We have been reading in History, about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which was about 70AD. Jesus had already said this would happen, before that generation of his time, passed away.-" And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matthew 2:2 This was fulfilled, with the total and utter destruction of the temple.True to the prophecy, not one stone was left upon another.

There is a lesson in this for us. 2 Corinthians 6:16 "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." God is not interested in ornate temples made of silver and gold. We are temples, so to speak, if we have professed salvation in Christ. We have no need to enter a church and pray, we can do it anywhere and at anytime. We have a responsibility to be holy and blameless in our walk. idol worship has no place in our lives.

The Jews had missed the plot, they continued their sacrifices, until they could no more. They had missed the Messiah's coming and in their ignorance and unbelief had crucified him.Matthew 27:25"Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children." I wonder, did they ever comprehend what they were saying? Let us not say words in jest that we may forget, but let our conversation be good. Col 24:6 "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

Let us pray that we can give an answer to every man, for the faith that is in us, that we might be mighty in witness for him. We need to be mindful also, that it is not outward rituals that define us, as Christians. The daily sacrifices have been done away with, the death of Jesus and the ceremonial and sin offerings are no more. He dwells inside of us, through the holy spirit. Oh what joy, let us prepare our hearts before the Lord and search our ways to see if we be true.

As winter stetches out a mysterious arm,

welcoming us to its unknown charm.

Cold, still, vast, and void.

Branches stare back,

empty and toiled.

The warmth of summer,

Hope of spring.

My heart is warmed from within.

As God's love shines upon our souls,

and beckons us to him.

With repentance we cry out to Him,

cleanse us from this sin within.

The gleam of light through heaven's door.

The waves have brought me to the shore.

I will be forever blessed,

in my eternal home of rest.

I was just checking out the Humanist website link, that someone passed on. In bold letters down the middle of the page, it stated; "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
Probably? So, they can't say for sure. It reminded me of Pascal's wager, when he said that he couldn't lose by being right with God.

It seems they are launching a very scathing and intolerant mission. Their aim is to have creationism banned and faith schools stopped. They say they are fed up with children being indoctrinated! Hang on a minute, just what are they doing with their children and propose to do with everyone elses? Err, it couldn't be indoctrination could it?

What exactly does the term indoctrination infer? Well, here is the dictionary definition- 'to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., esp. to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.' So what they are actually doing, is 'indoctrinating', or trying to indoctrinate EVERYONE into THEIR way of thinking, to the exclusion of all others. The hypocrisy is blatant. They will not be happy, until every faith school and home school is banned and children with religious parents are taken away.

Hang on a minute! the definition of religion states this; "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs." So, their belief in Darwinism and the origins of the universe could be ascribed to a religion. So much for their neutrality in the matter. There has been no proof for this and it still remains as a theory. Of course you would need faith to believe what Darwinism teaches. We can see the evidence for a creator all around. The Bible states 'The fool hath said in his heart there is no God'. I think that says it all.

Here is the link, in case you would like to check it further.

I have been working hard on Christmas and getting everything ready, so I can sit back and relax in December......well, hopefully!

Here in the UK councils are taking the Christ out of Christmas, as it may just be offensive to other religions, but can we celebrate Christmas without Christ?  It seems people want to have the gifts, without acknowledging the great giver of life and of gifts. We would not be here on Earth, if it was not for God. He created us and it is an afront to him, when we think we can carry on our lives without him.

What is life without God? It is empty and barren. If we do not believe in anything, then our life is meaningless.

Whether we celebrate Christmas, or not as Christians is under hot debate. However we choose to celebrate as a family, to focus on the great gift God gave in giving us his son, so that we might have our sins forgiven and inherit eternal life.

What is our motive when we give, do we give so we can receive? Do we give joyfully. Some preachers preach that if you give, then God will reward you and very often people give, just for the reward they might receive from God. It doesn't work like that, as the motive has to be selfless, it has to be without the thought of any return. I am sure everyone would give if they thought they were going to receive a definite return!

