FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB Kate Jacobs

This was an interesting book to read, a strange combination of friends and you follow some of the events in their life.  There was an unexpected death of one of the main characters, now reading the follow up KNIT TWO.  Watch \this space for more....

THE LAST STORY Christopher Pike

Nothing could surprise me after the second book.   Shari (the girl who came back from teh dead) met someone and thought she might be interested in him but it got wierd and she realised that the new guy was also someone brought back from the dead but he was "black" and not a good person.

Glad I read the story but really wouldn't bother to read it again.

THE RETURN Christopher Pike

I was a bit confused at the beginning of the book but it started to make sense.  It was strange as she came back as another person so I guess the other girl died.  The end of the book was strange again as she was almost killed by her boyfriend who was her boyfriend who came back in the body of the living boyfriend but he decided not to kill her when he realised it wasn't the original girl but his girlfriend who came back from the dead.

REMEMBER ME Christopher Pike

The story sounded interesting... A ghost wants to be remembered and this is her story.

I had read Until the End and was expecting this to be similar, only find out the murderer at the end of the third book but to my surprise the murderer was exposed at the end of the first book.  I did enjoy the  book.

times are changing

Recently I had gone to the doctors due to blocked sinus and headaches and the GP took my blood pressure which was high so I had to get it monitored for a few weeks and it was staying high.  I had blood tests for almost anything and everything to be told the results are all normal although my glucose was a bit high and I'm pre diabetic and need to change my diet, exercise more and lose some weight.  The first few days were ok, no feeling like I was still hungry and feeling great but then a few days ago I felt like I was hungry all the time,no matter what I ate or how much.  Today my tummy feels like it is on a rollercoaster ride, all churny and unsettled, I have been farting like there is no tomorrow and going toilet heaps.. feel sorry for the rest of the family..

MIDNIGHT Josephine Cox

I really liked the story, I felt sorry for Jack and was hoping that the nightmares would be explained, some of it was easy to guess near the end of the story but some of it was a total shock.

I'm glad that Molly died as she was an unfeeling and shelfish person.

Simple solution

My boys love Beyblades and recently The Warehouse had a special on beyblades so we got some but no stadium so they couldn't play so I thought I would go and see what I could find, The Warehouse told me that they are expecting a shipment but they would be about $30.. I then went to the $2 shop and found a food platter and the boys love it.  Blading for hours and hours and trying to see who can get theirs to jump around and out the stadium.

VAGABONDS Josephine Cox

I loved this story, loved the ending and that Emma did get her happy ever after.  I couldn't stop reading as I wanted to see if Emma realised that Molly was her daughter and if they were able to get past the past and be happy as a family.  I'm glad that the uncle finally committed suicide as he was a rotten person in all three books.

THE GRADUATION Christopher Pike

It was a good read, I never expected the ending.  I had some theories about who had killed Alice but not why and I was totally wrong about it all.

I'm enjoying this style of writing and find the stories really good.

THE DANCE Christopher Pike

I enjoyed this book, it answered some questions but made me ask even more about the "suicide".  I'm hoping that the last book does answer who the murderer is and why they did it.  Some friendships were lost and new friendships made. I read the book in one afternoon to late night.

UNTIL THE END Christopher Pike

This is a book that is three in one each following the other so I'm writing after each book.

THE PARTY
THE DANCE
THE GRADUATION

THE PARTY is the first book.  I kept getting confused as who is friends and who is family and how they all know each other but I still couldn't put the book down (even took it to read in the White Cross waiting room).  I'm about to start the Dance and hope that some of the questions will be answered.

ALLEY URCHIN Josephine Cox

This is the follow on to Castoff and some of the questions were answered, some of my suspicions were confirmed but there is still unanswered questions but I know there is one more book to the series.  I did enjoy reading this book and look forward to the last book and hope to get my questions answered.

THE MENAGERIE Catherine Cookson

I found the story a bit hard to read sometimes as it was written as the British speak so some of the words were spelt funny.  I did enjoy the story and almost cried when the mine exploded.  Glad the story was short and not too long.

TAN LINES Katherine Applegate

This story just annoyed me, I wanted to slap Summer for most of the book.  The first book was kind of predictable, she found her long lost brother but things don't go according to plan and the parents split up which she blames on her brother.  She can't make a decision to save herself, she keeps trying to please the boys in her life and then wonders why it keeps going so wrong.

