A moment in time

At about 2.10pm today, this is what was happening here while I was throwing dinner together...

Enjoying time and a book together

Nj wanted afternoon tea so he's making banana pikelets

Timothy and his crocodile face

Fire!

The fun kind thankfully :)

A couple of weekends ago, Nj and Pete went on the annual Father/Son Pyromaniacs Camp with Boys Brigade. It was the 3rd attempt to do this. 2 years ago we didn't have the money. Last year we had paid but it was on the weekend after our move and Pete and I spent the WHOLE Friday night cleaning the house we were vacating, so driving on unknown roads and having a big weekend was not a wise idea for a dad on little sleep, so the plug was pulled.

This year it was all systems go though - and it looks like to me that they had great fun.

Building the huts

Just to burn them down!!

Thankfully they have the CFA on hand every year!

.

First Week as a Mother of 4

A week can make a huge difference - for the first half of the week Charlotte was feeding almost ALL night and then something changed (I suspect my milk being in!!) and now the night's are sane. Each night improving and last night being the best... she slept 7.30-10pm and then from 12-5am and back in bed soon after 6am...which is where she is as I type... and I'm showered and dressed (can I do a happy dance?)
I'm still pretty sore when she latches on for a feed but oh soooo much better than earlier in the week when damage could be SEEN.

Meals are 'coming together' and 2 have been provided by church family - which was enough for 3 dinners. I cook when I can manage it and save the 'heat n eat' ones for the days when me cooking a meal is just not going to happen. Yesterday, Mother's Day, Pete cooked the most awesome roast... I'm thinking a new weekly tradition could be in store?!?!

What's driving me most nuts and wearing me out at the moment is the NOISE... 3 older children that have very little of my attention for the time being, seem to take up so much more HEAD SPACE. As of yesterday though I've been able to pin my extra stress on that and am now thinking through the plan to restore sanity!

I NEED quiet time while I am awake, not just so I can nap.
I NEED to be up early in to the morning to get the children off to a productive start for the day vs a dvd start to the day.
I NEED to know what activities I can put in front of them or direct them to.
I NEED to have a loose daily schedule/plan for everyone.
I NEED to make a list of what they can do to help around the house when I'm unavailable and they are at a loose end.
I NEED to get them out of the house a couple of times a week, for their sanity!

and specifically, I need to figure out a quiet time hobby for Nathaniel - 7.5yo. I'm thinking an electronics kit of some sort might be the go? Melinda has latch hook and will move onto cross stitch etc and while I want my boys to be able to do basic sewing, now is not the time for me to teach him.

For those of you that have boys, what 'quiet, sitting still' hobbies do your boys have?

.

Introducing Charlotte Grace

Born Sunday evening 9.05pm after a speedy labour of 50 minutes.
Weighs 3820g or 8lbs, 7oz; 50cm long.
Sooooo very excited about our new daughter... there's a story there but I'll have to share it later - family calls!

Too Funny!

We've not made the time to teach our eldest two to ride bikes without training wheels till this week - life has just been crazy these last 12 months and more!

So Pete takes Melinda out over Easter and sure enough, within 1/2 an hour she had a hang of it. Needs to practice more to develop the right muscles and reduce wobbliness etc, but all up she's 'good to go'.

On Wednesday afternoon, Nj (7.5) comes to me and asks if he can ride his bike out the front too. I say "without training wheels?" and he tells me "the bike with just one training wheel". I explain that that's not really learning to ride without the training wheels and that if he wants to ride out the front, he can remove his training wheels or wait until Daddy gets home and dad will do it.

Within 5 minutes he comes back in to say the training wheels have been removed and that he's heading out the front to practice. I remind him to not let his younger brother out the front, and then off he goes.

2.21pm I see him wheeling his bike through the side gate - it's about 15m to the footpath
2.25pm I'm BACK inside after heading out to watch him because his sister was YELLING "He's doing it, Nathaniel is doing it!!!!"

Yep, within about 2 minutes, Nathaniel was riding a 2 wheel bicycle.

I guess there are some advantages of leaving it 'late'?

Now I think we just need to raise the seat a little!

.

Surprise Party

One of the children's friends turned 7 on the weekend... we invited them to come for lunch today but made no mention of a birthday surprise **grin**
Melinda and I worked out a menu and planned a cake, Nathaniel helped with balloons and setting the table.
She was sooo surprised and thrilled - it was such fun to do this!

The Cake

Opening Gifts

Enjoying a different kind of lunch than usual!

Laughter at the speed and success of blowing out the candles

A happy day.

.

