Blog Review 2010

Looking back over the year it is interesting to note which blog posts were most popular with my readers.  By no means are these the ones I receive the most comments for, in fact some of the most popular posts receive no comments!  Most interesting.

My stats button on the dashboard doesn't work, so my only way of noting popular posts is the Popular Posts gadget on the sidebar, predominately what is there currently has been there consistently for the last few months.  I actually suspect some of these posts must be generously linked to on other blogs somewhere, but I know not where.  (I'd love to know if you would like to leave me a comment)

Popular Posts list is headed by; Advent Checklist 2009  I used this list myself when planning for Advent 2010.

Ranger's Apprentice Cloaks continues to be very popular and I really must update with new cloaks and bows.
Table Manners is third on the popular list and it is a never ending task to instill manners. 
Our Girl's Play Kitchen I remember generated some of the most comments I ever received, the gift PC and I made for our girls for Christmas last year.
Native Americans, Book Collection is fifth on the list.  I enjoy writing book reviews, and would love to know who else enjoys my reviews.
Instant Free Access to Mathsonline Primary! Nary a comment but somebody is reading it;)
Treasured Moments 1 Ah yes, I had such great plans, and they still aren't scraped, just on the 'to do' list.
Dietary Cure for Acne and the Paleo Diet The beginning of our Grain, Diary and Sugar Free journey.
Charlotte Mason and Dictation My first time participating in the CM blog Carnival.  I'm hoping to join in a few more yet.
Designing Our Learning Room, Help Please I enjoyed gathering links for this one, the time is drawing closer when I can start to really plan and hopefully bring to fruition.

I did see some of my book reviews were shared in some of my favourite blogs (and friends) 'shared items', that was a lovely boost to know that they are helpful to others:)
I also enjoy noting which posts I received the most comments for, it helps to know what interests my readers.  Although I mostly write as a family/personal journal, it is nice to know readers are not nodding off.  Most interesting though is only one post is featured in the Popular Posts and with the most comments for the month.

Most Comments from readers in;
December-7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 65) with 6 comments. Lots of discussion about my GDT.
November- Salvaging Timber Flooring with 8 comments.  Some beautiful positive comments about my wonderful PC and children that bought huge smiles to my face.
October- My Grandmother's Faith with 7 comments.  Actually this post was up with the most Popular read for a while.  A tribute to my beloved Grandmother and her awesome Faith in Our Heavenly Father.
September- Another Successful Homeschool Camp and 7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 56) tied with 7 comments. Our 10th Homeschool Camp, another resounding success and a couple of new readers left comments, how  lovely:)
August - 7 Quick Takes (Vol 54) with 7 comments. Lots of discussion about nebulous words.
July- My Truth About Mum and Planning with 7 comments.  Where I was really honest.
June - 6 Today Jelly Bean! with 6 comments.  Lots of Birthday wishes for our little girl.
May- RIP Ellowyn with 11 comments, many lovely expressions of sympathy at the death of our dog.
April - Our Very Own Library had 11 comments.  Expressions of delight and envy.  We are blessed indeed.
March - 7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 38) had 5 comments.Lots of discussion on homemade dishwashing powder and reading dictionaries for fun.
February - 7 Quick Takes (Vol 37) with 7 comments. New readers:) talking books and clutter.
January - Our Girls Play Kitchen topped with 18 comments!! Lots of lovely, positive chatter.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 66)

 1
On the 17th December I became an aunty again!  My sister had a little girl, Olivia Mary.  We give praise to the Lord for her save arrival, a blessed miracle indeed.

2
BetterWorld Books is now offering FREE shipping worldwide!!! This means they will now be fierce contenders for my dollars with Book Depository.


3
Has anyone noticed the new 4 Real button on my sidebar?
For any 4Real fans, feel free to add this to your own sidebars.  Any readers who haven't yet checked out 4Real be sure too, it's my favourite place in cyberspace to hang out.  A wonderful, supportive community of Catholic parent Home Educators.  Lots of living education discussions and a huge melting pot of ideas and knowledge!

