So much to sort out.

Tonight I thought I would go back into my bookcase and pull out all the textbooks, books, picture books etc to try to work out some more "school" stuff for the girls to work on tomorrow. Today when the kids were all in daycare, hubby and I went out to town, bought some play swords for our little boy, who thinks he is a muskateer and I found some disney princess books, that were actually pretty educational. The girls were overjoyed to be doing "schoolwork" along with their favourite princesses.

I know that the whole commercialism aspect of disney is really not a great thing, but then the girls enjoy being princesses and dressing up and quite frankly, I would rather them act like little girls doing girly things, than being tomboyish and feministic. I don't think that girls and women for that matter should act more manly than men, its a complete turnoff to me personally. You can be assertive if you need to, whilst still being feminine. I know its the in thing to be a strong, independant woman, who is non-reliant on any man, but its just not me nor is it how I want my girls to grow up. Call me old-fashioned, but women should be women and men should men and there should be no mixing up the two. I like a strong, independent man, who is not afraid to stand up for something, nor afraid to fight, and will protect his family until the end. I can't stand a man who is wimpy or girlier than a girl which so many men of today seem to be. Yes, it is nice that these sorts of guys can say all the right stuff, but seriously, would I feel comforted if he were protecting me in a dangerous situation? I doubt it. Suffice to say, my boy is a rough and ready type, and we encourage him in his swordplay, and Daddy is a ready opponent and yes, we do let him play with guns also. ;-)

So back to the books etc. I now have a pile of things appropriate for each of my girls and will aim to do a little each day of the basic drills. My 6 year old whilst a prolific reader is an atrocious speller, just like her father, so I really need to address that. I have been buying quite a few things from the classified sections of the the homeschooling forums I frequent, mostly aussiehomeschool and rockpoolaustralia. Amongst those, I bought a spelling journal, which has spaces for new words, and testing areas and complete sections on spelling rules (some of which I didn't even know), plural rules, and a whole bunch of other useful stuff which will be a great starting point for her. I also have a whole lot of flash cards and some spelling workbooks/teachers texts that I hope will help us both get her spelling on track. My 4 year old has only recently in the last few weeks shown a real interest in learning to read so we are mainly focusing on phonics at this stage. She has picked up quite a bit just from listening to her sister learning which is great. I also need to renew my Reading Eggs subsciption for them. This website program has really helped them by providing a fun, entertaining aspect to the phonics journey they are on.

Well, I am off to bed. Fingers crossed that our family members and friends within the cyclone's path keep themselves and their families safe tomorrow and in the following days.

AARRGGHH!

I love 3 year olds! Can you detect my sarcasm in those words??? The temper tantrums are enough to send me bonkers. I don't remember the girls ever having such episodes as my boy does, so I'm thinking that it must just be a boy thing. If it isn't ear-splitting screams, its yelling or its crying or he is following me around connected to my leg with his little arms locked tight doing all three! I try to ignore, sometimes it works. I try to do time out, that doesn't work in the least. I try to reason and whilst it doesn't work all the time, it does sometimes. Or I can trick him by asking him to do something by catering to one of 5 alter-egos he has made up recently. In a house of 5 people, he has to realise that I can't drop everything and give into his every whim whenever he wants me to. Very frustrating, but I've heard it all gets better once they hit 4 years old, so here's to another 10 months of lovely 3 year old temper tantrums!

On a nicer note, we all had a pretty good afternoon with the kids baking some mini banana cream pies, and vegetable pancakes for dinner. Yes, the kitchen was a bit of a mess afterwards and amongst the little fights about who got to do what parts of the cooking, they figured it all out and the results were yummy. Daddy wasn't too keen on the cream pies, but the kids thought they were fantastic and would have eaten the lot right then and there, but we managed to save some and seeing as all three of the kids have daycare tomorrow, they are going to take some to share with everyone. The girls have bookmarked sausage rolls for dinner tomorrow night, very easy for them to make and we will be making a double or even maybe triple batch to freeze the extras. I know its probably not the most healthiest choice, but they enjoy cooking, and it all gets eaten so I don't mind so much. As most people know, little kids can be quite picky so its a bit of a struggle sometimes getting them to eat at all. They do eat a lot of fruit and I smuggle vegetables in almost everything I make...spaghetti sauce, rissoles, meatloaf, vegetable pancakes, chicken pasta, and the new choice, chicken and salad wraps with sweet chilli sauce. Yes, they actually eat lettuce!!! LOL  :)

Well I have had my little rant for today, and now I am off to pack lunch boxes for daycare and organise clothes for tomorrow. :)

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises

was oftentimes filled with your tears.

