Another Busy Week

On the first week of his holiday my poor dh came down with a slight cold but as he started to feel better towards the end of the week he, his brother and ds12 decided to go off fishing on his brothers new boat. They were gone most of the day and traveled out past Rangitoto Island.


In the end they managed to catch a good meal of fresh fish for both families.

Ds12 was quite proud of his catch as he managed to hook a decent sized snapper.

I made a simple meal of floured fish and home made chips that night But dh's brother made his into the most delicious Samoan raw fish and coconut cream salad known as Oka l'a which he served the next night at his wifes 40th birthday party.

Go to the following link for the recipe:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Marinated-Raw-Fish-in-Coconut-Cream-Samoan-Dish-34927

Unfortunately when dh got home from fishing his cold had come back with a vengence and he felt terrible. He spent the next 2 days lying on the counch with a serious case of man flu so he missed out on the birthday party and we all spent most of our time lying around the house for the remainder of the weekend too. I was definitely well rested after that. LOL

Dd8 took this photo of BabyR and I while we were all pottering around at home. BabyR wouldn't sit still long enough to pose for the photo with me that dd8 was trying to take. This is the best shot we managed to get.

The 2nd week of dh holiday was much better as he was over his cold and we were able to have a much more enjoyable family week.

For the most part we have just pottered around home enjoying being in each others company but we have also had a few family outings.

The kids spent quite a bit of time playing with LEGO which is dd8's latest passion. Even BabyR wanted to get in on the action despite the fact that dd8 had the LEGO carefully set up on the kitchen table out of his reach. However he was quite determind that he was NOT going to be excluded from this family activity.

Thankfully good ol' Dad was on hand to helpresolve the situation before a major eruption occurred.

We went to Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium one day and saw penguins playing soccer, a preserved giant squid, sharks being hand fed by divers, numerous species of fish, giant sting ray and sea turtles.

We got to ride on the penguin exploration buggies which are like small buses that you sit in and drive around the penguin enclosure on tracks to watch the penguins while listening to a oral narrative about what you are seeing.

BabyR found this very exciting.

In anther section we stood on the conveyor belt and moved under the tunnel which runs around under the entire aquarium making you feel like you are actually in the tank with the fish and the sharks.

Dh took MissM for a walk to the shops one day and bought her some LEGO as her big brothers wouldn't let her use theirs. It was a special treat to have some alone time with Daddy as it is quite hard to come by in our family.

MissM had her last week of swimming lessons and so Daddy went along to watch and see how much she had come along since November when he last went to watch her swim.

Dh and BabyR watching Dd8 at her swimming
lesson.

We didn't get to do as many of the odd jobs around the house as we
had wanted to do due to dh illness during the first week of his holiday but BabyR and I did manage to sweep the upper deck one day.

The week ended with Easter and we enjoyed a nice relaxing time together with all the shops being shut on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

We made Hot Crossed Buns on Thursday hoping they would last all weekend but typically they were gone by Friday. However the kids enjoyed devouring chocolate Easter eggs most of Sunday so I don't think they missed the Hot Crossed bun breakfast I had originally planned to have. LOL












And last by definitely not least......

Having all this rest and relaxation has meant I have had time to read some wonderful Christian fiction. Even though the stories are fictional the constant quoting of Scripture within the books has inspired to spend more time with the Lord and become more familiar with His word. the arrical of Easter has just cemented this in my heart so this past week I have been trying to read my Bible and follow a study. Yesterday I bought a new worship CD and this morning I listened to it while I read my Bible and ate my breakfast. After my reading was done I felt moved to spend some time praying for a lady who has been on my heart lately as she struggles overcome her autocratic Christian upbringing and find a path of her own in the Lord. This has lead to some rebellion on her part and some misconceptions about what being a child of God really means.

This Woman has been placed on my heart quite often lately after I spent some time chatting with her a while back but for some reason I have neglected to lift her prayer until this week. There are other Christian and non-Christian friends and family who I know are struggling to find their place in the world and I need to lift them up in prayer more often too. So I have decided to start a daily prayer list and try to pray for at least one of these people each day while I am eating breakfast and reading my Bible.

It is amazing how having a break from the typical daily routine offers us a new perspective.

All in all it really was a great week!