Modesty and virtues

A few weeks back  Brid attended a Catholic teen girls retreat in Sydney run by the Religious Sisters of Mercy, USA, along with 17 others teens, ranging from age from 13 to 17.
Brid attended the retreat last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. She enjoyed the Faith, the Friendship and fun.
This year we weren't too sure if she would make it, as it was being run 5 days after we returned from our overseas trip.We prepared her for this and said if its Gods will, it will be done.
Anyway, I contacted the Mum organising the retreat, saying we couldn't get her there. To my total surprise within hours this Mum had organised a lift for Brid, a bed at a trusted friends home before the retreat. I knew it was Gods will, so we said Yes.
Now this in itself was HUGE for me. My baby girl going away for 4 nights without one of us. We entrusted her to Gods' care and she was away to enjoy her retreat.

This years was all about friendship.
Beautiful theme and very timely in Brids' life.

While she was away she took a book called Fashioned by Faith. Great read. Very enlightening for her. I posted about it previously here . I believe every house should have a copy of this book.
Another girl had a book called Dressing with Dignity which I had read many years ago. She mentioned this to us as we were chatting after she got home safely, and asked did I have it.
"Yes I do"
I found it on the book shelf and gave it to her.
She absorbed herself in it. She said " Excellent book, everyone should read it".
It was like music to my soul to be able to share these books with Brid. Its lovely that her friend where reading them as well. she left our copy of Fashioned by Faith with the family she was staying with, as she was keen to read it.
So its quite interesting that these books will do the rounds of young teens and experiences shared. Brid has lent her  All things Girls series to amother friends to read  through.
Its such a Blessing that these girls consider there modesty and there dignity to be so important. They live it, breath it and share it. The saint that comes to mind is St Maria Goretti. St Maria Goretti Pray for these young girls.
 

  

250th post...our yearly journey....

............ to Huntington House     

Every year, for the last 14 years we as a family, have made our journey to Huntington House, on the central coast of NSW. It has to be our favourite weekend of the year.

We gather with good friends and our family. We come to just relax, enjoy the surf, the food and good company.

This time it was a lovely May weekend. The beach was hard to resist. Several brave people enjoyed  the ocean water. The sun was glorious. Laughter filled the air.
We arrive Friday evening to settle in and fish n chips are the order of the evening. It’s a great catch up night lasting til quite late usually.

Saturday is filled with relaxing, beach walks and some of us head to the shops for a couple of forgotten items, and just a chance to browse.
Saturday night however, is a special night. We pool our meals together. Prepare the tables with flowers and candles. Our friend Phil & I had already searched the yard for flowers we could use as table decorations. It’s his Birthday just after the weekend so a surprise cake & candle are hidden from him until dessert.
Dermot always lights the fire in the evenings. It gets quite cold once the sun sets. We usually play a game or two. It’s such a fun filled night. Our Louise is very competitive, just like her Dad. I have a shocking migraine, so I retire to the darkened bedroom to try and sleep it off.

Next morning, Mass is at 10am. So everyone gathers and we car pool to Our Lady, Star of the sea. It has the best Piety stall I have seen, and it’s always a stop after Mass for a prayer card or a statue.
Morning Coffee awaits us back at our weekend home, out on the back patio overlooking the beach. Lunch gets started and we procrastinate cleaning and packing up, because its been another lovely relaxing weekend. So around 4pm we succumb to the impending drive home knowing we,please God, will return back next year.

Friends

I have a dear friend who has been a wonderful Blessing in my life.
Dermot & I read a daily devotional together, and this passage from Sirach reminded me of my dear friend.

Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:                                         
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
Sirach 6: 14-16.

She has been a treasure, and I knew I just needed to sent this to her. She was touched by the words, as I was.
She felt compelled to share it at a small gathering of women. They were in turn touched by these words. I am so pleased I shared these words with her, right there and then.

God Blesses me every day. I need to see his treasures and recognise the flowers and the birds.