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find

it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy,

Kahlil Gibran

Time for me to start blogging again :)

It has been a while since my last post...gosh, that sounds a bit like the beginning of a confession. Not that I have ever done so, as I have never been religious and in all honesty, never will. However, some aspects of religion I think make a lot of sense. Yes, that does make us a bit of a pecularity within the homeschooling community because we are secular as there are quite a lot of homeschoolers whose main reason for choosing to educate their own children is based on their religion. I have my own reasons, and after commenting on a fellow homeschoolers new blog I have been thinking of it all alot.

Regardless of what you are talking about, there will always be the generalizations and homeschoolers aren't exempt. Generally, people think that homeschoolers are either hippies or very strict bible-bashers and I am neither one of those, however I do use reusable cloth menstrual pads by choice, so make of that what you will ;-)I am neither a teacher, nor am I qualified unless you want to refer to my Certificate in Office Administration that I did 13 years ago. I haven't studied for years and years in a particular field, nor do I have any fancy letters behind my name. What I do have is a love for my children, and their well-being and the genuine want to help them learn as much as possible and to guide them into making the right choices when they are unable to do so at a young age. I hope that they will take with them into their own adult lives a sense of never-ending love, support and a wealth of knowledge so they may have the best life they are able to. I want them to know that no matter where they are, that our family home will always be a safe haven for them when the world is unkind or things don't go to plan. In this, I don't think that I am any different to any other homeschooling parent.

I know that other parents send their kids to school, and whilst I don't agree with it, I don't hold it against them. It is their decision and I would hope that other people would think the same in regards to myself. At this time of our lives, homeschooling works for us, and my children are learning everyday. They may not be at the level of other kids, they may also be ahead in some aspects, they may be lacking in others, but I don't think it makes any difference as they are still so young. I don't see the point in pushing too much on them. My 6 year is reading well on her own and my 4 year old can write some letters and knows the sounds of others, and my 3 year old knows his colours and can count to 20 and sometimes higher when he is in the mood. I could go on and on pointing out all the things they do, but whats the point. Each child will learn in their own time and everything will click at some stage and there will be no stopping them then. To me, the ability to read is foremost. Once that basic skill is learnt, the world is open to you via the pages of any book you choose to open. Yes, I do worry about whether I am teaching them enough some days, but I think too much emphasis is placed on being like everyone else at a certain level that the joy of learning is lost and isn't that the whole reason we homeschool in the first place. To ensure our kids actually have fun learning, not just force-fed everything at a certain time, on a certain day, in a certain month of a certain year.

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep

in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers,

gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom,

but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

Kahlil Gibran

Bit of this, bit of that :)

Today I felt very homely. I made a loaf of bread, from scratch with my hands, not a bread machine and it was awesome. I would take a picture, but its been half demolished now...oh look, I will be right back after I take a picture because I am rather proud of it. :)

I know that it doesn't look very pretty, but taste wise its wonderful and as the saying goes, "You should never judge a book by its cover." LOL. It takes a lot of time and effort to make your own bread and yes, I know that it is probably easier and only slightly cheaper to just go the shop and buy a payless loaf of bread, but where is the fun and the sense of accomplishment that comes with making your own bread? People have been doing it for thousands of years and I've shown myself that I too can do it!  

I love baking, especially yummy, fattening stuff hence my rotundish appearance ;-) and this Sunday is my little boy's 3rd birthday. He is into Toy story at the moment, so I have decided to make a flat cake as the base, a loaf sized cake to make Andy's bed and use chocolate Flakes and melted chocolate hardened into a bed head and end part of the bed. Coloured icing in blue with stars as decoration and marshmallow pillow and then I've got an 8 piece set of small toys to decorate the whole lot. I love making cakes for birthdays. Here are a couple of ones that I really loved doing. 

     I made this one, and the girls decorated it for me for my last birthday.

The sign says it all really :)

This was for Ayla's Under the Sea Party. 

So I will put up a pic of the finished cake from this Sunday at some stage. Still undecided if it will be going to the park or staying at home, as its supposed to be raining all weekend. We shall see. 

All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind. 

Kahlil Gibran

Frustration

So incredibly frustrated at the moment. My lovely sister, when she wants to be :p, knows that I am the Ebay supremo, so asked me to bid on some hair extensions for her. I click it all on, get geared up to spearfish at the last second, which any diehard Ebayist knows is the only way to bid on stuff and then I click and it displays instead my sign-in page...at this point I am so stunned that I don't do anything for a couple of seconds and then the anger takes over..how dare it sign me out of its own accord! Suffice to say, we didn't win that particular auction, but there are other ones ending in the next couple of days so all is saved.

