7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 105)

1
On Tuesday, two days after Christmas, our friend Julie passed away in her sleep, losing her medical battle of the last several years.  Julie leaves behind her husband Dave and their three children; dd16 and ds' 14 and 12.  Please pray for the repose of Julie's soul and for Our Lord to surround Dave and their children with His love.  Our hearts are heavy.  A new awareness that time is too fleeting.

2
Remember during the Year of the Priest when many committed to supporting our Priests in extra ways?  In our home we were already praying daily for our parish priest and Bishop, and during the Year of the Priest we added prayers for our seminarians and all the priests of our diocese.  Even though the Year of the Priest is over, we need to continue to pray daily for our clergy, they need our prayers.

3

 Our combined family Christmas present, pool/air hockey table has been a huge hit!  Constantly there is a game in progress, some real talent abounds.  Jack Jack (5) is one of the keenest players and is getting quite good.




We've all been enjoying playing, and if my persistence pays off, I may yet win a game.  PC and I are rather pleased with the social aspect, makes it easy to kick back and relax and have a yarn over the pool table.

4
Talking Christmas gifts, did you notice that gorgeous apron I'm modelling? Designed and stitched with love by my darling Anna Maria.  If you looked closely you would also see me with a double pack of Tim Tams, yes they are all long eaten.  Another son copied seven years of photos onto my external hard drive, a true act of love, particularly when I discovered afterwards, there was a very scary moment when they thought all the photos were lost!!

5
What I'd really love to tell you about is my new addiction, no not Pinterest, I've already confessed to that one.   I love my new Kobo Touch ereader!  With a click of the mouse I instantly add to my library.  So many books to read.  Thank you PC!!!!!

6
I'm seriously thinking of 'slurping' my blog into blurb books. Perhaps one for each year of blogging.  PC says, "Go for it" so I really might.

7
I pinned some words of wisdom recently.   " Don't marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son exactly like him."  Some very true words there, and indeed I did think of that prior to marrying my PC, and its true, they are very like him and I couldn't be prouder:)

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Christmas Day 2011

A day filled with delight, laughter, food, gifts and surprises.  

Celebrated in Honour of the Christ Child's Birth.

* Photo Collage credit to Great Fun 4 Kids

During This Christmas Season

Wishing you all a Happy and Holy Christmastide














From our home to yours.

Christmas Guest Post Series

......Christmas in Australia falls in the height of Summer, some Christmases our temperatures can soar as high as 44 Celsius/111 Fahrenheit. In our town which is not far from the beach, the majority of the residents move for the six weeks of the school holidays to the beach and spend their Christmas morning in a tent or beach shack.........


I am guest posting today over at Conservamom's, part of a Christmas guest post series, come on over.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 104)

1
Last week I mentioned wanting to read a few wheat free books, I am now adding sugar free books to my wish pile. I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson and Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes us Fat by David Gillespie.  I'm also keen to make Stevia Extract, apparently Stevia can be bought at our local Bunnings store.

2
I'm currently overhauling our menu.  Not only to reflect my re-convictions regard grains and sugars, but in the need to be more cost effective and to honour PC's request for less meat based meals.  Day of Discovery has collated an  index of blog recipes, and I'm combing through Sarah Wilson, Wellness Mama and Supercharged Foods for ideas too. To be honest I don't really know where to start, too many ideas.  Does anyone just want to organise a menu for me?

3
I'm finally back exercising on my rowing machine.  My friend Reb is running 4 kilometres a day and has overhauled her diet including eliminating grains and sugars.  She is my inspiration.  Last week I spent an hour in a dressing room in front of a full length mirror and I have to say, the mirror was not kind.  Wishing my thickening waistline away hasn't worked, I'm now rowing and considering what I eat.

4
Last weekend PC and I went to garage sales.  We found an awesome family Christmas present!  As my teens faithfully read my blog I can say no more, except... we're pretty excited:)  Talking Christmas presents we only have a couple to buy and a couple to decide on, doing well.

