Our New Zealand Trip (Part One)

David and Kedesh van Heeswyck

We are not long back from our trip to New Zealand to attend this lovely couple's wedding. After watching 3 of his sisters marry, my brother David has now had the joy of doing the same to his lovely bride, Kedesh. It was a lovely ceremony and reception (very exciting to be there); the bride was beautiful and natural, and David looked very smart in his ivory suit. Congratulations again, you two!!!

My parents, newly marrieds, her parents

We took over 500 photos on our trip, but I was annoyed at myself to find we had forgotten to get good shots of the girls with their grandparents and various aunts and uncles. Noted for whenever we next get the opportunity! It was so nice to be 'home' with my family again.

Craters of the Moon, Taupo

We spent 5 nights in Auckland, and then headed south for Wellington to see my good friend, Kim. We broke the long journey with a couple of nights in Taupo.

Taupo Top 10 Holiday Park where we stayed

It rained the day we had in Taupo, but armed with an umbrella and jumpers, we went out to explore anyway. We went to see the Craters of the Moon - a geothermal walk. Then we went to see Huka Falls - where the Waikato River "which is normally 100m wide, is squeezed through a 20 metres wide gorge and over a 20m drop". It was amazing to see the power of that water.

Craters of the Moon and Huka Falls, Taupo

After two nights there, we left rainy Taupo and continued South for Wellington. We drove along the shoreline of Lake Taupo; through low cloud and windy (whine-dy) roads; and learnt why the Desert Road is called such before stopping for lunch in Palmerston North. We became a two car convoy as Kim joined us on our southward journey from there.

Leaving Taupo

(To be continued....)

Well, our new kitchen routine is working a treat - it is spic and span every night. Starting the day with a clean kitchen makes it so much easier to keep it tidy!

Over the past year, I've been trying to get more organised, and as I've gone on I've found resources and motivation to do so on a larger scale (got to love blogs!). Life is full (in a good way!) and I want to get routines and habits in place now for when it gets fuller (particularly when homeschooling officially starts). As I've moved to a monthly meal plan, I am now setting myself up to try doing monthly grocery shopping (fruit and veg every week still). I've drawn up a list of everything I can think of that we buy and stuck it in my pantry cupboard. I've added forgotten items along the way, so it should almost be exhaustive. As I plan my next menu (I've gone through each of my recipes books and have noted down the recipes, page number, and key ingredients of the dishes that interest me), I'll note what recipes call for, and make sure I have all I need. So come March, I hope to give it a go (it will be a big shop!); the aim being to save time (less time at the shops) and money (can't spend it if you're not at the shops!).

A book I have started reading, and recommend to mum's of any number of kids, is Large Family Logistics. One of the things it has encouraged me to do is resume training Abigail (and Sarah) in helping me at home (starting to establish a good work ethic - something I greatly appreciate from my childhood). I've gotten lax in this area, and so have restarted efforts here with her - getting her to help fold laundry items (she likes to do underwear and washers) and put things away; picking up the blocks and books in her bedroom before naps/night (we always sing the Barney 'Clean Up' song doing this). Will teach her to put away the cutlery, and to help set the table. Little things that she can do.

I sing a lot with the girls and Abigail is always asking me to sing this song or that. We have different songs for different occasions - we sing the Ronald McDonald seatbelt song ('Make it Click!') when I buckle them into their seats; rain songs when it rains (naturally); and so on. Recently, we've started memory verse songs - so far we've done Psalm 119:1 (Abigail can sing it herself with the actions) and we're working on Psalm 56:3. It's also a good way to practice our Auslan words (we've started to learn Australian Sign Language).

This morning I got my hair cut. It feels heaps short but my hair was in pretty bad condition so it was needed. Looking forward to it growing long again! (No front shot sorry, I couldn't bring myself to smile about it at the time!)

Yesterday evening, before dinner, I was bouncing on the trampoline with Sarah when a handsome hunk jumped over our back wall with a bunch of flowers for me for Valentines Day! (Jon bought them for me early so that I have time to enjoy them before our upcoming NZ trip.)

3 Roses - red for romance, orange for passion, and yellow for friendship. 3 Roses - a triple stranded cord. 3 Roses - our third married Valentines Day. They reminded me of our first Valentines Day four years ago when a similar romantic delivery arrived on my doorstep (3 roses - red, orange, and white for purity):

(L) 2012, (R) 2008

Another happening at our place is we have started hosting a Connect Group on Monday nights. Our group is small (5 of us), but we are looking forward to getting to know people in our church and establish relationships there. We are studying 1 Samuel, and after the first two chapters I have been reminded of God's Sovereignty. He is in control of the circumstances of our lives. I am not to fight against them or be discontent, but to trust Him and give Him thanks whatever comes my way. This reminder has brought such peace.

And to end with Jesus' words - Peace be with you.

Speakers and Kitchens

Jonathan bought this Yamaha PDX-11 Portable Speaker last week. This has meant that we now have a clean kitchen every night - the dishes are washed! The benches and table are cleared and wiped clean! Even the cupboards and stove! How can a speaker clean a kitchen, you ask?

After dinner clean-up has not been the habit of our marriage. It had always been left for the next morning. But it's not much fun waking to a mess each morning and Jonathan and I had been wanting to get our acts together in this area. Then Jachin and Alisi gave us a gift subscription to an audio book site. Jonathan immediately saw the potential of being able to listen to a book while getting the evening work done - it would make it enjoyable. But we didn't have anything in the kitchen that we could listen on. So Jonathan did his research and this wee beauty arrived early in the week. So now, each night our kitchen is CLEAN. Seriously, not even any clutter on the table or bench.

And it has also made a few hours of folding and packaging leaflets for Jon's work this week a lot more enjoyable (you can ignore your sore back and keep going when you're caught up in the suspense of a thriller! - we are currently listening to The Oath by Frank Peretti.).

It has been a great investment.


(A note from Jonathan: In addition to paid services like Audible (thank you Jachin & Alisi!) audio books can also be digitally borrowed from your local library (usually via their website), using services like Overdrive and Bolinda, as well as downloaded for free from Gutenburg (a repository for all those classics that are now out of copyright).)