School photo day

So it had been a few days since the Color Run and still my hair is far from its natural colour. I'm not complaining, it means that I will be the most colourful kid for school photos today.

Check out the funky do I rocked for my photos!

I wonder if I will get away with having hair this cool and colourful forever?

Love Princess George

Learning the transport network the hard way

So today was my only "free" day, with no hockey, no training, no obligations so what did we do? No we didn't declare it a pj day and sit around watching movies all day long. Instead mum insist that i do a practice public transport run to get ready for school with me leading the way. 

We were in no hurry so we didn't check timetables, just headed out. The journey started off well, not having to wait long to catch the bus or the tram. In fact we made it all the way to my school with no dramas at all. In fact it was so drama free that we decided to stop for lunch on the way back. 

After lunch was when decisions needed to be made - Milla had a dentist appointment to get to. Should we catch all catch the tram to the dentist or should we return home and then just mum and Milla gontonthe dentist?  

Going home first was the choice that won. Of course heading toward home, the transport connection wasn't as smooth. By the time we got to the bus stop, we had missed the bus by only a few minutes. We now had a new dilemma, wait for the next bus and be a few minutes late for the dentist or head back to try and catch the tram. Seeing that mum hates being late, we headed for the tram as mum called ahead to say they were running late. Naturally the tram had just left but another tram was in sight so it seemed we wouldn't be too late. Of course that team sat for ages without moving. Finally when it did move it was so slowly we could have walked faster. What did we do next?  Not sit and enjoy the slow leisurely ride. Instead we got off and walked back to try and catch a bus. To continue with the excitement, there wasn't a bus in sight and we didn't even know where the bus stop we needed was. We tried to hail a taxi but the only taxi that stopped only stopped to tell us he wasn't taking passengers. We even tried calling for a taxi but they didn't answer the phone. Clearly getting to the dentist was going to be hard work. 

Mum called the dentist to say that we were still stuck in Footscray. Luckily for Milla they had a cancellation so she could still go there whenever they could. So here I am, almost an hour after missing the first bus, back at the same bus stop, waiting for a bus that of course we missed by a few minutes. At least this means I get to go home instead of being bored waiting at the dentist!

So, what did I learn today?

1. Always get to where you are going before stopping for lunch. 

2. Leave earlier than you think you need to, public transport can take forever and it always takes longer than you imagined. If it doesn't take ages you get to where you need to be you will be early and that is good too. 

3. Make a decision, stick to it and see it through, heaps of time is wasted each time you change your mind. 

4. Mum's brain must still be broken, she has forgotten how to make a decision!

5. Running late is better on a full stomach however, running through the suburbs with a full stomach is less fun!

Most importantly it isn't what I have learnt, it is more important that I have convinced mum that I can read timetables, make contingency plans and I will have no hassles getting to school on my own next week!

The V word

Have you seen Harry Potter? If you have, you will know that there is a character in the story that people are afraid of and so they don't use his name for fear it will make him stronger and come get them. Well I have decided that Voldemort isn't the only 'V' word that gets power by being spoken. Vomit, and thinking that you are going to vomit, also gets stronger if you talk about it. Take today at school as an example. My friend wasn't feeling so well so I walked with her to the bathroom. I waited outside but I could hear her. I could hear the 'V' word in action. I took her to the sick bay to rest and headed back to class.

Naturally everyone was concerned about my friend and wondered where she was. The conversation in the classroom was centered around the 'V' word. Next thing you know, I am running to the bathroom trying really hard not to follow in the exact footsteps of my friend. I wasn't successful and joined her in the sick bay.

I wasn't feeling too bad but seeing that I was the 5th person in my class today to suffer from the'V' word, mum was called and instead of heading back to class I spent the afternoon on the couch, watching a movie with a bucket by my side, just in case.

I am pretty sure that it was all the talk of vomit that gave it power and made me sick. I am not going to talk or think I about it any more and then it won't happen again!
Love Princess George

My New School Hat!

So it is official, the holidays are over and we had to go to back to school.  Naturally the day began with the obligatory back to school photo session.  Now that photo session may or may not have ended with someone muttering that "being in Grade 6 doesn't mean that you can be an ar$e-hat!"

