17/52

Him: A country town skate park with no one else around....lucky he put his board in!

Her: Screen printing her own shirts has kept her busy over the school holidays.

My 52 weeks Project 

Joining in with Jodi's project

Things I am Loving

Wow what a funny week...school holidays, Easter holidays and then another long weekend for Anzac Day...hard to keep up with what day of the week it is.....

So here is my loves for the week ....

Road tripping with these guys.....off exploring uncharted ground...{well to us anyways}

Baking Anzac biscuits for the road trip and well because that's what you do in the days leading up to Anzac Day!

Then gifted some for a friend to go with the dinner I cooked for them....I used this cute printable on the packaging....

Go and check out this very heart touching story that Jo shares of a real Anzac. 

I took Fraser to see the Lego Movie......I was a little concerned at the start that I had just paid for a 100 minute product placement add....but it really was a great movie and the messages were good ones...love the twist at the end.

Loving that it inspired some Lego creating when we got home.....

and we could all do with a little reminder from Kid President.....




joining in with Meghan

Thursday Thankful List

* Home grown produce

* A fun kids church Easter carnival

* The tradition of family Easter egg hunts

* Looking on at the partnership between little kids and big kids

* Spontaneous road trips

* Curried egg sandwiches and thermos tea

* Anzac biscuits baked for friends

* Watching my children be creative

* Extra days off altogether

* Play dates with cousins

* Sisters willing to hold the play dates

* Inspirational blogging friends

* Having the courage to tell a friend that I will pray for her

* De-cluttering moves that fill bins and clear spaces

* Passing off unwanted goods successfully on Gumtree

#488 Long sleep ins

My other lists are here

Kid Crafting in the holidays...

 My kids have been a little more crafty than myself these holidays......

I encouraged my boy to jump on the rainbow loom bandwagon...a little late and not very high tech.....but it has really captured his imagination and certainly taken him away from the screens ....worth while in my books for that alone......

My girl has busied herself with some more screen printing.....creating some one off shirts for herself and another couple for friend's birthday presents....  

My creativity has been concentrated on some serious de-cluttering of our house and more seriously my craft room.....the bins are full, the op shops have gained a whole lot of new stock, I even had some luck on Gumtree and I am starting to feel better about the space......

Joining in with Show and Tell

Road Tripping....

Some extra time off together....the promise of a beautiful day.....we decided to take a road trip.....

So with the curried egg sandwiches, Anzac biscuits and the thermos packed off we went.... 

We headed North East from home......traveled on roads that bought back memories of being kids....roads we very rarely if ever have ventured on.... 

 

It was spontaneous...and we headed off with great expectations of an adventure....

Took in the sights of country towns unfamiliar to us....

Even played a game of "what if" when we saw this cute place for sale....ever thought of escaping the busyness of the city??

It wasn't hard to spot the local characters around the towns.....

 

We needed this  to get out and breathe in the fresh air....widen our horizons....

 

have a little laugh or two... lose the internet connection for a while....

The country always holds some mystic for us city folk.....

This time of the year all is dry....the main river running is as dry as a bone.....something we don't often think too much about in suburbia...

The controlled burns around the country side had us fascinated...obviously marking the end and change of seasons in this part of the country....this wheat growing part.....

so far removed from the preparation we are doing in our little garden for the winter coming....

All the while we were driving hearing the harmony that is not always there ....sharing colours as they weave and created in the backseat....

We introduced our kids to the truck-stop lunch with the thermos for a cuppa.....the quiet of stopping where there is no-one else in sight......

All the while us sharing our own stories with the kids and each other of the adventures and memories of doing this with our parents......thermos and sandwiches included ....

We wandered the streets of a town owned and operated by the Benedictine Monks....

wondering if a few days in their quiet space may help with the busyness and crowding of our heads...

There was even a tea stop at a country skate park for some fresh air and leg stretching....especially for the guy who so optimistically put the skateboard in....

.

It was a long day but so worthwhile doing......exploring places that are not far but provide us with new sights.....conversation......memories.

Do you take road trips....do you pack sandwiches and a thermos?

Easter as it was......

 The weekend

.... was a long one.

.... was full of food

.... was full of family

.... busy

.... a time to celebrate birthdays

.... a beautiful sunny one

and then there was today......

quiet

slow

filled with tea

and sunshine

Looking forward to another week of school holidays all off together.....

Joining in with The Beetle Shack

Happy Easter

 Well in our house we have done the Easter egg Hunting...a family tradition to do that on Friday...and we hold a pretty good hunt in our garden.....

We eat with our families over the days....

We enjoy the extra days off

We certainly eat our fair amount of Chocolate

We also spend a bit more time at our church......this is an important time in our faith calender.....the faith that I was bought up in and now we our children....the time of the year to reflect on our faith and the gift of Jesus giving up his life for us....

Our faith that has been tested many times over the years......the one that we can lean back into....that will always catch us when we find it all too hard....

The one that we share with those who wish to know.....

Easter is a big one for those who don't usually get to church...they come...reconnect with others, with Jesus....find out first hand what a faith can mean to them...

Yes we celebrate with the eggs and hot cross buns.....but we also acknowledge that we are not perfect and the gift of Jesus dying on the cross is enough to assure us of more.

So if you haven't been to church in a while...or ever....maybe you can find one for tomorrow...go check it out....go check out the people...the community....the faith that they profess....

Happy Easter

16/52

Him: Every man for himself at the Easter Egg Hunt

Her: Being a gentle helper with the littliest

My 52 Weeks Project

Joining in with Jodi's Project

Thursday Thankful List

* Surprise family reunions

* Hot Autumn days

* Boat cruising on the river

* Creative, clever bakers in the family

* Big birthday celebrations

* Overseas and interstate family catch ups

* Comparing family gene traits

* Chocolate Cherry Ripe Cheesecake

* Everyone willing for a family photo shoot

* Responsible kids who can mind their siblings

* Breakfast out with the lot

* The excitement and anticipation over the annual Easter egg hunt

* A perfectly still and warmish evening to entertain and showcase our beautiful garden

* Days off work

* Seeing family smile and laugh

#472 The amount of chocolate in the house....well for this chocoholic it is appealing.

My other lists are here.

 

Weekend Snippets

I know it is midweek but it has taken me this long to catch up.....

I don't know why I do it...every single time.....have high expectations that school holidays are going to be lazy, relaxed and full off lack of routine....

What I fail to remind myself is that I usually have to still head into the office for most of the first week, which means sorting the kids that are now not at school.....I have visions of long sleep ins, big clean outs, lots of crafting......

Enough of my lament.....these school holidays have started with a bang...a family reunion of all my husbands siblings for a big birthday bash.

We were warned to not organise anything...let it go under the radar, no attention bought to it at all....so everything was done in secret...hard work when that someone doesn't like to be suprised or organised by others.

So flying in a family member from Texas and one from Sydney was a challenge.....

But oh so worth it in the end.....we truly celebrated ...we even hired a  private charter on our  beautiful cities river...... 

It was a stunning day and so many laughs were had and much catching up was done......it is so very rare for us all to be together these days. 

So the last few days have been a mix of family dinners, photo shoots before everyone flies the coop again and me trying to prepare for second busiest time on the calender for me as a Children's Pastor.

A big breath.....my holidays from the office begin NOW for a week.....still programmes to run over the Easter weekend but maybe a little lounging around and hanging out with the kids will happen.

Joining in with The Beetle shack