Christchurch Earthquake Fundraising!

We are so thrilled with last weeks response and generosity from the mums who came to WM last Tuesday! We managed to raise $100 to give to a very worthy recipient from Christchurch for the newborn "care package." This was all lovingly put together by The Sleep Store (http://www.thesleepstore.co.nz/) with the funds we raised.

We have been given permission to share with you the story of Jenny Payne who wrote in to The Sleep Store, in the hopes of being considered for a care package.

Jenny writes:

"2 days after the earthquake and 26 weeks pregnant, I had bleeding and contractions and was air ambulanced out to Dunedin hospital as the NICU in Christchurch wouldn't be able to cope.

Luckily, they managed to stop the labour and I am now nearly 30 weeks! Such a miracle! We lost our last baby at 3 days old as he had Posterior Urethral Valves and was born at 32 weeks so the whole experience was like reliving the nightmare.

We have to stay in Dunedin now until the babies born (which could be at any moment as I'm such high risk) and am unable to travel back to CHCH and the NICU is still unable to cope.

We hadn't finished getting all of our baby things ready and are finding it hard to remember what we need and also trying to cover the costs of being down here inDunedin with our 5 year old and still paying the mortage and bills up in Christchurch.

My husband works in the CBD and his building was destroyed, thankfully he is still getting payed for now, but his job future is very uncertain.

If we could be considered for the care package, that would be amazing."

Jenny and her family has (and is) truly going through some hard times, and we hope that her story can encourage you, knowing that you have blessed her in this way. We will be praying that this little baby remains safe inside her until a safe time to be born, and that they are healthy and a real source of joy to the Payne family. Please see the picture below of the items she will receive from The Sleep Store.

Ambury Farm Park Visit

With the forecast for showers, we wondered what we were going to be in for, but it quickly turned out to be a stunner of a day! We were charmed by cows, sheep, goats, a grumpy looking turkey, and some VERY eager chickens....


Some of our group got to see a sheep being shorn; and we learned some weird words naming those wobbly bits on a turkey! (Carbuncles & snoods!) Did you know that when it's red, it's not a happy camper? When they're blue, they're relaxed. As you can see, this guy was TOTALLY enjoying our visit!

Our morning tea/lunch was enjoyed in some lovely shade outside the kitchen. Yay for the shade! Ambury Farm Park is a wonderful facility for getting up close and personal to the animals, and the best bit is it's free! There's a bit more info on the website (www.arc.govt.nz/parks). I noticed there is also some walks along the shoreline there...

Beach Fun!

The Mission Bay playground is really a great place for littlies. There's heaps of stuff to keep the slightly more adventurous ones occupied, and enough 'placid' stuff for our smaller kids. The day was a perfect mix of sun and clouds, and the water was like a bath! (Although, we did have to squat down to get completely soaked.)

We enjoyed having the chance to catch up, and the children had a blast playing with the water feature in the sand-pit! Check out these pics of some of the kids.

Welcome Baby Kyson!!

Kyson Eric Hill arrived on the 28th of December at 2.57am to a very happy Julia and Glen.

He weighed in at a VERY healthy 9lb 9oz (4.3kg), and measured 55cm long.

Julia had a home water birth (you go girl!) and is doing so well. Kyson's siblings are so excited to have him out of Mum's tummy and adore him (check out the FB photos!).

We're so proud of you guys! A huge congratulations, Julia & Glen, and we can't wait for cuddles at WM!

Christmas is coming!

15 sleeps till Christmas!
14 sleeps till Christmas Eve - which is really my personal favourite.

Last night we got together and had a pot luck dinner together, and my goodness, there was some yummy food! Check out the photo album here. Click here for photos from our last Tues too.

Wow - we have truly had such a great year at WM this year. We really enjoy hanging out with you each week and being a part of your and your precious children's lives. We hope you have a GREAT christmas break and you especially have so much fun making those treasured childhood memories.

We're all looking forward to a good ole catchup in the New Year!

Vegge Garden with Joy

Today we had Joy Gallichan come and share with us from her years of growing vegetables. She gave us plenty of basic down to earth (no pun intended) advice on how to grow things, what to grow when, and how to 'attempt' to keep our gardens from simply being a smorgasbord for pests!

In the photo is a small contraption made from cutting both ends off a 3L bottle and a tent peg. You place this around your seedlings and hold it in place with the peg. This acts as a small impromptu glasshouse and helps to keep snails off too. The little container pictured has lamb pellets in it which you just lay over the soil and then as they get wet they break down and are great fertiliser.

You can download Joy's notes here.
You can download notes about Companion Planting here.

"The Gardeners Prayer"
Lord, grant that in some way it may rain every day, say from about midnight, until 3 o'clock in the morning, but you see, it must be gently and warm, so it can soak in...
Grant at the same time, that it would not rain on the campion, alyssum, helianthum, lavender and the others which you in your infinite wisdom know are drought loving plants - I will write their names on a bit of paper, if you like...
And grant that the sun may shine the whole day through, but not everywhere (not for instance, on gentian, plantain lily & rhododendron), and not too much...
That there may be plenty of dew, and very little wind enough worms, no mealy bugs, slugs and snails, no mildew or fungus, and that once a week, thin liquid manure may fall from heaven. Amen.

Welcome Baby Ethan!

Julie & Ben Porter had a little boy, Ethan Charles Porter, at Auckland Hospital on Monday the 22nd Nov at 5.05pm. He weighed in at 7lb 8oz and measured 52cm long. Julie and the baby are doing really good, and look great! We look forward to having more cuddles with him at WonderMums!

Congratulations, Julie & Ben!