Lightening Online

Farmboy and I are leaders on a Kids Camp this weekend.  The theme of the camp is “Olympics” and our group has been allocated Jamaica as our “country”.

So this morning, I dyed my hair black.

It doesn’t have any product in it (hence the “fluffiness”) because I’m about to start plaiting it.  Singstar Princess will help me with the back plaits tonight and I’ll plait hers as well.

Lleyton and Farmboy have Jamaican wigs.

Trailer Boy isn’t old enough to go yet so he’s having a holiday with Granny and Grandad.

It should be a fun (and no doubt exhausting) weekend.  More pics next week (hopefully).

New Year’s Day is a day often filled with hope (and hangovers).  A New Year, a fresh start.  A reason to celebrate the opportunity that is offered by the beginning of a New Year.

What colours will be painted on the canvas of 2010?  Joy.  Love.  Pain.  Sadness.  The emotions both positive and negative are what makes up the brilliant colours painted on the canvas of life.

Whether we like it or not, difficult times are character building and make up an important part of our life painting.  Yes, at the time we’d rather be anywhere but there.  But on reflection, those difficulties can be character and strength building if we will allow them to.

Am I setting myself up for a difficult year?  I hope not.  But I will admit that it’s concerned me how many people have been eager to see 2009 disappear and embrace the hope of 2010.  People who really feel 2009 was the worst year ever.  At times we really do have years that are more difficult than others.  Sometimes though, I think it is what we focus on that affects our perception of how bad things really have been.  I can’t help but wonder how many of those will say the same thing at the end of 2010?

Of course, that’s easy for me to say.  2009 was a particularly wonderful year for us.  How could it not be when we spent a quarter of it on our big trip? 

Still, I have hope that 2010 will be just as wonderful, in a different way.

I’m generally not one to make New Years Resolutions.  However, I do like to take a moment to consider what my goals and dreams are for the New Year.

2010 Goals and Dreams

House

1.  Continue to declutter (I think that’s a never ending job!)

2.  Paint all of the inside walls (with the exception of the 1 room I actually managed to get done in 2009)

3.  Finish our back decking (it’s not far off now)

Garden

1.  Build our permaculture style vegie garden

2.  Plant 2 or 3 more fruit trees

3.  Buy 2 large pots for dwarf lemon and dwarf mandarin trees

Health

1.  Continue to exercise.  Aim for 6 sessions per week of 30-60 minutes duration

2.  Focus on healthy eating

3.  Try to shed 10kg slowly

Kids

1.  Continue involvement with P&F at school

2.  Holiday swimming lessons during the year (given we’re missing the January ones)

3. Continue to develop Lleyton’s passion and ability with tennis (have finally got him into a week long clinic in Adelaide to help develop and refine his skills)

4.  Go away in the caravan at least twice during the year

Finances

1.  Work on gradually curbing our current spending spree

2.  Save $2000 toward our planned 15th Anniversary cruise

3.  Continue to save toward a new laptop for myself

4.  Increase our acreage to earn money for our house renovation projects (means I’ll be doing a lot more hours this year - effectively making me a working mother)

That’s about all I can think of for now.  No doubt 2010 will be filled with unexpected surprises and challenges.  All I can say is “bring it one”. 

Happy New Year everyone.  Hope 2010 is everything you  hope for and more!

P.S.  I actually wrote this on New Years Day but forgot to hit publish.  DOH!!!

My kids have been having lots of fun getting creative with their food of late.

This is one of Trailer Boys creations (he’s not quite 6):

Face, body, legs and arms.  The rest of the apple pieces are fingers.  All out of proportion but doesn’t he look good enough to eat???? 

We’ve had a couple of concerts in recent weeks that the kids have been involved in.

The first was our church’s Strawberry Fete. We hold this each year as a fundraiser. Basically it’s a concert but we sell strawberries and ice cream as well as have a cake stall, plant stall and some goodies for the kids to buy.

This year’s theme for our Sunday School portion of the concert was Superheroes.

Lleyton was Robin in one skit:

And a Gangster in another:

Singstar Princess was one of Superman’s cheerleaders:

And my little superhero:

The second was Singstar Princesses first dance concert.  She only started dance at the beginning of this year and while she did do one dance at our community concert, this was the first “official” dance concert for her.

She had an absolute blast!!!!

She was in 1 less dance than her class due to the term she missed while we were away.  There were a number of “combined” dances though so she was in 5 altogether.  I won’t bore you with photo’s of all 5 though!!! 

Here she is at home before we left:

So far I have been pretty lucky with dance outfits as the dance teacher co-ordinates what she wants and we just pay a set fee per year.

I tend to get pretty stressed trying to work out dress ups and costumes and the like.

But the kids love the chance to get up on stage and perform and they’re very lucky to have the opportunity.

Well, it wasn’t strictly our FIRST presentation morning.  I’ve been to others.  But it was the FIRST time any of our children were old enough to qualify for an award.

Although our school is R-12, the awards at presentation morning are given from year 6-12.