I did a google search for Katherine Applegate and it looks like there are more Summer books so I might read and see if she ever grows up or if her life is destined to always be a "high school drama".

BEACH BLONDES Katherine Applegate

This was a good book, easy to read and some was predictable.  I'm reading the next book so I can see how it all turns out.

Reading wish list

I recently read a book by Josephine Cox and was thinking it is part of a series or something.  Well it is so now I would like to find the other 2 books in the series and see how things go and if my endless questions are answered.

Outcast - already read and disappointed in the ending
Alley Urchin
Vagabonds

I'm going to browse the Auckland libraries site and see if I can find these books and book them if I do as I would love to know how it ends for Emma.

LIVING A LIE Josephine Cox

This was a good book, interesting story with a few twists and turns.

An easy to read

GETTING RID OF MATTHEW                                                      Jane Fallon

This book sounded like it would be funny, I read it in one night.  Some was obvious and some was just funny.  The end was a bit unexpected.

Disappointment

OUTCAST                                           Josephine Cox

This started like it could be a good story, the middle was interesting but the end left heaps of questions unanswered.  It was a really short story, managed to read in one day but there was so many ways the story could have gone

Did Emma ever see Marlow again?
Did Sal realise that the newborn girl she found was in fact her niece?
What happened when Emma got to Australia?
Did she finish her sentence?
Did she ever get back to England?
What happened to her uncle and aunt?
Did she ever find out how her mother died?
Did she ever find out that her uncle had something to do with her father's death?

I get the feeling it was part of a series but not sure if I would bother , I have a theory about part of the unanswered questions about her mother's death.  I suspect that her mother was having an affair with Marlow's father and that the uncle killed them both but that Marlow's mother got the blame.

I have never had so many questions after reading a book, I have been shocked at how they have ended or pleased if things went well in the end but never finished a book and thought well what happens next?

Worth the read

LONESOME DOVE                                      Larry McMurty

I enjoyed the book, it was a long book but not too boring.  I kept reading to see who would survive the long journey and how those who never were killed.  Some of it was expected and some was a total shock.  The book was well written and at times it felt like I was on the cattle drive with them, I even laughed at some of the events that were told about.

HIPPY art works

Dylan was told to do a collage about anything he wanted so he told me that this is Santa hiding in the Christmas paper.

Home made died easter eggs

At HIPPY Group Meetings we do the role play and then some form of activity.  In the past we have had teachers come and tell us as parents what to expect when the kids start school, that was interesting, we have had some of the local health groups chat about their services.

Due to it being easter we did die some hard boiled eggs.  That was rather a lot of fun.  I put the eggs in the fridge when I got home and this morning when I got to the kitchen Dylan told me that he was very sorry but he dropped the egg when he was holding it.... I forgot that we had the "easter" eggs and thought that he had dropped an uncooked egg so told him to show me.  He opened the fridge and showed me the damage to the egg.  I told him I was proud of him for telling me that he had dropped the egg.

Family game night

Growing up we always played board games as a family when visiting my grandparents, we played all sorts Monopoly, Rummikub, Scrabble, Pictionary etc and it was always a good time so I thought I should buy some of the games for my kids and we can have some quality family time.  Since the boys are young only going to be 3 next month is the youngest I thought to get some games that aren't too hard or long.

I got Monopoly Junior Party and some caterpillar game and we have tried both.  The party game is much easier to follow and understand.  The kids often ask for the party game so I guess it was a good idea to get the games, now I'm on the look out for more suitable board games.

The funny things that kids say

Scott has been toilet training, have been putting him in undies at home and pull ups when out but a few days ago he decided that he no longer needs pull ups and he knows that he needs to pull his undies down to wee.. he used to wet them and then come and tell me that he has done a wee.

Yesterday he was sitting on the toilet and I noticed him bouncing on the toilet so I asked him what he was doing, he told me he is doing a poo and then I heard him saying "Come on poo get out of my bum".

Sometimes all you can do is laugh

School swimming day

Got to see Dylan in the pool at school for the first time as they had a swimming day.  He forgot that he had goggles and kept trying to keep the water out of his eyes.  A fun picnic afterwards.