Teens and homeschooling

It was so nice to see a bunch of girls, including my Brid,  at the Presentation Day for our Area, late last year,  sitting chatting and not one felt left out. They were all engrossed in the conversation. So my heart melted- that is so nice. I knew this would be a good thing.
Now we are in our 6th year of homeschooling and its been a great experience for the whole family. We are heading into the teen years now.
Although we have been there before with 3 teens, they were largely involved with Catholic Schools- so they had friendships formed.
We are Blessed in our homeschool area to have several teens and Mums who want there teens to expand beyond the computer and the Wii and the techno stuff.. ( all that stuff is great, but there is nothing like chatting and 'doing' with other teens.) As said School can look pretty inviting at this time, because there are no teens at events being held.
Brid has been praying for a Teen group, a teen prayer group and get to know you group for teens.
Her prayers were answered as I logged into our local proboard, and saw all these things Teens unfolding.
An activity type group, a teen girls group to be run at the same time as a Mums group, Various picnic days. Brilliant.
She has several good Homeschool friends from the local area and others from homeschool camp. I made sure that she developed friendships a few years ago when the wind was taken out of our sales with 2 family crisis', within 3 months of each other. Brid prayed and I prayed for Girls here age to be at various events. And Guess what, God is good, it happened.
So as well as various catch ups with teens- ie birthdays and just because..., I think we will have a strong little group, if we as Mums and Dads all stay strong and keep it going.
Praise God for his mighty work. Thank you Lord.

The school year is coming to a close

Well its been a huge year for us homeschooling.
Brid has had a huge learning curve and I feel the curricula we have invested in, have been worthwhile.
Brid understands that it makes her Dad and I very happy when she completes her work and turns her work in to us on time.
We are at a crossroads or are we?
Brid will progress into high school next year.
Several of the curricula used this year has been high school level. So there will be a natural progression and not a jolt.

So what has changed and worked for us?
We have followed the liturgical year much more closely. Maybe, we haven't posted about various feast days, but we have journeyed in our own way- but that's another post.
1 IEW has made a big difference to our English and writing program. With this, Brid has been able to write her first Essay. Her essay was about one of her  favourite Composer, Beethoven. We used this book as a reference and  using the IEW techniques and dress ups she wrote an informative report.
2 Saxon Maths continues to impress me with its explanations and its lesson plans.
3 Nature study and botany has been fun this year. It has been quite hands on and we have all learnt a lot about our beautiful plants in Australia, and how they have adapted to our Climate.
Our topic approach has certainly freed us up to explore and delve into an area of study for a longer length of time. It has taken the bite out of watching the clock to fit lots of subjects per day.
American Indians was a great success. We spend 3 weeks discovering these people and their land.
Catechism in the lounge room with Dad has been a great success. Once a week we get together and discuss learn listen. Its been a great experience, especially for Dermot & I,  who were not taught the catechism as children.
We have delved in Bible history and enjoyed the discovery of the Bible. Alongside this a dear friend has lend us several Saint books. thanks. They have been fun.
Art was covered every week, by a very kind and sweet friend Bernie. We drove 40 minutes each way, and observed the changing scenery throughout the year. We have experienced a year long Art course, designed for high schoolers, but adapted for young Children as well. It was excellent, and boy did we learn a lot. It certainly was a great in depth Look at Art Design.
We are so proud of Brid, her commitment to her studies in well noted.
We will change things next year a little. We will introduce more Classical Literature. We have purchased our Religion, History and  Science syllabus and will purchase everything else we need as the year progresses.
There are definite advantages to educationing only our youngest daughter. We have more time, We have been there done that, fought the battles and now we choose the battles which we know are important. We know God has Blessed each of us.
So a well deserved break, very soon is in order for us all. Phhewww!

Happy feast Day. St Nicholas pray for us.

.

American Indians

These are the resources we are using at the moment for researching and exploring the Native American Indians. We have also downloaded this for extra resources. Its been a lovely change from the usual school day. I have left most of the setting out to Brid, and again she has put together a framework for her work to be completed. I have used a very simple lesson plan. I also have sourced a book by Holling. The book of Indians. A very good book, easy read aloud, and thank you to the ladies on 4 real for suggesting it. It covers the main tribes of North America, in a story. Wealth of information.

The framework for a teepee

One book I forgot to put in was Pocohontas. It was completed very early on and was very enjoyed. Thank you to all the people who helped me source resources for this study. We will update soon, but Today we are looking at our soon to be 1st Australian Saint. Mary of the Cross. Have a Blessed Day

A most Special Evening

Just recently we as a Catholic community were in for a treat in the grounds of The Holy Redeemer Monastery- a cloistered order of Nuns, in the Hunter Valley.
It was the Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, Fatima.
We were asked, as a dioceses, to gather around 6.30pm for a picnic tea in the grounds. It was a lovely gathering as many of our homeschooling families travelled from all areas of the hunter to be there.

