Starting to read

The first term of school is almost over and I'm completely amazed at the speed at which Dante has picked up reading. I remember being in Year One and being one of the few kids that could read well. Now, it's first term of Kindergarten and the kids are starting to read simple sentences and books.

This afternoon I picked up a couple of books that I'd ordered through childcare. One was a simple board book about Rob the Robot on the Red Planet. I'd bought it for Atticus (it was only $3) and a more interesting book (at three times the price) for Dante. Well, Dante immediately grabbed the little book and started reading it out loud. He had trouble with a chunk of the words (but who wouldn't if they were just learning English - so inconsistent!), but managed to read most of them by sounding them out. I'm so proud of him! I never expected him to have come this far so early in the game.

When he was finished with the book he happily passed it on to Atticus for the duration of the trip home. Atticus just chewed up one corner.

Oh well, luckily there are a few more years for Atti to learn about reading and writing! (and proper care of books)

My father, the Movie Star

I took the day off sick today (trying to stave off some horrible flu thing that has been niggling at me all weekend), and ended up going to Bing Lee with my folks to print out some photos (on special for 19c each). We spent an hour and a half in the store, sitting at the machines viewing and cropping those darn pictures. When I say "we", I mean my mother and I. My dad spent almost the entire time chatting up the girls behind the counter and talking about his role in the film Fat Pizza as well as other film and tv work that he's done - some of which is pretty neat: Big Hollywood films such as The Matrix (2 and 3), Star Wars 2, Mission Impossible 2 (cutting room floor), Moulin Rouge (a few seconds head shot on the screen!), as well as advertisements (such great money!), small short films, TV soapies, and one music video.

Anyway, I was looking up Fat Pizza in IMDB and discovered that my father has an entry! There's not much there at all, but I'm thinking about submitting a photo and other details of what he's done. *grin*

Lightsabres rock!

Our dear friend Petto is moving overseas and had a farewell barbie at his folks' place yesterday afternoon. Barrels of beer and mountains of meat were promised, so we had to go!

While we were packing the numerous bits and pieces that the kids need into the car, I decided to let Dante pack the six remaining lightsabres from his birthday party. I have to say, it was the most inspired thing I have done all week. As soon as we got there, he was out of the car and grabbing his two favourites (blue and green) and allowing Atticus the use of the red one (because he has to be the baddie). Our friends are, how do I say, quite enthusiastic about Star Wars and other such things. They immediately got into the swing (literally!) of the game and much fun was had by all. Dante was in his element.

I have to say, those lightsabres were the most brilliant idea, especially considering how cheap and easy they were. They are sturdy (stand up to 20-something year olds' fights), tasty (apparently... Atticus thinks so), and can stand upright on their own (which Atti also takes great delight in). And so simple! Everyone loves them! I can't stop blabbering about how good they are! Because they rock! And they keep the kids occupied for ages!

The other thing I wanted to say about the party was that the only other child present, apart from my two, was an older girl (maybe 11?) called Rebecca whom Dante instantly fell in love with. He was by her side the entire evening (whether she wanted him or not) and didn't stop talking about her the entire trip home.
"When can we go to Rebecca's house?"
"I'm Rebecca's friend, so now she's got a boyfriend."
"Can we visit Rebecca? She's my friend."
He liked her so much that he happily let her use whichever lightsabre she chose, but not to the extent of letting her keep any, I should add.

First Soccer Game

The first official soccer (football) match was on this morning. We were all excited and nervous about it - Dante was actually feeling a little sick. I'm hoping it was just nerves. He certainly had enough energy to jump around and talk and sing!

The kids were given their uniform for the first time before the match. Black and white, with the sponsors logo blaring across the front. Dante got number "2". I think he was pretty proud. Then there was some waiting around for 20 minutes as the game before us took longer than scheduled. The team had a kick around and some warm up with their coach. One of the kids, who at training showed exemplary behaviour, skills and enthusiasm, burst into tears and wouldn't go on the field (something to do with his shirt - he didn't like the collar, perhaps?), which was a great reminder that these kids are still only very young! To tell the truth, I was greatly relieved. I thought Dante was going to be the only one that would have problems. I'm glad he's not so out of the ordinary.

