The Week That Was.

Some very impressive French homework which saw the oldest boy scrapboooking. Not that he needed to - he could have just written about the family but he went the whole nine yards with photos and fancy layouts. I hardly understood a word of it.

Book week at the Primary School, the highlight being dress-up day. A scarf made from the fabric stash and the robes 'refashioned' from one of Dad's black work shirts.

Some pretty fabulous school reports. I laughed about the child who has hit Intermediate "like a cannon". Perhaps we could hire her out in the school holidays to do demolition work?

A row of my favourite pillowcases and sheets. I'm going to try once and for all to do something about the stack that is multiplying of it's own volition in the hall cupboard and turn some into a pillowcase quilt. Maybe.

And a new cross stitch. Winter always drives me to cosy indoor pursuits like knitting and cross stitching and this sparky little sampler caught my eye. It uses all sorts of odd DMC colours - I had to actually go out and buy most of them - but I was quite taken by the orange and turquoise combination. And it's a portable project.

Did you hear on the news tonight that we've had the coldest May down here since the 1950s? And the coldest June since the 1970s? My bones coulda told you that!

Hooray!

Got A Bit of A Dilemma

And we were hoping someone might be able to help. In the school holidays we're heading to Nelson - mainly for a gym competition but we've decided to make a trip of it and have hired a house for a week. The competition is on Sat 11 July and Sun 12 July, in the middle weekend of the holidays. We've hired the house from Saturday to the following Saturday, hoping the competition would be late Saturday afternoon or, even better, Sunday.

See, we pack well.

As these things turn out, Sophie's competition is 8am on the Saturday morning. Of course it is. So we need to drive up on Friday but we have nowhere to stay. Does anyone have a spare couch or floor we could borrow, just for the night? Thing is, there are a few of us so it would need to be a pretty big couch!

Actually, there are only 6. And we're quite well-behaved and all the kids are house trained. We'd come bearing gifts and bringing food. We travel with pretty lolly cake and the best coffee, not to mention all our own sheets and towels and pillows.

Example of Tim sleeping on a floor - the Ferry in fact.

We can offer references from bloggy acquaintances.

St John, Tauranga.

And we promise, no ambulance trips.

So if you have somewhere or know of somewhere or have any other brilliant suggestions, please email me. My address is in my profile. It would be so lovely to meet you!

Here's An Idea

The twins' school is big on Science and during Term 2, all Year 7 students are expected to participate in the Science Fair. Students either carry out an investigation or invent something technological.

With the example of her big brother to follow (late nights, last-minute calculations, lots of hysterics) Sophie chose something simple but topical, started her investigation early and completed it well before the due date. There was the added parental bonus of her not needing any help and Sophie can confidently say she did it completely on her own.

She was well-rewarded for her efforts.

James approached his project backwards. Instead of having a problem to solve, he began with a solution and then looked for a reason to solve it. He was absolutely set on making a bike that pedals backwards to move forwards. The hard part was coming up with a reason why anyone would want to do that!

His project involved visiting big factories full of complex machinery, cogs of all shapes and sizes, satisfyingly heavy tools and welding. He absolutely loved it all and his bike went together without a hitch. He confessed that he wasn't really interested in the presentation of it all - he just wanted to make the bike and ride it. Still, his board came together in the end and he received a commendation for his work.

As I stood in the hall this morning and surveyed the hundreds and hundreds of boards representing thousands and thousands of hours of effort by students and their parents, I came up with a Science Fair investigation of my own.

I've seen first-hand the hysterics involved. I've mopped them up with countless tissues and tea towels. If we could capture all the tears shed during the course of the Science Fair, would it be enough to fill the school swimming pool? Cos that could really save some serious money!

We Laugh In The Face of Hypothermia.

No, apparently we do. I just heard it on a radio advert. Because we're made of Tougher Stuff down here in the South.

June Sunrise

I think it's got something to do with the fact that we force small children to wear next to nothing on a June winter's morning but then watch from the warmth of our layers and layers of wool as they leap around a netball court or tackle each other in the frost. It's character building and is somehow supposed to make you a Better Person.

Before School Football Practice

I've done my fair share of winter white mornings and I think it's bollocks. It's not the least bit character building - it's cruel and unusual punishment for pre-teens! And no matter how many layers of wool and polypropelene and survival-blanket type cloaks I wear, after an hour on the sidelines my hands and feet are frozen solid and somebody has to drive me home because I can't feel the steering wheel. I'm obviously not a true Cantabrian.

Thank goodness for indoor sports :-)

First Thing Ever.

Henry competed in a Tae Kwon Do tournament today, the first 'thing' he has ever done. He had butterflies. He looked so tiny standing alone in the centre of that great big mat.

He didn't stop, even when he forgot what it was he was supposed to be doing. He carried on, making up the bits he couldn't remember. He was pleased it was over. And happy to win a bronze medal.

It might be easier next year when his arms and legs are longer.

But for now a bronze medal attached to a Canterbury ribbon is all rather exciting.

Prototype Done.

It takes way more effort to sew lots and lots of squares together than they realised. Still, they were happy with the final result and even came around to the doily idea when I explained it a bit more. "Oh we thought you said dooly. Which was a bit rude. But the doily is cool. Old like"

I love it. Even more, the blue-green version they're currently sewing up. It's simply jewel-like. And I've showed them a way to streamline the cutting and sewing when they make the pillowcase version so it doesn't send them cross-eyed.

" And the jeans pocket pocket is a really fun idea which we want to add to the next one too. And we still want to try that belt idea. And do you think pink and green would be good for the summer line. And and and...

I've unleashed a monster. Yeeeeessssssss!

When Worlds Collide.

We've had an owl making day today and one of my witty classes has been making owl jokes. Like Owlzheimer, a particularly forgetful looking owl. And Wowldo, dressed in red and white stripes, keeps hiding in the classroom. And a little set of Owl Blacks with silver ferns and numbers appliqued to their backs. I love it when kids enjoy playing with words so when an owl came to me with one big eye and one small eye, I pulled out one of our favourite medical terms and said "Oooo look, your owl has ipsilateral pupil dilation!"

"Ipsilateral pupil dilation" sang the owl maker as she danced around the classroom with her lopsided owl. "Sounds scary. What is it?"

"Well, one pupil is larger than the other. It's a sure sign of brain injury."

She was not impressed. "It's not the only one" she wailed. And it wasn't - there were three more owls showing signs of heavy knocks to the head.

"Well that's enough contact sport for you lot! " I said.