Little Athletics presentation.

Today was Little Athletics presentation. Tom, Amelia and Christopher all won a bronze medal award for their age group.

They also got a certificate for a free chicken wrap and chocolate milk from McDonalds so we called in on the way home for their treats.

7 Quick Takes.

-1-

Visitors.

This weekend, we have my mother and Steve's mother here. It is great to have them here and catch up with them.

-2-

Term one.

Next week is the last week of term one. We will be on holidays for Holy Week and I am really looking forward to having a break and spending holy week as a family together.

-3-

Coffee time.

Just about every afternoon, when everyone gets home from school, Steve and I have a coffee together. Often we sit out in our new garden area.

I was reading on Leanne's blog, about how she and her husband Dermont, share morning coffees together. Recently they decided to add readings from the bible each morning to their coffee time.

This sounds like a great idea so I think Steve and I might do it once a week or so. I don't think we will be able to do it every day because we have so many after school activities to drive children to. We should be able to do it once a week though I think.

-4-

Chrism Mass.

This Tuesday is our Diocesan Chrism mass. It is in Port Pirie so I will be taking Tom, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph over to it.

We will probably have lunch after at the Port Pirie foreshore playground.

-5-

Basal Testing.

Over the last two weeks, Tom has been having extremely high blood sugar levels. He needed a big increase in insulin so we had to do a lot of over night testing.

I have been getting up at least twice each night for a while now but I am pretty confident we have the basal rate right now.

We also had a few site issues. One of the complications from a pump is getting an insulin build up under the skin. You can feel the lumps and it just makes it harder for the insulin to be absorbed.

Over 24 hours I had to change Tom's site, 3 times so I decided it was time to move it from his upper leg to his butt. So far so good. Today he has been in range all day except for one low which was from running around without extra sugar.

-5-

Brigette's curtains.

I am pretty confident I will finish these tomorrow. I am very happy with the way they are looking. Once we get them up in her room, I will take some photos to share with you all. She designed just about everything for her bedroom and it looks great. She has a really good eye and has coordinated all the colours in really well.

-6-

Little Athletics.

This Sunday is little athletics presentation. Tom, Amelia and Christopher are all looking forward to it.

-7-

Joseph.

Joseph has been very teary all week. I think he is getting some new teeth. Today I gave him paracetamol every 6 hours and he has been his usual happy self. I really hope tomorrow he is back to his old happy self.

Don't forget to drop in on Jen from Conversion Diary for other people's quick takes.

Joseph on his new car.

This is Joseph on his car that he got for Christmas. He is quite confident with it now.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Joseph takes a bath

Joseph has been getting some new back teeth. He has been grumbling a lot and doesn't want to be out of my arms. Today when I was trying to cook lunch, he was crawling around my feet and crying. When I picked him up, he pointed at the sink. I decided to strip him off and fill it with water. I was able to cook the spaghetti then and take this video of him.

Get to know me.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7.15

2. How do you like your steak? not burnt.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? cannot remember but I think it was Toy Story 3. Well we went to it, and I ended up in the foyer walking with Joseph because he didn't want to sit down.

4.What is your favorite TV show? NCIS or Castle.

5.If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Not sure on this. I think Hawaii would be nice though.

6. What did you have for breakfast? eggs on toast

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian.

8.What foods do you dislike? asparagus and brussel sprouts.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Hannaville hotel.

10. Favorite dressing? vinaigrette.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? we have two. A Volkswagon Kombi and a Toyota Carolla.

12. What are your favorite clothes? my blue and white blouse and white leggins.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? New Zealand and The USA.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full definitely.

15. Where would you want to retire? somewhere quiet.

16. Favorite time of day? evening when the children go to bed.

17. Where were you born? North Adelaide

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Australian Rules.

22. Bird watcher? No.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? definitely night.

24. Pets? Our lovely dog pepper and our cat CC. A lizard, several chickens and a turtle that is still missing.

25. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share? Only two weeks of term left. Then we have two weeks of holidays.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A police women.

27. What is your best childhood memory? hmm. I think it would be our trip to Sydney for my uncles wedding.

28. Are you a cat or dog person ? dog

29. Are you married? Yes. Very happily.

30. Always wear your seat belt? yes!

31. Been in a car accident? yes.

32. Any pet peeves? people parking in no standing zones.

33. Favorite pizza toppings? chicken and pineapple or salami and cream cheese.

34. Favorite Flower? frangipani.

35. Favorite ice cream? honeycomb.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? none.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Facebook.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? probably some sewing shop.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? no

41. Like your job? love it.

42. Broccoli? with cheese yes!

43. What was your favorite vacation? Sydney for my uncles wedding.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? whole family for Madeline's birthday.

