The end of May

Success! The kids raked leaves yesterday and loved it! One of the joys of the manse garden in Timaru is the trees are mostly deciduous, and while the lawn looks pretty with all the leaves scattered on it, I want them to go in the compost. Zach and Hannah to the rescue - well, sort of. But they did manage a couple of loads!
We've just finished famine weekend. Janine lived in a cardboard box all weekend, and raised a surprising amount of money, especially as she came to the 4 churches combined service and we were able to profile her efforts from the front. Katarina starved, and invited several friends from school to stay who did a 'no talking' famine, so things were pretty quiet! Hannah and Zach did the twenty hour famine and managed pretty well. Chris starved in solidarity and I undertook a no chocolate famine.
Actually the coeliac expo on Saturday was more exciting as far as I was concerned - lots of yummy things to try and a few new recipes to experiment with.
Chris and I had a great time at the Pastor's conference; Chris took the 'Burning Bush' range which still manages to attract some interest, and we caught up with all sorts of old friends, including Alastair and Jackie Smales.

What's new this week?

We've been enjoying Oma and Opa's visit this week. Oma has been mending, and fixing curtains for us. We've had a mixture of quite warm weather and then today is quite brisk. Brrr.

Chris and I had a big weekend with an experiment with cafe worship at St Stephen's on Sunday and the Girls' Brigade parade at Trinity. I think it went mostly well, the technology worked all right, the girls seemed happy. We are off to Dunedin for three days for Pastor's Conference, that will be challenging and thought provoking, and a good time to meet people, catch up, network, and be inspired!

Everyone seems to have had a bit of a cold over the last week, must be something to do with the change in the temperatures.

We bought Shadow a rubber chew toy this week; she demolished it in under ten minutes. The kids soft toys have a longer life span in her jaws than something purpose built for the dog. What does that tell you?

Janine's Stage Challenge production came second in Christchurch. It took Janine most of the week to catch up but she reckons it was worth it. Katarina made cup cakes yesterday for the first time, which went well and she was so delighted she might actually try it again! She hasn't been much of a baker so this might be the start of a new interest for her. She has been sewing a bit, which is certainly something her mother can't really help with.

The soccer players are losing at the moment; the other club has been practising for 2 months and it shows! Hopefully they will burn out or lose interest about mid season, but it is pretty dis-heartening to be faced with big losses week after week. The kids have forgotten all about positional play sadly. Still, lots to work towards!

Brrr.

We spent an afternoon at the hospital sorting X-rays for Hannah.
Zach and Katarina have colds and are miserable.
We had a busy weekend with the Moderator's visit to South Canterbury. Hannah and Zach played soccer in cold conditions on Saturday on soggy pitches.
Janine is nearly finished with Stage Challenge.

May the fourth be with you...

After easing our way into the first week of the term, life suddenly became busier with lots of nights out. We've found gloves for children biking to school, as the frosty weather turns little hands (and big ones!) a funny shade of blue!
We are looking forward to Katarina's birthday on Thursday, although I'm not quite sure how I feel about having a 16 year old daughter. We are also looking forward to the Moderator's official visit this weekend.
Zachary is busy learning such varied tunes as 'Axel F' (the theme from 'Beverly Hills Cop', reprised by the 'Crazy Frog) and Mission Impossible.
Hannah went visiting to a local rest home with Girls' Brigade, and wasn't at all shy. Must be all that good training she gets at church, mature people don't faze her.
Janine goes to Christchurch on Tuesday for Stage Challenge.
And we went to the movies on Monday night - Wolverine. Very comic book.