WOW really?

For Dylan's birthday he invited his one friend Chelsy so he got an invite to her birthday.  Last year he was the only kindy friend she was allowed to invite and she still ignored him quite a bit so I thought he wouldn't want to go as he has left kindy to go to school but he was so excited to go.  He wanted to get her a pretty hair tie so she can think about him when she wears it (his words).

We arrived today and he sat next to her and she said "Who are you?" so he said "Dylan" and then she said "Oh you used to go kindy with me" and played with him on the playground (party was at a beach).  Was surprised to see so many of the other kindy kids there but then her mum said something about inviting heaps so that Chelsy would have a lot of presents and friends there.

The kids played together quite well, like they used to for kindy and then she asked him why he had been invited (kind of got the idea that she didn't want him there).

Not sure why parents do that, invite just about anybody just to get gifts.  I always try and find out who my boys are playing with and friendly with and invite them.  No point in having heaps of kids there that the boys don't know or want to see.

Chelsy is starting primary school but lucky a different one to the one Dylan goes to so this is probably the last we will see of her.  He has made some good friends at school, one door closes and another opens.

Love reading

THE DOMINIE'S LASSIE                                   Eileen Ramsay

I enjoyed the book, some of the story was rather obvious but some of it was totally unexpected.  The story was told in a way that made you want to turn the page and see what happened next and never dragged along like some stories do.  I found some of the story a bit hard to follow because the story was set in Scotland so the author used spelling and grammer that would have been used in Scotland in the early 1900 but overall a good read.

Love my reading

LOVE ME TENDER                                Sandra Hill

It was a typical man meets girl and is attracted to her etc kind of book.  It was kind of easy to read but not that good a story.  Cinderella with a twist.

Out of normal routine

Our normal morning routine is that I take Hannah to school and then take Dylan to school but since Hannah needed some dressings on her arm changed  before school we had a totally backward routine today.  Took Dylan to school and he was more than happy to show her his classroom and then over to the GP so the nurse could do her dressings.  I had phoned her teachers to say she was going to be late as her dressings needed to be changed and then about ten minutes late for school.  Scott wanted to go to the park since we had to drive past it to go home.

The park has a racing car since the park is in memory of Bruce McLaren and he thought it was great to drive over the houses etc.  He made mum drive as well so I pretended to be so tired I fell asleep and only kisses would wake me up.

Got to love

Got to love the way kids listen or don't listen as the case may be.  My daughter kindly helped me to carry the groceries in after shopping as she was the last one in the car I thought she would shut the doors properly as she has been told a lot of times to be sure that the doors etc are closed.  Lucky my other half had to check for something in the car and found that the boot had been shut but not properly latched and it had been hours.

The car started so thought to give it a run to the local park.  While at the park the boys challenged me to catch them.. so I kissed them when I caught them.  Squeals of laughter but also lots of "No kisses mum, just catch us"

Street BBQ

We had a street BBQ today so that we could meet the neighbours and hopefully know each other a bit better.  I had no idea that there were that many kids living on our street, when we walk past they are inside watching TV or playing playstation so you don't get to see kids out side much.  I caught up with some of the neighbours I know but don't see often and met some new ones so it was good.  Hoping to keep up the contact with the new neighbours as it is good to know who is living near us.

Some yummy baking

Apple chocolate cake

240 g cake flour

5ml baking soda

10 ml baking powder

20 g cocoa

Pinch of salt

210 g castor sugar

4 extra large eggs

5ml vanilla essence

250 ml oil

250 ml apple puree

Preheat the oven to 180 C

Sift the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt together.

Place the castor sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and oil in a bowl and beat well.

Add the apple puree and mix.  Add the dry ingredients and mix.  Spoon into the prepared tins and bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Cool on wire racks.  Sandwich together with a layer of apricot jam.

Dust with a little icing sugar just before serving.

Hannah had a meet the teachers and other students and their families the other day at school so she asked if we could make a apple chocolate cake for her contribution.  Thought why not as it was an interesting recipe and I like trying new baking.  It was super yummy.

