1000 visitors.

Well it seems that if I go away for a couple of days I reach some milestone. This time I have reached 1000 visitors to my site since 26 July. Just over a month. Thanks to all my visitors. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and about our family.

I will be away for a couple of days.

Tonight I will be taking Tom to Adelaide for his appointment with the Endocrinologist. I will be back on Saturday. No updates will be on here until then since I won't have computer access.

God bless
Therese

Well I missed Tasty Tuesday so today is Tasty Thursday.

I promised Blondie that I would post my pizza recipe so here it is.

Ingredients.

2 and a 1/4 Teaspoons of yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar.
2/3 cup of warm water
2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons of Oil.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in hot water and leave till it is creamy. (about 10 minutes). Add the flour and oil. mix together and turn out onto bench. kneed for about 4 minutes adding more flour if it is too wet.

put in lightly oiled container. Roll in oil so that it is covered with oil. Put a damp cloth over it and leave in a warm place till it has doubled in size. (about 45 minutes)

Before rolling out the dough preheat oven onto 475 Fahrenheit (about 220 Celsius)

Roll dough out on a pizza tray and top with your favourite toppings.

Here are a couple of our favourites to put on.

Ham and pineapple.

Cheese, Tomato and basil.

Cream cheese and peperoni

BBQ sauce, mince cooked with bacon and taco seasoning, cheese.

Take a stand for the Catholic Faith.

Australian TV has recently put a new program on TV called californication. This is the email I received about this program.


Hi friends,

Last night (Monday) Channel Ten ran the first episode of a new series called 'Californication' that has been proudly advertised as "the filthiest show on television". Even before it started the ads being run showed the lead actor (David Duchovny) in a Catholic Church being offered and receiving ######## from a nun dressed in full habit while he used his hand to shield the eyes of Jesus on the cross above him. It is a complete mockery of the Catholic faith and disrespect for things holy and decent.

In the episode that ran tonight five explicit sex scenes were packed into one 30 minute episode, including a romp with an under-age girl.

As Christians and as people of good-will we really must stand up against this type of 'entertainment'. It is a mockery of our beliefs (imagine the outcry if they used Muslims instead of Catholics) and it is promoting the over-sexualisation of a society that is already dying in immorality. We have divorce, broken families and addiction to ##########, do we really need more of it? These things continue to happen because we have allowed it to happen. When was the last time you wrote a letter to show your disapproval. I hear so many people complaining that society is going bad, well this is why.

What I am asking is that you write a letter to channel 10 today that voices your disappoval and disgust at such a show and the way it has defamed Christian beliefs. When a network receives a letter they take it to be expressing the views of a number of people so one letter does have great value. All you need to do is write in two paragraphs the show you are referring to and why you object to it. It should only be short for it is the sentiment that is important. Channel 10 does not receive complaints via email but letters sent by email are always not regarded highly anyway. The most noted correspondance is by post (just type it print it and post it - 5 minute job) or if it's easier just fax it off to them. Or even phone and register your complaint. You will find all the details needed for contacting Network Ten here http://ten.com.au/ten/contact_us.html

I have attached the letter I sent today as a bit of a sample if that is a help to you. Remember it is not the length but the fact you are objecting to it.

Please pass this on to as many people as you can. Let's do our best to stop this particular immorality and bashing of Christianity today!

Today Adelaide now had This article asking if Catholics should be objecting to this show. Please go and vote. Take a stand for our Catholic Faith.

Thanks to Louise at Purcell's Chicken Voluntary for pointing out this article.
Therese

For a laugh.

Paramedic Girl posted this and I thought it was so funny I had to share it. Here is her blog. One of my favourites to check out often. Salve Regina

Monday: Mothers rule of life.

I will have a short week again. I am taking Tom to Adelaide on Thursday night and he is seeing his Endocrinologist on Friday and the Diabetes educator about getting his pump. We have a date for the pump. He is booked in for the 12Th of November. Only ten weeks to go.

So shopping is going to have to be done on Thursday instead of Friday and Saturday I won't get back till around lunch time so it will be another busy Saturday. I am determined to be organised though so that the trip will not interrupt our family too much and we will still be able to have a family day on Sunday.

We were looking into getting Tom a transmitter that would read his bsl every 5 minutes. I was going to buy the transmitter when we got the pump but have discovered that the sensors cost $725.00 for 10. One last 3 days so a pack of 10 would last us a month. It is way too much. It was a big disappointment for me to discover that we wouldn't be able to have this. I realize though that we are very blessed living here and having doctors medicine and machines to help with the management. Some children in other countries don't even have regular insulin. Tom has never had to go without insulin. We can always test his bsl and always have insulin too use.

Happy Fathers Day

Today is Fathers day.

The children got Steve a big box of chocolates and the DVD of The God's must be Crazy. This movie is such a good laugh.

We went to confession this morning before Mass. We plan on going the first Saturday/Sunday of the month.

We had sausage rolls, pasties and mini quiches for lunch. We made spiders with soft drink and icecream. We are going to start our family scrapbook this afternoon and take the children to the park.

I still haven't folded the washing so it is building up but I will make it a priority to do after tea tonight.

It is going to be a crazy day.

Yesterday the children had a day of school. I forgot that they were going to be home and invited some friends over for tea. I have also changed my mothers rule and needed to do the shopping yesterday. I got everything done that I had to get done but we didn't do any dishes after tea and the house looks like cyclone Tracey has been through it. I also slept in so now it is 10am and the house looks like we haven't cleaned it for a week.

I am suppose to be having my cooking day today so that we can have a family day tomorrow.

So if you could all pray please. I am sure that my new mothers rule is the way that God wants it to be but it is going to be tough to get everything done today because I just put too much into yesterday.

Thanks
Therese

What Season are you?

You Belong in Spring

Optimistic, lively, and almost always happy with the world... You can truly appreciate the blooming nature of spring. Whether you're planting flowers or dyeing Easter eggs, spring is definitely your season!

What Season Are You?

Go and do the quiz and let me know what season you are.

Why parents drink.

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Dad." With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter. Dear Dad: It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy. In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren. Love, Your Son John

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my center desk drawer. I love you. Please call me when it's safe to come home.

Nice Matters Award.

Thanks so much to Marie and Ginny for passing this award onto me. This is what I found about the nice matters award.

“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award”.

So these are the people I pass this award onto.

1. Judy at A Mothers Love

2. Michelle at Dei Gracia, by the will of God

3. Marilena at Divine Mercy Blog

4. Rachel at Just another day

5. Leah at Lowdenclear

6. Louise at Purcell's Chicken Voluntary

and

7. Christine at More and More Dawson

I wish I could choose all my blog friends but had to stop at 7.

