It's the beginning of the academic year here, and with the daddy and biggest sister in the house trotting off to their respective schools, I thought it was time for us to get into a bit of a rhythm again too.
We start each year with a little celebration, including some little gifts in lieu of new school bags etc -
The kids each got a new Suzy's World DVD (they love Suzy Cato, and when I spotted these for $5ea I couldn't resist. I know they'll be watched over, and over, and over again. And you really can't beat her baked beans digestive system demonstration....!), Eli got a new pack of dry erase/whiteboard crayons, and "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut" by Dr Suess, Lexi got a pencil case with some pencils, eraser, and pencil sharpener, and Maia got a fabulous set of fabric alphabet letters, by my clever friend Monique of Neak Designs (who doesn't have a website, but you can see some of her things here on Facebook)
Maia isn't the only one who loves them!
and any excuse for cake, even better when they can make it themselves with minimal input from me!
they used this easy recipe from Annabel Langbein
The rest of the week we had a gradual introduction to our usual stuff, the kids made cards - Eli made one for his dad, Lexi made one for her penpal -
Lexi made us pikelets for lunch -
(for international types, pikelets are a bit like a small pancake or flapjack, but also a little different in a way that I can't quite work out. Anyway, very tasty with cream & jam, or maple syrup)
They started some copywork to help with their handwriting, taken from Eli's new book -
Lexi made a pinwheel from our Discovery Box, which she is going to pop onto DIY.org too
(incidentally, if you haven't discovered DIY.org yet, you really should go check it out! It challenges kids & teens to try new skills, create, and invent. It's fabulous.)
Lexi taught Maia to play "Hoses & Ladders" - courtesy of fire safety themed book covering from the NZ Fire Service -
and we went with some friends to explore one of our city's newest attractions for kids, the Splash Pad at Potters Park in Balmoral -
we pretty much had it to ourselves since everyone else was in school, which is definitely one of the perks of this lifestyle!
