Cracker Making Evening at Home

A lovely night was had by all as we created Christmas Crackers and had a lovely catch up over a glass of wine!

Tim is home!

After 5 years working in London Tim has arrived home! It is so lovely to have him back!!!

Christmas is almost here

 I think it is time to say a little about Christmas Celebrations. I am very enthusiastic about many rituals, and Christmas is one I like to fully participate in. I have always looked forward to all the rituals that surround the Christmas festivities. While we were living in Scotland it was a great pleasure to participate in these events, many of which have their roots in the northern hemisphere. One of the rituals of Scotland that I  brought back to NZ was the cracker making. I have for many years held a Cracker Making Evening in the week before Christmas. Neighbours and friends join in the celebrations. Cracker Making is not mandatory and some prefer to just come and celebrate Christmas with us.

 Patrick and his friends making christmas crackers at Christmas time!!

Dave and Wendy as Aliens some years later!!

 Dave and I took these costumes to another level and definitely another height at a later date!

Patrick the Alien!

Patrick the Alien! Patrick is our youngest son and he is also very enthusiastic about dressing up. Here is an early photo of him with his friend Finn dressed up as Aliens! These were the costumes that the entire family dressed up in to enter the new Millenium! It was quite a feat to get everyone into costume at the time!!

Halloween in Scotland, filled with opportunities to have fun!

It was Scotland that fully introduced us to all the possibilities of Halloween. There was no trick or treat, in Scotland their practices for Halloween, preceeded the American adaptations. In Scotland the celebrations were based on a the Celtic festival of Samhain, this is the feast of the all-souls.  Halloween customs in Scotland consisted chiefly of children going door to door "guising" dressing up and offering entertainment of various sorts in return for gifts. This practice involved children performing in some way like singing a song, telling jokes, or playing and instrument - for their efforts they would be invited in to eat some food in the home. Then at the end of the guising everyone would gather in the community hall and everyone would perform and have a party. Here is a photo of Tim and I all ready to begin our Halloween night in Scotland. We had been very busy making our costumes!

SuperTed in Scotland

Here is Tim in Scotland dressed up for his first Halloween. It was to be his favourite character of the time... SuperTed. Here he is with his friend Ben out at Killiecrankie. Tim's costume was a collaboration by Mum and Dad. Dave made the rather spectacular head gear!!

This Mermaid certainly gets around!

I do not think the last image of the mermaid really expressed her fully, hence now we have photographs that shows the extent of her fabulous tail!

A Mermaid at last!

Then as part of a wonderful ELP event for a group of Christchurch teachers, the fabulous Kathryn Delany (team member extraordinaire) made me a mermaid outfit!!! I had such fun wearing it while delivering a ‘seminar’ on fish philosophy!!! The team created the sea around me, it was pure entertainment for all of us. Some Christchurch members even tried to swim in the 'sea'. There was a considerable amount of joy and laughter on this occasion! It was for me a night to remember!

Other Possible Selves: “To be a Mermaid!”

Over the years I had many many different outfits created by my Mum!!!! One of my early memories was of me wanting to be dressed up as a mermaid.  We had been living in Samoa and Fiji for several years, and had returned to Napier just after my father died when I was 8 years old. Where this fascination to be a mermaid came from I do not know. But I do remember so vividly wanting to be a mermaid and being at a fancy dress event at the Napier War Memorial Hall when I was 9 years old, the longing memory is still in my heart. But the dream was not to be realised for many years! I almost got there in recent times when a fabulous possible self emerged digitally!!!

Strengthening the Family Culture

My Mum was also a great seamstress and would sew all our clothes! She was fabulous at creating costumes. I was to experience many possible selves as a young child, through wonderful costumes that my mother created. This is a photo of me (can you guess who I am, looking a little sad as I have lost my .....) along with my twin brother Peter and eldest brother Christopher!

Creating Magic in Families

This is a photo of my Mum and Dad's wedding day, just as my Grandmother created fabulous costumes and clothing for her children all their lives she also created beautiful wedding gowns and frocks for the bridesmaids. When her children were young, there would be times when a new dress would just appear on the bed of one of the girl's in the morning, just like the work of the 'Elves and the Shoemaker', my Grandmother was creating her own family magic. I think my Grandmother was a magical person. I have many warm memories of her,  as we would often go and visit her in Dannevirke when we were children. One lovely memory is of her wardrobe that was filled with Barbar the Elephant books, which we would bring out and she would read to us as we sat on her bed.

The Culture of our Families

Every family builds a culture - that is 'the way things are done around here!' I have always personally enjoyed dressing up and having fun. I am sure this desire has been within the family genes for several generations. My grandmother was a fabulous seamstress and started her working life as a milliner. She created fabulous costumes for all her 9 children! Here is a photo of some of my mother's brothers and sisters. My Mum is the little flower girl on the end.

Authentic Teachers and Leaders

As one of the ideas I discuss often with teachers is around the notion of authencity, I thought the blog maybe a way where I can 'walk the talk'. I am deeply committed to the notion that the personal has a deep inpact on the professional. At the heart of all our lives is the importance of our relationships with each other. My idea at this stage is to add personal material to this blog. I thought I could look at doing this visually (once I have permission from family members!). My intention is to have a bit of fun with this blog. So here goes!