Sabbath

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as the Spirit of the Lord ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18

Earth Hour

8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009 www.earthhour.org


Earth hour originated in Sydney 3 years ago. We have participated for the last two years. The Kids love it.. any excuse to get out candles and walk around the house with them :)

We seem to be out on this date often, so we come home and don't turn on the lights and let the kids play a bit and go to sleep in candle light.

This time we come home and our German student is home with all the lights on. Miss K runs into the house

'You have to turn the lights off - Its for the earth'

student.... ' uh uh'

'It's very important - only once a year!'

So we have our fun with candles



about 15 mins into earth hour while she is in bed trying to fall asleep to the flickering candle light and trying to read a book in the dim light.. a quick heavy rain shower begins.

"The earth is crying happy tears because of earth hour" she says

(After a pretty bad 5-7 year drought any rain is appreciated around here)

'You give to the earth and it gives back'

I really don't know what environmental impact turing off all the lights has (though it is stated when cities turn off the empty office building lights etc for just 60 minutes A YEAR of electricty /carbon footprint is saved)

but I do know it made a difference to my kids and their outlook and that's all that matters

And who doesnt love a bit of candlelight??

Practicing

It easy to forget how different little babies are - squirmy, cute, gooey...

I got to play with my newest neice this week.. and she is ADORABLE!!

Growing Grass

*Gasp* I am not "one of those LDS mums" Yeah it's true.. I don't have any wheat storage, I have never ground wheat, nor made a whole wheat loaf of bread (not that I don't want to.. just never have) so when I wanted to grow some grass I actually went to the health food store and purchased ....

60 cents worth of Organic Wheat!! Big spender hey!!

Soak Wheat for 8-12 hours


Sprinkle wheat over soil and wait for it to sprout (about 1-2 days)


I mist the wheat 1-2 times a day with a spray bottle of water.

I had a few fails - the seeds I put in egg boxes that had cling film under the soil did NOT sprout. The grass I put in a jar DID... so I am currently making some more in Jars.

I swear this stuff grows each time you turn your back.. we even went out for a few hours and the girls we sure it had grown while we were out. They have been measuring the grass and it grows at about 1cm a day!! We even give it haircuts regularly!!

This is about 2 weeks growth - Tall hey?


And with an egg in it. I think I might need to cut the grass shorter?


Easter Grass Anyone?

Oh and I know that I should be eating the stuff - but I dont have a juicer.. wheat grass juice is the answer to all your health needs I hear.

Sabbath

But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good... And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? ~ Alma 32:30

Easter Advent Calendar

Using some left over blocks and some plastic Easter Eggs I have made an Easter Advent Activity Calendar. This one only has 5 eggs that open on it, so I might fill them twice - 10 activities. As Easter starts on the 10th of April this is perfect, starting on April 1st.

Alternatively you could use 12 Plastic Eggs and write "Happy Easter!" on it and your calendar will go until Easter Sunday. Just blu tac them standing up on any surface. My eggs are just blutacked onto the wooden blocks, nothing fancy here ;)


Here are some ideas that I will print out on strips of paper and place inside the eggs. I plan to do a mixture of religious and secular activities, but I will write two lists and you can choose to copy from one or the other or both.

*Make Pom Pom Chicks from Wool
* Paper Easter Baskets
* Scrap Fabric Bunnies
* Rice Krispy Treat Nests with eggs
*Any of these Egg Crafts at Kids Craft Weekly would be great!
* Paper Mache Eggs
* Easter Egg Pinata This was a family favourite last year!!
*Dyeing Eggs
* Cascarones
* Easter 'Tree' out of branches

Ideas to promote more religious reflection

*Bake soft pretzels - the shape is arms folded for prayer
*Give to others - make up some gifts to give away- God gave His Son. Jesus gave His life - we too at Easter should give to others
*Bake Hot Cross Buns on Easter Friday
* Resurrection Eggs we have done this for a few years and the kids love it.. I saw a nice set for sale at Koorong but you can easily make your own with plastic empty eggs.
*Visit the Art Gallery - many galleries will feature paintings of Christ.
*Read John 13 and wash your children’s feet. Your lives might never be the same. Tears were shed when The MR did this last year for our girls.. priceless.
*Make a "Tomb cake" to help children understand the meaning of easter. make a layer cake, cut a hole and tunnel out of the bottom layer, frost it and put a cookie in front of the opening. We make a big deal of removing the cookie and seeing that the "tomb" is empty
*Bake Resurrection Cookies
*For Easter Monday, eat fish and honeycomb. Before eating, read Luke 24:38–44, which describes what Jesus said and did after He was resurrected. Then sing the song “Did Jesus Really Live Again?” (Children’s Songbook, 64)

Mmmmmm... doughnuts.....

I have been wanting to make baked homemade doughnuts for ages after drooling after all the ones on the net. Well The Artful Parent's one activity a day challenge for the month of march sealed the deal! She found the recipe via 101 cookbooks and those sugary little balls were too good to resist.

What I found...

It takes a long time (as with any dough recipe) so I made up a batch while the kids were at school so they could have one asap afterschool. Then I let them roll the left over dough and we rose those ones to eat for dessert. The first batch were the best. Warm and doughy and sugary!!


I didnt have the right cookie cutters so we rolled snakes and joined them to make circles... make the hole BIG!! Most of mine puffed shut.

