My oldest is in a 3/4 composite class at the moment and last year she was in a 1/2 composite.  Last year she seemed fine with her school work and excelled at reading, however she was a grade two student so perhaps the work was a little easier to accomodate the grade ones.  This year however Claire is a grade 3 student with grade 4 work in her ciriculum with the added pressure that her teacher taught grade 5 last year.  I just don’t like the composite class arrangement!  Claire is the youngest in her class being seven and the oldest student is a girl aged ten… that’s a big gap.  Today I discovered that Claire doesn’t know the states of Australia (apparently Canada is a state of Australia???) yet her homework required that basic knowledge in order to complete the task. I just get the feeling that the teacher is trying his best but perhaps there are a lot of assumptions as to what the students have been taught so far… I don’t know.  So Luke sat Claire in front of the computer to have a look at Australia on google maps.  A short time later he came back to find her zoomed in on a road and he asked her where she was, to which she replied “I’m in the middle of nowhere”.  Perhaps I simply have to accept that my little pumpkin is not as academic as her father!

Today while Luke was in a mad panic to find his passport, opening boxes and spilling out files he came across our 8mm camera.  You know the ones with no sound that you play back with a projector on a white screen… old!  The kids thought it was great and wanted to play with it.  The novelty for them was having to close one eye to look through the view finder and then manually adjusting the focus.  After a short while of playing with the camera Natalie announced that when she grows up she’s going to be a camera person.  I asked if she meant operating the camera or directing the action to be filmed.  Natalie said operating it but Claire wanted to know more about directing the action.  So I told her it’s the person in charge of telling everyone how the movie should be shot.  “Oh” she said, “a bossy boots”.

Lately I have been on the phone quite a bit with a friend (there you go Angela you got the “F” word out of me) so during these phone calls the kids have been left to their own devices.  I always assumed they were doing homework, watching TV or playing but I was wrong.  My eldest just confessed that every time I’m on the phone her and her sister sneak chocolates!  It’s only when I’m out of the room but considering I tend to walk around the house while on the phone, that’s a lot of chocolate sneaking opportunities!

After school yesterday I got talking to one of the dads (Natalie’s future father-in-law apparently) and before we knew it an hour had passed and it was just our kids left in the playground. We decided to call it a day when the kids came and asked us to watch their performance, how could we say no?  Chris and I watched as our kids sang and danced for us but then there was a creative difference and the performance was off!!!  Chris called out to his son “remember the woman’s always right” after which I called out “that’s the best advice your father will EVER give you.”  The performance then continued as if nothing had happened.

I hate to say it but I believe it to be the truth… Steve Irwin had to die!  Well we all have to die, right?  And with that in mind the tragedy that surrounds Steve Irwin’s death has in fact been a blessing to conservation.  Of course it’s very sad for his family but I doubt very much Australia Zoo and conservation in general would have received as much attention as it has if Steve Irwin were still alive today.  Just yesterday I read a news article about the 2008 Craft & Quilt fair where a Steve Irwin quilt sold for $9000…Crikey! He will forever be known as the crocodile hunter and I’m not sure that would have happened if he grew old, wore down and simply faded out of sight.

I made pizza recently but while I was out shopping for all the toppings I neglected to properly read the sign in the deli window.  I got home and made a beautiful base with oregano and basil mixed through it then topped it with onions, olives, pineapple, capsicum, tomato, feta cheese, salami, bacon and Mozzarella cheese… yum!  Or at least it would have been if I had taken the time to notice the bacon pieces were in fact bacon STYLE pieces… yuck!  When it was cooked the bacon STYLE pieces were soft and mushy and tasted nothing like bacon, more like luncheon… double yuck!!! From now on I’ll make sure I read the WHOLE label because let me tell you – one word can make ALL the difference!

I have tried so many pavlova recipes and was so disappointed with the results I was about to give up on the humble pav, but then my grandmother gave me her recipe and it was fantastic!  So give it a try, just remember that a stainless steel mixing bowl is best but don’t stress if you don’t have one.

Ingredients

* 4 egg whites

* 1 & 1/4 cups of caster sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

* 1 pinch of salt

Proceedure

1. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

2. Put the mixing bowl in hot water (just half fill your sink with hot water from the hot tap and sit the bowl in that) then add sugar gradually, one heaped tablespoon at a time.

3. Add vanilla essence, lemon juice and corn flour.

4. Line a tray with baking paper and spread mixture out to make a 23cm diameter circle.

5. Bake in a slow oven (150 degrees celsius) for 1 & 1/4  -  1 & 1/2 hours but allow to cool in the turned off oven with the door slightly ajar.

6. Top with whipped cream and fruit or mango fruche and fruit.

Now I have to say that my grandma would just die to see a pavlova with fruche on it instead of cream BUT if you are watching your weight or simply want to enjoy this fantastic sweet without clogging your arteries… give fruche a try!

While doing the shopping this week the check out chick picked up my cos lettuce and said “that’s bok choy isn’t it?”  For a moment I was speechless, I mean this was a grown woman standing in front of me not a child.  Hell my three year old nephew could tell the difference between bok choy and a lettuce that’s for sure!  I just stared at her in disbelief and said “that’s a cos lettuce” to which she replied ” they all look the same.”  When I got home and told Luke all he could say was …”lettuce fail”

After school conversations with other parents can be very interesting but today I found myself distracted by the biggest pair of boobs I have ever seen!  I was talking with a mother I don’t often see but my youngest was invited to her son’s party so I made a point of finding her.  We were talking for about 20 minutes but through the whole conversation all I saw were her boobs!  Those puppies had to be at least an E cup and no I’m not having a lesbian moment and no I’m not jealous.  On her tiny frame all you saw were boobs, boobs and more boobs.  The fact that they were  popping out of her tiny tight top didn’t help.  No wonder when ever I see her she is always surrounded by dads!

Today at the local church thrift shop (I can’t help myself…50 cent books!) a complete stranger walked up to me and introduced himself as Chris and asked me what my name was and how I was doing, where I was born, the nationality of my parents as well as a couple of other questions.  He then told me he was 28, had autism and loved space.  He then moved on to the woman behind me asking her all the same questions, she however stated that she herself had two autistic sons.  I could tell by the womans questions that she was interested in finding out how Chris was coping with life but at the same time I could sense the unease in her voice as Chris asked to see her feet.  He then asked if he could give her a foot massage and if he could have her phone number to call her every week.  It was very obvious that Chris had no social boundaries and the woman made an excuse to leave and hightailed it out of there.  Chris then turned his attention to me so thinking quickly and not wanting to be rude I picked up a science fiction book with a planet and moons on the cover. I handed it to Chris and said “Here Chris I found a space book for you” to which he squealed with delight and thanked me.  He then surprised the hell out of me saying “this is Jupiter, it’s made up of hydrogen and helium with bits of methane, carbon dioxide and water.”  I had to come home and google Jupiter in order to know that he was indeed correct, I had no idea what Jupiter was made up of.  He took the book and went on his way saying hello to other people in the store.  He seemed so happy and I was glad I didn’t brush him off when he first walked up to me.  I wonder though if the other woman felt a little guilty making a hasty retreat? After all she came face to face with a future possibity of her sons and I could see it frightened her. It must be a difficult situation to be in for both the autistic person and the carers.