Where has the past week gone ???

We have had a HUGE week. Here is a wee slice of what we have been up to ....

We joined in the Scots Holiday Programme for a few half-days and one full-day which is run by the 2IC at Scots who is so well organised in his games and activities. It is full-on and there is no rest and the children literally bounce from one team game to the next. They all seem to love it. We also feel with Josh being an only child it is good to encourage him to participate in as many team 'things' as he can.

We have also managed to fit in a few play-dates with Ruby & Daisy, Freddie and also Ilena and James. We had Julie and her 2 children, Tom and Emily, down from Auckland and they came over for an afternoon. We have competed, as a family, on the WII in basketball and cycling (and Josh is getting VERY good!).

Oh holidays are just so good aren't they ?!?! We are having a lot of fun so far - and as the following photos show, lots of 'silly' times !

Josh with James and Ilena - James ALWAYS pulls faces, he is destined for the stage, that boy !

Josh and Freddie being VERY silly with their faces - hope the wind doesn't change !

Josh and Freddie being very silly - again - on baby pink bikes at the velodrome!

Budding Models

Spencer came for a play date today before flying out to Vanuatu and the sunshine - oh we are so envious ! We managed to bike to Scorching Bay and back before the rain set in and this afternoon went into town to have a look at some games for the WII.

The boys suggested they 'pose' in front of this menswear window .... mmm, not bad, what do you think, do we have two budding models in the making ???

Phew, what a pace to start the holidays ...

Well, if we keep this pace up every day of the holidays, Mummy wiill be exhausted (and perhaps Josh might be a little tired as well).

We had organised a group from school, along with siblings, to meet at the pool at 9am ! The children played and frolicked for nearly 2 hours. After expending heaps of energy, we all arrived en-masse at Maranui Cafe on the beach to re-fuel and then took Huddy out to surf the waves and climb the rocks out to the far 'island'.

Harrison and Sophia came home with us - we played on the guitar, went to the park and slid down the slides with our coffee sacks to get maximum speed; we had heaps of fun with the ball that when thrown into the air turns into a parachute; and then we went back down to the beach with Huddy. Enroute Harrison found a mud patch down at the park and turned it into a sliding ramp (and encouraged Sophia and Josh to try it!). They removed their shoes and socks and skidded and squelched in the mud, it was hilarious. We called in to see Grandma on the way home and she thought they had painted their feet !

Home to be hosed down (literally!) before hots showers; dinner and a game of scrabble in front of the fire; stories in bed and finally the land of nod (for Mummy as well!). one day down ...20 to go, glory-be !!

Group fun in the water - Bailey, Jahn, Josh in the middle grinning from ear-to-ear, Summer, Spencer, Thomas, Payton and Olivia and 2 other little 'add-ons'

And then the pool became more fun with big-boy Harrison arrived !

Mud, glorious mud - we spent heaps of time slipping and sliding, it was very funny actually!!

Josh 'hates' it when Huddy comes out of the water and shakes all over him - he is about to do it, look out Josh !

So much freedom to simply run ... and run ... and run. We are so blessed where we live.

What shall we do over the holidays?

Tonight all 3 of us sat down with a pen and paper and decided to make a list of 'things to do' over the holidays. We explained to Josh that we had to choose some things that are 'free' and others that cost a little money.

So far .... this is what is on the list - some were suggestions by us but have only been listed if Josh has agreed to them! It goes without saying ... we are going to be busy!

• Go and see the movie, SHREK 3D
• Just simply relax and get out of bed when we feel like it - and maybe have a day or two when Josh doesn't get out of his jarmies until midday!
• Play on the WII (having borrowed the Star Wars game from Spencer)
• Take his bike and scooter down to the Rec Centre and try all the ramps on the new circuit
• Go and see the movie 'TOY STORY'
• Make up the Amazing Clock Kit he received from Grandma & Grandad for his birthday
• Have Tomo here for a sleepover (no surprises there!)
• Go swimming at H2O Extreme and go down ALL the water slides including the big yellow one and visit Granney Cranney on the way home
• Design, paint and build his own toy glider (another birthday project)
• Climb to the top of Mt KauKau - and back down again!
• Read say 10 books from his literacy award list
• Sell some more Scots College cookbooks to try and win the competition
• Organise a playdate with Ruby & Daisy who have moved into a house just round the corner (yay, it is so great to have them back in the neighbourhood)
• Practise some online mathematics
• Possibly a family trip up north to play in the snow with Clare & Vince, Luca, Anes and Elise
• Have some fun with 'word-find' puzzles
• Fly our kite
• Have a sleep-over with big-boy Enzo
• Have Aunty Karen and Uncle Terry in here for a sleep-over
• Bake cookies - and eat some dough BEFORE they go in the oven
• Practise soccer with Daddy down at the park so he can feel more confident to join in at school soccer
• With Mummy's help, work on a project which is to design and make up a board game for his class at school
• Go for a bike ride down the Hutt River
• Take Huddy for lots of swims at Lyall Bay and then chill out at Maranui Cafe with hot chocolates and marshmellows
• Go fishing and catch heaps of fish for dinner and then barbeque them (mmm, okay we might need some help here - where are you Malcolm?)
• Participate on a few days at the School Holiday Programme at Scots
• Visit Time-Zone
• Go and see Aunty Margaret & Uncle Apples on the train and maybe have a sleepover at their house
• Lots and lots of play-dates with lots and lots of friends from both Seatoun & Scots Prep School
• Play board games at night - Monopoly and Junior Scrabble being the top 2
• Book in for a hot spa at the swimming pool
• Eats lots of ice-creams & lollies!
• Go to bed really late
• Play rugby on Saturday

