Leaflet Academy

Preparing for a sad farewell

4:45 PM, May. 12, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

We just got a phone call; my beloved grandmother has started refusing food and drink, and they believe she has two weeks to live. This isn't really a surprise since she had a stroke over a year ago and I've said goodbye to her several times since, thinking it might be the last time.

We are trying desperately to see her sometime in the next week, but there are some difficulties in our path. Please pray that we can get things sorted so that we can see her quickly, and please pray that she hangs in long enough for her to see us.

I love this woman.

Aussie teacher acted inappropriately

9:13 PM, May. 9, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

...but may be reinstated anyway.

Here is the news article about it. Apparently, a grade one teacher posed naked in a magazine with her husband, and was shocked to find that she was suspended over it. Now the parents of her students are signing petitions to get her reinstated.

How's that for a role model for your impressionable five year old?

Maths Week!

9:02 PM, May. 6, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Well, I have a confession to make. You see, school didn't go so well once I hit the morning sickness. And being a first year homeschool mum, this worried me. A lot. But I kept reminding myself that we started school early, so we were at least a month ahead, and she has already gotten far ahead in her favourite subjects anyway. The only subject that really worried me was math.

For math we are using Prof B's maths. It is EXCELLENT! I honestly cannot recommend it enough. But Jasmine has found this last lesson a little trying. Then we had a couple of weeks' break. So today I announced that we would get back into formal schooling with 'maths week'.

For this week, we will only do maths. We will do it in two short sessions a day, so she will not be spending a long time at it. And we started by keeping it light and easy, and revising things she needed, both from an earlier lesson (her basic addition facts) and the current lesson that she was stuck on.

She did amazingly well, and loved it, and didn't mind in the least that we did maths twice. This morning she used the chart to count from one to one hundred, and this evening she used the chart to count from one hundred to two hundred. And complained when I wouldn't let her continue!

And this from the girl who hated counting to big numbers just a few weeks ago!

And after looking at the lessons in the book I see that she's almost halfway through them anyway; and being in Australia we don't hit the halfway mark of the school year until June. I'm certain she will do better when we get back to addition and subtraction sums, she loves doing the 'written math', it's just the counting she's had problems with.

Honestly, I think a little break and a different approach sometimes works well.

Next week we will add in her other subjects, but as I said she's on track with them anyway. I think we'll need to use the library heavily at the end of the year to supplement her work when the bookwork is done. Our main problem has been that most English curricula assume that year one students will spend the first half of the year learning to read, and Jasmine was reading well above grade level when she joined. I'm sure next year she'll slow down a bit.

So yes. I'm just really pleased. I thought I had been failing in something, and instead it looks like it has worked out for the better.

Today was a public holiday...

11:00 PM, May. 5, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

So we didn't do school.

Oh, Jasmine did a page of maths and learned about place value, but that's just because she was asking about people's ages and knowing that grandma was 46 and grandad was two years older naturally lead to maths.

That's right, we did some Spanish, but that's only because the kids watched Dora the explorer and we wanted to look up some Spanish colours online and practice them.

We discussed the spelling of words that end in 'ight', but that's just because Jasmine wanted to write a label for a drawing she did.

We discussed rhyming words too, that just came up in conversation.

Of course there was singing and drawing; they're just plain fun. Reading too.

We enjoyed socialization when the Home Icecream man came to the front of the house, and then when we ate ice blocks in the backyard.

And we practiced Psalm 1:1, Jasmine is trying to learn the whole of Psalm 1 for a contest in a few months (it only has six verses).

So yes, today was a public holiday, so we didn't do school. But goodness, I love homeschooling!

What an insane month!

10:14 PM, May. 3, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Wow.

To explain what's been going on, Ken and I are on a low income as he decided to go back to university to improve his job options. This was to be his last year at university, and then we could get our finances on track.

Then we got hit with the positive pregnancy test.

Now, honestly, I love children. I love all my children, and I welcome any pregnancy that comes my way. But that doesn't mean that a pregnancy could never cause worries. Having a baby, when we don't have enough seats in our car for another baby, and no glimmer of financial improvement in sight was a little scary. But we decided to trust in God and see what would happen.

The first thing was that Ken decided to look for a job. Just a casual job, so that he could continue his university studies. After all, he's nearly finished, and if he could get a better job next year that would really help.

