I am still alive.

I have had so many things to blog about but haven't had any time to sit at the computer for the past week. I was pretty busy last week getting everything ready for Tom and Amelia to go to school and we had two trips to Adelaide.

On Thursday, Tom and Christopher had a check up in Adelaide so Steve and I drove down for the day.

On Saturday my sister was in Adelaide so I went to down to see her and help her and my brother clean out of mum's unit. Brigette came down with me.

Monday was Tom and Amelia's first day at school. They have really enjoyed going every day and we have established a pretty good morning routine at home.

Each day Christopher, Joseph and I have been able to get to Mass. I hope this will be something we will be able to do everyday.

Even though Tom and Amelia are at school, we are still having some RE lessons in the afternoon and are doing times tables and reading.

Last week I also had my blogiversary. On the 23rd it was 5 years since I started blogging. I am so thankful for all the friends I have made through blogging and for all the memories I have captured through it. There have been many times I have looked back through my archives and relived the memories. I am sure when the children are all older they will enjoy looking back and remembering everything that has happened. I think that is the thing that keeps me blogging.

Smart Martha Monday.

My list from last week is complete. I haven't bought everything for Tom and Amelia to start school, but I have a list worked out. I also have a daily schedule to follow once they are back at school.

This week I want to do a zumba workout twice.

Take Tom and Christopher to their check up.

Go to Adelaide to help my brother and sister finish cleaning out mum's place.

I hope you all have a good week.

elephant house big on the celebrity connection

the elephant house at 21 george iv bridge serves coffee, tea, alcohol and food - seven days a week, from 8am to 11pm.

while it could stand on it's own two feet from a marketing perspective it has definitely chosen the celebrity route, complete with a large sign on the front that reads 'birthplace of harry potter' (j k rowling wrote parts of her first harry potter book while sitting in the elephant house over a cuppa). it also promotes it's association with ian rankin (author of 'rebus' novels among many others) and alexander mccall-smith (author of no.1 ladies detective agency novels, again among many others).

they've copied bits out of ian rankin's novels and stuck them on their pin board where his character drops into the elephant house (example below) in case you'd missed the fact that they're connected to local celebs.

and also haven't missed the opportunity to note that while j k rowling started writing harry potter at the elephant house, she finished up at the balmoral hotel, just a little more upmarket (see below).
it is this celebrity connection that explains the usually long queue, comprised mainly of tourists, that starts where you place your order and snakes out the door and down the street.

so, after all that, the coffee...

it's unremarkable. not bad though but a low good. too hot for our liking but not scalding. the cappuccino and flat white we tried were definitely made with care by a barista who knew their craft but there were no distinguishing features.

the staff were friendly but you don't have much to do with them seeing as you place your order and pay at the counter. due to the queue and the way they're set up you can expect to take a long time to get your beverage (or food).

on the more positive side, it has a nice relaxed vibe where you could definitely kick back and relax, unharassed, reading a book/newspaper or penning your own best-selling seven part novel series that could be turned into eight blockbusting movies.

if you're serious about your coffee, you can do better in edinburgh. if you're not in a hurry, this is a nice spot to while away a few hours.

- coffee: varies
- coolness: location on george the fourth bridge
- website: www.elephanthouse.biz

view the edinburgh coffee shop map

Quick 7

Thanks so much Jennifer from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 Quick Takes each week.

-1-

Our week has been busy but fun. Amelia and Tom went to their new primary school and meet their teachers and principal.

We were shown around and I am sure they are both going to be very happy there.

They will be starting on the 29th of August. I should have everything organised by then for them.

-2-

Joseph will be starting physio on the 1st of September. We will go and have a play time with the physio and she will video tape him so that she can know what exercises will help him the most.

I have started working with him on his left side and trying to get him to use it more.

-3-

Daniel is having lots of fun in Spain. He went to the Holy Land first and is now in Madrid. We have spoken on the phone a couple of times and sent many texts.

Here a video from the Australian opening.

You can see this video and more at the XT3 WYD blog.

-4-

Fr Gordon McCrae writes a blog called These Stone walls. It is a blog I have been following for a couple of years.

Fr. Gordon is in prison. He was accused of abusing a minor. I believe the accusations to be false because I have read the case notes.

On Monday the 22nd of August, Esther from A Catholic Mom in Hawaii will be starting a novena for Fr. Gordon's intentions.

