Happy Holidays

Wow. Can't believe how time flies. So much has happened since last blog entry.

Father Daughter Day at school was gorgeous. Tone couldn't believe how many fathers turned up. Good on the dads! While Tone was in Cassie's class, the twins were 'adopted' by friends' fathers; and coincidentally Tara's adopted dad has actually had an Illizarov Frame himself - he needed it from racing motorbikes - and is very good friends with Tara's surgeon. Small world.

And a lovely lady phoned us from north Queensland - because her daughter had seen the photo of Tara in the New Idea and said "look Mummy, she's my friend - she'd understand me"...because her daughter also has pseudoarthrosis and has had ops and different kinds of braces since she was a child. When we told Tara she just BEAMED - she knows exactly what the little girl means about "she'd understand me". We're hoping Tara can meet her in Brisbane next time they're at the hospital. She's 10 now and has been advised not to jump or exercise for fear of breaking her bones again. So Tara's very lucky with her newfound freedom!

Altho'...the new deluxe leg has not been as smooth sailing as we hoped. We've been back and forth for appointments, trying to get it fitted correctly. It pinches her, gives her sores etc. We've had to ditch the silicon in favour of another material because her skin didn't react well to it, but I think we're almost, almost there. She cried momentarily yesterday because she was frustrated with part of it that won't stretch properly - and you know when she cries, that it must be bad coz she always tries sooooo hard to be positive. In fact one of the mums at school was saying that we always go on about how supportive everyone's been - but that we forget that it's Tara who made it so easy for people to be supportive because she never played victim or whinged.

On Friday Tone and Tara went to Brisbane to have the leg spray-painted (like a car!) to match her other leg as closely as possible. That also helps with waterproofing it - but we've decided we don't want her swimming with the same leg - it may just deteriorate too quickly...so we're going to get her old LouLou transformed into SplashyLou instead! Can't wait. We just can't watch her battling to hop in the ocean and not being able to play on the shore with her sisters and friends anymore - so yesterday we actually let her go in the sea with old Loulou - and it was fabulous! She body-surfed, ducked under and over waves and had a BLAST!

So funny - remember the charity - Montrose - who called to reject us? Well they called again to reject us again - they forgot they'd already done the deed! Tony also spoke to Dr Slaughter at Royal Children's - and he's given the all-clear that Tara does not have the pin stuck near her heart. Whew! Thanks for those prayers!

And (Queensland Premier) Anna Bligh sent Tara a little doll called Kelly, whose legs are amputated, similar to the doll she received in hospital. The Premier also sent such a lovely note - isn't that divine that she thought of Tara straight away! And Tara - after much begging from Jadie - is letting Jadie share Kelly with her.

School's finished - won't bore you with details but the girls got lots of certificates for great effort and Jadie got a medal for her academic achievement, plus she's been promoted into the mini swim squad.


Their nativity plays were gorgeous - Cassie played a Granny soooooo well - and it seemed to make her wiser - she came home with great observations on life - including that our bodies are on loan to us like DVDs from God's video shop, so we have to look after them especially well.

Janet arrived from London just in time to watch the twins' performance. And brought with her the most exquisite lavender from Christine's garden in Antibes. Merci beaucoup! And then my mum whisked her off to Noosa and Lady Elliot Island where they've been watching turtles laying eggs.

YiaYia and Bapou have also arrived from South Africa for a couple of months - so the girls have had HEAPS of fun playing with them everyday and forcing Bapou to swim with them. Plus there've been movie premiers (High School Musical 3), Christmas parties, ice-skating and all the usual stuff. (And the unusual - like looking at the smiley crescent moon with Venus & Jupiter sparkling nearby every evening last week.)

Altho' this blog has been going for less than a year - so much has happened in the lives of those of you who've supported Tara in her journey. Lizzie lost her friend, Pierre lost his dad, Zigs and Christian got married, Jason & Lisa had a baby, Annie got breast cancer, Sian started a new practice, Craig lost his brother, Tia moved to a new country, Jaspar got a fantastic new machine that lets him communicate, Ted wrote a new book...and Nick and Staci's little Toni - the cutest 4-year-old you could ever meet - has just been diagnosed with Wilm's Tumour. The good news is it's contained in one kidney and after some chemo, his kidney will be removed and he'll get to live a totally normal fantastic life. But for now - we know how difficult their journey must seem - and so we're all praying for a speedy recovery and for lots of strength for Nick and Stace as they hold their little son's hand while he goes through this new chapter in his life that we know will be filled with lots and lots of love.

Lots of love to everyone! And enjoy, enjoy the holidays.

New Idea and New Legs

I keep meaning to update but we've lost one of the cameras that had the photos on I was gonna upload. Blah.

Next week we'll be able to post some super-professional ones from Taefi Photography - who took photos of Tara and family for New Idea mag. And it's out in stores RIGHT NOW! So if you're in Australia - take a look at page 60.

Jadie's tamagotchi crisis that she wrote about a few weeks ago has been solved! Jason found a lovely tama in Chamonix and sent it her way! Thank you! She's ECSTATIC!

Tara also had her x-ray - and so far it all looks good (and she took it to Show & Tell). Thanks sooooooo much for prayers - always appreciated! We've just gotta wait for Dr Slaughter (!) at the Royal Children's to check it out and confirm all's okay.

