MY Parenting in question...

Monday night Justice absolutely would not get to sleep. He doesn't often do that, and I have endless respect for parents of kids who won't go to bed. I happily admit, I would lose my mind if that was the case in our house.

Tuesday was the first day back to school after two weeks of school holidays. After about an hour and a half of Justice being awake, filling a water bottle, using the toilet, asking crazy questions, I was ready to crack. I have been SO sick, for what feels like ages... actually, it started on the 18th of June so it has been ages! Anyway, I cough and cough and toss and turn, and I only get five hours sleep on a perfect work night. So I was getting pretty ropeable because I just wanted to go to bed...

AND THEN IT DAWNED ON ME... maybe he was worried about something at school... he has been struggling to come to terms with his dislike for his art teacher, and some nights we have a long talk about that - how we won't like everyone in this life and we have to just get through it...

So FINALLY I asked if something was bothering him. And the answer was "Yes".

BUT I was instructed that I could not say, "That's in the future, you don't have to worry about it right now". Verbatim, those were my instructions. I agreed and then came full disclosure:

"I am worried about when I take chemistry in high school".

Which is when I realised my little boy knows me inside and out. My immediate reaction? "You're seven, what are you worried about that for?!" However, I am proud to say that I refrained from my immediate impulse and instead gave it some careful thought.

I let my son know that I hate science and maths, but I still got a 96 in high school chemistry, and I let him know that we got to mix up things and make them explode. (We also made candy canes at Christmas. I have no love for my high school, but there were definite perks to such a tiny school. In hindsight...)

Anyway, Justice wanted to know if he HAD to take chemistry, and I let him know it depended on what he wanted to do after high school. (He still wants to be a professor of medicine, so he will defnitely have to take chemistry). We then got into a long detailed discussion of university vs TAFE.

And then I am glad to report he went immediately off to bed...

My little man!

And actually, he starts high school in 2015, so maybe he's on to something with this planning ahead thing.

BIRTHDAY BASH

I had an absolutely lovely time celebrating my birthday with Sharona this Saturday

(we're the 26th and 28th of June)

We invited a bunch of girlfriends to a dinner party at a nearby golf club.

I know the chef, so he gave us the use of the function room - it was just us!

The food was amazing, the creme brulee was exactly right - and the company was fantastic!

We talked and laughed and played a silly game and just enjoyed a delicious girl's night.

Where did the year go? It feels like we were just up on the mountain celebrating!

Mr Popper's Penguins...

We called and set up a chance to go see Mr Popper's Penguins and have lunch with our friends The Bakers. (Honestly, I thought it was adorable!)
I can't believe these kids have known eachother for nearly four years already...They had another set of friends along, so he was surrounded by cute girls... and you can see how much he minds!

EIGHT YEARS

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

THAT TIME OF YEAR

AUTUMN HAS COME TO QUEENSLAND...

Here, we call it winter. We are always talking about either winter or summer. As soon as it turns chilly (cold enough that less than half the population wears shorts) you start hearing that its going to be a cold winter, or a long winter... living here in sub-tropical Queensland, I miss the snow, and air so cold you can not comfortably draw breath, the sting of the icy morning burning your lungs... I miss them because if those were coming, then people would be enjoying the sweet chill of autumn before the real winter cold. Instead, this is pretty much as cold as it will get until it is hot again.

There is majesty in where we live. I regularly watch rainbow lorikeets in my front yard, yellow crested cockatoos perch on top of the street lights, vibrant green tree frogs latch on to the side of my house...

But I do miss the joys of four actual seasons. Here we just pretend. It is either summer or it's not...

Which is why I love this one tree on our street so much. This is our bright spot of autumn in a sub-tropical town. That is why we visit it every year...

Time to make pumpkin soup and maybe even turn the heater on...

The Bronzed Aussies

THE CHALLENGERS...


Team Australia came in third at the Asian regionals of the Louis Lesaffre Cup. This makes them the challenger team for our leg of the competition. One challenger team will be selected to go on to the finals in France next year.

Some of the teams had been training for years for the event, and the pictures I saw were pretty impressive. I am so impressed with how they went, and so glad that Will is home! He still has to recover from the smog, but he is back! The challenger team will be selected live on June 21st.

WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY

Actually, it is Will who has been away, coaching Team Australia.

In the meantime, Justice and I have been slogging away at paperwork and deliveries, completely ignoring housework, and having lots of interesting chats.

Wednesday night we saw a pre-screening of Soul Surfer and we loved it!!!

It led to some amazing conversation, and I felt so aware of the way that Justice is growing quickly into his own skin, and how he has always been someone with a set and definitive view of the world and his role in it. I feel like time is flying by with this little man-child, and I am trying desperately to enjoy every minute we can!