Cookie Exchange

This year one of the ladies in our church had the great idea of having a cookie exchange.  The basic idea is to make one batch of cookies, slice, or something like that.  Make 10 for each person, bag them up, and a plate to share then get together and have a cuppa and swap our goodies.  It was such a great idea and so helpful to me, I usually do a lot of Christmas baking but have not been well enough this year to do as much as I usually do. 

Yesterday a few of the mums from playgroup came over and got to feast on all this. 

I made Spiced Christmas Tree Biscuits you can get the recipe here.  The day I baked for the swap was the hottest we had had in ages, the mixture did not like the heat at all. 

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Such a long time has passed since my last post, my computer got a virus and we lost everything on the computer, I got bronchitis and school holidays have started.  That mixed with the continued morning sickness has meant I am so not ready for Christmas and have not been blogging or on the computer much. 


I finally started to get the house decorated last week for Christmas and though I would share a few photos and some traditions I have started to make Christmas decorating less stressful with you children under foot.


While my hubby and I do the "boring" jobs like set up the tree, string the lights and do the little fiddly things I have a few things that I get the children to do to keep the busy while they are waiting to trim the tree.

I get the children to decorate their own special tree, this tree they put on the decorations they have made at school and playgroup and any fav's they have made in the previous years.  They have so much fun decorating this I let them do it all and resist the tweeking urge I get. 

It is a simple metal tree that I ordered from ebay from the US and it is perfect for the kids.

On top of the TV cabinet I put most of the stuff the children have made or their favourite decorations.

 The next thing I get the children to do is fill any glass bowl or vase, display plates I can find will baubles.  They love doing this and it keeps them busy for ages. 

When I went to take a photo of the tree I discovered someone had moved all the ornaments.  I will tweek it and post a new photo soon.

The next 3 photos of some easy and pretty decorations my children made.  I use glass baubles and get them to fill them with glitter and pretty things in what ever colour theme we are going with that year.  These glass baubles can be used year after year, just empty them and full them up again.

 Last year I got the Children to paint wooden Christmas shapes then we covered them in glass glitter.

A bit of a close up of the tree I usually do not use tinsel but the children love it and it is only for a few years.  I also usually use white fairy lights but this year my hubby got to the lights before me and let the children talk him into using the coloured ones.  Oh well.  My neighbour is getting me a real Christmas tree 4 days before Christmas for the family room and I am going to decorate it :) 

Every year I splash out and get one nice Christmas decoration this year I got this sign cute hey :)

Last year I made these little trees as table center pieces they were so easy just glued beads on little glittery Christmas trees. 

I put out a nativity the children can play with every year, usually we make a stable and manger but this year things have not gone to plan.  I also put out some stories about the true meaning of Christmas.  In a later post I will tell you how we have handled Santa in our family.  Both my husband and I have never grown up with Santa, and we really want to focus on why we celebrate Christmas and reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. 

GIFTING and the origins halloween

Yesterday we attended a birth celebration.  The family is from Zimbabwe so this was the first birth celebration I had attended, from what I understand it is cultural for the women to stay home after the baby is born for about 4 weeks and then they have a big welcoming celebration aka PARTY.  :)

I love to give gifts homemade or bought.  When I give gifts I love to include something homemade or special in gifts if I can, even if it is just the card that I have made.  (Sometimes it is impossible to do and I did have a few years where I did not do this much.  I had 3 kids 3 and under at the time)  We need to be realistic on what we can do and realise there is a season for everything.  As much as I love to make things and find it relaxing there was a year or two when it was totally impossible to do I had to focus on getting through the day, not on whether I had made a gift or card.  One thing I found that even if you are unable to make a gift or card you can always be creative in the wrapping.  Nothing nicer than getting a gift, that it is obvious someone has taken a lot of care in wrapping.  And wrapping can be quick, easy and not expensive.  A ribbon with embellishments, tea towel, it does not take a lot to dress up a gift.  At the end of this post I will post some pics of nicely wrapped gifts.  There are plenty out there google for ideas.

Okay back to the birth celebration, for the gift I made a name hanging for the baby Taanaye.  It did not cost me anything to make I just used bits that I had in my craft box.  This is such a cute and inexpensive gift to make.  I usually make these for friends after the baby is born or for their first birthday.  If you have limited funds it is surprising what you can make that is both unique and worth more to your friends than if you spent a lot on the latest designer outfit that the baby will soon grow out of.

Sorry about the photos I was in a hurry and took them on my bed, next time I will take them on  a white table.