We may NEED a holiday after all of the above .... standby for us reporting in!

Mid-Year School Report 2010

Joshua's report arrived in the mail today. It was so heartening to receive and read a very personalised report and we were just delighted with what was said about Joshua and his progress and application.

The Effort Grades are:
E Exemplary
C Commendable
S Satisfactory
M More effort required

Across the board in all subjects - English, French, Mathematics, Inquiry, Religious Education, Physical Education, Music and Visual Arts - Joshua was awarded a C.

The Achievement Grades are:
4 Achieving well above the expected standard
3 Achieving above the expected standard
2 Achieving at the expected standard
1 Progressing towards the expected standard

Joshua was awarded a 3 in all subjects with the exception of Inquiry for which he received a 2.

Joshua's class teacher, Mrs Bell, summarised as follows:

"Joshua has had a great first semester at his new school. He is achieving above the expected standard, particularly in Reading and Maths. Joshua needs to continue learning his spelling words. His developing phonemic awareness is helping him to form new words and his visual memory is helping him to spell high frequency words. Armed with these word attack skills, Joshua is becoming a more confident writer. Joshua has been a real pleasure to teach this semester and should feel very proud of the progress he has made. It was particularly pleasing to see him complete his first level Literacy Award."

"Joshua has settled quickly into Year 2; his cheery smile and lovely manners have been appreciated in the classroom this semester. Joshua's self confidence has blossomed and he has made huge progress becoming a more confident risk taker with his learning in the classroom and in sporting activities. He is now willing to give things a go which he would previously have anxiously shied away from."

"Joshua is a responsible student who shows a mature commitment to his own learning. He enjoys the company of the other boys and has made several friends within the class. He is a loyal friend who is particularly concerned for other's welfare."


And Mr Cassie, the Principal, wrote ...

"Joshua has made a very positive start to his years in the Prep School. His enthusiastic approach to school life is pleasing and will ensure further consolidation of his learning as the year unfolds. I am pleased to read of Joshua's positive commitment to his learning and growing confidence, particularly when facing the unknown. Keep up the good work Joshua and strive for excellence in all that you do".

We read the report out to Joshua this evening and explained it all to him. We told him how very happy and pleased we were with his report and encouraged him to feel incredibly proud of himself.

There is no perfect school out there; there is no perfect student out there .... but you make a choice to the best of your knowledge and 'feeling' about your child and their needs, and both of us sincerely feel that Scots Prep School and Joshua work so well together. This report is such a fantastic start to Joshua's years at Scots and we are very happy with the choice we made to move him there.

Warm Feet are Happy Feet

As a wee treat after our Magic Mile this morning, Mummy and Joshua got new boots and what's more they are fur-lined - so snuggly and toasty-roasty. It is so freezing cold at the moment and these boots are unbelievably snug. Daddy had no idea and so we put them on and then worked out a little dance routine and came toe-tapping into the room and sang a rendition of our own made-up song that went something like this "Warm Feet are Happy Feet, watch us dance, watch us sweat, oh yeah, warm feet are happy feet" - and we danced all around the room !

Wellington's Magic Mile ... and our magical little runner

Each year Wellington hosts the Harbour Capital Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10km and Kid's Magic Mile and today marked the 25th anniversary of this annual event. Joshua ran in the Magic Mile when he was 5 years old and today ran it again. Mummy ran alongside him (just quietly ... to simply 'push' him a little and to keep encouraging him not to stop!). And the good news is that Joshua ran the entire mile without stopping! However I have to say that the conditions were appalling - it had to be one of our most wet and coldest days this winter - thanks Wellington! Children were slipping over and sploshing in the puddles, it was like running dodgems !

However, the organisers do it so well - at the end of the race, all the children got to give Hearty a hi-five (the heart-shaped human-sized character that dances around) and receive a big bag of goodies including drinks, apples and health snacks - and of course more entry forms for future events! There were lots of fun activities and games inside the Stadium afterwards and each child was also given a medal - how PC is that ?!?!

