A trip to the local pool

The last few days it has been hot... Over forty degrees Celsius but not too hot in the house yet (thanks to air conditioning) that we all need to bunk down in the lounge. This afternoon my darling wife thought a trip to our local pool to cool off was the best idea. As always you were 100% right gorgeous. The five of us all had a wonderful afternoon and the water was cool... After my initial hesitation to commit to a family trip out for a swim all it took was a handful of jaunts in the humidity was suffice to convince me to go... Once I hit the water I was happy we'd taken the trip. My highlights would have to be splashing around all five of us together, flying down the big slide with our youngest a trio of times, each more danger-filled than the one before and finally the highlight of the price (a family of up to six is only $20)... Next heatwave I know exactly where the Law family is headed to cool off...

The Tenacity of a Crab

It seems December is the time for my rediscovery of writing competitions. I have put my hat in the ring for the December edition of the First Friday of the Month comp (55 hours to write a short story of 500 words or less)... I though I had a red hot chance but alas this comp has had the winners announced and I did not even make the shortlist. In true Cancerian style I am now eagerly awaiting the first Friday of January (there is nought like Cancer's tenaciousness... I will win this... At least one time next year...

Meanwhile I have also discovered there is an end of December writing comp too... This one is for a novella (between 20,000 and 50,000 words). I have already discovered a month (November to be exact) is not long enough for me to write 5,000 words let alone 20,000... I have discovered in my pile of old stories a parody I wrote years ago which I am hoping will be 20,000 at least with a few tweaks and a few extra scenes...

I consider myself to be a good writer, at times even a great one... I cannot wait to discover the next monthly writing challenge that January has in store... Hopefully (fingers crossed) I have some luck with the end of December...

100 views or more... Thank you for your interest over the years...

To all the followers who have been keenly reading my blog, whether you are a first time viewer or you have been there since the very beginning in late March 2014... Thank you... I am happy to see some of my posts have hit over fifty views with my original post poised on 99 and one of my short story posts my most viewed (128 views for The Woman Who Vanished posted on the 16th of September 2016). I was happily surprised to see a more recent post about celebrating 15 years of life together as husband and wife with my gorgeous bride Ms H has scored 100 views, so many wonderful friends taking part in our wonderful day and so many others finding out what went on via FB posts and my blog. I wonder what 2019 will have in store and if I'll get to whip up another 100+ viewed post. As we lead into the crazy Christmas home stretch I suppose only time will truly tell.

A chance to celebrate a busy, blurred 2018

Work place functions... A great time to catch up and look back on what was hopefully a very success year... 2018 has flashed past and it was great to attend the celebratory luncheon hosted by the Management and Elected Members of the council that I work for. Great in the way that years of service and staff who have gone above and beyond have been able to have their efforts recognised. It is also a wonderful opportunity to see just how big and how broad an employer that a local council is, so many community focused functions being performed day in and day out by an army of willing, capable and passionate people. Finally it was a great chance to reflect back upon the year that has been and remember and recognise all the amazing achievements (awards earned, projects completed, deadlines delivered)…

I am quite lucky to work with a very diverse team, everyone with a plethora of skills we use everyday to run events and workshops, prepare new items for borrowing, find and recommend things for people to read or listen to or see. These tasks never the same except that everyday they are our business as usual.

As we, like many other businesses now close down for Christmas and the focus turns away from work and toward family it is truly terrific to have one big gathering to mark this. Indeed a chance to celebrate as each and every year there is plenty that has gone well.

Focusing on family I wish you all, friends and family both physical and digital a very Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year. For those whose 2018 has been marred by pain and sadness I hope that 2019 proves to be a great year. In fact for everyone I wish for you all only love, joy, success and wonder for a fun fuelled 2019... Enjoy and those who are travelling please travel safe...

A chapter of our lives draws to a close

So proud of my son who today has graduated from Primary School and is off to High School at the beginning of 2019. I still remember the daunting day of my first day of Year 8 where I discovered all the kids I knew from Primary were suddenly my best mates. With so many more students than you are used to seeing all gather in one place it can be quite scary. My son I feel will be fine though, he has a knack his Dad never had... He has a very easy going nature and the ability to quickly find like-minded people, allies for his schooling years.

It has been an emotional time these first few weeks of December with the final school concert for Master 12, a Primary graduation dinner (I never got one of those when I finished Year 7) and now... finally... the last day of term.

I am sure High School will prove to be a fun filled ride and my friend magnet of a boy will make his way through it all with best mates, good grades and come out the other side all set for life. Is he ready for the challenge? Probably more than ready... Are his Mum and Dad? I severely doubt it! Firstly though we must survive the Aussie summer holidays... Ready... Steady... Here we go...

