School update

  We survived the 1st week. Kids were exhausted but really liked school. I think we are back into the swing of things. One of the bonuses of year round school- they don't have such a long summer, just a nice long break.
  DB came home the 2nd day of school and told me, "I didn't learn to read!" Not sure if he was happy for annoyed by that.
  MA has come home saying wonderful things about her teacher Ms. M. The principle did stop in her class and worked with her on a spelling placement test. They chatted about what MA did on her holiday. I was pleasantly surprised. This showed me that the principle was in fact making sure MA was settling in OK. Many schools the principle would have talked to the parent & possible let the teacher know there were concerns. Not personally checked on the student.
 
On the way to school Friday, here is the conversation between MA & DB.
DB: MA, when you see me on the playground is there a golden light?
MA: what are you talking about?
DB: Like there is a golden light all around me. so you know where I am.
MA: No.

  These kids crack me up. But they have been playing together at school after their tea breaks.
  EL seems to be adjusting to having free reign during the day and being my helper on errands. She gets to move up a level at swimming next week. Really proud of her. She will start learning how to use the kick boards and breathing to the side I think. Not bad for 2.5 years old!

MA started hip hop this week and she loved it! I was thinking it would be a dance class where they learned a dance to a song. It was more of the spin-on-your-head hip hop. But MA didn't seem to mind.
DB & EL start soccer this weekend
EL starts gymnastics next week. She can hardly wait!

1st Day: Prep & Grade 2

  Thankfully the sun was shining but the humidity was super high. The kids were so excited to get to school and see their friends, meet teachers, & see their classrooms. I got MA settled in her class and took DB to his room. He sat right down and started playing with some building block type toy. He didn't care if I was there or not. It was reassuring to see him so confident. I thought EL might be upset about leaving the others at school but she didn't seem to mind. We ran to the store then had a little playdate with her friend. Home for lunch and a nap. Then it was time to pick up MA & DB! They both had huge smiles on their faces as they came out of their classrooms.

  Home for snack and unpack backpacks then off to swimming lessons. DB swam 1st then his teacher had him try the next level up, mini squad 1. So he swam for an hour straight. He barely made it to bed before falling asleep.

 I love my family!

Some times it's hard

  Being a parent. I was THAT parent last week. The class lists were posted. MA was so excited to find out her teacher. I didn't know any of the possible teachers so it didn't make a difference to me really. DB was more than likely going to get MA's teacher from last year. At our school, a Prep teacher moves up to Grade 1 the following year then moves back to Prep and so on. They also do composite classes here. Meaning they combine different grades into the same class. Last year MA's class was a 1/2 class which was good for her. She saw the grade 2 work and it motivated her to see the older students and their work. Prep is usually a stand along grade. Up to 25 students in a class.
  So back to the point... Class lists. Scanning, scanning, finally find her name in a 1/2 class. Only 7 other grade 2 students in her class. They split grade 2 four ways- two 1/2s and two 2/3 classes.
  As a parent here's where it gets difficult. MA sees her 2 best friends in a different class-together. She sees them in a 2/3 class and she is in a 1/2 class. My heart breaks as she tears up and there is nothing I can do to fix it and make it better. We went home and she just sat there. Last year was full of big changes and adjustments. Now I feel like we are back to the beginning.
  My concerns go beyond her not being with her best friends. Will she be challenged? Who decided the classes and on what criteria(mind you she got all A's and 2 B's -in Italian and drama, on her report card last year with only going thru half of grade 1. With the USA school on a different school year than Aussie schools she was finishing up Kindergarten while the school here had already started grade 1.) I worry about her being a mother hen to the grade  students. As for friends, she will still see her best friends during their outdoor time after lunch. She also is friends with the other grade 2 students  in her class. But it's hard to not have those close friendships.
  I called the principle and heard back from her. She answered my questions and explained they try to make the classes as even as possible (meaning they don't put all the struggling students in one class and the highest achievers in another). Classes are full and there is no room to move students, yadda, yadda, yadda. I get it. I do, but it doesn't make it any easier. MA had made several comments that made me sad for her and I just want to make it better. That's what moms do. Tonight she asked who picked the classes. And maybe because the 2/3 teacher doesn't know her, that's why she didn't pick her. I have been careful to not say how the classes were picked because I didn't want her to feel differently towards any specific teacher.
  We will see how the year goes. I will be paying close attention to her school work. Her teacher seems really nice and I have heard great things about her. Guess it's time to trust the system.
  DB got MA's teacher from last year and has a ton of friends with him. He is set! I am really looking forward to seeing how he goes this year!

