Happy New Year.

Thanks so much to all my followers for your loyalty and following along with my blog in 2009. It has been a wonderful year for us all here and I am so glad to have meet so many good friends online.

Sorry blogging has been so light this week. We had an unexpected trip to Adelaide on Tuesday and I have been busy since we came home.

Today it is 5 weeks till our little bub is due. I had a check up on Tuesday and he is 3/5 engaged. I think it will still be closer to due date than now though because Christopher was just as engaged for a long time.

I will get Steve to take a belly shot soon.

Here is one of my favourite Abba songs to celebrate the new year.



I look forward to reading all your blogs in 2010 and the birth of our boy.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

My list from last week was pretty well complete.

I didn't send Christmas cards, didn't read from the bible and forgot to pray the novena prayer on Saturday.

With the pattern for Amelia's shirred dress, I tried a few different widths with some different tensions on the machine and found the right one that I will be using. I will try and get this dress done tomorrow.

sleeping bag pattern is drafted, nappy pattern is copied. I have the bamboo fleece and PUL fabric but need some flannelette and to wash the fleece before I sew it.

Anyway my list for this week:

Mary's.

Pray LOH with Steve.

Pray the family rosary.

Read the bible.

Start another novena.

Have a mass offered for Dad. It will be a month this week since he passed away.

Martha's (I only have three this week).

Wash the bamboo fleece.

Make Amelia's dress.

Rest each afternoon.

A Catholic Notebook: The 12 Days of Christmas Reminders

A Catholic Notebook: The 12 Days of Christmas Reminders

What are the 12 days of Christmas about?

Soutenus has a great post with details of what each day represents.

Recycling.

Last week Tom, Amelia and Christopher were asking Steve for some building blocks.

Steve went and looked in his shed and came out with some skirting boards. He cut them up and made some blocks. These blocks have been a huge hit and building has been going on every day. Here are some pictures of some of the castles we have had created






.

Some Christmas pictures.

Amelia is our new Master chief.

Here she is with the first cake cooked in her set.

Christopher building with his new lego.

The mess after the first cleanup.

Getting all our goodies on the table for Christmas lunch.

Time for us to have a nap. Daniel snapped this when he asked me to buy him some credit for his phone. That is why I have the phone.

The 12 Days of Christmas

I wish all my family and friends a very merry Christmas and happy new year. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and keeping up with us.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

My Camera is back.

So here is a photo of the bags Brigette has been making for her friends.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

Three Weeks ago, while I was doing my 5mart Martha and Mary Monday, I got the call that told me dad had died.

Needless to say, I didn't finish of that post and it is probably still in draft mode.

Usually, during the school holidays, I haven't posted 5mart Martha but I have a few things I want to get ready before the baby is born so I am going to do it for the next few weeks.

Mary's.

1) I have started a novena to the Infant of Prague. I want to finish this off.

2) Weekday mass. We went this morning and I hope to go tomorrow and Wednesday. There is no morning mass on Christmas Eve but we will go to the family mass that night.

3) Prayer time with Steve.

4) Bible reading. I really need to read the Bible more.

5) Family rosary.

Martha's:

1) Finish Christmas Shopping.

2) Pattern preparation for babies sleeping bag.

3) Draft a pattern to make Amelia a shirred dress.

4) Rest each afternoon.

5) Finish writing Christmas Cards and send them.

Mary MacKillop.

Soon Australia will have it's first saint.

Quick 7!!

--1--

33 weeks.

Baby is getting very heavy now and I find it hard to stand for more than a couple of minutes.
Steve is being wonderful and helping with everything. Last week he even did the weekly shopping. Today I am going to ask him to help too.
The ob that I was seeing is from another town. He is no longer coming to Port Augusta so I have a new Ob. It is the same ob I had with Christopher and she is lovely. I would have gone to her right from the start if she had been here when I first got pregnant.

--2--

Daniel

This week Daniel got his year 12 results. He did really well and is going to be in the local paper next week.
For our state of South Australia, Daniel was in the top 9%. He has worked hard this year and deserves the high scores.

--3--

Sewing.

I ordered some bamboo fleece and pul fabric to make the baby some aio. I am also hoping to have enough of the fleece to make the baby some sleeping bags. The bamboo is suppose to keep cooler in summer and warmer in winter so I thought it would be the perfect lining for my sleeping bags.
I also want to make a couple of slings and some wrapping sheets for the baby.

--4--

Big Cook.

Last weekend was suppose to be my big cook up. Since I was sick though, we didn't do anything.
I am going to do it this weekend. I am going to do it slowly though and get a couple of different meals done each day. Don't want to end up sick again.