And her prosthetist phoned yesterday to say her new leg should be ready next Thursday. We had a fitting (well, Tara had the fitting) last week and a few adjustments were needed.

It's amazing how FAST things are changing in the prosthetic world. When we first saw them a few months ago, the latest greatest legs were the ones with a pin on a sleeve you put over your upper leg, and then clipped into the pretend leg. But now it's all hydraulic suction kinda gear. No pin required.

Tara takes a few steps...and squeaks a bit as air leaves the leg - and then once it's all gone, the leg is tightly secured.

As you can see from the pics here - the silicon sleeve is rolled on (far left) and then the prosthetic leg is attached - here there's still the ugly pole showing thro' coz they're adjusting height etc. - they'll put a cover over it when they've finished & then we need to go to Brisbane to get it spray-painted as close to her leg colour as possible. No more tights (or stockings as they say here).

We had another photo shoot last week where it would've been so fab to have had Tara's water leg - running on the beach. She tried to run with current LouLou on the sand, but it kept coming off; and she couldn't go near the water. Blah. She's also finding the socks are becoming too itchy (with summer). New leg doesn't have socks - has silicon. Some say it makes you sweat more - others say that after wearing a silicon sleeve for a while your stump stops sweating - so we're aiming for that one. Tara's phantom tickles are now at the end of her stump - isn't that amazing - they've moved from where her toes used to be to just below her knee (so that's where her head now tells her her ticklish toes are).

Tara and Jadie's school camp was brilliant - they loved it - and the divine Mrs D said that she wishes all the kids could be as independent as Tara. She had no hassles with her leg - altho' Jadie did come back with a mega bruise and burst blood vessel - so she's the one who had to go to the doctor.

Cas went with Dylan and Granny for a long family walk up at Springbrook (in the rainforest with waterfalls) - very excited coz she saw a snake and lots of other Aussie animals.


At school they've all been having heaps of fun - they designed and made hats for Melbourne Cup Day - Tara got into the finals and was desperately annoyed to not win...but she was convinced she'd win the poster for best Year 3 kid in Acacia - but she lost out to none other than her own twin sister! Can you believe it - out of all those girls - it had to be Jade who won - which was actually better I think coz Tara was at least happy for her...and now more determined to win next year.

Yesterday Tone and I watched them do a beautiful little play at chapel - all about how important it is to be a good friend and help others, and treat a friendship like you do a plant - nurture and water it. They were soooooo good and cute and adorable. Tomorrow they've all gotta be at school early for a breakfast bbq with the dads! Lucky Tone. I can sleep in!

Otherwise - lots of the usual stuff - beach, tennis, movies, ice-skating, dinners at Granny, fab Halloween night with the cousins, sleepovers with friends etc.

The girls are counting the sleeps till YiaYia and Bapou arrive in about 10 days' time. Very excited.

And big prayers and lots of love for Annie this week.

Rollerskates, monsters and a wire

Hello! Been the usual busy time with some wonderful magic moments brought to us care of Tara and her gorgeous sisters! Like the afternoon that we were picking up Cassie's camp photos - and a mentally-challenged man chatted away to us. Afterwards Tara said "I feel so sad for people who have something wrong with them." And then she burst out laughing and said "oooh, I've got something wrong with me too...but I don't want anyone to feel sad for me. I'm very happy!" And the conversation evolved over the next few days to the point where she realised that, just like her, most other people with issues are probably happy too and don't want anyone to feel sad for them. And then she pointed out that actually there is no division between people with something wrong with them and those without - because "everyone has something wrong with them, you just can't always see it."

She also had a great conversation about the kids at her old Australian school who "didn't like me and didn't wanna play with me because of my leg" - but she says it all in such a beautiful matter-of-fact way - you can see she didn't take what they thought of her onboard at all - she left their thoughts with them.

At school, the fab and lovely Mrs Donohue asked the class to write a letter about anything that they are currently concerned about. Tara wrote that she actually had no problems of any concern...but that when her dad was a kid he used to be scared of monsters and had to jump from his door onto the bed!

And her tenacity continues. One evening we noticed that LouLou may just fit into Cassie's old rollerskates. And the next night, lo and behold, Tara came rollerskating down the corridor in her PJs - she'd secretly gone and put them on. Scary but fab! And she's still tryna master tennis (with the most patient dad in the world)!

Other news - I was invited to do a speech about South Africa for the local Rotary Club and sooooo would've normally said 'no thanks' - but after the experiences this year with these 3 little girls - Cassie with her French speech, Tara with her speech to the Premier, and Jadie mastering her Evonne Goolagong speech - I was inspired by them to also lift my level! And - with a HUGE thanks to Kim S. and Melanie W. (and Alex & Stu for their Aussie support!) - I managed to pull it off. Whew! Could NOT have done it without you guys! The girls were SO excited with the certificate I received afterwards - just like theirs.