Some of our homeschool friends

It was then time for The Rosary Procession. Several Priests lead the Procession, two homeschool boys were candle bearers and Brid was asked to carry a banner of Our Lady. The Our Lady Statue was surrounded in flowers and was totally gorgeous. Each Priest took his turn to read a scripture and a reflection on the Glotious Mysteries of the Rosary.

Its she just beautiful

The Samoan Choir sang several hymns and also 2 in there native language.
After a Reflection on The Fatima story and how it purtains to today, we were asked to gather before the Cross for Benediction. All the traditional hymns were sung and it was a very special evening enjoyed by all.
 It took me back to my childhood at another Monastery in Newcastle were I vaguely remember Rosary Processions. I pray we may further be Blessed with more regular Processions.

Ready and waiting for the Blessed Sacrament to Arrive

Homeschool camps

Well we have been Blessed enough to have attended 2 homeschool camps in the last 3 weeks. One was in the glorious sunshine provided by Our Lord- 7 hours drive north, the other was in the cold crisp air also provided by Our Lord, a few hours south of our home.
We had an awesome experience at both Camps, and neither could be compared.
Fr Terence Mary is a Franciscan Priest who provided the Latin Mass, Adoration, Rosary, Benediction,  Rosary Procession and Confessions for us at the first camp ( Northern Rivers). He also provided great spiritual direction and gave us adults and our children great talks.
We played on the beach and caught up with friends and made new friends.
We had wonderful games and concerts in the evening.
We had the Bishop of Lismore attend the local church for Confirmations and Holy Communion. That was a beautiful Mass and the Girls including Brid sang in the Choir.
An opportunity was provided for the Mums to have a Mums only night and the Dads to have a Dads only night. So we talked homeschooling, exchanged ideas and encouraged each other at these nights.
The beach was the scene for lots of fun and sandcastles and sculptures. Lots of competition between the kids.
A Sports day was a lot of fun with MacKillop, Assisi and Bosco being the 'house names'. There was lots of support and encouragement for each other. Fr Terence was there to encourage the stranglers who may have given up, that was a blessing to see.
Each Day Fr Terence fed us Spiritually and each day our tummy's were fed as well. Our hearts were fed with encouraging warm supporting homeschooling Mums and Dads. Wonderful experience.
And our bank accounts had the opportunity to be debited by resources freely available. Especially the divine Gifts in support of the Carmelite Order- Lismore.

Lennox Head Beach

The next camp was one we attend twice a year- Easter and September. Its were we have several friends, and a place that gets so cold, but its atmosphere is very warm and welcoming. The best bit was that Dermot attended with us.
Fr Perry, from Wagga Seminary, Provided our Spiritual Direction and Our Mass, Adoration and Benediction daily. He was also there for our Confessions.
Food was provided by 2 very gorgeous and pregnant young Ladies- God Bless you both. They are sisters- there Mum organises September camp, so lots of helpers where in the kitchen to help them out. It was great food and lots of networking happened in the dining room meal times.
We had several talks during the day by several parents and Our Priest. The children were broken up into age groups and had catechism as well as practical talks. Brid learnt about Relics and Hospitality, in her group. Her group had a high tea to celebrate what they had learnt in Hospitality. We had discussed Relics in our History earlier in the month, so it was timely.
The Sisters of Charity were available on Monday to spend the day with us. It was Mother Teresa 100th birthday and they wanted to talk about her. It was a brilliant opportunity to talk with this order.
The kids had lots of free time. The girls around Brids' age found a cabin free and played and chatted in there.
Did I tell you that there was a book store as well. yes, but the prices were so outrageous I didn't purchase very much.
There is a bed time curfew for the kids and as the cabins are away from the main dining areas, its easy to sleep. Usually I would go off to bed early, but with Dermot at camp with me, it meant I wasn't responsible for driving, so therefore we stayed up chatting.

