Joshua leads the merit board

The merit board is really working well for Josh. Both personal merit and community merit 'stickers' are awarded by the teacher for various behaviours, participation and contributions the boys make individually and for their class.

Josh is currently still leading the merit board with 67 personal merits and 5 community merits (as shown in column 20) - and is very proud of that. But beware ... just as you can 'earn' merits, you can also be 'stripped' of merit stickers - Mummy dreads the day when Joshua is stripped of a merit - and, Murphy's Law, it will happen !

Guess what we did today ????

Mummy cashed in her airpoints and flew her and Joshua to Auckland for Georgia's 7th birthday party (as you do !!!). Josh and Georgia seem to have a special bond and although Georgia is now living back in Auckland, we are very keen to support their friendship and hold onto that 'connection' between them.

As Georgia had flown down to Wellington a few weeks earlier as an unaccompanied minor, Josh was a tad indignant that I was flying on the plane with him - he even went so far as to say "well Mummy I don't have to sit next to you" !! Charming !

Georgia took all her friends to Seedling where the children got to choose either a treasure box or a birds house to paint and decorate. Josh chose a birds house (we are not sure whether his paint job will attract or frighten the birds away!!). However, he is very proud of it. Then everyone went back to Georgia's for party time - and party they did !!

Whilst this was all gong on, Mummy snuck away and spent 4 glorious hours with Judi. Judi and Mummy go back a long time when Judi lived in Wellington ... and although we haven't seen one another for awhile, we picked up simply where we left off. That is truly a sign of a wonderful friendship. Judi is ... well, simply amazing, so inspiring with phenomenal energy that just spills out in everything she says and does. As my Mum said ... "Judi is a person you never forget". And that really sums it up. I have never known 4 hours to pass so quickly, for us to never run out of things to talk about and laugh ... gosh we laughed ! We are already planning our next 'playdate' !!

A most fabulous day for Josh with Georgia; and a most fabulous day for Mummy with Judi.

Look at the concentration!The 'finished' bird house

Georgia opening her presents

Josh and Georgia dancing with balloons

Judi - so energetic, so much fun, so inspirational

A great week at scool

Josh had a great week at school this week - and to prove it, he came home this afternoon very proudly showing us his Merit Award.

Scots College does it so well

Josh arrived home from school today very happy to give me an envelope with this invitation inside .... Scots are putting on a mother-son morning tea for Mother's Day next week. What a lovely thing to do ...

Happy Birthday ... Ethan

Ethan invited 10 of his friends this evening to join him for 2 hours of unlimited access to, and fun on, the arcade games at the Entertainment Centre PLUS 4 games of laser strike to celebrate his 7th birthday. The look on the children's faces when they came into the Centre and realised that they had the place to themselves and all machines had been switched over to automatic - so no coins needed, just play to your heart's content !!

I hear you asking ... did they have a great time ??? According to Josh 'the bestest'. And the best game .... car racing (oh dear, not a boy racer in the family!!).

The 'art' of Tackling

Tonight's rugby practise was centred all around tackling and the art thereof - it certainly made for some interesting moves and sights ! I think Josh needs a little more weight behind him - however, he has speed on his side and his New Zealand All Blacks shirt tonight with the silver fern seemed to give him wings !

Josh 'tackling' Coach Kevin - Kevin barely moved and Josh was pushing with all his might !

Ready to pass

Look how 'large' the lime green mouth-guard is - makes for some interesting sounds as the Mustangs run and then shout 'touch' or 'pass' - some mouth-guards literally went 'flying' out of their mouths at practise tonight !

Studying ANZAC Day at School

This week Joshua's class are discussing ANZAC Day and tonight's homework was to talk about it at home. It was quite astounding to hear Joshua tell us what he knew, what he had been told at school and his general understanding of it and the significance of the day. He then wrote a story - with some help on the spelling - but essentially the storyline was almost all his.

His story reads:

ANZAC day is on 25 April every year. It is a special day to remember all the brave men and women who fought for us and others who were killed at war. War is bad. People get hurt or killed and never come home. In New Zealand people wear a red poppy flower to remember those who died. I hope we never go to war.

