Jocelyn's blog

Dec. 3, 2008

16 years!

Well, it was a week ago now but Andrew & I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.

Every year, I think I'm amazed at how big the number sounds and yet, with the amount of memories that we have shared, it shouldn't surprise me!

I did get a great compliment on the day. I was at the hairdressers getting my hair cut and when I mentioned it was our 16th year together, he almost dropped the scissors!!! My expressive Italian hairdresser was amazed that I was old enough to be married that long and probably amazed that we are still together!

Well, but by the grace of God, perhaps our road would be very different. We have our lows as well as our highs and it was lovely to go out and celebrate on a high note...

Two friends had mentioned this lovely place, Lambert Vineyards out at Wamboin. It was beautiful out there...sitting high above the vineyards, looking out as the sun was sinking. We enjoyed the food and wine, as well as the atmosphere.

If you are in the area, it's worth going to - www.lambertvineyards.com.au - you can go for wine tasting as well as for meals.

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Nov. 20, 2008

Bike overhaul with Dad

Posted in Things to treasure

Yes, I was cruel... Stephen had been needing another bike for a little while now and we were keen to get a good quality bike second hand. So what do I go and do? Buy what was a good professional kids bike that needed A LOT of work.

I mean, this thing didn't have a chain, it needed new tyres and a new seat. Yes, I paid pittance for it but I was also bringing home a lot of work for Andrew.

Well, last Saturday, he carved out some time in the morning and set to work on it. He kept Stevie by his side the whole time so he would understand a thing or two about bike repairs and more importantly, the amount of work that can go into looking after a bike.

They stripped it back, did a petrol wash, re-greased it, changed the tyres and seat (thankfully we had a spare seat ready to go in the garage) and just cleaned it all up.

A few hours later, Stevie had a bike in pretty good condition and it did still cost a lot less than buying one brand new.

Yes, I was cruel but Andrew was so good about it. I don't remember him complaining (hopefully he wasn't complaining much under his breath) and he did such a great job on the bike as well as with getting Stevie to own the process.

Another reason why I love my man. (Sorry, I'm not usually soppy like this...you'll have to forgive me for this little lapse...)

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Nov. 4, 2008

Just a little brag....

Posted in Things to treasure

Stephen won an MP3 player the other day!

He got the fastest time for 20 multiplication questions at the Duffy School Fete. We were surprised to get the call that he'd won! He's certainly enjoying having some music to play...

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Jul. 16, 2008

Being sick, being blessed

Posted in Things to treasure

Being in the bed with the flu for a week wasn't much fun last week. It 's doing the rounds down here but I guess that's common for winter. Though I struggled through the week, there were many good things that came out of it.

The boys did their best to look after me - well, the three older ones. Mark was too out of sorts by it all. I got breakfast in bed for three mornings - cereal toast and a cup of tea on a tray. Each time, I had asked for some food but had not expected such royal treatment! The older ones helped with cooking, cleaning, washing up and laundry. Not always without complaint but they did do it and it was appreciated.

Andrew took a day off work and a sister in law took a couple of boys away for a day so that was great help too. We also had a couple of meals made for us by others. We were so blessed by this and the prayer support that people gave to us.

Most afternoons, I did "surface" from the bedroom, positioned myself on the couch so my head was being held up by the arm of the chair and we watched some DVDs. They weren't all educational, though some were. We watched a fascinating one on Intelligent Design:

If you get the chance to see this or borrow it, it is well worth a look. We'll probably have to watch it again to pick up all the details. The information was presented in a professional manner and was quite compelling.

The other DVDs included The Scarlet Pimpernel. The boys had listened to audio CDs of "In the Reign of Terror" by G A Henty as we travelled around the US so they were already apprised of many of the historical details and people. It meant they could enjoy the tale without asking me all those background questions too.

The boys still did Maths with Andrew early in the morning and all the work they could manage without me. It has meant that we could take this week off, when I am actually a lot better and can do some low-key things with them.

So thank you again to all who helped and prayed and sent through a special word. We are thankful to God for the mercies he shows, especially in times of weakness.

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Jul. 1, 2008

Adam and his Bible

Posted in Things to treasure

Adam had his birthday in the USA this year but we had a special present waiting for him at home.

Adam has been reading well for a year now but we wanted to wait until he was more careful and able to understand how to read a Bible before he got his very own, so 7 seemed like a good age. Following advice we had when we went through this with the older boys, we got a large print Bible. It is easier for young ones to read the text and find their place. We have two large print Bibles now as we moved one down - Andrew & I will be fine in our senior years! .

Adam has now joined the older boys in doing a morning Bible reading at the start of the day. He uses a devotional guide to help him keep track of where he's up to and there's a couple of points listed to think & pray about. After finding his passage, he then turns to his Bible and reads it to himself.

He then tells me what his reading has been about. Sometimes I ask him questions on it, other times, I thank him for sharing and then we move on with the day.

Are there times when he doesn't want to do it? Well, we have encountered that too much right now. The novelty is still there and the example of his older brothers doing the same thing. It is a habit that is being formed and we pray that God will use it.

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Feb. 6, 2008

Holidays and passports

Posted in Things to treasure

I've had a bit of a holiday from blogging but will try and get back into the swing of it again...

