Hat day

Blackwood Family Reunion '05

ECHO '05

Covfamikoi '05

Dance on Tap (aka Clogging) at the State fair with Faith Hovee and Grandma and Katy!

halloween/Grandpa Coles birthday

Cole Thanksgiving '05

Winter Conference '05

Christmas '05

I love the Manns!

goodbye to SSRP

Moving

Goodbye to America and Hello to Australia

Happy New Year

Eating spiced popcorn
drinking ice water
it is raining

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM AUSTRALIA!!
(for all yous still in America weare totally a year ahead of you.)

In A Winter Wonderland

(seasonally adjusted)

Car horns honk, asphalt's melting/Seat belts burn

Kids are shouting no parking space/Red in the face

Sweating in a summer wonderland

In the park we can have a picnic

Paper plates and flies all buzzing round

Poor old Santa looks a little sick Nick

As the fire truck drives him round the footy ground

Later on, we perspire/smell of smoke, there's a fire

The truck leaves flat chat/ Santa holding his hat

Sweating in a summer wonderland

It's pretty true here in this place down under. I must say Christmas day on the beach sound a bit to weird for my taste. I never thought I would see an advertisement saying summer Christmas specials. We are all upside down over here. I don't mind the heat so much during the day, but it is the nights that really kill me. Especially with now air conditioner. Well, I hope everyone in America has a wonderful WHITE Christmas. Make a snowman in honor of me. For all you Aussies have a very hot Christmas. That is so weird.

What do you call it?

Lately we have been getting the question "are you on the pop or soda side of America" Well, I always just called it coke no matter what it was, but apparently that is just me. I am told that I am on the pop side. So besides pop, soda, and coke, here they call things fizzy, or even lemonade. Yeah, that sounds very weird but it is just like coke. Lemonade was the first carbonated drink, so therefore everything after that is still referred to as lemonade. Well that is actually more of the older generation. So I have changed from calling it pop (or coke) to mostly calling it fizzy. We have been having this conversation a lot lately, don't ask me why. I was just wondering though what do you call it?

All in His hands

Here are just a few pictures of our fun with them.

I climb the hill sometimes riding, mostly pushing my bike to the top. I finally arive at the top and start to coast down the other side. I glance to my left and there in my sight is a vast blueness which is not the sky. Every time I see this I am reminded that I am here and not there. Who knows when I will be there again? For now, I am here. We are all here together, but not for long. Soon they will have to leave us. They will be there, and we will be here. And who knows when we will be together again. It should be eaiser the second time. This will never be eaiser. It will only get harder. Doing it onve was enough to last a life time. I don't think I could do it again without His grace to get me through. The first time was horrible. We were going, but we were leaving them behind in that world that is now like a dream, like another life that I left behind. We left them there, and with them, I left some of my heart. This time, they are leaving us here. They are going back there to that other life, and leaving us here. They will take some of my heart with them. I am happy for them, they will be going home, but I am sad for my loss, for our loss. I take them for granted so much when they are with me, but when they are gone, something is missing. Saying goodbye for a second time will be so hard. Espescially when only He knows when we will see them again. The only thing that gives me comfort in all this, is knowing tha it is all in His hands. He will always take care of us. He will always remain the same no matter if I am living here or there. My life is in His hands, and I can rejoice in that.

Verses of the post: Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "
Psalm 31:15a "My times are in your hand."

Outreach service

This comming sunday (the fifthe sunday of this month) we are having an outreach service in McKinnon and Frankston. We delivered a few invatations in McKinnon when we knocked on doors. We (dad and I) talked to one gusy that sounded kind of intrested in comming, so we might see him on sunday morning. In Frankston we delivered probably a hundred fliers to the surrounding neighborhoods. Chaity and Tamara had one young mother that sounded pretty intrested, so hopfully she and her two children will be able to attend. Mother and I talked to one lady that said her daughter had seen our sign and was intrested in checking it out, so that would be really neat if she came. If you guys could just pray for the service, and just that we will get a lot of people that will come.

