Is Contraception evil?

Last Saturday week, Steve spoke at mass about WYD. I wrote about it here.

Today we got a letter from a lady that was visiting our parish that night.

The letter was positive about nfp and our use of it but the lady was concerned that in calling contraception evil, Steve was putting a burden onto vulnerable and less fortunate people that have chosen to/been advised to use contraception for their own or families well being.

I just think that this is very sad. Never would it be in a families interest for a couple to contracept. Contraception is evil. It divides a couple rather than unites them. It makes the act of marriage about me and what I can get out of this rather than about us and what gift we can give to each other.

Telling people the truth is not burdensome. It is in hearing the truth that people are able to make informed decisions and choose what is right. Without the truth, many people are hurting themselves without realizing what it is that is hurting them.

Please pray for all people that think contraception is in their/their families interest. Contraception hurts everyone.

Wordless Weekday.

Our younger 5 children at the circus this year.

A meme.

Esther responded to my meme question and said I might like this meme. I went and checked out her blog and this meme looks like fun.


Summertime Meme

1.(a) When does summer start for you? (b) When does it end?

Summer starts in December and ends in February. We have warm weather from September till May usually though.


2.(a) Favorite Food(s) to cook on a grill:

An Australian BBQ. Chops, sausages, onions and potatoes.

2.(b) any recipe you'd like to share?

This is not a BBQ or grill recipe but I love love love my Butterscotch Icecream recipe

3. Favorite summertime smell:

Sun cream.


4.(a) Where was your last summer vacation?

Port Broughton

4(b) Where did you go (or what did you do) on your favorite summer vacation?

The Port Broughton holiday would have to be one of our favourite holidays. It was just a really nice relaxing holiday.

5. Favorite summertime dessert?

Duh. The Butterscotch icecream.


6(a). Favorite summer sport?

I don't have a favourite sport.

6(b)Why?

Because I am not a sporty person.

7.(a) Do you tan easily?

Yes.


(b)Favorite suntan lotion?

none.

8. What do you like best about summer?

I love it being day light in the evenings and going out for walks.


9. What do you hate about summer?

Definitely the mosquitoes.


10. Do you like theme parks?

Yes.

What's your favorite ride?

I really like the pirate ship that does a complete turn.


11. Favorite Summertime movie(s)?

hmm. State Fair.


12. Favorite Summertime Book(s)?

I cannot think of one.


13. Favorite picnic spot?

The foreshore.

14. Footwear?

Sandals or thongs.


15. Favorite Summer flower?

Sturt Desert Peas.


16. Favorite summer song(s).




17. Things you used to do, and miss in the summer:

Going to the beach as a family with my Uncle Robert.

18. Summer poem?

Don't really know.

Consider yourself tagged if you said you liked meme's in My meme question

Meme's question.

I am not doing a meme, but I often wonder what other bloggers think of them so tonight I thought I would ask for other peoples opinions of them. Personally, I love getting tagged and putting the latest meme on my blog. I don't have to think much about what to write if I have been tagged except to answer the questions that are asked. I also like that they make me think about what I am really like and what I know. They even inform me of things I don't know.

So what do all you other bloggers think of meme's? Do you like to get tagged? Do you think it is a pain? Do you like putting meme's on your blog and answering questions? Let me know in the comment box.

Saturday.

We had a very productive day. All the house work was done by about 11am and I was able to finish of most of our cooking. I have another lot of pizza's to make and the pasties then we will be finished for another month.

Tonight we went to mass again. Steve is getting involved with the music ministry and we have been singing a song in Latin at the offertory. I really like the singing in Latin. It makes the Mass more reverent.

Tomorrow Daniel is heading off to Adelaide for the week. He is doing work experience with my sister who is an accountant. Daniel is interested in getting into accounting when he finishes school so it should be a good experience for him.

New babies are wonderful.

For a while I have been meaning to say congratulations to Annelisa and Marty on the birth of Dominic Joseph.

Recently John Michael and Regan also had a baby girl and named her Gianna Clare.

Congratulations to both sets of parents from Aussie Coffee Shop.

Therese

Mushroom pasta recipe,

Karen asked how I make Mushroom pasta so here is the recipe I use:

1 tbspn oil
500 grams mushrooms sliced.
120 grams onions diced.
375 mls evaporated milk (I sometimes use normal milk).
2 tbspns tomato paste.
2 tspns dijon mustard.
1 tspn paprika.
30 grams cheese.
black pepper to taste.
300 grams pasta.

put pasta in boiling water and boil till done.
while it is cooking prepare your sauce.

cook onions and mushrooms in oil for about 5 minutes.
Mix together the milk, tomato paste, mustard and paprika.
add milk mixture to mushrooms with cheese and pepper.
Stir until sauce begins to boil and add pasta.

Enjoy.

A word from Steve.

Steve has written about his World Youth Day experience for our Diocesan Magazine. Here is what he wrote:

World Youth Day was great. The food was good, accommodation excellent and the company superb. I was pleased to see so many of the clergy and religious walking the streets of Sydney in their religious garb. It is a great witness to the world and proclaims that 'God is good.' I felt proud to be Catholic.

Because of World Youth Day, I came to love Jesus more. This came about through three main events, Mass, Confession and Adoration. The Masses at our catechesis venue were excellent. They were so prayerful and reverent. Some of the songs were sung in Latin and I think this is what really created the atmosphere to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass. Confession left me with a sense of freedom and readiness to make a new start in life. Adoration is what I think brought me close to Jesus. Just being able to sit at the feet of Jesus in silence is an experience I find hard to describe in words. Best to try it out for yourselves.

Each evening we had the choice of a multitude of talks, workshops, drama and music to choose from. One of the talks I went to see was by Jason Everett. It was on chastity and was specifically aimed at teenagers. Not only was it educational but also very entertaining. He was able to hold the attention of my teenagers for 90 minutes. His website is Pureloveclub.com. It's worth checking out for resources.

