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!
I think most women who have been pregnant would be able to say that physically, the final couple of weeks of pregnancy can be difficult. Everyone is different though and each pregnancy different; some seem easier or harder than others. The body is heavier, more tired and you are up more often in the night. Couple that with very strong + regular contractions, intense pubic bone pain and the fact that as a homeschooling mama you have 4 other kiddos around you all day every day and there is the very real fact that life is harder in these last few weeks.
{I must add here that I have been very blessed to have had Brett at home during this season and he has helped out alot around here}.
Since we've had a baby born at 34.5 weeks before, we always try to be 'ready' just in case that happens again even though the rest were either 'over due', a week early or pretty much smack on! When you get to 40 weeks, you feel as though you have been 'ready' for months!
So I think sometimes it can be hard to maintain a positive attitude during these final weeks and days. There is no denying that it is uncomfortable and at times, painful....it is! But I want my attitude to be one that reflects the joy and love that I feel towards Yah for allowing me to carry this precious life.
I want to choose to be thankful in the midst of the challenges.
I want to choose to be joyful in the midst of difficulty.
I don't always do it, but I want to try to!
So, to help me, I decided to keep a little list on my iphone that I called,
'Reasons to Be Glad I Haven't Given Birth Just Yet'.
Then, when I need the encouragement, I can look at this list and be thankful for the things that I've been able to enjoy in these last weeks and days of pregnancy.
Here are some things on my list from this past week:
Reasons to Be Glad I Haven't Given Birth Just Yet:
* Got to have a 9am sleep in today on Shabbat (last weekend)
* Bubby gets more time to grow stronger in the womb which means less chance of complications arising
* I have been able to get almost everything on my pregnancy 'to do' list done!
* I got to start making two MCN (modern cloth nappies)
I finished making them! Wooohooo!
I tried to remember what my lovely Natti had shown me in the past (thanks Nat!) but I was hopeless at remembering how. I googled SO many MCN tutorials and was about to give up when I found THIS ONE ON YOU TUBE. I feel very thankful that I found this and was able to have a go at making two newborn MCN's!
{I snapped 5 - yep 5 - sewing machine needles in the process lol but I got them made! They have 4 layers of microfibre as the sewn in booster, organic bamboo lining and PUL for the cover}.
* I had time to bake another batch of lactation cookies
* I got a chance to try out a new recipe - my own version of curry cauliflower and veg soup
* Had time to play a family game of 'Sorry' with Brett and the kids
* We had a chance to go to some Garden Nurseries together shopping for vegies and herbs for the garden
* We had time (and money!) to go to enjoy lunch at our fave cafe today...perhaps the last time we will get to do this as a family of 6!
* We had time to enjoy being outside in the garden while Brett showed the kids how to plant strawberries...
...to be hung inside the new greenhouse...
* We had time to notice that Liji's peach tree is growing some new leaves! He planted this from a peach seed himself last year and it is really taking off!
* Got to price materials for the ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association) card making fundraiser that I am helping to organise and made all the sample cards for the workshop :)
* We had time to read aloud '50 WAYS TO BRING OUT YOUR CHILD'S BEST' over dinner one night and discuss as a family as to whether the kiddos felt we were doing some of the things mentioned on the list and what we could all work towards improving.
Was a great discussion starter!!!!
* We were able to play cards before bed together as a family
* We got to have our first turn at cultivating sprouts (see previous post!). Been wanting to try this for so long and finally got around to doing it!
* Had the chance to have our last long catch up with Ben & Jas and also Elissa and the kids which was so lovely :)
* Took time to marvel at how quickly the herbs have grown and thanked Yah for it!
* Got to have a long game of family charades before bed with everyone participating
* I got to play chess with Stass today
* Got to have a great skype with my sis Dee
* Had the chance to video bubby wriggling under my skin in my tummy! Such big movements and I really wanted to relish this perhaps for one of the last weeks!
{Fair warning before you press play....bare tummy here!}
* Got to have another chiropractic adjustment :)
* Had the chance to have a LONG soak in the tub with candles lit one night...bliss!
