Thursday 10 December 2009

Achievements & Rewards


I like to record my kids' academic achievements come year end. All 4 of them take a different approach to their schooling but fortunately they all achieve their own version/level of success. Camryn & Reilly enjoy school & have both managed to secure an "Academic Progress" badge at the end of every term this year. They are never "over the moon" about this as they are always hoping for an "Academic Merit" badge instead, but these are only given out to a select few who achieve 80% & above in all subjects, consistently throughout each term. My 2 little ones are far too busy enjoying life to actually commit themselves to making that happen, & I am fine with that, I believe that raising well-rounded individuals is more important than concentrating solely on academic excellence.

Cami has worn that huge white aliceband to school every year since she started & now it is so small for her head that she is coming home with a headache every day. She has finally conceded that it has to go...so this is a very special portrait of not only her badge, but also her aliceband.

I had to crop this photo drastically to get the "Academic Progress" text on the badge to be clearly visible - but I like how the photo looks with the heavy cropping. DH rewarded Reilly incredibly by buying him "Jabulani" the day he went on sale last week {he is the official World Cup ball & World Cup Fever is definitely starting to settle in now that the match draw has taken place}. You will be hearing a lot more about it here on my blog over the next 6 months as we are all football fanatics in this house.

I had to laugh & grab my camera when the boys called me into their room to meet Jabulani - & I was impressed at his "stand" that they had made using a melamine cereal bowl! They placed him strategically between Reilly's "Most Improved Player of the year" award on the left & Jack's "Player of the year" Award on the right - directly in front of their Manchester United poster. These boys have a lot of differences but football is their common thread.

Someone has been staying up far too late watching "essential" Premiership matches recently, now that school is almost over & there is no work getting done, just class parties, sport, etc - total waste of time really but an extra 2 weeks has been legislated so that next July the school holidays will be 4 weeks instead of 2, to reduce the congestion on the roads during the World Cup & to allow for match attendance.

Cami's reward was a new set of batteries for her "piano" & a baking date with dad {photos to follow}. She has owned this book for about 3 years now but just loves tinkling out the toons...

This is definitely a possession that will end up in her "special box" rather than being handed on to my neice - as this will definitely bring back many happy memories for her when she discovers it years down the line.

It was pretty pricey originally but has been worth it's weight in gold as she has spent many a happy hour entertaining herself with it & it is still in relatively good condition as it is a "board" book with thick chipboard pages with a glossy, wipeable finish.

She chose this mix at the supermarket for her baking date with dad! Shane is absolutely besotted with her & she with him so they had a great evening preparing this together. DH is thankfully very hands-on...

She insisted on coloured sprinkles on the icing...they have to go on everything at the moment!

She sure was one happy & exhausted girl after her baking adventure!

Thankfully the rain has ceased during the day this week, which means our clothes can finally dry! Instead we are having a thunderstorm each night which is very typical of an African Summer & something that I for one, love...



8 comments:

tania said...

these are such cute photos, that girl has got her dad right around her little finger,hey? like the ball(and the stand,LOL!!) tell cami she should next time try out the boxed puddings from Moir's they are great,especially the choclate volcano!

tania said...

oh,sorry and congrats on their awards!

topkatnz said...

Congrats on all your kids achievements - and just making it through to this exhausting year end!:)

Lynette Jacobs said...

I can hear that you are very proud of your children's achievements...congrats.

Ella Swan said...

LOL Tania we all love the volcano puddings - the only problem is they are not designed for 6 people families as they only make 4 so it gets a bit hectically expensive buying 2 boxes each time! But they sure are delicious ;-D

Michelle Ramsay said...

Congrats to you and your children and they certainly sound like well all-rounded children. Those cake mixes are the best - I often make the cake one as muffins - very yummy. Also try the Ina Paarman ones - great too

Mel said...

Wow - awesome achievements! YOu must be a proud mama. ;-)

Did you get Cami's piano board book locally? I would love to get something similar for my middles.

Desire Fourie said...

This was truly endearing reading about your beautiful family's achievements during 2009. You are very blessed.
Hugs
Desire