School Ball

Lilly's school celebrated it's 150th year in 2003. As part of the celebration they had a school ball. They brought in a dance teacher who taught the children different dances (line dances as well as some ball room dances). This tradition has continued every other year since then. Which meant . . . Lilly got to participate in the school ball!

So each week in the first term of school, Lilly had dance class. She was never really able to tell me what she was learning, although she could kind of show me.

The actual ball was set up like a dance recital. All the parents sat around the dance floor with all the kids sitting on the floor (in their Sunday best). The classes would get up one at a time and do their dance and then sit down.


It was adorable!! I would love to post a video of one of the dances but I would feel comfortable posting without permission from all the other parents. You'll have to be happy with the pictures of just Lilly.


They also had family dances where the parents were invited to dance with their children and learn some of the dances. In addition they did the Macarena, the Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance and The Time Warp. It was kind of like being at a wedding without buying a present . . . and no dinner.

I Want to Catch a Smile

I'm trying but he's sneaky!

Apples, Apples, Who Wants an Apple?

Seth took a bunch of pictures of our apples and I was determined to edit them and wow you. But I have a sleeping baby in my arms and I'm still learning the editing stuff. So, you get what I have at the moment. Maybe I'll do something with them the next time I'm hands-free.

Can you find the pear?


Can you find the Lilly?


Seth said to do a silly face . . .

Autumn Activities

I used to look forward to the yearly field trip to the apple orchard. We always got to bring home apples and maybe a small pumpkin. There were donuts to eat and some apple cider for sippin'. I miss those days because there aren't any apple orchards close by and it's not something people do in these parts. BUT, we played the exception to the rule card and we went apple pickin'.

Seth's co-worker's parents own an apple orchard and seeing how it is the end of the apple season, we were invited to check it out. The trees are mostly empty now but every once in a while, we would come to a nice looking apple (one that the birds and bugs had not seen yet). We were told to take whatever we could find!

It was a great day for apple picking. The weather was just a little chilly but the sun was shining and we found lots of apples.

These used to be used to measure the amount of water the 'farmers' used to water the crops. This year there was so much rain the farm only had to be watered twice.


Lilly sized tree:


Lilly sized apple:


Seth sized apple:


Adlai sized apple:


Rows and rows of trees:


Jolie sized tractor:


Tomorrow we'll show you what we got!

One Month for Boy 63 Months for Girl

Adlai Goes to the Big City

Ok, I didn't take any pictures of Adlai but it was his first tram ride along with a million other firsts. While on school holidays, Lilly has been hanging out with a good friend from Prep. So we took the two girls and went to the city. Seth took the week off to hang out with us and he did go in the city but he ran some errands.

While we were at the Melbourne Museum, Lilly got to hold a Leaf Bug.


We went to the State Library to check out an exhibit and ran into a couple of Lilly's soccer teammates. At least the exhibit we went to see was about illustrations of children's books. So while the kids were running around looking at the pictures, I wasn't too worried about them running over some old ladies with their weekly shopping.

My Knitting Adventure

I thought it would be cute to be able to knit scarves and hats. So the best way I knew how to learn was to join a knitting circle. And join one I did. Well, it wasn't all that I thought it would be but I love it! I'm the youngest one (I brought the average age way down when I started) and the purpose of the group is to knit blankets for a charity.

So I was instructed in casting on and doing a simple knit stitch (forgive me if my vocabulary is wrong, I just do what I'm told). I just did the same stitch over and over and made strips of these stitches and then put all the strips together. All the 'wool' (aka yarn) is donated so I just used what was available and since I didn't know any better, would just grab random stuff.

I may have made the ugliest blanket (although my friend says she is working on that title now) . . .


but it is amazingly warm. The blanket is laying on my bed but it is folded in half. One of the ladies in the circle took the blanket and crocheted a border around the entire thing. I'm sure that helped it out a lot.

I have knitted two scarves. I need to dig them out and take a picture. Lilly grabbed one and the other one I'm hoping to make a matching beanie. I'll keep you updated!

Papa and Adlai

Just trying to keep things even.

Finding Eggs

It's that time of year again . . . the AWA Eggstravaganza! The weather was pretty nice for the event this year. Lilly wasn't feeling very well (for the second year in a row) but we still managed to get there and find some eggs.

Waiting for the festivities to begin:


There weren't very many big kids so Lilly was able to find her alotted amount of eggs quickly. I gave her a basket that was too small and I ended up with eggs in my pockets!


