Sophie's Show and Tell-Episode Three

It has been some time since I last made a video. I want to make another one, but I have no idea what to make it about. I think about it. I have made one on books, so that's out, and I can't have another mixed box because I did that last time.

"Aha!" I cry. I have an idea. "I will make a movie about favourite movies." I hurry over to the bookcase to find some of my favourite DVDs. "Oh no!" I wail. "I have too many favourite movies. I can't pick just a few."

Mum comes to the rescue with one of her amazing ideas. "Why don't you only do a few this video and some more in another video."

I smile again. It is a wonderful idea.

Next day I stand in front of the camera. Everything is going to go perfectly, I am certain.

Mum is out so Gemma-Rose is doing the filming. It is her first try at using the video camera. Gemma-Rose presses the start button, and I start talking. Suddenly I can't remember what to say.

"Cut!" I tell Gemma-Rose.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing. It will be fine this go," I reply. But it isn't or the next try either. I feel like giving up.

"Why don't we just do a bit at a time?" I ask. I hope it will be easier that way. I am right. Very soon we have enough film to make a video. I rush over to my computer. It's time for the easy bit: the editing.

It doesn't take long to put everything together and very soon it is ready to go on YouTube.

I smile. Next time things will go better!

If you'd like to see my video, please visit our Mother, Daughters, Sisters blog:

Show and Tell, Episode 3: Favourite Movies

Sophie's Show and Tell (Episode Two)

Yesterday we filmed another episode of Sophie's Show and Tell. This time we had a mixed Mysterious Box. After a lot of tries, some good laughs and the camera turning itself off, we had enough video to work with.

I then put everything together using Windows Movie Maker. I decided to be more adventurous and play around with more effects than last time.

This morning Mum and I uploaded our video to YouTube. Please watch it. We had a lot of fun making it. I can't wait to make the next one.

If you haven't watched the first video you can follow this link and watch it. I hope you enjoy!

The embroidery pattern mentioned in the video was designed by Kelly Casanova. Please visit her Etsy shop.

Backstage with Sophie

I want to make a cool movie but I need an idea. "Mum, what could I film?" I ask.

"How about a show and tell," Mum suggests. "Get all the things you have been doing this week and show people."

I think this is a great idea. So grabbing my notebook and pen. I sit down to plan what I could show people.

"You could have it themed," Mum says. "One video about things that have changed around the house, the next about movies."

"I know what my first video is going to be about," I cry. "I will do one about books I have recently read."

Mum smiles as I rush off to find all the books I have read.

"I need a box to keep all my show and tell things in. I could put my hand into the box during the video and bring the books out," I decide. So I totter into the garage to see if we have one floating around.

Soon I am coming out again, an old kitty litter box in one hand. "This will do."

"You can't have an old kitty litter box on film," Gemma-Rose protests. "What will people think?"

"It would take heaps of coats of paint to cover up the pictures on the box," I tell her. "I don't want to wait that long." Suddenly an idea pops into my head. "A collage, I could do a collage! I'm sure some ripped up paper would look great glued to it and it should be much quicker to do."

"I will help," Gemma-Rose volunteers. "I could be your assistant."

"You could be my assistant on the video too. You could hand me the things from the box."

Looking in the garage, Gemma-Rose finds some old wrapping paper that came off her birthday presents and I find some green and pink paper and the glue pot.

Later we start working on the box. Ripping paper, gluing it on and then ripping some more paper. We are having a great time. We haven't done anything like this in ages.When we are finally done we hold the box up to show Mum. "What do you think?" we ask.

"Looks great!" Mum says. "A box like that would be wonderful for storing things in."

"Its our mystery box," I tell her.

I rush off to show the big girls. I knock on their bedroom door and hold up the box.

"This is our mystery box," I tell them.

"I wouldn't mind having a box like that to put super cool things in," Imogen says.

"If I can find another box, I will decorate it for you," I promise.

"I'll help," Gemma-Rose offers.

In the afternoon, we set up our studio. I look at Gemma-Rose and pick up a hair brush. "You can't go on film like that," I tell her.

Gemma-Rose's hair has lots of short bits that always come out of a pony tail. My solution to that is hair clips and lots of them. Soon she has a head covered in them. I am sure her hair is going to be the star of the show!

"That looks better," I say as I go to tell Mum we are all set up for filming.

She arrives. "Ready?" she asks and hits the record button.

