My Daybook: September 3rd, 2015

Outside my window…
it’s absolutely freezing, the third day of Spring but a wind is whistling about. This afternoon our crazy boys decided to go for a swim in the pool! It will be a few weeks before I’ll join them

I am thankful…
that a conversation I was long dreading went exceptionally well.  Sometimes I worry, pray and agonise myself in knots about situations and then…all goes smoothly and I resolve to have more Faith and Trust in Him, to leave off worrying. PC however reminds me that all those prayers are the reason all went smoothly, prayers are never wasted.

I am thinking…
about Harry Potter and underlying themes. I’ve just finished reading the series again, it’s been 6 year since I first and last read the books. This time round I’m finding many of Dumbledore’s words full of wisdom, perhaps I did the first time too, but it’s been awhile

Learning all the time…
extremely happy with our learning this term, we’re making solid progress, most important however the children are nailing skills in consistency and completing tasks, so very important that.
We’re drawing towards the end of Term 3, only 2.5 weeks to go and I’m considering what we might do to make the last week fun. Perhaps a quiz week, our children love quizzes, wish we had buzzers, maybe Michelangelo could make some….
and there was talk of me being the student. At the beginning of the Term our teens were moaning about the amount of work I was expecting and suggested I should be the student to experience the unreasonableness of it all. I offered to do so the last week of the Term and they were rather keen on the idea of making their Mum do ‘all that work,’ I was happy to be a student for a week and they could be ‘Mum.’ However when it was realised that in place of being students they would have to do all Mum’s work, the idea rapidly lost appeal, they decided being a student wasn’t so bad, so maybe I won’t get to be a student after all;)

Celebrating the liturgical year……
next Tuesday is the BIG day!! Jack Jack will be making his Confirmation and Jem his First Holy Communion! Lots of excitement here!! A little present shopping, and washing and altering clothes are on my ‘to do’ list this week

From the kitchen…
planning our new kitchen! Very exciting though a little daunting, I want to get this ‘just right’ feel free to head on over and add to the suggestions of ‘must haves’ for a large family kitchen.
In the midst of kitchen planning our 90cm freestanding Smeg oven died, 20 hungry people for dinner and no pies, 16 disappointed children:( Thus followed a week of researching ovens, brain overload. Initially we were going to purchase another freestanding oven, though this time we wanted a dual oven, this quickly narrowed our choices down to 4 major brands, but we didn’t really love any of them for various reasons. We then researched purchasing two wall ovens, which led to the discovery of double wall ovens. Finally choice made! Rang our electrician to double check that our power board could handle the amps, he said we’d be overloading, alternatively we could put a new cable in to the tune of $1000. Back to researching ovens, this time reading the amp specs first. Finally decided we’d have to compromise with a freestanding oven even though I didn’t like the look nor the size or price, went in to purchase the oven only to return home with…. a “teeny tiny” plug in bench oven no larger than a microwave. Somehow we’ll make this work until the new kitchen is built and a new cable is installed, cause really I think it better to be really happy with our choice, and the cost of those freestanding ovens… cheaper to put in the cable and buy a double wall oven and induction cook top.

I am creating…
a read aloud booklist for my teens, I’m facing a couple of challenges with this list, it’s not as straight forward as you might think, stay tuned for my upcoming post on Teens and Read Alouds…

I am working on…
re-writing our monthly menu, reducing from an oven of 126 Litre to one of 34Ls impacts drastically. I can see us using the BBQ frequently over the upcoming Spring and Summer months.

I am going…
actually we are not going, nor organising our annual homeschool camp this year, although we are visiting on the Tuesday when the boys make their Sacraments. After 16 years of organising it was a major and difficult decision to make with several factors playing a part. It feels most odd yet a huge relief to be in September and not totally stretched and stressed, though as September is always full with two birthdays and Father’s Day and life, I’ve been wondering, “how on earth did I manage all those years!?”

I am hoping…
to find time to understand the new instagram feature, apparently we are no longer restricted to displaying our photos in square format. However I haven’t had time to understand how this all works, do I have to download a new app? Anyone know how to take advantage of the new format?

I am praying…

• for our two lads making their Sacraments next week
• various petitions involving the needs of our older children
• for a local family only a couple of kms up the road. Tuesday night their 17 year old daughter ran off their country road, hit a tree and was killed. My heart is constantly heavy for them

I am pondering….
about how our lives are so different with ten children than when we had three, just saying…

I am reading…
to our teens, rather excited about this! We are enjoying time together just my older two and I, selections designed to capture their interest, most importantly time focusing on them. We’ve always enjoyed family read alouds but the books have long been aimed towards our younger set. Our older children will drift in, reminisce on how they loved that book when they were younger, listen for a bit, perhaps take the book to re-read but they don’t stay for ‘read aloud’ entirety. I have a post in the making on the why’s and wherefore’s, my thoughts and experiences, so stay tuned…

I am listening to……
nothing, I still have intentions to listen to more Read Aloud Revivals, but alas the MP3 player is still missing to cursory searching, and I haven’t been motivated to do a deeper search yet

I am hearing…
our 20th month old regularly sing, “We Will Rock You,” kind of creepy, I mean where do they pick these things up from? The weirdest was the other night, I was feeding her to sleep and she detaches to sing, “We Will Rock You.” freaky, I said to PC it might well be time to wean her, I mean, really! Judging by her rockin’ the drums, she certainly has the beat

I am struggling…
with life, juggling the needs of twelve individuals, ten children over a twenty year age span ensures life is indeed bursting rich. Actually I’m not struggling as I’ve put in place a few life skills I’ve learnt along the journey: the necessity of finding balance and inner peace, and the importance of nurturing myself and our marriage


Clicking around…
reading my favourite blogs regularly, sharing a couple with you
Ordinary Lovely – I just love Theresa, she shares glimpses of her life with us, the everyday and the insightful
Maxabella Loves – Bron is truly kind, genuinely interested in people and a thinker


Around the house…
we’re making great progress on laying the final section of the verandah. We demolished the old laundry, laid the bearers and joists and have begun cutting and screwing in the verandah boards, looking good:)

One of my favorite things…
my husband, my children, I often wonder how did I get so lucky, livin’ the dream


A few plans for this week…

• It is Father’s Day this weekend, one more gift to purchase and cards to be made, we want Daddy to know he is loved and appreciated.
• conclude present purchasing and clothes preparation for the Big Day.
• Helping my friend out at the markets on Saturday, watching her stall for a couple of hours so she can attend her son’s soccer Grand Final match. I feel quite honoured and a little nervous, she is rather talented and her Gifts and Homewares are impressive

A little peek at my day…
I took our younger ones to Story Time at the library, we went last week and they loved it! and were keen to go again, this time they took their older brother(9). Years ago I used to take our older children weekly, it was interesting to see how the dynamics have changed, 16 years ago the children were mostly 3-5 years old with younger siblings tagging along, now the children are nearly all under 3, I’m assuming the 3-5 year olds are in daycare and pre-school. Occasionally I feel a little sad that our younger children don’t get to experience some of the activities that our older children did due to logistics, then again they do get to experience different opportunities the oldest didn’t. Still I thought Story Time would be a time where I could focus on our youngest three