2015 - A Year in Review

Once again, not breaking with tradition, I'm late with my 'Christmas Greetings'. ;-)  At least this year I have a half decent excuse! :-) 

Well here goes. After many years of tooing and froing, Spike and I decided to take the plunge and do something about our rapidly aging house.  It had served us well these past 19 years, but we realised that we either had to sell up and move or renovate.  We chose the option to renovate, and after a few months of living in a construction zone, with very early mornings and late evenings (the family painting sometimes till 10 at night), we finally ended up with a home that could comfortably house 4-5 adults.  A driving force behind the renovation, at least for me, was creating a home that would give us the ability to host exchange students.  Both Zoe and I benefited hugely from the generousity of other families on our exchange programs, and so it's always been a dream of mine to be a 'host mother'.  So in early November (3/4 of the way through our renovations) we welcomed Chisato, a young Japanese exchange teacher at Grant's college, into our home.  She has slotted into the family nicely and the kids have made her feel like one of the family.

Our home has been transformed from a very dark, modest 3 bedroom house, to a spacious and very open and light, 4 bedroom home!  Although technically and according to the bank, the house is now 'finished', we still have quite a bit of painting to complete over the summer holidays.  Our amazing builder moved heaven and earth to have Chisato's room finished as soon he could for us, and we have totally loved our first Christmas in our 'new' home with our extended family! :-) 

The year has once again flown by and was again a year of big changes for the kids.  Zoe returned from her year in Tokyo and though she misses her 'family' and friends in Japan, she has settled back nicely into life in OZ and reconnected with her friends here too.  She started her first year at uni (at ANU) and worked hard to achieve some great results.  She was also very excited to find work as 'Santa's helper' at the local mall, wrangling children and taking Santa Photos.  This suited her down to the ground as Christmas is her favourite time of the year!  For her interview in November, she was so enthusiastic and dressed up in all things Christmas, that they had no alternative but to give her the job! ;-)  

Grant's year saw him move from high school to 'College' where he also put in a sound effort and was rewarded with some good results.  His futsal also moved to a new level, having successfully competed at the Nationals in January, he was chosen to compete in the National Futsal League  Although half his games were in other cities, we were able to watch all of his home games, and caught some of the away game highlights online.

Spike took on the position of Deputy Head of Admin at ADFA and though Admin isn't his natural leaning, he has really grown into the position and as in all things, has done a stellar job! He also continues to play soccer and maintains his physical fitness, surprising players half his age on the soccer pitch!  I continue to support children with special needs at our local school, growing and learning from my charges each year and finding it more rewarding every year!  I also try my best to keep fit and healthy, but suffer the usual 'age related niggles' which I try to ignore most of the time.

Anyway, at this point, I'd like to wish all of you a fantastic New Year and hope it brings lots of love, laughs and especially good health! 

Love Maria and the extended Barlow Clan! XXX

PS Here are a couple of links to 1 min videos documenting our new home going up if you're interested! :-)

http://www.magisto.com/album/video/Oj45DVtDHAYnfSAHDmEwCX1-?c=c&l=vsm&o=a

http://www.magistocom/album/video/Jnw9DVtDHAYnfSAHDmEwCX18?c=cc&l=vsm&o=a

2014 Year in Review - Easter

It's been over a year since I last wrote and these days, that seems like the blink of an eye. So much has happened in our family since then, as I'm sure it has in yours.  Some good and some not so good, but I do hope that as in ours, the good outnumbers the unfortunate.  I hope that you and all of your family are all well.

  

We are mostly excited about having Zoe back with us in Canberra!  She had an amazing time in Japan last year and has made lifelong friends and experienced the world in a new way!  She has grown and matured a great deal while she was away, and Spike and I feel that she is now another adult in the family, rather than our little girl! While at first I felt a little sadness at this, it wasn't long before I this 'new' member of our family was one of my best friends with whom I love connecting and spending time with even more!  Part of her growing was being our tour guide and host while we spent 3 weeks with her in Tokyo last June/July last year.  She took on the responsibility of taking care of a party of 5 of us travelling in an around Tokyo as well as other cities in Japan.  We had an unforgettable time with her and it definitely made the time she spent away from us easier to take, having seen where she lives and meeting the many wonderful host families and friends that looked after her who have now become part of our extended family.  Being able to Skype with them regularly will hopefully keep us close in touch for many years to come.   Zoe has now started the next chapter of her life, an Asian Studies degree majoring in Japanese, at the Australian National University.

