Spotty McSpot Spot

What a strange few weeks we've had.  First there was the gastro bug that seemed to go through most of the town, then the flu, and now we have a confirmed case of Chicken Pox in our house.  (Probably with one more to come.)  It is certainly one of those ocassions where I wish I could take it on for him myself.  I know I'd be miserable & itchy too, but it would be easier than seeing him go through it :(

I was absolutely blown away yesterday though.  We received an offer from people at church to make a few meals for us. Oh my, how nice was that!!  I said no though. I'm not the sick one.  It was pointed out to me that I may not be sick but people understand how hard it can be with sick children to get things done & they just want to do something nice for us.  I understand that, so I said that if Little h gets it (which is likely since he & Mr Magoo share a room & Mr Magoo usually holds Little h in the bath) then I would accept a few meals because Little h will be miserable & not understand why I'm putting him down to cook meals & carry on with my daily tasks as a wife & mum of four.

How absolutely amazing is it to have people in your life that are willing to do that?!  (Yes, I know, I too have my name on the roster to provide meals for others but it's such a strange & wonderful feeling to be on the receiving end of such generosity.

So this morning I took H to school & left Mr Magoo (aka Spotty McSpot Spot) home (with ph numbers & the neighbours home next door) & when I got home I found hin reading this...

and listening to this

I quite like this CD.  We borrowed it from a friend but I think we may just need to pop into the local Christian Bookstore where I got that book from & order it in.  We borrowed two CD's but this is our favourite. 

Well, better head off to the shop and find something soft for dinner.  Spotty Mc Spot Spot has pox in his mouth & throat so it's making things really difficult for him.  He suggested beef strog but I pointed out it'd be pretty hard to swallow.

Bye for now, K

Why Me, Why Now God??

If there is one thing I am beginning to REALLY despise hearing it is the excuse used for things that are hard in our lives at the moment. That excuse being "it's just where you're up to in life" or "everybody goes through a stage like that". Now without sharing specific examples (because they are just too close to my heart & too difficult to share right now), I can safely say "What a load of BS!!" Is it really necessary to provide an "excuse" for a particularly difficult time in life? Is that not like trying to explain away a completely unexpected illness?

Well I don't really know where that came from but it has made me think about some of the sermons we've heard in the past few weeks, from Philippians. Part of Philippians tells of how Paul was locked up, in chains and still he rejoiced in Christ!

Yes, I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.       Philippians 2:19

I'm pretty sure I couldn't rejoice if I was locked up like that...

I read a blog post recently that was on this very topic.  This self pitying questioning faith topic. You can find it here.  It references a verse from Jeremiah. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

It basically says to me that God will use what you have been through to make you a better, stronger person, even if that sometimes means dealing with things you'd rather not deal with.  I actually find comfort in that. Paul managed to rejoice in his difficulty.  I can not, but I will move forward regardless and I will do it with Christ leading the way. (If you interested, read on & find out what he says in verses 12 & 13.)

Remember the old saying "Ask & ye shall receive".  I wonder where that came from.

This song has been with me this week.

Bye for now, K

The Perfect Woman

I went to a Christian Women's Conference on 12 May.

The topic was Proverbs 31.

Hmmm, this is a little harder than I thought.  Perhaps I'll just start and then see what comes out.

Well, this was my first CWC.  It was pretty darn good.  I have to be honest though, I thought it would get me thinking more deeply about my role as wife and mother.  Or perhaps give me a longer list of ideas as to how I can improve in these areas, but it didn't.  Maybe it is because I have been thinking about these things for quite some time anyway. 

I came away with some Bible references that I still want to read though.  It has certainly increased my WANT to spend time reading the Word more often.  Just prior to attending I was getting pretty good anyway (and yet just of late I've been slack again, Grrr). I also strengthened a few friendships (well I think so anyway).

If you've read Proverbs 31 you'll know that this woman has achieved perfection, so to speak...