In other news, this comming saturday the fun with the boys for (summer holidays and stuff) begins. We are going to walhalla. It is this old gold mining town. It should be heaps of fun. As I said, the fun with the boys has begun. Hopfully we will be able to do most of the things of our list of things to do some of which include:

• have a BBQ on the beach
• have a bike trip
• go on the great ocean road
• go to wilsons prom
• go to the beach at least 3 times every day :)
  

and heaps more things that I can't think of right now. Man, we are going to have heaps of fun. I am not so sure about the last one though. :)

Well, I finally updated after many months. Charity just always tells about what I want to say. I must say that durring paper round, your mind makes up whole posts to write, but I almost never actually get around to writing them. Oh well, I will try to just keep up updaiting hopfully more then in the past, but I can't make any promises. It is so hard to spend heaps of time on the computer when just minutes from our house is the ocean, and most days now are the perfact temperatures for going outside. It is great weather, but this summer is going to be sooo hot. I don't know if us poor americans can survive it.

song of the post: Man its so loud in here (also known as baby Jenson by Benjamin Blackwood:)) They might be giants.

Man, memories of car rides to GCA!

What to name him

Yesterday all day, we five younger kids and mom went shopping at Queen Victoria Markets. It is like a flea market. It was really fun. I don't use spell-check. We all came home with lots of stuff for others and ourselvs. It was really fun. We all got Australian T-shirts. We will get a picture of all of us in them sometime, and I will post it on my blog whenever that happens. Probably the most exciting thing we came home with yesterday was A BUNNY!!! I real live 5 week old dwarf rabit. It is the cutest thing. There is only one problem... what to name him?!?! Here are some of the names that we came up with. Take a look at him, and tell me what you think his name should be. Either one of these or one of your own. Here are the names:

• Howard (howie for short)
• Thumper (the bunny off of bambie)
• Dopey (because he is a dwarf)
• Stevie (In honor of Steve Erwin, and becuase it can be a girl or boy name)
• Timothy (just becasue we have had a Dog named Paul, and a cat named Barnabas)
• Bugs Bunny (thanks Anna Pulliam)
• Storm (or stormy because he is the color of storm)
• Cinnimon (because Allen had a stuffed rabbit named that for like 10 years)

Those are what we came up with. We actually came up with a bunch more, but these are the ones we thought were the best.

That the US is better then Australia

We three girls are taking debating this semister at our homeschool classes, and yesterday morning, Charity, Tamara, and I had our first debate. It went pretty well. We ended up wining, so that is probably a good sign, but we didn't really prepair as much as we should have. Charity was the first speaker. She did a really good job. I was second speaker, and I did ok I guess. I made up on rebutle on the spot, and that was kind of hard to do, and it really didn't make much since unless you knew what I was talking about, which the Australians didn't. Tamara was the third speaker, and she had the hardest job because she couldn't do much preparation, most of what she did was on the spot. She still did a good job, but we didn't do all of the rebutles that we should have. We also painted our houses in pottery. So we are all done with pottery. It was a LOT of fun to do. Here are some pictures from debate. I don't have any pictures of our houses, but Zachary should put them up on his website soon.

6 bible verses spoken most in our home (mostly by mum)

Have you ever heard these words at your house?

Don't fight with your siblings.
obey right now
stop complaining and do it

Well, maybe you don't at your house, but we hear things like that a lot. Mostly they go something like this (these aren't exact quotes from the bible, they are my moms words)

• Blesses are the peacemakers
• Do EVERYTHING without grumbling and complaining
  
• A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger
• Pride goes before a fall
• He how loves to argue loves to argue loves sin
• Delayed obedience is disobedience

I get annoyed with it sometimes, but when Mum feels the need to say it is probably when I need to hear it. I thank God that he gave me parents who correct me when I need correction. I love them for it! The most important thing that they have done for me is introducing me to Jesus, and teaching me most of what I know about him.

Sorry it has taken me so long to update, I will try to get back into updating more often

I LOVE SNOW!!!

