Sweet Dreams!

I am doing a happy dance today -- Ryan slept through from 7.30pm to 6.30am last night! That is the first time either of my children has ever achieved the 'sleeping through' goal, which I was beginning to think was just a myth!

It is totally unreasonable of me to expect that this might become a regular occurrence, or even "the norm". But I have been working towards it....

* shortening night feeds - slowly down to a 5 minute feed, quick burp and back down in the cot while he is awake.

* using a heater - because Ryan is starting to crawl, he squirms out from under the blanket and was waking up cold. A small fan heater in the corner of his room, which runs intermittently through the night has worked really well for this.

* prayer and more prayer! Actually, I have also been praying for Naomi to start to learn better sleep habits, but so far no joy there. But thank you to the Lord for His goodness!

No doubt I will be back to bleary-eyed tomorrow after getting up to Ryan several times during the night, but it sure is nice to day-dream that this might become a habit!

Saving my sanity

There are 2 things that are currently helping greatly in the daily struggle to maintain a few shreds of sanity, and even help me to get slightly organised (shock, horror!).

Motivated Moms is a printable jobs list for around the house. My bloggy friend Nikki at Nikki's Notes mentioned it to me a few months ago, and it has since become my lifeline. It is a series of weekly check-lists, that help to get daily, weekly and occasional chores, all scheduled in.

I feel like it is a safety net, for jobs that I know I should do, but never really get around to scheduling. I never think to clean out my car. But about once every 6 weeks or so, my Motivated Moms list tells me to do it, so I do -- and I get to tick it off the list! My car has never been cleaner!

I never thought that having a check list would give me such a feeling of satisfaction, to have something to look at and feel like I HAVE achieved something that day.

Oh, and I bought the version that has a schedule of daily Bible readings as well - I have always wanted to be more organised about reading my bible. Now I have a set reading each day, which will get me through the Bible in a year. And, you guessed it - each day I get to tick it off the list!

For the princely sum of US$4.00, this has been the best investment I have made in a long time.

The second thing that is helping me out is my Hands On Homeschooling folder, for 2 year olds. I am sure I have mentioned Terri at Hands On Homeschooling before. She has fanastic 'curriculum' folders for ages 2, 3, 4 and 5. The folder is packed full of fun learning activities - 3 activities per day, 5 days a week, for a whole year, in fact!

I don't pretend that Naomi isn't in a tough stage -- she is such a busy-minded child, but socially and emotionally very dependent - not good at entertaining herself for any length of time.

This morning she was really acting up. Naomi just wanted to watch a dvd - again. I needed to get some things done. We were at an impasse - until I remembered Hands On Homeschooling. The activity for today was to cut out and colour in a star shape, in any yellow colour. Naomi loved doing that. Then she asked what else we could do with it. So we used it as a template, to colour around for other stars. Next, she asked what else was in the sky with the stars - so we talked about (and drew) moons, the sun, clouds - even birds, planes and kites! Before I knew it, we had passed a very pleasant hour of time, with not one whinge, or request for the tv to be turned on.

And this afternoon we are going to tie a string on our star and hang it up in her drawing corner, to show Daddy when he gets home from work.

I can't recommend these 2 products highly enough. They are certainly saving my sanity -- which is a very impressive feat!

Do you have anything that you feel is a great aid, whether in organisation, child teaching / entertaining or any other area?

Mmm.... cookies!

Wow, the last couple of posts have been heavy going! So here is something lighter... cookies!

This is our favourite basic biscuit recipe:

Ingredients -

120 gms unsalted butter

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 egg

2 cups self-raising flour

Vanilla essence (just a tiny splash).

Preheat oven to 170 C (a moderate oven). Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, until light and creamy. Add the egg, and mix until combined. Add the flour and vanilla essence.

Knead the mixture, in the bowl, to form a ball. Wrap the dough in glad wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for about 20 mins.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured bench (this is easiest if you do it in 2 smaller batches). Use biscuit cutters to cut out cookes and put them on greased oven trays.

Bake for approx 8 - 10 mins, until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack.