--5--

Camera.

I really miss my camera. I emailed Kodak yesterday to find out what is going on with it. I haven't got an answer yet and hope they haven't started their Christmas holidays. Hopefully they will email me back on Monday and I will have some idea of when it will be back.

--6--

Christmas.

With only a week to go, I am writing out lists and getting a little done each day. This will be our first Christmas here at home in a long time. It is so tiring taking the children all down to Adelaide to see family.
We will cook a turkey in the weber. I will make a heap of salads and put together a heap of finger foods. I am hoping to have some prawns too. Only Tom and I really like the prawns here so we will only get a few.

--7--

New Recipe.

I love chinese food. Most of all, I love their noodles.

JoAnn posted a recipe for some garlic noodles that look just like the Chinese noodles that we get here.
I am going to try these. I am sure they will be super yummy.


Don't forget to visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.

Friday Funnies.

Since Christmas is only a week away, here is one of my favourite Christmas jokes;

Favorite Fruit Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
nuts
bottle of whiskey

Procedure:
Sample the whiskey to check for quality. Take a large bowl. Check the whiskey again. To be sure it is the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again. Make sure the whiskey is still okay. Cry another tup.
Turn off the mixer. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity.
Sift two cups of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whiskey.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find. Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window, check the whiskey again and go to bed.
We hope you enjoy the fruit cake jokes. If you know one please send it to us at info@CoffeeCakes.com. But please remember, our rich buttery fruit cakes are definitely not a joke.

Feeling much much better.

Today I finally feel better. No nausea, no fever and no chills. I am still very tired but think that is more from 7 months of pregnancy rather than having a bug.

Amelia's foot is healing well and her face is no longer swollen.

It is now 9 days till Christmas and the only plans I am making is to have a rest every afternoon. That is the advantage of being in end pregnancy through the summer holidays.

Thanks so much for all the prayers.

Wordless Wednesday

Christopher as a baby.

Here he is at 4 years.

Lots of Sewing!!!!!!!!!!

Brigette is becoming quite a sewer.

She wanted to make two bags for her two friends from school. Most of the patterns I had were too complex and I knew that if the bag took her too long, she would give up and not finish them.

We searched the internet for some free patterns but all of them had something wrong with them. Then we found one that was too small. I thought, I can use that as a guide and make the bag bigger so printed off the pattern and made it bigger.

Finally, I had something that was acceptable.

I made the first bag up for her since we had changed so many things, to make sure the bag was going to work. She did the second one. She received most of the instructions from me in bed. My sewing corner is in our room so that made it much easier.

I wish my camera was back so that I could take a photo of one of them but it isn't. Brigette has also made a baby blanket and two sleeping bags for the baby. She wants to make some overalls too. I am really impressed with all that she has done. Maybe she will have the same addiction as me when she is older.

When I get the camera back, I will post pictures of the baby gear that she has made.

What have we been up too?

Since coming home from Dad's funeral, things have been fairly low key here.

On Wednesday everyone was still very tired from the trip so we all stayed home except Steve. I was starting to feel a bit under the weather and thought it was just from the emotions of dads funeral and end of pregnancy.

On Thursday I woke up feeling really off colour. I spent most of the day in bed and when Steve got home from work, I told him that I hadn't felt baby move all day so wanted to go to the hospital and make sure everything was okay.

Everything was okay with baby but I had also been throwing up most of the day so the midwife wanted me to go to the doctor and make sure. The doctor gave me an anti nauseous injection and a script for some tablets to take the next day.

I had a pretty good day on Friday and felt much better. On Saturday though I woke up feeling ill again. I rested most of the day and started taking the anti nauseous tablets. In spite of taking these, I was still bringing up everything I was eating and drinking.

Steve ended up back at the hospital with me on Sunday morning and we saw a doctor and an obstetrician. They decided that the vomiting was probably from a UTI rather than a gastro bug and to take some urine samples and start me on antibiotics. Today was my second day on antibiotics and I am still a bit nauseous but feeling much better. I will get the results of the urine test tomorrow when I see the obstetrician again. I am pretty sure though that we are on the right track now since the antibiotics seem to be making me feel better.

Everyone is on holidays now and Steve has been doing a lot.

Amelia cut her foot on Thursday night and needed stitches so Steve was at the hospital twice that day. In the early hours of the morning, this morning she and Brigette, came into our room and said that Amelia's face was swollen. When we looked, she had a huge lump on the side of her face coming from close to her ear. We gave her some panadol and then took her to the doctors this morning. She has a small sore on the back of her ear that an infection has got in. She is on antibiotics too and we will go back next week to make sure they have worked.

