Wrapping up 2011 Part 3: the journey of our family.

When I think back to this year the overwhleming feeling is one of sadness and grief, attending funerals and crying, and some of 2011 was like that. I lost my beloved grandma who helped raise me, we lost a very close friend who was like family to us, I lost a baby, and there were others, 2 ladies i've known from different churches who succumbed to cancer, a friend's twin girls who never breathed this side of heaven, my brother in law's younger stepbrother, several relatives of a friend of mine, it seems that grief was everywhere to be seen this year. Not just in my circle of friends but around the country and the globe too, catastrophic floods in Qld and Vic, the tsunami in Japan, at times the sadness and loss in this world has seemed overwhleming. And yet at christmas time as I reflected on the manger I realised that there is always hope, there is always light, because there is always Jesus. It is Jesus who breathes life into us each day, it is Him who holds my hand and helps me keep going when I don't want to, it is my Father in Heaven who provides sunsets, and flowers, and it is He who reminds me again and again of how blessed I really am, of what a miracle each day is to be enjoyed and that there is joy in life if my focus remains on Him. And so when I look back at 2011 I see far more than just the tears. I see:

Many birthday celebrations

Bethany turned 2

 and had a Night Garden party with a Makka Pakka cake.

I celebrated my 36th birthday with friends and family.

My beautiful baby girl Elora turned 1 and we had a ladybug party.

Jaden turned 12 and enjoyed a party at lazer zone with some of his old school friends.

Brett celebrated his 35th birthday with family and friends.

Family Outings

Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Going to the Opera House to see Yo Gabba Gabba live.

Meeting the characters from lazy town (with cousin Abi).

A day at Taronga Zoo.

A Wedding

I was matron of honour in June for my dearest friend in the world and it was so lovely to be part of her day. It was bittersweet as she then moved back to Indonesia with her new husband, but it's been a long journey for them to get there and I was so thrilled to see them finally get married. I also scored a bonus of meeting another bridesmaid Michelle. We had previously heard a lot about each other from Karen but had never actually met and found that when we did we hit it off straight away and I now have a lovely new friend I met this year.

Holidays

We were blessed with 2 family holidays this year. In August we spent 4 nights on a farmstay in Bathurst. It was something i've wanted to do for ages but it's not in the budget and I got a few hundred dollars inheritance from grandma that I wanted to spend on a special family memory so this is what we chose to do with it. I also just wanted some time out from dealing with normal life for us to just be together. The kids loved it!!!!!

In November we spent 4 nights up the coast at Umina and had a really lovely break and enjoyed some sunshine that hasn't shown up much here this summer.

Christmas

We just celebrated a truly lovely and memorable christmas. We had family from both sides at our house for lunch on christmas day, we all got lovely presents, we enjoyed all the christmas offerings of Hillsong this year including carols by candlelight, the christmas spectacular production of Scrooge, the christmas day service with the live nativity scene, we were able to reach out and help some local families with christmas deliveries, there were parties and fun, it was just a beautiful time throughout December celebrating Jesus' birth and I am so thankful for how blessed we were.

The girls got new trikes on christmas morning and after presents we had a yummy cooked breakfast.

New princess dresses for church on christmas day.

Lunch with family.

 (There was another table of grown ups but they weren't very co-operative for the photos and all look grumpy lol).

So.....

When I look back over all of that I see how truly blessed I am and what a wonderful year it has actually been despite the sad times. These are only snippets, I didn't put in photos of mother's day or father's day, of my first ever Colour conference that was AMAZING, of the first live album recording i've ever been to that was also fantastic, of all the daily moments of playing on swings or in the sandpit, playing with playdough, making cookies, or just hanging out toegther with my family who are all healthy, growing and thriving. I am also VERY, VERY, thankful that my brother in law is still with us after the motorbike accident he had back in September. He shocked the drs by being alive, we know he's a walking miracle and every time I see him, even though he is limping and still in pain, I see the hand of God and I can't help but feel grateful.

So that wraps up 2011 for us. Our plans for the holidays are to just relax before our new busy season begins next year. Another new thing for us in 2012 is that I will be working Saturdays at the cafe my mum manages. I am very excited about it. It means we can actually afford to pay for the school and pre-school fees because that was a step of faith that we took without being quite sure we could actually afford it, and it also means that I get 1 day week to do a job not involving poop and tantrums (one would hope so in a cafe anyway) and daddy gets to be the hands on person for a day which I think is good too. Hapy new year everyone :-)

Wrapping up 2011 part 2: Our school year!

So year 6 is over and so is our home schooling journey. Jaden has been enrolled in a Christian school not too far from home to start high school next year. It was quite a heart wrenching decision at first but we started walking down that path in faith that God would give us peace if it was the right way and we are quite sure that it's the way we should go. I have to admit that home schooling has been quite a challenge and there have been many moments of being completely overwhelmed (i'm sure that news is no surpirse to any other person who homeschools). I feel like none of my children got the best of me this year as I was constantly juggling between trying to deal with nappies, crying, tantrums, fighting girls, and actually getting schoolwork done in a variety of subjects, then setting Jaden up with some independant work in the hopes of actually cooking a meal or doing a puzzle with Bethany only to have Elora wake up from a nap or Jaden be completely confused and need help and I felt like I was always chasing my tail!!

When it came time to start getting plans done for year 7 I knew it was time for a change of course for our family. I have learnt so much this year, possibly even more than Jaden has learnt actually, because I have learnt in a much deeper way the need to full rely on God to get through each moment of the day when I am way past the end of myself, especially during intense times of grief this year when I didn't wanna deal with anybody but still had 3 children here to care for. There have also been a lot of fun times of learning and playing together though and moments of truly enjoying the home schooling journey. I have especially enjoyed watching Bethany wanting to join in with some of Jaden's activities and it's been nice to watch my children all playing together without being rushed off to school in the mornings. In fact going back to morning rushing is the one thing I am not looking forward to at all.

Jaden has made a lot of progress this year not just in learning facts but in developing skills like writing and times tables, areas that used to give him plenty of grief, and he has grown and matured a lot in his attitudes and reactions as well. He is finally making progress in swimming and is  really enjoying scouts, he's gone on 3 camps with scouts so far and is finding some new independance!! So despite the struggles and challenges it's been a very special season for our family and one that helped me appreciate the 3 little blessings in my care even more. Here are a few pics of what school looked like for our family this year.

Trampolining with other home schoolers at Don Bosco.

Going on a home school excursion with a group of others to Muru Mittigar to learn about Aboriginal culture.

Home school hangouts with other local home schoolers at the park.

Excursion with other home schoolers to Australiana village.

 

More Australian history, learning about the gold rush days included a trip out to Bathurst. This is a restored orginal Cobb and Co coach.

At the fossil and mineral museum with my science mad boy!

Of course when home schooling it implies that you actualy spend some time at 'home' and we did that too!

Cooking damper.

Painting.

Making a paper mache bowl.

Buidling many creations with knex and lego.

Making volcanos.

One of Jaden's regular activities is scouts and here he is the night was inducted. He is very proud in his uniform and has earnt 3 badges since joining.

My Happy little vegemites hanging out at playgroup together, the family time this year was very special :-)

As you can see there's been a lot of fun stuff but there was also of course a lot of bookwork which doesn't make for exciting pictures to share but be assured there was plenty of written work to show what we were up to this year as well. It's been a roller coaster journey but one I am glad we embarked on, now it's time to head into a new season of high school for Jaden, pre-school for Bethany 2 days a week and some one on one time with Elora. I am looking forward to being just a mummy and not also a teacher and having some free brain space for a change but will miss the extra time with my boy.