I go through phases in my cooking much like lots of others I know so I thought I'd tell you what we've been eating regularly of late. I'll do separate posts on my recipes so it gets filed more neatly in the archives, is that ok? :)
I am a bit of a jack of all trades as I cook a lot of different foods and adapt and change recipes to suit intolerances and allergies in our home. One thing that I always make sure is that it's an EASY recipe:) I am the 'queen of easy' in the kitchen, especially in the past few years as I've started wearing 'many hats' so to speak, both with being a mum, homeschooling, working part time, ministry involvement etc. So....this is a yummy and super easy recipe that I tried out recently and everyone (including me ! ) loved it so here it is:
Ingredients:
1 kg or thereabouts of a piece of topside roast
1 packet French onion soup
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder (depending on how spicy you want it).
2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 cm thick slices.
Other vegetables to serve steamed alongside and gravy if you desire.
Method:
Turn oven on to warm up while you do the following:
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes.
Mix the soup packet ingredients, the chilli and garlic in about 1/2 cup of warm water and pour over the meat in a baking dish. (I used a corning ware casserole dish with a lid).
Cook the meat in pre-heated oven (180 degrees C / 350 degrees F) for around two hours (for well done). I use a meat thermometer and it usually takes less than two hours.
Towards the last hour or 45 minutes of cooking I add the sweet potato (sprayed with cooking oil and a dusting of black pepper) to the baking dish.
When it comes out of the oven the sweet potato would have soaked up some of the juices from the cooking process which makes it absolutely delish!
To this you can add steamed vegies, peas, corn, whatever you want really!
Ron and Rebekah like this served with some gravy but I prefer it without and just the juices from the baking dish.
Unfortunately I don't have a picture for you but I can tell you the flavours of the soup mix along with the chilli, garlic and pepper make it very tasty indeed and complement the beef very well. Great for the cold winter nights we've been having of late! I should also mention that with the price of lamb these days this is a much more economical meal!
I'd be interested if you do try it out to let me know how you go, otherwise this will just remain filed away in my archives for me to refer to some time down the road:)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Year 2 - Leaving Living Books Curriculum to do Ambleside Online
I'm finally getting around to posting what we do for year 2 which we began early April!
I had been looking into Ambleside Online for many years but had been too overwhelmed or too intimidated by it all to really take the plunge and start it:)
I think two years of Living Books Curriculum has given me the confidence I needed to step out and do Charlotte Mason on my own without the need for a teachers manual.
So, even though I like LBC, I found that after a while I was tweaking it so much that I thought I would be better off to just do it on my own.
Not that you have to do it on your own with AO! There is a very active discussion group where mums discuss the curriculum and it is a great support network for those who decide to use it. This was actually one of the things that kept attracting me to AO and not to mention the great books used as well! I must also add that most of the books AO use are free online, a great bonus for those on a tight budget!
So, even if you don't home school or use another curriculum, may I recommend you look at their booklists? You're sure to get some great ideas from there!
Anyway, back to our year 2! I had heard that AO was quite an advanced curriculum and that one is better off waiting till the child is close to 7 to begin year 1. (hanging around that afore mentioned discussion group for years was great for me!)
So, Rebekah turning 7 this year I decided to take the plunge and do their year 1.
Now, for the purposes of extra curricular activities and for the Board of Studies I need to 'grade' Rebekah so we are calling it Year 2 and also I believe that this curriculum is quite advanced so calling it year 2 is quite appropriate in my opinion!
We are using the curriculum pretty closely to how its laid out with some small adjustments. I am adding some Aussie poetry, literature, art and history in this year by either substituting or adding it in as an extra.
Here is our take on it:
Bible:
We are following Charlotte Mason's PNEU curriculum along with the leftover pages of the Early Reader Wonder Devotional Book from last year and Leading Little Ones to God which we've been doing very slowly for the last couple of years!