* Got to get the baby car seat fitted (the lovely guy didn't even charge us to fit it! Praise Yah for his kindness!)
* Took the kids to an op shop, bought some plastic skittles, went to a cricket pitch, ate icecreams and played bowling together! So much fun!!!
* Also went on a lovely bushwalk that day
* Got to experience Hazel using a REBOZO {traditional Mexican style scarf} to make sure bub was in the optimum position ready for birth...he had kind of been sneaking off to the right hand side a bit and we both wanted to try to see if this would help to bring him around more to the centre...
* Took Zip out on her own to a local Play Group for the first time. She LOVED it (and so did I!) Was lovely seeing her interact with other children so happily. Yay Zippi!
* Got to menu plan and get home organised for another week :)
* And speaking of weeks, here I am one day shy of 40 weeks!
{lol I always seem to be wearing this shirt when I remember to take these shots. Hilarious!}
This list reminds me to be thankful.
It reminds me that soon, our life will change and we will have new family dynamics.
It has reminded me that while pregnancy can be tough, the joy of sharing life with the little one growing inside, is not always the outcome that all families may get.
One such family, is one of my closest and most precious friend's NAT.
During this, her fourth pregnancy, Nat found out that her sweet little boy, SEBASTIAN LEVI had a congenital disorder called TRISOMY 18. Nat is currently 33 weeks pregnant and the prognosis given at the time of diagnosis was not good. Nat and her sweet family have endured alot these past months and have clung onto the hope that God may grant them a miracle and spare Seb's life. However, their prayers is the same as what Yeshua (Jesus) prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane..."Take this cup of suffering away from me....but not my will but your will be done Father".
Please, keep this family in your prayers during this time leading up to Sebastian's birth. Please take the time to read about TRISOMY 18 and Nat's post on HOW TO SUPPORT US (which has helpful tips on what to say to families during challenges times like this that their family is going through).
Please pray for little Seb and for Nat and Greg and their family.
I was also really moved by the press conference today that showed the GRIEVING LALE FAMILY who tragically lost 11 members of their extended family this week in a house fire in QLD. I can't imagine what that poor family must be dealing with. Incredibly difficult stuff. The father reminded me of my own dad and of how close islander families are. I know this first hand. Praying for this family too.
Once again, it is a reminder to me, that life can be very short.
And it makes me even more thankful for the life that I have right now.
Thanks to everyone who has commented, texted, rung, emailed or prayed for us this week.
It has meant alot to me.
I send my love to you all :)
Well, more to come another time.
Shabbat Shalom all.
After visiting the local Grower's Market last weekend and picking up some herbs, we decided it was time to move the herb garden. We had been reading up more on herbs and how to care for them here where it gets quite cold. The spot we'd been previously using for a number of years gets more shade than sun. I was talking to Brett about setting me up with a potting station and instead he suggested that the table we were going to use for that be used as a herb station! It faces the sun and so we are hoping to have more success with our herbs that we have previously. We also decided to leave them in pots this time. Will let you know how it all goes ;)
It was time to make up some new play dough again as the old batch had gone right off.
I'm still happy with the no-cook recipe we use. Have you got a trusty playdough recipe you like to use? Here's mine...
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
food colouring
Method:
Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
Add water and oil to the mix.
Combine well and knead together.
Break off into large balls.
Pop each ball into a zip lock bag.
Add splashes of food colouring into each bag.
Seal bag (with as much air out of bag first as possible) and get kids to mush around the colour and dough in the bag until well combined.
Add a little extra flour if too sticky.
The colour will blead into the dough the more it is used.
Other happenings from our week...
Loads of reading done (as per usual!)
Stass is reading through the Anne of Green Gables sequel still and began reading Pollyanna too this week. She learnt how to record the books she is reading complete with page number, publisher and publication date this week.
We are still making our way through our new family read aloud, 'Stories for Boys' and the story this week was called 'Speckles'.
Liji read aloud THE USBORNE NEW BABY BOOK all by himself and got almost all the words correct. He's growing more in confidence with his reading which is so lovely to see.
