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.