And then, on a lighter note, we turned the kitchen upside down and made ANZAC cookies for his class the following day - and a special little packet for Grandma, made with love.

Bubble ... Bubble ... Breathe

Joshua is trying so hard to master the breathing for freestyle. He has a powerful kick, great long and straight arms, but learning the breathing technique is a toughie. A few lessons just concentrating on the breathing has certanly helped along with the teacher walking alongside him as he is swimming, chanting "bubble bubble breathe".

Oh dear ... poor Chocolate ... naughty Huddy

Look what we came home to this afternoon. 'Chocolate' the Teddy Bear that Joshua won at the Seatoun School Fair had been 'so loved' by Hudson that he was in pieces. Just note the look on Hudson's face - poor Teddy, naughty Hudson. Grandma is a dressmaker and even she said that Teddy didn't look as if he could be repaired - the problem is we cannot find Teddy's eyes or his nose - oh dear, Hudson may be a wee uncomfortable for a while ! And it took some cajoling to distract Joshua's attention and emotion !

An Indian Summer's Day

Here we are very definitely into Autumn but every now and then we seem to be gifted a day that is unusually warm for this time of the year.

So what better to do than to head to the beach. Only difference is that our stay at the beach this evening was only half-an-hour because the chill in the air suddenly turned - however, we still had time for Huddy to have a swim and Daddy & Josh to throw sticks.

A sad farewell to the end of school holidays

Yes, I admit it ... I am actually sorry that school holidays have come to an end. Maybe it is that inner child in me who looks for any excuse to come out and play !!

We have had a blast and I have so enjoyed Joshua's company and energy, he is a gem and a joy to spend time with.

We have packed in so much .... some memories include ... visiting friends, lots of play-dates and a sleepover; a 'wow' birthday party thrown into the middle of it; bike rides along the beach-front and off-road on dirt tracks; discovering new walks and hikes through various parts of Wellington (and some serious climbs as well as the terrain unexpectedly changed and of course getting a tad wet when we had to wade through a stream that was not on the map!); swimming and clowning around at the pool and also swimming lessons; burying our heads in huge punnets of popcorn at the movies; learning how to play tennis; playing laser strike and indoor bowls with friends; flying a kite down at the park; a relaxed routine with late nights (but sadly early mornings - why is it that children have endless energy and no matter what time they go to bed they still wake up at the same time?!?); treasure hunts all over the place (so who needs a reason to have a treasure hunt anyway?); mastering a complete flip on the trampoline; standing on top of the hills behind our house with arms outstretched and seeing who can sing the loudest; the start of the rugby season with regular Friday night training and 'trying' to transition from ripper to touch; playing mega sports on the WII TV programme and taking up the entire lounge to make a good shot; collecting cardboard and sliding down the grassy bank down at the park; making cupcakes, pancakes and biscuits and turning the kitchen upside down; doing some reading and online mathletics programme so that we didn't dodge school and study entirely; biking down to the local dairy and eating lots of ice-creams & ice-blocks and guzzling fizzy drinks; just 'chilling' with Hudson at the beach and watching him surf the waves; donning jackets & hats and snuggling up warm down on the beach eating fish & chips as the sun goes down and then racing one another home to get the first warm bath .... and for those of you who 'really know' Josh, lots and lots of other activities that are fun but exhausting!

Yes, it is true, we LOVE school holidays and feel very blessed that we have a little boy who is healthy and active and who wants to do so much with us. Our days are long ... but they are great and I wouldn't change a thing.

Now back to learning; back to homework; back to study; back to routine .... oh dear!

The Mustangs are back ... the season has begun

This is the Mustangs showing their 'angry' stance - the oppositon better look out - Josh at the back, far right, in haka position !

The Mustangs had a great first game for the 2010 season. They learnt that 10-a-side on half a pitch requires you to be fit, to look for space and to pass - a lot to learn !

