As a way of learning about Australia’s past we have been focusing on a new painting each week that depicts a moment in the evolution of our country. This week’s painting was Second Class: A Parting by Abraham Solomon. The artwork, completed during Solomon’s train obsessed period, is a raw, honest portrayal of the multitude of emotions experienced by a family farewelling their son and brother as he embarks on the long journey to from England to Australia to seek his fortune in the gold rush. The emotional scene is neatly contained within the curved walls of a train carriage. As a way of getting inside the artists head we decided to take a little art focused train trip ourselves.

I forgot how exciting everything can be to a kid. What in my mind was a simple ride on a train to do a little drawing became became a thrilling adventure full of wonderful machines…

…that magically gift you with tickets that…

…defeat ominous symbols glowing from unknown obstacles

I also forgot how upset Sabi would be when she was told she was too young for a ticket, oh boy there was tears. Luckily her ten year old sister has just recently outgrown the need to jump up and down with excitement and sqeee loudly when given a ticket. She happily handed hers over to Sabi and so saved the day.

Lilly read the platform safety rules and Eli made sure he could stand as close as possible without breaking the yellow line rule.

The train ride up the mountain was surprisingly packed full of people so it was impossible to get out our drawing things, this didn’t stop Lilly being so excited I thought her smile was going to wrap right the way round her face and meet itself at the other side.

Out of the train we headed straight to a bakery for afternoon tea. Sabi found her reflection an entertaining companion.

mmmm sweet things yum!

Mr cool trying his hardest not to smile.

We then went and squealed around at a park for awhile…

…before heading back to the train station to wait for the train home.

This time the emptiness of the carriage gave us the freedom to sit together as a family.

The square framed suburban paintings that flashed passed our hungry eyes brought us back to the mission we had set out to accomplish.

The bigger kids sketched away happily…

…while Daddy tried to subdue Sabi’s boundless energy.

I love how the kids learn so much more than I plan for them to explore when we go out with learning in mind. As they drew they peppered us with questions about the workings of the train and voiced  their observations of the differences from the carriages Soloman painted in the past and the one we road in today. I was happy today, any day where one of your offspring shouts across a crowded platform “This is the best day ever!!” has to make you smile right?

Lani has recently noticed that other families take nicely posed group shots when they go anywhere special. This is our best out of four taken at the south east Asian festival Parramasala. Eli point blank refused, Lani got nervous and couldn’t look at me, my camera wasn’t fast enough to capture Sabi in the split second she sat still and  Lilly engaged all of her facial muscles taking her straight past the desired ‘happy face’ and straight in to psychopath territory,

When we arrived at the site of the festival the kids played in the playground with the masses of other children. It was like we had travelled overseas, out of the 50 or so kids swarming over the play equipment ours were the only ones of European decent, and poor Lani with her pasty white skin glowed like a ghost, sorry honey if I could up your melanin levels I would.

Lani and Lilly were very keen to try the food from the market stalls. They love butter Chicken from our local Indian shop but decided to be brave and try something new. They chose a chicken and rice dish under a big sign that read “Not Hot”

The have now learnt that advertising signs don’t always tell the truth. To be fair we did tell them that to people who eat vindaloo regularly, their chicken and rice probably tasted as mild as milk.

Glenn brought back a tray with six different dishes thinking that it would be just for him and me. The kids however weren’t fazed by the spicy rice and wanted to taste them all. I was quite proud of them for tasting a selection of foods that were new to them even if they did eat my dinner. 

Eli even tried a few which is huge for him who panics over new foods and can’t stand the feel of rice in his mouth. He really only ate about four bites of food all night but hey, I’ll take a win no matter how small.

We then tried to go inside the town hall to see the market stalls. It didn’t go well, Sabi decided to have a massive meltdown because she wanted to go back to the playground. We had said she could go back later, forgetting to specify an exact time, so she had it in her head that we would be going there straight after dinner. She went off like crazy, I think the large crowds, loud music and flashing lights weren’t helping but Glenn eventually managed to calm her down.

Stepping inside the town hall building was as if we had been transported to a far away land. Garlands of yellow and orange flowers rained down from the ceiling and a bright coloured tent graced the centre of the room. The furnishings of the tent were ornately carved wooden chairs and cushions woven with glittering golden thread. Lani noticed all the gold colour, “Do Indian people like gold?” she asked “because it’s all over the place here and on the videos of the dancing they wore lots and lots of jewellery.” “Yes they probably do,” I answered “but there’s not many cultures in the world that don’t like gold.”

