A long weekend (part 4)

So after much food preparation, airport trips, having showers, getting things organized, taking photo's and loading up the cars with food and people we finally headed over to the chapel Saturday afternoon in preparation for Ethan's baptism.  In our church when you turn eight years old we believe that children have reached the age of accountability, where they can choose right from wrong for themselves and in order to become members of our church they need to be baptized (click on the link for more information).

Ethan has been very excited about turning eight.  He knows the importance of the age and the good choices he can make and felt very special with his family around him.

There was another baptism just before Ethan's, a girl from his church Primary class.  We joined forces for the supper after both baptisms.

Donald had the honor of baptizing Ethan, I gave a talk and Alister shared his testimony and a story about his baptism.  Lindsay and Joan covered the prayers and conducting while Stacy played the piano for us.

Ethan was just beautiful, happy, excited and listened most diligently to my talk with attentive eyes and ears.

I think both Ethan and Donald enjoyed the special moments that they had together in preparation before Ethan was baptized and in the change room after. 

The supper after was appreciated by all, lots and lots of food, we don't do things by half measures.  We are thankful to friends and family who came to be part of this special day.

What a beautiful day it was.  It's a wonderful feeling when family comes together, works together, plays together and has a spiritual experience together.  I am so grateful to be part of this family and receive the blessings that a family can offer.

A long weekend (part 3)

Saturday of Ethan's birthday week was a pretty busy and very exciting day.  Ethan was going to be baptized in the afternoon but we had to get through three games of soccer first thing in the morning and an afternoon of food preparation for after the baptism.  We had to divide and conquer to get the boys to their games on time, Donald took Toby and Joan, I took Ethan and Jan and Alister scootered down with Sam to the local ground where he was playing.

It was a great day for soccer in the EarthWalker household.  Toby scored a goal and won the man of the match trophy, boy was he happy.  He kept on asking me if I liked that he won the trophy for the week.  However he was a little too modest to take the trophy for show and tell to pre-school. 

Sam played a great game and also won man of the match, I managed to get there for half time and see a little of his game.

Ethan's first half of the game was spent being goal keeper, but not much action was happening there.

Ethan didn't win man of the match (which I actually think he deserved for the effort he put in...in the second half that is) but in the second half of the game scored his first goal of the season.  The photo below is his aim just before shooting it past the keeper, the actual photo of his goal got a little blurry with excitement from the photographer.

He was one happy chap.

After Ethan's game we all met up at Sam's second half of the match before running back home to start preparing food.  Then I had to make a trip to the airport to pick up Lindsay, Donald's brother and Ava our niece, who also flew down from Brisbane for Ethan's baptism.  Donald was a little under the weather with vertigo, he has had it all week after our uninvited guest visited him on the Monday, so wasn't up for driving to the airport.  Meanwhile my busy kitchen assistants Jan, Joan and Alister were carrying out my orders for sausage rolls, cupcakes, fruit platters, meat balls, mini quiches, mini pavlovas etc etc.

A long weekend (part 2)

Friday before Ethan's party was spent preparing food and icing the cake.  With my mum, Joan and Alister here it was all hands on deck (well needed for the crowd control at the party).  Although Toby wished he could have helped ice the cake too!  It was a race to finish the cake before I brought the boys home from school.

Love those jelly oranges they look so pretty in the sun light.

A long weekend (part 1)

As it was Ethan's 8th birthday we had a week full of celebrations which of course began on his birthday last Tuesday.  Each year we have spent the Easter holidays in Brisbane with family so Ethan hasn't had a birthday party involving school friends for a few years.  So we invited a handful of his class mates over on Friday afternoon for a bit of fun, cake and ice cream.  We walked the boys home from school and it was a very excited bunch of boys, I might add, after being locked up in the classroom all day, their break for freedom was headed to our front door.  After burning off a little energy in the back yard, 10 boys sounded like 40 boys in the back yard, we had some party food.

A little crowd control was necessary, energy levels were at an extreme high!

We bobbed for apples and played the favourite cheezel chomp,

some french cricket and a little tug of war,

before we attacked the birthday cake.

Ethan chose a Pikmin birthday cake, a white Pikmin and a red Pikmin.  They are little treasure collectors from a nintendo game we have played for years, Pikmin and Pikmin2, both very cool games, that even I like playing.

I'm glad we don't have another 8 year old birthday party to do for another 3 1/2 years, that one exhausted me, or at least the kids did, I think I must be getting old.

