Traveling missionary

Yesterday I arranged to go to the Longwood playground with Svetlana and her boys. Svetlana (Dr Theron) is back on the island on a 6-month locum. She was the doctor who did the anaesthetics on Caleb’s belly button op in April, who lives in Pretoria, and is now back her with her two boys. It was a beautiful day, and one of those rare days when the sun is actually shining in Longwood. It was great to catch up with her while the boys played.

Today most of the shops were open again, at least for the morning, so we all went to town for Nick to exchange a too-small shirt. Then we went to a few other shops for some groceries, and home. We just stopped long enough to get some picnic stuff together, and then off we went for some kite-flying at St Paul’s middle school. Although not very windy today, there was enough wind to get the kite up for a satisfactory time. During the afternoon Aaron slept as he’s been a bit sick, Caleb listened to the missions story CD, and Nick played with his new pedal. He has been having fun experimenting with the different sounds. He can make his electric guitar sound like an organ, a bunch of cats, string ensemble, and many other effects and sounds, even a guitar sound!

Caleb wants to be a traveling missionary, so he wants to get a motorbike with a hook at the back where he can hang his tent. We made very sure that he doesn’t want to be a missionary just because he wants to travel, but because he wants to tell people about God. We spoke about assurance of salvation today. He said he wasn’t sure that he is a Christian, so we explained that if he believes Jesus is the Son of God, who died for our sins, and has asked for forgiveness and is now living to please God, that he is a Christian. He seemed satisfied with that answer, and satisfied that he is a Christian.

Church picnic

We’ve had an absolutely lovely day occupied with the church picnic. The weather was just right to be outdoors – not hot, not cold, not windy but just a slight breeze, a blue sky with a few clouds – which was an answer to prayer, because on the way there it was cloudy and misty and not looking good. We got to the Blue Hill Community Centre just after 11 this morning, and as soon as we thought everyone was there who should be there, which numbered about 50 people, we started with some worship, and then Nick had prepared some reflection questions. He was going to preach a sermon originally, but this was actually more appropriate. The questions were along the lines of “have you grown closer to God in the past year?” and “what do you feel God is calling you to be involved in this next year?” and so on. Nick just read through the list of questions and explained a few, and encouraged everyone to take the questions home and think about them over the next few days. We launched into the lunch after that, which was the typical Saint potluck thing. Loads of food as usual, both in variety and quantity. I provided some chicken legs (when I called them drumsticks later in the day, one of the girls said, “why do you call them that?”…so now they’re just chicken legs). After lunch and pudding, we played a bible quiz game which Teddy organized and ran. We split into teams according to the chapels, and then had to answer a question, and then if we answered correctly, we could throw a dart at a dartboard and get whatever points we scored on the dartboard. Quite a novel way of scoring, and lots of fun. After the quiz, which I think Head o’Wain won, we played skittles (photo - Vincent having a go). St Helena skittles is very similar to your regular 10-pin bowls, except that it’s all manually done and the skittles are made of heavy wood, and the balls are big solid rubber balls. You have to toss it down a long alley, and it’s not allowed to touch the edges (the banks), otherwise it’s voided. It also has to touch a white section on the alley before making its journey to the pins, so there are a few techniques and rules. It was fun, and our team came second in that. I wasn’t terribly good at it, but then, I was never terribly good at 10-pin either. After the skittles, everyone just chilled and milled around. Being such a lovely day, we spent some time outside, chatting with some of the GNC kids who came, playing French cricket, playing guitar etc. After tea, Teddy got a game of rounders going (photo), which we played until it was time for the buses to take us home at 5.30. I think everyone really enjoyed the day. It was so great to be together in an informal setting. I hope we will be able to have this sort of thing more than once a year!

New car almost a reality

We had a phonecall early this morning from Martin Holdt in South Africa with some very exciting news. Constantia Park Baptist has been collecting funds for a new vehicle for our church, and they now want to transfer what they have before they close off their books on the 31st. We are thrilled and looking forward to getting our new car probably some time around February, due to the garage owner being off the island at present.