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday. Pumpkin and choc chip muffins

Pumpkin and Choc chip muffins from Michelle.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.
3 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
8 eggs
3 cups pumpkin
1 cup water
6 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups semisweet mini morsels

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400*. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners. (I just PAM it)Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.Fill Muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

These muffins are so delicious. I made 120 mini muffins and they are all gone. I thought I would have enough for the week but I will have to make some more tomorrow.

I thought the fat content would be a bit to high for Tom (our diabetic child) but the dietician said it was fine. The sugar content is a bit high so we will be substituting a cup of choc chips for 1 cup of dates and putting in one cup of splenda and two cups of sugar with the next batch.

Mothers Rule on Monday

Well I had a talk with Steve this morning. We are going to change our weekends around. I think I may have to change food shopping to Friday afternoon rather than leaving it till Saturday. Then I will only have to take Christopher and will not be saying no no no to every other thing the children ask for.

Saturday will be my baking day. I will prepare all the main meals for the weekend and bake muffins, quiches and pasties to go in the lunch boxes for the following week.

Sunday we will walk to Mass. After Mass we will have lunch together and I think we will start playing some games, doing a scrapbook with a page for each family member or going down to the park. We may even have a picnic with another family.

Thanks to those that gave suggestions for making the day a Lords day. Suggestions are still welcome. I would love to hear about how other families spend their Sundays.

The Lords Day.

As a part of my mothers rule of life I have scheduled in a cooking day on Saturday. Each Saturday I cook muffins, mini quiches, lunch for Sunday and tea for Saturday and Sunday night. I have scheduled this in so that we can make Sunday more of a Lords day.

The reality though is it has become a Therese day rather than a Lords day. Most of the housework is organised so that there isn't any major jobs to be done. The only jobs I do are those that are scheduled in every day.

So I want your ideas. We generally go to Mass on Saturday night. I have to tidy the main living areas and our bedroom, fold washing and prepare meals (this usually means heating them up since I have made them the day before).

Do you think we should be doing family activities? Should we just be hanging out like we do now? Should we do some extra prayers as a family?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Therese

Some highlights from our week.

Everyone is over the flu that we had last week. Christopher had it the worse. He finally seemed over it on Thursday.

Last night we went to the school pasta night. It was a fun night.

We got our dates for Tom to go to Adelaide and get his insulin pump. He will be getting it on the 12th of November. This is 11 weeks away. I know it sounds like a long way away but this should make his diabetes much easier to manage and it is good to know when it will be.

The weather is warming up and Steve is going to paint the front of the house today. I will get him to take a before and after photo.

I am going to try some pumpkin and choc chip muffins. I got the recipe from Michele's blog. Tune in Tuesday for the recipe and my children's critic of the recipe. I think it will be good for lunch boxes.

Friday Funnies

Yesterday one of the posters from dcf posted this ebay listing. It is so funny I had to post about it. I can really relate to all the things this mother of 6 says.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http

I have added her blog into my blogroll so be sure to check it out. She has had lots of comments left from this eBay listing. Her blog is Because I said so.

Happy Birthday Aussie Coffee Shop.

It is a year today since the Aussie Coffee Shop first opened it's doors.

So I want to take this oportunity to thank you all for your posts, prayers and support given to me through this blog. I look forward to many more happy years of blogging.

God bless you all
Therese

Wordless Wednesday.

Caption this picture.

Tasty Tuesday. Yummy Chicken Fettucine.

Tonight I cooked Chicken Fettucine for tea. Since everyone told me how yummy it was I thought I would share the recipe.

500 gms chicken.
1 large onion.
3 sticks of celery
1 tin of cream of chicken soup.
1 tin of cream of mushroom soup.
1 tin of light evaporated milk.
1 pack of dried French Onion Soup.
500 gms fettuchine.

Boil water for fettuchine
Spray frying pan with olive oil and cook onion.
Add chicken, celery and French onion soup.
Stir occasionally until chicken is cooked.
Add chicken soup, mushroom soup and evaporated milk. Bring to the boil stirring occasionally.
Cook fettuchine and when tender add to chicken mixture. Serve. A tossed salad would go well with this dish. Next time I will definitely have a salad to go with this.

Serves 8.

Mothers Rule on Mondays.

I have been following a mothers rule of life for about three years now. One thing I have wanted to do is start keeping a journal of things that work well with my rule and things that I know I need to change about it.

My rule this year has gone through many changes. New responsibilities come up regularly and new priorities need to be set.

Over the last 4 weeks of school I have been doing all the things I need to do but I have come to realize how much I rely on Christopher entertaining himself. He is such an independant little boy. If he wasn't in nappies I probably wouldn't see him all day. He would keep himself busy in the backyard and I would go about my own chores inside.

This has been really good but I realize that it needs to change. I should be spending lots of time with Christopher and taking him to do other activities. I think he would like to interact with other children and would also like going to do other things outside the home. With all this in mind I decided today to take Christopher to the park. We went down the slide, on the swings and on the little rocking horse. The rocking horse was a big hit.

He really enjoyed the time alone with me. In less than three years he will be going to school and the oportunities to do these things one on one will be hard to find. I am determined now that a part of my rule needs to include taking Christopher on little outings. I am going to try out the kindy gym on Wednesday and play group around the corner on Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I will spend some time reading with him or doing some crafty activity.

Five Saints for Dinner.

Leah has tagged me back.

"If you could invite your five favourite saints to dinner, what would you serve them to eat, and why?"

First course would be soup.

I would do two different ones. First would be pumpkin soup and second Potato and Leek. I choose these two soups because everyone who tastes them tells me how yummy they are.

Second course Main meal.

Again I would do two dishes. I like to do casseroles when we are entertaining. They can be prepared ahead of time and just reheated on the day.

First main dish would be a Lasagna. I would serve this because there is not many people that I know of that don't like it.

Second dish would be some vegetarian meal because you never know if someone isn't going to eat meat. I woul probably make Tuna Mornay. Easy to make ahead and again something I cook well.

I would also serve potatoes in cream sauce, cooked peas, honey carrots and cheese broccoli.

For dessert I would serve homemade Honeycomb Icecream. This would have to be the yummiest icecream I have ever tasted. I would also make sure that we had plenty and that I was sure to have some left over.

So I tag

All the dcf ladies

Madeline for her first meme

and

Muddy Mama for tagging me first.

You know you're a big family if...

I got this from Confessions of a Hot Carmel Sundae .

