I hope we've made the right decision!

I haven't talked a lot about Bowen's academic ability, but when we had him tested earlier this year, it seemed he could join MENSA. We always suspected that he was pretty bright but had no idea just how bright he was. He was reading at 3 and can add up numbers faster than me.

After two years of school where everything was so easy for him, Shayne and I have decided that the best course of action is for him to be accelerated. This means he will go from Year 1 this year to Year 3 in 2008. It's been a hard choice, mostly because of the great group of friends he has but I know for his learning, this is the best decision.

He is really excited about it - he can understand that he needs extension. We talked about the fact that he won't be in the same class with his best friends and sports wise, he will be competing against kids a year older than him. In his usual way, he said "Mum, I think my learning is more important than sports and besides, it will be a challenge for me."

Who can argue with that logic!!!

Sport's Day

According to Ryan, Sport's Day is the BEST day of the year. Can you tell he's a bit sports mad???? Given most of my posts seem to be about my boys' sporting exploits, you probably already know this LOL!

Anyway last Friday was Sport's Day at school. The boys both made the sprint final for their year level. The fastest runner in each team at each year level qualifies. Last year Ryan won and Bowen was not impressed coming 3rd. Of course we thought he did a great job!

I was devastated to find that I had to be in Adelaide that day, but managed to organise a later flight so I could catch their races first. Of course, the day was running behind schedule and I made it to the airport just as they called my flight. Thank goodness I checked in online beforehand. But I digress!!

Ryan again won his event - yayy Ryan!!!! Bowen was so determined to win this year, that he gave it his all - the fist pump as he crossed the line in first place was indication of how much he wanted it. The smile on his face was priceless - it was so worth getting to my meeting late.



Congratulations boys - what athletes you are!!!

Two Champions

Although tomorrow is Sport's Day, Mulga Street school always run the marathon the day before. So this morning it was on - fresh fruit for breakfast because apparantly you run faster.

Well it must have worked, as both boys won their respective events - they were pretty pleased with themselves and so were Shayne and I!

My Big Boy is 7!!

Bowen is 7!!! His birthday was on Saturday and we were awoken at 6am by a bouncing 7 year old looking for presents!!



He was pleased with his Bindeez, Deal or No Deal game, Nintendo game and Beanie Kids. We had a yummy tea at Fasta Pasta (his choice) and then chocolate sponge for dessert.



He had a small party yesterday - homemade pizzas and a play at home and then off to Ten Pin Bowling. They all had a great time and Shayne and I were exhausted!!! Ryan was a big help, even organising a game of pass the parcel for the party goers.

What's Up??

It's been a busy couple of weeks - what's new?

We survived the school holidays - in fact I did a lot of nothing! The boys and I seemed to need to just chill out for awhile and that's exactly what we did. I got a few layouts done using the great laser cuts from Remember When and a few for Memories and More that I can't share just yet.

The Mount Gambier Show was on this weekend - we went for awhile on Saturday afternoon. The boys spent their money on showbags and the football game - they do this every year! They didn't go on a single ride! We went back at tea time armed with our fish and chips to watch the fireworks display. Ryan as usual watched from inside the car as he doesn't like loud noises.

Ryan also completed his first game of cricket on Saturday morning. They fielded last week and Ryan was very excited to take the first wicket of the match - bowled middle stump! They batted this week and he retired at 5 not out which is not bad for his first ever match. They won as well, so all in all a good start!

Yesterday was quite warm for Mount Gambier - 30! Here's what the boys got up to!

Inspiration

This month on the Remember When blog fellow Barn Girl Nicole Southworth is sharing her scrapping journey with us. Just reading about her philosophies and smart ideas has got me inspired. So here's a quick layout I did yesterday. Nicole has talked about hand journalling (I know we all hate it) and also scrapping the everyday things. So here's Bowen cooking muffins on the weekend and I wrote the journalling myself - helped make this layout a really quick one. I've got similar photos of Ryan making choc chip biscuits to do next! I've also printed off her questionnaire for the kids to fill in for me. Stay tuned for more layouts.

Catching Up

I went to a scrapping class at Scrapbooking Anonymous on Sunday and caught up with my good friend Kathryn who reminded me that it had been awhile since I had blogged.


So, for Kathryn (and anyone else out there who reads this) here's an update on what's been happening.

• I had a great day demonstrating Fiskars at Spotlight in Mount Gambier - Nicky (the craft manager) was great and had everything all set up for me. I enjoyed working with their staff and customers and the new Fiskars punches and Shapecutter are great.

• We're on school holidays here - starting today. I've managed to get both weeks off for a much needed rest and chance to spend some time with the family. Got off to a good start today - hardly saw the boys as they played with Brad from next door. Had to laugh as they decided that a picnic lunch was the way to go. Here's a picture - as they tucked into sandwiches, sausage rolls and other yummy bits.








• Football season has officially finished. We went to Adelaide twice to see Port Power play Fremantle and then the Kangaroos in the finals. I'm secretly glad that we decided not to try and get Grand Final tickets. They had a great season even though their last match was pretty bad!


• Footy has finished for Ryan too! It's now cricket season. He's playing for the West Under 12's and after a couple of practices is showing promise as a fast bowler. His first match is in a fortnight.


• Bowen is playing basketball and Milo cricket this season - both start in the next couple of weeks.

• Ryan also decided to try out for SAPSASSA Athletics. He represented the school in 100m, 200m, 800m and high jump, competing against other 9 year olds in the district. He won the 800m and came 2nd in the 100m - how exciting! We were disappointed to find out that 9 year olds aren't allowed to compete in Adelaide, maybe next year.


• Let's see - on the scrapping front, I can now let you know that I am a Barn Girl for Remember When Scrapbooking. I've already designed a number of layouts and you can see them here. Kathy has the biggest range of Bazzill anywhere and is now designing chipboard and bazzill laser shapes - both retail and now wholesale. I've been enjoying using them. Here's a couple of the layouts I have done.