Disappointed

After 2.5 years and multiple attempts, Timothy will be dedicated at church on Sunday. Without family and friends joining us. Pete is also finally being baptised as an adult. Without family and friends joining us.

Yes, a bit of an ouch.

And in this, I must learn to be content.

A reminder to myself as I move past this...whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

That's what I need to fill my day with.

.

Little helpers

We had such a fun time Saturday night / Sunday morning when my favourite nephews stayed over. Mr4yo and Mralmost2yo.. ooh, he's two this next week!
Anyway, back to our fun....
The boys arrived at 3.30pm, just as the downpour arrived in our part of Melbourne (65mm in 24 hours here)
so Mr4 went outside with Melinda and Nathaniel to dance in the rain and get completely SOAKED... so it was into dry pyjamas by 4pm.
A little bit of indoor play (Timothy and Mr2 had been playing trains while the others got wet) and then it was DVD time on the bed in our room which they thought a wonderful idea... and a bonus when the home made pizza arrived up there for dinner!
Clever hubby laid out large blankets first to catch the crumbs :o)

the little ones aren't quite as enthralled by the movie!

 Into bed once that was over and they all went to sleep right away and didn't wake till just after 7... the most civilised rising we've had with 5 blessings in the house at one time!

A tasty breakfast of eggs and hash browns, big glasses of milk and then it was clean up time.
I asked Melinda to gather the plates for me so I could get the dishes underway and a little 4yo voice says to me 'can I help too Aunty Relle?'  Loved it - so sweet! So he, with much joy, gathered all the empty milk glasses and brought them to the kitchen for washing.

I was reminded of this later in the afternoon (The nephews headed home shortly after 9am) when I was clearing the dry dishes and Timothy comes into the kitchen with an "I help mummy" as he starts to put the glasses away that I'd stacked onto the table for the older ones to put away. He was rewarded with much praise from both Pete and I.

Such joy when they offer to help, vs being asked.

Such joy in the home when we do ALL work together! I'm a believer in jobs from as early on in life as possible.

At the moment home making jobs looks a little something like this

Timothy (2.5)
Feeds the cat
Picks up his own toys
Takes out the recycling with Nj (has been doing this for about 12mo)
Brings his dishes to the sink (occasionally I cringe but no breakages from this yet)
Puts his own socks and undies away
Does lots of 'gofer-ing'... "Timothy, can you please get X for mummy?"

Nj (7)
Folds clothes and puts them away
hangs wet clothes on  the drying rack
Peels vegies
Makes his own bed
Strips sheets off beds for washing day
Brings the bins in on rubbish day
Takes out the rubbish bags
Keeps the toilet paper shelf from running out
Puts dishes away
Removes chairs for floor mopping and then puts them back
Unloads the car after grocery shopping
Changes dirty nappies!!
Sets the table
Working on: learning to vacuum

Melinda (8)
Removes the dish drainers and cleans the draining board
Folds clothes and puts them away
Can make simple lunches like pizza toasts and sandwiches
Peels and chops vegies
Strips sheets off beds for washing day
Puts a load in the dryer and turns it on, empties, folds and puts away once dry
Removes chairs for floor mopping and then puts them back
Unloads the car after grocery shopping
Sweeps and washes the bathroom floor
Sets the table
Working on: washing dishes

There won't be a any rude shocks when these children have their own homes to care for!

What about your children - do they get to help keep the house going too?

(*gasps* as I realise I need to check we have a gift organised for Mralmost2 nephew!)

.

Baking fun

A very productive morning here!

While the children were deep into their own bookwork... I got some serious baking happening. We had some fruit that needed using up. So first, I made a banana loaf... with a bit of this and a bit of that... making up the recipe as I went! 3 eggs, about that much better, 2 bananas, 1c SRF and a few other things

ta da!!

 Then I made some apple muffins - soooo yummy (I can't say yummy about the banana loaf yet as we're yet to try it!)

It was about now that Timothy discovered the sink and began his happy hour of playing with water 

He's more and more keen to turn and pose for a photo these days

And finally, a loaf of bread was ready to go in the oven to be baked

Oh, that's right - and all the while I had creamy rice cooking in the crock pot. Why? Just because I'd never done it before!

The only down side of such fun is the dishes

All done now though :o)

and........

a quick update on yesterday's art (because yesterday's post was about last weeks!!)

It became a 'play and make what you will' session just for Melinda. Nathaniel who is covered in chicken pox at the moment REQUESTED a nap and slept for 3 hours!!!

For a few days Melinda has had idea of building some sort of boat... she was rather pleased to finally be able to 'get around to it'

.

