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Smart Martha Monday.

2012-01-30T20:58:00.001+10:30

Get to mass each day and to finish working on Christopher's curriculum.

I did both things. I did end up ordering some RE resources last night from St. Paul's so they won't be here for a while but I have all our lessons plans and timetable worked out.

This week I want to get some tops made for my friends daughter. I also want to get up early each morning and pray before the children get up. I managed it this morning so hopefully will be able to all week.

I hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

7 Quick Takes.

2012-01-27T20:35:00.002+10:30

-1-

Yesterday Steve and I celebrated 21 years of marriage. To celebrate, we went out for lunch to the Flinder's Hotel. It was a great day. We also asked all the children to come to Mass with us and they all did. I am so grateful to God for all our children and our faith which has made our marriage strong.

-2-

Today I took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph over to Booleroo Centre to visit Linda and Bill. We picked up Christopher's spelling and maths curriculum and shared lunch. It was good to catch up with them both.

-3-

Tonight Steve and I are watching The Kings Speech. I have read a few reviews on this movie and I am looking forward to seeing it.

-4-

School starts on Monday and I am looking forward to getting back into routine again. This year, I am limiting our children to one extra curricula activity. Last year, many of them had two and life was just too busy. This is one of the actions I decided on since my word for the year is simplicity.

-5-

Another thing I want to do this year to keep it a bit more simple, is baking muffins and snacks and freezing them.

On my list of things to bake is:

Zucchini bread.

Pumpkin bread.

Date muffins.

-6-

My girlfriend's daughter has just been fitted with a halo devise. This is needed as she has Torticollis. I am going to make her some new tops that don't go over her head over the weekend. Please keep my friend Di and her family in your prayers. Especially Nicole.

-7-

Joseph now has his date for his MRI. I will be taking him to Adelaide on the 24th of February for it.

His walking is really improving with the AFO. When we first got it, he didn't like it at all and was even hiding it from me. We can see a great improvement though from persevering through with it. He even asks sometimes to have it on.

Don't forget to visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more 7 quick takes.

Have a great weekend.

Therese.

Wordless Wednesday: Islet transplants.

2012-01-25T18:30:00.003+10:30

I believe islet transplants or some other adult stem cell will be the cure my boys need.

Smart Martha Monday.

2012-01-23T19:58:00.001+10:30

Once again, it is a whole week since I posted on my blog.

I did everything on my list but I changed my mind. I sewed this top instead of a dress. I will hopefully get a dress done this week.

On my list this week is to prepare for school next week. I have all of Christopher's curriculum worked out but need to go through and fine tune some things.

I also want to get to mass each day. It may be a challenge once Steve is back at work. He starts work on Wednesday.

I hope you all have a great week.

Smart Martha Monday

2012-01-16T20:41:00.000+10:30

On my list last week, I wanted to clean out the clutter from the boys room. I changed my plan though and decided instead to get the younger children's sewing finished. We are going to my brother's 50th birthday this weekend and I wanted them to all have a good outfit made by me so I decided to focus on that. Now that they all have an outfit (except for Christopher's shirt, I can start on a couple of outfits for me.

So my to do list this week is to sew Christopher's shirt and a dress for me. I also want to start putting a spiritual thing on my must do list each week so this week it will be to get back into spending one prayer hour at church in front of the blessed sacrament. I haven't been for the last two weeks and want to keep on doing it regularly.

Amelia's new outfit.

2012-01-16T17:23:00.001+10:30

Finish today. Now all 4 younger children have something sewn by me for summer. I just need to do a bigger shirt for Christopher since his is a bit too small. He must have had a growth spurt.

Weekend Wrap up.

2012-01-15T21:37:00.000+10:30

Yesterday Tom turned 12. He got Skylanders from us for his birthday. We also have Harry Potter DVD set coming for him. It was a busy day since I had to drive to Melrose to pick up Madeline.

Madeline and Brigette have been at the National YCS Conference which is in Melrose this year. It is on till next Tuesday but Madeline wasn't feeling too well so decided to come home.

I wanted to do another oamc this weekend. We haven't done many since Joseph was born but thought with the trip to Melrose I wouldn't have much time to do this. I was able to get 3 spaghetti sauces and 9 chicken meals in the freezer though over the weekend. I will do a few more this week too so that we have enough for the next month's main meals.

There is only two weeks of school holidays left. I have a list as long as my arm that I want to get done in the next two weeks. I hope I will be able to get most of it done. If I can make myself go to bed early and get up early, I am quietly confident I can.

I hope you all have a great week.
Therese.

Wordless Wednesday: How our garden grows, continued.

2012-01-11T19:49:00.001+10:30

Wordless Wednesday: How our garden grows.

2012-01-11T19:45:00.001+10:30

Smart Martha Monday.

2012-01-09T22:27:00.001+10:30

On my list last week, I had to work on the big rocks in my life.

I have worked out a few lists to make my life more simple for meal plans, home school and looking after the boys diabetes.

This week, I am going to start going through each room and getting rid of all the clutter. My room to concentrate on is the boys bedroom. It is probably one of the easier rooms to do.

Hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

7 quick takes.

2012-01-06T20:19:00.002+10:30

Thanks so much to Jennifer for hosting 7 quick takes each week.

-1-

I thought I would post a bit about making my life more simple for 7 quick takes. Our household is very obviously busy with 9 people living in this house and at times to have a simple life can just about seem impossible for us. It isn't though. It just takes a lot of planning and scheduling.