I start talking. I make a mistake. I make another. Gemma-Rose's eyebrows go down low.

"Can we restart this?" she asks.

"We will have to now," Mum says. "Don't worry if I have to tell Sophie about her mistakes. It will just make it funny."

But Gemma-Rose doesn't agree. She makes faces at the camera whenever there is a mistake and it takes five goes to get it right.

Finally we have a version that we are all happy with. Smiling we go for some afternoon tea. Then I have the hard bit to do.

Mum puts the film onto my USB stick and I put it into my computer. I get to work cutting bits out, sticking bits together and just basically editing the video.

"Are you sick of the sound of your own voice yet?" Imogen asks a while later. She remembers what it was like when she made her videos.

"Yes," I agree as I hear myself say, "Hi, welcome to Sophie's Show and Tell," for the hundredth time.

"You're a natural on camera," Mum tells me. Me? Natural? I don't agree, but I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

By dinner though, my video is finished. It just needs uploading to YouTube.

All evening we watch my computer, surprised at how long it is taking to upload the video. Bedtime arrives, but I am going to stay up until my video is finished. There isn't that much more to go.

"What percentage is it now?" Mum asks.

"That's funny. It hasn't changed," I answer. "Oh no," I wail as the truth hits me. "My computer has lost Internet connection."

We hurry to reconnect it. Luckily the video is still uploading, but Mum has decided I must go to bed. I am tired and thankful to climb under my blankets. A little while later Mum pokes her head around the door.

"It's done," she tells me. I smile and decide to write a post about it tomorrow. I had so much fun!

If you would like to watch our video, please go to our Mother, Daughters, Sisters blog. It is called Sophie's Show and Tell (Episode One). I am going to make heaps more videos. What will the next one be about?

Fences, Dogs and Dad

It was Callum's birthday. We were all sitting around the table having dinner.

"Dad, we had an idea," Callum said. "You know how you've always wanted a garden that has fences all the way around it? We had a look at materials today and we are willing to build you some fences."

Dad was happy about the fences but then he became suspicious. He wondered why we wanted to build a fence. "Do you have a plan? Is it a four legged plan?"

Dad guessed we were hoping we could get a dog once we had fences all around the garden.

Everyone started talking at once.

"A dog?"

"We would look after it."

"Please Dad!"

"I have always wanted a  dog!"

"We looked at the ones in the animal shelter and they don't cost that much."

"What?" Dad cried. "Are you seriously hoping for a dog?"

"Please Dad, it's my birthday," Callum begged.

We all started talking again, begging Dad to let us have one.

"What kind of dog?" Dad asked.

"What kind of dog would you like?" we said.

"Why me?" Dad looked at Mum.

"What size?" Dad asked.

"Middle sized, something that can keep up with Mum while she runs," Callum answered.

"What size is middle sized?" Dad wondered.

"Collie sized," Callum told him.

"I don't want a collie," Dad protested.

"I was just giving you an idea of a size. We don't want a collie," Callum said.

"Get the fence up first," Dad told us. 

While we washed the dishes we prayed Dad would say yes. 

"We had a dog years ago," Charlotte told Casey, Callum's girlfriend. "Her name was Rocket and she was a bit crazy." 

Callum started hunting on the Internet for a picture of a dog that Dad might like. Very soon Dad sat down next to him to have a look too. He had agreed to let us have a dog!

We were so excited. We spent all evening trying to find a dog we liked.

"We can't decide on a dog until we have the fences up," Mum told us.

So that's what we are doing: building fences. I can't wait to see what kind of dog we get. We have decided it must be a trained adult, but that's about it. I have always wanted a dog, especially one you can walk and run.

Do you have a dog?

Secret Garden Embroidery

The door bell rang. Mum rushed to open the front door.

A moment later she closed the door again, and she called, "Girls, come see my parcel!" We all dashed over as fast we could. We all wanted to see what the postman had delivered.

Mum tore the parcel open, almost as eager to see what was in it as we were. She held up a colouring-in book called The Secret Garden. Opening it she flicked through the intricate leaf and flower drawings.

"Those look amazing!" I gasped.

"I am thinking of enlarging some of the pictures and embroidering them onto calico," Mum told us.

"They are so detailed, it would take forever," Gemma-Rose commented.

"It would be a wonderful project to do while you are reading to us," I said. "Could I do some embroidery with you, please?" I begged.

"Of course," Mum agreed. "We will do it together."