Happy birthday to a great mate

Last night we had the pleasure of joining many in helping a great mate, proud to call my brother-in-law and all round good guy Ben who has just turned 40 years young. In typical Ben style the party was a hoot with everyone tackling the SPY theme in their own creative way. The kids just loved it dressing up in all black wearing sunglasses at night and telling people to "stick 'em up!" with their empty water pistols.

I have been really getting into writing again lately, spurred on by my attempt at 50,000 words for Novel November. While the night just gone is still fairly fresh in my mind I thought I'd put pen to paper. Below is the result. Hope you all enjoy my creation... Especially you, M'Lord Benjamin...

An Ode to a Mate on turning 4 and Oh... A poem in four verses

Mum and Dad! I tell not a lie

Everyone was there at Le Convention de Spy

Twice the James Bond, twice the bow tie

Such a costumed menagerie and I'll tell you why

A great mate, Lord Benjamin or Hicksy by name

Had gathered us together for one massive game

The two rounds we played both ended the same

President saved, bomber exposed and all by a fair dame

At this party represented were spy royalty

Agents in suits, Spy VS Spy, a brick wall and hedge, a fake beard or three

Pizzas and cheesecakes and slices oh so very yummy

And all because the Spy Master Ben had turned the young age of forty

The girls looked amazing in spy-ware or dresses divine

The boys scrubbed up well, all looking fine

Happy birthday was sung around about half-past nine

Then we all toasted Ben with glasses of champagne, beer or wine

Happy birthday to a great mate Ben. Hope you had as fun a night as we did. My big 4 and Oh is coming up soon. You have certainly set a high bar as nights of fun go. I wonder what theme I could go with for mine...

Epic successes and epic fails

I have (madly) put my hat in the ring to take part in National Novel Writing Month. It has been a real challenge for me but an opportunity to get back into writing a longer manuscript. The idea is to knuckle down and produce a raw (little to no editing) 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of the month of November. With all of the end of year things to do with school and work and just not being able to find time to write (hence the severe lack of posts over the last month at least) I must admit now to the epic failure which is my NaNoWriMo effort... Banging out two half decent sessions of 1,000 words or more I have managed to rack up a grand total of 4,148 words (almost 10%). The word counter on the website informs me that it would take the next eleventh months (pretty much to the start of the next NaNoWriMo) before I would reach my required 50K.

From such an epic fail though I move swiftly on to last night and the amazingly fun night my wonderful and truly terrific wife and I put on for the local library team. We have had a bit of a rough and tough 2018 which only just now seems to be smoothing itself out. Certain members of the team I manage are having tough moments of their own so an end of year wind down was a exactly what was needed. We had at least half the team present with partners and kids and it was just such a fun night of eating and drinking and chatting away the night. Hopefully next year we can have even more members come along. I know that what ever we do it is bound to be great fun.

Waiting in the balance now is a children's event planned for work for tomorrow. I am hoping that the community gets behind their local author and their local library and that we get hoards and hoards of visitors for the day... The record we are aiming to beat... Just 128 visitors in 4 hours... This was set in late July last year (the first time we had this same children's author). Bring on the chaos and fingers crossed we break our record... If you are in the neighbourhood please drop by...

Look out!! Christmas Time is Fast Approaching...

What a wonderful weekend... Starting on Friday I was lucky enough to have the day off and head over to the school my kids (Master 12, Miss 11 and Miss 8) attend with my amazing and truly wondrous wife to mass produce around 20 homemade pizzas. Friday Fresh is a great canteen incentive that Jervois Primary (like many schools around the world) do to make sure the kids are getting a heathy, home cooked meal, have full tummies and it is also an opportunity to utilise some of the goodies grown in the school garden... Win! Win! Winners all round!!

Our home made pizzas with a wholemeal flour and Greek yogurt base are simple to make, extra yummy and oh so amazingly filling. I think a good 90% of the kids and teaching staff order Friday Fresh when they know we are in the kitchen.

Following on from a busy and satisfying Friday day we had a great tea and then settled in to watch HUGO for Family Movie Night... I just love this chance to all sit around and enjoy a fun, often funny family movie. Sometimes it is a DVD we bought of something we missed at the cinema, sometimes a movie we have streamed and often it is something I have spotted at work (our local library has a great DVD collection for all ages, very eclectic with something for everyone and then some)... In this instance it was the latter, a film we have had in the teen section which often gets borrowed. When Master 12 suggested he was reading the book the movie HUGO is based on as a class novel I thought it was time for us to borrow the DVD too and see just how great a film it is. All I can say is we all loved it (or at least what we all say of it). Great cast, great story and great pace had all of us highly entertained.

