Roast dinner

Mother-in-law's pre-new year roast pork with nice crunchy potatoes.


We don't get invited to in-law's for dinner as much as before because of Sam. Sam is not a lover of roast dinners. He refused to eat it most times and looked like he would throw up if we forced him. This has caused some frustrations and unhappiness. The solution- give him vegemite sandwitch or sushi and we get on with our roast dinners. All happy!

Wiggles concert

One of the fun activities we did just before Christmas was the Wiggles concert (we watched their second last show with the original wiggles). It was surprisingly fun! The highlight of the day was that Lara and Sam high-fived Jeff (purple wiggle) when he came around to collect roses and bones for Dorothy and Wags (oh we forgot to do roses and bones!). Sam couldn't stop talking about Jeff afterwards and Lara couldn't get over how long Jeff's hair was. Keeping Sam on his seat was a little challenging, he wanted to get closer to the stage. Lara danced to most songs and talked about going back next year even before we left the concert. But the wiggles are not the same without the original members!!

Water-related picture diaries

Oct 3 - It was school holiday. Lara watched a show in Opera house with some school friends, had a yummy $5 pizza meal (with unlimited drinks) and played at Darling Quarter.I joined her just before the Darling Quarter play. What a fun day for Lara!


Oct 5 - Lara spent a fun morning at Collaroy beach with Evie and Ruby. As it turns out, we will probably be spending our Christmas Day this year at the same beach!


Oct 28 - We spent a good part of the day in the zoo. The seal show was a real winner (we were waiting for it to start with Lara's class pet Spottle in the photo). The kids spent the next few days pretending to be seals and performing tricks like the seals did.


Nov 2 - Lara started during-school and after-school swimming in term 4. Friday was a great day for lessons- it seemed to be quieter than the start of the week, Lara received more attention in the class (only 2 kids in her class).  Lara's progressing well and almost swimming, but she is still scared of diving at the deep end. She didn't swim last winter but I'm considering letting her swim through winter next year.

New violin teacher

Lara played 'minuet 3' at her end-of-term concert and played twinkles at the end with all the kids.

We changed violin teacher in the middle of the year, so technically she is not new anymore. I knew the ex-violin teacher was young and not very experienced, but it didn't bother me until she went away for 3 months with little notice and the substitute teacher didn't even play violin regularly. After ringing around looking for a new teacher,I realised finding another Suzuki teacher would not be easy as eveyone knows everyone in this small Suzuki circle. And it seemed that most experienced teachers have long waiting lists. So luck must be on our side when we found the new teacher and made the switch in such a short time.

This new teacher is musically-trained (ie has a university music degree or two) as supposed to someone who teach because they can play the violin well. I used to think it wouldn't make much difference, however, after experiencing both, the difference is enormous. The new teacher spends a lot of time teaching correct postures and proper bow hold (this is very important if you dont' want RSI!). She teaches rhythems, note reading, and uses a variety of materials in addition to the Suzuki repertoire. She plays with Lara, on the violin or the piano as an accompanist, holds student concerts every term and gives very detailed home practice guidelines. She pays for an accomplished teacher to conduct a master class for her students every term (Lara would need a few more years of practice to be able to go to these master classes). The friend who recommended her called her a "true" teacher. Simon joked that I was in love with the new teacher because I couldn't stop talking about Lara's lesson afterwards. I was simply amazed at the difference Lara played after something she said or after she adjusted a finger or pointed out an error.

Home practices are also much better and less tears. I think the reason being the new teacher breaks the songs down into little managable steps. Rather than diving into the new songs, Lara would listen or sing to the music in the first week, doing shadow bows during the second week then play the first two bars in the third week etc. Lara is a perfectionist and she doesn't like challenges. This style of teaching reduces her anxiety and makes practice happier.  I am so happy we found her!