Hunter

Twelve years ago we bought a dog - to protect us. We started looking for something savage. After all we had just had a man in the house at night feeling around Peet's bed until Alec sat up and disturbed him (Peet was in our bed at the time). Remember this was twelve years ago and very upsetting and unsettling - if it was more recent I would sound more traumatised.

Back to getting the dog - we tried for something fearsome - a german shepard or a rottweiler. But there were none to be had so we almost gave up. Then as we were leaving the pound fate intervened and a family walked in with a box full of the cutest puppies in town. We put our name down to come back the next week (after vaccinations etc) and I braced myself to break the news to Roger that I had just signed us up for a puppy.

At least she was smart. Unfortunately I was a bit busy raising children and didn't really have time to raise a dog and so the Fulcher Family Patented Dog Training System was born. (Tie them up on a run for two years - they're very grateful when they get off.) And finally Hunter became a lovely dog. She did every thing a dog should do - barked when she needed to, followed the kids all around the property, kept us all bailed up in the house one night when there was a snake on the back pavers and so on.

Then Hunter died. She was very old it's true and she was getting increasingly unsteady on her feet. I was actually worried about how she would cope with the winter. We don't really know how - maybe a snake bite, maybe old age. But whatever the cause there were tears, my were there tears.

Eventually a grave was dug,

a headstone prepared,

and we carried on with dinner and Family Home Evening which morphed into a discussion about the dual principles of resurrection and gratitude for blessings present and past. And then we ate chocolate - fair trade of course

Louisa and Max insisted that we could not email such news to Alec - he might cry in front of his companion and be embarrassed - so I wrote to him.

Eventually he replied: "Yes, I got your letter about Hunter, I don't really understand why you didn't just tell me about it an email. It was kind of funny, but not really funny, I was thinking the other day I wonder when she will die. I had an interview with Pres Scruggs after zone conference, like we always do, and like always he asked how home was. I said well my dog died and that's pretty much all we talked about. He said his dog died about two months ago, and guess what his dogs name was. It was Hunter - so that was pretty funny."

He seems to be coping.

LilyRhadika

Some friendships make me believe that at least some of us knew each other before this life.

Max had a fascination for Ruby Greenan when she was a newborn and he was around 2 - it was something to see. As though a two year old a baby could speak to each other.

And Louisa has LilyRhadika. They have been friends since they laid eyes on each other at five years old, and even though Lily has been at a different school for a few years now they remain devoted. There was a hot line of sorts between our houses over the school holidays as the two girls shared gossip, feelings of impending doom and excitement all at once while they prepared for high school.

And last weekend they managed to co-ordinate their busy schedules so that Lily could sleep over on Friday night.

And cook and swim all day on Saturday.

Then visit Mack at the Pine afternoon tea.

We dropped Lily home and she gave Max masses of lovely lego that she had finished with and Louisa a bag of clothes.

Louisa gave us a fashion parade at dinner a few nights ago. There was a bright purple coat - Lily's favourite colour. Someone said it suited Louisa, and I said it's lucky that Louisa and Lily both look good in purple.

And Louisa reminded me 'but we're twins.'

Funny thing is there was a time when both girls quite genuinely thought that was true. I walked past Louisa's bedroom when Lily was sleeping over years ago - the girls had dressed identically - and they were certain that 'the teachers will never be able to tell us apart.' Somehow they managed.

Practice

Max is practicing Piano - he tells me that sometimes he just wants to quit but he knows he would regret it later - me too.

Louisa's cello teacher, Sabrina, now comes to the office. It makes for an interesting afternoon in the office. No business can be conducted after 3.30pm. But if any lucky person does wander in they are treated to a mini concert from Louisa and Joan.

And our evenings are full of practicing seeing! Louisa and Max are both having vision therapy. At first I was alarmed at the price - actually I am still alarmed at the price - but then I remembered that Alec started to read after we had vision therapy for him all those years ago - so vision therapy it is.

It's a bit scary actually - today I discovered that Max can't focus for almost two seconds after he switched his eyes from looking at one stationary object to another. I had no idea. And Louisa is worse! Don't know how I missed that - but none of the teachers picked it either, so I am comforted by that.

So we embarked on at least six weeks of training for Max and at least 12 weeks - maybe as many as 24 weeks of training for Louisa.

School - week 1

Louisa is going to be just fine at high school - as Jesse says 'no-one could resist someone so absolutely adorable.'

