An end or a beginning?

Olivia finished primary school today without fanfare as she will continue at the same campus for her secondary education. Having changed schools this year, she is feeling a little let down as all her old schoolmates are eagerly looking forward to their "graduation" next week.

She has had a very busy week however with practise and then exams for dancing taking up hours every day after school. They are all finished now too and we await her results and her school report to provide closure to a very busy and fun-filled year.

Olivia has provided many insights into the various teaching styles she has encountered this year. She is very pleased to have had "Mr C" as her class teacher. He has made lessons come to life with practical demonstrations and class participation that has enhanced the learning process.

Ararat

Olivia had a dance comp in Ararat last week. As I was incapacitated, a friend offered to look after Olivia at the comp. Bill drove up to Ararat on Friday to drop her off and it was freezing! Good thing they were going to be indoors all day.

My sisters came to keep me company and we had a lovely day just socialising. Bill got home about 4:30.

Saturday morning I was feeling well and so braved the trip back with him. The weather was even more miserable, raining all the way. Luckily the comp was running late and we arrived in time to see Olivia and her partner compete in their last duo.

We had a tasty lunch in the RSL next door to the hall before driving home again! It's a good thing that Bill thinks nothing of a 4hour drive each day.

Olivia had a great comp, placing in her tap, song & tap and jazz solos and scoring a first in their tap duo and second in their jazz duo. She tried hard to look after herself as much as possible.

Thanks to Deb and Indya for looking after her for me.

birthday greetings

After much hair-pulling I finally remembered how to find images I had up-loaded to my web albums. I must get into the habit of doing this more often so that I don't forget the good bits. I am sitting here typing left-handed which is very hit, miss and go back and correct that too!

This layout was created for Olivia's dance teacher's 50th birthday. Happy Birthday, Leanne.

Thrilled to announce that Olivia placed fourth (HM) in her Tap Champ last weekend. This was a great accomplishment as it was an under 14 event. Once again, we are very proud of her and her dancing teacher, Leanne, was thrilled for her too and rewarded her effort with a lovely keepsake.

In other news, the winds here have been horrific, Avalon recording the record high of 128kph! Combine this with a little rain (28mm) and some sleet and it has been miserable. Olivia was incensed that they still had their 800m trials in the pounding rain and was relieved when I picked her up, soaking wet, for dancing soon after she finished her heat. We were soon busy though, shifting costume racks and stuffing towels around the doorways at the dance studio to prevent a flood there.

Dancing News

Spent the last two days at the Geelong Eisteddfod. Olivia was very busy and as always looked beautiful on stage. She tried very hard and was rewarded with a first place for her "Song and Tap". Of course, I claimed part of the credit because of all the sequins I sewed onto her new costume! All those hours of work helped her sparkle on stage.

Olivia shows great personality in all her dances and sometimes this gets her a little further than her technique alone would. Tap is definitely her best style. She placed second and fourth, (a "HM"), in her other two taps at the weekend.

We are very proud of her wherever she places.

Black Cockatoos

Now that I have figured out how to add photos I can show you these visitors to our garden last week.

Apparently many trees that usually feed these birds in our area have been chopped down recently and flocks of black cockatoos are foraging for food in Lara. They fould two bushes that they like in our garden and crunched away until our two puppies came to see what we were looking at and scared them off. They have not been back so I guess we didn't have the gourmet delights they were looking for.

Lost cousins

We were surprised to get a phone call on Monday from a long-unheard-from cousin of Bill's. They had not been in touch for about 40years. Dianne and her 3 sisters were all catching up in Victoria and decided to try and find Bill and Liz.

They all arrived for dinner last night (lots of rushing around, cleaning and cooking, put the sewing on hold!) and caught up with lots of family news.

They have some photos of Bill's dad and we are looking forward to receiving copies. Their parents, Colin and Joan Patterson, have both passed on now. I hope to find some time next week to see if I can find the family tree file I started a few years ago. I hope it survived the latest computer rebuild.

More Debating

Olivia participated in an unprepared debate tonight. The topic was "Children should set their own bedtimes" and we were on the negative team. Unfortunately, due to another appointment I missed her speaking, arriving in time to hear the closing arguments. Again, our team narrowly lost but we were very pleased that Olivia was awarded "best speaker" for the debate.

I don't know whether to be pleased that she shows such a talent for arguing at this early age!

The Great Debate

Attended Olivia's first attempt at debating yesterday. The topic was "Australia should accept more refugees" which was quite a mature topic for grade 6'ers to tackle. The standard of the debate was very high with all speakers confident and well prepared. As an adult I fould myself rolling my eyes at some of their arguments but their coaches don't shape their arguments, only their technique.

Unfortunately, Olivia's side lost by a point, 233 to 234.

Next up they have an "secret topic" with only 30minutes to prepare on the night. Should be interesting.

Sunny days

Finally a sunny day. We have been promised one for several days now but they have all been overcast. Sunny days warm up my craft room far better than any combination of heater can.

I have wanted to finish a page I started ten days ago but couldn't bear to sit in the cold room to do it. Finally today let me do so!

Instead of scrapping I have been playing around with Picassa and rediscovering many, many photos waiting to be scrapped.

They will have to wait a while longer as I also took the warm opportunity to cut out a new costume for Olivia that's due in three weeks! Hope another sunny day tomorrow will get more work done!

Biting the Bullet.

Finally bit the bullet and decided to try writing this blog. If nothing else it will help me get into the habit to write to Olivia when she is out of electronic communication range.

I look forward to reading my sister's blog each night as it helps me feel more in touch with her family. I have never been fond of long phone conversations, preferring to communicate face to face.