EVERYDAY LIFE

Almond Milk and Granola

♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ I am so clever. I am so clever. ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬

Yes, I jumped around the house yesterday afternoon singing this to any and all. Why am I so clever? Because after trying something 5 years ago and failing I recently had another go. And the result was delicious! I felt clever for actually doing something successful.

Almond Milk and Nutty Granola

A few years ago I tried to make Almond Milk and a dehydrated granola from the recipe in Serene Allison’s book, “Rejuvenate Your Life – Recipes for Energy“. I failed miserably. 🙁 In fact, salads and nut sprinkles are pretty much the only things from that book that I do well.

But in my travels around the world (with the help of the Internet) I stumbled across a video of Jennifer Cornbleet, at LearnRawFood. She was making Zucchini Pasta with Marinara Sauce. We tried it ourselves and loved it! Then I searched for ‘raw foods’ at my local library and Jennifer’s DVD was available so I sped er, mosied along over to the library, borrowed it and watched it. She makes it look all so easy and achievable! I was so inspired that I tried the Almond Milk and Granola myself… and […drum roll please…] IT WORKED!!! It is delicious! Rich, nutty and creamy and it keeps for 5 days in the fridge.

Jennifer Cornbleet’s Almond Milk

Yield: 2 1/2 cups, 2 servings

  • 2.5 cups water
  • 1.5 cups soaked almonds (see note)
  • 3 pitted medjool dates ( I didn’t have medjool dates so just used normal ones)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Equipment

  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • blender
  • fine-mesh strainer or mesh bag
  • medium bowl
  • rubber spatula

Method

Place 1.5 cups of the water and the almonds, dates, and optional vanilla in a blender. Blend on high speed until very smooth. Add the remaining 1 cup of water and blend until smooth.

Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium bowl and pour the almond mixture through it. Using a rubber spatula, stir and press the pulp that is caught in the strainer to extract as much milk as possible. Alternatively, use a mesh bag to strain the milk.

Discard the pulp left in the strainer. Transfer the milk to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator. Almond Milk will keep for five days. It will separate, so shake well before using.

Note: To soak the almonds, place 1 cup of them in a mason jar (or bowl). Fill with cool water, screw on the lid, and soak for 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse. 1 cup raw almonds yields 1 1/2 cups soaked.

** I didn’t use vanilla but added a teaspoon of honey instead.

If you try it, let me know how it went. If you have any other tips, please let me know.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOg7LGrDEE

No Knead Bread

Making bread is nothing new. I’ve been making home made bread since the early ’90’s. The recipe was given to me by a friend of my mum’s. It is a quick and easy bread recipe which delivers a lovely, soft, fluffy bread.

Soft, White Aussie Bread

  • 5 cups flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 TB lecimax or other bread improver
  • 1 TB instant yeast
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 TB oil

Combine and knead until desired consistency. Shape into rolls or loaves. Leave to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes (for rolls) or 30 minutes for a loaf in a 200degree oven.

Problem –  My Italian husband doesn’t like soft, white, fluffy bread. He loves going to his mum’s place where she always has strong, crusty, continental loaf.
Solution – No Knead Artisan Bread! It is just how my husband likes his bread… strong with a deep crusty crust.
New problem – The cooked loaf doesn’t last longer than an hour or so in our house.

No Knead Bread

  • 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
  • ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1¼ teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. (I don’t bother with this)
  • Approximately 375 – 400 ml lukewarm water

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

See original sources

See the recipe in the New York Times here.
Learn how this method works here.
Watch a video of it all here.

I use our pizza stone for baking the loaf. I pre-heat it, which is an important step. I also use a little baking paper as it allows for quick clean up. Another tip that I use is to put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven when pre-heating and baking. Helps to get a lovely crust.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

A Shiny Sink

The view in my kitchen this morning at 9am.

Click for larger image

It has only taken me over 20 years but finally am able to manage a clean and shiny sink most days of the week. Yes, this has been regularly happening since before Christmas but I didn’t want to get overly excited too quickly and have egg on my face. But it’s been a few months now and I love it!

How did this happen?

1) My children grew up! No longer do I have toddlers, rather children who can contribute to the running of the home and do chores.
2) Clearing off most of the benches in the kitchen. I don’t know why but having a clear kitchen makes me more likely to go in there.
3) Getting rid of the dish drainer! The dish drainer was always full of clean dishes, just begging to be put away. But we never did. Put them away. We simply used the drainer as more of a second cupboard. So I got rid of it by hiding it in the cupboard. Now it only comes out for special occasions like a large family meal. So my mother as right all along. Who woulda thunk it? She always told me to dry the dishes as soon as you wash them. There, it’s quite simple really. Pffft! Easier said than done. Of course it also helps having a dishwasher.   :yes:

An apology

To the mums of younger children – I apologise. If I had read a post like this a few years ago I would probably have wanted to spit chips. But please don’t be cross with me for sharing my little celebration with you. One day…. a few years from now, you too may have a clean, tidy sink. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it’s just a hangup of mine. 😉  I remember often feeling that while the years seemed to fly by the days seemed to drag- nappies, mess, meals, laundry, etc. the never-ending-ness of it all is quite wearing. But… take heart, this too shall pass! Enjoy the journey, whatever stage you’re at.

Disclaimer

I don’t believe it is possible to be a homeschooling mum of more than one young child and have a clean, tidy sink. If you do- you need to stop fussing with the sink and go and be with your children!

Motherhood Matters

I have been chewing over an article by Mary K. Mohler, wife of Albert Mohler. The topic is Motherhood Matters. It is very encouraging and I urge all my friends to read it. I love her perspective. She is an older woman who has traversed the road of womanhood (being a wife and a mother) and is writing from her experience based on her life as a believer.

Think about what it must have been like for Eve. She could not consult the ever-popular volume What To Expect When You’re Expecting. She had no mother or mother-in-law to consult. Ponder that! No one could tell her horror stories about labor. She only had Adam to confirm that she was getting quite pudgy around the middle. Finally, she gave birth to the first baby. What a moment that must have been!

Yes, motherhood is God’s idea. No improvement is needed. He purposefully created women to carry, give birth to, nurse, nurture, teach, and tenderly love our children in a way unique to our gender.

Lest you fear that I am about to beat up on mothers who work outside the home, let me be clear in stating that there is no biblical mandate that requires women to be at home full-time. We know Leah, Dorcas, and Priscilla were employed in some form. It’s a personal decision and should not be made in haste.

If you are a stay-at-home mom—live up to the title and don’t make it an oxymoron! If you find yourself in the car, at a meeting, at a practice, at a game, at a lesson, at a performance, or at a church event so often that you seem rarely to be at home, there is a problem. Families thrive on routine, structure, and schedule. Family meals should not be an event and should not be centered around the drive through at the local restaurant. Just because you are not employed, don’t fall into the pit of being so busy doing good things that you miss God’s best things about being at home.

Motherhood is all about balance. These are complicated issues. No matter where you come down here, we all want to be, by God’s grace, the best mom we can be. I don’t know any mother who says, “I want to be a mediocre mom.” How do we really strive for excellence?

  • First, be a lover of God’s word.
  • Second, we must be women of prayer.
  • Third, we must remember that we are called to be godly wives first.
  • Fourth, we should be students of motherhood.
  • Fifth, make every day count.
  • Sixth, pace yourself!
  • Lastly, resist the temptation to compare your personal motherhood philosophy with others, either in a superior or inferior way.

Don’t let the mundane get you down. Right now in your home, there may be dishes piling up, pesky socks that don’t match, a potty training set back, lunches to pack, and a long list of things to do. We start thinking that our job as mothers is little more than one menial job after another. Don’t forget that today has also been full of monumental opportunities. Did you take advantage of them?

Motherhood matters because it’s God’s idea; because he wants us to train the leaders of tomorrow; and because he has lots to teach us as moms as we allow him to teach our children with excellence.

Mary K. Mohler is the wife of seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. and the Director of the Seminary Wives Institute at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

But please, go and read the entire article or download it via pdf to print and read later.

Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

I don’t have a car. A car that works. So I don’t go out. At all. This makes for a slightly frustrated mumma come the weekend. not saying that I need to get out for ‘me time’ rather just to go to the grocery store and pick up fresh ingredients so that I can get an early start with tea. As it happens, I haven’t been getting to the store until after 4.30pm, then home again to star tea… not eating until late which means I leave the kitchen cleanup for the morning!! Shock! Horror! But who likes jumping out of bed in the morning to be greeted by a messy kitchen?

In our homeschool this week…

For the first time in thirteen years we have applied to the Ed. Dept for an Exemption of Attendance from School. Yes, remember my I-will-never post? This was one of the lessons I’ve learned. Anyway, it took some sorting out to get all the paperwork assembled and written (remember we’ve been Delight-Directed, Relaxed, Semi-Unschoolers for years) and then to go to the local school and enroll the boys whilst also asking for a Principal’s exemption just in case this whole process took longer than four weeks.

Anyway, the visit happened and that is a whole ‘nother story in itself. The *guy* wasn’t real interested in hearing about Master J as he is enrolled with Open Access College (herein referred to as OAC)  and doing all his lessons through there. He was more interested in Master C. Funny thing is that Master C has been doing a lot more bookwork and learning with his homeschool program that Master J. Oh well, I guess it’s that enrollment and proper education that matters, eh? [sarcasm over]

My favorite thing this week was…

Aside from being with family (duh!) I enjoyed the most delicious, richest, chocolatiest, Italian Hot Chocolate that I’ve ever had when we went shopping.

Watching the DVD presentation, Indescribable by Louie Giglio. Not only does this video fit in with our Astronomy theme and 2011 being the Year of the Solar system but it is simply a powerful message. I loved it because he wasn’t preaching at me. He didn’t feed me a bunch of rules or a list of things I must do as a Christian. Rather he showed the works of God… he showed us how big God is. How can I not be totally in awe of God after catching a tiny glimpse of His awesome majesty?

What’s working/not working for us…

x Having the house we live in up for sale! All these house inspections are doing my head in. We have another one on Monday. I want to get into planting autumn veggies and ripping out the front garden to make way for some floribunda roses but the open house days means I can’t.
x Health. My health, my body is not working as it should, hence my need for a detoxification of caffeine and some healthy green smoothies. John has also been unwell with a fatty liver (an ongoing syndrome that we usually manage through diet and exercise).
✓ Thursday was THE most amazing night for star gazing and using the telescope. Okay so *I* don’t exactly do any star gazing but John and the boys do. This however excites me.
✓Master C devised his own ‘lesson’ schedule and he sticks to it! I’ll share this is another post.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as if they were great and noble.” ~ Helen Keller

Life skills

OAC lessons

God’s desire is not to make us happy, but rather to make us holy ~ Israel Wayne

Web Wanderings 5-3-11

Sunset Beach by Diane Romanello

Freebies

NASA has a four Solar System Math lessons available for free download.
Solar System Math – http://quest.nasa.gov/vft/

Remember when I raved on about the Wives of King David series? Well, if you have an e-reader you can download the first book, Michal, for free! What? Don’t have a Kindle? Neither do I! But you can download a kindle app to read on your iphone, computer or android phone? Just do a google search for ‘kindle + your system‘ and you should find it.

Christian reading

How to make your child a false convert

We haven’t even got the foundation straight by Paul Washer

Signs you are growing in grace

What Life In Jesus Looks Like

Homeschool

Khan Academy
A library of videos covers K-12 math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics, and even reaches into the humanities with playlists on finance and history. Each video is a digestible chunk, approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on the computer.

The Relaxed Homeschooler – Mary Hood’s blog
I’ve read a few of Mary’s book and my favourite is The Joyful Homeschooler.

Chris Davis from the former Elijah Company has a blog! Although not every one agrees with him, he writes with insight and perspective. Interesting reading. He has done a 10 part series called ‘Please Don’t Homeschool Your Children’. Part One starts here. Once there you can follow along through the ten posts- http://chrisdavis.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/please-dont-homeschool-your-children/

Humour

The Manslater

Homemade Yogurt is EasiYo

Don’t you just love yogurt? We do. I don’t like paying the exorbitant prices for it though, even though we only buy the natural yogurt it is still expensive enough for me to ration it out for the children. Unless… I make it myself! John takes a small tub of yogurt with him to work… and the boys snack on it during the day. Usually I don’t add sugar or honey to it before putting it in the Easiyo maker as I like the yogurt to be as natural as possible – when it is out and in the bowl for eating it can be flavoured according to individual taste. I put a teaspoon of raw honey into each bowl or container and then I also add frozen fruits like blueberries or mixed frozen berries. Even a teaspoon of apricot or raspberry jam is quite nice. And who doesn’t love homemade muesli with spoonfuls of yogurt rather than milk?

easiyo yogurtNo added sugar. No added preservatives. No added flavours. Have you looked at the container of store bought yogurt? It has either sugar or worse still artificial sugar (poison) as well as preservatives and artificial flavourings. How is that good for the human body? I’m not a food purist but with something that is so easy and inexpensive to make at home it doesn’t make sense to buy store bought.

I used to make my own yogurt from scratch… but honestly, who has time and energy to do that when it doesn’t always turn out perfectly? Not so with EasiYo satchels.And if you keep a few tablespoons of the natural yogurt as a starter you can make another batch just using powdered milk! (See recipe below) How cheap and easy is that? I do understand that for some this method is not the most natural or organic or pure… but for me it is a matter of sometimes second best is really THE best.

Aside from it being fairly healthy, I can have a batch of yoghurt to go in 12 hours, flavoured to taste but the best part is the cost. It is SO much cheaper than buying store bought yoghurt! Apparently, it can keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge but I really couldn’t say… one litre doesn’t last more than 48 hours in this house.

Our favourite everyday salad dressing uses unflavoured yogurt:

Delicious Dressing

    • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
    • 1 ts Balsamic vinegar
    • 1 TB Dijon mustard
    • 2 TB Plain, whole yogurt or Greek yogurt
    • 1/2 glove garlic or sprinkle of garlic powder
    • 1TB (or to taste) Orange Juice
    • 1ts Maple syrup or honey

Homemade Yogurt using an EasiYo yogurt as a starter

  • You’ll need an EasiYo Maker
  • 2 cups milk powder (either full cream or skim)
  • 2 tablespoons natural yogurt from previous batch (this is the starter)
  • Cool water (not too cold- room temperature is fine)

Half fill the EasiYo maker with cool water, add the milk powder and the 2 tablespoons natural yogurt. Put the lid on and shake well to combine. Make sure there are no lumps of milk powder left. Fill the jar to the top with more water, seal and shake well.

Place the EasiYo container in the EasiYo thermos. Pour boiling water around the jar until it reaches approximately 2/3 of the way up the sides. Put the lid on the thermos, sealing it tight.

Set aside for about 12 hours, depending on how thick you like your yogurt. Once it has reached the consistency you like, place the jar of yogurt in the fridge to cool.

Save 2 tablespoons of the unflavoured yogurt to act as a starter for your next batch.

Sweeten to taste with sugar or honey, maple syrup, jam, fruits, etc.

 

Do you make yogurt at home? If you make it differently I’d love to hear about it.

Homeschooling is…

Homeschooling is…

Monotonous. Complicated. Draining. Being loved. Discipline. Curriculum.  Open. Hard. Honest. Real. Brutal.

But

Homeschooling is also…

Life. Meaningful traditions. Radical. Loving. Relationships. Caring. Simplicity. Books. Teaching. Learning. Nurturing. Friendship. Observing. Mentoring. Freedom. Sharing. Memories. Reading. Fun. Cooking… and Eating. Purpose.  Spontaneous. Grassroots. Community. Delightful. Energising. Interests. Discipleship. Beautiful. Privilege. Legal. Responsibility. Laughing. Love. Family.

Web Wanderings 23-2-11

Calvary Chapel has updated their site and are also in the slow process of updating their free, Bible curriculum. Do zip over and check them out.

MODSQUAD is an encouraging blog for Mothers of Daughters.

It’s a few months old now but I was interested to read this article, which is an interview with Bono about Grace over Karma.

Why Brad Pitt can’t come to grips with God. And I mention this not because I follow Brad Pitt but because there are many friends of mine who grapple with the same thing.

Sally Clarkson wrote a lovely, short post over at I Take Joy.

Saying No. Does it mean you are lazy?

Dominant home cleaning products– I used to use these superb products many years ago but after 9 house moves in 10 years I gave up trying to keep my contacts up to date. But my dear sister-in-law is a supplier and so I have gone back to using them. I almost forgot how fantastic (as in excellent and economical) they are. I love the All Purpose Cleaner.

Ending homeschool stereotypes – American girl wins Miss America pageant.

Bored? Got some time to do some blog reading? (I haven’t but maybe you have) Check out the Top 50 homeschool blogs.

How to address the issue of modesty… in the Church.

Math-Aids is a free resource for teachers, parents, students, and homeschoolers. You can make an unlimited number of printable math worksheets for children.

Scott Foresman Free Grammar and Writing handbooks. I’ve linked to these before but they’re too good to miss.

Just Reading to Them? A, encouraging, informative post from A Thomas Jefferson Education.

I frequently link to Sheila’s blog and this week is no exception. She writes on ‘Do our Kids mature too slowly?‘. Love the quotes excerpt from a book she is reading.

“We place kids in schools together with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other kids typically from similar economic and cultural backgrounds. We group them all within a year or so of one another in age. We equip them with similar gadgets, expose them to the same TV shows, lessons, and sports. We ask them all to take almost the exact same courses and do the exact same work and be graded relative to one another. We give them only a handful of ways in which they can meaningfully demonstrate their competencies. And then we’re surprised they have some difficulty establishing a sense of their own individuality.” And we wonder why it’s taking so long for them to mature.
~ Joe Allen – Escaping the Endless Adolescence

Over Population? Is it a myth? Check out the website.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUY4ztwIVfA

Where have you been around the web lately? Any interesting sites or articles to share?

Homeschooling grows…

Sibling Love

Homeschooling  grows…

Strong family relationships, highly valued home and family life; happy children who love learning; happy adults who love learning!

Web wanderings 15-2-11

Sunset Beach by Diane Romanello

  • Dr. Albert Mohler wrote The Marks of Manhood, (When does a boy become a man?) which I think is great.
  • Last year we bawled through, er watched the made-for-tv movie, Gifted Hands, the story of Ben Carson. I might be the only adult believer who hasn’t read the book yet… and I am asking myself why this is so. I cannot believe I haven’t read this inspiring biography. If you haven’t watched this movie with your children then please, run out to the video store and hire it. You will not be disappointed. And if you are, well I won’t say anymore.   This movie has affected me so profoundly… but time will tell, won’t it. (Maybe I’ll write how this movie and book has affected our parenting and homeschooling style)
  • And lastly, I’m sure you all know about this movie review site but just in case you don’t I’ll mention it again. Plugged In Online is a fantastic review site. It is a sister site of Focus on the Family and it is my go-to site for reviews of movies. Why? because it doesn’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t watch. Rather it gives me the details of the movie without revealing the spoilers. It details the positive elements, the sexual, violent, drug/alcohol and language content, and lets me decide from there.

Crockpot Lasagne

Fee from On Being Single asked us to share a favourite crockpot (slow cooker) recipe so here’s ours. Being that we are Italian I usually make all our Italian dishes from scratch. I put off making this dish for years because I thought it sounded horrid. But time and necessity got the better of me…and would you believe the whole family loves it! Including full blooded John!

Crockpot Lasagne

(Family size)

  • 500gms minced meat (beef, kangaroo or other… a combination of veal and lamb is also very nice)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 800 mls can tomato sauce (we use home made but store bought does fine…even diced tinned tomatoes)
  • 200 mls can tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 375 gm package lasagna sheets
  • 375gm container Ricotta or cottage cheese (I use a Bechamel sauce if need be)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until brown. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and oregano and stir until well incorporated. Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl mix together the Ricotta or cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the crock pot. (I lightly butter bottom of Crockpot and add a spoonful of the meat mix). Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna sheets. Break to fit sheets into crock pot.

Top sheets with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, sheets, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.

Cover and cook on low heat in crock pot for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve with a tossed green salad and crusty bread.

I also like to finish the top off with extra Mozzarella & Ricotta (I’m a cheese nut). this is a good recipe for children to make and to experiment with.

I heard of this Crockpot Lasagne and scoffed at it. There is no way I would ever do that, I said. I would sometimes prepare the lasagne ahead of time but even if I pre-baked it I’d still have to put it in the oven for 40 mins once we got home from shopping meaning that our hungry bellies were still a good 45 minutes away from being satiated.

So I tried the Crockpot Lasagne. I told my family what it was. I made no bones about the Australianising of it. I told them it was either this for tea or our all-too-often “CatchWhatYaCan” meal. They didn’t complain. In fact, everyone enjoyed it. It isn’t authentic…but it’s still very filling and very nice and very easy. Anyone can prepare it  in the morning, put it on and as soon as we get home we can eat! This is why it is quicker than a traditional lasagne.

Web wanderings: 12-2-11

Benefits of reading the Bible: Consistently ’grazing on the Bible’ helps give us our sense of identity as Christians. It is an irreplaceable source of nourishment, correction and transformation for every Christian.

How to Study the Bible from Logos.com
All Christians who open God’s Word and read it bring with them the forestructures of their lives formed by their history, their language, and their culture in which they live, therefore it is imperative upon every reader to capture the original intent of the author. Since no one can approach the text without presuppositions, then one must exercise every safeguard to interpret the Word of God correctly.

Going bananas for granola from DeliciousByNature; yummy granola that I’m going to try one day.

Secret Detox Drink from Dr.Axe: [Apparently] Dr. Axe’s secret detox drink recipe not only tastes great, it will help you burn fat, lose weight, balance blood sugar levels, and get your body healthy! (I haven’t tried this yet. Any feedback readers?)

Photography Tips from National Geographic

Fantastic site- An ABC 3D documentary presentation about WW1 ANZAC landing at Gallipoli

What happens when you fall out of love with homeschooling? From Special Needs Homeschooling

Dominating the Homeschool Circuit at the HomeSpun Life
There are Christians, and then there are ‘Christians’. The ‘Christians’ do more harm to one another than anyone else I have ever known. And yet there ARE Christians who are very loving, grace filled people. I like these kind of Christians.

