Journeys in Faith.

The husband's and my daily evening rosary has caught the notice of our older children. Our big boy has begun praying the rosary on his own, and it was a sweet surprise that my mum sent this in the mail, without knowing that it was what he'd been asking us for.

It's possibly an extra bonus that they get to stay up past bedtime to pray, and we were joined by him and our big girl this evening. 

Over udon at dinner, we talked about the creation story, who made God?, How did the dinosaurs figure in the creation story?, The Big Bang... Among other things. 

May the prayer and questions continue to be a way for us all to encounter Christ!

My bouncing babes and I hopped on over to the trampoline park this morning. New phone = better pictures. Yay!

A Special Gift.

For my birthday, our neighbours gifted me a night off cooking and prepared dinner for us tonight. What a special gift! It was a strange feeling not preparing dinner at a time when I'd usually be busy in the kitchen. They made a smokey paprika chicken with rice and veggies, plus lemon slice for dessert. It was delicious.

The beauty of children is the way they dream up amazing games. The older ones set up a hair salon and treated the younger ones to hair treatment and a book gets read to them at the same time. 

Papa got a free massage thrown in too.

It's been a restful weekend. Onward to a new week!

37, And A Goodbye.

I turned 37 today. I knew I really wanted to attend mass and receive the Eucharist on my birthday. Everything else was a bonus. I attended mass after dropping the bigs off at school. 

We ended up at Mitre 10 after mass for a decadent morning tea with my two younger ones. The idea of pancake was more delicious than the reality of having to finish all of it. Still, it was the "goodest pancakes" our little man has ever had!

laksa!

With my little budding bakers and their custard pie. 

Val leaves New Zealand for good on Sunday, and her visit today was the final one for the foreseeable future. Thus, a bittersweet day, really. Yet, there was a great deal more peace than sadness. The last 5 years of friendship have been full and fruitful; we've shared a lot and gone deep in our conversation, with God as our centre. We were ready to let her go onto her new adventure. While parting was sad, it was with peace and excitement for her that we did. For that, we were grateful.

37. I count myself incredibly blessed with much to be thankful for. The children opened my presents for me and blew out the candles on my cake, and I derived greater joy from seeing their enthusiasm in doing so. Very grateful for the gifts and the love of friends and family that have come my way today. 

Project Birthday!

It was all hands on deck this evening to prepare my birthday pie and dinner (ahead of time). The children paired up and they had one team work on the pie crust and the other working on the filling.

Our big boy learned to make shortcrust pastry, roll out dough and blind bake. Our big girl learned to measure out ingredients. I'm looking forward to tasting the fruit of their labours tomorrow! 

It was a fabulous day spent with our friends, Franchi, Cristina and Nat. We went to the playground and even managed a swim in their pool while the sun was still shining. We all had such a good time! Also, what a surprise to discover that our little man will be in the same class as his friend, Franchi, when he starts primary school in April. I can already see them both getting into trouble together at school...and I'm really hoping I'm wrong!

Sacramental Programme Begins.

Our big boy has just begun the Sacramental Program at church, preparing to receive the remaining sacraments of initiation: Reconciliation, Confirmation and Holy Communion.

We're all very excited for him, but also proud of him to see how seriously he's taking this. He wants to ensure that when the time comes, he's ready to receive the Eucharist. To that end, we've asked him to keep asking God for the grace to be ready for the sacraments.

It'll be a series of Saturday afternoon commitments, culminating in his First Holy Communion in June. Godspeed, my boy. 

Storm's Passed.

The worst of the weather is over, after 2 days of school closures, and 3 nights of wild and wet weather. We were thankfully not affected by the storms and are settling back into what's been a disruptive start to the school year. 

Just glad that it's Friday tomorrow. 

Batten Down the Hatches.

All right. Here we go.

We're as ready as we'll ever be for this once-in-a-century storm.

Schools have closed for the next couple of days. The harbour bridge has been closed, and will remain closed at least until Tuesday. 

Winds are picking up and cyclone Gabrielle is upon New Zealand now.

Non-essential electrical appliances switched off, power banks charged, I've shifted the children's beds away from the windows, food and water supply checked. 

We're safe, the children are in bed, and the rain hasn't come down yet.

At least we're not in a tent. Haha! 

God be with us all. 

Beach Day!

It was a beach day that started with ice cream from Joshua's, our favourite ice cream shop. It was a sunny day and the bigs were being picked up by friends after school, so we had all day ahead of us. 

We packed a picnic lunch, and our little man hit it off with a 5 year old girl at the playground. They became great friends and spent the next few hours digging in the sand, playing hide and seek and tag. He was sad to leave, especially after he realised she was only visiting from Vancouver. 

He's falling asleep holding this picture in his hands to remind him of the great day he's had with a new friend. 

It's hard to believe New Zealand is preparing to get battered by a cyclone this weekend. 

Daily Graces.

After almost 10 years of motherhood, the Lord continues to purify my purpose and invites me to keep growing in my vocation. I never thought I'd be one to pray a daily rosary. Having rattled them off mindlessly in my younger days, it was something I never felt an attraction to, and that's putting it lightly. That is, until our recent camping experience which forced my hand. I see the graces of the Rosary in the joy and perseverance I now have more of to shoulder the daily responsibilities of motherhood. 

Obedience to a vocation is hard, and it is no different with motherhood. The call to obedience comes in the little things, like getting up at 6.45am with the alarm (and the husband) to prepare lunchboxes and breakfast, or in answering the call for "mum" for the nth time that hour. It comes in the big things, too, such as the decision to turn down a job offer that would take me away from my primary work. As underrated and overlooked as obedience is in this day and age, I have found it to be a marvelous soil for growing in patience and love. 

School-going traffic has been exceptionally bad this week, and what used to take us 10 minutes now takes us 25. As I sat in traffic on my way home after a ninja-level drop-off (that required deployment of all my small-road knowledge), the song Mamastery, by Danielle Rose, played on Spotify:

"Cloistered in these walls

My sacrifices hidden

Consecrating life

For my children

This is where God called me

To fulfill my vows

To give my life to him

As wife and mother now

And drop by drop

Flesh and blood poured out daily

In union with his cross

A mother's martyrdom

A rose unpetalled

Freely for you, Lord

Love is its own reward"

I needed to hear that. In that moment, the unseen and insignificant moments were elevated and nailed to the cross. There in the packing of lunchboxes, the folding of laundry, the vacuuming, we meet Jesus. 

It's a road with its ups and downs; the call to choose love and life challenges me daily. In the fray, I've come to realise that as I nurture and guide our children, I too grow along with them on my own journey in faith.

 

A Community Mourns.

A young adult member of our little neighbourhood community passed away this morning following a medical situation. Our lane has been shaken by his passing and it's been an emotionally heavy day.

It's certainly left us reflecting on the shortness of our lives and the hope of life after death. Memento Mori. 

The Michaels came by in the late afternoon, which lifted our spirits. We packed dinner and headed to the park for a kickabout. 

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace, Amen. 

Term 1, 2023 Begins Tomorrow.

The Ministry of Education once again changed its directive, allowing schools to open from tomorrow. And so it is, that the bigs will return to school tomorrow for the start of the 2023 school year.

As a small effort for people affected by the floods, our family put aside some towels, blankets and bedsheets to donate. The neighbours contributed too, and added some clothing, more towels, shoes and non-perishable food items, all of which I dropped off today. 

I don't think we will take the blessing of our safety for granted again. That, and a warm and dry home.