Hearts for Home - 1st November

 In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home.

In my weekly 'Hearts for Home' post I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'.

I am praying that a spirit of gentleness, generosity in thoughts and time along with loveliness and grace would lead us to be all that God wants us to be.

I pray also that each person involved in 'Hearts for Home' would also pray for any others involved as well.

May you be blessed by this initiative. I pray it brings you and your family many blessings.

So each week list 4-6 things you will commit to that will keep your "Hearts for Home'.
Please leave a you name and a link to your blog (if you don't have one just leave your list in the comment box) and perhaps a comment so we can all see and encourage each other.

If you would like, add the 'Hearts for Home' logo to your side bar as a reminder of your goals.
May God Bless you this week.

♥ Please leave a link to your Hearts for Home Edition on the Mister Linky at the end of the post, so we can all come and visit.
I would also appreciate you linking back here too.☺ ♥ ♥

Enjoying our lives on the 1st November by doing ♥ ♥

Hello Dear Friends,

I am sorry to miss you all last week as you may know we have had trouble with our Trahaearn putting on weight.

Today we had success after a very disappointing couple of days where he lost weight again but today we have a significant increase of 190grams.

This is just to emphasise that fact that our baby is going to be my focus this week with feeding and expressing along with any Feast Day activities. and the extra medical and other unusual appointments for the week.

I will try to get that routine happening  that I talked about in one of my past Hearts for Home, boy it seems like that was so long ago.

We will be having Braedon's birthday on Saturday and a First Holy Communion celebration for a new little friend of the children on Sunday.

I am hoping to catch up on some blog posts...those dreaded drafts that call to me in the night.

And I just want to live and enjoy our family as it is now, even in  this imperfect life we are living.Life changes so fast and the family circle though changing and growing, which is a beautiful thing needs to be appreciated for the hear and now. I am so thankful for my Lord, my Faith and my family that I need to express this each and every day to all of them.

Blessings to you and your families,

Happy Halloween!!

I hope that you all had a great day today! 

I want to share some of our photos with you (yes more, lol)!  

We had a great time.  After my hubby came home, we went trick-or-treating, then we came home to eat dinner.  After that, we made popcorn, homemade-hot coco and then watched a family movie.

What did you do today?

Come back tomorrow for my Twice Owned Tuesday Party!!

Happy Halloween!

Don’t forget to sign up for the Healthiest Loser Challenge today!  We will be accepting challengers all week!!!  Our first conference call is tomorrow at 9pm central time and we are extremely excited to get started!!! We have a huge support system to help you daily with your weight loss needs.  Sign up below…

Ok, So I'm Going To Do It

Via witanddelight.tumblr.com

The boys and I want to go camping these coming school holidays.

Oh my, if camping was as glamorous as this, above, I would be there in a shot! I must admit I'm a bit of an 'Audrey Forbes-Hamilton' (prim and proper character from 'To The Manor Born' - TV Show from the 70's).... love my showers, Norsca towelettes and antibacterial hand wash.... but I have 2 active boys and I think we need to head out bush and search for lizards and dig for things... and do boy stuff.

So, where do I start? I need to get the essentials... just the essentials.... what are the essentials?... besides a tent? This is real virgin territory for me.... but I have been so inspired by Deb's adventures at Let's Go Moerkabout (and boy did they have the gear).... I've gotta do it.... for my boys.... I need to see 'camping smiles'.

So any advice from any hardy campers out there would be much appreciated. I would also love to hear of any great places to camp in South East Queensland/Northern New South Wales.

Can you imagine the blog fodder I will have if I pull this off....I mean WHEN I pull this off.

Let's hope it doesn't end up with this reaction. This photo of my boys makes me belly laugh. They were at a little kids party, thunder egg searching with their little cousins... faking their enjoyment for the sake of 'manners'.... good lesson. They loved that sort of stuff when they were really little but as they have gotten older...well see for yourself. I took them aside and asked them to look really bored for a photo. The little one cracks me up! He looks like a young Jim Carrey. He can pull a dead pan, expressionless face in a heartbeat and hold it together and not smile while we all crack up. He is hilarious! This was taken about a year ago. Still makes me laugh.