Following this I had a pretty good shift at the library on Saturday morning and (drum roll please)... The Murray Bridge Community Christmas Pageant. In similar fashion to other years I nominated to walk with my daughter, Miss 11 and her cousin Miss M on the local Girl Guide float which had a truly Aussie theme of A Beach Christmas. A quick shout out to a local company Longs Sand and Metal who donated the pile of sand that some of the Guides used to build sandcastles on the back of the truck as part of the float. Also a quick mention of the massive show of talent of the two Guides who played Totem Tennis while said truck made its way down the main street (Bridge Street), turned at the roundabout, headed down the steep Seventh Street hill and then weaved its way down to the Murray River. Also finally a thanks to the truck driver (cheers Nick!) who didn't run me over as I walked beside the truck spending the who walk throwing pretend buckets of water (made from blue steamers and tinsel) at all the kids that wanted lollies and all the families I know. I am truly not sure who had more fun... The Adelaide and Murray Bridge pageants over now for another year it is a huge reminder that crazy Christmas time is just around the corner...

A Law/Crook catch up followed after with the addition of a good mate (let's just call him Batman)... The boys settled in with a delightful glass of scotch and a fun game of Gloom (and guess who won... I mean lost... I mean I don't know what I mean...) while the sisters caught up and the kids just did what our kids love to do. Love so much that whenever our families catch up it all seems to just go smoothly...

That brings us to today... A lazy morning followed by a trip to the docs (nothing too sinister, just a check over one of the kids for piece of mind)... Another shift at work and then a lazy afternoon/evening fending of Shmunday (Sunday blending into Monday)... Sadly I still have some ironing to do but nothing I can't handle... Cannot wait to see what next weekend has in store...

Love is in the air

I'm very excited but a touch nervous about being MC at a wedding for two wonderful friends... I cannot wait to suit up though and give this roll my best effort... I just love it when two wonderful people find each other and just know they want to be together... It is indeed a perfect day for such a perfect event...

Aussies be proud... Just watched one of the best Australian movies ever...

Who has seen The Dressmaker? An Aussie film from 2015 (I think) which I strongly believe we should all be very proud of. It has a very grown up Kate Winslet as leading lady who has shown she is very much moved on from her role as Rose in Titanic. It is a film like this which makes me proud to announce Kate is one of the best Australia has as an actor at the moment (even though my wife has correctly informed me she is British born and raised)… See Kate is so amazing that we Aussies should adopt her as we have so many overseas talents. The supportive cast in The Dressmaker is also outstanding with the idea of the remote country town with a dark secret successfully reflected. My favourite character in the film would have to be Hugo Weaving though... Genius...

This is a fantastic film which takes its viewers through a true roller coaster of emotions... At times a very dark film it is certainly not one for the feint hearted. My wife and I watched it on a romantic night in... It was not at all what I initially expected it to be but The Dressmaker did not disappoint and was thoroughly enjoyed by both of us. One that all Australians should be proud of.

Easily five stars... Certainly not cursed, Kate and the rest have a true gem on their hands... I'm also proud to know that this wonderful film is based on the novel of the same name... Something I'll be looking for on the shelves of my local library expecting a juicy read...

A perfect Spring weekend

September has come to an end with a run of beautiful, sunny days here in Southern Australia... With a Public Holiday just around the corner it was a great opportunity for Casa de Law to have some family fun...

It all started with a touch of nostalgia as we put on a classic, Uncle Buck with John Candy for Friday Family Movie Night... Still the fun film I fondly recalled it to be although as an adult I got a lot more of the humour which went straight over my head all those years ago when I first watched Candy in action... All the kids and my wife and I laughed in all the right spots (usually a good sign)... I think it helped too that the Home Alone kid was also a star performer... Both of my daughters are massive Home Alone fans...

Yesterday we all climbed aboard our KIA (nicknamed The Death Star by friends) and whizzed off to the seaside town of Victor Harbor. Since our school holidays have just kicked in there were a few people out and about. We found a cool playground perfect for all of our kids (aged 8 to 39 years) with the biggest kid of all climbing to the top of the climbing frame to play catch with the other three. Probably not the safest thing I've ever tried... Soaking up the sun and breathing in the sea air made me thankful we did not just decide to hang around home... A wonderful start to this stretch of holidays for the kids. To finish off such an epic day we sat down together (minus Master 12) and watched the kids film The Little Vampire... I was surprisingly pleased with this fun film... We have scheduled it as one of our school holiday activities and am glad to know it will be a great film enjoyed by all ages... Master 12 bad luck, you missed a good one this time and all because it looked 'cringey'...

