on being me

Do you ever find it hard to accept yourself? To acknowledge openly your failings? Lately, I've become aware that I've been measuring myself against an imaginary standard. A high one at that. If you have a perfectionist streak then maybe you'll understand. What makes me great, also makes me frustrating. What makes me a visionary and a passionate person also makes me push myself. Sometimes into big holes.

It's funny, but the people I love most accept me just as I am. And love me. My husband does...despite everything. My children do. I wonder what Jesus would say. Probably just that He loves me. He accepts me. He would probably lift this burden from my shoulders and sit me down gently at His feet, where I would listen as He told stories and where I would rest. He would tell me it's not what I do, but who I am that matters.  So, that's where I'll be today. Sitting at my Saviour's feet. Resting.

on becoming 2, and the plans that God has for our lives.

Our not-so-little son at 1 week of age.

I wondered how to write this post. How much detail to share. Which emotions to convey. Mostly joy. Absolute gratefulness for this little boy who is turning two years old today. His name is Benjamin. If you met him he would walk right up to you and yell "H E L L O" with a big smile across his face. He would push past all his brothers and sisters just to make sure you notice him. He would then perform various impressive stunts for you - somersaults, jumps, running. He is that type of boy. Adorable. Funny. Delightfully cheeky. He is the most extrovert of all my children (and they are all extrovert). He exudes LIFE. He is alert, intelligent, athletic, strongwilled and exhausting. Did I mention Adorable?

Let me take you back a little to before Benjamin was born. We had 5 delightful children and while I sometimes dreamed of having another, we were teetering on the edge of 'moving on'. One night we really teetered. The next morning we awoke, we looked at eachother, and we knew. We were done. We were ready to move on and leave the baby stage behind us.  God, it seems, had other plans. I thank God every day that He did. 

When we first found out I was pregnant with Benjamin I cried. I remember sitting in my doctor's office with tears rolling down my cheeks while he tried to reassure me. I was tired. I was overwhelmed. My husband and I had been through a really rough time and we were still raw. We were facing an interstate move, and we were feeling stretched. Uncomfortably stretched.

 I cried again the day I began to bleed and my doctor told me we may have lost him. The outlook was bleak. The next day my husband and I marveled as we watched the ultrasound screen and saw the tiny 9 week old fetus that was Benjamin. His heart was beating. Fast. Just like he's fast today.

Benjamin has brought joy and laughter and beautiful chaos to our family. He fits perfectly, of course. See. God knew. Since having Benjamin I have changed. I am more thankful, more humble. I still make plans, but I realise they're only that, my plans. Somehow, God is bigger to me now.

One thing I am is more exhausted. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Life with Benjamin is full of  adventure and excitement. Last weekend I woke up at 6.00am to a bright light flashing in my face. Benjamin was sitting on my bed taking photos with my digital camera. 9 of them. Photos of our bed sheets, my bleary eyed face, and more bed sheets. This is what he does. He just gets things. Like how to pump up a ball with the needle inserted correctly, how to use Dad's drill, how to play croquet like a pro, how to climb up to the top bunk, how to switch on the computer, how to play 'kick the bucket' and how to turn off my washing machine - mid cycle.

Through the birth of our little son God has done so much in me. I am forever changed. Forever thankful. Though not, I hope, forever exhausted. If you find yourself in a situation that seems insurmountable, or overwhelming, hang in there. If the plans you've made are crumbling before you, trust God. He sees what we can't see. He knows what we don't know. His plans are so much better than ours.

Just look at our gorgeous little boy...

and be assured that God truly gives good gifts.

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

       

written narrations

Because it is the end of year, and because I've been reading about another mum's success with narrations at her house (hi Jeanne!) I decided to ask the children to narrate one of the bible stories we've read this year. Of course they all wanted to  write about one we'd read recently, and they chose the story about Moses and the Golden Calf. We've been focussing on the Exodus alot lately as it ties in so well with our study of Egypt that we are doing using Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp.

While we've done alot of summarising and book reviews in the past, along with some oral narrations, we are new to the idea of written narrations and to be honest I wasn't sure how the kids would fare. I was so impressed when they all settled down to the task with quiet enthusiasm - they especially loved that this was some type of end of year test (I know...weird eh!). I had planned to be scribe for my just-turned-7 year old, but when I turned around she'd already written a couple of sentences, and was keen to keep going.

Overall it was a really positive activity, one we'll incorporate into our learning more next year. A couple of things stood out to me. How well the children remembered small details of the story - even to the point of recording dialogue accurately, and how long it took them! They were busy writing for over 30 minutes.  My eldest three all wrote around 2 A4 pages, and my 7 year old managed a decent paragraph. They then took the time to illustrate their stories.

Here's page 1 of the narration by my 9 yr old. She managed to fill another entire page, and still did not quite finish the story!

quick and easy advent calendar

It's a tradition in our family that we count down the days to Christmas, starting on the 1st of December. Years ago I hand sewed a sweet little calendar with 24 pockets in which to hide little treasures, but we have long since out grown it as the pockets were tiny.

 Instead I came up with the idea of using paper bags. All I do is string them up across a window with some wool or twine, and attach them with cute wooden craft pegs. The effect can be quite vintage chic. The paper bags are just the right size for hiding 6 lollies or other treasures (pencils, cute rubbers, stickers etc..) plus they're cheap! I jazzed them up a bit this year by designing and printing little numbers onto them, rather than writing by hand. This was lots of fun to do - I used Microsoft Word.

The children all cut out the graphics and glued them on the bags this morning - I could almost smell their anticipation of good things to come!

We spent some time together researching and discussing the term Advent. We found some great information about the tradition of advent calendars on Wikipedia. We learned that as early as the beginning of the 19th century the German Lutherans would mark the days of Advent by drawing a line above their doors in chalk. And that the first known Advent Calendar was handmade in 1851, with the first ever printed version released in 1902. Apparently the production of these calendars ceased during WW2 in an effort to conserve paper, but was later resurrected.

You might like to read more fascinating facts here -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_calendar

Happy Advent to you!

toilet roll Christmas craft....

The kids had so much fun creating this very unique (cough!) nativity scene this week.

Don't you love it?

I think my favourite would have to be the shepherd with the beard.

You may not be able to see in the photos, but baby Jesus is made from a wine bottle cork.... ah well, His first miracle was turning water into wine.

Giotti - a study of an artist

With no sweet blue sky to entice us outside to play today, we stayed inside instead and read about the famous Italian artist Giotti (Zhee-o-to) di Bondone.

He was born in 1266 and lived in Florence, in northern Italy until his death in 1337. As a boy, Giotti had herded sheep and drew pictures to pass the time. When a passing artist discovered his talent, he was offered  an apprenticeship.

Giotti made his own paints by grinding minerals, rocks, and sometimes insects, and adding egg yolk and water to the mixture. Today the children had enormous fun making their own paints as well. We chose to pass on the insects though, and used ground chalk mixed with egg yolk instead. The resulting colours were vibrant and exciting!

After looking at many of his beautiful paintings we set to work on our own. The children chose to paint nativity scenes or other bible stories - a theme often favoured by Giotti himself. The older children also created a notebook page about Giotti to add to their art folders.

crushing the chalk

adding the egg yolk (whisked)

mixing in the yolk and drops of water

our finished paintings..

Mary and Joseph on the way to Bethlehem

by my 9 yr old.

The nativity scene.

(by my 7 year old)

The shepherds at night.

(by my 11 yr old)

Baby Jesus and the three Wise Men

(by my 12 yr old)

Much of the inspiration for this art lesson was found in Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn F Kohl.

Enjoy your weekend,