Bush Trips, Football, 'Doof Doof' sounds, Air Matresses and La Sallians!

You know how I said I wasn’t feeling like it was the end of the term? Totally feeling it now. This week, despite that the fact that we haven’t had very many kids has actually been rather intense and today was no exception. Another contributing factor to this sudden exhaustion is definitely the heat. We have been averaging 37°C everyday or above and on Monday claimed the title of having the highest temperature in WA (we’re quite proud of that!) Luckily by the time school ends and I feel the need to exercise a cool wind blows in making the dry hear somewhat bearable. We’re lucky it’s not that humid. During the middle of the wet season when we first arrived it felt like 45°C every day, despite the fact that it was fifteen degrees lower. I think the 98% humidity made it feel ten times worse than it was. But at least the rain and terrific thunderstorms made up for the extreme stickiness. 

I think it was the warmer nights that saw the need for another disco/concert on Sunday night that didn’t finish until well after 1.30am. Living just across the road from the basketball courts meant that every doof doof the speakers blared vibrated my windows and went straight through me, so I blame that for getting only four hours sleep that night. I was so tired that the next morning I slept through my alarm (my phone alarm beeps constantly until I turn it off, and was beeping for two hours before I woke up; that’s how tired I was), slept through my Mangarri duty (oops) and raced to school at 8.50am before realizing that collectively, there were only ten students around. Frena, Antonio, Tegan and Cody, despite been rather tired as well were the only students in Primary C and got to do quite a lot of really fun stuff. Camille, Jenny and I did a lot of cool art activities that can really only be done with a few kids at school and everyone had a ball. We began with what can only be described as a ‘scratching’ activity. Some of you may remember doing this the long way in Primary school, when we would colour a page in with rainbow stripes, cover it in black paint and then scratch out shapes revealing funky colours underneath. Jenny actually found these made up sheets where all you had to do was scratch out an image and everyone had a great time creating their own funky picture, all below.

(Sorry for the dodgy shots, I didn't realise there was a massive fingerprint on my lens. Awkward!)

I must say, it was quite a surprise walking into the staff room at Mangarri time on Monday and seeing the fabulous spread laid out for the teachers. Every time we have visitors at school, they generally bring morning tea from Broome or Kununurra, knowing how rarely we get treats and delicious eats for break time. We hit the jackpot as Sister Nola had SIX visitors working with her with Reading Recovery, all flown in from Broome that day and all with something smuggled in their handbags. It may sound weird that I’m going on about food, but when you’ve gone ten weeks without baked goods it’s quite amazing to finally break the drought. I’m learning to appreciate the small things!

Monday afternoon brought more activities for the four students we had. Camille made plaster photo frames with them and although quite a mess, they had a lot of fun doing it. With more kids coming in on Tuesday, we made more and painted them. Camille brought in some paintings she had brought from the Art Centre and the kids studied them, learning the stories and painting their own culture onto their pieces of work. I can tell some of my students are going to be amazing artists in the future, and I’ve made sure they’ve all promised to remember me when they’re rich and famous!

Antonio.

Tegan.

Julian.

Danielle and Rachel.

I’m also super artistic, as you can see. We are still working with the tessellating blocks and usually I give the kids worksheets to use the blocks with but on Tuesday during Numeracy time allowed them to make their own shape, as long as it tessellated. Of course, I had to do demonstrations, for each of the groups. And they had to be extravagant. I honestly am way too amused by those things!

Artwork, plus Danielle.

The Balgo Sports is still continuing. The Eagles (the Balgo team) worked their way into the Grand Final, held this afternoon. Playing a Northern Territory team (bred harder and tougher over the border) the Eagles were down when I went out to check them out. However football here is played until the majority of the crowd is happy with the winner so I’m expecting the game to be played over and over again until Balgo are declared victors. It’s a bit odd the way they play, and how into the game they get but I can’t argue with the Kimberley way. As one man said when Yagga Yagga sports was on as he ran out to join in a massive brawl on the oval, ‘It’s football!’ There’s no way you can dispute that!

