Homeschoolers' Disco.....

L8 organised it all entirely herself and was very pleased with the outcome.

There was the fabulous honorary-homeschooler Sophie (who *almost* never made it, and whom I am never going to forget to pick up after school EVER again!):

There was the nail boutique:

There was swingin':

And Dancin':

Ooops, there was a bit of 'puterin':

And there was food:

And I can't explain this one for the life of me ;o):

Quote For The Day: "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's not interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating." - Anonymous

Tramping, Romping and Posing.....

I wanted a photo of The Mob to put in a frame to send to my wonderful Great Aunty Maria in Dunedin, so I asked them to pose for me:

In return, they asked if I could take photos of them posing:


Which progressed to "Can you take a photo of me on the tramp, please?":

Friday - Fish Night.....

It's a hangover from being bought up as a Good Catholic Girl - you have Fish on Fridays!
I just had to include this photo of our lovely flounder, before I wrapped them and baked them, for the benefit of Lou and Kate - who can't love flounder like we do!

I thought I'd take a quick snapshot (if you'll pardon the pun) of each member of my family at the same point in time (as much as practicable) this fine Friday evening.
There was The Lad - relaxing with a gin and the telly:

There was A10 - relaxing with playstation and another telly:

There was L8 - planning a "Disco" for early next week:

There was H6 - decorating her room, in her togs, as you do at 8pm:

And there was L4 - following me round as only your 4yos can:

The Circus Must Be In Town.....

The Girls - L8, Jessica and H6 put on a well-rehearsed montage of tumbles, round-offs, human pyramids, barrell walking, etc. - a truly stunning choreographed event!

Trolleying ('cos that's a word, don't ya know?.....)

A10 has been having a ball with his mates and the neighbours over the last few weeks trolleying down through the tracks in the forest - we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was speeding so fast that the camera couldn't focus on him, but actually the batteries were getting flat ;o(

Uncle R's 70th.....

There was the Grandmother (and the Great-Grandmother.....):

There were the Aunties and Uncles (and Great-Aunties and Great-Uncles and Brothers.....):




There were the cousins (first cousins, second cousins, third cousins.....):












The Birthday Boy gets his own space:



The "Chef Extraordinaire" gets her own space (which I'm sure she'll be stoked about.....)

There was "Pin The Lips On The Frog":

And there was CAKE:


And there was a tremendous amount of fun, connection, re-connection and the general gelling and frivolity that inevitably occurs when family are gathered - how lucky am I?

I'm *Sure* I'll Get Up.....

We decided to put off travelling to Otaki today in order to attend the Uncle's 70th tomorrow - you know you're getting old when your party starts at 1pm, lol!

The Lad was off out for some drinkies with some mates, so we opted to bring him home safely (and cheaply) tonight and to get off to an early start in the morning - 'cos I'm *really* good at getting up of a morning.....

Ooooh, Nanna's Coming.....

We were excited all morning waiting for Nanna to come and visit, we finally had to go out to the library and chose the one across from The Aunty's house where Nanna was visiting first.....

And of course, we just *had* to call in and see the cousins who are holidaying from Malaysia with their Nanna ;o)

I Spy, With My Beady Little Eye.....

A10 took this photo of one of the quail who have been visiting us lately:


Can Ya See It?????