Another talk that I really enjoyed was by Christopher West. He is a world expert on 'The Theology Of The Body'. It is basically about Gods plan and purpose for sex and how our sexuality fits into our vocation in life. He spoke so clearly about the evils of contraception and how it attacks society and the family. As the use of contraceptives become more prevalent through the 60's and 70's so did divorce increase. This was actually predicted by Pope Paul IV in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae.

One last event I would like to mention is a play we went to see. It was about the life and death of Saint Maria Goretti. Even though there was only one actor in the play it was still very entertaining. With the use of recorded voices and a large projector screen he was able to act out the part of Alisandro, the murderer of Maria.

Tuesday.

Thanks to all who prayed for Christopher. He is still a bit under the weather but definitely improving.

This weekend I am having my cooking weekend and preparing our main meals.

I am going to have a go at making some of my own shortcut pastry. I haven't made this before. I have tried filo pastry and that didn't turn out very well at all. I am making my own pastry for some pasties. The recipe I am using is here.

The other things on my menu plan are:

King Ranch Chicken.
Chicken Spaghetti.
Zucchini Slice.
Tuna Mornay.
Mushroom pasta.
Shepherds pie.
Pizza's.
Chicken Chow Mein.
Chicken Snitzel's.

Prayers for Christopher please.

Christopher has picked up some nasty gastro bug. Throughout the night Steve and I were up to him about 4 times because he had thrown up. Today hasn't been much better. He is throwing up every time he tries to eat something.

I think tomorrow I will try the BRAT diet on him and see if he can keep that down.

Please keep our little man in your prayers.

Therese

Sunday.

Because we went to the Vigil Mass last night, we had a quite day at home today. It was nice to sit in the sun and play a bit with the children. We even had a game of soccer where the boys versed the girls. The boys won 5-2 but it was a fun game.

This afternoon Steve and I watched a video online from St. Michael's media on Hell. I was struck while watching it, how much the world denies many many truths about the faith and deny themselves the opportunity of receiving sanctifying grace to get to Heaven.

The first part of the video can be watched here.

The presenter, Michael Voris speaks very eloquently and does not mince words. He tells us the churches teaching without sugar coating it.

It is inspiring to hear someone speak the truth with such a passion and conviction.

Tonight at church.

Tonight after Mass, we had two speakers give a talk on WYD. Steve was one of the speakers and I am so proud of him and what he said.

He spoke about the Masses they attended and how they were reverent because of the music. He also spoke about having adoration and going to confession.

After speaking about this, he went on and spoke about the Catechisis classes that he and the children did.

They went to talks by Jason Everett and Christopher West on chastity and the Theology of the body. Steve mentioned that Christopher spoke about contraception and how evil it was and about NFP which we have used. When he said this I felt sure that every eye in the room was on me. I was glad he got up and spoke these words for people to hear though as so many people never hear these words or even realize that contraception is evil.

Please pray for the people in our parish that heard these words today. I hope that hearing these words will make these people think about contraception and how it has a negative impact on marriage and family life.

Therese

Will the Real World please stand up.

Many of you probably recognise the title of my post. It is the opening chapter for the book, Please Don't drink the Holy Water.

Today I started reading this book and it looks like it is going to be a great read. I was really struck by the opening and the fact that this world is not the real world. It is a fallen world and the real world is Heaven.

Once I have finished the book, I will let you know my full impression of it. I am looking forward to reading it.

----------------------------------------------------

Please remember also this Friday to pray for the Unemployed. Easter from mostly prayers has asked us all to remember families especially every Friday. Since today is the First Friday of the month, lets all ask Mary to interceed for all families that are in need in our world.

Another Giveaway.

The lovely Suzy from Scraps of Starlight is also having a giveaway.

The give away is for some beautiful prints from Suzy's Etsy Shop.

She has many beautiful prints and knitted products in her shop. Go and check it out.

Give away.

One of my favourite blogs to visit often is Shirley's blog Seeking Jesus

When I visited last night I saw she was giving away 5 copies of the book The Incredible Catholic Mass by Fr. Martin Von Cochem.

Go and read Shirley's post on My Journey continued, The Mass, and put a comment in the comment section. You may be one of the lucky winners of this great book.

Tagged.

I have been tagged by Kathy from A Bit of the Blarney and by Alexandra at Happy Hearts at Home for the Unspectacular quirk meme and Tag meme.

Since these two meme's have similar questions I thought I would give you all 6 quirks of mine and then an extra fact about me. I will tag 7 people too. You can do what I do or choose which ever tag you want to do.

My 6 quirks.

I cannot stand drivers not following road rules or going out exits that say no exit. I feel like pulling them over and telling them off.

I chew my bottom lip a lot.

I would be a very lonely person without DCF message board and the Catholic Blogging Community.

I hate cold weather with a passion.

I loved reading Trixie Belden when I was growing up and have read every book in the series.

I often sit with my hand over my mouth and blow on my hands to warm them up.

I hope to travel one day to all the Marian apparitions sites in Europe. I also want to travel to the USA and Canada and meet all my blogging friends.

I tag:

Angie

Kimberly

Amber

Catholic Convert

Kalona

JoAnn

and

Shirley

A note to myself.

Always always measure any child that you are sewing for the day before you cut out. Not a month before because they grow.

This weekend has been rather hectic in our house. I cut out Madeline's dress and jacket on Thursday night and started sewing Friday night. I got the jacket finished by lunchtime on Saturday. I started on the dress after lunch and had 90% of the dress done before I got Madeline to try it on. It didn't fit. This was at 10pm Saturday night. I couldn't do a mad rush to the shop and get her a new dress so after having a bit of a panic attack, I told her she would have to have a skirt and jacket since I could make a skirt pretty quickly. I made a skirt for her but then looked in my wardrobe and found the dress that I made for myself for my sisters wedding last year. I thought it would probably fit her. It did and she wanted to wear it. The dress looks better on her than it did on me so I have told her, it's hers.

