Mama's Place

2012-01-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering why I've been so quiet on this blog lately.

A couple of reasons.

Lack of time since Brett's been out at the house doing as much work as he can on it.

Lack of energy; since Brett has been at the house obviously I've had to do the parenting thing on my own (although have been incredibly blessed with help from my lovely SIL Dannii and my next door neighbour Alayne along with offers of help from kind friends).

And well, the main reason is a little too hard to write about in alot of depth right now.

It's basically that with all the changes that have occured in our fam over the past couple of months, Liji's autistic symptoms have flooded back and risen to the surface along with some new things that need to be dealt with very quickly.

And we are.

It's also brought out stuff in our little Zippi and we are looking into statergies and tools to now help her too. Our doctor believes that she is definitely somewhere on the spectrum and is incredibly 'rigid'.

Life is going to look quite different around here this year.

And that's ok.

It's just not what other families look like.

And again, that's ok.
We are just focussing on what our family needs are...and that's ok.

We are our own family and God is at the helm of this rig!

He will direct our path and make our way straight once more.

We will continue to trust in Him.

He is ever-faithful and unwavering even in the midst of diasters, chaos and crises.

My days have been overwhelming; filled with many tears, heartfelt cries and loads of research.

That's what my spare time has been taken up with.

The pain of seeing your children slip away from you so suddenly is not something I would wish on any parent and if you've never had a child with ASD (Austism Spectrum Disorder) then you really can not possibly begin to understand the pain and heartache your mama heart feels when you see it happening.

Again.

It is incredibly frustrating and as I said, overwhelming.

Those who have gone through it...you know how hard it is to try EVERYTHING and NOTHING be good enough to reach them.
That's where we are right now.
Having lived this already I know that Yah will direct us to show us what will help us reach Elijah and Zipporah too.

I keep reminding myself that we've had two amazing years with almost NO symptoms present in Liji - what a miraculous time that has been!

This is another season it seems; one where I must once again educate, advocate and arm myself with everything I can to pull my children up from that dark place they try to disappear to. Sometimes it is not so dark. Sometimes because of their uniqueness, I see light and laughter, love and delight in amazing things that quite frankly my eyes would have missed had it not been for the insight these two children bring me.

These two who seem so alike in so many ways that it sometimes scares me.

And our other three beautiful kiddos?
Well Zeeki is still feeding like a champion, has (manageable) reflux but no colic (yay!) and has found a little natural sleeping rhythm. Ethi and Stass are struggling to cope sometimes with the outbursts of Zippi and Liji.
We all are.

It is hard.
But they are gorgeous kids too and are trying to understand. There is room for all of us to learn about what it is to walk in forgiveness, grace and compassion. I am so proud of them for trying to live out these things during this time.
Yep, it is hard right now but I do know that Yah will continue to walk with us and get us through.

I will post more on these things and stratergies we will be using, some time down the track.

What I really came on here to show you was photos of the renovations Brett and his dad did last week!

So the last photo I showed up of the hallway floor looked like this:

...then last week it started looking like this...

and now with all the joists gone looks like this...

Our floors last time...

And now...

The floors in the learning room before...

...and now...

When we bought the house, there were blue shutters on the outside...

..and now they are gone...

and they have gone off the side of the house too...

Originally, all we had planned to do before we moved in was some painting inside and out and some small repairs. I was thinking that the first thing I wanted to do was change the outside colour of the house! Now that seems to pale into insignificance compared with what we have to do inside!
BUT we ARE getting there!
Each time Brett returns with photos I get excited seeing what they have accomplished out there!
I am so proud of him and thankful for my father in law too!

Anyway can't stay long.
Just wanted to keep my record going of what's been happening with the house and also to record here the happenings in our precious fam over this past week or so.

5 things I am very thankful to Yah for:

1. Family support, help and understanding
2. Hope
3. Our fabulous doctor
4. Encouragement from other mums who have children on the spectrum
5. A plan for the immediate future :)

Some encouragement for my heart from the scriptures:

"Do not withhold your mercy from me O Yehovah;
may your love and your truth always protect me."
- Psalm 40:11

"...we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal".
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Blessings and love and more another time,
Lus x

Update on our House Renovations

2012-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, quite a lot has happened since I last updated you about the house.
Brett's been out there a couple more times with his sis and dad to do more work.
This past week he was there Mon-Tue and Thurs-Fri. Thankfully, Channi and Jono kindly put up Brett and my lovely Father in law while they were there - thanks again guys!
So, the house.
Well, two weeks ago when he and Sul went out there, they pulled back the wooden panelling in one of the front rooms and found ALOT of termite damage.
We had had the building + pest inspections done but unfortunately, because it was behind the panelling, it couldn't have been picked up. Anyway, the good thing (now that I've come to terms with it all!) is that they don't seem to be active but the damage has definitely been done.
Along with that, Brett discovered this week that the joists and bearers in our bedroom will ALL have to be replaced along with the entire floor of course due to rising damp. That is another job bigger than we'd expected but it also will be ok (now that I've had my little teary about it!)
See the money we'd set aside for the cosmetic overhaul of this house is now going to have to be spent on the structural stuff that we just hadn't expected. I mean, we expected some stuff because of the age of the house but not the extent that is needed now.
ANYWAY, honestly, it's fine.
We've just need to readjust our expectations and be much more realistic with ourselves on how much needs doing, the cost and when we will actually be living in it.
It's totally not the end of the world and at the end of the day it's just bricks, mortar and beams. I know it's all relative but we need to keep things in perspective too. We have our health, each other and our faith. These are things I am going to need to remind myself of on a daily basis I think (especially after the shocker of a day we had yestreday!)
I just wanted to document my feelings about this journey along with the photos so that in time when I look back, it's not all one big blur!

Ok, so some snaps to share!
You may remember this photo I shared in one of the first posts. This is how it looked originally from the learning room looking back to the front door...

...then this is how that same hallway looked last time I updated with lots of that wooden panelling stacked up there...

...and currently this is how it looks. Lino gone, floor boards revealed and all panelling gone to the tip!

This was how Stass' looked when we first bought the house...

...then this is how it looked when Brett and Dannii went out there and demolished the cupboards and panelling...

...and here is how it looks now; gyprock, flooring and ceilings gone to the tip!

Ok so you may remember our bedroom? This was how it looked at first...

and looking to the other wall it looked like this when we bought it:

Then last time I shared how Brett and Dannii knocked out the massive wardrobe in there...

and had taken out all the wood panelling on the walls and removed the carpet too...

Well, then this time Brett went out there he and Tony (my fil) began taking out the floor boards...

...and found all the joists and bearers needed replacing due to rising damp.
See the old fireplace that was once there? It's in the left hand side of this pic. We didn't know that had existed! We will take it out though in time as it's not useable anymore. We might need to open up the vents more on this side of the house too to help with the ventilation issue.

You can see the damage to the joists a little clearer in this shot particularly under where that wardrobe used to be...

Ok so this was Zippi's room when we bought the house...

Then Brett and Dannii removed all the carpet and the wardrobe...

Now Brett and Tony have taken off all the wooden wall panelling and floor to reveal concrete underneath...

They removed all the gyprock to find the white ant damage (this was the most damaged room by the white ants). All this wood will come off too and it looks like we'll be using steel in here instead from now on...

Here's Tony in his asbestos protetive gear...

which they each wore while removing the panels in Zip's room...

And now it looks like this; ceiling, gyprock and flooring all gone!

I've decided to post my 5 things to be thankful for again list to help me keep things in perspective:
1. That Brett is such a hard worker for our family and that he is doing such an amazing job
2. For Dannii and Tony's help out there - it means so much to us all
3. That Channi and Jono gave Brett and Tony a lovely place to stay and hot meals too; so kind
4. I am thankful for the prayerful support of my parents and our good friends
5. My beautiful next door neighbour coming over to help with the kids one night and also Dannii too when Brett was away. Having an extra set of hands here to help bath kids, sweep floors and wash dishes meant SO MUCH TO ME!

Well that's it for now.
More soon,

Nominations for the Bloggies Awards!

2012-01-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

May I please ask you a favour?
I'm wondering if you might care to take a second to vote to nominate my blog for this year's BLOGGIES AWARDS.

Maybe you have enjoyed some of my posts over the past year (or more!) like the ones I did on MELTED CRAYON CANVAS ART...

...or on the BENEFITS OF KEEPING A CLEAN AND ORDERLY HOME FOR YOUR FAMILY.

Maybe you liked the post on PREPARING OURSELVES FOR OUR HOMEBIRTH...

or the one in which i SHARED THE SLIDESHOW OF EZEKIEL'S BIRTH {which the lovely Mell Mallin made for us}...

Perhaps the post I shared recently about THE 3 R'S OF HOMESCHOOLING; RHYTHMS, RELATIONSHIPS AND RESOURCES was helpful...

or the one on how WE ORGANISED OUR LEARNING ROOM FOR 2011.

Maybe none of those blog posts tickled your fancy but you did enjoy reading about our family VEGIE GARDEN...

or OUR SHARED BEDROOM READY FOR BABY NUMBER 5...

or even the post on DECORATING OUR FAMILY HOME ON A BUDGET.

You may have enjoyed the POST ON THE FUN THINGS TO DO PHOTO CHARTS

or the one about HOW WE SOMETIMES DO ART AROUND HERE WITH 4 MUNCHKINS!

Some of you said you liked the IDEAS SHARED IN THIS POST ABOUT OUR BOYS' ROOM MAKEOVER

and about OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH HEAD LICE & A NATURAL REMEDY TO HELP OVERCOME IT.

Maybe you joined in the FAMILY PLANNER CHALLENGES and now even have one to help your family stay a little more organised?

Perhaps you enjoyed reading about our FAMILY'S FAITH JOURNEY?

May be you too have a child on the Autism Spectrum and so could relate to THIS POST ABOUT HOW FAR ELIJAH HAS COME SINCE A DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM DISORDER four years ago.

Or maybe the POSTS ON PRESCHOOL PLAY IDEAS helped you a little too at your place?

Well.
On the off chance that you did enjoy any of these posts, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a moment to go across and nominate this blog FOR THE ANNUAL WEBLOG AWARDS IN THE CATEGORY OF THE BEST PARENTING OR FAMILY BLOG? Nominations close tomorrow the 15th January 2012.
If not, that's TOTALLY fine but if you do, I thank you in advance!
Well, more soon,
Love

The 3 R's of our 'Homeschool'; Rhythms, Relationships and Resources

2012-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

I had wanted to post and share about my lovely trip out to visit with my friend Donna yesterday but the stinking computer won't load my photos so instead I thought I'd blog a post I already had some photos for in said stinking computer and be happy that at least I get to write something! lol!

I thought I'd share a little about some of the things that are working for us on our homeschooling journey. This is not a post about what others should be doing; it's simply recording where WE are at and how & why it is working for us.

RHYTHMS

One of the things we have found that's happened (i've posted about this previously) is that we have moved towards a more natural style of learning in our home.

However, we have also discovered that we ALL enjoy tapping into some regular rhythmic stuff too in our week in terms of how our days flow.

Last year we worked out a little rhythm that for the most part worked beautifully for us.

We figured that Yah created our world with rhythms; day and night come to us whether we are ready for them or not, we have rhythmic patterns in our sleep, there are seasons (even if they are not always the same each year) that come to help give the land rest (winter) and produce life (spring).

We have rhythms in our bodies (in the way our blood flows in us for example) and even a pregnancy has certain predictable rhythms (your tummy swells, you gain weight and at the end you give birth).

Now don't get me wrong....just because there are rhythms, doesn't mean that things always go stictly according to a pattern. No way! I mean, just because the blood flows rhythmically in my body doesn't mean I was immune from getting a blood disease! Just because there are seasons, doesn't necessarily mean that because it snowed here last year there will be snow again this time round. And just because there are rhythms in the world Yah created doesn't mean that if you are pregnant you will gain the same amount of weight as the last pregnancy or even deliver a baby in a similar weight size to the last. Nope.

There are rhythms but then there is unpredictable LIFE too!

Yep life happens!

Now what does all that have to do with homeschooling?

Well everything!

See, we have set rhythms that we stick to around here because we have people in this home who enjoy having rhythms. It makes them feel safe and secure and plain old happy and I'm good with that!

However, I'm not a fan of having a 'rhythm' which is really code for 'routine' which means there is NO FLEXIBILITY at all!

No way!

What happens when life happens around here?

Well, the rhythm changes and adapts.

We also recognise that life IS learning and learning IS life!

We all change and adapt and go with the flow and choose to look for the learning opportunities in our everyday life experiences.

Adapting and changing and going with the proverbial flow might mean that instead of doing 'tech time' (fancy kid speak for playing some awesome learning games on the computer) on a Wednesday, we might do it on a Friday instead because on Wednesday we decided to go for a bush walk that morning.

Life happens when our 4 month old is having a super grizzly day and instead of us having 'Bonkers about Books' time (fancy kid speak for going to the library and checking out books or reading a heap of books together at home) I'll put on a movie instead and we'll read later that night or visit the library the next morning. Our kids still learn through visual media. They also learn to amuse themselves (most times) while mama is in the room rocking bubby off to sleep. Learning here often happens because of the way life flows in an unpredictable manner.

So what does our learning rhythm look like?

Well each day after brekky, we do chores.

Sometime after chores, each child does a couple of pages of workbook maths.

Then they do some spelling; either on the Spelling City website (love love!) or using some fun whiteboard-book spelling games/cards we have.

