The year that was 2010!

It's sure hard to believe that today is the last day of 2010.  In some respects it feels like it's only just begun, but the calender doesn't lie & the growth of our children tell the truth that another year has indeed flown by.

 A few things I haven't shared with you about 2010 - it was:

*   The year of no preservatives or fake colours - we chose to eliminate this from our everyday diet (this was one of my new years resolutions).  Instead of flavoured mineral water for weekend treats we now drink homemade lemon or lime cordial with soda water.  Instead of store bought snacks we choose to bake our own.  Instead of chocolate syrup laced with preservatives, we chose to make our own. In making these and many other choices our diet has become much healthier.

* The  year of no caffeine (well except the occasional iced coffee at the shops) for Renata - the week before I turned 30 (way back in 2009) I decided to give up my daily iced coffee. It wasn't fun the first week as in typical Renata fashion I went off it cold turkey . (I didn't share it with you as I was worried it would only be a passing phase.) I've since been so pleased with how my body reacts without caffeine that I only drink it on occasion when I can have a truly nice frappacchino!

*  The year of homemade sourdough bread.  We began a sourdough starter as an experiment in September  & have since been enjoying sourdough bread daily.  I worked out how to make it in my bread maker & we now wake up to a fresh loaf each morning! 

*   The year of the new kitchen - in July we purchased a slightly used kitchen on eBay that was in a wonderful condition. (Remember: buy used, save the difference)  It was stored in our spare room for 5 months & on boxing day we began the big change over - we are now living in a state of shambles as we currently have no kitchen & everything is stored in the lounge room - I'll share photos of our progress soon. (Hopefully it will be in by the end of this long weekend)

*    The year of Cemonline.  Early in term one we changed the children's home schooling curriculum from ACE to Cemonline  - a new online curriculum that is being written by the teachers at Australian Christian College. This is a wonderful tool for home schooling families who like us aren't exactly sure how to tailor their curriculum to the NSW syllabus.  We have found this wonderful & though at times I've gone through doubts about whether this was the right decision, we've persisted & come to love it!  We are proud to be one of the first families to use this wonderful resource - we encourage anyone considering it to give it a go!

*   The disaster year with the dog - our darling Snowy who was such a wonderful member of our family (sigh) decided  mid year to chase our neighbors' sheep that were at that point adjisted on our paddock.  Since he didn't get any (except a lamb who he ran over the top of) we chose to keep him & tie him up most of the time (we would take him for daily walks & let him off whenever we were outside).  Two weeks before Christmas Dave let him off & he disappeared down to a paddock - Dave found him on top of a sheep - we had to get rid of him - We're all still sad about this.

*   The year of the baby chicks - this year we had 3 hens that went broody & they have hatched 7 chick in total (not the best success rate, but we had one nest that didn't hatch any - that mother just adopted 2 from another mother). We just love our baby chicks & enjoy spending time down there just watching them - they are just so cute!

*  The year we chose no TV - it all began  at the start of the year when we decided to have TV only during the weekends.  In early December Dave decided to give  NO TV or computer games at all for the whole family a try for  fortnight.  This has gone so well that we've continued it - trust me we haven't missed it either! As we rearrange our home, we are removing 'the box' from the lounge room & will put it somewhere in the school room where we can watch educational videos if required.

*   The year of the ... oh I wish I could tell you, but I'm going to wait to see if one of the most exciting things that we've done this year is going to work! (plus I really truly need Dave's permission to share this one!) 

* As we reflect back over the past year, probably the best decision we've made has been to have a family devotions each evening.  Although we've always read to the children from bible stories each evening & prayed with them, we have taken it a step further & now we all join together (previously we would do the children in 2 separate groups).  We pull out our bibles & we read around the room (with the twins saying the words for their verse after one of us reads it for them), we then discuss what we've read & then pray.  It has been wonderful & so beneficial for our family's walk with the Lord.  I am so thankful that Dave has decided to lead us in this.

So where will 2011 lead us? 

 I have no idea.  It's all in the Lord's hands - & that's the best place for it to be!

Wishing you & your family a very Happy New Year