One thing I'm sure all husbands would appreciate from the day was that everyone was told, (probably AGAIN for many women) that the best way to show husbands that you love them is to have sex. Yep, SEX!!  Men are so completely NOT like women in this aspect.  We need so many other things before we feel loved, which can lead to sex, but men just need sex.  THEN they feel loved. Sigh...  It would be soo much simpler if we needed the same things.  There might be a little less falling asleep on the lounge, then being wide awake when they drag themselves into bed, and a little more "let me clear away after dinner for you & give you a massage with no strings attached" type activities.  Yeah I know, I'm dreaming.  LOL.

Anway, there were a couple of talks, then a time for small groups to have a bit of a chat and to put on paper any questions we had for the panel.  (Yes, the sex thing came up again in question time.)  I had spent the day sitting in the "breastfeeding section" so was speaking with other young Mums.  I think it would have been nice to listen to what some older womens opinions were too though.  That sounds awful.  I don't mean OLD, I just mean older than me.  At a different stage of life I guess.  How do they see themselves comparing to this version of perfection.  Do they strive for it?  Did they ever try to get there? What advice or wisdom could they impart on me??

I spoke to a few women the following day about the Conference but didn't really get onto this.

So I know I have mentioned that I crave time with the Lord and with His word but I feel like I need more.  A friend suggested that perhaps I need to approach the ministers wife and ask if she or someone else within the congregation could act as mentor for me.  After attending the CWC I felt so inspired and uplifted that there were so many Christian Women out there.  I can't imagine the turnout if I were to go to one in Sydney.  It really was encouraging!  

I haven't done it. Yet. Still.  The finding-a-mentor I mean.  I don't want to be a burden on anyone.  I don't know how to ask.  I'm confused.  I think my kids know more about the Scriptures than I do.  I guess I'm a bit embaressed.  Everytime I come close to asking I chicken out, or it doesn't seem appropriate, or I feel I've already used up too much of valuable time (of whoever I'm speaking with).  I guess I will get to it one day.  In the mean time, I'll keep reading His word for myself.  Might even pinch all the kids bibles off them & start there.

Bye for now, K

REAL Christians, REAL Women, REAL Mums

I was sharing with a Mum from church recently, via email, that I've been quite tired with the return to school routine & too often quick with what comes out of my mouth & I'm not liking what I'm hearing. She shared this with me.

Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check...

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness ... no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3)

I felt some relief from this. Knowing that no one is perfect. But it is still something I can pray on. Finding wiser words to share, rather than those that roll off the tongue easily and inflict pain. But these words also made me think of those people I'd been to church with all those years ago.

Tomorrow I will go to my Women's Bible Study (unprepared unless I get my butt off here and do some reading), but it will inspire me to keep on keeping on.  It is nice to be involved with women in a church who have real issues and actually share them with you.  I realise that at this stage they aren't really sharing with me but with the other pre-existing members of the bible study group, but the fact they are still willing to share with me there means more to me than they could ever realise. 

As I said, I've never spoken to women from a church that have so openly shared problems I could relate to.  You know, issues with kids, real problems that real mothers have with real kids.  Finding time to spend with their husbands in a meaningful (non sexual) way, but with no "husband bashing" to be heard of.  Not like the families that pretend everything is just rosy, or those women that not only forget the importance of Ephesians 5:22-33, but those that blatantly ignore it.  I find my short amount of time on a Thursday morning with these women more beneficial than they could imagine. I really felt like reaching my arms around them all last week in a giant embrace and whispering thank you over and over again.

I'm looking forward to Saturday!.!.!.! Proverbs 31 Christian Womens Conference.

Bye for now, K

 

That strange feeling again...

Hmmm, how do I say this? Where do I begin?

Perhaps at the beginning. 

