Just for Julie, and some other stuff

Just for Julie, I braved the cold to take a photo of the Guinea Pig Mansion.

Here is the front entrance, with the main living room behind it through the iron door (entrance for animals bigger than a guinea pig) and the al fresco area to the side.

Spoilt rotten little piggies are George and Harold - named after the main characters from a book called Captain Underpants!!!

Don't you just love homeschooling!!

On Thursday night at Cub Scouts, Daniel had a Pirate Night, so Friday morning he got to dress up as a Pirate again. He made his bed into a Pirate Ship, rounded up some stuffed toys for his crew and then drew and wrote all about it for a couple of hours!

Real learning in a real life situation - just love it!

Julie also asked for a picture of the painting we did on Tuesday.

Well here you go Julie. A mudlet by Daniel, a tree by Gregory and a copy of Donna Downey's painting by moi!

Aren't we talented little people????? Ok the boys might have a bit but me ...... no !! actually I have taken my painting out.. Donna might happen along to check out my blog and not be flattered at all!!

Anyway folks, that's it for me for today. Highlight of the day, besides scrapping with Maria, was munching on licorice allsorts while watching the yummier and more interesting Doctor Who with the entire family! Only time we all watch the same show!!! Check him out on Saturday nights on ABC at 7.30 pm!!

See ya!

A good day now!

Today started off in a not so good way. We were meant to go and help out at a fundraiser for our local homeschool group. Daniel woke up tired and needing to sit on the toilet (enough information!) and Gregory's sore throat had gotten worse overnight! The good bit about this is the way they felt when we had to cancel the helping out. They felt awful about it and we were all a bit sad and upset by this. The good bit I think is that they were more concerned that we had let some good friends down rather than dwelling on how sick they felt.

After lunch today we all had some therapy time. We painted!! I copied an idea I had seen on Donna Downey's : A Painting a Day Blog, Daniel painted a Mudlet from the Deltora Quest books and Gregory did a great abstract tree!

It is a good day now!

Hope everyone else is having a good day.

Cheers

K

What a Weekend

I have just had the most inspiring weekend away.

I went to Adelaide with two of the most gorgeous women, Sharee and Charlene. We went to the National Home Education Conference. The talks and workshops have encouraged me to continue homeschooling in a big way. There are some things I will do a little differently but basically the kids and I are on the right track.

I know now that if the boys want to go to Uni, there will be no dramas. This had been one of my worries before!

I would have to say though, getting to talk to other homeschooling parents was the highlight. There are so many ways to homeschool but in the end all we want is for our children to grow up to be happy and confident members of the community and to have a passion for life and learning.

While in Adelaide, we also went to the Central Markets and the Farmers' Markets. I had never been to Central Markets before. It was amazing, the food, the atmosphere, the people and the food!!! I could easily move to Adelaide!! I would probably gain back all the weight I have lost though trying all the different food!!!

Then there was the road trip with the girls. Someone suggested it would be like Thelma and Lousie plus one!! I said I wanted the young hunky guy.... but it didn't happen! We did discuss all sorts of things and that was inspiring too!

But, of course, after a BIG weekend away, there is a down side often. I now have a terrible headache and think I am coming down with a cold. Boo hoo for me.

Off to have a panadol and a quiet read in the sunshine. (before it disappears behind the clouds again) It was -4.6 degrees here on Saturday morning - eek now that is cold!!! The locals tell me that this is what winter is supposed to be like here!!!

Away for the weekend

I'm sitting here waiting for the other two girls to pick me up for the weekend. We are off on a funfilled, shopping crazed, partying weekend in Adelaide!! Nah, we are actually going to a 3 day conference on homeschooling. Will still be fun and may do some shopping? I am really looking forward to hearing John Taylor Gatto from the USA speaking. He is an amazing man and so full on insight into the way people learn. Can't wait!

Talk to you on Sunday night when I get home.

Jyp Jyp Rocks

This photo doesn't do justice to the great big granite boulders that are literally scattered through the bush. We climbed up and over all of them yesterday. We took a picnic lunch and some yummy snacks and went exploring. There are so many great places to see in the South east of South Australia.

After Jyp Jyp Rocks, went to Christmas Rock. See top photo... Gregory on top of the world!!

Then we drove towards Mundulla and on the way saw the Plaited Tree and Buckingham Church.

well... that's it for today... off to do some scrapping!!

The Vege Patch

Here it is... looking more like a bomb site someone said the other day!!! I like to call it a work in progress!! It is all organic so there is lots of hay and compost going in! In the background you can see Guinea Pig Mansion... between the tanks!

Can you see China??

This is what I kept saying to Gregory when he was digging...... here are Greg and Daniel in the hole doing carvings in the soft dirt. In the foreground you can see the bones he found!

Our New Home

I am amazed that we have been in this house for over 3 months. It still feels like it was just last week. We have fitted in so well... the first time in a lot of houses that we use every room as it was meant to be used and all our stuff fits in and there is still room to move!! The boys have a room each again and it looks like them.... Greg's is filled with books and Dan's with Lego!! There is space for me to scrapbook and the boys to homeschool! Andrew loves his big shed... the dartboard is even up!! The garden is coming along slowly. I have planted over 30 little natives around the front and some in the back too. The tallest one is nearly 1 metre so they had better get a wriggle on... it still looks very bare.

The bigger than Ben Hur vege patch is starting to take shape...... except for the extra large hole Gregory has dug in the middle of it. He could never resist a patch of dirt!!! He found some sheep or cattle bones and was beside himself!! His imagination ran wild....... until I convinced him that they were domestic animal bones!!! Back to the veges... I have some fruit trees in large pots... not leaving them behind again!! There are some baby beans trying to climb a trellis and some cabbage starting to think about producing edible food. I think the carrots have been stepped on too much... so not holding too much hope for them.

Copy of Judy's Layout

For this layout, we had to copy Judy's instructions for a layout that seh had on the Newsletter at The Scrap Heap. Once again I have chosen a photo of Daniel. He is the most co-operative when it comes to photo taking at the moment. This is an old photo taken in John and Sheelagh's pool, when they lived in Toowoomba, March last year. I love using the Basic Grey papers, they would have to be my favourite brand of scrapbooking papers.

Hey Susy, now I have shared my 2 latest layouts... happy now???

Dan the Piano Man

This is a layout I have completed for The Scrap Heap Monthly Challenges. This is Daniel's first piano recital in December last year. The photo of him looking towards me is him waiting to go on. You can tell because he has his nervous smile on. We are so proud of him and his piano playing, he enjoys it and we think he is doing very well at it!

My photo

This was the only photo of me I could find. Daniel took it last year. I will have to get him to take another one because I have lost another 10 kgs since that one was taken.

Susy has been cranky at me because I haven't been updating my blog. Bad blogger!! So just for her I have taken some photos today that I can share over the next few days.

My Best Friend

This is my littlest member of the family, Pixie. She is even smaller than the cat. She drives us nuts wanting to go in and out the sliding door. This is her today on the cold side of the closed door.