we all worked together to produce
a MILLION meatballs.......
somehow we always seem to end up
making fun of our work!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
HAIL!!!!
We saw the biggest hailstones we've ever seen today! Some were as big as golf balls and most were at least as big as our bonkers (our largest marbles). Mama thought someone had thrown a stone at the car when the first one hit - it wasn't even raining and suddenly a big stone hit the windscreen...but then more and more fell and we realised what was going on! It got even better when the rain joined the hail - it absolutely poured from the sky - all the cars slowed down, because you couldn't see very far ahead. Some even pulled over to the side of the road.
That's our kind of adventure.
That's our kind of adventure.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
walking winter wonderland
By ER(13mo)
Yesterday I took my first two unaided tottering steps....and I did it a few more times so everyone could see. I even took half a dozen or more steps across the room when Grandpa came over too.
This morning I walked by myself all the way from the ranchslider to the doorway - I really wanted that wooden eggplant J12 was holding.....and she kept moving it just out of my reach. But I got it in the end!
I'm also talking a bit more. My most useful phrase is na-na-na-na-na. I say it if I don't want something...like being picked up or passed to a different person.
A word that closely resembles "Grandpa" and is uttered whenever I see him would make his heart melt if only he could hear it - but by the time everyone else has quietened down enough for him to single out my little voice from the rabble, I've finished my greeting!
ooooooohhhhhh and mmmmmmm with rising and falling intonation expresses my anticipation at the food I've just seen.
Here I am saying "oooohhhhh"....some friends gave us some food and all of us kids got our first experience of raisins in little boxes!
Yesterday I took my first two unaided tottering steps....and I did it a few more times so everyone could see. I even took half a dozen or more steps across the room when Grandpa came over too.
This morning I walked by myself all the way from the ranchslider to the doorway - I really wanted that wooden eggplant J12 was holding.....and she kept moving it just out of my reach. But I got it in the end!
I'm also talking a bit more. My most useful phrase is na-na-na-na-na. I say it if I don't want something...like being picked up or passed to a different person.
A word that closely resembles "Grandpa" and is uttered whenever I see him would make his heart melt if only he could hear it - but by the time everyone else has quietened down enough for him to single out my little voice from the rabble, I've finished my greeting!
ooooooohhhhhh and mmmmmmm with rising and falling intonation expresses my anticipation at the food I've just seen.
Here I am saying "oooohhhhh"....some friends gave us some food and all of us kids got our first experience of raisins in little boxes!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
DISASTER!
Well, almost.
We are two weeks away from The Science Competition.
Yesterday the printer JUST STOPPED in the middle of printing out our cards.
Then K9 took his papier mache cave out of its mould and it fell apart in his hands - literally.
We are very thankful Mama suggested we try to finish a week early so that we would have time up our sleeves if anything went wrong.
We should be done by the end of the week - YAY!
We are two weeks away from The Science Competition.
Yesterday the printer JUST STOPPED in the middle of printing out our cards.
Then K9 took his papier mache cave out of its mould and it fell apart in his hands - literally.
We are very thankful Mama suggested we try to finish a week early so that we would have time up our sleeves if anything went wrong.
We should be done by the end of the week - YAY!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Porcu-pins
By J12
A porcupine would be the best animal to make as a pincushion, but I've done an elephant, a crocodile and a giraffe. They are all hand sewn from felt with various little bits and bobs as decorations....if you click on the pictures you'll be able to see the details.
A porcupine would be the best animal to make as a pincushion, but I've done an elephant, a crocodile and a giraffe. They are all hand sewn from felt with various little bits and bobs as decorations....if you click on the pictures you'll be able to see the details.
I'd like to sell my crafty creations one day, but I'll need a few more pieces before I can open a shop! Here's my first market research endeavour: how much would YOU pay for a one-of-a-kind hand-made-with-love 12cm long croc? ;-)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
an autumnal stroll
We just completed our first Walk With Real Packs. We crunched through fallen leaves and picked flowers and noticed new fences and talked about China.
We had walked a fair distance the other day with all our gear to the backpack shop in order to try out different packs, but that was harder, because our bags didn't have decent harnesses, and it's simply More Fun with these ones!
Today we did the 3.5km block and even M4 managed to go the whole way with his pack full and without complaint. His self-encouragements ("I'm doing so well") spurred him on to the end where he sprawled on the ground!
Today we did the 3.5km block and even M4 managed to go the whole way with his pack full and without complaint. His self-encouragements ("I'm doing so well") spurred him on to the end where he sprawled on the ground!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
CHOP CHOP
"Chop chop, hurry up, into the car" Mama called out to us.
