Oh Daddy we are going to miss you!

Yes, the time is drawing near to say a goodbye to Daddy before he heads overseas for about a month. Boy are we all going to miss him! David will be off to the Czech Republic next week. He will also spend some time in Central Asia visiting friends. I am sure he will enjoy catching up with our dear friends there. So much will have happened in their lives. We will be praying for you here, in Australia, Daddy - each step along the way. We will miss you so much!

Tonight we had a special goodbye dinner (before all the last min. preparation gets busy). Joshua helped me pick some ingredients and set the table.

Here is my precious family - all around me at the dinner table.








Thankyou Lord for each one. They have a special place in my heart!

Bits and Bobs

Joshua had a lovely time on Saturday playing with neighbour girl Taylor, up in our attic. Joshua begs to go up there and read or play Galaxian II (computer game from David's childhood!)

We enjoyed catching up with rellies later on Saturday. Rosa made the most of some new toys and got quite comfy on Matthias' little couch.

Daddy helped to make Mango smoothies this morning at breakfast, much to the delight of the boys. Owen, is making sure the viewers know exactly what this is! It isn't actually that cold in Brisbane (to wear a beanie)... I just asked Owen to wear a hat when he went outside earlier and that is the hat he chose!

The boys were having such a lovely time playing outside at morning tea break. They ate some chocolate chip cookies (thanks Mum Enderby... still a family favourite!) Owen is taking his turn to say thanks to the Lord here (not sure what he says but we all recognise the "Amen" at the end)

Joshua did some lovely art work today. We looked through our library books at some pictures of war planes. We talked about their shape and symmetry as well as what the function of some parts of the plane. Here is his finished masterpiece. Well done, Joshua (I know you were just dying to finish for the day and play outside but you stuck at it and Mama is so proud of the effort you put it - it really paid off!)

Riddle

We (Joshua, Rosa and I) have had the priviledge of seeing a new little bubs - very recently brought into the world. Our friends recently had a little girl, Rachel. She is such a sweetie and so obviously has brought a special blessing into the lives of her parents! God is awesome!

This evening we have had the youth group drop in as part of their car rally. They had to get on their bellies and crawl into the boys cubby house (see previous blog pictures), grab a clue and then solve a riddle. When the had found the answer to the riddle it was a password for our computer so they could find out where they had to go next. The riddle is quite a challenge. See if you can work it out...

I am a creation of Jehovah God,

a marvelous gift men may applaud.

But follow me and you will see

a great deal of treachery.

I can incite to evil, or to good.

I can unite or divide a brotherhood.

Without me men would be but dust,

though I'm not one to give your trust.

If you would have a happy life,

and keep away from sin and strife,

then use me well, but do beware,

I could lead you to Satan's lair.

But life to you will be a joy,

if I serve you well in your employ.

To God I am an open book,

ensuring justice for the course you took.

A mechanical wonder I am it's true,

and I mean life to all of you;

but guard me well or you may see,

yourself filled up with treachery.

Aviation project

David began reading the book of Joshua today - much to the delight of our Josh. What an amazing promise God makes to Joshua in the first chapter - to make Joshua's way prosperous, to make his enemies fail and to provide for his people, Israel (of course conditional on their following in the covenant). Joshua is reminded again not to be afraid (anyone leading the Israelits after Moses had big shoes to fill - so desperately needed the Lord's hand to be on him)...

Joshua spent some time working on his aviation Lap book. How do you like Pilot Josh??

And back again...

What an exhausting day (but a good one!) I was still in my pyjamas when Martina came up to say hello before she headed off (Martina is our Czech friend who is staying with us for a couple of months). She sure saw a flustered Mum cooking up a storm in the kitchen, covered in mess... children running wild and lunches being packed! She made some comment about me not having any plans for the day - because here I was in my jammies! Wrong! Just one disorganised Mum who hasn't made it to a fresh set of clothes yet!

We went out in the afternoon with Daddy. When we arrived home we made the dreaded discovery that Owen's hearing aides weren't there. After a thorough search through the car and house Dave made a call to the book shop he visited and yes after they searched the store, they managed to find them! So after dinner it was back to pick them up... I think Owen is going to have to have those things glued on next time!

I did enjoy, despite all the fluster of the day, some time of quiet in the car praying for my kiddliwinks. I was reminded of just how blessed I am and how each one of them adds such a different set of blessings to us. Thankyou Lord for the blessing each one brings!

sing for joy!

We have been enjoying some precious times singing songs together in the evenings as a family. I find it leaves me with such a sweet taste in my mouth at the end of the day... We take turns choosing a hymn and hey, let's be honest, we are not musicians (to say the least) but the words are so true and so precious that they linger. I love to wake up with the words still spinning around in my head.

