Sunday Night Baking

We've done the cookies ... we've done the cupcakes ... so tonight we decided to make a dough and use the gingerbread cutter for something different. I made the dough and rolled it out and Josh had great fun using the cutter and then decorating the little men with M&Ms as buttons and little silver balls on the face. He was very happy to lay one of them in his lunchbox for tomorrow!

A special friendship with Fionn & Ciaren

Josh knows Fionn from his days at Seatoun School and also because they still play together in the Mustangs rugby team and have done so now for 3 seasons. Over the years, the boys have established a close bond and I have to say that it is a very special friendship ... Fionn is an incredibly kind boy and always has something lovely to say either about Josh or to Josh; he is so supportive and encouraging of Joshua and a friend to be truly valued. Both Fionn and his younger brother Ciaren, are a pleasure to have come and play. At the moment, a weekend doesn't go by when we don't seem to see something of the boys.

However, one has to be feeling very energetic when they come over. This afternoon, within 4 hours we ... played on the WII, walked/ran to the top of the Ataturk memorial and had a beyblade tournament and then ran full-speed back down the Valley, kicked a ball around at Kilbirnie Park and then went swimming at the Aquatic Centre - and they all still had energy to burn.

Happy Birthday Jennine

It was Jennine's birthday today and so we invited her over for afternoon tea. And with her nickname being 'Jellybean' there was no question as to what we would sprinkle on the top of her cake! Josh surprised us all by picking up Daddy's guitar, strumming away and singing 'Happy Birthday" (and I have to say ... he has a lovely little voice!).

And after the birthday cake, we put Jellybean to work. At school next week all the boys in Years 1-6 are having Book Ch

aracter Costume Afternoon where they all have to choose a character they like and come dressed accordingly.

At first Joshua chose Hairy Maclary and although Mummy was tempted to use the 'sheep dog' outfit Grandma had made some years ago for a Kiwiana-themed dress-up Parade, we decided to do something new ... it is obvious from the photo of our dress rehearsal but here is a little peek of Joshua's chosen character. You will need to wait until next week to see the entire ensemble.

PS Thank you Jennine for coming to our rescue. Whilst Mummy was capable of visualising, cutting and pinning the 'garment', she doesn't have a sewing machine.

School Cross-Country

A beautiful day to run around the field. Today we had the Prep School Athletic Champs. Mr Cassie took the junior boys for a warm-up stretch and light jog before the 'big' event ... and then suddenly they were off! They extended the distance this year so the boys had to learn to pace themselves. Both Mummy & Daddy were wildly cheering Josh on from the side line ... and he did really well. He crossed the line in 15th place out of 33 runners. Well done Josh!

Post-race drink and de-brief

Carrot Cake and an afternoon with Tomo

An energetic afternoon beckons ... Tomo is coming over to play with Josh. On the way to pick Tomo up, we stopped at a new little cafe for a sugar-fix! Josh couldn't believe that this was carrot cake ... "you don't put carrots in a cake Mummy". Oh yes you do Josh!

Yummo carrot cake and a very cool sign on the cafe wall

And now let the fun begin ... energy to burn meant a run at the beach, scootering all around Seatoun and then bouncing on the trampoline ... you see, I did need that carrot cake afterall!

And the answer is no ... the boys were not tired at the end of their afternoon!

Mascot Huddy in 'formal' pose

Huddy loves nothing more than to roll on his back and wriggle on the green grass at rugby every Saturday morning. This week the Mustangs were very amused to see Hudson laying on his back with his paws up in the air - for quite some time. In fact, he stayed there for so long, they decided to lay down beside him and imitate him! At times I do honestly think that Huddy thinks he is human.

PS Must make a mental note to oneself to get Huddy a Poneke rugby jersey!

Aaaah, beautiful beautiful Wellington

Oh, what a day! We all went on a hike up on the northern walkway today and then this evening captured a gorgeous sunset. We live in a beautiful city and it is true ... "you can't beat Wellington on a good day"

A little belated but still heart-felt

Joshua spent a long time this afternoon writing a thank-you note to Grandma and Grandad for their birthday present to him and ... just chatting. Although Mummy helped him with his spelling, I think we all have to agree that his printing is looking fantastic!

Tackling

We have 4 'girl' Mustangs - Maia, Bailey, Susan and Sophie - and they are all good and strong. At rugby training tonight I have to say that the girls were tackling VERY well and many times had the boys pinned down on the ground.

