Holidays

School Holidays!!! Means I get two weeks off work. :) I'll miss the kids, but it's nice to get the fortnight to catch up. Going to the Henty Field days tomorrow. Looking forward to it. It's a great day out and well worth taking a look. It isn't all machinery. There is something to suit everyone there. There are sheepdog trials, craft stalls, food stalls, a fashion show, animals, Farm equipment, bikes...just about everything!

I've lost my camera... :( I really want to post some pics of spring and all our animals, but I can't find it anywhere.

Found this song last night. It's one of my favourites, so I thought I would post it. Hope it encourages you!

The Love of God

The love of God is Greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God made his Son to win.
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

Could we with ink, the ocean filled;
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on Earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
If stretched from sky to sky
O Love of God, how rich and pure
How measureless and strong
It shall for evermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

LOL Cats!

Some really cute photos off the Lol cats website!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Man From Sonwy River festival/Cruise

Mum and Dad have just returned from a ten day cruise around the Great Barrier reef. We kept busy while thery were away. After running our stall and the library bookstall at the farmers market, Grandma took us down to visit our Grandparents at Bethanga. We got to catch up with Aunties and Uncles and cousins at the same time. It was wonderful to see everyone again. We spent the weekend there, then came home to get ready for the festival.
The Man From Snowy River Bush Festival celebrates the famous poem by Banjo Patterson "The Man From Snowy River" and Australian bush folklore. It is a weekend of markets, bush poetry, music, dancing and horses. Corryong swells with hordes of tourists. It is a massive weekend. There was a competition for the best school in the parade. 3 schools went in the parade, but we won! It is nice to win, but on the other hand, we were also the biggest school. I don't know that it was entirely fair... It would have been good to see more schools participate. I went in our group dressed in late 1800's costume riding Kathy's pony. It was so much fun, and the kids looked fantastic. I loved the costumes of the other teachers!!! One lady went as a naughty school boy. I wanted to split my sides laughing! She looked so good, and did the part so well! :D
We had some friends come up for the festival. It was so good to see them again. We also got to show them the Cudgewa Bluff Falls. If you ever decide to do that short little 700 metre walk, you need to realise that once you are at the top, you are pretty sure they left a zero off that sign...

Some photos

Here are some random pics I took with my camera.

Some mushrooms

Me at the Grade 3 sleepover - worn out!

A fallen tree up the bush gully


The bush gully

Welaregang after the fires

Being faithful

YAY!! I am keeping my resolution to be faithful to this blog! Had a busy but rewarding day today. I was babysitting, which I love doing. Listened to some very interesting sermons in the evening, and am now sitting down doing some fun internet stuff. Next week is the Man From Snowy River Festival is next week. Mum and Dad are taking off to go on their cruise on Friday. They will be gone for 10 days. On Saturday is the Farmers Market. Grandma will be staying with us for that, and then she is taking us down to our other Grandparents' place where we will all spend Easter. Grandma will bring us home again then we have a couple of quite days before our friends are coming up (YAY!!!)

After an entire school term of living in the hut, we are finally moving into the house! WooHoo! I have a room of my own, which I love! I painted it a lovely pale blue. It looks so pretty. So far I haven't got much furniture in there, because it is all in stroage in the shed. I can't wait to have everything in its place and a place for everything.
Well it is the last week of term. The holidays start this weekend. I will be extremely busy, as Mum and Dad are going on a cruise for ten days. We kids are getting left here all by ourselves!!! :D :D :D It is really exciting! Grandma will come up and help us run ur stall at the farmers market, which will be really good. Hope to get a lot of horse riding done. I am also determined to stay faithful at this blog! I really want to get back into it, but I just keep forgetting, or running out of time.
Anyway, better go and get some work done!

Busy, Busy, Busy

One of these days I am going to get serious about this blog. I enjoy blogging, but time just seems to run away...
Well, I had a rough "start of year". Things in the classroom were a bit crazy at first, but it is gradually settling down. I am enjoying myself. I love the kids and the teacher I work with is really good. I love my job!
Been sick again. Hoping to find out what is at the bottom of all my illnesses. Going to the doctor tomorrow.
Watched "Charlie and Boots" tonight. Not a bad movie! :) Nice story! Beautiful scenery. I didn't like the scnerey much in "Australia" But "Charlie and Boots" was really good.