We had a lovely surprise this weekend when Tara's other Godmother - Phil - came up from Melbourne (pictured here...with sunnies as big as Tara's!) - fabalicious. And most exciting news is that Tara may get her new leg tomorrow!!!!! Altho' we won't let her start wearing it till next week - coz she and Jadie have an overnight school camp this week, so best to keep it simple with old LouLou. The school's been amazing at ensuring the facilities will be suitable for Tarakie - a chair in the shower (so she's not sitting on the floor like she does at home) etc etc. So funny actually coz one of the help groups - Montrose or something - called us to enquire about Tara. They're a group who assist people with amputations etc. Anyway - after all the questions - they called us back 2 days later to say they will not be offering any assistance to Tara coz she's "not bad enough" - and it was so weird coz it still feels like you're being rejected...even tho' of course you're so glad that Tara's considered so normal that she doesn't need help!

Still no news about whether Tara's one of the kids with a wire left near her heart. Frustrating. Many phone calls. But still no answers. Oh dear - in the 15 minutes since I typed this - we've had a phone call from the Brisbane Royal Children's to say Tara did have that particular catheter in her arm. So she'll have to be x-rayed to see if she has the wire lodged inside her BUT the good news is that so far the children from Royal Children have been okay. Still not nice tho'. You get that nervous feeling. Argh! Small prayers please! Will keep you posted...if she does have it tho', it should be ok - just a small op to remove it. Happy Week Everyone!

Welcome Home LeggieLoo Quilt

YAY! Gela came down from Brisbane and brought Tara's LeggieLoo quilt, which her and her friend Catherine have finished off BEAUTIFULLY...even tho' Gela was meant to be recuperating in bed from her op! The LOVE and dedication that's gone into the quilt are just extraordinary - especially since Catherine's never even met Tara...and Tara only met Gela properly the night before her operation (Gela had already been a brilliant support when Tara was a baby having a million ops - but Tara had no memory of those days...thank goodness!) That night before Tara's amputation, Gela turned what could've been a nerve-wracking evening into the most fun and giggles the girls had ever had - she painted Tara's left foot so that she could leave colourful prints of Leggie Loo all over a piece of canvas material. The girls also wrote messages, and Big Foot (Tara's right foot) got a look in too. Tara kept the canvas tucked around her during the week in hospital, like a security blanket...and then we gave it back to Gela to magically transform it into a quilt that tells the story of Tara's journey this year. The girls fought over who was allowed to sleep with it, they just love it so much. And Tara took it to show-and-tell on Friday.

So lovely re-reading the messages the girls wrote to Leggie Loo like Tara's one saying "I love you. I will miss you a lot. Thank you for teaching me things. You are lovely. bye!!!! Love Tara".

One of Jadie's messages read:

To Leggie Loo
It was the last day of seeing you. It was very tough for you I think.
Love Jade!

Cassie wrote:

To Leggie Loo
We will all miss you! I love you so much!
love Cass xox

And one of them wrote "Leggie Loo was a great friend".

They're all loving LouLou tho'...even tho' she does occasionally (hmmm...frequently) stand on her sisters' feet by mistake!

First week back at school was fab. Jadie's loving her new role and Cassie went to New South Wales for a school camp for a few days - learning to canoe and do all kinds of fun stuff in the lake and the ocean. Had a LOVELY evening with Neal who was up on business from Sydney...and brought Gela, the quilt, flowers (thank you Gussy!) and truckloads of chocolate with him (which Tara also mentioned in her Show & Tell).

Shame - Tara shed a few tears because Jadie's been invited to play at a friend's house tomorrow and she hasn't - but just feels right for Jadie to get her first play on her own (Tara's had a few already). Jadie loved her first modelling lesson this morning and we had yummy dinner and bingo at Granny's tonight.

Last night the Baxters came for a sleepover and we adults went out for dinner in Tedder Avenue - and spotted Dicko (from Australian Idol) and Nigel (from the US So You Think You Can Dance) - which was kinda fun coz not much normally happening in our neck of the woods!

Tony happened to buy the newspaper today...and there was an article asking parents whose children have had operations in the last year to please contact this Hotline. And blah - turns out that some children have been left with wire lodged near to their hearts from the catheter that was inserted in their arm to give them antibiotics and other drugs. It's not life-threatening but requires an op to remove it. Only 3 hospitals in Queensland have been affected...and the Royal Brisbane, where Tara was, is one of them. Argh! Hopefully Tara's not one of the kids that had this particular catheter (altho' of course we feel for the parents of anyone whose child did use it). But they'll only let us know next week. Yikes. It's never over.

Home for the holidays

Oh sob - it's back to school tomorrow...which means Tone and I have to wake up early. Argh! But very exciting for Jadie - she could barely sleep tonight, so excited about being form captain.

We've had a fab holiday tho' - here at home - with a constant stream of gorgeous friends from around Australia. Tone and Phil and all their childen have been up from Melbourne for the past 10 days. Tone (Wits) and I both noticed how not one person at their resort's swimming pool actually stopped to stare at Tara - even tho' she was hopping around the pool and diving in sans her prosthetic leg. I think she was just acting so 'normal' and so full of fun that nobody had a chance to even see anything out of the ordinary.

There have been a few moments tho' when the kids have played games - and the boys aren't as keen as the girls to have Tara on their side...coz she's a little slower. But the girls have so made up for it that I don't think Tara's really noticed. And if she has - it's just more impetus to learn to run faster.

She's been learning to ride her new bicycle (which was donated to her by a very kind cycling shop owner in Melbourne). And even tho' she fell off twice - she got right back on it again. All 3 girls are also learning to play squash and, as Jadie mentioned in her blog entry (where she had a go at Cassie!), they also had daily swimming lessons during the holidays. Tara's stroke is great - she was placed in a higher group than even gorgeous Cas! (Very funny & soooo fab to see Cas laugh at herself. Nothing like your younger one-legged sister being a better swimmer than you!)