We had the Mass at 10.30. Our parish priest confirmed 23 young people. It went really well. After Mass we went to the parish hall for a celebration cake and coffee. Then Madeline's sponsor came to our house for lunch. It was a lovely afternoon.

When Steve puts the video up on the computer I will upload it so that you can all see.

Steve, Madeline and Anne with Pope Benedict.

Friday Funny.

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing, and cares less, tries to make your life miserable.
A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband.

She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:
" Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome .
So, how are you getting there?"
"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"
"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. " That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late.
So, where are you staying in Rome ?"
"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."
"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna
be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they're overpriced.
So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"
"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."
"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.
Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."
A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome
"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.
And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"
"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."
"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.
Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."
"Oh, really! What'd he say ?"
He said: "Where'd you get the terrible Hairdo?"

Thanks to Abbey for emailing me this joke.

A lovely surprise.

Today in the post I received a Brown Scapular as a gift. The lovely Marilena from A traditional Catholic sent it to me.

Thank you Marilena. It was a wonderful surprise and I will have it blessed by our parish priest and wear it everyday.

Therese

This Sunday.

Madeline is going to be confirmed. She is taking Maria Goretti as her patron saint and a good friend of ours that is a Mercy Sister is going to be her sponsor. I have cut out a jacket and dress for her to wear and should finish sewing it of by Saturday. I think I have a tradition of finishing of First Communion Dresses the day before so think I should continue this with the Confirmation Dress.

Since we don't have a Bishop in our diocese at the moment, Fr. Paul (our Parish Priest) is confirming the children. Please pray for all the children that are preparing to receive the Sacrament this weekend.

Therese

Everything back to normal.

Today we started back with our usual routine.

Sam is doing home school for the rest of the year as well as Tom and Amelia. Steve went back to work and Daniel, Madeline and Brigette all went back to school too.

It is good to have a routine up and running again. It will also be good to have Sam at home with the younger children. He will be reading the History of the World to the younger children and reading some novels to them as well.

Steve is doing most of Sam's curriculum and I am still just concentrating on Amelia's and Tom's.

Eweewe.

The lovely Fr. John Speekman from Homilies and Reflections from Australia tagged me for a An Eweewe.

Now I can all hear you ask, what is an Eweewe? Well this is what Fr. John tells us about them.

A Eweewe is closely related to a Meme which gives you a chance to tell others about you. A Eweewe (pronounced you you and, according to an ancient tradition, sometimes written as Yuyu or even Uu) gives others a chance to tell you about you. Now that's simple enough, isn't it? And so worth doing!

Easy isn't it. (as long as the person doesn't get embarrassed and say boy I shouldn't have asked these people to do this).

So here are the things I am suppose to say about Fr. John.

1. In a few words explain why you find me so attractive as a human being.
2. Name two things you admire about me.
3. Name two more.
4. Place a tick if you agree:
I am dynamic
witty
fun to be with
cool
5. Say something nice about me.


Well, I could

1) be really nice and reply just like Adrienne. or

2) be cheeky and reply just like Gina did at Fr's blog, or

3) I could just say:

"Fr John, if you have a need for affirmation go talk to your mother, or someone."

I think I will go with number three so Fr. John, go and talk to your mother will you?

I want to add to that though, I really enjoy your blog and I really enjoyed meeting you back in January. I certainly hope that you will be up our way again and will call in for a meal, not just a cup of coke.

If you do call in, you will be very cool (if you sit under the air conditioner especially) and I am sure you will think of something witty to say to our children.

Now, I am going to tag

Jean,
Leah and
Esther

because I am sure these women can think of lots of nice things to say about me and I hope they tag some people and have lots of nice things said back to them.

One Hour to go.

It is early Tiesday morning and we have an hour until Steve and the children land at Adelaide airport. We are looking forward to seeing them all again and catching up.

Thanks for all the people that prayed for us on our trip. We have had a good trip and everything has gone well.

Therese

Everything is okay and we are on our way.

Thank you everyone for praying for us. The car battery is charged and everything looks okay.

Therese

Melissa Hackney. Gone to be with God.

Tonight I read on Kimberly's blog that Melissa Hackney has died.

Please keep Melissa's family in your prayers as they grieve her death.

It is with a heavy heart I pass this news on, but we must be glad that Melissa is not in any more pain now.

Our Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

This is so cool. I found this wiget at Kimberly's blog and wanted to add it. I cannot quite fit our whole family in the post but have the picture behind my title.

I really need lots of prayers.

Tomorrow I am suppose to be driving our car into Adelaide so that we can get our locking system fixed. Tonight I went out to put the Volkswagen out the front and the corolla away and found that the Volkswagen had a completely flat battery. Yesterday at some stage the children had got into it and pretended they were going on holiday. They turned the lights on, the hazard lights on and our indicator. This completely flattened the battery.

I rang Steve and he said we needed to charge the battery. I managed to get the charger onto the battery but the charger kept on jumping from 0 to 12 and back to 0. It is suppose to work its way up as the battery charges. We couldn't work out why the charger kept doing this but decided to leave it and see what happened. One of my neighbours came over and checked everything. He said that if the battery doesn't charge, he will be able to give me a jump start tomorrow morning.

Please pray that our battery charges. I know I will be able to start the car tomorrow with the jump start but I am concerned that we won't be able to start again if we stop at any places along the way. So prayers for a safe trip and for the battery to be okay after the charger charges it or we jump start it would be appreciated.

Thanks
Therese

one week.

Today it is a week since Steve and the children left. The younger children are starting to feel the strain of them all being away and not having as many people in the house.

Tom, Amelia and Christopher have all cried over small things today and the afternoon when we were going out Christopher jammed his fingers in the car door. It really hurt but I was starting to feel a bit impatient with all the tears we have had today and didn't really offer much sympathy to him.

