It's October 1st. My Poppop's 103rd birthday - if he were still alive!

My DH and I use our grandparents' birthdays to tell the family stories about our grandparents to our children. What kind of person? what was important to them? who looks like them? a childhood memory of them? what line of business were they in? responsibility in church and community?

I can recall the day (I was about 7 yo) that Santa .. er .. Poppop was seen by me climbing in his bedroom window wearing the red suit. Mind you, how come Santa was driving my Poppop's car? bit cheeky! Anyway such happy memories - Christmas and many occasions at the old farm house.

May I encourage you to create memories for your children - with telling the family stories, and allowing a wide range of experiences, especially with the whanau (extended family).

And what's happening with MOPS in and around New Zealand.

I've told you of the new MOPS logo - being well-received. I love its cheerful colours.

The fourth term (Spring in NZ) starts next Monday 8 October.

July 2008 is the 2nd MOPSNZ Conference, to be held in Hamilton.

Four new MOPS groups are starting in Fiji - MOPS AU are organising these. Good news for the Pacific - and in this coup-beleaguered nation, the mums there are desperate for support and some form of security in their home life. I watch this development with interest, as there is a wee possibility that our family will spend 3 months in Fiji next winter.

that's it for now,
check out a new events page at: http://mopsnz.bravehost.com/MtAlbertMOPS.htm
Crafts: http://www.geocities.com/mops_hcbc_nz/

www.mops.org.nz - still a work-in-progress
Johanna

Life is zooming by - and I've decided that's par for the course of homeschooling mixed in with self-employment [DH] and involvement in various things like home group, writing MOPS and other articles, and generally keeping house and home.

Not that I have a perfect home - a creative one maybe, complete with its piles of papers, cards, craft materials, books everywhere. We try hard to have the main lounge tidy and clean and probably get a 7/10 for that overall.

Yesterday was our 11th wedding anniversary. We thought about offloading the children for the day, but even thinking about that was in the too-hard-basket. Anyway we all had a good day on a tiki-haere - out to Pirongia, Te Awamutu, visted some food houses and friends and family - finally getting home closer to 6pm! Pleasant and fun - and I'm pleased to have contributed to the economy of this local village and town half an hour away from home. Where else can a girl buy gingham for $2 per metre? for $8 I have two easy wash and no iron tablecloths.

On the MOPS front, MOPS International has released a new logo - bright, colourful, informal.

I believe they are doing a down under version for those of us who are Mums.

I'm a strong believer in the tagline where: looking after mothers and helping them to enjoy their motherhood more has to be better for the children - and subsequently our world.

A saying around our house at present is" Is Mum having fun yet?" why? why not? My children are taking their responsibility to help Mum have fun very well. We still have glitches but they're sorted out quicker.

Choose to have a great day, take time out for yourself,
Shalom,
johanna
www.mops.org.nz - haven't unveiled our new look yet

Moving a Website, mainly done by Graeme and Brooke who are way more skilled at these things than I am, is as busy and messy a time as shifting house - not that I hope to do the latter for another 15 years!

Check out www.mops.org.nz - our own grown-up URL.

Things will change over the next few months. Colours, logo, layout, functions - whew! a massive overhaul.

Be patient with us - and check back often ...

What a great adventure - just like life!

Johanna, whose van broke down on the Waikato Expressway last week!

www.mops.org.nz
www.mops.org
www.mopsineurope.org
www.mops.org.au

I was sitting in the sun at the dining table yesterday and decided that if this was a typical winter's day, I could cope. Of course, since then we've had thunderous rain ... for a moment ... It's now wet underfoot but I'm sure the sun will come out from behind that cloud in the next half hour... [ever the optimist].

One thing that can be counted on, especially around New Zealand, is ... that weather is always changing.

And in this day and age, technology always changes. I still get change from 50 but I'm pleased with how I sort-of keep track of where technology is going. I don't operate a mobile or a WAP Wii ithis or ithat, but I can find my way around a computer, the vast world wide web, and even try to find out more about the cutting edge. Of course, that is not without pain.

I spent half an hour reading up on Web 2.0 the other day. My head started to hurt. I got the idea about social bookmarking [I stumble http://banquet.stumbleupon.com/] and how the web is being written more by the masses (in wikis, and other silly names for some clever ideas, gadgets, and widgets] rather than by the few geeks with 'The Knowledge' as in a decade ago.

Sites are more interactive, links in and out of your site are more important. Google is spreading its wings into Mr Gates turf. I can get degrees and all sorts of certificates from online courses (using moodles).

I can read html and even correct it sometimes, but CSS is still beyond me.

I'm glad I don't need to know everything. I just need to know who to ask.

I guess that's like life too - just need to know Who to ask.

May God Bless you,
Johanna

PS: changes happening at our website - but nothing big that you can see yet.
http://MOPSNZ.bravehost.com     trial: www.mops.org.nz

I scored a free booster seat off the local Freecycle yahoo group - for the Teen MOPS group. After I picked it up yesterday, I dropped it off to Laurel [MOPSNZ President] at the MOPSNZ offices at Holy Trinity Church, Forest Lake, Hamilton.

What a great little setup - bright office in behind screens and Laurel has labelled boxes and folders all set up on shelves. She's so organised - I was like that once, but then the Triffids [piles of papers] overtook my ability to sort, file, toss, put into folders! Not helped by the seemingly endless, though diminishing, set of writing deadlines and homeschooling my children.