4
My site meter clicked past the 40 000 visitor mark to my blog recently!!  I can't believe it!!  Welcome all,I feel honoured, and I love it when I readers drop me a line, I smile all day.

5
The past month would have to be the busiest we have experienced all year. What a blur.
Aside from Advent and Christmas preparation and celebration, we finished the timber salvaging,
and headed to Sydney for a flying trip, the weekend before Christmas to celebrate out niece's 21st.
We partied and lunched with nearly all of PC's family which was wonderful, but simply not really enough time to catch up.

6
Oh and we celebrated my brother's 21st at the end of November too, plus 2 friends birthdays, the teens were tested and passed their Bronze and Surf Rescue Certificates, PC and I celebrated our 18th Wedding Anniversary and PC started at his new job!


7
I was planning on January being quieter but already I have 7 commitments noted for the first week of January!  


Visit Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes.

Enjoying the Christmas Season

We've been enjoying a lovely Christmas Season.  Christmas Day we experienced rain for the first time in years.  However the children were still keen to try out their new trampoline mat.





Lots of bouncing and fun.

Thank you Aunty Monette and Uncle Michael:)

The weather did clear up through the week, enough to enjoy the new slide.









For hours at a time.










And of course there has been the dune buggy to tinker with.

And sliders the 'right size of me.'

Electronics for the teens; ipods

and Kobo ereaders.

A slide for the playground awaiting installation, in the meantime this works fine.

And more 'fun in the sun.'

And we have been working on a building project, to be revealed soon;)

Christmas Hit - Dune Buggy

PC and I were really committed for Christmas presents to be outside items this year.  The boys have been begging for motorbikes, but we weren't keen.  We researched and decided a double off road go-kart/dune buggy would better serve our purposes.
We made a number of phone calls and were assured us that a 150cc Twister was the best quality.  In an effort to reduce cost we purchased one that needed much work on ebay.



We managed to smuggle it home on the trailer under a tarp all the way back from our Sydney trip. For some reason;) the boys thought it was an item for the playground for the younger children and didn't ask too many questions.

PC and Koala (who had helped Dad pick up the buggy and was in on the secret,) scraped and sanded back all the rust late into each night in the week preceding Christmas.  Then PC spray painted with Kill Rust.  We won't be doing this job again anytime soon. The seats were washed of mud and accessories cleaned up.







PC spent a lot of time working on the auto-electrics. We had ordered a new battery, solenoid and spark plug, however all wasn't proceeding so well.

Christmas Day PC managed to get the motor to kick over but hasn't yet had time to progress further.

Christmas morning the children lined up with eyes closed, before the shed roller door, the door was opened and they found this.....
Look at the excitement on Einstein's face!!







They can't stop grinning.

We love totally surprising them.

Oh the joy!

The beaming smiles.

Great success Dad!

Paleo and Experimentation

Our 30 Day Elimination period came to an end a fortnight ago, teen with moderate acne's inflammation was greatly reduced and skin was looking great, the best it has looked in two years.  As an added bonus we were all experiencing improved health.

We decided to re-introduce potatoes first and this appeared to be successful, although we continue to limit the amount of potatoes in our diet.  Next trial; our teens were longing mostly for a hot cereal breakfast, after much thought teen at the most risk trialled with rice flakes and goat's milk.  The gusto and enthusiasm was a joy to behold.  A few days later we also trialled rice, but already by then we could see the truth, teen's acne had a massive inflammation reaction and outbreak.  Other teens had trialled rolled oats, one with goat's the other with cow's milk.  Both also broke out, but not to the same degree.  Compounding the outbreak was a trip away this past weekend, travelling on the road and Birthday Parties make it very hard to adhere to a diet.  The truth is now very, very clear that all grains will have to continue to be eliminated from our diet, teen's skin now has much ground to recover.  Manuka Honey is coming to the fore again though:)

Christmas could also bring healing to a halt, although we have eliminated most grains from our feasting, we will be eating dairy and sugars.  So, much sooner than intended and not really within an ideal time lapse we will be trialling these food groups too.