Today (Sunday) was another massive day, a fine way to finish off September... Firstly we jumped back into the Death Star and headed off to the little town of Wellington for their annual Strawberry Fete. Now we have wanted to attend this event in the past but have missed it every year. This time around though we made a special effort since there is a lot that has happened recently to make people cautious about buying and eating this delicious fruit. I'm glad we went and wolfed down a plate of yummy strawberries, cream and ice cream... Anything to help the farming families... The rest of the fate was not quite what I expected but the classic car display was interesting for me and the animals that you could feed and pat were awesome (especially the teeny, tiny, fluffy, little ducklings... These were the favouritest thing for my daughter Miss 8)... From the fete it was back into the KIA and jetting off back to Murray Bridge to the markets... Lots of sweet smelling things (like massage oils and candles) and yummy things to eat (like jam tarts, cheese cakes, pies, bacon and egg sandwiches... My stomach is growling just thinking of them)...

After this we were supposed to head off and see two wonderful friends who have asked me to be MC at their wedding... After such an exhausting morning though our afternoon trip was put off and I got to do mowing the lawn (weeds) instead (my favourite job ever... NOT)... Thankfully the mower needs a tune and it stopped and would not start again about halfway through the job... Sadly this only means I have to finish off tomorrow... Oh well... What are days off for...

Hope you are all enjoying your final few days of September too. Our October is looking jam packed... Bring on the family fun... Casa de Law is going to be a very busy place...

One for the fans... The Laws... Go to the Movies!

Teen Titans has got a movie and the funniest part of the whole thing is the movie is all about the Teen Titans trying to get their own movie... It is definitely one for the fans with all the usual wisecracks, jokes and silliness you would expect to find in a regular episode of this show.

The kids and I thought it was a good laugh while my poor wife took a cat nap or two during the hour and a half viewing. What I love is just how much this show does NOT take itself seriously on both the small screen and the big screen... This was most evident in the cameo appearance completely unexpected and done with humorous charm...

It was a great morning at our local cinema and a fun time with the family, a great start to a family fun Saturday. Team Law... GO!!!

Happiness 15 years on

What makes you happy? What makes you smile, gives you the warm feeling inside that reflects beaming from your insides out? For me it is celebrating success either my own or that of friends, family, colleagues... Love too, young or old, the love of a friend or that of a parent for a child, the true love of soul mates just happy being with each other...

Last night I was beaming with that happiness as my beautiful, darling wife and I renewed our vows after 15 years of marriage. In a wonderful twist my gorgeous girl had an amazing vision of inviting girls to attend our celebration in their wedding dresses or bridesmaid dresses... A room full of brides in white... In an even bigger twist we had white dresses but not all of them were brides...

My eyes last night were only for one in white though whose dazzling smile lit up the room all night long, just as beautiful as the day we were wed. Fifteen years on our lives have changed somewhat but nothing will change how we feel for each other.

We have many people to thank for making last night such a special one... From my wife's sister and her husband who thought we would be good together to the local cake designer who whipped up a delicious combination of yummy mud cake and delightful cupcakes (some that tasted like Christmas) to the local Club staff who made our night such a stress free breeze... So many friends and family to thank for coming along and joining us... Finally a specially thank you to my sweet angel for all the stress, preparation and for just being my amazing and beautiful girl... I'm still smiling...

Blog number 200... Knights and VR rule on a very windy day at Mannum

What a wonderful weekend... Saturday saw a trip up to Woodside where my wife's mum and dad have settled to be closer to family. It is a beautiful new house they now have, easier to manage and is looking more and more like their home the more moving boxes are emptied... It was great to be able to help out with tuning the TV and shifting some plants round the back... Tired but happy trip back to Murray Bridge just in time to join my brother-in-law for his boardgames night... This was an opportunity to try my luck at a few unusual boardgames that I had not played in a while. Ben has a few of the classic family games (like Cludeo and Monopoly) but also has a quite expansive collection of other titles (classics as well as the unusual) so a games night at the Crook house is always loads of fun. My luck was not found in the universe this time with me hanging on to a second place while almost losing all my colonies... I did come away with a win though with a combination of dinosaurs and werewolves in a faction card game called SMASH-UP... In between the games there was time to sneak in a cuddle with my youngest niece, the extremely cute Olivia... Based on last night alone I would say Uncle Tim is either boring or very comfortable. I had the knack to put sleepy, grumpy Olivia off to the land of nod... A little rocking and a bit of humming and she was out like a light.

Today was another awesome catch up with family Crook as we spread our wings and hitched a ride with the blustery wind all the way to Mannum (approx. 30 minutes from Murray Bridge). Mannum is another township located on the River Murray, smaller than Murray Bridge, Mannum has between 2,000 and 3,000 people. This Sunday so happened to be the date of a Gaming Expo at the Mannnum Showgrounds, a display of all things medieval, computer/console/board game related and film related. The sword play tournament was amazing to witness (those guys dressed as knights fight hard and fierce) and the Virtual Reality set up was pretty cool too... I beat my son at the old NBA arcade game but lost out at Super Smash-Bros... Thanks as well to the bloke who gave me the complete and utter back story of his Warhammer 40K army displayed in all its glory. Looks like a fun two and a half to three hours of tough battling but too costly for me... With the number of new boardgames I saw today that I now want to play I don't think I'll ever get the time for Warhammer even if I ever did find the extra cash to invest... One can only dream... Thanks to my mate Benny and his introducing me to the Warhammer novels I could hold my own with this expert as he explained the game and his combination of differing factions... His fluff (army's back story) was an interesting one and helped to pass the time while I waited for Master 12 to finish his VR...

