Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Bratwurst



Everyone needs to eat a proper German sausage 'hotdog' with mustard and sauerkraut. This was Wayne's idea.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Monday, January 28, 2013

The chicks



They are getting so big and with only one white one among the babies, she was naturally named 'Cutie'.  Sadly we lost one of the little chicks to a Fox this weekend!  (Kidding)  - it was the neighbours cat.  Still sad, poor thing.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Chocolate Soiree



I love having her in the kitchen but I don't get the chocolate love... but her father wholeheartedly does!!





Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Lost and found



Last winter I lost one of my pearl earrings that my parents had given me years ago.  I loved them, they went with everything.  I had been in a rush... and I grabbed them out of my jewellery box and went to the car to put on while I drive (not a good idea).   When I arrived at Rebecca's school I realised that I only had one earring.

I looked everywhere for them.  I actually thought that I had lost them at Rebecca's school and even left my number at the office.  I prayed and kept waiting for the phone call.  No call came.

One fine day... I open my box and look at what I see!!! It wasn't the one that remained behind.  It was the lost one!  Unbelievable, right!  I open that jewellery box every single day for earrings.  Don't ask me how but I have my pair again!  Happy Day.

Together

“In times of grief and sorrow I will hold you and rock you and take your grief and make it my own. When you cry I cry and when you hurt I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the floods to tears and despair and make it through the potholed street of life”


~ Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A apple a day

It has been very windy lately and I keep looking out of the window, but our apples are holding on...

Friday, January 18, 2013

A hand to hold



'If I grow up and forget you and dad, you must come to my house and slap me.  Okay. And. How does that happen?'  She was so earnest that I didn't laugh at her 'my house' and 'slap' comment.  We had been driving home and chatting about nothing at all...

'You know, some teenagers make friends and don't want to be with their family, just with their friends.'

'Well baby girl, the heart doesn't change overnight... you grow up and grow apart and you make memories and knit your heart with other people over time, you see. And some kids have a difficult home life.'

'I never want that to happen.'

Lacking the means to express fully and feeling my heart ache, I tried to explain that sometime in her future, deep ties will be foraged with other people and that it is good and healthy but that some other relationships are less sound and I pray that she is wise enough to choose carefully what to nurture and what to be wary of when the time comes.  And it will come... a day when the wings will flap and fly...

When we got home we sat on the couch. I told her that she would choose well if she lived her life by the plumb line of the Word and always look to Him to be her source of all sufficiency and truth.  And for sure, as long as we were here... we would hold each other's hand through it all and that we were bound with a ribbon on this journey, as she would always be my daughter and I would always be her mama.

Honestly, some days are not long enough... I want to hold the ones I love for long enough so that the warmth goes down deep enough to flow into all the secret chambers of their hearts that they are strong enough to stand brave in this crazy world.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

First day of school 2013


At her new desk


There were welcome banners all over the school!


A homecoming gift.

Monday, January 14, 2013

The Holiday part 2




The adventurous side of the holiday... isn't summer the best season!

January nutrition


This is the kind of clean food that I need after all the December feasting!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Honest advice

The true secret in giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not and never persist in trying to set people right.

~ Hannah W Smith

What a good lesson to learn!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Touching Wonder

Mary

The time was coming for me to give birth.
God's sentinel had told me that I would be the mother of the hoped-for One.  Courage arose in me that I knew not, and I said, "Let it be to me."
But that was nine months past.  A glorious beginning had leveled off to an ordinary middle.
There were no more angels or prophecies or leaping wombs.  There were only crowds and noise.
And fear.

~ Touching Wonder by John Blase

Sometimes we start something exciting, a new job or challenge, marriage, a new year and there is a thrill but the seasonal plateau does come.  I think we are most brave when we are honouring the commitments in the ordinary thread of life.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The 2013 year

(Becca's kiddies grape bubbly)
 
A new year, fresh resolve, a clean slate... unwritten.  Some people just turn over and its a day, a time like any other but that has never been my outlook.  I love the idea of a almost ceremonial celebration of the dawning of a new calender year... before it gets filled, pulled apart, messed with... a reflection of all the grace given over the past year and a looking forward with fresh vision.

While I do not ever achieve what I pen at the onset, it matters little, because of the somethings that do get done and the momentum that is gathered.  Often, new things added to the hat and prioritized as the year wears on.  If I don't purpose to grow in wisdom, as a wife and mother etc, it won't happen by wishing.  If I don't purpose to lean into grace and truth, it won't find its way into my soul. 

I pray that you have a wonderful 2013, that your heart is expectant and your hands are willing, and that you get surprised by grace and joy this coming year.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Holiday part 1

We went to the beach for 5 days in December and it was precious and restful!
The 1st coffee on the road trip.

And the 1st ice-cream.

Loved the beach, walks, swimming... 

and sitting...

and watching the amazing sunsets every night.