America “I’ll spank your fanny” and I was mortified!
*Rubbish bin= trash can- some people tend to put on a cockney British accent (like in Oliver Twist) and make fun of you if you say ‘rubbish bin’. (This goes for saying petrol instead of ‘gas’ as well).
*Nappy= Diaper.
*Rooting= I was always embarrassed whenever anyone remarked that they were 'rooting for their team'. In Australia, 'rooting' does not mean 'cheering', but is something that happens between two consenting adults and may or may not result in pregnancy.
*Usage of cutlery- here, forks stay in the left hand, knives stay in the right hand and you slice and eat your food. In America, it can appear that people are viciously attacking and devouring their prey as they swap utensils time and time again. Yet still, I was the odd person with poor table manners.
*Popping off- means…’really happening or rocking’ in America, and ‘farting’ in Australia.
And so the list goes on….

Heroic Embarrassment

When I was about 10 years old a good friend of mine had a birthday party at her house. She still had issues wetting the bed and had to wear nappies. As the kids played in her room and ripped out toys from every nook & cranny…one of her cupboards was opened to reveal a stash of nappies. Instantly the questions and accusations began flying. I decided to claim the nappies as my own, boldly saying that I suffered from an infected bladder from drinking too much Coke (Coke was really the ultimate cool drink at that age). This was rather stupid, I could’ve said that they were for the children her mother babysat during the day, or even just as left over from when she was younger, (and besides…why would my parents store a stash of nappies for me at someone’s elses house?).. .But anyways, the kids left her alone and I never copped any flak for it either- she is still thankful ;).

Delayed Embarrassment

When I was 14 I joined the Air Force Cadets and had to go through a full medical exam. Our family doctor was away and so I saw a temporary doctor who proceeded to give me a very thorough inspection…I mean, privates and all. After being recruited, I remarked to a group of about 15 recruits how embarrassed I was at the medical. The all seemed puzzled and asked why? I referred to the poking and prodding (and in retrospect, complete CREEPINESS!) of my exam before EVERY SINGLE PERSON said that they didn’t have anything like that happen, and never even had to take off their pants. My mum mentioned it to my family doctor when he got back who apologised but explained that the new doctor mustn’t have known that a genital check was unnecessary for minors! I still feel ashamed!

Peer Pressure Embarrassment

About the same age, I was invited to a dress up party…we had to dress as a music celebrity. A couple of girls and I got together and we went as the ‘spice girls’. I was the only one with curly hair, and so I got to play the crazy, animal print wearing, Spice girl. Who is black. So they used regular brown acrylic paint on my face and neck, which proceeded to melt and drip off throughout the heat and sweat of the party. A guy I really liked was at that party, and its very difficult to impress someone when your face looks like a vat of melting chocolate.

I don’t know if these were worth reading for anyone, but they were slightly therapeutic for me. I hope you can all now better understand and forgive my personality flaws as evidenced from time to time.

I tag…Heidi to explain her most embarrassing moment.

Pregnant with the Spirit??

2009-01-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

I am sick. No, not morning sick- I have the flu, the dreaded lurgy. So since I am at home nursing a box of tissues and some cough drops, and wrestling against the temptation to scowl at my (seemingly ridiculously loud, although actually quietly playful) children…I thought I’d make a random blog on a couple of thoughts I had this week.

I have a list of pregnant women I know, that I regularly pray for. This list just keeps growing and growing. At the moment, I have 9 women on that list. As one of my (non-pregnant) friends remarked “the air is so thick with hormones that I feel morning sick”. :P. After praying for all these women the other day, I had an interesting thought. Im not claiming it to be an original thought, but it was the first time that I had really thought about it.

My sister-in-law made an interesting blog post a while ago, about labour and delivery and tribulation (http://onmysoap-box.blogspot.com/2008/11/labor-and-delivery.html ). My thoughts were more about pregnancy and our bodies as temples.