The past couple of weeks I have been absorbed in reading The Gluten Connection and Gluten Free Girl riveting; I'm certain I am boring my friends with my enthusiasm. I've also been absorbing other knowledge; does rolled oats contain gluten? well no but... it can be contaminated by being grown in the same fields and processed in the same plants as wheat also Oat's amino acid sequence is extremely similar, but not entirely the same, as gluten's amino acid sequence. Is Canola Oil really a good oil?  Paleo say yes, but..... Primal say no.  So we've been trying decide which alternative to use for cooking and have decided on lard. I also discovered that Canola Oil is an inflammatory oil, the last factor we need.

Food has emotional connections and adjustments have to be made as it is now apparent that this is a long term lifestyle, .  One factor that has emerged is that more variety is needed in our menu, also that as much as possible the whole family needs to adopt this lifestyle as the 'Paleo Support Group'.  This week after much deliberation I purchased; The Paleo Diet Cookbook,  The Primal Blueprint Cookbook and The Gluten Free, Almond Flour Cookbook.
I'm really looking forward to their arrival.

I've been fascinated to discover a whole new world; the world of grain free, dairy free, sugar free cooking.  Many bloggers have generously shared their knowledge and recipes. Mark's Daily Apple (primal cooking) Joyful Abode, Kat's Food Blog, Thinking Outside the Box and of course Elana's Pantry.   Many Gluten free bloggers have suitable recipes too, Alisa Cooks and Dish Towel Diaries are new discoveries. If you know of others please let me know.

Completing Floor Salvage

Monday last week we received a phone call to say the timber salvaging needed to be finished by the weekend and all timber removed.  As we had plans to be away for the weekend we were in at the School this week working from 4pm until 8.30pm each night.
Flooring still had to be pulled up.

Timber had to be carried into the end room and sorted into size piles before exiting the window.
The boys were troopers and put in a couple of hours each day before PC arrived after work to help.
Koala was an invaluable part of the team as chief babysitter.

We slid the timber out the window to the waiting trailers below.  At first we weren't sure if we could make the deadline but by the third night we started to hope we just might.

We were unloading late into the night, into stacks on our front verandah

where is will be wait until we lay it in the new house.









Shorter lengths await in the Games Room.

We are very grateful to have this job behind us and completed.

Tomie de Paola's Christmas Titles

When I was first introduced to Tomie de Paola I wasn't an immediate fan, his artwork didn't appeal to me.  However I did enjoy his Saint books so I gave him a 'second chance' and he became a familiar 'friend'. We now have a number of his books including his Christmas titles.

 Merry Christmas Strega Nona

Strega Nona loves Christmas and has much preparation to undertake before she hosts a village party at her home.  Big Anthony wants to use magic, but Strega Nona replies, "No magic at Natale".
By the story's conclusion Big Anthony demonstrates he has learnt Strega Nona's message when he organises the village to surprise Strega Nona with a feast prepared by the guests this year.
To be honest the Big Anthony/Strega Nona books don't appeal to me.  I'd rate it 3 Star although my children would rate higher.


 

Night of Las Posados
The Mexicans have a lovely custom at Christmas, the whole village reenacts Mary and Joseph's trials in seeking shelter.  This year 'Mary and Joseph' are stranded in the snow on their way to the Play, however 'friends' of the good Sister arrive and led the procession.  Sister later finds wet snow prints leading to, and fresh snow on, the figures of Mary and Joseph in her tapestry.
4 Star from me, less popular with my children.

Night Before Christmas 
Illustrated by Tomie de Paola, written by Clement Moore.  This is a childhood favourite of mine, I have warm memories of reading this to my own younger siblings on Christmas Eve.  I like de Paolo's illustrations.
4 Star






 
The Clown of God
 An orphaned child joins a travelling troupe and spends many years on the road as a juggler.  He enjoys success and adulation. One day he lunches with a couple of Franciscans who explain, all we do is for God's Glory.
The Juggler grows old and one day a 'terrible thing happens', he fumbles and drops the balls, the crowd laugh and run him out of town.
He finds shelter in a Cathedral on Christmas Eve, seeing the stature of the Child Child 'looking sad' he performs for Him, this is his last act, an act of love.  5 Star.