I will be joining in too. If you feel led to join in, please let Esther know.

-5-

My friend Ellie has loaned me some Zumba video's. I am going to start with the beginners video tomorrow morning. I think my goal next week for Smart Martha will be to do a couple of workouts.

-6-

I haven't really been reading blogs I follow each day in my google reader. I looked in there this morning and saw 500+ unread items. I think I will need to maar and move onto starting from scratch again.

-7-

I recently tried some Lipton Chai Tea Latte's and now have a new favourite drink.

project coffee's cracking

project coffee at 196 brutsfield place is one of leading scottish barista jonathan sharp's coffee shops and serves cracking coffee (others are wellington coffee, press coffee and kilimanjaro coffee)

the interior is classy with a touch of a light industrial look. high ceilings, big windows, chunky ornate cornices, white paint throughout and a mix of tables and chairs.

trusty partner and i tried the 'flat white'shown right in the photo below (short, double-shot latte) and cappuccino. the temperature and milk texture were both perfect allowing the complex, savoury, nutty bitterness of the coffee to shine.

all jonathan's coffee shops use square mile coffee which is truly excellent stuff. service is friendly and efficient. definitely one to visit regularly.

- coffee: square mile plus guests
- coolness: great fitout and good local shopping

view the edinburgh coffee shop map

Toy Library Slide

Today Christopher went to the toy library with my friend Ellie, while I took Tom and Amelia to their new school to meet the principal and have a look around.

We went back to the toy library after and Amelia wanted to bring home the slide for Joseph. All four have been on it so I suspect it isn't just for Joseph that Amelia wanted it.

Pay It Forward

Holly From A Life Size Catholic Blog is the hostess for Pay It Forward.

For this weeks pay it forward, I want to share my friend Kirsten's blog.

Everyone say hello to my friend Kirsten from Catholic of Thule. Kirsten and I have been online friends for years. We meet at Steve Ray's message board.

I wanted to share her blog with everyone this week because this week I have received in the mail, two new rosaries. One for me and one for Steve.

I actually ordered these for birthday presents for Steve and I to give each other

this year.

The two sets arrived on the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady. There were a few mix ups and I believe God wanted them to arrive on this special feast of our Lady.

My rosary has carnelian stones and Steve's is made of Black Onyx.

Here is the centre piece of Steve's. It is the Divine Mercy.

My centre piece is The Madonna.

This is my crucifix. I thought I took a picture of Steve's crucifix but must have forgotten.

Mine is a Molded filagree crucifix and Steve has a St. Benedict one.

These rosaries will be treasured by both of us for years to come and I hope we pray many decades of the rosary on them.

Please go and visit my friend Kirsten and tell her I sent you. Oh and while you are there, order a set of her wire wrapped gemstone rosaries.

Smart Martha Monday

My plan last week was to pray every night with Steve and get food shopping and menu planning done before I went to Adelaide.

I did the menu plan but Steve and I did not pray together every night and I didn't get food shopping done either.

This week I am hoping to:

Organise Tom and Amelia's school supplies. At this stage it is looking like they are going to start school on the 29th of August.

Work out our new day to day running routine including what chores each child will be responsible for.

Weekend Wrap up.

I spent the weekend in Adelaide, catching up with family and helping my brother clean out mum's unit. It was a busy weekend but we had time to visit Amelia's God parents and spend some time with my mum, sister and brother.

I will probably be going back in a fortnight to help again. My sister will be there from Singapore too.

Steve looked after everyone at home here while I was in Adelaide. It was a big weekend for both of us. I am glad to be home now. I really hope this week is not too stressful because of the busy weekend.

Quick 7.

Thanks so much to Jen from Conversion Diary for hosting 7 quick takes each week.

-1-

We are having a few changes in our house next term. Tom and Amelia are off to school. I did originally think that we would start them next year but decided to get things organised for 4th term. I have been feeling overwhelmed at all I have to do with home school and looking after the house. I keep on thinking that I am not doing anything 100% and that is what I want to do. I am pretty confident that Christopher, Joseph and I will establish a good routine pretty quickly that I won't feel so overwhelmed by.

-2-

Madeline has been talking about going somewhere as an exchange student in 2012/2013. She has talked about Hawaii and New York. I think it would be good for her to go somewhere that isn't as well off as we are in Australia. Steve and I are going to look into it a bit more. I will keep you all posted on what we find out and if she does it or not.

