This and that

Ever since I started this blog for fun on my birthday in 2008, I have had the same photo of a fairy nestled in amongst blue lobelia flowers for my header. I never found another photo that seemed the right one to replace it, one that summed up my life/outlook/philosophy. But then, while flying my big girl's kite in the park the other day, I managed to hold the camera with one hand and the kite string in the other and snap a picture of it flying above me. Every time I look at this photo, I feel happy. It makes me feel hopeful and reminds me that the world is still full of beauty and simple pleasures despite earthquakes, floods, and other bad things that happen to good people. Plus..... I do have a little rainbow obsession.

I don't know where I used to find the time to do more posting on this blog. Suddenly, I just don't seem to be able to manage to find a spare 20 minutes to find the camera, upload the photos and stick them in a post with a few sentences. I could only find one of our two cameras tonight so some of the photos I was planning to post will have to wait until another time. I know I had our camera at Gallery of Modern Art on Friday and don't think I have seen it since, which is a worry.

A few posts back, I mentioned a quilt I was making for a special friend who has taught me so much about mothering, loving kindness, living in the moment and "letting go". After a couple more weeks of stitching it was finally finished, wrapped up and delivered. This quilt pretty much made itself and I loved making it. I loved the colours and the pictures of herbs and the simplicity of good old squares and rectangles. I love that it has gone to a happy home where the door is always open to friends, even when they have wandered down the street after dinner in their pajamas.

(I apologise that there is a tiny bit too much of me showing in this photo, but, hey, it's only the internet).

The autumn weather has made it a joy to be outside, especially in a park. A few weekends ago, we went to our local park with our friends to fly a kite and get in some extra monkey bar time.

Can you see the kite disappearing over the bridge?

When I sat down at the computer this evening to upload the latest batch of photos from my camera, I came across a bunch of gorgeous photos that I had never seen before. What a gift! Not sure what I was doing when my husband snapped them but I can't resist showing them to you. This is the side of our house where the weeds run rampant and we never seem to get around to making it beautiful. When we bought the house, the architect friend who did our building inspection warned that the landing didn't meet safety standards and we should add a railing. We did get a quote but never followed through on it. Nearly four years later, no-one has fallen off it (touch wood). Somehow, an old geranium has grown in a neglected corner and enchanted two girls having fun with a beachtowel and an umbrella. Thanks Scott for the photies!

Thanks Universe for two happy, healthy children (who didn't fall off the landing!)

Circle of Friends thingy

Thanks to my lovely friend and "psychic twin" CT for this little award and her thoughtful words. She was the first person I didn't know that found my newly born blog (apart from a sleazy Portugese guy who I think was attracted to a sole reference to breastfeeding) and became a friend. CT's warmth and love of life truly leap off her blogs and her comments.

So.....all I need to do now is say five things I love to do and then award this to five other friends, which I may leave until the next post. (I'm having a trying day and it ain't over yet!). A note to Miss Prudence, if you are watching - I tried right clicking on this blog award thingy and saving it as a picture and then I cut and pasted it into my post. I'll try that with your award and see if it works).

5 Things I love

1. Eating chocolate - Lindt if possible but usually Cadbury would do - especially their nice fat eggs full of caramel. (This particular joy was dimmed briefly by a disastrous year of seeing my dentist much more than I would have liked to - a year which culminated in a root canal procedure which saw a tiny piece of instrument break off and lodge in my root canal where it still resides despite a traumatic session with a dental specialist. However, I am now back to my usual chocolate scoffing habit especially when feeling PTSDish over the continuing root canal saga).

2. Looking at my children, especially when they are asleep and not expecting me to be their slave.

3. Seeing the thinnest of thin crescent moons shining in the night sky - always give me a surge of witchy magic and makes everything seem ok.

4. A good chat (and some chocolate) with my female friends and a good belly laugh over men, sex and other funny things.

5. Sleeping - alone in a very big bed with lots of room, and lots of peace and quiet. It could be a whole 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night or a blissful afternoon nap with the afternoon sun shining in the window - I'm not choosy.

(PS I love my tall handome boy, too)

When I have another spare 5 minutes, I'll pass this on to some worthy blogging girls (although I am partial to Quilt Dad - I doubt he knows who I am.)

This Crazy Life....

