lately...

• Josh seems to have just clicked with reading! SO exciting!

• Malakai adjusted to sunday school better than I anticipated - YAY! He seems to really enjoy it...not that he says all that much about it lol.

• I went to our national women's retreat with Mickey Mangun from the POA as the main speaker. I was looking forward to this retreat in a similar way to the previous national retreat, and I wasn't disappointed AT ALL. Praise God, by His mercy I was changed that weekend, and I hope to never be the same again (in a good way lol!)

• While I was away, Aaron did the most FANTASTIC job with the kids. They didn't even miss me :( here he is doing devotions with them, using The Message devotional bible for kids...they drive us nuts with searching for 'manty' the praying mantis throughout this book but it's a lot of fun :) this is what they were doing when I arrived home monday night after shopping in Bowral on the way home ;) nice!

• We've been getting more formal about 'chores' around here too. Josh is a great helper, and often gets upset if I don't let him help. He makes his bed by himself every morning and does such a great job! He also keeps his room really neat and tidy. But other than that, it's been a kind of 'help when mummy asks' thing more than consistent chores. But now that Malakai's 3 (he loves to help too - gets a little obsessive lol!) I'm thinking of using a system. While I figure out which one will work for me (a chart WILL NOT work for me cause I'm hopeless at updating them) they've started with emptying the dishwasher, dustbusting the kitchen floor, feeding the cat, putting the rubbish out...and I'm thinking of more!!

• Aaron went to Bundaberg for our AYM weekend this year (the weekend straight after I was away, which also happened to be Father's Day) and he had an awesome time. I really wish we all could have gone, but it's such a long way :( He took some extra time off work when he got back and we had a mini holiday...and it was SUPER FANTASTICLY AWESOME :)