EVERYDAY LIFE

Coffee Beans, Beans, Beans

This post was originally on the AussieHomeschool forum (yes, it’s amazing what we discuss!) so I thought I’d post it here. I don’t know all that much about coffee but I am learning all the time. Feel free to disagree with me and point me to sources of correct information.

Firstly, if you want to read my previous post on the best domestic machine you can do so here.

tulip

However, it doesn’t matter how great a machine you get if you use cheap coffee. The richness, the sweetness, the strength is all in The Bean!If you get a cheap bean it will be bitter- no matter who makes it on what machine! So, getting a good bean is essential.

Next, a good grinder is also very important because the grounds will determine how good the extraction is- this determines whether or not the extraction is bitter or sour. I use my daughters $600 commercial grinder which is ridiculous for home use! However, I bought a Breville BarAroma Grinder which is pretty good for home use and would do a good job for many years.

I could talk for hours and hours about this…as it used to be a little passion of mine but over the last few years it has become an obsession. I have learned all about the history off beans, growing, harvesting, roasting and grinding methods of beans…machines, extraction, milk texturing and more! Yet, I still know nothing compared to my daughter…who also has a lot to learn still.

I have had some cruddy beans and some beautiful beans and they are what makes the difference.

A not-so-good barista can make a super cuppa from a great bean but a great barista will only make an average cuppa with a cruddy, stale bean. You generally get what you pay for but not always.

The Adelaide market sells heaps of beans- apparent coffee houses…but if you have a good look at the bean it is not fresh! This is awful. Shouldn’t be allowed. Should be a crime!

triple

Anyway, Arabica beans are often the typical bean used. Robusta is another variety but isn’t as nice, IMO. It is higher in caffeine but also more bitter. However, it’s also a little cheaper so some flakey companies will use it. Some even use it as a *filler* so always check that you’re using 100% Arabica. (It’s personal taste but good until you have refined your espresso palette).

You can get single origin beans or a blend and blends are usually the best. The blends complement each providing depth and richness whereas a single origin can be slightly more bitter and quite acidic. It’s fun experimenting to find the blend you like most. My dd makes her own blends but you’ll probably just want to buy your own blend (I advise this as it can be costly to play around, finding your own perfect blend ) Some blends are designed more for straight espresso shots where others are more designed to be used with milk. Some blends are rich and fruity whereas others are more chocolatey. What I do not recommend is those awful cheap and nasty beans that have been artificially flavoured. You know the ones like you can buy in a pack at Gloria jeans and they are caramel flavoured? Ugh, not good. I would never allow those beans near my machine!

Raw, fresh beans, unroasted

Freshness: the most crucial part of it all. We never buy from the supermarket. It can be anywhere from 3 months (if you’re lucky) to over one year old!

The freshness of the bean is not determined by the time that the fruit/bean was picked! It is actually determined since the time of roasting! A bean can keep well for years (in the right conditions) if left unroasted but the roasting brings out the natural oils which can quickly become rancid, as oils do. Roasting beans produces some gasses. Most gas is released in the first few days and stops after about one week. This is then stale coffee!

Oxygen and moisture are two no-no’s for your beans. Some roasters use water to cool the beans after roasting. No! Not good. Air should be used to cool the beans, not water.

Beans should be stored or packed in those bags that are fitted with a one way valve. This allows for the oils/gasses from the bean to escape (and oxygen is removed before sealing the bag) without letting oxygen in.

Do not keep your beans in the fridge or freezer! Ack! I don’t know where this came from but it’s not true. Some older generation Italian families do this but they really have no idea how to bring the best out of a bean- they murder the bean anyway.

But how do you know if the beans are fresh? Yeah it’s not easy unless you know what you’re looking for…and truth be told I still struggle when buying coffee- which is why my dd is in charge of all that. However, a few guidelines are what I try to stick to:

Raw, unharvested

Minimal Surface Oil- The amount of oil on the surface of freshly roasted beans depends on the degree of the roast. Some will look matte and you won’t see much oil whereas others will appear to have more oil. If they are too shiny and wet/oily looking then then they could, in fact, be too old and stale. Best test is to breathe and smell it. If it smells like as ash tray then chuck it! It should be nice, sweet,rich, thick, toasted type of smell.

Once you get it home and make a shot of espresso (which you need even for cappuccino) then the espresso shot should be thick and foamy. This is a sign of fresh beans.

We also are willing to pay a little more for our coffee to get the best taste possible but in a fair as possible way. therefore we try to always buy Fair Trade Coffee.

Last, always try to use filtered water in your machine. Oh, coffee is best served in a porcelain mug- it really does affect the taste of the bean.

Here in Adelaide there are a few good coffee roasters: like The Coffee Barun (fantastic) and Five Senses (both in Vic and WA). Rio is okay (IMO). Some people love Rio coffee but I prefer the Coffee Barun. He’s an artist! Sometimes you can go into a roastery and start talking to the Master Roaster, and you will learn heaps! Coffee will never be the same again! Even my 11 and 14yo sons know heaps about coffee- the science behind it all- just from living and learning coffee.

2art

All coffee photo’s (latte art) posted on my blog are courtesy of my daughter, unless otherwise stated. If you’d like to visit her blog, simply click on any of the images.

Coffee is an interest that helps to pull our family together. I know it might seem a bit ‘over the top’ to some but it is like cords that bind our family together (along with many other things, of course). There are many cords that help tie our family together and they usually come about because of an interest that we each have. Sure, we don’t all have to be equally passionate or interested as each other but relationship building means listening, sharing, going out of our own comfort zones – it is living and learning together.

What passions or interests help to tie your family together?

Sanctification

“You are more sinful than you can imagine! The doctrine of Original Sin is true! You cannot reform your flesh! You cannot become a better person by your own strength no matter how hard you try! But cheer up! If you are a Christian, you have come into union with Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Through faith in Jesus Christ you are sanctified and made holy. Through Christ, you are a new creation! The Holy Spirit lives in you! Therefore, pursue the life of faith in Christ with all diligence.”

Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (updated edition), p. 13

Fair Go for Homeschool Copyright

Part of this post is from a previous writing, but is still relevant today. Will you take three minutes to view this video?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmWKb0_aXw

Years ago, like many homeschoolers, I looked for ways to be frugal in our homeschooling. I learned to use the library a lot. They have some great selections of video’s, DVD’s, and CD’s. Sometimes we wouldn’t get around to watching or listening to them so I came upon the idea of making a copy before returning it to the library. I even felt quite frugal while doing so. After all, if I had to buy that CD I would need to have spent about $40. But now I had saved that. Before long, I ended up with a stack of things that I don’t think I would have needed or used, but as they were free I might as well have them on the shelf, just in case. I had even lent out my resources, feeling fairly sure that the person was going to make their own copy! Thing is, I honestly didn’t even think that this might have been wrong or illegal. I know that sounds terribly naive, but it’s true. I didn’t think anything of it except congratulating myself on being frugal and saving my husband’s hard earned money. I certainly didn’t see how I was hurting anyone else!

Oi voi!

Praise God! He taught me the error of my ways. He did not allow me to stay at that place. He showed me my sin. I was convicted of my wrongdoing. I set apart searching for every little bit of illegal stuff in my house and then we burnt it all. It was a whole family affair. Something started fairly innocently. I did not set out to steal or deceive. I just wanted to save a few pennies…but the fallen nature of man, and the enemy that seeks to devour worked and saw me down a path that I hardly recognised…a path I didn’t set out to take, but ended up there anyway. Thank God that He rescued me from that path and put me on the straight and narrow.

As is often the case with reformed drinkers or smokers, I developed a hot spot (a bug-bear, a passion) for copyright protection and violations. I now stringently try to protect the lawful copyright owner and go to great lengths to ensure that everything I do is above board. I encourage others to always check out the law and consider the use of a Fair Use Policy. Copyright is far more than a list of black and white words- it is legal, ethical, moral and Biblical values.

Do you want to homeschool for FREE? Make sure your free materials aren’t breaking the law. HomeschoolCopyright.com

Coffee with Conscience

abigraceart

I love my coffee. Everyone who knows me knows that. My daughter is a barista and has studied, and continues to study, the art, the history, the science of coffee- from the plant to harvesting, roasting and grinding.

Somewhere along the line I learned about Fair Trade…and fair Trade Coffee. I was shocked. I truly had no idea about the coffee that I consumed and where it had come from and under what conditions. I won’t bore you to a glassy eyed state if you’re not interested…but if you love real coffee (and chocolate) and you want to know more, then I urge you to visit the Fair Trade Campaign and to support Fair Trade products.

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a “fair price” as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers.

Other links
Fair Trade Association
Fair Trade and the Coffee Campaign
Checkout fair Trade

If you can’t view the video above, you can view it here.
and if you’re a little more interested, view this one as well.

State Allows Growing Trend of Eating At Home

For your tongue-in-cheek giggle for today…

State Allows Growing Trend of Eating At Home

———————-

April 13, 2099

Reunited Press

After much heated debate on the house floor, legislation was passed today to allow a growing number of families to cook meals for their families in their homes. The children must have annual physical examinations to assure proper growth and weight gain. Attempts to require weekly meal plans and monthly kitchen inspections were voted down.

A spokesperson from the National Association of Nutritionists (NANs) condemns this decision. “These children are being denied the rich socialization and diversity that is an essential part of the eating process. Without the proper nutritional background, it is impossible for the average person to feed their own children. We, as child advocates, see this as a step backwards and speak out for the sake of the children who cannot speak for themselves.”

Homecooking parents say the benefits of eating at home include increased family unity and the ability to tailor a diet to a particular need. Elizabeth Crocker, a home cook, states, “We started cooking and eating at home when we realized that my son had a severe allergy to eggs. The public kitchens required him to take numerous medications that had serious side effects in order to counteract his allergy. We found that eliminating eggs was a simpler method and our son has thrived since we began doing so.”

After this experience, the Crockers decided to home cook for all of their children, and converted their media room into a kitchen.

Elizabeth says, “We have experienced so much closeness as we have explored recipes and spent time cooking together and eating together.

We have a dining circle with other families where we sometimes share ideas and meals together.”

The Crocker children have done well physically under their mother’s care, weighing in at optimum weights for their ages and having health records far above average. It should be noted that Mrs. Crocker, while not a professional nutritionist, has a family history rich with nutritionists and home economists. “Surely the success of the Crocker children is due to the background of their mother,” responded the spokesman from NANs. “The results they have achieved should not be viewed as normative.” Mrs. Crocker counters that her background was actually a hindrance to the nutritional principles she follows. “Our paternal great-grandmother was a home economist, but she prepared most meal from pre-made mixes. In our homecooking we try not to duplicate public-kitchen meals, but to tailor our meals to the needs and preferences of our children.”

In a related issue, legislation is in committee that would provide oversight for the emerging homecooking movement. Says the Home Eating Legal Defense Association (HELDA): “We want to provide umbrella kitchens to aid parents in the complicated tasks of feeding their children. Many families lack the expertise of the Crocker family, yet desire to eat at home. As we have seen, the umbrella kitchens meet the needs of all concerned. We are happy to provide this service.”

Just Let Go

This poem sums up ‘letting go lessons’ that I’ve learned over the years. I’m sure though, that my time of lesson learning is not behind me…I still have some ways to go yet.

To ‘let go” does not mean to stop caring;
it means to accept that I can’t do it for someone else.
To ‘let go” is not to cut myself off;
it is the realization I can’t control another.
To ‘let go” is not to enable,
but to allow learning from the natural consequences of the choices we make.
To ‘let go” is to acknowledge that which I cannot change and
to pursue that which I can.
To ‘let go” is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is out of my hands.
To ‘let go” is not to try to change or blame another;
it is to make the most of myself.
To ‘let go” is not to care for but to care about.
To ‘let go” is not to fix but to be supportive.
To ‘let go” is not to judge
but to allow another to be a human being.
To ‘let go” is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes
but to allow other to effect their own destinies.
To ‘let go” is not to be protective;
it is to permit another to face reality.
To ‘let go” is not to deny but to accept.
To ‘let go” is not to nag, scold or argue,
but instead to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
To ‘let go” is not to adjust everything to my own desires
but to take each day as it comes and to cherish myself in it.
To ‘let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To ‘let go” is not regret the past nor fear the future
but to grow and live in the present.
To ‘let go” is to forgive, not to condone.
To ‘let go” is to free myself of my collection of past hurts and resentments.
To ‘let go” is to fear less and to love more.

Anonymous

Noteworthy Free Bible studies

Further to my post about not profiting from the preaching of the gospel I’d like to highlight a few sites that give free Bible studies suitable for home and family use. There are many more I’m sure but these are some that we’ve used. If you know of others, feel free to leave a comment and share the URL.

Free Bible curriculum for use in the homeschool and family setting!

Calvary Chapel Sunday School lessons have been created for the purpose of supporting and blessing those who minister to children. Excellent!

Bible Class Books are excellent for elementary, OT, NT, Topical studies and character traits. Do check them out. Well worth your time. http://www.bibleclassbooks.com/index.html

Coromandel Baptist has many free resources, including a SS program that can be easily modified for home use.

The Christian Basics series and the Christian Faith series makes a great study for older children/teens.
http://www.corobaptist.org.au/articles/index.html

New Creation Teaching Ministries has many resources which are free…but even if you wish to purchase their books they are sooo cheap, only charging for printing/publishing costs. Help Me to Grow by Rev. Dr John Annells is a bible study for new Christians BUT I suggest that it is also great for teens.

The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus by John R. Cross, from GoodSeed: http://www.goodseed.com/
This fully illustrated, 304-page book is written for adults and teens who know little or nothing about the Bible. It explains in a straightforward way the greatest themes of the Bible, step by step creating an understanding of sin, substitution and atonement. Available chapter by chapter download.

Corresponding free workbook
Corresponding Answer Booklet
Free Audio download of the book

Bible 101 – A Self-Paced Course
It’s been called “the greatest story ever told.” Now the central message of the Bible is brought to life in this eleven-hour online video series. This self-paced course has been adapted from the popular award winning DVD series – The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.
http://www.goodseed.com/learning/bible-101/

By This Name is was written to give to or teach people who come from a polytheistic or pantheistic background. It is also geared for those who don’t believe in absolute truth, or say things like “That’s true for you but not for me.” Great study for teens!
http://www.goodseed.com/products/btn-eng-book/

The Lamb by John R. Cross
186 page full color book for children that explains the main message of the Bible

EBible Teacher has lessons for the slightly younger children.
Old Testament and New Testament lessons and Books of the Bible

All that the Prophets have Spoken
As the influence of Islam becomes more widespread and you start to meet more Muslims, you want to be able to communicate with them what you believe to be the central message of Scripture. But where do you begin? How do you even start?

And Beginning with Moses
Are you looking for a way to clearly teach the Bible in a world where truth is relative and God is seen as a force? Have you been noticing a shift in our culture and are struggling to know how to share the gospel with this new generation? You want to teach the Bible, but when people don’t even understand who God is, where do you begin? Great for teens!

Sunday School Lessons on the Tabernacle
The following lesson plans have been designed for a Sunday school class or weekly Bible study for adults or young adults. Each lesson, which can be completed in 45 minutes to an hour, includes one or two main biblical passage(s) on which the lesson is based, a short background description, and several discussion questions. Through these lessons, your students will be able to better understand Christ’s redemptive work on the cross and how He fulfilled every aspect of the tabernacle. Our hope is that they will come away with a stronger, clearer and more accurate grasp of the Gospel.

Bible Explorer
Bible Explorer is the fastest and easiest to use free bible study software. Over 2,800 Bible and Bible reference works available!

I’d like to encourage you to use the materials above to teach and instruct your family. If you use the materials, consider donating to the ministries. While this isn’t necessary it will further help spread God’ word. Please don’t fall for the trap that says ‘just because a book costs a few dollars it must be better than the free ones’. It’s just not true.

How Long Have You Been Homeschooling?

Tell Me Tuesday is being hosted at the AussieHomeschool Blog. Here’s today’s question.

How long have you been homeschooling?

2009 marks our 12 year of learning at home. We unofficially started in late 1997 and 1998 was our first year.

How about you? Would you like to join in with the Tell Me Tuesday meme? Pop over to the blog and see what it is all about.

Meet… Pearls of Truth

pearlsoftruth

Priceless Pearls has been blogging since November, 2008 but she has a chuckling literary style, great love for the Lord and well, she posts regularly! That is always a positive in the blog world. I also know this blogger in real life. We’re quite good friends. Our children know each other and they were quiet good friends too…until they moved to another town. Hmphhh! Usually it is us that does the moving, so the experience was fairly new to us.

I had been trying to gently encourage Amanda to start a blog for many months…to no avail. Then one day she just decided to up and start one! I’m so glad she did. Priceless Pearls is where Amanda shares her life, thoughts, happenings and her opinions. She doesn’t claim to be 100% right or to know it all but she does like to share! she is a lovely lady, with an extraordinarily big heart who loves to give- of her time, of herself, in any way she can. She’s married to a lovely guy and she has two delightful children. She loves the Lord and this is extremely visible once visiting her blog and reading her posts.

Books, celebrations, Christianity and faith, her beloved Darcy, family, friends, motherhood, movies, nature, social issues, riotous randoms and anything else that takes her fancy for the day are just some of the topics she writes about in her deliciously funny way. At times you’ll be in fits of laughter and other times you’ll be left pondering the state of your own heart, after she shares her own journey. Not that PP writes to convict or to tell others how they should feel or how they should live. Rather she shares from her own life. Seeing real faith worked out in the real lives of others is often convicting though, isn’t it?

A few favourite posts:

She had her fellow blog friends in a tizz for days as she eluded to the fact that she was going overseas…wouldn’t tell us where, when or why but had a guessing for days. I think she secretly enjoyed the thrill of seeing us all in a frenzy.
I love that she also enjoyed the same series as me – Gods and Kings series by Lynn Austin. Amanda shared her own learnings in this post
I can’t choose a favourite post in the category of Christian/Faith so I’ll link to the whole category. Go read all her posts in this section.
Mum’s the word
Pearls from Job & Matthew

Amanda and me...non-stop talk and coffee

So if you’ve never visited Pearls of Truth before, why don’t you pop over there right now and say hello! I’m sure you’ll find something of interest.

Tell Me Tuesdays

To go along with the new AussieHomeschool blog meme (Tell Me Tuesdays) I thought I should at least try and post! So here goes.

Tell of your own blogging habits- frequent, infrequent, irregular, frequently irregular, etc

I blog when I can. When I want to. I never feel pressure to blog. Sometimes I’ve been known to blog twice a day but then I can go more than a week without posting.
How long have you been blogging?
I first started blogging over at HomeschoolBlogger.com about 4 years ago. I was hooked! I loved the community spirit that blogging provides as well as the opportunity to express my opinion and design my own site colours.

