What a massive change a year can make... Valentines Day 2021

 Happy Valentines Day to everyone. Whether you have someone special to share this day with or whether you do anything at all to celebrate I just want everyone to know that there are a lot of different ways to love and show love and in one way or another I love you all!!

Valentines Day 2021 started for the Laws at Casa de Law on Norman with a very late wake up... My gorgeous, amazing wife showed just how selfless she is by presenting us all with a Valentine gift bag, each bag holding things that she knew we would love. Following this I got on to the pancake mix, runny this time so we could use the new squeeze bottle to make shapes with the mixture. My first two hand drawn hearts looked more like blobs so we used the heart mould instead. Little pancake hearts were accompanied with unicorns and flamingoes and by 11am we were fed and energised, ready for a trip to Mannum.

My gorgeous girl again made my heart skip a beat as we popped into the local Mannum bakery for lunch. The chicken pie I had was nice but what truly brought me joy was when Miss H came back from the counter with an entry form for the Mannum Show. I'll be writting one or two short stories to enter this year (the first time I think where there is a chance for writers to submit). I have been having some success throughout 2019 and 2020 with my story writing so fingers crossed this is another opportunity for success.

Our final stop in Mannum was the local Waterfall walking trail. Both myself and my wife have found memories of Mannum Waterfalls either as kids, teens or in our early twenties when we went there on a picnic date. This time around it was not quite as we remember it (hard work too with three kids in tow). Half an hour (maybe) of wondering where everything had gone we remember and then back into the car.

By 3pm this afternoon I finally got around to buying my Princess her beautiful roses (12 this time! She deserves every one). Back at home safe and relaxing it somehow made us think back to this same time last year.

2020 Valentines Day started off at our local radio station where as a couple we got third place in the VD couples competition. Red roses were paid for that year thanks to our 'win' and on top of that Miss H scored a cheese platter from the local shopping complex. We were a week away from leaving for a cruise around Tassie (so lucky we got that in when we did), a family trip around Victoria (again so so lucky) to then finish off with a birthday party in the backyard (the jumping castle saga of 2020).

Truly what a change a year as made...

Hope you are all enjoying everything this beautiful Sunday has had in store!

A Christmas letter

 Dear all,

It has been a while since we the Laws of Casa de Norman have been organised enough to send out Christmas cards to all of our friends and family. It feels like a decade at least since our last Christmas letter. Every year though I read through the letters that we receive and I marvel at the incredible year each and every letter has captured. Equally I look back fondly on the copies of our own past letter that we have kept and regret that so much has happened to us without capture.

So 2020 seems like a year we all won't forget in a hurry. So much chaos and sadness for many. So little joy to record. Somewhere in amongst the tears and worries though there are the hidden gems. For us here are a few...

The Laws saw in 2020 with our usual backyard bash, completely oblivious to what lay ahead. Our spirits were high as we had just around the corner our first ever cruise (shared with family Crook) and for me and the kids our first time stepping foot on Tassie soil. Late February and early March saw us enjoy our time on the ocean and our visit to Port Arthur and Hobart followed by time spent traversing Victoria. We returned to home soil in time for a joint birthday celebration for Tills and Boo when the Scooby Doo bouncing castle moved in to our backyard. Heavenly Hotdogs catered (delicious) and everyone enjoyed a beautiful day.

Soon after our amazing holiday was ended with an incredible birthday bash I returned to work and life in SA continued as normal. We had all heard by now of this dreaded illness that had spread across the world and finally come to Australia but for the moment it seemed we in SA were a-OK...

Fast forward to the end of the month and suddenly our whole world was turned as upside down as everywhere else. Everywhere but those places deemed essential were to shut down! Libraries were to stay open until our State Premier clarified we too were to close our doors. Amazing and confusing to us my wife Heidi was still able to work at our local Big W and we were slightly confused about whether the kids could or couldn't go to school.