This past week we spent it at Mount Baw Baw! We all had a blast! We were there Monday around 5pm to Friday around 4pm. It was a fantastic week. We skied/snowborded, built snowmen, had snowball fights, went bush walking, made snow angels, and all that fun stuff it was a blast!

If you want to read more about our week check out Charitys blog. (I didn't think it would be worth recaping our week on my blog too since most of you guys who read my blog also read Charitys)

To look at pictures go here and check out all of his cool pictures

I also took Zachary's advise, and decided to put my picture up on a website instead of the blog they were on, so go here to see all of those beautiful pictures

Let it snow...

Oh the weather outside is frightful (really it is, but not because I don't like winter, but because winter without snow is like a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly)
But the fire is so delightful (well, at least our heated living room is)
and since we've lots of places to go (like skiing)
let it snow let it snow let it snow

I am still getting used to this whole winter in June - August deal. It is winter here right now, but winter is no fun without Christmas, and snow, so...

...On Monday we are leaving for a holiday in the mountains (Allen and Zachary aren't coming until Thursday though). We are staying in cabins with heaps of other people (like 5 families or so). Hopefully there will be snow when we get there, and maybe it will even snow while we are there. So we are going to go skiing, tobogganing, tubing, making snow men, and snow angels, having snowball fights, and just playing around. I am sure we will have a wonderful time. I LOVE SNOW!

Have a GREAT week everyone!

It is really funny that my last post was all about spending time at the beach, and this one is all about playing in the snow!

A day at the Bay

Most saturdays at my house (if I am home on saturday) are just spent either working or lazing around doing nothing, but not last saturday.

WE HAD SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!

So, Zachary, Tamara, Benjamin, and I decided to get out and do something this saturday. So we decided to take a bike ride. We hoped on bikes and took off on a ride planing on heading to a beach about (10 minutes or so away in a car). So we packed a few apples some shorts, a towel, and some water. We went riding along rather quickly, then I came to a hill and realized that my gears didn't exactly work, but it was too late now to turn back, so we kept right on going. Then it started to rain, and Benjamin wanted to turn back, but we just kept right on going. Then we came to a road with a down hill (finally), but when we got to the bottom of that you practally had to look straight up to see the top of the next hill, but we just kept on going. We finally made it to the beach after about 50 minutes. First we climbed a clif and threw our stuff behind this bush thingy. Then we all changed into shorts and played in the water, and found shells, and seaglass, and climbed all over sharp rocks, and cut up our feet and legs. Then we got bored playing on rockes, so we went to an actual beach and played in the sand and got really wet(it was raining part of the time, but it didn't make much difference, we were already pretty wet) , and so much fun stuff like. Keep in mind it is the middle of winter over here. So we were out playing in the water and these people would walk past in scarves and hats and give us really weird looks and stuff. We eventually had to pull ourselvs away from the beach and ride home. We were a little bit more wet on the way home, but it was fun even if it was mostly uphill the entire way.

Like I said IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!

Zachary is going to put pictures up soon. So while waiting check out all of his other cool pictures.

Quotes of the post:
little boy "Daddy, can I go play in the water?"
his dad "No it is too cold!"
little boy "but they (pointing at tamara and I) are in the water"
Such bad examples us Americans.

Me " Look! Sea glass! I love sea glass!"
Benjamin "No look, I found shells!"
Zachary "You can see glass any day, but you certinly can't see shell"

About me

I apologize for the randomness of this post, but I really needed to update, and I don't have much to say really. Not much is going on in my life, well, that isn't really true. Check out Charitys blog to hear about my life.

