Here we go again, welcome to another Good Morning Mondays update and link up. I am amazed at how quickly the weeks are passing and we are already half way through April.

As I sit here writing this I am glad that I keep a daily diary because I can’t really remember what I did this past week :-).

My husband had another appointment with the dentist and all is good with his tooth now and he hasn’t any more pain. (Yay).

Our no 2 son was able to spend a morning helping his dad on a job up in (what we call) the bush. He had a great time and loves spending any time he can with his dad. I did warn his father though that he talked a lot, and that was one comment I got when they got home. Phew can he talk.

I suppose the more he talks, the more he asks, the more you tell and the more he learns.

We have been working really hard on their piano this week and their teacher was really pleased. I am amazed how repetition really works.

Friday night we had our granddaughters 2nd birthday tea. It takes us about 2 hours to get there but it was definitely worth it. We all had a great time and she is such a blessing and really cute.

She blew out her candles without too much spit and opened her present with such joy.

We actually arrived just as they were getting out of bed after their afternoon sleep and once she realised who we were she was so excited to see us. It brings such joy to my heart.

My daughter did a great job of cooking us all tea. There was 13 of us and the first dinner we have had like that with the other set of grandparents. There was also a few aunties and two uncles there too.

Here she is in her sparkly dress, her aunty ( our no 2 daughter – 9 years old) helped dress her.

She got a variety of presents and it was just fun watching her open them. Her parents have taught her well and she always opened the cards first, had a look inside, handed them to mum and then opened the present.

Here she is opening her new wheel barrow. She then used it as a rubbish bin and put all the scrap paper in there. She is going to be such a help out in the garden now.

Here is granddad with our youngest granddaughter.  I think it was all a bit overwhelming for her but she enjoyed sitting there and taking it all in. It is her birthday next month, so now she knows how it all goes.

We got home quite late but it was well worth it, we always enjoy getting together and family times are so special.

We then had to get up to go to music lessons but we were able to put them off a couple of hours, which was nice.

So that’s about it for me, now onto our link up.

Our top three posts this week were

Children, Just Obey! God Says So by Aimee at A Work of Grace

Sewing a Modest Swimsuit by Jeannie at A Family, A Cabin, an Adventure

My Bookshelf by Rebekah at Ready to be Offered

and my personal favourite is…

The Grass Is Greener and New Curriculum by Sara at Classically Homeschooling

Thank you ladies for taking the time to link up and thank you to everyone else. You are such a blessing to me.

I think I am home every day this week, which I am really looking forward to. I have some bedroom curtains to make and the children need some new home clothes, jumpers etc. I have everything I need to make these items, now I just need the time.

I am amazed at how God uses the every day to open our eyes to His glory and I am so grateful.

May God bless you all this week as you focus on Him, your family and those in need.

Blessings to you all dear friends.

Welcome  back to another Good Morning Mondays Link Up.  Wow where is the month going, we are nearly mid January and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time is passing.

I’m sitting here thinking about what I did this week and I really can’t remember.  My brain isn’t good on the short term memory so it’s good I keep a diary :-).

It was quite hot here earlier in the week and there have been some big fires one about an hour north of us and some bad ones in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia.  We have had thunderstorms and this brings lightning strikes which start fires and there were quite a few of them earlier in the week.

Then came the rain and the cooler weather mid week.  We live in a very blessed area where we get cool changes regularly and it isn’t often that we get weeks and weeks of hot weather.  We live about 50 mins from the coast and we get a lovely sea breeze in the late afternoon and early evening.  I really enjoy living here because of that.  Our No 1 daughter and family live a couple hours north west of us and they have much warmer weather than us.

The only problem with where we live is that we rely on the weather for our vegetables and it has been a couple of years since we have had a good tomato crop but we are blessed in so many other ways.

This week has seen our No 1 son go away fighting fires only to come home the next day due to wet weather. Thank you Lord for the rain and his safe return.

