The Picket Fence

Tap, tap tap... is this thing on?

2012-01-25T22:35:00.000+11:00

Well, happy new year! It's a day shy of a month since I last posted, and I was surprised when I was speaking to a friend on Sunday to hear he had been back at work for 3 weeks or more, like the rest of mankind, probably. We, on the other hand, have been in a kind of messy, dirty flurry, digging our new burrow, and are just coming up into The Now to breathe some fresh air, look around, and shower off.

It's a buzzing, bright and exciting part of Sydney that we now live in. It doesn't stop, day or night - already such a completely different cultural experience to the past two years which was a completely different cultural experience to ones before. Our street is lined with restaurants and cafes, traffic, bus stops, clothes boutiques, bookstores and arty shops and Dave knows he won't see me again for at least an hour if I volunteer to go get some milk! I'm looking forward to finding some favourite places.

As for the children, they have made themselves known and heard in the college playground, and are enjoying the chance to get to know some new friends to play with each day. We are, in short, looking forward to the joys and lessons that this very different few years of life will bring our way.

How has your January been?

It really is boxing day here!

2011-12-26T11:13:00.003+11:00

Today we are starting our packing in earnest. I'm always reminded at these times how much fun kids have with the simplest of things. This morning they have been snavelling all the boxes for themselves, and are having a ball.

So much for those new Christmas toys...

DPP Day 25: O Come, Let Us Adore Him

2011-12-25T11:01:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas, one and all!

DPP day 23: A visit to the QVB

2011-12-23T21:41:00.004+11:00

... a little girl's dream shop...

DPP Day 22: Something old, something new

2011-12-22T22:32:00.001+11:00

So we are moving to a new home on the 2nd of January.

The decision to uproot has been agonising - I need more than italics to stress that word. Particularly for me, it has been really, really, really tough as I've had to work through so many of my fears about all kinds of things - our children, our future, people, perceptions, loss, identity (just to name a few!) in a way that I haven't done quite like this before. I've slept badly and cried lots. It has been really quite sobering, and I am reminded again and again of the lines from an old Rich Mullins song: "With these our hells and our heavens so few inches apart, we must be awfully small, and not as strong as we think we are'. Awfully small indeed. I'm learning lots.

On Tuesday I drove in to our new place on my own. I spent almost a whole day there - wandering down the street to get a Thai take-out for lunch, settling a few things into the kitchen and linen cupboards, pottering about thinking over where things would go and what furniture we would need to part with in the down-size, thinking how I can make the place a welcoming home for my family and for others.

This was such an important time for me, and thanks to God I felt I turned a corner and started to look forward to this next, different, new chapter - one in which there will be at least some strong threads of continuity for the children and for us.

Here is a picture of one of the three old fireplaces in our new home. I rather like fireplaces - such interesting, character-ful things they are.

Please pray for our family over the next few weeks as we move!

DPP Day 21: Creating

2011-12-21T17:07:00.002+11:00

DPP Day 18: Lads

2011-12-18T21:25:00.001+11:00

DPP Day 15: Children's Etchings

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000+11:00

At what point should they cause you concern?

DPP Day 14: Spare nativity, anyone?

2011-12-14T07:08:00.000+11:00

We need a new one. The cardboard version that I found at a garage sale years ago has done us well for a while, but thanks to many small hands, the figures can no longer stand. What we have looks like a there has been revelling, which just doesn't seem right for a nativity.

Or it might be interpreted as a blood bath, which may not be far from the truth, as Jack (aka the Ripper) has been on what seems a random but systematic rampage, decapitating the cast and crew while our backs are turned. Joyeux Noel.

Yesterday, alas, it was the camel.

Most worrying of all is that the baby Jesus has gone missing. Perhaps, by some happy miracle, he will turn up on Christmas day?

DPP day 13: Ballet

2011-12-13T06:44:00.000+11:00

This year Anna and Maggie have done ballet classes at the local community hall. They've been really lovely, low key classes and the girls have really enjoyed the experience. Except when they don't want to go. You know how it is.

Last Friday night there was a concert. Maggie was stage struck most of the time - I think she was enjoying watching the audience as much as we were enjoying watching her - all rather cute, I must say.

DPP day 12: The Book Store

2011-12-12T21:31:00.002+11:00

We've had a busy weekend, and I haven't really touched my camera! I went and looked through some old photos and found this one, from September last year, of when the children set up a market place in the lounge room. This is Anna's book store.

Don't you like the way she arranged the books? Not your run-of-the-mill bookstore!

DPP day 8: Play

2011-12-08T10:47:00.001+11:00

DPP day 7 - Jackie's Birthday

2011-12-07T22:35:00.001+11:00

Tonight we celebrated Jack's second birthday, because the poor little lad has to share his birthday with Christmas Day. He needs to be offered an alternative celebration.

The horse and the cow on the cake (whom he calls 'moo' and 'neigh') are his constant companions at the moment, so made the most appropriate cake toppers.

Happy birthday sweet little lad!

DPP Day 6 - The book I am 'reading'

2011-12-06T20:25:00.001+11:00

Does this count as a December photo? Let's hope so. I downloaded this book by Randy Alcorn as an audio book and have been listening to it over the past week or so. Alcorn has a very powerful story from his own life of God's ability to provide in dire circumstances (humanly speaking) and argues very effectively from Jesus' words 'Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also' (Matthew 6:20-21) for what should be our joyful motivation for giving.

I've really been challenged by this book, particularly about some of my attitudes. The problem with audio books is that it is tricky to share quotes from them, as I don't have the text in front of me. Being a visual learner and a big fan of underlining, I find this frustrating! A very worthwhile read / listen.

DPP day 5 - Hooray for the Annie Anne!

2011-12-05T21:19:00.001+11:00

Anna was delighted to be awarded with the citizenship medal for her class this year. We felt very proud of the dear little thing, and thankful to God too for the encouragement that this was to her.

She looks just a bit shy up there, don't you think?

DPP day 4 - Gingerbread Joy!

2011-12-04T21:42:00.001+11:00

On Friday we had a Gingerbread House night at church. Such fun. Since my girls were too young to come along, I brought my kit home and did it with them today. How nice to have someone else do all the baking and icing preparation and lolly choosing, and just do the decorating!

Maggie is asking why the Christmas decorations have been up for so long (3 days), and when will it be Christmas? I tell her we have a way to go yet. For a child, three weeks to wait is an eternity. For me, it isn't nearly long enough!

DPP day 3

2011-12-03T20:55:00.001+11:00

Jam is just SO good!

DPP day 2: Festive Fail #1

2011-12-02T10:06:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I tried to make fruit mince pies to take to an afternoon tea. It was a complete disaster, and I am never doing it again. Now I have to work through all the disasters all by myself - no one else in my family eats them and they are not fit to give away!

Have you had any kitchen mishaps lately?

December Photo Project - day one.

2011-12-01T13:13:00.001+11:00

This year I'm taking a deep breath and joining in with the December Photo Project again. I did this back in 2008 - the goal is to post one photo a day during the first 25 days of December - or almost every day in my case. Because December is literally always too busy for words, a photo of some sliver of life is just what is needed for a blog. So please forgive the relatively quiet month here - we'll let the camera do the talking instead.

Here's day 1 - The holly and ivy of the northern hemisphere are used to deck the halls in the traditional reds and greens of the season, but in Australia the summer gives us our own reasons for a red and green Christmas - strawberries, cherries, and vine ripened tomatoes!

Advent arrives!

2011-11-29T22:14:00.001+11:00

Advent is here and our faces are turned fully in the direction of Christmas - I find this a really special time in our family, and in those precious reflective times, too. I have yet to get our calendar and wreath together, but tonight I have been enjoying reading over some ideas at Erin's blog, and at looking through her Advent and Christmas chapter book and picture book lists. I think that next year I might do things a little differently with the calendar, for a change. I really like this idea of a Jesus Tree!

And here is a sneak preview of a few of the things I've been preparing for Christmas gifts for friends and little folk:

Some simple apple Christmas tree decorations:

And sweet little nurses outfits:

How are you celebrating Advent this year?

Mildred Madalyn Johnson

2011-11-23T20:08:00.001+11:00

Well it's been a quiet week here on the blog, which means it's been a really busy week really. I think it's going to stay much the same right up to Christmas! How's your December looking?

I want to share this special song by Fernando Ortega that I've been enjoying. It's just a reflection on a person - an older lady, with her own quirks and characteristics. I love it because it reflects to me the joy of being part of the community of God's people. There is a knowing of one another, of each other's humanness and unique personality that makes up a shared and celebrated whole. And there are people just like Mildred Madalyn Johnson all over the place - colourful and delightful and special in their ordinariness. Enjoy! (Ignore the pictures and just listen -- pictures can distract from the words on YouTube).

Some fun with King Arthur and his noble... tights?

2011-11-18T21:30:00.001+11:00

Each evening I am reading William a chapter of Our Island Story - a History of Britain. This whole book can be found online at The Baldwin Project. It's a wonderful introduction to English history for children.

We recently read Chapter 13 in which King Arthur lifted his sword out of the fabled rock with ease and was crowned the rightful King of England, heir to the throne after Uther Pendragon.

We ended up laughing ourselves silly in this chapter, even though the legend of King Arthur should really inspire lofty and romantic thoughts of chivalry and such like. There were two things that we found difficult to respect. The first was that, while Arthur's sword was called Excalibur (quite a noble and fitting name for a mighty sword), his Lance is called Ron.

Ron? How about Norm, or Terry?

Ron.

The second thing was the picture that would strike horror into the heart of any seven year old boy - Arthur's tights. William was horrified that anyone would ever wear such a thing (he hasn't seen jeggings yet, I guess). Dave came in to see why we were laughing, and was just in time to read out the chapter for us. Those who know Dave would know that he couldn't resist changing every instance of the word "knights" to the word "tights", along with other silly embellishments, usually involving tearing noises.
We ended up with things like:

"No noble thought himself perfect unless his armor and even his clothes were made like those of Arthur's tights.

"He swore a solemn oath that he would drive the pagans out of the land. His tights he bound by the same solemn oath".

"And how can I teach my people to be gentle and kind if my tights will not even sit at meat in peace?"

I don't think I will ever think of King Arthur again without imagining him sitting there at the round table, with his tights.

Image sources: http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=marshall&book=island&story=arthur
www.thebookdepository.com

The aisles are lined with gold at Flemington markets...

2011-11-14T21:53:00.001+11:00

...bargain hunters' gold, at least!

Early on Saturday mornings I get up especially early to do my grocery shopping at Flemington markets. If you're a Sydney-sider, it really is the pre-dawn place to be on a Saturday. I look bedraggled and feel half alseep usually, but here's why I love going:

The fruit and vegies are much cheaper than you find in the supermarket (compare $5ish at Woolies for a few small bunches of coriander with $2 for so much that it takes me a half hour to pick off all the leaves for freezing; $5 for 3 vanilla beans as opposed to over $5 each in the supermarket).

The atmosphere is wonderful (though it gets much busier after about 7am). There are so many different nationalities represented amongst the sellers, and so many characters, that I always end up laughing about something. This past week I happened to be there in a little Italian cafe/deli with a friend late morning, and a customer service man in his yellow vest broke out into five minutes of Italian opera. That's just the sort of thing that happens, and it quite makes your day.

The flower markets are there, and I can generally pick up a bunch of flowers for $4, along with herb and vegetable seedlings for $2 each.

Best of all though is the trash and treasure market - a great, huge shed of second hand (and some new) stuff to rummage through - clothes, electrical, toys, books, haberdashery, furniture. Some folk are not keen on second hand, but as I have no qualms about it I really enjoy the chance to browse. Each time I walk through I feel convinced that there is so little that you really need to buy new. We bought our mower there, our whipper snipper, dress ups for the girls ($1 each), that vintage children's book and so much more.

Here are some examples of the things I've found:

Some red ballet flats, as new - a perfect fit!

These cards, a whole bag of them which I got for $2, and

which I am still using to make into cards like these below using old magazines:

These sweet little Poole pottery espresso cups - a set for $4,

which I use when we have at-home cafes for the kids.

It's a fun place to go with friends too. Maybe I'll catch you there one Saturday? We can have a coffee together and listen to the cheap opera...

Where's your favourite bargain hunting ground?

Photographs hold deep stories.

2011-11-10T12:03:00.000+11:00

To an objective observer or an outsider to our family, this picture would seem to be nothing special - a group of very ordinary people in a country kitchen sharing a cup of tea. It isn't classy or stylish, would never make it into the glossy mags - the old woman with her slippers on and a homey old jumper, mismatched cups and a battered old teapot, a walking frame in the corner, a kitchen that contentment never saw renovated.

And yet this picture sets my mind buzzing with a million remembrances as comfortable and familiar as the back of my hand - the smell of the room, the colour of the cupboards, that basket on the bench, the wood stove in the next room in which the toast was always made, the tilt of the old woman's head, the way the old man folds his hands, the way that woman there holds her cup. The way they laughed -- I can hear it now -- the way they loved. The silly things the man would do. Each of them with years full of memories and deeds and conversations and personality. I could write a book about each one, really I could.

Last Thursday that man there, my grandfather, passed away. Just a year and a two months ago it was my grandmother, and the year before that my mother - all three of those precious adult people seated there, all no longer present in this life, as they were so wholly, livingly present there that day. It's a hollow feeling - fearful almost - that these three pillars of all of my living memory - which connect me to innumerable cousins, aunts and uncles - are gone. It's a break with the past, where they were always there, and with the future, in which they will be no more, in this life. It's the ending of an era. Not that I feel it shouldn't have been; my grandparents were full of years and God is sovereign in his timings. But there is an ache in what is lost - a strange unsettledness that it is gone.

Maybe its an odd path for my thoughts to wander, but I think of the many times I might brush past the photos of gathered strangers smiling back at me on a friend's wall, never seeing the little moments - the strong, steady links of little moments that have made that one moment worth remembering, for those who were there, for those who knowingly look on afterwards, for the one that took the photo. What were they discussing? What made them laugh? What memories are there behind that person's eyes? What spark of interest made someone want to photograph that bird? Why was that sunset, that beach, that moment, special for that couple? A picture which means nothing to me means a very great deal to someone else. Each life, full of ordinary moments, holds a deep story, and each photo a record of just one of those moments, those interwoven relationships that make up the great tapestry of lives, of life itself.

No photograph - no life - is ever really ordinary, is it?

Weekends

2011-11-06T22:12:00.003+11:00

I'm wondering what a snapshot of your house would reveal at about 5pm on a Sunday?

Weekends are crazy times for us. They are fluid, busy, a bit unpredictable, and all the normal routines and duties of weekdays don't really apply. If you were to compare them to a piece of art, they would look, not like a neatly ordered Vermeer, but a Picasso. Messy and colourful. The house reflects all the free-form activity, and it takes all our energy and focus on a Sunday afternoon and evening to restore things to order and get ready for the week ahead, especially since on weekends, the toddler seems more free and unmanned than usual. At 5pm, the house looks like a war zone. It really does.

This past weekend, the markets trip on Saturday flowed into a bushwalk which flowed into swimming lessons which flowed into a home made Indian meal for Dave and I so we could have some time together to stop and breathe and talk uninterrupted, which flowed into a morning out with church and visits from kids' friends, attempts for some rest in the afternoon and church again for Dave this evening, with all the feeding and bathing and clothing that needs to happen in between.

And by the time Sunday night, 5pm arrives, I wonder to myself "Do I really have to feed them - again? Really?" But I do, somehow, then we grit our teeth for the bedtime routine and the cleaning up and the preparations for the new week.

It's a busy, whirlwind season of life. But I'm thankful - at least I know where they all are, and we are together.

How was your weekend?

