Things Happening Here

It's been another great week!

Lots done in the garden which always makes me happy. :) Stuart is still on holidays which also makes me very, very happy!

We had more sweet friends for lunch yesterday (loving all these summery barbeques), and Saraya especially enjoyed 'looking after' their littlest, baby Hannah. :)

Isn't she adorable?!! I am so in love with her hair!

Today the children went to Vacation Bible School in Hervey Bay, and we all got to catch up with some other special friends up there.

Tonight Saraya has a playdate - yes, at night time!! she is SO excited - and tomorrow Elijah has a playdate.

We are getting tired, the holidays are winding down, and I'm definitely starting to think about getting into homeschooling and our normal family routines again ..... but am holding onto these last precious days of holidays too. :)

Hope everyone's having a great week!

Completed......

* Vegetable garden hoed, manure dug in, mulch and deep watering applied

* Apple tree #2 planted

* Nectarine, peach x 2, apple x 2, orange, lemon, guava x 2, passionfruit x 3 and three unidentifiable fruit trees all weeded, mulched and watered well.

I'm tired and sore and headachy, but feeling satisfied with what I got done today! I need to plant in my youngberry and pawpaw trees tomorrow, and I'll be done working in the orchard for a while. Phew!!

This is one of the passionfruit vines, growing on a trellis.....

... and Stu is kindly rigging up another one for me, for the youngberry vine I'm planting.

Passionfruit vines all in bud - hooray!!!

Apple

Apple #2

Nectarine

Peach

Vegetable patch ready to go!

These little ones also popped into the toy library with Stuart while I did the grocery shopping .... so many new fun things to enjoy .... here they were while I watered this afternoon, sitting in the grass playing a new card game - which is apparently hilarious as they were laughing all the while! Love that toy library!

Wheelbarrows, Chooks and Children

I've grabbed you with that title, haven't I?! It is actually the title of another of my pick up again and again books - I reach for it at least twice a year. Why do I love it so much? It inspires me! It really, really inspires me to get outside and get busy in the garden.

It's easy to feel like there's no time to garden, like it's all too hard to plant and weed and water and harvest with small children around. Well....... this book always reminds me that gardening with children is indeed possible..... and fun at that! It's a nice way to spend time with them, doing something purposeful and active, out in the fresh air. :)

A couple of pages for you to enjoy............

"People ask me sometimes how I manage to garden when I have small children to care for. I am not sure I do garden, really. I bung things in the ground and often they grow, and I sit up after the children are in bed and read books on Permaculture, and dream.

Having said that I think a more potent question is how people manage to have small children without gardening. Yesterday was a long, hot day which I spent entirely with the children, and otherwise in solitude.......... What would I have done without the garden? We were out there before the heat began, picking up windfall plums. Lachlan crawled bare-bummed over the plum-strewn ground and ended up looking like a little brown-eyed pot of jam. Clare ate as many as she put in her basket. But they were happy and so was I.

Then we planted out a couple of waratahs I had bought on the weekend. We planted them in the corner of the garden behind the house that I plan to be a showcase for natives one day, but which is at present something of a dumping ground for building materials to be used in the ongoing house renovations. I dug the holes. Clare filled them with water. Lachlan played with the water, until he looked like a muddy pot of jam. Clare put the plants into the hole, and helped me to fill them in. Then we all played with the hose until they were well-watered.

By now the day was warming up and so we retreated to the shade of the verandah to sow some lettuce seed in pots. Clare got the idea very well. She soon had half the household china filled with potting mix and water, and an untidy row of mud pies on the verandah. Now the shade was disappearing and I had two very sticky, muddy children. So we had a bath together, and Lachlan had his sleep, and Clare and I lay down on the sofa and read a book, and we found things to do inside until the cool of the evening.

Then we were outside again gathering eggs and strawberries until it was tea time and bath time and I was on the home straight. Far from being a trial, it had been a good day, with things achieved as well as and apart from keeping my babies happy and safe.

How do I garden with small children? It is an attitude of mind. You have to believe the research that suggests children in the western world get asthma and allergies because we live too cleanly and their immune systems aren't challenged early.

Challenge your baby's immune system. Believe that a dirty baby is a happy baby. Prepare for birth by buying a large and excellent washing machine. Whitegoods are the answer to relaxed motherhood.

Do all these things, and then you can garden, and so can they."

"Wheelbarrows, Chooks and Children" by Margaret Simons

See why I love reading this book? It's an easy read, down-to-earth and encouraging. It's written by a mother of young children - a dreamer, a nurturer, a busy lady - someone I can relate to. :)

Tomorrow's gardening goals:

* Dig cow manure through the vegetable patch, water in well and mulch

* Plant in Apple Tree #2 (#1 went in yesterday)

* Plant my Youngberry Vine

* Plant my PawPaw tree

* Mulch all trees in the orchard needing mulch!

* Water, water, water everything thoroughly.