Some of you have heard already that we are heading over to the USA at the end of March. We are going on a 6 week holiday, mainly visiting friends on the east coast. Well, part of the preparation for that is getting new passports for the children. The Australian Government has now decreed that photos for passports must have a "neutral" expression.

I don't know about you but have you ever pulled out a camera and told a three year old NOT to smile? Poor kid... he didn't know what was going on!!

After many attempts with Mark (and I mean at least 20) we think we "might" have one that will pass the stringent requirements. For those of you looking on the blog itself, here's a little catalogue of photos that didn't quite go right...

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Nov. 19, 2007

15 years - where has it gone??

Posted in Things to treasure

Andrew & I celebrated 15 years of marriage on Wednesday! We went away for a couple of days to an idyllic retreat. I'll put a couple of photos in here. The place we went to is called Redbrow and has beautiful gardens.

In some ways, I find it absolutely amazing that it has been that long as time has passed so quickly. In other ways, the deepness of relationship and the age of our children show us that time has passed more slowly!

I don't think I can begin to put together a highlights "package" as it would take me too long. I'll just mention a couple of things from 15 years ago:

We got married on the first Saturday after I finished my Uni exams - always a busy time of year! There were flash floods that day but it was a blessing as I had bad hayfever allergies and was sneezing like crazy the day before...

Andrew only realized the night before that he couldn't set up the reception venue on Saturday morning - um, he had somewhere else to be!!! A lovely friend stepped in to help at the last minute.

Andrew wanted me to leave the reception in my wedding dress. The underground carpark at our reception venue was flooded under a foot of water so I daintily picked up my wedding dress, tiptoed to the elevator and up to the reception. After we checked in, Andrew went down, up and back, down, up and back several times to get out luggage while I took off my wet shoes and just sat there, waiting for him!

We signed the deeds for our house the night before we got married. The sale was being processed on Monday so I had to sign my married name, right there and then in the solicitor's office! That house is the same one we are in now. Back then, it seemed huge and we had a study each and not enough furniture to fill the lounge room. Now, we are finding creative ways to store all of our things!

Time passes, things change, we get older but there is blessing in all of this.

I thank God for our years together and the love we share.

and....Happy Anniversary to the other couples we know who share this day (and year) with us!

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Nov. 1, 2007

Zac is 9 plus getting back on the horse...

Posted in Things to treasure

This last week has been busy. I guess it always is when you have a week being sick and then have to catch up again. I have been disciplined and have stayed off the computer to try and get back on top of things in the home first. It just so happens it was a busy week to be getting back up to speed.

I will do separate entries for some things but we had two excursions (field trips), people over for lunch, a baby to mind and Zac's birthday with the family afternoon tea, as well as the regular routine.

Zac turned 9 today and he is a joy to us. Yes, he can be frustrating at times but one of his greatest strengths showed itself today. The boys have been enjoying the Redwall series. The latest book, Eulalia, came out last month and we ordered it in for Zac's birthday. We knew he'd be excited and Stephen perhaps more so. I prepped Stevie so he would know not to be envious or try to hurry Zac with it. Well, Zac was given a few of the Redwall books. He knew it would take a while to read them all and he decided it was okay for Stevie to read Eulalia first. There was no fuss about it - he freely gave to his brother. I really love that about my second boy and praise God for that part of his nature.

Happy birthday, Zac!

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Sep. 19, 2007

A couple of funny sayings...

Posted in Things to treasure

In the last two days we have had a couple of funny moments, so I thought I'd share them.

Yesterday, when the boys wanted to play computer games, Adam asked when he would be allowed to play the more complex game the older ones were playing. Andrew happened to be home and answered that he would be old enough one day. Andrew came into the kitchen, where I was making dinner to tell me about it. He was still laughing about Adam's reply when he came in.

Apparently, Adam said, "Well, a thousand years are like a day, Daddy!"

Andrew laughed and replied, "Well, that's true for God but you still have to wait until you turn 7!"

The second funny was a few minutes ago. The boys were working on their Maths and Mark, my busy 3 year old, was raiding the books on the shelf behind. He has always liked the covers on the Australians in History series. He held up a book and said, "I'm reading about the history of life."

It was a no nonsense, matter of fact statement. The boys went into whoops of laughter and then said he was very smart.

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Aug. 6, 2007

Knitting project

Posted in Things to treasure

In the July "school holidays", we started knitting jumpers for HIV/AIDS babies in Africa. I did one in green and then the older boys wanted to have a go as well. After many weeks of knitting, many dropped stitches that had to be rescued, as well as the other bumps along the way, we are finished!!

Stephen's on left, Zachary's on the right.

The boys lost a bit of steam as they worked on the second side. Thankfully, we went out to the Watoto Children's Choir last Sunday. There, orphaned children from Uganda sang and spoke powerfully about their lives. The boys saw some babies on the big screen in the presentation part of the evening. When they got home, Zac said, "My jumper is going to one of those babies." The next day, there was renewed energy to get them finished. By Wednesday night, they were all done and I just had to stitch them up.

I also managed to do one more jumper based on the left-over wool. My two are pictured below:

It was wonderful to have a purpose behind a project; it made them think beyond themselves. They also learned a valuable skill. I learned how to knit again and more importantly, how to troubleshoot problems and be patient about them!

Stephen wants to try doing a scarf next. If he does, that would be great as it is his own initiative. Regardless of that, we have enjoyed doing this and pray they will be useful to the orphans who receive them.

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