Heart Reflections Live

Labels: family fun, family life

Labels: family fun, family life

Labels: family fun

Labels: Christmas, family fun

Labels: family fun, Talitha

Headmaster Daddy and his beloved youngest son- a man who raises his children in the "Fear and admonition of the Lord".

Labels: everyday life lessons, family fun, family life, homeschooling

Labels: family fun

What a great couple of weeks we've had. We've just come to the end of 2 weeks school holidays- back to homeschool tomorrow- and we've been spending some of the holidays bargain hunting! FUN! FUN! FUN!

Apart from church and family visits, and occasionally a Christian Playgroup, I don't get out of the house much, so these family days were relished. On Wednesday, we drove from our hilltop home out to the coast for our semi-regular visits to our Koorong Christian bookstore. I was thrilled when Zara found a double Donut Man DVD set we didn't have. They are a refreshing option to many of the much more commercial stuff available for kids these days.

We also visited 2 of the huge Lifeline Secondhand Warehouses at the coast, where my darling hubby found me some vintage pyrex!!! I decided last year to start collecting this to use so that eventually we can eliminate the plastic we have in our kitchen. He found me a large casserole dish with a glass lid, in the English pattern pictured above, and a lovely smaller glass baking dish with a lid in clear glass with a slight green tinge to it. I've saved a website called "Pyrex Love" which helps identify most of the common patterns. I really love some of the pastel aquas and pinks from the 50's and 60's, as well as some of the yellow and olive green designs from the 60's and 70s. We just happen to have an olive green and yellow retro kitchen in our current rental which I love. I never collect things just for the sake of having them, I'm hoping to track down pyrex in different sizes for reheating leftovers and baby food, and food storage in general. The more I find out about the toxins in plastic, the keener I am to find alternatives. This is a fun, cheap way to do so.

We also got some great 2ndhand clothes for our boys who are now 10 months, and enormous! My hubby found some lovely pants and collared shirts for them, as well as a lovely handknit cardigan- I love traditional children's c;othes! It's even better when they're as cheap as chips! I'm blessed to have a hubby who loves to bargain hunt.

We scored some more vintage children's books, and I managed to find a few more classics off my list- Pollyanna, Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne, and My Side of the Mountain. I also found The God of All Comfort by Hannah Whitall Smith, and an A W Tozer classic- all for next to nothing.

The best part of the day however, was just going out together as a family, having wellbehaved children, and babies that travelled particularly well that day. A day we all enjoyed. I don't mind that fact that I don't get out of the house much as a homeschool mum, but it makes the times I do more appreciated and really exciting. We are truly blessed.

Labels: family fun, family life, frugality

Here is Talitha and her beloved Poppy, after cooking up a storm together one Sunday afternoon. Together, they've produced pizza, chocolates, biscuits and cakes- I always wonder who's enjoying themselves the most- Talitha or my darling Dad!

Labels: family fun, photos

Zara, aged 5, has been very interested in learning about money lately- how to count our Australian coins, how many you need to buy certain catalogue items like food and clothes... So for her math in homeschool, we've been counting coins and looking at catalogues, while Talitha does her workbook activity.

Both of our girls get a small amount of pocket money, which they have to save in their money boxes, and at the end of the year we give them a designated amount- like $20, that they can spend on something they want, that we approve of. Last year, Zara spent all her $20 at once on the "Andre Reieu Live in Australia" DVD- good taste eh?- She definately went for quality over quantity!

Talitha on the other hand wanted to get as much as she could for her dollars, and bought a vintage Little Golden book, an historic sticker book and a cheap pair of shoes- both girls were commended for they really thought about their purchases.

Of course, leaning about money is a great opportunity to teach that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil, and how to save and spend wisely AND how catalogues are designed to make you WANT things... good life lessons.

The girls have been helping hubby clean up downstairs for a garage sale (US- Yard sale!) Wanting to earn a few dollars themselves, the girls started doing some "very intersting" things outside. Inspired by the Amish Rachel Yoder books we're reading, Talitha started painting rocks to sell- unfortunately she used waterpaints, so they weren't exactly Amish masterpieces.

