Window Light

In their own way windows have special significance. Right from early civilization a window represented a portal into another realm. Occasionally, God opens a window just for a moment and we might see things with renewed clarity. Light enters through a window and illuminates what has little or no light. The same light enters the camera lens. The effect may be a softening of forms kindling the romantic eye. On the other hand a sunbeam takes the eye to only that which is lit. Both share the same window. One pliable and one brutal through the window.

Goulburn Guiding

Every now and again we visit our friend Denise and when we have done this lately we have also enjoyed a stroll by the banks of the Goulburn River. It is a special place for us, a place where there is literally no one else about, just the river and the stately trees to guide our thought.

School Snapshots

These are simply a few snapshots from Peter's school involvement. Each image shares a different part of his chaplaincy experience. The picture above reminds Peter of the creative energies from kids in the art room. This is a place where he has been invited to join in and help out on occasions.

Peter has learned to wear a hat on the playground during recess. This is a strict rule for the kids so it is a rule for Peter too. Here he is gluing up a 'trick' wallet for a lucky kid to souvenir.

The school assembly is first thing each Monday morning. Peter has an opportunity to tell a short story, a story which hopefully has a useful message buried within it.

The school choir featured at the Whittlesea Market a few Saturday's ago. Lots of parents came to watch their kids sing a number of lively songs and then stroll about the market looking for a bargain. Peter will more often be involved each market day because profits from this market go towards the two school chaplains in the town of which Peter is one of them.

This is a very simplified map of the school. Note the location of the new building. This building, funded by the Federal Government economic stimulus for schools, is very near to completion at this stage. This building will be in full use as from the start of second term so there will be a lot of moving to happen during the coming holidays.

Peter is impressed with the play areas of the school. This picture shows the sports field. On a windy day it is the perfect venue for kite flying so somehow that will have to happen in the future.

Some kids found a Redback minding its own business under the lid of a bin. Peter shared with those present about the poison in the spider bite and how they had to be very careful. It did not seem right to kill it. Peter took this photo while a child held the lid up.

Some kids have been playing with Lego people and toy motor bikes. Peter gave them a few old model houses, that were lying about our home for so many years, and they have enjoyed the extra props. As for how long kids of this generation will play with models like this Peter is going tot find out over time.

This is a pretty amazingly cool and very fulfilling job for Peter.

Little Red 'Green' Mower

When our electric mower died, we found it was not worth it to repair. Since Peter and petrol motors have a bad track record and the last two electric lawn mowers died before their used by date (according to Peter), we decided to do the very green thing and buy a hand push mower. What was even better was that its price was a third of the powered alternatives. On top of this we had a healthy workout with the little beast, pushing through the pretty long grass that we had when we got round to buying it. Barb loved the exercise and Peter felt a sweat coming on!

Bikes Again

At last we got on our bikes again. We have to be thankful for the public holiday and the 'space' for it. We had to believe that we could still climb "Heartbreak Hill" and when we faced the challenge we found it manageable. Praise God.

Barbie Art

Barb is getting into art and hopes to do a fair bit during her long service leave. While she was with her mum, they worked on leaf prints together (below) and Barb made a really special drawing of a vase of flowers (above) for her mum as something extra for her birthday. Peter thinks that Barb has so much potential if this is the start of it.

Nan Seventy-Five

Barb took the opportunity to fly to Brisbane to share her mother's 75th birthday. It was a late decision and turned out to be a special gift for her mum. Hey, it looks like there is at least 75 candle power on that cake!

Barb was able to link up with her brother Peter and his family to make it a special party for Nan.

Rachael is showing just how tall she is these days beside her parents. Barb was pleased that she was there to share the occasion and take the snaps.

Barb stayed with her mum for those four days and one thing they did a lot of was finding a coffee joint for a cuppa to get their fix and soak in the relaxed atmosphere.

Chaplaincy in the Open

A local community newspaper wrote this article about Peter and his role as school chaplain. The school principal gave the interview. Because the Whittlesea Primary School does have children affected by the Black Saturday bush fires, the reporter chose such a heading. Peter thinks the word traumatised is a bit too extreme and does not reflect the majority of the school community which Peter also serves and he would have preferred a heading like: "Sharing the Journey".

Piper's Riding Lesson

We had an opportunity to attend a Piper riding lesson a number of days ago (actually also on her birthday) as we jumped at the chance of watching. It was a perfect day for it too.

Piper was given experience of each part of the prep work before actually mounting and the reasons for each task. This will ground her in the reality of owning a horse in later years.

In this lesson we watched Piper manage and direct the walk, giving little kicks with her heals, learning to pull back on the reigns and pulling one reign to indicate a new direction. The horse was very obliging but she had to be more forthright than she wanted to be or the horse would wait for a better signal.

Jasper patiently waited for a brief ride at the end of the lesson. He is not horse-mad like Piper but does expect a go before everything is packed away.

And Jethro happily walked about the place or sat with one of us. He is such an easy child to manage. We don't know if he will go horse-mad as he grows. At present he is happy to give those HUGE things on four legs a miss.

Piper Seven

Piper's Birthday was an epic weekend event. On Saturday there was the kids party with the highly popular obstacle course. We missed that part of it. We visited on Sunday and Piper was ready to do it all again.

The theme was mostly on horses. Piper seems to have everything on horses except actually owning one. She is patient enough because she is now beginning to appreciate the upkeep of a horse. The following is a series of present unwrappings that happened in the afternoon of this day.

On the same day Piper and Caleb came together for the traditional joint celebration of seven and eight years respectively. Caleb still had some makeup on his face because this happened just after the pantomime, "The Wizard of Oz" presented by the Gemco Players, and Caleb had a part.

Jethro's Second Birthday

Jethro is the sweetest little kid ever and just recently he was two. We don't think there will be any trouble during the "terrible twos" with Jethro.

He knew what was expected of him and that made it all the more cute when we came for the day to share the moment.

He had presents from Grandma and Opa in Canada, presents that travelled a long way to get there. Bec was an ever-ready support.

Jaz was beginning to feel that May was just way too far in the future for his own liking. But the cake was pretty nice.

The day involved lots of painting of pictures. All three grandkids had a great time. Jethro absolutely loved it and he wanted his Poppa to squeeze out more and more paint onto his tray.