But guess what - Joshua won a spot prize (an All Blacks Adidas bag) - go Josh!

Suffice to say, when we got home it was another race - but this time the race was to get the first hot shower (and that included Huddy!!).

We are all smiles BEFORE the race, despite the rain

The finish line in sight - we are SO wet!

Two drowned 'rats' at the end - one little 'rat' very relieved it is over!

The jacket says it all really (Joshua's rugby jacket) !

A Storm thrashes Wellington

Sometimes you just seriously have to really love this city of ours especially when it is being ravaged by rain, southerlies and storm conditions ! Today ALL junior sport was cancelled - seriously it would be hard for them to stand up straight in the winds today !

However, we have one little brave boy in the family and that is Mr Hudson. He knows that Saturday is his swimming day (he also knows that he has a warm shower and bubbles afterwards) - so Mummy and Josh watched from the car as Daddy stood on the pier and threw sticks out at Huddy whilst he surfed the waves oblivious to the weather or the conditions.

PS It was rather funny though to see 3 guys in their 20's obviously responding to a dare and skinny-dipping in the waves - and with the number of giggles coming from Joshua it wouldn't surprise me if he tries exactly the same one day!

Huddy braves the elements and fights against the under-tow

Still smiling as he comes out of the spray and surf

Happy Birthday Reuben AND Vegas

Two boys in Joshua's class both turned 7 a few days apart so their sensible parents decided to have a combined birthday party so in all we had 11 boys at Lanes Bowling Alley this afternoon and then a party upstairs in a private room - lots of energy, lots of testosterone - both fueled further by copious quantities of coke, cake and lollies - oh joy !!

The End of Term 2

Today marked the last day of school for Term 2 and the start of 3 weeks holiday - yes Scots College get an extra week at this time of the year and Josh is VERY happy about that. And to be honest, so is Mummy - I think we are all ready for a break and to have some relaxing time and some FUN !!

All parents were invited to the final Assembly for the Term. At Assembly a number of announcements were made and then the presentation of Certificates to the winners and runner-ups for the House Swimming Competition.

Josh looked so happy and proud to be standing up the front to receive his Certificate

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House Music

Today we had the House Music Competitions. All 4 'houses' had to sing the song 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat' - an oldie but a goodie song originally by Split Enz. In addition to that, each House was given an Abba song to sing and they had poetic licence to alter the words to personalise it to their 'House'.

The College Hall was packed to over-flowing with parents and boys - and an official judge, a Maori music teacher from another school. Some of the teachers had taken the time to dress up in true authentic Abba style and some of them looked outrageous. And again, you could truly feel the competitive edge in the air as the boys marched in with their respective House groups.

McElvie were up first and their chosen song was Money-Money-Money; Bedding followed with The Name of the Game; Potatou then delivered Dancing Queen; and finally Macarthur sang Waterloo

They were all amazing and you could clearly see that their 8 weeks of practise had produced some very polished performances - some had used props, costumes, dance routines, comedy, you name it. All songs were brilliant !

But guess who won ... YES, Macarthur WON !!! All the boys in Macarthur House started yahoo-ing - and so did the parents of the Macarthur boys ! Oh the surging power of a parent's pride, you feel like you are going to burst !

That is the final House event for the term. House points currently sit at:

43 : McElvie
42 : Macarthur
37 : Potatou
35 : Bedding

But hey, we still have 2 terms to go Macarthur - and if the All Whites can do it, so can we !

The final act was put on by the Maori Judge's students - onto the stage burst (and I mean burst) 15 boys who performed a haka which seriously made the All Blacks' haka look like a playful song and dance. Never before have I witnessed such an inspiring, emotional and stirring rendition. Many parents had tears running down their face. The haka is such a powerful signature for New Zealand ... and certainly this performance made us all reflect on how proud we are to be New Zealanders

A rather 'dark' photo ... however Josh is second from the left, bottom row - and he sang his wee heart out !

The winning team - 3 cheers for Macarthur !

Last day at School Swimming

Joshua's class has been swimming every Tuesday throughout Term 2. Today all parents were invited along to see the boys doingtheir lessons and then having fun in the splash pool. Joshua loves the fact that they all bus there together, swim and then bus back to school.

Our Top Frog

Woohoo ... Joshua is top of the Leap Frog table - the first time this year. Leap Frog is mathematics. Once a week, everyone in the class stands up and Mrs Bell rotates around the class and asks each person a maths question. They have to say the answer out loud and quickly without hesitating. Those who take too long to answer or who answer incorrectly sit down ... until there are only 2 people left standing and they basically have a play-off ... the last person standing wins. The names rotate on the board accordingly.

Joshua has been sitting in second place for a few weeks now and finally today he took the top slot. Long may he sit on that top lily pad !