Favorites

My Favorite smells

• Freshly baked bread
• trees
• mowed grass
• Christians
• my mom's brownies
• my grandma's pies
• lake water
• horses
• most any animals
• squishy pillows ( I don't know what they are really called, but the pillows with little tiny bean things inside that are all sorts of different shapes. )
• new books
• new cars
• leaves in the fall
• outdoors in the early spring morning
• hot coco after playing in the snow
• fresh tomatoes from the garden

My favorite sounds

• pulling out of a gravel driveway
• most any music
• dogs toenails on a hard wood floor
• AIO
• voices (especially my family's)
• leaves crunching underneath feet in the fall
• the noise before the 'do walk sign" in Australia
• horses hoofs pounding the ground, and their panting
• cats purr
• singing of psalms
• cameras
• dog barks
• kids laughing
• duct tape being pealed off the roll
• leaves in the wind
• squeaky swings
• flip flops
• talking into a fan
• lawn mowers
• Cole family gatherings
• the woods at night
• birds
• storms

My favorite things to feel

• horses
• dogs
• cats
• bunnies
• kangaroos
• mud between my toes
• water
• outdoors under bear feet
• snow
• fire on a cold day (not actually touching it)
• peoples hair
• rolling down hills in Australia (no chiggers)
• a mighty wind
• clay
• Charity's legs :)

My favorite tastes

• pizza
• American ice cream
• milo
• roasted American marshmallows
• burnt Australian marshmallows
• mountain dew (even if it doesn't have cafine in it)
• mom's hot coco
• veggies from the garden
• most any fruit
• warm cookies
• peanut butter and marshmallow cream
• warm salt water

My favorite sights

• my family
• my friends
• horses in a field
• country road
• hills with green grass covered in sheep or cows or horses
• SNOW ON CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!
• kittens cuddles up together
• sunrises
• sunsets
• the ocean
• water
• the woods
• kangaroos in the wild
• a full sanctuary at McKinnon church
• lightning while in an aeroplane
• big storms
• most any animal

My Favorite things to do

• hang out with friends/family
• go to church
• ride horses
• play with younger kids
• play with animals
• knit
• cross stitch
• read
• listen to AIO
• listen to music
• ride bikes
• swing
• watch movies with people
• explore anything
• shopping ( I have to be in the mood for it, but I wouldn't call it my very favorite thing to do)
• play guitar
• climb trees

Not so favorites

Smells

• wet dogs
• my hands after washing dishes
• moth balls
• sour milk

Sounds

• ticking clocks
• buzzing lights
• fingernails on a chalk board

Things to feel

• food particles in the bottom of the sink after draining the water after washing dishes
• crickets
• sticky hair

Taste

• grilled cheese
• tomato soup
• Turkish delight

Sights

• aero planes
• Chicago train station
• curdled milk

To do

• wash dishes
• clean bathrooms
• sleep in beds ( I prefer the ground or a chair)
• talk in front of people
• say goodbye

They are leaving on a jet plane

Today that missions team left to go back to America. :( I am going to miss them all soooo much. The past few weeks with them was a BLAST!! All but Eleni and my brothers departed this morning. It was sad to see them go, but I am sure they are looking forward to seeing their familys again. Pray for them all as they are heading back to America. Safe travels. And thank God for the blessing that there time was here. They were such a blessing to the churches here. They are all such godly examples to me. I hope to see them all again soon!


Bethany: don't forget your bible. You can sleep in my bed anytime!
Christie: I hope you get enought sleep. Don't go eating to many cookies and funnelcakes.
Luke: lets play the shoulder game, and sing my song
Tricia: You know who can't wait for you to get back? Don't annoy too many people with your didgerydo.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

I hope you dance 

Lovin' might be a mistakeBut it's worth making
















I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance














I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean



















God forbid love ever leave you empty handed















May you never take one single breath for granted














You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger














I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

In just one week from now...

I will be hanging out with a bunch of youth ( SEVEN OF WHICH WILL BE THE MISSIONS TEAM!!!) at Dixons Creek! I am most excited about seeing my brothers. The day will never come soon enough. I am overly excited about it. We (Charity, Tamara, and I) are always talking about doing this and that when the boys get here. We have so many things planed for the missions team. It is going to be a GREAT three weeks! It will be fun to have some new Americans here, so people can make fun of them instead of us. :) JK! Next week is going to be so hectic getting everything ready for the missions team, but it will be worth it. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

To make things even better Charity, Tamara, and I are going to be spending this weekend with the Mickelsons girls from Geelong. We are going to there house for the night tonight, then tomorrow they are going to come home with us and stay till Sunday. It is going to be so fun.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sorry that I haven't updated in forever! I probable won't update much in the next month or so. With the missions team coming and all.