Now to the main news of the day; Primary C went on a Bush Trip! Having done numerous Community Walks to learn about the Balgo culture, Jenny wished to end the term with a trip out to the bush to look at an important place and picked Old Balgo due to its cultural significance and the fact that so many kids no people who used to live there. I’ve been numerous times before but honestly saw so much more than I have before just because the kids pointed out things I’ve either walked past or assumed was nothing. We managed seven kids today; Quornetta, Corryanne, Julian, Sharelle, Danielle, Frena and Tegan and after driving around the community chasing up parents to put their mark on unsigned permission slips we were off. We were super lucky that Brother MJ decided to come at the last minute because we couldn’t find our guide! MJ proved to not only be an excellent navigator but knew so much about the place and even recreated a few old photos with student relatives of those in old shots!

The kids were really good at showing us all the ruins and explaining what they used to be. They found a massive well, the oven of the bakery and a generator, all things I’ve missed before (awkward). Considering it was incredibly hot, they did very well and enjoyed the day as much as the teachers did. Each student took a turn taking the group to another site, explaining what it was and showing us all the neat stuff around it. With so many nooks and crannies around we were fearful of snakes and I almost freaked when Julian climbed into the tiny hole that used to be the bakery oven until he came out unscathed and every other kid wanted to try it. I blame Brother MJ for this irrational fear, telling Jenny and I he’d seen two massive King Browns out here the last time he came. Thanks MJ, thanks!

Corryanne, pondering life.

The kids in the old school.

Brother MJ, Tegan, Danielle, Julian, Quornetta, Corryanne and Frena

Julian and Danille on top of the old oven.

The girls show me the old generator.

Primary C, on top of the Church ruins.

Sharelle, recreating an old photo.

Sharelle and Danielle poke their heads out through the windows.

With the heat rather suffocating and our stomachs growling, we headed to the Old Dam for lunch, chasing shade. I felt for Frena who heard the word ‘Dam’ and expected a rather lush swimming hole. Not to be. The dam was completely dry and it broke my heart hearing Frena asking where the water was. But only a few kilometers away from Old Mission, it was a lot cooler in the shade and therefore an adequate spot for a delicious picnic (beetroot, cheese and lettuce sandwiches, oranges and cordial). We enjoyed chilling for a while before heading back to school just before the bell. I was most hurt when I was part of a ‘troupie trade’. I was ‘given’ to the troupie Brother Michael was driving while Tegan was taken to the one Jenny and Jim were in. Obviously; I’m no-where near as cool as Tegan!

Sorry Frena :(

Corryanne, Frena, Julian and Quornetta

Corryanne!

Julian and Danielle, the only students in the back with me started falling asleep as we got off the bumpy track and onto the main but still bumpy road. Even sighting Balgo over the hill wasn’t enough to get them to shake off their tiredness and I was worried I’d have to carry them into school until they piped up when we stopped. I think the movement of the car lulled them into submission!

It was an epic day finished with some staff soccer in the school hall. Luckily with all four air conditioners and fans blasting in the indoor room, it was bearable to run around without overheating too much! My team was the epic losers, but we’ve made note of the others weaknesses and are keen for a rematch. If there’s one thing I didn’t expect at Luurnpa, it’s the epic competitiveness of everyone. But it’s good and makes for friendly banter the next day. Bring on the next contest! Now I’m heading off to bed soon. I have eighteen mattresses to pump up by Friday and have only done seven so far. Hopefully I can get them done during school, but we’ll see. Otherwise it could be a loooong night!

Safe travels to all the La Sallians in Middle Swan trekking it up to Broome tomorrow. Have fun and see you in 48 hours!

We Got Rowdy!

On Friday, a bit sleep deprived and therefore a little more outgoing than usual, I asked Antonio if he was going to have, in my words, a ‘rowdy’ weekend. I think I’m picking up all the lingo from my friends descriptions of their own out of control and 18+ adventures and engaging it into everyday language a little more than I should. Antonio obviously didn’t get it and looked up at me with sweet, innocent and huge brown eyes and said ‘what’s rowdy mean?’ If only I could have foreseen my future and known exactly what to tell him rowdy was; my weekend!

Sure, you don’t expect one to get rowdy whilst in Balgo. With the lack of clubs, pubs, restaurants, concerts, movie theatres, shopping malls and most other things that provide amusement, it’s not exactly entertainment central. We do have a camel, something most places lack but unfortunately that’s the tip of our iceberg. However things changed this weekend. We got a concert hall, a football stadium and a trivia arena, all in three days. WIN!