Some light reading

A DAUGHTER'S INHERITANCE                    Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

I enjoyed this book, a bit of the plot had been spoilt by reading in the wrong order but there was still enough to read and enjoy the story.  I felt sorry for the girls having an uncle like that, and reading the book made me glad that I wasn't alive in the early 1900 like that as girls didn't have the "advantages" we have today.

Interesting reading

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS                        David Gutterson

The story was interesting but I found it did drag on a bit in some places.  I suspected that things weren't as they seemed as it would have been too easy for them to have the guilty person from the start but I never expected the ending that I found at the end of the book.

I wouldn't read it again as it is a long book, over 400 pages but I'm glad I did read it.

School picnic

We had a meet the teachers and staff picnic tonight at Dylan's school.  We could swim but since it is hard to watch 2 young boys in the water I thought it would be better to stay out the water.  The kids enjoyed running around the field and finding acorns.

Reading

AN UNEXPECTED LOVE                Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

This is the second book and I enjoyed it as much as the third (I tend to find the books in the wrong order and read them as I find them).  I knew some of the story already due to reading the third book but not all the finer details.

Another book

STRANGE TALES FROM STRANGEWAYS                       Sara Lee

I enjoyed this book, it is based on facts and tells the stories of some of the executions that happened in Strangeways.  The stories were short and some were heart breaking as the victims were kids sometimes as young as five years old.  It is interesting that people think they can get away with murder but often they get caught out.

First time swimmer

I have not been able to take the boys swimming due to not being able to watch both at the same time so while Dylan is in school I thought it was a great time to take Scott so at least when he starts school he knows what the water is and a few basics.

Got to the pools and found that the toddler pools are closed but the wave pool is open with no waves.  Changed into our togs and then went to the shallow water, he was happy to walk around and splash but he soon got cold as it is the adults wave pool so not heated like the toddler pools are.  Had to wrap him in the towel and sit on the side until he warmed up a bit then back into the water for a bit.  Near the end he was asking to just sit with the towel around him and mummy could go and swim... I then stayed in the shallow water near where he was sitting and had a bit of a swim.

Good thing is he has asked to go again but the toddler pools are only expected to be open the end of the month so might take 2 towels.. one for him to wrap around him to warm him up and one to dry us off afterwards.

Community Day

There was a community day at our local school which was interesting to go and see.  The kids enjoyed horse rides (well the horse only walked) and the boys enjoyed wearing the police hat and sitting in the helicopter.  Silly me forgot to use sunscreen so we are a little bit sunburnt but still a good day.  They had spot prizes, we got given a Feel Tip Top hat and since I was brave enough to go and dance for the mum's challenge I got a KitKat which the kids helped me eat, a petrol voucher and Turkish bread which we had for dinner.

New books to read

THE MOST WANTED BACHELOR                             Susan Kay Law

It was an easy book to read.  Not the usual boy and girl meet, they fight and argue and then fall in love which was nice.  The story didn't drag out but I wouldn't read it again.

Some light reading

ARE YOU LISTENING, KAREN?                     David Day

It is an interesting enough story but it would have made more sense to be after her death and not what happened to Jason before his sister’s death.  The ending was a bit off as well, the story just ended.  One good thing is it is a short book so I was able to read it in about an hour  but I sure wouldn’t be reading it again.

I have done some reading

THE MARCH                                     E.L. Doctorow

I enjoyed reading this book but in some parts it did drag a bit.  I enjoyed reading about what happened to the normal non military folks.  It is based in the civil war so found that parts were hard to follow as it was about strategy.

One of my favourite books in a while

SCAPEGALLOWS                Carol Birch

This was a really interesting story, I couldn’t put it down easily.  I really enjoyed reading the life story of Margaret Catchpole and how she ended up a convict in Australia.  I would read again but not in a hurry or I tend to skip parts due to knowing the story.

More thoughts on books

CODEX 632                          Jose Rodrigues Dos Santos

This is one book I never thought I would follow through and read but I’m glad I did read it, in parts it was complicated to follow especially the codes and the references to various codes and things but there was enough normal language for me to follow what the story was about.  I did enjoy the story but I wouldn’t read it again.

Books

A SURRENDERED HEART              Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

I loved this book.  I felt sorry for the family but never the father as he bought it all on himself.  A happy ending in an slightly unexpected way.

This is book three of the Broadmoor Legacy so now I want to try and find the first two to read.