All in all a great family weekend... What a way to round off my first 200 posts...

Happy birthday tooooooooooooooooooo Miss 11

Our middle child has now turned 11!! In typical Law style we have already had a massive sleepover pamper party, intimate family celebration (including day out with Mum... chick flick... lunch out...) and finally we have a small gathering coming up (home made pizzas... yum!) to finish off marking this occasion. It has been fun watching this beautiful young lady grow up, getting so tall and yet still so innocent... Looking forward to seeing where the next 11 years takes this sweet daughter of ours.

The other thing that is on our minds at the moment is a happy gathering we are planning to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary. If we pull our crazy idea off my darling wife and I will be throwing the funnest bash that the Bridge has ever seen. It doesn't bother us that our actual anniversary was in June. It is taking us a few extra months to throw it all together. I for one cannot wait for August to roll around...

Musical surprisingly entertaining - aka That Man Can Sing!!

Last night we finally sat down and popped on The World's Greatest Showman. My gorgeous angel and I attempted to watch this on our wedding anniversary weekend away but with no TV and no DVD player it was not to be. Our busy lives have given us few opportunities to watch it on our own so we decided that this was going to be our family movie night with our trio and two friends. Three out of the five kids seemed to suggest they would happily sit through this film again with the two Miss 8s retiring to another area of the house to chat and play games instead. All in all I think P. T. Barnum would be happy with that result and so too Hugh the amazing Aussie actor who can sing and dance to boot.

I kind of knew the Barnum story from when a local theatre group performed it years ago. It was still interesting though to see how it all unfolded. More risks than I remembered and this movie had a lot of wonderful morals which the three kids that sat and watched with us all seemed to get. All in all a great family film and a very enjoyable night.

Now on to something more light hearted and... Incredible too...

Amazon I love and loath you

Great news!! I have stopped looking for a traditional publisher and have bitten the bullet... My first novel, The Eleventh Tome is now available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book or a hard copy can be ordered as print on demand (POD). The only problem with this exciting news is that Amazon no longer ships to Australia so I can't tell all my local friends about the POD... I can't work out how to upload the POD to amazon.com.au, something I wrongly assumed would load automatically to all sites over a period of time...

Amazon you have been my launch pad but you have only flung me so far... If anyone knows how to activate POD for Amazon's Australian site I would love a comment at the bottom of this post...

And of course if you are after a fantasy novel written in a unique way please give my novel a go... If you like perhaps purchase a copy... Check out https://www.amazon.com/Eleventh-Prophecies-Andrapaal-Book-ebook/dp/B07F62VWKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531550161&sr=8-1&keywords=Eleventh+Tome if you are interested...

Just another Saturday morning

So much fun was had by all who attended the Murray Bridge Library this morning. As part of our July holiday program we hosted a cards and Cosplay event which a few kids from the community attended. The fun though came from the professional Cosplayers I was able to arrange to attend on the day... We had Star Wars storm troupers, a combative Red Riding Hood (with real chain mail along with a basket of axes), a Ranger, a pretty Princess and a couple of Orcs and Goblins as well as a vampire from Elizabethan England and so many others... All these amazing costumes put my Batman outfit to shame.

I wish that every Saturday could be filled with costumed chaos and craziness. The best bit?! Although we did not get a hoard of kids come along with cards (we did get a few creative costumes from the kids too though) all of the Cosplayers were talking about the next time they came back again... Orc was suggesting he bring a treasure chest along and have the kids search the dungeon, vanquish the Orcs and Goblins, save the Princesses and find the treasure... Sounds like epic fun!!

A Jurassic review

We have been lucky enough to get free tickets to see the latest dinosaur phenomenon, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom... An awesome movie with enough thrills and excitement to get the heart pumping... Since watching this film I heard they went back to using the original style of robotic dinos rather than CGI... If you have not seen it yet it is well worth a watch...

Since seeing Fallen Kingdom we caught Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World... Funny to see these two films after the latest edition... Puts things into perspective...

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom - 4 big dino teeth out of 5!!!!

Holiday fun

It has been a hard slog for the kids to make it to the end of an eleven week term and hard for us too. It is nice to be able to let them sleep in now while I potter around getting ready for work. School holidays tend to be a busier time at work too, magicians, science for toddlers and a Cosplay event... So much fun for all ages.

