In Him

Its Monday morning, the 5th Jan and I’m happy to say that I’ve stuck to my plan so far of reducing coffee and sweet treats and adding exercise.  Being the first Monday of the year it was also my first weigh in day.  I have weighed myself on my own bathroom scales every Monday for about 9 months.  I’ve had upward and downward trends and I’m happy to report that I’m lighter than I was all of last year!  I’ve lost half a kilo since Christmas and 3.5kg total.  These numbers may sound small, but that’s the idea, half a kilo here and there, as long as it’s always going down!

Today is a busy one, shopping, washing and from the snacks Olivia has chosen for this week…quite a bit of baking too!

For me today I am usually thinking, “Right, the year is done, can we just get on with it!”

2008 was a good year for us as a family.  Nice and quiet, low-key, nothing majorly out of the ordinary happened, no major incidences to deal with.  Life was good.  We embarked on a year of home education for the girls (our 5th) and for Dave.

It seems we’ve had less of those years than the other kind, so in a way, it was time for one.  I hope and pray that 2009 will be more of the same.  Peaceful and quiet, doing God’s will, living and loving life.

These scriptures are in front of me at my desk, things I meditate on often:

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  James 3:17-18

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
2 Timothy 2:24

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.  Titus 3:14

So our lives are spent in right living by being obedient to God.  We try to the best of our abilities to what is right in the eyes of God.  As I read on a blog post comments section today - “I’m performing for an audience of One”.  This is essentially what we do as a family, we go about our days quietly and unassuming to do our Father’s will.

God Bless you and yours as you end this year and start a new one.  Remember every day can be and should be a fresh start with God, He chooses to forget our sins so that we can be new creations.

This year we tried something different to the usual 4 terms of 10 weeks with 2 week holidays in between, from the first week of Feb until a week before Christmas.  We usually start in January because the girls are over Christmas and are getting bored to distraction and work until the end of November with the term holidays throughout plus extras here and there.  I found that after about 5 or 6 weeks of school the girls get tired and real learning tapered away and was labourious.  Also 2 weeks of holidays was just too long.   It is crazy to do it just because everyone else does it that way.  Homeschooling is about finding what works for your family. I decided to try something different (because I could!) and cut the times in half.  Five weeks of work with a week off.  It worked very well for the first half of the year, but for the second half, clashed with other things that came up… life!  We had a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa (and Mack the dog) a few months ago, so an impromptu holiday resulted.  Dave was studying in two Semester blocks, so he had time off when we didn’t and vice versa.  We also had a visit from Nanna and had to go down to Perth for a few reasons too.

I’m planning to try to follow the terms next year.  Dave is studying again, so we should line up better with his holidays.  I don’ t know if we’ll make it all the way through the year, but we’ll see how it goes and change it if it isn’t working, just like everything else in life!

The girls finished all their work early this year because I wrote out the remaining work in a list and said work through it at your own pace and when you’re finished it’s holidays.  Now I wrote out about 12 days worth of work and they did it in 2 days!  So holidays started a couple of weeks earlier than I expected!  This year I wrote out their work in a diary a week at a time at the beginning and extended it to the 5 week term at a time toward the end of the year.  This year we also worked from a diary type book where I’d written out the whole years worth of work and when we had a break (like I mentioned above) we stopped and picked up where we left off.  There was no “behind” or “catch up” to a certain date.  Each page of the book is numbered, not dated.  It took a lot of pressure off of the kids and me.  We’ll be sticking to this from now on, after all, life is not a competition, it’s a journey.

There will be no roast on Christmas day for us this year…

why?

Tuesday Increasing sunshine 16 / 36°C

Wednesday Mostly sunny 19 / 35°C

Thursday Cloud increasing 20 / 38°C

I have a back up plan - lovely cold meats and salads…no oven usage in my house!

(but of course we will have a pudding, that’s tradition!)

Hope it’s not quite so hot where you are and I hope the cyclone (possible at this stage) doesn’t effect the big day if you’re up there.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Lived on Austudy and Family Payments…thank you government.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Gave up coffee. (but took it up again half way through year!) Yes always.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

the only birth I knew of this year was Elisa’s Joel
4. Did anyone close to you die?
only 2 chooks
5. What countries did you visit?
Australia - the best place on earth!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
and extra year of experience
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
none i don’t remember most things!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
writing a list for craft and sticking to it and ONLY working on ONE thing at a time (this is a big achievement for me!)
9. What was your biggest failure?
don’t know, I don’t think about failure that much (took a long time to get here!)
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
no-mild cold once or twice
11. What was the best thing you bought?
new computer and fridge!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
no ones
14. Where did most of your money go?
food mostly
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
nothing I can remember?
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Altar and the Door – Casting Crowns
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Slightly thinner
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
nothing, I think everything was in a good balance

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
nothing, I think everything was in a good balance

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Home with visiting rellies
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

no
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Big Bang Theory and Spicks n Specks - these always make me laugh

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I’ve never hated anyone nor had a reason to.
25. What was the best book you read?
I read a couple of good series this year. Didn’t get much reading done this year. I think the best was The Yellow Rose Trilogy by Lori Wick
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
That PS2 ‘Sing It’ is harder that I thought it would be!
27. What did you want and get?
A new fridge
28. What did you want and not get?
An overlocker – I’ve wanted one for year and will probably never get one.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Only watched 3 – Waterhorse, Alvin and the Chipmonks and Wall-e.