Life has overtaken blogging for me lately. I wish life would slow down a little so that I could smell the roses. The last few weeks have been a blur of school holidays, various doctor's appointments for tonsilitis and stuff, family outings, finishing baby quilts etc. This week I have caught the girls' post tonsilitis cold, been to the funeral of a dear friend's father, had deadlines to meet at work and now we are anxiously awaiting a phone call to say my brother's baby boy has been safely born. Come on little Christopher! We can't wait to meet you. Today was also my mother's birthday so I have been rushing around like a mad thing. No different to the lives of all my bloggy friends. When did things get so crazy?

I also managed to catch up with a great friend from my days as a single twenty-something....Le. She was visiting with her family from way up in remote North Queensland and we spent a lovely Saturday night sitting on a verandah looking over a park, eating a yummy homecooked dinner while the husbands looked after the children and chatting with another friend the way women do about life, men, children, work and the funny side of it all. It was so great to relax, laugh and enjoy the company of women without the sound of little voices (well those of my children anyway) constantly needing attention. If mothers could have a couple of hours like this every week, we'd all be so much more sane and enjoy the many hours we spend with our children even more. Thanks for a lovely night, Le.

I have been reading a wonderful book called "The Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv which has hit such a nerve with me. He argues that the majority of the current generation of children in the west are having very little contact with nature with increasing urbanisation, growing fears of traffic, strangers and even nature itself, the obsession with TV/computers/Nintendos etc and lots of other factors. He cites a great number of studies that reveal the many many benefits of contact with nature (especially in an unstructured way where children are free to dream, roam, build cubbies, chase lizards or whatever). The book has inspired me to encourage my girls to have more exposure to the natural world so we went paddling in a river after school last week as well as squeezing in an extra outing to the beach one afternoon over Easter. I'm really committed to making sure we all get a dose of the beauty of nature at least once a week and really want to take the girls into the rainforest again soon. (See post about Mount Tambourine from Dec last year). Well.....enough ranting on that topic.

No photos to liven this post this week as Scott took the camera to work and it hasn't come back yet.

Have a great week, my bloggy friends.

Things I'm Into (A la Tammie)

As I've not been blogging much lately and am trying to concentrate on the positive side of things, here is another "Things I'm into" post courtesy of Tammie to show what we have been up to at our place. (Hope that's ok, Tammie!)

1. Hanging out with Gina - Since she arrived in Australia on Christmas Eve, I've been enjoying hanging out with my beautiful new sister-in-law. My brother has been at sea for a few weeks and their first baby is arriving in early April so we've been buying baby clothes, choosing material for me to make a baby quilt, having hot chocolate and cake and buying a baby sling with my big sister, more shopping, more eating......you get the idea. Now that my big brother is home from the sea and I'm trying to let them have some time together, I'm really missing Gina. Here she is with my little girl on Christmas Day. She was an instant hit with both my girls who are extremely excited about having a new auntie and the impending arrival of a beautiful bubba.

BEFORE

1. Having a less shaggy dog - Although Kippy does look rather magnificent with a full Cavalier King Charles coat, I have not been brushing him as I should have and he had some terrible tangles that I couldn't even cut out for fear of hurting him. He was also leaving white hair all over me if I cuddled him and although he is only inside at night in the laundry, there was plenty of Kipper hair on the floor needing to be swept up. So.....the nice lady from Pooch Mobile came to the house and gave him a much needed hair cut topped off with a warm bath. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask her not to cut his feathers off his legs so he now looks like a beagle. But his coat will grow back quickly and he will look like a nice tidy Cav again. In the meantime, I am more conducive to cuddling him again.

AFTER

3. Going to jazz ballet with E - After two years of school with no extra curricular activities (I guess I'm a lazy mother), E has started jazz ballet with a school friend. She just loves it and is learning a dance to a quite funky Miley Cyrus ditty which she practises diligently. G and I like sitting outside the classroom, watching the show and chatting to the other mothers. E doesn't have the full uniform yet but here she is ready to dance in her black t-shirt with her hair tied back. How come she looks so grown up all of a sudden????

4. Baking scones - We have had weeks of rain, off and on, and after seeing a yummy photo of scones in a Country Style magazine, I decided I really NEEDED to make some. I found a recipe and started rubbing that butter into the flour. A short time later, I had hot scones with jam and cream and my neighbour arrived in a timely fashion to help me scoff them. The recipe was from David Herbert in the Australian Weekend Magazine (sorry - can't be bothered to find a link - a lazy mother AND a lazy blogger) and had chopped apricot in the scones. Yum....I love apricot. Of course I had to make another batch two days later as it was still raining and well...I had the rest of the cream to use up, didn't I?