Christmas Day...food...

Happy Christmas everyone! This morning started off much too early, with the boys sneaking downstairs to see what was in their stockings, and finding a juice, packet of chips and scary monster mask. Then they got started playing with their toys. We spent the first bit of the morning just being at home and doing nothing in particular, and then we had our Christmas Day service at 10. The attendance was poor, particularly for a combined service. I think people here just don’t make it a big thing to go to church on Christmas Day. It was a good message though, with Nick concentrating our thoughts on the gift of Christ, and what a sacrifice it was, firstly to go from sharing in his place in the Trinity to becoming a human, and not just any human but the lowest of the low – a servant, born in a manager, died as a criminal.

After church I made an apple crumble and custard, and then we headed off to Brenda and Teddy’s house (see photo). It was a really great afternoon. Steve and Maureen were there, as well as Brenda’s sister and brother-in-law and their two children, and Brenda’ mom. We ate – boy did we eat! Brenda had turkey, gammon and pork, roast potatoes, mixed vegetables, corn, carrots, beetroot, rice and curry. Pudding was as bounteous, and then there were chocolates, chips and peanuts, and then still tea, which we actually just escaped from because we couldn’t eat anything more. Brenda couldn’t send us home empty-handed, so she gave us a box of Roses chocolates (like we need another box of chocolates right now!).

Christmas Eve

After church today at 2.30, we headed straight for Jane’s house, for Christmas cake and champagne (ie juice for us). There were a couple of other kids there besides Zara and Isaac, so the boys had a super time playing. We left just after 5, but we had all been eating cake and nibbling on bits and pieces, that no one really wanted a big supper. So much for my great plans for a lovely Christmas eve meal. I had made a potroast during the morning, which was all cut up and ready to be reheated, so I just heated a little bit of the meat and some rice, and cooked some sweetcorn. After supper outside, the boys had a quick bath, and then we started opening presents. The boys were spoilt again this year, so many presents.

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas...

Since there was no Good News Club today, and Nick cancelled the prayer meeting, we had the whole day entirely at our disposal. I had in mind to do Diana’s Peak with the boys and Nick, but it was quite overcast during the morning so we decided not to do that, instead going to town together, via Jean and Joe to drop off a present, and Steve and Maureen. Jean was out at the time, but we saw her in town, and she asked if we could come to her house today (not knowing we had already been) because she had something (more) for us. As it happened, we gave her a lift home, and she had a bunch of groceries for us again – pork chops, beef steaks, drumsticks, chicken burgers, beef burgers, potatoes, onions, beans, biscuits, Chamdor…very generous. Then we came home and had lunch, and after lunch watched a DVD together, about a bunch of animals who escape from a zoo (In the Wild).

There was a big parade down the street at about 5 pm, which we watched together. Supper was a different fish called Grouper, which was deboned and filleted, so I battered it and we had it with chips. It was quite good – nice change from tuna. After supper we gave the boys a quick bath, and then headed off to town again. Tonight is the big night where all the kids go shopping for Christmas, so all the shops were really busy. The parade had by this time made its way back up the road again, so there was a truck with a live band outside the Cannister, and people dancing in the street. It was very festive and fun to watch. We didn’t take long to choose what the boys were going to buy (this with money given to them by one of our church ladies, particularly for them to spend tonight), settling on a pirate playset – it has a ship, and a rowboat and raft, and a sort of castle thing. They are so excited about it, so we let them play with it for ten minutes after we got home before sending them to bed, at about 7.40.

