7 Quick Takes.

It is such a long time since I did a quick takes post. I went back and looked when the last one was. It was back in July 2013 so a quick 7 is well and truly overdue. 

-1-

Last Saturday, Joseph turned 5. I cannot believe he is no longer a preschooler. Here is a photo of him in his knight outfit that we got him. 

-2-

This week  has been a week of mishaps. We started the week, needing to prove our ID for the purchase of our new unit. Steve's went through without any hitch but when it came time for me to do mine, they needed a marriage certificate because my birth certificate had my maiden name. The certificate that we were given the day of our marriage was not enough though because it didn't have a document number. We went to births deaths and marriages and ordered a marriage certificate with high priority. It arrived in the post the next day fortunately and I went to the Post Office to do it again. I am pretty sure this has all been completed now and hopefully it hasn't held up settlement which is next Friday. 

-3-

Steve had 3 moles cut out of his back this week. We went to see the doctor today and he changed the dressing and said come back next week to make sure they are still healing okay. The lab results were back today and they were not benign so we are happy about that. Still, prayers for his recovery would be appreciated. 

-4-

Christopher is due for a new pump. Insulin pumps are only under warranty for 4 years and his expired last Friday. 

The hospital contacted our health insurance asking them if they would cover it. The health insurer we had hadn't got in touch with the hospital so today, I rang them and asked what was going on. I was informed that out of warranty is not enough reason for us to get a new pump and that they want more information. 

I decided it was time to look around and see if there is any other health fund that are going to allow an upgrade when the pump goes out of warranty. I found one that will cover us for this so from today, we are with a new health fund. 

A friend posted this picture on Facebook about health insurers and I took it on my timeline too. It was just what I felt like.

-5-

Back to Joseph. Today he received the award for his class at their school assembly. Here he is with his certificate. It says on the bottom Awarded for helping others in the class, always trying hard at all tasks and having neat and tidy work.

-6-

During the week, a friend posted this link to a Nutella Cheesecake. Here is the video from the One pot Chef. 

My hubby has told me not to make it because it sounds too fattening. 

-7-

I will be back with my quick 7's hopefully. It is now hosted by This ain't the Lyceum. This is my first time linking to the new hostess. Here are other people's quick takes.

 

The End of an era.

Joseph all ready for school. 

In his classroom in the morning. 

so after 23 years of preschool children in the house, this year I am on my own for 6 hours every day. 

I am excited that we are moving into a new phase in our life. I have loved raising so many children and I am sure at times I will miss them but there are many things I am going to enjoy about this new phase. 

Lots of people have asked me what I am going to do with my time. 

There are many things I want to do but I am sure that it won't be long and the new normal routine will be in place and I will wonder how I had time to have preschool children. 

What has been happening in May?

May was a pretty busy month for us. We changed to Sunday Mass to help out with leading the rosary before mass. Usually we go on Saturday night so that we can have a family day each Sunday. It is the only day we really get to sleep in so I take full advantage of it most weekends. I stay in bed most of the morning and then we usually do something with the younger children in the afternoon .

In May Amelia turned 12 and Brigette 16. Amelia had a party at Hungry Jacks and Brigette had a night out at the movies with some girlfriends. Brigette is studying on line the tests for getting her learners permit and will probably go for the test this week. She does pretty well with the on line tests but wants to do better so that she can feel confident that she will pass.

This month, the Novita Physio was visiting Port Augusta and Joseph went along to see her. The local Physio is concerned with Joseph's knee and the amount he throws it back when he is standing. The physio that we do with Joseph will be changing a bit over the next month and we will work on getting him to hold his knee in a more natural position.

We also had diabetes endocrinologist up in Port Augusta yesterday. Tom, Amelia and Christopher all had an appointment with her. Their management is going pretty well but there is always room for improvement so we have made a few adjustments with the boys pumps and we are changing Amelia to having lantus insulin in the evening. She is only going to be on daily injections for another 3 months and will be starting pump therapy in August.