5. Quilting - no photo yet but I'm in the midst of making a quick flannelette baby quilt to send to the Appalachian Mountains. It's a project I read about here and if I don't finish it soon, winter will be over in the Appalachians. Luckily, Rachel, who organises it has been very patient with me. Unfortunately, while sewing on the binding yesterday the needle on my sewing machine broke so I'm about to traipse down to the nice man at the sewing machine shop so he can show me how to put a new one in. I've tried myself without success.

Just while on the quilting topic, I just noticed this post of Rachel's with a photo of her fabric stash all neatly folded and in a little cabinet. Such a pretty sight that I wish I had one instead of shoving my fat quarters and material into shopping bags and squeezing them into my wardrobe. Check it out.

6. Having a rare date with my husband - Yesterday, we organised the girls' favourite babysitter and went out for a day off together. We went to our favourite haunt of late - the Barracks at Petrie Terrace. We happily spent over 5 hours having coffee/pie/icecream/lunch, seeing a movie, browsing in a bookshop, without having to shift the car. It was heaven - and so great to see my boy in a different light (as in not someone I mostly discuss children and chores with). When we got home we had an impromptu photo shoot as the girls wanted photos of their beloved babysitter, Olivia - all of 18 years old and worth her weight in gold (rather than the paltry $65 we paid her). Thank you Olivia. I won't embarrass you by putting your photo on my blog so here's one of Scott and the girls instead.

Things making me happy

Just some random stuff that is making me happy. I seem to have lost my momentum with my blog but I guess it's just there for when I'm in the mood....it doesn't have to be something on my "to do" list. Sometimes, I just wait for inspiration to strike. As it did just now when E cried out "Look, Mummy...our first baby nasturtium!!". So....here it is. A simple, small thing I know, but it really makes me happy. All my lovely colourful petunias have gone scraggy and dead looking so after consultation with my green thumbed mother, I have hoiked most of them out. I will start again with some new baby plants. Also, my pansies are not coping with the warmer weather and I don't have time to water them EVERY morning so I might go with something more hardy like geraniums that I can neglect but still get pretty flowers from.

Recently, I have slackened off from my efforts to let the children have less time watching kids' TV/dvds and playing the computer (mostly my big girl, not the little one). But I resumed my guerilla warfare this week. My family doesn't respond well to "rules" and the Daddy is too soft to help me enforce them so I gently said one school morning that we were going to do "other fun stuff" rather than watch TV before school. (E usually gets up at 6am or earlier so is usually allowed to watch TV quietly before having breakfast and getting dressed). I put out scissors, glue, paper and magazines the night before and in the morning, told the girls we were going to cut out pictures of stuff that we would like in our life and stick them on paper to make a sort of life wish collage. That only occupied them for a little while. (Making the rainbow out of magazine pictures was much more successful. Don't know how to link to that post, though). Anyway....I also bought a packet of little coloured matchsticks and let the girls loose with them. E made pictures and G did a multi media installation!

So it made me happy to see them absorbed in creating rather than interacting with a screen.

Lastly, I don't watch that much "grown up" TV or get many DVDs out because by the time the girls are asleep, I'm just about ready for bed and can't manage to watch an hour or more of something. Scott is a night owl and had tried to get me to watch "Californication" but I thought it looked too sleazy. I gave it another try one night and, again, thought the first episode was a bit gross. All that sex with strange women put me off no end. But...I persisted and soon realised there is a lot more to the show than just the graphic sex scenes. It's funny and has it's deep moments and David Duchovny's character grew insidiously on me until I developed a bit of a crush. Yes...he's an irresponsible sex addict but he "loves the shit out of his daughter" and has a good heart and he makes me laugh. So now we have wizzed through the first season. I can manage a half hour of TV before bed without too many eyedrops and often say "Let's watch another episode!". Yep....I'm a real party girl.

After work this week, I had a rare chance to browse in the city shops as Scott was at home on duty with the girls. I decided to treat us to the next season of Hank and get a new dvd each for the girls. "Milly Molly" for E and a Hi Five dvd G has been wanting forever. It was nice to come home with a present for everyone. The budget doesn't run to presents much but it's good to lash out occasionally. So...if you want to snuggle up with someone and have a good laugh....give Hank a try. (By that I mean snuggle up with someone and watch Hank together. But I could definitely snuggle with Hank!)