Anyway it was great to meet up again with Rose H who has been a giving supporter of MOPS in NZ throughout the 10 plus years - ably printing, typing, and copying on our behalf. She has been a friendly voice on the end of the phone when some drama developed for me round publishing time in the early days especially. Laurel and Rose are the centrepiece of the garden of MOPS in NZ!

My eyes wandered over the titles of MOPS books stacked up. Books by Keri Wyatt Kent - Oxygen, Breathing - Elisa Morgan's The Orchard, What Every Mom Needs. Check out the MOPShop at www.mops.org - excellent resources for mothers of preschoolers - and her supporters. I have 'Oxygen' at present so you should see some evidence on my having read it come out in the various articles I write. Just as if you've been in Laurel's sphere, you will have read about 'Breathing'!

Winter is here, the hugg boots are on these mornings, as are the heaters - on these foggy Hamilton days. Looking forward to sun this afternoon, as some home educators come here for a folk dancing 'class'.

cheers,
Johanna
http://MOPSNZ.bravehost.com

Mother's Day in Autumn

The leaves are falling, summer's done in, and the chill of the air sneaks in any doors left open [in our home that's often].

But I thank God for slippers and woolly socks, not to mention electric blankets, even heat bags.

On a deeper level, I'm grateful that my mother taught me to stand alone and be capable of independent thought. I'm grateful I have some idea of what is important in life - like a faith in the Living God, being able to give and receive love in a way that is vaguely unconditional [though I falter here]. I'm glad I have some practical skills I can pass on to my children, so that they will be contributing members of our society and community.

I wish you all the very best in your responsible task of raising children.

Read Proverbs 31 - no, she's not a perfect woman, and she's not doing everything alone - but what an honour for her children to call her 'blessed'.

I hold in my heart the hope that by the time my children are about 23 that they will at least in part appreciate the many hours of training and loving that they received from me and the extended family. That they can stand in this world knowing they are loved.

Blessings on you all,

Shalom,
Johanna
http://www.mops.org

PS: Give your husband a kiss and cuddle and thank him for making you a mother!

Jesus is the author, editor, finisher, and perfecter of our faith.  - jmw 5/98

Mr Two-year-old dragged the big box across the floor and positioned it carefully in the sunny lounge where I was working. For the next fifteen minutes the box was the centre of his attention. It was a ‘hidey hole’, a boat to row, a cat box (though Bob the Cat wasn’t too enthused), a place to ‘sleep’, and a huge hat to (try to) walk around in. He chattered to whoever, made the necessary noises, and sang as he progressed. Such imagination... and a picture of joy and contentment.

Children take pleasure in such things. Can life be like that for mothers? Sometimes we feel as though we’re in a box - like a prisoner. This to clean, that to pick up and put away. Never-ending, with little joy and often less contentment.

Maybe it’s time we saw our box, our home, our tasks associated with family life as more than an endless round of duties. How many ways can we envision our box?

See it as a place for cheerful interaction with family members. As a safe place to nurture growth and development in ourselves and our children. A nest for the family’s hope and purpose. A launching pad for our children’s dreams.

It’s time to think outside the box. Welcome opportunities to grow, to try out new things, and old things in new ways. You are going to spend a lot more time in your box of life, so “be as a child” and find joy and contentment.

Even if it’s only for fifteen minutes today.

Or maybe for a morning at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. For more information on (starting) MOPS groups, write to mopsnz@ihug.co.nz or check out www.mops.org

All the best,
Johanna

(c) 2002 Johanna Whittaker, Hn, NZ

Daylight savings has just finished - with the accompnying confusion over the children's bedtime [their confusion, not ours]. "Honey, you know you go to bed when I say - not when you want to".

I'm flexible for a week or so but it is hard work adjusting for everyone. I now wake up at 4.30am instead of 5.30am - like the latter wasn't early enough already! Oh! the mother's lot!

You may be in the middle of feeding through the nights; broken sleeps; and trying to communicate with this gorgeous little being, making do with various sounds and facials. I'm past that tiny baby stage, but my lot are into feeding endlessly through the day; broken sleeps (due to bad dreams etc); and making a variety of grumps and other noises, which I'm left trying to determine the meanings of.

Check out a recent MUM-e-Mail: http://mopsnz.bravehost.com/MeM07.html 

You have heard it said that: Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. That's still true - though I find the way He reveals Himself is fresh - each day.

What are you expecting of God today? this week?
What are you asking Him for - for this season of Life?

Blessings on you (and your marriage),

Johanna
my private blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/banquet/ - Life's A Weekend

For this year, I will value my work as the linch pin in my family.

For this year, I will take time for myself - without feeling guilty.

For this year, I will not feel guilty, cos I know I am doing the very best I can. God help me.

For this year, I will not try to measure up to Grandma, friend, nor any one - but God.

For this year, I will accept and take to heart the kind and positive words that my husband and family speak to me.

For this year, I will say thanks, please and sorry more - aware that modelling these things is good for my children to hear.

For this year, I will prioritise my work and roles - then, working in with my husband, order our lives to live according to our priorities.

May I smell the roses, see the patterns in life around me, feel the sand between my toes, and - just sit and enjoy with a smile on my face.

May God's richest blessings and His gifts of peace and deep-seated joy be yours,
johanna

http://MOPSNZ.bravehost.com