Sabi wanted a photo just like her sister, she was still so wired and teary, constantly asking to be held or to go home.

We tried to attain her interest by showing her all the pretty bangles, carvings, toys and clothes and reminding her that we had promised to allow them to buy something small to take home. She just screamed. We decided to set her up in the tent in the centre of the room and let her watch Peppa Pig.

By this time Eli was stressing that we would miss the light show on the outside of the building. We assured him that it hadn’t started yet and that even if it had it repeated all night so there was no way he could miss it. He didn’t let up so Glenn kept popping out with him to check. while Glenn sorted out the stress heads I looked at all the pretty with the big girls and chatted with the store holders about the traditions attached to the various objects they were selling.

Sabi began to cheer up after a little one on one time with Peppa Pig.

and Eli settled as soon as the lights started and we were all outside to see them.

Too much going on, poor sweetie didn’t have the best night ever.

Lani and Lilly saw a henna tent and asked if they could have one drawn on their arms. They hadn’t had henna before and Lilly got very nervous waiting for her turn.

Lani getting her henna flower.

Lilly getting her henna flower.

The finished pattern and two very happy girls.

For a while we thought this was where Eli was going to stay for the rest of the night. Glenn had the not too easy job of keeping him and Sabi settled while I was with the girls getting their henna, he said Eli was feeling overwhelmed by the loud music and crowds of people. When I joined them again Eli told me he was going to stay on this chair while we all went to watch the concert, he said he was happy to just sit there and video things. He’s been taught to find a chill out spot if he’s overloading but we couldn’t let him stay there alone so I asked him to come with us and try the concert for a few minutes and if it was too much one of us would go back the the park bench with him. 

Sabi was happy to come with us as long as she could watch Peppa Pig on the iPhone.

Eli believe it or not had a great time. As soon as he sat on the grass he said the music wasn’t as loud now and he played  for a long time with these two puppets we had bought at the market stalls. The stall holder told us that the puppets were made in a traditional fashion and were used to tell the romantic or heroic fighting tales of the ancient kings and queens of India.

In the end all the kids took home happy memories making Parramasala a nice finish to our Indian studies.

The party’s starting I mean it!

Unlike last year’s Doctor Who party this year Eli and Sabi wanted completely different party themes. They also wanted most of the same guests and asked to have their parties on the same day. Because their parents are mad we said yes. So on the same day, at exactly the same time Eli had a Princess Bride themed party and Sabi had a Peppa Pig one but I’m going to blog about them as if they were completely separate otherwise we’d be here all day.

Eli practically lives his life in dress up clothes. He feels most comfortable around other people when he’s taking on a character, I think it’s an Asperger thing. He had asked if everyone who came could be dressed up too but as a fair few of his friends also have varying degrees of autism or sensory integration disorder or anxiety we talking him round to accepting them in whatever they felt comfortable wearing on the day. He, of course, was The Dread Pirate Roberts the most coolest swashbuckling love struck hero of all time.

We put the movie on as soon as Eli’s pack arrived, we hardly ever go to the movies so at home movies with pop corn and fairy floss are still pretty exciting. also it allowed any kids new to the Princess Bride to catch up to speed. It was funny to see how many of them were as grossed out by the kissing parts as the sick Fred Savage was. 

With the movie done we headed outside where the Dread Pirate Roberts scaled the Cliffs of Insanity (the kid has very strong arms)

Only to be faced with a magnificent duel to the death with the master swordsman Inigo Montoya.

hey kid, you seem a decent fellow…I hate to kill you.

‘”You are using Bonetti’s Defense against me, ah?”
”I thought it fitting considering the rocky grassy terrain.”

I know something you don’t know

And what is that?

We… are not left-handed!!

Random cute baby. I had to put her in, her father is Inigo Montoya, it says so on his shirt.

Where as the boys tore around the backyard pelting each other with their foam blades the girls formed a quiet triangle and gently tapped each others swords in a turn about the circle fashion. I was worried for a moment that we should’ve had a chair for the damsels in distress to wait upon but they loosened up soon enough and their inner action hero burst forth.