...people count the number of your children out loud when you're in public
...people ask, "Are they all yours?"
...you start counting your children when you're out in public
...you have at least three bunk beds set up in your home
...almost everyone you know has less children than you do
...people say, "Wow! How do you manage?"
...people ask you, out of the blue, if you are Mormon or Catholic
....you buy your pots and pans in the restaurant supply store
...supposed "family size" food portions seem awfully small
...you complain, "Doesn't anyone make large dining tables anymore?"
...you outgrow your mini-van
...you've heard "Don't you know what causes that?" more times than you'd care to remember
...you've forgotten what it's like to be alone anywhere else but in the bathroom
...your children never run out of playmates among their siblings
...everything you buy is in bulk
...people ask, "Don't you get overwhelmed?"
...you and your husband can no longer hold each child's hand while crossing the street
...it takes a wonderfully long time to hug and kiss everybody
...one of your children looks wistfully at the newborn and asks you, "Can't you have another baby really soon? I hardly get to hold this one because everybody else is taking turns."
...you realize that few houses are designed with your family in mind
...people ask you if you've ever accidentally left any of your children behind
...life around your family never seems boring or dull
...your tent is the largest one in any campground
...you feel sorry for people with only two children
...you sometimes wonder what on earth mothers with only two children do with all their spare time
...whenever you set your dining table, it looks like it used to look when you were expecting lots of company
...you read a cookbook and joke, "They call these meals? Sounds like a little snack to me."
...your gratitude at the abundance of God's blessing moves you to tears unexpectedly
...you start thinking of yourself as "rich in children"
...you secretly think that life in your family might possibly be a much more joyous adventure than life in smaller families
...you are vastly amused at much modern parenting advice, realizing that it is unnecessary, impossible, impractical, or simply silly to try to apply it in a large family setting
...it seems as if you pack more stuff going on a short trip than some people pack when moving their entire household
...you and your husband laugh, "And to think that when we got married, we wanted only four children!"
...your husband sighs happily, "I've finally got my dream car"
--and it's a used 15- passenger van.

Friday funnies.

Favorite Fruit Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
nuts
bottle of whiskey

Procedure:
Sample the whiskey to check for quality. Take a large bowl. Check the whiskey again. To be sure it is the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again. Make sure the whiskey is still okay. Cry another tup.
Turn off the mixer. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity.
Sift two cups of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whiskey.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find. Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window, check the whiskey again and go to bed.
We hope you enjoy the fruit cake jokes. If you know one please send it to us at info@CoffeeCakes.com. But please remember, our rich buttery fruit cakes are definitely not a joke.

This is one of my favourite jokes.

Wordless Wednesay.

This particular Wednesday won't be wordless though. Often I have trouble thinking about what I should blog about. I have decided that some days should have themes. So the first theme is going to be wordless Wednesday. I will post a photo and if you want to you can put a caption on it.



So here is todays photo:

Prayer Request.

Please pray for my son Tom. He is a diabetic and has the flu. It is always a great worry to us when he has this as he dehydrates so quickly when he cannot keep food down. His bsl go down too so any prayers would be appreciated.

God bless
Therese

A favourite song.

A taste of spring.

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to get out the shorts and t shirts.

The temperature got to 22 (that is 77 for you American people}.

It was so warm that the younger children pulled out the pool and went for a swim. They spent a lot of the day playing outside.

Steve went and bought 6 new fruit trees. We have a pear, cherry, plumcott, nectarine, plum and almond. I cannot wait for them all to fruit. We already have an apricot, peach, two orange trees, a lemon tree and 4 different grape vines.

Steve dug holes in the ground and then ran a watering system to water all the trees. He ran out of parts so he wasn't able to finish it of today.

Here are the trees waiting to be planted.

Other good things to do on a sunny Saturday is mow the lawn (that really looks more like weeds but still looks good once it is mowed):

And put a little two year old in big boy undies. No wet undies today. I wonder if I can get him completely trained now.

large families.

over at Louise's blog I read a post with this article about a large family.

Louise then linked to this. reading room .

I realized after reading these responses that I live an exceptionally sheltered life. I didn't think that people were really that awful. I did say to Louise that on the net many people use hyperbole more than they do in real life but still some of the comments about this family were really shocking. It made me wonder if people are saying simmilar things about Steve and I about our brood (of only 7).

It seems to me that as soon as you are not in the norm of having only two or three children that people think you are

a: sex crazed or

b: crazy.

Many of these people don't realize the good things they are missing out on by limiting their family size. They don't see what happens behind cloesed doors when you have a large family. They don't see the children playing with the two year old and enjoying it. They don't see everyone helping out with the chores so that the family can do something special together. They don't see the children learning to serve each other and then being willing to serve others.

Or maybe the truth of this is that they do realize that they are missing out on things so they feel a need to criticize so that they don't have to say to themselves that they have made a mistake contracepting and sterilizing. I really don't know.

I am just glad that God has given me the insight and grace to go against the popular cultural choices. I am sure the Dungars are too.

Free Catholic Audio mp3's.

this is so great that I wanted to put it as a post as well as in my links. A poster from DCF has put together a blog that has a heap of free audio mp3's to listen too. They can be found here.

http://catholicaudio.blogspot.com/

tagged again.

So Muddy Mama has tagged me. I have to list five reasons I love Jesus. This would have to be one of the hardest meme's going around the web. Why couldn't I get the 8 things you would never guess about me or 5 places you would like to visit and why.

Oh well here goes.

1. I love Jesus because he has died for me.

2> I love Jesus for giving me my husband and children. I also love Jesus because he has given me many online friends and a pretty great extended family irl.

3. I love Jesus because he started the Catholic church.

4. I love Jesus because he gives me grace.

5. I love Jesus because he loves me.

So now I tag Leah, Joakim, Marie and Ginny, Rachi and lilder to give us their 5 reasons they love Jesus.

Just when I had got a nice purple blog.

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Oh Well. I am staying with purple for now. I wonder if I could rig the answers to make it purple or pink even? I am just such a girly girl and blue isn't really a girly girl colour. thanks to Louise at Purcell's Chicken Voluntary for this quiz.

Which Disney princess are you?

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are part Cinderella. You are hard-working and never complain, however, your trust is sometimes misplaced and people sometimes take advantage of you. Still, you are beautiful inside and out, and one day you will realize it and find true love.
	You are part Pocahontas. You defy convention and sometimes do what is considered taboo. Unfortunately, others do not always appreciate your differences, so it's good that you are so strong-willed. You are loyal and you believe in fate. Your true love will find you one day.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Time to start training.

I am going in the city to bay fun run. (I won't be running though). I am going to walk 12 km.

I will take Sam, Madeline, Brigette and Christopher down to Adelaide for the weekend. We will catch up with family and friends on the Saturday and do the walk on the Sunday. I am really looking forward to it. City to Bay fun run

today.

Steve helped with the shopping. Madeline and Brigette folded the washing for me. Steve also cooked lunch and tea, took Amelia to a birthday party and picked her up. I could have just sat down and played all day. But I didn't. I finished of the last set of curtains. After finishing of the lounge dining room ones yesterday I decided to finish of the kitchen ones today. So now I am really finished. (yesterday must have been a practice run post).

