EXCITING NEWS FOR A11

Just saw a post on Facebook from Grand-daughter A11 - she's just home from 5 days at Kids Outdoor Zone PINK (for girls) and has announced that while away she not only caught a catfish but has accepted Christ into her heart.  Just jumping for joy - thankyou Jesus!

The Birthday Boy

The birthday was all he'd hoped for - lots of presents, food, playtime and family around him. What more could a kid ask for?

Well only the 'big' 5 party today at "Lollipops" kids indoor playground with his special friends.

As a side issue - I'm having problems with inserting photos - can anyone tell me how they can be placed in specific order? I used to be able to move them by just clicking and holding then moving them but something recently seems to have changed and I can't do that any longer. I'm finding it most frustrating.

Blessings!

Sunset Over the Blue Mountains

Yesterday was a brilliantly sunny and very windy day - a great day for getting the washing dry on the clothes line outside. Although the sun shone until late afternoon, there was little warmth in it - unless you happened to be having a nap on the bed where it was streaming in through the window - which L4 (soon to be 5) was.

On my way home from child-minding duty I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some photos of sunset. Here down-under they say if the wind is coming from the north-west it's a good time to take photos as it blows the smoggy filth away out to sea. So armed with camera and about 4.45pm I drove to a spot quite close to where I live to await the disappearing of the sun behind the Blue Mountains situated directly to our west. These photos are the result. I was disappointed to see so much cloud which prevented a clear picture of the sunset. Still some of the formations were quite interesting and the light certainly showed why this low mountain range is named. When taking the time to view this daily miracle, I cannot help but still be amazed at the wonders of God's creation.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY BAKING MORNING

The proof of the pudding is in the eating!

The sleepover wasn't too bad. An afternoon's activity of reading, building Lego and watching football on the TV built up an appetite for dinner of beef casserole and chocolate icecream! From a family which doesn't practice the saying of 'Grace' before meals, this little guy surprised us by 'reminding' us of that 'thing' we say before our dinner. It was a good opportunity to explain why we do thank our Lord God for His provision! Bedtime was somewhat delayed by 'little kid away from home' tactics but by 9.30 L4 - soon to be 5 was asleep.

An hour later he stirred but didn't seem to wake so the grandparents got to sleep too. At 1.30 there was a certain stirring noise again and eventually he hopped into bed with "Grumps" and Grandma retired to 'his' bed. Sleep held him until 8.10am when the ringing of the telephone woke him.

Breakfast consisted of one 'square' of toast and vegemite - getting stuck into the baking was far more exciting. First we made shortbread cookies then some wonderful mini pizza's. While the pizza's were baking, the cookies were being iced and decorated. The excitement and longing to taste were just too much and as soon as the icing on the cookies was half set, he was into them. "Oh Granma... these are just so yummy!" (a hit here I think).

We were certainly helped by a lovely kids recipe book which I purchased recently "The Baking Book" by Jane Bull - ways to bake delicious things to eat. Every recipe was simple and used the least amount of ingredients. I'd recommend it for all future junior cooks!

By 11am when the baking was done and the tummy was full, it was time to go check out what big brother was doing at home. He'd 'done' the sleepover.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

During the school holidays I look after my two smallest grandsons for two full days a week. Being very active and inquisitive boys I decided to make a purchase a couple of days ago that I'm now really regretting!

Rushing through the local hobby store to return some knitting needles which were not right, I saw some wooden kits to make different items - dinosoars, cars, motor bikes and the like. They contained paint and brush to 'do up' the finished article. I thought that would be a great idea to keep them busy for today. With great excitement this morning we opened the packs and began pressing out the pieces. Stopped in my tracks momentarily, I checked the packaging and the one small page enclosed. The instructions were rather vague. I was having difficulty pressing out the pieces and eventually had to get a small sharp knife to cut places which had been left joined. After breaking off the tip of the knife and one ruined thumb nail, I eventually got all the pieces off but not without some minor damage. "This is crazy" I was thinking - how do they expect kids to do this when I can't manage!

Anyway progressing to actually putting the bike together I couldn't make head nor tail of the 'instructions'. Each piece was pictured on the page with tiny numbers alongside slots where other pieces needed to be placed. Without boring you with the gory details, after 1 and a half hours, I gave up - absolutely bamboozled!

"Follow the instructions included for how to put the pieces together in numerical order. Have fun constructing your model." Fun they suggest! I was totally stressed out!

After packing all the pieces away except the larger 'wheels' and the like, I set the boys the task of painting them - fortunately it kept them busy until lunch time. I hope their dad checks it out when he gets home from work - maybe he can make head and tail of it all. I certainly couldn't.

I plan to drop a line to the manufacturer to get a comment from them. I'll let you know if and when I get a reply.

Have a good weekend! Blessings!

ANOTHER FOGGY WINTERS DAY

I've been trying to think of something brilliantly intelligent to write here but nothing comes to mind. Although I enjoy winter more than summer usually, I find it's less inspiring for taking photos and doing interesting things. Yesterday I did my 2 weekly stint at the information centre and boy, was it slow! The day was dull and cold so guess nobody much was interested in making a visit - afterwards I went to the library and chose more books including another couple by Sue Grafton. I've been enjoying her 'adventures' of Kinsey Milhone as a private investigator recently - she writes descriptively with intrigue and mystery wound into her stories. I'm also enjoying the fact that each of her books revolve around the same character and place that she lives, getting to know other characters like her neighbour and the local 'eat in' owner.

I've been working on a scrapbook over the past week and am now up to page 4. It's been a struggle to get it going as I seem to constantly find I don't have something I need to complete the page. Yesterday after IC, I popped down to the local hobby shop and picked up some chipboard alphabet packs - it's working out a fairly expensive exercise as sometimes I only use a few of what's in the large pack. Oh well - that's scrapbooking I guess. I am improvising a lot though by stamping (which I'm not all that fond of) and printing out text from the computer so it's not all bad.

Did a little more work on my family history over the weekend too. In the past few months I've had another couple of people make contact with me and it is so interesting finding out a little bit more about families and putting more pieces together in the jigsaw puzzle. I get really excited when another link is put in place.

Bible study is in recess for the school holidays but I'm planning to get ahead on some of the lessons this morning. There's a thick 'pea soup' fog which is due to lift later on so I might get outside if the sun comes out. Meantime I'm just planning to mooch around and see what happens. Have plenty to do - even some housework if I'm that bored - but I doubt that will happen!