Break

Taking one from most forms of electronic communication.
Will be back when the new year starts.
Call if you want to talk.
E-mail if you need our AUS or US phone number.
I'll check my e-mail once a day or so.

There are times when quiet is needed. This is one of those times.

Broken

Sometimes I grow weary of this broken world. Then my thoughts drift to the last few verses of Revelation. Oh how we do need to be saved from the brokenness.

"Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Today was a day where I was thinking that. "Come Lord Jesus. Your kingdom come, your will be done."
There have been a few days recently where the burden has been extremely heavy, and I am only dealing with it on a secondary level. There are friends who are at the epicentre.

I struggle with asking for "Come Lord Jesus" because of the implications. On one hand for those who follow Christ all the pain, wickedness, hurt are gone. However on the other hand it means that those around me who do not love the Lord Jesus are at the doorstep of eternity in hell.

We are here and unpacking

slowly. A few boxes each day. It is always fun trying to figure out storage space at any new house. I liken it to a giant game of Tetris. I find myself looking at an empty space and trying to mentally sort through all the possessions lying on the floor in the back room. Searching for a good match between object and space. The only difference is that the cabinets and shelves are not moving around...thankful.

Our neighbourhood is nice, and quiet. The neighbours on either side are Greek, I think. The elderly lady next door introduced herself but I cannot repeat her name for the life of me. I did catch that her son's name is Theo.

There are some interesting surnames around here. Here are a few that I wrote down...Zographos, Zaparas, Lazogas, and Kourkoulis. It will take a while before the words are rolling off my tongue.

I am having a hard time with renting again. I have to say that I downright dislike it and don't want to be doing it. I will be working on a change of attitude but at this moment am rather fed up with it and very disgruntled. Brandon asked me wanted what I wanted to do tonight. I said complain and be disgruntled.

Here are some reasons why.

• The light in the toilet doesn't work.
• There is no toilet roll holder on the wall. So we went and bought one and it's stuck on with sticky tape. I am sure it will be on the floor in a few days.
• There isn't a proper clothes line and no dryer.
• None of the curtain rods are attached. So when you pull the curtains the entire rod falls down and hits you in the head.
• None of the curtains match and all of them are downright ugly. There should be regulations on what type of curtains can be sold in stores. Shiny pink, orange velvet, peach, and orange/brown should all be on the "No" list.
• Stupid stickers on the windows saying " Warning! Sophisticated Electronic Surveillance Protects this Property" As if anyone believes that. Thanks for leaving ugly stickers everywhere that have no meaning. Oh and you would think that one might want to replace these "sophisticated" stickers as they become faded and begin to flake off. It would make it easier for the soon-to-be robbers to read. And why buy stickers that have the writing on both sides? Do I really need to read the warning everytime I look out the window? I am in the house already. Come on people work with me here.

Be content. Be content in all things. Be content with rods that whack you in the head and stupid surveillance stickers on the windows. Be content with going to the toilet in the dark sometimes. Be content while waiting a possible 28 days for our maintenance request form to be processed. Be content even if the landlords say no.

Then make a trip to Ikea and spend your own money to fix it all yourself :-) Ikea is only 20 minutes away now. Are you being content if you go to Ikea and fix it yourself? Will ponder that and let my disgruntledness (new word of the day from Megan's dictionary) slip away into oblivion.

Moving day

We are moving today up to Melbourne. I am writing this on my phone so it willhave to be short and sweet. It has been a long day. We are so very thankful for all of our friends in Geelong who have taken care of us in the past few days. We feel very loved. It is hard knowing that we won't be able to see those friends as frequently but look forward to the more special times that we do get to spend together. More thoughts when our internet kicks in next Friday. My phone's battery is almost flat :-/

another web design

Just finished this years GBC layout. The rest of the content still needs to be added. The hard stuff is done though. Need to get everything else finished before we move.  Internet might be down for 20 days *yikes* at that point. Yes we are finally moving to McKinnon area. Talk more about that soon.

If you like looking at interesting websites read this article.

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

Adele: "I do not like to play winning games."

Me: "What do you mean by 'winning games'?"

Adele: "I want to win."

Adele: "Someone wins and that is not fair."

Meaning she does not like to lose. She would rather not play than play and lose. Another insight into the mind of our little 'del.

House hunting take two

House #2 Huntingdale

Cons-

• Price was over 400/wk.
• No dishwasher
• Built in wardrobes in only one bedroom
• The other two bedrooms were tiny!
• Not very close to train station

Pros-

• Has a bungalow out back - No heat but a space heater would warm it up quickly.
• Two living areas
• Smallish backyard but fenced in
• Close to park

House #3 Huntingdale

Too small all around, not interested.

House #4 Glen Iris

Too bad all of you couldn't come with us for this one. This house has awesome character.

Pros -

• Old wood work
• The bath tub facet was shaped like a fish (Brandon says it was a Tiger hmmmmmm). The water spouted out of the fish's mouth
• Little led light windows
• A lovely little reading nook
• Four bedrooms
• New stove
• The tram line runs by on the street out front.
• A huge back and front yard
• Close to park
• Close to train station and trams

Cons- hold on to your seat for these : -)

• The only heat in the house was a fireplace in the lounge
• No built in robes...at all
• The toilet was outside of the house
• The toilet did not have a light in it
• No dishwasher, big surprise there
• No gardening in the yard for at least the past year
• The flower boxes out front were rotting off the windows
• Spooky pet tombstone in the back yard of a pet "Bill" that died in 1959
• All this for $450/week

I would love to live in this house...if it had true heating. We were talking about how great it would be to pay $300-350/wk and fix the house up. It could be a beautiful house if someone actually took the time to fix it up. We might give them a call and see what they think. I seriously doubt that they will be interested.

House #5 Oakleigh South

I quite like this house and we will probably turn in an application.

Pros-

• 3 bedrooms (all with built in robes) + study
• 2 living areas
• Hardwood floors
• Just painted
• Lots of closet space
• Under $400/wk
• Entire property fenced in. So the kids can play in the front and back yard
• Park a block away

Cons-

• No dishwasher
• Our washing machine is too big for the space allotted
• Our fridge is too big as well
• Train station about 3kms away

Cycling and more cycling

All in all we went to the cycling five out of seven days last week. I had a blast and the kids enjoyed themselves from time to time.

Sadly the culture hubs were non-existent. I did not find any other Americans :-/ I did meet a Brazillian. He is over here for 10 months, probably for studies. His English was broken but we managed.

