Day 120 - Shop til You Drop

Henry's new trick is taking of his socks to chew on, and he did plenty of this when we went shopping in Belconnen today! The centre over there has recently been refurbished and extended, so I took Mum and Dad over for a look. I was quite impressed and will have to go back for another look later on. I bought some new pajamas, a new dress to go with my grey boots, a winter hat, a crotched scarf and a couple of plain tops. We got Henry a couple of pairs of new pajamas (his first pair of proper flannelettes included) a new long sleeve T, some socks and a grey track suit jacket to match the pants I had already bought him. He had a good time shopping as usual!

Day 119 - Royal Wedding Dinner

In honour of tonight's royal wedding, we decided to have a royal themed dinner, for a bit of fun. I had planned to wear my tiara, but unfortunately could not find it, at the last minute! For mains we had Coronation Chicken and it was Eton Mess for dessert. We all enjoyed the many hours of coverage of the wedding as well (perhaps that was just Mum and me). Kate looked so beautiful and all the pomp and ceremony was quite amazing, particularly when I compared it to our own wedding. Pretty different to most people's weddings, I imagine! My favourite part had to be out on the palace balcony afterwards where the groom stole an extra kiss. Oh and Kate's comment when she saw all the crowds - "Oh wow" said it all!

Day 118 - The Calm Before the Storm

Well my classroom is slowly coming together, thanks to a bit of time sorting out things in the last few days of the holidays. This photo is from before the kids arrived back... hence the title of this post.

Day 117 - Keen to Get Started!

Seems I must have been keen, as I was first to our staff meeting this morning... I was not, however, as keen as Abbey, who in her first teaching block, had laid out brand new multi coloured pens, pretty post it notes and other exciting stationery items! I remembered my pen and my notebook :-)

Day 116 - My To Do Lists

I think if I see that something is on a to do list, then that means it must be done - no exceptions! I write a to do list every holidays, but because I ended up working a lot in the first week, then I had really had to focus on getting things done in the second week. In a job like teaching, where in reality you don't really get lunch breaks longer than 20 minutes, getting errands done is almost impossible; my holidays are always a catch up time, fit in around some school planning. Back to school tomorrow...

Day 115 - Henry Hanging at the Hyperdome

One of Henry's favourite things to do when he is feeling a little bit antsy is to go shopping (he could potentially be a really good catch for some girl one day, hey?). He doesn't mind where we go, although the bright lights of Woolworths seem to be particularly appealing to him, with today being no exception. We went down to the Hyperdome after a couple of hours working at school (where he refused to have a sleep) and got a few things we needed in KMart and Woolies (both bright lights heaven). He really enjoys sitting in the trolley these days as it gives good access for grabbing things from shelves!

Day 114 - Henry's First Easter

Yes I know... it's a little bit naughty to give Henry a chocolate, but I couldn't let his first Easter go by without taking advantage of the photo opportunity. The Easter Bunny brought him a little Peter Rabbit egg cup and spoon, with a little Easter Egg in it and I have to say that after he got used to the sticky feel of chocolate in his mouth, he loved it. I wonder if he will end up a chocoholic like me?

Day 113 - History Repeats

I got Henry a new toy out today - the Fisher Price dog pull toy. You may remember it from your own childhood (I had one) but he did look a little different. In fact he was wooden (everything is plastic now).  Take a look at this and see if it brings back any memories for you!

Taken on my ipod using Instagram.

Day 112 - Good Friday and the Last of the Hot Cross Buns!

Oh - how sad, no more hot cross buns until next February! I don't care if it keeps getting earlier every year; I really wish you could get them year round.  Took this photo on my new ipod touch, with a cute little app called Hipstamatic, to give it that old style feel.

Day 111 - Easter Hat Parade

Yes, the day before Good Friday is Easter Hat Parade Day at the daycare centre. I have to say that I found it pretty cute that the babies were included. In fact the staff in the nursery turned a cot on wheels into an easter float to wheel them all around in, which was gorgeous. Even if the babies did destroy the streamers and decorations! Glad I snapped Henry even if he does look a bit confused - right after the parade he tore an ear off!

Day 110 - RIP ipod classic

Oh... my ipod died. Still working, except for sound, which is kind of the point! I have read online that it is a known problem - something to do with contact points. The tip I read was to put the ipod in the fridge! Believe it or not, I tried this and it did work, but only intermittently. I guess six years is good innings!