Another day, another round...

(or as we would say in America route) Charity, Tamara, Benjamin, and I all do this paper round. It is not the best paying money, but it is better then nothing. We do two rounds a week. About 625 newspapers, but we usually don't end up delivering all of them. Tamara and I ride on bikes with baskets on our handlebars. Charity and Benjamin walk, Charity pushing a cart. We usually get it done in about an hour. We always do it when the school kids get out though, and they like to make fun of us 'Weird American kids'. It is pretty fun though. I enjoy it. We actually get to talk to some people in out neighborhood if they happen to be in the yard when we deliver.

Joke of the post: NOTE THIS IS JUST A JOKE

Child:"Mommy Mommy! I keep going around in circles!"

Mother: "Be quiet or I will nail your other foot to the ground!"

"Mommy Mommy! My pigtails are too tight!"

"Mommy Mommy! Open the elevator doors!"

Quote of the post: Mom"Ed! You drank all the milk!"
Dad"No I didn't!"
Mom"There are about three drops left"
Dad" Well, one for me, one for you, and one for the kids to fight over"

Song ot the post: White Flag-Dido
-this song is for the Glover family (especially Matt and his beautiful singing of this song) I hope you like the song.

Random Question of the post: What is your favorite way to cook a potato?

• baked
• mashed
• boiled

how about an egg?

• scrambled
• fried
• boiled

Fridays

I LOVE THEM!!

Friday is my second favorite day of the week. (Sunday being my favorite) This past friday was a very busy, but very fun day. Like most every other friday in the past month, it was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from doing anything.

On Friday morning, we just did normal things like school. I am currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia which I really enjoy, and I had a math test which always takes less time then my lessons. So I got done with school relativly early.

After school was over, we were rushing around. I went to the shops with mom to get some groceries. We did it as fast as we could because we had to get home in less then an hour. We got done with plenty of time to spair, but we ended up getting lost on the way home, so we made it home 15 minutes later then we needed to be. When we got there, Justine and her children were all waiting for us.We hurridly unpacked the food, then jumped in vans and took off.

We were heading for a dairy farm. I know it sounds like such a homeschooler thing to do (but hey, I am one and I am proud to be one) but we were taking a field trip to a dairy farm. My mom started this homeschool group for Frankston people. We are going to take field trips with them. So this was the first one. The ride there was pretty fun. We listened to the beatels with Justine. When we got there, we had the best hot chocoalate that I have ever had. Then we went to watch to cows get milked. It was actually pretty intrestering to see. We didn't have a big enough group to have someone actually tell us all about it, so we just watched. We watched for about 20 minutes. When we were done with that, there was this little place where we got to hold animals like chickens and rabbits and gennie pigs, and a few baby cows. It was so neat. They were so cute. Soon after, we ended up leaving. The ride home was just as fun.

When we got home, we packed up and went to Benjamins footy. When we got there, we found out it was canceled because it was too wet. I was a little confused about that because it has rained almost every friday durring footy, and they haven't canceled it before, but it was ok. It ment more time at the Plukes.

We went to the Plukes to spend the night. Jackie took us home right after we didn't do footy. When we got there, we watched toy story 2 while we ate sausages and chips (aka hot dogs and frenchfries). After dinner, we (Charity, Tamara, and I) talked to Matthew and James (Casey wasn't home from work yet). It was fun. James and I tried to get them to play the chocolate game with us. They wouldn't do it though. Charity, Tamara, and Matthew stayed out around the fire and talked. James and I talked inside till he went to bed. Then I talked to Jackie till Casey got home. When she got home, we watched coach carter, and put on fake nails. It was very fun. We all put them on. We decided to see who could keep theirs on the longest. Charity took hers off the next day. Casey ( who actually only had 3 nails on to start with) and Tamara took theirs off on Sunday. I still have mine on. I am trying to keep them on till at least tomorrow, but I don't know if it will happen. When the movie was done, we all went to bed.