Finished at long last.

I just had to post this. I have been working on curtains for the lounge/dining room and kitchen. Tonight I finished of the third set. Only one set left for the double doors in the kitchen. I am glad to have them done. I usually like sewing but I haven't done curtains before and just haven't enjoyed doing them as much as I enjoy doing clothes. I suppose it is because no one gets really excited when they are finished like they do when I finish of a new outfit for them. Oh well. Now I can start some jeans and jackets for Christopher and Tom, and jackets for the girls and me.

Incorrupt bodies of the saints part two.

A favourite recipe.

Here is a recipe for some low fat muffins. This is one I do regularly. On Sunday I made 120 of these muffins and they were all gone by Wednesday.

So here is the recipe.

2 cups of dried fruit (I use mixed fruit, saltanas, dates or apricots).
2 cups of cold water.
2 teaspoons of bicarb soda
2 tblsp margarine
4 cups of self raising flour
2 cups of castor sugar
2 eggs.

Put the dried fruit and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 4 minutes and take of heat. Allow to cool slightly and add bicarb soda and margarine. Sift the flour into the fruit mixture and add the beaten eggs and sugar. Mix to combine. Place in greased muffin trays. I use small muffin trays for this and get about 60-70 muffins from this recipe.

Place in an oven that has been preheated to 180 degrees. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Allow to cool on a cooling tray.

Enjoy. These are really nice warm.

Parent Teacher interviews.

Tonight Steve and I went to the school for parent teacher interviews. We caught up with all the children's teachers except Amelia's as she is away sick this week. We will catch up with her next week. All our children are going well academically and the teachers all seem to be doing a good job educating them. I realized after that I do know a fair bit about what the children are doing. I am aware of the areas that they struggle in and aware of their strengths. All their teachers seem to realize their struggles and strengths too. After having the interviews today I realize that the school needs my support and I need their support in our children's education. I am thankful that we are able to send our children to a Catholic school and that the values we teach at home are being backed up.

Incorrupt bodies of the Saints Part one.

This is God getting our attention I think.

final five.

So tonight finishes of my five things for five nights. I am finishing of with things that I am working on changing about myself. I am working on changing them because they are things I don't like about myself.



1. I need to emerse myself in the sacraments more. Especially confession. I really notice how my daily life suffers as soon as I stop going to daily mass. This week our parish priest is away so we won't have it but when he comes back I am going to make daily mass a high priority.



2. Organisation. To be fair to myself I have changed this a lot since reading A mothers rule of life. It has improved but it can improve more. The road to hell is paved with good intentions so I am working on doing rather than thinking about doing.



3. My childrens school learning. I need to be a bit more attentive to listening to them and talking with them about what they are learning at school and what is going on with their friends at school.



4. spend less time on computer and more time in prayer. I get caught up in reading threads at dcf or other peoples blogs. Instead of spending a hour on I spend two. My big temptation time is in the afternoon while Christopher naps (or watches a dvd). My mrol has to spend a hour on computer, pray the rosary and then do some sewing or cooking. Most afternoons I end up spending time here and usually get tea organised but I haven't prayed the rosary for a long time.



5. Spend more time with Christopher. Because he is such an independant little boy I tend to let him do his own thing. I don't really take him out or spend time playing with him while the other children are at school. The other day after speaking with Steve about it I decided to sit down and read a couple of books with him. He really enjoyed it. Today he bought me a book while I was on computer and I said later to him. Needless to say we didn't read it later.



So anything you people are working on changing about yourself?

five things I like about myself.

So onto number 4 of my five things for five nights. Tonight I will share the things I like about myself. Tomorrow I will share the things that I am working on changing about myself and finish of my five things.

1. Being a mother. I am very thankful that I have been blessed with all my children.

2. Being a Catholic. My faith is such a gift from God. I am eternally grateful for knowing and serving God.

3. My talents: Reading, sewing, mothering, etc.

4. Friendly.

5. generous.

So what are the things you like about yourself?

Saginaw Seminarians: NFP vs. Contraception III

Saginaw Seminarians: NFP vs. Contraception III

These seminarians have done three videos on nfp vs. Contraception. Well done guys.

Why I am Catholic.

This is my favourite video from you tube. I love the song and all the reasons I am Catholic are in this. This video was made by Katerina at Evangelical Catholicism. The link to their blog is in my links.

Five least favourite things to do. (or things I hate doing)

1. Washing. I hate washing clothes. It is the one job that I put of if something cannot get done.

2. Cleaning the bathroom. (no explaination needed).

3. long distance travel. I don't like sitting in a car for a trip. If a trip is any longer than 3 to 3.5 hours I just don't like it.

4. Getting out of bed. I am definitely a night owl. Because I stay up late I often find it hard to get up the next morning.

5. Going out (especially in winter). I just like staying home. I use to be a real social butterfly but now I like staying home more. I love the weekends when I don't have to be at any place at any particular time (except for mass).

What do you hate doing?

five favourite things to do.

1. Go on the internet. I like spending time here at blogger and at dcf. I also like browsing eBay for bargains.

2. Sewing. I love sewing clothes. Because I can sew I also do curtains and other things for the house but I really don't enjoy it as much as I do sewing clothes. I have the fabric to make the children quilts too but haven't really got the confidence to start doing that yet. I will start with a small one for Christopher and see how that goes.

3. Reading. My favourite genre is mystery. My favourite authors are Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark.

4. Going out for coffee with Steve. I love going out with just Steve. We can do it much more now that Daniel is old enough to babysit for free so we are trying to go each fortnight.

5. Bed. I love getting into a nice warm bed with a book or magazine (particularly in winter). At the moment I subscribe to two craft magazines and these are what I get into bed with lately.

Tell me your favourite five things to do.

five things for five days.

Every night (or day, whenever I get the chance) for the next five days I will post 5 things about myself. Tonight I am posting my favourite five things to eat.

Favourite 5 things to eat.

1 Pizza. At the moment we are eating a lot of pizza. I got a recipe for a dough that is really easy and I have been making that and copying the pizza shops toppings. Because I am making the pizza I put heaps more topping on and they are yummy.

2. Chocolate. I don't think this needs any explaination. Who doesn't like Chocolate? Steve and I usually have some secret stash of chocolate that the children don't know about.

3. Licorice. I really like soft licorice. I also like chocolate bullets (chocolate covered licorice).

4. Spaghetti Boglanaise. Yum. I like this so much that Steve got sick of it in the first year of marriage. (A little secret. I don't think the way we aussies eat spaghetti Boglanaise is the way that it was cooked by the italians).

5. Honeycomb Icecream. This is a kraft recipe. I make it for special occasions only.

Tune in tomorrow for my favourite five things to do.

