Monday, December 26, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

From my list last week. 

Sew boys new shirts and shorts: Shorts done. Shirts all cut out and waiting still.

Christmas shopping for our children. Done.

Go to mass each day. Done except for Friday.

This week:

I want to go to mass every day.

I want to finish the boys shirts.

I also want to work out a menu plan for oamc again.

I hope you all have a great week.
Therese.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

Today has been really productive. I have made a pair of shorts for Tom, Christopher and Joseph. Here are Tom and Christopher. Joseph would not stand with them to have a photo  taken.

Sent from my HTC

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

National Evangelisation Team

Our son Daniel wants to work for the National Evangelisation Team for a year. This is a volunteer position and he needs to raise $5500 to support himself for the year. I have added a paypal button on the right hand side to give him a hand.

If you can help at all, I am sure he will appreciate it very much.

Thanks
Therese.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

I had a pretty good week last week and did most of what I had on my list. I have 90% of Christopher's curriculum worked out and we have done all our Christmas shopping for everyone except our children. We really need to do that last minute though. Our children tend to snoop around looking for gifts and want to know what they have.

This week:

Sew boys new shirts and shorts.

Christmas shopping for our children.

Go to mass each day.

I hope you all have a good week too.

Friday, December 16, 2011

7 Quick Takes.

=1-

Today was the last day of school for everyone. We have 6 weeks summer holidays now. I am going to spend a lot of time sewing over the next few weeks. 

-2-

It is a while since I have done a big monthly cook. I am going to get back into it these holidays. 

-3-

Joseph will be going to Adelaide soon to have a MRI. He needs to be put under a general anaesthetic for this so they are going to take bloods for some other tests. I asked the Doctor that is in charge of the MRI if they could also take blood to test for type one diabetes since Tom and Christopher both have it. I really hope he isn't positive but if he is, it is better for us to know that it is coming. 

-4-

Joseph has had an AFO for about 4 weeks now. We are noticing a difference but he still has a long way to go with it. When he first had it, he hated having it on so much that he was hiding it from us. We also had a big fight with him to get it on his leg. Now he doesn't mind it being on and cooperates when we need to put it on. 

-5-

Tom has been on daily injections for a couple of weeks now. His pump malfunctioned and because he has had it for 4 years, it isn't under warranty any longer. Every 4 years, our health insurance pays for one so as soon as we can get everything organised for it, Tom will be back on the pump. 

-6-

This weekend we will be going to Carols by candlelight in Gladstone Square. We haven't been for the last couple of years and I am really looking forward to it. 

-7-

I cannot think of anything else so for number 7, I am just going to remind you to pop over to Jennifer's for more 7 quick takes. 

Monday, December 12, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

I didn't really have much on my list last week except to stay calm and collected through all the end of year/Christmas shows.

We made it through the week without too much trouble. On Wednesday, I intended to go to mass on my own but woke up with a temperature of 39.6. I felt pretty rotten to say the least so spent the day in bed. Madeline took care of Christopher and Joseph for me. After 24 hours of taking panadol and resting, I felt much much better. I was even able to go to Tom and Amelia's school's family night and not feel too exhausted from it.

This week I am going to write my curriculum for Christopher for 1st term next year. I want to get it done before Christmas so that I can have a full month of nothing to do from Christmas to school starting next year.

I am also going to finish of Christmas shopping.

I hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

Jane Elizabeth.

Jane Elizabeth was the name Steve and I choose for Joseph just in case the ultrasound tech had his sex wrong.

It is also the name I haven given to this doll. I won her on The Handmaden's blog.

She is just gorgeous. Amelia asked me if she could have her and I said no. Jane is going to sit right on my sewing table and keep me company while I sit sewing.

Thanks so much Kelly for this lovely doll and your blog giveaway.

Pop over and see Kelly and all her beautiful home made goods. Also visit her Etsy Shop.

Therese

Monday, December 05, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

My list from last week was big. I wanted to reorganise our kitchen. I have done just about all our pantries at this stage. Still have to go through all my cupboards to see what is lurking in the back. We had a super cheap weekly shop this week because I based our meals around what we had in the cupboard.

This week, I was going to still go through the kitchen but we have lots of different Christmas  and school break ups to go to. I need to make food to take along to these places and stay up with all my other general household duties.

My plan is to stay calm and controlled through the week and not try and do too many things.

I hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

An inspiring video.

