Sunday, September 20, 2009

DragonGirl is Eight!!!

DragonGirl and Boo's birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, so this time of the year is a time of giving and receiving for us.

We like to celebrate the person and what they like on their day. We let them pick the menu, the music and the daily rhythm of activities. I feel it becomes a bit more than 'where are my presents' that way.

DragonGirl watched a movie a couple of months ago and loved the cake in it and wished for it for her birthday, so I baked two sponge cakes and then cut them in half and filled the layers with strawberries and cream.

Another tradition in our house is Corby pulling out a present at the end of the day. This year's one was a Big success. He had to work until mid-afternoon and when he came home he brought a telescope with him. Her face when she saw it was priceless.

He got her a Night Sky book to go with it. We are going to head North for the weekend in a couple of weeks to get a clear view of the stars and planets and try and pick some of them out. We've had too much cloud cover to see much.

It apparently works quite well on land too and I thought I might take her out whale watching with it next time there are sightings. Yesterday we saw a mother and her calf, as well as another lot that were too far to away to define. There was also a seal on the rocks down from the lookout we haunt.

On Saturday we got together with friends at the local pool and hired out the inflatable. The kids (and grown ups) had an awesome time. I would have liked to have had a go as well.


I can't believe DragonGirl is eight already. It has gone quickly and been quite eventful. We've moved to NZ and back, driven from one side of Australia to the other, lived on a couple of farms and now we have the coastal lifestyle with our little piece of Land.

We started school and then decided that Life Learning is much more our style and DragonGirl is blossoming happily with the choice.

We had a visit from the local home education Moderator last week. He said that he 'is impressed with how we are going' and that he hopes we will continue homeschooling next year - which we are. I knew that DragonGirl had made some big steps in the last couple of months but it was still nice to have some feedback. It boosted my confidence in our ability to keep going.

I have seen DragonGirl's confidence grow too over the last two years. She is more willing to try new things and conquered a few fears too.

One of her biggest fears were situations where she was required to perform or speak in front of a group. Last week she had a session of Drama and I really wasn't sure how she would go. She amazed herself and did really well and I would even go as far as saying she was really good at it. Needless to say she is looking forward to next week's session.