End of 2010 - the windup

I know, I know, there's a whole month to do. But think of it as being really, super organized. This may be the only place in my life which is!
Janine is in her final exam this morning, hopefully not composing the end of year Christmas letter! She is quite good at drama, and we are hoping that she will be able to transfer those skills to paper.
Katarina has finished school which is good, but not making much progress on my list of things for her to do, surprise, surprise.
We have had the first of three concerts already, Hannah's recorder ensemble played on Saturday morning, and we are looking forward to Tuesday's flute performance.
Zach has made the South Canterbury futsal rep team for his age grade and managed to get some of the other boys over yesterday for an impromptu practice. Chris is coaching a team, and there is a bit of a battle for top honors in the grade.

School athletics

Chris and I have spent most of the day at Gleniti School's athletics day. Glorious, sunny, South Canterbury weather,Zach came third equal in high jump, Hannah's team won their house relay, lots of good time connecting with others.
Katarina had her last exam this morning and then came out to help. Janine sat her science exam this morning too and just has drama to go, Monday next week.

Hannah's ninth birthday

Hannah pretty much organized the birthday - writing invitations, delivering them, setting a theme,; I would have preferred being consulted on how many she actually invited, but several were unable to make it, so in the end, we had nine nine year olds,making pizza and cupcakes, playing balloon volleyball and generally making the sort of noises that only a large group of pre-teen girls can make. The theme was doggies, with obligatory doggy cake, and small girls dressed up as dogs, well, mostly. Hannah was a pink poodle!
Two stayed for a sleepover, and somehow Hannah managed to con her Dad into taking her to McDonalds for tea, AND came home with 2 punnets of strawberries to share with the rest of us! So - happy girl? Yes. Spoilt rotten? Yes!
Janine has had her first exam this morning, maths. This was a good one to tackle as her first major external exam, as she is quite confident about this exam. Katarina was very helpful in getting her set up, and talking through exam strategies.
We also had the Parish Fair this weekend, which was a bit of a distraction for young people trying to study!

Nearly birthday time

Hannah has learned that if you want a decent birthday party you pretty much need to take the initiative. She has slightly overdone things, forgetting about the rule regarding no more people than how many years old you are...so we have eleven 8 and 9 year olds coming next week. It's a pity I forgot about the Parish Fair that day, so we are going to be busy, but hey, it is also a combined service, so hopefully things will balance out overall.
Zach's futsal team managed to win over the top ranked team from South School last week, which both father and son were pleased with. Chris is coaching this team, but couldn't watch them play as we had Parish Council. Zach seems to get better each week, and if he can just transfer what he is learning to the outdoor game, he will be quite handy.
Hannah is playing with year 7 and 8's, but she is holding her own, not because she's good or anything, but the girls' game is so much slower. It's a bit hard to watch actually, but she too is improving week by week.
Janine and Katarina finish school this week (EEK!) and will be off on study leave. Janine has prize giving tomorrow night and last week was elected vice president of Intertact, which is like a junior Rotary. This means she will be president when she is in Year 13. Katarina has prize giving in early December, and isn't too fussed about exams, the only question is what kind of endorsement she will get at Level 2, NCEA, not whether she will get it or not.