Steve and I finished Season two of Downton Abbey and started watching American Horror Story. It did have some scary things in it but over all I enjoyed the story line. We are now waiting on Season three of Downton Abbey to arrive. I am really enjoying spending time with Steve watching different series. In the past, most of our dates nights have been dinner and movie night. What I like about watching a series is talking and speculating about what is going to happen after each episode.

Joseph's birthday pictures

Joseph with his new basketball stand. He loves it very much especially when he gets a goal.

Thankful Thursday.

It is a week since I have posted on my blog and I thought I really should post on here and give thanks for all the good things in our life.

Today Joseph turns 3 and I am thankful for the blessing he is to our family.

We also found out today that he does not have type one diabetes anti bodies. I am thankful that we know this.

Tonight Madeline, Tom, Amelia and Christopher started musical theatre.I am thankful that  they have the opportunity to learn dance and mix with children outside of school.

Wordless Wednesday. Joseph doing his exercises

Catching up.

The first weekend of the holidays, we had convoy for kids in Port Augusta. Novita is an organisation that supports Joseph and provides services for him with his left hemiplegia. They invited Joseph to come to ride in a big semi trailer. We took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph all along for the day. Here is an article our local paper had on it.

Convoy for Kids.
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Three weeks ago now, Steve and I had a night away in Quorn. We went to Endilloe Lodge. Here is a video of it.

It was great to spend the time alone. I just wish we went for two nights instead. We are thinking about going back in January for our anniversary and if we do it will definitely be for two nights.

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While we were there, we watched October baby.



What a great movie this is. It was a bit slow to begin with but the twists and surprises as the movie played made it one of the best movies I have ever seen. If you have the oportunity to see it, do it. You will  not be disappointed. 

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Our local pool opened a couple of weeks ago. Tonight I took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph for the first time.  

Joseph loved the pool again. It took him a bit longer to get in than it did last year. He seems to dislike the cold a bit more this year but still had lots of fun. He really enjoyed splashing me too. 

Joseph's new glasses.

Today we got these glasses for Joseph. They are Mira-Flex brand. Mira-Flex are designed especially for young children. I hope we can keep these one's on a bit better than the last pair.
He has kept them on most of the time today so we are hopeful.

Catching up.

So for the last two days, I have read lots of blogs and caught up on news in general. I have read everything in my reader for the last couple of days and left a few comments too.

When I decided to cut back blogging to three times a week, I decided that I would try and find the time to reply to all the comments that were left here. It was something I saw Vicky, Sue and Victor all do and liked that they took the time to reply. I keep on missing replies though. I am hoping that will be one thing that will change now that I have a tablet and internet is much faster and accessible.

Tom's confirmation was a lovely night. Daniel, my mum and Daniel's girlfriend Cassie all came down on the Thursday and stayed until the Sunday. On Saturday, Tom's God parents came as well. I managed to sew Tom's pants and most of his shirt but we had a disaster with the sleeve. I was having trouble getting button holes in the cuff so after unpicking two bad button holes, I decided to put some studs in. I put the first one in the wrong way and realised straight away. I knew we wouldn't be able to fix it in time so we went to Target and got him a new shirt to wear instead. I still don't really know how to get the press stud out so think I will cut a new cuff and remove the other one. I will hopefully get it done during the holidays. My dress was really easy and I managed to finish it off while I was waiting for Daniel, Cassie and Mum to arrive. Photos will come soon. 


Joseph had the botox injections a week ago today. The Rehab specialist said it would take about a week for us to notice much difference. I took him for a physio session the next day and we could already see a marked change. I am really confident now that this treatment was just right for him and that we are going to see improvements in his walking and stance. 


Tomorrow is the last day of term 2 and we have two weeks of holidays. I am looking forward to having time with everyone. Daniel will be coming during the middle weekend and we have a few outings planned. 


Therese. 

Botox tomorrow.