Day 109 - Jungle Dog

Now that the garden has been cleaned up a bit, I have found Milly's little garden hidey hole... next clean up item on the list is Milly! She has collected so many twigs and leaves in her fur that I am too embarrassed to take her anywhere!

Day 108 - Operation Garden; Day One

When Robbie and Robert offered to lend a hand in the garden this morning, who was I to say no?! We spent almost 2 hours out in the sunshine, weeding and what a difference it has made. After working most of the first week of the school holidays, the garden was number one on my 'to do' list for the week. All that needs doing now is the weeds in the pavers need spraying and I need to mow. Here's hoping they don't grow much over winter!

Day 107 - Pudding Weather!

I adore this really easy chocolate baked rice pudding of Bill Granger's that I made for dessert tonight. Robbie and Robert stopped in overnight on their way back from the Snowy, so I made this after dinner. The recipe is as follows;  Enjoy!

Grease a shallow ceramic baking dish and place 1/3 cup of aborio rice, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of caster sugar.  Place 150g of dark chocolate, chopped, 3 cups of milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a saucepan and heat until melted and combined. Pour over rice and bake for an hour at 160.

Day 106 - Canberra in Autumn

Canberra really is a beautiful place in Autumn. Because I have an idea for some photos I would like to take of Henry in the leaves, I have been looking for a good spot with lots of fallen leaves for tossing about! Not many on the ground yet, but I found this scene at the playing fields at Calwell in the afternoon after a quick trip to the shops.

Day 105 - Missed Opportunity!

I have been sitting on this post for a little while, because I forgot to take a photo for the day. Actually to be more accurate, I came down sick and fell asleep very early without taking one... Ah well, only the first one missed and at this rate, being almost one third of the way in, I don't think that's too bad.

Day 104 - Little Devil!

Henry was given these cute slippers from one of his sets of grandparents, last week. They are from Tasmania and they have little devils on them, which Henry seems to find very amusing! Here he is wearing them to breakfast this morning.

Day 103 - Towers of Shoes

Worried about doing a whole day alone at the shoe shop today, I was actually very happy to find plenty to do when I arrived! I haven't done a whole day there for a long time and I was worried that if it was a quiet day, it would be a very long day, without another staff member coming in over lunch. I spent my day rearranging stock, moving summer stock away and unpacking another order, which really kept me going all day. Of course as well I had all sorts of customers throughout the day including the one who confessed she was obsessed with purple shoes, one who was after a pair of orange shoes (couldn't help there!) and the one who surprised me with a male voice :)

Day 102 - Autumn Hits

I just had to share this cute pic of Henry in his little tracksuit and beanie! Autumn has really hit over the last few days and I am hoping that those brand new heaters will be connected at school by the time we go back! Although Henry has been wearing hats since he was born, he has finally figured out how to get them off, but luckily I managed to snap this before he changed his mind about wearing it!

Day 101 - Not Looking Mum!

I tried to take Henry's photo this morning as he left with Dale, because he looked so cute in his new jumper (thanks Nanna!) but for once he was looking everywhere but the camera! I don't even know what he was looking at, but he really does love being outside, as this shot shows. Often when he is fussy or tired, we go for a walk in the garden and he is at once distracted from his worries :)

Day 100 - Chinese to Finish With

Made it to Day 100! Our busy weekend continued with working at the shoe shop on Sunday morning and then heading over to Erin's Baby Shower in the afternoon. Once finally home, our weekend of eating out and having takeaway continued with some Chinese for dinner, which we haven't had for ages.

Day 99 - Things Never Stop Around Here!

Ohh - Day 99! I admit that it isn't a very exciting picture for the day, but as per usual it was another flat out weekend! On Friday night we knew that Dale's Mum, Glenda would be coming to spend Saturday with us, as she was arriving for my sister-in-law's (Erin's) Baby Shower and so after an exhausting end of term the day before, we got up to clean and get the house in some order! About lunchtime we all went out for some lunch and to finish buying baby shower gifts (no I hadn't had time up until then!) and in the afternoon it was over to Jess' house for her baby shower. This was followed by dinner down at the local club where the above picture was taken. Henry was holding the carrot in his hand which would have made a far better picture, but I think he was getting tired as he kept dropping it. I realised about this time that I hadn't taken any photos all day, so Dale whipped out his phone and this one was taken.