Long time, No see.

Once again, a very long time since I last posted anything. Since posting last, I completed Ausan 1, (a sign language course) almost finished a Braille course, my horse ran through the fence, and I'm getting sick again!
We had 2 great weekends in Melbourne while doing the Auslan course. Sarah did it with me, so she came down both weekends, and Kath came down on the second weekend. On the second weekend we allwed ourselves an extra day to go shopping. Aunty Lynne dropped us at Chadstone shopping centre in the morning, and we spent a few hours in there. That place is phenomonal! I have never seen anything so huge! Miles upon miles of clothes shops. We picked up some linen sets at a really good price in Laura Ashley, I almost fell over in David Jones. We walked in, and I discovered the hard way that those floors are really slippery. My shoes don't have very good grip so I slid straight into Sarah, righted myself, and then slid again.

After Chadstone, Aunty Lynne took us to the Direct Factory Outlets (DFOs). That was fun! There were so many nice clothes there that were all really well priced.

All in all, we had a wonderful time in Melbourne, figured out the public transport system, and it was great to see Aunty Lynne and Uncle Bob again.

I am almost finished my Braille course, which has cost me a great deal of grief. I enjoy Brailling, but this course has been tough, and I fell a long way behind.
My horse, Luka, ran through a fence a week ago. She had escaped into the driveway, and I had gone to get her in again just as the cows were hunted up past her. I watched her freak out as the cows closed in on her, bolt down the road, through the fence into the ponies' paddock, and then panic some more as she realised there was a wire stuck around her front right leg. She ran back through the fence, shook the wire loose, and then settled enough for Mum to go up to her while I ran back to the house for her halter. We called Luka's old friend he vet, who came out and bandaged her leg up. She had also scratched her nose pretty bad, but that was alright.
Also went on a school excursion to the Ettamogah Sanctuary (now called Oz-e wildlife) with the Preps, 1's and 2's. I had a shocking headache all day, but still had lots of fun! We began the day by watching the peguins get fed, then wandered around to look at some unsociable emus, the more friendly deer, some dingos, an extremely playful wombat, some birds, and a few lizards. After Lunch we looked patted a snake, a blue tongue lizard, a shingleback lizard, and a bearded dragon. We then saw the koalas getting fed, which was really interesting. Finally we fed the kangaroos. Everyone loved this part! A couple of the roos had joeys. I let some of the kids take my camera, and they got some amazing photos! It was a great day.
Kath was shortlisted in the Elyne Mitchel Rural Womens writing award. We went to the presentation, where she won the door prize! We are all really proud of her for her effort.
Some pics:

A joey in it's mother's pouch. This photo was taken by one of the kids when we went to the sanctuary.

More roos

Me holding my very sedated horse after being patched up.

Kath at the Elyne Mitchel Rural Womens Writing award

A rainbow over the farm

Posting again after a very long break. Not as bad as last time! Been tired and stressed, but things are beginning to settle again now. Been tutoring, and one of the boys I tutor, Kurt, stays out some weekends. Last weekend he and my brother, Daniel, lit this fire.

It has been about three months since I blogged last. It is now really cold! We didn't end up doing anything for my 18th. We went down to Great-Grandpa's 90th, and then saw the other side of the family on Mother's day. I was really tired and stressed, and glad that we kept it quiet. On the Wednesday, when my B'day was, Mum and Grandma bought cupcakes into the school for recess. The Bursar also mad a really nicce cake for me as well. It was a good day. I went out for lunch with the teacher I work with, and we had a nice time.

We have friends staying in our house at Cudgewa, and every week we go back there to get togther with them and another family that comes up. I take the younger kids and do a "Sunday School" type lesson with them. I have been teaching them sign language, which they love! I love teaching them, despite not being very good at signing! They are a bright bunch of kids and they learn so quickly.

New Year

Wow, once more, a long time since I have blogged! I now have a paid job at the school, and am loving it! It is week 6 of term, and we only have about 4 weeks left. It is a really great job, and I am having fun! One of my sisters, Sarah, is volunteering Fridays at the school, and she loves it as well. Fridays are a lot of fun with here there.
She is sick now and I can feel myself coming down with it as well. I really don't want to get sick now! Too much to be done!
We are planning my 18th in May. We wrote down a rough guest list which came to 101 people! I know not everyone will come, but even so, it will still be a lot of people! It includes teachers at the school, rellies, and other friends. We have a lot of friends and Rellies! The reason it came to so many is because most of those people have big families.