A friend posted this on the Catholic Type One Yahoo Group.



I have always believed that if you look for something good in your situation, you will find something good. If you look for something bad, you will find something bad. This video just confirms it for me.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

RIP Dad.

Two years ago today, my father passed away. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's for 13 years and while we were greatly saddened to loose him, we were glad that he was at peace.

I have written several blog posts about my dad and how he was a great example for me in living our Catholic faith. You can read them all here. 

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

On my list last week, I had do a heap of sewing. 

I have traced all the patterns I wanted to, pinned the boys shirts and made two leggings for myself. I did want to get everything cut out but didn't get around to it. 

This week, I am staying of all social networks. I am going to use my internet time to re organise the kitchen. This job is huge. All my cupboards are really disorganised. I am spending a lot of time looking for ingredients when I want to cook because they have become so disorganised. I am making a list tonight and working out where everything should be kept. 

I hope you all have a great week.

Therese. 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Weekend Wrap up.

Yesterday was the last day in the liturgical year. We start a new one today with the start of Advent.

The children have been asking all weekend when we can put up the Christmas tree. I decided we should have a Jesse Tree for Advent though and I think we will decorate it with purple tinsel. I was able to print off all the Jesse Tree symbols from King of Peace website. 

I had a very productive day yesterday and felt really good about everything I was able to get done.

Steve and I took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph to Mass and Adoration in the morning. I then did food shopping, put the shopping away and cooked. I cooked the chicken for Chicken fried rice and made the Satay Chicken pie filling.

I spent the afternoon sewing and then we went to Mass in the evening.

Last night Steve and I watched Toy Soldiers. I really enjoyed it. It was very different though to what I expected. If you want to see a trailer for it, go here.

Today has been quieter than yesterday was. I did a bit more sewing, took the children to the pool and went to the church to pray for a while since I missed my usual prayer hour on Thursday this week.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Therese.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

After Joseph's fall last week and a few dramas the week before, I didn't end up doing my Smart Martha post.

I didn't do anything I had on my list. I wasn't feeling well for a lot of the time and was just too low on energy.

Tomorrow is another day so I am determined to turn it around again.

The most important thing on my list from two weeks ago was to get some summer clothes sewn for myself. I also need to get some done for the boys. I will hopefully get all the patterns traced and everything cut out this week.

I also want to get a Christmas cake baked and put it away.

I hope you all have a great week.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

DISC personality test

DISC personality test

My results:

You are tenacious and determined to follow a course of action - to achieve objectives.
You are a clear thinker. You have an inner need to be objective and analytical. You like to pursue a definite course of action. You respond to logic rather than emotion.
You are likely to be particularly good at handling challenging technical assignments.

Not sure if this is me or not. Would love to hear your results.

Therese.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday.

We had a pretty dramatic day here today but all has turned out all okay.
This morning while I was in the shower, Steve came in and said quick, get out, the baby has fallen over and passed out.
I jumped out and when I was dressed came out to see what was going on. Joseph had fallen of the table and then had a convulsion from the fall. We took him down to the hospital and they kept him there for observation.

It gave us a big fright but I was grateful that I could get on Facebook and dcf forums to ask people to pray for us and for Joseph's recovery. He looks fine now and we wouldn't even know that it happened.  Hopefully he won't climb as much now.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Joseph: Swimming in the pool.


The last couple of times we have gone to the pool, Joseph has been too scared to get in the water. He would just put his feet on the steps. Today he had the courage to get in.

Monday, November 07, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

It is time to report again on how my week went and what I got done.

My list from last week is pretty well complete.

I started our walk in robe. It is a much bigger job than I anticipated so I haven't finished it yet. I think I will have to work on a few things at a time.

I couldn't take Joseph to be fitted for his AFO because the Physio rang and cancelled the appointment. We are going tomorrow morning instead.

I did a holy hour on Thursday.

I kept up with washing.

I didn't clean out a kitchen draw.

On my list this week:

1) Read blogs that are updated each day in my reader. I have been neglecting reading and catching up with many of the blogs that I have in my reader. If I look at it each night, I can usually read them all within a hour. If there is more than one hours reading, I tend to pick and choose a bit more about what I will read.

2) Clean out a kitchen cupboard.

3) Do a couple of posts on diabetes. November is Diabetes awareness month. It is so important that those of us that live with this everyday educate people on what it is like to live with.

4) Go through  my clothes and throw out anything that I haven't worn for a long time.