I was thinking today how little wealth and riches matter, when we consider eternity. We can be rich in this life and in need of nothing, but lost for eternity! Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? "

It is true, so true. We are born into the world with nothing and shall return with nothing. The Egyptians thought they could take it all with them, but when archeologists have uncovered tombs, they have found the treasures still intact, apart form what was stole by tomb robbers!

We have a soul that never dies, our soul lives forever. We may die, but our soul lives on. Oh may it be that we live on forever in eternity with Jesus and not everlasting torment. Daniel 12:2    "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

It is not through our works that we can enter heaven though, it is through grace. We have to accept that Jesus died for our sins and to repent of our sins. We need to humble ourselves and come to the foot of the cross and accept that we are sinners in need of a saviour. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but hath everlasting life."

Are we living for richness and comfort in this life, or are we living for that blessed hope of eternity?

Now it is November, it is getting colder. We inevitably end up spending more time indoors and end up getting more done.

This month finds us preparing for Christmas, which means we are sorting presents and making lists. I find it sooo helpful to get everything done before the big rush. I make a list and the items just get ticked off.

On the homeschool front, Hosey and Kezzy are learning to read and write, they are doing the work together. I find it helps, as they spur each other along.

Cherry finished her first book, a while back and I am still editing that.

Jash and Izzy are grappling with algebra. Funny how it comes quickly to some and not others.

The rest are plodding along. Izzy had his Richmond test back, which showed he had not just made a years progress, but had also improved on that! It is so great when you have positive feedback, especially as moi, the teacher.

Our four day week is working great and also our schedule. So they will be staying. Just a little bit of order in a chaotic household!

Love to hear how others are doing. Please drop a comment.

Leaving you with a crazy pick of Eli.

...and Charity!

and Joey!

Now the colder weather is coming upon us. Here is a great recipe for chocolate oatmeal cookies! I have modified it. The original recipe was from a friend.

Ingredients:

220 gramms of butter

3/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1  cup of plain wholemeal flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 cup of wheatbran

3 cups of oatmeal

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

2 free range eggs

Method:

First you cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy.

Then add the eggs.

Next add the flour,baking soda, oatmeal and cocoa powder and mix well.

Lastly, shape into biscuit sized pieces and bake at a medium heat, in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe makes around 24 generous cookies.

You can then top them when cool with some melted chocolate, for extra indulgence.

Often, when we stay at home mums tell people what we do, we are met with negative response, like, "Oh, but don't you want a career?" or, "When are you going to stop having children?" Even if the comment is more positve, people may add a negative, like,"Wow, but I could never do that?" So people think it is either a waste of a life to bring up a large family and educate them, or they could never possibly do it themselves.

Granted, it is not easy finding time to do everything, but then it is very rewarding, and as I have mentioned before, serving others helps to keep us from selfishness. However, we need to adopt a cheerful attitude. How can we adopt this cheerful attitude?

1) We need to rely fully on God.

2) We need to be positive and think positive.

3) We need to realise that we will never be able to accomplish everything, so better to concentrate on what we have done and not what we haven't done!

4) Remember what we are doing is for eternity and eternity is never ending! Our lives on earth are brief.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Proverbs 13:1 "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."

We are building our houses by caring for and nurturing our children in the Lord. We are caring for their souls and for their bodies. It is so easy in today's society to give our children everything materially, but not provide for them spiritually. If only we can set our perspective on eternity, then we will see our most important perspectives, here, on earth. This is only temporal, only fleeting. When we get to heaven, all our cares, worries and pains will be gone. Praise the Lord! If only we can grasp a sense of this, it will make our lives more fruitful.

If we are carrying heavy burdens and finding it hard, take it to the Lord! Take each day as it comes and praise God that we will have all eternity to rest from our woes! Serving is a delight.

