Welcome Baby Mattea!

Mattea Vyvyan arrived on the 30th Oct at 4.15am. What a little darling! She weighed in at 7lb 14oz (3.55kg).

A huge congratulations to you both, Jo & Reesh! We hope you have a special time introducing Mattea to your world! We all enjoyed stealing cuddles with her today.

Welcome Baby Amelia!

Amelia Joyce arrived on Sat 27th Oct at 2.08am weighing in at 8lb 13oz (3997g). She is simply adorable!

A huge congratulations to you, Amy & Steve! We hope you all have a special time settling Amelia into your family, and we're looking forward to having cuddles with her.

Think Pink Morning Tea!!

Yummy! We love these opportunities to go a bit spesh and have some gorgeous food!

Last week our theme was Think Pink (for The Breast Cancer Foundation) where we gave a donation for the lovely pink food. White (well Pink, actually) Chocolate Mud Cake, gorgeous cupcakes, coconut ice, fudge, marshmallows, lammington... All washed down with a real coffee or hot chocolate.

It was fun to see all the pink clothing everywhere, and even a pink pair of slippers was spotted. Cute!

Congratulations, girls, you gave $82.80!!! Awesome stuff! It is so great to be able to give to a great cause like this that effects so many Kiwi women. We look forward to doing this again next year too!

Blue Morning Tea

We had a 'lovely' blue morning tea on Tuesday...  It certainly tasted great, but I have to say I'm looking forward to our Think Pink morning tea next term! 

Cupcakes, Melting Moments, Star Biscuits, Lollies and REAL coffee all made for a sweet indulgence.  And the best thing?  We got together another $46.20 for the Community Garden Project in Maradi, Niger!  So with the $50 that we previously sponsored, we're almost at $100.00.

Well done girls!

Wai Walk for Niger?

The Start Line of the 2km

Wow - what a turnout! About 80 people participated, and a good 60% of those were families. Familes from WonderMums, along with those from Kiddy Winks, MBC and our community all got together and walked 2km carrying their water (wai is Maori for water ie, 'Water' walk for Niger).  Others walked 5km and some even 11km.

Walkers, then a picnic finish!

Why did we do this?  In Niger, people are dying. Far too many people. And simply because they don't have water. Parents carry grief for children who died way before their time. It really is heartrending.

We feel truly lucky that we 'happened' to be born in a country with loads of fresh water. We want our children to realise this is a huge privilege not shared by everyone around the globe. So this was a chance for our kids to get actively involved in 'doing' something that will help these families in Niger. 

I am so proud of all the kids who did this walk today. They were excited to be doing something as a group, and the older ones were really proud to be doing something to help kids who have no clean water to drink.

So far $50 sponsorship has been given by WonderMums!  Awesome stuff!  We are really hoping that as a group we would be able to donate $100 towards this awesome cause. We still have till the 7th of Oct to collect sponsorship/donation. 

Very excited kids!

World Vision is running the Maradi Community Vegetable Gardening Project in Niger. The direct beneficiaries are 560 women and men farmers. In total though, this will benefit 4200 people, 1,470 of which are just children.  Amazing isn't it!  Did you know that 50% of the population does not have access to safe drinking water, with 44% of children under-5 years being underweight? Those are scary percentages...

One of the main reasons for this project is this:  "Producing horticultural crops such as fruits and vegetables for cash and food, other than their staple grains, should become a more sustainable mechanism to reduce dependency on continuous food aid distribution when available water is appropriately managed and used.  Shifting the situation from perennial food insecure communities into producers of food that will relieve malnutrition levels and provide available cash to households to access other basic needs has potential in Niger."

The picture on the left is the project area in Maradi.  The picture on the right is an example of what this will look like upon completion. This is another project World Vision has finished in Mali.

Messy Play!

It just goes against the 'Mummy' grain, doesn't it. Putting out a whole lot of gloopy, messy, sloppy stuff and then encouraging our littlies to actually play in it! Eww! They do love it, though! The Mummies secretly love it too. ;)

We prepared an ice excavation block, slime, gloop, cloud dough, and textured playdough. The kids were very interested in exploring all this weird stuff (probably wondering if their mummies had gone nuts!). Some were hesitant, but it was great seeing them all get into it with a bit of encouragement.

These things are REALLY easy to do at home too. You can find the recipies on our Messy Play tab at the top.

For more photos, see the album.

Cupcake Night!

 This picture says it all!

We got all our gear out and played around with heaps of stuff! We did some moulding from fondant icing (roses, bows, and flowers). We also tried our hands at some pretty piping. The aim of the night was to have fun, share some knowledge, and discover that anyone can make a cupcake look great! We were lucky to have Fleur's input with all sorts of handy tips - thanks so much, Fleur!

Here are some links to some of our knowledge spots:
1.Loose swirl tutorials (Simply Sweets blog) & (Bella Cupcakes blog)
2.Vintage ruffle flower (Jessicakes blog)
3.Buttercream tips (Cooks And Cups blog)
4.Cheats fondant roses (my blog)

You can download the recipes we used for our icing here.

