Karisma and Kids

2012 - New Beginnings......

2012-02-02T08:36:00.000+11:00

HELLO my lovelies! How is 2012 treating you so far? I thought I better pop by lest you think I had vacated the planet or something. (I almost considered it a few times but totally decided to stay! Besides, space travel really does not fit into my budget at all).

Well, I have not been around for several reasons which I may or may not tell you about in the near future. Today I would like to talk to you about NEW beginnings.

They say all good things must come to an end and in my usual fashion of leaning towards "Miss Pollyanna" tendencies, I am preferring to try and look to the new beginnings rather than the "ending of something good".

My emotions have been all over the place this week while I put on a happy face for the family and secretly weep at the most ridiculous times only to start once again pumping those positive thoughts through my addled brain and being and feel ok again (for a little while).

So what's going on? What has me in this emotional roller coaster of "thinking too much", weeping, laughing and hoping all in the same few minutes? Well, my friends......

MY children are going back to school!

YES! You heard me! Thats not a typo. They are going to go to the local High School and see what its like for all the other local kids! They are going to learn to get up in the morning and actually get dressed. Move from class room to class room and hopefully LEARN something in the process about the BIG world outside.

So, those of you who know me well, know exactly whats going on inside me, the emotions that are making me feel physically ill at times. sparks of anger which don't last as I am not very good at "angry", the keeping to myself for the past week or so as I don't want to talk about it kind of ME.

Those who don't know me so well may be sitting there going BUT BUT BUT????????? Yes I know my friends. I am always the first one to stand behind the whole home education cause. I BELIEVE its best for my children.....BUT my children are not mine alone. And in my pursuit of what I believe is right for them, I neglected to respect the rights of the other half of their parentage and even I think my older boy who I really do DO believe will benefit from going to school.

So rather than go into TOO much thinking mode again. I am going to leave it there. If it does not work out for them, at least we know they tried it and its just down the road.

And do you know the only concerns that have come up from the boys point of view were....

From Zak.....

* When will I see my friends? (After school and weekends, and you will make more friends too)

* What about the Un-schooling Camp? (OH We are still going! I am not missing out on that one, you will miss school for a few days)

* Can we have chips in our lunch box? (Ummm NO, you can eat what you normally eat! But yes you can buy lunch once a week if you like)

Adem in his usual fashion is not saying too much at all. He is merely cramming in as much extra "computer" time as he can!

I am still eeeking and tearing up and worrying about Zak, but as we can see by his "concerns".. He is fine. They both said, they do not want to go but after being told they would have to. They accepted it really quickly and even have moments of looking quite excited at the prospect.

As for me? Well, I am slowly getting used to the idea and thinking of things that I can do in ALL my spare time! Would love to think of it as more crochet, knitting and even long lost Cross Stitch time but am leaning more towards more herbal studies time! I guess everything REALLY does happen for a reason now doesn't it? And gee, I may even have time to update my blog more often? Hmmmmm.

Please send me positive thoughts my friends. I am struggling enough on my own without having the onslaught of why we should not be taking this path. You can't tell me anything I don't already think myself. And as I have always been of the opinion that SCHOOL IS good for some and NOT for others. It depends entirely on personality and learning styles. I am hoping that this is going to be a positive thing for my boys. In my heart, I know it is right for Adem and I do believe he will do well. I am hoping Zak settles in but if he does not? Well, we all know what works for him at home now don't we?

Love, Peace and Happiness to all.

Hugs and Smoochies xoxoxxo

Catching Up.....with pictures......

2011-12-03T08:26:00.001+11:00

There are so many things I would love to share with you, so many thoughts and words in my head that want to come out, homeschooling updates that have not made it to the blog, outings and stories to tell, each would be a great post on its own. But at the risk of never catching up at all I am piking out with a quick update. The will to blog has been a little off lately.

I am weary and I just wanted to let you know we are here, we are living, learning and loving as usual. I just have not had the will to get on here and post very much. I feel like there are so many things I would love to do in the real world too but the days pass so quickly that things are left on the back burner for a little while longer.

For now please accept a few catching up pictures (to those of you who have seen them on facebook, sorry but you all know we are alive now don't you? LOL Now lets start with a happy one........

On the days when father sun has remembered that we are now in summer, there have been many trips to the beach for nippers and patrols for Zak and for the rest of us....walking, surfing, swimming, breathing, climbing and just hanging out with beautiful babies and much loved friends.....

There has been a lot of rain recently and my poor garden did not cope all so well with it. I lost quite a few plants from the absolute drowning and the several days it took for the water to recede. Some plants however did not mind too much and a still kicking....

Some began to bear fruit.......

Some really thrived on the water and even came back to life in the case of the blackberries which my man tried to kill off this year........

And some got a little over excited and got out of control......I think we may need to collect this mint before the bugs decide to..........

If any local folks are interested in some Tansy or Catnip seedlings. Please let me know, I have far too many right now. Tansy is great for under fruit trees and to help break down your compost. (Of course it is so much more than that, but for general purposes its a good one to have around.) The leaves break down in a couple of days. Cat nip is not only lovely to cats, but very nice for an upset tummy. A great plant to keep in your garden. I will be potting them hopefully this week some time when I cut back all the plants and harvest the over abundant herbs.

There was a birthday...........with cake of course........Happy Birthday Nana.....

There were some scary times when Logie bear had to go to hospital and they tested him for meningitis (a horrible experience for anyone let alone a small baby). All Aunty K could do was cry from a great distance, and try to send healing, not so easy when you are freaking out, I now understand why dr's should not treat their own families...it really is a hard thing to focus when someone you love is suffering.......his poor parents and especially poor little him... He is much better now. It turned out to be a horrible virus which his poor mummy caught as well. :-(

There was a pre-school graduation.........Mr Yakka is going to BIG school next year and he is very excited....... Look out St Brendans...here he comes!

And of course there has been quite a bit of knitting and crochet from my end. You will have to go to Karismas Kraft if you want to check out those pictures.

Well thats all I have time for, for now. I hope this day finds you happy and healthy.

Sweet blessings my friends.

Much love, Hugs and Smoochies

New Life......

2011-11-15T08:27:00.000+11:00

A couple of years ago, my garden stopped growing the way it used to. Things although carefully planted, failed to thrive. Even with a live in garden helper to take the load off of me, who seemed to know a lot more about gardening than I did, saw many of my plants dying or wilting and in the end it was left alone for a very long time.

I remember saying to my man one day. I just don't know what's wrong. Nothing wants to grow anymore. Not like that first year when everything grew so wonderfully and in abundance. I just don't know what it is that is missing. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows and said "YOU! Its missing you!"

In hindsight, I had to agree. My garden was built with great intention and loads of love. Sometimes I tended it, sometimes I did not but it was always a source of great joy when I did so. My total lack of attention by handing it over to someone else was obvious. When that someone was not there any more it became even more neglected and sad. My lemon tree in particular failed to produce lemons for years!

Now, as most of you know I have been either away galavanting or very sick for much of the past 5 months or so. So the thought of starting over was rather daunting. It took a bit of work to finally get off my butt and do something about it and now..........well now........just see for yourself........

Now just like my first garden, things are planted willy nilly, with no order as a novice gardener might plant them.......

Or as they might plant themselves......... Herbs, fruit and vegies growing together....

Complimenting each other, or just fighting for space :-)

Somehow, working together as Mother Nature intended........

In pure ignorant bliss of how things "should be"!!!

Some potatoes choose to grow in the baskets I build them......

And some choose not to........prefering to sprawl themselves "outside the basket" if you please......

And other plants just choose to co-exist, side by side, regardless of species.....

Because, my friends......... where there is LOVE......

And where there is LIGHT........

There is LIFE........

And that lemon tree I mentioned........well, its full to the brim with lemons! Go figure! And the lemon balm, like most of my other herbs, seems to be having a growth spurt too......

Whats growing in your garden right now?

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Bows are nice......don't you think?

2011-11-14T08:32:00.001+11:00

We often hear people talking about "cutting those apron strings" one at a time. And setting ones offspring free into the big wide world out there to seek their ultimate adventures and lives. But you never here anyone talking of tying bows now do you?

It is my belief that cutting the strings is often a little bit abrupt and final. Why not just loosen the strings a little at a time? Loosening strings allows the wearer to dive into the depths unknown always knowing that the strings will be there to save them when needed. To haul them back up to the surface into the safety of that nicely tied bow!

Take this child for example. This child has taken many dives in the last couple of years. Diving into life a little too quickly. Thinking she wanted different things but never being quite sure. She leapt across the world to seek her independence. She dove into a world of study only to decide it was not really what she wanted. She took on a full time job with SIX hours travel a day! It was a huge leap into the unknown and it was exhausting. Her health and well being suffered. She thought she wanted a lot of things in that outside world, but then she just wanted to be home.

To do the simple things that she no longer had time for. Like hang out with her family, cook a meal or just relax at the beach. To find the joy in little things like chopping potatoes or stirring pots even!

Enjoying the time to actually sit down and EAT your meal as soon as you serve it, instead of re-heated and on the run..... and even have the time to present it nicely.....

We won't be cutting any apron strings in a hurry, in fact we are planning on sharing our kitchen for a very long time. :-) And each time she asks me to tie that apron string a little. I do it with a very big smile on my face!

Because BOWS really are nice! Don't you think?

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

FOURTEEN

2011-11-11T08:17:00.000+11:00

Sometimes words are not required.....

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Ashlee creates........

2011-11-09T06:36:00.001+11:00

My oldest daughter Ashlee has entered a competition online and would be most grateful if you could take the time to vote for her dress. She designed the dress herself, made the pattern and sewed it using fabrics from Spotlight who are hosting the competition. She also made the flowers for the wreath headband that she is wearing. Its a little hard to see the fabric in the picture but it is very Christmassy indeed.

The competition is hosted on Facebook, so anyone with an account can enter and/or vote. If you would like to vote for Ashlee you just need to click the vote button and your vote will be registered. For some reason on some browsers, it won't work. In that case, click on the "like" button first and then vote. Too easy!

Here is the link to the page..... Spotlight competition.

We would be most grateful if you could find it in your heart to vote for our beautiful creative girl!

Much love, hugs and smoochies

FUN....All On A Sunday Afternoon....

2011-11-07T09:40:00.000+11:00

FUN.... Climbing up Aunty K's body to reach the mirror on the wall. Laughing at the baby in the mirror! Blowing kisses! Bouncing! Jumping! (Hello bubby!) Waving!

Not so FUN.....Being the human ladder! LOL Poor Arms, Poor shoulders, Poor Nose, Poor Boobies! Oh well, who needs them anyway when baby giggles are making you happy?

FUN......Picking peaches off the tree and feeding them to the puppies! Eating lemonade iceblocks on a hot Sunday afternoon. Bouncing on the trampoline while you do it. Iceblock melting and dripping everywhere. Sharing with the puppies. Laughing. Rejoicing in being who you are without restraint. (giggles...more...more...up...up...me...jump)

Not so FUN.....The icky sticky feeling as all sorts of garden goodies cling to your skin. Snot bubble monsters mixing with the sticky! (Oh Uck Uck) Trying to pick grass and leaves off sticky skin!

FUN.... Splashing in a refreshing bath. Throwing water all over Aunty K, laughing and playing and wowing over the very wet floor! Running naked through the house. Enjoying the freedom of fresh clean skin! Finally putting on a shirt when it suits us! Nice warm milk to top it off! (Bot Bot? Ya?)

Not so FUN... What do you mean we can't go back outside and play with the puppies????? (puppies puppies?)

FUN... Just kidding...ok...hahaha....You're so funny! And I am so used to getting my own way.....YES I AM.. (Ya? Ya? Cheese!!!)

FUN.... Saying Cheese. Looking at yourself in the camera and nodding approval. (Oooh Ya Ya Bubby Me Hehe Bubbles? Puppies?)

YES YES YES FUN FUN FUN

FUN .... Wondering if they noticed the Sticky all over the trampoline? HAHAHAHAHA! AH....Now... What's a bit of sticky between cousins?

FUN FUN FUN!!!

So what fun did you get up to on Sunday afternoon? Hope you found the joy as much as we did!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

A little visitor....

2011-11-05T08:25:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I found a little visitor hanging out in my vegie patch, just hiding away on the fence as if no-one could see him/her.

Due to the sheer size of this visitor, I instantly decided that the front garden would be a better place to visit and moved him/her out there. I have never seen a moth so unperturbed by a human coming so close. I was not only able to coax it onto something so I could move it but it climbed onto the bricks and let me take a few pictures too.

I am not sure what type of moth it is, but it is large and I was worried about it laying eggs in my newly growing seedlings. Doesn't it have beautiful eyes?

I have never seen such big eyes on a moth! I was just a little bit smitten! Oh how I love nature!

Speaking of seedlings... I scored all these little babies at the local school fair..... 50c each. The labeling is a bit off but hey I can recognise my seedlings so I do know I won't be growing any beans with these....LOL

I have big plans for these little babies! Not sure if the weather is going to be kind to me today though, its looking rather gloomy out there considering it was supposed to be a sunny day!

Have a wonderful weekend lovelies.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Who's child is this?

2011-11-04T09:28:00.000+11:00

A couple of days ago, SB came out of the kids computer room and asked me "Do you know what YOUR son is doing in there?" ( Don't you just love this adult habit of shifting parentage over to each other when we don't like what the kids are doing?)

Me: "Nope, (Im not really in the habit of seeing through walls even though I sometimes claim I can!), he is playing Minecraft I presume.

Of course, he was playing Minecraft. But in a rather dubious kind of manner. It turns out he was befriending folks online and luring them into a "safe zone" where he mass attacked them, killing them all and ended by stealing their things! Charming! I'm sure!

ME: OMG! My son is a Nazi! I'm not taking the credit for that one honey, he is clearly yours!

So after he comes out of his room and we question his tactics and of course compare him to Hitler. He of course denied the resemblance at first. Then we pointed out a few facts about what he was doing and he had to admit we were right.

He was lying to the people in the game. Luring them into a so called safe place. Stealing their things and killing them. Not nice mate!

At this stage he gets all huffy and puffy and declares..... "GEEZ, its only a game!"

Much later when his brother and I were once again comparing his tactics to those of the Hitler regime, Zak smirked as a most wonderful thought came to his little head!

"I am so going to change my character to one that looks like Hitler! So cool!"

(Picture borrowed from some other child off minecraft! Oh dear!)

Looks like he absorbed far more from that last unit study than we bargained for!

God help us all! We have raised a free thinking radical child that wants to be Hitler! Lets hope it really is "just a game".

Thankfully I already know that he is far more conscientious deep down! Or I really may have been worried there!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Unit Studies - Love they way they flow...

2011-11-03T10:22:00.000+11:00

We are currently in the throws of yet another History unit study, using "History with Jackie French". After the great success and interest last term with Hitlers Daughter (which by the way is still bringing up many many questions and comparisons in daily life), we chose "How the Finnegans Saved the Ship" for this term!

The story in short is about a mother and her seven children who are sailing by ship to join their father in the "lucky country" (being Australia) from Ireland. They are sailing not long after the infamous sinking of the Titanic so they are excited and scared all at the same time.

This time the boys have a couple of friends joining them for the unit, so not only will they get a feel of working in a "group" situation but they can all hopefully bounce even more wonderful ideas and thoughts off each other!

As we had a little trouble getting a hold of the book locally, we started off last week with a bit of a talk on Immigration and how our families came to Australia. We then talked about what we thought the book might be about and why Mrs Finnegan was bringing her kids here. We also talked about life for kids 100 years ago and compared our lives to theirs. We discussed the Potato Famine in Ireland and how terrible it would have been for children going hungry. We looked at pictures of different ships over time.

We read a non-fiction book about the Titanic, which was really interesting and looked at pictures of the ship. We then had a long discussion on the ins and outs of the journey, the people, the clothing and more so the different classes which was a little hard to understand for modern day boys! We even did some sneaky writing and math activities.

We read some newspaper articles from the time and discussed their accuracy! We then completed some work sheets to back up these theories.

We finally got our book and read the first chapter! It was interesting and at times funny! After determining the reasoning for the Finnegans immigrating we planned on immigrating to different countries ourselves. Each boy chose a different country and then they planned their trip. They checked out the climate, the customs, the local landmarks, and had to work out how they were going to get there (eg. boat, plane etc).

Cal decided that this was not an option for him thank you very much! He already lives in the "Best country in the world" why on earth would he want to move somewhere else? So he is moving to another state. LOL

The boys then went online and hunted for some old motor cars from the early 1900's and paired up to research.....