A rant about the black hole of social networking

2011-11-02T08:39:00.001+11:00

Having only just worked out how to share items from my Google reader in the sidebar of my blog (and thinking I was really clever for finally working it out), Google reader has abolished the function. The only way (that I can see) to share items in this way is to sign up to have my own Google+ page, so that people can go visit my Google+ page and see what I want to share. Here's what they have to say about it:

Integrating with Google+ also helps us streamline Reader overall. So starting today we'll be turning off friending, following, shared items and comments in favor of similar Google+ functionality.
We hope you'll like the new Reader (and Google+) as much as we do, but we understand that some of you may not. Retiring Reader's sharing features wasn't a decision that we made lightly, but in the end, it helps us focus on fewer areas, and build an even better experience across all of Google.

I don't like it, Mr Google. Maybe it's still simple to do and I just don't understand (very possible), but aren't people already happy to visit my Blog page, and my Facebook page, and (if I cared to have them) my Twitter updates, or my MySpace page, or my Pinterest page? Must I have a Google+ page too? And, kind as they are to think of my social needs in this way ('Google sharing: real life sharing rethought for the web'), it's really got nothing to do with 'real-life sharing' at all, and everything to do with competition and money.

How ridiculous does it all get, and where will it all end?

Not that I am any better at using my time well - I'm in there with the rest of them. But I wonder if we added up, collectively, how many hours mankind currently wastes on social networking sites rather than real-life doing good to others, or learning a new skill, or reading a good book, or performing Noble and Brave Acts, we would be amazed and apalled. Such a generous way for the devil to make us all completely dull and ineffective as human beings. It's all so very fun and social and cool! How thoughtful of him.

If the every social networking aspect of the internet were to crash, we would get on, we would make do, we would still have friends. Maybe more genuine friends. And maybe more time to love our neighbour, too.

A great link!

2011-11-01T20:18:00.005+11:00

On Saturday we spent a lovely day with some old friends who've been away in the UK for a number of years. They told us about a wonderful BBC4 radio program called Desert Island Discs. It bears some similarities to Margaret Throsby's morning interviews on ABC classics FM, except that each guest (or 'Castaway') is invited imagine themselves cast away on a desert island, and they must choose eight pieces of music, a book (not including The Bible or The Complete works of Shakespeare, which they are automatically given) and a luxury item for their stay on the island. In doing so discuss their lives and the reasons behind their choices.

I've enjoyed scouring through the records of the guests who've been interviewed, dating all the way back to 1942! Among others things, I've been listening to some interviews with a few favourite children's authors, such as Shirley Hughes, Allan Ahlberg and Quentin Blake. It's great to hear about people's lives; biography is a very powerful mirror, I think. And of course it makes household chores so much more enjoyable!

What do we do with Hallowe'en, part 3: What we did this year.

2011-10-31T05:30:00.000+11:00

So the school Hallowe'en fundraiser disco came and went, and this year, we decided not to go. It wasn't because we felt that it was evil or that we could not in good conscience participate. As far as I'm concerned, a primary school Hallowe'en disco is a nothing, and not harmful, in the same way that I don't think Harry Potter is harmful or would make children want to explore the occult. A movie like The Craft is something different altogether. Of course there would be exceptions (and this year for many reasons was one for us), and I respect that other people feel differently about this. Like lots of things in the Christian life, Hallowe'en is a conscience issue, as Michael Bird points out really well in this article.

This year in our particular community, where there are lots of people who take spiritual things very seriously, I felt quite embarrassed to be part of the silliness of Hallowe'en. And because some of the Hindu families we know actually thought that the purpose of Hallowe'en was to drive away evil spirits, we felt best not to let them think that, as Christians, we thought the same.

We did something different instead. I think it's a wonderful thing that the secular festival of Hallowe'en is held around the same time as traditional Christian festivals of All Saints and All Souls (and a good friend put me right on my facts in my first post, where I said that Christians 'Christianised' Hallowe'en - the dates are actually coincidental). In these two special days, Christians traditionally remembered those who had died, and those who had had great influence within the Christian church. These traditions have largely died out within evangelical Christianity, no doubt because of the association with praying for the dead and praying to those canonised as saints - two fairly major doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants.

But what a wonderful tradition - to mark out a few days in the year specifically to remember those who have loved the Lord Jesus and passed on the faith to the next generation, and also those who gave (and continue to give, in our generation) their lives for their faith. We decided to kick start this tradition in our family, and it was a very special night. Here's what we did:

First we had our normal 'special' family night meal. Before dessert, Dave read John 8:12 and Philippians 2:14-15, focusing on Jesus being the Light of the World, and his people shining like stars in a dark world as they follow him. We then went around the table and took turns mentioning someone who had loved God, either someone we had read about, or who we had known and who'd had an influence in our own faith. It was lovely to retell some stories and remember loved ones, and hear the children retell some of their own special ones, too! We started with a dark room except for one candle. For each person mentioned, we lit a candle. By the end of this, the room was filled with light - a very tangible message to the children of the difference even one little light can make, and the brightness that collectively the people of God can make in a dark world! This week, the focus of our reading will be some of the great heroes of the faith.

We then did a craft, just simply making 'loop' streamers from strips of scrap booking paper, talking as we did about how each loop could represent a person passing on the message of Jesus to another person throughout time. The children loved this.

Then we had our own celebration treat - a pinata cake, which a friend reminded me of recently. This was a good communal way to replace the 'trick or treat' idea of Hallowe'en.

I love starting new family traditions - all part of the fabric of a family, and hooks on which children can hang their identity and their growing faith.

For some more good thoughts on Hallowe'en, have a look at the Desiring God blog, and at Tracey's wonderful ideas in an American context (hat tip Kate for that link). And here's a great hymn to share, too.

Nature Notebook: Silk Worms

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000+11:00

We've had some exciting pets in our home these past few months! While visiting the farm in September, our cousins gave us around 35 silk worms, which we carried back with us to Sydney. We have all been eagerly watching these little creatures eat their way through hundreds of Mulberry leaves. The kids gave them names (Fatty, Skinny and Julia) and watched in wonder as they began to spin their silky, buttermilky cocoons.

Can I just say - if you happen to have a Mulberry Tree within easy access - this is simply the most wonderful and easy pet to keep for kids. They need to be fed fresh leaves twice daily and have their box cleaned out, but that's about it. They are hardy little things (unless you step on them, we know from sad experience!) and the children get to see the whole life cycle of the silk moth from start to finish. Very special. We will have some eggs to give away very soon, as it's not long until they come out of their cocoons. So let me know if and are interested...

We can't wait to open the box one morning and find some winged creatures within!

Here is a photo of when they were still quite small. There comes
a stage when they eat so much that you can't seem to ever
keep up with their appetites!

It is truly a marvel of creation the way these little creatures work
at preparing their cocoons. This one is just beginning the'scaffolding'.

This is the most populated end of the box. We put up 'units' for them, as we
noticed that they seemed to like corners and edges to build from. It was
always interesting to see whether they preferred top or ground floor!

Fighting Consumerism in Kids

2011-10-24T22:16:00.000+11:00

Dave can commonly be heard singing the chorus of the Rolling Stones hit "You can't always get what you want" to our kids.

While this happens often in the day to day run of 'child's will vs parent's wisdom' skirmishes, it's also being heard more and more during chatter about possessions. Two of our children are quickly becoming aware of the link between money and stuff. They have a few things they would each like to buy, and are keen to work out how they can best acquire them. We're suddenly having to think through a philosophy of pocket money - kind of on the fly.

I find it at once an unsettling and an exciting stage. Unsettling because the pessimist in me fears their being swallowed by the great gaping mouth of consumerism no matter what we do; exciting because I look forward to them seeing the importance and joy of wise stewardship. And I really, really hope they come to love the thrill of a salutary op-shop find as much as I do.

Like never before, advertising bombards our kids (and us) with the lie that life actually does consist in the abundance of our possessions. I enjoyed an article on this subject written by Mark Hadley in the most recent Eternity magazine (Man bites dog; product consumes child, Oct 2011 issue). He quotes another author as follows:

That high pitched whining coming from the cereal aisle is more than just the pleadings of a single kid bent on getting a box of Fruit Loops. It is the sound of thousands of hours of market research, of an immense co-ordination of people, ideas and resources, of decades of social and economic change all rolled into a single "Mommy, pleeease!"

Hadley also highlights the link between the consumerist mentality of 'you are what you own' with mental health problems, particularly among children from deprived areas, whom research (in Britain) shows are more obsessed with shopping and money than youngsters from better-off homes. "If the ability to consume is considered all-important, then anything that comes between kids and their ability to spend will be treated as a challenge to their identity and right to self-determination later in life".

I'm thinking through ways to help 'inoculate [our] children against addictive consumption'. Hadley has a few ideas - "resisting the urge to reward with things and substituting with relationships instead; tying presents firmly to special occasions and associating them with their givers; talking about 'pay' rather than 'pocket money' so kids learn the connection between earning and owning", as well as stressing the Biblical teaching on the subject.

Good thoughts. We do a few things around this, but I'd like to think it through more intentionally, and I'd especially love to hear what you are doing with your kids in this area, or what your own parents (or other Influential Persons) have done.

*image from www.dreamstime.com

What do we do with Hallowe'en, Part 2: Australia, and Australian Spirituality

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000+11:00

One obvious thing to note while thinking through the issue of Hallowe'en is that it has never really taken off in Australia. I only ever remember one occasion of people trick-or-treating at our door, and that was just a few years ago. I don' t even think I had anything to give them! Umm - a bag of sugar? The Homebrand cooking chocolate? Last week's muffins?

Why has Hallowe'en never really made it big over here? Maybe it's something as simple as the seasons and the colours and the greater lack of pumpkins just now. Or are there historical reasons, or spiritual ones, or national-character type ones? I'd like to know what you think.

Just this week we received the invitation to our school's P&C fundraiser - a Halloween disco. Herein lies the great benefit of Halloween for Aussies - not that it actually means anything, but that it is useful for school fundraising events, time-filler colouring in sheets, and of course as another cash cow for the retail industry.

And this is what most Aussie celebrations have really become: hollow, not meaning anything in particular except as a chance to eat lots and get together with family and spend lots of money. They are completely divorced from their original, (usually) soul-nourishing intent, and we are left only with the fleeting joys of chocolate and children, fudge and family - all of which have their not-so-fleeting trials. It's all rather.. shallow, isn't it?

A few months ago I listened to a fascinating interview with Dr David Tacey who is a 'reader in literature and psychoanalytic studies' at Latrobe university. The interview was about Australians and spirituality. Please listen to it if you have the chance (mainly relevant from about half way through) because he really does capture something which we feel every day as Christians - that Aussies are hyper-rational, uncomfortable with anything that seems to lean toward the spiritual nature of life. Religion is considered out. If you mention that you have an interest in spiritual things, people feel very uncomfortable, and question what is wrong with you. He notes that the happiness industry has tried unsucessfully to cover over a deep and gnawing unhappiness, and that we have one of the highest rates of suicide in the world. We are a society that has been taken away from its source of meaning.

And into all this, awkwardly, fits Halloween. It never was a soul-nourishing event, but is now a kind of superficial secularist nod at the humour of all things ghostly and demonish and 'spiritish' - funny superstitious things but by no means real, just as the Whomping Willow and Voldemort are by no means real. Just a bit of fun. There is no spiritual realm after all, of course.

As Christians we have so much to celebrate, so much real, living meaning to speak into our culture, and into our families, and I do think there is a way to redeem such events as Halloween. That's exactly what Christians did in the past, and that will be the subject of Part 3.

My kind of sewing, my kind of price!

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000+11:00

Last week my friend gave me a pile of second hand clothes - such moments come close to Christmas I think. Two of the items were white skirts which, though the wrong size for me, looked like they might be adapted to make some dresses for the girls, so I gave it a go.

I'm no seamstress. I taught myself to sew and have never successfully put in a zip (anyone want to teach me?) So these skirts, already complete with zippers and lining, had all the hard work done and were the perfect lengths for my girls to boot. I simply took a chest measurement, pleated the front of the skirt yoke to fit the measurement, then attached ribbons as straps, along some more decorative ribbon around the top.

Though far from perfect, they actually worked (!), took little time, and the girls love them. Best thing is, they only cost $2 - all up - for the ribbon on Anna's dress. The rest I had here at home. And I can always unpick them and turn them back into ladies' skirts once they're outgrown.

I think I could get hooked on this kind of sewing. I like this idea - a peasant blouse - refashioned from a ladies' shirt or skirt perhaps? So many thrifty possibilities!

Have you had any inspiring second hand finds lately?

Book Review: Hannah Coulter

2011-10-19T07:23:00.000+11:00

Each month, Christianaudio.com offers a free audiobook to those who are on their email list (get yourself on that list!)

A few months ago, the book on offer was Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. I downloaded it, not really knowing what to expect, and have relished the chance to wash the dishes and fold the washing so I could listen to this very special story.

Hannah Coulter is one of a group of novels which make up a chronicle of the fictional small Kentucky town of Port William in America. In these books, Berry explores the changes brought about by the decline in traditional agrarian life, of the effects of the war, of the changing morals in society and the shift towards what seems an impersonal, commercial world. All this is done (in Hannah Coulter, at least) through the very narrow lens of an old lady looking back over her life -her childhood, marriage, family, and community. Once I caught on that she would have been the age of my own grandmother, who also grew up and lived on farms (albeit in Australia), and whose grandchildren would be my own age, the book took on a special meaning for me.

Hannah Coulter is beautifully written, and I would like to get a hard copy so that I can read it through again and note down some of the best passages, the reflections we all have but can't put into words. The story made me (as I think is its purpose) long for those days when community was tight and when families stayed together, worked together. Her descriptions of her grandmother challenged my work ethic. Her reflections on her marriage are very special, and her fears and sadness and love for her children and her husband really rang true for me. The narrow focus of the book, which touches only broadly on the first World War (for its personal impact within her community) and on no other specific world events, is really its strength. It is a deeply personal reflection on a long life, filled with beauty and sadness and change. It's the kind of book you want all your friends to read.

I have had to check myself after listening to this story, though. We have to be really careful about glorifying the past too much (Ecc 7:10), and also about setting the need for place and community and family in this life, as paramount in our values. These are enormously important and are needs that we have as human beings, and which seem to be fading and failing in our age, but it is also a comfort to remember in a changing world that 'here we have no enduring city' (Heb 13:14). Significantly, I read Isaiah 4 today which reminded me that for a perfect community, a perfect place, we wait for Zion, where God will bring all things to rights.

You can read other reviews of this book here. I recommend the audio book very highly - not all that expensive either over at The Book Depository!

Butter chicken from scratch - version 2

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000+11:00

Here is the second butter chicken recipe that we love to use - a little simpler than the last one only in that it uses ingredients you already most likely have in the cupboard, and in that no blending is required part way through.

Butter Chicken
4 tbsp canola or other oil

2 medium onions, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, peed and chopped

4 tsp curry powder (use to taste – some curry powders arevery hot!)

2 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander and ginger

3-4 tsp garam masala

600-700g boneless chicken, cubed

600g tomato soup / 425g can tomatoes and 1 cup water

1 ½ cups plain yoghurt

¾ cup cream

3 tbsp chopped coriander leaf, fresh or bottled

Heat oil in large pan, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirringfrequently until onion is clear. Add spices and curry powder. Cook 1 minute longer.

Add diced chicken and cook. Stir in tomato. Allow to boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Cook8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Stir in remaining ingredients, reheat without boiling. Serveover steamed rice, with pappadums or naan.

What do we do with Hallowe'en? Part 1: A History Lesson.

2011-10-14T09:43:00.000+11:00

Hallowe'en is coming up again at the end of this month and I suspect two things about it. Firstly, most Aussie Christians will either ignore it or feel vaguely uncomfortable about it; and secondly, most Aussies who celebrate it by wearing ghoulish masks and trick-or-treating, will have no idea what it is about or where it came from. And a third thing, it is most likely to become more and more popular as people grasp after some spiritual connection in our secular climate.

