The Big Move

Originally posted 2 years ago, some things are being reposted due to some reorganising, sorry.

This is the story of how we made the biggest move of our lives. Our Permanent Migration to Australia!

Step 1

So how does one go about moving to a different country? RESEARCH!!! First for obvious reasons make sure it's got what you want, don't assume just because it's a different place, that all of your problems will be automatically solved simply by changing your geography. As stated above we researched the economy, the government, the climates and geography, the culture, the job market, etc. Also planning a visit before finalizing such a major move would not be irrational.

I must say one thing I absolutely love about Australia... they won't let just anyone in! You have to be able to offer them something, like a job skill or business investment. Being that we aren't at all rich people, we looked into qualifying skills that either my husband or I possessed. Every year, usually in July, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (also known as DIAC) publishes a list of Skilled Occupations currently in demand. Click here for the 2011 Schedule, it does change from time to time as do the qualifications for even applying for a Visa. So make sure to stay up to date with any current changes, even though they are pretty good about announcing any major changes months prior.

As I have only worked a few years as a Dental Assistant and a short time as a Veterinarian Assistant my skills were not in high demand. Alan has been a carpenter since the age of 15, other than his 4 years in the US Navy Seabees as a Construction Mechanic. So we were rather pleased to see "Carpenter and Joiner" as a highly demanded skill shortage. Next to each occupation on the list is the Assessing Authority, basically this is who you submit your information to so they can tell you whether or not you are "qualified" for the corresponding occupation. Alan's was TRA which stands for Trades Recognition Australia as they oversee the assessment of all Trade Qualifications in Australia. Click here for TRA's current Assessment guidelines. There is also a code known as the ANZSCO code, which stands for Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations codes next to each job title. This is the number you would use for all qualifying references once your skills are positively assessed.

We contacted all of my husband's previous and current employers asking them to write up a letter of reference for him that had to be signed and notarized on their company letterhead regarding his skills while under their employment, the tools he was capable of using, 5 specific duties performed at each job, along with his job title, rate of pay and how long employed with them. We submitted them along with his completed application and $300 AUD payment. After only 2 weeks we received our letter of a successful skills assessment.

Step 2

My family and I have all felt as though our lives have been on hold for the last several years with deciding on what direction we wanted to take our future in. There seemed to be many different options for us to go with next. Should we hire a migration expert? Do we have enough points (I'll explain this further down) to go as Skilled Migrants independently or should we seek sponsorship? The three best options we had were to go independent, employer sponsored or state sponsored. We wanted to compare each options waiting list and regulations if any.

When Alan turned 40 we lost 5 points, so qualifying for Skilled Independent Migration, could be a bit  more difficult, plus the process could take upwards of 3 years to receive our visas. Employer sponsorship had its perks, a guaranteed job and the absolute fastest way to get there, usually anywhere from 4-6 months. State sponsorship gave a timeline of up to a year before receiving a visa and not as many regulations as the Employer sponsorship.

*** On a special note, as of July 1, 2011, DIAC has completely changed their Visa requirements. Age requirements have now gone from 45 to 50 years old, and the points system has changed drastically. All of the information I am providing is relevant to our experience and application prior to July 1, 2011. For complete and up to date information please visit www.immi.gov.au and click on the "Finding a Visa" to take the up to date Visa quiz to see what Visa you may qualify for. ***

So let's break each option down...

Skilled Independent Visas 175, must be under 45 yrs of age, have an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List, meet recent work experience requirements, meet the English Language Requirement. (That's right Australia won't let you in unless you have conversational level English) Must score 120 points on the Points Test. This is a Permanent Visa however this one takes the longest time to acquire but you're a free agent in Australia, meaning you can live and work anywhere you please.

Current 175 Skilled Independent Requirements

Skilled Sponsored 176, same exact requirements as the 175 visa, however you must be sponsored by an Australian State or Territory. Each state/territory has their own list of skills in demand, if your skill is on their list, they may agree to sponsor you. Must score 100 points or higher on the Points test. This is a Permanent Visa. You must live in the nominating State or Territory for at least 2 years.