You must eat these directly from the oven.. they don't taste as good later on.


I found mine a little too 'yeasty' tasting.. so less yeast next time for me.

But they were good... here is the photographic proof :



And some may have just licked the cinnamon and sugar!

A bit more pink?

Looking forward to this little one arriving in August!! She is definately a strong one.. has fought through even being conceived and a Threatened Miscarriage - it has been an interesting few months!!

The Poor MR... definately outnumbered now :)

I obviously don't do this often enough..

AT the local store last week on the far wall was one IRONING BOARD leaning against the wall for sale.. in my defense I will say its cover was very bright - multicoloured swirls ~

Miss 2 Years old says...

Mum. Mum.
Surfboard!!

I say "No darling, Ironing Board."

NO! NOT!
IT SURFBOARD!!

Me laughing.. Ok darling.. It Surfboard...

So there you have it.. even my 2 year old knows that I don't Iron...It's true I can't remember the last time I Ironed.. probably when the MR had a job interview or something..For crafting/quilting purposes I sometimes Iron on the Kitchen bench with a towel..... But the board never comes out....I have my excuses..

My crazy always under my feet kids would have ended up in emergency with burns, no room to have a board set up, an old iron which would probably leave more marks than iron out the wrinkles, and of course No Ironing means I have more time for Blogging ;)

Maybe I will get the Ironing Board out and let the kids have a surf on it... Yes.. I am off to find it now and take some photos :) I will be right back.

Paddling out :)


Standing up :)


There may be hope that my kids will be the Surfers The Mr and I are most definately NOT!

Secret Lusting

While secretly lusting after Carli's Emma Chair first mentioned here, for a while now... On Sunday a lady at church came up to me and said she was bringing me a rocking chair on Wednesday!! Pretty Random hey!

The only downside is that I live in the smallest house ever that contains 6 people. So rest assured people.. I can now rock by the fireplace, watch tv, blog on the computer, check the dinner and almost shower from that chair!! Now the only problem is getting the kids off the chair.. I have had one go!!

Oh and the angle on the chair is not the most comfortable, so I definately need a cushion or something.. recommendations anyone? I don't think I could sew my own.. and plus the cane might be picked apart by certain little fingers.. so it definately needs something on it/covering it.

B DAY - Baptism Day

More picture heavy posts!! Will return to normal crazy musings soon.. for now I am a proud Mumma.. and got to show off my darling family :) Photos Courtesy of my favourite photographer Zanabelle Photography

Me and My Girlies


4 Generations


With her Great Granparents


With Grandma (my mum)


With Grandad (my dad)


With Grandma (The MR's mum)


Lots of Trust in Daddy to Baptise her!


Our Family

Sabbath

.. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost ~ 2 Nephi 31:17


Lots more photos to come :)

8 is Great...

Here is a little photoshoot we did today before Miss K's upcoming Baptism. The gorgeous dress was made by her Grandma!! The other two wanted to dress up in white too!!















MY THREE WHITE DRESSES
My mom bought me a white dress, Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress, Like very other few.
There has been just one before, A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago, Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed, In my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms, There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then, With time to grow and learn
About the Father's plan for me, My glory I must earn.
Now I've reached the age to judge, The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized, In this dress of white.
So once again I'm free from sin. The path is clear to me
I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress, Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach, For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best, Then richly blessed I'll be,
Wearing inside God's holy house, White dress number three.
So today I make this pledge: I'll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance, In my second dress of white

This was by Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993

Go here if you are interested in What Baptism is and why are we baptised at 8?

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: First faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second Repentance, third Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and forth, Laying on of Hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost

Start Saving Your Eggs!

So you all know Easter is just around the corner right? 35 days until Good Friday!

I thought about how our family starts celebrating Christmas about 4-5 weeks before Christmas Day. Lots of family traditions, crafts, outings, celebrating. The Gift of Easter in some ways is probably more important than Christmas. The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ's victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. He died for our sins and we have the gift of Eternal life because of that.

So for this month I will be posting some of the easter ideas our family will be doing. This post is a heads up for anyone else who wants to follow along.

Here are some links to some crafts we will be doing in the near future.

Egg Crafts

Start Saving your eggs.. this week instead of cracking eggs, I have been slicing the tops off, using to cook with, then wash egg in warm soapy water and leave to dry. Details will follow on how to make Carscarones - Celebratory Confetti Eggs


Carscarones - Confetti Eggs At Maya Made
Hot Rock Eggs at Full Circle
Hole Punch Eggs
Paper Mache Eggs

Grass
Grab some soil and grass seeds. Who knew growing grass was an easter activity? You know spring, new life etc...You need to start this craft around 2 weeks before Easter.
Easter Grass at Make and Takes

Pretzels
Soft Pretzel how to and recipe at The Artful Parent.
Pretzels originated as early Christian Lenten treats, designed in the form of arms crossed in prayer.

Thats it for now to get you thinking.. anyone have any Easter Traditions to share with me?? Comments please!!

8 Years 8 photos

Well more like 16 photos.. I couldn't choose just one per year!!

My first born child is turning 8! A very important year for us!! 8 is GREAT!!

2001





2002




2003





2004


2005




2006


2007



2008


Today


Miss K is the sweetest friendliest little girl a family could ask for. She makes friends easily, tries to include others. She is very creative- always drawing and making. She is laid back and loves to have fun.

We love having you in our family !!