Lleyton is in year 6 this year and there must have been some “chatter” at school about who might get certificates and awards this year.  Lleyton came home and asked me if we had gotten a “letter”.

We had.  The school sends out letters to let parents know their children are receiving something at Presentation Morning.

He figured he might get an excellence in Mathematics (which he did).

As it turned out, he also received the book prize.  Now, I’m not 100% sure how they work out who receives the “book prize” but I *think* it’s the top male and female in each year level based on overall grades.  However, to qualify they also must be awarded a “studentship award” (which obviously Lleyton also received - which is more about attitude, effort, behaviour and appearance).

A proud mummy moment today. :)  And he is looking foward to going shopping at the bookstore with the $30 gift voucher he was given. 

I need some help.

Trailer Boy turns 6 in just over a month.

And I haven’t bought a single thing for his birthday!!!!

Which is totally unusual for me.

However, what is even MORE unusual is that I don’t have a CLUE what to get him.

I’m not sure I have EVER had this dilemma before.

He doesn’t need a new bike (he has Lleyton’s old one and we’ll probably buy him a new one next year).

He would like a Nintendo DS but I still feel that he is a bit young.  Lleyton was given a Gameboy when he was almost 7 (and then saved and bought his own DS later) and Singstar Princess only got her DS last year for her 8th birthday.

He does want more matchbox cars.  He ALWAYS wants more matchy cars.  We have like a gazillion but it’s always what he goes for when he has money to spend.

But it would be nice to get him 1 major thing.  The type of thing he doesn’t get to buy with his own money.  Unless it’s something special (like the DS) we usually look to spend around $100.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Hairbrushes in this house are like pens.

They seem to wander off without the slightest provocation!

We seem to be able to go from half a dozen to none in the space of hours!!!

Then all of a sudden they’ll reappear again.  Have a feast on hair and dead skin and then return to party with the missing pens and socks!!!

Farmboy got sick of this the other day so he tied a hairbrush to Princess Singstars bed.

For a whole week now we have not heard the words “I can’t find a hairbrush”.

Brilliant!!!

Am wondering if I should tie my hairbrush to my bed…. and the car keys, my sunnies, mobile phone and everything else I manage to lose on a regular basis.

Gee, wonder where Princess Singstar gets it from????

Lleyton had a much awaited moment today.

He got to try out for Sapsasa Tennis.

He has been waiting a couple of years now in the hopes that he might make it when he finally got to year 6 (most Sapsasa sport is for years 6 & 7).

Talk about a nail-biting day!!!

We were warned that they give preference to year 7 students so him being only year 6, we really had no idea how much of a chance he had of making the team.

When we arrived, some of the parents were saying the turn-out was particularly good this year for the try-outs.

That only made me more nervous!

In fact, I think I was more nervous than Lleyton.

He really enjoyed his day which is really the main thing.  It’s a great experience and we haven’t yet entered him in any tournaments so it was good exposure to a tournament type setting.

He particularly enjoyed playing a really good player as it really challenged his game and he felt his game improved.

I was so proud of his attitude all day.  He kept so positive about his own game as well as that of his opponents.  It was very special to watch.

And HE GOT IN!!!!

He was STOKED!!!!!

I think he’s still flying high.

He’s number 3 in the team which is a great achievement for him.

Particularly give that positions 1 & 2 were pretty much already set by a couple of AMAZING players that also played last year.

So, we are off to Adelaide in a couple of weeks.

Looks like I’ll be taking him as Farmboy seems to think he really should do a few days work sometime now that we’re back.  Eek!!!  I have to drive in the city!!!!  The things we’ll do for our children!!!!

Last weekend, Singstar Princess had her first dance performance as part of our annual community talent concert.

She was SO excited.

I was SO nervous.

Instructions came home and what to wear and what make up.

Eek!!!!

This was the part of dance I was concerned about (and why I held off letting her dance for a while).  Fortunately, her teacher is wonderful when it comes to costumes and we all pay a set fee per year and she handles all the costumes.

So, it was really only her regular dance clothes, get her hair into a neat bun (no mean feat when it’s layered) and put on red lipstick and blue eyeshadow.  The make up had me a bit nervous.  How much?  Do I put foundation etc on as well?  Etc.  Etc.  Anyway, I asked around and in the end realised I had nothing to worry about as they all wore it slightly differently.  LOL.

Here she is all ready to go:

She looked SO beautiful!!!!

When we got there, most of the other dancers were actually wearing CLOTHES over their outfits - not just a jacket.  I felt like a bad mother for not dressing her more warmly.  LOL.  I shouldn’t have worried because after her performance, she was running around WITHOUT the jacket on.

It wasn’t easy to capture a picture of her while dancing - she kept moving on me!!!!  I nearly missed the whole dance trying to get some nice photographs.  Thankfully Farmboy recorded it.

She did SUCH a good job and didn’t look like someone who had just started dance.  Even more importantly, she looked like she was having SO much fun!!!! 

But the biggest smiley moment came after the performance, watching my little dancer have a cuddle on her daddy’s lap while watching the rest of the concert.  :)  I kept missing the concert because I wanted to keep staring at the two of them.