Little Miss Spot-a-Lot

We have chicken pox in the house - I'm guessing from the School Holiday Program the children were involved in 2 weeks ago ... and now we're just waiting for the boys to come out in spots.I have to say she makes a cranky patient when itchy! Hubby has gone to church this morning but the children and I will have family worship here so we're not exposing the congregation to chicken pox or shingles :o)

Melinda with calamine lotion half rinsed off - so looking extra pale and ill!

on the back... pretty similar on the front and she's just starting to get them on her legs too

Choose Life!

The bible tells us that there is both 'DEATH and LIFE in the power of the tongue. It can be easy to think that we choose 'life' when we speak but let me tell you that 'death' sneaks in there and ZAP, does it's damage before you even know it.
Let's think about this in context of children. When we encourage them, it's deliberate and thoughtful... and pretty easy. It's often in response to something they've done and life is pretty relaxed at the moment... "mum, do you like how I just did my hair?" "sure honey, you've done a lovely job - you've been trying lots of new things with your hair, you're getting really good at it"
"mum, do you like this painting?" oh wow, what great use of colour"
or "good job, you've got all those carrots peeled for me" "your reading is coming along really well" and so on. You get the idea!

So what about 'death' in the power of the tongue?

That's when you curse your children.

Yep, you read that right. When you curse your children (or hubby, friend, self etc) Sure, not everyone does this but you'd be surprised who does.... take time to pray and ask God to show you if it's you.

Let me share with you about Ruthie. (name changed for privacy)
Ruthie was a darling little girl I nannied. I lived with her family from 7 weeks before she was born, until she was 3 and a half. I was on duty 5 days a week from 7am till about 8pm. As you could imagine, I knew Ruthie well.
One weekend after I moved out of their home and was no longer the children's nanny, Ruthie came to visit me for the weekend. We had a lovely time together! It was during this time that God showed me how careful one needs to be with their words!
I poured Ruthie a drink at dinner, into a glass as I'd done for quite some time at her place.
She looked at me in horror and said 'oh no, I need a lid! I ALWAYS spill drinks!!

2 things
First - I knew Ruthie and knew this was NOT true
Second - Kids don't come up with phrases like that by themselves!!
My guess is that 'mum', in frustration at an accidental drink spill, snapped out an "aargh! you ALWAYS spill drinks!" and immediately this girl's belief about herself and her skills was changed. When that happens, the behaviour changes too. And spilling drinks would continue to be a problem.

I would suggest that in our day to day lives, we don't recognise when we do this.

Imagine you were the mum in this situation and you had cursed your daughter in this way.
At the end of the day someone asked... "did you encourage your kids today?"... you could probably think for a couple of minutes and come up with a couple of instances.... "yes, when Sammy did his reading today I encouraged him by telling him how much his reading was improving... and when Ruthie came home from creche with a painting I complimented her on the painting and we stuck it on the fridge"
You are then asked "did you say anything that could hinder your child's growth/relationships etc?" ... you would probably again think for a couple of minutes and come up with "no, can't say that I did" unless you'd really LOST THE PLOT at them (coz that is a whole lot harder to hide from LOL)

I've seen more of this in recent years too. As I am around more parents and children now we have our own family. I am so sad for the children being spoken of, and for mine who miss out on doing some things with their friends because the curse has been spoken. A definite, no room to move statement.


"Suzie doesn't like to play outside."
"Matthew doesn't like to play with Lego."
"Lucy doesn't sit quietly in church so we sit up the back."
"Mary doesn't like board games"
"Harry always loses the library books."
and so on!

Said in front of children, **these statements are cursing your children**
They create self beliefs, reinforce self beliefs and make it almost impossible for a child to live outside your statement. Some children are being robbed of joy throughout life by these statements. Seriously!
Hours of free fun can be had from a very young age, right through life if you learn to like a board game or two! Imagine being cursed into losing your library books all through life - cruel!!

Obviously, said in private with friends or mentors as you seek to find solutions, it is not a curse. They are rarely used in this context though.

So, what are the options?

"Suzie prefers inside play and is still learning to enjoy playing outside - how about some time doing both?"
"Matthew hasn't played with Lego much - could you show him some fun things to make? Then in half an hour let Matthew choose what to play next"
"Lucy is still learning to sit quietly in church"
"Mary is still learning to play/enjoy playing board games - which one might she like most?"
"Harry is learning to keep track of his library books - he's getting better since we chatted about keeping them in the same place'

Choose your phrases carefully. Choose life!