Supper was a hit too: Creamcheese Brownie, and Lemon Cake complete with Hot Chocolates!

Till next time!!

Welcome Baby Joseph!

A huge congratulations to Chelsea & Matt on the safe arrival of little Joseph Jeremiah. How cute is that little mouth!

He was born on the 4th August at 1.35am and weighed in 3.33kgs (about 7lb 5oz). Chelsea is doing well.

We look forward to getting some snuggles with your little guy!

Card Making & Origami

Last night we joined a card-making group and got our craftiness on! We had the opportunity to use so many fab materials: cuttlebugs, embossing tools, stickers, stamps, many different papers and cards - you name it, it was likely there.

We also tried our hand at a bit of basic origami.

And of course, all this was enjoyed along with a lovely supper. ;o)

If you couldn't make it, and would like to have a go at home, you can view the instructions for these origami designs on the following links:
Dress
Kusudama Flower
Kirigami Bow

Photos for night can be viewed here.

A Visit to Tin Tin's

Wow - we had SUCH a great time at Tin Tin's today!  19 of us went out there and enjoyed hanging out and chatting while our kids all ran around playing. 

It was so lovely to see so many of our sweet lil newbies there too.

With the weather being so confining, lately, it was perfect being able to let the kids loose in a large space where they could make lots of noise, do heaps of running and do a fab job of being kids.

We love days like that...

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Letter from Lokesh!

I just love this little guy! He is soo like our own kids. His favourite time of the year is his birthday, his favourite colour is pink, and he loves the playground! This could easily be one of our kids filling in these boxes...

It is really awesome that we can change the life of a child in another country in such a positive way.

Welcome Baby Joshua!

A huge congratulations to Ruth, Jason & Hannah on the birth of their lil guy!

Joshua was born on the 24th June at 12.40pm.

He weighed in nicely at 3.9kg (8lb, 10.5oz).

He's beautiful, and we're all looking forward to cuddles with this bubba in Term 3!

High Tea with Ruby!

Oh oh oh!
Delicious, pretty, dainty food!
We had sandwiches, scones, macarons, cupcakes, quiches, meringues, chocolate tarts.  Divine!  Food is such a great way of spending some time hanging out with good friends and relaxing.  We were also very lucky today to have so many wonderful people helping out with looking after our kids-we couldn't do it without you ladies!  So a huge thanks to Faith, Diane, Irene, Sharon, Shelley & Rachel.

Today Ruby shared with us a tool useful for looking at ourselves as a whole person. See the diagram below.

Here goes my recollection of her talk. Whare nga Tapa Wha means the whole body/person.  Essentially, we are made up of 4 parts.  Tinana (physical body), Hingangaro (mind & emotions, soul), Wairua (spiritual).  As women, we tend to think that all 4 parts should be going really well all at the same same.  (For a quick walk through women's history, see what Ruby spoke on last time here). However, often we are depleted in many of the areas.  Sometimes for specific reasons, sometimes just becasue of life.  God created us to enjoy life. Tinana, Hingangaro & Whanau all could be described as the PLEASURE part of life.  Which is good!  Wairua is the TREASURE part of life.  Ruby referenced Mat 6:19-21 "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."  Ruby shared from her own life, but I won't attempt to share that, as I think it's important that it's heard exactly as it's spoken.  When we focus on the three under pleasure, it often leaves us so tired.  Drained.  Worn out.
When we focus on Wairua, it becomes our Powerhouse!  It has the ability to energise the other 3, and can cause you to see those 3 differently too.

Ruby encouranged us to 'take our temperatures' - to look at the diagram, and work out where we are at.  Are we exhausted?  Is our focus in the right place?  How do we think we are going? 

It's certainly a refreshing way to think about ourselves.

Looking forward to hearing more from Ruby next time!

Kids's Clothes Swap... ALL Cash Goes to Families in Need

The Goods!!!

Read's a bit like a newspaper headline, doesn't it?

Well, as I walked around this morning, just 'soaking in' the HUGE pile of Kids Goods that had been donated, I was in awe.  Truly!  So many of you brought in a heap of good quality clothes and toys and were so willing to just give it away!  In these TradeMe days, I do think it's rare.  And we think it is just so fabulous!  Instead of making a profit for yourselves, you were willing to donate, and then to buy back with all the money going to Charity.

To be honest, we were praying we would be able to make a couple of hundred dollars.  We would have been very excited with that.  But we made over $700 dollars!!!!  INCREDIBLE!!!

A huge thanks to all those who selflessly gave us goods to sell.  Another huge thanks to all of you who purchased goods today - without you, it wouldn't have worked at all!

So, where is the dosh going?

Well, we care a lot about Mums, Dads, Kids and Babies who are less fortunate than ourselves.  A lot!  So we are going to donate this money to both IOSIS family solutions, and to Tearfund's Child Survival Programme (CSP).  (See below for a quick description of what these organisations are about.)