We were able to pick up a few souvenirs, some free some not. Cow bells and whistles were the favourites. I thought the Belgium flags were cool. We also picked up a water bottle that a Russian threw away during the U23 men's race. The water bottle almost smacked me in the head. Thankfully it didn't because it was quite full and would have left a major lump.

During the women's race the girls, Gids, and I were on Chalambra. It is a section of the longest climb on the course. We had a great view. During all the races there were four helicopters following the peleton (the mass of cyclists). It was very exciting as we would watch the helicopters getting closer and closer knowing that the riders were as well. In all the cyclists went around the course 8-11 times (depending on the race). This was nice because it gave us several opportunities to see the athletes in action.

Gid's now goes around the house saying "o ewwwssssay! oewwssay!"
Translation:(Go USA! Go USA!)
He was often yelling "Go USA! at the cars driving past more so than the cyclists. The girls would just yell "Go faster go faster!"

If you want to see some pics go here and here.

A video of the cheer squad



and here is a video of the Mens peleton

House hunting

House #1

Cons -

• By a busy street - as in, if you step off the curb you will be hit by a 60kph piece of metal/plastic.
• All the outdoor buildings were dilapidated.
• Majoring gardening need to applied to the yard. My fingers were a little excited about the prospect. Thus you will find this under the 'Pro' section as well.
• Our fridge would not fit in the kitchen. It is too tall. We would have to buy a midget fridge. I am not fond of midget fridges due to the rather large amount of food we consume.
• Only one bedroom had a BIW (built in wardrobe) and of course that was the biggest room.

Pros -

• Just painted
• Hardwood floor just cleaned and sealed
• Lots of gardening to do
• Nice sized yard, which included a "secret garden". Or a hang out for all the local poisonous snakes.

We did not apply for it. The road issue was too great. I do not want two dimensional kids.

This Saturday we are looking at two more houses. Then another one the following Tuesday.

McKinnon Update

Yesterday the McKinnon church voted on calling a full-time minister to their pulpit. I wish I could say that there was a satisfying outcome. Unfortunately nothing has been decided due to no single name receiving 70% of the votes. We go back to praying that some decision will be made. We also begin to pack. We are searching for a house now but do not know when we will find one that works. It is best that we are packed and ready to go.

Something will be decided on eventually.

With or without a full-time pastor we have decided to continue on,  with the Lord. Perhaps having a full-time minister is a comfort we are not meant to have right now? After all there are many groups of Christians lacking proper church buildings and full-time ministers. Over the past few weeks a sense of urgency has been growing within us. There are things to be done. People that we would like to spend more time with but can't due to being so far away. Ultimately, we have connections with people who are hurting and lost, who need to hear about Jesus Christ. We are humbling praying that God might use us for his purposes when we move up there.

So yes,  we are still feeling a bit frustrated, confused, and weary (weary of comforts getting in the way).  Time to go read a few Psalms.

Psalms 121: 1-2
I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 127: 1-2
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

The world of cycling

The world of cycling is something I am completely removed from. I have never participated in this sport and never watch it. Moving to Australia has changed that slightly. Here cycling is big. When a man goes through his mid-life crisis here,  he buys a road bike instead of the Harley everyone in Indiana seems to purchase.

This bike was on sale for $8,999

You can easily drop the same amount of money on a road bike and gear as you can on a Harley. Carbon fiber, single gears, special paint, tyres, it adds up pretty fast. And that is only the bike. You also seem obligated to by toe clips, those special clickety-clack shoes, and a spandex outfits.

Here in Geelong there are heaps of cyclists. On Saturday and Sunday mornings they get into their little packs and ride every where. They all sport some kind of spandex outfit with words and colors that I'm sure mean nothing. Surely not everyone in Geelong has a sponsor...right?

There is a group of guys at church that go riding. Brandon has joined the club. He bought a bike off eBay for, thankfully, a fraction of what they are new. I can pick the bike up with one hand. I'm sure the top bikes boasts that you can pick them up with your pinkie.

Real cyclists train in snowsuits!

Thankfully Brandon has not given in to the spandex yet. That will be D-day. Seriously why do you have to own a spandex riding outfit when you're only going out on the weekends? I think they should all wear snowsuits and snowboots. Wouldn't that be better training for them? More wind resistance in training will give you better performance on race day (which most people don't even participate in) when you strip down to your synthetic skin. My idea does not seem to be too popular, sadly.

This and several posts to come are due to the fact that the UCI Road World Championship is coming to our smallish town next week. We will be inundated with around 300,000 spectators, athletes from over 40 countries, and a gazillion bikes. Everyone in this state is going to suddenly think they can ride a bike with clips. I for one will not pretend. I have never ridden a bike with toe clips. If I did, I'm sure I would falling over like one of those fainting goats.


Currently the population of Geelong is a little over 200,000. The population will only more than double next week. Yeah, it is going to be a bit tight.

The race is going through and around Geelong. The race will pass about a block from our house. I am actually getting pretty excited about this whole event, even though I am clueless about cycling. Pretty cool that such a huge event will be held close to our front doorstep.

Mapping out the hub locations

From the beginning of next week until Sunday there will be time trials, races, and festivities. There will be 15 countries who will set up cultural hubs through our town. Portugal's hub is down the street from us. The girls and I pulled out a world map and charted the locations of all the hubs. My goal is to visit everyone of them next week. They are a little excited to visit Spain's hub because they might hear some people speaking Spanish. Supposedly Italy is know for the festivities they bring to any sporting event. We will see how the US of A holds up to them.

We will keep you updated on all our expeditions over the course of next week.

Countries with hubs. Who decides which countries get hubs?

Terrain Map

Happy 2nd Birthday Gids! We love you!

Year One

Pose last year

Pose this year

Gids was so proud of this jumper that his friend Oscar gave him. He walked around the house saying "Scoop! Scoop!"

Doing what he does best, making people smile. When Adele is sad Gids is the first one trying to cheer her up.

Reading a book to 'hasee'

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

While on the way to the pool....

Jolene: "I can watch the Bernie (a kids show) movie whenever I want."
Me:"You can?"
Jolene:"yes, it's in my head."
Adele: "Me too!"
Jolene:" I can watch it wherever I'm at because I remember it all in my head."
Me: "I see."

Five minutes of silence....

Me:"Are you watching it now?"
Jolene:"Yes."
Me:"What part are you at?"
Jolene:"The dragon part."

a few more minutes of silence....

Jolene:" I'm going to turn it off now."
Me:"OK"
Jolene:"I can watch the rest of it when we get to the pool."
Me:"Sounds like a plan."

