Roses, Tea and Our Lady

A resolution...for 2012

2012-01-06T15:35:00.000+11:00

What will my resolution for 2012.

I will wait until we return from summer school. It is a wonderful place to talk listen and get reacquainted with Our Lord.

As many of you know we attend a 7 day retreat every January in the hunter valley run by the covenant community called Disciples Of Jesus.

The School is run by the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community, a group of people who together attempt to live the Christian life under the grace of renewal of the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5,8). The Disciples of Jesus is a Catholic Community with branches throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines and Indonesia. It is comprised of families, single people, priests and consecrated men and women.
The Disciples of Jesus Commuinty is a member of the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities whose statutes were recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in Rome in 1993. The Community is approved as a Private Association of Christ's Faithful within the Catholic Church.
The School of Evangelisation comes under the direction of Fr Ken Barker, a member of the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community and the Missionaries of God's Love.

Once we return I will know exactly what our mission will be for this year.

May God Bless each of you.......

hear, speak see no evil.......

2011-12-31T15:48:00.000+11:00

2004-memory

2011-12-21T17:00:00.000+11:00

Our 1st homeschool camp..bookings open.

2011-12-12T15:00:00.000+11:00

You are warmly invited to our

1^st Mid North Coast Catholic Homeschool Camp.

When: Monday 26March - Friday 30March, 2012

Where: Lake Eluru Nurra

Just North of Taree

Spiritual Director: Fr Rizzo has been invited

Caterers: Al & Rebecca Robinson (Of North Coast Cath HS Camp fame)

What to do: Send your expression of interest via blog comments. (These will not be published, if you wish).

By: ASAP, 30^th January at the latest.

*$50.00 holding deposit needed shortly after

God Bless,

Leanne & Dermot O’Sullivan

Together with the Hunter Valley Catholic homeschoolers.

A victorian gift pouch

2011-12-07T15:06:00.000+11:00

We have been reading about Jane Austen and looking into Victorian England. We have a friend who likes to do art and crafts with us.
This time we thought some crafts from Victorian England might be fun. This site had lots of fun ideas to make.

So we got the girls to make little gift pouches. All hand made. No sewing machines, using my favourite embriodery stitches.

And calling cards. These were an interesting item. Did you know that each corner once folded over meant a particular thing.....There was quite an etiqette to calling upin someone...

We will be making Christmas Crackers as well. Putting inside them, meaniful verses and small gifts for Christmas Day.

Advent & Novenas

2011-11-30T12:36:00.000+11:00

I am looking around my Blog lists and other blog and seeing the most amazing posts reminding us pray and get ourselves ready for the coming of Our Lord.
We have gotten our Advent wreath arranged. We are lighting our candles each day at Breakfast.

We have begun our Advent chain. We are opening each Verse from the bible at breakfast as well
And I selected our great variety of books from the shelf.

Just a very small collectiion, the rest are being read by miss Brid

This year as Brid is getting older we are doing a family reflection every day, using Fulton Sheens' Advent & Christmas..
.

We have begun our St Andrews Novena and The Immaculate Conception Novena.

As the greenery is fresh we will replenish it as we need to. Some of our candles are from last year, we will update them as needed as well.

We get our candles from dusk. My favourite candle store.
We have put up our Jesse Tree and are slowly getting our Christmas decorations out.

We are trying to resist the temptations the world offers at Christmas. So how are your plans going???

Younger sisters answer the spiritual call

2011-11-21T10:22:00.000+11:00

It was a lovely surprise to read this today, and I just had to share it with you all. We know each of these beautiful women pictured and Courtney as well. A very vibrant order of nuns.

November 19, 2011

Sisterhood ... nuns from the Missionaries of God's Love. From left, Sister Therese Mills, Courtney Chircop, Sister Rosie Drum and Sister Judy Bowe. Photo: Wolter Peeters

SURPRISES are common at school reunions, but Therese Mills offered up a real revelation.
''One of my friends went, 'oh yeah, I brought the nun,'' she said. ''And a fella we went to school with said, 'you brought the what?' ''
' 'Millsy, she's a nun'. And he was like, 'no way!' A lot of them were really spun out.''
Be it a radical life decision or a counter-cultural call from God, a small but significant number of young women are now bucking the usual trifecta of marriage, kids and career for another one - the chastity, poverty and obedience of religious life.
The number of women interested in vocations is up, reports the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, with inquiries coming from a much younger age group.
The growth of the Missionaries of God's Love (MGL) - a charismatic Catholic order founded in Canberra in 1986 - has left Sister Therese, now 37, and her 11 fellow nuns searching for a larger formation house. They have an average age of about 30.
Three new candidates in their early 20s, attracted by the MGL's ''radical'' vow of poverty, its special ministry to youth and its call to a life with God, are set to join them in the order's rented Quakers Hill household next year, helping boost its numbers from three to eight.
Among them will be Courtney Chircop, 22, who says she was attracted to a religious life but trained as a childcare worker before taking heed of some of her peers.
''I had some friends who wanted to join religious life, and one of them was only 17, and I thought that was pretty cool,'' she said.
But Ms Chircop said the prevailing reaction to her decision was shock, particularly her parents, who realised they would never be grandparents.
''They were like, 'can you have a kid and then get into religious life? We'll raise the child,' '' she said. ''It's taken a while for them to get used to it … overall, they just wanted what's best for me and what makes me happy.''
The order's Sister Judy Bowe, 46, said in an increasingly secular Australia, their lifestyle didn't make sense outside of faith. Chastity, in particular, was ''the nose ring of the church''.
''Because it's radical and sex is everything in this culture,'' she said. ''It's kind of a shocking symbol of counter-cultural 'wow'.''
A further nine Australian women, aged 18 to 36, have signed up with the habit-wearing Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia, a Nashville-based order that established its first mission house outside the US in Sydney in 2008. Four of these were in August.
The local superior and vocations director, Sister Mary Rachel Capets, said there was ''definitely'' a renewed global interest in young people dedicating their lives to God. The 150-year-old teaching order, at 280 sisters, is now as big as it has ever been.
Working with youth made an important difference to promoting vocation, she said.
''If you looked at the history of World Youth Day throughout the world, that is a definite fruit,'' she said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/younger-sisters-answer-the-spiritual-call-20111118-1nnex.html#ixzz1eI33GR95

Presentation of Our Lady at the Temple

2011-11-21T10:03:00.000+11:00

Today is a beautiful Feast day.
The Presentation of Holy Mary is the “Birthday of the Congregation”. This day celebrates the day that the parents of Our Lady brought her to the Temple at the age of three and handed her over to live there, denying any worldly temptation to distract her prayers to God. Blessed Mary Mother of our saviour Jesus Christ being part of Gods great plan and concieved without original sin prepared for her sacred mission here

A wonderful message..movie review

2011-11-16T11:24:00.001+11:00

Recently, we had the opportunity to see a wonderful Christian movie at the cinemas -COURAGEOUS. The same directors as Fireproof.

We heard it advertised on our local Christian radion station and we wanted to support it. It was M rated, this concerned us as we wanted to take Brid. I suggested to Dermot we check the dove foundation for a review. We decided after reading there take on it, that it was OK for Brid to view.

After Piano lessons Dermot drove us into the city. It is usually rather busy on the roads in the late afternoon. This concerned me, bumper to bumper on the bridge into town. Oh Joy!!- not. It was a concern, because I had no idea as to how to get into the cinemas, as they were new-ish. The roads were completely clear and we arrived at the cinema 10 minutes before the movie started. This gave us plenty of time to buy an icecream and choose a seat.

The movie theate was fairly full. It looked like the patrons were from various church groups with a smattering of others. How could I tell, you say. Well they are sat in rows together and they appeared to know each other.
There was no advertising before the movie, no previews. I wondered why? A projector failure. Surely they don’t use projectors. A computer failure, or just an agreement between the cinema and the movie company?? I don’t know, but it was very pleasant.
The movie was about a group of warrant officers in a state in USA. Their stories, where they came from and there walk with God. It showed good Christian morals and how each of these men wanted the best for their families. There was even a family who homeschooled. The movie centred around a Resolution that these men made in front of their families and each other to be the very best Father they could be, using the principles set out by Our Lord in the Bible.
It asked men to be men of God and stand for up for their believes in God to their family and the world. It showed their struggles afterward and the way The Lord worked in their lives. It stated that the problems we have today with gangs and young people would not be, if Fathers actually took there role seriously as fathers.
It ended with a scene in a church, with one of the men speaking of his experience to the congregation. People actually stood up at the end of the movie and made this resolution as well. It was a very powerful scene and a wonderful movie.

There was a point in the movie were the little girl asked her Daddy to dance with her, in public place. He didn’t. He regretted it. Would you Dance with your son or daughter? I know Dermot would, He has. I would too?

Take a box of tissues and go see this movie. Brid and I sat close, holding hands and sharing tissues. There were a couple of scenes that were 'physical fighting' scenes, which she needed me to talk her through, and scenes where she wanted to hold her Dads' hand- umm for 20mins. His arm stretched over me. He did it because she needed his hand.

May God bless you, May he empower us to build up strong men and women to bring the world to know Jesus.

Padre Pio

2011-11-14T11:51:00.001+11:00

The Padre Pio dvd

Recently I have watched a great dvd of a Miracle worker Saint. St Pio of Pietrelcrina. He is a remarkable modern day saint.
I purchased the dvd late last year at a homeschool camp, and left it on the shelf. Umm.. Why..? I wonder now. I was a fairly real portrayal of his life.
Recently I gave a small Pauline book to my Mum about St Padre' Pio, as she hasn't kept up with some of these 'modern day saint'. I will be passing this dvd on as well.
He was chosen by God for some amazing work and his Stigmata is well talked and queried.
I first learnt of him through the Disciples of Jesus, and have enjoyed discussing his life with Dermot & our children.

We are all watching this dvd in small portions throught this week as part of our Religion, Geography, History etc..
Pietrelicina is a small town in Italy, 2 hours drive from Sorrento. He was named Francesco after St Francis of Assisi. He received his gifts as a small child and announced at a young age that he wished to be a Friar.
He lived as a persecuted Priest due to his Stigmata,The gift of bilocation, wonderful confessor and the ability to have exactly thr right word of counsel. The church was sceptical about this, and it needed to be. He understood this, and offered his suffering through the crucified Lord.
Blessed John Paul II met with Padre' Pio and asked for prayers before he was even a Bishop.

He spend most of his days at a town known as San Giovanni Rotonda. It is the second visited pilgrim sight after Our Lady of Guadalupe.
We celebrate Padre Pios' feast day September 23rd. He dies in 1968 and was canonised in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

St Pio of Pietrelcina Pray for us.

All Hallows Eve

2011-10-31T12:01:00.000+11:00

We are preparing to celebrate the month of November. On our Church calendar, November is dedicated to the Holy Souls.

In Australia, tomorrow is the Melbourne cup- a famous horse race, everything is geared around it, but its also All Saints Day.

Many families have their doubts about celebrating Halloween. For example, the practice of trick-or-treating is something that has only recently been celebrated on a large scale here in Australia. The association with pagan ritual is viewed as inappropriate and even considerd dangerous for children. In fact, Halloween has deep Christian roots, dating back to the eigth century, when Pope Gregory III established All Hallows( known to us as All Saints Day on November 1st. This was to be the day to honour all the saints whi died with or wothout Church recognition. All Souls Day follows on 2nd November and is a time in which we pray for all the dead, including our own special frinds and family.
Light, long a symbol of life in Jesus, was used on 'Halloween'(meaning 'All Hallows Eve) to welcome good spirits and ward of evil ones. Candles were lit and placed inside hollowed out pumpkins, squash etc. Children,wearing masks. would go 'souling' from door to door, begging for soul cakes for those in purgatory.
Unfortunately, Halloween also coincides with a pagan festival honouring the God of the dead where customs intended to appease evil spirits, avoid haunting and foretell the future are common.

This Halloween, we celebrate Our Heavenly Family- by praying the Litany of the Saints.
we celebrate our deceased family members by praying for them during this month of November, visiting there grave sight and remembering them.

ME a Stylish Blogger...... award

2011-10-16T17:45:00.002+11:00

Yesterday, I switched my computer on and to my surprise and delight into my mailbox was waiting a lovely little email, giving me a Stylisher Blog Award.
Me a Stylish Blogger.
As I had never received a blog award before, I was taken aback. What would I have to do to receive this award. What would I have to live up to.... nothing. I look at other blogs and see these awards on there sidebars and think 'oh wouldn't that be nice to have someone think my blog is worthy of that.'
So my friend Sue selected me. You are too sweet Sue. I love our online chats. It brings a smile to my face when we get to have little chats.
Sue has been an inspiration to me and has helped me ,without realising it through a very hard time in our family through her honesty and unique writing style. Thank you.

So now I need to tell you 7 things about myself that you may not know about me.!!

1. I love coffee. As a nurse, I consumed tooo many cups a day. Now I limit myself to 2.
2. I have the most adorable teenager as a daughter. I am so Blessed. But I think you all know that.
3. I am actually rather shy..when I was at school, I would go beetroot red if I was spoken to.
4. Caving and Abseiling and rockclimbing where my hobbies before I was married. Could I do them again. Yep in a flash.
5. My favourite subject is Human Anatomy and Geography.
6. We have lived in 5 houses in our married life.
7. Italy is my favourite country, but I would holiday any day in the Sunshine coast QLD.

And now for my awards. I love all my blogs I read but would like to
nominate
Anne from Under her Starry Mantle. I love her creations and she has been a treasure to find
Elizabeth from In the Heart of my home. Elizabeth has been a great inspiration to me with her many honest blog posts and her published books.
Lacy from Catholic Icing. I love Laceys craft. It was very helpful at Homeschool camp. Thanks.
Erin From Seven little Australians and counting. another inspiring blogger. We share many similar styles.
Faith from Strewing: Unschooling resources. I love her tuesday strewday.
I would like to nominate 2 teen bloggers, who both try very hard to keep interesting and fun blogs.
Sara. who tries hard to keep her blog fun and keeps close to her friends. I enjoy reading her blog posts.
Beth Who loves 50's fashion and Narnia, and has a great writing style.

Well I think I have written everything I need to. Hope these bloggers enjoy there award as much as I have.

What an Adventure

2011-10-10T14:01:00.004+11:00

Wow what a month.... We had a homeschool camp, a week away as a family, and two weeks official school holidays between terms 3 and 4.
We had such a busy time, I ended up needing a few days to recover. And in truth so did Brid.

I wanted to share with you about our holiday.
We decided as we were so close to the Boarder of NSW & Queensland, that we would take a holiday up that way.
As Dermot works from home, its harder for him to switch off if we have holidays at home, so we try to get away at least once a year.

