A productive day.

This is what I sewed today:

I finished Tom's pump pack.

I sewed a pair of pajama's for Tom.

I sewed this outfit for Amelia.

New Pump Pocket.

Yesterday I was cutting out shorts for Tom and Christopher. One of my scrap pieces of fabric was a rectangle piece and I thought, this is probably a perfect size to make Tom a new pump pocket.

I decided to have a go of making it. I cut out a long piece to be the belt and then cut another piece for the flap to close the pouch.

This is what I came up with and I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

This is the front of the pouch with the belt though it.

I am going to put velcro on the belt for it to stay on his waist. I am also going to add some velcro to the flap to keep it down.

This is the back of the pouch. I put in some big button holes to thread the pouch though. The belt is a bit wider than the button holes but that is fine. I don't think the belt could be much thinner and fit the velcro on.

It was a bit of a learning experience also and I will do a couple of things differently when I make him another one.

holidays pictures.

This morning we woke to clouds and wind. I thought it was going to be another cold day. The day turned around though and we ended up with the sun shining so we took the children down to the foreshore.

Here are some pictures.

Happy Homemaker.

Grace from Beyond the Black Stump has started doing a new weekly meme that I thought would be fun.

Go here to read this weeks Happy Homemaker from Grace.

The weather in my neck of the woods: Not what we expect for October. We have had rain everyday for the last week and it looks cloudy again today.

One of my simple pleasures: Early morning coffee brought by my hubby to my bed.

On my bedside table: My diary, a couple of books.

On my TV: Nothing at the moment.

On the menu for tonight: Chicken Enchiladas.

On my To Do List: summer sewing.

New Recipe I tried last week: Cannot think of one but I am going to try Pepperoni Rolls this week.

In the craft basket: The maternity top I had to unpick.

Looking forward to: having my mother stay and our friends come next week.

Homemaking Tip for this week: WD40 gets crayon off walls.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):

Coleen shared some family portraits.
Kelly did a great post on The family Rosary.

Favorite photo from last week:

Our ultrasound picture.

Lesson learned the past few days: Routines have their place and keep things running smoothly but holidays are great because they are a chance to change your routine.

On my Prayer List: family and friends.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: The family rosary.

Ultrasound pictures.

These are pictures of our baby boy (not a bunch of cells) that we got from the ultrasound last week.

Quick 7.

--1--

Baby Names.

Thanks everyone that gave us names suggestions. We have come up with a list of the top 4 names. On the list is:

Aaron James.
Isaac James.
Joshua David
Joseph Benedict.

--2--

Camera.

One of my children broke my camera on Wednesday night. I thought maybe the batteries were flat so tried charging them up. The next day, the camera still wouldn't turn on.

I spoke with Steve about it and decided to buy a new one. It is my family present for my birthday which is this Thursday.

I got the same camera that broke except a latter model and in pink. The children have all been told not to touch it.

--3--

Welcome to spring.

This week we have had some terrible weather. On Monday the rain came down and we had a dust storm. It wasn't as bad as Sydney's dust but the car got lots of dust over it from the rain.

Everyday since has been sunny for a short time but we have had rain and it has been cold. I hope next weeks weather is better.

--4--

Sewing.

Yesterday I spent a fair bit of the day preparing summer patterns to sew. Tom, Amelia and Christopher all need new summer clothes. They grow so fast. I am starting to put aside some of Tom's good clothes for Christopher but most of them are too big for him at this stage.

Hopefully I will have some photos to share during the week.

--5--

Holiday plans.

Yesterday Steve and I went a choose 6 videos for the children to watch during the holidays.

Two of the videos are for Steve and I to watch and the others are for everyone.

--6--

Visitors.

My mother will come and stay with us this week and then on Sunday my girlfriend Di and her family will come to stay too.

--7--

Plurk.

do any bloggers here have a plurk account? I started plurking back in 2008 but got sick of it.

I let the account sit there for a while and didn't post anything but decided to start plurking again about 10 weeks ago.

I have meet lots of other Catholics and found some new blogs from there too.