Click on photo to make it bigger

I used buttons, scraps of material, flowers to decorate it.  You can use anything. 

This is a quick craft to do, the bit that takes the longest is putting the letters on this time I printed the letters I needed then glued them on, using hot glue ran some around the paper that I had cut down to size and quickly applied glitter.  You can use sticker letters, little wooden or cardboard letters, cutouts from paper you are recycling.  I once made one for a friends child who is into music and I used old sheet music.  I will post detailed instructions and put a link here soon.

  

I wrapped it all up in pink tissue and finish the package with a white organza ribbon.  In the gift I also included a cute summer all inone and a lovely card.  I put all of the gifts in a gift bag with lots of scented tissue paper.

Wrapping ideas

Christmas is coming up and one thing I love to do is use an ornament as decoration for the gift that they can reuse on the tree the next year.  For the children I often use candy canes or Christmas candy shapes.  I will do lots of posts about Christmas in November/December.

Waste-free Holidays

Martha Stewart has lots of tips and ideas about wrapping.

Halloween

Last week while shopping I noticed a lot of halloween items out.  Yes it is that time of year again.  Every year there seems to be more and more halloween items available and more and more houses and shops decorating for this holiday.  In my old blog I did a post about halloween and its origins as I did not know much about the holiday as we in Australia never use to pay much attention to it.  But with the world becoming a smaller place and the influencing of other countries and cultures through such mediums as television, Internet, some Aussies are starting to celebrate halloween.  This post gives the history and background to halloween, I looked into this as I wanted to know why we as Christians do not celebrate this holiday, and also wanted to be able to give informed answers to my children not just hear say.  I would suggest you check my facts and research for yourself there is so much information out there and this post is a summary as I could have written a book with what I found out.

I believe we should not just go on hear say, it is our responsibility to check the facts and the bible in regard to anything we are taught whether it is from the pulpit, books, newsletters, homegroups or blogs.  We should be informed so if we are ever questioned as to why we do or do not do things we can give answers that are correct and backed by the word of God instead of answers like because that is what we do.

Click on the above pumpkin to go to the post.

Some of the links in my old post are now not available I will find some more and link them here.  So check back in a few days if you are interested.

What about Halloween.
Halloween : Treat or Trick?
Halloween -  a harmless ritual? by by Jean Claude Boulenaz (Teen Challenge, Brisbane, Australia)
Should Christians Observe Halloween This is a great post lots of history and information backed by scripture.

My Decorating Style

When we moved into the house we are currently living in 4 years ago and I changed my decorating style many people told me I must be crazy to paint my furniture white.  And to tell you the truth a few years ago I would have thought the same, white furniture and young children just don't mix.  Well it was the best thing I ever did, for starters you can see if it is dirty and if the coffee table happens to get scratched or marked you can either say it is part of the charm or take it outside and give it a fresh coat of paint. 

It is such a great style to have with young children you can pick stuff up cheap and make it over, then there is not concern if accidents happen.  I would much prefer my kids to be able to be kids and learn to take care of things that are not valuable.  How much more will they care for items of value.  I also have never put things up when my children are toddlers, I taught them what they could and could not touch and when we went visiting I did not have to worry about them touching and breaking things.  And yes one of my children was a strong willed child and it did take a lot more work this this one than my other two but it can be done.  Will post about how I did this at a later stage.

At the moment my decorating style is shabby meet cottage with french provincial twists and a bit of contemporary.  I am not a true shabby chic as I am not really into lots of floral, lace and frills around the place.  I love french and cottage kitchens and love white furniture and two toned furniture.  I also love country stuff as well.  Decorating with this style has made our house a lot more homely.  And another great thing about this style you can pick up old pieces of furniture and give them a face lift.  It is perfect for my stage of life.  I love to mix and match stuff from different styles.

Here are a few photos of my house.  You will see more in later posts.

I painted our old coffee table white and put baskets under it.  One basket for news papers one for decorating/craft magazines and one for knee blankets.

 I picked this kitchen hutch up for next to nothing it had been used in a garage to store tools and stuff I sanded it and gave it a fresh coat of paint and new draw knobs.

Yes we even have a whitish dog, well where we live he is quite often tinted orange as he has a love for dirt and mud.

I did up our old pine bed it was starting to look dull you know the look pine gets when it is getting old.  I painted it antique white and got the spray of flowers sent over from America and it has made such a difference.  I will be doing a post on our bedroom in the coming weeks.  I gave our room a makeover as an anniversary gift for my hubby.