Current 176 Skilled Migration Requirements

Employer Sponsored 121, the same requirements as the State Sponsored Visa, however you must be employed with the nominating employer for at least 2 years. If you are fired, or laid off your visa will then expire within 30 days, unless you find another employer willing to sponsor you. This is also a permanent visa and the fastest Visa to get but incredibly risky if you lose employment.

Current 121 Employer Sponsored Requirements

The Points test:

The points test is a mechanism used to help select skilled migrants who offer the best in terms of economic benefit to Australia. The points test creates a selection process that is transparent and objective, awarding points to the skills and attributes considered to be in need in Australia. 

~ DIAC

At the time of our application, DIAC had a points test that every primary migrant must undergo. The applicant earned a certain number of points based on age, english language ability, nominated skill, available sponsorship, work experience, Australian study and work experience etc.  The passmark ranged from 100 to 120 points depending on the Visa applied for.

Current Points Guidelines

DIAC still has a points test but they decided not to include points for the applicants nominated skill, even though your nominated skill must be on the Skilled Occupation List and must be positively assessed. The new passmark is now 65 points. 

After all things considered we decided to go with the State/Territory Sponsorship Visa. This gave us time to apply and save up money, as well as some of the freedoms of the Independent Visa as far as work. Fortunately the state we chose, South Australia to apply for sponsorship from, is actually where we wanted to go to begin with. They have a wonderful migration scheme of their own and Alan's job skills are in high demand there...

Step 3

We made the decision to go ahead without a migration agent. My husband has given me the opportunity to be a stay at home mom throughout the years, so I had the time to read up on everything possible regarding the process. It's rather expensive to hire one and we truly felt we could go it alone as others had before.

Applying for South Australia's State Sponsorship was a relatively simple process. Everything was online through South Australia's Migration Site. We had to send in proof of who we are, Alan's TRA letter, job references, etc. Six weeks later we had it! Once we had our sponsorship we had 30 days to file our main Visa application. Once again sending in proof of identity (birth certificates & passports), marriage certificate, recent passport photos, even more current job experience letters and our custody order (which without our oldest two, Sherri and Wesley would not be allowed to move with us... NOT AN OPTION!)

Once we filed for our Visa's we waited to be assigned our case worker...amazingly it only took 3 weeks. Which was rather surprising since we know others through an Expat forum who have waited for months, so we were feeling rather fortunate. When our case worker had approved everything we had submitted at that time he then requested we go ahead and proceed with the Police and Medical checks.

Alan, Sherri and I all had to be fingerprinted and have letters from both the State of Alaska and the FBI stating that we had no criminal record. The FBI check took the longest so we proceeded with the Medicals. All 8 of us had to go to Anchorage and see the ONLY approved doctor for the entire state. DIAC has a list of approved panel doctors that have been allowed to complete the Australian Immigration Medicals on people, thankfully the doctor wasn't in Juneau. The youngest 3 boys had to be seen for eye exams, medical exams, and urinalysis. Our youngest daughter Alanna, had to have the eye exam, medical exam, urinalysis, and chest x-ray. Then Alan, Sherri, Wesley and I all had to have the eye exam, urinalysis, chest x-ray and blood test.  Everything is pretty self explanatory but the chest x-ray is to make sure none of us have Tuberculosis and the blood draw was to test for HIV, Hepatitis and some STD's.

The reason for such invasive test is because Australia has a rather nice public health care system compared to most countries. When DIAC is deciding whether or not to grant any Residency Visas,  one of those major deciding factors is the health of the individual or family. They want to ensure we are not going to place an undue burden on the health care system. Another policy of "one fail, all fail" is very true. If one person fails the test, we all do, especially with communicable diseases like HIV and TB.

So now that all of our test and checks have come back good, we wait.

Honestly this might be the hardest part...

GRANTED!!!

The big day finally came this week as we were notified by DIAC that our application for Permanent Residency was granted. I must say it was much faster than we ever anticipated. We were told a year or less from the date we filed our application, but 5 months was a wonderful surprise!  We couldn't be happier about it. Our son Ben was ready to pack and our daughter Alanna was already asking about Aussie citizenship...to say they were happy is a bit of an understatement.

