A New School Year Begins

Another school year begins. Rosie is in Year 3 now and it was Harry's first week of school this week! It is hard to believe that he is now 5 and all grown up. :)

Both were super excited about starting school and had been looking forward to it for quite some time. Harry has enjoyed trying on his unform periodically during the holidays, "just to make sure it still fits" and was up bright and early on the first day.

Rosie and Harry are both really lucky to have great teachers and the first few days have gone very smoothly. They love getting up each morning and going to school and that is such a blessing to me. Being a full time working mum, we are up fairly early and they are now at an age where they are largely indpendent in getting changed, getting their own breakfast and packing their school bags.

With baby number three arriving in a few short months, it will be quite a shock to the system to go back to nappies, sleepless nights and having a little one who relies solely on us to take care of all his/her needs. I am quite scared about it! lol. Things have definitely got easier as the kids have grown older but I figure we have been through it twice before and survived, and hopefully we can do it again!

Oh and I had to share a photo of Harry's new chair bag that I made. A couple of years ago I made Rosie a school chair bag and this one isn't nearly as fancy, but I found this blue skull fabric for $5 a metre and whipped one up for him. It isn't the flashest, but at least he likes it. :)

We are all looking forward to another great year at school! :)

School Sharing Morning 2011

Rosie's school recently held their annual sharing morning for the junior students.

It is an opportunity for parents to come in and see their child's work and have a look at the displays around the classroom.

As a teacher myself, I know the work that goes into preparing for a morning like this so I really appreciated the opportunity to visit Rosie's room.

Each of the children had a set routine of items they wanted to share with their parents and they had prepared short little "speeches" on each of these.

Rosie loved showing me her reading and writing books and was especially proud of her poems and art.

She even showed me the height chart for the class and to our surprise, she wasn't the shortest! For the longest time she has always been the smallest in the class. :)

Although it isn't always easy to make it to events like these, especially for working parents, it is so worth it when you see your child's face light up when you appear at the door and I am so glad I got to go this year. :)

School Sandwich Fun

I have been facing a challenge in our household. There is a member of the family who shall remain nameless (but her name starts with R), who is a very fussy eater. She was a dream baby and a perfect sleeper...but as soon as we hit the 15 month mark, everything turned to custard with her eating. This was a sign of things to come and I have to say, not a lot has changed. She loves what she loves (chicken and rice anyone?) and everything else is a challenge.

This makes school lunches extra difficult and month after month, her sandwiches would come home with a couple of bites out of them, or still wrapped up and uneaten. We thought we would tackle this by removing all the "nice" food from her box. Crackers, home baking, popcorn and all other yummy things were taken out and she literally only had her sandwiches, fruit and water left. This backfired on us and both the fruit and sandwiches were still coming home untouched. Yep, she preferred to eat NOTHING all day!

Looking for anything to try and improve this, I decided to try and make sandwiches more fun for her. I dug out all the cookie cutters and started cutting her sandwiches into special shapes and to my amazement, it worked! Yes, lots of the bread was wasted but finally she was eating her sandwiches. The heart shape ones are her favourites.

So please, if anyone has any ideas for fussy eaters and school lunches, please help me out. I am pretty sure this trick is not going to last forever and I need new inspiration! :)

Rangitoto Island

A few days ago we headed to Rangitoto Island for a school trip so today I thought I would share some snaps from our day. The weather was perfect and I marvelled, as I always do, at how beautiful our country is. :)

The boat approaching the wharf



The water was so calm, a perfect day!



Pause for a photo at the half way point

The crater

View from the summit

Views across to the city

A speedy trip home after a great day

I highly recommend a trip to Rangitoto for any that haven't been before. It is a must see for every Auckland visitor!

Penny Scanlan

I thought I would share some of my favourite things on my blog in the next few weeks. :)Today I be will sharing one of my favourite sources of gorgeous things for kids. If you are looking for funky kids bags and accessories, you can't go past Penny Scanlan.

I found this apple backpack for Rosie at Little Red Hen in Gisborne a few weeks ago and it was too gorgeous to pass up. Penny's items are all great quality and I would be happy to use them for myself if they came in adult sizes!

