STill Alive

Thought I would drop by and let you know Im still kicking, not much in the mood for blogging still but finding too much to do at home. I've been keeping busy with the kids, out and about a lot. Had a horrible virus for a few days which slowed us down a bit. Thankfully am over that now.

On Thursday, we went to The Watagans, (Mountains) which are inland from here a bit and spent the day checking out the different camp sites. Our home school group is planning a small camp away in May and we wanted to see what the sites were like as they are one of the only "free" camping spots around these days.


First we stopped at the Pines, which is basically a pine forest. The picnic areas were beautiful but the camp grounds were just dust and quite crowded. We stopped there for lunch and wondered if we might somehow be disturbing the peace, when one of the campers put on some very very loud music. Others campers did not look too happy about it.

Here we see our kids finding the only thing for miles that is man made.


After lunch we hit the dusty, rocky track that stands in for a road (well okay this part was a good section but the rest was far too bumpy for taking pictures......) and passed through the disturbing part of the forest where the loggers have been through. It was pretty barren in spots.



We had a shaky ride over the mountain till we came to the Basin. It was totally deserted, apart from some large goannas and a kookaburra and we liked it straight away. Lots of trees, tracks to explore, green grass to camp and play on. A few fireplaces already in place.

A river, which I don't think we will be swimming in, it was full of leeches. Which seemed to be following poor Leah around. But it was much cooler than the other camp spots with water near by.


We plan to go back in May for about 4 days to rough it for a bit with the kids. Gameboy is not real keen on the idea but Zak is very excited to be camping with friends.

I had great plans of catching up on craft and housework since I have not been on the computer as much but that has not panned out. I did however get a chance to work on some writing I have been doing, the good old fashioned way in a book. Just jotting things down as I thought of them. I will probably have less and less time on the computer now as I am sharing one and giving this one to TC as her computer died. She needs it for school and homework. According to our Government this year all older students would recieve a free Lap top computer at the beginning of the year. They even made a big show on the news of handing out Macbooks to one school in Sydney. Well our kids did NOT get them and were told that when they finally do they will be getting some crappy little ones anyway. One has to wonder where all the money has gone then and did they leave it up to the schools to purchase them themselves. If that is the case maybe some complaints need to be made as the money was intended for computers NOT the schools kitty. Anyway she is getting my computer so I will probably be online less again. Maybe I will start blogging at the library once a week. LOL! Who knows!

Need a break!

After trying four times to get my latest blog entry done and then not even being able to complete my Fun Monday this week, I have come to the conclusion I need a short blog break. If I can get around to finishing the previous post I will try and put it up this week. I just cannot seem to find the time or motivation to stay on the computer for more than 10 minutes at a time. That generally means checking emails, replying and then visiting a couple of blogs.

Yesterday I burned my arm on the steam while reaching over the kettle which is why I did not get around to Fun Monday (sorry Mariposa) and with a few nasty bugs floating around the house I have been too busy to be bothered. Im not sure whats wrong but just looking at the computer seems depressing right now. I would prefer to be outside and playing with the kids. So today we are off to a local playcentre for a bit, tomorrow we are packing our microscope and visiting some homeschool friends for a bit of sneaky "fun education", and Thursday we are going to the park to play ball games.

For those wondering what happened with the dog bite last week, yesterday Zak received a letter from the guilty party...............

To dear Zak,

I just wanted to write a letter to say how sorry I am for biting you last week :-(

I just can't control myself when I'm around water. The vets say I have an anxiety disorder.

My mum has grounded me for ever, so I can't play around the pool ever again! (It's not all bad though, sometimes I get to go inside, and I sneak upstairs and get in the comfy beds! :-))

I hope you can forgive me, and will come around and play with me again one day.

Lots of love Inca xoxoxoxox (Signed with a paw print)

Zak had of course already forgiven her and has been wanting to go and visit all week. He loved the letter she sent him and thought it was cute. Inca's mummy has also made another fenced area for Inca to play in when the kids are in the pool or when other children are visiting.