Now the pressure really begins! There is so much that still has to be done in what will seem like very little time. We need to find a reliable international shipping company to send what belongings we are taking on a 6 week cruise across the vast Pacific Ocean. We have almost finished the dogs paperwork and testing to get them ready for their 30 days of Quarantine in Melbourne. Of course let's not forget to mention getting ready to have the biggest moving sale of our lives, continue downsizing the farm and save as much money as we possibly can!

According to our Visa we have to be in Australia within a year or we lose it. However once we arrive we will have it indefinitely. Our goal is to there by Christmas and hope that leaving winter in Alaska for summer in South Australia won't be too cruel on our unacclimated bodies! But considering the reversal of the seasons I'm not sure there really is a perfect time to go...although leaving our Fall to arrive in their Spring does seem pretty perfect...hummmm?

> Average daily winter (June-August) temperatures, Adelaide - Max 15.9°C, Min 8°C (60.6°F - 46.4°F)

> Average daily spring (September-November) temperatures, Adelaide - Max 21.7°C, Min 11.6°C (71°F - 52.8°F) 

> Average daily summer (December-February) temperatures, Adelaide - Max 28.3°C, Min 16.5°C (82.9°F - 61.7°F)

> Average daily autumn (March-May) temperatures, Adelaide - Max 22.4°C, Min 12.5°C (72.3°F - 54.5°F)

~Taken from www.southaustralia.com

Our oldest, Sherri, is now letting the collage she's been in communication with TAFE SA know about the Visa being granted so that she won't be considered an international student. I'm currently looking at schools for the younger kids in the areas we are considering living in, and Alan can now seriously start contacting possible employers about work as they like to hear we actually have the visa now.

I have found a great group of people in OZ on a backyard chicken forum, they have been incredibly supportive and helpful. I find the best way to get the most honest information about the areas you want to know about, is by talking with the people who live there or are familiar with it. They've truly been great in offering up loads of helpful advice! Everything from the weather, information on schools, housing and even the different towns and villages. I look forward to meeting some of them after we get settled in. It's really wonderful getting to know like-minded people.  

It's also the one thing I will miss the most about leaving here.

Homeschooling in the USA

This was originally published almost 2 years ago...I'm cleaning and reorganising my blog and some things have to be reposted or else I'll lose them

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. ~ Ronald Reagan

As I mentioned earlier I began homeschooling our kids in the Fall of 2007 right after we came back from our 3 months in Australia. Our first go at it was a mess, at least in my opinion it was. I tried the "Independent" way of it, which consisted of a lot of educational internet sites, books from the library and even ordering a less common box curriculum called A.C.E. It really wasn't making us feel very confident in our decision.

After moving to Alaska in 2008 we discovered a way that we could continue home schooling and provide them with the best available. Alaska has a wonderful program called I.D.E.A. which stands for Interior Distance Education of Alaska. It's a state wide home schooling program (the first of several now in the state) out of the Galena City School District. IDEA receives states funding per student, the same way other public schools do, then issues an allotment to the parents of almost $2,000 per child that we can then use on almost any educational  materials. They will even cover the cost of field trips to the museum or zoo, science kits, books, curriculum and school supplies.

Some of the different options include All in One box curriculums such as Calvert or K12, or using different publishers such as Pearson-Prentice Hall or Houghton Mifflin for each core subject. For instance this year we decided to go with Calvert for our students in K-7 then Pearson for our 9th grader. We also supplemented the Math program for them all with Saxon Math (which I love) as well as an Art program called Atelier. Home schoolers in Alaska can also have their children take music classes or join a chess club and the state will pay for it.

On a separate note, I've never been the most organized person out there, just ask my wonderful husband why I can never find my keys. One of the beauties of homeschooling is you will learn to organize yourself or you will fail and your kids will suffer. It didn't take long and every year I've found what does and does not work for my family and every year we get better.

I truly love home schooling our children not only for the freedom it allows our family but also because I know my kids are actually learning. If one of our kids doesn't get something the first time around, we don't have to move on and tell him "that's too bad" we can cover it again and again until he or she does.

Home schoolers in Alaska are very fortunate, Alaska has no regulations whatsoever regarding government interference on how you or I educate our children. Some states however are not so lucky, those such as New York, and North Dakota have very strict regulations where parents have to report to that state's Department of Education their student's test scores and professional evaluations.