Language Arts:
Penmanship:
Continuing with Italics Beautiful Handwriting for Children by Penny Gardner.
Reading:
Rebekah is a very fluent reader so we will continue buddy reading.
Poetry:
A Child's Garden of Verses by R.L. Stevenson
Now we are six by A.A. Milne
The Animals Noah Forgot by A.B. Paterson (Australian poetry)
Literature:
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
The Way of the Whirlwind by Mary Durack (Aussie literature) (We intended to use this book last year but didn'nt as I felt Rebekah would get more out of it this year)
Maths:
We are continuing with Singapore Maths, doing the 1B and 2A books this year.
Science:
Charlotte Mason emphasised nature study as a foundation for higher level sciences so we will be continuing our focus on nature study using The Handbook of Nature Study as outlined in AO along with our own field guides and other nature books we've accumulated.
In addition to this we will be using (as outlined in AO):
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot and
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
We will also be completing 'Growing Strong and Healthy' from LBC Year 1. This is a great book on the human body and nutrition and if you are looking for something free which is also good, it is available online!
History:
Early history, focusing on people rather than events-
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (we are omitting this book)
An Island Story by H.E. Marshall
Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin
Viking Tales by Jennie Hall
To this we are adding My Place by Nadia Wheatley for Aussie history.
Geography:
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C Holling (This is a book covering the great lakes in America but it is such a lovely book that we just had to use it!)
Foreign language:
We are continuing Spanish with Play and learn Spanish by Ana Lombarda.
Drawing:
Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks
Craft:
We will use the many craft books we have in our home library!
Picture Study:
Here we are not following AO, instead we will be using:
Come look with me, exploring Landscape art with Children by Gladys Blizzard
Roy and Matilda: The Golden Locket by Susan Venn (Aussie art)
Composer:
We will be following AO for this and listening to the music of Beethoven, Vivaldi and Chopin.
Hymns and Folksongs:
AO have scheduled these but I am not doing them for now but will add them in later in the year after we are more used to this new curriculum!
P.S. I am deeply indebted to many that have gone on before me in this homeschooling adventure that I have learned from over the years. I especially wanted to mention Jeanne (ohpeacefulday) for her mentoring me in Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online in particular! I also want to mention that I glean from various resources for my Aussie stuff, in particular I want to make mention of Ruth (From Wonder to Wisdom) and Michelle (Homeschooling Downunder) whose websites / blogs have also helped me immensely. You will find many many wonderful Aussie resources on each of these ladies websites.
I had been looking into Ambleside Online for many years but had been too overwhelmed or too intimidated by it all to really take the plunge and start it:)
I think two years of Living Books Curriculum has given me the confidence I needed to step out and do Charlotte Mason on my own without the need for a teachers manual.
So, even though I like LBC, I found that after a while I was tweaking it so much that I thought I would be better off to just do it on my own.
Not that you have to do it on your own with AO! There is a very active discussion group where mums discuss the curriculum and it is a great support network for those who decide to use it. This was actually one of the things that kept attracting me to AO and not to mention the great books used as well! I must also add that most of the books AO use are free online, a great bonus for those on a tight budget!
So, even if you don't home school or use another curriculum, may I recommend you look at their booklists? You're sure to get some great ideas from there!
Anyway, back to our year 2! I had heard that AO was quite an advanced curriculum and that one is better off waiting till the child is close to 7 to begin year 1. (hanging around that afore mentioned discussion group for years was great for me!)
So, Rebekah turning 7 this year I decided to take the plunge and do their year 1.
Now, for the purposes of extra curricular activities and for the Board of Studies I need to 'grade' Rebekah so we are calling it Year 2 and also I believe that this curriculum is quite advanced so calling it year 2 is quite appropriate in my opinion!
We are using the curriculum pretty closely to how its laid out with some small adjustments. I am adding some Aussie poetry, literature, art and history in this year by either substituting or adding it in as an extra.