He seems over it now so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day than today. I am planning on doing some craft activities with the children tomorrow morning so hopefully they will be a bit more occupied and won't whine as much as they did today. I think I was too busy doing my own thing today and that is why they were all crying and whining.

Plurk.

So I have been invited to plurk by Bob Catholic and it is great.

Plurk lets you create an account and you leave little comments though out the day about what you are doing. You can comment on other peoples plurks and other people comment on your plurks.

So if you want to visit My Plurk page click on the link and see what I have been up too.

God bless
Therese

This is just so sad.

I received an email today that asked me to vote in a poll.

In this poll 70% of Australians say that laws should change so that terminally ill patients can end their lives.

This just makes me feel sick.

A wyd report.

So last night was the opening mass for WYD and tonight I spoke with Steve and Madeline and had an update of what happened today.

This morning they went to the most reverent Mass Steve has been to in his life. They had chanting in Latin and he really liked it.

The catechism class they went to was Theology of the Body and they meet Jason Everett from Pure Love. Tonight they are going to hear Christopher West speak. Madeline said the talk was fantastic and Steve said Sam really enjoyed it too.

They plan to go to confession sometime this week and will be going to Mass everyday so I am really glad they are all there. I hope that some of the things they learn help them remain steadfast in the faith.

Here at home, we had a day with Bill and Linda It was a great day and we enjoyed catching up.

Hand painting.

Abbey emailed this picture to me with many others that have some spectacular paintings on them.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures email me at aussiemum07 at gmail dot com and I will forward them too you.

Thanks Abbey for these great pictures.

Charlie and the Chocolate factory

Tonight the children and I watched the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate factory. It is the first time I have seen it but the children have all seen it before.

Although many people I have spoken with about this movie didn't like it, I actually enjoyed it. I found the Oompa-Loompas very entertaining and actually prefered Johnny Depp as Willy to Gene Wilder.

A great family movie.

Therese

Sunday.

We started with Mass this morning and then had a quiet day at home. I did some cooking and the children watched a couple of videos and played computer.

In Sydney Steve, Daniel, Sam and Madeline went to the Aquarium and had a great time. I spoke with all of them on the phone this evening except Daniel who was probably in Mass when I rang. Since Daniel is one of the pilgrims he is staying at a different place to Steve and the other two. I will give him a call tomorrow evening and see how he is going.

A fun day out.

Last night Brigette, Tom, Amelia and Christopher all slept in our room. We all watched Chicken Little and then went to bed early.

We all got up early too. Since we were up so early I decided to take them all to Whyalla for a day of shopping. We went to toyworld and they all picked out a toy and then we went to Spotlight and bought a couple of sewing patterns and some fabric to make winter jeans.

We had lunch at McDonalds and then headed home.

This afternoon we spoke with Steve, Sam and Madeline on the phone and they had a great day too. They went to Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. When I spoke with them, they were getting ready for Mass and planned to go out for tea after.

Tomorrow they will either go to Luna Park or The Aquarium. Both these places are huge tourist attractions.

So the first 24 hours apart has gone well. We will go to Mass tomorrow and then just hang out at home. I have some baking to do and will start tracing patterns for the childrens jeans.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Therese

Friday funny.

A blast from the past with candid camera.

Last day all together.

Tomorrow I will be saying farewell to Steve, Daniel, Sam and Madeline as they embark on their trip to WYD in Sydney.

I am so mixed in emotions for them all. I am excited that they will be able to spend time learning more about our faith and have the opportunity to see the Pope but I will miss them all like crazy.

Brigette, Tom, Amelia and Christopher and I have lots planned. I will go to Bolleroo and catch up with our friends Linda and Bill and get some more home school resources. We will have a video night and they all keep on talking about camping in our bedroom all together. I said I will camp in my bed.

On our video night we will have some take away for tea. I am hoping that the housework will be a bit more manageable with 4 less people in the house.

Brigettes musical theatre performance

How Catholic is your home?

Ebeth put this great quiz up for us all to see how Catholic our home is.

Are morning and night prayers a daily occurrence in your home?

We pray every evening as a family. I have morning prayer with the children that are home schooled.

Do you say grace before and thanks to God after meals?

Grace before, but no thanks after. Maybe a good thing to start.

Do you say a family Rosary every night?

Not every night, but Steve and I pray it together fairly often. Probably 4 out of the 7 nights. We probably pray it as a family once a fortnight or so.

Do you carry a Rosary at all times?

No but I always know where one is in the house or if I don't can count on my 10 fingers.

Do you wear a religious medal or a scapular?

No. I want to though so will look into getting one.

Do you read and discuss the Bible often?

No.

Is your home dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

Every night at prayer we dedicate ourselves to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate heart. I haven't ever heard of dedicating a home to it. Is this the same thing maybe?

Is there a crucifix hanging in a prominent place?

No. We really should look into doing this.

Do you ask God’s help in the solution of family problems?

Yes. All the time.

Do you have a sick-call set for Communion or Anointing of the Sick?

No.

Do you attend church as a family?

Yes.

Do you go to Confession regularly?

not as regularly as we should.

Do the children attend a Catholic school or Catholic religious instruction program?

Yes.


Do you have religious instruction at home?

Yes.

Are there Catholic periodicals in your home?

Yes.

Do you have a crib at Christmas?

Yes.

Do you send out cards that indicate Christmas is the birth of Christ?

I am very bad at sending cards but if I do, they will be Christian ones.

Does Christmas mean the coming of Christ or a chance to get gifts?

coming of Jesus.

Does Easter Sunday mean the resurrection of Christ or new clothes?

Resurrection

Do you ever invite lonesome or needy people into your home?

no.

Do you ever provide a basket of food to a needy family, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas but during the rest of the year?

very rarely.

Thanks Ebeth for a great quiz.

My Day in Court.

I don't know if you all remember My post about being pulled over by the police for a random breath test and finding out that I was driving an unregistered vehicle.

well today was my day in court for my offense. I got my summons at the end of April and had to be in the court by 9.30 am this morning.

