iSonto #57

This week brings some happy memories of our special school holiday outing with cousins to Zoo Doo. Above the oldest and youngest Tassie cousins both have striped beanies.

Nate's favourites were the bunnies and the lambs.

It was also great fun to race around the paddocks with the wallabies.

Bill held his own, kicking animals that came near his feet!

All the children did a great job on the crazy bus ride with camels and ostrich sticking their heads through to eat the food in the cups. No one got too scared!

That is just a sample of the exciting day which also held lions, merkats (my favourite), monkeys, and emus. We have been reading about ostrich in the lead up to our South Africa trip so this was a good opportunity to talk about and observe the differences between them and the Australian emu. Hopefully the lessons will be remembered!

Plus some more things to be thankful for:

The 3 playing happily in the cubby in the rain
Reading a chapter of "Fit to Burst" while eating fresh hummus
Plump cushions with clean covers
Grandma and William walking hand in hand
Feeling calm
Giant howden cauliflower
Bill feeding himself porridge
Cousins to enjoy a holiday outing with
Children delighted with farm animals
Having guests again
Spare sewing machine needles
Patched trousers!
Mercy's response to being told we would have guests on Sunday: "great, I love them, what are their names?"
Mercy and Nate playing outside together happily for more than an hour

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iSonto #56

This week we have a tea party for cars (and funny faces for the camera).

We have had heaps of fun with cousins in the holidays. Yesterday it was lovely to have them occupied for an hour making booklets about "God's Good News".

Cousin Jeriah helped Elnathan a lot.

Here are the thanksgiving points I popped into my ipod blog draft this week:

Bill's huge smile as we sing Ho Ho
Bill trying to say Jesus
Nate's glowing eyes when I tell him I am looking forward to seeing his creation
Fun bible sticker and activity sheets
Reading Acts to mercy and Nate
Cousin Esther happy sleepover
Nate and Bill exchanging smiles and horrays
Perfect pink down jacket
Strong enough to get out paints for children
Nate gaining new painting skills
Nate asking: "mummy do I smell like a daffodil?"
Mercy learning to recognize the written word God in a bible story
Nate loving his vehicle coloring book
Mercy drawing with much more detail including people, and explaining her pictures
Dave encouraging children to praise God
Cousins liked the craft I provided
Mercy and Nate delighted eyes when I was excited about them being good when out with dad.
Mercy telling me I look lovely in my passport photo!!

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iSonto #55

 It is good to be well enough to blog this week. Above you can see Bill getting up to mischief with the little chair again.

We got a play pen for the first time at our third toddler! This new pen with a gate means the older children can also build without interruption. In fact, Nate thinks of it as his play pen. One funny moment was when he said "Help. Bill is trying to get into my playpen!" Believe me, I am grateful when my active five year old wants to shut himself up in there for a while :).

Nate's fabric picture.

Dave and the children made a cake. The excuse was that in July six years ago God provided for us in many ways: this house, Dave's job, and Dave's working visa, as well as a trip booked to South Africa.  It is always good to talk about God's goodness . . . and who needs an excuse to bake cakes and ice them blue anyway!!

Mercy and I made a paper pizza in response to the story "Pete's Pizza". Mercy added arms and a legs for her talking pizza :). This was good for her cutting skills.

The round African houses Dave made with the children as one of the activities in our new South African curriculum we are starting before we go over next month. This curriculum is a wonderful opportunity to take the children on an adventure there before we even set foot on the ground :).

Here is two weeks worth of my thanks list:
Mercy rejoicing in her pink shoes with bows
Lying on my bed in the sunlight in a quiet house!
Dave taking the children to the beach for a walk.
A new denim dress bought on sale for Mercy, just what I imagined getting for her before she was born.
Early morning reading in the car at the beach.
Christ-centered marriage book "What Did You Expect" by Paul David Tripp
Heating in the car!
New coat and jacket on order.
Receiving teaching on contentment from Revive Our Hearts podcasts.
Midyear sales.
Heart to pray for my extended family.
Mercy bright eyed reciting John 15:14
Tissues!
Joy buying clothes for orphans
Laughing at my passport photo in which I look (and was) very sick!
Able to pay for expensive passport.
White sky and bare brown branches above red mohair blanket
Able to cough without sharp, pounding sinus pain in ears and head
Friends offering help and prayer
Antibiotics
Dave's carer leave
Able to laugh, cough and sit up without severe pain.
Bill spinning and dancing to music in room time.

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