Brilliant!

Thursday could just not come quickly enough for Aaron, who couldn't wait to be on the field in all his goalie glory.  Their opponents were a tough crowd though and in the first half Aaron let 4 balls through - in fact, one deflected off his shoe as he was trying to kick it away!  His posture beskoke utter discouragement - Nick and I went around the back of the goal to offer encouragement and support.  The second half was way more exciting, not only because of the brilliant sunset (it really did look as red as the second picture before fading to orange and then grey) but because no more goals were scored despite a lot of activity near Aaron's goal.  He did some great work for his team! 

Friday we were back at the sports stadium for both boys' games; this time we watched from the warmth of the car overlooking the field. Caleb's team won their game 5-0 but Aaron's team were defeated again :( Still a good play though. It was brilliant to be home after the games with pizza and a movie and the entire family (although Nick and the boys' choice of movie was so much to my disliking that I fetched the ironing board and got through a stack of wrinkled shirts!)

Term 3 begins

Yeeha, back to school today! I don't know if the boys were looking forward to being back as much as I was, but they were pretty keen anyway. They are back into all activities, with Monday afternoon hockey practice being the first on the list. Aaron came home lugging a huge kit bag (I mean, huge), containing all the goalie gear for Thursday's game (they don't normally play on Thursdays but this is a deferred game from last term).  He and Caleb couldn't wait to get it all onto Aaron to show us!  Fortunately for them, the Camerons came by on Tuesday afternoon and so Caleb and Josh joined in an impromptu hockey game, necessitating the second time for Aaron to get all dressed up and practiced.  

While the four of them were playing in the courtyard, Matt was sitting in the cupboard in Nick's office/study, installing a trap-door for access under the house - most of the underneath can be gotten to through an exterior door, but the newer parts were built differently. Why, I hear you ask, would we be so desperately wanting to get underneath the house? 

Well, in preparation for Thursday's Insulation Event!  Much like the extreme drop in temperature over a cloudless night, our house doesn't retain heat.  The simple (but expensive) solution is to install proper batts in the ceiling and under the house - thanks, most excellent landlady and -lord :)

Apple and Cinnamon and Jemima

Nick had the day off today - Grant and John were still filling the pulpit. We enjoyed simply attending church as regular members! Good to have Jemima, my violin teacher, in church again - we invited her over to share lunch with us.

I had stewed a batch of apples during the week and wanted to use them up - we tried but failed to organise a multi-person pancake function, so had our own small gathering on Sunday evening instead. Nick made the pancakes although the batter was a little thick and they were more like very large crumpets :)

All about Nick and some other people

It was a loooong wait last night for Nick - I finished the book I had been reading during the holidays, then started watching a movie around 10 pm.  Nick still wasn't home.  Eventually around 1 am Rene dropped him off - yippeeee!!!  So pleased to have my beloved home after two weeks away.  We slept in this morning then spent the morning pottering about before going out for a little lunch at McDonalds to celebrate the return of our Missionary :) 

Since we were already out and about, and since I had cleaned the house yesterday, we were in no hurry to go home, so called in at Matt and Adele for a cuppa and a hello, as they have been away overseas for several weeks.  Following a most excellent visit with them, we went to say hello to Andreas, and found Johan and Adele (not the same Adele, of course) visiting there too.  Had a good chat with them before leaving mid-afternoon and spending the rest of the day at home.

Fiji pics

Here are a couple of Nick's photos from their Missions Trip to Fiji:

 This is the Muslim School where they spent three mornings doing children's ministry - songs, skits, bible lessons and handing out tracts and lollies. They were able to buy sports equipment for the school.

130 kids squeezed into a classroom!

Nick preaching with Vijay interpreting - it either takes twice as long, or the message is half the length!

The team set up a volleyball court with donated nets and engine oil to mark the boundaries!

Friday night youth group - balloon hockey.

Not all hard work and labour - the team went to the beach on the first Saturday they were in Fiji, and spent the day in Laotoka and at a fair on the second Saturday.

