I found some old photos on a memory card we think was from David's previous phone. Awww...


At the Ekka, 2008


Eating strawberries, 2008


Trying on a suit, 2008


Darwin, 2010

Art Therapy

I recently spent the day at the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery.  It was wonderful to be immersed in so many amazing images and ideas.  (Click on the photos to go through to the entire set on flickr.)

The Baby Elves Help Santa

This story was composed by Annike, Anya, Bhavya & Niko just before Christmas.  (They were the four prep kids in Mrs G's composite prep/year 1 class in 2010.)

Once upon a time it was Christmas Eve in Australia.  All the kids were asleep and Santa was at the North Pole packing the presents into the sleigh.  They were for all the kids in the world.

When it was time to go, Santa waved to Mrs Claus and was about to fly away with his reindeer, when suddenly, all of the elves got sick.  Oh no!  Who was going to help Santa now?

Suddenly Mrs Claus had an idea.  Her idea was this: the baby elves would have to help Santa.  So Annika, Anya, Bhavya and Niko got into Santa's sleigh.  Anya was very scared.  Niko was bouncy as usual.  Annika was brave.  And Bhavya was excited.

"Let's go!" said Santa and off they went.

First they went to Mrs G's house and Santa ate all the cookies and drank the milk, and the reindeer ate the carrots.  And Mrs G had left chocolates for the baby elves.  They ate them all up.  They were delicious and nutritious.

Then they delivered all the presents around the world and went back to the North Pole.  They went to bed.  They were very tired.  But when it was morning they helped around the house.

They were the best baby elves in the whole world.  And - by the way - the big elves got better.

This year as usual Anya and Callum met Santa at the Myer department store in our local shopping centre.  I love that it's relatively low key and the kids didn't have to wait ages.  In any case they were almost more interested in looking at all the toys on the shelves than the Santa moment!  Callum's most repeated phrase these days is "Sometime will you buy me... ?"

We had Christmas Eve with the extended family, then Christmas at home by ourselves.  Luckily this included some of our extended family as they dropped by on their way to see their other in-laws for Christmas.  So it felt like we had two Christmases!

Shortly after Boxing Day, we packed up and headed to the family units for a two week holiday -- another family tradition.  My nieces and nephews are getting more mature now, but still make time for Anya and Callum.  The girls love doing Anya's Rapunzel-like tresses into various hairdos, and everyone indulges Callum as the last little boy of his generation.

Below are a few recent fun pics -- you can see more on flickr.

Fa-fa the Dog and Fluffy Cat

Home, with No House

I've had a few requests for a photo of our demolished house.  How does one photograph something that's not there?  Here is a shot of the cleared land -- we've visited it a few times to marvel at the emptiness.  David took some photos while it was disappearing in the week of demolition, but I was out of town and missed the whole thing.

On a different note, I created something recently -- a crocheted slipcover for my Sony Reader, combining my two latest interests.  It's fantastic that it's exactly what I want, in colors that I chose, and was so fast to make. (I can attest that crochet is way faster than knitting!)

Half on Holiday

This weekend we had holiday fever mixed with Christmas colds (three of us have sore throats and coughs to varying degrees, with more to succumb, I'm sure).  I also made an absurd attempt to finish off some project work before Monday, futile since not much time is left in the working year.  Anya and Callum were hanging around me while I worked, so I now have a piece of scratch paper with a mixture of work annotations and kiddie drawings.  It was surprisingly not too hard to work and play at the same time, probably because my project involves tweaking a computer model that goes very slowly.

In the afternoon, I tried to teach Anya to crochet, but realised she's still too young.  Left with a half-started project, I amused myself in the late evening by making it into a finger puppet.  No pattern, I just experimented with shaping it using different stitches, making loops for the ears, and finishing with a tuft on top.  It looks vaguely like a Fraggle to me.  I sewed buttons on for the nose & eyes this morning, and Callum has named it "Fa-fa."  Anya naturally has requested one for herself, so a blue cat puppet is in the works.

We've started some new games lately -- Spin the Bottle (at dinnertime), great for getting lots of kisses -- and Treasure Hunt, where we take turns being the treasure hider.  Callum absolutely loves finding the items, and Anya loves giving us extremely specific hints on where to look for her hides.  As with Hide and Seek, they both have yet to learn how to really hide and find things, but I prefer it that way -- less likely to lose them when we're out and about!