-2-

With that in mind, I am going to schedule everything this year. Fly lady tells us it take 23 days to make something a routine. I am going to focus on this at the beginning of term.

-3-

Before school goes back, I am going to start off making menu plans, Religious Ed plans and home school plans. I am also going to get into a good routine with my prayer time.

-4-

This year, I want to have more focus on my own personal prayer time. I have been praying much more the last couple of weeks and realise just what a difference it makes to my day.

Steve and I have been getting to mass everyday and often go in early to pray. I have stayed on my own a couple of times after mass too.

When School goes back, I am hoping I will be able to go in early for prayer time before mass each day too. It will mean leaving for school by 8.10. I have already told the children that if they want a lift to school, they will have to be ready by then.

-5-

I found some great idea's for menu planning via pinterest.

From Mama and Baby love, freezer cooking for the slow cooker.

This week we are going to try the BBQ chicken casserole.

I am going to do a mixture of baked ahead meals and meal preparations. .

-6-

One of the biggest things I really need to get more organised with is carbohydrate counting for Tom and Christopher. I know the carb ratio for most fruits and vegetables but when it comes to home cooked meals, I spend a lot of time weighing food and working out what % is carbohydrate.

I am going to get a food diary to help with this. I am going to write all our main meals carb ratio for different meals and refer back to. I also want to get better and guessing the weight of different foods by looking at portion size. Sometimes we don't have scales available to work these things out and I need to be a bit more confident at guessing them.

-7-

For Religious Ed, I have lots of plans for this year.

Tom will be confirmed this year so I am going to find a program for him to work through at home.

I am going to focus on the liturgical year more and try teaching our children what the different times in the church year are all about. There are so many good resources online to help with this.

Thrifty Thursday.

2012-01-05T21:27:00.001+10:30

Last year, I got two metres of this fabric to make Joseph some overalls. The plan was to make 2 or 3 winter ones.
I didn't get around to making them so decided on a summer pair and some pajamas. For a total of $7.00, I have one pair of overalls and a pair of pajamas with a spare pair of pants.
I use to think that sewing didn't save me much money but this project has saved me quite a few $.

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph's new pajamas.

2012-01-04T19:38:00.001+10:30

A word for this year.

2012-01-03T21:02:00.001+10:30

Last year when I wrote my new year resolutions, I changed it to things I hoped would happen rather than what I could change myself.

It also came up in the comment section about choosing a word for the year to live by. My word for last year was hope. I probably could have spent a bit more time reflecting on this through the year. I think I do try to be a person of hope and see the glass as half full rather than half empty. That is what I think being a person of hope is all about.

This year my word is going to be simplicity. I want my life to be more simple and less cluttered. Last year there were a lot of times that I felt over committed and stressed at all that was happening in our lives. This year I want to live more simply and get back to basics. I am going to write a bit about this regularly so that I can focus on it more than I focused on hope being my word for last year.

Joseph's new shirt.

2012-01-02T22:31:00.001+10:30

Even though I have done many of these kind of shirts for the boys, I haven't ever done such a small one. It was slow going to get it finished but overall, I am really happy with the way it looks.

Smart Martha Monday.

2012-01-02T21:23:00.001+10:30

I cannot believe my last post on blog was last Monday for my Smart Martha post. We had a busy week. On Saturday, we had a day trip to Adelaide to take my mother out shopping and for lunch. We then went to Steve's sister's place for Daniel's new years eve party.

On New years day, Daniel turned 20. We are so proud of him and all that he has achieved.

I did everything on my list last week except the oamc menu and since we were in Adelaide on Saturday, I didn't get to mass that day. I did every other day though. I also haven't finished Tom's shirt but I have finished Christopher's and Joseph's. Joseph's was quite fiddly so it took quite a bit longer than I anticipated.

This week I am going to be doing some reviewing of my time management. Back in 2008, I wrote this post.

It has always stuck with me and I often pray about my time management and putting all my rocks in first. Go here to read the story of the rocks.

Since we have been on holidays, I have had a lot more time to pray and go to church. I know that I feel happier and less stressed when prayer has a priority in my life. I really want to take on this year being more prayerful. I want to make it a higher priority than I have been.

To do this, I really need to put my big rocks in first and then fit in the pebbles, sand and water around it.

I hope you all have a great week.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-12-26T20:17:00.000+10:30

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.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

2011-12-21T18:51:00.000+10:30

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

National Evangelisation Team

2011-12-20T16:32:00.000+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-12-19T20:57:00.002+10:30

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.

7 Quick Takes.

2011-12-16T21:23:00.003+10:30

=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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-12-12T19:11:00.001+10:30

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.

2011-12-12T19:04:00.001+10:30

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

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-12-05T18:58:00.001+10:30

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.

An inspiring video.

2011-12-01T19:00:00.001+10:30

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.

RIP Dad.

2011-11-30T17:31:00.001+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-11-28T18:17:00.001+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-11-27T19:16:00.001+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-11-21T19:26:00.001+10:30

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.

DISC personality test

2011-11-19T08:43:00.000+10:30

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.

2011-11-14T19:47:00.001+10:30

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.

Joseph: Swimming in the pool.

2011-11-13T19:00:00.001+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-11-07T19:07:00.001+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-11-06T20:50:00.001+10:30

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.

7 Quick Takes.

2011-11-04T22:23:00.000+10:30

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.

Wordless Wednesday.

2011-11-02T19:47:00.001+10:30

Joseph and Christopher at the foreshore today.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-10-31T20:07:00.000+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap-up

2011-10-30T21:01:00.001+10:30

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.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Joseph's first tattoo.

