Casa del Paris

Fay's Graduation

2009-12-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I last posted and it has been such an eventful year that I could be here for a little while. I would love to know who reads my blog ... I am suspicious that I am posting to cyberspace. Anyhow, here is my big day ... Graduation in October following two years of fitting family and study around working part time. Life has been a compromise but as Jesus said ... It is finished!

Wedding of the Year

2009-12-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

There have been many weddings this year ... at least in the boy's friends' circles, but the most important and impressive one for us was surely on April 10. Samuel John Paris married the sweet Olivia Grace Mcleod at Saumarez Homestead. The weather was beautiful, autumn leaves stunning, the bride beautiful and the day went really well. Samuel and Livi have settled in Armidale for the time being and we love being a part of their live.

2009-01-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

So how did Jacob finish 2008. Well this shows him looking a 'cocky' at Samuel's birthday. He had a great evening as did we all. And the second is the hugely more significant and that is Jacob's baptism - a very moving moment for all. May God guide you in your journey ahead Jacob.

A bit more of Grace

2009-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Since it is so long since I posted I thought that some more shots of Grace the photogenic one were in order. The first one is at the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford. It was a very interesting place to visit and Grace was quite unphased by handling the snake.
The second one is Grace looking very studious at the Double Helix Science Club. This is a bit of a family tradition and we have enjoyed the activities with this club for more than 12 years. The focus for the evening was insects and Grace is sketching a circada.

The Little One

2009-01-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Now for something a little lighter - Grace is often called 'the little one' around here. It is purely a relative term but it has an endearing sound to it. Anyway... the little one had her long plaits cut off in November to add her second contribution to the family plait collection. Rather a sweet look we all figured but she is now keen to be growing her next contribution.
The second shot is not the grand finale to a sad tale but rather two days after St Mary's fete where Grace had a $3 cast put on her arm. Rather a convincing photo don't you think though!

October 19 - Samuel's Birthday

2009-01-21T23:27:00.000-08:00

Now we are getting out of order chronologically ... but that's what happens when you have a five month holiday from blogging. In October we celebrated Samuel's 21st with a wonderful bush-dance. It was a great evening of fun with a sweat raised by all who participated. I felt really proud of Samuel and the way he can handle himself before a crowd, a little nostalgic as I reminisced on how fast those 21 years had gone by but most of all thankful to God for the great young man he has grown into and all the fond memories we have of times together.

2009-01-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a year. Samuel has moved fast this year in asking Livi McLeod to be his sweetheart and then to be his wife. We are all totally blessed by coming to know this young lady, especially young Grace who now figures she has a new big sister. The bonding was completed at Valla Beach this year where we had a 'girly' day out checking out bridal gowns as well as material shops. Livi did a splendid job of sewing up a pair of pj pants ... another initiation test for entering into the Paris family. All systems go now for a garden wedding at Saumerez Homestead, Easter Saturday (if there is such a day?)this year. James Day is doing the photography and here is a link to the engagement shoot - a beautiful job, James.

She's Done It!!

2009-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

What an amazing girl - raising over $5000 for the Bulrushes Babies Home in Kampala, Uganda. Ellie was inspired at the Colour Women's Conferance in April and since then has been plodding away with selling chocolates at school and a few businesses around town. She also did a couple of movie fund-raising nights and a coffee and desert night. I think the biggest challenge were the radio interviews. While she said that she could feel her legs trembling, her voice certainly didn't and she carried it very well. Anyhow, it is all finished - though we still have about 20 boxes of chocolates in her bedroom. The hair is growing quickly and the sense of satisfaction profound. Wonder what the next challenge will be? Maybe Year 11 will be enough for this year.

2008-08-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

Autumn Festival Parade

2008-04-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again with the leaves changing to some beautiful hues and the evenings cooling. The veges suffered last Saturday night with the first light frost for the season.

On a more photographic note though, the Autumn Festival Parade, the second longest parade in NSW happened on Saturday with three children supporting their causes. Grace marched with Drummond School but was expecting me on the other side of the road, so I couldn't snap her. Ellie and the Pipe band actually headed up the parade; and Jacob walked with the Stage One Creative (drama group) where he is learning rap dancing.

Maclean Highland Gathering

2008-03-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

What a full weekend .... and a different. Terry, Ellie, Grace and myself arose at 4.30 am last Friday for the drive down to Maclean. Turns out we didn't need to leave quite so early as things didn't start until 4pm. Mum met us at the caravan park and we settled into our tents.