Grant continued to play football as well as futsal, at an elite level last year and was part of the national championships in Sydney at the beginning of this year.  He also finished High School last year and has moved on to College this year taking on the new responsibility for his own learning expected of students in College better than expected.  It will be a tough two years, but hopefully at the end of this, he will leave college with a good all round education, and skills to continue his education here or overseas.  

Spike and I are both well, with our share of aches and pains that come with reaching midlife!  We both turned 50 last year and we also celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary this year, so the last year was a real milestone for us both.  We took Grant and Spike's mother to Japan with us last year to visit Zoe, and to celebrate our birthdays and our 20th Anniversary last year in a big way!  It was a wonderful time for our whole family, and brought us closer together including Spike's mother.  I'm still plodding along in my job and Spike has been appointed Deputy Head of his department for two years so is even busier these days.  He still finds time for his football and seems to love it more each year! He is enjoying having Zoe back with us as they are very much kindred spirits.  

Last year our family lost my Grandfather and so it was a hard year for my mum.  The house she grew up in has been sold and it is the end of an era for the Lazarou family.  The large gatherings of my childhood at Easter and Christmas are a thing of the past now, but the memories will be with us forever.  This Easter has been a quiet one for us here in Canberra, but we have maintained the traditions we adopted after spending time with you in Santorini.  We continue to dye eggs, share eggs and cook easter biscuits to share with friends and family.  We will celebrate Greek Easter next weekend as well, so we are looking forward to that too.

2013 A Year in Review

The 'Buffy' crew and Zoe, a reaper from 'Supernatural'
enjoying ourselves at our annual Halloween party!

2013 has been a year of learning and growing for the Barlow family, but also a year punctuated by sporting accidents and the all too common age related ill health issues.  So, tough for us at times but a year defined by the saying, "whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!" :)

I guess we have to start the year by rewinding to November 2012 when Grant fracture his knee during a Futsal match.  Uncertain till late January as to how serious the injury was, it meant he was unable to take part in the Futsal nationals and missed out on the ACTAS (ACT Academy of Sport) football trials later in the month. Grant was lucky there was no major ligament damage but he would  be out for half the season. Fortune favoured the brave, in this case, a brave young boy who had his greatest drive wrenched away in a crippling tackle, when he was offered a medical scholarship with ACTAS. They took over his recovery program when he was ready to start his comeback in April and gradually he was introduced into the team.

For Grant, the highlights of his year are all football related. Taking part in two overseas trips; the first was a tournament in Korea where the highlight was playing against the Barcelona youth team as well as many national sides, and meeting players from all over the globe. Then later in the year the team had a tour of China playing against some local teams in Beijing and Tianjin. Maria and Spike's mum Helen were lucky enough to tag along on this tour! Climbing the Great wall, visiting the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square and shopping at the Adidas outlet being major non football highlights for Grant. Then the last major tournament was The NTC challenge. Spanning 5 days, the ACTAS boys played diligently while adapting to a scorcher one day and freezing temperatures and rain the next. Grant didn't play the first game. However when placed on the field, fired up and played with an intensity not seen before. Ploughing though the smaller, even some of the larger boys, the tackle related injury from last year seemed forgotten. With this level of football, new horizons have been opened. We look forward to seeing the opportunities that unfold in 2014.

Zoe also started her year recovering from an injury.  She had broken a bone in the top of her foot the year before and had been out for a full season in 2012.  As it happens she also ended 2013 recovering from a soccer related injury!  In the last game of the season, Zoe fell badly and dislocated her knee.  This resulted in her having completely torn her ACL and in October was rushed in to have it reconstructed.  The operation was a major one and will require months of rehabilitation, and will unfortunately mean that she will miss another season of soccer.   

