Capturing the little moments...,

Yes my life is very full and busy.  But I still find time to treasure the little moments of joy that my wonderful children give me.  Today I captured two of these special 'magic minutes'...there were many in the day as there always are...but here are Jaimee, Kate and Luke giving their mummy a boost:

1....here is Kate and Jaimee reading together before school this morning.  Kate loves trying to read Jaimee's (level 7) school books... and Jaimee kindly helps Kate when she struggles with a word, or two.  When Kate has had enough, Jaimee offers to read her the rest of the story.  Love it!

 

2. And here is a snapshot of my precious son, discovering the baby in the mirror on his toy and (with great concentration required) reaching out to touch hands with it...

..They make it all worth it.

Baby passions

I had my newborn baby fix today with cuddles with adorable little Nathan.  Breathing in his baby smell, and holding him as he slept blissfully unaware of anything around him, I got to pondering...why did God give me such a passion for the littlest members of society?

I love babies.  It is a huge passion of mine - the younger the better!  I have warned Marty about this: he needs to hold me back from going and having 10 more babies, because babies do grow up!!!  Already Luke is 6 months old, and although he still melts my heart every time he plays with my face as he breastfeeds and then stops to give me a coo and a big milky toothless grin...I am well aware that these days are numbered.  He will grow up and become a big boy.  Sigh :(

Shows like "One born every minute" and "Maternity ward" have me glued to the screen, watching women go through labour and give birth gives me a lump in my throat every time.  I think the birthing process is incredible...Perhaps I should have been a midwife.  I do hope that one day my girls will want me to be there for them when they have children.

I did choose a career with babies in mind though, one of the reasons that I am still working in a daycare is that I just love working with the little babies, every Monday I get to nurture and care for babies from 3 months - 15 months, and I love it. My dream job would be to be a bit of a 'baby whisperer' though, to help mothers establish routine and settle their newborn babies in those first 3-4 months....bliss.  Give me a colicky baby anytime, I will soothe it while you sleep.

So while our church considers how best to help the community, I wonder just what I can do with my passion for newborns.  How can I help new mums?  What can I do?  Why did God give me this great desire to work with babies anyway - I can't keep on having my own babies all my life!  I'm not in a great hurry to answer these questions, but I know something is in store for me here.  It needs prayer and and wisdom and time.

...In the meantime, I will continue to sneak visits with all those who have babies around me, take those newborn snuggles where I can get them and offer my help wherever I am needed and wanted.

Awards

Quote of the week goes to:
"You guys need to go and watch some rugby" says Jaimee in disgust upon listening to Marty and I struggle to remember the maori words to our National Anthem.

Runner up goes to:
"(GASP) oh, this is my FAVOURITE"says Kate as she picks up each (and every) decoration to hang on the Christmas tree.

Cutest baby goes to:
Luke, who has just dicovered his voice and has been blowing bubbles, gurgling, cooing and making very cute baby sounds all week long!

Minty moment:
Just after I had made the girls fresh fruit smoothies and taken the first sip of my own, Kate managed to knock hers sideways off the table, redecorating our kitchen by splashing bright red berry coloured smoothie ALL over the walls and floor.

Kate, Photographer

Kate decided she was going to help me clean the bathroom today - excellent way of killing two birds with one stone: spending time with my daughter AND the housework gets done!! So I set her to work...but don't worry, it certainly was not child labour as every job took twice as long (she is enthusiastic but not the most effective of cleaners!) but we had lots of fun.

I took these photos, which she thought was cool, so she asked if she could take some too...

...thats the photo Kate took (yes i do mop my floors by hand). Well, she thought that this photography thing was heaps of fun, so off she toddled around the house to take a zillion more pictures (the bathroom was abandoned to mummy alone). Here are some of the pics she took...
..nothing was safe from the camera, the fridge was opened, the sock drawer had its own photo shoot, and candles became the perfect model.

I love that one with her feet in it...she sat down to take most of her photos! "right...got it!" she said each time she clicked off a new shot.There were heaps more, and lots of the cat taken from what looked like a lying down position...perhaps I have the next big photographer here with her awesome angles?!