5) sew some summer clothes for me.

I hope you all have a great week.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Weekend Wrap up.

The warm weather is here in Port Augusta so we went to the pool both yesterday and today.

Steve worked hard and started putting an extension onto our carport. We want to have a carport for two cars for when we get the new one.


 I was going to sew yesterday but decided instead to have a clean out of my sewing area. I still need to go through my fabrics and work out what I am going to use this summer and if we need to give any away.

One end of my sewing table is used by everyone in this house as a dumping spot. This is what fly lady would call a fire spot. It gets out of control pretty quickly and ends up spilling along the entire table. I really hope this sign at least makes them stop and think before they put something there.

Oh and if you cannot read what I have written on this it says:

This space is NOT a dumping spot for your things.

Please put clothes or music away in the cupboards they belong in.

If there is something you want to put here because you don't know where it goes please ask Mum/Therese where it does go.

I hope you all had a good weekend too.

Friday, November 04, 2011

7 Quick Takes.



Thanks so much to Jen from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 quick takes each week. You can go and read other people's quick takes here. 

-1-

This week has been Sam's first week of exams. He had Physics and Maths studies. Next week he has Chemistry and Specialist Maths. Next Friday will be his last one and then he has finished school for the year. Next year, he is going back and doing 4 more year 12 subjects. He has decided he wants to get into sound engineering and needs to have studied music for this. He was originally going to try and get into Mechanical engineering and so did all maths subjects to get into this. 

-2-

Joseph is starting to talk and imitate us a lot now. He says his name and just about anything we say. I really like it when he calls Sam. He can say this quite plainly. 

-3-

This weekend I am hoping to do a lot of summer sewing. I desperately need some summer clothes for myself. I am hoping to get a couple of new tops and some leggings sewn. 

-4-

Joseph didn't end up getting measured for his AFO's this week. The appointment was cancelled. I hope it isn't too long till we get another one. 

He also needs to go to Adelaide sometime for a MRI. I was hoping to avoid this but his Paediatrician has asked me to take him down to have it so I will. 

-5-

The book, A Special Mother is Born has been published. I have written one of the chapters in this book about being the mother of two children with type one diabetes. 

The book can be purchased from Westbrow Press. 

I am going to get my own copy but I am thinking about buying a couple of extra ones to pass around for people to read.

It has all kinds of mothers stories in it and I am really confident it will be a huge success and help save many babies that may be aborted because of their disability. 

-6-

Today Sam bought a present for the family. We now have Mario Kart Wii. It is a great game. I haven't had a go yet but I will tomorrow. 

-7-

For my last quick take I want to ask you all to keep an online friend of mine in your prayers. 

Kalona from Knocking Everywhere has cancer. She can be treated but it is going to be a long road for her to travel. You can read about the treatment plan here. Please keep her in your prayers. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Wordless Wednesday.


Joseph and Christopher at the foreshore today.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

My list from last week is all complete. (Well, nearly).

1) We need a new improved diet. I always notice when we are eating lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and less processed food that the boys sugars are much much easier to manage. I want to do a new menu plan that has more vegetable based main meals. Just about everyone likes eggplant parmigiana. I want to get a few more meals like this that we can eat regularly. If you have any suggestions please post them in the comments. 

Done. I have made up a couple of new menu plans that incorporate a lot more vegetables into our diet. I am noticing the difference especially with Christopher's bsl. 


2) Declutter something. Since starting the boys room over the weekend, I have the buy. I think I need to declutter our bedroom. Especially our walk in robe. 

I didn't do our bedroom or walk in robe but I did get all the paper work up to date and that is a kind of de cluttering. This week I will hopefully do our walk in robe.

3) Take Christopher and Joseph to mass each day. 

Done.

4) 1 Holy hour. 


Done.

5) Paper work. I really need to go through all our paper work and get it up to date. There are some things that I need to fill in and post off that have been sitting there for a long time. 


Done.


My list this week:

1) De clutter our walk in robe. 

2) 1 holy hour. 

3) Take Joseph for his fitting for some splints. He needs to have a splint to help relax his muscles. One of the problems caused by the stroke is Joseph constantly keeps his leg muscles tense. He needs to be fitted with a AFO to help his muscle relax. Tomorrow morning I will take him and have him fitted. Not sure when we will have the splints. 

4) Keep up with washing. 

5) clean out one kitchen cupboard/draw. 

