My Daybook: December 8th, 2014

Outside my window…
it’s all dark, complete night time dark in the country

I am thankful…
for my very talented husband who is working ’round the clock’ to finish the bathrooms and laundry in time for Christmas.  I am thankful he is able to ‘turn his hand’ to any task and complete the job well. Tiling and building 4 bathroom cabinets is his current task

I am thinking…
it’s time I got serious about weight lose and exercise again.  All that weight I lost for the Weddings.. all and more has crept back and settled around my waist

Learning all the time…
learning in December is all a ‘hard slog’. Achieving a little; Advent readings, reading practice, spelling lessons with teens and a fierce race is ongoing between our middles in regards to their maths lessons. Neither child wants the other to ‘get ahead’ of where they are at, so sneaked lessons are all the rage

Celebrating the liturgical year……
Advent is now in full swing; we’ve celebrated the Feasts of St Barbara, St Nicholas and two Sundays of Advent thus far. We’ve enjoyed several of our Advent books and a few of the Jesse Tree books, mostly though I’m happy we are managing prayers most nights with our Advent Wreath and enjoying our Advent chapter book

From the kitchen…
lamb shanks tonight, a rare treat. College boy is keen to bake these when he goes back to the City.


I am creating…

• order out of chaos, at least that’s the plan
• functioning bathrooms!

I am working on…
deep cleaning the house, washing walls, windows etc, a deep de-clutter too.
I have a list, I have a plan, I just need willing helpers…


I am going…
op-shopping tomorrow in search of clothes.  I realised all my good tops are black! Black isn’t really my colour and it seems such an uninspiring choice this time of the year, hoping to find bright, festive colours

I am hoping…
I find my calm and begin to make the most of ‘living in the now’, I have a tendency to sometimes get caught up in my ‘to do’s’

I am praying…
for a grieving couple who are mourning the lose of their unborn babe


I am pondering….
the joy of celebrating Christmas and my bafflement regards Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas.


I am reading…
gluten and dairy free cookbooks and all about good bacteria and probiotics. One of our children is currently trialing a gluten and dairy free diet and seeing good results.  I’m thinking about how this will translate for some of our Christmas favourite dishes.

I am hearing…
the quieter sounds of the night, with children spread throughout the house all quietly occupied. Older boys playing computer games in the study with me, other older ‘children’ reading in other rooms, some ‘middles’ finishing up a DVD in the loungeroom, PC grouting tiles in the bathroom, mostly though I’m not hearing the little ones, thankfully Bella is asleep. Yes Bella is asleep!!:):)


I am struggling…
unsuccessfully at times, to keep my cool whilst we juggle building decisions, plumbers and electricians, painting, final tiling and building four bathroom/laundry cabinets. As well as a full house with all ten children home, which translates to different dynamics and children who are doing their best to party 24/7, whilst Mama wants to complete her Christmas shopping and undertake deep clean the house for Christmas. Add in an 11 month old baby, who overnight has become demanding and rapidly mobile needing constant supervision. Really struggling to keep my cool.

Clicking around…

• haunting Ebay and Gumtree whilst I shop for Christmas presents.  Solving the challenge of country town options and Christmas on on a budget.
• Jen has passed on the 7 Quick Takes hostessing baton. I’m thinking it might be a good time for me to leave 7 Quick Takes and post more Daybooks instead, what do you think? Know anyone who is hosting Daybooks?

Around the house…
well attempting to deep clean, the older boys de-cobwebbed the house on the weekend and I finished de-cluttering the learning room today, so feeling better for the progress. 


One of my favorite things…
crossing tasks off my ‘to buy’ and ‘to do’ lists.  I’ll even add forgotten tasks after completion, just so I can cross them off;)


A few plans for this week…

• it’s our Wedding Anniversary on Friday, so a date with my darlin’:)
• homeschool support group’s end of year BBQ
• Princess’ ballet concert on the weekend
• bathrooms to be ‘up and running’ by the weekend:) Involves PC to complete bathroom cabinets and the plumber to come back and connect the water
• cleaning, de-cluttering, shopping, party planning (we’re hosting a mega party for friends on the 20th)
• I must be sure to ‘plan’ down time, hanging out, playing with and simply enjoying our children

A little peek at my day…
let’s see today went something like….a little cleaning, a lot of nursing and chasing Bella whilst trying to clean, ‘hunting’ children off screens and re-directing (fall out from partying 24/7), online present shopping, decision making with electricians regards hot water system, conversations with older children, a little more cleaning, ballet run (thankfully undertaken by Anna Maria – I’m so blessed to have adult children in residence), finally a moment to unwind once Bella is asleep, so like all good bloggers I write:)