Cheeky girl

I must say I am finding mothering G very challenging at the moment. Since she turned about 2 and a half (six months ago) she has been so determined and disobedient it nearly drives me crazy. Of course, I understand this is a normal developmental stage and that she is learning to be her own little person and enjoy some independance but it is so wearing to have a battle every half an hour over brushing teeth, wearing appropriate clothes (ie not a strappy summer dress in the middle of winter), getting in to the car, jumping on the couch etc etc etc. I try REALLY hard not to smack her as I believe it is quite wrong to hurt children and only teaches them to hurt others but there have been several times this year that I have lost my temper and smacked her on the leg or bare bottom. then I feel sick and a bit of a failure. Yesterday, she repeatedly jumped and stepped all over her big sister who was trying to chill out and watch some kids' tv after a hard day in Grade 1. You can't ignore that sort of behaviour and I cannot physically pick her up and remove her from the situation for some time out because of a back injury. I guess I'll just have to hold her calmly on my lap and talk to her instead.

This morning she was playing quietly in the playroom so I thought I'd sneak on to the computer for a few minutes. Suddenly, I looked at what she was doing. She had cut up a beautiful drawing that E had done at school for her Dad for Father's Day. I was so shocked (thinking of what E's reaction would be) that I just said "Oh Greta....oh Greta" over and over in a horrified tone of voice. That made the little thing cry and cry as she realised she had done something pretty naughty. So I gave her a big cuddle and said "You can't cut up E's pictures. We'll have to stick it back together with sticky tape". I guess the moral of the story is that I shouldn't be blogging and not supervising G. but I honestly cannot watch her like a hawk from dawn to dusk.

Similarly, we had a visiting child recently who was happily playing outside with my two girls. I was getting their dinner ready and cleaning up the house and checking on them every so often. Each time I went outside, they had found something else naughty to do like tormenting the dog, squishing red berries on the trampoline and throwing them everywhere etc. I guess not that naughty really. But I wondered at what age you can actually let your children have some freedom outside in the fresh air in the yard while you do the housework or whatever. What do you do? Am I being slack? All just normal children's behaviour, I guess, so not worth getting myself into a lather over.

Now that I have typed that all out, I feel I am raving on about nothing much. It does all seem a bit inconsequential, but I feel better for venting so thanks for listening. (I've already run similar stuff by Tammie and it's good to know that other mothers have these days too).

Edited 2pm - Just to add a more positive note. After writing that post, G and I went to our local shopping centre to buy chicken for dinner and bank the contents of her piggybank. She was such a good little girl that I felt ashamed of complaining. She drew quietly on the deposit slips while the teller counted the money and we sat at a table and had a sushi roll each for lunch instead of her sitting in the stroller eating it while I race around doing the shopping. She's getting too big for stroller anyway. Then she posted a letter in the letterbox on the way back to the car, standing on my knee to reach the slot. The lovely thing was that two separate elderley passersby who came to post their letters, gave them to G to post to make her feel special. Aren't people kind?

a ride in the bush

We decided to avoid the annual "Show" this year as we are being cautious about the swine flu. It's in a lot of schools anyway, but with E being asthmatic we don't want to be milling around with thousands of people. Also last year we spent a ridiculous amount of money on entry, rides for the children, sample bags etc. So....this year we went for a horse ride instead. I think, officially, they were ponies actually. E got to ride her favourite pony called Patch. (Scott doesn't always wear that ridiculous hat - he was minding it for E). We went with our lovely neighbours so it was a good chance to chat and catch up.


After the ride, we like to give the horses an apple. Here's what happened.

Eventually, the poor horse got to eat the apple, with a bit of added dirt for extra flavour.

The weather was gorgeous and we had a lovely relaxed time being out in the bush. I led one of the ponies which required slight concentration so that I didn't get stepped on.

Afterwards, we all drove towards home and stopped in a creekside park to eat our picnic, enjoy the sunshine and let the children play in the playground. It was SO good to have a lazy day (and be out of our messy house)

Garden update

As my quilting/patchwork/sewing plans are on hold until I get my hands on my sister's machine and can afford to have it serviced, I am trying to enjoy being in the garden now that the weather is warmer. It actually felt like spring today - gentle sunshine, no wind, about 24 degrees (C) and just about perfect for being outside. G and I have pulled some weeds and washed the car which was actually more enjoyable than I thought. Funny how some chores aren't so bad if you relax and take your time. And you have a little helper.

Anyway....here are some photos from the garden. My lavender flowers are bringing me so much joy. Today, I showed G how to run her hands over the leaves and flowers and then smell the beautiful fragrance. She loved it and said "Kipper can't do it". She likes to feel superior to the dog, being the baby of the house.


