31/08/11

'Moving a Puddle' arrived in the mail today. Jonah read the title and 10 minutes later came back and told me that if you dig a trench from the puddle to another hole that you've already dug then all the water will go into that hole and then you will have moved the puddle ;)

The pirate lego finally arrived in the mail so that has been the focus for the last day.

William helped me cook curry vegetable pie for dinner and then played with the leftover bits of pastry for ages making birds and other shapes. 

Goals.

Goals

Posted: 28 Aug 2011 11:01 PM PDT

I wrote this in 1996, when my children were 9, 7 and 4.
As I'm posting it today, they are 25, 22 and 19.
So far so good.

Here are my goals for my children: I want them to learn something every day. I want them to greet the morning with joy. I want them to see strangers as potential friends. I want their lives to be adventures without a map, where there are innumerable destinations, and unlimited opportunities for “success.” I want their definition of success to include things they can see all around them, not just in Washington, not just at medical conventions, or the Olympics. I want them to wake up, look out the window, and be glad of the view. I want them to be content with their choices and their abilities. I want them to be realistic about goals and philosophical about failure. I want them to be happy.



SandraDodd.com/president
photo by Sandra Dodd

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Lily's birthday party

happy birthday to Lily. We had a lovely time with you in the park today :)

Shabbat 27/08/11

We went out to Wyangala Dam today. Took the new car for a run and had a picnic by the water. So nice that this reserve is only about 25 minutes away. I think we will be spending much time here in summer :)

 The view of the dam on the way there

 walking to the picnic area

 kangaroos everywhere! 

 lunchtime. 

 the boys at the waters edge

 me eating oranges :)

The Story of 1

This is a wonderfully rich, fascinating and entertaining movie about the history of numbers, particularly the number 1. I am so excited to be excited about mathematics for the FIRST time ever in my life!!! and it is contagious! the kids are too!

Eagle Cam

Birds Australia volunteers set up a high definition video camera to monitor the nest of a pair of resident White-bellied Sea-Eagles, 15 metres (50 feet) above the ground, in a eucalyptus tree within a protected nature reserve of Sydney Olympic Park, Australia. It's awesome to watch! Go HERE for more videos and keep updated on what's happening in the nest. Unfortunately, one of the chicks recently died (they think it may have been smoothered by a dead pigeon the parents brought for food) but the surviving chick is doing well and thriving.

An egg appears in the nest...

 

 Changing of the guard...

 

Inspiration...

Calm and Quiet

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 11:01 PM PDT

Please take time for reflection. Take time for your mind to be calm and quiet. Take time to be open to input, not busy creating output. Don't respond, think. Take the ideas and let them "be" in your mind and go spend lots of time with your children and consider and observe how the ideas might play out in your own home with your own kids. —Pam Sorooshian

SandraDodd.com/lists/alwayslearning
photo by Sandra Dodd

spring is here

Jono did heaps of gardening today.

He replanted the mint

and planted four lavendars in the front yard.

He planted the olive that has been in a pot for 8 years!

and started a little herb barrow out the back :)

yay! grow little green things, grow! 

and here are some unmistakable signs of spring. 

and our lovely home as the sun was setting.

23/08/11

Jonah wanted to know about Ned Kelly. We looked him up and read about him on Wikipedia. Then he wanted to know what type of gun he used (of course!) and we discovered he and his gang amassed quite an arsinal. He found the most interesting fact about the guns they used was this; 

Leading up to the battle at Glenrowan the Gang amassed an arsenal of unknown size. What is known is that they bought additional firearms including some Winchester rifles and a treacherous Colt revolving rifle, which had the unpleasant knack of firing all six chambers at once and removing the shooters fingers. 

Jonah told Jono about this in great detail :)

We talked about how dangerous guns can be for the shooter as well as the person or thing being shot at. Then he looked up some images...

now both boys are dressed up as cowboys and out in the yard playing outlaw games :)

I've ordered some books and DVD docos from the library and plan to encourage the kids to decide for themselves whether he was a cold blooded killer or a hero ;)

22/08/11

Andrew invited us to come and watch the shearing today. He has dorpers which usually don't require shearing but they are crosses so they need a shear from time to time :)

Kefir

After a week and a half of sleeping in the fridge my dairy grains seem to be doing ok. I am giving the mother cat the kefir milk each day for a couple more days. She could use it anyway, with all those kittens to feed :) Tikva's milk has dropped quite a bit since we were away. I think she has begun to wean Erev. Maybe soon we'll milk her twice daily and see if that helps build it back up. The spring green is on its way and that should help also. Sufa is looking plump. She'll kid in november.

Here's is my water kefir. I'm using local oranges at the moment with a bit of ginger and molasses. Jas kept it going for me while we were away. The last batch tastes quite alcoholic! I think it was left for a couple of days more than usual. There's probably too many oranges in this one but I'm keen to use them up before they start to turn :)

kittens

four little ones came out of the hay barn while we were away. 2 boys, 2 girls. The kids have named them Pingu (the black and white one), Charlie, Tin-tin and Mia.

very cute :)