I was the first to be called. I went in and the judge read out that I was driving an unregistered vehicle on Highway one on the 31st of January 2008. I told the police officer before I walked in that I was pleading guilty. The Judge confirmed this and then a police officer got up and said that I was pulled over at 3pm and that I had no other convictions.

The judge then asked me if I had anything to add and I told him that three weeks prior to the registration being due I had taken our 7 year old diabetic son to Adelaide to start insulin pump therapy and that in the weeks that followed I was doing a lot of blood sugar testing and we simply forgot. The Judge asked me if we had received the registration note and I said I think it probably arrived the week I was in Adelaide with Tom and had been misplaced. The judge also asked me if I was working and when I told him I was a sahm he asked if Steve was working. He then asked me how many dependents we had and I told him 7.

The Judge set my fine at $150.00 which I was very glad of. I have heard of fines much more. We also have to pay court fees of $156.00 and I am will be making payments fortnightly. I thank God the Judge took into consideration that we are living on one income and that we have 7 children. I am also grateful that we are able to pay it off in installments.

The other penalty I received was no driving today or tomorrow. Loss of license for two days really isn't too bad. I am glad it is all over.

Therese

Train Park.

Today we walked to Mass. It was great to get a bit of exercise this morning.

We walked past the train park and decided to go back and have some ride in the afternoon. The children had two rides and really enjoyed them.

On the train we have Amelia, Christopher, Brigette and Tom.

Steve has worked out how to reduce videos so I decided to post this one. It has been reduced to 10 mb (from 100) and I am surprised that you really cannot see much difference.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Saturday.

Today has been a great day.

The first day of the holidays is a sleep in day in our house. Steve and I stayed in bed till 9am. It was great to get up and not be absolutely freezing. The day was a nice warm one for most of it. We did get some rain in the afternoon.

We had potato pancakes for lunch and then watched Death on The Nile with Peter Ustinov. Since I know the story line the movie didn't really impress me very much. It seemed to drag out a bit.

Tonight we had hot dogs for tea and watched Nanny McFee. I really enjoyed this movie.

Tomorrow we will go to Mass and I am hoping to spend some time sewing in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough for us to walk to church.

Happy 4th July to all my American Friends.

The fourth of July is a special day for us too this year. Today term two finishes so we have two weeks of holidays. I am really looking forward to having Steve and the children around for the next two weeks.

Steve, Daniel, Sam and Madeline will be going to World Youth day in a week and I will have ten days with our younger four.

Happy Independence day.

Therese

cold.

It has been very cold here today. Steve is in the process of installing a gas heater which hopefully will be in tomorrow evening. Tonight has seemed colder than usual so I hope it is in tomorrow.

At least we have an electric blanket on our bed to keep us warm.

Works for me Wednesday.

On the weekend Steve and I were talking about self control. I really don't have very much self control especially when it comes to the internet. I always have the intention of spending a limited amount of time on but never stick to my plan.

When Steve and I were talking about it, I said I think I need to have you take the modem cord to work so that I cannot connect at all. It is the only way I can spend a limited amount of time on here.

So today being Wednesday is the third day that we have had no internet from 8am to 4pm. Tuesday is a bit longer because Steve has a staff meeting.

It has been really good. For the first hour on Monday morning I actually felt quite sorry for myself but then said to myself, no you need to get other things done. The internet hasn't been cut of forever, it is only 8 hours each day that you cannot have it. It is my work time.

After three days I am seeing that this has been really good for us all. The children need me to be a bit more attentive to the school work they are doing. The housework was getting done mostly but it really wasn't fully completed. I am feeling better about the way the house looks. Hopefully I will be able to get all our curtains finished and sew some winter coats for the children because we are going internet free for those 8 hours.

Next week we will have school holidays. I am going to talk to the family about having no internet for the hours of 8 to 4 even though they are all home and in the second week when Steve and the older children are in Sydney for WYD I am going to try and continue it.

I have lots of plans for the holidays. I want to go through our linen and see what needs replacing, clean out the bookcase in the girls room and get some new curriculum for Tom and Amelia. Sam is going to be doing home school for the second half of this year too so we will be looking into curriculum for him. In an effort to help Sam with organisation I may even go into his room (aka the black hole) and see if I can do anything to help him with his organisation. Once all these things are done, we will sew bedroom curtains and winter coats for the children (that really should have been finished about a month ago but they will be able to use during July and August.

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Great link:

Check out Totus Tuus Family blog for this great post:

Catholic rebuttals to Abortion

Four-four-four-four meme.

Thanks Jean for tagging me for this meme.


A) Four places that I go to over and over:
Church.
Coles.
School.
Big W.

B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Abbey
Fr. John Speekman
Annelisa
Marco

C) My favorite 4 places to eat:
Hungry Jacks because the children go on the playground and leave us alone to talk.
King Po Restaurant.
Hannavile Hotel.
Old Willows brewery


D) Four places I would rather be right now:
USA. (Texas first)
London
Rome
Fiji


E) Four people I think will respond:
Lowdenclear since I mentioned her here.
Easter who responds all the time and I do appreciate it.
Laura the Crazy Mama (because she likes to talk so much)
Lilder since I mentioned Texas specifically for her.


F) Four TV shows I watch all the time:
I don't watch TV.

G) Four words that best describe you:
Catholic.
Mother.
Generous.
Caring.


H) Four favorite "old school" Hollywood Actors/Actressess:
Fred Astaire.
Judy Garland
Meryl Streep.
Jerry Lewis.

I)Four favorite "old school" television game shows:
It's academic.
Family Feud.
The price is right.
Wheel of fortune.

J)Four favorite "old school" television shows:
Gilligan's Island.
Gomer Pyle.
Bewitched.
Crackerjack.

K) List four things you liked best about Christmas when you were a child:
Family dinner.
presents.
Midnight Mass.
Swimming if the party was at my uncles house.

L) List four things you liked best about Halloween when you were a child:
No Halloween here.