My Mum gave me this pretty pink geranium a year or more ago and I stuck in the front garden when it was completely bare. I have pretty much neglected it ever since and is now looking nice and colourful against the carport boards. I like flowers that thrive on neglect like geraniums and nasturtiums. We have planted some nasturtium seeds but they haven't sprouted because G and/or Kipper keep digging them up.

Speaking of Kipper, here he is watching me take a picture of the revamped no dig vege patch. This was taken over by the pumpkin vine last year and I have finally pulled the damn thing out. The girls helped put the pavers/stones around the edge and put some extra ones down the middle to use as stepping stones. I've moved them to the back to make room for the veges when they eventually go in. My dad is taking me to the garden shop tomorrow to buy some flasher garden edge pavers that hopefully will do a better job of keeping the weeds out. I've put a layer of compost and grass clippings on top but it probably needs a few more layers of good stuff before I start planting.

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather yesterday and went to a park with a lovely big timber playground. Although the playground is great, E's favourite part of this particular park is the duck pond across a big grassy area. It used to be part of a creek (Kedron Brook) but like many of the city's small creeks ("streams" for those not familiar with the Australian vernacular - or do you say "creeks" as well in the US?), they have been enclosed in concrete channels and now look more like drains. Anyway... the duck pond was quite picturesque (apart from the shopping trolley someone had dumped in it). The day before when we discovered it, it was full of nice ducks, with the added excitement of five evil looking eels, swimming about underneath the ducks and popping their heads up in search of food. This time, there was not an eel or duck in sight, just a couple of black moorhead looking things.

We had taken a neighbour's child with us and I was in "let the children have some freedom and feel the grass under their feet" mode so of course someone took their shoes off and stepped on something sharp and ended up with a cut foot. Of course, it was the neighbour's child - not one of mine and I thought the cut might need a stitch or two. So...we packed up and headed home to do some first aid before delivering the child home with an offer to drive to the nearest medical centre (a two hour wait on a Sunday) and pay the doctor's fee. Happily the cut was fairly minor and holding together and the little girl's mum was happy with her tetanus status so we went back home and watched a dvd together. I guess the moral of the story was to let the children enjoy the grass under their feet when we are in the backyard and not traipsing around a creek in a park. I'll have to find other ways to let the children experience the freedom I had as a child, growing up in the country and allowed to wander near and far on my bike with a friend and a picnic lunch we had made ourselves, as long as we were home by dark.

Indulging myself by posting more photos of children

Dear Bloggy friends,

I haven't had much time lately for blogging or downloading photos from the camera but have just managed to get organised and so am inflicting my favourite latest photos on you. Sorry!

This photo of G and Kipper blowing bubbles cracks me up. He tried to catch every bubble she blew until I was worried that he would be sick from eating too much. ( I say this because once, while babysitting a friend's toddler, he sucked some bubble mixture up a bubble pipe and I felt compelled (as a registered nurse) to ring the Poisons Info line for advice. While I was on the phone, the toddler vomited it all up and survived to tell the tale, but I was psychologically scarred for life. The gorgeous boy's mum then died suddenly when he was about 7, but that's a whole other story and too sad to get into).

Photo of G wearing her beloved "heart heart" shirt and E's swimming cap, which for some reason she loves. (This photo belongs to a bit further down the page but didn't want to move down there).


Above is E. in the rain on Easter Sunday morning - quite early as you can see from the lack of sunshine. I would have thought that as it was raining, the Easter Bunny would have hidden the eggs for the customary hunt inside the house...but no....
Below is the little girl, also with an easter bucket, but, sadly, sans umbrella. I'm sure that one day both my children will die of pneumonia from being allowed (by their marshmallow father) to play in the rain without umbrellas. G. is wearing gumboots though so that's ok then, isn't it?
Next we have the girls wearing their easter bonnets. I know, they don't really look like bonnets at all, but E needed a hat for the school Easter parade and I thought a cone shaped hat would be the easiest type to make. I thought it would be cheaper than buying a hat to decorate but then I spent around $17 at the Hypermarket buying tissue paper, cardboard, lace, ribbons, etc. When finished the hats also had a swathe of white tulle hanging from the pointy bits making them look more princessy than Eastery but that was ok. I had to miss the Easter Parade this year which broke my heart a little bit. Last year, I was still on maternity leave and watched my little Prep girl marching with her class in the parade (in bunny ears, I think). Little G. ran up to her big sister and joined the parade and I was so touched by the whole thing that I got all teary. I was also really touched that the school made a big deal of donating lots of easter eggs etc to the Salvation Army to take to shelters/hospitals and a Salvation Army lady was at the school parade to accept them all. I love that E is at a school with lots of community spirit.

