A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree - my all-time-fav Christmas song

I wish I could put the pictures online for you - sigh - but here are the words anyway...

For a uniquely New Zealand Christmas song, sing Sir Kingi Ihaka’s version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Ihaka was a Maori songwriter, broadcaster and interpreter who wrote this version of the song in 1981.
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve piupius swinging
Eleven haka lessons
Ten juicy fish heads
Nine sacks of pipis
Eight plants of puha
Seven eels a swimming
Six pois a twirling
Five - big - fat - pigs !
Four huhu grubs
Three flax kits
Two kumera
And a pukeko in a ponga tree.

After church what do we do when it is too hot to be outside?

Take a nap (as opposed to every other day when I ummmmmmmmm take a wee nap)


Break a mirror (oh yer, Seb stood on it - not sure how or why - it is pointless even wondering)


Listen to Wonky Donky


Take silly pictures for Papa who is at a big ol' family party!

He looks so much like his Mama :) What a lucky boy!

This is too cool... I had no idea the 12 Days of Christmas was not some kind of medievil shopping list

What do the twelve Christmas gifts mean?Far too many extravagant Christmas gifts, or something more? The words to this popular Christmas song do have symbolic meaning that connects them to important aspects of the Christian faith. The rhyme was traditionally recited as part of a children’s memory game designed to teach various aspects of the scriptures:
In the 1st verse - one true love refers to God
In the 2nd verse - the two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testaments
In the 3rd verse - the three French hens refer to the virtues of faith, hope and charity
In the 4th verse - the four calling birds are the Four Gospels
In the 5th verse - the five golden rings are the first Five Books of the Old Testament
In the 6th verse - the six geese represent the six days of creation
In the 7th verse - the seven swans are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
In the 8th verse - the eight maids milking cows are the eight beatitudes
In the 9th verse - the nine dancing ladies are the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
In the 10th verse - the ten lords symbolize the Ten Commandments
In the 11h verse - the eleven pipers stand for the eleven faithful apostles (excluding Judas)
In the 12th verse - the twelve drummers represent the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

coucou Marie-Lyne!

Here is *my* church outfit - I will *not* be showing you the Moscow-varian Street Walker...

NB: The kids were just playing with a full length mirror. They put it on the floor. Sebastien stood on it. Who needs earthquakes when you have kids to break all your stuff?

Bonne annee 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!

2011 was a bit of a fizzer, what with all the natural disasters hitting NZ (earthquakes, floods, twisters, snow etc) but we came through it healthy and happy -

and in total denial according to some people!

We are looking forward to having Dominic home (woohoo, next Thursday!)

and spending some time together in the lovely summery weather.

You can't ask for much more than that!

xxx

Suzy, Megane, Sebastien and Lucy

for Sam and J xxx

Yer so, there are some cracks in the paths... but it is all good!

This is NOT leading to BB, this is over the other side of the Summit Rd, but I thought you might like to see how serious they are about not going THERE

The kiddies playing "don't get wet feet" - their favourite game when they can't go swimming

The Heathcote Valley (and a bit of the rasor blade fence stopping you from going into the rubble on the Summit Rd)

Just so gorgeous.... We went for a walk to Taylor's to see how the track was holding up.

Mus on the path to Taylor's...

Roasting marshmellows :)

This is just up behind Stoney End and Rosy Morn - it was a steep cliff.

Lucy

Lucy is a very special child. She is so mature and well-behaved that she is never any trouble. She is also a deep-thinker. Tonight during her prayers she prayed that when there are earthquakes tonight that we (meaning, everyone in Christchurch) will sleep through them so we won't get hurt or scared. She also prayed for the people that "have sewer again, and that have to use long-drops or not-proper toilets." She prayed that Dom will be safe and "that we will hear him on the phone again soon", and for all the people that have no houses and are hungry.
I don't think she mentioned herself at all. Humble, much?
xx

When was the last time YOU did something awesome?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6192300/Pair-in-52-kilometre-Boxing-Day-run

I love these two guys...
I don't think I'll run that far today but I think I'll do something awesome. What about you?

Peace (and not so much quiet)

Lucy has not put down her violin since she got it yesterday...

I would be sitting here, reading.... but I had to take the photo.

"Occupy Christchurch" site #2

This is how much I trimmed the buxus. Now the cranberries are higher (but not denser) than the buxus.