Day 98 - Dale's Hidden Treasure

Who knew you could buy a motorbike and stash it in the garage for three days until your wife noticed the receipt casually laid out on your bedside table?! Not surprisingly, this fact garnered no less than 41 comments on Dale's Facebook status, once admitted. I have since worked out that this is equivalent to about 70 pairs of shoes which I don't need to hide upon entering the house!

Day 97 - Never Work With Animals or Children

Not a great photo, but it is actually hard enough to get a cat to pose, let alone with a baby! Henry has a lot of interest in our pets and the cats seem to like him patting them, even though he is pretty rough! He usually manages to pull out a few tufts of fur and luckily they have both put up with him so far.

Day 96 - A View From The Window

Inspired by an email from David and Dani on their honeymoon in Europe this morning, I decided to capture my own view from *my* window. Admittedly it is not as spectacular as theirs (Lake Como in Italy), but I guess we have a pretty good view, being on the hill. I also quite enjoyed looking at this idea on flickr of other people's window views as well. I will have to keep this in mind to try and get something a little more creative next time!

Day 95 - Puppet Project

With arms and legs still to be added!

With a multicultural themed whole school activity looming the following day I set myself the task of making a Vietnamese Water Puppet that kids would be able to make. I thought I would easily find a line drawing via google but no such luck! Anyway this is my version before the arms and legs were attached with split pins. When I visited Vietnam I didn't go and see a water puppet show; I have read that they are a bit old and tired and mainly geared towards tourists these days anyway. Would be interested to hear if anyone I know has actually seen one?

Day 94 - Parent Teacher Interviews

What do shoes have in common with the post title? Well it's the last week of school for term 1 and we have interviews Monday and Tuesday, and I wore my lucky favourites today. All day I noticed that the kids keep poking the toes of these ones when they were sitting on the floor! These shoes are my absolute favourites... yes they are just plain black ones but they are surprisingly comfortable, I have worn them to death and they still look good. I wore them to my interview for my permanent job too :) Parent Teacher interviews went well, we stayed on time and in fact I even left 5 mins earlier than expected. Not lucky shoes for nothing!

Day 93 - End of Another Packed Weekend

Well it was a very busy Sunday today which started with a lunch BBQ at a workmate's place in Carwoola (she has an amazing house which she built herself) and ended with afternoon tea with my mothers' group back in Theodore.

I have really missed my mothers' group since returning to work so I was glad that I was able to finally make it to a weekend gathering. It has been about 2 months since I saw everyone and all the babies have changed so much! Of course, I knew that they would all be doing the same sorts of things as Henry is doing, but it was such as change to see them all sitting up (one clever crawler too), babbling away in baby talk and interacting so much more with each other.

Anyway, I forgot my camera today, so I only have a quick snap that I thought to take with my phone of the entrance way to Elva's place leaving the BBQ.

Day 92 - Family Retail Therapy

It struck us today that this was the first time that we had to go and buy Henry a bunch of clothes! We were given so many lovely clothes as gifts when he was born in a range of sizes 0000 up to a few 0s. Now that we are heading into winter and Henry is a 0, we realised he mainly only had summer clothes in his size, so we were able to pick some new outfits for him. My favourite is the little red tracksuit with a hoodie and the little blue vest with long sleeve T and jeans. Although there is a lot more choice when buying clothes for little girls by the looks of it, we did have fun buying a few little outfits for our little man. We also bought a few things for ourselves, so a successful day!

Day 91 - A Day at the National Museum

The Museum Roofline

The museum in Canberra is a pretty amazing building and it was here today that another teacher and I took about 50 year one students. We have been doing a unit of work at school on personal histories and the kids were pretty excited about their museum trip which was also their first ever excursion. Most of the kids liked the stuffed thylacine (the last ever Tasmanian Tiger) and the diprotodon replica skeleton (a giant marsupial with two big front teeth) whose name means two forward teeth! The diprotodon was also apparently known as the Giant Wombat or Rhinoceros Wombat. Wikipedia notes that it was a member of unusual species, collectively called "Australian Megafauna" - what a great name!