"Three little words"

You know from my blog that I am a genius ~ mwhahahahahhaha!!!
Truth is I am often ditzy and unco-ordinated.  It goes without saying that I don't read maps well :-)

So last week I ordered a new bed.  One of those bunks with double on the bottom and single on top.  The boys have been back to sharing a room since our daughter and family have been here and it was very crowded, so this seemed to be the best solution to give them some space.  The picture looked so nice!  The salesperson was very accommodating and we bargained a good price - alas, those "three little words" that I dread -
 Ready to assemble!

All you Ikea loving, allen key toting readers may well laugh...  But for me, this is no laughing matter.  It strikes fear in my heart even looking over the instructions!!!!  Fortunately, other members of the household are not deterred by such confusing pieces of paper and the bunks look just fine.

                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My third grandson turned three today! They are all growing up so very quickly, it is hard to fathom where the years are racing to.  GS 3 is one of those absolutely gorgeous cute little boys who is into every conceivable mischief he can find!  So I can finish this brief post with those other three little words ~  "I Love You" ♥♥

Three Amigos!
Birthday boy in the middle.

The twins check out the new quad bike

Shirley & Marcy

A mother was concerned about her kindergarten son, Timmy, walking to school.

He didn't want his mother to walk with him.

She wanted to give  him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know  that he was safe.

So she had an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbour if she would please follow him to school in the mornings,
staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her.

The neighbour said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would
be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.

The next school day, the neighbour and her little girl set out following behind  Timmy
 as he walked to school with another neighbour girl he knew.

She did this for the whole week.

As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy 's little friend
noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.

Finally she said to Timmy,

'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?'

Timmy nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is.'
The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?'

'That's just Shirley Goodnest ,' Timmy replied, 'and her daughter Marcy ...'

'Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?

'Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mum makes me say the 23rd Psalm
 with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much.

And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest (surely goodness) and Marcy (mercy)
shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just  have to get used to it!'


The Lord bless you and  keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be
gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and  give you peace.

May Shirley Goodnest and  Marcy be with you today and always


  A friend sent me this email today and I had such a good chuckle I thought I would share it here.

No Joe Banks Here!

Sir Joseph Banks

As my last post indicated, the youngest child in our family has just entered the teen years.  Youths we like to call them.  Young men on the brink of adulthood.  Such an exciting time of life for them and a new venture for us as parents.  In some ways more difficult than this stage with the girls....but personalities are the main difference rather than the boy/ girl thing I think.

Boys of this age are such a delightful mixture!  Their voices are changing and you, or they, are never quite sure how an answer is going to come out.  I guess this could be embarrassing but hasn't been for my older boy.  It is not an age when young men can appreciate having "the mickey taken out of them" as we say here in Oz.  Some like to give it all out but not so good at receiving.  Suddenly my little boys have the deepening voices, the broadening shoulders, the self conscientious grins and shrugs, a little before unknown shyness.  But one positive, boys at this age know everything!

You mums with older boys (sometimes not very old either) know because when we drive, they are right along there with us, giving directions and correcting and teaching you who has right of way and when you have waited too long at a Stop or Give Way, or perhaps charged across with too little room................ Yep, these guys know about everything.  I think the only thing they don't question me on is cooking.  They know where their next meal is coming from and they will not bite the hand that feeds them!  That's another thing I like about youths.  They show and verbalise their appreciation of every meal.  Music to a mother's ears and heart!

Last week my fourteen year old was not impressed with a unit in Science that we were doing on plants.  He reckoned we had done it all before.  I agreed we'd studied the basics before but that this was a little more in depth and much of it would be new to him.  "Well, why do I need to learn about plants anyway?  When will I ever use it?"  I changed up into teacher mode and explained that all learning is good for general knowledge and perhaps one day he would have a garden of his own to plant and look after and this information would come in handy. *Scowl*   "Who knows you might even want to be a Botanist!"  "Botanist!  Botanist"  We had to laugh at his incredulous expression!
(My husband finds it terribly amusing that I studied Logic for two years in high school :-)  Whatever "usefless bits of information" we collect, they are filed away for later use.