(Note that there are no times assigned as to when these things have to be done by (eg 10.30-11.00) but that they are just things we do in the morning at some stage.)

Then each day is divided into stuff we do in the mornings and stuff we do in the afternoons. I wanted to have fun names for the things we were going to do rather than subjects like 'maths' etc. I just know my kids and knew they'd prefer me introducing rhythms with fun names and that it would evoke interest for them. So here's what our weekly rhythms have looked like:

Monday Morning:

Learning from the Past

(aka: history. We enjoy reading from Story of The World along with using our Book of Centuries. We also use the internet and a HEAP of other books to read from too.)

Monday Arvo:

Crafternoon

(anything from sewing, drawing to our melted crayon canvasses!)

Tuesday Morning:

Bonkers about Books

(aka: visit to library or reading aloud together somewhere fun like in a park or out in the bush)

Tuesday Arvo:

Nature Study

(this may involve a bushwalk or leaf rubbings, collecting or reading about our local environment)

Wednesday Morning:

Tech Time

(aka: screen time whether it be visiting a fave website or playing wii together - timer is used for this! The kids respect that the timer is used and are getting so much better each time at finishing their go and not complaing about it but rather making way for their sibling to start his/her turn.)

Wednesday Arvo:

Musical Moments

(This might involve us gathering to the piano and singing songs I've made up about The First Fleet's arrival to Australia, songs about our brain or Rocks. It might also just be a time to put on music while the kids colour in some sheets. Just depends on where we are all at with our day).

Thursday Morning:

Bake-O-Rama

(I love that baking incorporates so many skills! From reading recipes and following them to learning to be patient and waiting a turn to stir the bowl. Baking often creates opportunities for deep conversations to flow and also for Zippi to work right along side the 'big' kids.)

Thursday Arvo:

Passports People!

(Aka: Geography & also crosses over into HSIE and English often too! We take the chance to read about people and places all over the world through various times too. I mostly read from Childcraft books and we get out the atlas and globe and try and spot the places we are reading about. Often this links up with what we are learning about on Monday's in 'Learning from the Past. For instance, we've been reading about Ancient Greece on Monday's. Then in the childcraft book we read from on Thursday's I chose to read about the Trojan horse and the Spartan warriors. The kids loved this and orally narrated back to Brett about it that night at dinner.)

Friday Morning:

Easy Experiments

(Aka: Science stuff! The kids are the ones that often suggest something that they want to do here! I love seeing them come up with theories they want to test out or repeat something they saw on Backyard Science. We use a science helper which I made up 3 years ago to help the kids get aquainted with the process of an experiment; forming a purpose, an hypothesis, a method and drawing a conclusion. It's basic but it helps them and me too!)

Friday Arvo:

Helping Hands

(Aka: Running Errands together. The kids learn alot from us just being together; paying bills, grocery shopping, etc. They learn how to interact with older people, with those in various careers from chop assistants to bus drivers and waiters. It's a great natural learning curve! Just today Stass (9) went into a shop for me to ask the shop assistant what the price of the quilt in the window was. And Liji (8) was in a bookstore with me a couple of months ago when all of a sudden I heard his voice asking the manager, "Excuse me, do you have the Where's Wally books please?" and waited patiently for the man to look for them. I was really pleased. He had done all the spontaneously and I was very proud of him and could see that he felt confident and independent enough to ask that).

In between each of the mornings and afternoons, we have lunch and some silent reading time.

We all need that.

That's often when I write either my blog (or the book I'm working on hoping to get published one day.)

Now all that I've typed above is just a possible outline for our week.

Some weeks we stick quite closely to it and get alot done and other times well not so much and that's ok!

RELATIONSHIPS

See, to me, the most important thing is always relationships. Without healthy relationships, what have we got? We've got people living together but not really BEING together. Our goal is to have healthy relationships (even though they aren't always!) because out of that, we have opportunities for learning, living and loving!

So yep, we have our rhythms but we also have ALOT of room for spontenaity!

What does this mean practically? Well recently one of our kiddos was doing it really tough. Lots of meltdowns and struggles. Instead of saying, "well bad luck. I said we were going to do stuff on history today and I don't care that you aren't feeling up to it - we are going to be doing it!" and having to STILL deal with the meltdowns, I suggested we do some baking together and have a picnic morning tea instead. That was received with lots of "yes please!!!!'"'s.

My goal is to connect with and reach out to my child who is struggling; not to stick to a routine at all costs.

My goal is to provide opportunities for learning to my child; he was able to engage in skills based around reading, following given instructions, delegating and being a team player in our baking activity.

My goal is to make sure emotionally he is coping.

I could see that he really needed that time to provide him with an opportunity to self regulate his emotions.

The best thing about that was that the meltdown came to an end, my child was happier but was still learning!

Did we end up 'doing' history? Not that day but we did later on in the week when he was more in control of his emotions and was actually excited about what we were going to be reading! He was able to have a successful learning opportunity later on because I chose not to force it on him just for the sake of the rhythm!

So that's what I mean when I say I choose relationships over rhythms.
{Just want to add that sometimes it is RIGHT to stick to the plan but on this particular day I knew that his well being was more important than the 'routine'}

RESOURCES

The other thing that we tried last year was having easily accessible resources which the kids could grab at any given time. Tangrams, jigsaw puzzles and connectors have always been in boxes for the kids to use in their cupboard.

But I wanted something that was a little more...I don't know...um, there and very easy to get to at any time! I had an idea to use two of the wooden display shelves we had and to have baskets on them with stuff the kids could grab at any given time, that we centered around learning.

So here's what I came up with:

And it has worked!

The kids love to get stuff from these baskets at any time of the day and it just provides them with more opportunities for natural learning.

Again I wanted to come up with some names for labels rather than just 'spelling games' etc. So here's what I made.

On the top shelf the baskets are:

Count It

(Maths stuff like a multiplication white-board style book, play money coins and notes in a zip lock bag, the most awesome electronic maths game which I got when I was a kid called Monkey See, and just other random maths games)

Draw It

(Learn to draw step by step books, canvas paper, charcoal pencils, reflex paper, other drawing items)

Create It

(All the stuff kids need to make their own cards; good prefolded cards, stickers, stamper textas, off cut scrapbooking papers - a little bag from Kmart costs about $3- double sided tape, etc)

Collect It

(A basket for all our collected nature items! like pinecones and leaves, etc.)

Observe It

(Insect identification cards, Books relating to our current area of nature study - it might be a book on leaf litter, or Australian Parrots, etc)

Read & Write It

(This basket has lots of reading and writing materials in it such as simple readers, find a word books, laminated sheets with whiteboard markers for them to do some writing on, etc)

On the second row of the shelving we have stuff that's at Zippi's height and easy for her and the younger visiting kids to reach as well as our bigger kiddos of course!

On this row we have baskets with floor puzzles, wooden train tracks, an electronic geography game and a human body game along with some other things.

On the bottom row we have more playful items such as:

Farm and Zoo Animals...

Potato Heads...

... along with two baskets filled with preschooler kind of activities:
Zippi's magnetic books, a colander with pipe cleaners for threading, lacing cards, wooden blocks for stacking, etc.

Well, they are the 3 R's for us that are working well;

Rhythms, Relationships and Resources.

There are opportunities each day for the kids to grab something that interests them and have a go!

Of course there are other baskets and boxes around the house filled with learning tools like drawing stencils, lego, building blocks, musical instruments etc. But I wanted to record what I'd established in the learning area in this season of our lives and how it has been a good thing for our family so far!

More to come soon,

Ps: Sincere thanks for all the kind words about Nat's song in the last post. Your encouraging words meant more to me than I can express. x

Run to My Father {Nat's Song}

2012-01-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

This is a song I wrote and very roughly recorded for my darling friend Nat about losing her precious son Sebastian Levi Mardon. Their journey has been one of faith and hope in the midst of great heartache, trial and pain. Nat is one of my closest friends. Our boys were born a day apart and I've been honoured and humbled to walk along side her during this time. We share a very special bond and I felt inspired by Yah to write this song for her.

You can read about Nat's journey through the celebration, the pain and the love they have walked over at LOVE NEVER FAILS. You can read about Trisomy 18 HERE.

Like I said, this is a rough recording; no mic's, no amps, nothing fancy. Just me sitting in my loungeroom with my guitar singing a song I wrote about my friend's journey and how her Loving Father is carrying her through it all.

The lyrics to the song are:

Verse One:
It's funny how life can change in one moment,
when everything insignificant fades away
How time can stand still in that moment
And your breath can be taken away

Pre Chorus:
And through the pain and the tears
God knew all of my fears
And did not break me (no no)
And I never knew
that losing you
would make me, would make me

Chorus:
Run to my Father
into His arms
And let Him carry me like on wings of eagles
Run to my Father
into His arms
And let Him heal, let him heal my broken heart

Verse Two:
There are days when the darkness surrounds me
And I feel lost, alone and afraid
Then there are days where your memory is so bright
And God's hope really lights my way

(Back to pre chorus and chorus)
Bridge:
And you are not forgotten
I love you still so much
You have changed my life forever
And I am thankful this journey made me

(Back to chorus)

Love to my precious friends Nat & Greg, Jai, Eli and Lani and in special memory of Sebastian Levi.

Glow Sticks and Sparklers

2012-01-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of snaps of our kiddos having fun one night with glow sticks and sparklers...

More soon,

The Pregnancy, Labour and Birth of Sophie

2012-01-03T03:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I was so excited to find out that our dear friends Ben and Jas were going to be expecting their first baby! We watched on as they went through all the exciting stages of pregnancy and one day Jas asked me if I would like to be present at the birth of their little girl to take photos and support her. I was honoured and over joyed to be apart of this incredibly special event.

A week or so before Sophie's birth, I took a couple of very impromptu photos of Jas' lovely pregnant belly when they called in here one night.

This next one is my fave I think...

The expectant couple!

Then it all began happening and I was called to the birth at about 12.20am on the morning of Boxing Day! Zeeki and I made the trip down (about 45 mins away) and he didn't even cry once! Actually for the whole 2 days I was there, he was an angel! So quiet and calm which was SUCH an answer to prayer! It meant he was happy, I could photograph and be there for Jas too...total blessing!

Many people were praying for Jas and Ben during this time. Yah answered our prayers for a safe labour - praise Him! He was completely in control of the whole situation and His presence was really there. It was beautiful.

Anyway, here are some of the shots I took during the various stages of the labour at home...

Gorgeous Midwife Hazel arriving

{and on the wall behind are the verses from Isaiah 43 that Jas had printed out and coloured}...

Jas' lovely sis Tess was supporting Jas throughout the labour at home...

I accompanied Ben and Jas on some walks around the block (Zeeki in the ergo!) which they were doing to try and help ramp things up a bit...

I like this one; Hazel supporting Ben who is supporting Jas...

Ben was a fantastic support the whole way through...

Capturing the moment...

Setting the atmosphere...

There was so much love and support in the room...

...and JOY too!

Things started happening as Jas moved into 'the zone'...

There was prayer, worship and scripture reading during the labour...

...and kisses too!

The decision was made to transfer into hospital due to bubby's positioning and some other factors and Jas continued labouring like a champion there.

On Tuesday morning, a minute shy of 7am, little Sophie Renee entered the world!

Here she is back at home with her mum and dad...

And my first cuddle with little Sophie!

Oh and this is the feeding/modesty cover I made Jas as her shower gift.

She chose the materials and I sewed it up for her.

It's reversible too and she's gotten use out of it already - yay!

We were blessed to have this little fam visit us on the weekend with Sophie only 5 days old!

Here she is on my table!

And here she is in her mama's arms!

Well, I was really honoured to be there, to try and capture some special moments of a special time in this family's life.

Thanks Ben and Jas for letting me be a part of Sophie's labour and may Yah continue to pour out His love, grace and joy to you all!

More to come,

PS: Oh and a special thank you shout out to my awesome hubby for holding the fort with our 4 kiddos for the two days I was away and thanks also to Katie and Michael for shopping and dinner! You all rock! Mmmmwah!

Going to the Beach and One VERY Humbling Experience...sigh...

2012-01-02T04:55:00.000-08:00

So, I was just going to post the pics from our first beach trip for the summer.
It took us 3 hours to get there and another 3 to make it home again (with breastfeeding stops along the way!).
But as I was washing up (as you do at 10.35pm lol) I was thinking about what happened this afternoon at the beach.
And I was thinking about how I don't have to share this story but that sometimes in our honest blog posting in cyber world, we somehow are able to relate better to one another.
So I've decided to share this story tonight.
Maybe it's for someone else's benefit or maybe just for my own but either way, I'm going to post it.

But first, photos....

{our 4 biggest kiddos loving the water!}

{jumping over waves}

{seaweed shoreline}

{i love our underwater camera...it can take you right up close and personal to the water action without damaging the camera!!!}

{putting sand into dad's lap}

{Zeeki's first paddle. He LOVED it. Our first child born in water and also our first child who actually LOVES water!}

{Stassi + me underwater!}

{Love this one of Stass!}

{kick fights}

{brett took this one of some seaweed under the water}

{the boys having a little race}

{Zippi didn't really seem interested in the shells when Brett showed them to her but she did REALLY enjoy paddling in the water!}

{Stass and Liji enjoyed paddling out to a little sand bar and watching the waves and talking.
Was very sweet to see}

{Ethi making sand angels. The other two older kids joined in and they kept repeating this little game of sand angels and into the water to wash the sand off every couple of minutes}

So.
The photos show it was a lovely afternoon.
What they don't show are two things.
One; how very necessary our little adventure was today after one of the toughest weeks we've had for a very long time. Extremely tough for reasons that don't need to be mentioned here but a trial none the less. Yah has once again brought us through and after some heart to heart discussions and re-grouping, we decided that a day trip to the beach was in order.

