G'day .... See Ya!

Well, well.... It is hard to believe it but Sept is nearly over. Spring has well and truly sprung - it is my favourite time of the year and I find myself almost regretting that on the weekend the whole family will be jetting off to the other side of the world where it is autumn. Only 'almost' as of course I am absolutely beside myself with excitement about our very own European Vacation. On Saturday it will be Phil's and my 17th wedding anniversary - and if Mum was still alive it would be her and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. One of my other sisters is also celebrating her wedding anniversary on that date - but don't ask me the exact length of her marriage - at least 22 years cos her eldest turned 21 this year! Things have been busy here preparing for the holiday, coping with the busy cycle of work that is teaching/exams/marking/reports and helping out as much as we can with the school's first fete in 7 years - and the big fundraiser for our P&F. Finally I am at the point where I only have one day of actual teaching and one day of work with supervisions to do. So time to take stock of where we are up to and what has been happening so far in the Dock.... My beautiful mother. Fancy this photo was taken almost 50 years ago... she has been gone for 3 years and we still miss her so much.

School had a minimasterchefs competition as a fundraiser - here is Kit's contribution-

Hannah did a great job joining in with the Year 1 concert at the school fete. You can't see Kit in this pic as he was on the other side of the stage - also doing a great job.

The fete was lots of fun, the kids had an absolute blast. Some time earlier this term Hannah's best friend left school - she is being home schooled. At various times I have asked Hannah if she misses her and she usually just says no - and that Gen is at home for school now. Still, when I ask her who she played with she sometimes says Gen's name - and if I ask her about it she'll say 'just pretend Mum' or when we were away at The Shack and she was drawing she drew 3 people and she wrote her own name and Mum above 2 of the people and asked me to write Gen above the third. The day before the fete I got a call from Gen's Mum to see if Hannah would be at the fete. Gen had been pestering her all week to organise so that the girls could meet and play together there. When I went and got Hannah from after school care I told her all about it. I have not seen her quite so excited before - as soon as we got home she was in her bedroom dressing up and chattering and squealing with delight. It was lovely to see but also made me feel a bit sad as it showed just how much she really is missing her friend. The next day, the day of the fete, I dropped Phil and Kit at the fete and took Hannah to her dance class - she cried and wanted to go with Daddy to 'see Gen now!'. I had to explain that Gen would be there later on in the morning. Needless to say the fete was a great day for her because she got to play with her friend for ages... One of Hannah's favourite pretend games is to be a mermaid - so I had to snap up this bargain costume at the fete. She wouldn't let me tak her photo until she had some lipstick on...hmmn Still she looks great in it and has worn it many times since already.

She is also now sporting a new bob - but you will have to wait to see that in our holiday snaps... we are going to London, Oxford, Paris, Venice, Florence (what a great place to turn 7 in!) and Rome. So excited! We are also very lucky in that my Dad and various relatives will be staying in the Dock keeping the dog walked and the garden watered...Ciao!