 I wish the rest of the country was more accepting of home schooling the way that Alaska is. Here it is embraced and almost the norm. When my family and friends down South found out about my home schooling, we got the usual list of questions such as, how will they be socialized or make friends, or play sports etc? Considering the fact that we actually have 6 kids, they are rather social and outgoing to begin with, but they have also been in "regular" schools most of their lives, with the exception of our younger three. They have kept in touch and visited with the friends they've made from prior school years. We also attend church where they've made friends as well as neighborhood kids and our adult friends' children.

It's rather a shame the way the world has changed its stance on homeschooling. Years and years ago a child's ONLY teacher was their parent. Mothers not only taught their daughters how to cook and sew and their boys how to tend livestock and the fields but were often the ones who taught them Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Unfortunately today's parents often forget they are their child's first and most important teacher in life, and not only are our schools letting our kids down, but so are the parents.

I honestly don't know if I will continue homeschooling once we settle in Australia or not. I have heard a lot of wonderful things about the school systems in Oz and I think we will be trying them out, at least for the first year. After that, who knows!

Quite the array of Curriculum

Our homeschool room, it's not much but it works

Homeschool.com - A great place to begin

Homeschool Legal Defense Association - Find out the regulations in your state

Educators at home blog - This lady has some wonderful tips on homeschooling along with reasons why we should

Herb Encrusted Chicken

Herb Encrusted Chicken

I'm Southern, we fry food, nuff said...well something like that.

I love finding ways to take that wholesome comfort food (you know that stuff you were raised on but turns out its bad for you) and make it a little healthier without losing all the great flavours.

This is my fried chicken recipe, it's a little unconventional compared to the way others may make theirs but I like it, it taste great and it's rather simple to make.

Here's what you'll need:

I use wholemeal flour, salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, garlic, panko breadcrumbs and peanut oil.

Oh and of course the chicken would help. Normally I use our own homegrown chicken but since we haven't gotten our flock set up yet then go down to your local store or farmer's market and buy some chicken. I like the thighs.

You can save money by buying the ones with the skin on them, which you would think would be essential to making good fried chicken right? Wrong!

First things first, take it all off...the skin that is and trim the fat off as well.

Next add 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of Panko, 2 1/2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, a sprinkle of garlic, salt and pepper to season (I use about 1 1/2 Tbsp and 2 tsp of salt). Mix it all together!

Then whip up a few eggs in a bowl, like so.

Dip the chicken in the egg

Add chicken to the flour mixture and coat well

Add about 3/4"-1" of Peanut Oil to a large deep skillet and heat on medium-high heat until a splash of water sizzles or until it reaches 400*F.

  

Cook roughly 8-10 minutes on each side until deep golden brown, lay on paper towels  but do not cover. Even though the skins are removed, we added Panko which gives the chicken a crunchy outer coating.

Enjoy

Coconut Prawns

Coconut Prawns

When I originally had the idea to start blogging it was suppose to be a place to organize new ideas, recipes, interesting life events etc. Obviously with our recent migration to Australia the Life events category has taken center stage here. Well that's about to change!!! While I will still be including fun and interesting things from our new life down under I will also be posting craft, gardening and lots of Foodie stuff!

Starting with a very easy and incredibly tasty Coconut Prawns recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

1 Kilo (about 2 pounds) of large Uncooked Shrimp or Prawns

2 1/2 cups of baking mix (divided)

1 cup water

1 package (8 oz) of moist sweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 cup of Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Peanut Oil

For those who aren't familiar with Baking mix it is a simple mix to make in bulk and keep around.

6 cups of AP flour

3 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp salt

3/4 cup shortening

Remember you only need 2 1/2 cups of the mix for this recipe.

Now there's lots of different ways to enjoy coconut shrimp, they all share the basics which is coconut, a batter to adhere the coconut and of course the shrimp/prawns. 

I start off with 1Kilo of large uncooked Banana Prawns. These prawns have a mild sweet flavour and are great to use with spices and full flavoured recipes. But any raw large bodied shrimp will do. Often if you buy them still intact and clean them at home, they're much cheaper!

Remove their heads, shell and legs and de-vain them. Leave the tail shell on as that makes them easier to handle. Give them a good rinse then butterfly them by taking a sharp knife down the back, be careful not to press completely through or you'll just split your prawn in half.