Something else I really look forward to is the family movies. Already we have seen the latest from Adam Sandler (always brilliant as The Count) and the MARVELlous Ant Man and the Wasp... The other flick I (and many more) have been waiting about a decade at least for is the new adventures with that fun fuelled family of super heroes. From those who have seen it already Incredibles 2 has been worth every one of those years of waiting... For a lack of better words I can't WAIT any longer to see it...

Enjoy your holidays everyone...

A wonderful escape

What a weekend...  After my beautiful wife worked seriously long hours over the past week we needed a weekend away to relax and recuperate... Toy sales are crazy so it was great to take the last few days as a chance for family movie nights, spa baths and mini golf...

The Laws ventured forth to check out the Big 4 caravan park at Port Willunga... Thanks to the amazing staff, a strangely quiet park and some unusual generosity we all had the best weekend away...

We also stumbled across some of the cheapest petrol we have seen in quite a while and an awesome, organic Farmer's Market...

I can truly recommend this park as a great place to stay and I am sure we will visit again... There is much about Port Willunga, Aldinga and surrounds that we are still to explore... The Laws vow to return...

The joy of giving

Today I got to breath in the crisp winter air on a glorious June day as Jervois Primary years 2/3 and 6/7 went tree planting. I missed out last year as my daughter and niece undertook this wonderful community and environmental service and this year it was purely by luck that it fell during my annual leave. We had 300 or so trees to plant and my daughter and I with a duo of young men managed to plant (maybe) ten of them. Today has been a true test of my sense of humour but thankfully I've a good one. I also think I made a great decision by planting the trees away from everyone else. My three 'helpers' spent most of the time bugging each other and stealing the poor little trees and shrubs we were trying to plant. Thankfully the other groups were faster planters and we managed in a few hours to get over 240 native shrubs, trees and plants into the ground... Hopefully the majority of them take root and flourish...

Tomorrow we (my beautiful wife and I) get to give again to this amazing school. Casa de Law's delicious and healthy pizzas are on the menu and have proven to be more popular than ever. We will need all our wits about us as the canteen kitchen becomes our pizzeria. We love a challenge!! I'm sure we'll handle it!!!

I just love the chance to be involved in the three kids' school lives... Their friends know us (and like us too I think) and the kids are so happy for us to be there and be involved... Loving this time of our lives...

Thank you to my wife and to Children's University Adelaide for a magical Sunday

Yesterday was family day... Both my wife and I had the weekend off and as an added bonus I had the Monday off as well. My amazing wife was working the Monday Public Holiday (Queen's Birthday) but she decided to organise an epic family day out anyway... We could not have asked for a nicer day... Perfect blue skies and sweet sunshine... My son has signed up for Children's University, a thing run by Adelaide University where kids are rewarded for undertaking educational outside of school hours activities and at the end of the year if they record enough hours they are awarded an official document (degree, certificate etc.) with a full blown graduation ceremony (cap, gown and everything)... Very excited...

So anyway, on this brilliant Sunday we (#TeamLaw5) headed to Port Adelaide and the Aviation Museum hoping that Master 12 would answer all the questions and get a stamp in his learning passport. I loved the museum, all the old planes, drones and helicopters, the displays were all very interesting and yes 'we' did finish off the worksheet and (eventually) got all the questions correct!! One and a half hours in the passport and one very proud mum and dad...

After a quick lunch at the golden arches (luckily we had vouchers for free burgers, thanks again to my amazing wife) it was decided that we were so close to the Rail Museum and it was still so early in the afternoon that we should visit this too... Master 12 was reluctant to tackle another worksheet so Miss 10 (almost 11) undertook this one... The Rail Museum was so much more interactive with touch screens and displays that light up and even a little steam train that we took a ride on (5 crammed into a tiny carriage was indeed an experience)... With 20 minutes to go before we hit the road bound for home Master 12 decided he did want to finish the worksheet and so a whirlwind of discovery later he now has his train stamp in the passport too... Another one and a half hours toward the end of year tally... Woohoo!!!

A truly wonderful day of family filled fun... Thank you to my wife and to Children's University Adelaide for a magical Sunday...

Aviation Museum - 8.5/10 (great price for family of five, massive planes, friendly service)

Rail Museum - 7/10 (even with discount from visiting Aviation it still seemed expensive, great displays and lots to do, service a bit unusual)

Feeling proud

Yesterday was our school sports day and I could not be prouder. I am so proud of my three kids and I only wish that I could split myself in threes so I would have had more of a chance to see everything from the day... The weather was perfect and it was so great to have a great friend along to support as well (thanks Larissa) and my dad too... I am also proud of the students of the school and the teachers, so many people working together so that the day ran smoothly, everyone seemed to give everything their best efforts...