Grammar Mudge: Operated by a retired editor/English professor, the ad-free site focuses on discussions of English grammar, language, and writing but also contains essays on a variety of subjects.

FreeListens: publishes weekly reviews of free human-read audiobooks available on the web. In my reviews, I try to avoid any spoilers beyond what you’d read on the cover of a paperback. Realizing that these books are being given away for free, I try to be not too harsh on the reader but still point out any aspects that may turn off some listeners.

E-learninglinks.com has links to free resources, crossword puzzles, worksheets, and lists of names, dates, and books to read for teaching history!

How to Create a Culture of Accountability in Your Home from Empowering Parents

Gentlemen in a Digital Age from SoloFemininity
The fine folks of Jane Austen’s world might strike us today as being a bit rigid in their manners. But they demanded character and accountability even among the limited relationships of a small town. How much wiser would we be to honor the same practices in a world without boundaries.

That’s where I’ve ended up this week around the ‘net. How about you? Found anything interesting to share?

I Will Never

I will never send my children to a public school.

Our children will not ‘date’… they will ‘court’.

We will never eat… pork.

We will never sing choruses.

I will never have XYZ [insert medical procedure] done.

We will never use workbooks in our homeschool.

No child of ours would ever disobey me. Our girls will never wear shorts, pants, t-shirts, etc.

My child will never do drugs, drink alcohol, smoke, swear … [or XYZ].

Have you ever heard those type of definitive statements before? Maybe you’ve uttered those type of statements before. I have.

But life… the experience of life is teaching me to never say never, especially with things that are not within my own control. Not the easiest when, for many years, I strove to get ‘in control’ of my house, my behavior, my children, etc.  What I failed to understand was that I cannot and should not be controlling my children’s every action, thought or attitude, especially once they get older and into their teen years.

When we first started to home educate I loved the lifestyle. I loved what it did for our family. I searched the Scriptures and could see how the family was the model or institution that God had designed for life long learning. In my haste and naiveté, I remember proclaiming, “Our children will never attend a school!“. Oh dear, if you know God and His nature you can well imagine the lessons He had in store to teach me. Fast forward a few years and one of my children asked to go to school… keep fast forwarding and you’ll see that she started at a private, Christian school and ended up at a public school.

In our homeschool adventure, we had learned the value of living books and the Charlotte Mason method and I recall thinking, “Oh, we will never use workbooks ever again.” Oh dear, you can see here I was headed. Fast forward a few years and the boys learned a lot through their time on ACE Paces.

Then came the upper or teen years. You know the ones where girls start noticing boys and boys start noticing girls. Well, we had read and researched all about ‘courtship’. And being that we ourselves didn’t practice ‘Christian dating’ thought it a wonderful idea. Certainly none of our children would have a ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’. Surely not! Surely…. Surely? Oh dear. I think you’re starting to get the picture. 😉

Why am I so slow to understand and apply the lessons the Lord wants to teach me?

Yes, I am Susan and I’m a control freak. Actually I now think of myself as a recovering control freak. I may always have those tendencies but I’m learning to deal with them properly. I liked to think that I could control things… things which, as a Christian, seem okay to control like my children, our homeschooling, etc. But I’ve learned that my control freak tendencies grew like tendrils of a weed … seeking to climb over flowering plants and eventaully drown out the sun (or is that Son?) .

My prayer from 2007… and is still my prayers today.

God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Latte

December 2010.

I love coffee: latte’s, cappuccino’s, espresso’s, chai latte’s… they’re all for me. And having a daughter who is a competing Latte Artist I have plenty of opportunity to practice taking photo’s.

On a date with my man… and a yummy latte.

Latte: edited

Latte: edited

Wanderings round the web 8-2-11

There are a few reasons that I stopped blogging.

1) Felt the need to protect my children’s privacy and not write about their lives so much
and
2) I’m ashamed to say that I used Facebook instead. It’s just so easy to share links and things on FB.

Now I’m not going to give up on FB but I am going to try and share links and anecdotes again here on the blog. So along those lines, here are some links to things I’ve been reading online lately.

LINKS:

Free Maths – A collection of Math lessons: 76 pages Offering inspiring, practical, classroom-tested ideas for helping students learn mathematics through problem solving.

Slow Down and Really Live on the Down to Earth blog.

Ruby wrote and interesting and honest piece over at Mumma’s Place in Learning About Me.

Jeanne’s peaceful home was water logged and many of their possessions destroyed in the recent Victorian floods. Her daugher is away at the moment, during the crisis, yet she still manages to share a little humour in The (water) Closet Reader.

What’s a Young Woman’s Responsibility in the Dating or Courtship Process? by Voddie Baucham is providing some food for thought.

I love the way Sheila writes about things so close to my heart. Here she shares why their family chooses to watch some movies but not others. She thinks just like we do… only she writes it all better in Profanity vs. Biblical World View in Movies.

How Sin Kept Me From Sinning – the liability of a Christian upbringing: This is an area that I have tried to teach my children… it can be an issue for those who have been raised in a Christian home.

The Beast File: Woolies and Coles a $100 billion a year duopoly with a retail market share unmatched in the developed world. And they have their fingers in a lot of other pies too.

Gardenate is a site that tells you what to plant when in the garden- for Australians!

Photos: In case you haven’t see our photo album, you can grab a quick look here at our life in Jan as seen through my eyes.

MY PROMISE TO MY CHILDREN: I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare & hunt you down like a bloodhound when needed…..because I LOVE YOU! When you understand that, I will know you are a responsible adult. You will NEVER find someone who loves you, prays for you, cares about you, & worries about you more than your Mum. Feel free to re-post if you love your children. ♥ ♥

I spent an hour at the online chat room of Rainbow Diva’s and the National Homeschool Network in An Afternoon with Beverley. Beverley Paine is a long term, South Australian homeschooler and homeschool consultant. We had a lovely afternoon and I’d encourage other Aussie homeschoolers to check it out. Hope to see you there next month!

A South Australian local tv channel aired an interview/article on homeschooling. You can see it here on youtube. I enjoyed the article… considering the length and scope of it. With something like that, there is usually limited time to go into detail about the finer points of home education. I see these as more like a quick advert for home education rather than an informative article. The article was a good, positive piece which will hopefully do the rounds of the Internet, and contribute towards the education of the broader community.

Personally, I had heard about home education very briefly but a few times before I started to ponder the idea more carefully. Many people are like that- they simply need to hear it more regularly and more often and if they want to, they will investigate it as an option. If that was the aim of the article then I think they hit the target 🙂

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NuvYow3PXU

“God must begin the work of grace in a person’s heart, or else a person will never be saved. Christ must first choose us and call us by His Spirit, or else we shall never choose Christ. Election to eternal life, is a truth of Scripture which we must receive humbly, and believe implicitly.”
~ J.C. Ryle

Delight directed learning and family update

It’s been awhile since I posted a family update and truthfully, so much has happened that I barely know where to start, which is why I haven’t written. You know what it’s like when you leave a job till later on and then it seems like it becomes bigger than Ben Hur and you don’t know where to start? That’s how I’ve been with blogging. But like my husband is fond of saying, “How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time”.

We had a wonderful break over the Christmas period. Much to my disappointment, we didn’t have our typical softball holiday and I missed it terribly. We have been doing the softball trip for nearly 10 years now to watch Miss A represent the state in the National Softball Tournament but alas, this year she was too old for the U/19s and whilst she does play in the Open Women’s team they go away every month for an extended weekend and it’s just not the same for John and I. So we stayed home this time. However I noticed some good things from staying home. While we love going away for a week or two, we did notice how we felt much more rested. This isn’t a surprise as I often feel like I need a rest after going away on holiday – they’re such hard work 🙂

We also have developed a few new hobbies in the family. John has always loved watching and studying about the stars. He has always wanted a telescope but it’s just never been a priority. Until now. It all started after we watched the very interesting DVD, The Star of Bethlehem. John started researching telescopes, sold a few things on ebay, and then we bought a second hand telescope. It all sounds so easy and uncomplicated but let me assure you it was anything but! John has a tendency to get slightly obsessive with his interests and passions. This hobby is no different. Except for the fact that Master C also started showing an interest. Oh, I neglected to mention that John’s initial interest is in building his own telescope! Not, one is never content to simply purchase one and use it. One must know how and why it works and endeavour to build one’s own! Of course. However, in order to fan the flames of interest with Master C it was thought that we could purchase a ready made telescope for him to use now whilst together they set about building one. This building of one is a work in progress- starting with researching and collecting information.

We had many family get together’s over the holiday break and some of these included the children’s *friends*. Yes, it’s no longer just John, myself and four or five kids but when we all get together there are now ten of us! And it’s great fun. I love having everyone over for a meal. We also had a day trip to Victor Harbor where I got to practice a little of my new hobby. Photography! I have been so inspired by my dear friend, Urban Daisy and her photo blog that I decided to pick up our family camera and start to learn about it. Whilst I’ve been inspired by Urban Daisy’s blog I am motivated by my family. I want to learn how to take good photo’s of my children and one day, my grandchildren, God willing.

Over the past few months our family dynamics have changed quite dramatically (which naturally happens as the children get older anyway) and this has led me to sit back and re-evaluate some of my activities. We have some ‘okay’ photo’s of our family but we don’t have any real lovely ones. I want to change that. So learning about my camera and how to take photo’s is the first step. John wants to save and buy me a groovy camera but I’m quite content with the little one we have for now. It’s a good starter camera (Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd) and I can always upgrade later on down the track. For now I have no idea what I am doing. I am learning- teaching myself something new! And yes, I am having trouble with the technical side of things. I practice a few times per week, whenever I can really. I don’t have that natural knack of being able to naturally ‘frame’ my shots or get the best angles… I’m hoping that will come with practice. I’m also having difficulty in getting clear pictures… I need to learn more about the manual settings rather than the auto function. And lighting- I know it is so important but I need more practice. I’m really enjoying the Digital Photography School articles and getting a lot out of them. You can see some of my recent efforts in our kerugma photo album (2011) .

Regular readers may remember that we have lived in ten homes in the last 10 years, although living in this current home has put a halt to our record. What began as a one year posting has turned into a three year post. And we will be here at least for the next 3 years. So, for the first time in a long time I am beginning to garden again! I have prepared some of the ground in the backyard and will plant some vegetables and herbs and in the coming months I want to rip out the front garden and start from scratch again. Defence homes are so boring. Practical, but dull. I’ve been busy reading through my old gardening books and magazines, refreshing myself with all things mulchy and earthy 🙂

In January, Master J went on a two week promotion course with the Air Force cadets.  He passed well and has now been promoted! He’s also looking for a part time job so is considering not playing football this year.

Academics? Homeschool matters? Oh yes, that. I almost forgot. We are homeschoolers! 🙂 It seemed a shame to stop the delight directed learning that the boys (and John) were involved in just to get back to starting lessons so we didn’t! Once John went back to work, we slowly started a few lessons, easing back into our ‘working rhythm‘. Master J is enrolling in Open Access College as a home based student and once he settles into that I will post updates of what subjects he is doing. Master C is continuing on with his plan, much the same as last year. I didn’t quite get around to setting his schedule up on paper and he rather likes one so he amended the one from last year and set up his own! I’ll post his schedule in a separate post.

Miss R celebrated her 18th birthday in January. She doesn’t live with us at home but it was lovely to have a small gathering of family and friends over for a BBQ.

Miss A is still as busy as ever. No, even more so! She has decided that she doesn’t want to work as a Personal Trainer at the moment. She simply loves being a Barista and doing her Latte Art work. Between work and softball there is hardly any time left but she is managing to find some to spend with a ‘special someone’ in her life.

Well, that’s about it for now. The post that I just had to get out of the way so that I can start blogging again.

18 Years Old

Someone turned 18 the other day. A great cause for celebration in our home.

When Joking Hurts: A Lesson from Proverbs

I’ve often been asked to share what our Bible study looks like using our methods as outlined in a Bible Based Education. Here is a quick lesson. Bear in mind that I didn’t write this lesson plan before hand…I was reading it in my Bible during my quiet time and thought it was too good (read: relevant) to not share with my children. 😉
Some times we go more in depth with our study and at other times this is it! It isn’t about the time spent nor the amount of work covered – it is a heart issue. So, here’s a lesson from Proverbs.

Verse:

“Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”

Proverbs 26:18-19


“Ha, you’re hair looks real ugly like that sis!” followed by “Nah…only joking.”

Ever heard this kind of thing? I’ve heard it in my own home. I used to think I was just old fashioned or prudish but then I read Proverbs 26 and saw that I wasn’t alone! God has thoughts on it too! So I decided to share this lesson with my children. I’ll try my best to write it out as it happened, using the 4 step process. It isn’t word for word but I’m sure you’ll get the gist of it.

Four step Lesson Process – learn more here

Introduce

We’re all sitting around the kitchen table. I grab my Bible and say, “Hey guys, let me share this with you…what I was reading this morning.”

I read Proverbs 26: 18-19.

Then I ask them “Can you imagine what it would be like to have a wild man, a lunatic, running around shooting people with a gun? Horrendous! Can a mere ‘joking’ excuse that lack of self control?”

Digging Deeper

We use words, tone of voice and facial expression to convey a meaning. Are we guarding our tongue if we just let all manner of dribble spew forth and then think we can excuse it by adding a quick “only joking” at the end?

Read the passage 3 times, in different translations.

Discuss: Our words can be ones of comfort and encouragement or ones of hurt.

Cross-reference by using your concordance to look up other passages on ‘the tongue’. (We use my Thompson Chain Reference)

Share your findings.

Expand & Elaborate

Choose an activity from the Activity Sheets: e.g. Copy the proverb out in your best writing or- What can you learn from this story/book/passage?

Remember our family saying: If it’s not fun for all, then it’s not fun at all. Discuss further.

Application

Write in your Devotional Journal.

Is there an attitude or behaviour that I should avoid? Share.

Pray that Father God will help us to guard our tongue as we seek to glorify Him in all things.

Notes: The children narrated the passage to John over the evening meal. Later on in the afternoon, without making mention of this mornings lesson, I related the story about the boy, the fence and anger issues.

I also strewed the ‘Watch your words’ quote on the fridge.

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

I use the 4 step lesson process very naturally. You can download lesson templates and more in the download section.

Biblical Principles of Parenting by John MacArthur

What we desperately need is a return to the biblical principles of parenting. Christian parents don’t need new, shrink-wrapped programs; they need to apply and obey consistently the few simple principles that are clearly set forth for parents in God’s Word, such as these:

  • Constantly teach your kids the truth of God’s Word (Dt. 6:7).
  • Discipline them when they do wrong (Pr. 23:13-14).
  • And don’t provoke them to anger (Col. 3:21).

Those few select principles alone, if consistently applied, would have a far greater positive impact for the typical struggling parent than hours of discussion about whether babies should be given pacifiers, or what age kids should be before they’re permitted to choose their own clothes, or dozens of similar issues that consume so much time in the typical parenting program.

~  John MacArthur

Gazania

Gazania
Many, many years ago… in the age of dial-up connection. Remember that?

Consider Our Ways this New Year

Consider your ways!
(Haggai 1:5)


bible_roses

Life… it’s full of new beginnings! Unlike yesterday, today is the beginning of a new year. Who knows what this year will bring each family? God, the author and finisher of our faith does!

I love a new year. I like new starts. Maybe that’s why I get itchy feet and don’t mind moving regularly, I don’t know but I love fresh beginnings. Each new year reminds me of a time way back, before the history books began, even before Creation – to when Christ was.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:1-2

I love my husband and my children. I love my dad. I love my friends. However, they too, like me, are flesh and blood. I do not know for how long I will toil upon the earth nor how long my loved one will either. I cannot trust in them for everything- for my safety, provision, joy, happiness nor salvation. But I can trust in Jesus… who was the Word and was with God and was God.

God has a plan, a purpose for every single life. Moses, John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul were no doubt men of God but were they exceptions? God gave them specific missions. But are we not sent from God also? Do we not have a message to share? Am I doing what He wants me to do each day? Am I living with a sense of purpose? Am I living intentionally?

How To Find Purpose

There have been countless books with with much pop psychology for eager persons to devour…but they make much out of something quite simple… that which may not be easy (because we so often live by the flesh) but simple. I will find my work, my mission, my purpose, by living in obedience and submission to the Father! He does the preparing of me… He will lead me into that purpose in the right time. My duty is to keep obedient to Him and submit every part of my life to Him. He requires me to act justly, to love mercy and kindness and to walk in constant, sweet fellowship with Himself.

Do I know what my purpose is? Have I set my goals and plans for 2011 according to His ways, to His plan?

Looking Ahead

his_steps

It’s the last day… of the year 2010 and this is a re-post from last year with a few updates.

I’ve reviewed the year…various aspects of our life and family. Yes, I’ve taught manners, English, Maths and Science. I’ve taught life skills, domestic skills, health, fitness and Bible study. It’s been a pretty good year for us in terms of academics and growth. But it’s also been a hard year, filled with ups and downs, hurts, disappointments- in general this year has been a hard slog. But there’s little to be gained from bemoaning all that… tis better to look ahead!

Do you love me?

But what of these are my greatest passion to share? Have I shared my greatest passion with my family? What is my passion? I can say it but is it true? Is my greatest passion truly Christ? Do I love Him before all else?

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
John 21:15-16

Feed my lambs

Have I fed the lambs that God has entrusted to my care? Have I fed them Christ Himself? Have I opened up God’s word and shown them Christ… have I taught them to love God, to trust Him and to do His will by way of a living example?

Feed the lambs… tend the sheep. Have I loved the children with a shepherd’s love? Love, protection, guidance and provision of needs is very important but they also need Soul-Food … the pure word of God.

Follow Me (v19)

Evaluation, assessments, outcomes all look for fruit but the truest form of learning in the life of a believer is to follow Christ. Knowledge, even of spiritual matters, may have some value but it does not attain for us that much needed salvation. The outcome of seeing and knowing is living and doing.

All year I have seen Jesus through the gospels. I’ve read His words. Now I need to follow Him. This past year with all its ups and downs cannot be changed. And whilst this past year has been quite a difficult one for our family we are still here, walking the road one step at a time, thanks be to God. I want to learn from my mistakes but I also know that regrets are a waste of time and energy.

However a New Year is upon me. The only way for it to be better is by following Christ more closely – to go where He leads, without questioning or rationalising. I don’t know what 2011 will bring for me or our family. It may be a year of struggles, of trials, of suffering or it may be a year of joy and peace…it may be a year of all! That is not mine to question – my only duty is to obey and follow Him.

As I close this year on my blog I’ll enter a new one – 2011. I want this next year to be fruitful, peaceful and beautiful…not by my circumstances or my surroundings but my walk with Jesus.

 

Free Bible Tools

links

The Canadian Bible Society has some freebies: Bible Quiz, e-cards, Daily readings, History Bits and more, but I really enjoyed the e-scriptures; interactive Flash scripture movies. Available in English and French.

You won’t want to miss these if you are teaching younger children:

Free Bible Story Activity Ebooks. Each story includes a coloring page, word-search, crossword puzzle, and Bible quiz with memory verse.

OT Volume 1: 30 Bible Stories from God?s Creation to the Golden Calf (180 Printable Activity Pages) http://tinyurl.com/ymfyqj

OT Volume 2 : 30 Bible Stories from God Led Them to Wind & Chaff (188 Printable Activity Pages) http://tinyurl.com/ybzbay

NT Volume 1: 30 Bible Stories from Zacharias to Sabbath Healing (154 Printable Activity Pages) http://tinyurl.com/yht4u3

NT Volume 2: 30 Bible Stories from Lost Sheep to Day of Pentecost (158 Printable Activity Pages) http://tinyurl.com/yeqxrg

And His Name Shall Be Called…

C’mon, you seriously didn’t think that Christmas could go by without some mention of it on the blog, did you? Of course not! Friends know I always have something to say. 😉 However, I’ve said/written it before and I really don’t like the sound of my own voice that much so instead of boring you all to tears I’ll just link to previous posts where I share about how, when and where we remember the details of the Christmas story.

Note: Many of the external links on the following pages may be out of date. I apologise in advance but I’m not going to try and keep up to date with them. There is new material coming out all the time so make google a good friend utilise him wisely. 🙂

Previous Posts

To celebrate or not to celebrate: http://susanpriolo.com/to-celebrate-or-not-to-celebrate-2553.htm
and
Who, why, what, when: Christmas in our home: http://susanpriolo.com/who-why-what-when-christmas-in-our-home-2559.htm

My Greatest Joy

baptism

Is there anything better as a parent, than to witness one’s adult child profes their love for the Lord? I don’t think so. 🙂

All my children professed their love for the Lord from a young age and whilst I took great delight in it I always felt that the true measure of their faith is told once they mature and become adults or reach an age of accountability. And so it was with just a touch of pride that I witnessed my eldest daughter get baptised yesterday. We have never pushed baptism as we don’t believe it is a decision that anyone else can make for another person. It is an individual choice and declaration. What a blessing and an honour to observe this young lady grow and mature over the last few years… she has sought after God and has a a heart that seeks to honor the Word of the Lord.

Afterwards, we all shared a meal together and broke off into small groups to have a time of fellowship and sharing.

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4

Wifey Wednesday: Ways of Connecting

Last week Sheila introduced the idea that women, being relational and emotional, often need to talk before moving on to *other things*.

I can totally relate to the imaginary story she wrote about- thinking of milk and cleaning the fridge. Why I don’t even like cleaning the fridge yet it has been known to spring to mind! One thing that I’ve learned is that whilst we both have different needs and different ways of expressing ourselves there is a time for both. There are times when we have been separated due to work and, being a woman, I needed to connect with my husband in an emotional way before anything else. However this was not quite how he felt! I’ve learned that this isn’t wrong. he isn’t treating me as an object rather it is his way of connecting with me. For me, emotional connectedness and relating ideally come before any physical intimacy yet this is not often the case for males. By having an attitude of serving and giving I’ve found that both our needs can be met- just not at the same time. When a husband has a similar attitude then it’s likely that he’ll reach the same premise. It’s quite logical to accept that emotional and physical connection doesn’t happen at the same time. The circumstances often dictate which happens first but I’ve found that it’s quite possible for both needs to be met.