2011-10-26T18:41:00.001+10:30

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

Tasty Tuesday: Our favourite noodle recipe.

2011-10-25T19:29:00.003+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-10-24T19:48:00.001+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-10-23T20:36:00.000+10:30

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.

Stylish blogger award.

2011-10-22T19:59:00.000+10:30

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.

Ebeth from A Catholic mom climbing the pillars.

Jamie from Lord, Make Me a Saint.

Jeanne from A Peaceful Day.

Christie from Garden of Holiness.

A little Fun.

2011-10-20T21:50:00.000+10:30

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?

Nearly Wordless Wednesday.

2011-10-19T22:30:00.000+10:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-10-17T20:44:00.001+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-10-16T20:26:00.002+10:30

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.

Quick 7.

2011-10-14T22:44:00.001+10:30

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.

Scooby Doo Live

2011-10-13T21:01:00.001+10:30

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.

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph loves our bed.

2011-10-12T14:23:00.001+10:30

He pulled everything off and jumped in.

Hoodwinked too.

2011-10-11T21:44:00.000+10:30

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

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-10-10T18:30:00.003+10:30

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.

Quick 7.

2011-10-07T20:57:00.001+10:30

-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.

Wordless Wednesday: Watching Prince Caspian

2011-10-05T11:06:00.001+10:30

Tasty Tuesday: My new pie maker.

2011-10-04T19:37:00.001+10:30

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).

2011-10-04T09:41:00.003+10:30

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-10-02T21:32:00.002+10:30

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.

Patron Saint Meme.

2011-09-30T23:18:00.000+09:30

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.

Wordless Wednesday.

2011-09-28T17:38:00.002+09:30

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-09-26T22:07:00.002+09:30

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.

7 Quick Takes.

2011-09-23T20:23:00.002+09:30

-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.

Cooking bandit.

2011-09-22T17:50:00.001+09:30

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.

Happy Birthday Dad.

2011-09-21T19:27:00.001+09:30

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.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-09-19T20:41:00.004+09:30

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.

2011-09-19T20:13:00.002+09:30

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.

weekend Wrap up.

2011-09-18T22:03:00.001+09:30

Yesterday was the first weekend of no Saturday morning netball. This has taken up a lot of our Saturday mornings for a long time.

Steve and I started with Mass and Adoration. We take one child with us each week. This week it was Christopher's turn to come.

Since we didn't have netball, I did my menu plan for the week and then went food shopping.

In the evening we got to church early so that we could go to confession before mass.

On Friday, I received a text message from our video store saying we could hire any new release for $1.95. Steve and I decided to take up this offer and hired The Rite.

We both enjoyed this movie and recommend it. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be and they did a good job portraying exorcism's accurately from what Steve and I have heard about them.

Today was a sunny day. After lunch, Steve and I took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph over to Rotary Park.

Joseph's physiotherapy is coming along nicely. One of the exercises we need to do with him is get him stepping up steps with his left leg first. Usually when we approach a step, I make him stop and put his left leg up. Today while we were at Rotary park, I noticed that he was stepping up with his left leg first on his own without any prompting from me.

Here he is on video going up the steps to slide down the slide.

We just have two weeks of school left and then we will have two weeks holidays. I am looking forward to them.

I hope you all have a great week.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T14:34:00.001+09:30

I had to video this. Joseph is only sleeping but the music was pretty loud. I couldn't believe he could fall asleep with all the background music. I videoed it so you can hear how loud the music is.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-09-12T20:18:00.003+09:30

On my list last week:

Blogging Smart Martha Monday, a video or photo and finally a quick 7 or weekend wrap up post.

I did them all. I did the video a day early. I was going to schedule it but decided to just post it straight away.

I probably only read about 40% of the blog posts in my reader.

I did get to daily mass each day and took Christopher to play at a park after it.

On my list this week:

Do the meme Vicky tagged me for.

Continue with the blogging schedule.

Pray every morning.

Do Joseph's exercises every morning and afternoon.

Quick 7.

2011-09-09T21:00:00.000+09:30

Thanks so much to Jen from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 Quick Takes each week. Be sure to drop over and see what others are writing about.

-1-

My mother is all settled in assisted living now. It has been a long month for my brother sister and I getting it all organised but we are finally there.

-2-

This week Tom and Amelia's school had wheelies day. Everyone had to take something to the school on wheels. Tom took some roller skates and Amelia took a scooter. Christopher, Joseph and I went over for the last hour and there was a huge obstacle course for the children to ride laps around. Christopher had a go on Amelia's scooter. Tom didn't want to ride the roller skates but had a go on the scooter as well. I spoke with Amelia's teacher and he said she has settled in really well.

-3-

The school also had dress up today. Tom went dressed as a Mexican and Amelia went as a Chinese girl. Here is a photo of them both.

-4-

I have a new favourite meal. Chicken Fried Rice. Go and try it. I highly recommend it and I am sure we will be eating it regularly.

-5-

Tomorrow Amelia plays in the grand final for netball. She is very excited. They will play Shamrocks. We hope they will win but runner up is pretty good too.

-6-

Does anyone know if there is a way to remove the amount of followers from my dashboard? I have a bit of love and hate to it. I find I get worried when someone stops following me and wonder if I have offended someone. I really hope though that if anyone were offended that they would let me know.

-7-

I have been enjoying playing Words With Friends from Facebook. I love scrabble and have learnt quite a few strategies for the game. Paramedic Girl from Salve Regina is a champ at this game. I am yet to beat her but at least she isn't doubling my score any more.