Coolangatta Beach

So back to our holiday...We left camp...stopped in the village of Lennox Head, had a lovely morning coffee and milkshake, and drove the hour or so to Coolangatta.
We needed to waste a little time as we were unable to check in to our accomodation before 1pm, so we drove through Byron Bay and had the car washed. It was very very dusty.
The Gps got us to our accomodation and we checked in, unpacked and were taken aback by the gorgeous views. We would see Dermot later that afternoon. Meanwhile, we got used to our surroundings and relaxed. Had a late lunch on the beach and sent txtx back to family.
We got lost getting to the airport- the gps took us on back streets that didn't exist anymore. All I wanted to do was see my Darling.
So finally with Dermot arriving safely on the scheduled flight from our home town, we started our holiday, But not before one young lady got the bug that everyone else got after camp. No fun for her or us getting up most of the night. By the next evening she was beginning to feel better. So We had a fairly chilled out quite day.

Anne & myself

Our first big day was meeting up with another Homeschooling family and a Lady who always inspires me. We had a lovely day at Marian Valley- once we found it. After Mass, it didn't take long to spot Anne. That was a special meeting. It was lunch time so we shared what we had prepared. Anne and Phil and there children walked us around the valley and we looked at each of the statues and the grottos.
The Children explored and made friends. At the end of the day, the children were making a bridge close to where we were picnicing.
The piety shop was worth the visit. There was a talk being presented on Padre Pio, but we were happy to just chat. The day came to a close much to quickly, but we have lovely memories.

just getting to know the Dolphin

Us at Sea World

Sea World was next on the list. I love Sea World and although it was Brid who chose the place we would go, I secretly hoped she would choose Sea World. We asked for a homeschool discount and we received one. Wow.. great saving. We have been to this park before when our older children were little- Brid was a baby, and it has grown each time. This time we wanted Brid to have an adventure with the Dolphins. It was a great experience, and apart from the DVD and photo we received, in a package, we have some very cool photos of her with the Dolphins.

At the boarder

Our all day long excursions to these difference parks we explored, were offset by days of just chilling by the surf, on the beach, or a lovely beach walk during the day or at sunset.

What the Zoo is famous for- its crocs

Africa section- Steve Irwin dreamed of this

We visited the Wildlife warriors intensive care for wounded annimals- attached to the zoo.

We have been to Australia Zoo as well-again when Brid was very young, but as we particularly like it, we drove the 2 hours north, past Brisbane and into the sunshine coast. We knew it was a long drive making it a big day but it was definitely worthwhile.
We have seen Australia Zoo grow from a very small zoo to its size today. Its message has always been conservation, preservation. It was a great learning day. The wildlife warriors hospital was an interesting experience seeing the animals hurt by human misadventure and the extend of the hospital

So after a week, sunning ourselves, long beach walks, theme parks and catching up with friends it was time to travel south. We dropped in to see Erin on our way home. Thanks for lunch Erin.
And then the long drive South. We were rather surprised at the journey only taking 8 and half hours, once we took our stops out.

A little addit, Brid took most of these photos, thanks to her wonderful photography course she took with some other hunter homeschooling teens

The liturgical year

2011-10-05T16:17:00.001+11:00

At Homeschool camp recently we were asked to reflect and talk about how we celebrate the liturgical year.

I have been thinking on this a lot since then.

I remembered the year I really began taking notice of the liturgical calendar.
It was Advent and I was involved in a mothers group helping organise Children’s Masses in our church. Our children were all very small and attending school.
In the bulletin each week was a prayer and a reflection for each week of Advent. With a little bit of resistance we began saying the prayers. I realised change needed to be implemented slowly.
A little while later I realised that the colours in the church changed according to the season. Oh I was fascinated. I was so very green. I think I am trying to say here is that its ok to be where you are, and build upon these ideas as you go along.
I discovered that Mary had a month dedicated to her and the Rosary had a month as well. I didn’t quite know what to do but I had Mary as a central figure in our home at this time. As I said I was just learning.
Its very different to how I discovered the world of other Homeschooling Catholic families once we began homeschooling and looking at the blogging world. I had so much to learn. There were so many beautiful ways to celebrate the liturgical year and I was totally overwhelmed. I began with dolly steps.
I remember discussing this with a friend. We both purchased several pieces of cloth in liturgical colours and began following the liturgical year more closely.
I realised that each month has its dedication. March- St Joseph, May- Our Lady,etc.
So my reflection included looking at the progression of this. We now have a Family Alter, we are comfortable in the liturgical colours and how and when to use them. Candles and statues or prayer cards are happily added as we celebrate the Saints and their feast days. A cake and an image of the Saint is the best way we celebrate them. A litany is a favourite in our home. November is a favourite because we say the litany of the Saints and pray for the Souls in purgatory. Last year we placed every Saint on red cardboard and asked there intercession each day. We will do this again.
What a journey we have had. The calendar is now second nature.

So be comfortable where you are, and allow God to teach you. Don’t be stressed, just enjoy.

Feast Of St Therese of Liseux or the Little Flower

2011-10-03T18:29:00.001+11:00

She is the Saint of the little ways. I have learnt through parenting and particularly its the little ways that we see grace and Gods love.

We had grand plans for this feast day. Brid had been given a St Therese statue by her Grandma last Christmas- they share the same Patron Saint. This all came unstuck once we realised that a retreat for teen girls was on this weekend.

So before we left for our journey to join this retreat, we hurriedly place St Therese on the family dining table were flowers were waiting for her.

As St Therese is also celebrated in the old calendar on 3rd October, we will be enjoying her feast day then. .....

I first heard of her through a friend many years ago. I read her book ‘The story of a Soul’, and the story really didn’t capture my attention. Some time later, Brid chose her as her confirmation Saint. She had many saints chosen so she prayed and asked the Saint wanting to be her Confirmation Saint to make it known to her. Brid decided to do a novena to St Therese, and nearly everyday she received a flower or a rose. On the last day, a person in a shop handed her a bunch of roses. Brid knew St Therese was the Saint for her.

So happily she added this name to her given names on her confirmation day.

Recently I read a lovely inspiring book. A little way of homeschooling – Suzie Andres. St Therese again.
Is she trying to tell me something, is this a message for me. Everywhere I go, she is there, present, waiting for me. I feel totally surrounded by her.
So today on her feast day, I took myself to Mass and I found myself attending Adoration and Benediction afterward. It was a very peaceful and calming experience.

All day I was thinking, “I wonder how Brid is celebrating this feast day? What is Mum doing? How are the girls and the Sisters getting on? Are they enjoying each others company.

Brid dressed up as St Therese at a Saints Party, aged 9

How did you celebrate St Therese of Liseux’ feast day.?

Every now and again...

2011-09-26T21:26:00.000+10:00

What music did you enjoy when you were younger?

Whilst I was a teen and younger I was like any teeny bopper of my age, I loved Pop music and countdown- Australian popular music show. I was raised in a fairly secular home.
When I was a preteen, I saw Suzi Quatro on the TV and I fell in love with her music and wanted to research her every song and move, everything she liked. Obsessed. Maybe....
I grew up with her music and posters all over my walls and remember every tour she did of Australia, every song to every album. I was hooked. I had scrapbooks and collected everything Suzi. I liked that she was a Catholic. I identified with us both being Catholic. This was yet another piece in the puzzle in my discovery of God.
As my relationship with Jesus grew I tried to weigh this all up. I know that I needed to renounce this music, but it’s not that bad. Its just good fun.
You see I have personally met Suzi, so I knew she was a really normal cool person. She is like a friend to my whole family. I have watched as a fan as she branched out into theatre, stage acting, as she became a mum, as she hurt when her Mum died, joined her on facebook, and as wrote her autobiography, and remarked at each new song she wrote. All our children know who she is and have been raised with her music. Some have even seen her concerts.
So my little secret is now out there, I am a huge Suzi Quatro fan. ( Not that I am ashamed of it, its just I don't discuss it regularly.) I have seen her around the world and even got to spend time with her on one aussie tour in particular. I was friends with the road crew and her band. We have a friendship forged with Bev in the UK.
So how does this fit into my life as a committed Catholic. ?
How do I weigh it all up? I don’t. I leave it up to God. Every couple of years I see her play a few gigs in Australia. I am Leanne- little rocker for a few hours a night and then I return to normality..
Suzi is back in Australia for the next few weeks. Dermot took me to see her in Queensland and last night in Sydney. We have one more show to go and that will be a family affair.

a few years ago...

So do you have any secrets in your closets.???

Dads day

2011-09-08T11:14:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday, We celebrated Fathers' day.
Dermot received a few gifts first thing in the morning. Brid could hardly wait. She took hours, the day before wrapping her treasures and making them just so. I eventually needed to hurry her along. It was nearly time for Vigil Mass.
So after a simple breakfast we made ourselves ready for our visitors, making sure to spoil Dermot along the way.
We had planned to gather together early afternoon for a BBQ lunch and catch up.

The evening before our visiting Priest had asked the Dads to stand for a Blessing and several Dads including Dermot were asked to read the Prayers of the Faithful. It was a lovely touch to his weekend as he called it.
Anyway, We chose a fairly simple menu for lunch, so I wasn't in the house cooking.
I wanted the Men-my Dad and Dermot, to enjoy there day.
They opened there carefully chosen Gifts from there family. Lots of lovely smiles and gratitude as there gifts were warmly received.
It was a gorgeous afternoon, no wind, mild sunny weather. We chatted til after 5 o'clock outside without needing to be chased inside with the cold air.

My Dad, Brid Louise & myself

the two happy Dads

Daddy & Brid

Grandad & Brid

Here are a few shots of our day. We are so Blessed to have such loving Dads in our lifes.

24 years ago...

2011-09-07T13:23:00.000+10:00

We celebrated our 24th Wedding Anniversary earlier this week. We were married in my local parish.
We met 25 years ago in London. I was working in a pub, as most Aussies did when they took up a working Visa in the UK. Dermot was a London resident.
We met the first week I arrived. My heart skipped a beat.
We eventually spent more and more time together. We would take long walk in the park, enjoy Covent gardens, all those things couples do. I would leave work and he was there at the back, with his wink waiting to drop me home.
Fairly quickly we realised that we were meant to be together.
Within three weeks we were talking Marriage, the name of our children, how many children do you think we would be Blessed with?
Then the big decision were to live? I could get UK residency. That was not an issue, but was this the right place to start our life together?
Dermot decided that he would emigrate to Australia. This process took quite some time.
The Australian Embassy was quite slow at processing Dermot's forms.
We had a couple of hiccups. The Australian Government was only interested in Legal and people with 3 A levels. Dermot had neither. So we chose to apply for a fiance' visa.
This still took many months but at least if I stayed in the UK, He was more assured of being successful in his application. So we kept busy working and enjoying life together. By this stage I was a live out Nanny.
In the mean time, We needed to tell Dermots parents. They were not amused at all, and I was not the most popular person.
Eventually they knew it was inevitable and we would be leaving the shores of the UK with a destination of Australia.
The go ahead was given, and we needed to choose a date, it was governed by our marriage date, so the 5th June was our exit date. If you have a Fiance' visa, a 90 day period is givenfor you to Marry. So with my Parents assistance and the documents supplied by the Parish Priest we were to be married some 90 days later.
So our day arrived. I was late arriving at the church. The photographer held us up.
I looked at the invited guests. I said to my Dad, "There aren't many people". He said, "don't worry about that". It was a big arc shaped church, so it does hold a large congregation....The rest for another day.
So 24 years ago Dermot & I were married. I feel like the most Blessed women in the world. He is so adorable and he tries so hard to love me like I would like to be loved.

So Little Brid put a lovely request on the radio. "walking her home". Its all about the journey of a married couples life. I hope and pray we are able to walk each other home, even to our Lord. What a Blessed life we have loving each other. That is the witness our world needs. Married couples loving each other through every good and difficult time.

I love you my Love, my best friend.

Daddy time- ......This is what I am Thankful for

2011-09-01T20:41:00.001+10:00

Brid and Dermot have been reading every night. They have finally finished Pippy Longstockings.

I am not sure what they will read next but here they are laughing and enjoying there reading time together

wordless wednesday

2011-08-31T09:39:00.000+10:00

..........The life of a homeschooler.....

wordless wednesday

2011-08-24T17:20:00.000+10:00

The day the Passha Bulcker came to town

Meme: Patron Saint of What?

2011-08-22T09:58:00.001+10:00

Sue at Sue Elvis Writes, tagged me for this Saintly meme.

Assuming you are a saint, and your cause has been executed, your miracles confirmed, your date on the calendar established, all that is required is select that of which Holy Mother Church will name you Patron(ess).

For this meme, you must name your patronage and then tag 5 other people who would like to play along. Link your answer to your nominator's post.

Well firstly I must say, I am humbled to be tagged for this meme.
I have been pondering this question for some days. Patron Saint of what. Me. I am not a Saint, but what would I be Patron Saint of?

There could be a few areas.
Modern Family Issues. This one is close to my heart with brokenness even in my own childrens lives. I understand the affects society has on our families.
Justice for the falsely accused. Again close to our heart. We have spend years asking why were we accused of and judged by our own families. We read recently a book called Sarahs last wish- a story about our local Docs, local teaching hospital and thee manipulation of the legal system and its affects on the health of sarah and her family. My heart connected with this family, and how it was turned upside down, and I understood there pain. I have a friend at the moment undergoing terrible allination and it upsets me and I pray for her and her family.
Marriage; the upholding of the traditional marriage and family values. For our society to see A Married couple -Male and Female, Husband and wife, as a witness as to how Christ loves his Church. This is a very scary situation in our world at present.
These three causes, I feel very strongly about and would be quite humbled to pray for and be Patron saint of any of these issues.
But I feel the most important of all these is the sanctity of the family and a traditional marriage. This is the cause, as such, that I would loved to be Blessed as Patron Saint of.

So I hope the following 5 bloggers will accept the invitation to continue this thought prevoking fun meme.
Corrine at Embracing hats
Therese at Aussie coffee shop
Gae at Cherished Hearts at home
Tricia at Do Whatever he Tells you
Leonie at Living without School

Oh and one last one.Gods Girl.
God Bless.

The Assumption.

2011-08-16T21:03:00.000+10:00

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.

On Saturday Vigil Mass, I opened the parish bulletin to see when the Mass for this Feast would be celebrated. I was so disappointed when I read 7am. This was for 3 Mass centres.
So Sunday I began to ring a few Parishes to find a much more friendly time for us.
Our former Parish had Mass being celebrated 3 times that day.

We decided to attend the Cathedral at 12md.
We knew we would need to be there early as the parking in the streets is tight.
Brid & I met Dermot there.
There was much hussle & bussle around us, but we focused on the alter and the beautiful statue of Our Lady.
Mass began and we were delighted to hear the lovely organ and the old traditional music playing.
It was a beautiful Mass and Fathers' homily was touching to say the least.

He said those who draw close to Mary, she in turn draws them to her Son. So true isn't it.