45. What are you listening to right now? Tom and Christopher talking in their beds.

46. What is your favorite color? Red or Yellow.

47. How many tattoos do you have? none

48. Coffee drinker? absolutely.

49. How many children do you have? 8

50. Favorite beverages: coke zero.

If you want to do this. let me know in the comment box and I will put a link to you.

Tagged:

Melanie from Homestead and Bread.

Katheryn from Heart for God.

Euthanasia in SA parliament again.

Recently, I have become aware of a bill before SA parliament for the leagalisation of euthanasia.

The bill can be found here.

There are a couple of things I find a bit frightening about this bill.

Firstly, it isn't just for people that are terminally ill. It is also for those that suffer from chronic illness. Type one diabetes is a chronic illness. There is no mild diabetes or getting over diabetes. It is chronic always.

There is also a few words used in the bill that are vague.
The first amendment will be part 13 B.

This is what 13 B states:

13B—Criminal liability in relation to end of life arrangements:

(1) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against this Division arising
out of the death or intended death of a person if the death resulted, or
was intended to result, from the administration of drugs to the person by the defendant and the defendant proves, on the balance of
probabilities, that—

• (a) the defendant was, at the time of the conduct to which the charge relates, a treating practitioner of the person; and

• (b) the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that the person was an adult person of sound mind who was suffering from an illness, injury or other medical condition that irreversibly impaired the person's quality of life so that life had become intolerable to that person (the qualifying illness); and

• (c) the conduct to which the charge relates occurred at the express request of the person; and

• (d) the conduct to which the charge relates was, in all the circumstances, a reasonable response to the suffering of the person.

I don't like the language this bill uses. What exactly is good quality of life? Does a person that needs an insulin pump have a good quality of life? Does a person that has blood sugar levels going up and down have good quality of life?

I also wonder how one defines what reasonable is?

I recently heard of a child that was told she couldn't go to her school camp because the school thought her blood sugar levels were not well enough controlled. The mother offered to come to the camp and the school said no to this too because they wanted the children to get away without their parents. The school thought it was perfectly reasonable to not allow this child with type one diabetes to go but the mother didn't.

A school camp is one thing but it could be the next problem a family with a child with type one diabetes has is that a doctor thinks it is reasonable to decide that this child has no quality of life since they don't have good control over their diabetes so give them a lethal injection. That is what this bill allows. It is just frightening to me that my child could have to defend their right to life and defend that their lives are worth living. Every life is worth living. We really cannot decide if anyone has a good quality of life.

So please pray for all those that will be voting for or against this bill. Please write to them also and tell them that we do not want such laws in our state. I will be writing to all our MP's about this law and asking them to vote against it.

Joseph's new overalls.

I actually started sewing these while we were in Adelaide for Christopher's pump start. They have been sitting in my sewing basket since then with just the button holes needing to be done. I finally did them today.

I also started Brigette's curtains.

7 Quick Takes.

-1-

Birthday Party.

Tonight Madeline had her 16th birthday party. It has been a great night. She had a close group of friends over and we put on a bbq.

I really wanted to eat all the yummy meat but being a Friday, we all abstained. There is lots left over so maybe I will have some for breakfast tomorrow morning.

-2-

New mobile.

We are in the process of changing our mobile phones, home phone and internet. Last week, our internet changed over and this week, I have signed up for a new phone contract.

This is my new phone that I got. It is a htc legend. This is what my children have told me is very cool. I just hope it is an easy phone to use. That is what makes something cool to me.

-3-

Growth spurt.

Tom has gone through a growth spurt. He has been having some very high blood sugar levels so this weekend I have the joy of basal testing. This means checking at least at midnight and again at 3 am. If sugars are in range at either of these times, I will need to get up and check him two hours later and make sure he is not hypo. Hopefully we will work out the right basal rate for him quickly.

-4-

Joseph.

Joseph has started riding his bike this week. He can move backwards and forwards. Hopefully soon, I will be able to get a video of him doing it and share it with you all.

-5-

Weekend plans.

It s a while since I had a sewing weekend. I really want to get started on some winter sewing especially for Tom, Christopher and Joseph. There are a few things that I have kept from Tom that Christopher can wear but he still needs some good clothes especially.

I am also going to start on Brigette's curtains.

-6-

Day Light Savings.

This weekend is the end of day light savings. I love the end of day light savings. It is so much easier to get up early and get organised.

-7-

Learners.

Next week, Madeline is doing a course that teaches the rules of the road and at the end of it, she will be able to do the learners test for free.

She has to be on her L's for a year and once she has driven 120 hours and completed her log book, she will be able to drive on her probationary license.

Don't forget to pop over to Jen from Conversion Diary for other peoples 7 quick takes.

A decade with type one diabetes.

Today it is 10 years since we found out Tom has type one diabetes.

I have so many different memories from that day and the week following it.

