wikileaks

no, no political comments today just this funny cartoon by Cathy Wilcox...

Santa photo

Renee, my very talented friend (she is a fabulous photographer and has a knack for finding great furniture in dusty antique shops and Vinnies and is very entertaining) delivered some photos today. Some are from the photos that she took of Scarlett and Jack last October.
The others were Santa photos and I think they are great. She was so patient as she coerced Jack from his prone position on the floor (I don't want to go near him!) to standing in front of Santa to standing at his side. We decided that sitting on Santa's lap was not essential. No need to push our luck! And here it is. I think it's a cracker, especially compared with this one.

morning tea

Yesterday we had our last birthday morning tea for the year. I thought I'd go with something light for Jen's birthday and then I made this instead. Nigella's chocolate fudge cake. I had a small (ish) slice and needed a good liedown afterwards. Couldn't though as the library patrons tend to find this odd.

phew!

We are celebrating Diffmas tonight and Diane asked me to bring dessert. I hope she wasn't hoping for Christmas pudding or cake (all those dead flies!) because we've gone with a gingerbread house.

Going on past experience this may seem foolish and I don't want to get ahead of myself until we actually get the house there, but I think this one is much sturdier. I hired a new engineer and used a silicone mould (or is it mold?) and it seems like a much more solid structure. But then nothing is perfect and I realised after I had iced the roof in place that I had forgotten to remove the mug that was used to stabilise the walls while they set. oops! Let's hope the roof doesn't collapse with the weight of all that chocolate. And I know that Jack is blurry - that's from all the sugar ingested doing quality control.

ummm?

You only need to be distracted for a moment and Jack can wreak 100 kinds of havoc or just decide that maybe the furniture needed some clothes. No, I don't understand it either. Do you think it will catch on?

Ganma's gala concert weekend

Recently my Mum (aka Ganma) flew down for a weekend of festivities. Initially it was just for Jack's first ballet concert performance but then it turned out his preschool concert was on the night before. Dad (aka Nonno) was also due to come but was unable to because of his back surgery - ouch!
Parents were asked to bring a plate and for children to be dressed in red or green (Santa hats were supplied on the night). Due to a delay Mum missed the performances of the Wonky Donkey, The Gruffalo song and Go Santa Go by the Wiggles. Some would suggest (unfairly) that it was a lucky escape as it was not Jack's finest hour (he spent almost one whole song facing the opposite direction) but it was fun and rather gorgeous. Parents were of course madly filming (including myself) but the sound and picture quality would be enough to give David Stratton a migraine.
After the singing it was time for the food or the free for all. It was certainly like a swarm of locusts descending on a myriad of foods in rainbow hues that had nothing to do with Mother Nature. I was pleased to see that the gingerbread trees and stars that Jack and I made



were quickly demolished (by adults and kids).



Jack saw someone doing this trick with cheezels and thought it was the best idea in the world.

In the midst of the feeding frenzy Ganma arrived (her plane had been delayed) and Jack took some quick portraits.



Then Santa made an appearance but Jack could not be convinced to go anywhere near him.


As he was giving out lollies we didn't mind, seeing that Jack had already eaten half his bodyweight in sweets. We bade preschool goodnight.

The next day, due to the planets aligning or possibly Wagga being built on a floodplain I didn't have to work because work was flooded so I got to play instead. We had morning tea at Ajanta in Coolamon and then Mum and I went to the licorice factory for lunch. Jack, obviously suffering from pre-performance jitters was rather 'temperamental'. We got through the day and gathered his costume and accoutrements and made our way to the hall.
When we got there Mum and I dressed Jack and were shooed away by a woman who assured us that he would be fine (I thought that my rotor blades were tucked out of sight).

We then queued to get into the hall. And the performance? Adorable, gorgeous and funny (though whenever we tittered the people in front glared at us - they were very tut-tut). As no cameras were allowed I don't have photos but I am hoping to get the DVD and maybe with some jiggerypokery will be able to put Jack's dance on YouTube (shhh - don't tell anyone). We heard lots of people whisper "look there's a boy!" and I was pleased and worried (that I might get in trouble) when I waved at Jack and he waved back.
After a signal we snuck out (more disapproving whispering) and collected Jack. Well, we had to spring him out really. The door was locked tight and the guardian was not pleased at his and some fellow dancers early removal. I think Jack was not exactly thrilled either as he seemed to be doing a marvellous job at chatting up an older, very pretty girl (yeah, I'm going to the beach for Christmas - what are you doing?). We escaped from the glares and frowns to pick up our retro feast of spring rolls, honey prawns and chicken and cashew nuts for our post dance celebration.
Jack and Ganma, still on a high, played their favourite game which involves poking each other with a feather duster and making a ppppppwt! noise. Hours of fun to be had and now Jack has a little feather duster of his own.