We have an absolute abundance of sloes here. If you are wondering what they are, they are a member of the plum family, but are small and the colour of blueberries. Their taste is like sweet and sour.

I decided, well, why not make jam out of them! They seem to have a lot of natural pectin in, so all you need is sloes and sugar. I added just a little less sugar than the weight of half the sloes, as I calculated the stones took up half the weight. I just simmered them with the brown sugar for about 15 minutes and then, the task of getting the stones out, which is a bit time consuming, but easier than doing it at the start.My husband's verdict, was that it was the best jam he had tasted. So all in all worthwhile.

Angela enjoyed herself and so did all the others. They had great fun collecting them.

It is easy, as a Christian to become over zealous and fall into legalism. If we are truly saved, we want to do good, that is part of our wanting to please the Lord. We are not saved by works." For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.

So, what is legalism? It is the strict adherence to the law, that is the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. The Jews were required to follow the law and to strictly adhere to it, but now we have Jesus Christ and he died in our place and became our priest. The former in the Old Testament was just a shadow of what was to come. Now salvation is for everyone who accepts and it is free, we don't have to work to get it. As Christians we no longer follow the ceremonies and judicial law laid out in the Torah, rather we follow the moral law as a guide. If we love the Lord we will do it willingly, we do it to grow more like God and we do it through Christ. The moral law doesn't save, it sanctifies. The moral law is our guidance, as what to aspire to and the main point is to worship God as creator. Exodus 20:3 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' The moral law requires obedience, but does not give strenth. It shows the standard we are to live by. (not to take the Lord's name in vain, commit adultry, and murder, e.t.c.) Galations 3:24 'Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.'

Regarding justification, or being justified, the moral law is abolished. We are only saved through Christ's righteousness. We are free from the curse and condemnatory power of the moral law. We are not under the condemning now, rather the commanding Gal 3:13'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.' That doesn't give us free licence to do whatever we like though. Romans 3:31 'Do we not make void the law through faith'. Legalism is when we overstep that line and think that somehow it counts towards our salvation, or we insist on following the old ceremonial and judicial traditions we are stepping into a cult like situation. Any religion that bases salvation on works, is a cult, but it can also be considered cult like if we try to insist on certain other things, or to be contentious.Colosians 2:16 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
¹⁷ Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.'

We are now permitted to eat pork and do not hold to the Jewish customs and practices. Acts 11:7' And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.'

Some people may think they are better Christians because they follow this law and maybe they don't have TV, or they don't listen to a certain music.We need to be extremely careful that our faith is not overtaken by a religious formalism, having an unhealthy fear and being robbed of our joy. It doesn't stop there, as once it has overtaken us we start to judge others, maybe on their dress, what commands they obey e.t.c. this is what the Bible means when it says to judge not. We are to recognise false teachings and try people's statements against scripture, but not to judge in a critical selfish way.

Let us not be robbed of our joy and follow the Lord with joy and remember Titus 3:7 'That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'

I have been using cloth nappies on my youngest now for 19 months and have had no regrets whatsoever.I started off using Mothercare Smart nappies available here. I found them great for the earlier months and very economical, but I wanted something a bit fancier and more substantial for 6 months plus. So I chose Itti bitti.Thes are stylish and economical, as you can buy extra pads.

I also used some 2 part nappies, my favourite of which were bamboo.

As our youngets approached 13 months, she began to take off her nappies, a really annoying problem that disposables don't solve! I just switched to a poppered wrap. My favourite being starbunz.

As you can see, they are really cute and have different designs!

As our youngest has got older, she has started to soak her nappies and I have found this is where pocket nappies come into their own. You can stuff them with extra stuffing, as required and that can be anything, from an old towel to a microfibre pad.

I like these, and you can get seconds for as low as £4 without inserts Baby kind on the bargains.

Many people feel they can't use cloth for night time, but ours sleeps in hers for 12 hours and she is still dry in the morning. I use Bumgenius version 3 birth to potty and I just add a little extra stuffing.

