My Dad.

Tonight my father passed away. Please pray for us all.

Thanks
Therese

Giving Praise.

Jennifer from My Chocolate Heart Hosts Praise each week.

Tonight we are heading out to Madeline and Brigette's Musical Theatre Production of Do you believe in Santa Claus?

I praise God that both girls have had this opportunity to be in the play and learn the skill necessary to be a part of it.

4 weeks till Christmas.

I got this in an email from Tricia.


I know it's early but I want to be the 1st....




With just about 4+ weeks before Christmas

REMEMBER:

Jesus is Better than Santa
Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks.. and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO
JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.
Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.
It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.


May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2009
And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year 2010.

Quick 7!!

--1--

30 weeks.

I am really starting to feel the weight of this baby now. I am finding it hard to stand for long periods of time and get anything done. Today I took the washing off the line. It took me 10 minutes and I felt exhausted after. Teenage children will now be doing the bulk of this job now.

The week has also dragged a bit. I am expecting that the end of this pregnancy will take a long time to come now. I have plenty of plans though to get me through.


--2--
Curriculum for 2010.

I have been working on Tom, Amelia and Christopher's curriculum for next year.

I was going to get the Faith and Life series for their Catechism lessons but I am a bit drawn to the Image of God series too.

So I thought, I would just ask. Those of you that have used these resources. Which do you think is the better series for teaching the catechism?

--3--
New pram:

This is the pram I am probably going to get for our new baby:

It is a Valco Navigator. Price is good and most of the reviews I have read about it are good too.

--4--
Baby Hammock.

Since Madeline was a baby, we have used a baby hammock for the baby to sleep in for the first 6 months. We actually used it for longer with Madeline but that was a big disaster in trying to move her from the hammock to the cot so the rest of our children have been moved into the hammock by 6 months

Here is a picture of a baby hammock. As soon as we get ours set up and my camera back, I will take a photo of it. When baby arrives, I will take a photo of him in it too. I highly recommend the baby hammock. We have co slept with babies at night but during the day, these are a really good alternative to a cot.




--5--
School holidays.

We are winding up our home school program for the year. We have two weeks left and I am going to be doing Religion, Maths, spelling and literacy each day but most of the day we will be preparing for Christmas.

I am going to make decorations with Tom and Amelia for the family room and Christmas tree. We will also do some hand made Christmas gifts for the other children.

--6--
Curtains.

I finished the curtains for the boys room but I had a blonde moment and made them too long. Steve said, thats okay, just cut them off. Better to be longer than shorter. I did cut them off and had another blonde moment and made them too short. I was pretty upset when I realized. I am going to get some new fabric for the curtains and possibly cut up the curtain fabric to make the boys quilts.

--7--
Christmas Traditions.

One of our christmas traditions for the last couple of years has been for our children to have a kris kringle. They pick a name out of a hat and buy a gift for one of their siblings. The really like doing this each year. In the past, we have waited till just a week before Christmas since they all find it hard to keep their person a secret. I am thinking about trialing an earlier picking of names. We will see how it goes.



Jen isn't doing a quick 7 this week but you can still pop over and read some other interesting posts. She has some of the most interesting reading in the Catholic blogsphere.

Google Wave.

I have 8 invites for google wave.

If you want one, either leave a comment here, or email me.

Friday Funnies.

Saw this over at Jill Stanek's blog.

Picture Puzzle Day

This puzzle was taken in Port Pirie when we went on a trip to Adelaide. On the way, I had a tire blow out and we went to the park while it was fixed.

Bamboo Fleece and PUL.

Today I have spent a fair bit of time looking into buying the fabric to make my own all in one nappies.

We used cloth nappies for our first 5 children but both Christopher and Amelia were in disposables full time.

I really don't want the expense this time so have been looking around at what is available.

I want to go with the all in ones to make it as convenient as possible.

So I want other cloth nappies mothers advice.

