Going Away

Today after I drop Daniel at school and have done school patrols I am heading off for the weekend.

Usually I come home at night however as I found this tough going after long days at the conference last year.  This year I am going to sleep there.  I have also been blessed by some very kind person to have my breakfast paid for.  I was going to take my breakfast and lunch and only pay for my dinner.  I get lunch provided in return for volunteering for helping with the lunch dishes.  I never volunteered knowing that this would be a way of the church saying thanks.  This is just one of the many advantages I have found of putting yourself in volunteering capacities.  
It is a long weekend here so Ill be out there til Monday afternoon :)  I have been looking forward to this all weekend :)

Photo A Day in June

With my birthday recently came the ability to be able to take photos easily again :)

On Saturday it is June (already, can you believe that?)
I am going to be taking part in a photo challenge :)  Maybe youd like to play along too :)

hosted by Chantelle over at http://fatmumslim.com.au/

1. B is for…: Share a photo of something starting with the letter B.
2. A moment: You might have a special moment with someone you love, a little time to yourself. Just capture any moment from today and share it.
3. On my table: It’s likely that we’ll all come across a table at some point today. How can you capture what’s on the table? Get creative.
4. After dark: When the sun goes down, take a photo.
5. Environment: Today is World Environment Day, take a photo of your environment. This is our charity prompt for the month.
6. Transport: Be it a car, bike, skateboard, plane or another mode… capture transport.
7. Bright: Is it light? Is it smart? Capture bright.
8. An animal: From the teeniest of insects to an animal at the zoo, find an animal and shoot it. I mean take a photo, of course!
9. From down low: Get down low today and take a photo looking up.
10. You!: Show us you. Be discreet if you like. Or take a selfie. Or a photo of an old photo. Anything. Just show us you.
11. Something funny: What makes you laugh? A comic strip in the newspaper? A movie? A person?
12. 11 o’clock: At either 11am or 11pm take a photo of whatever it is you’re doing.
13. Kitchen: We all have a kitchen, so how will you take a photo to capture it. Black and white? Find a cooler kitchen to snap?
14. Texture: The sand at a beach? The knit in your scarf? A close-up of the hair on your dog? Capture texture.
15. From above: Stand on a chair, climb some stairs – just find a way to get high and take a photo looking down.
16. Family: It’s Father’s Day in some parts of the world, so share a photo of your family.
17. Centred: Put your subject matter in the middle of the photo. Make it front and centre!
18. Street: Take a photo of a street-scape.
19. Currently reading: Are you in the middle of a great book? Reading a sign on the street? Or a great blog? Share.
20. Cute: What’s your idea of cute? A person, a cat, or something else?
21. Lunchtime: What does lunchtime look like for you today? Are you eating alone? With others? Out? At home? At your desk? We wanna see!
22. Enjoying life: Today you have permission to go out and enjoy yourself. Do it!
23. Last: Interpret this as you please. How can you show ‘last’ in a photo?
24. Negative space: Negative space is where you leave a lot of blank space in a photograph to show off the subject in your picture
25. Sharp: This could be the blade of a knife, or a corner of a building, someone in a suit – or however else you want to interpret sharp.
26. Empty: This one pretty much explains itself, so how will you show empty.
27. Into the sun: Use the most beautiful light source in the world. You can shoot straight into it, or use something as a filter {a tree, a silhouette of a person…}
28. Red: Today is red nose day in Australia. Show us some red!
29. In my bag: Let’s take a sneak peek into what you’re carrying around. No bag? Show us what’s in your wallet or pocket instead.
30. Handwriting: Take a photo of handwriting. Maybe you’ll have to step away from the computer and pick up a pen!

Dinosaurs and Daniel becomes a Cub

 Tonight at Keas and Cubs.  I had a small group of Keas to start with (our girl was getting ready to be a proper Kea (shes just started) and Daniel was getting ready to be a Cub).  They did help later :)
With the interest that was shown last week when we looked fossils.  I decided to look a bit more at dinosaurs that lived in New Zealand.  We painted a landscape for them and put some dinosaurs on it and I added some info about them :)  They seemed to love painting :)

Towards the end of the night Daniel "flew up" from Keas to Cubs.  

getting a new toggle

making the Cub promise

Daniel Loves Art

This morning when I dropped Daniel at school

I found these hanging up on the wall of his classroom

Daniel LOVES art

this is his painting of a leaf

Daniel just told me where to  find some more of his art work
http://year3sncs.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Daniel

Grateful

Things Im Grateful For Today

A problem solved while taking my shower this morning - do some of my best thinking there 

A friend at school whom told Daniel I was looking for him 

Thus he was able to put his uniform on before the bell rang 

 - I bring Daniels uniform to school on a Monday
I brought all of it and dont trust his father not to lose bits

Being able to limit the houses I dropped catalogues off to this week
Im going away for the long weekend so needed to take that into consideration and it also looks like Ill be teaching Billy all this week - his reader/writer has had a death in the family 

Being able to do some printing for Wednesdays nights Keas activity easily
trust me this isnt always the way :)

And because it didnt take anywhere as long as I thought it might I was able to gift my remaining meter time to the lady in the car in front of me - she had just arrived as I was leaving so I told her to reserve and take my space :)

The understanding office receptionist at school whom clear things with the headmaster for me

- because I am going away for the weekend and want to dress Daniel in mufti for the day on Friday so his dad wont take the uniform to his house

the office receptionist is a lot cooler in my opinion than Daniels class room teacher this year

My daughter for telling me about Aloe Vera Gel
Its making a world of difference already  :)
-  contrary to what docs might say when you have too much roughage you will get piles brought this certain type of muesli and well need I say more  

Friends who care and love me spending time with Daniel watching TV and playing with the ring tones on my phone before he went to bed tonight - I miss him on the weekends

Billy who washes the dishes each night for me 

An early night :)  

"Sunday Morning . . .

