Party, party, party

Friday 30th Nov: It was lovely to have an evening out tonight at the farm's Christmas Party. This was Rachel's last one as she will be finishing work on the farm at the end of this month. She has been working there for 5 years (every Thursday morning). She is so grateful for the opportunity she had to work there but is also very excited about the new adventures that lie ahead.

Saturday 1st Dec: It was the Youth Group lunch today. The water slide is always such a highlight. The weather was perfect.

So much fun.




And a traditional water balloon fight too. :-)

Anastasia enjoying playing with a bit of pumpkin. It was just too soft to eat with her hands though so ended up more of a mess than food.

I have been playing the piano regularly. It has become a bit of a routine for Anastasia once the children have left for school. She happily plays in the room while I play. This evening I went to play and Ruth quickly joined me with her guitar. We have had the piano tuned, but it's going to be a longer process to get it tuned properly. He brought it up a bit - but can't do too much at once as that might cause strings to break. So Ruth has to adjust her chords to play guitar along with the piano. She actually manages it (just finding a chord to fit) but I thought it would be more enjoyable to just play guitar together. Once we got started it was like a magnet to all the others. We had a lovely time singing together.

The start of December means that Ruth can put the tree up. She does love decorating for Christmas. The tree went up in two ways - up high enough for Anastasia to not be able to pull it over.
Sunday 2nd: This afternoon Hezekiah helped me in getting a load more CDs printed. He was a great helper and we had a good production line going.

Monday 3rd: Ruth decided to learn how to make a poached egg. Well done Ruth.




BELOW: Monthly children photo. I just couldn't decide between the two - so post them both.

Tuesday 4th: Ruth enjoying some sun this afternoon while eating an ice lolly. She is always so happy to share things with Anastasia who did really well with such a cold snack.







Wed 5th: While playing piano this evening Anastasia went exploring next to Hezekiah's bed.

Thursday 6th: Ruth had a follow up orthodontist appointment this afternoon. We were also able to organize to meet up with a lady from Nigeria who is studying in Christchurch. She was able to give us some great advice on how to look after Ruth's hair (which has all the braids out now). One specific thing she helped us with was what to do with it at night.

Friday 7th: We have a busy day planned for my birthday tomorrow, so we decided to do the cake today. I had seen a quick video of someone making a Toblerone cheesecake - so I had a go. I got a few on special earlier in the month in anticipation. The only other ingredients was a little bit of butter in the base (with blended Toblerone) and cream and mascarpone cheese for the filling (so it's a bit like a chocolate mousse). It was delicious.

Not often I get a photo with me and all the children. :-)

Saturday 8th:After breakfast Anastasia headed straight for the piano. So I got some playing in with her and Asher.

Rachel then took Asher to a Christmas Party in town. She forgot to take photos at the event but got this one after getting some chips for the trip home.

Rachel had suggested Brendon and I enjoy the day in town together as a treat for my birthday. It was so nice to be able to just enjoy a relaxed day together. The sushi we had for lunch was really picture worth. It was delicious. As well as being nice to enjoy the new food court at Northlands mall.

We enjoyed a movie together and did some shopping. The highlight was getting Rachel a Christmas present. She has started training to get her fitness up for applying for the Police. She had gotten herself some better shoes, but they were not proper running shoes (which were double what she was thinking of paying). What made it perfect was that Rachel and I have the same size feet. So I could try on a few of the shoes that were available and pick the best ones - knowing they would be the best fit for Rachel. I was so very excited about this Christmas present and both Brendon and I had to have a lot of patience to wait and give them to her on Christmas eve.
Because I'm so late at writing this post I can give the feedback now that she was absolutely thrilled with the shoes. They were a perfect fit and ended up even being the perfect colour choice for her too.