She just might be the sweetest little grade 8 thing on two legs!

The night before school was a bit traumatic - lots of doubts, lots of nerves, and a few hormones I think.

But the next morning she bravely met the day and put on a happy face which was still there that afternoon.

Max had his first day as the only Fulcher at Pine too - a bit traumatic the night before too - though I think he caught it from Louisa.

His first day was a success.

Day three - not so much. Apparently one of the new kids is pushing him around and picking on him - he is scarred (and scared) and said he would not go back till the new kid left. I negotiated down to just having the new kid do the right thing at school. So I left the matter in Drew's capable hands on Monday morning, and left Max in Jesse and Tom's capable hands for the day.

The next day Max braved school (in spite of the other sadnesses of Monday evening) and although Drew hadn't made much headway the little girls had it all under control. They are watching the new kid - and he knows it and they are playing with Max - it's just not worth messing with Max - or the little girls.

Peet's first day was a smashing success too - he has all good teachers and good subjects - hooray - one less thing to fuss about.

Louisa's happy days came to a crashing stop on Monday - she phoned me at lunch time - in tears - needing to come home. I phoned my very good friends the student services ladies and told them to expect Louisa. When she arrived she told them 'I'm just a bit sad and I want my mum'. They signed her out as sick.

It was all about the maths test - Louisa's first ever test - and she has decided she doesn't like them. Leaving her glasses at home didn't help - apparently the numbers get jumbled up without them. But even with glasses I think it would have been hard. So I phoned the teacher - who was lovely - and made some arrangements and Louisa braved the next day. Quite the triumph of will. And now she seems happy again.

Louisa has a TAD teacher who also taught Alec and Jesse - so she is set in that class.

Bits and pieces

Max loves having Robert and Samuel sleep over - they move the mattresses into the lounge and watch videos till it's so late I can't stay awake anymore and insist they go to sleep. Last time they came Max made an obstacle course for them as well.

Mack came to visit. Here's when we visited him in hospital.

And here he is one month later - smiling and laughing I swear - not a baby smile - he locks on to your eyes and you'd better not look away - and then his whole face smiles and you wouldn't want to look away.

Peet missed him this time and is desperate to visit.

Max is having a matchbox car revival.

Lee, Joan, Thomas, Jesse, Louisa, Max and I went to our first ever protest. (Roger was at work - I think he was secretly relieved that someone would be available to answer our one telephone call if we were arrested!) (And Peet was on Young Mens camp on Fraser Island.)

We caught the ferry into town.

And joined the Free Palestine group - held placards and chanted 'free free Palestine' when we were told to. Lee took photos -but his camera was stolen a couple of weeks later - Roger says it was Mossad and we better watch out. (It was a lot of fun - and although we are all for the Jews returning to the promised land the treatment of the Palestinians is disgraceful and they really have no hope of ever changing it - and we can argue and discuss it endlessly - you'd swear we were Jewish the way we go on.)

Then to round out the night we went to a Korean restaurant. We all chose with a careful eye on the heat symbols - except Max who insisted he could cope.

It was perhaps a little hotter than he expected.

But he made it through the whole bowl of noodles anyway - no way could I have eaten that.

23

Tom turned 23!

I think this is a good thing.

Louisa and Max made him a dirt jar - different coloured dirt from all around our house layered in a jar and sealed with wax - he loved it.

It was a slack birthday on my part - I cooked Sticky Thai Chicken as per his request. Then he went to institute where they treated him royally.

Saturday

After reading about Elder L Tom Perry talking about work and teaching children to work and saying that he would spend Saturday morning working with children and Saturday afternoon playing with them - I realised we sometimes skip the second part. So this Saturday after mowing and so on at home and a working bee at Pine, we took lemon bread for afternoon tea and went to see the APT at GoMA. It's spectacular.

We love the APT because it's cheery art - usually.

Then - because we have afternoon church this year so it doesn't matter so much what time we get to bed - we went to Mt Glorious for a night hike. Just the rain forest circuit - 1.9 km - dense air, lots of frog sounds, a funnel web spider that Roger teased with a stick, a little mouse like marsupial , an so on. Lee and Joan came too - they were out checking the orientation of their house and fortuitously arrived just as we were about to go.

And Jesse, Peet, Louisa and Max slept on the front verandah - I think it's been a week since they slept inside - we could manage with a two bedroom house -one for us an one for the kids clothes.

Max is in the hammock.