purpleflowerpatchinOZ - Homeschool Blogger

Checkmate!

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:33:00 -0600

We’ve been spending a fair bit of time indoors over the last week so we thought it a good idea to get ‘out and about’ (to quote a young Gerald Durrell).

With morning tea packed, we headed out to Lake Monjimup where there is a large outdoor chess set. It’s quite deserted out there so we may have been the only ones to use the set in quite a while.

We love our chess, the kids are members of the local chess club, but to play chess from this perspective I find quite a challenge!

(I even considered bringing our chess set with us so I could ‘see’ the game from a smaller vantage point!)

I lost my match against hubby, who also beat 15yo son in a previous match. The third match was a stalemate between both kids – but they had a lot of laughs!

Playing this way certainly worked out the muscles. The pieces are hand-made from iron, a project donated by the local Scouts.

I’ll look for a chance to play normal chess in the next few days so I can hopefully reclaim some lost dignity….if that does not work I’ll move on to Scrabble…then Yahtzee…then….

A blog on the move!

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:17:00 -0600

I have loved blogging on homeschool blogger, and I thank God sincerely for all the wonderful friends/bloggers I have met through this medium!

Recently I decided to move to a new blog, though I may occasionally still post here about homeschooling, but for regular entries please come see me at He Knows My Name .

God bless!

Jenny

Hold them in your heart

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:14:00 -0600

Over the last eight years or so I have been deeply grieved as each month passes with the glaring evidence of no new pregnancy to be excited about. So many of my friends, both younger and older mothers, have borne the precious fruit of blessed wombs over and again...and as thrilled as I am for them my own heart aches for what I am missing out on.
This year I finally laid down *my* desires for more children and accepted God's more perfect plan for my life - whatever that entailed.
My womb had already brought forth seven children, then the Lord showed me His pleasure by extending our family tree and allowing me to greet three grandchildren into the world, one I even helped deliver. One of those grandchildren was quickly captured up again into His loving Father arms and awaits my own embrace in heaven. And now there is a fourth little grandchild only weeks away from making his appearance!
Eight years ago He led us to homeschool the youngest two of our brood and this has been more of a gift than I could ever have imagined. Each day a blessing, a trial, a miracle of love given and returned, a renewed hope.
God has been faithful to me always, though I often wander away with my own desires and ideas. In the acceptance of my still empty womb this year, I was finally able to accept His knowing what is best and I put my complete trust in that, and I asked Him to give me understanding and peace to stay in that place within my heart.
One thing that impacted me was the realisation that my pride had been bruised by my inability to have more children. I saw myself as a failure, I worried that others would think I did not want more children or I was doing something to prevent a pregnancy.
I felt I had failed as a mother so far and wanted an opportunity to 'do it again' and make up for the inadequacies of the past...I was envious that friends who felt the same had been given just such an opportunity.
I am almost at the end of my 49th year, and I see that much of the last decade has been spent pining for something that, at times, consumed my heart and made me blind to the treasures already in my care. A regret I have is that I could have built stronger relationships with some of my children in that time, relationships which now are tentative and fraught with heartache.

But God is Goodness, and Light, and Hope. He is my Teacher, my Father, my Saviour. What relationships I cannot save, He can. What I have not the understanding to learn, He can teach me. What hope I have lost, He can revive.

I am blessed beyond measure, and accepting what I *have before me now* is the chance I needed to strengthen the beautiful family still close to my heart. I am not looking back, but looking forward to the important things, the people, the love of Jesus, in my life and the life of our home.

I encourage you to look before you - what do you have already that you are not treasuring or nurturing as you should? Is your heart pining for something God is holding back from you?

Let your desires go, and embrace in your heart those gifts bestowed with love from above. Nurture them, tenderly embrace them, hold them deep within your heart and ponder them.

May Our Lady's example of total trust in what God had planned for her be your guide.

Christmas Meme ....