I love my boys.  I loved them as little mischievous tots, as primary school aged Basketball fanatics and now as youths a little too fond of phones, Face Book and PS3.  I love the way they care and play with the little nephews and niece.  The way they come forward to do the heavy lifting for poor old mum.  The way they think they can stay up till all hours and sleep in till all hours.  Okay, I don't love that but I do love the way they think they are in control and responsible.  

If you have small boys in your family give them lots of hugs and cuddles and make special times
and memories.  Big boys like hugs too but are sometimes shy to give them.  In the blink of an eye that little fellow who cuddled on your lap for stories and ran to you with every little scrape and heart ache is a young man, making his own decisions, making his own way in the world.

Psalm 119 

⁹Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

For non Australian readers, Joseph Banks was the famous Botanist who travelled with Captain Cook on his first great voyage and the discovery of the east  coast of Australia.  Many places and of course flora are named after Banks most notably the Banksia.  The picture on left is one example of this beautiful native flower.

The Big Bad Banksia Men
immortalised by May Gibbs

The results are in!

But are they Socialized??

Hahahahahahahaha!

Somewhat exaggerated but rather funny conversation!

This is one persistant robot lady!

Thanks to Kelly from Generation Cedar for the link.

The Dame has Lost her Shoe!

My sweet little grandsons, like most other children their age,  love to clop around in all the shoes. My GS2 visited a couple of weeks ago and tried out all the models at our door including my walking shoes.  They are actually Winter shoes but I keep them at the front door as I have some leg problems and these are my most comfy walkers. After he had gone I searched high and low, but could only find one shoe......

As the weeks went by and the rogue shoe had not appeared during normal cleaning up I set my boys to search under beds and other nooks and crannies, but to no avail.  I asked my daughter and she suggested that dear GS2 may have "posted" it somewhere!  Now my large, cluttered house has many wonderful cubby holes and posting possibilities, so we organised quite a search and destroy ~ but no shoe turned up.

Finally last week I decided I really needed to purchase a pair of Summer shoes anyway. Now I do like shoes.   I don't have many but I sometimes covet a pair I particularly like....just a little. Not in a Mrs BB boot fetish type way  :-)  just with a little longing.  The truth is  I am daggy, I have crook legs and I need sensible shoes.  Sensible.  I chose what seemed like a nice summery, open back pair of Colorados, just a little fancy, a little bit of height.  I wore them non stop for three days.  Well, they fit great on my foot but something just wasn't quite right and one foot began to pain.  Vanity of vanities.  Oh for the sensible walking shoes!

Now, I am going on a little jaunt soon and I thought, "What will I do without shoes I can walk in....take my wheelie walker?"  So back I went (to the same shoe sale) and have now purchased a sensible, home schooling mother type, set of Summer sandals.  I hope I can wear them in before my big holiday.

It was so ironic as I straightened up today.  You guessed it!  The good old closed in Winter shoes we have searched for now for over a month turned up behind a bed side table!

Now if I can just find all those odd socks I will be very excited!

Encouragement for the Larger Ladies!

An email forwarded by a friend recently.





What does a 145 kilo woman look like?

Now, before you scroll down to look at her pictures, get a mental image of what you think a woman who weighs 145kg looks like...

GOT IT?

The tallest and best proportioned woman in the world lives in Holland .

She is 7'4" and weighs 145kg

What a relief! Now we ALL know we aren't overweight;

we're just too short !)

I think this woman is gorgeous.

I am not only short, I have small bones but you can't see that!

Have A Great Day

Being the Country Cousin

Do you ever say or blog something really goofy?

Could it only be me?

Ruby meets Jeanne

I'm just a quiet country girl, minding my own business and trying to act intelligent.

I don't think it is working??!!

Most of you will find this post mysterious ~ but some will get it!

Have a wonderful trip my (synonyms for intelligent)  very smart , able, acute, alert, alive, all there, apt, astute, brainy, bright, brilliant, calculating, capable, clever, comprehending, creative, deep*, discerning, enlightened, exceptional, highbrow, imaginative, ingenious, instructed, inventive, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, original, penetrating, perceptive, perspicacious, profound, quick, quick-witted, rational, ready, reasonable, resourceful, responsible, sage, sharp, smart, thinking, together*, understanding, well-informed, whiz*, wise, witty  friend!

Friday....Phew!

Winter made one last frosty blast for a couple of nights this week. Other than that, absolutely glorious Spring weather.  Sigh....some days it is difficult to stick to the scheduled program but we are keeping on nicely after our week away.