Pregnant women nurture the little baby dwelling in their body. The minute a second line shows up on their wizzle stick…a host of food is removed from the mothers diet, in an attempt to accommodate the needs of the baby. Many activities are removed from the mothers daily life, while others are added. Much of the mothers emotional time is devoted to thinking and dreaming about the baby. Much of the mothers physical time is devoted to protecting and nourishing the baby, by trying to ensure that the mothers body is an adequate and satisfying dwelling place. The mother seeks out things that she thinks will please the baby (ie, toys, clothes, food that ‘stays down’ etc). She places the baby first, herself second, and holds on tightly and with great strength to the baby within her. As the baby (and mothers belly) grows, there are outward signs of the pregnancy more noticeable to everyone. Some expectant mothers radiate, while others humbly struggle through the day- both their joy and their struggle, born out of love for the child within them. Some expectant mothers wait for doors to be opened, or ask for help in areas that they wouldn’t usually. They are vulnerable, yet become vocal and expressive…ultimately out of love for that baby. They form special bonds with other pregnant women and enjoy time together, talking about their pregnancies.

I didn’t spend a great deal of time thinking about this, this whole cycle of thoughts took place in maybe a minute or two, but I did have a funny feeling in my stomach about how much more we should be ensuring that the Holy Spirit has a satisfying dwelling place within us…that our bodies are given as instruments of righteousness. About how much of a fuss I have made while pregnant, because of a child, when daily…I should be making that fuss because I have the Holy Spirit living within me.

1 Cor 6:19-20 says
‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s’.

And in Romans (12:1)
‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service’.

So while I hesitate to draw parallels between every pregnancy and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it was an interesting thought for me. How much effort do I make with my body, making it a temple? How much physical and emotional effort do I devote to the promptings of the Spirit? Am I spending my time in ways that prepare me for what is to come? Am I seeking out things which please the Spirit? How much time do I spend seeking Gods help and solutions? Am I willing to embrace both sorrow and joy because of my love for Him? Do I evidence outward changes as a result of the Spirit within? Does the Spirit come first in my life and do I hold onto it tightly? How vocal have I become with others, upon being prompted by the Spirit? Have I surrounded myself with sweet fellowship? And a myriad of other comparative questions.

I don’t know if this even makes much sense to anyone else, but the thought was kind of a cool prompting for me. And since this post rambled on, my other thought will have to wait for another day! Or at least until after my headache disappears….

Have a great day!

Photos for the New Year

2009-01-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Over the last few months some other people at our church have obtained DSLRs. Most of these are Canons, like mine, so its nice to be able to "lens-swap" as well as see the way other people compose their shots etc.

A while ago we decided we should go out in a shoot together. The shoot chosen required me to leave home at 3am, on the 2nd January, with the kids, before dropping them off and heading into the city. I was a liiiiittle unimpressed with the idea but it was a fun time of not just photography but fellowship too.

Since landscape is not one of my photography fortes...or even a passion, I was pleasantly surprised with some bracketing experiments, and was happy with the way our 10-22 opened up wide. Here are some of the shots I took that day... unfortunately these are all of the Sydney Opera House & the Harbour Bridge....I promise there is more to Sydney than these two structures. Sorry these look a bit pixelly...I dont know how to make them any larger on the blog unless I drag them, these are just the thumbnails. (The original images are a whopping 10-12 mb each, and could easily print 60 inches or so without noise, pixellation or appearing over saturated...my computer despises me right now).

(I know its crooked and not edited, but I still thought this was a cool, old Police Station)

Coping with grief

2008-12-28T05:53:00.000-08:00

Without sounding dark and mopey I confess that during peak periods of celebration, I tend to get bouts of sadness on and off. When the kids are opening presents or when we’re singing carols at church or sometimes when the kids have just gone to bed, I open the door to some ‘what ifs’. What if she was here? What would our lives be like now? What would she look like at this age? Etc.

I lost a little baby girl just beyond 40 weeks pregnant. She was born on our daughters 3rd birthday, weighing 9’10 and looking just like her big sister, only she wasn’t breathing. We found out during labour that she no longer had a heartbeat, and while it was an awful shock, God drew so close to us. During the labour I felt that I heard God speak. Not with my ears…but in a way where words just flowed through my whole body. I heard “I am the Lord your God! Do not be afraid! I will give you strength and I will deliver you!”. Sounds crazy huh? But its true.