The Legend of Old Befana

Befana is permanently focused on housecleaning and has a reputation of unfriendliness.  The Three Wise Kings ask her for directions to Bethlehem, and invite her to join them, but she she has too much work to do. Later she decides to bake and follow, but spends all day in preparation. When she finally sets out she can not find them.  She is still looking and can be seen on the Feast of the Magi crossing the sky in search of them. 4 Star



Legend of the Poinsettia
Lucida's mother is honoured to when asked to weave a new blanket for the Christ Child for the Christmas Procession, the entire village is involved in various preparations. Mother is taken to the hospital sick and is not able to finish the weaving. Lucida tries but is unable, as the village process in and old woman explains to Lucia that a gift given in love is most appropriate. Lucida takes in a pile of 'weeds' which when placed at the crib bloom into Poinsetta flowers,
5 Star

Country Angel Christmas
The Country Angel's are to prepare the Christmas pageant this year. The three smallest angels want to help but everybody tells them  they are too small.  St Nicholas suggests an idea and they play a star role by 'saving the day.'
I confess this book does nothing for me, not my idea of how heavenly angels would behave, and the 'country theme' seems rather ludicrous. 2 Star


 

Jingle the Christmas Clown
The troupe travel all day to arrive at their destination to find the village deserted, with only the old folks left.  The troupe travel onto the city to perform but Jingle stays behind with baby animals who are too tired to travel further. Jingle and the baby animals feel compassion for the older folks who will have a lonely Christmas, they organise a performance. 4 Star

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The beautiful story of Our Lady of Guadalupe's appearance to Juan Diego. Very informative.
5 Star

The Friendly Beasts

An old English carol, very sweetly illustrated by Tomie de Paola. Unfortunately as we don't know the tune we don't appreciate this book enough, so although I originally rated it a 3star, it does deserve higher.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 65)

 1
Does anyone else find emailing their husbands/children a rather useful way to capture their attention?
Perhaps it is the excitement of receiving mail, perhaps it is because in an effort to communicate well I have to be succinct.  Whatever the reason I find it a useful medium as I remember quick thoughts to share or minor details throughout the day, and a great way to capture the attention of our teens.

2
All of our children, with the exception of one have been rather independent. Jem at only 2 though,  takes it to ridiculous lengths; he insists on dressing himself, uncliping himself from his carseat (which he can't manage so we play an elaborate pretend game) he has to exit the van without any help, carry his own plate, pour his own food and milk, get his own water,  peel his own banana, etc.  He also must help with everything; setting the table, carrying the washing basket, moving furniture etc.

3
I discovered a novel way to clean the lounge, wipe down with my Enjo outdoor cloth.  Easy and effective.
HT.Deanne


4
I've just finished reading Gluten Free Girl, Shauna Ahern is soo passionate.  She received freedom by being diagnosed as having Celiac's Disease, a whole new world was opened to her which she embraced.  Her recipes are so achievable and scrumptious. We aren't Celiac's although do wonder if we may have a Gluten Sensitivity. 

5
As we may be looking at a need go wheat or gluten free I've been contemplating grain mills.  The most economical choice would be to purchase an attachment for our juicer. A decision to make further along in our dietary change.

6
I  cut all the children's hair yesterday.  As I looked at the pile of hair I contemplated on the varied hues within one family; blondie brown, dark brown, auburn, blond, and snowy white. 

7
I was tested for gestational diabetes this week.  No one mentioned anything about fasting beforehand, so I blithely ate a handful of sultanas and almonds prior to waking in.  My levels prior to glucose and after were too high.  Therefore this morning I had to undergo a two hour test, fasting from last night. My results - normal.
Meanwhile I researched and spoke with my dear friend Margaret whose son has Type 1 Diabetes.  She assured my that dried fruit would spike me and almonds, being a slow release would keep my levels way up.  So why don't they save our time and theirs and instruct us not to eat the first time around!?

Bonus Update:
PC just received his CPA(Charted Practicing Accountant) exam results for this semester and he received a High Distinction!!
We're so proud of him:)

Visit Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes.

