Cassie's Cuddles

Seeing that we are homeschooling again, Cassandra has started getting into everything again, so…We did some cooking. Cassandra really takes cooking seriously, you can tell by the photo that she puts everything into it.

 Yesterday Steph and Alycia went back to Girl’s Brigade, they made these little sponge men. Cassandra was wrapped with them, off they went to the bath. It is very disturbing to see eyes floating in the bath, even if they are fake ones!

The days have been very emotional this week. The fires have cast a stillness over everyone’s lives. It seems as though everyone knows someone who has been affected by loss. We just heard of a missionary’s family who has lost their home, another friend has lost two of her friends. I have had two calls from people today asking how we are considering that their is another fire that started not too far from us, and we are surrounded by trees! Personally I can’t smell any smoke, but that is because the wind is blowing north, good news for us, but bad news for someone else. I/we have no intention of defending our home, we will go without  a second thought. I asked Lachlan and Stephanie seperately why they thought God allows some to die and others to live. Lachlan said that perhaps God wants to see if people will still trust him despite their difficult times. Steph said that we all deserve God’s judgement, no one more than others, while Alycia chimed in to say, that it was God’s plan for those who died to die. I don’t claim to know the mind of God especially when it comes to such tradgic loss of life, but I am assured that God is in control, He promises never to leave His people, and that He is not willing that any should perish. I hope that these events don’t harden people’s hearts, but rather soften them.

What a terrible day of heat 450c! We closed curtains, turned on the air conditioner (thank you God for this luxury) and stayed still. I sat and googled most of the day (stuck to my seat), Jared did the same. Cassandra had a tea party with Lachlan (against Lachlan’s will)

Alycia played with Lego

In other words there is stuff is everywhere, and guess what? I don’t care!

What I do care about is my family up in Buln Buln, they were on high alert for bushfires. Thankfully now at 8pm the woarst is over, and they are relieved, so are we. A number of times through the day, I called the children together to pray for their cousins and grandparents and Auntie and Uncle. Everyone prayed in order of age, starting with Cassandra, I was amazed at how much she seemed to understand, until I heard her say something about a boat? We need to keep our fire fighters in our prayers too, they are so brave.

I also read the new book by the Duggars “20 and counting”, it is a simple and quick book to read. I liked it because the mum and dad showed that they weren’t perfect, but just regular christians who prayed for their children to become godly adults. There was some good practical advice on child raising. Unlike the rest of us, they will never regret not having enough children. What a blessing it is to have children!

To finish on a summery note, look at this cute watermelon fruit dish. It combines todays two topics, summer and babies..

Check out this great site called the tipjunkie , I think that I found this great monkey pattern off this site (although I did say that I have been on google all day, who knows!)

Today while rummaging through some cupboards I came across a little stash of silver (or silver plated if truth be told). Here are two serviet rings, one with Jared’s intials and one with my name. When I first met Jared, his family use to use serviet rings at dinner time, and after I had been going out with Jared for a while, they got me one too! Call me easy, but this was important to me, and when I see it, I smile. It really is the little things that can make someone feel loved don’t you think? A little thought, and a small tradition. I might start this up with my children now. If you get a serviet ring, watch out, I might have my eye on you for a future son or daughter in-law!

We finally got our school paces, $2000 later!

Yesterday we had our homeschooling group. This year I am helping with a “Keepers at Home” class. Lian has some great ideas to encourage the young girls to learn new skills, and then use them. Both Lian and I were hopeless when we first married our husbands, not ever having to cook, clean or look after babies before. My children will be a lot more confidant and useful with their skills. The first lesson was designing their personal folder file, to fill with recipes etc. Lian wrote the words, and I just put in some clip art around it. We made two different designs to give the girls a choice.and the other one..Today we started school, Camden started on his tables, and he will give Lachlan a run for his money soon. Cassandra always plays up despite the box of creative goodies that I had stored ready for her use. The painting occupied her for about 10 minutes.