Such a Memory WYD -Sydney

2011-08-11T09:47:00.000+10:00

I pray our Youth will Receive the Power.

2 years later..

2011-08-09T11:05:00.000+10:00

Two years ago we moved to this our new home. I have previously blogged about this here. We loved our last home very much. We found the land, we found the design plan, we interviewed the builder, each of the children got to decide which room they would have. We were not locked out as they build our home. We were included and our input was valued by our builder. We grew our home and we planted and moved every piece of soil where we needed it. Brid was born in this home. It was our family home.
So when it came to making the decision to move, it was hard, very hard. God made that decision, and it took us a while to follow that lead.
He moved us to an area that we never would have considered, but now we see why.
We have been planted among friends, we are being nurtured, and we are in turn nurturing. We were pretty broken when we arrived, but you know no one would have known from the outside. We took refuge here and God has given us new life, in the form of our own resurrection from death.
We have a very comfortable home on around half an acre. We have build and added several features that make us comfortable in our bricks and mortar. These are wonderful and we thank God for providing for us, but only part of our family is here with us.
This is our new family home and one day each of our children will see and love it, like we do. Until then we pray and look after each other.
We keep ourselves nurtured in Gods love.
Since we have been here, we have opened our home to Marriage gatherings monthly. It is growing every month and it inspires and challenges us all.
We have had may types of others gatherings, all Church related and we love opening our home to these types of get togethers.
God has Blessed us abundantly and we are forever indebted to him.
I must also say that St Joseph played a large part in our moving. He saw that our house was sold and we exchanged houses on the same day. We were told we had sold our home on a Marian Feast day. We moved in on the Feast of Transfiguration. So I have no doubt that we had divine intervention with all of this.
We are in the process of Building a Mary Garden and St Joseph is an image you see as you enter our home.

We have been here 2 years thak you Lord.

Feast of St Mary of the Cross

2011-08-08T11:01:00.000+10:00

Our first Australian Saint, We celebrate her Feast Day today.

Mary overcame many obstacles to follow her dream, but she never lost hope. Mary’s motto was ‘never see a need without trying to do something about it.’ Her life reveals to us a compassionate God, a God of love. Her actions acknowledged the human dignity of each person. Her life speaks to Australians, in a unique way, of the message of God’s love for all, especially for the ‘underdog’ and the ‘battler.’ She embodies all that is best in our Australian nation and its people

Saints are the heroes of the Church. Mary MacKillop may not have considered herself a saint but those around her saw her heroic qualities and began to see her as a saintly person.

Receiving Jesus on our knees

2011-08-04T10:47:00.001+10:00

I was reading through Cathnews today and I saw this article.
I immediately opened it as its area of discussion with another friend. I am in favour of this, but in our modern Catholic world I can see resistance.

The Vatican cardinal in charge of the Mass wants to the faithful to go back to the practice of receiving communion on the tongue while kneeling, reports the Australian.

The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, said such a "sign of adoration needs to be recovered".
"I think the entire church needs to receive communion while kneeling," said the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
"It is to simply know that we are before God himself and that he came to us and that we are undeserving," he told the Catholic News Agency during a visit to Peru last week.
"If we trivialise communion, we trivialise everything, and we cannot lose a moment as important as that of receiving communion, of recognising the real presence of Christ."
The cardinal said Catholics who received communion while standing should make "a genuflection or profound bow".

Burn-out Encouragement night topic

2011-07-28T14:20:00.000+10:00

Here where we live, we are fortunate to have a large homeschooling community. Every month, mothers are invited to get together to discuss an area of homeschooling.
This month was burn out. I can identify with burn out in others areas of my life. My job as a Midwife was wonderful, but very stressful. I worked Delivery Suite. You never knew what the shify would entail.
I had every symptom of burnout, but my time to move out of the unit for a 6 week break was 12 months away. WHAT!! I was desperate, so I organised with another midwife of exactly the same experience to work my 6 week roster, and I would do her roster in post natal.
The Lord had other plans, because I was sick before I could take my break. I had the Flu twice, and then Pertussis. I was very weak when I returned to work months later, but nurses soldier on, don't we. I looked at my Roster. Night duty, and 2 solid weeks. Argh. I welled up. In that moment, I knew I had to leave. The Midwife looking across at me, when I read my roster, could see how upset I was. I was struggling getting to work for reduced hours and getting out of bed on time. I was exhausted getting from the carpark to the unit. So how was I going to do 10 and half hour nights. And look after my family.
So what were my symptoms of burnout. It is a little embarrassing but... I dreaded every labouring women walking in the door. "If I hear another....". I didn't want to spend time getting to know the couple and the Mum to be. Totally unlike me, I couldn't see my way clear, everything was fussy regarding work. My clarity had gone. I knew this was not the best way to present myself in my area of work. This is why I knew it was the best thing for me, to have a break.
It never happened.
I left the next day. I didn't give my mandatory 4 weeks’ notice. I took extended sick leave. All my colleagues were totally shocked.
When I had recovered sufficiently, I worked casual at the local Private Maternity Hospital.

So Burn out, I do know the signs. I may find myself stressed from time to time, but it is me creating the stress. Placing unfair expectations on Brid. So how do I deal with the stress. It might sound simple, but I take it The Lord.
I re-evaluated our school day. What was necessary and what was not.
A word used last night was 'slashing' curricula. I do that often. I felt guilty in the past, at times. Do others do this? And the answer is Yes they do. So if things aren't working we try a new direction, all the while learning.
At present we are using a resource. Stories of the Saints - CatholicHeritage Curriculum. Great resource, but we slash as we go. Brid is still learning. The resource covers all the key learning areas, and more. Therefore, if Brid is not happy doing a question, I access. "Is this worth it". More than not, its better to have harmony, enjoy the topic than drudge through it. Often we reap much more this way.
I wake up every morning wondering what God has install for us this day. I love homeschooling Brid, I love our lifestyle, I love the fact that my darling hubbie works from home, I love my family and I thank God for every opportunity, he places in my path.
This post did not follow the path I expected it would but it followed its own journey....
Two of my homeschooling friends, from the hunter, have written great posts on last night’s topic. Pop over and have a read.

Grandparents and St Anne & St Joachim

2011-07-26T09:44:00.001+10:00

Today is a special memorial day in our church liturgical calendar.
It was in the home of Joachim and Ann where the Virgin Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Thus, devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the affection Christians have always professed toward our Blessed Mother. We, too, owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for their help in our Christian formation.
I was trying to decide how best to celebrate this day for us as a family, in this modern world. I decided I would ask Brid if she would write to her Grandparents. She would not only write but send them a photo of her with them. She also explained in her letter why she was sending it. As St Anne and St Joachim are Jesus grandparents, she wanted to do something special for them.

Today we will say our Chaplet to St Anne and I will honour my own Grandparents.

This is me with my Grandparents and tiddles the cat, when I was a baby

WYD reflection. Journey of the Cross & Icon 07

2011-07-16T22:04:00.004+10:00

The Cross & Icon arrives at our church, very early in the morning- 1am.

We kept ourselves warm with a bonfire and BBQ from 11pm.

We have been talking a lot about WYD in Madrid and the ones in the future. These photos are of the young people in our dioceses and the places the Cross and Icon journeyed in 2007, with the Days in the Dioceses.
It was a very Blessed and special time.
I convinced our Priests to embrace the allocated transfer of the Cross and Icon- even if it was 2 in the morning- We stayed and waited with Cross & Icon as a community. We were surprised as to how many people attended Mass at this hour.

Fr awaits the Procession as Aboriginal Sacred ground is prepared.

reflecting and touching the Cross

A very young Brid couldn't wait to be part of it.

Brid and The Icon of Our Lady

Kieran on the left, Kristie in yellow and Brid all carrying flags as the Cross and Icon journeyed through Newcastle Foreshore. I have just noticed our previous Bishop Michael in the background.

memory - the suds

2011-07-12T19:46:00.000+10:00

I have another little Memory.

My favourite inside game was playing in the dishwashing suds in the washing up water. Mum would fill the sink. Wash up the knives and sharp items and then it was my turn.

This is another little story.....

I would climb up on a chair. I would be in my element.
I remember listening to the radio and pouring tea for the ladies and beer for the men. The suds served as the froth in the glasses and as milk in the tea and saucers.
I listened to every song on the radio, and even now, when I here songs from that era, and I realise I was too young to remember this. I would think... “aaahhh.. it was a washing up song.”
It was such fun, eventually everything would get put into the drainer, and I would be finished. Dad would come in and wipe up. Often there was very little done, but playing. It kept me occupied though, and It is really good memory.
There were no real accidents this time, except a maybe water on the lino floor.
Washing up has always been my thing.
My children have not really taken to this fun activity. Maybe its because there is so much more to do in there generation.
So these days, I wash up, and everyone wipes up. Do you have a memory?

memories...can you remember !!!!

2011-07-06T22:05:00.000+10:00

I have wanted to write a post called memories for ages. Trouble was I needed some old photos. I then needed to scan them in to the computer. I finally remembered to ask Mum for some photo albums. I can now scan to my hearts content. My memory posts can begin.

It was my favourite thing to do as a very young girl. Make mud pies.
There was always a never ending supply of dirt and water to make mud pies, under the house. I was probably all of 4.
I had made my mud pie and to be authentic, I would use mums’ good cooking tins. The anodized, brassy, gold colour ones. This one day I placed my masterpiece in the oven. I was pretending to let it cook. I got busy doing something else while waiting for the imaginary pie to be ready for my guests- my dolls.

This is what Mum has told me since:-My Mum came past and looked at the oven, through the glass door. To herself she said, “Oh I must have made dinner already, I will just turn it on”.

Ooops. Mum came back to mud plopping and spluttering out of the tin in the oven. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It was mid to late afternoon and I know she was getting my little brother settled. I often played outside, when she was attending to my brother.

I don’t actually remember Mum turning the oven on, or the mess in the oven, but Mum has reminded me many times of my mud pies.

So there you have it, my mud pies. So ladies watch your darlings and check wants in the oven before turning it on. I always have. And guess what, Mum did from that day on as well.

Yes this is me..playing outside

I will be back with another memory.

She is so sweet...

2011-06-26T12:04:00.000+10:00

We all like to have breakfast together and we encourage Brid to be dressed and ready for 8am. Late last week Brid was ready quite early, I commended her and hugged her Good Morning.
She had our local Christian radio station on and she was listening to every word the radio announcer said.
Then...
"Mum Dad Listen". Of course we did.
we heard " This song is for Leanne. Its her favourite song and how do I know that, because Brid, her daughter requested it for her this morning."
I do love it and myimagination wonders to my daughters and our relationships with them, every time I hear it.
Thank you Brid, you are so sweet.

camping in our family room

2011-06-16T14:00:00.001+10:00

Last weekend, we celebrated Pentecost and the Queens birthday.. This means a long weekend....

I declared on Friday. Oh great, a long weekend for Pentecost. It was raining and miserable, so I thought lets camp in our family room.
Actually, I mentioned this to Brid on the Thursday evening and it was met with great delight. So Friday evening I pulled out the lounge and made it into a sofa bed. Put lots of blankets and pillows on it and we were set.
Dermot looked at me surprised, this was unlike me.
We stoked up the fire and it heated us all weekend. Our cat, Bailey, was quite happy on his mat by the fire.
We had made our Pentecost craft, earlier that week. Our tables and our family alter were draped in the Liturgical colour of red. Actually we keep these colours draped for June.
I woke unwell with a headache, on Saturday morning, meaning Dermot’s plans to spoilt us with bacon n eggs for breakfast was somewhat dampened. I felt terrible as I had spoilt his plan. We made the most of it and as soon as my headache cleared I was able to rejoin the camping trip.
That evening our parish was having a Pentecost party and welcoming our new parish Priest. The parish hall had been decorated. Red balloons, doves and flames of fire were decorating the walls. Red was the theme; serviettes, table sprinkles, candles. It was gorgeous. It was a real fun night. Had I mentioned we were asked to bring a meal to share. Brid made our contribution, as I was still not up to it. Brid had chopped, cut and diced veges and chicken for the slow cooker. Dermot poured in red wine. It was delicious.
It was also 8 years to the day from when we had attended a retreat called Cursillo. So there was a mini celebration in that as well, because quite a few people who had attended that weekend were present at this parish event.
The following day, we woke to a mini flood. It had rained so much that the storm water drains could not handle the amount of water. My mum and Dad were coming for a baked late lunch. Apple pie for dessert. I had second thoughts as this water was building up. With a little bit of thought we had it cleared and we started to get organised for our visitors. It was in the end a very relaxing afternoon, After lunch, the men watched the football us women and children chatted.
Sunday saw us go fishing between rain showers. Brid really enjoyed that, and so did we.
Our weekend, although it was wet was lots of fun, just being together camped in our family room.

My Dad

2011-06-10T13:24:00.000+10:00

When I was a teenager and studying, my Dad was also studying. I don’t actually remember a time when he wasn’t studying.

Dad had a fairly tough upbringing and needed to start work to help support his mum and sister. This was around the time most of our kids are still gaining high school education.
Dad began to gain a trade as a toolmaker at the BHP- Newcastle. It was the largest employer in our area at time. He progressed to completing his fitting and machining certificate and around this time he met my Mum, his love. I think he also drove trucks while I was a baby as well, up and down the NSW coast.
They married very young. Dad wanted to get ahead financially. He didn’t have a Dad around when he was younger or have any financial security, so to him these where his reasons to begin working in the coalmines, about 40 minutes from our home.
It was dangerous work, and although he was able to provide for his family very well, he still wanted to achieve academically. The mine company was willing to pay for Dad to gain higher education. This would mean he would be able work above ground and not below with the coal and the danger of mine collapses. This began with firstly gaining his school certificate- it was at the time called a leaving certificate. He left before gaining this originally, as his Mum needed him to earn an income for the family.
So when I was in at school, he was studying toward his School Certificate, then his High School Certificate, this then helped him achieve his Mechanical Engineering Certificate. As he was a mature age student, he was able to gain credit points.
He loved Shakespeare and was fortunate that a TV station was running the plays he was studying it. He has fond memories of him and Mum reciting parts along with the play, before he left for work.
Dad’s aim was always to ‘get out of the mines’. His words were it was ‘too dangerous’.
With all this study, he fast tracked himself to teachers college. He was offered a position to teach his trade at one of our TAFE colleges- Tertiary & further education, in our area. So while I was in my high school years he was teaching at TAFE.
It was great, for the first time in years Dad was home in the evenings. He was always working swing shift – 2pm til 9pm. I used to help him mark some of the student’s tests. I knew it was a responsibility but I was sitting alongside my Dad, we were working together. I felt very important.
When I was in my final years at secondary school and in my student nursing years, I would study at the TAFE in Dads’ office, if he had any evening classes, because it was quite. I was also aware. that at home, there were distractions. Like a telephone or chats with Mum.
So Dad had quite a journey to get to his teaching position. He taught for a many years, but as Dad has always been a hard worker, 11 -12 weeks off a year holidays, were far too many. He needed to keep his mind and hands active. He got a job as a machinist in his holidays.
This started him on his next journey- His Own business. He was using his skills he learnt and taught. He runs it to this day, and as he is 70 now, he is winding it down.
Dad’s position at the Colliery- coalmine, meant that there home was paid off very quickly, leaving them quite secure financially. As I have said, this is very important for Dad. I remember the year there home was completely paid off. We were sat down and explained that our usual twice yearly, family get aways holidays, were being cancelled for that year. I was so proud of them. I was totally OK with that. It is a memory I will have always.
Dad really tried his best to be the best he could be. He was tough, but fair. He and of course my Mum are our biggest supporters of homeschooling, because they see things outside of the box.

