A Week in Review

 The days go by so fast - but this week especially so! It's not usual or even desirable, for us to be this busy on a regular basis but it all just fell into this week for a variety of reasons.

We started off with the 'perfect' day of schooling on Monday... (that should have given me a clue about the end of the week LOL) and in the afternoon we went visiting and spent a delightful couple of hours with some dear friends who live about 45min away... coming home in time to pick up Pete from work and then to drop Melinda at Girl's Brigade.

Tuesday another busy day - we didn't get through as much bookwork as I would have liked... everyone needed a nap which does tend to get in the way of productivity. We need to learn to manage this a bit better. Again in the afternoon we spent a couple of hours at a friend's home - this one lives only about 15min away... and I had a lovely cuddle of their 10 week old baby - a boy after 2 girls and a baby that was soooo longed for. God is good!

Wednesday the children and I went to my sisters house for 2/3 of the day and looked after her boys... we did our bible session together which is a start, but no other work than that.

See, very social this week!!!

THURSDAY... a few errands in the morning (I'm thinking I should have deferred this??) and then my sister arrived with her boys... Pete had today off work, so he looked after all 5 children while I took my sister out for a long leisurely lunch at the Pancake Parlour for her birthday. We've both voted it to be an annual event from now on. An absolutely WONDERFUL day!
Schooling on Thursday - Ha!!

Friday started at 2am with gastro... ugh. Thankfully Pete dealt with most of it... Nj first, me by 5am and then Pete by the end of Friday. So far Melinda and Timothy seem to have escaped it. I pray it stays so!

So this made Friday a waste of a day... as Nj said to me 'Mum, you've been on the couch ALL DAY!!'. Pete did take the car to get the air conditioning fixed and re-gassed, so that is one thing that was good.
Schooling on Friday? Ha!

So sad to say, with the arrival of gastro... we needed to cancel our big 'almost summer BBQ' that was to be happening this afternoon from 3pm.... I certainly couldn't be here blogging if it was happening. We had about 24 adults and 46 children of all ages coming and God even gave us perfect weather for it! Much fun was planned - bubbles, slippery mat, face painting, paper planes and more... oh yes - a 5 metre long ice cream sundae!! Yes, we will be rescheduling in the new year!!!!!!!!!!

2010 will be remembered as 'the year my life was cancelled' for sure!

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10 tips for being organised ~ Tip #2

Tip #2
Quit cursing yourself.
Change your words - remember that there is life and death in the tongue!!

Take a moment to sit in a chair and think about your second most dreaded task.... save the worst for the next exercise okay?
Think about it... how big it is, how awful it is, how it never goes away, how tired you are, how you just don't have the focus for it, can't be bothered, unappreciated by others when you do do it.

Do you feel like doing it now?

Now sit and ponder the WORST one you came up with before. For me, that's probably the ironing.
Close your eyes and think again... choose to think to yourself how good it feels when finally done, how great it is to not have it hanging on the to do list anymore, how energised you feel, imagine yourself getting up and getting stuck into it, admiring the finished task and feeling the weight lift off as you see the final result.

I bet you feel a lot more like doing this task now than the first one you thought of right?

If you now need/want to go and get it done NOW - then GO!
You can always come back to read the rest later, right?

**So, remember to choose your thoughts, and choose good ones**

What about how you sound when talking to other people?
"I'm too disorganised for that"
"It's never ending"
"Kids make it so much harder"
"I'm too tired"
"I'm too sick"
"He's the messy one"
"If only the kids didn't make so much mess"

Your brain is lazy... when you say or think these things, it hears them as an instruction; as a truth and struggles to operate in any other way.

Change your words and help yourself
"I love a tidy loungeroom"
"It feels so good to declutter"
"I'm working with the children to teach them to tidy up their own things"
"It'll only take a few minutes, I'll do it now"

Go on, go do it now ~ we're at the end of Tip #2.... it'll only take a few minutes

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10 tips for being organised ~ Tip #1

No, I am not a BO 'born organised' but I'm working on becoming more organised. Some do mistake the progress I've made, and am making, as me actually being a BO... but trust me - I'm not!

Tip #1
Have a purpose.
Know why you want to be more organised.
God wired us to work with a purpose.
It's much easier to walk 30min to catch a train daily than it is to just get out and go for a 30min walk every day.
So know your WHY... the 'why you want to be more organised'

For me...

it was coming to a better understanding of God Himself.
I serve a God of order and excellence. One doesn't need to spend much time reading God's word to understand that. We are made in His image, a likeness of Him. We operate better when organised, even if we struggle with learning to be organised.
By knowing this, and the way children and husbands operate... I know my family does better when we're organised.

Titus 2: 4-5 tells us that when we are not 'keepers of the home' that we blaspheme the Word of God.
Yet another very good reason to manage my home well!

Also, what does my home say about me and my God?
Do I want to encourage the world to think that 'homeschoolers are messy/dirty/disorganised/too busy'?
Do I want to encourage the world to think that 'families with 3 or more children are messy/dirty/disorganised/too busy'?
Do I want to encourage the world to think that 'Christians are messy/dirty/disorganised/too busy'?

More reasons to work on being more organised and make it a natural part of life, don't you think!

Motivate yourself by writing out the Titus 2 verse above, or something like Proverbs 10v4 and put them where you can easily see them throughout the day - I have them next to my kitchen sink... a biblical kick in the pants if you will :o)

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Easy Smoked Salmon & Pea Risotto - and almost healthy!

 Rice isn't great for you, but if you must have it (and I must, from time to time) then here's a recipe I made up and used today for our family lunch. It served a family of 5 (2 Adults, 2 children and a toddler).
I wouldn't like to serve this for a dinner, even on a carb night as the carb content is a little high for our health preferences - but it would do in a pinch if I had to!

3tbsp Healthy Fat - I used 50/50 Coconut Oil and Butter. You could also use Cold-pressed Sesame Oil or Lard.
1c Diced Onion
1c Arborio Rice
1/2 c White Wine
1 Massel Chicken Stock Cube
1lt Hot Homemade Long-cooked Chicken Bone Broth
200g Smoked Salmon, diced
1c Frozen Peas
1/3c Shredded Parmesan Cheese
For seasoning: Celtic Sea Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Extra Parmesan Cheese

1. Heat the oil
2. Gently fry the onion till translucent
3. Add the rice and heat while stirring, till translucent. From here on, you just keep on stirring most of the time, okay!
4. Add the wine and sizzle it off
5. Add a cup of broth and the stock cube (yes, stir!)
6. As it thickens, add some more stock - say 200ml at a time. Keep doing this till rice is cooked but still has a firmness to it.
7. After the 3rd addition of stock, add the frozen peas
8. Once the rice is cooked, add in the diced salmon and stir in for a minute to allow it to cook
9. Stir in the Parmesan cheese
10. Season with salt and pepper
11. Allow to sit a couple of minutes before serving
12. Serve with a little more Parmesan cheese on top

Enjoy!

'Cooking Salmon' is the cheapest smoked salmon to buy. It's a bunch of end and side pieces and about $10/kg less than the neat slices. Just dice in on the display card and scrape it straight into the risotto