I would love to hear others favourite five. things to eat.

As promised.

Photos of Christopher with his new haircut

First hair cut

In my corner of the world life is plodding along. The children have been at school for two days now. I have fallen a little bit behind with the housework but I am quietly confident that I will be up to date tomorrow evening.

Christopher had his first hair cut the other day. Here he is before the cut. You will have to wait till tomorrow to see what a good looking boy he is now though because I haven't taken an after shot yet and he is in bed now.

you tube video.

The end of the holidays.

Today Steve went back to work and tomorrow the children return to school. I like the routine that school brings but I do miss having everyone around.

We had a good time in Adelaide. We caught up with family and friends. Tom was sick one day we were there so we had to change our plans that day but the rest of the time was good. Daniel won 1 out of three football games. His team didn't get into the finals which was a bit disappointing but it meant that he was able to come home with us and we didn't have to organise for him to come back on the bus.

I have this video to share too. This is a video that my friend Mark shot on the Monday or Tuesday morning. I am sorry that I wasn't able to upload it here. I still haven't been able to work out how to do this but you can go here and view it. Kids Vs. Milo

the internet is great.

Meeting people over the internet has become my social world. It is great that I can talk with another mother of a large family in the States and can talk with someone that shares the same faith as me in many different countries around the world. It is also good that I can educate myself and know more about the Catholic faith.

Living in Rural Australia is limiting. We don't know any other large Catholic families that live here. But through the internet I can talk with other mothers that have struggles just like me and share the joys that having a big family bring. I also like learning about the church in other places and hearing of some peoples journey into the Catholic faith. It is very encouraging for my faith when I read about God working in other peoples life.

I also like the internet because I am a very shy person. Talking over the internet to a person that I have never meet before is much easier than approaching some new person irl.

So Thanks to all my internet friends for your friendship. Thanks for encouraging me in my faith and for all the prayers you offer for me.

self dicipline.

One of the things many people say to me when they find out I have a lot of children is "you must be so organised". The reality is I am not. I am one of the least organised people on this earth. If I don't have a routine for the day written down many of the things I should do just don't get done.

I read a mothers rule of life a couple of years ago now. I start a new rule each year generally and review it around the middle of the year. I reviewed it recently and changed it because of family needs changing. Since implementing the rule and trying to follow it I have found that my disorganisation is really about my lack of self dicipline. It is also because I want to do what I like rather than what I should. I have to pray often, "Lord give me the grace to do what I should rather than what I want".

I realize how important it is that we run a routine here. As soon as we don't the dog and cat go hungry, the house looks like cyclone tracey has been through and I don't know where anything is. So again I resolve yes I will write up what needs to be done each day and I will do it.

wow. Download patterns.

I have spent a big chunck of my day looking for a pattern for a jacket. It is a year since we have moved and still some of my sewing gear is packed up. Anyway I didn't find the pattern I have been looking for.



I came online earlier and decided to look for a pattern and order one on Monday and have it sent to me.

I came across download sewing patterns. I found a pattern that is just like I wanted so bought it and downloaded it. I am really excited. Tomorrow I will print it of and start sewing. Maybe I will even get Steve to take a photo of me in it and post it on here.

The jacket I am making can be seen here It is the the first pattern in the third row. (hooded jacket).

School Holidays.

Only two days of school left and the children and Steve will have two weeks of. I am looking forward to having them around a bit. In the first week we will just hang around home. Hopefully we will get to daily mass regularly. In the second week we are going to Adelaide. Daniel is playing football and we will get our car door fixed up.

View From The Pews: Fat Rant#links

View From The Pews: Fat Rant#links

Great video about being fat.

little chickens.

Today some of our neighbours gave us 4 baby chickens and their mother. The chickens are really cute. We will try and get some photo's tomorrow and get them on the blog. I am so excited that we are going to have our own fresh eggs.

Great Weekend.

This weekend Brigette received her first Holy Comunion. It was a lovely weekend. We had my mother in law, father in law, mother and Brigette's Godparents come up and stay with us.

It was a lovely weekend. We had the mass on Saturday night and had a luncheon on Sunday with all our visitors and friends from the parish too. It was a lovely weekend. The photos didn't turn out very well but I have posted one of Brigette with the other First communion children and our parish priest. Hopefully I will have another one to post later in the week.

Brigette is the girl in the pink and white dress for all those that don't know her.

View From The Pews: Pointers for Life

View From The Pews: Pointers for Life

great points for living your daily life. Thanks Ginny for this post.

A week to go.

Next Saturday night Brigette will receive her first Eucharist with other children from her class.

Please pray for all these children.

It will be a very nice weekend. My mother and Steve's parents are coming up. We will also have Brigette's Godparents coming to stay so we will have a full house (which should be warm too with all those people Marie).

I will be sure to post some pictures the week after.

Congratulations Catholic Ponderer

Welcome to the family.

For those of you that don't know, yesterday Joakim was received into full communion with the church. Thanks for sharing your faith journey with us and I pray that God will bless you abundantly in the future. Catholic Ponderer

Go to his link to congratulate him and welcome him into our Catholic Family.

Yesterday.

Was the first day of my new mothers rule. I was late getting to school to pick the children up because I was looking at different Catholic blogs. (oops).

Catholic Blog Directory

I came across this yesterday and added this coffee shop.

Check out all the Catholic blogs or add your own at: Catholic Blog Directory

Patron Saint for a year

Seminarian Matthew Has a post about a patron saint for the year. Even though it is half way through the year I have asked him to send me my saint. Go and check out his post and grab yourself a saint for the year. (or at least for the rest of the year).

Many great blessings to peach.

I nearly forgot. My on line friend peach (Leslie) was getting married this weekend. By now she and Joe would be husband and wife.

So many blessings to you and Joe peach.

Check out her blog This here blog

long weekend

Today we have a public holiday to celebrate the queens birthday. It is nice to have an extra day of. I have been trying to limit my time on line and get the house a bit more organised for my new mothers rule which will be starting this week.

My big fall down with my rule is spending too much time on computer and not been able to give myself enough prayer time and having to do jobs quickly so they tend to not to be done to the best of my ability. So I am starting anew and trying to turn over a new leaf.

I am taking a week of dcf too while I get things more organised. I realized on Saturday that one particular thread was totally consuming me. When I wasn't online I was thinking about it and what I had written. I was also thinking about what others had written. A lot of the comments in this thread upset me and I was surprised at some peoples responses. This had an affect on my interaction with the family. I realized that I just had to let it all go and forget about the whole thread. The only way for me to do this is to stay away for a little while and not go back to the thread.

I realize that these disagreements are never one pesons fault so I want to take this oppotunity to apologize to any people that I hurt with any of my comments in the thread.

