Showing posts with label Boys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boys. Show all posts
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linda
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Sorry the blog posts have been few and far between these last couple of weeks. You know how they say, "something's gotta give", when you work and mother and housework (rather badly) and work and work?... well my poor blog has been quietly tending to itself while we have been settling back into the school/work routine. I think I have my act together now and over the next week or so will be moving everything here over to my new Wordpress site that Katrina has kindly set up for me. I also believe in the saying, "if you don't have anything to say, don't say it".. is that a saying? It is now. Between work and school, there's been not much interesting stuff to say.... it's just been school lunches and #mylifeinthecar and work and shed and couriers and boxes (my life is boxes) and emails and piano lessons and emergency school shirt ironing... you know the drum.
What do you do when you don't have the time to blog?..... when you get so busy and focussed you forget to even smile until someone smiles at you? I love the idea that Karen, from 'The Art Of Doing Stuff', came up with, as she needed some time away from her blog to get stuff done. She got her blog readers to write a story, starting with, "It was a dark and stormy night......". Head on over there for some great Saturday morning reading. It's hilarious! Her readers have a great collective sense of humour! Can't wait to see how it ends.... or it might never! HERE.
Happy Saturday! We're doing Michel Thomas' family French lessons this morning....we've got 9 weeks to get fluent... all of us, especially little peanut allergy boy... he has to be super diligent in another language.... and country. We're off on a big adventure. Tell you all about it soon.
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linda
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"Twenty kids sat with me at lunch today"
"We're allowed to play before school!!!!"
"A girl asked me what my favourite colour is" (first experience with co-ed!)
"The girls sit around and divide their hair into 3 strands and put it all together" (has never seen a plait before!)
"4B are really upset that they didn't get me"
"The teacher doesn't yell or scream AT ALL and the kids are REALLY good in class...she just looks at them, like this, if they are being a bit too rowdy and they all get really quiet and sit up straight, she doesn't have to scream at all" (the screaming really got to him last time)
"I think I am a celebrity as everyone wants to play with me"
"We're all allowed to get a snack at 10, to eat at our desk, so we don't faint before morning tea!!" (he didn't cope well with the 6.30am-11.00am gap between meals)
"I like learning more I think, it's more fun"
"Had Japanese today. They are way more ahead of us. I didn't understand a thing.... but it's good"
"I asked some boys to stop blocking the slippery slide and they said, 'sure'... they're so polite"
"Everyone is calm, the whole school feels really calm"
"The Principal plays soccer with us at lunch time"
"They have a school disco!!!!!... AND a fete!!!!"
"You were right Mum, it feels like I have been here forever now"
'Mouths of babes'. You can't get better than that. I am taking ALL the credit for finding the school. It was all me! #pattingselfonback
The #mylifeinthecar situation is going to be a challenge over the next 8 weeks while I have 2 boys at different schools, on the opposite sides of town, but I'll drive/wait for/ do anything just to have happy boys. Things will settle down again next year when big son starts his IB Senior School in the same suburb as little one's school next year (he got in!... passed the 5 hour exam and the interview... the stress of it all...it was a long wait to find out)....then we'll move house to be closer to the schools.
It's all happening. Change. It's good.
As I said to my youngest, on his first day at school on Monday, "son, that's one thing that is guaranteed in life... 'change'.... get used to it... embrace it".
He was so brave on his first day. He dug deep. He embraced it.
So damn proud.
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linda
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We waited for him....
... and waited.
For what seemed like for. ev. er.
... and then there he was!
There were sweet little gifts from him and his host family.
The sweetest.
... and new fashions.
Chesty bonds and Japanese headbands, who'd have thought?
He's leaving me little surprises.
Some wave.
So many stories to hear.... and not for the faint hearted either. If I'd have known that he was going to have to rise at 6am, ride a bike to the train station, then catch 2 trains for half an hour, then ride another bike for ONE HOUR, to the school every day... and then do the same again home at night, in the dark, with no helmet, with cars whooshing by, getting home to his host family by 9pm...... I would have thought twice about signing that consent form.
He thought it was UNREAL... all of it. His host family spoke not ONE word of English. He loved them, and chatted to them and played the piano for them and told them deadly Australian snake stories, all in Japanese. He said he spoke to anyone who would listen to him, anyone who didn't have headphones in their ears..... so he could speak his Japanese. He walked up to strangers and asked about their lives. He talked to little children, who were so cute he "could eat their cheeks". He learnt so many new phrases... colloquial speak. He revelled in every delicious moment. And it was delicious. His eyes get really wide when he speaks of the food.
He thought it was UNREAL... all of it. His host family spoke not ONE word of English. He loved them, and chatted to them and played the piano for them and told them deadly Australian snake stories, all in Japanese. He said he spoke to anyone who would listen to him, anyone who didn't have headphones in their ears..... so he could speak his Japanese. He walked up to strangers and asked about their lives. He talked to little children, who were so cute he "could eat their cheeks". He learnt so many new phrases... colloquial speak. He revelled in every delicious moment. And it was delicious. His eyes get really wide when he speaks of the food.
I could so travel with this boy. He sounds like me.