I have found a heap of free great patterns and Tracy has sent me a heap of links too. I am just wondering if I should go with the expensive Bamboo fleece and PUL waterproof fabric or just use any cotton fabric. Have any other bloggers made their own or bought the expensive all in ones? Do you have any advise about making them/buying them?
I have thought about buying plain Chinese Pre Folds but by the time I buy covers for them, they seem to be getting just as expensive as an all in one.

Homeschool inspiration.

I have followed Judy from BenMakesTen for a while now.

She mentioned a couple of days ago that they were thinking of putting her ebook "I Surrender" into a hard copy.

I don't generally buy ebooks but I would be very interested in buying this book as a hard copy.

If anyone else from Australia is interested in buying this ebook Judy has added a link to her buying page to buy the book in Australian currency.

Click here to go to the selling page.

I can't wait for it to come out in hard copy though.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

Last week, I had a really bad week and didn't do very much from either list. Today is a new day though and I am going to start again.

The weather is going to be much cooler so I am hoping I can get a lot done.

So my list for this week:

Martha:

Sought out Tom and Christopher's clothes. Amelia has moved out of their room and I have much more space to store their clothes now. I am going to go through and sought them all into 4 different boxes each. We will have a summer, winter, underwear and shoes box.

Daniel and Sam's curtains: I have done one and will get the other one finished this week hopefully.

Homeschool: I am going to start working out our curriculum for next year. I want to get it all ready before Christmas so that I can spend January preparing for the baby.

Cooking: I will cook our main meals for the month this weekend.

Bejeweled Blitz: I am not going to play this after tea each night. Once I start, I want to stay up and end up going to bed late. I need to stay off in the evening.

Mary:

Pray the rosary and Divine Mercy each day.

Go to weekday mass.

Pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Blessings book.

Preparing for advent with Tom and Amelia.

Do you have any goals for the week?

Other 5Mart Martha Lists:

Become What You Are.

Praise God.

Jennifer is the host each week for praise. Pop over to her blog to read what other people are praising God for.

I praise God today for Daniel and all he has accomplished this year.

I praise God for all the awards he got.

I praise God for all our other children and all the love they give to Steve and I.

I praise God for Steve and for the wonderful husband he is. I thank God also that he is an example to me and our children in living the faith.

I praise God that this pregnancy has been so easy and gone so fast.

I praise God for the rain we had yesterday and last night.

Quick 7.

--1--

Pregnancy.

I am now 29 weeks and everything is still going smoothly. I am starting to feel a lot of pressure on my pelvis when the baby lies a certain way and cannot stand for long. So far baby hasn't laid that way for very long so hopefully I won't get uncomfortable with it.

--2--

Broken Camera.

My camera that I bought just 6 weeks ago stopped working. I have charged it and tried a couple of times to open it but it still will not turn on. I am going to ring Kodak on Monday and see where to send it too and get it fixed.

--3--

Musical Theatre.

Next weekend, Madeline and Brigette are in the musical theatre production called Do you believe in Santa Claus? They are putting shows on Friday night, Sunday lunchtime and Sunday night. On Friday I bought tickets for us to go and see the show on Sunday night. I really hope my camera is fixed by then and I can take some photos.

--4--

Advent.

This year we are going to do an Advent Tree. I got the idea from Judy at BenMakesTen.

This is the outline that Judy has:

WEEK ONE OF ADVENT:

Put up your Christmas Tree, but ONLY the tree...do not put anything on it.
Leave it this way all week.
From time to time, sit near it and think about what it symbolizes...LIFE...beautiful life here on earth....and the EVERLASTING love of Jesus...and the LIFE IN ETERNITY He will grant us one day.

WEEK TWO:

Now place the lights upon the tree....ONLY the lights...Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
Sing carols and read Scripture stories that anticipate HIS COMING.
Ask Him to LIGHT YOUR SOUL.

WEEK THREE:

The ornaments will adorn the tree this week!
It's drawing nearer!
The waiting is almost over! ONLY ONE MORE WEEK AFTER THIS!
It is a week of JOYFUL ANTICIPATION!
Add those special touches and prepare a place of the HOLY INFANT!