Some sweet moments from this weekend:

Callum sidled up to me, hooked his arm around my neck to help himself onto my lap, and said, "We're best friends, aren't we, Mum?"  (My heart melts and sizzles like butter on a griddle...)

Anya wrote "I love you Mum and Dad and Grama and Callum" on our fridge's whiteboard, right behind me, then delightedly pointed out the surprise message to me.  (Later, she got cross with me about something, and erased "Mum" from the message.  But this morning I noticed I was reinstated.)

I invited Anya to sit with me on the bed for movie time because Callum was pestering her too much on the couch.  The next thing I knew, both kids were nestled on either side of me, and I got a great 45 minute snuggle.  David also joined us for part of the movie viewing, but unfortunately, he mostly got Callum rolling restlessly around over him -- lots of bottom and feet action.  I had to threaten Callum with banishment so he would settle down.  Meanwhile, by movie's end, Anya had fallen asleep in her cosy position.

School's Out, Summer's In

This week is the first week of holidays -- Anya has finished her first year of school.  Anya and Callum have still been going off each day, Anya to vacation care (a whole day at the pool! another day at the movies!) and Callum to his daycare (same old same old, but with tinsel on top).  This being Thursday, it's "Grandma Day," when my mother-in-law looks after Callum.  It's been a long time since Anya has stayed home for a Grandma Day, so both kids have been looking forward to it a lot.

This morning I heard Callum running down the hall, yelling joyfully, "Yay!  It's Grandma Day!"

Yes, Grandma Day is celebrated with as much enthusiasm as birthdays and Easter and Christmas, round these parts.  Meanwhile, here are some exciting bits that happened from an adult viewpoint:

• Our old house was knocked down in early November.  It was sad to see it go, but we'll have a bigger house in a great location as a result (and custom designed by yours truly!)  We had hoped to see construction start before Christmas, but apparently the plans have still not been approved by council.
• We had our first summery beach weekend a while ago, and our friends Wayne & Jacqui came up to join in.  Finally, sun and sand!  The weather has stayed unusually cool for this time of year until recently.
• Bronwyn & I won Runner-up in the Overall Winner category, at the Annual Artforce Awards for the traffic signal box we painted this year.  I made sure to acknowledge Anya's contribution to the TSB design (the little creatures by the dreaming woman's head).  She was quite pleased that I got her to stand up for the audience, I think.
• I attended a conference dinner by the dolphin enclosure at Sea World -- not only did we have dolphins swimming next to us all through dinner, they performed before and after the meal!  It was magical...  I was rapt for days afterward.
• My company's tenth anniversary luncheon was held at the Sydney Opera House -- our global HQ is in Denmark, the Opera House was designed by a Dane, and the Danish ambassador came to the luncheon to celebrate with us.  I believe even Oprah (who apparently is now in Australia) didn't stage her event at the Opera House, but at a nearby location.  However, she did have Russell Crowe swing in... as well as Hugh Jackman... (I would have liked that!)

Edible (Almost) T-shirt

Anya and I made this the T-shirt yesterday, combining my ideas and Anya's concept drawing. Below is Anya's original drawing. I asked her for it, when I was thinking about making an ice cream cone T-shirt. I'm glad she did this because it changed my concept of how the scoops should look, and also intrigued me with the heart-shaped cone. I really loved her heart-shaped cone but wanted a waffle cone effect, so we decided to make a heart-shaped cherry on top instead.  It's interesting, too, that although she drew this a month ago, she picked out the same colors for the ice cream scoops (without reference to the drawing) when I showed her my set of screen printing paints.

Gallery of Modern Art

I went to the Gallery of Modern Art to see the Douglas Kirkland exhibit with my good friend Mel.  It was also a chance to catch up and see how much her daughter Jessie has grown.  Raema and the kids came along as well, and Mel's husband Craig joined us at lunchtime.





I tried in vain to capture a good candid shot of the kids wandering around the Takashi Murakami exhibit.  I have no idea why Callum looks to be getting ready to open a can of whup-ass... I do like this shot of Anya looking out the window next to the Valentino window poster, although it doesn't look anything like the image I had in mind.