God bless
Therese

Just saying Hi.

So I am in a mood for writing. (Well actually I am just sick of housework so wanted to do something different) but I cannot think of anything to blog about. LIfe is just plodding along. We are preparing for Brigette's First communion and having visitors. Steve's parents and my mother is coming to stay for the weekend and so are Brigette's Godparents with their youngest child. I am also getting a new mothers rule of life routine worked out because Tom's insulin regime is about to change and he will be needing injections every lunch time and I will have to go and give them to him which will mean a trip to school every lunch time.

This weekend is a long weekend. We will have Monday of to celebrate the Queens birthday. I am going to take the girls out for a girls day in Whyalla. We will do some shopping and have lunch on the Saturday.

I have a couple of photos to share too. Sam borrowed a mask from a friend of his to take on his school camp and do a play. The children all had fun having photos taken with it on. Here is Tom and Sam with it on.

And here is Christopher. Can you see the family resemblence? Three out of four boys all have read eyes and purple hair lol.

Anyway for a girl that cannot think of anything to say I seem to have got a fairly long post. So HI and bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end of a week.

It is the first Friday today. We went to Mass. I am going to try and remember to go on the first Friday for the next nine months and do a special novena for our family.

Today we also had some good news. Our third son Tom is an insulin dependent diabetic and he is going onto a waiting list to get an insulin pump. The diabetes educator that spoke with me about the posibility of Tom getting one of these has one himself and he says he wears his pancreas on his belt. An insulin pump means that Tom will receive his insulin more like a person that doesn't have diabetes. This will mean that we won't have to be as strict about eating at exactly the right times and the amount he will have to eat. He should get his pump around November. Between now and then we are also going to change his regime so that it is similar to the regime he will be on when he goes on the pump.

meme from Joakim.

As mentioned I have been tagged by my good friend Joakim to write about

1. Three non fiction books everyone should read.


2. Three fiction books everyone should read


3. three authors everyone should read


4. three books no one should read.

So here they are.

Three non fiction books everyone should read.

1. The Bible. As one of the saints said: To be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ.


2. Life Giving Love. Maybe not everyone should read this but I think every women that is either married or preparing to get married should.


3. Story of a Soul. This book was so good I read it in a couple of days. I then made myself read it again more slowly and really pray through it. It really changed the way I looked at suffering and helped me to look at life with an eternal perspective.

Three Fiction books everyone should read.

1. The big Four by Agatha Christie. I am a real mystery buff. I love mystery stories and movies. This book though stands out as one of the best I have ever read by Agatha Christie.


2. The Trixie Belden series. Ok not a single book but a great series. This series is the first series I ever read and it was also a turning point for me as far as reading was concerned. I wasn't really interseted in reading before I read these. I remember saying to my younger sister what will we read when we have read all the Trixie Belden books and being a sister she said well you know Trixie Belden books are not the only books in the world. She was right but at that stage I wasn't interested in reading other books.


3. Graham Crackers, Galoshes and God by Bernadette McCarver Snyder. This book may not be considered non fiction. Bernadettes tells little stories from her life and then finishes of with a little prayer. It was a quick read and really uplifting.

Three Authors everyone should read.

1. Agatha Christie. One of the greatest authors imo.


2. Mary Higgins Clark. I really enjoy her books too although once you have read a few you can usually pick who is the villian.


3. Wilbur Smith. I have enjoyed every book I have read of his.

Three books no one should read.

1. The Viginia Andrew's Flower's in the Attic series. I am ashamed to admit I enjoyed this series when I first read it. But since my reversion back to Catholicism I can see that many things that are wrong are potrayed as good.
2. The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Not really bad but I thought it was way overrated. I made myself read the series thinking it must get better but never did. I think I read all four books. The last book I gave up about three quarters of the way through.
3. I cannot think of a third book that no one can read. But you see if there is a book that no one should read, I don't usually finish it so I cannot add anything else to this meme.
   
   So now I tag viking and Racheal. Looking forward to seeing your three.

meme from lowdenclear.

my 10 favourite movies:

1. The sound of Music
2. A wonderful life.
3. Fidler on the roof.
4. Barbie's the Princess and the Pauper (I really love the music in this).
5. Beaches
6. My big fat greek wedding.
7. shrek
8. Toy story one and two.
9. crocodile dundee
10. monsters inc.

21 words to describe myself.

1. Catholic
2. Mother
3. Wife
4. Daughter
5. sister
6. friend
7. House manager
8. financial manager
9. sewer
10. knitter
11. cook
12. chaeuffeur
13. friendly
14. cheerful
15. procrastinator
16. dishwasher
17. judge
18. feminine
19. adventurous
20. helper
21. try anything.

So I now tag Judy and Ellie to tell us your 10 favourite movies and 21 words to describe yourselves.

I just discovered that Mrs. E has already tagged Judy and Ellie so I will now tag Christine and Dawn to tell us about theirselves.

Tagged Twice.

A huge shock emoticon would go here if they had them on blogger. I have been tagged by both lowdenclear and Joakim to write about my 10 favourite movies and 21 words to describe myself and by Joakim to write about three fiction and non fiction books everyone should read, three author's everyone should read and three books that no one should read. Since it is now 11 pm at night and I have had a long day though I am going to leave you all in suspence. I will write my responses tomorrow, time permitting.

Double party, double fun.

Today we headed down to the YMCA to celebrate Amelia's and Brigette's 6th and 10th birthday respectivly. I spent most of the day cooking for the party and then we went over there. They had about 17 guests between the two of them and it was lots of fun.

Amelia and her friends got up on the seats at one stage and sang and did the actions to Sk8er boi with a little help from Madeline.

The big hit for all the children though was swinging on the hanging rings. Here is Tom in action. For the last 15 minutes of the party the children all lined up along the hanging rings and took it in turns to be pushed by Sam. When Sam had pushed them really high everyone started chanting jump jump jump jump and the person would jump down onto the mat under them. Happy Birthday girls. I hope you both had a fun day.

no internet.

Our isp had a problem. It started last Saturday and went until today. We are finally back up and running tonight. I never realized how much I relied on the internet for my everyday needs. I am always looking at recipes, paying bills and chatting with friends at dcf. It is such a big part of my life now. I hope though now that I will have more apreciation for the net and the way it helps us in this modern world.

From Lowdenclears blog.

I really liked this. Lowdenclear wrote it and I wanted to share it. I need to remind myself often that God is in control.

Strong and powerful, yet able to comfort
And hold tenderly. The same hands that
Created the tiny daisies and soaring eagles
Are also able to carry the weight of the world.

The one who has already planned our road ahead
Doesn't expect us to travel on our own.
On the contrary, our lives are in His hands.
Only He is in control of our destiny.