WEEK FOUR:

The final top now comes to its place.
An angel?
A star?
Whatever you choose.
Place it atop your tree and stand back for a few moments!
OH COME OH COME EMMANUEL!
This final week will pass so quickly and you have now had time to PREPARE YOUR HEART in
a very focused and thoughtful way!

I am thinking of making a heap of purple ornaments to put on the tree in week two. We may make a advent wreath too.

--5--

Moving day.

Today the children changed rooms. I have sewn one of the boys curtains but need to buy some hooks. I thought I had some but I cannot find them. I may have put them away or maybe they have all been used.

--6--

Schoolies.

Daniel is down at schoolies for the weekend. I am sure he will have fun there.

--7--

Photo.

Even though my camera is broken, another mum emailed me some photos from the closing mass yesterday.

Since he is school leader, he got up and made a speech at the end of the mass. Here he is with the other school leaders, Jessica, Zaraar and Caitlyn.


Thanks so much Jennifer for hosting Quick 7 each week. Pop over to her blog to read what other people have for their quick 7.

Graduation night.

Tonight we went to Daniels graduation dinner from high school.

We are really proud of him and all he has accomplished this year. He has been accepted by One Steel to do a cadetship for the next 8 years. He will be working for them and studying Mechanical Engineering at UniSA.

Tonight he received 4 awards. They were:

The Mary McKillop Christian Leadership award.
The ADF Lon Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award.
Dilligence Award.
David O'Connor Perpetual Science Award.

As well as these awards, he also received a merit certificate for Maths. Merit certificates were given to all the year 12's that have received an A in any subject.

Daniel is a born leader and tonight he has been rewarded for all the hard work he has done this year.

Congratulations Daniel on all that you have accomplished over this year. We are proud to be the parents of such a dedicated and hard working person.

Mum and Dad.

Friday Funnies

lol. I need one of these in my fridge.

Recipe swap Thursday: Anzac Biscuits.

These are one of my favourite biscuits to bake.


Anzac Biscuits!!

Ingredients:

1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (85g) desiccated coconut
3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda


Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Sift the flour into a large bowl.
Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Put the butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water in a small saucepan.
Stir over a medium heat until melted.
Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls.
Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
Press with a fork to flatten slightly.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools completely.

These also taste nice with about a teaspoon of ground ginger in them. Put in with the flour and oats.

Don't forget to pop over to Therese's blog to see other great recipes.

Mass We Pray.

I am not sure what to think about this. I really hope it is a joke. If it isn't, I think it is in poor taste.

Wordless Wednesday.

This instrument is amazing.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday on Tuesday!

My list from last week was very neglected because of Tom's midweek visit to the hospital and me getting sick. I did sew myself another maternity top, the boys a shirt each and cut out one curtain. I also kept up with our budget and kept a record of where we spent our money.

So these are my goals for this week.

Martha

Finish off the curtains.
mark maths and literacy each day when the children do them.
Read with the children each day.
move children into new bedrooms this weekend.
Prepare some Advent activities to do with Tom, Amelia and Christopher.

Mary

Go to weekday mass one day.
Stay to pray after mass in front of the blessed sacrament.
Pray the family rosary.
Read a small bit from the bible each day.
Write down blessings from each day.

The blessings from each day was something both Steve and I use to do regularly. I was thinking about it over the weekend when I was feeling sorry for myself about something that I cannot even remember now. We kept a book that was specifically for blessings and wrote them all down. It was a good thing to look at whenever I felt down. It always lifted my spirits.

Here are a couple of other bloggers that have joined in 5mart Martha.

Michelle.

Become What You Are.

Cindy.

Let me know if you want to join in 5mart Martha and I will add a link to you too.

Update on baby.

Just being to the ob for my check up. Baby's heart beat is good and strong and my ob is pretty sure everything is okay. I also had a lot of movements this morning so maybe the baby was just tired or I wasn't noticing movements as much as they were happening.

I had the glucose tolerance test 3 weeks ago and the results from that were 5.2 (93) which the ob and I are both very happy with.

