Jocelyn's blog

Jun. 21, 2008

Flat Out Friday

Our Fridays are always full and fun; and occasionally frantic. We take a break from our bookwork on Fridays to spend the day in other ways. Here was our Friday this week:

8.45am go and pick up a friend for Scrapbooking / Craft morning at our house

9 - 12 noon Open house for homeschoolers to come to Scrapbooking /Craft. Mums work on projects and the kids play together. We've been doing this for a few weeks now and have had 3-4 families most times. I've managed to get several scrapbooking pages done and the kids have played well together so it's been good.

12 noon - pack up, drop friend home, go to lunch at Andrew's parents' house.

12.30pm Lunch This time is always great as the kids see their grandparents every week and spend time with them. I also get to go out shopping by myself in the afternoon so it's a real blessing to me.

2pm Stephen has an optometrist appointment so he comes along this afternoon

2.30pm Shopping for fruit and vegetables at the market, going to Fyshwick shops for other birthday presents.

4-4.30pm Get back and have a quick cuppa with Mum before taking the kids home and unpacking the shopping

5.15pm Start making a Spinach, Leek and Feta fritatta that I have never made before (recipe will be typed up soon)

6pm It finally is in the oven!!!

I then sit down and catch up on emails etc for a while

6.45pm Dinner is ready and we sit down together to eat!

7.30pm I head out the door again for a birthday coffee and cake supper.

Usually, I'm out the door again between 7 and 7.30pm on a Friday night as I take one boy out with me. I have a coffee and they get a baby cino and we just have a short one on one time together. It's late night shopping night for us so we browse around a little too. Each of the top three boys takes turns in coming out each Friday night.

10pm Got home, collapsed on the lounge and watched some of BBC's North and South

So, the day was flat out and full but I do like my Fridays and look forward to them.

What are your Fridays like?

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Jun. 11, 2008

Farewell Fiesta

Posted in Homeschool life

I have had another blog break and will try and mend my ways and get back into a routine again...

We had settled back in now and started to find out feet, renew our contacts and then...out of nowhere it seemed... the Brien family announced they would be heading off to do mission work in Mexico not just at some time in the future, not even at the end of the year, try ... in August!

Well, this was a huge shock to us but we are so happy that they are able to take advantage of this opportunity and go. Liz & kids are leaving next week so she can go home to England first to visit her family. So, now all of a sudden, the farewell had to be THIS WEEK at our homeschooling meeting on Tuesday night.

Everyone was in flat panic - how on earth do we arrange a surprise farewell party with two days' notice? Then to add to the drama...

One of her best friends (Kim) and a major plotter in the party stakes was now one day overdue to deliver her baby, another friend who had offered to host the party called an hour before it started to say there was a fire down the street and access to her home was blocked...

What on earth were we going to do?

And what was Liz doing???? She was blissfully unaware that this was anything besides a regular homeschooling meeting, which of course, she should arrive LATE to. After all, we have a saying for how late she is - she's running on "Brien time".

Well, no...

We find out at the last minute that we can get to the party house - the streets are sealed off *just* past the junction we need.

At the last minute (no, Kim did not have the baby...)

At the last minute, getting there to prepare for the surprise,

LIZ IS EARLY???????????????????????????

She's 20 minutes early...not sure I have recovered from that shock! So she surprised us.

Now - down to the party...

We had a great time just chatting, enjoying and the house had been decorated with such great Mexican decorations that it would have been a shame not to have it there.

We played some games. I had help from Donna who gave me some ideas - thank you! The first was a guessing game. There were three clues for each Mexican/Spanish word. If you guessed the answer, you could put a piece of the jigsaw puzzle on the map of Mexico.

The boys and I made up a map of Mexico during the day, cut out pieces for the puzzle and worked together to come up with the clues.

After the map was complete and Guadalajara was put on the map, that became the target for the next game. All the ladies had to don a poncho and a sombrero and try and hit the city that Liz will be going to. The throws, thankfully, did not get too wild and ladies didn't look too wild either! Here's some pics:

Liz about to "fire off" a small mexican bean bag at the target....