Next to prepare your batter stir 1 1/4 cup of baking mix with 1-1 1/2 cup of water in a bowl. I like it a little runnier than pancake mix.

Combine the coconut and panko together in a separate shallow dish.

Then stir the remaining 1 1/4 cup of baking mix with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp red pepper into another bowl.

Coat all prawns in dry mixture then dip in wet mixture allowing the excess to drip off, then dip in coconut mix.

Place all coated shrimp on a baking sheet then place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes. This allows the 

coconut batter to stick really well to the shrimp.

You can use a deep fryer or a dutch oven with 3-4 inches of peanut oil heated to 350*F/176*C.

Cook shrimp 6-8 in a batch at a time in oil for about 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.

Can be served with cocktail sauce, mustard sauce or no sauce at all.

Pair with a fresh snap peas and corn on the cob for a complete and satisfying meal.

Serves 6-8 people.

                                       Recipe adapted from Southern Living Cookbook

Growing Dreams...

I feel like I'm still trying to get the hang of this Blogging thing. The OCD in me is trying to come through and organize this page. Plus I keep playing with the design...it's all Blogger's fault, they have too many cute designs! So from time to time depending on the post it may be repeated, such as recipes. I'll post them in the blog section but then archive them under the recipes section. Nice and organized, makes sense right?? :)

There is so much going on right now with my family I feel I can't keep my head on straight at times. Hubby is looking for a better job, I just started school, the garden is growing and I'm beginning my Spring/Summer planting oh and I started homeschooling our youngest. Looking at schools for all of our kids to attend next year together, settled court issues with hubby's ex (always fun) and did I mention I just started school...has the room stopped spinning yet???

My love of gardening has literally blossomed in me, so why not make a career out of it right? I mean I'm only 32, guess its about time I figured out what I want to be when I grow up lol! Don't get me wrong, I've loved having the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom for 12 years. I've been able to be here for our kids 24/7, keeping them out of trouble (or as close as I possibly can), helping them with school, teaching them responsibilities and instilling mine and my husband's values and morals in them. I did say 24/7, that's a BIG job! Not to mention I'm kind of a hard ass at times. Our kids will tell you, they don't get away with much, I have fantastic instincts and they always get busted! Besides I'm seriously outnumbered, there are 6 of them, 3 are teenagers, I have to hold my ground or I'm screwed...

All in all I've loved it. Saved a heap of money with never needing childcare and I honestly feel I have a bond with our children that is stronger than anything. They know I'll always be there for them, that they can count on me, and I'll still be keeping an eye on things to hopefully steer them in the right direction. I suppose I should point out that my hubby is pretty awesome with them too!

But the plan was always for me to go back to school once our youngest was in school himself.
My love of cooking and baking led to wanting to know what I was feeding my family. Which led to a love of home grown organic ingredients and of course growing it myself! It's not like I had anything else to do around here, insert sarcasm....heaps of sarcasm!!

This is only my second year gardening. Last year hubby built me an awesome greenhouse while we were still in Alaska, and I was able to grow lots of Tomatoes and Cucumbers in it. It was my trial run but it was great. So I knew moving here to South Australia with our fantastic Mediterranean climate, I could actually garden all year long! Picture me doing the "Happy Dance" cause that is exactly how I feel inside.

My greenhouse garden in Alaska, lots of Maters!

So after moving into our home at Christmas and adjusting to the fact that it was HOT and not cold at Christmas time, too hot in fact for my unacclimatized body to brave the dry heat of 85*F. I mean we had just left 4 feet of snow in Alaska of all places, going from -5* to 85* in a month was definitely an adjustment. Come Autumn I was already a bit behind in getting things started as I had only gotten the  layout completed by then, we still had to put it all together. We decided to use recycled materials as much as we could, plus we're cheap! So we were off to find pallets, lots and lots of pallets! We cut them in half then spiked the tips to make a wooden, picket fence. We cut more pallets down to use as wooden borders between beds. We hung up the lattice for planting peas and beans. We even used the pallets to make a cubby house for the kiddos.

Before we broke ground

Potager style garden

Picket fence panels made from pallets

Borders

Garden Table

Lattice for Peas

First borders and fence up.

