Being good, being important, crystals and soccer dads.

1. Both my kids have been "Caught Being Good" at school recently and rewarded with  a book, a certificate and some public acclaim.  Climber's award was for being a conscientious and hard worker in all learning situations (well done, o firstborn) and Cherub's was for sharing with a friend.  Actually his teacher was super impressed with him for his actions - there'd been a special goodie bag from the canteen for Anzac Day and a boy in his class whose parents don't speak much English messed up the order, and he didn't receive one.  Cherub immediately offered to share his pack with the disappointed child, and although full marks for kindness I am bound to add that Cherub, being the fusspot he is, really wasn't that excited by the snacky contents and felt no pang in giving them up.  Still, take the credit where you can, hey?



2.  Cherub grew a crystal from one of those science kits, and a mighty impressive process it was.

This is the early stages where it started creeping down the wall as though it were a family eating triffid crystal...



 ... this is how the solution looked at the end of the 10 (?) days ...



... and this is the finished crystal, which is so pretty.



I'm keeping it as an ornament.

3. Climber's soccer team had a 'friendly' game against the parents a while ago.  Actually the Dads and one Mum put up a fairly impressive showing but ultimately went down due to lack of stamina and team fitness.  I ended up taking one of the Dads (Mavis' ex, slightly awkward) to hospital because of a shoulder injury, but as Mister Fixit put it You know it was a good match when only one of the parents ended up at hospital.



Mister Fixit is the dad in the red shirt with hair, and Climber is the sprinting blond in the centre front.

4. Cherub was class VIP last week at school. His teacher made it much more low-key than Climber's, so all Cherub was expected to do was complete the double page spread in the VIP book. - he included this photo to show that he can now do a forward flip on the trampoline - bravo! 



As an optional extra, the VIPs could bring along someone to Friday afternoon VIP presentation, and Cherub said he'd like me to come in and give everyone a tap lesson.   It was a smash success, with the kids absolutely loving it, and nearby children and staff coming from everywhere to watch and cheer and even join in behind us.

Ever the comedian, Cherub opened his VIP book entry with This is Gerald, Gerald the Chicken, no actually it's me, Cherub.  It got a good laugh when he read it out for the class. The caption that went with this photo in the VIP book was this is my weird brother Climber, and our cat Basil.



Luckily his brother thought it was amusing too.