A few years ago I did a few embroideries, but I gave them away. I sewed a fat cat with red thread on calico. I also sewed some flowers. I wasn't very good at embroidery, but I had heaps of fun while I was doing it.

I can't wait to get to work on some new embroideries. I bet Dad would be more than happy to enlarge the pictures we want on the printers at work.

"I bet the hardest bit of embroidery is transferring the picture to the fabric," I said, remembering all the problems I had had last time.

"I didn't draw mine on. Charlotte did it for me," Gemma-Rose told us.

Maybe Gemma-Rose would like to do some embroidery with us. She is better at sewing then me. I sure we could find another embroidery hoop for her.

"You can use my light-box," offered Mum.

Perhaps you'd like to do some embroidery too.

My First Piano Lesson of the Year

I nervously entered my piano teacher's house. My knees shook. I hadn't had a piano lesson for ages because of the long summer holidays. Would I have done enough practise? Would she say I had gone backwards?

"Hello!" my teacher said smiling at me and Charlotte. "Who will have the first lesson?" I didn't know if I wanted to get it over and done with or leave it as long as possible. Luckily I didn't have to choose.

"I think I will teach you first, Sophie," Christine decided. I took a deep breath and followed her into the music room.

I started on my scales, being very careful to get them all right. Christine tapped her fingers to help me keep the same pace. A few times she made me repeat a scale until I got it perfect.

Once I was finished with my scales I started on my exam pieces. My forehead furrowed in concentration. Imogen had helped me out with one of them over the holidays, so I wasn't really worried about it, but the others I had been practising on my own.

"That was really nice," Christine said as I finished one of my pieces. "I can tell you really enjoy that piece."

I sighed with relief. I did enjoy it a lot. It is really fun to play.

When my lesson was finished, I walked out and grinned at Charlotte. She smiled at me and walked into the music room for her lesson. I settled down on the sofa with my book to wait.

Later Christine walked us to the front door. We said goodbye and rushed over to the car where Mum and Imogen were waiting to pick us up.

"How did it go?" Mum asked.

"Great!" I said.

"Christine said we did wonderfully," Charlotte agreed.

The grin didn't leave my face the whole way home. I was so happy.

Epiphany on the Beach

It is Epiphany. Imogen, Charlotte, Gemma-Rose and I are all sitting in Mum and Dad's room talking.

"We have two options on what we could do today," Mum says. "We could stay home and have cake or we could go to the beach?"

What is Mum thinking? Of course we want to go to the beach. We grab our swimmers, towels, something to do in the car and water bottles.

Soon we are in the car. I settle down for the long drive. I have a favourite book on the go and I am listening to the Frozen soundtrack on my MP3 player. It doesn't seem to take very long before we arrive.

Immy

We head over to the changing rooms. We all change as fast as we can, put on our sunscreen and then meet Dad outside.

He leads us over to the beach and to a good spot on the sand.

"Can we go play in the water?" Gemma-Rose asks.

Me

"Come on," Imogen agrees and we run into the waves. The water isn't half as cold as we thought it would be and soon we are jumping waves. We call ourselves the Ninja Kipper Fish.

Gemma-Rose and Charlotte keep getting carried back to shore, but Imogen and I soon pick up how to jump a wave and then dig our heels into the sand.

After a little while we all decide to go make a sand castle. It is a tradition to make a sand castle every time we go to the beach.

"What should this one be like?" Charlotte asks.

"How about we give it two towers?" Imogen suggests.

"We could give it a tunnel all the way through," Charlotte adds.

"Come on then."

Soon we are digging and piling sand up. It is looking really impressive. I smile as I look at our handiwork.

"Lets call it the Two Towers," Imogen says. I giggle.

Gemma-Rose and Two Towers

"What should we do now?" Gemma-Rose asks.

"Well I have seen all these amazing pictures of sand mermaids. Does anyone want to try making one?" Imogen asks.

We all do. We have never made a sand mermaid before.

Charlotte and Imogen start by drawing out the shape and then we begin on the building.

The mermaid

"Try to stay in the lines," Charlotte calls.

It is a lot of fun. I get given the head to do. I build it a bit out of shape and Charlotte has to fix it for me. She and Imogen are good at doing things like this.

Mum comes over to have a look. She is soon off for her camera. She takes photos of everyone and, when we are finished, the mermaid itself. Dad comes over too. He takes the camera and takes a lot more photos. It is the most amazing thing we have ever done!

"Time to go and get some dinner," Mum says.