Donna & Fraser came for a sleepover; and Steve & Sian, Zoe & Portia and friends also stopped in from Noosa. All divine. And Tara just loved playing tennis with them. Love her get-go attitude. She didn't think twice about playing with the older girls, even tho' she's only just begun learning tennis and it's a rare miracle when that ball gets over the net.

We had another media interview - this time over yummy milkshakes at Bahia - for the Queensland Events magazine which comes out next year.

And most importantly, Tara got a cast taken for her next leg!!! Hopefully she'll be in the new leg by the end of October. Wow! She had to go in and get the current leg fixed a little - was hurting her around her knee so she couldn't wear it. Blah.

Saw such a funny interview on telly last night with Andy Hills - the Aussie comedian who has an amputated foot. He was talking about doing the Leeds show (UK) - where he let his prosthetic leg do some crowd-surfing. It is funny how people do react to seeing a prosthetic leg - even on the beach with Tara - people are less likely to stare at her, as to stare with huge grins on their faces at LouLou, propped in the sand. It's a novelty people seem to love. Tone and Phil's little twins have just loved stroking Tara's stump - very loving.

OK - must get ready for school tomorrow! Hope you all have a fab week!

Naughty Cassie

Hi Tara,

I hope you're having lots of fun on holidays with the Wits and all the other people.  I am doing a modeling cause in 12 days and wish you could come as well. I've been sick and I still am a little bit sick and I really hope you don't get sick now in the middle of the holidays. On  Wednesday the 24th of September the Patons came and we were doing lots of fun games to win prizes and I won a game and picked a prize from the lucky dip but a few minutes later it broke so I got another one which was a tamagotchi.  In the afternoon we all set off to swimming. I was in the pool when Cassie was playing with MY tamagotchi and Tara had just got out of the pool. Dad asked Cassie  if  she could give Tara her clothes in the shower which was down the steps and to the right. Cassie was holding her clothes and my tamagotchi and she dropped it somewhere and now it's lost. Hopefully Cassie's learnt not to use other people's things without asking.

Love Jade

Le Weekend

Weekend was lovely. St Hilda's fete - girls played up a storm on the rides. Cas did rock climbing, the twins went on the cobra (SCARY!), Granny spoilt them and Tone & I visited the Champagne & Oyster Bar!

Tara wore her brand new pink & silver runners/takkies (from Queensland Events). And WOW - they made her wanna fly - so "light and bouncy" she said (great ad for asics!). Like magic shoes. We went to Aus Fair and she SPRINTED up and down the aisles. And when we got home she dragged Tony out to run fast around the block. Her little lungs were aching - in that fab healthy way - another first for her! And it was such great timing to then watch the Paralympic girls on 60 Minutes - really inspiring for Tara - that dream of one day being able to represent Australia. Now she wants to be "an artist and a paralympian".

Also had a sporty morning yesterday (Sunday) with the Patons - playing mini-Olympics on the beach....including a hopping race. This all probably sounds so bland - but such a breakthrough for Tara who used to have to be a spectactor instead of a very excited participant! Very inspiring. It was cute tho' when we were walking to the beach - LouLou kept coming undone and she said "how do you think you would like it if your leg kept falling off and nobody would stop for you to put it back on" (said like it's the most normal thing).

So we can't wait for the 15th - to start the process of getting her next James Bond-ish leg that'll be a lot more secure and she can run without worrying it'll disappear from beneath her!

Biggest difference so far since Tara's amputation is the absolute FREEDOM the rest of us now have to enjoy ourselves around Tara. Before, her leg was so fragile that you were too scared to bump her and hurt her (or have her killer brace hurt you) - whereas now she can wrestle with Tone like a pitbull & LOVES it - and there's no worries that her leg's gonna get hurt! YAY!

Oh dear. I forgot to publish this post - so it's now a whole week later. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM CAM! And SPEEDY SPEEDY RECOVERY beautiful Gela! And big thoughts to Paul and my dad this last week. The girls wrote Paul the loveliest notes on full moon night & we went out for the most divine ice-creams (coz there aren't any crepes in Tedder Ave).

The 15th went fab! Rehab all happy with Tara's progress and we can now move on to the next leg. We also don't have to bandage her stump every night anymore - but after over 6 months of whingeing about it, can you believe we're now a little heartsore to let go of the tradition?! Tara even let Tony do it this week for the first time ever.

Great news - Jadie's been elected Form Captain for next term! She's soooo excited. All 3 got Effort 1 ratings for all their subjects this term - they really, really worked hard so they felt so good & said it was their best term ever. Cas got a certificate for her Shakespeare speech and although the twins didn't make it into the finals, Tara says that "Shakespeare is my FAVOURITE language!"

Queensland Health and St Hilda's have continued being amazing - they arranged to walk around the school with Tara to check on the level of safety (and all 3 girls - who are blind to the fact that Tara's in any way disadvantaged - asked why Tara specifically had been chosen to do this and not one of them!).