They then prepared a "for sale" newspaper article promoting their cars (which while they found rather interesting to look at decided were really not worth buying as clearly one could walk faster than those cars!)

And now for the part that I love the most, the way one thing leads to another and all. Unlike our last unit which we worked on nearly every day till we got sick of it. This time as we are learning with others, we are only doing our Unit study once a week. So rather than lose interest, we have been extending it from our end by reading and following interest in other areas that tie in.

(Zak!!!! Is that how you listen to the story? Here let me have a turn of that!)

Yesterday we read the first book in the series Titanic by Gordan Korman (yes we read the whole book and I think mum enjoyed it as much if not more than the kids). (Anna....Guess what you might reading next week? LOL) We have been talking about the titanic a lot and are planning on watching the movie which the boys have not seen yet. We will start on the 2nd book tomorrow and have the 3rd book on order. We also got a hold of a My Story Titanic book which we will read together as well.

I take that back, we will be starting the 2nd book right now, Zak wants to know more! Well it did kind of leave us hanging! And they do have to go to their metal work class later today! I guess I will catch up with you again later.

Have a lovely day all! Keep Smiling.......

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Busy Busy Busy

2011-11-01T09:37:00.000+11:00

Well, its been yet another busy busy week down here. I am finding it harder and harder to fit in one or two posts a week. Ahhh one day it will slow down, one day!

Just trying to get into a routine of sorts has proven a little difficult but we seem to be getting there, somehow. Too many activities were clashing with others and meeting individual needs while fitting into the plan was proving a tad difficult as well. So in my usual fashion I have let things slide and sat back and tried to work out just how we were going to fit it all in. When it comes down to it the "plan" is more set in place to give one a feeling of setting goals (or putting out the intention) to achieve something. As long as learning is happening every day and we are all achieving something, I am more inclined to relax and let things be.

So in short the need to get fit for the kids has seen Adem going for long walks daily before even thinking about anything else. Zak has been pretty involved with his nippers training during the week so skipped a few of those walks. He also will be walking more once his sore foot heals.

They have been reading their "Igraine the Brave" books and continuing with Vocabulary lists in their own time from said book. This involves them either discussing various words and their meanings. Looking them up if needed and then using them in sentences.

There has been a mass exodus of computers from bedrooms for various reasons. Mainly because the freedom to access the internet at any given time of the day or night proved over time to be a very bad idea. Numerous attempts to keep limits and get enough sleep never seemed to be achieved, so it was time for the parents to step in and make a decision. This decision although at first faced with rather cranky boys funnily enough was accepted within an hour or so and forgotten. Their computers are now in the room with all their books and learning materials and they have plenty of time to choose from to use them. One boy in particular is learning to other things besides sit in front of a computer all day. There are access time limits which have been negotiated depending on days and individual needs.

There has been time for some maths, some science, some history and several beach visits. And for Zak a visit to the Yugioh tournament as their was no beach nippers this weekend.

There has been a birthday, Gemma turned 19 and we all went out for dinner...... she spent the next day and the zoo in sydney and then had dinner and stayed in a nice hotel for the night..... I do believe she had a lovely time......

Of course Ash came up with Charlotte.......who was very excited to visit us again and much more confident and full of kisses.........she has the cutest butt wiggle I have ever seen on a puppy.....

It was the funniest time watching her and Penny meet. Both very curious but very scared of each other at first.

She got to meet Miko and Bella through the window, they are way too big and scary for her just yet!

My knitting and crochet has been put a bit on the back burner this week. Been a bit too tired at the end of the day to achieve much! Now I must away. We have our English/History lesson this morning. Will tell you a bit more about that later!

Have a great day everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

L is also for Lazy......

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000+11:00

And it my utter laziness at writing two posts today, I combined the homeschool and craft one and posted over at Karismas Kraft! Go check it out if you want to.

Karisma's Kraft update Click Here

Peace out! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

L is for

2011-10-25T11:02:00.000+11:00

Love

Looking up......

Looking out.....

Looking down.....

Lemon Balm.....

Leafy goodness.......all round......

LIFE is good!

Live, Love, Laugh and be Happy!

Hugs and smoochies xox

Monday morning coffee and chat...

2011-10-24T08:48:00.000+11:00

Hello my lovelies!

How was your weekend? I was just sitting here thinking on planning my day when I thought "why bother?" Maybe I will just sip my coffee, listen to the birds and be grateful for another beautiful sunny day before the cold and rain that is expected hits us once more!

I thought I might drop by and let you know how the "plan" went last week! LMAO yes that's about how it went! We got in TWO days of the plan and then well, things changed. First the kids had a friend over for two nights so it was a little hard to follow our plan, so we just let it be and they did their thing, and I did mine. Which I have to say was rather nice. I went out all day one day and just took pictures and caught up with my friends from the Bali trip. And I caught up on my crochet project that I am working on too! I also managed to get my vegie patch all planted and ready to go! Yay!

Next up we got a message that my niece and her mama were going to stop by on Thursday afternoon so of course we once again canned any idea of following the plan because, well, we had some serious playing and visiting to do. We had not seen them for over a year!

Then on Friday, Ashlee came to visit with her gorgeous new puppy Charlotte and we played puppies and then went to the beach where we caught up with all our long lost friends at once! (well, thats how it felt seeing as we had not gotten together in Oh so long! It was most loverly! Yes it was. And we even got to meet a beautiful new little boy! He was simply adorable! Wish I had taken my camera!

I have to mention though, that even though the plan was thwarted and set aside, learning happened in its usual manner.

They did......

....read a good six chapters of their book "Igraine the Brave".

....read all about how knights became knights!And took a quiz to see what they could remember!

....cover some maths and graph drawing. Use our math skills in many real life situations!

....watch a few edumucational type shows on tv. Myth busters is a bit of a favourite at the moment.

....pull out the marine books again.

....play loads of adventure games and minecraft.

....learn about puppies and even baby sit for one boy who is not much of an animal person.

....discovered a snake in the bush, and disappeared in said bush for a very long time with a tribe of like minded folk with not a care in the world for the worries of grown ups left behind!

.....swam, swam and swam some more in the ocean, which is delightfully cold right now but glorious all the same!

....learned just how sneaky that ocean can be when sitting on rocks with the tide coming in..ouch! Z has some pretty juicy cuts at the moment after saving himself from being swept all the way in.

....re-discovered the fun of Nippers training and even stayed back an extra hour to practice on the nippers boards.

....begin the planning stages of a deck at C's house where Z and C previously built a bridge and took a liking to woodwork.

....went to our first metal work class.

....joined up for the rookie program at nippers even though we will be a little young to take the test. Will still be doing patrols and learning the ins and outs though! Yay for surf clubs that encourage this in kids!

.....and we probably, well, most certainly did learn loads of other things while we were unhindered by the thoughts of what grown ups thought we needed to learn.....sometimes mum just needs to step aside and let it happen you know?

Yes I do know and sometimes it just takes life stepping in to remind me! Sigh! Now my lovelies, my coffee is all gone and I am going to get dressed, clean the fridge, finish the laundry and then have one more go at setting that plan into motion! Hahahahaha! Well, you have to give me an A for effort now! I will educate these fine young gentlemen! Yes I will! Of course with a little help from life itself!

Have a beautiful day everyone! Hope your plans are kind to you!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Views from my tree.....

2011-10-20T09:23:00.000+11:00

Hugs and smoochies my lovely friends!

Have a glorious, wonderful day!

Love and Light xoxoxoxoxox

Term 4 - we have a plan!

2011-10-17T09:24:00.001+11:00

Hahahahaha! Well we do okay? And the aim is to follow it through, provided nothing drastic happens to change it! I say that because so far I am having trouble getting a hold of one particular book that we need! I will get it though, I will I tell you! And there is also the fact that everytime I seem to make plans something or other happens to thwart them!

MATHS: A will be finishing up his self teaching, maths online adventure this term. Why? Well, I am finding it hard to believe he is actually learning enough from it doing only one work sheet per lesson and B, his programming adventures have far outweighed and surpassed the maths level he is working on, so we will let him continue with that till the year ends and next year he will start on something different.

Z will attempt to chug his way through his last book of Targeting math for year 6 and he also will start a new programme next year.

COMPUTER: Adem will continue with his HTML 5 programming. He has almost finished his huge text book and I am sure his dad will extend him once he has.

Zak is going to also begin some programming once his dad sets it up for him. Excuse my ignorance but I cannot remember whether he was going to use Star Logo or something else. Will let you know once I see it myself.

They both spend a lot of time online gaming. While they do learn quite a lot from this, I am trying to get them to tone it down a bit this term and spend more time outdoors for health and socialization's sake. Zak is pretty involved in Minecraft and Adem plays HON and other such games a lot. Of course the whole time they do this, they are on Skype so not entirely alone, but still I think there needs to be a line drawn somewhere, so we are working on this.

There is the possibility of a joint blog coming to life. I won't tell you more until it is decided for sure.

ENGLISH/HISTORY/HSIE:

After our enormous success with learning history with Jacki French last term and the ease with which it flowed into our lives, we are once again planning to use this little gem and this time read "How the Finnegans saved the Ship" (once we can get a hold of the book that is!).

This time our journey into history will cover a bit about immigration to Australia, Ireland, Ships in general, the Titanic voyage, settlement in Australia, what it would have been like for the children, , maps, geography, our ancestors (how did they get here?), oh the list again will be endless once they get those thinking caps on and of course the lessons and learning will vary as I catch onto their interests and follow them through (come on, you didn't think I was actually going to force the learning on them did you? All I have to do is read and ask a few questions and hopefully, once again they will be off on adventures of wonderful learning opportunities!) Oh and there will be at least one excursion thrown in to Sydney to look at ships and visit the Immigration museum.

Of course in my usual fashion there will be loads of Vocabulary, grammar, writing, computer, creative art and what ever else I can sneak in without them noticing. Amazing how easy this can be if their interest is tweaked! (Insert cheeky witches cackle!) We have a couple of friends joining us on this adventure as well so hopefully we will all learn to work in a group and bounce ideas off each other.

As part of the journey touches on the Titanic Voyage, we will also be reading My Story, TITANIC and watching the movie at some stage, just to give them a view of the whole sinking ship scenario. We may even get a bit scientific and delve into icebergs and how they are formed etc. Shhhhhh we won't tell them because naturally they are going to think of it themselves!

Until we start this, A and Z will also be reading "Igraine the Brave" by Cordelia Funke. We will delve into the realm of magic and knights and castles and such. Not getting too heavy as once we start the other lessons we won't have as much time, but hopefully we will still manage to get a bit of history, geography and English thrown in. :-) Yeah, I don't think that teacher in me is ever going to lie down and be still entirely!

SCIENCE: I am not planning anything shhhhh I can sense some experiments coming on, this will be entirely in their hands this term.

Metal work: The boys are taking a metal work class once a week at a highschool with other homeschoolers.

Sport: Swimming and Nippers for Zak. Body boarding and swimming for Adem. Also we are encouraging a bit of walking and jogging as we need to lose a bit of weight.

Of course in the usual fashion there is bound to be more learning than the plan, I don't like to over plan for this very reason. When things come up, we must follow along as the learning happens best this way.

Now I must be away! We have some reading and math to do and then a trip to the pools for a swim. Hopefully at some stage I will also have time for my "one a day project" and some gardening, if the weather clears up of course. Oh and I suppose I should dash out and get some food too, we seem to be a bit short. Have a lovely week all! Its NOT back to school day for us!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Hey Strangers......

2011-10-16T07:10:00.000+11:00

Just thought I had better pop in and let you all know I am still alive. We have once again been away. To Queensland this time for six days. Came home with the worst backache LOL I wonder why? Surprisingly I really enjoyed myself considering my lack of enthusiasm at the whole "theme park" idea. The kids made sure I joined them on many rides high in the sky, Zak threatened to send me to Fear Factor if I did not face my fear of heights and just have fun! Guess what? I DID!!!!!!

The standing on stairs one could see through at great heights was not the best fun but the giant water slides going down were awesome! The roller coasters were fun too but my back now hates me! No pics of the bigger rides we were all on them but Zak snapped this one as Mr Yakka and I zoomed past. Don't be fooled my the look of fear on his face, we had just rounded the first big bend, and HE was the one who insisted on sitting in the front seat. By the end he was jumping up and down for more.

It was certainly not the most restful holiday as we pretty much were out everyday at the parks and then there was a couple of nights out too with no break in between! Exhausting, but fun! The kids loved it!

We have come up with a sort of plan for our term four homeschooling this year! As usual the main plan has been thwarted by certain things that have not fallen into place but hey, we are adaptable so will just go with the flow like we normally do!

Zak starts back at Nippers today, so better get everyone out of bed and organised! Hope you are all well.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Whats for dinner?

2011-09-25T12:18:00.000+10:00

What do you mean grain waves are not for dinner?

Clearly I think they will suffice! Now go away! I will leave the healthy eating up to Edie!

Edie is having a variety of baked and steamed vegies and some yoghurt coated pasta....

The yoghurt pasta seems to be a big hit!

As for the humans.......they were snacking on strawberries and cream! And sipping tea from small glasses. Yum!

Hoping you are having a restful weekend.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Relaxation plan........

2011-09-22T09:37:00.000+10:00

Take chair out in sunshine, put up feet, and prepare to crochet in the fresh air.......

Correction: Miko has other plans.....

So much for that plan hey?

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Hugs and smoochies oxoxoxox

Laughter really is the best medicine.......

2011-09-20T10:55:00.000+10:00

I was just sitting here feeling sorry for myself when an email made me think of a previous post, so I went and read it and started laughing. On days like today, when I am not quite feeling myself, it is nice to be reminded of the person you really are and well just laugh it up!

Those of you who have been around for years would have read these posts but others that are new may not have so I will link back to them.....hope they make you laugh too!

Parenting Woes (What happened?) The solution: We did end up having a very long discussion in private about respecting one another's things. At the time, I ended up buying a second hand lens for my camera to tide me over and then Zak got a brand new camera for his birthday. Since then I also got a new camera and he has refrained from touching it as he is happy with his own.

Where life takes us: (A fun Monday post about what we wanted from life and where we ended up!) I was reminded of this one when someone else posted about how their life ended up being so different from what they originally wanted it to be).

A little beach language: (Starring Mr Yakka)

Now......

I really should go back to my knitting or gardening! I have been sucked in by the computer and its such a nice day outside. Hmmmmm

Have a great day filled with laughter and love.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

LOST: IMMUNITY.......anyone seen it?

2011-09-20T09:38:00.000+10:00

This picture kind of reminds me of my life right now. See that one painted nail? It is all that is left of the five that were so bright and playful 2 months ago. And I do believe that it is about all that is left of my mojo right now. In my usual fashion I look for the bright side, and instead of seeing the sand burying half the foot, I see the toes emerging into the light! Instead of that creeping shadow.....I focus on the one flower left and urge for it to spread its magic and make me feel alive again. Keeping focussed this way, however, is proving to be quite a challenge!

It has just seemed lately that every time I manage to climb out of one bit of sand, another lot comes an dumps right down on me or a shadow creeps up and once again I find myself struggling to find that happy focus again. So I am struggling! I am struggling with my general well being, my health and my basic will for survival right now.

I found myself this morning about to post on facebook "I am sick of being sick! Damn you monkey!" But then of course I thought to myself, thats a bit negative. And after all, its not really the monkey's fault. He was just being a cheeky monkey! It was the stupid needles that made me sick! Those needles while everyone says are the lesser of two evils have really taken away all of my immunity. I have tried so hard to will myself better and taken so many herbal supplements its a wonder I am not sprouting herbs from my pores!

The problem is, that as soon as I start to feel a bit better, someone else around here gets sick and then I catch it! My usual habit of healing the sick with my herbal potions is back firing on me and instead I catch what ever they have to offer and then I have trouble fighting off. So after yet another night of no sleep and coughing like there is no tomorrow, (which by the way is not usual for me, I generally shake an illness in a day or two before it gets to the coughing stage), I guess you could say I awoke a little worse for wear in the positive thinking department. Or it could have been the fact that now Adem has come down with it too after avoiding catching anything while everyone else was sick. And he is grumpy and he and Zak at each others throats, as brothers are want to do!

I of course have the patience of a saint right now! And am dreaming up ways to torture them in return if they don't STOP IT!!!!

So if you have been wondering why I have not been around much. This is why. I have been trying to console myself with my knitting and crochet. See Karismas Kraft for those adventures. And of course when health permits it, my garden and my herbs.

I hope to catch up with some homeschool and general posts soon. Please bear with me. If you happen to find my immunity I would love to have it back. :-) Happy healing vibes would be recieved with much love and thankfullness.

