Thank you Ambleside online!

This has been our first year of following Ambleside online wholly and I just have to say how refreshing it is to read lively books that have been beautifully written with brilliant illustrations such as 'Pagoo'.

This lovely story of the life of a hermit crab was one of the read aloud for Ambleside online y2 and this story absolutely captivated and inspired my ds. We finished this week and the first thing ds asks ~ 'is there number 2'?

I am so thankful to God for guiding me to the Charlotte Mason approach and to Ambleside online for providing there free curriculum according to Miss Mason's philosophy!

The last thing I just want to mention is how these great books bring our lessons to life, it is wonderful to just step away after maths and penmanship and get lost in the great minds of the writers.

Due to my first cold this year, I did as little as possible over the weekend, which resulted in catching up on some much wanted reading that was piling up on my coffee table!

Just thought you might like to know some more of my passions and interests so here they are ~

There is something about quilts that I just love and when I saw this quilt on the front cover of this magazine, I simply desired to make it for my dd!

Let's hope I can!

Donna Hay magazine attracts my attention because of her lovely

and simple use of a variety of foods

Joel Osteen has a beautiful gift of encouragement and this book has been so uplifting over the last few weeks and I was able to read more over the weekend!

This magazine keeps me inspired to stay healthy and keeps me up to date with what's hot and what's not! They impress me with there thorough research and beautiful recipes!

p.s ~ Our kitchen is getting installed today! It was 7 years ago when we moved to this amazing town and now the time has come where what you sow is what you reap! Only God knows what I mean about that!

Italiana lunch!

Roasted capsicum and herb bruschetta

donna hay magazine AUG/SEP issue

I love red capsicums...

Today was the first time I have roasted whole capsicums...

It was a slimy and fun business peeling the skins..

The recipe uses flat leaf parsley, but I replaced it with fresh basil which I had already.
I also added semi sun dried tomatoes and feta.

I used Turkish bread instead of sour dough...

a 'good' extra virgin olive oil...

One of my best friends in the kitchen ~ Garlic crusher

la cena era deliziosa

(the meal was delicious)

This recipe will certainly be added to my 'Restaurant' menu!

Lead me to the Cross - Brooke Fraser

Savior I come

Quiet my soul

remember Redemptions hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as lost Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I

Tempted and trialed

You are The word became flesh

Bore my sin and death

Now you're risen

To your heart

To your heart

Lead me to your heart

Lead me to your heart

Out of the mouth of babes...

Thursday 5:50am ~ waking up

"Mum,

Mum,

Mum,

Would you like a kettle or a pot for your birthday?

"Why", I asked

Because your beautiful"

Says my darling daughter (4)

Children are a gift! My birthday is not until next year!

My new cook book!

Just had a few spare minutes today to quickly share my new cook book. This one I have been eyeing off for the last five years (when it first came out).

I first saw it when I was working at one of our local gourmet cafes about 5 years ago and my boss owned this book and I remember browsing through it desiring to have my own copy.

The first recipe I made from this cook book was a potato frittata which was just delightful!

We were in Melbourne over the weekend for a wedding and we made a few stops to do a bit of shopping since I still had 2 Myer gift cards which I received for my birthday back in May!

David gave me an unexpected surprise which enabled me to buy this long wanted cook book.

I am looking forward to sharing A LOT of recipes with you!

The old saying is certainly true ~

JESUS

This is just how I am feeling right now!

Lyrics to 'Jesus'

I’m blown away this life of faith It’s filled with endless blessing

And yet sometimes I wake to find I’m facing trials and testing

Even in the moment When I’m falling to my knees

I find that help is waiting for me

Any desperate day One word I can pray All I know to say - Jesus

Screaming from my soul I’m giving up control

The only hope I know - Jesus

All my concerns my deepest hurt My Savior’s been where I am

Life comes undone and there’s no one

Who understands like He can

So even if I stumble and my world is torn apart

There is One who’s holding my heart

Any desperate day One word I can pray

All I know to say - Jesus

Screaming from my soul I’m giving up control

The only hope I know - Jesus

My God hears And He draws near

Any desperate day One word I can pray

All I know to say - Jesus

Screaming from my soul I’m giving up control

The only hope I know - Jesus

Any desperate day One word I can pray

All I know to say - Jesus

Screaming from my soul I’m giving up control

The only hope I know - Jesus

Screaming from my soul I'm giving up control

The only hope I know - Jesus

If you like the lyrics, take time to listen to the song ~ it's awesome

Scenery on our Nature Walk...

...I'll let the pictures do the talking

Joshua built his survival hut, just 'like the Aborigines would of done' he said

Joshua's Scarlet bracket fungus that he found - by looking at his face you would think he was disgusted, but he was very excited

What do you get for 50c these days?

~A chuppa chuppa lolly pop

~a roll from the bakery

~1 piece of fruit...maybe

~a really cheap pen

Yesterday on my way home from the supermarket (after I brought a $5.00 punnet of strawberries) I stopped over at one of our local op shops to see if they happened to have a dog kennel for our puppy Zac who is growing very quickly.

While I was their I just browsed around looking for some hidden treasures. I was looking through the video collection and I came across 'The Wind and the Willows', my heart skipped a beat, I mean I was so excited as I knew my ds would be so glad to see it. The Wind and the Willows was one of our favourite read aloud last year and I really felt like I had found a little gem! It cost me 50c!!!

Then I went over to the book shelf and I found a couple of books, that I have never heard of but sound really great. They are ~

"Boy in a Storm at Sea" By Morris Lurie

&

"Tarin of the Ice" By Sheryn Dee

Has anyone read any of these two books and if so could you tell me what you thought about them? Thank you

I also picked up an old Encyclopedia which is filled with so many wonderful pictures which I thought would be great to cut out and paste into our book of centuries.

BIBLETOONS ~ "Cool, Catchy and Contagious!"

Two years ago we made one of the absolute best purchases ever! We brought a satellite dish that tunes us into seven of the best Christian television channels. One of those channels is 'Smile of a Child', which is a 24 hour, 7 days a week Christian channel devoted to our twinkle toes (children)!

My children enjoy a lot of the programs, and some they don't, but one of our FAVOURITES is God Rocks, and this awesome show comes on at 7:30am every morning.

The show is a mixture of 100% scripture songs and cartoons with biblical based stories. We dig the songs, they are truly "cool, catchy and contagious". Each different song has been cleverly sung to the same sounds of The Beetles, The Beach boys, Elvis Presley, and the supremes.


Today in our mail box was the CD you see above ~

Could you imagine my excitement?

We are going to use the Scriptures as our memory verses for school and sing along as wel!

I love it when we travel, we listen to ABC songs, nursery rhymes, Colin Buchanan, Musical Times Tables (which Jeanne blogged about ~
~http://ohpeacefulday.blogspot.com/2009/01/mastering-multiplication.html )and lot's of worship and classical music.

Now we have another fantastic CD to accompany the others.

If you have a spare 2 min, have a listen to the video below...I know you will be blessed!