A morning alone

This morning we had a very relaxed and late sort of start to the day, and I had arranged to take the boys to Isaac and Zara’s house (or Jane’s house) to play. What a wondrous thing! Jane is happy because her kids then have other kids to play with, my boys are happy because they get to play with other children, I’m DEFINITELY happy because I’m boyless for a morning, and Emmy and Selina (Jane’s two helpers) have a doubled load, but also a halved load because our boys occupy their kids. It was very cool. I came home and did scrapbooking, and also drilled holes into a piece of wood I’ve decoupagéd to be able to attach coat hooks to it for the entrance foyer. Nick put it up during the afternoon but had a difficult time drilling into the wall, which is a bit of plaster and a lot of rock. He just couldn’t drill deep enough into the rock, but eventually got it all sorted out and now it’s up and looks super.

The other day we were telling jokes, because Caleb can catch on to some types of humour. Nick asked, “what do you call a man with no arms and no legs in the sea?” The traditional answer is “Bob”, but Caleb came up with “Bouy”! We were very impressed.

By the way, the last caterpillar didn’t make it. Eventually it looked so sad I just let it go in the garden to live out its last remaining hours.

Christmas party and BIG ship

The Good News Club Christmas Party happened today. We played games, sang songs, played more games, ate loads of party food, and then Father Christmas arrived to hand out presents, one for each child. Enid did a fantastic job with buying and wrapping the presents and organising the catering. The party ran for two hours, after which we did our usual Saturday routine of going to town together. A tourist ship arrived this morning, a beautiful and monstrous thing. She can accommodate up to 1,200 passengers (and enough crew to support the passengers), while our RMS can lodge only 120 passengers, to give you a comparison. Needless to say, the island is once again buzzing with day-trippers eager to get a feel for our historic dot. A trade fair was on the go again, promoting the island’s local industries.

I know for a fact now that caterpillars, at least our particular brand, eat each other. I saw the biggest one attack its last remaining companion yesterday and bite it to death. Then it tucked in for a good meal. No wonder that today it hasn’t touched its leaves. I have no explanation for this bizarre behaviour – perhaps they are predatory and carnivorous, or perhaps it needed a protein boost before it metamorphosises. At the moment it’s sitting very quietly on a twig. Watch this space for more!

Murder trial concludes

We got an early start to be at the docks by 8.15 to see off Callum – this is the boys’ friend from the GNC who has been here a few times. They are off to Ascension for Christmas, and they came by a few nights ago to drop off a Christmas present for our boys. We got him something to keep himself busy on the ship – an activity pad and blowing bubbles. Embarkation was set for 8.30 this morning, but they only came strolling along at 8.50!! Of course the ship would have waited for them, but I would have been in a severe panic. Aaron tripped on the road while we were waiting and shredded his knee, it looks pretty bad, shame. He was very brave when we got home and Nick helped me wash it off, cream it up and band-aid it. It didn’t bother him at all the rest of the day. I think he has a high pain threshold!

There was a murder on the island 2½ years ago - two young men beat up another young man in a drunken brawl. The perpetrators have been in prison all this time, but one of the men, who we suspect was mainly responsible for the beating, was sentenced to four years as he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and claimed the minor role. The other chap, who regularly attends Nick’s prison service and has been taking guitar lessons with Nick, had his final hearing today, as a Judge was on the island for the day for the purpose of hearing his case. (The island does not have need of high ranking justices because the cases are usually not complicated or severely criminal). He was sentenced to 6 years, which is heavy in the island context although not in the ‘real world’, and is a bitter pill for him as he claims to be only the accomplice. We are praying that the Lord’s hand will be upon him. He has responded to the gospel.

We had the second part of our Jehovah’s Witnesses study tonight, on the actual teachings of the JWs, and after Nick’s part we had a lot of commenting and discussion which was great. It’s been so interesting studying it all, and I have learned a great deal - more than anything, that they are so gravely deceived!

School is out!

Today we had our last day of school, finishing off all remaining books, and even doing a new one cover to cover, a little OMF book about a girl in Thailand who gets new toes and a new heart. So that’s that then for the year! I’m very glad to be finished, I need the break as much as the boys do. I’m sure I’ll still try to sneak in a bit of reading with Caleb though, especially since I got some nice easy-read library books. During the afternoon I did a bit of rearranging on the downstairs bookshelf, and moved their school books onto a cleared shelf, also labeling each on one the spine with “PK” for Pre-Kindergarten. Each year’s curriculum will have its books labeled.

