The God of Small Things

While opp shopping on Wed, we spotted the perfect pair of canvas sneakers for J.

I almost missed them as I was busy paying for my purchases and didn't notice the tray of used baby shoes under the counter.

J took a shine to the two pairs I picked out: a white pair with fuschia laces, and a candy-striped pair with velco straps.

At $1 a pair, they were irresistible, and I went away with a glad heart and gratitude at my good fortune.

On Thu, J wore the candy-striped pair for the walk to school to fetch Beth...

...And promptly lost one shoe on the way home!

Such "heart pain".

After dropping Beth off at school this morning, I thought I would retrace the route we took yesterday, and see if we could find the shoe.

Before we started, I prayed aloud: "Dear Lord, please help us find J's shoe."

Then we started out.

I kept my eyes glued to the ground with great hope and expectation. J has a habit of dropping one shoe, and He has graciously helped us find the missing half on at least two occasions, so I was confident He could do the same again.

We got as far as the grassy track outside the Werribee Baptist Church. Just as we were halfway across, I spotted it from afar - a white object standing out from the grass, dirt and broken bits of glass. I got closer, and saw candy stripes.

"Look! We've found your shoe!" I cried to J.

It seems a small thing, but our God - the same God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, and who created you and me - is keenly interested in the small details of our lives. He does not mock our neediness or weary at the things that occupy our minds.

I am reminded of Matthew 6:26:

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

16-month milestones

J has hit a couple of really exciting milestones this week.

Over the weekend, she finally said yes to her first bottle of formula. (YES!)

It's such an irony that she's done so well with direct b/feeding that she totally rejected formula and bottle feeding from birth. We're only at our second tin of formula in 16 months. Was joking with a friend that we've saved heap$ on formula.

This week, J started articulating more clearly and demonstrating that she understands exactly what we're saying.

We've been trying to get her to say "Yes" when she wants something. She's been nodding and signing with her hands when we ask "Do you want this?" Now she has added "Yah" to her vocabulary.

When the meal is over, she waves her wrists, shakes her head and says, "Ma more" ("no more").

She can recognize images of babies and say "Baby" clearly.

When we walk through the carpark on the way to school, she points and goes, "Car".

She's feeding herself quite well.

She can understand simple instructions and routines.

After a diaper change, I might ask, "Where does the dirty diaper go?" She then picks up the diaper, walks to the common toilet and deposits it in the bin.

This week, she's also (finally!) started to take an interest in books.

I haven't pushed her into reading as I did with Beth, as J doesn't sit still for long.

However, J has decided herself that she's ready for books.

This evening, while Beth was reading her own books, J took down Prince Bear and Pauper Bear from the bookshelf, plus the whole range of Clifford books. She arranged them all on the floor, sat in the middle of them all and started flipping.

H Words and the Hilarious Hat Parade

Dear Parents, went the school notice,

I take my "H" hat off to all you "H" hard working parents!!!

The children are "H" Happy learning new letters each week.

Some "H" have brought in small things that start with the focus letter.

As part of our "H" hilarious "H,h." week could you please dress your child in a "H" Humorous "H" Hat!

Everyone will join in our "H" hat parade.

This day will take place on Tue 13th May 3008. Thank you for your "H" help...

God bless you,
Miss A, Ms C, Miss H, and Mrs W

I trembled at the thought of having to magic a hat (a Hilarious one at that!) out of nothing. I may be creative at some things, but art and craft is not one of them. So I did the next best thing; I went to Mandy for help. Mandy's from our church and has 3 boys at Heathdale. They're all much older than Beth, so she's been there, done that. Besides, she loves collecting costumes, and would definitely have a hat in her collection somewhere.

We popped by the Sawyer house over the weekend, and came away with TWO bags full of hats. There was so much to choose from, from a cute red felt beret to a multicoloured clown wig (which I thought was perfect but which Beth frowned at) to cowboy hats.

Beth and I decided that she would wear the red beret, twirl a giant pink flower around the rim and stick on a few felt shapes from the ABC chart in the playroom.

Easy as pie.

On Tue, the parents arrived at the Prep school line-up to see a marvellous array of colourful, unusual, amazing headgear.

Emily had on a huge red wig.

Ethan had painted over his cowboy hat in black and white and there was a colourful macaw perched on his head.

Someone had devil's horns sticking out of his cap.

Triston had on a made-from-scratch-by-Mum tall magician's hat with giant flaps. Hats off to Yvonne - as usual - for her creativity and energy!

But the best part of all was when the four Prep teachers came out to greet their classes....and they all had on their Hilarious hats! Ms C had on a pointy hat that looked like what Vietnamese girls wear in the padi fields. Miss H had a tall fairy hat on with a veil at the back.

It was such a beautiful sight, how the teachers just plunged right in so sportingly and with no inhibitions.

All the kiddies and teachers marched to the quadrangle, where they proceeded to have a Hat Parade.

I almost missed out on the parade because I didn't know parents were invited. Then Jennifer's mum came running up and shouting excitedly, “善明，善明！快来看!" Thanks, Lily. :-)

Each class took turns to march around and show off their hats, while the two judges made notes. While the judges were deliberating, Ms C (and her trusty guitar) led the kiddies in a rousing rendition of the Hokey Pokey dance.

Then the results were announced and certs were given out to each class for Most Colourful Hat, Biggest Hat, Most Unusual Hat etc.

Pity I forgot my camera.

We've definitely made the right choice sending Beth to Heathdale. She's learning to develop her whole person, and to do it in a supportive Christian environment.

Naughty Amelia Jane

Beth is very chuffed that she and her classmate Triston were the only two from their class who got to visit the school library and choose their own books. This is outside of the usual weekly visit to the library with the whole class.

The first book she borrowed was Enid Blyton's Naughty Amelia Jane.

My neighbour Rukshanta came over earlier in the week and saw the book.

"OMG! That's the book I received from my teacher as a prize when I topped my school in Grade One!"

She picked up the book and leafed through it fondly, and proceeded to tell me who Amelia Jane was.

I was reminded of Amelia Jane when Beth threw a tantrum this evening.

As Enid Blyton says of AJ at the end of the book - "When she's good, she's very very good, but when she's bad, she's horrid!"

Ditto for Beth...and J.