Home schooling began (fun) along with my attempts to work from home (more fun). The silver lining was our opportunity to venture into the brave new world of online events. Tim the Wizard and his storytelling sessions discovered new fans at home, interstate and oveseas. It has been so exciting to start exploring the idea of online events firstly with my daughters and then with the Library Team. We also discovered COVID Safe ways to continue to supply a borrowing service (call and collect and email and collect) as well as an increase in our home delivery services that started up only a few years before. With staff only allowed onsite the library undertook a long overdue (pun intended) review of our collection with a challenge set for us to massively reduce out average item age. Couple this with a few pilot programs that I put our hand up for, some library committees I was asked to be on, a couple of digital surveys we asked our community to take part in and it has been an extremely hectic and very interesting working year. One positive that came from state boarders and international boarders closing has been the abundance of South Australian writer and illustrator talent available for events at local libraries. We were lucky enough to host the amazing Monica McInerney for almost 60 community members. It was a real thrill to meet with such a wonderful person as well as such a talented writer.

Speaking of writers I have been seeing some success with my short stories. Since publishing my novel The Eleventh Tome in 2018 I have discovered the art of shorter prose (anything from 100 word drabbles to 5,000 word short stories and everything in between). I have had great encouragement from friends and family and have been accepted numerously by The World of Myth Magazine, Spillwords and Black Hare Press to name a few.

Heidi has been amazing throughout this crazy year. She has picked up extra work with a friend's amazing business (Heavenly Hotdogs), continues to deal with all the wonderful customers at Big W all the while being her amazing, selfless self (mother, wife and friend of the year). Nobody visits Casa de Law on Norman without a full tummy and so much laughter.

Our eldest has had a much better year in high school this year, helped by having an extended holiday at the start of the year and a period of school closure early on. He too has picked up some shifts at Heavenly Hotdogs and we are so proud of his efforts.

Miss 13 has helped out with Heavenly Hotdogs too with a summer job on the river bank. Great feedback from owners Sunnie and Troy means we are hoping next year she will be able to join the team and make it a real family affair. As mentioned we have two teenagers in the house now with a special Christmas in July celebration. Lots of fun for friends and family alike. Such a fun filled and festive celebration. At the end of the year we had a graduation from Primary into High School which COVID made difficult. Regardless of the virus there was still a chance for a jump into the river.

And of course our youngest continues to keep us entertained. I continue to suggest to Boo that once she reaches High School she MUST do drama. She is now double digits and tries everyday to keep up with her sister. Boo is blossoming at school and has such a wonderful friendship group there. This next year will be our last at our favourite little school as 2022 is Year 7 High School for the whole of the state.

With all that in mind we now say farewell to 2020 with mixed feelings. I fear 2021 will start with similar uncertainty (thanks again COVID) with hopes of a little normalcy as the year ahead progresses.

Sending love and well wishes to all of our family and friends.

May your Christmas be merry and your New Year a safe and much happier one

Kind regards,

The Laws

Celebrating an end and a new beginning

 Miss 13 has done us proud. This last month has been all about her last moments of Primary. Next year we will have two at High School with one to go. 2020 has proven to be sadly a year of missed opportunities and canceled events but the lessons of resilience can only make us stronger.

Farewell JPS and hello MBHS. My fingers are crossed that 2021 will prove to be a much better year.

Is there a word for being excited and nervous in equal measure?

The Laws go to War

 South Australian school holidays have kicked in and local cinemas are open again (no thanks to COVID) so what better way could there be than to spend an hour or two at the movies. The latest holiday film was an interesting one, The War With Grandpa which all but Master 14 were interested to see. An afternoon in Mount Barker also meant a stop over at Kmart too and no trip to the cinema is complete without popcorn.

Well the movie was pretty good (3 and a half stars out of 5) with lots of laughs and some big name actors having a lot of fun. This is one I would happily recommend for any age (probably 8 to 108 would love it). I'm thinking it is one we need to get for the library where I work so we can show it for one of our family movie sessions.

Kmart was surprisingly empty with not much to interest us... All in all a breezy family afternoon.

Trying something new while in lockdown

 Well it has happened...