Don't forget to pop over the Jennifer from Conversion Diary for other quick 7.

Friday Funnies.

Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement -- not even her parent's nasty divorce.

Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the best-dressed mother- of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother! Jennifer asked her father's new young wife to exchange it, but she refused.

'Absolutely not, I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it,' she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, 'Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day.'

A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress. When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, 'Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it.'

Her mother just smiled and replied, 'Of course I do, dear. I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding.'

Michael Voris: Western Civilization and Protestants

Eggplant Parmesan.

Back in January, I did a post about Greg and Jennifer eating at Scalinis in Georgia to try and bring on labor.

I get a lot of people coming to my blog searching for "Does Eggplant Parmesan induce labor?

It got me thinking. Obviously, I will not be able to get to Scalinis to have a dish of their eggplant so I decided to look and see if there is a recipe online that is said to induce labor.

I found one right here from Scalinis. I also discovered the recipe they have is actually Eggplant Parmigiana, not Eggplant Parmesan.

Steve's and my wedding anniversary is on the 26th of January. I will be 2 days off 39 weeks so I am thinking I should make this for our anniversary. If I was to have this baby a week early, I would love it. It would also mean that the baby would be born before school goes back.

Last day of school.

By lunch time today we will be on holidays. I am looking forward to these holidays. My mother is coming for the first week and we are spending time with friends from Adelaide in the second week.

I am hoping to get a lot of summer sewing done these holidays. I want to make a couple of pairs of maternity pants for casual wear and a few more tops. I also have a dress pattern to make for church.

I am going to sew some sleeping bags and wraps for the baby too and do some shorts and shirts for Tom and Christopher.

Amelia wants a couple of dresses and needs a few 3/4 pants and tops for casual wear. The older girls want some new outfits too but they can sew their own with a little help.

I have finally finished unpicking the top that I didn't follow the instructions for. I will probably finish it off this afternoon as long as the children get their school work done by lunch time.

Just one Judge.

Find more videos like this on Catholic Mountain


H/T Creative Minority Report.

I posted a message in the same style back in February. It can be found here.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

Amelia's new nightie.

Alphabet soup.

Okay my second post stolen from Jeanne for the day.

Generate your bowl of Alphabet soup at RedKid.Net

Whats your poison?

Inspired by Jeanne's post I thought I would do a post on coffee.

We love coffee here. The children asked me just the other day if coffee was an essential and I said yes. You don't want a mother without coffee.

My favourite coffee to drink is the Nescafe Hazelnut latte.


We haven't been able to get these here for a while. The store I shop at has been sold out. I think hazelnut is a popular flavour. Yesterday when I went shopping though, I noticed they were stocked up again. I have one right now here to drink.

So what is your favourite drink?

5mart Martha Monday.

Here are my goals for the week:

1) Start home school each day as soon as I get home from taking older children to school.

2) finish sewing my maternity top.

3) remember to get something out for tea each night the day before.

4) keep up with our budget.

5) Take the home school children to the church to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament for a half hour.

Do you have any goals for the week?

Grace has her list up.

Following instructions.

Note to self. When sewing a pattern, don't just look at the pictures and think I know what I need to do. READ the instructions too.

Yesterday I was pinning the front band to my top that I am making at the top was too long for it. I thought for a minute that maybe I needed to gather the top a bit more but knew that wasn't the answer. After an hour of trying to work out what went wrong, I decided to leave the top and come back to it. I was going out with the girls anyway.

After tea, I picked it up again and tried fiddling with it to get it to fit. I measured the band and knew that it was the right length and measured the top and insert. The insert fitted but the bodice didn't. I was just about to give up and noticed that the bands around the bodice were about the same width as the amount I was out. I went back in the instructions. I had looked at the picture they had for d and assumed that I needed to sew the band and bodice with right sides together and then turn the band out. What I needed to do was sew the right side of the band to the wrong side of the bodice and bring it around to the right side with a small seam.

I will undo the sewing today. Not reading the instructions properly sure cost me a lot of time. I think the top would have been finished by now if I had read them properly.

Sunday Silence.