Why do you blog?

Hmm, there are actually quite a few reasons. Initially I simply used my blog as a method of storing forum thread responses. I found that I was repeating myself a bit or copying and pasting from previous threads. So I started a blog and referred to that. However, it soon grew to be more than that. I use blog writing as way to process my thoughts. Writing has taught me a lot about critical thinking- sequential thinking. Actually, not so much the art of writing taught me this but the questioning from readers if my writing was unclear. I was forced to look back over a post and edit or clarify things.

I also like to try and encourage others and inform others. If I learn of a good resource, I want to share it. I want to share how we pursue a Bible based education in our home. I want to encourage people to not treat the Bible as purely another subject…but to see The Living Word as foundational to everything we do – even homeschooling and academics.

Lastly, I love to design sites, change colours and play with apps!

What do you blog about?

I post my thoughts, opinions and things that I may be struggling with or learning. I post about our days, our learning opportunities and activities. I post about anything that comes to my mind. Here I asked readers, ‘what should I blog about‘?

What’s your favourite aspect of blogging?

The community! Meeting other bloggers and getting to know them via their blogs…reading their thoughts, opinions and events. The relationships that are developed.

What is your least favourite aspect of blogging?

That I can be 68% addicted to blogging!
The temptation to get caught up in time wasting with tags and all that kind of thing. If I do a tag, it has to be worth my time to do so.
The temptation to get so caught up with blogging that I neglect the online forums that I am a part of…that I am committed to serving.

The AussieHomeschool Blog

Another new blog?

AussieHomeschool Blog

Who is writing at the blog?
This blog will not be written by one person. Rather is will be a combined effort of all Australian home-learning bloggers.

Why another blog?
Through this blog, we hope to encourage all homeschoolers parents, or those with an attitude of home-based-learning, by our written words- blogs. We aim to accomplish this by providing a common place in which to pull many Australian homeschool bloggers together so that the younger parents will glean wisdom from the old and the older ones may gain inspiration from the younger parents.

What is it about?
It is a blog – a magazine style blog. The purpose of the Aussie Homeschool Blog is to unite Australian homeschoolers regardless of differing ages, schedules, methods, curricula, locations or preferences.
By following this blog, and those on the blog roll you will come to see some real Australian homeschooling parents- the nitty and the gritty, the ups and down and the down right funny.

When will there be new content?
We hope to update the blog weekly…although the meme’s will be added to by individual bloggers, as they like.

Where is this fantastic new blog?
You’ll find it at the following address – http://aussiehomeschool.com/blog

In fact, today is Tell Me Tuesday…a meme. There is also a meme to join in on Thursday and Friday. These meme’s use Mr.Linky, which is real easy to use, fun and it also drives more traffic to your website!

You can also join the blog roll which will give you more traffic and also enable you to visit other Aussie homeschooling bloggers!

So pop over, have a read… bookmark the site so you can visit again. You can subscribe via RSS or email and receive all new posts. The blog will be an invaluable source of inspiration, encouragement, information and fun…as much as you contribute.

Hope to see you there!

Meet…

… my friend, Beyond Bluestockings.

Mrs. BB, as she is sometimes affectionately known, has been blogging for about one and a half years. I know Mrs. BB in real life. She may be petite, dainty and delicate in size but she has a huge heart, joyous nature, quick wit, a wicked (in the modern sens of the word) sense of humour and sharp intelligence. She is a delight to be around and a blessing to all those that she comes in contact with.

She homeschools her four darling children, loves good books, has an insatiable appetite for learning but possibly the best things about her is the fact that she, like me, loves her chocolate and coffee. 🙂

When you visit her blog, you’ll find a mixture of topics to stimulate your mind for she is a literal six-day Creationist with conservative political leanings combined with a mild red-necked opinion that she isn’t too afraid to share (politely and respectfully of course). Although raised as a feminist, she has a deep desire for God and His word and this will be obvious if you spend just one minute on her site. 😉

She writes on many topics, from education, parenting, science, politics, and books to religion and recipes. You are bound to leave her site just a little wiser yet without even realising it due to her clever writing style and amazing intellect and wit.

A few posts that I particular like and think are very useful are:

Blogging to Learn
Education, a victim of fashion?
Teach your young children to love reading
Truly Delightful Truffles (which I hope to taste next time we see each other IRL)
Are you a Christian?
Food as an idol and
a book review of Tortured for Christ.

Do pop over to BeyondBluestockings…You’ll see me over there as well. Read some of her posts and leave her a comment.

Homeschool Link Up

Time for some Linky Love…some interesting posts I’ve found throughout my web wanderings.

Homeschooling

You just have to check out Spunky’s post, Over the Hill Homeschooling. You’ll know you’ve become an over-the-hill homeschooling mom when….

You no longer read child training books, but gobble up everything on menopause.

You realize that the vendor who told you that his program was the ONLY spelling curriculum you’ll ever need, lied.

You talk about college choices more than curriculum choices.

You understand that you can have a very bad year and your children will never notice.

It’s funny and I found myself nodding along in agreement to almost every line!

Why Homeschool posted an entry titled Homeschool Fantasy vs. Reality.

Huber Hof Academy posted Whose Homeschool Life are you leading?

Amy Bayliss from In Pursuit of Proverbs has written a good 3 part series on Instilling a love of reading. Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

Robin Sampson from Heart of Wisdom is wanting to give more stuff away in this post with a contest and some free downloads! Included is a must-read resource, which is a full chapter from her book. The chapter is Choosing and Using Homeschool Resources (31p PDF)Includes list of classics by grade level.

Robin has also posted an amazing entry about using digital scrapbooking for Nature Study. If you’re into nature study or CM’s methods, you will want to check this out!

Jeanne has a beautiful and excellent blog for those Aussies using good living books, CM’s methods or trying to Australianise Ambleside Online. Do check her blog out.

Need some writing prompts to help you teach writing to your children? Check out the WriteShop blog.

Parenting

I found a great site called Intentional Parenting. They have a chart where, when I was truly honest with myself, I could see what type of parent I am and what type of parent I desire to be. The blurb for the site is: “Welcome to Intentional Parents, a Christian ministry that encourages parents to teach and train their children thoughtfully and deliberately to the glory of God.” This is a sister site of Simply Charlotte Mason.

Books

Ever read Hinds Feet on High Places? Here is a free study guide to go along with it. Not everyone agrees with the theology contained within this book, but it very well will help to lead you into a deper relationship with the Lord.

Beautiful

Dana, from Living Stones Ministry, doesn’t post all that often but when she does, her posts are usually full of wisdom. Here she has a guest post that writes about the method that Jesus used when dealing with stress. 😉

Chow Mein

After reading Beyond Bluestockings Cabbage Salad, which made me drool, I commented on our crude form of Chow Mein. Beyond Bluestockings asked me to share the recipe. Last night I taught Master 13 how to prepare this meal and sometime within the next two weeks I’ll get him to cook it for us all, by himself. I say it is crude because it is not a proper Chow Mein, but it is a quick, easy, nutritious and delicious! What more does a homeschool momma need?

Chow Mein

1 onion
500grams mince kangaroo (any mince will do)
2 tb butter, oil or coconut oil (butter is nice!)
half a medium sized green cabbage
2 tb rice
1 dessertspoon curry
2 pkt chicken noodle soup mix (home brand is fine)
250 grams French beans or carrots (I use any veggies)
2 and a half cups water

Chow mein is a generic Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties. Chow mein is generally made of soft noodles, however Hong Kong-style chow mein is made from thin crispy noodles.

Lightly brown the mince in butter or oil. Once brown, add all other ingredients. Stir with a fork occasionally and cook for 20minutes.
Done!

I won’t share a picture…whilst it tastes delicious it doesn’t look all that appealing. 😉

Chicken Chow Mein

Cube and fry chicken cubes and onion. Remove chicken.
Add chicken noodle soup packet along with 6 cups of water, 2 cups of rice and any veggies available. (Cabbage is delicious)
Leave to simmer until rice has absorbed the water, about 20-25minutes.
Add chicken back in prior to serving and mix through.
Add more water if necessary

Done!

Domestic Science Routine 2009

Originally written in May 2007 but revised to reflect changes for 2009.

Confession time! I am not a highly organised person. I like the cosy warmth of clutter. I love my ornaments and nick-knacks as they all have a story behind them…they have sentimental value. I can’t take them with me when I go to be with the Lord, and I can live without them, but they are like good friends- I like to have them around.

I used to love decorating and making my home a cosy place to retreat but it has become harder to do as we move around frequently. I also find that modern homes, while clean and lovely, don’t have the same warmth and character- they lack the homey ambiance of older homes. However, I didn’t set out to write about decorating or house style but organisation so I need to get back to the point!

So I’m not overly organised…my home gets messy but it’s always clean. I can look beyond clutter. Okay, I can even look beyond dust but I can’t look beyond dirt or filth. I loved homeschooling in our home! I could hang time lines on the wall…and draw the measuring chart on the architrave, and hang beautiful pictures on the wall. This is not practical in the homes we have been living in…especially as we’ve only been in them for approximately 12-18 months at a time.

DAILY

My mother always told me that the most important things to get done in the morning are the beds to be made, dishes done and the bathroom needs a quick wipe over. I can get this done. This way, if I have friends or company drop in unexpectedly I don’t mind. Since we’ve been in the rental homes I struggle with just doing this before lessons. I often want the house to be spotless (or my version of immaculate) before I start our lessons but the problem with this is that by the time all the work is done, I’m tired and it’s time to start cooking tea! So, I know that doesn’t work. I also put on a load of laundry every day. I’m also Out and About every single day…it wasn’t always like that but as children get older and we outsource to develop their interests it just means that I have to go out! Yes, our learning is based-at-home but isn’t limited or confined to the home only. I have days set aside where I aim to get certain things done. However, they may not always happen on those days- it depends on who is working on what days and who has to be where!

Each day, the boys unstack the dishwasher and drainer board. They also clean down the table and re-stack the dishwasher. Three times a week Master C vacuums the floors while master J is responsible for the shower cubicle as well as the kitchen benches and door fronts, etc.

Tuesday is another busy day as Master J has cadets Tuesday evening so I try and prepare a meal that can be eaten and cleaned away by 5.45pm. John takes Master J to Cadets and Miss A goes straight from work to softball training. We aren’t all home together until 10.30pm that night, by which time I’m usually in bed. Today is a fairly ‘light’ housework day with just a load of washing to be done and general kitchen maintenance. We do try and have a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy about 4pm, in time for Dad to come home to a fairly neat home.

Wednesday is another laundry day. Oh! confession time. I don’t hang underwear (except white singlets), socks, handkerchiefs or other fiddly, small items on the line. I used to but not anymore, for two reasons. I love the feel of crisp, sun bleached clothes but we only have one of those clothes lines that folds up alongside the dark, sheltered side of the house. (Why they install them in the shade, I will never understand) I also have decided to maximise my time. Honestly, socks don’t last that long in my house anyway so there’s no need for me to try and preserve them as thoroughly as I might other items of clothing. So, I tumble dry them! So much easier and quicker. I think to myself, “What would I rather do? Cook a meal, iron a shirt, write a blog post, read a book or play a game with my children, speak on the phone with my dad or hang up socks ‘n’ jocks!!!!” I would rather do all those things rather than hang up socks. Anyway, I aim to have the loads of laundry, washed, dried and put away by 4pm, but this rarely happens. Master C vacuums again this morning while Master J tends to the kitchen. I potter with laundry, bathrooms, meal preparation, etc. ‘Master C’ does excellent 15 minute tidies. He goes around and put all the stray things away where they belong- shoes in people’s rooms, blocks in drawers, books in booknook, pens, cups, papers, etc. I used to have my office/accounting time on Thursday but this has changed. I now try and do organise my finances and look through catalogues for specials in preparation for our Out and About Day on Friday. We do a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy in preparation for John to come home.

Thursday is the day where we’ll go shopping, pay bills, etc. If I haven’t cleaned the fridge and pantry on Thursday (in preparation for shopping day) I will do it today. Other that that, if I am home it is a fairly ‘light on’ housework day. or, I may end up doing the shopping on this day, leaving Friday free to do other things.

Friday is a big day for me. If it is not Out and About Day, we will clean the house, vacuum and do bathrooms, etc. It is also laundry day, in preparation for the weekend. If it is Out and About Day, we’ll go shopping, which is a pretty full on experience in our home! I like to look through catalogs and select where to shop but this all takes time and I don’t like to waste too much fuel just to save a dollar. Sometimes, if it is Out and About day we won’t have gotten the vacuuming and wet areas done…but I don’t try and play catch-up…it’s not going anywhere.

Saturday– Is my Day of Rest. I don’t do housework or meal preparation on this day, unless we’re having a celebration or something in particular. I like to read, spend time in God’s Word, listen to an audio sermon and write a blog post or two. I like to make myself available for John if he ever wants to do something. In the summer months we refresh, rest and then go to softball!

On Sunday I will usually put on two loads of laundry so that everyone has clean clothes for the Monday. Most people probably do them on the Saturday but that is my rest day so I do it today! I’ll get the clothes washed and ironed today. We may do a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy in the morning, as well as the vacuuming (if it wasn’t done on Friday) but this is so we can continue to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Focus Areas:

Monday: Floors | Laundry | General Housework and wet area
Tuesday: Odd jobs | Wet areas
Wednesday: Floors | Laundry | Finances | Grocery List
Thursday: Out and About
Friday: Floors | Laundry | Bathrooms
Alternate Friday: Out and About Day
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: Neat ‘n’ Tidy | Quick Clean | Laundry

This is the routine that I have created while in this house, in this situation. However, the routine changes with each move…and as the children get older. With ‘Miss A’ working full time, and Miss R is a senior in High School, my laundry routine has changed. John also doesn’t come home for lunch nowadays which seems to give me a few extra hours in my day. I loved it when he came home from work but it did eat into my day a lot and I found I was often behind in work.

After being in any new house for a few months, allowing the new routine to settle, I ask John in what ways I can serve him better or more effectively. He does not like to answer this as we live by grace in our home but he has learned that I need this in order to focus- it is really helpful for me. So now, I try to always have the clothes washed, dried and put away. Does it always happen? No way! But it is a focus point…without it, we’ll never have clean clothes that are easily accessible but I’ll get loads of lessons done or wonderfully lavish meals cooked.

My other focus point is clean floors, (I hate crunchiness or stickiness under my feet!) and wet areas. Looking after wet areas is something that I’ve learned slowly, after being in army homes. It makes sense though. Wet areas are subject to moisture- thus susceptible to mould, grime and bacteria. They’re also hard to clean when left for too long and they can be expensive to mend. Don’t fuss over the dust, but keep on top of the wet area!

How about you? what is your weekly domestic routine? If you share, please drop me a note so I can visit your blog post…I’m needing more ideas and inspiration. 🙂

Let me help you clean

Monday is my housework day so I’ve been in a mad clean all day. Will you let me do some spot cleaning for you? I think your computer screen needs cleaning. Here, let me help!

Click THIS link.

Lost Generation

Have you got 1 minute and 44 seconds to watch this quick message?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Hat Tip: Theresa

Wise Economic Survival Guide

Some wise advice was shared, from the following article, on HOMEschool Fellowship. The full article is by Chuck Norris, recalling his mother’s wisdom. I looked at the original article and thought it was too good not to share, especially when I turned on the news this morning to hear of even more Australian jobs being cut…fuel cost increases and interest rate rises, again!

An old Spanish proverb says, “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.” I believe that value will hold, in or out of a recession. And being that my 87-year-old mother lived through the Great Depression, I think her value (and those like her) will actually increase through these tough economic times, because their insider wisdom can help us all.

Chuck Norris asked his 87-year-old mother, “How would you encourage the average American to weather the economic storms of today?”

Here’s her advice, in her words:

“Get back to the basics. Simplify your life. Live within your means. People have got to be willing to downsize and be OK with it. We must quit borrowing and cut spending. Be grateful for what you have, especially your health and loved ones. Be content with what you have, and remember the stuff will never make you happy. Never. Back then, we didn’t have 1/100th of what people do today, and yet we seemed happier than most today, even during the Great Depression.

“Be humble and willing to work. Back then, any work was good work. We picked cotton, picked up cans, scrap metal, whatever it took to get by. Where’s that work ethic today? If someone’s not being paid $10 an hour today, they’re whining and unwilling to work, even if they don’t have a job. Today, too many won’t stoop to scoop poop, but I hear sewer work pays pretty well these days. The message from yesteryear is don’t be too proud to do whatever it takes to meet the financial needs of your family.

“Be rich in love. We didn’t have much. In fact we had nothing at all, compared to people today, but we had each other. We were poor, but rich in love. We’ve lost the value of family and friends today, and we’ve got to gain it back if we’re ever to get back on track. If we lose all our stuff and still have one another and our health, what have we really lost?

“Be a part of a community. Today, people are much more alone – much more isolated. We used to be close with our neighbors. We cared for one another, watched one another’s kids and shared meals together. If one person had a bigger or better garden or orchard, they shared the vegetables and fruits with others in need. We used to speak to one another daily at our fences – today, you can barely see over a neighbor’s fence. Society has shifted from caring for one another to being dependent upon government aid and welfare – that is why so many today trust in government to deliver them. They’ve forgotten an America that used to rally around one another in smaller clusters called neighborhoods and communities. We must rekindle those local communal fires, and relearn the power of that age-old commandment, ‘Love thy neighbor.’

“Help someone else. We never quit helping others back then. Today, too many people are consumed with their own problems and only helping themselves. ‘What’s in it for me?’ is the question most are asking. But back then, it was, ‘What can I do to help my neighbor?’ I love Rick Warren’s book, ‘The Purpose-Driven Life,’ and especially his thought, ‘We were created for community, designed to be a blessing to others.’ If we help others, others will want to help us too. But if we never reach out, and no one else knows our needs, how can we help people or people help us? Most of all, helping others gets our minds off our problems and puts things into better perspective.

“Lean upon God for help and strength. We didn’t just have each other to lean on, but we had God, too. We all attended church and belonged to a faith community. Church was the hub of society, the community core and rallying point. Today, people turn to government the way we used to turn to the churches. It’s been that way ever since Herbert Hoover’s alleged promise of a ‘chicken in every pot’ and President Roosevelt’s New Deal. Too many have abandoned faith and community. We trust money more than God. And maybe that’s a reason why we’re in this economic pickle. If greed has become our god, then maybe we’d be better off to view the recession more like a realignment. But who will admit today to being off center? We all get lost sometimes. We all need the Lord. I don’t know how or why people today try to live without Him. As the old adage goes, He’s always only a prayer away.”

