Whale watching

Every winter the whales travel north along the coastline searching for warmer waters.  Every year I head out to a headland or the beach to see these beautiful animals.  This year I was not so lucky.  Despite there being plenty of sightings, each time I ventured out I missed seeing them.  Managed to capture these two on camera instead.

School photos

Birthdays in lockdown - 13 & 15

Celebrating another year around the sun during the height of lockdown wasn't how the kids wanted to remember their birthdays.  Especially when one of them is becoming a teenager.  The kids both had birthday lists, but there were no shops open to purchase them gifts and although we tried to make it a special day for both of them, it was a bit of a 'raincheck' birthday, with a lot of I-owe-you's when COVID19 is all over.

However, there was cake.  There is always cake.  To avoid mouth spray when blowing out the candles, instead of having candles on the cake, we had tealights on the side.

Happy COVID19 Birthday kids!

Home school

The past four months have certainly been interesting and testing.  COVID19 has shaken the world and here's how it's shaken ours.

For years, when the kids are having an off day, they have bemoaned "I don't want to go to school, can't you home school me?".  When the school's encouraged everyone to keep their kids home and classes started online learning, it was a nice novelty for the kids.  They would stay in their pyjamas all day.  The kitchen was in close proximity and they didn't have to wait for recess or lunch - they just raided the fridge and pantry when hunger struck.  However, a few weeks in, the novelty wore off.

Michael and myself were both working fulltime.  They had little support, no access to a printer and basically had to fend for themselves.  This suited Henry and Milly who managed to get on with it and work independently, but Buster struggled.  He had to access his online lessons through an old tablet or share a computer with Michael (who was trying to work).  He needed help to explain his work and keep him on track, was easily distracted and basically hated it.  He missed his teacher and the classroom.  There were tears everyday.

His school remained open to those who couldn't keep their kids home and we did contemplate sending him.  However, with myself working at a hospital we just didn't want to risk it.  If we go into lockdown again, we'll probably send him to school.

Commendations

A nice little start to the year for the kids.  

Buster got a merit card at school for Excellence in Problem Solving in Maths.

Milly got two commendations.  See below.

 And Henry also got two commendations.

Short sighted

The first week into the new school year and Boo came home from school in tears.  He said he couldn't see the whiteboard used by the teacher, despite him sitting at the front of the class.  So it was off to the optometrist for an eye check.

After identifying and not identifying letters from the alphabet in various sizes, it was concluded he is short sighted (-2.5 in both eyes for those familiar with optic prescriptions) and needs to wear glasses permanently.  For a self conscious child, this was a death sentence and there were more tears.  He didn't want to pick out a set of frames and in the kids range there wasn't much that appealed to our boy.  In the end he settled on a pair of Oakley frames and opted to have transition lenses that block out UV light and darken to sunglasses when outside.  We also needed to get a special sports strap so he could wear them when he played tennis.

When at last his glasses were ready for pick up and he popped them on, it was like he was walking in a whole new world.  He hadn't realised how clear the world looked with 20/20 vision.  He had thought his blurry world was normal.  Bless him... and it was this realisation that turned his frown upside down and he now happily wears his glasses.

Meanwhile, we as parents are trying to figure out how he has coped for so long in his blurry world, how we didn't notice he needed his eyes checked, how his teachers hadn't picked up on it, and how his tennis coach hadn't noticed either. 

In breaking news, he has now had his glasses for two weeks and his tennis coach has commented on the improvement in his play since wearing them.

Back to school

Year 5, Year 7, Year 9

Things to note:

Buster is still wearing the same size 4 shorts he wore when he started kindergarten.  He is determined to wear them until he finishes primary school next year.  They are his favourite and he cannot be convinced to wear any other.  His shirt size is size 8.  This is the shirt Henry wore and outgrew in Year 1.  Buster wonders if he will ever be the tallest or will he always be little.  This year he is in an extension class for literacy.  

Milly has embraced high school and is loving it.  She has got lost a few times looking for class rooms.  She is in a special CAPA class for kids who are talented in creative and performing arts.  She says the teachers are surprised by how quiet her class is compared to other years.  Turns out there are only three drama kids in the class, the rest are art and music students.  

Henry has started the year with better study habits than previous years.  Fingers crossed he sustains it.  His electives this year are Marine and Aquatic Technology, and Multimedia. 

