Life begins at...

Beautiful day for a shift to Fairlie for Elijah and Rosanna today. Technically the move is tomorrow, but today was the day of emptying the house, loading up trailers, and final cleaning.

 Jobs were found for all willing hands...even gloved hands, scrubbing oven racks.

Today also happened to be my 40th birthday.  We went out for lunch at Sukothai, a gorgeous Thai restaurant on the main street in town.  In the evening we organized a small gathering to watch a follow-up movie after "Saving Mr Banks" a few weeks ago.  No prizes for guessing what this one was!  Next Saturday is the big hoe-down, so today was intentionally casual.  Still a great day though and I have been so spoiled and blessed.

Repent and be baptised

Praise the Lord for another baptismal service today, in which four candidates went through the waters.  Jacques, Ina, Gerda and Justus have all submitted themselves in obedience to the Lord's command and example to be baptised as believers by immersion. 

Another bundle of/for Joy!

 Baby shower day again - a huge blessing to be welcoming new little ones into our family.  Today was Joy's turn to be spoiled and pampered...

 Graham high-tailed it out of there as quickly as possible...

 ...not even blue juice could entice him to stay.

 The ladies had a jolly afternoon of chatting...

 ...and a few silly games to play, getting the brain matter going...

 ...along with some physical 'pass the dummy' activity...

 ...and then there were presents to be opened...

 ...and more fun while Lydia and Kem diapered a teddy blindfolded.

 Bronwyn was actually not working on her baby skills here, as she's already a fab surrogate granny...no no, she is a covert chicken-whisperer!

Thanks Mum

Mother's Day - Nick and the boys spent the day making sure I was happy and looked after :) We took our Chinese takeaways to Liz and Graham and enjoyed a shared lunch in the sunshine along with Simon and Monique and their three lovely girls - more about them in future posts, I'm sure!  Since the Clevely boys were so eager to please today, I snared the opportunity for a photo.  I suspect that next Mother's Day at least one boy will be taller than his mother.

Work and play

Saturdays, when Nick is home, are great family chore days (other days, when Nick is out doing other stuff, we just do boring inside housework things).   The boys got involved outside in the garden, helping with clearing away branch cuttings, and chainsawing (yikes) some trees which needed trimming.  We like to acknowledge their hard work with reward (not the other way around, bribing to incentivise), so surprised them with a trip to the BMX track at Centennial Park in the afternoon.

Crafty Mining

The new term begins!  After finally adjusting to the luxury of sleeping in during the holidays it was time to get back to 6 am alarms and early mornings.  Alarms work better when you remember to set them though, which I didn't.  7.10 rolled around and I guess by then I had slept enough.  Had a bit of panic; good thing the boys' lunches were already wrapped in tinfoil and ready for the piewarmer!

Monday is Minecraft day for the boys - half an hour each.  I agreed to play a game (more for their amusement than mine) - a quick crash course over breakfast was about all I needed to get the basic movements down.  It was kind of fun and I can see the attraction.  Apparently Minecraft is quite educational for this age group and is even being used in some schools as a learning tool, as it incorporates geography, creativity, strategy and a whole bunch of other good stuff.  I wouldn't take it that far though - it certainly won't feature in next year's homeschool curriculum. 

Busy Household

Church today was such a celebration as we received Graham and Liz into membership, and so quickly that there was barely time to photograph the shaking of hands.  They've been with us for a few years, and have now made their commitment to the family 'official'!

We also had the first of two baptismal services, with Nic Lotz and Madre de Beer giving glory to God for His grace and their salvation. 

Baptisms are a family occasion as we witness the candidate's outward testimony of their spiritual death and resurrection with Christ.  We always encourage people to gather around and watch, rather than sitting formally in their pews - it's generally only the kids who are brave enough to come closer!

Being the first Sunday of the month we also shared the Lord's Supper, and had a fellowship lunch together. Such hearty fare, spiritually and literally!

Autumn clean

To round off the holidays in a satisfactory and productive way, we sorted the boys' room.  It's been a job which has been put off several times due to lack of interest, motivation and courage.  It was tackled with groans but ended up being a job well done - who knew they had soooo many clothes in their cupboards?  Hand-me-downs get passed on and the boys duly store them away without seeing a need to make space to accommodate more items, or sort through things and get selective.  Consequently we managed to extract probably two thirds of their wardrobes.  In truth, boys generally only need about three shirts and two pairs of pants, and as many pairs of underwear as days in a week.  They tend to wear their favourite things repeatedly with little care of the items' cleanliness.  They have also outgrown many of their toys, so we encouraged an overhaul in thinking and a generous attitude in giving.  They are very happy to have whittled their stash down to mostly Lego and a few other items.  I am very happy that there are definitely no more dirty socks under the bed.