I remember flying in the flying doctors plane with Tom and there was so much turbulence that I thought I might not live through it.

I remember I was 34 weeks pregnant when we arrived in Adelaide and 35 weeks when we flew back to Millicent.

I remember thinking that my little boy was not going to live. It was the scariest thought I had ever had. I remember turning to Mary and saying to her, how did you sit at the side of the cross with Jesus. I remember asking her to pray for me that I would be just as strong at Tom's side as she was at Jesus side.

I remember wondering if God had abandoned me or if I had abandoned him. I thought things like this only happened to people that didn't do what God wanted them to do.

I remember realising many months later just how much God had helped me through a very difficult time and that God was right there suffering with me.

One of the funny things I remember is talking on the phone to Sam. I said to him,

"Tom will need injections every day for the rest of his life".

Sam responded

"Really?"

Then when I was talking with Steve I could hear him telling Daniel in the background, Tom needs injections every day. Daniel laughed and said

"Oh he does not."

Sam said

"you ask mum."

Every year so far, we have acknowledged the anniversary and had something special to eat. Tonight it was pies and herb bread that Tom choose. We also got some chocolate and vanilla milk.

I think when you have something that impacts so drastically on your life, it is good to acknowledge the good things from it.

A disease like diabetes is hard to live with and it can be hard to see the good.

It is good that the boys can check their blood sugar level regularly and we can do something about the high or low sugar reading.

It is good that they have an insulin pump and can eat anything they want to eat.

It is good that there are so many scientists out there looking for a cure and that they believe one will be found within the boys life time.

Most of all, it is good that our family has all been brought closer together because we all need to help the boys and each other in managing their diabetes.

It has been good for me to be involved in a couple of online groups which have other mothers and fathers with type one children that they can support me and help me when I am feeling down about the disease.

So thanks everyone that has supported us and prayed with us through the tough times.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: At the Arid Lands.

This is a wild Rock melon.

Grass tree.

At the lookout.

A plant I liked.

Joseph playing with the stones. He loves stones.

Happy Birthday Madeline.

16 today.


Birthday girl.

Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Madeline.

My mission statement.

Last week, I wrote about writing a mission statement. This is what I wrote for my mission.

Firstly I thought about all the roles I have in my life.

I am a provider, teacher, wife, friend and disciple.

To write my mission statement, I thought about, what do I want to achieve with all these roles?

After much prayer and going through the eBook, this is what I came up with for each role.

1) Disciple:

To pray everyday, go to mass regularly, receive the sacrament of confession regularly and to go where ever God leads me, even if I am scared of what it could lead too.

2) Teacher:

To be attentive to the childrens lessons, to help them learn, form good study habits, have a good routine and love life.

3) Provider:

To provide all the children's needs, both emotionally, physically, To keep them all as healthy as possible.

4) wife:

To love Steve. To hold nothing back from him. To be just as happy (or even happier) when our children have all moved on.

5) Friend.

To have relationships with other women. To encourage them and be encouraged by them. To be open to any challenges from them and see when God is using them to talk to me.

So many times this week, I have thought, I don't want to do xyz. Every time I have had this thought though, I have also thought about why I am doing it and what I want to gain from doing it. That is how I see the mission statement working in my life. It gives me the incentive to get up and do xyz when I don't want to.

What a mess.

Look what Joseph did today while I was on the phone.

opened new custard, smashed several eggs and put an egg in custard. He then also ate straight out of the custard container.

This is custard all over his suit when we found him.

New hair style.

Before.

After.

It is much shorter and Brigette dyed it for me.

7 Quick Takes.

-1-

VOIP and Naked Internet.

Today we changed over to Naked internet with Internode.

This is internet without a landline. It should save us about 25.00 a month of phone and internet costs.

-2-

Quiz Night.

Tonight Daniel and the two other pilgrims for WYD had a fundraiser to raise money for their trip to Spain in August. The organised a pasta quiz night. It was a fun night.

-3-

A cute photo of Joseph from the week.

These are the tubs I bought for our home school room. I was carrying Joseph when we put them in the trolley. He reached out for them so I put him in.

Brigette was with me and couldn't believe I stopped in the middle of the store to take a photo of him. I couldn't resist though.

-4-

Mission Statement.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I have written up a mission statement. I have found that this has kept me more focused on what I want for our children and for Steve's and my marriage. It has also helped me to realise why I do all the things I do and what I hope to achieve from them all.

It has made the week much smoother and I have stayed more motivated in doing what needs to be done. I have also noticed that when I am on task more, the children are too.

-5-

10 things in 101 days.

I have 27 days to go till my time is up for 10 things in 101 days.

- So far I have sewn one top for me.

- sorted our home school books out.

- started re organising our kitchen.

- written up 2 menu plans.

- planned in my head another 10 things to do after this.

I better get a move on with the other 5.

