Mine are DEFINITELY worth keeping :-)

I couldn't wait to write about this one, I honestly have the world's greatest children!!!

Today was just like any normal day at home, I did mountains of washing, we did some schoolbooks, made some more recycled paper and even had a quick visit from Grandad.  After lunch it was rest time, which is sleep time for Brandon and Mikah and play quietly or read books for Josiah and Luka.  Aaliyah was awake and sat next to me while I got the mountains of washing folded and put away, and then she was ready for a sleep.  Brandon and Mikah still had not gone to sleep, but were chatting and playing in their room.  I fed Aaliyah to sleep and then came out of my room to find that Brandon and Mikah had made a mess of their room with pillows everywhere and some clothes (not all thankfully!) out of the draws.  When I sent them back to bed Mikah started yelling and screaming at me and refusing to go, which got him a smack on the bum.  He was quite upset about it, crying for Daddy and quite overtired, so I decided to lay down with him.  Within minutes we were all asleep (not my plan, but I can flow with it :-) ), and I can vaguely hear something going on while I nap but I was pretty out of it (after a few rough nights with Aaliyah) so I couldn't actually wake up and check out what was happening.  When I woke up I could hear Josiah giving Luka instructions and busily cleaning and tidying.  I heard the dust buster on as they attempted to vacuum half the house with it :-)  I was so proud of them!  So when they realised I had woken up I was given the tour (with my eyes closed of course!) of all their hard work, and you know what, they did a fantastic job!  Josiah asked if we can keep it clean and tidy so we can show Daddy when he gets home, I said "Of course, Daddy will love it!"  I rewarded the boys with a voucher for a date with mummy or daddy, both have now chosen daddy and have already decided what they are going to do :-)  They are thrilled!

So you see, my kids really are fantastic!  I'm just not sure which Key Learning Areas todays "schooling" falls under :-)

On another note, I am LOVING this beautiful summer weather!  We had the most wonderful day on a family picnic yesterday, swimming, cricket, a long hard walk for mum & me (plus Aaliyah in the sling and Bella on the lead), a playground, uncles & aunties, grandad & nanny, and even nanny & poppy!  Everyone was totally worn out by the end of the day, but very happy :-)

Here are some photos of paper making and the picnic:

Nanny with Mikah and Aaliyah, lounging around on the picnic

This is why we don't let Grandad babysit!! :-)

Brandon was probably the most keen paper maker

Josiah soaking up all the water out of the paper

Luka with his paper ready to go in the sun to dry

Well two posts in one week, must be on to something now :-)  I hope you are all having a wonderful week!!

Amy :-)

Let's try again!

Well after reading some other blogs and getting sick of all the parenting crap that is put out there I have decided to get serious about actually posting more often! Although my question to mothers of multiple young children who blog regularly is HOW ON EARTH DO YOU FIND THE TIME???? While I write this I have my 3 youngest sitting on or around me, one has just spat all over my feet, another is playing with my thongs while intermittently whinging for some attention, and the other is just half sitting/leaning on me while the baby chews his toes!

I must admit that although we do not "celebrate" the new year, or even really notice it to be honest, I do like the promise and excitement that a new year holds. So much has happened this last year, and I cannot wait to see what this new year will reveal. I am hoping to get very close to my goal weight this year; pay off all our debt and save like crazy; not fall pregnant (for this year anyway ;-) ); and continue seeing the salon build even more! I have also enrolled to start an Advanced Diploma in Naturopathy and I would like to complete my Breastfeeding Counseling Certificate IV this year. So much to do and achieve this year!! Also a huge overhaul of routines in our household which have started already. The boys all have morning and afternoon chore charts now, and all morning chores must be done before breakfast. So far it is working really well! We have got stuck into doing some written/structured homeschooling activities in the mornings and then doing something fun and more play orientated in the afternoons. We were trialling totally unschooling/natural learning but have found that we need a little more structure and routine for everyone in the family to be happy, so we now have a bit of structure and of course natural learning is still a big part of our everyday life.

Another thing I have started recently is reading The Scriptures to the boys in bed every night, they enjoy it now and they go to sleep much more peacefully and easily. I also LOVE the fact that they are starting to talk about and recognize Yahuah in their everyday lives now! Last week, of their own accord, they all went out into the gardens at the holiday house to collect things that Yahuah had made :-) They are so gorgeous!

I got a chance to get stuck into some reading while we were away last weekend and I have been reading some books about health/food. Over the weekend I read 'Eat this and live' by Dr Don Colbert. A really interesting read and lots of great information, but a shame that he advocates kosher not being necessary. I am now about a third of the way through Kevin Trudeau's 'Natural Cures "they" don't want you to know about' and it is fantastic! Extremely overwhelming but I have decided that I am just reading it first and then we can start to change one thing at a time.
Luka turned 5 last week and has taken this new age very seriously! He has decided that there are so many things a 5 year old can do, and has a definite maturity about him now. He told us that now he is 5 years old he can swim without his bubble, of course I was a skeptic because it just doesn't work like that, but while we were away over the long weekend he proved himself to us by swimming the length of a 12 metre pool! I am the super crazy proud mum who tells everyone (especially people who don't want to know) all about his courageous effort :-)

Time is getting on and my children have just made a mess of their room while I sit here typing away so I must sign out now and prepare their dinner. Let's hope I'm back again soon :-)

Shabbat Shalom!!

Amy :-)

Let's start from the very beginning...

There are so many themes going on in my life that I would love to try an encompass here!  I am a Natsarim mother and wife with, so far, 5 beautiful children!  We homeschool (unschool), homebirth (freebirth), follow the original Hebrew Scriptures and everything else that this lifestyle involves!

This blog is going to be about our family life.  And I hope that others will be inspired and encouraged by it.  It always helps to know that you are not the only one going through this crazy journey of life!

A little about us...

My name is Amy and I'm 27 years old, my darling husband Mark is 33.  Mark is a brilliant hairdresser, and we own a hair salon about 10 minutes from our home.  We have Josiah who is 6, Luka is almost 5, Brandon is 3 1/2, Mikah is 2 1/2 and Aaliyah is 4 months old.  Mark runs the Torah Institute YouTube page and is constantly producing fantastic videos for that.  He also records a program called Torah Talk with Lew White once a week that is aired on the YouTube channel.  I homeschool our children and am training as a breastfeeding counsellor with The Australian Breastfeeding Association.  I am very passionate about raising my family properly, natural living, Torah, healthy eating, homeschooling/unschooling, homebirth/freebirth, and full term breastfeeding.

So that gives you an idea of what this blog will be about.  I hope you will stick around for the fun :-)