Allow me to introduce

           the newest addition to our family!!



My younger daughter's little son
at 8 hours of age.

After a copy book labour ie. pains begin around 10pm , waters break, get the baby sitter
(my older son), head to the hospital.
This beautiful little boy was delivered at 2.56am this morning without complication.
They are at home now and both Mum and Bub are great!

God has graciously blessed us with six grand children.
I marvel that they are all so beautifully formed, healthy and loved.
Thank you Lord for this precious child.
Whatever hardship befall us they are more than compensated by the
good gifts bestowed on us.

My first cuddle ♥

"Thou shalt see they children's children"

Looking and Longing

It is always sad when someone passes away.  Sad for their families and those of us who are left. But when a believer dies there is joy in knowing they have gone to the Lord.

Psalm 116
15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Recently a friend of ours passed over to Glory!

She was a friend through being in-law to some of our good friends, but we had known and spent time with her over the last 26 years.   A godly woman, very hospitable, open, outspoken.  She was a woman  who joyed to go to His house  (Psalm 122) and she beheld how good and pleasant it was to meet with the brethren (Psalm 133). Her chief end was to glorify God. *"Maria" had suffered chronic illness all that time with Lupus and associated problems but was finally taken by cancer.  She was in her early fifties and left a husband, four children and several grandchildren.

*"Maria's" funeral service was a beautiful simple worship service and her Pastor, a friend since childhood, conducted it.  His own wife had been brought to Christ through "Maria's" witness  and friendship.  He preached from Joshua chapter 3 - the beautiful picture of the Israelites passing through the river Jordan on dry land  as the priests stood holding the Ark of the Covenant, and into the Promised Land..    Sign.....how touching, encouraging and attention getting that picture is.  It was a beautiful gospel message of hope in Christ for the unbelievers there and brought a sense of longing for our Promised Land  to all believers.

Psalm 130
 ⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
 ⁶My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
 ⁷Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

One of the things which both moved and convicted me about "Maria" was the wonderful testimony she left.  In her final weeks of life I was also in hospital in Brisbane and her Pastor, whom I know, came to visit me.  He was able to share the beautiful way in which "Maria" was clinging to Christ through pain and fear.  She knew that even now, Christ could heal her and restore her earthly body, but she trusted that He would do all things well for her, his child, even if it was to receive her into glory and leave her earthly ties. 

Psalm 48
14 "For this God is our God, for ever and ever.  He will be our guide, even unto death."

1 Samuel 3
18 "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good."

Also, her children and everyone close to her - family, christian friends, unsaved co-workers - all spoke highly of her love of the Lord, her family and her concern for lost souls.  Her children, all adults now, were able to tell of the many years which she had endured pain, fatigue and stresses and yet never complained or over burdened them either physically or emotionally.  This spoke a lot to me in my own circumstances. Often we put on a brave face to the outside but what impression are we leaving with our families?

1 Timothy 6:6
 "But Godliness with contentment is great gain."

 Seeking help, accepting offers are all good and neccessary. I know that we need to let people know where we need the help, but "Maria" seems to have managed to do all that and yet not whinge and complain.     A marvellous work of Grace in her life. Would that we could all die with such a testimony to the abundant blessings of God on us, who once were lost.

Proverbs 31

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
 ¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
 ¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

 ²⁷She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
 ²⁸Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
 ²⁹Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
 ³⁰Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
 ³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection

"Maria" ........
Resting in the grave till the Resurrection



* Not her real name.

Oh for a good night's sleep!

Do any of you, or your husbands or family members, suffer from Sleep Apnea?

My husband is in Brisbane's Prince Charles hospital at the moment.  He is in the sleep study unit and they have confirmed that he has Sleep Apnea.  Well I am no specialist but I could have told him that and have done for quite a few years!

He is being discharged this morning and phoned this morning very elated that his night on the oxygen gave him such wonderful slumber.  Little snoring (but of course he never did admit to snoring!) no foot and leg twitching, waking feeling refreshed.  He certainly sounded chipper!! His only problem was with the mask but he should quickly adjust to using it.

