Day 273 - Can You Guess?

Mum arrived to stay for the long weekend this afternoon and Dale decided that it would be necessary to get out the Dymo, just in case we got our wines mixed up... Can you guess whose is whose? He sure picked his own name well...

Day 272 - I Dunno, Mum!

This is Henry's latest trick; he drops something (or throws it away) and then does a little shrug with upturned hands, as if to say "Well I don't know what happened to it!" Sometimes he will even do it when you ask a question (it has to be coincidence) and of course he realises that this makes us laugh a lot, so he does it again! Tonight he walked around everywhere with his little shrug happening. I'd love
to know what is going through his mind sometimes :P

Day 271 - Henry's New Wheels

Finally I will be able to get back onto my bike! Dale unexpectedly gave me a bicycle for my birthday in 2009, but when Henry was born last year I really couldn't get a lot of use out of it, until now. We dropped by to see Dale's friend Paul in his bike shop this afternoon to pick this out. Henry's new kiddicarrier is a little trailer to fit on the back of the bike. It's reflective, bright orange, with a seatbelt, insect screen and rain protection. He is still getting used to his little red helmet, but as soon as the rain clears, we will be out to test these new wheels out!

Day 270 - Picnic with Friends and Flowers

A beautiful day was bestowed upon us picnickers today at Floriade. Henry and I shared a picnic lunch with a few friends, listened to the live music and enjoyed more of the gorgeous tulip displays. While Henry waited down below, I took the opportunity to take a ride in the Giant Wheel, which was a view of the tulips that I hadn't seen before. All of the flower displays are designed to be viewed above from as well and the theme this year was A Feast for the Senses and the view from above revealed a giant chilli, red and white wine bottles, cheese, a cake, a coffee cup and sliced fruit amongst other things. A great way to view the displays, the wheel is well worth the ride.

Day 269 - An Old Favourite

Every so often I make 'Curried Salmon and Rice Slice' which is out of the old Women's Weekly Cookbook and is one that I always liked Mum to make when I was little. I made it tonight and haven't made it in quite some time. Henry seemed to enjoy it (well he didn't reject the lightly curried sauce) although his plate did end up on the floor by the end (luckily we were eating in the kitchen)!

Day 268 - Family Jeans

Can you guess whose is whose?

This is such a good illustration of why Henry is called Little Man so often... he really does have some catching up to do :)

Day 267 - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

As the lights dimmed on the stage, Henry pointed and said 'da!' His amazement didn't last that long, but mine did. I have been really looking forward to Mary Poppins all week and it didn't disappoint. Amazing sets, lighting and performances, it really was magical, right to the end when Mary flew over the audience out of sight! It was the perfect day to go to the theatre as it rained all afternoon in Sydney. We enjoyed Yum Cha for lunch before the show, where Henry was the star attraction with the waitresses (he loved the  food too) and we walked up to the theatre ready for the 2pm matinee. It was the first time Jenna had ever been to a production like it, and she was pretty amazed by the whole thing. I have been humming Jolly Holiday ever since :)

Day 266 - Happy Birthday David!

Yesterday was David's birthday and tonight was a little family birthday dinner with him, with a delicious birthday cake made by Mum. David turned 34 this year. Happy birthday!

Day 265 - So We Ate Thai

As the end of term draws near we often have a meal out together. This one was also in celebration of Lori's last day nearing in preparation for her retirement. We ate out at SoiVIII Thai (creative name huh?) at Griffith shops and the food was fantastic. We finished off with a dessert from Flute, which was divine. You may remember that my birthday tasting plate came from there too. The picture above is of me, Peta and Sue and was taken by special guest photographer, Felicity!

Oh - did you notice what day it is? 100 days left to go!

Day 264 - Someone's Been into the Bickies

Dale and Jenna were so busy watching the video they had just filmed of Henry walking around this morning that they didn't notice a certain little boy open up the container I had left out the night before... it wasn't long until he had fished out a strawberry shortcake biscuit with the intent of polishing it off for a bit of a breakfast dessert.

Day 263 - African Drumming

Our school enjoyed a great African Drumming concert today and the kids even got to participate in some of the action. Amy, in the picture above was one of many kids who got to get up and perform, creating a little piece of music on the spot. The children always love stuff like this and it is great for them to hear music that most of them wouldn't normally listen to.

Day 262 - The Countdown Continues

Finally week 10 is here and there is only 5 days to go until complete freedom! The kids are too tired to work anymore (and we won't even mention the teachers). As per usual I have a To Do List a mile long, a stack of books that need reading, outings planned and some early nights that must be completed. Yes there is school work too, but I prefer not to think about that part just yet...

