Social Graces and Civility

We have been discussing manners in our house today... what are some good manners, how they have changed over time (and boy have they changed... will get to that in a moment). Joshua wrote out some manners /habits that he wants to work on and I read through some manners that George Washington outlined in Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour
http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm. On a funny note here are a couple that gave me the chuckles (I have tried to change the spelling a bit as its original spelling is old Englishy:

• Shake not the head, feet or legs, rowl not the eyes, lift not one eyebrow higher than the other. Wry not the mouth and bedew no mans face with your spittle, by approaching to near him when you speak

• Kill no vermin as fleas, lice or ticks in the sight of others, if you see any filth or thick spittle, put your foot dexteriously upon it if it be upon the clothes of your companions. Put if off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes, return thanks to him who puts it off.

• If you cough, sneeze, sigh or yawn, do it not loud but privately; and speak not in your yawning, but put your handkerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.

• Read no letters, books or papers in company but when there is a necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unasked. Also look not nigh when another is writing a letter

I could go on and on but what has struck me most (on a serious note) is that this was written by George Washington sometime before he was 16.

On Monday I took the children to the hospital on the bus for Owen's appointment. On the way home a huge group of highschool students jumped on the bus. The remainder of the journey I was desperately hoping my impressionable seven year old would not comprehend or repeat the filthy talk I heard from the mouth of some boys in front. Honestly I was dumbfounded ! The things the boys were saying to eachother was so degrading and foul. And I would say these boys were about 16 or so...

So I guess I can appreciate a little more why elderly folks tend to say that kids today have no respect/ are bad mannered....

Of course this isn't the situation for all teenagers. It just got me thinking about integrity/spirituality and respect... food for thought and things to pray for my children....

Precious moments

Some precious moments from my day. I was afraid these precious moments might be gone by the time I grabbed the camera from its case!

Not sure how much reading you managed to do, Owen :) I just love these sweet moments - just stood and watched the two enjoying eachother's company!

Happy Birthday Cousin!

Some of the highlights from the weekend:

Cousin Tim's Party! Joshua's cousin, Tim turned 6 on the weekend and had a soccer theme party. I think the highlight for me was the look on Tim's face when he saw the cake his Mummy made! Angela - you did such a fantastic job and Tim just loved it!

Joshua also played very well at a Piano Festival. All that hard practise and help from Grandma, Dad and Mum with music theory (it takes three of us (mostly non-music literate) to try and help understand music theory - Grandpa (very musical) used to help with this...)

Little sister is proud of you too, Josh:

Lovable Mischief!

These are the two cheeky little smooches that have been keeping me on my toes of late! I think if you look closely you will see that cheeky little twinkle in the eye (you captured it well Uncle Peter!)

Catch up

General run down of some recent events (just to catch up)

Colour matching games with Owen and Rosa



Visiting Great Grandma



Staining and Reviving an old cupboard I picked up (eventually for Rosa's room)



We also have party inherited Dad Campbell's van which is at this very moment at a fitters having seats added for our family. We are quite excited about the fact that we can actually use the van to take an extra person or two or three - up until now all seats have been taken so this will be quite a treat.

I am thoroughly enjoying my new ladies Bible study - getting into the nitty gritty of the book of Matthew.

Hmm... sorry for the bitsy look at life - just so many things have been happening it is hard to catch up on them all!

Chocolate experiment

David recently asked Joshua to choose a Science experiment from his book that they could do together for fun. There were quite a few to choose from. Well... lo and behold there was an experiment involving chocolate. Daddy didn't need to be asked twice about that one - they both raced to the fridge (literally!) and were delighted to find a few bits of chocolate - perfect for their experiment!!! They learned all about solids and liquids ... or should I say they learned about how sweet chocolate tastes - whether it is warm and gooey or solid and hard!

And if you're wondering whether this is all an excuse to eat chocolate - there is proof that this really is a scientific experiment (see the photo below)!! So if you want your kids to rush to do some Science on their public holiday - just try this one. No objections guaranteed!

Catch Up

Here are some of the things that have happened lately... bit behind, aren't I? Bout' time for some pickkies and updates!