Wet weekend

That might be a bit of an understatement. It rained and rained and then it rained some more! 4 days. It was  caused by cyclone Oswald. Here is the description of a cyclone and hurricane. Very small differences to the common person. I am sure weather people think they are very different.
  Part of the city flooded. Bundaberg, a city north of us, is completely under water. I didn't venture out for 2 days. By Monday we needed to get out of the house and replenish the pantry. Everyone put on their rain boots (or gum boots as they are called here). EL's boots didn't fit and she was pretty upset about that. Of course the store was out of her size when we stopped in that day.
  I think when the storm finally passed thru the area and we had about 12 inches of rain in 4 days. I drained at least that much out of our pool and it was still above the usual water line. Trees were down all over the place. Lots of power was out. Ours went out a couple times but luckily not for extended periods of time.

Here is one of the sandbag pickup locations near our house. 

Here is a little comparison of weather from where we use to live and where we currently live.

Holy Rain!

  It has been raining for days! I have never seen so much rain. Already had to drain the pool twice. So that means we have had at least 5+ inches of rain so far. It has been so dry here that we needed the rain. Just not sure we needed quite so much at one time. The radar has been solid green since Friday.
  Cyclone Oswald caused  this so I guess it is similar to when a hurricane goes over land and drenches the surrounding areas as it losses momentum. Places are flooding along the coast. There have been tornadoes all over Queensland.
  Next time I will be better prepared to spend days stuck in the house. Plan some indoor activities for the kids and stock the house with food (been putting off the store for a few days. Now there is no way I am taking 3 kids and getting soaked!) When it finally stops raining I will see if I can get a precipitation total.

Look at all that green

We have tried our backpack on and our new shoes

 played with our hair

 rearranged our stickers

 Had a few moments when we needed to be alone

 watched way too much tv

Kid Cam 1

MA got a camera for her birthday. So I thought it would be fun to let her have her own posts here as she takes pics. She has already mastered the self portrait :-) Enjoy a peek of what a 7 year old captures with her camera.

Splash, Splash

  Last week swimming lessons started back up for all 3 kids. I also signed the other 2 up for a couple diving lessons. How to enter the water type, not jumping off a diving board. So that meant we were at the pool Monday thru Friday. EL was happy to get back to her lessons and I think DB & MA learned a few things too.

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 Matt and I started working out last week too. The kids like to workout with us and that is pretty entertaining in itself.
  We hung out at home Saturday. Did some work around the house and swam. I took a 3 hour nap, thanks to some benedryl I took before working out in the yard.

Sunday, we got up and moving 1st thing. We headed down to Surfers Paradise to watch our friends participate in the Surf Life Savers Club. It is like a swim lesson in the ocean! We are hoping to get our kids involved in it next season. DB had a couple tries on a boogie board and really liked it. EL tried it out too. MA had another run in with some jelly fish and kept the beach company for most of the time. After playing in the water for a while the kids were hungry. Our friends invited us to their house for lunch. The kids played and swam after they finished eating. Finally, we decided it was time to hit the road. EL was asleep before we hit the M1. DB wasn't far behind her. MA started to doze off just as we got home.

 EL was all about having her picture taken in her new pants I made

 Just checking the weather back in the States. Brrrrrr!