Day 261 - He Walks!

We've had such a beautiful weekend here with Floriade yesterday and the wonderful sunshine continuing today. We decided to go for a picnic on the lawn at the NGA Sculpture Gardens for lunch today and I was cursing myself when I discovered I hadn't put the memory card back into my SLR. I had my other camera with me and even though it hardly had any battery power left, I did snap this little moment on the Lake foreshore which shows Henry having a little walk over to his Dad. Over the last few weeks he has been tentatively taking a few steps at a time, ranging from about two to five steps. Little did we know that today would be the day that he later took a record 25 steps! All afternoon at home and after dinner, Henry had to walk. He is pretty thrilled with his new trick and so are we!

Day 260 - Tiptoe Through the Tulips

I don't know if I have had a day so far on this blog when it was harder to choose a photo! Today was such a gorgeous day we went to the park for a couple of hours as well as Floriade in the afternoon. Let's just say that I was very snap happy! Anyway, Floriade doesn't happen every day, so I thought I should choose one of those for today. The tulips and other bulbs are in bloom and today was opening day. As usual it is a lovely way to spend the afternoon wandering around admiring and taking photos. In this picture Dale is supposed to be waving Henry style; Henry looks vaguely amused. I'm looking forward to going back during the school holidays when all of the flowers are out and when I have time to browse the market stalls!

Day 259 - Strawberry and Pink Marshmallow Chocolate Skewers

After making Cookies 'n' Cream Rocky Road the other week, which only uses white marshmallows, I was left with a whole heap of pink marshmallows to use up. Caroline, who I work with, suggested making skewers with strawberries and chocolate and when I found strawberries for $6 a kilo on my way home I thought it would be a delicious dessert for tonight. I got Jenna into the chocolate dipping and they were ready in time for after dinner. Henry was allowed one chocolate covered strawberry. Not sure if he was disappointed in that considering all his help in the kitchen!

Day 258 - 300 Confirmed Fans

It was more than the usual sea of yellow at our school today as the students were visited by CA Technologies Brumbies players Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano who were visiting to promote rugby as a sport choice to kids. The kids were all given a Brumbies cap and many were keen to have theirs autographed by the players. This shot was set up by the photographer with the Brumbies players and it was quite impressive to see them sitting amongst about 300 kids in their yellow caps.

Day 257 - More Yoghurt Antics

I wish my photo had been of Henry for today because he kept me very entertained as he played and laughed hysterically about eating pretend yoghurt with a metal spoon that made a great clanging noise in the bowl! Lately you can't eat anything in front of Henry without him automatically wanting a share and my yoghurt was included this afternoon. After it was long gone, he continued to pretend to eat as if it was the funniest thing in the world. He can be such a little clown!

Day 256 - A Spot of After Dinner Fractions

Wow, we do know how to have fun... Jenna insisted that after dinner tonight we do a little bit of adding fractions together with different denominators... She practised converting equivalents, adding all sorts of ridiculous fractions that you would never need to add and then even converting improper fractions to mixed numerals. I am impressed that she showed interest, as it wasn't even homework!

Day 255 - What Would You Do?

We are at the end of a unit of work at the moment for HSIE and one of the assessment tasks that the students need to do involves investigating the school grounds and deciding what changes they would make. They need to write a letter to the principal with their suggestions. Anyway to get the brains into gear this afternoon we went for our investigation and drew / jotted down ideas when we got back. After the kids had gone home I took a proper look. There were suggestions for a pool, ice-cream trucks as well as more realistic ideas such as more garden beds and more fixed equipment. This is one that I couldn't work out though... a toilet on top of the fixed equipment?

Day 254 - Winding Down

No, I didn't make these white chocolate berry biscuits, I just picked them up in the afternoon after some shopping in Rouse Hill. After a busy weekend at Eastern Creek on Saturday and shopping with Mum and Dad on Sunday, a cup of tea was just what we needed when the very boisterous Henry went down for his afternoon sleep!

Day 253 - Trackside

Dale was racing at Eastern Creek today so Henry, Mum and I went over to watch in the afternoon. After a not so good start, where Dale felt the clutch slipping on the bike, he ended up in a pretty good spot by the afternoon, ready to start again on Sunday. Henry wasn't sure what to make of it all but I am sure that in good time, if Dale has anything to do with it, Henry will get right into it :)

Day 252 - The Thrill of Online Shopping

Although I left my retail job a month ago in an attempt to organise my life a bit more, the way retail is going still interests me. I've read a bit lately about the impact of online shopping on physical retail stores and I have to say that I love online shopping. I love the ease of browsing online without having to pack Henry and worry about his sleeps and I love the excitement of the parcel coming in the mail. I also think it is great that even though I live in Canberra where a lot of retailers don't set up shop or where a lot of retailers don't carry the full range, that I can still buy something that I have seen in a catalogue or magazine that I can't buy locally. My orange Kate Hill handbag was ordered on Tuesday night and turned up in today's post!