Therese from Musings of a Mom also joins in Smart Martha Monday. Pop over to her blog and see what she is up to this week. 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a great weekend here.
We did all the usual things on Saturday, mass and adoration in the morning, food shopping in the afternoon and the vigil mass in the evening.
Today I made Joseph's tricycle. He seems a bit stressed when he is on it on his own but likes it when someone pushes him on it and helps him to peddle.
We went and got a new swing set from some friends this afternoon and Steve set it up as soon as we got home. I tried a new lentil chilli for tea and we all really liked it.
I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Joseph's first tattoo.

We got some freddo Frogs with some tattoos in the pack. Tom put one on Joseph. Here is a photo of it.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tasty Tuesday: Our favourite noodle recipe.

This is a dish we have started to have quite regularly here. It is really yummy.

I have adapted this recipe to make it a bit more to our families taste. 

Ingredients: (to serve 8).

350 pack fantastic egg noodles.
50 grams mushrooms. 
250 grams diced lamb or pork. 
4 tbspns soy sauce
4 tbspns rice wine vinegar
4 tbspns curry powder
2 tbspns brown sugar.
1 tin coconut milk
1.5 cups chicken stock
200 grams bacon. 
2 tbspns oil.
minced garlic to taste
2 tbspns minced ginger
chillies 
1 brown onion. 
350 grams mixed corn and peas
fresh coriander leaves. 

Method:

Boil water in kettle and pour over noodles till completely covered. Leave to soak while preparing the rest of the meal. Cut up mushrooms and cover with boiled water. Leave aside. 

Mix soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, curry powder, brown sugar, coconut milk and stock. Leave aside.

cook diced lamb in oil till brown. Remove from pan and put in onion, ginger, garlic, chillies. 

Add bacon to onion mixture, once onions are soft and fragrant. Continue cooking till bacon is done. Drain noodles and mushrooms and add to onion/bacon mixture. Add meat, peas and corn and pour sauce over. Bring to the boil and simmer till the sauce has been absorbed.  Serve.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

Today I took Christopher and Joseph over to the church for some prayer time in front of the blessed sacrament and Christopher found a novena prayer to St. Martha.

I was struck by the fact that I have been doing these posts for a long long time and haven't once thought about asking St. Martha to intercede for me. I am going to make an effort to remember to ask her for her prayers each time I post a new Smart Martha Monday post.

So from last week:

1) Go to pray at the church for one hour on my own.


I did this on Thursday. I am going to make Thursdays between 4-5 my time for prayer at the church every week. It fits in well with all the other after school activities. 


2) cut out my new dress.


Not done. I decided it was more important to go through the boys room so put my sewing aside. 


3) Get onto skype and talk with some friends


I had a chat with Cathy on Wednesday night. It was great. Hoping to get on more this week. 


4) Go to bed each night by 10.30.


Didn't do. I had a couple of later nights since I needed to check boys sugar levels and Joseph needed eye drops 4 times a day for conjunctivitis. I usually gave him his eye drops at midnight. 


5) Go out with Steve for coffee date.


Didn't go out but had some take away with just Joseph on Friday so I did spend some time alone with him. 


This week I want to do the following:


1) We need a new improved diet. I always notice when we are eating lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and less processed food that the boys sugars are much much easier to manage. I want to do a new menu plan that has more vegetable based main meals. Just about everyone likes eggplant parmigiana. I want to get a few more meals like this that we can eat regularly. If you have any suggestions please post them in the comments. 


2) Declutter something. Since starting the boys room over the weekend, I have the buy. I think I need to declutter our bedroom. Especially our walk in robe. 


3) Take Christopher and Joseph to mass each day. 


4) 1 Holy hour. 


5) Paper work. I really need to go through all our paper work and get it up to date. There are some things that I need to fill in and post off that have been sitting there for a long time. 


Pop over the Therese from Musings of a Mom who also joins in Smart Martha Monday. 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Weekend Wrap up.

We had a great weekend here.

On Friday night Steve and I went to mass and then got take away for tea since there was only Joseph and us at home. 

It was nice to come back and enjoy the peace and quiet in the house. That night, we watched Surrogates.

Saturday morning we were up early for mass and adoration. Every other weekend, Steve goes and empty's the St. Vinnie's Bins and takes the clothes back to the shop. While he went and did this, I started cleaning out the boys room. 