5
Some years we really seem to have a great Advent Season, and some just don't gel so well, this year is one of those.  I feel like I've 'chased my tail' and 'dropped lots of balls' the last fortnight.  However I have one week left, so if I am to think positively, there is still time.

6 
PC's bout with pneumonia is drawing to a close.  He is back at work full time and has begun working on the extensions again.  He is rather tired by the end of the day but doing much better.  Now if we could only find out why Einstein has been plagued by a headache for the past five days.  He had a massive bout of hay fever and then some flu type symptoms, so it is most likely that, although he does need to see a chiropractor occasionally for alignment issues.  It may well be time to have his eyes re-tested too.  Five days is rather long.

7
Carpenter has been working all week as a builder's labourer for a friend, helping him extend his house.  Sixteen year old lads thrive on constant physical work, at least Carpenter does.  Anna Maria started volunteer work at our branch library this week and absolutely loves it!!  But I'm getting ahead of myself, I've promised a post on Anna Maria and her future plans.  It is sitting in drafts and will be ready to post tomorrow.

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Undertaking Exams

As last week was the conclusion of our school year, the children requested that we have an exam week.  Some  thought it would be fun and older teens decided taking exams would be a good skill to develop. This meant a bit of planning and research into what to set.  In the end our exams consisted of a variety of approaches; a written essay, a purchased exam and online exam/quizzes.  As it was a week that included a major Feast Day we didn't test all subjects.

English & Maths - CS Online Schools provided free assessment exams in Maths and English for our 4th grader through to 10th grader.  They also offered a writing exam for our 4th and 6th graders.  CS is affiliated with a Select school and the exams were not easy.

Reading Ability -  K12 Placement Test for the 5 and 7 year olds.  Not really needed as I know their ability but they wanted to be tested like the older children

Literature Analysis - Written exam under exam conditions.
Highschoolers: Time: 1hr
Length: 1-2pgs+Marking: You will be marked on cohesion and fluency.  Select a recent novel you enjoyed, write title and author. 
1.Write an outline of your novel’s plot in bullet form.
2.Select one character from your novel, describe your character and your reaction to him/her.

Literature- Written under exam conditions.
Primary: time- 40min
Write about your favourite character in a book you recently read.
Include title and author, name of character.
What was your character like? Why did you like this character?
Your answer must be at least half a page long.

Spelling - Morrison- McCall Spelling Test

Faith - Friendly Defenders was a fun online quiz.  Primary, Level 1, Highschoolers (and Mum and Dad), Level 2. Lots of fun as we all tried to get 100%

Geography - Trivia Plaza has excellent online quizzes which we really enjoyed, lots of fun and laughter.  The whole family tried to outdo one another including Mum and Dad.

History - SOTW Tests. We purchased these comprehensive tests that covered the entire book.  We'll be using them in the future as we continue with the books.

School of the Air

Day 11- Monday 29th August

Whilst in Mt Isa I was keen to visit the School of the Air, the educational program in which children who live in remote areas of Australia receive their education. Launched in the1950s, School of the Air is a combination of correspondence lessons and daily class sessions via a telephone network system.

Originally class sessions were via the pedal radio and later a high frequency radio.  Since 2002 however, they are via a telephone network system, with the plan to include webcams in the future.  For some however this will never be a possibility as geographical isolation will not support the technology.  One student hooks up via a satellite phone which is not totally reliable.   We saw a photo of this young teenager sitting at a desk in the middle of an open paddock, no trees, no shade listening in with his satellite phone.  His Dad is a fencing contractor and they travel throughout the Outback.  Not all children are itinerant, many live on Stations, either the Station Owners/Managers children or are children of the Station workers.  Some classrooms have children only from one family, some include children from more than one family.

