Active After School Sport - Hockeyroo style

Now it is school holidays, its nice to reflect back on some of the things that the kids got to do during Term II.

One of the things Hallie really enjoyed was Active After School Care. Once a week on a Friday from 3-4.30pm, under the supervision of one of our teacher aides, who volunteered her time to run the program, Hallie got to learn how to play hockey. Their coach's name was Di.

She was very excited to be fitted out in shin pads, a hockey stick and her own mouthguard. On the last day of the program, the coach organised for the kids to go into Launceston to the St Leonards Athletics Centre, and try out their new skills on some actual hockey turf under the tutelege of one of the State Tasmanian players.

I went on the bus with Hallie and as usual I think the kids got a kick out of the bus trip as much as the actual event.

Even though Hallie is small, she is pretty skillful and quick with the stick. I loved playing hockey at high school so I hope Hallie chooses that sport too.

The kids had alot of fun trying out their mouthguards too and it was funny watching them, looking all important and serious while their mouths bulged.

I'm glad kids get this opportunity to try out new sports and skills, especially as it provides a taste of something they might like to take further in the future. Hallie seems to have a natural talent for any sort of physical activity, learning things quickly and having that balance of agility and hand eye coordination. I will never forget we were teaching Sarra how to ride her bike without training wheels and Hallie was only 2yrs old. 

Watching Sarra, she decided she wanted to learn too and in one afternoon, she was riding her bike on just two wheels, without any help from us. We were so busy helping and watching Sarra, doing the hold on the back of the bike, as she wobbled away thing, that we didn't notice Hallie teaching herself and since then she has never looked back.

In my own time....Flynn (17 months)

So on Saturday, the 25th of August, ( at 16 months and 2 weeks) I took my first step. I was holding onto the walker and it kinda rolled away from me and left me standing there so I kinda took a step toward it. Wow did the crowd go wild. Mumma was doing the dishes and was dancing around me with her pink rubber gloves on. Hallie was clapping and laughing and Daddy was yelling for someone to grab the video camera.

Does this mean I am walking now?? Look to be honest, since my last post when the family went ballistic at my standing by myself, I haven't really done anymore but seeing them all egging me on on Saturday, I have started standing a bit more and taking one or two steps but I still find crawling alot faster and funner as I can get into stuff on the floor more easily.

The next couple of weeks, Mumma reckons I will start to want to take a few more steps and soon enough I will be walking. I'm in no hurry though and no amount of clapping and wahooing from the fam is going to make me go any faster than I want to.

Today I am 17 months and since the 25th of August, I started taking about 4-5 steps and was standing heaps without leaning on anything. Then just last Friday and Saturday, I started walking more and on Sunday I did lots of walking mixed with a little crawling, just as Mumma predicted.

The world is now my oyster!!

On the move.3

Since our last update, we have had the house plastered and Simon has been painting and tiling and decking.

This is the theatre room painted. The colour is a warm grey called Memory from the Haymes range.

This is the office colour. I think it was Taubmans and is Salinger 1/2 strength, another grey but a cooler calmer one for when the computer in the office does not do what its told.

This is the kitchen half in. We went with grey, white and the drawers which you can only see a hint of in this pic are called black wenge. They have very slim streaks of grey/brown running vertically through the black colour, similar to a wood grain.

The bench tops are caesar stone but I can't remember the colour, just an off white with grey and glass pebbly bits in it.

No handles on the drawers which I love.

Looking down toward the family room. Just on the left of the photo you can see where the television will go and that insert, is also painted in the Memory grey colour.

I don't know if you can see this grey section, designed to cover the sink has silver flecky streaks in it that match the stainless steel toe kicks.

The dining room has the same colour feature wall as the theatre is decked out in.

 Our bedroom is the same as the office, the 1/2 strength salinger but on the LHS wall will be wallpaper, a whole other stressful decision. :)

The outside deck coming along. The wood is called black butt and Simon is painstakingly putting screws in each board.

The ensuite.

My best mates, the good old knee pads so I can scoot along to putty the nail holes and sand them in the skirting boards and architraves around the doors.

A bedroom, painted in a colour called Aura, an off-white with a very slight hint of warm grey in it.

Laundry.

Feature tiles in the kids bathroom.

Our charcoal carpet, waiting to be laid, one of the last jobs to be done.

Simon tirelessly tiling away.

Off white (nano) 600 x600 tiles from the front door leading down into the kitchen and dining room. Simon is going to grout them a similar colour to the tile so it looks as seamless as possible.

I think we are nearly at the top of the hill, ready to motor down the other side, but the end isn't in sight just yet. Just a few more jobs to go, alot of a few more jobs. :) It's all starting to take shape though which is very exciting, especially for the kids who can't wait to have some space.

Fathers Day weekend

It seems like this was more of a Fathers Day weekend than just today. Yesterday the kids and I went to Harri's baptism. It was really beautiful and I was very sad-teary as I felt the significance of Aaron's absence on Harri's special day. But at the same time I was happy-teary for this beautiful family below and for what they represent and for the example they are to those around them.

I love random shots like this. I wonder if the photo they were looking at made the cut on the blog!! ;)

The kids were getting a little excited about the water. Apparently Kobe had been checking the font for sharks.

Today was Stake Conference and also Father's Day. I started the morning by watching part of Stake Conference online. You can see the Devonport chapel on the computer and I was watching people file in and sit down. 

To the left of the screen, I could see Simon's Dad, sitting in his usual spot and it made me smile.  I have heard that the only constant in life is change, but things that don't change, things that are familiar, make me feel secure and good and settled. So it was good to see Simon's Dad sitting in his usual spot at Stake conference on Father's Day. I like things like that that don't change.

I listened first to President Prebble who spoke about making string boards in his class at school and that as parents whatever our children do or make for us, we must show them how proud we are of them and spend quality time with them and even if our own string boards are made a little messy, with the help of our Father in Heaven, we can undo some of it and redo our string board pattern, in a different way.

Lisa also spoke today. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to get up there in front of hundreds of people and speak on her first Father's Day without Aaron. As I was driving to Harri's baptism yesterday, I was reflecting on how sad the day was going to be today but then I felt that Lisa and Aaron    have together shaped four beautiful boys who will one day be the most amazing Dads and that was something to celebrate about today.

I love how she spoke about how many times it would be easier for her to not get out of bed, but that she chooses to get up and try and make each day a little better for her and her boys.

About 11 am, we headed to my Dad's for lunch. This time of year is always beautiful with his paddocks full of wild daffodils. I love visiting my Dad, especially with the kids. Its something else in my life that is an unchanging constant and is familiar, good and settled.

Hallie and Oliver are pirates, hence the black eye.

Jonty giving Simon a daffodil for Father's Day.

The kids love going on the back of Pop's four wheeler, especially when the get to do it with their cousin Rohan.

This is after Simon drove through a few muddy puddles.

And at the end of the day, as we drove home so Simon could get to work, I reflected on one more father, who we farewelled ten long years ago. We met on the 4th of February this year, at the cemetery, exactly ten years on from when Nev died, to chat and cry and reminisce about the man who married my Mum when I was just six years old and my older sister Lisa was nine, and who went on to have my beautiful younger sisters, Collette and Jessica, a man who became a big part of my life until he died when I was 27 yrs old.

I'm sure he loved the grandkids running around laughing and full of innocence.