My Dad.

Tonight my father passed away. Please pray for us all.

Thanks
Therese

Giving Praise.

Jennifer from My Chocolate Heart Hosts Praise each week.

Tonight we are heading out to Madeline and Brigette's Musical Theatre Production of Do you believe in Santa Claus?

I praise God that both girls have had this opportunity to be in the play and learn the skill necessary to be a part of it.

4 weeks till Christmas.

I got this in an email from Tricia.


I know it's early but I want to be the 1st....




With just about 4+ weeks before Christmas

REMEMBER:

Jesus is Better than Santa
Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks.. and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO
JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.
Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.
It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.


May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2009
And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year 2010.

Quick 7!!

--1--

30 weeks.

I am really starting to feel the weight of this baby now. I am finding it hard to stand for long periods of time and get anything done. Today I took the washing off the line. It took me 10 minutes and I felt exhausted after. Teenage children will now be doing the bulk of this job now.

The week has also dragged a bit. I am expecting that the end of this pregnancy will take a long time to come now. I have plenty of plans though to get me through.


--2--
Curriculum for 2010.

I have been working on Tom, Amelia and Christopher's curriculum for next year.

I was going to get the Faith and Life series for their Catechism lessons but I am a bit drawn to the Image of God series too.

So I thought, I would just ask. Those of you that have used these resources. Which do you think is the better series for teaching the catechism?

--3--
New pram:

This is the pram I am probably going to get for our new baby:

It is a Valco Navigator. Price is good and most of the reviews I have read about it are good too.

--4--
Baby Hammock.

Since Madeline was a baby, we have used a baby hammock for the baby to sleep in for the first 6 months. We actually used it for longer with Madeline but that was a big disaster in trying to move her from the hammock to the cot so the rest of our children have been moved into the hammock by 6 months

Here is a picture of a baby hammock. As soon as we get ours set up and my camera back, I will take a photo of it. When baby arrives, I will take a photo of him in it too. I highly recommend the baby hammock. We have co slept with babies at night but during the day, these are a really good alternative to a cot.




--5--
School holidays.

We are winding up our home school program for the year. We have two weeks left and I am going to be doing Religion, Maths, spelling and literacy each day but most of the day we will be preparing for Christmas.

I am going to make decorations with Tom and Amelia for the family room and Christmas tree. We will also do some hand made Christmas gifts for the other children.

--6--
Curtains.

I finished the curtains for the boys room but I had a blonde moment and made them too long. Steve said, thats okay, just cut them off. Better to be longer than shorter. I did cut them off and had another blonde moment and made them too short. I was pretty upset when I realized. I am going to get some new fabric for the curtains and possibly cut up the curtain fabric to make the boys quilts.

--7--
Christmas Traditions.

One of our christmas traditions for the last couple of years has been for our children to have a kris kringle. They pick a name out of a hat and buy a gift for one of their siblings. The really like doing this each year. In the past, we have waited till just a week before Christmas since they all find it hard to keep their person a secret. I am thinking about trialing an earlier picking of names. We will see how it goes.



Jen isn't doing a quick 7 this week but you can still pop over and read some other interesting posts. She has some of the most interesting reading in the Catholic blogsphere.

Google Wave.

I have 8 invites for google wave.

If you want one, either leave a comment here, or email me.

Friday Funnies.

Saw this over at Jill Stanek's blog.

Picture Puzzle Day

This puzzle was taken in Port Pirie when we went on a trip to Adelaide. On the way, I had a tire blow out and we went to the park while it was fixed.

Bamboo Fleece and PUL.

Today I have spent a fair bit of time looking into buying the fabric to make my own all in one nappies.

We used cloth nappies for our first 5 children but both Christopher and Amelia were in disposables full time.

I really don't want the expense this time so have been looking around at what is available.

I want to go with the all in ones to make it as convenient as possible.

So I want other cloth nappies mothers advice.

I have found a heap of free great patterns and Tracy has sent me a heap of links too. I am just wondering if I should go with the expensive Bamboo fleece and PUL waterproof fabric or just use any cotton fabric. Have any other bloggers made their own or bought the expensive all in ones? Do you have any advise about making them/buying them?
I have thought about buying plain Chinese Pre Folds but by the time I buy covers for them, they seem to be getting just as expensive as an all in one.

