Eltham - Day 2 - Saturday December 24th

Written December 24th

On Saturday, December 24th, I woke up all too early considering my late night. I was awake around 6am I think, then went back to sleep. About 9 I asked someone what the time was, but I had already been awake for a little while before that. Not ready to get up and brave the camp bathrooms, I picked up my book, Courageous, and read until I had finished it, about 11 or so! I’m considering writing a book review about it, seriously, it is SUCH a great book! Can’t wait to see the movie……..! =D

Finally, I got up and organised, had a shower, and...yeah I got back on my laptop... *grin* Late morning, more people started arriving, suddenly we weren’t the only people at the campsite! We had lunch, after which we intended to go out, but it just so happens that it never became more than an intention! After a bit of time doing who-knows-what Uncle Bill, Aunty Melissa, Olivia and Harry arrived, and I (along with some of my siblings and a couple of other people) helped them erect their tent. Unfortunately I didn’t remember sunscreen then either, so part of me looks like a beetroot as I write this...lol! Actually what has me baffled is that my sunburn is slightly splotchy where all the skin is white????!

By dinner time, there was a fairly large group of us here, and a few of the fathers went to pick up fish and chips for us all. I kind of wonder what the takeaway shop thought when they got our order?! Lol Ours was a tired and slightly short-tempered family who gathered around on the grass to devour our meal!

After dinner we pretty much just talked, while some worked in the kitchen, or played with the balls outside. Nine o’clock Aunty Melissa txt Aunty Denise to see how far away they were, about half an hour, so we decided not to wait, and just called everyone inside to sing happy birthday to Bryce, and have his cake (it was delicious!! Thank you Uncle Mike! =))



Bryce's new toy...



When you eat something yummy,
make sure you try wearing it too!

Uncle Marty, Aunty Denise, Mitch and Kurt arrived at 9:20, and we all continued to talk for a while longer, while some of the children watched movies on a projector, until some of us decided to hit the sack. I ironed some of our clothes for tomorrow (I miss my ironing board!), and each member of the Auckland Jago Family prepared for bed. It’s now 11:44 and everyone is in bed, and I’m just typng this before join them.

Good night everyone! =)

Bianca

Eltham - Day 1 - Friday 23rd December

Written 23rd December

On Friday, 23rd December I attempted to get an early start to the day, but apparently I was too tired from previous days of preparation! Anyway the rest of my family did get up early (for them lol! =)), and organised the rest of our belongings that we hadn’t been able to pack the day before. We managed to leave home about 9:15am, after a slight delay as Dad didn’t like the fact that the back window was entirely blocked!

I passed the time by reading Courageous, a very interesting book! Can't wait for the movie to come out.... Hmm I was wishing I understood Spanish though! =)

Not too far into the trip Diana (6) asked: “Are we nearly there yet?” Wow was I glad it was only a six-hour trip to Eltham, not far from New Plymouth, rather than the the nine-hour trip to Wellington which we have done nearly ever year for as long as I can remember!

Around 1pm we had a 1-hour lunch stop in Mokau. Then back on the road, and I let Diana have my camera to take photos and videos. Need I say that the batteries were dead when she’d finished? Lol!

Here are a couple of pics from the drive:



A tunnel we drove through...

Mount Taranaki (aka. Mount Egmont)

 

Uncle Mike's number plate!

We took a slightly round-about trip, through New Plymouth, to pick up some boxes of Favourites my uncle needed for his shop (Eltham Four Square). About 4pm we delivered the Favourites, and followed my uncle, with his awesome number plate, to the campground we and our extended family were staying at – Eltham Presbyterian Campground. After inspecting much of the complex, we finally chose a cabin, brought our many bags and suitcases in, and readied our beds for when we would come in late and tired.

Soon Nana and Aunty Sonia arrived, and we just sat and talked for a while, apart from an all-out search for Maria (21-months) when no one new where she was; and Dad was worried because there is a stream not far away. We continued talking until Uncle Mike had not only come back(he’d gone home for a little while), but also barbequed the sausages and prepared the rest of dinner. All of us then went down to the hall, complete with kitchen, tables and chairs.

After dinner Uncle Mike brought out all the Christmas decorations which we helped put up, then readied tressle tables and chairs for the expected 35 people.