In the coming weeks that followed we were given an overwhelming peace. There were times when we were given so much peace, comfort and even joy, that the world and the heartache just passed us by. Then again, there were and are some days which are harder than others, and some things that we were once content to put aside, which we began to struggle with.

Sometimes it feels like weeks or months or years after a loss, the world has moved on, as they should. Yet personal pain is still so very real and close to my heart. I know the realities and practicalities of being a mother and wife, and I realise that daily responsibilities don’t cease just because ones heart is hurting. At the same time, it can be so difficult to put on a brave face and carry on as usual, when inside you have feelings that can be quite overwhelming at times.

I have found that one of the keys to overcoming these struggles lies with thankfulness. Im talking about genuinely being thankful. I mean, physically being thankful. Acknowledging God for His blessings in your life that may go by completely unnoticed by some. While I could elaborate on some of this, I think tonight that I will share some of the more personal and special blessings I have had, as a result of Amber’s death.

Mostly, we know that her eternal salvation is secure. The whole pregnancy I prayed to God that if she would not be saved, that he would take her there and then. Little did I think my prayer would be answered in such a way! But how grateful I am that we don’t have to worry about her soul, we don’t have to worry about the trials and temptations of this world affecting her life. The more Jayde grows and learns about the ways of this world, the more I agonise over her salvation. I realised a while ago that in the Garden of Eden, God wasn’t cursing Eve with pain in the actual childbirth (although this is also a factor). He was saying that the pain of childbearing (ie, raising a child and watching them go their own way, turn away from God) would be agony. What a really remarkable blessing that our little one is in heaven, safely in Our Heavenly Father’s arms; waiting to greet us when our race is run. I am excited for that day.

After she died, I was praying to God about my ache to hold her and the sadness of having an empty crib, an empty car-seat, empty arms. I was given a revelation (not in the sense of the OT prophets) that God pines and aches to hold ALL His children, much more than I will ever ache for Amber. He aches for them to be with Him even more than I ache for her to be here with me. I felt challenged and reminded to help Him get those children into His arms. So once again, my pain was turned into comfort and wonder at the almighty and eternal love that God has for us; and it fuelled my desire to glorify Him by helping his children see the way back into their Fathers arms.

I have had several other similar realisations as I was praying. I went for about 7 months where I never questioned why this happened. I never doubted or questioned Gods plan, but suddenly I wanted to know why. I wanted to know why that way. Why not at 10 weeks? Why not at 20 weeks? Why did He wait? I felt jealous over his parentage of my child. I felt like a single mother who had lost custody of her daughter. And yet again, the response was such a blessing. I realised I had just a small taste of the jealousy with which God guards his children. That if this small taste could make me angry with God, who had been my rock and refuge this entire time, then imagine how possessive and protective God is of all his children. And how great his fury is at the one who would lead them astray. Once again, the challenge was there as a reminder to me of his ache for all his children. It also served as a bitter reminder to continually model myself after Christ. The reality is that God is a far better parent than I will or can ever be….in fact, he is a perfect parent. My feeling of ‘losing’ her, was replaced by a thankfulness of knowing where she was, and who was ‘raising’ her….I found joy in knowing she would have the absolute best.

As I look through hundreds of photos of our other children, I regret not taking more photos of Amber. The only photos we have of her are polaroids from the hospital staff. When she was born she had some maceration on one of her cheeks. When the hospital staff took some quick pictures of her, they took them from an angle which shows prominently the side of the maceration. This has actually been a blessing from God, as each time I look at these pictures it reminds me to turn the other cheek.