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Fun Monday - A typical day......

2011-09-13T09:35:00.000+10:00

Sayre is hosting a revival of Fun Monday today and she asked us to follow ourselves around a little and tell her about a typical day in our lives. After stalking myself all week, I could not find two days that were the same!!!

"I wish that summer would hurry up and get here already so there were more hours in the day!"

I sure did try to find some routine last week in what I was doing, but have come to the conclusion that I really am rather eclectic in all manners of my life right now. I seem to take the path that flows that day, rather than trying to make a routine work all the time. Don't think I have not tried mind.....every time I get it sorted...something happens to throw it out of whack. So I am just trying to exist with a quiet presence if I can and still get things done. Slowly it is actually beginning to make some sense and while it may seem chaotic to some, things ARE falling into place. The children are growing and learning and I am slowly finding a kind of balance to fit it all in.

Reading the latest Amulet book, the serious look is because this is supposed to be the last one and he is not too happy about that! OR it could just be that I stuck a camera in his face while he was trying to read! Hmmmm

So I am going to try and meld some stuff together to give you a basic idea of what we may be doing on any particular day.

I usually wake up several times before exiting the bed. I have trouble getting to sleep and will wake when SB gets out of bed anytime between 2 and 5am to go upstairs to work while the house is quiet. Then I wake up again, when Gemma goes to work at around 6am. I will go back to sleep and dream my usual busy dreams and then wake on and off until I decide to get up and brave the cold OR SB brings me coffee. Its been a bit cold lately so that might mean anytime between 7 and 8.30am. (In summer 6am is a more likely time for me to arise). I usually check my email from my phone at this stage but I don't answer any of it. Its more of a quick scan through to see whats there than an actual reading time.

IF its still cold, lately I have been having my coffee in bed and reading books. I have been reading a couple of auto-biographies and/or novels that take my fancy. This is my idea of trying to "relax" a bit before facing the day.

Once I get up, I will go an answer any emails etc that need a reply and/or catch up on some blog reading IF I have time. And I will either have more coffee or something to eat and wait for the kids to come downstairs. Now this varies all the time. They went through the middle of winter trying to hibernate like bears. (And yes they used that one on me as an excuse for their daily sleeping in. In fact they had been sitting up all night playing online adventure games! While I may be relaxed in many areas of parenting, I finally put my foot down as they were really NOT getting over it by themselves and they were constantly grumpy and not interested in anything else! They are now only allowed to play during the day or at night on weekends.)

Now that they are getting enough sleep. Adem has been waking before 8am and coming down and getting on with his own learning which is a delight I must say. He will either finish a maths lesson or get stuck into his computer programming. He is currently teaching himself to use HTML5 Canvas and has almost finished the whole text book.

Zak is still sleeping in as he has not been well and needs his rest. When he wakes up he will either bring his maths book to me and ask for help or read a book while he has breakfast. Then seek out something else to do or ask me to help him with something that has grabbed his interest. This week he excavated a woolly mammoth and was very put out to find the legs did not go together the right way...

So you see this part has become just a little ZEN for me right now. Far less stressful than trying to force a boring lesson on them. And leaving me time to heal and get my own self back on track again to face my normal more hectic lifestyle! This set up could change at anytime and usually does, depending on what the boys are learning at the time. Sometimes I need to be far more hands on so my morning will be taken up entirely with homeschooling. But this past month has been a bit different.

We also have been spending a lot of time reading together, talking and learning about WW2 lately and social justice in general. This can come up at anytime during the day, especially if they see something on the news that reminds them. Raising "free thinking" individuals is a biggy in my parenting views. Its amazing how many examples are to be found in history and indeed NOW of people blindly following just one persons views. Scary scary stuff! One should never stifle the "but why?" in a child, NEVER!!!

Some weeds are encouraged to grown in my garden!

Of course this self motivation sees me with more time to do housework, garden OR just stowaway in SB's car when he heads off for a surf. Even if the kids do not want to go too. :-) Sometimes they do and we will bring things to do as it is not quite swimming weather as yet. And sometimes I just take my camera and take some pictures of what ever is going on that day.

Yesterday I watched a hawk hunting in the wind.......amazing.........

Of course, everywhere I go, my project basket follows........I have been known to crochet/knit on the beach, in the car or anywhere else I happen to be. This week has been no exception especially as I have joined in a group called the One a Day Project on Ravelry and I am busy crocheting little squares in between all my other baby knitting right now!

You are also likely to find some sort of herbal in my basket as I will often notice a new weed or plant on the side of the road and wonder what it is. Or I will just feel like brushing up on a little study. If I don't do it whilst out, you can be sure I will when I get home.

So that would probably fill up my morning and by the time I stopped cleaning, homeschooling, digging holes in the garden, mulching, or got home from the beach. It would be time for lunch.

My afternoon if I am home will be spent once again pottering around the house doing much of the same as earlier. Except, throw in some play time with the animals and if it is warm... more gardening! Outside would be throwing the ball for Bella and blowing bubbles for Miko. Inside, playing with the rats. I try to spread the attention around, sometimes its a bit hard though. The bird just likes to give me attitude but I still take her out to play if the fire is not on.

If I am stuck indoors, more study, making herbal brews or remedies, harvesting and drying herbs, knitting, crochet or reading. Sometimes playing with the kids (but usually lately they are busy online at this time so my time is free). Zak is pretty wrapped up in Minecraft and Adem likes to play HON with his mates online and they skype at the same time so its like their social time.

Of course this can be all interrupted if a friend drops by or I go visit them. :-) Cold nights lately have been spent in front of the fire with my knitting! I have been doing that a lot lately. (See my other blog for the latest projects).

Oh and I forgot to mention cooking. Naturally that is a big part of the day. We have to eat! I usually do all the cooking and after we eat, we sit around together and chat, or they play a game or watch tv while I of course continue knitting or crocheting on the sideline. Bedtime varies, depending how tired I feel and I will usuall play a wordgame or cards on my phone until I can feel sleepy enough to doze off. If I am lucky by 12 ready for a couple of hours snooze before the next awakening!

And thats about all I have time for! Of course things change a lot depending on weather, peoples moods and health and what we are interested in the time! (you may have noticed I did not mention cross stitch this time..thats because I have not had the inclination or time to pick it up in months! Thats life!)

If you would like to read about others typical days or tell us about yours, please go add your link to Sayre's Fun Monday List! Have a beautiful sunny day!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Cousin IT is that you?

2011-09-09T20:41:00.001+10:00

This is what happens to your once curly hair when you take out a gazillion hair braids.......

This was SO..... 3 weeks ago, (my curls are back with a vengeance), we really do have a lot of catching up to do! Oh MY!

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND LOVELIES,

HUGS AND SMOOCHIES XOXOXOX

Staying home....

2011-08-31T10:23:00.000+10:00

Sometimes life just refuses to take you where you want to go. You make plans, only to have unforeseen things happen......... to throw a spanner in the works, so to speak. In the past couple of months I had so many plans that have been thwarted and changed due to unforeseen happenings, that for just a little while I began to feel really down and quite frankly my spirit was feeling extremely flat.

On Monday this week, I finally came to the realisation, that one of my plans, the one where I was going to head up North to spend some glorious time in the sun with friends is just NOT going to happen. My focus was entirely on this trip, ever since we got back from Bali. Indeed its one of the reasons I agreed to come home a week early. We were supposed to leave at the end of the week when we got home.....but then things just started to happen.

* We could not go away the first 2 weeks as I had to have the needles. I was not allowed to take the medicine with me so we would have to wait.

* They stuffed up the first needles delaying us by 3 days so we had to wait longer. Each time I visit the hospital its like the first time. Although all the info is right there, I have to re-explain and wait every time.

*A friends father and grandfather of the friends who we were supposed to go away with passed away. It was a sad week. A week for hugs and togetherness.

*Our friends came back and left again a week later, we planned to head off after them, again after my next needle.

*We had an unexpected visit from our daughter and my sister from Melbourne. (One nice thing to happen in all the madness)

*Then everyone started getting sick....

* Since the needles started, I have spent more time at the hospital in a few weeks than I have in years. Indeed I found out that I had not even seen a doctor in 5 years. Apart from my own dramas with these hospital visits, I spent 7 hours there one day with a friends son, and several hours there one day with one of my girls. Each long wait in a room full of sick people took its toll on me. And although I was assured that the immunoglobulin they pumped into me would keep me well, it did not work. In fact I caught the worst virus I have had in years. I have been downright ill for a week. And you know, eventually the spirit starts to wane if the body is not healthy.

We planned to head off again, this Tuesday but I knew I would simply not be well enough to travel and then Zak caught it. I was downright miserable on the weekend I tell you. But then on Monday I decided that I am not going. I am not going to plan another day to leave. I am staying home! And you know what? Something lifted.

The sun came out that day! And I sat out the back for a while and breathed and let it go! I am obviously not meant to leave home right now! (Well I knew this already, but just could not let it go as I really wanted to go! ). And as I looked around me and took in all the work that has been sorely neglected around here the past couple of months. I smiled and began to heal. I will go away some other time. For now I will placate myself with my herbs, my knitting and some warm soup. And when I am stronger I will tackle all that work.

I am home my friends! My spirit has risen and I am just waiting for my body to catch up! And then I have to have another needle on Monday! Lucky me! :-)

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Taking Reading Off the Beaten Track.......

2011-08-30T10:25:00.000+10:00

What can one learn from fiction? I have often heard this out of the mouths of folks who don't like to waste their time reading something that is not a non-fiction type of book (You know, if its not a manual of some descript to "teach" you how to do something, its not worth touching). And of course, I beg to differ (as usual :-) ).

Aside from the usual facts like reading improves your spelling, vocabulary and grammar. It also boosts your imagination skills and hey it is just far more interesting than watching tv to some of us. Seriously, a book made into a movie is just never the same. If an author adds in a lot of REAL facts too, well, the "sneaky" learning opportunities are endless I tell you.

This week we have been reading Jackie French's..... Hitler's daughter

and my friends, just 4 chapters in we have already learned so much. (And although some of this learning has been prompted by Lets read History with Jackie French, most of it has been pure unprompted child questioning and wondering,which has led to researching, and new learning opportunities in totally unrelated areas).

How did this happen? Well.........

The story is basically about a group of kids today who make up stories to pass the time. And in this case Anna is telling the story about Hitlers Daughter Heidi. While the story is made up, she adds a lot of historical facts and this is where the kids began to get interested and ask a LOT of questions. (I really had to laugh in the end as one of the subjects that come up later in the history unit is Justice and already my two have brought it up and covered it all by themselves).

It would probably take all day to write all they did so instead I will give a brief outline of just some of what came up so far.....

*WW2......When was it, how did it happen? How long ago was that? (And of course they had to go and find out)

*Did Hitler really have a daughter?

*How could his daughter love such a horrible man and not know what he was doing? How come she did not know what a Jew was? (This led to a long discussion about whether or not we should believe everything we are told, even in our own families. Also that there was no tv or internet so if someone is isolated and not presented with all the facts, how do they not what is true or not?)

* How did Hitler come into power? (OMG MUM, he was such a liar! And everyone believed him!) Ahhh politicians! We discussed how not much has changed on this front. We compared Hitlers antics with modern day politics and war scenarios.

* Why did he want to create an Aryan race? He did not have blond hair and blue eyes!!! (Also in the book Heidi is dark and has a disability. One of the maids sisters is killed because she has a disability).

* Mum, are all Jewish people really rich?

* Were there really concentration camps?

* How could the average German citizen allow this to happen? How could they NOT KNOW what was going on right under their own noses.

* We also watched a programm the other night about the plight of Dolphins in Japan. We compared this to the situation in Nazi Germany and it proved a great example. Dolphins are being slaughtered by the thousands and the general populice in Japan has no idea. Zak was so horrified he wants to follow it up and find out if anything is being done now to stop it. They were also feeding dolphin meat which is full of high levels of Mercury to school kids. It was a very good example how people get away with things, when the media is quashed and the general people have no idea. Very scary stuff.

Just watching and hearing the screams of a mother dolphin seperated from its baby, knowing its about to be slaughtered was horrific. How must it have felt for human beings to be in same predicament?

*We did some further research and reading on Hitlers life and rise to power.

*The boys also did some independant research and compiled slide shows using Keynote on the computer. Adem made a presentation on Messerschmidt Aircraft and Zak made one about V2 Rockets.

*In the first chapter of the book, it introduces the concept of making up games. The boys made up their own games and made up instructions and rules etc on how to play their games.

Things we plan to do, just from reading this far......

*How far did Hitler get with his invasion of the world? We plan to get the map out and find all the countries he invaded.

* We are going to watch "The boy in the striped Pajamas" together. (I would not recommend this movie to young children and did not let my boys watch it when it came out, but they are old enough now to deal with it so I will let them watch it. The story ties in very well with Heidi's story is telling so relevant to what the boys are learning.)

* We are going to visit the Jewish Musuem in Sydney and take a tour.

* We plan to look more into Human and Animal rights.

Other things we learned.....

* That Jackie French is dyslexic and yet she still has written so many wonderful books. (And yes this one is very well written, even mummy is enjoying it!)
* That no matter who you are or what your disabilities YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO IF YOU TRY (Zak was concerned that he may never be very good at writing....)

Oh my and all this and more from just four chapters of reading a FICTION book! Anything that gets a child saying "I wonder...what...where...why...who...when and how?" is a learning opportunity indeed.

Happy learning everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Bali.....Lets eat......

2011-08-26T09:26:00.000+10:00

As you can probably tell, we already ate before this picture was taken. :-) Great food! And our most expensive meal in Bali. Costing around $18 Australian dollars for the two of us!

Before going to Bali, my daughter who had been the previous year, suggested we pack food. There is NOTHING to eat, she told us. When I questioned this, she added that she lived on fruit while there. I contemplated it for about 2 seconds and then thought "Oh well, I can live on fruit". I was however, pretty sure there would be something else to eat.

The fruit smoothies were popular with all my friends. I did not have any as I don't drink milk but they sure look appetizing hey?

As I later discovered she did not much leave the confines of her resort, so therefore the food choices were a bit limited. Also, we were with people who stay in Bali every year, and had their favourite eating places. We decided to just go with the flow and eat what ever we felt like, and enjoy the food, and WE DID!!

Fruit Salad at the Balcony comes with two different honey's AND a bowl of yoghurt. It also had apple which you did not see much in Bali. (cost around $4)

We did eat a lot of fruit salad, you see with banana's being so expensive down here this past year, we were pretty happy to munch on them on a daily basis. There was also the fact that the fruit salad varied from place to place and let me just say, the local folks make a much bigger, cheaper and nicer fruit salad than the resorts.....Oh how I miss the daily papaya already...sigh...

Bali gardens resort: fruit salad and mixed fruit juice...cost around $6.00

Ok the resorts make a very pretty one, the one at Bali Gardens came complete with a small spoon of Swiss ice cream, but if you are hungry......and you don't want to hide in a resort, and you would rather sit right on the beach in a warung and be pampered instead.....well.......

A warung is like a shack on the beach where one can sit and be served all manner of food, drinks and of course be co-erced into a massage if you want one as well. This one is located on Balangan beach.

Fruit is fruit after all my friends and this one comes not only served up with more than enough for two but the locals are quite happy to sit and make it for you very freshly indeed.....chopping a pineapple? No problem at all......

Do you like his beachside kitchen? Its amazing what can be whipped up in such a place!

This is Ketut by the way! He not only fed us, but looked after our valuables while we went for a swim! Oh and he also looked after our friend who cut her foot on the way down.

And he served ice cold beer!

There were two local places we ate at quite a bit, one of them was Suzannes. I can't for the life of me remember the actual name of her shop but we all called it Suzannes. Suzanne is actually Chinese and her food was absolutely delicious. Even SB who normally does not take to Chinese food, loved it. I think it was the fact that it was a mix of Balinese and Chinese put together and the food was always light and easy to digest. I did not take pictures for the most part but did take a couple on the last day.

Suzanne and Pete

The waiter and Robyn

This was SB's favourite mushroom dish.......he was also quite fond of Cumi Cumi which was a dish based on squid.

The mushroom dish. Those black bits are some sort of mushroom too! Im not sure what type but SB loved them.

I loved the fact that Suzanne was quite happy to whip me up a vegetarian meal on request...and I mean I would say...."maybe some greens...brocolli, spinach, carrots?" "OK...you want rice?" And out would come a lovely fresh meal. And no I don't have a picture unfortunately, I was too busy eating, but here are a couple of the other dishes from her shop....