Now I had envisioned the party to be all about rescuing Princess Buttercup but Eli thought that was dumb as he wanted his little sister to dress up as Buttercup and she didn’t need rescuing. He also likes playing The Princess Bride computer game and for that you are awarded fragments of a red heart as you complete each level. To go with that idea I made a puzzle heart and as the kids took on each of Westley’s challenges they won more clues that would ultimately guide them to the pass the parcel.

When I thought that they had bashed each other up enough with the swords I announced that they had defeated Inigo and gave them a piece of the puzzle heart. I then asked them if they remembered the next challenge Westley took on.

“The giant, the giant!” they all screamed. Luckily I had prearranged to have a giant in the backyard. I called to the kids “Go for it, defeat the giant, bash up Fezzik and get the puzzle pieces off him!!”

I …hum…may have forgotten how literal this pack of kids can be at times and …um…sort of forgot to tell them to pull their punches, sorry Uncle Steven hope you didn’t cop it too badly.

The ecstatic girls, proud of themselves for being oh so clever and winning the puzzle piece.

The Man in Black trying to jump onto Fezzik and strangle him from behind, luckily our giant had slightly quicker wits than the original.

Eli when he was looking through the photos: ‘” See I was trying to jump on his back and choke him down but he didn’t let me, I almost did though.”

Next was a battle of the wits set up by the ultimate genius Vizzini. Who would be brave enough to take a drink of deadly Iocane powder infused red wine cordial? Actually everyone, the puzzle piece was taped to the bottom of the inside of the jug and all the deadly liquid had to be drunk before retrieving it. Luckily as we are all Australians and therefore of a criminal untrusting nature we had slowly been building up an immunity to iocane powder and didn’t die.

The kids didn’t die you say? Inconceivable!

The heart is starting to appear but more puzzle pieces are needed, onto the next challenge!

But Buttercup is not impressed and orders them all to die too for all she cares.

They respond with “As…You…Wish” and threw themselves down the steep embankment gently sloping lawn. To lay battered and bleeding giggling and gasping for breath at the bottom.

A few more steps and we’ll be safe in the fire swamp (which we simulated with a table covered in tea lights which was a slight down grade from Eli’s original idea of having all the kids run through an obstacle course made of stakes that were on fire)

the kids had to blow all the candles out before reaching across for the puzzle piece.

Singed a bit were you? Hope not your Mums would never forgive me.

What are the three terrors of the Fire Swamp? One, the flame spurts. No problem. There’s a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that. Two, the Lightning Sand. Luckily the only thing buried alive in our sand was the next puzzle piece which was skilfully removed by a lot of frantic digging.

Now you kids were clever enough to discover what the lightning sand looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too.

What about the R.O.U.S.’s?

Rodents of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist…

…..except for this one my four kids made during the week, their first attempt at papier-mâché

Our ROUS got a little disorientated though and attached a girl in black, who was subsequently nearly trampled to death by an over enthusiastic man in black and his pack of excited children.

I wish these pictures would let your hear the squeals of excitement. This was a totally manic moment made slightly more surreal by my two daughter’s demonic chant ‘”Stab it with your swords, stab it with your swords”

Foam swords actually do little damage against the ferocious ROUS so we put that idea aside for the more direct Rip IT’s Head Off and Spill It’s Guts approach. which was quite effective and very f un to watch, guts lollies flew everywhere and crazy children went scampering after.

However it wasn’t all fun and games, Count Rugen appeared and dragged us off to his dungeon school room (we homeschool, did I mention we were crazy) where he killed us with his machine. (in case you can’t tell we played a game of Dead Westley which was a spin on Dead ants/Sleeping Lions)

A few of the straggling parents stuck their heads through the school room door at this point and on seeing the previously manic children flat out on the floor inquired;

”Um???”

“It’s alright” I reassured them “I’ve just killed all the children, but they’re only mostly dead.”

“Carry on then”

My poor Dead Westley, he didn’t move a muscle and in the end we had four winners because I needed to get on with things.

So it was off to Miracle Max’s to mix up a potion pill to keep us alive for the rest of the party, which I assure you is a noble cause because its a real downer if all the kids are still dead when the cake comes out.

Eli had informed me that this was his friend Izzy’s part of the party “as she is the best cook of us” and he was right, she lit up at the sight of food, funny what makes each kid come alive.