Vijay and Narsamma - a huge thanks to them for putting up the five extra people!

The Team!

Thanks to all who supported this mission financially and prayerfully, and please keep on praying for the Lord's work in Fiji. Soli Deo Gloria!

Way back when?

On our last day of the school holidays (and our last Nick-less day) the boys found an old tyre in the back yard. It's amazing what one can find if one is willing to hunt under branches and behind weeds.  They contrived a game of rolling it up and down the pavement; I suggested they try a stick to maneuvre it more easily - they were unwittingly playing one of the most old fashioned games I've heard of, rolling a tube or hoop with a stick!  

Since last Friday...

Saturday I announced to the boys that we would be going to watch the Brass Band Festival Parade Thingie straight after our music practice.  They weren't overly enthusiastic, rating it about 6 on the excitement and interest scale.  It was only after texting a bunch of people to see if there would be any friendly company in the crowd that we realized we'd got our dates muddled, and the parade was on Friday!  Rats.  Looked around Farmers for a while, then came home and spent the afternoon cleaning the house and playing Monopoly.

Sunday was busy with the regular church activities; loneliness hit hard having to come home after both services without Nick.  I taught the boys the game Balderdash before the afternoon service.  I hope this proves that I don't suffer from misopedia - "hating children, especially your own".  The boys did brilliantly in making up some very creative definitions!

Monday was more of the same at home - the boys have been enjoying reading and drawing.  I made a huge lasagne and invited Jemima to share it with us before she gave me a violin lesson.  It has been good having her over to tea the last two Mondays.

Tuesday I collected the very last piece of my violin set-up - a bow!  Very kindly imported for me from Germany, it's a beauty with silver trim and all the pretty inlays and stuff one would expect.  Took ages to get enough rosin on the hair to make it not whisper, but I can see the three of us are going to have many happy times together - violin, bow and I.  Popped in at the Camerons for a quick cup of tea and hello as their house was directly on the way home, then arranged with Nyree for a haircut as well, so we were out until lunch time.  At 2.15 Tom came to collect the boys to take them for a drive to Waimate and back - not just for fun, mind you, but for them to join him on his courier run.  They enjoyed the afternoon with him immensely, especially Caleb who personally delivered a few parcels.  Thanks Tom!  I enjoyed three hours of solitude.

Wednesday we spent the day entirely at home, not even going outside except to check the empty postbox occasionally.

Thursday we had a lunch date with the Camerons.  I left the boys at their place after lunch and popped off to the school for two hours.  Matt and Rachel commented that the blog is getting a bit thin these days (yeah, I know), so here are some photos of them :)

Fine frost

Heavy frost in the morning is the norm now - it's cold, but when you get up close, sure is beautiful!  I spent two mornings traipsing around our back garden in thermal boots and pyjamas.  The boys and I were stunned to see the results, especially when we zoomed in really close - you can see how the ice-crystals have been formed and arranged around the object.  Glory to God for these tiny works of art!

Unfortunately these small versions of the originals don't show enough detail - below is a small portion (bottom right) of the dandelion head, above.

The long faces are purely physical

Finally, a morning at home...with nothing urgent to do, I rolled out of bed at 9 am...the boys about an hour later!!  We had an afternoon visit and cup of tea with Shirley and her three wee horses - these are miniature horses (not ponies) and simply too cute.  They followed Shirley around the paddock like puppies - they are well trained to know that she often brings them tasty apple treats and suchlike.  After a few days of rain and gloom the sun finally came out - but don't be fooled by this brilliantly blue sky; it only lasted for about half an hour. 

Shirley, apart from being the keeper of a host of farm animals, also restores old chairs.  She is one clever lady!

Following our visit with Shirley, the boys and I visited the Warehouse (where everyone...) before doing our Friday pizza and movie. Good to still keep those traditions happening, even though we are Nick-less.

