Term 2, Day 1.

It's 12.30pm and we are still waiting for Colt to write his very first persuasive text essay in pracrice for the NAPLAN test. It was one small part of the morning 5.

Somebody shoot me now.

Day 9. It's a science kind of day.

Today, we dug up the carrots we had planted long ago in pots. It was interesting how many different ways a carrot can develop. Maybe I should have used it as a lesson on how many different ways a child can develop, Next time.

This is Taffy's season/date/weather chart.

We also had caught the cutworm which had decimated our capsicum crop and he had now turned into a chrysalis and we are waiting to see how he changes.

Day 8. Pipa gets into it.

Today, Pipa finally found her goal and worked out where she wanted to go in terms of a career. So we ordered some textbooks that should help her with business management and maths and English for the hospitality industry. That way, if she ever wants to go to TAFE to extend her studies, she will have a good base to go from.

She also decided to pull apart her old non-working coffee machine to see how it should work. She also watched a few youtube videos to complete her understanding.

Day 7. 2 Birthdays today.

Today we celebrated Jacquie's and Ashton's birthdays. It was a struggle to get the kids to get through their school work AND prepare for a family dinner. I thought I had planned far enough ahead to achieve everything on my list, but best laid plans of mice and men........

We did get a good art lesson in after lunch and I was happy with how that went. I would have liked to join in too.


The cakes didn't go quite as I planned either, although Jacquie's one turned out better than previous ones have. Ashton's was almost a disaster, lucky he loves me!

Day 6.

We rushed through our school work today to go shopping. The kids all needed new undies, socks and shoes. On the way, we detoured to the library and stocked up on books for the kids assignments and some for reading for fun.

 We had lunch at Macca's to give us strength for the task ahead.

Taking 7 children to a major shopping centre is not for the faint hearted!

We only lost one child in KMart.

But we found another one! Bonus!

We found her parents pretty quickly though and returned her forthwith.

Eventually Centre Management put out a call for me to come collect our lost lamb, so Pipa collected her while I paid for the clothing, and then we left.

We did stop at another Macca's on the way home and bought slushies to cool us off.

Yum!

Day 5. A run on the beach and an interesting outcome of Dare 3.

 Today we started the Breakfast Club up again. Pop tarts, cheese and ham croissants and chocolate soup! Mmmmmmm!

Yesterday, we learned about the need to show love to one another and the challenge was to buy a gift. So we put all the kids names into a hat and each drew one out.

Today, we went to the Reject Shop so the kids could find an economical gift for a sibling. They had lots of fun searching out something for about $5 that they thought their recipient might like. One or two were desperate to buy something for themselves too, which was not the point of the exercise at all.

Then we went to South Beach to run off some pent up energy. It was windy and there were loads of dogs walking that stretch of beach too, so the kids had a blast!
I only alloted 30 mins each day for a walk, but I think we did the whole week's worth today! It was fun though.

After lunch, we wrapped the gifts and the kids excitedly handed them out to each other. I found it very interesting that they shared some of their gifts with each other! I was so pleased!

Dart and Colt went to Youth Group for the first time of the year and loved it.


It has been a difficult week, and I have learned some lessons about lesson preparation ahead of time to lessen the impact of unforeseen issues, like no power. :)

Day 4. Our first excursion for the year!

Dart, Colt and Karys went to Scitech for a forensic lesson and they all thoroughly enjoyed their morning out.  Here is a very bad photo through the window.

 I am considering getting a family annual pass for this place as it is quite good!

We found it hard to get stuck back into our work again this afternoon.

Day 3. A slower and hotter day equals less meaningful school work.

Today the day was off kilter with an early start at 5.30 am to take Pipa for her practical driving test. Unfortunately, she failed but she  should pass on her next attempt in 3 weeks.

We had Lydia come after kindy today.

The kids did their maths online much more happily and hopefully they'll keep the rhythm up as the term progresses.

Gretel has the tiniest chilli pepper.

The girls had fun building palaces with blocks this afternoon.

Karys and her palace.

Lydia and Taffy with their joint effort.

Tomorrow, we go on an adventure! :)

Day 2.

Tuesday started much smoother as we could use the computers to get stuck into maths. Then the rusty brains started protesting at how much was expected of them and they complained bitterly at having to think of numbers.

But eventually, they completed their work and we managed a second day of Bible Study which I was really pleased about.

I am adapting the Love Dare to see if I can help the children learn to love each other. Originally, my plan was to teach them about God's character, and then I decided that if God is Love, we should start with that one, so I am altering the original version to aim it more for a family viewpoint.
I hope to see a vast improvement in attitudes by the end of the 40 sessions, mine included!

Pipa cooked dinner last night and tonight we bought take away so she could spend more time practising for her driving test tomorrow morning.