A HUGE thank you to Ginette, Hugh, Lucy and Jessica - WOW guys! We were blown away. Like we've said before to every kind soul who has taken part in Tara's journey - it's not just what you've physically now given Tara, but how much your care and generosity of spirit has been such a support to the whole family and helped fill up that reservoir of love that Tara will draw on for the rest of her life.

HOLIDAYS now...so we can sleep in for the next couple of weeks! Yay! Happy Weekend Everyone!!!

Rainforests, Man Flu & a Hot Mag!

Yikes - there's been quite a bit going on - mainly all 3 girls being sick, sick, sick - but also some exciting stuff! We had a gorgeous picnic with the cousins a couple of Sundays ago up at Mount Tamborine (just near here) with a divine walk in the rainforest afterwards. Seriously - if Tara can handle that walk - which is filled with potholes, stones and rugged rocks - she can handle anything! And she did! She was one of the fastest - racing ahead and leaving us adults in the dust. I think it's just so exciting for her to be able to explore with the other kids instead of always being the one lagging behind saying "please wait for me".

When we got home Jadie had a TINY reddish dot on her face - which we presumed was from the walk and that a branch had nicked her. Then she was sick for the next few days - but since Tara and Cassie were too - we didn't think much of it EXCEPT that the dot on her face was growing bigger and bigger! By Thursday it had sort of ballooned from the size of a dot to the size of a jellytot - so we went to the doctor - and turned out it was a tick that had got its jaws into her and was sucking all her blood out! Argh!

Poor Cas was sick as a dog on her birthday - couldn't even talk till the evening. BUT we made up for it with a delayed birthday party this last weekend - taking 17 of her closest friends to movies and sushi. (Scary!) On the sick front - Tone thought he was having a mild heart attack two nights ago and rushed himself to the emergency doctor - but turns out he too is getting the flu. (And is just a typical guy with Man Flu!)

Had a great couple of days down in New South Wales with Gav and family at an old beach house in Evan's Head. Tara was so sweet. We were at the skateboarding park and she wanted to eat a chocolate she'd been saving - but I said she had to give everyone else a little bite first. So everyone took a nibble, except Alec who ate the whole thing. So I said to Tara "are you okay?" and she said "yes, at first it was hard because my face went into the wrong position so I had to move it around to not show that I was a bit upset".

Apart from her few days sick in bed (and reading NON-stop to us coz she can't bear to be alone), Tara's been having a fantastic time with LouLou. I just can't express enough what freedom she now has. Like tonight she was excitedly telling us all about the stuff she did in HPE today - which she never used to be able to do before. She was also in the finals of a talent concert (singing Maybe from Annie with her friend Eva), and did a project on an Aboriginal artist Ginger Riley which seems to have reignited her passion for art - she's been consumed by her art pad, sketching all kinds of scenes.

Tone and I are doing well (apart from his forthcoming flu of course) - had a fab time with friends up from Melbourne last weekend; dinner and movies (actually take-away dinner smuggled into the movies) with Alex & Stuart last night & a big luncheon thing with some school folk that started at midday and ended after 10pm! Love those.

And Tara, Cas and Jadie added a limo-ride (for a friends' birthday at the Outback Show) to their list of 'firsts'.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has poured love and attention into Jadie - amazing results. An A in presenting her project which she had thought she'd never be able to do & deciding to enter a Shakespeare speech contest that she normally would've run from! And huge thanks to Anita who's going to dedicate her next book to Jadie! It's so beautiful to see Jadie believing in herself again. And she's stretching herself again - instead of giving up without trying.

We had a visit with Dr Pincus on Tuesday - and he's VERY happy with Tara's progress!!!! We don't have to see him again for 6 months. And they've slotted us in to see the rehab people on the 15th - which is when we'll be able to get the ball rolling for Tara to get better legs! (It's also Paul's birthday...)

And the last bit of exciting news - a national magazine is doing a piece on Tara and her role as Junior Ambassador for the Gold Coast Marathon! I don't wanna say the mag's name till it comes out - will keep you posted. Journalist was divine - sooooo interesting - he used to work in Fleet Street (London) in the late '60s when it was at its best! He and a lovely photographer came around on Monday and took photos of all 3 girls - HUGEST fun for them!

Paralympics starts tomorrow! Tone and I went to the Paralympic Games back in 2000 in Sydney - just three months after the twins were born - when we were so worried, and had no idea what the future would hold for Tara (and us) except that we were "in for the long haul" (doc's words). So it's really exciting to be at a place now where we know that if she really, really wanted - it's a dream she could make happen for herself. Zigs told us about George Eyser - an American gymnast who won gold at the 1904 Olympic Games - with a wooden leg! How's that for not letting small things get in the way of your dreams?!

St Hilda's Fete tomorrow and Father's Day on Sunday. And if you're in Australia, try watch 60 Minutes on Sunday to see one of the Aussie girls who's gonna be at the Paralympics (thanks Ginette). Happy Weekend Everyone! And Filipa - that is FANTASTIC news in your last comment!!!!!! (A couple of extra Premier Anna Bligh pics included today that we didn't have last time.)

Anna Bligh Day!

Sorry - it took us (Tony!) a little while to scan the article in The Gold Coast Bulletin - but here it is - Tara with Premier Anna Bligh!