2011-06-05T20:36:00.001+10:00

After having our slow Combustion fire in and working now for a while now, I have come to the conclusion that I will never look at a stick or twinge again in the same way.

These pieces of tree will always now be looked at as kindling. We have a few trees on our property and at various times throughout the year, they drop their branches.
In the past, we have picked them up and placed them on the gardens. Not anymore. !!!!

We- Brid & I take our wheelbarrow and collect our branches and twinges. Brid and I sort them into smallest to largest. We break them into approx. 12 inch long pieces, if we can. A selection of each size can be taken to the fire and use to build our fire.

So yes, I am Miss Organisation. Comes with the nursing back. The organisation that was in ground in me by my senior nurses, educators, Nuns and the busyness of intensive areas I loved to work in.
That means each size has its own bucket and it makes it easier to pick the days selection of firewood.

As soon as the fire was installed, Dermot organised a delivery of wood that he and Brid stacked in the shed. She being the apprectice to Miss organisation, picked up all the small pieces and we now have a lovely selection of very small pieces of wood. Thank you Brid.
I suppose you are wondering why I have called this post Channel F? HMmm. Well it’s because looking at the fire burning is the best TV channel. No violence or disturbing viewing on this channel. No sadness or bad news. Only warmth and a crackle. Great to read a book by.....

So we invite you to come and warm yourself by our fire.

Channel F cont....

2011-06-03T20:30:00.001+10:00

Dermot cut the whole in the ceiling, had everything positioned for the minimum of tiles to be cut, minimum wood beams to be disturbed. He really thought about it. So with a little bit of effort, and a helpful little Brid, and some grunting they got the flue in. I was out weeding a much needed garden, and I saw Brid was half out of the roof, she was thoroughly enjoying her unschooling day, up in the roof with Daddy.

Next was the flashing. Nearly done...he was excited. He thought he was doing well, until he looked down....and there was a huge hole where the flashing should have been. It had come out of the ring seal that was made to fit the chimney flue. Oh dear!!! I heard no further noise and as I had been praying prayers of protection for him while up on the roof, I thought I had better look. The look said it all. He was despondent.

I encouraged him to cover it all, and come down from the roof.. He looked exhausted and had nothing more to give physically or mentally. He cleaned up his tools, I drew him a bath and gave him a cold drink. He sat there going over what had gone wrong. He called my Dad and they worked out a day to fix it. BUT .....an hour later it rained and we had a hole in our roof. Oh well, it wasn’t a good hour. But Dermot managed to cover the hole. Next morning we put our heads together and tried to reassemble the flashing- it just wasn’t working. I saw sense pretty quickly, and rang the company. “No Sir,” I heard a voice say to Dermot, “It is faulty, we will send you a new one”.

Dermot got the part from the supplier, bringing Dad with him, and they happily finished off the job. We lit our fire as it needs to cure slowly. So we were to light 3 cool fires for 20 / 20 and 40 mins. Then we were set. So a Fireplace we have, and we have been waiting and dreaming since 1993.

It has been a delight, and after all the effort Dermot can see how much he learnt about his own strengths and weaknesses. Thank you, Dermot for spoiling me. I love you.

Now onto wood collecting. ........only joking, until next time.

Channel F

2011-06-02T20:02:00.000+10:00

I have to confess I am married to the most amazing man. He spoils me beyond belief, and at times I don’t appreciate it.
When we were first married, we bought a little house close to my parents, about 3 kms away. It wasn’t flash, it was on a steep large block and it needed lots of renovation work, which I thought we may do. The part we loved the most was its fireplace. It was our only form of heating all those years ago. We would have the fire burning all day in winter. It was the best TV I could have had. We would be mesmerised by it.
We outgrew that home and we purchased land and build our family home. We always dreamed of putting in a fireplace, but we knew it would be costly, as we had grand plans of mantle pieces. So 17 years later when we sold that home, we made sure we had the maths right for a fireplace in this our new home.
I really wasn’t sure if we could afford it, so I left it up to God. If he allowed it, well and good.
I did however, have a spot ready for it and I even had our cat lying in the spot where it would be so he would be comfortable in that spot.
Anyway without me knowing Dermot looked into various slow combustion fires and ordered one. Really !!! Was I surprised? He looked into installation and he decided I can do it myself. Go Dermot!! The man who when we moved from UK to Australia couldn’t mow a lawn or put oil in a car, let alone install a fireplace.
The fireplace was available to pick up last week, so my Dad and Dermot loaded it in Dads little van and drove home. It was HEAVY. How were we to get it inside our home? It is made of cast iron. Well using our heads and a bit of practical physics we – Dermot, Dad, Brid & myself- dragged and pulled it with cardboard underneath and a large towel once we got it up the step using the pallet it came on. It was positioned. Yeah!!
Now Dermot over the next day or two would make his schedule clear to install it.........

New Blog

2011-06-02T10:16:00.000+10:00

I have created a new Blog for all my school entries.
Including my older childrens stories from there schooldays.
Life as a Catholic Homeschooling family.
Come in and have a look.
I am still deciding what to add as gadgets.
I have already added some older posts.

2011-06-01T10:27:00.000+10:00

Today while reading the reflection on the readings of today, I was reminded of a passage of Scripture.
I loved this passage.
One day it struck me, its was bigger than I was living.
This was a profound passage which when taken deeply can be a little scary, so I put it away and thought its too big for me.
I said to myself, there is so much more in the scriptures than this passage. God had other plans, he again reminded me of this today.
Do I really want to enlarge my territory? I did and then I withdrew. Yes he has Blessed me abundantly and he keeps Blessing me. Yes, He is with me in all the mess of life. Yes, he keeps me from evil, but the last bit it a problem. Can I at all times not cause pain.

Shall I ask again,
You may have guessed already, its;-
The prayer of Jabez, " Oh, That you would Bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted himwhat he requested. 1 Chr 4:10.

There has been some controversary over the book that was written by Dr Bruce Wilkinson. I am not here to talk about that, just how this prayer has touched me.

Over at our school week

2011-05-30T13:27:00.003+10:00

Go over at my page and have a look... its in direct response to a dear friends Blog post.

250th post...our yearly journey....

2011-05-27T13:00:00.000+10:00

............ to Huntington House

Every year, for the last 14 years we as a family, have made our journey to Huntington House, on the central coast of NSW. It has to be our favourite weekend of the year.

We gather with good friends and our family. We come to just relax, enjoy the surf, the food and good company.

This time it was a lovely May weekend. The beach was hard to resist. Several brave people enjoyed the ocean water. The sun was glorious. Laughter filled the air.
We arrive Friday evening to settle in and fish n chips are the order of the evening. It’s a great catch up night lasting til quite late usually.

Saturday is filled with relaxing, beach walks and some of us head to the shops for a couple of forgotten items, and just a chance to browse.
Saturday night however, is a special night. We pool our meals together. Prepare the tables with flowers and candles. Our friend Phil & I had already searched the yard for flowers we could use as table decorations. It’s his Birthday just after the weekend so a surprise cake & candle are hidden from him until dessert.
Dermot always lights the fire in the evenings. It gets quite cold once the sun sets. We usually play a game or two. It’s such a fun filled night. Our Louise is very competitive, just like her Dad. I have a shocking migraine, so I retire to the darkened bedroom to try and sleep it off.

Next morning, Mass is at 10am. So everyone gathers and we car pool to Our Lady, Star of the sea. It has the best Piety stall I have seen, and it’s always a stop after Mass for a prayer card or a statue.
Morning Coffee awaits us back at our weekend home, out on the back patio overlooking the beach. Lunch gets started and we procrastinate cleaning and packing up, because its been another lovely relaxing weekend. So around 4pm we succumb to the impending drive home knowing we,please God, will return back next year.

To love & to hold.

2011-05-26T11:21:00.001+10:00

Every month a lovely bunch of homeschool mums gets together to share about different topics. This Month was all about How has Homeschooling affected your Marriage.
Well my initial reaction is: It hasn't. Our Marriage has seen enormous stresses and homeschooling would have to be the least.
I was asked to share my tip, that morning of the gathering. As my friend and I were chatting we decided I should talk about the most effective life changing event that has happened in our marriage.
I immediately began to write my words down and I was very excited about sharing, but....I didn't want to take the night over, so I shared on Coffee time... This was the beginning of really sharing together.
I would like to share my thoughts on our marriage changing event.
One Sunday morning while sitting in our pew at church toward the end of Mass, with our children getting restless, a young couple were asked to share about a mariage weekend. We watched them walk up the aisle, with there 5 children in tow. The lady was expecting her 6th. They shared there story. Dermot leaned over to me...'we are doing that weekend'... Dermot doesn't remember saying it..
The invitation was to a marriage enrichment weekend. This was instrumental in leading us into a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other. How God really fits into our lives as a couple raising our family.
We realised we were keeping him out of areas of our relationship. The sharings over the weekend challenged us in so many ways, but we were determined to love and understand each other better.
It gave us the tools to help us in hard times and a community to fit into for support.
This was our couple conversion. It was when we said "yes" to God in a meaningful way. We allowed God into every part of our marriage, even the mud.
So how can we keep the flame alive? Well there's a little secret.
Once a month there is ongoing support in the way of Gathering evenings, in couples homes. The Gathering groups are easy. We run a Gathering group in our home, and we have done so close on 8 years, give or take a break or two.
These couples are like minded and we share life and support each other. So what do we do on these nights? Firstly we Pray. 'Notes' have been downloaded from the website, we take turns to read them aloud, questions discussed and shared only with your spouse. Supper is shared afterwards. Often this is where the real sharing begins as Couples feel comfortable to share with trusted Friends.
This Community we are involved in also reaches out to the engaged, mentoring them through a one on one program called Embrace.
So the tools we are given from celebrate love weekend are:
Praying for Passion in our marriage and all marriages
" I feel" statements rather than accusing statements. "I feel hurts when this happened".
We have also taken tools from the Embrace model as well. Connect Kiss- 10 seconds at least. Connect Hug- Hug until you melt, Affirm your spouse every day, and let him know what you appreciate about him daily.
So Celebrate Love has opened us to what God wants for our marriage, not what the world says we should have.
Even in our darkest times and hardest struggles, God is our strength and guide. We call to him for comfort. We were deeply tested in the last few years with a very nasty incident, which shook us to the core of our being, and really it could have ripped us apart, but we both clung to God and he was there. We know, we felt his presence and peace.
Every ministry we do in our church is as a couple, every decision is together.
The gatherings and our coffee times give us time to discuss Gods word, any issues unfolding in our childrens lives, and we are united and that's couple power.

Would you like to share your secrets to your marriage?

My DAD

2011-05-24T12:57:00.000+10:00

My Dad has a very special birthday today. He turns 70. Happy Happy Birthday Dad. We pray you have a fantastic day basking in our love for you.

Dad always loved cuddles

70 today

His precious Grandaughters

We will celebrate with him tonight. He will miss his only Grandson, Kieran and our 2nd daughter, Kristie. May God be with them in there day today.

special moment

2011-05-16T11:59:00.000+10:00

Louise and I shared a special weekend together very recently. I carefully arranged it so I could attend both the 3^rd annual Sisterhood conference, and have our weekend together. Only to receive an email that sisterhood was scheduled the same weekend, as Louise and my special time together.

Was this God intervening? Probably. What had I learnt from Sisterhood? What was God trying to do here? To be very truthful, I felt torn. A weekend of renewal and being fed spiritually, or a weekend with my darling eldest, continuing to laying down the framework of our adult relationship. I WANTED to do both. God had other plans. I was to follow his plan, because what’s the point of friendships, if I don’t have that with my children.
So the tickets were booked, the row of seating carefully chosen, lovely accommodation was carefully selected as well. The staff of the hotel documented that this was a mother n daughter weekend. So everything was planning out smoothly. Praise God.
Louise has been a dancer since she was 3, and at her very first concert, her class performed A spoonful of sugar, from Mary Poppins. The entire concert, that year was snapshots from this favourite musical ours. Louise was so cute in her little red spotted costume, knee length white socks, red ballet slippers and curly strawberry blonde hair, with a red bow. They pointed their toes and flexed them and looked adorable. Louise chatting to the girl positioned next to her during the performance. Memories. !!!

We have always loved Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews. So this weekend, that I write about is surrounded with many lovely memories and family history.
We were to see the Musical MARY POPPINS. It was like a dream come true. I had to continually pitch myself through the weekend. Is this really happening. I drove to Sydney with Louise, the GPS found the hotel and we parked our car with ease. Arriving at the front desk to be given an upgrade. Wow.

Louise & I shared lunch once we were settled in our room, and decided on how to spend the afternoon. Chatting with Louise was easy. We were both pretty excited and happy to be able to spend a weekend alone, with no one interrupting.

Everytime the Sisterhood weekend came into my head, I prayed for its success, because this time with Louise is fruit from the Sisterhood ministry.

So the time arrived for us to get ready. We had worked out where the Theatre was in relationship to our hotel and we had sorted out dinner. I let Louise choose and she is a bit of a Thai fan. That’s Ok, I was happy just to be spending these precious moments with her. A drink in the Bar close by the theatre was another Treat. We had never been in a bar alone together as adults. We both couldn’t wait to see this long awaited musical. Not long now, I said.

Mary Poppins was everything I thought it would be and more. It told a story from the book, and used, a little bit of poetic license. We clapped and sang along. I snuck a few looks at the Louise’s face. We were like children again. We savoured every moment of the show and purchased a little souvenir at the end.
We were exhilarated on the way home. We shared our favourite moments and planned the next day on the walk back to our lovely room.
Next morning we had Breakfast in the hotel restaurant courtesy of our booked package. This was followed by a trip to Paddys Markets, China town, and a detour to Mrs Macquaries chair- don’t ask Gps thought it was the way home.
We thank God for this weekend and its memories and times we shared, just being together and sharing conversation. It was special and we both want to do it again. So another tradition has begun; Mum & Louise weekends. They may not be as elaborate in the future, but it’s in the sharing that we will develop a more loving, trusting and open friendship as adult women.