I loved both camps, and as they are spread out next year I think we will go to both again. I loved spending time with my blogger friends from both camp, namely, Erin, Tricia, Linda, David & Gil, who did I forget.! I loved spending time with my 4 real friends at Lennox head - Erin, Tricia, and Linda. My only regret was not getting a photo of the hunter valley mums- Tricia, Jane, MaryRose at Lennox head.

Now its official, its school hols in this state~!!

Fitzroy Falls chapel

 

Tricia, me, Erin, Linda- Lennox Head









Central Australia- Alice Springs part 1

We flew into Alice Springs after stopping in Melbourne overnight, courtesy of Qantas.
It was an amazing week, and I still pinch myself to think that we have been to this awesome place. Firstly we were surprised by the green landscape –we were expecting a red dust bowl. One of the airline hosts told us that the residents needed to buy lawn mowers, and after using them only 3 times they are sick of them.
Secondly, It was around 28-30 Celsius. Pretty comfy, nice temperature for us Aussies. I thought to myself, this is easy to cope with.
So we hit the ground running, trying to fit in as much as we could in every day we had in this outback place. So we needed invested the help of The tourist info for some very helpful advice. We viewed the Alice from Anzac Hill and could see the West & East MacDonnell ranges. Massive. We were asked by the hire car company, not to drive on dirt roads, so it meant lots of roads were unavailable to us. We just would not risk the insurance, if something happened.
It was suggested to us to drive through the East of ranges first, as we only had the afternoon. Amazing dry riverbeds was where- the gorges had their backdrop.
Next day, we took the Lippinjita Way and drove for about an hour or more, to reach the furthest Water gorge, Emmersiton, that way we could drive back slowly and see each sight, knowing we were driving toward our destination. It made sense at the time.

Before we did this, we needed to get food supplies, so while the other family attended to this, we chose to see the School of the Air. It was very interesting and the staff where very helpful. As most Aussies are aware, it was set up using the radio, by a nurse working for the Flying Doctors, now it is all done via internet satellite dishes now. The teachers have 138 students all throughout Central Australia, including 3 aboriginal communities. The students get private teacher time, class time and tutorial times on the air. I am so glad we took the time to see this.

The waterholes were full as it had rained in the last few months. It was cold and deep, but did it stop us lot, NO. Dermot & brid had a ball in the water, with rocks edging into the water. We saw an Ochre supply- where the Aboriginals got there ochre for their ceremonies to paint themselves with. There are so many different colours. We were asked not to take any from the walls, but there was some on a concrete path, so I dipped by finger to the dusty surface and pressed in into Brids' nature journal.

Friday Art Class

All year a couple of ladies and myself,  have been gathering with our children, at a very talented artists home/art studio, on a Friday, to study Art Design. Did I mention she is a homeschooling Mum as well. So us Mums' work alongside our children, and create and design our own artwork. Neat hey!
Each term has been broken into 4 areas of art design.
Last term we discovered the colour wheel, shade charts, used paints in such a new way, learnt about different art mediums- gouche', charcoal, graphite, to name a few,  and how to embellish and bring out different aspects of our work.
This term is photography. It is week 1 and I am excited about how to use our cameras to a whole new level.

Bernie majored in both photography and printmaking in her degree, and her work is beautiful. She has taught us to look at how a piece of art needs to be thought about and set up before plunging in and beginning to create.
I love to draw bold big designs, and now I can see how to balance my wotk more. I am definitely not the little tiny flowers and detail girl, but I still can use these concepts to emhance my deisgns.
Bernie has a website I would like to draw your attention to it , just to see her work. Enjoy.

Just couldn't resist sharing this one

Life in Our busy home

Just a quick post
We have been enjoying friends from UKs' company over the last couple of weeks and fly to Northen Territory this week. We are all very excited. Today I am resting I have an awful Head cold.
We have just come back from Fitzroy falls camp and had a very peaceful and special Homeschool camp. I found it very strange that Dermot didn't send me my morning txt, and I was feeling a little low about this. BUT on Thursday lunch time Dermot surprised both Brid and myself by driving to camp to join us, just for one day and night. I saw him walking toward me, and just cried tears of joy and exitement. I held him very tight and was just feeling very loved and special, that he had made the effort to come to be with us. Brid was delighted and had a huge smile on her face.
So why did he not txt, he was busy working and finishing off different jobs, so he was free to join us. He is so caring.