-6-

Lent.

Remember the list I wrote about for the children and I to do? We did the list every day for the first 10 days but this week, we haven't done anything at all. I guess I focused on other things and forgot to pull a small sacrifice out of the box each day.

We have fallen but must get up from this. I am going to make sure we pull something out of our box tomorrow.

-7-

Euthanasia.

I got news tonight that in South Australia there will be another debate on Euthanasia. It was only a short time ago that a Euthanasia bill was defeated but still they just keep on coming up trying to get this legalised here.

Paul Russel has a great website that keeps everyone up to date with any kind of Euthanasia laws that are trying to get in and he lets people know when action needs to be taken.

Please pray for Paul's work and help out with the action items.

Therese.

Don't forget to pop over to Jen's for other people's quick 7.

Small Successes.

It is a while since I did a small successes with faith and family but this week has been such a good week that I really wanted to do it.

(1) My first small success is writing my mission statement. It has helped me to be much more focused on what I need to do and I know what I am trying to achieve with every chore I do.

(2) I have made our bed and cleaned our bedroom every day this week.

(3) I have written on my blog every night this week. I am also getting a good routine to get everything done each day.

Don't forget to drop over to Faith and Family Live to read other people's small successes.

Wordless Wednesday. At the foreshore.

Mission Statement

I was thinking yesterday, why is it whenever I start a new mothers rule or some new routine that I get everything done the first couple of days but then I start to do things half way? I don't know why it is or what makes me like this.

Today I got an answer to this. I read it in a blog that I have been following for a while.

Inspired To Action had a great post on getting things done.

Go and read the article. It has put into perspective for me what I need to do.

Tonight my goal is to read the Mission Statement E Book.

I have never thought about having a mission statement as a mother before. I am hoping that with a few goals, I will be able to stick to my mothers rule.

Day one of A Mothers Rule of Life.

Over the weekend, I worked on my mothers rule. It hasn't really changed much from before Joseph was born. I do have Christopher at home now rather than at kindy so that is about the only thing I have changed. We did change our timetable a bit anyway when he no longer needed drop offs and pick ups from kindy.

Over all, I was very happy with the day. The school day went smoothly. I did site changes for the boys pumps and uploaded their information to carelink. I got our room cleaned out (including under the bed). Steve and I also got to evening mass tonight.

I am hoping it will continue to go as well as it did today for the rest of the week.

51 things about me

Jenny from A Minute captured posted 51 things about her and I thought it was a great way for those that don't know me to get to know me a bit better.

1) I was born in 1966 so that means I will be 45 this year.

2) I love spring and summer and dislike autumn and winter.

3) I enjoy being out in the sun on nice warm days.

4) We have lived in three different towns. Adelaide, Millicent and Port Augusta.

5) When we lived in Millicent, we had so much rain that I started to hate rain.

6) My favourite drink is Coke Zero.

7) I love Italian cuisine.

8) My favourite Italian meal is Gnocchi with a cream sauce.

9) I have trouble disciplining myself to get to bed at a reasonable time.

10) I like to sleep in.

11) I have seen the Passion of the Christ once. I am glad I have seen it but I probably won't watch it again.

12) I love old musicals. My favourite one would have to be The sound of Music.

13) I love watching It's a wonderful life at Christmas.

14) I enjoy doing sudoku's.

15) I play wii with our children. I like Mario Galaxy.

16) I am a cradle Catholic.

17) I didn't realise just what a gift the Catholic faith is until I was married to a non Catholic.

18) My eldest son was baptised 3 weeks before his dad.

19) My husband always inspires me to be the best Christian I can be.

20) I got married when I was 24 and had my first child at 25.

21) I was pregnant with our first child 3 months after we got married.

22) Daniel was born just 25 days before our first wedding anniversary.

23) I like to cook but sometimes it seems that what I have cooked disappears so quickly that I think why did I bother.

24) I love anything sweet.

25) I don't eat ice cream unless it is really really hot. I don't like the cold texture.

26) I love shell seafood. I wish it wasn't so expensive.

27) I need to write myself a list to get anything done.

28) I sometimes wish I was born organised and organisation came more naturally to me.

29) All my babies have been born naturally.

30) I had my appendix out when I was 14.

31) I had my tonsils out when I was 7.

32) I was in a car accident when I was in grade three and had 12 stitches in my forehead.

33) My spelling use to be atrocious. I have improved a lot since writing my blog and reading other blogs.

34) I always try to correct spelling mistakes myself before looking at the dictionary for the correct spelling.

35) I want to loose about 7 kg.

36) I wish I didn't have grey hairs.

37) In August it will be my 5th anniversary of blogging.

38) I don't think I would have started home school if I wasn't reading other home school blogs.

39) I get a lot of support for looking after the boys diabetes from other mothers online.

