Each morning, whaiāipo heads off to work around 7.40-7.45am and this morning was no exception.

Within five minutes my mobile rang. With its fancy ring-tone, I know it's whaiāipo.

It turns out he's ringing to let us know there's a helicopter spraying the crops down the road (about 4kms from our home).
So, I bundle the kids into the van, grab the camera and leaving the breakfast dishes scattered on the bench and door unlocked we head down the road in search of this helicopter.

It's a gorgeous morning already and we had a great vantage point to be freely entertained over the next half an hour or so.
Do you ever click the shutter button and you get a one or two second delay before it takes the photo? I'm sure I would've captured the perfect photo of the helicopter barely flying over the power lines! But I'll add the photo anyway because I simply find it amazing how a pilot can confidently fly so close to such deadly things.
He was literally right next to us over the fence for this photo ...
And this one ...
We watched it land to refill and then fly off to other farms. We followed it from Gee Road (here) back to Rotokawa Road.
Okay, so this isn't exactly a first-time event for us, but it's the first time I've been armed with camera at the right time!!



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HOW COOL IS THIS ???

Whaiāipo was sent to a really exciting plumbing job today. He had to repipe a hot water cylinder in this HUGE 20-metre long, 39 tonne mobile operating theatre. He gave the children and I the heads-up, so on our way home this afternoon we tried to get as close to it as we could. I didn't have my camera, just my mobile phone. Because the bus was inside a workshop I couldn't get a clear enough photo. Besides, there were a lot of tradesmen working and I didn't want to get too close without permission.

So, I decided to have a look on the internet to see what I could learn about it.

I am SOOOOOOOOOO impressed with what I've learned. For major starters I learned that the entire trailer unit was built right here in Rotorua, by a firm called Mills Tui. Now, although I knew Mills Tui have made fire trucks and stuff like that, I have to admit I had no idea they made this awesome mobile surgical bus.

The current plan is to "establish permanent Tele-presence networks links between seven selected rural sites (see locations) and academics, professional bodies, tertiary hospital and leading health professional, in order to deliver virtual lectures, reducing this isolation and enhancing lifelong learning opportunities for rural health care providers."

There is a lot of information packed into their website. Every bit of it is really interesting, educational and downright awe-inspiring.

Whaiāipo said that as he worked underneath the side-extensions, he could feel people basically walking on his head. He had the privilege to get up close and personal and was really blown away by the sheer size of the surgical theatre.

Pretty WOW wouldn't you say?


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Lauren, a reader in Australia, was quick to comment on my earlier post and because she mentioned she received condoms in her Bounty Bag, I simply couldn't resist opening mine to see if I did too!!!

Nope, there were no condoms.

There were the usual things like magazines, samples of different ointments, disposable nappies and Ecostore laundry powder, pamphlets on an array of motherly topics etc. But one new thing since tama 3's birth was a pamphlet from The Department of Internal Affairs. Something called Decorative Birth Certificates ...


I like these! They are a far cry from the budget version they changed to a few years ago...
If you follow the links then be sure to scroll down to the section "Pictorial Birth Certificates" which outline the meanings behind the pictures used.

Gorgeous.


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When you start devouring the Baby Names book and feel like you should know the pages off-by-heart.

The feeding/rocking chair is resurrected in preparation for all those hours about to be spent breastfeeding.
Your midwife hands you the Bounty Gift Pack and a packet of New Born disposables.
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The children have always been sweethearts when it comes to giving mum "flowers", and it's been gorgeous watching tama 2 teach tama 3 how to pick them.



Even if they are weeds, a mother will always proudly display her flowers, won't she?!

Bit scary to think that one day my boys will be giving a girl - other than me - flowers. The day will be here all too soon.


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Saturday

Trying to relax in preparation of tama 4's forthcoming arrival is rather difficult. I don't like to sit around, but much to my midwife's delight I was able to report that due to visitors over the past few days I've managed to sit back and relax more than I normally would.

Yesterday I also had a pleasant surprise. A former work colleague (from about 10 years ago), managed to track me down via the internet. We had a lot of fun emailing each other for an hour on and off. [That was a great way for me to relax actually.]