Swimming Carnival 2010

Last week, Brid participated in the local homeschool area Swimming Carnival.It was a lovely relaxing day.

Lots of families, and many parents to catch up with. Several I just didn't get a chance to talk with.

Brid swam/ competed in as many races as she could. She was having a wonderful time as you can see from the pics.

This is what we have been doing all week

As I said a couple of posts ago, we have been doing an intensive writing course. We travelled to a friends each day. About 40 mins from our home. morning tea on arrival and throughout the morning, us Mums 'would decide what we would serve up for lunch.

It was a really great way for the girls to learn. The girls bounced ideas of each other, and boy did they have fun during break time. The horses, cubbies, and swings are never so much fun, as when you share it with a friend. Coconut thought she was in heaven, lots of people to cuddle. I made the mistake of sitting in her chair--well she jumped up and cuddled right beside me.

Coconut joined in on every activity and sat and listened to the seminar as well. She needed to know too!

So that is what we have been up to, maybe now we can get into some of this terms work.

We are Back

Hi everyone, We are back after a very beautiful peacefilled 8 days emersed in Gods 'Love.
Summer School of Evangelisation (SSE10), Run by the Disciples Of Jesus Covenant Community, was very local for us. It really is on our backdoor.
We arrived last Sunday and re emerged back into the 'world', this Sunday just gone.
It was the largest Summer School that they had run at Tocal.
We were fed well with Gods' great love and peace.
Lectures and Seminars daily during the week, childrens 'ministry for all the kids, Sessions specific to youth. A lovely married couple gave a very special witness about Being Men of God , and Women of God. They touched on areas which are hard to talk about issues and also issues our mainstream youth, don't hear about. Modesty was a big one. Understanding the male psyche was another. Very exciting to see it discussed and people flocked to this series of talks.
One of the priests was blessed enough to go with Harvest tours to Jerusaleum, and he shared his experience as well as he discussed the Man of the Shroud. Very inspiring.
The evening sessions were filled with witness talks, praise & worship, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament every night, reconcilation opportunities, prayer team for individual prayer and at the end of every night was the Divine office. Morning prayer began at 7 after an hours' adoration.
The Rosary is prayed daily and is of course well supported.
It was an extremely hot week, and it was hard to keep cool, but the pool in the afternoon was a great relief. The lecture rooms were air conditioned for the first time.
This community has several ministries underpinning it., including Missionaries of Gods' Love - for Brothers, Sisters- about 11 in total, ( they have 2 houses, 1 in Canberra and 1 in Melbourne)and Priests. They all undertake studies in Melbourne. The Priest presiding of our SSE10 has his community base in Darwin.
The Brothers come from all over Asia Pacific area. At least 8 come to Tocal. They are all in the process of Studying for Priesthood.
There is a Youth Mission Team-YMT, that ministers to the youth in the schools and as well runs youth groups and weekend retreats for youth. They also keep in contact with the youth they meet, and great friendships are made, which are life changing.
There is also support for the singles and young adults as well as everyone, who becomes a covenant member.
Mass is of course Daily, and as it is a charasmatic community, then so is Mass. Great reverance is attained and much discernment goes into the whole week.
Brid had an awesome time, in Childrens' ministry and she was involved with a girls' share group for the first time. she 'LOVed' it and they called themselves St Joan Of Arc- they visited the Chapel every day to put flowers in front of the alter. The best thing about this little group, is that all of them will be ready to move to the nextlevel all together- so they will be able to support and grow together.
Our family has been nourished, supported and encouraged by this beautiful loving community for over 5 years now.
We will go again, God willing next year. Each year, you give yourself to god that little bit more, and he blesses you abundantly.