I decided that since we were "going all out" on this gardening thing we might as well learn how to compost, so I talked hubby into making a compost Tumbler. He used a black plastic barrel, cut some holes and a door in it and made a wooden stand to support it with wheels underneath the barrel to spin it.  Have I mentioned I married a genius? We've also picked up a "Can-O-Worms" to use for composting as well.  Hubby even found the time to build me a neat garden table to work on outside and to store my gardening mess.

After getting my hands dirty on a regular basis with all that we'd had going on out back I realized I really loved it. I looked forward to going outside every day. Even just putting up the borders or preparing the soil or transplanting my seedlings, I couldn't wait to get outside.

I had been thinking about going back to school for my first love of cooking, but had my doubts and after a lot of soul searching and heart to hearts with my hubby, who has always supported me, but felt necessary to point out that I "am NOT a people person", I changed my mind. I'll admit, I'm not really one for working under others, I like to do my own thing and be my own boss. So my other love, even though only recently discovered, became my second choice. Funny thing was I had no doubts what so ever about this decision. I knew I could not only do this but be successful at it. It was my "why didn't I think of that before, dummy" moment!

I'm now studying to become a Certified Horticulturalist specializing in Permaculture and Biodynamics. Sounds pretty smart huh! The goal is to one day open my own Commercial Organic greenhouse, selling heirloom veggies and fruits to the public and helping people as a Consultant to set up their own organic gardens. Ever since I was a wee one, and I can remember this as far back as 7 or 8, I wanted to live on a Farm. So hopefully I can blend the two together one day. Not only offering organic produce but organically raised livestock products, whether it be meats, milk, cheese or even baby chicks to be raised for meat and egg consumption. Sounds like a lot to take on I know, but I believe that I can do it. In Alaska I got a taste of it there and absolutely loved it! So I feel comfortable with time and heaps more of knowledge I'll be ready to take it to the next level...

Homeschooling...again?

Ok, so it's been a long time since I've written on here....a really long time, 8 months kind of a long time. I'm so ashamed. Moving on...

I've been thinking about returning to homeschooling for a while now. I'm constantly asking my kids if they'd like me to do it again, to my surprise most of them say "yes." My problem is self doubt. I have 5 kids currently in school, that's 5 different grade levels, 5 different sets of curriculum, 5 different levels of my attention required...you get what I'm saying here, right?

I often find myself alone when talking to the other Moms at school about holiday break times. How I don't look forward to my kids returning to school, like all the other Moms do.  I miss my children, and worry not only about how they're treated by other students and even staff but what so called "life lessons" happen to be circulating around the playground. I worry about the slow progression and the boredom or lack of attention my kids get at school. I've noticed bad attitudes coming from my kids that were never there before. I've heard the potty mouth language coming out of the 8 year old "mouths of babes" when they've come to my home for birthday parties. I've seen the drama and disappointments on my daughter's face when I ask her how her day was. I also feel some of what they learn is a bit redundant, my kids have either already learned it or the class just spends too much time on it to make sure the other kids are all on the same page before moving on. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with their school, matter of fact I think they go to a pretty good school, expensive but good. But all conventional schools have the same problems and the staff and parents don't always want to see what really goes on.

However (and you can call me bias, I really won't care) my kids are not conventional, they're unique, inquisitive, self motivated and down right amazing little minions of mine and my husband's making. I don't believe I'm sheltering my kids from the "real world" or that I'll be that super over protective parent but honestly isn't that my job? If my husband and I don't look out for our kids's best interest, no one else will.

I don't work outside the home (I sell Scentsy, or I will once it opens up here in Australia next month, but that's another post all together) and I'm currently finishing up a degree in Organic Horticulture so I'm quite able and willing to homeschool them again.

As one who's been here before, I keep revisiting things in my mind where I can do it differently and be even more successful at it. Right now I'm currently settling down to the idea of it again, learning laws, rules and regulations, searching curriculum sites, homeschool groups, forums and how to go about this again. Should I home school my oldest son who's currently in 11th grade? I'm thinking I probably won't, not unless he wanted me to but as for the younger four I think it would be wonderful.

