The Lion King

Last year when it was announced that the Lion King was being staged again in Sydney, Jack thought we should go. I said I would get tickets and never quite got around to booking any. Still, it couldn't be that hard to get them could it? Oh. Yes. Quite. Luckily Ganma bought some for us for Christmas (not Sam as he is too young and wriggly). It seemed like such a long time away for so long then all of a sudden it was upon us. Despite detours due to St Patrick's day parades and torrential downpours, we made it. The highlight of course was the look on Jack's face when all the puppets first came on stage.

And yes, Jack has had a haircut (thanks for noticing). When the hairdresser asked him how he wanted it cut he said like Luke Skywalker. Strangely, she had no idea who this Luke person is (or should that be was?) but he was pleased with the result. Apparently it's vital to have a square fringe. 

Another March Birthday! Jack

Today Jack is 7 which is quite frankly hard to believe. Yesterday he had some early birthday celebrations including a cake with a smaller family gathering than anticipated (Nonno was quarantined with flu). I know it's not usual to blow out the candles on a cake with a slice missing, but Scarlett, who also had to miss out on the celebratory dinner had the missing slice with a candle.

Assembly!

I am back at work (only two days a week) but unfortunately one of those days is the day that Jack has assembly. I feel reluctant to ask for time off but recently his class were doing an item and my manager said, "You must go!" and made it possible for me to do so. Jack didn't know I was coming so was surprised to see me there. Luckily he also got an award that day too.
Not to be outdone, Sam wriggled and squirmed on our laps, until he farted loudly, giggled and announced, "fart!"

Paint!

I love this new googly flashing pic thingy, it's really enough to give you a fit. Anyway, here's Sam doing some Jackson Pollock inspired daubing. He certainly has a different style from Jack and uses both hands to get as much paint as possible on the canvas and everything else.

Cake!

 Sunday was Sam's second birthday. When he woke up and we wished him a happy bithday he exclaimed, "Cake!"
Because really, with an older brother with lots of toys, presents aren't really a priority. It's all about the cake (nearly wrote Kale - for Sam, it will never be about the kale).
With that in mind I was thinking about the kind of cake I could make. As Sam is also a huge fan of Peppa Pig's brother George and his Mr Dinosaur (or Saur as Sam calls him) it only took a moment to decide on what kind of cake it should be. Needless to say Sam was delighted with his 'Saur' cake and proceeded to pick off all the chocolate drops.

Sourdough

I realised I haven't been doing much sewing lately. Or knitting or anything crafty (except for making a fabric boa constrictor for devouring naughty schoolchildren). It could be due to the two small people and one tall one in my life or it could be my newish obsession, sourdough.
I've always had a thing about bread. Good bread. When I worked in a bookshop I read "By Bread Alone" by Sarah-Kate Lynch. It was a bit of a quirky potboiler about a woman called Esme who makes her own sourdough. At the time I thought that one day, when I had the time I would make my own starter and bake my own bread. It's ironic that now with less spare time I did make a starter and have been baking loaves. And so last year I re-read the book and decided to take the leap. The book came with instructions on making your own starter and a recipe for bread. After a shaky start where I wasn't sure what was going on, I managed to get the starter going and not poison anyone.
I was so inordinately proud of my first wonky, quite dense loaf. These days I am able to produce handsome loaves (even if I say so myself) with only a small amount of effort. So satisfying. Imagine my delight when I discovered you can also use sourdough starter in cakes, pancakes, muffins, brownies and well, just about everything.

Auskick!

Last Saturday Jack played in his very first Auskick game at halftime between GWS Giants and St Kilda Saints. Very exciting!

Here is Jack's description (using his own words and spelling,

  "On sater day I play half time in the GWS and sante kilder Game. I didn't get a kick. I was going for GWS. I even got a bage! and I had a great time. At the end I said that was geat. It was lots of fun."