Since Dave thought my last post about fairies 'was just a bit pagan', (as opposed to what I would call imaginative), I may as well go with the theme and talk about Hallowe'en, which like many Christian traditions and festivals, has its roots in paganism.

Here is a brief history of it, which I found really interesting. I am quoting directly from the book "All Year Round - a calendar of celebrations" by Ann Druitt:

Julius Caesar commented that the Celts reckoned their calendar in nights rather than days; indeed, all their Quarter days were celebrated on the Eve. The Eve of Samhain later became All Hallows' Eve (in the Christian calendar) or Hallowe'en, but many of the pre-Christian beliefs connected with this night have their echoes in customs which have endured to the present day.

Samhain marked the beginning of the New Year in the Celtic calendar, and it was an especially sacred and significant time. There was a feeling that, on the eve of this feast, time belonged neither to the Old year or the New. The lack of definition in time implied also a blurring of the boundaries of space - in particular the boundary between this world and the next, between the living and the dead, between human beings and the gods or nature forces. These worlds intermingled: threatening supernatural beings walked abroad, and the souls of the dead came to visit their old homes.

So what do Christians 'do' with Hallowe'en? What do you do if your kids friends ask if they can go "Trick or Treating", or when trick or treaters come to our door? How do we discuss this event with our kids when they bring home pictures of witches and goblins? I think it's worth thinking through!

I'm interested to know what have you done in your family, if anything, or your memories of Hallowe'en in your own childhood.

Hush! There be faeries...

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000+11:00

And don't they have a surprise awaiting them tonight!

A fragrant aisle of lavender, mint, geranium and rosemary,

welcoming them to the dance hall...

A quiet place for fairy whisperings, shaded from the moon...

Shh! Don't tell it was us...

A hobby horse for riding and a stone-for-while-you-wait...

And the best treat of all -- a moonlight feast of ice cream and lemonade!

Come up here, O dusty feet!

Here is fairy bread to eat.

Here in my retiring room

Children you may dine

On the golden smell of broom

And the shade of pine;

And when you have eaten well,

Fairy stories hear and tell.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Picture by Ruth Mary Hallock. Image from here

Where novelty fails to impress.

2011-10-10T09:14:00.001+11:00

While we were in Queensland visiting my dad, the kids acted like it was Christmas each time he served up mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and some kind of simple cut of meat. I haven't seen them rave and marvel over food like they did there for such a very long time.

It was then that I realised I have been trying too hard. In the interests of novelty, and of developing their unformed tastebuds, I have been trying all sorts of new recipes on the kids. It hasn't gone down well. On the basis of one of my childrens' prayer journals from the last few months, you would think I was a ghastly cook. Along with such things as "Sorry for licking the toothpaste" on the 28th July, and "Sorry for growling (like a wild beast) at people today", here are some of the confession points:

14 July: Sorry for saying bad things about dinner.
6th August: Sorry for not liking mum's dinner or the ginger bread men.
14th August: Sorry for not eating my dinner.
8th August: Sorry for eating mum's dinner (it must have been really bad that night).

Well, mea culpa, I guess. Perhaps all the while, I should have been confessing my tendency to serve up unpalatable novelties each evening.

Kids are creatures of habit. Routine and simplicity appeal very, very much. If you don't start with fish curries when you start solids (and I've heard it said that some Indian women smear chilli on the breast to get their babies used to the heat), I believe there is little chance of reintroducing such delicacies until they are in their teens. Still worth a try, but a long shot indeed. Science is on their side; children have thousands and thousands more tastebuds than adults, so a little bit of flavour does go a long way.

All this being said, I confess I am a creature of habit, too. On Wednesday last week we received a cook book in our post box, complements of Energy Australia. I love recipe books - big time wasters for me - but sometimes I feel sick at the thought of what they suggest. For example, if someone served me up "Strawberry, Lime and Basil Mousse" for dessert, I would not jump for joy as I would perhaps for good old Sticky Date Pud. And anything containing the word Flambe is simply not going to happen in my home. When it all simmers down, no matter how many recipe books I leaf through, I generally cook the things my mum used to cook- the tried and tested - the comfort food.

And it looks like I will for the next 10 years, at least. You have to choose your hill to die on, and as the proverb goes, "Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting -- and conflict" (Prov 17:9). Dry crusts it is then. Maybe with a dash of garlic butter, now and then?

From the brushes of babes

2011-10-01T20:43:00.000+10:00

Squares with Concentric Circles, Wassily Kandinsky, 1913

The great thing about modern abstract art is it is usually easily reproduced by infants, and often looks better than the original. I'm just saying.

That's why I chose Wassily Kandinsky's "Squares with Concentric Circles" as a worthy model for a holiday painting project. Anna and Maggie both had a go. It required one-on-one help ( I had a good uni-student friend spending some time with us), especially to neaten up each ring fill in the background of each square. We all really enjoyed this project and the results, (I think) look great.

We used 30x30cm art canvases, and let each circle dry before we added the next, so it was done in a few sittings over two days. We used a set of small acrylic tubes from Hot Dollar, or some place similar.

There are lots of other ways to do this, using watercolours, oil pastels or cut out circles - I think they all look really effective.

Here is a visual diary of our process, and the results!

The brushes were almost rinsed in that cup of tea a few times. Let the reader beware.

So bright and cheery! Can't wait to find a good spot for these.

This week's question...

2011-09-30T00:00:00.000+10:00

On Thursday nights I do some driving and I really enjoy listening to all the characters who ring in for the quiz on local radio. Before each caller is able to answer the quiz question, they are asked a 'question of the night'. I liked last night's question so I thought I'd ask you:

What have you done yourself that you'd wished you'd asked a professional to do instead?

For us, it's usually something to do with furniture removal. Just don't ever ask Dave about Ikea wardrobes, narrow staircases and bits of cupboard flying off the ute somewhere near Bondi. Actually just don't mention Ikea.

And once, during my early haircutting days on Dave, I accidentally put tracks through one side of his hair. It still makes me laugh to think of it. Thankfully we were at the start of a rather long holiday, else it would have been...awkward.

So what have you done that you wish you'd left to the experts?

Butter chicken from scratch, version one.

2011-09-28T04:00:00.000+10:00

Who can resist butter chicken, really? If any dish were the westerner's 'door' into wider Indian cuisine, this would be it. It's mild, creamy, and so full of flavour. It's a family favourite of ours.

There are some great pre-made curry pastes and sauces out there that pretty much do it all for you, but I thought I'd share two butter chicken recipes that I love - both to a greater or lesser extent let you make it 'from scratch' and enjoy all those textures and aromas of the individual herbs and spices for yourself. The second (which I'll share in a later post) is much more straight forward than the first, so take your pick.

So here is the first - my favourite - adapted from Vahrehvah. I think the Fenugreek (Methi) leaves would be the only ingredient not available at a supermarket , and you could probably just leave it out.

Ingredients:

500g raw chicken, sliced into strips or cubes

3-4 tablespoons ginger garlic paste (or a mixture of crushed garlic and grated ginger if you prefer)

Approx 1/2 tsp chilli powder (more if you prefer)

2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, sliced or diced

2 tins tomatoes, or a 1 bottle of passata

1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts

1 tbsp crushed fenugreek leaves (I use dried leaves which are already chopped)

1 sprig coriander leaves

1 tbsp coriander powder

2 slices (or more?) green chilli-if-you-dare. I sometimes use a little curry powder instead to boost the heat and flavour.

1-2 tbsp butter

1/2 tin tomato soup (or a few tablespoons of tomato ketchup/sauce). This sounds really pedestrian but that hint of sweetness makes a huge difference to the dish.

100 ml fresh cream

Method:

1. Stir the chilli and half of the ginger garlic paste through the chicken pieces and fry in the oil until cooked through. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Into the left over oil in the pan add cumin seeds, onion, the rest of the ginger garlic paste (I use lots of this stuff), tomatoes, cashew, coriander, coriander powder, fenugreek leaves and chilli-if-you-dare. Fry these for 1 minute and then cover with enough water to let it simmer away happily. (I must have omitted the tomato in the picture below!)

3. When the onions and tomato are soft, and it looks well cooked through, put the mixture in a blender (I do it in portions and use a blender stick), add butter and tomato soup and blend until smooth.

4. Return to pan, add chicken and cook for a few more minutes over medium heat. Add salt to taste and stir in cream before serving. D-lish!

So tell me...what's your favourite cook-at-home Indian food?

Big decisions are just so...big.

2011-09-25T21:54:00.000+10:00

Dave and I are in the tormential throes of deciding whether to move into college community next year. If we were to exclude a few complicating factors, such as our children, the decision would be easily made. The likelihood that it is only for one year is also a very big factor.

The problem with making big life decisions is that we are not armed with all the information. None of us has that elusive crystal ball, or the kind of guidance which says, audibly, such things as 'Get up and go to the Street called Straight'. We have sought just about everyone we have talked to over the past few weeks. We have prayed. But ultimately there are things we can't know. How many more moves will there be in the future? How would this one extra move impact each of the children? How would they adjust to a new school for a short time? Will the upheavals have ramifications further down the track (for better or worse)? While it would be easier to stay, what would they be missing if we stayed? And my big niggling question when it comes to guidance is how much am I only 'hearing' those things that I want to hear?

Dave and I have found it interesting the way we both work through a decision. Dave tends to look at things more logically (even with spreadsheets and numbers and percentages) and keep his heart subject to his head, whereas I tend to listen most to the winds of emotion that surge in all kinds of directions. I find it extremely hard to think of much else at times like this.

In the end, however, these things have been really good about the process:
1. Reminding ourselves, as we remind our kids, that nothing is permanent in this world but God and his kingdom;
2. That whatever decision we make, we can trust in God's mercy and desire to be good to us, and to will and act in us according to His good pleasure.
3. In this particular decision there is morally not one right way. We have two really wonderful options before us, two equally valid ways to serve God and love others (for which we are very thankful), and one thrilling and certain outcome at the very end. If there is not one right way, there is also no wrong way, and this is encouraging. Either decision will have its joys and trials. Big decisions are big, but in a sense not really so big at all. God holds them in his hand. We must show courage in making a choice.

Meanwhile, if you want to throw in your opinion, it would be most welcome. I will share with Dave those comments which most resemble my own thinking on the matter. ;)

Rest...

2011-09-20T13:52:00.001+10:00

This morning at playgroup, one clung to my hip and the other cried and whined the whole time.

Sometimes it's hard to diagnose the problem, but the cure is usually the same. What a joy to bring them home and meet that pressing need for rest. Cuddles, quiet music and a soft bed.

Aren't these such special moments?

How children understand the world

2011-09-19T06:00:00.007+10:00

Enjoying the stunning coastline at Arakoon, NSW

On Friday we arrived back from two weeks away, firstly in Queensland with our wider family and then at the coast for our own family holiday. It was a really special, really fun, really exhausting time. I remain firmly convinced that children learn much more on family trips than they ever could in a classroom, so I'm always happy to pull them out of school if there is a new experience on offer.

It always amazes me how much children know about the world around them given their ages. When we think that Maggie, who just turned 4, has only been on the earth for 48 months, it is incredible what she can say and what she can understand. Such is the brilliant complexity of the human mind.

But occasionally you get a run of little chinks where you realise that there are many pieces still missing in their understanding of the puzzle of the world, and these seem to happen most during holidays when their realm of experience is being stretched. It's always very cute. Sometimes you forget that they don't know the meaning of every word they hear, and that their brains have to work hard to understand and fit the pieces together. No wonder they need so much sleep!

Here are some recent examples from our kids (which are probably mostly funny only to us):

1. Daddy, before a visit to the farm: "Great. Let's go. Let's get to that farm to see some tigers". Maggie (crying) "Will there be tigers daddy?"

2. Maggie, two hours into the second day of our journey home: "What country are we in now?"

3. Anna, after listening to "The Wild Colonial Boy" (many, many times) "I think colonial means naughty".

4. Jack, looking at the sea: "LI-LO!!" (Lilo is Milo, and is what he currently calls any drink).

5. Anna: "Maggie, don't frown at me. You're not allowed to frown unless you are an adult".

6. Each evening Anna and Maggie say a prayer from the prayer book that asks God to defend them from "the perils and dangers of this night". I asked them what they thought a peril was. "Monsters." they both replied, firmly.

In that case I guess they were right. A peril is not always a monster, but a monster is always a peril indeed.

What funny things have you heard a Small Person say recently?

Hanging Hearts: a simple children's sewing project

2011-09-02T13:18:00.005+10:00

Here's another project that I tried with the children a few months ago. It comes from the book Homemade: gorgeous things to make with love by Ros Badger, which I borrowed from the library. We tried two projects from this book and the hearts were the easiest and quickest of the two.

We used felt which, even though it's mostly cheap and nasty these days, is so easy for kids to cut and work with. The children traced around the template, had way too much fun with the pins (such a challenging fine motor activity!) and stuffed them full once I had sewn them almost together. They also chose the felt colours and the buttons, so the design (though not all the fiddly labour) of the project belonged completely to them.

Best of all, it only took a few hours one quiet Saturday afternoon.

It's Important, being seven.

2011-09-01T09:34:00.003+10:00

William turned 7 a bit over a week ago. We enjoy this boy - his dry sense of humour, his wiry, dirty, bruised seven year old boy legs, his gentle temperament, his toothless grin. At the moment the big loves of his life are Beyblades (hence that bodgy attempt at a Beyblade cake!) and soccer. He's a remarkably chilled, balanced kid, with an appetite to know and understand his world. We're thankful for him!

My Favourite Kids' Birthday Gift

2011-08-29T06:00:00.011+10:00

I recently discovered these Debco Grow At Home Kids' Kits at Bunnings for $10 and they have become my stock standard gift for children's birthdays recently - such a great idea as they give the child an experience to share with their parents and a fun result to look forward to at the end of it. There are lots of different vegies to try, too.

To go with this, I have been making up jars of ingredients to home bake a batch of biscuits. I bought a bulk pack of M & Ms which brings the cost down - the other ingredients are fairly cheap. I would think it costs around $3-4 per jar, plus a bit of what my mum used to call 'fritzing' to make it look pretty. Inspiration here at Bakerella - easily adapted for boys, and for a theme (we called them 'princess biscuits for a princess party).

Just promise not to give this if you're going to the same party as me...

Identity and the Christian Family

2011-08-26T15:42:00.000+10:00

Last night I had the privilege of hearing Lyndal Tait (who served for many years with her husband in Russia for CMS) speak on the topic of building a Christian family identity. It was an excellent talk - full of things to think through and work out for our family.

What helped me most was the reminder about what really defines a Christian family. Lyndal pointed out that there are three things which really shape the identity of an individual family. One is the culture around it and its own cultural background. Another is the particular mix of personalities within the family that give it a 'feel' as a unit - a way in which other people see that family as a whole. But at the centre of it all is who that family is in Christ -- forgiven, justified, made right with God, loved, new creations, under God's sovereign hand and care, living by faith and not by sight, spirit-filled (to name just a few things!).

I found this such an encouraging reminder, as we often tend to want to define a Christian family largely by what they do (or don't do) - which often is very culturally defined. The centre of Christian identity actually transcends culture - which gives that immediate bond with believers from completely different walks of life.

Other tips Lyndal gave for creating a distinctive identity for a family - particularly for our children (my take on them at least, not all exactly her own words):

1. Identify those things that are good in our culture and which affirm our spiritual values, and cultivate these things. Think through what things need to be kept out.

2. Work toward good relationships with family members - esp between husband and wife, and individually between each family member.