Think Ill take a walk in the park (well along the road by the beach actually)
Hey Hey Hey what a beautiful day" :)  - Daniel Boone song

This morning I went to a little girls baptism
I feel blessed to find out after all this time that my landlord, his wife and family are Christians :)
and I feel honoured to have been invited to their little girls baptism
it was a beautiful service
in a church Id been past lots of times in the past but never been in

I also took note of the craft the children did at the back at the church
during the sermon
so I can take it back to my own church :)

after the service I went for walk in the same part of town
one of the things I like about walking is it helps me think
there was an after baptism do at a hotel in town
however I was unsure if there would a cost (which I couldnt afford)
after my walk I decided I didnt need to go
I was happy
as soon as Id made my decision not to go I felt more at ease
Id been to the most important part of this little girls day :)

What do I write today?

They say honesty is the best policy

so heres my confession

Ive done nothing all day
Im still in my PJs
I did spend most of the day researching what to do on Wednesday night at Keas

apart from that zilch

be kind with your judging friends

MY Busy Friday

7am Leapt out of bed.  I dont always however on a Wednesday and Friday morning I do.  We have to be out of the house within about an hour

8 am school crossing patrol.  Daniel was really helpful setting out the cones when one of the children was late 

9 – 10 am collect items and go and volunteer for an hour for the Asthma society at Countdown Supermarket

10am go home and sort out catalogues we have new ones so have to take the old ones out of the plastic bags to give to my boss.  Also have to get new ones ready to deliver.   

worked out of the back of my car

1130 am go on Facebook and lost the plot entirely
I was a mess
when I read that one of my friends had suffered a nasty and dangerous ordeal far too close to her home 

have to have a coffee with 3 sugars in it
shes ok thank goodness

1230 pm Deliver one of the orders.  Take old catalogues to my boss' house, go to the supermarket to get medicine for my sick older son.  He has the flu.  Take them home

130 pmish work for Billy - hes too sick - however should he worthwhile.  Its in his best area of all his areas.  Then go and pick up some of the catalogues I couldnt get yesterday as people had forgotten to leave them out for me 

245 pm go to Daniels school.  To take his uniform home and have him change into some other clothes before he goes to his dads for the weekend.  

315 pm deliver rest of orders :)  

and have a chat to my daughter on my cell :)

345 pm go to a friends house to pick up some swimming noodles.  Then go to Billys reader/writers house to find where another house is on her computer.  Have a coffee - which gave me energy for the rest of the afternoon.  Pick up another noodle from a ladies house. The noodles will be used at Keas/Cubs in a game I saw that had been played in another group in the Sth Island.  You play tag and when you are touched with the noodle you are then stuck.  You have to stand with your feet apart until you are able to move again after someone crawls between your legs.  One of the great things is that I simply let it be known that I was after some on Facebook and I was given them :)  

5pm pick up the rest of my catalogues that  I couldnt get yesterday.  Rushing to beat running out of day light

545 pm home, cook dinner.  Eat and relax :)  

Books and Reading

Ive always LOVED books.  I have a great collection.  I also believe its important to read to my boys.

Each night I read a chapter of a book to Daniel.  He loves anything to do with Zac Power at the moment :)  I have noticed recently that when Daniel reads his home work book to me hes getting better at it too :)


In homeschooling I read for 1/.2 an hour a day to Billy.  I brought him this for Christmas and I am enjoying the courage, determination and life story of Bear :)  By the way Billy reads a book (of his choice) to me for 20 minutes a day too


I like to read before I go to sleep and am finding this an interesting story.

Breaking Night is the stunning memoir of a young woman who at age fifteen was living on the streets, and who eventually made it into Harvard. 

Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls’ home. At age fifteen, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. 
When Liz’s mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny and go back to high school, often completing her assignments in the hallways and subway stations where she slept. Liz squeezed four years of high school into two, while homeless; won a New York Timesscholarship; and made it into the Ivy League. Breaking Night is an unforgettable and beautifully written story of one young woman’s indomitable spirit to survive and prevail, against all odds
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1432370.Breaking_Night

Keas/Cubs Dino Night

Tonight the Cubs and Keas had a dinosaur night :)  It was a night lead by Kiwi (the other Kea Leader).  To start the night we played "Cross the swamp on the Dino feet."  The feet are going to be a better shaped within the next week however the kids still had fun.  

Then we looked with Kiwi at her sons collection :)

this fossil is actually from a dinosaur that lived in the Hawkes Bay!!  

a dinos vertebrae 

a dinos tooth

ancient turtles poo 



it was a very interesting night for you :)  

Just as a matter of interest these were the dinosaurs what lived in New Zealand 

Hypsilophodons, Pterosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Mosasaurs, Plesiosaurs, Ankylosaur and Titanosaurus