The match finally started, and it was pretty exciting and funny to watch. They had the "pack" mentality as expected. Pretty early on, one of the boys from the other team got possession of the ball and made a fantastic dash to the goal. Pretty good, I thought, until I heard the fathers of that team shouting out, "The OTHER way! Run the other way!!". We parents all had a great laugh about it! Anyway, I should have realised that this kid was the one to watch out for. He really knew what he was doing and was on top of his game. Every time he got the ball, he just went for it. And scored most of the time. Our cute little goalie managed to save a couple of balls, but unfortunately let more in. We lost 6-nil.

Dante managed to kick the ball once, and he was pretty proud of himself after the match. Too bad that the ball wasn't the one in play, and belonged to the adjacent field (someone had kicked it out). He ran around with the pack most of the time, usually a metre or two behind. I think he was happy to be a part of the group, but didn't want to get too involved. I noticed that he managed to duck away if the ball came too close to him! Much to his coach's dismay. He did get a bit bored towards the end, actually lying down on the field at one point (until we yelled at him to get up - I explained that if the ball came his way, he might get trampled).

Afterwards the coach told us that the first match can be very daunting for the kids, and they'll gain more confidence after a few matches. I hope so! I think I really need someone to explain the game to him properly, and have a kick around with people he knows. I'm hoping that we'll soon meet the team which his schoolmates are in so that he will realise that they are involved in the sport, too. I just hope he doesn't start siding with their team!

It's only Twenty past Eight?

Dan came home early with us today - although by the time I got myself and the kids collected and organised it was after 4pm. Anyway, it was so nice having Dan home with us. The kids were pretty tired, overtired in the younger one's case. So we cooked dinner and fed them, then had play time for a while. The boys were so funny to watch. Dante was running around and around the dining table and Atti thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. He even took part in the running at some points, all the while laughing hysterically. I wish I'd had the video camera.

Anyway, they had a lovely bath together and then we put them to bed. They were exhausted, the poor things, and went to bed so well. Afterwards, Dan and I sat down in front of the tele with our computers (as we do), relaxing for the evening. When we looked at the clock, we were completely astonished at the time. We'd managed to get the kids to bed by half past seven! Unprecedented! And wonderful! We've watched, so far tonight, two episodes of Commander in Chief, and a bunch of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK version with Clive Anderson). I was laughing so hard I was crying! The internet's a wonderful thing.

Well, it's been a very entertaining evening and now I'm going to bed!

Well protected shins

Dante needed shin guards for soccer so we went to the Sports shop yesterday afternoon. When we finally found them they were only $5! Cheap as chips! We opened the packet and put them on him to check the size. He was so happy.

"Kick me! See, it doesn't hurt!"

And then refused to take them off. So we let him wear them. He wore them all afternoon while we went to the shops, and then all evening until finally he had to take them off to get in the bath.

At least we know that he likes them. I hope he wears them to soccer on Wednesday!

Party success!

We hosted Dante's 5th birthday party yesterday - a Star Wars party. And it was a great success! I am so happy. The most stress-free party we've ever had, I'd have to say. Many thanks to Grandma and Paw-Paw for all their most incredible work, helping with the food. We seem to be getting better every year - we should be all set in time for his twenty first!!


We had about 10 kids come along. Two Darth Vaders, at least three Princess Leias, one storm trooper and a wookie. And Dante came as Luke Skywalker (he had a Jedi cloak, but decided not to wear it since Luke didn't have one). Dan made kid-friendly lightsabres out of foam swimming pool "noodles", but into thirds with duct tape around one end as the handle. They were a huge hit! (Literally!!) There was enough for one each, in blue, green, red and purple. We had a pass-the-parcel made up for the party, but we never got to play it because the kids were too busy fighting with their lightsabres.

We had a couple of other activities. First we had some colouring-in (Star Wars pictures that I got from this wonderful site), then Dan held Jedi Lightsabre Training outside in the backyard (he blew bubbles while the children tried to bust them with their swords). We had a table set up in the middle of the room and gave them a proper sit down lunch (party pies, sandwiches, chips, cocktail frankfurts etc.), and then the most wonderful cake made by my Ma - a Millenium Falcon cake (Lego figures supplied by Dan). They loved it!