I used the recipe from here and it came together really quickly with all the ingredients pre-prepared. It was a hit with the kids who loved the gross labels like Sweetened Condensed Slime and Dust From a Cold Desert Storm. One kid told me it was the best potion he’d ever had, not sure how high that praise is though I don’t see many potion shops around this area anymore.

The chocolate coating makes it go down easier

Now that all the kids had been well and truly brought back to life I gave them a puzzle piece and told them that they would fine the next one when they stormed the castle. It was a bit funny to hear a few of them declare that it was impossible because I didn’t have a castle in my backyard. I assured them that Eli could help them find the castle and that they should follow the man in black.

Eli had built up his Imaginext castle early in the morning and I had taped the last puzzle piece inside. The kids very enthusiastically demolished the castle. It was pretty easy to do, no need for a flame covered holocaust cloak or dramatic voice effects ours was only guarded by two men and one of them had crutches.

Finally with all the pieces won or found they could put Westley’s broken heart back together…

…and follow the message to find the pass the parcel in the bottom draw.

Eli wanted chocolates and tattoos in the layers, only the shops either had very boyish ones or very girlish ones……

….so we ended up with some odd moments were boys got love hearts and butterflies and girls got Jolly Rodger flags but thankfully the kids just swapped them with each other and everyone ended up happy.

As we were getting a huge fancy pants cake for Sabi’s Peppa Pig party I didn’t think we would need another one for Eli’s then I had an idea to make a chocolate mud fire swamp cake type thing.

I didn’t even have to make it, Eli and his sister asked if they could. It’s mostly chocolate Yogo with choc covered Crunchy pieces as scattered pebbles, piles of Milo for lightning sand, mini Twix and Flake bars for fallen logs and buried strawberries to represent the plant life in the swamp. we stuck a small plastic animal in there too so our swamp had it’s own ROUS. We decided against the traditional birthday candles as they stood too tall and instead used tea lights so that the flames looked like they were spurting out of the swamp.

Eli was thrilled with the end product which is what it’s all about.

swirling mists of the fire swamp.

The devastation after twenty or so kids passed through.

instead of party bags this year I bought white bowls and wrote a quote from the movie around the outside in red ceramic pen. we then filled them with lollies. Some of the things we put in the kids party bowls were Inigo’s sword which was a biscuit the kids and I made after my Dad suddenly decided he could fashion his own cookie cutters a few days before the party. I think it’s brilliant I love having a sword shaped cutter. And  a bag of Iocane power made from blended candy canes.

It was such a special day for Eli, he had a blast and all the kids got on beautifully. you really are a lovely bunch thanks for coming and helping my boy feel like he could take on a world of Humpadinks and win his princess every time (only we’re not about winning princesses at this age, that’s just gross, it’s all about Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Revenge. Giants. Monsters. Chases. Escapes…oh ok maybe we can stretch to brotherly love but that’s it)

Unlike last year’s Doctor Who party this year Eli and Sabi wanted completely different party themes. They also wanted most of the same guests and asked to have their parties on the same day. Because their parents are mad we said yes.

So on the same day, at exactly the same time Eli had a Princess Bride themed party and Sabi had a Peppa Pig one but I’m going to blog about them as if they were completely separate otherwise we’d be here all day.

Every day for the last two weeks Sabi has been asking to hear the names of the little friends she had invited to her party. She would start with ‘”Who’s coming to my party?” I would give her a name “Finn’s coming” “and then who, and then who?” and she would bounce up and down till we had gone through them all.

So on the day of the party, when everyone started to arrive she squealed with joy when each of her guests appeared and call out loudly “You were right, they did come to my party!”

She was very spoilt and got lots of lovely presents and lots of help and instructions on how to open them.

Sabi had clear ideas on what she wanted to have happen at her party. She wanted lots of jumping, and jumping in muddy puddles that didn’t get her new skirt dirty. She also wanted bubbles, the parachute and pass the parcel.

As far as birthday parties in this house, where I’ve been asked to have a real sized pirate ship, a Tardis that is really bigger on the inside and a Fire Swamp with real flames, that list was easy peasy.

We started her games by playing some piggy themed music and getting the kids to jump around a circle of cushions. We then played musical muddy puddles where the kids danced around when the music was playing but when we stoped the music they had to find a muddy puddle to jump in. I cut the puddles out of felt and zigzag stitched around the outside.