-3-

I have a new handbag. One of the things I dislike about living in a small country town is the limit we have in stores. I went to both Target Country and Big W and they all had a really small range of bags. They were all overpriced imo too. I bought this one online. It is great. It isn't too big or too small. I fit everything I need in nicely.

-4-

Diabetes SA put on a diabetes camp each year for children with diabetes between the age of 10 and 12. There are a lot of children that apply to go on this camp so not everyone that applies, gets to go. We sent in the application for Tom to go a couple of months ago and heard this week that he can go.

The camp is on the middle weekend of the October school holidays. I will take Tom to Adelaide and stay there while he is on the camp. It will be good for him to meet some other children with diabetes and be at a place that has diabetes educators and Registrars that know how to look after them all. Tom is very excited about going and the rest of the term cannot go fast enough for him.

-5-

Steve's singing lessons continue. We all know the different exercises by heart. He said to me tonight, he has a new appreciation for what Singers go through to become really good.

-6-

Daniel is in the Holy Land this week. He has been swimming in the dead sea, stayed by the sea of Galilee, gone to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We have spoken a couple of times with him and he is having a great time. He says the traffic there is bedlam. I hope we will see for ourselves one day.

-7-

This week in Australia we had the Census. I did ours on line and it was a great way to do it. I knew all the questions by heart though by the time I got to doing Joseph. It took me about 1 hour to complete. Interestingly, many households didn't complete the online census. They entered all the data but failed to submit. I am pretty sure I submitted because I got a receipt number. I also saw our census guy tonight walking down our street. Since he didn't come to our place, he must have our receipt number.

Bond Bond Bakery

Bond Bond's Bakery
1010 Blanchard
coffee ***
Goodies*****

i am now trying out various bakeries, many of whom provide the goodies for the 'just coffee' coffee shops in town.  i've had their croissants at several places and they were excellent.  Unfortunately i arrived too late in the day, and they were all gone, so i decided instead to get this yummy looking Onion Board Bread.  They really don't have anywhere to sit.  There were a couple of tables outside, but it wasn't a nice day, so i got an Americano to go, and took it home where I pigged out on onion bread and butter, which was delicious.  They use coffee from Mirage, a place whose coffee i do like, but it definitely takes a barista to make a good cup of coffee.  It was OK, not up to Mirage standards.  

Wordless Wednesday.

Here is Joseph and our cat CC. CC doesn't normally like Joseph and runs as soon as she hears him. She was happy to sit in the chair with him on Sunday though since Brigette was there too.

Tasty Tuesday: Menu planning.

Since I am going to Adelaide this weekend, I need to get a menu plan for the next 10 days. I already have up until Friday planned so just have to come up with 6 simple meals for next week.

Here is what we will do next week:

Minestrone. I cook this in our slow cooker. I just throw it all together and leave it for 4 hours on high.

Ratatouille. I have wanted to try this for a while. A friend reminded me when she said that she made it with her 9 year old daughter.

Chicken Fried Rice. All of us love fried rice. I thought the chicken would add a nice flavour for a change.

Spaghetti and meatballs. A meal everyone in our house loves.

Butter Chicken. Another favourite.

Pumpkin Soup. With bread rolls. I am going to take Deanne's suggestion and roast the pumpkin instead of boiling it.

Honey Soy chicken noodles. I love Hokkien noodles. I came across this recipe when looking for one to use with them. I am going to try putting them all together in the slow cooker for 5-6 hours on slow. Will let you know how it turns out.

Smart Martha Monday

Last week, my goal was to write a letter to the South Australian MP's against the current euthanasia bill that is before SA parliament.

Here is my letter that I have written:

Dear ,

I am writing to ask you to vote against the current euthanasia bill that is before SA parliament.

I am very concerned about this bill for a couple of reasons.

The first reason this bill concerns me is it is not only for terminally ill patients, but for those with chronic illnesses too.

Two of my children, have type 1 diabetes. This is a chronic illness. There is no getting it mildly or getting over it. It is something that my boys live with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every day I have to balance what insulin to give both my boys with their food intake. We also need to factor in any exercise they do. Often they will have unexplained high sugars or low sugars even though I have given them the insulin they need for their food intake. We have to keep a constant eye on what they blood sugar level is and often check them both through the night. My boys both have a lot to deal with in their everyday life.

