Christmas Concert

Today we attended the Langwarrin Primary School Christmas Concert. We watched the young performers strut there stuff through a slightly hazy view from the smoke from the Gippsland bushfires over a hundred ks away. To quote Max "It cast a gloom over the whole proceeding ".

Despite the smoke both performer and viewers had a good time, even the teachers put on a show. Rose and Gwynn arrived from Adelaide in time to see Matthew and Amy on stage.

Gemma Fontayne

Gem had her ballet concert last week and we got the formal photos at the ballet break up party.

Gemma's friend Meagan is the girl in the purple butterfly dress

You've got to take the big bets and I did

This week I had my first real success at the poker coming 13th and getting 39.5 points!!!!
The big win came when two guys went all in against me. When the cards were turned one had two queens, one had two Kings. You can imagine their faces when I turned over, wait for it

TWO ACES, WOO HOO!!!. I tripled my chips and the others were out.

It must have been my lucky purple shirt.

Still no skittles or bread round

More movies from the budding Spielberg

The Alien's monster




The Burning Building



The Sad Princess

The robbery

Totally New Wave

Here's my latest project for Fraser and Gemma's bathroom.

Kaggs takes the credit for the paint job.

As you can see I had a little help in the final fixing of the coat hooks.

Thursday Knights

Once again Thursday Knight is cards night. I've started going to a poker tournament run at the local footy club. If you get knocked out before the break there is a "Losers" tournament. I was the 6th knocked off my table but this was before the break. Of the 21 losers I got to the final table and finished 4th. The most disappointing aspect was that there wasn't a bread round. Next week I'll take a loaf and see who's up for a slice. Who knows someone may do the famous Maltese cross. And Sam no one wanted to play Newmarket.

Halloween

Spooky happenings in Morecroft Way as witches, wizards and a skeleton visited the residents. When they and others knocked on our door and said "Trick or treat?" Pete cried "Trick" and squirted them with a water pistol, much to the surprise of the "free chocolate collectors" He then relented and gave them some goodies.

Cemma's Pink & Blue Party

Sleeping lions- not very well played. Big blow.

Lucky dip box. Dancing in the new CD player and sparkle get up.

Pink and blue cake and banner.

Mummy wrap game. Music box.

Rebecca, Gem and Meagan.


Laughing with Beth. Gem wore her new snow white dress all day.

Three out of four

Life is strange in the Dawson house at the moment. Fraser is at Grade three camp on Phillip Island until Friday enjoying the outdoor life. Gemma asked me this morning when Fraser was coming out of his bedroom only to be reminded of his absence. We’re looking forward to his return with tales of daring do and late night dorm activities. We gave him a disposable camera so it will be interesting to see the evidence. I’ll post some piccies when we've had them developed

Flans Blog Competition

Let's see who can predict the date that Flan will post his next entry on his Blog. I predict 12th October. Anyone else with a guess. But no prompting other than by a comment on his blog

Mixed Day of Fun

We've done allsorts today as you can see from the photos. We started off with our new routine of Sunday morning tennis at Lloyd Park. It took me back to the days of the the foam mats and the mangle at Boldmere. There were only a few puddles and the kids have been looking for an excuse to use the scrapers. After lunch whilst Fraser played Playstation Lego Starwars, Gem and Meagan had a subtle make up session. Then it was off to Darkzone for a few games on the way to G & Gs. I thought Sam would particularly appreciate the dancing. Grandma had a sore foot so Gem had a quick look to check if all was well.

For us poor unfortunates who are too far from the exchange for broadband can people

please if possible post photos as well as video. Thanks

Playdoh Chefs

Today was playdoh cooking day. Fraser made a Aussie chocolate cake and Gem crafted a fair dinkum chocolate pizza and boy were they tasty.

Gemma's progress

Gemma wrote this in Jan 2006. Good pen control- but that's about it. Gemma's approach was enthusiastic and typical of her nature. Jump in and see if it all comes together.
Here is a sample from Gemma's diary from April. As you can see she is having trouble writing the letters, but a clear improvement in those few months. Her concentration is very low- she clearly did not complete the task in the time allowed.

Gemma has recently been taking an Omega 3 product which has improved her concentration no end. Here is a sample of writing from August. She wrote this with the letters being dictated to her. A vast improvement since the start of the year. We are all proud of her effort.

Mulching Delights

Today we mulched the gardens. We had two willing volunteers who loaded the wheelbarrow and brought the mulch round to the back garden. On Friday Kaggs had seven volunteers with all the neighbouring kids helping with the mulch.

WOOF WOOF

Well what a fantastic day at the G Bulldogs v Magpies. I was one of 84,248 watching the first qualifying final.
The game started with both sides having strong periods but after quarter time the dogs kicked 14 of the next 15 goals to literally run away with the game. It was great watching the Dogs playing so well. When the final siren sounded and the Dogs had trounced the Pies by 41 points the faithful woofers were left to sing the song and cheer them off. The was especially pleasing to see Rohan Smith kick a goal in his 299th game knowing that he will reach 300
I know cos I was there. Some people say it when they wasn't there.

The Performers

Gemma's friend came over for a play. The new entertaining sensation starring M on keyboards and G on vocals and dance. Songs of love and regret a speciality.

Wobblies

As you can see Fraser has lost 4 wobblies this week- or is it one last week and three this? Anyway we are all happy for him. He has been biting around them for the last 8 weeks. As Gem said "we can't peel an apple with the same success as you- it's hard for us not to take big bites" Fraser kept the last tooth a secret from Pete as he suspected Dad was the tooth fairy! The money appeared though.. the mystery continues.

Ballet exam

Getting ready for the exam. The school provided the hair piece and Miss Lisa twisted up Gem's hair. The girls were quite nervous and did not mess about as much as usual. They finished 15 mins early as a result. Miss Kate said they were well focussed for girls of their age.
Primary class of 2006. The exam itself was top secret, but we do know scarves were waved and tiaras worn. We will have to wait for the big concert to know more.

Activities of the imaginative

Theatre shop presents,'The Three Billy Goats Gruff.' Starring Gem as the goats and Frais as the Troll. Props and scenery by the players.
This week Fraser has been learning 1950's advertising jingles. This has resulted in a desire for aeroplane jelly. Huge rush of sales down our way. Gem has added chopped fruit for that personal touch.
Shoe lacing instruction cards- the cheapest shoes we ever bought. Gem wore these for about two hours.
How many cocktail sticks can you poke into a balloon before all the air comes out? More than you might think.

The travel party

Passport control was ready for the travellers to arrive. Each country we travelled to had a game or activity. Then back onto the 'plane for the next stop. Each guest had a passport to fill out and collect stickers from each country.
Typical party food was provided on the Australian leg of the tour.

Mummies were wrapped in Egypt. A balloon popping contest was held in Nepal- flying over Everest, of course. Granted some of the international links were a bit flimsy. Duck, duck goose in France. Sleeping lions- a huge UK favourite according to the recent migrants. The hallway was the 'plane. Unfortunately the guests made very rowdy passengers. Later, the party was declared a success.' Non stop fun' was one review, we even had a mum 'phone up and congratulate us.

Now we are heady with the success and are already planning the next one. 'I want a party just like Fraser's, no, a tiger party' we will have to wait and see.

The birthday boy

On the 8th it was Fraser's birthday and Legoville was expanded to include a police station and an airport. The saving of pocket money has begun for the Lego construction set

A new start

I've been inspired by all the blogging from the Uk and so have jumped into cyber space.

I hope this works Ok