Looking back through the pictures with her, we had a lovely giggle together...and I was reminded of the different viewpoint a 3 year old has from us big people.

Christmas Cards

I love christmas.  Love it.  We have already done all the shopping, and we are away for the silly season this year so I don't have that added pressure of hosting a gathering or buying half of pak'n'save.  But I do have lots of tradition coming up really soon...On the 1st December, like every year, I will be playing my christmas CD at full volume, singing along while Marty rolls his eyes at me and prancing around as I decorate our christmas tree with my family.  Bliss.   And then once the kids are in bed (and I have adjusted the decorations evenly over the tree!!), out comes the christmas cards I have been busily making over the last couple of months, and Marty and I sit down and write out card after card after card together.

I sadly can't afford to give gifts to all the people I treasure, but I am a gift giver, so I compromise by hand crafting cards with love and writing personal messages in each one for our loved ones.  I normally do about 50-80 cards.  I don't always get them back, I know lots of people just don't make the time for this simple act anymore, but I do treasure each one I find in my post - there is nothing so wonderful as a whole month of REAL MAIL in the mailbox!!  

The girls have been wonderful cheerleaders as they watch me make cards...I can hear myself as Jaimee tells me sweetly "I like how you have used that ribbon mummy...you put lots of thought into that".  Here are some of this years creations...

Schedules for my crazy life.

Over the last few weeks, life seems to have kicked up a gear somehow without me even realising it...it is like a creeping sense of being on a treadmill that started off at quite a pleasant pace, but kept systematically clicking just one degree faster until before you know it you are gasping with the speed and just desperately want to get off.  My head hurts with all the commitments, 'to do' lists and responsibilities I somehow seem to be tangled up in.

When did this happen anyway? Was it when I changed my church hours from one long day into two shorter days to fit in with school?  Was it when I made a commitment to spend more effort and time with our God who deserves my time and attention?  Who knows.  But somehow I got really busy!

So last night I sat down and wrote myself out a weekly schedule (writing lists and tables is my coping mechinism - works every time. If I can't sleep, I write down all the things I am thinking about - the notebook by my bed with its strange notes on it are testimony to this!).  It took me until after MIDNIGHT!!!

I even colour co-ordinated it - pink for 'me time' and blue for husbands 'me time'...red for the family times....I did that because I felt quite panicked at the suggestion (my own suggestion, not some busy-body!) that I was getting so busy that I no longer had time for my family.  Because I am a stickler for timetables and routine, now that they are scheduled in, I feel comfortable that they will get my undivided attention at least once each week.  Whew.

Then there was the housework - I know, I know...that shouldn't really matter....but you don't know me very well if you think that could escape the schedule.  I wasn't nicknamed "Monica from Friends" in high school for no reason! I can't relax in a messy house.  So in it went.

We have entered into the craziness that comes with school, so in went homework and parent help.  In went mentoring and bible study - even my bible study homework had to be written up on the schedule to ensure I made the time to do it (although I admit that I didn't add my daily morning bible reading to the schedule...that would be like adding in cooking meals, tidying the house or kissing my children...no need to get ridiculous now!).

There.  I am feeling much more organised now.  And there is still lots of time for weekend fun and the odd coffee with friends! (Sigh of relief)

hmmm...just noticed that no exercise made it to the schedule.  oops.....

DAY	MORNING	AFTERNOON	EVENING
Mon	WORK	WORK	M – mens walk
Tues	9.30-11am: Mentoring	Wash Linen Bathroom/Toilet Kitchen/Mop Dusting 4.30-5: Jaimee H/wk	N – womens gp
Wed	9-10.30am: Parent help with Jaimee Vacuum Library (monthly)	Baking Kids Time (Kate and Luke)  4.30-5: Jaimee H/wk	M – Golf N – bible study h/wk
Thurs	WORK	WORK 3-4.30pm: VL & AM for Coffee 4.30-5:Jaimee H/wk	Order groceries/meal plan
Fri	WORK	WORK	Faithbox Family night Couple Time
Sat	7-9am: Bike ride (M) Babysit Cooper? 10.40-11am: Kids Swimming lesson	Reserve 2 hours of family focused time each weekend J
Sun	Church		Nite Church (monthly)

A moment to share

I don't have any photos for this one, but I had to share it anyway because it captures the relationship between the kids just perfectly.

