Roll Away Your Stone

I've really been enjoying the band Mumford & Sons.  The musicianship is solid and the lyrics maintain depth and paint pictures of character.

The song that's sticking with me the most is called Roll Away Your Stone.  There is an obvious religious reference in the song title and the conversational tone of the lyric encourages the theme.

You told me that I would find a home,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals.

 Later ...

It seems as if all my bridges have been burned,
You say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive at the restart.

Enjoy the song for what it's worth.

'First Day of School' Pictures

Queensland schools went back to school this week after Summer Holidays.  We've always done pictures when the kids go back to school.  This year, it's a bit different.

Our classroom -- It doubles as a dining table but that's okay, right?

They were excited to begin school again -- especially Rebekah.

We are glad to be back in a rhythm after all of the family traveling and floods.

Our School Rules

School Rules at The Curtis School for Curtis Children

These are our school rules.  They are simple and few.  Simplicity makes it easy for everyone to understand.  Few means that the children take ownership of the rules as they helped to create them.  There is only one negative -- or "don't" -- rule.  It's the rule about yelling.  We could have just left that in the 'Respect People' rule but felt like it was important enough to pull out as a separate rule.  Note that the rules apply to the parents as well as the children.  :)

These rules make a great difference in the family dynamic and spirit.  Since we decided to home school, our kids' self-esteem and confidence have flourished.  The 'honor your father and mother' aspect of life has been better too.  After all, the kids knew how to respect teachers at school.

By beginning and ending each task with a prayer, we reinforce the principle that it is by the Holy Spirit that we learn most effectively.  We are glad that our children love to learn and that their enthusiasm for learning is so effusive again.

Jiminy Cricket!!

The ball comes of the flat willow bat from a defensive swing.

So, this is our 3rd Summer in Australia and we haven't been to a cricket game (match?) -- until Monday night. 

The New Job, The Next Move, & The Winds of Change

So, we've been silent on this subject in our journals, facebook, etc but it's time to record my thoughts on the subject while it's still fresh.  If I wait too long, I'll either forget or 'self-edit' even more than I already do in these posts.  As some of you know, we moved to Australia in November 2008.  The secondment (expat assignment) was expected to last around 2 years.

As we got close to the 2-year mark, I posted on facebook:

AJ Curtis "is feeling the winds of change again in my life. I don't know what that will bring but I'm sure it will be good. (29 September 2010)."

The Fortnightly Fort

About a week ago, Zachary came and said, "Dad, I've got an idea.  It's been a while since we've built a fort.  How about we schedule fort building in our rooms to happen every two weeks.  That way we can have a fortnightly fort.  (grinning) Get it?"

Dallin standing at the epicenter of the fort.

The New Baby Doctor

I know that one is supposed to call these types of physicians 'obstetricians' but the term gets obfuscated in my head so I just remember them as 'baby doctor'.  We've had the same practice of baby doctors for each of Jennifer's pregnancies.  In each case, the doctor was very kind and straight forward with us.  Now living in Australia, it's a whole new thing to which Jennifer -- and to a lesser extent me -- must get comfortable.

We met the new baby doctor for the first time on Wednesday.  It was supposed to be the previous Wednesday but with all of the flooding in the area, nobody was driving anywhere.  He was actually very nice and complimented Jennifer on her condition and how she's taking care of herself.  I love hearing other people compliment Jen.  It's one thing to come from me but a whole separate issue to have it come from someone else.

It looks like we'll take our new baby out of the window on about 12 July.  That sounds like a cool day for a birthday.  Of course, with everything else going on in our lives, it will be 'fun' for all of us to see how we travel toward that goal.

Wake Up

One of our family's favorite songs is Arcade Fire's "Wake Up".  One can argue all day about the meaning of the lyrics -- which to me is the sign of a great song.  Mix in a simple rhythm and a powerful refrain and it's a modern anthem.

Here is a clip of the band ( all 26 of them? ) performing the song live in Spain.

Rebekah likes to dance to the song.  The other kids are able to sing along which is kind of funny.  Anyway, the song lifts my spirits and brings me a smile.

Silly Dinner Faces & FHE

We had a great dinner tonight.  The kids were very helpful in getting the dinner done as Jennifer was indisposed.  We teamed together to get it done.  Autumn peeled the carrots with Rebekah's help.  Zachary took care of peeling and preparing the garlic.  Dallin cut the zucchini, mushrooms, and carrots.  I cut up some chicken breast while the girls peeled the shallots and two different types of onions.  The onions were very strong and it made the girls cry.  We steamed some rice and then started in with the wok.  It turned out pretty well.

While eating dinner, the kids got a case of the giggles and decided to have a funny face contest.  The results had us all laughing -- though the photos

Oh the Fashion of It All!

Can you believe that we let this kid dress herself and then go out of the house?  "I do it MYSELF!" is a convincing statement even if the results are a bit questionable.

What do you think of these socks?!?!

Ultrasound

So ... we had our first ultrasound appointment today.  We aren't far enough along to learn the gender of the child.  However, it was great to hear a heartbeat and to see the little gymnast doing the gyration dance in the womb.  A key takeaway is that the baby appears healthy.  Oh, that and there is only one child in the womb.

Floodwatch

The rain over the last month has been amazingly steady and consistent.  Yesterday, there was some horrific flooding in Toowoomba.  It can only be described as an 'inland tsunami'.

Farewell to the Benders

Our first Sunday in Australia, we met another family attending Chermside Ward for the first time -- Paul and Bety Bender with their son Antonio.    Paul became our family's home teacher and I became their home teacher.  Later, Jennifer became Bety's visiting teacher.  Antonio is only a few weeks apart from our Rebekah in age.  They became very good friends.

This week the Benders moved to Melbourne where they will be closer to Paul's family.  We will miss them greatly.  None more so than Rebekah will miss Antonio.  They are fast friends at church.

During the last Sunday of December, the Benders were asked to speak in Church.  They have young baby Christian as well.  So when Bety was speaking, Antonio wanted to come up on the stand with his mother.  Antonio became a bit upset.  Rebekah was sitting next to me and said, "Why is Antonio crying?" After Antonio went into the hallway area, Rebekah decided to go get him so that he could sit with her.  She declared, "Antonio come sit be ME." to me and I got up to go with her.  When we found Antonio, she grabbed his hand and they came back to our pew and shared some of our 'reverent' books.  When it came time to go to junior Sunday School classes, she walked hand in hand with Antonio on to their class as happy as can be.

We already miss the Benders but wish them well in their new assignment.