Tripping Through VA, WA & LA

So I went to the US to visit my mom in Staunton, Virginia.

Then to Seattle, to visit my dad.

I also caught up with some old high school friends, including my best friend from literally forever, Jill, and hung out with her kids (who are not shy at all).  It was really great to see everyone -- it felt like we just picked right up where we left off.

On the last day of my trip, I had a long layover in LA.  Luckily, my good friend Kevin had time to hang out with me.  We went to Santa Monica, The Ivy, the LA County Museum of Art, Manhattan Beach and last, Encounters restaurant at LAX.

Bird Frenzy, and Balloon Crazy

Some photos of notable moments in the last few months.  We went to the Samford Show on July 18th, enjoyed a tethered hot air balloon ride, and treated the kids to a few amusement rides.

After waiting for holidays to be over, then getting over the whooping cough, we finally finally had a play date mid-August with Anya's best friend from kindy, Amelia, and her best friend from school, Annika.  Anya was so excited by the idea of having her best friends meet and play together.  I was bemused by the fact that all their names begin and end with A.  I proposed to Anya that they could call themselves the "A" Bunch (referencing one of her favorite books, The Lunch Bunch).

Balloon Crazy at the Samford Show

Best Friends, Reunited

This past weekend we had my Aunt Jo (my mother's cousin) staying with us, so on Sunday we all went to O'Reilly's to feed the birds and have a little walk in the tree tops.  Everyone had a great time.  Callum made me laugh by gruffly commanding the birds, "Get on me!"  Anya impressed me with her nonchalant climb up a tree to 30 meters off the ground (in a caged ladder, but still!)

Wow! A king parrot on my shoulder!

Crimson Rosellas

Regent Bowerbirds

Callum Turns Three

Sibling Solidarity

"You don't do that to my sister!" Callum bellows at a boy on the playground, who'd just made Anya cry.  (To be fair, she was going slowly down a tubular slide, and he'd had no idea she was there when he started sliding down.)

"He didn't do anything!" Anya protests, saving Callum from unjust punishment, even while blubbering about an upset that we thought Callum was responsible for.

"And one for Anya?" Callum always asks when we give him a treat.

It's nice to see that no matter how much they annoy each other, Anya and Callum do look after each other as well.

Breaking My Heart Already

Callum's latest trick: he says, "Kiss?" – then puckers his lips up to me, saying, "Mmmm..." – and just as I get to kissing range, he turns away quickly saying, "Too late!" and cackles.

Anya, thrilled by a movie moment, re-enacts it for me at bedtime: "Her breasts went like this!" and jiggles her bottom at me.

Callum saunters off, "I'm going to cuddle Grandma, and then I'm going to cuddle you." As I start to follow him, not sure if I am expected to escort him, he turns, looks over his shoulder and says, "I'll be back in a minute."

Reading Hop on Pop, Callum remarks, "That rhymes!" We've been pointing out rhymes to him for ages but he never seemed to take notice, before. At the end of the book, Anya got inspired to read the endpaper, which features lists of the rhyming words used in the book. Hurray for Dr. Seuss!

We put together our glitter balls pretending they were magic, and each got a wish. Anya whispered, "I wish I were a mermaid." Callum, following her cue, whispered, "I wish I were a king." On hearing this, Anya re-wished, "I wish I were a mermaid and I was the queen of the mermaids."

Top Thoughts

After going to Melbourne & Bendigo for work, then Darwin & Litchfield & Kakadu for school holidays, I felt like there was a lot I could blog about, but so much that I spent way too much time thinking about what to write. At the same time, I spent several weeks fighting off the whooping cough and the horrible effects of megadosing myself with antibiotics (my first antibiotics since 1991), so I also wasn't in much shape to compose anything readable. Now I feel like it's probably too late to go back in time and describe everything we did, but suffice to say, we loved Litchfield & Kakadu and definitely want to see more of the Top End.



