Weekend Wrap up.

It was Wharfest weekend in Port Augusta this weekend. On Saturday the show rides, show bags and variety stalls all set up along our local Foreshore. Steve and I took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph down there just before lunchtime. 

We walked along the wharf down to the show rides first (the children's main attraction). Joseph was a bit overwhelmed by all the people and the loud noises coming from all the rides but still decided to go on the teacup merry go round. Tom, Amelia and Christopher all went together on the Hurricane. \

Tom and Amelia also went on the Kamikaze. 

Christopher and Joseph went in the fun house. (sorry, I cannot find a video of this one). 

Today was the 130th Anniversary since the laying of the foundation stone for our original parish church. Our Bishop, Bishop O'Kelly came to say mass and we had a lunch after. 

We also had the blessing of our new St. Joseph statue. Our Joseph was one of the people to unveil the statue. It was a great celebration and we all had a lot of fun. 

Daniel is back safely from WYD, He really enjoyed his time away. We also welcomed back our Parish Priest this weekend from WYD. 

It is two weeks since Madeline and Sam left for Adelaide. We notice they are gone but we are enjoying not being so busy and having quieter days. 

Therese. 

Weekend Wrap up.

Well another weekend has just about finished. Pretty soon, it will be time to get the children to do their evening chores and prepare for school tomorrow.

Friday Christopher was home sick. This isn't a part of our weekend but because he was here, I wasn't able to get food shopping done. This meant that I had to do it on Saturday. I originally planned to go the shops straight after mass and adoration but didn't get a shopping list done so didn't.

Amelia is turning 12 on Wednesday and we had a party for her yesterday at Hungry Jacks. It was great to leave all the mess behind when the party was over.

Steve and I did food shopping in the afternoon after the party and then we cooked tea. Saturday night Steve and I watched the last episode of Downton Abbey, season 1. I have ordered season 2 but it probably won't be here till the end of the week. I guess it is time for me to get on to some Poirot until season 2 gets here. I really loved Downton and am looking forward to watching the other seasons.

In May we are having the rosary before Mass on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Steve and I are going to be helping out with leading the rosary so we are going to be going on Sundays for this month. We usually go on Saturday night so that we can have a family day in on Sunday. It is the one day each week that I know I have nothing I have to do. For this month though, we will go on Sunday morning. It still we be a bit of a family day but our mornings will be full.

I  hope you all had a good weekend.

Therese.

The end of the weekend.

Spring has sprung here and the weekend has been great. Steve and I went for a walk yesterday and today. We are going to be walking in two weeks in the City to Bay run/walk. We are doing the 6km walk with Brigette and Daniel is running the 12km. I am pretty confident we will be able to walk the 6 km in one hour.

This week is going to be pretty busy. Tomorrow morning Joseph has his final physio session for a while. They give the children a break so that they still enjoy coming along. On Tuesday, Christopher will have speech therapy and then on Wednesday I am taking Tom to Adelaide to get his new pump.

This weekend is our oamc. I want to get a post up here for Nancy since she is going to start doing this for her family. 

Now that we are in spring and summer is not far away, I am going to start doing some different meals. In winter we have a lot of crock pot meals and soups. In summer, I tend to do salads and meals that don't need a lot of heating and make the house hot.

These are the meals I have decided so far are going to be on our list this month:

Teriyaki Chicken noodle salad.

Singapore noodles.

Moroccan meatballs.

Chicken Fried Rice.

Tuna Patties.

I will choose another 5 later this week.

So the weekend is just about finished. I will roll our fruit buns out soon and then head to bed. I hope you all have a great week. I will probably be scarce on blogging since the week is going to be so busy.

Weekend wrap up.

We are now halfway through the holidays and we are having a great time. Saturday morning Tom, Amelia and Joseph  came to mass with us and straight after, Amelia, Joseph and I went shopping and Steve and Tom went and did some work for St. Vinnies. I spent the day preparing meals for the week. We had a visit from some friends from Adelaide in the afternoon. They came to Saturday vigil mass with us. After mass,  Steve and i went to a friends 50th birthday party. It was nice to get out on our own.
Today we had the morning at home.  In the afternoon, Steve, Brigette and I went to a talk on human trafficking. It was quite eye opening to hear about how people are abused and manipulated into being slaves to others. I didn't realize this is happening in Australia but it is.
Here is a photo I snapped today that I wanted to share. This is one of the things I love about having 8 children. My older children help out a lot with the younger ones and it makes life much easier.

Weekend Wrap up.

We have had a busy weekend here. Friday night, the children were invited to a birthday party so since they were gone from 6.00 till 8.00, Steve and I went out for tea. We went to the Golden Pearl Chinese Restaurant. I had garlic prawn, Steve had beef curry and we shared a large special fried rice. The food was great and we enjoyed our time alone. 

Saturday, I took Madeline, Brigette and Tom to Whyalla to get fabric for Tom's confirmation. I will post photos when all the sewing is done. For now, I have the patterns to share that I will be making for Tom and I. 

Tom's shirt: Kwik sew 2974. I have a red, white and black check and we will do the long sleeve one. 

Tom's pants: Kwik sew 2544. I have black corduroy for this. I will do view b. 

Tom's jacket: Kwik sew 3136. This will also be done in black corduroy. 