"We place our destiny in the hands of the LORD, not in the hands of men, because His mercy is as great as His majesty." (Sirach 2:18)

zucchini slice.

I made this tonight for tea. It was a big hit with all the children. They all wanted seconds. I would not have had enough if I hadn't doubled the recipe. So for those interested I found this recipe at another blog. I will be adding the website to my favourites so be sure to visit their site. It is called exclusively foods. They have lots of main meal dishes and sweet recipes too.

550g zucchini
1 medium onion,
finely chopped130g bacon (after fat and rind has been removed)
75g (1 cup, lightly packed) grated tasty (cheddar) cheese112g
(3/4 cup) self-raising flour
Salt & pepper
4 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
83ml (1/3 cup) oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees fan forced). Line an 18cm x 28cm baking dish or slice tin with baking paper.Finely chop bacon. Place onion and bacon in a heavy-based pan over medium heat.

Fry for about six minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened but not browned. Set aside to cool.

Wash zucchini, remove ends and finely grate. Squeeze handfuls of grated zucchini over sink to remove excess liquid (this prevents the slice from being too wet).

Combine grated zucchini, cooled onion and bacon mixture, cheese, flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Use a fork to beat eggs and oil together in a small bowl. Add egg and oil mixture to other ingredients and stir to combine.

Pour mixture into baking dish and spread evenly.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until slice is golden brown and firm to the touch.

Store slice in the refrigerator. Suitable to reheat.

Family Rosary.

We prayed the Rosary as a family tonight. Christopher fell asleep in my lap. It is nice to have a quiet house for a change. Usually he is still up at this time running around. I think we will pray the rosary more as a family.

Fun Visit with friends.

Yesterday we went down to Kapunda to see our good friends Larry and Maria and their 5 children. It was really good to see them. I think the last time we saw them was in 2003 so it was good to catch up. The whole family had a ball. Thanks so much Larry and Maria for having us. We hope you will be able to come here sometime and catch up with us.

mmmmmmmmm. Home made bread.

JoAnn put a recipe on her blog for some home made bread. I wanted to try it because it didn't need any kneeding. I am not very good at kneeding. I started it yesterday and have just finished it. It has been a hit. I took some photos of the childen having a try of it.

So here is finished loaf and Christopher enjoying a piece.

Tom also enjoyed taste testing.

It is a nice loaf. I think I will try it again with some basil and cheese. I might even try a loaf with some wholewheat flour. Thanks JoAnn for a easy bread recipe.

some photos from my phone camera

Sam just showed me how to upload photos from my phone camera to the computer. Here a couple that are really cute.

First we have Amelia and Christopher at last years Christmas Padgent party. Every year we have a padgent through the town where lots of different business and community groups put a float together. They drive around the town wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. At the end of the parade Father Christmas comes and waves to all the adults and children. After the padgent we have a party in the town square. All the rides are free and the children can see Father Christmas to tell him what they would like for Christmas. Every child is given a bag of sweets from Father Christmas. The photo of Christopher and Amelia show them on a merry go round. This was Christophers first ride. He loved every minute of it. He laughed and clapped and waved everytime he went past us. I thought he wouldn't want to get off but we didn't have a problem with it. Ever since though everytime he sees a coin operated ride at the shops he wants to get on it.

This next photo is Tom having his first go on my sewing machine during the school holidays. They were all very enthusiastic about learning to sew during the last holidays. Brigette, Tom and Amelia all made a cushion.

Finally, here is a photo of Christopher at the local pool last year. This was a favourite place for us all to go this last summer. Chrsitopher loved this big pool. He would get all excited everytime we said lets go to the pool. Now the pool is closed so he will have to wait till next summer to go again.

ho hum.

Well after the easter holidays and lots of take away I have come up in weight again. I thought I would be around 70 but it is 72kg. I go in cycles. I work really hard at eating well for a couple of weeks. I get down to 68 and then I don't watch what I eat so much. It is frustrating that it takes only half as long to put the weight on as it does to loose it.

So I have a new resolve. I really want to get my fitness up so I am going to do running. One of the girls at dcf did a couch to 5km running programe and I am going to try this one too. Tomorrow is pay day so I will go down and get a good pair of running shoes. I will also buy a stopwatch. So my exercise routine will be walking on Mondays and Thursdays and running on Sunday Tues and Friday. Saturday and Wednesday will be my days of.

As well as the exercise I will be looking at our diet. We really don't eat enough vegetables in this house so I am looking for new ways to eat them that the aren't so bland or plain. Any suggestions most welcome.

I got this in an email.

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle, The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while.His shirt was kind a shabbyand his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head, Then rose and walked away. In the days that followed,each noon time came this chap,each time he knelt just for a moment, A lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister's suspicions grew,with robbery a main fear, He decided to stop the man and ask him, "What are you doing here?" The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time,For finding strength and power. "I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away;as I kneel here talking to the Lord,This is kind a what I say: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY." The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine He told the man he was welcome To come and pray just anytime. Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks."He hurried to the door The minister knelt at the altar, he'd never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY." Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, But he'd given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them, Brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, were his reward. The head nurse couldn't understandwhy Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, Not a visitor he had.
The minister stayed by his bed, He voiced the nurse's concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn. Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He's here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand,Leans over and says to me: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY." If this blesses you, pass it on Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. May God hold you in the palm of His hand and Angels watch over you. But for those of us who are already His, He not only holds us in the palm of His hand, but has engraved our names there, and we are continually in His sight (Isaiah 49:16) Please pass this page on to your friends & loved ones. If you aren't ashamed. Jesus said, " If you are ashamed of me," I will be ashamed of you before my Father." If you are not ashamed, pass this on. But only if you mean it. Yes, I do love God. He is my source of existence and Savior. He keeps me functioning each and everyday. Without Him, I will be nothing Without him, I am nothing but with Him "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me." Phil 4:13 This is too good not to share - So this is me ... Just Checking In

Happy Easter.

My friend Di and her family came to stay with us for Easter. It was nice to have them and return some of their hospitality. Everytime we go to Adelaide they put us up. The Easter ceremonies were very nice. We didn't make it too the stations but listened to them at home. I find it very sobering to reflect on the stations of the cross and to reflect on what both Jesus and Mary went through. The passion of our Lord was also very sobering. The song behold the wood of the cross just about brings me to tears.

Happy Easter too all my friends and visitors to this board. I pray that many graces are yours from the risen Christ.

Therese.

Seeing God in our trials.

Our fifth child Tom is a insulin dependant diabetic. He was diagnosed when he was 14 months old. At the end of that year I wrote an article about it for our parish magazine. I keep on loosing my copy of it so thought if I posted it on here I would have it for a long time. When I wrote the article I really tried to look at what good had come out of the situation. It was hard to find good especially when you feel so down about something but it has been a valuable lesson to me. I think of the words of St. Therese. God doesn't send a trial until we are strong enough to deal with it. We also need to see trials as a compliment. It shows that God thinks we have a strong faith.