Do you think a comment like that would have been directed at me?  This isn't an ar$e-hat, it is me being sun smart and cool!
Love AJ Pickle

Hooray, School is Back :-)

I know that I should probably be complaining that the holidays are over, and that I am disappointed to not be able to sleep in if I wanted to but I am not.  I love hanging out with my holiday friends but I have missed seeing all of my school friends.  I will miss being able to do whatever I wanted and just chill out all day long but secretly I am happy to be going back to school to be able to catch up with my friends and catch up on all the holiday gossip.

2013 is going to be a great year.
Love Princess George

Jumping High

Today was a school day but I didn't do any school work.  In fact I was barely at school.  I went to school early and jumped on the bus to go to the District Athletics Carnival.  I was competing in the high jump.

Nervously waiting...

I was pretty nervous, it was the first time I was competing in the District Sports and I have only ever done high jump about 3 times!  Now when I had a go at high jump at school, the mat we were landing on was about 30 or 40 centimetres high.  The mat here was ginormous, it was 80 centimetres high!

My event was the first event called.  I was the first person to jump.  The bar was set at 1.05m.  Off I ran and up I jumped.  Before I knew it I was over the bar and on the mat.

Success on the first jump of the day :-)

The other kids went next and every time they had a jump the bar fell down.  They all had a second jump.  Only one of the other kids in my age group managed to make it over the bar.

The two of us kept on jumping.  If I made it over the bar, then he would make it over the bar.  If I hit the bar, then he would hit the bar too.  

Almost! I think my bum got in the way :-/

We went from 1.05m to 1.08m and we both cleared it.  The bar was moved up to 1.11m but we both missed it.  They dropped it back to 1.10m and we both cleared it.

Made it this time :-)

The bar was moved it back up to 1.11cm.  I just missed it on the third jump, I clipped the bar with my heels but he made it over.  That means that he won the event and I came in second place.

They had to have a jump off for third place.  Everyone else tried their best but they couldn't make it over the bar at 1.05m so they dropped it back again and still no one made it so everyone else came equal third.  Because I got a place, I was lucky enough to get a ribbon and points for my school. 

Second and super proud :-D

 Oh and did I mention I had a cheer squad - Aunty Sharn,  Billy AND mum!  That was a pretty cool surprise!

Happy high 5s after the high jump :-D

I think I like high jump, I wonder if I can go to Little Athletics and learn some more sports, maybe one day I could be in the Olympics!

Love AJ Pickle

AJ's Boat of Life

Everyone knows that Milli is the artist in our family.  She is the one who is ALWAYS drawing, paining or creating.  She will use ANYTHING for her creations.  If she can't find a scrap of paper to draw on, she is more than happy to draw on her arms or even her legs.

Did you know that she isn't the only artist in the family, I love to create too and I had some of my art on display at the Art Soiree.  I think that art is a great way to tell a story or to share how you are feeling.

I created this piece called the Boat of Life.  It is a small boat (that actually floats and can carry small treasures!) made from metal shim and wire.

If you can't read the artist's notes under the boat, it pretty much explains why I have made the boat the way that I have.   I have made a scout sign to go on the front of the boat to remind me not to give up as I travel across the difficult sea that is life.  There is also a lantern at the back of the boat to shine a light on  the water as I travel through life, to guide the way.

One day I would like to make a bigger Boat of Life and travel everywhere to have adventures.
Love AJ Pickle

Art Soiree

Today we had a special event after school, an Art Soiree where all of our wonderful creations were on display all around the school for everyone to enjoy.

I had two pieces on display,the first one was a totem pole that I decorated with my friend.  It is called 'the Ocean'.  We painted it blue to represent the calm feeling of the ocean.  Even though I look kind of crazy and freaked out in the photo, it was because I was excited to see my art on display instead

I did have another piece on display, a miniature puppet that I made - isn't it cute!

I don't think that the artwork that I have done at school this year is my best work, but I have still have fun making it.

Seeing other people appreciate my creations (and everyone else's creations too!) has made me want to create some more masterpieces.