What about your friends?
X is always late
X always cancels at the last minute
X never listens

Using statements like these, even in your own mind, can curse your relationship with people because you're stopping yourself looking for and seeing growth in people. These statements assume there is no growth to be seen! How sad to view your loved ones in this way.



Oh Lord, open my eyes and keep me aware of the way I speak of others and of myself. Show me where my words can give life instead of death. Change my heart that I may always look to encourage growth in all whose paths I cross. May I not limit anyone, myself included, with curses that can sneak into my thought life or into my conversations with people. Amen.

.

What a week!

It's been quite a successful and 'blessing filled' week...

Sunday was Girls and Boys Brigade Parade Service at church
Here's Melinda almost ready to go.


We then had a lovely new friend and her children back for lunch... it's extra nice when you find 'easy to get along with' people!

We have gotten much bookwork done with home ed... slowly starting to catch up! Our new maths curriculum arrived - we're moving from 'Easy Learn Maths' to 'Math-U-See'... I'll explain 'why' in another post. In a week or two we will begin the new work. I need to unpack some tools to use with it first - they're in a box around here somewhere!!

I'm pretty impressed with Melinda's writing (8yo) (we're not moving to cursive for a few years yet) I will admit I do push the 'neat' thing in our house. Adults with barely legible printing & writing drive me NUTS!!

(in the picture, the ants are carrying a pen - I had thought it was an airplane!)

Wednesday we had some of our favourite people drop by - my friend Marion and their 7 children - it's so wonderful to open the back door and see the yard dotted with children happily playing together. They live a couple of hours away so it's something that can take some planning! We'll be headed their way in the next week-ish (If she lets me!!)

Thursday I had an old/new friend stop by and we got chatting about kids, behaviour, parenting etc... again so nice to chat with people who have God in their lives!

...and then Today!

This morning we were once again productive with bookwork and so had a free afternoon. The children and I drove out to Sassafras in The Dandenongs to find old fashioned FUDGE... we found it!

We also found this

Nathaniel does a lovely girl - don't you think?

.

What if...?

What if there's another child God wants in your family yet because you've been raised in the culture of 'how many children do WE want?' you're turning that child away.

How that must grieve God.

The bible tells us that children are a blessing from God. Do you see them as this?

or do you see them as more work, more expense, more time, less fun holidays, more school fees, more days off work due to their illnesses.... OR over and above all that, a blessing from God.

Listen to how you talk about your children over the next few weeks, that will give some evidence of where your heart is. Do you talk about how wonderful it is to be able to have children, the miracle and blessing that it is or that he's sick again, made a crazy mess etc.

and so back to my original question...
What if there's another child God wants in your family yet because you've been raised in the culture of 'how many children do WE want?' you're turning that child away.

If He had 10 planned for you, would you take them all? Which ones would you reject?

Who rules your womb? You or God?

.

Monday Art

Here's last week's project: The bottom one is Nj's, the next one up is Melinda's and the one at the top that you can only see half of is mine that I did as as the example while they were watching.

This week I nabbed another idea (I think both came from the same art blog) and we did a version of 'Robots'
Again, I did an example with them watching and then left them to work on their own.

Example


Nathaniel


Melinda

and guess who woke early from his nap and discovered us with paint?

Master Timothy
.

Girl's Brigade 70th Anniversary Family Day

We popped down to Berwick on Saturday for the Girl's Brigade 70th Anniversary - I was in Girl's Brigade for about 7 years as a girl and LOVED it. It's lovely to see Melinda enjoying it too. They had a great day organised for the family - sausage sizzle and a bunch of free activities; face painting, jumping castle, a craft table to make bird and fish mobiles, figurine painting and some 'old fashioned' games like sack racing - I haven't seen that in YEARS

Melinda won first prize for the Grade 2's in the Art Show and also first prize in across all Cadets

Nathaniel just LOVES having his face painted

The jumping castle proved irresistible

Timothy is yet to find the joy in such outings - all a little overwhelming for him

Get him home though and the mischief kicks in... his latest game at bed time is to go and get in a bed belonging to someone else! He used to just go get in his bed when he was tired and call out to us. Something (or someone???) gave him the idea that in bed with Melinda or into our bed and then calling out would be a much better response. I think this one here was encouraged by Melinda as he usually has 'Kevin Bear' and his dummy firmly attached :o)

And that's not Kevin Bear... this is Rachel Bear - given to Melinda when she was born by my Uncle John and Auntie Bronwyn... I named her after my favourite cousin :o)

.

Sovereign Hill - A Living Museum

Photo's at last from our trip last week! We're looking forward to returning later in the year for another visit







.