Now’s that conventional wisdom that should be shouted and posted in every corridor of government, every community across America and every blog on the Internet.

Call me overly pragmatic, but I think a little practical wisdom and encouragement is what we all need about now. Mom has always been good for that. She still is.

Chuck Norris is the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” You can see more about him, his life and ministry at the official website: ChuckNorris.com.
You can see the entire article at World Net Daily.

Persuasion, manipulation, encouragement…call it what you will. Just eat your greens!

Some may call it manipulation but I call it the art of gentle persuasion. 😉 Gentle encouragement, strong encouragement, gentle persuasion, narrowing down the choices… call it what you want. I just want to get the greens down!

A few years ago I made my family drink Spirulina. Oh I mixed it with some juice but if you’ve ever had spirulina you’ll know that it seems to be the worst of all the green superfoods…it is just disgusting. “Pond scum” is what John and Lisa call it. But I made my family drink it…rather attempt to drink it. They were gagging and dry-reaching every time. I even tried to hide small doses of it in other foods but it seems that they could sniff it out a mile away! They just couldn’t stomach it.

I resorted to capsules. Man, those thing are the size of small vans! I broke them in two halves…I crushed them. But my family thought they were too clever and could detect Spirulina tablets in anything. There was no way it would work. So I tried Chorella and Barley Greens and Wheat Grass. Same result. But these are superfoods. I need my family to take them…don’t I?

Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe there is more than one way to get all the goodness into their bodies. Enter Green Smoothies. Served in nice, real, glasses. (not plastic)

Some people like to add lots of fruit to their green smoothie to make it palatable for children. They say to start off with about 60% fruit and slowly increase the amount of greens each time. Pish posh! Soft! Maybe it will work for other people’s children but not for my tribe. I’ve never been one to go soft on my children- food and smoothies included. I say to go in with the hard line…then it’s easier to ease back…creates an attitude of thankfulness and a willingness to work with me, rather than against me. Is it manipulation? Um, is it any less manipulation than loading them up with way too much sugar (fruit) and then trying to wean them off? I don’t think so.

After the horrors of all the pond scum that I tried to make them drink, green smoothies seem so easy, so delicious. In their mind it’s either Green Smoothies or Pond Scum! Hehee, the funny thing is, my lovely family think they’re oh! so clever for ganging up on me and not drinking the Spirulina. But maybe, just maybe it was all part of my secret plan. Maybe there is a method to my madness!

Blender Dilemma: SOLVED

Don’t you love your hubby? I do! Here I was researching various blenders, which would have taken me a month of Sunday’s to narrow it down, when on the way to the airport, to get Miss A, I told John that I could do with his input. I gave him the summary:

Super-duper expensive at approximately $1899.
Super expensive between $700 – $900
Expensive of the cheap range: approximately $200 or
Cheap: $200 and under.

Green Smoothie

1 bulb of fennel

2 oranges, peeled

2 handfuls baby spinach

dash of honey (or maple syrup)

Some flaxseed oil

ice cubes

He listened to my blurb about the Thermomix and said it would be good if we had a business and could recoup some of that money back…which we don’t. I guess he crossed that one off his mental list pretty quickly.

Then came the super expensive ones…thankfully my husband knows me to well. When I get an interest in something I need to dabble in it…but that doesn’t mean it will necessarily become a life long passion or lifestyle so I guess he crossed these off the list too.

I talked to him about the more expensive of the cheap range- and his ears pricked up…he was listening intently. Then he heard that it was in the Sunbeam Cafe Series (same as our coffee machine) and he took a detour and dropped into The Good Guys. Thirty minutes later and guess who has a new blender?

Whoohoo! Yup, that would be me! I’ve already put it to good use. I made a green smoothie and coerced, forced, strongly encouraged everyone to have a glass.

Do you make green or savoury smoothies? Please share your favourite recipes with me. I know there are many websites that have recipes, and I’ve visited most of them! but I’d love to hear readers favourites.

Growing Your Blog

Regular readers of my blog will know that I don’t do stats– don’t care about them, don’t record them in any way. It’s just not important to me. While visiting The Mother Lode today (who incidentally has a great post on “What curriculum should I use for my Kindegardener? ) she talked about AlphaInventions. Having absolutely no idea what it was I thought I’d pop over there and see. I’m still not sure what it is but it is designed to get page hits for your site. In the interest of seeing how this works and with the aim of letting others know about it in case it interests them, I thought I’d give it a whirl. Alphainventions.com is useful for wordpress.com, typepad.com, spaces.live.com, and blogger.com.

Carnival of Relaxed Homeschooling

Whoohoo, there’s a new carnival in town…and it’s right up my alley.

The Carnival of Relaxed Homeschooling is for anyone using relaxed, eclectic or less traditional methods of home education for any or all of their studies.

Using a relaxed approach for the upper grades, i.e., middle and high schoolers, becomes a little more challenging so if you use a relaxed style in any or all of your studies, you have something of great value to offer to other homeschoolers interested in becoming less formal in their approach. Submissions can include ideas, approaches, successes, “failures”, frustration, encouragement or anything else!

Submissions don’t have to be new posts, they can be, but it’s not necessary. What you do want to do, however, is look for one of your best posts. Dig deep if you want, just submit one of your posts that is especially pleasing to you!

If you are new to the concept of “carnivals”, check out this post.

I always enjoy the homeschooling carnivals. I love to see how others approach home education so long as I understand and accept that I don’t have to try and incorporate all the ideas I read into our family home.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme Feb15

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme

First, I have to tell you about a Christian homeschool mum who is really into website development. She has a new website where you’ll find a little information about her service…but I warn you- the website is a little like a mechanic who never gets to fix his own car. Okay, so it’s really me and my site :rotfl: but still, why don’t you pop over and have a look? Kerugma Designs is where you’ll find a few details about my new website development service, where I help you to build your online home. If you need a web presence at an affordable rate, give me a hoy as the website isn’t finished with up-to-date details just yet.

Okay, on to some more links that I have enjoyed recently:

Biblical Descriptions of Women is a delightful post. Go through it with your Bible and your daughter!

The Bible is not a jigsaw by Frank Viola

Do your children know who you really are?

Rest & Peace by Sally Clarkson

Yesterday was Valentines Day (for anyone who cares!) and Phyliss has a post with some good article links and downloads.

Health & Nutrition

The World’s Healthiest Foods: The George Mateljan Foundation is a non-profit organization with no commercial influence, which provides this website for you free of charge. We are dedicated to making the world a healthier place by providing you with cutting-edge information about why the World’s Healthiest Foods are the key to vibrant health and energy and how you can easily make them a part of your healthy lifestyle. You might find the Getting Started page the best place to start looking at this large site.

The Recipe Assistant at WHF : Are you interested in customizing your search for WHFoods recipes? Then use our innovative Recipe Assistant. With this easy to use tool all you have to do is select foods that you want to be included or excluded (e.g., if you are lactose intolerant, you choose to identify recipes without milk) and it will provide you with a list of recipes meeting your criteria.

Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Cost an Arm and a Leg: Food Budget Strategies that Help Avoid the High Cost of Illness by Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Looking for some raw food recipes? Try here at Hallelujah Acres.

Home Managment and Organisation

Have I mentioned TipNut before? Tipnut.com began as a way to organize all the household tips, craft projects, recipes, kitchen & cooking tips and other neat-o hints that I’ve collected over the years.

Freebies

Mountain Bread CookBook– free download as pdf. Mountain Bread™ has a thin, dry and soft texture that is not doughy like other breads and is widely regarded as a healthy alternative and is therefore highly popular with dieters and doctors. Mountain Bread™ has traditionally been used as a bread substitute for sandwiches and wraps or as a pasta substitute; but there are many uses of this versatile bread ranging from savoury to sweet.

Also, just in case you were a bit of a blog stalker and wanted to know where else I read and comment, you can see most of my blogging travels and comments around the WWW here.

Zabaglione

My husband has fond memories of a special breakfast meal that his mother would prepare for him. I say fondness because that’s what I see and hear on his face as he recalls the memory. But the look on his face is strange, as though hiding mixed feelings. You know that look where one’s nose curls up in disgust yet the mouth is smiling? That look. I can’t quite figure out what feelings are behind the look and he can’t really verbalise it accurately. I do know that he is now extremely fussy when it comes to eating eggs- they now have to be cooked very well. He wonders if this extreme fussiness is because of zabaglione. (That’s my disclaimer)

Anyway, his ma would make zabaglione for breakfast sometimes. Not all the time, it was a special treat. Zabaglione is a simple but deliciously rich, Italian dessert made of egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine. Espresso, champagne, sherry or wine can be used. (My mother-in-law made it with orange juice in place of the marsala) It is usually served warm, though it can be served cold, or as a sauce, or even frozen. Coupled with fruit it is truly a deliciously, rich dessert. For breakfast, it can be served with biscotti and a cappuccino. when served with biscotti and coffee, you may find you want to add a little more sugar.

However, Italian cooking is so diverse that no two recipes look the same. Every region in Italy has its own style of cooking but even further, each village has their own way of doing things as well. So every town has its own recipe for bread or sauce and zabaglione. It doesn’t mean that the recipe is wrong…it’s just a different recipe, most likely from a different region than another recipe. Italians can tell what region a person is from often by their way of cooking. My husband’s family are from a southern region of Italy: Calabria.

Zabaglione
4 servings

4 large egg yolks
4 tbsp caster sugar (white will do)
4 tbsp Marsala, Espresso, juice or other
Drop or two of vanilla essence

1) Put the egg yolks and sugar in a large heatproof bowl and whisk together until light and fluffy and approximately doubles in size.. We use an electric egg beater but be very careful to not over-beat.
When the mixture starts to thicken, place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. A double-boiler can be used if you have one. Alternatively, you can use a metal or other heatproof bowl that can be suspended over simmering water. Just be sure to not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.

2) Add vanilla, marsala, juice or espresso and whisk ( we cheat and use an electric egg beater) continuously until the mixture becomes thick, hot and foamy. The eggs need to be cooked gently so the mixture stays smooth.

3) Spoon the zabaglione into serving dishes and serve with accompaniments. (Either biscotti, cream, fresh or stewed fruit, etc)

Variations for dessert

Zabaglione with Cream
Take a tub of thickened cream and whip it until it is stiff. Once the zabaglione is cooked, very gently add most of the whipped cream to the slightly cooled zabaglione and gently fold together. Use the remaining cream to decorate after spooning the zabaglione into separate small dishes or cups.

Chocolate Zabaglione
Gently melt some chopped semi-sweet, good quality chocolate. Once zabaglione is cooked, gently fold in the melted chocolate. Decorate with shaved chocolate and fresh berries make a lovely addition to this dish.

Zabaglione with Ice Cream
Pour warm zabaglione over a good quality ice cream or gelati for a rich and beautiful dessert.

Baked or Chilled Zabaglione
Spoon the thick custard like zabaglione into individual bowls/dishes and sprinkle with chocolate or sugar. Either bake in the oven or chill in the fridge.

A few links although not too many as there are too many variations

Zabaglione at Anna Maria‘s

Simply Recipes

Cold Zabaglione by Nigella

Lydia’s Kitchen recipe

Video on youtube– cooking course 108 (this guy is verbose and one swear word)

Video on videojug

Do you have a favourite recipe for Zabaglione?

Addendum

Okay so I got it wrong. John’s ma used to make his different to what I posted last night.

She didn’t cook it! She would whip up the egg yolks with the sugar and a little coffee and just keep whipping it in the electric mixer for about 7 min, till it went smooth and creamy. Ewwwwww, is it any wonder he can only eat eggs that are over cooked? No cooking, just whipping! When I suggested that this could be the reason for his aversion to properly cooked eggs he responded with,

“Nah, the Zabaglione didn’t turn me off. That was yummy! But she used to make me suck raw eggs as a nutritional food”. Ewww gross!

Just thought I’d better come back and set the record straight.

Boy with Nails and the fence

THE FENCE

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.

This was a story that I received via email many years ago. I shared it with the children as an object lesson and it has always stuck with them.

Sweet, rich, coffee at home? Thoughts on the Sunbeam EM6910

Triple rosetta, courtesy of AbiGrace

Oh no! The next three weeks are going to be tough…about the only thing to make it a little easier for me to bear is the heatwave we are in the midst of. I know I will get through it of course, but…it will be tough. I don’t have too many vices anymore, except the occasional chocolate (and it is occasional nowadays as I want to share it more with my children) and my love of dry, hard Parmesan cheese. But my greatest vice of all is cappuccino.

I mean how could it not be? Not only do did we have a great machine that extracted a sweet shot but the steamer creates the most velvety, creamy, sweet milk, which forms the perfect cappuccino. Well, I suppose I should be honest and say that it only works that way when my own Personal Barista makes it for me…my own shot is not quite so sweet and I burn the burn, separating the sweetness of it resulting in a slightly bitter and burned taste.

But alas! my beautiful machine is not well. She needs a major over haul and some internal surgery. I could be without her for up to three weeks! 3 weeks!!! What am I to do? I shall have to find some way to cope, I suppose. The machines run best when using filtered water only but we don’t have a water filter. Our earthenware water filter was cracked in our last move and we haven’t gotten around to buying another one. We think that is what has caused the problem.

Lisa asked me awhile ago to recommend a good espresso machine that wouldn’t break the budget. Well, I had asked Miss A (the Barista) to write a post for me and she was happy to but tell me, how does one pin a 17 yo young lady, who is driving all over the place, down to write a blog post? It obviously just didn’t happen. So here I am instead…but I am armed with her recommendation.

Our machine is a Sunbeam EM6910 (pictured above).

Why do we like it and what makes it better than some of the other machines on the market?

Paul Bassett was an Australian Barista Champion and he helped develop this machine. However, that alone doesn’t make it any good. With espresso machines you largely get what you pay for- in what it delivers and life expectancy of the machine. The reason this machine is better than others in a similar price range is that it has a twin pump and thermoblock system. It also has an espresso gauge so you can see/test the quality of your extraction. (Users like me find this helpful but the more professional users, like Miss A, would not use an electrical gadget to measure the quality of their coffee) And much more. Suffice to say that the quality is that of commercial use but for the domestic home.

Appreciating a fine coffee, we didn’t want an automatic machine because…

1) There’s no fun in it and…

2) It is cookie-cutter mentality coffee- not individualised. There are some automatic machines available (e.g. the Nespresso) whereby you have to purchase the manufacturer’s brand of coffee, pre ground. Eww, pre ground coffee beans are gross!

This machine allows us to extract a shot of coffee and texture the milk at the same time, resulting in a fresher cappuccino. We’re able to regulate the temperature of the water, which is very handy in getting a good cup. The machine is strong and robust and quite easy to clean. However, it does need regular cleaning – it’s not a kettle. It works with ground coffee and milk so of course it needs thorough cleaning. Not everyone realises the amount of work needed to care for an espresso/cappuccino machine and some people are disappointed by this.

There are other very good machines on the market for home use, but there is no way that we could afford the $3000 to buy one. In our opinion, this is The Best machine at an affordable price. However, it will only produce as good a coffee as your bean and your milk texturing technique. If you don’t want to take time to learn of these things it might be best to stick to store-bought or buy an expensive automated machine. When you purchase this machine, you are also able to do the free Paul Bassett Coffee Appreciation Course, which not only teaches you a little about coffee but more importantly, how to care for your machine.

So there. That’s my thoughts on the Sunbeam…no doubt AbiGracewould do a much more thorough job of it but she didn’t…and I did. So there. 🙂

How To Attract More Traffic To Your Site

I’m going to cheat a little and post something that I originally wrote as a response to a question on a favourite message board. The discussion was about how to build a reader base for one’s website or blog. Now I’m not into this kind of things for myself – goodness, I don’t even have a (and have a reason for doing so) but as part of my website development business I have learned these things. So here we go!

“Dear ____

Now on to building your blog/site. Bear in mind that as part of my work I know these things but I do NOT do them. I build websites but I don’t do any of this stuff because I don’t need/want to. But, it works!

Sadly, the important thing is content distribution- not even quality of writing. Sad but true. You need to build a commenting base and a readership.How to do this?

Comments! It’s the best way. You have to visit other blogs and leave comments. This lets other readers see you and follow back to your blog but so will the blog owner. I notice you don’t allow comments- matey, this is blog suicide! You need to build readership- you need to build relationships.

Link to other sites. Yep, I know it sounds contrary to send people away from your site but it works. Also link back to your own writings. refer to your previous posts but don’t expect everyone to know the history so fill in the blanks when doing this. Also link to your previous posts- keeps people on your site plus builds a relationship with them. Blogging is all about developing relationships!Subscribe to this blog and read the good articles

I notice you don’t have a blogroll. Don’t underestimate the performance of a blogroll. It helps build readership and get you around the ‘net.

Submit your site to all the social networking sites. Build your reader base through RSS. This is SO important. People read blogs via RSS more so than visiting the site these days so, get your feedburner account up and running and get it looking swish. Make it VERY easy for people to subscribe to your blog.

Get your name out there more…actually I just searched for your name/sitename and your ‘previous’ blog came up first so you need to do some more work on your blog to push it up in the ranks. Get your keywords. Tag all posts. Get your mission statement or aim and put it in your blog. Work that blog girl! Hey, I know you’ve done that but it needs more!

You need a few pages – A visitor will only be on your blog for about 6 seconds if you’re lucky. You need to GRAB them. They need to see everything in one hit. Where is your About Me page? How do I contact you? Remember, make it easy for me, the reader. Why would I want to contact you? Are you available as a guest writer? A guest speaker? Sell yourself to me T__ ! Tell me why I need you! Tell me why I want to visit your site.

Freebies! Everyone loves something to download so get some freebies to give away. You’re a gifted writer and speaker. Make a few podcasts and offer them for free!

Learn to use typography to your advantage. It helps break up a post into bite sized pieces and makes skimming easier. And, like it or not, most people skim.

Get some useful plugins. Do others readers really care about the live feed? I know YOU do but do others need to see it? Nah, not really. But how about a Related Postsplugin? That kinda thing. Oh, related posts to your OWN posts, not others. See this post of mine I have two plugins (they both give good related posts). One is at the bottom of each post and the other is in the sidebar.

Personalise your site even more! Yes, it is possible without giving away all your personal details. eg: design your own logo or avatar so that it can follow you around the Internet. Sign up with Gravatar or OpenID so that everytime you comment on another blog it links back to your site and it includes YOUR avatar! It is important- builds familiarity-relationship. You can include your avatar or logo on your site in the sidebar or in the top of every post! Design a banner that you can give to other sites to display, that links back to your site.