I have decided we need to have another de clutter in the house and started at the beginning. The boys room, is the very fist room from the left of the house and also the smallest bedroom. Having three boys in there has been a challenge. I decided it was time to go through everything and get back to basics. After spending quite a few hours in the boys room this weekend, we have 3 bags of clothes for St. Vinnie's and 1 extra bag of rubbish. 

I am going to keep on going through the rest of the house whenever I have a few spare minutes. 

Last night I spent a fair bit of time catching up with some blogs that I haven't read for a long time. I also started playing a new game on facebook called collapse. A fun game and maybe just a bit too addictive. I will have to watch how much time I play it. 

I hope you all had a great weekend. 


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Stylish blogger award.



Thanks so much to Vicky from Creating with Wisdom and Esther from A Catholic mom in Hawaii for passing on the Stylish blogger Award to me. I love both your blogs and feel very privileged to have this award passed on from you.

Editing to add, Lisa from Are We There Yet, also gave me this award. Thanks so  much Lisa. Your blog is another must read that I hate to miss. 

For this award, I need to tell you seven things about myself. 

I have been blogging for so long, it will be hard to come up with 7 things I haven't already said about myself. 

-1-

I believe God gave Steve and I 8 children because it was the only way I would learn the virtue of patience. 

-2-

I like to play sudoku. I try to do at least one a day to keep my mind active. 

-3-

I am not a very good housekeeper. 

-4-

Just about every morning I have eggs on toast for breakfast. 

-5-

I like to listen to The Priests when I am doing house work. 

-6-

Next January, Steve and I have been married 21 years. I love being married. 

-7-

I decided yesterday that we are not going to buy soft drink on a regular basis any more. I really love drinking soft drink but it is so bad for me and the children. They drink a lot because I do too. We are going to have it for special events only from now on. 

I want to pass this award onto the following bloggers.

Nikki from The Roman Road. 
Jamie from Lord, Make Me a Saint.  
Jeanne from A Peaceful Day.
Christie from Garden of Holiness.  

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A little Fun.

This is doing the rounds of facebook with my friends and I thought I would show it here.

I got Lazy, happy, patient and elegant.

What did you get?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

Here is Joseph on the way to Whyalla last week. He was starting to get cranky so I gave him the phone with some Abba music on and he was settled for the rest of the trip.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

Here are the things I had on my list last week:


1) Family day in Whyalla. 

We went to Whyalla on Thursday and had a great time. 

2) Post something on here each day since we are on school holidays. 

Done except for Saturday when I really couldn't  think of much to write. 

3) Sort out boys linen.

Done. I went through all the linen for our younger three boys. Sam is old enough to take care of his own on this. I went through and decided what was worth keeping, what we needed to get rid of and what extras we needed. Now Tom, Christopher and Joseph all have two complete bed linen sets. 

4) Prepare for our party this weekend. 

Done.

This week my goals are:

1) Go to pray at the church for one hour on my own.

2) cut out my new dress.

3) Get onto skype and talk with some friends.

4) Go to bed each night by 10.30.

5) Go out with Steve for coffee date.

Therese from The Musings of a Mom also joins in Smart Martha Monday. 


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Weekend Wrap up.

 Another big weekend here in our household.


Steve and I started the day yesterday driving to Whyalla to help Daniel pack up his gear to move. Steve dropped me off at Spotlight and I did some shopping then walked back to Daniel's place I actually took a wrong turn and ended up taking 1 hour to walk what should have taken me 15 minutes. The exercise must have been needed.

At Spotlight I bought some fabric and patterns for me. I am going to make myself a couple of summer tunic tops and a dress for church. Here is a picture of the fabric and patterns.


In the afternoon, I did a lot of preparation for our party today. We went to mass last night.

Today we got up early and did more party prep. The party started at 1.00. We had a great time with our family and friends.

Tonight I was finally able to get onto skype and speak with my sister in Singapore. It was great to catch up with her. Steve has fixed the microphone and camera on our laptop so hopefully we will be able to use skype a lot with many of you.

I hope you all had a good weekend too.
Therese.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Quick 7.


Thanks so much to Jen from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 quick takes each Friday.

-1-

Our car hunt continues. We have driven a Hyundai Getz, a Mitsubishi Colt and a Mazda 2. Steve and I both like the Mazda 2 the most. 

There isn't that many of them for sale second hand and the ones that do come up seem overpriced to us.