40) I like living in a country town.

41) Sometimes I wish we lived closer to our families.

42) I want to travel overseas some day.

43) My dream holiday is to go on a cruise with Steve (and without any children).

44) I would love to be in the Holy Land one Easter.

45) I would love to meet the Pope.

46) I am very shy when I meet people in real life.

47) I love being a mother.

48) I love being with other people.

49) I wish I could take better photos.

50) I am a member of Steve Rays message board and I love the community there.

51) Recently we got EWTN. It is great to have Catholic programs to watch.

Made it. I will be doing another 50 at some stage to get to the 101 like Jenny. It will be a while though. It has taken me a while to come up with this list.

Feast of St. Joseph

Happy feast day Joseph.

We had pancakes, bacon and chocolate milk for breakfast this morning to celebrate Joseph's feast day.

We haven't really celebrated the children's saint days much before but I am going to make more of an effort to do it now.

A mothers rule.

I remember the first time I read A Mothers Rule of Life, the author, Holly spoke about the miracle of the loaves and fishes and how God used the miracle to speak to her about her needs and how he could meet them.

When I first read it, I couldn't really understand how the miracle related to being a homemaker and mothering.

Since having Joseph though, I can now see that the miracle does really relate to mothers at home. So many times over the last year I have complained to Steve, it seems like I need to get a lot of jobs done with only a small amount of time. I bet the disciples felt like this when they only had 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5000 people with.

I have realised this past week that since Joseph's birth, I really haven't followed a mother rule like I was before he was born. I guess something new came into our lives and I just went into survival mode and doing what I could when I could.

Joseph was a pretty easy baby but he is very much a mummy's boy. He doesn't like to go to the other children while I am busy with other things. Since he started crawling, he isn't as demanding but still likes to be in my arms more than any other place. I suspect he will also be less demanding once he starts walking as well and once he has completely weaned.

It is time though for me to write up a mothers rule again. I need to reevaluate what God wants me to be doing through my day and what my priorities need to be.

This is one of the things I really love about our Catholic faith. It is only because it is lent and I have been making more effort to take the children to church and praying extra prayers that I had this realisation.

So over this weekend, I will be making a list of my priorities and writing up how I should be spending my day. I hope with a bit more organisation, I will be able to get everything done well.

Wordless Wednesday. Joseph feeding self.

Baby Joseph update.

.
Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for life has succeeded in getting baby Joseph Maraachli a second chance. As I write this, baby Joseph is in Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Centre in St. Louis Mo. He will get a tracheotomy sometime this week. Read about it here.

Outdoor entertaining.

Today was a public holiday in South Australia. It is Adelaide Cup day. Our friends the Mahers came to spend the afternoon with us.

We had a lovely bbq lunch inside since it was pretty hot outside but after Mass they came back and we had a lovely dinner outside. Fr. Paul our parish priest also joined us for tea.

It was a great night. Here are a few photos from it.

Group shot.

Bill, Daniel and Sam sitting on our retaining wall.

Our turtle pond (which is currently turtleless) and Jess in the corner. Our turtle has gone missing. Maybe a prayer to St. Anthony will find him.

Christopher. He had a fall just before tea. I don't know if that was why he sat over here on his own or if it was because all the chairs were taken on the paved area. He ws happy to come and sit with everyone once I put a chair there for him.

7 Quick Takes.

Jen at Conversion Diary is the hostess for the 7 Quick Takes.

Pop over to see other Jens and other peoples quick takes.

-1-

Pump Malfunction.

For the last month or so, Tom's pump has been chewing batteries very quickly. A battery is suppose to last around a month and he was putting a new one in every 10 days. Last Tuesday, we put a new one in and later in the day it was saying battery flat. I rang medtronic and after trouble shooting his pump we discovered that he needed a new battery cover.

They said they would send a new cover. That night though Tom's bsl got way up into the 20's so we decided until the battery cover arrived to give him daily injections. This leads me to my number two for today.

-2-

Daily Injections.

Today was day 3 of daily injections for Tom and we got the battery cover. When it arrived, he asked me if he could just stay on daily injections.

I was a bit disappointed but know he needs to want to pump for it to be successful so agreed to it. I have pointed out to him the advantages of pumping but still he wants to do the daily injections.

This afternoon I spoke with his endocrinologist about it and we have worked out a daily dose for him.

She has sent me a chart which has worked out the insulin he would need with the carb intake and his bsl taken into consideration.

He will have 13 units of lantus each evening with tea. Novo rapid will be given at each main meal depending on his bsl and how many carbohydrates he is eating.

-3-

Sewing.

Well my new sewing machine is here but as of yet, I haven't had a chance to play with it. Maybe tonight I will do a few things since Daniel and Steve are watching some scary movie.

I want to finish Brigette's curtains and some overalls for Joseph this weekend.