Lessons are mailed out from the School of the Air and supervised by either Mum or a 'Govie' (governess). The bulk of the work is done via correspondence lessons as the class sessions only last for half an hour a day.  Currently much time is taken with the mailing back and forth of lessons and the plan is under way to send lessons via discs and utilise more technology via the internet in returning lessons too.  This is dependent though on reliable internet and access to printers etc.  For some families this will never be possible.

There is a real sense of community fostered amongst the school despite the fact that children live hundreds of square kilometres apart.  Within the school a teacher is assigned to several families and endeavours to visit at least once a year, travelling hundreds of kilometres to do so.  Each year the families from a geographical area come together for a mini-school, hosted either at a local hall or on a Station.  During the week of the mini-school the children enjoy their lessons as well as scouts.  Once a year they all come together for a sports day and Graduation.  At some time during highschool the children attend boarding school.  Some begin in Grade 7, some start later, however the School of the Air is only offered up to Grade 10.


We listened in to a morning lesson of 1st Graders. It was rather incredible to realise that the three children who were chatting lived 800km apart.  We listened to a phonics lesson and marvelled at the skill of the teacher to conduct this type of lesson without being able to see her students.  As each child was called upon he would identify himself by name before answering the teacher.   They did not interrupt and mostly stayed on track as there was really not time to waste.  Although we did have a slight glimpse into their daily lives when one boy shared that the sound 'w' made the same sound as the helicopter that he 'helped' his Dad fly in the last cattle muster.  The teacher explained that her class size was down as one child was off at the Birdsville Races.

Whilst I was interested to see a glimpse into these children's lives who are taught in a unique method to Australia, for our children it wasn't that interesting, however upon reflection I realised, for our children who are  taught by their mother and live in the bush, it really didn't appear that unique.  Whilst School of the Air children live in remote locations and therefore their lives are different in that respect, their experience is not that dissimilar to ours.

Afterwards we walked back to my brothers' houses where PC and our older two boys had been helping with renovations.  The rest of the morning was spent lazing around playing pool for some, and renovating for others. After lunch older members headed back for more renovation work and the little ones had a quiet afternoon  as we finalised preparations for the upcoming Big Day.

To Have and to Hold

Nineteen years ago on this day, I married my beloved.  On that day I was madly in love with my best friend.

Today nineteen years later I am still crazily in love with him, though the love has changed, to a deeper, richer love.  Love strengthened and forged by years filled with children, love and laughter, trials and triumph.   A life packed with family needs, house buildings, career changes, study and so many other challenges.  They have been busy years, rich years and definitely blessed years.

Dreams do indeed come true.  You can indeed marry your Prince.
Happy Anniversary My Love.

*You may enjoy our  Wedding Meme

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 103)

1
I'm collating a wish list of food books I would love to read, oh if only my library had them, I may yet have to purchase some.  Angela recommended Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by  Gary Taubes, Katie recommends Wheat Belly by William Davis MD and Eva suggests Dangerous Grains.  They all sound so interesting.


2
Interested in what books the children received for the Feast of St Nicholas? The Saving Name of God the Son, Across a Wild and Dark Sea, The Squire and the Scroll, The Princess and the Kiss, The Orphans Find a Home, The King's Thane, Sword of Clontarf, Out of a Silent Planet and Arms of Love.

3
Reading Jennifer's #2 I so see myself.  I have just literally spent hours trying to decide what presents to buy our nieces and nephews, adding to and then emptying the shopping cart.  Is this the best present, or perhaps this?  Sooo hard to make those decisions, perhaps I also need to make a goal regards decision making. Although in my defence it was hard to find Faith books suitable to the under 3s set.

4
I have to confess I'm a list maker.  It helps keep all those scrambled thoughts in my head straight, I do not become overwhelmed and I love the satisfaction of working through my list.  Currently our whiteboard sports two long scrolls of paper.  One is headed: Christmas Wish List and each child has a space to jot suggestions and ideas.  The other is titled: Holiday Achievements and that list is growing too, activities and projects I would like to do in the holidays.  Fun times like, breakfast at the beach, and projects such as reclaim the vegie garden.   The children have their spaces too to plan.