We are not in any hurry to buy a new one so we will keep our eyes open for a second hand one and save a bit more. Maybe at the end of the year we will have enough that we can buy a new one. 

-2-

Today Steve turns 45. He and I went out for a coffee tonight to celebrate. Joseph got to come along since he had a three hour sleep this afternoon. 

-3-

School starts again on Monday. 4th term only has 9 weeks.  Christopher and I will be doing a lot of one on one work this term. 

-4-

For his therapy, Joseph's physio said a tricycle would be good to help strengthen his legs. I have been looking around for a good one that is not plastic. Yesterday I came across one on Ebay that was the right price and bought it. It will be a Christmas present for him probably since he has a scooter that we can use until then. 

-5-

On Sunday Steve and I are having a joint birthday party. It would have been good to have it in the middle of the holidays but Tom was on diabetes camp so we couldn't. I am still looking forward to having our family and friends over. 

-6-

Tomorrow Steve and I are driving over to Whyalla to help Daniel pack up. He will be working his last day with One Steel on Tuesday and moving to Adelaide. 

He has applied to study teaching in Adelaide and will be working at Hungry Jacks while studying. 

-7-

Why we are in Whyalla, I will be visiting Spotlight and spending some of my birthday  money. I am going to get some linen fabric for a summer dress and a couple of patterns. 



Thursday, October 13, 2011

Scooby Doo Live

Today we took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph over to Whyalla to see Scooby Doo Live. What a great show. Everyone sang along and Joseph enjoyed clapping every time they asked us too.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Hoodwinked too.



Our family movie for tonight. It is great so far.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

On my list last week, I had:

Pray for one hour in front of the blessed sacrament. 

I did a half hour at the Cathedral yesterday since we got to mass 30 minutes early. 

Sort out our paper work:

All done. I have even put in all the paper work for our tax to be completed. 

Sort out boys linen. 

Not done. I actually forgot that it was on my list. 

This week I want to do the following:

1) Family day in Whyalla. 

2) Post something on here each day since we are on school holidays. 

3) Sort out boys linen.

4) Prepare for our party this weekend. 

Therese from The Musings of a Mom is also joining in Smart Martha Monday. 

Friday, October 07, 2011

Quick 7.

-1-
Today Tom left for diabetes camp. He is going to be away till Sunday afternoon. I hope he has a great time.

-2-
Steve and I are car hunting. We have a little carolla that is starting to cost us a lot to maintain. We have decided to sell it and get a newer car. At this stage we are looking into getting a Hyundai Getz.

-3-
The first week of school holidays have just flown. We had Steve's parents down on the first weekend and I spent a fair bit of time researching new cars since they left
.
-4-
The weather has been very overcast and dreary lately. Steve and I were hoping to get a bit of exercise in but only walked last weekend. I really hope next week is warmer and we can get some walks in.

-5-
The photo up above is my cute photo for the week. Joseph's cousin put him in this box and pushed him around. Joseph really loved it.

-6-
Next Thursday we are taking Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph to see Scooby Doo live. They are all very excited about it.

-7-
Friday is Steve's 45th birthday. On Sunday we ate having a double party to celebrate both our birthdays.


Don't forget to visit Jen ay conversion diary for other people's quick 7.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Tasty Tuesday: My new pie maker.

Today my pie maker arrived so we had cheese and Bacon pies for tea.
Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastry
Puff pastry.
1 extra large onion diced
1 kg beef mince
300 grams Bacon diced.
1 cup gravy
Cheese.
Fry onion, beef and Bacon till cooked. Add gravy and stir till gravy thickens.
Prepare pastry to go in pie maker. Put shortcrust pastry in bottom of pie maker. Put filling in pastry and top with cheese. Put puff pastry on top of pie. Bake in pie maker for 6 minutes. Take pies out and enjoy.

Smart Martha Monday. (On Tuesday).

I was going to do a post last night but time just got away from me.

My list from last week is all done.

I cleaned out the storeroom, went to Adoration and did Leanne's meme.

On my list this week:

1) Pray for one hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

2) Catch up on all our paper work.

3) Sort out boys linen.

Therese from The Musings of a mum is also joining in Smart Martha Monday.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Weekend Wrap up.

We have had a great start to the holidays here. On Saturday it was my 45th birthday. When my mother was pregnant with me, I was due on the 5th of October. She wanted to call me Therese Angela after St. Therese and the guardian angels. Back then, the feast for St. Therese was on the 3rd of October and the feast of the guardian angels, the 2nd of October. Since then, St. Therese's feast day has been moved to the 1st so now my patron saints feast is on my birthday. 