When it got a bit later Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Nana, and Lucus (my 3-year-old cousin) left for Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia’s house, and we began our long routine in preparation for bed! It is now 11:19 and, obviously I guess (seeing as I’m writing this!), we havn’t finished the routine yet!

So I’m typing this on my new laptop (picked it up on Wednesday lol!), listening to the Manna Worship Album #3(?) I think. Jarrod has just climbed into his top-bunk bed (he was sitting next to me watching me type), Mum is trying to put Maria to sleep, and everyone else is in bed. I’m also about to head there, as yes I’m VERY tired!

Tomorrow we’re expecting Uncle Bill, Aunty Melissa, Olivia (12) and Harrison (8) to arrive sometime in the afternoon, and Uncle Marty, Aunty Denise, Mitch (18) and Kurt (16) around 9pm. Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Lucus, Nana, and some of Aunty Sonia’s family are also coming to stay at this campground.

Well I’m going to bed now (11:29) so,

G’night everyone!

Love Bee =)

Preparation for Holiday in Eltham - Thursday 22 December

Written 24th December


On Thursday, 22nd December, we were supposed to pack our bags and suitcases for going away the following day. As it happened, I was still sewing the clothes that I wanted to pack! Talk about cutting it close….man! Jarrod (12) had actually packed the previous day, so I got him to make Diana (6) a new skirt (Yes she needed new clothes badly!). I attempted to get Monique to finish a skirt she had started for Diana, but it would appear that she needs some more lessons before I tell her to just make a tiered skirt with limited help!

So I alternated between sewing and transferring some files to my new laptop. Actually I was sure there were more things I was doing, but I can’t think what!

Around 3pm we left to do some last-minute shopping (actually I only went because I needed a haircut, I had heaps of split ends and I just needed to get my hair tidied up). We didn’t make it to the hairdressers, but arrived home at 4pm, and no I actually hadn’t accomplished anything so would have been far better to stay home and continue my packing!

Anyway Mum left for her midwife appointment with Monique, and Dad took the rest of us to the mall so I could get my hair cut, while he took everyone else to McDonald’s. Yes , I needed my hair tidied up, but it kind of annoys me that I can’t seem to get my hair to grow longer and still look nice! Seriously, that was only the second time this year that I’ve actually had my hair cut, and it is definitely WAY shorter now than it was at the beginning of the year! On the way out I met a friend I haven’t seen in ages, Sara, with her Mum and Dad. =)

At home, Mum made dinner, while I replied to a couple of emails, watched part of the Little House on the Prairie DVD that my siblings were watching, and did some more sewing. After a TV dinner, I continued sewing, et cetera, and later on I played on my laptop at the same time…=) lol Dad also picked up the Burtons’ 12-seater.

Well, I finally finished packing my suitcase, and Mum packed everything into the Burtons’ van. Believe it or not, I eventually I made it to bed!

Bryce's Birthday

My brother Bryce actually turned 4 on December 24th, but because we were going away that day, we celebrated it on the 21st. I'm not going to do a big write-up, but here are a few photos:



Yummy present!



Cake...

Birthday Boy

Hip-hip-hooray!

Bible Study Breakup

Written 24th and 26th December

Monday, December 22nd saw me baking banana cakes, writing a shopping list, and rushing around the supermarket when Mum finally took me! When she dropped me home, I made a pasta salad, and iced one of the cakes almost as fast as I could. Then I got myself ready, and was picked up by the Sonnevelds at about 3:15, and went to their house.

My friends and I cut and prepared a LOT of food(!), and had a go at making punch…although no one seemed to have much of an idea of how to make it! We survived the ordeal with only one bottle of soft drink spilt (don’t worry Joanna! (4years)), and a few blood splotches on the floor because Joanna had cut her foot (I think without realising?)

Once we had all the food ready, we took it down to the flat, er, garage (it doesn’t look like a garage though…!).

We turned on the plate thingie (what’s it called?) for the gourmet dinner, and were slightly surprised at how fast it heated up! So we quickly lit the candles, and put some food into the trays to cook. For those of us who like to do things as fast as possible, the food cooked a little too slowly, but we did really enjoy it!