3. Carve out habits and routines in the day that will help build identity ie family devotions, reading with children.

4. Teach children the Bible in a way that helps them to understand its relevance - not just as facts to be learned.

5. Think through how your- and your husband's personalities complement in the way you express your faith and teach it to your children. One may be better at meal time discussions, another at one-on-one teaching times. One may be better at teaching narratives and the other the practical wisdom side of things. I found this really helpful; I have always left the formal teaching side of things to Dave as he's more consistent than me and does it so well, and seen my role as the more informal and incidental teaching times through the day. This is good, but there are perhaps things that I could help the children understand with my personality and view of things that Dave may not in formal teaching times. We're thinking through how this can happen in our day.

6. Let the children experience the message. Call sin 'sin'. Practise saying sorry and forgiving from the heart. Pray for God's spirit to work in children's hearts and look for the fruit - acknowledge it when it is there. Use opportunities to walk in the good works God provides for us each day. Do this visibly and talk it through with the children.

7. Use teachable moments in the children's lives and help them to see how God is at work in their lives and the world around them.

8. Help children to understand the authority you have as their parents, and that this is given by God, not just of your own making.

9. Simplify life as much as possible (this one raised LOTS of questions!) Western society is very anxious, busy, stress-filled, hurried. It's important to work out how we can stand against this in some measure and focus on relationships, which are much more important and which really do take time.

Have you any other ideas, or things you know have worked for your family?

Book Week and Memory Making.

2011-08-23T17:25:00.000+10:00

This morning the kids had their annual Book Week parade at school. It's such a fun morning, and to the credit of the school they make it a real community event, with the teachers, parents and non-school aged siblings encouraged to join in and give it their all.

I always have a mild panic leading up to this day because somehow I only ever seem to know about it one week before, and costumes for whoever-it-is-that-my-kids-choose-to-be are never all that easy to come by. I could take the easy option and encourage all the ready-made costumes we have around the place, but being a purist, I insist that the kids try to be a character from an actual book (not just a movie) that they have read and enjoyed.

This year Anna pulled out of the recesses of her mind the character Water Rat from 'Water Rat's Picnic' - a story by Alison Uttley which we read so very long ago. Thanks to some help from our Aunty Thea (which would have taken me hours) we were able to come up with the costume for this which did look so very like the original, even with little doilies tucked in to make lacey collars and sleeves, and Anna was delighted.

William chose to be Willy Wonka, which was just a case of adjusting some grown up clothes and making a big bow tie. Maggie was a generic queen from 'The Fairy Tales' (mostly wicked queens, aren't they?) and Jack was a digger driver from his current favourite book, 'Dazzling Diggers'.

The parade itself is all of half an hour long, and I was reflecting to Dave this morning that it hardly seems worth all of the fiddle and fuss for such a short time. But as Dave rightly said, it's an investment in memories, and that is very precious. Most events that take time to prepare are quickly over - meals, weddings, Christmas programs -- but their legacy in the life of a child are huge. And so we mothers do these crazy, time consuming things for our kids, generation after generation, with a reward that is difficult to measure but no doubt (cumulatively) very great. Also, the resourcefulness that goes into making a costume - taking something from here, adapting this, altering that, borrowing this -- are a much better lesson for kids than just going down to the shop!

Emotional Tanks

2011-08-21T21:44:00.000+10:00

A few months ago I read a book by parenting author Ross Campbell (How to Really Love your Child), in which he suggests that children are able to best respond to parental discipline when their emotional tanks are full. That's just wisdom, isn't it? Yet we so easily forget it.

How do we fill emotional tanks?

Lots of cuddles, conversation, listening, time together, and (I found this one really helpful) eye contact. How often do we forget eye contact in those little conversations of the day when we are busy with other jobs? And how often do we avoid eye contact as a punishment device?

I do believe such remedies can also be applied to husbands.

Have a cuddly week!

Early Literacy, Early Graffiti

2011-08-16T06:00:00.032+10:00

Ah the dizzying heights to which a surface and a pen can take the emergent writer - who in this particular instance was clever enough not to write it on the wall itself.

Such forward thinking gives me hope.

Graffiti. What a great vehicle for complaint, particularly if the object of complaint has no means of response. Which wasn't the case in this Ancient Roman example, given the fickle and vengeful characters the Romans believed their gods to be:

Quisquis amat. veniat. Veneri volo frangere costas

fustibus et lumbos debilitare deae.

Si potest illa mihi tenerum pertundere pectus

quit ego non possim caput illae frangere fuste?

(Really? You need the English??)

Whoever loves, go to hell. I want to break Venus's ribs

with a club and deform her hips.

If she can break my tender heart

why can't I hit her over the head? (Source here)

I'd pick a fight with a younger sibling over the Goddess of Love any day, wouldn't you?

A Worthwhile Exhibition

2011-08-15T06:00:00.006+10:00

A few months ago while my Dad was visiting, we went along to the Museum of Sydney to see the 'Enemy at Home' Exhibition, which documents the experience of the many German Australians and crew members of German commercial ships who were interned in Camps in Australia during the First World War. The exhibition website introduces it in this way:

During World War One nearly 7000 so-called ‘enemy aliens’ were interned in camps in New South Wales. One was young Bavarian photographer Paul Dubotzki whose remarkable photographs record the experience of internment from 1915 to 1919. In 2007 his entire archive was discovered in the small German town of Dorfen and it has been brought to Australia for the first time.
Dubotzki’s photographs tell an extraordinary story. Australians of German and Austrian descent, and Germans captured by the Allies in Asia, were imprisoned in isolated camps.

The whole thing was so interesting to me, as it is a part of Australia's history - and also the history of my own family heritage - that I had never even heard about before. My family is of German descent on both sides, but being farming folk from Queensland and a far smaller community than those concentrated in the southern parts of Australia and in the larger cities, they were perhaps not considered such a threat and were never interned.

What fascinated me most was the ingenuity of these men - all from different walks of life and professions - who being suddenly thrown together, were forced to make a life for themselves and make the best of it. They did this with typical German order and efficiency - so much so that the guards (particularly at Holsworthy) very quickly handed over the whole running of the place to the inmates. Living up to that wonderful German saying 'Rast ich, so rost ich' (If I rest, I rust), they set up a theatre company, shops, small businesses (such as silversmiths, tailors, even a dish and cutlery cleaner!) cafes, built their own houses and even owned privately half of the buildings within the barracks. They established 25 sporting clubs, ran courses and lectures for one another, and even had their own newspaper.

Many of those interned had been major contributors to the society of pre-war Australia; at that time, the German Australian population was the biggest non-British ethnic community in the country. Sadly, after the war, many of these men were repatriated back into Germany, being forced to leave their families (often wives and small children) and the entire lives they had built for themselves behind. And post-war Germany would have been a very difficult and depressing prospect indeed. Just another reminder of the terrible displacement that war leaves in its wake. Wondering what lessons can be learnt from this - especially considering the new landscape of multiculturalism in Australia today. Distrust and demonisation between cultural groups, even those who have grown up together, can sadly become dominating in times of international turmoil.

If you have the chance to get to the exhibition, I would thoroughly recommend it (finishes Sept 11th). Otherwise, you can read more at the exhibition website, or read a recent article about it in The Australian.

If you are really keen, have a listen to this excellent radio program on the ABC's Hindsight about German Emigration to the Barossa in C19 and the German community heritage there. There's an interesting interview with Colin Thiele at the end.

*images courtesy of The Enemy at Home exhibition website.

A Riddle - please help!

2011-08-11T09:28:00.003+10:00

**Update: The comments now contain the answer, so if you don't want to know yet, don't look!

One of William's teacher's told him this riddle, and we have all been puzzling over it for days, unable to find the answer. I've spoken to the teacher to make sure he got it correct, because, you know, the seven year old male brain can tend to be a little vague on details. Maybe you can help? If you manage to work it out (without google), please tell us the answer!

You are standing before two identical doors - one is the door to doom and the other the door to paradise.

In front of the doors stand two guards. One guard always tells lies, the other always tells the truth.

You do not know which is the door to doom or paradise, or which guard tells the truth and which tells lies.

Before you enter one of the doors, you are only allowed to ask ONE question, to ONE of the guards, to work out which door you must walk through to enter paradise.

What question will you ask?

Amazing Courage

2011-08-09T06:00:00.000+10:00

Our church had the privilege of having two amazing missionaries visit on Sunday night. These guys take phenomenal risks to go and tell the gospel to people in unreached parts of the world, and in very dangerous places. They don't hold their lives dear; they trust God and head off. Amazing. This is their promo video for their work, called Travel the Road, and below it is one of their program series in which we can see some of the work they do up close.

Unfortunately I couldn't be there to see them on Sunday night, having weightier things to do (child minding and the Masterchef final), but Dave came home very encouraged and inspired. I look forward to watching more!

If you want to help them financially, you can do so here.

Quiet, quotidian mission.

2011-08-08T06:00:00.024+10:00

I was remembering the words of this beautiful hymn to a friend last night. I love it - a prayer of commitment and ready trust even in the midst of the big and the small duties and trials of life. "A heart at leisure from itself" - that's what I long for! And being "content to fill a little space" - that too. What a good prayer to start the week.

Father, I know that all my life is portioned out for me,

And the changes that are sure to come, I do not fear to see;
But I ask Thee for a present mind intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love, through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles, and to wipe the weeping eyes;
And a heart at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathise.

I would not have the restless will that hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to door secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child, and guided where I go.

Wherever in the world I am, in whatsoe'er estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts to keep and cultivate;
And a work of lowly love to do for the Lord on whom I wait.

So I ask Thee for the daily strength, to none that ask denied,
And a mind to blend with outward life while keeping at Thy side;
Content to fill a little space, if Thou be glorified.

And if some things I do not ask, in my cup of blessing be,
I would have my spirit filled the more with grateful love to Thee --
More careful -- not to serve Thee much, but to please Thee perfectly.

There are briers besetting every path, that call for patient care;
There is a cross in every lot, and an earnest need for prayer;
But a lowly heart that leans on Thee is happy anywhere.

In a service which Thy will appoints, there are no bonds for me,
For my inmost heart is taught "the truth" that makes Thy children "free;"
And a life of self-renouncing love is a life of liberty.

~Anna Laetitia Waring

Home-cured Bacon

2011-08-05T14:32:00.003+10:00

Right now I'm trying to reduce our family's intake of nasty additives, flavour enhancers and preservatives in food. While I'm not cutting out naturally occuring ones (I don't think that any of us have a particular sensitivity), I'm just being careful to avoid or cut down on the ones that are really worth avoiding, because they ain't good for you.

Pork belly sliced into thick strips

So when I found a recipe for home cured bacon in a the book I mentioned a few posts ago (Frugavore, by Arabella Forge), I thought I'd give it a go! I LOVE my bacon, but to have some that we can use a little more often without the nasty sodium nitrites was worth a try. I was able to pick up a slab of pork belly at a good price. Then it was a case of slitting it a little, slicing it into chunks and packing it around with a mixture of salt, brown sugar, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns - mostly salt.

Pork belly in salting mixture

After 48 hours in the fridge I took it out, drained off the excess liquid, repacked it with the bottom pieces on the top (and adding a little more salt), and then repeated this process every 48 hours for the rest of the week.

After 7 days, I had this result, and it should keep in the fridge for a long while.

Pros:

- no chemical additives

- super-easy to make

- lasts well

- So far I've used it successfully in quiche, and fried (would be delicious fried and sprinkled over a salad), and a friend tells me it worked well on her gluten and dairy free zucchini slice!

Cons:

- Very salty. I tried making the northern-France inspired recipe on the next page of the book, 'Home-cured bacon served with lentils' which involved cooking the lentils in a stock made from the bacon, but it was so salty that we couldn't eat it. I guess I needed to soak the bacon for a few hours first to get rid of all that salt.

- If you want it to taste like bought bacon, you will be disappointed. It's different. Still yummy, but different. Another recipe suggests loin pork, which looks more bacon like, and suggests hanging it in the larder (ah the English Larder!) for a few weeks to let the flavour develop.

Overall though, a success. I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can use it for. And I feel some connection with all those ancestors who travelled to Australia by boat, and ate salt-cured meat more often than I care to think!

The Sweetest of Playthings...

2011-08-03T06:00:00.007+10:00

O Dandelion

'O Dandelion, yellow as gold,

What do you do all day?'

'I sit and wait in the tall green grass

Till the children come to play.'

'O Dandelion, yellow as gold,

What do you do all night?'

'I wait and wait while the cool dew falls

And my hair grows long and white.'

'And what do you do when your hair is white

And the children come to play?'

'They take me up in their dimpled hands

And blow my hair away!'

Author Unknown

Do Cats go to Heaven?

2011-08-02T14:53:00.000+10:00

On his way to the train station on Friday morning Dave found that our pet cat Rosie had been hit by a car and killed. This was not a shock, in that being a social and adventurous cat, we partly expected that such a thing might happen, and had warned the kids of the possibility. But it was a shock in that we thought that by this stage (9 months) she may have gotten through the danger period and may be a little more street wise.

It was such a sad thing to have to tell the kids, who have loved her and watched her grow from a kitten, and enjoyed her friendly antics and loveable ways. We've been really missing her. It's made me reflect on a few things:

Remembering at The Little Grave

it's been a reminder again that death, even that of an animal, is really shocking. To find a living personality no longer there messes with your mind, makes you shake your head in disbelief - again and again. The fact that it is so unnatural and abhorrent to us is a shadowy kind of indicator that things just should not be that way.

That animals are so special to kids and to us, and really weedle their way in as part of the family.

That children grieve in very different ways. One of ours took a few days to cry at all; one works through it by talking about it incessantly, drawing pictures, organising a funeral, decorating the grave; another cried initially but has since been quiet and kept things inside. It's been important to acknowledge these different ways of working it through.

That it is a very interesting thing to think about animals and immortality. I've been reading up on CS Lewis - one of the few brave enough to venture in print what he calls 'guess work' -- his speculations on animal pain in his book The Problem of Pain (In his own words: "My chief purpose [in my writing on the topic] was at once to liberate imagination and to confirm a due agnosticism about the meaning and destiny of brutes... I wanted to reinforce... how little we knew, and therefore, how many things one might keep in mind as possibilities"*).Will pets be in heaven? Will some and not others? Will "higher order" creatures - those with a personality and what seems so like a soul (though not capable of moral choice) be granted immortality on the basis of their relationship with human beings - and thus with God?

The Bible does not concern itself with animal pain or immortality. But does that silence mean animals don't go to heaven? This is most common response, but should it be? We don't really know for sure, so.. what do we say to kids?

What do YOU say to your kids?

In sum, animals have souls or they have no souls. If they have none, pain is felt for which there can be no moral responsibility, and for which no misuse of God's gift of moral freedom can be invoked as an excuse. If they have souls, we can give no plausible account (a) of their immortality - how to draw the line between animals with souls and men with souls? - or (b) of their moral corruption, which would enable Christian apologists to place them in respect of their pain under the same heading of explanation as... that which I am prepared to accept for man?

It may be well that there is an answer to this problem. I would be grateful to anyone who would tell me what it is. The Pains of Animals - the enquiry by C.E.M. Doad in response to CS Lewis. In CS Lewis Essay Collections and Other Short Pieces.

* The The Pains of Animals: The Reply by CS Lewis in CS Lewis Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces.

Raising Your Spirited Child

2011-07-27T21:53:00.002+10:00

A while ago, Ally linked me in a book meme: '5 books that have changed my life'. One of the best things about this meme was hopping around and finding out what other people said. At least twice I saw this book mentioned as a life-changer: Raising your Spirited Child: a guide for parents whose child is more intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent and energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. This sounded like my kind of book, though 'spirited' is a rather more positive slant on things than I have traditionally used to describe one of our children's behaviour that has often been so difficult and confusing and frustrating that we have been left shaking our heads wondering what to try next - how to reach this precious child's heart!

