Little As

Our activity on Saturday mornings is Little Athletics. This is Daniel's 4th season of Little As and Oliver's 3rd. I don't get down there often as I spend every second Saturday in the patchwork shop, but yesterday I was able to go and watch the boys. Daniel did 2 PBs and Oliver did 3.
Wayne rallies the under 8 boys
Daniel waiting for the 400m
Oliver's 300m

Waiting for discus
A little bit of coaching from Dad
Oliver tackles the shotput

C'mon Aussie C'mon C'mon

Well I was checking the emails and watching the cricket of course, and thought to myself "The boys are very quiet, what are they doing"? I went outside to discover they had set up the stumps and were playing their version of backyard cricket. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. Here are some action shots.



Ooh Arh "Dan" McGrath

Concentration at its highest ..... check out the tongue.

Number one spectator

The hazards of batting without protection, lucky it was only a tennis ball.

A change is as good as a holiday

BEFORE
AFTER

Here's proof

For those of you who may have thought that a bicycle given to me on my birthday, may have become one of those "dust collecting items", here's proof it isn't. The inaugural Harding Family Bike Ride was held last Sunday afternoon. It may have been only around the block but I put my bum on that seat and rode. The boys were very concerned and asked questions like "Mum, do you know how to ride?" and "Mum, don't go too fast" and "Mum, be careful", they were very sweet. It was really good because Ollie and I could ride at a slower pace then Daniel and Wayne and nobody was left behind. I'm sure it was only the first of many.

Visitors from the north

Yesterday we had dinner with Peter, Sandy, Kylie, Thomas and Amy. We went to Tania's house which is a beautiful terrace in inner Sydney. She and Julie went to the U2 concert, so we utilised their facilities and had a lovely BBQ tea. The boys played very well together and Amy is great, the moment I walked through the door Peter handed her to me and she didn't make a whimper. She is full of smiles and very, very cute. A mini-me of her mother. We had some nibblies as Peter cooked the meat on the BBQ, then had a scrumptious dinner (especially the Potato Salad!) and for dessert, Tania had made a cake which was delicious. Thomas had a bath and was ready for bed, Nanna read him a story and apparently he very quickly went off to sleep, the boys wore him out trying to teach him "Hide and Seek". Chocolates came out toward the end of the evening and everyone quickly perked up, particularly Daniel and Oliver who were looking a little worse for wear by that stage. There was lots of talking and laughing and catching up. It was wonderful to see them.
We came home via the Harbour Bridge which is always beautiful at night. The boys were awake going over it, but there was soon no noise coming from the back seat as they had fallen asleep, exhausted.

School Goodies

When I was greeted at school this afternoon, both boys handed me pieces of art that they were very proud of. Oliver's was a grassy head. He couldn't wait to explain that he was the first student in the class to be given permission to bring it home. All the kids gathered around him in the playground as he showed it off.
Daniel's piece was for Rememberance day, a lovely red poppy with the words "Lest we forget ... We will remember them". He really enjoys art and has been overheard to have said "I'm the artist in the family, you know".
Well done boys.

Silver Saturday

A few days ago it was my birthday and I was very spoilt. My main present was a silver and blue bike, I was also given a Silver helmet, a silver pair of thongs, an iTunes voucher, a pen shaped like a lipstick, a shopping voucher, a key ring, some shower gel, a ticket to Coldplay and many birthday phone calls and wishes. Thank you all very much, I'm very lucky to have you all in my life.
I have to go, Wednesday night is TV night, Spicks and Specks, Absolutely Fabulous, e.r. and Survivor.

Morning tea in Mosman

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having morning tea with Elisha, Gareth and Jorja. This is the third time I've visited since Jorja's birth and the first time she wasn't sleeping. She is a beautiful baby in temperament and looks and it melts your heart when she smiles. It is lovely seeing the three of them together and so in love. Poor Gareth had done an early shift so was ready for a little snooze. The photo above is my favourite, isn't she adorable.

The Wet Fete

Well it was the school fete yesterday. Very overcast all day, rained at times and quite chilly too, but as they say in the classics "The fete must go on!". I was the convener of the Bottle Tombola stall. For those unfamiliar with a Tombola stall, all the families in the school donated bottles (full of something ... hey Ben!!), then I placed a raffle ticket on each donation (ending in 0 or 5) then put the tickets in a bucket with some non-winning tickets and then fete goers bought tickets and if your number ended in a 0 or 5 you had a winner. We then matched the drawn ticket with the winning bottle and the winner walked away happy. Some not so happy, particularly those with their eyes on the Chivas Regal bottle. Anyway it was a good day, weather aside, and I think the stall raised approximately $950 for the school. The other little fundraiser we were involved with was the silent auction. The picnic rug went for $280. For those who can't remember what it looks like, or for those who haven't seen it before, have a look at our blog called The Picnic Rug
The Tombola stall,

and the raffle stall.

Wayne and Helen before the day began, smiles all round.

The end of a long, wet day.