Middy has an ipod, so we played music for a while, and someone also came up with the idea of us singing! As tradition has it, I had a mind blank and couldn’t think of any songs I knew and could sing (although, in fact, I love music and singing along to it, so there probably is at least a few songs that I know well enough to have been able to sing them!), but it was fun watching, photographing, and videoing the others! I took all the photos on my camera, and all the videos on a friend’s camera, but unfortunately they deleted all the videos. =(

Middy, Ruth, Essie

Amid the singing (and laughing!) we did find time to eat! A lot too...haha We ate TONS of dinner, then decided to go for a bit of a walk before dessert. We walked through a paddock (inhabited by sheep...why on earth didn’t I put something on my feet???!) to a rope swing, that swung over a decent sized drop! We soon walked back for dessert.

We lit the candle and poured the chocolate into the bowl for the fondue, and while we waited for it to melt, we roasted, and completely burned, some marshmellows (yum!) . Anyway, it did melt, and we dug in..it was delicious! My friends then went a little crazy (I think they{er, we!} may have had too much sugar?!?!):

Middy, Ruth, Essie

Essie



Middy



Burning marshmellows....*grin*



And a group pic just before we left...



Mrs Sonneveld did eventually manage to get us all into the car to drop us home! (Thank you!)
And thus ended our awesome night! =D

Bee

Umm..

Ok so November/December I was doing heaps heaps of shopping, right?
Well, this is one particular day I'm blogging about.

First, I went to Manna Christian bookshop - and one of the shop assistants recognised me and said 'hi.'

Later on, I went to eQUIP, and the shop assistant there was like 'Hey, your mum's pregnant, aye? When is she due?' And, ' You haven't got all your sisters with you today!'
I went to a few other places, and then went back when I realised I hadn't used my 50% off voucher (for signing up to their club thingie), to see if she'd honour it (she did! =D). When I got out to the van I looked through my bag from eQUIP, and something was missing, oops! So, for the THIRD time that day I went to eQUIP. When I got there and asked about it, she gave it to me in a bag with a note on it saying something like this: (I was just going to scan the note in but Mum says she chucked it out) :'(

"I have already been paid for,
but my owner left me behind.
(Her name is Bianca) =)"

How's that for being well known?!? lol!

This next scenario is of a slightly different nature =)

We decided to get pizza for dinner, so went to Domino's. I placed the order, and was asked what name it was for, "Bianca," I replied. Then on the screen with order statuses my name came up as "PRIYANKA." Mum didn't even realise it was our order ;-) haha

When I told Dad about the first two scenario's he said I did too much shopping...seriously, though, a teenage girl can NEVER do too much shopping!!!! *grin*

Rainbow's End

Written 29/11/11 to 5/12/11

Ok so I've lived about 5 or 10 minutes drive from Rainbow's End, New Zealand's largest theme park, for my entire life, but I'd never actually been there, until a couple of weeks ago...

The day of Friday ?? November began like any other day - searching for clothes to wear, deciding what to eat for breakfast...lol Finally my uncle managed to drag all four of us out the door, and into his car, with Mum giving last-minute instructions all the while. =)

When we arrived, we lined up to be ticked off the list of homeschool attenders, and recieve our wristband-our pass to get on the rides for the day. Homeschoolers had come from all over Auckland, and even a large group from Hamilton! 5 or so school buses also came with eager students. 

This is just a portion of the crowds; to the left were the school groups.

While waiting in line (the first of the waiting we would do that day), I was pleased to meet some friends I hadn't seen in a loooong time! Jarrod also met up with the Campbells', who he was to spend the day with.

Eventually we were allowed inside the park, and wondered what ride we should do first? Uncle Pete decided the Motion Master would be the one, so we proceeded to line up, and finally, enter it. The current video was Journey to the Center of the Earth, and I think Uncle Pete enjoyed it, but Monique, Danielle, and I weren't so enthusiastic. lol The three of us spent a minimal amount of time looking at the screen...

  

Uncle Pete thought it would be good to do a more Danielle-suited ride next, so we proceeded to Cadbury Castle. She and Monique enjoyed the carousel, and I did the Dragon's Flight with Monique, but Danielle deemed it 'too scary.'

After a bit of a walk, Monique decided she would like to do the Invader, so Uncle Pete took her on that. Apparently she did ok until the first rise, then, well, let's just say Uncle Pete was a bit worried about her..

Next up was..um... the Bumper Boats, I think? The waiting in line actually took longer than the ride... Anyway I kinda enjoyed crashing into people...lol

Oh great, my brain's fuzzing out a bit here, but I think we did the Dodgems, had lunch,  then did the Log Flume, before riding the Pirate Ship.

ok random but anyway...lol

Then Monique and Danielle rode the Jumpin' Star (mini fearfall).