They key, for us, is to each look to the needs of each other first and have an Ephesians 5 mindset.

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife , and the two shall become one flesh . This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:21-33

I am putting more emphasis upon our mariage as our children get older. Whilst not wishing the time to pass quickly until they leave home, I am aware that one day the children will have left the nest and be out in the world- leaving just John and I. I look forward to that time but don’t want to be like many marriages that fall apart once the children have left, simply because the couple forgot how to communicate and got on with living their own lives, neglecting the importance of togetherness. As regular readers know, when I focus on an area in my life it is bound to show up on my blog. 🙂

Wifey Wednesday: Greeting Him

For awhile now I’ve wanted to take part in the Wife Wednesday meme but Sheila posts on Wednesday  US time, which is Thursday here in Australia. I’ve contemplated a few ways to get around it but the easiest way is for me to post on last week’s topic. So that’s what I’m going to do!

Last week Sheila wrote about saying hello and greeting one’s husband.

John’s homecoming from work is a pivotal point in our day. Our other activities hinge around this point. Being a SAHM has allowed me to prepare for John’s arrival from work. Since we’ve been back here in SA he has to travel an hour to and from work on a very windy and dangerous road. I like to have the kettle warmed and something to eat for him. I try to look fairly presentable and not to be too busy with my own things for when he gets through the door. Doesn’t always happen and he is fine with it, but it is my focus point.

Throughout the years his homecoming has looked different but that’s because family life always looks different, depending upon the season of life we’re in… and the ages of the children.

Currently, we (those who are home) zip around the house and do a quick tidy about 4.30pm. John gets home about 5pm and the boys go outside and help him in with his stuff. I greet him at the door and we share a quick kiss while the boys make us a cuppa. Then we all tend to congregate in the lounge-room and share about our day. This is quite possibly my favourite time of the day. I want home to be a special place, a place where family members love to be and greeting them is an important part in building this.

When the children were little I encouraged each child to think of something special that only they could do for daddy.  It was to be their job for when he got home. This wasn’t done in a slavish way instead I used it as a training opportunity… to teach the children how to show appreciation and how to think of others. One of the girls would make the cuppa’s while the other would make sure that John’s chair and ‘area’ were tidied. Now that the girls are older and either left home or not home when he gets home it is the boys turn. It isn’t about being male or female, it’s about showing appreciation and serving one another.

I try to ask John how his day has been and give him plenty of room to talk before I start blabbing on about my day. Of course being the talker that I am this doesn’t always work. Sometimes it seems that he doesn’t even want to talk about his day and – maybe he doesn’t! Other days he does. It’s all fine with me… I have come to accept that he doesn’t need to flap his gums as much as I do.

This might all seem a little extreme to some but I know what I like and don’t like when I’ve been out for a few hours or even away from the home. It’s nice to have my loved ones take a little effort and let me know that they missed me and that they think I’m a bit special. And my man is special… I enjoy showing him my love and appreciation.

In But Not Of

Be in it but not of it.

It is 10min long but grab a cuppa and be prepared!

Internet Reading

Two weeks down… four weeks left! Till what? Till my man comes back home. He’s been away on a work exercise… and we all miss him terribly.

My internet reading for the week has led me only to a few places, but these sites were too good to not mention. I haven’t been doing much blog reading at all so these are just ones that I’ve stumbled across. In case you haven’t noticed I’ve done a little house/blog redecorating. Yes, some readers could be forgiven for thinking that I change my design as often as I clean the kitchen but it’s not true. I redecorate my blog more often! 😀 But I like this. I’m happy with it and will stay with it awhile.

  • Ria (an Aussie living in the UK) writes about “First came love, and then came marriage“. It’s not a pleasant topic but Ria managed to articulate thoughts that I’ve had for a few years yet been unable to write. *~ It seems as though Ria has deleted or unpublished this post. ~*
  • DanisDelights has written a blog post on The Power of Kindness.
  • CrossExamined.org looks like a great site… one that I haven’t fully read or exhasuted yet. I’ll get back to this site when I’m home from hospital.
  • Downloadable guide to family worship is worth a read.
  • Tim’s wife, Aileen writes to women on Challies.com. (NOTE: Not for little people’s eyes)
  • Also on Callies dot com is a wonderful article about ‘Solomon on Social Media’. You really should check it out. It’s great.

    • If Solomon were alive today and we were to ask him how we are to relate to one another in this digital world, if we were to ask him how we can honor God in our use of all these social media available to us today, here is how he might respond.

  • And here’s one to share with the children – a sound clip on Biblical Prosperity Teaching for Kids

    • When God addresses children directly in Ephesians 6, He gives them an amazing incentive for obedience. Here’s the deal: If you honor and obey your parents, you’ll enjoy a long, fruitful life.

  • I’ve been reading about (which usually means reading and not doing) raw foods with Ani Phyo. I want to try the Coconut Cake with Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce and Cashew Kream which you can see in the video to the right. I’m not a raw foodist… not by a long shot. However I find that I really need to focus on it in order to improve my diet and consume more fruit and veggies. Without this focus I will simply eat nothing but grain, carbs and starch. (Ohhh, but they’re soo yummy!) Doesn’t this Cauliflower Mash & Mushroom Gravy sound divine to you?
  • I’m on the lookout for a vegetable spiralizer as can be seen here. I’m keen to try a raw Angel Hair type Pasta with Marina Sauce which uses zucchini as its [counterfeit] pasta. C’mon, most of you know my surname. We’re Italian… there is no way at all that I can truly call spiralled zucchini pasta, but I’ll give it a go for the health of my family. I mean, call it anything else but pasta? What an insult. I am a very good pasta and pasta sauce cook. It’s one of the very few things that I do well in the kitchen. So I like it. But let’s get one thing straight. Zucchini is not and never will be pasta.

    • Day One of Three~ Juice Fast

    Today was the first day of my three day juice fast. As you might remember, I had a flu for over four weeks and even now I still have a cough that I cannot shake. It’s driving me nuts but I am thankful to be better, at least.

    We’ve been enjoying fresh veggie and fruit juice again ever since we splashed out and purchased a new juicer. Previously we owned a Breville Juice Fountain. Golly, that thing is a pain to clean.

    The positive points about it are:

    • Can juice whole fruits or at least large pieces of fruit
    • Its fast

    The negatives are:

    • Painful to clean
    • Messy
    • Loud – very loud
    • Looks clunky
    • Inferior juicing method which yields a lower quality juice meaning that it is best consumed immediately.
    • Cannot do wheatgrass and other leaves.

    compact masticating juicer

    Now we have a Masticating Juicer.

    What’s the difference? Basically there are three types of juicers: Centrifugal, Masticating and Triturating juicers. I’ll leave you to do your own research if you want to know the differences. Alternative, if anyone really wants me to outline those differences just leave a comment and ask.

    I like my Masticating Compact. It’s special. However, there are a few downsides to these types of machines, which I’ll list here.

    Negatives

    • Produce needs to be in smaller pices
    • It is slow. It takes me nearly 20min to extract 2 litres of juice.

    But the benefits of this juicer and others like it are:

    • It’s fairly compact and a little easier to clean than the Breville.
    • It is quieter than the Breville.
    • it is cleaner than the Breville. Less mess all over the place!
    • Superior quality of the juice. It gently crushes and squeezes the produce which generates minimal friction heat. The higher the friction heat the more nutrients are destroyed. The Compact gives up to 60% more nutrients than say, the Breville.
    • It yields more juice, which is more bang for my buck! I think it has something to do with the extraction process but this juicer gives me a greater quantity of juice.
    • Because of the process used, the juice remains more stable. I keep the juice in a sealed tupperware container for 2 days, if it lasts that long.
    • It does lots of other things too! I just haven’t bothered with all that yet.
    • It juices wheatgrass, celery leaves, sprouts and spinach.
    • It makes nut butters, pasta and sausages! (Think back to an episode of MasterChef where they used a Compact)

    Why juice and not green smoothies? They are very different and have different benefits. After being sick for over a month I need to give my body as many nutrients as it can get while resting my digestive system. Not everyone agrees with the different theories behind juicing vs. green smoothies but from my knowledge of the digestive process it makes sense to juice for healing.

    What did I drink on Day One? Yesterday afternoon I made a juice containing, Carrot, Green Apple, Cucumber, Ginger and Celery which I drank for breakfast and lunch today. I also drank filtered water and had two cups of green tea. After lunch I made another batch of juice, this time with: Carrot, Beetroot, Watermelon and Apple.

    I always try to have more veggies than fruit- to a ratio of approximately 60% veggies to 40% fruit… less fruit if I can stomach it. When I use strong veggies like Spinach or Beetroot I find I need a little more fruit whereas when I use a lot of Carrot and Celery I can get away with less fruit.

    How I managed today: I don’t usually feel hungry. When I do I simply have a cup of tea and I that satisfies me for a few hours. That’s part of the problem though as I don’t eat properly and so suffer many deficiencies. But today I was hungry although I think it was all in my head. What is worse is the throbbing headache that I’ve had since lunchtime. It’s caffeine related so don’t feel sorry for me. Otherwise, I’m good.

    My reason for doing this is two fold:

    1. For my own health

    2. I’m also using this time to pray especially for two dear friends and fellow homeschool mums who are struggling with their health. Father God knows who they are so if you’d like to join with me in prayer, that would be fantastic!

    There is no doubt in my mind that raw juicing can save your life. I have seen it work miracles.”
    Dr. Sandra Cabot

    So how about you? Do you juice? How often do you drink fresh juice? Have a favourite recipe you’d like to share?

     

     

     

    Monday Meanderings

    Here are my links of my meanderings around the Internet this past week. I’m a bit late with this post today as I’ve been out all over the weekend and today. Yes, it’s softball season! Yahoo! and I am so glad.

    96 Essential Sites & Blogs for Gifted Homeschoolers

    100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart (Free memory verse cards)

    Weston A Price Guide to Superfoods

    Cyber Hussies from Christian Women Online

    Ruth Beechick writes for Homeschool Today.com on all those “How To Start Homeschooling” books.

    Author Lenore Skenazy on the 7.30 Report
    Do you ever…let your kid ride a bike to the library? Walk to school? Make dinner? Or are you thinking about it? If so, you are raising a Free-Range Kid! Free-Rangers believe in helmets, car seats, seat belts — safety!

    Helping Your Teen to Connect podcast with Mark Gregston.
    Making an effort to talk with your kids is a good start. But unless the conversation eventually comes around to your teenager’s thoughts, passions and goals in life, they’re left feeling disconnected.

    11 Rules Your Kids Did Not and Will Not Learn in School at the HomeScholar.

    I hope you enjoy some of the links. Do you agree or disagree with any of the opinions expressed in the links?

    Monday Meanderings

    I’d like to share some links of my meanderings around the Internet this past week.

    Some ask why more families don’t follow this Formula. Most parents are uncomfortable with the unconventional ideas. They teach as they were taught, unaware that such methods are responsible for many of today’s school problems. So they pay heavily for books which tie them, and their children down and burn them out.

    There are several enemies of reading in the lives of boys. The educational system is largely feminized, and boys are often not challenged. We must remember that boys have always been boys, as the saying goes. There is nothing in the constitutional makeup of boys that is opposed to reading. Generations of boys grew to love books and lost themselves in stories, adventures, historical biographies, and the like.

    Get out of their faces and…

    ‎”Let your eyes light up when your children are around. Laugh more. Tell them how empty and quiet it is when they’re not there. Enjoy the things they bring to your life. Attend their activities, not as if they were compulsory for parents, but throw yourself into their lives.”

    Valerie Bell
    Getting Out of Your Kids’ Faces and into Their Hearts

    Parenting Pain

    I remember when my children were little and we would be at the playground. The children would be running around, jumping, shrieking with delight, skipping and climbing the playground equipment. On more than one occasion would one of them fall and scrape their knee, which would result in a mass of tears. As a parent I would watch the children carefully, almost anticpating a fall. And then splat!… it would happen! I’d see it happen, as if it were in slow motion. I knew it was happening yet was not able to prevent the fall and subsequent wound. As the fall or tumble was occurring I would hurt. I felt pain.

    It was as if I could feel it in my own body. My knees would jar sharply or my ankle felt twisted, depending upon what type of tumble or scrape the child incurred. Within seconds the tears, screams or sobs (depending upon the child) would ensue. I would take the child into my arms and whisper very quietly. The whisper was usually one of a prayer- asking God to take away the pain and replace it with His peace and joy or some such similar request. I loved that moment… where they loved being in my arms and comforted by me.  Where my words were helpful and comforting and offered assurance. Where we were connected as mother and child. For some parents, this heart connectedness stays this way all the way through until adulthood and even beyond, which can be healthy. For some others, this doesn’t happen at all and children become disconnected. Some children disconnect well before they reach adulthood. Just as parents of toddlers experience pain when their child is bruised or scraped so do some parents expereince pain when a child disconnects.

    I know because that parent is me.

    I feel intense pain in this step of my parenting journey… for one of my children has disconnected well before they are ready. The child is bruised and hurting, therefore I am too.

    I hurt in many ways… I grieve for the loss and pain that I see my child in and for the possible pain I see that they are headed for. But I also hurt in other ways.

    I feel alone. I’m going through all this with my husband (Thank you Lord!) but I mean, in a sense, that ‘we’ feel alone. I’ve tried to reach out to others. I’ve tried to find parents in similar situations but it seems that there aren’t any others. At times I feel like we are the only Christian, homeschooling parents to go through this. I know for a fact that this is not true… but it feels like it.  Maybe others are too busy, maybe they don’t know what to say within a situation that doesn’t seem to change with every passing week. And then, there is the occasional parent that looks at me with a shocked expression and starts asking a few questions… but they’re asking the wrong questions! The questions they ask aren’t necessarily for my benefit or my child’s… rather for themselves. I can sense when someone wants to know details only for their own benefit… so that they would not make the same mistakes that we did. If it were all so cut ‘n’ dried then I would be marketing the formula instead of writing a blog post!

    I don’t ask God, “why?“. Well, in all honesty I have done so in the past but I don’t anymore . Oh,I have screamed at God at times; cries wanting to know why, what I had done (as though it were all about me- how ego-centric), etc? But praise Him, He is so much bigger than my ego for He didn’t shoot me down with a bolt of lightning or anything like that. But no, He didn’t answer me either. He has never condemned me for asking a heart question… He just may not answer. And, He is, after all… God. He can do that!

    However, I digress… back to the point. Better questions that I do believe God answers are ones such as,

    “Where do I go from here?”
    “What can I do now to redeem the situation?”
    “How can I serve the needs of my child in this situation?”
    “How do I show love without condoning their behaviour?”

    This stage of the journey, for me, is a difficult and tiring one. I don’t want simplistic formulas which don’t hold up… neither do I need a theology of clichés. Therefore I cannot write about formulas or clichés. But I can write about the things that I do know. They may not always sound theologically correct to others and for that, I apologise in advance. I wish to lead no one astray yet I desire to share what I am learning, not just in my bookish learning of the Bible but in my relationship with the Lord God. Sometimes I write before I have completely processed my thoughts. Sometimes my posts will sound all garbled. Despite my best efforts, I will get it wrong. [Apology over] So keep reading at your own discernment.

    I do know that God indeed has a plan!

    A plan and purpose for mankind, for me and for my child! He has promised to finish what He started in me… and He uses painful experiences to grow me in endurance and patience. He also uses these trying times to reveal my flesh, the flesh nature which may have been slightly buried in my clean-living and cosy life.

    And I know that I am never alone.

    This journey is plunging me into a relationship with the Lord God that I have not known previously. I can say that I’d rather live a life of hard times with the Lord God, my Father,  than a life of ease and comfort without Him.

    Jesus said that He will never leave or forsake me. And I know it. I don’t just believe it. I know it.

    Chosen!

    Ephesians 1:4-6
    For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
    NIV

    Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)
    The MSG

    John 15:18-19
    “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
    NIV

    “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.
    The MSG

    John 6:44
    “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
    NIV

    You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.
    The MSG

    Romans 8: 29-30
    For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
    NIV

    God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
    The MSG

    1 Peter2:4
    As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him
    NIV

    Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor.
    MSG

    1 Peter2:9
    But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
    NIV

    But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—
    The MSG

    Can you tell that I’m doing a little word study on ‘chosen‘ and ‘chose‘ lately? It’s really interesting. Of course in this post I have just plucked a few out but already it builds a story, doesn’t it?

    God chose Moses to lead the Israelite’s out of Egypt. God chose Israel to be His chosen people. He chose the nation of Israel to be the people through whom Jesus Christ would be born. God chose David to be a King of Israel. God chose Mary to be the earthly mother of Jesus.

    I don’t have the answers to everything. I could not get into a lengthy and deep debate for I do not have all my theological ducks in a row... but I do know this:

    That before the creation of the universe God thought of me! For some reason known to himself, He chose me to be on his team. He didn’t choose me because I had made a decision (for I was dead in my sin when I realised that I was on God’s team). He didn’t choose me because I am holy or righteous. Rather, that through Christ I might become holy.

    All that I am is grounded in the fact that God freely chose me. What then do I have to boast about except His goodness, His mercy, His grace?

    Obedience or Relationship

    In the beginning, in the garden, what do you believe The Father most desired – obedience or relationship?

    Is obedience all that God wanted? Is it possible to obey God yet not trust Him thus missing out on a relationship with Him? Can we trust without obeying?

    Pondering this quote from Catherine Marshall in Beyond Ourselves

    By giving humans freedom of will, the Creator has chosen to limit his own power. He risked the daring experiment of giving us the freedom to make good or bad decisions, to live decent or evil lives, because God does not want the forced obedience of slaves. Instead, he covets the voluntary love and obedience of sons who love him for himself.

    Share your thoughts with me… I’d love to hear them.

    Home-Based-Learning: Boybarians

    A Bible study for teenage boys

    Homeschool Boys ~ What is a homeschool? An education… a journey… an adventure… a lifestyle of twists, turns and trails. If your sons are like mine…. they are 4 wheelers and are always heading OFF trail. That is where this site comes in. Find here information and encouragement for moms of boys from a mom of all boys.
    I know this ‘mom’ from an online forum. She knows her stuff!

    How should we homeschool boys? Anyone who has ever been a parent to a little boy can tell you that they are generally louder, more energetic, and more physical than little girls. So when we homeschool boys, why do we think we can use the same teaching methods that we use for girls?

    Homeschooling Boys.com has 3 pages worth of articles that you’ll want to bookmark!

    From the above site the blog post, How Boys Learn

    Homeschool-Curriclum-For-Life has a page of encouragement

    Homeschool-Living.com has a few pages on boys:
    http://www.homeschool-living.com/homeschooling-boys.html
    http://www.homeschool-living.com/homeschooling-boys-II.html

    Suzanne from BlessedAmongMen shares her tips for homeschooling boys

    Heart of the Matter Online has a blog post on a day in the life with boys

    An insightful discussion took place at Simply Charlotte Mason on homeschooling boys:

    Articles by Douglas and Nancy Wilson

    Future Men
    Hard Work
    The Long March
    Manners for Boys
    Boyish Imagination
    Mothers in Proverbs by Nancy Wilson (wife of Douglas Wilson)

    No Greater Joy has heaps of posts and articles on raising boys

    Books for boys, reluctant readers, and why reading is so important

    Homeschooling Boys by Pattie Curran

    APlus Homeschooling has a page on boys too

    My own few posts on homeschooling our boys

    A Few Books

    Dangerous Book for Boys
    Young Man After God’s Own Heart
    Do The Hard Things
    Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single-Income Family Steve Maxwell
    I Kissed Dating Goodbye Joshua Harris
    Raising a Modern Day Knight, Robert Lewis
    Future Men, Douglas Wilson
    Raising Boys, Steve Biddulph
    Wild at Heart, John Eldridge

    Do you have any articles, blog posts or worthy books to add to the list?

    MacArthur… on parenting

    We’re certainly not to think that God’s sovereignty in salvation means the way we raise our kids is immaterial. God often uses faithful parents as instruments in the salvation of children.
    ~ John MacArthur

    Leaving a legacy?

    Friday, from the archives.

    Driving in the car…washing dishes…sweeping the floor, preparing a meal…reading a good book…visiting the new neighbour…running errands and paying bills. What do these have in common? These are a few things that I have had opportunity to do this week…to do with my children. And it is through these tasks and delights that I have opportunity to share the good news of God with them.

    One of my favourite verses in God’s word is Deuteronomy, chapter 6. I particularly like Chapter 6: but that’s only because of the surrounding verses. The writer of these verses is Moses.

    Moses went to Egypt and led the Israelites out of Egypt. They wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. So close yet so far away from the Promised Land. During all this time the people of Israel had fallen away form the Lord and the teachings of Moses. Moses goes to Mt. Sinai and receives the Commandments from God. I often need to remember why the Law was given. It was given to reveal divine holiness! It showed who God is… His standards of righteousness. When I look at the commandments I can see how far short I have fallen…and how I can never attain adherence to them of myself.

    I was intrigued to learn that it took the Israelites about 40 hours to get out of Egypt but it took 40 years for the Israelites to find the promised land- or as I’ve heard is said somewhere before, “It took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.” However, the other interesting point is that Moses didn’t get to enter the promised land. Only two of the Israelites who were taken out of Egypt got to enter it and they were Joshua and ‘Master C’ . Al the others had died and there was a new generation.

    Just before his death, before the entrance to the promised land, Moses gave a final word of admonition and exhortation or additional instruction. (Interestingly, Jesus also quotes this verse)
    Moses was their leader. He helped them to live godly lives amongst heathen nations. As THE Word was taught to us, so we must teach it to our children.

    God knows that our teachings, lives and beliefs can influence future generations. He wants us to think this way. How many generations can you see in the verses? Three! That means me, my children and my grandchildren!

    I’ve heard many people say that they wish there was a handbook or guidebook for this whole parenting caper. And there is! It is the Bible!

    So, what are we to pass down to the generations- to our children. Head knowledge? It may start there but it must be more than that. It must be in our lives. The word must change us. Along with a knowledge of God we must also have a fear of the Lord. It starts with love. Otherwise, all we have is religion.