Another Liz, trying to remain anonymous....

and how does being pregnant affect your aim????

After this, we played a mime game and then went out to hit the pinata.

Well, it was being hit even when it was down! There were some Mexican-style prizes (just a fancy way to dress up chocolate) and then we got serious...

We gave Liz a farewell gift (diary) with notes of love in it from us, an offering for their mission work and plenty of lollies for the plane for the kids....yes, um...sure she'll appreciate that last gesture....

It was a great night and it's hard to say another farewell. God bless, you Liz and family xxx

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Feb. 7, 2008

Partial Solar Eclipse - 7 Feb

Posted in Homeschool life

We've been reading about Galileo lately and using this fantastic book:

When we heard there was going to be a partial Solar Eclipse visible from Australia today, I made sure that we read the chapter on Galileo's observations of sunspots this week. We made a pin hole viewer in preparation for the eclipse, scheduled for this afternoon.

Problem was, a thunderstorm was also scheduled for this afternoon! The partial eclipse was to start at 2.47pm, reach mid-eclipse by 3.38pm and finish at 4.27pm. This is what it looked like at 3.38pm:

Then, at 3.54, there was a patch of blue sky, the sun started to shine brightly and we were out there like a shot!!

Stephen is holding the pin hole viewer. We got instructions on how to make it from this site: www.paulfloyd.id.au We actually got to see a tiny section of the sun was shaded by the moon. The photo may not be clear but it was clear to us!

Just the very top left hand corner is affected. Anyway, we thought it was exciting! Apparently, there won't be another solar eclipse until 2012, so we were thankful we got to see this.

At 4.05pm, it clouded over again. By 4.15pm, the heavens opened, the sky went dark and I headed in here to the computer!

Paul Floyd's site is being swamped right now but I'll try and get back on here and show the fact sheet he put out for the event - I was impressed with it.

Here's a photo of mine:

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Jan. 12, 2008

The Games Deck

Posted in Homeschool life

We had a big clean up in the garage over the Christmas break and Andrew found the table tennis table and also the shuffleboard that his grandfather (Opa) made.

We decided to pull them out and set them up, so now we have a games deck! It's been great having them just there and ready to go as the children have been able to play whenever they like.

Andrew has had a few games of Ping Pong with the boys after work. You can see the shuffleboard on the table in the background. Here's some more photos of that:

Zac has the dark wooden discs and has to slot them in the holes to score points. You get three turns.

Mark gets a bird's eye view of the shuffleboard game. He likes to collect the discs and line them back up for the player.

Adam "chills" out and waits for his turn at Table Tennis.

We are planning to keep them out for a little longer!

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Dec. 28, 2007

Merry Christmas...makeover!!

Posted in Homeschool life

We decided to have our holiday time at home this year. After being away last year we came back feeling worn out and frazzled. Well, I'm not sure if staying at home will do the trick either. We had so many social engagements just before the Christmas break plus Andrew turned 40 on December 20 so there were a couple of celebrations for that.

After a low key Christmas Day, it was straight into work...

Andrew ordered a huge "skippy bin". I don't know what you call it but it can fit a LOT of garbage in it!! We have not moved in 15 years and our garage reflects that. The last couple of days have been busy as we have cleared out the whole area, sorting as we go.

Then today, one of the boys forgot to connect the grey water hose when putting a load on and the laundry flooded. By the time we cleared all of that out and moved things around, the day was almost gone and all of the garage things were still outside...

On top of all this, we decided to start potty training with Mark this week. He has learned to keep his pants dry as long as possible but still freezes up when the potty is in view. We've tried several things but he is immovable at the moment!

Plus several of the boys have nagging coughs that seem to affect them more at bed time.

So, yes, it's been a tiring week and I feel like I'm scurrying around everywhere but not really achieving much. It's one of those phases where it gets worse before it gets better.

We do plan to get our family newsletter out in the next week as well so bear with us, we'll get there!!

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Nov. 25, 2007

The polling booth

Posted in Homeschool life

Federal Election 2007

My alarm went off at 6.30am yesterday morning. What? You might ask... quite incredulously... this was a Saturday morning, right?