Moving here was one part of discovering me I had always been kind of tomboyish, trying so hard not to be a girl, but also wanting to be a girl but just now knowing where to start or wanting to look silly in the process.  Learning to like me has been a long had hard journey one that I am still on.  Growing up I was constantly aware that I never really measured up, though no one would have known.  How easy it is to hide how we feel inside. I am the Master of mask making.  I was a pastors kid and ran the youth group, and Sunday school, song lead regally, shared in Church, while all the time feeling that I was not good enough.  I had a good relationship with the Lord as he was my only real friend, but still struggled with who I was and that I was not good enough. 

I have to remind myself daily that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am a child of God and was created by him and by not liking me I am telling God that his creation is a mistake.  I am sure I am not the only one who battles with who they are, but once we start to discover God and his heart we can learn to accept our self.  For me this is my struggle, the one thing I battle with, the one thing I do not want to pass onto my children.  Oh how I want them to be secure in who they are and know they are amazing and measure up. 

So how did I get onto that oh that's right decorating, learning what I like and to put pretty things out is okay, to let people know I like china and girly stuff is okay.  To want to make a nice homely home for my family is again okay.  I don't have to keep all this inside I can let people see me and if they don't like it that is okay.  It does not change who I am.

Psalm 139:14 declares, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

I read these quotes the other day from a great blog Chats with an Old Lady.  This is one of my favourite blogs to visit.  I thought this was so in season for my life now.  The quotes are from C. J MaHaney from his book entitled "HUMILITY--True Greatness",

"Serving others for the glory of God. This is the genuine expression of humility; this is true greatness as the Savior defined it."

I particularly liked this quote below:

When God sees a mom with small children daily serving in her home, for HIS glory, He calls that TRUE GREATNESS! Isn't that encouraging?

Galations 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

A prophetic word for women & church leaders...

I read this today and thought it was worth posting. 

A prophetic word for women & church leaders...

by Lisa Bevere on Wednesday, 06 October 2010

 

I woke this morning with such an urgency to share the following excerpt from Lioness Arising. I believe it is an urgent and prophetic word for Church leaders and God’s women. I shared this portion with John and he said he wished EVERY church leader could hear it...so here is our attempt. Feel free to re-post and share as you feel led. 

Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, (Jesus) said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.” (Luke 7:43–47)

When we imagine that we are above the need for heart grooming, we start judging others. In judgment we deny others what we ourselves need. This is what happened to Simon. He needed his feet washed. He needed the greeting of peace. He needed the healing of an anointing balm. But since he thought he was above needing these things, he did not offer any of these rituals of greeting and grooming to his guests.

I can’t help but wonder if Jesus has turned his face to the women as he poses a question to the legalistic leaders of our day, asking something like this: “You think the sin of the woman is too great for her to merit acknowledgment, so you ignore her. You imagine she is in some way less than in my charge to present the gospel, but I have highlighted the example of this woman—and thus exonerated women. You imagine Eve’s sin to be greater than Adam’s, and therefore you deny her daughters access to my table, but don’t forget that those who are forgiven much are all the more grateful. A place of honor will be found for these daughters, even if it is by way of washing and anointing my feet.”

Lovely lionesses, it is time we again give our glorious Lord something to brag about. To see this happen, I am willing to wash some feet and have mine washed. Let’s each be willing to do anything or go anywhere if it means Jesus will have reason to marvel when he looks our way. Simon thought this loose woman was falling all over Jesus, but Jesus called her awkward attempts lovely. Don’t worry if your attempts are awkward at first. Just commit to begin. I want us all to make this kind of impression on Jesus so that he would say of us, “I am impressed they have shown me so much love.”

Let’s do something wonderfully significant for our Lord. As we lavish kindness, grooming, and welcome on others, we pour out our adoration on him. Let’s anoint one another for his return and our resurrection. Let’s wash each others feet, even if it is with our tears. Let them fall unhindered until there is enough moisture to wash the dust and filth off the feet of the church. Let’s weep over our own sins and cry over the injustice levied on our sisters and children the world over. If the mercy that has been lavished on you is not enough to reduce you to tears, then allow the cruelty of the plight of captive daughters to move you. Your tears wash the feet of others and magnify our Lord. 

(The above is an excerpt from “Lioness Arising: Wake Up and Change Your World,” Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group, 2010.)