A Daughter’s Inheritance

An Unexpected Love

A Surrendered Heart

I hope there will be more in the future.

Books I have read while offlline....

I have been busy reading so thought that I should update my blog.

A SECRET ALCHEMY                       Emma Darwin

I did enjoy the story but found it can be confusing with the way it jumps from character to character  and not always in the same time period.  It would have been better to tell the story of Elizabeth and her family which I did find interesting and then the story of Una and her cousins trying to save the Chantry.

This is the second book I have read of Emma Darwin’s and had the same problem with the other book, it is confusing and you need to be able to concentrate and not have the kids running around as a distraction.

Finally back online

No internet connection for 3 weeks and it has been so quiet at home.  Done heaps of reading so will update my thoughts on the books and time with the kids.  Saw a possum close up while we were doing some gardening the other evening.

Browsing through the Edmonds Cookbook

as I was having a look through the Edmonds Cookbook I found this recipe

SPICE BISCUITS

125 g butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.  Add egg, beating well.  Sift flour, baking powder and spice together and mix into creamed mixture.  Roll into balls and place on baking tray.  Flatten slightly with a fork.  Bake at 190 C for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.

I thought it sounded good so tried it... the response from the kids was "Yummy can we bake it again?"

Life is full of bumps and bruises

especially when you are a boy who loves to run.  Dylan skinned his knee on Monday and this is the  result on Tuesday

and this is what it looks like today

so I guess a trip to the GP is in order just to make sure that nothing is wrong.

Happy birthday

So it was my friends birthday yesterday and she put on a BBQ which was great, got to meet her ex as they are thinking about trying again and being a proper family and some of her other friends who she talks about.  The kids are great friends with her kids so they were happy to play and amuse themselves and she had baked a Chocolate Mud Cake and now the boys are asking me to do one at home but for the life of me I can't find a good recipe.

Checking it out

We have a new community playgroup which opened today so the kids and I went to check it out.  Bonus walking distance so we got a bit of exercise but the room is small, there is no carpet on the floor so if a child falls it is onto hard floor, the kitchen is not safe for kids, it is just in the room and no way of keeping children out, they expect a gold coin donation but all they provide is tea or coffee, if you want your child to have morning tea then you have to bring it with you.

They are doing mondays and wednesdays but from next month the HIPPY Group Meetings are going to be in that room so they are going to have to change to another day instead of wednesday and apparently the goal is to eventually be 3 mornings a week.

Will go for a bit with Scott and see how things go.

What a day

Today I decided it was time to get the boys some shoes, they keep losing one so they have mismatched pairs and being boys they would rather go barefoot but Dylan keeps having the unfortunate experience of always standing on prickles.

Got both these shoes for $10, just excuse the mess.

Ended the day by baking (yes in this heat) a Lemon Sour Cream Cake.  Recipe in the Edmonds cookbook, for those not in New Zealand or who don't have an Edmonds Cookbook here is the recipe.

LEMON SOUR CREAM CAKE

125 g butter. softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream (that is half a cup)

Beat butter, lemon rind, sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy.  Sift flour and baking powder together.  Fold sifted ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream, mixing until smooth.  Pour into a round cake tin and bake at 160 C for 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

Now they say to dust with icing sugar when cold but I prefer to make a vanilla or lemon flavoured icing and ice it properly.

Taking the cake for the picnic after church tomorrow so hope it tastes as good as I remember.

What a beautiful morning

The kids asked to go to Western Springs today as the weather was so good, so we did a picnic and made a morning of it.

With so much to do it made perfect sense, we fed the ducks and had a walk around the lake and then kids then played on the playground.

A bit of history about the springs

Here are some of the scenes around the lake

Here is the view we had while we had our picnic under the leaves of a big tree and enjoyed the shade.

Some geese and goslings came to see what we were doing

This is what amused Dylan a lot

Some more of the lake on our walk to the playground

I will try and get a better photo of the birds of the Western Springs Lakeside next time I go as there is information about each bird and it is a bit hard to read like that.