Our diocesan Cathedral in Port Pirie.

7 quick takes.

---1---

Half Way.

I have had a pain in my right side for the last couple of days. Once I have posted here, I am going to take a bath to see if it subsides a bit. I think the baby may be lying on a nerve or something. Maybe I should try lying in a different position tonight to get the baby to move.

---2---

Last Week of School.

This week is our last week of term 3. I cannot believe we are 3/4 of the way through the year.
During the holidays my mother is coming for a week and some friends are coming to stay the following week. The children are looking forward to having other people stay with us.

---3--

I have started some summer sewing. The days here have really warmed up. Today got to 23 (72) and tomorrow will be 24 (75). The nights are still quite chilly so we still have extra blankets on the bed.
Christopher needs a few pairs of shorts for kindy. It is too warm to send him in jeans now.

---4---

It's a Wonderful Life.

Last night Steve got this video down. It is such a wonderful video and always helps me feel uplifted.
It doesn't matter how many times we see it, I still cry at the end scene when all the neighbours come in and help out George.

---5---

Pirate name;

Here is your great pirate and ship name. Now you are ready to be pirate. Congratulation!

Real Name	:	Therese
Pirate Name	:	Mad Pallas Obrien
Ship Name	:	Miss Raciela The Red Planet

If you want to know your pirate name go to this link.

---6---

Trixie Belden.

This term I have read books one and two of the Trixie Belden series to Tom and Amelia. They have really enjoyed reading them. We haven't been able to find a copy of book three yet so next term we are taking a break from reading them and I will start reading Little house in the big woods with them.

---7---

Sewing Pattern.

At the moment I am making this top.

I am making view D which is the bottom one with long sleeves.

Thanks Jen from Conversion Diary for hosting Quick 7 each week.

Broken and Blessed.

This time 5 years ago, I was pregnant with Christopher. I was pretty sure he was another girl and had chosen the name Celeste Marie for him. I started praying for Celeste Marie around that time. I was quite surprised when Celeste Marie turned out to be Christopher Michael.

I said to Steve at the time, another baby called Celeste obviously needed my prayers.

Until about a month ago, I had completely forgotten about this. I bought the book, Broken and blessed to read. The book is about Celeste. She was born one month after Christopher. Once I had read the book, I was convinced that the baby I had prayed for while I was pregnant with Christopher was the Celeste from this book.

Even though Celeste only lived 4 months, the story gave me a great sense of hope for the future. I also realized our children are not here just for us. They are gifts that God could call home anytime. We are their caretakers and need to cherish the gift that the children are and cherish the gift that their life is.

I don't want to give away too much about the book but highly recommend it. If you are in Australia, the book is available from Fishpond.

Friday Funnies.

It is a while since I did one. I found this on youtube.

Tutor System

Has anyone ever used Tutor System?

I remember having them when I was in primary school and have been thinking about trying them for Amelia next year.

I just thought before I go and spend money on it that I would see what others think of it.ETA I just realized the link doesn't go to the Tutor System that I wanted to link too.

This link opens up a pdf about the tutor system.

Choosing names.

One of my favourite things about having a baby is choosing a name. Now that we know the sex I really want to name the baby and give it a bit more of an identity.

So here are the top 100 names from Australia in 2008.

Help us pick a name:

Huggies top 100 boys names.

All our boys names are in here so maybe it is time to go a bit out there and get something that is unusual.

Our boys names are:

Daniel John.
Samuel Joseph
Thomas Peter
Christopher Michael.

baby number 8!!!!!!

The scan went well. As far as I know everything is okay with our little blessing.

We were able to get a good shot of the sex so next February we will welcome another son.

3 girls and 5 boys.

Everyone is very excited.

Now to choose a name.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

Here is my new maternity top that I finished on the weekend.

Tomorrow.

I am having my scan. Brigette and Madeline will come with me and see our baby.

We are hoping to find out the sex this time.

I haven't ever asked about the sex with the others except for with Brigette. It was only because we had to have another scan at 34 weeks and the sonogram technician said she had a good shot of the babies sex if I wanted to know.