Here is our take on it:
Bible:
We are following Charlotte Mason's PNEU curriculum along with the leftover pages of the Early Reader Wonder Devotional Book from last year and Leading Little Ones to God which we've been doing very slowly for the last couple of years!
Language Arts:
Penmanship:
Continuing with Italics Beautiful Handwriting for Children by Penny Gardner.
Reading:
Rebekah is a very fluent reader so we will continue buddy reading.
Poetry:
A Child's Garden of Verses by R.L. Stevenson
Now we are six by A.A. Milne
The Animals Noah Forgot by A.B. Paterson (Australian poetry)
Literature:
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
The Way of the Whirlwind by Mary Durack (Aussie literature) (We intended to use this book last year but didn'nt as I felt Rebekah would get more out of it this year)
Maths:
We are continuing with Singapore Maths, doing the 1B and 2A books this year.
Science:
Charlotte Mason emphasised nature study as a foundation for higher level sciences so we will be continuing our focus on nature study using The Handbook of Nature Study as outlined in AO along with our own field guides and other nature books we've accumulated.
In addition to this we will be using (as outlined in AO):
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot and
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
We will also be completing 'Growing Strong and Healthy' from LBC Year 1. This is a great book on the human body and nutrition and if you are looking for something free which is also good, it is available online!
History:
Early history, focusing on people rather than events-
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (we are omitting this book)
An Island Story by H.E. Marshall
Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin
Viking Tales by Jennie Hall
To this we are adding My Place by Nadia Wheatley for Aussie history.
Geography:
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C Holling (This is a book covering the great lakes in America but it is such a lovely book that we just had to use it!)
Foreign language:
We are continuing Spanish with Play and learn Spanish by Ana Lombarda.
Drawing:
Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks
Craft:
We will use the many craft books we have in our home library!
Picture Study:
Here we are not following AO, instead we will be using:
Come look with me, exploring Landscape art with Children by Gladys Blizzard
Roy and Matilda: The Golden Locket by Susan Venn (Aussie art)
Composer:
We will be following AO for this and listening to the music of Beethoven, Vivaldi and Chopin.
Hymns and Folksongs:
AO have scheduled these but I am not doing them for now but will add them in later in the year after we are more used to this new curriculum!
P.S. I am deeply indebted to many that have gone on before me in this homeschooling adventure that I have learned from over the years. I especially wanted to mention Jeanne (ohpeacefulday) for her mentoring me in Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online in particular! I also want to mention that I glean from various resources for my Aussie stuff, in particular I want to make mention of Ruth (From Wonder to Wisdom) and Michelle (Homeschooling Downunder) whose websites / blogs have also helped me immensely. You will find many many wonderful Aussie resources on each of these ladies websites.
Year 2 weekly schedule
As I am having trouble editing my post on year 2 plans, this is just an update for our weekly schedule! Here's the link.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
She doesn't like colouring in but she does have confidence!
Rebekah has NEVER liked colouring in (or coloring if you are from the US) sheets or books! She actually doesn't like it, she loathes it!
So, last week for our art study I printed off a free colouring page for "The starry night" by Van Gogh so we could attempt to copy his painting. I suggested painting as I know she doesn't like colouring in. She didn't like the sound of painting and I could understand her difficulty as I could see it would end up with colours all over the page:) So SHE suggested we colour it in! Miracle!