We had to go out for the day, because we were bombing the house to try to get rid of the fleas L6 brought back from the hospital last week! We had one of those days Mama calls "productive"....revised memeory verses in the car, looked at a section, picked up some card for the games we are making, popped into Kathmandu and snapped up a bargain (they had made some gloves too small so were getting rid of them for $2 and our little girls need extra-extra-small!!!), did grocery shopping, visited some more sections, had lunch in the car, drove into town to pick up packs for the Big Trip (now it seems like it's really happening), played in Albert Park, watched the flower clock, listened to the university clock in the clock tower, zipped home, emptied the car, tidied the house, read some stories, watched some Gladys Aylward movie, cooked dinner...oops chop chop again. J11 chopped the end of one of his fingers. Not a little chop - a chop that required visiting the neighbour-nurse who advised getting it seen by Someone Who Knew What They Were Doing. Good ol' Grandpa dropped his going-out-dinner-plans and came over to watch the rest of us kiddos (coz of course today was the day Dadda was working til 7pm!)....we raced down to the doc and got it patched up nicely. His verdict wasn't the most encouraging: "I can't promise you won't lose the end of the finger, but we'll have a better idea in a few days. Come back tomorrow and we'll have a look and change the dressing." Hopefully it will be fine...and in the meantime, J11 is sporting an impressive-looking bandage!
We had to go out for the day, because we were bombing the house to try to get rid of the fleas L6 brought back from the hospital last week! We had one of those days Mama calls "productive"....revised memeory verses in the car, looked at a section, picked up some card for the games we are making, popped into Kathmandu and snapped up a bargain (they had made some gloves too small so were getting rid of them for $2 and our little girls need extra-extra-small!!!), did grocery shopping, visited some more sections, had lunch in the car, drove into town to pick up packs for the Big Trip (now it seems like it's really happening), played in Albert Park, watched the flower clock, listened to the university clock in the clock tower, zipped home, emptied the car, tidied the house, read some stories, watched some Gladys Aylward movie, cooked dinner...oops chop chop again. J11 chopped the end of one of his fingers. Not a little chop - a chop that required visiting the neighbour-nurse who advised getting it seen by Someone Who Knew What They Were Doing. Good ol' Grandpa dropped his going-out-dinner-plans and came over to watch the rest of us kiddos (coz of course today was the day Dadda was working til 7pm!)....we raced down to the doc and got it patched up nicely. His verdict wasn't the most encouraging: "I can't promise you won't lose the end of the finger, but we'll have a better idea in a few days. Come back tomorrow and we'll have a look and change the dressing." Hopefully it will be fine...and in the meantime, J11 is sporting an impressive-looking bandage!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
one foot after the other
By ER(12 months)
Mama tells me I'm the first one of us eight to be willing to give this walking lark a go without holding a hand....all the others made sure they knew how to stay upright while their legs were moving before they were confident to push a trolley or pram along....not me. I can't walk yet, but I'll push anything around! On the other hand, I'm not ready to take any steps if all they let me hold on to is a hand or two. I prefer something much more substantial, even if it does race away from me when I apply pressure!
Mama also tells me all eight of us have worn this dressing gown. She made it when J12 was a baby and it's been used every single winter since then! Now she just needs to finish that sewing pile in the background!!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Knit Away Knit
By K8
My first ever cloth I knit was a blue one and I kept dropping stitches, so it was a holey cloth. For my birthday I got lots of wool, so I thought I could make some cloths out of it. I tried one the other day, twenty stitches and twenty rows. But it wasn't a square, and I worked out you double what you cast on and then it will be a square.
So now I have written my first ever knitting pattern (that's it in the photo).
Last night I knit a whole cloth and K9 did too. He wanted to do some knitting, but he didn't know what to do so I said, "You could knit a cloth." We sat together knitting and Mama said we looked like two old grannies.
My first ever cloth I knit was a blue one and I kept dropping stitches, so it was a holey cloth. For my birthday I got lots of wool, so I thought I could make some cloths out of it. I tried one the other day, twenty stitches and twenty rows. But it wasn't a square, and I worked out you double what you cast on and then it will be a square.
So now I have written my first ever knitting pattern (that's it in the photo).
Last night I knit a whole cloth and K9 did too. He wanted to do some knitting, but he didn't know what to do so I said, "You could knit a cloth." We sat together knitting and Mama said we looked like two old grannies.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Presenting.......
Sometimes our Dadda is a little bit crazy....and E-R(1) is a rhinoceros!
And K9 always likes to copy his Dadda.
And K9 always likes to copy his Dadda.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
catch up
There's so much to write about.
We had four days without Mama and L6 who went to hospital. It was really nice to have Dadda round more and to spend time with our friends and with Grandpa.
We've been doing things like visiting open homes (Dadda looks like he wants to build another house!), gardening, working on our science competitions, shooting baskets, making glasses and weather recording equipment, tidying the house for when Mama came home, riding bikes, playing cricket and lots of board games....
Last week we learnt the whole National Anthem. AllFiveVerses.
We had four days without Mama and L6 who went to hospital. It was really nice to have Dadda round more and to spend time with our friends and with Grandpa.
We've been doing things like visiting open homes (Dadda looks like he wants to build another house!), gardening, working on our science competitions, shooting baskets, making glasses and weather recording equipment, tidying the house for when Mama came home, riding bikes, playing cricket and lots of board games....
Last week we learnt the whole National Anthem. AllFiveVerses.
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