So he got a casual job doing night fill at a local supermarket. Then within two weeks he was told he was getting a promotion to a full time position. They will work around his university schedule, AND church services, and aren't even phased by the fact that I'm pregnant and he'll need to take some time off in October to look after the kids while I'm in hospital. AND he loves the job, AND he's good at it.

Well, he's obviously good at it, that's why he's getting the promotion.

So, we have an increase in finances.

Secondly, we had to look at getting a larger car. Otherwise known as Getting Further Into Debt. Knowing nothing about people movers, we did a look online and came to the conclusion that we're looking at spending about $10k. Ouch.

I was talking to a friend about this, and she said, 'Why $10k? We're selling ours for $3000'. So I looked at it. It's an 8 seater that's been looked after pretty well. It doesn't have aircon yet, but that's ok. We're hoping that Ken will get time to look at it early next week, but we've looked at reviews of the car online and it seems to be a pretty reliable model. My friend and I agreed that if a young guy at church who has a very good knowledge of mechanics looks at it and ok's it, we'll probably buy it.

Now, in Australia the government is trying to combat our aging population by paying women to have babies. So we'll get $5k after the baby is born. My mil has already offered us a short term loan of that amount of money. So we pay $3k for the car, install some aircon and fix the window locks, and we're laughing. We don't have to go into debt for this car, and Ken's new job means we can be paying off our old debts faster.

Ok, we don't know for sure that we'll get this car yet, as I said we're waiting for a mechanical evaluation. BUT isn't God good? When something happens that looks to blow you out of the water financially, and instead it helps you get OUT of debt faster, it's just amazing.

Of course we're looking at some other ways of decreasing our general living costs; for example we're going to invest in some modern cloth nappies - I wish I'd known about them when I had Jasmine! Oh well.

Anyway, God is good, and full of surprises.

Tired and Cranky

7:48 AM, Apr. 28, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Hi all. I am feeling very tired and sorry for myself right now. Ken has been working night shift for the last two weeks now, and we still haven't adjusted to the routine. So between that and the pregnancy, I'm not getting much sleep. With keeping up with three kids, I can't get much rest during the day. I wanted to rest yesterday afternoon, but Ken wanted me to take Jasmine to Little Athletics because she had to sign up and he hates filling out forms.

So I went to bed thinking I could finally get my rest. I even promised myself I could sleep in, since Ken isn't working tonight.

Nope.

Was woken up around 1am. Ken had a vomiting bug. By three we had the kids up and were packing them into the car to take Ken to the hospital. It's now 7.30am, we are home, Ken is fine but feeling terrible, and I AM TIRED!!!!!!!!

Now the kids have had barely any sleep but they've been up for so long they were feeling awake by the time we got home, so we told them they could watch tv for a little bit and then go to bed for a nap. I don't really feel I can ask too much of the poor things today, they have tried so hard to be good all morning. Ken's in bed. He needs a rest, he needs to get better. He said when he gets up I can have a rest, but I can't, I have some errands that just have to be done today, and I really doubt he'll be up to them.

Strangely enough, although I severely doubt we will get any bookwork done today, we have done 'school'. We had a conversation with Jasmine about how it becomes morning at midnight, even though the sun isn't up yet. We saw the sun rise through the hospital window, and we talked about the meanings of tricky words like 'consequences', 'results', and 'actions'. These words have been covered in her social studies book, but she has struggled with them so it was good to discuss them in a real life context.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go change a really, really, smelly nappy

God is so GOOD!

5:43 PM, Apr. 24, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Well I had a stressful night last night, and the car went in for a service this morning, so I didn't get to the doctor until this afternoon. I saw the GP and he sent me to the hospital anyway. And there....

I got my ultrasound scan!

AND!!!!!

Baby is fine! Everything is developing well, I'm exactly 14 weeks along. Everything is proportionate, heart is beating well.

We're having a baby! And I am just so happy! Can you imagine just how amazing it was to see my baby on the screen, moving around, perfectly oblivious to all the worry I've been through?

Anyway, apparantly there was a small cyst that burst last night. It's a normal part of pregnancy because to start with the ovaries support the baby, and then after that the placenta takes over, and the cyst that was there is no longer needed. They think that that is what caused my pains.