Have a great week everyone! Mwah xxxx

Creative kids

Ok, I know I'm supposed to be telling you about the dam making pursuits today but I really am not going to have time to post all the pictures today so I thought I would share some of what Cameragirls been up to instead.

She has been learning fashion design and been working really hard the past few weeks. Learning lots of different techniques and keeping very busy with homework every night. This week she designed her own pattern, drew it up and then cut it out and sewed it all together. Her teachers liked her efforts so much that they had her stand up and show not only her own class but some of the more advanced ones too. Here is her very first design for a blouse..........


Like her siblings she is also the talented artist and has just completed this painting for Anna, who will be giving it to the midwives who looked after her while she was expecting Erin. They did not quite make it in time for the home birth but they tried, Erin was just in a bit of a hurry!



Zak has been making lots of bugs this week including these bouncing bugs, here is one up close.......


And here is his buggy poster, bugs are made from all sorts of stuff and some are finger painted....


My personal favourite is the stick creature made from real sticks. The little green mound at the bottom is supposed to be an ant hill with the black dots being the ants and the little swirl being a worm. The woolly black bit on the small leaf is a caterpillar.

No to be left out, The Captain created these...................

Now Im hungry so Im going to go and do some cooking, starting with some feta and spinach pastries. Anna and the kids are coming over so we plan to cook and eat together! Have a great day everyone! Hugs and smoochies xxxx000xxxxx

Today we climbed a mountain, built a dam, we learned about politics! Yep! It starts young in home school land! One really needs to learn their place..........or not! Oh come on! Show me a politician who really knows what they are on about! (One second please, hold that thought! Mr Zak "neeeeeeds his mama to show him where the iceblock tupperware is! He Neeeeeeeeds to make orange juice iceblocks.............Right NOW! He is actually SSSSSSSeeething! BRat!)

I bet by now you are all thinking, "What the hell is she up to now?" Seriously, nothing,

Write? Read? Garden? Craft? Hmmmmm?

What shall I do?

Write....

I have been a bit of a loss lately as far as writing is concerned, there are so many things I 'd like to write about but find I just can't seem to find the time or focus to get on with it. Life is just far too busy and hectic at the moment!

Read....

Having said that, I have managed to get in quite a bit of reading lately (probably because I have forced myself to turn off the computer occasionally, shock horror!). It could also be the fact that I have been a bit under the weather the past week with a virus Im having a hard time shaking off! Everyone else has it too so its not very restful for mum!

People often ask me how I find the time to read at all with so many kids and homeschooling to boot. Well for the record I have always found time to read! I love books! I don't particularly enjoy TV so rather than sit in front of the box (which by the way would require me to have some sort of craft in my hand to get me there) I will read at night. When I had babies, I would read while breastfeeding, or read to a toddler or three at the same time. These days my kids are big enough to fend for themselves so I just go ahead and read when I feel like it! The hammock is my favourite place to hide and this past week has seen me disappear in its friendly comfort zone quite a bit. Not that it always works mind, Karisma's kids are very in your face types, if they want her attention they have no qualms about jumping in the hammock with her or nagging in her ear while she attempts to read.

Anyway what made me think of this was trying to decide what to do right now. This week I borrowed a couple of books from the library and being in a hurry was not too fussy about what I picked up. SIL pointed out a book by Jodi Picoult called Change of Heart, she said she thought it was a love story but with a good story behind it. I thought why not, love stories are easy reading when you are tired, I will give it a go.

Well it was not a love story but it was a bloody good book. I could not put it down. Quite a tragic story, heart wrenching, very well written and certainly hauled me in. I am now reading another book of hers called Nineteen minutes which is about a highschool shooting and is being told from the eyes of quite a few different people. The other book was like that too, telling all sides of the story. I am really enjoying reading these books and just want to stick my head back in there. However, I know if I do I will not put it down and there is so much else I need to do.

Garden....

The garden is a mess! Contrary to the last post suggesting how wonderful it is, (well it is but its a mess). It has pretty much been left to the faeries with Dede being away the past couple of months. The grass is long in patches (I have been ripping it out all week for the chooks who like a bit of grass in their diet), there are tomato plants growing amongst the grass (I have been trying to transplant them into the garden and there is oh so much that needs doing out there! I want to do it but don't have the energy to do more than about 30 minutes at a time.