Feeling better.

Thanks so much for all the prayers. Today I feel much better. I still have a runny nose and am coughing a lot but don't feel wiped out like I did over the weekend.

Since I was not posting, I missed my 5mart Martha and Mary list. I will get it up later today though.

I am seeing the ob today for a check up. Baby is still moving but I have noticed a decrease in the movements so if you could all please pray. I wasn't meant to see him till next week but felt concerned so moved the appointment forward.

Thanks and God bless
Therese

Yucky cold

I have been blowing my nose all day and have a horrible sore throat and cough. Going to be away for a couple of days.

Any prayers you have would be appreciated.

Therese

Tonight at our house.

We are watching this. I think it is one of my favourite children's movies.

What are you doing this weekend?

Friday Funnies.

Last weekend I saw something at the Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary, and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Taser. The consequences of the Taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse effects on her assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety.... WAY TOO COOL!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple-A batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arch of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. Awesome!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to wife what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right?!!!

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, Taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5 inches long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference -- pretty cute, really -- and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries, thinking to myself, "No possible way!"

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.....

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, "Don't do it, master," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.... I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and HOLY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!!!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, and then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs. The cat was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face.

Note: If you ever feel compelled to "mug" yourself with a Taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself. You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three-second burst would be considered conservative.

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up, and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get up there???

My triceps, right thigh, were still burning and twitching. My face felt as if it had been shot up with Novocain and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs.

Still in shock

Small Successes.

I haven't done the small successes meme for a while but need a pick me up tonight and what better way to do it than to think about what we have achieved this week.

So my three are:

1) Tom is home tonight.

2) By this stage of pregnancy with Christopher, I was very swollen and carrying a lot of extra fluid. This pregnancy is much smoother. I have no swelling thank goodness and I feel much better about being pregnant for another 12 weeks.

3) Even though the temps have been really high and Tom has been in hospital, we have had home cooked meals every night this week. Usually when things like this happen, we ring up for pizza or take the children out for take away.

For other people's small successes pop over to Faith and Family.

Therese

Back home

Thanks so much for all the prayers. Tom is back home. His sugars are back in range and he is back to his normal self.

Today is 2 years since Tom started pumping. I am so grateful that we have the pump. It has made his diabetes much easier to handle and he has better care with it.

I have a lot to do so I will keep this quick.

Therese

Update on Tom.

Toms sugars dropped too low so he has had to go to hospital to be hydrated. He is on a drip and sugars did come into range at lunch time. I think we have turned a corner but still appreciate any prayers you can offer.

Heatwave.

I am coping fairly well with the hot weather. It is playing havoc though with both Tom and Christophers sugar levels. Both of them have had hypos in the last 24 hours that have been pretty severe.

The next 5 days are all going to be above 40 (105) and then we still will have temps in the high 30's. I am going to speak to their endocrinologist today and probably set Tom's basal a bit lower and give Christopher less insulin too. I just hope they don't start swinging from really low to really high. That is when diabetes starts to become really hard to manage and can take over our lives.

Prayers would be appreciated and I will keep everyone updated.

Thanks
Therese

Say something nice.

Shell tagged me for the Say Something Nice about a Priest Meme.

The person who created the meme meant that we are to say something nice about a particular priest and we are to pass it on to three other bloggers to do the same.

This is such a great meme. It is always great to affirm and tell our priests that we appreciate what they do and all the ways they help us.

I am going to talk about our parish priest Fr. Paul Burke. He has been our parish priest for 3 years now.

Fr. Paul is always friendly and greets everyone as they come in our church. He loves the children and all our children love interacting with him. This past weekend, he gave a great sermon on giving and generosity. He said that rarely is there a perfect time to be generous but we should still try and give even if it is only small.

Thanks Fr. Paul for being our priest.

I tag

Abbey.

Colleen.

Become What You Are.


.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

I just looked at my list from last week and boy, I need to pick up on the spiritual.

The only thing we did was the rosary.