If the euthanasia bill is passed, it may lead to both my boys having to justify to someone one day why their lives are worth living in spite of having type 1 diabetes. I really don’t think they should ever be put into this position. From what I have read in the bill, the bill is not for someone to choose to end their life, it is to protect the doctor that decides it is reasonable to end someone else’s life.

This leads me to my second concern about the current bill.

My second concern about this bill is the vague wording that it has.

Words like reasonable and good quality of life are just too vague.

Just what is reasonable when it come to deciding to end someone’s life or to keep it? Is it reasonable to decide that someone has poor control over their blood sugar levels and therefore their life is not worth living?

Is it reasonable for a doctor to decide needing insulin everyday leads to a bad quality of life?

What exactly is a good quality of life and what is a bad one? How does one work out in a court of law that a person has a good quality life and if they don’t? What criteria would one use to measure this?

With these points in mind, I ask you to vote against the current bill.

Yours sincerely,

If you have any advise for any changes or think I should add something in, let me know in the comment box or even by email.

My email is on my profile page.

My goals for this week:

1) pray with Steve every night.

2) I am off to Adelaide for the weekend. My mother is moving into assisted living and my brother and sister need help going through mum's gear at her unit. I will be travelling by myself and Steve will be looking after everyone here. I need to get our house organised so that things can run smoothly for Steve. This will mean doing food shopping and menu planning before the weekend. It is the weekend that I would normally do my monthly planning/cook ahead but I won't be able to get it done. Hopefully I can get everything organised for the week and do the planning/big cook the next weekend.

Therese.

Masterchef

Tonight is the finale here in Australia.

It has come down to Michael and Kate.

I am going for Michael because he is from South Australia.

Who are you going for?

Just in, Kate is the winner.

Saturday night movies.

Steve and I are watching Double Jeopardy tonight. Here is the trailer for you.

We have seen it before. I hope it is as good the second time as it was the first.

Quick 7.

-1-

We have had quite a week here. I won't go into everything that has been going on but I have felt rather stressed and over burdened. We are all over it all though and hopefully the weekend will be relaxing and rejuvenating.

-2-

Today Daniel left Australia for WYD. It is in Spain this year. Before they go to Spain, they are heading to the Holy Land. I am sure it is going to be an experience of a lifetime for him. There are 5 pilgrims going from our parish including our parish priest. I will update with news as they travel.

-3-

Steve has been taking singing lessons. He bought a program online and has been listening to them and doing all the exercises in time to the scales. He is doing them so much, I am hearing them in my sleep.

-4-

Do you know who Stanley Clark is? He is the person that invented blood glucose meters. He died recently. RIP Stan and thanks so much for making it easier to look after my two boys.

Go here to read Stan's obituary.

-5-

This weekend is the Warfest in Port Augusta. Our younger children are all very excited about it. There will be rides, games and lots of yummy food. Once the girls have finished netball, we will probably head straight over.

-6-

Today Tom got an invite to Diabetes camp SA. It will be on the weekend of the 22nd of October till the 24th October. He is very excited about going. This will be the first time he will have been away from family so I am also a bit nervous for him. I am sure he will be well looked after and have a great time. I hope he makes some really good friends too.

-7-

I have been thinking about doing some fundraising on here for Dr. Faustman's research for a cure. I have seen some blogs do some fundraising but don't really have many ideas about what to do. If anyone out there, has some idea's it would be great to hear them.

Dr. Faustman's link is over in the sidebar. To read about her research, click on the photo of her in the sidebar.

Remember to visit Jen from Conversion Diary for other people's quick 7.

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph feeds himself

Smart Martha Monday.

From last week:

Completed:

Made our bed everyday.

Read to the children every day.

Went and registered Joseph for his physio. I will get sent an appointment when the referral arrives from the Paediatrician.

I didn't make the butter.

I need a jar with a screw top so that when the children are shaking it, it is kept secure.

So on my list this week:

I want to write to South Australian MP's again. The euthanasia bill has passed the second reading. I am very concerned about this bill because it isn't just for terminally ill people, it is also for those with chronic illness. Having two children with a chronic illness, makes the bill all the more scary for me. I really hope it won't be passed so I am writing to all the MP's again and asking them to vote against it.