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:34:00 -0600

I have been tagged by Lynn over at Signs and Wonders, so here goes!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper – its fun, to us, to rip the paper off presents so we tend to imagine everyone feels that way. And gift bags hold no mystery.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? December 1st

4. When do you take the tree down? It will stay up until Epiphany

5. Do you like eggnog? I’ve never tasted the real stuff, but I love the fake…does that count?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Baby Alive

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? We have a felt scene that my 13yo daughter made when she was 8. It’s so beautiful that I could never replace it.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband!

9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Darrel Lea marshmallow nougat Christmas Pudding…I got one every year when I was growing up, but I never liked them.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas With The Kranks – it reminds me that its too easy to be consumed with the trappings of a commercial Christmas and self wants, when people are far more important.

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October, though I tend to make a lot of gifts during the year.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fruit Mince Pies!

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Coloured.

16. Favorite Christmas song? O Come All Ye Faithful

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? The last few Christmases we have been homeless and on the move from one state to another for work, so this year we are definitely staying home.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet…Buzz?

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Its always been Christmas Eve, but this year we are changing tradition and opening on Christmas morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The obsession of shopping, thinking you need to buy things to make people happy, the crowds, the stress on people’s faces instead of the joy of Christ come to the world.

22. Best thing about this time of year? Having Mark home from work, no homeschooling for 6 weeks, being able to meditate on what really matters in our life – Jesus!

I'm tagging Cristina at Juggling Paynes, and David & Lana at Bruggie Tales.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 17:43:00 -0600

Here in the Southern Hemisphere we have awoken to the excitement of St Nicholas Day. The children (both teenagers!) creep carefully to where their stockings have been hung to see if they are filled with gold coins or straw. Expectant fingers carefully touch the base of the stocking - is it heavy or light? Heavy! With lots of yummy gold chocolate coins!

This is only our second St Nicholas Day since joining the Church, but it has fast become a tradition we love. Our favourite St Nicholas story is by Catholic writer Amy Steedman, and the best place we found for information and ideas is the St Nicholas Centre.

For breakfast we feasted on Pfeffernuse, Speculaas and hot chocolate, with the added fun of father dropping 'real' gold coins into the hot chocolates and being St Nicholas for us. After reading Amy Steedman's story we continued on with Maria Von Trapp's memories of her childhood celebrations then finished our reading with an Italian folk story 'The Miller's Tail' which left us laughing loudly. I'm now looking forward to finding a recipe for the 'Good Works Cake' and baking it for tonight's dessert. Many recipes and ideas for celebrating can be found on this site.

Our lesson from St Nicholas is one of giving without fanfare. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6 that when we give it is to be in secret. "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be done in secret." St Nicholas is our example of that lesson and today we thank God for the saints who continue to teach us life lessons that glorify God.

Pink Lake

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 04:10:00 -0600

When we move to a new town (and believe me, we have moved to many!) the first weekend is, by tradition, one of sightseeing.

After a visit to the Tourist Information Centre we arm ourselves with a bundle of maps, snacks, a flask of tea, fully charged cameras, the dog – and begin our exploring. Back in July when we first arrived we headed out along the winding tourist road to the Wind Farm, then back to town via Pink Lake. I was excited to view Pink Lake, the literature we had described how at certain times of the year the waters would display various shades of pink and purple, due to the levels of algae, humidity, temperature, and salt (or more accurately - high concentrations of the salt tolerant algae, dunalella salina). Unfortunately that day was not to deliver any shade of pink, the waters were clear blue. We kind of forgot about it after that, even though it is only a 10 minute drive from our home!

Tonight before dinner I suggested we go for a drive, and guess where we went? No disappointment this time – the water was indeed pink!

The edge of the water was solid foam in some places...

...and the smell was quite ‘on the nose’, but it did not dampen the wonder we experienced at standing on the shore of a pink expanse of water. How I marvel at the mystery of God’s Creation!

Seals, sun, surf...summer is here!