Study how to build your site. Subscribe to blogs that primarily exist for this reason.I’ll list a few with good info, but bear in mind that they are not Christian.

http://www.adsensetipssite.com/adsenseblogging/tentipsblogging.html
http://www.problogger.net/
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/
http://www.successful-blog.com/
http://www.blogbloke.com/
to name a few…but this would get your started.

Another way is to follow the example of others- look at Cindy Rushton and Robin Sampson! Now, there’s two Christian homeschool mums (moms) who are using the Internet to their full advantage to build a business. Study the things they do and see how you can incorporate some of those ideas into your writing site.

T____, pop over to my site. Now I know the colours aren’t everyone’s ideas of nice but they’re *mine*. I would tone it down a lot if it were a business site, but not everyone does, aka. Cindy Rushton. From the outset you can see my RSS feeds (posts AND comments) in the top right hand corner PLUS on every single blog post I remind the reader that they can subscribe.

I have an easy to use , and page and the navigation is fairly easy, I think. Also, you can see that I’ve put my footer to good use. It has the necessary stuff but also a link to another page in my site!

Does all this take time?

Yup! It’s a part time business but if you want to succeed to any degree you need a strong online presence. You have a presence- you need to build it and that takes work.

Of course if you’re really serious, you could also go with your own domain name and hosting which allows for heaps more individual customisation. Let me know if you need some help with that.

That’s it for starters…gee I should start a web development business eh? LOL

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme

I used to participate in the SSSS meme but I haven’t for ages. Weekly meme’s just come around far too quickly for me 😀 However, I do like to share links and today is Sunday! So, I’m going to do a SSSS meme again posting some articles or sites I’ve enjoyed over the last week. So here are a few of the sites I’ve gleaned from this month.

I used to tell my children about the dangers and futility of MySpace but what’s a person to do with the supposedly more mature FaceBook? I liked this post from Elizabeth Esther as she explains why she ‘broke up with FB‘.

Seeking to glorify posted about podcasts for kids. If you have younger children these could be very helpful.

Along with my continued learning about evangelism, I found a post by TeacherDave. The video posted on this blog is a clip of an atheist and his thoughts on witnessing or proselytizing. It’s quite interesting. Something in it for all of us, mehtinks.

ChristianAudio: Each month christianaudio gives away a premium audiobook download for free. The way it works? They give away one audiobook download each month totally free, available only during that month, only once – ever.

For those who know of our journey with our , you might also like to read Barbara Frank’s post: Temperamental Teens. Speaking of Barbara Frank…she also has an article on teaching children about personal finance.

Want to instill music appreciation in your High School aged children but don’t know how to go about it? Use this free curriculum from Harmony Fine Arts. You might like to listen to the podcasts and get an idea of how it all works.

Robin has a list of helpful meme’s to participate in, if you want to. Check her list here.

If you like this type of post, don’t forget to view the past ‘.

What If Starbucks Marketed Like the Church? A Parable.

Not only am I a follower of Christ but coffee is also one of my passions so this brief video is painfully funny but also relevant. Okay this might upset some readers so I guess it’s pretty controversial but I think for those who have been Christians for awhile or been raised as Christians there are some important lessons we can learn here. Actually there are many valid points of view that we can see from this quick video. If it offends you after watching it, ponder it for a day or so and then come back and watch it again…

I watched it with mixed emotions. I’ve been a follower of Christ for over 20 years so whenever the Church is poked I feel a little hurt but, as a follower who despises Christian-ese and the ‘playing-at-christianity‘ that many churches and Christians partake in, there’s a bit of truth in this message. So I watched it with a view to the Lord showing me His heart in it all.

You can find the original clip and more info at the Beyond Relevance site, which I’m not necessarily endorsing.
Plus I’ve had a few Starbucks coffee’s here in Australia and every cup has been bitter, which is a sure sign that the espresso shot was not extracted properly and I’ve needed 2 sugars, which is an indication that the milk has been scalded (burned) which is a big bad.

watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

Struggling for Sanctification?

While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves–blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.”

~A.W. Tozer

Quote from Tozer

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, `O Lord, Thou knowest.’ Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God’s omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints.”

~A.W.Tozer

Rss feeds are up and running!

New RSS Feed address

For those of you who catch up with my blog via RSS feeds, you can see the new details here: http://susanpriolo.com/subscribe

There are a few options for receiving notification of new posts/comments to this blog. You can receive posts and/or comments via email or by RSS feeds.

Subscribe to posts
http://susanpriolo.com/feed
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Kerugma

Subscribe to Comments
http://susanpriolo.com/wp-commentsrss2.php
http://feeds.feedburner.com/kerugma/fjzm

Need to know what the deal is with all this RSS and feed talk? Read these posts.
What is RSS or feeds?
Another help for RSS and feeds

Another year: another design!

Welcome! You’ve made it to my new site/blog. I’m glad you’re here.

I’d been planning an upgrade of my blog and website. It was rather redundant to have both so I’ve now melded them together to make just the one site, blog included. For now, the old blog is still there but as soon as everything is done and dusted I’ll take it down.

The blog posts are the same, complete with comments. The theme and structure is a little different here but it loads quicker and is easier to manage. As usual, it is not finished but a gal’s gotta do housework and meal preparation some time eh? :victory:

Over the next few days, I will get around to changing the rss feed update and hope to make the transition as smooth as possible for readers. The very top navigational menu ( Kerugma, Home Based Learning, Home n Hearth, Reviews, Quotes & Inspiration, Freebies, Soapbox, Potpourri, Web stuff, Your Turn! ) is the category structure of blog posts. The next menu down from that are the website pages. The sidebar will change depending upon which pages you are viewing. I can easily be contacted through the ‘contact’ page or by emailing the link on my signature.

The recent comments and recent posts may all be a little out of whack for a time…databases aren’t really keen on being moved and melded and they tend to do some weird things. Eventually it will right itself. I’m in no hurry. Blogging is my hobby and something I enjoy playing with.

Come again soon!

Education is Not the Filling of a Pail

Education is not the filling of a pail,
rather the lighting of a fire.
~ William Butler Yeats

Family and Parenting Resources: Audio Sermons

Here are a few good resources for your encouragement, information and edification.

Dr. Voddie Baucham:
Child Training – 49 min.
Baucham+Washer Q&A pt1.
Baucham+Washer Q&A pt2.

Paul Washer Family Series:
pt 1: Adolesence and Obedience -53 min
pt 2: Honour, the Gateway to Blessings -52 min
pt 3: Responsibility, the Duty of Fathers -49 min
pt 4: Father, Where are You? -52 min
Paul Washer-Recreational Dating is Unbiblical

Matt Haney:
Matt Haney-Excellent 3 part Parenting- Children Series.

Ray Comfort:
How to Bring Your Children To Christ -57 min
True and False Conversion -64 min

What should I blog?

I know I blog primarily for me…but I also like to have a focus, a purpose. This blog started primarily as a way for me to keep all the emails and forums responses that I had written. I still receive questions via email and often my response will be edited and end up here on my blog. But I’d like to hear from you, the reader.

You can check out some posts in each category, to get a feel for what I’m talking about. Using the little tab on the right hand side, click on ‘categories’ and a few posts will come up.

What posts have you particularly enjoyed reading on my blog? What topics do you like to read on my blog? What sort of things do you think you’d like to see me write about?

Here’s a few things I tend to write about but feel free to add a suggestion either as a comment to this post or using the widget in the sidebar.

Aussie Homeschooling
Book Talk
Educational Philosophy
Homeschool Subjects
High School
Teens/Youth
Homeschool Efficiency
Lifestyle of Learning
Reviews

Home & Family
Health & Fitness
Journal of my days and general thoughts
Recipes

Bible study
My Spiritual Journey
Web stuff and Internet goodies (web design, web helps, etc)

How do you feel about Christmas? (guest post)

Today’s post is by guest blogger, Robin Sampson from Heart of Wisdom. Robin has a particular focus on the Hebraic roots of Christianity.

How do you feel about Christmas?

Do you observe it differently now compared to how you observed it when you were a child? Do you observe it at all? Did you know Christmas has pagan roots? Does that bother you?

Don’t get nervous. I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing this time of year. I can’t because I don’t have it all sorted out myself.

Since the beginning of the Church, there has been controversy over pagan customs. On one side were those who wanted to ‘christianise’ the customs to win over the heathen and on the other side were those who rejected anything to do with paganism.

Some Christians observe Christmas as they always have with family traditions, Santa, etc. but with a focus on the Savior’s birth. Some avoid the Santa scene, try not to get wrapped up in materialism (pardon the pun) and focus on Christ.

Some have completely given up Christmas because of the pagan roots, or because the Puritans didn’t observe it, or the materialism, etc. Those that have given up Christmas usually face a lot of flack from friends and family.

Our Christmas Evolution

Our Christmas in the Sixties

As a child we did what everyone else did in the 60’s. Full blown Santa is coming, tinsel-decorated tree, with a big-time focus on presents. We didn’t leave out Jesus but He wasn’t the focus. My mother would read the Christmas story in front of the nativity scene on Christmas Eve. Jesus got about 15 minutes of the holidays rush.

Our Christmas in the Seventies

When my first children were toddlers (over 30 years ago) we had a birthday cake for Jesus each year. Our traditional centerpiece was a Santa kneeling over the Baby Jesus in the manger. I also took my children to have their photo taken with Santa. Santa even came to our church to pass out presents.

Our Christmas in the Eighties

By the time my oldest children were school age we dumped all Santa décor and focused on Christ. (We also stopped all Easter bunny traditions that year). We made Chrismoms (symbols of Christ) for the tree out of white and gold felt and sequins and hung them every year as we read Scripture verses for the symbol (door, crown, sheep, bread, etc). We sent out “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” Christmas cards. I remember my mother was disappointed we didn’t accept Santa and reindeer presents. The tree and stockings were still a family tradition.

Our Christmas in the Early Nineties

About 15 years ago I learned about the Bible holidays and the pagan roots of Christmas and Easter. I wanted to give up Christmas and Easter. My children were horrified. All those holiday memories! Mom has lost her mind!

We went back and forth on the topic for a few years. I wanted to at least get rid of the tree (based on Jeremiah 10:1-5). We finally made the decision not to have Christmas. It was hard. My Grandmother was crushed. (The shocked reactions from telling family and friends of homeschool and homebirth decisions pale compared to reactions we got from giving up Christmas.)

When a Christian is raised to believe that devoted family traditions bring glory to God, then finds out about pagan history and God’s ways, it’s quite a blow. God’s ways should have been taught since childhood and are now being learned in adulthood. My motives were pure. I only wanted to do what I believed God wanted us to do.

Our Christmas from Late Nineties until Now

Ten years ago we went back to celebrating Christmas. I remarried and my new husband did not want to give up Christmas (mainly because it is the only time his family gathers). I still don’t feel at peace with this decision but it is really not my call. So I make the best of it and focus on Christ. I feel God can use all things for His good.

I want to Celebrate the Birth of Christ!

I have no problem that celebrating Jesus’ birthday wasn’t commanded by God. Purim wasn’t commanded by God, but suggested by the Hebrews as an observance to remember a miracle of God. I want to celebrate the birth of Christ as a miracle of God. The most wonderful miracle of all! I would just prefer not to merge the celebration with a pagan festival. It’s a compromise I don’t feel good about.

12 Things I like About Christmas

1. Focus on Christ
2. Families getting together (for some, the only time of the year)
3. Church programs (giving to the needy, the elderly, plays, songs, etc., focusing on Christ)
4. Nativity scenes
5. Generosity
6. Caroling
7. The music (especially Handel’s Messiah)
8. The lights
9. Baking
10. Homemade gifts and cards (especially from children)
11. Goodies (fudge, cookies, nougat, and peppermint–yum)
12. Creativity (crafts, gingerbread houses, decorations, Chrismoms, etc.)

12 Things I don’t like about Christmas

1. Lack of focus on Christ
2. Pagan roots
3. Lonely people feeling lonelier
4. Christians disagreeing
5. Greed (coveting)
6. Materialism
7. Shopping, shopping and more shopping
8. Debt
9. Family stress
10. The good are rewarded philosophy that spills over in “saved by works” mentality
11. Santa worship (idolatry)
12. Political War on Christmas

God Wants us to Have Holidays (Holy Days)

God created us with a desire to have celebrations. He gave us instructions for observing seven holidays listed in Lev 23. The holidays contain more divine information of spiritual and prophetic value than any subject of scripture. Why aren’t we taught these marvelous lessons in church? The answer is found during the first through the fourth centuries.

Read What Happened to the Holidays for more information. I give you the link with a warning. Once you learn about God’s Holidays (they are God’s holidays not Jewish holidays) you will face controversies.

How does God feel about us ignoring the holidays He gave us and replacing them with other days? I’ll answer in a parable and let you decide.

A Parable

Once upon a time there was a little boy who loved his Father very much. His Father asked the boy to prepare and serve a special dinner on a particular day. The Father wrote out all the specific instructions clearly and departed for awhile expecting these instructions to be executed.

While the Father was gone the boy shared the instructions with a family friend. The family friend said, “I have a better idea. We had a party that was much more fun, let me tell you about it.” We tell mythical stories, dress up in furry costumes and make beautiful decorations and have tasty treats. The friend gave all the details and suggested they change the dinner date to another day. The boy decided the party would be more fun than the dinner and felt his father would understand. The boy undertook the friend’s party plan.

Was the Father disappointed?

The Father loved his precious son but was probably disappointed in his disobedience. To what degree would depend on two facts. 1. the age or maturity of the boy and 2. the motivation of the boy.

God Looks on the Heart

Yes, I do believe the pagan holidays are offensive to God. I also believe He is merciful. . . God looks on the heart and views our motives.

“Man looks to the outward appearance but God looks to the heart.”

The Reason for the Season

The attention of the whole world is called to acknowledge the birth of the Savior at this time of year, even if they don’t believe. Let us be careful not to get our focus off of what is important. If our desire is to celebrate or not to celebrate the birth of Jesus at this time of the year, then let that be done according to the purity of the heart and with integrity of conviction without judgment toward others.

God looks at the heart. Jesus taught against condemning one another—He taught the most important things: 1. Love God. 2. Love others. This should be our focus. Too many are condemning others on either side.

Christmas is a merging of pagan and Christian religions—it is a fact. The ultimate would be to abandon all forms of pagan worship and teach our children the ancient paths—only God’s pure worship. Then our children won’t be faced with this holiday dilemma each year.

How do we get there from here? I think it’s going to take time. Josiah changed things (2 Ch 34:3-8). He got rid of the paganism that crept in—but over a period of time. If we commit to seeking God through His Word and teach our children His Word, we will grow spiritually and God will reveal His paths.

A Season of Peace?

With so much controversy how does one have peace? Isaiah 26:3 says that if we keep our mind stayed (focused) upon God we will have perfect peace. Perfect peace was put in this verse when it actually says Shalom, Shalom.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

Let not your heart be troubled: John 14:1a

Bring peace to this season by focusing on Christ. Then celebrate Jesus in every season by loving one another.

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors. (Luke 2:14).

Of further interest:

“Should We Celebrate Christmas?” – online booklet
We Should Not Celebrate Christmas – a blog entry with several Links (pro and con)

It's 'that' time of year again: Christmas

Rather than totally re-post the whole post, which may make readers miss out on the great comments from a previous entry, please visit today’s post, which is actually a re-post.

How we do Christmas.

Scroll right down and read all the reader’s comments and the links to further reading.

Satan's Meeting

In similar vein to the Screwtape Letters, watch this and see if anything applies.

httpv://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DgJ-w5GSaYo

Blogging Addictions? Blogging Balance? (by Robin Sampson)

Today’s post is not my own writing. It is from a dear lady, Robin Sampson. This article was a blog post and you can see it in real time over on her blog. While you’re there, you might like to subscribe to her blog and receive updates of all her new blog posts- it’s worth it!

This morning I read two blogs Susan recommended warning Christian ladies about blogging addictions. Those Sneaky Idols and Blogging: What’s Your Motivation? Both posts made several excellent points.

We can turn anything into sin if it’s out of balance or if we have the wrong motivation. Shoes, make-up, food, TV, sports, pets, etc. can become addictions or idols. Volunteer work at church can become sin when it’s out of balance (before family) or done with the motivation to win approval. Balance and motivation are the keys.

God Created us with a Desire for Relationships

Christianity is about relationships – relationships with God, and relationships with other people. Blogging or reading and commenting on a blog are ways to interact and develop relationships.

In Bible times women interacted daily at the well or gathering animals, etc. They also lived with extended families (grandma, aunts, cousins, etc.). Today’s American women are isolated and crave the company of other women. We don’t go to the community well each morning but we can go on the Internet.

Blogging and leaving comments are great ways we can encourage one another or bear one another’s burdens. There are going to be times when we just don’t have much strength and we need encouragement from others. God tells us,

Think of ways to encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:24)
…build each other up… (1 Thess 5:11)
Bear one another’s burdens. (Gal 6:2)

Encouragement is a special expression of love helping us to focus on God and resist sin! “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13.

I don’t feel guilty about blogging or commenting when it is in balance. My reasons for blogging are listed at Five Reasons I Blog. I need relationships. God made me that way. However, the first relationship I need is God. If my time is spent anywhere else before I spend time with the Lord, it is out of balance.

What About Blogging Awards?

Blogging awards are a way to tell others about a blog you recommend. No different than telling a friend you know someone she should meet–someone that is like-minded. I found so many special blogs, I created Spiritual Sunday Meme as a place to list encouraging links weekly. (HOW depends on word-of-mouth because we don’t have the funds to advertise.) Blogging awards shouldn’t be motivation but certainly can be an encouragement, just like comments. Again–balance and motivation are keys.

Our Most Important Relationship

We can only encourage others and bear one another’s burdens when our relationship with God is in order. When I fail to take in spiritual nutrition, daily Bread, I walk in my flesh; I am too weak to battle the fiery darts; I am too weak to take every thought captive.

But when I take the time to read God’s powerful Word I get strength and wisdom. It is only through this essential two-way communication—prayer and Bible study—that we build our relationship with God. And only then do we get the strength to walk in His ways, resist temptations, and gain the wisdom to make the right choices that will affect our entire lives (and our children’s and grandchildren’s lives).

Max Anders said,

“It matters to God how we use our time. It is something which He has given us. We don’t own it. We are responsible to manage it for Him. It doesn’t mean we must always work. Part of our time should be used in recreation and rest, the development and enjoyment of relationships. But we must be aware of how we use our time, and use it wisely” (30 Days to Understanding the Bible).