When I finished nattering to my friend, I spent a HUGE portion of the remaining afternoon fiddling with each blog post in preparation of getting this school blog printed. After attempting a dumby run on blog2print, I noticed I could save a few pages (and therefore $'s) by eliminating excess space. My efforts paid off because when I did my second dumby run I managed to knock off at least $10 which in the grand scheme of things is big moolahs eh?!

Now I just need to make these final decisions:

1. Do I want it printed in soft-cover, hard-cover, or the really cheap option of .pdf?
   
2. Should I order it now and pay off my visa, or do I wait until I can afford it?
   

With the beautiful summer weather, the children have been enjoying themselves playing and that's been another good way for me to relax. I'm enjoying their school holidays just as much as they are. No stress about what to do for school work or trying to drag them inside away from their fun outside. A very happy household this way.

Sunday


One of the pleasures I have of our home is that even in all its unfinished glory, I can be in the kitchen preparing dinner while at the same time be able to look out across the yard to see the kids enjoying themselves. Makes light work of my task while allowing me the vantage point of seeing where everyone is.


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This morning I made sure I sat down to enjoy spending time outside with the children. Mum sitting in the shade while the kids played on their playground.

I wondered how tama 2 was able to get up on the trapeze ... and now I know ...




Kinda makes me wonder why whaiāipo and I bothered putting the trapeze higher now that I see tama 2 worked out a way to get on eh?!
It'll probably take us a while to save up enough money to buy some sand to put around the play area, but in the meantime the children seem to be coping with the dirt surface. We also want to buy some shade sails, which we can hopefully afford in a few weeks.
Both tamāhine 2 and tama 3 took a few lessons to understand how to land with this bigger slide as it has a higher drop than the smaller slide. Without sand to land softly into, they soon realised it is best to land on their feet.
This morning, I've at least made sure I've tidied up and have the laundry totally sorted so that if baby decides to introduce himself tomorrow then whaiāipo won't have to do much. I've packed clothes etc for the children to take to nana and koro's, so it's just my bag to get ready. I always leave that till the very last minute, ie when I know it's really happening.

At 2 o'clock I finally found the energy to take the Christmas decorations down.

What took a full day and more to put up, only took two hours to take down.

Another Christmas over.

Soon I will celebrate another pregnancy over.

As much as I enjoy being pregnant, seeing myself like this makes me look twice and say, "is that really me?"

No wonder I feel so heavy. (A good heavy, but nevertheless, heavy ... if you catch my drift?)


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My visit with midwife (Aroha) went very well yesterday. I'm still unsure as to baby's true ETA so whether he arrives tomorrow (7th January), or not until the 20th, we'll simply have to wait and see. I'm feeling quite tired this morning but that's because I didn't get any sleep on Monday night, waiting for whaiāipo to return from Huia, Auckland. Like a sub-contractor said to whaiāipo at work yesterday, "Blimey, you were practically in Sydney!" Yes, I can understand what he means. Huia is a long drive on the west coast, so whaiāipo practically went to Aussie.

However, the $10 seats were well worth the trip, even if my body is tired and I should've slept instead of sitting up waiting for his return. But then, I'm like that ... utterly hopeless when he's away from me. I always worry about anyone on the roads, especially my whaiāipo. It was so unfortunate that the traffic was such a nightmare, but it had to be expected because so many Kiwis were on the roads returning home to start back at work yesterday and because the people we bought the seats off were leaving on their NZ tour today, we had no option but to pick them up that night. So it's my own fault I feel tired.


We spent a good portion of yesterday at nana and koro's which was just as well because I would place a bet that my mum will be in hospital before the end of the week for her weekly retreat. That's what I refer to it as now because it's become a weekly ritual to have transfusion after transfusion. I just wish the doctors would work out how mum's losing the blood so she can lead a normal life again.

Anyway, having her mokopuna around her seemed to brighten her day. Simple things like building block towers (the following is by tamāhine 1) can bring joy to mum.




There's little wonder the kids have an interest in planes. One reason is because we live relatively close to the airport and we get to see plenty of them. Yesterday was no exception.

