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?

The Tardis

One of the last picture we have of the van

A few days ago I walked into Mum's room to find Callum showing her pictures of vans and big cars.

"We're thinking of buying a new car," Mum said. "We will sell the van and get something newer."

Sell the van? I couldn't believe it. We had owned the van for fourteen years. It would be hard to imagine life without it.

Imogen and Charlotte started bagging seats before we have even decided which car we were getting. They were just as excited as me.

On Saturday, Mum and Dad went to the car dealers to look at all the choices. Everyone else waited around at home to hear which one they were going to buy.

The Tardis

The phone rang. Charlotte grabbed it. "Hello," she said. Her face lit up as she talked to Dad.

When she hung up, she turned to us. "We have a car," she said.

"Which one?" Immy asked.

"I didn't catch the name but it is silver, has seven seats, four doors, a boot and wheels," Charlotte told us.

"Yes," I yelled and danced around the room.

By Tuesday the car was ready for us to pick up. Dad swapped the van for it after work.

We sat around in the living room, waiting to see what the new car looked like. Dad took a long time getting home. We were all very anxious by the time he turned into the drive way.

"He's here," I called as I raced out the front door, everyone on my heels.

"What do you think?" Dad asked as we crowded around the new car.

"It is wonderful," we all chorused.

"It is the Toyota Tardis," Dad said, "because it seems tiny on the outside and huge on the inside."

The name suits it perfectly.

"We need to go somewhere in it," Immy said.

"The beach?" I asked. We hardly ever go to the beach.

"I don't see why not," Mum agreed.

So now we are looking forward to the holidays. We are off to the beach!

Wrapping my Presents

This morning Mum suggested I wrap my presents.

I found the wrapping paper, sticky tape and scissors. I also asked Gemma-Rose to help me find some bubble wrap so that I could use it to wrap up the salt dough nativity I made.

Soon I was ready. I started to wrap the first present. As I wrapped I hummed Christmas carols to myself. I really felt Christmas is almost here.

At ten o'clock I took a break from wrapping presents for morning tea. I was almost finished. Smiling I took a bite into my biscuit.

As soon as I had finished wrapping up my presents, Gemma-Rose wanted to wrap hers. With my presents wrapped I can hardly wait for Christmas day. It will be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces when they see what I have bought them!

Getting Braces

A month ago, Mum, Immy and I were sitting on the train. Next stop would be ours. I grabbed my book and MP3 player and put them into my bag.

We were going to get my braces put on. I was a bit nervous. I had been assured by Imogen and Charlotte, who have both had braces, that it isn't as bad as it is made out to be. I was trying to believe them.

We rushed off the train and onto the street. It was pouring with rain. I dug in my bag and pulled out my amazing cat umbrella.

We walked down the busy street, trying to find somewhere for morning tea. After a lot of walking we found a cafe and Mum bought me a milkshake and apple pie. The milkshake was very yummy and the apple pie warmed me up. I hurriedly ate them up before we had to dash over to the orthodontist's. We went up the lift and came out in a waiting room.

After brushing my teeth, we sat down to wait. I had only just put my bag down when a lady came out of a room.

"Sophie?" she asked. I got up again and followed her in.

The orthodontist smiled and told me to sit down. He talked me through what they were doing. I soon forgot to be scared as I listened.

While finding fitting metal bands for my teeth, he found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the metal band onto one of my teeth. I felt scared again as they picked up a piece of sand paper.

"You won't like this," the orthodontist said and he was right. He sandpapered the tooth until it fitted into the band. I was very relieved when it finally fitted in.

After taking some new x rays, the old ones being out of date, he started to put the braces onto my teeth. It took a long time and was very boring. It didn't actually hurt at all.

"What colour bands would you like?" I was asked.

I looked at the colours shown to me and picked a nice bright purple. It didn't take long after that for them to finish putting the braces on and Mum to be allowed in. She smiled.

"Immy said you would pick that colour," she told me.

I smiled as best I could. My mouth felt like it couldn't fit everything in it.

After being told all about how to look after my braces and what not to eat, we went back to the train station.

On the way home I told Immy all about.

"You look like a chipmunk," she told me and took a photo.

Mum and Imogen ate their lunch on the way home, but after trying to nibble some of mine I gave up. I knew someone would make me something soft to eat when we got home. I was right. Charlotte was willing to make me some custard to eat instead.

The next day my braces started to hurt, but after a few days they calmed down and I got used to them.