That next day was awfull. I went to work and was so sick all day. I had the chills in the morning, and so spent the time in front of the heater. I had a shocking temperature in the afternoon. Everyone thought I was stupid for coming in, and everyone was probably right, but I didn't know that I was going to feel so awfull. Before I left for work I felt like I only had head cold, and was pretty good. I got to work and found out different. Anyway, I survived.
It's almost the end of term. I am so worn out. I have had a great time, and I will miss the kids and the teachers over the holidays. I can't wait till next year, whatever that may bring.

Haven't blogged in ages. I have got the flu, which means I am trying to rest up and I have plenty of spare time for the first time in ages. Yesterday was Tuesday, which meant a long day for me. Morning at the primary school, afternoon at the High school and then some tutoring to finish it off. By the time I got home, I was shaking like a leaf, I quickly came down with a temperature, my eyes were watering and I felt miserable. I had a cuppa, read some of my Bible, had a shower, crashed, and slept for an hour. When I woke up I had lost my voice completely (which I have partially regained this morning) and was using a lot of sign language. Sarah can understand Sign language pretty well, but everyone else only knows a few, so Sarah was my interpreter. I am working back at the school tomorrow, so I hope my voice improves.

My Aunty took us kids to the snow a couple of weeks ago, and taught us to ski. I was very slow, but didn't fall over much. Sarah was a better skier, much faster, but she fell over regularly. It was a beautiful day. We arrived at about 10:00, and caught the chairlift up to the nursery slopes. As I had my skis on for the first time at the chairlift, I had no idea how to stop myself, and therefore mad a complete mess of getting on. I ended up getting separated from everyone else and going up the chairlift by myself. I am kind of glad that I did, because although I have only been on a chairlift once before, I love riding on them. I love the feeling of being so high up and flying along, and looking at the scenery. The dismount off the lift was about as bad as getting on. With the help of one of the attendants I eventually was able to right myself and go in search of Aunty Jane, her friend Heidi, and my siblings. After being reunited we made our way to the nursery slopes. Standing at the top, I couldn’t help feeling relieved that it wasn’t nearly as steep as I thought it would be. The feeling of relief didn’t last too long, we pushed off down the slope, and all of a sudden I was no longer self propelled! My skis had a mind of their own and I had no idea how to stop! I managed to turn to the right so I was parallel to the slope and throw myself over. After returning to the upright position, with the help of Heidi, I was off again. Although the first run down was a disaster, and I was on the verge of tears, the second run wasn’t so bad. I felt a little envious of the 5 year olds who whizzed past os on their skis as we waited our turn to get on the conveyer belt back to the top of the slope. The third run was almost easy and by the fourth run, I knew I would never want the day to end. After 4 or 5 runs each, we somewhat reluctantly left the slope to head to our lessons. Aunty Jane and Heidi went skiing by themselves while we had our lessons. The lesson took about 2 hours, and by the end of them I was much more confident. After playing on the nursery slopes a bit longer with Heidi and Aunty Jane, we took some pictures and decided to test our skills on the slope back down the village.
“We’ll do Wombats ramble once too see how we go, and then we’ll do it again to head back home.” Was Aunty Jane's decree.
Well, doing it twice sounded good. I had no idea that I would end up doing 5 or 6 times before we left. The first time my legs ached by the time I was at the bottom, from snowploughing. I was basically braking all the way down. I fell for the last time that day on that run. I was about to crash into some trees, and all I could think about was the blokes who had been killed the weekend before from crashing into trees. I knew I wasn’t going fast enough to kill myself, but in a split second I decided that throwing myself over was still the better option. The second time down was great, and by the time I had completed the 5 or 6 runs down, I was reluctant to part with my skis. It was a great day.

Settling in

Since we have moved to the dairy farm, things are beginning to settle down. After 5 weeks of living in caravans, we are finally in a house, and we finally have internet again. The house is small, but seems huge after the caravans. I have my own room which I am thrilled about. No more sharing with my sisters. I am still volunteering at the school. I love working there. It is a lot of fun and I am learning so much, thanks to people who are taking time to help me. The course I am working on is going well. Hopefully should be finished in a few months.