If you are on the Internet to the point that you put aside Bible study, recognize this as a signal, like recognizing hunger pain as a signal to eat, that it is TIME for Bible study and prayer. Time is limited. It is like a handbreadth. Use it well.

“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

What do you think? Are you a good steward of your time? Is Bible study a priority in your day? Pray about evaluating your schedule and ask God to lead!

Blogging Addiction? Ironic Post

After my last post, I thought I’d do a quick quiz. Guess what? It’s official! I am not as addicted to blogging as I once was. There, I read it on a website so it’s gotta be true eh?

Actually, the only reason I scored 68% is because I know what I’m doing with blogs, not because I blog regularly or frequently. So I use RSS instead of manually checking individual blogs? Doesn’t mean I’m addicted…but it does mean I’m trying to be efficient with my time. So, I represent, resemble, er resent that score of 68%. 😉

68%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

How about you? Are you a blog addict? Here are ten signs that may indicate that you have an addiction.

Bloglines, Google Reader or some other RSS reader is constantly open on your computer’s desktop.
You tell customers/friends that you missed a project deadline because “some things” came up but in reality, you were blogging.
You periodically dream that you are blogging.
You get inspiration for new blog posts at the strangest times – in the spa, on the softball diamond, while reading a book aloud to your children, while showering… you get the picture.
Before blogs, you used to tuck the kids into bed at night. Now you check for unapproved blog comments before heading to bed yourself.
In order for your family to keep up with what’s going on in your life, they have to read your blog. Furthermore, if they want to communicate with you, they have to comment on your blog.
You have actually considered setting up a blog for your pet of which you would post the entries pretending you are your pet (weirdo).
You can’t remember dates for your wedding anniversary, kids birthdays, etc., but you know what your Technorati rank is.
You blog about anything and everything including bad meals, your pets, getting your car stuck in snow, conversations you have in the bathroom, etc.
Keeping a blog is no longer enough but you now have to record your every move on Twitter.

Nah, I’m sure I’m the only one who has experienced those things…none of you gals (generally my reader base are women) would know what I’m talking about eh? 😉

Downfall of Homeschool Blogging

I love blogs! I like blogging! I also love online forums and communities. I believe they have different purposes. I’ve often said that some people need to stop ranting on forums and get themselves a blog! Forums are for sharing ideas, resources, etc whereas I see blogs (within the home-school community) for personal sharing, ranting and raving and expressing one’s own thoughts, being as biased or straight forward as one likes. Your blog is your personal soap-box. Forums are a bit different and much more netiquette is needed.

B U T …

I believe that the blogging explosion has stolen something from community forums.

Think about your early days of homeschooling. Did you belong to an online forum, email group or online community? Did you receive help and support? After having received help and support are you now one who gives support? Have you noticed that as the blogosphere has grown the online community forums have diminished? How do you feel about this? How do you think newbies feel about this? ( I don’t have the answers – feel free to comment)

I love having my online home, where I can decorate as I like, rant and rave…write or not write! But, I will never give up forums…I love the combined effort that online communities offer. I started blogging as I found I was writing the same answers over and over again – it seemed more time efficient to simply put it in one place, but I know that many people prefer a more personal response – they prefer forums. So, I will continue to be a part of online communities – it’s my way of trying to serve others.

Blogging can be addictive.(It has it’s own dangers= the lure of popularity, to come up with ‘new’ information or thoughts, etc) To be a self publisher and see one’s own words in print – wow! Once one starts to post regularly the comments start rolling in…one can gain in popularity, get ranked in the blogging social bookmarking sites. It all looks rather professional really. However, there are dangers that every Christian needs to be aware of. Guard your heart.

Online communities offer something that the blogosphere doesn’t or can’t by its very nature. An online community can offer support, encouragement, information, resources, laughter, fellowship in the one place – from more than one member! Which means one can go on holiday and feel at peace- instead of worrying about the readers wondering when the next blog post will be written.

We’re created to be part of a community…and the blogosphere provides an online community – to an extent. But community forums are where newbies go for help first…

So I ask, why do you blog? Are you blogging for you or with the heart motive of serving other’s. Should the answer to this question change your actions at all?

Spring is here – time for a change

Oh can’t you feel it? The colder months are behind us and the sun is starting to peek out from behind the clouds. Ah, this is more like it.

I loved the Queensland weather. I was never cold. Then we came back down to South Australia and I can’t remember the last time I was warm. let alone hot. Now in all honesty, it isn’t that bad. Especially compared to Canberra or Victoria but I didn’t like the weather there either. But it’s spring and I can just feel the change! I’m so excited.

To herald in the warmer months, I thought it was time to redecorate. If I lived in my own home I would probably have planted spring bulbs or have stencilled some floral art work on the walls but this is our 7th home in 7 years so redecorating is not on my agenda. But I can redecorate my online home. So here’s my new theme. Yes, back to the lavender, muted purple colours. I can’t help but go back to florals. It was either that or coffee colours but I don’t need any encouragement in that area- I already drink too much coffee! I hope this theme works for you. I’ve tested it on a few different browsers and it works for me.

So is anyone spring cleaning? Planting seedlings? Re-modelling? What personal or family projects do you have to work on over the spring months?

Fragrant atmosphere of our home

Homeschool Fear session with Robin Sampson

Robin Sampson – Homeschool Fear Session w/ Q&A to follow

EVERYONE is welcome to join in for this session in the HOTM online conference room! FREE! Everyone present will be entered to win a copy of Robin’s book, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach (one e-book and one regular book to give away).

Date: Friday, August 8, 2008
Time: 10:30 EST
For Australian’s this will be late tonight or early hours of Saturday morning. Use the Time Zone converter to find the right time for you.

Below are instructions on how to log into the conference. You will need to log in from a Windows-based computer.

1. Click the link to the room: http://clients.audiovideoconference.net/conference.php?id=33090855
2. You’ll be prompted to download a small and very safe file.
3. Open the file and then log in. To log in simply enter your name. No password is required to listen to the talks.

If you want to read a little of what Robin may be sharing on, you can visit her blog and mull over these gems for awhile:

The worst part of religious thinking

Working harder is not the answer

Running out of gas

Daisy Petal Christianity

It has been a very hectic week here and I’m so tired but I would really love to stay awake and listen in. Will you be joining in?

My new baby… project

I have been wanting to post for ages but I haven’t been able to grab the spare 1/2hr to do so. Hmm, there used to be a time when it wouldn’t take me 30 min to post but my mind has been elsewhere. Where? I hear you ask! Oooh, I’m so glad you asked! Now I get the chance to show of my new baby – oops, my new project, er obsession.

Yes, it is finally ready for use! It is a dream I have had for many years and the former site was a mere shadow of what I have always dreamt of and planned for, but now it is finally here! Of course, it wouldn’t be possible without the tireless efforts of my dear husband, for without his many, long hours it would not be possible. Thank you John!

Aussie Homeschool is a free online community for all Australian homeschool (current, past, enquiring or potential) parents. The purpose and vision of Aussie Homeschool is to connect Australian homeschoolers from every town and state! There is opportunity to buy and sell resources, to give and receive encouragement, to share, to laugh, and to learn with other like-minded people. We’re sure you’ll love our online community. Try it…this online community is what you make it. Our purpose is to provide you with an informative, insightful, stimulating and encouraging platform for all your interests and needs.Together, we can make this community an enriching and helpful Australian network.

So this is an official welcome to any/all Australian home educators to pop over, register and join in. There are discussion forums, classifieds (to buy, sell, rent or give away), file sharing, networking, articles, news and more to be involved with. See ya there!

A Day In The Life of Our Unschooling Teen

Leonie posted a day in the life of her unschooled teen. I enjoyed reading it so thought I’d ask ‘Eldest Daughter’s’ permission to write her day. Some days are similar to this and other days are completely different to this. Now she is working again, (she had to leave her other job to relocate to SA) our rhythm is changing again. It’s been fantastic to have her home with me full time and we did make the most of it knowing that she’d go back to work soon.

She awoke at 7am and did some stretching and then when straight into her morning workout. Today was resistance training using free weights. Then she made herself an omelette for breakfast. She did a quick check of her online forums and email. And yes, she can actually do a brief check, unlike me! Then, she went off to clean her room and get ready for work. She then came out and did some research reading on the subject of coffee and beans and then wrote on her blog about it. This of course, led to her experimenting with our machine to get the ‘perfect crema’ from the espresso. While she was there she made the rest of us cappuccino’s and hot chocolate for the boys while we sat and talked about…coffee! We were talking about making our own blends and what particular roasts are good to blend.

Then it was time to go to work. She starts at 12pm but we needed to zip over to the coffee shop and buy some freshly roasted beans…I dropped her off at work a few minutes early so we had 15 minutes to sit for and talk. This was a short chat but we girls can get straight to the heart of the matter, discussing emotionally deep and personal issues. I love these chats and she loves to hear my thoughts on things and she mostly wants to hear what the Bible has to say on the many things that go through her mind. Today she has a 4 hour shift so she’ll finish at 4pm. While on the way back home I got a call from the school. ‘Younger daughter’ isn’t well and I stop off at the school to pick the poor poppit up and bring her home.

Meanwhile, the boys had tended to their morning chores and did some reading and while I was zipping ‘Eldest Daughter’ to work they found the family tent and set it up. This is a large tent and it took them awhile but they want to ‘camp out’ tonight. 🙂 So Younger Daughter and I arrived home – we all regroup and then have lunch. (1pm)

(4.30pm) John (dh) picked ‘Eldest Daughter’up while on his way home from work and they arrive home by 5pm, by which time I have the cappuccino machine ready to pour all the coffee’s and we sit together and discuss everyone’s day. ‘Eldest Daughter’ does another quick check of her email & Internet (and is totally excited as she receives an email from a good friend who wants to come and stay for a few days- a friend from Brisbane. She responds excitedly) Then she helps with setting the table and meal preparation, all the while involved in family discussion. Our tea times are always loud and rowdy with most of us giving our opinion on anything and everything. I was fairly organised so there wasn’t an awful mess to clean up after tea. All the children contribute toward cleaning up. This is great but it’s awfully noisy!

After tea, ‘Eldest Daughter’ popped on the treadmill and did a 30min cardio workout. She listened to some praise music while running and then comes out to tell me some thoughts she’s been having about a scripture. Then she sat with me and we watched some TV while surfing the ‘net on her laptop. She’s heavily researching and learning about coffee and barista work as this is an area she wants to go further in. She is tinkering with the idea of one day opening up her own coffee shop. She talks to me incessantly about her dreams, ideas and passions. We laugh together at the sometimes corniness of it all…but it’s what we do. It’s what makes us have such a close relationship. We live together, laugh together, dream together and sometimes, cry together.

She headed off to bed with a good book (she’s on book 5 in the Gods and Kings series). Problem is; she often stays awake until the early hours reading these good books! But these books have been such a source of inspiration and knowledge…we speak about it frequently and share our learning from these books.

‘Eldest Daughter’ is mostly self managed but she likes me to be involved. I don’t mind because I know that she is an independent learner and capable person but she simply *likes* to have me around. Today she didn’t do any fitness reading and writing but on another day she will. She also didn’t do any of the Business Maths that she has on the go but she will at another time. Another day she will do Bible study and/or cook a family meal or go and do the shopping or help me with the housework or do some work with the boys. Each day is different but is packed with learning activities. Her days simply don’t look like a structured schooly system…but I know she is learning and she knows it too. It works well for her and for us as a family. The day doesn’t sound that interesting or exciting and truth is, it probably isn’t. It’s the relationships within the day that make it all worthwhile…the manner in which she lives her day- full of purpose, knowing that she is operating in and developing her passions and God given talents, while strengthening her weaknesses. I’ve found that over the course of the semester or the year she delves into most, if not all, subject areas. She has grown as a person, as a daughter of the King. And in the end, we’re all thankful for the ability and opportunity to be home-based-learners.

What about you? Care to share a day in the life of your teen? (With their permission, of course)

‘Eldest Daughter’ is 17
‘Younger daughter’ is 15 and a half
Boys are 13 and 10

Savoury Pumpkin Pie

Okay Jacqui,

Here’s my easy peasy recipe for Pumkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

1 kg pumpkin, peeled,
1 cup rice (brown gives a crunch and nutty flavour but white is fine too)
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 ¼ cup cheese
salt & pepper
1 cup breadcrumbs.

Method

Boil pumpkin and mash, adding a dob of butter.

Boil rice. Add rice, egg, 1 cup cheese, milk and seasonings to pumpkin. Smooth into dish.
Top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake 25-30 min in 180C degree oven (350F).
Serve with crusty bread and a tossed green salad.

Serves approximately 4.

I vary this depending upon what is in the fridge. If we have left over Fried Rice, I add that or corn, mushroom, etc
I also play around with herbs/spices like nutmeg, caraway seeds and lots more pepper.
Sometimes, I add parmesan cheese to the mix and maybe even crushed cornflakes instead of breadcrumbs.

If we have a vegetable soup, like a broccoli or cauliflower soup, made with home made stock, this will do us for a main meal…along with fruit or a piece of bread n jam afterwards. 😉

Seasonal Cooking

After having several yummy and nutritious meals lately, we’re going fairly light tonight and eating some of the left-overs. However, I’ll make a Spinach and Potato Soup with a fresh tossed salad. This soup is so easy and delicious. I simply sauté an onion and some garlic in a mixture of olive oil and coconut oil. I add half a potato per person along with a packet of frozen spinach. I sometimes prefer frozen veggies, if I can’t or won’t buy organic. I think they have as much, if not more, nutrients in them than the ‘fresh vegetables‘ from the grocer that may have travelled many miles before getting to my table.

If I don’t have any home made stock, I add about 1 and a half cups of water per person, along with a stock cube, pepper and parsley. I’ll simmer this for about 30 min. Then I use my hand held wand (blender) to puree it. It can be served with croutons (‘Miss A’ makes the best ones) but if we’re watching our carb intake I tend to omit them but I’ll serve a tsp of good quality parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. While it isn’t fashionable any more to have salt on the table, we do. I use an organic, unprocessed Celtic Sea Salt, which we may crush in the mortar along with some fresh herbs. This allows us to make up our seasonings on the spot. The children love doing this as they can ‘make their own’. 😎

I’ve been looking at trying to eat more ‘seasonally‘. To do this, I have to look at prices of fresh produce, not just at what is available on the shelves. These days, most veg is easily available but it doesn’t mean it’s fresh. 😡

Persimmons are high in glucose and contain good amounts of protein but none of us like them! My MIL gave me a large bag of them from her tree but we won’t eat them as raw fruit. Maybe I’ll try the pudding from this site:
Here’s a free download which will inform you about persimmons if, like me, you don’t know much about them.

Cabbage isn’t our favourite veggie but it can really stretch out a meal. The meal I use cabbage for mostly is our version of a Chow Mein. I’ll post the recipe when we have it next. I use Kangaroo meat, rice and cabbage as the basis for it.

Sweet potato (kumera or yams) is not only yummy but supplies our bodies with Vit. E and folate. Just last night, I julienned a sweet potato and added it to the baking dish where I was roasting cubed potatoes. We all love sweet potato!

Mushrooms are also in season but at $9 per kg I can’t afford too many. But pumpkins were cheap at the markets so I bought a few of those. Pumpkins are so versatile, aren’t they? We like Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Pie with Brown Rice.

Do you have any absolutely delightful recipes featuring these foods? Would you like to share the recipe, either by writing here or leaving a link to your own blog post? I’d love to hear your favourite winter recipes, or those recipes using foods in season.

Nourishing Foods…From the Inside Out

I’ve noticed that our eating habits change with every house we are in. I think it mainly has to do with the kitchen. Even though this house is smaller, the kitchen is bigger! I l o v e the kitchen!!!!!! Plenty of bench space and cupboard space makes storing goods easier but the best thing is that the stove is fuelled by gas! I love cooking with gas instead of electricity.

About 1.5 km down the road is the local Village Plaza where I have Woolworths and Foodland (Foodland is a South Australian Independent store) but they also have a few butchers, a continental deli , a fresh-food green grocer and a bakery. What more could I ask for? For the first time in years, I am able to actually buy the things that I usually cook with.

Once a fortnight, we’ve been going into the city to the Central markets. Many years ago, the markets overwhelmed me but now I am zipping around them with ease. I don’t know if it is because I am older and a bit more relaxed or that after traipsing around the nation, learning about new, foreign towns every year, that I am thoroughly enjoying the familiarity of Adelaide. maybe my perception of what was hard has now changed, after our recent life experiences.

Anyway, I have been thoroughly enjoying all the cooking and preparing of meals once again. My passion for healthy food has been rekindled and so I’ve been doing some reading of Nourishing Traditions again and visiting a few blogs- only a few though…I have hardly been online at all and I’m not overly keen to start spending hours at it again. However, I did want to mention a few things that I’ve been reading and doing.

Michigan Momto3 writes some very inspiring and informative posts on her blog, Musings of Home and Hearth. I know this lady and she has such knowledge for nourishing foods…and such a passion to share! Do drop by her blog and try some of her recipes and read her shared knowledge of books she is currently reading.

Reading her blog, I was inspired to make my own stock again. I toddled off to the shops and bought some chicken carcasses, came home and simmered them away on the stove. The whole family agreed that tonight’s Minestrone Soup was the absolute *best* I’ve ever made. I credit the stock. Something that I learned from Nourishing Traditions is to add a little vinegar to the stockpot as this helps draw the nutrients out of the bones and carcass.

With rising costs of meat, and the concern I have with typical meat from the butcher we tend not to eat beef or lamb anymore. Instead, we have always used ground kangaroo meat. But I have found the best organic kangaroo store at the Central markets. not only can I get ground meat, but beautiful roo sausages and diced steak. The other night, I did Kangaroo Pepper Steak with mashed potato and pumpkin. It was lovely! Tonight, I used the diced steak to make Kangaroo Stroganoff. Again, the meat was beautifully tender and juice, which isn’t always easy with game meat. Not only is the kangaroo cheaper but it hasn’t been tainted with as many chemicals and other yuckies. So, if you see me post a few recipes, you’ll know why- that’s where my head is at the moment.

Another thing that may be worth sharing is what I have been using to cleanse my face. Yeah, I know, who really cares right? But this is quite interesting. I had previously used Cetaphil with simple moisturiser but since coming down south, away from the lovely humidity of Brisbane, I have really felt my skin, particularly my face, become very dry. I would use the moisturiser but my face would just soak it all up. I don’t like to use a heavy moisturiser as I can tend to have an oily T zone. I had read a little about the Oil Cleansing Method but didn’t like the idea at first…after all my skin can tend to be oily. But I also know that oily skin will become oilier if not moisturised or conditioned. So I took to researching it a bit more. Then I thought I’d have a play and experiment with it. well after using it for a few weeks, I suggested that ‘Miss A’ use it too. She has now been using it for 2 weeks and she loves it too!