Our team did not win for the first time since our kids began attending JPS but the team that did win has not had success in over twenty years... Sweet victory goes to Team Red... Maybe it will be Yellow's turn again next year...

Such a wonderful day... As always after sports day I struggle with my voice... So much shouting and cheering... For the kids, for the team and for an amazing school... Oh so very proud...

Episode 3 of Biblio Bookends

More fun with pencil and an old video camera...

This time my daughter distracted me while I was doing the filming and the footage did not end up matching the script...

Every now and then I get a zany idea of how to promote libraries these days. It is getting tougher and tougher to get people through the doors on a regular basis which surprises me because more and more libraries are becoming community focused.

Libraries now need to be vibrant, interesting places less about books and more about spaces, flexibility and community focused events...

Check out my latest odd animation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyV4H-OKg4M

Hope you enjoy it!

The question of why..?

So often we get up and head off to work without questioning why... We go about our lives waiting for the weekend thinking we are doing it for the money or for our families or for some other reason... In a meeting earlier this week (that just happened to be at work) I was introduced to the concept of why...

Not the why do we bother going to work (to make the money to pay the bills) but more the why did I want to work in a library in the first place. Also the bigger question that filtered through my mind was why does a library exist in our local community.

The question of why is the heart of marketing, selling yourself and what you do and how you do it can only truly be sold if you understand the why and can clearly state that.So here goes...

Hi my name is Tim and I am passionate about my community. I want to be a great husband and father and strive to be that every day. I think that where I live is a great place for me, my family and my friends but it can be made better. I look for the best in everyone I meet and I believe that the people I work with can and do achieve great things. I need to challenge myself to do more with my knowledge and skills, equally I need to challenge those who I cross paths with to see the more that they too can do and be. I am lucky to be the Team Leader of the local library... I strongly believe that libraries are now so much more than books... They are the places where people can meet just for a coffee and a chat. Libraries can be hangout places, performance spaces, the research center for a brand new idea or the place where you uncover the branch of your family tree where the best nuts are sourced... We are the place you should go to be cool in summer and warm in winter... Libraries of today are where you should be greeted like a friend and treated like family... The hallowed halls of the past are gone... Has it been a while between visits? Come check us out... You'll be surprised...

So how'd I do? Wanna visit?

School holidays means family time

I just love the school holidays. Not only does it feel busier at work but it is also a great opportunity on my days off for my family to do things together. We never have a dull moment when Master 12, Miss 10 and Miss 8 are on holidays. Sleepovers, birthday parties and day outings fit in around trips to the library, coffees with family and friends and of course family movie nights.

Only yesterday was a prime example of this when we decided to visit an animal park my wife and I both recalled fondly from when we were kids, somewhere we had not visited for many, many (many times many) years. Cuddly Creek Wildlife Sanctuary has changed its name but it is still as awesome as we remembered and our three kids had an absolute ball as well. An abundance of monkey varieties had all five of us highly entertained and the opportunity to cuddle and hold a koala just topped off a brilliant day.

Sure we shared the park with crowds of others, but the park felt like it had enough room for all of us. It was not large but it was well planned and took us hours to see what we saw (we still missed the reptile room). Such an amazing day and such a great bonding opportunity for the Law clan. 5 stars easily. Well worth a visit and we vow we will return when Miss 10 and 8 are older and stronger so they too can share the thrill of cuddling a koala.

Nevermoor such a joy to read

New children's fantasy Jessica Townsend (@digressica) has produced a true crowd pleaser with her debut novel Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow. This book has a kick butt female lead, a mysterious, monstrous villain and so many fun and quirky characters. I have truly loved sharing this story with my daughter of ten years.

I for one cannot wait for the sequel. I cannot recommend this awesome book enough. One for fantasy fans of any age.

Family day at the Adelaide Zoo

What a delightful day yesterday was... A perfect, sunny day... The perfect day for some family fun... The Laws were lucky enough to head to the Adelaide Zoo thanks to a family fun day we shared with thousands of others. We caught up with the Smiths and the Crooks as well as this fun day was for families who have someone working in retail. There was a free afternoon at the zoo but before that (and twice after) there were sideshow rides and a sausage sizzle, soft drink and lemonade ice block for all. I rediscovered the horrid Wipe Out ride which had claimed my stomach last time. I also discovered that I can no longer wimp out when ever that (or any other) thrill ride is on my radar, especially when my youngest (Miss 7) jumped on the Wipe Out with me and not just the once...

The zoo is always a great day out... Even better when it is free...

Saturday night trip to funsville

Sunnyside here we come! I love catching up with our wonderful friends in the picturesque paradise that is Sunnyside. A hop, skip and jump from home we have friends with young kids like ours who have oodles and oodles of room. We love the open space, the gorgeous view of the river and Mypo and of course the generous, delightful hospitality of wonderful people.

