First spam comment

Not a good or useful thing, I know. But I can't help feeling that we've 'arrived'.

We did it! Ride for Refugees Report

Collectively, our family rode about 77km today. 

That's 50km for Dave, 25km for me, and about 2km for SP. 

Dave's usual ride to work is about 13km each way, though with a lot more hills than today's course, so I'm impressed that he did the 50km as easily as he did, though he reports tiredness and soreness tonight. 

I had been planning to gently ramp up to the 25km over the last couple of months, but for a variety of reasons it didn't really happen. Most of my preparatory riding has been in 2-4km bouts with SP riding ahead of me, and the biggest solo (ie adult speed) ride I'd done was about 8km. So 25 was a big step up. I really didn't know if I'd make it, and I'm quite proud that I did. 

SP was so excited to discover a trike on the roadside yesterday (there's a real culture of 'if you don't want it anymore, leave it on the kerb' around here), and he took that along instead of his balance bike or going in the trailer. Apparently he loved it for just over 2 laps of the kids' circuit, then one of the back wheels came off. He coped admirably, still scooting it around and doing 'tricks'. 

Excellent day. I'm glad we'd planned to have a quiet afternoon, and I will be very sore tomorrow, but it's nice to accomplish something measurable. 

Bring on Ride for Refugees 2014 :)

Blog reading crossroads

I'm a Google Reader user. I love having lots of lovely new blog posts sitting waiting for me when I log in. But Google Reader won't exist after 1 July. 

I've been looking at this article, trying to choose a replacement. 

Any suggestions?

Let's Get Moving

I was finishing up the April edition of Brisbane's Child last night, and feeling convicted about getting SP moving a bit more. We spend a fair bit of time outside, but lots of it is bike riding or play on his plastic fort, and I wondered if he was practicing all the different movements and skills that he could be. 

Then I remembered 'Let's Get Moving', a free activity pack that I'd ordered from the Dept of Sport & Recreation, when SP was way too young for it, and forgotten about. 

I pulled the book out and started having a flick through it this morning. SP saw the board game mat, and wanted to play IMMEDIATELY! 

It was raining, so we confined our play to the lounge room, and did some improvising with ribbon for a curved line to march on, and cardboard tubes and cushions for batting practice. SP had a great time and F thought the whole thing was hilarious and was pretty keen to join in, although most of the movements were beyond her. We kept things simple by just having 1 counter and taking turns to roll the die, so we did the movements together. 

They're not sending out the printed resources anymore, but the whole thing is available online at http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/community-programs/school-community/childhood-programs/preschooler.html Note that if you download the 3.4MB PDF, you'll still want to download & print the Activity Map (aka game board). 

The target age is 3-6, but with a bit of creativity, I think it could work for toddlers right up through primary. I think it's something a family of kids could do without adult help, as long as there's a reader among them. 

Highly recommended. Let's get those little bodies moving!

Meekness and Quietness of Spirit

Nancy Ann at Femina, one of my favourite 'thinking about God and motherhood' blogs, has recently published a series of blog posts summarising Matthew Henry's 'The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit', first published in 1698. Some quotes:

“Meekness is easiness for it accommodates the soul to every occurrence, and so makes a man easy to himself and to all about.” In other words, when we are meek, we do not react or get fussed up or fired up. We stay in control of ourselves and “keep possession of our souls” in the midst of unforeseen occurrences. 

“Meekness preserves the mind from being ruffled and discomposed, and the spirit from being unhinged by the vanities and vexations of this lower world.”

Meekness keeps the soul peaceful and quiet, which Henry says “puts a charming loveliness and amiableness upon the soul, which renders it acceptable to all who know what true worth and beauty is.”

“He has the sweetest and surest peace who is most master of his own passions. The comfort that a man has in governing himself is much greater than he could have in having people serve him and nations bow down to him. It is certain that the worst enemies we have, if ever they break loose and get head, are in our own bosoms.”

I'd like some of that!

You can read the series here: 

Meekness

Anger Management

The Yoke of Christ

Self-governed

Quietness of Spirit

The Beauty of Meekness

Mastering Our Passions

Excuses

The book is now out of copyright, so I found it at the Internet Archive here. Haven't started reading it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Click one of the links under in the 'View the Book' section to the left. 

Toy of the Day

The humble paddle-pop stick.