This is Joseph's leg. See how he kinks his knee right back?
Tomorrow we will go to Adelaide and Joseph will have botox injections into his leg. This will paralysis his strong muscle so that he is forced to use his weak one.
I wanted to get this photo to see if we can notice a difference down the track with his leg.

What has happened at our house in May?

Life has been busy busy busy during May for us and I have been reliant on my diary more so than any other time in my life. June is shaping up to be just as busy but I am feeling pretty confident with my diary usage been much better than it has been at any other time, that it will be manageable.

In May, Amelia turned 11. We had a Saturday afternoon party. She had about 10 friends over. It was a great afternoon.

Brigette also had a birthday. She turned 15. She decided she didn't want to have a party this year because she wants to have a 16th. I hope she doesn't want anything too big.

Joseph has been doing lots of therapy for his leg. We had a trip to Adelaide for him to see the Rehab specialist. Joseph is going to have botox treatment for his left hemiplegia in June. We are having another block of physio with a couple of physio students this month on Fridays.

Christopher has also started speech therapy. There is still a lot of sounds that he doesn't seem to be able to say clearly. At the sessions, it is really obvious that he is progressing well but I still have to remind him often at home when he doesn't say words correctly. If he has a second shot at them, he can usually say them very well.

I have meet a couple of home school families in Port Augusta. We have started to get together fortnightly for the children to socialise and the mums to have a chat. It is great to have some other families here for support. Sometimes home schooling can seem like you are all alone in the world so this group has been a gift from God for me.

Thanks for visiting.

Therese.

Joseph's new overalls.

He made it hard to get a good shot with all the running around so I took one while he slept.

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph in new bed.

He looks naked but I'd does have a nappy on.

Smart Martha Monday.

On my list last week, I had to pray the Stations of the Cross each day and to trace some patterns for winter.

I prayed the Stations of the Cross every morning up till Friday

I have traced this kwik sew pattern for Joseph. Going to make him a few denim pairs and if I get the time, may try to get one sewn in corduroy for mass.

I want to get this pattern for him too to go under the corduroy overalls:

 On my list this week, I am going to prepare Christopher's home school program for term two and cut out Joseph's denim overalls. I really hope I will be able to get them sewn too but I don't want to put it on my list incase I run out of time.

I hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

Feast of St Joseph

I was actually going to post about Joseph's feast day yesterday but was way too tired last night so I have left it till now.

On Monday, it was the Feast of St. Joseph. St. Joseph has been one of my favourite saints to go to for prayers. I am always asking him to pray for us. I believe it was through his intercession that we found our house and Steve got his job here.

I think every time I was pregnant, I suggested Joseph for a boy. When  I was pregnant with Joseph and we found out he was a boy, I said straight away to Steve that I wanted to call him Joseph Benedict. I kept on calling him Joseph all through the pregnancy and was pretty confident that by the end of it, Steve would agree.

When my waters broke and we were driving to the hospital, Steve said, he wanted to have James for the middle name. I said that was fine. I just wanted my Joseph.

So for Joseph's feast day, we started with Mass. There was morning tea after and then on Monday night, Fr. Paul came around for tea. I baked Vanilla and Cream Cheese Pound Cakes for the feast. It was a great day.

Happy Feast day Joseph.

Wordless Wednesday

I got a CD with photos of Christopher and Joseph from the play group we went to last year this weekend. I love the picture of Joseph. He really loves riding bikes.

Swing time.

Tonight we are without power so I decided to post this video from my phone. I love this one of Christopher and Joseph.

At the foreshore.

This tree has been cut down into a chair. Today was the first time we have been at the foreshore since it was finished so Christopher and Joseph had to have a seat and try it out.

Push UPS.

Steve has been doing push-ups every night. Tonight Joseph thought it would be good for Steve to do them with a bit of extra weight.

Happy Birthday Joseph

2 years old today.

Here is the post that I announced he was on his way.

Here is the post Steve did when Joseph was born.

First Birthday celebration and some cute photos and a video from his first birthday.


Happy Birthday Joseph.