What makes a good church logo?

Our church is in the process of designing a logo (the currently don't have one). They had a few options at church on Sunday that a guy from a local sign writing company had come up with and Peter and I personally weren't impressed/happy with any of them (there were 4 different options, but all along the same lines). So we have been trying to come up with some alternatives. They want to use it for signage, letter head, and on the bulletin each week. So if you have any thoughts, suggestions, opinions that you think would be helpful, please comment!

I have a midwife...

After asking a few people for recommendations for midwives (ok I asked my 3 friends - all who have had babies in Hamilton in the last couple of years - plus the list the Dr gave me); a strange phone call; waiting a week; and another phone call...I now have a midwife. And best of all, she does home visits for all her visits - which means I don't have to worry about working out what to do with the kids when I've got appointments! I'm seeing her for the 1st time on Thursday afternoon.

Race report

Well, I said I would post a little about what the Rotorua Marathon was like. So here it is.
We left home pretty early (about 6am) to get there in time to find a parking spot, pick up my race number etc without having to stress about being late for the start (which was at 9am). The weather didn't look fantastic - cold, grey and breezy. At least it wasn't raining I guess.
After a haka, we were off through the streets of Rotorua before heading out of town and around the lake. I was feeling good - it was feeling easy. At about 18km we hit the first of the two big(ish) hills - Hamurana. It was mildly steep, but didn't feel that bad to me - it still wasn't feeling hard. I went through halfway in 1h54 I think it was. At 24km you hit the other hill - Mourea. This one still didn't feel that bad - on the way up at least. Going down the other side is when I started to feel the pain - my calves and quads started feeling pain. I managed to hang on for quite a while - keeping on going until 32km when my legs were hurting too much and I started walking/hobbling. This is where cold weather doesn't help - the last 10km of the race is fairly flat and exposed - so a cold breeze just meant my legs seized up even more. I managed to "run" a little bit more, but not much. I was determined to run the last km, so I gritted my teeth and ran. 4h23min at the end. 1078th out of 1901 finishers. And a lot of pain.
By the evening, my right knee had started aching a lot - I've worked out that it's my ITB that's flared up badly, probably caused by having to run on the right hand side of the road the whole way - the camber exacerbates the problem.
So, I ran, I finished. I missed my PB from Gold Coast last year by 2 minutes (or thereabouts), but this course was a lot harder. So I guess I have to be happy with that. And live with very sore legs for the next week.

Milestone in Parenting

We filled out the form for Ben's first Kindy fundraiser tonight - a Pie Drive. There we were deciding how many and what flavour pies we were going to buy. With there being no compulsory fees for Kindy, we feel a bit more positive about contributing some money to Kindy via fundraisers (especially when we remind ourselves of how much we were going to be paying in Brisbane to send Ben to the the local C&K kindy). Although the whole experience feels a bit weird for us as we can still clearly remember our parents filling out similar fundraisers when we were young kids at primary school.

24 hours to go...

Until I'll be running around Lake Rotorua.  I've been trying to make sure I get lots of rest this week to make sure I'm as ready as I can be, considering the lack of training I've got through.  Weather forecast doesn't look too bad - just have to wait and see how I go now I guess!

YMCA...

The kids and I went and tried out the kids gymnastics program at the Hamilton YMCA this morning. Afterwards Ben said that he really liked it (I could tell he was having lots of fun during it), and Joanna liked it too, trying out most of the various activities.
The great thing is the class is a combined 2-3yrs olds class, so both Joanna and Ben can go to the same one - which solves the problem of having to get them to sit on the sidelines if they were in individuals classes. Obviously Joanna is at the lower end of ability because she is so young, but the element of 'no fear' that she has in her personality when it comes to trying new things, helps to bridge the gap.
So I think we are going to do it for the term. It will be great during winter when it is wet all the time - 1 hr the kids will be able to run around, climb, jump and be all physical.

Tobogganing!

I mentioned something about going to the snow sometime this winter to Ben. I also dug out pictures from 2006 of him tobogganing with me at the Remarkables down near Queenstown. He's decided that's the latest thing to play - I was instructed that I needed to make a toboggan. So, with the aid of a little packing tape, this is the result.
Granny W's package arrived today as well, so they could go get dressed up appropriately for the snow, even though it was decidedly not-cold today!

The Amazing Race

Started watching a new series of The Amazing Race on TV last Sunday night. While they were introducing all the teams Peter and I commented (not for the first time) about the stereotypical groupings they have when selecting the couples that make it onto the show. Every series they have the:
- newly dating couple
- long-term dating couple
- older couple
- blonde bimbo couple
- geek couple
- parent - child couple
- african american couple
- sibling couple
- married couple
So if you apply to go on the show, the probability of you getting a spot on the show is greatly reduced, because you don't have a chance of getting any 1 of the 11 teams, only the spot for the team into which your stereotype fits.

Current pregnancy craving...

...KFC. Particularly the original recipe chicken and chips. Had it for lunch on Monday, then had it for morning tea today! Apart from it being extremely unhealthy, it is pretty expensive. So I have to limit my visits to when the kids aren't with me.

Antenatal care in NZ

Thought I'd post about the nature on Antenatal care in NZ (well what I know so far) as it is a bit different to QLD/AUS.
Every NZer is entitled to free care while they are pregnant - including a single midwife to see you throughout you whole pregnancy.
You get to choose a midwife to see throughout your pregnancy and who is also required to attend the birth. You don't have to go to the Dr for anything - the midwife is allowed to order tests, scans etc.
You also have a choice of where you give birth, either at home, a birth centre, or the hospital (all free of charge). The birth centres here are just kind of like 'private hospital' style places, with single rooms, nice food etc. - they do have the whole baths and everything to do the more natural birth, but they aren't no drug places (except you can't get an epidural there - if you decide you want one you have to get transferred to the hospital).
That's all I can think of for now.