1085

This past week was Leila's prep concert and they all did amazingly well.  The show was choreographed, no-one forgot their steps, they sang enthusiastically and Leila was one of a few children chosen to read a speech aloud to the audience.  We were so proud of her, so clear, confident and well spoken.  Behind the scenes she was explaining that her tummy felt all funny and her hands were shaky, but she hid that completely.

It's gorgeous to see not just your child, but all the classmates who you've come to know so well, also doing well, having gotten off to such a wonderful start of their long education journey.

1079

Today is a day that has been long anticipated, in fact it has been years in the making.  Today Ella left for her first school camp.  Since she heard real talk of it back in grade 2, it's been a school highlight long anticipated and if we're honest, the cause of a little anxiousness.  As the year has passed, Ella has gained more confidence about being away from home, so I feel that we were well prepared for today.

We had a couple of nights in the past week where sleep was hard won, worries always appearing much more clearly in the quiet of night, but last night she slept well and today she was happy and excited.  In bed this morning Ella said Mum, I don't want you getting upset today, if you do you'll make me upset and then it will just be hard for everyone.  Duly warned I wasn't in the least upset, just excited about the wonderful time I'm sure she'll have.  I even made it easier for her to leave on the bus, in fact wishing herself away, but doing a silly dance on the footpath in front of all her friends so that she really WANTED to leave, NOW!

Can't wait to hear about all her adventures.

1078

How did we get here so super fast, a decade having passed since I birthed our first child, our beautiful Ella. I can no longer really remember what it was like before she was here with us.  I have plenty of memories of course, but the feeling of being without her, or being unaware of her, I can't recall that at all.

She's a serious child, at times, but has a crazy silly sense of humour as well.  She's great at silly voices and as many male mates have funny discourses using "in the know" language, she does the same with her dad.

Super creative, losing herself in her drawing for hours at a time, she is a talented young woman who I hope never loses her passion for making.

Still sensitive and easily wounded she has found ways to protect her heart more than she did in younger years, but has also now managed to surround herself with gorgeous young friends who are as similarly kind and gentle as she.

Happy 10th Birthday Ella.  We love you so xxx

1075

Red waiting for her friend Aurora to arrive and walk together to meet their other Fairytale friends at school.

Prep year coming rapidly to a close and it's gone so very fast.  We're having such a wonderful year, such a gorgeous group of children and families, Leila thriving with her learning and developing so beautifully in a social context as well.

I'm loving being home with our girls full time.  I have been applying for some roles and recently missed out on one that I really thought would be a perfect fit for me, a great company working for a great cause.  It wasn't meant to be though and that's okay because it really wouldn't have worked for our family.  Whatever I do again that is paid has to work with our family and these precious girls, because there is nothing more important than them.

1071

Our girls are really very good, loving towards each other for the most part, not unkind.  Today though, they were bugging each other and as a result bugging me.  Fresh air was called for.

The large park and oval near us, sun shining, we had water and fruit, a basketball and our badminton set.  As per usual we ended up spending most of our time at the Hansel & Gretel tree.  Leila trying to make smoke with her sticks, Ella preparing the teepee wood.  Wouldn't it be fun if we could REALLY make a fire Mum.  I tried to make smoke in the wildnerness way, a stick into a softer piece of bark, Indian style, rubbing the stick between your hands, waiting for smoke to appear in the part where it was spinning. It did get hot, but alas no flame.

We watched a dog playing chasey with a swallow.  The bird could have easily flown away, but instead dipped and wove in and so close to the dog, he shaking his tail like crazy, both of them engaged in a good half hour of fun, I assume for both.

I watched a mother I know distantly from kinder watching her three young school age sons playing kick to kick footy.  At one point her middle son pushed over the younger brother and kicked him, hard, in the back.  You little s**t she screamed at the top of her voice.  You do that again and I'll lock you in the car.  The girls and I agreed that boys, gosh, what would you do with boys, particularly that boy.

Two hours later, having snoozed in the sun, played house, toasted fictional mashmallows, danced the tango, played basketball and badminton, we walked home again.  Squabbles long forgotten, fresh air having blown away all the antsy feelings.  Sometimes, actually most of the time, you always feel better with a little fresh air.

1054

We're very lucky.  There may be quite an age difference between the cousins (Geoff's siblings children and ours) but they do love spending time together and indulging the whims of our girls.