It will be a bit different knowing.

Purcell's Chicken Voluntary: MSM: Prochoice Liars

Purcell's Chicken Voluntary: MSM: Prochoice Liars

spread the word. The msm is ignoring the murder of a pro lifer. If it was an abortionist the media would be going ballistic about it. We need bloggers to get the message out and let people know about this injustice even though the msm don't think it is worthy news. This is one of my reasons for blogging.

Family reunion.

Yesterday Steve and I went to Adelaide for the day with Tom, Amelia and Christopher. Some of my mothers family has been doing research and finding out our family history.

It was great to learn about our family and where I have come from. My mothers Great Grandfather came from Tipperary and came to Western Australia as a convict. Steve said jokingly that if he had known about that he never would have married me.

It was a long day and I have a lot to do today to catch up from a day out but it was worth going to and finding out about my family history.

Therese

What I have been doing.

Amelia has a new outfit!



Tom and Christopher have new outfits.

I am 19 weeks pregnant and here is my belly shot.

Gone Fishing.

I have a lot to do this week so I am taking some time off blogging and staying off the internet. Be back on Sunday. I will still check my email if anyone needs or wants to get in touch with me.

God bless
Therese

Give away.

I nearly forgot to blog about this giveaway that The Handmaden is having at her blog.

Pop over and enter. The cute doll called Milly is up for grabs.

Therese

The Buzzard, bat and bee.

THE BUZZARD:

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet but
that is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its
ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is
that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a
run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit,
it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner
for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realising that all we have to do is look up!

That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem! Just look up.

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!

Live simply, love generously , care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

SEND THIS TO A FRIEND .... I did.

5mart Martha Monday.

From my list last week I had the following:

1: Post bag to Become What You Are.

Done. I didn't do this till 3.00 this afternoon though and the only reason I did it then was because I didn't want to say that I hadn't done it.

2. Finish novena that I started last Thursday.

I missed a day so started again on Thursday. I also forgot on Friday though. I will start the novena tonight again.

3. Sew my maternity top.

I actually did some more cutting out instead of sewing. I am sewing tops for our local musical theatre company and have red thread in my machine. Since my top is a tan colour with pink contrasting fabric I really need to finish the tops off before I change the thread. I cut out an outfit for Amelia.

4. Write up a new spelling program for Amelia.

Done.

5. Cook our months main meals.

80% done.

So not too bad a week.

This week:

1: I will remember to pray my novena prayer each night. If you have any prayer intentions that you want me to include in my novena please leave a comment.

2: finish off musical theatre tops.

3: Finish our main meals cooking.

4: Watch theology of the body for teens with Madeline.

5: Organise our trip to Quorn for the school holidays.

What are your goals for the week?

Sausage Casserole.

Here is my sausage casserole for Katidids.

Ingredients:
1 tbspn olive oil.
1 large onion.
1kg (2 pounds) sausages.
750 mixed frozen vegetables.
2 cups gravy.
1 tin diced tomatoes.
salt, pepper and curry.

Method:

Heat oil and saute onions with spices.

Add sausages. As they start to cook cut up into bite size pieces. Add vegetables, gravy and tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve on a bed of rice.

Therese

Happy Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers day to Steve.

We had a quiet day here. I made Steve Steak with Onion Blue Cheese sauce.

The children had sausages instead but were happy with those.

The only cooking I did was three meat loafs because I had a headache for most of the day. I finally felt better tonight after having a bath and soaking for a while. I decided since I was making one for tea to make the other two for the freezer. I was glad that I went to the little bit of extra effort and got them in the freezer.

Tomorrow I will do the chicken fettuccine, chicken enchiladas and sausage casserole so that all the meat is cooked. I will cook the meat for the cheeseburger pizzas too but think I will wait till Tuesday to cook them since tomorrow we will be doing school work.

Happy Fathers day to all the other dads too.

New in the Sidebar.

Fr. Speekman sent me this picture to advertise the Catholic Priests Conference for the Year of the priest.