Friday evening we enjoyed a Ceilidh in the main street where dancers showed some of their pieces including a very interestingly choreographed African/Scottish piece. The other highlight was the Bellingen River Drum Corp which did an amazing routine of drumming combined with tricks with their sticks.

Saturday was the dancing competition with the girls performing very well. Grace was in an enormous group of 17 under 9 year olds and did well to gain two second place medals. This was Ellie's final competition and it was a lovely finish to gain a first, second and a third placing.

She then had to run over to join the band in their march competition. I think they got a fairly good review. The highlight of the whole weekend for us all had to be the 600 strong massed pipe bands in Ellie took her spot.

The evening was an Armidale Pipe band barbecue and then informal performance of piping and dancing.

Word of the Week: Ever heard of a Piobaireachd? (pronounced pee-brock) It is an ancient Gaelic style of music created before the music staff and any idea of timing came into existence. It is very hard to find a rhythm in but would sound beautiful on a mist filled Scottish highland!

Sunday and Monday were spent with Terry at the beach at Yamba (he got there every day!). At the Main Beach there is an ocean pool where at high tide the waves come crashing through a grill that was a bit of fun.

Mum and Ellie's weekend away

2008-03-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Colour Conference put on by Hillsong Church. Ellie and I went down with our friends, the Rileys - Diana, Serena and Tara, as well as Rosie Pullar. The conference itself was totally awesome and the time away together without other siblings was rather special too. I know there is no picture of me... but I was there - maybe I was behind the camera. Will have to have time away like that again sometime.

Mum's 70th birthday

2008-02-19T22:40:00.000-08:00

Sent to Coventry

2008-02-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

"Sent to Coventry" was a new term for me until I was describing Samuel's new move to Mum. This lead on to a quick trip to Google and a little history lesson on Oliver Cromwell's era. This is a round about way of introducing Samuel's new abode on the edge of town. It is a ramshackle farmhouse that is owned by the Anglican Church and was once used as an orphanage. I am a little concerned that it will be fairly impossible to heat and am knitting him a nice warm jumper. Ultimately though he is young and healthy and he can always come home, here, to warm up in the evening before heading to his own home and bed armed with a hot water bottle. Actually, he said that he spends very little time at home as he is kept rather busy with his new role as Youth Pastor Intern at ACC, two days a week at the Optus shop and his lesser role at Young Life Drop in Centre. The first shot shows the rustic kitchen, then the new residence (bookshelf) for Samuel's old friend, Woofa and lastly, his office - pre cleanup.

Yo Ho Ho Me 'Arties.

2008-02-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

Last night was Samuel's pirate night at ACC. In a half hour makeover Jacob brushed up fairly well as Pirate Jake. Ellie actually had a good time using my dark brown eye shadow creating a 'three o'clock shadow on her brother.
One comment on the night that pleased Jacob was that while some others had 'dressed' as pirates, Jacob was one!

A Picnic at the Park

2008-02-14T22:20:00.001-08:00

One of the advantages of Home schooling is to make the most of a beautiful day. To pack lunch and go for a bike ride. Last Monday, Grace and I grabbed our bikes (Grace was on a geared bike!!) and headed up to McDonald Park. We enjoyed our lunch, a bit of reading and a little play before heading back home and hitting the books.

Australia Day

2008-01-28T21:06:00.001-08:00

How about this for an Australia Day Long weekend. The Parises who never seem to go away for long weekends actually got to Nambucca Heads for two nights. Terry had a great time christening his brand new surfboard. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch the nanosecond he was up for! Grace had a really great time with some fishing gear - caught her first ever fish. Yes I know we should have put it back in but it had swallowed the hook and we put back the two smaller ones! The last shot is of Ellie being a typical teenager. One minute complaining that I don't put many pictures of her on the blog and the next, not wanting to turn around for the camera - well here she is. Grace and I contemplate Ellie's lack of rationality at times and Grace says that she is just not going to go through this phase. Well we shall see!

Our boy, Samuel

2008-01-24T23:12:00.001-08:00

There has been a comment lately that Samuel hasn't been featured enough - well here he is. The first is him calling in after a full on week at Planet Shakers to be quickly followed by a week at Jindabyne as a cabin leader for the Young Life Summer camp. He called around for a little chat and ended up on the floor asleep. I'm not sure of the occasion with the balloons but the blue hair was after they had painted the Drop-in-Centre and things got a little out of control. I'm also not sure of the story behind the Coke can blowing up photo but there are a few things a bit unexplainable about our dear and fun loving boy.

