I'm taking on Aimee's suggestion to start memorising bible verses - here's this week's:

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of waterwelling up to eternal life"John 4:13-14

Now I just have to get my act together and try to learn it!

How To Cook A Choko (or, An Exercise In Futility)

1. Behold the choko.

2. Attack the choko with a peeler.

3. Chop up and place in microwave dish.

4. Cook for 4 minutes, as per instructions from parents.

5. While cooking, melt some butter in a saucepan. Add garlic, salt and pepper - basically anything that will obscure the taste of the choko.

6. Remove choko from microwave and drain water. Realise that parental time prediction was inaccurate and choko is, in fact, not cooked at all. Add more water and return to microwave for another 4 minutes. In the meantime, burn the garlic on the stove, and give cardboard box to baby for pre-meal entertainment.

7. Decide to cook scrambled eggs for lunch.

8. Remove choko from microwave, drain water, realise it is still rock hard, decide you don't care anymore and add to saucepan.

9. Add more butter. Twice. It's very important the first time to drop it on the stovetop instead of in the saucepan, as demonstrated in the photo:

10. Burn the eggs.

11. Put choko in a bowl, and take a photo, steaming up the camera lense in the process.

12. Remove cardboard from baby's mouth.

13. Try to eat choko but give up. Serve eggs on toast.

14. Try again tomorrow!

Back in the saddle

After a 4 month hiatus, I have joined a bible study group again. It wasn't a carefully thought out decision, more a whim (mainly because someone invited me!) but I'm feeling really good about it.

Baking

This week, inspired by Aimee, who was in turn inspired by Laura, I baked some bread.

My first attempt was not successful - it didn't rise at all and even though I cooked it for over an hour, it was still a soggy, doughy lump. I contemplated taking a photo to show you but it was just too embarrassing. Adam (resident bread expert!) explained that I had probably killed the yeast by having the milk too warm - i.e. in the very first step I managed to stuff it up!

Undeterred, I tried again and this was the end result:

It tasted really nice and had a good texture - I will probably make it again. It did take a while so I wouldn't want to be doing it every day though.

Winter Baby rugs up

Gardening

Today I planted a small herb garden, as a prelude to a bigger vegie patch I hope to do over winter. Saffy was very interested in it...in fact I'm a little worried she will dig it up!

And another one!

A question for you all

One issue that bothers me about homeschooling is the fear that my kids will miss out by not having the 'school' experience. As KM mentioned here, school provides an opportunity for kids to learn social skills that will stand them in good stead in the real world.

So I was wondering - can you tell me what you got from going to school, apart from the academic learning?

At the back of my mind is the question, can kids get from home and extra-curricular activities the same benefits, without having to go through the school system?

More snails

We have so many snails in the garden - it's a bit of a plague! (There's no snail in the second photo, in case you're wondering - I just like the photo.)

Early riser

The women at my church with young kids have just started up a book club, so we can get to know each other better and encourage one another during this busy season of our lives.

The first book we're reading is Shopping for Time. It has some good challenges in it, and one we discussed this week is that of getting up early (before the rest of the family) to spend time with God and to serve the family by preparing for the day.

I am SO not an early riser. I have always, always, waited until the last possible moment to get out of bed. Sometimes I have left it too long, most notably when my friend Jenny and I missed the train in yr 12 and would have been late for our trial english exam (very important event) had we not woken up her boyfriend to drive us to school - all because I slept in.

So it is a significant challenge for me to even think about getting up before I have to. Any time I've tried it, I've failed abysmally. Of course, these days, I don't decide when to get up - Hamish decides for me. But I could get up when he wakes, instead of lying in bed with a grumpy baby who really wants to get up and on with the day.

The benefits of spending time with God at the start of the day are pretty clear to me. The other aspect, that of blessing my family by preparing for the day, is one I am chewing over. Of course if I am sleep deprived because of a restless baby, the best way to serve my family (and myself) is to get as much sleep as possible and if that means sleeping in, so be it. But if I get to bed by 10pm, I can get enough sleep, or near enough, now that Hamish is doing better overnight (by the way, you have no idea how exciting that is for me). So if I were to get up at 6.30am instead of 7am, I wonder what I could do with the time? More thinking to do....

Clocking up the hours

On the subject of getting my licence, with some generous family assistance (thanks UD and Mum!), I've only got 21 hrs left to go! I think it will take around 7 - 8 weeks to clock those up, so with luck I'll be licenced to drive by around the end of June.

I'm starting to realise how much simpler life will be then - although I suspect it could be more expensive as the SHOPS will be much more accessible lol

Going Organic

If you're looking for a business opportunity, try starting up an organic food delivery service to the central coast. I've been searching for some way to start using free range meat (I've decided if possible I want to buy meat where the farming practices aren't cruel to the animals) and while there are plenty of delivery services in Sydney, there's nothing up here! Or at least, nothing that doesn't require a second mortgage on the house to pay for.

But finally this evening I've come across a service that might be worth a go - www.freerangebutcher.com.au. They don't deliver up there but you can pick up orders from Hornsby, which I would be able to do once I get my licence. I think I'll order a pack and see how it goes...

Birth Options

Soph wrote a post recently on the debate currently raging about birth options in Australia.

On the same topic, this article has some helpful facts about homebirthing. Interesting that in the Netherlands, where they have a 30% homebirth rate, the rate of caesareans is less than half that here. Calls into question the demonising of homebirth going on in some parts of our media.

Jingle Bells

In line with council directions, we have put bells on our cats' collars.

They sound like sleigh bells. I am constantly expecting to see Santa rounding the bend. Not sure how long they will last...especially as they don't stop when the sun goes down.

In other pet news, Minnie is having "Chicken and Seafood Medley in a Tuna Jus" for lunch today. What am I having? A boring tinned salmon sandwich.

Cat -1, Me - 0.

Baby snail

Ponderings

Today I have been pondering the issue of free range vs caged livestock, and whether I should start being more ethical in where I get my meat from. Problem is that free range costs more - but is that enough of a reason to buy meat I know has been produced by a system that is cruel to the animals? I suspect not.

Also planning to start a vegie patch at home, and weighing up the merits of home schooling (not that I need to worry about that one for a few years!).

All this can mean only one of two things: a) I am starting to get enough sleep and now have the brainpower to contemplate such things, or b) I am turning into a raging hippy.

Me thinks perhaps it's a little from column A and a little from column B...

Ruby In The Meadow (aka our yard)

Big wheels

Adam sold the motorbike and got a new car...or should I say, a new monster truck!

Minnie has already adopted it as her preferred sleep spot.

Spot the baby!

Clinic

Hamish and I spent Monday at the local early childhood clinic, talking with a health nurse about his sleep issues. Although when I booked the appt he was sleeping max 3 hrs at a time, by the time the day arrived he'd started sleeping much longer stretches of his own accord. He even slept right through the night one night! After 9 months of broken sleep, this was amazing.

Unfortunately I wasn't feeling amazing. I was was burnt out and extremely frustrated. So the time with the health nurse turned out to be more about how I was feeling than how Hamish was sleeping.

The upshot of it all was that I need to get some serious rest and build up my resources again. This makes a lot of sense, and now that Hamish seems to be on track overnight, I do have a realistic chance of paying off the sleep debt.

I think I will have to take it slowly though and pace myself - I still feel pretty zonked.