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 01:56:00 -0600

The last four days have been hot, hot, hot! Summer has arrived sooner than we expected, but just in time for my husband who bought an old Toyota 4-Runner so he can drive us across all the beautiful beaches that scatter our southern coastline. But more about that later...

Last Thursday daughter and I went for a long beach walk and came across a large male sea lion, resting under the jetty. At first we thought he was injured as the 'local' seal, Sammy, was sporting a large gash across his back, and figuring it to be a shark attack wound we thought this beached sea lion may have suffered a worse fate. We rang CALM to ask them to come check him out and once they arrived they assured us he was just having a snooze. Whew!

Lizzie took some great shots. The first is of Sammy - he is an Australian Sea Lion, a territorial creature, and most days you can watch him playing up to the locals who toss fish carcasses from the jetty. He did not stray far from our sleeping friend, the wildlife ranger informing us that this was *his* beach and he would stand guard until the visitor left.

These next photos are of our beached sea lion...can you see the blob of seal poo behind him?? I stood in it. Yep, I slid and slipped in it, *just* stopping myself from falling flat on my rear in the middle of it! It took plenty of scrubbing in seaweed to get it off my thongs (flip-flops) and it smells worse than I can describe. The kids found this to be highly amusing, as teenagers do...

Back to hubby's desire to take us beach driving. This is his new toy, and the beach we drove to today - Wylie Bay. We're so excited about the summer ahead and are already arming ourselves with maps to out-of-the-way places.

God has given us so much in our marriage, our children being top of the list. Because the years left to us all living together under the one roof is rapidly ticking down (to my mother heart it is racing away!) we want these teenage years to be extra special...filled with family memories that will live on in their hearts always. Making life choices that build on that dream is a priority to us, always asking before we choose an activity "Is this beneficial for the family as a unit?", finding out what the kids would like to do and seeing if we can.

I relish every moment with these beloved beings God gave me. Like Sammy the sea lion I think I am quite territorial when it comes to family.

God bless you immensely today!

Jenny

I think they serve this in Heaven!

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:44:00 -0600

If you know me well, you'll know that my all time favourite dessert is Lemon Meringue Pie..tangy and sweet, with that soft melt-in-your-mouth meringue sticking to the roof of your mouth...mmmmmmmmmmm!!

I came across this quiz at Cristina's blog and wondered just what pie I'd be - Lemon Meringue of course! How could I have doubted that?!

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet.
You always know how to brighten someone's mood, but you're not overly sappy.
In fact, you can be a bit too honest at times. And most people find that refreshing.
While you're always true to yourself, you keep things light. That's how people are able to stomach your slightly bitter outlook.

Those who like you have well refined tastes.
You're complicated - and let's face it - a true enigma.
You enjoy defying expectations, and there are many layers to your personality.
There's not one easy way to define you.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofpieareyouquiz/

Summer is coming!!

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:14:00 -0600

Yes, indeed, I felt it this last Saturday!

The breeze stopped for an entire day and the air was hot...so hot hubby needed to hunt through the spider infested shed to find some pedestal fans as the ceiling fan was not playing the 'cool the family down' game. Oh, how nice it was...no shoes, cold drinks, ice-cream, kids swimming at the beach, cotton shirts...niiiiiiiiiiiice.

Until 6pm. As quickly as it had arrived, it left. The wind whipped up off the water and the rapid cooling of my home began...I sighed. Off went the fans, icecream was swapped for hot chocolates, and the doona was thrown back on the bed from whence it had been rescued just that morning.

But summer will be back - "occasionally" if I take to heart the meanderings of the locals who (by nature of the fact they have lived 80 odd summers in this seaside town) know. So odd for us who have just spent two sweltering hot summers in the Australian desert regions and have an abundance of summer wear lining our wardrobes begging to be worn again.

The upside of living in a cool climate (have I mentioned that between us and the South Pole there is nothing but icy ocean????) is that you always have opportunity to quilt.