My sister is continuing her weekly reading sessions with the boys, at least until their current book is finished. She has read a couple of books and many short, general knowledge pieces with them. She is the ideal person for reading this kind of stuff as she is widely travelled and the boys are wide eyed with fascination when she has so much first hand knowledge to share of the places and people they are reading about.

They are now reading Alan Marshall's "I Can Jump Puddles".  Are you familiar with it? I had read it a couple of years ago after reading it many years ago, perhaps in high school and marked it to read to them. This is Alan's autobiography, as a young Australian boy in the 20s/ 30s who contracts polio. It is vividly and realistically written. It has a little *bad* language. My boys are liking this book and love the stories of his life and school days which parallel their grandparents experiences. Of course, the effects of his polio, his hospitalization and the hardships he endure are quite emotional but told in a very matter of fact manner which appeals to boys. (Warning: We Googled the film and alas, the language was a little bit over the top so if you are planning to watch it at all, preview it!)

School went exceptionally well this week and I am very grateful to be able to see and read everything easily again. The boys are appreciating that as well. I was blessed to have these two young gentlemen to escort me over curbs and take my arm when a car was coming. Now, even though I can see all these pitfalls they still rushed to my aid a few times this week and alerted me to oncoming cars in the traffic. Sweet  ♥

We also undertook a few hours wall cleaning each afternoon. Yikes, I was quite alarmed with the state of the walls and general dirt during my *blind* period. I have never pretended to be a meticulous house keeper and my high maintenance and rather cluttered and aging Queenslander doesn't help much. But whoa! even I am well....aghast. My project is to do a little each day and get round our rather large house by the holidays, before the hot weather sets in.  Roll on September!


BLOOPER:  Funny story to end my week. Sorry, no pics available.
I was in the supermarket with only my purse and keys. The keys were getting in my way and so I tucked them in the only available spot, my bra :-) As you see in the pic, it is only one key on a small ring. As I went through the check out with a courteous young fellow serving me I glance down. To my alarm, and embarrassment, the single key had worked its way down and was sticking out at a very perturbing angle!   Oops.....

Give Me a Smile ☺

I don't want to brag or make anybody jealous, but I can still fit
into the earrings I wore in high school.

(From an old school friend's Face Book status :-)



Okay, it has been a while since I made custard like mum used to, but my boys were confused when they heard their dad say of an underpowered car, " It wouldn't pull the skin off a custard" !

You all remember home made boiled custard with the skin on, right?

The woman who played Marsha Brady was recently featured on TV and my older son was incredulous that she was 50years old. She looked 20 or more years younger. The boys were discussing this a little and realized I might be able to hear them. Then in a loud stage whisper I heard  "Yeah, but Mum only looks like she's in her 20s: Sweeet☻

A True Confession

Last week Jillian posted some excellent thoughts about the attitude we should have towards all our mundane tasks, namely ironing. This post received a surprising number of comments. Obviously, ironing is a subject very close to all of our hearts!
Some more serious subjects were covered as well, like...er..the return of the Lord Jesus Christ! Pop over if you are interested to read what everyone had to say. It was a good example of encouraging one another in doing well and being ready for that great day.
.

Now I am quite open that I do not particularly like to iron. I do it. We have good garments which need pressing. For the most part we are all at home most of the time and I endeavour to buy house/ work clothing which needs little or no ironing. When it needs to be done I try to do it with a good attitude.
"Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. "
I have even on occasions done ironing for friends when they are unwell or have new babies etc. This was something I always appreciated myself. My lovely mother ironed here once a week when my boys were little and we had school and a lot happening. She didn't much like it either but she figured it was a big help and something she could do out of the way. A labour of love♥

Two Things I Confess
.
#1 I have, in periods of extreme pressure/ over whelmedness/ illness PAID a lady to do ironing.

#2 I have in situations where a friend has been under extreme pressure/ overwhelmed/ unwell/ snowed under with school/ many children/ a new baby, SUGGESTED that they PAY someone to do their ironing.