Zoe's memorable moments of the year are: getting her licence, getting her own second hand car (Schmitty), turning 18, graduating from High School (College) and getting a great score to get her into a university course of her choice.  Zoe showed, despite going through some tough times during her last year of school, what a natural talent she has for writing, producing some amazing works in her writers workshop course.  The other subject she continued to excel in was Japanese.  Achieving some class topping marks and showing again, not only hard work and determination, but some very mature writing.

Lastly but definitely not least, Zoe was accepted into Seikei High School in Tokyo on a student exchange scholarship for 1 year!!  The year promises to be a very full one with many adventures and connecting with old and new friends!  Once the approval came through, the many months of waiting were long gone and suddenly her departure date was well and truly upon us.  She flies out on 12 January and is looking forward to spending an amazing year in the country of her birth!

This year, especially toward the end, both Grant and Zoe matured and grew much closer. It is a shame that after so many of the teen years being plagued by bickering, Zoe will now be leaving right after their relationship has finally stabilized!  With their friendship strengthened, family bonding time became significantly easier.  Since bonding was easier we decided to broaden our horizons by including SingStar nights and FIFA football nights to the already practiced Board game nights and Ninja Warrior TV marathons!  Also by the end of the year, Zoe and Grant particularly enjoyed spending time at Spike's laboratory, taking part in 'game testing' afternoons on Fridays with Spike's PhD students, which not only included computer games but board games too.  One last football highlight for the family was a trip to Melbourne to watch Liverpool play against Melbourne Victory.  Being part of the 93,000 fan filled stadium is something we're not likely to forget soon.

2013 was a mixed one for Maria, expanding her knowledge in her field of work by attending several courses, rediscovering her love of tennis, jogging and generally getting fitter and healthier throughout the year.  Injury also plagued her though, with a knee injury keeping her out of cycling and running for a couple of months and then a wrist injury almost saw her have to cancel her trip to China with Grant. Fortunately she was able to attend, wrist strapped and in a sling.  This didn't hamper her much though and she was still able to climb the Great Wall along with the team and made the most of her time while she was there.

Lastly, we move on to Spike who continued to love and play soccer throughout the year despite having achillies issues, a shoulder injury and a suspected detached retina, though the last turned out to be a false alarm which we were all overjoyed about!  Needless to say that with all the injuries our family members suffered throughout the year, our physiotherapist was able to put in an inground pool and go on a cruise around the world thanks to the Barlow family! ;)  Just kidding Pete, you're amazing!  Spike started 2013 acting as Deputy Head of School for the first six months which was definitely a different role for him to take on and although he enjoyed it, he was glad to do the hand back at the end of the 6 months! :)  

Well, that's the year as it was.  We're all looking toward the New Year of the Horse with hopes of good health, happy times and many adventures! 

By Zoe and Maria

Formal Photos!

Zoe gets dolled up for formal! :) Beautiful!

Grant and Zoe before Formal.

Zoe and her best mates!

Proud Mum!

Zoe stalking Milli at Halloween - Scary Stuff!

Horsing round at Halloween!

2012 Year in Review - Easter Greetings

We are staying home for Easter this year and I am at this moment boiling the eggs to dye and Zoe and I will start making Koulourakia as soon as I finish this email.  Our school holidays start next week and Tony's boys, Harry and Daniel will come and stay with us for a week.  Zoe is still learning to drive but has gotten to the stage where she has driven in all conditions (except snow! :-) ) and is driving for us everywhere.  She is doing well and from now we will have to do more parking and reverse parking practice so that when she gets her licence in November she is highly competent in all areas.  She is doing very well at her first year of College (yr 11 and 12 her last years of school) and then the following year she expects to go to Japan for a year before studying to become a vet at Uni.  She is studying Japanese and doing well and really enjoying it.  Of course she gets a bit of extra help at home which is fun for me and helps her.  We try to speak a bit of Japanese around the house when we remember.  I wish I had continued to use Japanese at home with her and Grant as they were growing up.  Oh well...

