1David recently sat for another CPA exam. To be honest he really struggled to find time to study this semester. I wonder why;)??I am so proud of my husband, it is not easy raising 8 children, building a house, holding down a job and studying as well. Frankly, he is awesome! 2A discussion over at 4Real has had me pondering my little ones. Today I had the opportunity to really focus on my soon to be 4year old, of course Jem at 20months had to be included too.We had a lovely time; tonguing and spooning ‘craft balls’, matching fabric cards, colour cards and working on fraction puzzles. The boys worked…

1I’ve just finished re-reading the Anne of Green Gables books. I even read Rilla of Ingleside, which I haven’t tried since I was a teenager, when I cried for a week. I managed to only cry a little this time. 2We spent a large part of this week supporting Koala as she researched and wrote a job application for a casual library assistant position. If you can spare a prayer that she gets an interview it would be much appreciated. 3We are starting to take bookings for our annual home-education camp. All Australian Catholic families are most welcome. I’ll be back with more details soon. 4I have joined Face-Book for…

1I have just finished reading Left to Tell and Led By Faith by Immaculee Ilibagiza. Immaculee is a survivor of the Rwandan holocaust. A deeply devoted Catholic with an incredible faith in God, her message is powerful. Despite the atrocities perpetrated on her, her family and her country she breathes a message of forgiveness. Forgiving her family’s killers, forgiving her fellow neighbours who turned on their countrymen. Very , very powerful. 2PC and I have always felt manners to be very important. In fact I’m in the midst of creating a ‘table manners chart,’ which I’ll share in a later post. Today however I met a mamma who made me…

1We began lessons for Term 2 this week. Promising beginning; positive attitudes and great application:) 2Our extra curricula activities have begun in earnest. Princess and Michelangelo enjoyed ther first gym lessons.Einstein played his first soccer game of the season, and won!Koala began coaching Jelly Bean’s soccer team, very promising beginning and Jelly Bean was happy.Carpenter has taken to the rigour of A squad training with a passion and has committed to 5.30am training seasons thrice weekly! 3Due to the business of our afternoons our housework is suffering. It is time for a new timetable and for some systems to be installed and insisted on. 4One benefit of our ‘season of…

1I have spent a lot of time up in the shipping container this week. Sorting, culling and re-bagging shoes and clothes. I am so very grateful for this storage option. 2Our library continues to be a raging success. Often there are children cozied up in the bean bags reading:) I still have more sorting and tidying to do, but I can now poke along in my own time. Our picture book bins continue to be our favourite. 3We have been re-affirmed in our study decision this week. It is indeed far easier to monitor screen use when all are contained together and the door can be shut. the children have…

1Wednesday we took our five oldest to Wet and Wild Water World(Theme Park). A ‘thank you’ for all their hard work with the milling, and a combination birthday party for Koala’s 16th and Einstein’s 13th. They each invited a couple of friends so we had quite a crowd:) This was the first time I have been to a theme park since I was 16, I shall confess to finding some of the rides terrifying! When they have names such as Black Hole, Tornado and Kamikaze they are bound to be terrifying. However I was brave and adventurous, and went on all the rides(bar one) and provided my husband with much…

1Have you got scratched DVDs/CDs?Carpenter trialed an experiment method and it works!Place your DVD in its case, in the freezer overnight. When you play no more jumps, or only minimal, depending on the severity of scratches. 🙂 2We had the building inspector out for a framing inspection this week. He was most impressed:) Rather a relief. 3As swimming squad ends for the term, I am reflecting upon the connection between sports discipline and lesson discipline. In our home, I often see a direct increase in lesson application when sports discipline plays a bigger role. 4Sometime soon I plan on writing a review on our highschool Geography choice this term.For now…

1Last week I shared I was trying to decide whether to tackle my clutter now, or when we move into the extensions. After readers’ encouragement, I decided to just dive in and begin. So far 9 Garbage bags have left the house!! I shared with the children Jessica’s ’40 Bags for Lent’ and they have been rather challenged to continue.*The children begged me to write to Jessica and confirm her bag size. They are not garbage bags but brown paper bags. Whew, we may make 40 bags at that size. 2Thanks to a laundry tip from a friend, Jem’s nappies now smell much nicer.Wash in hot water and on longer…

1We attended our third swimming carnival yesterday. Koala was magnificent as a timekeeper. I was so proud of our little girls. Jelly Bean managed to swim 25m of both backstroke and freestyle:) Princess competed in all four strokes; backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle and then she competed in the medley! All four again in a row! Our three boys swam their hardest, did their best and most importantly were good Sportsmen. As a lovely bonus all three won their Age Championships!! 2Our Border Collie, Elowyn visited the Vet’s today requiring ear surgery.PC went to collect her and was highly amused to be greeted at reception with, “Here’s Ellie’s Dad” 3I’m…