In which Katherine breaks her silence to demostrate that she has in fact, been doing something

Some of the things I whipped up in my spare (!!!) time.  I got a bit excited and made 30 or so in various colours and styles. Unfortunately the pictures don't quite show the details - think glitter and sparkle.

Corporate Worship

No, not my thoughts, but notes from a Stuart Townend talk

http://lovingchurch.blogspot.com/2010/11/notes-from-stuart-townend-seminar-on.html

Book Giveaway 3: Katherine

I have always liked Roald Dahl books - both the children's books (Matilda, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and his adult stories (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar).  They are witty and amusing with wonderful characters (although there is often a slightly macarbre twist.

Roald Dahl's life itself is also very interesting and perhaps some of the reason that he writes such imaginative books.  He was the son of Norwegian parents who had emigrated to England.  His father dies when he was very young (possibly affected by grief at the death of one of Roald Dahl's sisters a few days earlier), but his mother stayed in England to ensure that Roald Dahl went to a "proper" English school.  Boy (about his life until he left school) and Going Solo are two halves of his autobiography.

Going Solo covers the time from Roald Dahl leaving school to work for the Shell Company in Africa, joining the RAF, flying in the second world war defended Greece (just as it was taken over by the Germans) until he was invalided in about 1942.  It includes stories of encouters with lions in africa, stopping all the Germans escaping Dar Es Saleem (with himself as as the only officer over a troop of askaris) and crashing a plane in the middle of no-man's land in Eygpt.  It is every bit as exciting and bizaare as his stories.

I have one copy of Going Solo to giveaway to someone in Australia.

You will need to leave a comment in this thread by midnight (AEST) 31st October.

Extract From Chapter Flying Training

When flying a military aeroplane, you sit on your parachute, which adds another six inches to your height. (Roald Dahl was 6'6")  When I got into the open cockpit of a Tiger Moth for the first time and sat down on my parachute, my entire head stuck up in the open air.  The engine was running and I was gettting a rush of wind full in the face from the slipstream.

'You are too tall," the insructer whose name was Flying Officer Parkinson said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes Please," I said.

"Wait till we rev her up for take-off," Parkinson said. "You'll have a job to breathe.  And keep those goggles down or you'll be blinded by watering eyes."

Parkinson was right.  On the first flight I was almost asphyxiated by the slipstream and survived only by ducking down into the cockpit for deep breaths every few second.  After that, I tied a thin cotton scarf around my nose and mouth and this made breathing possible.

Giveaway Winner

The winner of October Book Giveaway Number 2 is Dave M.  (Pretty much by default as no one else entered.)  I shall send ASAP.

Giveaway number 3 will be appearing soon.

Book Giveaway Number 2: John

I spent my university days studying engineering which meant that my textbooks were about experimental design, computer programming, statistical analysis, thermodynamics, or the "spectrometric properties of chemicals". The type of bedtime reading which would cure most insomniacs.

John, on the other hand, studied modern history and politics as part of his Arts degree. This means that his textbooks (well some of them...) are actually interesting even if you don't need to know the information to pass the exam.

Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 is the most interesting book that was on the "required/recommended reading" lists. This book describes and analyses how economic agressiveness, racism, fear of communism, domestic affairs and individual characters have shaped American foreign policy from the early days of WWII to about 1996. Despite it's seemingly dry subject matter it is very easy reading. I suspect this is probably because it was co-written by Stephen E. Ambrose, who wrote Band of Brothers, (about the experiences of Easy Company from the 101st Division, during WWII) which was subsequently turned into a TV series.

Examining American foreign policy is a surrogate for studying world politics as the foreign policies of America influence the other nations - particularly those nations that were/are dependent on American military might or trade. Looking at the events from 1938 also enables a certain perspective on events that are happening in the world now like the (continued) conflicts in the middle east.

What I liked about this book (as someone who hasn't really studied history) was that it very readably described and analysed world events that I had heard of but didn't really know the significance at the time - such as the destruction of the Berlin Wall, which I can remember, but didn't realise how suprising that would have been a mere 5 years earlier. It is also fascinating how decisions which affect large numbers of people (whole countries or people groups) are made on the basis of poor information, (mis) assumptions and by some ... interesting... personalities.

I replaced John's copy of this book for his birthday - the first one was so well read that it had fallen apart.

I have one, brand-new, copy of Rise to Globalism to giveaway (within Australia).

To enter: You will need to leave a comment on this thread before midnight on the 20th October.

Giveaway Winner

Alex pulled the a name out of the hat for the Seven Little Rabbits giveaway,

And the winner is.......

.....


Catherine!

It shall be winging it's way to your mailbox soon.

And for everyone else, do not despair, there is a second book giveaway coming up.

The flowers that bloom in the spring...

Some photos of what we have been up to....

Planting flowers and herbs, that may survive the TLC they get given

Going to Dad's retirement dinner

Setting up a "big, big bed" for Alex - and even sleeping in it ;-)

I love seeing the boys sleeping together - so sweet curled up together, so peaceful and no fears about one about to bop the other on the head....

