Caroling

Last night we went caroling with friends from Church. It is the first time I've ever done caroling outside in the cold - and it was everything I dreamed it would be.

Don't believe Eliana's face below - she loved being snuggled up to her daddy, going from house to house singing. I especially loved singing about the birth of our glorious Saviour to neighbours.

Lilah thought the singing was ok, but slept through most of it :)

Sewing fever

Sewing that crayon roll ignited in me a passion for sewing again. So the next day I finally made some new cushion covers. I learnt that I could use things in my home to create a cover, so it didn't cost a cent. I used the never-fail 'Google' and 'You Tube' combination to search "sew cushion covers" and used this tutorial.

For the first cover I used left over material from the (awesome) nappy bag my mother made while we were in Australia:

For the next cushion I attempted creativity and used scrap material, a belt and an old t-shirt. I used an old thin towel for the back:

For the third one, I used two different scrap materials and an old nighty for the white band:

Eliana seems to like them - she pretends they are new friends :) I'm now on the hunt for more things from our house that I can revamp in order to brighten things up over the winter season!

Crayon Rolls

Last night, Nate bought Eliana some crayons and a colouring book for Christmas. A friend had told me about crayon rolls, so I googled how to sew one (don't you love that google can be a verb!) I took the instructions from here. It was a very rewarding project - a great way to use up scrap material, and it didn't take very long - even for my novice hands. I made two in one night.

I made the one below first, but the size was for regular crayons, and therefore a tight fit for the big triangle crayons that Nate bought. I could foresee this causing frustration for Eliana (picture crayons going flying in the middle of church).

So I added an inch to the height of my next roll and a 1/4 inch for each crayon pocket (7" x 22") and it turned out to be a better fit (although the height could be 1/2" shorter).

I think I want one for Christmas too!

Happy Birthday, my love

All reading for the semester is due tomorrow. So - after a special dinner and chocolate cheesecake - this is how we are spending Nate's birthday. Tomorrow - we celebrate!

Solid virtues

I love being a stay-at-home mum. In fact, the only job I would rather right now is being a stay-at-home mum in Africa. However, there are certain things about home making that cause a sneaky question to creep into my mind: "Does this have any eternal benefit?"

It's usually times like when I finish cleaning the dishes, only to turn around and find the sink full of dirty dishes again. Or when I've finally folded the last pair of socks from a mountain of clean laundry, only to find the laundry basket full of dirty clothes by nightfall. I recently came across a quote that has greatly encouraged me as I go about the less-appealing-jobs of home making. It was written by a man who gave spiritual direction by letters in the 15 & 16oos, Francis de Sales. In one of his responses to a mother writing him about her concerns of the never ending tasks of home making he wrote:

"I remember you telling me how much the multiplicity of your affairs weighs on you, ... [This] is a good opportunity for acquiring the true and solid virtues" - Francis de Sales

It is not the only answer to the sneaky question that pops into my head, but it has certainly been helping me combat grumbling (as I clean the toilet) with thankfulness, absent mindedness (as my hands are plunged into another soap filled sink) with prayerfulness, and doubt (as I go about the lesser tasks of the day) with peace. If I wasn't faced with these - and bigger challenges - how could I practice the true and solid virtues? It's easy to be thankful when I'm going about the enjoyable tasks of the day!

So even the small things can be used to learn that "to live is Christ". May the Lord help me to die to myself and live for him in all my tasks and my attitudes.

Crocheted craft

Thank you for my gorgeous hand-made beanie, Jael!!!!

Husband pleaser

I've been making this bread for about a month or so now. I got the recipe from a link on a friend's blog. The article is titled 5 minutes a day for fresh baked bread. You have got to try it. The article may seem long but the recipe is so simple once you've read the background info. It really does take only 5 minutes of your time once the dough is made (which itself only takes 5 minutes of your time).

The first time I made this, when Nate got home he literally said. "Where did that come? Did you make it? Really? Wow! You're amazing! I love you!" The praise only got better after he tasted it. The bread only gets better the more you make it too! Thanks for the recipe, Laura!

Baby Blanket

A dear friend from church, Teresa, made Lilah this blanket. She chose the colour - lilac - before she knew what Lilah's name means - "Lilac tree". That's pretty cool! It is adorable. The back side has a beautiful layer of flannel that is so soft. I admit that I've been using the blanket for myself while reading in the cold mornings/nights.

Eliana loves it. She couldn't wait to model it for us.

I think Lilah is ok with it, too :)

Eliana's 2nd B'day

We had another BBQ at Cherokee park this year for Eliana's birthday. It was a clear, cold and beautiful day.

Nate was an absolute champion, doing all of the shopping and handling 3 bbq's on his own - to perfection. There's no man like Nate!

Once again I made a pumpkin cheesecake in celebration of Autumn. It's a hit if you'd like the recipe!