Port Augusta

2011-09-06T22:08:00.001+09:30

I just saw a promotional video from our city council of our town and thought I would share it with you.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-09-05T21:07:00.001+09:30

I missed Smart Martha last week and I cannot remember if I did all the things from the week before.

I have decided I need to make a new schedule for blogging and reading my favourite blogs. Blogging is probably the one thing that gets neglected when life becomes busy. I want to capture our family moments though and have written things to look back on so I have decided I will put blogging on Monday, Wednesday and once over the weekend on a schedule.

I am going to do Smart Martha Monday each Monday. On Wednesday, I will post a photo or video from our week and over the weekend I will either do a Quick 7 or a Weekend Wrap up.

Setting it on a schedule should help me get to blogging more.

I am also going to start reading blogs in my reader each evening. I had over 1000 unread blog posts the other day and I had to mark all read. Today I only have 28 new posts to read. If I do it each day, I am sure I will get to most of them.

My other aim for this week is to get to daily mass with Christopher and Joseph. Now that Tom and Amelia are at school, our home school timetable is much shorter. I have promised Christopher everyday that we get to mass, we will call in at a park on the way home for a play. It makes it a bit more appealing for him to go along.

I hope you all have a good week.

Happy Fathers Day

2011-09-04T18:11:00.002+09:30

To all the fathers that read my blog, I hope you all have a great fathers day. Steve had a great day. He got lots of chocolates and we baked some cakes to have for dessert. I also cooked some yummy chicken fried rice for tea.

I am still alive.

2011-08-31T18:30:00.003+09:30

I have had so many things to blog about but haven't had any time to sit at the computer for the past week. I was pretty busy last week getting everything ready for Tom and Amelia to go to school and we had two trips to Adelaide.

On Thursday, Tom and Christopher had a check up in Adelaide so Steve and I drove down for the day.

On Saturday my sister was in Adelaide so I went to down to see her and help her and my brother clean out of mum's unit. Brigette came down with me.

Monday was Tom and Amelia's first day at school. They have really enjoyed going every day and we have established a pretty good morning routine at home.

Each day Christopher, Joseph and I have been able to get to Mass. I hope this will be something we will be able to do everyday.

Even though Tom and Amelia are at school, we are still having some RE lessons in the afternoon and are doing times tables and reading.

Last week I also had my blogiversary. On the 23rd it was 5 years since I started blogging. I am so thankful for all the friends I have made through blogging and for all the memories I have captured through it. There have been many times I have looked back through my archives and relived the memories. I am sure when the children are all older they will enjoy looking back and remembering everything that has happened. I think that is the thing that keeps me blogging.

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-08-22T18:51:00.002+09:30

My list from last week is complete. I haven't bought everything for Tom and Amelia to start school, but I have a list worked out. I also have a daily schedule to follow once they are back at school.

This week I want to do a zumba workout twice.

Take Tom and Christopher to their check up.

Go to Adelaide to help my brother and sister finish cleaning out mum's place.

I hope you all have a good week.

Quick 7

2011-08-19T18:14:00.003+09:30

Thanks so much Jennifer from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 Quick Takes each week.

-1-

Our week has been busy but fun. Amelia and Tom went to their new primary school and meet their teachers and principal.

We were shown around and I am sure they are both going to be very happy there.

They will be starting on the 29th of August. I should have everything organised by then for them.

-2-

Joseph will be starting physio on the 1st of September. We will go and have a play time with the physio and she will video tape him so that she can know what exercises will help him the most.

I have started working with him on his left side and trying to get him to use it more.

-3-

Daniel is having lots of fun in Spain. He went to the Holy Land first and is now in Madrid. We have spoken on the phone a couple of times and sent many texts.

Here a video from the Australian opening.

You can see this video and more at the XT3 WYD blog.

-4-

Fr Gordon McCrae writes a blog called These Stone walls. It is a blog I have been following for a couple of years.

Fr. Gordon is in prison. He was accused of abusing a minor. I believe the accusations to be false because I have read the case notes.

On Monday the 22nd of August, Esther from A Catholic Mom in Hawaii will be starting a novena for Fr. Gordon's intentions.

I will be joining in too. If you feel led to join in, please let Esther know.

-5-

My friend Ellie has loaned me some Zumba video's. I am going to start with the beginners video tomorrow morning. I think my goal next week for Smart Martha will be to do a couple of workouts.

-6-

I haven't really been reading blogs I follow each day in my google reader. I looked in there this morning and saw 500+ unread items. I think I will need to maar and move onto starting from scratch again.

-7-

I recently tried some Lipton Chai Tea Latte's and now have a new favourite drink.

Toy Library Slide

2011-08-17T21:16:00.002+09:30

Today Christopher went to the toy library with my friend Ellie, while I took Tom and Amelia to their new school to meet the principal and have a look around.

We went back to the toy library after and Amelia wanted to bring home the slide for Joseph. All four have been on it so I suspect it isn't just for Joseph that Amelia wanted it.

Pay It Forward

2011-08-16T20:23:00.004+09:30

Holly From A Life Size Catholic Blog is the hostess for Pay It Forward.

For this weeks pay it forward, I want to share my friend Kirsten's blog.

Everyone say hello to my friend Kirsten from Catholic of Thule. Kirsten and I have been online friends for years. We meet at Steve Ray's message board.

I wanted to share her blog with everyone this week because this week I have received in the mail, two new rosaries. One for me and one for Steve.

I actually ordered these for birthday presents for Steve and I to give each other

this year.