I'm only just in chapter two, but thought I'd share some of chapter one here, which amongst other things outlines the characteristics of the spirited child. These characteristics describe one of my children very well -- maybe one of yours too?

Intensity - no crying, just shrieking! Tantrums are 'raw and enduring'. Quiet children can be intense too, though this is focused inward, not outward.
Persistence - 'locking in' to an activity- committed to a task, goal-oriented, find interruptions hard to take.
Sensitivity - respond quickly to slight noises, smells, light, texture (we notice this one with socks - they have to be just right, no bumps or scratchy bits!), changes in mood. Easily overwhelmed in crowds or in places where there are lots of stimulating sensations.
Perceptiveness - Notice details and often don't seem to listen - details distract them from the task at hand.
Adaptability - change is hard, not keen on surprises or shifts in activity and prefer the familiar.

The author also mentions four bonus characteristics that these children may or may not have more of: regularity, energy, negative first reactions to things, and seriousness.

The goal of the book is to provide parents of Spirited Children with strategies and encouragement. I am looking forward to reading it through and thinking about it from a Christian parenting perspective, too.

Comfort Clothes

2011-07-26T07:59:00.002+10:00

My favourite wardrobe item right now is my mum's red crocheted jumper. She didn't wear it much but I have vague memories of when she had someone make it for her, and now I wear it to bits. It has just the right weight to it and is so comfortable, and I love that it is handmade.

Do you have some favourite comfort clothes?

Simple Bird Feeders

2011-07-20T06:00:00.003+10:00

Here is a simple activity for a sunny winter's day which I found recently on the Waldorf inspired (and inspiring) blog Mama Moontime. Birdseed, peanut butter, pinecones, a knife and string - that's all! All of my kids joined in, from the smallest to the greatest, and really enjoyed this. What a great way to invite some colourful birds to your wintery backyard!

Giveaway winner

2011-07-19T07:05:00.000+10:00

Laura, Dave picked your name out of the hat for the Michaelangelo book giveaway. Congrats! Good news all round this week. ;)

I'll get it to you soon my friend. Thanks to everyone else who entered!

Six quick things.

2011-07-17T23:20:00.003+10:00

1. I'm reading the book, Blubberland: the Dangers of Happiness by Elizabeth Farrelly. I guess you'd call it a social commentary. I like social commentaries and I'm really enjoying this one. Farrelly is an Australian and writes really well. I don't agree with everything she says but her exploration into where western civilisation is accurate -- and fairly depressing, which we all knew anyway.

2. Went to see John Rutter's Mass of the Children today at the Opera House with my dear-friend's-mum-and-friend-of-many-years today. I love John Rutter's music so it was a treat indeed. While I was there the children went to a party where there were lots of sweets and jumpy castles, diamond sunbursts and marble halls. Dave got to bear the brunt of their pleasurable company when they came home.

3. I have also been reading lots of other library books, urging a return to healthy old fashioned cooking and 'sustainable' (that word annoys me and I'm not sure why) buying/ living practises. I have been reigniting my old desire to garden, which has never once been successful yet, is expensive time consuming in its early stages, is doomed to failure as we are bound to move on soon anyway, and is rather difficult in winter. Unsustainable, in other words.

4. The concepts mentioned above have really been excellent to read over, though. I have been very challenged to think more about the food I prepare, what I buy and how it is prepared. Two books of note are Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (considered a bit of a bible on this topic I think) and Frugavore: How to grow your own, buy local, waste nothing and eat well by Australian nutritionist Arabella Forge. I just don't know how cracked wheat and chick peas are going to ease graciously and peacefully into our diets, and how presoaking grains and baking will fit into my schedule. Somewhere along the line, a few (more) of the balls I juggle ~~may~~ will be dropped. My sanity, perhaps?

5. During the holidays we took the kids to a new playground in Sydney Olympic Park, called Blaxland Riverside Park, and it is quite amazing. Huge slides, tunnels cut through hills, ropes, rock-climbing stuff and flying foxes, and endless soft fall, in case (heaven forbid) you should trip. You had better go and try it out. You paid for it, after all - nothing short of 7.7 million dollars; that's what Safe, Fun Play costs these days it would seem.

6. Dave and I have both listened to and enjoyed these talks from the recent Sydney conference A Fresh Look at Mission. Of particular note is John Dickson's talk The Way Forward. I was interested by his comment that Christians really mishandled the recent ethics debate in the sense that our tone was one of slapping backsliding Christians on the wrist, rather than speaking to Athenians, which is what we should be doing. Those talks are worth a listen. Hear them soon.

7. For those of you who have ever sat for a stressful interview, you may feel comfort from and empathy with the man in this clip who, being confused for another person who shared his first name, ended up sitting in a live TV interview regarding a topic upon which he was completely ignorant - when all he was doing was supposed to do was sit for a job interview. It's worth reading the full story on Wikipedia - so funny. He didn't get the job, but he's become pretty famous since. Which just goes to show that fame might be just around the corner - for anyone, for whatever reason.

Winter Snowflakes

2011-07-12T09:24:00.001+10:00

The Sydney winter feels so beautifully mild compared to what we felt in Canberra last week, and the Canberra winter probably feels mild compared to other parts of the world. Mild or deep, winter is a wonderful time to snuggle up with warm drinks and blankets as the chilly air settles inside the house.

We are celebrating winter with a mobile of colourful snowflakes! And it's true - no two are ever the same:

Here is a beautiful winter poem by John Betjeman which captures that silent mystery of a heavy winter:

Winter Landscape by John Betjeman

The three men coming down the winter hill
In brown, with tall poles and a pack of hounds
At heel, through the arrangement of the trees,
Past the five figures at the burning straw,
Returning cold and silent to their town,
Returning to the drifted snow, the rink
Lively with children, to the older men,
The long companions they can never reach,
The blue light, men with ladders, by the church
The sledge and shadow in the twilit street,
Are not aware that in the sandy time
To come, the evil waste of history
Outstretched, they will be seen upon the brow
Of that same hill: when all their company
Will have been irrecoverably lost,
These men, this particular three in brown
Witnessed by birds will keep the scene and say
By their configuration with the trees,
The small bridge, the red houses and the fire,
What place, what time, what morning occasion
Sent them into the wood, a pack of hounds
At heel and the tall poles upon their shoulders,
Thence to return as now we see them and
Ankle-deep in snow down the winter hill
Descend, while three birds watch and the fourth flies.

A great art link and a book give-away.

2011-07-11T05:00:00.016+10:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, New York - would have to be quite high on my List of Places to Visit. In case you're like me and can't pop over there with your kiddies on a whim, they have a truly wonderful site where kids can discover lots of things about a range of artists, and try a range of activities. It might be worth a visit these holidays!

And to start the week sweetly I have a book to give away. The Book Depository accidentally sent me two copies, and seemed happy enough for me to benefit from the mistake.

Written by Diane Stanley, Michelangelo is a picture book style story of Michelangelo's life - from his birth right through to his death, including all the interesting anecdotes of his temper, how he had his nose broken, and how some of his major works came into being.

What I love about the book is the illustrations, which are done by the author but include some of Michelangelo's 'real' artworks themselves (as in the picture to the right) - very cleverly done.

All you need to do to be in the running is to leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite artist (maybe it's a budding artist under your own roof!) or piece of art work. Entries will close on Monday 18th July, 8pm.

Continuity (a re-post)

2011-07-06T08:57:00.000+10:00

We are heading off to Canberra for the rest of the week, so I thought I would drag out a post I wrote a few years ago. As Dave and I think about change and the future (and the past!), and as we watch our wider family change and age, we are conscious of the things I wrote about in this post.

Being at my parent's house has, as it always does, conjured up many memories. The cold morning air in every place but under the bed covers, the smell of the books in Dad's office, the early, comforting dinners...memories strong and faint pass through my thoughts and fly on, perhaps to come back another day, perhaps to say goodbye.

Yesterday we took the children out to visit my grandparents at their home in a small country town called Haden. They have lived there as long as I can remember, after moving off the family farm to make way for one of their sons. And here are more memories: the delightful smell and amazingly intricate creations in my Papa's leather room. My Gram's welcoming smile and beautiful laugh, the lino floor, the wood stove, the lollies in the cupboard, the spare rooms with that musty, delicious-mysterious smell that makes every child want to explore.

Here I see my little daughter open the buttercup-coloured kitchen cupboard and take a peek inside, just as I used to do as a little girl, hunting for treats. At my parents I see my little boy sit and play in front of the same cupboard that witnessed so many of my own games as I grew up.

Continuity. Life moves on, endlessly, relentlessly. Growth, change, decay, new life - cycle after cycle, from the beginning of time. And in our culture where generations are fragmented by distance, and where "new" is lusted after and easily bought, we can become detached from the past in a way that robs us of our very selves, our own history, our groundedness.

There is comfort in things that are old, even the most ordinary things - that stay there to stand witness to what is past, and look on to what is ahead. Furniture, traditions, places, people, a baby spoon, a flowery mug. Not all the memories they invoke are happy, and some are neutral; they remind us of sad times, of lost times, of where things went awry, or show us how where we have come from, how we are different. All these are redeemed. They are like the Ebenezer stone set up by Samuel (Samuel 4:1-11), there to come back to, there to remind the Israelites that "thus far the Lord has guided".

Memories are worth making. Family is worth holding on to, even in spite of great difference and distance between each other, remembering that God is the great Redeemer. Place means something. Visits are worth making, stories worth passing on, albums and old photos and family trees worth being pored over, from year to year and from generation to generation. And though only of this life, they are the hooks God has given us on which to hang our identity. They are part of us, part of our own 'tapestry', and therefore very precious.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I’ve come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Extract from hymn "Come thou fount of every blessing" - Robert Robinson

Role Models

2011-07-04T06:00:00.003+10:00

I've been so thankful this past week as I've thought over the people God has brought into our lives in Sydney. Last week I had a particular treat, as our long-time friend Jan (who I've had opportunity to see more of since we moved here) came and spent several hours with me on Monday afternoon as she has done a number of times over the past 18 months - helping with the washing, with minding the children while I go to the shop, ironing, 'sharing life' and praying with me, often bringing meals or other treats. All this when Jan has to travel a fair distance to be here, and has many children and grandchildren of her own that she cares for.

Jan, busily helping

Then again on Thursday, our friends Keith and Thea, who are members at our church here and who have cared for us, loved us and helped us so much since we moved to Sydney, came along to the children's Grandparents' Day at school. This was so special for the kids, who love Keith and Thea. We are so thankful for their part in their lives.

Maggie watching the performance with Uncle Keith and Aunty Thea

As a mum with small kids I am so grateful for these two women particularly. Although they have full and busy lives themselves they take the time to invest in us and give to our family in very meaningful ways. This is a true model of godly servanthood, and an example to me of that wonderful verse in Titus 2:4 - of older women training the younger women - handing on the baton in faith and life.

I'm so thankful these two, and the many 'mums' in my life, whose counsel I value, who pray for our family and bless us in so many ways, and pray that as I grow older and (hopefully) wiser, God will give me the grace to do the same.

Do you have any extra 'mums' for whom you are especially thankful?

Redeeming the litter problem

2011-07-02T21:03:00.005+10:00

I don't generally collect all the rubbish that is strewn on the path outside our house, except perhaps to put it in the bin, or to put it under the windscreen wipers of the car it was dumped out of, with a large note along the lines of Please Don't Expect Everyone Else To Pick Up After You!! (I'm getting old and grumpy). Seriously, we need another 80s-style litter campaign, here in the outer inner-west, at least. Is this a widespread problem? How's your suburb looking right now?

Sometimes however, I reclaim and redeem. Today I found this Bombora bottle on the side of the road. Anna and I gave it a wash and refashioned it as a vase for some jonquils. It's brightening up our bathroom - even if only for a while. Thank you, Mr Bombora litterer.

Last year's notable find was a vodka bottle, which I still love. It's gracing the window sill in my kitchen, blooming with button flowers.

Which liquor will it be next? Sambucca? Gin? Don't mind really -- just make it an interesting bottle, please.

For a Little Boy

2011-07-01T10:11:00.001+10:00

Our family was so sad yesterday to hear the news that our friends' dear little boy Zach died after a little over a year of treatment for cancer. Zach was only three.

To lose a child - it's hard to even imagine the grief, isn't it? Before Zach died, his father Sim wrote the following poem for him. Dave and I appreciated the poem, such an apt expression of the pain and suffering, emotional and physical, that come with a terminal illness. The sense of being forsaken is very real, and one that takes some working through. Knowing that Jesus himself felt the same way in his death (and for our life!) is a comfort.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Zach's dear family - including his wider family - Mark and Danielle, Andrew and Holly and their children. May God walk with you and comfort you as you grieve.

Zachariah's Song

Here I lie awake, alone, in the dark. Helpless, hopeless, restless. No peace or respite in this house of death. No joy or laughter can be heard.

Rest and comfort elude me, pain and sickness are my only companions. This life, this body, has failed me, the world has tried in vain to save.

Men have only succeeded in poisoning me. My blood runs toxic, my vomit burns, and nothing here can help.

The blood that once carried life to my heart, now only brings decay. The food that once renewed my body, now brings only sicknesses, repulsion, bile.

There is no aid here. Nothing that can calm my sorrow, nothing that can ease my pain. I linger on in weakness, pointless and unending.

I must look to heaven, to the twinkling stars that bear your names. For I have nothing left here to call my own, nothing that I want to hold.

Yet this is the way it was meant to be. This is how it is, and nobody, but you, can change this. I cannot rage for lack of strength and will.

There is no love that can cross this chasm, but yours. No hope that outlasts a heartbeat, but yours. No faith that holds, but yours.

I wait for you. A journey I make alone, with the multitude. A destination without end. A life I have not known. New, free, good.

My nights are filled with groaning, my days a blur of tears. I have exhausted all crying. I want to play again, to leave these fears.

God, you have taken this life, you have not spared my suffering, have not eased my pain. You have not given me care, or shown me renewal.

Who else can I turn to? Where else can I go? There are no answers here, no cure, no help. I'm compelled, drawn to your pierced feet. Your bloody hands.

So I must put my hope in you. I must put my life in your hands. I must trust in your rest, because there is so little left here, there may as well be none at all.

~Simeon Bidwell

Winter Lanterns

2011-06-26T22:49:00.007+10:00

On Friday evening we started a tradition (although we have done it once before, in less than happy circumstances) of celebrating the winter solstice (the shortest day of sunlight in the year) with the making of lanterns and an evening with friends from our community. The lantern-making tradition began in France and spread to some other European countries, and was a marker of the end of seeding season within the agricultural calendar.

It also coincides (in the northern hemisphere) with the feast of Martinmas, in remembrance of St Martin, who, amongst other things, notably shared half of his cloak with a beggar. Not the whole cloak, you will note, which may have been a little more sensible for all concerned, and perhaps more decidedly generous. And I do wonder which way he divided it - top to bottom - once sleeve each -- or around the girth? Maybe it was the first ever bolero ("Hey, Jaques, check out the crop coat on that beggar. Now there's an idea... !") As to how St Martin would have then attached the bottom half of the cloak to his person from that point - well, history leaves us with only silence and speculation, as it so often (kindly or unkindly?) does. Maybe he branched out and wore that half-cloak backwards - quite in vogue nowadays. But I digress.

Capital-P-Pagans are also known to celebrate solstice. In fact, when I shared the idea of a solstice / Martinmas evening with Dave, he was understandably dubious: "I envisage either nude witches dancing around campfires, or some odd saints and relics affair" were his words. Both of these extremes we were keen to avoid.

The evening, then, while the story of St Martin was referred to amongst the adults, was for the children simply a marking of the start of longer days with the making of lanterns. It really was lots of fun. I had prepared the cut outs for the nine children, then they added the coloured tissue paper, and with the help of mums and dads cut and assembled the lanterns. Once we had eaten and night had fallen, we walked around the block swinging our lanterns - a little too hard in some cases. We learned that candles don't burn for long when the wax is gone. There is a greater life principle to be learned right there.

