Hi everybody!

  Life seems to just get more busy and messy the more living we do! There are boxes of books which need to be given away, kids toys overflowing from wardrobes, board games overflowing from bookshelves, linen jammed into the hall cupboard - we are truly blessed materially! It is so easy to want to join up with all the extracurricular groups and classes available, but essential that we have at least ONE day at home each week to recover from it all!

  I have been very busy with helping out in the Auckland Home Educator's committee, and also very involved with helping to organize the conference coming up in September with Diana Waring. So much so that I fear I am leaving my boys to their own devices a little too much during the day, with all the emails to read and reply to.

  Well, I had a serious wake-up call to life earlier this week. Spent a night in Hospital having my heart checked out, bloods and x-rays etc all at crazy hours (after not much sleep the night before, being woken twice with what I felt could have been a heart attack). One nasty panic attack later and a visit to the GP saw me sent straight to the Hospital. It is times like this when friends who really care mean more than words can say. So, have re-evaluated my life priorities and decided to rejoice in each day, counting blessings and thanking God every morning - things seem to be so much more worthwhile dealing with, my time with my boys is so much more precious, and non-family activities really pale in comparison right now. Also, exercise has taken on a new attraction - will be making the time to go for walks and play casual team games or Tennis more often, at least I intend to!

  My oldest is madly saving to buy his own laptop or PC - he hasn't yet decided which. So, he has made up and printed out a list of all his money-making chores etc, and it is on the fridge for all to see, and for him to mark off each time he completes a chore. He really wants to invent games for computers. His skills with PIVOT are amazing, and his scenario inventions in the Tycoon series of games and the Age Of Empires and Rise of Nations games are also absolutely impressive. Alongside that obsession we have Piano and Singing - now he plays keyboard better than I ever could, and his singing voice has been admired by others (although I hear myself often saying "right, enough already!"). Gymnastics once a week brings good reports from his instructors, so is a worthwhile investment. The other class I was looking at for both the boys was drama, though it seems to be full enough that it needs no advertising, so I need to nurture the right connections to find out more.

  Joel is counting more consistently, not forgetting so easily the order of the numbers. His enthusiasm to try to make words is encouraging, but his tendency to turn letters the wrong way around and upside down can be a little distracting. Need much more phonics work before really understanding how words can be made from letters, I feel. He teaches me patience with a capital "P". He enjoys Gym, yet often before the end of the lesson time I have to remove him for silly and dangerous behaviour. His stamina does not quite last the distance. Yet his love for people and engouraging manner helps me to know we are doing the best we can with him.

  Will sign off for now, and ask you to please leave a comment - it encourages me to keep on writing!

Blessings,

Chrissy

Hi guys and gals! Here's something I tried the other day with what I had on hand, you can substitute veggies and meats you may have in the fridge and pantry that needs to be used also. What I was pleasantly surprised about was how much Joel actually liked it! I really hope you do too.

Egg and spinach bake

Ingredients:

about 5 bunches spinach, washed and stems removed

2 heaped teaspoons of chicken stock powder

1 cup grated mild cheese, in two portions of roughly half cup each

4 or 5 eggs, beaten well

1 cup flour (self-raising works)

1 or 2 radishes, washed and sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 or 2 cups cooked cubed chicken meat

a shake of paprika (about a quarter teaspoon)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

2. Whizz all ingredients (save half the cheese) together in a food processor until spinach leaves are chopped finely and well mixed in (around 20 or 30 seconds on high speed).

3. Pour into a greased quiche dish (or any dish of your preference for baking in).

4. Sprinkle remainder of grated cheese over top.

5. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes, checking at 20 min to see if it is golden brown.

Enjoy with a red or orange vegetable (or fruit!) for a nutritionally balanced meal. We used red grapes – yum. And my very fussy eater actually wanted more of the bake after he had a taste!

Recipe by Christina Shadbolt

Hi everyone,

This morning after getting up rather early for me and going for a lovely walk around our rather large block, in the glorious bright summer sunshine; I must have been feeling quite poetic. Here is the result, and it gives you some idea of what my days might consist of (meant to be read out loud so you hear the rhyme):

Why is the floor so very sticky?

I hope that it is nothing icky

My five-year-old has left behind

Hoping that I might not mind!