So, thanks to everybody who prayed for me. Isn't God good?

Oh yes, and the sonographer thinks we're probably having a boy, and while she didn't want to sound too certain, even I could see a little something.

Prayer Request

8:18 AM, Apr. 24, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Hi all. I'm about 13 weeks pregnant, and I have a BIG prayer request. Last night I started having braxton hicks contractions. No big deal except these were three minutes apart, and lasted about an hour or so.

I really started to get emotional, at which my husband worked out that I needed to talk to someone, so I rang the maternity unit at the hospital and the midwife said that it is not normal at this stage of pregnancy. She asked me to try and rest, and if it got better to see a GP today, and if it didn't to go straight up to the emergency department.

Then I rang a dear friend of mine, even though it was late, and asked her to pray. She did, and assured me that she would keep me in her prayers.

I went to bed and they did settle down. They got further apart, and were much gentler. Then they went away. I had a good cry and a lot of prayer, but eventually I was able to sleep. You know how when you've vomitted a lot, then after you get better you still have abdominal pains just from the work you've done? That's how I feel this morning, so I know it wasn't just a bad dream.

There's been no blood, and no strong pain or anything, which are both good signs.

So today I have to go to the doctor. Which is great, considering today is the day we've finally managed to book the car in for a service which it desperately needs. As in, Ken has to stick a litre and a half of water in the car in the morning to drive it around for a while without overheating. We were hoping we could get that fixed today. We'd originally told them they could have the car all day; now we're asking them to please finish with the car as soon as possible so I can get to a doctor, or at least ring us and let us know if they can't so I can make alternative arrangements. I really don't want to pay for a taxi, but I can't walk to the doctor with what's been happening, knowing that walking can make it worse.

So: please pray! Pray that the car gets fixed - and we can afford it, lol. Pray that I can get transport to the doctor. Pray that I can get a doctor's appointment. But most of all, please pray that my baby is ok!

Oh yes, and just to complicate things further, tomorrow is a public holiday in Australia (Anzac Day) so I can't just see a doctor then, even if I wouldn't have worked myself into a panic by then!

P.S. Ken just got back from putting the car in; they said they'd get it done as quickly as possible. Isn't that good?

Great post on global warming...

3:53 PM, Apr. 23, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

But unfortunately, I can't take credit for it. Go here!

Online Safety Concerns

11:04 AM, Apr. 22, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

As a parent, I have become aware of some online safety concerns. Don't share your email address: you might receive abusive emails. Don't give any personal details: you might have someone nasty find you in real life. Don't share photos: they can be photoshopped by ped*philes.

But yesterday I came across a different issue that I hadn't really thought about before.

My husband and I occasionally play an online game called Runescape together. Yesterday I overheard a frightening conversation between two players. One seemed to be a teenager who identified himself as being very depressed. The other was I don't know who, and was trying to counsel this other person.

Now, this is obviously not an appropriate conversation to be having in public chat in an online game. But anyway.

The teen was talking about his problems to this person he obviously trusted but didn't know in real life. In fact they said that they hadn't even met ingame for two months. The other person broke the rules of the game twice by asking for real life information; what State the teen lived in, and what jobs his parents did.

The alarm bells were ringing and I reported him for abuse on both accounts.

The conversation went worse, and the other person managed to convince the teen that all his problems were caused by his parents, and that they are responsible for his suffering.

Anything I said was immediately treated with disdain. "We weren't talking to you" Yeah? Well try talking in private chat!

Anyway, there was nothing I could do except warn the teen that he was in danger (which I did), report the abuser (which I did) and pray (which I did). Then I changed worlds and moved on.

But it did open up to me a whole new era for online abuse; strangers accessing our children and stealing their hearts from their parents. Now my kids don't access the internet without supervision, and with the oldest only five they do NOT play games that allow conversations between players.

The internet can be a wonderful place, full of information and friends and interactive entertainment. But it can also be a dangerous place, and it's definitely worth staying cautious around it.

Still here

9:24 PM, Apr. 19, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Hello. I can't remember what I've posted lately and what I haven't, lol. Ken's started his new job and he's really enjoying it. Savannah has been a little hyper lately regardless of the fact that we are trying to stick to failsafe-ish meals. I suspect that the problem is the brightly coloured smarties we have been giving her for toilet training rewards. Jaidyn said a new word today: 'Dora'. Apparantly he likes Dora the Explorer as much as Savannah does.