For my birthday I am getting a new pie maker and bread maker. Daniel asked me during the week what I wanted and I said a pie maker. They come in two and four. The two was cheaper but I asked him to give some money towards the 4 and I  ordered it. I am hoping it will come early this week. It will be great if it come tomorrow. 

I also ordered the bread maker from eBay. This is from Steve and our younger 4 children. When Steve was studying, we made our bread every day. After many years of use, the belt broke and we decided that we had had enough of bread making for a while so never replaced the belt. I don't think we will be making our bread everyday but I will make hot cross buns, yeast buns and pizza dough with it. 


Since it was my birthday, Daniel cooked tea for the family last night. He cooked Apricot chicken and it was delicious. We haven't had Apricot chicken for a long time. I think it will be one to put back onto our regular meals. 

I have a couple of video's to share from our weekend. 

here is Joseph, our star basket ball chapion. 


Here he is this morning in his new overalls. These were given to us by friends last year and I put them away until they fitted him. I had forgotten them until I cleaned out the storeroom this week and found them. Today it was a bit cooler here so I put them on him and took this video. 

In a couple of weeks, Steve and I will be having a joint 45th birthday party. We went out this afternoon and delivered invitations to friends that live locally. 

This week we will be on holidays. I have lots of sewing planned. 

I hope you all have a good week. 

Therese. 

Friday, September 30, 2011

Patron Saint Meme.

Thanks so much Leanne for tagging me for the Patron Saint Meme. 

When I first read the meme at Leanne's blog, I thought it was the same one I had done back in 2008. I went back and looked in my archives. I found that the meme I did in 2008 was a bit different. There was something in common with both meme's though.

They were both in August. I remember thinking I could post from the archives and do the meme on the same date as I had back in 2008. On that Monday I posted a Smart Martha Post but I didn't do the meme. I know I intended to do it that week, but from reading this post, I remember just how busy life got for us around the end of August and then the meme was forgotten.

My fist meme that I did on August 22 2008, can be found here.

That meme asked:

What picture would I use for my holy card, should I make it to sainthood, and of what cause(s) would I want to be patroness of?


The new meme asks

Assuming you are a saint, and your cause has been executed, your miracles confirmed, your date on the calendar established, all that is required is select that of which Holy Mother Church will name you Patron(ess).For this meme, you must name your patronage and then tag 5 other people who would like to play along. Link your answer to your nominator's post.

 So back in 2008, I thought I could be the patroness for mothers that hated washing and that a photo my uncle had taken of me when I was about 8 or 9 could be my Holy Card



Now still in 2011, I think I still would want to be the patroness for mothers that hate washing. I still hate it just as much as I did back in 2008. I know that I need someone in Heaven praying for me that I can move that mountain of washing each day. I am probably more organised with my washing now though than I was then.

I am tagging the following 5 people for this meme:

Esther from A Catholic mom in Hawaii 
Easter from Passionate about life

(These two ladies were the ones that originally tagged me for the patron saint meme back in 2008. I wonder if they think their patronage should be the same now too).

Nancy from Be Not Afraid
Therese from The Musings of a mom.
Suzy from Scraps of Sunlight.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Monday, September 26, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

I really should read what I have on my list before the day I have to report on them.

I did have the best intentions when I said I would do Leanne's meme but completely forgot about it.

I guess I will just have to put it on my list again this week.

I started cleaning out the fridge (when I looked at my list). I prayed the rosary a few days but not every day and I sent out invitations.

This week I have on my list:

Leanne's meme. 

De clutter our storeroom.

One hour prayer in front of the blessed sacrament at church.

I hope you all have a good week.

Friday, September 23, 2011

7 Quick Takes.


-1-

This weekend, the girls and I are off to Whyalla for a girls weekend away. We will go shopping, eat out for tea and have some girl bonding time. 

-2-

Today was Tom and Amelia's sports day at school. I took Christopher and Joseph over there just before 12.00. We had a great time watching them all compete. Their team came in fourth but they had lots of fun. 

-3-

Joseph's physiotherapy is going really well. We can see a great improvement in his walking and control. This week, we are going to be working on strengthening his stomach muscles. 

-4-

We have had lots of summer weather here this week. I cannot wait for it to be warm every day. I really love summer. 