Creating

I found this book and a butterfly poster at an opp shop. As soon as I saw the book an idea of how it should be transformed popped into my head. This is the end result.

Book - A chrysalis harboring ideas and thoughts, serenely waiting to burst free.

-Anonymous 

 

Rice Day - the aftermath

Rice day has come and gone. Here are some observations on how it went.


Morning -
Adele surprised me and ate two helpings. Gideon liked it as well and had a bowl and a half. Jolene had five bites and said that if she had to eat any more she would vomit. I gave her some toast.
I have learned that morning rice should be somewhat more mushy/creamy than rice served at lunch and dinner. If it is not on the more mushy side of things the rice tends to just float in the milk and look rather unappetizing. We did put some salt and sugar in which made it more edible. At every meal I reminded the girls that all the little extras we were adding to our rice others in the worked might not have.

Lunch -
We had rice with some soy sauce, avocado, shredded carrot, capsicum, and snap peas. Rather gourmet really. I likened it to sushi that fell out of its blanket. Adele loved this meal. She loves sushi ( I might add that she says "sushi" in a very cute way" ) and soy sauce. She says it like this..."soooie sauce." Jolene ate a bit more of this meal. Gideon dumped his out and proceeded to throw it all over the floor. He ended up with a PB&J sandwich.

Dinner -
Dinner was the same as lunch but I added some spring rolls and dim sims. The girls were pretty hungry by this point. I was sick so my will was not strong.

Snacks -
Apples, carrots, and at the end of the day a granola bar. Like I said, I was sick and really just wanted to lay on the couch with a pillow over my head to keep out the light and noise. "Starving" kids were not going to help at this time of the day.

Overall -
I think it was a good idea and in the future would like to do it again. Perhaps as they get older we can take away some of the condiments. The following day I found myself very thankful for the cereal we had, as well as butter and other tasty additions to the food we ate. I believe doing this sort of thing from time to time revitalizes the senses that have become dull from too many options. We do have so many options to choose from. Sometimes it seems like they are bombarding us constantly and to deal with it we just switch off.
I believe we will have rice with soy sauce and avocado more often. Easy to make, simple, and tasty. Adele will love me on those days for sure :-)

Until our next family experiment.

Rice Day

Our girls have recently been complaining about everything under the sun. They don't like the clothes I pick out, they don't like the food they are served, they do not like the hair clips I have chosen, etc.

It has become quite wearisome and so we have decided to bunker down on a few rules.

If you complain about the clothes you are given you cannot wear a skirt or dress to church that Sunday. Depending on the amount of complaining you might lose the privilege for the entire week. This is a huge deal for the girls especially Adele who likes to dress like this most days.

Complain about hair accessories and you get a plain, boring, black hair tie.

Complain about the food and no dessert.

I have realized that these are all punishments and have tried to think of more positive reinforcements.

A couple of days ago the girls and I were sitting around the lunch table discussing social problems as you tend to do. We were talking about the floods in Pakistan and that there are many people who have lost everything. In some areas they are even struggling to find food. That brought us to how we get to eat lots of tasty food and should be thankful for every meal even if it isn't to our liking. This is especially hard for Adele, she tends to have more selective taste buds.

I mentioned that it might be good for us all to eat rice for a day to help us understand how others eat in poorer countries. The girls were excited about doing it and so here we arrive at the title to this post. Tomorrow is rice day. As a family we are going to "try" and eat rice for the three main meals. We are not making the girls do this. I want them to want to do it. Of course Gids can eat whatever. For snacks, we all tend to eat 5 times a day, they can have only a little fruit or veg. Only water and no desserts.

For breakfast I think I will be adding milk, some salt, and maybe a little sugar to the girls' rice. Adele was enthusiastic about all of this when she went to bed tonight. She however is not, I repeat, not a morning person. She may crumple into a heap with loud cries if she arrives at the table with just a bowl of rice.

I'll report back tomorrow evening on how this whole experiment went down. Brandon is cooking his rice for work as we speak.

Convictions - sticking to them is not always easy

From the time we got married, Brandon and I decided to set Sunday aside as a special day. A day where we would go worship the Lord, spend time in fellowship with other believers, and take part in needed rest.

In the BK (before kids) era this wasn't too challenging. We understood why we were doing it and that was all there was to it.

Now in the DK (during kids) era, sticking to those convictions is a little more challenging. We have felt unsteady at times in our resolve to honor the Sabbath day in the way we feel convicted.

Our kids are now in programs. These programs have end of the year gatherings where you tend to display the knowledge, skill, and achievements you have gathered during the past 364 days.

Our girls take dance classes. In the past years the concert has been on a Saturday. This year there were no Saturdays available and so it has fallen on a Sunday.

I told the girls' teacher that we would not be attending the concert due to it being on a Sunday. She asked why and I told because we attend church on Sunday. She countered with a "you can come after church." I countered her counter offer with a "ummm, I will talk to my husband." Yes, so decisive I know. At the time I just could not coherently make the right words come out. I suppose I was also wondering if perhaps it might be alright for us to do it just this one time.

Brandon and I talked and we decided that no, we would not participate. So the next week I went back with concrete sentences weighing on my mind. After the lesson I explained again that we would not be participating. I explained that as Christians we felt convicted to keep normal activities at bay on Sunday. She then countered with "well it is only this one time." *sigh* My three kids are running around the hall, little girls are yelling, and I am trying to argue my point. Arguing, in the debating sense, is not a strong point of mine. I finally said that no, we would not make exceptions and that we had to stick to our convictions. I said hopefully the concert could be held on a Saturday next year.

There have been trying times at the following dance classes. The teacher brings in costumes for the class to try on but does not ask if my girls would like to try them on. This has reduced Jolene to tears several times. After all, who can resist a pink, sparkling, tutu that bounces and swirls when you move? My girls have also lost their placed in the dance line and have been shuffled to the back of the line. They don't care so much as they are just confused by the new places they have been assigned. Now I don't think the teacher is trying to be mean. Why should the girls try on costumes that they will not wear? It makes perfect sense to place them at the end of the line so that their absence doesn't confuse the others on the day of the concert.

I have to tell you that seeing the girls' disappointment and tears has nearly broken my resolve. I have really wrestled with placing our conviction on the girls. Especially when I am not sure they fully understand the reasons. It is tempting to say "yes, it is only this one week. Go ahead and do it"

Through all of this my thoughts have become slightly more clear. I realize now that I should have told the teacher not only do we as a family want to rest but we would like her to have a day of rest too. We don't want her to be running around like crazy all Sunday morning, afternoon, and evening. Instead we would rather her come to church.

