Update from Jemilla

I have been practising my skipping, so that I can be as good as the Peet girls.

Here I am with my friend Jane on a sleepover, playing with my doll house before bed time.

I sang a solo at church one Sunday. I am the girl in the blue shirt on the left.

This is something I made in class about safety. In Grade Three I have also been learning cursive writing and the multiplication tables.

One day I went for a sleepover at my friend's house. Here we are in their club house before tea.

I am being silly with my friend Michael.

These are my Reading Olympic medals. I received a bronze one because my class came third in upper elementary and a gold one for finishing all the reading events.

In Hong Kong people wear face masks when they are sick or have a cold, and I had a cold on this day.

This is my class performance in chapel. We did a play with a time machine about the temptations of Christ. 

I participated in a competition with other school children in Hong Kong  to design my own piggy bank based on a theme called "My Future Dream." I got a plain white piggy bank to design however I liked. 

This is what it looked like before...

And this is what it looked like after!

I made it a Christian pig because my future dream is for everyone in the world to become a Christian. Mum photocopied some pages from the Bible onto pink paper, and I pasted them all over the pig. I also stuck down "Jesus saves" and painted the handbag which I pretend has a Bible inside.

I wanted it to look like me, so I glued on some fake hair and some earrings and eyelashes.

I really liked decorating the pig because I like being creative.

Update from Keegan

Sometimes we have adventures travelling home from school, like the time my shoelace got stuck in the escalator. This is a photo of me on the carousel near the train station.

I like playing pretend games with my friend Elliot. One time he even had a sleepover at my house.

Every Sunday afternoon I have cricket lessons in Tai Po. I hit three fours in this game.

Look at my medals! I won them for something at school called the Reading Olympics. My class came second in the lower elementary, so I got a silver medal, and I completed all the events so I got a gold one. (Keegan had to read a total of 30 books on specific topics like wild animals, the ocean, sports, space, a biography, etc.)

One of the teachers at school gave Jemilla and me their family's old bikes this week, so now we have bicycles to ride again. My bike is orange and Jemilla's is pink. I just wish Manou was here to ride with me!

Wordless Wednesday (sixteen)

Fast cricket in a fast city

Does "fast cricket" seem like an oxymoron to you?

Craig was overjoyed today to watch Australia take their first ever Hong Kong Sixes title, beating Pakistan on the last ball.

And Renee was somewhat bored watching Keegan this afternoon at cricket practice in Tai Po.

One cricket match is much the same as another, right?

Alden's party

Keegan's Grade One classmate Alden invited us to his birthday party this afternoon.

It was held at Organic Life Café in Kowloon Bay. We enjoyed a delicious buffet...

Followed by a magic show.

Then the kids lined up to get balloon animals made by the versatile magician.

Look at this great motorcycle!

This party-goer got an alien from Toy Story.

Tirzah was happy with her simple flower.

Keegan asked for an airplane.

I liked this Little Mermaid creation.

Jemilla requested an umbrella.

Happy birthday, Alden! Thank you for inviting us to your party!

Tirzah doing her "homework"

Parcel from Perth

We were so excited when the Forest Hill guards handed us a huge colourful parcel on our way to school last week. It was from a kind family in Perth, and it contained three beautifully wrapped presents adorned with stickers for Jemilla, Keegan and Tirzah.

The presents were absolutely perfect for each child. Thank you so much to the Tushingham Family for remembering us over here in Hong Kong. It really made our week! The only downside to your fantastic parcel was that Jemilla became rather homesick and sad that she can't see Jonathan for a long time. So when are you coming to Hong Kong to visit us?

Bledisloe Cup

Tonight the New Zealand All Blacks and the Wallabies from Australia competed  in Hong Kong Stadium in this year’s Bledisloe Cup. It is only the second time this rugby trophy has been up for grabs in Hong Kong. A kind friend gave Craig two free tickets, and to say he was excited was an understatement. 

Craig attended the match with a teacher from ICS, Lester. No prizes for guessing who is going for which team!

According to Craig, Australia started the game well and were leading 12-0, and then the walls came tumbling down. Halfway through the second half with New Zealand well in front, Lester had to leave to catch a flight. Australia somehow fought back, and it was getting tense. The final siren sounded, and the Wallabies were still down by five points. They managed to score a try to level the scores with a kick to come. This is what happened next.

And this is the final score.

Thank you Terri and Nick for allowing Craig to have this proud Aussie moment in Hong Kong. 

And commiserations to all you Kiwi fans. (Yes, this includes you, Karl!)

Walkathon/Fall Festival

You may remember from a previous post about the Typhoon-That-Never-Was last week resulting in the postponement of our major school fund-raising event...to today.

The morning started with a time of praise and worship in the school gym.

One of my students was absolutely delighted to find "Mrs Harvey" amongst the crowd of people!

Then all the students participated in a Walkathon around the school. For the last month or so Jemilla and Keegan have been asking friends at church to sponsor them for this event.

After the Walkathon, we could choose any number of booths and activities in which to participate and food and goods to purchase. Craig worked in two booths and I helped in the family room. I'm sure from looking at the photos below you can imagine what a fun day was had by all.