The two sets arrived on the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady. There were a few mix ups and I believe God wanted them to arrive on this special feast of our Lady.

My rosary has carnelian stones and Steve's is made of Black Onyx.

Here is the centre piece of Steve's. It is the Divine Mercy.

My centre piece is The Madonna.

This is my crucifix. I thought I took a picture of Steve's crucifix but must have forgotten.

Mine is a Molded filagree crucifix and Steve has a St. Benedict one.

These rosaries will be treasured by both of us for years to come and I hope we pray many decades of the rosary on them.

Please go and visit my friend Kirsten and tell her I sent you. Oh and while you are there, order a set of her wire wrapped gemstone rosaries.

Smart Martha Monday

2011-08-15T19:50:00.002+09:30

My plan last week was to pray every night with Steve and get food shopping and menu planning done before I went to Adelaide.

I did the menu plan but Steve and I did not pray together every night and I didn't get food shopping done either.

This week I am hoping to:

Organise Tom and Amelia's school supplies. At this stage it is looking like they are going to start school on the 29th of August.

Work out our new day to day running routine including what chores each child will be responsible for.

Weekend Wrap up.

2011-08-14T21:42:00.003+09:30

I spent the weekend in Adelaide, catching up with family and helping my brother clean out mum's unit. It was a busy weekend but we had time to visit Amelia's God parents and spend some time with my mum, sister and brother.

I will probably be going back in a fortnight to help again. My sister will be there from Singapore too.

Steve looked after everyone at home here while I was in Adelaide. It was a big weekend for both of us. I am glad to be home now. I really hope this week is not too stressful because of the busy weekend.

Quick 7.

2011-08-12T19:46:00.003+09:30

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

-1-

We are having a few changes in our house next term. Tom and Amelia are off to school. I did originally think that we would start them next year but decided to get things organised for 4th term. I have been feeling overwhelmed at all I have to do with home school and looking after the house. I keep on thinking that I am not doing anything 100% and that is what I want to do. I am pretty confident that Christopher, Joseph and I will establish a good routine pretty quickly that I won't feel so overwhelmed by.

-2-

Madeline has been talking about going somewhere as an exchange student in 2012/2013. She has talked about Hawaii and New York. I think it would be good for her to go somewhere that isn't as well off as we are in Australia. Steve and I are going to look into it a bit more. I will keep you all posted on what we find out and if she does it or not.

-3-

I have a new handbag. One of the things I dislike about living in a small country town is the limit we have in stores. I went to both Target Country and Big W and they all had a really small range of bags. They were all overpriced imo too. I bought this one online. It is great. It isn't too big or too small. I fit everything I need in nicely.

-4-

Diabetes SA put on a diabetes camp each year for children with diabetes between the age of 10 and 12. There are a lot of children that apply to go on this camp so not everyone that applies, gets to go. We sent in the application for Tom to go a couple of months ago and heard this week that he can go.

The camp is on the middle weekend of the October school holidays. I will take Tom to Adelaide and stay there while he is on the camp. It will be good for him to meet some other children with diabetes and be at a place that has diabetes educators and Registrars that know how to look after them all. Tom is very excited about going and the rest of the term cannot go fast enough for him.

-5-

Steve's singing lessons continue. We all know the different exercises by heart. He said to me tonight, he has a new appreciation for what Singers go through to become really good.

-6-

Daniel is in the Holy Land this week. He has been swimming in the dead sea, stayed by the sea of Galilee, gone to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We have spoken a couple of times with him and he is having a great time. He says the traffic there is bedlam. I hope we will see for ourselves one day.

-7-

This week in Australia we had the Census. I did ours on line and it was a great way to do it. I knew all the questions by heart though by the time I got to doing Joseph. It took me about 1 hour to complete. Interestingly, many households didn't complete the online census. They entered all the data but failed to submit. I am pretty sure I submitted because I got a receipt number. I also saw our census guy tonight walking down our street. Since he didn't come to our place, he must have our receipt number.

Wordless Wednesday.

2011-08-10T18:26:00.002+09:30

Here is Joseph and our cat CC. CC doesn't normally like Joseph and runs as soon as she hears him. She was happy to sit in the chair with him on Sunday though since Brigette was there too.

Tasty Tuesday: Menu planning.

2011-08-09T19:08:00.002+09:30

Since I am going to Adelaide this weekend, I need to get a menu plan for the next 10 days. I already have up until Friday planned so just have to come up with 6 simple meals for next week.

Here is what we will do next week:

Minestrone. I cook this in our slow cooker. I just throw it all together and leave it for 4 hours on high.

Ratatouille. I have wanted to try this for a while. A friend reminded me when she said that she made it with her 9 year old daughter.

Chicken Fried Rice. All of us love fried rice. I thought the chicken would add a nice flavour for a change.

Spaghetti and meatballs. A meal everyone in our house loves.

Butter Chicken. Another favourite.

Pumpkin Soup. With bread rolls. I am going to take Deanne's suggestion and roast the pumpkin instead of boiling it.

Honey Soy chicken noodles. I love Hokkien noodles. I came across this recipe when looking for one to use with them. I am going to try putting them all together in the slow cooker for 5-6 hours on slow. Will let you know how it turns out.

Smart Martha Monday

2011-08-08T14:45:00.002+09:30

Last week, my goal was to write a letter to the South Australian MP's against the current euthanasia bill that is before SA parliament.

Here is my letter that I have written:

Dear ,

I am writing to ask you to vote against the current euthanasia bill that is before SA parliament.