As I still have baby teeth I will have to go back to the dentist next week and have two of them pulled out. I am not looking forward to it!

Slideshow Making

A few days ago Mum taught us how to make slideshows on Kizoa. It was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed ourselves.

We all had different ideas on what we could make a slideshow of.  My first one was of Imogen, Charlotte, Gemma-Rose and me. It was pretty good for a first try.

I hope to make a lot more slideshows. I have heaps of ideas that I can't wait to try out. It is so exciting.

Can you make slideshows?

Joining DIY

"What is DIY?" I ask Mum.

"Do It Yourself," Mum answers. "It's a site where there are lots of challenges.You can do craft, cooking, writing, animation, photography and other things. You can have a look at it if you like."

I rush over to my computer and flip it open. I am soon on DIY looking around. It looks fun and soon I am telling Gemma-Rose all the things I would be able to do if I joined.

"You could sign up if you like," Mum offers. 

"Really?" I ask, already finding the sign up page. 

Soon I have joined and I'm looking around to see what badge I will try to earn first.

"I want to try earning the Writers' Badge," I tell Mum. "One of the challenges is to make a blog and write  three blog posts. I already have a blog so all I have to do is take a photo of it to prove I've done this."

Soon Mum and I are trying to work out how to take a screen shot of my blog. 

"Press the print screen button and then go to Paint and click paste." It takes a while for Mum and me to work it out. But we work it out in the end.

I go back to the DIY site and upload the picture of my blog to my project page, and I smile.

"I have done my first project," I tell Mum. She smiles at my excitement.

I can't wait to earn my Writers' Badge and do more projects. It is going to be a lot of fun.

Are you on DIY? What is your username? I am Miss Fifi!

New Blog Name

"Mum come have a look at my blog header I have made," I called.

Mum came over to have a look. "That's nice. You know you could always change your blog title if you like."

"Really?" I asked. I had been longing to change my blog title for ages. It no longer seemed right.

I went around asking people for their ideas for a new blog name. Soon I had all the names I could want and more.

I looked down the list I had written out, trying to choose which name I liked best.

"It is either Sophie's Stories or Sophie's Scribbles," I told Mum.

I decided on Sophie's Stories and then went to Picmonkey to edit my new blog header. I smiled happily as I loaded the header onto my blog. Sophie's Sea Bed was gone and Sophie's Stories was born!

When Dad came home from work I rushed over to him. "I have changed my blog name," I told him. "It is now Sophie's Stories."

"I said you should have that name from the start," Dad said smiling. I grinned back. He was right. Sophie's Stories is much better than Sophie's Sea Bed.

Piano Delight

I walked into my piano lesson. I couldn't wait to see what I would be doing.

The first thing my piano teacher said was, "Let's choose an exam piece to learn."

I stared. Had I heard her right? Did she say exam piece? Even though Imogen and Charlotte have done lots of exams, I have never done one in my life!

It seemed that I had heard her right. My teacher opened up a music book and sat down on the stool to play some pieces for me to choose from. I listened eagerly. I couldn't believe that I was going to do an exam.

As my teacher finished the last piece she turned to me. "Which did you like best?" she asked.

I thought about it and then turned the pages over to my favourite piece. My teacher played the first bit to make sure it was the right piece and then turned back to me. "Your turn."

I sat down at the piano and started to play. The piece was much easier than I had thought it would be and soon I had finished the first page.

After my lesson I ran over to the car where Mum was waiting. "I am going to take an exam," I called, jumping in.

She smiled. "I bet you can't wait."

When I got home I told everyone else my news. They were all very impressed.

"I told you Christine would want you to do an exam, didn't I," Imogen said. I grinned. I hadn't believed her at the time.

Mum  is right, I can't wait. It will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it. This is what I have always wanted.

Visiting London and Making Postcards

Today we went to London. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben and learnt heaps. It was so much fun. The best thing about it was we didn't even have to leave our family room. It was all on Mum's computer.

Mum has found all these videos about different countries and cities on YouTube. We go on a different trip each week. Gemma-Rose and I really enjoy it.

When we came back from our adventuring on YouTube today, Mum had a brilliant idea. Why don't we make our own post cards about London?

I grabbed my computer and raced to Morguefile to find some pictures to do with London. I found plenty of photos of Big Ben, heaps of pictures of the London Eye and some of the Beefeaters.

Once I had all the pictures I wanted, I went to Picmonkey and started to turn them into postcards. I couldn't believe how good they looked.