Well, I'm off to bed to get some sleep as that's sounding like a big morning. But a happy morning. Bring on the sunrise!

More Friends!

This house has been the place to be this past fortnight.... we had more friends for tea tonight! Sweet friends who we love very much.

Look at all these beautiful children. Thanks for coming to see us guys. :)

Just Us Again

We are all exhausted tonight, but happily so. Our precious family has gone home, and we already miss them! The children all had wonderful fun together, as did the grown ups. :)

Here are some highlights......

Toasting marshmallows

Listening to Aunty Wendy read by the camp fire

William playing soccer (with no nappy on!) with Uncle Phil :)

Games for the little ones

And the big ones!! This was a type of celebrity guessing game.. and involved LOTS of laughing!

For some reason there have been loads of King Parrots visiting this week -

at the highest count there were 14 at once in our garden! They are beautiful!

I really enjoyed cooking for everyone.... muffins and homemade bread.....

..... steak pie, and chicken and vegetable pie.

My sweet bubby

Saraya and Tom and Sam, waiting for everyone to come to table for tea

There were puppet shows galore!! Hand puppets.....

...and funny finger puppets!! We were constantly being summoned to be the audience for these shows!

And because the rain cleared today (yay!) we went up to the water park for some fun. William enjoyed the home-grown watermelon....

... and I saved some seeds for planting. :)

I took this photo at the water park today. Look at that line of height - 1, 2, 3.

3 years between each of them. :) I love this photo!

Stuart and I sent Tom and Sam on the special wave boards as early birthday gifts. FUN!!!

Thanks so much for coming all the way to spend a few days with us, guys! It was really precious time with you all. :) Nice fellowshipping in the kitchen with you Wendy. :) You bless me!

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Psalm 133:1.

Enjoying Family

We are enjoying a visit from Stuart's sister Wendy, husband Phil, and their boys Tom and Sam this week. It's been a full couple of days already - wet days at that, so lots of game playing and puzzle doing .... and ice-block eating going on.

Hanging out with cousins is the best!!

A New Book in Hand

With "The Book Thief" back on the shelf, I have picked up an old favourite and have enjoyed getting reacquainted with her today.

I first read this book about 9 years ago - 2 years before my first baby was even born! To me, it's a homeschooling must-have and still remains my favourite book on home education.

I pick it up again and again and soak in the words.

Today I noted a whole page down and my notes are pinned up in the kitchen so I remember them! We will be focusing on one habit at a time, as Charlotte suggests. My children so need this before our new school term begins.

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"Some Habits to Develop:

* The Habit of Attention

* The Habit of Obedience

* The Habit of Manners

* The Habit of Truthfulness

* Habits of Thoroughness, Taking Tuns, Doing our Best, Prayer, Gratitude, etc.

Charlotte said a child should enter his adult life with about tweny of these sorts of good habits. She labeled them the "minor moralities". By "minor" I think she meant that they are the least we can do for our children. "Educate the child in right habits and the man's life will run in them, without the constant wear and tear of moral effort of decision", she told us.

A child with his conscience in training may need to remind himself, when he is with other children, "Now I will be truthful; now I will take turns; now I will be gentle with the younger ones." But by the time he is mature, all the minor moralities of life will have beomce habitual to him. He has been brought up to be courteous, prompt, neat, considerate, thankful, and helpful, and he practices rightesouness without much conscious effort. It is much easier to behave in the way he is accustomed than to originate a new line of behaviour. His mind is running in a rut, so tot speak. Likewise, ruts (fibrous connections) are found in dissected brain tissue. Both Charlotte and Dr. Jane Healey agree that this adaptation of brain tissue is the result of our educational efforts, wherein habits are graciously and mercifully ordered in the brain. Wow, everything we do leaves its mark? What a responsibility!

For those who decide to embark upon the career of habit formation, remember:

*one habit at a time

* one day at a time

* pracitice good actions weekends, too

* nip the weed in the bud because formation is more efficiently accomplished than reformation.

But be encouraged with this wise old saying, "One habit overcometh another." You may not be able to teach old dogs new tricks, but God is able to make all things new again. Isn't this a great blessing?"

The Charlotte Mason Companion p. 74, Karen Andreola.

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I also love this quote, as does Stuart. It could become part of our family motto!

"Sow an act, reap a habit,

sow a habit, reap a character,

sow a character, reap a destiny."

Thomas a Kempis.

Feeling inspired? Me too!

Snippets of My Day

It is still raining. As in it started up last night as we cooked at the barbeque...... and it rained all night...... and all day today. Just that lovely drizzly you can walk in if you choose, though you will still get wet. Very typically English weather. Very green. Fresh. Damp.

Saraya was unimpressed with the rain. Yesterday she learnt to ride her bike without training wheels! She rode most of the afternoon, down the hills and across the land. First thing this morning she wanted to ride - but it's a bit much in the wet, when you're just learning! So she's looking forward to seeing the sun again soon so she can ride her bike.