Yes this is only one day of the year. But how many more of these events will we have in the future? As our kids grow older I think we might end up with a dozen or so of these. Meaning that we could miss around 1/5 of the worship services for that year.

It is hard making the girls do something that they may not fully understand. However, as Christian parents we need to teach them how to keep God's commandments. Through all of this I have had opportunities to explain the gospel to the girls. I explain to them that we are trying to keep the fourth commandment. Even at our best we cannot keep God's commands perfectly. This shows us we need help. We cannot save ourselves. We need a savior, Jesus Christ. I also try to explain to them how God has given us six days to do our work and that he asks us to set apart Sunday for him. We should want to spend time in his house with other believers. Instead of resisting we should be thankful for such a gift.

Psalm 122:1 - I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

So tonight we were talking about growing up. I told the kids that when they have their own kids I would be their kids' grandma. They thought that was pretty funny. Ha, me a grandma!

I then asked them what they would name their kids. Here are the names Jolene and Adele have picked out so far.


Jolene: "Lily, Snowflake, Spot, and Butterfly"
Adele: "Pink sparkly heart, pink sparkly heart butterfly, and pink sparkly heart spot"


Me:"Those are all very unique names and I have never met anyone going by any of those names."

Me: "Did you know Gideon will be a daddy when he has kids?"
Jolene: "But he has to find a girl first."
Me: "Yes, that is true."
Adele: "I'm his girl!"
Me: "Wellll, that is not really allowed."
Gideon: gives Adele a big shove and wrestles with her on the couch.

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

Early one morning, right before Brandon left for work, Adele stumbled out of her bed and said...

"Daddy are you a pirate?"
Brandon:  *laughing  "No Adele, now go back to bed"
Adele: *stumbles back to bed

This question probably arose due to a library book we recently read. The book was about a daddy who didn't work in an office like the little boy thought. His daddy was a real pirate. After reading that book Adele asked me if Brandon was a pirate. I told her she would have to ask him.

---

Yesterday as we were getting into the car Jolene starts drawing in the dew on the side of the car.

She asks "Daddy, what's this?"
Brandon: "a flower? a starfish?"
"no, no, dad, it's in a book."
I'm (Brandon) grasping at straws... "an atom?"
"yes, that's it"

---

Tonight we had gnocchi with cream, bacon, and nuts. Yum, yum. Anyway saying gnocchi is fun and this is the conversation that ensued.
 gnocchi!"

Adele: "nocci"
Jolene: "No, not nocci. It's gnocchi.
Jolene: "Lockin up the gnocchi!"
The girls are both giggling now

Adele: "We have a friend Jasmine and she has a friend named Lochy" (Actually Lochy is her brother, but not important)

Jolene: "Lochy lockin up the gnocchi!"

More giggles

Hebrews 11: 8 - 10

I have been meditating on these verses a lot over the last few weeks.  I don't think I will be able to write this in a way that truly represents my thoughts. Excuse my bumbling hands and limited vocabulary.

A few weeks ago I read this

Heb. 11: 8-10

8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he went to live in a land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Have you ever had a "aha!" moment? I did when I read those verses. It was so real to me, I could honestly say "I know what you mean Abraham. I want a foundation too."

I believe these verses sum up the last few years of our life. Granted we did not move to Australia to receive our inheritance. We will be getting ours when we arrive in heaven. The travel though I can understand, obeying when called to go, the not knowing, the foreign land, the "tents." (tents = house sitting and rental houses)

When I read this I was still struggling with the decision of not buying this house. Home ownership is so ingrained in Western society. Our decision has made us feel a bit like trout heading up stream. The western world sees a house as part of the retirement security. I was wrestling with this question, "how are we going to be ready for retirement if we don't own a house." Do what we can without stressing. God will provide as he did for Abraham. Like Abraham our true retirement is in heaven.

The last verse was so soothing to me. Here was someone else that longed for a foundation! We at least get to live in houses, Abraham was traveling around in tents. It is easy to head into the realm of self- pity. You can constantly be asking yourself, why me? Sometimes the lesson takes a little bit longer to sink in. Perhaps like Abraham the only foundation belonging to us will be the one built by God and found when we reach heaven. I can say now that I am OK with that. As long as we can rent a house a bit warmer than the one we are in now, all is well :-)

From Matthew Henry's commentary on Hebrews

3. The supports of Abraham's faith (v. 10): He looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Observe here, (1.) The description given of heaven: it is a city, a regular society, well established, well defended, and well supplied: it is a city that hath foundations, even the immutable purposes and almighty power of God, the infinite merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promises of an everlasting covenant, its own purity, and the perfection of its inhabitants: and it is a city whose builder and maker is God. He contrived the model; he accordingly made it, and he has laid open a new and living way into it, and prepared it for his people; he puts them into possession of it, prefers them in it, and is himself the substance and felicity of it. (2.) Observe the due regard that Abraham had to this heavenly city: he looked for it; he believed there was such a state; he waited for it, and in the mean time he conversed in it by faith; he had exalted and rejoicing hopes, that in God's time and way he should be brought safely to it. (3.) The influence this had upon his present conversation: it was a support to him under all the trials of his sojourning state, helped him patiently to bear all the inconveniences of it, and actively to discharge all the duties of it, persevering therein unto the end.

Two other thoughts from this passage.

1. To value once more the hardships we go through. In my experience they lead to a personal identification with specific Scripture passages.

2. Again, I can truly say God's word is living and active. Writings thousands of years old are still relevant to my life in 2010. I can personally identify with a male nomad walking through the Sinai peninsula thousands of years ago. How strange, cool, and awesome is that?

Indiana

That is where we are at.

We surprised B's mom and showed up two days before his sister's wedding. It was a very last minute decision on our part. We decided to go last Thursday. Bought the tickets the next day, Friday morning. In the air at 6am on Wednesday. Thankfully it is summer in Indiana. Requires a lot less thought when packing.

I am very proud of the fact that we only brought two suitcases and one empty duffle bag. No pram, just one backpack. So much better than the two snowboards and eight suitcases we had on the way back from our Christmas trip.

The trip over went pretty well. We thought we had lost our nice backpack in LAX. Thankful at the last moment it reappeared and all was good...we even caught our flight to Cinci. The trip to Cinci was not pleasant. All the children had major breakdowns...and of course not at the same time. Every old lady on the plane wanted to give us advice. They all thought that the screaming fits were due to little ears not handling the air pressure. One lady told me that I should press my finger on Jolene's upper lip to relieve the her ear pain. I just stared at her and told her we were from Australia. I couldn't muster the energy at that point to say anything else. Of course they have no idea what "coming from Australia" entails so it was a lost cause. Go away old ladies, be gone!