Next we played bubbles

It was so cute watching their excited expressions as the bubbles fell about them.

and watching their franticly flapping arms trying to catch every last bubble.

After the bubbles I placed the muddy puddles in a circle on the floor and asked the kids to sit on a muddy puddle for pass the parcel.

We played the Bing Bong song as the parcel went around, a Peppa Pig classic and only mildly annoying to hear over and over again.

Each layer had a mini Peppa Pig book and a chocolate in it.

After the Pass the Parcel game the little kids had a run around in the backyard. Sabrina loves her new Tent and Tunnel and is very excited to be just like her friend who has one.

More jumping, this time with cool trampoline tricks, I think we fulfilled the jumping requirements for this party.

These two are so adorable together, I just love this photo of the two of them. Glenn however, who is already stressing about having three girls, said “Whoa, what’s that kid doing to my daughter.” I tried to explain that he must of been getting some sand out of her eye but I don’t think he believed me.

We had a collection of Peppa Pig girls at the party it was so cute watching them all playing together. They were both keen to show me that they had very strong arms and could swing by themselves.

Such a cheeky boy, all our babies are getting so big now.

There was so much excitement bursting out of this girl when the cake came out that Grandma had to hover around her for fear that she would bounce and flap herself off the deck.

This cake, made by Sabrina’s Godmother, was the first thing Sabi requested when asked about birthday presents. I had been Googling Peppa Pig cakes thinking I would make one of the flat face ones but she saw a tall one like this and fell in love. I was a bit daunted by the prospect of making one. I’ve never done anything with fondant before or anything that neat for that matter. Usually I come up with some crazy idea, chuck icing at it and hope for the best.

So this year I handed over the cake making responsibility to Andrea. It’s the first year I haven’t made one of the kids cakes and I felt a mild pang of heartache every time Sabi announced to people before the party that her Godmumma was making her a pig cake. But if I was going to be relinquishing my self appointed role of Not-alow-yourself-enough-time-for your-own-crazy-idea Midnight Baker then I’m glad it was to someone with such spectacular talent. Andrea did such and amazing job and Sabi was beyond thrilled with it

Andrea did such an amazing job and Sabi was beyond thrilled with it, I’m so glad we asked her to make the cake and I didn’t convince Sabi she would be happier with the flat faced one I was going to make. Andrea has a Facebook page Fancy Fondant for her cake making business you should go and check out some of her other cakes I’ve always thought that they looked so creative and professionally made now I can add that they taste yummy too.

Sabrina took control of her cake from the moment it came out, she not only wanted to blow out the candles and cut the cake but insisted on placing the candles on the top herself and removing them when it was all done.

Then it was time for her guest to leave. Lots of goodbye squishes.

I did stuff up though and completely forgot about the parachute till most of her little guest had gone home. In fact I didn’t remember at all, she came running up to me just as this lot were trying to leave holding it and saying in an increasingly panicked voice “What about the parachute?”

Luckily our very understanding friends who were here for Eli’s party were happy to flap it about above her head before they left even thought they thought it was a little babyish. Some even got underneath and pretended to be as excited as she was, they really are a great bunch of kids.

These are the little party bags I sewed for Sabi’s girly guests, I made pencil cases for the boys but forgot to take a single photo of them before they bounced off to their own houses. Granda made a Peppa head shaped cookie cutter, he’s so clever, that I decorated, they got a little squished though because Sabi helped me wrap them and sort them into the bags. Thankyou to everyone who came Sabrina was so happy you could come to celebrate her special day.

The kids, with freaky glow in the dark eyes, waking up up early to watch the Olympic opening ceremony.

As we really aren’t all that sporty in this house I thought that the kids would be keen to watch the opening ceremony and then that would be where their interest in the games would fizzle out. However they truly surprised me by showing such a great interest in watching the events, having to be dragged away from the TV at night and wanting it on as soon as they woke to see what had happened while they slept, that I decided to go with it and put aside my sketchy plan for the term. luckily we had just reached Europe in our trip around the world lessons so we focused on England as London was the host city. I had been planning on visiting the other major European countries, we usually read fiction and information books from the country we are focusing on, look up their traditions and landmarks and eat meals that originated there and so on. I asked the kids to chose between that and spending more time on the Olympics and they chose the latter, which I was fine with we can always explore Europe in greater detail later. So all we really did was look on our big map and the countries of Europe and I made an effort to point them our when we saw them competing in the games.