So any advice would be so appreciated. Don't tell my boys that I asked for your help. I want them to think I am a 'Camping Legend'.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Halloween!

I hope that you all have a great Halloween today!

I thought I would just share a couple of photos from our weekend!

We went to a Halloween Party Saturday night!

We brought the cutest little pirate, princess and lion that we could find.

Matthew didn’t know what to think of his costume, lol!

But the left it on most of the night.

Michael had been wanting to be a pirate since we went on a Pirate’s Cruse in Florida for his birthday.

My daughter dreams of being a princess every single day of her life, lol!

The kids had a great time!

We did too!   My husband dressed up as a biker (don’t worry, the cigarette is fake) and I went as an 80’s girl.  Like the hair? lol

Today, Michael dresses up for school and I was able to go into the classroom and take pictures.  Then they had a little parade around the school and we going trick-or-treating in the office.  Grace’s class with be dressing up as saints tomorrow for All Saint’s Day.

After my husband gets home today, we are going out trick-or-treating with my neighbors but I only want to stay out for like an hour.  It is sooo cold here!  Then we will come home and hand out candy.  Actually,  my kids don’t eat their candy, we give it out to the others.  I know, I know…I am the meanest mom the world.  I get them some Trader' Joe’s candy if they want a couple pieces of something but because we never eat any of that junk, they don’t really like it.  I will have raspberries, strawberries and apples with homemade sugar-free dip that they will go nuts over.  They will be just fine.  They just like getting dressed up.

What are your Halloween plans?

Do you dress up?  As what?

Do you have any family traditions?

Happy Halloween!

Speaking of candy and junk food, don’t forget to sign up for the Healthiest Loser Challenge today!  We will be accepting challengers all week!!!  Our first conference call is tomorrow at 9pm central time and we are extremely excited to get started!!! We have a huge support system to help you daily with your weight loss needs.  Sign up below…

Celebrating Halloween 2011

Today was a fairly interesting day for us with Trahearn and his trying to put on weight and getting ready to celebrate these three consecutive feast days in the Liturgical Year.

But I tried to keep it simple, I really did, I tried not to go over board and make it stressful for us and I think we succeeded in this. The stress with Trahaearn feeding does not count, right?
Autumn took this photo while I was ready our very few books regarding Halloween:
Father Phillip Tells a Ghost Story and Pumpkin Moonshine

We made a list of simple crafts and food for the day, this Orange cake with Orange frosting and decorated with chocolate to be a Pumpkin Moonshine cake was made exclusively by Rogan

Pumpkin Soup in our Pumpkin soup Tourine for dinner along with bread rolls for dinner

Decorating the table is lots of fun and we used some decorations from last year too

We decided (clever Autumn) that Spiders- as often used in Halloween decorations could be used to represent the Poor Souls in Purgatory who people have forgotten about and who suddenly reappear and ask us for prayers
Bats - can represent those temptations in life which appear extraordinary and many people chase after only to discover later that they have lost something more important

Another craft was to simple draw the face on a pumpkin moonshine and colour in to hang up for deocrations

If you have no pumpkins to carve how about decorating some oranges.....they look similar don't they. Well we think they were pretty cute.

Love, love, love candle light

We are ready to eat

Sweet little boys together, couldn't resist Corbyn loving his baby brother

I mad a quick felt craft here: simple cut out a pumpkin shape (well as close as possible ) and some face pieces for children to make the faces over and over again.

A matching game weh have had for over 12 years from Preschool Printables

 Spiders on the table made from egg cartons painted black and pipe cleaners

 Blackboard Picture

 Myffy just about to go to bed with her felt Pumpkin Moonshine

 And of course Moran did too.

All in all it was fun and relaxing and we are looking forward to All Saints Day tomorrow.
Oh yes I was going to post a heap of information about All Hallow Eve but need to go to bed before Trahaearn needs feeding again. However I just can't resist this quick information from Fisheaters, because I love sharing why things are celebrated like they are.

So Blessed All Hallows Eve to you all

Blessings to you and your homes,