-4-

Back Garden.

Steve has done a great job in the back yard. I took some photos today but they are all really blurry. Some child's finger prints are on it. I will take a few more tomorrow and put them up.

-5-

Joseph.

On Monday Joseph turned 13 months. He is still crawling around and not showing any interest in walking. He has lots of people that are willing to carry him so I don't think he sees any need to walk.

-6-

Lent.

I don't think before I had children I realised just what a gift lent is to us. It is a time that we can re focus and see where our spiritual life has been lacking. Over the last couple of years especially I have seen this more in my life.

-7-

St. Joseph.

Next Saturday is the feast of St. Joseph. I posted a link to a novena in the Save Baby Joseph facebook group.

We will be doing this novena and praying especially to Joseph's patron over the next 9 days.

Wordless Wednesday. My new toy.

The start of lent.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. We have been preparing for lent for a few weeks now and have a list of things that we will give up.

The children and I (that do home school) have 10 different things that are small sacrifices. Each day we will pull one out of a box. That day we will offer that small sacrifice.

On the list is:

1) drink water only for a day.

2) Eat plain rice for lunch.

3) go without TV for a day.

4) Go without internet for a day.

5) go without a treat at snack time.

6) Say some extra prayers.

7) write a nice note to a member of the family that will make them feel good.

8) Write about your prayer and who/what you have been praying for.

9) Read about a saint.

10) Have no meat for a day.

Because there are 10 things and lent goes for 40 days we will do each thing 4 times. Each day when one is pulled out of the box, it will go into another box until we have pulled all ten.

For my own Lenten sacrifice, I have a list of things I must do each day before I get on computer. Hardly a day goes by that I miss getting on computer. There are some things that I really should do each day and neglect to because I spend too much time on here. If I put them before computer they will get done or I won't get on computer. I am not going to write here what the 4 things are but they are all things I should give priority too.

For some other Lenten sacrifices ideas,

Chez Ouiz has a really good one for the whole family.

Catholic Icing has a Lenten link up with 45 different links for different activities.

Catholic Icing also has the Lenten Calendar which I have saved for our computer.

Coleen is concentrating on prayer, fasting and alms giving.

Baby Joseph

In Canada is a baby called Joseph who is the same age as our baby Joseph.

Joseph in Canada has an illness that he will die from. If he was given a tracheotomy, he could go home to die. The doctors in Canada do not want to give baby Joseph the operation though. They simply want to withdraw his breathing tube and let him die in the hospital.

As Alex Schadenberg states, this is not about Euthanasia. Removing the breathing tube is not going to cause Joseph's death. The condition he has will.

This is also not about futile care. A tracheotomy is not burdensome, futile or extra-ordinary care for a baby with this condition. It is something he needs to breath on his own.

It is about parents choosing the treatment for their child over a hospital/doctor.

This could really affect all of us. This could result in anyone being denied any treatment that any doctor decides against. It only takes one precedence for things like this to happen.

Today Fr. Frank Pavone asked people to sign this petition to have Joseph's medical records released. The family has been trying to get the baby to an American hospital but they cannot until the hospital releases Joseph's records.

Please go and sign the petition and also pray for the Maraachi family.

There is also a facebook page that you can join to support Baby Joseph here.

Bucket List.

I was emailed this a while ago from a friend and kept it to put here one day when I couldn't think of anything to write.

All the bold things are the things I have done.

shot a gun
gone on a blind date
Skipped school
watched someone die
Visited Canada
Visited Hawaii
Visited Cuba
Visited Europe
Visited South America
Visited Las Vegas
Visited Mexico
Visited Florida
Seen the Grand Canyon
Flown on a plane
Served on a Jury
Been lost
Traveled to the opposite side of the country
Visited Washington, DC
Swam in the Ocean
Cried yourself to sleep.
Played Cops and Robbers
Played Cowboys and Indians
Recently coloured with crayons
Sang Karaoke
Paid for a meal with coins only
Made prank phone calls
Laughed until some beverage came out of your nose
Caught a snowflake on your tongue
Had children
Had a pet
Been skinny-dipping outdoors
Been fishing
Been boating
Been Water Skiing
Been Downhill Skiing
Been Hiking
Been camping in a trailer/RV
Been camping in a tent
Flown in a small 4-seater airplane
Flown in a glider
Flown in a helicopter
Flown in a hot air balloon
Walked on a glacier
Driven a Motorcycle
Been bungee-jumping
Gone to a drive-in movie
Done something that could have killed you?
Done something that you will regret for the rest of your life.
Visited Africa
Rode an elephant
Eaten just cookies or cake for dinner
Been on T.V.
Steal any traffic signs
Been in a car accident
Donated blood
Bailed out of Helicopter/Plane
Ran in a Marathon
Went Curling

Anyone else want to put this on their blog? Leave me a comment so that I can see your list. I will add a link to you too.