Chicken and Brocolli, boiled rice with a bowl of HOT chilii. This Chilli was lethal my friends, I can honestly say that I did NOT get Bali Belly in Bali but I DID get Chilli Belly! Damn it was GOOD! And yes I went back for more despite the upset tummy!

Flower Chicken. Fresh chicken breast fried a bit like strips I guess but shaped more like a flower.

This shop was the dingiest looking place on the street, but funnily enough always full. We had a great laugh every time we visited. One night the power kept going out and when it finally went out where we were sitting, one of the young staff members bought out a light and started flashing it like a disco light (just at our table of course LOL). It was so funny!

Roy and Pete

We also went to Roys for drinks or dessert most nights. Roy served a variety of foods and we did have lunch there one day but we liked to hang out there after dinner so usually had tea, or a drink, fruit salad or sometimes just ice cream........

Roy offers free internet to his customers via your own computer or Iphone, but he was quite happy to let us borrow his computer to check mail or facebook etc. This was the only time I managed to check in. Although there was an internet cafe right in our bungalows, we never used it. We were too busy. Roy was also happy to sit and join us for a chat and something to eat....

And on Peter's birthday he presented him with a birthday pancake.....(of course Robyn added some of those candles that refuse to blow out!).........

After the infamous Monkey bite, we stopped in Ubud for lunch. Now I LOVED this place and if we go back I intend to take myself back there for a few days retreat. It was right up my ally. But being inland, away from the beach, and full of alternative types, (and okay a few people walking around with their noses in the air but seriously who cares?) it was not for my friends, who prefer the beach life and friendlier folk.

This particular restaurant, made me feel right at home. It was peaceful and serene and the food was delicious. We went for a more western choice in food here (or Italian as the case might be for some) ......I had vegetarian fettucini.....SB had the same but his came with chicken).............of course being in Bali, it was laced with not only garlic but chilli! Just about everything comes with chilli unless you suggest otherwise....LOVE it!!!!!

Pete had a club sandwhich with chippies, Pete was a happy boy as long as he got his daily fix of chippies.......or fried potatoes as the locals call them...you really do get fried potatoes if you ask for them outside of the places that cater mainly to tourists and have frozen fries.....

And Robyn had Satay sticks.......which looked absolutely amazing.......I can just imagine what one would pay for this at home.....here our whole meal including drinks came in at around $20-25 for the lot of us..........

We also had lunch a couple of times at Bendesa hotel, which was around the corner from our place. They do a pretty mean Mi Goreng (Noodles) and we just had to try it out. Forgot to take a picture of the food but here is Pete and Robyn sitting in front of the water feature.

We also went back another day as I wanted to try one of their sandwhiches which had eggplant, zuchhini and feta. While the filling was good I was not too keen on the half toasted white bread they served it on. It was a nice place though to sit as it was off the main street and quiet. We also liked to use this place as a short cut so thought it was only polite to eat there occasionally! :-)

On our last evening in Bali, we ate at the Balcony and I had to take a picture of my Indian Satay meal..LOL..I thought I was ordering chicken satay sticks like Robyn had in Ubud but this is what came out........there were 3 pieces of chicken on it but my goodness they were huge....I could not eat it all.....

And it came with rice and vegies too.......

I don't really have many more pictures of the food but I did take quite a few of Pete eating. LOL He is so photogenic. Here is one last one of him having a sandwhich with chippies of course down at Bali Gardens after a nice refreshing swim........ thats my mixed fruit juice in the front which is made of fresh fruits of the day pureed with crushed ice.....YUMMMMM

And here he is having breakfast......pouched eggs on toast.........I do believe he has vegemite under those eggs.....ewwwwww.....oh well, at least it wasn't chippies again......

Oh and I forgot to mention, one night we had Pizza at a shop that specialised in Italian food. The vegetarian pizza came with eggplant and zuchhini which was different but tasted very nice! I did not take pics but here is one of Robyn having Pizza at Bali Gardens.....she says it was good......(the only gripe was the German family sitting behind us were smoking and while the fellow directly behind Robyn was turning away from their table to blow out his smoke, he was blowing it towards us while we were trying to eat! How bloody rude! I won't tell you what Robyn said, but she had us in stitches and Im sure they spoke English and heard her! LOL)

So you see my friends, starving in Bali is hardly an option! There is plenty to eat and plenty to choose from. And as I hear my girl asking "Yeah, but what about snacks?" Ummm hello, all that yummy fruit aside, if one walks just outside the resort and heads for the "normal" streets. There are supermarkets on every corner and while they do not sell all the same things we do at home (they are much smaller and ahem, less wasteful), they do have biscuits and chips my dear. AND if one wants to be a little fussier, walk on down to the Matahari complex in Kuta (A tourist shop kinda place) and right in the middle of it is a huge supermarket catering to westerners. They had cheeses galore, German icecreams, fresh fruit, lollies, chocolates, and biscuits just to name a few things! No need to starve me thinks! Even fussy folks can find SOMETHING to eat!

As for me, I loved loved loved the fact that the food was fresh, local AND the shopping was done on a daily basis so of course what ever was fresh at market is what one got to eat! AND I DID NOT HAVE TO COOK ONCE! OH YEAH......I COULD TOTALLY GET USED TO THAT!

Now I have made myself hungry! Have a great day all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Beach Walk On a Winters Day......

2011-08-23T20:26:00.000+10:00

I thought I would give you a break from the Bali posts and show you a few pictures from home. I have been playing with my new toy. :-)

I like my new toy! Yes I do!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Monkey Business.....

2011-08-18T10:29:00.000+10:00

In Ullawatu, Bali, there is a temple set high among the cliffs where folks go about their daily business......

Giving thanks, offerings and prayers up to their gods........

Amongst the beauty of nature.......

If you look closely you may see some little visitors helping themselves to the offerings.....

Filling their sweet little bellies and gently taking food from the hands of tourists who oooh and ahhh at their cuteness.....

You may have heard stories about the cheeky little monkeys stealing things from the tourists but this day, all is well. The monkeys are behaving themselves. It could be the gentle sound of the locals chanting, the serene sounds of the ocean crashing into the cliffs far below. Or maybe they were just so well fed today that they were feeling a tad lazy.

So you see my friends, one could totally forgive my ignorance when a few days later I insisted on stopping at the Monkey Forest in Ubud, because I thought it would be lovely. A huge green forest, filled with friendly furry little monkeys.....or so I thought. No one else was particularly keen, in fact Robyn made a point of saying...."Do we have to? What if we get bitten by a monkey?" Of course I was pretty sure that was not going to happen and convinced everyone to stop anyway. After all, it was a FOREST people, who knows how many faeiries may be flitting about? And oh it was so beautiful.....

A good minute into walking down the path towards the forest. I spied a monkey just sitting on the path munching on some banana's and thought I would take his picture. He pretty much ignored me at first so I squatted down and took this picture......

He then put down his banana's and casually walked over to me and grabbed my dress......how cute I thought as I took this shot......

He then very casually looked right and left, to see if anyone was watching (the handlers there carry large sticks!!!) and took his first bite. I was shocked to say the least and tried to jump back only to have him grab me around the legs and really sink his chomps in. This time he did manage to pierce through my dress and into my skin.....I do believe I now screamed and tried to run.

So did Robyn, she screamed louder than me and ran up the hill a bit. And somehow in her state of trauma managed to snap this shot......(to everyone around here's great amusement! SEE KIDS I CAN MAKE A CRANKY FACE SO THERE!!!) .......

Of course the shock was more traumatic than the actual bite, which while it hurt was not too bad. A small hole in the thigh, which after cleaning began to heal quite nicely. I was a little scared when everyone started warning me about rabies but not entirely concerned as I did not really think I was likely to catch it from this healthy looking speciman.

Turns out the health authorities over here did not agree and because of this naughty little monkey I have had to go through a rather harrowing couple of weeks. Because we don't have an issue with rabies in our country it is not well known with what to do about it. I was given the run around for a few days before being told to get to the hospital pronto as time was of the essence and they forearmed me with what needed doing. As a result the initial doctor I saw did not agree and decided to jab me with a tetanus shot instead of the required immunoglobulin and send me home. I was called back in to get the right shot the next day after public health had words with him, he had to report it and they knew of me already, and sent the required vaccinations up from Sydney.

Again they got it wrong and jabbed a tiny amount of immunoglobulin into my arm and three days later when I should have been getting my second rabies shot, I learned that in fact I had not been given the first and indeed had not been sufficiently jabbed with immunoglobulin and I had to go through them reopening my wound, jabbing it and injecting the immunoglobulin in it and around it (8 shots in all) then a huge dose further up into the thigh and my first rabies shot in the opposite arm. I have to say, I was slightly pissed off. It hurt and as I did not really want to get them in the first place I felt a bit like I was being jabbed by folks who had no idea what they were doing and using me as a test run.

Each and every visit to the hospital has been long and frustrating with long waits and then having to explain stuff every single time. I have to say, I am rather over it and it just re-enforces my distrust in this modern medical system. Quite frankly I would have preferred to risk getting rabies at a later date than go through all this crap. And by the way, the vaccinations have left me each time with headaches, lethargy and nausea. So yeah. I don't like them! I have since researched quite a bit on rabies and the fact that there is NO cure! Bull crap! There are plenty of herbal options that modern medicine does not acknowledge.

Anyway I still have two more needles to go and would like to say, if you visit Bali........keep away from the monkeys! They really are not that friendly!

PS.....the forest was still rather beautiful though and while I spent the rest of my visit with monkey radar switched onto full and trying to dodge them. I still enjoyed the scenery.

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Bali.....getting to know you.....learning the way.....

2011-08-13T11:12:00.000+10:00

We awoke nice and early the next morning, well, we did not really sleep that first night, spent the night waiting to be awoken for the early morning surf trip, therefore had trouble actually going to sleep and kind of kept dozing on and off for a little bit.

The sand in Bali is mostly black, and filled with bits of sharp coral! The more white, the more coral.

At about 3.30am I finally gave up and just lay there awake and listened to the downpour of rain which did not stop until about 8am. It was a bit like a monsoon really. SB had gotten up and left at 6am, about an hour or so after the rooster crowed (umm I thought we were in a city?) with Peter for a trip out to Cucukan where they spent the whole morning and SB managed to get his first introduction to the dangers of surfing in Bali, the coral reefs. He managed to simply brush past a piece and it sliced his arm open. Yikes. Hate to see what would happen if he had of fallen on it!!!!

"Looking up in Bali" Coconuts!!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...oh I mean the room, I lazed about wondering what to do since for the very first time in my life I REALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO...OMG!!! No breakfast to make, no chores, no children to see to etc etc etc......oh my! I attempted to read a book and then do a crossword but with no interuptions I could not seem to get in the mode. LOL So I took some pictures of the garden and sat out on the porch and just admired the early morning sounds and sights.

At about 8am I went next door and found Robyn and the two of us headed off for breakfast, where for the price of a grand old 16,000 rupea (about $1.80) I was presented with a cup of bottomless tea with lime, 2 eggs (scrambled, fried, poached or an omellete), mixed fruit juice or fruit on a plate (which varied from day to day), and two pieces of toast with jam. I would not eat all that at home but hey I was on holidays. It soon became a daily habit. Amazing how much easier to eat it is when one does not have to prepare all the food! Of course Robyn, being the long time local that she is, had her own supply of vegemite that the staff kept on hand for her......ahh the comforts of home away from home....

After breakfast it was time for some serious learning! Off we went to meet the locals AND learn the little habit of haggling! Now I had been prewarned about this AND had done a little reading online in the hopes I would not have to actually do it. BUT in Bali, in the everyday kind of area, well, you haggle or you get way over charged. Thats just the way it is. So, I paid attention. I was introduced to many of the locals who remembered me and gave me the cheaper prices anyway and then to some further afield who still haggled but in a friendly manner. So forearmed with all this by the afternoon, I thought I had it sorted. I had learned to smile and say hello and keep walking (unless it was a friend you know because everyone was out to sell you something).

North of Kuta

So it was that, that afternoon I managed to drag SB out for a bit of a walk down poppies 2 which is a small street filled with market type stalls/shops. I was more interested in looking rather than shopping which is really hard when people are constantly trying to co-erce you into their shops. Ashlee (our oldest) had forewarned us before we left. "Dad, you look after mum, she is too nice, she will get ripped off!" ?????? Um Hello!!!! I am not too nice! NO I am not! I totally had this sorted! I did I tell you! I could be stern and nice at the same time could I not? .............Famous last words!

So, it was with that in mind that I found myself surrounded by lovely Balinese ladies who in the space of a couple of minutes managed to have me in a chair with not only my hair braided but my nails AND my toenails painted......and ahem...poor SB sitting with a bewildered look on his face also sporting a lovely manicure! LMAO And seriously, that is what I was doing.....laughing my head off and walking off with an empty wallet while SB grumbled just a little beside me. Thankfully I had had the foresight to only take 300,000 out with me this time. Which equates to a little over $30.

So how did it happen? Well one of the lovely ladies chased me up the street, tied a friendship band around my wrist for good luck you know and then told me she does hair braiding which spiked my interest as I was thinking about getting it done anyway (my curly long hair was making me far too hot). I had been told to expect to pay up to $30 for this so thought, why not, I will have a look. Having a look meant me sitting on a chair (they had me ready) and looking at a book at which stage she started the haggling process. She started high and then agreed to 250,000 (MY MISTAKE...don't talk price if you don't intend to buy NOW). My insistantance that I wanted to wait a few days fell on deaf ears. She was ready to get started and use me as a walking advertisement it seems.

Meanwhile another one snagged SB and had him sitting down also. While I had agreed to let them do my hair I had NOT said they could do my nails, they simply did not listen to my repeated NO NO NO's. At one stage there were three doing my hair and another two doing the nails. Now I can imagine you all thinking how could they do that if you said no. Yeah turns out I was too nice! Shut up! Im working on it okay? I just could not bring myself to be forceful or rude at this stage!

Of course when they were finished they started demanding payment which caused a bit of a fuss as I only had $50,000 left and they wanted 50,000 each. I suggested they split it but one of them got disgruntled and stormed off in a huff. The other two were happy enough to share.

Of course me being me, this whole fiasco left me feeling a bit upset with the whole thing. I would have liked to have just paid the disgruntled one something but I had nothing there to give. I of course contemplated going back later and giving her some money but then I ended up deciding that hey, I did say NO over and over. They did not listen. I would not have opted to get my nails painted at all. I don't like it. And while I did feel a little guilty for a day or so, I soon learned that up the beach at the high end resort they only charge 150,000 for hair braiding so while I did not feel ripped off (I had agreed after all) I did know they had over charged and were probably quiet chuffed with their efforts anyway. I put it all down to a big day of learning, laughed a bit more and got on with it.

SB was pretty sure by now that he did not want to stay for two weeks as we orginally planned. I was just starting to warm up but agreed that we could go home earlier as I was also pretty keen to head up the North Coast with some friends so going home early would tie in with this. So the next day we changed our flights to have us home a week earlier. All things happen for a reason my friends, but going up North it turns out was not one of them. We managed to cram quite a lot into one short week that maybe we would not have done if we were more relaxed about a longer stay. Before re-booking our flights I was feeling uneasy about my kids and it turns out they were having their own little dramas at home. They were of course fine but if I had not known I was on my way home I may have suffered a bit with the whole process of enjoying myself for the rest of the holidays.

As it was the holiday was spent pretty much living in the moment, laughing a lot, getting to know people, swimming in the pool, WALKING a lot, visiting resorts and discovering folks from home hanging around there.........

This is Col, who lives near us at home. He was only the first of several locals we bumped into. Turns out they mass migrate in the colder months every year! LOL

..............small world, EATING, surfing, travelling the country side, visiting temples, watching the sunsets, shopping, getting up to mischief with Robyn, AND of course meeting bloody monkeys! I think I shall tell you about the monkeys next.......(the little sods are still giving me grief)......

to be cont.......

Big hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Bali......first impressions...people

2011-08-11T10:07:00.000+10:00

The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Denpasar Airport, Bali (which by the way is NOT in Denpasar) was the stuffy air, laced with jet fuel at that. No cushy walk through off the plane at Bali, one steps off the plane and boards a bus, in a squishy fashion, to be driven to the terminal where you first line up and buy a visa and then hop through the first customs check point, ONE AT a TIME if you please, even small kids???? By the time we finally found our luggage and were going through the check your bags part of customs I was already feeling a bit out of it. ( I had left home with a bit of a sinus infection and was doped up on meds I would not normally bother to take if at home) We had already been hit up by someone trying to give us EXPRESS entry for a price and I was a little in the eyebrow raising stage as we passed through.