We go to the change room and have showers and get back into our clothes. We are all hungry and so we hurry. Dad is going to buy fish and chips.

Once he has bought them, we find a park and sit down to eat our dinner. Seagulls crowd around in hope of something to eat, but they are out of luck. We are too hungry to waste anything on birds.

When we have finished eating, we climb back in the car and go home to bed. It was a great day! I really enjoyed myself.

What did you do on the Feast of the Epiphany?

I Eat Snails

This is my first post from our new blog: Mothers, Daughters, Sisters!

Hi! I am Sophie. 

When trying to think up a fun way to introduce myself, Mum suggested writing this post like an interview. So after going around and getting a few questions from everyone in my family, I set about answering them. Some questions were really hard, but I managed it in the end!

Facts about me:

Name: Sophie

Age: 12

Place in the family: second youngest of eight, fourth of five girls.

If you were a sound, what would it be and why: 

I'd be a laugh because I can’t stop laughing. If something funny is said, you can be sure I will laughing. I love jokes and quotes. 

If you were a colour, what would it be and why: 

I'd be red. It seems such a fun colour. It is one of my favourite colours. I love red flowers, red sharpies and red earrings.

If you could be a book character, which one would you be and why: 

I'd be Betony from The Divide. She leads such an exciting life and doesn’t seem to care how different she is from all other elves. I am different as well. I look different being darker than everyone else in my family. 

What would your perfect day be like: 

My perfect day would be a day at home with plenty of time to read, write and doodle.

What is your favourite outfit: 

It's a denim skirt and pink T shirt. They are nice and comfy. I like casual clothes better than being dressed up and I love skirts a lot more than pants. You won't catch me dead in jeans. On special days I like the flowery dress Mum made me best though. It is about knee length and has two buttons on the shoulder.

What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten: 

I have eaten snails! When I was little I used to eat snails out of their shells. I found them in the garden. I still get teased about it! I don't mind being teased and I can't sulk for too long, however hard I try. (I don't eat snails any more!)

What is your favourite kind of shoes: 

I like wearing ballet flats or sneakers. Something comfy because I get sore feet easily.

What kind of music would you be: 

I'd be something exciting, like the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack. I am always having heaps of fun and I usually have a huge grin all over my face.

Here's one of my doodles:

E for Elvis

The Best Christmas Present Ever

Gemma-Rose and the doll

A few weeks ago Mum and I were Christmas shopping.

"Do you think if I work hard I can finish that doll I am making and give it to Gemma-Rose?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," Mum said.  

So I set out to make the best Christmas present ever! Every night instead of reading in bed I worked on the doll, sewing it's very long legs.

Book the doll came from

About a week before Christmas though I still had half of the second leg to sew, and the clothes still needed to be made. I didn't panic though. I knew just who to go to for help.

"Mum I haven't finished my doll," I told her.

"Don't worry, I will get out my sewing machine tomorrow," Mum said, "and you can use it to finish the sewing. It will be quicker." I was excited. I had never used a sewing machine before.

The next day I sat down and Mum taught me what to do. It was easier than I thought and very soon we were almost done. I just had to put the elastic in the skirt, sew the doll's pieces together and finish stuffing it. It wouldn't be hard at all.

Once I was done, I showed the doll to Mum.

"Don't you think the doll's eyes are a bit dark?" she asked.

I looked at it. She was right. 

"What should I do?" I asked.

Mum thought about it. "I know, I have a wonderful white pen. We will draw around the centre of the eye to make it stand out more," she said.

It was a brilliant plan and soon my doll was perfect. I put her in a shoe box and wrapped it. I couldn't wait until Gemma-Rose saw what I had made her.

On Christmas Gemma-Rose tore open her present. She stopped and stared.

"It is the doll you were making! It is finished," she said smiling. She was delighted with it and couldn't put it down for the next few days.

"What are you going to name her?" I asked.

"Mary-Kathrine," Gemma-Rose said, "after the girl from Epic." The name suits the doll very well, even though she doesn't look a thing like the heroine from Epic. To tell the truth she looks more like me. It wasn't really meant to be that way, but it is!

I am so happy my Christmas present turned out well. 

The Pen Pot

I also got a special present. It is a pen pot Gemma-Rose made me out of salt dough. It is multicoloured and very useful. She also gave me some pencils to go in it!

I don't know who got the better present, Gemma-Rose or me. 

Did you make any of your Christmas presents?