Term 1 has been interesting with the Tasmanian borders opening and Covid arriving in full force. We weren't really sure what the term would look like on the first day of school as we have had to learn to live with Covid.
This year Harri is in Year 12, Kobe is in Grade 8 and Jalen started doing his Masters. I forced the boys to do the usual first day of school photo :) 
Kobe was excited to be appointed as vice Junior House Captain for Allen house early in the term. He is following in Harri's footsteps as he was also Junior and Senior House Captain at high school.
The first weekend after school went back for us, Jalen moved back down to Hobart. It was stressful over summer as he and his housemates were desperately trying to find a rental. It's so hard to get rentals anywhere, but they finally were approved for one, right in the suburb they were hoping for. It's a very cute 200 year old cottage which has a lot of character. Kobe and I took a car load of his stuff down for him, and helped him move in. He was happy to be reunited with his girlfriend Jessie, who had gone home to the mainland for summer.
He's sharing the house with three friends he met at Christ College (his Uni accommodation that he stayed in the last three years). I had met Alice and Pearl before and was so happy that he was going to be living with them.
I hadn't met Callum before, but was so happy to see this photo of the four of them, just after they moved in.
Just before school started Harri bought a car and got his Ps. I was so happy for him but also very nervous to know that he would now be driving on his own! It's made my (and his!) life so much easier though as he now drives himself to school (instead of catching the bus) and drives himself to work, the gym and sport. He's so happy because he's independent and doesn't have to rely on me to take him everywhere.
It was such a stressful and busy term at school. Tasmania went from having no Covid for over 18 months to it being everywhere. The isolation and quarantine rules meant that we had many students and staff away from school at different times. Everyone has been feeling very run down and for me it felt like it was the end of the year, rather than just the end of term. Jalen unfortunately tested positive about half way through the term, but so far Harri, Kobe and I have been lucky and haven't caught it yet.
The term has been so different as we have to wear masks and can't have school events like assemblies. Because we can't have big events we were not able to celebrate Harmony Day how we normally would, but it's still one of my favourite days of the school year, as I love seeing the students dress in their beautiful traditional clothing.
At the beginning of term we went to a pre-season AFL match between Hawthorn and Richmond with my friend Bec and her son Thomas and Mum. It was to support Hillcrest Primary School after the tragic accident on the last day of term last year.
We've gone to lots of things with Mum this term including the movies, a musical and the AFL.
Harri was not enjoying working at Maccas like he used to and found it more stressful than fun, so he decided to quit and was able to get a great job working in fresh produce at Coles. His friend works there and told him to drop in his resume as they were struggling to find workers, especially with Covid restrictions. He's been working there for a couple of months now and loves it. He says its very busy but it's not stressful like Maccas, as you aren't having to get things out quickly to customers.
He's been getting a lot of hours at and has saved up a lot of money to go on a trip to Melbourne to watch the Formula 1, which he's dreamt about for a couple of years. He went with his girlfriend Josie and was able to stay at her sister's house which is right in the middle of the city. They had such a fun weekend and he was on a high when he got back.
Kobe and I tried to hold onto summer as long as we could, even though school had started. Every weekend we headed to the beach (if the weather was decent) and found a beautiful beach that we hadn't been on before. It's now our favourite beach to go to as it's so quiet.
I love my job as an EAL teacher, but I hate that it's so hard to find a work/life balance during the term. I always feel so run down and work is all I can think about, so it's always nice when I take some time to catch up with friends. Simone graduated with her Masters of Teaching last year and has her dream job teaching Legal Studies at college this year. I'm so proud of her and don't know how she did it, as she has six kids plus was working part time, while studying. It's been fun to talk teaching with her and she now understands how demanding teaching is, but also how rewarding it can be.
About a month ago my cousin Emily had a beautiful baby boy Jasper. Covid restrictions meant she couldn't have visitors, but was able to have her sister in law Louise with her. I knew they must've been over the food and asked them if they were keen for takeaway one night. I bought them some yummy food and treats and had to drop it off and leave it at with a security guard, but was lucky enough to be able to talk to them through the window. They made me laugh with their cute sign that said 'thank you Lisa'.
It was lovely to be able to catch up with my cousin Penny who was finally able to visit from the USA, as the borders opened up.
Harri decided he wanted to play footy this year and I agreed that Kobe could finally play, as I couldn't get both of them to trainings and games before (the joys of being a single mum). Now that Harri has his license it's so much easier. Grandma and Chrish came to watch their first games (Chrish came down from Sydney to visit for two weeks).
They're both absolutely loving it and I keep thinking how much Aaron would love that they're playing and would be so involved with it all if he were still here. Thanks for the great photos Chrish.
Kobe and I always have a little joke about how this is probably the last year he'll want to hang out with me, because next year he'll turn into a horrible teenager who won't want to hang out with his daggy mum ;) For now I'm enjoying that he still likes to hang out with me, and taking him out for yummy food probably helps.
We were so ready for school holidays after the most stressful and busy term ever. Chrish came down the week before school holidays started, so we enjoyed taking him to the places that Kobe and I love going to.
We had a lovely Easter as Jay and his girlfriend Jessie came home for the weekend. On Easter Saturday we went to Alum Cliffs and Liffey Falls with Chrish and Mum.
All day the boys and Jessie kept asking me to take them bowling, because the night before we played Wii Bowling and they were all keen to see if they could beat each other in real life. I caved in :)
On Easter Sunday we went to the beach for a bit before having tea with my family. We even braved the freezing water, but it was lovely once we got used to it.
Tea was fun and noisy. It was so lovely to have Jared and Becky come up as we hadn't seen them since before Christmas. Becky's cousin Brock and his girls also joined us as they wanted to come on a hike with everyone at Cradle Mountain the next day.
We took the opportunity to take some photos and everyone tried to stop Jared sticking his finger up as usual!
We didn't succeed!
All the cousins in order of age, except my sister Nicki's kids who are living in the USA.
On Easter Monday Kobe and I joined my family on a hike to Marion's Lookout at Cradle Mountain. I knew it was going to be a bit tough, but was really keen to go. It was an 8 km walk.
This is about two thirds of the way there. The views were already incredible.
It was definitely worth it. The weather was amazing and we were so lucky to have such a clear day. The view of Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain was amazing from Marion's Lookout.
On the way back down it was very steep (we took a harder route than we should've) and I stacked it a couple of times and really hurt my knee. I was so glad when we finally got down to Dove Lake and my legs felt like jelly!
The rest of the holidays we've had a lovely time relaxing and catching up with friends. Last week we went to Hobart for the day. It was fun to visit Jay in his house and the boys had fun playing table tennis against him and his house mate Callum. It was lovely to meet him for the first time.
We went down to watch the Jack Jumpers play basketball which was heaps of fun, as there's such a great atmosphere at their home games. We loved having my brother Jared and Eamon join us. 
We've had such a lovey holiday and are hoping that we can continue to stay Covid free and hope that this term will feel a little bit more normal.
