1 I did it, I bought a new camera!!!!  A MAJOR deal, normally I agonise and fret and research thoroughly before I part with money.  The Target catalogue arrived, the bundle deal was excellent and I walked in and snatched it up.  I now have my first REAL camera, one with a zoom lens.  Finepix digital S3300 with a 26x, 14 mega pixels with a tripod and bag for the camera proficient (which is so not me).  Hoping the qualities of my pics improve, maybe I’ll discover a wee portion of my friend’s talent😉 2 Sometimes you forget just how strong the suggestion of television is to young children.  We have been…

1 Term 3 resumes on Monday.  Our lesson plans only really need a tweak here and there, however my mind is full of home education philosophy.  How do I ‘marry’ Natural Learning with Charlotte Mason?  How do I ensure our children have a solid grasp of the basics and yet thirst for knowledge? Any advice? 2 As I plan the next couple of months I once again re-visit the question of how to best to meet the needs of our younger ones. Jack Jack in particular is ready to move to a new level in his learning.  Then again our highschoolers need to be carefully considered too. 3 Our children often…

1 The Birthday children’s gifts this week consisted mostly of scooters and bladeboards.  The problem, the only place to ride is – inside!  So the sound of scooters and boards swishing up and down the hall has been constant.  However, the gyprock is now sporting a couple of holes!! We’re thinking a very high skirting board to be a great idea, either that or cementing an outdoor area. 2 With three birthdays we have been eating cake, cake and more cake.  Our favourite recipe was Elana’s Carrot and Walnut almond flour cake.  Moist and light, it was made entirely by our nine year old, Princess. We’ll be baking this again:) 3 We are…

1 Teaching a second child to drive is far different to teaching the first.  I’m now far more confident in my ability to teach driving skills.  Poor Koala had to do all the work of  paving the way and Carpenter gets to benefit from her hard work. 2 We recently attended the engagement party of a young friend of ours, a young lady we have known since she was 9, actually the godmother of one of our girls.  It is really amazing to realise just how much time has flown as we watch with pride her begin her journey into married life.  Of course all things Wedding are of interest here at…

1 Koala went to school this week for the first time!  She attended for work experience.  We now have a picture of her first day in Kindergarten;) 2 Einstein was highly amused yesterday after taking a phone call from our local library.  We regularly reserve books online, we reserve so many we have our own basket under the counter with our name taped to the cubbyhole.  Yesterday they begged us to go in as the basket was overflowing and we now had a trolley! 3 My dear friend has long stored borrowed library books in a central basket in her loungeroom.  She has been encouraging me for years to do the same.…

1 Carpenter passed his driver’s test yesterday and now has his Learner’s Permit.  He was so thrilled he was beaming:) a milestone, sharing precious moments:) 2 Discussions of our proposed family holiday have been under way.   When mention was made of visiting a dinosaur dig a couple of the boys were extremely excited.  We were expecting a reaction from the older boys but Jack Jacks’ enthusiasm has taken us by surprise. When Carpenter was the same age he was fascinated by dinosaurs, judging by his reaction to the dig he hasn’t lost interest.  Back then we gathered a great collection of books and now I’m revisting them with Jack Jack.  A very…

1 PC was walking out of our local Target yesterday during his lunch break when he glanced towards another shopper at the door.  He thought, “Gee he looks like my brother” (His brother lives 600km away).  He took a second look and thought, “He really does looks like my brother!” He walked back for a closer look and realised, “It is my brother!” So we had a couple of lovely surprise visitors yesterday afternoon:) 2 As I drove a couple of the children into town for sporting commitments we passed the Rugby field.  Princess asks, “Mum, what is Rugby?”  I answer, “Well there are two types”  She asks, “What’s the difference?” ‘Quick as a…

1 Discovered a terrific new blogger function, we can now upload multiple photos files with one click!! Hurrah!! 2 Carpenter had four friends over for a movie night last week.  To cater for all we converted our 10 seater table to a 14 seater by placing two tables together.  The day after they all went home and we had downsized again, I continually marvelled at how small the 10 seater table looked.  All relative I guess. 3 The addition of just one child often heralds a difference in washing quantity, some addition seems more noticeable than others.  For some obscure reason an odd number of children always feels like more…

1 One would assume that Births, Deaths and Marriages would see the importance of documenting official information correctly.  We received Bass’ birth certificate this week, and one of his sibling’s has been omitted from the certificate!!!  This is not the first time we have received certificates missing pertinent information.  I shall try to contact them again (sigh). 2 I’ve just finished Young Digger by Anthony Hill, based on a true story that occurred during/after WW1.  A junior fiction title recording the story of a young boy who lived in the trenches in France during WW1, travelled through Europe with British troops and ended up being the mascot for an Australian RAAF division.  After the War ended, he was smuggled to Australia with…