Uncle Pete and I did the Gold Rush, while Monique and Danielle waited at the entrance/exit.
We then proceeded to ride the aforementioned Pirate Ship three times in a row, on which I met some friends, so yeah we had fun raising our arms (you are instructed to raise your arms if you feel sick so they can stop the ride, but I seriously wonder how they know if someone's actually sick!), and screaming on the count of three....lol

Uncle Pete (half jokingly) asked if we wanted to ride the Roller Coaster. He looked slightly shocked when I said yes...I'm not really THAT much of a scaredy-cat am I?!? or maybe I am... *grin* I replied that I seriously couldn't go to Rainbow's End and NOT ride it..lol thats one ride I've read about/seen in books since I was little! So yeah I did that a couple of times, managing to sit next to Bernie the second time =)

I then decided I wanted to ride the Invader (I hadn't had the guts earlier in the day when Uncle Pete and Monique did it!). Lol I think it may have been something like what Uncle Pete said - it was getting late in the day and I was freaking out 'cause I hadn't done much!  So yeah I did that with Uncle Pete. and yes it was AWESOME!!!! lol!

Uncle Pete and I did the Gold Rush again, this time with Monique:

Then the Dodgems again for Danielle, and (you're not gonna believe this one!) as I had decided I wanted to ride the Fear Fall, we ran to it, but unfortunately it had closed for the day. Finally, as it was kinda late, I rushed to ride the Invader again, this time sitting next to one of the Holmes girls. =)
Last of all, I raced over to see if the Roller Coaster was still open, but unfortunately the 'closed' sign was out...

And that was the end of our (first ever) trip to Rainbow's End! Tired and sunburnt, we headed home, where we watched Mr Bean's Holiday and Soul Surfer, two cool movies! =)

Until next time,
Bianca =)

Guy Fawkes!

Sorry everyone, I think this is in the wrong order..
------------
Friday (4th I'm afraid, we had our celebration a day early) saw us doing (a little) school work, going to the orthadontist to have my braces tightened - my new colours are black, purple, and green, I usually only have two colours, so my orthadontist had to concentrate to get the pattern right lol! and popping into a couple of places on the way home. In the afternoon I did a fair bit of ironing and all the folding.
After dinner we went searching for suitable going-out clothing for everyone, and tidied hair. When we were finally ready (well it didn't actually take that long but anyway...!) we piled everyone into the van, and left for the de Boer's house (friends from church).
After arriving, we talked for a while, until everyone else arrived, then had dessert - trifle, a dutch cake, ice cream, and other nice-tasting things; I think it was all made by Mrs de Boer.

Once dark, we started the fireworks:

So what do you think is louder, the fireworks or my screaming siblings?? haha! =D
I hope the cars were ok afterwards...you know those fireworks that people hold while they fire? Well they were being fired towards some of the vehicles...above them though... =) lol!

Anyway after the fireworks were all used, we went inside to eat chocolote *grin* and talk...and, by the way, for those of you who were there, Dad kind of embellished his stories about my driving...haha! =D

We left just before 11, with a van-load of tired and slightly short-tempered people!

"Remember, Rember,

the Fifth of November,

Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot,

I See No Reason,

Why Gunpowder and Treason,

Should Ever Be Forgot"

Sorry I don't know who that's by, and no I don't like poetry...haha =D



My First Ever Flute Exam!

Written 27th December

After nearly four years of flute lessons, my teacher decided I was ready to sit a grade 3 exam. So I began doing a lot of serious practice, actually I did more practice preparing for the exam than I’ve ever done before! And yes, that could have something to do with the fact that I played for nearly four years before I was ready to sit an exam! Soon it was settled. I could certainly be able to attain a suitable level of playing on the required things by exam time. So the exam was booked; we found out the time and place it was; and I continued practicing long and hard! I think I drove everyone mad playing the scales and pieces so many times! It was getting close to exam time; we took my flute to KBB Music in Epsom, and scheduled many extra lessons with my teacher {Ruth}.