Grant is having a good start to the school year this year and I am hoping that this will continue and improve some more.  He is actually capable of much more at school, but tends to just cruise instead of pushing himself.  A bit like his soccer really.  He could be and do so much more but seems to lack motivation maybe.  He is still playing well and has great skill.  Maybe that will come with age, who knows.  He played very well at the Futsal Championships and his team for the first time in many years, beat every team in Australia.  Unfortunately they lost in the final match to NSW our rival team even though they beat this team the day before in their pool to their great delight!  It was a shame to lose in the final as they had played and achieved so much, but they were very happy overall and surpassed their own expectations. They even made it on TV! for a couple of seconds! :-)  

The outdoor season has just started and after many months of trialing, Grant has made it into an under 16 Canberra City team.  Most of the boys in the competition are 15 year olds but Grant and a couple of boys who are 13 have made it into this team.  We didn't think he would make it, but has played well in their first match of the season against what looked like a team of giants! :-), even though they didn't win the match.  Zoe has also come a long way in her soccer and she is playing under 19's this year.  Her team played in a pre-season tournament the two previous weekends, and ended up winning the whole tournament undefeated.  This is the first major competition she has won and she was very excited.  I'll put a link to the photo and report online at the end of this email if you're interested. 

She's still working at KFC, but she's not as happy as she was there, so she's thinking of changing jobs at some point soon.  I'm still working at the school, though finding this year tougher than in the past, but still enjoy it.  I'm also singing in the choir again this year and am really enjoying it.  I've also taken up tennis again, mainly because Grant is keen to play, so he and I go down and have a hit at the local club as often as we can fit in.  But with him training twice a week, having a match once a week and training with the ACT squad once a week, it's hard to fit it in.  Spike is still lecturing and is also still playing lots of soccer.  He's out currently playing tennis with a friend this morning.  Zoe's in the kitchen starting on the Koulourakia and Grant is in his room playing on his ipod and chatting on Facebook no doubt.  He's just become addicted this year. 

2011 - Year in Review

Merry Christmas!

We have had a fairly quiet Christmas here in Canberra.  We had a lovely morning opening and playing with gifts with the kids and then had a sushi Christmas lunch!  We then had a quiet afternoon with me having a nap in the afternoon while the kids and Spike played some video games together. We then went to our neighbours place for drinks in the afternoon and after dinner more board games in the evening.  Today we've had a quiet morning again and Spike baked some more Christmas cakes to give to our friends as gifts, while I did a bit of gardening in my veggie garden and weeding. This afternoon the kids have had friends over to play more boardgames and tonight we're going to our close friends to have dinner with them.  Should be a good night, though as is the case more often than not this summer, we have had much rain and many storms and the weather is very cool.

We're off to W'gong tomorrow to spend time with Spikes family and then go through Cowra to say hi to my family and then back here for New Years.  Tony and Elissa have moved back to Cowra.  It's been a tough year for him, he had a quad bike roll on top of him and broke 9 ribs and both colar bones.  He is still suffering and hasn't been able to get work yet.  He hopes that this year will be a better one for him.  My mum's mum also passed away this year just recently, so Christmas has been very difficult for her.

My health is a lot better, now that I am aware that I have been suffereing from many food intolerances and am able to change my diet to improve my health.  I had tests recently and discovered that not only am I gluten and lactose intolerant, but also fructose intolerant, and since changing my diet I have so much more energy and feel so much healthier.  I was feeling like I was a hypochondriac.  I've had the energy to exercise more and since I've been eating sensibly too.  I have lost exactly 10kg since August and feel so much better.  I'd like to lose about 5kg more and would be happy with that. Though, I expect that I'll put a little weight on over Christmas and New Year, but will get back on track in the New Year.

Mum is doing fine, but with her Mum passing away this year, she is feeling her mortality and is very emotional when she talks to the kids and I on the phone these days.  She broke down on the phone with the kids yesterday and had to hang up before she spoke to me.  She called me back later in the day when she was more composed.  I know she misses us and and I miss her terribly too.