This morning I was rushing around making lunches for school, trying to get organised before Luke woke up for his feed.  Kate came running out and told me Luke was awake (drat, wasn't quite finished) so I thanked her and told her I would be there in a moment - he was quiet so I thought I would just finish up quickly.

Kate came running back in and took the stool from the kitchen down to Luke's room - that girl was on a mission!  I glanced into his room, and found Luke happily sucking his thumb and staring at Kate as she sat beside his cot on the stool and "read" him a story from his shelf.

It was such a precious thing to see and warmed my heart.  It is moments like these that make it all worth it.

The Other Island....

I had mixed feelings about my trip to "The Gathering" (The National Baptist Assembly) this year.  

I have been looking forward to this conference for the last year - there were awesome speakers coming, the focus was on children and family ministries, and I LOVE meeting other children's ministry leaders from around the country (its not exactly a common job!).  

So when it was announced that this years Gathering would be held in Christchurch to make it free for the locals,  I was a bit nervous!  I have never been to the South Island before so thats really cool but the trip was now going to be way more expensive for us (Marty was tagging along to help with Luke - My "Manny") and of course the thought crossed my mind - what if there was another earthquake?!  

God blessed us with the most amazing flight down New Zealand - perfectly clear skies all the way. When we flew into Wellington, I turned to Marty and whispered very excitedly "I can see the South Island...I see a snow capped mountain".  It was crazy to be able to see one Island from the other.  Very cool.  And very cool that Luke sat on my lap happily sucking his thumb the whole journey.

After a very brief stopover in Wellington (the most crowded and small waiting area ever) we were off on the second plane to Christchurch.  Now I was truly entering new territory - I got butterflies! I love seeing new places, and have wanted to see the South Island for ages...and even though it was just from a window of a plane, it was beautiful and exciting.  

The South Island!!!!

The Top of the South Island

 I kept turning to Marty and exclaiming about the snow on the mountains (I am such a tourist).  I just couldn't get over the fact that there were all these mountains - the entire journey down the Island - that were covered with snow!  It was just like the weather picture on the news - I hadn't really thought it was like that!

 

Check out that snow!

 The other thing that surprised me was the lack of communities and townships - I barely saw any signs of life - and those that I did see were very small and I had to search them out.

The East Coast of the South Island

 When we came into the Christchurch area, everything changed out the window - it was like a pancake shaped rock had flattened the mountains in one area and that is where Christchurch had built its home.  It was so flat!! It was quite a contrast to all the mountains that surrounded the area.

 Luke was a dream baby for this trip too - he fed quietly and then slept the entire journey - the man sitting behind us didn't even realise we had a baby with us until we stood up to get off the plane he said!! 

Luke sleeps the trip away

There is too much to say about the actual Gathering - it was so inspiring, relevant, practical and interesting - my head is swimming with ideas and thoughts still!  We did have one minor earthquake while we were there - just when we all stood up to join in with a song, a shudder passed through the building and made us all startle!!  We drove past the city centre, which looked like a bomb had been dropped there - what an eerie feeling to see blinds flapping from broken windows in empty buildings.

On the way home I took these photos - it was a bit more cloudy this time, but we could see the top of the south and the bottom of the north Island in one view, pretty cool huh?  It was lots of fun, but I hope next time we fly to the South Island we will get to see more then just views from the window of a plane!

The top of the South Island and the bottom of the North  Island

Teeth Tales

We had ourselves a little tooth drama last night.