As we drove into town for the midwife appointment, tama 1 noticed a small plane. I had the camera with me, but because I didn't notice it myself and tama 1 was in the back of the van, it was much too much later when we talked about it so I missed getting a close-up shot of what we learned is a Russian Yak (Yakovlev). I don't know which model it is at the moment so I can't put any link to it.

Anyway, after kai last night the kids were playing outside and around 7.30pm I heard what I initially thought was the Canadian Floatplane because it had the same grunty, slow sound. When I looked up I realised it was smaller and put two and two together. "It's the Russian Yak kids!"

We had free entertainment for the next hour watching the plane go through some neat tricks.

Suddenly I'm being taught by my 7 (nearly 8) year old son terms such as "pitching", "yawing" and "rolling". (Well, I did know rolling.)

Tamāhine 2 missed out altogether because she had just fallen asleep. But the other four were mesmerized.

I tried to get photos of the kids with the plane in the background, but you'll simply have to use your imagination.
Plus, try as I might to get some good shots of the aerial manoeuvres, the plane was pretty much 6-10kms away from us, so these next two photos are the best I could get.



Just after 8.30pm he flew past us heading in the direction of Tauranga, so we finally came inside. The kids were on high for the next hour and finally hit the hay at 9.30!!!



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Honestly, I am so grateful for the many talents whaiāipo possesses. He is such a clever bunny. In true Kiwi fashion he is a DIY-guy. Look at the results to date.

Tamāhine 1 helped her dad as well as kept an eye on her little sister.
Don't you just love the wooden gate whaiāipo made? Neat alright.
And here's a few shots from both sides of the fence. By lunchtime it was all done. We are now fenced off.
I told you he was clever huh?!

Yes, yes, we still need to finish putting the rails around the decks of the towers, but at least the fence is complete and I know my little ones are safe and secure.

So, the Family Christmas Project is almost complete.


Before I go, I'll include the second article from tama 1's newspaper ...

The article is about the Airbus ...


On January 2nd, Saturday 2010 the Airbus A380 landed at Recycleville International Airport, and there were parties all around the airport. There were tables of food for the passengers and the staff of the plane had lunch in a room that is inside the airport building. It is very hard keeping up with all these people so they have got new vehicles. Here are some pictures. [his pictures were then drawn underneath]

www.Dailynews.co.nz/AirbusA380



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Good luck to Kim Mounsey, a homeschooling mother here in New Zealand. She is the developer of this website ...


As Kim points out, the website is under construction, but do check it out and send any ideas you may have to kiwikidslearn@xtra.co.nz. Feedback is one of the most crucial aspects when setting up any venture, so I encourage New Zealanders to show support.

I applaud anything New Zealand homeschooling-specific. Resources like these are helpful not only for beginner homeschoolers looking for answers to "where do I start?" and that all-important one, "how do I write an exemption?" but also for those of us who have been walking the path for a few years (or even completed the journey) who simply desire support and contact with other Kiwi homeschoolers.

Best of luck Kim. May you receive plenty of support.


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After yesterday's effort in the heat, I was glad whaiāipo took it slightly easier today. After shifting the green slide to the taller tower and nailing a temporary ladder in place, the kids weren't slow to start using the higher slide.
One thing I have wanted for a long time, is a fence closer to our living area and now that we have a playground under construction, whaiāipo and I agreed that now is a good time to erect a fence. So, the gate went up straight away. We then headed into Bunnings to buy some posts. Whaiāipo was keen to have a good break, so we bought some petrol before heading home. The kids were happy to spend some downtime with dad. No wonder tama 3 is such a daredevil!!!! I know where he gets it from!!! [and this photo is tame compared to some of the stunt actions these two were up to]

Tama 2 and Tama 3 helping dig holes.
Tama 3 and tamāhine 2 mixing their concrete to help dad ... much to his delight I'm sure! Tama 1 getting some hands-on experience to keep the posts straight and use a level.
When tama 1 was finished he decided to make another Airbus A380.
By dinner time all the posts were in.

Before I dart off, I will add tama 1's newspaper article which he wrote this morning. He wrote it on red paper which I couldn't scan very well. He has a drawing of the Hindenburg and here's the article itself...



