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Here you can find a post that has some awesome Christmas crafts you can do with toilet paper rolls. (Empty ones of course!)

You know the two main camel types - the Dromedaries and Bactrians? The Dromedary has one hump and the Bactrian has two. Well, I found out the other day that you can remember which is which quite easily. Just lie the capital letters of their names - D and B - on their side, then you can see immediately how many humps each has.

I have added several pages to my blog recently: A Blogroll and a Contact Me page.

(True!!)

Thought for Today

Lord, show me the way

I can somehow repay

The blessings you've given to me...

Lord, teach me to do what

You most want me to do

And to be what you want me to be.

-Helen Steiner Rice

Lifelong Motto + Pigs + Swan + Dog + Hearts + Flowers + Hint

Firstly, before we begin, (kindly ignore the small fact that we have begun already) I would like to tell you what to expect in this post. I am posting a collection of photographs (all taken by me apart from the pig cake) plus a motto which I believe shall become my lifelong motto. Of course, one cannot expect to live by it all the time, but it is nice to have a goal in mind, isn't it?

My new motto.

Such a cute cake I found on the internet. I should definitely make it sometime.

View from out our living room window. It's sad to think that we'll be leaving this house soon, but the thought of the new one fills me with anticipation!

The apple swan I mentioned in this post. This is the one I made. I am going to make them more in the future! They are a lot easier to make than they look. And I think they look stunning. :)

My room with the kirigami Christmas display. As in, red and green.

Lydia and little dog Louie. He stays with us sometimes when his owner goes away. He is such a cute wee doggie.

Double Delight rose reclining outside the kitchen window - these roses have the most gorgeous scent!

I was playing with different things on Abbie's camera. Do you like the heart effect?

Here it is again. This time the heart is better defined. I'm still not sure if I like it though.

These flowers are adorable :)

Oh and a hint. Sometime in the next few days (hopefully) I will be able to post that we have finally bought a new property. That's all I will say for now. Keep tuned in. :)

I'm homeschooled.

Yup, I'm homeschooled.

And proud of it.

I don't mind when people ask silly questions as long as they're just curious, but some people either try to trip me up or seem to think they know everything about homeschooling even though they only heard of it five minutes ago.

For you homeschoolers out there, what are some of the questions you get asked? I often get asked funny questions, partly because I belong to such a big family and partly because I'm homeschooled. Here are a few of the normal ones... plus a selection of the silliest. A lot of these are asked quite genuinely, but they just come across funny.

"You are.... what??"
(No, I'm not a what!!)

"Where do you live?"
(I think most people assume that we only homeschool because they assume we live way out in the sticks. Actually, we are based surprisingly close to civilisation.)

"How do you, like, you know, get socialized?"
(A common variation: "Do you have any friends?")

"What do you do all day?"
(Well, we don't sit and watch television all day, if that's what you are thinking!!)

"Do you have desks... and do you have chairs... and do you like, you know, pull them in and out?"
(Yes, I did actually get asked that once. Unbelievable, but true.)

"Do you have a boyfriend?"
(Are you serious?)

"Are you really smart?"
(Possibly!)

"What does your Dad do for a job? Really? What does your Mum do?"
(I can understand the Dad bit, but Mum is a full time Mum and our teacher!! Do you seriously think she has time for a full time job on top of that?!?)

"Wow, what a big family. Are you Catholics?"
(Nope.)

"Nine of you! How many twins?"
(Occasionally when I am in a silly mood I answer "None" but then proceed to tell them about our quadruplets... don't worry, I do explain I'm kidding eventually.)

"Your Mum must be amazing."
(Yes, she is!!!)

"Are you well behaved?"
(A common variation: "Do you fight with your brothers and sisters?")

"What sort of vehicle do you drive?"
(Daddy occasionally tells them that we drive a bus :) It's not far from the truth!)

"Why aren't you at school at the moment?"
(If the occasion permitted, I often wish I could answer respectfully "Why aren't you at work?")

"Do you ever get out of the house?"
(Asked when we are out and about :) lol)

And the most often asked one: (asked with real envy and admiration in the tone of voice)

"Do you get to do your schoolwork in your pyjamas?"

5 DIY Projects You Need To Make

Here are five DIY projects I just know you will love. Two of them are Christmassy, but then, it is nearly Christmas time isn't it? Anyway. I'm sure you will enjoy them.

1.) This Christmas snowflake decoration. I made it, it's really easy and looks amazing. I taught Lydia how to make it and she did a whole one herself - and she's only seven! Sneak a peek below.