The cheeky fellow at this point, had a laugh at me showing him my medicine bag as ahem I was a little sick and needed some, and was more interested to know if I had any booze to declare? Ummm NO? OK, off you go then! As we were walking out, several people were offering help and calling us to change money etc. Our very first introduction to how things are in Bali. People constantly calling out to you and asking if they can help you with something (for a price of course)!

As we exited the airport in search of a familiar face from home (our friend was picking us up) we were confronted with about a thousand people, some with name plaques but the rest just yelling out to see if you would like some transport? Thankfully, SB saw his friend (whos blonde hair really stood out in the crowd) and we were saved the decision of choosing someone to help us out. The carpark was a bit like the chaos at the entrance, people getting in everyone elses way, bags and surfboards being piled onto tiny cars or even motor scooters. And me with a big smile on my face, just standing under a tree trying to take it all in.

We managed to get crammed into a tiny car with our friend and our driver Wayan, surfboards, luggage and all, (who drove us around the whole week) and headed off to our accommodation. It was quite a long trip due to the traffic being extremely congested so I had my head hanging out the window admiring all the buildings and carvings as we went by. Apparently it is normally a 20 minute drive but it took us a lot longer.

The accomodation was pretty basic as far as the room went. We had been thinking on this being a little romantic so had a laugh when we were confronted with single beds that had been pushed together in the hopes of making a double. Ummm the huge gap between the mattresses kind of made that one not happening but I had to laugh at the effort. How sweet. We were told that we could move into a double room when one became available but we kinda took to the room once we got used to it so decided to stay. (As I said, it was basic, NO TV, no air conditioning even the lamp was not plugged in as the power point was between the beds and it had been moved out of the way). The bathroom was basic also and tidy but nowhere near new giving it the not so clean appearance. In fact if faced with a room like this at home I probably would not have stayed. But hey this was Bali, and after the first night of wondering if we should move into a nicer place which by the way would be entirely affordable. This little room kinda grew on me and the neighbours were pretty awesome too!

We spent our afternoon getting a feel for the place, getting to know our friends who by the way I had never really met other than a brief five minute hello back home. We went for a long walk, learned to dodge folks who were trying to sell us stuff or offer us transport, in a friendly way of course. And how to cut through the bigger motels to get to places without being kicked out and having to take the long way around. Yep we made friends with all the guards. hehe!

The boys walking and talking

We spent our first sunset on the beach, smack in the middle of Kuta and Legian and made friends with our drink man, Made. He was most lovely and would offer a chair or lay out my sarong for us if the chairs were taken and even tell us where our friends or partners were in the evenings if we were not together. He always had a big smile and hello for us every day. So I looked forward to this part of the day all week. He had a great supply of ice cold water, soft drinks and of course BinTang which is the beer they sell over there. A lot less potent than our beer so more like a beer flavoured soft drink.

First night sunset

Robyn on the beach

We had dinner at the dingiest little place that you would not dream of walking into at home but which turned out to have the best food. I will tell you about it later. And then went back to our room quite early as I was completely exhausted. Sleep however, was a little slow in coming.

Ok, I am going to be honest, that first night I was ready to high tail it out of there, especially when I went to take a shower and the showerhead, one of those removable ones was placed at waist level so you had to hold it to wash yourself and the water was cold!!!! Arghhhhh!!!! Did I mention how thick and dirty the air was around here? I felt like sludge! Thankfully after about 5 minutes it got warm and I got a shower after all. And hey if I had to sit down to wash my hair so be it!

The view from my bedroom door

Here was my first lesson! As I lay there in my own single bed, (which by the way came with crisp white sheets that smelled of fresh lemons and an extremely comfortable mattress, I could forgive the douna which was a little pilly and uncomfortable, at least it was GREEN :-) ), I was longing for my computer or even a piece of paper to write down my thoughts which are long gone now and repeating over and over in my head just BE PRESENT..... JUST BE (which became my mantra for the week, thank you JESS, I probably should have remember the be safe bit too hehe).

And once again I began to laugh and think to myself "Oh my! You are being a bit of a snob now aren't you? And you never thought you were one, come on now, its a step up from camping....oh? but where is the nature, the familiar sounds of home then? " And here came the turning point for me as I decided to lower my standards, I realised that a) I was not in the country but in a city, that alone is enough to put me on edge, b) I was here to learn something new, to see how others lived, c) It was all pretty amazing really wasn't it?

As you will learn over my next few posts. I really did lighten up and I really did learn so much and come to love the place after I learned to dodge cars, people, motor bikes and even monkeys! I already miss the place a lot but I think next time I would have to take my kids.

to be cont....

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Bali, Bali, Bali......

2011-08-09T11:07:00.000+10:00

Well, for those of you who do not follow me on facebook. I am home! I have been home for over a week. So much happened in that short time that I will have to tell you about it in several posts for sure. Bali was NOT what I was expecting. At first I have to admit, it was a bit overwhelming but over a couple of days, somehow the people, the place, the lessons learned have managed to worm their way deep into my heart. I would LOVE to go back again. Forearmed with the reality of the place and not the views of people who see Bali as a place to go sit in resorts by the pool and get plastered. NO, that was not the Bali I fell for.

I come back to Australia humbled and grateful. We live in a society that is for the most part safe and ordered. The absolute chaos that hit me in the face, the moment I stepped out of the airport there was crazy! I don't know how else to describe it. The people are so in your face that for those of us who are not used to it, it can be a little scary I guess. I am a rather extroverted person and I even found it a bit much. Annoying is probably a better way to describe it from my point of view. BUT we live and we learn and after a few days, it did not quite bother me so much. (well, really it did not bother me at all, can't say the same for my poor man, I don't think he ever got used to that part of Bali!)

The traffic chaos was even more of a shock, I am going to write a post just about the transport so I will leave you hanging with that one for now. I am looking forward to sharing with you the sunsets, the food, the transport, the people, the accommodation and of course the monkeys! Lets not forget the monkeys.....I sure won't be forgetting them in a hurry!

Its a little hard to describe things in short so I will finish here for now and start to write up my other posts. I wish I could have written them as it happened as so much was in my thoughts as the days went by. But hopefully, you will get a little insight into what I have learned and how this smelly, dirty little island managed to worm its way into my heart in so short a time.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

One sleep to go......

2011-07-24T10:51:00.000+10:00

Its been a whirlwind few days since returning from Melbourne. Catching up with my local tribe.

I was so busy I did not really have a lot of time to think, but by last night, think I did. I once again found myself doubting and wondering if I was doing the right thing, going off on holiday...leaving the country even without my kids.

I was pleasantly surprised though when as usual a couple of messages popped up in cyber world at just the right time.....reminding me that sometimes you need to let go...trust..and just do it..so I am focusing on dissolving those separation fears and making this a personal mission. Any supportive vibes would be very much appreciated. This really is a BIGGY for me. The internal struggle has been immense and cloying, I am in much need of positive re-inforcement. Here are the words that grabbed me today and made me feel a little better...........

Your Spiritual Flame must be strong and not wobble, even when a hurricane of desire whooshes by. - Simhananda

If when you look into your own heart , you find nothing wrong there , what is there to worry about , what is there to fear ? Confucius

So with that said, I am focussing today on packing, tying up loose ends, making sure my kids have enough food and of course leaving them with my tribal network as backup. :-)

They are looking forward to their newfound independance! We are aiming to keep this break as computer free as possible so may not be online much at all. I have orders to check in on facebook by my oldest child but I am not sure how often we will do so. Depends on where we are.

So if you don't hear from me, keep well and happy! I will see you on the other side!

Adios Amigos!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Baby snuggles and more news....

2011-07-19T22:13:00.000+10:00

Its been a lovely week of baby snuggles down here in Melbourne. In between snuggles we have managed to go out a couple of times and visit a couple of museums. The boys and I particularly liked the Melbourne museum which was much bigger, newer and more interesting than the one in Sydney.

Not sure if its something in the air, but one of my friends also had her baby early while I was away. I can't wait to get home and meet her. You will have to wait to hear all about her though as she is yet to be named and of course I have not introduced her to my paparazzi skills as yet. :-) But Little Logan is getting quite used to them as you can see...

Its going to be a very busy weekend for me while I visit my home fleetingly. I have people to see and shopping to be done and then I am going to leave my children for two whole weeks and fly to Bali where some friends are going to show us around! From what I can gather there will be surfing, shopping, sight seeing and of course crochet!!!

I have to admit that up until yesterday I was having second thoughts and really worried about making this big move to go so far away from them, but you know what? It suddenly hit me that they are way old enough and I really need to un-attach myself a little. And besides, this holiday is way overdue. I am really excited and can't wait to spend some time with my man on our own without running around after someone else for a little while.

And after one more day here of baby snuggles I will be flying home. I am sure going to miss this beautiful little boy......wish he lived a little closer to the rest of the family...sigh..

Not sure how often I will be checking in here the next few weeks. Will try to keep in touch.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Harry Who?

2011-07-15T10:01:00.000+10:00

With all the Harry Potter madness today, I thought I would link back to an old post for memories sake and because I thought Kei might like it. Click here to check it out!

And for those who prefer cute over fantasy........well......there is plenty of cute down here....

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Time flies when there is a new baby to snuggle...

2011-07-13T08:58:00.001+10:00

Wow, how the time flies.....we have spent the past few days in Melbourne with my sister and her precious new baby boy Logan.....He is so adorable and after a few rocky days of learning to drink and battling a bit of jaundice..this morning he looks so much more content and happy with his new found friend...mama's milk...its good...he has decided...very good. Last night, finally he and his mama got a bit of sleep.........

The expressions of a newborn are priceless! Yesterday when his daddy gave him a bath, he was not impressed to begin with...he really does not like having his clothes off and he decided to complain a bit before enjoying the soaking immensely....

Seriously dad! You are in big trouble mister!

Of course...once it was all over and he had a feed and cuddle with his mama, he slept like a dream.....

I am so loving hanging out with my new nephew this week. I think I am going to miss him a lot when I go home! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Introducing......

2011-07-09T13:45:00.000+10:00

One very impatient little man who did not wait for his Aunty K to get there to hold his mama's hand.......arriving a few weeks early but safe and sound! So travel plans have been changed and we are flying down to Melbourne today to meet the little sweetheart. Everybody is very proud and excited over his early arrival. (Photo courtesy of his daddy's facebook page so please excuse the blurriness. Will try and post some clearer shots after we meet him in person.

Baby Logan

I can't wait to hold him and hug my little sister!

I saw a little video of him today and heard him cry, so adorable!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Friends? Who are they?

2011-07-06T09:48:00.000+10:00

So as I was saying the other day, I have been thinking far too much lately. Yesterday, someone said something to me that had me thinking a little more. She said (among other things), basically that the internet is evil and that you could not make "real friendships" online.

Ahem! I beg to differ! I pointed out that actually, I had quite a few friends online, to which she replied "NO you really don't know them! If you met them in real life it would be quite different!" (Yeah it would be, I would actually be able give them a REAL hug!)

Of course my thinking went into overdrive as I pondered on my online friendships over the years! Some come and go! Some are there for a little while, then they disappear. Some of them even pop back once in a while just to let you know they are still alive. The rest of them are on facebook (haha!). The ones that count are always there as a constant, even if they are silent for a while. I know them, they know me! We know we love each other.....Who needs the frills?

While all this going on, she continued with...." Well, if you met them in real life like those online dating people who write, write, write and turn up and dislike each other on sight...it just would not work"!!"

Well considering I have no plans of dating any of you in the near future, I think I am pretty safe on that score! I did however correct her again. Actually, I have met, in person quite a few of my online friends over the year. I have liked every single one of them. Because, quiet frankly, if I did not feel right about it, I would not have wanted to meet them in the first place. And in fact when Gemma went over to Miami for three weeks recently, she spent all of an hour or so at the hostel she had booked to stay in before her dear (online) friend Mario (who she met online at about age 12) and his friends came and picked her up. She spent her whole holiday staying in her own room at his house, being loved and cared for by his family and friends for the whole time. She was also armed with phone numbers of one of my very dearest blog friends and distant family members she has by the way, never met!

As I watched her eyes raise with horror and then amazement that I had actually let my daughter do this. She then complimented us on raising such an independant child. LOL She really is the loveliest person, she is just set in her ways and does not like the internet.

Really, we could go through life never knowing couldn't we? Never trusting, never giving of ourselves, never learning all the wonderful things we learn from each other! Nope, I could not fathom that! I am sticking to my guns on this one! I love my online friends! How about you?

Do you consider yourself one of my REAL friends? Do you trust in your own instinct enough to know who your friends are? I hope so my friends, I sure hope so!

Much love to all in the real world and the internet world. You are all REAL to me!

Big hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Where did that week go?

2011-07-03T11:39:00.000+10:00

Oh my! I have been meaning to post and write and post and you know at least say something this week in a meaningful or geez even a mindless fashion. But, and here is the but... I started out this past week on a bit of an OFF vibe.

Someone in their ultimate wisdom told me it was "school holidays"! Not that we go to school or anything like that but you know...the word "holiday" got me thinking...Ooooooh ... instead of like following the kids around and pandering to their every needs, maybe I could get some things done around here that need doing, that have caught up with me and then I could maybe do a lot of soul soothing crafting and a lot of writing or have fun or something! Oh the possibilities were endless! I had big plans I tell you, big plans!

So I thought, on Monday morning...I shall stay in bed and read a book...priorities you know..if one is going to "holiday" first one must be relaxed. So while my lazy boys snored upstairs, I opened up my bedroom blinds and windows to let the glorious winter sunshine in, (climbed back under the doona, as the air was a bit crisp) sipped my coffee and prepared to be lost in fiction bliss for an hour or so. And it was pure bliss I tell you, pure bliss...until...

My "holiday" bubble was soon burst as my hubby comes home from the beach with his friend who informs me...Ummm....its NOT holidays till next week you know? ....Huh? .......Woops! Yep the school was pretty full down the road...((((LA LA LA LA...Im not listening!))))......oh well..."KIDS!!! Its not holidays! Quick do some work!" LMAO

Of course by now they were totally ingrossed in Deadly Sixty on the TV and there was no moving them. Gotta love these edumacational tv shows don't you? Anywho, after a 2 second conference, they decided that is WAS holidays as far as they were concerned and hey, who was I to argue? I mean really, I had plans!

So needless to say, they have spent the last week, sleeping in, playing online games, watching tv, going to the movies and eating! Thats about it! (Shameful parenting...I know..but hey..Im on holidays...well...sort of!) I still had to cook and clean and do all that stuff and as I was saying, I had great plans of getting "stuff" done!

Of course in my usual manner, while the time was available for writing, I simply did not feel like it! I did not really get on the computer much at all. I spent a lot of time crocheting, knitting, reading, even a bit of studying. Harvested some herbs, did some cooking, cleaned out one of my older girls old bedrooms ready to fix up as Gemma wants to move into that room for a while. Cleaned out my old craft room (which had turned into a huge messy storage space) and turned it into a craft, book, storage room with a big table for the boys, plan being to bring their computers down out of their rooms (thats not going so well so far as they are rather attached to their "life supports" there, and clearly they are on "holidays" LOL) AND I tidied up the old sewing room, moved all my books and craft stuff into there so its accessible and easy to get my hands on immediately! I must say, its most lovely not to have to wade through all the boys stuff to find it now. In my usual fashion, I did everything to avoid tackling the intended end of year taxes! So we will take another weeks holidays so I can get that out of the way too! hehe! And maybe, just maybe, I can fit in some writing and catch up on my herbal ally challenges which are way behind right now. Ahh yes! Once again...I have plans! Famous last words!

I am sorry I have not had a lot of time to visit or leave comments. I have read quite a few of your posts but have either been on my phone so did not comment or in a hurry. I have come to the conclusion I probably won't be able to catch up with everyone so please forgive me. I have had quite a lot on my mind lately, hence my lack of writing enthusiasm. We also have a lot of travel plans for the near future. I am trying to wrap my head around fitting it all in and how its all going to flow.

First I am flying to Melbourne with the boys to await the birth of my sisters baby, combined with a lot of homeschooly type excursions, then maybe flying over to Bali, alone! Yikes. SB is thinking of going over first and then I will meet him when I can. Did I ever mention my fear of heights? Flying is not something I would choose to do, thats for sure. (There is also the BIG factor of leaving ones children behind, as my long time readers will know, its just not something I am comfortable doing. And yes I know they are all big now but still, its freaks me out.)

In October we have booked a holiday already to visit all those noisy theme parks in QLD (the kids choice of the perfect holiday! They did not like the Bali idea at all) so we are going to be busy busy busy for a while. Considering I have rarely travelled in my life, this is all a bit much for me all at once. I am looking forward to the experience but know I am going to be missing my animals and my garden etc.