Feeling and Craving
A few months back I started "feeling" that I needed to go to Bible Study.  Then I started going to church too.  Not the same church as that which holds the bible study, but a smaller church which seems to fulfill my needs and the needs of my children wonderfully.  I have felt my faith being reaffirmed and renewed.  I don't share as much on my blog about this journey as I could/should.  I'm guessing it is because it is a bit scary to me.  My renewed faith still feels quite raw and if you know much about Christianity you'll know there is one question you should ALWAYS be prepared to answer and I'm just not quite sure what I say in response to that question.  I have an answer in me, I just don't know how to articulate it.

Anyway, once again, I have been feeling myself pulled, or perhaps pushed, toward other Christians. But there is more to it than that.  I feel that I have been rather slack in my personal study of the Word and in my prayers.  I'm craving MORE.  As a side note, years ago when I went to church I found the sermons rather uninteresting & boring to be honest, but I think it is because I didn't listen to what was being shared with me.  The prayers we said in church didn't seem to touch me much either.  These days however, I have a different feeling.  I guess back then I was touched more by singing God's praises and these days I can hear them in a multitude of ways.  Perhaps it's maturity, perhaps it's just a choice.

If someone had told me then that I'd receive daily devotionals by email that I would read each day I'd have looked at them strangely, wondering why I'd feel the need to fill more of my time with technology, but I do (& I actually procrastinate on it now too).  I CRAVE information about Jesus our wonderful Saviour, God our Creator.  (I wonder at times whether God played a sneaky little card when it came to me naming my blog.  It seems as though I was back on His path before I knew I was.)

Now Then
Miss Pants, Little H and I attend Pip Squeaks and one Sunday morning at church the call went out for more helpers at Pip Squeaks because one of the Leaders has just had a baby & another is due to have twins within weeks.  It was worded in the weekly notes in such a way that I thought I couldn't possibly do what was asked.  I think it said something along the lines of providing Ministry to the wider community.  I thought to myself, Geez, I have enough trouble with it myself.  I can't help others with their walk.  One of the other Mum's & I chatted about it one morning & neither of us felt up to it, for varying reasons.

Then during the week I was having these little thoughts sneaking in.  Perhaps that's what He intends.  I'm supposed to help, in turn learning more myself, then being able to share with others as He deems appropriate.  I had opened my bible for the first time in a couple of weeks and found a note I'd written on bright green paper.
 
Moses said to the Lord "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue".  The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute?  Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Exodus 4:10-12)

I was a day away from sharing this with the people that organise Pip Squeaks.  A day away from sticking my hand up.  That evening it began...

The Vomit Factor
... H started vomiting.  He is rather weak of stomach and has been hospitalised before when he got some sort of stomach bug which resulted in him vomiting for days.  Even after he was discharged from hospital he vomited at least daily for a week.

Luckily this time it wasn't that bad.  We did take him to hospital though because there really is nothing of him.  He can't afford to be sick, so to speak.  We wondered whether it was a bug or just something he'd eaten.  We didn't go to church that day because I didn't want to risk myself or the other kids passing on the bug to one of the other kids, or worse, a little baby or pregnant Mummy.

I kept H home from school on Monday, and he seemed fine all day.  Got all the sheets washed and dried, beds made again (he's on the top bunk so the bottom bunk needed washing too).  After I'd gone to bed that night I heard that call again "Muuummm"  I leapt up, a bit disorientated and ran down the hall.  He'd done it again.  He had a bucket with him, but made even more mess than the previous night.  He moved to the lounge for the evening and stayed home from school for another day.

I was tricked into a false sense of safety then.  I thought we made it through relatively unscathed.  We kept H home from Joey's.  I picked Mr Magoo up from Cubs as normal and when I arrived home I opened the back door to find the lounge two thirds covered in VOMIT!!  This time it was Miss Pants.  Mr C had just put her in the shower.  (Our lounge suite is now having it's first ever professional clean. Booked in for Monday.)

I'm waiting to see if any more of us come down with whatever it was and praying that we, as a family, recover quickly.

