Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Perspective shift

Ever feel like you have a shift in perspective and it changes everything? God has certainly been shifting our perspective on things lately. I don't feel I can do it justice here, but our expectations have changed over the last year. Particularly with healing: a change from hoping to expecting.

Mark 9:23. All things are possible to him who believes.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The dust continues

We are stuck inside again today, with more dust passing by. I made some more strawberry shortcake (can't get enough of it!), Don has been getting into a book (with children piled on top of him at various stages), and the children are getting restless. The younger two took it into their heads to do some paper cutting, which was lovely, until I left the room and they decided to start cutting their hair instead. The boy's hair, being the shortest, is the most obviously... er ... re-shaped. Oldest chicken has been working hard writing her new book, with the amazing and gripping title of 'The Hour of Dawn'. I wish I'd thought of a title like that when I was young! I could never think of a title, and all of my stories started with "It was a dark and stormy night..." (can you tell I was a Madeline L'Engle fan?).

Time for some family games...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Don't bother inhaling

We had a wonderful downpour of rain last night, with winds that tried to blow away everything not tied down, but today all we can see is thick dust in the air. Everything is dusty and dirty. It's disgusting. The children are not allowed to go outside, and I took pity on the dog and let him come in the laundry.



The Bureau of Meteorology calls it 'Areas of raised dust'. The NSW goverment website merely calls it 'Particles', although in it's defence it does use the colour red to describe hazardous air quality. ABC rural weather calls it a 'heavy dust haze', which is rather more meaningful. I think they should say 'Don't even think about stepping outside today, let alone breathing!' I went to get the mail with a scarf tied around my face, and still felt like I needed a shower when I stepped back inside. Yeuuuck.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Say strawberry shortcake!

Strawberries at $1 a punnet + a lazy Sunday afternoon = strawberry shortcake! I can't tell you just how good it was.



And sweet child + playdough = mother's heart warmed. Littlest chicken said "Daddy, I made this heart for I love mummy". Ah, sweet love.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Cutting back the spinach

The spinach in the veggie patch has gone completely wild. Probably because I haven't cut it back enough. It's sending out seeds, so if anyone wants to grow spinach (or basil!) let me know and I'll send you some seeds!


We also discovered this empty caterpillar skin on the back of a spinach leaf. Quite amazing that the little creature (moth? butterfly?) managed to squeeze out of such a tiny hole and leave this skin behind.


Monday, September 7, 2009

A double rainbow

You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger,
abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15)



O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD,
and your faithfulness surrounds you. (Psalm 89:8)

Rain

14degC outside. And plenty of rain - thank you, God!


A good day for a tidy up inside. Starting with the activity shelves. These are sooo useful for pre-school / kindergarten aged children. The shelves currently have:
  • some simple puzzles
  • dominoes
  • craft punches
  • a photo albumn
  • colourful wooden blocks
  • coloured dice (they love this one - don't ask me why!)
  • matchsticks to feed through a hole in a box
  • playdough with a few accessories (the one most played with)
  • a box of cheap toy cars
  • shells
  • buttons
  • beads
  • rock collections
  • bottles and a dropper to transfer liquid from one container to another
  • seed pod collections
  • magnetic pictures and letters (with board)
  • a small blackboard (mostly used for water painting)
  • a good supply of messy mats


We also have an activity box outside, as that's where they play most of the time. It has chalk, dirt trucks, and gardening/digging tools.

Friday, September 4, 2009

A bird's nest

The little zebra finches are nesting in our shed!


They're very messy in their nest making! Brings new meaning to the phrase about things looking like a birds nest.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Gardening in style!

Happy Birthday, Jane Ann. Hope you enjoy gardening in your new apron! xx