The arrival of Friday night brought the excitement of a Trivia evening organized by Anthony. All the staff and some others from varying Balgo agencies attended all eager to be a part of the Balgo Trivia Champions team and the night sure did go off. It brought out personalities in certain people I have never seen before. For example, I discovered how competitive quiet Brother Michael is, how fierce Father John can get when he’s trying to get rid of the competition (in his words, he has God on his side so all will be forgiven; champ!) and how strong friendships and working relationships are tossed aside during Luurnpa competition. It was rather insightful really!

One thing the Luurnpa staff is really good at is catering for large crowds. We seem to have an uncanny knack of being able to all bring a plate of food each that is a small piece in a puzzle of epic proportions, producing a rather impressive feast. Beginning with a shared meal really was the way to go and certainly had us all clutching our bellies right through the night. With a desert break in the middle stamina was indeed kept up and brains were fed nutritious meals to ensure constant recollection of facts throughout the night. Something we didn’t count on was Henry ‘suiting up’ for the occasion, wearing a button up shirt, blazer and tie from the donated clothes shed and alarmingly, my skinny leg jeans. What was even more disturbing was how good girl’s jeans suited him, and how comfortable he seemed in them. Awkward!

My team, The Wirrimanu Worriers consisted of Father John (who had God), Brother Michael (who had brains), Mindy (who remembered everything Music and Sri Lanka) and Cassie and I (beauty, as Father John put it; but did have brains as well). We certainly were quite a good team that covered all bases and got off to a great start. I always fear the fights between team members over certain questions that often occur during trivia and unfortunately got into a heated discussion with Brother MK regarding a politics question asking us to name the two Prime Ministers of Australia during WWII. Having studied this topic during school, I knew the answer to be Menzies and Curtin, but he insisted it was Menzies and Chiffley. We both agreed they really were all right and the question should be expanded to three Prime Ministers (Curtin died in office pre the conclusion of WWII) but got the question right anyway. I actually would have died if it was wrong; super awkward!

Up by two points going into the final round, The Wirrimanu Worriers were feeling quietly confident. Then came the unexpected. A bonus round each of the five teams would devise two of their own questions which would be added to a pool of ten. Each correct answer was worth two points. Despite our questions on the previous name of Sri Lanka and Pythagoras, we were no match for Ann Marie’s Angels consisting of Henry, Robert, Louise, Steve and Maggie who snatched victory from us and won by two points. Conceding defeat, we solemnly congratulated the victors and all the diehard Victorians literally ran home to catch the end of the footy game. It was a pretty sweet night, regardless of the loss!

Congratulations Ann Marie's A

Mass was held out under the stars and between the two Sorry Camps last night. It was pitch black and no-one could really see anything but it was rather spectacular. I love having mass outdoors in Balgo; we have such a beautiful environment and it’s great to be able to utilize it in such a manner. I admit, I may have been distracted during the majority of mass trying to look out for shooting stars and satellites.

Saturday night ended up being quite rowdy! The Balgo Sports are occurring at the moment and with quite a large population to entertain, a truck containing instruments, sound boxes, speakers and everything needed to put on a concert was brought in. A disco kicked off the evening and we all headed down to see the kids grooving away and let our hair down a bit. Now that the lights are fixed in the basketball court, it really is a great place to hold these events, literally right in the middle of Balgo and large enough to fit a decent crowd. I was super excited to see one of my students had returned. Bart, who is in Primary D hasn’t been sighted since last term. I was just kind of walking around when someone launched themselves at me from behind, and turning to discover the culprit was pleased to see it was Bart. He’s the funniest kid and was almost as happy to see me as I was to see him! In these communities where students and families move around so much, it’s sad to see them go but the best feeling when they come back!

The very talented musicians of Balgo put on quite a show and catered for the tastes of everyone. They played songs just for the kids, then the adults and then one for everyone. I can’t remember the last time I spent a night enjoying the skills of a live band, yet alone truly kicking back and partying on a Saturday night. It was a bit like a return to normalcy, but in the desert so therefore a little less normal than expected. We stayed for ages, laughing at the kid moves, head bopping to the music and enjoying each other’s company. This is the last weekend that Cassie, Camille, Leesa and Adrian will have in Balgo before they leave on Friday for their respected destinations so it really was fitting time to have such decent entertainment. I didn’t end up getting to sleep until 4am!

