green faces

This morning I had a bit of a pamper session - what? rush-around-and-don't -bother-much about-appearance-me... Just trying to keep my clothes free from evidence of runny nose, smears of food (from my own sloppy eating) and, well... those odd little nappy remnants that just can creep out when you think you've got it all... Yes, I, even I, had a facial! The Mums of Special needs kids from Owen's Prep were each spoilt by a consultant lady who pampered us. Was nice to be spoilt and come home smelling like a powder puff...until the next nappy change :)

I learned a couple of funny things this morning:

• Body lotions, etc. can have a definite heirachy;) of course the top product/s are always the ones consultants sell. All else pales into insignificance...
• I was absolutely amazed at how much could be said for such small tubes of cream! Ok, they smelled nice...
• I must say I almost fell off my prep-sized chair when I found out that the cheapest item is $95!!! Of course this only purchases half of what you really need, so you spend the same on the other half.

But you know, I enjoyed being pampered and enjoyed a good inward chuckle from it all,

And all that for not a cent!

what's more...

Joshua, with a smug look on his face peeked his head in the door when we ladies were all covered in green face mask and asked if it was mud on our face!

this time I could let out my inward chuckle!

friends and food

I have just come home from a cooking lesson! My friend, Rebecca from church agreed to teach me some Sudanese cooking. We made a dish called Dak with Semolina. I think semolina is a staple ingredient in their cooking. The white dish - which looks like mashed potato is semolina. It looked like quite a work out the way she stirred and stirred it (somewhat like playdough) !

The dish 'Dak' is made from some sort of vegetable (I am yet to find out the english name for) which looks a bit like spinach ... with onion, tomato and stock... Tasted great, a little salty but very yummy. Here is some she sent home for David. She also served it with some yummy lamb in a tomatoey sauce.

I really enjoyed myself, tasted some friendship and am looking forward to getting to know her more. Our discussion also helped me just to appreciate a little more what it is to be free of fear, living here in Australia. Heard about some of the terrible trauma and corruption in Africa. Makes my recent decision making issues (which sometimes seem huge) seem so insignificant...

Overall, a sprinkle of sweetness to my day!

Jazzed up Jaffas

Here are some little jars I jazzed up recently for gifts. Simple, inexpensive jars (I happened to pick mine up from Ikea) but have seen them various other places since (dollar shops, kmart perhaps..) I just filled with sweets (in this case Jaffas) and decorated the top using a stamp of a little girl & other of a flower... using double sided tape onto a large scallop punched out shape...
Then I tied some coordinated ribbon around neck of jar.


Helps to get together sometimes and share around stamps or punch out shapes (like I did) so you don't feel you need the whole collection of stamps or punches to do a craft like this (and saves $$)

Sorry - my camera doesn't do the close up shots well...



PS - sorry re. empty post on my blog for any who dropped by yesterday. I had something there before but decided I need to think through it a bit more and ended up deleting it... was some reflections on study of Romans... not sure I understood things well enough when commenting... maybe will post about it after I have studied more! ;)

choosing a school

It is easy to look back on a decision and see whether it was a good one or maybe not such a good one... but when you are making that decision it seems so hard to know...

We are praying through the decision of where to put Owen next year for grade 1 , whether to keep him home entirely or whether to put him part time in a Special School...

Prayer, decisions, decisions, visits to special schools, discussions together, discussions with others...

Special Schools are quite different from the ordinary school. Guess I have never really been to one before and not sure what I expected... There are children with all sorts of needs, phobias, intense hobbies, etc. etc... and usually (necessarily) very high fences and areas with bars, extra security, etc.... hmmm....

And then there is the smell of very strong dettol...

Of course there are other programs that encourage 'real life' skills like using a cash register, weighing fruit and veg. making sandwhiches, etc. There are rooms with bright lights, flashing lights, neon bubbles and calm music... There are lots of pictures and well-labelled boxes, hooks on the wall, etc. with the child's photograph on them so they know where to put things.

Curriculums are, of course, much less academic. The child may have as their goal to eat without making such a mess (I think that is a relevant goal around our house:) their goal might be to learn to point to pictures to show what they want, or to learn to ride a bike.

...of course this is all from a Mum's perspective... my insights as a parent. Special Schools are just different.