Two; the other thing these photos don't show was the story I alluded to earlier.

So after our lovely afternoon at the beach, we headd back to our car.
Brett arrived there first and told me that we have a fine on our windscreen.
WHAT? A fine? Are you kidding me? There were no parking signs! We had checked when we got out of the car! We are fastidious about that! We always check and there were NO signs anywhere near the place that we parked.
There was a sign further on through some gates around a different part of the area but not where we were. Surely they can't fine us if there aren't any signs?!

I was quite upset about it.

Not sure why I was so upset.

Maybe it was the culmination of a hugely difficult week.
Maybe it was because I'd just been to the showers where a lady refused to pick up her screaming child and comfort it and I desperately wanted to rock that little bubba myself!
Maybe it was because I really had checked before we left the car.
Either way, I was upset.

I walked with Zeeki in my arms, back about 20 meters to the entrance of the carpark.
I scanned the signs.
Nope. No mention of having to pay to park there!
Right, I thought. That's it. This guy has messed with the wrong person today.

Now people who know me well, know how much I actually HATE confrontation. I have been known to become physically ill over just knowing that I have upset someone or that I have to talk to someone about something that might upset them. I am not normally someone who likes to get into an argument or argue the point on something like a fine. That's just not me.
No, I'm the opposite. I like to placate and that can also get me into trouble from time to time for not speaking my mind!

Anyway, I took that fine in one hand, baby in the other, and I marched off to that Ranger's little booth to get to the bottom of this fine issue! Meanwhile, poor Brett is back at the car having to dress everyone into dry clothes because I have a bee in my bonnet and I was off to see that man!

I walked down there and said, "Hi there. We just returned back to our car to find this fine on our windscreen. Now, there aren't any signs saying that we need to pay to park in that area, so I don't understand why we have this fine!"

He replies about how it is a national park and common sense says that you need to pay to park there.
Um, no it doesn't! I asked him how were we to know to pay for parking if there was no sign? We aren't from the area; surely they can't expect people to just know that they should pay!

"I think you'll find that there is a sign when you drive in that clearly states that you need to pay to park here," he says.
"Well, I've checked the signs and I think YOU'LL find that there are no such signs there! And because there are no signs there, I'm NOT going to pay for this fine!"
Then I added something about contacting Today Tonight (the current affairs TV program) and asked for his name and threatned that he would be contacted further about this whole incident.
{Today Tonight? Seriously...how embarassing am I and how worked up that I felt I needed to pull the TT card?}

I turned on my heels, with ticket and baby still in arms, back to the car with fumes coming out my ears I'm sure.

Back at the car, Brett asked me what had happened and I told him.
Oh yes. I told him and the kids.
"I need your phone too so I can take photos of those signs."

Brett said, "Don't worry mate. It's just $11".
"No!" I said emphatically. "It's the principal of the whole thing!"

So I took Brett's phone and went to the signs at the gate that I had already checked, and photographed them.
And that's when I saw it.
Admittedly, it was small BUT it was definitely there.

'A fee of $11 for parking in these grounds applies' read the sign.

Uh-oh.
I could taste it already.
Bitter.
Nasty.
Horrible.
The taste of how I'd let my own indignation rise up and spew out of my mouth before I'd checked my facts properly.
This poor man.
He was an older gentleman too.
Someone's son, probably someone's husband, daddy, pop.
Not only was I breaking Torah by not respecting someone older than me but I was going against the heart of Torah; loving your neighbour.
I'd had nothing but loathing for this poor man who was just doing his job.
AND. I. WAS. WRONG.

There was another taste forming in my mouth.
I'd had that taste before too.
The taste of humble pie.

Yes.
As quickly as I'd marched off the tear down this man, I grabbed my wallet, and went back to his little pay-station, once again with the fine in my hand.

I wasn't sure how he'd react but I knew I had to do the right thing and humble myself.
I said, "Hi again. I've gone back to check the signs and you were absoulutely right. They do say that there is an $11 parking fee and so I humbly apologise and ask for your forgiveness."

He said it was fine and that it was good of me to come back and say that.
I paid for the fine and shook his hand and thanked him for being gracious towards me.

Sigh.

I walked back to the car knowing that I had done the right thing to go back there and own up to my mistake.
I felt like a puppy going home with her tail between her legs as I walked back to my family.

But they cheered me on.
I explained that I had made a mistake (since they'd already heard me ranting about how unfair the fine was!!!) and had gone to apologise to the man.
Brett told the kids I was the most amazing woman (sweet guy - deluded but sweet all the same! kidding!) which was a really encouraging thing for him to say.

It was a really good natural learning moment for our kids actually...to kind of see a problem being worked out before them and watching a humbling process take place - as painful as it is to admit our mistakes.
And of course it was a good natural learning moment for me too....think things through before I speak. Breathe and assess whether something is really worth sticking your neck out for and if it is, make sure you have your facts right first! And of course the most important thing for me in the whole situation was the reminder to act in love. I had missed the heart and I don't want to be a person who does that.
And, what a precious gift grace and forgiveness are to us.
A clean slate.
A fresh beginning.
Thank you Yah.

Anyway, that's the story of my humble pie incident this afternoon.
If anything like that has ever happened to you, I guess it might be comforting to know in some small way, that you aren't alone.

And I'll leave you with these verses that I've been reflecting on tonight:

"For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly father will also forgive you..."
- Matthew 6:14

"Stand up in the presence of a person with gray hair, show respect for the old..."
- Leviticus 19:32

"...love your neighbour as yourself..."
- Leviticus 19:18 & Mark 12:31

More to come another time,

Aunty Dee's First Cuddles with Zeeki, going to Sydney and Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T19:10:00.000-08:00

My younger sisters are twins and are only 20 months younger than me.
Needless to say that we grew up being very close.
We fought hard but we loved lots too!
Both my sisters have lived interstate now for over 10 years.
While I miss them terribly, I know that they are happy where they are and it honestly does make me appreciate the time we have together much more whenever we get it.
Dee last came to Sydney when Zeeki was about 6 weeks old but unfortunately, she was sick and neither of us wanted to risk him (or any of us) picking up something. She was very understanding but of course I really wanted her to meet Ezekiel!
She and her lovely man of may years, Kit, came to Sydney this week for a few days to play at one of Kit's cousin's wedding. Both Dee and Kit are amazing accomplished musicians who write, record and perform for their living.
Anyway, the only time that we could get to see them was before they boarded their plane of Friday.
They came 2 hours early and met us at a park. We travelled about 2 and a bit hours to get there and it was so worth it!

Here I am with Dee...

Her first snuggles with Zeeki the boy boy...

All the kiddos were VERY excited to see Dee again (it's been a year since they saw her last)...

Hugs...just because we can....lol :)

More snuggly time for Aunty Dee and cheeky Zeeki...

...and lovely soft first kisses too :)

The big kids loved playing on the park equipment.
Some of it is in shade so we could watch the kids comfortably.
It is close to the airport and has been a great waiting/meeting spot for us over the years because the kids can play but you don't have to pay through anything for parking.
A real blessing!

Did I mention the BIG kid loved the park equipment too?! lol!

We all enjoyed catching up with Kit and his lovely parents too...

We said goodbye so that they could go off to the airport and board their plane.

It was SO great to see you guys!
We love you very much x

Since it might be the last time for a while before we get down to Sydney, we decided to make the most of it.
Next stop...the new Ikea in Tempe!

It is HUGE!
While we didn't want to buy anything that day, I did want to have a look at some of the wardrobes and do a bit of a touch and feel of them to see how sturdy they were, etc.
It was JAM PACKED but we still had a decent walk through to that section and checked out the robes. I have some ideas now of what we want for the girls' bedrooms and our bedroom too.

We also took the opportunity to go by our favourite curry house one last time.
Seriously, the staff there LOVE our kids. As soon as they saw us, the young girl who normally serves us came out from behind the counter to give Zippi a giant cuddle. So sweet!

Mmmmmm chicken curry!

I haven't photographed it yet but I also got some letters from TYPO (my most fave shop in the whole world i think!) for a phunky pheature (ahem) wall in our new home. Can't wait to create it and show you!

Well, the new calendar year has begun once again.
So Happy New Year to you and yours!
I'm so thankful for all that has happened this year; Zeeki's homebirth, resotration of friendships, purchasing our first home, recording an album, our 3rd year of homeschooling and many other adventures. There have been tough times too. But Yah has and continues to bring us through them all and I FOREVER remain thankful to and in awe of Him!

Much love,

Seeing Anth...

2011-12-31T03:44:00.000-08:00

I am blessed to have a handful of very close girl friends with whom I have shared many of life's ups and downs.

One of these friends is Anthea.

Anth and I went to college together.

I remember meeting her one night at our college orientation camp. I thought she was incredibly quiet and years later she told me she thought I must have been a bit of a show-off!

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that thirteen years later, we'd be such great friends.

Anth is one of those friends that gave me something special to mark the beginning of a pregnancy...(a special phone call or message; for Stass she gave me gorgeous gloves that had a little character on each finger).

She celebrated our house moves by giving me a little pot plant and card.

She came to help me and cleaned my dishes after Ethi was born and I was struggling with him as a crying-reflux-infant and two other little munchkins running around. I remember her getting wipes, cleaning Liji's hands, helping him out of the high chair and reading Stassi stories while I tried to settle baby Ethan. She was such an amazing help.

She would bring fruit boxes or baked goods or home-made minestrone soup when she visited and knew I'd enjoy that kind of spoiling!

Anth is the kind of thoughtful friend who would go to a country town and being winter and thinking of my kids, would purchase them all hand-knitted woolen beanies in different colours.

She has remembered their birthdays over the years with cards and messages along with various beautiful books.
For one my own birthdays, she gave me the most gorgeous large print edition of Van Gogh's works. She bought me Van Gogh coasters too once and a hand-made doiley when she visited Europe; the doiley was from Italy wasn't it Anth?

She is the kind of friend you have that holds your hand and prays with you when the chips are down and praises God with you when things go well.

Anth is the kind of person you can absolutely be yourself around and not have to worry about saying something and have her judge you wrongly.

No.

She loves me as I am.

And I her.
I remember sleeping over in her room once before she was married and she happily told me there were only 100 days to go until she was to get married! That was now over 10 years ago.

(Ahhh Sumi and Anth...the broom closet days hey!)

We've dreamed about all the fun activities we might do one day if we get to meet up in Paris under the Eiffel Tower.

When I lost a friendship some years back, she was there to encourage me and made sure I was ok. She is a great listener too - I remember us enjoying many hot cuppas together at various cafes around here and sharing our hearts.

I wrote a song for her wedding and have celebrated with her during many happy times.

I've also grieved alongside her when things have gone sour too. Hard times we've been through together.

I love her family as if they were my own and I have missed her SO much since she went to live in Wales, 4 years ago.

So you can imagine that when we do get to see each other, the time is very precious to me!

It's been 18 months since she last visited Australia and I had my catch-up day with her and her lovely Andrew this week.
The time went way too fast but every second was wonderful.

Her very first look at Ezekiel...

Zeeki cuddling Uncle Andrew...

and Aunty Anth...

Ethi playing chess with Uncle Andrew...

Liji took Anth outside and asked if he could show her how he could burn a hole in a leaf using the magnifying glass...

We all pose together for a photo
{didn't notice till after that Liji's tongue is sticking out and poor bubba Z wasn't impressed! lol!}

The kiddos with Aunty Anth and Uncle Andrew...

I just had to include this one because I love that Liji and Andrew are making the same face together! So cute!!!!

Anth asked if she could make a macaroni necklace when Zip wanted to make one...

...she plays the Charlie and Lola magnets with Stass while they talk about Jane Austen...

...and she listens to Ethi chat away and tell jokes while he is wiping up the dishes!

Anth and Andrew...

Stass has always loved Anth.
This is a very special photo to me...

Saying goodbye is hard in many ways.
But when you pick up where you left off like we do, even if I don't get to see Anth for another couple of years, it will still feel as if it was only yesterday that we saw each other last...

Love you mate.
Miss you already.

Let the Renovations Begin!

2011-12-29T12:18:00.000-08:00

Brett and his sis hired a mammoth trailer ~~yesterday~~ two days ago (by the time I get to hit publish on this post lol!) and went out to our new house bright and early with our wooden vegie beds and hothouse on the back! As it's about 3 hours away, they wanted to go and deliver them but also make the most of the trip so they decided to ~~smash some stuff up~~ begin the renovations while they were out there!
They worked so hard for 6 straight hours before turning around and heading home again in time for tea - they are champions in my book! Thanks so much Dannii for all your help!!!

Unfortunately, after peeling back the wooden panelling, Brett found ALOT of evidence of white ants which had been hidden for the building inspection report. He didn't see any live one which is good but plenty of evidence that they've been there!
However, it's really kind of a blessing that we found them now. It means that we can deal with replacing some of the wood and batts now rather than down the track when it may have weakened the structure.

Anyway, I guess that's my first progress report!
Thanks for all the lovely comments about our house and the offers of help!
We are very excited about this new journey :)

I have more to share another time!

This week has been very full with me:

* being present for my dear friend Jas' labour which was an amazing experience

* catching up for the first time in 18 months with my best friend Anth who was visiting from Wales

* listening to one of the songs from our album that is almost 100% complete (get ready for an early release single sometime in the not so distance future!!!), purely thanks to all the work that Heiko and Lori have done this week - love you guys!