The children were very excited and had a wonderful time. So did Dave, in the end, who thanks to the absence of the nude witches, thoroughly enjoyed the evening. He had to eat his words - a phrase which, thanks to the trusty public education system, our 6 year old can tell you is an idiom. Not to be confused with an idiot. If only there were more idioms than idiots in the world. But I digress.

Assembled lanterns, waiting for their moment of glory

Maggie and Anna on their Lantern Walk

The children found the playdough and gave the grown ups 20 minutes of relative
peace after dessert!

Good Preaching?

2011-06-22T06:00:00.007+10:00

This made Dave and I laugh hard and we now quote it often. It just captures something about what bad preaching can be.. those stylized inflections of the voice, the antiquated words, a string of anecdotes and cliched analogies, generally the saying of many things that amount to the saying of complete nothingness - probably a good measure of what non-Christians think of church, and sadly of what many might hear when they get there!

To Costco, or not to Costco?

2011-06-21T21:42:00.000+10:00

What do you think? Is it worth the $60 annual membership?

Our Family's Recent Reading.

2011-06-20T00:00:00.009+10:00

I thought I'd share some of the books we've been enjoying (or otherwise) lately:

From Anna: The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren is a wonderful story about a group of children who live in three houses very close together (which they refer to as Noisy Village) on the outskirts of a small town in Sweden. There are a few authors who are really able to capture childhood from a child's point of view, and Lindgren is one of them. The story takes us through some of the children's adventures together throughout the year. All of my three oldest kiddies loved this book. The illustrations (Ilon Wikland) are beautiful.

From William: Along Came a Dog by Meindert DeJong. DeJong is a Newberry Medallist and it is no wonder. His writing is beautifully descriptive. This book tells the story about a little red hen who lost her toes in the winter frosts, and a dog who, desperately wanting a home, 'comes along' and loyally protects her. The farmer is not willing to accept the dog and is unaware of the good that the dog is doing for his little hen. It is a wonderful story of a dog's intelligence, loyalty and determination, and a fascinating glimpse into animal behaviour. This book held William's attention (61/2 yr old) but not Anna's (5 yr old). I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

From Maggie: All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon - This is a recently published picture book (2009) and a Caldecott Honor book. I have to say that on first reading I was not too impressed; it is a poem really, which gives impressions of life using every day life experiences ("Body, shoulder, arm, hand, A moat to dig, a shell to keep, all the world is wide and deep..."). It has grown on me though, as it does just capture something very special about life. The illustrations are a saving grace, too. They are really beautiful, and a story and characters can be followed through the course of the day (reminding me a little of The Baby's Catalogue by the Ahlbergs). I still don't like the ending: "Hope and peace and love and trust, All the world is all of us." Just feels a bit post-modern and cliched. All in all though, lovely for a 3-4 year old.

From Jack: Humpty Dumpty (DK) Jack's third favourite pastime (after large scale destruction and small scale destruction) is to collar us with a book and insist that we sit and read to him. He has even taken to climbing into the rocking chair on his own with a book. This is his current favourite. Over, and over, and over, and over.....

From Dave: Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B Wallace. Dave hates this book does not recommend it. He says he feels 'unqualified to read or recommend anything regarding Greek that says 'Beyond the Basics". Poor old Dave. I'd like to think he'll feel different after his exam this week.

From me: All Year Round: a calendar of celebrations by Ann Druitt. My friend Anna (who could well be the second author of this blog lately, for all the mentions she's had!) sent me this book last week for my birthday and it has been such a delicious and inspiring treat for my "down-time" reading. Here is the description " Packed with beautifully illustrated ideas, All Year Round is an inspirational guide to celebrating festivals throughout the year, from Candlemas and Midsummmer's Day to winter solstice". I am looking forward to putting some ideas into action, starting with winter solstice this week. I love the way these festivals can enrich faith and life. I hope to share some more from this book over time.

All images courtesy of the good old Book Depository

Finding contentment in the now.

2011-06-13T14:35:00.003+10:00

I'm beginning to think it normal at this time of year to feel the strain a little. Maybe June is to the year as Wednesday is to the week -- the hump in the middle that needs to be got over. Maybe it's the onset of cold weather and wind, of chilly mornings that mean longer sleep ins, more cups of tea and long pauses by the heater, and of washing and housework that accumulates because of those lazier moments. Then there's the extra illnesses - coughs, colds, fevers - more reasons to stay indoors and adminster panadol, stories and cuddles.

This year our June has been no exception. There has been lots of rain, the normal run of sickness along with some troubling 'not-so-normal' (Anna has had a long stretch of unwellness and has now had an unexplained high fever these past 5 days - very worrying for parents!) God has ordained a season for thinking of the needs and concerns of wider family, and then there are the constant, big questions of 'future' picking up pace as we must make decisions imminently that will affect the coming years - does Dave do 3 years or 4 at college? Where to go afterwards? Whether to apply for college accommodation or stay where we are, and if we apply, where?

I find two temptations beset me at stressful times like this. One is to just give in to the chaos and hibernate (escape) a little - to lose myself in books and ideas and projects, and drop the bundle in the daily necessities. The other is, with eyes always turned towards future -- "when this child is better I can..." or "if we live there, we can..." -- to forget to live fully in the present and accept the daily gifts, though they may be trying, with contentment and thankfulness.

My friend Anna and I often quote the following paragraph from Elisabeth Elliot to each other - in fact, just one sentence "this gift for this day" is needed to convey the meaning of the whole, and we've both taken comfort and strength from those five words over the years! It is a reminder to seize the moments we have, not just the ones we will have, and live them fully. Elliot wrote this with respect to contentment with singleness, but the principle can apply to any life season - however short or long:

Single life may be only a stage of life's journey, but even a stage is a gift. God may replace it with another gift, but the receiver accepts His gifts with thanksgiving. This gift for this day. The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived-not always looked forward to as though the "real" living were around the next corner. It is for today we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow."

Nature Notebook: Our Not-So-Hungry Caterpillar.

2011-06-10T21:10:00.005+10:00

We had an exciting discovery in the garden yesterday: a huge green caterpillar, lying on the garden path just asking to be watched and studied, and rescued from the birds!

We found one of these little ladies (I will assume) and took her into our bug catcher with some of the leaves from the tree nearest to where she fell. Such an impressive looking creature - the kids were captivated. Unfortunately she didn't seem interested in eating, and just lay on the base of the catcher writhing. She continued this for a long time, until she slowed and seemed to be dead, but we noticed again today that she is still moving around a little.

The kids have all been eager to find out what she is - a moth or a butterfly. After long searches on the web I have just tonight found what she is - a Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar. I was excited to find that she prefers to pupate under loose leaves rather than hanging from a branch, which gives me hope that she is not writhing in death but just waiting to pupate. Tonight I quickly gathered some leaf litter from under the feeder plant and put it around and above her. I'm looking forward to telling the kids all about my discoveries in the morning.

She has lost a lot of weight since we found her, so maybe she won't survive. Perhaps she was lying out in the air for too long. But how exciting it would be for the kids if we woke up one morning to find this!:

Image sources here and here

5 books that changed who I am.

2011-06-07T06:00:00.012+10:00

Ally of Harry's Desk has linked me in a book meme! I loved this image (left) which Ally put on her post. What a great idea for a book store! Very symbolic indeed.

So the challenge of the meme was to list 5 books that have changed who I am. I've been thinking about this for a while and I do find it a challenge, because it is hard to know how different things you have read have changed you - sometimes just a sentence from here, a short story from there; and often it's books + real-life-at-that-time as they intersect - not just the books themselves. It's been fun to think this through - thanks Ally!

1. The Bible.This is the obvious one. But I've been thinking about the fact that it isn't the Bible itself that changes us, but God himself, through his Word, by his Spirit. I think sometimes when we talk about 'the Word of God' we Christians tend to get the emphasis slightly skewed and forget that Jesus - the person - is THE word of God. Jesus is the goal and the end and the whole point of the Bible, not the Bible itself. But I digress...

2. Disciplines of the Heart by Anne Ortlund. I remember the day when, ~~sweet~~ 16 and year 12 student, I went up to the tiny little Scripture Union store in Toowoomba on an errand with my dad and bought this book quite on impulse. I haven't read it since and don't even know what I would think of it now, but it brought about HUGE changes in my life. Something clicked. The faith I had grown up with suddenly became real and amazing to me. I started to get up early to read the Bible and pray, started to journal. I am so thankful for this book.

2. What is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer. I read this when I was in my late teens/early twenties, at the time when I was a single lass spending lots of time with Christian families from my church. I think it profoundly influenced the person that I am - the things I love, the value I have come to place on family and on my understanding of motherhood. Putting it all into practice in real life is harder now than it was to read about it back then! :)

3. The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter. Again, I don't know if I would enjoy this book as much if I read it again now. I first read it in 2002, on a delightful train journey from Sydney to Brisbane with Dave before we had kids. We just sat there in our seats for a full day, reading, sharing, discussing, reading some more. It was wonderful - whenever Dave and I are feeling run down and tired, that day gets a mention. This book opened up a door to me into the world of Tolkien, Lewis and Charles Williams, and it was soon after this that I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and from memory all the movies of them were being made around this time), and that we both started reading lots and lots of the works of CS Lewis. We worked in the UK shortly after and enjoyed visiting lots of spots related to what we had discovered in this book. Good times.

4. The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. This book is about the early colonisation of Australia. I find Hughes' writing in this book so engaging and for the first time in my life (interestingly) have taken an interest in Australian history, rather than all the other countries I've always studied. Living in Sydney while reading this book has been excellent. Another door opened into a fascinating world...

5. Miniskirts, Mothers and Muslims by Christine A. Mallouhi. This has also been a recent read, and very topical for me given the area of Sydney in which we currently live. This book really challenged me to think hard about my attitudes towards Muslims and people of other faiths generally (often based on a lack of knowledge), and to understand them - their culture, their motivations etc, a little better. It has turned my thinking outward more, which is a positive thing indeed.

I would like to tag Sarah, Wendy, Sharon, Becky and Bethany. If you ladies want to have a go, Ally's rules are below. As for the rest of you, what book or books would be on your list?

Tag between 3 and 5 people
link back to this post.
call the post '5 books that changed who I am’
enjoy.

WWJD or WIJD?

2011-06-06T05:00:00.002+10:00

Yesterday Dave and I were reflecting about whether the question "what would Jesus do?" (WWJD) would be better replaced with "what is Jesus doing?" (WIJD) Our thoughts were prompted by reading this post about Ascension Day. I liked this quote:

Ascension Day proclaims that there is no sphere, however secular, in which Christ has no rights – and no sphere in which his followers are absolved from obedience to him. Instead of it being a fairy tale from the pre-space age, Christ’s ascension is the guarantee that he has triumphed over the principalities and powers, so that at his name ‘every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil. 2:10-11).” - Bruce Metzger

In the light of the ascension, the question 'What is Jesus doing?' is a good one. Jesus is not just a fixed metaphysical thing 'up there', a moral code, or a thing to believe in. He is alive and active in our world. Through his Spirit, he is pursuing his kingdom's agenda in exciting ways. As the wonderful Australian story teller Clifford Warne is said to have prayed each morning when he got out of bed: 'Lord, what are you doing to today, and please, can I be involved?'

That's a great prayer for us too as we look ahead to a new week!

What Jack has to say about things...

2011-06-01T14:48:00.002+10:00

Hello, I'm Jack. My Mummy says I am a very, very, very naughty baby. She says this poem to me a lot:

This little chair is mine

I use it all the time

To reach the things I couldn't

And all the things I shouldn't.

I do so like getting all the things I shouldn't. I like to steal food, pull the cat's tail, eat paint and tip the flowers over.

Mummy also says that she wishes she could bite my chubby cheeks and bottle the smell of my baby hair before I grow up.

I think she loves me deep down.

Life Editing

2011-05-30T05:00:00.006+10:00

Editing. I get suspicious of it - especially when I see really good photography, or completely flawless, close-up skin in those make up ads. How much of that pristine backdrop, that vivid colour, those white teeth -- is real, and not just some clever work with the air brush? (This is worth a look, by the way).

I'm guilty of no small amount of editing myself though, it seems. Life editing. I was convicted last week about how much time I will spend preparing the house for guests and hiding away the piles of rubble in a back room, to the point where I will neglect my family, my health, and even grumble about having to be hospitable at all - all because I cared about what other people thought about me. You could argue that it is just a courtesy to my guests to have the place looking decent, but I know (and my creator knows) it's more about my pride, my desire to seem like I've got it all together, that I can do it all, that life just isn't really all that messy for me. I'm the perfect, do-it-all mother, after all.

And then there's all those other edits I do: plucking out the grey hairs, sucking in the tummy, plastering a smile over an irritable spirit, putting my hand up for unachievable extra jobs or good things so that I appear to 'have it all together', stretching the truth about how well my faith is going in the face of the different trials God has allowed. And if anyone arrives when the house (or my heart), is in a state - no time to edit - just watch me blush, and count how many times I say "please excuse the mess..."

"Please excuse the mess". It's almost as old as humanity itself, this shame at not being the perfect people we were created to be.

The world holds out to us an ever shifting measure of perfection - for our appearance, our homes, our incomes, our standard of living, our kids, our careers. The challenge for Christian women is to be real in a world of shallow, self-centred doctoring and spin - to look beyond the distractions and deceptions to what is true: that we are lost and condemned - yes, but by God's grace, saved and redeemed. The big stuff is dealt with, so we must work at clearing out our grandstands. Keep God there -- only God. And just on a practical level, is it really helpful to any other imperfect human being to pretend that we are perfect? It's God's opinion of us that matters - such great love - so perfectly, beautifully summarised right here. Does the rest really matter? Drink it in this Monday morning:

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

(From Psalm 103)

Suggestions and Ideas for Kids' Gifts

2011-05-26T05:00:00.002+10:00

Here is a compilation of the ideas some of you gave in the comments on the recent toys posts (here and here), plus a few of my own. Thanks to Laetitia, Holly, Libby, Caroline, Sharon, Ros, Wendy, Lacey, Rebecca and Narelle for your suggestions and thoughts!

When hosting a party for your child:

Have a theme (such as Lego - check out Evonne's amazing one) which will give others a strong clue of the kind of gift you would like.
Dare to be specific in your invitation. For example: "No gifts necessary! However, if you would like to give a gift, Johnny is saving up for a something-or-other and a gift of (no more than) $5 towards this would be lovely".
Ask family for contributions towards an education fund, or music lessons.
Why not ask for a recycled or upcycled gift?
If possible, give an experience - a voucher for a trip on the monorail, a voucher at an ice-creamery, for entry to a zoo (if you can jolly well afford it these days!). Actually, the special deal websites, such as Ouffer, Living Social, Scoopon, sometimes give great deals on days out with kids -- in Sydney at least. We recently saw one to a farm for a whole family for around $30.

When Giving Gifts to Other Kids:

Give practical gifts, such as a sewing pattern or a small musical instrument.
Give creative toys, such as the ingredients to a recipe (this was done for us once, and it was fantastic), craft supplies, a voucher to go on a picnic or a trip to the local something-or-other.
Lego is a winner - for its long-lasting value.
Give playdough with a nice wooden rolling pin.
Be willing to give gifts (for those who you know don't mind!) from an op shop - eg. fun outfits and bits and pieces for a dress-up box.
Give something that you have helped your children to make themselves, such as a covered box (see my most recent post) with a something edible or useful inside.
Give excellent books. Dave's mum gives each of her 13 grandchildren a quality book for their birthday - we usually let her know what we are after! This has been a really fantastic thing for our family.
Give an individual A4 white board and some white board pens.
Where possible, do some research first! Ask parents what kind of toys their child plays with, or if they have a set (such as Thomas the Tank Engine) that you could contribute to. Don't be ashamed of giving a voucher, to be used for a Toy of Choice. We often avoid this out of embarrassment, for seeming 'lazy' or showing the exact cost of the gift. But it does avoid waste!
Give balls, skipping ropes, packs of balloons (we have been given those fun punching balloons from Coles before, and the long ones that are made to whistle and fly when you let them go. Our kids have loved them).
For girls, glitter pens (never pencils, says Narelle), notebooks, a packet of Freddo Frogs to share.

