The Unexpected

During our wait for visas, I think I have been really very patient. I don't want a medal, because I don't deserve it after last week. It was the first week where I have let my frustration at the visa delays become anger. A close friend told me "His timing is perfect", I said, "yeah, yeah.", I wasn't in the mood for the reality of truth. I was peeved and getting peeved-er.

After the reality of this past weekend I am so grateful we hadn't had our visas approved. I can't imagine how different it would have been having emergency appendicectomy in a developing country.

Now it's time for mending and a good dose of humble pie, as I squirm up to God and give back the driver seat to Him who actually does know what he's doing.

We've dropped the ball

Chaos. Answering back, rolling eyes, aggressive play, words without love, stroppy attitude, selfish heart, blaming ... I could go on.

You know those times when you realise that all of a sudden the chaos that has ensured is actually a build up from the last weeks or months.

When we get busy, distracted, or disorientated from our parental mission things can go awry.  Normally we tend to wonder how it has happened, then we realise over time, our slight divergence, our centimetres off course becomes a metre, from where we can still see our intended track. After a short time that metre becomes 50 metres off the track we were on, then 100 metres and if we continue we will miss the mark we were aiming for, our destination will be vastly different, we may even find ourselves lost.

This very morning we realised we have missed the mark.  It had been brewing for the last 5 days, we can see that now, thanks to hindsight.  Out focus took a slight divergence, and we kept moving forward, off track.

It's hard to stay your course when life gets busy.  We know this all too well.  We've been blessed with family staying, and it has been great, they were not the divergence, we allowed others things to crowd in.  Now we are having to refocus.

At times like this, refocusing can feel very overwhelming.  Yet all it takes is a refocus, parents in control, not children out of control. The time is now for pulling back the freedoms our children have taken and we have inadvertently given.

May honour return to our home. Honour of God, each other, visitors, and ourselves.

Nature Study

When a ordinary fishing trip becomes a organic study of nature.

An overcast day in the beautiful place called Grossi Point, Mapua, what better time to go for a fish?  The boys had spent the morning with my Mum, finishing their homeschool and playing, while I gave some counselling training to a handful of enthusiastic and passionate youth workers.  Upon my return, we decided a spot of fishing was in order, at this location it is really only casting out practise, but we call it fishing anyway. Snag after snag, then birds nests, of the fishing kind rather than the feathered kind, kind of puts kids off the fishing part, so they find their own fun. Climbing trees, exploring the mudflats, hunting crabs. The opportunity to forage and explore is too much to resist.

Seb enjoyed practising casting out and exploring. Solomon collected tiny crabs to keep as pets while holding a fishing rod for all of 30 seconds.  Nana undid the birds nests. I walked the shore trying to get snags unstuck.  A couple of hours later it was off to the ice-cream shop.  A prefect afternoon.

Swimming Lessons

We got a voucher for a week of swimming lessons.  Swimming every day proves a energy sapping experience for two boys who put all their energy into all they do. Afternoons were quiet time and early nights were a necessity.

To celebrate the hard work the boys put in to work on their breathing, strokes, strength of their kick, and just the challenge of pushing through when tired, we celebrated with hot chips with two lots of sauce, and for me, a coffee.

Rainy Mid-Summer

Early January was rainy and windy, but it didn't stop these two cricketers.

They were in the middle of an exciting game, unlimited overs, when it started absolutely pouring with rain.  The game continued...until Mum wanted to take a picture...

The Source of the Riwaka

Boxing Day 2013

Nana's Birthday.  The call of nature was strong today, after a busy Christmas Day with family. So Nana and Grandad suggested a drive to the cource. After a short stop in Motueka to buy the cheapest shoes we could find for Sol, we drove around the bottom of the infamous Takaka Hill, up a beautiful valley, finding ourselves among a small crowd of seekers of the source.  After a picnic lunch and a leasurely10 minute walk, there it was, a rock with a small cave that had tonnes of water gently flowing from it.  

Midsummer, yet ice cold water.

These two brave souls were bribed an ice-cream to go in and under.  It took a good 15 minutes to pluck up the courage, as it was cold as ice. Bear Grylls would have been proud.

They did earn their real fruit ice cream, yet were still shivering as they ate it.  

Beautiful place.

The birth pains of the family picture

Wow, that was painful...

I can't even tell you how many attempts we made. We went pass the comical to the ludacrest. So here are the best of the lot;