What to do??
So I never got to church to let them know I'd like to help & now I'm wondering if God was really letting me know that I should help or if I was just misinterpretting my own thoughts... Perhaps God is really telling me to spend more time at home with my children and to stop venturing out as much, to stop wanting or trying to help & please others as much and focus on my own walk with Him.  Ha ha, I was going to say "Who knows?" but I know the answer to that.

This verse is really talking to me this week.  To me it has a couple of meanings.  It is scary & exciting & I'm not sure how I came across it but I did.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

I wish I could actually remember some of these verses for appropriate times.  (Still, I think it's pretty cool that I found Exodus 4:10-12 that had clearly touched me enough on another ocassion recently that I'd written it out already.)

So I guess I'm saying, after all that, that I'm a little up in the air at the moment.  Craving more of Him, and not quite knowing how to go about it without getting myself all confused and over stretched.


Bye for now, K

More Easter Crafts

So I know I normally do a new Food Find on Fridays, and if you were waiting for one I'm sorry, but I decided to share more of our Easter crafts with you instead.

With only one afternoon of after school activities to get to this week it left time for us to get creative!

Firstly, I'd seen a poem about Jelly Beans and Jesus so we turned some eggs filled with jelly beans into Easter gifts.  I typed up the poem, printed it out, attached it to an Easter themed cello bag which we put the jelly bean filled eggs into and voila, instant non chocolate Easter gift.

  Then I thought we'd make a little Easter Garden like the one I saw here.

I had REALLY hoped to make this with the kids, but time got away from me so we did this instead.



We used the packaging from a kitchen appliance, a yoghurt container, the Crosses Miss Pants made at Sunday School, some felt & a lot of glue.  (Again with the shocking photos...)

Mr Magoo was responsible for cutting a hole in the mountain for our tomb to fit into

Miss Pants looked after the glueing

H created the path to the tomb

We covered the mountain with scraps of felt in greens & browns

 

Bye for now, K

WIP: Corn Anyone?

Short & sweet this week.

We've finally "harvested" our corn.  WooHoo!!  And you know what? It is YUMMY!  We had to pick it all even though it didn't all look completely ready.  We had a little problem with aphids on the squash plant and when I ripped it out I think they found a new home on the outside of the corn husks.  A few ants were trying to enjoy our corn too.  We beat them too it though. Lol

Our other vegies didn't turn out so well though. Lol

I left the other carrots in the ground hoping that they might actually GROW. ha ha ha  The squash is quite large, but there was only one of them.  The rest got eaten by bugs still on the vine (because I kept forgetting to check on the them).  And only ONE cucumber :(

So, any ideas what we should plant next anyone??

Now, I'll just give you a sneek peak of my latest cushion creation too (still in progress).  I can show you the full cushion in a few weeks.

I have a HEAP of craft ideas to get into for Easter and the school holidays.  Fingers crossed I get at least HALF of what I have planned done.

I read something this week that I may share fully another time, but here is a little piece to think about

"...making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is."   Ephesians 5:16-17

Bye for now, K

Lovely Relaxing Family Day...

This is probably my longest post yet.  Sorry about that.

For the first time in YEARS I went to church last Sunday.  (I'm aiming to check a few out till I decide which one suits us the most.)  It's something I've thought about for quite some time but I always used the excuse of Mr Creator doing shift work and not wanting to go by myself.  Then with the PND I came to the realisation that Bible Study would be beneficial for me.  Or perhaps it was actually Him that put the idea in my head.  OK, so I know it was, but I still don't really understand how exactly.  Anyway, regardless of how the idea came to me, it did, and I went to Bible Study.  I REALLY enjoy it. 

The big boys always talk about Scripture & enjoy their Scripture homework.  They fight with me about doing their other homework so I've had to get them to finish their everyday Maths etc so they have the Scripture stuff to look forward to.  Miss Pants is really enjoying Pip Squeaks, which is kind of like playgroup in a Christian environment. 