    I wasn’t raised a Christian although my mother converted before I came to know the Lord so I say that my mother is the first generation Christian. It began with her.  She started to live out her life in God in front of me…and I picked up on that passion. I think that a possible danger for me is that I may become complacent in the living out of my faith and thus my children will become that way or even acknowledge God’s commands but not live in the fear or love of the Lord. Oh Lord, create in me a clean heart…keep my heart drawn to you.

    Am I excited about what God is doing in my life or has done for me? Do I share my walk with them? How are they to ‘catch’ my passion if I don’t share it with them?

    Grace: Received, Not Achieved.

    What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
    1Corinthians 4:7

    Why, oh why do I (man) like to think that I have something, just a little something, to do with my salvation. Do I not realise that in thinking this way I am blaspheming? I had nothing, NOTHING, to do with my salvation. God has given me all things richly to enjoy. Everything created by God is good. Every good giving and every perfect gift comes down from the Father God.

    For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
    2 Corinthians 8:9

    In this passage, Paul means ‘you were poor’ and ‘without strength’. He means that I was totally impoverished, wholly weak. I could not lift a finger, nor raise a whisper to effect my salvation… in any way! I was a sinner, with no way of escape and I deserved nothing – certainly not mercy nor grace. Yet God not only loved me freely but through the act of grace He redeemed me. Did I deserve it? No way! Did I help the process along? Of course not! From the Cross flowed the grace of God.

    Maybe there was something about my actions or attitude that moved God to grace? Eek! No! God can not be manipulated! It is sheer favour on His part. Only God could turn the heart of this sinner toward Himself. I didn’t deserve to be shown grace or favour. I could not obtain nor procure this grace… there was nothing I could do to warrant this grace – it flowed from God. It still flows from Him. No sin that that I commit lessens His grace from being poured out and any good works do not procure more grace from Him. It was grace. It is grace and it flows abundantly from the Father all the time.

    God showed me His grace by giving me gifts; the gifts of repentance, faith and forgiveness. I didn’t find the Lord. He sought me and found me! I didn’t make my decision for Christ! How could I when I was dead in my sins? How could I convert from sinner to saint? Only by His grace. As Jeremiah said:

    Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
    Lamentations 5:21a

    Parenting – for whose sake?

    To go along with the quote I posted reviously, here is another one. Ouch! Yes, God I know… but isn’t it enough already?

    The challenges of raising a child are as much for the sanctification of the parents as they are for the benefit of the child.
    ~ Bryan Chapell

    God’s Hidden Agenda

    I know, I know… I have quoted this saying so many times that many of my friends are probably sick of hearing it. But it seems to be my life motto  so I have to share it again.

    “God’s initial goal for Christian homeschooling families is not the raising of godly children. Instead, God’s wonderful, but subtly hidden agenda is that the homeschooling experience be so challenging for the parents that they feel the need and hunger for a closer walk with their heavenly Father.”
    ~Wisdom’s Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall

    Where are the best apples?

    This is doing the rounds on Facebook but it’s too good not to share. Not one word of it is mine but I don’t know it’s original source. It’s a good word picture to share with your children.

    Girls are like apples…the best ones are at the top of the trees. The boys don’t want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples that are on the ground that aren’t as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think there is something wrong with them, when, in reality, they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who’s brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree…

    Isn’t that encouraging? It made my day to read it. 😉

    Now we’re going to talk about what it means to be an apple on the top of the tree. I’m going to list some qualities that I think are important:

    • Must honour both God and her Christian brothers in what she wears and how she acts
    • Respects her mother and father
    • Doesn’t put others down by her words, but builds them up so that they can join her at the top of the tree
    • Is patient when things don’t go her way (working on this…)
    • Understands that her purity is not a thing to give away freely, but a priceless gift addressed only to her future husband
    • Understands the difference between vanity and looking pretty.
    • Love the Lord her God with all her mind, heart, soul, and strength, and will not let anything get between them.

    Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

    I’m praying that this generation of girls can make a difference and show people that we know what’s important: loving God, and living a life energized by that love.

    Back in the land of the living

    Whoa, what a week! I’v been sick with a horrid flu for one week… barely able to get out of bed. Body aches, fever, chills, coughing, headache and everything else that goes with the flu. There was a 3 day period that has totally escaped me. I was so out of it that I just don’t remember it at all. Sadly Miss A had the same flu at the same time so all we could do was moan and groan together. All I longed for was Vegetable Soup made with fresh chicken stock… so what’s a mama with a sick daughter to do but make it herself? Problem was it took so much energy to just make the stock that it took another day before I had the strength to make the soup… and even that took John to prepare all the veggies! On top of it all, we had a minor family crisis involving a female family member during the weekend and a special occasion occurred for Master C.

    Master C attended his first Air Force Cadet Bivouac! It all happened so quickly! I had taken pictures on my phone but in my semi delirious, sick state I have lost or deleted them. The previous weekend we had attended the open day at cadets and watched Master J do his ‘thing’. John is now getting involved as an instructor at cadets and this is such a blessing. He is over qualified for the task but is looking forward to spending more time with the boys. Anyway with John all signed up as an instructor the other leaders all agreed that Master C need not wait the extra few months and that eh could join immediately. Well, this just made Master C’s week! He was so excited as he’s been patiently waiting for this day. So, Friday was spent packing all his camping gear and getting ready… but both boys had a cold and I was worried that ti would develop into the same flu that I had. It was against my better judgement that they attend…

    They had a blast. The bivouac was only on base so it was perfect for Master C’s first one but he had a ball. He’s been quietly devouring every scrap of information that Master J brings hoe every week so was fairly well mentally prepared. But nothing much prepares a young man for his first biv. All I can say that already he seems to have developed more confidence, is talking more and is talking louder… which is great.

    On top of all this I learned that the house we rent has been put up for sale! We were expected to have an evaluation inspection last Friday but we had to cancel. It is now scheduled for this coming Friday but with being sick all week I don’t know how I’m going to get the house in order… especially seeing that the vacuum cleaner has given up too! It has died. Argh, does it ever stop? Apparently we will have to be ready for open inspections, photography sessions (for the house) and all that palava. The house we live in is small, therefore crowded and cluttered. It’s not easy to keep clean although we try. I simply am not up to all the work needed to have this house on the market. Oh Lord, please be my help in this matter.

    Anyway, I had taken a leave of absence from Facebook but may head back once I start to get better. Before I go any further I will confess my dirty little secret. I play a few games on facebook! Yes it’s true. This homeschool mama likes a few online games. So when I announced that I was leaving FB a few people suggested that I stop the games… Problem with this assumption is that they assumed that I was not coping with facebook time management which wasn’t true. I actually enjoy my few minutes each day on each game and I don’t have any issues or problems with it. My issue was, however, one of privacy. No, not even privacy for I have my FB settings to the highest. Rather it was the fact that I have a few contacts on facebook that are part of our style of evangelism- relational evangelism but I fail to see the relevance of having X amount of ‘friends’ if I only have the same 20 people relating back and forth with me regularly. If you’re not on facebook you probably don’t know what I’m talking about or don’t see the difficulty in this issue and that’s okay. Suffice to say that it was an issue that was wearing on me. So I needed time out.

    I hope to be around the forums and blogs a little more in the next few days. If I owe anyone an email, please just bear with me and email me again. I haven’t meant to ignore anyone… was just totally out of it.

    Love to all my blogging buddies!

    Facebook security check

    Just a quick note: to all my friends who do use Facebook you’ll know that I often post links or tips to help you keep up to date with Facebook happenings and Facebook security. Here is a neat little application that will check your privacy settings for you. It takes about 2 minutes and will let you know where your security weaknesses are. Take a minute and check it… please. For your sake, not mine.


    http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/facebook

    And another tool is the Facebook Sanitiser, which does a lot of the work for you… but I prefer the first link.
    http://facebooksanitizer.com/

    Stop the excuses… Just Do It

    A few years ago, when I was  doing Heart of Wisdom Unit studies and helping others to start homeschooling I found myself repeating the same phrase over again.

    Just Do It

    I know that a blogging friend also likes and uses the same catchphrase so I guess I’m in good company. 😉

    Children… oh my dear children are you reading this? Maybe not, I’ll post it on Facebook for them to watch.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA&feature=player_embedded

    I Don’t Want Kids


    But I love my children!

     

    So what is it? I use the term teen but don’t call my children ‘kids’. I guess I would not blame anyone for thinking I’m off the planet and contradictory. But in my reasoning it all makes perfect sense.

    Yesterday I wrote about the ideas behind the words. The word ‘teen’ is in the numbers from thirteen to nineteen. So using the word teen is fairly logical to me. The idea behind those teenage years need not be ones of rebelliousness, irresponsibility and such. They can be years of developing maturity, responsibility, developing character and more worthwhile traits. As parents we can set high expectations for our teens… if they are to rebel let them rebel against the low expectations that society as set!

    Webster’s 1828 Dictionary has a listing for ‘teen’
    TEENS, n. [from teen, ten.] The years of one’s age reckoned by the termination teen. These years begin with thirteen, and end with nineteen. Miss is in her teens.

    Which brings me to the word, ‘kid’. Webster’s 1828 also has an entry for kid:

    KID, n. [L. hoedus; vulgar.]

    1. A young goat.

    2. A f*ggot; a bundle of heath and furze.

    KID, v.t. or i. To bring forth a young goat.

    1. To make into a bundle, as f*ggots.

    KID, v.t. To show, discover or make known.

    The 1913 addition included:
    2. A young child or infant; hence, a simple person, easily imposed on.
    [Slang] Charles Reade.

    (* edited for discretion)

    So the term teen was around long before the term kid was being used. However, when I think of ‘kid’ I think of a baby goat. Frolicking around, butting heads, escaping the yard, being stubborn, etc. What do you think of when you use the word ‘kid’? One only needs to go to the store to see children running amok as if they were mountain kid goats rather than well disciplined children. When my children were younger I did call them kids. I’d just never thought about it. After taking Miss A to preschool and observing how many parents referred to their children as ‘kids’  I felt that they had low expectations for their kids. It didn’t set a high bar. It just didn’t seem respectful to me. So I stopped using the word kid and changed to children. (all except in my blog name which was our previous business that we purchased). However, to be fair a dear friend of mine uses the term ‘kid’ regularly and they are very deliberate as parents- in fact I’m sure they are more strict and consistent than we are! Which is why I’m asking in this post… and not telling.

    Some believe that the term kid comes from the word ‘kinder’, the German word for children. I’ve seen that some people prefer to use the term ‘lambs’ when referring to their children. Whilst this is a much gentler word picture I just don’t understand why the word children isn’t applicable. Feel free to educate me on the matter, if you’re a reader who uses these terms. To me, it is all slang and whilst I have been known to use more than my fair share of slang, idioms and colloquialisms I want more when I’m referring to my children.

    Years ago, this was a slang term… not used in the media or in any professional manner that I remember. Nowadays, it is the norm! Look around news articles, informative magazines, professional documents at the doctor’s office, etc. Kids, kids, kids! Even in our churches!

    Whilst I’m all for rebelling against the world’s standards for teenagers, I can’t take to the popular concept of calling my children kids. But maybe you think I’m now majoring on the minors.

    So tell me, what do you call your younger children… and why?

    Baby Photo Used in Scam

    Just in case you needed a reason to NOT post photos of your children online, take a look at this news article from August 2009! A Massachusetts mum finds out someone is using her baby in an adoption scam.

    I recommend using a free or premium service like photobucket or flickr to host your photo’s as you can control the privacy settings. However, as much as many people don’t like or trust facebook, they can be used to securely (as secure as anything ever is on the Internet) host your flicks. Just remember that there are 22 privacy settings to date so be mindful to go through all your privacy settings.

    If using wordpress or blogger you can also upload your photo’s but post them in a password protected post.

    It may not be of great concern if your photo’s aren’t direct head shots of your children… it’s up for you to decide. But please, just be careful and deliberate about all that you do on the Internet.

    No Teens Here

    There was a time when I banned the word ‘teen’ from our home. Being that the concept of ‘teenagers’ is a relatively new phenomenon we wanted to avoid the whole drama that seems to be synonymous with those teenage years. But you may have noticed that I have changed. I dont’ avoid the word teen. I use it. What changed?

    Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen.

    Teen is in the word.

    We have never embraced the typical teenage stereotype. It is and excuse to avoid maturity and responsibility and we don’t want to enable that. But being a teenager is more than chronological age… it is an attitude! But a true teenage attitude is a far cry from what society tells us it is. Avoiding a word isn’t going to make an awful lot of difference, in my opinion. Rather addressing the modern attitudes that define a ‘typical teenager’ will.

    Today’s typical teenager will:

    • rebel against their parents and all authority
    • avoid responsibility
    • forms stronger ties with friends rather than family
    • and more. Much, much more.

    And we, society, have come to accept this as normal. When and where did our expectation change? Society has adopted such a ridiculously low expectation of teenagers… this isn’t a word, it’s an attitude! We need to have higher expectations for our children during their ‘teen’ years and teach them that they can indeed rebel. They can rebel against the low expectations set by society!

    Rather than tell my teens that they ‘can’t do this and they can’t do that’ I tell them what they can do – and the list is so much bigger!

    I’ve had my eldest child join The Rebelution and now my 15yods is reading Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations. As my children got older and became teens I’ve tried to spend less time majoring on the words and more time discussing their purpose and possibilties with them. If you want to know more, you can start here with The Myth of Adolescence.

    The bottom line for me is to call my children by terms that have high expectations… and after discussing what it truly means to be a ‘teen’ I feel quite comfortable in calling my young adults as ‘teens’. Barb Shelton has an interesting post on this topic. Check it out.

    For me, the emphasis is on Concepts, not words. Ideas, not labels. Opportunities not avoidance. Possibilities not fear.

    What about you? What terms do you use and why?

    Rubbish!

    This week I purchased a new tool for the home. No unfortunately it wasn’t a new printer, computer or anything cool like that. Instead it is a tool that has been on my want-to-buy-essential list for awhile now. What is it? A paper shredder! Not all that exciting, is it?

    Last week we received a letter from our bank. It was fully addressed to my husband so naturally I tore it open. (I open all the mail as I am the one that pays the bills) The contents revealed a keycard… one of those debit cards that can be used online. However, it was not our card, nor was the letter attached to the card addressed to us! In effect, I had in my possession a debit/credit card that could be used online as well as the full name, address, DOB and bank details of another person!!! Oi Voi! How scary is that? I have since returned it to the bank, informing them of their mistake and expressing my displeasure with the whole things – especially seeing that we bank with them too? Which bank? 😉

    This started me thinking about online fraud and identity theft.

    A day or two later a facebook friend mentioned that their wheelie bin was stolen and some random fellow knew a lot of their details as he had found their rubbish, including papers. Then, the council issued them with an ultimatum – go pick up all the rubbish or pay a hefty fine!

    This got me to thinking about the details that could be learned from a rubbish bin – where we shop and what we purchase, where we purchase our fuel, friends, banks, and many more details.

    Suffice to say, this is the reason that we purchased a shredder. Apparently the best ones to buy are cross cutters. These cut the paper into teensy weensy squares so that they can’t be put back together whereas many paper shredder simply cut the paper into long strips. This isn’t as effective. The one we have is an ugly pink colour but it also shreds credit/key cards and has a letter opener. Best of all, it wasn’t expensive- not for the peace of mind of protecting our details.

    I know I’m probably behind the eight ball on this… but just in case there is someone else out there who doesn’t use a paper shredder I thought I’d post and encourage you to consider it.

    A new Bible reading plan

    “The goal of this system is simple, and twofold: To know scripture, and to love and obey God more!“

    I want to share a really cool Bible reading plan. At the beginning of the year when it is customary to begin all new things, many people were posting their new plan for Bible reading. Well, too many times I’ve spoken or written of my plan only to find that a few months later I have not stuck to it. I sometimes feel like a fraud. This taught me not to speak to quickly with my plans. I’ve learned that it’s better for me to speak about only the things that I actually have done rather than my plans of what I will do, for I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

    Being a believer for over 20 years means that I have tried all sorts of Bible reading plans (I link to many plans in this post) from chronological (which I love) to book-by-book reading and following the life of a character or event. They’re all good! But I was hankering for something new, something different, something I hadn’t done before. Now I realise that there is nothing new under the sun but this plan was new to me! So, what is it?

    Prof. Horner’s Bible-Reading System

    Professor Grant Horner’s Bible-Reading System is challenging and life changing. It is unlike most other plans I have seen! It is not an in depth study nor a word study yet neither is it a speed reading plan. I have been gob smacked at how the readings speak into my life and illuminate God’s story of His plan and purpose for man. This plan lights it up and helps me to connect the dots!

    Who devised this plan? His name is Professor Grant Horner, associate professor at The Master’s College–specializing in the Renaissance and the Reformation. He is also the Chair of Humanities at Trinity Classical Academy.

    10 chapters a day from 10 different sections of Scripture! If this plan is used yearly, one could read through all the Gospels four times, the Pentateuch twice, Paul’s letters 4-5 times each, the OT wisdom literature six times, all the Psalms at least twice, all the Proverbs as well as Acts a dozen times, and all the way through the OT History and prophetic books about 1 ½ times. I have found that the inter-weaving allows the Bile to be its own commentary! It doesn’t tell me which Bible I must use, which is a good thing I believe. And it isn’t all laid out- I physically have to flick through my Bible, thus creating a greater awareness of where each book is. (Unless of course I’m using and online or computer Bible)

    Each Bible reading time I read one chapter from each list in order. Yes, that is 10 chapters per day. However, unlike many other plans I’ve started or attempted I do not feel lousy or guilty if I miss a day or two. I simply pick up where I left off!  Sometimes I break it into two sittings – 5 chapters in the morning and the other 5 chapters at night. On day one, I read Matthew 1, Genesis 1, Romans 1, and so forth. On day 2, I read Matthew 2, Genesis 2, etc.

    All Bible reading plans are good but I like this system as it is achievable, flexible and illuminating, bring God’s word alive to me.

    Want more information? You can see the Facebook page and/or download the pdf here.

    What about my rights?

    “To be broken means to have no rights before God and man. It does not mean merely surrendering my rights to Him but rather recognizing that I haven’t any, except to deserve hell. It means just being nothing and having nothing that I call my own, neither time, money, possessions nor position.”

    ~ Roy Hession, The Calvary Road

    How to eat an elephant

    One bite at a time!

    Where to begin? It’s been over one month since I last posted! I have heaps to write about but very little time in which to do so. I could have logged on and just written quick snippets but I keep holding out for the time to write that long, descriptive, captivating, interesting, catch-up yet elusive post. So here I am today, not even bothering to attempt to catch up everything but just trying to get this first post out of the way so I can get back to my normal irregular posting.

    We went away for Easter! Well most of us did. Miss R stayed here in Adelaide with friends as she had to work. She is an apprentice chef, have I told you that before? John, Miss A, Master C and I left late on the Thursday evening and arrived in Victoria 10 hours later. Yes, you guessed it- we were there for a softball tournament. Miss A played, I coached and John umpired. I think he worked harder than any of us as he did 4 games every day! Anyway, we had to leave Master J at home by himself on the Thursday night as he was leaving the next day on a plane to go to Puckapunyal. He had been selected to be part of a SA Fieldcraft Competition team for Air Force Cadets. Yes, we trusted him to stay by himself and lock the house up totally before leaving. ‘Twas a bit scary from our point of view but upon our return he had done a great job of locking up and doing a quick tidy before he left. He had a great time, learned a lot and his team came 2nd in the whole competition! WhooHoo!

    We returned home on Easter Monday and life has been go-go-go ever since! Softball apparently winds down at this time of year but in doing so there are heaps of presentation nights to attend. Miss A received a few awards such as: A Grade Softballer of the Year for the club, MVP for the SA U/19 State team and was selected in the SA Team of the Year as Pitcher! (She was also the Captain for the SA 19 State team and they played in a premiership, although they didn’t win.) All in all a good season for Miss A, despite a dislocated thumb and nasty 6″ x 6″ gravel burn that got infected.

    Miss A has been selected in the Invitational Team (U/23) to represent Australia. This isn’t the same as being in the Aussie Squad rather the aim of the event is to develop players at this age group to enhance their skills and give them a greater opportunity of stepping up to the senior state and potentially national level, which is what she is working toward. So, she is training daily and I’m helping her. It’s been a few years since I coached her and whilst I love it, it does take approximately 2 hours per day.

    Since then John has been very busy at work, sometimes leaving home at 6am and getting home at 5pm… but I think the most tiring part of it all is the 1 hour drive to and from work. Master J has started his first ever season of football and he’s doing quite well so far. He takes himself off to training twice a week and the rest of us love to watch him play on Sunday afternoons. It’s quite different for us, just sitting, watching and cheering as opposed to being at softball where we’re always working. Master J also celebrated his 15th birthday yesterday and continues to eat us out of house and home. We are very proud of him and it is lovely to watch him maturing into a godly, mature young man.

    Last night, over tea we recalled his birth story. He was born early in the morning (as were all my children) and he was pretty big… not my biggest but my second biggest at 10 pound, 7 ounces. From my waters breaking to delivery of that sweet little bundle was about 90 minutes. All went well with him except that I struggled to keep him awake long enough to feed so he was not regaining his birth weight. When he was 10 days old, the doctor was concerned about a possible heart murmur so sent us to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where he had a load of tests done. All the tests came back fine but he still wouldn’t wake up, feed or gain weight. One experienced nurse listened to me as I shared about his birth and she said that he might very well just ‘wake up‘ on day 14 as she had seen it a few times before with big babies and quick labours. Well, would you believe it but exactly on day 14, my little boy woke up, started screaming for food and hasn’t stopped since!

    I’ve been slowly getting better with my knee. I started walking and cycling on the bike but as typical of me I went a bit too gung-ho and set myself back a little… must learn to pace myself.

    Other than knee recovery, softball presentations, softball training, homeschooling, football games, website development, enjoying family and home duties I guess that about sums up my happenings!

    Now, back to my ever-irregular blog posts…

    Kneeding to rest

    Well, I’m in and out. Had the knee surgery and am on the mend. The surgeon found that the problem wasn’t as much with my meniscus cartilage as much as it was Joint Surface Damage. There was a bone flap that was sticking out and causing the pain and trouble. So he cut it off, filed it down and it should settle very quickly. He shaved off a little of the remaining meniscus cartilage but I still have a little of that left on the inner side of the knee. However weighted squats and lunges are off the weight training agenda for me, which is downer but at least I will be largely pain free and ready for softball next season!

