I'm in

After a lot of internal arguing with myself, I am on board with Gail's amazing Walk for Christchurch. 

I was always going to do it so why the arguing? *sigh*

Pros:

1. I help Christchurch!
2. I get to hang with Gail
3. That's all I got

Cons:

1. I am hideously unfit
2. I hate asking people for money

But after I got over myself I sent an email to friends and family asking for sponsorship. And now I am asking you. Please sponsor us? There will be pictures for you to laugh at and yes, they will be very unattractive. Have I mentioned how I look like a tomato after any sort of exercise????

It's amazing how a tragedy like this makes us get over ourselves in ways we could never imagine. So I am asking you again to think about making softies. There was an interview (on the non-stop television coverage of this event) with some little children. It broke my heart. Little people who have seen things that no little person should have. And the fact that they can't sleep at night because they are scared. A softie sent with love may make sleeping a little easier and show them they are loved. If you can't make them (like me) get someone to make them for you perhaps? Kristy from Paisley Jade is making some for me....

Thanks, love from the Shameless One

Amazing

This tragedy has brought out the best in us. True, it has brought out the worst in some but they are so much fewer in number.

I witnessed what the human spirit is capable of, on talk back radio this week. Radio has been a life line for many Cantabrians as they have no power so no access to TV or internet updates. Talk back radio has kept them informed and part of a community.

The national and global focus has been on the central business district of Christchurch and rightly so. There are so many people that are still trapped there. But out in the suburbs people are struggling. No power, water or waste management. And often no indication of when these services will be fixed.

Anyway.

An 81 year old man called into a program I was listening to. He asked the host if he knew which recycle bin he should put the spoiled food from his freezer into. The host gently explained that no-one would be collecting those bins for some time and so he needed to make other arrangements. He commented that the old man sounds isolated and a bit scared. "Yes" came the reply, "I haven't seen anyone since the quake and I have no water or food".

The host asked the old man where he lived and appealed to anyone living near him to make contact with him. Within minutes the airwaves were flooded with calls from people on their way to the old mans house. I cried at the goodness in people and the willingness to drop what they were doing that minute to go to someone's aid. I don't think that old man will be hungry, thirsty or lonely for a long time (if ever again).

That's one small story. There are thousands of stories like it. I am so proud to be a New Zealander. I think we are truly seeing the soul of our nation right now and it's pretty amazing.

For an insight into what people in the suburbs of Christchurch area facing go here

Things I am Loving

This week its hard to think of things I am loving. I am so grateful to be here, a whole island away from chaos and I feel guilty for feeling grateful....

But I AM loving them. So joining in with PJ's delicious linky.

I hold her so tight as one of the first names released as a victim of the quake was a little 8 month old baby. I have been smooching her and hugging her and carrying her a whole lot. And she of course, loves it.

And I am drinking in the sight of him. He woke up in a fright last night shaking and crying. I ran to him thinking, this is what mothers in Christchurch face every night. I snatched him up and held him tight until he stopped crying. Then cuddled him like a baby until he fell asleep. He, of course, loved it.

So that's what I am loving. My amazing God gifted children, safe and well.

Heavy

We are miles away from Christchurch, on a different island, where the sun shines and buildings are stable. But even if the world did not shift physically for us, emotionally and mentally it did.

We are all so aware of what's happening down south.

{minutes after the quake}

As PJ said, I find myself glued to the TV and radio, desperate for news. Laughing when it seems like there is a glimmer of hope for a trapped loved one and crying when those hopes are dashed. Our emotions are like yoyos as we cling onto any spark of good news.

And as I walk along a sunny Auckland street, latte in hand, it doesn't seem right to be normal. For us to be bumbling along when not so far away, people are still trapped beneath concrete girders and rubble.

Time seems to tick on mercilessly while standing still. We are living here in peace but our hearts and minds are down country. Its almost too big too imagine. The city centre is bad enough but almost every single Christchurch resident is affected. People are lining up for water! No power, no water and no waste management. And there is no indication of when basic services will be fixed. Its defies belief.