This lead to us looking up old photos of THE CHILDREN'S ZOO IN NYC BACK IN ITS HEY DAY on the internet and reading about how it was transformed in the 1990's. The kids LOVE reading about that kind of thing (probably because I do too!) Ethi asked when we could go visit the zoo. Hmmm...maybe one day!
Ethi and Liji are also continuing to read through their boy-spy series that they are loving.
Speaking of books, I got this cool books about the Human Body for only $5 from our local Angus and Robertson outlet. Very cool illustrations...
Zip got stuck into some water paints this week...
I love that our house often looks like this: paintings drying right next to our clothes lol :)
Tomorrow I'm 39 weeks pregnant!
Woohooooo!
We put together a funky SOLAR SYSTEM FLOOR PUZZLE which I scored this week for $7 and took turns to read aloud facts from it...
The SHEPHERD'S PURSE TINCTURE is ready to go now. It's a much darker colour. We just need to strain it off now.
We've been going without our microwave for a while now for a number of reasons.
Here is the little place where it used to live.
It is an excellent little space for our recipe books and our Family Planner on a plate stand...
We played a really simple game where we scrunched up scrap papers into balls and took turns at throwing them into a cane bowl we have. Stass recorded all the results and we are making a bar graph from the results together...
Doing some maths book work...
I made another pot of fresh veg stock. What do you put in yours?
Mine today had:
all the leaves and offcuts from the celery
3 carrots
an onion
purple carrot peels
garlic salt
basil
parsley flakes
Oh and here's the purple carrot. We have seedlings to plant of these soon (this one was bought from Coles) after having read about the HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING PURPLE CARROTS (note: we found many articles and videos about these but this was just one of them).
And Loz...this one is for you; the new look for the loungeroom :)
Had lovely phone catch ups this week with:
Bek, Elissa and my mum and dad :)
Got out to:
an ABA planning meeting. Was lovely to see all the girls there even though I was feeling a bit out of it (headspace wise!). They are a lovely group and have welcomed me so lovingly.
Was great to catch up there with my Hazel too :)
Also got to chiro twice. My chiro is a l.e.g.e.n.d
I praise Yah for him because I know I wouldn't be walking now if it wasn't for the work he has done. Am so glad that I was lead to him.
And of course, as I mentioned in another post, got to catch up with Lori too this week along with the Vandors and Leonards.
Other learning activities included:
Playing a new reading/spelling game together which we kind of made up using some sight word cards that have different levels of words on them. Kids LOVED this game!
Liji had another dental visit and went with Brett.
We looked at this website this week called MOUTHPOWER.ORG. It was a FABULOUS website! It's set up so that the kids earn teeth with each activity and then can get a little certificate at the end (which my guys thought was awesome!). It touches on so many things from the Food Pyramid, the dangers of smoking to your mouth, to the older v's newer styles of dental tools and what they were/are used for.
I stumbled somehow across THIS SITE during the week which has a whole list of links to cool website games about the human body. We took a tour of the brain and a quiz and learnt about a guy from the 19h century called Phineas Gage who had a massive brain injury in his frontal lobe and survived and the effects that accident had on his personality. The kids were intrigued by this story and asked if we could do more research and find out more about this man. There is a WEBSITE that we found on him and the kiddos were intrigued by the photos and stories there about this man.
The kids got into gardening with Brett, played UNO, 'Sorry' the board game, Zingo and Pilgrim's Progress again this week along with backyard cricket, making heaps of lego creations and using Fiskars stencils which Nanny brought around.
Stass has been offering to help heaps in the kitchen and around the house in general which has been lovely. She showed us this week that she could cover bowls of left over food with cling wrap by herself. She basically cleared the kitchen after dinner a couple of times by herself (aside from doing the boys' regular after-meal chores) which was a real blessing.
We got our journal out again (the one just the two of us girls share) and began writing in it after a good heart-to-heart chat this week. She really needed us to write again and I really needed to listen to her.