M) List four things you did not like about growing up:
Puberty.
High school.
having to have more responsibility.
Being shy around guys especially.


N) List four events that impacted your life (can by anytime throughout your lifetime):
Meeting my dear husband.
Returning to the Catholic faith.
Reading St. Therese's autobiography.
The death of my older sister (aged three).

I am tagging the four people that email me regularly (in question B).

Therese

Four-four-four-four meme.

Jean tagged me for the four-four-four-four meme.

I was going to do it tonight but I have made a new promise to myself. I promised myself that I would go to bed every night at 9 pm so that I can get up early in the mornings.

I will get to this meme tomorrow night.

BTW, if you like the look of this meme and want to be tagged, leave a comment in the comment box.

Therese

Tom and Amelia musical theatre performance

A hectic day.

Yesterday Madeline, Brigette, Tom and Amelia were in a concert. They all belong to the Musical Theatre and yesterday was their mid year concert. We had a hectic morning getting all the housework done but it was worth it. Steve and I took Christopher along to see the show.

Tom, Amelia and Brigette all did a dance. Steve video taped them and as soon as I have worked out how to put them up here I will.

Madeline did a mono log from the Secret Garden. She was very nervous and it was very hard to hear her. I was still proud of her getting up and having a go.

They had a second show in the evening and I went to see the end of it. I saw Madeline and she did much better. I was right up the back and was able to hear her. She also didn't look as nervous. It was great to see her up there on her own doing it.

The dead duck.

Abbey sent me this in an email;

I really liked it.

This is so good for all of us who sometimes forget just exactly what
our Savior did for us
The Duck and the devil ~ I'm in the 93%
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on
their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out
in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could
never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he
headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw
Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the
slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and
Killed it. He was shocked and grieved!
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile;
only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it
all, but she said nothing.
After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's
wash the dishes' But Sally said, 'Grandma , Johnny told
me he wanted to help in the kitchen.' Then she
whispered to him, 'Remember the duck?' So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children
to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need
Sally to help make supper.' Sally just smiled and
said, 'Well that's all right because Johnny told me he
wanted to help' She whispered again, 'Remember the
duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and
Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came
to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.
Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said,
'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the
window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love
you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you
would let Sally make a slave of you.'
Thought for the day and every day thereafter?
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done...
and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face
(lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred,
anger, bitterness)...whatever it is ..You need
to know that God was standing at the window
and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life.
He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.
He's just wondering how long you will let the devil
make a slave of you. The great thing about God is
that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only
forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and
mercy that we are saved
Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life
today. Share this with a friend and always remember:
God is at the window!
When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you!
If you are one of the 93 % who will stand up for him
forward this with the title, 'I'm in the 93%'

This reminds me that we need to go to confession and confess our sins. God knows what we have done and wants to give us grace.

Seven wonders of the world.

Seven Wonders of the World

Probably a lot of you have seen this. I have seen it several times. Today I got it in am email and wanted to share it. It is beautiful.

Also remember today is Friday so pray for the unemployed today.

God bless
Therese

FREEZE

I saw this at my friend Christine's blog and had to post it. It is soooooooo cool.

Our front yard.

This morning I was looking at Paramedic Girls Aquatic Garden and mentioned our pond with native flowers around it. Paramedic Girl said she would like to see our flowers so today I got Sam to take some photo's of it.

Here it is.

Fr. Speekman has a close up of the Sturt Desert Pea flowers here

Please remember Jennifer and Lynn in prayer too.

As well as our family there are two other families that have lost their babies in the last week.

Lynn and Jennifer both found out their babies had no heart beat at their 13 week and 11 week check up. Please keep them in your prayers too.

I also wanted to post this prayer that Lynn got from Mother Angelica.

Miscarriage prayer

My Lord, the baby is dead!

Why, my Lord—dare I ask why? It will not hear the whisper of the wind or see the beauty of its parents’ face—it will not see the beauty of Your creation or the flame of a sunrise. Why, my Lord?

“Why, My child—do you ask ‘why’? Well, I will tell you why.

You see, the child lives. Instead of the wind he hears the sound of angels singing before My throne. Instead of the beauty that passes he sees everlasting Beauty—he sees My face. He was created and lived a short time so the image of his parents imprinted on his face may stand before Me as their personal intercessor. He knows secrets of heaven unknown to men on earth. He laughs with a special joy that only the innocent possess. My ways are not the ways of man. I create for My Kingdom and each creature fills a place in that Kingdom that could not be filled by another. He was created for My joy and his parents’ merits. He has never seen pain or sin. He has never felt hunger or pain. I breathed a soul into a seed, made it grow and called it forth.”

I am humbled before you, my Lord, for questioning Your wisdom, goodness, and love. I speak as a fool—forgive me. I acknowledge Your sovereign rights over life and death. I thank You for the life that began for so short a time to enjoy so long an Eternity.

-- Mother M. Angelica

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning I will be going to the hospital for a curette. I thought I wouldn't need one but the ob/gyn said that she is concerned that the bleeding could start again and that it is better to do this.

I am completely over whelmed with all the prayers and good wishes that many people have sent. Thank you all for your support at this time. It has helped a lot.

Monday.

Tonight we had a Mass said for Matthew.

Things are slowly getting back to normal now. We had a good home school day and I got a lot of house work done. Last week many things didn't get done and I spent a fair bit of the weekend catching up. We only have two weeks left of this term so we are all looking forward to the school holidays.

Thank you to all the people that sent me email and prayers on facebook. I appreciate all the prayers and support that I have been shown from you all.

In Memory of Matthew.

Although we never saw your face or held you in our arms, you still touched us in a special way.

We were so happy when the doctor said congratulation, you are having another baby. We rejoiced and celebrated. We went and bought a cake. Your brothers and sisters were really happy and started to pick out names straight away.

Then the scare came. We went to the hospital and the doctor said I don't know yet. There is something in the womb but I cannot see a heart beat. We prayed and all our friends joined in.