I found myself thinking about how I could do more to tell them about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in an age appropriate way when I don't know enough of His word to quote any of it myself, let alone refer to specific sections of the bible!  A lot of people do.  They can tell you the Book, Chapter and Verse verbatim of almost anything in the bible.  Not me!  Perhaps one day I will, but I just don't know.  Anyway,while thinking about how I could best do this, it occurred to me that I should take them to Sunday School.  After all, that's what Sunday School is for, to introduce them to God, and strengthen my own relationship with the Lord.

So, last Sunday morning we ventured off to Church at 10am.  Mr Creator stayed home.  There was a Baby/Parent room that I spent most of my time in with Little H so as to not disrupt the rest of the congregation, but I could still see & hear everything that was going on.  The other 3 spent the first 10 minutes of the service with us all and then went down the front for a short while with the rest of the kids in the congregation before heading off to Sunday School in age appropriate groups.

I quite enjoyed it and as seems to be the case if you go in open-minded and with God in your heart, the service seemed to be directed entirely at me.  You know, when I was going to Church regularly all those years ago we had two service types.  The Sunday morning typical sermon.  Mostly with the older hymn's, not the contemporary Christian music like today, and it was very much a "God fearing" environment.  During my time with that Church they implemented a Sunday evening service which wasn't held in the Church as such, but in the Church hall.  The youth band played, people stood up & really got into their worship.  I got a lot more out of the sermons there too.  Eventually they kind of blended the two styles together.  Well that's what I found last Sunday.  I enjoyed it but I knew that if the kids had stayed with me they'd have been B.O.R.E.D.

They LOVED Sunday School, they LOVED playing with all the kids afterwards, they loved that there was morning tea to share with everyone.  We stayed for about an hour afterwards with everyone, chatting and enjoying the company without feeling judged what-so-ever (unlike my previous experiences).  Before we even got to the footpath on our way to the car the kids were telling me excitedly how much fun they'd had and that they wanted to go again next week!!  Now THAT is certainly not something I'd have said after my very few experiences of church at their age.

Anyway...

After we came home we decided that since it was such a lovely day and we'd had soooo much rain the previous couple of weeks that we'd take ourselves off to a local park that the kids had been wanting to visit.  We grabbed hats, put sunscreen on, popped the picnic basket and blankets into the back of the car and visited the local Charcoal Chicken shop on the way (because there was nothing in the house anyway).  I'd even packed the coffee, sugar, insulated mugs and remembered the milk, but I left the thermos sitting on the kitchen bench.  Luckily, the family meal I picked came with a drink and was better value for money than any of the other takeaway options in town and was probably healthier too.

The kids played for hours!  We joined in too.  (Probably got a little incidental exercise at the same time).  Little H was very well behaved and slept most of the time.  He was completely tuckered out after being dotted on all morning at church.  A family of local kids turned up while we were there and set up a small table quite a distance back from the playground.  They were trying to sell homemade lemonade.  The cups only seemed to be half full and they were charging $2 per cup.  Mr C wasn't terribly impressed and kept expressing his dissatisfaction to me.  Eventually I had to tell him to turn around so he couldn't see them.  They didn't stay as long as we did though.  Clearly they got bored.  Once they left Mr C relaxed, thankfully.

When we got home I started dinner and then realised how long it was going to take so I set the wheels in motion on a little family "project" I'd been putting off for soooooo long.  I've read several posts on the blog 71 Toes about Family Home Evenings.  Now as far as I could tell, they have split this into two nights and they have a bit of a family Bible study or devotional of some kind one night and the following night (because it suits them) they have a fun night of family games.  Sometimes board games, sometimes other games.  I'd asked the kids if they'd be interested in some kind of family games night and they expressed to me that they certainly would be.  Several times.  Well, I'd been thinking about this and remembered reading this post from Fig Nut Mum late last year, so I took myself off to the shop a few weeks ago and purchased the game.  I'd been waiting for a day when I could bring it out after dinner and surprise everyone with it but dinner always seemed to be too late to play afterwards.