Ideas for Party Favours

Use brown paper bags that your children have decorated and send them home with a couple of things in them. It gets your kids involved in saying 'thank you for coming' too.
Give Chinese Take-away boxes containing flavoured popcorn.
Buy a box set of a kids' book series and put them in paper bags decorated with stamps and a couple of lollies.

A Book about Toys:

Too Many Toys by David Shannon

Website Suggestions:

Mumminimalist on gifts
Planning with kids: Children's Birthday Presents with a Difference

A Crafty Gift Project

2011-05-24T23:00:00.002+10:00

We borrowed the book Crafting with Kids by Catherine Woram from the library a while back. There are a few good projects in there, and we tried out two of the simpler ones. The girls really enjoyed this one -- a decoupaged box. I liked it too. It was a great way to use up bits and pieces of scrapbooking paper, and the result was an inexpensive gift which the girls could design and create largely on their own except for a little help to finish and tidy the final product.

I encouraged Anna and Maggie to have someone in mind to give the box to before they made it, and this really helped to make the idea of doing something special for another very real. So two little girls will know they are loved by Anna and Maggie soon!

The boxes come from Spotlight, and this size cost around $3-$4. I used a few coats of decoupage medium to give them some shine.

Here's the reality photo (because crafting with kids is not the dreamy,
virtuous-mother elysium it can often seem on blogs). This made a HUGE mess, and I
was stupid enough to do it before dinner!

Bad, bad, BAD family outing!

2011-05-22T22:46:00.004+10:00

If you had been around here on Friday evening you would have seen the six of us gaggling our way down to the local shops ("Keep up! Stay close!") for a Family Night Restaurant Outing. These happen but once a year, though perhaps after this last one it may be a little less often.

Apart from the normal low-level large-ish family stresses of going anywhere, it all seemed smooth sailing as we entered the Sun Sun Kitchen. The children enjoyed the huge, loud TV in the corner while we put in our order - which Dave described as "The smoothest and fastest order ever".

The evening seemed to unravel monumentally from that moment.

The news (news, mind you) on the TV kept the children so enthralled that they were not interested in the food.
They would not have been interested in the food anyway, if we are honest, not yet being sold on stir fry or anything involving such delicacies as lemongrass. Lemonade is a different matter.
Jack screamed the restaurant down because we insisted on holding the glass with his straw in it so it would not spill.
Dave and I attempted just a few sputters of conversation, such as "Can you pass a cloth for Jack?" and "Should Anna really have chopsticks?"

Before I go on to relate the Star Performance of the night, you have to understand this about our Maggie: She is 3 1/2. She has the nature that I wish I was born with - optimistic, sweet, patient, generous - she would not harm a fly. But bad stuff happens to her, which I think disproves Karma (unless she was a very naughty insect-or-something in a past life). She's the one who vomits on herself every time we drive to Newtown. She is the one who gets knocked over or stepped on, or forgotten and locked outside in the car at night when everyone else has gone inside.

And on Friday night, Maggie was the one who, in a wriggly moment, stood up on her chair, put her hands under the huge shadow box, wooden framed picture-with-lights-behind-it of Lemon Basil Chicken hanging on the wall above her head and gave a... little... push.

Everything was set up for maximum effect. Metal tables, the metal cutlery in cutlery holders, metal thermoses filled with Chinese tea, glasses, plates - and a huge, huge box coming down - in slow motion of course - upon them.

Crash. Gasps from every corner of the restaurant. Every head turned towards us. Silence.

Once play resumed and all was restored, nothing broken, Maggie unfroze her gaze, which was fixed in terror upon me through the whole lifetime of that awful moment, ran and buried her ashen face in my neck and did not move, until we eventually left, red-faced, defeated. I wished I had a neck to burrow into and hide. Or a stiff drink. Something.

We topped off our evening eating ice cream at home and watching the cat vomit (and Daddy too, nearly) all over the kitchen floor.

"Traumatised" was the word Dave used of himself as we settled into our peaceful beds that Family Night. That's not uncommon on Family Nights, but this particular one really did take the (moon)cake.

Go watch Becky's kids read

2011-05-18T21:47:00.000+10:00

This is the most wonderful thing to watch - Becky sent all of her kids off to read on the couch for D.E.A.R time (Drop Everything and Read - what a great idea!) She took a video of them all reading - each one completely engrossed in their book, really living the stories. Just how it should be. You can see it here.

Giveaway winner

2011-05-17T20:33:00.000+10:00

Wendy, your name came out of the hat, so off to Japan goes the prize!

Something very sad happened on the weekend, however. We are blaming the toddler -- the Peter Rabbit CD ended up off my desk and on the floor and I accidentally rolled the desk chair over it. The cover's cracked - no good anymore for you to give as a gift. So I am throwing in /substituting (whatever you like, Wendy!) this pack of 50 muffin cases which I'd intended for another giveaway. Sigh. Life's like that. I'm embarrassed though - and very sorry.

Thank you all for your ideas, suggestions and links about toys and gifts - in the first post as in the second. I will work them into a post of their own soon.

Van Gogh, and a Double Dactyl

2011-05-16T22:03:00.006+10:00

Van Gogh, At Eternity's Gate, 1890

I have recently read a short biography of Vincent Van Gogh in Simon Schama's book The Power of Art. I find artists a fascinating breed - often having lives full of turmoil or scandal or high emotion. All these things seem to go hand-in-glove with being an 'artistic type' - and yet these people have created the most stunningly beautiful treasures.

Van Gogh is no exception. His art really needs no introduction, as it has become so iconic and familiar - whether it be his Starry Night, one of his many studies of Sunflowers, or The Bedroom with that signature yellow furniture. His life (from my point of view) was one of being continually let down. He spent some time preaching the Gospel at no small personal sacrifice, but was rejected for being too zealous by the church authorities. He longed for companionship and a home, and in compassion and hope took in a prostitute, who left him. His artwork was his chief expression of his faith and his philosophy, but it remained unpopular until after his death. He pinned hopes on people (other artists - probably not a good choice!) for settledness and community and they let him down. In the end his mind let him down, too. He seemed to teeter on the edge of sanity for a very long time, going to and from asylums and making attempts on his own life. He died at 37 from an infection after failing in an attempt to shoot himself.

Very real, frail, fragile, broken - got the thin end of the paint brush - like so, so, so many people in this life. I love his art because it reflects the zealous, energy-driven person that he was. It looks as though he has poured all his strength and life-force into each thick, movement-filled brushstroke.

Now having said all those deep, quite pensive things about the poor man, I am going to share my double dactyl poem, which is meant to be humorous! Not very kind, I guess. I have picked on one episode of his life in which he famously cut off his earlobe, wandered down to the local brothel one (presumably starry) night and gave it to one of the prostitutes there, called Rachel. She not surprisingly fainted. I have based the poem around this quote from Schama's book, which brings out Van Gogh's desire to use his art - his "gospel of colour" - to transform the lives of others. 'Transform' is perhaps too strong a word -though I don't doubt that a good piece of art can be transformative. It never happened for Van Gogh in his lifetime, at least.

Van Gogh, Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear 1889

Vincent's passionate belief was that people wouldn't just see his pictures, but would feel the rush of life in them; that by the force of his brush and dazzling colour they'd experience those fields, faces and flowers in ways that nothing more polite or literal could ever convey.
His art would reclaim what had once belonged to religion - consolation for our mortality through the relish of the gift of life. It wasn't the art crowd he was after; he wanted was to open the eyes and the hearts of everyone who saw his paintings. I feel he got what he wanted.

So here's my double dactyl. If you're wondering what that is, see my last post.

Appley Dapply
Vincent Van Gogh (in vain!)
Worked to win hearts with his
Gospel of Hues

Red the sliced ear lobe he
Unsurreptitiously
Gave to a lover, who
Wasn't amused!

What IS a Double Dactyl?

2011-05-13T05:00:00.007+10:00

We have a good friend called Will Mackerras who is gifted in many things, not least of which is the writing of good poetry. Will comes from a noble strain of prominent and gifted Australian Mackerrases. I've mentioned Will and one of his crazy adventures here before, and there are more, if your appetite is whetted.

At a recent meal, Will introduced us to a form of poetry (which sounds like some strange dinosaur) that we had never heard of before - the double dactyl.

The rules for a double-dactyl seem to me quite arbitrary and odd - but I guess that's true of many rules in life, such as how one should ideally tip one's soup into one's mouth, in polite company.

Here are the rules, as Will puts it:

The metre is ‘dactylic’, that is, it has 1 strong beat followed by 2 weak beats.
It has 2 verses.
The first line of the poem is a nonsense phrase.
The second line is a name.
One of the lines in the second verse is a single six-syllable word.
The ends of each verse rhyme.
It’s meant to be a little bit humorous.

Will has mastered this form of poetry. You can go and see some of his double dactyls at his poetry blog, but here is a taste, to get you started - taken directly from his blog:

Here’s a double dactyl about the biblical characters Sarah and Abraham, who enjoyed a remarkable blessing when they were 90 and 100 years old respectively. In order to get in the 6 syllable word, I’ve assumed that the blessing was conceived when they were still 89 and 99.

Higgledy Piggledy
Sarah and Abraham’s
Chances of starting a
Family are none.

God intervenes and the
Octogenarian-
Nonagenarian
Pair have a son!

Here’s one about Jesus, which I hope is sufficiently reverential. Any humour is intended to be at the expense of some later Christian systematic theologians.

Higgledy Piggledy
Jesus of Nazareth –
Frequently joyful or
Angry or shaken –

Proves that the doctrine of
Impassibility,
All things considered, is
Prob’ly mistaken.

Will's blog, The Banjo Bible, is well worth a visit - he's done an overview of the key stories of the Bible, as Banjo Patterson might have told it. Impressive. I've tried to write a double dactyl of my own - I confess the quality isn't great and I found it really hard - so difficult to fit information into such a brief format! I'll share it with you soon.

So... how about you have a go at writing one?

A New Photography Discovery

2011-05-12T05:00:00.016+10:00

I have always disliked the bright, washed out light that the built-in DSLR camera flash creates. Not being an excellent photographer nor wanting to spend a fortune on a Speedlite flash, and wishing to avoid balancing precariously on tables with aluminium dishes and reflectors and umbrellas while taking photos, I was ready to resign myself to the dilemma.
Then one day I was browsing through some articles at Digital Photography School and came across a reference to the Lightscoop. It's just a simple little.. thingy... that slips onto the camera and reflects the flash light back up onto the roof or the wall. While it is not useful outside or in places with high ceilings (halls, stadiums), for the majority of everyday photography, it works a treat. It sheds a really soft, even lighting over the subject. The lovely Dave, bless him, cleverly noted my excitement and treated me to one for my birthday!

Here is an example of the comparison:

Using the direct built-in flash

Uusing the Lightscoop

Papa reading to Maggie, using the Lightscoop.

For all of 40-odd dollars, it's flash indeed!

Toys again – your ideas, and a giveaway!

2011-05-10T14:08:00.015+10:00

I really appreciated all of the thoughts, ideas and links that came flying back as comments from last week's post about toys. It's worth having a look through them if this is a topic which particularly interests you.
Over the weekend I've been thinking a little more about it, too - somewhat challenged by Rebecca's reminder that the children actually do enjoy playing with the toys which I in my purist, idealist mother-world, dislike. "In acceptance lieth peace" - this is a true saying (not least because it says 'lieth' instead of 'lies'; you can say anything in King James English and sound erudite). Here is what I have been thinking:

There just is a point to which we have to accept this crazy, toss-away world. We can minimise our 'footprint' as much as possible, but the fact remains that sometimes affordability and just the act of giving itself win out over quality. Shame we can't always have both.

I am also often challenged by the reminder that my house is also my children's house, not just mine, and their play is their work – they need space and time and a degree of freedom to be creative in their play, so having lots of toys through the house is a healthy thing in many ways!

Thankfulness is important. Friends and relatives should not be made to feel that they cannot give a gift of their own choosing without it being scrutinised or received unthankfully. People are always more important, the giver more precious than the gift, and children are, in the end, delightfully undiscerning. A toy is a toy, after all!

Creative Gift and Party Favour Ideas
I don't know about you, but I am always on the lookout for creative children's gift ideas that fit the grand trifecta of being economical, stimulating of creative play and good quality. Maybe you can help! I'd love to do a post or two of ideas and links to things you have done, or seen, or received that have worked. They don't have to be home-made things – just toys that have been excellent. How about sending me a link or an email or a comment about ideas that you have made, used or received? I'll publish them all, put all contributors names in a hat and one of you will be in the running for a brand new Audio CD of 4 well-loved Beatrix Potter stories. Just think - if you don't want it, you can give it away as a great gift! Have your entry in by next Tuesday 17^th May 8:00pm
Here are a few ideas, just to get the ball rolling:

A link from Libby on my last toy post, which contains some great ideas. Thanks Libby- I guess I award you an entry for that tip-off!

Creative gift: My dear friend Anna is the queen of creative gift giving. She once gave our then-3 year old a covered scrapbook with lots of pre-cut pictures from magazines, and a glue stick. This was an excellent, well-used gift and I have recycled the idea often.

Party Favours: I don't know where the tradition of giving out lolly bags and party favours came from, but it can become one big expensive exercise in land-fill toys and junk food. I loved the amazing Sharon's idea of sending home a Playdough carrot (pictured) after a Peter Rabbit party. I used this idea to make some Playdough Sundaes to send home after a birthday party last year. Creative, cost-efficient, hours of potential play.
I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

For Mothers

2011-05-08T05:00:00.019+10:00

May you feel honoured today. Go get some sleep.

They say that man is mighty,

He governs land and sea,

He wields a mighty scepter

O'er lesser powers that be;

But a mightier power and stronger

Man from his throne has hurled,

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

WILLIAM ROSS WALLACE from

What Rules the World c1865

Image source here

A Rant about Toys

2011-05-03T22:35:00.003+10:00

After weeks of niggling annoyance, I have spent this evening on a furious, raging, cleansing and sorting rampage in the kids' rooms. You've done it too at some stage of course. Isn't it sobering?

Dave sometimes tells the story of when he first arrived as a graduate to work in Canberra and was given allowances to eat out at restaurants every night. After a few weeks of richness and excess, all he craved was a side dish of crisp vegetables.

I feel that way about toys just now. I long for the days my dad speaks of, when he and his brothers would push around little blocks of wood in the dirt under the house pretending they were trucks. My mum used to play families with little cotton spools. No faces, no coloured shoes in all shapes and sizes to lose up the vacuum cleaner, no bright lights or garish noises; the children's imaginations did all the work and no doubt it did them a world of good.

I feel like putting a moratorium on anyone ever giving our children another toy again. I wish workers in China would stop being asked to slave over useless bits of plastic that end up as landfill after two play sessions. And I wish that marketers would stop advertising toys as 'educational' because they chant the abc's at two year olds. How silly are we to fall for that stuff? All the world is educational to a two year old -- all of it except the abc's.

I once heard a story of a cat during a mouse plague in Queensland who became so accustomed to the excess of mice that, rather than eat a whole mouse, would skilfully dissect, choose from the smorgasbord of vital organs and leave the rest. So are our children towards toys (and, if we're honest, so are we towards 'stuff') - so corpulent with plenty that we are dulled to its blessing. If we have to toss some away, what does it matter? There'll be more tomorrow.