When the news came that you had died we all cried. We wanted to see you and hold you but it wasn't meant to be.

It is comforting to know that you will never know the pain that this life brings. You will have eternal happiness. Still we grieve what might have been.

Thank you God for the gift of new life. Thank you for all the blessings. Help us all over the next few weeks as we grieve.

Thank you for the prayers.

There is no easy way to say this. We have lost the baby. Please pray for the repose of our babies soul. We will name it tonight and have a mass said for him/her. Thank you to everyone that has supported us with prayers over this week.

Therese

frustration.

Tonight I have rang for the results of my blood test. The blood needed to be sent to Adelaide so I won't know what is happening till tomorrow morning at the earliest. I am finding this a bit frustrating. Not knowing what is going on is taking its toll on the family. Please pray for all of us.

Thanks
Therese

Waiting.

I have been for my second blood test this morning and we will know if the baby is okay this afternoon. I will update as soon as I know anything. Thank you all for the prayers.

Therese

Wordless Wednesday.

These are our first baby chickens.

Learning patience. (again).

Day nine of The novena to St. Therese.

I have been to the doctor and she decided to take blood instead of doing a scan. I will go for another blood test on Thursday and we will see if the hcg level has doubled.

This morning I finished of the novena to St. Therese and I asked her to pray for us and for our acceptance of Gods will in any of this. I know that between now and Thursday there will be many prayers and I know that Gods will will happen because of those prayers.

Thank you for all your prayers. I am sure they are making a big difference.

Therese

Please pray.

I have been loosing blood for the last 36 hours. This morning I am seeing our obstetrician and I am going to ask for a scan to see if everything is okay. Please pray for me and for our baby.

Therese

cookie recipe.

Day eight of The novena to St. Therese


I got this in an email. It is an urban legend but it gave me a laugh.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY (as soon as I read statements like this, I open up snopes).

My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie'. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid not, but you can BUY the recipe. ' I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty - it's a great deal!'

I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.

Thirty days later, I got my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus Charge was $285.00. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two sandwiches and about $20.00 for a scarf.

At the bottom of the statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe - $250.00'. That was outrageous!

I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress Had said it was 'two fifty', which clearly does not mean ' Two hundred And fifty dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money Because, according to them; 'What the waitress told you is not our Problem.' and as you have already seen the recipe we absolutely will not refund your Money.'

I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes Which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened to report them To the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office. I was basically told: Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back'

I said, OK, you've got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun.' I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus..... For Free.

She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do that.'

I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED ME OFF!' and slammed down the phone.

So here it is!

Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny from this recipe!


NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)

2 (500 ml) cups butter

24 oz. (680 g) chocolate chips

4 (1000 ml) cups flour

2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar

2 tsp. (10 ml) (Bicarb) soda

1 tsp. (5 ml) salt

2 (500 ml) cups sugar

18 oz (500 g) Hershey Bar (grated).
(Cadbury chocolate for Australians & South Africans)

5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal

4 eggs

2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder

2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla

3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts ( optional )

....................


Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder.

Cream the butter and both sugars.

Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal,

Salt, baking powder, and Bicarb (soda).

Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts.

Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at (180 °C ) 375 degrees.


( The above quantities make approx 112 cookies )

Enjoy !!!

Weekend.

Day six of The novena to St. Therese

Last night we went out to our parish dinner. It was a fun night. The money raised will help our youth get to WYD. The countdown has begun here. Steve, Daniel, Sam and Madeline will travel to Sydney and take part. Brigette, Tom, Amelia, Christopher and I will keep the home fires burning.

I have lots of plans to go out to a few parks, take them out for tea one night, hire some movies and play some board games.

The weather here has suddenly got cold. We will have to start using our heaters a bit more now. Tonight after mass the house felt so cold.

I have started cooking our months meals this weekend. The tiredness that comes with early pregnancy seems to be taking its toll on me so I will have to spread cooking the meals out over the week.

Friday funnies

Day five of The novena to St. Therese

Thankful Thursday.

Day four of The novena to St. Therese.

Thank you Lord for the blessing from big families.

Thank you Lord for another little baby.

Thank you Lord for all the blogging and online friends that support me in my life as a Catholic mother.

Thank you Lord for our family night out tomorrow night and for the weekend.

Celebrate with us.

Day three of The novena to St. Therese.

Baby number 8 is due to arrive at the Aussie Coffee Shop in late January/early February 2009.

Steve and I are both really excited about having another one and feel very blessed.

The children are over the moon and we have plenty of suggestions for names.

Prayers for the baby and for me would be very appreciated.

Washing day, Ironing day, Mending day.

Day two of The novena to St. Therese.




Monday Wash Day

Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday Mending Day

O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday Shopping Day

O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday The Lord's Day

O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

Thanks Abbey for emailing me this.

Novena to St. Therese

Day one of The novena to St. Therese.

Prayer intentions:

Alexandra: For wounded extended family members - may they find peace and love through Christ, and not of people and things of this world.

Easter: For the unemployed and for Kathy H that she finds a kidney donor soon.

. from Alfazema: For her mother's need.

muddy mama: For good health.

Ukok For a private intention.


Vicki: for Cyndi B - a homeschooling mom who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Lowdenclear for a private intention.

John Michael:
A elderly parishioner who has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer;
My mother Mary Alice and all Mothers without whom we would have no Church;
My discernment of a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate;
All those suffering in China and Myanmar in the wake of the earthquakes and tsunamis;
All who suffer persecution for their faith and belief in God.

Esther
for my dear father in law and his wife's private intentions.
for My sister and brother in law's renting their home to good and responsible people.

Karnak: to secure another more interesting job by the end of the year.

I also will be praying for one of my private intentions during this novena.

Therese.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be the first day of The novena to St. Therese.