I've never encouraged her to try colouring in and just gone along with her dislike because I don't really see much point to it other than it keeping her busy for sometime. I know there are some views out there for and against colouring sheets and I chose to go with the against idea (in our home) because I know it doesn't lend itself to too much creativity. Am I getting controversial? :) I would hate to become controversial on my blog:) Anyway....back to last week, she did actually colour in her sheet, it took her two days to complete but I thought it didn't turn out too bad for someone that doesnt' like it:
Last Sunday at church, she was given some activity sheets to fill out, some colouring in sheets and one to fill out some details about herself. No guess for which ones she went for! :) Now, I have to preface this by saying that I have never taught her spelling in a formal way as I am following Charlotte Mason's philosophy of copywork for now and dictation and spelling will come later over the next couple of years. So, she asked me for help with spelling a couple of the bigger words she wanted to fill in about herself but other than those she spelled the rest by herself. Not bad spelling I thought! That night after she went to bed, I got it out to show Ron and we both chuckled! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks right! Well, all I could see was 'confidence' as I read it with Ron. I don't really remember being so confident of myself when I was her age. Needless to say I am thankful to God for what He is doing in her life! Here it is below, what do you all think? I won't mind if you chuckle:)
It reads:
My name is Rebekah. I have mummy, daddy hair and brown eyes. My nose is cool and nice. My skin is light and it feels soft. My ears are sensitive and nice.
I like to wear pertty clothes. Today I am wearing top, pants. My black pants are cool. My shoes are blue and sparkly. My socks are black and white and they smell like perfume. I on the other hand smell like me. If you listen my voice sounds happy and funny. My favourite thing about myself is my generosity. It is nice and fun.
Thanks for getting to know me. Here is a picture I drew of myself. I am fantastic.
So, last week for our art study I printed off a free colouring page for "The starry night" by Van Gogh so we could attempt to copy his painting. I suggested painting as I know she doesn't like colouring in. She didn't like the sound of painting and I could understand her difficulty as I could see it would end up with colours all over the page:) So SHE suggested we colour it in! Miracle!
I've never encouraged her to try colouring in and just gone along with her dislike because I don't really see much point to it other than it keeping her busy for sometime. I know there are some views out there for and against colouring sheets and I chose to go with the against idea (in our home) because I know it doesn't lend itself to too much creativity. Am I getting controversial? :) I would hate to become controversial on my blog:) Anyway....back to last week, she did actually colour in her sheet, it took her two days to complete but I thought it didn't turn out too bad for someone that doesnt' like it:
Last Sunday at church, she was given some activity sheets to fill out, some colouring in sheets and one to fill out some details about herself. No guess for which ones she went for! :) Now, I have to preface this by saying that I have never taught her spelling in a formal way as I am following Charlotte Mason's philosophy of copywork for now and dictation and spelling will come later over the next couple of years. So, she asked me for help with spelling a couple of the bigger words she wanted to fill in about herself but other than those she spelled the rest by herself. Not bad spelling I thought! That night after she went to bed, I got it out to show Ron and we both chuckled! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks right! Well, all I could see was 'confidence' as I read it with Ron. I don't really remember being so confident of myself when I was her age. Needless to say I am thankful to God for what He is doing in her life! Here it is below, what do you all think? I won't mind if you chuckle:)
It reads:
My name is Rebekah. I have mummy, daddy hair and brown eyes. My nose is cool and nice. My skin is light and it feels soft. My ears are sensitive and nice.
I like to wear pertty clothes. Today I am wearing top, pants. My black pants are cool. My shoes are blue and sparkly. My socks are black and white and they smell like perfume. I on the other hand smell like me. If you listen my voice sounds happy and funny. My favourite thing about myself is my generosity. It is nice and fun.
Thanks for getting to know me. Here is a picture I drew of myself. I am fantastic.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Belated Happy Mothers day!
I hope all my mum friends out there had a special day on Sunday. Happy belated Mothers day!
I was talking to Ron last night about our parenting and some of the choices we've made as a family so I can stay home and home school Rebekah. It's easy when one is in the midst of difficult and trying times whether that be financial, physical, or just the monotony of the daily routines especially when kids are young, to not keep one's focus on the future and long term goals isn't it!
We were talking about all the overseas holidays we had before we had Rebekah, etc etc. Yet, I wouldn't trade what I do now for that life! I know that each and every day the choices and decisions we make in parenting Rebekah are having an eternal consequence.
