Garage sales

I've mentioned it before, but I think garage sales are GREAT!!!!! We don't really have garage sales in Germany, only flea markets, which isn't really my thing. But garage sales, I think they are great.

Well, our newest (old) addition is this beauty:

A sewing machine, probably older than me, but we got it for 10 bucks, inclusive some spider webs. My old girl has only two speeds: fully on or off, but it's just great to have a sewing machine. Just a couple days previously I'd said to Ben: "I really would like to have a sewing machine" and voila, the very next garage sale we went to (Ben that is actually, I stayed at home with the boys) there was one... yay!!! And I tried her and she works just fine!!!

Random thoughts

Does it happen to you as well???

I have to go to the shops, just quickly... to get one particular item, lets say toothpaste. So I don't bother with a shopping trolley... I mean it's only toothpaste, right?? Well, while I'm on my way to the dental hygiene section I see the puffed pasty sheets in the frozen goods aisles. So I quickly grab one of them and proceed on just to see that my favourite apples are on sale so I better get a bag of those as well... I still haven't reached the tooth paste I came shopping for, but all of a sudden I remember that we area also almost out of toilet paper and while I'm here I better dump a package on the top of the pile in my arms. A couple minutes late two tins of tomatoes and 3 tins of corn join the toilet paper. Finally I reach the tooth paste aisle but going past the hair stuff I try to squeeze a bottle of shampoo and conditioner under each armpit. By now the frozen puff pasty slip away this way and that, the apples almost fall out of their bags, the shampoo just doesn't wanna stay under the armpit and the tins a bunch of unruly rebels.

And in sight of the toothpaste it happens. My not so carefully stacked but rather randomly dumped pile falls down with a loud clatter, I run after the apples, try to recapture the tin rebels and think to myself how stupid I am to go shopping for toothpaste without taking a trolley. So here I stand infront of the ruin of my shopping items and I start afresh, stacking and piling the goods carefully in my arms this time so that the same disaster won't happen again at the checkout.

So what is this all about you might wonder.

Well, I think that's how I'm feeling right now in life. There are different areas in life I needed and wanted to work on, where I needed to improve, but I did it without a plan, a system or order and everything just seemed to slip and slide. At one point I had one thing kinda under control but behold, another started to slide and slip. until the whole pile came crushing down with a big bang. I know I will never be perfect, never even come close to it but that shouldn't hinder me trying to do my best for the Lord. So now I'm trying to place my "life's pieces" carefully together, align it to God's word and get a balance. Some of those areas are "Exercise", "Healthy diet", "God's word", "Family time", "Ministry"... I don't know if it makes any sense what I'm babbling ...

...sometimes I even wonder if He wants me to dump my pile in His shopping cart so that I don't have to carry the load... that sounds pretty "holy" but is it easy to do??? ou well, just a random though

So what is happening in these parts of the world, apart from feeling deep frozen most of the time. (You know, living in Germany, I always kinda smiled at an Aussie winter, I mean, there isn't any snow or ice or minus degrees, but ou girl, was I wrong, I would swap an Aussie winter in Australia any time for a German winter in Germany). It is raining.... no actually not raining... it is BUCKETING a lot. It stops for a couple minutes for up to an hour just to start bucketing like crazy again. The kids are sick a lot. I'm cold a lot... but I've mentioned that one before I believe. But despite the odds we are settling in and down and enjoy living Down Under (but oooooooo how I LONG for that summer to come... and once it arrives I shall complain how hot it is, hehehehe). Our boxes are still unpacked outside in the shed (okay, frequently opened to revive one or two or twenty items of need) as we still don't have a more permanent place to stay.... so I'm still waiting patently on the Lord, and most of the time I really do have peace in heart that He WILL take care of us and provide for us... okay now and then a panic attack ruins this peace for a little period of time, but generally I'm calm and waiting and excited and expecting great things from the Lord for His Glory.

Ned started to use more and more English. Often he mixes the languages though, but we're getting there. Did you hear about this thing called "planking"... well, neither have I really... but it's this thing where people "plank" on the oddest and weirdest things, take pictures and upload it to some website. Ned seems to know more about it than me, as he was "planking" on top of our couch the other day.