Craft....

I think Im really swinging towards this one today, I miss my craft! I can't remember the last time I picked up my cross stitch (well actually I did once last week then put it back as I had no time, boo hoo). I have several knitting projects on the go and really need to get them finished. Two Heanies for TBF as she is going to Melbourne soon and wants them by then. Several pairs of socks. The purple ones from yesterday were the first pair I finished, I have two more pairs on the go and two more on the list. I also never got around to finishing that little white baby cardigan I started last year for my friends baby. She ended up getting one I had already made instead.

I also have a stack of material waiting to be turned into skirts for myself. I think I will leave them till I feel a bit better. Besides I can do some knitting and washing at the same time. (At least then I will feel like I got something done! LOL!)

Anyway have a great day everyone!

Fun Monday - Cutting corners....

The lovely Sayre who always smiles is hosting Fun Monday this week and she wants to know ......

What are you and your family doing to deal with the current economic situation on a personal level? Obama's got a plan for the nation, but how do you/will you deal with your own economic stress?

Mr Rudd, down here also seems to have a lot of plans for our nation. Not sure if its going to work though. I don't really get the whole take tax payers money, give it back to them or to those who don't pay tax and hope that they will spend it back to boost the economy theory, but hey what would I know? I do know that when we got the little bonus at xmas time we did not go out and spend it, we paid some bills. So I guess that theory did not work as far as we were concerned.

I guess for us the worst part at the moment is the rising cost of food and power etc. Having a large family there is not much getting around the fact that they have to eat, we use more water for washing, laundry and drinking than the average family of 4.

For the past few years, even before we got wind of any economic stress, I had already started trying to cut things down. Not just for money reasons but for the impact our household would be having on the environment. However, regardless of doing less laundry, turning of lights after the kids, trying not to let them have too many appliances running at once, turning off the spa so the filter and heater is not constantly running, the power bills still seem to get more expensive even though the usage is down. (Its a bit hard with 10 people in the house most days!)

Now food on the other hand we have managed to do a lot with. By opting for a healthy homemade diet, the savings up until recently have been noticed. We managed to get far more good food, less packaging and crap, (most of the food that comes in lots of packaging is crap and not really fit for human consumption anyway), which was no great struggle for me but probably a bit for the kids. (Even the dogs get homemade, fresh food only).

And of course lets not forget my garden. The garden has been a great source of saving money for us. We have had an unrelenting supply of spinach and chard, chillies galore, eggplants, tomatoes, zuchhinni, pumpkin (well just one of those this year), potatoes, carrots, corn and not to mention all the fresh herbs.

Pumpkin Soup
Home grown from a saved seed, and cooked fresh! Mmmmm!

We actually managed to eat quiet well from the garden for several months before the heat wave hit and killed off the majority of it. Thankfully much is coming back to life now and the tomatoes have reseeded themselves. (Due to the fact that the yard has been sorely neglected and the seeds sprouted all over the place.) I went out last week and rounded up all the stray seedlings and replanted them. They were not the only thing to reseed, there is more basil, parsley and other herbs. Also lots of marigolds which I plant in between the vegies to attract the bees and scare of unwanted pests.

I try to save seeds from most vegies to replant, rather than buy more all the time so we are saving a little that way as well.

While most may think feeding so many might be unaffordable I guess it depends upon what you eat. Sure if we ate out, it would cost a fortune, so we try not to do it. We cook big batches of food that will spread, like hotpots, casseroles, mostly vegetarian dishes. Add rice or baked vegies on the side. Pasta dishes always go far and there are so many recipes to choose from. There is always a big salad on the table too.

Shopping......

I try to avoid it. I mostly only go to the shops once a fortnight, if you don't go there, you can't spend money. My biggest spending used to mainly be on books, I have tried to stop buying them as much and moved to borrowing them from the library instead. Even Bookclub which I run for the local homeschool group. I limit the amount the kids can spend rather than just letting them have everything. (Its really hard as I love books and like to encourage them to read, mind you we have stacks of books already that they are yet to get around to reading so they will not be going without.)

