More leggings!

I totally made leggings for myself! And let me brag about the price.... $4.50 for THREE PAIRS! Yes... I love the clearance fabric shop in Otara. People say alot of bad stuff about South Auckland, but you can't beat cheap food, and cheap clearance outlets! (and not to mention the bakeries... YUM!).

These will be going under my jeans by the way... it's winter and I'm not brave enough to waddle around in these for all to see my curves!!

school holiday fun

Well, I got the idea from another blogger who is also having school holidays over in Oz. She has 7 kids though, so there's a bit of a difference, but Catherine has the energy of 7, so there we go.
Anyway... Lollie biscuits. YUMMO.
Pretty fun if you ask me... and it was, coz I made some too.

And we put the new mattress to the test. We set them out and slept in the lounge. Well, that was what it was for anyway. Catherine always asks me to sleep with her, and last time I did I slept on squabs, and boy that was uncomfy! Now we can camp out together in relative comfort.

One man's trash is another man's treasure!

Well, it's been the hard-rubbish collection in Papatoetoe. You know how I said I fantasise about what I would do if I was destitute? Well, I've been doing it! It was a bit of a rush too, because it's pretty embarrassing to be seen picking through other people's rubbish... but look what I scored!
This chair... I'm going to paint it black and upholster it. Upholstery material is on special for $10 a metre at the moment.
And this mattress...
Some people would say "gross!"... but I got 4 buckets of hot water and drenched it with disenfectant ($1.25) and then recovered it in new material ($6)... total $7.25 for a mattress that would cost $80 brand new! Can't tell you how stoked I am!

I got sewing!

Well, Catherine went away with her Godmother for 2 days, and I got sewing!

4 pairs of leggings for winter, and a belt and a head-band. And basically all for nothing because it was the remant from a piece of fabric I'm using to cover a mattress. Teresa (Catherine's God-mother) said to me after I told her all the money I was saving.. "We're completely opposite! I'll spend any ammount of money to save time, and you'll spend any ammount of time to save money!".

spectacular hair!

Captains Log: school holidays day 4. All going well, Catherine is currently at her God-mothers, staying the night tonight.

She also has spectacular hair at the moment. A friend at church braided it for her. Her name is Losa, and she moved here a year or two ago from the States. Infact, she's the girl I did this and this portrait for, so she did Catherine's hair for me.

And the sign is for the play-group I used to go to. Well, the church the play-group is in. Nice to get it all done. Now that all my jobs are done, I'm off to do some sewing!

Captains log, school holidays. Day 2.

School holidays here in New zealand. Two weeks. I'm leaving to put up a sign in half an hour, and then I'll come back and do some school holidays activities. I've written myself a little list... it may just end up being tidying the house, but I remember when I was a kid, being at home while mum did house hold tasks was so much fun, and all I ever wanted to be was a house-wife, because of the life I saw my mum live.

Oh yeah. We are still doing faith-box as a family. We are doing fruits of the spirit at the moment. This weeks fruit are Peace, Patience and Self-control... things I definitely need to work on!

Quick book review

Ever heard the quote.. "Every thing I ever needed to know I learnt in Sunday School"? Well , that's what I thought of when I read this book.

Here is a quick summary of what I got from the book...

- God gives you wealth and the ability to enjoy it

- We are in a raging battle against the forces of evil, and Satan uses money to distract christians and make them ineffective for the kingdom

- Don't make money a god. God is your only true source of security. Money gives a false sense of security.

- Giving money to God's purposes sets your heart on true riches: heaven. There is a direct link to where your treasure is and where your heart is. The bible doesn't say, where your time, how much you read your bible or how much you pray determines where your heart is, but "where your treasure is, there your heart will be".

Back to basics huh? The bible is true, and we need to put it into practice. We will be judged on these things, but God wants us to pass the test... that's why He's given us the question in advance!

Stoked!

Yay! my book has arrived! Can't wait to read it. Christian book on money management. In the meantime, here's what I'm thinking.

There seem to be two conflicting messages in the christian world regarding money.

1. You here of famous christians who died with no more than a dollar in their pockets. People who say that they don't want to face Jesus when they die with money in the bank... who say they don't want to say on their death bed "could I have given more?". And stories from missionaries who talk about money appearing in the account days before their trip, or money appearing in locked rooms.