On Ganma's last day we went to the Grower's Markets and then had lovely french bread with scrambled eggs from the girls. Mum still had a while before her flight but with the flood waters rising and the risk of road closure (and an extended stay in Junee) she hotfooted it to the airport.

the crappiest gingerbread house ever

I'm not sure what I was thinking at 7am this morning when I decided to make a gingerbread house and take it to playgroup at 10am. Probably something like, "gawd I'm tired and would love to go back to bed," or perhaps "a gingerbread house in two and a half hours - easy".
I believe that's what they call hubris or maybe stupidity.
As it turned out I managed to assemble the house (as long as it was propped up).

On the way a wall fell down but I was confident that I could fix that. As we arrived at playgroup the whole house collapsed in on itself like a black hole and Jack started to cry (it was a very sad sight). And so I walked into playgroup for the christmas party carrying this...

On the upside Jack got his face painted , but didn't want to pose for a photo.


Santa turned up in sandals (it's hot today)

and Jack scored a present...

storm event

view from gobba bridge

water, water everywhere...

more rain to come?

hallway leading to the art gallery

the pipe pumping water out of the lagoon into the river to avoid another
'storm event' - hope the diameter of the pipe is smaller than a duck

Jen gets the last bit of wet carpet

just in case we get more rain (as forecast)

the new location of the records department - oh dear

Yesterday I went back to work for the first day since the library flooded last week. Luckily not all the sodden carpet had been removed and I was able to rip some up.

wet underlay + inside bra = disgusting

In fact yesterday was my first glimpse of the flood waters. It was pretty impressive. For a moment I thought I was driving towards the ocean with the sun glinting off the water. Traffic moved very slowly indeed as everyone rubbernecked at the swollen waters of the Murrumbidgee (including us).
The library, besides smelling a bit dank was in pretty good shape (although people have been doing lots of clean up work since last thursday). Luckily someone was not far away on the night that the 'storm event' occurred and most books on the bottom shelf were saved. Unfortunately Christmas storytime had to be cancelled and the library is temporarily shut. Some people are quite understanding about this, though they keep on returning books in spite of being asked not to. Others are indignant about the closure. There's something about a public library that inspires a sense of ownership and privilege that sometimes morphs into outrage.
I had a feeling that yesterday was a day for cake so I made Jackie's rhubarb cake. As Amy would say,"it's not a day for a sliver" and that's probably why we had custard too.

pooped! pulling up carpet is hard

rehearsal

As Jack's ballet concert fast approaches, it seems like we are attending rehearsals every second day. Last Sunday was the dress rehearsal and I would like to say it was organised chaos but that might be an exaggeration (the organised bit, not the chaos bit). We got to the hall right on time because I am a little bit afraid of being told off by Jack's teacher. Then we waited and waited and waited for the 'baby' ballet troupe to go on stage. Girls wearing lots of makeup (a little too JonBenet for my liking) and gowns and ugg boots, flounced around and fought over wings. Jack got some glitter in his hair (nice) and acquired some wings and edged ever so slowly towards the stage. We were also given a long list of rules for this weekend (the concert!) including no cameras to be allowed at the concert. But what about the blog I felt like moaning. So I snuck in a few pics while the teacher was distracted.

As it looks like Dad won't be able to make it this weekend I will be purchasing the DVD for him instead.

waiting

still waiting

any moment now

it's hard work being a fairy

the big fella

dino lights-dinomite!

We tried. We really did but we just didn't quite make it to December before the tree went up. Considering they've been up in some shops since August I suppose we aren't doing that badly. So yesterday, even though it is still November and I cannot locate all the decorations, we put up teh tree. Jack was SOOOOOO excited. Can you tell?

Everytime we ask him what he wants he always answers Shark waterslide. He saw one in a catalogue months ago. His answer never ever changes. What are we to do? I have managed to get a message from Mr C where he mentions a scooter (and listening to his parents). Do you think this will work? If you want to see the message it is below.



http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/gevqcLck3lbiZZRxmwpQ6g

stories

One of the highlights (for some) of dining at our house is that people are requested (meaning they have no choice) to read a story or two to Jack before bedtime. When Scarlett was here she and Jack both chose stories and we all got a turn. Stories a plenty. As first cab off the rank S held them in thrall with his delivery of Cat in the Hat.

By the time they got to me (lucky last) their attention was wandering (because it couldn't have been my technique surely?)

Sorry mum - know that's not the best pic but your expression says it all.

cousins continued

It seems like it was months ago that Scarlett visited, when really it was only about a month ago.
Scarlett came to visit with my parents while hers were in China. Jack and Scarlett don't see each other all the time but they just click when they do. They were virtually inseparable while she was here. Even when Craig and Lou called to say hello she handed the phone to Ganma and said, "You be Scarlett." and sat down next to Jack. We were having a family photo done at the time so we scored an extra family member for that one.

woody and jessie

Most of teh photographs were of Jack and Scarlett and taken by my friend Renee. Later Scarlett confided to my Mum, "We enjoyed running away from that photographer lady"