You cannot get a better brother than Mike

So, it turns out that one of the recent quakes (and I don't mean from this week.... the puddle was too big for that) caused more havoc with the plumbing. The pipe that connects the washing machine and the kitchen sink with the DRAIN had come apart. When I discovered this yesterday it was too late to do anything about it so at 9am Mike turned up with his overalls and gear and went under our house to fix it. I should mention that we have about a 30cm crawl space under there, and the piles are *not good*, and the stench from weeks of waste water made us all want to vomit - but he still went under there, crawled all the way to the other side of the house and fixed the pipes.
A round of applause for Mike please.

Family

Gaye and Dad's poppies are STUNNING this year

(Mike, we see you!)

United by a love of butter... :)

I have dozens more photos of this little cutie, she is just adorable!

Christmas Cricket

Christmas isn't Christmas without a family game of cricket... And here is *proof* that I played (but you get what you paid for - I won't pretend I was a high quality wicket keeper!), and that Mike and Leon were ultra competitive as usual! Please note, Harry and Fi were even in this game :) And where is Dad I hear you ask? Manning the BBQ of course. He had roast lamb and pork to tend to... (the ham was already done).

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Christmas 2011
The children are asleep and I have finished getting ready for tomorrow morning (it's 1am, not too bad!). We went to Hagley Park for Carols by Candlelight tonight. It was special to be there with the children as it is always Dominic's special treat to take them while I stay home and make Christmas cookies. They missed Papa, but they were very happy to be there.
I hope everyone sleeps well tonight and that you have a wonderful holiday season.
xxx
Suzy

close up shots of our rescuers

It is 2am and I'm awake (phone calls and more aftershocks), so I'm mucking around on the computer looking at the photos from today

xx

11.14pm (Friday 23rd Dec)

Just about to go to bed, and I thought I'd better update and let you know that the kids are okay. Lucy was sobbing in her bed, scared that the "earthquakes will come down on us" and she begged to sleep with me, or Megane. I had to get the house sorted in case we have big aftershocks tonight so she is next to Megane.
I've made everyone get (aftershock now) cleaned (you never know when you'll have your next shower when you live in ChCh) and into bed as soon as possible (10pm), with slippers and a jacket beside the bed. I guess that is one of the advantages of being raised by a firefighter - I know how to lay out the clothes on the floor just in case I have to jump and and get dressed for "an event" :). My keys (and rings) are in an escape bag by the door. The chairs are away from the table so we can all get under there if necessary. All water bottles are full. The house is fully vacuumed and there is nothing that can fall on the floor and get in our way if we have to Get Out. The phone and batteries are charging, dishwasher and washing machine are on (nothing worse than having dirty stuff sitting around when you have no electricity and no water supply) Diva Cup is steralized (hey if that is T.M.I. then you aren't from here... no one wants to get caught out and I'm prepared (another after shock) to share anything!), I have plenty of medication packed and ready to go and the car is 3/4 full of petrol. Not much more I can do but go to sleep.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. See you tomorrow :)
xxx

Home again...

There were a few broken things... nothing major (all my best stuff was broken ages ago), but the MESS! Ugh. I'm sick of it.

And will you look at the colour of the Avon River! FULL OF SILT!

at Taylor's Mistake - there was a 6.0

We were evacuated to Taylor's Mistake...

Another earthquake.... The dust cloud is where BB is, and where we just sitting...

Oh man.... cliffs are really coming down over there.

I have to stop looking in that direction - boy am I glad we are not there.

My favourite brother came and rescued us from Taylor's, and took me to get my car. We are so lucky to have him.

Rescue Mission

Yes, a helicopter came (and landed at BB!!!! Who knew that was possible??!) and also the Coast Guard. Because the helicopter had lots more people to check on, they got us on the boat and sent us off to Taylors Mistake. We were there when the 6.0 hit, and wow, we were moving around like we were on a rocking chair. I took pictures of BB from there - with the 2nd big dust cloud, and we were so thankful that we had already been evacuated.

MORE earthquakes...

If you look closely you will see the kids in the hole where the kiwi was...

About 3 minutes later there was mad shaking and the cliffs started coming down...

There was a bit of a dust cloud... we couldn't see a thing

Poor Lucy was very scared. She had been down by the water, standing on a rock and was thrown to the ground.