Outside my window… the paddocks and skyline are covered by a smoke haze, the smell of smoke is strong, fires are burning on the distant mountains. We are in the fire ban season, fires are always a concern at this time of the year     I am thankful… for my husband, our children, our families, our friends, our lifestyle, always thankful I never take my blessings for granted I am thinking… about what an all encompassing responsibility parenting is, when I ponder on the trust He has placed in us to nurture and guide our precious ones I’m rather daunted Learning all the time… we’re well into the swing of the new school year…

Outside my window… early morning here, I love the softness and the quietness of early mornings before the children are awake. Through trial and error I’ve discovered early mornings are my most productive time to write, I can achieve so much in that window of scheduled writing.  I need to log on and not be distracted by emails, blog reading or facebook. I pre-plan posts and then just write, a disciplined approach is so productive for me   Talking logging on, I’ve returned to continue writing my Daybook post to discover PC has been writing for me!  It was all ‘tongue in cheek’ but I’m going to leave some of his…

Outside my window… the sun is shining, whilst we are still experiencing hot days, they are not quite as intense as the 40C/104F days of the roofing week I am thankful… that we didn’t lose our half complete roof in the storm Wednesday night, we were worried, I really believe God moved the winds away, giving thanks! Storms at a city north of here caused the roof of the maternity ward at the hospital to collapse, trapping 22 adults and 5 babies!! I am thinking… was moving to wordpress a good idea? I seem to have lost all my readers, or rather all my commentators, my community. I feel as…

Outside my window… it looks promising for a sunny day, this week though we’ve had a number of days teaming with rain. Just as well we are not roofing at present after all   I am thankful… for the safe and mostly trouble free arrival of our friend’s baby.  She had a rough time with her first baby post-delivery and was quite scared this time.  Praying that this birth and babymoon is a healing time for her I am thinking… about joining the periscope craze.  I’m not normally one to willingly open yet another social media account however periscope had me immediately keen as, well it’s all about talking and that’s…

Outside my window… it’s early morning, so a clear sky, however I wonder if the afternoon will bring storm clouds again. The season of summer storms appears to be beginning early this year, this is of concern as our intention is to begin a new building project this weekend, re-roofing our ‘old house’ to be in uniform with the ‘new’ I am thankful… to be well again. After a fortnight of sicknesses of varying lengths for different family members, it’s wonderful to be out of bed and eating again, to be slowly gaining energy I am thinking… about picture books. Traditionally in Term 4 we celebrate ‘Leaping into Literature’ (three years…

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…

Outside my window… all is dark, it’s late and the house is settling I am thankful… that our boys all passed their driving tests.  Within the space of a couple of days all three older boys received new driver’s licenses. Michelangelo now has his Learner’s license (driving under supervision), Einstein passed to Green Ps (100km/hr) and Carpenter has a full license (110km and no display plates) The registry staff and I were on chatting basis by the conclusion of the week I am thinking… about how our children are more than capable and sometimes we sell them short. Academically we’ve stepped our expectations for the children up several notches and…

Outside my window… it’s a miserable overcast day. Forecast tells us it’s going to snow up on the mountains this weekend, the children are begging that we drive 2 hours up the Range just to see snow. We’ve never seen snow, it could be an experience, guaranteed to be a cold one at least I am thankful… to have nearly all of our children home. Einstein arrived home on Monday night, it’s wonderful to have him home for a couple of weeks. I always find it fascinating how dynamics change as our ‘children come in and out’ of our home I am thinking… about the importance of habits, about modelling…

Outside my window… the sun is setting, winter here so the evenings come early, not my favourite season of the year I am thankful… to have our girl home!! Anna Maria arrived home from Ireland/England on Friday and it’s wonderful to have her home, it really is!! I am thinking… about how I’m the ‘key’ to ensuring our family reading culture thrives. Not to say reading isn’t happening here, it is, all the time with independent readers but not so much with the under 8 set. Although I need to ensure our independent readers are reading plenty of quality, a little fluff is okay but too much isn’t healthy. The…