Clothes are worn till we grow out of them or they are no good any more. I don't go out and buy new clothes just for the sake of it. (This was one of my bad habits when the girls were little!) Realistically children do not need 20 different outfits. When we do need new clothes I try to bargain shop. eg. The other day I was out and there was a spot sale on summer clothes and T-shirts for boys, they were going for $3.46 and were normally priced at up to $25 each. I spent $24 and got four shirts and two really nice outfits for my niece. After adding up the normal cost it came to $132 for the lot so I got quiet a bargain this time don't you think? Of course the shirts are big enough for the boys to fit next year as well.

The same goes for my own clothes, I only buy what I really need and have been attempting to make some of my own clothes. (This has been an interesting to say the least, believe it or not Im not the best sewer, due to my lack of patience!)

Anyway, thats my bit for now. Looking forward to reading all your ideas and saving habits. Now go on over to Sayre's and read them for yourself! Now if you need me I will be off knitting socks to keep our feet warm in winter! Cheerio!

Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear

Today the inevitable happened, you know the one where you don't really think it will happen to your kids! The one where you know for sure your kids know the deal and won't put themselves in that situation! The one that involves a child and a dog and teeth! You know the one! And we are talking the dogs teeth, not kids, you get the drift!

Today Karisma's little man had his first real encounter with those teeth! Not from one of our dogs but from a friends. He was happily playing away in the pool with his brother and little friend, the dogs were running up and down fetching the ball as they do. All seemed happy and well. Next thing we know he is screaming! Now he is in the middle of the pool, his brother close by, we assume at first his brother has done something. Brothers do that you know! They torture the younger sibling to see what response will be forthcoming from the placid mama! Sometimes a hug and a pleading, don't hurt your brother, its not nice! Sometimes a yell, or cranky mama who demands you wake up to yourself and don't hurt the little guy! Its not nice!

But hang on, the brother was hugging him and the dog was looking extemely guilty! Head down, paw over head, Oh dear, my bad, someone is hurt! The dog was seriously remorseful! WTF! Zak! Stop screaming and tell me what happened! Mum! The dog bit me! Now it took a bit of co-ercian on our part, but finally we got a look at the leg and indeed a rather nasty bite was to be seen. Now the normal mama reaction may have been to run screaming with child and demand justice! But no-one ever claimed that Karisma was normal! Did they? Please tell if they did, that may just be blasphemy!

Now the poor dog was really sorry! She was upset, concerned, quite worried about Zak and watching his every move. Mind you she was also watching the moves of the mamas too but lets not dwell on that hey? She was totally sorry! Yes she was! As far as she was concerned she was rounding up said kids and putting them in the pen (in this case the pool). She could not quite fathom why one of the herd was screaming in distress! Something was amiss but for now she was not quite sure just what it was. If she just kept her head down long enough, maybe no-one would notice, maybe she would be safe.

Unfortunately the humans made a statement to condemn her! "Thats it, we have to get rid of her!" Sorry Karisma this is the fourth time she has bitten a child. Every occasion has been while next to the pool". The poor dog feels she is rounding the kids and trying to grab them as they fall in the pool is her response. She does not mean to hurt them, just to save them. She is 7 years old and has spent 6 1/2 of those years living on rural land where she can run to her hearts content. Now she is confined to a surburban backyard, with a pool. So what does she do when confronted with screaming, excited kids? She rounds them up! It's really not her fault. She is only trying to help!

However, there is always a however, isn't there? The fact remain's, Karisma did not blame the dog, Zak did not blame the dog, but maybe next time, maybe next time, she might hurt a smaller child, cause more damage than a nasty bite on the leg! Maybe next time she might go for the face, thinking its okay to grab the kids no matter where or when? Karisma's solution to the problem, lock her up when kids are in the pool! Its not her fault, she really was so remorseful, she knew she had hurt him, she was sorry, she cried and wanted Karisma's approval that she had done no wrong. She pulled at Karisma's doggy lovin' heart strings with the best that she could give. She offered her ball, she cried in Karisma's ear, pleading for understanding! Karisma was totally a gonner! Truly it was not her fault, she was only trying to help!