    Okay, so it’s not really called a bone flap but that’s what it looked like when the Dr. drew a diagram. It’s actually called Joint Surface Damage and it could happen playing sport with twisting or lifting too heavy a weight- which is what I think it was with me. Properly named chondromalacia or chondral fracture can occur the same ways that ligament tears happen. It can degenerate over time with incorrect mechanics of an activity or it can be damaged instantly.

    I went in at 7am last Friday morning and was home by 3pm! I had a great sleep that night, even slept on my tummy and it didn’t hurt the knee. Over the following 2 days I felt pretty good so I pushed it a bit much. I had to go back to resting more and it seems to be slowly getting stronger. I have a follow up appointment with the surgeon next week and I hope to find out when I can go back to exercising.

    John has had all this week off work and it’s been great- although we haven’t gotten much done. We’ve had all week off lessons so will resume next week when life returns to normal. (Huh? What is normal?)

    Thanks to all those who have prayed for me and a speedy recovery. Much appreciated. :pray:

    Kneeding surgery

    Well hasn’t it been a busy week? With taxi-ing children to their activities, upgrading websites, building new ones, housekeeping, softball, phone calls and forums there’s little time left over for blogging!

    Who remembers that I injured my knee late last year? Actually it’s the second knee injury I’ve sustained. I tore the meniscus cartilage 6 years ago and had to have surgery to have the right side of the cartilage cut back and shaved.  I knew how I did that injury though- I did a softball movement and felt and heard a distinctive “pop”.

    Not so this time! I thought at first, that I had injured it again at softball but the more I’ve thought about it I believe it happened at the gym. I tried to go too hard at an exercise which strained the muscles and ligaments around the knee and then without giving it sufficient rest I used a machine which should never be used with those who have knee problems. I felt a little ‘pop’ but nothing major. However continuing to exercise hard and play softball aggravated it and made it worse until I tore the cartilage severely.

    It took me awhile to go to the doctors to get a referral to the specialist because I knew it would mean surgery and I was too busy! C’mon surely other homeschool mum can relate to that?

    Eventually I went. My surgery was scheduled for the 26th March. Eek! This would be cutting it fine as exactly 7 days later I was due in Melbourne to coach an U/19 Women team. Thankfully the assistant had put me on the cancellation list. Last week I received a call from the surgeon’s office asking if I wanted to come in early. Oh yeah! so, tomorrow is the day!

    Miss A and I will leave home at 6.30am and John will pick me up after work later on in the evening. Miss A will then head back home and oversee the boys doing their household chores and lessons. Then they’ll head out and do the grocery shopping. She even hopes to have a meal cooked but i think she may be guilty of over scheduling. 😉

    I don’t know how long recovery will be as it depends upon what the surgeon has to do. From the x-ray it looks like he will have to cut back the left side of the meniscus which will leave me with no meniscus cartilage but the worst part of that is a dull arthritic pain which I get now anyway. So I’m not fussed, there’s people all over the world a lot worse off than me. It will be lovely to not be in constant pain though – I am looking forward to that.

    I’m also looking forward to getting back into exercise! Wow I have missed it. I’ve also felt it in my body too. At first I thought that I could keep exercising my upper body but the reality is that constant pain just wore me down and I have barely been making it through each day. The thought of trying to exercise is just way too much at this stage. But soon… soon I will be back on the bike and treadmill and lifting the weights!

    Anyway, that’s my bit of news for the week… how’s life at your place?

    No Power

    I hope my dear blogging buddies aren’t hanging out for an enlightening post… as this will just be a quick update on our week, or part thereof.

    The week has been all over the place! We received notice that our electricity supply would be cut off on Tuesday for line maintenance. Fair enough. And so it was from 10am until 11pm. Longer than expected.

    It went off on Wednesday unexpectedly… so they (electricity people) finally got the street running on a back up generator. Then at 8pm, it went off because they had come to work on it. We were without power until midnight when it went back on the generator.

    All day yesterday I expected the power to go off again while they took us off the generator and tried to fix the problem but it didn’t happen. Until last night at 6.30pm. (Just when people get home from work and want to cook tea) Power went out again and didn’t come back on until midnight (on the generator).

    I wouldn’t mind so much if they would do a quick letter box drop and let us know. I mean they know it’s going to happen so at least let the street now, right? I can’t figure out why they don’t fix it during the day- why at night?

    Our whole neighbourhood is in an uproar… except us. We’re not too fussed. I mean, it can’t be helped so no point in whinging. We see it as a chance for adventure and for character development… and the opportunity to discipline ourselves to ‘make hay while the sun shines‘. Hmmm, thing is we’re doing alright with the attitude stuff, just not with the discipline of making hay.

    So if I have been a bit quiet, that’s why.

    More later…

    5 Reasons Why Websites Make Changes

    Facebook recently changed their whole layout. As is typical on Facebook, a large number of groups and pages were created by users to express their anger and frustration. Groups such as “I hate the new FB. Give us back the old layout!” and other such titles. The number of comments from people who logged on to the FB account, saw the changes and whined annoyed me. People asked (well, they posed it as a question but I doubt they really want to know the answer) “Why does FB have to change all the time?“.

    Now I don’t know much about FB or why they do what they do. But I do know a little about website development, albeit on a much smaller scale than FB. Security, cutting down on bandwidth, advertisers, cosmetic appearance and usability are all some of the reasons that I know of for changing a site’s layout and setup. They may have other reasons yet again but these are the ones that I can think of…probably because they’re the reasons that I have when changing AussieHomeschool’s site layout and functions.

    Security is paramount!

    Surely no one would disagree with this. Well, just as hard as site owners work there are sick hackers who work harder, seeming to get pleasure from defacing (at the least) and hacking into sites. Website security and patches moves at such a ridiculous rate… it’s hard to keep up, but we must. And sometimes, not every time, but some times a complete layout is needed to fit in with the security updates.

    Bandwidth: an issue for everyone.

    Just because I might be have a great broadband connection doesn’t mean that I should strive to make my website and bandwidth friendly as possible. Did you realise that your Facebook is free? Yup, you didn’t pay for it. In fact, any surfing of FB that you do comes out of your monthly bandwidth limit. But did you realise that FB also has to pay for a bandwidth limit so it costs them bandwidth every time we (users) download or view a page! Same with AussieHomeschool- it doesn’t cost the user to view the site but we pay our monthly bandwidth fee as part of our account. The bigger the page the higher the bandwidth. So the more streamlined and smaller each page can be, the better for all of us! (however I’m sure that FB doesn’t struggle to meet its payments like most smaller websites).

    Advertisers

    Layout changes occur because of the bandwidth issue and streamlining of pages but also to accommodate the needs of advertisers. Well, someone has to pay, don’t they? FB is a free service but they largely depend upon advertisers. And as with most forms of media, a great deal of weight is given to advertisers. It’s just how the world turns! Same with our non profit sporting club – we give as much credit and weight as we can to our sponsors and donators, for they help keep the club alive. That’s fair, isn’t it?

    New features and functions

    Sometimes the layout changes occur because of the advancements in website design. New features and functions are constantly being developed and these changes are most often for the user’s benefit. If there were no change, there would be no Web2.0. We’d all still be reading text from static HTML pages! Imagine life with no status updates, no interactivity. Oh my!

    Browsers

    Other times changes occur in order to keep up with modern browsers. All web browsers read and render information differently. Most browsers adhere to web standards but not all. AussieHomeschool and this site were built according to web standards. At the time of initial publication of each template used the sites adhere to web standards but Internet Explorer 5,6 and 7 do not read websites the same as other modern, functioning browsers. Therefore, as the IE browser upgrades changes, adaptations are made to sites and components used so that it can attempt to accommodate IE. Not easy.

    Firefox

    Some seem to complain for the sake of complaining. Seems to me that some people updated their status indicating their dislike for the new layout before even having a play with it. In fact, the whole layout is easier. It is more compact yet more comprehensive. Previously, every corner of the FB screen contained links: Top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right. Hmmm, quite a scroll to get to the bottom at times. However now all the information is found at the top of every page: top left and top right hand corner. In most cases it may only be one click extra but it’s all in the one place. This is clever site design.

    Developing character

    I was bemused to see the amount of younger people griping about the new layout and how much they hated it! Some were swearing in protest and saying they would leave FB.   🙄 Wow, if they can’t handle a little thing like layout changes then how will they handle the lemons that life may throw their way? We do well to model and teach our children to be flexible and adaptable in this modern, technological age. They have a distinct advantage over the previous generation when it comes to technology… let’s hope they make the most of it!

    Lastly I had to spare a thought for the older generation. People like my dad! My dad will probably read this post… but he won’t comment. :-*  I hope that one day he will, but for now he is on a huge learning curve, just by owning a computer, learning to turn it on, open a browser and find his way around google and my website.  He is doing such a great job and I am so proud of him! It is no easy feat learning about modern technology when one hasn’t grown up surrounded by it. We can learn a lot from the older generation – namely the flexibility, adaptability, love of learning, zest for life and patience that our younger ones (myself included) need to develop.

    Next time a website changes (and most sites change layout and appearance at least annually) spare a thought for the site owner. There’s usually a good reason for it. At the very least, go download yourself a proper browser… you’ll be amazed at the difference!

    Daily Quiet Times

    I’ve always felt a bit like a loner when a discussion turns to ‘Quiet Times’. I usually offer my thoughts as they relate to me and my relational walk with the Father. But my thoughts seem somewhat different to many other Christian women. Why? Am I a freak? I know I don’t have all my theological ducks-in-a-row but I know my Father.

    Sometimes life feels as though it is against me. Dare I say it? Sometimes it feels as though God is against me. Yet I know this is not true. God isn’t my personal fairy God-father. rather, He is God and He allows the processes of  life to cause me pain but He has not, and will not ever abandon me.

    However, I’ve learned that I don’t have to try to have a relationship with my Father…He reveals Himself to me and reveals things about myself to me. He’s real in my life, whether or not I have a devotional time in the morning, the evening or in the shower!

    I don’t want to play the game of religion. I don’t even want to play the game of Christianity. I want to know God and I want to walk with Him. There was a time when I felt secure in my life because of certain ‘religious’ activities, but God has been pruning these things out of my life, showing me how unimportant (and sometimes detrimental) they really are to relational living with Him. Instead of filling week nights with ‘worship’ practice, worship nights, writing Sunday School curriculum, leading Kids Club, being a puppeteer and a handful of other activities I am re-learning how to live in His love, to follow His voice and totally depend upon Him.

    This is what it means to me when I say I am a believer, a follower of Christ. It means relational living with God, not one day a week nor several days a week at activities. Every decision I make centres around the Lord. Yet that is not to say that I get it right- far from it! But He knows my heart.

    So why do I feel like an odd ball when talking to other Christians about my ‘ daily quiet time’?

    I have never been one to use devotional aids. I find them contrived and largely artificial. I’m not one who religiously reads several chapters every day before breakfast. But in keeping with breakfast and eating, my ‘quiet time’ is akin to my diet. I simply don’t recall what I ate for breakfast 6 months ago. But I know it was nutritious and healthy and strength giving! If my diet goes downhill then so does my physical status after a time. Soon afterwards I’ll pick up again with my vitamins for it is this buildup of nutrients that will keep me strong and healthy – even in times of famine. (Not that we experience famine in the true sense of the word)

    My Bible reading is similar: I may not read three or four chapters every day. I may not remember what I read several months ago…but reading the Bible is is pure nourishment for my soul. It is this buildup of nutrients that keeps me strong – even in times of famine or the dry, hard times.

    Is anyone else an odd-ball or am I the only one?

    My Internet Reading

    What do you read when reading it quickly: GODISNOWHERE ?

    Now read it again. Slowly. What do you read now? 🙂 Hmmm, the placement of a space really makes all the difference eh?

    Well, I don’t have an awful lot to say at the moment. 😯  Actually, that’s not true at all. 😮 I always have plenty to say but I have neither the time to spend composing a message or it isn’t right for me to say at this time or in this place. However, I’d like to point you to a few links of interesting sites that I’m reading at the moment.

    An article called Higher Education by John Taylor Gatto
    12 Things You Might Not Have Learned in a Classroom
    I’ve linked to this before but I’m re- reading it. I always find something new to give me some direction or focus with my young adults.

    Part One of When Home Becomes A Dirty Word
    I’ve known Maria in the cyber world for about 10 years or so. She is a lovely, smart lady who is very real and down-to-earth.

    Also love this quote that is on Maria’s blog.

    Live your life from your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people’s souls.
    ~ Melody Beattie

    Amy over at Marigold Cottage asks about schoolwork and sick children.
    I plan to offer her my response… one day. :idk:

    Mom2Three is a darling gal who I’ve known online for a few years. I’ve been able to watch her process life’s circumstances and come to discern the Lord’s will for their family. (Sorry about the poor grammar but I have never met her husband but I know he’s involved in their decision. Hence why I fluctuate between ‘her’ and ‘their’). Her recent blog post, Seasons of Life and Change really leapt out at me especially where she talks about the positive changes around the dinner table.

    After school and evening time with family takes on an entirely different importance. Dinner conversations are more lively and exciting as we all fill each other in about our days, sharing the high points, and the low points. (Before, dinner conversations were mainly filling in dad, as he was the only one who didn’t know what had been happening.) Now, I look forward to what my kids share that goes on in “their world”.

    Even though my children aren’t at school the two girls work outside the home so I can relate to this too.

    Just in case you can’t find it with google here is 100 Excellent Online Resources For Christian Homeschoolers contains some great links.

    That’s all for now until I share about the program I’m using for my Bible reading.

    Quick Catch Up

    A quick catch up is better than no catch up eh?

    John is back at work and he leaves tomorrow morning at 5am…he returns on Friday. He will have to be away a lot this year. I don’t mind it so much while he’s gone. It’s the preparing to go and the first day that I hate.

    Miss A (18yo) is working two jobs but still only working between 10 – 20 hours a week. She’s a bit frustrated with it but is trying to practice trusting in God. Of course, she is still working out at the gym, doing heaps of training and studying for her Cert 3 in Fitness.

    Miss R (17yo) is doing well with her apprenticeship. She’s a few months into now and seems to be enjoying it more each week. Next month she is to spend in at a fancy hotel for her training so that will provide her with a change of scenery. It’s a bit of a learning curve – from school to the adult working environment, but I think she is slowly getting the hang of it.

    A few months ago, before Christmas, I told the boys to pack up their computers into boxes. They thought it was punishment but it wasn’t. However they can have them back (maybe) once they show me that they can  manage their time more wisely. It’s been about four or five months since they’ve had their own computers… and whilst they have missed aspects of it hasn’t been as bad as they imagined it might be.

    Master J (14yo) has transferred to a different cadet unit. Last year he was doing an extra evening of cadets as he was in the drill team. He enjoyed the unit and it is closer and more convenient for us logistically so he has transferred. We are all slowly easing back into some formal bookwork although true learning hasn’t stopped. We haven’t much to report about homeschool curriculum or changes as we tend to pick up where we left off.  Master J is doing Math-U-See and Apologia General Science, with loads of literature. When I get around to it I’ll put up his current schedule. I’m planning for him to go through Open Access College in either 2011 or 2012 so we’re working toward that. I’ve always said that the boys cannot get a job, leave home or go to Uni until they have satisfied my academic requirements… so we’d better get a move on eh?

    Master C (12yo) is continuing on with his lessons. He too is using MUS for maths and is reading through “It Just Couldn’t Happen” for science. Yes, we tend to focus more on science and maths for the boys. I don’t know why but it a prompting from the Holy Spirit and I’ve learned to not bother arguing with Him.  We’ll also be trying to focus more on physical activity, especially for Master C as he has a typical endomorph body type and tends to get pain and stiffness in his hips and lower back.

    I have gone and injured my knee – even more than before Christmas. I knew then that surgery would be required. I injured it further on the weekend by playing softball. I was in lots of pain on Saturday and couldn’t sleep so took a few pain relief tablets in the morning and slept most of Sunday! Miss A drove me to the doctor this morning where he told me the inevitable – surgery… again. I was just trying to get through to the end of softball season and then go in and have the surgery, but it is so painful at the moment that I cannot even perform basic household tasks. I have the specialist appointment on Feb 19th so will find out more then. I do hope that the meniscus cartilage simply needs a good clean and scrape and that’s all. But I’ll know more after the 19th.

    I haven’t been to the gym for ages! I’ve really missed it too. I’ve started to feel it in my back and upper body so had resolved to head back this week- even if I can only do upper body and core, it is better than nothing at all. That was before my knee has acted up. I’ll take it a day at a time and get to the gym as soon as I can.

    Last week I was so blessed and delighted to catch up with Bec! I love catching up with people that I have a little history with. For other nomads you’ll know what I mean but for those with their roots planted firmly in the one place I’ll explain. I know many people… many, many people. But we move around so much that it can be difficult to get to know people in depth. Bec is someone that I’ve known for over 10 years (and even then we both grew up in the same town).  We both shared our early years of the learning at home journey together. I recall many a spontaneous get together where our children would run wild in the backyard. Or I would leave my children at her house for a couple of hours while I did the shopping or zipped through and did the housework…then the following week her children would come to my place.  We have history. She knew my children when they were still in nappies (or should have been, as she recalled a fond memory). It was such a beautiful day when she drove all the way to visit and take me out for lunch. We went to Soul Food cafe and had a Warm Chicken Salad and 3 cappuccino’s, made by a Latte Artist – Miss A. 🙂  Next time I hope to see her children as well.

    We had a new look on AussieHomeschool awhile ago but for some reason it is acting up. Particularly with Internet Explorer. Of course it will play up with IE because IE refuses to adhere to web standards like all quality browsers do. I despise IE, I really do. Anyway, I’ll be back to working on it and sorting out the javascript problems, which will mean a slightly new look yet again, which will in turn mean many complaints from people. Oh well, I suppose my pay can be docked eh?

    So there it is- our quick update. I’ve enjoyed trying to keep up with blogs and websites but I haven’t done much in the way of commenting or responding, but that’s simply the season of life that I’m in at the moment. I’m sure at another time I’ll be back in full force, posting and commenting and driving my blogging friends nuts again. :clap:

    The Work of a Teacher

    “The actual work of the teacher consists of the awakening and setting in action the mind of the pupil, the arousing of his self-activities… All explanation and exposition are useless except as they excite and direct the pupil in his own thinking…We are now ready to state the law of teaching: Excite and direct the self-activities of the pupil, and as a rule tell him nothing that he can learn for himself.”

    ~John Milton Gregory
    ~The Seven Laws of Teaching, p.84

    When To Start Homeschooling

    “When a baby is picked up, spoken to, and loved, he is starting his education as God planned it. For all our lives we are human beings, in an active state of learning, responding, understanding. Education extends to all of life. In fact, an educational system that says, one bright summer’s day in the dawn of my youth, ‘There. Now you are educated. This piece of paper says so,’ is doing me a gross disfavor. The truly educated person has only had many doors of interest opened. He knows that life will not be long enough to follow everything through fully.”

    ~Susan Schaeffer Macaulay~ For The Children’s Sake p. 8

    True Education

    “True education is a kind of never ending story – a matter of continual beginnings, of habitual fresh starts, of persistent newness.”

    ~J.R.R.Tolkien~

    Top Posts of 2009

    Best of 2009

    Y’know I never can tell how to best write these sorts of posts. Do I count the top 10 as the ones I enjoyed writing the most or the ones that received the most comments or…you know, it’s all rather relative to the individual eh?

    Top 12 posts (according to comments received)

    Homeschooling isn’t about education
    Parent of best friend?
    My domestic science routine
    Before… and during (health & fitness)
    Thoughts on blogging… but what to blog?
    Blender dilemma solved – green smoothies
    11 weeks of exercising
    Yes! I’m throwing a temper tantrum
    Do you tweet?
    Is my freedom your bondage?
    Mini master chef– our lasagne
    The Shack

    Yet the above list differs a lot from the next list. Below are the posts that I enjoyed writing or that were close to my heart.

    January

    My confession– ducks in a row
    Good works – relationship over religion
    Which Bible to use?

    February

    Our family principles

    March

    How we parent

    April

    Our lesson on Proverbs 26:17
    Choosing
    Reposting of my thoughts on the Passion of the Christ

    May

    Forgiven much
    Living by grace… or Law
    Cows and codes
    My exercising epiphany
    Exercising my options
    My thorn in the flesh
    Only but not lonely (my childhood)

    June

    Delight Directed Learning
    Our Story: Beginning to homeschool
    Something missing…
    Mapping the course- as the pilot
    Getting the direction – as co-pilot
    Developing the vision
    Putting it together

    July

    Surviving a book fair

    August

    New season of learning

    October

    Using the 5W’s and a H to teach

    November

    My lesson for today

    December

    To celebrate or not to celebrate…
    Who, why, what, when and where of Christmas in our home

    or… you could just visit the archives 🙂 Leave me a alink to your top 10 so I can visit or better yet, pop over and leave your link at the AussieHomeschool Blog- Best of 2009

    Joshua Harris: Proverbs 3:7

    Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Joshua Harris uses a beanbag chair to illustrate how we often fail to “turn away from evil.”

    As analogies go, it isn’t perfect in its illustration but the point is still real and valid.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1iWVBszV0

    Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness with a click

    logo-bcsThere is something happening on Facebook at the moment. It involves posting a colour as your status update. I had no idea what is was about until a friend asked the same question. Apparently, one is to paste the colour of their bra as an update. A single word is all it takes. Apparently it is to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

    A few hours ago, Miss A and I were discussing how we would not post the status of our under garments for all to see. Miss A posted such an update and was criticised. What the criticiser does not realise however, is that we are into Breast Cancer awareness and supporting it. We do actually give to cancer foundation charities. My husband spent an entire day walking the streets (raining cats and dogs) collecting money for Breast Cancer research. We support any and all types of cancer research, charities and foundations. And yes, in case anyone was wondering we have had close family members affected by cancer. But that is not the focus on this post…

    I don’t see how posting a colour as a status update really achieves anything. If one really wants to help and support this cause there is much more one can do! I can’t believe that Miss A copped a bit of flack (which she can handle) for ‘being insensitive’ when nothing could be further from the truth! She even posted a link to the site where one can click daily and was still critiqued. I’m all for self examination when it comes to accepting criticism but seriously, sometimes we need to go the extra mile and really try to be proactive.