Camelia's

I wanted to share with you these most beautiful flowers that blossom in early Autumn every year. 

Collecting the nectar makes for a happy walk to school.  On dewy, damp mornings the nectar literally runs down your fingers, rather delicious.

In the early mornings we hear the gentle whistles of the rainbow lorrikeets as they too collect the nectar outside our bedroom windows.

It is such a lovely time of year.  At the moment it feels a little like an Indian summer like we had in Canada.  The days get shorter, the sun angles more to the north, we get closer to winter, the nights are cooler but the days stay warm and clear.

The Birthday

Waking up to a cloud of balloons (trying to keep his eyes open)

Presents before school

Cookies for the class (first day back)

Burgers, root beer and cup cakes to celebrate

Makes for a Happy 8 year old

8

 Happy Birthday beautiful boy

That dimple still melts my heart

so does your smile, your eyes, your luscious hair

your gentle ways, your hearty laugh,

oh how sweet you are

xxxxxxx

An uninvited guest

We have a visitor at our house, apart from my mum who has come to stay for a few weeks, we have a different sort of visitor.  We didn't invite this visitor to stay.  This one has been lingering for the past week and been visiting each one of us in turn.  In fact we have to leave a trail around our house for it.  A trail of ice cream buckets, empty, 4 litre ones to be exact.  Our visitor is a nasty vomit bug.  You don't realise your visitor is there until the last minute when your stomache starts to swell uncomfortably and then makes you start to feel a little woosey.  And then it all comes out.  Oh but it doesn't stop there it keeps on coming until there's nothing left to come out and then some.  

Right now it's Ethan's turn.  In a way I'm glad he's sick today, not in a morbid way, but you see it's his birthday on Tuesday and I was praying that Ethan wouldn't be sick on his birthday.  So far the hit list for our visitor has been Sam, Toby, me yesterday and Ethan today.  I'm really hoping our visitor has seen enough of our household and is ready to leave, because I really don't want my mum to be visited upon or Donald who has to start a job tomorrow.

We've been trying to starve our little visitor...otherwise he revisits you, so it's best not to eat anything  to encourage him and drink little itty bitty sips until he's had enough.  I'm hoping he doesn't come and visit you.  He's not a very nice visitor and leaves you feeling rather exhausted, not a very nice house guest.  He doesn't even clean up after himself.

I'm hoping that Superdeduper Guy is going to chase that bad house guest away.  He's got amazing super powers to make you feel better, to laugh out loud and brings energy back to your body.  I sure hope Superdeduper Guy comes and visits us real soon.  Where are you Superdeduper Guy??

Show and tell

Well here is my little show off.  Crochet hat number two.  I've really been enjoying my new found talent.  I must admit though I first learned to crochet back in primary school in year 7.  Our teacher felt we all needed to learn to crochet and sew.  I think my first and last finished project was a bright green and orange crochet pot holder (oven mit type thingy).  It was supposed to be square but ended up an wonky shape, I wasn't very good at counting stiches.

Suzi made a comment on my blog the other day that her first crochet project was a bright orange hat, which got me thinking that somewhere in the past I had crocheted something bright orange too.  Then it clicked...the oven pot holder.  I think my next project was a red scarf that was very wonky with sides that waved in and out, again didn't do much counting of stiches.

I have long been wanting to crochet a Babette blanket, I just love the many different sized squares and mix of colours.  For years I have been drooling over them and and thinking how impossible it would be to make one.  After coming across Lucy at Attic24 a while ago I have truly been inspired to learn how to crochet.  I especially love her latest baby zigzag blanket.  She uses such lovely colours to brighten her home and makes crochet look doable with her step by step tutorials.  So I did start finally  after such procrastination and have been progressing along quite well with my hats.

So far my family have been lining up with their requests for a hat....hey Gabby want one, just send me some colour details.  Now I just need to start on some squares, that will take a little practice, especially if I want them to fit together.  I'm not sure how lots of big and little wonky squares will fit together....hmm I see a wonky blanket in the future...

My Weekend

Sam's first soccer game of the season, they won 10:nil, a bit of a one sided game, sad for the other team.

Another hat complete

A party treat, best eaten outdoors....to use up that sugar energy and no sticky fingers on the couch.

Donald's first game of the season, a warm relaxing afternoon and a chance to start on crochet hat number 3.

And a little inspiration from our church leaders at General Conference.