St Patrick's Day

I knew St Patrick's Day was approaching and I had plans to have the kids make their traditional leprechaun traps, but the day came faster than I thought! (We are 20 hours ahead of California time) When I looked at my phone and saw that it was today, we made a trip to the grocery store for some bangers (sausages) and mash (mashed potatoes) along with some cabbage and peas. We picked up some chocolate gold coins in the candy bin section and called it good. We whipped up some Irish soda bread and had ourselves a nice St Patty's meal. We're getting used to our limited resources and have been eating pretty well. Thankfully I love to cook so we've been able to throw some good meals together and also embrace the kiwi cuisine. Take note of the hodge lodge dinner ware...the owner of the home is Asian and has the kitchen mostly stocked with Asian cutlery and cookware. We're grateful for the use of extra pots and pans for the time being, but the plates, bowls, and chopsticks are an interesting mix for us. Thankfully I brought some of our own stuff so we're making it work with what we have. Good times!

Since the kids missed out on the leprechaun trapping, they improvised and played Minecraft by making their own digital traps…they're always making excuses to have more screen time and this time it worked =)

After dinner, we took a drive to Stanmore Bay to show Cody the home we found and fell in love with. And we fell in love all over again! We got there right at sun set and took a walk on the beach that is just steps away from the home. It has an awesome park that the kids could have stayed at for hours. Yes, we can get use to this! If all goes well, then we will be moving into this home Easter weekend. It took a lot of research, late nights & long days, a lot of driving around, and a ton of stress but it was all worth it. God is good!