-5-

I haven't sewn very  much at all since Joseph was born. Now that Tom and Amelia are back at school, I should have more time to do some. I have quite a few plans for some summer dresses for myself and some summer outfits for the younger children. For some reason, my older children would rather buy their clothes. 

-6-

It is now 8 days till the feast day of St. Therese. I was told about a novena prayer that was starting yesterday so have started it. If you want to join in the novena you can find it here. 

-7-

Today I went over to the church on my own for a prayer hour. I have told Steve that I want to try and get over there once a week for one hour. It was great to be alone with Our Lord and not have any distractions or any one talking to me. I thought the time might drag but it went by very fast. I am looking forward to doing this each week. 

Don't forget to drop over to Jennifer's blog for other people's quick takes. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Cooking bandit.

Tom asked to help with tea tonight. I was. making quiche so decided it was a good dish for him to learn. This quiche is so easy, I think he will be able to make it next time without supervision. Here he is with the quiche before they went in the oven.
Tom named himself the cooking bandit. I think it suits him.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Dad.

My dad would have turned 76 this year if he was still living. It will be two years in November since he passed away.


Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Smart Martha Monday.

My list from last week:

I did exercises with Joseph every day but I don't think it was twice a day like I am suppose to try and do.

I just did the home school meme. 

I kept up with my blogging schedule and read 99% of the blog posts for blogs in my reader. When I was looking at my reader earlier, I only had 30 or so unread.

I  missed prayer a few mornings but we did get to mass each day and I got to confession on Saturday. 

This week. 

I am going to do the meme that Leanne tagged me for a while ago. Sorry I haven't gotten around to doing this yet Leanne. I actually forgot that you tagged me for it. Then I read Vicky's post and remembered that I had been tagged too. 

Send out some invitations. 

clean out our fridge. 

Pray the rosary daily.

I hope you all have a good week. 

Home School meme.

Thanks so much Vicky, for tagging me for the home school meme.

One Homeschool Book You've Enjoyed.  


My favourite would have to be Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.  This book would have to be the one that helped me the most when I first started home school. I would say this is the book that gave me the confidence that I could educate my children myself. 


One Resource You Wouldn't Be Without. 


I think the internet would have to be the one. I keep in touch with other home school families and have loads of bookmarks with resources. 


One Resource You Wish You'd Never Bought. 


Not really sure if I can think of one. I cannot think of anything we have bought and not used. There have been programs that I have bought and thought I won't get this again simply because the program hasn't been suited to my children's way of learning. 


One Resource You Liked Last Year. 


I loved the Tutor System. I will be using it again next year for Christopher I think. 


One Resource You'll Be Using Next Year. 


The Tutor System and The Phonetic Zoo. The Phonetic Zoo is a spelling program. Right from the start of home schooling, I have really struggled with how to teach the children how to spell. In May this year, I did a search for something new and came across The Phonetic Zoo. I bought it and we started it straight away. It is by far the best spelling program we have had. Tom and Amelia both said they hated this program but the results were fantastic. They really learnt words and remembered them. 


One Resource You'd Like To Buy. 


An I Pad or Android Tablet. 


One Resource You Wish Existed. 


I don't think there is any resource that I have wanted and haven't been able to find. I do wish though there were more home school families that lived close by. I really like the idea of doing activities with other home school families. 


One Homeschooling Catalogue You Enjoy Reading.  


I don't have any home school catalogues. 


One Homeschool Site You Visit Regularly. 


All the home school blogs that are in my reader. 


I am not going to tag any other bloggers since this meme has been going around a bit. If you want to do the meme and haven't been tagged, let me know in the comment box and I am happy to tag you for it. 



Please pray for a cure for Type One Diabetes

Please pray for a cure for Type One Diabetes
Our sons Tom and Christopher and our daughter Amelia are type one diabetics. We pray everyday for a cure. We do not want one by illicit means though so don't support any organisation that contributes to Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Click on the photo of Tom and Christopher to read about why I am against using Embryonic Stem cells for a cure.

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Australian Catholic Homeschoolers.

Tom's and Christopher's insulin pump

New book: Faith Quilt.

New book: Faith Quilt.
All proceeds from sales of "FAITH QUILT" going to "Casa de Amor Children's Homes in Bolivia" and "Sarah's Covenant Homes in India" Two truly extraordinary organisations that take in the most needy children and give them a place of love and security to call home.