Everyone is desperate to DO something. Even my client in a meeting today is offering free legal services to Christchurch residents. And what can we do?

Pray.

"But mightier than the violent raging of the seas

mightier than the breakers on the shore

the Lord is mightier than these!"

Psalm 93:4

God is mightier and even though I cannot understand why this happened, He is Mightier.

On a practical level, if you are crafty, please make a softie? And if you can't (like me) maybe you could sponsor someone making one? I read that children are so affected by this particularly as the aftershocks go on and on and they just can't come to terms with it all.

Or you could sponsor the WALK Gail has set up, donate to the Red Cross...anything would help.

Please continue to pray for our nation, we need God's intervention. He is mighty to save!

**Images sourced here**

Little

We are a little nation. There are only just over 4 million of us. So when our garden city, Christchurch is ripped apart by an earthquake, it affects every single one of us. No exceptions.

It's hard to wrap our heads and hearts around the figures. 75 confirmed dead and 300 still missing. This is the same city that endured another massive earthquake last September and was just getting back on its feet. 6 months later, even worse has happened. For what Christchurch went through go here

It's so heart warming to see our friends rally around us. Australia, the US, Singapore and so many other nations are helping us. We need help, you see. We are so small that everybody is connected. So those are OUR friends and family who need rescuing and treating. Our people who ware waiting for news of loved ones. Our people who need water and food. Ours.

Please pray. Pray for the people still trapped that a miracles will happen- they will be found safe and well. Please pray for the families waiting for news. And please pray for healing for those who are injured.

{Also if you are able to please donate to help those affected}

He's so good to me

God is so good to me. He brought Dida into my world and allowed me to spend my life with him. Pretty ok, in my book.

Poor Dida has torn his knee ligament. This after 2 bouts of stomach bug, 2 rounds of hurting his back and a couple of other ailments- all in the last 3 months...

I am many (nice & wonderful) things but I am not a nurse. The small well of mercy I possess has run dry. Tiredness, work, running a house and the loving demands of two very small people have drained my well.  He remarked without a shred of sarcasm that he obviously did not marry Florence Nightingale. No, darling you really didn't. (BTW his is your cue not to judge me, haha!)

Still.

Dida is wonderful. He has a much bigger well of mercy than me. He is loving and kind and I am so blessed to be his wife. He's an amazing Dad too and the smallies adore him. And he loves me for who I am. Many things but not a nurse!!!

I am cute

That's all. The end.

Reward!

It's no big secret that I find parenting a challenge- I have no idea what I am doing 90% of the time. My kiddies are wonderful, I just seem to constantly be feeling my way along (in the dark)....

Rupi is ALL boy. He's boisterous and physical and filled to the brim with testosterone. Channeling this in directions that are socially acceptable can be hard at times. And all too often I feel that my interaction with him is too negative. Time out was a sad failure with him and so we confiscate items. Sometimes the top of the TV looks like a toy store with all the confiscated items. I hate negativity and felt like our day was becoming filled with it.

Cue my Mother.

A very wise woman who happens to be an early childhood teacher. She suggested a reward system with star stickers. Even though he's really young to grasp the concept she thought he may understand it. So we started one....

We have a chart on the fridge and Rupi needs to get 5 stars before he gets a reward. A REWARD!!!! We are making it quite easy to get a star so he can start to grasp the idea. If he's nice to Blossom and gives her one of his toys to play with, lets us brush his teeth with little fuss or eats his food nicely, he gets a star.

I have a box of rewards and the idea was that he can choose one himself. Big mistake. The first time he got a reward he found the array of options was overwhelming and so wanted more than one (*sigh* silly Mama) So he got two rewards the first time. Now I give him a reward and he doesn't see the box..

I can't say he's overly motivated by the star chart, but at least good behaviour is being rewarded. Time will tell if this works out! I certainly feel like the focus is more positive and that makes a happier home.