My skin has been very clear and feels so smooth. It isn’t dry any more but it certainly isn’t oily. After I get out of the shower I simply splash a little cool water on my face to close the pores and then I use Akin’s Rosehip oil around my eyes and the Simple moisturiser on my face and neck. Sometimes, I use the same oil mixture on my neck and décolletage. Oh, it’s also fantastic for removing make-up! Absolutely wonderful. Other times, especially at night I might use Virgin Coconut Oil. (I also use Coconut Oil on my hair at night- about once a week. It’s magic!)

I poured the oils into a jar and followed the instructions on this site: The Oil Cleansing Method.

I used the following oils for my skin:

30ml Castor Oil
30ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
30ml Grapeseed Oil
5-10ml Tea Tree Oil
a few drops of Sweet Almond oil

Here are a few more links if you’re interested:

http://www.highonhealth.org/why-you-need-to-start-using-the-oil-cleansing-method-ocm/

http://www.thebeautybottle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6&Itemid=2

As with anything though, you should do your own research first and then do some test patches before applying to your face.

That’s about it for now…till next time.

Every House Needs a Can of WD-40

Note to self:

I am knee deep in cleaning and putting things in their place when I found out the my rubber backed bathmat is stuck to the bathroom floor! After making a mental note to NOT use rubber backed bath mats again I have tried to get it off. It’s hard work, and a lot of elbow grease. But I have found something that makes the job easier.

WD-40

Spray it all over the rubber, leave for as long as possible (I left mine for about 2 hours) and then attack it with a plastic scraper! Only thing that worked!

It’s not just for the car and shed. Must remember to keep a can of WD-40 in my cleaning cupboard.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

The Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme is simple for me this week. This is a few of the blog posts I’ve enjoyed. My RSS feed reader is chock-a-block with new posts but I simply haven’t had time to read them yet. maybe one day soon…

Cindy’s Desktop Cindy interviews Wendy Shaw from MyMorningSickness.com. You will LOVE this show! Wendy and Cindy discuss a topic that is for EVERYONEeven if you are now mothering grown children. Yep! They discuss what to do when mum is not feeling well! Great MP3 download!
Robin answers the question of “Just how do you do it all?“
Dana writes on praying “Take me away with you“
This post is a beautiful reminder about creating a lovely atmosphere in our master bedroom. I know too well that it isn’t easy with little children, but we can still try. It’s certainly worth the effort. As my children have gotten older I have used my bedroom more and more as a sanctuary. I really appreciate it. This post also has some good links to follow.
Different blog, same author writes about creating and caring for our homes

I've had a facelift!

Tehee, I thought that might get some attention. Okay, so I haven’t had a facelift but my blog has! I love mucking around with graphics, colours and themes and often practice new themes from the back end of my blog, but where’s the fun in that? I was also very annoyed to see that my blog rendered fine in Firefox and Opera it looked all skewif in IE. The right column wasn’t where it should be and things like that. It bugged me. So I played around with it. I had been toying with the idea of going with a completely different style- still sticking with 3 columns but both on the same side- it’s very Web 2.0 of me eh? Usually I spend some time tweaking the template to suit me and reflect my taste in colours but this new template is straight out of the box! Do you like it? ‘They’ say that a change is as good as a holiday (ever wondered who ‘they’ are?) so this is my new look for 2008.

So, I went away from my usual purples and went with a beautiful design from InfoCreek. For some reason, this theme reminds me of the series of books I’ve recently enjoyed: Chronicles of the Kings by Lynn Austin but I don’t know why.

I have tested this template (Aspire) in 4 different browsers and it looks fine for me. I hope it does for you too. If however, you do not like the new look, you can choose to view my blog using a different theme.

Maybe you like the old one (Dark Ritual) or maybe a deep pink patchwork is more your style (Bonita).

Downtown Java is a pretty theme inspired my love of coffee and blue florals.

Techicon is a simple, purple design, because I still love purple.

Vertigo Electrified is also a 3 column, maroon, black and white theme which is quite quick to load.

And just because I still love purple, there is the WP_Premium. It also loads quite fast.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, on the right hand side you should find a section that says “Theme Switcher“. Just click on the template that loads best for you and you’ll zoom around this site as quick as a flash.

If you have any problems with the site or any feedback, don’t hesitate to drop me an email or leave a comment.

SSSS

It’s been a long time since I’ve participated in a Super Spiritual Sunday Meme but I have a few links to share you with today. Technically it isn’t really SSSS for me as I’m blogging on Monday morning. However it is Sunday for many other who live on the other side of the world…so post I will!

😛

Pruning the homeschool tree by Taschek Tales. Those who have homeschooled for long will recognise a lot and newer homeschoolers will find nuggets to glean for future reference.
High School Scheduling- Some Non-Traditional Options by Janice Campbell. While you’re there have a look around Janice’s blog. You’ll find a ton of good and helpful information especially for high schoolers.
Homeschooling from Overflow is a timely reminder to recharge our batteries, by Jeannie Fulbright.
Selecting a Bible: How to Choose the Best Bible for Your Needs by Eclectic Homeschool.
While not a Christian site or program, this link is to a podcast featuring Australian homeschoolers. We Homeschool at the ABC.
Marvelous Mud Washing Machine has a good article on Training Our Children

Creating Your Home

“The only way to provide the right home for your children is to put the Lord above them and fully instruct them in the ways of the Lord. You are responsible before God for the home you provide for them.”~Billy Graham

The best houses seem to come ‘from the heart’, and are created by people who know who they are and express it. ~Charlotte Moss

“Home is where we belong, it is our space and our place whether for a week, a year or as long as we can foresee. It is where we can just ‘be’ and also where we can express ourselves in our surroundings, be they a temporary room, a rented apartment or our own house. It is a place of rest from work, but also requires work to keep it going. It is a place of relaxation and of enjoyment in making it interesting, colourful, beautiful and welcoming; where we can thrive rather than passively survive.” ~ Adapted from Ruth Fowke

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. ~William Morris

Don’t Neglect This Important Test

Paranoid teens? Hormonal headaches? Losing interest in things?

Maybe.

But maybe they just need their eyes tested!

A few years ago, one of my daughters would often ask John and I, “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Our response would be along the lines of, “You’re our beautiful daughter. Of course we look at you!”

But she often thought we were giving her a dirty look and would often respond accordingly. ~sigh~ We weren’t of course, but she couldn’t see us clearly and couldn’t make out the look on our faces. When we would watch a family movie, she often lost interest and would go to bed and read, despite her love for movies. She complained frequently of headaches. So off to the optometrist we went. Not just any optometrist though. I searched for a behavioural optometrist that works with children. Well, as it all turned out the poor lass did need glasses and quite strong ones at that. My darling daughter couldn’t believe how much clearer the world was when wearing the glasses. She is no longer paranoid and thinking we are ‘looking’ at her angrily. She can see our facial expressions quite clearly now. The headaches have also gone. Praise the Lord!

Just a few months ago, I noticed that our older daughter, the athlete, was squinting to see the catcher. She couldn’t see the signals. Her solid fielding of grounders dropped also. Off we went for a check-up. Lo and behold she needed glasses too! She also has contact lenses for playing sport. She is still totally amazed at how clear the world is. She says that she ‘missed out’ on seeing so much as it just wasn’t clear! If she wasn’t playing sport I probably wouldn’t have picked it up and taken her to be checked over. Many children get their eyes tested after a recommendation from a school teacher. Sometimes the children can’t see the blackboard. As homeschooler’s we don’t sit at the back of the class and read from the blackboard (which is a good thing!) but that also means that we may not pick up on a problem quite as quickly as if they were in school. It’s easier for the child to naturally compensate for blurry vision by moving closer or adjusting their position.

Whenever I go to the optometrist they get me to look through a lens to show me what each child sees. Wow! I couldn’t believe how poor the vision of my girls was. No wonder Bek thought we were giving her dirty looks. No wonder she couldn’t be bothered to watch a movie- she couldn’t see it! No wonder ‘Miss A’ couldn’t see the catcher’s signals- all she could see was the outline of the catcher, let alone their fingers! But the girls also didn’t realise their vision was so bad. As with many things that creep into our lives it happened slowly, little bit by little bit so it went unnoticed.

Please, listen and watch your children closely. Take them for a check up. It won’t hurt and you might be glad you did.

Optometrists.com.au is a good site. This article suggests that some learning delays can be attributed to a child’s poor visual system.
Search the Optometrist Association of Australia to find one near you.

Overview of December's Posts

Each month I’m going to write an overview of all my posts for each month. I’ll post them in the category “Overview of Monthly Posts” I won’t go back and do this for posts in the past, but it’s something I will in the future.I’ll start by listing the posts at the beginning of each month.

HOW Weekly Book Giveaway is where Robin from Heart of Wisdom details how to be in the running for a free book!
Activity Sheets is a post I wrote where you can download a free printable chart based on the anagram “IDEA” which will give you tools fo ryou to use in your homeschool.
What’s a blog and why are they popular? is a post where I lined to a video visual that informs about the nature of blogging.
First Job, Resumes and all that is where I wrote about the process of my teen daughters getting their part time jobs, tax file numbers, bank accounts, etc.
Teaching Character was written partly as a response to a comment that I received from another post. The reader had asked me to clarify soemthing I had written about not using the Bible to teach character to my children.
Run, don’t walk…HOW is having a 50% off ebook sale.
The last 10 years of Home Education in Australia as seen through my eyes. Be sure to read the comments.
Dreamworld Narration from my 10yods
Dreamworld Narration from my 12yods
Whew, I think it worked was written after we successfully changed Internet hosts…after many headaches for my dh.
Spontaneous Lessons and Matters of the Heart was penned as I was reminded to put aside the hustle and bustle of daily ‘urgencies’ to truly minister to the needs of my children.
Bit’s in Pieces was just a bit of catching up.
More on Prodigal Children was written as I ruminated on some of the Kings of Israel, their children and being raised in a non- Christian home. It makes reference to this previous post, which is worth reading for the comments.
A Busy Homeschool Mum was my remembering that I need to focus on the Lord God and His glory, His majesty, His grace and let the rest fall into place.
Music and Art in our Home was originally written in 2003. It was previously written on my website (not blopg) but I”m slowly trying to clean the place up so thought I’d move it here.
Our scope and sequence for studying World History.
Geography in our home was also written previously and so I thought I’d move it here to the blog.
Curriculum Planning was a post that I wrote about planning homeschool schedules using my 4R’s: pray, to ponder, peruse and plan.

Feel free to leave a comment. You can also subscribe to receive email notification of any comments made. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts!

If you are looking for a previous, you can use the drop down box, located at the top of each post or use the search engine located in the right had side bar. You can also peruse the Article page where many of the posts that I enjoyed writing or have received most comments will be filed. You can find this at the top left hand sidebar, along with the page of Archives that are grouped by months.

Music and Art the HomeGrownKids Way

(originally written in 2003)

Music

We enjoy all styles of music from Colin Buchanan to Tchaikovsky, from Charlotte Church (Voice of an Angel) to the Military Bagpipes. We have studied Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart; Hymns, Choruses, Folk Songs, and all other forms of music. We have used book by Ann Rachlin, “The Famous Children” series and the “World Greatest Composer’s” by Mike Venezia. I use “Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers” by Patrick Kavanaugh.

Music links to help with your music appreciation lessons:

“Alice in Orchestralia” is but another “Alice in Wonderland,” for the author takes us in delightful fashion into the heart of that most wondrous land of all – the land of music.
Opal wheeler unit study and The Great Musicians Biography Series Unit studies
Classics for Kids is a great site for parents and children! Do check it out.
A fun site where children can learn about musicians, music terms, compose music, and all sorts of great musical activities.
Compose music, play music-related games, and solve puzzles.
A fun story detailing the life of Mozart.
Wolfgang Amade Mozart ~ site for the whole family.
My Sheet Music — Good sheet music site on the web, includes free classical music, children’s songs, ragtime pieces, and traditional hymns, as well as free lesson plans and teaching resources. Free, but you do have to sign up.
Interdisciplinary music lesson plans.
Composers and their compositions

Art

We have learned about some artists such as, Albrecht Durer, Mary Cassatt, Caravaggio and Albert Namitjirra and also enjoyed doing some picture studies by various artists.

Art links to help with your art appreciation lessons:

Famous Paintings for students!
Units or activities that correspond with the books by Mike Venezia~Getting to know the World’s Greatest Artists…
Art sology ~ online games that serve as a gateway or springboard to further investigation and enjoyment of the arts.
Art Sparkers ~ new and innovative ways to express yourself artistically.
Timeline of Art History
Portrait Detectives~ learn about art history through the study of portraits
Art History: Resources On The Web
National Art Gallery: Kids
Puppetry~ all things Puppetry.
The Renaissance Collection ~ interactive site devoted to the art, architecture and learning that occurred from about 1400-1600 A.D.that transitioned humans from medieval to modern times.
Meet the Painters ~ This website provides a quick and easy way to introduce kids to a variety of well known painters.
More Than Math ~ A fascinating and fun web site that integrates art and math. Includes activities and an art gallery
The Web Museum – a great site with artist biographies, art history lessons, and more!
Help A. Pintura, Art Detective, solve his cases.
Australian Artists
The Incredible Art Department — free lesson plans and activities for all ages
The Getty’s Art Education Web Site — free lesson plans & unit studies by grade level
The Elements of Art Through Photography 5th grade lesson plan–from Kodak.
A History of Photography
Art High School Lesson Plans!
Art Lesson Plans

Colouring Pages

There are so many colouring books to be found online that I’d be here all day trying to list them. Usually a google search will find you what you need. See also:

Jan Brett Pages
Jim Arnosky colouring book
Dover Coloring books will send you monthly emails, with links to free samples of their books.

**I take no responsibility for the content on any pages that are linked from this site. At the time of publishing, all links are correct and *family-safe* but due to the ever changing nature of the Internet, I cannot guarantee that they remain that way. Parents should always supervise their children’s Internet viewing.

What's a blog and why are they popular?

Ever wondered what the big craze with blogging is? Or how a blog works? What system lies behind the success of the blogosphere? well, if you’re interested in starting a blog or curious as to the what,when, where, how and why of blogging you might like to watch this short, 3 minute video put out by the folk at Common Craft.

Short, easy to understand and to the point. You can watch the video or download the script to read. If you’re interested in blogs, it’s worth a look.

William Wilberforce on a Real Christian

Just spotted this over at Mrs. Nancy Wilson’s blog and wanted to share it.

William Wilberforce writing about his wife:

?I believe her to be a real Christian,? he wrote, ?affectionate, sensible, rational in habits, moderate in desires and pursuits, capable of bearing prosperity without intoxication, and adversity without repining.?

This is from David Vaughn?s biography of Wilberforce, published by Cumberland House, titled Statesman and Saint.

How We 'Do' Christmas

We 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.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

Do Your Feelings Have Veto-Power Over Scripture?
http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.636

Church Growth Movie
http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.239
What Value Does The Bible Have, To You?
http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.443

Teaching Teens How to Read Academically
http://mothercroneshomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/10/teaching-teens-how-to-read-academically.html

Raising Children
http://kitchencomfortlearning.blogspot.com/2007/10/raising-children.html

Job Assignments
http://femina.reformedblogs.com/2007/10/24/job-assignments/

Submission requires Courage
http://femina.reformedblogs.com/2007/10/26/submission-requires-courage/

Doctrine Discerns
http://voiceofvision.blogspot.com/2007/10/doctrine-discerns.html

Get started by selecting ingredients found in your kitchen. Based on the ingredients you choose, Pantry Chef will return a list of recipes. And, presto! Your dinnertime dilemma is solved with a delicious meal.
http://www.southernprogress.com/pantrychef/

Seven Wonders Of The Present World
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/842482/seven_wonders_of_the_present_worl
Learn more about Spiritual Sunday here.
View More Spiritual Sunday Participants

Emotionally Absent

Light’s are on but nobody’s home.

As a homeschool mum I had given up any notion of a career outside the home. I did this joyously and because I wanted to. I didn’t want to miss the everyday happenings of my children…I didn’t want to be absent…but would you believe that a Christian homeschooling mum who dearly loves her children struggled with this very issue?

It all started about five years after we started homeschooling. I had tried a school-at-home approach, tried unit studies and was burning myself out by trying to rigidly conform our home and family to fall in line with Charlotte Mason’s methods. Previous to this my dear mother had *graduated* to be with the Lord and we started homeschooling within a few weeks. I also had a 6 month old baby at the time. My husband was away frequently and I found it hard. Then we completely uprooted from everything and everyone familiar to go to a new job in a new town, in a new state! My health was slowly going downhill. I think I’ve mentioned before that it can be draining and tiring to go our and make new friends and start all over again, so I didn’t. I was at a place where I was content…or so I thought.

The Internet is such an easy place to get lost in eh? One can roam around and meet new people, learn new things and justify sitting on one’s backside for large periods of time. (Oh, but maybe I’m the only one who struggles with that) I soon found that if I wasn’t actually physically sitting at my chair on the Internet, my head was on the Internet. Instead of my heart being turned toward the home, it was turned toward the Internet! You know, while in the shower pondering various situations and posts…thinking of email responses and hurrying the dishes just to write a quick reply…(or am I alone here too? I don’t think I am. )

It got to the point where I was hurrying through lessons…or when I was reading aloud my mind wasn’t really on the book. I was simply going through the motions of homeschooling and parenting. The lights were on but no one was home. I was physically present but emotionally absent from my home and the lives of those most precious to me.

But you know what? Simply recognising the problem wasn’t enough to fix it. 🙁 I asked some good (internet) friends to pray for me. They knew of my struggles and pray they did! I believe it was largely due to them, and due to the desire of my heart, that God released me from the bondage of Internet Addiction. Yep, I kid you not! Sad, isn’t it?

Part of the solution was for me to realise what attraction the Internet held for me. A large part of it was fellowship with like-minded believers. That was a huge part. There was another part of me that desired adult interaction. I also like to escape from the mundane. And I love to talk…I love to listen. I also love to learn. Aha, see all the causes that band together to fuel the fires of my addiction? Once I recognised these things, I was able to devise a plan of action. I didn’t want to get rid of the computer all together. It is simply a machine. Surely I should be able to control it, rather than have it control me? I didn’t see that getting rid of it would help deal with the root of the problem.