I am very concerned about this bill for a couple of reasons.

The first reason this bill concerns me is it is not only for terminally ill patients, but for those with chronic illnesses too.

Two of my children, have type 1 diabetes. This is a chronic illness. There is no getting it mildly or getting over it. It is something that my boys live with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every day I have to balance what insulin to give both my boys with their food intake. We also need to factor in any exercise they do. Often they will have unexplained high sugars or low sugars even though I have given them the insulin they need for their food intake. We have to keep a constant eye on what they blood sugar level is and often check them both through the night. My boys both have a lot to deal with in their everyday life.

If the euthanasia bill is passed, it may lead to both my boys having to justify to someone one day why their lives are worth living in spite of having type 1 diabetes. I really don’t think they should ever be put into this position. From what I have read in the bill, the bill is not for someone to choose to end their life, it is to protect the doctor that decides it is reasonable to end someone else’s life.

This leads me to my second concern about the current bill.

My second concern about this bill is the vague wording that it has.

Words like reasonable and good quality of life are just too vague.

Just what is reasonable when it come to deciding to end someone’s life or to keep it? Is it reasonable to decide that someone has poor control over their blood sugar levels and therefore their life is not worth living?

Is it reasonable for a doctor to decide needing insulin everyday leads to a bad quality of life?

What exactly is a good quality of life and what is a bad one? How does one work out in a court of law that a person has a good quality life and if they don’t? What criteria would one use to measure this?

With these points in mind, I ask you to vote against the current bill.

Yours sincerely,

If you have any advise for any changes or think I should add something in, let me know in the comment box or even by email.

My email is on my profile page.

My goals for this week:

1) pray with Steve every night.

2) I am off to Adelaide for the weekend. My mother is moving into assisted living and my brother and sister need help going through mum's gear at her unit. I will be travelling by myself and Steve will be looking after everyone here. I need to get our house organised so that things can run smoothly for Steve. This will mean doing food shopping and menu planning before the weekend. It is the weekend that I would normally do my monthly planning/cook ahead but I won't be able to get it done. Hopefully I can get everything organised for the week and do the planning/big cook the next weekend.

Therese.

Masterchef

2011-08-07T21:43:00.003+09:30

Tonight is the finale here in Australia.

It has come down to Michael and Kate.

I am going for Michael because he is from South Australia.

Who are you going for?

Just in, Kate is the winner.

Saturday night movies.

2011-08-06T20:36:00.002+09:30

Steve and I are watching Double Jeopardy tonight. Here is the trailer for you.

We have seen it before. I hope it is as good the second time as it was the first.

Quick 7.

2011-08-05T18:28:00.007+09:30

-1-

We have had quite a week here. I won't go into everything that has been going on but I have felt rather stressed and over burdened. We are all over it all though and hopefully the weekend will be relaxing and rejuvenating.

-2-

Today Daniel left Australia for WYD. It is in Spain this year. Before they go to Spain, they are heading to the Holy Land. I am sure it is going to be an experience of a lifetime for him. There are 5 pilgrims going from our parish including our parish priest. I will update with news as they travel.

-3-

Steve has been taking singing lessons. He bought a program online and has been listening to them and doing all the exercises in time to the scales. He is doing them so much, I am hearing them in my sleep.

-4-

Do you know who Stanley Clark is? He is the person that invented blood glucose meters. He died recently. RIP Stan and thanks so much for making it easier to look after my two boys.

Go here to read Stan's obituary.

-5-

This weekend is the Warfest in Port Augusta. Our younger children are all very excited about it. There will be rides, games and lots of yummy food. Once the girls have finished netball, we will probably head straight over.

-6-

Today Tom got an invite to Diabetes camp SA. It will be on the weekend of the 22nd of October till the 24th October. He is very excited about going. This will be the first time he will have been away from family so I am also a bit nervous for him. I am sure he will be well looked after and have a great time. I hope he makes some really good friends too.

-7-

I have been thinking about doing some fundraising on here for Dr. Faustman's research for a cure. I have seen some blogs do some fundraising but don't really have many ideas about what to do. If anyone out there, has some idea's it would be great to hear them.

Dr. Faustman's link is over in the sidebar. To read about her research, click on the photo of her in the sidebar.

Remember to visit Jen from Conversion Diary for other people's quick 7.

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph feeds himself

2011-08-03T19:08:00.001+09:30

Smart Martha Monday.

2011-08-01T19:39:00.003+09:30

From last week:

Completed:

Made our bed everyday.

Read to the children every day.

Went and registered Joseph for his physio. I will get sent an appointment when the referral arrives from the Paediatrician.

I didn't make the butter.

I need a jar with a screw top so that when the children are shaking it, it is kept secure.

So on my list this week:

I want to write to South Australian MP's again. The euthanasia bill has passed the second reading. I am very concerned about this bill because it isn't just for terminally ill people, it is also for those with chronic illness. Having two children with a chronic illness, makes the bill all the more scary for me. I really hope it won't be passed so I am writing to all the MP's again and asking them to vote against it.

Oops.

2011-07-30T15:10:00.002+09:30

Last night I was standing in the bathroom filling the bath for Joseph. I was also looking at my game of words with friends with Daniel. I got a bit distracted and filled the bath up really high. When I turned the taps off, he objected a bit. He quite liked the water running in and really enjoyed his deep deep bath.

Laundry.

2011-07-27T19:51:00.004+09:30

I hate laundry. I think I have probably written that many times on my blog. It would have to be the job I hate the most. It is just never ending and huge with all my children.

