The Moments In Time

I (as in Caitlin) made and listed two new dresses on Etsy recently. I fell in love with one and sort of didn't really mind the other. It has grown on me, but definitely isn't one of my favourites! What do you think? My favourite is first. (If you click on each link, it will take you to my etsy store where you can see more pictures!)

It's packing day today! We leave for our holiday late this Saturday night/early Sunday morning so I thought I would write a bit of an update post before we go away. We are all looking forward to our time away. The younger children have been asking every morning for about the last week how long it was till we went away. The last few entries in my journal have had something along the lines of "Only ... days to go till our holiday" so I guess I'm counting down the days too. It's now only 1 1/2 sleeps till we go away. We are all looking forward to different aspects of the trip. I think Tegan's highlight is that "our half-witted beasts," aka the dogs, will be staying at home. Sean and Cassandra kindly offered to housesit for us in exchange for a week living in our air conditioned house. We are really hoping it's going to be very hot in Canberra next week so Sean and Cassandra get the fulfillment of the deal.

I don't know about you, but we have boxes and boxes of lego in the top of a cupboard. We also have many instructions to make all kinds of different things out of it. The children play with the lego but never make anything from the instructions because they can't find all the pieces in the comglomoration of lego. So last week I took the crazy idea to tidy it up. I thought I'd make all the lego creations that we have instructuions for, then put them in their own little containers so the kids have all the pieces together in one place. I worked for about a week on it and for the first few days really enjoyed it, but right now I am so over lego. I have about 7 projects that are half-made lying around because I can't find all the necessary pieces to them. I have decided I am going to leave it now until we are back from Victoria, then hopefully I will be refreshed and rearing to go again.

Yesterday Annabelle was mucking around with a green thing. I thought it was a leaf until upon closer inspection I realized it was a insect of some sort, we've been calling it a leaf bug. William was very taken with it and exclaimed time after time how cute it was. He had it crawling all over him; and even on his head. You can see in the above photo its crawling on his head.

There is something satisfying about a good bargain. Sebastian has a obsession with jumping. He loves when we hold him standing on our lap and he can jump away. Mum thought a jolly jumper would be a good idea so he could jump away even when someone wasn't holding him. Since a brand new is around $140, we looked on Ebay. Mum found one but it ended when we were out and we forgot to place a higher bid beforehand. I then looked on All Classifieds and the first several I found were sold. The only two that weren't were $75 and $120. Then right down near the end of the page was a jolly jumper for $40. We didn't think that it was likely it came with a stand for such a good price and suspected that it had already been sold. Anyway I rang the number; it wasn't sold AND it came with a stand. Now Sebastian can bounce away to his heart's content (though sometimes that isn't very long).  I think it must have been waiting there especially for us.

The 2 Samuel 12:9-10 passage occurs in the prophet Nathan's rebuke of David for committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband killed in an attempt to cover up sin. There God says, through Nathan, that David had despised His word, and even God Himself. The word despise means to disdain or treat with contempt. So, when we sin we are in effect treating God and His word with disdain or contempt; we are despising Him. We cannot evade the force of the word despise, thinking it fits the scandalous nature of David's crimes but doesn't apply to us. The same God who said, "You shall not murder" or "You shall not commit adultery" also said, "You shall not covet." It is not the seriousness of the sin as we view it, but the infinite majesty and sovereignty of the God who gave the commands, that makes our sin a despising of God and His Word. Even as I write these words I bow my head in shame to realize how lightly I have treated some sins that God regards as rebellion and a despising of Him.

This is Jack David Henry M. He was born about a month ago (on Christmas Day to be precise) but we had to wait a month to meet him because his family were currently living in Queensland. Last Saturday we finally had the honoured opportunity to meet him. He's one chubby baby.

We were not only excited about finally being able to meet Jack but we had missed his family Hence, the fact that the kids were counting down the sleeps until we were going to see them.

Erin and Anna

Jack has the cutest hairstyle. It all naturally spikes in the middle on the front of his head.

This last weekend we had the opportunity to catch up with some homeschooling friends in Bowral and Yass. We went to Bowral on Saturday for an afternoon of games. Pictured below is the cardboard box car racing. Caitlin took the first two pictures.

Sebastian's suit is very cute. It says "New to the herd." I suppose we are rather like a herd.

