Kiwi's gone Crazy!

Kia ora family and friends! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written. We are still doing great as can be.

Juliana is doing great. I feel kind of bad about the last letter I wrote. It seemed kind of negative about Juliana and I didn’t mean for it to be. She has been doing much better with her attitude and she really is such a great kid. She’s very funny, but still doesn’t know how to be serious when she should be. Like at church today, I had to get after her several times. We only had 6 kids in primary today, four of them were mine. Kind of good though, because the primary president didn’t show up and I had to do everything, which I wasn’t really prepared for. (She has morning sickness pretty bad.) So Juliana has a friend named Anastasia who is a very moody girl. She gets upset over silly things. Well you know the saying two’s company three’s a crowd, Juliana was with her friend and another girl and Juliana’s friend Anastasia started cussing (probably to show off) and Juliana asked her kindly to stop, but she kept at it and was trying to get Juliana to say a bad word or else they would kill her(supposedly they were just kidding, but you really shouldn’t say that). Well Juliana got upset and just went home. I’m very proud of her, I just can’t believe Anastasia would do that, she’s usually a nice girl. Kids cuss here all the time, more so than in Arizona, it’s pretty sad. I don’t blame them though, they don’t edit their television here. They say all the bad words on TV. We really have to be careful what we watch.

Alec has been playing with a new friend named Sam. He was over at his house for 7 hours yesterday. I guess they get a long pretty well. That’s good because Alec has mostly been playing with his sisters. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed him after having Juliana. He’s a great kid and usually does what I say. His downfall : Food. Don’t dare talk to him when he’s hungry. You can call him Mr. Grouchy pants. I guess he takes after my side of the family.

Mele was the best child at church today. She must be growing, because she is eating tons as well as Alec. I think I’ve figured out that we are probably feeding more like 10 people in our house instead of 7, on a 600 dollar a month allowance for food! Mele has been working on leaving situations when she gets upset. She usually gets really mad and starts hitting, but she’s been doing better.

Logan is so cute. I just love the way he smiles. He has been a really good kid and I have really been enjoying him. It’s so cute how he is learning about tattle tailing on people. He has a best friend named Tolson who he invited to his birthday party. They play firefighters together at school “all day” says Logan. Logan’s party was fun. He had a homemade piñata that was a hot air balloon. He got playdough and a remote control spider. We played games outside because the weather was just perfect. It had been raining all week and cleared up in time for his birthday. Then it rained all the next week. It wasn’t a very pleasant holiday for the kids.

Rachel is now 9 months old and still has no teeth. But I can feel them. She still keeps me up at night, except for last night she did remarkably well. She’s so busy all the time and always has to be doing something and always has to be with her mommy. I was mowing the lawn yesterday and put her down so I could mow faster, but she just cried and cried and crawled all the way across the grass just to have me hold her while I mowed. (The mower is not a gas or electric mower, it’s all man powered, so it took a long time to mow.)

Matt gave a little 3 min. speech on his PhD research. He was the very first one to do it. He says it went terrible because they didn’t have his one page power point already to go for him, and he thought that they did. So during his speech he had to go over and put it up and it ruined his time. He came home really bummed because if he did well then they might want him to come back and do a longer speech and possibly win 5000 dollars. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

I’ve been busy with doing the regular mundane things of motherhood. Sometimes it’s nice to dress up and get a way for a night (you know date night,) But they say that you have to be 14 here in order to babysit. I mean, for all these years I’ve been so excited for Juliana to turn 12 so that Matt and I can go out and have time to ourselves (and the kids don’t go to bed as early as they use to either) But now I have to wait even longer! What a bummer. Anyway, I’m just trying to be inventive with our food storage. That’s how were able to survive with only 600 dollars a month. Just make sure you eat your oats before they turn 11 years old, because they’re kind of musty (not must eat more, dad!) I mean musty!