And Blossom is still the loudest person in the house. There's a lotta noise wrapped up in one small cute bundle! This is her folded in half and sleeping. I couldn't understand what the noise was from outside the bedroom. It was Blossom...snoring. Nice.

Miscellany Monday

Linking up again with some random ramblings....

Poop

Dida is poo-phobic. Yes that is poo all over him. Note to self: check a small persons nappy BEFORE whipping it off in a manly cowboy kind of way. Just saying.

Barometer

I know how hot and humid it is via my coconut oil. It's meant to be semi solid (ie scoopable) at room temperature. It's been liquid. Two words: stifling and stuffy.

Grace

 Blossom is teaching Rupi extreme patience by standing in his space constantly. The girl has no concept of personal space. Not sure where she gets that from.

Yes they both have pony tails. Yes Dida is still horrified.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Well...yahoo!

Today is Sunday. And it's church day. A day where we go and meet with people we love, worship our God and hear some awesome words. Well, that's the way it used to be.

For the last 2 years its been go to church, meet the people we love and then disappear into either the parents room or a kids program. We love our life but REALLY wish Rupi would let us go to into the room where the grownups are! And yes, I know we could force him to stay by himself in the kids program but having him in hysterics and beside himself is not how we roll.

Today though was breakthrough day!

Dida stayed home with Blossom (he's done his knee in, after doing his back in and can't walk)... so Rupi and I went solo. I admit I wondered what the point of going would be as I would not actually BE in church but off we went. Our normal routine involves taking a pram as Rupi will refuse to walk at some point and want to be picked up, be very unfriendly when anyone talks to him and attach himself like a limpet to our leg when we go to the children's program.... and HOWL when we leave him.

But today, oh today!

I asked him if he wanted to walk or go in the pram when we got out of the car. "Walk peez Mama". Well, ok. He then WALKED by himself all the way into church and greeted people when they greeted him. At this point I wondered where my real son was. We went in for worship and he stood on his OWN and clapped and danced. He didn't ask to be picked up once. I actually got lost in worship. Wow....

I took him into the children's program and hung around the edges for a while. So far so good. I told him I was leaving and shot out of the room. HALF AN HOUR later our family number came up on the screen. I got to hear a good chunk of the service. I admit I ran to the room he was in expecting to find a quivering mass of hysteria. Actually no! He was weepy but ok. He was OK! The children's workers are incredible and made such a fuss of him for being so big and brave.

I had the best time at church! I got to have awesome conversations with my friends Shelley and Jo... and Rupi was happy. I was so proud of him. I admit I have been praying for breakthrough with Rupi on the Daniel Fast and God is so faithful. All we want is that church is the amazing experience for our kids that it is for us. And it looks like that is going to happen!

Rupi got a soft serve on the way home for being so brave and staying "self" in the kids program. I think this is the start of something good and new!

An award!

**UPDATED**

Because its my blog and I can, I nominate these two amazing bloggers as well!

8. Meg at Growing Up Love this girl!
9. Shelby at For such a time as this A newbie to my world and another adoptive Mama with a huge heart


**ORIGINAL POST**

Thanks Mountain Mama for giving me an award! SO EXCITED? Ridiculously so....

The guidelines (should one accept):

1. Thanks and link back to the blogger who passed this award onto you
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 other recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

7 Things about myself:

1. I have big feet. I nearly always find my size at a shoes sale!
2. I need to live on a hill or elevated. I can't stand living in a valley or overshadowed by something. There's something quite spiritual in there....
3. I am tired. All the time.
4. I like the colour white or soft greys. Soothing and haven-like.
5. I have green eyes. I may have been burnt at the stake for them in the middle ages. Yay for the 21st century!
6. I like Dida's hair- it's a brown black and boofy. Don't tell him I said that, he'll cut it.
7. I have found this quite hard work, figuring out seven things about myself. What should I say, what's not ok to say....blah blah....The end.