I need fellowship. I need to receive and I need to give to other adults. I love to talk and write. And I was like sponge, I was so hungry for knowledge. But in all this, I was suffering from Information Overload. Too much information floating around in my head. I found it hard to make decisions because there were always so many differing opinions on things. (Oh boy, what a mess eh?) I ended up emotionally paralysed because of Information Overload – my mind never stopped, never rested. It was always on the go, the hunt for new or more information. All this busyness and effort and stress on such low priority activities.

Needing to know

I had an urge to ‘keep up with what’s happening‘…(this is just a form of gossip, which the Bible speaks a lot about) to know what was going on within the homeschool circles. (See, I told you I was in a mess). The thing is, there is just way too much information, too many blogs, too many forums, too much info to try and keep up with! I was able to give it up…by giving it all over to God.

I have had to learn, and am still on a major learning curve, how to focus and to think more clearly. I have had to learn to be selective about the things I read, the places I visit and emails I respond to. I’m not on as many email groups or forums anymore. I’ve had to learn how to guard my heart and mind…but that’s for another post. 😉

Breaking Free

Taking a break or sabbatical from the computer is good…I found it especially easy on holidays or moving house. Actually, after not being online for a few days I really start to rest. Then, even when we return I’m not in a hurry to get back online because I know the pull it has toward me.

Firstly, I had to repent. I repented in front of my children. I told them the problems I was having but that it was not the true desire of my heart. I apologised to them and asked their forgiveness. I also gave my children permission to let me know (in a correct and respectful manner) when I was being ‘absent’ from them. If I was on the computer instead of with them, I taught them that they could gently come to me, touch my hand and ask me to do something with them. I taught them that they weren’t to nag me. Strangely, I don’t respond well to nagging or sarcasm or whining. 😉 You know, my girls did have reason to come to me. But you know what? They did not abuse that privilege. They came to me in love, touched my hand gently and looked into my eyes. Oh, what mother could resist? This was a big key toward helping me. It provided me with some accountability. My husband had offered to turn off the connection between certain hours but I new that the motivation had to come from within me, not an external source. I don’t suggest that all families try something so forward but I share this because it helped me greatly. It also taught my children a few things: we all need accountability…their Christian homeschooling mother isn’t perfect…how to correct someone in love…how easily one can use something good to ‘escape’…to know what it means to be emotionally absent and more.

Dear wife, dear mother, be there for your husband. Be there for your children. They want you. And they need you. No one else can do the job you are doing right now. God wants you, dear Christian wife and/or mother, to serve your family wholeheartedly, as unto Him. Play a game of cards or Uno with them. Do a jigsaw puzzle with them. If you want to have a great relationship with them when they are 15, then you need to have a great relationship with them when they are five! God is a God of miracles so I’m not saying it’s too late for any relationship that isn’t solid…rather that it’s so much easier to maintain a solid relationship than to repair a broken or hurting one, and then build on it from there. I’m not saying you have to be talking to your children every waking minute of every day. I’m talking about priorities and quality and quantity time.

Start now, today. Nothing is more important. Writing a book? Book orders to send off? Curriculum choices to make? Writing an email response…these are all things that need to be prioritised because they can take you away from your children. So, turn of the browser…go call your children and talk to them as you teach them or have them help you prepare tonight’s meal. Go on, you’ll be so glad you did.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23

Reflection Award

The reason for The Blogger Reflection Award is to reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy… of knowing them and being blessed by them.

I was chuffed to receive this award, although awards aren’t a reason I blog. Some people do…but I”m just not consistent enough with regular writing…I write for me, from me, to you and me.

I would like to award the following bloggers the Blogger Reflection Award. I’m not following the rules rigidly. I have had this post saved in my draft folder for a few months now so it’s time to just get on with it.

Margaret

Sally Clarkson

Robin Sampson

Nancy Wilson

Barbara Frank

The rules of participating are:

1. Copy these rules.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link to this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Leave your chosen bloggers a comment to let them know they?ve been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

The only thing that matters at Terry’s Soapbox

Scientific Literate Teens over at AllInfoAboutHomeschooling
Deanne has written some great thoughts on Pride in One’s Lifestyle. A very good read…and thoughts for pondering.
Robin has shared more of her journey in Spiritual Mountain Climbing

That’s it from me for this Sunday. I haven’t been online much which means I haven’t been reading blogs either.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

Oh, it’s SSSS time and I don’t have much to share. I haven’t been on the Internet much so that will be reflected in my SSSS…nevertheless, here goes!

As I recently posted about my own Internet habits, I was encouraged and given cause to reflect further when I read Jacqui’s post on Internet Dependancy
What My Parents Did Right-Heart-to-Heart with a Homeschooled Graduate, now Homeschool Mom! Audio available at Cindy Rushton’s site
A Christian’s Cruise at Following Judah’s Lion
Today’s Trendy Sermons Often Lack Repentance over at Old Truth

Cleaning Up My Internet Habits

Moreover, as they go about from house to house, they learn to be idlers, and not only idlers, but gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say and talking of things they should not mention.
1 Timothy 5:13

Many years ago, I read an article that convicted me of the sin of ‘needing to know‘. But you know what? Just because God taught me some things about that then, does not mean that I now have all my ducks in a row and that I don’t struggle in this area anymore. I do.

And something happened this week to show me how things get mucked up when I try to operate in my own strength and do things on my own.

I have a confession to make. I have been lurking around places, (read: forums, blogs, etc) simply to know what is going on. I have not been contributing to them, I just want to know. I have again been convicted that this isn’t any better than the woman that Paul describes as wandering about the neighbourhood, dropping in to say hello and finding out the latest goss. [ouch]

Its time for a cleanup- of my heart, mind and websites I am on. If I am not involved in some way with a person or site or blog (by praying for them or commenting them) or if I’m not serving them by responding to queries then maybe I ought not be there. I need to ask myself: Why am I here visiting this site? Is it to serve, to be edified, informed, to pray? If not, then I need not be there.

Lord, I am sorry. Teach me to keep myself busy with my tasks here at home instead of wandering ‘around’ getting into everyone else’s business. Forgive me for straying from your ways and set my feet upon the right path again Lord. Help me to guard my heart and mind, that in all things I give glory to You.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

Yes, it’s Super Simple Spiritual Sunday again. I love this meme as I get to share the blogs that have spiritually blessed, informed or edified me this past week.

1. Cindy Rushton writes on Battling the Big D: Depression.
2. Not My List, But Yours Be Done
3. A Proverbs 31 Woman is what Robin shares on HOW.
4. Nancy Wilson shares some wisdom on Idle Chatter
5. Voice of Vision writes on how the gospel affects all of our life in “Let’s Do Lunch”
6. A timely article worth reading right to the end, including the comments is Experience/Relationship or Academic? at Catch the Fire ministries. Timely, as Australians are bombarded with propaganda as we are propelled toward an election. (not saying I agree with everything it presents but it is good food for thought)
7. Perspective: The Invisible Woman – As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. Go read this- it’s good.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

I have not been one to get overly involved with many online meme’s but I’m really enjoying Robin’s Super Simple Spiritual Sunday meme. Tehee, it’s a chance for me to rave on about all the truth-filled, beautiful, inspiring and informing posts I’ve read during the week. 😀

Last week I included two links that posted about blogging addiction and blogging motivation that I thought were good. If you read them, you’ll also want to read Robin’s post which I’ll link below.

(By the way, all outside links will open in a new tab. Links within my own site will open in this tab. Of course, this only applies with FireFox, SeaMonkey or Opera. Who knows what will happen in IE. 😉 )
1. Robin from Heart of Wisdom posted her thoughts on Blogging Addictions? Blogging Balance?
2. Sally Clarkson wrote on Cultivating Civility
3. Sherri writes on getting back into the home.
4. Fish and Cans writes a thoughtful post on ‘Purge the evil person from among you‘
5. Robin at HOW writes about a Classical Education.
6. Marianne Miles writes a truthful post that we can all learn from with When Christians Abandon Their Own
7. Dana writes on Beautiful without makeup!

And a few more because I didn’t blog last Sunday:

Voice of Vision writes an excellent post, which I include here as I feel it goes in line with my series of posts on Grace. His post is called Trying to Believe?
Nancy Wilson writes on The Grace to Say NO and an encouragement to mothers in Give Yourself a Good Job Description

Family Worship

“Hear, Yisra’el: the LORD is our God; the LORD is one: and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.
You shall write them on the door-posts of your house, and on your gates.”

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9

From this, it is my understanding that we, as parents are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…and then to teach and lead our children in that too.

The Hebrews didn’t separate knowledge into divisions of spiritual and then secular. Rather, they saw that the main aim of education was to train the whole person for service unto God. It is because of this that our family has the aims that it does- that we use the methods that we do.

We aim to do a few things each day. The most important one is to read God’s Word. And to pray- to talk and listen with God. Ultimately, to become hearers AND doers of the Word.

Along with this, we have some other goals for our family although we recognise that these don’t need to be accomplished in one year!

- Read through the Bible twice.
- To learn how how to use resource tools-to use study materials such as, concordances, lexicons, and dictionaries.
- To learn the flow of biblical history and geography.
- Learn of Proverbs and practical wisdom
- Learn about the life of Christ and develop a relationship with Him.
- To learn about the story of God’s kingdom on earth- the history of the church.
- To learn correct doctrine (teachings).
- Become hears and doers of the Word!

 read more...

Dehydrator

This is the dehydrator that my husband made for me. It cost approximately $60 and this was only because he used brand new racks and had to buy a light switch and light batons.

I use the dehyrator to make all sorts of things including yoghurt and proving bread.

FAITH ~ Forsaking All, I Take Him ~

Daily Rhythms : Blocks Schedule

We don’t have a set daily schedule. We don’t eat meals at specified times or have a daily to-do list. Instead we tend to work in blocks of time. In the morning, we discuss briefly what blocks of time we are doing that day and this way the children know what to expect.

(Times given are approximate and are determined by the day’s activities)

Breakfast and Responsibility Time

(2hrs)

Personal Bible reading and prayer time.
Tidy room and make bed.
Personal hygiene.
Breakfast and put on bread machine
General cleaning and management of the day to day clutter.
Discuss the day and things to do.

Table Time (3 hours)

Bible
English
Maths
Science
History

Family Activity Time

Meals
Watching movies
Softball
Bike riding
Photography or computer with Dad
Board games

Household Responsibility Time

Car cleaning
Yard cleaning
Major housecleaning jobs (Bathroom, windows)

Family Reading-Time

Purposed Reading as a family
Other subjects such as history, science, literature, art, music etc.

Productive Planned Activity

(2 hours)

Bible reading and word study
Scrapbook or other self directed project
Home or Life Skills… Sewing, cooking
Foreign language
Computer Skills (not Internet or games)
Construction Projects–Legos, Carpentry
Piano
Read books

Productive Free-Activity

(2 hours)

Bible reading and word study
Scrapbook or other self directed project.
Home or Life Skills – Sewing, cooking,
Foreign language
Computer Skills (not Internet or games)
Construction Projects–Legos, Carpentry
Piano
Calligraphy or drawing
Craft box
Letter writing (Make a card for someone)
Jigsaw puzzles
Write a story
Board games
Listen to music and dance
Do a nature hunt
Trampoline
Clean backyard
Iron clothes
Bake a cake
Make popcorn and then make jewelry
Have a bath and play in it
Chess
Do a word search
Leaf or tree rubbings
Make paper or soap (paper kit)
Rehearse a play and put on show
Write book review
Science experiment
Hide and Seek
Create cubby house
Make paper airplanes / dolls
Garden
Have a ‘drinking water contest’
Do a crossword
Look at photo albums or scrapbook
Play dough
Coin collections
Stamp albums
Press flowers

Veg Out Time

Unstructured rest and relaxation time

Quiet Time

Sleeping, praying, reading, playing quietly in room.

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme is simply a list of encouraging links I have enjoyed this week.
1) If you read my post about Teenage Rebellion, then you will want to read Sally Clarkson‘s post, ‘Suggestions for preventing and helping prodigals‘.
2) Those Sneaky Idols over at As The Lord Works
3) Blogging: What’s your motivation
4) Leonie on ‘Being a Parent of Older Kids‘
5) An slpime alipcatoin of a wrod tcrik to rdeanig bliabcl nratveirs
Reading the Scriptures with a view toward the whole story is a post written by Says Simpleton: the sojourn of a simpleton searching for ways to bridge the gap between understanding and articulation.
6) Phyllis Sather recommends Adobe? Digital Editions as an engaging new way to read and manage eBooks and other digital publications in this post.
7) Are you, or your teen, suffering from Teenage Affluenza? This is a great satirical video that reminds us we lead such lucky lives.

Cyber flowers for commenters and fellow bloggers!

Cyber flowers for commenters and fellow bloggers! Hmmm while looking over my blog for the last month I saw that there are a few people who read it. And there are a few comments. Wow, firstly I am delighted that you do. 🙂 I also realised that I like to receive comments. Ah! is this because I need the affirmation or is it because I love interaction with people? (Inquiring minds need to know!) I believe it is the latter. 😉

Amanda, you are like a breathe of fresh air. I can’t wait until you have your own blog so I can leave you comments. 😉

Leonie, I am constantly amazed, informed and encouraged by your posts on your blog. You seem to have such an amount of energy that I dream about. Thanks for being such an inspiration to me, and to many others.

Margaret, mum of the 2kidschoolhouse: Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I think you already know how much I enjoy your insight and humour.

Jacqui, thanks for your comments, your openness and your honesty. You must be a blessing to those you know in real life because you are a blessing over the Internet. Your humour also cracks me up. I wish I had a sense of humour like some of you ladies…while I don’t, I love being around you, if only in cyber-land. 🙂

Jocelyn, your blog and knowing you both in real life and over the Internet has enriched my life in more ways than one. You are such a calming influence, often seeming to sit back, take your time and then come out with profound wisdom.

Chrissy, lovely to meet another Heart of Wisdom user. I check your blog regularly now. I also love your theme and colours. 🙂

Lisa, you crack me up! But I also appreciate your insight as a fellow homeschooler with teens.
Shelso, your determination and perseverance are inspirational!

Well, that’s my roundup for this month! I am inspired by you ladies and while I don’t blog for you, (I blog because I like to) commenting on each other’s blogs is fun, enjoyable and enriching.

Bless you!

General Audience: All Ages Admitted

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

death (3x)
pain (1x)

Go here to rate your blog.

Not sure that this is something I should be shouting from my blog but I am partial to a good cappacino or even a milk coffee at home.

I am 81% Addicted to Coffee

Eek! Not sure I should be proud of this either!

1,887,480

Enough already! Time to get on with the day. 🙂

Homeschool Copyright/Plagiarism issues

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Proverbs 19:1

After being quite sick for the last week, I awoke this morning to a horrible, disappointing shock that has left me reeling and very hurt. I feel like I have been robbed. But let me go back a little in time.

Years ago, like most homeschoolers I looked for ways to be frugal in our homeschooling. I learned to use the library a lot. They have some great selections of video’s, DVD’s, and CD’s. Sometimes we wouldn’t get around to watching or listening to them so I came upon the idea of making a copy before returning it to the library. I even felt quite frugal while doing so. After all, if I had to buy that CD I would need to have spent about $40. But now I had saved that. Before long, I ended up with a stack of things that I don’t think I would have needed or used, but as they were free I might as well have them on the shelf, just in case. I had even lent out my resources, feeling fairly sure that the person was going to make their own copy!

Oi voi!

I administrate a second hand curriculum and resources website. I plaster this site with the homeschool copyright notices and information from homeschoolcopyright.com I want everyone to be informed as to their buying and selling (and borrowing/copying) practices.

Imagine my surprise when I logged on to the Internet this morning to discover a new website has been set up, on the same free board host that Aussie Homeschool Ads is on. That’s okay, I though. Anyone is free to set up their own board. I did not expect this person to set their new board up with the same URL plus one digit. I did not expect them to copy and paste my board structure (ideas which took months to create) on to their own board.

Yes! The board names, the descriptions, the categories (my intellectual property) were all EXACTLY the same as mine! It took hours and lots of effort to come up with those forums and title them and someone has just stolen them!

I ventured into he forum and discovered that some posts that I had written on Aussie Homeschool Ads had in fact been copied and pasted to the new forum…as though this other person had written it. I was livid. I was sad. That was directly stealing my post, my words. Maybe I should have been flattered, but at the time I wasn’t.
Well as with everything in life, I will deal with this…but the reason I blog about it is to increase awareness of homeschool copyright issues (while my issue here is more about fair use, and intellectual property and Christian ethics it still bears a mention).

Join the Campaign Do you know what is fair and right use of the materials that you use, buy, sell and lend?

Aussie Homeschool Ads and Community Forum

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
Psalm 101:7

Some Bible Based Freebies

My family has been laid down with a horrid flu-like virus/bug. It is nasty. Fever, nausea, body aches and vice-like gripping headaches have saw us all have a quiet, lethargic week. Just when I was starting to get back into the swing of things! I have found some goodies on the ‘net for those that like handy dandy tools and gizmo’s. Check out some of these:

INSTAVerse
Do you visit Christian web sites or receive daily devotional emails? Ever want to look up a scripture fast? InstaVerse? by WORDsearch will let you instantly see the actual Bible text for scripture references like John 3:16 ? just point your mouse at it, and the text pops up in your preferred translation! The best part is that InstaVerse with the KJV Bible is free!

Power Point Bible Maps
In cooperation with eBibleTeacher.com, SearchGodsWord.org is pleased to offer 41 FREE Powerpoint Bible Maps. Ideal for teachers and pastors, each map comes in three different sizes (640, 800, 1024) to suit your needs. Also available is the original PowerPoint file used in the creation of the image files.

Daily Wallpaper for your computer
Heartlight has joined together with Paperquote.com to bring you an exciting feature: Daily Heartlight Wallpaper! Now you can have a new Heartlight image appear on your desktop each morning when you log onto the internet. By simply downloading the free software, you will be downloading new wallpaper for your desktop in no time!

That’s about it from me for this week. I’m off to do some much needed grocery shopping to stock up on some fruit and veg as well as get some party food for tonight is a special celebration! Our youngest, ‘Master C’ , turns from single digits into double digits!!!! Double digits is a pretty big event in our home. Double digits is when one goes from being a boy to a MIT: a Man In Training. It’s special. 🙂

That Which Is Plain

That which is plain to you and concerns you — do. That is righteousness.

That which is plain to you but does not concern you — do not demand of others. That is judgment.

That which is not plain to you, study, and pray. That is wisdom.

Fr. Tobias S Haller, BSG

Genesis, A Commentary for Children

Genesis, A Commentary for Children is part of the Herein is Love series by Nancy E. Ganz. And I really like it! 🙂

Yes, this is a Bible commentary on the whole book of Genesis, From Paradise to Promised Land – Genesis to Joshua, written to children but it isn’t dumbed down in the slightest. Even adults will learn valuable lessons and gain valuable gems from this book. I nearly cried as I read the Introduction as the author tells why and for whom she wrote this book. Even from reading the introduction I knew that this was a book that I needed to read and needed to share with my children.