Instead we learnt about the history of the games and the individual events, revisited Greek mythology looked at what life would be like to be an athlete and had ago at imitating them at our local athletic park. I found an Olympic themed preschool pack so even Sabi could join in. She loved doing her ‘work’ like the big kids. There are more preschool packs over at 1plus1plus1equals1.

Lani decided she wanted to make an Olympic Ring meal she had seen one on the internet made with fruit, I think, but the only fruit we had were bananas so Lani’s creation has coloured icing, BBQ sauce, jam and bananas and they ate them all, gross kiddies.

We also made an Olympic lap book, a lap book on England, completed some worksheets from the Australian Olympic Education site. We read some of the history of Great Britain in a book called Our Island Story which we have been reading on and of all year as I think a good understanding of British history is important for our kids as their Grandparents and Aunty and Uncle were born in England. For our family read aloud we read through a collection of European legends from the middle ages in a book called ‘The Big Book of Knights Nobles and Knaves’. Eli had a little trouble with this book he enjoyed the Arthurian tales of Gawain and Percival’s quests and the tale of Arthur himself but most of the others in the book including Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde were very tragic and after a few nights he decided that he would leave the room during the dying bits because they made him too sad. The girls had no such problems and are still retelling the part where Roland blew his horn so hard that his head ruptured and blood ran out of his ears.

We have moved to Asia in our travelling around the globe studies. We are starting with India because it matches up nicely with the chapter that we are up to in our history book, The Story Of The World. To help the kids get a feel for what the country is like before we start reading about it I allowed them to browse around on a really cool website I found called India Video. they loved clicking through all the different videos, watching traditional dances, tours of historic buildings or important landmarks but their favourite videos were the Yoga tutorials.

They set the laptop up on a low chair so the could see it from the floor and copied the movements, either as a group or taking turns when it was just a boy or girl tutor.

Lilly kept saying it was like weird gymnastics.

Eli saw it as a challenge to perfectly imitate the instructor, his level of concentration was intense.

They all enjoyed the calm structured movements and have decided that they are really quite interested in India.

Our family are pretty much classic Whovians, surviving the long months between the sprinkling of episodes the BBC tease us with each season by re-watching the ones we own on DVD. So it was really nice when we found good friends who were not only as obsessed as we were but had the whole series of Sarah Jane Adventures on DVD and were willing to loan them out. Yay new Who stuff!

So when Lani was invited to their little Wholing’s birthday party and I found out she had just had her ears pierced I knew what to make her. Thanks to my friend over at Kyani Lazuli for the ear ring backs and the loan of her super-strong glue and invaluable advice, you should check out her site she makes some really cool stuff I’m after the personalised pendant necklace, maybe for Christmas…..hint, hint….you listening Glenn?

My sister, who lives near the top of Queensland, popped down this weekend for her school reunion. The kids were so excited to see her again, since she has moved out of driving range it’s very hard to spend family time together.

Our man in black even permitted a cuddle before swamping her with information on Minecraft and dragging her off to the school room to see his swing.

The kids had a blast showing off and Aunty Jill was cool enough to go for a spin with Lilly. It was a lovely day and the kids are looking forward to the next random appearance of their crazy Aunty Jill.

My kids adore dressing up, in fact my son has spent more days embodying a fictitious character than being Eli. Although I find his ability to get through life with an Omnitrix full of characters he can call upon as the need arises fascinating, I am relived to note that the days of hearing over the loud speaker “Would the mother of Mr Sonic X please come to the information desk” are finally behind us. But the odd loss of identity aside, dress ups are a welcomed thrill around here so when Book Week turns up every year, home schoolers or not, we are going to that character parade.

This year Sabrina Bean went as Puss in Boots, Lilly Pilly as Lucy Pevensie from The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Eli as Peter Pan and Alanah Pea as Tiffany Aching from The Wee Free Men.

The mandatory, before the guests arrive, photo shoot.

Lani holding her absolute favourite book. Her daddy read it to her first and the moment he read the feegles out in a hilarious Scottish accent her heart opened up a spare room just for them. She is now reading back through the book by herself and as she goes along every feegle talks to her in her Daddy’s voice and I think that’s sweet.