Katie has her bucket list here.

Maria has her bucket list here.

Adoro has her bucket list here.

Owen has his list up here.

Some updates from my children.

Today Tom and Amelia did some posts on their blogs. It has been quite a while since they both updated them.

Here is Amelia's update about her friends party this weekend.

Here is Tom's update about our family.

photos of the back yard.

Looking back at the paved area.

The areas with the wood around them are going to be for plants. We will put in mainly Australian natives so we don't need to water a lot.

Our turtle's pond. Plants will go around this too.

The paved area.

This is the last area that Steve is putting the wood around. It will also have some plants in it.

This and That.

I have to share with you all one of my quirks. Whenever I come to my blog dashboard, I see the number of posts written. When I see a nice even number (like 1400 posts) I get a thrill from it. I don't know why but seeing an uneven number (like 1401) just makes me feel like my blog needs another post. The same thing happens when I look at my sitemeter counter at the bottom.

This weekend I was intending to do a bit of sewing but when I sat at my machine on Friday night to finish off Joseph's overalls I couldn't put the presser foot down. This has happened twice before. It is always in the summer and I am wondering if it is an environmental factor that is making it happen. I have pretty much decided I am going to get the machine fixed and then sell it. I have a spare machine that I can use between now and buying a new one. There is a big Janome sale on in March though and they are my favourite machines. The only reason I have persevered with getting this machine fixed each time the foot has been broken is because it is such a great machine to sew on. I really love the way it sews and feels.

In the garden, Steve has made some really great progress. The retaining wall is up, the pavers are down and the turtles pond is installed. Steve thinks he will be finished in a couple of weeks and then he will start on the laundry. I will get some more photos up this week of the garden.

Have a great week everyone.

Quick 7!!!!!!

-1-

1400 posts.

This post is post 1400 on my blog.

Only 100 posts till I reach 1500. That is such a big milestone, I think I will have to have a giveaway again for it.

-2-

EWTN.

Today we had Arid Lands Communications come and install a satellite dish receiver. We can now get EWTN live. There are quite a few programs I am looking forward to watching on it.

Life on the Rock.

The World Over.

and The Journey Home.

-3-

Back Yard.

Steve has been working hard in the garden each night and we have the first retaining wall up. Tonight he is out there putting the caps on the blocks.

I am really impressed with how good it looks. Tomorrow I will take photos of everything.

-4-

Lent.

I have been thinking about lent a bit over this week and what we will do.

I have printed off a Lenten Calendar.

I have also started to think about what I am giving up for lent.

What are you giving up?

-5-

OAMC.

Last weekend I finally did a full cook for the next month. I have also written up our menu plan and know exactly what we are eating each night.

-6-

Little Athletics.

Only 4 weeks left for little Athletics.


-7-

Netball.

This winter, Amelia and Brigette want to play netball. Registration will be on Sunday so we will probably go down and enroll them.

Pop over to Jen's for other quick 7.

Friday funnies.

Pumping and home improvements.

Since coming home from Adelaide, I have been really busy. Any change to routine seems to put a kink in our days and makes me feel like I am not in the routine we need for everything to get done. The last couple of days have been better though and I am getting a lot done.

We have been looking into changing our internet, home phone and mobile phone plans. We are happy with the service mostly with our current providers but I was pretty sure we could get some better deals with other providers.

I have been spending a lot of time researching all the different deals and think we have come up with the best plan for us all. It will save us about 30.00 a month for every thing.

We have Christopher's pump basal rates all worked out. He has adjusted well to life with a pump too. He doesn't like pump change day much but that is only once ever three days. While we were getting his basal rates worked out I had to get up at midnight and 3.00 am to do blood sugar checks. I don't have to do them now we have the basal rate right but I have been waking up every night at that time anyway. I hope tonight I will sleep right through.

Steve has been working hard landscaping our garden. It is looking great. I cannot wait till it is finished. Here are a few photos of what he has done so far:

Here is Steve getting up all the grass so that we don't have weeds when it is all finished.

Looking back towards our house.

All the grass out and the dirt all leveled off to the levels we want them. The big area in the middle will be paved and have a retaining wall around the edge.

The pond we bought for our turtle. Our turtle has just about doubled in size and needs a bigger swimming area. This should do him nicely. We also have a mate coming to be here with him when we see Steve's sister again.

The paths around the garden area.

I am Australian.

I have so many things to blog about at the moment but time seems to be short. I decided to do this quick post tonight and will be back soon hopefully to give you all an update on all that is happening in our lives.

I love this song and would love to be somewhere one day when a flash mob happens. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Therese.

Stylish Blogger award.

Thanks so much to Deanne from Five Brothers, one sister for awarding me the Stylish blogger award.