A positive for us all is that he needs to loose a little weight (which we all could do with :-) and get back to regular exercise.  When I met my hubby he was an exercise junky. (Opposites attract....apparently!)  As I am trying to get more consistent with walking and other gentle exercise it should be a good family project and won't hurt my basketballers to join in.

The only hitch I see is that Rocky is just so hot and humid from October onwards.  It saps a lot of the energy out of you.  I wouldn't walk around town on my own at night but perhaps with hubby as escort we will do that.

Would love to hear from anyone with experience of Sleep Apnea and how it affected your life or how successful treatment has been.  Statistics and reports show that SA is a major cause of depression, irritability, stress, even to the point of marriage break down.

A Youthful Mother

Two of the best things God can send,

Are a loving mother and a faithful friend.

Anon.

Yesterday, 18th, was my mum's 82nd birthday!  You can go here and here to read a little about this dear woman from previous birthday posts.



Mum holding me as a baby
1963


Both Mum and Dad have become quite frail in the past year.  Mum suffers from memory loss and vagueness.  Dad has become blind and is really frustrated at his loss of independence.  They have decided that the time has come to move from their little independent unit in a Retirement Village to low care, hostel accommodation.

On Friday, Mum, my three sisters and I went to check out these facilities and compare what was available to them.  As they are in the Mercy Care system already at the Village, they should receive preference, though the waiting period can still be quite long.

Family Funny
So, on our third place of inspection, the guide, Angela, asked one of the residents, Peg, if we might look into her room to see the lay out and space etc.  Angela entered, followed by Mum and the four sisters (ages 59 to 48) After a pleasant chat and a few questions we thanked Peg and she responded, "Which one of you is looking to come here?" Hahahahahahahaha................... We girls couldn't get out of there fast enough, we were cackling like teenagers! It gave Mum a boost anyway even if it didn't do a lot for our egos!

Mum holding my twin grandchildren
Her 26th & 27th great grandchildren
 2011
(No. 28 is due this week!)

Thank you Lord for a loving mother and a faithful friend!

Spring Break!

Are you taking a break just now?

We are - and really looking forward

to soaking up the beautiful

Spring weather!

The school term has flown by very quickly it seems.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we have used some different materials

 this term in the form of DVDs to supplement for book work and lots of reading

in Science and SOSE.

This has been very successful for us and we will be able to continue this

into next term. The boys have continued on, often independently,

with their Maths and English. Next term, Lord willing, as my energy levels increase,

we will return to a more normal schedule

(for us) taking up the Speech Pathology activities and more art, science etc.

Home schooling through any crisis, be it moving house, illness,

new addition, is challenging.

I feel we have done quite well under the circumstances.

A lot of the boys' day has been devoted to "domestic science"!

We've read this interesting and engaging book this term, I Juan de Pareja.

It is an historical novel set in Spain in the 1600s and though fiction is based

on true characters and events.

The boys really got into this book.

We meet Juan as a slave boy in the service of his kind mistress.

Most of the story is about his life with his new master,

Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez and his family.

Velazquez becomes painter in the Royal Court of the King.

The friendship between Juan and his master is the focus of the story and

eventually Juan is granted his freedom which also allows him to paint.

Both Juan de Pareja and Diego Velequez became noted painters

with works hung around the world to his day.

The great painter Rubens and lesser known Murillo are also featured in the story.

Also of interest to us, aside from the lavish court descriptions and customs,

 as well as the darker side of gypsies and thugs, was the many references

to Roman Catholic rites and traditions.

Coming from this background, references to "Our Lady" and rosaries etc

were not unusual to my ears, but it gave a good opportunity to

explain these differences to the boys.

This book by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino is a Newbery medal winner

and was first published in 1965.

Read about it here.

To start the holidays, we are attending the local Pipe Band's Ceiledh on

Saturday night. A young friend of ours, a homeschoolded lad,

is part of the bagpipe players, so we are looking forward to

watching, hearing! him perform for the first time.

On the bagpipes, that is!

When I was Three

After showers on Friday, Saturday dawned cool and fresh and sunny.

The perfect day for a birthday celebration in the park. 

GS 1 tries to blow out his 3 candle (a sparkler!).

A cool scooter for a very happy boy

This three year old loves snakes! Sssssss....

Two little boys ♥

Cousin rather liked the birthday boy's helmet.