Praise you God for your timing, not mine.

My Girls

2011-05-10T15:21:00.000+10:00

Louise and Brid are 10 years apart.
They are so very different, but so very much alike as well. They have similar mannerisms. Louise was very similar to Brid in looks at this age.
Louise was 10 when Brid was born, and she can remember when I was in labour with Brid. She wanted to be present when Brid was born. She was like a little Mummy to her. Somethings never change.
Louise would settle Brid at night, if we didn't hear her. If Brid woke at night sick, she would be there with her, and come and get me when she OK to be left. (the kids rooms were a long way from ours).
Louise takes her role as big sister seriously. She makes sure when she buys gifts for Brid they are significant.
A couple of years ago, Louise paid for Brid to have her ears pierced- with my permission.
Louise chose a gorgeous perfume for Brids' 13th birthday.
As Louise doesn't live here, she likes to have Brid over to stay from time to time, to have girlie time. Thats always special for them both.
They bicker at times and Louise, being the eldest will stamp her authority. This doesn't go down to well with Brid. But as a good sister does she lets it all go and takes it in her stride. At least until, she can chat to me about it.
Sisterly love, its a precious gift, and one I hope they both continue to nuture as there relationship grows.

God Bless you Both

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2011-05-08T19:02:00.000+10:00

To all those Beautiful Blogging Mums out there. May God Bless You abundantly today.

Leanne

We had a lovely Day. Dermot & Brid spoiled me with Breakfast in bed, and singing Happy Mothers day as I was presented little gifts.
I send off as many texts as I could to friends in my address book, to all the Mummys I know.
Dermot took charge of Sunday lunch. He needed very little help from me.
Brid set the table beautifully.
Each place had a placecard. Brid loves placing everyone.
Mum Dad and Louise arrived ready to be served and to serve Mum and myself.
So a Roast Chicken feast was in stall for us, with Chocolate cake for dessert.
Coffee and Tea afterwards.
It was lovely to be spoilt today.

Thank you God for the loving caring beautiful family, you have given me.

Our Lady and Mothers Day

2011-05-06T11:13:00.000+10:00

This month is my favourite month of the liturgical year. I remember being told, this month we honour Mary, the mother of Jesus. I wanted to know more.
I was a pretty green Catholic at the time.
I learnt that the liturgical colour was blue.

We started saying the Rosary daily in May in honour of Our Lady.
My Mum bought me a statue of The Miraculous Mary.

So much as changed since then. BUT I still love this month and Still honour Our Lady.
Late last year we added significant words to our liturgical celebrations. So this Month we have Mary- painted blue. Grace will follow soon. Our family and homeschool alters are covered and draped in blue material.

This weekend in Australia, we as a nation celebrate Mothers' day. We will get together with our family. Dermot and Brid will be cooking. Brid will get my Dad involved.
I will sit and chat with my Mum while the men and children serve us.

This was not quite the way it was done when I was younger, but when Dermot & I married, we started new traditions. One of these is that one birthdays and special days that person is served all day.

When I was younger we would give Mum her presents and we would have Bacon N Eggs- which Mum would cook. Then she would relax while we cleaned up. We would drive to see both my Dads Mum and my Mums' Mum. It was always a lovely day. We would buy Carnations on Friday for both my Nannas. It was a simple day and one we are getting back to.

So I look forward to Sunday and the time I will spend with my Mum and our family.
May God Bless you this weekend.

How I needed her Approval

2011-05-04T11:59:00.001+10:00

It’s been a long and sometimes hard road. I wanted so much for my Mum to want to confide in me and love me as I wanted her too, but it seemed to me that it would never happened.

I began resenting her and her relationships with my children. They would talk, move or cry and what I was saying was completely irrelevant. They were the centre of her life. Mum appeared to me, to want their relationship over mine. That stuck in my throat like a sharp object. I was bitter and unable to confide or have a relationship with her.

I kept telling myself it was Ok. But deep down it was festering. I yearned for that friendship I saw other Mums have with their daughters.

My Nanna introduced me to Our Lady very early in my life. I confided in Our Lady in these hard years. I took her as my Mum. I would confide in her talk to her and cry with her over this situation and other parts of my life. I loved chatting and smiling, crying and being raw with my heavenly Mum. It was so easy.

Then one day, God intervened. A serious situation occurred with one of our children and I needed to have my parents involved completely. They needed to know the real situation, not a fabrication made up by a wayward teen. I had an internal struggle-will I call or will I not, but within 2 minutes I had make the phone call. Both my parents arrived within the hour, concerned, but were also concerned for me. Our relationship began to heal.

It wasn’t easy but I made myself vulnerable to her for the first time in a long time. It took her a lot longer.

Mum finally started sharing with me, her secrets and little things I didn’t know about her, my Dad, my Grandparents and various situations.

It has been a major breakthrough and now we chat easily and our children see this and I hope with God’s grace I keep my relationships strong with our girls.

I wondered how my relationship with my Mum started declining, but that is looking back, and I feel called to move forward. Through this healing I am able to be the person I was hiding from her.

I LOVE YOU MUM.

Me My Mum and Brid

Blessed

2011-05-01T20:59:00.000+10:00

Today I feel very Blessed to be Catholic and to be witness to The Beatification Of Pope John Paul II.
I have looked back over Dermots and My life together. JPII was Pope when we were Married. He is on our Papal Blessing. He was the Pope when all our children were Baptised and He has been a big part of our Life. He was and is a great evangeliser. He created this Merciful Feast day. The many moves he made in world peace, reconciliation,, and the encyclicals he wrote. So much vision.

It has been amazing watching his Beatification tonight-AEST, and to be part of todays Divine Mercy feast day on this particular day was touching.
I remember the crowd at WYD08, when Our Holy Father -Pope Benedict XVI mentioned JPII name. It was electric. He wanted youth to be able to celebrate there Faith, so WYDs were born.
I am looking forward to Brids Journey to the next WYD.

So the day we have all been waiting for has arrived. As said in the commentary of EWTNs coverage. It was like an extension of JPIIs funeral. The crowds roared and clapped. It sent tingles up and down my arms, knowing all the little connections-. knowing he was so ill, waiting with the world in his final hours watching and crying at his Funeral Mass on TV, and waiting for the news that he was on his way to Sainthood. We all knew anyway. 6 years already. He had something special about him- Gods love to share with every and the Holy Spirit.

Blessed John Paul II pray for us.

Divine Mercy- JESUS I TRUST IN YOU.

2011-04-29T15:28:00.001+10:00

May God Bless you further this Sunday. Divine Mercy Sunday.
I am looking forward to the coverage of Beatification of John Paul II. What a fitting day for this to be happening.

JOHN PAUL II

Divine mercy image

St Faustina

Since attending my first Divine Mercy Feast Day many years ago now, I look forward to the Blessings that flow from it, but also the Day itself. It is a very moving day for me. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU is something I live by, It was my first blog name and every year we start the novena with a lovely parish Priest On Good Friday. This year I was determined not to forget this Novena, so close to my heart.

HE IS RISEN

2011-04-29T15:22:00.000+10:00

This is my last post about this awesome pilgrimage. I would do it again in a flash, an guess what we will.

Easter Sunday:- He is Risen.

May God truly Bless you this Easter Season. A very special gift awaited us this Sunday morning. We were about to have Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament and be commissioned to go out into our communities to evangelising our own sphere of the world.

We were called be Light to the Nation and evangelise at every opportunity. So close on 900 pilgrims registered and now we are send out to every state and territory. Did I mention there was someone from Papua New Guinea?

So we left after helping our friends take their tents down, for the long drive home. We listened to the Matt Maher Cds we purchased at LTTN.

We arrived home to a warm cosy house, 2 cats and Louise driving up the driveway to spend some time with her weary family for Easter. Even though we were very tired, it was so good to see our Louise. She was very keen to exchange Chocolate Eggs and share our very humble simple meal.

So there ended our pilgrimage and we could rest over the extended long weekend until Wednesday. All because of ANZAC day falling on the Easter weekend. It saw our first Leg of Lamb roast meal with my parents, Monday and very chilled out day Tuesday.

So in your journey with Jesus may you be receiving Passion, Death, Resurrection and New Life. This is the Christian walk. Dying to self, passing on into new life and celebrating the newness in the Risen Christ. EASTER BLESSINGS.

LIght to the Nations Holy Saturday

2011-04-28T10:12:00.000+10:00

pilgrims to have there feet washed

Jesus is Crucified

These photos are used by permission of a friend.

Saturday began as a hard day,
although we got up after sleeping well, we had several difficulties before arriving at the big tent.
All of which are normal on a pilgrim journey.

So a 2km walk up Rosary Hill was next. I might add here that my leg and hip were hurting, but I knew this was just an attack to stop me fully taking part in this pilgrimage. So Fr Ken Barker asked us to consider which of the 5 groups we would like to be in. Those, going with Icon of our lady of Perpetual Succour, singing group, contemplative prayer, Rosary group and the talking group. They were spaced 5 mins apart. It was most amazing to see the groups ahead and behind you, it reminded me of WYD05- Cologne. There were tall dead thistles and ground covering thistle weeds on the entire walk up the hill. It was hard to avoid them. People had gone up before us and slashed a track for us. It symbolised keeping on the right path in our faith journey and the little side tracks we would make along the way. The stones that got into your shoes, the thistles that somehow worked their way up my trouser leg, the pain in my leg, and the headache, and sun beating down at me. It was symbolic and it made me very aware of our Christian walk.

When we finally arrived at the top, after 5 decades of the Rosary we were welcomed by Blessed be the name of the Lord...being sung by the singing group. I was taken aback by the gorgeous enormous Crucifix at the top. WOW. When we all arrived we were led in prayer by Fr Ken and it was quite apt that he chose the beatitudes. We were on the top of a hill, with 360 degree views. We are Jesus’ disciples. Then we were led in the Rosary. It again was quite moving. Did I say, that I cried, again. We walked down the Hill once I had organised Brid a lift. She had an Asthma attack on the way up the hill. She was instructed to get a lift back with the people who brought up the speakers etc. So that done, Dermot & I walked down the hill with Sr Kate. A late entry vocation. Providence I tell you. She knew our new Parish Priest- who himself is a late entry vocation. God has a brilliant sense of humour.

Saturday afternoon saw us lunching, sharing in our share groups, oh, and there was a LTTN expo tent & shop- ohhh very exciting, and preparing ourselves, by several witness talks, for Vigil Mass. We were asked to look in to ourselves and let Jesus into the tombs of our life’s that we haven’t let Jesus into before.

Youth Mission team did there very realistic drama, and an amazing witness talk, by a women who was cured at Lourdes. Absolute miracle.

Priests continued to offer the Sacrament of confession throughout the whole day. And finally we started our 3 and half hour Easter vigil, with the lighting of the candles. Blessing of the water for the Baptism of a very small Nicholas. It was his Mums wish for her baby son to be baptised at LTTN, as she had attended every LTTN herself. All the splendour of the Easter Vigil, with the most glorious Music and a Baptism and a Confirmation of a young man.. All ending very late, but hey were else were we to go. We were in the middle of nowhere, no mobile reception, No were to drive to, so we could just enter into this Holy night and soak up all its beauty. As we sang the Alleluia for the first time in weeks, I remembered the Alleluia we had put away and were going to unwrap when we got home.

Light to the nations Good Friday

2011-04-27T13:15:00.000+10:00

Good Friday morning saw everyone assemble at the Massive tent that had been erected earlier in the week, ready to begin the Stations of the Cross. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was about to be blown away. A renactment that would move us to tears again. So real you could almost touch taste and see Jesus, his Mother, the women of Jerusalem, Veronica, and the whole process. We were the crowd and that was emotional to witness. I struggle with the scourging and saying the words crucify him. I just cringe but by our sins he has been brutally crucified. When our friend- who played Mary held her Son, Jesus, in her arms I wept and was very moved, unable to say the prayer and reflection. Brid was moved so much, she needed to be part of it. It was obvious she was deeply touched by it all.

Dermot & I walked down the hill afterwards quietly and unable to talk, just holding hands contemplating.

The Passion of Our Lord was summed up in this photo.

The night began with the Bishop of Goulburn Canberra addressing us, and reading an address from Our Holy Father. The MGL’s Priests are 6 months away from being a recognised order, and Pope Benedict sent his Blessings upon this pilgrimage. So all those years ago, Fr Ken had a call to start this Order and now it is being recognised, and being given the churches stamp of approval.

Confessions were being held all afternoon and into the evening, and it was amazing to see a queue of some 100 penitents’, at least. We had 15 Priest hearing confessions they were stationed outside the tent, beside fire drums, with blankets wrapped around them. They did keep them warm, but we were worried about our Priests as it was 7 degrees at 9pm. This saw the organisers suspend confessions til the next day. Brid asked me, “Are you going to confession”. “yes”, I said. “Well my share group leader said ‘bolt as soon as they say we can’ ”. OK I thought. She dragged my hand & we were in the line.

Healing prayers were being offered in another areas of the tent for those who wanted this ministry. I usually love this ministry, but I was so tired Bed seemed a much better option, so we took the opportunity on Friday evening to settle to sleep much earlier than most, as we knew we had a big day Saturday.

Light to the nations -Part one

2011-04-26T20:21:00.001+10:00

May God Bless you this Easter Season. May he TRULY Bless you.

I think my favourite time of the Liturgical calendar is Easter. It’s the pinnacle of the Church year and we have loved entering into Our Lords Passion with him every year.
For several years now we have wanted to participate in the Easter Pilgrimage – Light to theNations. A vision, of the Disciples’ of Jesus Community and Missionaries of Gods Love. This event only happens bi annually.
This was an powerful weekend that began Holy Thursday morning. We drove down to Galong- 5 and half hours south into wheat country in NSW to St Clements Monastery. We arrived to hundreds of people, camping tents, hustle & bustle.
We registered, got our name badges to wear and began chatting to friends we hadn’t seen for a while. A few families from homeschool camp, the week before were there as well. That was lovely to share this experience of Easter with them.
So we began our Pilgrimage. Now a pilgrim is not a tourist, so we needed to offer each hardship up to Our Lord and walk closely by him this weekend. My first thoughts were, ‘gosh, it is very different from making this journey with Our Lord, away from our church’. It passed by me quickly.

So late nights, early get ups, little sleep, little food, and very cold days & nights were the order of the weekend. The Lords Supper and Washing of the Feet was superb and had me very emotional seeing 5 Priests, 2 deacons and several brothers entering into this Mass. The people chosen for the washing of the feet were the people who walked to Galong from Canberra, Victoria and Goulburn. ( Another thing on my list- a pilgrim walk). As the Mass drew to an end and the Consecrated Hosts were taken to the alter of repose. The Priests processed this to the Monastery Chapel, while the seminarians stripped the Alter.

By the time we left it was around 6 degrees and very late.

