Dating Advice.

Snippet of a conversation on the way to school today:

Big boy, to his sister: You know, when you're choosing someone you date, it can't just be that he's charming, but also about what his beliefs are.

And then he chuckled and added: It's a funny thing to think about!

It was a small parenthood win, to know that our son is learning to look beneath the surface and think a little deeper about things. Yes! With some grace, he'll keep this up. 

We had been talking about role modelling and how, as an older brother, he's meant to be one of the first examples of how his sister should be loved and cared for. 

These two. Thick as thieves but he sure knows how to get on her nerves too. 

Rugby World Cup Final & Bubble.

We got up early to watch the Rugby World Cup Final this morning. We were kept on the edge of our seats and it was a nail-biting match in its entirety. The All Blacks lost to the Springboks 11-12. We were gutted by the result, but such is life. I made sausage butties and hot chocolate for breakfast, so at the very least, we didn't end the match hangry. 

The winds have been strong and slightly unsettling today. We're feeling the remnants of Cyclone Lola and strong winds are expected through tonight and tomorrow. 

Our big girl spent a few hours at the sewing machine and managed to finish making her plush toy. She's worked really hard at it and been exceedingly patient even when it got tricky. She learned to work with a simple pattern and cutting out fabric from it to make her toy . Presenting her newest addition to her plush toy collection: Bubble the Octopus!

International Day.

Singapore representation at the school's International Day. It was tricky finding ethnic clothing in the sizes we needed, and I ended up making the boys' shirts. Our big girl was happy with the qipao we found just in time for her.

Our big boy took part in a national maths competition and emerged in the top 10% of the cohort. It was an added bonus that he was among the youngest participants of the competition. My jaw dropped when his name was announced and we were very thrilled for him. 

We popped into church after school to give thanks.

With International Day done and dusted, we'll catch a breath and move on to planning the dress ups for All Saints Day. It's also a big weekend with the Springboks facing off with the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup Final on Sunday morning. 

Adventures.

Thursday afternoons are my adventure days with the little man. This afternoon, we walked/jogged to a nearby playground for a runabout. He brought along some story books to read on the trip too. 

The husband has just started reading Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" to our three older ones. For fifteen minutes each night, they delve into the world of hobbits, fellowship and adventure. It's pretty incredible, even more so considering he is a self-professed non-reader. His passion for the epic story runs deep and it's something he's sharing with our young ones.

Here's a picture of a random celery bouquet, home-grown by the husband, tastier than flowers. 

Smelling The Roses.

This week, so far, we've spent a morning romping around on a playground on the North Shore. We've also sat in a café sipping hot chocolate while colouring in a sheet together. We've played charades and card games.

It's been a full week, with sewing to do for the children's International Day at school on Friday, but this girl does a great job getting me to slow down and play. 

Movie Date.

Father and son had a movie date today, our little man's first movie cinema experience. They were the only ones in the theatre watching the newest Paw Patrol movie. It was inspired by the little lady's and my weekday date to the cinema a week ago. A few scary moments but father and son seemed to have had a good time.

The boys and I spent a few hours at our friend's home. They have a large section and it was nice to see the children go a bit "wild" digging holes and building forts with loose parts.

The first day of the long weekend has been good so far.

Long Weekend.

The children are ravenous after school, and afternoon tea is essential. We had a few more children with us then usual, so a little more was needed.

It was a lively time at the playground with a group of about 10 children playing. 

We spent the evening watching the Mario movie at home after dinner, something the children have been looking forward to for awhile.

A picture of our 3 year old instructing our 5 year old on putting the pedestal fan together for the warmer days.

It's Labour weekend, a long weekend that's welcome relief.

First Passionfruit Flower!

It's the husband's baptism anniversary today. Out of all of us in the family, he was the youngest when he was baptised, at under a month old. We celebrated with apple pie and ice cream for tea.

My little helper.

Our little man spotted our very first passionfruit flower! After two years, this has finally flowered, and very otherworldly blooms at that. We love spring for all the blooming flowers that are a hope of sweet fruit to come. Our feijoa, mandarin, blackberry, strawberry and blueberry plants are flowering now. We are very excited for summer. 

The Rosary and Its Graces.

The month of the rosary has seen our family pray a decade of the rosary each night. It's been a month of graces, too. Our littlest ones have slowly moved away from colouring in rosary beads on paper and started praying with actual rosary beads. They're getting the hang of following and keeping track of the prayers with the beads now. 

Our little man loves leading the rosary. He started out saying the prayer in his 5 year old fashion: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed dat dat dat women and blessed is *mumble mumble* Jesus....." 

We all went red in the face one night trying to hold in our laughter. Such a sweet effort and I was relieved he could laugh along too. After a few weeks, he's managed to get it right. Yay! 