Farewell to Variety Sports

They say "all good things come to an end". For the past 18 months, Joshua has been going to Variety Sports every Tuesday after school. It is a council-run class, mixed gender, ages 5 to 7. There are 2 instructors and they have the children in all sorts of games and the class is certainly full-on with heaps of variety and cardio workouts - they all have a ball and expend lots of energy ! Joshua has become quite a leader and a helper to the instructors which he loves.

However, Joshua is now 7 and it is time to move on and make room for the little ones coming through - so today was his very last Variety Sports !

Joshua getting his Award Certificate - go Josh !

Swimming Results

Newflash !!!

Joshua was awarded the Runner-Up to the Championship for Year 2 Swimming for 2010 - a fantastic result. Well done Joshua, we are so incredibly proud of you.

As for the House Results ....

1st: Bedding
2nd: Macarthur (Joshua's house) - drat!
3rd: McElvie
4th: Potatou

Mmm, not bad Macarthur !

A brilliant shot

I just received this photo of Josh taken by another parent at rugby yesterday ... lime green mouth-guard in place, eyes focused and hands raised in the air ready to catch the ball - brilliant !

Yay, Maranui Cafe has re-opened

Maranui Cafe is our 'local'. It is above the surf club, right on the beach, and is the most amazing Cafe - great casual ambience, brilliant coffee and divine food - and it literally pumps all day, every day. It is so casual that you can literally come out of the waves in your swimsuit, throw on a t-shirt and shorts and feel very welcome there. Sadly they had a fire about 8 months ago and it has been closed for re-construction. Well, it finally re-opened at the beginning of the month - and the lovely thing is that it looks almost identical to what it was like before with the exception of a new acoustic ceiling and new overhead lights - but even the menu has stayed much the same !

Welcome back Maranui - you have been missed and we will support you for sure !

A BIG day for us and Aunty Karen

It was so funny seeing Joshua run through the airport terminal with his 'welcome home' sign on the top of his head - you wouldn't believe the number of people who turned and tilted their heads trying to read the message ! Well, we arrived a little early and got ourselves set up and Grandma and Josh stood behind the sign so that as soon as Aunty Karen & Uncle Terry came out of the gate, they would see it - and they did!

Suffice to say there were LOTS of tears. We are all so happy, so delighted, so excited to have Karen (and also Terry) back in our lives. Aunty Karen has a very special 'connection' with Joshua and although she has been away for nearly 3 years, the connection is still as strong as it ever was - Josh is very happy to have her back. Only problem is that whenever Aunty Karen has stayed overnight with us, she has always slept in his room - Joshua gives her his bed and he sleeps on the trundler. However, Uncle Terry is now part of the picture ... so it is going to be interesting to see how Joshua is going to work out the sleeping arrangements!

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Huddy is pooped

Well, afterall Huddy has had a busy day .... he is 'dragged' along to rugby every Saturday morning to be the 'live' team mascot and all the kiddies love to play with him; then he was taken to Lyall Bay to swim and fetch sticks before coming home for his warm shower; no wonder he is fast asleep and snug-as-a-bug in his bed early tonight.

Sweet dreams gorgeous Huddy

Mustangs 25 : Cyclones 20

Captain Joshua leads his team onto the field for today's game

A crisp and chilly morning dawned and we all received a 7am text to say the game was ON. Captain Joshua was keen and eager and they had a cracker game against another Poneke team called the Cyclones. There was lots of running, some good passing, lots of tackling and some good trys - with a great result and a win for the Mustangs.

There were a few tentative 'moments' in today's game that saw Joshua a little upset - once when an opposition player gouged his sprigs down the back of Joshua's leg - and then another one stood on his hand - not good !!

However, despite all of that ... and as if Joshua's day in the swimming pool yesterday was not enough ... today he was not just Captain but he was also awarded Player of the Day.

After-match report from the coach said ...

Joshua was an excellent half-back today, sticking to the game plan and passing to Susan at first 5/8th and then running around behind the back-line to get the ball if a Mustang got tackled. Joshua had some great runs and he also had one of the highest tackle counts today. His best play though was being in close support for Charlie when the two of them were the last two Mustangs chasing a 'Cyclone' in a runaway. Charlie tackled the Cyclone who spilled the ball - two other Cyclones were in close support and if they had got the ball then it would definitely have been a Cyclone's try - but Joshua saved the day by snaffling the ball and running forward. For his all round game and especially for being the best Mustang today in being in close support, Joshua Turnbull was awarded Mustangs Player of the Day. Congratulations Joshua!

Grab the ball Joshua!

Josh is right on the shoulder of the Mustang ball carrier

Joshua grabs the ball with both hands and breaks away heading for the try line

Josh throwing the ball in

A sight we don't want to see too often - injured 'man' down (yikes, it's Joshua - keep breathing Mummy!)

Woohoo, fancy footwork Josh !