5
As our oldest now finishes her studies I reflect back on many areas over the years, an opportunity to ponder and wonder, "What would I do the same/differently if I had my time over?" Oh wait, I do get to do it again;)  Tonight I'm thinking about habits, Charlotte Mason had plenty to say about habits, and really I think she was pretty accurate.

6
We're doing fairly well in regards to Christmas shopping, for the first time ever we bought for half the children back in the July sales. Now we just have to decide what to get the other 4, and find their gifts. Talking present ideas, Pinterest is a great source of finding ideas, type in the search bar, "Christmas Gifts for ....children etc"

7
Bass is crawling everywhere now, quickly from room to room, still all in commando style.  He truly is a happy, gorgeous looking baby. Yeah, I'm totally impartial;)

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Celebrating the Feast of St Nicholas

There was much excitement Tuesday morning when the children awoke to find their St Nicholas gifts.  Gifts consisting of chocolate coins, candy cane and a book to help them grow in their Faith.

This year we were extra excited as we were to host our first St Nicholas Day party.  The party began with the arrival of St Nick himself, heralded by the ringing of his bell.

The children were rather taken with St Nick and happily listened as he regaled them with the story of his life.

Visiting directly from Russia.

Much to the children's delight he distributed candy cane and chocolate coins.











Coins that looked rather extra special. 














We had various activities set up around the room and each activity was supervised by four lovely teens.  The speculaas men were hugely popular to decorate (my secret wish is to own a St Nicholas cutter).  Grain free gingerbread were also popular.
* I really could not have managed without the help of our teens:)

Also popular was the Santa makeover,

turning chocolate Santa Claus' into St Nicholas.












Colouring as always retained its popularity.

Although I had printed out some figures they did not prove as popular, but the older children enjoyed the Ship Game and Word Searches.

The ideas shared at Catholic Cuisine and the St Nicholas Centre are amazing.

A successful day:)

St Barbara's Tower

For several years now we have enjoyed observing the Feast of St Barbara with a chocolate tower and red and white lollies.  A custom from the Italian village of Zolli in the Avelino Province of Italy.  St Barbara was imprisoned in a tower and the lollies remind us of her purity and martyrdom.





This year Carpenter and Michelangelo took over the design and construction and erected a different style to previous years.








Our children eagerly anticipate this Feast each Advent. Then who could resist a chocolate piñata?:)










An opportunity to eat plenty of chocolate and lollies:) (Ah, yes, I fudged this year and bought only red lollies.)

Versatile Blogger Award

Blossom from North Laurel Home & School has awarded me a Versatile Blogger Award.  Receiving this rather made me smile for a couple of reasons; I discovered Blossom's blog, always delighted to meet my readers:) and I realised I do write a variety of posts, sometimes I worry that I must ramble on and bore my readers with the same 'ole, same 'ole.

Rules for the Versatile Blogger are:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
• Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.
• Give this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
• Contact those bloggers and let them in on the news.

1. I enjoy writing book reviews, but they take a fair amount of time to write.

2. Covering books is a must for me;)

3. My swimming technique is not really correct, you know the whole breathing stroke routine. 

4. I love gum trees. They really appeal to me, the look, the bark,  they just say 'Australia' to me.

5. I've recently found that aprons are a really handy item to use.  They protect my clothing, fancy that!

6. Grain free eating is an area that really interests me, one I want to delve into more. Currently I'm reading about wheat and its effect on our bodies.

7. Organisation is something I have had to learn as an adult.  I have it slightly 'more together' in my 30s compared to my 20s, on paper at least. 

I'm going to interpret 'recent' as within the last 12 months.