He also turned into a true blue Aussie: we enrolled him for KINDY starting next school year (which will be February... there are many things which are VERY different from the German system and school system IS very different, I could fill whole pages of all the things that slightly confuse me). My little baby grows up, sigh... We registered him in "Bethels" which is a Christian school linked to our church, Albany Baptist Church. I think I'll share a bit more about our church another time, but they are truly a great bunch of people with solid teaching. Ben went to Bethel when he was a kid. Kindy is only 2 days a week, but I'm excited, not only because I will have some time on hand but because Ned likes kids and it's good for him to interact with others more frequently. Also, I'm not really a good teacher (I lack patience and teaching him how to put on his shoes brings me to my limits) and so I'm looking forward to the things he'll learn there. We also enrolled him in swimming school starting next term (that is the end of July... everything runs in terms here, also very different than in Germany). With so many lovely beaches around it is a MUST to learn to swim I think and it is a fun thing too. We haven't really done swimming a lot in the last year, so he isn't very confident. We actually took him to the pool yesterday and almost drowned on the way to the pool, thanks to those lovely rain bucket showers. Inside the pool though it was great fun. I think I will take him a couple more times for him to get more confident before swimming classes start. We'll see how it goes. I won't be with him in the water. And he seems to be very attached to me lately. And how will he respond to a stranger giving him instructions. Ou well, he gotta learn some day, so better earlier than later:o)))

We also discovered the joys of garage sales. Finding a bargain makes one VERY happy. So now we are not only the happy owners of a lovely fridge but also 2 queen beds, one king single bed, one single bed, crystal wine glasses, printer and many other (more or less) needed things. Now we only need a home to put them.

Cedric is such a monkey. He climbs everything, or attempts to. So far no nasty fall though. AND he just LOOOOOOVES boxes, where ever there is a box, for sure my giant baba is in it in no time. Giant baba also LOVES other babies. And he goes staight for the eyes. SO far he hasn't blinded anyone nor poked out an eye, thankfully. Unfortunately he continues being a bit of a picky eater. VERY frustrating, but survivable.

Well, and for me it is almost 4 weeks without diet coke and I feel great. No headaches, no cravings or even desire to drink it... in fact somehow I heard myself thinking that I never want to drink it again... and once I start drinking sodas again (in moderation) I will go for the real sugar stuff (hahaha), but time will tell. I'm a good girl and drink my water ratio of at least 2l a day and I haven't had chocolate neither nor do I miss it (much)

Ben's started studying about 4 weeks ago... and it took him a while to wrap his brain around sitting down and studying, but he's enjoying it.. kind of... as much as you can enjoy studying business.

And Hermie??? I don't dare to say that this is the best loved teddy bear in the whole world, but she comes pretty close. The other day when we were about to leave for a walk we had to tuck her in bed (I am NOT taking her outdoors; just think of the disaster if we lost her... brrrr) and give her a good night kiss...

and another time we had to sit her on the easy chair and give her a book to read... sigh.. he's a good teddy daddy.

But.. but... BUT it's June!!!

Coming from the Northern Hemisphere I always associated long days, sunshine, warmth, summer with June. I was happy to have two "summer babies" (although it wasn't really the best time of year to be pregnant.... well, on the other hand, at least I didn't have to squeeze my big belly in a big wintercoat). And now??? I AM FREEZING!!!! I think I wasn't as cold throughout the whole of the German winter just a couple of months back. The thing is, whereas in Germany you have warm houses thanks to central heating, here you don't. There you wrap up in zillions of layers once you head outside but once you come back home you peal them off again because it's nice and cosy inside. Well, we do have the blessing of a fire place in our present home, and oh how glad am I about this little fire place. It keeps the livingroom/kitchen/dinningroom area warm... but the rest of the house...brrrrrr. Our bedroom is at the other end and it is SO cold (and this is coming form the girl who slept with her windows open even in the middle of winter... okay, that was a crazy teenager phase of mine, but still). I also always wondered why there weren't any cloth rack stand things next to the door (which you'll find in every house in Europe, I'm sure), but I figured you don't need to have a cloth rack, because it's so cold inside so you keep your warm jacket on. I feel very odd wearing my all weather rain jacket inside, but that's what I do at times. Well, I'm not talking about minus temperatures, but sitting here with a wood fire in the same room and my fingers are pretty cold. And Winter only started, brrrrrrrr.... I dread the next couple of months.... brrrrrrr. And rain... I heard that they would love to have some rain in Germany, man we could ship you several loads full of rain. Last night the rainfall was so strong that I woke me up.