Gemma-Rose and I spent ages playing with photos, turning them into postcards and finding good words to go onto them.

After a while we had to stop for lunch. I didn't really want to stop, it was so exciting. I will have to make some more later.

I  am going to make postcards to go with every country we learn about. I sure I can find good photos for countries like Vietnam or New Zealand.

Mum is all buzzing with new ideas. I can't wait to try out some of her other ideas like making movie posters.

Do you like my postcards? Which is your favourite? Mine is the one of the London Eye.

Lunch Time, Movie Time

"Would anyone like to watch a movie?" Mum asked one day. We all nodded.

"Should we watch Shakespeare?" someone suggested.

"Or a Gilbert and Sullivan?" someone else asked.

"What about a Jane Austen or a Charles Dickens?" Imogen offered. My head went up. I had never watched a Jane Austen or a Charles Dickens. I had always been too young.

"Jane Austen," Gemma-Rose begged. We all agreed.

I only knew the story line to Pride and Prejudice. I was excited because I was going to find out what all the other Jane Austens were about.

We settled for watching Persuasion. It was a good movie and we all enjoyed it. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to watch another Jane Austen after it, and then another favourite mini-series of the big girls', North and South. 

One day when we had just finished watching an episode of North and South, Mum turned and looked at Gemma-Rose with a funny expression. "What are you doing watching these movies? Aren't children your age supposed to like watching Barbie?" she asked. Gemma-Rose just grinned. She likes to do what older people do.

Mum doesn't mind Gemma-Rose watching with us at all really, she was just wondering why she likes all these movies for older people.

We have taken to watching an episode of a mini-series at lunch time each day. When we had had enough of Jane Austen we started on Charles Dickens. They are also very good. I really enjoy watching them.

At the moment we are watching Bleak House. My favourite character is Mr Guppy. He is very funny. You can't help but laugh at him. 

We are watching the mini-series one episode at a time. It leaves me wondering what is going to happen next? How will the mystery be solved? It is hard to wait for the next lunch time to find out. 

Do you like watching period dramas? Which is your favourite? 

I am going to have to read all of the books. I have a lot of fun ahead of me.

The Thief of the Quiet Princess

The cover I made for my book

I am sitting at my computer writing. It is the last sprint. I only have five hundred words to go before I have finished my novel and Camp NaNoWriMo. 

I put down my computer and shout, "I have done it! I have written a fifty thousand word novel!"

Mum comes to have a look. She congratulates me and claps. I feel all warm and pleased with myself. Not many girls my age can write a fifty thousand word novel.

My novel still has a lot of work to be done on it, but the first draft is finished.

In my story there is a thief who has stolen a prized yacht. The two detectives, Bella and Dianne must work out who the thief is and get the yacht back.

It isn't easy for them. The thief seems to always be one step ahead of them, and it takes all their skill and a bit of help from some friends to catch him. Things are not made any easier by the fact that their boss has just gone overseas on a holiday.

What do you think? Is it a good story line?

The novel's name is The Thief of The Quiet Princess. Imogen thought it up for me when I had no ideas.

I am planning a second book. I am stilling working out the story line at the moment, but it sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun. I will have to make sure I edit the novel I have just finished though.

Do you like novel writing? What kinds of novels do you like to write?

Squeebles Maths

Gemma-Rose with a toy she made

Gemma-Rose used to dislike maths. She used to be really reluctant to do any. Funny enough I used to be like that too until Mum found this wonderful maths book full of fun ways to do multiplication. I now love maths.

Mum decided to find a fun way to teach Gemma-Rose her multiplications tables too. She is a bit young for my favourite maths books so Mum went looking on the internet and found this game called Squeebles and she downloaded an app for it onto her tablet! Gemma-Rose loves it.  You can't get her off it.

I think Gemma-Rose is going to be a maths fan like me. I adore maths. I love finding new ways to do big equations. Gemma-Rose isn't quite up to doing big maths problems yet, but at the rate she is going she will better than me soon.

After a bit of hunting, Mum found a few other Squeebles games. Gemma-Rose was delighted. She plays her maths games just for fun now.

Gemma-Rose lets all of us have a go at her games. Seeing if we can break her high scores, which we hardly ever do, and having fun with her. 

It is funny how one fun maths game can make you adore maths. I can hardly believe she used to be so reluctant to have a bit of fun playing with numbers.

Soon Gemma-Rose and I will be racing each other to work out maths problems. I wonder if I will be able to beat her or if she will be too good for me.