Yesterday evening I was sending some emails for work when Jaimee and Kate came running in, Jaimee in tears.    "Mum, Kate and me banged heads" Jaimee wailed.  I didn't even look up, tears are such a normal thing with my girls during any argument (oh dear, what are the teenage years going to be like). "Oh dear...hang on..." I said as I typed a few more lines, glancing at Jaimee briefly.  Hang on - I took a second look.  Blood streaming down her chin.  The email was abandoned.  

I calmly took her into the bathroom, grabbing a cloth on the way and pressing it to her mouth.  "Let's take a look" I said when she calmed down a bit.   I couldn't see much except that her tooth was on a funny angle.  She has already lost two teeth, so my first thought was that this one was just about to fall out too and that the bump had helped knock it out.   I took her into the lounge  and  (ever the optimist)  I cheerfully suggested to Marty "I wonder if I can just pop it back into the socket?". 

Hahahahahaha.  

I took a closer look by lifting her lip.  Oh my goodness.  It looked like her tooth had come out from her gum, tearing the gum slightly on its way.  I went to touch it. "ARRRGGHHH" screamed Jaimee. "DON'T TOUCH IT MUMMY".  Right.  Guess I am not touching it.  Marty and I looked at each other helplessly.  "Do you think I should take her into the doctors?"  But what do doctors know about teeth?  I had no idea what to do. Marty said quite firmly (never the optimist) "You have to take her somewhere".  So I rang the after hours doctors and had barely said "5 year old knocked her tooth into her gum" before they cut me off : "Bring her in".  Ever practical, I yelled out to Marty on my way to the car "start the potatoes for tea please".  Off we went, leaving poor Kate hysterically crying behind and wailing "I want to come tooo" (Marty assured her it was NOT her fault). 

We arrived with a sobbing Jaimee, and were ushered straight in.  Jaimee screamed hysterically as soon as the nurse came near her.  I (yelling over her screams) explained that she has had major surgery before and is a bit of a horrid patient and very wary of doctors and nurses.  Righto.  The nurse assured Jaimee she would not touch her tooth, so Jaimee let her have a wee look.  "Hmm...I think the doctor should take a look, in case it needs a wee stitch".  I calmly replied with a smile "sure thing"....while inwardly I panicked at the thought of my already hysterical child having to get a stitch in her GUM.  

Luckily, the doctor managed to get one teeny sneaky touch of the tooth in and felt confident that it was the whole tooth and that it was now hanging on by a thread.  She said it would probably fall out on its own, and that the gum was going to be fine.  Suggesting that we take her to the dentist in the morning, and writing out an ACC form (just in case), we went home again with a much calmer child now that no medical staff were coming after her with gloves and a smile.  

Dinner was quite an achievement: I had to cut it up into teeny tiny pieces but she did manage.  Sleep was a long long time coming, the poor child sucks her thumb to go to sleep every night and she just couldn't do it with that tooth there.  When I came home at 10pm from Bible Study, she was still awake and looked shattered.  Poor baby. I stroked her hair and gave her a cuddle.  Eventually she drifted off.

The next morning she put her foot down.  "I can't eat".  No amount of coaxing helped.  No way was she going to eat anything.  Eventually Marty caved and made her a smoothie with fruit and cereal in it which she happily gulped down.  Of course, Kate had to have a smoothie too!

We went to the dentist at 9am and in her minnie-mouse high voice and with a big smile the dentist said  "ohh I will just go and get my numbing cream and then we will just ....(motioning a pulling tooth out action to me).  Oh boy.   Jaimee let her put some stuff on her lip with a swab while the dentist cheerfully talked about how yummy that tasted to her.  Next she pulled out the water and sucker machines and turned them on to show Jaimee (on her hand) how they worked.  Good idea, I thought.  Show her how harmless it is.  Jaimee disagreed.  Pulling her hands away she started crying.  The dentist shows Kate on HER hand how it works. Lots of giggles from Kate.  The dentist reaches for Jaimee's hand again.  Louder cries.  