Anyway, as you can see, lots of thinking, planning and sorting still to be done! I wonder if I could just stay on "holiday" till further notice? Hmmmm....

And yes, I know many would just love to have such dilemmas on their back as there are far worse things to worry about. I also have a few other things on my mind that are not for public sharing as they involve others. To these matters I am centring my utmost focus on healing energies and love and a lot of praying too. For those who are sick, I send you healing light and love and praying on your behalf, to those who are sad, I hope you can find your centre and your peace. I am with you, even if you don't know it.

For the rest of you! Hope your lives are far less complicated right now! Much love and peace to all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Random moments.....

2011-06-27T14:05:00.000+10:00

Me: So I am seriously thinking of going completely vegetarian again.

Boys: NOOOOOOO

Gemma: Okay! But can we be vegetarians that eat chicken?

Hmmmmmmmmm

Cooking up Pangea...a geography lesson

2011-06-24T09:37:00.000+10:00

"Once upon a time (about 4.5 billion years ago), Earth was a big, red fireball. As it cooled off some, it rained for a couple of thousand years, until all of Earth was one big ocean! Slowly, some of the water evaporated and around 500 million years ago, land chunks emerged and floated around until they came together along the equator, forming one big continent that we call Pangea , which means "all lands" in Greek. One hundred million years later, the continent began to break up, fractured by shifts in the molten core of the planet. We now have seven continents, which are still shifting, due to plate tectonics, the interaction of the moving slabs of rigid rock called plates, which make up Earth's hard shell.

Here is a yummy way to travel back to the good old days when you could grow apples in Antartica and walk to Europe from North America! " (Geography Crafts for Kids)

You need: 1 large packet of instant pudding mix

700 Ml milk

Cookie dough

First step, we measured 700 ml milk into a mixing bowl then sprinkled our instant pudding mix on top! (Shut up those of you who are sitting there saying "OMG she bought instant pudding mix?" In my own defense I have been sick this week and the instructions called for it, as much as it made me go ick, the thought of standing over the stove cooking chocolate custard and then preparing cookie dough and making a mess I would have to clean saw me taking on a new perspective for the day, I caved and I even bought pre-made cookie dough...so there! I of course refrained from reading the ingredients list lest I change my mind! The boys were very excited and some of the cookie dough did not make it to the experiment!)

So where were we? Oh yeah measuring milk. Using Peanuts bottle as we could not find the measuring jug (or we were too lazy to look for it anyway). Ahem, after arguing over how many times to fill the bottle (mums sick head was a bit dopey) and adding the right amounts (Zak decided to do 250ml twice plus 200ml) .......he then sprinkled the chocolate pudding on top and stuck it under the mixer for one minute or so....at which time he finds the time to gloat that his math skills are far superior to his mothers...and flashes his dimples at her...hmmmm

Next we pour all our runny pudding into a bowl and put it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes so it can set. Next up Mr 13 rolled out the cookie dough, while both of them snuck pieces into their mouths. We had to use chocolate chip cookie dough as they did not have any plain one at our supermarket. Not that we minded, the more chocolate the better! Note, Mr 13 was not letting mum take pictures of him! No way! Cook your giant cookie for about 12 minutes and then while it is still warm trace out the outline of Pangea on the surface and cut away the excess cookie (you can eat that as you go!).

When you have the outline as best as you can get it (this part was actually quite hard as an oval cookie would have probably worked a bit better). Draw some more lines with your knife, to mark the fault lines where the continents split apart. This time don't cut right through....and place your whole cookie into the now jelly like pudding so it floats on top! You now have your Pangea floating on the ocean! And NO Zak you cannot eat it yet! We are not finished! (Token goofy shot...its always nice to have one of those for the records!)....

Its now time for a few earthquakes, lets get that land wobbling a bit! Take a knife and while the bowl shakes around a bit, help those fault lines crack apart.... Mr 13 lends a hand for this bit....

If you feel its taking too long, you can help by shaking the bowl a bit more, poking it from the side, you know anything to get those quakes happening faster.....

If you can't stand it any more you can even try eating a bit to make room....yep...there is a plan!

And there you go! What a delightful, disgusting way to learn about Pangea and how the earth came to look the way she does today! As you can see, the devouring began right about now! And apparently as disgusting as it looks it tasted divine to fine young gentlemen. Thankfully they stopped before they ate it all as I could just imagine how sick they would have felt afterwards!

I hope you enjoyed our little geography lesson! It was taken from the book Geography Craft for kids by Joe Rhatigan & Heather Smith. This is a library book that we have borrowed before and been meaning to buy for ages. I really must order it pronto! There are so many great ideas to try!

Hugs and smoochies all, have a great Friday! xoxoxox

Marine Discovery Excursion....

2011-06-20T10:30:00.002+10:00

On Thursday, we went to visit the Marine Discovery Centre which is located at Terrigal on the Central Coast. The centre is generally open on weekends but is also open for special bookings and school excursions if you plan ahead. Although we left it a little late with me ringing just 2 days before, the lovely Jane who was our guide for the day was very accommodating and opened the centre just for us and what a fantastic tour she gave us!

The centre is basically run by volunteers and is extremely affordable to visit. I highly recommend booking a tour rather than just dropping in as we found, there is so much to learn! I will give you a bit of a rundown with pictures.

Outside..the view...could not resist..

Murray Cod - who is getting so big he needs a bigger tank!

Checking out the rock shelf pool! There were many creatures to re-discover and to discover anew!

Like sea stars!


What is everyone looking at here?

This tank held some very friendly fish and crustaceans! They knew it was feeding time and were quite keen to get on with it!

Here we are pointing out a fish that is hiding in the sand, very hard to spot! Rory Spotted it first!

There was even a couple of baby Port Jackson sharks!

We took in a short film about ocean creatures!

Checked out all sorts of sponges.....among other things....

And while Callum, Adem and Rory did a bit of a discovery quiz inside...Zak and Charlie went outside to collect some water from the lagoon! Zak scooped up the water....

And Charlie retrieved it .....

Once inside they tested the PH levels of the water and the salt levels too........the lagoon is frequently washed with sea water but as we had had a lot of rain, the fresh water was also vying for control.... Note...one is never too young to learn...Erin is playing close attention to all that is going on...

Wondering what all the fuss is about...Rory joins in for the sediment testing stage.... they loved this one and had a great time trying to pour the water in a bit at a time and check the murky levels...the water was actually quite clean.....so they got to play for quite a while...

Charlie gives it the final inspection, just to make sure......

And just one more group check....yep thats it! We are done!

Meanwhile Jane and Adem go over the quiz and make sure its all finished! He was extremely enthusiastic only as a 13 year old can be! Jane was a great sport and had him help the younger kids afterwards! With much eye rolling, he did quite well in the end! haha! I think he may have learned the place off by heart!

Erin took some time to do some craft! She made an octopus with a little help from her mama! You know, when you are two, drawing on the table is just as much fun!

Here the boys are checking out some interesting things under the microscope. The sea urchin spikes were particularly interesting to look at as they sparkle!

Oh and what is this we see? One Mr 13 checking things out on the sneaky! Of course he was not really interested, just passing the time! Sure! And for the record, he does own a hairbrush, he is just not very good at using it at the moment!

Hidden in these boxes were different things for the kids to guess at! Zak did quite well with this one and was taking it quite seriously! You see after you finished the quiz, one received a certificate AND a poster! He did not want to miss out on that poster!

All in all, it was a great day! The kids and the mama's all learned something new I think! I highly recommend a visit to the locals if you have not been there before. After this we headed on down to give lazer tag a try and the boys of course had the best time there! Then we stopped of at the park to visit the CChomed group for sport. It was great to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones too!

Callum seems to have avoided my paparazzi skills on this occasion! Anna if you have a shot you would like me to add to this post, please email it to me! Thanks lovely!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Take 3 Initiative.....

2011-06-18T09:41:00.004+10:00

Did you know that in the middle of the Pacific ocean there is a huge gyre with enough plastic rubbish floating at the top to cover twice the size of France? Or that in fact there are FIVE such gyres in our oceans? We didn't but we learned all about it this week.

We took part in the Take 3 Initiative to raise awareness of just how much damage plastic and other rubbish can do to our marine life and oceans. Its really scary just how much junk gets tossed from ships and washed into the ocean from the shore. The horrific damage it does to animals is shocking to say the least. All because people are too lazy to dispose of their waste in a responsible manner.

The idea of Take 3 is that each time you go to the beach for a walk, a swim or a surf. Pick up at least 3 pieces of rubbish on your way off the beach and either recycle them or pop them into a proper waste disposal bin. It really does not take much effort to do this and of course if you have the time pick up a little more. Every little bit helps!

We spent a lot of time this week, learning what we can do to help and just how bad rubbish in the ocean is getting. We visited these very informative sites......

Algalita.org (where we popped into the education section on Mapping Plastic Pollution using google earth. There are grade appropriate activities you can try as well).

5 gyres (to learn all about the gyres in the ocean)

and we also found this site "Marine or Ocean Pollution" with lots of links to other informative sites.

We visited the Marine Museum at Terrigal (which I will tell you about in another post) and we watched a short dvd together to tell us all about the Take 3 Initiative. Cal, Rory and Charlie collected some rubbish off the beach and they and Zak got together and came up with ideas for a piece of art work which is going to go on display with some local schools artworks at Erina Fair to raise awareness to the public.

The boys represented the gyre full of rubblish, the coal ships that line our shores (and yes we have found foreign rubbish floating into shore from them), and the animals that suffer from the plastic rubbish in their environment when they eat it or get caught in it. When an animal swallows enough plastic it will slowly starve to death. Or perhaps it will just die from injuries caused by the rubbish. Its a pretty horrible way to die either way.

For those who do not care about animals you might like to think a little more about your own eating habits. I assume that eating a fish that has dined mostly on plastics is not going to be too good for you either!

When we initially decided to take part in this activity the childrens first reaction was to say "But the beach is clean, its winter!" You see every year when the tourists arrive in summer our beachs look a bit like rubbish dumps, nice hey? But even without the tourist season there is always a little bit of rubbish to be found. It washes in from the ocean as well as down from the streets and drains into the ocean.

If just one person picks up a little rubbish, it will begin to make a difference!

Will you consider to Take 3 pieces of rubbish with you next time you leave the beach?

We will be!

Have a great weekend all. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Stormy Seas......

2011-06-17T17:52:00.003+10:00

For those who have been chasing up my where about's .......I am still alive, just have not really had time for blogging at the moment. Its been a bit stormy down here, lots and lots of wind and rain. But we have faired quite well with just a little flooding at the lake. I will try very hard to catch up soon. For now, we are going out to dinner with friends! Have a great weekend everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Love to all xoxoxox

Wet and windy days....

2011-05-31T21:26:00.005+10:00

Moments from our days indoors.....Besides spending time on the computers... we had time to clean our rooms, munch on oranges.....

and Yummy gluten free carrot cake....

Read several books between us.....

Get re-dressed into warm pj's (it is cold after all) and tackle a bit of math work.....while supervising the kitchen maid.....

Who was at the time baking ..... vegetarian sausage rolls......

And feta, baby spinach and kale scrolls for lunch.....(No pic after as they ate them too quick!)

We also spent some time talking about animal welfare and cruelty to animals. Reading about Bush Rangers, and learning how to take notes so that we can re-write things later. Drawing pictures, watching movies and documentaries. We started a journal each about a dangerous marine animal, A chose Stone fish and Z chose Salt water crocs. Some nice drawings to start them off were completed. We learned a bit about them from a documentary and are planning to research them further. There was even time for a little science before...
the boys went to see Pirates of the Carribean with their dad while mum got to stay home all alone and roast in front of the fire and read a book. Life is good! :-)

Hope your days are filled with sunshine! Love and Light to all!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Monday morning musings.......

2011-05-30T08:19:00.005+10:00

There I was - lying in bed, snuggled under a nice warm blankies, listening to the soft fall of steady rain, and the stronger sound of water pouring over the drainpipe outside my window .... listening deeper still and hearing the sweet songs of so many native birds, happily greeting the day despite the dismal cold wet weather. Taking my sweet time, emerging from my warm cocoon into the day that I know will be busy and full, but trying to squeeze in that small extra moment of blissful nothing... ahhh.....sweet nothing.....warm bed.....mmmmmmm.....

when some hoon rev's up the street, and doors start slamming.... oh goodmorning populated little neighbourhood. Sigh. I was almost in the country side... I was ... I tell you!

It reminded me of when we first moved here, 14 years ago when a large number of the blocks were still undeveloped and there was far less traffic. We moved here to get away from the city life, to find a more natural haven for our children to grown up in. We had the best of both worlds here. The beaches, the lakes, the bush, the countryside, all within ten minutes walk or drive. But still not so far away from civilization when you needed it.

The addition of the suburb next door tripling in size, local farms being turned into large suburbs and traffic lights and a shopping centre down the road, have pretty much turned our little suburb into a noisy suburban hub that no longer appeals to the likes of me who yearns for the quietness of the country or more so the bushland around me again.

I am sometimes torn between the love I have for my home, (this house that started out seeming so big to us when we bought it, which we later made bigger as our family grew and needed more space. It is now once again feeling too big as one by one my children branch out and discover their own place in this world of ours) and my yearning for something more eco friendly on a larger piece of land where my herbs, plants and animals can roam freely without constraint. A place without noisy neighbours, revving engines and banging doors to intrude upon my silence and natures song.

But to have that, I guess I would have to move a bit further inland from this.......this vast ocean where I sometimes like to splash my feet. Where walking and breathing is very reviving to the soul. Ahh but then again, country air has much the same effect hey?

No matter where we are, there is beauty, there is nature, there is air to breathe. I guess we just need to be aware of it and be grateful for what we have. Today, I am most grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon me, no matter how big or small.

While I may long for a place in the country side, I am always grateful for the nature and beauty that surrounds me here. And even more so that today, my head is finally feeling clear and I can breathe through my nose again! Haha!

And now, I guess I better go and wake up my slothful children who inform me that they are in hibernation at the moment due to the cold weather. Hmmmm...as much as I have enjoyed the quiet peaceful morning and the time to catch up here and with emails, I think its about time they woke up and greeted the day. They are not bears after all!

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Taking it easy.....

2011-05-26T20:23:00.005+10:00

I have been taking it a bit easy this week. After my declarations of feeling revived, it turns out I had a bit of a sinus problem, which left me feeling like sludge all week. The headaches were one thing, but then when it finally began to clear, I was left with constant sneezing and leaky watery nose and eyes. Yuck I say! Yuck! With not much sleep to go with it and loss of appetite for a few days, I was in the end feeling just a little sorry for myself.

Not for long though, in my usual fashion, I downed my herbs, soldiered on, ate nourishing things like this........yummmmmm.... (Pesto pasta with feta, baby spinach and Kale)

Of course there was still homeschooling, but as my head could not focus long enough or in fact stay up long enough for comfort, I spent a lot of time laying around, crochet hook in hand or in front of the fire trying to stay warm. Twas a good week for watching documentaries, yes it was!

I have been procrastinating a bit about writing up a homeschool learning report. I really like to do one at least once a month so I have some records to show, but finding the time this week to give it my full attention has been rather hard.

Today Zak and I watched a documentary about dangerous sea animals in Australia, it was a bit scary I must say. He also made some rock crabs for his ocean diorama which was put on the back burner for a while. Here are some pics from the day....

How to make a yellow rock crab....(because he liked yellow)

After pinching some white rocks from mama's garden, paint them all yellow...

When they are dry, draw some legs and claws, cut them out and glue them to your rock....

Note: If you are not stingy with the glue (Zak was not) the legs etc WILL slide off your rock) and you will have to fix them again. And again...and again....just sayin'

And of course it may take a while longer to dry....but your crabs will turn out cute anyway!

Hope all is well in your part of the world. Take care.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Spirit revived....

2011-05-21T14:00:00.004+10:00

Well, Almost :-) I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything lately, hence my lack of posting here. Feeling a lot more centered today after a bit of a motor bike ride this morning past the beach and almost into the country but my man developed a migraine so back home for rest. We have both been just staving off a flu bug I think. Not quite letting it get us, but headaches keep creeping in. So hoping rest and nourishment will keep it at bay. Really there is no time for sickness here right now. Too much to do!

And so, instead of riding around the countryside, I am spending the day, pottering around. Almost finished the laundry and have a nice big pot of vegetable soup on the go. Now I am going to finish some knitting and crochet projects and hopefully fit in a little cross stitch before the day is over.

