Friday, July 3, 2009

Horses: the cutest horse I have ever seen! Also good colouring pages

Do you want to see unbelievable American fun...
Or are your little girls are horse crazy?
Then you just have to look this one up....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teHfyby_veU

How did we find it...well I have to admit, we were doing a bit of school- just couldn't resist it. Emma wanted to read about dolphins , then we Googled dolphin sounds and then horses, another of her passions. She was so awestruck with google, she had not realised you could find anything and everything on Google!

Here are some lovely free horse colouring pages

http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pages-pictures-photo-horses-c294.html

Enjoy

Zim again

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82968

An report , they deal with

humanitarian news and analysis
a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Stress does go out the window eventually:

I was amazed at my emotional reaction when going back to our old house in Ipswich last week..... how little of the extreme stress I had felt @ time of flood happened as I walked in the door, after only a few weeks of being away!

A real eye opener to me that the extreme 'I can't cope feeling" does pass....at the time it does not feel as if we can ever get out of it. I hope I ever forget this an example to me that stress does pass, there is always hope , even in the worst of circumstances!


The smelly carpets and lino have all been lifted and the floor cleaned, we just have to decide on new floor coverings and then I think the house will be ready for sale....just about, that is..... there are a few minor plumbing jobs to do, patching up of paint work, need to get cleaners in for a spic and span finishing job and garden to weed...sigh.... Nice to be on school holidays at least!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sing it from the roof tops, rejoice and be glad ... a new little soul has entered the world!

I never cease to be utterly thrilled, enthralled, amazed and awestruck at the blessed miracle of a new life. For me it is a touch from our almighty and holy God to be blessed with a soul to care for, for a mere lifetime but who will live for an eternity, forever....how wonderfully awesome to have a new child, what a tremendous privilege to bring forth a new life, to tend and raise up a soul for preparation for eternity! Congratulations and welcome little darling Hannah Danielle Hunter. We look forward to meeting you precious little darling, little sweet lamb and may you rise up to bless our wonderful heavenly Father and be a joy and delight to your family! Kisses for you littlest one, from all the Murrays, and well done to Mummy and to all her helpers, big and little, from us all, Joy.

Wolston House By Joseph, Wednesday 3rd June 2009

Jarryn wishing he could ride a trike.




This is the torture chamber the thing that I’m holding is a big set of big nail clippers. The saws are for cutting naughty girls arms and legs off. There are some clippers to pull out some teeth. There is an axe to chop off necks. There is a chisel to try get your bellybutton out.

Wolston House Narrated By Emma –Jane 3rd June 2009





In the olden days they didn’t have cars so they had to use carriages which had big wheels and horses. It would have taken longer to go to Ipswich with horses instead of cars.



The ladies had very long hair in those days – do you know what these are?

They are hat pins that got stuck into the ladies long hair, so that their hats would stay on. In those days ladies did not like to be tanned, so they always wore their hats if they were in the sun.




Once we had looked around the house we pumped water up from underground and did some washing the old fashioned way.







Wolston House By Timothy (with some help from Mommy) Wednesday 3rd June 2009




Timothy tells his friend all about the funny spoon used to get the bread out of this stone oven.

“To get the bread out of this oven they get a funny looking spoon which has a big flat circle at the end of a long stick.”




How would you like to bath in a bath like this? Down in the cellar all cold and damp? Yikes! No thanks!



Can you guess what this is?


No?
How about this?



We listened to a very funny story on an old fashioned CD player.




It’s called a gramophone or record player! And those big black “CD’s” are called records! It was very funny! You have to crank the handle to make it go without electricity as there was no electricity in the olden days.

Wolston House: By Erica – Ruth, Wednesday 3rd June 2009


Today we went to W0lston house. It was built around 150 years ago, in the 1850’s. It is an Australian pioneer house.


We washed clothes by hand the old fashioned way and we were taken around the house to see many old fashioned things from the olden days.


My favourite object was the fly trap. It’s like a vase with another vase inside. You put some sort of liquid in the second vase (I think sugar water would work but they used to use something that was red in colour). The flies get attracted to the smell and try to get to it through a small opening at the top of the outside vase like thing. And then they drop into the second vase inside with the liquid and drown.

Nevada Tea Packing Factory: 15/06/09

Hats on and ready to go!