So what is happening to all the goods not purchased?
It's all going to IOSIS.  They have their finger on the pulse of the largest needs in this community of ours and we know it will all be put to such good use!

Why?  Why do we care?
One of our values at WonderMums is Generosity.  We believe that it is our responsibility to have a part in reducing poverty.  Each of us on our WM Team has a heart for this.  We each feel so blessed that we are able to get jobs, feed/clothe and house our children.  When we see the documentaries of those living in poverty, both in NZ and overseas, it breaks our hearts knowing that these Mothers must be in such anguish having no ability to care for their families in the way they want to.  If we were in their position, we would need help.  So we want to be able to help out where we can.  This is the motivation for WM sponsoring Lokesh, who we have now been sponsoring for almost a year!  We are so proud to be a part of a mothers group who always gets behind the fundraising efforts we do for charity!!

The Shopping!!!

IOSIS is involved in serving our community in these areas: Social Work, Foster Care, Counseling and Family Therapy Centre, Merivale Whanau Development Centre, Family Learning Centre, Supervised Visitation Centre, Parent Support and Coaching, Budgeting Services, MenD - Mens Development Programme, "Strengthening Families" Facilitation.  They are truly an amazing support to the families of South Auckland.  You can get involved in more ways than one, and information to that effect can easily be found on their website. 

"Tearfund's Child Survival Program which is a pre-child sponsorship early childhood program (similar to Plunket here in NZ).  The age range for CSP is pre-natal through age three.  The program involves the mother or other primary caregiver.  The children once past the age of three will then become part of the child sponsorship program.  The needs of young children living in poverty are severe and immediate with great potential for negative impact, including infant mortality, premature birth, illness, developmental delay, and decline in intelligence scores, poor future school performance, and relationship problems (St. Pierre & Layzer, 1998; Yoshikawa, 1995).  The longer a young child lives in poverty, the more severe and lasting the negative impact (St. Pierre & Layzer, 1998)."

Butterfly Creek Visit

After being rained off last week, the sun really turned on a lovely day for it yesterday!  Yippie!  Beautiful balmy weather.  We always enjoy the treat of having cafe food, and being able to eat it leisurely while the kids tear around on the playground.

Check out the album here for the rest of the photos.

Happy Mothers Day!

We think you guys are pretty spesh!  We know that Mummies aren't the only special people in the world, or even the only ones who 'do the mostest', but we do think that there are times in mother's lives where they certainly are a Super Mum!

That Miracle, a Mother,
By Mogs
A mother loves her children, no matter who they are.
Her baby is the cutest thing, the cutest in the world!
As that lil bundle grows, and begins to assert it’s small self,
A mother corrects & directs, but with an inner delight.

She always sees the potential, the adult her child could become.
She fiercely believes when others doubt,
Defends & protects no matter the effect on her own person.
To build self-confidence in her young, is one of her main goals.
She teaches them to care about others, standing up for what is right

Her day is spent growing a person, readying them for life.
Her nights are spent watching her child, sleeping peacefully.
Her dreams are centred on the special moments, where her child stays small.
Her hopes are staked in the future, when her baby becomes full-grown.

The miracle is this woman, who understands & loves the ‘whole’.
The baby, the child, the young one, and the adult they will become.

Check out this post from the Polkadots for a lil giggle.

Welcome Baby Jocelyn!

Aww, what a cutie!  And how sweet is that little hat!
Jocelyn Eileen was born to Belinda & Roland on the 28th April at 7.28am.  She weighed in at a lovely 9lb 8oz!  Well done, Belinda!  We look forward to having cuddles with this little bundle.

A huge congratulations to you Belinda & Roland!

Letter from Lokesh

'She Will Run' High Tea

The High Tea food, oh my, the FOOD!

Wow, what an event! Julia did such a fantastic job of organising this, and it came together perfectly! It was so pretty, feminine, and light. Lots of women pitched in with baking, and the results were truly scrummy.

The decor...

We draped fabric, hung tissue pompoms, tied ribbons, and spread lace.  All the gorgeous high tea plates and serve-ware really made the event.

Suzy's talk

Suzie Botross is the author 'She Will Run'.  We found her to be a very down to earth, honest, & dynamic speaker.  She shared with us her dream for women to be able to deal with their 'stuff' and live more full lives.  Last night the topic was Managing Your Expectations of others.  Such a great topic for women.  We all tend to have ideas in our heads of how those in our lives ought to behave and treat us.  If we can get a more balanced look at ourselves, we will be better able to navigate the disappointments, let downs and even at times, hurts that come our way.  I think I speak for all of us that were present; we were challenged to give others the benefit of the doubt.  And then to do that again and again...

Suzie's book is broken down into chapters of about 10 pages each (deliberately, so it's easy to read a chapter a night), and it covers relationship issues and a bunch of other topics.  This book is easy to read, and a good one to even be able to pick it up and read a section that just applies to what you're going through. 

A big thanks to Julia for organising this - it was really gorgeous! x

She Will Run - Wed 18th April 7.30pm