In which Aaron gets his face smashed by a ball

It was wonderful to celebrate the Resurrection today with our church family.  Christ is risen - death is defeated and sin has lost its hold!  After the pm service we collected a packet of frankfurters from the freezer to add to a meal of tomato soup and pasta with the Camerons, along with their temporary houseguest Marty (who we had previously met but got to know a bit better at the Easter camp), and Jesse and his fellow boarder, down for the weekend from Christchurch. Rachel and I were wholly outnumbered with the nine males, but they ran off good doses of testosterone on the soccer field, cleverly floodlit by Matt. 

Be our guest

Nick was invited to be the speaker at Church Street Bible Chapel's Easter Camp this weekend, being held at Glenburn Lodge Youth Camp. We arrived on Thursday evening and were housed in a caravan - quite cosy! He shared his testimony and a song during the first session on Thursday night, and then did three more sessions on Friday morning and evening, and Saturday morning, all based in Romans 5.  Familiar territory for me as we're covering the same ground in our Sunday morning church services, but you can never really get enough of these truths - in Ephesians 3 verses 18 and 19 Paul prays that we "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God".  Amen!

There were heaps of kids on the camp - more so than adults, I think.  The rope bridge across the river side of the camp property was a great attraction, but unfortunately was also the cause of a broken arm.

Nick found some like minds and had much opportunity to talk and discuss the Scriptures.

On Friday afternoon most of the campers drove the short distance to the Orari River Gorge Station, for a walk through the beautiful countryside and down to the river.

Nick, Matt and Marty (not McFly) were just ahead of me.

The trio again...

The river current is strong, I'm told, and the littler kids had to be careful not to get carried downstream.  Nick and Matt tried to build a dam from either end, but eventually ran out of time.  And sandflies, sandflies everywhere, and not a bottle of repellent to be found!

Caleb helped Kenshin across, in a very Big Brotherly sort of way.  They have a great bond already as Caleb, as a senior student, is Kenshin's swimming buddy at school, which means he has to make sure he gets off and on the bus, and has his togs at the end and so on.  My heart swelled to see how careful and capable Caleb is with the younger ones.  Aaron is too, to a lesser degree - I spotted him playing a tame game of ball throwing and catching with two-year-old (?) Timothy. 

Magnificent views down the gorge off both sides of the short bridge.

David Bruce, camp convenor, inviting walkers to have an apple or banana after the walk back to the cars.

Another weekend gone by

Turned out to be a splendidly social weekend...the Gregorys arranged a hoolie for Saturday evening but between a lot of people becoming unavailable and (due to a misunderstanding in which She Who Was Supposed To Text a Bunch of People thought that Liz would be texting) a lot of people being unaware, the hoolie narrowed down to a quiet evening of hamburgers with the Clevelys and Gregorys, with Justus arriving in time for the cleanup of the meal (we stuck him in the kitchen with an electric fry-pan and his sausages), followed by table tennis until dark, and a game of  Balderdash. 

On Sunday evening after the pm service we blended in with a large crowd at the Bothas for pancakes - I didn't have my camera and didn't take a head-count, but there could easily have been 25 friends scattered around the kitchen, lounge, sitting room, back lawn, and IN the hedge (the boys found a crawl space and cavernous hollows in the greenery).  We've had a few days of fabulous autumn weather, such a blessing to be able to enjoy the evenings outdoors.

A close shave, I see

Caleb was due for a new pair of spectacles - his prescription had changed again and the current frames were being held together by a wish and prayer, along with pieces of wire and glued-on ribbon; a temporary home-fix knowing that a new pair was imminent. The new frame is bendable, so as long as they stay on his face they should be pretty hard-wearing!  When I cut Nick's hair this morning, Aaron jumped in the queue as well, requesting 'short'.  He got it!  #1 back and sides, #4 on top and #2 to blend the two layers.  Coinciding with the glasses and barbershopping, was the arrival of these shirts from their Aunty Lara in SA, which have become an instant favourite!

