they run fast

Sports day at school always seems to roll around this time of year.  I went to watch a couple of races and ended up staying the whole day, helping in the tuckshop, watching long jump, chatting to other parents and spending some time in the school office making sure we had paid all our money for camp etc (she's only going on camp in a week - and they want the money? sheesh).

Gab was not present at the time trials for running (we were still driving back from Armidale), so she was not placed in the correct grouping.  Hence, she won by a long way.  So much so she kind of paused in the middle of the race wondering where everybody was.

Run Gab Run!

Annika striding out and doing her best!

Not sure how far she got in the long jump - but this photo looks very impressive...

The war cries of the different house teams seemed  little bloodthirsty to me - 'squash them, thrash them, then we strangle, every team we meet we mangle' - it was a bit intimidating sitting in the stands having 200 kids yell that out.  But the competition was gentle and supportive.  Although I was only watching the girls events. 

Only one more year of primary sports days!
(NB to self, don't sound too excited)

ok it's cold in Armidale

Last weekend I had a lovely time whizzing down to Armidale to celebrate a dear friend's 40th birthday.  Fortunately I packed all my winter clothes - because it got below zero..brrrr.

Gab and I had a great time catching up with old friends and making new friends.  I think there is always room for new friends.  I love having a wide wide circle of friendships that ripples in from every part of my life.  Friends like that are like me, friends that complement me, friends that have known me a long time, friends that I just met on the weekend that I feel like I have known for ages.

We sipped on hot mulled wine and enjoyed fancy little cakes, ate warm soup and pork buns and created home made pizzas.  I think I may have rolled back to Brisbane...

My friend and I composed (I think we can use that word - I wrote lyrics and she wrote music) a song for the birthday people.  It was called '40 years old'.  I wrote an encore verse but it wasn't requested at the time of singing.  I sang it anyway later.

Happy birthday Chris and Michelle!

Lovely Gab in the afternoon light at the farm

A big bonfire was lit at dusk.  I was a little concerned the hose didn't reach the fire.  But they had big rubbish bins of water available if needed.  And there were plenty of country boys to poke at it with sticks.

At the dam for a picnic the next day.  Gorgeous weather - we walked all around the dam.

This is our attempt at a bookclub photo.  I have a skype bookclub with these girls, as we all live in different cities.  It is an awesome way to keep in touch, and I have read books I never thought I would read.

Love them.

Gab found some leaves lying around, raked them up, and jumped in them.  Because you have to.

Thanks for a great time Armidale.

You cold cold town.

how my shoulders got sore from a puppet

Last week I had a cool opportunity to be involved in some filming for kids videos at church.  By 'me' I mean 'Dizzy'.  But she is such a princess she won't go anywhere without me.

It was one of the first times I had ever puppeted deliberately for a camera - so I worked out a few techniques along the way - like lying on a bean bag, and using a skateboard to 'walk' her along. 

And my shoulders got pretty sore by the end of the day.

Totally worth it.

These were Dizzy's 'legs'.....completely convincing...hoping the magic of film works...

Lying on a beanbag in the 'office'..

Awkwardly 'walking' along holding a garden implement.  Not tricky at all....

Film crew in action

Thanks Lisa for taking 'the making of' photos.  I am looking forward to seeing the completed products!

the ten year old talk

Yesterday I took Gab for her ten year old outing.  It has been a tradition, of one previous child (her older sister), to take your child out for the day when they are ten and impart special ten year old only wisdom from your mother.  Apparently the tradition involved lunch, a pedicure, photos, and shopping for particular items.  And a woman to woman talk from the mother.  Me.

I won't go into big details about what we talked about, that is private, but Gab and I had a lovely afternoon together, giggled like fruitloops during the pedicure and filled ourselves very full at an Italian restaurant. 

She is so gorgeous, it was lovely spending one on one time with her.

On the other hand, where has my baby girl gone?

Then.

Now.

Then.

Now.