I think it has been more of a pain for 18 months now because we have had my washing machine set up in an old bathroom.

We changed the old laundry into the children's bathroom and since then, we have had the washing machine up on an old door over our bath in our old bathroom.

It is the next job we are doing in our renovations and we finally have the money to do it.

So I am looking for ideas.

Here is a picture of the idea I have for our laundry.

Our laundry space is much smaller than this one but I like the set up of the washing machine, trough and cupboards. We could do it along the wall that the bath is in at the moment. I think I want some softer colours for the paint but love the wood colour for the cupboards. Steve was a plumber before he was a teacher so he knows how to do all the plumbing and put the hose from the washing machine to the trough.

I will show colours and progress as we do all the work.

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin soup.

2011-07-26T18:45:00.002+09:30

Last Thursday, a few commenter's asked for my pumpkin soup recipe so I decided to post it.

My pumpkin soup is very similar to my broccoli soup recipe so you get a bonus recipe too. Two recipes, one post.

Pumpkin Soup:

Ingredients:

500 grms pumpkin diced.

500 grms potatoes diced.

1 litre vegetable stock.

300 mls sour cream.

chives.

salt and pepper to taste.

put pumpkin, potatoes and vegetable stock into a large saucepan.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

When potato and pumpkin are soft, put in food processor with vegetable stock. Once soup is mixed, place back in saucepan and add sour cream, salt, pepper and chives. Heat through and serve.

I usually double this recipe for our family and it will have enough left over for me to have for lunch the next day.

Broccoli soup:

Ingredients.

500 grms broccoli.

125 grms spinach.

500 grms potato.

1 litre vegetable stock.

300 mls cream.

Place broccoli and potatoes into vegetable stock and bring to the boil. (I cut my potato up pretty small for this so that it cooks just as quickly as the broccoli does).

Simmer for 5-10 minutes so that the potatoes and broccoli are all cooked.

Add spinach and watch till it wilts.

place in food processor and mix. Put back in saucepan and add cream. Serve when heated through.

This recipe is usually doubled too.

I hope you all enjoy these wonderful winter soups.

Smart Martha Monday

2011-07-25T19:44:00.002+09:30

I only had take the children to see Cars 2 on my to do list last week and since this was something I wanted to do, I did it.

This week we are back to school. Since Brigette was home today, we didn't do any home school either. I also took Joseph to see our Paediatrician. He has a weakness on his left side that he will need some physiotherapy for. We have noticed him walking with a limp and he certainly favours his right hand when most children his age are still very ambidextrous. I have also noticed that when he claps, he brings his right hand over to his left hand rather than moving them both.

The paediatrician said that it is most likely this will have disappeared by the time he is 5 so I hope he is right on this.

So on my list this week:

Make Joseph's appointment for some physio.

Read with the children every day.

Make our bed every day.

Make some butter with the children.

Hope you all have a good week.

Therese.

Weekend wrap up

2011-07-24T18:29:00.003+09:30

We have had a busy but fun weekend here this weekend.

- Brigette had a job interview today for a job at Hungry Jacks. Yesterday I took her to Target to get a new outfit for it. This will be one of the last outfits I will buy her since she was offered a job at the interview. She starts work this Thursday. Brigette is our 4th child to start her working life at Hungry Jacks. Daniel, Sam and Madeline all started work here so we are keeping a family tradition going still. One of the things I love about having our older children all close together is they have become a little more independent of us close together too. I still cannot believe we have 4 children that have a little bit of financial independence.

- Last night we got to Mass a bit earlier so that I could go to reconciliation before mass. Reconciliation is a chance for a new beginning and to turn my life around. A good way to start the new term. I have a renewed vigour for all that I need to do this term.

- The temps here have been wonderful for the last week. Every day we have had lots of sun. Yesterday since the sun was shining, Steve and I walked Joseph into town for our food shopping. We had a small list so most of it fitted in the basket under Joseph for the walk home. It made a big difference though to the weight of the pusher and I am sure I used some muscles that I didn't know I had.

- Today we went back to Gladstone Square park. This time, Tom was with us. He didn't want to come on Wednesday. The children all had lots of fun again. I am sure we are going to be taking the children to this park quite often especially once the weather warms up.

I hope you have all had a great weekend.

Therese.

In the book “Can Man Live Without God?” Ravi Zacharis writes:

2011-07-23T14:34:00.002+09:30

If I am merely the product of matter and at the mercy of material determinism,why should I subject myself to anyone else’s moral convictions? If, on the otherhand, I am fashioned by God for his purpose, then I need to know him and know that purpose for which I have been made, for out of that purpose is born my sense of right and wrong. There are two worlds represented by these options.

The atheist lives in tension. He says one thing and knows in his heart of hearts that another is true. The atheist ethics professor teaches ethical relativism, mocks Christianity with its moral absolutes, and explains to his class that right and wrong, as objective moral standards, do not exist. But then he absolutely demands that you not cheat on his test on ethical relativism. If you do cheat, he immediately forgets that he’s an atheist and begins speaking like a Christian, insisting that cheating is wrong and that you should know that.

We cannot teach people that they are nothing but material things that have evolved out of the slime and then try to also teach them that there is moral law they need to abide by. They are too smart to not see the implications of the atheism they’re taught. So they reason this world is a struggle for existence, and if cheating on a few tests will help me to get ahead and get the good job and earn the good money, then why not?

There is no foundation for morality apart from God. If naturalists really begin to live in a manner consistent with their worldview, their moral lives would implode.