2.) I found this awesome video on YouTube showing you how to make your own edible apple swan. I know it sounds really weird, but it actually works (I know, because I tried it!) and looks amazing. Seriously. Try it. I highly recommend it. (I did take photos of my swan which I hope to post on here sometime soon.)

3.) This post showing you how to do shaped bokeh in your photos. I'm not sure if it works because I haven't actually tried it properly yet myself. I kind of did it this afternoon, but I did it with white paper and didn't have a proper lens so that may be why it didn't work. The effect I created, though, was cute, although not entirely what I was after. I'll have to show you sometime the photos I took. The post on shaped bokeh is cool however - and if I can get it to work it will be even cooler!!

4.) This is a cute christmas wreath idea. Apologies - I couldn't find a tutorial in English so the tutorial is in some other exotic language, but use Google Translate or just look at the photos. I'm in the process of trying it myself, but at the moment I'm waiting for the green paint to dry on the toilet rolls. I think it will be really cute when it's done.

5.) I don't know if you can see properly the below images, but it's a kind-of tutorial showing you how to do planters out of bottles and old CDs. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks really cool! I think if you click the image it will become larger for you.

Oh, and before I leave you, this is not DIY but it's so cool I wanted to show it to you. Here it is:

This Swing at the End of the World. I love it. I must say, it does look slightly freaky but fun too. I'm not scared of heights in the least. Absolutely love it.

How have you been enjoying your Show weekend holiday?

Laugh Out Loud

That cat seems to be in a remote location...

Quite.

"RUN!! I mean, CRAWL!!"

Totally. :)

I can't say I have...

Yup. Most definitely.

Doggy, your understanding makes all the difference. :)

Various

Lydia wanting to play a game with me. :) I did play one with her after I took the photo, don't worry!

I have such beautiful sisters :)

Danella and Sophie playing Settlers with a jar of gorgeous peony roses. Mum loves those flowers.

(Oh, and do you like my new look????)

Rain, Secrets, Christmas and Puzzling Matters

Rain outside our garage through the eyes of  a red bucket. 

Ben is making the bookshelves and fireplace for the "Ssh! It's a Secret!" project. :) Isn't he a wonderful craftsman?

The roof for said project

Pink and white rhododendrons in the rain

Yup... you guessed it! Another puzzle. Yay!

My Christmas decorations

My duck all dressed up :) 

Sophie's row of soft toys with Santa hats.

Danella and Sophie's tinsel tree on their dresser. Those candy canes are really easy to make. I should so do a tutorial sometime on them. What do you think?

Cute Christmassy Ideas

I came across these in various places and since it is getting kinda close to Christmas, I decided to post them so you all can enjoy them too!

These ones are adorably cute and don't look too difficult. I think it's just white icing, a jumbo marshmellow and some lollies for decoration. So cute. :)

Now this cake is so incredible. Below I found a closeup picture of the strawberry santas.

As you can see, all you do is cut the top off the strawberry to use as a hat and stuff it with whipped cream. Then you dob whipped cream onto the front for buttons and onto the hat for a pompom and it's done!

These cupcakes are amazing. They look quite tricky to do but they are so cute!

Apparently this is actually a cake. Amazing!

I just love these 'collapsed snowmen' cookies.

Aren't these just the cutest?

This nativity scene appears to be made entirely out of iced cookies!

A cute edible wreath made entirely out of sausage rolls. Apart from the bow at the bottom, of course.

Anyone will have to admit this is completely adorable. I have no idea how you would go about making it, but it is totally cute all the same!

This christmassy fruit tree is a neat idea. I love the rockmelon star at the top.

 Christmas seems to have sneaked up on me this year. Did you know that there is only 48 days until Christmas Day as of 6th November??? That's terrible! I'll have to get started on presents!

What are your Christmas plans?

Ssh! It's a secret!

I'm posting photos here... but you mustn't let on that you know what they are for. You see, Ben is making a dollhouse for Lydia for Christmas. She doesn't know about it though. So don't tell her please!

The bottom room under construction. It's going to be three stories high.

I've just finished painting the chimney. Both Sophie and I are helping with carpets and painting and stuff. Don't worry, there will be another coat of paint on it. It's not going to look this rough.

Irresistably cute photo of Jacob.

Pavlova with kiwifruit and pineapple and blueberries. Yum!!!

Just to get your mouth drooling, here are more photos.

The family enjoys this treat. Left to right around the table: Caleb, Johnny, Ben, Sophie, Danella and Lydia.

Ben and Johnny were at the local nature park the other day and saw heaps of frogs sitting in the sun! They are really small ones but they croak really loud apparently. (I haven't actually seen them yet.) They seem to live by the lake area. 

What have you been up to?