Mmmmmm.  Chocolate.

Ten is a wonderful age.  Possibly the last long look at the top of the rollercoaster before you plummet over the side into adolescence with all the twists, turns and drops.

playing with your food

This semester at work I have been doing a LOT of food play.  There are some small people at work who are very reluctant eaters - they have trouble being in the same room or at the table where food is, they have a very limited range of foods they will eat (a couple of students just have milk/formula as their main nutrition), and different tastes and textures really overload their sensory systems.  Part of their goals at school include eating a wider variety of foods, and that's where I come in.  With food play.

My goal is to have a calm learning space and whittle away at some of the sensory barriers these kids have around food.  The teacher and I introduce a carefully selected range of tastes and textures, and we explore the food - what does it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like.... We put the foods straight on the table as we found that trays inevitably ended up on the floor upside down.  It's really not as messy as it sounds.  But I have to remember not to wear white on food play days.

It has been amazing what the kids have started doing all by themselves when we have taken away the pressure around food.  When the main aim is calmness and self exploration they are really stepping up.  We do lots of modelling of how to taste and eat the food, but we don't force any of the kids to do it.

On student has tried tasting foods he has never put in his mouth before, one student has expanded out his range that he will bite, one student has started touching foods in the clean up time (there is a set up and clean up time for each session to give a beginning and an end), and one student has stopped lying on the floor and screaming when food is around.  This is all exciting, and when I look back at how far we have come over the last five months, I am excited to see where they will go by Christmas!

These photos are from some food play I did with a relative a couple of years ago - exploring different textures with the same colour food making a car, exploring different colours with the same shape food while making a tower, and a dinosaur swamp exploring different tastes with the same consistency.

I really like exploring food with the kids.  And I am overcoming a few of my own sensory barriers - we all have them!

keep meaning to....

I keep meaning to write on the blog - but then I get distracted.  By work, kids, TV, sleeping, washing, driving, reading, chatting, socialising, writing, performing, driving, watching TV, reading, kids, lazing....
Things are happening in our lives.  Wonderful things and hard things.  Daily things and once in a lifetime things.  Time trickles past and before I know it is three weeks later.

Once in a lifetime things.  Like Annika standing up for her faith and being baptised.  No prompting from us.

I might have cried quite and lot and been a bit of an emotional wreck.

She showed a maturity and eloquence I was blessed to witness.  Check out this video of her testimony:
https://vimeo.com/67612008

And daily things like growing children - encouraging them, backing off, pushing forward, letting them be.  It is like a dance of tolerance of instruction, guidance and love.

How do you get kids to do piano practice?

I guess at some point they start pushing off from the jetty and sailing off by themselves.  From when they are small and stamp their independent feet at you, to when they are tall and run with their friends.

Now this is turning into a mummy blog.

At the moment....my life.....

it is what it is.

story action

Last week we at Wide Eyed Stories had the privilege of helping out with a family service at Taringa Baptist.  It was great fun, and the kids got involved and everything!

I rocked it out with the ukelele.   I now know 10 chords - oh the possibilities!

That's my hand inside Dizzy.  She was being pretty feisty last Sunday morning.  I talk about her like she is not me.  She is a completely different character.  Completely different.  I would never dream of being as rude as her.  Although I do help her think of her best lines, so the cheekiness must be lurking inside me...

I enjoy doing puppeting very much.  Trying hard to work out how I can make this a full time job - Sesame Street give me a call if there is an opening...

In the meantime I am kicking some goals at work - kids are communicating and stepping along their pathway to being great talkers.  I have been so proud and pleased at some of the students over the last week, for example, when one of the students used his PODD book (book with laminated pictures symbols to point to) to tell me the monster I had drawn him was annoying and scary.  Completely appropriate.  Especially considering my drawing skills.  I would also choose annoying and scary as describing words.

I am spending a lot of time scripting and planning at the moment.  A few shows and our church holiday program are coming up.  Ideas are bubbling.

Onwards.