Here is the email Fr. John sent me:

Dear Therese,

I have been asked to advertise the Year of the Priest Clergy Conference for English-speaking priests in Rome in 2010 so I've had some graphics of varying sizes produced hoping one of them might find an appropriate place on your site. You might put a banner at the top of your blog or something in the column, it's up to you. It is important that those who read the ad are directed to the official website: Year For Priests Conference either by clicking on the graphic or on a link beneath it.

It's a big ask but I'm hoping you will do this for me and for all those priests who would benefit from a conference such as this. Many thanks.

By the way, if you want to send this email on to other bloggers .. do it! Again, I would be most grateful.

God bless,

Fr John Speekman

Homilies From Australia

Please spread the word about the Priests for Life Conference.

Therese

OAMC

Today I started cooking our main meals for the month.

So far we have 3 of each of the following:

Spaghetti sauce.
Chilli Con Carne.
Salami and cheese pizza.
Hamburgers.

Still to cook are:

Chicken Enchiladas.
Chicken Fettuccine.
Pasties.
Quiche Loraine.
Sausage Casserole.
Cheeseburger pizzas.
meatloaf
Ham and Pineapple pizzas.

I will split these up over the next two days. I am really tired tonight but it is good to have all these meals in the freezer and not have to worry about cooking once they are all cooked.

I hope you are having a good day too.

Picture Puzzle

Todays puzzle is the Sydney Habour bridge. I thought I would add a bit of Australiana to the puzzles.

Pop over to Cathy from A bit of the Blarney for other picture puzzles.

My review of A Mothers Rule of Life.

A Mothers rule of life is a book mainly about scheduling and organisation for a Christian Mother. It is much more though than just about organisation. It is about bringing peace to our souls through living our vocation and seeking God in the way that he intended.

Holly speaks about 5 P's that a mother has responsibilities in.
The 5 areas are:

1: Prayer.

2: Person.

3: Partner.

4: Parent.

5: Provider.

Each P has a priority and when a lesser P takes on a higher priority our life becomes unbalanced and life becomes unmanageable.

The book has a good flow to it and is very readable. There is a lot of personal testimony in it that many may find irrelevant to their lives. I think that it shows the journey that Holly went on though to get to the point in her life that God was the top priority and that living her life in the way that God called her too was the way for her to get to heaven.

It is definitely a book I recommend reading and keeping. I refer back to it a lot.

Recipe swap Thursday.

Therese from The Musings of a Mom hosts recipe swap each week.

This week, I have my home made pasties to share.

Ingredients:

1kg carrots
1 kg potatoes.
500 grams onions.
Curry.
Salt
Pepper
18 sheets frozen puff pastry.

chop all the vegetables in a food processor. Add spices to your taste.


cut sheet of puff pastry into 4.

Place a bit of the mixture in the centre of each triangle.

Fold each corner into make a square. place on baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush egg on top of pastry.

Bake in oven at 210 Celsius for 25-30 minutes. These were left by my dear husband for about 40 minutes so the ones on the edge are a bit too brown.

Mothers rule of life.

Here is a link to the Blog that Holly Pierlot runs to give mothers help with their mothers rule.

A Mothers Rule of Life.

You can order the book and write to Holly about anything from the book to get help with your own mothers rule.

For anyone in Australia the book is available from The Nile.

It is a book that I refer back to a lot. While I was in early pregnancy, a lot of my chores were neglected and chaos started taking over in our house. It is at times like this that I reread Holly's book and get the motivation I need to start over.

Hearts for Home.

My list for the week:

1: Take my older girls out and spend some time with them.

2: We have been praying every night with the children but it has been quick and easy prayer. We really need to spend more time praying with the children and not being in such a hurry to get them into bed. I think we need to pray the family rosary more so will have a go at that this week.

3: Spend time praying with Steve.

4: Last night I was reading A mothers rule of life again and it spoke about making choices and living with the consequences of our choices. I want to make a bigger effort to make the right choices in doing the house work and teaching the children.

5: I want to also make a bit more effort with Amelia and getting her the right help she needs with literacy.

Visit Gae at Cherished Heart for other hearts for home.