Sunday Dinner

Usually on Sundays I try and do a special dinner, like a roast as it is usually the only night meal my husband is home for.  Yesterday I wanted to make an extra effort as he has had to work all day yesterday, also knowing that he will be working 15 hour day monday and tuesday and has not had a day off in a while.  I also have been feeling better and have been neglecting my poor family in the meal department lately,  We have not been doing our usual Sunday evening meal since I have had morning sickness.    It is so nice to all be able to sit as a family and have dinner together, the girls love to set and decorate the table on Sunday's and my son loves to cook with me.  It has become a bit of a tradition in our house.

I try and introduce new foods, different courses to try and teach my children table edicate as well as to have a great family time, eating something different than what we have had through the week.  We use the good china and glasses (not the usual plastic ones), nice napkins.  I am a firm believer that if you do not instruct your children at home how to eat, how do you expect them to eat nicely in public.  (also noting that children will be children and you never know what they will do and it is usually in public that they decide to try something new which embarrasses you).   

Yesterday morning I put the slow cooker on with a corn beef.  When I got home from church I started my roast garlic, leek and bacon soup, and for dessert made a pineapple upside down cake with cinnamon cream and ice-cream.  (I have started a recipe blog just click on the highlighted words and it will take you there, I will be adding more recipes soon so check back later if you want the recipe for the cake or corn beef)

The yummy soup this is one of my favourite soups.

Usually when I do a corned beef I do the traditional onion white sauce boiled potatoes and carrots and either cabbage or broccoli.  Today for something different I have made a potato and leek bake with steamed veggies on the side.  I am sure if my grandfather (who is in heaven) knew what I did last night he would be most horrified and would be shaking his head at me. 

I would have more photos but my camera went flat.  Next week I will take a photo of the table set up by the girls.

The story of my first pregnancy.

Last night while driving home I was reflecting on my first pregnancy and birth.  I though I would share the story with you.  My eldest is really a walking miracle, everyday when I look at her I am reminded of the power of prayer, how special she is and how if it were not for God she would not be with us or she would need special care.  Here is the short verson of my story there were many other instances when it was evident that God had his hand on us.  I often think she must have such an amazing journey with God ahead of her because of what we went through to get her here.

I should also clarify that I knew from early on that our child was meant to be within a week of finding out we were pregnant I felt that this baby was going to be a girl and I also had a name for her.  I believe this helped with my faith that God would come through for us and that we were to fight for her both in the natural and in the spiritual.


My husband and I were very excited when we found out we were expecting.  It was what we called a blessing by surprise the pregnancy came a year earlier than I had planned.  (yes me planning again, looking back we can see Gods hand in this.  If we had waited another year to have a child we would have had a mortgage, I would have just had a promotion with my job.  When we felt the Lord telling us to move back to my husbands home town it would have been so much harder.) 

The first 11 weeks of the pregnancy went well, I was not sick at all, at 12 weeks while at work I had a massive loss of blood.  Luckily my doctor was about 2 blocks from my work so I drove straight there.  She phoned my husband and we headed to emergency being told things did not look good at all and not to expect to much.  I don't think I had ever prayed so hard as I did going to emergency.  When I got to emergency I was rushed into a little room and soon passed a huge mass.  Things did not look good but I kept praying and believing that my baby would be okay.  After I passed the mass I had to go and have a scan, and to everyone surprise a healthy in their words "viable fetus"  was visible. 

Soon after that I transferred from private care to public as I was told if anything went wrong they would send me to the public hospital.  I ended up with one of Australia's leading experts on high risk pregnancy as my doctor and he assigned his top intern to be my doctor.  The care I got from them, I would never had gotten if I had stayed in the private system.  I was diagnosed as having subchorionic hematomas.  Tearing and bleeding of the placenta. 

Things went okay for the next few months I still had bleeding every now and then at about 26 weeks my blood work started giving concerning results and my blood pressure was high.  So from 30 weeks I was in and out of hospital with high blood pressure and wacky blood work.  I had scans every week from 26 weeks and then every day or every second day depending if I was in hospital or not from 32 weeks.  Every time I got admitted I also ended up with a room all by myself which was amazing.  During this time I really withdrew into myself as I only had Glen to talk to so it was me, my husband and God.  So all I had was God and my husband to lean on and to talk to about my fears during those long days sitting in a hospital bed.  As I said I was in and out of hospital they could not work out what was wrong I had high blood pressure but did not have preeclampsia.  I had funny liver function tests but my liver seemed to be fine from the scans I had.  However the placenta was a worry and seemed to be deteriorating.

