At home

The current favourite pasttime

Don't ask me who's taught her this!


The aftermath of Daddy's yummy dinner :)

The camera didn't quite do justice to the curry stains on someone's face.

Holiday fun - part 3

A very patient man ...

... doing the most frustrating puzzle ever! The pieces weren't cut well and it took forever to do (well, most of a week, by which time Claire had lost patience).

'Riding' along the foreshore at Dongara, Daddy-power.

Holiday fun - part 2

First ever trip to the beach ... Grannies' in Dongara

Inside fun :)

Holiday fun - part 1

Meeting the chooks with Pop


Ready for a walk with Daddy

Finally!

Another long-awaited post, for all three of our readers (four, if you count Eion :P ), with a short update:

- Eion returned from BusTrip/SPRTE. Thankfully, this occurred in a timely fashion and is not recent news, at all. He's now a month or so into three years of hard slog (full-time study at Bible college)

- Claire is still not getting any better at updating the blog ... she's been spending time looking after Miss N and keeping busy away from the laptop.

- Ngaire is collecting words like they're going out of fashion, and gradually learning to walk on her own. Newest word is 'everywhere'. Well, that's the case today, anyway!

- We have a new bump on board, due to disembark sometime in mid-to-late June (depends on whether you talk to my midwives or the sonographers ... that is a person who does ultrasounds, isn't it?). So, Claire is also spending time napping and getting bigger, for a good cause :)

Day 3...

Eion's away for three weeks on 'BusTrip', helping drive a bus full of uni students more than 3000kms from Perth to 'the east' for a conference and church-based missions with Christian uni students from all over the south pacific. We're both excited that he's been able to go this year, and sad that it means 3 weeks apart. This is day 3 of 21 (or so, depending on how many times the bus breaks down ... these trips are rarely hiccough-free) that Ngaire's stuck with mummy only. So far, we're still alive and fairly well ... am praying that this'll continue by God's strength.

In true BusTrip spirit, they've had at least one hiccough already ... here's casualty number 1:

The trailer lost a wheel / axle broke just past Meckering, which means they were probably only on the road for 2 hours before breakdown number one took place! Oh well, by God's grace it meant only being held-up for a couple of hours while the replacement trailer was driven out from Perth, rather than being stuck for a day or so in the middle of the Nullarbor, waiting for it to get sorted out. Kinda funny and kinda sad ... but oh, so very BusTrip!

While she's still asleep, I might as well post again

Here's some more pickies, mostly of the one who keeps growing and changing so quickly! Oh, and learning so many things - she's learnt a few new words this month, like fish (well, "bish"), keys (i heard it once ... does that count?!) and Ben (we've had some good friends staying with us and Ngaire's cleverly learnt how to say Ben's name ... and I'm still waiting on "mummy"! I don't mind, it's kinda funny ... and i do get called "dada" pretty consistently). Anyway, back to the pix:Ngaire's other birthday cake (the party was a bit late). With Daddy.
With Mummy.

Reading with Gramps.

Someone likes sausage pizza!


A rare chance to wear mummy's bandana ... quite a fascinating item of clothing, apparently!

A pretty daggy picture of yours truly (camerawoman at the time) ... but at least we're both smiling AND have our eyes open!

Fun in Dongara

Despite Ngaire being a bit crook, we enjoyed ourselves in Dongara last month, with some good friends. Here's some proof:

Lunch at the Warradarge servo on the way up. My smile is quite deceptive ... I wasn't nearly as comfortable as I look, wedged in between the seat and the glovebox :P

Ngaire meeting a kid at the Mingenew Expo.

Elijah taking a break from chasing chickens at the Expo.
Ngaire and Eion trying out a quad bike at the Expo (no, we didn't buy it!).

The obligatory bath shot.

PS Penny, I have others involving Elijah if you'd like me to e-mail copies, let us know :)

1st-year Graduates

Well, we three have made it! Eion and I have survived our first year of parenthood (and Ngaire's still alive after having us as her parents for a whole year)! We are incredibly grateful to God for bringing us through the last twelve months still mostly sane, and for his power in using both the 'good' and 'bad' times to grow us in Jesus'-likeness (at least, we hope that's what's happening!). So, a few random bits 'n pieces for you ...

The birthday girl last month ... she's now crawling (and very pleased with herself, too!), talking and fascinated with the potatoes in the pantry. Oh, and birds. We love birds. Maybe we've got a twitcher on our hands? Who knows! Here's a not-so-great picky of all of us on Ngaire's birthday. Not so great 'cos one of us needs to sort out her hair, another still has dinner on her face and a third could probably do with a shave. Well, maybe not.

Sometime last month we bought Ngaire a Kids' Bible-type book. So far (we're only just up to John the Baptist's ministry) I've been pretty impressed with it. It's not perfect but it at least deals well with sin and does a good job of presenting stories from all over the Bible as part of a cohesive 'big picture' ... the establishment of God's Kingdom (God's people, in God's place, under God's rule). If you're an Aussie, that might sound familiar ... yep, it's based on the Goldsworthy book for big people, Gospel and Kingdom. Tonight's story even drew the parallel between God's people being represented by the 12 sons of Jacob pre-Jesus and how Jesus choosing 12 disciples demonstrates that God is gathering a people for himself in Jesus. I think that was the gist of it ... the book's in bub's room and she's asleep, so I'm not going to check. Anyway, I was impressed and would certainly recommend checking out The Big Picture Story Book Bible.