Victoria, Galen, and Sarah waiting to start partnered musical chairs.

Annaliese wasn't too impressed to be with a large amount of people whom she wasn't very familiar with.

Rachael, Emily, Caitlin, and Sarah playing find your family.

Sebastian enjoyed having cuddles and as you can see in this picture is having a good suck on his fingers while Bridie is holding him.

After the games and dessert we had a chance to talk.

On Sunday afternoon we headed out to Yass to meet some new homeschooling friends. There was a park near where we were situated so the younger (and some bigger) children played on that.

We played the game "Fresh" which I haven't played in ages and was surprisingly a bit stiff yesterday and today.

Emma, Rachel, Victoria, Caitlin, Jessica, and Alana

Joshua having a swing.

Emma, Ruth, Sophie, and Emily were all on the same team in "Fresh."

Michael doesn't look too impressed with Annaliese being that close to him.

Happy Tuesday to you all!

The Medibank International was amazing. We left home at 6:25 AM and arrived at the Sydney Olympic Park just after 10 AM. The trip really only took us about 3 1/2 hours but we had to stop for breakfast and then we were caught in this intersection. I am so glad we don't live in Sydney!

Here we are outside the tennis. You can see the lines of people in the background. Before we were allowed in they went through all our bags. They even looked into my camera lens to see I wasn't hiding anything.

Since the tennis matches didn't start till 11 o'clock we found our seats and Dad bag-sat while we looked around the other courts where people were practicing. We also had a look around at the cuisine.

It was so hot that even though I put sunscreen on every few hours I have come home really sun burnt. Actually, everyone came home sun burnt to a degree. The sun burnt through the lace on Caitlin's shirt.

Our seats were actually on court level so we were as close as you can be to the players. I was pretty happy with how my small lens went with the pictures. They are still a bit far away, though.

Richard Gasquet from France prepares to serve. His footwork was very good and Dad said his backhand was like "poetry in motion."

During breaks some of us walked around the grounds. Lachlan and Tegan saw Sam Stosur having a hit. They managed to get her signature and even a photo.

At a certain time Casey Dellacqua was signing things so Cassandra, Lachlan, and Tegan waited in line. They got her signature and a photo. The organisers took the photo and then printed it for you. The photo wasn't great quality and became even less when I had to scan it in.

Poor Lach didn't get his photo.

Marcos Baghdatis also played while were there and won.

Cassandra and I waiting for Hewitt to start his match.

Dad read during the breaks.

Hi Hewitt

Lachlan and the sign he made to cheer Hewitt on.

Serena Williams serving

Us in Ken Rosewall Arena

and then at the gate

Bye, bye Medibank International. Hopefully some of us will see you again next year.

Last Saturday was only 8 weeks until Ernie Buttsworth is due to arrive. In case you're wondering why on earth I am calling the baby Ernie it's because that's its name until its born. Sean and Cassandra aren't really going to call the poor child Ernie. (Apologies if anyone reading this post is called Ernie or knows someone called Ernie. I am sure whoever has been blessed with such a name is a lovely person). :)

Last Sunday was only 4 weeks until we head to Philip Island. Most of us have never been to Victoria before so it'll be a bit of an adventure. It will be a special adventure considering it's about a 10 hour trip with a baby who gets fed every 3 1/2 hours and who also might not be very keen staying in the car all day. Mum isn't looking forward to the actual driving part of the trip. I'm glad we are leaving around 2 or 3 in the morning because I love leaving for a holiday when it's dark and you have to whisper and be very quiet because the rest of the world is asleep. I love waking little kids up and seeing their excitement when they're told that what they've been anticipating has finally arrived. Hopefully, they settle down pretty quick from all the excitement and go back to sleep in the car. We're planning to visit Sovereign Hill while we're in Victoria and some people are keen on seeing the penguins. Word on the street is that there is also a chocolate factory in Philip Island so I think someone must also visit there.

Two exciting things happen tomorrow. "Up" comes out on DVD. Dad took Lachlan down to Erin to see it when it was being shown at the cinema. For most of them it was their first cinema visitation; no surprise they were all pretty excited. Everyone enjoyed it. The young ones said that it was very good, "so funny," and considered by one particular little person a bit scary. Some people have deemed it as good as "Cars." I've have had to wait 3 long months for it to come out on DVD and the day has almost arrived.