Jasmine has been very helpful lately. She has insisted on learning how to change nappies, and we let her change some wet ones occasionally. For which she thanks us profusely. She is a strange child sometimes. She did a full amount of school work today, despite the fact that I told her it was a Saturday and she doesn't have to. And she enjoyed it.

I am so glad that Jasmine is our first child. If we had a full on child first, instead of such a helpful one, I think I'd be in real trouble around now!

The pregnancy is continuing well, in that all signs point to it continuing :) It's driving me batty. Some days I feel fine, and on other days I get absolutely exhausted and breathless after doing nothing. I never know how I'm going to feel, and I don't know how to plan for it. When I'd had a string of good days I thought I'd chance a walk to the shops, and ended up so sick and tired that I really regretted it.

I'm sure it is too early to be feeling like this!

I have my first hospital appointment on Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope I get someone a bit better to talk to than the GPs I've found so far.

Tomorrow is a huge day, I have no idea how well I'll cope with it. Sunday school and then church in the morning, I'm supposed to play the cello in the service. Then Jasmine has little athletics in the afternoon (although Ken will take her to that) and then church again at night. I'm supposed to play cello again then but the orchestra leader has told me to not overdo things.

I love my children, but honestly each pregnancy seems to get worse!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!

12:03 AM, Apr. 17, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Ok, I know that all caps is very bad protocol online. It annoys me no end. It is interpreted as yelling. But honestly I feel like yelling that title, I am just so happy. God is so good.

You see, I have a niece. I actually have several, but there is only one that this post is about. She is a beautiful little girl. Her parents are separated, her mother is unsaved and her father is acting it. She has seen far more in her little life than any child should. No, she hasn't been abused, but she has seen adults behaving badly.

A few years ago we decided to move away, and it turned out to be a good move, but my heart ached for this little girl. We've been praying for her a lot, and my eldest daughter in particular has been praying fervently for her salvation. We just got word tonight that through contact with my sister, and her own mother allowing her access to christian books (provided by my sister), this little girl has chosen to be saved.

God is so good. Thank you God for saving this precious child. Continue to be with her and protect her from life's circumstances. Thank you for answering our prayers. Thank you for loving little children.
Amen.

And some people who read this blog might know who I'm talking about. I'm not mentioning names because I am aware of internet safety issues, and while I have chosen to use my own children's first names here, I will not make that choice for someone else's child. So please remember that if you comment.

I could kick myself

6:12 PM, Apr. 11, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Well it had to happen. Someone posted a post and I left a comment. Then I went away and cooked tea. The woman's predicament was heavy on my heart, and as I cooked I realised that I hadn't answered as appropriately as I should have (since I made the first mistake to open my fat mouth, or move my fat fingers, as the case may be).

So, no biggy. Just come back and edit or delete my comment once tea was over. Right? Except now I can't find the post. It has been bumped out of the top 100 list. I had assumed that there would be a feature for tracking your previous comments, but I can't find one - just something for tracking the messages I've received, which are strangely plentiful, since I do not know anyone here in real life.

I had planned to go back, delete the comment, and then send a pm to the person in question in case they had already read it, explaining why the subject is dear to my heart, and what my understanding of the bible's position on the matter is. But now I can't. I don't think my comment was offensive to the blogger at all (thank goodness) but I don't think it was as loving as it should have been to someone that they posted about; since as she said, he may have been a victim himself.

Anyway, if you come here mad because I left a comment you don't agree with, I'M SORRY. I'm human, and this is simply evidence that I, like everyone else, makes mistakes. I will try and be more careful with posting online in future.

Bad Parenting

1:47 PM, Apr. 10, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

This is an interesting article about modern parenting.

My sweet Jaidyn

12:12 PM, Apr. 10, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Jaidyn is learning new words, and boy is he proud! He is now saying the names of every family member. He calls Savannah 'Savvy', Jasmine 'Jassie', Ken 'Daddy', and me 'Mummy'.

The only problem is that being one he cannot pronounce many consonants correctly. So they sound like 'Gaggy, Gaggy, Gaggy, and Mummy'. LOL! Poor misunderstood boy.