Moving

It is finally happening! We are moving! Into caravans. I realised this morning that I am going to sleep in my bed for the last time tonight. After that we will be sleeping in caravans. We already have one of them here. We went and picked it up yesterday. It is a nice enough caravan, but small and rundown. I realized just how small when we started to clean it. It is difficult to believe that such a small space is going to house four people. There are two single beds in it, and the table converts into a double bed. We still need to bring the other two caravans here. All three belong to different friends, all of whom are being very genorous.

I am going to update the Our Farm blog and add a new post called Our New Farm.

I had been excited about the move, but now that it is actually happening, the enthusiasm is wearing off. I am still looking forward to it, but yesterday I looked at the size of the beds we will be sleeping in, and then last night I slept in my bed, and believe me, there is a profound quality difference.

Finally Moving!!!!

It has come at last!!! We are finally moving down to the dairy. We will be living in caravans backed into a shed. 6 people crammed into a space about the size of our current living room. Just as well we all love each other! It will be a good lesson in loving people even when you don't feel like it. To tell the truth, I am greatly looking forward to it. I think it will be nice to have us close together, and it is going to be a bit of an adventure moving into a caravan. Ask me again after a couple of weeks of it and you might hear something different. It is going to be hard, I am not that stupid, but I am still looking forward to it.

Sarah and I both catch the bus to town to work and for Sar's courses. It will be a longer trip than it is from here. Another thing I am looking forward too. It means getting up earlier, but I love beong able to relax and wind down on the bus.

Fellowship

I turned 17 a while back, and we had a belated birthday treat. I had really wanted to see all the other local Christian homeschoolers, so we went to a fellowship that is held reguarly at the home of a friend. It was wonderful! This is my family! None of my extended family are believers, but Jesus promised us that what ever we give up for him, we wil recieve manifold more. How true! We can't go along with our family's sin, but our God has lovingly provided a family who loves Him and not this world! All my cousins are worldly, but I have Christian friends that are far closer than cousins too me. My grandparents hate God, but there is a lady who is more than a grandmother too me who loves God. It was wonderful to see them again, and I enjoyed the evening so much.

I was tutoring and volunteering at the school today, and both my pupils were really good today. I was so pleased. Lachie did excellently and Josh made an effort. He really needs to stop his "I can't get it, I give up," frustrated attitude. He also needs to try. He is such a boy when it comes to that. I am going to concentrate now on putting all he has learned into practice now. We both need to see some results. I know he has come a long way, but I want to be able to see it with his reading. Anyway, we'll get there.

Farm Day

On the weekend we had some city people come out to our farm for Farm Day. Farm Day was invented so people from the city could come and spend a day on a farm and see what country life is really like. We had a mother and daughter, Mariese and Mikaela, come and spend the weekend. They were really lovely people, and I enjoyed their company. Mikaela loves the animals, and I am convinced she would make a good vet. She knows how to handle an animal well and they seem to respond well too her. She is not afraid of them either.

Mikaela with Sheildy and Sylvester. I loved how she was not squeamish about putting her fingers in calves mouthes. She didn't mind them sucking on her at all.

The fog lifting over the hill

Mikaela was sitting outside a wombat burrow, and Blackie got his head in the way of the photo. We entitled this one "Needs Salt."

The calves feeding off the calfeteria.

I know this photo is blurry, but it is one of my favourites. I reckon it looks really good.

Mikaela helping feed the calves.

Mariese patting Patch

We have had more calves sick, and two more have died. It is hard to see them sick and dying, but sometimes it seems there is nothing you can do. And on the other hand there are the success stories of sick calves that have got better and live long, happy, healthy lives. Chille, one of the calves I was worried about, is one of those success stories. She is still a bit wonky on her feet, but she is gaining weight and strength, and it won't be too long before she is weaned.

I have recently begun voluneering in a Prep/Grade 1 classroom, so with that, and the little bit of tutoring I do, I have been looking on the internet for good worksheets. They can be hard to find, so I want to create another blog for listing the websites that I find. I will link them to this one, so anyone who wants to use these worksheets can follow the link. All the worksheets will be free to print off, and, hopefully, usefull for teachers, aides, homeschoolers, and anyone else who wants to use them.
If anyone has sugestions, or good sites they know of, please place a comment on this post with it. Thanks!