* also having one of my sisters meet Zeeki for the very first time!

A HUGE week!

Anyway, once I catch my breath, I'll post some more stuff down the track.

More to come another time.
Much love and blessings,

Shabbat Shalom

2011-12-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

Shabbat Shalom from our family to yours!

Hoping that you have a wonderful time together resting in our Elohim (God).

"On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. And God BLESSED the SEVENTH DAY and DECLARED IT HOLY because it was THE DAY when HE RESTED from his work of creation" - Genesis 2:2-3

May you be blessed as you enter into His rest on the day that He set apart from the beginning of creation!

Love,

OMGOODNESS....WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOME!!!!

2011-12-22T02:36:00.000-08:00

It's not really appropriate for me to share every single detail here online but if I could tell you how it all came to be, I'm sure you would be as amazed as we are, as to how this all unfolded.

Miraculous is how I would describe it.

Truly miraculous.

The short version is this....

We've been renting for our whole married life and have been thankful for a lovely roof over our head. It has been a blessing from Yah to be in this same house for 8 years and several other lovely houses before that during our 11 years of marriage. We never thought we would be able to buy, nor was it right for us to do so before this, but Yah has made a way and we are truly thankful and really do marvel at the work of His hands!

What an incredible God to provide for his children; whether that be in a rental home or in one like the one we have just purchased. It's not a 'better' season of our life just because we now 'own' a home, rather we think of it just as a new season!

And we are so excited to have this new journey together as a family.

Six weeks ago today, we looked through this home in a rural town that we have grown very fond of. Six weeks to the day later, the contracts have been exchanged, the final inspection done, the house has reached settlement and the keys are in our hands!!!!

{I won't mention the name of the town (for annonymity's sake) but suffice to say, it is lovely with rolling hills and pastures but also has alot of shops and all the ammenities that we had been looking for. Most importantly, we prayed about where we should live and this is DEFINITELY the place that we feel Yah is leading us to. It is the place that we have peace in. Although we will be sad to leave our town for many reasons, we also are looking forward to calling our new one 'home'.}

We can't believe how quickly it has all happened.
Our family and friends have prayed for us, been excited with us, celebrated with us, held their breath with us, fed us, supported and encouraged us during this time and for that we are TRULY THANKFUL.

They know how precious they are to us. We won't forget all the kind words, the advice or the way people have shared in our joy with us. It has meant so much to us all!

{We popped open some sparkling non-alcoholic wine to have with the kids to celebrate on the night that the contracts were exchanged}

{Our gorgeous next door neighbours who have been SO helpful always but especially during this time brought around a handful of balloons with thoughtful messages like this one plus party popper streamers and blowhorns for us all to celebrate on that same night. We will miss A so much when we move!}

{A little later that week, Heiko and Lori who had been walking the whole journey with us in prayer, came around to spend time together and bought some special wine all the way from Israel for us to share together!}

{Along with Hekio and Lori, so many family members and friends have lovingly supported us during this time. All their prayers and words of encouragement have blessed us so much!}

{When we went to look at this house (and many others!) Channi and Jono kindly allowed our kiddos to play at theirs for the day. All the kids had a wonderful time and their kind hospitality has been very much appreciated}

Anyway, without any further ado, here are some shots of our little home!

There is A LOT to do to it; floors stripped, walls to be painted, decks to be mended, wardrobes to be refitted BUT that's what we've always wanted!! It's an opportunity to be able to fix up, design and renovate a home all in our own way!

{Posing for the obligatory 'sold' photo! This shot was taken there last week when we travelled out to do the final inspection of the property before settlement. Sometime later we will change the colour of the house from salmon+blue to probably cream with white and black highlights}

{Our agent handing over the keys to our fam!}

{Our agent very kindly hand delivered this lovely gift basket to congratulate us! He put in chocolates and special cheeses, crackers, semi dried tomatoes and pates and lovely little gifts for the kids too - how nice!}

{And just to prove I was there too, here's me eating lunch with the kiddos for our first meal in the new house - low salicylate rice boxes I'd made and packed this morning}

{The hallway + all the walls will be white. Can you picture an old school chandelier here? I can! And the floors here will have the lino stripped up and will be painted black then sealed}

{The kitchen will be staying put for the time being but down the track we would like to replace it and knock out the whole wall on the right hand side, install a breakfast bar there and open it up into an open-plan kitchen+dining area - you can see the wall in the pic below next to where Stass is...}

{Behind Stass in this pic is the dining room big enough to fit our 12 seater table - yay!! So glad because we use our table so often for celebrations and hope to still be able to even in the new place}

{The deck that needs some repair. Down the track we think we'd like to have the deck rebuilt with a cover and the kitchen windows which are near it might be bifolds that open out for serving and unite the indoors and the outdoors even more!}

{The bathroom which will get some paint-loving soon. Another plan down the track for us is to remodel the bathroom so it is one open and light room rather than a 3-way. Again, it's all just plans at the moment and may never happen and that's ok! How cute are the little shutters that open into the laundry linen press for dirty washing down the chute and the top shutters to get fresh towels from!}

{Looking from the lounge room into the learning room area. I really like the built in cupboards there which will house all our baskets, books, games and projects for display. Again, white walls and shabby-chic paint for the cupboards here!}

{One of the front rooms has already had carpet ripped up. The wallpaper will be stripped back, shutters installed, gyprock attached and some electrical work done for lighting I think too}

{My view from the kitchen sink looking into the backyard and on the right hand side is a big shed, chicken coup and vegie garden area already set aside by the previous owners}

I will share the renovation journey for my own records as we travel this new path!
Anyway, have been SO excited about it and wanted to post it here too :)
So there you go.
More to come soon!

I Want to Remember This...

2011-12-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

I want to remember...Zippi at 2.5 years old saying a 15 word sentence to me yesterday that went like this... "I have to get that rainbow painting from Alayne because it was for my birthday".Stass and I were a little surprised that so many words came out of her mouth in one little sentence!Here she is with a butter moustache and beard! lol! I want to remember...Sulley taking Stassi and Zippi on separate dates this week (they so loved that!) I want to remember...A lovely time spent with Mell Mallin and Ella sharing our hearts about parenting and family life. I want to remember...
The celebratory coupon dance that take place in our kitchen when a child earns their coupon and how everyone dances around like crazy singing, "Ethi gets a coup-on! Ethi gets a coup-on!" I want to remember...How challenging I have found this week. We decided to go back onto a low salicylate diet for a week to kind of almost re-set the kids' systems again to see if that helps. Liji is really displaying so many signs of ODD - OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT DISORDER. Once upon a time, I honestly thought that ODD was an excuse for poor parenting. Having been very intentional in our parenting journey, I know that it is not always that at all and often has to do with an imbalance in a child/adult's systems. Anyone who knows us well knows that 'labels' and 'diagnosis' are helpful if they open the door to helping us better understand our children and giving us information, tools and stratergies to help them. This is why we underwent a diagnosis for Elijah when he was diagnosed with Autism Disorder 4 years ago. Back then, we didn't know what we were dealing with. We were just trying to love him the best way we could and nothing we did felt like it was actually working. It felt like we were knocking on a door and no one was answering us each time we asked questions of professionals. Once we had the word 'autism' to look up, it helped us to find our way through and finally get the help we needed. Of course, Yah guided us by His Spirit the whole way. He showed us which therapy to do, when to start diets, when to stop, when to pick up a book and how to communicate with Liji in a way that helped him like we'd never seen before. I'm so thankful we had Yah's help through it all.Now we haven't sought to get a diagnosis of ODD as yet since we have a really good tool up our sleeve that we know has taken away the symptoms before (the low salicylate diet). As much as I detest the diet myself, we know that it works and we are committed to doing it again for the short term (minus the high sugar content that the diet allows). We will do this for a short time in the hope of 'resetting' their systems as I said earlier and then we will gradually begin back on allowing more moderate vegetables and fruit back in and then the odd high salicylate food in too. Will keep you updated with how it goes. We are on Day 2 of going back to low salicylates and I tell you what, I see a HUGE difference in our Liji Boy today already! Things that were tipping him over the edge so quickly and easily are just not today! There have been no tears, compliance and he even proclaimed this morning, "I don't know what it is, but I feel really happy today and less angry!" Anything that helps us get our boy back like this is SO worth the effort.I also want to remember that although some days are so challenging for him, that Liji always has a gentle loving heart to be with his little bro... I want to remember...Hanging out last week with our Jassy Wassy, chatting with Neen and prayer time with my precious Lori. Very thankful for amazing women who encourage my heart and my faith! I want to remember... the kindness of Jono and Channi to feed us with this beautifully hearty warm soup when we popped into their town for a visit last week :) Their hospitality and love meant alot to us...

I want to remember...

That this gorgeous bubba of ours rolled over from his back to his front for the first time on Sunday just gone. He's 3.5 months now and he's so sweet and smiley! The colic and silent reflux are both still there but manageable. I stopped giving him Zantac since he hated taking it SO much and he seems ok without it. Still using the tinctures (non-alcoholic) that Elisa kindly gave me of catnip and camomille to help with the colic. Want to make a batch up myself actually! I owe you an email Elisa!

I want to remember...

this yummy 'safe' version of sang choy bow I made last week and how much everyone loved it!

I want to remember...Travelling 3 hours to get to Mitch's 21st to celebrate with him. I want to remember that it's one year exactlt today that his mum (Aunty Deb) passed away. It was a bitter sweet celebration for him and everyone there.

I want to remember...

How much Zippi LOVES playing charades after her shower especially (and how cute she is when she does all the actions!)

She does this...

{it's a movie}

{first word}

{"It's Moses Prince of Egypt in a blanket!"}

I want to remember...

When the song by Matthew Hoffman,'Yahweh Fill this Place' was playing this week, Ethi said, "Mum I'm so glad I can sing about Yah and say His Name to Him".

I want to remember...Cuddles together after family time watching 'It's a Knockout!'

I want to remember...

The biggest zucchini we have grown so far!

Thank you Yah for such provision!

I want to remember...

Time together cutting out patterns for making our own beanbags to play with {especially for Zippi}

I want to remember...

How excited I am to be seeing Anth soon (all the way from Wales after not seeing each other for a year and a half! Can't wait!!!)

Well, there's more to post but not enough time to do it all now!

lol.

It can all wait.

More another time,

Ethan's 7th Birthday Recap

2011-12-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

Just for our records...
Ethi's 7th Birthday (a Saturday) at the beginning of this month was a lovely time for our family.
On the Friday night, the 4 older kids jetted off for a sleepover at Nan and Pop and Sulley's house since the next day was not only Ethi's birthday but also our 11th wedding anniversary.
Brett and I had a lovely Thai dinner together at home once Zeeki was in bed.
The next morning I got up and got the cakes ready but um they weren't so successful...

{the cakes burnt on the outside and were soggy inside!!!}

So Brett saved the day by getting some sponge cakes from coles that I could cut and make into the dump truck Ethan had requested...

For over 4 years, our kids did not have birthday cakes with lollies, colourings or preservatives of any kind. I made every single cake from scratch using vinegar, organic carob for flavouring and no toppings whatsoever because of the very strict diets they were on. Having come off the diets somewhat, we now feel comfortable allowing them to choose one special cake that I can try and make for them which may have some colour or candy on it. Since they don't have those things at any other time really (we are still almost 100% nasty-chemical free) we think bending the rules for one day is ok and they REALLY look forward to enjoying their cake!!!

So here's Ethi with his dump truck cake...

There was left over icing which I'd popped into a bag and Stass had a turn at piping rosettes...

{Stass piped Ethi's initials on this mini cake}

For his birthday, Ethi got a Lego policestation set and the Cars2 Big Ben Lego too...

Here he is beginning to assemble it on his birthday afternoon...

Sulley (Brett's sis) bought over her slushie maker. All you need for this is ice, rock salt and a soft drink. We choose to use Schweppe's Lemonade which does not contain the benzoate 211. I often wonder if Schweppe's can go without putting 211 in lemonade, how come the other manufacturer's can't? Anyways, again, our kiddos don't drink soft drink at all, so a little as a treat on a birthday without the nasty 211 is a good compromise for us all!

Other shots from the day...

Opening and reading his cards...

...and celebrating a lovely lunch together with Nan and Pop and Sull...

I have SO much more I want to share here but I'll just do it as I find time!
More to come,

As for Me and My House

2011-12-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

Recently, our gorgeous friends Heiko and Loz stumbled upon this song and shared it with us. I love them and love that Yah knew I needed to hear this song in this season of my life.

It has always been our family's verse (+ is on our back wall in a huge frame) and has now become our family anthem.

"And we will not give our hearts to another, we belong to the LORD" is one of my favourite lines from this song.
As I look back over the years of my life as an individual and our life as a family, there is one thing I know for sure. I know that Yah (God) has been with me through all of it; the good and bad times, the challenging and the fun stuff too. As Abraham walked with Him by faith, so I do too. I do not have all the answers to things, nor do i claim to. I am no Bible scholar that's for sure but I love reading the Word and asking Yah to lead me as I apply it to my life to the best of my ability.

All I know is that Yah has proven Himself real to me and I am so thankful for that.

I am thankful for His amazing character He has revealed to me in His Word.

And I am thankful for Yeshua being my Messiah.

Shabbat Shalom friends and love to you as you rest in Him!

I've got heaps to write about...