13 years ago.......today

2011-04-18T22:25:00.001+10:00

Brid Mairead was born 1309hrs, 13 years ago today. She was a little overdue, but ever so small when she was born. I called her my Angel from Heaven. Brid was born the day after my birthday, so she was my birthday present 13 years ago.
We have savored every moment of her life, we have celebrated every milestone and thoroughy enjoyed and cherished this gift God gave to us.

Brid age 6, on the steps of our pool.

Today you have reached another milestone. You have turned 13.
We celebrated with family and friends.
We surprised you with special gifts, with your sister travelling home, just to see you on your birthday and with even more friends coming to share your birthday tonight.
Brid you are so very Blessed and so are we to have you as our daughter.
May God Bless you abundantly today and always..

Give and receive

2011-04-17T22:00:00.000+10:00

Do you recycle your clothing? Do you sort and wonder whether to let go of those items or not? All those memories attached to each item?

When Brid was a baby, I sort of knew she could be our last. You jusy know. So I kept her 'oooo', her 'ooo', even when she was too big for them. Mind you, she was a little baby, so she fitted into them for some time. I think, I still have some items to this day, in my memory box.
A few years ago a special friend would give me all her youngest daughters cast offs.
They were always welcome, especially with 4 children and 3 teenagers demands on the household economy.
We have always supported St Vincent de Paul society, and handed in our clothes, blankets, bedding, all types of items over the years. When we moved we gave them so many used and loved items. I truly hope they went to a good home, where they were needed.
Our children have always been spoilt by there Grandma and Grandad in the way of clothing. Don't all Grandparents.
So the children always had several really nice outfits, to wear to Mass and special occasions.

As Brid is the only one at home now, we have no one to hand her clothes down to. Each time Brid says "Mum it is too small". We both have a sad face at each other, because it was another one of our favourites.
Each item has special memories. "remember when we bought that?"
"Oh Mum remember, when we went there. I was wearing that skirt and top".
How we place importance on an outfit, but maybe its just the memory that is associated with the item of clothing. Its like history.

So I have had several bags of clothes in my wardrobe awaiting sorting.
I finally got the courage to undertake this task and sorted them.
It was a trip down memory lane.
I had been praying for a family to give these loved items too and finally it was revealed to me.
So now they are with there new owners and beginning new memories for another family.

A Morning Coffee Habit

2011-04-05T12:28:00.000+10:00

Dermot & I are very Blessed to be able to share our Morning Coffee together. Dermot works from home, and has done most of our married life.
We started sharing a coffee as a form of chatting when the children were little, staying connected. We claimed it as our time. We even took the phone off the receiver in the early days. It was our special time alone together. No children allowed. The children knew this and would leave us alone for that time.
Sometimes on weekends they would come to the door. "its been long enough". We would laugh, and probably it was long enough.
It is still our time, We continue to claim it as ours, but now we have invited another person to sit with us.
No it is not a child......

We have asked God to come into our coffee time so we can hear his word, ponder on it, and share our insights with each other.

So every morning while Brid starts her school day, we sit down together, coffee in hand and we read to each other.
We read the reflection set out first.
Then Dermot & I take it in turns to read each reading from the Bible, and it is always he who reads the Gospel.
We have been subscribing to the Word among us for a while, but it is always very nice to share it together.
We tend to find it opens up a conversation for us.
We have been sharing our morning coffee now with God since the beginning of the year and it has now become a habit.

Encouragement

2011-03-24T23:14:00.000+11:00

We are very Blessed here in the Hunter Valley, NSW to have an evening set aside, once a month, when us Mums get together and encourage each other in the calling of homeschooling.

We gather in a home central to most of us. We share a welcoming drink and yummy food and we chatter. Getting to know each other better.

We make our way to the loungeroom and we settle. We ask God to be with us, thanking him for his greatness and providence and we begin our evening session.

We share our ups and our downs.

We laugh and we remember and we listen lovingly to each other, as we share our stories. All our stories are so different. Why we began homeschooling, where we are now in our journey, where to from here and the list went on.

We were asked to think how God talks to us in our journey. How much do we listen to his guidance and do we trust in his journey for us.

This lead to lots of great discussion.

At the same time our teen girls are being guided in a little share group of their own. All 8 sit at the dining room table and one of the older girls was asked to take a leadership role in their group. I am so proud of these girls; they are taking the steps in sharing and listening to each other, with love and respect. Brid is enjoying having this special contact with her friends and is relishing in all the sharing.

Brid took along her All things Girls books- essentially Catholic, but there is a lot of good solid wholesomeness to share and talk about. It certainly could be a spring board for them.

The night ends too quickly, and we find ourselves in the car driving away with our spirits lifted. We have wonderful talks on the way home. Lots of deep sharing from the heart. Brid just chatters away. At one point she said, if I was at school, I don’t think I would be having this conversation with you Mum. Very true I would think.

This leads me to tonight’s discussions. We love our girlie nights, and we take the opportunity to light a candle, pray, and read a mum daughter book. We are cherishing our Beautiful Girlhood nights and they themselves generate lively discussions. Tonight we chatted about sincerity and ideals. It was a beautiful way to share some time together.

.

A Cross to bear

2011-03-24T22:07:00.002+11:00

I was going over old posts reminiscing, when I came across this one. It certainly still touches my heart. I really have to believe God send us 2 heavy crosses.
We constantly lean on him to get us through the bad days and thank him for our family & friends on the good and bad days.

"If you pray and pray and your Cross is still there that Cross is what God sends you to help get you to heaven. "

It definitely was not what I was expecting to here from a play, but it was exactly what I needed to hear right at that moment.

So Thank you Lord for sending me those words

... funny thing happened .........

2011-03-21T15:39:00.000+11:00

Well today was the day set down for my Board of Studies interview. I had been preparing and making sure everything was in order. I was quietly confident.
I had a friend, a couple of months ago, help me rename the study areas into BOS language- ie LOTE- foreign language, PHDPE- areas of personal health and physical exercise. That certainly helped me feel better about interview.
So the day came.
I had all our resources we were studying or going to study on the kitchen bench. Its a long bench- plenty of space to display.
I had printed off this years plan and next years as well.
All our library and living books were displayed for easy perusal.
Dermot went to work very early, so he would be at home for the scheduled meeting time.
We prayed today for the meeting to go smoothly and left it in Gods hands.
So Dermot arrived home with 20 minutes to spare. "thank you Lord".
our "appointed person" was on time and Dermot answered the door, followed hot in his heals by Brid and myself.
We welcomed her into our home and into our school area. Brid was asked were she does most of her schooling, and then over to the resources.
Brid quickly took over the interview and thoroughly enjoyed showing our appointed Person all her work, and how we would be doing our work this year. She explained Saxon Maths, She showed her examples of IEW and her magazines she worked on last year.
Every question directed to me Brid answered. I just stood back and watched her do her thing in the end.

The appointed person(AP), enjoyed interacting with Brid and told her, that she was a confident young lady, at which Brid quietly thanked her.

Brid was so enthusiastic and was so willing to participate in this interview, it was amazing to observe.

So my dear Brid took over the interview and it was the funniest thing to have happen. I suppose, it was inevitable that this may occur. She is certainly a happy little homeschooler.

St Patricks Day 2011 Flashmob. Central Station, Sydney, Australia.

2011-03-17T22:34:00.000+11:00

Our Lenten Journey

2011-03-17T20:57:00.000+11:00

We are one week into our Lenten Journey and apart from using symbols and words like REPENT, SACRIFICE, LENT in strategic areas of the house, and on our Family Alter, we have made a salt dough crown of thorns and a Jesus Tree and Brid has added to her Stations Of the Cross. I must post some photos.
These help us on our journey, and surprisingly enough talking points to visitors in our home.
My Dad loves to see what is new in our liturgical year, he is always asking questions.

Dermot & I are as usual running a Lenten group.

We wanted to do something as a family, so I kept my eye out. We chose these to books. Amon's Adventure is really easy read, but thought provoking.

A family journey with Jesus Through Lent is a really nice daily read and as it doesn't strictly follow the Lenten readings, it can be used year after year for this reason.

So now we have our Lenten readers and all our reminders, we can journey with Jesus

Our passport to history

2011-03-16T16:24:00.001+11:00

We have travelled through time over the years concentrating on the Ancients and using several formats to achieve this.
We have taken a fairly relaxed approach this year.
Mater amabilis started our Journey with both Egpyt and Greece.
Scroll down to find resources to History.
History Links was our choice for Rome as well as Famous men of Rome.
So we used a little of everything as well.
We have always incorporated Living books and picture books and craft activities into the equation as well.
This year we began Medieval History. I have researched various websites and books and I decided on a variety again.
So this time we will use Seton Our Catholic Legacy and Famous men of the middle ages together. bouncing of each other. Several living books here and here.
We are Blessed to know several families who have lent us resources.
We have raided the library, and we have begun our new journey into the Middle Ages.

We are looking at Art Music, food, Culture, Housing, People, and of course the Saints.

We like to do a lot of our reading on the lounge with the maps and google earth close by, so we can zoom in on areas we are studying. We tend to walk along the streets and take in scenery, if our passport, google maps, allows us to.

Its beginning to unfold quite nicely.

WE stopped off our journey. late last year for a while to visit Early American Indians as above shows.

Being Thankful

2011-03-10T22:24:00.000+11:00

I was in the middle of writing a blog post when I stumbled across a post by a fellow blogger about a similar topic. The otherside of the world and we think of the same post idea. Godincident, I call it.
We have been talking a lot about thanks. Being thankful for all things given to us.
So each day I ask, what are you thankful for today.
Its an easy conversation to have. We have learnt to be thankful in the midst of family turmoil. We have learnt to Trust him in everything.

So what am I thankful for today.
I am thankful for the

....the rain that fell and watered my yard today
....for his provision with our home business
....For improper fraction / for 'invert and multiply' and the smile on Brid's face as she explains it to Daddy
...for colouring and creating our JESUS tree.
....for fun creating our Lenten symbols and projects.
and my family..my husband...our children and the stretching of some wings...even if it not how we want it....

But mostly this week I am thankful for the new sense of contentment God has taught me.

Friends

2011-03-03T10:57:00.001+11:00

I have a dear friend who has been a wonderful Blessing in my life.
Dermot & I read a daily devotional together, and this passage from Sirach reminded me of my dear friend.

Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
Sirach 6: 14-16.

She has been a treasure, and I knew I just needed to sent this to her. She was touched by the words, as I was.
She felt compelled to share it at a small gathering of women. They were in turn touched by these words. I am so pleased I shared these words with her, right there and then.

God Blesses me every day. I need to see his treasures and recognise the flowers and the birds.

Australian Parliament & Government Part II

2011-02-24T21:18:00.001+11:00

These are the finished posters that Brid made. She worked really hard and there is a lot of detail.
Hope you can make some of it out

there was enough information to make 2 posters. She has little flaps over selected areas as well

Brid wrote about how a Bill was passed, that was very interesting. next to it on the right is the original questions I had her answer- look at previous post

Brid merged the 2 houses so she could place various key people in there positions

Brid followed the levels of government and now has a fairly good understanding of who does what. She even found our Local councils emblem

Australia, Parliament and more

2011-02-23T15:39:00.000+11:00

Every year we begin our homeschooling year with Australia, in one form or another.
This year, I decided Brid needed to discover more about Australian Parliament & Government. So I proceeded to write out a list of questions and gather some links.
I wrote down basic questions to start with, knowing she would want to research and investigate various areas. The questions were:-Who is our PM, What council do we belong to, Who is the Local Mayor, How is a Bill passed, what type of government system do we have???? etc. These are random- they were set out much neater and in order.
I had a few links to various kid friendly sites like this as well.
This has been quite a worthwhile project. I have not assisted in this one at all. Brid has had a vision for it and has set out to achieve that goal by herself. I have been banished from the school area, so she can surprise me. So tomorrow is the day it must be completed. From the little peek I have had its looking good.

Parliament House, Canberra.

An email

2011-02-21T13:27:00.000+11:00

Dad and Brid

Recently we had my parents over for dinner. The topic of conversation was the internet, or My Dad and emails. Mum had been telling me about it late in the week.

He was trying to send and receive an email from my Uncle. Dad isn’t very computer literate, so he just gets a mental blank and gives up. This however, frustrates my Mum.

This time Mum really wanted the email, because it was of the family home in Lorn, in a little village – (or it was), about 30 mins drive from our home.

Dad is a fitter and turner- machinist (they are called these days), by trade. He taught his trade in the Technical College nearby, but left, as the computer age was really coming into full swing. He has his own business, and only really uses the computer as a word processor.

They have a dial up connection; He can’t see the point of broadband and says I have no use for it. My Mum however, loves to look at various sites on the internet, as I help her browse around, while she is visiting us.

So therein lays the problem.

Dermot instructed Dad that evening, on how to email, but Dad didn’t know his email address. I think he just needs practice, and as he thinks there is no need for doing anything “on the computer”, he does simply that. Nothing.

Dermot would gladly put broadband on for them and sort out antivirus protection. We would even lovingly educate them on the ins and outs of the computer world.

So today, I took a stand and said to my Dad. Ok I will be emailing you weekly if not more. I want him to be more familiar with what the internet can do, so the first step. He needs practice and confidence. He will love chatting to Brid on the Emails, and it will encourage him and give him a purpose.

I don’t know where it will lead, but it will be fun trying. He’s a good sport and already has send me an email.

My Nanna- Rest in Peace

2011-02-15T16:33:00.000+11:00

Today is the Anniversary of the Death of my beloved Nanna. She was the most wonderful Nanna in the entire world, but her life was cut short. She suffered from Asthma and was not controlled very well. She developed emotional Asthma after her Dad died, when she was a teen.
She was born on Goulburn, NSW in the 1920s of Irish stock. Brogan was the family name. Her mum and Dad were Lillian and Bryan Brogan. Nanna had 5 brothers and sisters. Her elder sister is still alive today. She is 92, making her my great Aunt..
The family settled in Maitland, eventually, a rich farming country in the Hunter Valley in the 40s. Her Parents owned a Baker shop and my Great Grandmother was reknown for her cooking, she was brilliant. They left Maitland after the second Flood in the 50s, around 1958. Nanna and her Husband, Arthur Sullivan, settled in a suburb of Newcastle, NSW called Mayfield. My great grandmother moved in with them in the late 60s.
So my Nanna was the women who taught me my faith and surrounded me in The love of Mother Mary. She would whisper the Rosary as I settle to sleep.
She was gentle but was stern if you got her mad- which I did often. I stayed at Nannas frequently to go to Mass and to help out with her mothers nursing care -Nanna Brogan was the reason I am a Nurse. Nanna Brogan required a lot of care and my Nanna Sullivan was a little breathless with her Asthma, so I just helped bath and groom her. Nanna Brogan And I sat and had breakfast together -drinking from our saucers!!!
I was very close to both my Grandmothers, but Nanna Sullivan and I would go to town- Mayfield, and the city-Newcastle to pay the bills and do her part of the Shopping on the Bus. My other Nanna would wave us off at the gate and in her later years from the window.
I was in the UK getting Dermot his Visa to travel to Australia to Emigrate when we got the word from my employer. ( We had no Phone). It happened very quickly, Nanna was in Hospital for a Cataract operation, and had a fatal Asthma attack, the night beforehand.
I didn't go to Nannas funeral. Mum suggested I stay in the UK, as we were at a delicate time in Dermots Visa application.
I was, and we all, were devasted when she died. She was the glue in our family. Everyone came to see Nanna. Everyone loved her.
Something changed the day she died.
Nanna said to me before I left for my big adventure to Europe and the UK. " I won't see you again". I fobbed it off. "Yes you will Nanna". Nanna was in her 60s. Not that old.
Dermot never met her, obviously the children never met her, but she is in all our hearts. I have made sure of that.