The boys enjoying the music.

Camus.

Kingston, Bary and Kassius.

Moses, Francis, Noah, Kingston, a kid from Mulan and Julian.

The band setup, on the back of a truck. Neat.

Enjoying the entertainment.

With the football in Melbourne eclipsing everyone’s TV screens, the Balgo football has eclipsed my view and that of everyone in town. Teams have travelled from many different communities to battle it out on our gravel Balgo Football Ground. Spectators have lined the entire boundary of the oval and are getting super into supporting their teams. I went out briefly this afternoon to catch a glimpse of Ringer Soak and Laajimanu playing quite a good contest, but it’s definitely over 35˚C and I’m a redhead so I didn’t stay long. Still, I can see why finals week really is so well worshipped; it certainly drives every other competition around!

The big mob of footy players.

Team huddle.

Even the camel makes an apperance at the football.

Ouch!

If this weekend was anything to go by, I can imagine this week will also be rather crazy. I don’t really feel like it’s week 10; I have none of that end of the term exhaustion and hope it stays that way. But I am looking forward to a super week and then the arrival of the holidays brings epic adventures; firstly a week with the La Salle kids and then we’re trekking it to the Northern Territory and going to Uluru, Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and many other sites around the area. I am pumped!

A Day of Games and Swimming; SCORE!

Only one more week of Term 3 left! This is very difficult to believe considering I still feel like it’s the beginning of the term and cannot account for all the passing weeks. Just over a week until the La Salle Middle Swan crew of eighteen students, six staff and my very own father pop their heads into Balgo for a weeklong visit to spruce up the school and entertain the kids during the holidays.

I just had a bit of déjà vu, from Year 11 and 12 Literature when we learnt about linking paragraphs. That little introduction spills perfectly into what I did yesterday; clearing out our storeroom at home, mashing it all into the troupie and unloading it at school. The reason? Bit of a story until I get there. So essentially, our storeroom links ours and Jerry’s place (our neighbor), and if we opened it up and cleared it all out our two units would be like one big super unit. But we just use it to put all the stuff that nobody has to deal with or see into it. It was chokka block since before we came but we never really went through it. Anyway, it’s my job to get enough mattresses out for all the La Salle students and teachers coming up and Brother Rick was convinced they were all in OUR storeroom. When he said that to Henry and I, we both kind of cracked up because there was no way there were any mattresses in there. Turns out there are. I found two swags, two actual mattresses, one fold up bed and countless inflatable mattresses. It was quite an effort loading them all into the troupie and then into the storeroom at school but I succeeded! I even did a few very cool three point turns in the troupie during the process; you all would have been so impressed of my driving skills! The moral to that story? You should probably check your own storeroom for those random but important things you believe would never in a million years be found in there. You never know, you could have enough bedding to sleep a school! Or at least part of one.

In other very important Primary C news, Antonio reached 100 words on the Word Wall! Horary!! It was a tremendous moment yesterday morning when it happened, and the whole class went psycho. I was so proud of the way all the other students got really excited about Antonio’s achievements and realised that is something I have come to appreciate about Primary C; all the kids really do care for each other, and ones achievement really is a whole class celebration. He got a big ‘Superstar, yes you are!’, a cheer reserved for only the most special of occasions. Every child that reads 100 words gets a prize, something I’m sure Antonio is looking very forward to receiving.

The class went on another Thursday walk yesterday afternoon, this time still in the school grounds but to a place not many of them have seen before. It was the Walkala Centre, the little donga on the edge of the school grounds that Sister Nola words in. Inside are hundreds of community produced stories and books all in the Kukatja language. Not many people in the community can read the Kukatja language and therefore the Walkala Centre really is a very important part of Balgo. Jillawa, Tegan’s grandmother and Nagarra, Rachel’s Aunt showed us some of the books and read a few stories to the students. Of course, we teachers had no clue what was going on but the kids were absolutely fixated on hearing the written stories in their own tongue. Each book is individually made and illustrated, so much time and effort going into producing such lovely work and it really is something special to have on the bookshelf when finished. CDs, videos and tapes are also produced in the local language within the Walkala Centre and Sister Nola works also with the Grade 2 Reading Recovery students and the ATA’s to further their study via Notre Dame in Broome. So much happens there and Sister Nola really does an exceptional job keeping up with it all!