There, I said it. Am I lazy? A bad housekeeper? a poor friend? (okay, I openly admit I am not a good house keeper:-) Most of us who are homeschooling and one income families cannot really justify this long term, but sometimes it is worth the budgeting sacrifice to keep on top. Ironing ladies usually work fairly cheaply and it is amazing what a lift it can give a girl to have that wretched job out of the way. Also allows her to get the family out of the house looking good when she needs to and have hubby nicely dressed for work.

As with my blog and friends on the net, my real life friends and I try to build up and encourage one another. We can do this in practical ways as well as discussing deep theological issues. It is often our practical coming along beside a friend which helps us and them to deal with life and in turn devote more time and energy to the more important spiritual matters. Faith without works is dead.

Mary chose the good part. She sat at the Lord's feet and was not hindered by cares and cumbrances. She did the one thing needful. While I struggle to keep up with my household chores, I like to think that the priorities are in place. I'm plugging away at it!

My home is clean enough to be healthy

and dirty enough to be happy!

The Seven Signs of Aging

1. Grey hair ~ yes, I have it! I have been going grey for about ten years but I usually disguise that with a fairly natural looking brown. When I had my hair cut the other day the lovely girl told me that I now had grey roots right across my head and not just in the part :- ( Thanks love!


2. Deafness/ blindness ~ yep, afraid so. I have been deaf in one ear since 1996 and eventually when the other one goes I'll get a hearing aide. I have reasonable vision considering my age and health issues but am very impaired at present with a cataract causing blurriness.

While lack of sight and hearing sound rather drastic I have found there are advantages. I still respond to every call of "Muuummmmmm!" in the supermarket . I love the sounds of children playing and can hear a jar of coffee being opened at quite long range. However, I am very adept at blocking out the sounds of squabbling, babies bawling (the perfect baby sitter) and requests for more food.

3. Resigned to my weight ~ This must surely be a mark of a mature woman? For the past 30 plus years I have been chubby and I always resolved to DO SOMETHING about it. From time to time I have dropped a little weight but always managed to end up back roughly where I am now. I am built for comfort and not for speed. I am finally becoming contented in my own skin.


4. Jumbling names ~ I have one husband, four children, two of them have partners, four grandies. I have six siblings all with spouses and many children of there own. I have oodles of friends with gazoodles of children. I cannot be expected to instantly remember every name right, every time, can I? I often go into a time warp and call my own sons the names of my two younger brothers. My dear eighty year old Mum grieves because she cannot keep up with all her family, particularly the great grand children. Hold up Mum, I am right behind you ♥

5. Aches, pains and other joys ~ yes, yes and yes! Hubby and I chuckle when we get out of bed or try to straighten out of a chair and hear all the joints cracking. It is quite symphonic! Sagging bits and lumpy bits, wrinkles and dodgy teeth are fun aren't they. (This is where loss of eye sight comes into its own! I may be in for a shock when my eye is fixed :-)

6. The good old days ~ Reminiscing about the past is a sure sign of aging. How golden and wonderful life was as a child. How much better behaved we were than this generation. Life was simpler, living was cheaper, fun was both simple and cheap and kids were much happier. TV may have been black and white but the world was rosy. This is also back in the days when I was slim, blonde and energetic! (Pre numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

7. Uummm? ~ Now what was that other thing I was going to list??....
It's here somewhere, I know there was another thing?

Never Let a Chance Go By!

.

On birthdays we often give the kids a treat and take them to one of the take away places for some "bad" food!

Yesterday morning we talked about how friends were having their baby on our little boy's birthday and asked the Lord to undertake for both mother and child. We also thanked God for several recent safe arrivals and expectant ones. We praised Him for our little son and brother and thanked Him for the blessing of his life and death and the good which God has brought about through it.

My youngest, almost eleven, solemnly added his amen and then, quick as a flash he said, "Mum, since it is ................'s birthday, can we go to Hungry Jacks?"

On School Uniforms

...and the serious fun of Home Education.

A home schooling friend was telling us how her friends proudly display pics of the children's first day at school. Crisp, spiffy new school uniforms with sharp looking hats and shoes and unmarked new back packs. So, she lined her children up on the lounge, that first morning back, and photographed them in their pj's ~ all ready to tackle the academic year!

We have started back to our academic year. And quite happily I might add. There is always that feeling of getting back into routine which can be a relief if things have gotten a little chaotic.