And she was forgiven, although banished to the patio where she could not access the other dogs, people or children in the pool. So one may think all was well, other than the poor boys leg which shows the reality of the saga!

So back home, showered, fed and in his own safe enviroment! What happened Zak? "Mum, she did not try to save me or round me up, she bit me before I went near the pool, I was on the grass, there is a small path between the pool and the grass! I jumped in the pool to get away from her!"Oh Inca! Why? Why did you bite him my sweet?"

Normally, she is such a sweet placid dog, happily playing along with the kids a 7 year faithful companion to her family. So the fact remains, why did she bite Zak, he was not running or screaming or jumping at the time, she just went for him and took a bite. The fact remains that she has now bitten 3 other children besides Zak, one her own 3 year old companion who she adores with no doubt. We want to assume she was just rounding them up, but Zaks story does not gel with that does it? She clearly bit him unprovoked, in play, somehow assuming it was okay to do so until he screamed when she soon realised all was not well.

Zak does not want to complain, he does not want to get her into trouble, he thinks she is lovely, he wants to keep playing with her, when she is forgiven and let out of her confinement! But now while his mama's heart is breaking, she is wondering how to tell her friend that her beautiful dog has done something terrible! She is not rounding up the kids at all. She is just biting them! And she is oh so beautiful, and she was sorry, she really was, but the fact reamains, she is now biting kids for no reason other than play and unfortunately it is not a nip, she draws blood and leaves a nasty mark. Really, its not her fault, she is confined to such a small space compared to what she had before. My heart is breaking on her behalf, but she has done wrong, not once, but four times over! Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear!

Busy Learning

We have had a really busy time this week. Lots of learning and outdoor activities too. Gameboy has been busy learning about the universe and made this poster to test how light reflects off different surfaces.


He has also taken to playing his electric guitar a lot and teaching himself to play using the internet. I have suggested more formal lessons now that he is so interested but he prefers to seek out his own learning at the moment. What a surprise! He has learned two new songs all by himself. Its made for quite the noisy week as when one guitar comes out others soon follow. The other night there were three going at once!

Zak is surging ahead with all things "bugs" this week. After the grass hopper, he has bumped into many more bugs and is currently making bouncing bugs which he is planning to add to a garden poster that he is working on. The only bug he did not take to was the wasp that so rudely ran into him and left its mark on his forehead. OUCH! He is rather excited as today is sport day and we are off to pick up Kel on the way. He hopes to fit in a swim in her pool before sport.

Everyday this week has been much the same. Lots of learning and crafting in the mornings and lots of beach activities in the afternoons. We met up with our homeschool group yesterday afternoon at the Rock Pool and although it was an overcast day, still had a lovely time. Snorkeling and fishing seemed to be the go, with lots of small fish caught in a bucket, admired and then set free. (Gameboy went home early as he had a stack on his bike the day before and managed to lose half his feet. The salt water and sand was a bit painful so Dad picked him up and took him home for some inside play).

TBF had a good giggle at her mama this week, when I handed her a sale barcode and some money and told her to bring me a receipt home from work. You see I had been into her shop the day before and placed a headband on my wrist, then forgot to pay for it! I also had shopping bags on that wrist and hands full of cardboard sheets and craft supplies, kids and a trolley. I was horrified to realise I had "stolen" something! BAD KARMA! Its all sorted now though with TBF and her boss having a giggle on my behalf. I am very touchy about these things you know, don't want that on my back. The headband has officially been paid for!

Well that's all I have time for today! I've been wanting to catch up a bit more but life is getting in the way. Take care, big hugs and smoochies xxxxxx

Clean Up Australia Day 2009 Part Two....

So where were we? Thats right, we had climbed down those 230 odd stairs and were in the middle of checking out some rock pools.

Oh this is the beach that we ran along to get to the rocks.....

What has Anna spotted over here?

A Heron, who took its time moving up there, it had been busy fishing in the rock pools when we arrived.