2011-12-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

I want to share stuff on here like:

* how Liji was recently diagnosed with Irlens Syndrome and how HELPFUL that has been in understanding why he has difficulty often with his eyes

* the almost fully written up birth post ahem only 3 months later

* our yearly highlights post

* my getting-healthy-again-journey that I'm on and how much BETTER i am feeling already!

* how AWESOME breastfeeding is going with Zeeki (Praise Yah - all my prayers were answered and I've had the most wonderful experience this time round!)

* how challenging at times (and of course beautiful at times!) life can be with family members on the autism spectrum

* how we have a move coming up sometime in the new year

* the pancake recipe that I've promised to Lee for so long (so sorry lee!)

Anyway, the point is I want to share that stuff but haven't really got a lot of spare time at the mo.

I'm sure I'll get around to recording those things at some stage but in the meantime, there they are in point form for when I look back over this blog, my little journal of sorts! lol!

More to come another time.

Making a Remote Control

2011-12-13T02:12:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I bought this BUILD YOUR OWN REMOTE CONTROL KIT for $7 from a book store outlet. I thought it would be a good rainy-day-project for us all to do.

Yesterday was one of those kind of rainy days so I pulled out the kit and invited the kiddos to come and construct it with me.

The kit included:

a really informative instruction sheet, circuit board, transistor, resistor, capacitor, keypad, 2 LEDs and a plastic case.

{We read about circuits from a childcraft book + another book and Ethi enjoyed looking at the instruction sheet}

{The thing I love about homeschooling is just how much I am learning alongside the kids too! I never understood any of the electrical stuff at school probably because I wasn't interested in it at all!}

{The boys placing the circut board into the plastic casing}

{Stassi used the mini screwdriver to screw in the small screw which holds the circut board in place}

{Brett showed the kids how to twist the wires together}

{and then they had a turn each}

{Brett read out from the sheet about the wires needing tape over them to become insulators rather than conductors so that the circuit wasn't disrupted}

{He explained about open and closed circuts and battery symbols and polarity}

{the kids tried to figure out which way the batteries go into the case by looking at the symbols and self correcting when they didn't get it right straight away}

{The kids are learning how to wait for each person to have their turn. Sometimes they are more patient than other times but they are trying hard :) }

{Liji screwed the plastic case shut}

{and then showed the finished product to Zippi}

And then for the big test to see if it works...

{I think their faces tell the rest of the story!}

Wooohooo!
One working remote control that successfully operates both the TV and the VCR!
Way-to-go-Idaho!

More another time,

Preschool Play - Ribbon Dancing

2011-12-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

What to do with a two year old who loves to dance?

Buy a $3 spool of pretty ribbon (ahem with "butterfwies" on it!) and attach it to a ruler with some sticky tape.
Let her run around the house with it...

flicking it around...

and dancing with it...

..until she pulls it apart and you need to attach it again!

But um, just not when you are rocking a baby and trying to get dinner on for your hungry tribe!

Anyway, she enjoyed this play!

This Moment

2011-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Joining in with SOULE MAMA'S 'THIS MOMENT' LINK UP.
The following is copied from Soule Mama's blog:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Mine is late, but I still wanted to post one.

I Want to Remember This...

2011-12-09T03:18:00.000-08:00

This is a regular meme that you too can join in with!

I want to remember this... That Zippi at 2.5 says all the time, "But Mummy, thas not very fair!" if I won't get the paints out right on dinner time or if I don't grant any request she has really. Ethi has had less meltdowns. Liji is having a growth spurt and an increase in meltdowns.*sigh*He finished his Math U See Alpha book today and was so proud of himself "woohoooing" around the place that he woke up the baby! Brett took him out for a celebration. I want to remember that sometimes I think back on friendships lost; especially when the kids are in bed and I have quiet time to think....except I can't think about it too much because it makes me so sad. I do want to remember that though in times to come; that I won't just think I was ok with losing people out of my life but that I will remember it hurt and it was hard and yet Yah got us through. I think about how thankful I am for the strong and supportive friendships that remain. I want to remember that too. I want to remember the date night I had with Ethi this week; he requested we go to the arcade and play some games like air hockey and car racing together. We did our first photo booth together too. Stass also redeemed one of her coupons this week which was icecream out with mum. We looked at art works, ate and talked and stayed out a little too late. It was beautiful. I want to remember the massive nerf gun fights we had out in the backyard this week and how thoroughly we cleaned the house before the landlord inspections!!! I want to remember sitting out on the driveway enjoying a Mister Whippy icecream each while we chatted and laughed as it all ran down our arms or made a fake milk moustache. I want to remember how hard balancing life is sometimes. It's beautiful and creative and joyful and also challenging, draining and difficult but I honestly wouldn't trade it for the world.

I want to remember this....that I really love the life I am living - the ups and downs of it all.

Preschool Play - Computer Paper!

2011-12-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

Way back in 2007, my two big guys were two little munchkins only 3 and 4 years old. I found these photos from an old blog of mine. We had some computer paper that Aunty Kerrie kindly gave to us. {Do you know that stuff? It's the stuff that *old* computers used to use and it has perforations in between each sheet. We used it as kids too and LOVED it! I remember so much of my childhood was spent drawing on sheet after sheet of this stuff!}

Anyway, I digress. Back when the boys were small, we got out the computer paper and we laid it out...

got out some paint...

and got busy squishing paint between our toes...

and painted with our feet!

I loved looking back at those old shots of our little boys with long curly hair!

Well, yesterday Brett asked me if we still had any of that computer paper left and where it was.

He'd had an idea!

Here's what he got up to with Zippi :)

Brett asked Zip to lie on the computer paper and then traced around her body's outline...

Then he had the idea of letting her decorate it with things from the craft cupboard.

So they got out wool for hair...

some googly eyes...

a pink carboard circle cut in half for a mouth...

and some red streamers for a collar...

Brett got an old shirt and cut it up to make a skirt and let Zip decorate it with lots of dots and spots :)

"Mum, look at MEEEEEEEE!" she proudly exclaimed when they were done!

A simple and fun way to spend part of a morning.

This isn't one of those activities that you would start to do when you're cooking obviously, but still a fun way for a daddy to spend time with his munchkin girl.

Do you still have old computer paper like this? If not, you could purchase a DRAWING ROLL OF PAPER FROM IKEA FOR $7.99 . I reckon it would be just as good!

More soon,

Lego Quest #45

2011-12-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

This week I showed the kiddos A POST I HAD READ ON MY DEAR FRIEND CHANNI'S BLOG
about a LEGO QUEST CHALLENGE BLOG. Our kids were super excited and wanted to launch in and give this challenge a go! It was 'self portrait' and could be a 2d or 3d self portrait or it could be something that represented you.

The kids got to work immediately...

Lego was strewn across the floor from one end of their bedrooms to the other...

And here are their entries!

Stassi's is called
'Me and My Siblings in the Backyard'

And here's what Stassi (age 9) wrote about it:

"This is me and my siblings playing in the backyard. I love spending time with my brothers and sister outside and this is me on the swing. Elijah is pushing me. The building in the corner is a clubhouse that we play in".

Ethan's entry was called
'Us Living at our New House'
Here's what Ethi (age 7) wrote:

"I did us living at our new house because I love it there. This is me holding the lead of the dog. I made it out of wool. In front of me there’s a bonfire and behind me there’s a fish pond and a dog kennel for the dog. Our dad is cooking a special lunch on the bbq. He’s cooking fish..."

"The other photo is of what’s inside the house; Elijah, my brother, is on the computer typing out emails to his friends".

And finally here is Elijah's construction called
'Me and My Sister At Our New House'
Here's what Elijah (age 8) wrote...

This is me walking down the steps from our new house. My sister is already awake playing on the swing. And then I just see my pet dog ‘Sizzle’. Sizzle needs fresh water every day and dog food too.

They had a lot of fun coming up with their ideas and explaining their creations to us.
I think they are great, but I naturally, I am biased!

More to come,

Melted Crayon Art Canvas

2011-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

So you might remember that last week I posted about MAKING RAINBOW LOVEHEART CRAYONS?
Well with the left over pack, I thought it might be a cool idea to make a little canvas for the learning room gallery wall. I'd seen this idea posted on Pinterest before and thought we could give it a crack too!

Every Monday as part of our learning ryhthm, we have what we call 'crafternoon'! It's just a time stenciled in for us to have some intentional craft time. We didn't get a chance to do it then so we did it this arvo instead!

Here's how we did it:

Step 1:
Arrange crayons in some kind of colour order...

Step 2:
Run a line of glue onto the top of the canvas...

Step 3:
Put crayons onto the glue one at a time...

Here's what ours looked like once they were all glued down...

Step 4:
Explain to the kids about which parts of the hair dryer are hot to the touch.
Then let them have a turn at melting the crayons!
We found putting some newspaper underneath was essential and that holding the dryer above the crayons was helpful too!

Melted waxing goodness!

All the kids had a turn.
Here's Stass having a go!

And the finished product mounted on to our gallery wall in the learning room...

Ta Da!

Have you done this before?
Heaps of fun!

More another time.

Preschool Play

2011-12-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

One of the trickiest things for me at the moment is that I have 3 older kids close together in age (9,8,7) and two littlies. I can often manage the three older ones doing an activity together like lego or something similiar while Ezekiel (our youngest) is asleep in the Ergo carrier but Zippi (who is 2.5 yrs and quite an intense personality) is often looking for something to do! So I thought that I would share some of the activities I have for her to play with that are easy for her or I to access and start at a moment's notice! These kinds of activities are good for when I am carrying Zeeki (therefore unable to get down comfortably on the floor to do things with her) or when I am cooking dinner or something like that. These are my 'go-to' kind of activities that buy me a little time without the whinging and at the same time really help her engage in play and encourage indepence and creative skills.

The first I am going to share is called a DOODLE MAT.

I purchased this a while back from K Mart for $10. It has been really great! The activity consists of a foam/waterproof mat and a 'pen' that you fill with a little water. I sit Zippi up at our bench and then she draws onto the mat's surface. It dries after about 5 minutes (depending on the weather!) and so she can start again and draw something new!

I keep it in one of the baskets in our learning room so that it is easy for her to grab and bring to me if she feels like using it (otherwise I'll just suggest it sometimes to her and she's up for it!)

The 'pen' stays on the sink ready to be filled when next needed (I keep it there too so it won't get lost).

Zippi finds a pencil a bit difficult to grasp still but this is nice and chunky so she is able to get a better hold. This means she doesn't get as frustrated with drawing. She's been asking me to draw things ("draw me mummy!" ) and then she tries to copy. It's a great little game and is helping her hand-eye coordination, her sense of creativity and her ability to communicate.

For $10, this was a really great purchase for us...well worth the money!

More soon,

Happy 11th Anniversary Honey

2011-12-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

On Ethan's birthday (saturday) it was also our 11th wedding anniverary!

Brett's sis and parents kindly offered to take the 4 older kiddos for a sleepover for us so that we could have a special time together (with Zeeki of course!)

That was such a lovely treat!

So on Friday night, we dropped the kids off and went to our fave Thai spot and got some take out.

We put Zeeki to bed and then sat down and enjoyed some special time together.

The next day the kiddos headed back over and we all enjoyed a lovely celebratory bbq for Ethi's lunch.
Before they came back though, while I was cooking (and burning!) Ethan's cake, Brett and I enjoyed reflecting on and talking about the past 12.5 years we've been together.
We recalled memorable moments, challenging times and special experiences that have bonded us as a couple and as a family in a way that we could never have expected.
We laughed and cried as we rememberd and gave thanks to Yah for His love and provision to us.

This morning I was listening to a programme that was talking about the increase in divorce rates in those who had been married for 25 years and then as the nest empties, realise that they are no longer 'in love' and go their separate ways. One of the reasons the 'expert' wanted to talk about this was because she said if you can encourage people to invest NOW in their relationships, it might help them to not drift apart down the track.
One thing I love about my relationship with Brett is that (although it's not perfect!) we still love to laugh together. We make a real effort to spend time together and not just live parralel lives. Sometimes the only time we can manage together is when the kiddos are all in bed and we settle down for a special night on the couch watching a movie or chatting or playing cards. We talk about our hopes for the future and pray together for our family and about the everyday situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes I just talk about how overwhelming I'm finding the kids' behaviour, or Brett will talk about a work (or lack thereof!) situation. The point is, that we share it together. We used to try and solve each other's problems but we've learnt that often it's better just to listen to each other. Sometimes when I'm out, I'll pick up a special treat that Brett loves to eat or he'll tell me to go and have a bath on my own and will bring me a platter of cheese, olives and crackers. Sometimes it's as simple as the two of us holding off to eat our dinner until the kids have eaten and are in bed and then we sit down, light some candles and just eat dinner together. That doesn't happen often because we LOVE sitting together as a family. But every now and then, it's just what we need.

All these measures are things that we are doing now to invest in our relationship for the future.
My life is richer for knowing and loving you Brett.

I love you mate with all my heart.
Happy 11th Anniversary.
Here's to many, many more!

Love Lus x

Our Gorgeous Ethi Boo Boo

2011-12-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

~~Today~~ yesterday (by the time I get to publish this!) you turned 7!

{photo courtesy of Mell Mallin Photography}

And at 7, you love to...

play at parks...

...and have been telling me for the past year what you would like on your birthday; not in a demanding kind of way but in an innocent planning kind of way. You'll say to me on any random day, "mum, when it's my birthday and I turn 7, do you think I could have a special bbq for lunch?" or you'll say, "Mum, when it's my birthday and I turn 7, can we have (insert a name here!) over to play?" You sweetly plan and change your plans all the time. I love that about you and how you have been sharing all those things with me!