Well, when I realised how long it was going to take our dinner to cook I decided to do it THAT night.  I told the kids to have their showers and get their jarmies on & I'd have a surprise before dinner if they were quick enough.  I managed to get Mr Creator in from the shed to play too.

Find out about Blokus Classic and other versions of the game here!

They were stoked!  We had a quick game just in time for dinner to be ready.  They were so happy about it though that we played again AFTER dinner.  And Mr Creator (aka Mr Doubty-mufasa) enjoyed it too.

After thinking about it a little more afterwards I decided to have our Family Game Night (FGN) on Fridays.  We generally have a takeaway meal on Friday & since they don't have to be up early the next morning, staying up for a bit spending time doing fun stuff as a family seemed like a good idea.  I suspect sometimes we might fore go the games and watch a movie together instead but I remember when I first started this blog I wanted to spend more time with my family doing "stuff" rather than just occupying the same space as them.  Slowly, very slowly, we are moving in the right direction and I feel so much better for it. :)

So, today is Friday.  Takeaway night.  We tried a new game tonight.  Good Fun! Lol.  (Might need to work on the Good Sportsmanship ideals a bit though.)


Angry Birds - card game, from Mattel

What do you do as a family??  Do you make sure you include EVERYONE in that? And not just the Stay at Home Parent & the kids??  Let me know...  (Let me know if you made it all the way to the end of this post too)


Bye for now, K

WIP: Others Words

 I have cushion orders looming over my head.  At the moment this is one of the things that I'm really struggling to get to. I want to do it because I used to love it, but when I'm busy with the kids I can't do it without guilt. I should be spending the time with them. I actually did get a "spare" moment where I could have completed a cushion, but when I went to do so I realised I was all out of velcro.

I've still been trying to get myself organised again, and I do feel like I'm finally starting to feel like myself but I have that Mummy guilt there still, lingering...

So, because I haven't done anything AGAIN, I'm going to suspend my WIP. (Which off course means I have failed at this particular aspect of my blog.  I was using it to keep me accountable with my creativity.  I guess that's the difference though isn't it.  Creativity happens, it can't be forced!). 

Instead, I'm going to share a few blog posts I've read in the last week or so that have touched me in some way...  In essence, I'm sharing the work of others


http://www.writingloud.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/mottos-to-simple-life.html
Wow!  Lots to get through but speaks for itself

http://blessedbeyondmeasure-ts.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/lead-me-sanctus-real.html
A new favourite Christian song of mine (embedded)

http://www.fignutmum.com/2012/03/have-you-checked-car-seats-lately.html
Scary, important, often overlooked.  Glad everyone is safe

http://theimperfectchristianhousewife.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/they-dont-make-tv-like-they-used-to.html
I only found this blog this week.  Love this post about the simple things


Thanks for hanging around

Bye for now, K

Keeping Busy

We've been keeping quite busy... 

You may or may not know that I've been taking Miss Pants to Pip Squeaks.  She loves it!  It is so cute to hear her singing songs about Jesus at home.  It's something very new to me, but I love hearing it.  She's also been enjoying preschool on a Monday and sometimes while I sit and feed Little H, I listen to her amuse herself in imaginative play & it really does warm my heart.  I can't help but smile at her & want to hug her (but that's pretty difficult mid feed. lol)

I may have mentioned that I was invited to morning tea by one of the lovely ladies from Bible study recently.  I had been thinking of making pikelets for some time to make up for our lack of Daddy-made-Sunday-breakfast-pancakes but hadn't quite gotten there yet.  Well the lovely Karina served up pikelets so I was inspired to make some for the kids that afternoon for afternoon tea.  They loved it and I made such a big batch that they had heaps left for recess at school for days!