Craft-wise, I found a great MCN diaper tute on youtube and will be trying to make that this week (if time permits!)
And I'll finish off with the beautiful Psalm Brett read aloud to the fam last night before bed:
{A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah} 1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me. 9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth. 10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals. 11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Well I hope you had a lovely week and have a lovely weekend ahead!
Shabbat Shalom for tomorrow!
Much love and more to come soon,
...Zippi requested this outfit to go play outside in...beanie, gloves, jacket and camera.
She is such a little character!
This week Stass took this lovely shot of me and Brett...
and Brett took this one of me with our four (plus one in the tum!)
I had a great chat with my Natti and made this MCN cover (it's not so bad hey Nat?!?! lol! Thanks for your inspiration mate!)...
This week we had a play at the park...
...and climbed trees. Stass reckons this one is the perfect reading-tree!
She finished reading through Anne of Green Gables this week and is now 15 chapters into the sequel Anne of Avon-Lea. Thanks Bridge for lending her these - she really loves them!
We watched the first movie and I'll try tracking down the sequel to watch too when she's finished reading the book...
This week the boys spotted an activity in a craft book and asked if we could have a turn at it. It involved using straws to see if you could suck a smartie or similar candy to the end of it just using your breath. I was excited that they had READ the instructions about it themselves!
So we bought a packet and counted out how many there were in the box of each colour. These we then graphed. This was the boys' first intro to bar graphs. They got it really quickly.
Then we had a competition to see who could hold their smartie the longest on the end of the straw. These results were graphed on a line graph.
We talked about which force we use to create suction and they all said "PULL!" (we have a song about force being either a push or a pull).
Fun + Maths/Science = everyone happy really :)
We picked the first of the garden-harvest for this winter season....some rainbow spinach which we thanked Yah for and ate with our dinner the other night. Yummo!
This week Liji requested to make this project out of a craft book we have.
He waited until we had the brown paper bags from the shops and then got stuck into it.
He was really pleased with how it turned out and made a little video talking about it.
This week our Caboo arrived!
Thanks again MEREDITH!
This week Brett finished work on his greenhouse (except for the little door he's adding) but I think it looks so GREAT!
Everyone helped shovel a trailer load of vegie soil into the wheel barrow...
...even Zip...too cute!
And she was rewarded for her hard work with a little wheel barrow ride from daddy...
We went to the Grower's Market and bought a whole heap of vegies and herbs"
common mint
oregano
dill
corriander
and these will go in the herb garden where we already have a huge bay leaf tree, chives, chocolate- mint and curry leaves.
We also got from the Grower's Market some:
zucchini's
tomato plants
and a couple of other things that I've now forgotten! lol
We potted up the herbs...
The boys played footy...
Brett put the billy and some toast on the open fire out the back...
and we enjoyed a lovely Sunday afternoon tea out there together...
This week I made Brett's fave coconut cake/muffin recipe...
and Liji picked these lovely flowers for me from the backyard, brought them inside, found a vase, filled it with water and gave them to me as a gift.
So sweet :)
And this week I enjoyed finishing off some changes to the loungeroom...
This week:
* We played Music Notation Bingo
* Listened to Psalm 119
* Played the Board Game 'Pilgrim's Progress'
* Had Hazel visit and listen to my feelings about pregnancy and birth, check on bubs and reassure me that all was well!
* Posted letters together at the Post Office
* I had lovely catch up chats with Nat, my Anth and Lori
* We learnt a bit about Mozart and found Austria on the World Map
* Went grocery shopping (with Brett) while I went to see the chiropractor
* We talked about how close we are to meeting our newest family member
* I read aloud from several different books on the parts that make up a human eye (since Liji had drawn one in detail last weekend). So we had a look at all the different parts of an eye in books and on diagrams and labelled THIS SHEET by using THIS ONE FOR COPYWORK.
* Stass and I worked on two of her find-a-words from her book together
* Zip regressed a little with toilet training but that's ok...she's done so well with it so far.
* I'm now 38 weeks pregnant with Bubba #5.
Well that's about it as a recap from the week that was.