 
Taffy building a cubby house with tree branches we had to remove before the next storm comes through.

Pipa's coffee skills are coming along nicely.

This is the beginning of the next storm as Pipa is practising her driving.

Day 1. And God turned off the lights!

And all the rest of the power too!

So, I went to bed instead of preparing lessons and setting up school.

It was an interesting first day of school without power. We couldn't use the computers for our maths or art lessons. I couldn't print off worksheets, nor make Latin flashcards, nor laminate the pages I needed for job charts.

Nor could we wash dishes, clothes or the floor.

A massive storm had raged through the night, complete with booming thunder and brilliant flashes of lightening. It was stinking hot inside the house and I had to shut all the windows at 3am due to a large bushfire that sent billowing smoke inside our domain.

 It was stifling.

And I kept waking up to check on the 3 candles I had lit in case of wandering kids in the night.

All in all, the day became very slow and unhurried, and a series of compromises and other options. Despite the difficulties, it went remarkably well and we achieved more than I had hoped for at the start of the day.

By lunch time, I was feeling pretty tired, so I found the CD player and some batteries and popped in a story for the kids to listen to.

And I nodded off on the lounge, with all the kids curled up on a big mattress on the floor.

Until the light came on above us and they all jumped up excitedly, and I woke up.



Here endeth the first day.

And I was pleased..........

.........................to go to bed! :)

T'was The Night Before School.

And the children were far too excited for bed.

The girls were playing a game of Barbies in the pit they called Bedroom,

A more dire place they could not have found.

Mother had planned a complete overhaul

And had actually managed it twice over the holidays.

Time for Plan B.

A Monk's cave will have more clutter than this when I'm done,

she muttered.

The boys were doing their best to remain invisible in front of little coloured screens.

The clutter and rubbish piled up beneath their feet,

Unheeded.

She sighs.

And looks over the rows of files, rank after rank,

With their names and subjects haphazardly marked.

The boxes of materials.

 The craft supplies.

The glue.

And the cutworm who had eaten the new growing capsicums,  now become a science experiment in a creeperkeeper.

Time to prepare the lessons for the morning.

She yawns and reaches for another sip of scalding tea.

And prays.

Adding our last pics from 2014

 This year, we had quite a few little native birds fly into our back window and garage. They all just needed a little rest and water and were soon flying free once more. This is a silvereye (we think).

 Colt finally got excited about maths when he got to shapes! Woohoo!

 Colt's card cube.

 Karys then decided that anything Colt could do, she could do better. So here is her cube made from paper and decorated with shiny stars.

 This is Dart on our breakfast date. I almost made it through all of the kids this year, will have to make a better effort in 2015 because they are so much FUN!

 We went along to the free Bunnings Kids Christmas Party and had a ball! It was so well run and there was plenty for the kids to do and enjoy. Will have to get to more Bunnings functions in 2015!

 These plants are from our lifecycle study and are growing really well.

These are some Christmas activities that were lots of fun. Colt made these playdough ornaments and Dart made the Lego Workshop. Colt also painted the scene below. I will have to make sure we have plenty of glass painting equipment and supplies as this was lots of fun.

  

 Taffy decided to dress up as a Christmas ornament. Love it!

Taffy receiving her graduation gift at Sunday School.

 

Our Christmas Elf left a suggestion for the kids to play a game and they chose Charades. It was a lot of fun too!

 Making clove oranges to make the house smell Christmas-sy. Have to figure out how to stop the oranges from going mouldy after a few days though.

 I made the pieces for the gingerbread houses, had visions of a whole village, including a stable, high on a shelf. Due to illness and unhelpful kids, we are going to just eat the pieces.
Maybe next year, sigh.

 Another outing we had was a trip to the shops to see Santa and have a photo taken. Santa unfortunately, gave them more than the cute gingerbread teddies. Gastro is not much fun in a large family! However, we still had a lovely Christmas Day, it was just a little quieter than normal.
After visiting Santa, I decided to treat the kids to a milkshake and a doughnut. Yum! The lovely girl who served us kindly came  back to our table later with a loyalty card punched out with our drinks and told me I could have a free drink next time we ordered! God bless her!

 We started swimming lessons at Coogee Beach on the 29th Dec. The kids were not impressed at my choice of location, but they are enjoying it now and I love the lack of entry fee. Parking is somewhat of a problem on really hot days though. I just love the little coloured caps they wear, so cute! This is Colt.

 This is poor, cold Taffy. She is doing well in her lesson, but shivers the whole way through!

 This is Dart listening to his teacher.

Dart and Karys enjoying reading at the beach. I think they may take after me! :)

I found this quote on Facebook and thought that it was very apt. I shall have to print it and put it in a prominent place for all of us to be reminded that we can get through anything with this mindset.