Mercy is one!

Mercy's birthday was a delightful time to celebrate the joy she has been to us for the last year. Mercy had a teddy bear cake as she has been exclaiming over teddy bears and trying to say the word.

We had a little party with some of Mercy's cousins, a friend who was staying with them, and people from our church lifegroup. We prayed for her life, praising God for her health, love for her brother, smiles, and blessing she is to us. We pray that she will be a blessing to many throughout her life. God's mercy to us is clear to us over the first year of her life and we have a little book to record our thankfulness each birthday.

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iSonto #17

Elnathan was thrilled to take a trip with Daddy to Queensland to see Uncle Woo and his family. Dave had an interview in QLD to see if he continue with his present projects down here, or if the end of his contract on November 30 will be the end of his employment with CSIRO. 

Natey's memory verse was "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good" from Ps. 118:1.

Mercy was a rapid and determined climber.

From garden to tummies . . .

Spinach quiche  was made with our own fresh spinach. I washed the spinach from three plants (which took at least 20 minutes), steamed it, and it added up to about 210 grams. I am sure this recipe would be super quick with bought spinach and pastry. It certainly takes a lot of spinach to make your own equivalent. I made our own pastry, partly wholemeal, courtesy of Tammy's recipes. I usually blind bake, but skipped it this time and it turned out beautifully none the less.We also revisited double peeled broad beans which were delicious along with our best ever fresh lettuce.

A book we enjoyed together was First Picture Word Book. "Please read words" was a frequent request.

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from I was wrong . . .  "a moving documentary of women affected by abortion".

We are thankful for the two new chooks we purchased a few weeks back. They Highlines and are great layers so far, and also have a generally gentle disposition. They let us pat and hold them! We did have one nasty incident where they pecked Mercy Joy, but it has not been repeated and we are careful to only let them out in the evening.  With a total of four chooks, we now have heaps of eggs.

  Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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iSonto #16

Elnathan was happy to help with the watering. I was happy to see that the water ended up on a plant! These are our new bush bean seedlings. We have enjoyed great germination. It is lovely the way bean seedlings unfurl and pop out of the soil.

Natey's memory verse was Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, "let the little children come to me". It did us good to see him sitting on the floor saying this to himself after only a couple of practices. It was a reminder to me of the worth of putting in that little bit of effort!
 
Mercy was happy to begin to push the block walker we gave Elnathan for his first birthday only 18 months ago today! Now we have an all new, unique person to practice walking with it.

From garden to tummies . . .

Broad beans have been enjoyed in soup and risotto.

A book we enjoyed together was Faster, Faster Little Red Train, a delightful book with illustrations that can be talked about for a long time. At the library this week I realised our little boy's interests have diversified since I first brought him six months ago, and I am no longer searching only for books about cars..

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. This is a treasure trove of information and ideas. I can't wait to order the all new and expanded version for next year. I last read this when I was breastfeeding Elnathan, and now I am re-reading it while feeding Mercy. It is fun to now have ideas of real life application as Elnathan will become a  preschooler next year.

We are thankful for the lovely first birthday party we attended for a little friend born one week earlier than Mercy. These two babies had the same due date.

It was a delightful Tasmanian day.

We have a beautiful flower corner in our veggie garden this year.

The garlic are looking brilliant, with thick stems.

I am also extra grateful for Dave after having him away for  a couple of days. As well, I've been reflecting on how grateful I am that I used the "extra" quiet time when Elnathan was a baby well. It disappeared this year!

Isonto is a Zulu word for both week and Sunday, so Dave suggested it as the title of this little update I plan (God willing) to put out each Sunday.

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