The Easter Bunny which Lilly avoided like the plague:


The Loot:


You can kind of see that Lilly was borderline ill in this picture. She ended up laying down and trying to rest while we were socializing. At least I was smart and brought some medicine for her so that she was up and bouncing around when we ran over to Costco to pick up "a few things".

Welcome to Autumn

Victoria has had a plethora of rain the past six months or so. It is autumn and this is the first time I have really noticed that the leaves change colors. Usually they just turn brown and fall off overnight.


This is on the way to Lilly's swimming lesson. The swimming pool is in the building in front of us - at the Leisure Centre.

Adlai and Me

I've looked through pictures of Lilly when she was a baby and I don't really have any of her and I so I am making sure Seth is taking pictures this time around.

What's In a Name?

Ok, ok, enough with the harassment. I know you want to know what the kid's name is. But first - some pictures as Baby is three weeks old now.


Mid-sneeze!



And finally, we shall call him Adlai Paul. [Pronounced AD-lay]

Will you sleep better tonight?

Because it's fun . . .

I like having pictures of the kids at their best!


I really just wanted a picture of the Scooby shirt.

Schools Out for . . . Autumn Break

The schools here have more of a year round feel to them. At the end of each term (approximately 10 weeks) the students get a two week break. Summer break is a little longer with about 6 weeks.

Lilly wasn't going to go to school because she woke up at 5:00 and was sick. But she just needed a bit more sleep. When she asked to watch a Bindi KidFitness video so she could dance, I told her to get dressed, she had to go to school.

And since school got out an hour early, we took the opportunity to just lay around the house. Or the kids did anyway.

Too close! Too close!


Better!


Notice the kids are in shorts and short sleeves. This may be the last time until spring.

Conferences!!

Lilly had her first round of Parent/Teacher Conferences. This was my first time being on the other side of the table. What a difference it is!

This term the school had student led conferences so Lilly had to come up with something that needed to be improved in four different areas. Then she and her teacher, Ms. Nadia, discussed how Lilly would practice each goal.

For Numeracy Lilly said she needed to work on her shapes. This surprised me and her teacher as she has never had a problem with naming them. Lilly says 'but I just can't do a triangle!' Of course! Silly me, she has trouble drawing them, and that is what is most important in her eyes!

Over all, Lilly is doing very well - socially and academically. She is apparently an extra set of eyes and ears in the classroom.

Crazy Hair and a Wellness Check-Up

For a fundraiser at Lilly's school they had Crazy Hair Day for a gold coin donation. Gold coins here are either a $1 coin or $2 coin. The money raised went to New Zealand for the earthquake victims.





Baby had his 2 week appointment at the Maternal and Child Health Clinic. I think that is what it is called. These are equivalent to the wellness checks we did for Lilly when she was a teeny tiny baby.

The outcome - Baby is rather healthy and strong (stronger than most at his age, really how do you compare? He's two weeks old!). His weight and height are just under the 50% mark. But his head, well, what would you expect? More than 75%.

Lilly Loves Surprises!

I just wanted to send a shout out to my Uncle Dan and Aunt Lynn for the beautiful dresses that Lilly received. I know she's been handling the changes in the house fairly well but to get a package in the post, she was over the moon! We'll have pictures of the dresses coming soon!



PS - Thanks Jaime and Michelle for all the clothes and bottles and STUFF for Baby!

Children's Book Festival

The State Library of Victoria was the location for a Book Festival. We went to see what it was about and I really should have looked into before we went! They had some great authors and illustrators and if I would have known, I would have been more prepared. They had talks and signings and live music all in and around the library.

And for the kids that weren't interested in the actual books, there was a petting zoo. Guess where our kid was?



Not that Lilly wasn't interested, she really wanted to listen to the music. We also didn't tell her Mem Fox was going to speak (we have seen her before).

She wouldn't approach Peter Rabbit, but you can see him in the background.



I wasn't sure why Seth was yelling for me. I guess it was so he could take my picture.



Here is what Baby thought of the entire day:



And for any Mem Fox fans - we found the Green Sheep!!

Missed Pictures

I wanted to include some pictures I took yesterday and forgot to post. You know, because I was all excited about my joke.

Seth took Lilly to school every morning and I was able to walk and pick her up. I was told I should only walk about 10 minutes at any given time, but who can do that? Anyway, Lilly is very helpful with Baby and she offers to push him in his stroller every now and then. Although this stroller takes a bit of effort to keep it going straight, I let her help.

Checking to see that Baby is still in there:



Plug the hole!