Altogerther it was a GREAT friday! Have a great week everyone!

Song of the post: "Me and Emily" by Rachel Proctor

Quote of the post: Charity-"we are going to a dairy farm? That is such a homeschooler thing to do"
Dad-" Charity, you had the choice to go to school."
Charity-"Are you kidding? I love being a homeschooler!"

After much extensive research.......

...We have come to the conclusion that the reason the ice-cream is so weird is all because of the kangaroos. That's right, it is the kangaroos fault. Maybe I should explain. Well, you see, the ice-cream is so weird because the milk is so weird. The milk is so weird because the cows are so weird. The cows are so weird because they jump around with kangaroos. So therefore, it is all the fault of the kangeroos.

Song of the post: " Your name here (sunrise Highway)" by Straylight run

Baskin Robins & Bagels

Last Thursday, we as a family went down to McKinnon to count houses. I know that sounds weird, but that is exactly what we did.
We are having a 60th anniversary service on the 30th of this month. (please pray that it will be a success) We handed out flyers today to all the people in the surrounding area. Well, we had to know how many flyers to make, so we counted houses. Charity and I walked together. We did a ton of walking and a ton of counting.
When we all finished our house counting, we went out for lunch. We stopped in at five different bakery's until we found one that had bagels. YEAH!!!! They have to be like my favorite food ever! When I had braces, I wasn't aloud to eat bagels. It was pretty sad to go 2 years without eating bagels. Here they are hard to find, they don't just sell them in any old grocery stores. We bought this bakery out of bagels (it was only about 20) Then we went to a store and bought meat, cheese, and cream cheese. It was the best lunch I have had in a long time!
Then after we had ate lunch, we went to Baskin Robins. It actually tasted like American icecream. It wasn't like what you would get at Baskin Robins in America, it was more like what you would buy in the grocery store in America. But at least it was American tasting. We all enjoyed it. Except for they didn't have cookiedough, so that was a bit disapointing, but it was still good.

Today, we had our work day at church for the 60th annaversery service that we are having at our church. We cleaned the church so it was sparkeling clean. Mr. McKeeman brought his vacuume. It was the kind that you put on your back and have a hose to vacuume with. I used it to vacuume out the sanctery. It was fun to use. Then we went flyer handing. Matt Pluke, Bethany Glover, and I all took one block. Matt would go on one side of the street, and Beth and I went on the other side. We handed out onehundred flyers. It was good. I only got three rejections, and Matt got four. I guess girls are a little less intemidating. I was a bit nerveous at first, but it wasn't so bad after a while. Hopfully we will have a good turnout next sunday.

Quote of the post:There's something soft and fluffy, and icy and cold
It's very nice to look at but much too cold to hold
Whether you're on an outing or spending time at home
You cannot eat this with your hands so put it on a cone

I love icecream...well, American icecream anyway

Dixons Creek

THIS IS A NEW POST!

I just wanted to make that clear having the same title as the last post, it might be a bit confusing.

Well, I know that I said that I would write all about Dixons Creek, but Charity wrote all about it on her blog, and most you you who read mine probably read hers too. So if you want to know all about it, read her blog. It was a blast. Also, we have a bunch of pictures put up from it. So go here to check them out. We put some up yesterday, but we are still putting more up. With five digital cameras tehre, we took a LOT of pictures. Enjoy them

Dixons Creek

For easter weekend. Friday through Monday. We (my family and I) are going to Dixons Creek for presbytery camp. In that it is a presbyterian camp, it is like covfamikoi, but otherwise, we are told to not expect anything like covfamikoi. It is more like camping. Because we don't have anything to camp in, we are staying in cabin type things. People bring campers/tents or sleep in the cabins. So it probably wont be as nice as covy, but I am sure it will be a TON of fun! We are all really looking forward to it. When We get back, I will post all about it. will take tons of pictures and put them on our picture website.