On a more 'schooly' note - here is one of the projects Joshua has begun. We have been learning
bits and bobs about Aviation. I must say I am learning a lot too - as I really don't know much about planes at all.

That Crazy Homeschool Family

We had some fun mucking around together today. For some reason Joshua wanted to wear his funny glasses all day - kept leaving them places and went looking for them before he did his work.

So what exactly does the "average" homeschooler look like? Does he wear big goofy glasses and eat organic, homemade hommus??


And what on earth would the mother of such a child look like? Does she also wear big, goofy glasses and homemade jewlery (made from foam stars her children make her).... I guess the answer must be YES!


And is the child's father a recluse who spends his every waking hour thinking of scientific inventions... or does he romp around on the floor with his little squirts?

Perhaps I am just in a wacky mood today! I do have those crazy days (ahhh... let's be honest - I have quite a crazy streak you know - or did you?)

I actually happen to be quite relieved today that my curriculum planning has met with the aproval from the Home Ed. department and I now have the thumbs up to be doing what I have been doing all along in one form or another... homeschooling.

Time alone with our Master

Here is something beautiful I came across in my recent reading from a book by one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth George "Life Management for Busy Women - living out God's Plan with Passion and Purpose":

Rules for Daily Life

Begin the day with God

Kneel down to Him in prayer;

Lift up thy heart to His abode,

And seek His love to share

Open the book of God
And read a portion there;

That it may hallow all thy thoughts,

And sweeten all thy care.

Go through the day with God

Whate'er thy work may be;

Where'er thou art - at home, abroad,

He still is near to thee.

Converse in mind with God

Thy spirit heavenward raise:

Acknowledge every good bestowed,

And offer grateful praise.

Conclude the day with God

Thy sins to Him confess;

Trust in the Lord's atoning blood,

And plead His righteousness.

Lie down at night with God

Who gives His servants sleep;

And when thou tread'st the vale of death,

He will thee guard and keep.

I had some special time today with Rosa - just showing her picture cards and letting her romp all over me on the bed. It was lovely just to have a quiet moment with her alone while Owen was at Prep. and Joshua working on the computer. Each of the children really respond to time spent with them alone - where they can have my undivided attention for even a short while. I am the same - reminds me that God, too wants our undivided attention - to commune with Him - and Him alone each day.

The circus (but not the one at our house)

It has been a fairly 'normal' (hmm... not sure there is a 'normal') day.... I am beginning to think it was actually not normal at all - in that nothing popped up throughout the day - things went rather smoothly :)... We walked Owen up to his Prep. class. Josh on scooter - Owen wishing he was... They all received their usual very vocal "Hello!" from our boys. Josh likes to share all that is happening in his life and today his thoughts have been constantly on the circus at the end of the street that he is dying to go to. Owen raced outdoors for his free play time and spotted some little bikes. Joshua was a bit surprised that one of the substitute teachers thought he was a student there (I guess they don't usually come across school aged kids who are not at school)
When we picked Owen up later Joshua raced ahead to the gate and I heard him get a few questions about what he had learned for the day (nothing like a bit of a check up to see iffin' is really gettin' an edukashun! And of course it just happens that he can't remember anything he has learned at all!)

David took the boys this evening to the circus - much to the extreme delight of our boys - particularly Josh. They came home late and had so many stories to tell. Owen kept talking about dogs (and cows - I had to remind him that they weren't cows - they were actually Alpacas - he is not convinced yet!). I am sure tomorrow I will spend a good part of the day hearing more about their adventures. When I tucked Josh into bed tonight he was trying to balance his stuffed toy dog on his finger.... I can feel a Joshua circus show coming on!

Perseverance

I spent some time today reading through some library books on flight with Joshua. I was amazed after reading about the Wright brothers (managed to invent a plane that stayed up for initial 12 seconds!) at just what perseverance they had. Their first plane crashed and required some time to repair. Their second plane (flyer II) got caught in a gust of wind and crashed beyond repair. They didn't give up or even consider a holiday - they just kept perfecting it and persevering in order to create a more effective plane. Not only that but when they did succeed in flying their first plane it didn't even make headlines in their local (country) paper ! They didn't appear to be phased but kept working on their plane and after perfecting their craft (could now fly 30min. they couldn't even talk the US army into buying their idea as a helpful tool during enemy attacks)... Now these two guys, Orville and Wilbur had incredible perseverance! Here's a verse that encourages me to persevere in tough times...

Romans 2v58
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Owen had a lovely play today with his dear cousin, Matthias. Matthias was having some special time with Grandma who decided to use the stroller and drop in for a visit (now even Grandma comments about how unusual that is for her - she hates walking with a passion!) It was lovely having them over. I hope he recovered ok from the enormous cuddles Owen dished out when he arrived!