The caterpillars are doing well, except that there are only two left, with no evidence of any dead ones…I didn’t know they were cannibalistic by nature, but all the evidence points to this. The two survivors are the biggest ones, and seem to be healthy. I clean out their jar every morning, and boy do they poo a lot. Hopefully this isn’t going to drag on for months and months! I guess I should try to find out the average life-span of a caterpillar…

Oh, I bought a bottle of Wellington’s “Fruity Sweet Chilli Sauce”. You must try this! It’s not a burny chilly at all, and it has pineapple in it. It’s delicious on a cheese and mayonnaise sandwich.

DIY

The other day I oiled the wooden floor in the entrance foyer. Oiling the varnished planks wasn’t a good idea. Where the weathered boards had lost their varnish, the oil soaked in beautifully, but was sitting on top of the better looking ones, and as it’s been so windy, the dust had blown in and simply stuck to the floor. I had to wipe it all thoroughly, and then I waxed over the whole part. I think it’s helped. Bought a very nice coir doormat. After 14 months, we’re still redecorating the house!

Nick carried on with his concreting today, doing more work on the wall. He’s doing an excellent job, painstakingly finding the right size and shape rock for each bit, and leveling it off with string and the spirit level. He’s very pleased with what he’s done and is thoroughly enjoying it – he says it’s so liberating knowing how to mix cement! He’s also starting to fill in holes in the wall separating us from our neighbours, where the holes are so big you could stick your whole hand through. He’s done a section of that. He’s been wanting to give attention to the walls since we arrived here, so to finally be doing it is really great for him. He worked right up until supper time, then came in and wolfed down his supper and then went straight back to work, only stopping when the light was fading just after 7.

New pets or science experiment?

Yesterday Nick left his sermon notes at home, the fact of which he discovered when he got into the pulpit to preach. As is his usual way of things, he had gone over his sermon early in the morning before leaving, so it was all quite tightly in his head, which meant he could actually preach it all from memory. Since he had preached the same message twice in the morning, he did it sans notes again in the evening, and didn’t falter. Meanwhile, I rearranged the lounge and we have now put out the “Christmas Fireplace” to get the boys in the spirit of things.

Today was the usual - school, lunch and Lorna for beading. The afternoon was just relaxed, finishing the ironing and sewing buttons on to things and stuff like that. The boys played in their room a lot today, in games of “soldier soldier fairy fairy” or “policeman policeman fireman fireman shoot the bad person shoot the bad person take them to hospital take them to hospital”. Apparently any game can be called a game if its title contains double words or phrases.

This morning I noticed that the flowers Jean gave us last Monday were ready for throwing away. I also noticed a caterpillar on a rose petal which had fallen off. I showed the boys, all excited to be the practical homeschooler, and they got right close up looking at it. After a while we took it outside and threw it in the garden, still on its petal. Then the boys noticed two more caterpillars, one quite big, which had crawled along the sideboard and down the side. Oh dear. While I was scooping up the smaller one, another even smaller one got scooped up. A closer inspection of the flowers revealed a colony of the worms, now being displaced on the shedding petals. Nick said to throw them away in the dustbin because they eat plants and so weren’t suitable for the garden, but Caleb begged me to keep them because he wants to see them turn into butterflies. So I found a jar, put in twigs, leaves, rose petals and more caterpillars, covered it with a superwipe and elastic band (so they could breathe), and put the jar in the diningroom. We now have our own caterpillar farm. After we had all gone out to town and come home, we saw that two caterpillars were now on the outside of the jar, having eaten a hole through the superwipe. Therefore they got more firmly enclosed with a piece of material covering the jar. Let’s see them eat through that. Ultimately we’re hoping that they will go into pupa phase, because that will be really exciting to see. I’m not sure if there are silkworms available on the island, but that would be a great thing for the boys!