Oh, and if you're into this sort of thing, I've found downloading talks (for free - yay!) from Sovereign Grace Ministries in the US really encouraging for me as a someone who's trying to serve God as a wife and mum. Here's a link for you ...

Was going to waffle on more but Shelley's here and we ought to investigate that IKEA mag together :P

Board Game Geeks

Over the past couple of years, Claire and I have been getting into board games.

It all started with Risk (Thanks Dan & Jess). After a few games we were hooked and come Christmas 2006 (after dropping a few hints), we were the proud new owners of Risk. After playing numerous times with friends and family, it occured to me that games can be all about two things, fun or ego. To be honest, I think that for me they are both. I enjoy the challenge of staking my wits against others (fun), and winning (ego). There is nothing more infuriating than losing a game you should have won, simply because the dice didn't role the right numbers (which seems to happen all too often in Risk).

Christmas 2007 bought a new game into our lives, Carcassonne. It is a tile laying game which is playable from two to six players (only five player without the expansions). We took it away with us for a weekend to Moore River with some friends and it hardly got packed up. Unlike RISK, it only takes around hour to play, so much less time investment = much less ego. I got a couple of the expansions for my birthday recently (Inns & Cathedrals and Abbey & Mayor), and we are currently working out how they play. Certainly a different experience than the original game, not sure yet whether I think they add or subtract from it though.

June 2008 heralded the arrival of Ticket to Ride (Euorpe), a train game. For two to five players, Claire and I have enjoyed playing this together more than any game to date. Like Carcassonne, it only takes around an hour to play, however is I think more fun than Carcassonne and is definately the game of the moment in our house.

If you are interested in board games, here are a few links that might interest.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ (for game descriptions, reveiws etc)
http://www.gamesparadise.com.au/ (for a great range and prices)

A Day in Sydney

So you arrive at the Airport on the red eye from Perth (6:00am) and are getting picked up at Central Train Station at 4:30am. What do you do?

Tip No. 1: Pack some friends
Ideal to have someone to share the flight with (thanks Vicki), along with the terrible 2:00am supper/dinner, so that you can commiserate for the rest of the day how much you feel like throwing up (thanks QANTAS), and sleeping. Additionally it may be worth perusing the gates at the train station to see if you can pick up any other wayward travellers (like Julianne) who just happened to be in the same place at the same time, for the same thing!

Tip No.2: Find a locker to stash your stuff
Sydney Central train station does not have lockers - what sort of a crazy place is Sydney? A Post 911 city that is what - no bins, no lockers, no... well anything that a bomb could be put in, so what do you do? Ask a security guard, who will tell you where you can find some (I can't remember where they were anymore - sorry). At $5.00 each they weren't cheap, but certainly cheaper then having to have physio for a month.

Tip No. 3: Get breakfast
Even with our stomachs complaining from the bad aeroplane food, breakfast is essential. Where to go? We didn't know, so just headed up Pitt St and into "The Strand", where we had a very pleasant breakfast (Apple Cinnamon Toast took my fancy, with a pot of Tea - only $8.00, and we were waited on!)

Tip No. 4: The Tea Shop
Don't know where it is, but it was amazing. I didn't realise that there were so many different kinds of tea - easily over 100, and tea gizmo's to-boot.

Tip No, 5: La Renaissance French Patisserie
Words can not describe:

(Thanks Liana for the great tip)

Tip No. 6: Lindt Cafe
In order to truly savour the experience, firstly, walk in and browse, your taste buds will be tingling. Then, rather than order, go and get some lunch, nothing flash, just somehting average, like fruit salad (to try and settle the still upset stomach from the bad plane food). Then after lunch head back into Lindt, with a purpose - total indulgence. The hot chocolate was amazing, and apparently so was the Mocha (Sam crooned over it - joined us at lunch after a hearty sleep in - no red eye flight!). The cake Sam had was great too (Sam generously let me sample). The place is not cheap, but it is worth it.

Tip No. 7: Games Paradise
If you like playing games, whether it be board games, cards etc, then this is the place to go. Ever been to Tactics in Perth (Downstairs at London Court)? Well this is like Tactics on Steroids. The only problem is... where do you start? If you did not know what game to get before entering the store, you most likely won't after going in. Their range is mind boggling.

Tip No. 8: Velluto Nero Roastery, Coffee Bean Boutique & Caffe Bar
Truth be told, after so much food, we really didn't feel like more, however it was the last stop on the list, and the last thing I wanted was to wish I had been to this place. So what was it like? Hmmm... I had a Macchiato, which I had never had before (not a good start for judging quality), however it was amazing. Not sure I will make it my standard coffee, however am certainly looking forward to comparing it to what is on offer at Epic Expresso.

Tip No. 9: Sleep
By 4:30pm, after a Macchiato and forced march back to get our bags and on to Central station, I was running on adreneline and caffene alone. We got to conference (which was why we were in Sydney) and I honestly can't remember much about the first night, except hitting the sack at 9:30pm and sleeping soundly until 7:00am.

All in all, perhaps I was a little too indulgent for one day, however had great company, great food and would do it again in a flash.

Time flies!

Here's a picky from our 5th wedding anniversary last month; how time flies!

Best friends

Man's best friend

(Ngaire meeting Meg with Pop ...

she squealed at her and, having discovered the wonders of 'loud', hasn't really stopped since!)

Mummy's new best friend

(buying one was one of those things I swore I'd never do but I'm very glad I'm married to a man with more sense than me!)