This week...

A flock of Ibises have visited Sunnyside Farm this week.  At least a hundred birds meander effortlessly around the crisp, blue skies and then land on the grass, enjoying seeds from the winter pastures.  Two days ago they made the small 'cow' paddock their home, but this morning I noticed them in the front paddock.  Eli has particularly enjoyed watching them & he only laments that his video camera (that he would pull out almost daily & take footage of the birds around the farm) went for a swim recently.  Poor boy was filming ducks from the side of the dam when the dog nudged him & he dropped the camera into the water.  Sadly, it no longer works.

This week we had our BOSTES homeschool registration visit.  Our last one was two years ago.  I was ridiculously nervous knowing this was coming up.  I do know that I ensure we do the work & tick the boxes, but I was still unsure how it would go as this visit included assessing my proposed learning program for Stage 5 (years 9 & 10).  I had heard they were particularly picky with this older stage. Needless to say, my almost sleepless night before the visit was unwarranted.  We were given two years registration (& the inspector didn't read even half the paperwork I had prepared)!  This is the maximum we could get, so it was quite the relief after it was done.  

Olympic fever continues with much cheering of our Aussie athletes.  That, combined with the beginning of the Little Athletics season, has meant the boys have been busy training.  Javelin is their current choice as the twins are only beginning javelin this year.  Should you visit, please watch out for flying sticks....

Life continues to fly along.  Adding two extra children has certainly made life a little busier. After so many months, it is finally beginning to feel a little more natural having these children around.  People ask how we are going & I tell them that some days are good & some are hard & then occasionally there are those days that are really, really hard & these make us wonder why we are doing this.   Thankfully those days are getting further apart & more good days are filling the gaps. Please don't get me wrong, we do know these kiddos are amazing blessings, they've just been so hurt that sometimes its hard for them to get past that.  Time & God....

The sky is clouding over & the wind has risen signaling that rain is near.  I'd better go & feed the lambs before I get stuck getting wet.  I'd rather stay by the fire, but duty calls....

Have a wonderful day friends