And here is a little limerick, made with the help of Elijah:

There once was a young lad named Joel,

Who dug in the ground like a mole,

His mother said "golly!",

Which made him quite jolly,

And he quickly came up with a goal!

Well that's our installment for today!

Lots of love,

Chrissy

Sorry it has been so very long since my last post. Now I have three blogs going - one on Yuwie, one with Google Blogger, and this one. Plus my very first article which I wrote on e-zine has been accepted for publication in TEACH magazine! I am so excited, so encouraged - I want to do more!

What a crazy busy day - woke at 0500 and the heat prevented me getting back to sleep - the youngest has been wetting his bed the last few nights (and then not going back to sleep for a few hours) so I really could have done with a sleep in! So, very tired now (1045pm) and will keep this short.

Can't think to write anything sensible, is this short enough?

Lots of love,

C.

  Hi all, I am sitting at my computer in the wee small hours and have just had a Chamomile Tea in the hopes of being able to go back to sleep. The moon is as bright as a fluorescent lightbulb tonight - our back yard is lit up so brightly it feels like I could get sunburnt just by sitting out there for ten minutes - not going to try though, it's heading for winter here at the moment.

  It has been quite a while since I wrote my first blog ever, which was here (previous entry), and I haven't written another one until now - too busy reading emails all the time. I must unsubscribe from some groups really.

  Our lives have been quite interesting in the last few months, with both myself and my husband looking for new jobs (I chose to leave the ward I was working on and Peter was made redundant), and the purchase of a car or two to keep us mobile. Actually, I managed to write off my old Mitsi two months ago and have been borrowing my brother-in-law's ute until our import arrives into the country.  So, lots of extra expenses and not much coming in to cover it. I have had to go back nursing part time in an effort to make some financial contribution to expenses - God's will, I know. I am sure He wants me to keep up my registration and skills and I would not be working if it weren't for the need to make ends meet. One day - (does one day ever come?) my nursing will be used of God to make a big difference for many, I am certain of this (such big dreams when I was training!), and even now I do hope that I am making a real positive difference for the people I am helping to care for.

  Our homeschool is going well - the workbooks are a welcome respite from thinking up activities to keep the boys out of trouble. Peter is worried that we aren't providing enough "experiences" for Elijah, as he sees other (older) kids at church who can do amazing things like play the piano by ear, or do cartwheels over and over (an ADHD boy). So he keeps wanting to look at sending him back to school. And my sister is so very worried that I am overprotecting him so that he won't be able to cope with "real life" knockbacks and bullying if they happen.

  I think that protecting our minds and bodies and emotions is important, being careful what we see and what situations we allow ourselves into can have a big impact on our spiritual wellbeing - what think you? The other side of the coin is that suffering does produce some very strong character qualities - whether good or not is another matter. But searing our conciences with unwholesome input can make such an impact, and it's difficult to wipe from our memories or feel clean again.

  Anyhow, I must at least try to get another couple of hours sleep so I am not a grumpy, snappy mum tomorrow. 'Night!

Hi everyone,

  This is my very first blog ever, I do hope to write at least twice a week if not more.

  This morning after being given a free two week gym membership at a local newish gym, I got up early and went for a ..... walk around the block! Couldn't bring myself to wake the family by opening the garage door and it's too far to go by foot to the gym so hey, at least I exercised which is more than I have done in a long time.

  Anyway, on the way up a very long steep hill I was struck by how many people need to know the message of salvation before they die, and felt challenged to try and tell people I know - like a sort of a ministry if you like. Since I find it daunting to go face to face, the best way I can think of is to write - letters, cards, emails, whatever. And I am rather more confident writing than speaking - no "gift of the gab" here.

  So, if you have read this far and want to know what was on my heart to say here it is: I don't want you to go to hell and neither does God! This is an urgent message, the time we have left to respond to Jesus is so short. The life HE brings us is just what we are so in need of. Please open your mind and heart to Him, He is the only one who can bring us into God's presence safely. Not only once we die, but here and now!

  While worshipping I have felt the presence of God so many times, in many different ways - twice in visions, twice with tiny white feathers falling down indoors (perhaps from angel wings?), mostly with an overwhelming sense of His Great Holiness, Majesty, Mercy and Love.

  Until next time, Be Blessed!

Chrissy