All this is no extra work really, as I put the outers in one lidded bucket, the inner parts in another and soiled in another. Every 3 days I wash, but I put the inners and soiled on a pre rinse first and then wash at 30 degrees with Tots Bots Potion. Then line dry. Couldn't be simpler and I can rest assured knowing we are helping care for the evironment and no nasty chemicals are in them.
Click on the fillyour pants link here on my blog to visit my favourite nappy retailer, here in the UK!

Happy nappying!

Too often we run here and there, to and fro and all it accomplishes is vexation and stress."Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife." Proverbs 17:1

In other words, it is better to have less of everything and be relaxed and at peace, than to have lots of everything and be stressed.

It seems as homeschooling mums we seem to be even more under pressure to do more than is actually necessary and then become stressed. Whether it is in academics, or clubs, or church, or whatever it may be. We need to slow down the pace and drink in God's word....slowly!  "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Luke 12:27

If we are trying to 'do school' on the move constantly, then we are probably doing too much. I have seen 'burnout' in home educators and the same theme seems to re occur, they were trying to do too much. We will never get it all done, so we need to quit trying and cast all our cares on God. We can do it in His strength.

Elderberries are in abundance at this time of year. We have been picking them from the hedgerows and have so far made elderberry jam and cordial.

To make the jam, all you need is a pound of berries and nearly a pound of brown sugar. Boil them up with a little lemon juice for 20 mins or so. You can add pectin if you want to make a thick jam, but we like it runny.

To make the cordial boil up a pound of elderberries with 200 grammes, or just under half a poud of sugar add boiling water to taste as it is cooking. Strain, bottle, cool, then chill in the fridge.

They are well known as an anti viral, so great for the flu season. What are you waiting for? Enjoy!

Check out this site for more info on how to pick and more recipes.here

Now is the season for apples, pears, and plums. Above is a pic of me checking the apples that I have picked. The ones shown are a variety of eating apple. We have been picking a lot of different varieties, all growing in the wild. We eat the eaters and cook up the cooking apples. What I do, is blanche a whole load in a saucepan and cool and store in tubs in the freezer. That way, when I want to make pies, or sponges it is already done.

Here is a recipe we like for apple sponge-

1)Chop the apples and put them in a dish which is oven safe.

2) Cream 4 ounces of margarine with 3 ounces of sugar.

3) Add one beaten egg.

4) Fold in 4 ounces of selfraisng flour. I use wholemeal.

5) Spoon over your apples and cook at medium heat for about 40 mins, or until a fork comes out clean.

This recipe will serve 4-6. We double it for our family and cook in 2 seperate bowls.

We also have pear and plum trees in our garden, so we do more or less the same with those. I have found that pears and blackcurrants taste really good together, as the taste of the pear compliments the sourness of blackcurrants. Bon appetit! 

There is nothing like free food, especially when it is organic and growing in your own garden!

Recently, the children picked blackberries from our own garden. I used them to make bramble jelly, or blackberry jam.

These ingredients make about a jar.

1)400 grammes of blackberries ready washed.

2)400 grammes of brown sugar.

3) A dash of lemon juice.

I put all the ingredients in a pan and heated them up on high to start with, then turned the heat down and simmered them for about 10 mins. You can test if it is ready, by putting some on a spoon and touching with your finger to see if it shrinks back.

I used less sugar in mine, as I knew it would go quickly! If you wish to preserve it, you need to make sure you add all the sugar, as the sugar is the only preservative.

I will be making all my jams now, as I am dismayed to find many jams in the supermarket have high fructose corn syrup in their ingredients. This is not a natural sugar, but created using GM technology. I was wondering why it left an awful taste in my mouth.

Watch this video on youtube:

1) Don't iron what you don't have to. I find that a lot of things don't need ironing, by hanging straight, the creases drop out naturally. Also, if you can line dry, you will get less creases.