So....this morning, I read this poem on one of the forums I belong to and thought I'd pass it on to all you mums out there. Hope it encourages you as much as it did me!
The legacy
She could not give her children gold,
So she gave them faith to have and hold.
She could not give them royal birth .
A name renowned throughout the earth,
But she gave them seeds and a garden spot
And shade trees when the sun was hot.
She could not give a silver spoon
Or servants waiting night and noon.
She gave them love and a listening ear
And told them God was always near.
She could not give them ocean trips
Aboard majestic sailing ships,
But she gave them books and a quiet time,
Adventures found in prose and rhyme.
She could not give them worldly things
But what she gave was fit for kings,
For with her faith and books and sod
She made each child aware of God.
Alice Leedy Mason
I was talking to Ron last night about our parenting and some of the choices we've made as a family so I can stay home and home school Rebekah. It's easy when one is in the midst of difficult and trying times whether that be financial, physical, or just the monotony of the daily routines especially when kids are young, to not keep one's focus on the future and long term goals isn't it!
We were talking about all the overseas holidays we had before we had Rebekah, etc etc. Yet, I wouldn't trade what I do now for that life! I know that each and every day the choices and decisions we make in parenting Rebekah are having an eternal consequence.
So....this morning, I read this poem on one of the forums I belong to and thought I'd pass it on to all you mums out there. Hope it encourages you as much as it did me!
The legacy
She could not give her children gold,
So she gave them faith to have and hold.
She could not give them royal birth .
A name renowned throughout the earth,
But she gave them seeds and a garden spot
And shade trees when the sun was hot.
She could not give a silver spoon
Or servants waiting night and noon.
She gave them love and a listening ear
And told them God was always near.
She could not give them ocean trips
Aboard majestic sailing ships,
But she gave them books and a quiet time,
Adventures found in prose and rhyme.
She could not give them worldly things
But what she gave was fit for kings,
For with her faith and books and sod
She made each child aware of God.
Alice Leedy Mason
Friday, May 6, 2011
Meet our newest and not so new family members
Rebekah has been wanting gold fish for some time now. The fact that her good friends Ava and Nate have them might have had something to do with it:)
So, always wanting to use situations to teach her the value of money we told her to use her own pocket money to get a little tank for them. She wisely shopped around and found one that was good value. The next step was the actual fish! She didn't have quite enough money for it so she decided to get some 'free' fish from a local pond. (She didn't care that they were not actually 'gold fish' at that stage. You can't beat free, can you!)
So Easter Saturday she spent 'fishing' with Daddy at a local pond and managed to get six small little fish.
Unfortunately that night we had a little accident which ended up in me killing the fish(I knocked them accidentally and the jar fell out of her hand with fish on the ground, oops!) We tried to salvage them to no effect.
So, mummy decided to buy her some gold fish and here they are. Meet Goldie and Sunshine:
They are an addition to two guinea pigs we have named Peekface (and NOT 'Pigface' as some have thought:)) (daughter of Claire) whom we have had since birth (about 18 months ago) and Emily who we got last year. (They were both named by Rebekah as were her gold fish).
Rebekah has been faithfully feeding her fish each morning and night and is hoping they live for 20 years (as she read that apparently!)
Emily our guinea pig turned one in the last few weeks and we celebrated her birthday recently with a 'salad' cake made of grass, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and dandelions, yum!
This special day was celebrated recently with her afore mentioned friends when they came over for a play date and they all sang "Feliz Cumplianos" (happy birthday in Spanish) including Ava who had to learn the words that morning. Nate who is a bit younger just sang along with 'squeak squeak' to the tune of happy birthday, it was all very cute as you can imagine!
So, always wanting to use situations to teach her the value of money we told her to use her own pocket money to get a little tank for them. She wisely shopped around and found one that was good value. The next step was the actual fish! She didn't have quite enough money for it so she decided to get some 'free' fish from a local pond. (She didn't care that they were not actually 'gold fish' at that stage. You can't beat free, can you!)
