Extracurriculars

Am I a lazy mum? I don't know. I don't make my kids breakfast unless it's the weekend (or their birthday - pancakes and eggs in bed makes up for that, right?) I don't make my kids lunches (except as the occasional surprise and then of course I'm "the best mom ever.") I don't brush their teeth til they're 8 (like dentists recommend.) I still do their laundry (but that window is closing soon.)

I'm all about teaching them the skills and choices they'll need for a lifetime.

But what I don't do on the day to day, I like to think I make up for on the special occasions. Like holidays and birthdays and school excursions and volunteering. I try to be involved as much as I can and we've had a bit of fun already this year. First off, in their weekly cooking classes:

 Flat bread and soups, zucchini slice and salads, it's always something healthy and yummy and for the most part, freshly picked from their classroom gardens out the kitchen door. LOVE it.

 Swimming Carnival is always a blast. They sit with their "houses" (think Hogwarts) and there is soooo much cheering! I love seeing their nerves before each race.

They're so good about having a few teachers in the water for encouragement.

National Botanical Gardens with Annie's class. I manned a group of 12 and it was 3 hours of chaos but we learned a ton from our short walk with the guide and played lots of games among the foliage.

Aboriginals used to use those tall stalks for spears.

This type of daisy is crispy hard and lasts forever.

These bottle trees actually give water. Australian vegetation is cool.

 Watching the water dragons - we saw a ton that day.

Zoo Day was less hectic (probably because it was Will and Kenna's classes and ANIMALS are more fun than plants) but equally exhausting. Really cool zoo though - great layout, lots of interesting animals, beautiful foliage and great hands on feedings/pettings.

the lion Will fed chunks of red meat to

the lion Kenna fed

feeding emus - did you catch Kenna's face?

  Did you know giraffes have blue tongues to prevent them getting sunburnt while eating all day?

I've been taking the kids to drama class after school and it's a crack up. Will is soooo not a performer, yet sorta wants to be cause he lives for attention. Kenna is a total natural and Annie is just along for the ride. Of course, Summer is always just jumping right into the action like she's part of the gang.

Which she pretty much is.

See how she gets right up on that stage during their "plays?" (Will's in the green wig)

Back to School (Re-Do)

Apparently my bulky fingers on the tiny iphone screen deleted the contents of this post rather than published the updated original, so here's a second draft substitute of what I think I wrote (lame!) 

Despite being one of our shortest summers yet, the kids were thrilled to be back in school (albeit appropriately jittery the first day.) Love their school, love their teachers, love their friends, and while I'm not sure how well they're keeping up with their U.S. counterparts with all these Australian history/geography/animal lessons, at least they're loving it.

Which leaves me and Summer home solo again, where things like this happen:

"it's so boring around here without all those big kids around..."

Park play in pjs after morning drop-off

 And the two of us hit Questacon when she finally gets to be the one deciding when/where we go:

total melt down when the parachute went bye-bye

 Ahhhhh, welcome back, morning baths - we've missed you!

And literally as those photos were uploading, I turned around to a mysterious rustling sound to find this:

While I jest about keeping up with the kids, I don't miss the stress, strain and schedule of part/full time work. I do love staying home with them, but I recognize that it's not an opportunity that all women can afford or even desire. I respect those who so valiantly split their time, attention and energies between work/school/home. It's difficult it different ways. More scheduling, rushing, planning, and stress as opposed to so much picking up, calming down, tedium and insanity. Being a mom in both scenarios is difficult and crazy and should be respected and celebrated.

That being said, I'm definitely trying to soak in these last few months with our delightfully sweet Sum-Sums before baby bro enters the scene and shakes things up again. :)

School Lunch

In the States that phrase might elicit some scrunched-up "yuck" faces. Being a government-run, streamlined program, it's not exactly the freshest, healthiest meal you want for your kid. Jaime Oliver's pretty much proven that.

But out here, it's totally different. You basically order what you want from the list; offerings like wraps, muffins, fried rice, pies, smoothies, etc. Then the Canteen whips it up for you that morning (with a few parent volunteers.) I help out once a term and always love seeing how the meals are put together.

The other day I was doing up some fresh baked "bikkies". And scooping out fresh-set jelly(o) with sliced fruit for fruit cups.

Meanwhile, Summer's under the counters - usually with a whole crowd of laughing, smiley faces.

I can't help but think we could significantly cut down on childhood obesity with a more natural, hands-on approach to school lunch like this. Pricier, yes, but fresh ingredients, less preservatives, real food - it's gotta be worth it.


They've also got an "Environment Centre" with kitchen attached. It's the highlight of the week to go in and cook pumpkin scones or vegetable pizza at these kid-sized appliances.

 They get to grow, sample and cultivate vegetable gardens right outside their doors.

From this..... to this 2 months later.

Throw in a compost heap and gathering fresh eggs from their chooks and you've got some real life learning experiences going on.

I reckon they're going to miss this school.