{photo courtesy of Mell Mallin Photography}

At 7, one of your fave things in all the world to do is go exploring with your older brother and sister...

You are such a lover of sports and physical activities!
Here you are playing handball witih dad...

... and trying out the skateboard Heiko kindly gave you...

...football is STILL your fave sport to play (especially with Pupu!)

...although riding your scooter probably comes in a close second...

...and you tackled the skate park this year with your scooter for the first time and LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Another physical activity you love is having leaf fights with your siblings...

...and playing 'tip', 'tip the ball' or 'hide and seek' in the backyard...

This past year you also signed up for a term of golf...

...and you REALLY enjoy going bushwalking (especially out to our fave track where you love to collect rocks and then throw them into the water hole)...

You still crack us up with your antics and jokes and have settled a bit more into learning to self-regulate your emotions. You smile and laugh ALOT which is a joy for us to see..

Eating fruit outside with your family is something you really love and are looking foward to doing more in summer...

In this past year, you lost a couple of teeth This was your first one...

...and this was another later on in the year. This one came out by itself on the way back from visiting the Edwards'. It had been loose a while but wouldn't budge and then you were drinking some water and said, "Hey I think my tooth just came out!" When I asked you if it hurt, you just shrugged it off and said, "Nup! It's fine! It doesn't even hurt at all!" You are really brave Ethi!...

You really love having cuddles with Sulley, Nan, Pop, Nau & Pupu...

And recently you snuggled up with Aunty Meng when she came to town for a visit...

You LOVE reading! You are reading the Zac Power series at the moment and really enjoy processing what you read...

You said one of your fave memories this past year was celebrating some of the feasts. Camping out with dad and the kids in the tent was probably your fave, you said...

You LOVE playing 'pretend' kind of games. Here you are playing pirates with Jemima and Liji at Sukkot...

At 7 Ethi, you are really creative...

...and love drawing pictures for me and dad especially. When you were sick this year you wrote a card for each of us. Mine said, "Dear Mum, I hope I get better soon. Love Ethi" and you drew a happy person (me) and a sad person (you).. Here you are making paper lanterns to decorate the house for the Feast of Tabernacles...

This past year you created your own board game...

...designed your own hand puppet...

and helped Dad build the Opera House!

When I was pregnant this year, you loved cuddling up to me and chatting to bubba in my tummy...

This past year you attended the homebirth of your little bro Ezekiel and I was glad to have you there mate!

You had been planning to give me water when I needed it and were so happy when you got a chance to do that!

You and your siblings STILL talk about how cool it was to be there when Zeeki arrived into the world and just the other day said you wish that night could happen again!

This was you with Zeeki for your FIRST EVER cuddle with him on the morning of his birth...

You love Zeeki so much and always enjoy cuddling with him...

At 7, you enjoy helping dad building stuff (in fact he bought you kids a tool kit of your own to start using this year)...

...and working in the garden (although you lose interest after a short time!)

You do your chores (your fave is collecting eggs and taking up the compost and your least fave is sweeping the floor!)...

...and LOVE cooking! Your fave tv shows are Junior Master Chef and Backyard Science...

At 7, you so love hanging out with the Vandor kids and the Edwards' too! You also talk about Nate alot too and Ezra as well...

You enjoyed riding in the fire truck up at the local community day at the nearby school...

...and riding on a horse!

You learnt a bit about recorders and had fun playing a song with Liji and Stass but after that interest waned quite a bit and we've put that a way for a while ;) and that's ok...

At 7, you sometimes wear this funky head wrap...

...you love science experiments...

...and helping me make stuff (like putting eyelets into the mobile we made for Zeeki's changetable)...

Your MOST FAVE way to spend time is to create with LEGO! You LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Here you guys are at the aquarium in Sydney when they had a special lego thing happening...

You had your first case (and our whole family's first case) of nits this year (hence why your head is shaved in this next pic!)

You also experienced your first chocolate fondue this year...

...and SO had a fab time in the go karts for our annual family party day!

You LOVE being outdoors; digging in the dirt and collecting insects or snails...

...climbing trees...

...and are quite comfortable to be on your own too...

This past year you danced in the snow and tried to catch the flakes on your tongue...

...you said goodbye to Nau and Pupu's house and talked about all the fun times we'd had there together...

Ethi, you are a very thoughtful and caring young man. You love Yah and your family and love playing with friends. You are sensitive and gracious and we love watching you grow mate!

To our precious Boo Boo,

Happy 7th Birthday!

All our love always,

Mum and Dad and the kiddos xox

Some shots from around here that I haven't posted recently but wanted to share!

2011-12-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

Picking greens from the garden which we've been either juicing in the mornings or eating with dinner at night...

Brett *wearing* Zeeki whilst watering the garden...

the necklace we got for Hazel which spells her name in Hebrew...

Cooking Ratatouille for dinner (yummo!)...

Oh our quirky little Zippi girl *reading* in the sun. She has her dummy stuffed up against her nose like this all the time. She is obsessive about this (and many other things actually but that's a whole nother story!) and it is one way that calms her down...

My mum and dad stayed here recently. Gosh they are gorgeous.
Anyway, here they are cuddling Zeeki...

We had a celebration this week (more on this soon!) and mum and dad were here with us for it which was extra special. We had gluten free pizza (for me) and other *safe* pizza for everyone else...

And one more of Brettsky and Zeeki just because I love this shot :)

More another time,

What's in the Box?

2011-11-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

Recently I received a great big box in the mail...

...and inside that was another box wrapped with a gorgeous red ribbon...

...and inside THAT box was a FABULOUS prize pack full of organic and fair-trade goodies!

I had won a competition over at one of my favourite sites CHILDHOOD 101.
Thanks so much to Christie and also to Mitsubishi Motors Australia who SPONSORED THE COMPETITION.
Here's a list of what was in the pack:

CODE: FT – Fair Trade, CO – Certified Organic, AUS – Australian made and/or owned, PF – Palm Oil Free, O – Organic, V – Vegan Friendly, PA – Planet Ark approved

Tielka Tea: Earl Grey Royale and China Breakfast (FT, CO, AUS, PA)

Gunbower Creek: Extra Virgin Olive Oil (O, AUS, PF)
Heavenly Delights: Lemon Shortbread (O, AUS, PF)
Port Willunga Fine Foods: Gourmet Snack Pack (O, AUS, PF)
Lindsay & Edmunds: Sweet Tooth Gift Pack (FT, CO, AUS, PF)
Sleep Sanctuary: Relaxing Bath Soak (O, AUS, PF)
Siham Craftlink: Hemp Loufah (O, AUS, PF)
Mokosh Organic and Fairtrade skin care: 2x bath bombs (FT, CO, AUS, PF)
Gunbower Creek: Olive handmade packaged soaps (O, AUS, PF)
Pure and Green Organics: Citrus with Coffee Exfoliate (CO, V, PA, AUS, PF)
Gunbower Creek: Body Butter (O, AUS, PF)

Talk about a prize pack!

To win you had to leave a comment about how you are helping your children to become more environmentally aware.

Here was my answer:

Our kiddos (9,8,6 and 2) learn how to sort garbage around here at a young age. They learn what goes into the ‘normal’ waste bin, what goes into recycling and then what goes into the ‘chooks’ bin for composting. They love to watch our chickens devour the recyclable things we put in there. We’ve switched to making our own spray (vinegar and water) to wipe countertops and the glass doors/mirrors and because it is so safe for them and the environment, they are able to use these sprays to help without us worrying about toxic harmful fumes. We’ve also begun to make the switch to homemade shampoo and conditioner since it is more environmentally friendly. The kids mostly shower to a timer too.
I think it is really important for our children to learn about these things from a young age! Great post
Lusi x
What a great giveaway!

Now, I don't have anything to offer you for playing along BUT I am keen to hear what you do at your place to help your children become more environmentally aware. Please share!

More soon.
Much love,

You Melted My Heart

2011-11-29T00:31:00.000-08:00

Actually, that's not entirely true.
You melted wax crayons.
lol ;)

{We used a $5 silicone heart mould and a basic pack of wax crayons}

{Unwrapping them}

{Liji was a gun at this!}

{We put just enough to cover the bottoms of the mould and baked them at 200 degress celcius until they turned to liquid - hmm probably about 10 mins I'd say}

{We waited for them to cool down. the side looking up at us was a bit bland but when we popped them out they were so shiny and smooth!}

{You can see the back of Ethan's one looks bland but the one's that Liji are holding are shiny and super colourful!}

{We've talked a little about states of matter before. Today I asked them what conditions would help change the shape of the crayons. Ethi thought the freezer might (he's currently conducting an experiment using the freezer and some water and milo!) and Elijah thought that heat would change them. We talked about how something can be a solid, then change to a liquid and while in that state, change its form because of the shape of the mould it sets in.}

{...and the best part about making love heart rainbow crayons?}

{...other than being super cute when you pose with them?}

{...drawing rainbow pictures with them}

Oh and um also...just for the record...you kiddos really do melt my heart!
Just had time for this quick post right now but hope to be back with some more updates soon.
Peace and love,

Hanging out with the Stitts :)

2011-11-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

My namesake, Little Lus as we affectionately call her and her big bro Benno (both our 'God-children') came to visit with their parents (our dear friends) Pete and Tiff, last weekend.
It ws so lovely to catch up together.
True friends just pick right up where they left off.
We do that with these guys and so do our kids!
It's really lovely.
Pete and Tiff bought some pressies up for our munchkins.
One of them was a slip and slide!
Here are some of the snaps I managed to take before my camera died.

Pete and Tiff meeting Zeeki for the first time...

And all 7 kiddos together...

Me + Brett with our lovely little Lus and Benno...

It was SO great catching up.
Love you guys!

National Home Education Week

2011-11-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

This past week was National Home Education Week!

The Australian Homeschool Network put on an online conference.

I first read about it on RENELLE'S BLOG {DOVE'S REST} which I really enjoy!

Thanks Renelle for posting!

We have had a massive week here so I didn't get a chance to register until late Thursday.

I wasn't too late though! I was able to jump in on one of the online conferences that night which was a new experience for me!

JENNI DOMANSKY presented a talk which BEVERLEY PAINE had compiled.

I thought I would share some of the notes I took down that I loved.

{Credit given to Beverley Paine for all notes here:}

* The world is your classroom!

{Zippi with one of the goats at the Vandors' property}

* "I never teach my pupils....I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn"

- Albert Einstein

Some of the Benefits of Home Education:

* Witnessing the joy of discovery & the thrill of investigation

{making cornflour slime}

* The wonder of 'Ah ha! ' moments

{the wonder and awe of seeing tall towers in the middle of Sydney}

* Developing close enduring friendships with your children

{enjoying one on one date nights out with our kiddos}

* Enjoying successful learning outcomes

* "Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself"

- John Dewey

Some Long Term Goals of Home Education may include:

* Development of desireable character traits

* Building self confidence based on a realistic sense of self

{Liji gaining confidence in his swimming skills}

* Citizenship awareness and skills

* Healthy habits that promote well being

{daily chores are just a part of being a team at our place; working together for the common good of the whole family}

* Effective communication skills

{Stassi & my mum sharing a special chat and cuddle}

* Effective problem solving skills

* A well developed sense of community service

* Spiritual fulfillment

{Our children LOVE celebrating the Feasts with us. This was taken at our place during Passover this year}

* Strong work ethic

{the boys using their new tool kit recently; learning how to assemble a coffee table with dad}

* A sense of fun and ability to play

* Develop Strong personal friendships within the family

{seeing our children learning to relate to one another in a healthy way is one of the biggest joys I get with homeschooling. Of course there are still fights (they are siblings after all!) but they really are friends now too which I think is really special}

...and with others too...

{Stassi and Lily ALWAYS treasure spending time together. Lily is a very special young lady who we all adore}

{hanging out with the Vandor kids is always a special joy!}

* Participation & enjoyment of creative endeavours

{painting in the park}

* Demonstration of respect for all life and the environment

{horseriding together}

I loved this quote too:

" You are not limited to six hours a day of instruction time; you have ALL day and ALL weekend, 52 weeks of EVERY year!"

The other part of the online conference that I jotted down a few notes from was about recording.

Why Record?

* Helps our memory

* Celerates learning

* Provides a springboard for futher investigation

* Also gives proof of learning

What to Record?

* Samples demonstrating progress

* Best work, developmental milestones & new abilities (rather than every single little thing!)

* Children's questions & insights

* Photos of art, technology, projects & excursions

* Reading logs

* Children's reflections in the form of a diary (I often just get them to dictate their reflections to me and I type them into a word document. Sometimes they draw a picture to go along with their written reflections)

Anyway, I really enjoyed the talk I listenend in on.

Did anyone else *attend* the online conference this week?

You can also read Renelle's thoughts HERE.

More soon!

The Joys of Play for Big and Small Peeps Alike

2011-11-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of years, I've begun to see the importance of play for ALL our children; not just our littlies.

Play helps us all to learn.

Play can help with eye hand co-ordination, imagination, team building and sharing skills.
Play can provide an opportunity for our children to express themselves.
It also gives them another outlet for new experiences and therefore introduce them to different situations that they may not have had to cope with before.
Play provides opportunities for success and accomplishment when kids put their minds to something and then are able to achieve it!
Play can teach our children about nature, social and spatial awareness, science, maths and the world around them.
Play gives a chance for artistic expression, discovery and verbal description.
It can, of course, also teach them wonderful things about themselves and those they engage in play with.

As you can probably tell, I'm passionate about giving our children (and ourselves!) opportunities and PLENTY of time to play!