2. The other view is what this book is about. The view that we are stewards of God's resources. We should save for a rainy day, so that when there's an emergency we wont max out the credit card. What we have is a gift from God and we should enjoy it. We don't have to become destitute to please God.

Well, it just occurred to me last night, that which ever one I choose, God will be happy with me, as long as I just choose one and do it with all my heart for His glory. I don't think there's a one size fits all. The bible says, which ever one you choose, do it for the glory of God and that makes it acceptable to Him (1 Corinthians 10 : 27-31)

YIPPEEEE!

Well, you know which one I'm gonna choose. As I said, I daydream of being destitute and living to a tight budget. (that sounds like no 1. but no, it's no. 2 it's gonna do). Let me tell you 2 more stories:

1. YEARS ago, I saw this story on the news where these two solo mums had no money for christmas. Nothing. But they decided they were going to cellebrate anyway. So they wrapped up gifts from the two dollar shop in newspaper, and decorated the christmas tree with popcorn. And you know what? Ever since I saw that item, I've daydreamed about it and put popcorn on OUR tree ever since!

2. Nigel told me that none of his brothers or sisters ever got birthday or christmas presants because their mum was on the benefit. I've always daydreamed about what I would do... this: get a jar for each kid and put .50 cents in each jar every week so at least they'd have something.

Man I'm stoked about this. This is the stuff of (day)dreams!

Anyway, when I read the book, I'll tell you all about it :)

devotional

I read "Word for Today" as my daily devotional. I really feel that God has helped me in the simple things in the last few years. For example, giving up tea and going to bed early. Here is the devotional for today, full of good wisdom.

There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "A diamond cannot be polished without friction, and a person can't be perfected without trials." We all want to live stress free without having to work at it, but it can't be done.

So, look at these 15 suggestions.

1. Take time each day to pray and read God's Word: it'll transform your outlook
2. If in real life you look like your passport photo, take a holiday, you need one!
3. What goes up must come down, so cut back on caffeine and sugar!
4. Eat right - a balanced diet isn't having a cookie in each hand!
5. Exercise three to five times a week for 30 minutes; it's nature's remedy for stress
6. Develop better time management habits; "use it or lose it"
7. Make room in your life for fun and relaxation
8. Get eight hours of sleep when possible
9. Maintain your sense of humour "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit aps a person's strength (Proverbs 17.22)
10. Start counting your blessings. The Psalmist said, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 103.2)
11. When you talk to yourself, say the right things. Your words affect you more than others
12. Simplify your life by elimination clutter. If you haven't used it for two years, you probably don't need it
13. Develop a sense of purpose by seeking God and setting personal goals
14. Forgive; grudges are too heavy to carry; 'if you refuse to forgive others, you Father will not forgive you' (Matthew 6.15)
15. Read the last chapter of the bible - we win!

Daydreams...

You know, some people daydream about winning lotto. They write mental lists of the first thing they would buy, and look at late model cars in envy. Well, I'm a bit of a weirdo. I actually daydream of being destitute! I think it must be all the depression stories I grew up with. You know, where you were allowed butter OR jam on your toast but not both, and when the fan-belt broke you used an old pair of pantyhose? But honestly, it gets really bad around times like this when it's the organic rubbish collection. I drive past old mattresses and couches and start daydreaming about how I'd do them up or cover them up and I even started constructing a bedframe from old pallets in my mind.

But it's not like I'm filthy rich now or anything. I DO have to live on a budget. But I don't enjoy it in real life. I think it's because I don't think God wants me to enjoy my money and feel guilty about buying ANYTHING so I give to charity but don't even enjoy THAT and even feel resentful. I think I totally don't get the whole money thing.

That's why I'm really looking forward to this book I have ordered. From what I've heard of it, it maybe the answer to my delima. Basically, it says 100% of our money belongs to God, and we have to use it to glorify God. So spending money on gifts could be an example of that. (I LOVE buying presents!). And God doesnt need our donations. The reason He asks us to give, is that our hearts will be where our treasure is, and He wants our hearts! How liberating is that??

Maybe I will write a little review when I get it, and share what I learn. I'm VERY excited!

Oh yeah. The picture. I made Catherine hair-scrunchies with the left over material from her costume. :)

Gold!

