B is for books at Christmas

It is not Christmas in this house without books. This is what is in the present pile this year:
Much loved author of the Moomin books - my much much older cousin gave me his entire set of the chapter books one year when I had something published - I was always getting my poems/stories published in various things as a child.


I am SO EXCITED about getting this myself - from all the reviews I have read, this is one book every single New Zealander should own or at least read. Ties in very very well with my university studies too.
 For the die-hard Queen fan - one of the teenagers. 

Another one for me - it arrived this afternoon and I had a 2 second look and then wrapped it back up and told myself patience, patience!


For the youngest child - adores atlases/maps - I think he has the best geographical knowledge of anyone I know and I know he would leave quite a few teachers for dead :)



For the train MAD teenager - a true public transpost nerd really - and one who collects train maps/schedules from all around the world, this is perfect!
For the minecraft mad child - oh yes - I am guessing everyone has a child like this? I am hoping he does not know it all - the child who reads the least of all of us, so I hope this helps pick his reading up!


 For the Tintin fanatic - I think after years of gifting these every Christmas and birthday since before he could probably read, he finally has the entire collection.




 For the map fanatic teen too - I am hoping the husband might like this too - I do not have him a single book as yet as I won't buy something for him unless he is with me as he can be a particular reader!


Anyone else gifting books? I am always looking for new things for all ages and children's books too for school , so if you have any favorites let me know! I have bought these as a mixture from local independant bookshops and a few from the Book Depository.

Books are the best gifts I think. I am especially happy with the Tangata Whenua one and if that is all I recieve at Christmas, I'll be happy. :)

around the place

It has been a weekend at home. GLORIOUS weather! Hedge chopping. A lot fo weeding. So much laundry done. So much now to fold and iron. Airing out winter blankets and duvet inners. Sorting out wool. Knitting socks and dishcoths. Essay planning. Messy bedside tables. Cooking dinner from Jamie's latest cookbook (a bargain at $22 in Melbourne). A great weekend. One last week of shool for me.

sweet birthdays

We are all very grumpy here. It is a combination of the end of the year, madness at work, schools finishing and Christmas can't-be-bothered-ness. (the New Zealand/Australian school year goes from January/February to December). So as well as trying to get up to date with everything before the country shuts down for a bit after Christmas, there are end of year prizegivings, music concerts, new 2015 school orinetations etc etc. I'm done/exhausted with everything. As our schools all run themselves seperately, we have different finish/start dates. One child finished 3 weeks ago, another yesterday, my school next week and the last school finishes the week after. It is all dependant on year level too even within the same school. Next year two start January 22 ( !! ), me Jan 28 and I have no idea when the other high school starts at all yet. It is sure to be another date again!

Anyway, I received lots of sweet gorgeous things for my birthday - here is a peek.

 adore the tray and jug from my best friend. The Laura Asheley measuring jug was a gift to myself for a steal at $10!

 LOVE it!

 I have a tea towel obsession whether new or op-shopped or blog swaps!

 Phoenix stationery and Kikki K stationery goodies.

 Kikki K love.

 Kikki K - this calendar is a must every yar for me.

 My summer reading. One of NZ's top authors.

 so sweet - measuring spoons from another friend.

And handmade GOODNESS - adore the fabric. made by dear Tracy at Sunny Corner Farm blog.

Lucky me. Lots of very meaningful adorable gifts.