Here we have Bailey 'going' for Joshua ... she grabs him, she holds on, she pulls him and then she thumps him to the ground - but he manages to hold onto the ball!

A wee peek into the Classroom

Mummy managed to take a few photographs in Joshua's classroom at the end of school today. Welcome to 'his' world of school.

Mrs Bell has been talking to the boys about making sure that they look out for each other and make sure they openly welcome everyone into lunch-time games

Year 3 have been studying COMMITMENT and simply what it means. One of the boy's aunty's who has a prosthetic leg and who runs marathons came to talk to them on her commitment to sport, to embracing life and also to accepting her disability. All the boys did a poster on Commitment ... as much as I had to agree that 'Daddy is cool' I did also have to gently remind Joshua that Mummy does way more than just clean the house!!!!

Of his own volition, Joshua decided to leave Mrs Bell a note on the whiteboard - so cute

All the class have been studying Kiwis ... they all then had to draw 'their' Kiwi

Joshua's Merit Card ... Josh takes the merit system very seriously and is most proud that he is currently leading the merit board

Joshua's self portrait ... how he sees himself!

Learning Tennis

This term we feel very lucky to have Coach Andy of Wellington Club. There are only 2 boys in his squad, namely Joshua and his friend Amanaki from school. Our Thursday night routine is that Mummy picks up both boys from school, feeds them a quick afternoon tea in the car enroute and then we all sprint to Wellington Tennis Club where we play on the outdoor courts.

Every parent knows the signs when their child is happy and loving something ... with Josh, he gets very talkative and a little bit silly. Suffice to say that at tennis Joshua talks and yabbers away ALL the time and laughs a lot.

Coach Andy is very happy with Joshua's tennis. He has told us that Josh has great eye-hand-ball co-ordination, good control of the racket and has a killer backhand already! Coach Andy has suggested that if Joshua's skills keep tracking in this direction, he would like to encourage him to play some inter-club tennis this summer.

What is best of all ... Joshua LOVES it! Mmm, I think Mummy and Daddy may need to polish up on their tennis skills in the not too distant future.

Mini Ball

Joshua came home very excited from school telling me that he would like to play Mini Ball for Scots College. They have entered 2 composite teams from Years 3 and 4 and Joshua is playing for the HOOPSTERS and Mr Wright the Year 4 Teacher is their coach. They play every Wednesday evening.

Mini Ball is, essentially, basketball with a few minor differences. The boys cannot attack the opposition to get the ball until they are in the second half of the court; you wear a coloured band around your wrist and you only mark the opposing player with the same coloured band. We have had 2 grading games so far and the Hoopsters have won both games - very convincingly - in fact this evening they won 18-0. Joshua is LOVING it - he is fast, he seems to have almost mastered dribbling of the ball and doesn't seem to have any problem whatsoever going in and getting the ball both on attack and defence. Maybe ... just maybe ... this will be his best team sport!

Special Notes

Joshua has taken to writing little notes on sticky notelet paper and then sticking them around the house. Here are 3 taken from the collection found dotted here and there around the house this evening.

Uncle Johnny & Maritess

Josh gets very excited to see "Uncle" Johnny and Maritess. He is now of an age where he is particularly interested in, and proud of, Uncle Johnny and all his flying. Tonight, Joshua couldn't wait for him to arrive so they could fly his remote helicopter to see just how good Uncle Johnny was at flying - err, stick to the air I think Johnny.

Johnny has a wicked sense of humour and keeps telling Mummy that as Joshua's "Uncle" it is his responsibility to give him a few thrills in his life and teach him some tricks ... he keeps threatening to take him up in the air in a harvard or the likes and do loop-the-loop. Johnny, as much as I trust you in the air, I think we may leave it for a few more years!

PS Flying has consumed Johnny's life .. from the age of 17 when as a Kiwi he went to the Cranwell RAF Academy in the UK, graduating top of his class. He then devoted his life as a fighter pilot for the NZ Air Force. In latter years flying still features hugely in his life from Warbirds to stunt flying to organising air shows and of course he is GM of CAA. But you would never know ... he is so quietly humble.

Special Letters

Josh was really thrilled and had a sly little smile on his face when he received a letter in the mail from Georgia. Apparently Georgia had written this letter unsupervised and even posted it herself - well done Georgia!

Joshua wanted to write back ... the words are all his own, but there was a little help with some of the spelling.
These 2, although now living in two different cities, have truly not forgotten each other.