This mammoth 545 page book includes 68 lessons and includes a teacher’s study guide to correspond with each lesson. The teacher guide is very similar to what I already do as she suggests the use of visual aids, memory work, craft, review questions, prayer, psalms to sing and a field trip.

This book is one part of a 4 book series that covers the four books of the Old Testament. You can see more about this series at ChristianBooks.com. Simply Click here. The promises of God, His promise of a Saviour, His wonderful grace, mercy and love are delightfully and truthfully told while also telling the stories of history with wonderful accuracy. Cultural and historical insight is offered throughout this doctrinally correct yet warmly written and captivating storehouse of God’s truths. It would be able to be used as part of family worship or it could be read daily by an individual student who is accustomed to reading independently.

I cannot wait to finish Genesis so we can start the next book. If you have children from 6 years and older, love the Scriptures and love to teach your children about the Scriptures, then will will want this book. Aussies can purchas at Light Educational Ministries. Or you can buy the Herein is Love Series at ChristianBook.com

Bless you as you strive to teach the ways of God to your children.

Small, Average or Great Minds

Routines and family life changes as the children get older and start to spread their wings. John works, ‘Miss A’ goes off to work and softball, ‘Miss R’ goes to school, leaving the boys and I at home to learn, live and love together. While I thoroughly enjoy my time with the boys, I miss the girls. So our family meal table is often loud and harried with thoughts, comments and opinions flying everywhere. Often though, the thoughts expressed can start to become negative or critical so we’ve used a variety of ways to put a stop to that.

Using the THINK principle often cements life-giving, true principles into our minds but after reminding the children of the THINK principle, the conversation can often go quiet. 😉 I came across a great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt and we have printed it out. The children even quote it to one another now. We call it Great Minds.

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

What do you discuss? Do you encourage your children to discuss people, events or ideas? Are you modeling these principles? It’s a challenging thought, isn’t it? One way I’ve found to discuss events is to talk about the day’s learning and studying activities or to discuss a current event. Good, living books are filled with great ideas that will stimulate your mind. Good T.V. shows can do the same. Twaddly books and shows will lead into the discussion of people, which is nearly always negative.

In what ways do you encourage your children toward discussing ideas and events rather than people?

Another help for RSS and feeds

I have previously posted about using RSS for feeds where I tried to explain that instead of visiting sites daily to see if they’ve been updated (which is time consuming), you can subscribe to many sites via a feed reader (RSS) where the information you choose to be notified of, comes directly to you (a time saver).

Here is a short, 3.5min video which explains it very well. If you are confused about using RSS feeds but want to know more, this video is for you. The short video will teach you why feeds are good and how to set one up. This video will teach you, the homeschool mum, how to make the most of your time.

Let me know if you find this sort of information helpful. 🙂

Click To Play

Alternatively, you can visit the website and view it there.

Things To Do Each Day

So much of real life is happening that I don’t have time to post any inspiring or deep and meaningful posts. Instead, I’ll post some things I try to do each day. These are also things I encourage my children to do each day.

What about you? What are some important things that you do daily?
Smiles, hugs and positive, warm words.
Prayer.
Some Scripture reading.
Good books.
Some discussion
Some copy work.
Some ideas to ponder
Free time
Positive work
A work of servanthood

People will learn what they need to know, when they need to know it.

People WILL learn what they need to know, when they need to know it.

People will learn WHAT they need to know, when they need to know it.

People will learn what THEY NEED to know, when they need to know it.

People will learn what they need to know, WHEN they need to know it.

People WILL learn WHAT THEY NEED to know, WHEN they need to know it.

What an interesting statement. It’s one of those statements that can encapsulate an educational philosophy…not totally define it but summarise, supplement and complement one’s own philosophy of education.

Kitchen Duties

Meal times can be a wonderful family event…but they can also be messy. (Surely I’m not the only one who has messy meal times?) Do you teach your children how to clean up after the family meal. I believe it is an important skill to learn. There is quite a bit involved from hygiene to sequencing and organisation skills. My eldest daughter is able to go into a full blown messy kitchen that has been used to prepare a four course meal for 10 in, and get in ship-shape in less than an hour. She has an organisational system that works for her! Yet, it isn’t the system that I taught her. She developed this system after learning how to do it my way, but after that I left her alone to tackle it for herself…she developed her own system from there. I’m not fussed! She can do the task cheerfully and quickly and thoroughly- I have no problem with that! 😀

We have a duty roster for meal time clean up. There is a pre-meal cleanup, a table and floor clean and a general post meal kitchen duty. One child is alloted a duty although it is now open to a little trading if someone isn’t well or has been at work all day.

I found it wasn’t enough just to show the children how a job is to be done. I had to show them while I explained it. Then I had them do it while I supervised and assisted them. Then, they still need supervision for a few times. Then, I trusted them and let them go with more freedom. However, this freedom only lasts while the child does the chores thoroughly and completely.

I found that having the chores clearly marked and within easy reach for the children to see was beneficial. I created a Duty Sheet that is on our fridge. The children know clearly what is expected of them for each duty. I’ve found that this is very important. You can have a look at it at this link. You may use it if you like although these things are quite individual to family needs so I suspect that you’d want to create your own. 🙂 Our roster system has developed over the years. Our children are now old enough to do all the tasks by themselves whereas they needed more supervision and help when they were younger.

Our weekly domestic science routine

Motivated by Jacqui’s post on ‘running a home‘, I will preface this post by saying that I am not a highly organised person. I like the cosy warmth of clutter. I love my ornaments and nick-knacks as they all have a story behind them…they have sentimental value. I can’t take them with me when I go to be with the Lord, and I can live without them, but they are like good friends- I like to have them around.

I have days set aside where I aim to get certain things done. However, they may not always happen on those days- it depends on who is working on what days and who has to be where!

Each day, the boys unstack the dishwasher and drainer board. They also clean down the table and re-stack the dishwasher. I tried something new last week. John could either the whole kitchen (which is not easy after a cooked breakfast) or I’m happy to clean it but he must do copy work for the whole time it takes me to clean. This gives him a choice…and it helps me to get done quickly as I know he can’t write for an hour!

On Monday, I like to go right through the house and clean all the floors– vacuuming and mopping. This gives me a fresh start to the week. Clean floors and a clean kitchen. But Monday is also my laundry day. I get any linen done along with the dark clothes from the weekend. I aim to have them washed, dried and put away by 4pm. I have one more load to do but can’t do them until after tea, as it is ‘Miss A’ ‘s white shirt that needs soaking (it gets covered in coffee) and then washing.
I try to prepare a meal that I can divide into two meals as I will be out on Tuesday night so I like it to be prepared so it can be just reheated and eaten.

Tuesday is a day where we watch a movie, clean a particular troublesome area, spend more time on lessons – we just enjoy being together. We do try and have a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy about 4pm, in time for Dad to come home to a fairly neat home. If I bake treats, then today will be the day.

Wednesday is another laundry day. I have soaked ‘Miss A’ ‘s whites the night before and they can be washed and hung out in the sun to dry and be sun bleached. Oh confession time. I don’t hang underwear (except white singlets), socks, handkerchiefs or other fiddly, small items on the line. I used to but not anymore, for two reasons. I love the feel of crisp, sun bleached clothes but we only have one of those clothes lines that folds up alongside the dark, sheltered side of the house. (Why they install them in the shade, I will never understand) I also have decided to maximise my time. Honestly, socks don’t last that long in my house anyway so there’s no need for me to try and preserve them as thoroughly as I might other items of clothing. So, I tumble dry them! So much easier and quicker. I think to myself, “What would I rather do? Cook a meal, iron a shirt, write a blog post, read a book or play a game with my children, speak on the phone with my dad or hang up socks ‘n’ jocks!!!!” I would rather do all those things rather than hang up socks.

Anyway, I aim to have the loads of laundry, washed, dried and put away by 4pm. Along with a meal on the table after ‘Miss A’ has cleaned the kitchen. She is home today so she does this job for me. John Jr. vacuums on Wednesday – the whole house. ‘Master C’ does excellent 15 minute tidies. He goes around and put all the stray things away where they belong- shoes in people’s rooms, blocks in drawers, books in booknook, pens, cups, papers, etc.

Thursday is the day where I sit and organise my finances and look through catalogues for specials in preparation for our Out and About Day on Friday. We do a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy in preparation for John to come home. If I bake treats, then today will also be the day. I’ll also try to organise an easy meal that can be reheated as I am out at softball again tonight. It isn’t that I’m gone for a long time, rather that it is just at our usual meal time.

Saturday– If it is Out and About week, then I won’t have cleaned the house so I try and organise everyone with jobs so we can tackle the usually mammoth task of cleaning the home in preparation for the weekend- I like to make myself available for John if he ever wants to do something. This is usually my Rest Day.

On Sunday I will usually put on one load of laundry and this will be John’s clothes from work. I’ll get them washed and ironed today. We may do a quick Neat ‘n’ Tidy in the afternoon, so that we get a swift start to Monday morning but this doesn’t always happen.

This is the routine that I have created while in this house, in this situation. However, the routine changes with each move…and as the children get older. With ‘Miss A’ working 2 full days per week now, my laundry routine has changed. John also doesn’t come home for lunch nowadays which seems to give me a few extra hours in my day. I loved it when he came home from work but it did eat into my day a lot and I found I was often behind in work.

After being in a new house for a few months, allowing the new routine to settle, I ask John in what ways I can serve him better or more effectively. He does not like to answer this as we live by grace in our home but he has learned that I need this in order to focus- it is really helpful for me. So now, I try to always have the clothes washed, dried and put away. Does it always happen? No way! But it is a focus point…without it, we’ll never have clean clothes that are easily accessible but I’ll get loads of lessons done or wonderfully lavish meals cooked.

In summary:

Focus Areas:

Day 7 Prayers for our children

Justice

God, help my children to love justice as You do and to “act justly” in all they do.

For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.
Psalm 11:7

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Feed on RSS

“What Is RSS?

What do those orange RSS or XML buttons that abound on sites mean?
They are the latest rage…but more than that they are incredibly handy and a great time saver- perfect for the busy homeschool mum! You can receive newsfeeds or feeds from many sites including news, movies, blogs and ecommerce stores and more! It’s also a great feature for those on dial-up connection as you don’t have to surf the Internet for updates…the information that you want, comes to you!

RSS” means “Really Simple Syndication.” What it means to you is that when you subscribe to a site that has an RSS feed, you can keep up-to-date without having to check the site every day or week.

Most people are interested in many web sites whose content changes on an unpredictable basis, like this site. Repeatedly checking each site to see if there’s any new content can be time consuming. RSS is a great way to be notified of new and changed information. Notifications of changes to multiple web sites are handled easily, and the results are presented to you in a well organised format. You may have seen the RSS icon on various web sites or blogs (this one included). This icon lets you know that there’s content to which you can subscribe and view using an RSS reader.

You might have seen some of the little icons on various sites…if so, you might also have been confused by them! I hope to simplify the mystery a little for you and enable you to get started with RSS feeds.

How do you get started? It’s fairly easy!

With an RSS reader you can subscribe to many feeds and read the new entries all in one place, without having to visit individual Web sites to find out what’s new.

There are several different kinds of RSS readers. Some are dedicated programs for viewing RSS feeds, but they cost money and most homeschool mums would rather spend their money on books, especially when there are some great free feed readers available.

You can also view RSS feeds through web sites such as My Yahoo!, or my personal favourite, Bloglines.

Many web browsers also have built-in RSS support – Firefox, by “Live Bookmarks”, Safari has a built in RSS reader and even IE 7 will (although beta) support RSS.Windows — RssReader and Google Reader are popular online feed readers available for download. Need more information? Here is a short video that explains the concept…

Below is a short, 3.5min video which explains it very well. If you are confused about using RSS feeds but want to know more, this video is for you. The short video will teach you why feeds are good and how to set one up. This video will teach you, the homeschool mum, how to make the most of your time. Let me know if you find this sort of information helpful.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU

There! You should be set to receive the information that you want, while saving time to get on with the things that you want to do.

Why don’t you subscribe to my blog and receive post and comments via RSS?

Teaching Savvy Shopping Skills

I enjoy Belinda’s blog…don’t you? Why don’t you pop over and subscribe to her blog? Anyway, today she wrote a post on shopping and how it relates to home-schooling and this led me to thinking about some of the adventures we’ve had while shopping.

One night, John and I thought about getting take-away for tea. It was late, we were all tired…but we couldn’t make a unanimous decision on what to order. So instead of takeaway, John took us all to the local supermarket. He gave everyone $5 each and told them they had 10 minutes to choose their food and then we’d go home and eat it together!

Everyone had the opportunity to buy whatever they wanted. Firstly, I will say that the first time we ever did this took a little longer than 10 minutes. The children all ran around putting their favourite foods into their basket. But when we all got together again they saw things in other’s baskets that they desired and became confused. Some of the children grabbed delicious, yummy food but it wouldn’t have filled them up (one child chose a whole packet of TimTams but didn’t have much money left).

After some (make that LOTS of) discussion, they finally figured it out! They joined forces!

They formed into pairs and went about choosing their meal again! They worked together and looked at quality of foods and their own little budget. They also saw that they got to have a wider variety of foods this way. It was a fantastic exercise!

We arrived home and had a FEAST. We had heaps of fun that night. It has become a treat for us instead of getting takeaway. Not only is it cheaper (A venture to MacDonald’s can cost us well over $35 so we don’t do it often)…not only is it yummier…not only is it more fun…but it is very educational! Everyone is happy (and satiated).

Share some of your ideas for teaching budgeting and shopping skills. I’d love to hear from you!

In His Grace,
Susan <><

Day 6 Praying for our children

Day 6

A love for God’s Word

May my children grow to find Your Word “more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.”

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
Psalm 19:9 & 10

Day 5 – Praying for our children

Self-Control

Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be “alert and self-controlled” in all they do.

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
1Thessalonians 5:6

Carnival Time

I really like visiting the Carnival of Homeschooling…it’s a great way to travel around the world and read other’s thoughts and see things that they do in their families.

This edition of the Carnival is being over at Sprittibee’s. Not only has she compiled the post but she has added her only bee flavour to it. A carnival is simply a place where the carnival host showcases a group of blog posts, dedicated to a particular theme, in this case the theme is homeschooling.The host writes a few lines to whet your appetite so that you will go on over to the full blog and read the complete post. For each new carnival, there is a new host.

This new carnival will have you busy for days…enjoy!

If that isn’t enough to keep you hewing for awhile, then the Christian Carnival certainly will. It is being hosted by MandiKaye.

Day Three: Prayers for our children

Day 3 of Praying for our children

Love

Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love through the Spirit who dwells in them.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1 & 2

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22 & 23

Day Two- Prayers for our children

Growth in Grace

I pray that they may “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen
2 Peter 3:18

Day One- 30 days of prayer for our children

A Parent?s Prayer Program, by Bob Hostetler
http://www.gbgm-umc.org/asburyumc/parents_prayer_program.htm

Salvation

Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
2 Timothy 2: 10

Thinking Blogger Award

Thank you Belinda, for nominating me for a Thinking Blogger Award. I haven’t been blogging as much as I previously have so I wasn’t completely aware of the Thinkng Blogger Award. So of course, I had to have a quick look into what this was. You can learn more about it at this link:

If you get tagged with a Thinking Blogger Award, you are then supposed to do the following:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

So here we are. Five blogs that I’d like to tag with the Thinking Blogger Award:

Leonie makes me think! I may not always agree with everything she says, but my mind always ticks over and ponders things she writes:
http://livingwithoutschool.blogspot.com/

Two Kid Schoolhouse writes some great posts, although she may not think she does. I like checking her blog to read her thoughtful and insightful musings.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hsmomof2/

Eight children and eight years of homeschooling means that Kidspatch always has something interesting to write about. She shares from her heart, which causes me to reflect and think.
http://kidspatch.blogspot.com/

Gifts from Adonai is a Messianic homeschooling mum and I enjoy reading her blog. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/giftsfromAdonai/

Not because she tagged me but because I genuinely want to – Belinda always has something interesting to share, whether it be from her own lie happenings or her ideas and tips.
http://www.lifestyle-homeschool.com/Homeschool-blog.html

Happy Birthday

Recently ‘A’ reached the wonderful age of 16. Either of us are exactly sure why it’s supposedly so special but there you go! We had Baked Spinach Gnocchi for tea and a Boiled Fruit Cake for dessert. A few days later we had planned to drive into the city to watch the Play of the Passion but the lines of communication were having interference and I forgot to tell John where it was so we hadn’t allowed enough time to get there and find a parking place…so we ended up at Sizzler instead!

This was ‘A’s first week of a back-to-normal work/lesson routine. She has dropped down to only 2 days per week of work and then rest of the week is devoted to lessons and softball.

So while it’s a little belated I will still write, as I have for the other children:

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!!!!!!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy dear sweet 16,

HaPpY BiRtHdAy tO yOu!!!!!

The Archaeological Study Bible

Those of you who know me will probably have gathered that we place great importance upon the Bible. I love the Narrated Chronological Bible with its running commentary.A few weeks ago, when DH and I were in Word he showed me a new Bible but I gasped at the price. I thought I’d come home and do an online search to find out if I could source it cheaper. I couldn’t. By the time I’d gotten back to Word, they had completely sold out. So, I ordered one and I received last week.

It’s great! It’s called the Archaeological Study Bible– an illustrated walk through Biblical History and Culture.For those that like a Bible-First approach to home-based-learning, this looks like a great study tool. It will provide a wonderful and rich resource, especially when used in conjunction with other study tools, like the Victory Journey through the Bible.

It is a NIV with full colour illustrations, a bonus CD-Rom, study notes, articles, and much more.

I won’t rave on about it anymore. You can go to the website and download a free 90 page sample for yourself!

New Search Engine for the Visual Learner

G’day,
Yep that’s right. I’ve been away for quite some time and I come back to blog about a new search engine.

Well, it’s called Mooter and it is different from other search engines in that it is more visual. It arranges the ‘hits’ into clusters. You can then select the cluster that best describes what you are looking for.

As an example, I typed in ‘homeschool’ which we all know is very broad and generalised. In a visual way (much like a mind-map) it sorted the hits into these categories:

homeschool
homeschooling
home
resource
curriculum
christian
children

and then comes up with another cluster of even more information.

Now while I’m not about to leave google, I think this could be a very good resource and prove to be a valuable tool.

Check it out at http://www.mooter.com/moot

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