1. Grace in Loving Chaos
2.And the Kitchen Sink
3. Take Up and Read
4. Yellow Pencil Stub
5. Glutenfreebudgetcrunch
6. Pillars of Pine
7.Australian Catholic Families
8. A Peaceful Day
9. Every Bed of Roses
10. Little Men in My Library
11. Creating With Wisdom
12. Sue Elvis Writes
13. Phenomenal Woman
14. Untrodden Paths
15. Benmakesten

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 102)

1
It turns out PC has pneumonia!  His second time around.  Fortunately though, we appear to have caught it in the early stages and he is not as bad as previously, but still, not good. Please keep him in your prayers.

2
Well we are calling it quits to our official school year here.  Next week we plan to enjoy  Advent crafts and exams.  Our children tell us they'd like to do exams, they think it might be rather fun, so I'm writing exam questions this weekend.

3
My thoughts have flickered a time or two towards next year's academics.  After reading my friend Linda's plans for next year, I've been considering how to ensure more time with my teens.  I'm contemplating working 3 days only with my younger crew, leaving 2 full days to extend my teens.  Thinking it could work.

4
Talking education, I've been over at the new Australian National Curriculum having a peek around.  Truth to tell I quite like the layout, I don't find it too full of teacherese.  I particularly like the 'Achievement Standard' points (click on Curriculum and then grade, look under subject). What I would like to find is all those points in a bullet form layout or a scope and sequence, like this one for maths. Anyone seen this info for all subjects in a simple list form?

5
It is true, in many ways older children take more emotional energy and time.  Very rewarding though.

6
Did you notice the new tab headings at the top of my page?  I have so longed to do this and thanks to a very talented friend who is clever at blog technology I finally have tabs:)

7
We have our last swimming lesson next week and are very happy with the progress made this term.  Princess loves her squad, and her teacher is most happy with her progress.  Jelly Bean can swim 25m in freestyle and backstroke, Jack Jack has grown in confidence and can easily move across the pool with a  kickboard.

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Boats and Barramundi

Day 10 - Sunday 28th August

We began Sunday by attending Mass with family:)  It happened to be World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and as many women and children attended in their national dress it was easily apparent how many different nations are represented in Mt Isa.  There were well over 20 different nationalities present that morning.  It was a unique and blessed experience to hear the Mass readings read in a couple of different languages, many nations, One Faith.

Afterwards we headed out to Lake Moondarra, a perfect place for a Sunday picnic.  The Lake was built by Mt Isa mines in 1956 for the mines use, the largest dam in Australia financed by private enterprise. Now it is also the city's water supply.

A popular spot for boaters, it was surprising to see so many boats on the dam, not what we were expecting in an Outback town.  The dam is also a fishers 'paradise', stocked with plenty of Barramundi.  Glancing through the car park another obvious Outback acquisition is 4WDs.  Everybody in Mt Isa had 4WD's, each seemed flasher and equipped with more gadgets than the previous.

The dam was a tranquil spot to picnic and relax. The children tried to swim but the dam was unattractively full of duckweed and duck lice. The cockspurs were unpopular and painful, our children were finding the need for shoewear in Outback Queensland difficult to accept.

Impressive was the amount of bird life, with a variety of 159 species.  We enjoyed lying back and watching the circling kites overhead.

The blokes fired up the 'Barbie', no council gas barbeques here, but an old timber and matches setup.

There were trees to climb so our little ones were happy.

Happy to pose for photos too.

For others the picnic was a chance to relax.

The dam covers an area of 2375 hectares, far more extensive than we could see.

An area that covers both Lake Moondarra and Lake Julius.

After lunch we went for a walk on the top of the wall

and saw yet another angle of the dam and surrounds.

After we left the dam we headed back to town, to the  lookout.  This cool sign, indicates just how far we really were from anywhere.

Smoke stacks always dominating the landscape.

The children then insisted we take Dad to the water park as he had missed out previously.

He enjoyed climbing on the equipment












and trialled all the 'rides'












and declared they were lots of fun.

Of course an experiement wouldn't be complete without including the kiddie equipment.

No wonder he was just 'plumb tuckered' out.