Just a little update

"I think I grew a bit now that I'm six"

Now that my oldest has mastered riding a bike, my 3 year old has to run much faster to keep up!

Sporting his new Ryerson Camp shirt! And my little girl wearing the family running hat.

We stumbled accross this fire awareness fair down at the Strand and it had the perfect outlet for the boys! I am particularly fond of the head gear and am considering making it a permanent addition.

Thomas the tank Engine pass on hat (originally courtesy of Adam Cresswell who owns a matching version), Spider man shirt, Kung Fu Panda villain in hand and a skirt for that feminine flair. My daughter is embracing the role of little sister to two older brothers well!

Packages from Canada can take anywhere from 2 weeks to three months to arrive (so we have learned), but when they do come, there is great celebration! Thanks to everyone who sends us stuff. The excitement is overwhelming when it arrives! (This one was courtesy of Lauren and it's contents were subsequently spread accross the entirety of the lawn)

And so the adventure continues! I have a job! Which is wonderful and has provided a church home, a ministry and a community in one go. I'm beginning to settle into the role of Family, Youth and Children's Pastor and have been blown away by the love and generosity of the many people who have made it possible to be in this role. The church didn't have a job oppening, but a bunch of folks decided to kick in a little extra each week to bring me on board as staff. There is lots of opportunities and I'm hoping that all my experience back home will be of some use to them. I am also already confident that I will learn a lot from these wonderful folks!

I continue to adjust to all things Australian. I am now to the point that I don't think, 'drive on the opposite side that you think' and have entered the 'I can't remember what is normal to do the opposite of'...so have to think even harder about which side to be on. The heat is picking up here, but we have already had the air conditionning on since...well, all through the winter, so I'm not sure how to get it cooler! It also means I'm increasingly desperate for the kids to sleep through the night, because running later than 8 is too hot to handle! It also has made homeschooling increasingly challenging. Trying to motivate a sweaty 6 year old while his brother and sister pick at him has proven a significant obstacle. But we are working together on it and trying to sit under the air conditioner to read and write!

My youngest's personality has begun to shine through and she is asserting her independance. She is also now able to be a co-conspirer with my 3 yr old as I found the two of them behind the sofa with the white sugar all over the floor and licking their fingers...then a couple of days later it was the brown sugar! That is apparently the other homeschooling risk, as I was working with my oldest on both occasions.

We have also managed to attract quite the colletion of birds at our feeder, many of them Lorikeets that are absolutely beautiful. They take the place of our pets for now. My next goal is to try to get them to eat out of my hands. We will seee how that goes.

Okay, so that is the check in up date for now.