Three spousless strays

The other day I said to the boys, “good fire” - a self-congratulatory statement on being able to not keep the home fires smoking during Nick's absence. Aaron’s response was immediate - “yes mom, who came around to build it?”  Got to school around 9.45 today, with a lot of stuff to do.  The boys and I had pies for lunch, comfortably seated in my warm office. At 1 pm I dropped them off at the Tuckers but still had to go back to school – only left there at 2 pm. Came home just long enough to stoke the fire, then did grocery shopping at PaknSave where it was a Mad Day with lots of yummy specials.  Around 5.30 we arrived at the Phillipses for tea. Justus and Andreas also came - we apparently all fell into the 'waifs and strays' category. After tea we played Dutch Blitz; around 9.30 pm Andreas cottoned on to the fact that we are all on holiday but he is not, and realizing that we were in no hurry to wrap up the evening, he left while the going was good. Played Uno following that, then just chatted for a while before going home. It got pretty late!

Now we know our Dr's ABCs!

Today the boys and I attended the coffee morning at the church, in which Grant was doing a first aid demonstration. Shirley had phoned yesterday to ask if I would be coming - she likes to get the younger generation in during the holidays or whenever possible, and although I had not given it any thought, it seemed like the right thing to do. So I went, and it was very interesting with an informative and interactive session on CPR and what to do if you dislocate your hip or have a fall.  Fortunately no blood to deal with :)

Had toasties for lunch, then I did two hours of school work at home - school holidays don't mean that the work comes to a stop!   Drew some funny pictures with the boys where you draw a third of a person, then fold it over for the next person to continue.  We came up with some seriously odd looking creatures. 

At tea-time I sent the boys to the chip shop for one scoop, but then realized it would be dark when they went and said I’d drive them; they wanted to walk and cleverly thought to take a walkie-talkie and leave me one, so we were in contact the whole time and they were there and back in about ten minutes. They code named me “Wooden Spoon” and themselves “Two Little Boys”. It was fun! Skyped my parents after tea, then watched an episode of Mr Bean.

July has begun...

...with a severe chill...we're getting lows of -4.5 which MetService advises "feels like -9".  Heavy frosts are common in the mornings now.  Church on Sunday was excellent with Grant in the morning starting a mini-series in James, and John preaching in the evening on Jairus' Daughter.  Had our monthly fellowship lunch with a huge crowd!  Monday, first proper day of the holidays, saw the boys and I installed at school for two and a half hours.  The boys watched Prince Caspian in the library on the projector screen with surround sound - they didn't complain!  Had Bronwyn here in the afternoon so I could show her a few tricks on her new iPhone.  Jemima came early for my violin lesson so had soup with us for tea, then we played violin until 7.30.  Good to be kept busy with people and activities!  During the course of the afternoon the boys spent some time tidying their room in preparation for the Big Bi-Annual Toy Tidy-Up which they didn't even know was about to happen...

Today, Tuesday, we rearranged the boys' room, taking the bunk beds apart so they have less floor space but their beds are usable as a play area.  When we had finished the physical work and every corner and inch of their room had been vacuumed, I set them to work emptying every crate and container and sorting the contents.  We used the passage, and they worked hard and well. 
I spent the time in the kitchen, cleaning and sorting the pantry (I really didn't need 8 empty preserving jars and a lidless beetroot tupperware container anymore).  After lunch we popped out to Briscoes and town; we found $10 duvet cover sets for the boys to finish off the new room effect. 

Had the kiwi-bound portion of the Phillips family over for soup and bread for tea - we had arranged for them and the Kempfs to come at 8 to Skype the Fiji Team, but I had a large quantity of soup needing eating :)  It was so great to chat with Nick, and for Grant and Petru and Jayden and Dinnay to see Erinmarie and Dannica, and Rene, Bronwyn and Hannah to catch up with Jesse and Sam.  They are all doing well and have been well received in the school where they have been doing some children's ministry.  They have also been doing a lot of visitation of families in the community.  And they are very hot!