Fun Friday Frolics
I lied. Mr O Jnr 2 and I spent three hours in our wonderful Royal Children’s Hospital. I haven’t been there for years and this is the new, bright and shiny RCH! Even so, not much fun and no frolicking - but it was Friday! Mr O did offer to come with us, but I really couldn’t see a need for two of us to sit in the waiting room for three hours!
Fish Tank – ED Waiting Room, Royal Children’s Hospital
There is actually a small shark in that fish tank, but do you think I could catch a shot of the shark? Not a hope!
Primary School Reports One Year On
When Miss O 2 and Mr O Jnr 2 got their reports at the end of 2011 they had been in Australian schools a mere two terms. Reports received now, twelve months down the track, are more illuminating. We were VERY pleased with their reports last year, but knew that this year would be more indicative of their progress in this new world.
As I published recently in Amnesty International Annual Report 2012, the literacy rate in Nigeria is reported to have dropped nearly 10% in four years. I know when Mr O was reunited with our children he was concerned about their academic levels, but it wasn’t until we were all settled back in Australia that the real comparisons began for him. Mr O has spent hours emphasising to the children that they must work on improving their English and catch up on other subjects.
Mr O was educated in Nigeria MANY years before our children: his English is also much better.
Happy Birthday Mr O Jnr 2
This week we celebrated a few things: not the least of which was a birthday!
Happy Birthday
Here he is about to blow out the candles. I am guessing, but I think his wish was that when we find a bigger house, it has a dishwasher! As we are house hunting, that is the ONLY thing Mr O Jnr 2 checks – he doesn’t care about how many toilets or built-in wardrobes – just that new house MUST have a dishwasher! 
How I spent my new year
When it was New Year’s Day Mum and Dad ran away for a bit of peace and quiet. There are four kids at home and we decided to have a party with what Mum bought for us before they ran away. We played with each other and shared love with each other. We did not break the laws Mum and Dad said before they left.
The laws were:
- no playing soccer in case the ball went to the road
- no riding the bike because “if you break your leg and we are far away” what would we do
- we must drink a lot of water because it was too hot
- my elder sister was in charge
I played only a little bit of a game because the internet was too slow. I downloaded some music on my iPhone by luck and my sister said I was using the internet. I said, “No, I am not”. She said she will ask mum if I am using the internet or not when Mum got back! I like reading our website but the internet was too slow.
Dad and Mum checked on us to see if we are OK or not or if anybody had broken his or her leg. We were dancing, laughing and enjoying ourselves like Mum and Dad were enjoying themselves. Before Mum and Dad left I told Mum that my older sister will be the Mum and my older brother will be the Dad because Mum is older than Dad and my older sister is older than my brother. When ever my older sister goes to bed we have to go to bed too because she is the one who is taking care of us. We stayed up until 1 am because she hadn”t gone to bed.
When Mummy and Daddy came back, my sister asked them if I was using the internet by downloading music from the computer to my phone and Mummy said “No”. Now my sister wants me to help her download music to her iPhone.
Strive to Achieve
Strive to Achieve is the primary school motto. Our younger two brought home their school reports last night and they have done just that. Very pleasing documents. There is some room for improvement in a couple of subjects as is only to be expected given they have been here a whole 6.5 months, but overall we were VERY pleased with their results.
Mr O Jnr 2 excelled in Information Technology: I’m not at all surprised about that, he has worked out so much about computers it is scary! 
He has also enjoyed the music classes very much and will be part of the school’s Year 6 leadership team! Next year he will participate in his first school camp, which I am sure he will love!
We loved this snippet from Miss O 2′s report!
I couldn’t be more proud of Miss O 2 in the way she has shown initiative across all learning areas, having a go at all tasks and doing so with such an infectious smile and laugh that has won all of her peers over. She has made many close friends in the short time she has been at school and is a highly valued and respected member of the classroom.
It is amazing how resiliant children are. We have taken them half way around the world to a very different environment, they have only had half the year in their new school and these two have finished the year on par with their peers.
Congratulations, Mr O Jnr 2 and Miss O 2! You have started so well, you can really build on your work in the new year!
Interview with Mr O Jnr 2
This is the second in a series of interviews with the new arrivals. For no reason other than Mr O’s brain is taking a well-earned break after so much studying, we have started with the youngest we are working up the line.
Welcome to Mr O Jnr 2!
Being Cool
My Project Drawings
Last month I wrote About My School Project. The pictures I drew are about soccer. I drew the pictures because I love soccer and I am a good at drawing soccer players and my teacher said my drawing supports my project question.
People are really proud of drawing and I am proud of myself because I love what I did. My teacher said my project shows my love of soccer.
Here are my drawings and my teacher’s comments! 