I could literally fill pages upon pages with the blessings we have had but I will share this with you because it also really touched my heart. A year after her death, I was wondering if anyone would remember her. I had friends even comment that ‘we didn’t really know her’ and ‘it wasn’t like she was a 2 year old’ etc. Even just a couple of days after she was born the hospital called us and said ‘you left so fast we forgot to do baby’s hearing check, so if you can bring her back in it will only take 10 minutes and then you can go’. Even there, at the hospital, it seemed like they had forgotten her! A year later I knew that people had moved on, that’s what people do, there are new tragedies and new events which occupy their lives and time. But in my life, she was still real, she was still important, she was not forgotten. I began to crave some recognition of her life, and I thought it was a selfish thing to pray about. But as I prayed I realised that this was yet another opportunity that God used to give me just a small taste of the desire that he has for people to remember his dead son. It can be so tricky answering questions sometimes. Just last week I met an old friend who said ‘don’t you have three now? Where’s your other one?’. Those kinds of questions always seem confronting, even though they are well intentioned. Other kinds of questions don’t have such straightforward answers. “How many children do you have?”. What to say? Do I acknowledge her verbally, or just think of her. Do I say something and have someone think Im a wacko, or will they respond with empathy? All in all, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how exactly I should acknowledge her. How exactly I will explain her life in a way that is glorifying to God. How I can talk about her without alienating people. These are all skills that I need to be a good witness for Christ. To explain his life, his death, and Gods ache for people to remember those things and ultimately, His love for us.

So you see, we have managed to find some precious jewels among the thorns. One major thing that has changed for me has been my thankfulness. I realised that sometimes you have to make a choice to be thankful, and that by being thankful, you will have more joy than you can measure. While pregnant with Levi, I made a decision to give thanks verbally throughout my day, for all the little things God was doing for me. A green light, a red light, a parking space, a sunny day, a rainy day, my favourite coloured garbage bags being in stock. Yup, all the most simplistic, some may say stupid, things to be thankful for. And I actually said it, out loud. The more I did it, the more things I had to be thankful for. I felt Gods provision to the core every day, for every little thing. And it was contagious. Jayde now walks around the house with a song of thanks in her heart and everywhere we go she is thankful for Gods special provisions. How does this relate to others? I’m just illustrating that sometimes, you have to make a choice to do it, before it starts flowing freely. You can choose to see either side of the coin. For example, Amber was born on Jaydes 3rd birthday. Is that a curse or a blessing? We view it as a blessing. Never will that day go past being unnoticed, we will always have a reason to celebrate. Yet others may not make the choice to look at it that way. And there have been times when I have not looked at other things, in a particularly thankful way! But when I have made that choice, it has been a real comfort to me.