Daily Newspaper

Hindenburg II

The Hindenburg II lands at Dogville International Airport as people stand waiting for it to land. Thousands of people hop off the Hindenburg II, go into the Airport and wait for cars to come and drop them off at hotel, motel or somebody's home.

The Hindenburg II has a two-level gondola at the bottom to carry 250 passengers. The Hindenburg II's size is massive and the people said it was cool seeing HUGE Hindenburg II.

To see more about the Hindenburg II or other news then type www.Dailynews.co.nz/HindenburgII or whatever the news is about.




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The first task tamāhine 1 helped her father by reading out the list of measurements. Then it was time for hammer and nails to put the decking (flooring) on both "towers".
We drove into Bunnings to buy a few things and then straight after lunch whaiāipo got busy with the welder. We tested out one swing for the bigger kids before whaiāipo continued welding. Whaiāipo continued with the welding and the children happily entertained each other.
After a very late dinner, the kids were straight outside. By 8.30pm I was trying to get the kids to come inside. But were they keen?!!

We've a lot more work to do yet and the layout will be changing. The trapeze and green slide have yet to go to their correct spots so don't get too used to how you see things just at the moment.

It was a great way to enjoy a very hot New Year's Day. Our outside weather station read 40°C at one point, but typically the weather report would say we only had a high of late 20's or early 30's no doubt.

I'll try to add another update tomorrow.


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Pre-movie experience


To celebrate New Year's Eve, whaiāipo and I are taking the children to the 6.15pm session of Princess and the Frog at the local cinema . Because whaiāipo is working, I know he'd never finish work in time to make an earlier show, but at least with daylight savings, the children won't be tired, and we'll still walk out into daylight afterwards eh?!

This is the first EVER time any of the children have been into a cinema so I'm looking forward to sharing the experience with them.

[Come yesterday - when I wondered if I was going into labour - I had reservations about whether I'd be in attendance today or not!! However, I guess I experienced Braxton Hicks. Either Braxton Hicks, or the baby truly wanted to let me know he didn't appreciate me digging etc over the weekend.]

I must share with you that whaiāipo received the tickets for two adults, two children and $20 worth of candy from a client in December 2008!!!! And yes, on the very last day of the vouchers validity, we're only just getting around to using them, lol.

We only need to pay for two of the children which is great and I'm sure the candy will keep the littleuns happy.

I thought I'd start my post "pre-movie experience" when the children are excited at the prospect of experiencing something new. We let them in on the secret last night and it's been the buzzword ever since. I'm looking forward to sharing their thoughts on our return this evening. (Okay, so while others are probably preparing for NYE celebrations, Maree will happily sit on the computer blogging instead!!!!)

So, until this evening ...

First thing after breakfast, the children had to put on their builders attire.

Builders aprons together with all the necessary builders tools, eg hammers, screw drivers, measuring tapes etc were the only present the children received from Santa.

With hard hats on they were out there helping dad measure up and get the stringline up.

They learned how to measure accurately using their builders square and builders pencils.
They had a beam each to measure 60cm, and using their squares mark around their beams.
While the children did their part, dad used the posthole borer digging to the required depth. The children then helped dad carry their posts to each hole.

Although we received rain in the late afternoon and I allowed the children to keep working with their dad, I eventually had to insist on them retiring for the night because the babies were playing and slipping on the slide too often.

After kai, whaiāipo was determined to get the beams around the tops of the forts up. This photo was taken from the comfort of indoors.

Just before 9pm, whaiāipo accomplished his task and cleared the bulk of his tools into his work van. Such a pity he has to return to work tomorrow. We could have this project finished by the end of the week. Hei aha, we're all stoked to see the fruits of our labour thus far.

BTW, the green slide is only placed on the right fort temporarily. It will go across to the left-hand side once we're further along in the project.I am especially proud of tamāhine 1. She worked like a trojan - she honestly put in a massive effort. She dug the most dirt of all the kids and did whatever task she was asked to do without complaint.

As she looked out watching her dad this evening working in the rain, she commented to me "if it wasn't raining I could be out there helping daddy."