However, a few of us thought we would celebrate the beginning of 2010 with a few hours at the pool. As you can see the place is desserted aside from us since all the other children in town should be back at school this week. A lot of how-to books talk about avoiding Home School burn out, but I think we have that licked.... and we handle the socialization critics at the same time!

Have a good week end all.

Where did the baby go?

My older son was such a sweet miracle. He was born 10 weeks early and struggled for life. He grew into a fine healthy little man. He has never been too fussy about anything. He eats everything put in front of him, he usually does his jobs without too much drama, he would wear what ever clothes were clean and in the cupboard.....

Well , this week we went shopping and my now twelve year old prowled through the clothes racks. Too big for the kids clothes, checked out small mens (yikes!) I'll try this on, Mum. He NEVER used to want to try anything on in the shops. Yep, it fitted and he liked it.

So we get home and he is going through his pants to find a good match and a tee shirt to wear under and trying them on (again!) to see how the outfit looks. He goes to the mirror and has a full length look to see how his shoes go with the outfit!

{Sigh} It's all about being cool and saving for sunnies and high school now. Where did my baby go?

(Never too grown up to cuddle his nephew!)
_

Beauty in the eyes of the beholder

Have you ever gone into the change rooms, you know the tiny little 1.5m x 1.5m box with mirrors on three sides and a flimsy curtain? Yikes! You just can't get away from it. Your large, mis-shapen, even grotesque body is right there. In your face.

Well, I am rather plump anyway so these little cubbies don't do me any favours, but can I admit, I just hate fitting on clothes in those rooms. Sooo... here is a cartoon which tickled me!

Legalism

Tim Reinke at Miscellanies has this excelllent piece on Legalism. Go to.

Life Lessons on the Court

Heidi at keeping house recently posted about ideas for helping others to deal with pain.

This post has absolutely nothing to do with keeping house or dealing with pain. {{shrug}}

But... we were commenting on the soothing, calming effect our attitude can impart to the one suffering. My thoughts drifted to the soothing and calming influence we, as mothers, can exert on our children, and conversely, the way our stress and anxiety rubs off on them as well. (Okay, I admit, I waft off sometimes ♥) We who have children have all experienced it. We are fretting and anxious and before you know it the whole peace and rhythm of the home is destroyed and chaos reigns!

My example though is from a recent sporting event. My sons have been playing basketball now for a good many years. One of the reasons we've stuck to this sport is that it is very family oriented here, with lots of families with multiple children playing. There is great parental support and the tone is, on the whole, friendly, respectful and sportsman-like.

Last week both of my boys played in the semi-finals for this season. My older son's team played a nail biting game to be beaten by one point, one point not goal! This as you can imagine was very disappointing for 11 to 13 year old boys :-( But on the whole they took it well. They are tough and shook hands like young men. My younger son commented on the way home, "Why does J... cry like that whenever you loose?" J... is the MVP (most valuable player, most goals scored). Older son replied with a dead pan expression "You'd cry too if your mother was screaming like that on the sideline."

It was true. His mother had hurled abuse at the opposition, argued with the referees, blasphemed constantly and made excuses for the fouls that he was pulled up on. She had paced up and down the side line and generally agitated everyone! The poor boy was under extreme pressure.

And perhaps the worst thing for a 13 year old boy, his mother kept calling him "darling" and other pet names at the top of her voice!!! A no-no with this age boys (well, apparently in front of their friends.) They reckon home schooling mothers are smother mothers! Give the young man some dignity.

I get pretty excited at sporting events I confess, but .....

Sometimes it takes a performance such as this for our kids to realize how fortunate they really are! and how much they appreciate a half -way sensible mum!

Boys Eye View!

A little humour in our Australian History today!
Captain Cook claims the land for England's King George III and names it New South Wales.
We started discussing 150 years of statehood for Queensland and S2 asks why we are called Queensland. Mum launches into a lengthy historic run down but S1 grins cheekily. "It was so we can play State of Origin of course!"

My Cheeky Boys!

After our morning break, I called the boys from the back yard. There was a mulcher working in one of the neighbours' yards so they called back, "What's that, Mum? We can't hear you." Again I called it was time to come in. Again, "Sorry, can't hear you Mum!" So I called again a little more quietly, "I have ice cream and chocolate up here!" Thundering feet up the stairs!

Cheeky boys!