Recently I bought our guys a $5 tub of play doh from K-Mart.
4 colours for 5 bucks...bargain!
I do often MAKE OUR OWN but this was a cheap and quick alternative at the moment that I thought it would be a nice change for the kiddos :)
I keep a box of plastic cutters and fun things that make different patterns and textures in the dough, in a box always at the ready to be grabbed! I keep the dough in a tub or in zip lock bags in the fridge.

{Love that in this photo Zip has the play doh tub on her head!!!}

Our kids recently loved watching Junior Masterchef. They don't always watch it at night but they enjoy watching episodes online.

On this particular day of play, they asked if I would be 'one of the Masterchef judges' and they would each create a dish and present it to me to judge!

Again, seeing them initiate, create, imagine and discuss through the use of play is priceless!

{Here is Liji's dish...steak with a side serve of tomatoes, chilli, zucchini, peas and squash}

While the older kids were busy discussing their Masterchef creations and the different characters they were pretending to be, Zippi was playing right along side them. She enjoyed just rolling balls with me.

{We talked about colours and shapes during her playtime}

Stassi presented her creation...

{"This is a sweet berry pie with a custard centre with strawberries and a licorise strap"}

and lastly Ethi showed us his (which I can't remember right now but I will find out tomorrow and write it in here! I know he'll remember what it was!)

Letting go and allowing my bigger kids to 'just play' is a hard thing sometimes. I have to let go of my own pre-programmed expectations and associations like....hmmm they are too OLD to spend time playing with play doh! Hang on, who determined how old they should be to play with play doh?

Honestly, I wish you'd been here when they played this day and heard the conversations they were having! You'd hear how they spoke really eloquently while pretending they were on the show with their creations actually being judged! You would have witnessed their creativity for yourself and realised, like I have, that the play doh is actually just a TOOL! It was the tool on this day to help them create, dramatise and work together!

Learning is a joy and happens through play.....for big and small peeps alike!

Well, that's what we've found anyway :)

More another time.

Abundance from the Garden

2011-11-23T01:56:00.000-08:00

Brett took the kiddos out into the vegie patch last week and they helped to harvest some vegies.

Beetroot...

Round Carrots

Red Odourless Onions...

Spinach...

The lettuce got attacked by the chooks this week but all in all we've had a great little backyard garden harvest to share.
Praise Yah for His amazing abundant provisions hey!

More soon,

I Want to Remember This...

2011-11-19T23:45:00.000-08:00

Ethi (almost 7) stretches out on my bed this morning, arms folded behind his head and says,

"Ah this is the life style".

Too cute.

Didn't have the heart to tell him that the saying goes,

"This is the life".

Has anyone in your house said anything cute or funny lately?

In the Country

2011-11-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

We went for a little 3 day adventure this week out to the country.
Here are some snaps from our time away...

{playing in a beautiful park on the way}

{looking for tadpoles}

{chillaxing in the mouse house in the shade away from the bright heat of the sun!}

{our 5 gorgeous munchies as I call them!}

{this park had cool equipment to play on}

{and a wetlands viewing platform}

{ethi spotted a duckling with its parents}

{and Liji read aloud to us from the wetlands info plaque}

{stass gave zip a piggyback}

{Channi's first snuggle with Zeeki!
The lovely Vandors were so hospitable to us and made us feel so welcome.
Was so lovely to catch up again!}

{Jonah's baby ducklings are so sweet}

{We don't stay away very often so its a real treat when we do even if it is just basic caravan park accomodation - to us it may as well have been a grand Hotel somewhere! The kids thought it was the BEST thing ever! They had windows near their beds that slid open into the annexe and they thought that was SUPER DUPER cool! lol. It was great safe and affordable accomodation and we were thankful for it}

{Gorgeous Zeeki settled really well. He also travelled perfectly there and back with no crying! So I think the silent reflux thing was on the money and the meds seem to help too. He's such a sweetie pie}

{We saw a big kangaroo out in the open near a dam. It just kept starring at us and then after a couple of minutes bounded away into the bush. The kids were stoked to see that!}

{Our boys + Stass loved playing with the Vandor kids; they played make-believe 'spy' games with guns and prisons, taking turns being held captive and being the 'catcher'. They also played hide and seek and watched Cars 2 and some Little House on the Prairie together}.

{Our kiddos at a lookout}

{Up high overlooking the country town}

And home again home again jiggity jig!

It was a refreshing and very special time away for our family.
More another time,

My son's got a hedger and he's not afraid to use it!

2011-11-18T03:24:00.000-08:00

Part of our Natural Learning approach to life is to offer our children a variety of life experiences.
One of these is to do a bit of work around the place with dad using 'real' tools and equipment (supervised).
Last week Brett invited Liji to help him trim the hedge using the big hedger.
Thought I would just document it and remember what a good job he did as an assistant to Brett that day.

He kept his finger on the trigger while Brett hedged...

Working together like this helps to continue to strengthen our relationships within our family.
The father-son relationship is so important and as a wife and mama, I just loved seeing them work closely like this...

Liji raked the leaves too...

And has used the blower before so he liked that bit as well...

Ta da! A job well done!
Way to go Cracker!

More soon,

Memories...

2011-11-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

I found THIS POST FROM 2009 when I was still pregnant with Zippi. I clicked on it and realised how much I love my blog. Without these photos, I would have forgotten going to the park and sliding down the cardboard box sides on the grassy slope.

I can't believe I'd forgotten that.

Am glad I took the time to blog it.

Life flies by so quickly, doesn't it?

More to come soon,

Girls Weekend Away

2011-11-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

So last weekend, I had my annual mother's group mums weekend away.
This was our 7th one.
About 10 of us go away together and hire out a beach house.
These girls have been like sisters to me over the past 9+ years.
Even though I don't see them all the time now, we still really look forward to our little annual getaway!
It's a time for just the mamas to chill out together (and of course I took little Zeeki too!)
Zippi came along with me before but this time she and the other big kids had a fun weekend with Daddy at home and Zeeki and I had some special bonding time away by the beach.
Here are some snaps...

{Enjoying time together on the beach}

Getting up there normally takes me 2.5 hours. This time it took 6 because of how hard Zeeki finds car travel. Man it was one horrendous trip. He just couldn't calm down AT ALL poor little man. If I'd known it was going to be that bad, I wouldn't have gone. I thankfully had my friend Jo there with me to help me stay calm and together. I was very thankful for her presence. While we were there at the beach house though, Ezekiel was calm in the pouch and slept with me in the nights. The colic was held at bay thanks to Infacol and some herbal tinctures. He's since be diagnosed with silent reflux and is being treated for that with something else. Anyway, I really enjoyed the quiet times we had together when he was nestled close to me in the Ergo or the Caboo and we walked a bit on the beach.

{The beach house}

{Our Goals Box}

Each year we write in point form where we think we might be the following year. It's kind of like new years resolutions I guess except that we do it in November and we don't open the envelope until the following year on our weekend. We take turns to read these things aloud to the group and say whether or not we think we achieved them. Funny to see some of the same things on peoples' lists year after year. The one that keeps popping up for me each year is to begin work on writing my book. Wonder if I'll have that done next year?!

{Zeeki and I shared a big room and queen size bed together. It was really beautiful and far less stressful than I had anticipated.}

{Looking at the nearest town from our deck at night}

{One morning, Zeeki woke up quite early - like before 6am- and wouldn't get back to sleep so we just went and sat out on the deck and watched the sunrise together}

{Thinking of my Natti and little Seb's life while I was there}

{Enjoying a quick swim}

{ Jo and I making nuttella rice wraps on the way home after stopping 9 times! It was a very emotionally draining experience but I praise Yah that we made it home safely and once again for my friend Jo being such an encouraging support}

Poor Zeeki was no better travelling on the way home. We had to stop so many times on the side of the road, settle him again and then put him back in his seat only for him to get another 10 minutes down the road and crack it once more. Poor baby.

The good news is that we've since travelled further than that 2.5 hour trip and he was quiet the whole way there and back! I put a rolled towel in the lower part of his back, he's now medicated for the silent reflux, plus I sat in the back with him the whole time while Brett drove, we took his seat out the day before the trip and strapped him in it while he was calm and we put some toys near his seat where he can see them...all these things we tried before our latest big trip and they seemed to work...that and prayer! And I am so thankful!

Anyway, I have more posts to share but that'll do for tonight.
Thanks for the recent comments too; a special hi to Lisa!
More to come another time.

Bubble Days

2011-11-14T04:18:00.000-08:00

I am still here :)
Just incredibly busy.
It's all good though.
Here are some recent snaps of the kids karate chopping up bubbles from the $10 bubble machine we bought recently (thanks KMart).

Hooooi-yah!

Trying to catch them in buckets...

Trying to catch them in nets!

Trying to stamp on them...

And really, just lovin' being a kid!

More another time,

Memories captured by Mell Mallin

2011-11-10T03:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had the pleasure of having a photo shoot with my dear friend MELL MALLIN who also happens to be one amazing photographer!
Mell took photos when I was PREGNANT WITH ZIPPI BACK IN EARLY 2009 and then of course also photographed EZEKIEL'S HOMEBIRTH RECENTLY .
So it seemed like a natural fit for us to once again ask Mell if she would take some family portraits for us.
I'm only including a small amount of the GORGEOUS shots she took but boy are we happy with them all! Just so nice to have someone so kind and caring take lovely shots of us that I know down the track we will look back on and cherish even more than we do now!
Anyway, here are some of my faves :)

{team Austin}

{chookie}

{cracker}

{boo boo}

{pippi}

{boy boy}

{love this one - all stretched out on the grass}

{zipster the cutie}

{a snuggly daddy-daughter moment Mell captured}

{and this one just melts my heart and is *so* them!}

{daddy and his boy boy}

{just the girls}

{just daddy and his boys!}

{a moment with our tiniest one}

{and probably my now ALL TIME FAVE photo of me and the love of my life together!}

Mell, we can't thank you enough for taking such beautiful photos of our family.
They really mean alot to us.
Love you stack loads,

Zippi's First Date

2011-11-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

We have a little coupon system that has been running for the past year and a half. I've been meaning to write about it so often but have still not got around to it. Anyway, last week Liji received another coupon and chose an ice-cream date out with Dad. Our kids are completely movitvated by the coupons and LOVE one on one time so much. It gives us a chance to connect in a deeper way and inspires them to reach the goals they are working on.
Anyway, Zippi was really upset that she couldn't go on the icecream date too. She was crying and Brett saw that she wanted some special time with him too.
He gathered her in his arms, whispered in her ear and immediately the crying stopped and was instead replaced by a nodding, smiling, very excited little girl!
He had told her he would take Liji on his own and then come back for her and they could go out together.
She was over the moon!
She doesn't do coupons just yet but why should she miss out? he thought.
So true to his word, he took Liji out (who was ecstatic to get this coupon which he'd been looking forward too) and then came back for miss Zip all dressed up and ready for her first big one-on-one date with her Daddy.
They went to our fam's fave cafe and when he asked her what she would like, she said 'hot chippies' so that's what they shared.
Just wanted to record that so I don't forget!
Very special :)

How we sometimes spend Shabbat

2011-11-07T01:53:00.000-08:00

Shabbat (sabbath) is always a precious day to us.
We rest.
We deliberately rest.
It's actually not easy to do this since we are programmed as a society to achieve and 'do'!
But as the old saying goes, we are human 'beings' not human 'doings'.
Yah has gifted us with this set-apart day into our week to give us some rest from our work and I love that!
I mean, I really really love that!
So most shabbats we spend time resting.

{Some of the verses that speak of Shabbat are found in Genesis 2, Isaiah 58, Exodus 20, Hebrews 4 and Leviticus 23 and there are a stack load more.}

Resting is a fairly broad term though so I thought I would share some of the things we've enjoyed over the past 2 sabbaths as examples.

We have a special brekky on Shabbat; some rice cocoa bombs that they have only once a week. They really look forward to this special brekky!
The kids enjoy colouring in some sheets that are based on the Torah Portion
(which is a portion of scripture that we listen to on the Sabbath. It changes from week to week so that you actually make your way through reading the first 5 books of the bible in one year).

{there are lots of great websites with sheets to colour in from the torah portions - check out my sidebar to the right for some linkage :) }

{Liji is delighting in his colouring in at the moment. He is very intentional with his work and gets quite absorbed in it at the moment. His level of concentration has come along and so he likes to do this kind of work now while the Bible Audio Cd plays and reads to us}.

Another way we spend shabbat is simply...just hanging out together.
We delight in being with each other.
Sometimes people join us for fellowship and other times it's just us.

{Last week Zeeki was all smiles on Shabbat}

{just adorable!}

{chatting and cooing with big sis Stass}

While the Torah Portion is playing on the Bible CD the older kids colour, Zippi usually joins in for a little while and then loses interest so she'll snuggle with one of us or big blocks or something. Sometimes she doesn;t cope and we just pause and resume a little later on in the day...maybe when she is having a little nap or something. It can be a challenge but we try not to stress out when things don't go according to 'our' plans.

{Last Shabbat, daddy enjoyed cuddling with Zeeki while some of the older kids came over to say hi and then returned to their colouring in}

We also enjoy two planned meals on Shabbat. It's the only day that I plan intentionally for both lunch and dinner. We don't do paid 'servile' work, as the Scriptures say, but I do a little here and there to prepare meals if need be. I do try though not to have to do much work in the kitchen on Shabbat; after all, mama needs rest too!
I usually plan for a slow cooker meal for dinner and something that needs next to no prep for lunch.