Student accommodation at Mt Gravatt

2008-01-24T22:21:00.001-08:00

Here are some internal shots of the house at Mt Gravatt (upper Mt Gravatt actually!) We had one week of removing old furniture, sugar soaping all the walls, painting the bedroom walls, and installing new furniture. It was a huge effort and we couldn't have done it without the help of Rory, Jacob, Talitha and even Grace. The end result was a house nearly ready for students to move in and help us pay the mortgage and make inroads on a more comfortable retirement. As of a week ago, three of the five bedrooms have been taken. Yeah!!

Christmas snaps

2008-01-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas time at Grandma's. Again it was 'Ellie the Creative' who had made a beautiful gingerbread house for us all. I thought that in this photo Samuel doesn't even look like her brother!

We had a great time catching up with Yolanda, Rory, Talitha, Mark and Grandma, surfing lessons for Terry, cards, watching videos, shopping, walking on the beach, eating, oh and of course a few presents were opened.

One day I will work out how to get rid of the underlining e-gads I've done and I don't even know how!

Summer Sewing

2008-01-14T02:41:00.001-08:00

What a pair o f a nge ls! Be fore Christmas Ellie did some sewing at school and made these beautiful medieval dresses, one being for Grace for Christmas. They have been worn heaps, commented on by all who see and are a credit to the creator.

The first couple show the lace-up back. Ellie did a prototype first and has since done a peasants dress out of calico dyed with brown onion skins with an overdress made from our old doona cover.

2008-01-04T21:49:00.001-08:00

Who'd da thought that Terry and Fay would take up dancing lessons! 18 months ago Jacob was asked to escort a young lady to the local debutante ball and we went along for the free lessons as learning to waltz was something that had been on our 'want to do someday' list. Now we attend dances on a semi-regular basis and some would say cut a fine figure on the floor. It certainly keeps the gray matter on the move as well as mixing with a whole new swathe of people in Armidale.

Visiting the Cousins

2008-01-04T19:49:00.001-08:00

December saw us visiting the cousins at Cedar Creek between Beenleigh and Beaudesert. The first shot shows Talitha, Jacob, Grace and Rory on or off horses, Rory (now 15) with Grace and then Minty and Chonsey having a short moment of tolerance on Talitha's lap. We had just one day here before heading up to Mark's.

Good time at the Ceilidh

2007-12-06T15:49:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday evening we attended one of the highlights of the Scottish calender - the annual Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee). The girls performed a couple of dancing numbers each and Ellie made her local debut with the pipe band. We then were entertained by various artists and enjoyed the folk dancing. Grace can be seen here doing the 'Chicken Dance' with her friends, Ellie coming to 'get me' for taking photos of her doi ng the Chicken Dance, and a nice shot of the family taken by a friend. The evening is always finished with a rendition of 'Auld Langs Syne' around midnight then home to bed.

Vale Katie

2007-11-19T21:52:00.001-08:00

A sad event occurred last weekend with the passing of Miss Katie the rat. She is pictured here in an earlier and happier time with some food in her paws. Sadly with the transition of Ellie to school and the appearance and distraction of a certain pooch the little ratty friends have been and little neglected and pneumonia took her away in her sleep. A solemn service was attended by family and friends and Katie is now at peace under the peace tree in the front yard. At least she was given a year of life rather than a quick death at an earlier age as snake food as most of her siblings were destined for.

Happy Birthday Grace

2007-11-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

This first photo shows Grace at her favourite place - the dentist, so that is why we had our appointment for a checkup on her big day. As well as being the center of attention for her half hour slot she got to press the button for my oral xray and hold the little sucker tube for my examination. It is lovely that she hasn't had any bad experiences at the dentist and we have made our booking for next year's fun session at the dentist!
Ellie had an appointment the same afternoon but she declined the offer to have a birthday session.

We did have a family get together and party with our friends, the Sylvesters, and Grace's friend from down the street Kaitlynn, at Kids Zone the previous Sunday. They wore themselves out for two hours sliding down slides and climbing over frames, taking a break for some liquid refreshment and cake. Ellie had made a water s lide cake as we were planning to go to Green Valley Farm near Inverell until inclement weather forced a change of plan.