The second exciting thing, which is by far more exciting than the other. Tomorrow Dad, Cassandra, Caitlin, Tegan, Lachlan, Angus, and I head to Sydney to spend a day at the Medibank International tennis tournament. Mum bought tickets as an extra Christmas present for all those going who bear the honourable name Roberts, and when Cassandra found out we were going she used her Christmas money from Sean's parents to buy a ticket for herself. Sean would rather spend his Christmas present at Bunnings. We're hoping to see Serena Williams and Hewitt play but we won't know until tonight or tomorrow. Lachlan is going to make a sign and has bought himself an Australian flag to hang round his shoulders. Last year, you might remember, Dad, Lachlan, and Angus went to Medibank and were actually screened on television during the match. So if you happen to be watching the tennis look out for us.

And to hopefully complete a perfect week we're planning on getting together with some homeschoolers for some games and dinner in Bowral on Saturday, and then on Sunday to catch and meet with some other homeschoolers in Yass.

And since I like asking questions and receiving replies after a "large amount of words" post, do you have anything that you are anticipating or excited about this week?

*I am writing this assuming everyone has either read or seen some version of "Emma." If you have not and intend to in the future, you may not want to read this review. I tried to write it without giving away the story, but I have to say that I failed.*

I thought all the casting for this movie was well chosen. The only two on which I haven't decided yet are Mr. and Mrs. Elton. Mrs. Elton was missing some of her famous speeches from the book such as "well, my friends say." Though she was shown to be a control freak and self-consumed, I think her character perhaps could have been portrayed better. Mr. Elton, perhaps, may have been shown to be more "slimy" than he really is in the book. I'm going to have to reread it to make my final decision.

Apart from those two I thought everyone else were portrayed well. Michael Gambon did a wonderful job playing Mr. Woodhouse. I really like Michael Gambon as a actor (well, when he's acted in "Cranford" and "Amazing Grace") and he adds the nice old man factor to the otherwise annoying Mr. Woodhouse. He was also quite amusing at times.

Romola Garai did a very good job being Emma. Her facial expressions were priceless. Also most of the clothing worn in "Emma" is modest. There was only once or twice where she was shown wearing something I wouldn't want to be seen in (well, only a couple that I can remember).

Harriet Smith was 100% on the Harriet Smith in both the other Emma's, especially the Gwyneth Paltrow one. She's shown in this one to be pretty, young, and gullible, which is the way she is in the book.

How much I liked "Emma" was going to hang on Mr. Knightley and his performance; a big responsibility for Jonny Lee Miller. Other than his being perhaps a bit younger than 37, he did a brilliant job. Handsome, right-minded, and good-hearted, in my opinion, he was the best Mr. Knightley. His proposal was so sweet, it even made Sean "awwww." The ending showed what a thoughtful sort of man he was.

Mrs. Elton also acted as Blanche Ingram in the 2007 "Jane Eyre." She must be good at acting those particular characters.

The event at Box Hill was also another big thing for me. It was done so well that I felt embarrassed watching it because Emma and Frank are such idiots. I'm sorry there is no other word to describe them. Which reminds me to say that Frank Churchill was another brilliant (Oh dear, I think I am using that word a lot)character. He has such a nice open face and you would never guess about him and Jane. He plays the scoundrel very well. I don't wonder Emma was taken in, in some case, because he was so misleading and beguiling.

And so to close. I suppose you get from this post that I thought this was brilliant (Oh, no! Not that word again). If you're an "Emma" lover I can almost guarantee that you will like this movie. If you are an "Emma" hater I can't guarantee you will like it. If you are an "Emma" don't-minder I'm not sure what you'll think. And if you're a guy, don't dismiss it straight away. When I watched it first with Lachlan and Angus they didn't want to stop after one episode. Sean, I heard, was the same; and Dad enjoyed it.

And to finish off with a picture of the heroes of the story; two of the best fictional characters ever invented.

If you have seen this versions of "Emma" please give me your thoughts. I read a review which someone had written on "Emma" and they said that they preferred the Gwyneth Paltrow version. I am so glad that BBC did a good job with this one, especially since this will be the last production of theirs from the "bonnet era" for a while.

*Apologies to those, if any, who saw this post half published. The computer had a glitch and didn't save and publish all of the post. That's why it finished mid word.*

All images on this post were found on Google Images.