Bible Study
I have been thoroughly enjoying my ladies Bible study (sorry no pictures here...) We have been studying the book of Matthew. It has been great getting into some challenging questions - I have been preparing my study for Monday... We have been looking at the issue of the Sabbath - what Jesus said about it in Matthew and how it relates to the Old Testament. The heart of it being that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath - the pharisees spent much time debating and arguing about what was/wasn't allowed... Here are some Old Testament verses from Isaiah 58 which get at the heart of the Sabbath issue :

"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on my holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
If you honour it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly,
Then you shall take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth,
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

So take delight in the Lord of the Sabbath !

Grampy

We were privileged to enjoy some time with my Dad who was down in Brissy recently. We especially enjoyed having Grampy play some hymns during our evening devotion time together - always adds such a dimension to our songs/worship.

It was also a lovely time for the children to soak up some cuddles, story reading and time in the cubby. Grampy, Joshua and David also managed to pick up a second hand frame for the stairs to the cubby house - so we look forward to having some steps in the near future! Thanks Grampy!

persecuted for righteousness sake

I am enthusiastically awaiting my first night at Bible Study Fellowship. I have been so keen to be in a group Bible study again! The Bible study will spend the year looking at the book of Matthew. I have been reading through Matthew with Joshua each morning as well - it has led to lots of interesting discussions.

We looked at the Beatitudes and particularly "blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". This then led us on to talking about precious Christians around the globe who suffer for Christ. We looked at some particular articles from the Barnabus Aid magazine - just a shocking reminder of how desperately we need to come on our knees about these fellow believers. Joshua was particularly concerned for a boy of 12 or 13 in Vietnam we read about who refused to leave his church and was beaten until unconscious (by security forces). His family later came and carried him home, unconscious. The article said he is still unable to walk. I know... there are loads of these cases everywhere... some just too graphic and heart-wrenching to read to my boy.

...Yes, there are so many who are physically persecuted for His name sake!

Spare some time in prayer for them tonight!

The glue pot

I have had a crazy day (most are)! It seemed that everyone needed me at once - one needing the potty, one asking questions about school work and groaning about the amount I set... and one following me around and whining...

...then there was the glue pot! Somehow Joshua managed to spill (and just stood there calling for help - while it kept on spilling) a rather large amount of glue on his desk and down onto the floor...

I just about lost it - but instead I wrote this rather wacky poem... please excuse the fact that it was put together in a short space of time and lacks some of the qualities of real poetry...

Glue Pot

The glue from that pot
Made a very large spot
And the spot from that pot
On the floor it got

And the very cranky Mum
saw the glue from that pot
On the floor - a large spot
and lost it!

The boy with the glue
Used his hands, it is true,
Yelled aloud with that pot
Still on the floor it got

Then wondering what to do
Stood and watched the sticky glue
While mother fussed around
with a frown

On a folder it got,
The glue from that pot
In the carpet it sank
My son looked so blank

Cleaning up was not fun
For the glue had just run
And now it spread wide
While the cloth he applied

I must be mature
And for glue spills - a cure?
The glue from that pot
Made me bald on the top

The boy with that glue
Is mine, oh it's true
But the boy with the bottle
His neck I could throttle!

After much wiping round
It begins to look sound
And now that it is clean
I realise I've been mean

So this one cranky Mum
Must speak sweetly to her son
While the glue that is set
Will need more cleaning yet

And this Mum, as she calms
With her boy in her arms
Hears a voice from the hall
And a younger boy's call

She waddles to his mess
Could this be a test?
For this boy holds that pot
Which is dripping a great lot!

Nature Journaling

Great to catch up with some lovely friends - this was the day Josh had been waiting for (see blog re. fork lift) The kids ate lunch in the cubby house, bounced on the trampoline and then did some scientific investigating of creepy crawlies! They found a grub, snails, a bee (with very pollen-laden back legs) and other little bugs under the surface of the bark. Out came the magnifying glass and pencils and they sketched away. The grub was quite a funny creature and was crawling along upside down in the tank...