I’m also starting school next Monday. I’m going to Liberty University and I’m finishing my Bachelor’s in Psychology in Christian Counseling. I’m really excited about it and I’m starting a Bible class and an Intro into Christian Counseling. I should be done in a couple of years. (Yes, Liberty is a Christian school (fundamentalist Baptist). I think it’s totally awesome! They are regionally accredited school and an actual school in Virginia with a football team and everything. They just have an online portion.

So my mother found out that she had a brain tumor and got it removed all in one week. I felt badly that I couldn’t be there to support her in this hard time, but it’s great to know that she seems to be doing remarkably well and will only need 5 weeks of chemotherapy. Aren’t prayers amazing?

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. We love and miss you all!

Love, The Kiwi Harms

Kia ora-

Well, there is a website called Trade Me just like Ebay and I got on it and bought a Keyboard and a flute for Juliana all for 330 dollars. We have really been enjoying the keyboard. Luckily our pianist came back and played for us in church this last Sunday. Matthew taught the senior primary and there were only 3 kids in the class. 2 of them were Juliana and Alec. And because it was just them, Juliana and Alec chose to be very disrespectful. I was very disappointed in them because we had talked last Sunday about showing reverence and respect and then they completely forgot about it. But they have promised that next week they will be 100 % better.

Alec is still enjoying school, but he doesn't really play with any of the kids. He doesn't like that they cuss all the time and I don't blame them. I told him to pray about having a friend to play with. I'm praying for him too. Hopefully he will.

Mele seems to be doing very well. She plays with her friend Kayla almost everyday and she's going to a birthday party this Friday. Mele and Juliana went to some Christian girls night out last Thursday with Kayla. They sang songs, learned the poi ball and did other things. They really enjoyed it, so they probably will be going to those on Thursday. They don't have Activity Days here with the 8-11 year old girls, so I will have to be doing that myself.

Logan said the funniest thing the other day. Matt went to a funeral and Logan wondered where he was. I said, "Daddy went to a funeral. Do you know what a funeral is?" "No," he said. "A funeral is when somebody dies and people go to see the person who died." Logan said, "Daddy died!?" It was so cute and funny. Of course I explained that he did not die.

Rachel absolutely loves kitties. She has a little pet shop kitty that Mele lets her borrow. We say, "Where's your kitty Rae Rae?" And she will start looking around for it. Then we show it to her and she gets all excited. I need to film that. She is also pulling herself up on things. She thinks she is hot stuff.

I've been a little under the weather lately so I haven't done much. Just the usual mom things. Tonight I'm going to Enrichment at the church, so then I will get to talk with the ladies and get to know them better.

Well, that's it for now.
The Kiwi Harms

Juliana's birthday

Kia Ora-

Well another week has past and it seems like it went fast. Juliana had her Birthday and had a great time. I made her biscuits (they call them scones here) and gravy. No sausage. All their sausage is in those yucky pig intestines. Anyway, I got up early to make cookies (they call them biscuits here) for Juliana's class. They were oatmeal coconut, chocolate ones. The kids loved them. Then Juliana came home and I surprised her with a treasure hunt and she found her bike. She was so excited! She didn't think she was going to get a bike because I told her how expensive they were, but this one was only 75 bucks. That's like 45 US dollars. Then she got a new helmet as well. She rode her bike to school the next day. Then that evening we had mac n cheese and chicken nuggets. She got candy from Logan, and Alec and Mele gave her some mini jungle animals which she just loved. Then we let Juliana stay up and watch Ghost Whisperer with us. We had her party on Saturday. 5 of her friends came from school. We made a pinata that was suppose to be a replica of Alec and we had chips, popcorn, soda and cake and ice cream. I was surprised to see how much those girls could eat. We played a few games ( I made them up as we went a long) and then they went home. Overall it was a big success.

A mom of one of Juliana's friends invited me and the kids over for Tea (actual tea, not snacks or dinner, I can never get them all straight.) Anyway, I brought my own hot cocoa, because I wasn't sure if she had herbal tea, without the caffine. It was very nice and I enjoyed getting to know her. She has two children, a girl Juliana's age and a boy Alec's age. She herself is 42 and teaches at the kids' school.