The wedding went well. Jolene and Adele were flower girls and Gids was the ring bearer. The girls were so "cited" that they got to dress up and go to a fancy party after the wedding. I will post a few pics in the near future.

We just got back to B's parent's house today. We had spent Sun-Wed in southern Indiana camping. All the extended Fishers gathered together for a reunion. We had a great time. No more needs to be said...except that Jolene was depressed when we left. She wanted to play in the creek more.

Next week we are at my parent's house. Then we head home. Two and a half weeks is not long enough but that is all the holiday time B had. I am thankful we were able to come even if it was such a short trip.


Side note: Thanks to all this traveling Brandon and I have been able to get in a few sermon listening moments.

We have gone through a few of Timothy Keller's sermons via his podcast.

Here are the topics:

Made for Stewardship
Treasure vs. Money
Arguing about Politics
Can Faith be Green?

The second topic was challenging. Keller ask why we don't hold each other accountable in the way we spend our money? Christians often hold each other accountable in several areas of life, but Keller suggests that we don't very often in the area of money. Most of you (including us) are in the top 8% of the world when it comes to wealth. Are we challenging each other to spend it in wise ways? It made me think about our trips over the big blue.

You Tube - the maker of dreams to come

So I was off at soccer practice while this all happened...that is my alibi.

I came home and hopped on the computer. The window was open to good old YouTube. Brandon and the kids had been watching some interesting things.

This is what I found as I clicked back through the archaeological YouTube dig:

World's Strongest man
World's most muscular man
Guinness Book of World records - stuff
the atomic bomb
the 57 mega-ton Russian bomb
sonic booms
the world's fastest car - land speed record
a race between a boat, a motorcycle and a car
the record for a person wearing the most t-shirts (apparently the record is putting 155 on in 4 hours. I bet you didn't know that...did you?)

Right, so now my kids are in bed sleeping. They are approaching the Land of Nod. Only I don't think tonight's visit is going to be so lovely. This is what I picture their dreams looking like.....

A skinny man rushing around, t-shirts swarming around him. He can't stop them, they are parasitic and the circle grows smaller. He grows grotesquely large  as the t-shirts continue to engulf his body. Hold on! If he can only beat the car and the boat in the race he might be able to win the magic lightening knife that will free his body of all the cotton.
Sadly the car wins, setting the world's land speed record. While doing this the car passes the sound barrier.
Sonic Boom!
Oh but wait! It isn't really the sound barrier being reached. The air suddenly solidifies into a bomb. The car crashes into it and kaboom! A mushroom cloud. Sadly the man with all the t-shirts was so weighed down he couldn't outrun the bomb. The radiation surrounds him and causes his muscles to mutate. The muscles get bigger and bigger. The cotton can no longer hold on. The threads rip apart and ahhh finally the man finds himself free of those repressive 155 t-shirts. Who needs that magical lightening knife anyway?


I told Brandon he is going to have to get up if the kids start to wake up due to all of this.

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

Arriving at church

Jolene not getting out of the car: "I can't walk to church my feet are weary."

Me: "Jolene we are about 10 feet away, I think you can manage."

Jolene's body suddenly liquefies.  We somehow manage to bottle her up and carry her into church.

---

Adele at the dinner table.

Adele: " Mom you are an apple, Jolene is a cake, I'm a brownie, Daddy is a strawberry and Gideon is a sandwich.

Me:" Hmmm, that is interesting. Why are you a brownie?"

Adele: "I don't know, I just am"

---

Adele stubs her little toe on the door. The little toe has a very, very tiny cut which is bleeding.

Adele: *crying very hard* "I will never walk again!!"

---

Gideon: "Whe Daddee? Daddeeeeeee?"

Gideon is on our bed watching Brandon change out of his work clothes. Note: this happens every evening

Gideon: "Daa da daa da daa daaaa!"  Translation #1: "Nan a nan a nan ahh!" Translation #2 : "You can't get me!"

An early Mother's Day conversation

Brandon was in Brisbane all this week. So much better having him home.
 Anyway, while on the trip Brandon was talking to a work mate about how we are homeschooling. From that conversation followed this one at home...

Brandon: "You know, I was thinking about your net worth. It's like twice the amount that I make. Your homeschooling the kids, making all the meals, etc."

Me: "Oh, really. Well it would be nice to get a paycheck from time to time."

Jolene: "Whats a paycheck?"

Me: "Money that you get for working!"

Brandon: "Jolene, did you take Mommy's paycheck?!"

Me: "Yeah, where is my paycheck!"

Jolene:  (giggling)  "I don't know!" "I don't have it"  turning to look at Bradon
"Did yooouu take the paycheck?!" 

Jolene: "Where is Mommy's paycheck?!!!"

So yes, this is how my family says "we love you." I like it, definitly better than Hallmark.

Brandon did get me a little something. I suppose it could be seen as a salary increase after completing my preformance review. I uncovered a new artist recently. Brandon bought me a couple of prints for a having a good preformance review :-)

These are the two I bought from Ashley G. 

The first one is called "Storytime" and the second one is entitle "I like your scarf." The second reminds me of the first time Brandon and I met. With a slight modification, those were the first words we said to eachother. Our words were "I like your shoes." We were wearing the identical indoor soccer shoes. I know, straight out of Jane Austin. 

Decision

We have decided not to buy the house.

Which means we have decided to move to McKinnon.

Does anyone else want to come with us? You are more than welcome.

I am sad that it won't work out to buy this house and live in McKinnon at the same time. It would have been nice to know that we owned some plot of land somewhere. Jolene was talking the other day about wanting to plant an apple tree and paint her room. Both of which we cannot do in a rental house. Well, maybe we can negotiate with the landlords on the apple tree.

I am also sad about soccer. It was exciting to think about the prospects of playing at a higher level once in Melbourne. I had a look around and that will not be possible due to the fact that all the teams play on Sunday. There are some indoor mixed teams that play during the week. Brandon and I have talked about how we could play on the same team. We would make that our date night. Just between you and me, I prefer outdoor.

It is going to be hard to move. We will be leaving family for the second time.

This all may sound a bit negative. I suppose I am just trying to say that this has not been an easy decision and that there will be things we miss because of the move.

We feel God calling us to McKinnon. We are excited about being up there on a regular basis. We are looking forward to encouraging the congregation and working alongside them to grow God's church in a concrete jungle.