We picked our apricots this week and I stewed them with a little sugar. I preserved 6 bottles to store in the pantry for the coming months and I have some left in the fridge to enjoy this week.

This first preserving of the season is very exciting and I look forward to more to come.  We don’t have many fruit trees yet, that is a farm goal this year to plant at least 20 trees if we can.

In Australia we have our longer school holidays until February but I like to start earlier, so this week we will get going on music practice again and a little school.

I want to finish clearing up my creative space (a room we have that has our sewing machines, quilting machine, our No 1 sons gym and lots of other stuff).  This is a great space but it can really get away from me and I am nearly finished, then I have some quilting to do some mending of work jeans and some general sewing for the children.

They are growing so quickly that my No 2 son has often got a bare midriff which is definitely not a good look.

Ok enough about me now onto the Link up…

Our three top posts this week were:

Happinness is Homemade Link Party from Rahab to Riches

Tiny Toadstool Cottage: No Superfluous Spending   from Jayne at Tiny Toadstool Cottage

Blessed to be a Homemaker from So Much at Home

and my personal favourite:

How to Enjoy an Early, Joyful & Productive Morning from Morning Motivated Mom

This is my favourite because it really spoke to me about getting up and getting going.  So I am going to endeavour to do this, hopefully starting this week.

Congratulations to these lovely ladies and, to all of you who took the time to link up I say thank you.  I enjoy reading each and every post, and I am learning so much.

My encouragement to you this week is to try and encourage others, whether your children, husband or friends.  Maybe you could send a card or note to someone in your life who you know is having troubles or maybe give them a ring.

Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Ok let’s get the link up started, please link up any posts that relate to God and christian living – especially encouraging or challenging posts, also recipes, crafts, gardening or homesteading as you call it in America and just plain old country living here in Australia.

Hello everyone, welcome back to Good Morning Mondays. Welcome to the New Year.  I am excited to see what God has for us in 2015 and where He is going to lead us.

We had a lovely New Years Eve get together with about 30 people from our church, mainly older couples.  We really enjoy getting together with these people and sharing our hearts and lives with them.  They are always interested in the children and what we are doing and we like to give them the best meal we can because we love blessing them.

My husband smoked some pork and beef roasts.  They were in the smoker for about 12 hours each and they were absolutely delicious and melt in the mouth.

They were all gone before midnight so we had it all cleaned up and were relaxing on the couch when the clocked ticked over into 2015, so it was very relaxing.

I must admit since then I have been a bit whacked and I am taking some time to catch up and get ready to start our new school year in a week.  I have got some new planners from a couple of wonderful blogs and I am looking at which one is going to help me be organised.

Our No 1 daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters have headed off on their grand adventure and you will be able to follow their journey here. They are heading to the outback of Australia by the end of January and my daughter has a humorous way of writing, so the journey will not be boring.  We will miss them while they are gone but 8 weeks is only a short period of the year and they should have a great time, see heaps and learn heaps.

We went to a wedding yesterday and had an enjoyable time.  It was the second time round for both and we pray that God will bless them as they blend their families together and learn to live with each other.  Weddings always make me remember my own and just how much I love my husband and how blessed I feel.

Now onto Good Morning Mondays.

Out top four post this week were… Petite, Plus-Sized, Modest by Sweet Water and Bitter

An Organized and Orderly Home ~ Inspirational & Printable Helps from Jes at Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

5 New Things Around the Clay House from Adelaide at Clay Clan Cultivates

Modest Winter Outfits Inspiration from Marie at Different Kind of Woman.

My favourite was…

Dehydrating Pumpkins from the Farmer’s Wife at Growing in His Grace

Once again, thank you ladies for sharing your hearts and ideas.  I didn’t even think that you could dry pumpkin, what a wonderful, space saving idea.  Also thank you to everyone else who linked up I really enjoy reading your posts.  I am looking forward to what everyone links up this week.

This week I want to encourage us all to remember our family and all that they mean to us everyday, not just on special occasions. Let’s enjoy them and love them.  Blessings to you all this week.

