Good bye door bell

In our effort to simplify, our doorbell is going. No - we didn't look to do that LOL
When the batteries etc died again and it looks like the whole thing needs replacing - it is about 9 years old... I said: 'duh' doorbells are a modern inconvenience!
We may well get a 'knocker' but in the meantime, a note that says 'please knock' will suffice.
In my work, I go to too many homes where the doorbell doesn't work. Very frustrating... I politely ring it and wait, then ring again, pressing a little harder. After a good 5 minutes in the cold I decide it's not working, knock on the door and voila!, someone comes to the door!
So... by no door bell, we don't have to think about whether or not it's working and we don't have to keep paying for batteries.
I love a simplified life!

Timothy's Birthday Cake

The Cake

With Aunty Jacqui

I couldn't resist this one of him caught discovering toilet paper!

This weeks craft

The bread I've been baking

Say NO to Gadget Clutter!

In my endeavours to be clutter free PLUS create a warm and welcoming home for my family - all at the same time, I am finding that while I am getting rid of boxes of 'stuff' to the op shop - there are still items I am considering on adding to our home!

I am being careful though and am discovering that there are some gadgets that IMO are just not worth having take up space! Our society has become gadget and 'stuff-a-holics' and we're easily conned into buying what we don't need.

2 in particular come to mind at the moment... a sushi maker and a bread machine.

I'd never made sushi but then watched a friend make it - with a gadget that helped get it right... a lot simpler than the one I've pictured here. I thought of course 'ooh, I want one'... but decided to give it a go the traditional way first. What can I say... it was faster and simpler and a whole lot less cleaning up without the gadget! Yay - I can keep the empty shelf space and the cash!

Bread machines... have been all the rage. Most people I know use it a few times then it gets sent to the cupboard for the odd time they use it - or loan it out to friends or sell it on ebay LOL

Well, I have been experiementing with bread recently and can't think WHY I would want to clutter up my home and deplete by cash just to have a bread machine!
I have a recipe that takes no more than 10mins hands on for baking. It only needs less than a minute of kneading and you can make it any shape you like!

Why oh why would I want a bread machine that requires storage, dusting and an initial investment when I can make 2 loaves for $1 in less than 10mins hands on???

A harmonious and productive home is uncluttered.... pass the sushi maker on!

Sunday's at Home

I am really looking forward to today - even though we've had a change of plans. We were to be going to Geelong so I could attend a friend's baby shower but my back is still not good enough from last week to handle the 1.5-2hours in the car each way :(

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade

And so with that, it's on with our day!

Church this morning - leaving here in about an hour. I am really enjoying this church.
Then this afternoon I have a fun craft activity to do with the children, I will start baking some sourdough bread and I am going to deal with the paperwork 'hot spot' that is growing.
Lunch is leftovers and dinner will be Irish stew with dumplings... a great 'comfort' meal.
Pete's going to clear out some of the gutters and do a bit more sorting in the garage.

Well, I must be off - need to check that the kitchen is done before we head off for church!

Nathaniel's Lego creations are getting better and better every time he plays. I am so glad we've stayed away from kit Lego and instead left it to the children's imaginations, the way Lego was, when I was a child! Children are given too much 'ready to do' things these days and it drives me NUTS! LOL
This one here that you can see, is not yet finished - I don't have the latest photo of it... it now has a roof and on a safe shelf (ie out of Timothy's reach) so that he can add to it again and again.
We're going to add to the Lego collection in a big way once our house settlement loosens finances... and the more I see him work with the small collection he has, the more I am excited about this!

I've been blessed this week with a walking partner and new friend all in the one lovely lady. We went twice this week for an hour and next week are aiming for 3 times. It felt so good to get out in the fresh air and so wonderful to talk with another christian interested in what the bible says about life, instead of making the bible fit a pre-chosen lifestyle.

My back is up and down since the episode last Sunday... praying it heals quickly and I'm hoping the walking will contribute to that.

Live Purposefully

"So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention is paid to the passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long run can have a more devastating effect." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Look carefully then how you walk!
Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but
as wise - sensible, intelligent people; making the very most of the time - buying up each opportunity - because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-17

Music Gets It Done!

I've found 'our' CD at last... one we had but hadn't used for this purpose.

Let me rewind...

There's a lot of home making jobs to be done at our place... more than the average family. Because we actually live here LOL
We educate here and we work from home. And contrary to popular opinion, having hubby working from home does NOT decrease the workload for me, it increases it. Somethings are definitely more manageable but over all, it is an increase in work to be done. Same as having the children at home with me versus at an institute for education. They make their mess here, not there LOL.

My aim as a parent is to raise godly children that are a blessing to others and that can manage their own homes with excellence, once that day arrives.

To this end, the children are a part of the daily home making jobs. I have a 1yo... a little too young still, but not for long. My 5 & 6yo's are plenty old enough though!

We start the day with our jobs and this is where the CD comes in: Today I added in a CD - and when the CD is done, we're done.
We used Andre Rieu 'Fiesta'. One I bought by recommendation of flylady, so I should have known long ago that it would be great for this purpose!

