Bloggy Break

As I posted yesterday, the girls and I are off on school camp from first thing tomorrow for the rest of the week. I have still lots of things to do...like packing....bread making...make notes for Dh & Mr Busy so they get to school with everything needed each day (like bathers!!)...finding out how to dump the camera contents onto a USB stick so I can clear the camera cartridge....read through the camp booklet & parent/teacher info so I'm well versed on what to do....figure out how to get to the 2 city destinations so I can navigate for the bus driver (my designated Wednesday job!) who is inclined to not find his way.... ya know...regular Mum stuff LOL.

I was taking a quick squiz at the camp booklet in the car this arvo and I just know for absolutely certain that God really meant for me to go on this camp. The devotions the kids will be doing and the Bible passages they will look at are lessons that I have learned and that have gone deep. I will be able to share with the girls in my group with utter confidence that the God who makes promises DOES keep them!!!

I will look forward to catching up with you when I get back. I'll miss checking in with the blogs that I love to read each day!

Monday's Menus

Funny how quickly time flies. I've spent the day wondering what to post about today...only to remember it's Monday. Duh. That's menu day. If you're looking to me for inspiration this week I'm afraid I won't be a whole lot of help! Our family is going in two directions this week and then we have birthday party plans, and so my menu plan reflects a distinct lack of home-cookedness (if that's a word...well it is now! LOL)

Monday: Moussaka and steamed vegies
Tuesday: Chicken & Dumplings
Wednesday: Girls away, boys: l/o frozen vegie lasagna & garlic bread
Thursday: Girls away, boys: fish & chips (special treat, since us girls are away)
Friday: Roast chook with roasted vegies, chocolate fondant for dessert
Saturday: Dinner at a nice spiffy restaurant
Sunday: I have no idea ~ I haven't planned as far as May yet!!!!!

My Mum & Miss Sunshine share a birthday on Friday, hence the special dessert and dinner out. This is a special birthday for Mum, so it will be a fantastic weekend....once us girls get home and recuperate from camp!

Sorry for the lack of inspiration! Still...we're all looking forward to an exciting week.

Do you have any idea how much organisation it takes to go away for two days and leave kids at home???!!!!! LOL

'Sushi for One?' by Camy Tang

'Sushi For One?' introduces us to Lex Sakai. A highly driven woman who loves her volleyball. She is one of only four Christians in the midst of an Asian-American family, who meddle incessantly in each other's lives! Lex's Grandmother issues her an ultimatum: Find a boyfriend or she will drop her funding of Lex's girls volleyball team. In the midst of much upheaval, deep disappointment and dealing with the past, Lex must learn to trust others and let God take control.

Initially I was not drawn to the character of Lex. She is blunt to the point of rudeness and is the embodiment of everything I am not, and yet within just a few chapters I found this a difficult book to put down. I needed to see how Lex dealt with each issue that faced her. I was desperately wanting to know if she is able to deal with her past enough to move on. I have to say, the ending was particularly poignant and beautifully done. As I went off to sleep last night it was with a great sense of satisfaction!

Camy has written the second in this series and has plans for a further two after that. I'm looking forward to reading each of them.

Simple Saturday

Above is my current project. It's yet another thing that has been sitting about waiting on me to return to it. It's just a little thing but oh so simple and very relaxing to just sit and stitch. I can get frames for under $5 so the entire project is very inexpensive too, given that I have meters and meters of calico for some reason!

One of the things we enjoy is meandering through Op Shops. This morning we headed off down to Savers in Dandenong to pick up a few needed items ~ pyjamas for Mr Busy, shoes for Miss Mischief, but alas there were no black shoes her size. However, she came away with two pretty little zippered fleecy jackets. Mr Busy also added to his sparse collection of jumpers. I scored a denim skirt and a shirt that needs the hem line shortened. Miss Sunshine found a hat.

My favourite find was a lovely big cane basket for only $10. These are well over $50 brand new and the size I found is probably more likely to be $80-$100 so I think my $10 was very well spent. I'm up for some plastic bag free shopping now!

ANZAC Day Beyond My Picket Fence

It's ANZAC Day here in Australia. For us, this means we watch a bit of the Melbourne Anzac Day parade on the ABC. We make Anzac Biscuits and we stay home and enjoy a quiet day together.

Kate, at Our Red House has written a wonderful post replete with photos from the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance and Anzac biscuits. Her recipe is identical to ours and the picture is almost identical to what you would expect to see from me, so I'm going to send you over to her blog for a peek there if you're interested...rather than double up all over the place.

Dh's oldest brother and his wife popped in around lunch time, brining bread rolls, stras & cheese to share with us for lunch ~ we provided the Anzac Bikkies for afternoon tea! I had spent the morning on Miss Mischief's new nightie, and finished it after lunch. My sewing machine is right in the family room so I was in the middle of where everyone was whilst they were fiddling with computers. Below is the finished product.

It went together very easily. I managed to make an entire garment without ANY unpicking! Quite a milestone for me. Anna, at Pleasantview School House has inspired me to be more careful and diligent with my sewing and therefore ending up with a more pleasing result. I'm planning to embroider some little rosebuds or lavender or something around the seam line of the yolk just to pretty it up a little. But if it doesn't get done by Wednesday it really doesn't matter. I'm also thinking that at $5/m for the flannel fabric, I may just surprise Miss Mischief with a few different colours!

We're having meat pie for dinner tonight, so I had better get on with it, or my family will be eating me instead!

Problem Solved!

I have finally found patterns to thrill Miss Mischief's heart!!!! Spotlight had an Autumn and a Winter catalogue there for Simplicity and they had a buy 1 get 1 free deal, plus my 10% VIP discount. So I think that is a fabulous deal!!!! I bought material to make the pattern on the right and the nightie in the centre and have pre-washed both pieces. I will be making the nightie this weekend and will make the dress in pinwhale corduroy sometime next week (I hope!). She loved the print of the pinwhale and keeps stroking the white flannel for the nightie LOL. She was thrilled with the lace I got for the nightie too so she's very excited.

To those of you who commented and left links to pattern sites I wanted to say a huge thank you. I was able to browse through those with Miss Mischief and sort through what she like and what she didn't so that I could confidently go looking at my leisure (while the kids were at school this time). If I was in the States and didn't have to deal with the conversion issues as well I would've had no hassles ordering patterns from those companies. But I wanted to have one more very careful look before I decided I needed to order from overseas. They were all beautiful patterns.

Oh...and for those Aussie gals who are interested...in the costume section of the Simplicity book, you can get the Regency Era gown from Sense and Sensibility, without paying for currency conversion and postage :)

Off the Record, by Elizabeth White

I've just finished reading 'Off the Record'.

Judge Laurel Kincade is running for the position of Chief Justice in Alabama. Her personal faith and Christian values propel her campaign, until an old acquaintance and reporter, Cole McGaughan arrives to cover the primaries. Laurel must face the embarrassment of youthful indiscretions and learn to forgive her 'adversary'.

This book reminded me that personal integrity is always important and that forgiveness is always worth pursuing, despite the suffering that the process might cause. God's blessing awaits those that seek His path in relationships.