People also tent to wear normal shoes insides, whereas we are the kind of shoes-take-off-people. The other day Ben had a huge blob of dog poo on his shoes, and man was I glad that we take our shoes off inside. But even if it isn't dog poo, I have a little guy crawling around the floor, licking it, sticking all sorts of things in his mouth, and somehow adding streetwear to the equation doesn't sound to appealing to me... so I hope people aren't too offended if I make them take off their shoes when they visit us. So far I was too timid to do so though.... I guess it doesn't help that it's so cool inside. Well, I bought some nice warm slippers for myself.

My boys and the fireplace... and Hermie's watching as well, can you see her??

I finished memorizing chapter 1 of Ephesians and I'm as proud as can be. Some of it still doesn't make sense to me though, but at least I can ponder it now, because it's stored in my memory.

And I'm also very glad to report that I hardly miss diet coke at present. That almost shocks me, because I expected it to be so difficult, whereas it proofs to be quite achievable. I still haven't started doing exercise again though, I still have to get myself sorted out in this area, sigh... sometimes it is really hard to keep all your juggling balls up in the air to achieve a healthier lifestyle, but it is worth it, isn't it??

But besides me being constantly slightly cold, life is really good, and so is God. There were one or two occasions when I felt tempted to try out throwing a tantrum, but my better judgement won, and if God continues giving me a "WAIT" instead of a "YES" or a "NO", wait I patiently shall, without grumbling (okay, almost without grumbling... there was a tiny bit of grumbling... and said consideration of throwing a tantrum). Earlier in the evening I went for a little walk through the night (I just love going for walks/runs at night times) and I was amazed about the space. Somehow I feel I can "breath", I can't explain it, but everything seems wider and bigger... even the moon.

So, now I'll head of... maybe even to bed??? Who knows... 9:30pm IS a bit early to hit the sack :o)

I've had a headache for the last couple days, more than a week already. I guess it's the smaller amount of sugar intake of the last days as well as the lack of caffeine. And my human nature wants to go down the "self-pity" lane ("Poor me, can't have chocolate nor coke, everyone, have pity for me and treat me REALLY nice"). But the whole thing about this sacrifice is about filling the gap with God instead of something or someone else. Drinking water like a camel is also hard on me. Growing up we'd never just drink plain water, it was always bubbly water mixed with juice. But every time I pick up a glass of water and start grumbling in my mind those words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman in John chapter4:

"but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Somehow thinking of Jesus and the living water makes me appreciate the water I have freely access to much more: the water Jesus speaks of as well as the plain old water out of my tap... whereas many people around the world have neither the living water nor access to the clean earthly water. So it makes me grateful to have it and drink it.

Well, what else is happening...

Ned's gotten SOOOO much better since turning three, it's AMAZING!!! I almost dare to write that the horrible twos are finally over, YAY!! We might still have some more relapses, but so far, we haven't had any major situation and much better obedience and stuff. Ced on the other had turns out to be quite the rascal and acquits scolding with a cheeky grin. He's also learned how to stand by himself, so he might start walking soonish. I don't know if that's an event I'm looking forward to or not... he's so fast crawling... how much faster will he be walking???? He's also a bit of a bully. I guess he just doesn't realize how strong he is and he's just plain attracted to other babies (who are all smaller than him)... we call him "CEDzilla", the destroyer... ou well... he has to live with an older brother who loves sitting on him.

