Eggs For The Poor.

For many years I have wanted to keep chickens, and for the boys to sell the excess eggs. I hadn't given much though to what we would do with the money, but it seemed like a nice idea to try at some point in the future. Well that point in the future has arrived. A few months ago we bought six hy-line brown chickens and a coop. Two or three chickens would have been enough for us, but I wanted to buy a few extra so we would have enough eggs to sell.

We decided to sell the excess eggs to members of our parish, and donate all of the money to Father Richard Ho Lung's Missionaries of the Poor, who do amazing work with the poorest of the poor in Jamaica, Philippines, Indonesia, and many other parts of the world.

Selling the eggs has been a great opportunity for Bilby, as he is learning how to approach people and tell them about what we are doing, how to handle money and give change, and how to care for the chickens who are laying their eggs for the poor.

Our fellow parishioners have been eager to buy our eggs, and make donations. When I attempted to give our parish priest a dozen eggs, he insisted that we take $10, and then enthusiastically told those listening all about the great work that Fr. Ho Lung is doing!

Today we are able to make our first donation of $125 to the MOP (Missionaries of the Poor) which is rather exciting for Bilby. It's not a lot, but every little bit helps. We've been looking at the MOP website, and seeing the children who we have been helping which makes it all the more real.

Why I Love Home Education!

This was taken at 8.00 am. If Bilby were at school I would have been telling him to close the book and hurry up and eat breakfast; get dressed; back his bag, and so on. Instead I can just smile and relish the moment. Whenever he picks up a book without being asked I have to restrain myself from shouting for joy and doing the happy dance!

My Boy is Eleven!

On Sunday we celebrated Bilby's 11th birthday! We had a very full and happy day. My husbands Mum, Jane, joined us for the week end which was a lovely blessing for us all.


The day began very early, with presents. He was particularly taken with the plush Red Panda I found at the Taronga Zoo on-line store. Bilby has taken a real interest in Red Pandas so we've planned a Red Panda lap-book next term.

At the end of Mass, Father Brady asked Bilby to come out the front where he told everyone that he was celebrating his 11th birthday. Father asked everyone to sing him happy birthday, which caused Bilby to turn a pleasant shade of red! I thought this was a lovely way to acknowledge his contribution to our community, as he serves on the alter very often as we have very few alter servers at our Mass.

Following Mass, we headed off to our Regional Show.

Bilby has always had a cautious nature, and has never been very interested in fast and thrilling rides! When he was little I nick named him "safety boy." Koala made up for his lack of daring in full measure, and hence he was nick named "danger boy." So it was a big step for Bilby to face his fears and take on the Farris Wheel! Once he realised that he was quite safe, he had a ball!

Roo was taken with the animal nursery, especially the piglets and sheep. He also had a great time on the Cup and Saucer ride with Granny Jane!

Koala had his yearning for speed and thrill satisfied! Can you guess which parent he gets it from?

No show is complete without a show bag! At least this one will last longer then 5 minutes! It's a Ben 10 satchel filled with lots of goodies. Koala chose a Wall-E show bag.
We also chanced to meet a young man from our parish, Adam who had come to the show alone, so we invited him to join us. He joined Bilby in a game of laser challenge, which looked like great fun! Adam firmly believes he has a vocation to the priesthood, and plans to begin his studies in a year or so. Adam has asked for prayer, so please join with me in praying for him. He will make a wonderful priest.

Tired and happy we made our way home, before Bilby and I prepared to head off again to celebrate with one of his homeschool friends who also celebrated his birthday on the same day!

We returned home once more to cut the birthday cake after a great day.

We love you very much son!

Money for Books.

At present neither Bilby or Koala are interested in reading for pleasure. However I have a little scheme which I hope will change that. I am offering them cash for each book read. This offer has been on the table for some time, but wasn't taken up until I suggested to them that they could use the money to pay for a monthly Club Penguin membership. This was just the motivation they needed.

This afternoon we have had a very quiet home. Not only have they been practising their reading skills, but their negotiation skills also. We have been haggling over what each book is worth! The average price seems to be $2.00. Koala is reading a gem form my childhood, one of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. We settled on .50c per story. Judging by the rapidity with which he is reading the book, I think we may have set the price slightly too high. I may have to visit the bank tomorrow! It is likely that these books fall into the twaddle category, but I remember them with great fondness as a struggling reader myself. Fortunately I graduated to Shakespeare, Austin and the like.

An Afternoon with Miss Potter.

Bilby and I have just spent an hour or two enjoying some of Beatrix Potter's delightful children's stories. I am usually the one who introduces Bilby to a new author, but not this time!

Just as old Mr Bunny, in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, "had no opinion whatever of cats." I had no opinion of Miss Potter. I have never taken the time to read her work, even though her life story has intrigued me after watching a documentary about her life and the difficult relationship she had with her mother. All long before the recent movie Miss Potter.

My son however, has long been a fan. His interest was sparked by the beautiful children' television series he has enjoyed watching. Despite not being a big reader, I would often find him snuggled up on his bed with a collection of her stories!

Today I took some old favourites from the children's' bookshelf intending to recapture the times when Bilby was a toddler and a great lover of a good story. Bibly however, pulled out his favourite edition of Miss Potter's stories. I was delighted when he offered to read me a story! We then took turns reading to each other. I greatly enjoyed seeing the sparkle in Bibly's eyes as he read his favourite parts. All in the school holidays!

My Little Gentleman!

Since my boys were old enough to listen, I have been stressed the importance of how to respect and honor women. Many I time I have told them how they should hold open doors for ladies; pay the bill; pull out the chair and so on. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Bilby (10) has indeed been listening!

My dear friend Leanne has been helping me out by taking Bilby to a home school sporting activity. During one of the drives the conversation turned to chivalry. Ever since Bilby has taken great care to open all doors for his friend Brid, Leanne and myself. It certainly warms a mothers heart!

Mud, glorious mud!

Bilby and his Dad have just been bush-bashing on their bikes, in search of mud! Both are keen cyclists, who like nothing more than to ride through the bush together after rain.

Before leaving I did my motherly chore of asking my son to be careful, to which I received the bored response of "Yes Mum." James then commented that I wasn't silly enough to ask them to come home clean! This is how they looked on their return.

Boys! Who'd have them? Me!