Tonight is going to be a good one with numerous families coming along to join the fun. Everyone is bringing something along to share and this has given the Laws a chance this afternoon to cook up a storm in the kitchen with yummy home made pizzas.

I cannot wait for tonight to begin. All aboard for a trip to funsville!! Lets go...

I, Timothy

Date day is back and I am seriously happy. With our three angels home from school for six weeks my days off during the week became heavenly sleep-in days but there was no chance for my gorgeous wife and I to duck off for the day to a new restaurant or the movies for some adult time and conversation. School is back though and summer holidays are over. This means that date days are back on... YAY!!

Today we disappeared to a nearby cinema to catch new film 'I, Tonya' and wow was it a real eye-opener. I kind of knew the story of the American figure skater who had her knee smashed in but I had little to no idea of the whole story. If this film is to be believed Tonya Harding had her whole world against her from the start and 'the incident' was caused by a whole heap of stupidity that seems to be not entirely her fault.

This film really made me feel for the central character and I was glued to the screen from start to finish. Not at all what I expected, but an amazing story very well told.

Busy times past and busy times ahead

Fifteen or so minutes before I leave home to head off to the local library for a Sunday shift I find myself taking a breather (home alone) and reflecting upon how 2018 has begun for us at Casa de Law and what we have ahead of us in the near future... Down south in Oz we are nearing the end of our six week Summer school holiday break. We have had sleepovers, an epic Zombie apocalypse and we have seen a few family films either at home or at our local The Cameo Cinema. On the work front school holiday activities have started off well but the warmer weather has been keeping people at home unfortunately. We have seen an increase of ex Thomas Foods workers coming in to use our free computers. Their main purpose? Searching online for new employment, the fire at this factory (main employer of the township) is something that has truly rocked our community. Something else that is stressing me is the library events I am trying to plan but cannot seem to finalise... Everything seems to be trying to happen all at once and I find I am struggling to get all the puzzle pieces to fit.

On this note I want to tell you that if all goes well we will have four music acts performing on Sundays in February, a truly mixed bag of talent including ukulele players (U3A Strummers), a local journalist with some mean guitar skills, a duo and (hopefully) a soloist. We have had some success with live music in the library in the past and it is something I wish to continue to do while the budget lasts. We will also be streaming some of the writers appearing at the Adelaide Writers' Festival (still awaiting the official line up to know just who we will be able to show). On the author front I have been in touch with a local with a brave, personal story to tell. I am hoping that leading up to Claire's appearance later in February there will be greater support from the community. I am also in communication with a romance novelist who has included local areas in South Australia in her hot and steamy read. A lot of details of this tour are still up in the air though causing me a little stress. Family Yoga sessions will be back and back very soon with us trying this time to avoid football and netball season. Our LEGO club still proves to be extremely popular with the primary aged and their parents and caregivers. Finally we are taking part in a digital literacy course for retirees which seems to be quite popular too.

So much has happened and so much still to go... Who said nothing happens in Jan and Feb?

A duo of successful sequels

The last few days have seen the Law family visit our local cinema for not one but two films, both sequels. The first we caught was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle while today was my wife's wish to (finally) see Paddington 2.

The original Jumanji I remember fondly as a funfilled crazy epic with comic genius Robin Williams in a perfect role for him as the older Allan. I love the fact that the sequel did not try to repeat the same magic as the original film but instead updated the story for the next generation. I loved the homage to both the original film and the old style arcade games from my teen years. In fact I loved the action and humour of this sequel. Aside from a question or two from Miss 7 and Miss 10 (unfortunately quickly explained by Master 11 who thinks he knows everything after one term of Sex-Ed) my three kids got all the jokes and followed the story without any trouble. If you have not seen this one yet it is certainly worthy of a watch. I have a feeling too that there will be a game out for X-Box and PS soon (if it is not out already). Be careful not to get too immersed in the game play... It could be a real killer...

And now for a beautiful family film in the shape of a bear with a full heart... What can I say about Paddington 2..? Firstly my daughter Miss 7 said she didn't want to see it as she couldn't really recall anything great about the original. We dragged her along anyway and it was Miss 7 who was first to say just how much she loved this film as we left the cinema. Paddington is wonderful and all the actors interact with the famous bear seamlessly (to me anyway). This film is full to bursting with heart and sweet messages of friendship, bravery, overcoming obstacles through kindness and trust and all the wonderful things I wish that real life could be. I must admit I had a few tears of happiness brimming during this film, especially at the end and left our local cinema early this afternoon with a warmth in my heart.

As sequels go I think these both deserve four and a half stars each. Two great efforts that have done the originals justice...

Well done too our local cinema as well. More locals should go along to the Cameo in First Street to support this local business. Showing some top flicks at reasonable prices...