Jilarra reads us a story.

Just one of many massive bookcases filled with stories.

After school sport is back on! With the weather a bit warmer and the sun staying out past 5.30pm Anthony, Robert and Louise have commenced their Up4It basketball and football games from 4.30pm onwards. It’s a great way for me to kick around with a few of the students I don’t usually get the chance to see very often. Yesterday afternoon I hung with little Junior who is possibly one of the smallest kids in school at the moment and so cute. He was just hanging out by a rock watching the bigger kids play until I found a smaller footy and we practiced kicking and catching. I also discovered entertaining little kids is quite easy; Junior just liked running after a footy I’d kicked miles away. I did get into trouble with the umpire of the game however for throwing the ball out of the way when it came up to us. Apparently he thought I was actually playing and therefore deemed my technique to not be within the rules. Shame really, it was a good throw! A highlight was Jay Jay riding around on his recently renovated four wheeler motorbike at speeds that made my heart jump out of my chest! He really was the most popular kid on the oval giving almost everyone a ride up and down the jumps and over to Gahli camp. Gotta love it!

Fatima.

Danielle and Quornetta.

Junior.

So very dirty all over by the end!

Jerome and Cody.

'Tough Guys!'

Delton, Kingston and Francis.

Balgo sports begins on Monday. Remember the Yagga Yagga sports that were held here at the beginning of the term? It was an inter-community sports gathering focusing on basketball and football, but I hear that the Balgo sports is meant to be at least four times bigger and the population is set to rise quite significantly. I also heard from one of the teachers that last year they ran out of water which meant showers were either limited or ceased. With the heat that’s developing at the moment, I really hope that’s not the case this year around!

I braved the cool pool water this afternoon and had a bit of a much around with the kids during their free time at swimming. It was great to be able to chill on a Friday afternoon and act like one of my students, splashing everyone (including lifeguard Henry) and throwing the kids around, laughing at their cute little squeals. I totally appreciate how lucky I am here; today I played games in the morning, swam in the afternoon and finished off the day with a video. Score!

And to finish off this blog post we have this epic block creation done by Tegan on Monday. It’s a little man! It looks AMAZING, but it saddens me to realise that I seriously would not be able to come up with that creation in a million years. The kids have an amazing way of just being able to create what they picture in their mind without distortion. Sure, it’s sad to be jealous of Primary school kids but when you’re inartistic like me it’s accepted!

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Yet another blog begins with bad news. The superstitious believe that bad things happen in threes, and unfortunately that appears to be the case in Balgo. You may have heard on the news about two suspicious deaths in another remote Aboriginal community in Kiwirrkurra, an absolute tragedy that has left two young children orphaned. The people of Balgo, coming to grips with the loss of one much loved community member were hit hard by this loss, with many related to the victims and a second Sorry Camp was made to remember and acknowledge these deaths. However more bad news was delivered yesterday with the death of another Balgo community member in a horrific vehicle roll over on Thursday night. Two of our students are coming to terms with the death of their father, an absolute horrible thing to be forced to deal with at such a young age, and a third Sorry Camp is now occurring in Balgo. In the face of all this grief, I have noticed an absolute relentless and sheer exhibition of hope and faith amongst those mourning. In such a small place, everyone is united by good and bad news, even more so when people are hurting. It’s beautiful to see how everyone is coming together to support one another and ensure that Balgo remains a strong place. So please, keep Balgo in your thoughts and prayers as almost every single individual is mourning for someone and needs a bit extra strength in this sad time.

Time to lighten this post up a bit! Primary C went on another walk on Thursday, this time to the Art Centre where Tracey and Sally talked to the kids about the organization and processes that occur with the painting while Luke showed the students the media lab that develops videos and photos. It was quite a hot day and everyone struggled to get across the oval (that reflected the heat), through the yards and across the road to the thankfully air-conditioned building. Many of the students had grandparents that were artists and were pretty chuffed when Sally mentioned them by name, especially Frena who not only got to see her grandmothers paintings on the wall, but see her actually producing a new piece of art. It was actually quite interesting learning about all the little things that occur there. I never realised how much art was actually produced there until Sally showed us the numbering system they have. Every painting receives a number when it’s finished, written at the base of the canvas that numerically states which painting it is to be produced that year. She showed us one that was the 476th painting to be painted that year, and also pulled out one from 2007 that was the 1245th painting made in that year (obviously a busy one!) It really is quite staggering. All the artists receive 60% of the money from their art, with the other 40% going towards the maintenance of the building, paints and brushes (which the artists are given free of charge) and other necessities. ‘Money Morning’ occurs every Friday when Sally gets all the artists together and writes out checks for the paintings sold that week. It’s quite a process!