Away go the tools (I was encouraging the dentist to just get in the mouth and ignore the cries, while I pin her down... but apparently that's not very nice).  The dentist just grabbed a paper towel, and quick as a flash - yanked out the tooth.  Just like that.  Jaimee didn't even see it coming.  She stopped crying once she saw the cool tooth in a bag with her name on it.

All the way to school she chatted happily about how much dollars the tooth fairy would give her and how does the tooth fairy know which bed is her one.  I told her I was the tooth fairy's helper.  "No you are not mummy" she tells me firmly.  (I did try explaining the tooth fairy wasn't real once but she refused to hear me!). 

So I deposited her in her class with a tooth in one hand and a gape in her mouth just in time for 'news' on the mat.  I would have loved to hear her tell the story in her own words, but there you have it in mine!

Guy Fawkes

As a child, I loved Guy Fawkes.  We lived in a community where all our neighbours were from our church family and we had no fences between our houses.  Every Guy Fawkes, we would all get together, share a BBQ dinner, start a big bonfire that no-one could actually sit around because it was too hot, and let off fireworks that we had all pooled together.  This is back in the day of sky rockets, spinning sirens and buzzy bee fireworks that chased us around the yard.  Us kids had to sit in a zone marked out for us while the adults lit the fireworks. It was so much fun!

As a parent, I'm not such a fan.  When Jaimee was a baby we went to a youth event where the teenagers were firing roman candles at each other and my new 'mummy' nature kicked in...fireworks were suddenly bad.  We took the girls to a fireworks display a couple of years ago and they spent the entire display in tears, terrified of the noise.  Last year we didn't bother going out, but the girls spent the evening crying as they were woken by the loud bangs that sounded much closer then they were.

So when guy fawkes time rolled around this year, we weren't really looking forward to it.  We had a lovely couple over for dinner, and really ignored the whole thing.  Marty warned the girls at bedtime that there might be some loud bangs, and not to worry.  I was not sure if this was a good idea or not!  The girls were already hyped up because of our visitors and sleep was not coming easily - lots of giggles and thumping coming from the bedroom.  When the first fireworks went off, out came the girls in tears.  We explained they were just fireworks and sent them back to bed.  More giggles followed and I went in to give them the mummy talk (GO TO SLEEP!).

Imagine my surprise when I found both girls at their bedroom window, excitedly watching the fireworks from down the road.  "Mummy, look..It's so pretty!".  They were enchanted by them!

So when our visitors departed at 8:45pm, and the girls were still wide awake - I decided to take the moment and create one of those special memories for them.  I told them to get their dressing gowns on and we would go for a drive.  Well, I didn't need to ask them twice!  On went the dressing gowns and they ran to tell daddy "we are going for a drive in our dressing gowns!!"

We jumped into the car and I drove out to Havelock, where I knew there was a big display happening.  I had no idea if I had missed it or not, but hey, it was worth a try.  The girls were so amped, pointing out every firework they saw on the way and chatting at a mile a minute in the backseat.

We were just in time!  With 5 minutes to spare, I parked the car and pulled the girls into the front seat with me to watch (that was a treat in itself).  When the first firework went off, you could feel it in your whole body and it shook the car.  Wow. Kate was especially wide eyed "Mummy...its amazing" she said watching.  Jaimee, always my tentative child, wasn't so sure. "Mummy, i want to go home now".  I convinced her to watch, although neither of them wanted to get out of the car.  They exclaimed over the noise, the colours and the different patterns.  I asked them if they would like to go to the park next year and see the fireworks closer "ok Mummy!"  I am still not convinced they are ready for fireworks up close (and at $35 a ticket, is it worth the risk!?) but we will cross that bridge next year.  It was nice to see them wide eyed and enjoying the show though.

When we got home, they were straight back to bed with strict instructions to go to sleep now!  However, the fireworks in the area were at the busiest by 9.30pm and it wasn't so easy to get two little ones off to sleep with all the racket.  In the end, i put some quiet music on in their room (actually some loudly played quiet music) and they drifted off.

So as a mum i have a love/hate relationship with Guy Fawkes now.

