Last days of autumn

I didn't get to the blog on Monday, as I spent a lovely afternoon out at the Shearer's Quarters with Mum and Tracey, Jessie and Lachlan; such a lovely day made me wonder why we don't eat outside more often.
Hannah was in the Jump Jam competition this week - her group didn't go on to the finals but I was able to see them perform, and I thought they made nice work of "Won't you take me to Funky Town."
Zach and Hannah both went to the school disco on Friday; Zach is pretty laid back about such things. He also completed the forty hour famine.
Janine and Katarina drifted in and out of the house at the weekend, joining with their respective groups of friends for famine hang outs, but also drifting home for a decent night's sleep which I thought was very sensible of them both.

Latest updates from May

Zach has made it to the rep squad for football; they are going to train two teams this year because of the way the tournaments are scheduled. He also had a great time at youth group - they spent a couple of hours climbing at the polytech rock wall - awesome!
Chris has fixed the fridge handle - thanks Peter!
Janine has made the most amazing model for a cell for a school project; imagine all the bits of a cell made in 3 dimensions of brilliantly colored plasticine and then covered in clear jelly, all in a recycled clear plastic Chinese take-away container.
Hannah made mini-hot dogs for tea last night, and now our house smells like the takeaways.
We're not much of Katarina as she is busy with rehearsals for the school production and there are lots of extra events as the school celebrates 100 years.

Mid May

Crazy week of grey weather and lots of rain, it is a bit like living in Dunedin again!
Zach had rep football trials today and Chris is going to manage the team, so he better get in!
Hannah made us stuffed baked potatoes for tea tonight, darling girl.
Katarina is helping with Craighead's stage production - behind the scenes of course! And Janine learnt this week that her mum has a first class honours degree from Lincoln College, and the dairy industry has a great many opportunities.

Wet wet wet

Two inches of rain, and the tracks down at Centennial Park are showing signs of scouring and the creek is way, way up. No soccer on Saturday...
Hannah is sick of biking to school in the rain - Janine just takes the bus.
Katarina went to Dunedin for the open day at University. She is looking at various options but nothing seems to be sticking at the moment. At least she is looking at university! I think she might quite like the idea of not being at home, and hanging out with her Dunedin friends a bit more, but in terms of actually studying something that would lead to a job, well, things are not quite clear yet.
Zach was disappointed to find they only cook every second week at tech; they spend Friday afternoon there every week, and each term undertake a different area of practical work. Last term he was designing and working with plastic, and bought home a very nice clock. This term it is cooking, and while he has to get round three sisters to get to the kitchen, there will be plenty of opportunities to reinforce his burgeoning culinary skills.

Back to school

Katarina had her 18th birthday party on Friday night - bit of a clash with the wedding but we managed. Janine worked really hard putting together a secret dinner with a menu of strange and mysterious items which essentially left people guessing as to what they were ordering. Those who guessed correctly enjoyed beef olives, potatoes, carrots and peas, followed by hot mocha pudding and ice-cream or fizzy jellies. Those who didn't had the same food but found themselves trying to eat their dessert with a straw or dinner with a knife. There were fits of laughter and they all seemed to have a good time.
Zach and Hannah were busy fetching and carrying while Katarina dressed up and enjoyed herself. Hannah decided that she would rather be the one having the party than the one serving - wouldn't we all!
The church lounge was decorated with fairy lights, and Chris played barman, although they were more interested in trying lots of different kinds of cocktails and mocktails.