Change is difficult. I am thankful that we can get strength from our Lord. Our own is not sufficient.

2 Cor. 12 9-10
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Hard things to swallow

Option A: Buy this house

Option B: Move to McKinnon

After talking to people we have come to realize it is one or the other not both. If we move to McKinnon we will be renting again. If we would like to own a house then we can't go to McKinnon. We need to make a decision by the end of this week.

We have had more sad news which eclipses our disappointment in the house situation.

We found out last night that a friend in McKinnon, recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, now only has 2 months to 2 years to live. This is a big shock to them, all at McKinnon, and those of us who know him. The stomach cancer was given a good prognosis, operable and better than what was expected. Apparently he had more scans this week that showed ten spots on his liver alone. We are very sad. This man is only 36 and has a wife and three children.

We are praising God that he is a believer, as is his wife.

Please pray for them. Their names are Paul and Nadia. Pray for pain management, he is already dealing with a lot. Pray for strength and comfort. Pray for the McKinnon church.

A sad conversation

Today at playgroup I overheard a conversation between two moms.

Mom #1: What time do you go?" (talking about worship service time)

Mom #2: I go to the eight o'clock one.

Mom #2: It is nice to go early and get it out of the way. Then I can get on with the rest of my day.

Sad but true. Do I look at Sunday worship like that? As something to checkoff and get done as early as possible so that it doesn't interfere with the rest of my Sunday? I was very sad to hear her say this. I am sure I have been guilty of the same at some point in my life. Even if we don't say it out loud, we can be thinking it in our hearts. That is not worship. Just a reminder to me to check my heart's condition before going to worship.

Psa 122:1 A song of ascents. Of David. I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

McKinnon update

     I think the last time I wrote about McKinnon we were praying for another family to move up there with us. We had just been approached by the McKinnon session to consider the move. After talking to others and spending time in prayer we decided that it was best to wait for at least one other family. We realized how valuable support can be, especially since most of our family is in the States. So McKinnon was set on the "back burner" so to speak.  We were still praying and waiting to see what God might do.

We then began praying about the purchase of the house we are currently renting. God provided and it looked liked we would be buying the house in the beginning of May.
Everything seemed to be settled.

About a month ago we found out that McKinnon was thinking of calling a full time pastor. As of this past Sunday, when the AGM (Annual General Meeting) was held, those whispers have been confirmed. The recommendation as of now is to call a full time pastor into position by 2011, at the latest mid-2011. McKinnon is now being seen as a church plant or revitalization project by the presbytery.

This changes things for us. The pastor could potentially be the second family we have been praying for. I say potentially because a pastor has not yet been called and the call has not yet been accepted. On top of a pastor + family a new family from South Africa has been attending for the past several weeks. And on top of that, there is a single lady who is being encouraged to attend McKinnon. So if it is the Lord's will there could be two families plus a young adult that are added to the congregation. This is more than we were praying for. God is good.

Of course, as you may have guessed this puts questions into our heads as to what we should do about this house. Our three month waiting period, to prove we have savings, ends in the beginning of May. How does this all fit together with McKinnon?

One idea we are praying about is to buy this house, live in it for a year, and then rent it out if we were to move to McKinnon. Brandon and a friend need to sit down and crunch some numbers to see if this is possible. McKinnon and the surrounding suburbs are unfortunately expensive when buying a house. Unless God provides like he did for George Muller it will not be possible for us to buy over there. Rent is also more expensive than in Geelong. It may not be wise financially to own as well as rent if moving over there. The strain could be too great. We are wrestling with the possibility of giving up on our desire to own this house so that we can move to McKinnon.

There are many items on our prayer list. Frustratingly so many seem to concern money. In the words of a ninja character from Naruto, money "is such a drag." Maybe we should buy a teepee. They are easy to transport and require small amounts of space. I suppose though it might be a bit hard to have fellowship group in one.

---

Side note-

Why move there? Some of you may be asking this. Before we moved to Australia we had a desire to be involved in a church plant or small congregation. Interestingly enough, McKinnon was where we wanted to move when coming to Australia. We were advised, wise counsel is a blessing, to move to Geelong so that we would have some support while we acclimated to the new living conditions. Now we are back to considering a move to that area of Melbourne.

Really the issue in all of this is the need for workers. Every church needs them and there always seems to be a lack of supply. It is all about the Trellis and the Vine (a book our session is reading at the moment). The church, small and large, needs workers.  They are needed in the trellis, supporting the vine by doing tasks, and in the vine, working with people to promote the spread of the gospel. God laid this on our hearts while we were still at university. We need to be praying that he does so with others. There is such a great need just here in Australia, let alone the rest of the world. There need to be people who are willing to go. Now, I realize not everyone can do this. Some people need to stay back and support the home congregations. We should at least ask ourselves the question.

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

While walking through the grocery store, particularly the aisle with candy.

Jolene: "I can't stop looking at the candy!"

---

Jolene: "Is today a Spanish day?"

Brandon: "Everyday could be a Spanish day!"

Adele: "Nooooooooo!"

Baseball

Brandon and I are teaching the kids how to play. I suppose we should actually call it T-ball.

I am surprised by how much they like it. I thought they would lose interest quickly. We played for almost 45 minutes today. The girls wanted to keep playing but Gideon was ready for something new.

We need to get a proper plastic ball and bat. The one we have is for Gideon's age. The bat is almost too little for the girls hands...that's a first.

I don't think the odds are very high of finding a set for sale in the store.

Gideon is giving up his morning nap and Adele is done with her afternoon one. I am having a hard time trying to keep Gids entertained while teaching Jolene. Any ideas? He will colour for about two minutes and then everything ends up on the floor. The same with playdough. I know this will only last for a little while, I am just trying to keep from being too frustrated while in it.

Adele has just shown me that she can now draw hearts. A very important accomplishment for any little girl. Adele has grown up a lot lately. She no longer uses nappies, she gave up her passie on her own accord, and she no longer has naps. She often answers one of our qeestions by saying "of course!"

Example:

Me: "Adele would you like to have a drink?"
Adele: "of course!"

Me: "Adele it is time to eat, please go sit at the table."
Adele: "of course"

We are very proud of her recent accomplishments, especially the ability to draw hearts :-)

*sigh*

It's discouraging when members of a group don't come to a meeting.

When there isn't enough to even have a quorum.

I suppose everyone thinks that the other person is going to be the responsible one and go to the meeting. But what happens when >70% think that?

No quorum.

That is all there is to say, there isn't any more.

