Honest Scrap award

Thank you, Alecat, for passing the Honest Scrap Award on to me. I would love to drop in on you one day and have that cuppa. I am very honoured you are enjoying my blog, I am enjoying writing it as well.

To keep this award, there are some rules by which I (and future recipients) must abide:
1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving it.

So - 10 honest things about myself.

~ I never wanted to be a mother- ever. I grew up in an area with lots of unmarried teenage mothers and decided at a very young age that was not the life for me. I recall going home to visit my Mum at 16, I had moved to the city and started a traineeship- I bumped into a fiends sister, who asked me if I had something wrong with me as I didn't have any children!

~ Even though I had decided not to be a Mum, I also decided when I was at school, that if I ever did have kids, I would not send them to school and I would homeschool. I didn't know anyone who homeschooled then, but I felt school was not right for me or my friends and family at that time.

~ DH and I had many years together, just as a couple and I am very thankful for that time. We did a lot of travelling and working and discovering who we were. We travelled around Australia with our dog Ari, who was a doberman. We left in a combi van and bought a bus on our travels and lived on the road for a few years.

~ As I was nearing 30 my body clock kicked in and changed the way I felt about having a child- and it became very insistent!

~ The day I birthed my firstborn son was the best day of my life. I loved being pregnant, I loved the transformation from girl (yes I was still a girl at 30) to woman and mother. I loved my birth, the labour, the ups and downs, the feeling of being a chain in a long link o mothers all sitting behind me and lending me the strength, it was a beautiful team effort between me, my darling husband and our beautiful baby boy.

~ I love being a mother! I think conscious mothering is the greatest challenge of my life and the greatest honour and the greatest reward.

~ I love homeschooling and am happy to have the boys at home as long as they want to be here. I love the close relationships we all have in our family. The way the boys take control of what they are learning and are enthusiastic learners. I love the ifference between them and their school friends.

~ My husband and I have been together 21 years next month, married for 14. We were kids when we met and now our older son is starting to think of girlfriends.

~ I belong to a wonderful womens group called the Purple Tent. It is a lovely safe space for us all to be together and share deep things if we need or want to. We also have lots of fun and offer each other great support. I really must get a gathering organised soon.

~ Dh is almost finished his 4 year degree in forestry and we will most likely be moving some time soon. it is a bit scary to be leaving our community here but I am keen for a new adventure.

I would like to share this award with some of my favourite bloggers- and am looking forward to reading their replies.

Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes

Therese at Earth and Living

The Magic Onions

The gorgeous Artemis of the Eucalypts at Slightly Unconventional Puple Pathways

Livy's lovely A Field Journal

Anne with her Loopity Lou

Sandra and Frederike! at herzenart journal

Medieval Day

Our local homeschooling group held a medieval day today

A wonderful knowledgeable and patient man from the Medieval Guilds Inc. came to talk to us and to show us all of his real weapons and armour, chain mail and costumes.


It was fantastic!

Mr10, knew what a roman gladius was called so he got to hold it!


and was so thrilled


He had to share it with his little brother-


Who thought it was wonderful as well- real swords!


He put on a sword fighting demonstration with one of our older homeschooled boys who has been attending the medieval group at Coffs Harbour.

All the kids got to practice actual manoeuvres with foam replica swords and shields


J was asked to shoot a long bow at our knight so he could demonstrate the effectiveness of his chain mail and armour


My little viking could not resist this little one and made a new friend,
his new friend is a weanling pony foal and tried to suckle from Mr6's shiny buttons down his tummy.


After our special guest finished his presentation we all enjoyed a shared medieval feast.
Then it was medieval activities and the kids could make chain mail, or do embroidery, make wooden dolls, treasure boxes or shields. They could play medieval board games or play medieval outside games, or run around being nights on quests!
A terrific day was had by all.

2009 Sports Day

Our local homeschoolers held the annual Clarence Valley Homeschoolers Sports Day today.
The kids were divided into 3 'houses'
the green warriors, the blue knights and the red vikings.
Our 2 were red vikings-
so Mr6 knew just what to wear-

The sprint was closely contended between Mr10 and M,
Mr10 coming in a close 2nd.

Mr 6 put in a superb performance, with high placings in every event.
- here he is on the long jump




And Mr10 jumping-

And here is his mighty 'javelin' throw-
the littlies used this for their javelin-
the big kids had a real one.



They used real discus as well.
Mr10 did an outstanding throw of 17.6 m and he not only threw further than his age group, he outdistanced the seniors as well- Yay Mr 10.

The long distance- 400m for Mr6's age group is a loooong way-



Lucky he had some encouragement from his big brother, his team mate J and his Daddy-

Yay you came first!



They also ran the relay and the Red Vikings came first !



This is Mr10 doing the shot put

and here he is looking very primal doing the Javelin.

We finished the day with some fun novelty events



Sack races



three legged races



The tug-o-war was highly contested with the Green Warriors being this years champions
Followed by the Dads versus the kids tug-o-war, the kids, as usual beat the Dads- Yay Kids!
This year the Mums had a go as well against the kids and the Dads.

It was picnics for lunch and then all the kids got fantastic certificates to show all the events they participated in, and if they had won gold, silver or bronze.
It was a terrific day- thank you to the fabulous Mums who organise it every year.

Beautiful Birthday Boy

Our children grow up so fast-

My darling Mr5 turned 6


That meant it was an early morning


but not too early for sharing


with lovely presents from near and far


He devised the menu for the day


Breakfast- bacon and eggs
Lunch- fish and chips and lemonade
Dinner- chicken and pumpkin pasta bake
Birthday Cake- a 'massive' vanilla cheese cake
I managed everything, the birthday cake wasn't really massive, but it did the job.



His new viking suit was a great hit, and he had to wear it everywhere.


He also planned our activites

Rollerskating- and it was so much fun, DH and I have not done it for over 20 years! but we could still manage and it was the first time for the boys. They have mucked around on skates and blades but not at a rink.



riding his new scooter so Mr10 did some more skating and we had a lovely walk along the riverbank



and playing tennis. We managed the first two and will try to get a game of tennis in tomorrow at the local courts. We just ran out of time- and energy-

Happy birthday my darling boy.