SUCH a fantastic day! One that'll be etched in their memories forever...and will inspire them I'm sure. It could not have been better - on all fronts. The school was amazing. The speeches by the Head of School Peter Crawley and the Junior School Captains were amazing. The singing of the national anthem and the school song was amazing. Premier Anna Bligh's speech was amazing. It was all just amazing! So inspiring. I wish I had copies of the speeches. About excellence. About how everyone's special but some people do just display that extra bit of specialness. About making the most of what you have. Striving to be your best. Having a smile on your face and in your heart. And how fantastic exercise is - makes you look and feel good AND gives you the kind of discipline it takes to become a Premier!

We met with the Premier before and after the presentation. She's truly inspirational - eyes that light up and connect, and so totally in the moment. She had such a hectic schedule for the day, but you would never have known it because while she was with us - she was with us. She shared some personal stories with us of friends who've also had amputations or challenging legs; and presented Cassie and Jade with fantastic framed photos of their Gold Coast Marathon Junior Dash finishes. Isn't that sooooo thoughtful of the organisers? All 3 girls had the best time - posing for pictures with the Premier and with Mr Crawley (they could not stop giggling!).

And aaaaaaah - Tara's speech. Wow! She did us all (well, herself) so proud. I wish each of you could've been there. It was just so beautiful. At first they forgot to call Tara up - and I thought "well, maybe it's for the best. Would be awful if she gave a speech now and got tongue-tied." But I knew it would be a waste for her to miss this opportunity to step up & I knew she'd be sad since she'd rehearsed it. So we quickly alerted Mrs Kirby (who was on great form) - and the Premier called Tara up to the microphone. And instead of listening to me go on about Tara - here's what Mr Crawley said about her speech in the school newsletter:

"She stood before the audience of Premier, staff, officials of the Gold Coast Marathon, parents and fellow students and delivered a word perfect, tone perfect and manner perfect speech. She was already in the role as ambassador for the marathon. Positive, encouraging and not a sign of being self-absorbed by the abundant praise she had just received. If she had not been so impressive we would have shed a tear. I would like to think that the explanation for this extraordinary story is that Year 3 clearly prepares the girls well! I suspect this is really a story of family love and support."

Such lovely words. And to be honest - Mrs Donohue (Tara's fab teacher) was actually instrumental in preparing Tara - last week she cleverly asked Tara to thank a guest speaker for coming to visit their school - so it gave Tara a taste of public speaking!

And Michael Denton from Queensland Events sent us a lovely email afterwards, which included these words: "When we saw Tara run over the finish line we knew she was something special. When we saw her speak yesterday and how she handled the whole day, it left no doubt in our minds that she is destined to achieve great things in her life. What an inspiration to all of us she is and what great and genuine support she has from her family and the school."

We're so, so lucky - to have that support - from all of you and from the incredible St Hilda's. Isn't it amazing how high a human can be lifted...when she (or he) has so many supporting hands holding her up. Thank you!

So now Tara is officially the Junior Ambassador of The Gold Coast Marathon - and her next challenge begins - to encourage and inspire as many people as possible to join her at next year's marathon! (Anyone keen for a visit to the Gold Coast next July?) The Premier also set a challenge to Tony to start training to take part next year...and he's set himself an extra goal - to convince Mr Crawley to join him!

Run, Baby, Run

Hello!!! Haven't updated for a while coz we lost our camera (which a kind gentleman found and returned a few days later) and have had problems with our internet connection and and and...just been kid/business busy - choir competition, friends, parties, throwing frisbees on the beach, trip to Noosa (for Tone), move to new office blah blah blah.

Anyway - very exciting - tomorrow morning is Anna Bligh Day! As in - she'll be at school to present the honorary ambassadorship for the Gold Coast Marathon to Tara! Aaaaah!!! Tara's been soooo cute practising her little thank you speech all week - sitting in the shower, holding a shampoo bottle like it's a microphone; or delivering it to anyone who wanders in to our living room - like Bill who stayed over last week; Gela, and Linda (beautiful old school friend over from Canada) and her daughter Michelle.

And it's so typical - as the day's drawn near - we've all fallen apart - Tone and Cas woke up with sore throats, I've got a spot on my nose and Tara's licked her lips so much she looks like Homer Simpson. Plus she's developed a sore on Stumpie Star - so today she went to school on crutches without LouLou. Argh! Only Jadie's ok (altho' she's got a sore chest at night). Jadie's actually doing so well in terms of handling all the attention on Tara. We've made a special effort this term - signed her up for tennis on her own and changed our evening prayer from "please heal Tara's leggie for me" to "please help Jadie be more confident" - and the result is amazing - actually visible, and she says she can feel she's got more confidence now.

Coincidentally she won an invitation to a modelling course at one of the birthday parties she went to. She's so not into modelling BUT we saw how incredible the course was for Cas's confidence - so Jadie (who used to FREEZE if anyone looked at her) says she now does wanna do the course.

A huge hello and thank you to Jessica and Lucy - gorgeous twins we shared a garden with in Sydney - who've been SO divine in their support of Tara with cards and letters...and who did the Sydney City2Surf last weekend with their parents, and dedicated it to Tara!

Sian's also been amazing - her mega-support (along with Terry) has enabled us to set up a tax-deductible trust fund for Tara - AND she's gonna be running in the Sunday Mail Suncorp Bridge to Brisbane fun run on 7 Sep. She's raising funds for the hospital that looked after Tara so beautifully - the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital - click here for more info.