Ok let’s get the link up started, please link up any posts that relate to God and christian living – especially encouraging or challenging posts, also recipes, crafts, gardening or homesteading as you call it in America and just plain old country living here in Australia.

Well another week has gone by and Christmas is fast approaching.  I enjoy this season, the getting together of family and friends to celebrate the birth of our Saviour.  I enjoy the children’s service on Christmas Eve where the children become part of the reason for this season.

Welcome to another Good Morning Mondays.  Last week was very productive in my world.  I started writing daily lists and found that this has helped me get everything done.  I cleaned out my outside pantry and moved around some freezers.  I did some baking, had a couple of get togethers with family friends, and made some more presents.

Our fish arrived and are in their tank, hopefully growing quickly.  It is really fascinating to watch them and we are really enjoying this side of it.

My men butchered a steer last night and it is hanging in the cool room that we hired.  We will cut it up later in the week along with 3 pigs.  This will keep us in meet for a few months.

The weather is warming up which is great for the vegetables and they are growing really quickly now.  I am looking forward to zucchinis this year and making zucchini pasta, yum.

What have you guys been up to?? Are you keeping everything under control as Christmas is coming.  Take a breath, have a cuppa and relax for some time each day, if only a few minutes, and while relaxing take the time to fellowship with our Saviour.

Now onto the link up.  I want to thank everyone who has been praying for Taylor McGinnis and I want to encourage everyone to read her story and keep on praying.

Click on her picture below to read her story.

I was also touched by another story, this one I found on another link up and again I would encourage everyone to read about this family and pray for them and all they are facing on a daily basis.

Now our top three link ups were..

Blessed to be a Homemaker from So Much at Home

 Don’t Judge a book from Taylor Made Ranch

 Hidden Under Her Heart Book Review from Tidbits of Experience

Thank you to these ladies for sharing their hearts and to everyone else who linked up.

So let’s get the link up started, please link up any posts that relate to God and christian living – especially encouraging or challenging posts, also recipes, crafts, gardening or homesteading as you call it in America and just plain old country living here in Australia.

Welcome back to another Good Morning Mondays.  What’s been happening in your life this past week??

I have made biscuits and soap and helped my husband around the farm. Making soap and doing some baking was something I really wanted to mark off my list this week.

No 2 daughter and no 2 son got their results from the piano exams they did and they both got A’s or Honors.  This is great and they are both thrilled with the results and their certificates.

No 2 daughter got three firsts at the local show for her baking and No 1 son did very well with his shearing, placing 2nd in the intermediate group and getting Best Local Shearer.  Here he is with his ribbons

This coming week I want to start on some Christmas gifts and I am excited about this.  I have been blessed by some of the posts that I have found about home made gifts, so thank you everyone.

So our top three posts last week were…

Conformity – Or Not from Tiny Toadstool Cottage

The Party’s Over: the handwriting on the wall from Soul Survival

The Art of Home-Making Mondays LINK UP

My personal favourite is….

Please pray for Taylor McGinnis from So Much At Home

I want to encourage everyone to pop over and have a read about what Taylor is going through and take the time to pray for her and her family.  Thank you to Chris for sharing this with us and giving us the opportunity to pray for Taylor.

This really is the season to be flat out and hectic, trying to get everything finished before Christmas.  I know that I am starting to feel the pressure building, but I am trying to keep it down.  I want to encourage you all to stay calm and not get caught up in all the pressure and stress around us.

I want to remember to love those around me, care for those who have no one or are sick.  We should increase our prayer time and remember those who come to mind in our prayers.

I want to thank everyone who linked up and also to everyone who looked at the other posts.  I cannot express how this makes me feel, how happy and joyful I am that we are able to encourage each other in our daily struggles and joys.

So let’s get the link up started, please link up any posts that relate to God and christian living – especially encouraging or challenging posts, also recipes, crafts, gardening or homesteading as you call it in America and just plain old country living here in Australia.