Zara cracked me up big time announcing she was going to sell "her Moss". Having heard Daddy saying how good moss was for the garden, she took it upon herself to start tearing it down and putting it in a box to sell, figuring if it was good for OUR garden, people would spend good money to put it in Theirs!

I was hiding doubled up in the pantry, while she explained that one to her Daddy. I think Poppy will be very proud of her enterprising nature!- That's my laugh for the week!

Labels: everyday life lessons, family fun, funny things, homeschooling

It just occurred to me lately , how many songs have been written celebrating different places on this Earth in song. Now we mainly listen to Christian music in our house, apart from a community station for elderly folk which plays stuff mainly from the 30's to the 70's, which we enjoy listening to in the car, so my listening scope is probably pretty limited!

Here's where you come in. I'm going to list as many place name songs I can think of, and then I invite you to comment and add to my list if you so desire, and also I thought it would be fun to know where you're from, and how you found my little blog.

I have some song titles swirling through my head now. I'm wondering if there will turn out to be more songs written about Paris or New York, or maybe somewhere else in the world... Now, let's see:

- I Still Call Australia Home

- Tenterfield Saddler

-Advance Australia Fair

- I've been Everywhere , man!

- Botany Bay

- Rocky Mountain High

-Country Road

- Kentucky Rain

- Georgia on My Mind

-Going To Graceland...

- O Susanna!

-Mississppi Girl

- Carolina in the Morning

- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans

-I left My heart in San Franscisco

- San Franscisco

-New York, New York (x2)

-NYC

-Springtime in the Rockies

-The White Cliffs of Dover

- Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner

- I Love Paris in the Springtime

- The Last Time I saw Paris

- Loch Lomand

-Scotland the Brave

- The Girl From Ipanema

-Blue Moon of Kentucky

- Blue Hawaii

- Moonlight in Vermont

- Moscow, Moscow

- California Here I Come!

- The Yellow Rose of Texas

- Deep in the Heart of Texas

OK, I'm all out of ideas! Now it's up to you to help me.

NB. If you're new to my blog and have just happened along, I just ask that you keep your song choices family-friendly please :)

Happy singing and typing!

Labels: family fun

Labels: family fun, family life

Labels: family fun, homeschooling, memory-making

The children got a great deal of pleasure helping add these special touches...

Labels: family fun, memory-making, Numbering our days

Labels: family fun, family life, memory-making, Numbering our days

The smile says it all!!!

Labels: family fun

Labels: family fun, family life

Isn't it priceless! Talitha in the stocks at the castle.

Labels: family fun, family life

We spend most every Sunday afternoon and evening, after Church, at my parents' place. First and foremost it's the Lord's Day, but for our children, it's also Grandmother and Poppy day.

As he reads the Sunday paper, my Dad always pulls out the childrens'section- comics and articles- for the children to look at just while they're there. Usually they just contain stuff like Bob the Builder, The Wiggles or the like, but lately sometimes the editors have slipped in stuff like Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Hannah Montana, Bratz etc- things we don't want them looking at... So hubby and I try to do a quick censorship first before they see it.

Anyway, last Sunday, they got to the kids' section before we did, and they were intently studying something quite seriously, saying, "I know him!! Do you know who that is? I know him too, but I can't think of his name." Mum and I tiptoed over behind them, just to check what they were looking at, and guess what- It was these guys- Beethoven and Mozart!!! It was an article on classical music! They love to listen to what we play at home and must have studied our CD covers.... I'm glad they're classically minded girls. I'd much rather they recognize Mozart and Beethoven, than Britney Spears or the like!

Labels: family fun, funny things

In July, we began, with the Lord's leading, a small Church in the town where we live. (And God is blessing us mightily!).

The week after we began, our little girls built.... A CATHEDRAL!!!

Out of Duplo! And they played "Church" with it for a couple of weeks.

It is my earnest prayer, that our family's Faith in Christ would truly enlarge and deepen with every generation...

Labels: church, Faith, family, family fun, family life, generations, Talitha, Zara