I felt prompted to make this post in order that other people dealing with grief or helping others deal with grief, might be able to empathise a little. As cards stop coming, and people stop asking, and your heart keeps aching….it can feel like things are becoming more difficult. I tend to bottle up my feelings and end up succumbing to anxiety attacks or go down the unhealthy ‘what if’ line of thinking. I still haven’t conquered this. But for anyone dealing with grief or supporting those dealing with grief
- Don’t bottle up your feelings. Talk about it with someone. Pray to the one who knows you best. Keep a journal of your thoughts if it seems to help.
- Its okay to be sad. I learned that joy is different to happiness. I had physical peace and JOY at our situation, although I wasn’t happy about it. The same is true of sadness. Being sad, is different to despairing. Many Christians seem to just tell you not to worry, or even make you feel guilty for being sad…but Jesus himself wept.
- Be honest with God and stay close to Him.
- Spend time in the Word. I began memorising Psalms, also NT books such as Matthew. This really helped me a lot.
- Accept help from people if you need it…and ask for help if no one offers. Most people really don’t know what to say or do when someone dies. Our western society is so far removed from death, that it has become a scary, awkward thing to discuss. Most people want to help you, but just don’t know what to do or say.
- Be realistic. Grieving takes time…don’t expect to have a timeline of ‘the day you will wake up and everything will be fine again’. But know that realistically this has changed your life and it will take some time before life begins to function at the rate of normalcy that you had before.
- Remember important dates. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, date of death. Be aware that these times may be tricky to negotiate and prepare yourself. For friends supporting others dealing with grief, let them know that you recognise it might be a difficult time, and that you are there for them.
- Try not to go down the ‘what ifs’ of the event if it makes you anxious. And try not to go down the ‘what ifs’ of tomorrow. I found that I can actually cope okay with the loss of a baby. I recognise that hundreds of women around the world go through the same thing each day, I cant imagine the grief of those who dont know God! But it’s the shock of what happened that ‘gets’ me. I was overdue, in labour, had a healthy ultrasound just 3 days before….I never would have thought that morning about what was going to happen. And so it can be tempting to wonder or worry about what will happen tomorrow. But I can assure you that this only leads to anxiety of the worst kind.
- Remember that God knows you and LOVES you. He didn’t create us to die. We live in a fallen world where death exists, not because God put it there, but because he gave us a choice. When God created us, He didn’t create us because he wanted toys or because he needed people to love him to feel good about himself. He created us out of His love. And part of that was giving us a choice. He could easily have made us in a way which made loving him a compulsory bodily function. But instead, He gave us a choice, that we might choose Him and know real love and have a genuine relationship with Him. Initially it was mans choice to turn away from God, that brought death into the world. And it is through Gods love for us, that he created a way for us to be reconciled with Him and have everlasting life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).
FOR GOD- the origin of the gospel. The initiative to save mankind begins with God (not us).
SO LOVED- God was ‘externally blessed’. He was there before the earth. He didn’t need anything else to affirm or complete His happiness.
THE WORLD- The object of the gospel. God loves ALL people. Every one.
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON- The plan of the gospel. God was the only one who had the resources to satisfy the law of God- which we have broken. We had nothing to give to pay this price. We cannot contribute to this payment by going to church, giving alms or other deeds.
THAT WHOEVER- The extent of the gospel. If we think that God could not forgive us, then we demean the size of His gift. If we think that God would not forgive us, then we demean the quality of His love.
BELIEVES IN HIM- The condition of the gospel- Acceptance of the facts of Jesus- he was the son of God, was sinless, died for our sin, was raised from the dead, lives in Heaven. Believing is –having accepted the facts and giving our lives to God. There is no alternative but God/Jesus. We don’t believe in our belief, but we believe in Him.
SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE- The purpose of the gospel. There are only 2 ways…the narrow way & the broad way…life or death.
This rundown was presented to me by (Pastor) Earle McKay. While one of the most ‘popular’ or well known verses in the bible, how often do we stop and actually think about its full message?

Well this post seems to be veering all over the place. But I feel much more joyful than when I started typing. Much happier even. If you made it this far, thank you for sharing in my grief and thankfulness tonight.

Carols Aussie style?

2008-12-20T03:26:00.000-08:00

Where to begin? I have let this blog lay idle for several weeks because we have had a lot going on in our lives. Aside from school and photography and visitors and Christmas approaching, our family has had a revival of sorts. I mentioned a while ago that I was in a ‘stepford housewife zone’. It stuck. Our house is still staying really clean and I am working well to make sure that chores are done and meals are made before Jack gets home from work etc…it is nice. But we realised that there was no point having extra time, unless that time was spent in a godly manner. Im not anti-television, but the TV has remained off for the most part for a few weeks now. The computer has taken a backseat. Being in the Word has been our major focus and its been really really wonderful. I could talk about a few of the special things I have learned the last couple of weeks, but really don’t know if I could fit it all in this moment, or even have my head wrapped around it all yet.

What I did want to talk about is something a little lighter. Today we finally got around to putting up a Christmas tree. We ‘re-examined’ Christmas in our home a couple of years ago and got rid of a lot of ‘junk’ so to speak, but still, we decided (mostly at Jaydes bidding) to put the tree up. Our tree comes in a box. It is made of plastic. It even has lights that are already attached to it. Its NORMAL. Or so I thought. At the moment we have a guest in our home from America, and he was absolutely dismayed (and distressed!) that we were using a plastic tree. He told the kids stories of long hikes through the snow in the woods on a quest to find the ‘perfect’ tree. And he desired to go out into the Australian bush and do the same. The problem is that in this area, we don’t have a lot of pine trees. Secondly, its summer time, and we have no snow. Thirdly, having a ‘real’ Christmas tree in Australia…means that you are pretty up and up in the socio economic status (well when I was a kid at least) and really…the Aussie way is a plastic way. Lol. And just to clarify, while living in Idaho, I did have this ‘hiking through the woods to chop down a real tree’ experience….in my opinion (although smelling much nicer), it was kind of a pain. The needles were realllllly messy, and the tree was so…droopy (?) every time you tried to hang any kind of weighty ornament on it. Anyways, at this point in time, we decided to stick with our tree in the box.