Well, I was a polling assistant in our Nation's Federal Election yesterday. That meant turning up at 7.30am, helping to set up the polling booths and getting ready for the onslaught of voters. Let me tell you, there was an onslaught! From the moment we opened at 8am, there was absolutely no let-up for 4 hours! Queues right out the door! I got my first break at 11.30am but only because we needed a break from concentrating, not because it had quietened down!!

So what did I do? I was one of those cheery assistants behind the desk who asks for your name, address, checks you off the electoral roll, asks whether you have already voted in today's election, signs the ballot papers before issuing them to you and then gives you a quick run-down on how to fill in your papers. Phew!! After doing that for most of the day, my eyes felt sore!!

Somewhere between 4.30 and 5pm the voters got down to a trickle and we started to take turns with some admin and clean-up. The polls shut at 6pm so we all had a quick break before six, ate something for dinner and then the "day" starts in earnest! We had over 3,500 votes to count for each paper (so 7,000 altogether as there was a vote for Senate and House of Reps). BTW, *please* don't fold your ballot paper and if you feel you have to, don't fold in more than once - do you know how long it takes just to unfold the darn things?

It was a great experience being behind the scenes and as long as I bring a cushion to sit on, I'll do it again. It actually gave me a lot more faith in the process and we had very few disillusioned voters. Of 3,500 votes, we only had 69 informal ones and half of those were because people didn't understand how to fill in the Senate paper! Grr! We only explain it as we hand it out and then there's instructions to read on the paper itself!!

We had a great group of people on the booth and chatted happily with the scrutineers. They were a nice bunch too.They are not allowed to touch the ballot papers at all so it was interesting if you accidentally put a paper on the wrong pile. They would have to say - can you just go back one or two and check that paper? Sometimes, yes, you had put it on the wrong pile and sometimes, it was their minds playing tricks!! Every vote was double checked by another polling official and the scrutineers over your shoulder. When the vote was in, the scrutineers called their headquarters with numbers and voting trends. All the ballot papers were then packaged and sealed and they will be re-checked centrally before being declared as the"official" result for that booth.

We finally left to go home at about 10pm!! It was an exhausting day but one I'd do again. If you have teenage children, check the age requirement for the job - I think it would be good to get them involved in the process!

Regardless of your voting preferences, your disappointment or elation at the change of government in Australia, it's good to see the system works. There's an honesty and accountability in the processes that we have.

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Nov. 8, 2007

Beautiful flowers...

Posted in Homeschool life

Andrew came home from work a little bit late on Monday. It was a good thing that I wasn't in the kitchen, holding dinner off and waiting in frustration. He came through to where I was with this gorgeous bouquet in hand:

Of course, I was thrilled and asked him why he had bought them. He mentioned that he hadn't given me anything to celebrate being published (in What Really Happened in Colonial Times) so he thought he would now. I must admit to feeling teary, even if I didn't cry at the time. It was so lovely of him to do this!

A couple of days later, we remembered we had bought some small canvases to paint on during Floriade. Each year during this tulip festival, we draw a flower in our sketch books. The boys have done some stunning work in the past but it has always been in coloured pencil. We didn't get around to making a drawing or a painting this year so guess what became our subject? It's a bit sad, I know...

Anyway, here's the photos of our paintings:

After doing this, I remembered why I don't like painting. This flower was painted in six separate layers to build up the colour. I could have easily done a few more but we had all had a long enough spell on it by then...

Here's Stevie's:

He chose one of the flowers that were smaller. After a couple of days, the flowers had opened right out. They are fuller again today than when we painted them. The photos don't capture the subtlety of colour in the paintings. Stevie has a lovely dark red edge on his petals.

Zac did the last one I am showing:

I had to help Zac with his as he had lost the outline of the flower through painting with a paint brush that was too big. He would tell you he's never going to paint a flower again. That might be true but I think he'll be happier to do one in coloured pencil from now on...