Nick started scraping the old paint and cement off some of the blocks around an outside window yesterday, uncovering the original stonework. Then he mixed up some concrete and filled in some bigger holes elsewhere. We would love to paint the outside of the house at the back, and have paint available, but would need scaffolding or a tall ladder. Today Nick did a bit more work on the wall which he and Paul were doing – he’s getting pretty good at concrete and enjoys doing that sort of manly “Bob the Builder” stuff. Maybe it’s genetic?

About the JWs

Today has been quiet but nice. We had Good News Club as usual, although there weren’t many kids and they seemed quite lethargic, perhaps year end weariness. Next Saturday is our Christmas Party and that’s the last one for the year. After GNC we went to town for a DVD for the boys, since the weather was quite blustery and overcast (the sun came out while we were in town though but disappeared again later). After the DVD we sent the boys to their room to play quietly which they did, while I worked on a scrapbook page of my parents’ visit in May, and Nick mowed the lawn. A bit later, since the weather had improved a bit, Nick took the boys swimming.

There was a parade of the primary school kids in the street yesterday, for Christmas. Not very big and wonderful, but plenty of music and tinsel and spirit. Yesterday I spent a long time in the afternoon sweeping and cleaning in the back yard. It was looking quite gross, but is all neat and clean again. Caleb was extremely helpful, finding a broom and actually doing some useful sweeping and throwing dustpan-fulls of dirt and dead leaves etc away. It was tiring work, and after that we still had to clean out the schoolroom in preparation for last night’s study! Nick did a lot of work in there too, cutting off the tatty frayed bits of carpet, vacuuming and dusting, and then arranging chairs and benches and a podium etc. I put out cups, and we got the urn out and filled up. It was the first of our Jehovah’s Witnesses studies last night, and we made 50 sets of notes during the day. At 7.30, there were 8 of us in the schoolroom. Extremely disappointing, especially since Nick has put so much work into these talks. We can’t understand why more people aren’t interested. The talk was the first in the series, on the origins of the JWs, and extremely interesting. Basically the man who started the organization was a fraudster, and his followers have been seriously deceived. If you would like a copy of Nick’s notes, drop us an e-mail or comment on this blog post (don't forget to include your e-mail address).

Unreal Father Goose

Today has been back to more of a regular day, after every day this week having something different on! We’re finishing off a lot of books now in school as the year draws to an end. All the story books are finished, except for Peter Rabbit which we start and finish next week. We’re nearly finished with the Real Mother Goose which I constantly refer to as a ridiculous book, because even I don’t understand half the nursery rhymes. But there have been some fun ones in there which the boys have enjoyed.

Tonight we attended and participated in a Cocktails and Carols evening at the Consulate. Does anyone see any problem with “Cocktails and Carols”? Somehow the two don’t really go together. We were both quite saddened if not appalled at the way the Bishop and one of the Fathers conduct themselves. The Bishop was the MC and he joked all the way through, and made certain that everyone knew there was a cash bar available (so you can drink a beer while you sing a Christmas Carol), and the Father, who was leading the audience in singing was full of innuendo. Not only was it inappropriate at a Carols evening, but more so from “men of the cloth”!! The Bishop’s “Closing Remarks” had absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, and in fact we don’t think that Christ was once mentioned. It’s so convenient for unchurched people to come and have a sing-along at Christmas time which has absolutely nothing to do with Christ. We won’t be involved in or attend such a thing again. All that aside though, our item went very well and we had good feedback - we sang a duet, with Nick on guitar and me on mandolin. We didn’t make any mistakes, it all went smoothly.