The highly unimpressed attitude of our friend amused us. And after the tree was decorated, we put a few gifts underneath it. We also put a few of Levi’s birthday presents underneath it, because a) we needed to put them somewhere, and b) tomorrow is his second birthday. I thought about his birthday last year, and the effort that had gone into picking out his ‘first birthday’ gifts. Upon unwrapping them, he was much more fascinated with the boxes, ribbons and packaging…than with the actual gift. This reflection, coupled with the debate over real vs fake, had me thinking about why people are so concerned with the packaging of Christmas.

While playing with packaging is cute in little kids, if a grown adult did this we’d think they were crazy. If I gave my husband a new lawnmower, and he gaa-gaad over the big, red, bow I put on it…I’d think he was, well…creepy, and I’d also probably be hurt that he didn’t recognise the thought and care and effort I had put into the gift.

Christmas time is a time when many people reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ- Gods greatest gift to us. We have to be so careful that we’re not caught up with all the bells and whistles and packaging, and take up that gift with joy and thankfulness. I cant imagine what God thinks when people become distracted with all the wrapping and packagings in todays society. When He gave us the greatest possible gift ever, and people ignore it.

But rather than carry on, lest I become too preachy, Im going to share some lyrics to a couple of Christmas carols…the way we sing them here. While not my favourite carols, or the most spiritually founded (!) I thought my American friends & family might get a laugh out of this….

Jingle Bells

Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden ute,
Kicking up the dust,
Esky in the boot.
Kelpie by my side,
Singing Christmas songs
Its summer time and I am in
My singlet, shorts and thongs!

O’Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
On a scorching summers day (hey!)
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Christmas time is beaut
O what fun it is to ride
In a rusty Holden ute.

Engines getting hot, dodge the kangaroos,
Swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too.
All the family is there, sitting round the pool,
Christmas day, the Aussie way,
By the barbecue!

Come the afternoon, grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce are swimming in their clothes
The time comes round to go, we take a family snap
Then pack the car and all shoot through
Before the washing up!

Twelve days of Christmas
(not the whole song…)

A kookaburra up a gum tree
Two cockatoos
Three parakeets
Four great galahs
Five opals black
Six roos a jumping
Seven emus running
Eight koalas clinging
Nine wombats waddling
Ten dingos dashing
Eleven snakes a sliding
Twelve goannas going.

Our friend, very unimpressed, brandishing the 'top' of our tree... :)

Look to the ant?

2008-11-16T03:04:00.000-08:00

Jack took this amazing shot of a "bee lookalike" this morning....

In an attempt not to be outdone...I took this shot, of a very small fly-like critter this arvo.....

But this one, I took in Idaho...and it reminds me of the warm autumn sun and the cool, crisp air, and all the insects and flowers that rushed to embrace life before winter.

I love all things macro. When you view things in macro...you live in a different world.

God's creation continually amazes me. He creates the most intricate designs...we cant even begin to replicate them. With my camera and zoom I have seen moth wings that would rival the most brilliant turkish carpets....I have seen bugs eyes that are sleeker than any figher jets cockpit. The tiniest details are taken care of with such precision and purpose...I shake my head in awe and wonder.

When I see things like this, I am reminded that God knows ALL about me. He sees the hairs on my head, the blood vessels in my body, the thoughts in my brain and the motives of my heart... he sees me in ways that the rest of the world, with their naked eyes cannot. That is a sobering thought sometimes.

So my thoughts turn again to the insects. To embrace and live life with a passion for His purpose for me, in the short timespan that He has given me, so that when the winter of my life comes, I am ready for the snow.

Next...