My angel girl, with her heart of gold was a joy to watch. Y'know, she even helped her father cook scrambled eggs for kai tonight. None of us were interested in a big tea, but I was pleasantly surprised my baby girl had the energy to help cook dinner.

Tino ātaahua



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By the end of Sunday ...


It took us two days to clear the site and spread the dirt. I feel absolutely exhausted. The children put in a fantastic effort. The heat really took a lot out of us all, but here's the result of our labour.

There were 320 wheelbarrows of dirt to be shifted (16 barrows per cubic metres. Therefore 10 cubic metres per truck load. Two truckloads equals 320 wheelbarrows.)

Phase One: Complete



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Ever since I started my blog(s), I have considered printing them as a real book. The one and only place I ever knew about was Blurb.


Until today.

I was catching up on some Yahoo group mail when I learned about Blog2Print.


It was great to learn of another site because I had honestly (no, honestly, I really had) been thinking of getting the school blog printed in the New Year. My thoughts are to print from Romankids Homeschool Academy's inception through to the end of 2009 as the first volume.

So, just in case anyone else has thought about having a hard copy of their blog, then you may be interested in one of these websites. Perhaps you know of another and would like to share?


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Carrying on from where I left off yesterday ...


The kids are basically doing whatever they please.

Considering we always do maths, you'll be shocked to know we've only done one day's worth of math lessons this week. Everything really has started to come to a standstill. I only seem to manage little spurts of energetic enthusiasm.

That lack of enthusiasm is obviously rubbing off onto the kids and that's fine by me. They are (all) more interested in playing and making a fleet of Air New Zealand aeroplanes. [There's plenty of learning going on with that and it's fun. Tama 1 has painstakingly followed the designs from his chart of planes. No detail is overlooked.]


Tama 2 is making great progress with his repeat reading of the Montessori lessons. We started with Starfall also which we're taking nice and slowly. As hoped, his reading is improving his pronunciation/annunciation. I'm trying not to place too much expectation on tama 2 and keep a relaxed method of learning for him. He, himself, is trying to be like his older brother and sister, which is helpful to a certain extent: it provides extra motivation.

We started manuscript writing and he's doing very well so far.







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Christmas is just around the corner but I really wanted to try and get a post done to at least wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.


We have yet to do any Christmas shopping ourselves. This year we have decided to fix up what toys the children already have because whaiāipo and I feel the children have everything they could want. If possible, I simply wish to get a new netting surround for their trampoline, oh and a new (spring) pad also. Their swing set is in dire need of a complete overhaul, so depending on the price of new swing seats we will try to upgrade that equipment also. The two older children could certainly do with new bicycles, but that can wait for birthdays. What they have at the moment will suffice.

I did purchase some books a few weeks ago with the great intention of cheating wrapping them as gifts but decided that no, in fact they won't be given as Christmas gifts. I bought them for the purpose of school - thanks entirely to the Supervision Allowance - and that's how they should remain.

[I reminded myself that although we're far from financially comfortable, our circumstances have at least changed enough that not EVERYTHING has to be used as a gift simply to fill Christmas stockings. Hence the decision I don't NEED to use the books as gifts. For me, that's enough of a gift to myself to know we're getting financial control once again.]

[To think, this time next Christmas I'll be jumping with joy knowing we'll have cleared past debts. Wow!!! That's very exciting to me!!!]


You may recall I mentioned in a posting not so long ago that we waited over a month to get our hands on Mercy Watson to the Rescue? Well, I decided to buy our own copy ...

Where did I buy it? Not in New Zealand that's for real!!!! Would you believe it is cheaper (by quite a lot I might add) to buy books from the United Kingdom or the States!? I would normally choose Amazon.com, however I chose ...


Why? Well, because ...

1. They offer FREE worldwide delivery, no matter how little or how many you purchase.
   
2. The books I wanted were discounted.
   
3. They offered a FURTHER 10% discount on their ALREADY discounted price!!! ...No, honestly they really did!!!! CRAZY huh?!!!
   

As we go to press, we're waiting on the remaining three books and hopefully they arrive tomorrow.