Nugget of blessing

Nick explained to Caleb this morning that Aaron would be having different school, and that was really the part I was dreading the most – explaining that he wasn’t to be included at the wonderful, big, fun house to play at. Well, Caleb took it very well and didn’t complain or fuss at all. He came with me for the ride to drop Aaron off. Aaron almost forgot to say goodbye, I had to ask for a kiss and a hug before he disappeared into the house and that was that. My time with Caleb was good – I just did a quick tidy-up and put in a load of washing, and then we spent a long time looking at books and discussing things. It was much easier only having one child for school, instead of dividing my attention between two attention-sucking scholars! After school we went out for bread, and then to fetch Aaron again. I stayed for a while talking to Jane’s two employees while the boys played (Zara was still at school). Her ladies, Celina and Amy, are from the Solomon Islands and very devoted to the children who they have to look after while Jane works.

I had two visitors this afternoon, Ann and Joyce, who came in with a cruise ship today. They are Baptist ladies and love the Lord. They had actually been to the island two years ago when Don Wilson was the pastor here, and so had attended church and bible study while they were here. They are apparently quite an active witness on the ship and take every opportunity to speak to people about Christ. This is their mission field while they’re on the cruise! They started the cruise in Cape Town, and from here they are going to Rio de Janeiro and ending in Buenos Aires, then flying back to SA to be home for Christmas. I was thoroughly encouraged and uplifted and we I think we were all reluctant to part company! They wanted to carry on walking up the road and then possibly try out Jacob’s Ladder before they had to leave. They were only on the island for about 8 hours. They have promised to pray for us, particularly in their church prayer meetings when they pray for missions.

Birthday

Aaron turned 4 today. It’s been a really lovely day, and the sun has shone brightly most of the day, even in the country. The day started early with Aaron of course waking up too early and remembering it’s his birthday, and then waiting and waiting and waiting until about 6.30 when we all went downstairs and he and Caleb found the hidden presents and he opened them. He nearly screamed in delight with our choices. Nick took the whole day off, and at about 10 we went out to town, to buy some goodies for a picnic. We sort of “went to town” and bought chips, chocolates, biscuits, juices…since we weren’t having a party, we gave ourselves the liberty of getting whatever. Then we went to the DVD shop and hired a video for the afternoon, and popped in at an art exhibition being held in New Porteous House. The artist is an Australian chap who has been living here for about 20 years, and he does oils and watercolours, really beautiful work. After browsing around there, we headed off to Plantation House, and had our picnic on the field. That was very pleasant with the good weather, and I managed to get a good updated family photo. The boys ran around with the new swords and climbed trees and tried to cut the grass, and then we went for a short walk through the Forest. We didn’t walk too far because we were due at Jane’s house at 12.15. Jane is the new Public Solicitor who arrived on the island a month or two ago. She has two adopted Fijian children just a little younger than our boys. They live in a house called “Luffkin’s Towers”, with an extensive manicured lawn and beautiful gardens surrounded by lush greenery and huge trees, really a wonderful place for her children to play. Our boys were immediately absorbed into the gardens with bikes and the other two kids and the two nannies, so we were able to sit outside and chat with Jane. She is needing company for Isaac, who is too young for the nursery school and so is being privately tutored three times a week, so we’ve arranged for Aaron to join him tomorrow and see how it goes.

Anniversary

Today was the 7th anniversary of our wedding day. I spent some time this morning while I was out on Jacob’s Ladder, reflecting on our marriage, and have come to the conclusion that I have married a wonderful man who I can trust with our future. It’s a blessing to submit to a husband as worthy as Nick!

We had a busy day - Jean visited the manse early with a bottle of Chamdor, a box of Quality Streets, a cake, and a clock, in the shape of the ship’s ‘steering wheel’ with a picture of Jamestown in the background. It’s hanging proudly on the lounge wall where Nick will be able to see the time when he’s preaching in Bible Study. Nick had to do final preparations for a funeral service he was taking today. He wore his wedding suit (his only suit!), and looked so smart. He left quite early to first go to the chapel of rest where the body is viewed for the last time, then lead the procession to the chapel, and then to the graveside. It all went well, he said, although there were less people than he was expecting. He preached a clear and concise gospel message – the best opportunity for a gospel message is at a funeral, where people are considering their end (Eccles. 7:2 “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart”).