From my Martha list I did everything except the boys curtains which I intend to do after I have taken the boys to the paediatrician this afternoon.

On my list for this week:

Martha:

• cut out the boys curtains.
• sew maternity tops and boys shorts.
• do our budget and keep up with where we have spent all our money.
• Take the children swimming each morning.
• start our Christmas cooking. We will cook the Christmas pudding and cake this week.

Mary:

• Go to week day mass.
• Do a catechism quiz with Tom and Amelia.
• Pray the rosary.
• Read Angels in the water to the children.
• Take the children to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

The same as last week since we missed a lot of them.

Here is Michelle's list for the week.

Praise God.

Every Week, Jennifer from My Chocolate Heart hosts Praise.

It is a while since I have done a list and I really need to take more time to praise God so here is my list for this week.

1) Praise God for the air conditioner that keeps us cool.

2) Praise God for cool water to drink.

3) Praise God for my husband.

4) Praise God for the gift of my children.

5) Praise and thanks for Mylanta which brings relief to my heartburn.

6) Praise God for my sewing machine.

26 books every Catholic should read.

H/T to Fallible Blogma for this link.

Archbishop Charles Chaput has written a list of books he wishes every Catholic would read.

You can find his list here.

I think I need another bookcase.

Quick 7

--1--
Heating up.

This week every day is going to be 38. For you Fahrenheit people that is 100. I think we will be going to the pool each morning and then sitting in the airconditioned house for the rest of the day.

--2--

Pioneer Women's cook book.

This book isn't being released in Australia till the 1st of December. I thought the release date would be the same as the States but obviously we have to wait for shipping.

I think I will ask Steve for this for my Christmas present since it is on the pricey side.

--3--

Week 27.

I really was dreading this stage of pregnancy when we first learnt baby #8 was coming but I still feel really good. By this stage of pregnancy with Christopher, I was feeling really sick of it and didn't want to wait another 13 weeks for him to come.

The only bad side affect I have had has been heartburn. I get it after most meals.

I am starting to feel very tired in the afternoons but still sleep well. I think though that the baby is getting big enough that sleeping will be hard and uncomfortable soon.

--4--

Diabetes.

Tom has recovered well from his hospital visit last week. By coincidence (I think now), Christopher's sugars shot up on Friday and Saturday. We had some really high readings and he was very irritable. At first on Saturday I thought they must both have an infection since they both had high sugars. I tried to ring the doctors surgery but there was no answer. I then decided to just keep a close eye on their bsl and ketone levels and get in contact with their endo on the Monday. Fortunately, both boys had good sugars on Sunday and this week as well. I think what ever it was that caused the highs was short lived thank goodness.

--5--

OOPS!!!!!

I have to say something about my blogging buddy Jeanne.

A couple of weeks ago, Jeanne gave me the Gorgeous blogger Award.

I was touched and thankful for it but completely forgot about her passing it onto me.

A few days after that Judy also passed the award onto me. I really should have said that both had given me the award when I passed it on but I didn't.

So to my blogging buddy Jeanne, thanks so much for the award. I am sorry I neglected to mention you when I passed it on to the other bloggers.

--6--

Vegetable Garden.

We have a heap of cucumbers from the garden. Steve thinks the tomatoes will start to ripen up in a few weeks so we will start doing some pasta sauces and other things with them.

--7--

Daniel.

Daniel has had two exams this week and has another two to go. His last exam is on the 17th so only 11 days to go. I think he is looking forward to finishing.

Don't forget to pop over to Jen from Conversion Diary for her quick 7 and others as well.

Friday Funnies

Swine Flu!!!!!!
It has been doing the rounds so I know many of you have already seen it. I still like it a lot and think it is pretty funny.

Recipe swap Thursday. Christmas pudding.