Homeschool inspiration.

I have followed Judy from BenMakesTen for a while now.

She mentioned a couple of days ago that they were thinking of putting her ebook "I Surrender" into a hard copy.

I don't generally buy ebooks but I would be very interested in buying this book as a hard copy.

If anyone else from Australia is interested in buying this ebook Judy has added a link to her buying page to buy the book in Australian currency.

Click here to go to the selling page.

I can't wait for it to come out in hard copy though.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday.

Last week, I had a really bad week and didn't do very much from either list. Today is a new day though and I am going to start again.

The weather is going to be much cooler so I am hoping I can get a lot done.

So my list for this week:

Martha:

Sought out Tom and Christopher's clothes. Amelia has moved out of their room and I have much more space to store their clothes now. I am going to go through and sought them all into 4 different boxes each. We will have a summer, winter, underwear and shoes box.

Daniel and Sam's curtains: I have done one and will get the other one finished this week hopefully.

Homeschool: I am going to start working out our curriculum for next year. I want to get it all ready before Christmas so that I can spend January preparing for the baby.

Cooking: I will cook our main meals for the month this weekend.

Bejeweled Blitz: I am not going to play this after tea each night. Once I start, I want to stay up and end up going to bed late. I need to stay off in the evening.

Mary:

Pray the rosary and Divine Mercy each day.

Go to weekday mass.

Pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Blessings book.

Preparing for advent with Tom and Amelia.

Do you have any goals for the week?

Other 5Mart Martha Lists:

Become What You Are.

Praise God.

Jennifer is the host each week for praise. Pop over to her blog to read what other people are praising God for.

I praise God today for Daniel and all he has accomplished this year.

I praise God for all the awards he got.

I praise God for all our other children and all the love they give to Steve and I.

I praise God for Steve and for the wonderful husband he is. I thank God also that he is an example to me and our children in living the faith.

I praise God that this pregnancy has been so easy and gone so fast.

I praise God for the rain we had yesterday and last night.

Quick 7.

--1--

Pregnancy.

I am now 29 weeks and everything is still going smoothly. I am starting to feel a lot of pressure on my pelvis when the baby lies a certain way and cannot stand for long. So far baby hasn't laid that way for very long so hopefully I won't get uncomfortable with it.

--2--

Broken Camera.

My camera that I bought just 6 weeks ago stopped working. I have charged it and tried a couple of times to open it but it still will not turn on. I am going to ring Kodak on Monday and see where to send it too and get it fixed.

--3--

Musical Theatre.

Next weekend, Madeline and Brigette are in the musical theatre production called Do you believe in Santa Claus? They are putting shows on Friday night, Sunday lunchtime and Sunday night. On Friday I bought tickets for us to go and see the show on Sunday night. I really hope my camera is fixed by then and I can take some photos.

--4--

Advent.

This year we are going to do an Advent Tree. I got the idea from Judy at BenMakesTen.

This is the outline that Judy has:

WEEK ONE OF ADVENT:

Put up your Christmas Tree, but ONLY the tree...do not put anything on it.
Leave it this way all week.
From time to time, sit near it and think about what it symbolizes...LIFE...beautiful life here on earth....and the EVERLASTING love of Jesus...and the LIFE IN ETERNITY He will grant us one day.

WEEK TWO:

Now place the lights upon the tree....ONLY the lights...Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
Sing carols and read Scripture stories that anticipate HIS COMING.
Ask Him to LIGHT YOUR SOUL.

WEEK THREE:

The ornaments will adorn the tree this week!
It's drawing nearer!
The waiting is almost over! ONLY ONE MORE WEEK AFTER THIS!
It is a week of JOYFUL ANTICIPATION!
Add those special touches and prepare a place of the HOLY INFANT!

WEEK FOUR:

The final top now comes to its place.
An angel?
A star?
Whatever you choose.
Place it atop your tree and stand back for a few moments!
OH COME OH COME EMMANUEL!
This final week will pass so quickly and you have now had time to PREPARE YOUR HEART in
a very focused and thoughtful way!

