Seven Little Australians

So Proud!

November 28th, 2006 by sevenlittleaustralians

Recently our children have been branching out into new areas. For Michael this has included a term of art lessons. This was a big step for him as he ventured forth on his own without his siblings. It was good to see his self-confidence blossom and his teacher was very good at getting him to be assertive in his decision making in regards to his art work.. His teacher is excellent in fact at drawing the most from the children, true she is rather formidable in some ways but she does love to see the children progress. The term ended with all the members of the Junior Art Club entering their work in our local town Festival’s Art Competition. Imagine the surprise and delight of Michael when he won a MAJOR prize! He was the “Runner Up” (second to the Champion) for the entire primary school division, not only that but he was the youngest participant. A real bonus was that he even received prize money. He was most delighted to hear that some of the ‘big wigs’ in the town’s art world wanted to ‘buy’ his picture. Would he sell? Well “NO” the picture was a portrait of his mum! And he couldn’t sell that not even for $500.
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The sheep pastel drawing is his favourite and his circle painting is dad’s favourite both which he also entered in the competition.
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Five of ‘The Seven” have been having swimming lessons this term which has been very beneficial. The highlight of our term was this weekend when the older two participated in a bi-atholon. This consisted of them running 1km each and swimming 600m and 400m respectively. I was so proud of them it was an absolute huge effort, swimming 12 and 8 laps of a 50m pool is a mammoth task and then to run on top of it, I thought all the children were champions just for doing it. An exciting part of the whole experience though was that Anna Maria won first place in her division! Yeah well done Anna-Maria and well done Francis for a big try, loved that last minute sprint for the finish line.
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Posted in Family Life | 1 Comment »

12 Random Facts Meme

November 12th, 2006 by sevenlittleaustralians

I have been tagged by my friend Jenn Everybody else has been writing 10 random facts but Jenn decided that we needed a bigger challenge! So here goes.

1-I had my first baby, a girl at 21, my mother had her first also a girl at 21 and my grandmother had her first also a girl at 21!

2- I failed my driving test two times before I succeded passing third time lucky.

3- At the age of 21 I learnt to sew.

4- At the age of 25 I learnt to play the piano. Well sort of.

5- I heard about homeschooling from my mum, well obviously as she homeschooled my siblings.

6- When I was a child I always wanted 13 children. Well I’m re-thinking that one.

7- I HATE asparagus!

8- I LOVE chocolate especially Tim Tams and Violet Crumbles.

9- When I was a teenager I dreamed of many careers, I was going to be a pilot and fly for the Royal Flying Doctors or perhaps a librarian but really I wanted to be a mum.

10- I can’t swim with style, you know the breathing/stroke thing. I just am not co-ordinated enough.

11- My goal this year is to learn how to do handcrafts and garden and bake bread successfully and ….. well you get the picture I’m sure I’ll learn one of them, maybe..

12- When I have grandchildren I’ve decided I like the title of ‘Mama’.

12 Random Facts indeed. I tagg my friends Alison , Taffy and Centralian Jen

Posted in Musings | 2 Comments »

Loveliness of Homemade Gifts Fair

November 12th, 2006 by sevenlittleaustralians

Announcing another Loveliness Fair by the ladies at 4Real Learning! This Fair, The Loveliness of Homemade Gifts is hosted by

Dawn at ‘Sun and Candlelight’

Our family would like to share some homemade gifts they are not made by me (no I am not that talented) but were made by my children for Christmas’ Past and Birthdays.

Bookmark Gift

This bookmark was made by Anna Maria(13) last year for her brother. Her idea is each sibling receives one once they are independently reading. A lovely incentive that encourages reading and a great commemoration of achievement. This gift would have to be the most used item in our household because the cross-stitiching is done on material it is so soft and everyone’s favourite bookmark to use. Over the last couple of Christmas’ great nanna, grandmothers, uncles, aunts and of course parents and siblings have received these beautiful gifts.

Card Box Gift

Card Box Open Gift

Joseph(7) made this lovely card box for Michael’s birthday this year. Michael wanted something to put his cards in and Joseph insisted that Daddy help him make this box. Lots of secret cutting and hammering went on in the shed in the week prior to the Big Day.

Sock Rabbit Gift

Anna Maria made this ‘rabbit’ for Rose from a discarded sock!! I think it very clever of her if you didn’t know you wouldn’t realize that it was made from a sock. Rose loves this present made by her big sister.

3D Tile Gift

Daddy received this gift from Anna Maria. The photo doesn’t do the gift justice. On a tile is mounted a photo of the children with a 3D layered effect. You will need three photos, the bottom layer is the full photo on top of that Anna Maria cut out the three children at the back and glued them onto matchsticks, and then the three front children are cut out and glued onto matchsticks on top of the previous photo. Hence the 3D layers. Then glue a ribbon to hang the picture by. It is quite time consuming but the finished effect is fantastic, Daddy loved it and placed it on his desk at work.

Potato Box Gift

Last Christmas I threw out lots of hints to Prince Charming that I wanted, no needed, a ‘Potato Box’. Prince Charming did not listen, however Anna Maria came to the rescue. This lovely box sits in the bottom of my pantry and stores the potatoes. You can imagine how thrilled I was with my present on Christmas morning but what meant the most to me was that my daughter showed her love to me in the very special way of making me a present herself.

Bookcase Gift

One of my most prized gifts was from Prince Charming, the gift of bookcases. What other present is going to make a bookloving woman (no I am not a member of BA,Books Anonoymous. I don’t have a problem) estatic but bookcases. One birthday I received 3 bookcases 6ft high!! Was I happy!!! Notice up the middle he has drilled a support (a broom handle) to take all the weight, he also grooved all the shelves in and glued and screwed. No staples and nails for me. Aren’t I a lucky one!

Nothing is as treasured as a well thought out gift that is handmade, there is just something very special about such a present. This year I am going to have a go at making presents, what, I’m not sure, but with my children showing the way I’m sure I’ll manage a gift or two.

Posted in Musings | 6 Comments »

Footy in the Rain

November 7th, 2006 by sevenlittleaustralians

Driving in the rain today I passed a group of boys playing an impromptu game of footy on the hockey fields. They were plastered with mud, the field was a mess and the boys were obviously enjoying themselves. I reflected that it has been a long time since I have seen boys out just having fun, even in this country town. We perceive the world to be an unsafe place for children, and often with just cause. We protect our children shuttling them from school to activites to home. Our parks are very tame children no longer have the thrill of a merry go- round ride or an exhilarating race down the slide. Very rarely are children seen out riding their bikes down the streets or just out exploring. Our children have missed out on many of the simple pleasures of life.

It was good to see the boys in the mud and the rain a reminder that not all the simple things in life are lost.

Posted in Musings | 2 Comments »