Periodically walking in and outside I am finding the sunshine blissfully rejuvenating today!

Hope you are all well!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Beautiful..Busy...Weekend

2011-05-16T09:38:00.006+10:00

Its been a rather busy weekend down here! More so than usual it seems. Friday night was an early one as I was feeling rather tired after a week of continuous outings. Of course, I did not really sleep until I got my 1am message that Little Miss here was safely home to her friends house for the night after hitting the local night club.

She has taken to being 18 with gusto the past few months and is enjoying her weekends immensely. I have to say, it is exhausting just keeping up with her. OH to be so young again, where do they get their energy from?

Saturday morning I spent with my nephew Mr Yakka, we played out the back with the dogs and then he played with Zak for 10 minutes while I was finally permitted to go take a shower. Priorities you know? Once I was all clean and dressed, he donned a helmet and grabbed a scooter and we headed off to Nana's house which is just around the corner (about a 10 min walk) but which to 4 year old legs was so so far away........

We rode up the road........yes ON the road....don't tell his mum......hehe...

He tested out the scooters big wheels on the grass........it rolled okay, except for in the long grass..

And through the rocky bush trail....where I suggested that maybe I should carry it for him, he under no circumstances however was giving it up and maneuvered it the whole way...

We arrived at Nana's in one piece and helped get ready for Aunty Blossom's baby shower. Where, we ate lots of yummy food, played lots of games and he had fun playing show and tell with all the presents.....

After the baby shower, I headed home to get changed into something warmer and SB and myself headed over to our friends house for a bit of a birthday cake gathering. The boys stayed home for the first time at night ALL alone. They were very excited to say the least. They made their own dinner of chicken on rolls and were still up playing on their computers when we got home.

The birthday boy was very impressed with his cake.......I mean who would not be happy with one of Emma's cakes for their birthday......they not only taste AWESOME but they look AWESOME too. You can go check out some of Emma's other cakes over here. She is extremely talented in the creative dept. And she always comes up with the perfect cake for the recipient too....

Now if he could have just opened his eyes for the picture, it would have been perfect....oh well, he is getting old you know? Happy Birthday OLD MAN!

Sunday was spent with another walk around to Nana's (this time with Miss Peanut attached to Aunty K in her sling) to catch up a little more with family and then an afternoon of trying to catch up at home with washing, tidying, a little garden harvesting, herb drying, feeding the animals, cooking etc. Oh and kicking out teenagers who stumbled in at 2am the previous night and had not left yet. (It was our turn to host the after party sleep over) Just kidding, they all left one by one of their own accord. Then I hopped into bed very early, read half a book and created a few crochet squares ready for crafting.

Yep a busy weekend, but a fun one!

Hope yours was fun too!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Back to square one......

2011-05-14T09:00:00.003+10:00

I may have mentioned a while back that the boys were taking a Hip Hop dancing class with their homeschool group. The class was specifically for boys although the teacher was a woman and they had a bit of fun, but were a bit disappointed when the teacher did not specifically teach "Hip Hop" dancing. She did however, try to keep the moves more masculine as she was trying to keep them interested. There was a bit of drama, hip hop and jazz thrown in. And at times a bit of stomping.

She later admitted that she did not really know how to dance hip hop properly and while she was happy to continue with the boys dancing class she would like to recommend another teacher, a male teacher who was far better at Hip Hop than her and that the boys could join the after school classes with him.

So it was decided that yes, we would give this a go. Only Zak and his friends Cal and Rory went for it though. So yesterday afternoon we rock up and I was watching the guy warm up and thought, Hmmm (He was pretty much spinning and pointing his toes and yes doing a touch of Ballet which is fine as most dance teachers can teach any form of dance, and as there was a little chest thrusting and hip hoppish moves at the end, I thought it would be all good).

The other teacher suggested the boys take two classes in a row and see which one they like as the first class had a few younger kids in it and the next was older kids. I waited around outside and my friend went off to do some shopping, fully thinking the boys would do both the classes.

When the first class ended, those boys came rushing out of the room like they could not get away fast enough. They were.....how to put this.......protesting rather loudly, so much in fact that I decided to remove them from the premises and talk OUTSIDE! My quiet suggestions of trying the next class which was being filled quickly with some rather noisy teenage girls had them exclaiming in no uncertain terms how "gay" the class was. Now they of course were using the word in the terms of gay meaning "lame", however, the teacher was obviously gay in the other way and at the risk of him being offended, well, we just left the building so I could listen to the boys concerns out of ear shot.

What was the problem? WELL, HE (being the teacher) made us to BALLET!!! Next, the boys all starting twirling in a rather exagerated manner and scoffing and putting on a rather effiminate voice which I assume was the teachers voice. OMG how embarrassing, I of course high tailed it even further from the building.

ME: "So you know that maybe he was just trying to get you warmed up and all stretchy so you could dance better? Its really good to know all forms of dance you know! "

THEM: "NO, he mostly taught us ballet the whole lesson".

ME: "So, you did not do any HIP HOP at all?"

THEM: "Well maybe a little at the end. But it was so gay!"

ME: "So I guess we won't be taking this class?"

THEM: NO WAY

And that was that my friends. Dancing has come to an end. Which is a great shame as Zak was really starting to enjoy the classes previously. Maybe I can find another school or an actual break dancing class. For now, I am stuck with trying to find something else for him to do over winter at least. Like I have time for this!

Have a great weekend all,

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

So...Do you want to see what I made with these?

2011-05-12T22:33:00.000+10:00

You will have to pop over to Karisma's Kraft if you do! And please click on the followers if you want to keep up with all my crafty pursuits. I am not posting them here any more.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Unschooling Mondays.......

2011-05-10T08:13:00.008+10:00

(Recent op shop scores)

I was very remiss in the edumacating of ones children on Monday! They slept in, so I went off to the beach with a little crochet in tow and hung out for a while with my friend Kel while SB had a quick surf.

Indi showed me how to make a fishing line, complete with rock sinkers and coral hook. She did try a cuttlefish sinker first but it was too light, so she used the rock and then decided that the stick was "stupid", as I had to leave after that, I am not sure how she fared in the end and whether she caught any fish. Will keep you posted.

SB and I decided to drive via a couple of other beaches on the way home and then ended up going shoe shopping. Shopping is always a quick adventure for us as we both don't like it. So we quickly bought some track pants for him and for me... some shoes...YES you heard me...shoes! My bare feet have really been feeling the cold this year and as they keep cracking and getting painful, I caved. We found some lovely soft leather shoes and as SB was supervising I came home with 3 pairs. He is very practical that way. LOL I would have ummed and ahhed and maybe got one pair but probably none. Do you like them?

I guess they would not be to everyone's taste. But I LOVE them! I love that they are soft and they don't rub or squash my feet. (I really do have a problem with keeping shoes on my feet!) I LOVE that they actually FIT my feet properly. I have small feet so find it hard to find anything that fits well.

Anyway, it was about this time the kids woke up and rang to find out where we had absconded to. They were cooking up a feast for breakfast and trying to find a way to cram the feta cheese bucket in the full fridge. Their sister was a little concerned they were going to break something. Hmmmm.

So after we got back the boys were about to do some maths when Zak decided he wanted to start his new math book. He opened it to find an interactive cd inside and that was it. They were both keen on checking it out and then spent the next couple of hours side by side "playing" maths games. It must have been fun as there was a quite a bit of laughing going on.

Later they spent some time riding their scooters up and down the house. Yes the house! It was cold outside and I do let them do it as long as they don't run anyone or anything over.

By this time I had folded the washing and cleaned up a bit and was sitting on the couch doing some crochet when Zak decided to read me a poetic story about Ocean Creatures. It was a fun story but had a lot of true facts so it brought up discussions on different sea creatures and their habits. He then found the book came complete with a heap of tattoos and was keen to stick some on himself and me. Thankfully, he was distracted by his brothers suggesting they go and play Minecraft and I was saved for the day. I won't be surprised if today however, I am sporting a new tattoo!

I decided to cook up a vegetable curry, some saffron rice and salad and build a big fire in the fireplace. With dinner cooked early, I once again put my feet up and tackled my crochet projects with gusto. And guess what? My little cardy that has been stressing me out with the increase in the wave pattern just seemed to flow like a dream, so I should be able to finally finish it! This is the pattern scheme Im using but I found the increase section for the sleeves was misprinted hence my frustration with getting it to work. I worked out my own scheme now so its back in action.

Tuesday was another busy day, took Gem to the shops to buy some warm pj's and ended up buying much more. We got some movies to watch as its been cold. On arriving home Zak was proud to show me that he had not only completed some math in his book, but played again on the computer maths, completed a whole unit of reading and work on Salamanders, practiced some handwriting AND did some drawings in his art book. His brother did some maths and lazed about in his usual teenage fashion. Hmmm

Today is going to be a park day as we have a party to attend. So Looks like a bit of an unschooly week really! Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

A mathematical kind of day......

2011-05-04T23:52:00.000+10:00

On Monday, the teacher in me and the more relaxed natural learning mama were having a bit of a contest to see who was going to rule the day. Feeling kind of obliged to lay out the "school work" on the one side, and sneak off to get creative and leave them to fend for themselves and seek out their own learning on the other found me in a spot of indecision.

With MR Just plan out my work and pass me the books on one side and MR independent learner on the other, I felt both obliged to "teach" and to run away at the same time. The teacher won...and it was decided we would get stuck into it.

So, we started the day with a bit of maths, which entailed Adem hopping online and watching a lesson then completing the tasks and me teaching Zak and him doing his lesson. Adem sailed through two lessons online and ran up and down the stairs printing out sheets as he was doing some sort of chart while Zak who was working on division soon became distracted and wanted to do something else. So I popped a box in front of him with 50 Brain games in it. Of course both of them spent the next 1/2 or so diligently trying to work out the brain teasers which of course were plain old fun games to them but which were actually a lot of mathematical questions, problems, drawings and mind blowing puzzles.

Later we were talking about measurements and radial symmetry when I remember seeing this post pop up on Art projects for kids, which by the way you should follow for wonderful art/craft ideas for younger kids. Most of the stuff is a bit young for my boys, but we decided to give it a whirl just for the fun of it...... it was simple really. As Adem dislikes art intensely, we decided it was a math project and he very carefully measured and drew and came up with this....... perfect precision and very minimal decorations..... I was actually quite impressed with his patience and efforts....

Zak on the other hand, he who has a problem following instructions started off for some reason by drawing the page on the page, then the circle on the side, then he rubs it out and starts again. He then was using a ruler to measure the distances and drawing lines everywhere, then rubbing them out until in the end he did have a pretty okay looking peacock at which point he decided to rush and decorate in a frenzy of oil pastels and kind of forgot all about the whole symmetry experiment but who cares.....he made a pretty groovy peacock in his normal expressive sort of way......

With the day dragging on and mostly being about maths, we decided to do a little reading and comprehension which covered the areas of English and HSIE. I copied a whole unit of work from a book and the boys read the story, discussed it and then completed some of the tasks. Putting the book aside for later.

For Science they also drew a food chain of what sea creatures eat...who eats who? And read some of the Seaside Naturalist. Both boys did a little vocabulary and then decided I should read to them from Ulysses Moore, Isle of masks. We had previously read half the book and then put it aside. Well, we ended up reading the whole book!

Next up we made chocolate brownies and popped them away for dessert that night. The day passed very very quickly and I of course got none of my own things I had planned to do, out of the way, but I did come to a bit of a decision.

I sat with them and said, right, by the end of the week, you should finish that unit of English work, your vocab work, your unit of science and at least 3 more maths lessons. And then you can do whatever you want....Im busy. Adems face looked rather excited. What???? I can do this whenever I want? YEP! What if I finish in one day? Well, then you are done and you can do what you want.

Another of my little experiments you see, just to see how it pans out. Today, I went out op-shopping for the morning and came home to find they had indeed finished a maths lesson each (A did 2), some of their English and science and A was working on the computer at something or other with his dad. Zak was playing. And nobody complained and everyone was happy.

My only gripe is that it is now 11.30pm and the little devils are still up playing minecraft! Zak has an early start tomorrow as he is off to do a bike safety course for the day. And as I am now yawning my head off. I think its time for bed.

Hugs and smoochies all,

Sweet dreams xoxoxox

Melbourne Day 2

2011-05-04T19:30:00.000+10:00

Our second day in Melbourne was spent with a morning of shopping followed by lunch at home and then....more shopping! But we did not stray too far from the house. So I did not take a whole lot of pictures that day. Of course, that night, I took quite a lot of pictures but I don't think I am allowed to show them to you! Nobody had their make up on you know!

So instead I will show you a couple of the building shots I did take on day 3...... because day 3's post is going to be about something else! We all know I am more of a nature kind of girl so I did not really take many pictures in the city at all. But I did like the old old buildings, they have character, don't you think?

A bit of artwork at the station.....

Oh! A far more interesting subject for photographs! Nice to see some things don't change....she's got that whole "For gods sake mum...stop taking pictures of me!" look on her face!

Ahhhh......she is so beautiful! I miss her too much! So as I found myself sifting through the pictures.....and having a giggle at her antics...I could not resist posting just a few after all. We were having a bit of a karaoke party......

With wine and cheese and all sorts of yummy goodies! Mum....step away from the camera.......rawrrrrr...

Seriously mum! You are so dead!!!!! (HEY! You said I could NOT facebook the pictures...nobody said anything about MY blog!)

Ahhhhhhhh......and since I am clearly dead anyway, I might as well show you this one too! Isn't my baby sisters belly bump the cutest?

(Technically this is also not the picture I was told not to facebook, this was the one I took on the sneaky while Zak was taking pictures...I heard no disclaimers that time! Thats my story and I am sticking to it!)

Speaking of the belly bump who we call "Frog", I of course got my hands on him as much as possible....he was most obliging with kicking me! Can't wait to meet him when he comes out!

Hugs and smoochies everyone!

*Please don't kill me girls! You know you love me! xoxoxoxox

Namaste

Peace/Love/Happiness to all xoxox

Mellow Melbourne moments.......

2011-05-03T21:35:00.000+10:00

In the short time we were in Melbourne, I of course found the time to glance upwards quite a bit......we all know how I just love looking up...... and sometimes the scenery was much like home....

And in the quiet of the morning, I ventured outside into the garden and sat and breathed and then walked and took in the beauty that is my daughters and sisters garden..... reminding me of the one thing I truly miss about my first home in Sydney.......my roses......they don't grow too well here... of course I could not resist a few snap shots to remember them by.....so lovely......

And some other pretties too......

Ahhhhhh....I am very much looking forward to going back to visit this garden in July, and playing around there. It also had quite a lot of herbs hiding between the ornamental plants. A lovely place to play for the likes of me!

Have a wonderful day all,

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Chocolate Brownies.....mmmm.....

2011-05-03T09:00:00.002+10:00

Well, I would have said this one was a FAIL, but apparently it tasted AWESOME...so I will share the recipe.....

50g Milk Cooking Chocolate

150g butter

1 cup plain flour

1tsp baking powder/bi-carb

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1/2 cup choc bits

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter over a low/med heat and then add chocolate, sugar, salt, cocoa and vanilla essence. Once it is all melted, remove from the heat and cool a little. Add two eggs and stir till blended. Add flour, and bicarb, mix well, then add your choc bits. Stir.

Pour into a square cake tin and cook on 170 degree for half an hour. Remove and cool.

(It will be crispy on the outside but still mushy inside. Don't be tempted to cut or put in the fridge (like I did) as it will go flat. Mind you it will still taste AWESOME, so go ahead if you want to!)

Slather with hot custard and enjoy!

This post was inspired by Adem who was not satisfied with the Brownies I made the other day which were too much like cake. Mum, brownies are supposed to be gooey on the inside thankyou very much! You are welcome son. Now step away from the brownies, your sister might want some when she gets home from work!

Helena asks........

2011-05-02T17:02:00.000+10:00

How do you feel about homeschooling? Do you have doubts?

I am always pretty enthusiastic about homeschooling. I realise, it is not for everybody, but for me, it feels right. I sometimes wish I had of known about it years ago when my girls were little as I probably would have homeschooled them too. However, I do believe that things happen for a reason and when they do it is the right time, so I guess for them the journey was meant to be different.

I probably would not have felt as confident starting out, if I had not had the experience of working in the schools for so many years. I had absolutely no worries about becoming "a teacher" for me its more been a journey of learning to trust and let things flow more naturally.

