aka Little Pumpkin

After a bumpy and unsettled start to Grade One - due to staffing inconsistencies and changes - Kathleen has for the most part enjoyed the second half of the year at Essex Heights Primary School in Mt Waverley: approx 7 mins walk from our house. Once things settled down mid year, she began to enjoy her time at school. Kathleen has had great fun with the extra curricular activities the school offers - art, choir and keyboard lessons. One of the specialist reading teachers has taken Kathleen under her wing this year, and this has been fantastic for both Kathleens learning and confidence. Since the music program at school was re-introduced (having been abolished at the start of the year), Kathleen has been an enthusiastic participant once again.

Kathleens joy of music has certainly continued this year, which her Dad has tried his best to encourage :-) Group keyboard lessons at school has been perhaps a little more social than musically challenging, but she has still learnt from and enjoyed the experience. Every Saturday morning she has gone off to sing with the local gathering of The Australian Girls Choir. Kathleen is an avid and very tuneful singer - always singing and humming and making up songs. She has been invited back to the Aust Girls Choir next year, which she seems to be looking forward to. Their end of year concert was at the Performing Arts Centre (here in Melbourne) on 2nd December, again to a sold out audience of a couple of thousand parents / grandparents. Having experienced this kind of big gig before, she now takes it in her stride.... a little nervous to begin with, but just another gig, man. They are very professional performances - scary even, given that many of these girls are lower primary school age like Kathleen. Kathleens Dad is VERY impressed, almost to the point of jealousy, and he wishes that he could join in too.

Swimming lessons, both private and through the school, holidays to the beach - Queenscliff and Queensland, weekends at the snow and at Grandads holiday house in Jamieson (near Mt Buller in central Victoria), arts and crafts on the kitchen bench, capturing bugs and having snail parties in the garden have all made for a busy time in the life of Kathleen Harding. She loves playing with and is proud of her little sister, and is learning that bossing Jessica around is not the best idea, given that Jessica is also learning not to take any cr*p from Kathleen. Turning 7 in mid Novemeber, Kathleen enjoyed a small birthday party with some friends from school. The multiple loose front teeth will also make biting a challenge in the early new year. This actually may be an issue on occaision, because Kathleen is an adventurous eater, and is open to trying new foods. If you make sushi available, Kathleen will be your friend forever. Kathleen is very excited about our holiday in North Queensland coming up soon, and being a big fan of the movie "Finding Nemo" she is mostly looking forward to putting the swimming lessons to good use and checking out the coral and fish in the Great Barrier Reef in mid December. Doubtless pictures of this holdiay will find their way onto this website.