The after-match report from the coach quoted .... "Joshua Turnbull was Mr Consistent for the Mustangs in 2009 and he might well keep the title in 2010 if he keeps playing like he did against the Wolves on Saturday. He did the single best touch technically, placing both hands on the hips of the attacker, hunkering over in a tackle style when he did it, and yelling 'touch' loudly. He also took the ball forward on attack fearlessly".

Joshua's 7th Birthday Party

The day arrived ... and, afterall, the invite did guarantee all children a fun and exhausting time - and they certainly had all of that - and some! We took a private hire of the Recreation Centre and put in an enormous obstacle-climbing wall-slide inflatable. We had 31 children and about 20 adults - most of Joshua's friends have 1 if not 2 brothers & sisters so the numbers add up! They all ran and ran and ran, came in to re-fuel on party food and then ran off again ... the climbing wall was a huge hit (for the children and, dare I say it, the adults as well!). We had a lovely mix of girls and boys and it was a great party - even the adults said that whilst it was action-packed, it was also very relaxing for the parents - so a good combo!

Joshua received some beautiful and well thought-out presents - thank you everyone for such generosity.

And ... happy birthday to the most beautiful boy in our world !!

Georgia comes to town

Georgia is not able to come to Joshua's birthday party on Sunday so .... instead ... she flew down from Auckland for the day on Saturday as an unaccompanied minor so that she and Josh could have the day together - how amazing is that ?!?!?!

Josh took it all very seriously ... although Georgia's Daddy was down here in Wellington and was going to be at the airport, we also went and discussed what we could take along to the airport. Joshua said 'flowers, Georgia likes flowers' - so we had to quickly raid Grandma's garden on the way to the airport!

We had a glorious day - and packed a lot in. We played at home for a few hours and they jumped themselves silly on the trampoline, we went to the swimming pool, had a takeaway picnic at the beach watching Hudson swim; played at the local park, did cardboard sliding down the bank ... and then sadly had to put Georgia back on a plane to return to Auckland. She was sad to leave ... we were sad to see her leave.

These 2 met at school and had the first 1 1/2 years together in the same class. The friendship they share is very special indeed and both of them seem to hold a most special place in their heart for the other.

Josh and Georgia at the airport - Josh waited so patiently with his flowers






Opening Georgia's lovely present ... a funky LARGE smiley pen and a 4-photo frame of Josh and Georgia together - very special

Having fun at the pool

So much giggling going on

Just chilling ... and copying one another

Takeaways at the beach watching Hudson swim

Huddy loved having Josh & Georgia share the back seat with him !

Happy Birthday to Joshua

Yes it's hard to believe ... but 7 years ago a very special little boy was born - and that boy came into our lives and changed it forever and ever.

Although we are having Joshua's 'big' birthday party with all his friends on Sunday, today we also celebrated. After tennis, we picked up his best buddy Tomo and went to the movies and then Tomo came back here for the evening and a sleep-over (probably the best present Joshua could have received really!). Mummy & Daddy had given Joshua a WII sport so the boys had so much fun playing archery, soccer, table tennis, 10-pin bowling - and even flying a plane !

Joshua received many wonderful presents ... some special phone calls, emails and text messages. As we go deeper into this journey of parenthood it becomes more clear that bringing up a child is not something you should do alone - so thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to our family and friends out there who take such an interest in Joshua - some from very far away, some closer - I cannot tell you how much it means to know that you are all there, and that you care.

Scooby-Doo stands guard over the presents whilst Josh sleeps
The No. 7 - and this one is chocolate !

Opening presents, very excited !

One of the many many phone calls Joshua received - thank you everyone !

Joshua & Tomo at the 3D movie 'How to Train a Dragon'

Cupcakes for the Tennis squad

A special visit from a special friend - ENZO !

My grandma gave me a Wii game - Indiana Jones - go Grandma !

Josh got to choose his favourite meal tonight - chicken nuggets & chips - Mummy did also cook some roast vegetables but, surprise-surprise, neither of the boys wanted any !

Blowing out the 'magic' candles on the cake that kept magically re-igniting !

Simple fun .... sliding down the bank on some pieces of cardboard as the sun went down