Zoe graduated from high school last month, and I've attached her formal photo for you.  She got an award at Graduation for excellent achievement and work in Maths and her report was just wonderful.  She's had an amazing time at high school and can't wait to move on to college.  She's now having driving lessons with Spike and doing very well.  She's started working at KFC this year and is loving her job and doing very well.

Grant made it into the ACT Soccer team this year and went to the National Championships and competed. He was very excited about scoring an awesome goal, though we were not there to see it.  :-(  He also made it into the ACT Futsal team and is going to compete in the Nationals in January.  He's playing very well and just needs to get a bit fitter before the 9th.  He finished his first year at high school much better than we had expected after the first semester where he struggled.  He still has issues with time management and being organised, but hopefully next year he'll consolidate his effort and do even better.

I've started singing in the ACT teacher's choir for fun and Spike is still a mad keen soccer player.  He gave me singing lessons with an opera singer for Christmas!!!... But I can't see me ever getting up the courage to do it!  I find it difficult to sing softly in a choir with lots of other people around, so I can't see myself singing out loud on my own, even if it is only in front of a teacher!

Spike's been working hard as usual, but he's doing a little bit more work for the games company that his friend/ex-student now owns, so I think that's been good for him.  He's also the third member in the house who’s a mad keen soccer player and plays winter and summer comps.  It's hard on his body, but he loves it so much it keeps him physically and emotionally fit and well.  He wanted to try to get back into Jujustu this year, but with soccer trainings and games on it just didn't happen.  I know he's still keen, but it's really difficult with the kids being so active as well.

The last big event on our social calendar was our annual Halloween party.  Once again, we all had a great deal of fun cooking and dressing up.  It's fun to see so many of our friends getting into the swing of things and really enjoying themselves.

Well, stay health and I hope that the New Year brings you joy and what you wish for.

Love always,
Maria and family  xxx

2010 - Year in Brief

New Years Eve/Day – spent in W’gong with Guy and Nan

Merry Christmas!!

22/23/24 January – Coerver Camp Grant chosen to go to Japan

The Coerver Select team to Japan! Well done Grant!

Visit to W'gong

16/17/18 January – Ironstone ridge visit
February - Uncle Henry’s visit to Canberra with George

Yuriarra Xing 

18 Jan -6 Febrary – Liondis Boys weeklong Visit – Bowling, Museum, picnic at the lake, cisac
Visit to w’gong to see Henry – Lizard feeding at pegs
Keiko’s Visit with Jun
Bendora Dam with Skelly’s
Kids start DND roleplaying
Grant graduates yr 6

Grant playing touch footy

,

We're all fine and enjoying a warm Christmas with my Mum here in Canberra.  It's been the wettest spring/summer we've had in many years and although it has been more than welcome, there are places that are in flood now too, so wheat crops are still dying, but from too much rain rather than drought!

On Tony's farm!

Grant, Zoe and I returned from 6 weeks (Zoe only spent 4 weeks) in Japan recently.  Grant was chosen to go on a soccer tour of Tokyo and so we went on the 2 week tour and then Zoe flew over and joined us and we stayed on for about 4 weeks after the rest of the tour returned to Australia.  It was a great time, but the first time I had spent so much time away from Spike...was not nice. :-( I know you don't have much spare time, but we kept a blog as usual and though you won't have time to read it, you may have a couple of mins to look at some of the pics.  Anyway, here's the address: www.3barlowstotokyo.blogspot.com

Keiko and Jun Visit!

Spike has recently bought a digital SLR and is really loving taking some great photos.  He really has a knack for it.  Now Zoe is very keen on photography and for Christmas she got a second hand digital SLR from us, so she's been excitedly taking photos all day.

Finger painting with the boys!

I've sent you a couple of photos, one of the kids at Christmas, one of Zoe and I with Grant just before his 'graduation dinner/dance' (he's moving on from Primary school to High School next year! Can't believe it!) and the other is of Spike and Grant just fooling around as they usually do.