Heres a pretty cool blog entry written by someone who was overweight, but mentions now she can run for 60mins. She followed some kind of program which I'll have to look into... starting running for a minute a day and workedher way up I think. But she also mentions changing her thoughts in order to keep her going. I can relate to that. When I started running earlier this year, it was hard to keep going or improve, because all that would go through my mind was "what's the point?" "can't wait to get home and have a cuppa"...
I've read a couple of self help books. Tony Robinson and 7 habbits of highly effective people. I also was browsing the book section of the warehouse yesterday and there's definitely a theme.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE.
Yes. I had to shout that. Just kidding. Just trying to emphasise the point.
I like to read these books because even though they are not christian literature I believe that they have tapped into a biblical principal. The bible says "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is".
One of the books I browsed by the way, was an Aussie guy with no arms or legs. I'd love to read it because I randomly read 2 separate paragraphs, and what I read was gold! No 1. He has learnt to enjoy life more than most people he knows with limbs. No 2. Play is so important in life, leaving it out of life is as a bad as a lack of sleep.
I really want it! but I dont know if I should or not! Maybe I'll wrap it up and save it as a birthday present for myself!

And here they are...

the long awaited socks! Can't tell you how long I've been working on these. 2 possibly 3 months?

I can't believe theyre done! It took longer because the second sock had to be unpicked to half its size again. I was in such a rush to get these done I misread the pattern and they ended up 1/3 the size again and with the decreases in completely the wrong place. Nana said "aw, what a pain!" but I felt the opposite. I thought of it as an opportunity to become a bit m ore "expert" and learn to unpick to a certain point in the pattern and start from there. I've always thought you'd have to be a pretty experienced knitter to do that, and now I've done it, pretty successfully! There's a fair way to go before I'd call myself experienced though, but I'll get there.

Super-princess

Well, after my success at making meringes the other day, I had this overwhelming urge to make marshmellow. Aaagghh... success! Rolled in coconut and everything. I'm sure the last attempt to make marshmellow was as a kid when I took some to Luarna, with half of it still jelly!( I have an electric beater now Luarna, so I did alot better this time!)

We also have a super hero party this weekend, and Catherine decided to be Super-Princess, so I quickly made a skirt and cape today. If I was going to do it again, I'd make the skirt fuller. Hopefully this skirt makes it through the day without getting ripped. Last time I made her a space-skirt, and she went on the bouncy castle and she ended up half-clad!

Yummy marshmallow!

Catherine shoved a piece of paper under my nose one day, on how to make marshmallow mushrooms. What the hey, I thought, and uncharacteristicly went out and spent $10 on ingredients. She needed meringue tops, but they didnt have any, so I bought these yummy little yogurt biscuits, but no, Catherine didnt like them (they are now in my food stash in my bedroom) so I said, "ok, we'll make the meringue tops". And WOW. These are the best meringues I've made in years! For some reason my merangues always come out like cat-poo. What did I do this time? I added a bit of water and beat them a bit longer is all I can think of. I'll have to commit that to memory for next time. In the end I managed to make them too big to sit on top of the marshmallows! But I don't think Catherine was too dissapointed. She made do in the end...

Faithbox

If I were to write a "thankfullness" list today, I think I'd just start with the fact that I am genuinely thankful. Usually when I start a thankfullness list it's because I'm in a foul mood and it usually starts with things like "thankyou I didn't get attacked by a machete wielding maniac on the way to the letterbox today". In fact, most of the things on the list are things I grimmly think may not have happened today, but could very well happen tomorrow!

No. 2 on the list would be "thankyou for FAITHBOX". This is something we have just started with our family. It's a bible study to teach kids the fundementals of christianity in a fun way. Catherine had a blast last Friday. We did it with her Godmother and Nana. I heard about it on Radio Rhema, from a lady named Mary Grant. Her husband , Ian Grant, interviews her about it each Monday morning, and infact, this week he said something really poignant. "I have a real burden that we may possibly be raising the last church".
As an aside, it cracks me up when he finishes the interview with "Thanks sweetie". People must wonder! Actually... speaking of funny things, the funniest thing I ever heard him say was at a church service. He was asking her the name of a book from the stage, and he goes "What? ... Louder honey... like were arguing!". Ahaha... I laughed my head off!