1 Today I watched a vimeo shared by Chari about, If Students Designed Their Own School, I had to watch when I read, Love this video…..”unschooling” in a public school setting. Clever of the principal to allow this opportunity for these students.  I believe these students will now be forever life-long learners.  What a gift that she has given to the students who go through this program……..hope it catches on!  The method of “question of the week” and their own “personal endeavor” for the term is obviously inspiring to these kids.  No tests or assignments.  Good idea. So I’m thinking of maybe trialing a question (or three) a week, and…

1 We’re off to an ordination tonight!!  I haven’t been blessed to attend many, but I know that I’ll be bound to cry.  There is something inherently beautiful watching a young man receive Holy Orders, dedicating his whole life to the service of God and His people. 2 I have a ‘new’ sewing machine (happy, happy dance!!).  Thanks to my brother’s girlfriend telling me about this opportunity, I put in a bid on an ex-school machine and won a Bernina 1008 for only…$85!!!  These machines normally sell for $1,600 brand new and half that for second hand, I got an absolute steal!!! 3 With a new machine I’m trying to…

1 Recent studies state that it costs $400,000 to raise a child from birth till college graduation.  This seems a rather inflated price and we did a few number crunches to estimate just how much one child costs us financially.  Our figure came in much lower, though admittedly we save an enormous bundle not having child care and private school costs.  Our estimation came in at roughly $5300 a year, that is $100,000 from birth till school graduation.  Folks, children simply don’t need the latest gadgets, what they do need is lots of love. 2 We signed up this week for a free fortnight’s trial of maths seeds, aimed at 3-6year…

1 Einstein is rather excited this week as he now has his Learner’s Permit!.  Our third child to take to the road under supervision. 2 Bass did after all end up in a full cast.  An x-ray assured us his bone is healing nicely.  A full leg cast doesn’t hold him back at all, he has even learnt how to run on it! 3 Currently we’re preparing Jack Jack to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It is a beautiful privilege to catch a glimpse into the soul of little ones 4 Percolating in my mind is a list, just what are the most vital skills to pass onto our children.   Having…

1 Just saying that our 16, 13 & 11 year olds are rather awesome!  Our 8 yr old’s pretty terrific too!  We left the children with a nanny when we went to the wedding and they were all rather impressive!  Helping the nanny make all run smoothly, cooking, cleaning and caring for the younger ones.  The nanny was rather impressive too.  Well done guys! 2 They say ‘things’ come in threes, let’s hope this is so and we are all done with medical traumas.  At the beginning of April we saw a split chin and a split lip, totally traumatic! We’ve now concluded the month with a fracture.  Bass has suffered…

1 Conversations are complex and have the potential for  mis-interpretation, the speaker could mean one thing and the listener hears another.  Take a conversation PC and I had last week PC:”Have you worked out what clothes you’re taking to the wedding?” Me:”Not quite, I need to get onto that.” He means: Have you looked through your cupboard. I hear: You best go shopping. 2 Talking wedding, I have finally found a scarf to go with my cocktail dress, I ended up finding the most perfect silver shade, which worked out far better than gold. I have silver shoes, so good there, and today I had the most delightful morning with a friend, who not only…

1 Last week after reading of a couple of  fantastic Amazon deals, I slumped into a pity party, bemoaning shipping costs from the States to Australia.  However I was instantly struck with a moment of sheer brilliance, what if my favourite bookseller had a bargain box too?  Popping over to have a hunt around I discovered it does indeed!!!  So Book Depository fans check out their Bargain Bucket, I love narrowing down to look at children’s books, that way I can justify my spending;) 2 Two days ago my mum’s best friend suddenly passed into Eternal Life.  Frances has been mum’s bestie for nearly 30 years, that’s a long time, a lifetime of sharing and support, these two…

1 This afternoon I was chatting blog lingo with a friend, we were discussing how to unfollow blogs as my friend has many on her dashboard which have been idle for years.  Doing a quick google search I found simple, concise directions. 2 PC and I are attending his brother’s wedding at the end of this month.  A major item of interest was, “What do I wear?!”  Whilst home for Easter Anna Maria and I went dress shopping and were successful immediately!:)  Dress code is ‘cocktail’, so we were thrilled to find an A line, floor length, navy blue, chiffon dress. Best of all I already have gold shoes and…

1 I’m certain it was clear to my friends and readers how excited I was last week (and still am) regards our new Holy Father.  Pope Francis talks about a ‘great spirit of fraternity’ and I experienced that last week (in fact I often do) and I truly appreciate it.  Most of my friends are not Catholic, they are either non-Christian, Protestant or ‘betwixt and between’;).  I was particularly touched by my friends who sweetly listened last week to my excitement and supported me.  It was so lovely to know that my non-Catholic friends were creating papal notebooks:) and one dear friend even rang me to share how excited she…