Last night Tara played tennis for the first time since her op - just divine! She didn't wanna get off the court she was loving it so much. The sun was gone, it was dark - and still she insisted on playing, saying "I'm having SO much fun". Sooooooo much more freedom than when she wore her brace. And she was so sweet - when I kept hitting the ball into the net - she said "it's okay Mum, as long as you're doing your best, I'm still proud of you". And she meant it.

Heaps of other news but don't wanna bore you. Very proud of Cas - she's gonna be competing in a French-speaking competition against girls two forms above her this weekend. Go Cas Go! (Allez, Cas, Allez! - oops, don't think that really translates!)

Pics today are from the Gold Coast Arts Centre - they've got this fab outdoor circuit with gym equipment & special places to meditate - so you get to exercise the body and soul.

Tara had a blast - wearing TWO crocs for the first time in her life! Tone tried to teach the girls to skip stones across the water (I thought of you Cam) & Tara ran her heart out - see video below.

Lots of love to everyone! Wish you could all be here tomorrow! And please hold thumbs/cross fingers that Tara remembers to say "Premier Anna Bligh" and not just "Anna Bligh" when she addresses her! (We only found out the protocol today - so we've been bribing Tara with marshmellows to help her to learn it!)

Ice-Cream, Shoes and Prosthetics

Whew. So it's been pretty full on - mainly with a fab trip to Brisbane to see King K and Gela and an amazing school choir concert at the Gold Coast Arts Centre. Some of the mums were quite tearful (with joy) seeing Tara walking around with long black pants on - she fitted right into the crowd and was walking SO well you'd never have known one of her legs was LouLou in disguise!

In fact - for the first time EVER - we went to Aus Fair the other day and not one person turned to look at Tara - because she blended right in. That's the first time in her LIFE! Altho' it didn't last long - she spotted the escalator and BEGGED us to let her go up and down - so for about 15 minutes straight she walked up and down the escalators having the time of her life (in the beginning holding hands and then finally letting go) - first time ever being able to do that on her own. So that kinda drew a few stares!

Apart from all the usual stuff (tennis, swimming, dinner with friends etc.) - also had a lovely mothers and daughters day at St Hildas, Granny moved into her brand new flat nearby (very exciting!), Jadie and I got colds AND Tone's blood pressure has almost returned to NORMAL!!!! YAY!!!!! Cholesterol still a blah.

Cassie's been very creative - made an ice-cream recipe (heaped with caramel koalas and Dairy Milk) and then cooked it herself from scratch (including making the ice-cream from cream and condensed milk). Very yummy. She also made this small clay Little Miss Sunshine shoe...and the only thing it fits is Tara's stumpy star...so Tara insisted on the photos that are here today. She forced me to photoshop her right leg to also be small - and she just laughs everytime she sees this pic below.

Our visit to the prosthetist yesterday was great (except you know when you're dying for your 8-year-old to be entertaining...and they just suffer total personality-loss instead. Argh!). Anyway - it's amazing how quickly things are changing and improving in the prosthetic world. Altho' Barry (the GC prosthetist) made 2 legs for his other patient (whom we met) just a few months ago - a walking leg and water leg; he now has a far better method. Prosthetics are made up of various components - and he now advocates rather creating ONE component for the main part and then different feet for the various activities Tara wants to do. (So it really is like a Bratz doll where you can put on feet with skates on, barefoot waterproof feet, running feet etc.) So he says he'll specially create Tara's next walking leg to have its main component be all waterproof - this will be the James Bond-like leg - where she puts a gel liner over her knee & thigh with a pin below the knee. Then the leg slots into that pin and you can only release it by pressing on a secret spot on the prosthetic. This means she'll be able to run so much better, trusting the leg that it won't fall off (as velcro-belted LouLou has on occasion!). He'll then create a walking foot and a separate waterproof foot. He says this method is much better because it means the stump only has to get used to one leg; and obviously it's a lot less costly - because the second the stump grows too big - it means only one main leg component needs to be replaced rather than two or more. So it's REALLY exciting and hopefully we can start on that asap - will speak to the hospital on Monday to find out when Tara can stop using this interim leg.

Very sweet. Without us saying anything - Tara's wearing LouLou a LOT more. Like today - Saturday - she hasn't taken LouLou off - and usually when she's at home she does. So she's obviously enjoying the independence and freedom she gets from being able to walk around and carry things at the same time (unlike hopping - very dangerous with a glass of milo or scissors!).

OK - gotta rush. Hairdresser coming in 20 minutes. St Hilda's Dinner Dance tonight at the Sheraton and then 9am start tomorrow - the girls' school chapel, followed by birthday party etc. etc.

Hope you're all having a FAB weekend. Will do emails tomorrow night I promise. Thank you again to EVERYONE for such divine support - wish you could all see Tara in real life (Janet - we'll see you at Xmas!) - just a blossoming bundle of happiness and love.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Just a quickie to say we've been super-busy - and will update the blog later tonight/tomorrow. (I know you normally check on Friday Zigs - so this message is for you!).

Sea Turtles and Hopping Races

Just had a divine weekend - such gorgeous huge blue skies...so we've had lots of outdoor activities and Tara's done heaps of walking - including 500 metres each way on the pier out to sea (at the Spit) - pic here taken from the pier. Look how crystal clear the water is - last weekend we saw a sea turtle - sooooo beautiful!