Friendly faces

Nick left early this morning on a ministry matter, leaving the boys and I to our own devices.  We only got as far as washing the breakfast dishes before leaving to get to Lindsay and Nyree for a visit, haircut, and collection of a pie-warmer - a new and welcome addition to the church kitchen.  After sharing a cuppa and catching up, the boys and I went to clean the church, it being my regular rostered turn.  Caleb vacuumed and Aaron dusted - they were hugely helpful (thanks boys).  Lunch time, then a quick house-clean before going to Joan and John to photograph their beautiful home in preparation for selling.  I'm looking forward to sharing a couple of those on the blog in due course.  Home again, with just enough time to practice and collate the songs for tomorrow's worship.  Nick arrived home late afternoon, and then it was time for our evening engagement at the de Beers - a hearty housewarming gathering with a lot of familiar and friendly faces; some from church and some from school.

The pink ladies...

I think you get to the age where you're not camera shy and can't be bothered (a) putting a hand up in front of your face, (b) letting your hair fall over your face (c) turning your back to the camera or (d) shrieking in dismay.  Very liberating photographing Bev and Marg!

Not "it was THIS big"... rather, "it would have been fulfilled then" - discussing Zephaniah.

Actually I was trying to get a photo of Mark Pavelka, below...

And so ended an unusual week - I had a mole cut out and some other things frozen on Tuesday afternoon, which immobilized me for the rest of the day (I had to cancel my violin lesson, but sure enjoyed the day of rest).  Aaron missed his oboe lesson on the same day because of parent interviews, and then Caleb missed his violin lesson on Wednesday because he had developed such an extreme, albeit temporary, cough during the afternoon.  The week ended up being a lot more mellow than it would have been otherwise! 

Lightning fast

Caleb has joined the Year 7/8 boys' basketball team - TCS Thunders.  Tonight was their first game of the season after a few weeks of practicing.  Caleb has been excited about playing as we have a great team this year with a lot of really strong players, plus our secret weapon of Jaydon the Giant - he seems to grow daily.  The opposing team brought two or three of their own Goliaths to match ours, making the rest of our team look quite little!  But, small packages of dynamite dodging and weaving overcame height, and TCS stole the match with a whopping 36-16.  Yeah!

Sunday Lunch

Had Heath along to lunch today, along with Liz and Graham. Heath has been coming to services for ages, but this is the first time we've brought him along home with us! Enjoyed a roast leg of lamb together - who had space for chocolate eggs?!

Popped in at the Bothas after evening service to say hello and see the progress on the house-settling; Nick helped Andreas put up two cabinets on walls. Make hay while the sun shines and install furniture while you have strong friends on hand ;)

Three Cheeky Schoolgirls

Whoosh, week 6 finished. A once-a-week post seems about right, as most things are now settled into regularity and we're just BUSY, but with nothing particularly newsy to share. Since the last blog, last Friday, we had a house-guest for a night, played balderdash, worked, schooled, had music lessons (I've started lessons with a new teacher - excited to see where this goes as my violin is cautiously starting to sing to me, instead of spluttering and rasping), attended bible study, visited two people in hospital, had another dance class (how to get into the double-Charleston), Caleb had an eye-exam, AND we had the exciting news that my parents are coming back to visit at the end of November, for a solid eight weeks!  Yay!

Today was a dress-up day at the school - we conceived a "T" "C" "S" day which left the themes pretty wide open.  Caleb and Aaron dressed up as sheriffs, and I joined Mrs Rentoul and Mrs Ross as students (or schoolgirls).  The three of us stood waiting at the gate before the morning bell rang, and many parents assumed that we were three Year 8s who hadn't bothered to dress as anything! 

At school, and at school again

Mrs Rentoul and I were very surprised to see Mr Phillips walk down the passage with curious marks all over one half of his face. It made more sense when he turned to the side and traced out the letter 'e' with the pointy nose - hands-on teaching as its best!

Had a community shared meal at school this evening, so we took our usual Friday-night pizza along to the school.  Great to just hang out with the school community. 

Mrs Rentoul showing us how it's done!