I do admit to at times feeling absolutely overwhelmed with it all, but its usually when too much is going on and other people influence my thoughts by bringing up all the "what ifs". My husband is a prime example of this and often suggests school for the boys. Not for the educational aspects, but for the age old "socialization" argument. (And I think a bit more of the freeing up of MY time argument, you know, making me more available for everyone elses needs?).

Zak of course has no problems with socialising, he is an extremely busy little boy. Indeed, I think I saw him fleetingly while we were in the car last week. Before and after we got home, he was mostly at my friends house hanging with his best mate. Occasionally, they visited me when they remembered where I live! They have a very hectic social calender you know?

Adem is not the most sociable of children. He prefers the company of his computer. So getting him out and involved in other activities is a hard core job at the best of times. So YES, I have doubts. I do also, however, doubt that school would change this. I am not totally wiping the idea and I am open to sending him to a Catholic school if the need arises. (ok not really, the thought makes me go gahhhhhh) I have absolutely NO faith in our public system, so that is a definate no no to me. There has been a lot of discussion in our household regarding this option and as Adem does not want to go to school, I have argued on his behalf against his sisters and father. They all feel, he needs more contact with other teenagers. Unfortunately, we don't have any in our homeschool group and the closest group is a good hour south of here.

My other worry with him, is that he is very intelligent and I wonder if I am holding him back. With Zaks learning styles being so different, I feel sometimes he could do far more if we had the time. Of course he loves the fact that I don't push him too far but I am not always comfortable that this is right. I really embrace the whole natural learning approach and it is hard to follow through with him as he does not have any enthusiasm to seek out his own learning. I have to present him with something to do. In doing this, I find myself at times compromising my OWN beliefs on what is or is not necessary. I also find myself comparing to what opportunities he would be given in school that I can't give him at home. Like metalwork, woodwork and some of the more complicated science activities.

Having said that, I personally feel that unless he wants to do these things as a career, they are a total waste of time! If we lived in a city, he would probably have a lot more opportunity to get out and about socially. Here, he has the beach and the bush but he is not the outdoors kind of kid. A bit of a no win situation? And even though I give him work I would probably not choose to give him if I was not feeling pressured by his father, I am amazed at how he absorbs it all and remembers it, when he often shows no interest at all while learning it.

So yeah, sometimes I have doubts but I also KNOW its the right thing to do.

And I have a lot of faith, that what we are doing, is fine! I have faith that the boys are both learning something every day. They are clever and talented and will be whoever they choose to be. And as my doubts are not really my own, then I shall give them NO power!

I absolutely LOVE the freedom we have to do things at our own pace and when and where we want to be! I love not having to venture out on a cold winter morning when my fireplace is on and we can snuggle with books or craft in front of it! I love heading off to the beach on a hot day and not having to worry about them being couped up in a stinking hot classroom! I especially LOVE that my kids can ask questions and get an honest answer and give opinions without being told they are wrong or to be quiet!

I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING, I LOVE MY KIDS!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Homeschooling thoughts in the dayz gone by.......

2011-05-02T14:50:00.000+10:00

Helena asks.......

A question, you say? Hmmm. Howabout lots of questions?! Do you like where you live? Why? How do you feel about homeschooling? Do you have doubts? Why did you start? If you could go on any adventure to anywhere, where would you go? What are you reading? What are your dreams, and do they match up with your life right now? How ARE you?

Are those enough? I can come up with more! Just let me know… :)

Well Helena, you could keep me busy for weeks with your questions! Thank you! You have certainly had me thinking a lot this past couple of weeks. I am going to start with the Homeschooling question but rather than answering you right now, I would like to first get you to read the following which is how I felt 5 years ago. I will begin with the highlighted question of why did we start? Dinoboy is Zak and Gameboy is Adem. (I never used our real names back then).

Our decision to Homeschool.......

The decision to homeschool was not made lightly in our house. You see all of our children had attended the local government schools and although they did well academically they were not really happy in their learning environment. After a year and a half of Dinoboy becoming more and more miserable it all came to a head around September last year.

He had been coming home from about halfway through kindy complaining that he was getting into trouble. I approached his teacher and she assured me that he was fine. He was one of the lovely little boys in her class and she was very happy with his behaviour. I believed her so encouraged him to enjoy his class and new friends. However, a couple of those friends were behaving badly in the playground and as he was with them he was also punished, not by his teacher but by the principal at the time. Unlike the other children he did not get any warnings or small punishments. He was sent straight to detention with all the naughty kids and coincidentally was quite traumatised. He started to cry before and after school, he didn't want to go to school anymore, he had had enough.

Thinking it was just a phase we kept sending him to school and hoped things would improve, they did for a while and he went up into year 1 a little bit happier. However, his happiness was soon shattered when not only had all of his friends been put in another class. The class he was placed in was terrible for him. The children were basically uncontrollable. In all my years of helping in the classroom, I had never seen a class so disruptive, rude and violent. And I am talking about 6 and 7 year olds here. The poor teacher could not cope and Dinoboy went into a depression spiral. He made friends with another little boy in the class and they were the only two boys who initially behaved. The behaviour started to spill out into the playground with the boys in his class hurting him and each other on a daily basis. He started to become aggressive as well both at school and at home. I couldn't believe that this was my child, he had a total personality change. After the first term, I started to voice my concerns, first to the teacher, then the infants head and then the principal. The teacher was very understanding and only wanted to help. I asked to have him moved to another class with no hard feelings and she was quite happy, however the principal was not so obliging.

On my approaching him, his first reaction was to pull up my sons grades and the conversation went a little like this. "Well Mrs ....... what seems to be the problem. Your sons grades are fine, he is topping his class.... blah blah blah" "UMMM hellooooo, did I ask about my sons grades? I am here because my 7 year old is depressed, this is not normal, not for a small child, I send him to school everyday and expect him to be happy and safe, instead he is being abused both verbally and physically" His next reaction was "So are you saying your child is being bullied then?" " Well no I wouldn't call it that, you see for him to be bullied, that would imply that one or more children were picking on him personally. This was not the case, the children in the class seem to constantly hit/kick/punch each other and this makes him uncomfortable. Have you taught them about personal space?" " Well Mrs....... I feel that he is better off staying in this class, we are hoping to add a teachers aid, please give us a little time and I'm sure things will get better." I agreed, but pointed out that I would be taking him out of the school if nothing was sorted out soon. I then encouraged my son to make the most of it for now.

I went home and immediately started to research homeschooling. I didn't know anyone else who did it, it was pretty much unheard of but I was determined that by the end of the year I would pull both boys out of the school. I would give myself the six months to plan and find out what was required and try and sort something out. I found out that in our state it was legally required that you register to homeschool and to do so you needed to come up with a curriculum and then contact the Board of Studies for an interview. I figured this would take me some time, so started researching, I had no idea what I was doing and was quite apprehensive.

About four weeks later, the second last day of school for the term, Dinoboy was taking a bath when I just happened to walk in to ask him a question. I noticed an extremely large bruise on his chest and asked him where it came from. He told me that a boy in his class had thrown him on the ground and then stomped on him several times with his shoes. I was absolutely livid. I sent him and his brother to school the next day and told them to collect all of their belongings because they wouldn't be returning. I rang the board of studies and told them I would not be sending them back and although she told me it takes three months to get an interview, I informed her they would be staying home anyway. She asked me to fax off an application form, which I did and managed to get me an appointment for two weeks time which was the first day back at school. I don't know how I did it but in one day I planned and plotted a whole curriculum and lists of goals etc. to show the inspector. He was duly impressed and promptly gave me my first registration for one year.

Our homeschooling journey began.....

A Little History

When we first started to Home school I found it exciting, daunting, exhilarating and scary but went in for the battle full speed ahead. To understand my determination and my ideals, you will have to understand my experience in the Public school system.

When my girls started school, one by one, my heart broke when I dropped them off. They happily waved goodbye and enjoyed their next step in life. I, however fretted and each time toddler in tow, would end up spending far too much time at school as well. I started to help out in the classroom in various grades and learned how to teach basically as a teacher would, or a teachers aide.

At the first school (in Sydney) I first started to notice the behavior of the children and swore that I would spend as much time at the school as possible to keep an eye on my girls. I was helping in the classrooms four days a week when the Parents and Citizens group approached me to attend my first meeting. I waltzed on in and promptly took over the P & C. I emerged the president and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. (Are we noticing a pattern here?)

I took on the challenge with gusto (as I do) and started organizing everyone to raise money and help out in the classroom etc. I did this for three years until my baby girl started kindy and my first little boy started to make his presence known. Over those years, poor surferboy (who by the way had never surfed at that stage) suggested that the amount of time I spent in school, I could have a real paying job you know. (Yes dear, but I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the girls now would I?)

As the arrival of Gameboy came closer I decided to stop for a while and hand it on to someone else. After his birth we decided to move away from city life and venture further up the coast of NSW. It was great at first, and the school the girls attended was so much better. I helped out occasionally but not for long as Dinoboy made an appearance just 17 months later.

The boys grew quickly and were soon at school themselves. I started to help out a lot more again (although this time avoiding the P & C). I was taught that children only learned this way or that way, as the school felt fit. And that if they weren't doing all this, they weren't learning anything. How wrong I was, and how annoyed I am now.

Children in school are expected to be like everybody else, act like everybody else, learn like everybody else and God help you if you voice an opinion of your own. (That of course only applied to the academic side of things. It was okay to be disobedient, feral and obnoxious, as the school doesn't have any right to tell us what to do????) (We all know what this effect had on Dinoboy!) And although I had many disagreements on these matters, I still felt that the kids needed to be taught the basics in the same way the schools were doing it, after all it didn't hurt us now did it?

Wrong!!!! As our new homeschooling journey began, I saw and learned so many new things. It was scary..... (and exciting!) ........

Our journey begins

Our first term in Homeschool was fantastic. The boys were so excited and ready to start. We spent each day learning and working together. The work we approached was what I thought was needed for the grade and age for each boy.

It was fun, the boys were happy and I was happy. After about three weeks I started to worry that Gameboy was finding the work too easy. I felt that he was a little bored and was starting to feel a little apprehensive that I had made a mistake. Dinoboy was enjoying his work and I realised that the school had been a little lax in his education. He wasn't up to the standard I had been led to believe. Later in the term I decided to visit the school and collect their books and work so I could see what they had been learning.

Gameboy, the clever little devil had completed more work at home in one term than he had achieved all year in school. I had also taught him long division which I learned was not taught until the following year. I was very excited that he was doing so well and very proud of him and myself. Dinoboy was learning steadily and enjoying everything we did and starting to relax and become himself again.

We were doing English, Maths and Science everyday. Followed by all the other usual subjects depending on what we felt like each day. We worked hard, the housework began to suffer and my social life no longer existed. I stopped doing all my crafts, missed my surferboy and girls and we all began to stress out.

We joined a local support group and attended our very first home school activity. I met many lovely people who shared their beliefs and approaches to Home school and Unschooling. A very interesting comment was made by one mother who noticed a local school marching into the park we were at. "There goes another sausage factory!" I was baffled at first but then she explained how they all look the same, are taught to be the same and have no real opinions of their own. It got me thinking, anyway. and I had to admit, she was right.

I found out that the majority of these families we were meeting, didn't do the same sort of work we were doing at home. They chose one subject a day and were un schooling or child led learning the rest of the day. Other families Un-schooled all the time, others again followed a classical style of learning and some just wanted to teach their kids according to their religion or personal beliefs. They were all happy and the kids were really intelligent and well adjusted.

Maybe, just maybe I was pushing my kids too hard and I began to worry that they would burn out. This proved to be a genuine fact, as I soon learned.

Holidays and Term 2

The school holidays (six weeks over Christmas and January) came around and the children and myself were glad of the break in routine. We relaxed, had a good time and spent many hours at the beach. After a few weeks I thought we should start school again as the boys were getting bored. Surferboy didn't agree as the girls were still on holidays and he said it wasn't fair for the boys to begin work.

As a result they lost interest and when we stared to do school work again, the initial enthusiasm was gone. Although Dinoboy kept working hard, Gameboy started to misbehave and refuse to do his work. We would end up spending a lot of time at the table doing bookwork and poor Dinoboy was starting to suffer as school became quite boring. I tried many different methods, (including un schooling, which by the way did not work at all for Gameboy as he spent all his time on the internet playing games.

We soldiered on and if it hadn't been for our network group I think I would have given up. As we started Term 3 Gameboy became more an more difficult. What kept me going you may ask? Dinoboy, he embraces learning like a favourite toy or love. Everyday with him has been a joy. I had my dear little boy back, the one I had before school days and I wasn't giving that up for anything, even a stubborn little Gameboy.

This term I approached things much differently, although I plan lessons and activities, I also give them a lot of choice and rewards. We don't do anywhere near as much sitting at the table as we did before. But we still have lots of work to show for it. Everything we learn from everyday life is included in our daily accounts of "school". I worked out that we are eclectic home schoolers. We take whatever works and use it.

Today for the first time in six months, my Gameboy finished all his work before his brother. I was so proud of him, I let him spend the rest of the day on his computer playing games. And do you know what he did? He went fishing with his brother and uncle all afternoon! What an achievement! And do you know what I did? I sewed Dinoboy a pair of Cargo pants. Knitted up the back of a jumper for my nephew and had a lovely afternoon sewing and socializing with my craft group.

To top it off, my Cameragirl cooked dinner for everyone, the Bookfairy and the Captain did the dishes, I finished my day with a nice glass of wine and hopped on the computer. Life is wonderful. Now maybe, just maybe tomorrow, I might attack the housework. Mmmmm maybe............

(All of the above was written in 2007)

I will stop there as this is so long but I can say now, things have changed a lot over the years. We went from being fully classical homeschoolers to very relaxed un-schoolers. I now like to think we are approaching a healthy balance somewhere in the middle. Why? Adem prefers a more classical approach to his learning and Zak prefers unschooling. So I am trying to make it work for both. It is not always easy but I have high hopes!

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Holiday Learning in April

2011-04-30T22:02:00.000+10:00

Technically, we were supposed to be on holidays the past few weeks, but learning does not really go on holidays, even if you do choose to put the books aside for a while.

For the first half of the holidays, the boys spent a fair bit of time on their computers. They like to play online. Adem chose to spend the majority of his holiday free time online. He did have his friend over for a couple of days to stay and for a change they sat in the same room and played instead of skyping. This is apparently socialization when one is 13. I pretty much let him go for it as we have a busy month ahead of us and he will not have so much gaming time.

Adem also went to the movies with his dad and sisters to watch Paul and they went out for dinner. I am not sure what else he got up to as he is not very forthcoming with info and Zak and I were off on our travels.

Zak play's Rohan, Minecraft, League of Legends, Congregate and has just recently started playing Adventure Quest Worlds again. (He does not play anywhere near as much as his brother but likes to have a turn). He is currently on some quest next to me, collecting Easter eggs for some knights.

As he is more of an outdoors kind of boy, and his latest love is his scooter and the skate park, he and his friend have spent a lot of time at the skate park. They have had quite a few sleep overs in the past few weeks before and after we went away and came back. Zak has doctored his scooter yet again. And has shown me how to change parts and update to the newest handlebars, wheels and grips. I don't think there is very much of the original scooter left!!! Oh, well, at least he is learning something with it.

We went to the beach a couple of times and went for a picnic with friends. There was lots of playing, swimming, movie taking on his new camera and taking pictures.

He explored a submarine and learned about the history of Holbrook and why there was a submarine in the middle of a country park.

We visited the sound and vision section of Screen Words ACMI in Melbourne. It was a short visit but he managed to fit in some shadow puppet making on screen,

He saw how light travels through the air, and checked it out from all angles. It was apparently "pretty cool"!

He made a short movie clip by adding sound effects and music to screen actions.

He made a jumping video, you can check it out here... (Zak jumping).

He went shopping and bought himself a really cool ocean lamp. (will take a picture later). And he bought a pencil that was carved from a tree branch with a dragon on it. "Heaps cool!"

He went to some comedy shows and got to be a guinea pig at Jaymie Wilsons show. He watched the Big Laugh Out shows and was very impressed with the circus acts. (will tell you more about that later).

We visited the dog on the tucker box at Gundegai and also a park at Jugiong. We played lots of word games, did puzzles, played cluedo, played I spy. Learned to read maps, and do maths with distances and times. We did lots of money maths. Tried out some food from different cultures. Checked out some of the city in Melbourne. Just to name a few things. It has been a pretty busy "rest" time down here. :-)

Of course there has been the usual watching of documentaries AND a bit of comedy as this is the flavour of the month. There has also been a bit of reading, but we are on holidays so we are not recording this (ahem learning). We are merely playing you know?

Hope you have also been having fun!

Hugs and smoochies xoxox