Now there's an idea!
Now there's an idea!
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linda
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Today my firstborn is heading to Japan for 2 weeks, on a school trip. He will be living with a Japanese family in Tokyo and going to school there, fully immersed in the language and the culture.
He loves his Japanese and has never gotten anything lower than an A+... ever! .... in his favourite subject.... for the past 6 years. He has worked so hard, not just in Japanese, but in every subject. He sits up late every night, studying, 'assignment-ing', doing the extra optional everything that gets handed out. Grade 9 for goodness sake! He's last to bed, turns the lights out. He wants to do well. He wants to do Medicine. I had to give him this wonderful opportunity. Just. Had. To. To say thank you for working so hard, with such focus and positivity..... for appreciating the opportunities that come his way.
I have done the, 'do you know how lucky you are?', waffle, over and over... and the "I had to pay my own way through Uni for 5 years, working at that damn fruit shop checkout for 5 years! ... then work for 2 years in my new profession and then get overseas and work my guts out to do anything remotely as exciting as what you're getting to do at this age' lecture. He keeps saying thank you.....I hope he appreciates it all. You can't inspire or teach appreciation, can you? I would have died to have had this opportunity when I was his age.
So anyway, my heart is a bit fragile today. It's hard to let go, let him be free, let him grow up, let him out of my sight! It's a big busy city, Tokyo... with my beautiful boy in it .....without me to protect him.
Digging deep these next 2 weeks. Little one is intensely grieving already. 2 weeks is a long time.
How do we do this?
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linda
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Oh, yeah. It's all happening. Big one has a piano exam in 2 weeks so you can't keep the little one off the piano. Reverse psychology? Go figure! Please excuse the really out of tune piano. It hasn't been tuned in 6 moves. I know. I'm a bogan. I don't tune my piano. Can't keep everyone happy. But because of this video, I am booking a tuner today.
Enjoy my little lad.
Disclaimer: no child was hurt, coerced, threatened or forced in any way in the making of this video. It went a bit like this: "hey Mum, can you video me and put me on your blog?". "Yeah, ok".
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linda
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I was tidying up some files last night and came across some old videos of my boys. This one is about 6 years old. Oh, they grow up so fast. Big one is much more reserved now and has moved on from his frog obsession! Little one has still got the 'cutes' I reckon.
Happy Tuesday!
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linda
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Hesitantly meeting little brother for the first time.
He doesn't remember this moment but does remember hanging out for the dinosaur I promised him if he was good for Gran and Papa while I was in hospital.
We sat up really late last night, sprawled out on my bed, chatting, chatting, chatting. We didn't mean to... but the boys starting talking about what they could remember from their early childhood years and we giggled our way through memories of places/countries we had lived and friends we had made along the way.
The hours I whiled away with my first born, in the park (twice daily), feeding the ducks, swinging on the swings, rescuing naughty 12 year olds from the house they were in the process of burning down while their parents were at work (I kid you not, big son sat in the pram and gnawed a 'milk arrowroot' while I dragged the kids out of the house just before the roof caved in.. they'd been playing with fire in the garage)... big son doesn't remember any of it! All those hours spent gazing adoringly at his little face, tending to his every need, planning my whole life around his every waking moment... not a teeny, tiny memory of any of it remains in his busy brain.
Little one on the other hand remembers drinking warm milk on a gold sofa, on a very furry cushion. He has not seen any photos of that house, sofa or cushion he is referring to.... but he's right.. and he was 8 months old at the time! Amazing.
My first memory was around when I was 2 years old. I remember we were moving into a new house on the outskirts of Brisbane (1969) and I remember having a massive tantrum because I was not allowed the pink room (which was the main bedroom). What a brat!
Is it possible to have memories of before you were 'self aware'? How does my little tacker remember when he was less than one???? What's your earliest memory?
My Sunday ponderings. All the big questions.
It's raining here again today. Big soccer has been cancelled... much to big one's relief. He has 3 exams tomorrow and has had his head in a book since Friday night. I am going to brave the light sprinkle at the moment and head out for a run... clear the cobwebs... plan the week... solve the world's problems.
Happy Sunday!
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linda
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The bad news is.... my little one is not 'King Of The Hammer'.
He's just too little.
The good news is.... the weather is glorious.
The crowds have arrived. I'm glad we came down a week before the long weekend.
My boys have been joyous..... and that's what it's all about.
I took these photos only a couple of hours ago.
Live blogging?
Our rescuers were happy. They were even doing a bit of dancing before the crowds arrived.
We've done everything.
We even rode on every yellow ticketed unlimited ride (no matter what age group it was targeted at) when our red ticket limited thingy ran out....
....and I even had a go at Laser Skirmish. I aimed for all the reluctant, timid, participating mothers.
They were an easy target.
The free daily face painting was a great hit.
My house went unconditional last Thursday..... so it will be mine by the end of the month.
Cautious excitement. I've had hundreds of emails from you, with suggested house designs. I'll post some of them tomorrow .... and then tackle my inbox. Yep, any minute now. Any minute.
Happy Saturday!