For this award I need to state 7 things about myself.

1) I have lived in three different towns.

2) I was born and raised in Adelaide. Married there. . Lived in three different houses in Adelaide.

3) We moved to Millicent at the end of 2000. We lived there for 2 years.

4) After living in Millicent for 2 years, we moved to Port Augusta.

5) In Adelaide I lived in three different houses.

6) In Millicent we lived in two different houses.

7) In Port Augusta we have lived in two houses. I think this house we will live in for many more years. I really don't want to ever move from here.

I want to pass this award on to the following blogging friends.

1) Angie from Free Spirit Haven.

2) Nancy from Be not Afraid.

3) Coleen from Martin Family Moments.

4) Jeanne from A peaceful day.

5) Amy from Knit together designs.

6) Laura from Laura the crazy mama.

7) Lerin from Beautiful Chaos.

Pumping.

Christopher has adjusted to life with a pump very well. Yesterday we came back home. His sugar level did go up a bit yesterday but we were able to get him adjusted and back in range overnight.

Tom has a medtronic pump so we decided to go with them for Christopher as well.

We found out about the care link logbook while in Adelaide. This will be great for us since we live so far from the boys endocrinologist. We can upload the boys pumps via bluetooth to the computer and then the doctors can go to our page and read all the information we have put in.

This will be a great tool for us to see patterns and see where the boys need adjusting for any insulin intake.

Are you looking through clean windows?

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly.
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, The young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and
cleaned our windows." And so it is with life. What we see when watching
others depends on the purity of the window through
which we look.

The chicken dance

Our children insisted on Joseph's birthday that we had to have a party and play some games. Here they are doing the chicken dance.

at the cousins house.

Amelia, Joseph and Taylor.

Day one pumping.

Today Christopher started pumping.

He had a couple of low bsl this morning but after lunch and this evening we are getting some pretty good bsl.

I have to keep a fairly close eye on Christopher's bsl while we are getting the basal rate right. This is going to mean late night testing and getting up at 3.00am to check it. I hope it doesn't take too long for us to work out the insulin he needs for his basal rates.

First islet transplant conducted in Adelaide

First islet transplant conducted in Adelaide

Wow. Sounds like a cure for type 1 diabetes is on the way.

Happy Birthday Joseph

It all started with this post a year ago.

It lead to this post and this picture.

And here he is today:

And a cute video from a couple of days ago:

Happy Birthday Joseph. We love you very much.

Joseph and the bucket of water.

Steve has an ingrown toenail and has been soaking his foot each night. Tonight Joseph showed such interest in the bucket of water we took his nappy off and let him go for it with the water. Here he is in the water.

7 Quick Takes.

-1-

Count Down continues.

Only 6 days till Christopher starts pumping.

-2-

Cooking.

This weekend, I will make pumpkin bread, pizza rolls, fruit cake and some spaghetti sauces for us to take to Adelaide for meals and snacks.

-3-

First Birthday.

On Monday, Joseph will be a year old. I cannot believe his first year is over. He brings a lot of joy to our family.

-4-

Walking.

Joseph isn't showing any interest in walking yet. He can crawl really fast. He will walk around furniture but hasn't tried standing without the help of the furniture.

-5-

High Temperatures.

Everyday this week we have had temps in the 100's. The beginning of the week was okay but by the end of the week, our air conditioner was struggling. It works really well when it isn't humid but as soon as we have a little bit of humidity, the air conditioner just doesn't work well at all.

-6-

Rain.

We have had lots of rain here for the last couple of days. Last night, I woke quite a few times to rain pouring. I love the sound of rain on the roof.

-7-

10 things in 100 days.

I have started on my 10 things to do in 100 days.

So far, I have completed a new top for me.

I have written up 1 menu plan.

Started re organising our kitchen.

Jen is the hostess for 7 Quick Takes.

Pop over and see others 7 quick takes.

Steve's family history.

Here is the video of the book Steve made. He researched his family history for about 1 year. This book is the information that he has found about the first Royals that came out to Australia.

cyclone Yasi.

Please pray for the people in Queensland. They have had floods and now Cyclone Yasi is going to hit over night. Pray for the safety of all people.

Some photos from our week so far.

The first plums from our plum tree. We planted this tree back in August 2007.

Christopher's new shorts. I cut out 3 pairs on Saturday and so far I have sewn 2. This was the first pair I made.

Christopher playing his memory game today.

Today, Joseph managed to get the pumpkin out of the fridge. Someone must have left the door slightly ajar. This was the mess he made. Before I had the camera, he was crawling around in it and slipping everywhere. He thought it was so much fun. I did try to get a video of him slipping in it but because he saw the camera, he was just crawling after me instead.

Here he is after his bath. I decided to bath him straight after playing in the pumpkin.