Ou, and by the way, who says that boys aren't particular with their shoes???? NEd is VERY particular with shoes, he always tells me which shoes he wants to wear. And when Aunty Jill showed us her new bridesmaid's shoes she's suppose to wear and not fall over, he insisted on having a try on as well:o)))

Challenges

Sometimes God challenges you with the little things in life... as well as with big things of course. But there is this one little thing he's challenging me about... it part of a bigger picture so I guess I have to start from the beginning.

Well, I shared before that I'm totally out of my own routines and disciplines. I AM slowly getting back on track, slowly but surely. I was challenged by Liezel's Blog. She's reading this book "Made to crave" by Lisa Terkeurst and was challenged herself about her eating habits. And I guess her blog was a bit of a wake up call for myself. So good girl that I am, I went straight to our one and only friendly Christian bookstore in town and got a copy. I felt a bit embarrassed as the lady at the counter was this gorgeous looking skinny girl and you don't really wanna buy a book about weight problems from a skinny girl, but ou well, Bob's your uncle.

And it really is a challenging book. It helps me to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle, not only physically but spiritually. I hadn't read my bible in over half a year or even longer. Stubborn pighead that I can be at times I didn't want to read it until God gave me a passion and love for it. I still struggle with the bible, but I am drawn to the book of Ephesians, always have been. I read it I don't know how many times, but it never got stuck up there or in my heart. You know... you read but after you read it you still don't have a clue what you just read. Rather frustrating. So when I finally opened my bible again last Friday for the first time in half a year to really read it, I opened Ephesians. And I started to memorize it. I'm sick of reading it and not knowing what I just read and if I'm a bit dumb that way I guess I have to read it the only way I can truly remember: veeeeeerrry slowly, verse by verse and memorize, memorize and memorize. I'm up to verse 12 I think. I want to engrave it into my heart and brain so that I will be able to understand God's word (Ned noticed that at times I'm staring blankly into the far distance and mutter to myself. He keeps telling me to stop talking:o))).

So that was a rather bigger challenge which was a result of reading this book.

The author points out that God designed us the way that we do crave... everyone craves something. And God wants to be the one to fill this craving but unfortunately us humans try to stuff the hole with many other things instead: love, friendship, career, marriage, kids, food, alcohol, drugs... you name it. And satisfying the craving with anything besides God is sin. She's got a point.

The last week I adjusted, thought, planned, read, prayed, memorized and got challenged again. I stopped eating chocolate. I cut down on my sweets or sugar intake. I started to drink at least 2l of plain water (which makes me feel like a camel as I really do NOT enjoy drinking water very much), but you know, when I wanted a little "kick" I'd turn to my dearly beloved diet coke. I LOVE that stuff!! I crave that stuff... I'm addicted to that stuff. And here we go... I got challenged by God to quit drinking it. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I certainly do NOT want to, because, hey, where's the fun in life without it, and without chocolate, gummibears and other lovelies it was a good a faithful friend... but still, here I go and tell all the word I quit drinking my addiction, my bubbly joy and refresher. I want God to be my addiction, my bubbly joy and the refresher of my heart, not a soft drink. You might think me VERY stupid or silly but it might be coffee for you or black tea or cigarettes. It almost makes me cry if I think about not having this little treat to look forward to every day, but it's the right thing to do. Unfortunately the right things often don't feel so good and rewarding in the short term, but in the long run it's quite a different story.

I don't say that I will never EVER again drink a coke, but only once it doesn't hold a power over me anymore. Just like with chocolate. Eating chocolate is just not safe for me. I hadn't eaten any chocolate in over 4 months but once I started again it wielded it's power over me and sooner than you can think I went down the slippery chocolate slope.

So this was my laaaast diet coke for now.... sigh

It's decisions I make but only the strength of God can actually achieve anything. If I do anything out of my own strength I'll end up sooner or later back at exactly the same spot I used to be before or even further down. It sounds a bit silly to think that not eating chocolate or not drinking diet coke will bring me closer to God... but I think it's a step in the right direction. I guess going to bed at a decent time would also be a good step... hmmm... but one can't get everything perfect in one go, right???

Ou well, I started drinking tea again, not back tea, bless me, but my old friend, the peppermint tea, not as thrilling and exciting as coke, but it gives plain water a better flavour, not that I like tea much... sigh... ou well, I'm off to bed, way too late yet once again.