It was the best party I've ever hosted, I'd have to say. We had a set time, so people left after two and a half hours. The kids all had a great time. We didn't have any lollies out (hooray!) but I did put some in the party bags. There weren't too many people, so it was really very manageable. I'm so pleased. And the house is pretty clean now, too. Dan said (before the party) that we should pretend that we're having a party the first Saturday of every month because we do a really good job of cleaning the house! heheh...

On top of the world

We climbed the Harbour Bridge this morning. Yippee!

Dan had bought a couple of gift certificates for me for Christmas, 2004. However I was 8 months pregnant at the time and unable to climb. A year went by and they were about to expire, so I got them extended for another 3 months. Then March came up, so I thought we'd better use them! We booked the climb, and both took a day off work. Dante was at school and Atticus was at home with my folks. It was a daytime climb, 11:15am (wow, they take groups of 12 people up every TEN minutes, all day long! What a business!).

It took us three hours from walking in the door, to walking out the door, including getting into safety gear and all the rest of it. But it was great! I was expecting it to be quite strenuous, but it wasn't. There was even a 74 year old man (two weeks older than the bridge itself) in our group (he reminded me of Cliff Young who won the Sydney-Melbourne ultra marathon in 1983, aged 61!). This guy, Michael, had done 137 marathons in his life. He put the rest of us to shame.

Anyway, a highly enjoyable experience was had by us. Something I definitely recommend to all. The only downside was the cost of the thing, especially if you want a keepsake of yourself on top of the bridge. You get a group photo with the entry price, but other photos cost a fortune. About $20 each! Bit of a rip off, if you ask me. We got them anyway, though. We had $40 credit from the gift certificates. I'll post them as soon as I get around to it.

I am now officially a Soccer Mum

That's him, third from the left

Yesterday was Dante's first soccer (football) training. Hooray!

It was so much fun. Dante was very excited about it all - he had to choose his "soccer shorts" (we'll get proper ones when they have their first game), and then we ran around the corner to the park. There they all were, 10 boys (and one girl) and their two coaches. They looked so little! We introduced Dante to the coaches and off they went, kicking the ball running around.

They started with some basic training - kicking the ball around witches hats (Dante wasn't too bad - not very good, but not too bad!) and running around. Dan and I hung around with Atticus, and Auntie Bec popped over, too (she needed to do some Uni work on Atticus). Atticus loved being out in the park, wandering all over the place and watching his big brother. He was too cute!

Then they had a trial game, with witches hats as the goals. Dante volunteered to be a goalie first, but really had no idea what he was meant to do. He just spent the time kicking over the witches hats. They swapped positions and he became part of the "pack". He was pretty good, getting a couple of kicks in every so often. The other kids seemed to be much more knowledgeable about the sport. We really have no idea! He got kicked a couple of times and lost some enthusiasm for a while - sat down away from the group. But then decided that he enjoyed kicking over the witches hats and thenceforth spent the rest of the time running around the field kicking them over (while the coaches repeatedly put them back). Dan, Bec and I were killing ourselves with laughter, trying hard not to let Dante see (so as not to encourage him). It was the funniest time I've had in a while.

Anyway, he's now officially registered and here begins the "Mum's Taxi" time of my life (or so I'm told!).

Gannets! Two of them!

My boys were a little hungry this afternoon when we got home from school/childcare. Between the two of them they ate one banana, half a dozen slices of cheese, numerous biccies, a heap of grapes, a cheese sandwich, two glasses of milk... and I can't remember what else. And that was BEFORE dinner. They both hung around (clinging to my legs in one case) while I tried to prepare food for a proper meal (Dante was opening jars and peering into containers and asking if he could eat everything and Atti was trying to get the dry pasta out of my hands while I was trying to put them in the pot - don't worry, I didn't let him anywhere near the boiling water!), and both ate all their dinner as well. I don't know what got into them this afternoon. My father was very amused (as anyone who knows him knows, he loves to feed people).

Tomorrow afternoon should be interesting - Dante starts soccer training at our local park! (which is just on the next block.) I'm so excited about it. I hope he likes it. I never played when I was a kid, and still have no idea about the off-side rule no matter how often people try to explain it (and I had no idea even when it was explained in Bend It Like Beckham: "The offside rule is when the French mustard has to be between the teriyaki sauce and the sea salt.") Oh well, perhaps now I'll finally learn.