Bubsies

What a joy a little life can bring. This is my friend's latest addition. After five boys a little girl was quite a surprise! We have been praying as a family that little Fiona will grow to know and love the Lord.

Not sure of Sudanese traditions but it seemed this poor Mum had quite a full house

after Fiona was born - she looked especially tired and sore being up half the night and having had a C section.

I rekon' Fiona will be one tough lil' cookie with four big brothers (eldest overseas) to keep her in line:)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Plunge into Science

You just have to love experiments and boys. We were discussing air pressure, and reading through a Science book which suggested we try using a plunger on various surfaces to see which ones it would stick to...

A few surfaces worked.... a few didn't...


But trust Josh to come up with this one!

Tenderness

Awwwhhh - don't you just wish you could take away the runny nose and dizzy head and put a
smile on her face?

My Mamma used to grate up apple and orange for us when we were sick - perhaps it was easy for us to eat, had some vitamin C - I only remember that it was yummy and helped to lighten up my sniffles by a few degrees! I tried this trick with Rosa at lunch (Mum I haven't worked out the nack of grating orange) and sure enough she managed to gobble it down.

She then reluctantly agreed to read some books in bed - took one look inside the cover and then her head was down.

Can we even begin to know just how tenderly our Heavenly Father cares for us?

Church BBQ

One of the down sides to being a part of a small church is having no one show up for the church BBQ except for the new pastor and his wife and our family:)

Quite disappointing but you know we enjoyed ourselves anyway - had a chance to get to know
this dedicated couple more.

David and I have been quite encouraged at his enthusiasm for reaching out to our community. As well as the dedicated time he gives to preparing his messages, he has been working on his TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) course and is hoping to start English lessons locally. I think that once the word gets around this will be a fantastic opportunity! We personally know of a number of families who would greatly benefit... David has been helping a teenager from Ghana to understand his homework, I've had a little opportunity to help a friend prepare for her citizenship test and we have seen how so many in our neighbourhood have such a tough time fitting into Australian society because they simply need more English/need a friend or need to understand the way our funny Aussie society works.


So while the turn up wasn't great (later the pastor's daughter and her family joined in much to Joshua's absolute delight as they have a boy Joshua's age) we were encouraged that the Lord cares for our suburb, the needy neighbours around us, those who come to church and can only understand a few words here and there as well as the 'seasoned saints' who are no longer able to contribute due to ill health. We also thank the Lord for bringing along a pastor who cares deeply for his flock...

Thankyou, Lord, for your continued work right here in our humble suburb!

Oh, and you wouldn't know there were only a few of us with this spread of meat!

Father's Day

I like to make something special for the Mums on Mother's Day and so it was time for something for the Dads this time.

I had some gold, unused coffee bags sitting in my cupboard. So I decided to fill them with some goodies...

I made some Rocky Road (which was very hard to keep the family from nibbling as I made just enough)



Then I pinched an idea from little sister's gift to me (a little sticky-note cover) a while ago..

and made a masculine version:

Here's the inside...(white sticky-notes are nicer but I couldn't find them so I stuck with the option of avoiding running around town...)


Then I packed the sticky-note pads, pen and decadent smelling (no I didn't covet - but was very tempting!) Rocky road into the bag, decorated the outside a little (convieniently covering the coffee bag fresh seal with a Father's Day tag...

... multiply all that by 12 (some real benefits to being in a small church;)

and had just the right amount (phew! - thought I was making extra...)

for the Dads at church


And this is how poor Daddy looked when awoken for Father's Day surprises this morning!

Then it was off to church - Daddy was preaching from 1 John 2:28 through 3:10- challenging us to know if we are in Christ - and if we are in Christ to be reminded that His seed is in us - and it grows and we will ultimately be perfected in Him in glory...

Later when we had gormet pizzas with Daddy - Daddy's choice was this unusual one with cashews, mango chutney and snow pea sprouts!

Now Daddy and Josh are pumping up bike tyres and are off for a cycle down nearby streets... Josh is oozing enthusiasm - just loves these Sunday arvo. rides...

Thanks David, for being a wonderful Daddy - for explaining all those electrial device gimicks to Josh, for sharing your heart with the children during evening devotions, for encouraging hospitality in the home, for showing your diligence for God's Word and never taking the lazy way out in sermon prep!, for letting the kids bounce hard on your belly (and actually enjoying it) for letting our little ones get underfoot and remaining in a fun, playful spirit! They always find outings and times alone with Daddy so much fun! Most of all, thanks for loving each one in a way that makes them feel treasured and helps them to get a taste of the love the Father has for them!


XOX - We love Daddy!

Happy Birthday Matthias!

Cousin Matthias turned 3 this weekend so we enjoyed some family time together with our very handsome lil' nephews...

The cute lil' party boy himself...

Benjamin looked a little suspicious of this event...

What could it mean?