When the church comes to work...

We had a busy bee this morning at the manse, taking the old foil insulation out of our roof and putting in some new wool batts. Jeff and I were woken up at 8am by the arrival of the first worker, and I had my shower to the intimidating thump-thump of boots on the roof.


Joshua was first of the kids to get up on the roof, and looked completely at home there:

Sam wasn't too sure at first:

But he soon began to see the upside of being so high:


Even I got up on the roof!

The back yard looks completely different from this perspective.

Abigail was very worried climbing the ladder on her own.

After we prayed for her safety and courage, she was fine, and even made her way into the roof cavity for a brief explore, equipped with her torch.


Anna was last to get up on the roof because she'd been inside working on a school project on Greece.


After all the work was done, the men all took a morning tea break - thanks to Jenny for sending along Anzac biscuits with her husband (since I am not known for my thoughtful hospitality).


Now I am looking forward to not shivering each night when I change into my pjs!

Mowing the lawn, country style

Jeff borrowed a ride-on lawn mower from one of the church families, and I took it for a "spin" in the back and front yards.



It definitely sped up the mowing process, but then I spent another hour raking the clippings into piles and spreading them in our chicken coop for the chooks to enjoy. Having gradually scratched their coop down to very bare dirt, they appreciate having something to pick through other than kitchen scraps.

School Athletics Carnival

The day began with instructions for turbo jav:

Sam wasn't exactly a 'natural':

But he gave it his best shot:

Anna tried hard as well:


Joshua, meanwhile, has not inherited my enthusiasm for the triple jump:


Samuel loved the running races:

At which Abigail also put in a good effort:

Until she was distracted by her friends in the other lanes!

Anna tried very hard in an extremely close race:

And Joshua gave his best as well:


After lunch, the junior tug-of-war was won by gold, with three of the eight gold pullers coming from our family - against a team of 12 from red!

Joshua also helped the intermediate gold team succeed in their tug.


The kids also all competed in the flag races and relays.

My kids received a few prizes:


(You can see their ribbon collections decorating shirt fronts in some of the race photos.)

Meanwhile Jeff provided commentary, only a little biased towards our kids' team.

And I timed the races, cheering on every kid whose name I knew.