Tara's refusing to use her crutches as much as possible. Keeps leaving them in the car when we drop her off at school. And apparently she never asks for help, even when she's climbing the stairs. And altho' it's not the most sensible thing for her to not be using her crutches, it works so well for her - the determination to go it alone.

But even when she doesn't ask for help - her friends are sooooo intuitive and helpful and just lovely. Like on Saturday - the twins had a friend over and we went to the beach - and Tone and the girls were having races down the dune...but Tara was coming last because she was having to hop without LouLou on. And then their friend said "let's all race on one leg down the dune" - so they did which was just sooooo thoughtful, and she was even sweet enough to try climb back up the dune on one leg...but that's something that only Tara seems to manage at this stage!


It'll definitely be SO exciting once Tara's got the swimming leg from Lizzie Loo and friends - our appointment with the prosthetist is for August 1. Can't wait! We're also gonna discuss getting a leg that'll allow her to wear a rollerblade or iceskating boot - because she's desperate to try those things for the first time ever now that she no longer has a brace...but with LouLou it's kinda impossible because we'd never be able to bend the foot in there. Yikes. Real feet and legs really are miraculous creations! Photo here shows LouLou up close - you can see how it's just a piece of velcro that holds LL up (which is why she sometimes falls off at the most inopportune moments!).

Cassie's learning about the skeleton this term and informed us that girls have 207 bones (I think she said 207) - anyway - Tara was a little upset when we realised that she has 207 minus all the bones in her left foot and ankle since they're no longer there. So we decided she can just say she has 207 bones and not get too technical about it. She's funny tho' - she's realised that for some people her op was a big thing - so there's this toy she really, really wants and she keeps saying to us with a total put-on diva accent "I deserve it, after all the pain I've suffered..." - but she's acting and her eyes are totally laughing as she says it. And when I say to her "what pain?", she can only remember one incident in hospital (when she came off the morphine at the same time she had terrible constipation). So now she's trying to save for the toy instead, one dollar at a time - giving Daddy back massages (she's SO strong with her elbow-massage!).

And to be fair to Tara - she's so not a diva - right now her life is filled with 'firsts' - and each one excites her like she's just walked on the moon. She's so appreciative of each new experience - and calls our attention to it - "look, look - my first time eating an ice-cream while I'm walking" etc.

We let the twins have a first together - walking to the shop around the corner on their own (but I followed behind without them knowing...until I was caught) - and it was so sweet - they were totally holding hands and telling each other how glad they are to be twins. All 3 girls did so FAB at school today - they were awarded a book each for reading & raising funds during the May Readathon. And this evening I've just read the school's weekly newspaper - which has a beautifully written paragraph by the headmaster about Tara including this: "Tara has shown an exemplary mix of courage and a down-to-earth spiritedness since the amputation of one of her legs..." Such wonderful words for a kid to hear her headmaster say. She's a very, very lucky girl to have had such an amazing support system around her - from friends and family to school and hospital staff. And even from people who don't even know her (yet)!

Thanks for the gorgeous birthday wishes! And thanks Alex for the marshmellow cake! Lots of photos today of the birthday weekend - the water was just so stunning, like an aquarium just bursting with fish. (The rocky outcrop in the back is where they're building a ship on the jetty that'll be used in films to appear to be a ship at sea...when meanwhile everyone's safe on the jetty.)

Back to School

Been a busy week. Cas's show last weekend was fantastic and today was Open Day at school - gorgeous to see the girls in action in their classes. Turned into such a brilliantly hot day it felt like the middle of summer - Tara actually got a bit of a sore on her stump from the heat - argh! The twins' beautiful teacher - Mrs Donahue - says Tara and Jadie have been working hard during this first week back at school - which is fantastic - focus back on school; and I think it helps a little that Tara's stopped taking any medication so she's slightly less fuzzy.

It's very cute in the morning seeing her get ready for school - breakfast, brush teeth, pull on dress, pull on LouLou...like her new leg's just part of her uniform. We struggled to get her school shoe onto LL - so scary - thought we were gonna yank the (very non-flexible) foot off. Tonight we'll have to take the school shoe off so she can wear more casual shoes over the weekend. Wish us luck!

We had a great meeting with Mr Denton and his Queensland Events team on Tuesday to discuss Tara being made an honourary ambassador of The Gold Coast Marathon. There's going to be a formal presentation at the school on 14 August - with Anna Bligh (Premier of Queensland)! Very exciting! They were so gorgeous - they had brought a bag of goodies for Tara, not knowing that Jadie and Cas would be there too...and then two days later we received two express packages for Jade and Cas, with all the goodies and handwritten notes too. They SCREAMED with delight!

Talking handwritten - Anna Bligh herself sent Tara an exquisite congratulatory card, embossed and handwritten just like Princess Diana used to do. She said how sore she had felt after running in the half marathon and was wondering if she'd ever do it again, "and then I saw your photo and felt so inspired". Isn't that just such a lovely, lovely gesture for someone so busy to do? Tara read it out loud and then asked me to put it somewhere 'very special' (top shelf in the TV room so everyone can see it) - so she is aware that this is a great honour.

Happy Weekend Everyone!