My dress: kwik sew 3559. I will make it a bit longer than they have it in this though. I have white velvet for it :

Today I have been busy getting patterns traced ready for cutting out. I have two weeks to get these all done. 

I also bought fabric to make Christopher and Joseph shirts but I really doubt I will be able to get them done by Tom's confirmation.  Maybe by the end of June I can have theirs done. 

I hope you all had a great weekend. 

Therese. 

Weekend Wrap Up with the Triduum.

Alleluia. Jesus has indeed risen. 

We have had a wonderful and holy Triduum. 

Thursday night, Steve and I went to Holy Thursday Mass. We took Tom with us but the other children stayed home. Tom processed in with the Chrism oil since he is going to be confirmed this year. 

After mass, I took Tom home and then went back to the church for Adoration. I stayed until 11.00 and it was great to sit in the quiet and be with Jesus. 

Friday morning we were up for Stations of the Cross at 10.00 and then back for the 3.00 service. Catholic's do not celebrate mass on Good Friday. We have the readings, veneration of the cross and communion. The hosts are consecrated at Holy Thursday mass. 

I spent Saturday doing house work and cooking. We made coconut ice and chocolate crackles. 

Today we went to Sunday mass and celebrated the Resurrection. Tom and I did some more cooking in the afternoon and made some pound cakes for the Asylum seekers that are living here in Port Augusta. 

We have two weeks of holidays now and I am looking forward to having some relaxation time. 

I hope you all had a great weekend. 

Therese. 

Weekend Wrap up.

This weekend daylight savings finished so today we had a bit of a sleep in. It was a good weekend to have it. The weather was perfect. It was nice and sunny and not too hot so I got a lot of washing done.

Last night we had a birthday party for Madeline. The day was spent getting ready and doing shopping. Because we had the party, we went to Sunday mass. We usually go on Saturday night so it was a bit of a change to our weekend to go this morning.

This weekend was also 11 years since we started living with type one diabetes. It is time for us to give a donation again to The Faustman Lab to help them in finding a cure for this. Over this week,

There is a lot of differences between type 1 diabetes and type 2.

This link has a lot of information on the differences.

I am hoping to get some posts up this week on the differences and myths that a lot of people believe about diabetes.

This week is Holy Week and the last week of term. I am looking forward to only having 4 days of school and spending extra time at church. I hope you all have a great week.

Therese.

Weekend Wrap Up.

Our weekends during lent have started with Stations of the Cross before mass on Friday nights. It has been great to reflect on what Jesus went through as he was tried and carried his cross through the streets of Jerusalem.

From it I have also been reflecting on how hard it must have been for Mary to stand by and see her son treated so badly. I know as a mother, it is really hard to watch your child suffer. Mary knew that this was why Jesus came into the world but I am know that knowing this, would not have made it any easier.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. Every Saturday, Steve and I start the day with Mass and Adoration at 8.30. I didn't want to get out of bed at first on Saturday morning but I was glad I did after we had been.

Saturday afternoon was busy with menu planning, food shopping and getting the house clean. Saturday night we went to the vigil mass.

Today was another beautiful day. We took Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph to the foreshore to ride their bikes and have a play.

I have started writing up some new household schedules also. I really hate schedules but I also realise they are a tool that are very useful with so many things to get done.

I have done two this weekend. I have written up menu plans with shopping lists and a schedule for Sam to clean both our bathrooms. He tends to leave them both until I tell him that they are both getting into quite a mess. From  now on with a schedule, he will either get them done or receive a pretty hefty fine each week.

I also did a bsl chart for Tom. I really want him to be a bit more independent of me in checking his sugars and giving insulin as needed. We have written up a chart for him  to be ticked off each day that he does what is needed at school and when he is out and about. If he can get 80%, he will get a treat at the end of the week.

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Therese.

Weekend wrap up.

It has been a busy weekend here.

Our children have been dumping all our linen in my storeroom without sorting for such a long time, we couldn't see the floor. I decided yesterday to get in there and clean it out.

I have cleaned out the floor, and cleared out one side of shelves. Over this week, I will go through the other side. It will probably go on my Smart Martha list of things to get done.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Weekend Wrap up.

We had a great weekend here. My mother and Daniel came from Adelaide for a visit. It was great to have them here.

I sewed a couple of tops for my girlfriends daughter so that Daniel could take them back.

Daniel, Sam and Madeline all went to a vocations afternoon at the church yesterday. I think they all thought it was worthwhile.

Last night we all went to mass early so that we could get to reconciliation before. Today I spent a fair bit of time preparing main meals for the month. I made chicken schnitzels and apricot chicken. Tomorrow I will make some spaghetti sauce and meat pie filling.

It was pretty busy here but productive. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Therese.

Weekend Wrap up.

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.

Weekend Wrap up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Therese.

Weekend Wrap up.

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

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

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

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

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

This space is NOT a dumping spot for your things.

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

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

I hope you all had a good weekend too.

Weekend Wrap-up

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

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Weekend Wrap up.

We had a great weekend here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope you all had a great weekend. 

Weekend Wrap up.

 Another big weekend here in our household.


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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Wrap up.

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

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

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

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

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

here is Joseph, our star basket ball chapion. 

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

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

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

I hope you all have a good week. 

Therese. 

weekend Wrap up.

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. 

Weekend Wrap up.

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.

Weekend wrap up

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.