In the hour the CD was playing (nice and loud!) we got a lot of things done.... table cleared and wiped, floor wiped and swept, DW emptied from last night and re stacked with breakfast, all beds made and rooms tidied, dirty wash collected and a load put on, yesterday's washing all folded and put away, benches wiped, the cat food area cleaned up, carrots peeled and then dinner 1/2 cooked, curtains and blinds opened, rubbish bin emptied and re-lined. Our whole list and a little more. When the CD stopped, we stopped.

So as of now - this is our home making jobs CD!

My Sunday at Home - asides from a slipped disc that has kept me bed ridden much of the day was spent doing this ... a productive evening is better than nothing!

Before:



















After (duh!):

This weeks menu

This is what we will be eating this week

Mother's day - made to order...
Breakfast: Eggs Benedict in bed with hot coffee
Lunch: Beef casserole with rice and carrots
Dinner: Left overs
Monday
Breakfast: Porridge
Dinner: Roast chicken & vegies
Tuesday
Breakfast: Tex Mex Grits
Dinner: Spaghetti
Wednesday
Breakfast: Porridge
Dinner: Savoury mince Pancakes
Thursday
Breakfast: Beans on toast
Dinner: Tuna casserole
Friday
Breakfast: Porridge
Dinner:Hot dogs n vegies
Saturday
Breakfast: Eggs on toast
Dinner: Vegie rice

Browsing blogs... such a fun time waster

I've started my mother's day early LOL... have just been reading a bunch of blogs I've been given links to.

I love this article on obedient children. I've had quite a few conversations about such things recently... and not all good! I'm looking forward to reading their dating/courtship section as well.

And then I've also been looking at home decorating. Check this out - I'd need someone else to come in and clean if I wanted to live like this PLUS have a life LOL

This site has a lot of good stuff but my favourite right now is this, the most gorgeous little girl singing a song. There's lots of good reading here on the girl talk site, so grab a cuppa

Another easy recipe - Cheese Muffins

I don't have a picture of these because they all umm... got eaten?

These are ideal fresh... they don't really hold up all that well once cooled.

They are GREAT when needed at short notice... to add to a meal, for unexpected guests, or for hungry children at morning tea or breakfast. It makes about 6 big muffins.

1 cup flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2tsp of a salty seasoning
mix these together
add 1 cup of grated cheese and mix in
Add 3/4c milk and mix again

Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake in a hot oven till golden... 5-10mins

Enjoy!

And if you love them lots, it's easy to double the batch... just don't do the extras for storage :)

Coconut Cookies

I have succumbed - I will now call them cookies and get over it!

About 55 cookies for less than $3 - plus they are delicious! How does that sound?

One home brand butter cake mix 85c
One cup of coconut 50c
1/2 cup olive oil 70c (veg oil would be cheaper)
1tsp coconut essence 5c?
3 eggs 70c (free range would be more costly)

Mix it all together, spoon onto baking trays (teaspoons) and bake for 10-12 minutes, till golden.
Cool on baking tray for 5mins before moving to cooling rack

I think from now on the children can make this one - it's sooo easy

PS: Now that I am munching on them, I will be doubling the coconut essence next time around

Windmill... calling my name

aah, one of the greatest joys of home education: supply shopping!

I'm organising a group of 8 children for a 7 week craft class... all just so I get to buy the supplies!
haha... not really, but it's a fun part of it.

Art & craft is messy and if you're just doing it for a couple of children, quite expensive as decent supplies come in bulk packs :(
To get over that hurdle I am organising a group to meet at our place each week to do a variety of activities... magnets, painting, pop up cards, puppets and so on.
The other parents LOVE the idea because it's cheaper than enrolling them in one of the professional classes available but pretty much the same on offer PLUS it's not them having to get crafty and organised and then cleaned up after!!

oh - and the windmill reference... one of my favourite supply shops.
I hear Zart art is good... I am yet to investigate - I promise I will though!

Just 'be'

I was reading Melissa's blog earlier today - The Vintage Homemaker, and read her Sundays at home post.
I love this idea and will work towards it myself. I have been craving having my Sunday's back and made a decision to keep all work off them and to just BE at home about 2-3 weeks ago - but would you know it... this month I have a baby shower, a bridal fair AND mothers day all on different Sunday's LOL

We do a pretty good job here of keeping up with the house, so it's not so much that. It's the chance to do the extras, the special touches. For me it's the chance to bake... because there's time to clean up. Time for craft - again, time to clean up after. To get things done without the phone ringing. To play with the children without watching the clock.
Mostly though, it's the chance to just be.

That's what I love... the time to 'Just, be'.

And so it begins

Things change. I thought I'd never do a blog. And I thought that again only last week.

I want somewhere to keep everyone updated with what's happening in the family - without having to chase them and shove photo's down their throat!

I'll be posting our home education adventures here along with forms and activities I create by pdf rather than emailing them to everyone that asks.

Nothing to say right now, other than Welcome to our corner of the WWW


Horror of the day: Cadbury have downsized their family blocks to 200g