Signature in the Cell - Quote #1

"I dropped by to visit a software engineer who was working closely with one of the molecular biologists from the Biologic Institute...the software engineer had been studying how the cell processes information in order to write a computer simulation of gene expression...My colleague told me that he recognized many of these specific design patterns and stratagies at work in the cell.

He expresesd his awe at the "sophistication of it design logic" and its resemblance to that used in the software industry. He said the cell often employs a functional logic that mirrors our own, but exceeds it in the elegance of its execution.

"It's like we are looking at 8.0 or 9.0 versions of design stratagies that we have just begun to implement. When I see how the cell processes information," he said, "it gives me an eerie feeling that someone else figured this out before we got here."

Signature in the Cell
By Stephen Meyer

page 369


Note: Almost finished with the book. Only two more chapters, epilouge, and two appendices to go.

18 weeks - A big fat carrot with many small strings

An election year, ahhh time for the carrots to come out.

Hand #1 offering a carrot -

The Rudd government had committed to an 18-week national scheme that would pay the primary carer $544 a week.

Hand #2 offering a slightly larger carrot -

Mr Abbott has announced the Coalition will reveal its own paid parental leave policy and has said there is merit in six months' paid leave.

Votes, that is what they want. Which carrot, tied up in strings I might add, looks the best? I would say neither.

This is wrong for so many reasons....

1. Businesses are paying out and not getting anything in return. So they will pass on the loss via higher prices on products and services. Article #5

2. Taxes for more wealthy companies are going to increase to help pay for the program. This is even worse that number #1. In this case the company might not even have any women taking maternity leave but they are still required to pay the tax.

So who would pay for it? Big business, or more specifically, Australia’s top 3200 companies. There would be a 1.7 per cent levy on businesses earning more than $5 million a year. Article #1

3. Businesses will not be very excited about hiring women when they may leave for 6 months at a time to have kids. Of course, all sorts of legal battles would ensue. Discrimination! We should be allowed to have kids and still get paid for doing nothing.

So far, Abbott’s proposal has been attacked from everywhere. Predictably, corporations have got stuck into it with the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry warning that it would hurt investment and jobs, distort the tax system, harm Australia's competitiveness and unfairly penalise big business. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson says these sorts of initiatives need to funded by the community at large (i.e.taxpayers). Rio Tinto Iron Ore boss Sam Walsh says paid parental leave should be left up to individual businesses, not dictated by government. Commentator Alan Kohler suggests the Coalition has taken leave of its senses abandoning its free market philosophy. He says the scheme is too expensive and besides, would institutionalise workplace discrimination against young women. Article #2

Of course in an election year common sense does not abound. Maybe we should follow some of the European countries who offer 18 months paid leave. Or wait! Maybe we should try to up them one and offer moms a 18 years! Now you're talking.

As the GetUp campaign points out, places like France, Sweden and Estonia offer 18 months full pay, as opposed to 18 weeks here. Article #2

Here are some more tasty sections from the articles I read on the subject.

The commission also points out that, after an initial bonding and recuperation period, there are diminishing benefits to mothers and babies from being together around the clock. Article #3

Really, really? I am sorry but this is pure stupidity absurd.

The main economic argument for any type of paid parental leave scheme is that it provides an incentive for women to remain in the workforce. Article #3

Has anyone asked the question that maybe moms shouldn't stay in the workforce full-time when they have little kids? I know there are exceptions, but we are not talking about exceptions we are talking about the norm.

Here are the articles if you want to read more.
Article #1
Article #2
Article #3
Article #4
Article #5

Two Quotes :revisited

*I am republishing this due to some new developments*

that Brandon and I have been mulling over.

"Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts—not only their own but their friends’ and neighbors’. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong faith, to respect and understand those who doubt."

Timothy Keller - The Reason for God

“When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God. Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 100 years ago by Louise Pasteur, Spallanzani, Redi and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion, that life arose from a supernatural creative act of God. I will not except that philosophically, because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation leading to evolution.”

George Wald (Nobel prize for Medicine in 1967) -"Frontiers of Modern Biology on Theories of Origin of Life" (New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1972), p. 187.


6/2/10 Note: After reading one of the comments, it does appear that there is a controversy over whether this was actually said by George Wald. I have not been able to find copies of the primary sources. From what I have read on the internet it does seem that this is a misquote. Sadly, many have continued to publish this quote without realizing this. Thanks to the comment that pointed this out. It is hard to verify all quotes that one reads. When putting them on a blog or website you should check to make sure they are correct. Lesson learned. I am now ordering George Wald's article from Scientific America : Origin of Species to see what it actually says.

Listen & Read

"sigh" I need to train myself to survive on only four hours of sleep a night.

Watch/listen

I just found these lectures posted by Cambridge University. Thanks Jared. I want to listen to all of them.


Oh and the new two hour Top Gear episode, because we all know that is very important.


Read

Two blogs that would be useful to read every now and then.

In Pursuit of Truth

White Horse Inn

Brandon and I are going to work through the book The Reason for God by Timothy Keller with the youth group. I need to start reading it. The website for the book has a link to a series of questions (Reader's Guide) that can be used to promote group discussion.

Projects: One finished another one to begin, NZ, origins

I just finished up the 2010 Geelong Bible Conference website. The final task was installing code for a slideshow. See "Past Conf." tab to view. There may be a few content changes but everything else is done.


The next project will be concerning the new Geelong Bible College. Brandon and I have been asked to come along to a few meetings and add our input. They are mainly wanting ideas on how to reach the 25-35 age bracket. We will be addressing more of the tech/website side of things. I am looking forward to it.

---

Brandon is in New Zealand this week. Wednesday morning until Saturday morning. Hopefully my sister will be coming to hang out for a few of those days. Right Abby?

---

I am still digging into the Signature in the Cell. I have to say I am really enjoying the book. There is a lot on the philosophy and history of science. Many good questions to ponder.

Brandon and I have recently listened to Mark Driscoll's sermon on doctrine: creation. I would encourage you to do the same.

Two Quotes

that Brandon and I have been mulling over.

"Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts—not only their own but their friends’ and neighbors’. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong faith, to respect and understand those who doubt."

Timothy Keller - The Reason for God

“When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God. Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 100 years ago by Louise Pasteur, Spallanzani, Redi and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion, that life arose from a supernatural creative act of God. I will not except that philosophically, because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation leading to evolution.”

George Wald (Nobel prize for Medicine in 1967) -"Frontiers of Modern Biology on Theories of Origin of Life" (New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1972), p. 187.