Day 251 - "Day of Chaos"

Well it was a much smaller crowd that gathered in front of Queanbeyan Hospital today than the huge one (estimated 30 000) that gathered in Sydney to rally against the O'Farrell government's wages and industrial relations policies. Nevertheless, teachers, nurses and midwives, firefighters and police officers did gather.

The policy changes which will make many of these career choices seem less desirable due to conditions such as increased workload and a pay rate that will not keep up with the CPI will result in the people of NSW being worse off. In terms of teaching, it is expected that there will be especially large numbers of retiring teachers within the next few years and there will be a need to attract more teachers to the job. One of the more alarming things I read about this week is that it is proposed that casual teachers will no longer be employed to cover permanent staff on sick leave. This would mean that many children would be split across classes, possibly doing 'busy work' and casual teachers having to find other employment as they wait for permanent positions, therefore not gaining any experience or even working in their chosen industry.

Slogan I liked from the day was one held by a little girl at the Sydney rally that said "Teacher's working conditions are my learning conditions". I no longer live in NSW, but it is where I work and of course I don't get a vote in the NSW elections, although it affects my working conditions.

Lastly, yes, there is a nurse shaking a tambourine in the photo... why didn't I think to take a percussive instrument?

Day 250 - Clean Kitchen on the Way...

I have mentioned a few times on this blog, that we are building a new walk in pantry. Although I love the way our kitchen looks, I don't like its lack of storage space. As our pantry is now built and just awaiting some paint on the new wall, I have started the process of moving stuff into it, which is therefore finally freeing up space in the kitchen for other things. Finally I can see the bench tops again. Even Dale said that it feels like we have a brand new kitchen. Next thing on the list is to have the cupboard next to the dishwasher fixed. It is one of those baskets that swings out, but they seem to be quite useless. Light items fall out and heavy ones make your door fall off. One of the many things that will go onto my "to do" list for the holidays.

Day 249 - Henry Tackles Corn on the Cob

Henry really is getting very dexterous with his dinner, managing to eat roast potato with a fork tonight as well as a little corn on the cob, which he seemed to love so much that he insisted on having a good chew on the cob after the corn had long gone. Luckily the temptation of kiwi fruit and blueberry yoghurt for dessert was enough to make him drop the corn cob :)

Day 248 - Cookies 'n' Cream Rocky Road

I found this recipe last week on a blog called Phoodie; The No Phrills Phacts about Phood and because I love cookies 'n' cream, I just had to make this delicious Rocky Road, made with white chocolate, Oreos, white marshmallows and toasted shredded coconut. Check out the blog - it has some great stuff on there and gorgeous food related photos! I'll have to try her chocolate pot plant desserts next!

Day 247 - Fathers Day

Today was Fathers Day and Henry gave Dale a nice bottle of scotch and this rather fetching necklace / wall hanging (we aren't quite sure?) brought home from daycare! Dale proudly wore it for most of the day :) For Fathers Day we enjoyed a special breakfast of pancakes and later Henry skyped his Opa to say hello.  Happy Fathers Day to Dad and to Dale!

Day 246 - Dani's 50s Style!

David and Dani were visiting today and we had a great Saturday with a little shopping at DFO in the morning, a quick detour to ANU to watch Jenna perform in Tournament of Minds. We followed this up with some lunch afterwards and then arrived home to such a gorgeous afternoon, that Dani and I decided to have a cup of tea in the garden to soak up some warm sun. The above photo is of Dani after I had a go at curling her hair with my straightener. I love how it can curl hair, but it is so hard to do my own that I rarely get the chance to practise. Dani was going to a 50s themed hen's night and she looked great!

Day 245 - Spring is in the Air!

Spring is most definitely in the air now and I was reminded of this in our garden this morning, when I ventured down the back to a not often visited corner (well in the colder months anyway). I cut a few branches and brought it inside. I can't wait for Spring to actually hit us properly, although, in true Canberra style, there is probably another cold snap lined up for us soon.

Day 244 - Fathers Day Art

My class made magnetic photo frames for their Dads this week for Fathers Day and since I had to model how to do it, I decided to make one for Dale with a picture that I had of Henry from our photo shoot a few weeks ago. I hope all the Dads like their sequinned and glittery pictures! As I said to the kids - Dads love glitter! :D