Though there was plenty of food and friends to enjoy, Eliana's favourite part was sneaking off to play in the park. Thank you to all the sweet ladies that took care of her!

My favourite part was when Joanna and Buni pulled out their fiddles to play songs for Eliana. It was such a treat. What a blessing musically gifted friends are!

The 'bag bag'

I'm a big fan of 'bag bags', and Nate had requested one a few times, so I finally found on line (@ the Martha Stewart site) how to whip up a quick bag bag. I used a tea towel, some scrap material, and elastic.

A birth story (2)

Birth stories aren't for everyone, but if you do enjoy reading them here is a link to Lilah's birth story on the girls' blog (or you can click on their link in the top right corner).

Four Years

Five days after Lilah was born, Nate and I celebrated our fourth year anniversary (hence the lateness of this post). Of course, we went out for a big breakfast and enjoyed Dubbo's best 'flat white' (coffee) at the Grape Vine Cafe.

Each year Nate and I choose a word to summarise the last year of marriage. Year one was "revealing", year two was "adventure", and year three was "abundant". Year four we both agreed on the word "growth". To decide on the word, Nate and I will separately come up with three words on our own that we think describe the year. We then reveal our words to each other and discuss which one summarises the year the best. It's funny, but each year, our deciding word has been on each of our three worded list!

This year, growth was on top because of the many ways we had seen growth. Our family grew from three members to four, our marriage had grown stronger through the grace of the Lord Jesus, and by the mercy of God, each of us had grown in our relationship with the Lord, which hugely impacts our marriage.

Just before our anniversary, Nate had read John Piper's book, This Momentary Marriage (note: meaning 'momentary' in the light of eternity). He liked it so much, that I think he has already given away 4 or 5 copies. Personally speaking, I didn't think it was possible for Nate to be a better husband. However, and profoundly, I did see him grow even more sacrificial and selfless after reading the book, especially during the hard time of serving a post-labour mum, a new born baby, and a 20 month old daughter.

We are taking a marriage class together at the Seminary this semester. One thing that our veteran professor, Dr. Cutrer and his wife, Jane, taught us and that stood out to me straight away is that though we love each other intensely, we are still such infants in knowing how to love each other. It excites me to know that God still has so much to teach us and that our marriage still has so much to grow! I pray that through journeying along the highs and lows that marriage (and life) will bring us, the Lord will continue to keep us and grow us nearer to Him and each other all our days.

Recycling

Here Eliana is wearing a dress that use to be mine when I was a little girl. My Aunty Beryl brought it back from Papua New Guinea for me and it's now still going strong!

Got the chop

My hair falls out like crazy after giving birth so I finally went and got it cut yesterday ($5 at Empire Beauty School!). It has the added bonus of being out of reach of Lilah's little grabbing hands :)

Peach pickin'

There is a neat farm about 40 minutes from Louisville called Hubers. They grow all their fruit in season and allow people to come out and pick it fresh from the trees/vines. We made a trip out the other day during peach picking time.

Fruit tastes sooo good when ripened on the tree! Buni, below, thoughtfully decided to coordinate his t-shirt with the peaches for photos :)

Eliana had a ball on the tractor and running up and down the rows of peach trees. She also loved keeping me on my toes as I tried to prevent her from putting rotten peaches from the ground in our fruit box! Thankfully her Aunty Jael was around to help do some chasing :)

Jael and her brother, David, from Switzerland, won the prize for best fruit finders.

A lot of people pick boxes of peaches to make pies, jams, tarts and other wonderful creations that I can't think of right now. All of our peaches are destined for our freezer and eventually for peach smoothies.

The PeaPod

I would like to recommend one of the most useful gifts we've been given. The Lakelins gave us a PeaPod, pictured below. It is an easily transportable 'tent' for infants and toddlers to sleep in. It has already come in handy many times and I'm sure that number will soon turn into countless times. It is very light, easily folds into the size of a large frisbee, comes with a self inflating mattress, and pops open into it's full size in about 3 seconds!

We have used it for Lilah to nap/sleep in while travelling, for Eliana (who loves it) to sleep in when we stay late at a friend's place, and for shade cover and protection from the sand for Lilah while at the beach in Michigan.

Thanks so much, Lakelins! It gives smiles all round!

A trip to Michigan

A couple of days after returning from Australia, we took a trip to Michigan to visit Nate's side of the family. Eliana got to meet her new cousin, Nora (below with Aunty Sara), and Lilah got to meet the Michigan crew.

Below Lilah is with her great Grandma Heintzleman.

Nate's cousins, Shannon and Hannah, who just turned 13! Happy Birthday girls :)

Lilah's great Aunty Sue :)

And Grandma Triplett

It was quite nice to visit Michigan in the Summer. We saw many other relatives, too, but unfortunately didn't snap any photos with them... Now we are home, sweet home in Kentucky and getting ready for Nate's (hopefully) last semester before heading overseas!