I really do have an addiction to Ebay..I am checking stuff out at least 3 times a day, I have purchased way too much stuff off it, and no doubt will do so for many years to come. I am a bargain hunter, and its turned into a little sport between hubby and I to see who can get the most for the least amount of money. Its really quite satisfying to get things at way below what you would pay for in the retail shops and I can't understand why other people don't strive to do the same. Ebay is a great place to get all sorts of goodies, new and used. And quite frankly, when you buy something brand new off the shelf and take it home, wash it once, its then classified as used anyway, so why not save yourself some money, and buy it used in the first place?

Everyone is always complaining about a lack of money, they have to work so much, they don't get any time off, etc etc...but seriously, do they really manage their money how they should? Do they go out and buy a whim right now, or wait for longer and perhaps get it at a much reduced price? Do they shop around and source it at a lower price from another store? Do they ask for a better price instead of the asking price, because you may be surprised if you are cheeky enough to ask a store person what is the absolute best price they can do it for, you might just get a few bucks off which you could use to get yourself a nice cuppa and cake after bargain shopping around all day.
BTW..Recently, I found a lovely butterfly necklace ( I am a butterfly and fairy freak too) on Ebay..hubby was cheeky and made them an offer of $60 less than their asking price and they accepted! You never know unless you ask :)

We don't have any credit cards, nor do we have any mortages or loans for anything. We have always dealt strictly with cash and if we can't afford something we want, we wait until we have saved up enough money and then buy it. This also gives you some prospective on whether you are buying something because you want it, or because you truly need it. We all have wants, some silly and frivolous, some not so, but we all have needs too which we can't live without. Prioritizing things is a necessity that everyone needs to learn along with patience. Good things come to those that wait :)

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.


KAHLIL GIBRAN

Sweetness

I love my kids more than anything else in this world. They are my life and moments like this morning at breakfast make me happy that I am so lucky to have three gorgeous little beings surrounding me every day. The way things have worked out in our household is that I have always tended to the children during the night, from newborn until now and in the future. Daddy has never had to get out of bed to do a night feed or change, and in return he then gets up with the kids when they wake in the morning and lets me have a lovely sleep in, and most mornings a nice cup of tea too! Yes, spoilt, I know but I love it ;-)  This might not work for other parents, but it is a great arrangement for us, and allows us both to get enough rest without both of us having an interrupted night time.

So, this morning upon waking, I walk down to the kitchen and DS 3 spies me and gives me a huge smile, whilst saying " Good morning, Mummy", then comes running at me to give me a hug and kiss. When I lift him up, he snuggles close and says "You are the beautifuliest sweetheart, Mummy." What a lovely way to greeted in the morning! It makes up for those times when he is having temper tantrums, and bursting ear drums with his high-pitched screams or fighting with his sisters and I want to just throw them all in the freezer for a half hour or so to chill them out a bit. *Please note, that statement is for illustrative purposes only and is not a recommended form of time out just in case someone reading this really thinks that I would do such a thing. :s So, it started my day off on such a lovely note of sweetness that I thought I would share it with everyone :)

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.


You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.


KAHLIL GIBRAN

What a day :)

Today was lovely..all my babies were in daycare so it was a Mummy/Daddy day which is very rare and not to be taken for granted. Usually it involves us going out for lunch, then groceries all while secretly laughing at other parents struggling with their own kids doing the exact same things as us...mean, I know, but I do feel sorry for them, but happy for me to have some time out. In a family of 5, time alone is almost non-existent and I wonder what on earth I ever did with my free time before children. The freedom to go anywhere, anytime, to do anything I wanted. These days, going for a shower or to the bathroom alone is a feat in itself!

I think everyone needs to have their own space and own time to do what they like when they like. You can lose yourself when you are a part of a relationship, especially when you become a mother and wife. Not only are you responsible for yourself, you also have a husband, and your children to contend with. Mothers do get the raw deal sometimes, but would I change it? Never...I love my life and though I might grizzle about being at the bottom of the food chain in our family, I can't see myself doing anything else and being as happy as I am. However, getting back to the alone time, I wish some days, I could just take off in my car and go wherever I want for how ever long I want. It is easy for my hubby to do that, as the home will still function just as it always does if he isn't here..on the other hand, when I go out of the house alone for more than an hour, all hell breaks loose at home and chaos will be awaiting me when I step back inside. Now, don't get me wrong, hubby is very capable of "babysitting" ( I love that phrase that fathers use to look after their own children, LOL), its just that men don't have the patience that women do when it comes to down to things. Its just one of many ways men and women are different to each other.

Today, hubby showed me how generous of a man he is, and how much he loves me. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful person as my partner for life and its been through good and hard times that we have stuck together and worked things out instead of running away from our troubles. Communication to me is the only key to a successful relationship. You can work through anything so long as you are able to listen to someone else's reasons and not take everything personally. Just because you think a certain way does not mean that someone else thinks that way as well. We are all different but we can work well together if there is give and take from each other, not just one giving and one taking all the time.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping; For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together; For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.  Kahlil Gibran