2) Only sort your washing into 2 different sorts, whites and coloureds. Makes life a lot simpler and I haven't had any runs doing this, only when I accidentally put in red with my whites. Many modern washing machines have a mixed fibre wash anyway, and I always do this at 30 degrees.

3) Always plan your meals out a week in advance before you write a shopping list. This saves time, money and you can write a list of what you need when you go shopping.

4) When cooking, especially for a large brood, keep it simple. I like to always cook simple but healthy things. I see it unnecessary to spend hours in the kitchen, when there are so many other things to be done.

5) Use a breadmaker. I have 2. It mixes the dough for my currant buns, while I go and have a cup of tea. Also, I can have 2 cakes baking in them while I am out and come back to freshly baked cakes. I can't burn them and don't have to watch them as it is timed. Using a breadmaker also enables you to have fresh bread ready for the morning. You can't beat that smell, Mmmm!

On Tuesday the children were able to film a fire which had broken out at a plastics factory. It is the biggest fire Lincolnshire firefighters have had to deal with. At one point there were 100 firemen at the scene. Plumes of toxic black smoke were emitted into the air, but fortunately most of it avoided the people living nearby.

It was a couple of days before it finally went out. The cost is expected to run into millions of pounds. A real blow to the area, considering we are in times of recession. Work is expected to start as soon as possible to rebuild the factory as soon as the cause is established. It is thought the fire started in the fan room.

There is a new competition running at www.fillyourpants.com Here are the details.

This month sees our best competition yet! Up for grabs is a set of some of our best selling products, including a Dream-Dri Pop in Nappy, an Itti Bitti d’Lish, a bumGenius 3.0, a bag of Tots Bots Potion a Nappy Tote Bag and a pair of Babylegs! Worth over £60!

Increase your chances of winning:

1) Link to the competition on a blog or forum and email us the link for an automatic extra entry!

2) Add a new review to any product that you have used on the site and receive an extra entry- be sure not to mark it as anonymous though so we know who to give the extra entry to!

3) Add a comment to any post on the Really Pants Blog to be awarded an extra entry.

4) Make any 5 posts over on the Forum for yet another chance of winning! We will draw one winner randomly with an "Online Number Generator" and will notify the winner by email.

Closing date for entries 15.09.09

Here in England we don't always get a lot of hot sunny weather. So, when we do, we really appreciate it. We decided to do a spot of aqua learning in the pool. Of course, it is all educational.

Here is moi.

As a child, I enjoyed History. However it was marred by the use of textbooks and a constant obsession on the teacher's part of world war 2 and aspects of the Victorians. I guess you could say the teaching of History in my school left quite a lot of gaps!

With my children I have decided to take a chronological approach. So we started at the very beginning when God created the Earth 6,000 years ago. We have used a lot of 'living books' in our History studies, which have been very enjoyable. We are currently reading, Our Island Story and the story of John Calvin.

Children are natural explorers, so we enjoy discovering places of Historic interest and I guess there is History to be found where ever you go! I often pass somewhere and wonder what it would be like if you could turn the clock back and see what really happened. What were the people really feeling and was it in line with the accounts we have today?

We are blessed in England to have a rich historical heritage. Castles, cathedrals, churches, battlefields, homes, woodland. They each tell their own story.

Recently we went wild berry picking in the Welsh mountains. The berries are called wynberries and they are like blueberries, except smaller and more potent!

We picked the berries up here:

Doesn't look like much, but the berries are hidden underneath the clumps of purple heather.

All in all, it was a great day and we picked about 8 pounds of them!

Unfortunately on the way back our car battery went flat and we weren't going anywhere! So after calling out breakdown we arrived home at 4;30a.m. Phew! It was a long day.

Irresistably cute!

We have decided to keep Smokey Joe, he is the grey and white one. The others have gone to new homes. As you can see, Smokey Joe is a real climber and a feisty little kittty!