Well guess what I found today? Cilantro!!! Yea! Well, I looked online and found out that Cilantro has another name called Coriander. Nobody told me that it has two names. So I went to a different store today and found it. I'm so excited to make my taco pizza and salsa a guacamole. We invited some people over, but I guess the one lady had her gall bladder out and can't eat spicy food. We'll have to invite some other people instead, and make something different for them.

Sunday was very interesting. I got to church and sure enough, there was no pianist. For my very first time I played the piano in Sacrament Meeting. I played I'm a Child of God and There is a Green Hill Far Away. I was a little nervous, but it turned out okay. The Priesthood sang the closing song Acapella. It was really nice and the talks were great. It's kind of sad that there were only about 35 people in church today and that is counting the babies. We've got to get more people active. Apparently they asked Matt if he would teach the Senior Primary. There's only like 5 kids in Senior. And they don't have Activity Days or Cub Scouts. I'm going to have to do all that on my own with the kids.

You know how we got our stroller stolen? Well I went to a place called the Lion's club and they had a stroller and a waffle maker and some mugs that matched my set, so I got all of that. That was my bargain for the week.

We now are sleeping really good (well as good as can be expected with Rae Rae teething and all). People from church brought over mattresses for everyone. It has been great. It's amazing how much you take for granted when you have a place to sit, eat and sleep.

We are so blessed and can't thank everyone enough for all they've done for us.
Amanda

New Zealand Firsts

Well, somehow I finally managed to get into my blog and now I will post some things. We've made it to NZ and we are doing great. Everything is expensive, and there is no Mexican food, but I'm sure I will survive. The people here are very helpful and very friendly. Our neighbors have lent us their furniture, sofas and chairs and a table, until our stuff arrives on the boat. Our house is totally awesome! I love it. We have nice stainless steel dishwasher and oven and refrigerator. The counters are a marble stone. We have a cute little garden in the back and a jet tub in one of the bathrooms. I can hardly wait to use it! The Lord has blessed me beyond my expectations. I asked for a 4 bed 2 bath home and He came through. I knew He would. Although it is so funny that all my kids are still sleeping in one room together. They are just not use to the house and are still scared of it.

School is going great! Juliana has made 8 friends at school and has invited them to her birthday party this week on Saturday. She really likes it here and that makes me so happy. Mele had a rough start, but now she is doing very well. She is only 1 grade behind Alec, so she's going to need to step it up a notch at school. Alec likes his Bullrush. It's a game where you can tackle people. (Oh yea, and Juliana is getting a new bike for her birthday. We are going to surprise her on her birthday.) Logan loves his school. He goes 4 hours a day 5 days a week. I'm enjoying the break from him. My kids only have a total of 6 hours of school a day. They like to stay and play on the playground before they head home. They walk home from school. It's only about 1/2 a mile.

Matt is going to officially start his school stuff tomorrow. I'm going into town (1 mile away) to find a curling iron. Town is so cute. I will have to take pictures.

Church has about 40 people in the chapel. It's very small. Apperantly they have lots of members, but they are not active. Too bad for them, they are missing out on some really great people. We've met an older couple named the Hansons. They have been so good to us. We also have really nice neighbors.

Crazy Month

Well, with having morning sickness, kids going crazy from boredom, a husband who is still in the process of looking for a job and no bites on our house, I think this is officially the worst summer I've ever had. I really shouldn't complain. I know I have it pretty good, but I'm emotionally, physically and spiritually drained. And to top it all off, Logan broke his collar bone last week. I feel so bad, because I was right there, and couldn't even help him.
On a lighter note, we're hoping to move to AZ early. We want to be able to get the kids out of the house, to help keep it clean, and to start the kids in school in AZ. I think the only one it's effecting is Juliana. Lately she seems to get a lot of more headaches. Almost migraine like. I really think she feels my stress and knows what's up. So she's worried too.
Other than all that, life is pretty good. We are all healthy and strong and we have nice warm beds and food in our bellies (thanks to our neighbors who moved out and gave us all their freezer food.:)