Quick (Hahahah!!) game of DND

Well, it's late here now...another late night and I just wanted to say, I hope you and ALL your family have a fabulous Christmas day and New Year.  Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.  Love to you all, from Maria, Spike, Zoe and Grant. xoxo

Grant on his way to Yr 6 Graduation! :)

2009 - A yearly Roundup

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and that you saw in the New Year in good health and with a blast!  We had a wonderful Christmas made special, especially to me, as we had my Mum stay with us from just before Christmas for about a week.  I think it’s the longest time we’ve spent together in recent memory and it was just fabulous.  We cooked, ate, shopped, lunched and played board games with the kids.  I even got mum addicted to playing the Wii!... Spike ended up having to shoo us to bed at about 11.30 most nights! And that’s saying something for my Mum who usually ends up asleep on the lounge early evening watching tv, and who has refused to even touch a controller in the past.

We brought in the New Year with Spike’s Mum in Wollongong, again playing board games and then enjoyed watching fireworks from a railway bridge with the kids and Jules at midnight, as the beaches where we had intended to go were packed and parking was a nightmare.  Nevertheless, it was just as nice from a distance and easier on Jules as she was already spooked from the many firework blasts happening nearby throughout the night.  She was so spooked that to keep her calm Spike put her in the garage and lay on a foam mattress beside her, reading.  I ended up joining them after a while as everyone else had gone to bed and I didn’t want Spike to be down there on his own.  We both read for a while and thankfully within about 30 mins the blasts all but stopped and Spike and I were able to sneak upstairs to our own bed.  Whew!  Yes, we’re sad cases aren’t we!

2009 flew by for us with all of us being busy and it feels like it’s going to continue this way for quite some time.  We started the New Year in Wollongong and caught up with Spike’s family and then had a lovely Australia Day at Uriarra Crossing trying to get Jules more comfortable in the water.  We worked on this throughout the year taking her to the local creek for ‘swims’ several times a week.  Over the past couple of weeks with the creek level being so high, she’s become much more confident and has actually started fetching sticks in the water and seems to really love it now.  It’s one of Spike’s greatest joys, to see her running and splashing through the water....he’s a man of simple pleasures really! ;-)

In February, Spike and I spent just over two weeks in India.  It had never been a destination we had considered seriously before, but an opportunity arose for Spike to attend an Air Show in Bangalore and so we thought we’d take advantage of this.  We decided after much deliberation not to take the kids this time, with the Mumbai bombings very fresh in all our minds and thought this would be a good ‘taster’ for a possible family trip in the future.  Rather than go into details here, as usual Spike was very organised and kept a Blog of our trip, so if you've run out of reading material, you can find it online at http://www.barlows2india09.blogspot.com  Special thanks has to go to Helen who gave up so much of her time and put her life on hold for three weeks to come to Canberra and look after the kids for us.  Thanks, just doesn't cut it!

A highlight of our trip to India was that we were able to squeeze in a day stopover in Singapore which gave us the opportunity to have lunch with one of our dearest friends, Simon who has lived in Singapore for about 14 years (?) with his family.  Was so great to see him, but made parting difficult again!

After our return to OZ, Spike started the year with one of the heaviest teaching loads I think he’s ever had.  He also had to recreate the whole first year computer science degree from scratch, so was a huge first semester for him.  He also had a busy year taking on the job of coaching Grant’s soccer team and once again played soccer himself this year, which has been one of the best things to happen in his life.  His fitness and ability improved so much this year, that he found himself being moved from 3rd Div the previous year up to 1st by the end of last year! Go Spikey!  Unfortunately, he had to cut back on his Jujutsu training because it clashed with his soccer, but hopes to get to training more often this year.  After doing Tai Chi for about a year and a half, I decided to give Kung Fu a try last year.  It’s a little more my style, a bit more martial and disciplined than Tai Chi, but still gentle enough on this old body to keep going for a few more years!

Evil 'Red' and 'Wolfie' having an evil giggle together!

