My Daybook: 15th January, 2019

Outside my window…

the children are playing in the pool. We put up a small, only 84cm/33in tall, above ground pool for Christmas and it has been immensely popular, hours and hours of waterplay

I am thankful…

that we had all our children home for Christmas, it’s always a blessing when we have a full house. It was Carpenter and Rose’s first, and last Christmas as an engaged couple, next Christmas they’ll be married!

I am thinking…

it’s not long until we ‘launch’ Princess (17) into the world. It’s her last academic year at home and part of her transition will include Tafe, contemplating my tick boxes, all the skills and knowledge we want her to graduate with

Learning all the time…

it’s school holidays here, two more weeks until we start back with lessons, I need to begin writing up our goals and lesson plans for the new academic year. This year I’ll have six students, ranging from a 12th Grader to a Kindergartener! Can’t believe our youngest is five!!! This means three primary and three highschoolers!

Celebrating the liturgical year……

I’ve been wanting to use a liturgical calendar wheel again for awhile, but our previous place of purchase no longer sell them.  However I’m certain somewhere amongst our liturgical year books I have precise instructions on how to create one using a garbage can lid, searching

From the kitchen…

trying all sorts of creative salads for lunches, the children are not exactly excited 😉 In my bid to increase Energy, become fitter and slimmer (remember Wedding this year) I’m on a quest to be a little more adventurous. We have had some successes and some spectacular failures, I haven’t lost heart yet

I am creating…

many years ago we began a ‘garden shed’, in truth it’s a cubby house, but shh the younger children don’t know it’s real purpose.  Eight years later it still sat, barely begun, this year PC requested that the ‘children’ complete the Cubby as his gift. Two days before Christmas saw ALL of them working on laying the decking, a week later, after some of the boys returned to Sydney, one lone lad continued to ‘lead the charge’ and along with his sisters and Jack Jack (12) they did a little ‘here and there’. The job isn’t quite finished, the girls and Jack Jack will need to complete it alone, this ‘years in the making’ Cubby will soon be done

I am working on…

my preparations for the upcoming Australian Homeschool Summit,  where I’ll be talking about Centering Your Education Around Australian Living Books. I’ve been preparing my workshop including Unit Samples, it’s all involved a lot of research and I’m finally done. If you haven’t yet reserved your tickets, best do so now as the Early Bird Discount finishes in a couple of days

I am going…

now the bulk of my Summit preparations are complete, I’m intending on spending several mornings and afternoons lazing by the River, before lessons resume in a couple of weeks

I am hoping…

that I can ‘stay strong’ and don’t fall back into my poor food choices; protein, fruit and vegetables are my friends, sugar and grains are not

I am praying…

• for Carpenter and Rose’s upcoming marriage
• for two of my brothers and their wives, both my sisters-in-law are expecting, and one is a high risk pregnancy
• for a family member who has cancer and was recently hospitalised with complications
• for a friend whose partner lost his cousin under horrific circumstances
• for various private intentions

I am pondering….

cliques, thank goodness I’m not a school mum I really think the whole clique thing would do my head in, I mean “Hello people, haven’t we left our school days behind, isn’t it time to be adults! To practice mature social skills?” I just don’t understand what enjoyment people get out of this behaviour

I am reading…

not a great deal at the moment, remember Summit preparations, but as soon as I can I’m planning on an Aussie author binge. All the research into Aussie books has generated enthusiasm, so many new authors to discover

I am hearing…

the children are now out of the pool, I can hear lamentation and discussion over their chickens. One died yesterday and now another is looking lethargic, there are concerns it may die too, we’re uncertain as to the cause but it is concerning

I am struggling…

I was struggling with self discipline, to sit and focus on writing my Summit unit samples and talk, though now it’s done I’m so excited, I can’t wait to record. Talking is never an issue, self discipline often is

Clicking around…

• I’ve been attempting to learn the ways of Pinterest, I’m told it’s a huge visual search engine.
• Was rather proud of myself for finally learning how to back up my blogs, in the cpanels no less, and now I’m working on merging all my sites together and creating a whole new look. So stay tuned, I have exciting plans for this year

Around the house…

after our major flooring achievements last year, I’m rather inspired to tackle some other projects on our list, the end is actually visible, albeit way off in the distance a mere faint light

One of my favorite things…

my young men, it was wonderful to see Jack Jack (12) blossom under his brothers’ care and attention over Christmas. He thoroughly loved being surrounded by his brothers; listening to him, sharing his interests, hanging out. Since they returned to their City home we often hear their voices over the gaming microphone, playing games with their younger brothers here, ringing up on the phone just to talk to their siblings

A few plans for this week…

• homeschool planning meeting with our group
• record my Summit talk
• plan for the new school year
• enjoy lazy afternoons down by the River with the children
• fit in a few morning runs

A little peek at my day…

• already achieved a 5km/3.10mil run this morning
• reserve a whole slew of library books (remember, Summit)
• work on new Website look