Birthday flowers

Eating "the house with the star inside". This was on playschool about 3 weeks ago and since then we have eaten many, many apples....

Convincing James that non-liquid food is not evil. He's somewhat keener on the concept when he gets to put the food in his mouth than when one of his parents is wielding the dreaded spoon.

Boys giggling together...

Book Giveaway Number 1: Alexander!

A few months ago Catherine hosted a giveaway for a Arnold Lobel book and a discussion on our favourite children's books. I was rather a bookworm as a child (I was frequently found hiding somewhere reading), but my first favourite book was Seven Little Rabbits by John Becker.

In this book seven little rabbits take one long trip to visit their friend toad, but one by one they find themselves sidetracked by the need for a nap. Fortunately they find a hole (built by a mole) where they can be "tucked in bed" ("sshh don't say peep, s/he's fast asleep"). This was the book I first learnt to read - probably helped by the highly repetitive, rhyming text and the fact that I insisted on having it read to me every night. My parents (and I) can still recite the whole thing!

Part of this books charm is the illustrations (by Barbara Cooney). While the text doesn't imbue much individual character to any of the rabbits (or even the mole), the illustrations and captions impart much needed character to each of the rabbits. When we were a little older (about 6 or so) my sister and I would imagine the back stories about the rabbits and why each of them was tired.

I gave this book to Alex for his third birthday and it has already been read many times. I think we have a while to go before he has it memorized though, but I did catch him reading this to James.

I have one brand-new, unread, hard copy of this book to giveaway (with bonus bookmark!).

To enter please leave a comment below and a favourite bedtime book for a preschooler (3 - 4 year old). If you mention this somewhere else (your blog, facebook, etc) I may even be convinced to give you another entry. Sorry Australian entries only!

Entries will close Midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time on the Sunday, 10th October.

Book Giveaway Month

In the last few months there have been a few celebrations in our family (three birthdays and father's day). In a belated honour of this I am declaring October to be Book Giveaway Month at Cabbages and Kings. During this month I will be hosting, not one, not two but THREE book giveaways in honour of the three people who've had celebrations recently (James misses out ;-(). Hopefully there will be something to cater for everyone!

Life in an American TV Legal Drama

I used to think that scriptwriters took some dramatic licence when drafting American Legal Dramas (eg Boston Legal, The Good Wife, Ally McBeal, The Practice etc). Every episode there is a scene where the protaganists have to work very late so that they can file documents to a judge just as the deadline occurs. In 8 years of being married to a lawyer that has never happened (maybe because most deadlines are 4 or 5 pm). But I was wrong....

John just worked all night to meet a 7AM deadline. And unlike when he was at university and could hand in his assignment and then go home and sleep he still has to work (in court) all day, meaning he'll be at work at least 32 hours straight. The longest day I ever worked (for money!) was 16 hours (but my employer has a policy about that sort of thing...).

Or maybe we just woke up in a TV show

Tomorrow when the war began

I am conducting a war on Entropy. Entropy is winning - either they have recruited terrorists to conduct assymmetric warfare. or the gremlins are letting of stuff bombs when I leave the house.

Perhaps I need a new battle plan - a new plan of attack, or reinforcements. Perhaps I will conduct a seige and deprive them of supplies.

Maybe I should just surrender... You just can't beat thermodynamics

Apparently...

...someone turns three today.

I must have blinked, because he is now more of a "small boy" than a toddler - capable of (some) reason, remembering events and people for longer, able to walk 10km in one day.... He is much more decisive and can be very particular about what he wants to happen/wear/eat. So much so that he can get worried if something is out of place.

It has been fun watching more of his personality emerge, particularly over the last month where there has been lots of interaction with different scenarios and additional adults around.

Sometime is seems that this particular character has the ascendency (often paired with a dose of Mr Helpful). Unfortunately at times that means Mr Bossy appears...

We are having a small celebration tonight (read Alex's favourite dinner - spaghetti, and cupcakes), but are having a slightly larger one on the weekend when my parents can come.

So Happy Birthday small boy. May you grow as much in the next year as you have in the last

PS And just to round things off - here is some baby goodness from not-quite-three years ago.

HOME

We are all safely and happily home. Alex celebrated by playing with his toys and watching his favourite DVD, and James celebrated by rolling over (due to finally having time to play on the floor) and getting a tooth. I just counted the loads of washing that needed doing...

We are all tired - possibly due to the 24 hours of flying + 8 hours time difference + 6 hours in airport lounges; possibly due to the three hours of screaming James has done the last two nights at 2am in the morning (potentially linked to the celebration above); possibly due to some other confounding variable.

We are looking forward to catching up with our friends and seeing what has happened to them in the last month.

Catching up on blogging may take a while as someone around here turns three next week and they want a birthday cake (and party. Ha!). Apparently going to Europe just doesn't suffice as a birthday celebration when you're three unless it involves cake, candles and balloons. It might also take a while for my brain to compose sentences in English rather than the hydrid German-French-English-sign language that it has been using for the last month.