6/2/10 Note: After reading one of the comments, it does appear that there is a controversy over whether this was actually said by George Wald. I have not been able to find copies of the primary source. Sadly, from what I have read on the internet it does seem that this is a misquote. Thanks to the comment that pointed this out. It is hard to verify all quotes that one reads. When putting them on a blog or website you should check to make sure they are correct. Lesson learned. I am ordering George Wald's article from Scientific America : Origin of Species to see what it actually says.

Conversations with a toddler and preschooler cont.

Adele : "Grandma, it says here in the Bible, that you are silly"

---

Adele : "Jolene, are you my best friend?"

Jolene : "Yes"

Adele : "Jolene, are you my best friend?"

Jolene : "I already said yes!"

---

Jolene : "Mom, would you imagine if a house was pink and everything inside was pink!"

Mom : "That would be a lot of pink!"

Jolene : giggles "yeah"

---

Adele : "I do not like spider crabs"

School

I suppose you could say we officially dove into school this week. Brandon and I like the Charlotte Mason and Classical approaches. I don't know how we will combine them in the end. Time will tell. We will be following the Oz school year. Which means there are four terms in a year. After the first three terms we get a two week break. After the fourth term comes summer holidays which is 8-10 weeks long.

So what does our school week look like? We do most of it when Gids takes his morning nap and then a little more in the afternoon if we have time. On average we are working for about an 1.5 - 2 hours.

Everyday :
Morning devotions - Verse memorization, devotional, Bible story. We do the verse review every day and the others once or twice a week.

Mon, Wed, Fri :
1. Copywork - Write a short sentence or paragraph.
2. Reading
A) Veritas Press workbook
B) Reading out loud
C) Listening and then narration - Basically I just read a chapter of something (Little House series, Nature Readers, etc.) and then ask them to tell me what they remember.

Tues & Thurs:
1. Maths (Plural in Oz land) We are using Math-U-See. Jolene loves it. So we are doing as much as we can. MUS is just a basic program that uses cuisenaire rods.
2. Spanish - I just add a few new vocab words in each day. A couple phrases as well. We decided to go with Spanish for a couple of reasons.
A) It's an easy language to start with - keeps the kids from getting too frustrated
B) I took it in highschool and uni
C) The second language for the US

After Gids wakes up we take a walk, go to the backyard, or another activity until lunch time. I try to get them outside for at least 2-3 hours a day. When winter comes that will change. I don't want to be outside when it is rainy and 12 C.

I have a couple of books on nature studies. I try to work those in after we have come in from being outside. For example, while outside the other day we saw a bee gathering pollen from a flower. Once inside I read them nature study on bees and how they make honey from pollen. I have found reading during lunch to be fun. They are all sitting still for at least fifteen minutes. Before they get up we have a little discussion about what we just read. We are going through the Little House books and a Raggedy Ann one too. Adele grows tired of Farmer Boy quickly. I am hoping the next one will be more interesting for her.

I am trying to work in a few books on ancient Egypt during our reading times as well. In the classical curriculum you go through the ancient period first, then medieval - early Renaissance, late-Renaissance-early modern, and finally modern. You repeat each period of history four times throughout the child's schooling, increasing in detail each time you revisit that period.

The book on classical education that I found to be very helpful is called The Well-Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Brown and Jessie Wise.

Two websites on the Charlotte Mason method that I have found helpful are:
1. simplycharlottemason.com
2. amblesideonline.org

We will see how it goes, the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Next Monday we might just skip school all together and have a "field trip" to the beach :-) I do like the beach and it will only be this warm for so much longer.

Buying a house...somewhere

As you may now know the house we live in is being sold by our landlords.

We have two options.

1. Buy this house
2. Move
a. rent again
b. buy another house


Reasons for buying instead of renting

1. Renting is catching up with the house prices. In a years time it will no longer be cheaper to rent.

2. It is becoming a nightmare to find a rental property. Not much supply and a huge demand. This is because of the lack of available land on which people can build new homes. I would have to do all the hunting. Now days when you show up to look at a rental there are at least 20 other renters there as well. If you show up with kids you go straight to the bottom of the list. If you had the choice to choose, would you choose a career couple or a family of five? Yes, that is what they choose too.

3. Housing prices are supposed to go up another 30-40% in the next 5-10 years. If we don't buy now will we ever be able to afford it?


Reasons for buying this house

1. We don't have to move again, again, again, and again.
2. It has character
3. Good location
a. within walking distance to three parks
b. within walking distance to two libraries
c. within walking distance to two shopping centres
d. two blocks from Princes Highway
e. two minutes from the Ring Road
f. 5 minute drive from church
g. 15 minute bike ride to train station

As we all know, location, location, location is the most important selling factor for a house.

4. Quiet suburb
5. In demand suburb, should be able to sell in a few years for a profit without doing any major repairs to house.
6. Happy to stay here for a very long time. We have room to add on if needed.
7. We can buy from landlords without using a realtor. Saves money.

Reasons for not buying this house
1. Could find a cheaper one but in a less desirable location
2. Needs a new garage
3. Dining room is very small and we are always having lots of people over for dinner.
4. Needs to be painted...but Brandon and I can do that


So we have decided to buy, hopefully this house. If not this one then somewhere else in Geelong.

Start the clock. When you gather a deposit you have to let it sit in the bank for 3-6 months (thank you US housing collapse) in order for most lenders to approve your loan. Our three months ends at the beginning of May.

We are on a saving spree. The last three weeks I tried to not buy anything, excluding food. Will be trying to continue this trend for the next few months. We have also cut our grocery budget by 30%. The fact that we can cut that much out means we were spending too much to begin with. Every dollar helps.

Back to regular life, work, moving?, soccer, and the garden.

We got home, although not without some "fun" on the way back. Probably the most stressful trip we have ever had.

Brandon went back to work on Monday (we got back Saturday afternoon).

Monday morning we found out that the house we are living in is going to be put up for sale.

Went back to soccer last night. Played for two hours while being sick. Not a good idea. Was very sick by the time I got back. Brandon has to stay home from work today.

The weather is great. We have already been to the beach.

My garden is still somewhat alive. I have harvested the potatoes and some Roma tomatoes. I think I got about 1.5 kilos in potatoes and a small bucket of toms. Yum.

I realized I didn't do very well in keeping a journal of our travels. I need to hire an assistant to write down my thoughts.

I have begun to read "Signature in the Cell." A book on intelligent design. The author Stephen C. Meyer is someone you might have heard of. He was mentioned in the documentary called "Expelled." I will let you know how it goes. Need to get back to bed, fading fast.