Laura asked me for my Christmas pudding recipe so I thought it was a perfect recipe to put up for the swap. Don't forget to pop over to Therese's blog for other recipes. I haven't ever made my own Christmas pudding but this is a recipe I found on the net that I am going to try:



1½ cups (250g) raisins
1½ cups (250g) sultanas
1 2/3 cups (250g) currants
2 tablespoons sweet sherry
1 medium (170g) apple, peeled, grated
1 medium (120g) carrot, peeled, grated
½ cup (60g) ground almonds
1½ cups (300g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
250g butter, grated
4 cups (280g) stale breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (150g) plain flour
4 eggs
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
2 tablespoons orange juice

METHOD

Combine raisins, sultanas and currants with sherry in a large bowl; mix well. Cover and stand overnight, or for several days, stirring occasionally.

Add apple, carrot, almonds, sugar, butter, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and flour; mix well.

Beat the eggs with rind and juice, stir into the mixture.

Use a 60cm square of unbleached calico; if calico is new, soak in cold water overnight. Next day, boil calico for 20 minutes, rinse. Have a large boiler ¾ full of rapidly boiling water, 2.5 metres of string and the extra flour close by.

Wearing rubber gloves, dip the prepared pudding cloth into boiling water; boil 1 minute. Remove cloth from water, squeeze excess water from cloth. Working quickly, spread hot cloth on bench, rub flour into the centre of the cloth to cover an area about 40cm in diameter; leave flour a little thicker in the centre of cloth where the ‘skin’ on the pudding will need to be thickest.

Place pudding mixture in centre of cloth, gather cloth evenly around pudding, avoiding any deep pleats. Pat into round shape with hand. Tie cloth tightly with string as close to mixture as possible. Tie loop in string to make pudding easier to lift from the water, leave long ends of string free. Pull ends of cloth tightly to make sure pudding is as round and firm as possible.

Gently lower pudding into boiling water. You may wish to tie free ends of string to handles of boiler to suspend pudding. (If the pan is not large enough to suspend the pudding, place a heatproof saucer in the base of the pan.) Cover with tight-fitting lid, boil rapidly for 6 to 8 hours. Replenish boiling water as necessary to maintain boil and water level. There must be enough water in the boiler for the pudding to be immersed at all times.

Untie pudding from handles. Place handle of wooden spoon through loop in string to lift pudding from the water. Place the pudding into a bowl or colander. Cut the string and gently begin to peel away the cloth, scraping the skin back onto the pudding with a palette knife if necessary. Invert the pudding onto a plate and continue to peel back the cloth completely. Cool. The skin will darken on standing. (We prefer to remove a boiled pudding from its cloth before refrigerating or freezing. This prevents mould from forming on the pudding, which often occurs when a pudding is hung at room temperature in humid weather).

Soak cloth in cold water overnight, wash and rinse well; avoid using detergents.

STORING PUDDINGS:
Wrap the pudding thoroughly in plastic wrap then place into an airtight container or freezer bag. Refrigerate puddings for up to three months or freeze for one year.

REHEATING PUDDINGS:
Thaw frozen puddings for 2 days in the refrigerator and remove them from the refrigerator 12 hours before reheating.
STEAMED: Remove the plastic wrap and return to the steamer. Steam for 2 hours following the cooking instructions.
BOILED: Remove the plastic wrap and tie a clean, dry unfloured cloth on the pudding. Boil for 2 hours following the cooking instructions.
TO MICROWAVE: To reheat the whole large pudding, cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap, microwave on medium (50%) for about 15 minutes. To reheat 4 single serves at once, cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap; microwave on high (100%) for about 3 minutes.

I got the recipe from this link.

Picture Puzzle Day.

From our garden: A Sturt Desert Pea. I am so proud of Steve growing these.



Drop over to Cathy's for other puzzles.

Home made Christmas.

What are some of the things you do for Christmas? I am going to start doing some craft and cooking activities with Tom and Amelia for Christmas soon. These are what we have planned so far:

Cooking:

White Christmas.
Rum balls.
Apricot Balls.
Coconut ice.
Christmas pudding.
Christmas cake.

Craft:

Making Christmas decorations. Paper links are at the top of the list. I think we will also make an advent calender.