I judged that this task was too difficult for Adam. I was also trying to paint my own, give instruction to Stevie and Zac, help them dry off the layers between coats with a hair dryer and making sure Mark only painted his paper! Whew! Adam has painted a nice background sheet and I'll try and sit down with him and we'll work in coloured pencil - no, I haven't been scarred by the painting experience!

Now, I am enjoying beautiful flowers from my husband and lovely paintings as well.

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Oct. 22, 2007

Cadet Camp 19-21 October

Posted in Homeschool life

Cadets is the Reformed Church's version of Scouts or Boys Brigade. Boys between the ages of 9 and 14 meet together on a regular basis, do some Bible Study and work on projects, which are then awarded with badges. The badges usually involve a certain skill level being attained.

Andrew used to be a leader in our church many years ago. He did things like making leather lanyards, making a small boat from thin sheet metal, learning how to tie certain knots and taking the boys camping. The camping would then involve outdoor pursuits.

The NSW State camp was on over this past weekend and even though Andrew is no longer a leader, it was a great opportunity to take the older boys along to a camp. I appreciated the fact that Andrew was going with them as well.

Here's a photo of the main marquee:

They drove up to Sydney on Friday night and had to pitch their tent in the dark. Saturday had a full program of rock climbing, BMX trail bike riding, archery and swimming. As Andrew had to actively supervise a group, he didn't think to take any photos of all of that!!

They had a bush service together on Sunday morning and Stevie got to do a Bible reading.

After that, it was lunch, pack up and come home. We saw some tired and yet excited boys later that day.

"We got to do 'real' archery, Mum!"

"The rock climbing wall was so good!"

and many other stories were related when they came back.

I had a lovely, quiet weekend with the younger two. I'll write about part of it another time.

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Aug. 21, 2007

When you hit the wall....

Posted in Homeschool life

Last week, I felt like I hit a wall of tiredness. The children were working well and had not even complained of wanting a break and yet, I knew this was what was needed.

We worked through most of the July school holidays, having a day off here and there, but we had been working since April without a substantial break. We'll still be doing some fun things over the next couple of weeks, and I'll blog them, but I needed a mental and physical break from the normal routine.

In the past, we have gone off to Queensland for two weeks to have a holiday in the warmth. We decided not to go this year, which means that I did not have a cue to tell me it was time for a break.

I don't have many books lined up for holiday reading - though I am on the hunt for some! I would like to read for my own pleasure and not books that I may someday read to the boys. I find that if I read historical fiction on a break, I start to think about how that might fit into our studies and then my mind races with planning and schedules again! So, if you have some good suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Not too heavy a read, please.

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Jul. 16, 2007

What's all this work?

Posted in Homeschool life

What's all this work? Poor Zac looks pained...

We has some shrubs which had grown into the size of small trees. They were starting to get close to the power lines so we had to get them cut down. The boys had to help Dad get them all loaded up onto the trailer to take away to the green cuttings part of our garbage tip. It took two large trailer loads to get the job done and it was such a cold day! Zac didn't last long like this and had to go back in and get some gloves on.

Adam found some smaller bits to put on the pile!

The boys started to complain with the second load and yes, it wasn't a "walk in the park". We were in there working and getting it done and emphasising the need for everyone to do their part.

Andrew called out and asked, "Have you got the kettle on?" All of a sudden, I realised here was a positive way of bringing the point home. I went in, got it boiling and then called out to the kids, "I'm making some cambric tea for you boys, who wants one?"

"Me please!!!!!" They all called out at once and then a smile came to the red-nosed faces.

They had done the work, why shouldn't they get a lovely hot drink, like Daddy?

We only let them have cambric tea (a very milky tea) when it's c-o-l-d. Like Laura in The Long Winter, it's a treat and they had earned it this time.

As an aside, this is why we don't pay our children to do jobs/chores at home. We do give the older ones some pocket money to teach a measure of responsibility with money. They get that allowance because they are part of our family and we have blessed them with that. They also have to do their jobs/chores because they are part of our family and we help/bless eachother through that. It's part of life....

I know people have differing opinions on this one and there may be some special/extraordinary jobs where we might consider further recompense but we haven't struck too many of those yet.

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