Wall-e wins.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I truthfully don’t remember, it’s not a big deal. 35.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being able to grow plants and know when to plant, harvest etc or even know how much water to give them!
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
modest, low cost
33. What kept you sane?
my very best friend of all time-Jesus
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
none
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
don’t follow politics
36. Who did you miss?
no one

37. Who was the best new person you met?
didn’t meet anyone new this year
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Be where you are. If you are with someone, be there 100% instead of thinking ahead to something else.

Enjoy NOW.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
This is the…the big story…there is a God who’s in control…telling the…the big story…and He wants us to know…we can find ourselves…when we loose ourselves…in the bigger story…come and take your place…in the story…

Thanks Elisa for your post which prompted this post!

For those who are wondering.  I was in the process of updating my website when my old computer died.  Since having the new  computer I went to continue (I’d backed up my work) but couldn’t because I don’t have Frontpage (the application I use for my website) on this.  SO, once I get it on here I’ll continue the new look and put it up (with Coffeecup when that’s on here) as soon as I can.

I’m going for a completely new look and different structure of the info…

I’ll post when it’s gonna happen.

I’ve been on an enforced holiday from blogging…my computer died.  Old faithful lived a long life, for a computer.  The harddrive was approx 7yo and the rest 5yo.  I was impressed it lasted that long as most days it was on all day, over 12hrs at a time and used most of them (4 people in the house).  Speaking of being impressed.  We ordered this new beauty through Officeworks yesterday and it arrived this morning.  We were absolutely gobsmacked to say the least.  Most things take at least a few days, including snail mail, to come from Perth.

Rain and harvest don’t go together at the same time.  When I was living in Perth I always hoped the rain would “get out to the farmers” but after living in the wheatbelt for almost 18 months I’m slowly learning that rain isn’t always the answer out here.

Yesterday we all went to a friend’s farm.  Knowing it’s harvest time I was aware that we may be out to the paddock to help out if necessary or having to cut our visit short.  Neither happened even though there was no rain.  With the advances in technology such as GPS in harvesters etc, farmers can now get the moisture of the grain tested.  The more moisture in it the lower price they’ll get.  So even in if it’s a humid day or its rained in the past day or so they may not be able to harvest and get a good price.

This morning it rained here in town the birds are loving it,  but it looks like another day of waiting for the farmers.  Looks like they’ll be harvesting into the new year.

Some may be wondering about our homeschooling journey.  I  looked back through my posts and realised that for something that is a major part of my life, I don’t really write about it much.  So I’m going to give a little update as we draw near toward the end of the school year.

This last “term” (the past 3 or 4 weeks) I’ve been really impressed by the way the girls have been getting stuck into their work.  I think it’s like the end of a marathon for them, eyes on the finish line (Christmas!).  They’re getting into their work quickly and asking for help if they feel a little out of their depth (instead of hoping that bit will disappear!).  For instance, this morning it was just after 10am and I said they need to start soon, they went and got their books and took themselves out to the caravan to work. (I only just realised that they took Chloe their 1yo cat with them…she’s now inside.)

They’re allowed to work at the kitchen table, at their desks in their rooms, at the study desk, in the lounge room (no TV), on the swing, on the trampoline or in the caravan or anywhere else that they can concentrate properly.  Sometimes I tell them where they have to work because I can see one is not settling and annoying the other, or one has to write a report etc.

They work independently on their basics books (maths, journal, english, health and spelling) and then we come together (usually after lunch) for unit work.  This is the first year we’ve been able to really get into units.  I’ve found that lapbooks work well for us.  What are lapbooks?  You study a subject (we’ve done; China, Sled Dogs, Metals/Rocks and Bees.) You use minibooks for a small aspect of the subject (usually about 10-20) then using 1 or more manilla folders refolded to maximise presentation, the minibooks are glued in similar to scrapbooking (I’m guessing as I’ve never scrapbooked, but I’ve seen it!).

We are currently making a Jesse Tree.  A Jesse Tree is something I’d never heard of until I started to research for the Christmas Unit.  It is a constructed tree (made of dowel or sticks or an old  bush) on which you hang symbols which represent different times of Jesus’ ancestry from Creation onward.  There are different ways to do it, but it’s basically an Advent activity.  Each day the appropriate scripture is read out and that symbol hung on the tree from the first Sunday of Advent until Christmas Day.  We have printed off the symbols which the girls have coloured (beautifully!) and glued onto discs I cut (from the old Business Directory Calendar! Perfect card!).  Next we will cover the backs of the discs with either christmas paper or another disc (we haven’t decided yet) and glue on a small reference to the appropriate scripture.  Add a hanging ribbon/bit of wool/thread to each and then begin this Sunday.  Yup, it’s only 5 weeks until Christmas!!!

So that’s us for now.

…alive
…tired
…sore
…home
I went to Perth to visit Mum and Dad, homeschooling friends and my Mother in Law.
I took the girls and left Dave and animals to fend for themselves.
It was a good five days.
We scored some free tickets to the Disney/Pixar movie, Wall-e. We all enjoyed it.
Here ends my post to show you that I’m here and alive.
Hopefully I’ll run into some energy sometime soon and post more!