The older boys are in Scouts.  Well, Cubs & Joeys.  The Group they are a part of were delivering local phone books as the major fundraiser for the year.  This was our families load of just over 300 books (The total order was around 20,000, so we got off pretty lightly).  Admittedly due to after school commitments Miss Pants, Little H & I delivered most of them while the big boys were at school, but when they were able to help they loved it and raced from house to house putting them at the front doors.  We had strict instuctions not to deliver in the rain.  WELL, that REALLY limited the days we could deliver but we got there in the end.  Mostly, when it was me and the little ones we'd walk, (getting in some incidental exercise, Woohoo) but with the big boys along we'd take the car so we could take more books.

Here's a pic of the 3 boys playing together, watching TV and just having a bit of a relax together.  How I love them so :)

There's also been appointments several days a week to get to.  They really are starting to annoy me.  I'd just like to stay home some days and do nothing. Hmmm, well, not really nothing. More like... uninterrupted housework,  guilt free blog reading, perhaps even a little sewing. (I do still have orders looming after all.  Perhaps I'll be able to get to some shortly.)  I've also been trying to get a little more organised.  I think it will deserve it's own blog post though, so I'll keep that for another day. 

Bye for now, K

WIP: And whatever you do...

(I did actually create this post on Wednesday, however I didn't get the Banana Bread picture uploaded & forgot all about it until today.  Picture now added.  Let me know if you need an easy peasy Banana Bread recipe :) ) 

As usual, my Work In Progress post for the week has been hijacked by some NOT so crafty/creative stuff.

While Christian blog hopping today (instead of creating) I came across LOADS of quotes from the Bible. But only ONE of them jumped up off my iPad screen & slapped me in the face!!

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Col 3:17

I found it here in this blog.  I guess after the day she'd had it just fit nicely with most of my days (although not to the degree of some of the things she dealt with that day).

The boys School is having a fundraising event this week.  Although no note came home asking for donations as prizes I thought I'd send a few things in with the boys just in case they could be used.  Mr Magoo's bag of things came home again but H's didn't, so he took the other bag in too & neither of them have been sent home so I guess they're using them.  Here's what was sent in.  I had made a whole heap of things like this to sell at markets last year but things didn't go as I'd hoped so I've been donating them to charity auctions and fundraising events instead and it makes me feel quite good.  I'm running out though so I guess I'll need to start making more, when I get my sew-jo back.

Think I've got just enough time to mix up a banana bread to pop in the oven before heading off to get the boys from school.  Hope I don't burn it!

It didn't even make it to the cooling rack before half of it was gone. YUMMO!!

Bye for now, K

WIP: What a Week...

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I know, it's late again but I've had a HUGE week.  It's been rather full of NOTHING.  Ok, not so much nothing, more nothing particularly "crafty".  I've spent quite a bit of much needed time thinking about & doing things for my husband, my kids & ME!!  Yes, you read correctly... ME.

Point 1.  In the past fortnight I have a joined a women's Bible Study, with creche.  This school term they have been looking at relationships.  The first week I went was all about the marriage relationship.  I found it inspiring & insightful.  I really quite loved that it gave me some wonderful things to ponder.

Point 2.  I admit it.  I am dealing with Post Natal Depression, again.  I have had it in varying degrees after each of my children.  I promised to share more about it with you all so that you may be able to help others going through it rather than feeling powerless.  I will still do that, but just not yet.

Point 3.  Point 2 has contributed to my inability to follow my crafty pursuits as I would have liked, but also necessitated my need to spend more time thinking about my gorgeous husband and kids and how I can be a better wife and mother.  Strangely, several blogs have helped me with this.  Ok, perhaps it's not strange.  Perhaps I just think it is strange.  One post about putting your husband before your kids can be found on the blog 71 Toes.  I started reading this blog before I found that particular post & Shawni was always going on about how wonderful her husband is and I was thinking "What is wrong with this woman?", then I read that post and it all made sense.  After reading a few others things really started to click.  I think about various couples whose children have grown & left home and can see that what Shawni says makes perfect sense.  71 Toes is now one of my favourite blogs.

Hmmm, I know I haven't really said much, but in a way I guess I've shared quite a bit more today than I have previously.

I hope you've all had a fantastic week.

 Bye for now, K