Some more of the lakeside on our way back to the car after the playground

This next one is the toilet block as I have never seen such a nice one before

Here is a map of the area

My thoughts on books I'm reading

I do enjoy reading and thought to put my thoughts down so I can remember what I enjoyed reading and what I couldn't finish due to boredom or just not of interest to me.  I'm not a professional reviewer so don't expect much.

PALE ROSE OF ENGLAND by Sandra Worth

I enjoyed this book, I felt for her when things went wrong which they often did.  There wasn't much to celebrate in this book but it was well written and I could imagine being there, just glad I wasn't as it was set in 1495 to about 1532.

Picnic in the park

Today it was such a great day that I made some sandwhiches and drink and then went off to Tui Glen Reserve for a picnic.  I remembered my camera to do a few more of the Dare to explore challenges which was to take a photo reading in a park or on the beach and then to take a photo at an Auckland landmark.

I'm sure that would qualify as a landmark.

The kids have now asked to do more picnics in other parks around the city and since there are a large number of parks I'm sure we will be having heaps of picnics.

Little monkey

As noted yesterday we did a discovery activity for HIPPY and we washed money so today Dylan brings me all the dirty money and asked if we could wash more money.

We are now collecting tarnished money to wash when there are a few more coins.

At least he is thinking and asking questions.

Pay it Forward

I noticed a post on my Facebook wall

2013 Creative Pay-It-Forward: The first five people to comment on this status will receive from me, sometime in the next calendar year, a gift - perhaps a book, or baked goods, or a candle, music - a surprise! There will likely be no warning and it will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch? Those five people must make the same offer in their FB status

so I did.. comment and put on my wall.  Got to think of what I can do apart from baking which I do enjoy but might want to try something new.

Audio books

The other day at the library I was browsing the audio books and found one that sounded like it would be interesting so I took it out and got a chance to listen to it today.

This is what I think of it so far:

THE DAY  MY BUM WENT PSYCHO BY Andy Griffiths and Read by Stig  Wermyss

It started off ok but half way through the first CD (there are 5) it was getting a bit much and really far fetched.

I might listen to the next CD another day but it is a bit too much for one day.  Great sound effects and voices by Stig Wermyss but that doesn't make up for the lack of a good story.

Catching up

Dylan is doing HIPPY which stands for Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters and can be a lot of fun.

The first 2 weeks were so easy he got a bit too sure of himself and now he is struggling a little with things like cutting and pasting (both were introduced in the first few weeks) so he is a bit behind the other kids but we are using the holidays to catch up.

Today we had a Discovery activity where we "cleaned" money.  We used tarnished $0.10 pieces and tried water, salt, vinegar and then a mix of salt and vinegar.  He thought it was magic when the salt and vinegar mix cleaned the coins and made me clean all the others as well.

Lazy day at home

Just having a lazy day at home and watching the kids playing or fighting and trying to pretend they are really playing.  Great weather for them to run around outside, not too hot and not raining.  I have almost managed to catch up on my washing, so nice to hang it outside and let it blow in the breeze.  The cat has come inside once but the kids were a bit rough with her so she is hiding outside somewhere.

Church out of the box

Today we had the first experience of church in the park, what a brilliant day for it, wonderful weather and great company.

A challenge was issued today:  What does out of the box mean to you and how do we incorporate church out of the box into our daily lives?

Love vege shopping

I just love living so close to some orchards and things as we get fresh fruit and veg at a very reasonable price.

Today I got strawberries, carrots, apples, bananas, cucumbers, peaches, garlic, cauliflower and cabbage for just $20.00

Summer holidays 2013

The kids are signed up to the Dare to explore challenge through the Auckland Libraries and are finding the challenges exciting, they have made their own snowflake and designed their own chocolate bar (glad I'm not eating some of the combinations they came up with), named places, parks, roads in New Zealand starting with every letter of the alphabet and done a timeline for a grandparent or someone famous.  There are still a few to do but they have to the end of Jan.  at least it should get them interested in reading and thinking about what they are reading.

Thoughts for the new year

Well it is a new year so thought that this time I'm going to blog to have some way of remembering what we got up to and what we really enjoyed and what some of the low points of the year were.

Life is a bit hectic at times, Hannah is starting high school and Dylan is starting primary school and at some stage this year I'm hoping Scott starts kindy as he is a bit full on and needs the social interactions and more than I can give him at home.

Enjoy the ride!