Celebrating Advent

Today is the second Sunday of Advent and we are finally organised. Our celebrations have evolved over years and it is only with careful planning that I manage to achieve anything, even then we sometimes start late:)

The Advent Calendars are up; the one on the left has doors to open daily, with Scripture passage and picture behind.  We have been using this for years now.
The hessian pockets we introduced last year, I insert felt figures into each pocket, then the children take in turns to place that day's figure on the felt sheet.  By Christmas Day the nativity scene will be in place.  

All nativity sets are displayed.  I have a weakness for Nativity Sets and buy them at the 'dollar shops' at 'after Christmas sales.' Each child has his/her own.  My dream is to afford a wooden set that the children can play with.

The Manger Scene, found last year,  is ready, complete with Manger made by my son, awaiting straw for good deeds done.

Our tree is arrayed in its Advent colours, Christmas Eve we will adorn in its full splendour.

Our bare advent wreath; one of my most treasured possessions made by my husband of 2 weeks for our First Christmas.  Money was short but with a roll of bull wire he lovingly twisted and crafted this for our home.  Each circle holds a candle, I have padded out with newspaper, but single wire continues around between holders.

This year the greenery was gathered and arranged by our younger girls, Princess and Jelly Bean.

We are reading our way through our Advent/Christmas books, the children love to re-visit with these old and new friends yearly.

Last night we celebrated the Feast of Saint Barbara, and we are looking forward with excitement to the Feast of Saint Nicholas tomorrow.

Nearing End of Paleo Elmination Diet

The children are in countdown mode, we have only a week to go until the end of our Elimination Diet.  What they are fully failing to comprehend is we won't be going back to our previous diet, we shall just be making some modifications to the Paleo lifestyle.

Actually the 30 Day period hasn't turned out as 'strict' as we would have liked.  Last week we attended my brother's 21st so that threw a major curve, we tried to limit the amount of foods introduced but it was hard, and one child broke out in a rash of pimples within hours, they had been doing so well:(

Also our swimmer's performance was way down, so after research and discussion we added potatoes back into his 1st (5am) breakfast.  Performance went way up so that was great! 

Then this week all three teens were having a massive reaction and I was just baffled, what was going wrong!?   We eliminated tomatoes as a flavouring as that could well be a trigger, when one teen was a baby, tomatoes induced bleeding ezcema. What else? Then it hit me, I had been adding a soup packet for flavouring to the stews and savoury mince, they are loaded with nasties including wheat!  So we haven't been strict at all!  However with Christmas coming and protests growing I think we are going to have to leave it and move on with what knowledge and ground we have gained.

One fact determined is we are going to be longer in this lifestyle than we were hoping.  Our child with moderate acne is definitely reacting to corn, wheat and dairy.  Possibly other grains but that will have to be slowly discovered as to which ones.  The children are just longing to eat bread again, I've discovered Elana's Pantry, lots of dairy and wheat free recipes, and I'm just hovering over purchasing her Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook. However almond flour is hideously expensive.  I have been researching as to the cheapest prices for almond flour here in Australia, Santos work out to be $12/kg if I buy a major bulk order, and Queensland Natural Foods are below the $13/kg mark if you buy their bulk price.  Honest to Goodness at $15/kg is still cheaper than my local health food shop at $20/kg.  Truthfully I am hoping that some of the other grains will be fine to allow us to have the occasional bread or biscuits.

Realistically, budget wise we may have to look at allowing the younger children some of the more traditional foods whilst the teens (some or all) will use the more expensive ingredients.  We'll decide that as we re-introduce.

I did want to share though that until the 21st party/soup packet breakout we were having marvelous success with Manuka Honey Ideally buy the product of UMF 16+ and apply topically.  Opinions range as to how long to leave it on for, ranging from 20min to overnight.  Manuka Honey has many wonderful healing properties and we are just blown away with the rapid improvement our teen was seeing until the night of the 21st Party, which has set it all back.  It was working well on teen's eczema too.  Inflammation had all gone and new pimples were non existent, and we were starting to heal the skin itself!

In this last week we are back to adhering as strictly to Paleo as possible and applying Manuka Honey.  Next week we'll have to decide what food to re-introduce first, most likely potato and then rice, then we'll try different grains, however Christmas will hinder plans.