Mind you, she and Elijah still spent plenty of time outside today, with umbrellas. :)

The chicks are growing well - maybe a rooster in there... I don't know yet - and Lavender has obviously decided they are big enough to venture away from the coup now.

She's had them out in the garden the past couple of afternoons. They are so quick it was hard to photograph them! Sometimes the other hens have a go at them, so they've learnt to move FAST!

Our land is so green now, it looks completely different to when we bought. Saraya took this photo from the end of our driveway this afternoon when she was playing around with the camera.

Stuart took all three children to town on errands this morning and I used the time to really sort out their bedroom.

I tell you, it was in bad shape! Christmas had come through like a small cyclone and mess had accumulated on every shelf and under beds etc. But I changed beds, cleaned off bookcases, threw out rubbish and sorted the toys.... and all is good as new!

What a great feeling to accomplish this - it's been a job I've been wanting to do but lacked the opportunity. Thank you Stu for creating one for me! The children did help me in the preliminary stages with this, but I needed some time without them here to sort out some stuff they would have insisted on keeping.......

This alone is what I collected from Saraya's shelves..... lots and lots and lots of bits of nature, everywhere. I bundled it up and told her it needed to go back out to the garden by tea time so she spent an hour or so drawing things in her Nature Notebook before trecking it all outside. :)

We had our friends Jane and Matt and their two boys for tea last night, and they brought this gorgeous housewarming gift for us...

It's already mounted outside on the verandah and I just love it!!! Thank you guys, you are so special to us!

It's been a lovely day. Lots of rain, cooler air, child-free time, and sorting / cleaning achieved... I'm one happy lady tonight. :) And now I'm off to finish my book - "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak - if I can get to the end before I go to sleep. :) Goodnight friends!

It's a New Year!

It's a brand new year, and as I'm sure many of you are doing, I am thinking big about what this year could hold for our family. Lots of dreaming. Some list-writing. Some reading. Some praying.

For us, 2010 is the year to really hook into homeschooling in a more formal way. I have to say I can hardly wait to start! Saraya and I decided today that we'll begin school again the week Stuart starts back (a week before Term 1 officially starts for the kids). Aside from maths, we have everything we need and are ready to start. Monday-Friday will be our school days, though I imagine a lot of informal extension and definitely maths extension will happen on Saturdays when Stuart is around. :) Let's just say he's a much more enthusiastic maths teacher than me!

I'm pretty sure my biggest homeschooling hurdle this year will be this gorgeous little guy right here.....

Ah, William. He is a bundle of love - affectionate, cuddly, confident - and curious. And determined. And stubborn. And well into the typical 2-year-old behaviour we all find so challenging, even though he's still 5 months off being 2. The last couple of months I've been praying about how to balance his needs and the other children's needs during our school week, and thankfully now have a few answers, things to try! The other night I ordered a good-quality toddler pouch for those times he wants/needs cuddles when I need to spend time doing table work with Saraya.... but he will be contained so hopefully those toddler fingers will keep away from the work! I'm determined to not only survive the year, but to enjoy it!! I'll let you know how we go. And I would love any advice from any homeschooling Mums out there regarding keeping busy toddlers happy. :)

So much learning has been happening through the holidays anyway, we haven't really stopped schooling. It's just like that. When you read with your children, go places, talk constantly with them about everything, involve them in what you are doing, teach, listen, explore, play and leave resources out for them to use/discover - that is all great learning! It's been such an enjoyable holiday so far. Lots of family time, and lots of visitors too. We have some family coming to stay this week which will be so nice. And friends for tea tonight. And Friday night. Yay!

The children all got puzzles for Christmas and now they have all been completed at least once. :) Elijah had his first attempt at a 100 piece puzzle yesterday and is proud to have it done, with quite a bit of help! I think puzzling will be on the agenda for leisure-time throughout this year.

And gardening! Having the vegie patch dug out is exciting, and thanks to Wendy and Phil who gave us a Green Harvest voucher for Christmas, I have seeds ready to go into it. Thanks guys!

This sweet Garden Notes journal Cathy bought for me last year has been in my hand the past week as I have jotted down thoughts and plans and yes, dreams. :) I want to wind the gardening and food-growing into our daily lives this year. I'm hoping to increase the amount of food we can grow ourselves. New Year's Eve I wasn't out partying; I was at home, and after watching a comedy series I love with Stuart I got onto Daley's online and bought 6 new fruit trees. They should be delivered this week and I'm hoping to plant them into our orchard before Stu goes back to work. Got to get some more fruit trees into the ground in the next couple of years so we've got time to fully enjoy them!!! It will take a few years for most of them to begin fruiting.

So, it's a New Year and I can't wait to see what the year holds for us all. What are your plans / hopes / dreams for the year ahead? I'd love to hear them!