Vinyl, CD and MP3

Kayleigh liked listening to music, and as I mentioned before she had a wide ranging taste in music, from Celine Dion to Foo Fighters and The Prodigy. After Kayleigh started high school, we bought a record player . . . . .yes..a record player and the first record I bought was for Kayleigh  - Lily Allens 'it's not you its me' album. Kayleigh thought it was cool because it was a picture disc! Kayleigh sat down on the first day and compared the CD version she had to the vinyl version and declared that she never ever going to listen to the CD version again - it sounded thin and lifeless in comparison.

Over the next couple of months we got a few more records, of which Kayleigh liked the Foo Fighters, Green Day and The Prodigy. For Christmas that year, one of her friends gave her a MP3 player - just a cheap one - and although she listened to the radio on it, she refused to listen to any of her music on it because it sounded terrible. Kaylegh insisted on having music playing when she was cleaning, but it always had to be the vinyl versions.

Kayleigh's Lily Allen Record

Lindt Bunny Bells

Every year Terence got a Lindt bunny from the Easter bunny and every year Kayleigh ran off with the ribbon and bell. Most years she tied it in her hair and had fun jingling her head. Last year she tied it on the end of Denon's tail and laugh until she cried watching Denon wagging his tail, jingling, and then turning around trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. One year, she got two ribbons and bells and tied on to each ankle and did silly dances that jingled with the music. What fun she had with a simple bell and ribbon . . . . .

A video of Kayleigh

Kayleigh is about 4 in this video, Natassja is about 3.

It shows quite clearly what Kayleigh was like at this age. It was taken at Canberra Airport when I took my dad there to catch a plane to visit my sister in Perth.

Easter

Kayleigh loved easter - she loved eating lots and lots of chocolate and she loved having Easter egg hunts. Every easter every one of the kids would get a large bunny, a smartie egg (like a humpty dumpty). 4 smaller cadbury eggs and a handful of small assorted eggs. Each Easter Kayleigh and Natassja would make name plates for everyone so they knew which plate of eggs were theres. A couple fo easters ago, I started hiding the eggs for the to find them - this was Kayleighs idea - she thought it would make it even more exciting on easter morning as they had to find their eggs. each child had a colour to find - Kayleigh always chose either the blue ones or the gold ones and then went searching. Last year I hid her eggs really high up on top o the heater, the curtain rails and on the extractor fan in the kitchen. Kayleigh found them all except the one in the kitchen. We had great fun giving her clues on where to find it. It took her about 30 minutes to finally locate it after passing it like a billion times, but only took her about 30 minutes to eat it!!!!!

Marshmallows

Every year, and especially on Queen's birthday fireworks, Terence would have a fire. In the last year, we invested in a fire pit. Kayleigh loved standing around it listening to Terence and I discussing all sorts of things, sometimes interjecting with her own thoughts, but on the whole just absorbing what we were saying. On some nights we would get marshmallows for the kids. Kayleigh would help Kiara and Lucas get theirs on a fork and help them toast theirs before getting one for herself. If Kiara's fell in the fire, k\Kayleigh would give her the one she was doing. We always got the coloured marshmallows from Allens. Kayleigh favourite one was the apricot flavoured one. When toasting her marshmallows Kayleigh was get it to catch alight and let it burn before blowing it out. She carefully ate the burnt bit and then re-toasted (burnt) the inside and then ate that. Kayleigh loved standing arounnd the fire keeping warm and helping her little sister eat burnt marshmallows.

Mediation

Kayleigh was a fantastic mediator. When Terence and I were arguing or disagreeing Kayleigh would talk to both of us and figure out each side of the story and then come back with a solution. Sometime she would agree with one person over the other and then she would tell the other person what she thought and the reasoning behind it. Kayleigh would always consider all aspects of a situation before making up her mind.

I remember during year 7, Kayleigh came home and told me that her friendship group had split in half because two of the girls had a argument about something stupid. Kayleigh wanted everyone to get along and for a group to hang out together. Over the next week she talked to both the girls and mediated between them. At first the girls didn't really want to know, but Kayleigh managed to talk them around. Kayleigh told them that they were both entitled to their own opinion but they had to consider what the other person was thinking and that people could get along even if they thought differently. Everyone was different and that was what made them special and unique. Kayleigh worked hard on getting her friends to get along and she managed to do it. In a way, Kayleigh was the 'glue' that held people together.

Favourite chocolate

Its easter time again and I was thinking about what chocolate Kayleigh really loved. We don't really have that much chocolate in the house, but when we did she did like sneaking chocolate. Her favourite flavour from the Cadbury snack bar was pineapple, and her favourite 'roses' was the same as her dads - fudge. For normal chocolate bars, Kayleigh quite liked Bounty and Mars bars.  When it came to easter eggs, Kayleigh always asked for a crunchie bunny and a white chocolate egg. I know when Mars had the promotion '1 in 6 bars goes free' she had quite a few mars bars as her Dad was always winning them - even winning free ones from the free one - Kayleigh really enjoyed that promotion!!

Stealing Easter Eggs

When Kayleigh was about 2 1/2 years old we were down at Woolworths at Calwell getting the fortnightly shop. It was Easter time and obviously we were not paying enough attention to what Kayleigh was doing. We knew the person at the check out and we were having a good old chat, glancing down every now and again to just check Kayleigh was still with us (she wasn't much of a wanderer as a toddler). We paid for the groceries and walked out the back way to the car and it was then we noticed that Kayleighs face was covered in chocolate and her hands were also completely messy. We stopped and told Kayleigh to hold out her hands and nestled in one was the remains of a Cadbury Creme egg - about 1/3 of it. Kayleigh looked extremely guilty and Terence smacked her on the hand and we both told her off and explained that mum and dad had to pay for things with money before we could eat them. Kayleigh cried, but she continued to lick her fingers (we had taken the rest of the egg off her and thrown it away). She never stole another easter egg again, and several times she made sure her younger brothers and sisters weren't tempted either. Kayleigh also never had another Cadbury Creme egg again :)

Jurassic Fart

Jurassic Fart was Kayleighs and the other kids name for their Grandpa (my Dad). Kayleigh had discussed this with Natassja and Terry, and since Grandpa was sooooooo old - he must have been alive when the dinosaurs were alive. They then decided that he must have killed the dinosaurs, and further discussion led to Kayleigh deciding that Grandpa farted and the smell of it killed off the dinosaurs - thus Jurassic Fart.

Grandpa took this name somewhat unwillingly (so it seemed to me) but always answered it when Kayleigh called him that. The time the Grandpa took Kayleigh ,Natassja and Terry on the Canberra Times fun run, I remember Kayleigh especially teasing him about killing off the dinosaurs and the method of it, and then saying he must have also killed off the plants and the big bugs. The 'fart' that killed the dinosaurs must have been that strong that it caused tectonic issues and caused volcanoes to erupt. Grandpa eventually got a little miffed at the teasing and told them to stop, but they kept going until I told them that they were annoying Grandpa too much.

At home Kayleigh always referred to my dad as Jurassic Fart and not as Grandpa - except when he was here. Around her birthday it would be 'When is Jurassic Fart going to get here?' and 'I wonder what Jurassic Fart got me this year?' She did love him as a granddaughter and the nickname was a sign of affection, which also gave her alot of amusement.