Zoe (Now 14!!) has had a busy year with Soccer, Futsal, and band.  She continues to enjoy school and it's showing in her progress and grades!  She's still enjoying her trumpet and is an amazing little player! Her school band played at the National Eisteddfod in Canberra this year and received two gold medals!  She had a ball going on Band Camp which landed them in Sydney on the morning of the red dust storm, saw ‘Wicked’ and had a harbour cruise.  Band camps are a highlight of the school year for her as you can imagine!  Zoe continues to improve in her soccer skills and especially her understanding of the game.  Futsal is one of her greatest loves, and she just hates it when there’s a bye!  He other great love of course is Julia! The two have a special bond and Zoe loves spending as much time with her as she can.  Zoe is also becoming quite the hostess and loves entertaining!  She's arranged many parties, but the most important on her calendar is Halloween!  Her costumes are always creative and her friends love all the fun games she arranges.

Grant a little excited about his birthday presents!

Grant (now 11!) was chosen to play trumpet in the school band, following in his sister’s footsteps and has made significant progress through the year. He joined Coerver, a soccer training academy near the end of the year and has loved learning new skills and becoming a fitter and faster soccer player.  He seems to be improving all the time.  In outdoor soccer he was chosen to play in the first division team and again played in the Kanga Cup youth tournament in Canberra.  In futsal he’s being tested playing in the next age group up and loving it.  He also joined an OZtag team (variant of touch footy) and showed once again, that he is a natural at pretty much any sport he chooses.  He made significant progress after one season, and had the coach offering to ‘come over with his chequebook’ to convince Grant to give up soccer and play on his outdoor rugby league team this year!  Grant of course says a big NO to giving up soccer, but is going to try to play both during the winter season.

Zoe the ice skating instructor...always looking after the boys!

In October, Aunty Maria in her wisdom gave Harry and Daniel (my gorgeous little nephews) tickets to see ‘Thomas the Tank Engine, Live on Stage’ with us.  Wow!,  it’s been a while since I’ve experienced the joy and chaos of a live children’s concert!  We also had the pleasure of having them stay with us unaccompanied by Mum or Dad, and spoiling them for about 4 days.  We fit so much in over those few days, Thomas, Questacon, Ice Skating, Grant’s birthday, movies and shopping! Whew, we all slept well each night!

Evil Red, Wolf in Grandma's clothing, Joker and Beetlejuice.

October also saw the annual Barlow Halloween Party being held – a major event on our social calendar.  This year, our theme was heavily dark fairytale (Evil Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf in Grandma’s Nightdress), but we saw a huge range of costumes from bubble wrap aliens and Ghostbusters to John and Yoko and Edward Scissorhands!

It's Madness!! One step Beyond!!

In March, Spike and I got to relive our youth (take a trip down memory lane?) by going to Sydney to watch Madness! at the VFestival!  We both got into the spirit and dressed up in our best twotone outfits and had a ball along with many other gen X’s there on the same mission.


For me the year was a good one work wise, as I got to do 1 hour a day relief at the preschool and relished in the trip down memory lane working with preschoolers and really getting my hands dirty again!  Playdough, slime, glitter, paint and sandpits once again became a big part of my life and I loved it!  I hope that I draw the short straw again this year!  I also got my hands dirty during another evening course at the ANU School of Art.  I ended up, after leaving it too late to enrol in life drawing or watercolours, enrolling in my first oil painting course.  Won’t be doing that again!  Didn’t enjoy it at all, so will get in early this year and try watercolours which I’ve wanted to do for a while now.  I did a couple of trial paintings last year and think it’s more my thing, so here goes.    Spike also bought me a drawing tablet for the computer for my birthday, so I’ve enjoyed playing with that and doing a few drawings and paintings on it.

Well, guess that’s been our year.  For much of it there were only a few nights when we were all able to sit down to an evening meal together  The crockpot got a good workout in winter and being busy kept us all out of trouble, so guess that’s a bonus! ;-)

Here’s hoping that this year will be a year of happiness and good health for you all!
Love Maria and the Barlow Clan! Oxox