Yesterday our Premier announced a six day hard lockdown across South Australia. Thinking of silver linings I have almost a week to spend quality time with my family ❤️ and I also have a chance to play around with some other ideas for online activities we can offer to our local viewers and those beyond the Murraylands. One idea was adult story time 👍 Some Libraries are successful offering this already with brilliant storytellers reading chapters from their favourite novels

I am going to share some of my Reedsy stories instead

I’ll post here and on my Facebook page when the first two stories are up

Cheers to my mate Troyzo for the idea!

Hope you all enjoy...

The Crook and Law six kid weekend extravaganza

 The Crook and Law six kid weekend extravaganza has given us a real run for our money but my amazing wife and I managed to survive. From Friday night to Sunday afternoon Casa de Law was home to six kids ranging from toddler to teens (and every age in between). It has been cat chasing, book reading, and fun-filled, crazy kind of weekend. A payback, together time, new experiences and old favourites kind of weekend. Thanks to our dear friends Ben and Maria June was our chance (my wife and I) to escape the responsibilities of parenthood and for two days live again kid free. The catch of course, come September we return the favour.

 

This was our first two night effort with Big Red (Miss Two) and we were unsure how it would go. Good news, it went great!! Better news, every year all six kids get older and I'm pretty sure things will get easier and easier. We love those little Crook munchkins and we have all loved our magic weekend.

 

Spending time yesterday at an amazing new local playground made me think of a poem I wrote a few years ago (published on the Parenting  Express website) called Taking flight with daddy. So here is the sequel, ...

 

SEVEN AT THE PLAYGROUND

 

Captain Tilly launched her ship

All on a cool Spring day

Upon the radar there appeared a blip

Tilly announced "I am on my way!"

 

Maddy and Boo walked a balancing beam

Each one careful not to fall

So much fun they could not help but scream

Feeling twelve foot tall

 

Nenna and Liv span around and around

For the youngest it was nice and slow

Captain Tilly would search until they were found

"More power Uncle Tim! Go! Go! Go!"

 

 When Boo discovered the wizzy

She could not contain her glee

Above all else she loved getting dizzy

Daddy's big boots kicked off, Boo yelled "Yipee!!"

 

The Lava Monster stomped and roared

The Lava Monster danced and sang

There were none who could ever be bored

As the Lava Monster chased the gang

 

 Swings flew higher and higher as kids explored

So much to do and so much to see that was new

Kid's minds opened and parent's minds floored

Captain Tilly re-entered her spaceship and again off she flew

 

 Boo got caught in the spider's web, bravely she clambered down

Nenna when shooting toward the stars and moon

Liv and Maddy had swing caused smiles, no chance to frown

But, sadly it would all be over too soon

 

Around and around the palyground the monster chased 

 All his running was all in vain

Aunty Heidi said it was time to go

It had suddenly started to rain

Such a fun weekend, thanks Ben and Maria!

Discovering the joy (and deliciousness) of The Mac Stack

What a weekend! When a great mate invites you down to Sunnyside to sample the next amazing idea she has for the brilliant Heavenly Hotdogs The Diner you of course say a resounding YES!!!

We've been there from the start, the initial idea which led to the dream that inevitably morphed into the local business Heavenly Hotdogs. Murray Bridge as a community has really got behind this local business and why wouldn't we? Great food, great family atmosphere and all at an unbelievable price. Naturally the idea has gone from takeaway van to full scale diner. It is amazing to see how much effort this wife and husband team are investing into creating something special as the site on Adelaide Road is slowly but surely becoming the perfect hangout.

I just love the vision of that beautiful dreamer Sunshine from Sunnyside, her love of all things eighties and a solid memory of the best hotdogs that have ever existed. Now this dreamer has imagined a tower of deliciousness that starts with the comfort legend macaroni and cheese and then adds succulent beef, bacon, homemade onion rings, all things absolutely delectable. I could not help but clean my plate and I look forward to the chance to order this mountain of deliciousness off the menu. If you need a meal that is sure to satisfy I can guarantee if you order The Mac Stack is sure to satisfy, 100%!!!