Ah, 1982, I was only 10. I'm am using that as an excuse for why I loved Boy George and wanted to marry him.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
New school
Last Tuesday, while I was in Sydney, Jossie had her orientation day at the high school she will be attending next year. Jossie is so good at trying new things (except food - she's the fussiest eater) and had such a good time and made new friends. She came home abuzz with excitement for the new adventure. Andrew and I also got to see the school and feel the excitement on Sunday afternoon when we had an information session and tour of the school.
It's a very nice school with plenty of space, one of the many advantages to living in the country.
Sunday afternoon was just one part of our busy weekend. On Saturday night (with much preparation during the week and on Saturday afternoon) our church held its annual Café by Candlelight. Delicilous desserts (the banoffee pie! My last sugar hit for a while), a gospel talk, Christmas tag making and lots of talking. I was the MC and Liz and I ran the tag making so it was lots of work but a really great evening. I didn't even think of taking a photo.
Toby and Bethany had been with friends while Jossie, Andrew and I were at the school and by the time we had picked them up, it was time for the Estella Christmas party!
The kids were so excited about it! We shared the excitement with Nelly whose hair looked fabulous when striped.
There were lots of games for kids.
Lovely, old-fashioned games that require moving and don't have a screen.
Bethany's age group was very well represented and while she came second in her heat for the sack race, she didn't place in the final and was distraught. She had to go home for a little bit she was so upset! Sometimes it isn't that encouraging to tell your children that you came last in pretty much every race you ever ran/swam/jumped in.
Even the big kids had a turn.
It is very sad that this is the last Christmas party that the Ks will have in Estella. They move to Melbourne in January and we'll miss them a lot.
Santa came and handed out bags filled with lollies. Andrew found these two behind a tree. They hid so that we wouldn't tell them when to stop eating lollies. Smart kids.
It's a very nice school with plenty of space, one of the many advantages to living in the country.
Sunday afternoon was just one part of our busy weekend. On Saturday night (with much preparation during the week and on Saturday afternoon) our church held its annual Café by Candlelight. Delicilous desserts (the banoffee pie! My last sugar hit for a while), a gospel talk, Christmas tag making and lots of talking. I was the MC and Liz and I ran the tag making so it was lots of work but a really great evening. I didn't even think of taking a photo.
Toby and Bethany had been with friends while Jossie, Andrew and I were at the school and by the time we had picked them up, it was time for the Estella Christmas party!
The kids were so excited about it! We shared the excitement with Nelly whose hair looked fabulous when striped.
There were lots of games for kids.
Lovely, old-fashioned games that require moving and don't have a screen.
Bethany's age group was very well represented and while she came second in her heat for the sack race, she didn't place in the final and was distraught. She had to go home for a little bit she was so upset! Sometimes it isn't that encouraging to tell your children that you came last in pretty much every race you ever ran/swam/jumped in.
Even the big kids had a turn.
It is very sad that this is the last Christmas party that the Ks will have in Estella. They move to Melbourne in January and we'll miss them a lot.
Santa came and handed out bags filled with lollies. Andrew found these two behind a tree. They hid so that we wouldn't tell them when to stop eating lollies. Smart kids.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Loving the Eighties
It appears Promised you a miracle won't work out of Youtube. This one does though. Ahh, the Breakfast Club, classic movie.
Switch
Before I tell you about my trip to Sydney, I forgot I had these photos of the little concert Toby played in a couple of weekends ago. A girl in his class decided to raise money for clean water in the developing world, so she asked her friends and school mates to play in a concert.
These are all the kids who performed. The iPhone belongs to Shep who appears to be taking a photo of Toby, probably to send to Andrew whogot out of was unable to attend. Nelly (the littlest Shephard) recited some poems.
After church on Sunday, Claire, Michael and I flew up to Sydney for the Public Libraries New South Wales SWITCH Conference. I have no idea what SWITCH stands for. We arrived too late for a South West Zone AGM but with a few hours to spare before the welcome reception, we gave the Art Gallery of NSW a call and were terribly pleased to hear that they weren't busy. We saw the Picasso exhibition! It was pretty fabulous. I really enjoyed seeing his work right up close. He had such a strange way of seeing things!
The welcome reception was held at Kinokuniya, the biggest book shop in the Southern Hemisphere (long may they live!).
What a fabulous spot to sit and read! They offered us 20% off for our libraries and also for ourselves so Michael and I bought pressies for the kids. I bought Toby Troubletwisters by the lovely Garth Nix and Sean Williams, Bethany, Milly-Molly-Mandy and I did look briefly at the teenage shelves but the volume was overwhelming so I bought Jossie her own copy of Little Woman. It warmed my heart to see all three children reading their books the next morning. Toby insists on reading in the car until he feels sick - it is so hard to discourage reading!
We stayed at Rydges World Square which is in such a handy spot. This $4 bottle is placed next to the beds! I wonder how many people think not getting up and walking to the bathroom where there are glasses and a tap is worth $4.
The conference itself was very good. The ceiling decorations are a bit distracting but we learnt a lot and got some great ideas. It was very exciting for me to hear a speaker from Orange County Library System in Florida - she brought Tricia, Jessica and Megan much closer for 20 minutes.
We didn't go to the conference dinner but went to Kushiyaki Azuma instead. So, so, so good. As it turns out, we probably should have gone to the dinner as we were given a highly commended for our Quick Picks service - here's a little video of Jeannie showing us how it works.
