Sweet 16th

Thurs 29th:

Tonight we celebrated Bryce's birthday by going out for American food. I ate the hottest burger I have ever eaten and didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Then we went back to Erin and Matt's house and watched part of "The Other Guys". 

Friday 30th:

Today I watched Buffy. Lana came over. I cleaned the house a bit. I prepped for youth group. Then at youth group we played "how many ppl fit into my car". Turns out 14 girls fit in my car. I am sad we didn't take any pictures!

Sat 31st:

Today I went shopping for Jess Lin's 16th birthday present. I got her John Green's "Paper Towns". Laura and I went and got massages and then went shopping. I managed to get a pair of ugh boots from Big W for $6 woo! Jess's 16th was pretty fun. It was bonfires, sausage sandwiches and The Incredibles outdoor cinema. So cool. It's a really fun movie. After that, I went home and watched more Buffy before Soong came home. 

Sunday 1st:

Church this morning was great. We learned about The Passover. We then had Tristan and Thomas over for lunch. Tristan and I did some youth group camp shopping and prep while Soong, Thomas and Jess had band practice. Then in the evening Soong and I went out for dinner and tried Gigino's pizza. I enjoyed it :) 

#equipwise #toomanycramps

Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th

This weekend was plagued by incredible stomach cramps. I hung out at the doctors on Friday and then on the lounge for the rest of the day. I watched plenty of Buffy and Angel and didn't end up going to youth group :(

Saturday was equip. We got there at 6am for Soong to set up with the band and I started at the bookstall at 7:30. It was a really good day. I heard a talk, I saw some church girls, sold lots of books, and was in bed by 10:30pm. 

Sunday I spent the day horizontal again thanks to these cramps. Youth group leaders came over and we had a meeting about camp which is officially in two weeks. So It's pretty exciting. 

Pancakes and dinner parties

Friday 16th, Saturday 17th, Sunday 18th

Friday: I dropped Soong off at Mel's for work because his car is still out of action at the mechanic. I then went and got a pink slip , hit the gym and headed to Erin's. we went to spotlight then hung out until I needed to pick Soong up from school. Youth was fun, Christine did a good talk and we looked at the kingdom of heaven. People are getting excited by epic camp. 

Saturday: pancakes breakfast at Kinseys. We talked and planned Camp Happy. Looks like we are heading down to Burrill Pines this year. Went home and Soong had a nap while I hung out with mum. In the evening we went to Iraqis again for dinner with Kinseys and Bennetts, then I went to Erin's while Ryan came over and jammed with Soong. 

Sunday: we had a great day at church. Kate was there so we farewelled her again. Anh came over after church and we hung out and had lunch and she helped me cook dinner for my family. We had the whole Maltese family over for dinner for dads birthday and it was really really fun to hang out with the cousins. 

Forgot about a weekend there

Weekend before last. 

Friday 9th, Saturday 10th, Sunday 11th, Monday 12th

Friday: went shopping and to the gym. Hung out with Erin and took the kids to the park. Met up with Kirsty to finalise things for youth group camp. Had a good night at youth group. 

Saturday: we took mum out for her birthday to an offleash dog park and had fish and chips on the beach. Afterwards we went to inaburra fate day and Soong showed us around. That evening I hung out with Erin's family and played cards

Sunday: Soong and I went to Erin's place early to help ice cupcakes. On the way to the baptism we were rear ended and cupcakes went flying. So we eventually made it to church after we sorted out the three car pileup. We had lunch with Madness and then went home to cook Mother's Day dinner for soongs family. Had Steph, Ellen, and soongs parents over for dinner and fed everyone really well. 

Monday: normally I wouldn't include Monday but today was our wedding anniversary. Soong got me an iPod dock and I got him an iPad case. We went to Iraqis for dinner and ate $40 worth of food and it was GREAT. 

Winter is on the way

A busy, fun and cold weekend started on Thursday evening. Chris and Thom hosted Madness so we went to their apartment and ate ice cream and drank tea. 

The Friday was a super busy day. I started at 8am doing my grocery shopping at Fred's, followed by spin class at the gym. Then I went to Erin's and helped her do the grocery shopping with Rowan and Josephine. I headed to Anh's in the afternoon to finish writing my bible study and then met up with Jess to chat over the bible. Precious times. 

It was nice to be back at youth group that night. We had to leave early though, after Soong gave his talk, because there was a family funeral open home to go to. We went there and caught up with a bunch of Hakkas who we don't usually see. Then eventually we went home and both sorted out things for the Bogg wedding the next day - I cooked until 1am and he packed his car with all the gear he needed. 

Saturday was the wedding. It was cold and windy but it was so fun. We were in the kitchen cooking and it was hectic but fun. After the wedding I was exhausted but I went to koorong and picked up a gift for Eve's first holy communion. 

That evening we had a nice barbecue at Erin's house which was really tasty and yum. 

Sunday was the youth group fundraising morning tea, but I couldn't be at church cos we had to go to Eve's first holy communion. The church service was boring and heretical but the lunch afterwards was really fun. We hung with the cousins and played loombands and space teams and other fun games. 

Sunday night we were wrecked so we just cleaned the house and went to bed. Good times. It's also really really cold now. 