I've had friends and family ask me over the years "how are homeschooled kids socialised?", "how do they get to enjoy extra curricular activities?" yadda yadda yadda! Socialising for us is easy, we're a family of 8, we're plenty social when its needed. Keeping kids involved is the key, whether it be sports clubs, church groups, and or homeschool groups the kids make friends and enjoy common ground.

I'd much rather not have my kids stuck doing 6-7 hours of school work just to come home to do 1-3 hours of homework. What kind of life is that for them or even us as a family? There isn't much quality family time in the evening when the kids are glued to math books and science notes.

Life goes by too fast, childhood isn't always the best time of it either but it's certainly the foundation for the type of adult we grow to be. I want my kids to feel loved and supported, to know that they are always accepted and acknowledged. That they can learn more during "school" then just what the year's curriculum has assigned.

I hope to look back on my life and be able to say that I did all I possibly could to help my children reach their full potential and to be the best people they can possibly be. Here's to the beginning of our new journey ahead.

Our beautiful family

Has it really been a year?

Time has really flown by...must have been having too much fun! I can't believe we've actually lived in Australia for an entire year now...well since November 16th. I keep meaning to get on here to write but life takes over all too often and it moves further down my to-do list.

We've had such an amazing year here. Hubby has found a good job (definitely not his dream job but it pays the bills), I've gone back to school, the kids have all finished their first year of school here and the older kids have good paying jobs...I sure never made that kind of money at 16 or 19 :(  and everyone has really settled into all the little differences between cultures.

Still a huge adjustment for us experiencing Christmas during the hot summer months as it is for most Northern Hemisphere migrants to Australia. We do love a white Christmas but heck even a cool Christmas would be welcomed. Even still we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together, the younger 5 all participated in the Christmas exhibit at Church. The boys got to be Shepards and our daughter an Angel, even our oldest son Wesley got up in front of the congregation to do a reading...we are very proud of all of them.

Our garden has been a struggle. In early Autumn we began the layout and ground work on the veggie patch. Of course I'd never really gardened before in my life, unless you count 5 gallon buckets with Tomato plants in a plastic greenhouse in Alaska lol, though shockingly I seem to have had better results there. Even still I've discovered I really do love working in the garden just wish my garden felt the same way about me. It appears I'm often found mumbling a dirty four letter C-L-A-Y!. I have horrible soil, either too hard and dry when we don't get any rain (which is often) or its so boggy and saturated and won't drain worth a darn that my plants either drowned or bolted and all grew moss.

Needless to say my wonderful hubby and I decided to build up raised beds and bring in some good garden loam and mulch. But now I'm so worried my seedlings won't get far enough along to transplant into the raised beds in time to still get a viable harvest off of them. This has all been a major learning curve especially in realizing what we want out of a future property and climate. Summers are hot and incredibly dry here in SA, the driest of all of Australia's states/territories in fact. I'm worried that our goal of living rather self sufficiently are going to be 10 times more difficult here in SA especially during the summer months.

Our original plan when we visited Australia 5 years ago was to scout Tasmania for a possible future home. We even spent 6 weeks out of our 3 month holiday there. While we were only there during Springtime it was beautiful, green, full of life and cool. The only reason we came to SA was because at the time they had Carpenters listed on their State Sponsorship list. Don't get me wrong SA is a beautiful state 9 months out of the year, its green, it rains and it has relatively great weather! So we shall see what happens in the next year or so. The kids all seem to be up for a move to Tassie (well except for our almost 20 year old bound to stay and go to University of Adelaide here) and of course we can't leave until we fulfilled our two year agreement here in SA. So who knows what will happen. I think the first step is to plan a family trip down there and see if it's everything we remember.

Everyone talks about how cold it is there, which honestly makes me laugh! After living in Alaska for three and a half years, I find no place is actually really COLD in comparison. But I'll admit I do love cozying up to a fire in the wood stove sipping my coffee under a blanket with a good book! So the cold Tassie winters won't bother us at all, Lord knows our big Giant Malamutes will LOVE it and we do know what it takes to raise livestock during the colder months. Of course the benefit of warm but not hot summers will be wonderful for the garden too. As even here I have to worry not only about my plants getting enough water but also not being scorched to a crisp during our frequent heat waves.

Hmmm, Tassie is sounding awfully enticing...