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linda
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We were wandering down to the beach last night, for some beach night soccer, and these photographs caught my eye. They are part of the rejuvenated boardwalk along the Surfer's Paradise foreshore. This was Surfer's Paradise beach in 1967, the year I was born. That's the Surfer's Paradise Surf Life Saving Club. Look at all the umbrellas on the beach!
Even before the early 80's 'Slip, Slop, Slap' sun protection campaign had started, at least there was shade on the beach. I had only said to the boys, that morning on the beach, that when I was little, all you could see on the beach were umbrellas. These days, there's not one.... and to my horror, those younger than myself lie in the midday sun, face up to the sun, and sunbake!!! You don't see many, over my age, baking these days... that's because we are now starting to suffer. I have already had 8 things, that could have eventually killed me, cut out.... and I know that's just the start. I remember my Mum saying, "it's alright now, but wait until your forties". She was right.
Umbrellas everywhere.
It's interesting. That 'Slip, Slop, Slap' campaign (featuring 'Sid the Seagull' singing to us about slipping on a shirt, slopping on sunscreen and slapping on a hat) resulted in reducing the incidence of the two most common forms of skin cancer... BCC, basel cell carcinoma and SCC, squamous cell carcinoma. Melanoma, the deadly one, is on the increase. The scary thing?...epidemiological studies have shown that increases in the prevalence of skin cancer are not necessarily prevented with the use of sunscreens. The shirt, and hat, sunglasses and sitting in the shade are still the best way to minimise risk.
Cavill Avenue. I like it much better then.
So where are the umbrellas today? There was not one on the busiest beach in Queensland yesterday.
Not one. Should they resurrect 'Slip, Slop, Slap' for this generation? I think so. I stood there, right on the beach, amongst baking teenagers, lecturing my boys yesterday, pointing out the next BCC on my arm that needs to be cut out. I hope they get the message.
The safest time on the beach!
We washed the tiger off last night. It was coated in sand.
Stay tuned. The face painting is free. I think it might be spiderman today.
We've created a monster.
Happy Thursday!
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linda
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Do you know what warmed my heart today?
My 'almost 10 year old' asked if he could have his face painted.
He was desperate to be a tiger.
He's still a little boy.
Once it was underway, he was a little bit worried that the paint might have peanuts in it.
He's very diligent with his anaphylactic peanut allergy.
That warms my heart too... to know that he is so cautious with everything that goes near his mouth and on his skin.
There was yellow glitter too. He was most impressed.
Teenager was not so .... and could be found wandering aimlessly at the end of the mall.
He's been playing the part all day....
... and stopping to investigate every mirror.
"Are you going to put me on your blog Mum?"
Sure am darling.
Love you. xx
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linda
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Found this sticky-taped to my little one's bedroom door. He's been in a bit of trouble lately:
I am truly blessed.
I am truly blessed.
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linda
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For your auditory pleasure this morning.... snippets of music from my boys' school music concert this past week. Apologies for the tragic quality. I sat in the front row but on the wrong side.... so all you can see of my boy is his white collar under Mr Neville's right conducting arm!
NB. You'll need to be in a quiet place/sound proof room/vacuum to be able to hear it... the magic of acoustic guitar!
Little one has just joined the Prep Choir. They sang, 'If I Only Had Brain'... which couldn't be more relevant for that age group. He's the one right on the end, on the right.
He told me he can't wait until his voice drops so he can sound like this:
I'm whipping out my violin today for a quick practice. I am sneaking into an orchestra rehearsal tomorrow night to assess their standard.... and if I am up to playing in back desk second violins! Since I gave up my bushband, after 19 years, I miss making music. These school concerts don't help with the yearning.
He told me he can't wait until his voice drops so he can sound like this:
I'm whipping out my violin today for a quick practice. I am sneaking into an orchestra rehearsal tomorrow night to assess their standard.... and if I am up to playing in back desk second violins! Since I gave up my bushband, after 19 years, I miss making music. These school concerts don't help with the yearning.
Happy Sunday! I am being cooked bacon and eggs... so I will just sit here, and sip my coffee with my feet up, until it is served!
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linda
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...we hung out at Gran's...
...played by the dam...
....played in 'the tree'...
....fixed up the 'stick' swing.... as last time it broke...
...had running races on the lawn....
...hunted for stick insects...
...high and low.
It was a hassle at times... waiting for big brother to bring the ladder...
...as he was always chatting to his friends on the phone.
Tess, the dog, was right into it.
Mission successful.... a little one....
... and a big one.
They came home with us in the stick insect net thingy... and after being presented with fresh leaves back at home, they have settled into their new enclosure very nicely. They are currently being fawned over as I type. Early riser.. as he has to check on them every 5 minutes. It's serious stuff here. Their little house is just outside Brian and Nigella's tank. Drives the lizards crazy, seeing the stick insects, as they just want to eat them.
We're off to school on a Sunday for a choir workshop... as there is a concert next week and then the Easter Service in the Cathedral the following week. I'm hanging out at the shed, preparing orders, while the choir practices. The shed's close to the school.
We're going to head down to explore Oxley Common this afternoon, after choir.... lots of dirt bike tracks... boy heaven.
Happy Sunday!