No major though as I already mentioned I don't plan to wrap them as Christmas gifts. In fact, we've opened them and started reading already.


One interesting point to make is this ... each book has arrived INDIVIDUALLY packaged!!!! What a hoot!!! So, on Tuesday when I had my appointments with the obstetrician and then the midwife), we arrived home to find eight packages in the letter box. What an absolute giggle.


[The books are all part of the LessonPathways Year 2 Language Arts suggested reading list.]

[I decided that if all the children are to follow in the same vein as tama 1, then it would be worth the investment to purchase our own copies, rather than use the local library.]

[And even if we didn't continue with supplementing our school curriculum with LessonPathways, the books would never go unused.]


I find it fascinating that they have come from the UK, individually wrapped, and have cost me a lot less than buying them from the likes of Fishpond, the Nile, Wheelers etc.

I did manage to find a couple of the books on TradeMe, and I would've purchased from there but to bore you with details, I kept the books on our watchlist and when I noticed people placing bids, I flagged making bids on them myself because by the time I added the postage, I realised I would actually get a better deal from the Book Depository. And yes, I will put my hand up and admit, I decided it was more worthwhile buying brand new.

There was no comparison.

Aaaah ... but what really swung it was that extra 10% discount.


From our recent purchase, I started reading with tama 1 this week ...

He's really enjoying this chapter book. We're but a few pages shy of finishing chapter 4 of the 195 page story. One of our tasks at that point is to discuss things like:

• Why does Ralph ride his motorcycle at night?
• What did Ralph's uncle and mother decide he should do?
• Why does Ralph decide to run away?
• Why doesn't Matt help Ralph?
• How does Ralph get down the stairs?
• What does Ralph do when he's chased by the dog?
• How does Ralph escape from the cat?
• Who comes to share the cage with Ralph?

There's a few other activities we can do, and we'll see how we get on with those. Depending on due date of baby number six, we will either carry on straight after Christmas, or take a break. I'm finding it tiring to do too much at the moment and the kids really aren't interested in school work ... Christmas beckons, so why should I push them to do school work? Let's relax, enjoy summer and count down to our new family member's arrival eh?! Too right!!!


Tama 1 is also very keen to read the other two Runaway Ralph books so I will make a point of saving up for those.

When I read about the author, Beverly Cleary, I discovered she has written many, many books indeed. If this book is anything to go by, I would say I'll be investigating the others too because I'm really enjoying the story myself which is great. I've read a chapter ahead so that I can be prepared for any questions tama 1 may have. Basically he's only asked me what a word means such as: anxious, wavered, scrounge, accustomed, droned, provoked, relished, awed ...


I've got some more to chat about but I've run out of steam to do much more tonight. So I've now edited the heading to indicate this is Part One. I will hopefully post tomorrow to share the rest with y'all.


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It's around this time ... when I get closer to a new baby arrival ... that I hold my youngest in my arms and sadly admit they will no longer be my baby. Soon they will look like a giant to their new sibling. It's a bittersweet moment.

I am down to weekly midwife appointments and I have to say I've had mixed emotions this time around. With this baby, I have seen my chosen midwife probably a maximum of four times. The other times I have been seen by someone else. No, that's not a problem and in fact I like the other ladies, after all, Tuia did deliver our last two babies and I enjoyed having her. So, on the one hand, I really don't mind if Tuia is the one I have to phone to deliver tama 4, but it's been sad not seeing Aroha (my chosen midwife). A minor quibber, but it's made me feel less special. Just because I'm having my sixth child, does that warrant me any less of a client? Okay, it's probably not by design that Aroha is not available to see me, but I really like her and get on well with her, so I just wish I'd seen more of her because she's been my midwife for all the kids.

Another thing I find interesting is that I have been asked to see an obstetrician. When I asked my midwife why, she said it's because of my age and the fact that I've had so many kids already. What a hoot!

At first I really wanted to decline the appointment but then I started to reflect on the learning experience for the children (well, possibly ... it all depends how busy they are and whether it's a simple "in/out" type of appointment). But I also told myself that I will attend the appointment so that the obstetrician has the "privilege" of meeting "me"!!!!