He's having a problem at the moment. He needs a morning nap, but he's lost his dummy. Deliberately, I suspect. He actually has three or four of them, but where they've gone I cannot fathom. I gave him his dummy just a couple of hours ago, and now it cannot be found anywhere. The girls and I looked for it until I was very out of breath and feeling just plain sick (pregnancy bites) so eventually I had to cave in and put him to bed without it.

So he's not sleeping. Aaarrrrgggghhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life, the Universe, and Everything

9:34 PM, Apr. 6, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Well Ken was just watching a weird documentary on tv where this scientist who has spent his life studying one thing (and he is definitely eccentric, you should hear his weird little giggle) was talking about it all. I wasn't too interested, but at the end, the scientist said there were three questions that he wanted to answer:

1. How did the universe come into being?
2. How did life come into being?
3. How does the human brain work?

Well, I know the answers to questions 1 and 2, cause I believe Genesis chapter 1. He will never come to the answers of any of those questions, because he has already rejected truth.

Yay! I'm smarter than some super geeky scientist! Woohoo!

Lol!

Jesus said, I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.

The Storm

4:26 PM, Apr. 6, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

I have heard a saying recently, 'Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes God calms the child within the storm.'

I have found this to be true.

I guess I don't really want to go into details; but we were in a bit of a financial storm this fortnight. Throughout, I told my husband that God would provide. Funnily enough, no new money arrived, but I was able to use what we already had with the money we did have to provide food for our family for the rest of the fortnight. And I felt calm throughout.

Then, today, God gave us $20. Now we can have something a little bit nicer for the last couple of days of this fortnight. Isn't God good?

God truly calmed the storm. But he calmed the child first.

And I must say, God gave us $20, not more... he didn't give us enough to go have a blow out, or buy all our favourite meals; he gave us enough to get just that little bit more. And boy, it is appreciated!

Pregnancy Update

10:55 AM, Apr. 2, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Well, as far as I can tell I'm about ten weeks pregnant. I'm breathless. Seriously. I'm having trouble breathing most of the time. It gets far worse if I get up and do something, but even when I sit down and rest it takes forever to get back to normal. I've been trying very hard to not push myself, and feeling really bad about the state of the house.

I know I may well be worrying about nothing. But this is my fourth pregnancy and I've never had anything like this before. Not this early in the pregnancy. I looked up 'What to expect when you're expecting' and they said that I shouldn't be experiencing this until the second trimester!

Now I know that this may just be one of those things. No pregnancy is text book. But I would like my pregnancy to be textbook so I don't have to worry. Although I would anyway, of course!

Anyway, there are some thoughts going through my mind at the moment:

- asthma?
- just a random weird thing in this pregnancy
- something's wrong
- I'm further along than I thought I was
- twins (apparantly symptoms are stronger with twins)

Statistically speaking, I think number 2 is the most likely. And I'm probably overreacting. I hate my doctor but I've decided to go see her anyway. She bulk bills, so it won't cost me anything. And who knows, I might get that ultrasound I've been desperate for!

Edit: Well, I wasn't able to make an appointment to see my normal doctor, but I did get to see another doctor. He is across town, but he bulk-bills so it was still free. He took me very seriously and had me booked in for some blood tests. He seems to be most concerned about the possibility of anaemia. He also mentioned he might need me to get an x-ray, which I'm not too thrilled about. He did say they would wait until I'm at least 12 weeks along to minimise risk to bub. I guess if I do get seriously ill and they can't treat it because they don't have the information they need it might harm bub as well.

All in all, I do like him much better than my normal doctor. I might just stay with him for now.

Well just when you thought the world couldn't get any weirder...

10:28 AM, Apr. 2, 2008 .. 3 comments .. Link

Nine year olds in the US have been caught plotting to handcuff their teacher, put electrical tape on her mouth, hit her on the head with a paperweight and cut her with the broken steak knife they brought to school.

Read the article here

Honestly, what is going through these kids' minds? What are their homes like? Is there something wrong with the teacher?

I can't really get my head around this. Thank goodness I know what's going on in my kids' lives on a daily basis!

An excellent article on Horton

2:57 PM, Apr. 1, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

This is an excellent article on the stereotype presented in the new film, Horton Hears a Who.

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