A letter is written from a guidance officer to the school you wish to enrol your child in. The letter, intended for the staff is rather... well honest... about your child, telling in full detail their various disabilities or health concerns, stating their summary on the child's intellectual level, their need for help... probably more honest like the report cards which were all the norm before suing and political correctness issues came in.... Ok, ok, we opened our 'confidential' letter...

And so all the feelings, thoughts and swaying of views tangles in my mind. I know that decisions like this are hard to make. Hard to keep emotions, and 'gut feelings' (which can also be wrong) about things out of the way.

Humbly, back to our knees...

magnet gift ideas part 2

Here are the other fabric covered magnets for my crafty friends out there

I covered a matchbox (larger size) in pretty paper with some ribbon, an embelishment and a little tag (tag from newsagent)

Then put the fabric covered magnets inside

Here is a picture of button from the back showing the magnet

Cloning teddies

I have been cloning white teddies! I made one and then another and kept going.

After the Teddy Bear Picnic at Owen's Prep, thought it might be fun to put the teddy mould to work and make some plaster teddies for the children to paint. The teddy mould had been sitting dormant in my cupboard for some time... so nice to put it to work.







A few plaster moulding tips:

• Lightly spray mould with spray oil to help shape to come out. Plaster seems to later absorb any oil so doesn't interfere with painting later
• Ideally use a flexible mould - makes it much easier to remove when plaster is dry (my mould is very hard plastic so each clone took some convincing to come out!
• Don't try using household plaster (like I did with no success) leftover from house jobs - only use Plaster of Paris which sets quickly and for some reason seems to not break as easily. Bunnings sells 1kg of Plaster of Paris for about $4.95 (can probably find it cheaper if you buy in bulk) 1 kg made about 5-6 teddies - so works out fairly inexpensive for children's craft idea for creche/playgroup, etc... Would pay to have a couple of moulds though to make job quicker.

Red Paw Paw - just because

I just love RED paw paw. Thanks to my mother-in-law who introduced me to this higher rank of fruit!

I personally don't know why farmers bother with the other type... this is simply the best!

Yummo!!

Wish I could put a little sample here for you to try...

(actually - the truth is, it is all gone!)

crunch

Fun with cousins. The boys made patterns with cherios and sultanas on a kebab stick. The rule was you had to fill the entire stick with the pattern before you got to eat them. Nice quiet few minutes for Aunties to chat ;) and they seemed to enjoy themselves. Didn't really work for Rosa... no sooner had the cherios hit the bowl then we all burst out laughing at the "crunch, crunch" noise!

Pray for me, too

... Been thinking about this after Bible Study

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is about to be crucified. He is praying to the Father, He is in anguish, He is extremely sorrowful. He knows what he is to face. He already described it to his disciples before hand in some detail. If that wouldn't consume your thoughts and feelings and dread enough...

BUT

The Lord prays for Peter. I just find that incredible.

And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!" Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. "But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and that when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren."

Luke 22 v 31 & 32

That the Son of Man should even give any care to others in his own time of such agony...

What is more... Peter even goes on to boast that he,(emphasis on the he- if you didn't catch that!) indeed would do anything for his Lord, even to prison and to death... He even compares himself to the other disciples in other Gospels, saying that even if all fall away, he won't.
The heroic Peter even forgets where his ability to resist temptation comes from...

...and yet, Jesus, knowing all this, prays for him!

Isn't that enough to lift your Spirit?

If you go out to the woods today...

This is the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Owen's Prep class invited us to join them for their teddy bear picnic outside today. Poor Josh had to stay home this time and do some catch up work while Mummy had some special time with the two younger ones.

This poor nameless teddy has been Owen's favourite ... has even been where Mummy hasn't... through the big hospital doors where Owen had heart surgery... He has quite a story to tell, I am sure...

The children were asked to bring along two pieces of fruit and they even chopped it up and made some yummy fruit salad to share around. My hungry young uns' managed to scoff quite a bit down...

And then it was off for a walk in the woods... Quite a feat with a some of the children wanting to race off, others bolting in every direction and some lagging behind to smell the flowers. They enjoyed themselves thoroughly though and Rosa had a huge 3hour sleep when we came home!

Owen doing his old man impersonation... honestly if anyone ever needs an old man in a drama presentation, Owen has it down to a T!

And a re-play of the picnic at home...