What can be done? Maybe you have some ideas - I think it's really worth thinking this through.

What can we do practically to teach our children that less is really more in an age where stuff comes so cheap?

How do we give gifts of value (rather than expedience) to our children and other children, and foster a culture of such gift giving?

How can we help our children to value the toys they have when they live in a toss-away culture where nothing is made to last?

And (importantly), what do I do with this great bag of toys that I don't want to ever see again? I don't want to inflict the pestilential scourge of it on anyone.

Some finished sewing!

2011-05-02T06:00:00.001+10:00

My magnum opus over the holidays (actually spread over what seemed a great many weeks) was completing two dresses for the girls for the winter. I was able to borrow an excellent pattern that was well within my limited sewing abilities, but needed some assistance and brain power from a clever friend, who helped me line these completely, so that (if I had wanted them to), they would be reversible.

I adapted owl applique pattern from here. The best thing about these dresses was that they were made from fabrics I already had in the cupboard, so the only up-front costs were some thread and the coverable buttons. Ahh - the joy of a finished project!

With all this talk of royalty, we created some of our own!

2011-04-29T14:17:00.003+10:00

Recently I was playing this excellent CD of Handel's Coronation Anthems and encouraging the children to listen to the well-known piece Zadok the Priest - the words of which (according to Wikipedia) "have been used in every English coronation since that of King Edgar at Bath Abbey in 973", and Handel's setting has been used at every coronation since 1727. It is the most beautiful, evocative piece of music which builds up gradually with the strings to an explosion of trumpets and voices - Handel just does ceremony so well.

I then showed the children the YouTube clip (below) taken from the movie The Young Victoria, in which the piece of music features at Victoria's coronation. (Anna was very taken with the part where they showed her shoes not reaching the footstool. I think she could relate!)

The oldest three children were quite inspired, and set about making a crown, thinking up sceptres and assigning me to their creation, designing costumes (including a refashioned mozzie net!) and then re-enacting their own coronation ceremony. William took on the role of something resembling the Archbishop (in his shorts) - it was his job to do the crowning. It was a fun way to while away a holiday afternoon.

I love the way children's imaginations can be so set alight just by a beautiful piece of music, and take them to so many wonderful places!

Maggie being crowned

The Procession

Anna's Turn -- God Save the Queen!

And here is the piece of music itself - very much worth a listen, republican or not!

Easter Dance in Budapest.

2011-04-28T08:51:00.002+10:00

I loved this. Good on them -- all 1,300 members of God's family.

Hat tip to Helen for linking this from John Piper.

The things you find out about your husband!

2011-04-27T06:00:00.004+10:00

One of the serendipitous things about the blog world is discovering new kindred spirits and rediscovering old friends. This happened to me again recently while I was reading a friend's blog. I was consciously wasting time clicking on linked blogs, and came across an old acquaintance from uni and college days in St Lucia, Brisbane. It was such a nice surprise. And as I read through some of Kate's posts, I read one which I had very strong suspicions was speaking directly of my husband - then just a young college lad and only a friend of mine. I called Dave in to come and have a read, and he confirmed that he indeed was the so-called Mad Bomber referred to in this story.

So here it is - so splendidly retold by Kate - a story that I don't remember Dave ever telling me before. I knew about his dry ice bombs, but I never knew of this night of glory. You can read the whole (hilarious) post here - a great journey back into those college days for those of you who were around there then.

...And there was a guy a year younger than me who was a mild-mannered studious Christian guy by day, but earned the title "The Mad Bomber" after dark due to his leet skillz with the dry ice bombs. Complaints flooded into the college administration regarding The Mad Bomber's bombs going off late at night and causing noise disturbances, both at neighbouring colleges and private residences nearby and across the river.
College Admin told The Mad Bomber to cease and desist. The Mad Bomber agreed but asked if he may just let off his last few bombs before he retired. College Admin reluctantly allowed him to do this.
They only agreed because they didn't know that 'his last few bombs' consisted of an entire floor-to-ceiling cupboard crammed full to bursting with collected Coke bottles, and he planned to buy the biggest consignment of dry ice the college had ever seen in order to fill them.
Word travelled fast that The Mad Bomber's Last Hurrah was going down that night. It started a few minutes before schedule and as I entered the grounds of the boys' college, I heard the first few booms echoing around the University, across the river and back.
I walked into the closest thing to a war zone that St Lucia has ever seen. One college guy had set up the largest speakers I'd ever seen and was playing the Mission Impossible theme music on continuous loop. It was so loud that half-way through the crazy all-in bombing frenzy, the speakers vibrated themselves off their perch and crashed down onto the floor.
The entire courtyard was a no-go zone, completely littered with schrapnel from scores of shattered Coke bottles. The bombing went on for ages.
The Mad Bomber, completely in his element, had given over the bombing duties to his Mad Minions while he busied himself making long thin trails of methylated spirits along the concrete ledges that served as hand-rails for the upper floor and setting them alight. The long thin blue walls of flame burned brightly, dribbled down the walls and through the storm water drains, trailing down to the lower floor, burning as they went.
I doubt the College Admin had this in mind when they made their "Just Your Last Few Bombs" pact.

He's changed, I promise. He really has.

Well... hello again.

2011-04-24T21:03:00.005+10:00

We have a big 'pump pack' moisturiser here which is so rarely used that it becomes a danger. Each time you pump that little squirter, it has crusted up just inside the nozzle so that when the dam bursts with what seems like a rage of insulted pride, there is no predicting just where it will squirt: roof is a hassle, dress-you-are-about-to-wear-out is annoying, eye is downright horrible. No doubt you have experienced something just like this. It is one of those nasty, unpredictable, niggly things that can sometimes happen in the course of one's daily ablutions - which should ideally be settled, happy, contemplative times, as a rule. One should not expect asymmetric warfare from inanimates - such as (by way of another example) when you put your hand in a toiletry bag and bring it out with deep parallel slits from an uncovered razor. Believe me, I have learned this lesson. I have learned.

All this is to say, round-aboutedly, that I feel a bit like that squirter sitting here at my blog right now, trying to write again. I feel out of practice, crusted over, not knowing quite which way to go. Maybe it will be messy.

I've had a really, really good break, dipping my toes in the vast ocean of Other-Things-To-Do. Of course I expected to be able to do more with my 'extra' time than I actually did, because, just as I've known all along, activities and tasks are like sand; you take some out and some more will quietly and stealthily fill the space. Some positive developments though have been earlier bedtimes and therefore much earlier wake times (which has been a great, great positive), some weekly (!) ironing, a tiny bit more reading, even some completed (!) sewing, and a hectic but special, people-filled Easter.

So then. Ahem. Hello again.

Taking a break

2011-03-09T12:21:00.003+11:00

I'll be away from the blog until Easter. I'm looking forward to focusing on some other good stuff until then, like finding the car keys.

See you in a few weeks!

It takes wisdom to be wise!

2011-03-08T06:00:00.005+11:00

Dave and I benefited from some excellent talks over the weekend given by Keith Condie on the book of Proverbs. One of the interesting things Keith touched upon was that the wisdom given in Proverbs is often contradictory. One example of this is in Proverbs 26:

verse 4: Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
verse 5: Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

An example from non-biblical sayings are these two:
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Many hands make light work

There is no blanket wisdom, is there? Just as there is no 'typical' problem in life. What encourages one person might be the very thing that discourages another, in their particular circumstance. What is a gem of wisdom in one circumstance may be disaster in another. You therefore need wisdom to apply wisdom!

And how do we gain wisdom? By observing, by instruction, by God's revelation, especially in Jesus, and (sadly) learning from our mistakes - all things that take time and experience. There is truth in the maxim 'older and wiser'!

This is one very good reason why we should seek out the counsel and friendship of those older than us, rather than primarily amongst our own peers. One of the sad spin-offs of the choice we are given in church services these days (the family service, the 8am prayer book service, the evening service) is that we don't rub shoulders so much with godly people outside of our own life stage. How much better to get directions from one who has walked the path, rather than one who walks alongside you?

He who walks with the wise grows wise ~Proverbs 13:20.

Oh, and another application: that increasing number of grey hairs in the mirror are a sign of good things -- if not the strength and energy of youth, then at least the honour of growing wisdom. There is consolation in those words, my friends. Much consolation.

Toys again: Redeeming the Mess

2011-03-07T07:46:00.000+11:00

I really appreciated all of the thoughts, ideas and links that came flying back as comments from last week's post about toys. I thought it would be good to put them out to air so that everyone can benefit from them.

Over the weekend I've been thinking a little more about it, too - somewhat challenged by Rebecca's reminder that the children actually do enjoy playing with the toys which I in my purist, idealist mother-world, dislike. "In acceptance lieth peace" - this is a true saying (not least because it says 'lieth' instead of 'lies'; olde English is always a sure marker of a very deep wisdom). There just is a point to which we have to accept this crazy, toss-away world. I am also often challenged by the reminder that my house is also my children's house, not just mine, and their play is their work.

Toys are not the problem per se, and friends and relatives should not be made to feel that they cannot give a gift of their own choosing without it being scrutinised or received unthankfully. People are always more important, and in the end, children are delightfully undiscerning and just love toys - any toys.

There are times when we have to guess what a child might like, when we have to give gifts in a hurry, and when we might miss the mark. But what should ideally characterise us is a considered, unwasteful buying, giving, receiving and using of toys.

So here are some of the ideas you shared, along with some thoughts of my own:

Managing and Appreciating Toys

If possible, don't buy them. Use a library. Have less and appreciate the less more.
Make the toys seasonal - store some out of sight and rotate them regularly.
Make sure that 80% of the toys you own encourage creative play (as opposed to just spin-off merchandise).
Purchase some Star-Maid storage tubs and a large closet. If possible, put a padlock on the cupboard!
Sort toys into groups. Maybe kids don't care about this, but from my point of view, wooden blocks in with Lego in with Little People in with Dolls clothes doesn't encourage children to appreciate their toys or play creatively with them. Mess is just confusing.
Frequently use the word "thankful" with your children when talking about their toys. Remind them who gave them the toy, encourage them care for their toys by putting them out of baby's reach, etc.
Where possible, allow a child to save up for a favourite toy themselves. This helps them appreciate the value of money and the toys they own.
Collect sets and figurines of sets that will last and grow with the child and be used imaginatively each time they are brought out.
Avoid Happy Meals at McDonalds. I learnt at a trivia night that McDonalds are the biggest manufacturer of toys in the world. And where all those faddish toys end up? In garage sales, thrift shops and land fill.
Help children learn to share toys by giving one away whenever they receive a new one.
Price is usually (though not always) an indicator of quality. If you buy toys from Hot Dollar, they will most likely not last.

Giving Toys

Ask family for contributions towards an education fund, or music lessons.
Give practical gifts, such as a sewing pattern, small musical instrument.
Give creative toys, such as the ingredients to a recipe (this was done for us once, and it was fantastic), craft supplies, a voucher to go on a picnic or a trip to the local something-or-other.
Give something that you have helped your children to make themselves, such as a covered box with a something edible or useful inside. (I did this just this week, and will share the results soon).
My dear friend Anna is the queen of creative gift giving. She once gave my son a covered scrapbook with lots of pre-cut pictures from magazines, and a glue stick. This was an excellent gift and I have recycled the idea often. Another gift of hers was a posting-box made from a covered ice-cream container and some large, over-sized marbles. With good friends, you can get away with all manner of handmade gifts. (School friends are a little more tricky of course!)
Give excellent books. Dave's mum gives each of her 13 grandchildren a quality book for their birthday - we usually let her know what we are after! This has been a really fantastic thing for our family.
Give an individual A4 white board and some white board pens.
Where possible, do some research first! Ask parents what kind of toys their child plays with, or if they have a set (such as Thomas the Tank Engine) that you could contribute to.
Don't be ashamed of giving a voucher, to be used for a "Toy of choice". We often avoid this out of embarrassment, for seeming 'lazy' or showing the exact cost of the gift. But it does avoid waste!

Managing Parties and Party Favours

If running a party, have a theme (such as Lego - check out Evonne's amazing one) which will give others a strong clue of the kind of gift you would like.
Dare to be specific in your invitation. For example: "No gifts necessary! However, if you would like to give a gift, Johnny is saving up for an xxx and a gift of (no more than) $5 towards this would be lovely".
Party prizes and favours:
Playdough carrots

Pumpkins, and Other Household Chores.

2011-03-03T12:15:00.006+11:00

I don't hate pumpkins, I just feel ambivalent about them. Ambivalent and lazy. God must have known that people might feel this way, because he made them to keep for weeks on end in a pantry. And it takes all my power of self-will -- several weeks' worth -- to bring myself to use them. There is a great chasm fixed between effort and reward when it comes to pumpkins.

In a parallel sphere to the pumpkin in domestic life is the sorting and folding of washing. I will gladly wash and hang out to dry - with something of a sense of achievement. But folding and putting away? Well, these jobs are the pumpkins of the domestic world - things I would rather leave out altogether, find an excuse for, or (if opportunity arose) have someone else do instead.

Pumpkins, folding. They are one and the same.

Preschooler's Busy Bank: Washing and Pegging

2011-03-01T06:00:00.003+11:00

Here's a well-known fine-motor activity for littlies that is great to try while the weather is still warm. If you have dolls clothes, or even some small children's or baby clothes, have your children wash them (no need to be thorough - they will probably drop in the dirt anyway) and hang them out with pegs.

You can spend lots of money buying a special washing line (which you will then have to store for the 355 days your children don't use it), or just rig up some rope or string (or an old TV cable, as we did) somehow in the back yard - or on the balcony.

I took the photos below six or so months ago, and Maggie (nearly 3) was only able to open the pegs using her teeth. Just the other day she was pegging the pegs around our peg basket (can't think of a less peggy way to describe that!) and was able to use her hands. So the activity is probably best suited to children a little around 3 1/2 and up. Fun to do with mum's help, though, even before the fine motor skills are ready.

What an achievement! Shame it isn't a once-in-a-year job for us mums!

A Day Out with the Lad

2011-02-28T00:00:00.003+11:00

Dave and I plan to spend some individual time with each of the kids over the course of the year. So two Sundays ago, William and I set off for the train station soon after church for our day out. The highlight of the whole day for me was right at the start, while we were eating our lunch at the station. William said "This is so good mum, having an adventure together -- just the two of us". Nice.

We went to "The First Emperor" exhibition at the Art Gallery. I immediately regretted not having just taking him out of school for a day while Dave was home, as the line up was horrendous. We finally got in, and while I was snailing my way forward in the queue William was able to wander around and engage with a few paintings --for better or for worse.

Even though we weren't in the exhibition all that long (six year olds tend to bypass ancient pottery in favour of soldiers and armour), there was so much else to see and do. Highlights were a coffee and soft-drink together at the Hyde Park Military Barracks, and taking the Children's Trail in the Convict Sydney exhibition. This is brilliantly put together and so worthwhile. William also loved Hyde Park (he recognised the fountain immediately from a children's book - do you know which one?) and had some fun with a bubble-blowing busker.

And although I was reminded of the lessons Dave and I learnt years ago - always to take more food than you need and ALWAYS to pack some panadol, it was a great bonding experience and very memorable for us both.

Here are (a few too many) photos...

Will with a clay replica. You can have one for
yourself for around $1000. How would it look in your
lounge room?

The Hyde Park Barracks. I love the look
of this building, and its sense of history.

William enjoying the hands-on exhibits of convict life.

Trying the cat 'o nine tails for size. Wishing he
could take it home, I'm sure!

St James Church, from the Barracks window

Trying out the convict hammocks

"The biggest bubbles in the WORLD!"