I don't like the danger of them around my house or my children, I don't like the fact they wake my children and keep them awake, I don't like the continuous BANGS that sound like gunfire in my backyard.

However, the wide eyed children in their dressing gowns on a night time adventure with mummy, whispering "Its amazing...so pretty" makes me love them just a wee bit this year.

Light Party Reflections

October 30th - I turn to Marty and ponder "am I going to have to do this every year for the rest of my life now that I started this event do you think?".  A sleepless night follows as I run through the zillion things I have to get done in order to make the Light Party work.  Thank God (literally) that it is in his hands, not mine!  For the last 4 years, in about August I start thinking about the Light Party - our biggest community event for kids that our church puts as a positive alternative to halloween.

We have about 40 kids in our church....we had 240 kids at the Light Party last night.  And that number does not include the parents, grandparents and siblings that came along as well - or the 50 or so volunteers that showed up to help make the night happen....I estimate we had close to 400 people at the Light Party in total.  God is good.

A packed church - yay!

At 10am, after picking up 700 sausages and 30 loaves of bread from the Mad Butcher, I headed out to the church property to set up.  First dilemma: attempting to fit 700 sausages into an already busy fridge is not that easy!  Out came the shelves and non-essentials, in went the bags with a shove.

Now, we are blessed with 10 acres of land and buildings at Village Baptist....but that blessing comes with a catch: 10 acres of land and building to set up for the party!  By the time the party had finished, my feet were killing me: I reckon I walked several kilometres last night...memo for next year: wear a pedometer!  My trusty sidekick, Stu (our youth leader) turned up at lunchtime and on we plodded, painting and hanging signage (I got paint all over my top but ah well), moving tables, building games.  Luke sat in his pushchair and watched, then Luke slept...and slept (praise God...although we did pay for that later when he woke at 2am)! At about 2.30pm, there was a definite underlying feeling of "uh-oh"...there was so much to be done and the party started in under 3 hours time!   Luckily reinforcements started to trickle in at around 2pm, and balloons were hung, halls were darkened and bouncy castles were inflated.

By 5pm (kick off time), everything was under control.  So under control that I had people coming up asking for jobs to do - and I didn't even have any!  God is great - not only did he provide the workers, he gave me too many.  I was able to relax a bit, and chat to people.  I looked around and saw hundreds of faces that I didn't know.  Wow.  People who lived locally walked down with pushchairs in groups - wahoo, the letterbox drop was worth it!  Mothers told us they saw it advertised on facebook - technology rules!  People who came for the first time exclaimed at how much their children loved it and that they would be back next year. still others couldn't believe what was included in the tiny $3 price tag (2 sausages, iceblock, fizzy, disco, carnival style games, 3 bouncy castles, live show...).  Families who had come in previous years told me that they noticed improvements each year (whew - would be sad if it was getting worse each year!).

Leading "Crazy Praise"

When it was time for the games to shut down, everyone filed into the auditorium - it was PACKED.  The kids were so hyped up, the energy was contagious!  I had a blast leading "Crazy Praise"...what a rush to see 240 kids all shouting "JESUS!" at the top of their lungs.  The dance troupe were amazing, as was our drama team. The mainly music session for the juniors was well received and there was STILL more to come.  The one thing everyone looks forward to from the toddlers to teenagers to the grandmothers (yep, thats my mum!) ...our half hour discos (senior/junior in seperate rooms) complete with flashing lights and the macarena!  It was awesome.  Everyone had a ball.  Everyone said they would be back next year.

Disco Fever!

As the party drew to a close, I looked around and only saw happy faces (except my daughter, who was ready for bed!).  I have already heard of 3 different people who are interested in coming along on a Sunday.  I wonder what seeds have been planted and which have been watered?  Clean up was quick thanks to an amazing team of helpers.  Glory was given to the one who made it happen (not me) and I was home by 9pm, happy and exhausted.

So will I be doing this every year for the rest of my life? Hmm...I am sure there will come a day when I can hand the baton on to the next crazy children's ministry leader....but not any time soon, I love my job WAY too much!