The dynamic duo are 12 weeks old!

♥♥

Go ahead - call me crusty!

"Call me crusty :-) I think some of the novelty has worn off after nineteen years

and I spend most of my day just trying to get the job done."

Lest I sounded jaded, frazzled, weary, let me elaborate on this answer from my homeschool meme, as to why I don't regularly read catalogues and specifically home schooling sites much any more. Sometimes it comes down to just getting the job done.

In my early years of teaching the children, homeschoolers were reading Mary Pride et al and here in Australia, Maureen Tully was publishing "Welcome Home Australia". (Anyone remember back that far?)

We read a lot about Conviction v Preference regarding home education. (And a lot of other stuff had to be sifted through!)

My husband and I were convicted to home school but for us it was not something which we thought everyone, even every christian family, had to do.  We supported our friends whose children went to school, both state and private.  So in that sense home schooling was also a preference.

I began the journey of motherhood with all the hopes and dreams and expectations that come with that wonderful, esteemed job.  I didn't want to be teacher, I wanted to be Mum all the time, because to me teaching the children was part of that job description.

But when the rubber hits the road, it is conviction which gets you through  for the long haul.

Conviction that what you are doing is the best thing for your family.  That despite failures, your motives and attitudes are right.

The one resource I could never have managed without is God and His Word.

Because you know what?  Schooling turned out to be a darn sight harder than one first idealisticly imagined.  What do you do when/ if your darlings do not produce the oft touted excellence in all things academic?  What if your graduated students are not serving the Lord, not professing faith even, in fact living worldly lives far from the example you have set?  What if your children do not read well? Are socially inept? What if you can't get out of bed each day let alone teach lessons?  What if a new baby year after year has kept you busy changing nappies and not ensuring that everyone was progressing up the levels? Not the outcomes you were dreaming of...

Some of these  situations have happened to me.

All of them have happened to families I know who have taken on this commitment to educate their children at home.

By the grace of God, conviction has given them/ us strength to continue come what may.

So, this is why I do not spend much time on catalogues and how-to home school books and sites any more.

It's not that I don't have anything to learn...I do!  But I am blessed with many years of experience and many Godly women along side me.  If you don't have either of these then I understand the need for the other.  But you know, you only have to watch my friend "Lily" to see how one highly intelligent, and educated woman who would have done well in her chosen field had she stayed there, uses her gifts to bless her husband and educate her own children.

I watch "Petunia"  and the patience she exhibits to her large, boisterous family.  She only reached year 10 herself but she doesn't need to read "how-to" books to know that children need to spend lots of time out in the fresh air and sunshine.  And boys must be boys!  How fondly I look back on those early days when we would pack all the littlies up for a picnic and just chat.  Or how when we both had little fractous babies we would send our two ten year olds with prams and little sisters to "walk it off"!

(Wouldn't do that for safety reasons now but it saved our sanity.)

What about "Daisy"?  She has educated her five children and run their home business for over ten years without the support of a husband.  She blesses and encourages the families in our group by being our unofficial "co-ordinator". 

"Jasmine" has a child with Aspergers Syndrome. 

"Dahlia's"  son has dyslexia.

All of us have had our children at home for at least fifteen to twenty years.  While I have only about five to go, some of them are looking at another 15! Like me most of them have had heartaches, failures and dramas.  What keeps one going when it would seem the easiest thing to do would be to pack the children off to a "regular" school? It is that conviction.....

Train them up in the way that they should go.

It is interesting that while all these friends love books and I'm sure love to check out new things, that we really are at a stage of life where sometimes you just have to put your head down, ask a prayer for stength and carry on.

My friends, I am crusty and doubtless unimaginative.  But I am not jaded or frazzled!  I joy to see so many new mums starting to homeschool.  To see their enthusiasm and share what little wisdom an old hand can.  I still need to pray daily for strength and commitment.

Teaching is a work of heart ♥

  

Homeschool Meme

Thank you to Jen at Jen's Busy Days for tagging me in this meme.  Unfortunately, I am still unable to comment at your place, Jen but I have popped over to read from time to time.  I have actually been reading these on other blogs over the last week so it will be interesting to take part.