2008-11-14T03:19:00.000-08:00

Wow...I cant believe I finally have time to update the blog! Life has been busy this last week or so. I just finished my last university assignment for this year. So this afternoon I made a plate of nachos, put Levi down for a nap, and read 'Obsessed' by Ted Decker. Not a bad read. It was so nice to just veg out and read a fiction book! Assessment task time is usually a bit of a stress for me. I tend to wait until the last possible moments before commencing any form of study and then feverishly work for a few days until it's complete. During that time, our family usually survives off frozen lasagnas and store bought salads...Jack turns up to work looking like a dero, and my hair is beginning to dreadlock itself from lack of personal hygeine. But not this time. Oh no. Our trip to Idaho inspired me to be the housewife I knew I was always capable of being! :) Which is great, because this time around...our house stayed clean. Immaculately clean. I developed ridiculous personal goals, such as 'never go to bed with laundry in the basket'; 'pick up toys/rubbish/bits & pieces every 30 minutes'; 'spend $40 on seasonal fruit and ensure the family eats it all'; I was washing in the night time, hanging it out in the morning, and ironing it in the afternoon. By the time Jack got home, laundry was away, dinner was cooked, homework was done, house was clean....yay for karina! This left us with quality time together as a family. After dinner we have been playing soccer, or going on walks, or spending time with Jayde in the Word, actual quality time together. I have a SYSTEM, and its working! Wow. I have become....normal. So anyways, enough kudos to me, all that to say that this Idaho trip was a real blessing, in more ways than one. (But alas, life is not perfect. As soon as I get one 'problem area' in my life cleaned up another one starts...its back to the old choclate addiction for me, I no, I dont need lectures..........................Im headed back to that part in Proverbs that talks about too much honey).

But anyways, back to our trip. Rather than give a blow by blow account of each day...I thought I would give an account of days or a couple of days or just memorable events bit at a time. And before I do, I have to apologise for the pictures...or lack thereof. We were so busy visiting for much of the time, that I didnt get nearly as many as I would have liked (or imagined I would take).

So yes, our first real day in Idaho we headed down to see some of my favourite people in the world- Ann & Bill! While I was busy having a chin wag with Bill, Jack was having a chat to his cousin Daniel (who was also there), Jayde climbed trees and Levi teased Panzer (their large black, rottweiler who was fortunately on a chain). Fellowship runs sweet with this couple...I really do love them! We spent a bit of time outside...the grasshoppers were insane and Jayde & Levi were busy trying to catch as many as they could. Then Jayde discovered the trees were full of plums....and pears....and apples...and so she went on a picking frenzy. *sigh*. Did I mention how beautiful the weather was? And how awesome it was to see all the trees turning yellow and orange? We dont get a lot of that stuff over here....so it was almost as good as seeing snow for Jayde! We also managed to stop in to see 'the grandmas' which was really great....never having known my own grandmothers, I have always taken a special joy in getting to know Jacks grammas. We also caught our nephews soccer game that arvo, and did some more visiting over the next couple of days.

Jayde...in a 'real' Autumn....

Bees...everywhere.....

The next day, we moved into 'our' apartment. Down Jack's brothers' driveway...is a massive garage...and on top of that garage was a brand new apartment. Completely decked out in western theme....it was awesome. We love staying with other people, but having our own place was great...because it meant that we could maintain our families boundaries etc, without feeling intrusive or bothersome to others.

Oooh, we also made it over in time to celebrate Tracy's birthday! Woohoo! The women at our old church had organised a big surprise birthday party for her at Jalapenos. I was meant to get her there (she thought we were having dinner with just 2 girls from church). Getting her to dress up was a feat....but didnt she look lovely? And this, straight after coaching volleyball practice?

The dreaded '40th birthday' hat....this hat goes from one woman to another as they reach the big milestone...

And this hat...well, this sombrero is one that Jalapenos threw in for good measure.

It was a great party. And so cool to catch up with all the girls! The night ended on a bit of a down note...Tracy had injured her hand pretty badly at the preceding volleyball practice...and so we went from the party...to the hospital....(getting old does make you brittle! :P) But her hand turned out to be okay...(it just took a couple of weeks).

Well thats a good start. No really awesome stories or spiritual jewels ...but a bit of a travel log at least.

And btw, did I mention that we are getting ready for an overseas visitor ourselves? The Bubbaman (aka Jeff) is coming to visit us for a month. He arrives in 12 days. lol. Crazy. So Im sure, before I can even finish this travel log, we'll be commencing a new one! Only this time, on my home turf :)