I have thought about making a nativity scene but just think it may be too big a project and I haven't been able to find anything online that I feel really confident making.

I will sew a new outfit for the girls and our younger boys. I will probably buy something for our two older boys who don't really appreciate home sewn outfits.

Tom and Amelia have a couple of projects they want to sew. Tom is keen to do a Christmas stocking for the baby even though he won't be here at Christmas. I think it is because he knows how simple it is and I hope he doesn't expect it to be full of gifts.

So what plans do you have?

27 weeks: Counting down begins.

It is 13 weeks exactly till our baby is due today. Since I have gone over with most of my babies, I am half expecting to go over but deep in my heart, I really hope I don't.

I really cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone. The first two trimesters have just flown for me. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I was showing Steve the positive pregnancy test in our room and we were talking about when to tell the children. The children found out pretty soon after we knew but we asked them to keep it a secret and they all managed to keep their lips sealed.

The last trimester is obviously the hardest so I am expecting time to start dragging. I still sleep fairly well at night and have many things I want to so hopefully it will go fast.

Therese

Say no 4 kids.

H/ T to Lynn for this petition.

During the school holidays we went to Adelaide for the day for the One and All boat trip. While we were there I was shocked to see a big sign advertising Viagra. Tom saw the sign too and asked me what it meant. fortunately, he got distracted by something else and I didn't have to answer. If he sees it again and asks again, I still don't know how I am going to answer him.

I was reminded of this incident when I went to Lynn's blog recently and she had a link to the Say No 4 Kids petition.

From the blog for Say No 4 Kids:

‘…Publications once considered ’soft porn’, have become more and more explicit. Now they are placed right in front of children at their eye level in milkbars, service stations and newsagents across the country! Who decided all of a sudden that it is OK for children to be exposed to pornography?…’

Click here for the link to the blog which updates with the latest news.

Online petition - Remove Pornography from Children's View

Does anyone know?

I need to find a shop that sells zips and sewing accessories online. Our little town doesn't have all the accessories that I need and I generally have to travel an hour to Whyalla for many of them.

Does anyone know a place that sells the following online from Australia?

Things I am mainly interested in:

Overlocking cotton.
Zippers.
Bias binding.
cotton for sewing machine. (I like the Gutermann cotton for the sewing machine)
iron on interfacing.

Thanks
Therese.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

From my list last week, I did everything except pray the rosary each day and take the boys for their blood tests. I have book their tests but the doctor they usually see was on holidays so we will see him this week. I missed the rosary on the day Tom was in hospital and on Saturday but managed it every other day.

This week I am going to change my 5mart Martha to 5mart Martha (and Mary) and list 5 spiritual things and 5 practical things for each area. I got the idea from Become What you are. She has a list for both the last two weeks.

So here are my 5 for the week:

Martha:

• cut out a couple more top maternity patterns.
• cut the curtains for the boys room.
• Do times tables every day for home school.
• Read Trixie Belden each day.
• Keep the boys bsl diaries up to date.

Mary:

• Go to week day mass.
• Do a catechism quiz with Tom and Amelia.
• Pray the rosary.
• Read Angels in the water to the children.
• Take the children to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Have a great week.

Therese

Other people joining in 5mart Martha Monday:

Michelle.

Become What You Are.

A busy Sunday.

This morning Steve picked all our leeks that we were suppose to have for winter. We grew them for potato and leek soup but they were all minuscule until now.

I have enough there to make about 6 meals of soup with so we decided to cut them up, cook them and freeze them. Now next winter we will have them all ready to make some soup with.

I also made some extra pasties and egg and bacon pastries to use up the extra puff pastry that we had in the freezer. We will have these for tea and I will freeze the rest for another night. I really want to have a good stash of meals ready for when the baby comes I think it will be hard to cook ahead once he arrives so will spend some time between now and Christmas trying to stock up.

It is only 8 weeks till Christmas now and I have a list of sewing I want to do between now and then. I also have a few plans in my mind of what I will do after Christmas mainly for the baby.

What are you doing this weekend?