Oh and please excuse Pirate Puss, I accidently asked her to smile while taking the photo.

The kids decided Lucy needed an Aslan and thought Jonas would be perfect for the job. He wasn’t so sure.

Oh the the things a loving dog does for his furless litter mates. Oh and if you like lions and small children check this out.

The group photo, woo hoo! don’t they all look amazing. In the back row (now I didn’t actually remember to ask, so these titles are from Eli and I get the feeling some may not be entirely accurate.) left to right: Some sort of Princess, Legolas from Lord of the Rings, Tiffany, Some Bible Person (I’m guessing Moses???) A Girl of Some Sort (I’m thinking from the cute little prairie bonnet she might be Laura Ingals Wilder), Tin Tin. Front row: Another Bible Person (David with his harp???), A Ring Wraith from LOTR, Aslan, Peter Pan, Puss and Lucy. missing from the photo is Fern from Charlottes web and her two brothers because they couldn’t find our house, but they got here in the end, well just after the beginning to be more accurate.

The first book we read from the nominated book list was Flood by Jackie French the illustrations in these book are dripping with emotion, literally. To convey a sense of the enormity of the Queensland disaster the illustrator Bruce Whatley drew with his wrong hand, the left producing raw emotive images which he then drenched in a paint wash of earthen tones. The paint was allowed to flow over the drawings leaving water marks and drip lines running down the page. Honestly the book feels like you are holding a river in your hands and many of the children felt very moved after we read it, the littler ones calling it “The sad book.”

After reading the account of the flood we had a try at producing our own water filled paintings.

The next book we read called For All Creatures was the complete opposite to Flood. This book is a carnival of celebration, the pages bursting with vibrant, joyful almost childlike representations of all things deserving of thanks in God’s creation. Illustrator Rebecca Cool has used a combination of acrylic paint and fabric collage to represent the array of life on this planet. I played the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful to the kids while they made their own thankful collage, sparkling them up with a good dose of gold glitter to add to the happiness.

The final book for the day was That’s Not a Daffodil, which is a gorgeous little book that not only explores the science behind the growth of a flower from a onion-like bulb but also presents the reader with a beautiful friendship between a young boy and his elderly neighbour, encouraging the young to seek the knowledge of their elders.

what better way to explore this book further than to dive into the dirt and plant our own blubs.

I bought a heap of colourful permanent markers and asked the kids to gather together in their family groups to decorate a pot to take home.

The boys, who hadn’t been to keen on the painting and glittering, really got into this activity. They chose to work together on their friends pot, writing secret messages, codes and their own super hero names inside to be hidden forever by the dirt, it was good to see them so enthused and they were still going long after the girls had gone off to play.

My little Puss loved going back to her pot and adding more stickers as they day went on, stickers are just the best.

Everyone stayed for lunch, boy is it crazy feeding fifteen hungry kiddos very much how you’d picture a flock of seagulls devouring an abandoned box of chips. There is something very special about sharing a meal together, even with multiple mouths in confined spaces, it is as if the joining together to add nourishment to our bodies encourages a friendship to grow and cements an experience in our minds. Both the kids and I had such a great time, thank you to everyone who came I’m sure we will relive the memories of this day many times and each time we will be thankful that you are in them.

I just had one of those moments, you know the one where you’re sure the whole world is looking at you and not in a good way?

“I shouldn’t have said I’ll attack you with my knife, should I?” Eli asks me innocently as we walk back to the house. “Because that was threatening them and they wouldn’t know that my knife was the little plastic one I got from the show and they might have thought that I had a real knife and that I was trying to hurt them.”

“Yes honey” I answer, letting the words rush out of me like a rapidly deflating balloon, I often think of myself as a rapidly deflating balloon.

Earlier I had been trying to take a shower but the ever present Things kept cropping up to prevent me and by now it was the middle of the day. The kids were bored. They were beginning to make the quiet rumbling growl that creeps up a lions throat when he feels he has lazed around in the sun too long. I was still going to take a shower, so when Lani called out “Can we go to the park?” I said “Yeah ok.”

This was a mistake.

It’s just over the back fence.

I’ll be quick in the shower.

They can go by themselves.

This was a mistake.

