Intense & Studious

Given that I write this only for my loved ones to see, then I feel I can boast and brag as much as I like. Here is a video of Tilly while she was still in school. Maybe grade 3 or 4. Doing her maths homework. Tilly has always been intense. Right from the get-go. Nothing deters her and learning is always approached passionately. I wish I had known that earlier. I would have pulled them out of school and started the homeschool journey more confidently, much earlier. I love this little video of Tills. Earnestly pouring over her maths homework and then declaring it to be a piece of cake, and not needing the pictures to help her find the answer.

Homeschool Antics

For the last four years I have homeschooled the girls. At first while I was working for the church I attended I did a hybrid of local school and some days at home. Since moving on from my job, thankfully, homeschooling has been the number one priority and it's the joy of our lives. We are free from the shackles of traditional schooling and revel in learning everyday. It's a joy to learn along side the girls and hopefully here I can share the beauty of it. We follow the Charlotte Mason method of learning and it's truly God's gift to us. As soon as Evie turned four she was at the right time in the year to go to kindergarten. Looking back she was too young, unlike Tilly who was raring to go.

Evie is a homebody and a lot more introverted than Tills, in fact they are polar opposites. However, I guess she survived the school kindi system and did have some teachers who loved her and cared for her. It was only for the mornings and she still spent all of her afternoons with me. Here are some photos of her kindergarten life. After she had spent two years there. At first, the teachers assumed something was wrong with her. She refused to speak. Indeed she refused to speak for the entire two years. Despite this fact, she was well liked and did have a few friends. They were very kind and patient with her. Because of her refusal to speak the teachers assumed she had developmental problems. They told me I could get her checked out, see if she had autism, or something like this. I reassured them that she spoke happily at home and her not wanting to speak to them was probably due to the fact that her Mandarin wasn't strong and she is very shy. So they just accepted her the way she was.

If they saw and talked to my little Evie now they wouldn't know her. All grown up, witty and clever, dry sense of humour and a joy to be with.

Eight Years Later

It's disappointing that I stopped blogging even just for myself. Tilly & Evie discovered the blog and have been highly entertained with reading all our escapades. I'm coming back to this, for the sole purpose of providing a record of our lives that we can return to again and again. I love you my girls and I love our life. Here's to catching up with eight years of stuff and recording all the new stuff. Some pictures first. A trip to Da An Park. The summer has been hot, the country went into some kind of bizzare covid lockdown and masks on faces are the mandate. While it was ok to hangout at home in the terrible heat and avoid wearing the dreaded masks, we have grown tired of that and long to be out and about. Eating is now 'allowed' (I can't believe that's a thing.....) and sitting in the park without a mask is acceptable. Just after these photos we were accosted by a policeman who told us we were flouting the rules, but we were not moved..... and slowly kept on eating.

Evie's birthday

Here we go.... Long over due.

The little one turns three. 

 

 

Summer holidays in Wintery Oz

On a walk

Just magic. 

Cousins to love and cherish

Even the trees dress for the cold!

Gardens can still be worked in the winter

Bush kids, waiting on the campfire to cook breakfast

Sweet, patient big cousins

Cattle yards

Best friends, endless playdates. 

I just love this photo of Tilly, free as a bird.

Learning tricks

Such great fun times and such a blessing to have such a beautiful family and wonderful home to come back to. Thank you to mum and dad for forever opening the doors to us and to my dear brothers and families who always prioritise time together. 

Tilly turns six

My dear girl is finally six. It seems like a forever wait. All her best friends are six at the beginning of the year. But........ now we are six! She shared her day with her beloved Nan and Pop, a handful of her bestest friends and a beautifully decorated house!

     

  

Everyone pitched in to help me before friends arrived. There was a bead craft, pass the parcel, hide the hankie and duck duck goose. Plus the balloons provided an endless entertainment all of their own. Tilly chose her own cake and decorated it. It was a nice party and she enjoyed it. Couldn't ask for too much more. 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

  

To celebrate the occasion, Tilly memorised 'Now We Are Six' by A.A. Milne. We forgot to recite it to the children however!! Too much fun was being had. One of her presents from mummy and daddy was the book by the same name. She just loves poetry and can sit and listen to me read for hours. 

When I was one, I had just begun.

When I was two, I was nearly new.

When I was three, I was hardly me.

When I was four, I was not much more. 

When I was five, I was just alive.

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll stay six now, forever and ever. 

Happy year of being six Tilly our darling girl.