I visiting Lorna during the afternoon for our weekly crafting session. There was another lady there, a Scottish lady whose husband is with DFID, and they will be on the island for about four years and have only been here 6 months so far. Liz also enjoys crafts, and she had some tapestry going while Lorna and I beaded. I was home again at about 3.30, and then the afternoon was just quite chilled, doing a bit of tidying up and what not. We all watched some bits of our wedding video – first time the boys have seen it, so it was quite interesting for them I think. Nick looks so much younger on the video – had lots more hair then, and just generally looked very young (he was only 23 after all). It was so nice to watch, and see so many people that we’d almost forgotten about!

Maureen came to babysit the boys so we could go out to dinner, but before she came, Nick presented me with a song which reduced me to tears (because it was so beautiful). We had a booking at the Chinese Restaurant for 7.30. What an absolutely wonderful evening we had. The restaurant is beautifully put together, very small, but so cosy and atmospheric. The two ladies who run the restaurant and do the serving are actually Chinese or half-Chinese, and were dressed in Chinese outfits. They have big paper umbrellas as part of their décor, and a bamboo screen creating, cutting off the main eating area from the reception desk. The food was excellent – between us we had a dish of BBQ spare ribs, chicken stir-fry and fried-rice, all of which we shared, as well as a starter of spring rolls. We had a bottle of Chamdor too, since we were celebrating! Really, we were very impressed with the place. I gave Nick his card, and a present of a watch which I bought earlier in the day. His other watch’s strap broke some months ago, so he’s been carrying the face around in his pocket.

Come back, tooth fairy!

It’s Saturday at 15h05, and I’m sitting in the lounge with the boys watching a DVD. Well, they’re watching it and I’m typing e-mails and doing stuff. It’s quite difficult concentrating on mailing people when I’m half watching too though! Nick is out – someone we don’t know died yesterday, and his last wish was to be buried as a Baptist (whatever that means, we have no idea of his standing with God)…anyway, so Nick has to take the service on Monday and arrange the order of service and all that sort of stuff. It’s his least favourite thing in the ministry, but unfortunately one of those things he’ll always have to do! The service will be on Monday at 11 I think. He’s with the family now discussing the hymns and that sort of thing.

Yesterday Caleb lost his second tooth. It was during supper and he said there was something hard in the pizza (which I knew there wasn’t), so I assumed it to be the tooth. The Tooth Fairy visited last night. He’s lisping his “s”s a bit now, shame. We took the boys swimming yesterday afternoon, during a bit of a gap in the cloud cover. The water wasn’t very warm so they didn’t stay in long. I went to buy chips from the little tuckshop, and I heard a familiar voice on the radio. It took some moments before I realized it was me! It was one of the stories I had recorded. Actually it didn’t sound too bad.

Gecko burial and countdowns

Aaron found a dead gecko by the back door today, so he came inside waving it by its tail, demanding to know why Caleb killed it. Caleb didn’t, the poor thing probably got squashed in the door earlier. Aaron has no fear or qualms about dead animals, actually he doesn’t mind them alive either. I told him to throw it away, so he threw it right into the kitchen rubbish bin. Unfortunately the bag was quite full so it just sort of lay on top of all the stuff in plain view, plainly viewing us with its unblinking eyes. Made me feel totally sick. Luckily it wasn’t long before the gecko was covered with used tea bags and similar rubbish.

I made Christmas countdown and birthday charts for the boys this morning (before school). There are 24 sleeps until Christmas, and 5 until Aaron’s birthday. After school we stuck all the flames onto their wall and then they sat close to the wall to keep warm for a while. Then they rearranged their room to better accommodate the new fireplace (they rearranged again later, so now Aaron’s bed is just plunked in the middle of the room).