Speaking of pictures, we now all, but for Benjamin, have our own digital cameras.
My dad just bought a new one because he broke mine, and I broke his, so we were going to split the price, but when we got home he fixed both of the cameras, and we couldn't give the other one back. That made charity happy though, becuase my dad kept the new one and gave the old one her. I now have mine from Zachary, working. Tamara got one for Christmas. My mom and Allen both have ones on their phone. And of corse Zachary has his. Everyone who knows him knows that. So that is pretty cool. Maybe Benjamin will get one for Christmas. It is kinda weird for us all to have them, because we can always share, but this is pretty cool.

Sorry that I haven't updated for a while, I have been pretty busy latly, and I havent been on the computer latly.

Song of the post: Perfact situation-Weezer.

Quote of teh post: We were showing a picture of a kangeroo to Mr. Burns:
Mr. Burns:"Is that a Joey?"
Dad:"No more like a Joseph, it is a bit older"
That is such a dad joke, and I actualy don't find it very amusing, but maybe you guys will find it funny.

Footy

Today was again footy with Benji ( my brother) and James (Pluke). Our whole family went to support him. We girls actually ended up helping out a lot. We asked coach if there was anything that we could do to help. He let us hold the bag thing that the kids run into. (you can tell that I know a lot about football....NOT! I don't even though what it is called) It was very fun. There are about 20 or 30 kindergardeners, and about that many firstgraders. About 15 or so secondgraders. 5 third graders, 1 forth graders, and 2 fifth graders (Benji and James). The boys still enjoy it a lot I think. We girls had a ton of fun helping. They little kids are so cute! It was very fun to watch them. The secondgraders probably did the best job listening. The third through fifth graders were pretty honoree. They just enjoyed showing off. I learned several off the kids names, but I did have a bit of trouble. There were at least 4 Williams, and 6 or 7 Thomas'. There was this one boy, Joel, and he was a bit upset because I couldn't say his name correctly. I guess I just don't say it with an Australian accent. Overall, it was very fun to help out. When practice was ending, it started to rain VERY hard!!! All the kids went inside, but we girls continued to play in the rain. It was pretty amazing, because in one corner of the field, it was barely raining, and in the rest of the field it was poring!!! It was pretty amazing. I love playing in the rain. It was very cold, but very fun! We are going to volunteer every week, we all had a bunch of fun!

Well, my fingers are going numb, and my legs are shaking from the cold, so I had better end this post, and go in to get warm!

Have a great day everyone!

Quote of the post: "I can't wait to go play football with all the little kids, and squash them!"-James Pluke

The end

Well, it is the end of the blogging contest. This is my last post for the blogging contest. I don't know if I am happy or sad that it is over. I have to admit that it was a lot more fun then I thought it would be. Nathan, you did a great job organizing it. I am a little bit scared about the tourny, but I am sure it will work out ok. I think that I am relieved that I don't have to post every day anymore, but I will try to keep posting pretty regularly. I don't know how long that will last, but hey, I will try.

I should probably be trying to make my post very worthwhile, but hey, I am hoping that I will get comments beccause of a certin something that is happening today. *cough cough. Wink wink. Nudge nudge* Who knows why today is so special? Any takers?

Thats all for now folks!

God has blessed me...

God has blessed me with a wonderful family. I don't thank God as much as I should for my family, I know that. They are so wonderful!

I have two AMAZING parents.

My mom( or mum as the aussies say): Makes the best meals. She always wakes up early to make breakfast for me every morning. She is the best cook. My mom does so much for me. She is an amazing lady. I love her so much.

My dad: He is my hero. I would love to someday have a husband just like my father. He is such a loving father. I am so blessed to have been raised in a Christian home where my parents taught me so much about God. I love my dad!

God not only blessed me with two AMAZING parents, but also 5 WONDERFUL siblings!