At 37 weeks my doctor decided to send me home again, as he left the room to get the paper work I quickly said a prayer as something just did not feel right.  Within a minute of me praying he returned and said he would give me one more scan and if everything was okay then I could go home and I would have to come back the next day for another scan.   I went for a scan and as I was heading back to my room my doctor met me in the corridor and said he was going to induce me asap as my placenta was failing fast.  If I had gone home she would most probably have died.  So I got induced that day.

The labour was long and hard.  One of the things I really wanted most was a natural birth.  I had prayed about this and the Lord knew the desire of my heart.  After a few hours of being in labour my child was getting distressed, very week and there were no free surgery rooms.  They started scrubbing and preparing a room and calling in a team to deliver my child by c section.  At this point my husband went and sent a text to family and asked for prayer.  Within half an hour of the request she was born naturally and had an great agpar reading.  She was very small and weak but other than that she looked perfect.  We were told there was a chance that she could have developmental delays or other issues due to the placenta not working, lack of oxygen and nutrients.  She has shown no sigh of those things other than a tendency to get ear infections due to the tubes not being properly closed and strength problems which is common in children born before 38 weeks. 

Other issues arose at the birth I was hemorrhaging and the placenta was breaking up but through prayer again it all worked out perfectly no need for surgery, I was able to go back to the ward with my baby and went home 2 days after that.  Which was a miracle as she had jaundice that went away very fast and I had lost a lot of blood and they thought I would be in for at least 5 days.   When we chose her second name we found one that means God is gracious.

God is really amazing trust in him and rely on him in your hard times he will be there for you.  I have found time and time again that God is the only one to rely on, people let you down, and are often not there when you need them, but God will always be there.  No matter what you are going through, hand your worries and concerns to him and you will find a peace no person can give you.  

Here are some of the bible verses that got me through this time.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

... the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:39 (NIV)

... but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

Kitchen Shelf

I have painted all day and the shelf is finished and the kitchen has been rearranged.

It will probably get changed around a bit can't decide if I like it standing or on its side with the kettle in the self.

I also finished the picture frame but can't decide which photo to put in it.  Will add a picture of that in my next post.

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are.--Max Lucado

Home Living

Yesterday I read a lovely post from Linda at home living.  The title of the blog was A Home Making Class.  Oh how I wish there was something like this when I was growing up, well even now for that matter.  Growing up my mother was sick a lot so my home skills are largely self taught or I learnt from my father, we lived along way away from my extended family and my grandmother who started to teach me how to knit and sew on her holidays wit us passed away when I was 11.  You see my mother did not know how to cook or do anything when she married my dad, as she had a lot of challengers as a child and her parents were told she would never move out of home if she lived past her childhood years.  So she was never really taught home skills, my father is an amazing cook and he taught my mum who now is  a great cook.  But having a mother who was ill a lot while growing up, meant that I had to learn how to keep house and cook at a young age.  By the age of eight I could cook most meals including roast, lasagna, bake bread, cakes, milk the cow and goats, could do washing, ironing, most cleaning jobs. 

I think it is so important that we teach our children cooking and home skills, even if they do have a disability, you never know what will happen in the future.  As in my mums example by the grace of God she achieved things in life that people and her doctors never expected her to.  Not only did she get married she also had a child, was a pastors wife and a great writer.  

I am trying to teach my children things while still letting them be a child.  This is something I have really struggled with, I do not want to rob them of their childhood, but I also want them prepared for life when they leave home.    

A class like this would have been so great, for both teens and us married ones, the older generation have so much wisdom and knowledge to share.   Rhonda has a great blog called down to earth she shares lots of great ideas on home making, baking, gardening, craft and much more.   It is great to find an Aussie blog like this.  Laurie from Tip Junky, also has lots of great ideas.

In Australia our high schools provide a subject called home economics, this is compulsory for year eight and then is an elective for years 9 to 12.  It focuses on cooking and sewing/craft.   I did home economics from years 8 to 12 but only really learnt the basics.

Yesterday I went op shopping with my children we were looking for curtains or something that I could make into curtains for the kitchen but instead we found...... A brunch coat for me, a near new school dress for my eldest for $6 which is amazing as she goes to a Christian school and it is unusual to come across any of the uniforms in op shops.  And a shelf.

 Yes a brown old used shelf.  But with a coat of white paint a little sanding here and there and some pretty things it will turn into a kitchen self for my kitchen bench.

Some ideas of what I might do with it once it is painted.

And while I was looking for the paint in my very messy craft/junk room I came across this picture frame I have been meaning to paint.

So two more jobs to add to my list.