    Click this link! It’s free and it costs you nothing but a few seconds of your time! Click the link! Your clicks count!

    In just a few seconds each day, visitors can click on the pink “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button on the home page and, at no cost to them, help fund a free mammogram for a woman in need. The mammograms are paid for by The Breast Cancer Site’s sponsors and distributed by the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  100% of sponsor advertising fees goes to their charitable partners.

    The Breast Cancer Site was founded on October 23, 2000. Since that day, tens of millions of site visitors have given more than 16,000 mammograms to women in need via a simple and free daily click!  Join their Facebook group, friend them on twitter to receive reminders to click daily…but please be more proactive than just posting a colour as a status update.

    logo-bcs

    Read Your Bible Daily

    rosesnbible

    “Read the Bible daily. Make it part of every day’s business to read and meditate on some portion of God’s Word. Gather your manna fresh every morning. Choose your own seasons and hours. Do not scramble over and hurry your reading. Give your Bible the best, and not the worst, part of your time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day.”
    ~ J.C. Ryle


    Read the Bible: Just Do It

    rosesnbible

    Begin reading your Bible this very day. The way to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or thinking about it; that will not advance you one step. You must positively read. There is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the matter of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must persuade somebody else to read to you. But one way or another, through eyes or ears, the words of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.”

    ~ J.C. Ryle

    Practical Religion, “Bible Reading”, 131.

    A New Feline Family Member

    grey2

    :cat2: Yes, it is official. We are a cat family. Eowww, how did that happen? ?:-)

    Late one night four weeks ago, Miss R brought home a stray kitten. She had found it in the middle of a busy road, looking scared, very thin and nearly dead. She was nowhere near home at the time so she took it to a friend’s house where they bathed and fed him. Then, she brought him home. Well, it took all of 2 seconds before he won my heart but he’s a baby animal so that’s no major feat. The major deal would be to win John’s heart (more on that later).

    We couldn’t decide on a name and everyone kept calling him their own pet name but over the weeks one name has remained and been used by all.

    Greystache or Grey for short. We believe that he is a Russian Blue.

    grey1He is the most beautiful kitten/cat, who loves being adored. But he’s so cute; it’s easy to snuggle and pet him all day. Yesterday, we noticed that one of his teeth was hanging out so thanks to google I found out that kittens do indeed lose some teeth when they are about 4 months old. He’s been a little ‘blue’ (hehee) the last two days and we think it is because he is teething. He went a bit psycho at one point yesterday; running around, licking his paw like mad, generally being very scatty. As soon as he calmed down I picked him up and his tooth was gone! He must have lost it and gotten it caught in his paw and it was annoying him.

    The other night while watching Facing the Giants, Grey was in the loungeroom with us. John had a little bit of the blanket overhanging the chair so Grey pulled on it, just long enough for him to lie on. Then, he turned around and cocooned himself in it- all the while slowly stealing the blanket from John! John caught our eye and motioned for us to look at what Grey had done; he thought it was cute. Ha! what was really cute was that Grey has won John’s heart. THAT is no easy task for an animal!

    So if I write about ‘Grey’ you’ll know who I am referring to. Isn’t he gorgeous?

    Goodness, if I am gushing blogging about my pet, what am I going to be like when I’m a grandmother? :inlove:

    Costello buys a computer

    My sister-in-law sent this to me via email…I immediately thought of my husband and my dad- two wonderful guys who, in their own unique ways, are very funny. Dad, I know you may not completely understand it but you’ll appreciate it anyway. 😉

    You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on…

    abbot_costello

    If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this:

    COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

    ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

    COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

    ABBOTT: Mac?

    COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

    ABBOTT: Your computer?

    COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

    ABBOTT: Mac?

    COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

    ABBOTT: What about Windows?

    COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

    ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

    COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

    ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

    COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

    ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

    COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

    ABBOTT: Office.

    COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

    ABBOTT: I just did.

    COSTELLO: You just did what?

    ABBOTT: Recommend something.

    COSTELLO: You recommended something?

    ABBOTT: Yes.

    COSTELLO: For my office?

    ABBOTT: Yes.

    COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

    ABBOTT: Office.

    COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

    ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

    COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

    ABBOTT: Word.

    COSTELLO: What word?

    ABBOTT: Word in Office.

    COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

    ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

    COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

    ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

    COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

    ABBOTT: Money.

    COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

    ABBOTT: Money.

    COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

    ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

    COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

    ABBOTT: Money.

    COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

    ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

    COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

    ABBOTT: One copy.

    COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

    ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

    COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

    ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

    (A few days later)

    ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

    COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

    ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’…. 😀

    divbar

    My New Year's Resolution

    NYResolutionOh dear, are you sick of re-posts yet? Here’s another one, originally from 2007/2008

    I don’t make New Year resolutions! Years ago, after many failed resolutions I declared that I would make only one more New Year resolution. That would be that I would never make New Year resolutions! I can report that I have been successful with that resolution.

    I have a few friends and I think I sometimes get on their nerves with my incessant questioning of everything. To everything I ask the 5W’s and a H (I think that might be a theme for my year). If a friend tells me they’re moving interstate, I ask ‘Why?’. Yet another friend will excitedly share a new curriculum to use with their child and I’ll ask, ‘Why?’. I can’t help myself. I don’t do it deliberately, I promise. I just want to know why. So it was with New Year resolutions. I wanted to know why it was such a common practice. Oh, I used to love that feeling of being able to have a fresh start, a blank slate to begin again with but then I truly realised that every day is a new day. There isn’t anything special or empowering about a New Year resolution or any other goal for that matter. About 3000 years ago, the Ancient Babylonians were in the practice of making a New Year resolution. (There truly is nothing new under the sun eh? 🙄 ) I’m not sure I need to model myself after them!

    So, why make a resolution? I guess people practice it because of that clean, fresh start feeling. But I’m reminded time and time again that every day is a new day. I don’t have to wait until next week, next term or next year to work to a goal. I can start tomorrow.

    Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail.
    They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
    Lamentations 3:22-23

    “We’re not doing things and asking God to bless it. We’re asking God what we should do, and then He provides. There is a difference.”

    ~ Faith Like Potatoes

    My motivation is the important matter in setting goals or resolutions. If God is at the centre then I’ll have greater chance of success. For God’s sovereign will comes into the picture even as a homeschooling mum! If my goal is in accordance with His will, and His will is what I most desire then He will enable me to fulfill that goal…giving me strength as I work through with (learning) diligence.

    I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

    I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

    While I don’t do New Year resolutions, I do practice goal setting. This can and should be done regularly, at all times of the year. For me, it is about setting a goal – breaking it into manageable, attainable, smaller steps with frequent evaluation and assessment. This just becomes a part of life- a natural part of life. Years ago, I taught ‘Miss A’ about goal setting, within the context of her chosen sport. She took the principles, applied them and achieved success. So much so, that she is now a better and more efficient goal setter than I am, in every aspect of her life! Now, that’s real life learning!

    Goal setting steps

    • Firstly, I pray and ask God for wisdom (James 1:5)
    • Then, I’ll pray (again without ceasing) and ask God for practical steps to fulfilling those goals and breaking them into manageable, little bit by little bit, steps.
    • Pro actively set out to attain the manageable steps, setting in place measures whereby I can be accountable, all the while relying on His strength.
    • Thank Him for any success and failure. When I achieve success, be sure to give God the glory and keep an open heart to Him so that I may be humble and not grow in pride. Sure, but what about giving thanks in failure? What? Why give thanks in failing? Oh I am so thankful that our Father has promised to accept all who believe, regardless of their worthiness. John 6:40 I am thankful that when I fail or lose it or don’t achieve my goals, I am thankful that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

    I really liked Leonie’s thoughts about motto’s and themes. (Teehee, she does these but not goals! My, how different we all are 😀 ) I would have to agree with her- at least for my life. I have had themes. I remember a few years ago a theme for me was, Bloom Where You Are Planted. It was just after another interstate move that I didn’t want. I spent a good part of the year sulking and complaining, hibernating from everyone. Until I learned that I need to “Bloom Where I am Planted”! That became my catch-cry for the next year- on until the next move interstate. Another year my theme was “Just Do it!”. I had spent years trying to learn and practice a new method of Bible study…after after it all I found the easiest way was to Just Do It! I’ll figure the finer details out once I start doing it. This past year I guess my theme was Fit n 40.

    Unlike Leonie though, I don’t really develop my themes in advance. (Bravo to Leonie for being so gung-ho and proactive though. She has more energy than I do. 😉 ) I’ll have to wait a little while until this year happens to see what my motto or theme will be, although I strongly suspect I have already written of two themes in this post! If you read my blog regularly you’ll probably pick up on it yourself.

    Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
    Psalm 37:5-6

    So what about you? Do you make New Year resolutions? If so, why? Do they work for you? If so, to what do you credit with your success? Maybe you don’t do goals or resolutions- I’d love to hear from you too! Share with me what works for you.

    colossians

    Hang It!

    There is something special and beautiful about hanging one’s clean laundry on the line. I love the fresh crispness of the clothes… knowing that they’ve been additionally whitened, brightened and deodorised by the shining sun. I still use the dryer for some things like socks and underwear and I might also throw the towels in the drier just to fluff them up a little. The added benefit of using the line to dry clothes is that they last longer! Have you ever noticed all the lint that collects in the lint filter of the drier? A lot of that is the clothes slowly wearing away… a good reason to line dry.

    wringer

    In fact I love my washing machine! I love the convenience…but I must tell you that the cleaning power doesn’t come close to that of twin tubs, let alone the old wringer washing machine my mum used to use. On more than one occasion dad offered to buy her an automatic washing machine but she wouldn’t take him up on the offer – she didn’t mind the hard work and she loved the results! I’ve often said to John that our next machine should be a twin tub machine…but we’ll wait and see. It would take a bit of a mind switch for me to develop a new weekly laundry routine, but I’m sure I would manage. What is your laundry routine?

    A new year…a new look!

    I’ve been at it again…playing around with my site. I just can’t help it. I love web design and seeing what I can do next. I was really happy with the look of my previous theme but I wasn’t overly impressed with its performance so I went for a new theme. However you may be forgiven for thinking that the site doesn’t look all that different, because the basic structure and navigation has stayed the same- because I like it and it works!

    The home page tells a little about the site but if you want to go to the blog page, simply click on ‘blog‘ which is the third link along in the navigational menu at the top. don’t forget to hover over the menu to view the drop down items.

    As is typical with me the site is not finished…it’s a work in progress. I will continue to tweak it here and there as I have time. I could have waited until I had it ‘just right’ but I really wanted to get it done so I can start on a new look for AussieHomeschool. So it’s not perfect but it’s done. Let me know what you think of it, particularly with regard to page load speed, performance and navigation.

    Don’t forget to check out my web development hobby, Kerugma Designs. You can ask for a free quote on any website project, no matter how big or small.

    Reviewing My Online Productivity

    Heart to heartI’m reviewing…everything I do online.

    It’s something I do regularly, more than once a year but I do seem to take it more seriously at the end of the year.

    Why do I blog?  Why do I tweet and have a Facebook? Why do I have AussieHomeschool? Why do I have AH Twitter, FB and the blog? What fruit do they bear?

    What is the aim of these things? Is this the best use of my time?

    Truthfully, I don’t know the answers to the question- what fruit do they bear? I know why I do what I do but is it worth it? I know what my aim is…but am I too busy with fingers in too many pies?

    It’s right and good that I reassess these things. I have 2 daughters. One is 18, a homeschool graduate and pursuing her interests to the glory of God. My 16yodd has finished school and is a first year apprentice chef. The girls alone keep me fairly busy but add two boys to the mix and I really need to use my time wisely. My 14yods is homeschooling high school (Yr 9/10) in 2010 and is an Air Force Cadet who spends most of his free time training. My 12yods will be homeschooling Yr 7/8 and we’ll be looking to expose him to a few different experiences next year…to ascertain his interests, delights and God given strengths.

    I spent nearly 9 months of this year trying to get Fit n 40. It was truly a journey of spurts and spills…and I just started to get somewhere along the road of progress when…I resumed softball. Coaching is great – I love it! I also love playing again, albeit that my mind is more willing than my flesh. However, I either went back to playing too early or I shouldn’t have attempted it at all as I have re-injured my knee. Now, even pottering around the house is incredibly painful and draining. Yes, I do plan to have it looked at…as soon as I get a spare day to go to the doctor.

    Next year I want to do more, to give more of myself to the boys and their lessons and to my husband and our marriage. Naturally I still want to be involved in the Australian homeschooling community but how? In what way will be the most productive…will bear fruit? What are my ‘big rocks’? What is the ‘sand‘? Of course I talk to my husband about it…although he trusts me…trusts that I will do what is right. He doesn’t dictate my activities to me, although sometimes I wonder if that would be nice? (Nah, I actually love that about him- he trusts me, he respects me, he thinks I am capable!)

    This is where my heart and my head have been over the last few weeks. I’ve been praying about it all, and asking God to reveal to me the things I do in ‘the flesh’ along with the superfluous activities and the things that bear fruit and are productive.

    What process do you use to discern which activities are fruitful and which need pruning?

    Christian Training of Children

    “Christian Training of Children” by Charles Spurgeon

    “Parents! Your children are as surely as grown-up people, “dead in trespasses and sins!” May no parent fail fully to realize the spiritual state in which all human beings are naturally found. Unless you have a very clear sense of the utter ruin and spiritual death of your children, you will be incapable of being made a blessing to them. Go to them, I beg you, not as to ‘sleepers’ whom you can by your own power awaken from their slumber–but as to ‘spiritual corpses’ who can only be quickened by a divine power!

    If you think that your child is ‘not really depraved’, if you indulge foolish notions about the ‘innocence of childhood’, it should not surprise you if you remain barren and unfruitful.

    If you would bring spiritual life to your child–you must most vividly realize that child’s state. It is dead, dead! God will have you feel that your child is dead in trespasses and sins–as you once were. God would have you come into contact with that death by painful, crushing, humbling sympathy. If you would raise your dead child to spiritual life–you must feel the chill and horror of your child’s death yourself. You must have, more or less, a distinct sense of the dreadful wrath of God, and of the terrors of the judgment to come. Depend upon it, when the spiritual death of your children alarms and overwhelms you–then it is that God is about to bless you!”

    What do you think?

    Fragrance of the heart of Christ

    Originally found in my facebook inbox, from the group Disciple Like Jesus

    220stonesfrom J. R. Miller’s “Our New Edens”

    Parents are the custodians of their children’s lives. If they would meet their responsibility and be able to look God and their children in the face at the judgment, they must make their homes as nearly ‘gardens of Eden’ as possible.

    The way to save your children from the temptations of the streets–is to make your home so bright, so sweet, so beautiful, so happy, so full of love, joy and prayer–that the streets will have no attractiveness for them–no power to win them away. “Do not be overcome by evil–but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

    The place of the home-life among the influences which mold and shape character, is supreme in its importance. Our children are given to us in tender infancy–to teach them and train them for holy, worthy, beautiful living.

    It is not enough to have an opulent house to live in! It is not enough to have fine foods, and luxurious furniture, and expensive entertainments! Most of the world’s worthiest men and women, those who have blessed the world the most–were brought up in plain homes, without any luxury!

    It is the tone of the home-life, that is important. We should make it pure, elevating, refining, inspiring. The books we bring in, the papers and magazines, the guests we have at our tables and admit to our firesides, the home conversation, the pictures we hang on our walls–all these are educational. As in everything, LOVE is the great master-secret of home happiness.

    The religious influences are also vitally important. In that first ‘garden home’, the Lord came and went as a familiar friend. Christ must be our guest–if our home is to be a fit place either for our children or for ourselves. If there is no sincere prayer in it, it is not a true home at all–it is only a heathen lodging-place!

    How can we make ‘new Edens’ of our homes? What are some of the secrets of home happiness? I might gather them all into one word and say–CHRIST! If we have Christ as our guest–our home will be happy! He must be welcomed into all our life. He must be in each heart. He must sit at our tables and mingle with us in all our family interaction. Christ can bless our home, only through the lives of those who make the home circle.

    Make your home so sweet, so heavenly, with love and prayer and song and holy living–that all through it, there shall be the fragrance of the heart of Christ!

    Safe at 3rd but…

    We’ve always taught our children to apply themselves to a given task with intensity and purpose. This sometimes sees them succeed and other times sees a result such as the image below.

    dislocated_thumb
    click to enlarge

    Yes, this is Miss A’s x-ray of her hand. Whilst playing softball, she slid into third base, doing an avoidance slide, and caught her thumb the wrong way on the base. The result was a nasty thumb dislocation. We have to go to a SportsMed today or tomorrow so that they can assess the hand and see if there is been much ligament damage. The downer about it all is that she has another Open Women’s Tournament in 4 weeks, heading straight into the U/19 Tournament. This is her last year in U/19 and she really wanted to do well. She is also Captain of this team. She’d hate to miss out on playing, so we are praying for a miracle. If you would like to join us in prayer, we would be appreciative.

    Oh yes… she was safe at 3rd   😉

    Who, Why, What, When: Christmas In Our Home

    Yes, yet another re-post from the archives…

    NoChristmasTree1We don’t ‘do’ Christmas. Years ago when the children were small, we tried. But we would get a knot in the pits of our stomach. A few years ago, the commercialism of it all used to be a huge bother to me…now I’ve pretty much accepted that is the way it is and I’m not gonna change the world but I can impact or influence my own family so I’ll stick to that. 😉

    We have no problem with anyone who does celebrate Christmas though. For us, it is not a divisive issue – we are free to visit people and receive a gift (at the risk of our refusal offending them) and we are free not to. It isn’t an issue of salvation – our salvation is not dependent upon whether we celebrate Christmas or not.

    Everything we do should be expressly Christ-centered; God-honoring.

    We don’t talk much about it either as it is our walk, our decision, our beliefs and as is isn’t salvation dependent, there are more important issues to preach about! I have many discussions on forums about this and after receiving a personal email about it I thought I’d post here.

    a) Why did you make the decision to not celebrate Christmas.
    Firstly because of the commercialism but then because it all seemed to so empty and meaningless. We tried hard to think of ways to ‘put Christ back into Christmas’. Some people have said that there is no scriptural basis for celebrating the birth of Christ, but I don’t see that…I see that God desires us to teach our children His ways and he is into object lessons in a big way, so I don’t have a problem with doing things to remember the birth of Christ as it is all part of God’s redemptive story! We teach God’s story but we do it all the time. Plus the whole white Christmas thing is a bit over the top, especially as Aussies! 😉 We did try a few of the unit studies centred around Christmas and the symbols of Christmas, just in case I was being a stickler, but the more often we did them, the more the whole things stuck in my side and I couldn’t get past it. We tried doing Advent readings but I lost track of it all. We have read some of the books by Arnold Ytree but these are beautiful books that can be enjoyed at any time of the year! We’re about to start another one real soon.

    When I went researching this whole thing a few years ago, I found some real loopy sites (be wary of what you allow your mind and heart to ingest) …some real genuine sites, some real genuine articles…but the more I read, the more confused I could sense I was getting. One could find a thousand articles against Christmas or celebrating it and another thousand articles for it…a lot of Scripture is thrown in there on both sides. What is one to do? I reckon its like most issues – we each need to seek God, study the Word and trust that in this, the Holy Spirit will lead you in all truth – John 14:26

    ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’
    Matthew 15:8

    It’s not something I think one can be convinced of – the Holy Spirit needs to convict us, we don’t need to be convinced by man. 🙂 I am glad that I am not saved because of this issue. I do believe that each person must seek God for themselves and not be lead my man’s teaching alone. God is our judge and He alone. I’m also glad that we are not bound by our stance with Christmas. Jesus gives us freedom, not bondage.

    b) My family likes Christmas. I can’t not celebrate it. What can I do?
    Rather than ask the question of should we or shouldn’t we, maybe we can ask God “how should we”? Sometimes a different question is the way that we can turn our ear and heart to hear His still, small voice. It’s really a matter of personal study, conviction and relating with God and His word. Do your own personal study. Learn the history of Christmas. It’s all very interesting.
    If we take Christ out of everything Christmas, what would we do? What would we be left with? A get together, BBQ’s, presents, cards, holidays, lots of food, etc. If we take Christ out of everything Easter, what would we do? Take Christ out of Easter and you still have a holiday, eggs, chocolate, bilbies and lillies.

    ‘In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.’
    Matthew 15:9

    I have taught my children how to bless me for Mother’s Day. I’ve taught them how to bless their Dad on Father’s Day. It is about honoring the person. (I teach my children to do this so they can bless and honor others- it isn’t all about me ;0) You wouldn’t honor me on Mother’s Day by giving me a drill and taking me to the hardware store! But you wouldn’t honor John by giving him a box of chocolates or a new PDA. 😉 You would consider the person who is due the honor. In what way would they want to be honored?

    We should consider how God wants to be honoured. The things that are honoring to God are the songs we sing, the prayer we pray, the Scriptures we read, the talks we have, the way in which we live and breathe. But these things are to be done all the time or regularly as worship. If we want to have a get together with lots of food and give presents then we can- we don’t need to make an excuse which we think and the world says, is about Christ, when it really isn’t about Christ. The way the world treats Christmas (generalisation) is often nothing more than self indulgence! The world loves Christmas time with all its celebrations. Holidays, food, gifts, etc. Yet it denies the very one whom it is supposedly about! Oh it’s okay to remember Christ as a babe but not the Saviour of the Human race. For many, it is just about *me*. That is largely how the world sees it.

    Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world…wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important?has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out…but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
    1 John 2:15-17

    So, if Christmas is going to be something that you do, then how you do it needs to be considered. Who is it about? Why are you doing it? When are you doing it? What will you do? Where will you do it? And how will you go about it? (Sorry my little brain uses the 5 W’s and H) If it is the Lord you are seeking to honor, then go to Him and see how He would be honored? (Like the Father’s Day principle 😉 See, I did have a point in there somewhere)

    I know these thoughts are not for everyone, and that’s okay. This is our walk and our journey. But I also want you to know that we don’t judge other’s for celebrating the birth of Jesus the Messiah.

    A few links:

    Spurgeon on Christmas
    The Christmas Irony
    What does Jesus want for Christmas
    When there is crisis at Christmas
    Christmas and Advent
    The Babe who will not be tamed
    We did this Christmas quiz a few years ago and we’ll go through it again this year.
    Is Christmas Necessary?
    Robin Sampson’s article: Holiday Dilemma’s.

    To celebrate or not to celebrate…

    NoChristmasTree1Yes, it’s that time of the year again…I have previously written about how we do, or don’t, celebrate Christmas. Rather than try to rewrite old thoughts I will just copy and paste from the archives. You can find the original post here.

    Well it’s that time of year again eh! A time when we get loads of sideway looks from people who question us as to why we don’t ‘do‘ Christmas. In actual fact we do ‘celebrate’ Christmas…every day of the year! The way in which we celebrate is a decision that John and I decided upon…not through reading of others opinions and lifestyle choices rather, through our faith in God and our walk along the path of life.

    I have an issue with our modern society and feel that we have been sucked into much consumerism and materialism. Don’t get me wrong; I love tradition. I love creating memories for my children. I love doing things together that form family bonds. But I don’t see how spending money on presents, decorating our homes with unnecessary items (that for those Down-Under are out-of-season) is celebrating the birth of the Saviour of mankind. So many people are caught up ‘doing Christmas’ that they miss the true wonder of it all…they’re drowning in a sea of tradition and of trying to ‘keep up’.

    I love to give of my time, money and energy…I look for ways to give. But is it wise or prudent to go into debt in order to give presents simply out of a sense of obligation or because everyone else is or because it is ‘Christmas’. In the name of Christ, I can give to others any day of the year.

    I feel prickles whenever I hear children exclaiming to their parents or friends what they WANT for Christmas. As though it is expected! I don’t fully understand how someone can be truly grateful and thankful if they know that their gift is coming. I know, as believers, we do this: as sinners we cry to the Lord for salvation and God delivered us through Christ and it is this that compels me to be thankful for Christ every day…to teach my children the ways of God, every day…to give honor to Him, every day. But to give presents simply because it is this time of year doesn’t teach our children much at all. I still don’t even see how the whole gift giving thing comes into Christmas. Christ was the *gift*. The Father God was the *giver*. The gift has been given. What that has to do with giving my child a new toy or new clothes in December escapes me.

    I love getting together and having a family feast and a sweet time of fellowship at any time…and we can do this at any time while also giving thanks to the Lord. The focus can be on the Father, each other and serving but not about decorations, presents or things that can distract us from Jesus, The Truth. In fact, I see a danger in becoming too familiar with the way the world celebrates Christmas: familiarity with Christmas and all things Christian *can* breed familiarity- which isn’t necessarily a positive thing. Luke 4: 16-24 describes how the local people missed seeing the true identity of Jesus, as they were so familiar with Him. That’s why it’s important that the traditions we build are meaningful, rich and not done frivolously.

    John and I decided that we would not teach our children about Santa…despite the local Christian school embracing the philosophy. (I remember when I first learnt that Santa wasn’t real…that he didn’t bring my presents and eat the milk and bikkies I left. I wasn’t devastated at the reality of his non-existance…I was devastated to realise that my parents knew about this untruth and let me believe in it…that they found some sort of happiness in having me believe a lie! I couldn’t believe that they lied to me! I recall adamantly telling my Mother that I was very sad because of that. That was my persepctive, as a child.) Anyway, as our children got older, we started to learn about St. Nicholas and the symbols and traditions of Christmas…yet we couldn’t see the relevance of it in the Christian’s life or in the celebration at Christmastime. We found that a lot of the tradition and symbolism was taken from pagan origins…so I started investigating this further and further… We tried celebrating Christmas by putting ‘Christ back into Christmas‘, but it was still like pouring new wine into old wineskins- it still clanged.

    So much of our traditions and customs are not based on Scripture. So much of what I believed to be truth actually came from Hallmark and all those greeting cards! I get a little annoyed at how many people get all sentimental at Christmas time and they all are fine with Jesus…as a baby! But, how many recognise that He was God’s purpose and plan to redeem mankind? I like a bit of emotion and sentimentality…but when it comes to matters of faith then I think that if we need to whoop it up, then the thing (object of our faith) our faith is in, isn’t very solid. I like this article: The Power of Christmas Truth

    Am I a wet-blanket or a party-pooper? Some will certainly think so! But, this is my walk to tread…I would never propose to tell anyone else that they should or should not celebrate any day in any certain way. I’d rather point out truths and facts and have everyone make an informed decision for themselves. It isn’t so much about whether you do or don’t – it is do you know WHY you do what you do? In it all, WHAT are you passing on to your children– a legacy of timeless truth or of empty consumerism?

    A few years ago, Miss R went to the community Carols by Candlelight last week, that was held at our church grounds. The church was working with the local council and hosting the event. The youth leader asked her to go early and help to paint childrens’ faces to which she was more than happy to help. After I picked her up, she was covered in paint, but I was dismayed to see that all the face/body painting was of Christmas trees and non related pictures! Okay, I know it’s a bit hard to paint a true Nativity scene on a face but is that the best that we (as the body of Christ) could do? Oh boy.

    “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen . . . for the CUSTOMS of the people are vain.”
    (Jer. 10:1-3)

    Speaking of those Hallmark Christmas cards…and the Nativity. A few years ago, when we were ‘putting Christ back into Christmas‘, the children made their own Nativity. It was really nice and sweet. This led us to really examine the Scriptures as to the truth of the Nativity. Here’s a picture of a fairly common nativity scene: Let’s have a quick quiz while we’re looking at it eh?

    How many wise men were there?
    What animals were present at the Nativity?
    How soon after Joseph and Mary reached Bethlehem was Jesus born?

    Checking with Scripture (Luke is good here), how many did you get right or how much of your knowledge comes from paintings of the Nativity and greeting cards?

    Here’s another quiz to do with your children:

    Take the Christmas Quiz!

    and discover some more Christmas myths:

    What is Christmas to you…really? Is it a time of feasting, laughter, praise, remembrance, sadness, loneliness? How about we remember why the gift was given: The Ugliness of Christmas:

    For us, this is not a divisive issue – we are free to visit people and receive a gift (at the risk of our refusal offending them) and we are free not to. It isn’t an issue of salvation – our salvation is not dependant upon whether we celebrate Christmas or not. We don’t believe that Scripture commands believers to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas, despite the fact that Christmas wasn’t observed until after the biblical era. We believe that Romans 14:5-6 and 1 Corinthians says it well.

    One man esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

    We can set aside any day as a day unto the Lord.

    So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
    1 Corinthians 10:31

    Whether you do or don’t, or how you do or don’t, the main point, (in my opinion) is to not be ignorant of what you do (know why you do what you do), don’t be caught up in the worldy ways so that you miss the wonder of the eternal perspective, don’t get caught up in idolatry, consumerism or materialism and don’t treat the Saviour of the world with too much familiarity, lest that familiairty breed contempt.

    LINKS

    The Truth of the Nativity
    Is Christmas Necessary?
    Why I don’t celebrate Christmas by Tim Hegg
    This paper looks historically at the holiday, showing how many pagan symbols and practices are actually at its core.

    How Do You Cope With Laundry?

    summer beach clothes

    I am convinced that homes are not designed by women – at least women who actually work within the home!! Okay my current pet peeve is clothes- dirty ones, clean ones and ones in the ironing pile. Having in between 6 and 8 people live in our house throughout the years has given me lots of opportunity to ponder the stupidity of walk in robes or wardrobes in bedrooms. When newly married, we designed and built our own home and yes, we did build it with a walk in robe. But I would definitely not do the same again!

    Next time, I will build a room next to the laundry. In that room I will have an area set up to fold the clean clothes (with an under-bench area for storage of ironing and other odds n ends) and an area for the ironing board- so it could stay set up. I would build my sliding door robes INTO THIS ROOM! As as usual, each person would be allotted one wardrobe each. Then, every evening or morning, every person could simply choose their clothes, take them to their room and get dressed.

    Smart eh? I think so.

    As it is now our kitchen table is covered in clean laundry EVERY DAY – clothes that are waiting to be ironed or put away!  (We don’t have spare rooms or anything like- nor do we have a separate family room or dining room in which to make use of) In our last few homes we had two lounge/family areas or two dining areas so we utilised one of those rooms as our clothes area. But now we’re living in a small house I am so frustrated. No, the answer isn’t to own less clothes because we really don’t own that many. I believe that the whole concept of individual bedrooms and wardrobes is ridiculous!

    How much extra walking is it for a woman? I take the clothes from the dryer or the line to the table. I fold them into piles. I take them to each room. I then arrange the clothes on the bed while I put them away into the wardrobe. I might do this 2 or even 3 times per bedroom, depending upon how many clothes there are! Ridiculous!

    Maybe when I’m finished homeschooling I’ll learn how to design the floor plan of homes and start a new business!

    Don't Make These Mistakes

    i love bloggingAs many of my regular readers will know I develop websites– big ones, small ones, ecommerce sites and blogs. Website development is a hobby that keeps me on my toes. The industry is always changing…there is something new to learn every day! Sometimes it is mind blogging, other times it’s just what I need. Mind you, there is a down side to studying web development. One of those downsides is that I have trouble just visiting websites and enjoying them nowadays. I want to look inside…I want to see its engine, know what is running the site, who designed it and what components the site is using. I just can’t look at a custom site and simply enjoy it anymore. Oh well, that’s not really a grumble or a downside, just a curiosity that  springs from my delight. 🙂

    Anyway I love blogging and studying pro bloggers is also an interest of mine. I have absolutely no aspiration to ever be a pro blogger. Goodness, I don’t even keep a stat counter! I simply do not obsess over comments, visitors or  anything like pro bloggers do. Then again my motivation for blogging is quite different to theirs so obviously our sites will be quite different. (I actually started a blog as a place to collect my thoughts that I had been referring to frequently. Threads and posts on forums and email groups had me re-typing my thoughts so I started a blog to keep them all in one place). Despite my lack of blogging aspirations I still like to learn about effective blogging as a mode of communication. Blogging has been a great tool for my continuing learning about communication.

    In my travels I’ve come across some beautiful blogs, some blogs with great content and some blogs that I can only read via my RSS feed reader due to the website/blog design. I have a few pet peeves when it comes to site design…and before I ask you to tell me your website pet peeves I thought I’d tell you mine.

    Pet Peeves

    • Music players that are set to autoplay. Usually they are stuffed in a sidebar which makes it near impossible for me to find so I can turn it off. Sometimes I’m reading blogs very early in the morning or occasionally at night when the children are asleep. I may even like your choice in music…but I like to listen to music at a time when it is convenient for me. Bloggers could consider not having the player set to autoplay. As far as web development goes, this option is more courteous.
    • Spam is yucky. We all hate it but it is a fact of the blogosphere. There are a few plugins and features designed to combat spam but I really have to say that if you want me to leave a comment then please don’t make me jump through firing hoops to do so! make it easy for me to leave a comment. I just don’t like the captcha images where one is supposed to enter a string of numbers/letters. Sometimes I can’t even read the silly image…making commenting quite difficult. (However, this is largely my own personal preference. others may strongly disagree)
    • Cluttered sidebars…yes I know this is personal preference but for an adult who is highly distractable I find that the very popular trend of cluttering every little available space with images is just mental clutter. Too much for my lil brain. Images, widgets, buttons and ads- oh my! What is most important on your blog? Images, widgets or the content? (Darren is an Aussie ProBlogger who made a video blog on this topic. Take the 2 min to view his thoughts.)
    • Multiple blogs: let me explain this one. I used to have several blogs. A food/nutrition/fitness blog, a homeschool blog and my  family journal blog. Aside from being difficult to keep track of it also made it it hard for my friends who wanted to keep up with my daily activities and thoughts. The beauty of blogging is categories! One blog- many categories. I’d much rather keep up with your one blog and its many categories than try to keep up with 3 or 4 different blogs by you. If I (cyber) know you and have a relationship with you then I want to hear all you have to say! make it easy for me, the reader! (exception to this can be business blogs- but even this should be assessed on an individual basis)
    • No contact functions. It’s important for readers to know how to contact you privately.


    Things that make me subscribe or return to your site    :

    • I love it when I can easily discern who you are, what you like to write about and, where you live. An ‘about me’ page or widget, with a photo. It adds the personal touch and immediately lets me know a little about you and the purpose of your blog.
    • I also love it when I can easily find content on your site. Give me multiple ways to find information! Search bars, archives, popular posts, recent posts, categories, tags and tag searches, etc are great ways for readers to find relevant content on your site.
    • When referencing a Scripture I love it when the author actually links to an online Bible! This allows me to dig deeper and run off on bunny trails.
    • Publishing your RSS feed. This was I can keep up to date with all your posts. (Publishing the feed for your comments is even better!)
    • Having a ‘contact page‘ or widget. Maybe I’d like to send you an email rather than leave a public comment…sometimes this is more appropriate. Let users know how to contact you.
    • I love it when bloggers write with paragraphs. Writing for web content is actually a little different to typical or proper writing. Web authors need to use more paragraphs, bullet points and typography than when writing for books or magazines. Breaking your content into more paragraphs makes it easier on the eye for people to read.
    • When a blogger is relating a story, thought or incident and they link to their previous posts in order to give the readers some background. If we are to develop an online relationship then it’s really helpful to not assume that I know your history or previous thoughts. Link them so I can find out. I love it when bloggers do this!

    Okay, I’ve really put myself out there and possibly risked offending some of my readers…but please understand where I’m coming from – a perspective of website development. Of course, you may very well disagree with me and that’s fine too- tell me about it! I love to help homeschool mums with their blog design…I love to encourage the Aussie homeschool community, so let’s brainstorm and tell me what you do and don’t like about website/blog design.

    Favourite Blogs

    aFavBlogAni3

    Grace from Beyond the Black Stump noted me in her Favourite Blog post. That is very sweet. I don’t like to keep  or record any awards given but that’s doesn’t mean that they’re not nice to receive. Thank you Grace & Jillian. Even better though – I get to note some of my favourite blogs!

    Grab a cup of decaf and spend some time at these blogs:

    • Two Kid SchoolHouse: Musings of a homeschool mom, very part-time student, and parasitic housewife to a seminary student, all rolled into one.
    • The Mother Lode: Humorous Straight Talk on Learning Differences, Family Life and the Horrors of Department Store Dressing Rooms
    • Belinda’s Notes: A place to share the things that happen in my family. The longer I homeschool the quicker I realise that these are not just everyday family happenings – they are the experiences that are educating my children.
    • Enduring Prize is the blog of Michelle, from Down Under Literature. Always very helpful and informative posts.
    • A Modern Day Essene: Posts reflections on life, home schooling, healthy living and family times.
    • Quo Vadis: Where Are You Going?

    Australian Book Traveller: New Social Studies Essential Resource!

    downunderAussieHomeschoolers…are you ready?

    Do you have children aged between 5 and 13 years? Do you love literature? Want to teach Australian Social Studies? Want a resource that also teaches you how to teach in a gentle but thorough way? Then look no further than Down Under Literature’s newest resource, Australian Book Traveller!

    Inspired by Five In A Row, Michelle has put together an affordable, literature based unit study for Australian Social Studies.

    You are the travel guide.
    The books are the transport.
    The children are the tourists.
    The journey is ahead!

    Included is

    • an Australia Traveller’s Map Journal (extra maps are available for only $5)
    • Map Markers
    • The Australian Book Travellers Travel Guide E-Book (on CD)
    • The Australian History Notebook ebook (on CD) and
    • An Australian Timeline Notebook Pages

    cdcoverbooktravellerNot included but necessary as the main reference resource is Our Sunburnt Country and the Australian Picture Books. However, these books make a fantastic addition to any family library so it is well worth the money. They’re also available from DownUnderLiterature.

    You can use this resource with one child or with many. Whilst the core travel books are aimed at children aged 5-9 I know of many older children (and adults) who absolutely love good picture books. Teaching opportunities abound when using picture books! there are even Extension Activities for the slightly older children who don’t want to miss out.

    Simply add English and Maths to Australian Book Traveller and you have the base for a well rounded primary grade curriculum.

    I have used Michelle’s products and they are always high quality with plenty of information. Using her products is a breeze as is locating the additional books. I won’t say too much more because I really want you to zoom over to DownUnder Literature and check the Australian Book Traveller for yourself.

    If you have primary aged children, this is a *must-have* resource in your curriculum library!

    (Please note: Michelle of Down Under Literature will be attending the Diana Waring Living Laughing and Learning Conference’s in Sydney, Maitland, Melbourne,Canberra and Brisbane … so be sure to take your purse!)

    Uses for Coconut Oil

    Suggestions for using Organic Virgin Coconut Oil.

    1. As Edible Oil
    To detox the body, takes 1 to 2 tablespoons in the morning. An excellent food supplement, known to help you alleviate thyroid disease, obesity, ill digestion system, and increase your immunity as the Virgin Coconut Oil is a Medium Fatty Acid Chain. It’ll kill the unfriendly bacteria only – leave the friendly bacteria alone. (Ref: The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil by Fife)

    2. As Massage Oil or Face Mask
    Massage Oil: Apply to your body liberally as needed. For dry lines around your eyes, apply a small amount and massage it in.

    Face Mask: Take 1 medium size ripe avocado (dry skin) or peach (normal skin), peeled, cleaned, and segmented (meaty part only). Put in microwave for 1 or 2 minutes until soft. Mesh with a fork. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons (more or less as appropriate) of virgin coconut oil to the cooked avocado or peach and stir. Mix in uncooked oats (up to 1 cup) until the mixture forms a thick consistency. Apply the facial mixture to your face, dry lines around your eyes, and neck. Avoid direct contact with your eyes. Leave mixture for 10 minutes. Rinse well with cool water.

    3. Rash
    Spread virgin coconut oil on the allergic area on the skin to make it soft and supple, with intense moisture and healing. The rash will be gone in 1 to 3 days. Virgin coconut oil is effective in curing the baby rash or any red rash caused by clothes irritation and dry weather.

    4. Candida Fungus
    Virgin Coconut Oil fights candida fungus very well which is generally found on the skin, mucous membranes of the mouth, intestinal tract and female areas. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil in distilled water, shake well and drink it or apply the oil on the infected area.

    5. Sores, Cuts and Abrasions
    Clean affected area thoroughly and apply the oil on top of it. In order to make sure the oil clean up the wound completely and stop infection, apply and saturate the bandage with oil. Then wrap around the wound with the bandage.

    6. Sauna
    Put few drops of Virgin Coconut oil in water and allow it to vaporize in the sauna.

    7. Stain Remover
    Coconut oil is excellent for cleaning stain, ink, carbon and other marks off most plastic and vinyl. Also the oil works well to remove chewing gum, paint and ballpoint ink marks from clothes. Add few drops of oil on top of dirt area; rub it with a damp cloth.

    8. Healthy pets!
    Many people feed coconut oil to their dogs. I used to feed eggs to our dogs to give them a shiny, healthy, clean coat so even though I haven’t given it to my dog (we don’t have one) if they were unhealthy, overweight or needed some fats in their diet, coconut oil would be a great way to go! Approximately 1/4 teaspoon per day for small dogs or puppies and 1 teaspoon per day for large dogs. However, please be mindful that large amounts of coconut oil can cause diarrhea while the body adjusts.

    Some people use coconut oil as a spread on toast, much like one would spread vegemite. Other use it like butter over steamed vegetables, baked potatoes or rice.

    However, I just couldn’t take it on toast nor straight on my veggies. We do use it in the following ways:
    Any recipe calling for butter, shortening, margarine or vegetable oil can be a “coconut oil” recipe. It is simply a matter of substituting coconut oil for whatever oil is called for in the recipe. We also substitute it for olive oil, only not 100% (we like both types of oil) so we might do 50% of each. We fry or saute anything and everything in coconut oil. We use it with and on our popcorn. I’ve tried to take a teaspoon in hot water for my morning cuppa, but it just doesn’t hit the spot.

    I really want to find more ways to get my coconut oil down…any palatable suggestions?

    The Banabans

    Just like I prefer to use Fair Trade products I can’t help but write about one of my favourite products. I love and use Coconut Oil but only particular brands. The brand I use if Banaban Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. But why that brand?

    The Banabans are the ‘Forgotten People of the Pacific’ who have suffered from one of the greatest ecological and environmental disasters over the past century.

    The Banabans are an indigenous people from a small Pacific island called Banaban or Ocean Island. In 1900 Banaban was discovered to be made of pure phosphate. This fateful discovery would see the beginning of 80 years of phosphate mining and the virtual destruction of the Banaban’s homeland.

    In 1945 the Banaban people were relocated to Rabi Island over 10,000 miles away in the Fiji Island group. The Banabans and their island have now been left, forgotten, still suffering from of of the world’s greatest environment and human rights injustices. The phosphate rich deposits of banaban are now scattered across the farms of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

    t_virgin-coconut-oil-350ml-1.7By purchasing from Nature Pacific and using the Banaban products, proceeds are used to regenerate and rebuild a better future for the Banaban people. If you would like more information you can visit the , Banaban website and/or download a pdf information sheet here.

    I purchased my first bottle of oil from the ebay store…and ever since then I have purchased straight from the distributor in QLD. Not only is it a great quality oil and a good cause the service is second to none! I ordered my purchase online at 2pm on a Tuesday and I could not believe it when my oil arrived in my South Australian home on Wednesday afternoon. I mean, have you ever experienced such fantastic service? Once you order and use their products I’m sure you’ll never buy another brand of coconut product.