Here are the girls with umbrellas again. It's been SO wet here lately. (It's been raining on Le's blog too, I notice). We went to my sister's for a cuppa a week or two ago to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was gorgeous sitting on her front deck, with the children playing (in and out of the rain), just chatting and relaxing, as families do. I finally managed to get G into this pretty dress that a friend sent her for Christmas from Malaysia. She usually wants only to wear her "heart heart shirt" and "orange pants" which are disgustingly old, faded and stained and make her look like a complete ragamuffin. I've just added a photos of said shirt but it has appeared at the top of the post and doesn't want to be relocated down here.

That's it for now except to say thank you, to Tammie, for the tip about centre-ing the photos to make them a bit more well behaved. It's working....most of the time.

PS We did have some discussions about the true meaning of Easter at our house. I wouldn't call myself a Christian but I sort of feel that the Judaeo-Christian (?spelling) mythology and literature is part of our background so we do talk about the bible sometimes and that Jesus was a good guy. Anyway...E must have had an RE lesson about Easter at school because she informed me that Jesus died at Easter but then came back to life "in a big fridge". Maybe they thought tomb was too scary a word!

Off to the photographers

Dear faithful readers (all 5 of you),

Finally, I find a spare 10 minutes to do some blogging. Small daughter crashed at 6.30pm in my arms being breastfed on the couch while I actually watched the wonderful British archaeology programme "Time Team". It makes we Brisbane heritage people weep as they are so spoilt with heritage over there. I also love getting my fix of English countryside. Every little path seems to be so picturesque. Even the weeds are beautiful! Anyway...one of the benefits of giving up the daytime sleep is a very very tired toddler by 6pm. She would not normally fall asleep in the lounge room while her mother watched TV. If only the 6 year old would go to sleep at a reasonable hour, life would be so much easier. When Scott came home from work tonight to find only one child awake, I said "Is this what it is like in normal households where people are stricter and children go to bed at a proper time?".

Anyway..on to the planned topic for this post. How easy it is to ramble when blogging. The above photos were taken on Saturday as we left the house for a proper photo to be taken for "Grandma's " birthday. Needless to say, this required wearing proper dresses and having hair very tidy. It also involved bribing the youngest girl into wearing a proper dress by promising a "frocky frog". My sister was meeting us with the other three grandchildren at "Brookie", the shopping centre of our childhood, at the fairly revolting photographic studio which gives you a $21 sitting and a free photo while doing their best to talk you into spending hundreds of dollars. This took weeks to arrange as my sister and I both work and my children have been infectious with various disgusting ailments for a few weeks. Finally we get there to be greeted by my sister who says "H looks really sick. He can't come. We have to cancel". C'est la vie. But my big girl, who didn't want her photo taken an hour earlier, now dissolves into tears at the thought of the cancelled photo shoot. So we have a photo shoot with just my two girls. It's not too painful and I see a sneak preview on the computer screen. The photos are taken with a plain white background which I thought would make the girls look washed out in their pastel flowery dresses but the photos look fantastic. So fresh and modern - not like the usual dreadful portraits. I can see I won't be able to resist buying several.

So for now, here are the shots we took before we headed out the gate, which of course, had to include Kipper the dog. As you can see, the small girl has entered that phase which seems to last forever of smiling purposefully for every photo and ruining the "naturalness" of the photo. Never mind.

On a completely different topic....I was so proud of my big girl today. She has a little boy in her grade 1 class who is a real sweetie. He has a vision problem so wears very strong glasses and has had a couple of years of special education before joining the mainstream schooling last year. He was bullied in prep by the kids for being "different" and had a miserable time. He is now in E's class and just loves our big girl, who has taken him under her wing a bit. His mum approached me at his request to ask if he could come over for a play. "Of course" we said so phone numbers were exchanged and today he came home with us after school. He is such a wise, funny little guy. When my two ran to the car along the footpath he said " No running on the cement. You'll get skinned knees!". After we had afternoon tea, he brought his cup and plate to me in the kitchen and put them in the sink. I love kids who did that. The kids had a lovely time playing and I was amazed at E enjoying the whole experience so much as she is such a grown up girly girl and not really into boys at all. The little guy's mum told me that E is a credit to us so tonight I am a proud Mum. It's so easy for me to concentrate on her and my failings and good to remember that she is turning out ok.