A year in review part one.

January. 

On the first of January, Daniel turned 21. He was in Vietnam so we didn't get to celebrate with him till he was back in March. We had a family party at my mothers place just after he got back. 

 Just 3 days after Daniel's birthday, Amelia was diagnosed with type one diabetes. We had three children in the house with it now. Having two children diagnosed before Amelia meant that I knew exactly how to look after her but still, it was a big struggle to look after three children with this disease. 

Tom turned 13 on the 14th of January. He got his first mobile phone and a remote control helicopter. He started high school a couple of weeks after his birthday and has matured quite a bit over the year

Christopher went of to school for the first time this year at the end of January. I thought he was ready for it after being home schooled for reception and year 1. He adjusted really well and proved to be a very organised student over the year. I did check his diabetes bag and school bag each day but it was rare for him to leave something out. 

February. 

Joseph celebrated his 3 birthday in February. He has grown up so much. 

Here he is with his new basketball ring. He has had many enjoyable hours playing with it. 

10 days later Christopher turned 8. All our children seem to be growing too fast. We have so many birthdays to celebrate each year and sometimes I find myself wondering where all the years go. 

February was the start of lent too and and the resignation of Pope Benedict. I was greatly saddened at his resignation but trusted that he was being guided by the Holy Spirit. 

March. 

At the beginning of March, we picked up our new Dualis. We got it just in time to take the children to Adelaide for a check up with their Endocrinologist. The Dualis has served us well over the year and has been my favourite car to drive. 

On the 13th of March, Pope Francis was presented to the church. We had a new pope. It took only two days for the Cardinals to elect him. I think this shows their unity and faithfulness to God. 

Madeline celebrated her 18th birthday on the 29th of March. (Good Friday). Just before her 18th, she decided to leave school and work full time at Hungry Jacks. She applied to study fashion design at Adelaide TAFE and started saving money for her move to Adelaide. 

April. 

In April, Madeline and Brigette had the holiday of a lifetime. They flew the Singapore and spent 8 days with my sister and her family. It was a great experience for them both. 

Steve and I also had a weekend away. Because we knew Sam and Madeline would be moving out in July, we thought it would be our last chance to get away and leave our younger children with the older ones in charge. We went to Claire Country Club and had a great time alone. 

May. 

Amelia and Brigette turned 12 and 16 in May.  Amelia had a party with friends at Hungry Jacks and Brigette went out to the movies with a group of her friends. 

Brigette went for her Learners permit and passed. She has been driving our Carolla around and will go for her P's in May 2014 I think. 

June. 

June was the last month that Sam and Madeline were to live with us. They applied to rent a place with Daniel, close to Flinders Uni. It was another milestone in our lives but I was glad they were leaving and pursuing their dreams. 

2013

It is the start of a new year and we are all making new resolutions and hoping that 2013 will be a great year for us all.

Today is also Daniel's 21st birthday. He was born at 5.50 in the afternoon. Because he was born on new years day, a lot of people ask me if he was the first baby born for the year. Being born so late in the day though, I think he probably didn't even make it into the first ten babies born. Happy Birthday Daniel. We are really proud of the young man you have become. 

So back to new years resolutions. Over the last couple of years, I have picked out a word that I want to be my word for the year. :Last year I chose simplicity and the year before hope.

Both last year and the year before, I didn't spend as much time really reflecting on either of my words. I find with a lot of things that I make some choice (like a word for the year) and it is front and centre for a few days in my life and then it takes a back seat. This is pretty typical for me. Any kind of new routine or discipline usually lasts for a few days and then becomes less of a commitment the longer I do it. With this in mind, I have decided my word for this year is to be consistency. 

I want to be consistent with prayer, the different therapies my children need and my day. I want to do everything I need to with consistency and regularly. 

I am looking forward to the new year with all the changes we have made. I know that only 18 months ago, I was totally overwhelmed with all that I had on. Last year wasn't as overwhelming but still pretty full on. This year I am really hopeful that I we will have a nice balance with all the different activities we have on. 

I hope 2013 will be a good year for us and for you.

Therese. 

A word for this year.

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.

New years resolution.

I have been thinking about new years resolutions for a few days here. Being in holiday mode really doesn't help me feel too motivated to make one. I am just enjoying so much sitting around and doing what I want for a lot of the day. I love having the break from home school and just spending time with our children doing fun activities.

I was thinking the other day that there are many things I would like to happen in 2011 but there is nothing I can do to bring them about.

Things like a cure for type one diabetes. I would just love there to be a cure but it isn't something I can do myself. I can support research that looks promising and pray for one but the cure really is out of my hands.

Thinking along these lines, I decided that maybe instead of writing a list of things I want myself to do this year, maybe it would be good to have a list of what I hope will happen. So these are the things I hope for in 2011:

1) A cure for type 1 diabetes.

2) People that support abortion will see the evil that it is.

3) To become closer to God through prayer, reading the bible, attending mass and reconciliation.

4) To spend more time playing with my children.

Do you have any hopes for the new year?

2009 in Pictures.

January 2009

Happy Birthday Daniel.

Happy Birthday Tom.


February 2009:

Happy Birthday Christopher.


March 2009
Happy Birthday Madeline.

April 2009

Burnt Hand on Easter weekend.

May 2009

Happy Birthday Amelia.

Happy Birthday Brigette.

June 2009

First Communion for Tom.

July 2009

Bathroom Finished.

Pregnancy announced.

August 2009


Thinking about our family room/home school room.

September 2009


Half way through pregnancy.

October:

Happy Birthday Sam.


November 2009

RIP Dad.



December 2009

Brigette's sewing for friends.

Happy New Year.

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

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

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

I will get Steve to take a belly shot soon.

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



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

Do you make New Years Resolutions?

Last year I had a couple of new years resolutions.

My first was to cut back on our spending. I decided that cooking ahead once a month and having meals prepared was a good way to do this. It was successful and looking at our budget from 2008 and comparing it to 2007 I have made my goal.

I also wanted to get serious with running a budget and knowing exactly how much money we have spent and how much we have left each pay. I was also successful at this and we are much better off finacially than we were at the end of 2007.

My other goal was to declutter a room a month. I started with decluttering the children's clothes. I did this to a degree but not fully and no main room has been started. I think when I make a resolution like this I have in the back of my mind that I will be able to do it later and it just never gets done.

So my commitment this year is to stick with this. I have written out a list and assigned a main room a month to decluttering. I have also bought a note book. In the notebook I have written a couple of goals for the year and things I want to change. I am going to write in this book each night and reflect on what I did to meet these goals. I am hoping by writing down what I have done or neglected to do that I can motivate myself to do something now rather than wait till tomorrow.

What are your new year resolutions?

Therese

Happy New Year.

May God bless you all abundantly in 2008. I look forward to reading all your blogs and writing here.

Any New Years resolutions out there?

God bless

Therese