And what have the boys found here?

A nice big crab!

Now he might have been a happy crab if the kids had not chosen to pop him in the particular rock pool that they had been playing in! You see there were lots of screams and excitement as an octopus was discovered, right about when Karisma was walking through the pool and it came rushing out to try and bite her! How rude! The crab had been placed there along side the little crab from the previous post. This crab managed to escape and hide under the rock, the little one was not so lucky the octopus grabbed him and ran away with the poor little chap!

You can see the octopus just moving under the rock here, he was so fast that the other pictures are all blurry!

The kids had a lot of fun enticing him out and screaming and running when he did come out! Even Gameboy had a good time, he could not help himself! LOL

These little ones had an unexpected lesson on Tsunami's . They had spent time building a lovely castle which sadly was washed away by a big wave!

Erin would like to remind you that when hopping out of your sling you should wear a hat!
The sun is very hot in Australia!

Aunty Karisma! A headband IS NOT a hat!

When it was time to go, nobody was really quite ready! So a quick swim was in order before attempting the climb up all those stairs!

And that was our very funfilled day! But wait theres more! Not being satisfied with all this work and play, we all went back to Karismas house and some of us played computer games while others went to check out Zaks treehouse which unfortunately had been vandalised overnight! We collected some wood and nails and went off to try and fix it while the mums had a cuppa or a glass of wine. We were joined by our friend Kel, who we have not seen for weeks so it really topped off a wonderful day!

Yep, Karisma got in some nice baby cuddles too! What a fantastic Friday we had all round!

Clean Up Australia Day 2009 Part One.....

Yesterday was officially Clean Up Australia Day, a day where people get together in groups and literally "clean up" local parks or reserves. Our home school group, Northern Lakes Natural Learners, thanks to my friend Anna organising it, went forth and cleaned up Jenny Dixon Reserve. A popular picnic area for the tourists. We got in early and actually did it on Friday.

Initially the kids were all like, errrrrr, we don't want to go and pick up other peoples rubbish, boring! But they ended up having a fantastic fun filled day with a little learning thrown in, although they never even noticed! Instead of rambling on in my usual fashion I thought I would share some pictures with you instead. Enjoy...........

We cleaned both sides of the reserve including the picnic areas and the road.
There was lots of broken glass and cigarette butts! Grrrrr!

Erin stops for a quick drink break!
As you can see she is quite happy with this arrangement!
(Note, she has her plastic bag ready to help out too, one is never too young to join in on home school activities!)

Once we were satisfied the park was all nice and clean it was time to head to the playground for some lunch and well earned playtime!

Here are the older boys having a quick turn while the little ones eat lunch!

They soon decided they would rather climb trees!
Little monkeys!

Awww! Isn't this one cute?

And we all know who this little monkey is......Wake Up Zak!
As you can see, he took cleaning very seriously as usual!

Oh My! What do we have here?
One must always be very careful when sticking ones hands into the bush or grass down this way!

Now isn't that sweet! A baby Diamond Python with a very full belly I might add!
He did not mind us gawking at him at all, he was too full to be bothered with a runaway attempt! After admiring him we made sure the grass was covering him enough to avoid others disturbing him. Finding this little guy led to Zak doing a little research that night on the internet and in his books to see for sure what type of snake we had found. Even though this one is not harmful, most of the snakes we encounter around here are, so we do not touch any of them. Or get to close if we don't know what type it is.

Oh look, there is the beach down there, lets go check it out!
One only has to climb down about 230 steps to get there! Hehe!
Lets throw in a little exercise to top of the day!

Gameboy was not too fussed on this idea but the rest of the kids took off at a charge!

The half way down shot!

After a stroll along the beach (a run for the kids) we did a little rock climbing!

And started to get into some serious exploring of the rock pools!
(Gameboy sits back trying to look disinterested!)

Rory found a little crab and after checking it out gently put it back in the pool!

To be continued.........

A Quickie! He he!

Could not resist sharing this one....thanks to Third Arm Baby Slim Project from the secret LL group! Yep thats where I hang out! hehe!