Change in the Air -II

In my last post I alluded to changing in styles.
Every Advent, we try to make it a joyous time, and try to be less focused on too much bookwork.
As I said Brid has a great activity she is putting her seal on. I think it may work.
We have in the past years worked on Grammar, not intensely but steadyily. We use Seton Grammar. It can be dry, but it has been a great resource. It is also a good filler, when I have other 'things', going on, as I can leave Brid to do that Lesson or two, and know she'll be 'Ok'.
So now we will be using all these skills to work more on writing of various kinds. It has been an issue for a while now as Brid has not enjoyed writing. Mainly due to her spelling,not being as good as she wants. This has changed with skill, perserverence and love. It is now time to change how English is learnt in our home.
So next Term- yes I have it developed already. We always study Australia. We will go on an Aussie road trip. My dear friend , has put a lovely adventure together, and using this we will notebook , and hopefully create rabbit trails and go on a Scenic tour. This will end with a real Adventure...... We have friends coming over next April, so We will travel with them to a famous Aussie icon.
So in all we take yet another turn and a change in the air, in our homeschooling Adventure.
Thank you Lord for being so Good to us.

A snapshot into our weekend

Last week I blogged about our school week, and what lessons we did when.

Well late last week, we travelled to Canberra to catch Diana Warings last Living, Laughing, Learning conference here in Australia.

We were to meet up with two other homeschool families, so we were excited and couldn't wait to get there. I was keen to hear the talk about 'Got Teens', and we arrived with lots of time to spare. Great.

I could relax and listen. Dermot & Brid took off after saying hi, to unpack.

I enjoyed listening and interacting with Diana, and it was obvious she is well used to doing this.

There was lots of vendors to purchase curriculum from, I was pretty right, so I wasn't to compelled to purchase anything, just looking was enough.

The 3 three girls has plenty of time to share together, especially at breakfast. We all stayed in the same place, so a shared breakfast was a great way to start the day. Anything you wanted.

Brid was introduced to babychinos- thanks for that! They had some magic moments in the parks and out at night, that were hard to describe, without photos.

We enjoyed everyones company, but Dermot got into some great discussions. Late night chats his speciality.

We had arranged to go to Mass at the local church St Brigids'. Very apt, as we are parishioners of this church in our own dioceses. Anyway, we were meant to meet everyone for a take away dinner in the park. We knew Mass would make us late for dinner, but we still arrived and the kids hung out together. They collected these opened light pods and had a little fun with those.

After the last breakfast with the whole crew, including our international guest, we went sightseeing. First up was The walk alongside Lake Burley Griffin. We did some explaining, about when and whys, saw Aspin Island- a big bell tower, saw Blundell cottage, last cottage left in the area which was operational as a farm, It was preserved in the '70's- it was going to be demolished. Very cute.

We went to a glass blowing and making factory. We hoped Brid could do some hands on, but she was too young. so We just had to make do with looking, at the various people doing there work.

We decided to go to Cockington Green. Well I'd been there before, and we knew Brid would love it. She was tickled pink, and enjoyed hearing all about the cottages and buildings. We had a little history lesson, and a world geography lesson as well, at the International section of the green.

It was a very full day, and we eventually went home exhausted to have a nice coffee and rest. phew!

Dermot spoilt us, and took us to Black Tower moutain for dinner. WOW!!.It had been raining,so I thought it would be too cloudy, but hey! it cleared as we were eating and laughing. The Restuarant revolved. That was fun and was a talking point to start with. 85 minutes to revolve once. Awesome view, and we got there early enough to see the view in daylight as well.

It was a very nice evening and we certainly had to make sure Brid had her best manners in hand. It was like Diana Waring descibes as a 'chalet suzanne' experience. Best manners please.

I will conclude our adventure soon.

My Photo of the Day

This a great shot, and one I'd like to share with you all.

Brid and her two friends, sharing a special moment together.

I'm a little surpised

Lately we have been teaching Brid new skills; such as cooking, sewing and ironing. She has adapted to them very well- apart from having a careful fear of the heat of the iron.
Our homeschool community is going to Tocal Homestead, for an old fashioned day. The girls have decided to dress up for the occasion, so today we had friends over so the girls could make little bonnets under our supervision.
The girls cut and pinned there fabric and then one at a time sewed on the machine, whilst the boys just played, and we loosely kept an ear and eye on there project.
I was rather delighted to watch the items come together. The girls were taught some finer points of sewing, and also some that we just made up as we went along.
We got the bonnets nearly finished before heading off to our weekly homeschool event.
This evening Brid continued her project. She has made another apron to go with the whole colonial theme. She has made it from scratch, with very little assistance from me.
All I could hear tonight was the sewing machine going rather fast. it rather surprised me.
I was delighted with her efforts.
Can't wait to see them all dressed for the occasion next week.