Upstairs has huge big funnel like shoots from which the tea comes down into the factory below and is put little by little into tea bags and boxes for loose leaf tea:


Tea tabs going through the machine ready to be joined to the strings which join the bags



The strings




Strings join tabs, join bags filled with tea:


Tea bags put into boxes


Boxes shrink wrapped and put into bigger boxes for selling:


The Distribution takes place from next door - look at the huge piles of tea



Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Family Photo's : At The Airport


At the Airport: Emma is watching aeroplanes through the glass roof top. Jarryn watches people going up and down the escalators. Do you see the knitted dollies the girls are holding - we continue a family tradition of each girl having a 'Miss Bump' as I was given by my Ouma, Granny, when I was a little girl in Kenya. It gave the girlies such great pleasure to watch Granny create them!








Murray's 'Night at the Movies' :

What are our kid's favourite movies?

A Christian series we have thoroughly enjoyed recently ( everyone's favourite!) is the Torchlighter series on DVD - it includes John Bunyan , Gladys Allward, Eric Lyddell, Jim Elliot, William Tyndale, don't have Richard Wurmbrand so can't vouch for that one but if the others are anything to go by it will be excellent too. See http://www.christianbook.com/gladys-aylward-story-torchlighters-series-dvd/pd/012454?item_code=WW&netp_id=535645&event=ESRCN&view=covers ( scroll down to see them all, if this link doesn't work go to Christian books dot com and search for there)

We also quite like the Kids 10 Commandments ( K10C ) see http://www.k10c.com/home/default.asp

We are also "Little House" crazy, (even the big boys sneak in and watch this very 'uncool' series!). It does not really follow the book and I don't like the fact that little girls have crushes on boys.... but it provides an opportunity to chat to our little girls about keeping a pure heart for a husband and to exercise emotional self control until marriageable age, to have boys as friends without all the 'lovie dovie' stuff etc. !

Bramley Hedge has always been one of our best series over the years and seems to still be available.

The DVD "Eragon" is like the Lord of the Rings and suitable for older teens who would cope with Lord of the Rings,as it does have fighting and magic etc. ( I would not let an under 16 + year old watch, and have the same view of Lord of the Rings. I think we can over expose our kids with so much so easily available, and we need to leave our children to enjoy a real childhood for as long as possible!) Eragon was written at 15 years old, by a boy who home schooled. Of course Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Chariots of Fire, Little Women, Fiddler on the Roof, Amazing Grace, Seven Years in Tibet and Kidnapped are loved by our older children. And our middle to bigger children like the Narnia Series....they are busy getting ready for the filming of the third Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader which is to be filmed on the Gold coast Australia! Not far from us, we are soooo hoping to go to Narnia in real life!!!!

For educational DVD's (learning 'accidentally' while you enjoy watching) we have enjoyed Head Start maths and reading, which have fun stories to explain facts. Of course the well know Jolly phonics has a DVD which can easily stand on it's own if you did not want to buy the whole program- again stories explain the facts. We also love Suzy's World science series from NZ see http://www.suzy.co.nz/suzysworld/Videos.asp She is meant to be a Christian and is very funny- the kids love her and the science she presents with experiments and discussion is remembered! We like the National Geographic DVD's. And we also watch David Attenborough too despite his anti God stance, we know where we are coming from well enough to enjoy all his marvellous facts! I pray he would come to know God....he has nature shouting out the way to him! Another good science one is "The way things Work" It tells an interesting story to show how things work! See http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Way-Things-Work-DVD/dp/B000A8NZ04/ref=pd_sim_b_1 We also like a lot of the Creation Research DVD like Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution.etc Another series is done by Giglio Louie We know 'Indescribable' see http://orders.koorong.com/search/details.jhtml?code=5099952117794 But he has done a whole lot more too.

Oh I nearly forgot we also like Prince of Egypt, Anne of Green Gables Series ( not all suitable for children as it cover her adult life as well) and Pollyanna. For the very little ones Curious George, Harold and the Purple Crayon. We have also just found Harry and the Dirty Dog Series 1 collection, with lots of other stories by Scholastic Books - wonderful! See http://www.newkideo.com/CompleteCollection.php I can't see the one we have on their web site but there are lots of other ones, the boxed sets look expensive but you definitely get good value for money with them! And of course we love the Walt Disney Classics like Dumbo, The Jungle Book etc

Horse Movies: National Velvet, My Friend Flicka and the Black Stallion. Spirit is okay.
Dog Movies: Big Red , Old Yella. Not as nice as the books, but great as movies go! ( by the way - "Where the Red Fern Grows" is the "Best Dog Book" ever! But I had better do our favourite boos, another time!)

We are enjoying our school holidays, a well earned holiday this one, but I had better get cracking with unpacking, as we still have too many boxes around and about!

Happy viewing, Joy