I hope you’ve all got something to smile about this Smiley Saturday.

I’m giving up on Mr Linky.  If you have a smiley saturday post, please feel free to link to it in the comments section.

Image via Wikipedia

Last night we had our parent-teacher interviews with our children’s teachers. Our school is very accommodating in attempting to line up all interviews on the same night. As it turned out, that was going to be no mean feat given the various nights our children’s teachers were and weren’t available and with us shearing this week. Of the 2 weeks of interviews, last night was the only night we were ALL available. Anyway, they managed to fit us all in last night which was great.

I often wonder what goes through a teacher’s mind in the lead up to parent-teacher interviews. Do they get nervous? How do they view parents? What will their opinion be of me? A couple of times I’ve noticed a rather alarmed expression come across different teachers faces at comments I’ve made. I have a rather dry sense of humour and can tend to look serious when I’m actually joking. I didn’t even realise this until Farmboy and I started dating and he NEVER laughed at my jokes. Turns out he was too scared to laugh because he couldn’t tell if I was serious or not. I thought perhaps I wasn’t as funny as I thought. He laughs a LOT now that he knows my sense of humour a little better.

So, I have to be a little bit careful.

Anyway, back to last night.

We began with Trailer Boys teachers. He has 2. One of them has taught all of my children so it was a lot of fun talking about how VERY different our 3 children are. We click really well and have similar ideas when it comes to learning so I’m very pleased Trailer Boy has her (even if it’s only 2 days a week). I love it when you really click with a teacher - it makes the whole parent-school relationship SO much easier.

They were surprised to hear that we have tears most mornings from Trailer Boy because he doesn’t want to go to school. It’s funny really because I think he enjoys it when he gets there and he comes home happy.

His progress seems so SLOW compared to our older 2 children and while this is something I expected based on his personality and learning style, there’s always the fear there of “is he going alright?” Apparently he’s going fine.

Singstar Princesses teacher seems really lovely. She’s in her first year out of uni which is always a challenging year. She’s having some issues in the class but getting some good support from the school. We actually had trouble filling in the whole interview time which is a first for me (usually I talk too much and go over time). The thing is, she’s our “easy” child. She fits really well into the school system. She’s bright enough to learn quickly regardless of what teacher she has but not so bright that she gets bored. She’s social and enjoys school.

What did actually surprise me was the testing results her teacher shared with us. This is the first time we’ve been given a decent indication of where she is up to in comparison to her age. Apparently she’s almost 2 years ahead in spelling and well over a year ahead in reading. That’s the problem when you come after a gifted brother I guess - good achievements can seem weak in comparison.

I did take pity on Lleyton’s teacher. She’s also a “first year out” teacher and is very lovely. When she told me he was achieving 6 months ahead of his level in maths I was tempted to let my jaw drop in horror at where the other 4 years went. Technically, based on a standardised test the Deputy Principal gave him at the beginning of year 3, he was able to pass year 7 levels quite comfortably.

On talking a little with his teacher, she is going to extend him a little.

I have to admit that to an extent, I’m weary of fighting for him to be extended. In the early years I tried because I was concerned that he wasn’t learning the important life skill of “learning” and persevering. Eventually, we realised the school system just couldn’t seem to cope with this and we worked on it outside of school. We haven’t given up on HIM. Just on the system. He goes to school and as long as he’s reasonably happy, socially adaptable and not getting into too much trouble (he’s just starting to unfortunately), we’ve let things be.

Does that make me a bad parent? I’m not sure.

The thing that has really kept me going in the last year or so is this trip on the horizon. Knowing that we have a whole term in which we can extend him and that most of that extension will be horizontal (broadening his range of experience) rather than vertical (simply getting further and further ahead in the subjects he’s good in) has been what’s keeping me going.

Our biggest agenda with all of our kids teachers was to make sure they were aware of our plans to take Term 3 off for travelling. Last week I put in the paperwork to the school principal to apply for an exemption. That has to go to the Department for approval so I guess we’ll hear back next term some time. At this stage, we have the full support of the Principal and Deputy Principal and they seem to think exemption will be granted.

Interestingly, one of the common responses from the teachers was the appreciation for the heads up this early. Apparently some parents give them like a week’s notice. I don’t really understand this as it’s not every day you plan to take your children out of school for an extended period of time and surely the parents knew further in advance that that.

Anyway, this trip is bringing out the “wannabe” teacher in me so I’m having lots of fun with the planning stages. We have asked if each teacher will provide us with some basic literacy and numeracy work which will help our children cover the same basics while we are away as their classmates are learning in class. Everything else will be covered by the journal writing, photography and blogging as well as the many learning opportunities they’ll gain as we travel around.

All of the teachers seems supportive of the trip and happy to accommodate us in this way which is another box ticked in the planning and preparation for our trip.

It’s always a relief to get to the end of parent-teacher interviews with an overall sense that your children are thriving well in the school environment. Not that we don’t have issues as parents to deal with but for the most part, the news was all good.