three more sleeps

Sam starts school on Monday.

Uniforms are purchased and labeled; school shoes fitted and somewhat worn in; lunch is planned; handwriting has been regularly (and willingly) practiced; letter recognition has progressed to knowing some sight words and basic arithmetic has been covered. We have visited the school often throughout last year to donate our recycling to the Art room (necessitating a walk through the corridors); we have had a picnic lunch with 7 other new Prep. kids in the school yard during the holidays; we have walked and ridden the route to school. He is primed to respond to any verbal put-downs from other kids with a (beautifully intoned) "Yeah, whatever" and has been counting sleeps since there were 25 left. Frankly if there is anything else I can do to get him ready for school I have no idea what it could be. So, in exactly 60 hours he will start life as a Preppie and my work here is done.

Bitter Sweet. Ratio of 1:4 Bitter Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet. But I confess to feeling a little teary just writing this. I may well need a small nip of scotch after I drop him off.

farewells

On January the 8th we said goodbye to Anna, Sam's friend since he was 15 months old. Her family moved 4 hours eastward to Sale. The kids met in playgroup and have had regular playdates for years. Having Anna over to play effectively gets Sam out of my hair as the two of them disappear and play and hide and make happy mischief for hours on end. Sam will miss her, and Michael and I will miss her parents who were the rare couple we met through playgroup type things that we get along with and have a lot in common besides our kids. Sam has missed her since she left, although she has rung for a chat a few times. It has been hilarious to hand Sam the phone and hear his one sided conversation relating his day or week - a glimpse into parenting a teenager.

the summer garden

These photos were taken on Christmas Day, the front garden was astounding and the display was so perfectly timed. There are lots of photos, basically because I am so damned pleased with myself. It has been culled and cut back in a grand leap of faith (will my Achillea flower again as promised?) and looks completely different now, but this is it - in all its Summer Glory.

christmas day

I am not sure if all school holidays will be the same but posting has proven nearly impossible this holidays. We have been alternatively busy and exhausted and keeping the blog up to date has fallen by the wayside. So finally, over a month after Christmas Day, I am managing to post some Christmas photos. There are so many, these are the highlights.

Santa visited the local park on Xmas Eve, arriving on a Fire Engine and giving out lolly bags.

Treats for Santa left on the verandah on Christmas Eve

Digging into the pillow cases - it was a Lego themed year from Santa.

Spontaneous Joy!

Post Xmas Lunch cricket match.


Finish the day with Charades and puzzles.

harvest time in the front garden

I took a leap of faith in the garden last week and cut back the Achillea Coronation Gold in the front garden. I have been promised a second flowering in late summer/early autumn so took to them with the secateurs. The harvest was enormous - a mound of flowers on the verandah that seemed way bigger than it looks in the photo. I think you need to look at the chairs for a sense of scale - they would have weighed at least 5 kilos. After much trimming of foliage and selecting the most vibrant of the golden blooms I had a couple of huge bunches in vases in the house.

shirley

Both Sam and Emily love and adore Shirley. This photo pretty well sums it up - Sam totally absorbed in Shirley's words of wisdom. Of course Shirley loves the kids - never more so than when Sam told her he "Did not know any old ladies". I was, of course, asking him this question to prompt a response about Shirley being an old lady - no such luck, he is on her side.

ouch!

Emily's forehead has healed magnificently since her pre-Christmas clash with the coffee table, and we are now hoping for similar healing for her chin. On Saturday she had a spectacular tumble down the verandah steps onto the concrete path, resulting in a mercy dash to the clinic, five stitches, a large bruise and an incredible show of courage and fortitude when being injected with local anaesthetic.

busy

It is almost a month since I posted and so much has happened that I am sure to forget masses of it and post things in a most untimely manner - expect to read a blog about Christmas morning sometime in February. So, at some stage soon you will read about: Christmas; Adelaide; staying at Paul and Kate's; the heat; the garden; Shirley, Jude and Maryjane's visit; painting; Emily's chin (stitches, not glue this time!); exercise; school... the list goes on and on.