Finally that was it. The practice I had done was all I could do; the day had come. I had a quick lesson with my teacher in the morning to touch u on a couple of things, before going to an orthodontist appointment, going home for lunch, and Mum taking the others to their swimming lesson. She still had a couple of things to do, and the children would be late for their lesson if she waited any longer, so she dropped them off, leaving me home to relax on my own for a few minutes (music and a drink work wonders, don’t they?!). Then she came back home, I got ready to go, and she finished what she needed to do. We picked up the others from their swimming lesson, and drove out to Remuera.

We arrived in plenty of time to see where we needed to be and stuff. I grabbed my flute and warmed up. Unfortunately the nerves hit me then! =( Anyway Ruth soon called me for my exam, so we went in, returned the greeting of the examiner, and tuned before playing my first piece. (Ruth was accompanying me on the piano, so we had to make sure my flute was in tune with it). I got through my three pieces (Andante alla Siciliana, Hurdy Gurdy, and Melodie Polonaise) with only a few mistakes (mostly due to nerves), and my teacher left as soon as she had played all the accompaniments – so after Hurdy Gurdy. Then I played a few scales, arpeggios and the sight-reading piece. Then the aural test, unarguably my worst part of the exam!

Before I knew it, it was all over! The exam Mum and I had calculated to take about an hour was over in about 10 or 15 minutes! I was relieved that it was over, but at the same time I knew I could do it again.

I think Mum had been a bit unsure about whether or not I would pass, but when we got the results sheet it looked pretty good!
Minimum pass mark = 100
Maximum possible mark = 150
My mark = 120, or pass with merit! =)

ICDL

Written December 27^th, 2011

I love computers. And I love learning. So it just seems natural that I should learn more about computers, agree? To aid that, I began a course called ICDL, or International Computer Driving License, in the fourth term of 2010.  The course is split into seven modules, one on the basics of IT, another on publisher, word, excel, access, and, well you get the idea.

The assessments and exams have to be sat at a school or other such institution. We chose Tyndale Park Christian School, because I have friends who go there, and we know or have met quite a few people involved there. It was certainly an experience, as I have never been to school, so didn’t know first-hand what it was like trying to do something in a classroom of not-so-focused students!

When I finished the course, the school asked me to come to assembly one Monday morning, so I could have my finishing certificate presented to me. My parents thought this was a great ordeal, which meant two things. One, they though I would be really nervous, and, two, Dad went to work late so he could come to the school first. First, I certainly wasn’t nervous, I mean, I knew these people, including Mr. Vivian, who presented the certificate to me, and all I had to do was walk up to the front, shake his hand, take my certificate, and walk back to my seat, seriously, what on earth is so scary about that?!? Lol! And I was just about the only one there with both my parents present. I say almost because some of the parents are teachers there, and Mrs de Boer stayed to watch me get my certificate ( I don’t think Anne Roos was very impressed but anyway..).

So anyway, here’s a pic Mum took:

Sorry it's taken from so far away, I posted it the largest possible size for you though!! =D

No, I don't have a boring life!

Written February 1st, 2012

One Saturday night our family went out for supper, and afterwards Dad decided to take me for a driving lesson. He said we would just head up the motorway a bit (towards the city), and then drive home on the road. Dad wanted to move into the middle lane, which we did, and I think I did ok then, but I hadn’t been on the motorway all that many times, and then only in the left lane. So it was challenging trying to stay where I was supposed to be! Somewhere about now I noticed a cop car when I looked in the rearview mirror; however I didn’t think much of it at the time.

Then we needed to move back to the left lane because our off-ramp was coming up. I’m afraid I didn’t have enough skill for that, then! Coming up to the intersection at the end of the off-ramp, I noticed in my rearview mirror that the cop car was now behind me, lights flashing. I find it hard to believe now, but at the time I still didn’t think anything of it! I mentioned it to Dad, while thinking about where I needed to go next...and I can’t remember what else. Dad then began telling me to pull over. I was horrified; pull over ON YELLOW LINES in front of a cop?!? But I did end up doing so, and somewhere along the way I finally realised that this cop wanted to speak to us!

We were told that someone had rung the police saying there was someone driving slow and weaving on the motorway (I actually don’t remember changing lanes more than twice!), so they’d had to come and check things out. Mine and Dad’s licenses were checked, and the caller spoken to; everything was in order. Last of all we were both breath tested – the ones you actually have to blow into.

