Going with the flow

Another school term is approaching an end - our first full term since our girls summer term in the UK last year. I am looking forward to the holidays as I always do for a chance to catch a breath and spend some quality time with them. They have taken to the NZ way of schooling likes ducks to water. With the combination of good weather, more outdoor space and green school playing fields, our girls are certainly experiencing a wide range of activities which they just seem to flow along with.

Fils 4 peddled furiously in circles around her kindergarten playground to raise sponsorship for the school. All the children's bikes were decorated, some kids dressed up and they all wore seriously determined faces- it was a great fun to watch. Fils 4 is also completely at home in a wetsuit now and having had far more opportunities to muck around in the sea or pool than she had back in England, she is full of confidence and already striking out her first ungainly strokes as she gains more experience. She is not so experienced in getting in and out of the wetsuit however. They say a girl has a right to change her mind, but why is it that virtually every time she feels she's had enough of the water and gets me to prise off the suit with great difficulty, before she is dry, she then decides she must go in again for another round. Taking off a wetsuit from a squirming 4 yr old is one thing, but getting it back on again, whilst it and the child are still soggy is quite another! For those of you who have tried to squeeze Barbie's catsuits onto Sindy's curvier body (or is it the other way around?) you may get the picture. No matter how much you pull and twist, it just doesn't fit back on again.

Fils 3 has also had an active term with surprise successes at sprinting. With the lack of playground space at previous schools she never really had the opportunity to keep going without hitting a brick wall (that's not the hypothetical one of a marathon runner). She has now proved that her colt like legs can keep up and even overtake the rest of her class. Fils 3 has also gained much more confidence in the pool and the highlight of the last swimming session was a certificate for first place in the freestyle swimming event.

Fils 2 just wants to take part in every opportunity possible. Being picked for the soft ball team and the swimming team wasn't enough. She used up a week's worth of energy as a cheerleader, supporting her classmates in the soap box car derby and then ended the week scoring the winning goal in the girls soccer match. Her classes regular morning jog of twice around the school grounds and then a dip in the pool is losing a bit of enthusiasm though I fear. Whilst on a recent visit to the school during this event, I secretly spied fils 2 on her daily run which seemed to have turned into a bit of plod, together with a group of her closest buddies. This probably had something to do with hair styles of the day not wishing to be destroyed by wind and sweat which I guess is now becoming slightly more important than exercising the heart muscle.

The biggest surprise was fils 1 and her entry into the schools 'special olympics' competition - although she was probably more excited about the suggestion from her teacher that she should have a more substantial packed lunch that day than the prospect of the events she was partaking in. Sadly the event was cancelled due to threatened rain (which never happened) and the large packed lunch has long been consumed so I will have to stock up again.

All four girls have picked up their dancing again and so I get to burn a few extra calories by driving them to the academy three times a week! And of course there is always time for a few bounces on the trampoline. This is a real treat for us as having your own trampoline in your garden was not a common occurrence where we came from. For some reason it seems more attractive in the dark or in the rain, I guess that sense of danger or excitement enthuses. Why is it though that I get plenty of requests to join them and happily take the girls up on this, getting carried away on triple somersaults and high twists (not), but nevertheless getting plenty of cheers and support, but then as soon as a friend appears on the scene, suddenly it is "oh mum, get off, you're embarrassing us". Fils 2&3 will look at me sadly and mutter to the friends how I must be having an off moment and act as though they do not know me suddenly forgetting the encouragement previously offered. Who cares, I love to bounce too!

This use of abundant energy on these activities is wonderful and part of the reason we wanted to come to New Zealand. What a great way to keep up with your friends!

Rainbows End to End

The weather is always a popular topic of conversation. But never before have I lived in a place where so many people are wishing for rain and discuss the odds on a day to day basis. On one hand it has been wonderful to experience so much sunshine, but living in an area where most of us rely on our tanks to be filled by water from the heavens above, most of us are praying for a few more heavy grey clouds. Having experienced another few days where nothing happens when you turn on those taps, it certainly teaches us and the children a lesson that we can't always take for granted those precious resources we rely on so much.

There was a bit of hope earlier on in the week. I was greeted at school by fils 2 & 3 fired up with anticipation for a dramatic hailstorm. The headmaster had visited each class that day with a warning of hail stones possibly up to 3cm in diameter heading our way and strict guidelines for all the children to return to their classrooms immediately if they started dropping at break time. We looked up at the sky but it was as blue as the eyes of our fils that eagerly looked up searching for them. The storm was doubtful, at least in our patch, but by the time we crossed the playground to the car park, the size of the expected hail had apparently trebled in size as the children greeted their parents with the news of the possible storm . Talk of hail as big as cricket balls raining down on the school playing field was flying around and I felt that if our storm had ever materialised there would have been fat chance of any child rushing indoors immediately for cover. Oh no they would have stood out there marveling at the event and willing to take the risk of being knocked out by God's marbles as fils 4 charmingly put it!

Sadly no marbles ever fell to fill our tank but we were rewarded by a short shower this morning which produced a fantastic rainbow. Since coming to New Zealand we have not stopped exclaiming over the rainbows and how we can often manage to see them end to end. None of our family had ever experienced the sight of a full rainbow in England. It seems to be the norm here and many people are surprised by our wonder. I often stop the car so that we can pull up and exclaim at them like a family out of an Enid Blyton novel on a picnic. They are truly beautiful though and I sincerely hope that they will never be a sight that becomes blasé to us.

Times Up

Friday 17th March - significant for some, especially if you are Irish. But for our family, the significance was that this would have been our last day in New Zealand had Spouse not found a job. Yes, it is hard to believe but we have been in this green and pleasant land for six months now and our visitors visa expired on the 17th. Thankfully, with work permits and student visas clearly stamped in our passports and our residency application progressing, we have not had to up and go. I was trying to imagine what we would have done and where we might have gone but found it too depressing and decided not to go there.

So our wonderful new life goes on. It has been another balmy autumn week when the sun hasn't stopped shining and the temperature is still hitting 24 degrees. I am still trying to get my head around us being in Lent and the approach of Easter at harvest time.

Baking has been the theme of the week since fils 4 had a scone entered in our local A& P show and received a Highly Recommended prize. None was more surprised than her mother who is often made to consume these interesting lumps of dough with her afternoon tea! Anyway with a Sunday School scone competition on the horizon for fils 2, the gloves (of the oven kind) were on. English scones served up by Mr Tumnus of Narnia this time were on the menu and a practice round all available for the family's Tuesday dessert. Having thought that the given recipe was slightly odd and unsure when asked by fils 2 as to what shortening was (I had a vague idea it had something to do with butter), I should never have doubted Mr Tumnus' baking skills as they were absolutely delicious. Fils 4 was not be outdone however and managed to produce some extremely tasty fairy cakes in a hectic 15 minute period, whilst I was busy multi tasking, with a delightful navy blue icing! Isn't it so tempting to add just another drop of food colouring? Fils 1 is looking forward to making macaroni cheese at school on Monday - funny how she'd never touch it before. But hey if she likes her own, she knows where our kitchen is. I might get the evening off!