The Readit2011 twitter reading group I am involved with also won in the social media section.
There is a new T2 shop in World Square!
Super fabulous tea.
Really beautiful tea things.
A little man tea infuser. Favourite shop in the world.
These are all the kids who performed. The iPhone belongs to Shep who appears to be taking a photo of Toby, probably to send to Andrew who
After church on Sunday, Claire, Michael and I flew up to Sydney for the Public Libraries New South Wales SWITCH Conference. I have no idea what SWITCH stands for. We arrived too late for a South West Zone AGM but with a few hours to spare before the welcome reception, we gave the Art Gallery of NSW a call and were terribly pleased to hear that they weren't busy. We saw the Picasso exhibition! It was pretty fabulous. I really enjoyed seeing his work right up close. He had such a strange way of seeing things!
The welcome reception was held at Kinokuniya, the biggest book shop in the Southern Hemisphere (long may they live!).
What a fabulous spot to sit and read! They offered us 20% off for our libraries and also for ourselves so Michael and I bought pressies for the kids. I bought Toby Troubletwisters by the lovely Garth Nix and Sean Williams, Bethany, Milly-Molly-Mandy and I did look briefly at the teenage shelves but the volume was overwhelming so I bought Jossie her own copy of Little Woman. It warmed my heart to see all three children reading their books the next morning. Toby insists on reading in the car until he feels sick - it is so hard to discourage reading!
We stayed at Rydges World Square which is in such a handy spot. This $4 bottle is placed next to the beds! I wonder how many people think not getting up and walking to the bathroom where there are glasses and a tap is worth $4.
The conference itself was very good. The ceiling decorations are a bit distracting but we learnt a lot and got some great ideas. It was very exciting for me to hear a speaker from Orange County Library System in Florida - she brought Tricia, Jessica and Megan much closer for 20 minutes.
We didn't go to the conference dinner but went to Kushiyaki Azuma instead. So, so, so good. As it turns out, we probably should have gone to the dinner as we were given a highly commended for our Quick Picks service - here's a little video of Jeannie showing us how it works.
The Readit2011 twitter reading group I am involved with also won in the social media section.
There is a new T2 shop in World Square!
Super fabulous tea.
Really beautiful tea things.
A little man tea infuser. Favourite shop in the world.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Over for another year
Yesterday Andrew played in the last two shows of My Fair Lady. It has been great, especially as he had friends to do it with, but we will probably all enjoy the freedom that comes when it finishes.
We don't have any good photos from the show, these two come from the theatre's facebook page. There are people we know in the photo above, it is of the cast and crew, but I can't find them!
We have had a good weekend. Two extras slept at our house on Friday night. Not as much sleeping as usual, and a ridiculously early start for a Saturday, but I do like it when the kids have friends over. I spent much of the day washing, ironing and cooking (much is probably an exaggeration) as I am off to Sydney this afternoon for a library conference! There are three of us going and I have charged my camera so will share the experience.
We don't have any good photos from the show, these two come from the theatre's facebook page. There are people we know in the photo above, it is of the cast and crew, but I can't find them!
We have had a good weekend. Two extras slept at our house on Friday night. Not as much sleeping as usual, and a ridiculously early start for a Saturday, but I do like it when the kids have friends over. I spent much of the day washing, ironing and cooking (much is probably an exaggeration) as I am off to Sydney this afternoon for a library conference! There are three of us going and I have charged my camera so will share the experience.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
My Fair Lady
The show was fabulous! It was fun, funny, elegant and sweet. The kids enjoyed it very much, particularly because they knew Mr Shephard and he was brilliant as Alfred P Doolittle.
Toby had a birthday party until 6.30 and we didn't get home from picking him up until 7 so we had a very quick dinner before getting dressed and leaving for the theatre. Sadly, this meant that I didn't take proper photos of everyone dressed up. Toby wouldn't sit still for a photo in the velvetty red light of the theatre.
Toby and Bethany nearly died (the melodrama was their own, not mine for once) of thirst before the interval. A bottle of water and a small cylinder of Pringles got them through to the end - around 11.15pm.
Bethany did need constant reminders to leave Jossie alone and that the people behind can't see through flailing arms and legs but she did have fun. This morning she carried on the fun by having a bleeding nose and fainting, really fainting, at the sight of the blood! I take it she's going to be hideously squeamish like I am - I really don't think it suits our personalities to be so delicate in this way but it can't be helped. She wants to be a vet.......
Toby had a birthday party until 6.30 and we didn't get home from picking him up until 7 so we had a very quick dinner before getting dressed and leaving for the theatre. Sadly, this meant that I didn't take proper photos of everyone dressed up. Toby wouldn't sit still for a photo in the velvetty red light of the theatre.
Toby and Bethany nearly died (the melodrama was their own, not mine for once) of thirst before the interval. A bottle of water and a small cylinder of Pringles got them through to the end - around 11.15pm.
Bethany did need constant reminders to leave Jossie alone and that the people behind can't see through flailing arms and legs but she did have fun. This morning she carried on the fun by having a bleeding nose and fainting, really fainting, at the sight of the blood! I take it she's going to be hideously squeamish like I am - I really don't think it suits our personalities to be so delicate in this way but it can't be helped. She wants to be a vet.......
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