I plan to post pictures and thoughts once I get all the photos from my Dad - which should be after we have recovered from the latest set of celebrations round here. We hope everyone (ie all three of you...) that still reads this will be interested....

You know the travel preparations are at their zenith when

.... the two year old starts to make his own travel plans.

These have consisted of

• pointing at random cities on a map of Europe and saying "Coffee here, and Coffee here and Coffee here" (A man after his father's heart!)
• measuring (with the measuring tape and scales) the luggage and saying "Oh No - too heavy" or "Yes - its OK)
• playing "aeroplanes". Which consist of Alex the pilot ensuring everyone has on their seatbelts, and headphones before we take off. We then "fly around up there" looking out the window at "astronauts" and then "land". I think Alex might be a little disappointed that he won't get to fly the planes....

Fabulous Food on a Friday

Cinnamon, Blueberry and Polenta Loaf
From "The Low GI Family Cookbook"

gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian

Serves 12

Canola cooking spray
1 cup (120g) maize flour
4 tsp gluten-free baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups (260g) fine polenta
1/2 cup (100g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cup (310mL) soy milk
150g milk-free margarine melted and cooled
1 egg
2 egg whites
200g blueberries (fresh, or thawed frozen)

Preheat oven to 180oC. Spraty a 10 by 21 cm loaf pan with canola oil to lightly grease and line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper

Sift the maize flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the polenta and suga and make a well in the centre

Whisk together the soy milk, margarine, egg and eggg whites. Stir in the blueberries. Add to the dry ingredients and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined,

Spoon the mixture into a prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Serve cut into slices.

Variations

Can also be cooked in 1/3 cup capacity muffin tins (reduce cooking time to 25 minutes at 200oC) or mini hole muffin tins (cooking time 15 minutes at 200oC)

Can be frozen by wrapping individual slices/muffins in plastic wrap and sealing in an airtight container

Can also be served toasted (with honey....)

This would be good after school or as a lunch box filler (or even a morning tea with friends with some food intolerences/allergies...)

This is easy to make (15 minutes preparation) with a "helper" and most of the ingredients can be easily bought from the supermarket - although I used wholemeal spelt flour instead of the maize flour. You could also probably replace the 2 egg whites with 1 egg. (My "helper" actually added the two extra egg yolks with only minor side effects)

I road tested this on 3 primary aged school boys - they all easily ate their serve!

The world according to Alex

Alex loves our camera - posing for photos, watching them afterwards and taking pictures himself. He has taken to "borrowing" the camera from where ever it is (and given his ability to work the step ladder it doesn't seem to matter where that is...) and photographing EVERYTHING in his life.

So we get bizarre pictures of peoples feet, everyday objects and the things that Alex deems photographable.

• Apparently James gets photographed.

• As does dinner

• And Daddy is a looong way up!

Slightly Elevated Tea

In the quest to find entertainment on cold winter afternoons, Alex and I occcasionally have a "proper" afternoon tea. We make a pot of "proper tea" drink tea from small espresso cups and have mini-muffin sized cakes with them. (That we baked earlier in the week...)

It makes a change from the usual "milo in sippy cup with rice crackers and fruit" afternoon tea that we normally have. Alex quite enjoys the ritual of choosing which colour cup to use, pouring the tea and then drinking from a grown-up style cup.

It is a pleasant spot of calm for me in the day and probably good practice for sitting in European Cafe's. Just a pity that cleaning up after eating takes as long as the afternoon tea....

The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

Someone lost the fight (with themselves) to not have an afternoon sleep.

Holidays

We are about to go on holidays for a month - the sort of holidays that require considerable organisation and forethought. My parents, John and I and the two little boys are going to Europe for a month. I think we are organised ;-)

We are flying to Munich (via a few other cities) and we stay there for about a week. We'll be visiting Schloss Neuschanstein and Salzburg (birthplace of Mozart, and scene of Sound of Music). We'll also have a few days in Munich visiting the Englisher Garten and Nymphenburg Palace. Fortuitously it is the middle of their Opera Festival and they have a free outdoor opera on the weekend we are there.

We are then going to Basel in Switzerland for about two weeks. The Australian Federal Police Pipe Band (of which John is the drum Major) is playing in their Military tattoo. (This is why we are going). We're not exactly sure what we will be doing in Basel, but as it is on the French and German border and about an hour from Lucerne and Zurich I'm sure that we will find things to entertain us!

After the tattoo we go to Stassbourg (on the French German border) for a few days and then to Paris. We'll probably spend that time at the various Musee and Jardin... before coming home.

If it gets a bit quiet here on the blog it is because I am still busy cleaning the house for the person who is house sitting for us and getting organised here. If I'm still sane after the two 24 hour flights with two small boys then I might return and post pictures of our trip.

The Joy of Bedtime

Joyful for all (including Mummy!)



Alex asked me to take this photo with his Teddy. BTW Teddy has apparently had a name change from Teddy to Sammy...