P.S. I Love You

Monday 21st to Sunday 27th April

That's the slogan of Port Stephens - a clever play on words by the coastal town in the Hunter region. It's where I've been staying for many years now, and where I came to stay once again last week. This time, Soong and I invited Kins and Helen and Phin to join us on a holiday. They said yes and we had an amazing week away.

We watched movies, cooked meals, went out to the bay, went out for a walk, ate fish and chips in the park, had Thai for dinner one night, went to the RSL the other night... It was all really relaxed and fun. We had lots of sleep and lots of rest and played lots of Monopoly.

I can't pinpoint one eventful thing happening, but it was just a lot of little fun adventures. Like buying milkshakes by the bay and drinking them in the sun, or watching Charlie and Lola in the morning with Phin, or eating chocolate and watching DVDs on the laptop because the television DVD player wouldn't work.

I had a really great time.

We got back Saturday evening, and went to visit some friends in Campbelltown for a bit before coming home and unpacking. Sunday I went to the gym for the first time in ages, then we went to church, afternoon tea in Camden and then I visited Erin on Sunday night and played with her InStyler while Soong went out to jam night.

Happy weekend!

Epic Easter Adventures

Easter Long Weekend

Our church is in the habit of eating a meal together and sharing in the Lord's Supper with one another before Good Friday, so Thursday night was a big church dinner. The turn out was smaller than expected, but it was still a great opportunity to share food with each other and remember Christ together.

After dinner was done, we had to rush to Kmart to buy camping supplies before it closed for Good Friday. We purchased a 4 man tent, a lantern, and some food to take camping with us from the Coles next door. Soong is really excited about the lantern, it works by winding it and charging the batteries and is really bright.

Good Friday Adventures
We started the day by dropping a "Happy Easter" cake around to Nan's house on the way to church. Church was wonderful, Kirsty did the kids talk and illustrated how Jesus swaps lives with us in order to die for our sins and present us holy and blameless before God. Peter Lin continued to talk about this, explaining how Jesus takes our debts and nails them to the cross with his death. Praise God for Jesus and his sacrificial death - that he died for us!

After church we packed the car and began the drive down to Moss Vale for our mini camping trip. I stopped by my dad's house to pick up my brazier, but it has gone AWOL since I lived there 2 years ago. I made a mental note to purchase another one from Bunnings in the near future, and hoped it wouldn't be a big deal that we didn't bring our own firepit.

Although we thought we were the last people to leave, we got to the campsite first. Thom, Chris and Bryce soon followed, and then the Matt & Ez with their family. We enquired with the front office about campfires, and they informed us that without a firepit, we couldn't have a fire. Matt and I left the others to set up tents and we went out for a drive around Moss Vale to see if we could find anything at all to use as a firebin.

We returned with an empty safe. It had been lying in the back car park of an alarm factory, in overgrown grass by a bin, alongside a pile of wood perfect for a fire. We piled all of these things into the back of my Jazz. The boys estimate that the safe would have been at least 100 kilos and they struggled to lift it. I have no idea how Matt and I managed to get it into my car in the first place. But great success, we had a fire.

Christine had also bought a 4 man tent from Kmart, however there was one issue with our super awesome 4 man tents. The double mattress wouldn't fit through the door. We had to inflate the double mattress from inside the tent, and then it barely fit! Christine's comment: "Four man? My butt." Then, just to prove the point, we made Bryce, Soong, Matt and Thom all get into the tent.

Dinner was sausages, bread rolls, salad and junk food. I brought choc chip hot cross buns and we toasted them over the fire (it made the bread crispy and the chocolate melty). Thom brought the right materials to make damper and so we toasted damper on sticks as well. We chatted into the night.

The next morning was pancakes, bacon, eggs and muffins. It was so great. Rowan and I played at the playground while breakfast was cooking, and then we did the dishes together so that Matt and Erin could focus on packing up their tents. We had to get rid of the safe, and after initially giving it to a neighbouring camper, ended up driving it back to it's home beside the dumpster.

Soong and I drove straight home and went straight to bed - exhasuted. We had a wonderful afternoon sleep, and then we drove back to Campbelltown to have an Easter Saturday dinner at my Mum's house. Mum taught Soong how to make crumbed chicken schnitzels, and she made us a family favourite - silverside with white sauce, cauliflour and potato bake. Not the healthiest of meals, but a great treat meal! We had an Easter Egg hunt inside the house, and then played a few card games and board games to end the night.

Sunday morning Soong and I went to church. Peter Lin did the kids talk again, bringing back Professor Arthur Anymorcakes to explain how awesome it is that Jesus rose from the dead. Church was great fun as usual. We went from church to have lunch at Dad and Grace's house, then we had dinner with Steph and Jesse. We planned to try Green Peppercorn, the fancy Thai place in Fairfield, but the wait was 25 minutes long so we drove a few streets over to a place we call Pink Thai (I can never remember the name of it). I love Thai food so much and because it was a holiday weekend, I was happy to eat it and not worry about counting the calories.

Afterwards, we went home and hung out, packed a few things for our upcoming holiday, and then ate jelly and kinder surprise with Steph and Jesse.