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed

The Christian Homeschool by Gregg Harris.  Like most HSs I have read many books over the years.  Some I have accepted, some I have rejected but most I have taken something from.  This was actually the first book I read about teaching at home and was passed on to me by my then Pastor.  We had a four year old and a two year old at the time and had made the decision to home school pre marriage, if the Lord blessed us with children.  I don't remember a lot about it now but I do remember that his emphasis on delight directed learning fitted well with my own ideas.

2. One resource you wouldn’t be without

These days the computer :-)  In the early days Sam Blumenfeld's "Alphaphonics"

3. One resource you wish you had never bought

I have recently tossed out many workbooks and bits and pieces which I have accumulated over the years and never used.  I have never spent lots of money on something that I did not use/ want any more, for which I am thankful!

4. One resource you enjoyed last year

After many years doing my own thing I really enjoyed the workshops conducted by the Groves Christian College support teachers.  (This year, because of health limitations even more so.)

5. One resource you will be using next year

We have begun using and hope to continue using next year, the Drive Through History DVDs.  Again, this is a concession to my health but for my non-readers, it has been a wonderful stimulation.

6. One resource you would like to buy

A coffee making machine.  I am happy with instant but that would really make my day!

7. One resource you wish existed

A full time house keeper. (She could also make my coffee)

8. One homeschool catalogue you enjoy reading

Reformer's Bookshop

Surprise, surprise!  For many years I read all the catalogues I could get my hands on and had long wish lists which I rarely bought books from.  Since enrolling with a DE school we confer with them on curriculum, much of which they supply through their learning support unit.

9. One homeschooling website you use regularly

Regularly - none!  I infrequently check at Aussie Homeschoolers and I love to read the blogs of other homeschoolers.  Call me crusty :-) I think some of the novelty has worn off after nineteen years and I spend most of my day just trying to get the job done.

10.  Tag other Home schoolers.

Since many of you who homeschool have already been tagged, I will throw this open to any one who would love to participate and pass it along to your friends.

School? Too busy getting an education!

My older son was fortunate enough to be able to make the trip to Canberra with the Groves Distance Education Students and Teachers last week.  What a fun, action packed week that was!  with the long drive from Brisbane to Canberra and back on Sunday and Thursday nights and each day crammed with activities.  They did a lot of educational/ touristy high spots as well as a recreational day at Thredbo.  Not only is my S1 more widely travelled than the rest of us with Dad  the only exception, but he is the only member of our family to have seen and frolicked in snow!

S2 made pretty good mileage of being the only student at home.  While he still had to do basic school work he also had a nice treat going out to lunch with Mum at Hog's Breath on shopping day..

His sister, in her already very busy day, managed to make time to play board games and give him some extra attention. (He wasn't admitting it but he missed his mate.)

Lord willing, S2 will have the opportunity to make this trip in '13.

This week the dedicated Groves staff have conducted a workshop for the students in this district who are enrolled with them. These are always a great day and especially being a Science theme.

Here they are launching their `hot air balloons.

The lad second left is my older son. A pilgrim?  No, he is wearing his "thinking cap".

Quantum physics?

I'm not sure but some of the older children were able to keep up :-)

Some of the families travel from as far as Mackay to the north and places like Bauhinia and Rolleston to the west so these are really good days for making and renewing friendships as well.

Four generations!

The twins are 9 weeks in this pic but today they are eleven.

I mentioned last week that the children had all been unwell.  Thankfully they are all improving.  The older children also got a bad dose of it which laid the boys in bed for a day although my daughter soldiered on, as mothers do :-)

Alas, I have also come down with this 'flu which brings with it a dreadful cough.  I have very little resistance to anything at the moment so I have ended up with a chest infection.  Grrr... I do try to be patient, long suffering etc but I must admit I am rather over being unwell just now :-(

Tomorrow the boys begin rehearsals for the Homeschoolers concert in a couple of months.  This was begun last year by one of the musical families, although we've had many more amateur concerts in the past.  I must admit my fellows, growing older, cooler? are not so enthusiastic this time around, but I think it will be lots of fun.  Plus, for uncreative, non musical mums like me, it is the perfect way to cover a few of those bases!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Joshua 1:9

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.