So Easter Saturday she spent 'fishing' with Daddy at a local pond and managed to get six small little fish.
Unfortunately that night we had a little accident which ended up in me killing the fish(I knocked them accidentally and the jar fell out of her hand with fish on the ground, oops!) We tried to salvage them to no effect.
So, mummy decided to buy her some gold fish and here they are. Meet Goldie and Sunshine:
They are an addition to two guinea pigs we have named Peekface (and NOT 'Pigface' as some have thought:)) (daughter of Claire) whom we have had since birth (about 18 months ago) and Emily who we got last year. (They were both named by Rebekah as were her gold fish).
Rebekah has been faithfully feeding her fish each morning and night and is hoping they live for 20 years (as she read that apparently!)
Emily our guinea pig turned one in the last few weeks and we celebrated her birthday recently with a 'salad' cake made of grass, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and dandelions, yum!
This special day was celebrated recently with her afore mentioned friends when they came over for a play date and they all sang "Feliz Cumplianos" (happy birthday in Spanish) including Ava who had to learn the words that morning. Nate who is a bit younger just sang along with 'squeak squeak' to the tune of happy birthday, it was all very cute as you can imagine!
Monday, April 18, 2011
A goodbye, A reunion and Honouring others
Our weekend was a very busy and social one.
On Friday night we had dinner with my mum and step dad who are heading back to India this week.
They are missionaries there, run an orphanage and do other missionary work.
They spend three quarters of the year there and the rest back here in Sydney resting and recuperating but that's another story to tell!
It's always a sad time for me when they have to go back. I have become so much closer to my mum in the last few years (we've always been close) but I think becoming a mother has strenghtened our bonds as we now have motherhood in common!
I also feel sad for Rebekah as she misses them and her paternal grandparents don't live in Sydney either!
On Saturday we attended a birthday party of some friends' one year old daughter. We were asked to be God-parents (as were about 15 others), very cute!
In this couple's culture the first birthday is a big one and this definitely was a BIG one, it seemed more like some weddings I've been to in Australia!
Also this weekend, I had a trip down memory lane which was fun and revelatory at the same time (for me)!
I studied in a catholic school in India run by nuns (some of whom were Irish). Well our school principal was one of them and a good friend of my family's too.
She served in India for 25 years and has been back in the UK for the past 25.
An old school teacher (who is also a distant relative of mine) organised a golden jubilee mass and get together for her (as she was visiting Australia a month after this event). I had not seen her in about 25 years and I was eagerly looking forward to this weekend. When I left India, we had no emails, no internet etc and the only way I could keep in touch with friends was via snail mail. So, I had thought I would never see any of my friends or teachers again let alone a school principal who was herself not from India! Boy was I wrong! Who knew about internet and facebook and the wonders of modern technology and what it could do back then!
Anyway to cut a long story short, we spent Sunday afternoon with her and a dozen or so old school students who now call Sydney / Australia home.
Some of them I remembered quite well, some of them I vaguely remembered and others not at all or were at school at a different time to me.
What was revelatory to me was that the ones who were the extroverts were still the same and the ones who were the quiet types (yours truly for instance!) were also still the same! Time had not changed our personalities!
As this nun walked into the room, some of us felt like it was a dream and that this wasn't really happening!
You see we all loved and respected her so much and never thought we'd see her again.
It was strange also in a way as we (30 and 40 something year olds) took a trip down memory lane, singing some of the old songs we used to sing at school including our school song!
The most interesting and moving part for me was when we all shared some memories of our old school principal.
I came from a broken home and I remember during that traumatic time for us(me and my sibling sisters who also went to the same school), this nun was so compassionate and helpful to my mum and us. She was very generous towards us to say the least.
I always felt she 'knew' our family quite well because of that.
Little did I know that there were many others in similar situations that she had been extremely generous with as well.