Allen:He is the best older brother I could ever ask for. You know how there are some things that you just don't appreciate until they are gone? Well that is how I feel about my two older brothers. I love them so much and I wish that they were living with me right now, but I know that Lord willing I will see them soon. Allen is a great comforter. He is a great example to me in everything he does. He is my favorite oldest brother! I love him!

Zachary: He is such a sweet brother. He loves to tease us, but I know that it is all in fun. He is great at cheering me up when I am down. He is so funny in all that he does. He is such a giver. He has always been known in our family for giving the best gifts to his siblings! He is the best photographer that I know :)! He definitely takes classic pictures! I love him, he is my favorite older younger brother!

Charity: She is a great Sister. She is one of my best friends. I can tell her anything, and trust that she won't tell anyone. She is such a great example to me. She always helps me when I need it. She is a great friend to me. I love her so much! They best older sister that I could ever ask for!

Tamara: I have probably spent the most time with my sister Tamara out of all of my siblings. We always tell eachother everything! We have shared a room most of our lives, and have gotten to know eachother so well from those loooong late night talks. She is an amazing younger sister. I love her dearly!

Benjamin: He is the cutest little brother I could ever have. He is a typical younger brother. He loves to pester us, but that is just what he does as a little brother. I love playing with him. We have great fun on bike rides, playing at the park, and in just whatever we do. He is always a great playmate. I love my little brother, and I always will.

Thank you God for my WONDERFUL family! I love you guys!

Song of the post: I have been blessed-Martina McBride

Quotes of the post:Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard

I love all of these quotes. They are great.

Burnt Toast

We have the strangest toaster I have ever seen. We used to have to set it on 2 or 3 to actually get toast. Otherwise it would just be warm bread. Then, anything higher then 1 would burn it. Now, you put it on 1 1/2 or two. That is just the beginning of the weirdness. Sometime our toaster will pop the toast out, and it will just fly out of the toaster, so you find yourself looking everywhere for the toast. Sometimes the toast gets stuck down, so you have to dig in the toaster to get the toast. Sometimes it just pops up, not enough to make it fly, but not so little that you have to dig for it. We have a strange toaster. Today, Benjamin decided to try an experiment with our toaster. He decided to try to find out what would happen to toast if he set the toaster on 6. Well, we didn't even find out what would happen, because after a while, the smoke alarm went off, and we had to pop it up. It was the blackest toast that I had ever seen. It also left our house smothered in smoke. My dad said that he could smell it even before he made it to our house. We had to open all the windows in the house to let the smoke out. Finally our house got aired out. It no longer smells like burnt toast. Benjamin did actually end up eating the toast, after he scraped off most of the charcoal. It was an interesting day.

The rain is falling in Australia...

...And it is FREEZING cold. I think that we just skipped fall, and went right to winter. It is really weird when one week the temperature is in the 90's, and just the next week, it is in the 40's and 50's. How weird. We literally have been wearing our coats around the house. This morning we kids sat around in our living room (the only heated room) warming our selves. We got the winter clothes out today. It is going to be really weird having winter without snow. It is no fun to have cold weather without snow. Hopfully we will be able to go skiing in the mountains sometime this winter.
Three days till the end of the blogging contest. When this thing is over, I don't think I will continue posting every day, but I will try to keep updating pretty regularly. I will try at least once a week.
I know that this post is short, but I have places to go (like my living room) and people to see (like the Plukes). We have a record of seeing the Plukes for 17 days in a row. We are trying to keep our record going for at least twenty days. So far so good.

Quote of the post:As we are driving past cow pastures filled with cows...
Tamara-"WOW! Why do they need such tall fences for only cows? (the fences were literally 10 feet tall)
Charity-"haven't you ever heard of the cow that jumped over the moon?"

Song of the post:Don't worry be happy-Bobby Mcferrin
this song is for my brother Zachary. He is great at singing it to cheer us up when we are down.

Hey guys, We just wanted you to know that today, my dad was putting legs on the piano, and Charity got in the way, and it fell on her foot and crushed it. My dad rushed her to the hospital, and that is where she is now. We are hoping that there will be no perminate dammage in her foot. I will post further updates later.































April fools day!