Seeing God in our trials.

Our son Tom was diagnosed with diabetes early this year. This was a time of great trial for both Steven and I, but also a time when we were able to see God working miracles in our lives. In January of this year we moved to Millicent from Adelaide. Not long after our move, Tom became sick. At first we thought he had the flu. It wasn’t until he was admitted to hospital that we realized that the problem was more serious. He had become seriously dehydrated even though we had been maintaining his fluids. His body had started to shut down with blood being directed to his vital organs. His hands and feet were blue and always cold.In the hospital they had to establish a drip for Tom to re hydrate and to get some blood to test. As he was so dehydrated they had trouble finding a vein. Tom was in a lot of pain and I felt totally out of control with the situation. Once the drip was in and they had collected some blood, I left Steven with Tom at the hospital and went home to the rest of our family. I went back to the hospital at 3pm. The blood test results were back and we knew that Tom had diabetes. I was told that he would need to go to Adelaide for treatment and that the flying doctors would be taking Tom with a team from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. When the team arrived from Adelaide to retrieve us, they had some test to do before we could leave. I felt both frightened and overwhelmed at all that was going on around me. Most of all I felt totally helpless and unable to do anything to help Tom who was very distressed. Once all the tests had been done we were flown to Adelaide. We arrived at the hospital late in the evening. I was very tired at this stage but still needed to talk to doctors. I wanted to get Tom settled for the night before I went to bed. The doctor on duty came and talked to me about Tom and what symptoms he had had in the lead up to being admitted. She also explained what treatment they would be giving him and what tests they would be doing.The first thing they had to do was establish another drip line to get fluids into him. They were still having trouble finding his veins. I held his arm still while they tried to find a vein and prayed like I have never prayed before. All the while Tom was looking at me and screaming out in agony. I can still remember the way he looked at me and seemed to ask me why I, his protector was helping these people do this. He couldn’t see the whole picture. He could only feel the pain that he was in. He didn’t realize that if they didn’t get a drip into him that he would die. I felt as if I had betrayed his trust. After trying to get the drip in the arm several times and failing they decided to call in another doctor who decided to put the drip into a vein in his head.Tom was kept in intensive care for 48 hours. He was monitored by a nurse at all times and received treatment to bring his sugar levels back to normal. We were then moved onto a ward for the rest of the week. Over that week I received training on how to treat Tom’s diabetes.Through out the week that I was in hospital with Tom, I had a lot of time to both pray and reflect on life. The most important thing God revealed to me was that when we are in pain and it seems like he is not there, he is with us but cannot stop the pain, just as I was unable to stop the pain for Tom. When it feels like God is betraying us, he isn’t, but we cannot see the whole picture, just like Tom couldn’t God also makes these times easier by looking after the little things. It happened that my brother was down for the weekend. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. He was able to look after the other children while Steve and I were at the hospital with Tom. Also Fr John was at the hospital before we left and was able to anoint Tom. As my brother was down for the weekend he was able to take Brigette back to Adelaide so that my parents could look after her. Steven was very supported in Millicent with several people looking after the boys and Madeline and others having them out for tea. After I got home with Tom, people were still bringing around meals and helping out with general household chores.When we have trials in our life, it makes us pause and reflect on the more important things. It also made me realize that I cannot do thing on my own. Steve and I were both very grateful for the support that we received from the parish and school community. We felt very glad that we were a part of it and that people were so willing to help and make the load we had to carry lighter. Tom will have diabetes until they find a cure. This is a big thing for a little boy to live with. Just as Steven and I help him with it, so God does with big things in our life too. Whenever trials come our way it is always easy to see the things that God is not doing. The challenge for us all is to see the things he is doing.

the diet continues.

Just after Christmas I jumped on our scales and was shocked beyond belief to find that my weight had ballooned up to 75.6 kg. Before I got pregnant with Christopher I was 63 Kg. After I delivered him I was around 68/69 kg. When we moved and started eating more take away (because life was so busy with renovations) I went up beyond a weight I never thought I would be. So the shock made me re evaluate my life and my life style.

I have cut back on all junk. I rarely have take away now. I am trying to eat more vegetables and exercise regularly. Yesterday I got onto the scales and found that I have got back to 68 kg. My goal is to be 63 kg by the end of the year so I only have 5 kg to go. Yah for me. It was the encouragement I needed.

Lent

Lent is nearly here.

So I am thinking that I will give up coke zero for lent. I drink it a lot so I am going to drink water instead. I also am going to pray the rosary more. What are your plans for lent?

Big weekend.

Aussie Coffee Shop

On Saturday christopher will be two. I cannot believe how fast he has grown up. We will probably have a cake and a special meal for lunch. I am not really sure what to cook for him but will come up with some yummy treat.

We are also having our house blessed. We have a new priest in our parish. He will come and bless our house and have tea with us on Sunday night. We are looking forward to spending some time with him and getting to know him a bit better.

Changes

Changes

We have had a few changes over the last couple of weeks. While we were in Adelaide my mil and fil gave us a new kitten. I didn't really think I was a cat person till I bought this cat home. She is gorgeous. She loves to interact with people and play with them. The first few days we kept her in the house full time. She moved out onto the verandah to sleep two nights ago. She didn't like it the first night. We could hear her miaw through our bedroom window. When I got up the next morning and opened the door she dashed in.

I wasn't to sure how she would take to our dog Pepper or how pepper would take to her. Well they certainly are not best friends but they tolerate each other well. Maybe with time they will become better friends. We have called the kitten CC which is short for Clever Cat.

We have had some changes in our parish as well. This weekend we were all very sad to farewell Fr Peter from our parish. Passionists have been looking after our parish for 26 years here. They will no longer be a part of our parish and we have a new diocesan priest called Fr. Paul. It is good to have some chnage sometimes but we will all miss Fr Peter. He really did care a lot about our children and making them feel welcome in our parish. He was very good with the youth and interacted well with them. We wish Peter all the best as he moves on. HOpefully we will be in touch from time to time with him.

Back to school.

Back to school

The first week is over and as my dear friend Leah would say, tgif. We have a big weekend too but I won't have to rush around the house each morning like a headless chook and get the children ready for school for the next two days. Maybe I can spend some of that time sleeping in or catching up on the folding or even spend some time on dcf.

The week has been good I have started a new mrol (mothers rule of life). This is simply a daytime schedule that helps you plan your prioroties. The morning routine for each of the children has gone well and the evening too. I have had a few interuptions to my days so haven't quite got the daytime that the children are gone running compeletely smoothly yet. My aim is to have it all running smoothly by week three of this term.