This is a great basic mixture, which can then be played around with - I add in a handful of dessicated coconut, or a large glob of peanut butter. or a squeeze of lemon juice and some zest ...

And of course, I bake wearing one of the delicous new aprons available at Sasha Sews!

Having a plan

I am not too great at having a plan and following it. I would love to be more organised, and really MUST get my shoebox of receipts in better order before the accountant has an apoplexy.

But Brad and I have decided that we must have a plan. He works crazy long hours in a high stress job (engineering on large construction jobs). He is well paid, and this allows me the luxury of staying at home to be with our children and dabble in delicious fabrics. But all the stress he has, is for the company's benefit!

There is also Brad's health to consider. He is Type 1 diabetic (the genetic kind). His eyesight isn't so great, blood sugar levels need constant monitoring (stress creates hormones that block the insulin from working). At some point in time, we know that this job is not going to be the right thing for his health.

So we need a Grand Plan - something that will help us get to the point where we can choose what we really want to do with our lives. Should we sell the investment property (not the greatest time to be selling real estate, though)? We are seriously thinking of our own business, which would give Brad much greater flexibility with regard to his health needs. But we know that we need to work hard in the next 5 or so years, to save the kind of cash that will be needed, before he can chuck in construction engineering for good!

I am seeing a financial planner this afternoon, which I hope will be beneficial in setting a budget, some goals, and getting a clearer idea of how to move forward.

On a small scale, I am also trying to get firm about budgeting our household expenses. The internet and phone bills have been switched to a significantly cheaper company. I am also trying to shop fortnightly, in greater quantity. I have read that the more often you go to the supermarket, the more you spend, above what you intended. This makes sense - less temptation, equals less spending, right?

So my real challenge for this afternoon is to go to the great butcher we have in our Small Town, choose a bulk pack of meat and then figure out how to fit it all into our tiny freezer space!!

I also plan to start a notebook of our monthly expenses. Now I just need to remember to write in it!!

Do you have a Grand Plan, or even just a rough idea of where you want to be, as a family, in X years time? I would love to know that we are not alone in this!

Teaching every day

Have you ever thought about what you are teaching your children? I don't just mean teaching them right from wrong, to use good manners, and how to tie their shoes (although those things are of course all important). I mean actually teaching them things that will be in their schooling curriculum.

My father was a teacher, and a wonderful one. He was also the principal of many rural primary schools, but because they were always small schools (I started in a school with around 25 children), he always had a class to teach as well. Dad was my teacher for grades 5, 6 and 7.

So maybe, now that I am a parent, that makes me think a bit more deeply about the different aspects of learning?

Anyway, the point of this ramble is that we did the grocery shopping yesterday. It helps to keep Naomi entertained if she can hand me the eco bags that we have, for our fresh produce. As we get each fruit and vegetable, we talk about what it is, how we can cook it (home economics!). Then Naomi gives me a bag, and we name the colour of the bag (art!). We also discuss which size bag she needs to give me, to fit each product (spatial concepts, problem solving). We count out each item, and how many bags she has left at the end (subtraction, mathematics).

I only really thought about this yesterday - so many grown up concepts, packed into one simple and entertaining activity, for our Miss Nearly 3.

What do you do, to teach your little children daily, either formally or informally?

October Competition.... name my new design!

To see the October competition, you will have to duck over to my other blog, www.FusionFabric.blogspot.com

I need a name for my new original design handbag! Winner will be announced on Monday, so be quick!

AND the prize..... is your choice of either 50% off the price of this purse, OR the pdf pattern to create it yourself!

Can't wait to hear your creative thoughts.....

We had to get out of the house....

because 2 year old squealing and whinging sounds less offensive in the fresh air.

So we packed up our sausages and bread rolls, and headed for Lake Tinaroo. This is actually the dam that provides irrigation to most of our regional area. And it has been re-developed, so now has a very nice foreshore, complete with playground and barbeque areas.

The sounds of grumpy Miss 2 (who had refused to have her afternoon nap) were ALMOST swallowed up by those of native birds, gently splashing water and the birthday party going on at the bbq table next to ours!

Now if only we could stay in this pleasant place all night!

Well, maybe not. It got cool and windy. And there were ants.