1047

I've talked about the tradition of Easter hunts in my family and think it's not something everyone does.  Geoff certainly never did in his family, not with clues anyway, just the hunting for chocolate kind.  It's the highlight of the girls' Easter, more so than the chocolate.

This year the Easter bunny had Leila read her clues now she's a school girl and Ella had cryptic clues with the answers in a word hunt.

I'd liaised with the Easter bunny and at the end were handmade Maggie rabbits for each of them and, of course, some chocolate.  The rabbits were adoringly received - so so worth the effort of every stitch, plus a hundred times more.  Enjoy the time with your families.

1046

A delicious Easter dinner at Nan and Pa's when I was far to absorbed in delicious food to take photos.  After dinner activities always include a number of dance performances, both in a pair and individually.  Last night lights off shadow dancing was a highlight - the next best thing to dancing in front of a mirror.

1045

The girl was digging and then put her shovel aside so she could have a break and then her shovel was gone.


























A detective walked along from the park and said "What is wrong?".
"I was digging, put my shovel down, stood up for a break and someone took my shovel".

The detective said "I will look for it".  She went walked and found some footprints and went looking for more clues.

The detective started digging with her hands and found the shovel.  They jumped up and down to celebrate finding the shovel.

A story by Leila.

1041

We've had friends booked in for lunch for yonks but with the weather so lovely we decided to move it to a park picnic.  A great playground, contained, with plenty of grass around for blankets, great setting.

Far too much food for lunch, but grazing is what picnicing is about. A walk after lunch when big sister piggybacked little sister for about 5 metres!

How grown up does Ella look in this snap with her friend?!

Remembering the joys of a sleeping babe that isn't mine!

The joy of being with friends.

1040

 

Post party faces.

1033

Ella used to have an imaginary friend called Caspar.  There was only ever one friend and he was around from about ages 3-6.  He came occasionally and played with her, he was a sweet friend!

Leila has never had an imaginary friend, but she does have alter egos.  I think it started about a year ago with Sarah.  We have a friend called Sarah and she's quite fond of her and we wonder if it started there, although she was never really the "real" Sarah.  She was married, for a time, to Dick (our friend's real life husband), but he turned out to be no good so she kicked him out....!  Sarah then took up with Bob, who is very strong and feeds the children very healthy food and gives them lollies only on their birthday. She was always pregnant and had "a hundred" children.  Most often she would come to our place for dinner on a Wednesday after swimming.  Poor Sarah was always tired, because she was always pregnant, but also due to her full time job, her volunteering and all the work she had to do for the babies.

One of Sarah's oldest children is Alexa, who has also been a regular visitor.  Another is Alexia's cousin, DD (Dear Diary) who visits very occasionally.

Alexa is now 28 and has just had her 5th baby. She doesn't mention her husband, but she talks a lot about her house which has a "Juliet balcony covered in passionfruit".  Today Alexa was heavily pregnant when she arrived for lunch, only to leave briefly before coming back with her new baby Chloe.

The stories she can tell.  My oh my.  The thing is though, they don't sound like stories.  They just flow from her tongue and there is no pause or hesitation "You'll never believe what happened next...", "I tell you Victoria, I just didn't know what to say!".  She can talk for a very long time and sometimes I sit and my mind wanders wondering about this little love of ours, her journey, her amazing imagination.  Both our girls have such story telling gifts, but both completely different styles.  Leila will be an amazing white liar, whereas Ella can't lie to save herself "I don't think ......".

Susan manages to record the things her children say so sweetly, but I can't keep up with my little one to record them verbatim.  I did capture her in character today, I wonder if you can see any of Alexa in these snaps of her with her new babe....

1030

A very thoughtful gift from one of the girls 16 year old cousins.  Dan recently went on a basketball trip to the US with his school.  The only presents he brought back were for these two. xx

1015

There have been occasions when we've had frustration during playdates, at our house.  Some friends aren't very good at entertaining themselves, instead looking for entertainment in the form of wii's or playstations, or indeed just playing on the computer.  Made up games don't always hold the same appeal which can lead to frustration for both my poor girls suggesting every idea under the sun, and the child who is refusing all suggestions.

I feel happy that our girls can find entertainment in anything.  If there is nothing to do, they find something to do.  They're not saints, of course, they get bored like all of us and there are times when they are allowed half an hour on the computer, but we're free of all other devices, simply because that suits us.