15 recently discovered great bloggers:

(This list WON'T be 15 and I am taking poetic license with the word "recently")

1. Mel at the Larson Lingo such a creative with an infectious smile
2. Grace Kay at Grace Kay's World my African connection with an honest and courageous soul
3. Helen at One Trick Pony always positive despite what's happening in her world (and GREAT photography)
4. Sarah at Ah! The possibilities such a fabulous writer and we just click in our little bloggy hemispheres!
5. Venessa at My Crazy Blessed Life I am praying for this girl! Come on God!!!
6. Leonie at Kiwi at Heart she is home and I am looking forward to meeting her
7. Penny at My Spirited Baby yes I have followed her for a 100 years and yes she's my sister...but I ♥ her SO much and she's a great writer!

Well it may only be 7 blogs, instead of 15, but check them out they are pretty amazing!

Wordless Wednesday (or something to make Dida flinch)

Miscellany Monday (on my Tuesday!)

Linking up with Miscellany Monday (and it's Tuesday- does that give an indication of how my week is going???)

Mr Ordered

Rupi "parks" his trains when he's finished playing with them. All in a row against something. And heaven help you if you move them- they are PARKED and ORGANISED people!

Sickness

Can I say how sick to death I am of sickness? The highlight of my weekend was a call to Healthline as Blossom had not been taking much in the way of fluids for a day or so- to be told that unless I get 5ml into her every 5min she was off to hospital. Way to cause panic in this Mama's heart... And Blossom put on her "I am being murdered, call the police" act every single time I syringed the fluid into her. That would be every single 5 minutes. It was rather a long day.

Brekkie

I ♥ sharing food with Rupi. It makes us both very happy to eat out of one bowl or plate. He slinks up to me when I am eating breakfast and climbs up quietly and steals mouthfuls of my food. He shouldn't be sitting on the table at all, but somehow gets away with it in this case! Yes that IS a can of fly spray behind him. I can't believe that I have sunk this low- using yucky chemicals in the air. But I hate flies more than I hate chemicals and there are so MANY of the little devils.

Probiotic goodness

We ♥ our kefir! As it's generated a bit of interest here is the lowdown....

Ours is WATER based kefir (also called Japanese sea crystals or sugar kefir grains) Kefir is mostly known as the milk kefir where it makes a kind of yoghurt. Ours lives in water- no milk involved. The grains are smaller than the milk based ones. Ours are like grains of rice, I believe the milk ones are like walnuts.

As far as I can understand, the grains ferment the water and the water has a fermentation smell and taste to it. Sort of like very flat beer or ginger beer. I always mix it with juice but some people like it plain.

Here's a day in the life of water kefir....

We are ready to go. The kefir has been doing its thing for about 24 hours and it's ready to to pour. The kefir need to live somewhere warm so I popped them in the corner of the kitchen near the toaster and kettle. They also need natural light and need to live in a glass bottle.

I pour the water into a jug and use a sieve to separate the water from the kefir. I believe you can eat the grains...I am not keen to try them... They feel soft like a cooked grain of rice and not squishy or slimey at all. But I am sticking to the water at this point!!

Here are the grains....

I store the kefir water in the fridge and have it with juice.

 The grains get topped up with filtered water again

And fed on sugar. This is what makes them grown and ferment. I use organic jaggery sugar (only $6 a kilo from the health food store) and they love it! They need about 6 teaspoons a day. You can add slices of lemon or ginger to add flavour. I don't do this as I add juice in the end anyway. They multiply quite quickly and I think at some point I could start another bottle. I

Invert gently to mix in the sugar....

And there it is! All ready to start the whole process again. They are super easy to take care of. I think you should clean them in filtered water every now and then too. My knowledge is still quite limited as we have had them for about a month. We love having them and its a cheap and easy way to get goodness into you. I haven't started Blossom on the kefir water yet and I am not sure if I would drink it if I was pregnant. BUT! Everyone else drinks it and I think our colons are happy!!

And if anyone in Auckland wants some, I am happy to grow some and hand some over....