{This past Shabbat I made a herbed risoni and tuna dish for lunch. Easy to prepare with yummy fresh greens from our garden too - thank you Yah!}

We really enjoy being out in nature on Shabbat. It not only reminds us of our awesome Creator God but also seems to recharge the batteries in a special way for our fam!
This past week, we went to one of our fave hang out spots.
The boys had been asking if we could go somewhere and catch tadpoles so we packed the nets and a spare change of clothes for each child, the drink bottles and a little snack and off we went!

{The kids enjoyed the freedom of being able to jump across the rocks over the creek}

{Zeeki had a lovely sleep in the Caboo}

{fetching rocks to make a dam}

{Zippi cooling off}

{the bigger kids scaled the giant rock that they have grown to love so much}

{Ethi constructing a dam}

{exploring on the other side of the creek}

{adventurers free in creation on a glorious Shabbat afternoon last week}

As you can see, there truly in nothing 'burdensome' about Shabbat.

Instead, we find what the Word of Yah says to be true...
"If you call the Sabbath a delight and Yah's Holy Day honourable
and if you honour it by not going your own way,
doing as you please and speaking idle words,
then you will find your JOY in Yah"
- Isaiah 58

And JOY we have found.
Oh SOOOO much JOY.

More to come another time,
Love

Shabbat Shalom Family! And the Torah Portion

2011-11-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

Shabbat Shalom!

For those of you who are interested in reading some Scripture today, the Torah portion is Lecha Lecha 'Go Forth' and is based on Genesis 12:1-17:27. I also personally like to read through the readings from the Prophets and New Testament which this week are Isaiah 40:27-41:16 and Matthew 1:1-17.

Colouring in sheets for the kids can be found HERE so the kiddos can colour in while you read aloud (or in our case while the audio cd bible plays!)

Well, may you be blessed on this beautiful day, set-apart by our loving Creator for the rest of His children.

Much love,
Lus x

Meeting New Friends

2011-11-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Still catching up on some old posts!

We have met some new friends recently.
Lauren + David Fisher came with their 4 girls to visit.
We enjoyed chatting together and listening to their stories of their nomadic lifestyle.
Whilst we have differences in our beliefs in faith and parenting, we could also find common ground to stand on and from which to share. That's a lovely thing!

The kiddos spent quite a bit of time crafting together...

while the adults shared and chatted (Stass continued her reading marathon)...

Brioni enjoyed playing with some of Stassi's little figurines...

and we continued chatting into the evening after a hearty meal together...

Lego construction was a big favourite...

and the following morning which was my birthday, David + Lauren went to town and brought back with them some delicious pastries to share. How kind! I will remember this birthday brekky for many years to come!

Here I am with Lauren (below) :)

We have a scarf; each hand knitted by different people (thanks Mell for mine I still LOVE it!!!!). Lauren purchased hers in NZ! Our eldest daughters are also born on the same day and we have the same set of prints in the places we call home :) Common ground with special meaning!
We enjoyed the warmth of their personalities.

Lauren and David, thank you for sharing with us and giving us much to think on!
Bless you guys!

Also this week, one of Lauren's blog readers who also lives in the Mountains, dropped by!
This was the first time we have met Delcie but it feels like I've known her for many years.
We have many friends in common but until now have never crossed paths.
Delcie felt very strongly to come by and visit us but didn't even know where we lived.
So Yah led her to our house.
She has an incredibly interesting story and I really enjoyed listening to her share.

Like us, Delcie does not believe that the Torah (Yah's loving instructions to His children) have been done away with. We are looking forward to spending more time together in the future on Shabbats and during some of the feasts.
I was greatly encouraged today by Delcie's visit. Yah is revealing things to His people all over the world independent of one another!
Isn't it amazing how Yah can bring together people to encourage one another without programmes or rosters or anything formal being organised? This is what I call 'organic fellowship'!

While Delcie was here, Zippi and Ethi bought books to her.
She took time to read to the children...

...and to listen to Ethi as he talked about NFL and pointed out a favourite page in his book...

Delcie, it was lovely to meet you and we are looking forward to another catch up soon!

More to come,

I Want to Remember This

2011-11-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

I Want to Remember This is a regular Meme so please feel free to join in and record moments (special or everyday!) that you want to remember!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Want to Remember...

How much you guys love to be outside together...

...telling stories to each other and playing pretend...

...whilst eating watermelon...

...and traipsing through the garden as the weather warms up around here...

If you also want to share some memories that you want to remember, write a post about it and then link back to it using the Linky tool below.

Our New Nightime Rhythm

2011-11-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

As with every part of our lives, there are seasons.

In this season, our family has been led to embrace the natural ryhthms of our family in different ways. The one I am going to mention today is our sleeping-nightime rhythm.

What does this really mean?

Well for instance, Ethi is an early morning person whereas Liji likes to sleep-in. Stass enjoys reading 'till late and Brett and I also love staying up late. So instead of forcing ourselves and our kids to do something completely different, we are embracing our natural rhythms whilst still having boundaries in place that help everybody.

Ethi, for instance is allowed to get out of bed in the morning early as long as he is quiet. He can choose to read or another quiet activity but he has to be quiet and rescpect that others in the house are still sleeping. In the past we had a rule where no one was allowed out of bed until a certain hour.

Liji is allowed to sleep in rather than waking him up and forcing him to start the day earlier than he is ready. He still gets his chores and things done in the day but he may just do it a little later than everyone else. Stass is allowed to stay up till late to read but she does this in her own bed silently so that she can let Zippi fall asleep (they share a room). This is her time and Stass LOVES it!

Each day is different though and with the little ones, there often doesn't seem to be a rhythm! And we go with that too ;)

At night tine, we often have dinner, baths and then hang-out time in the loungeroom.

After dinner we might play cards, have a family read-a-loud, play a quiet game of charades or a board game, watch Jnr Master Chef together, pray or just talk.

{All the kids go to bed at the same time but if Zip can't last, she might fall asleep in Brett's lap while I read aloud to us all}.

The boundaries for our night time rhythm are low lights and no loud game playing. This way it helps everyone (especially Zippi) to calm down before bed. Zeeki is usually in his cot or asleep on me in the loungeroom during this part of the night.

{Ethi relaxing after a busy day!}

{The other night Ethi showed us his tooth that he'd lost that day and how the new one was already beginning to show! He recalled the story about how he lost it and how excited he was that there was no pain when it came out!}

{Zippi being carried to bed. This is one for my 'I want to remember this' series! I never want to forget the way Brett carries our little ones carefully to bed and their little arms flopping over the side of his neck. So sweet!}

If we aren't doing a family read a loud that night, the boys might take a turn to choose a story and read something to one of us or Stass might read aloud to the whole family from one of her Little House on the Prairie books.

{Liji reading 'The New Baby' aloud to Aunty Meng this week before bed}.

Embracing our natural rhythms in our sleep patterns has been just one small part of what we have been looking at recently as a family. We remain works in progress and know that where we are right now may not where we will be in a year or even in a week! We are always wanting to do things as the Spirit of God speaks to us and leads us in His ways for our family.

Do you have a nightime rhythm that works for your family?

Quality Time

2011-11-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend DONNA had her precious son Zephaniah way back in July this year.
I saw her 2 weeks before her 'due date' but actually began having very strong pre-labour myself around the time of Zeph's birth. Knowing that I've had short labours in the past, we decided not to travel far from the house just in case I went into labour again early and quickly.
Since Zeeki's birth, we've had sick kids and so have the Edwards clan at different times so its been very hard to catch up.
Well, FINALLY, last Monday we were able to do just that!
We went for a drive out to their place and hung out for the day.

{Lovely Mama Donna with Zephaniah}

{Taken through the window...we watched the little girls explore the garden together}

{Zeph has such a sweet nature and is already so big!}

{Liji doing a funky dance on the trampoline!}

The kiddos enjoyed playing together and hanging out in the sukkah. They really loved catching up with Lily and the little girls and as soon as we were in the car driving off that day they spontaneously said, "Thanks so much mum for taking us to visit Lily! It was so much fun!!!!"

Donna and I were able to chat about our birthing experiences, about life as a mama and wife and about our faith beliefs and the Torah. It was a wonderfully encouraging and edifying time and I always praise Yah for Donna and Keiran and their family. He connected us through a picnic a couple of years back and I would never have guessed that we would travel the road of friendship that we have.

Thanks so much lovely Edwards' for your friendship and hospitality.
It was so lovely to have some quality time together!

The Kids' First Tool Kit

2011-11-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks back, the older 3 kids began a little project together.
They decided that they wanted to build a treehouse ladder in a tree in the chicken run.
I watched on as they planned and began sourcing timber off cuts from around the place to see if they could jam them between the branches.
Sometimes this worked and other times, well, not so much!
Liji started trying to 'hammer' some wood into the ground with another piece of wood.
I suggested to Brett that arvo that it might be time we got the kids their own tool kit to have access to.
He agreed and went to the hardware store to see what they had on offer.
For $32 the kids got a 4 drawer tool set filled with spanners, wrenches, screwdrivers and a heap of other tools!
He didn't buy it then and there but instead came home and took us all there.
We love for everyone to be involved in stuff like this - makes it ten times more meaningful to us all!
In the pic below you can see one of the drawers laid out on top of the heavy duty blue carry case.

An opportunity for the kids to try it out presented itself the next day when I bought home a cheap kit coffee table for the lounge room.
Brett took the time to patiently explain and show the boys which tools were needed and introduced some of the names...

His motto is 'the right tool for the right job!' and he explained to the boys what he meant by this.
They enjoyed taking a turn too!

I think this little tool kit is going to be very well loved over the coming years!!!

I look forward to seeing what other things they will design, build and enjoy thanks to this set.

OMGoodness! Time Really Does Fly!!!

2011-11-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Seriously.

It's like the last fortnight grew some kind of wings and flew away from me!

It has been great though - filled to the brim with joy, reflection, prayer and new ideas. I've been tired, sore (pulled/torn hip flexor) and yet energised by Yah.

Anyway, I have ALOT to share - all in good time!

So that I don't forget all the bits that make up our life that I want to share here, I've decided to post several little posts rather than one big one.

So fair warning....the next few days may be jam packed with posts (if I get time) depending of course on how much time I get spare!

Hope all is well your way!

Love,

Feast Of Tabernacles - Sukkot 2011 The End...

2011-10-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

So captions are a couple of days late but still....lol!

Our Feast this year was full of good memories and also challenging times. As we learn to remember and set apart these special times we are sometimes pushed to the limit! Kids fighting or the weather not being how we like it, did I mention kids fighting?!?!
So we are challenged as parents to instruct our children in Yah's ways whilst trying to set a good example of how to cope with issues as they arise and man do we fail at this! But as we learn more about our awesome Creator through His Word, we see that we are not called to be perfect and nor are our children!
We are called to walk faithfully with Him as men and women of faith before us have; Jacob, Moses, Noah, Rahab, Ruth, Joshua, David...all these people went through the ups and downs of life with their family!
I'm often reminded of Jacob...how would he have coped? Talk about sibilings fighting!!!! His boys staged the death of his beloved son Joseph who was sold off to another country and separated from his roots for countless years. And yet, there is such restoration and forgiveness there in this story which is a part of the rich tapestry of stories that make up God's family!

Heidi wrote a beautiful post on the heart of this time with its ups and downs over HERE. It was so worth the read!

Ok so back to Sukkot memories!
Brett and the kiddos spent 4 nights in there.
During the day they hung out a little in there but not heaps.

When they were in there they were reading (or looking at the pictures!)...

Ezekiel during his first Feast of Tabernacles week...

One of the days Ben and Jas dropped by and we had a lovely dinner together and a special time to hang out and chat!
We read out the nativity story and had some interesting discussions together about it...

That night, as a special feast activity, we lit sparklers.
Zipster was a bit frightened but had a little go with them before throwing them to the ground!

The other kids had a blast, running around the backyard with them feeling free in the night air!

Another one of the nights saw Stasso get a coupon. Her choice for her coupon this time was a family pizza night (and this place has gluten free pizzas - yay!) So we had pizza together - a very special treat...

and Brett read aloud from Zechariah 14 to us (well we only got half way through this but it did spark another interesting discussion for us). That's one of the things I love about the festivals...taking time to read the scriptures together as a family and hearing new things in there for the first time and discussing those things. Love that!

We finished the feast with a sprinkler session....

since the weather had turned alot warmer...

Here are the kids and Brett all rugged up and ready to head to the tent for one of the last nights.
They were all cosy in their thermals and beanies and socks!
Brett hired the The Nativity Story film and they watched that out in the tent together one night and the classic Ten Commandments the next night.

We spent the last day resting together as a family and enjoyed going to a park where there was a babywearing picnic on...

the kids really enjoyed painting...

i enjoyed 'wearing' zeeki as per usual!

and Brett enjoyed his daddy snuggles with his little 'boy boy' as he is affectionately known around here these days!

I have so much more I wanted to post on about Sukkot and other things happening here but haven't had a chance so this is as good as it will get with a 7 week old (yep 7 weeks today! YAY!)
In the meantime, as I reflect on the week that was Sukkot, I am thankful for the season of feasts. I am thankful to Yah for continuing to teach my heart and instruct me in His ways and I continue to walk with Him. He is so wonderful!
Now we wait for about 6 months until we celebrate the next feast (passover) (and all our kids said things like, "aaaw but that's SO long away!!!!")
For those who celebrated and remembered this feast, we hope you had a wonderful time!

More to come another time.
Love