Above is Ella's Cafe, where we went for coffee this morning.  At least I had coffee, Leila had a hotdog with ketchup followed by an icecream sundae, all there for the choosing, from Ella's hand.

In the afternoon Geoff took Ella to the basketball and Leila and I painted outside together.  I was working on  something special and she on some new works for the gallery.  Apparently the thermometer (I think perhaps she meant curator but I didn't want to correct her!) wanted some new works for one of the rooms and she was working tirelessly to have them ready for the opening.  The works were finished, displayed in the "lounge gallery" and when Geoff and Ella returned we all went to the opening, complete with ribbon cutting ceremony.

I hope they can always fill their time, as they grow, that these creative pursuits evolve and continue to give them (and me) pleasure.

1013

This is parenting in a way, in one image.  Your children reach a point where they start to rush on in front of you and you're left to try and keep up.

Leila is my baby and will always be.  Many have said the same before me, I am well aware of that, but she just is, my babe.  It's hard to watch her moving away, making her own path and walking confidently down it. I've said before that she's been a revelation to me, so different to her sister.  I've learned so much from being her mother, she's taught me how to be what she needs and I feel proud of how I mother her.

Time flies and it's hard to remember Ella's first day but that's another journey that is also moving too fast.

Today was a success.  She was happy after school, although tired.  She ate some food, though not much.  She went to the toilet "lots of times" and didn't lose her friends in the playground.  She made a new friend in the playground from another prep class, Abbey, and they found each other again at lunchtime.  She still wanted to cuddle with me on her bed, shared a freddo from the "Parental Survival Kit" and with her and Ella home again, all was right in this house.

I hope your little ones fared as well.

1003

My father read to me until I was almost in my teens, and still reads my mother to sleep most nights.  When Ella was a babe, toddler and preschooler, until she could read for herself, we did the same for her.   I have to admit that we haven't been as studious in our reading with Leila, we just found it harder to make time with the second.  It sounds like an excuse because it is really, but with everything else that is done after school, at times we've found it easier not to - aside from the guilt.

I'm mentioning this to you for a reason, possibly to help you alleviate guilt of your own.  Reading is such a big part of our lives, something we all get so much pleasure from that we decided probably about 9 months ago to a year that we had to find a way to fit it in, so I took a leaf from my dad's book yet again.

When I was working my parents would come here and mind the girls one day a week, cook their dinner and I'd arrive by 6 in time for bathing and so they could get home, mostly, before dark.  Their routine included mum cooking dinner, the four of them sitting down together (only the girls eating) and Pa would read books they'd chosen from the library earlier in the day.  This has now been our routine for quite some time.

Our girls eat around 530, but Geoff and I eat together after he gets home and the girls are in bed.  That therefore frees me up to read, over dinner. We read chapter books generally, the Magic Faraway Tree was a huge favourite and we read it twice in a row and have now just started the Narnia Chronicles with The Magician's Nephew.

The reading helps with another common family issue at dinner time - focus.  Our girls eat much more, concentrate on what is on their plate and there is no squabbling, because they're engrossed in the story.  I usually do at least two chapters and the meal is done, peacefully and I've read to my children.  Of course my girls may well be older than yours and it doesn't work if you're trying to eat yourself or having to fill spoonfulls to insert in little mouths, but keep it in mind, it works for us.

1000

Phewee it's a stinker today isn't it, currently sitting over 40C.  Of course today was Leila's party, outdoors, in the park, in this weather, hence the red faces!

We brought the start forward as early as we could (9:15am) to try and avoid the worst of the heat.  Leila's request was to have a party with her friends, playing tiggy in the park with some cake.  Can't really argue with that, even given the weather, it's a pretty undemanding request.  My oh my it was hot and although they did run around for the first 45 minutes, they then crashed and were content to play chinese whispers and eat watermelon and icypoles.  One and a half hours went pretty quick.

A woodland cake was requested, and delivered.  It was cute, but it's tough when so many little friends are in the photos, I wouldn't dream of posting full face photos unless I'd discussed with the parents in question, so this was a snap I took at home thinking (rightly) that the buttercream would instantaneously self destruct when the sun hit it!  The cake's quite similar to last year, Leila's request - a woodland theme.  They always look better from a distance.

We'll bunker down for the rest of the day, hide from the sun, read our books, perhaps watch a movie, play with some new toys and just get through.