Danielle holding the Mangarri while walking across the oval.

Kassius

  

Sally holds up my absolute favourite painting, priced well into the thousands. Sign.

We even went out the back and learnt about how the photos are framed, how the canvas is prepared, which artists use which canvas and even got to see Sarah and Jane paining. They discussed quite vocally the land they were painting about, a process Sally said was not argumentative, but merely to establish where a certain important area is geographically, so it can be accurately represented in the artwork. The paintings are still breathtaking even when their only half completed and I absolutely admire the care and patience they have with their work, some paintings taking weeks! I wish I could paint!

Sarah tells us about her painting.

Half finished, but I already love it!

Sally shows us how the canvas' are prepped.

(Love Renelle's face in the background!)

The students got a lot out of the art centre and will soon be going back to learn about art in a greater detail with Tracey. It’s all a part of a student art exhibition late in Term 4. Each class spends two hours learning about different styles of art and then have a chance to produce their own piece of work that reflects something in their community. Jenny lets the kids do a lot of free painting and we brought their work to show Sally and Tracey on Thursday, super impressing them both. Jenny’s also decided to do a themed term of Spirituality and Visual art, two very creative topics which opens up a lot of very cool art lessons!

The Secondary students got back from Kununurra on Friday afternoon. They did very well, with Kion and Josie winning medals for their events. What was most impressive was how well some of the students did in events they hadn’t even practiced for, yet alone heard of. Josie placed in Triple Jump, learning about it only as Henry walked her to the event and came second in Javelin, despite never holding one before. Kion also placed highly in High Jump. All the students did very well and Mindy, Angela and Henry said they were a credit to the school. The only hiccup on the whole trip was when Henry accidentally locked the keys in the troupie. What most of us would do would call the RAC, but of course that’s not really an option up here, so they had to wait around for someone nice to come by that was able to help without smashing a window. Oh Henry! (And that’s actually a chocolate bar, look it up – no joke!)

Renelle has a new nickname; ‘Magnet!’ She has a habit of giving me a hug, latching onto my waist and dropping her knees so essentially she’s hanging off me. Then she looks up at me and goes ‘I’m a magnet’ in a super cool voice. I’ve started calling her that and she actually likes it. I get told off if I call her Renelle now! It’s just like when Antonio started calling me ‘Stephie’ (it’s only cute when a kid does it!) and I couldn’t really think of a cool nickname so just called him ‘Antonio-ie’ because it rhymed with ‘Stephie and sounded funny when we both said it in a row. Now that’s basically the only name I’m allowed to call him!

We had mass outside last night seeing as the weather is getting warmer. It was quite nice, until there was a massive dog fight not far away and then heaps of motorcycles kept streaming past. Plus, it’s only bearable if you douse yourself in aeroguard. I was at the gym once with Mindy and Policeman Matt and put on aeroguard because I could feel myself getting bitten. It was only 4.30pm but they were biting! Neither of them could feel a thing but Matt said that for some reasons, the girls get bitten WAY more than the guys out here. Like it’s actually a proven fact but no-one knows why. That’s super weird, but seeing as the weather is warming up and the rains will be starting soon, I won’t really be able to go outside without both sunscreen and aeroguard on! Later in the evening as the moon rose, it was covered by thick clouds of smoke that turned it the most beautiful red colour. I didn’t have my camera and I don’t think attempting to capture a photo would have worked but it was stunning! The desert has a funny way of making everything so much prettier!

To finish off, here is a picture of proudest achievement this week; the successful production of Hot Cross Buns minus the crosses because it’s not Easter. Super cool! We all kind of missed out on them at Easter and because I was both super craving them and having Brother Rick over for dinner who absolutely loves them decided to give them a crack. Our oven is a bit dodgy and some got a bit black on the bottom but they were so yummy! Totally flying in the baking and cooking department for once, wooo! :)

One a penny, two a penny, SO YUM!