There were tears and emotional speeches of thanks for the part she played in some of these girls lives.
It was a powerful time as we honoured her! Ron said it was pretty boring until that point:) Though prior to that he did manage to capture some of my singing and 'dancing' on video to embarass me with later!
So last night, it got us(Ron and I) talking about the subject of honour and how one of our pastors says that God places people in our lives for us to honour because they are training grounds for us to learn to honour Him. How true!
In fact I think we are honouring God when we honour those people He places in our lives and that's what made this Sunday afternoon so special and powerful!
I came home exhilarated and exhausted at the same time (as I've mentioned a zillion times before how I am an introvert and these social things seem to wring me out a bit):)
Hope you all had a great weekend too!
On Friday night we had dinner with my mum and step dad who are heading back to India this week.
They are missionaries there, run an orphanage and do other missionary work.
They spend three quarters of the year there and the rest back here in Sydney resting and recuperating but that's another story to tell!
It's always a sad time for me when they have to go back. I have become so much closer to my mum in the last few years (we've always been close) but I think becoming a mother has strenghtened our bonds as we now have motherhood in common!
I also feel sad for Rebekah as she misses them and her paternal grandparents don't live in Sydney either!
On Saturday we attended a birthday party of some friends' one year old daughter. We were asked to be God-parents (as were about 15 others), very cute!
In this couple's culture the first birthday is a big one and this definitely was a BIG one, it seemed more like some weddings I've been to in Australia!
Also this weekend, I had a trip down memory lane which was fun and revelatory at the same time (for me)!
I studied in a catholic school in India run by nuns (some of whom were Irish). Well our school principal was one of them and a good friend of my family's too.
She served in India for 25 years and has been back in the UK for the past 25.
An old school teacher (who is also a distant relative of mine) organised a golden jubilee mass and get together for her (as she was visiting Australia a month after this event). I had not seen her in about 25 years and I was eagerly looking forward to this weekend. When I left India, we had no emails, no internet etc and the only way I could keep in touch with friends was via snail mail. So, I had thought I would never see any of my friends or teachers again let alone a school principal who was herself not from India! Boy was I wrong! Who knew about internet and facebook and the wonders of modern technology and what it could do back then!
Anyway to cut a long story short, we spent Sunday afternoon with her and a dozen or so old school students who now call Sydney / Australia home.
Some of them I remembered quite well, some of them I vaguely remembered and others not at all or were at school at a different time to me.
What was revelatory to me was that the ones who were the extroverts were still the same and the ones who were the quiet types (yours truly for instance!) were also still the same! Time had not changed our personalities!
As this nun walked into the room, some of us felt like it was a dream and that this wasn't really happening!
You see we all loved and respected her so much and never thought we'd see her again.
It was strange also in a way as we (30 and 40 something year olds) took a trip down memory lane, singing some of the old songs we used to sing at school including our school song!
The most interesting and moving part for me was when we all shared some memories of our old school principal.
I came from a broken home and I remember during that traumatic time for us(me and my sibling sisters who also went to the same school), this nun was so compassionate and helpful to my mum and us. She was very generous towards us to say the least.
I always felt she 'knew' our family quite well because of that.
Little did I know that there were many others in similar situations that she had been extremely generous with as well.
There were tears and emotional speeches of thanks for the part she played in some of these girls lives.
It was a powerful time as we honoured her! Ron said it was pretty boring until that point:) Though prior to that he did manage to capture some of my singing and 'dancing' on video to embarass me with later!
So last night, it got us(Ron and I) talking about the subject of honour and how one of our pastors says that God places people in our lives for us to honour because they are training grounds for us to learn to honour Him. How true!
In fact I think we are honouring God when we honour those people He places in our lives and that's what made this Sunday afternoon so special and powerful!
I came home exhilarated and exhausted at the same time (as I've mentioned a zillion times before how I am an introvert and these social things seem to wring me out a bit):)
Hope you all had a great weekend too!
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