Week of wild weather

Wow! What a week of wild weather which included hail, snow on the hills several mornings, wind and of course rain. No damage for us, apart from an iris in the garden and the broad beans didn't fare too well, although they really needed staking anyway!
However there have also been some stunning days - including this morning! Mum and Dad brought some wood down for us, which we were able to stack up last Monday, Labour Weekend. Chris has made a new wood store out the back, which is about half full. Zach has some work to do bringing up the rest from the garage!
Zach has a play station and his favourite game is Star Wars Jedi Fighters. Hannah enjoys playing Lego Star Wars and Shrek. Janine prefers The Sims on the computer and Katarina doesn't really have time to play computer games! Zach loves playing Age of Mythology on the computer, so you can see we have some challenges limiting screen time. He does, however, have a new bike which has renewed that activity as a source of interest.
Chris is busy this week building an office for me in the front entranceway. All the plants have been shifted out and most of the furniture. We look forward to future developments!
In the meantime I have been spending more time on campus writing and reading. It only takes me ten minutes to get down there on the bike, and about forty to get home!

Labour Day

We packed up the children and headed up the road to Oamaru to spend the weekend with MJ's parents, not that we saw much of them in the evenings as they had two nights out in two days! The children have had a lovely time, playing on bikes, feeding the chickens, collecting the eggs, and playing "Battleship", an old relic of an electronic game from the 1980's.

We even managed to load up some wood for the fire - just as well as there was fresh snow on the hills this morning (brrrr!). And we've done some tidy up stuff around the farm! So, all in all, a brisk change from our normal routine. While the rest of the country was blown away by the winds, the home place was as sheltered as always, and is looking rather lovely with tulips in the kitchen garden. So, while it really was a mission to get away, I am glad we did.

The children really enjoyed getting out on the bikes. Hannah was remarkable for how far she managed to get on her wee bike, which doesn't have gears. Janine spent much of the weekend baking with her nana, so we have come home with tins full. (Home baking for the school lunches this week!). And Zak discovered the joys of climbing haystacks, (not that he told anyone beforehand). Even Katarina enjoyed herself, despite missing out on a birthday sleepover with a friend.

Optomistic in October

We did enjoy the later start yesterday - who would have thought half an hour would make a difference! I even had time to make muffins for Kidzone!
We have Trev from Lower Hutt staying with us this week, which has already been a bonus as he was able to look after the younger ones while I took communion at the "Going Somewhere" Yay for you service. This is a youth leadership training course for 18-22 years olds.
Hannah is enjoying her new class although they must be working her, as she was pretty tired by the end of the week. Zachary has just fitted in as if there never were holidays!
Janine and Katarina have had a very social weekend with Leith Youth group fundraisers, picnic parties, and a meal to celebrate a friend's baptism. Katarina is developing better skills at fitting in her homework around all her "extra curricular" activities.
And as it is my birthday today, I've had breakfast in bed, a phone call from Hamilton, lots of presents (from shopping with the two younger children on Friday night in town!) and we are just about to go out for coffee.
This will be a big week as I have to preach at Alofa's induction on Thursday night - her husband Ni preached when Chris and I were ordained earlier this year. I have been on the receiving end of a number of rants about the poor quality of preaching in the modern age recently, so the pressure is on!!!

Term Four

The children went back to school this morning after a very blobby, uneventful holidays, as far as they were concerned. Mind you, they've all been to the movies and the Early Settlers museum, Family Camp at Pounawea, Samstock and at least one sleepover!
Hannah is now in Room 6, as Room 5 needed to create some space for new entrants. She looks very small this morning - Room 6 is a Year 1 and 2 composite class, and her teacher is Mr Hurley. They were using their cool technology this morning, the teacher's apple computer is linked to the data projector and a touch sensitive screen, plus speakers. So, you choose the song you want to sing with the children on the menu, and automatically the words come up on the screen and the song starts playing from the computer. (I want one!!)
Chris and I spent Saturday in the roof of the house putting in Pink Batts. There were some, but not everywhere and they were pretty depressed. Chris is busy planning a number of other additions to make the house a bit warmer.
The Mosgiel AGM went well yesterday, a mixture of worship, reports and business which was rather lovely. We are trialling only two services in the parish this month, so later starts which will be nice for a change.