Taking Stock

Making : socks and pyramid shawlettes for Christmas gifts
Cooking : not much.. but finally eating muesli, melon and yoghurt for breakfast (22 months on from tonsils will not touch milk - have eaten toast for brekkie for months and months and it was grwoing old with me...)
Drinking : no. Stopped drinking all alcohol as sulphites react badly with me. Might try beer over summer. Otherwise lots and lots of Australian tea.
Reading: a birthday gift - Witi Ihimaera's Maori Boy
Wanting: lots of things but do I really NEED them??
Looking: at the obscene pile of junk mail - went into the recycling bin
Playing: it is all work at this time of the year...
Deciding: what to do about Christmas and families
Wishing: Christmas decisions were made
Enjoying: family and birthdays
Waiting: for mail
Liking:my sweet birthday gifts
Wondering: if any of the 1000 books to be returned will be returned and where are the 800 odd lost ones...?????
Loving: family
Pondering: what to do over the summer
Considering: what to buy for gifts
Watching: a whole hour of tv on Monday night - I NEVER watch tv
Hoping: that the youngest's school camp is going well
Marvelling: at how fast this year has gone
Needing: little
Smelling: roses
Wearing: Target linen shorts and a Karen Walker top
Following: no-one at school - spending a lot of time by myself there
Noticing: personalities at work...
Knowing: more than I should know I think..
Thinking: what will happen next year
Admiring: new principal (still!)
Sorting: bedrooms
Buying: not much yet for Christmas
Getting: gorgeous gifts for birthday
Bookmarking: a few new knitting blogs
Disliking: politics and the NZ government for ditching inquiry/ curiculum books going to schools from Term 3 2015 - they are mental!
Opening: sweet mail and gifts
Giggling: at my good university pass (I did not do all of the work... have exams sussed I think!)
Feeling: happy
Snacking: fruit, tomato chutney, cheese and crackers
Coveting: shoes from England  http://www.kickers.co.uk/women-c3/women-s-kick-t-brogue-patent-dark-red-p5561  and   http://www.kickers.co.uk/women-c3/women-s-kopey-hi-red-p5520
Wishing: hols were here
Helping: teachers sort classrooms (or me sneaking in to hunt...)
Hearing: school choir daily practicing for prizegiving

Thanks to Pip for the list..

http://meetmeatmikes.com/taking-stock-september/

Birthday Best

These gorgeous flowers arrived at school today from the lovely husband - in a groovy flax basket with flax flowers too - love it.

But the BEST thing - logging onto the uniersity website and seeing that I have another pass - woo hoo - 3 papers passed in a year around nearly fulltime work etc, etc,etc. feeling very proud of myself and happy. And off to dinner at the Depot (cannot book, so it might be a drink unti we get a table. Looking for wines without sulphates as had enough of allergic reactions lately..!)

birthday garden gifts

It is a few days until my birthday, but we went to Rogers in Mangere this morning to buy some hydrangeas and roses for me. They are gorgeous and it has made me give the front garden a really big tidy up. Loving that I will have a lot of cut flowers in the future! And adoring my sweetpeas too - the simple things in life.

The Alternative School Report

I'm one of the those parents who do a glance at my kid's school reports and then file them away. I have no time for any report written under the NZ National Standards regime. The bits I love are the general comments. I will mention that I am on a NZ school board and we fought and fought not to do National Standards until we really had to. They are not even mentioned at parent teacher interviews, such is the disdain for them at the school. But we have to follow the MOE rules...
Obviously the older they get, reports are more meaningful.
I am not sure whether exams or internal assessment is the preferred thing for my older boys - we are now on a 2 month wait for Cambridge exam results to come out. One kids is flicking to an NCEA school next year - this again is something I am not sure about.
Anyway, along with the official report which we received today, the year 6 kid had to write his own report - I loved it and am still laughing...


Reading - R does well in reading, but sometimes goes off track. He knows what lots of words mean and is great at sciming and scanning. (spelling his own)


Writing - R did better than expected. But he talks too much. (huh?). He uses well spaced paragraphs and has a good vocabulary.


Maths - R does well in maths an is always doing the right thing. He knows lots about times tables.


Religious Education - R, when he really wants to (hee hee - yes the story of his life!), will create amazeing work, But falls short on getting work done in time.


General comment - R is doing well in most things. Sometimes he goes off work. But that is what everyone will do at some point. If he keeps it up (what? the going off task?), I expect to go on and do great things.


A beaut! This is the kid who is a strong kinaesthetic learner and  I was told when he was 6, that the NZ education system was not set up for kids like him... he struggled to sit still and got bored (which I suspect is still an issue)... nearly ready for a new journey kiddo. We have fingers crossed that this next school will suit you better!