Apparently he will want to explain the risks involved. I suspect he will also want to try and convince me that six is enough and give me the old "have you thought about contraception?" speech. Well, he'll be in for surprise! My body, my choice.

But yes, I held my little man this afternoon and for the second afternoon running, he fell asleep in my arms. He hasn't done that for a very long time, so I don't know if he is picking up on my body shape and that a change is fortuitous or whether he simply wants a cuddle, but I've enjoyed holding him. Soon he will be a big brother, no longer the baby.

Bittersweet.


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Wednesday the 9th

9.00 am-10.00 am

I browsed around the WatchKnow wiki site. In all honesty that's all I did ... "browsed" ... but it looks inviting. It feels safer to me to have the kids use this sort of site rather than stumbling upon unsavoury videos on YouTube. It's well-categorised and I do like the way you can use an age filter to only look for clips that are age-appropriate. It's still in the early stages of development, but I'm sure it will gain momentum very quickly.



I enjoy having children who love maths. I had the warm fuzzies when I walked in the door with the package today. The kids told me they had been sitting on the couch waiting as I yakked to Martha - our postie - trying to guess what colour Delta would be. Turns out tamāhine 1 was right. Kōwhai (yellow). As soon as we had it open, the kids were all nose-to-books scouring the pages.

They were all very keen to start using their new textbooks, so it wasn't long before I had three students with three different MUS levels opening their clean, crisp new textbooks. It was so obvious tama 1 wanted to get stuck in because no sooner had I put the δ DVD into the computer and was watching intently to see what pointers I could pick up on, when suddenly tama 1 comes over and plonks himself next to me chatting about it.

As we watched the first few lessons on division, tama 1 was answering all the questions with ease. As soon as he registered just how simple divisions were, he was keen as mustard to work on the first lesson.

All three had their first lessons completed within minutes.


Considering I maybe could've/should've started tama 2 on Primer months ago, I decided to wait until now and I'm glad I did. I haven't done any formal maths with him prior, but he's been confidently using numbers of his own accord. As he worked on the first lesson (or was it lesson two?), I asked him to try and skip count in two's. To my surprise he did indeed count in two's. That was neat because it's been months and months since he's listened to the skip counting songs on the MUS Songbook and CD.

Late this afternoon I started looking for our Math-U-See DVD's because I feel I need to watch them again in case I've forgotten anything important. After an hour of tearing my hair out I had a rest and then went to it again. By this stage I'm getting extremely hot and bothered, and grumpy. As soon as whaiāipo got home I took advantage of the kids bombarding dad to head upstairs and look in the boxes of miscellaneous goodies. What was a tidy mess is now a disaster zone. I couldn't find α (Alpha) or ß (Beta). Talk about throw me into a frenzy. I finally gave up, had dinner and suddendly remembered ß (Beta) wasn't in the proper DVD cover as I had bought it off a friend so it was in a CD case. Phew! I found that one ... now, where was Alpha?

What do you do when you're in a flap? You jump on Twitter and tell the world you're losing your marbles.


Thursday the 10th

But what a good idea it was to blurb it on Twitter. Why? Because my girlfriend sends me an email this afternoon to let me know she read the Twitter message and she in fact has the Alpha DVD. Yay!!! I hadn't lost it after all !!! Thank goodness for that. At least I know where it is now. There's no urgency to have it, but you know what it's like when you're organised and have things in set places. When you can't find it where it should be, then you get very tetchy and restless.

Well, I had actually planned to write about some other things as well as math, but MUS seems to have completely dominated the discussion. So, I think I'll leave it there and try to come back with something else over the next few days.

The summer heat has been quite intense these past few days. Our house gets the sun in the main living areas by 1 o'clock and we are under intense heat until 8 o'clock, so you can imagine how uncomfortable it is downstairs. Because we live so near the lake we can't leave the doors open after dark because we get inundated with troutflies which is no fun whatsoever. This being the case, I can't stay downstairs too long because it's simply too hot and my pregnant feet are feeling it tonight. So, I shall leave it there and head on my merry way.


Thanks for dropping by
ka kite ano