Taken from “The Godless Delusion” by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.

7 quick takes: The holiday edition.

2011-07-22T19:12:00.003+09:30

Thanks so much to Jen at conversion diary for hosting 7 quick takes each week.

-1-

The holidays are just about over. We have Saturday and Sunday left and on Monday it will be back to school for us all. Well, except Brigette. Her school doesn't start till Tuesday.

-2-

I have had a very relaxing week this week which was needed. I still need to finish of my planning for term three but feel pretty prepared. I should finish it of tomorrow.

-3-

I read the book I'll walk alone by Mary Higgins Clark this week. Mary HC is one of my favourite writers. I really like her style of writing. If you want to see what the book is like, the link has the first two chapters for you to hook you in.

-4-

Joseph will be seeing our Paediatrician on Monday. He had xrays on his hips and legs a while ago and there was no abnormality. He is definitely walking with a limp though so we will just go and see the paediatrician and see what they think could be causing it.

-5-

Annie the musical is coming to Australia next year. I have already told Steve I want to go to Melbourne and see it.

-6-

Tom and Christopher have been playing a lot of diddy kong racing these holidays. I love the game too and have helped Christopher win a few races.

-7-

I have decided I am following too many blogs. I really have to cut back the amount of time I spend on the internet. In the holidays, I do have the time to keep up with them but once school is back, I just cannot.

I am going to keep the same blogs in my reader but will cut the list that I am following. I really wish I could follow them all but my priority needs to be my family and home.

Small Successes and Thankful Thursday.

2011-07-21T18:26:00.003+09:30

Thanks so much to Sherri from Chocolate for your brain for hosting Small Successes each week.

I have a few this week.

First, we went on Tuesday to see Cars two. It was a great movie.

Second, Steve and I have been to mass everyday.

Third, we took Madeline and Brigette to YCS camp on Monday. We also kept up with all the house work while they were gone.

fourth, we walked to mass on Tuesday with our younger 4 children. Joseph went in the pusher and all the others said they wished they were small still and could have a ride in it.

As well as these successes, I am thankful this week for:

The school holidays and spending time together as a family.

Going to see Cars two with the children.

A big pot of pumpkin soup sitting on our stove top.

A freezer that will take the excess for another meal, another night.

Wordless Wednesday: Gladstone Square

2011-07-20T13:01:00.002+09:30

Christopher and Joseph.

Amelia, Joseph and Christopher

Amelia.

This is the new playground the council has built at Gladstone square.

Pay It forward.

2011-07-19T19:47:00.003+09:30

Holly from A Life Size Catholic Blog is the hostess for Pay it Forward.
It is a chance to highlight another blogger, blog post or blog.
I found out about it two weeks ago when Laura O shared my blog.
I decided right then, there were lots of blogs that I want to share with people in the blogsphere.
Today I am sharing a blog that is new.
Meet Sue from Not enough Butter.
Sue is another Australian Blogger with 7 children. Her youngest baby, Braith is just 1 year younger than Joseph.
Sue is going to start home schooling soon too.
One of her posts that I has been inspiring for me was her post this week on Organising Clothes storage.
She posts cute photos regularly and I am always uplifted whenever I go and visit her blog. I always know that I will find a post that will make me smile.
Go over and say hello to Sue. Tell her that I sent you.
Don't forget to pay a visit to Holly too from A life Size Catholic Blog.

Smart Martha Monday

2011-07-18T19:19:00.003+09:30

I only had one thing to do last week and I didn't do it at all. My thing to do was make our bed as soon as I get out of it each morning.

I didn't even do it once. (blush blush blush)

I think the trip to Adelaide may have stopped this to a degree. But also I am on holidays and I really don't want to think about what I should do.

My aim for this week is going to be to take Tom, Amelia and Christopher to the cinema. I think we will go and see cars two.

Some atheists argue that we don’t need to believe in God in order to have morality. We can determine what is right and wrong by using reason alone.

2011-07-17T08:39:00.002+09:30

Atheist Kai Nielsen argues that it doesn’t take God’s existence for us to figure out what is just and fair in a given situation. Do we really need God in order to know that we ought to keep our promises, or tell the truth, or pay our debts, or allow an elderly woman to take our seat on the bus? If we want to be treated with respect and dignity, isn’t it only reasonable that we should treat others with respect and dignity? It doesn’t take the existence of God for us to figure out how we ought to conduct ourselves morally.

Both Kai Nielsen and Immanuel Kant are right when they suggest that we can come to know what is right and what is wrong by the use of reason alone. After all, the moral law exists and is reasonable and God has written his moral law on our hearts and given us reason so that we might understand the world he has created. But if there is no God, no moral law, and if nothing exists but material substances as atheists like Nielsen suggest, why should a notion like ‘reason’ bond us to any particular type of conduct? If there is no moral truth to be discovered and if I have to simply choose the moral point of view because that type of life is what I find worthwhile for myself, then the decision is arbitrary, rationally speaking. The moral difference between Mother Teresa and Hitler is roughly the same as the difference between whether I want to be a trumpet player of a baseball player.

Because the naturalist worldview cannot support the real existence of right and wrong, any standard of morality the atheist comes up with is going to be arbitrary. It will simply be his idea of a good way to have some resemblance of morality in an immoral, impersonal, meaningless universe. Often it will also be inconsistent and even contradictory to the naturalist worldview. To see this, all one has to do is ask the question: How exactly does this ethical standard arise naturally from an infinite sea of ever changing material substances?

Taken from "The Godless Delusion" by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.