Easter 2013

Despite a fair amount of homesickness, we had a lovely Easter. Wet, but lovely. We checked out the Cathedral on Good Friday where they re-enacted the Crucifixion. This was very powerfully done, with a great deal of emotion.The kids all brought books to read in case they got bored, but none of the books were opened...in fact, I would go as far as saying none of the kids actually blinked! Easter Sunday was exciting as Tony preached for the first time. It was excellent and he is now a regular on the roster. We had lunch with an Aussie expat whose wife is currently overseas -whcih was really nice for us and him, I hope.here are some pics.

Good Friday

Friday night performance! The Lift -proud Dirty Dancing moment for mum.

Followed by Masterchef -girls cake

Boys cake -they won.

Exploring on Easter Saturday

Not sure where this facial expression came from...

Tony preaching on Easter Sunday

Livin' the dream on the open road

Jesus is alive cake!

Well the holidays have begun -and the kids are excited! Well, they were excited until I broke the news to them that they would be doing schoolwork at home for half the hols as we head to Sydney soon for a short stay. Heck, can't accuse me of not knowing how to be a  "fun mum"!! Here are a few snaps I took of the school at the recent parent teacher intereviews.

Sophie's school house

Classroom area

Ethan's school house

Classroom area

Lunch shed/ morning chapel/ art class

Playground -perfect for playing touch footy with a coconut

!

Our great Tuesday language class- 2 other Aussie couples and our teacher.

Sunday night and feeling very tired. Another weekend gone -some highlights and lowlights. Hannah burning her hand while cooking was one of the lowlights-as she was in pain all day Saturday. Instead of doing the fun things we had planned, she sat with her fingers in a bowl of cold water for 9 hours. Poor thing. On the upside she got to watch alot of Harry Potter and eat a stack of ice-cream. A highlight was the Palm Sunday service this morning which Ethan and Soph danced and sang in -with face paint and a sulu for Eth. Lots of fun and joy-and as usual, a great morning tea afterwards. Also Tony finally on the mend. Will write more next time when feeling more energetic. In the meantime, enjoy these dodgy-quality photos.

Date night. Oh yes, I should have mentioned....my face is pretty much always shiny here in Fiji. Its a good look!

Baby mongoose we see most days hanging around the yard. Freaks me out every time.

Eating lolly snakes off string. Yes Manda, more family fun!!

Soph performing during Palm Sunday service. Very focused.

Eth helping during the offering/tithe part of the service.

In character for the dance. Very similar to the NZ Huka -the kids loved it!

This week has been a combination of more Fijian language classes, teaching at womens prison, lunch with some other Aussie missionaries, piano and karate lessons and plenty of volleyball in our front yard. I have also just come back from a "Shut up and write" morning at the local Mango Cafe. You meet for 30 minutes of chat and coffee, then everyone turns on their computer and works at whatever writing they are doing. I thought it was a good way to meet people and can do some writing in the meantime. It was fun and good to meet other expats here -one from Nowra, one from America and one from Holland. Here are also some pictures of Sophie's new dress. Only $2! She likes to pretend she is in a "Milly Molly Mandy" book when she wears it. When I spoke to her, she said " you can't talk to people from another era"...so that was the end of that conversation....

Our walls are lined with Fijian words to help us remember. Of course Ethan is fixated on busi which means "stinky"

New dress....did I mention it was only$2?!!

She was still in character during washing up, so we couldn't talk to her then either.

Bit of pre-dinner volleyball in front yard. I think the barbed wire gives the sunset the touch it needs.

A few more snaps of the weekend that the kids wanted to show. We've had a bit of homesickness here this weekend -well, Hannah and I anyway. Hannah just because -and me because when I'm sick, I still want to lie on my mum and dads couch. Tony calls it "the magic couch" coz it always makes me feel better. Anwyay we just skyped them which was nearly as good. Also, I havent squeezed my nephews cheeks in 2 months now, which I'm not happy with. Well, cant do much about it-and we did have alot of fun things to keep us occupied. We also put up a volleyball net in our front yard and Ethan started a vegie patch.

Friday night frog catching.

No recycling here so we burn our cardboard rubbish.

Good excuse to crack open the marshmallows!

It only seemed sensible that we wash down the marshmallows with an ice-cream sundae.

Found this super cafe near the library. I think Hannah's selfies are wearing a little thin with Soph....

View from the womens prison and part of the building happening around it.

This week has pretty much been dominated by panadol, swollen glands, temperatures and alot of sleep. Praise the Lord for antibiotics though-and a great doctor that we are very happy with! Tony and Hannah have managed to avoid it though, which is good. Language classes are going well and we are also thankful for a lovely friend bringing us dinner tonight as she heard we were sick. The first photo is an example of the honour/shame culture that exists here.Anti-smoking campaigns in Australia tend to focus on the effects on the individual by giving medical facts/effects. In contrast, here in Fiji, the emphasis is on the community and the shame or honour that is brought as a result of your actions. Also some other photos from the week.

Boxes arrived...happy days!!

Room now complete......most exciting addition?....her beloved laminator of course -hilarious!

Closely followed by Littlest Pet Shop

Ethans room

Hannah will show hers when it is finished.

Since I wrote last, we have begun our Fijian language learning -fun with the other Aussies and a great teacher too. We now have a car, our boxes are apparently in the country and Tony has been to the mens prison to see how the evangelistic group works.Good on all fronts. I'm going to the Womens Prison on Wednesday to teach literacy and numeracy, which should be good too. Poor Soph has had a sick weekend(as in sore throat, fever etc..not the good kind of "sick"), so it has been pretty quiet. Here are a few snaps of the wet weekend we just had.

Our new car that the kids have named Eric.

Shopping and smoothie date with Hansie girl.

Tony's Saturday was spent at an all-day training day for PSFC at the uni.

My kind of craft -only 3 steps and 2 cheap materials!!

A bit of Harry Potter on a rainy afternoon.