The writer

Before the new school year starts I need to sort through all of last year's school books.  One of the things I like doing is looking at the writing books and reading the stories they come up with. 

Buster is a great writer.  His writing is descriptive and thoughtful.  He is a bit of perfectionist when it comes to his creative ideas for his writing pieces.  Unfortunately for him, this had led to a few comments in his school report "Buster takes great care and thinks carefully before recording his ideas, which can sometimes mean he does not complete a task in the set time frame".

This year he has been placed in the Extension Literacy Class to further develop and encourage his literacy skills.  Below are some of his short writing pieces.

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This is a poem in response to a Dreamtime story about Tiddalik the frog in Aboriginal mythology.

The moon was jealous of the sun, the spotlight she would take
So the moon cried out majestic tears, that formed a lake
Also there was a churlish, greedy frog, Tiddalik was his name
What did he do is drank all the water, he should be ashamed.
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Another poem

The midnight stars shone very bright

The up above lite up the darkest blue

The sun didn't sleep but I know it's night

I want to be there, and so can you.

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2019 Huckers Tournament

This year's Huckers tournament participants were Grandad, Michael, Henry and myself.  

It was a short tournament with Henry winning the first game and Grandad winning the second.  The third game was a nail biting one, with myself and Henry both with one piece left to get in the house.  It all came down to who could roll the right number.  It was Henry who ending up being victorious in winning that third game, which secured him the trophy.  

With Henry present at the table, there seemed to be less drinking and swearing than in previous years.  Corin was also Facetimed in to observe the dying minutes of the games.

Congratulations Mister.  His first Huckers trophy.  Hopefully, the first of many.

Dog beach

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On our way back to Newcastle from Toowoomba, we stopped again in Coffs Harbour for a few nights.  One place that is now a permanent visit when in Coffs is taking Minnie to the dog beach.  She loves the running in and out of the water, chasing and being chased by other dogs, and the freedom of being off a leash.

The travelling Christmas

This Christmas was spent on the road with visits to Coffs Harbour and Toowoomba to see both sides of the family. 

With three kids and a dog in the car, we decided to stay with Dad and Tracey in Coffs Harbour for a night before as a stop-over on the way to Queensland.  The kids were greeted with snow.  (disclaimer:  it was fake).

TOOWOOMBA

  

Tennis trophies

The tennis centre the kid's have lessons and compete through had their end-of-year party.  Both Milly and Buster received awards for their efforts.  The kids were both chuffed.

Coaches Award

Players of the Year
(yes it was a plural on the award, one of a few players of the year)

Milly - goodbye to primary school

It has been a huge year for Milly and one we are so proud of.  Her personal achievements have seen her end her final year of primary school on a high and proven just what kind of character and determination she has.

She has had a very busy year.  She was school prefect, represented the school at leadership conferences and workshops, represented the school in public speaking, a member of the skipping team and skipping demonstration team, member of the school girl's cricket team, had a lead role in the school's whole-school production, performed to sold out shows with her theatre school, started learning tennis and competed in her first tournament, auditioned for the CAPA (Creative & Performing Arts) class for high school selection and secured a place, went to Canberra on a school excursion and saw snow for the first time, was a peer support leader, and ran the school parliament.  Yes, I'm boasting, and why not?  I'm a proud parent.

Her year culminated in her graduation formal where she could celebrate with her friends and teachers and say goodbye to primary school.

Below is a snippet of her teacher's comments in her end-of-year school report:

"Milly has enjoyed a stellar year of success throughout year six and continues to produce stunning results and personal bests in her vast portfolio of completed work samples throughout 2019.  She enthusiastically approaches all learning tasks within the classroom setting and continues to develop a tremendous desire to consistently expand her comprehensive knowledge base.  Milly contributes to all classroom discussions, group work scenarios and informal forums with an insightful and informed opinion.  Her future success in high school will be as a result of her diligence to academic success and aspiration.  Milly has excelled in the prestigious position of school Prefect and not only enjoyed the responsibilities of this position, she consistently seeks new ways to offer her services to the school in a genuine measure of her natural talent in leadership.  Milly is an outstanding student who has demonstrated a positive attitude towards learning in all key learning areas and she always displays a high degree of respect towards her peers and teachers alike.  She leads by example and should be congratulated on her consistent effort in 2019 and her exemplary record in class and the playground.  Milly is a critical thinker who functions best when being challenged with enriched learning tasks and this is coupled with her talent as a public speaker."