The Anniversary Present!

There is nothing like the guilt of a man who's forgotten his wedding anniversary to produce some amazing presents! Last night (after admitting that he'd forgotten our wedding anniversary earlier in the day to me) Dear Husband arrived home with one nice little pressie. They are citrine earrings and necklace. Apparently, citrine is the gem you give for 13th wedding anniversaries, along with lace and fabric!

Now Dear Husband has never been one for remembering birthdays/anniversaries/Valentine's etc, so his forgetfulness came as no surprise. Although we had agreed that we were going out for dinner on the weekend so I was rather bemused that he hadn't remembered. What did come as a surprise was his lovely gift! Who would have thought that he had it in him after 13 years! Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks after all! Lol!

Thirteen Years

Thirteen years ago today I was married (and yes, this is a photo of our actual wedding cake btw!). It's amazing how time flies. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that we married and in other ways, it seems to have taken a long time to get here. I'm sure we all think that at times! There have been times over the last 13 years when life has been difficult but it has generally been thirteen years filled with love and respect which makes it all worthwhile. So today, whilst reflecting on what thirteen years of marriage means to me, I found a copy of the church booklet that we made up on our wedding day and at the back, I had this written:

"A loving relationship....is one in which you can be open and honest with another without fear of being judged. It's being secure in the knowledge that you are each other's best friend and that no matter what happens, you will stand by each other.....sharing and caring; in which the lines of communication are always kept open.....it is a choice relationship. It offers comfort in the silent presence of another with whom you share mutual trust, honesty, admiration, devotion...."

I think that sums it all up really! Now if only he hadn't forgotten that today was our anniversary, all would have been perfect!

It's Just Not Sport

I feel like most of my posts lately have to do with football....does that give you any indication of where my life is atm?!

Today I took the 11 year old to footy because Dear Husband was working.

Never, in my life, did I imagine that I would witness one of the worst displays of behaviour from a coach that I've ever seen!

The other team's coach just stunned me. Throughout the game, he yelled, screamed, bagged the umpire (who was only a teenage kid!) and ended up arguing at the top of his voice with a field marshall. At 3/4 time he yelled at his team - who were losing at the time- that they obviously didn't want to play football and that he was walking away to let them sort it out for themselves. At one stage after he argued with the field marshall, the lines umpire who was from their team turned to him and told him to concentrate on the game.

Now, I'm sure that in any other situation, this sort of behaviour would have immediate retribution. Could you imagine sending your child to school to a teacher who spoke like that? No! In fact, any other profession who spoke to children like that would be under threat of suspension or dismissal. So because coaching is a volunteer job....does that make it ok? No way!

To balance this, at the other end of the field was our team's coach. The only time I heard him raise his voice across the grounds was to give directions or a positive ("Good one, X!'...'Grab the ball, Y!').

And any position of authority, that deals with vulnerable pre-teen boys, in my opinion should be modelling good behaviour and self-control. A football coach is one person that these kids often look up to. What message does that send them? That it's ok to yell, argue and be aggressive? To question authority and the rules that are in place for the safety of others?

Yes, it's a sad, sad day for football indeed when that sort of behaviour is displayed on any sporting field!

Counting Money

"Mummy, I have forty-nine dollars and sixty cents" came the cry from Miss 7 the other day, as she was counting out all the money from her money box. Wow, I thought, not only is she learning to save money but her counting skills are just getting so much better. It wasn't that long ago that she couldn't count past ten and now she is counting not only in dollars, but in cents as well! My chest puffed slightly with pride as I did the expected, "Aren't you a good girl for saving all that money. If you keep going, you'll have more soon!"
"Yes", she replied, "I'll have a million dollars"!!!

Oh well, maybe next year she'll realise just how far it takes to count to a million!

The Genre Princess At It Again

Miss 7 is becoming a writing queen! Once again she surprised me by whipping out her notepad and asking me about spelling after she'd make a fancy milk concoction (half of which ended up all over the kitchen bench, of course!). I snuck a photo (taken with old camera, btw so not as clear as it should be!) before she realised. Now, if anyone is game to try it.....good luck! ;)

A New Camera at the Football!

I've made no secret of my frustration to understand what the big attraction with football is. But out of a sense of 'supporting the boys' I gamely ventured off to the AFL with them on Saturday night to see the Brisbane Lions play the Western Bulldogs (Lions lost btw!). Sorry to all those footy fans out there, but I still can't see what grabs people about the game, but I did get to take some snazzy shots with my NEW camera! Yaaaayyyyyy! Yes, I finally took the plunge and went and bought myself a new one. Not a dslr cause I am soooo not a photo expert and don't profess to be but rather a camera in the 'super zoom' range. I am obviously still learning how to 'drive' it but these are my first attempts! I was quite impressed with this one of Akermanis because he was actually a long way away from where we were sitting when I took it. Photography experts may like to direct me to a good 'digital photography for dummies' site though! ;)

Family History

I think it's so important to have an understanding of your place in the world - a sense of who you are and where you come from. That is why, over the years, I have invested a lot of time into family history research and why, today, I toddled off with my kids to a family reunion of a branch of our family tree.

Michael James Hinde came to Australia from Buckinghamshire as a free settler in 1864. Eventually, he selected land in the Gilston-Nerang area of Queensland, married Alice Batten and had 8 children. Throughout his life, Michael James worked his land to make a living and, amongst other things, was one of the first people in Queensland to keep bees commercially. As one of the orginal settlers of the area, his life was not flash, with him first living in a bark and sapling hut before eventually building the family home.

Today, five generations (out of seven) of his and Alice's descendents reunited to celebrate their family origins. Over one hundred people celebrated one hundred and thirty-three years of Hinde family descendents in Australia.

Michael James and Alice are my great-great grandparents. It's amazing to think that two people who lived a simple life such a long time ago could leave such a lasting legacy. I can't help but wonder though, what they would have thought if they had been able to see so many people gathered together all because of them!