Australian wildlife

Well, so far I've only seen a kangaroo in the animal park we visited the other day. And as koalas aren't native to Western Australia I haven't seen one roaming around either. Neither has an emu crossed my path in the wild yet. So in that aspect Australia has been a bit of a disappointment so far. On the other hand I also haven't encountered too many poisonous things, only one redback so far, so I should be grateful that the Aussie wildlife stays were it's suppose to stay: out, in the wild.

But well, there is some Aussie wildlife I actually think quite cute: Geckos. I wouldn't even mind having one in the shower, but my little gecko friend was a good little guy and actually lived where he was suppose to live: OUTSIDE. Anyway, so I found this little guy yesterday when I was sweeping the veranda. I was head over heels. He was pretty frightened. But I managed to grab the camera and get a shot which wasn't too blurry .

I thought him sooooo cute, but life can be SOOOO cruel. Today I was sweeping the carport and there is this pile of fridge cardboard boxes (yepp, you guessed it, the once from the labyrinth). I moved them out of my way and when I got ready to sweep, I found my little friend again. Dead. Killed by me. With a cardboard box. I felt so bad. He was such a cute little guy. But what could I do??? I've never heard of doing CPR to a gecko, so I told him R.I.P.

While continuing sweeping I thought about how weird human beings can be, I mean, getting upset about killing accidentally a little gecko whereas IF a spider came my way I'd gladly kill it without consideration. Not 2 minutes later said spider did come my way. It was a "baby" huntsmen and only around 5 or 6cm in diameter (I am told that they get so big up North that you can hear them walking over your vinyl floors), but that was big enough for me and BANG it got hit on its head with my broom and now it R.I.P.'s very close to the cute gecko.

Spiders just freak me, especially huntsmen as they take up their "defence" position and and lift up their front legs in defence (or attack???), it ain't no pretty sight and it gives me the creep and goosebumps all down my back. I am not arachnophobic, but I can't stand them. But here I am, dealing out death to God's wonderful and not so wonderful creation. If I like it or nor, He delights in geckos AND spiders... but I hope that doesn't mean that I have to start being delighted by spiders... and I also hope that the mama of the baby huntsmen doesn't lurk around somewhere close.

Celebrating a simple life

You know, I remember that day three years ago like it was yesterday. I got up around eight in the morning, Ben still sleeping, and went to buy some strawberries, not knowing that the second of June would change my life as I knew it. 6h later I held a little screaming bundle in my arms and big brown eyes stared back at me.

Last night I tucked in a very happy bundle in his bed after a day celebrating his birthday. It wasn't the healthiest day and all our sugar levels must have been sky high, but oh what a day.

We're not really "party people" and at first I didn't even want to organize a small party, but then we moved in this nice place with lots of space and a huuuuuge garden and I though "Ou well, have a couple of kids over." Which we had. The original plan was for the kids to run wild in the garden while us mums could have a good chat. But then a little idea rooted in my mind. You see, one of our friends works in a fridge retailer shop and they have these HUGE cardboard boxes, LOTS of HUGE cardboard boxes. Well, we ended up having a little tunnel maze around the living room and dining room.... I guess I don't need to tell ya how much fun the kids had :o)))

Happy birthday

One of his presents

The boys and the tools

Ned and his birthday-jelly-rabbit

The cardboard box underneath the table is part of the tunnel maze

I tried my hand on cake pops... they look cute but they are too much a pain in the neck for me to make them again (but if you fancy them here's the how:

http://www.bakerella.com/hope-these-put-a-smile-on-your-face/

He doesn't look it, BUT he enjoyed them

New friends: Jesse and Charlie popping their heads out of the maze

Katie's having a rest inside the tunnels

Ced also thought those tunnels great fun

Happy Birthday Ned!!!

I'm so unspeakably thankful to our Lord and Creator that He has put YOU in our lives

All the laughs, the cries, the cuddles, the kisses, the tantrums.... I would NOT want to miss any of it.

I love you little pumkin!!!

P.S. And I love the other pumpkin as much