I MISS HER AND I WILL ALWAYS HAVE HER CLOSE IN MY HEART. My sweet Nanna. I LOVE YOU.
May You be resting in the Peace of Our Saviour Jesus.

Jesus with us

2011-02-14T13:28:00.001+11:00

Jesus is with us always, in all we do, in our ups and downs, with our children, our friends and marriages, and we are meant to be like little children coming to him. Thank you Lord for showing me this image

Lakes Entrance

2011-02-13T22:43:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago, we took a holiday to a lovely part of Australia. Lakes Entrance, East Gippsland in Victoria.
We had never been there before, so we decided lets just go and make new memories.
I googled the area, and discovered there was not a lot to do there. Fine. That's good for us. Dermot was in need of a holiday.. It happened to be the week of the scorching temperatures in NSW. We didn't miis those temps though, We had several hot days, but a pool was by our door. We stayed here, out of town slightly.
We hired a boat to take us around the Lakes that lie just inside the channel taking you out to sea. Brid and Dermot & I fished from the boat and it was 43*C. We got home and stayed in our cottage to just cool down in the air conditioning. We got a knock at the door. "There is a fire 18 kms away, we are on alert. ". We asked the questions like "where is the gathering spot and where do we meet.?" I meant just the cottages, but our host said. " Oh we meet down at the waters edge, in town". We were a little off put and immediately put the emergency channel on for updates. At this point , the fire was uncontained and out of control. Our access for getting "home" was cut. ie, the Princes Hway, so we would need to head south for safety anyway.
I scanned the room through the afternoon, seeing how quickly I could pack the essentials into the car. I had several things already in a bag for each of us. We had to wait til the next day, until the warning was lifted and the fire was contained.
I txted my parents "we are safe from the fire, we are OK"- they actually had no idea we were in danger. They knew we would be OK. I deliberately didn't want to alarm Louise, she would only worry, But we then got a message from Louise, "are you near the fire". What could I say. So I tried to allay her fears. After several messages back and forth, she was satisfied we were Ok.

But all this said, This all happened during the Cyclone Yasi crisis, the Egypt Crisis and floods coming down the darling murray basin to Victoria. It was bizarre.

All this didn't stop us enjoying our holiday. We fished, swam, used the spa, saw Buchan Caves, chilaxed, caught fish- Yes Brid caught her very first Fish and then went out another night and caught another.
So here is a few photos of some highlights.

Our cottage, Brid in the pool

Brid reeling her first fish-Daddy is so proud

In our little boat

Buchan Caves

The haze is from the smoke, not the weather

remembering .........

2011-02-10T22:20:00.000+11:00

The 4 little darlings. We had a lot of fun as they were growing up...This is Kierans' Birthday..

Ride On

2011-02-10T21:54:00.000+11:00

Late last year we made a fairly significant purchase. We have quite a big block of land and it was taking Dermot nearly every weekend to mow and maintain it, and that didn't include the gardens. The mowing for long lengths of time over the weekend was stopping our interest gardening. It is something we both enjoy.

So finally Dermot got this little beauty. Brid was ever so excited and couldn't wait to get on for a ride.

It has made all the difference. It now takes Dermot, myself & Brid 3 hours to completely mow, blower vac and finish off our work with a well deserved drink.

Too cute

2011-01-27T13:06:00.000+11:00

Brid still has these teddys. And all the blankets were her baby blankets. too cute.

I have been organising and deleting photos from my computer, and I came across these ones. Brid LOVED and still loves playing cubby houses.

Lamb of God ~ Matt Maher SSE11

2011-01-25T14:42:00.001+11:00

Marists part 3

2011-01-25T14:39:00.000+11:00

We first got to know Fr Ron last year during his lecture series- 'a little bit about the Sacraments', and we- Dermot & I -had begun forging a friendship with this priest. This year he had been asked to do another lecture and seminar series and we were drawn to his lecture series again.

Fr Ron –a Marist Priest gave a lecture series on Marist Saints. It was a very informative look at the Marists spirituality and the different branches in the Marist Family. The Marist Fathers, Marist Brothers, Sisters, Laity, Marist Missionary Sisters

He began with explaining their motto. Sub mariae nomine- Under Mary’s name. He discussed how it was formed Post French Revolution and how the founders prayed in a small chapel in the same place St Therese of Liseux asked a Blessing on her life- “The Ancient Chapel of the Virgin”. He discussed that the Marists went where Parish’s were deserted and where education was abandoned. He talked about needing to meet the people where they were at , and this included being missionaries during there down seasons in the winter- as the people were out in the fields during summer.

Fr Ron has taken pilgrimages to the places that were significant to the Marist order, and his passion for Our Lady and his founders roots are shining in everything he says. Places like Fourviere, Lyon and villages in this area.

He states Fr Peter Chanel to be the 1st Marist Saint and 1st martyr of the pacific. He discussed St Marcelli Champagnat as a saint as well. As many may know, he was the Founder of the Marist Brothers. He was deeply inspired by Our Lady.

He talked about Jean-Paul Colin and Fr Ron being asked to submit his case for Sainthood by the Vatican.

I loved learning more about the Marist spirituality.

There is more resources here

He came among us

2011-01-21T15:48:00.000+11:00

I was inspired by this and wanted to share it with you all
Pope Benedict XVI writes:

"Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by, people who shine with his light, and so guide us along our way. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her 'yes' she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14)."

God Bless you all

SSE11 part two-

2011-01-20T19:03:00.003+11:00

Last week at SSE11, during the day, we were asked to attend lectures and seminars. There is quite a variety, and I always like to stretch my learning at this time. So I usually attend at least one ‘heavy’ lecture and a thought provoking one. I am usually spirit lead, and this year Dermot & I attended mostly the same Lectures together. This in itself is unusual. We always like to discuss ou various learning sessions at coffee breaks.

This year, Brid and some of the older tweens were asked to attend a lecture series. They all felt quite grown up, as they took themselves, responsibly off to the 8.30am lecture. It was run by a beautiful, vibrant young woman of God. It was called Creative worship. -Right up Brids’ alley.

She has swayed to church and praise music, since I can remember. She loved to dance in the aisles as a toddler.

They had a marvellous time painting and dancing and allowing The Holy Spirit to touch their hearts. This was obvious in the way the people attending this lecture, were so free in the Spirit at times of Praise & Worship. It added a deeper dimension to the evening sessions. Crystal had flags made up for use during P & W and I was given one at one point, and as I baulked at using it I realised how free these others were, and how much more I needed to be free. Needless to say, Brid’s paintings are awesome and she freely danced in the spirit.

The evening sessions are a time we praise and worship God in whatever way you are led to do that, witness talks, and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for Adoration. It is a beautiful time for prayer close to the monstrance, or a time for prayer, with prayer teams, and of courses our greatest Sacrament –confession. It is available every night. Every night is ended by the Night Office. Something I love and I have been doing since our first Summer School, many years ago now- It can be hard to follow, but we have the idea now. The Mgls make it very easy to follow along.

our chapel

Matt Maher -Adoration

2011-01-18T13:58:00.000+11:00

LIVE IN THE LIGHT

2011-01-17T15:45:00.000+11:00

We have just had the most Blessed 8 day retreat- called Summer School of Evangelisation(SSE 11)2011. It is organised by the Covenant Community of the Disciples Of Jesus, every January. Totally Catholic. Totally awesome. An amazing week guided by the Holy Spirit. We are exhausted, exhilarated and in awe of Our mighty God and his work in us this week.

I was Blessed to be involved in several wonderful lectures and seminars. We had 3 wonderful Priests. One a Marist Father from St Patricks, Sydney city, and 2 are MGLs’- Missionary of Gods’ Love-. The MGLS were born out of the D of Jesus community 23 years ago. We had our first MGL Deacon at this SSE11 this year.

Anyway, I have many posts to write as I was totally inspired by this week.I can’t wait to share some of these posts.

Teens and homeschooling

2011-01-06T13:37:00.001+11:00

It was so nice to see a bunch of girls, including my Brid, at the Presentation Day for our Area, late last year, sitting chatting and not one felt left out. They were all engrossed in the conversation. So my heart melted- that is so nice. I knew this would be a good thing.
Now we are in our 6th year of homeschooling and its been a great experience for the whole family. We are heading into the teen years now.
Although we have been there before with 3 teens, they were largely involved with Catholic Schools- so they had friendships formed.
We are Blessed in our homeschool area to have several teens and Mums who want there teens to expand beyond the computer and the Wii and the techno stuff.. ( all that stuff is great, but there is nothing like chatting and 'doing' with other teens.) As said School can look pretty inviting at this time, because there are no teens at events being held.
Brid has been praying for a Teen group, a teen prayer group and get to know you group for teens.
Her prayers were answered as I logged into our local proboard, and saw all these things Teens unfolding.
An activity type group, a teen girls group to be run at the same time as a Mums group, Various picnic days. Brilliant.
She has several good Homeschool friends from the local area and others from homeschool camp. I made sure that she developed friendships a few years ago when the wind was taken out of our sales with 2 family crisis', within 3 months of each other. Brid prayed and I prayed for Girls here age to be at various events. And Guess what, God is good, it happened.
So as well as various catch ups with teens- ie birthdays and just because..., I think we will have a strong little group, if we as Mums and Dads all stay strong and keep it going.
Praise God for his mighty work. Thank you Lord.

A Friend from the past- a confession

2011-01-04T16:39:00.000+11:00

It has been a wonderful Peacefilled time for us as a family, as we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord and ponder the reflections and Homilies of our Priests. We are also able to catch up with friends from afar. I was very tentative to reconnect with a lovely friend as I would need to rehash our events of the last 2 and half years. I wasn't sure if I would have the strength or the energy to do this. Or whether I was able to through the tears.
I was hesitant and a little offputting to this dear friend. She lives several hours away, Her husband and her only gets down this way once or twice a year, so our lives don't cross regularly. Probably my fault because I have avoided the connection.
As the evening unfolded and we chatted, it all came so naturally. She knows me and I know her. WHAT WAS I THINKING. This women has been with me through my midwifery training, our children were babies together, we lived in the same street. She saw me through PND and took beautiful care of me pre pregnancy, antenatal and post natal for our dear little Brid. I was worried I would end up with PND again.
She moved to a country town 8 years ago, and I thought I was losing my best buddy. How would I cope with that? I know, I will just see them when they come down. I would push the pain away. The pain of losing her and her regular chats was too much to cope with.
Anyway, we chatted like we have never parted and I can say anything to this Women. We are truly connected, why was I fighting that. I don't know.
She was and is shocked with our sequence of events, but also very supportive and I know she will be there always.
She has also been through quite a lot of pain with one of her children, and her 'light' is another son is getting married this year. How exciting is that. I have known him since a little 9month old.
I suppose my biggest fear was that I would be judged yet again and considered guilty of all charges without a fair trial. I needed to be listened to, and understood. For the first time, someone understood and really got it. We spoke the same language, It must be a nurse thing, she just knew what to say.
God, you are so good, why did I doubt that you had given me Fran as a friend. I just almost threw it away. How Blessed am I to have such wonderful Friends near and far.
Now I have confessed and part 2 will come later. I have been teasing most of you about our trial. I suppose I need to explain........until part 2..

Our New Years 'Eve Prayer

2011-01-02T22:55:00.001+11:00

On New years Eve as we were enjoying our last meal for 2010 together, we each shared what we were thankful for in 2010.
We have so much to be thankful for.
It was a lovely way to spend our meal time, remembering and explaining the many blessings and graces God gives us. We can so easily focus on our Sorrows and the trials of everyday, that we sometimes forget the goodness that we are Blessed with. So as we looked back on 2010, with fondness we know we will embrace the New Year with freshness.
As we sat in Church the next day, our Parish Priest spoke about January being a month of reflection on the year just gone and how we would move, with God into the coming year. It was a reflection that resonated with me, as we had done just that.

So as my friend Erin, wrote in her post here, about the word for 2011, I would say my two words would be Peace and Unity.

May God Bless your New Year.

A Blessed and a Very Peacefilled Year

2010-12-31T12:41:00.000+11:00

To all the Blogger Friends, we would like to wish you all a Blessed and Peaceful New Year 2011.
We have been very busy over the last few weeks with lots of Christmas preparations and get togethers. I haven't had the time to formulate a proper post.
We have taken loads of photos though, so I shall post some up soon.

We have however, been following the 12 days of Christmas closely, using the song and the meanings behind each day to use as a talking point around the table, when we have friends over.
We have used words this year for Advent and Christmas and several people have commented on them. We will continue this in 2011.
May God Bless you all

Holy And Happy Christmas...

2010-12-24T10:42:00.000+11:00

To all my Blogger Friends, We as a family would like to wish you all a Blessed and Holy Christmas.

Irish Dancing Concert

2010-12-14T15:24:00.000+11:00

Last weekend we were given a real treat. Our eldest and our youngest daughter dancing together. They are just beautiful dancers. They both worked very very hard and it showed in there dance routines and there faces just shone all afternoon. There dance school has grown from just a few students to over 50 in 3 years.

Brid and Louise

Well done girls.

Protect Traditional Marriage

2010-12-12T20:38:00.000+11:00

To all Aussie Families, I urge you to write to your Local MP and defend traditional marriage.
On Friday, 3rd December, Bishop Michael Malone sent the following request to the Maitland Newcastle Diocesan Clergy.