    Nature Pacific Coconut products

    What To Blog?

    lionA few years ago, I was told that my online persona did not seem to match my real life persona. Apparently, I seemed to give a different impression, a more ‘perfect’ or ‘ideal’ one through my online persona. I was shocked and disappointed but I now believe that it is part and parcel of online communication and I also believe that I have become a better writer because of that comment. However, it has stayed with me many years later and still affects what I write. For some reason many people are aghast to learn that we have many TV’s, watch Science Fiction and enjoy many movies! (I’ve often thought about writing a post outlining the ‘possible’ shocking things about me…who knows, maybe I will one day.) Would you believe that some fellow Christians have doubted the sincerity of my faith once they find out that I watch Sci-Fi. Others seem to take pity on me. Still others, see it as their duty to enlighten me to the truth of the narrow way, as though I have been a believer for over 20 years and never heard or considered ‘their’ ideas before.

    Anyway, enough of the ramble and back to the point, which was…er I don’t really think there is a point to this post. Do I ask myself, “Why don’t those people do what I do?” Why don’t they choose XYZ [insert any choice here] instead of what they are doing? Why do they homeschool like that? Why do they dress in THAT? Why do they eat that? Why don’t they eat this? Why don’t they worship in XYZ manner? and the list goes on… (C’mon, surely you have thought these things too eh? Surely I’m not the only one?)

    When I hear myself mutter these things I know that I am imposing my values, restrictions, choices or boundaries on someone else. Oh Lord, forgive my self righteousness and my legalism.

    sepretor_hr

    There was a time when I felt alone in this Christian walk. Not totally alone but I did feel like there weren’t many other believers like us. Maybe I even felt that there are too few who choose to follow the narrow way…that there aren’t enough other believers who are living in obedience and sacrifice. Well, didn’t I have to really seek the heart of God and ask Him to create in me a clean heart.

    Legalism is not obedience. It is adding to obedience. It is not living in freedom and liberty. It is not grace. It is living in boundaries but not by the Holy Spirit. Often when we are writing on our blogs we can speak words of legalism to others. Most often it is under the guise of following the One True Way and all those other martyrdom sounding cliques but the boundaries, rules, ties and bondage it can put upon a fellow believer is almost, but sadly not, unbelievable.

    So God has called me to homeschool? Great. But has He called everyone to homeschool? So God has called me to wear plain, brown, ankle length dresses only with no makeup or jewelery. Great. But has He called everyone to do so? Is it my duty to proclaim that this is what walking the narrow way (Christian life) looks like and if they are saved then they would do this too? Maybe to some, adherence to the strict lifestyle or ‘code‘ is the gospel…but not to me. What is the gospel that you proclaim?

    (a) Jesus is the Messiah predicted by the OT prophecies. His ministry of teaching, his actions, his death, resurrection and ascension all comport with the prophecies, and affirm him to be Messiah.
    (b) His death was God’s act to deal with sin. His resurrection attested to the effective power of the Cross, and affirmed Jesus as Lord over life, death, creation.
    (c) Men and women must, therefore, believe his Lordship, believe on him, repent of their sins, and receive forgiveness from their Saviour, Jesus.

    Oh how much better to trust in the Holy Spirit…to trust in the grace of our Father that He will produce the good work in us.

    sepretor_hr

    Whenever I’m in confusion over an issue or believe that I need to change an area of my life I pray. Pray and ask God to show me my heart motivation, to lead me and to show my husband if this is right. After a little time I will always go and seek my John’s counsel. He’s my husband, my man. He loves me and has my best interest at heart. And I trust that God speaks to him as well…speaks through Him. It isn’t that I can’t receive from God without him, it’s part of marriage.

    I am thankful for all the bloggers and writers who share their life in a way that doesn’t  smack of self righteousness. I want to be a blogger like that.  I’m thankful for God’s word…and that He still speaks to us today.

    “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
    Hebrews 4:12

    Mini MasterChef: Lasagne

    Last night (Friday evening) Master J cooked a scrumptious meal for his first meal in our Mini MasterChef competition. It’s always a bit tricky when cooking a traditional family favourite because we have something to compare it to…but he did a fantastic job! And with so little help!

    ‘Susan’s go-to Lasagne‘ followed by Caramel Orange Slices with a hint of Ginger and a dollop of Ice Cream. (Go-to is a softball term, meaning one’s best pitch or the pitch that one throws when they’re in need of a no-fail pitch)

    Unfortunately, I forgot (bad homeschool mama) to take photos of it all. Luckily Master C (good homeschool son) got into the act and tried to take a few shots. However Master J was not impressed with the photographer getting in the way so we don’t have too many photos. We were all so impatient to tuck into our dessert that we also forgot to take photos. Maybe next time.

    (Click the picture to open it in a light box at full size)

    sauce2

    Preparing the sauce.

    makingsauce

    bechamel

    The Béchamel sauce, a fancy way of saying a white sauce with cheese added.

    lasagne

    The end product…looks good enough to eat. 😉

    lasagne2

    My serve, lovingly plated.

    plated1

    The difficulty in this dish is that in itself it isn’t hard…except that I don’t use a recipe so Master J was trying to grasp the whole idea with me saying “Oh, just a little bit of this… and a little bit of that” . I used a recipe when I first made a lasagne but since then the dish has evolved and matured. I haven’t used a lasagne recipe for years. None of them seem to taste as good as when I improvise or ‘wing it’. This was the difficult part in teaching Master J: there was no recipe for him to study. I tried my best to write out a recipe at a base level…from here many ingredients can be added for variation- depending upon season, flavour desired, time and/or expense. So he made the basic version but already has a few ideas for how he wants to change it for next time.

    He plans to add some form of salad when he prepares this again (to tell the truth, this was not his idea but a suggestion from one of the judges: Miss A). Once he has mastered the technique and *idea* behind the lasagne we will teach the boys to make their own lasagne sheets…as we have taught the girls. If you have not had lasagne with fresh pasta sheets, you have not really had lasagne.

    Hmmm delizioso! John is certainly is for some treats when he returns home in 4 weeks time.

    Eat Fat to Lose Fat?

    I’ve recently finished reading Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fat, by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. It’s an interesting and helpful read.

    Eat fat lose fat

    Eat fat lose fat

    Eat Fat, Lose Fat is similar to “Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats”. They both support the consumption of real food: tasty, nutritious, organic, good quality, traditional, seasonal and local foods as opposed to foods that are processed, fast-foods, dead foods, old, has additives or preservatives or comes prepackaged.

    Like NT, the book challenges the reader to look at the dietary practices of indigenous cultures and compares them to today’s modern scientific methods. Interestingly, today’s modern, scientific, new information is starting to catch up! 😉

    Chapter One dispels the myths surrounding coconut oil. Chapter Two is more of a scientific chapter as the authors explain what ‘fat’ is and its relationship to heart disease and cholesterol. I’ve learned that fats aren’t all the same. In fact, healthy fats are essential to protect the heart from disease. Not useful but essential. The next chapter goes into detail about various fats and their effects upon the body and the major organs and body systems. Following this is the section that informs why low fat diets re so unhealthy and dangerous and it examines the danger in many of the past but popular diets such as Atkins Diet, The Zone Diet, The South Beach Diet, juice fasting and ever Weight Watchers! A must read chapter!

    Chapter Five looks at the principles of traditional, healthy diets. many things are discusses from MSG, fermentation, raw versus cooked foods, and superfoods. The next chapter details the four basic principles of the recommended eating lifestyle plan. There is a helpful section with loads of tips on how to take coconut oil. This section also contains shopping lists and menu plans. A large section of the book contains resources and recipes- featuring the star of the book – coconut oil!

    This book is very similar to Nourishing Traditions but more laid out in what to do each day and each week. Some things I learned new and other things I knew but applying them is a different story.

    • Always, always, always eat breakfast.
    • Eat loads more coconut oil.
    • Take Cod Liver Oil.
    • Focus more on nutrition, especially good fats rather than calorie restriction. If you supply the body with necessary, good fats, the body is more likely to release the stored fat instead of going into ‘famine mode’.

    I cook a lot with coconut oil. We’ve been using it for years, much to the dismay of John’s army nutritionist. However, combined with green smoothies and moderate exercise, it has helped to lower his cholesterol level and heal his fatty liver. So with that in mind I set about buying myself some Cod Liver Oil and have just started adding that to my diet. I actually find it easier to take than coconut oil, which I cook with but can’t take straight.

    Do you take Coconut Oil or Cod Liver oil to help meet your nutritional needs? What brands do you use? How long have you used it? Do you find it beneficial? I’d love to hear about it, especially those who use Cod Liver Oil.

    Open Kofta

    As part of our Mini MasterChef competition, Master C (aged 11.11yrs) treated us to open Kofta’s, inspired by the MasterClass recipe. You can watch the MasterClass video demonstration and/or download the printable pdf version of the recipe.

    Miss A (aged 18yrs) taught him how to do the entire meal. Next time he prepares it, he will do it completely by himself but under supervision.
    (I’m not too great with taking photos, nor uploading them to the web so apologies in advance)

    Ingredients
    1 tbs coriander seeds
    1 tbs cumin seeds
    4 French shallots, thinly sliced
    1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
    1 bunch coriander
    500g topside beef mince
    1 lemon, rind finely grated
    1 egg
    5 tbs soft white breadcrumbs
    1 tbs seeded mustard
    1 piece pita bread
    ½ small red onion, peeled
    Extra virgin olive oil
    Pinch salt
    2 baby cucumbers
    Thick Greek yoghurt, coriander sprigs & deep fried shallots, to serve

    Method

    Toasting the seeds

    Toasting the seeds

    Spoon coriander and cumin seeds into a frying pan and toast over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until fragrant.

    bashseeds

    Grinding spices produces a gorgeous aroma

    Tip into a mortar and use pestle to finely grind the warm spices.

    Cooking onions

    Cooking onions

    Cover base of frying pan with olive oil and add shallots and garlic, cook over low heat until soft and translucent. Spoon into a bowl and refrigerate until cold. Wash coriander root well then finely chop 6cm of the root and stem, set top half of the bunch aside for later.

    Grating the lemon rind

    Grating the lemon rind

    Lightly beating the eggs

    Lightly beating the eggs

    Mix meat, onions & spices

    Mix meat, onions & spices

    Combine mince, lemon rind, egg, breadcrumbs, mustard, shallot and garlic mixture, spices and salt and pepper in a bowl. Use clean hands to mix until well combined. Preheat oven grill to medium-high.

    Uncooked and assembled

    Uncooked and assembled

    Press beef mixture onto a 22cm round flat bread, leaving a 1cm border around the outer edge.

    Lightly cook underside of pita bread

    Lightly cook underside of pita bread

    Heat a little oil in an ovenproof frying pan over medium heat, add pita bread and cook 1 minute. Transfer the pan to the oven and grill 4-5 minutes until just cooked through. Remove from the oven. Check the under-side of the bread is golden and crisp if not cook a few minutes on the stove top over high heat.

    Dress with yoghurt and salad

    Dress with yoghurt and salad

    Meanwhile, finely slice the onion into a bowl using a mandolin. Season with salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Thinly slice the cucumbers on the angle and place into a bowl. Season with salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

    A finished open kofta

    A finished open kofta

    Remove the kofta from the pan. Spread generously with yoghurt. Top with onion salad, cucumber, coriander sprigs and deep fried shallots to serve.

    Open Beef Kofta on Grilled Mushroom

    Open Beef Kofta on Grilled Mushroom

    Miss A and I preferred not to have a pita bread so we used a large mushroom instead. It was yummy but obviously a different texture to a pita bread.

    Our recipe book

    Our recipe book

    We all love this meal. It is fairly quick and easy, not too expensive but also nutritious. The recipe uses a lot of meat whereas we work on approximately 100grams of meat per person. There is minimal cleanup after the meal, which is always a bonus. Whatever you do, do not skip the toasting of the seeds and spices. Oh, the aroma is just divine- a true sensory experience!

    Oh yes! Master C scored pretty well on this dish.  🙂

    Our Mini MasterChef Competition

    ingredsmallpicSome people might be lazy. Others might feel that spending too much time in the kitchen is a waste of time. Still, others just might not enjoy cooking but none of those are my reasons. My reasons for not spending too much time in the kitchen are purely noble. I have done it for my children. For their good. See, I really am a good mum eh?

    This story obviously needs a little history so I won’t mind if you go get a fresh cuppa. Right now? Let’s move on…

    My father was a chef…and a pretty good one at that too! I loved nothing more than working with my dad when he had a big catering job, not because I loved the cleaning up after him but just because I loved working with him. Anyway as I said, he was a chef. He married a woman (my mum) who hated cooking, largely because she never had much money to cook variety and taste…but she did manage to put meat and three veg on the table every night. Regular readers may remember that as a child I was doted upon: left, right and centre. Never did a thing for myself until I got married. Once John and I became engaged to be married I wanted to do a crash course in cooking but in my 18 years of youth I lacked the patience to stay in the kitchen. Every attempt failed because of my impatience. The bottom line was that I simply didn’t need to know how to cook. After being married and teaching myself how to cook (and clean up after myself) I determined to not raise my children the same way (hmm, isn’t that a familiar story?) So, due to the innate sense of self preservation and survival my children have learned and are learning how to cook!

    The girls are pretty good cooks and we regularly enjoy meals prepared by them. However, the boys aren’t quite up to the same speed. Not because they are boys, more likely because they are five and six in the family order! There are 4 and 5 other people ahead of them who will cook, so there doesn’t seem to be the same sense of urgency or necessity. However, they can’t live on toast, omelets, cereal and baked beans forever! So with John away for 6 weeks I thought I’d have everyone in the house cook one meal per week. The idea took hold… and grew! Possibly due in part to our fascination with good cooking shows, the current one being MasterChef. Initially we didn’t like it as we preferred the British version of MC but this series has grown on us. However, we also like Jamie Oliver, Nigella, Bill Grainger, Lydia’s Kitchen and many more! Anyway, we are now hosting our very own mini MasterChef competition!

    ingredpicEach week, the boys have to prepare and cook a meal for those of us here at home. They can repeat this meal two weeks later. Then, they can also cook it for the family once John returns home. 6 weeks should mean they have at least two to three meals under their belts. Those of us who are eating the meal have the chance to ‘score’ the meal: presentation, flavour and nutrition. When John returns and the boys cook for the family, the winner will be decided then.

    However, this just isn’t about slapping a meal on the table. One has to plan the nutrition of the meal, make sure it is visually appealing with colour and so on. Then, comes the shopping! Master C (aged 11.5yrs) went shopping the other day and asked what Gouda cheese was…Miss A said she didn’t know but suggested that they go and find out. So they did! (In fact, she did know but she is helping to develop  a sense of curiosity and also skills of researching in them) Then, they had to look at prices and determine quality and decide whether or not we wanted the cheese we wanted to eat…or the cheese we’d rather pay for!  😉 Then they had to decide which cucumber to buy and what the differences are and if they will be important to the dish. Ah, lessons in decision making and budgeting, discernment and finances!

    Then, came buying the mince meat. Premium mince, regular mince, beef, pork, veal or lamb mince or slimmers mince? What’s an 11 yo boy to do? Thankfully, we have a patient butcher who explained the difference between premium and slimmers. We decided to go half and half- half premium and half low-fat mince. We’re experimenting as we usually stick to kangaroo mince but thought it might be a little too ‘gamey’ in flavour.

    ingredsmlpicWith an 18yo daughter, who is an excellent cook but is not at home as much now, I am not being as well fed… I’ll have to do something about that. I’ll get these boys up to speed yet. 😉

    My lack of cooking has led my children to be wonderful, creative, enthusiastic cooks. See, I told you the reason for my lack of cooking over the years was purely for the childrens’ sake. O:-)

    Do you tweet?

    twitter_logo1

    Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others’ updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to other users – known as followers – who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications.

    tweet with me

    Click here to tweet with me

    So, you want to get started with twittering but don’t know how? Easy! Visit the Twitter website and click “Join for free” to create your account. Consider using your real name as your user name to help your friends find you more easily.

    Once your account is created, login and click “Settings.” From here, you can setup your account details, manage your password, register your mobile phone and IM account, configure how you receive Notices, upload your photo and customize your account’s design. Your Twitter page is located at twitter.com/your-username

    Some people tweet everything from what they are thinking at any given second to sharing links and deeper thoughts, quotes, Bible verses and more! I used to think it was stupid and a waste of time but once I was set up it’s actually a pretty quick way to gather a whole lot of information. Having said that, I do get annoyed at people who tweet what they had for breakfast or when they shaved their legs! I also get a bit cross when individual people (as opposed to businesses) post the same links over and over again. It’s a bit like spam to me. However, these messages can simply be blocked of hidden so that I don’t see them.

    Widgets can be enabled that feed directly from your twitter feeds to your blog or Facebook or anywhere else! That can be a good way to keep friends and family up to date. You can see my latest tweets by either visiting my twitter profile or by simply viewing the front page of my blog.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

    Do you Tweet? Why don’t you leave me your Twitter name in the comments so I can pop over to your profile?

    A Few Freebies- Christian, homeschool, blogging

    free2Just a quick post to let you know of some goodies that found their way to my Inbox this morning.

    Fast and foxy pdf reader

    Want another tech talk tip? If you have not yet figured out that InternetExplorer is yuck and Firefox is a superior browser then you don’t know what you’re missing. First, zip over to Mozilla and download and foxit-300x2311install the free FF browser. Play with it, download themes and add-ons to enhance and speed your webinet (my new word for web stuff and Internet) browsing. But today’s tip is about your pdf viewer. (PDF stands for Portable Document Format) and many computers come pre programmed with Adobe Acrobat.

    I used to use it but after a few years I felt it started getting bloated- taking a long time to even start the program and running very sluggish. Add to that the constant updates needed because of security issues. Argh, what a hassle. No more! Mozilla FF to the rescue…again. We have been using Foxit PDF Reader for quite some time now and it has many advantages:

    • It is lightweight in size and doesn’t use up all your PC’s memory just to run.
    • Is as secure, or more so, than Adobe.
    • Is user friendly and super easy to use.
    • Runs very quick.

    There is more but I’ll let you read more about it when you pop over to download/install it from HERE.

    icon_getreader

    It’s available for Windows and Linux users. Oh what? No Mac? For some odd reason, the Adobe reader works much better on Mac than on Windows. Go figure! However, I still use my ‘preview’ viewer on the Mac, which works very good.

    Malady of the soul

    tozer

    Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.

    A.W. Tozer, (1897 – 1963 )

    Soft Christians

    tozer

    Our churches these days are filled (or one-quarter filled) with a soft breed of Christian that must be fed on a diet of harmless fun to keep them interested. About theology they know little. Scarcely any of them have read even one of the great Christian classics, but most of them are familiar with religious fiction and spinetingling films. No wonder their moral and spiritual constitution is so frail. Such can only be called weak adherents of a faith they never really understood.”

    “Lord, send the Holy Spirit to renew within us a depth and seriousness in our pulpits. Give us boldness in our preaching. Amen.”
    –

    A.W. Tozer, (1897 – 1963 ) on Christian Leadership

    Joe's logbook and goals

    For those who like the idea of CalorieKing but don’t want to record their food intake…or maybe for those that have other daily goals that are not to do with food/health/nutrition, then Joe’s Goals might just be the tool for you!

    Joe’s Goals
    http://www.joesgoals.com/

    Joe’s Goals is a simple yet powerful tool to make tracking your goals the easiest part of accomplishing them. Use the simple single page interface to setup daily goals and track them with just a click. Watch your daily score to gage your success and use negative goals (or vices) to confront and overcome bad habits that finally need to get the boot. Share your success with your friends and family or post your personal score badge to your blog or MySpace page. Add as many Goals as you want and update them all from a single interface. Goals of others are to: read, pray, take vitamins, blog, drink water, clean teeth, eat fruit, money, lessons with children, maths, English, exercise, piano practice and much more! Anything you need to keep track of.

    Maybe you’d also like Joe’s LogBook
    http://www.joeslogbook.com/

    Joe’s Logbook is a simple tracking tool that lets you organize your life using the power of your words. Track your activities by adding daily notes explaining your experiences, victories, and failures. Use the simple, single-page interface to setup and track the specifics of any area of your life. Use it to record your thoughts, track your spending, watch your health, and track your dreams and inspirations. Add as many Logbooks as you want and update them all from a single interface.

    This could come handy for many things, including homeschooling. Want to read aloud to the children more? Do some exercise WITH the children? have the children cook a meal once a week?…Ah the possibilities are endless. Just remember to protect your privacy…this is the world wide web!

    Enjoy!

    Calorie King

    healthfitnessDid you know that I’ve lost over 100kilograms? It’s such a pity that they keep finding me again! I worked off 20 kgs in order to become pregnant with Miss A. I put on a ton of weight and fluid with that pregnancy and never lost it again until after Miss R was born, when I worked off another (the same) 20kg.

    A few years later and I lost a whopping 55 kgs! Then came a knee injury and then the reconstruction. That wasn’t so bad except I never quite got around to doing the physio and strengthening exercises that would enable me to go back to sport. I just  didn’t go back to playing sport again. Oh I coached and ran around a bit but didn’t play. Then we moved to the coldest place in Victoria (well, it seemed like it to me!). Actually we were on the NSW/VIC border and it was so bitterly cold that all I could do each day was rug up, sit next to the heater and read aloud to the kiddos while drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee. So what happened with my weight? Yup, half of the 55 kgs went back on again!

    The best way I’ve always found to lose weight is by counting calories. Mind you, I’ve tried just about everything else- portions, low carb, high protein, blah blah blah…But for me, the most successful and easiest way to lose weight as part of my lifestyle is by counting calories – both intake and working them off! For years I’ve used Dr. Allan Borushek’s Calorie Counter, Diary and recipe book and just find it the best way to live. I can still have a glass of wine, milk coffee or a TimTam… just not all at once! :laugh:

    I’ve learned heaps from all sorts of books and programs but I still keep going back to Calorie Counting. Well, did you know it’s even easier than ever now?  CalorieKing is Australian…it allows you to input all your personal details and will even plan menus for you if you need. It allows all sorts of diet, nutrition and exercise tracking, recipes, forums, blogs and more! I can load in my regular foods so it is easier to keep track of it or I can use the menu plans designed for me and my needs and preferences. Best of all – it is FREE!

    If you are struggling with weight and/or nutritional needs, why don’t you pop over to Calorie King? They have every type of tool and help to help you. Let me know if you join up – we can be buddies!