Love Princess George

What is Art?

I figure that art can be pretty much anything.  It is something that you create to tell a story.  Sometimes people know what the story is even if you haven’t told them.  Other times you need to tell people what the story is and even if they don’t understand the story, they might still like looking at the art you have created.  

In the art show, I had one of my works on display - The Boat of Life.  

It represents a journey in life, it shows that even though you never give up and have a light to shine the way, life is slowly ending.

The story Milla tells with her art is of making people happy, that is why she created a blue wool felt piece with her friend to represent the calm ocean.  

Milla also likes cute things that make people smile so she made a teddybear too!

You know, I think art can be fun for everyone.

Love AJ Pickle

Happy to have Homework?

Now it isn't often that I am happy to have homework, or that I even want to do homework but today it was different.  I had to choose my own topic and it was the best topic ever - AJ's Awesome Triple Layer Cake.

As you can see, my cake is pretty awesome so I thought I would share it with you.

Preparation

• wash your hands
• check and make sure you have all the ingredients
• check and make sure you have all the equipment
• make sure you have permission

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• wooden spoon
• table spoon
• cup
• small sized pan
• medium sized pan
• large sized pan

Ingredients

6 dessert spoons of butter (melted)

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of self raising flour

4 table spoons of cocoa

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

3 drops of vanilla essence/extract

1 cup of choc chips

1/4 cup of cocoa

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Put the sugar and flour into the bowl.
3. Break eggs on top and mix.
4. Pour the melted butter, milk and vanilla into the cake.
5. Beat all ingredients together for 3 minutes.
6. Pour 1/3 of mixture into the medium sized lined cake pan.
7. Put cocoa into the rest of the mixture and mix well.
8. Pour 1/2 of the chocolate mixture into the biggest pan.
9. Add chocolate chips to the rest of the chocolate mixture and stir.
10. Pour the rest into the smallest pan.
11. Place in the oven and pan for 45 minutes or until cooked.
12. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes.
13. Ice with chocolate icing.

Construction

• Get the biggest layer and cover the top and sides with icing.
• Place the medium size cake on top and then put icing on it.
• Then place the smallest cake on top and put the icing on.

Safety

• Get help to get the cake in and out of the oven.
• Get help to cut the cake.

Clean Up

• Wash the dishes.
• Put everything away.

Eat and enjoy - this cake is totally AWESOME!

Things I know - the Naplan Edition

I am in grade 3 at school and that means that this week was NAPLAN - National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy.  It was my first time of doing any big tests so to say I have been a little stressed would be a huge understatement.  The sister of one of my best friends has been reminding us all year long that now we would have to do NAPLAN and that it is a huge test that goes for 3 days and it is super scary.  As you can imagine, I have been more than a little bit worried about it and it didn't seem to matter what anyone said, I was still worried that I wouldn't do well.  Mum and dad were happy for me to not even do NAPLAN but then I was worried that I wouldn't be allowed to go into grade 4 next year.  To be honest, it has been pretty scary.

Now that NAPLAN is over, these are some things I know...

• It really wasn't worth me stressing about all year long, so much fun time was lost being worried.  
• I really didn't have to worry so much about getting a good score, all I had to do was try my best and that is easy to do.
• Even though I have to do the work, it is the school that is being tested.
• On a scale of 1 to 100 where 100 is super important, being a good person is about a 90 (I can't be good all the time!) and Naplan is worth about a 1.
• I am really glad that my school didn't get us to do extra classes like my friends school did.
• It is done now and it really wasn't that hard, in fact it was kinda boring.
• My brother calls it the napalm test.  I don't know what napalm is but is sounds interesting.

Hopefully if there is still NAPLAN in 2 years when I am in grade 5 I will remember all of this and stop worrying so much.  
Love Princess George

My family is great because...

Did you know that tomorrow is the International Day of Families?  Well it is, and it is the perfect reason to celebrate all of the reasons that our families are great.