“On the 15th November 2010, a motion was tabled in the House of Representatives by the Greens Party member, Adam Bandt.
This was successfully amended by the Government member, Mr S P Jones, as follows:
‘this House calls on all parliamentarians, consistent with their duties as representatives, to gauge their constituents’ views on ways to achieve equal treatment for same sex couples including marriage.’
The Catholic Bishops of Australia request that all parishioners be encouraged to sign a petition or send a personal letter to their local Federal Member of Parliament using this suggested wording:
Since Parliamentarians have been asked “to gauge their constituents’ views on ways to achieve equal treatment for same sex couples including marriage” it would be remiss of us not to give our views.
I would appreciate your urgent attention to this very important matter.
The following link will assist in determining Federal electorates and the applicable member: http://apps.aec.gov.au/esearch/Default.aspx”
You are encouraged to write to your Federal Member or print and send the attached petition to your local Federal Member by Monday, 20 December. Please change the petition wording to suit your relevant parish or Christian group. The Greens will be relying on our apathy to win this debate – we must make our views known to our parliamentarians now.
You may also like to consider joining the Australian Family Association to help stay abreast of this and other important topics related to marriage and family. For $40 per year you can subscribe to the best in pro-family reading, including six issues of the Family Update and three issues of the 48 page journal, The Australian Family, invitations to special events and access to regional meetings.
You can contact the NSW office at 32 Rickard Rd, Warrimoo NSW 2774 or PH 4753 6097 or email nsw@family.org.au.
In the current issue of Family Update supporters are asked to write to the PM to tell her you oppose changing the meaning of marriage. That marriage is the basic unit of society and bears most of the cost and effort of caring for those who are dependent (i.e. the young, the elderly and the sick) and is the healthiest and safest environment to rear children. It should be protected and promoted not redefined out of existence. You are also encouraged to write to your sitting MP or visit them to put your position to them.
Another useful website is http://www.lifemarriagefamily.org.au/
You can subscribe to their newsletter for free.

I would encourage you to write and Defend and protect the natural definition of Marriage, and maintain the marriage act in its current form.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

2010-12-09T17:07:00.000+11:00

Yesterday, we celebrated The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We got up very early, for us, and drove to the Monastery of the Holy Redeemer for 8.30am Mass. It is a 35 min drive for us through some pretty aussie farm land. There is a group of cloistered Nuns who live in the Monastery, and we knew they would be attending Mass with us.
Mass began and I had to adjust my ears to hearing these voices coming from behind a opaque glass wall. The Mass was said beautifully By Fr John. It was a very special Mass and it was lovely to celebrate Our Ladys feast day at this Monastery.
Afterwards we shared morning Coffee and yummy foods at a homeschool families home. It was great to just be able to sit and enjoy the presence of these Mums, while the children made up imaginary plays.
We were entertained at the end of our morning by Jack and the Beanstalk narrated play. It was very busy and animated. The kids had been practicing during the morning.

Film Review from Cath News

2010-12-07T09:34:00.000+11:00

Film review - Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of Dawn Treader

Published: December 07, 2010This is the third film in the seven-part epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis and brings to the screen the book of the same name, published in 1952. Narnia is the fictional realm where animals talk, magic abounds, and good battles evil. The Dawn Treader is the ship captained by Caspian, who was the key character in the previous film, The Prince of Caspian.
Three children, Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Lucy (Georgie Henley), and Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter) are drawn into a painting of an old ship, The Dawn Treader, which is a majestic sailing vessel, whose look is inspired by dragons.
The three children come up in the ocean near the ship, and are taken on board where they meet the new King of Narnia, King Caspian (Ben Barnes). The ship sails to mysterious islands with marvellous names and they are islands that are full of creatures, which convey the riches of children’s fertile imagination.
There is a new distribution company behind this movie, and a new visual effects supervisor (Jim Rygiel) and cinematographer (Dante Spinotti). All of them contribute to bringing a fresh look to the series that substitutes lightness for some of the darkness that was in Prince Caspian.
The film returns us to the magic of the first film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which deserved its popular success. Here, the special effects never overreach the strong story line and the moral messages that lie behind it.
The movie successfully conveys optimism and hope, and as temptations are resisted, growth occurs and true character emerges. Laying aside its scary moments, and there are some, the movie is excellent fantasy-adventure fare for Christmas viewing - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting.
Starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson (by voice), Simon Pegg (by voice) and Tilda Swinton. Rated PG (Mild violence and scary scenes). 112 min.

The school year is coming to a close

2010-12-06T13:26:00.003+11:00

Well its been a huge year for us homeschooling.
Brid has had a huge learning curve and I feel the curricula we have invested in, have been worthwhile.
Brid understands that it makes her Dad and I very happy when she completes her work and turns her work in to us on time.
We are at a crossroads or are we?
Brid will progress into high school next year.
Several of the curricula used this year has been high school level. So there will be a natural progression and not a jolt.

So what has changed and worked for us?
We have followed the liturgical year much more closely. Maybe, we haven't posted about various feast days, but we have journeyed in our own way- but that's another post.
1 IEW has made a big difference to our English and writing program. With this, Brid has been able to write her first Essay. Her essay was about one of her favourite Composer, Beethoven. We used this book as a reference and using the IEW techniques and dress ups she wrote an informative report.
2 Saxon Maths continues to impress me with its explanations and its lesson plans.
3 Nature study and botany has been fun this year. It has been quite hands on and we have all learnt a lot about our beautiful plants in Australia, and how they have adapted to our Climate.
Our topic approach has certainly freed us up to explore and delve into an area of study for a longer length of time. It has taken the bite out of watching the clock to fit lots of subjects per day.
American Indians was a great success. We spend 3 weeks discovering these people and their land.
Catechism in the lounge room with Dad has been a great success. Once a week we get together and discuss learn listen. Its been a great experience, especially for Dermot & I, who were not taught the catechism as children.
We have delved in Bible history and enjoyed the discovery of the Bible. Alongside this a dear friend has lend us several Saint books. thanks. They have been fun.
Art was covered every week, by a very kind and sweet friend Bernie. We drove 40 minutes each way, and observed the changing scenery throughout the year. We have experienced a year long Art course, designed for high schoolers, but adapted for young Children as well. It was excellent, and boy did we learn a lot. It certainly was a great in depth Look at Art Design.
We are so proud of Brid, her commitment to her studies in well noted.
We will change things next year a little. We will introduce more Classical Literature. We have purchased our Religion, History and Science syllabus and will purchase everything else we need as the year progresses.
There are definite advantages to educationing only our youngest daughter. We have more time, We have been there done that, fought the battles and now we choose the battles which we know are important. We know God has Blessed each of us.
So a well deserved break, very soon is in order for us all. Phhewww!

Happy feast Day. St Nicholas pray for us.

.

Narnia, The voyage of the Dawn Treader.

2010-12-05T14:25:00.000+11:00

Yesterday, we saw the latest Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Brid has been patiently waiting the release date for the movie. Another aussie Mum took her older children on the release day. It was my hope to do this, but we wanted to see it with Dermot.
Brid was first introduced to The Lion the Witch and The wardrobe when we first began homeschooling several years ago. She really enjoyed it and Her big sister, Louise bought her the Chronicles that year for Christmas. It is a well used book, and one day may need replacing.
Back to the movie, Brid chose the 3D movie and I am not sure how much difference it actually makes to this movie. We have been watching the other movies in anticipation, and Brid has had her head in her Chronicles of Narnia book, trying to work out how they would do this seen, and visit all the islands. She was curious how they would introduce Eustrace, their Nephew. There have been great conversations on the hows and whys of what will be in the movie
Brid and I sat together and whispered to each other, as each scene revealed various characters and scenes from the book. She laughed at the jokes and took the whole movie in, and of course would love to see it again. So Yes we all enjoyed the movie, although Dermot did loose about half an hour- The lights go down, and he dozes off. I, occasionally tapped him to keep him awake.
We finished our afternoon off with ice cream and cappuchinos for us adults. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Do you Believe?

2010-12-01T15:00:00.002+11:00

This year Brid officially told me that Santa wasn’t real. I having been wanting to explain this for several years ago, but Dermot wouldn’t let me. So as it happens, Brid and I were talking about our Advent plans and she tells me very gently that she has known about Santa not being real for about 3 years. I knew in my heart that she knew the truth, because she is a Christian. I knew she had worked it out.

Dermot however, wanted to hang onto his own childhood and he was doing that through Brid. So who was upset when Brid broke the news to him, when he came home that afternoon? Dermot.

Quietly away from Brids earshot, He blamed me, saying “you couldn’t wait to tell her!”

My reaction was, “Sweetheart she is nearing 13, she has known for years”. When he saw reason, He told me that he wanted to share this childhood dream with Brid. My heart broke for him at the time.

His little line has always been to all the kids, “Well if you don’t believe you don’t receive”. Brid said to this recently,“ I do believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, I believe in Jesus Christ.... and continued to resight the Creed. She had played the game long enough and was respectfully seeking her Dads' understanding.

He teases us now by wanting to put up Gordy Santa decorations. He looks at them all in the shops and says my presents will be from Santa. He is such a tease..

Because we can...

2010-12-01T11:47:00.000+11:00

My friend over here, mentioned her daughter being the youngest and it started me thinking, or rethinking.

Our youngest has been by herself in the family home for 2 years now. It was through terrible circumstances that this happened, but we have made the most of it- once we got over some of our grief. It resurfaces at the time you least expect it.

Brid is 6 years younger than her next sibling and is a special unique gift from Our Lord. (I must qualify this- all our children are special, but she was given to us for a specific reason).

It took a long time to get it in our heads and hearts that we were a family- even without the older children there everyday.

I grieved for her loneliness and reduced interaction with siblings. I craved the times when they were all very young and they were all nestled under our arms. I know she craved to hug and be close to her siblings. She grieved too. We had many nights of tears. Many sad prayer petitions by her.

It has been an adjustment time, but a time to really know each other and we as a family have become very close. Brid and I do nearly everything together, as many of us homeschooling Mums do.

I now count us to be in a very unique and privileged position.

We as a family have been at many cross roads and have been placed in extremely difficult situations. We have had huge highs and shocking lows. We have had a full house and now a quite house. We have seen the worst in people and the best. Its taught us many lessons.

Brid has always had a strong love of Our Lord. When she was at school in Kindy & Yr 1, I would often find her at the end of the schoolday- after I was finished speaking to the teacher or friend, in the Church close to the Tabernacle or sitting close to the Alter. This got me thinking, how can I leave her at school, she needs to be at home to be nurtured by her parents. I need to instruct her in her faith- or will she instruct me !! This love of Our Lord has blossomed, and she tries to spread His love where ever she goes. Its infectious, and this sunny disposition, of hers in the light of family sadness has been like God smiling and blessing us.

I see some similarities with Sues’ youngest. Brids' siblings saw Brid as spoilt, but why not, I say. Brid was a terrible terrible eater as a littlie. I remember many many meal times where Brid ate very little, having to introduce formula high in Iron, because she refused to eat meat or anything with enough Iron in it. Brid is very slight and often clothes her age don't fit. But Brid reached the time of siblings not being present in family home daily at a very young age.

So I agree with Sue, we will continue to spoil Brid, and her older sister Louise, and shower them with our love and cherish every moment together, because why not.

I would ask you to pray for 2 of Brids’ siblings Kristie & Kieran. They are in continued need of the light of Christ in there lives.

What Fun- Dads and there daughters

2010-11-23T16:12:00.000+11:00

Yesterday Brid was doing the first lesson on Geography through Art- we got it as an E book. One of the things she needed to do as part of map work was create a treasure map.
So Yesterday afternoon she spent time rhyming and planning each place in the yard that he would visit. At each place he was asked to do a specific task, like collecting snails, star jumps, skimming the pool, collecting various items he leaves around the yard. It was a real scream to observe. I was hard pressed to stop myself laughing.
She had it planned to a tee.
At the end of it Brid presented him with The Best Daddy award.

I must admit I liked her sense of humour and Daddy played along beautifully.

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T12:10:00.001+11:00

Today is Remembrance Day.
LEST WE FORGET.
We remember our fallen brothers and sisters today in all the wars, particular WWI.
We used this resource to help give us more understanding of this day. We found activities print outs and useful information here.

God Bless our Men and Women who have died in all wars. Bless our soldiers in battle today.

wordless wednesday

2010-11-03T10:05:00.001+11:00

Outside St Marys 17th October.

American Indians -part 3

2010-11-02T17:04:00.000+11:00

The last 3 weeks Brid has been researching and reading about American Indians. The last part of her project was to complete a report. Here is the link to my post on the lesson plan. Brid not only did this project solo, but typed every word and made the typed word fit and match the shape of the image.

Brid has learnt about Blessed Kateri Tekawitha and St Isaac, and we have added them both to our All Saints Poster.

adding finishing touches

work ready to be pasted

now lets sort them

Sticking the lapbook together

The proud girl and her work

Showing off her hard work.

All Souls day

2010-11-02T16:18:00.000+11:00

Last evening Brid prepared and read the Litany of Saints, and she added some of our special names as well. That was a special time.
This morning, we joined our parish community at Mass. In preparation for this month, we have been writing down all our deceased family & friends on a sheet of paper, to take to Mass with us.. I sometimes have memory failure of those I would like to pray for, but today we were organised. It was nice to view this list before and at appropriate times to prompt our prayers.
Apart from these people dear to us, on our list, we will be especially praying for people in need this month. aussiecoffeeshop and I must have been on the same wave length when we were preparing our posts.
Our parish priest again put together a homily, that spoke to me. At one point, he spoke of the 'Book of the Dead', he has in the parish office and how he needs to write final details of a persons live. He spoke of how he used to dread it, now he calls it his book of hope, as he scans the pages of the people in the book, and remembers there life and the families.
God Bless you all today.

Love Our Lady and make her loved...

2010-11-01T14:33:00.002+11:00

In my Mary Vitamin meditation today I read these words and they resonanted with me.
"Love moves people to speak of the one they love. We know that the Church's greatest Saints, orators and writers have spoken, written, and sung Our Lady's praises with tireless zeal and love. But there has not been a Saint and there will never be any true devotee of Mary who does not feel a need to share his love of Our Lady with others. In big ways or small, the true devotee does all that he can to accomplish this in accord with the inspirations and talents he has received."
So Today, I will pray for the opportunity to share my love of Our Lady with others, I will be particularly careful to cultivate joyful and pleasant demeanor.
"In order to move souls to love Mary, St. Maximilian ventured to make great, self-effacing personal sacrifices. … But he went ahead undaunted, carrying on with hard work and privation. He never stopped. His love for the Immaculate would not let him rest from his feverish activity."

It was Our Lady that has drawn me ever closer to Our Lord and I will always honour her for that. It was a Statue of Our Lady I was given as a gift long before we had a family Bible, Long before an image of Jesus. It was the Rosary I first heard before I could recite The Lords prayer, It was Our lady who lend me to her Son, and I will do my best to bring honour to her at all times.
A few months ago, a sweet women send me a large Blessed Miraculous Medal, and I love wearing it. I feel Our Lady is constantly surrouding me.
Just recently while looking at how to incorporate the Family Saints into our daily routine more effectively, I was thinking, we could do the same with Marion feasts. So we have two photo frames, one has an insert of Red (Saints),and the other an insert of Blue( Marion).

Our Lady and the Saints pray for us.