The bigs pray a decade of the rosary daily with the school this month. In order to be able to bring rosaries to school, they unearthed our jewellery pliers and fixed rosaries that had been broken for years. It's incredible what they can accomplish when they set their mind to it. They have been bringing extra rosaries to school to share with friends who are without.

Tonight, our big boy prayed a whole rosary on his own. He takes awhile to fall asleep and we've often encouraged him to pray when he can't sleep.

I struggled through the rosary with the husband tonight, and I'm pretty sure I had some micronaps along the way. We toddle along and God meets us where we are. We like to remind the children that each Hail Mary is a rose in heaven for Mother Mary. 

I committed to once a week sewing lessons for our big girl. Instead of throwing money at it, I am bumbling my way through, practising sewing a buttonhole before teaching her to sew one herself. She made it, and went on to make a garment for her soft toy. It is exhausting, actually doing the work for this, and I don't fancy myself a teacher by any stretch, but it was quite a meaningful first session and she enjoyed the hour with me. 

God Provides.

I've recently been volunteering at the primary school a couple of times a term, sorting the children's readers for the teachers. It's otherwise a job the teachers would have to do after school or during the weekends, and they've been incredibly grateful for the help. I was scheduled alone today, but had a friend come to help out at the eleventh hour. It was a huge help considering that it was an especially large number of books to sort as it was the first week back after the holidays. 

I'd also needed to dash over to the mall after helping at school, to pick up a Click & Collect order. A friend was headed in the same direction and offered to pick up my order for me and pass it to me at school. We had no idea the books would take longer than usual, but her kind offer saved me an extra trip. It allowed me to head home a little earlier today and actually get some laundry folded.

It's the little things that make a difference and truly, God provides. 

Term Break Reflections.

The holidays were memorable for a couple of reasons. First, the children dove headlong into sewing machine fever and some days saw them jostling for a turn at the machine. Unbelievable. (Granny's idea for me to teach them.) They all had a go and made some pretty cool things like little shoulder bags and pillowcases. Our big girl loved it so much she wants to keep doing this during the term. I, with my rudimentary skills, will endeavour to guide her and learn as we go. 

It's taken me awhile, but this holiday was also a turning point of sorts and a milestone in my settling down in New Zealand. Instead of waiting for my village to find me and for people to invite us into their circles, I finally decided to bite the bullet and take the step to find our people. I finally decided that my humble cooking abilities and our home, mess and all, were enough. There's a certain vulnerability and authenticity about inviting people to our homes, and that's where a real being-with has the chance to happen.

I invited a couple of families over for a meal and fellowship. We ended up catching up with a few more families along the way. It was tiring for sure, but meaningful. It was lovely to watch the children also connecting with their friends and building relationship.

Each term break, I endeavour to build in opportunities to rest, cultivate new experiences and build friendships..Up till recently it's been a stronger focus on the children's friends. I'm glad that this term break turned out the way it did. 

We're halfway through the first week of term and I'm already knackered. It always takes awhile to get back into the swing of things.

Trust Fall.

Out of nowhere, our big boy goes....

Him: I want to do a trust fall.

Me: Okay..... Where? Now?

Him: Now. With you and dad. I want to stand on the (dining) table.

Me: No, you can't stand on the table...right?

Papa: If you want to do it, he's got to be on the table.

Papa: Cross your arms across your chest, lock your knees. 

Hahahaha somehow, he manages a successful trust fall! The children used to bend their legs, almost reflexively. 

He didn't.

It was such a random, crazy request but I'm glad we made it work. Just showing up and trying to remember that the small moments matter. 

Rosary.

Our little group of Catholic mums and children met at St Michael's church this morning to pray the rosary and have morning tea together. Five mums and 17 children between us, it was a fun morning. Looking forward to the next time we get together.

Homemade.

The children have been learning to use the sewing machine with great enthusiasm this holidays. We visited Spotlight this morning and they were excited to see fabric in all colours and textures. Each child picked out a fabric to take home. I'd take them fabric shopping over toy shopping any day! 

We've invited a family over tomorrow for morning tea and I made a quiche for the occasion. A slightly imperfect top but it will hopefully taste decent. 

A Taste Of Sri Lanka.

We visited friends after mass this morning and were treated to a delicious spread. They're a Sri Lankan family and they made a lasagne (for the children) and chicken dum biryani. It was the first biryani we've had in 6+ years and it was an amazing, "wow" experience to have it homemade, at that. 

We spent the afternoon with them and they gave us this box of biryani, along with some homemade raita and pineapple curry to take home with us. We're grateful for their generosity and hospitality in inviting us to their home and sharing their time and culture with us.