The top of Gunlom Falls was probably the most picturesque of all the gorgeous swimming holes and waterfalls that we visited – I would include it on anybody's "must-do" list for the Top End. There were a whole series of approximately rectangular basins cascading down to the lip of the waterfall, all quite generous in size. Above them were a series of rounded pools, fed by a carved miniature gorge. The water was clear green over a sandy bed; I felt like I was swimming in glass. The top is reached by a 2km ascent from the campsite. We also swam in the plunge pool, which was the only time we went past a "swim at your own risk" crocodile warning sign. (Everyone was swimming, so it seemed pretty safe.) Someone camping near us offered us the use of their pool noodles, which helped us to swim all the way across the pool to the base of the waterfall with Anya and Callum in tow.



Our cruise of Yellow Water ("Ngurrungurrudja") at sunset was also a great experience. It was the only time we actually saw any live crocodiles, despite a myriad of "swim at your own risk" signs throughout the parks. I read that the estuarine crocodiles ("ginga") have largely displaced the freshwater crocodiles ("madjarrki") in Kakadu, which is why there are so many warnings now. The estuarine crocodiles (also known colloquially as "salties") are larger and more aggressive, whereas the freshwater crocodiles are shy and tend to leave people alone.

I wish we'd had time to see Butterfly Gorge, whose walls are apparently home to countless butterflies; The Lost City, a spot which our rented 4WDs were not allowed to go; Jim Jim Falls, which we missed in favour of Nourlangie Rock; and all the other waterfalls and rock pools we missed. We did go to Florence Falls, Tjaynera Falls, Buley Rockhole and Howard Springs, which is a pretty long list considering our limited time. I am glad we went to Nourlangie Rock, where we got to see an ancient rock shelter (possibly 40,000 years old), lots of rock art, and a beautiful view of an escarpment.



We came home already thinking about our next camping holiday. Anya and Callum adjusted to the camping and 4 wheel driving life quite readily, so that's one obstacle cleared. Anya did ask me mid-week, "Can we go home now?" but it turned out the reason was, "I want to use a computer." Now we just have to pick a time and place, and go.

Life in the Single Lane

This week, David is away in Canberra, so I've slogging it alone since Sunday afternoon. He's been calling just before bedtime each night, to say good night to Anya and Callum, so it's been relatively painless for them. It wasn't until this morning, when Callum was romping on the bed with me before breakfast, that his absence was really noticed. Callum looked at David's empty pillow and said, "Where's Dad?"

I've had a lazy several days, in reality, as I'm still recovering from my various illnesses (still a mystery to me how I got whooping cough, and whether the following sniffles were related or a new infestation of my lungs), so I've allowed myself to sleep in a bit (kids permitting). Today I had to actually roust Anya out of bed – she's still recovering too, I think, although she's seemed happy and bright enough.

Yesterday was Anya's first day back at school since last Wednesday, so I also indulged her a bit when dropping her off – then as I appeared to be sticking around, her teacher suckered me into showing all the kids how to do some origami! It was a frantic half hour of helping 6 or 8 or 10 (the group seemed to be growing by the minute) each fold their own hopping frog. Fun for me, actually, but not sure if the kids actually learned anything.

The next thing I knew, I was rolling into the office at around eleven, just in time to find out that all the managers were there in force for a managers' meeting. This could have been embarrassing but instead I was invited along for the lunch, so I got a free, fancy lunch at the Pink Piano instead of my usual hurried gulp at my desk. It's just as well I don't have any pressing deadlines at the moment.

I think perhaps I'm still on Darwin time... (half an hour behind Brisbane/Sydney).

Our Top End Tour

I love maps, so here is a map showing everywhere we stopped on last week's holiday.  I will progressively link some photos to each map marker - just click and you'll see!  Alternatively follow this link to view the map in full screen: NT Top End 4WD Holiday

Anya, You Have the Power

From the back files of my mind...

The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.

The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)

Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.

New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.

Ten Useful Uses for One's Children

Someone to...
10. Fetch and carry when my grown up legs are feeling lazy.
9. Give me cuddles on my birthday.
8. Eat the random mouthfuls of leftovers lurking in the nooks and crannies of the fridge.
7. Walk over my back to give me a massage.
6. Say out loud what we're all really thinking.
5. Need me to bake some cake.
4. Render my alarm clock useless.
3. Give me practice at folding multitudes of tiny, tiny pairs of underpants.
2. Lick the cake bowl clean.
1. Appreciate their father's comic books.