If you have any special prayer intentions that you want me to pray for while doing this novena leave a comment and I will include it in my prayer intentions. If you want me to pray but don't want to tell me what for, just leave a message that you want me to pray for a private intention. Let us all storm heaven together.

Therese

Sunday Morning.

It is a cold and rainy morning.

This morning Sam was suppose to start work at 5.00. His alarm didn't go off. He woke me at 5.50 and said I have to go. I am late. When I looked at the time, I told him he better ring and tell them he had slept in. I went and took him and then decided to stay up on computer. I caught up with a couple of blogs and was so cold I went back to bed. It was nice and warm and I could hear the rain on the roof. I think that cuddling in a nice warm bed and listening to the rain would have to be in my top ten of favourite things to do.

I got one curtain for the girls room done yesterday and I am hoping to finish them of today. Tomorrow I will do the last one for our bedroom.

I am also hoping to get some winter jackets made for us all in the next couple of weeks.

This Friday our parish is having a dinner. It is to raise money for the youth to go to WYD. Our whole family is going and I am looking forward to a night out. We went to Mass last night because I was on ticket sales before and after mass. I will go and sell them today as well.

A long weekend.

This weekend Australia has Monday off to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Even though The Queen's actual birthday is on April 21st, we celebrate it in June.

The weather looks like it is going to be a bit cold but it is a perfect chance to spend some time sewing curtains. I am hoping to get the girls room done and do our last curtain in our bedroom.

Last night Steve and I watched Memphis Bell. It was a good movie. I enjoyed watching it. Steve's and my movie tastes are so opposite that we rarely can find a movie to watch that we are both interested in. This one we both enjoyed though. It reminded me of Pearl Harbor.

An oldy but a goodie.

SISTER MARY ANN'S GASOLINE
Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco Gasoline station was just a block away.

She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Methodists watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said,

'If it starts, I'm turning Catholic.'

look at these.

I got sent these pictures in an email. These babies are made of marzipan. Marzipan is an icing that is made from sugar and almond paste. I find it amazing that someone can make these from icing sugar.

Five people in five categories.

Jean did the meme Ten people I would like to have 10 minutes with

and mentioned the Five people for five categories meme

I decided I wanted to do this one.

"If you could meet and have a deep conversation with any five people on earth, living or dead, from any time period, who would they be?" (Explaining why is optional.)

Name five people from each of the following categories:
Saints, Those in the Process of Being Canonized, Heroes from your native country, Authors/Writers, celebrities.

5 saints:

St. Therese of the child Jesus.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. Thomas Moore.
St. Joseph
St. Gianna Beretta Molla.

5 in the process of being canonized:

Blessed Mary Mckillop.
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Pope John Paul 11.

5 heroes from Australia.

Archbishop Pell.
Sir Donald Bradman
Edith Cowan
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.
Sir Robert Menzies

5 Author's.

Mary Higgins Clark
CS Lewis.
Agatha Christie.
Paul Thigpen
Laura Birquist.

5 celebrities.

Judy Garland
Audrey Hepburn
Fred Astaire
Paul Hogan
Bert Newton.

Tag 5 people.

Jessica from the Flying Dutch Girl
Mark from Dominican Idaho
Marco from Third blog from the right
Leah from Lowdenclear
Shelly from Keeper of the Keys.

Wordless Wednesday.

10 people I would like to have 10 minutes with.

I read this on Ebeth's blog and wanted to do it.

1. Pope Benedict.
2. St. Therese
3. St. Elizabeth Seaton.
4. My Father's mother Annie.
5. My father's father, Thomas.
6. Cardinal Pell.
7. Mother Angelica.
8. Steve Ray.
9. Pope John Paul 11.
10. The Queen of England.

Who do you want to spend 10 minutes with?

Of course, I would love to meet all the people I know online but 10 minutes wouldn't be enough for all of them. I would want at least to have a meal with them.

Little Miss Splendid.

A while back I made a blog for my daughter Madeline. I didn't realize at the time you had to be 13 or older to have a blog. When I found out, I let her keep the blog but made it private.

Back in March, Madeline turned 13. She decided she wanted a new blog so started LIttle Miss Splendid

A great day.

Today I changed our home school and housework routine and it was great. The children seemed to like it too.

I have decided to get the children a bit more involved in the housework and be close by doing other things while they are sitting at the table working on their school work.

So I told them this morning that we were going to do things differently today. We started with prayer and then read a book. We then went in and they helped me clean up my bedroom and sewing area. My sewing area has been very neglected for the last couple of weeks and it tends to be a bit of a dumping ground for the children when I am not tidying it regularly. We did the room in 20 minutes so I let them go and play. Sam was home so I got him to go out and play a game of soccer with them. They really liked this. They had a snack and then played for a while together in the cubby house.

After their break I gave them both their spelling list and activities. I told Tom to do his spelling while Amelia read to me and then Tom read to me while Amelia did her spelling. They both needed to do a bit more work on their spelling when I had finished listening to them read so I went into the kitchen and started to prepare to make some muffins. I was still close by to them if they needed some help. My plan was to get them to help with the cooking once they had finished their spelling. When Tom finished his spelling he asked me if he could draw because they had some new colouring pencils. I said fine so they drew pictures while I cooked the muffins.

While the muffins were cooking, Tom and Amelia did some maths and then literacy. It was time for lunch so we packed up the home school books together and then ate lunch. In the afternoon, they played a couple of computer games and I cleaned up from my cooking and put the muffins away (before the other children came home and helped themselves to them all).

I found the day moved very smoothly and the children didn't object as much to working. I think they liked working together. I was concerned about giving them a break after only prayer, reading a book and doing a chore that they wouldn't want to come back and do anymore school work or housework. They surprised me when they did come back so willingly.

My plan is to continue this for the rest of the week. We will see how it goes. I am pretty confident we have found a good working routine that the children like and I like too. Best of all, the house is tidier than it has been any other day. Steve came home tonight and said wow, everything is so tidy. Hopefully this will continue and we will have a happy balance here for school work and house work.