Community service orTreasure hunter?

2007-11-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

This year Ellie joined Jacob in participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. A part of the commitment is to do some community service and Ellie chose to do some volunteer time at the Salvation Army op shop. She spends two hours sorting and pricing clothes each Saturday morning and inevitably when I go to pick her up she has a selection of treasures she has found for various family members. "Why would someone throw this out?" or "Mum this would suit you so well" I hear.

A much enjoyed puppy

2007-11-16T15:46:00.001-08:00

Ellie asked me to put in a page about Minty, our somewhat spoiled little pooch. Someone once said that if there was such a thing as reincarnation, they would like to come back as an Australian dog. This little pup would be up there with the best cared for. We have had Minty for nearly a year now (she was a Christmas present) and she regularly gets dressed up in doll's clothes and generally played with. Now we just need to encourage girls to get up a little earlier and take the puppy for a walk!

Happy Birthday Terry

2007-11-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

On November 5 we celebrated Terry's birthday. I cooked his favourite meal - a curry and then Ellie made a most spectacular dessert called chocolate boxes. It featured a square of chocolate sponge with four chocolate biscuits stuck around the side with strawberry jam. A swirl of whipped cream sat on top then to really finish the piece Ellie had melted chocolate in a ziplock bag, snipped the corner off and did swirls and writing on the plates, filling in the loops with strawberry topping and piped out a lattice onto Gladbake to sit in the top. We did our best to eat it all but there were a couple of children lying on the floor with full tummies after the meal. Ellie is certainly enjoying food tech at school!

Now for the little one .... Ooops the big girl!

2007-11-16T02:11:00.001-08:00

This term I started a new teacher's aid position at Drummond School. When I have done work in the past Grace has always gone to a fellow home schooler's place and done her bookwork there. This time I am working in a second class and we have enrolled Grace and she attends for the hours that I am there. It was a bit amusing when she came home on the first day wondering why they hadn't asked her what electives she wanted to choose, like Ellie's school had for her. She had it all worked out in her mind that she would be doing Food Tech, Art and Drama like her big sister. Aaahh, she only has five years or so to wait. Maybe we can continue doing our food tech at home as we always have.

Ellie hits the streets and drums up a lot of noise

2007-11-16T01:45:00.000-08:00

When the family moved back into town, Ellie took the opportunity to join the local pipe band. She has nine years learning Highland Dancing and had lots of fun going to competitions and performing locally. That growing love of things Scottish has now morphed into a year of drumming lessons and a couple of weekends ago she had her first trip away with the band and first public performance playing the tenor drum at the Grafton Jacaranda Festival street parade. Apart from sore shoulders and a very sweaty shirt (oops I forgot that girls don't sweat!!) she had a great experience. The next event has been a highlight of the Paris family year for some time and that is the local St Andrews Day Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee).

Jakey, the working boy .... sometimes

2007-11-15T23:22:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year Jacob started at MacDonald's. He isn't a burger flipper as they don't actually flip burgers at Macca's any more - just push a button and a hot plate comes down to cook the tops. Interestingly working at Macca's hasn't inspired Jacob to actually eat the produce . As a family, Macca's hasn't been a business we have given much support to, in fact Samuel said that last year he ate his second MacDonald's burger in his life!
Our little dog, Minty, loves it when Jacob comes home though and licks his shoes and takes great interest in his trousers.

Sammy, the big boy

2007-11-15T00:43:00.000-08:00

I had better start with Samuel. He has been having a ball with 'his boys' - the kids from the drop in center. This weekend he is taking them camping at Wattle Flat, about an hour away.

He tends to have about ten weeks away each year going to conferences and participating in camps. He is pictured here with evidence of the new love in his life .... his Viago motorbike. It is a 250 cc, can't remember what make it is but it is maroon.

2007-11-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Hi family and friends

Welcome to Fay's first attempt at at blog. Recently I have spent quite some time typing up letters complete with photos to send to a couple of people and that has triggered a desire to give something that anyone can access a go.

The other reason is that I have had some breakthroughs recently with regard to technology and am feeling game to give blogging a try.

My purpose is to just post interesting photos of my family and their activities that you, the ever interested friend or family member can access, comment on and generally keep up with what is happening in our life.

Please be patient with my early attempts and feedback is welcome.

Fay