Our class wanted to celebrate this special day but as I am in Grade 3 I, along with pretty much all the other grade 3 kids in the entire country, will be preoccupied doing something other than having fun at school.  We didn't want to miss out on celebrating the International Day of Families so we invited our families to come in to our class today for some fun.  Mum came to school and together we played board games and built things, it was great.

We were also able to share our thought gallery.  This week we finished the thought "my family is great because..."

I am so glad that I was able to celebrate this day with mum.  Hopefully we will celebrate International Day of Families next year too.
Love Princess Geroge

Sing-Along

What did you do to celebrate the end of the school year? Do you know what I had to do? I had to stand around in the dark and sing Christmas Carols in Rabbit Park!

Even if there was singing I guess it was pretty good, before it got dark I ate yummy picnic food and played soccer with my friends!

Happy holidays,

Love AJ Pickle

School's Out for Summer!

Can you believe that I have finished my first year at school? It seems like only yesterday that this was me at the start of the school year, all ready to begin my first day as a prep kid.

Look how young I look!

All of a sudden the year is over and I have finished prep! The sad thing about that is that my buddy finished grade 6 and now she is off to secondary school.

The best buddy in the world!

Thanks for being a great buddy, I will miss you. I hope you will come back to see me and everyone else at KPS soon!

And now let the fun begin - hooray it is holidays!

Love Princess George

Thriller

I am just home from our school picnic and it was fantastic. What made this picnic better than every other picnic wasn't the food that we ate, nor was it the fact that we all sat on the basketball court together instead of in the dust. It wasn't even that we were with all of our friends. What made this the best picnic ever was that we had an impromptu disco in the hall!

We danced away for hours and every third song was Thriller!

Love Princess George

Chickens Will Fix It

Mum came to school to visit Milla in her class and then she surprised me by coming to visit me in my class just before I had snack and went out to play and mum went back to work. Mum didn't even get a chance to get back to work before her phone rang. Can you guess who it was? It was school calling to say that I was injured, again.

Before you knew it I was at the doctors and then having an xray of my elbow. Now or course it was my dodgy elbow and of course it was injured. I now have a Subluxation of my Radial Head. Now what that really means is that one of the bones in my forearm (the same bone that dad broke in his arm) doesn't quite line up with the bone that I just had the screws taken out of. Essentially I have a minor dislocation and it really hurts.

To cheer me up mum gave in and let me have some KFC for lunch in between appointments. Then to fill in time before the end of the school day I went to visit Ellen in her class and to see Tiger. I was even feeling so much better that I was allowed to go out and chase the chickens!

Hopefully my arm won't take too long to heal, I am off to see my orthopedic surgeon next week and in the mean time it is back to life in a sling and resting.

Love AJ Pickle

School Visitors

Mum and her friend came to visit my class at school today. It was awesome. They told us all about their job and how to stay safe but the best part of the day was when we got to dress up!

I think that one day I will go and work with mum!

Love Princess George

Class Picnic

Today was the perfect day for a picnic, and to make the day even better it was a class picnic. My entire class was invited, as well as their families. We all went to Pirate Park to play and it was like there were millions of people there. The best thing was spending time with my class mate and best friend.

I hope we will be friends forever.

Love Princess George

Celebrating at School

Mum came to visit me at school with a huge tray of treats for me and all my class mates to celebrate my birthday. It was great to have everyone sing Happy Birthday to me and share a snack together at the end of the school day.

Do you know what made it even more special? My Aunty Sharn came along too and Harry had his first visit to school - on my birthday!

Hooray for birthdays,

Love Princess George

Book Week Beauty

I love dressing up, I love dressing up for school even more. Today we were celebrating Book Week and were allowed to go to school dressed as our favourite book character. Now I have so many favourite book characters that I really couldn't decide who to be. Instead of spending days going through my favourite books I decided to go through my favourite costumes instead.

The short list was either a piggy costume, an Anastasia costume or Ariel the mermaid. Now I love all of my costumes and it was going to be a really difficult decision, that is until I realised that Ariel has red hair and mum has red hair paste that I might be able to use. Once mum said I was allowed to have red hair for the day, the decision was made - I would be Ariel.

Do you like how I look with red hair?

Love Princess George