Not because the park was too far or that I believe all kids their age need to be accompanied by an adult at all times but because my son just isn’t ready yet. It’s funny how I forget that sometimes. I remember the first time I heard those words. I had completely accepted Eli’s diagnosis of Aspergers and yet I kept asking his therapist “why does he blah blah blah when other kids blah blah blah and when they blah blah blah why does he always flip out?” She turned to me one time and said “You’re trying to get him to play with these other kids by himself, he’s just not ready yet. He needs you to be nearby, to be involved so that if he is lost by the conversation you can decipher or if the contact or volume is getting to much you can intervene. He will be able to do all this eventually, he’s just not ready yet.” 

“MMMUUUMMM!!!!!”

Thankfully I had already rinsed my hair.

“MMMMUUUUMMMM!!!”

I really hate showers, it’s like they are programed to trigger disasters.

“MMMMMUUUUMMMM!!!”

“I’M COMING!” I’m seriously considering becoming a filth incrusted hermit and claiming it’s all in the name of art.

Lani on the other side of the door was in a bit of a flap. “Eli’s gone crazy and the man in the park said we have to find his parents and make him leave.”

“It’s Ok, I’ll deal with it” I reassure her while desperately hunting for a pair of shoes. She turns to head back to the park and without thinking opens the door wide releasing our two nutcases in fur to race ecstatically through the backyard to the back fence and out, towards the group of already ticked off parents. Great, just what I need.

So if first impressions are all important this is the one the cross people got of me: barely dressed with wet hair spider webbed across my face tearing along behind a mad spaniel dog whose loose jowls, billowing out with the wind, gave him the appearance of King Charles with the face of the Joker. It’s probably not the best impression I’ve even made.

A dad collected up the fur ball and held him till I caught up.

“Are you the mother of those kids?” he asked as I gripped the joyful animals collar. Get that goofy grin off your face dog this is not the time.  

“Yes, I know I’m taking him home” I manage while gulping down air.

“Yeah ok,” he starts an obviously well rehearsed speech“It’s just that the things he was saying, they weren’t right, he scared all the kids, it’s just not on”

“I’m gonna take him home” I repeated  

The guy wouldn’t leave it alone “Oh right just the way he was going on just wasn’t normal, you really….”

“He’s got Autism and I’m. taking. him. home. ok?” I may have been a little abrupt

That was so not the way to make friends, I really wish they were people I would never see again and that they weren’t in our park every Saturday till the end of soccer season.

Lani fills me in on the details as I walk toward the almost deserted play equipment. Almost except for my son sitting happily on top of the monkey bars swinging his legs.

“You have to come home now Eli”

“Why?” he asks genuinely shocked

“You scared all the other kids away, they are waiting with their parents till you go”

“I didn’t mean to”

“I know but you said you had a knife and that you were going to get it and you got a bit to close to their faces, anyway you were chasing them and they got scared so now you’re coming home with me.”

“I know” Says Eli like he’s suddenly thought of something wonderful “how about I don’t go on the computer for punishment.”

“Lets just get home.”

Walking back to the house it suddenly clicks for him, how the other kids couldn’t have known that he was talking about a toy knife, how they couldn’t have known that he would never dream of hurting them, how they probably didn’t realise he was just playing an adventure game like Mincraft where everyone runs around showing weapons.

“Oh no” he says horrified “I wasn’t very nice, they wouldn’t have known that I wasn’t attacking them. I should go and tell them, shouldn’t I, I should go and tell them I wouldn’t hurt them and I’m sorry.”

Really, do we need to do this you don’t think your poor mothers embarrassed enough? but I look at his face and he’s genuine and he’s right, he needed to do this however odd it’s going to make us look otherwise the guilt would stress him out for the rest of the day. So we drop the dog off and head back. The playground is swarming with kids by the time we get there. A few look at him anxiously as he approaches but Eli scales the fence so he’s high and noticeable and waves his arm at them.

“Hey” he calls “I’m harmless and I’m sorry for scaring you”

They all just look at him. Well that was awkward I should have coached him on what to say in his apology.

“I’m HARMLESS”

oh boy this is bad. I’m just about to grab him off the fence when one boy turns to him and mimics his arm waving and calls nicely.

“That’s Ok”

phew

We walk back to the house. “Eli, did you know you’d scared the kids?”

“No.”

“Did you want to scare them?”

“No.” he says emphatically “and even, one boy said ‘I’m not scared of you’, and I said that’s good.” 

So, still not ready yet.