I am thinking of making a heap of purple ornaments to put on the tree in week two. We may make a advent wreath too.

--5--

Moving day.

Today the children changed rooms. I have sewn one of the boys curtains but need to buy some hooks. I thought I had some but I cannot find them. I may have put them away or maybe they have all been used.

--6--

Schoolies.

Daniel is down at schoolies for the weekend. I am sure he will have fun there.

--7--

Photo.

Even though my camera is broken, another mum emailed me some photos from the closing mass yesterday.

Since he is school leader, he got up and made a speech at the end of the mass. Here he is with the other school leaders, Jessica, Zaraar and Caitlyn.


Thanks so much Jennifer for hosting Quick 7 each week. Pop over to her blog to read what other people have for their quick 7.

Graduation night.

Tonight we went to Daniels graduation dinner from high school.

We are really proud of him and all he has accomplished this year. He has been accepted by One Steel to do a cadetship for the next 8 years. He will be working for them and studying Mechanical Engineering at UniSA.

Tonight he received 4 awards. They were:

The Mary McKillop Christian Leadership award.
The ADF Lon Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award.
Dilligence Award.
David O'Connor Perpetual Science Award.

As well as these awards, he also received a merit certificate for Maths. Merit certificates were given to all the year 12's that have received an A in any subject.

Daniel is a born leader and tonight he has been rewarded for all the hard work he has done this year.

Congratulations Daniel on all that you have accomplished over this year. We are proud to be the parents of such a dedicated and hard working person.

Mum and Dad.

Friday Funnies

lol. I need one of these in my fridge.

Recipe swap Thursday: Anzac Biscuits.

These are one of my favourite biscuits to bake.


Anzac Biscuits!!

Ingredients:

1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (85g) desiccated coconut
3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda


Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Sift the flour into a large bowl.
Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Put the butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water in a small saucepan.
Stir over a medium heat until melted.
Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls.
Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
Press with a fork to flatten slightly.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools completely.

These also taste nice with about a teaspoon of ground ginger in them. Put in with the flour and oats.

Don't forget to pop over to Therese's blog to see other great recipes.

Mass We Pray.

I am not sure what to think about this. I really hope it is a joke. If it isn't, I think it is in poor taste.

Wordless Wednesday.

This instrument is amazing.

5mart Martha (and Mary) Monday on Tuesday!

My list from last week was very neglected because of Tom's midweek visit to the hospital and me getting sick. I did sew myself another maternity top, the boys a shirt each and cut out one curtain. I also kept up with our budget and kept a record of where we spent our money.

So these are my goals for this week.

Martha

Finish off the curtains.
mark maths and literacy each day when the children do them.
Read with the children each day.
move children into new bedrooms this weekend.
Prepare some Advent activities to do with Tom, Amelia and Christopher.

Mary

Go to weekday mass one day.
Stay to pray after mass in front of the blessed sacrament.
Pray the family rosary.
Read a small bit from the bible each day.
Write down blessings from each day.

The blessings from each day was something both Steve and I use to do regularly. I was thinking about it over the weekend when I was feeling sorry for myself about something that I cannot even remember now. We kept a book that was specifically for blessings and wrote them all down. It was a good thing to look at whenever I felt down. It always lifted my spirits.

Here are a couple of other bloggers that have joined in 5mart Martha.

Michelle.

Become What You Are.

Cindy.

Let me know if you want to join in 5mart Martha and I will add a link to you too.

Update on baby.

Just being to the ob for my check up. Baby's heart beat is good and strong and my ob is pretty sure everything is okay. I also had a lot of movements this morning so maybe the baby was just tired or I wasn't noticing movements as much as they were happening.

I had the glucose tolerance test 3 weeks ago and the results from that were 5.2 (93) which the ob and I are both very happy with.

Feeling better.

Thanks so much for all the prayers. Today I feel much better. I still have a runny nose and am coughing a lot but don't feel wiped out like I did over the weekend.

Since I was not posting, I missed my 5mart Martha and Mary list. I will get it up later today though.

I am seeing the ob today for a check up. Baby is still moving but I have noticed a decrease in the movements so if you could all please pray. I wasn't meant to see him till next week but felt concerned so moved the appointment forward.

Thanks and God bless
Therese