We also have Penny's cute strawberry tote which Rosie uses as her dance and swimming bag each week. It has had a year's worth of constant use and still looks new! You can find Penny Scanlan products at children's boutique stores around New Zealand and I highly recommend them. :)

Back to Work...

It is my first official day back today and it is all systems go. I have had a great holiday and now it is time to get back to it! Wish me luck. :)

That Time of Year

I admit it, I love school stationery. I always have.

I remember the joy of a brand new pen and a clean exercise book. I remember making sure that my handwriting was the best it could be on the front page of every book.

Now it is time to share the joy with my daughter. :)

This week Rosie and I had a bit of bonding time together in the form of stationery shopping. We got our list, visited the mall and had a great time choosing all her goodies for the year. Several times she commented to me how much fun she was having, it appears the apple doesn't fall far from the tree on this one!

We covered her books (let me know if you have any tips as this job never seems to get easier!), labelled all her pencils and felts and had a lovely time together while we were at it. Now she is all set to start the year and believe me, she cant wait. :)

School Routines Chart

Yes, it is that time of year again. Back to school preparations are upon us and this year I am trying to introduce some firmer after school routines for our little ones. Working full time, it is fairly hectic in the afternoons when we arrive home. There is washing to deal with, dinner to cook and homework to be done. I think my two littlies sense that during this time, my attention is spread thin with all the jobs I am trying to deal with. They then target me for food, hoping that I will give in and they can fill themselves up with crackers and fruit before dinner!

I found this helpful free printable after school routine chart over at Living Locurto and I am hoping it will help make our after school routine run a little smoother. They can visually see that before they can have their snack, they have their own responsibilities they need to fulfill. While they are doing their jobs I can prepare their snack and have more control over the quantities they are consuming. I can't tell you how many times I come up the stairs after getting the clothes off the line to find an almost empty box of crackers! I have laminated the routines chart and will put it on their door so that they can access it easily. I am looking forward to trying it out. :) 

Rosie's School Sharing Morning

Rosie's school had a sharing morning today and I was lucky enough to be able to visit! It is rare for me to be able to attend events such as these so I was really grateful for the opportunity.

Her school is in the process of becoming certified as an International Baccalaureate school and I was able to learn more about the process and what it means for Rosie's learning.

She showed me her 'Letter of the Week' area and was very proud of her 'O Octopus'.

She also showed me her portfolio of published stories. I was horrified to read one particular story. "My Mum and I spent the weekend watching DVD's and eating popcorn, chips, chocolate, lollies and drinking hot chocolate". I can only imagine what the teacher was thinking when she read that little gem!

I was really impressed with how bright and stimulating the environment was. They have been studying life cycles this term and the classification of living and non living things.

Rosie and her friend Darnel were keen to show me their 'Mohawk Grass Man' and the bean plant they have been growing over the last few weeks.

I had a lovely morning and feel confident that she is being taught in a caring and secure environment.

Zoo Trip

We had a fantastic day at the zoo today. After my late night at work and exhausting last few days, I wasn't feeling that enthused about the trip. The weather was originally forecast as wet and nasty and with 180 'emerging adolescents', that is never a good combination at a zoo.

I was over the moon to wake up this morning to sunshine and warmth! Due to fantastic parent help and great zoo educators, we actually had a very calm and relaxing day. We checked out the new alligator enclosure (I am interested to see how Rose and Harry will react when they see it on our next visit) and had a leisurely walk around the zoo.

I also went to the Kiwi and Tuatara house for the first time, although the highlight was learning how some of the keepers have trained a diabetic Cottontop Tamarin to get her insulin shots and respond to simple commands. Amazing! All in all, a great day.

Sherwood Book Parade

It was Book Week at Rose's school this week and due to it being the last week in a very long 11 week term, we needed a quick and easy option for the book parade today! Snow White was the solution.




We picked up this costume from Trademe about 18 months ago after Rose was invited to a friends Disney Princess party. It was originally from Marks and Spencer in the UK.

I love the matching red velvet cape and red headband but unfortunately Rose doesn't feel the same!




Despite trying to use my powers of persuasion, the headband only made it as far as the car. As soon as we arrived at school she took it off and told me she "didn't like the way it sticks up"! At least I got a couple of photos with it on!

She had a great time at the parade and it was a lovely way to end the term. Here is Rose with the NX Sherwood Crew!