I am so glad this is happening now instead of Christmas time and while everyone is on holidays. I am hoping that by the time Amelia goes back to the doctor next week, everyone is well and we are in holiday mode fully.

Music Box Dancer - Holdman Christmas Display

This is great.

Australian Jingle Bells.

I wanted to post this today because this morning I read at my friend's Nana K's blog, the lyrics for this and decided to do a search on youtube and see if it was there.

Pop over to Nana K's blog and read the lyrics.

Friday Funnies.

Recipe swap Thursday.

We have a heap of cucumbers so I am pickling them this week. I thought it was a perfect recipe to share.


I got the recipe from Green Living Australia.

1.35 kilos, 100mm. pickling cucumbers (about 36) 3 3/4 cups water 3 3/4 cups cider vinegar 1/4 cup pickling salt

12 - 18 heads fresh dill or 6 tbs dill seeds 1 tbs mustard seeds

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse cucumbers. Remove stems, cut off a slice from blossom ends. In large stainless steel, enamelled, or nonstick saucepan combine water, vinegar, and salt. Bring to boiling.
2. Pack cucumbers loosely into hot, sterilized pint canning jars, leaving a 12 mm head space. Add 2 or 3 heads of dill or 1 tbs dill seeds and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds to each jar. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumbers, leaving a 12 mm head space. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.
3. Process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (start timing when water returns to boil). Remove jars and cool on racks.
4. Let stand one week.

Back home.

I am back home from Adelaide. It was hard to say good bye to Dad but good to catch up with family.

Thanks to all the friends that came along and all the condolences I have received both here and via snail mail.

My reader has got out of control while I was in Adelaide. I did open it each day but only had a short time online so didn't get many read. I think I am going to maar and start fresh tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning we will be having the requiem mass and funeral for my father.

At some stage, Steve and I will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Please join us in prayer.

Thanks and God bless
Therese

Kids First Australia.

Today I received an email from Annelisa about Kids First Australia.

Kids first Australia a group dedicated to stopping discrimination against stay at home mothers that don't receive as much government assistance as a mother that works.

Double income families have two advantages over single income families in Australia. One is they receive Government payments to help with childcare and secondly, a double income family that has a similar income to a single income family is taxed less on their earnings.

At the moment, Kids First Australia have two petitions that need support.

Go here to read the petitions and sign.

Go here to become a fan of Kids First Australia at facebook.

Friday Funnies.

ǝƃɐd ɹnoʎ oʇuo sIɥʇ ǝʇsɐd puɐ ʎdoɔ 'sʎɐs sɥʇ ʇɐɥʍ ʇno ǝɹnƃIɟ oʇ ɥƃnouǝ ʇɹɐɯs ǝɹɐ noʎ ɟI.

Recipe swap Thursday.

This week, Therese from Musings of a Mom has asked us to share our favourite Christmas cookie recipe.

I don't think cookies at christmas are big here. I tend to do a lot of slices for sweets. My children take little packages of slices to school for their teachers on the last day. My favourite slice by far is Coconut ice so I decided to share this recipe with everyone.

This is the recipe I used last year and will do again this year.

Ingredients:

• 125g copha
• 250g desiccated coconut
• 500g pure icing sugar, sifted
• 2 egg whites, lightly whisked
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 drops red liquid food colouring

Method:

1. Line a square 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang the sides. Melt the copha in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes or until cooled to room temperature.
2. Combine the coconut and icing sugar in a large bowl. Add the copha, egg white and vanilla extract, and stir until well combined. Divide coconut mixture in half. Press half the coconut mixture over the base of the prepared pan.
3. Add the red food colouring to the remaining coconut mixture and stir until well combined and evenly coloured. Spread the pink coconut mixture over the mixture in the pan and smooth the surface. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour or until set.
4. Remove the coconut ice from the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut into 16small squares to serve.

Icing sugar is called confectioners sugar in the States.

Go here if you don't know what Copha is.

Any other questions, ask in the comment box.

In Memory.

Thanks so much everyone that has prayed for me and my family in this time.

My father has had Alzheimer's for 13 years now and he has been bed ridden for the last 4 years.

He has suffered a lot over this time and I am glad that the suffering is over for him.

Around this time last year, he got very sick and was put on palliative care. We thought he was going to die then. He turned around though and started eating again.

Because of this, I always thought that death would be a slow process for him and that we would have time to gather as a family at his bedside. God obviously had other plans though.

Next Monday we will have a Requiem Mass said for dad and then lay him to rest.

I am very grateful for my dad and the example he was in living the faith. He was always a faithful Catholic and very committed to bringing us up with Catholic values. I hope I can be the same example to our children.