It all took FOREVER, but we finally were able to go home (I was getting tired, and had stuff I needed to do at home). I should probably note that the cop ended by saying he hoped I wasn’t too freaked out and ...uh oh I’ve forgotten the rest!

So, you can’t ride a horse until you’ve fallen off, and, just perhaps, you can’t drive a car until you’ve been pulled over?? Haha! =D

Before you ask....I actually didn’t find it scary, believe it or not! I was just like.. “Well, here’s another experience, and something to tell all my friends about!” I have since driven through breath-testing stations twice, and tested once. (Just the name and address one this time lol!)

By Bee (who does, sometimes, have interesting things happen to her!! Haha =D)

ATI Conference (Part 3)

On Saturday morning, Mum and Dad decided to sleep in, so we arrived at the conference just as the first seminar began (having missed worship and notices) - about 9:35/9:40am
Steve Dulin was speaking on "How to Apply ATI to Business"

From my notes (again!)...
Your business is as good as your systems and processes.

If something takes less than two minutes, do it right now.

Most successful people are gracious in their speech.

Appearance is important
(writing now-) Mr Dulin shared a story about how a businessman who wasn't making many sales changed his hairstyle and shoes, by someone else's recommendation, and his sales increased dramatically!

Morning tea was at 10:30. Because the children's program was at the same venue this day, it was easy, while we were on a break, to see what the children were doing, or, er, catch up with my friends who were helping with the program =D    

After Morning tea we listened to Paul and Jenny Speed; their talk was entitled "How Discord in Marriage Dissipates Financial Wealth"

My notes - "Marriage is not about your convenience, it is about your COMMITMENT"

At 12, the one hour lunch-break was next. (We once again piled everyone into the van and went home).

Then  (the session I had been eagerly awaiting!) Mr. Gil Bates spoke on "One Failure That Families Cannot Afford to Make"

Mr. Bates is father to 19 children, the youngest being less than two weeks old. Visit the family's website here.

His speech was on anger and was both humorous and sobering. At times the room was filled with laughter; at other times many eyes were moist.

"Stop before you blow your top" we heard numerous times.

When angry ask

• "What is the physical thing this is costing me?"
• "What will it cost me if I blow my top?"
• "What is the possible permanent cost?"
• "What is the final cost of it?" - It will ruin the harmony in your home.

----------

We deviated from the original program here, and I don't recall exactly what we did. We may or may not have had afternoon tea now.

Then we listened to Tom Harmon again for his talk "Join the Few Who Finish Strong."

I'm afraid I didn't get any notes this time!

Next was the Arahina Update, by Jeff Lees and Gordon Strong.
Arahina is the ATI 'base,' if you like, in New Zealand.

Last of all was the Children's Presentation. They presented Bible verses - with actions, sung songs, etc..which they had learned in the two days of the children's program.

We all helped clean up, before catching up, and finally heading home for dinner.

Another great conference had come to an end! Can't wait for the next one...! =)

<3 Bee

ATI Conference (Part 2)

Then Rick Grubbs' talk - Conquer Procrastination.


So...what is procrastination? It is "putting off until later what GOD wants me to do right now."
Sounds bad, put like that, huh?!

What are the root causes of procrastination?

     - Laziness
            *Overwhelming (Because I can't do all of this, I just won't do any of it)
            *Short-term focus
            *Imaginary Obstacle
     - Fearfulness
           *Unpleasant
           *Perfectionism
          *Activity without accomplishment

How to combat procrastination?

WEAPONS AGAINST SLOTHFULNESS

1. Deadlines
2. Commintment
3. Accountability

WEAPONS AGAINST FEARFULNESS

1. Seeing failure as necessary for success (more on this after)
2. Create momentum

Work expands to fill the time you allow for it.

Don't shoot for perfectionism, shoot for excellence and GET SOMETHING DONE!

It is not the number of times you fail that matters. It is the number of times you succeed. And the number of times you succeed depends on how many times you try.

Thomas Edison said he didn't fail 500 times, he succeeded in finding 500 ways it didn't work!

So THE KEY QUESTION

Will I obey God right now, YES or NO?
-------------

Believe it or not, the talk on procrastination actually was only about 15 minutes long!

We then listened to Mr. and Mrs. Duggar speak on Important Life Lessons.
I actually didn't take any notes listening to them, but most of what they shared there they've also written in their books - The Duggars: 20 and Counting; Raising One of America's Largest Families, and A Love That Multiplies. Both books are available from the Auckland public libraries.