As an unfinished quilt lay upon your lap it warms you. You find that you begin to relish snuggling up with a nice cup of tea, a good quilt design to embroider, and some Jane Austen to watch on the telly. And if someone is especially nice they will offer to refill your cup and bring some cake too. That's a very special joy to have at one's disposal. I'll just have to make lots of quilts whilst living here then, shall I?

Those knowledgeable locals also shared with me that they cannot remember more than 8 or 9 Christmases during their 4 score and ten years on God's earth when they did not wear cardigans...now, this is not the hot Southern Hemisphere summer I am used to. Does this mean the end of our family's traditional water fights on Jesus' birthday?? No more outdoor BBQ and sunning ones self while the children shower you in water bombs? The after lunch sleep under the ceiling fans whilst you recover your appetite for another round of BBQ-ing in the arly evening whilst fighting off marauding hoards of killer mosquitoes?? OH! But I love those traditions. Hmmmm....

Okay...new plan to formulate. Perhaps, finally, we can plan on the traditional Christmas Fare of roasted meats and vegetables, mince pies, plum pudding and brandy custard! It certainly would be interesting - and it sounds quite yummy. Perhaps I'll even manage to keep everyone awake after lunch and we can play board games, pull crackers, and sing songs.

Life is a constant carousel of change. Do we run from it or embrace it? Do we give in to despondancy because it's not what we'd hoped for, were used to, planned for - or do we enthusiastically open our hearts and lives to 'all things new'?

My arms are open wide.

God's blessings on you as the Advent Season approaches!

Jenny

PS: I have just finished the cot quilt for my newest grandson, due January! Have a look.

Ask not what we got.....

Wed, 7 Nov 2007 18:52:00 -0600

We’re on the countdown! Two days before youngest son turns 15, and then six weeks to Christmas. Life in our home is a flurry of activity as we all focus on winding up for the year…though winding up has a way of making you feel like you’ve wound right down. Quick – give me a kick-start to get me going again!

Whilst trying to give mostly hand-made gifts again this year, it’s been hard to find hidden moments to work on surprise projects for those living in the same house. For those loved ones who reside on the other side of the country it’s been a breeze (apart from creative mental blocks!) so I’m up to speed with their presents, only lagging behind on the local variety.

Whispers, written notes, and questions abound as the teenagers plan their gift-giving – though truthfully, for the last while, they were still working through the ‘how do we finance this?’ dilemma. My enterprising 13yodd auctioned her collection of Archie comics on ebay and made a small fortune! With that success under her belt she is currently planning the next venture.

But seriously, in this lead up to Christmas my prayer is that we, as a family, can stay focused on the greatest gift, Jesus, and on the truth of what God did for us. He gave.

Too often with the young the focus of Christmas is on the getting…making sure your family and friends know what you want…the consuming expectation of gifts…the biggest focus being on ‘self’. Even though they enjoy ‘giving’ the bottom line is that Christmas is about the ‘getting’.

As Advent approaches we shall be talking to our kids about the true heart of giving, giving as God gave. Giving from a place of LOVE. Giving to bless. Giving to impart the love of Christ. Giving with no thought of getting.

We want them to give in more ways than gifts…to give with their time (doing for others ), with their ears (listening to others), with their eyes (looking at what others show them), with their hearts (sacrificially following the Holy Spirit even when their flesh wants to do otherwise), with their attention (looking for opportunities to make a difference, taking note of others needs and attempting to meet them), giving their whole self over to God’s will.

Too fast the years pass and the day when they will leave to begin lives separate to us will come suddenly, so there is an urgency in our hearts to go over the lessons of the past and refresh their values. Using special times such as Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, marriages, deaths, births, the Eucharist, Feast Days, prayers…those are the opportunities to share God’s ways, His desires for His children, sacrifice, loyalty to Christ, covenants, hope – so many things! This year I want people to ask my children not “What did you get?”, but “What did you give? What did you do for others?”

I hope they ask me too. May this year be the beginning of a long and Godly lesson we carry through life.

God bless you today!

Jenny

PS: For wonderful Advent reading ideas have a look at Lynn's blog.