That was the end of the seminars for the day, next was the shared dinner which we didn't stay for, we just went home...tired! But we'd all enjoyed the day and were looking forward to the following one.

ATI Conference (Part 1)

Finished 17th January.

Last year we went to ATI Regionals for the first time. It was held on Friday 22th and Saturday 23th July, at the Manukau New Life Church on Jellicoe Road.
We somehow managed to get up and arrive there on time(!)  to register - 9am.

Worship and notices were at 9:30, then the children all left for the children's program, which on the Friday was held at Manurewa Bible Church (Manukau New Life had a double booking so there wasn't space for the children there that day).

At 10 o'clock we listened to Steve Dulin speak: Put Everything Under God's Control.
Some of my notes from this talk:
"If A = B and B = C then A = C

A: You shall love your neighbour as yourself
B: You shall love your neighbours as I (Jesus) have loved you
C: Love yourself as Jesus has loved you"

"We can change the world if we love the world"

Morning tea was at 11am; attendees brought plates of food for snack times.

At 11:30 we listened to Dr. Bill Gothard speak on The Overlooked Secret of Personal Rhemas.

I have a lot of notes from Dr. Gothard's talk, however they're not making much sense even to me anymore!
But, did you know that every chapter in Isaiah is a commentary on a book of the Bible?

Then it was lunch time - 12:30 to 1:45. Mum and I picked everyone up from Manurewa Bible Church, and went home for lunch, after which we dropped them back at the church for the rest of the children's program that day.

On arriving back, we were able to talk for a few minutes before going in to the next session - The Rewards of Serving God and The Pain of Loving Money, by Tom Harmon.
My notes are just about nil for this talk, but I should note that Mr. Harmon is very interesting to listen to, as he is quite, well, animated!

Afternoon tea break was at 2:45.

Continue to Part 2....

A few pics from around-the-house

Ok so I mostly blog about once-off events, so to change that a little bit I'm posting some pics from a day at home.

Bryce (3) poses

Maria (20 months) poses

Monique (10) not posing; you can see her like this much of the time

Danielle (8) baking. She and Diana (6) baked Gingerbread cookies and Double Choc Chip Muffins on their own one afternoon, yes it took a VERY long time, but they did it! =)



Cookies mentioned above.



Diana (6) shows off for the camera

Well that's not really very many pics, but I did a bit of a photo shoot one afternoon; and this is what I ended up with so anyways... =)

Auckland Home Educator's Science Fair

Ok Here's an old post I found saved as a draft, I figured I may as well post it seeing as I'd already done all the work!!

Well on Tuesday the 29th of June (*clears throat* 2010), Jarrod and I had to very quickly finish our science projects so we could take them over to New Lynn for judging that night....unfortunately that made me very tired that night, which isn't exactly helpful when your being judged!
I also had decided to do my experiment WAY to close to fair day, so i didn't have enough time to think through the whole experiment process, AND, i forgot to repeat the experiment a few times to check my results were accurate..but anyway..there's always next time i suppose!

My project was called "How Long" (No, it wasn't anything to do with the song!). It was, however, about how long deodorants can hold their scent when applied to a certain fabric that we had heaps of.
Here's a few pics taken while i was working on it, unfortunately we don't have any of it at the fair

Jarrod's project was something to do with airfoils and how they affect flight on model aircrafts, pics below:

Well anyway, Jarrod and I were judged on the Tuesday night, after which we got home around 9 - 9:30 I think, and Monique had to finish hers off, before we took it in for judging at 9am the next morning!
Monique did a project called "Ponies of the World" for the 'Observational' (as opposed to experimental like Jarrod and I did, or technology - where you design something). She researched various ponies using books, the internet, etc... She also dressed up, and made several props for her display.

We ate lunch throughout the day, as we didn't have much time after prizegiving (which was around midday) [no we didn't get anything!, although I did recieve an email a couple of days later asking if I wanted to do more work on my project and enter it in the Auckland Regional Science Fair, which is for all the schools as well. After much thought I declined as we were very busy around that time] because we had to pack up all of our stuff (of which we had a lot!) and get to my flute lesson in Mangare by 2pm.

All in all, it was a great day, after which we were all ready to relax, but needed to work on our history projects for a couple of days later!

Luv Bee