April 25, 2009

Round up

I have been busy lately due to the school easter break in mid April and now they are back to school, I was busy cleaning up the house and catching up on chores for the most of the week.
Dd and her bro will be taking assessment tests in mid May. They have pushed it up from August to May this year. Apparently, dd's teacher are not at all worried about dd and even expect her to come up tops! I just hope she read the questions carefully and take time to reread her answers instead of stopping early and reading a story book like last time (although her previous results were perfectly okay and well above average of her peers.) As for her bro, there is absolutely no pressure for him. As long as he is happy and understands the concepts at school, it is fine.
Dd also almost got to represent her school in cross country but they decided to do a rerun and she came in 4th this time instead of 3rd. She came home to tell me that she did not make it to district as her friend beat her by half a meter. I said that it was okay. You know, I'm just happy she improved her position from 2nd last to 3rd place this year!

April 09, 2009

Cross Country

It was the kid's cross country yesterday so I left home about 9.30am. Fortunately, the kids' event didn't start until I had arrived. I also brought along my dSLR to capture some of the action. It was weird hanging it around my neck for all the other parents to see but what the heck. The younger kids started their event first and I took some pics of them at the start line. The mums of African origin were cheering their kids all the while. They were really loud compared to the other parents and can I describe them as "rowdy" ;-). Some of them look quite nice in their long flowing headgowns that were brightly coloured or patterned. So I pointed my camera at them. They were camera shy and looked away. I asked them if they wanted to be photographed. A few ran away and an elderly one said an outright no but two were willing to be photographed and were all smiles. I hope to get more pics of African next week where the local library showcase African culture for the whole month. I also took pics of my Afghani friends and their kids. They were very photogenic with their fair flawless skin and pretty smile.
Well, back to the action, older son got his usual placing this year, 2nd last again but he tried his best. I was surprised with dd though, when she came back home with a 3rd place ribbon pinned at her shirt. I didn't realize she was ahead of the other kids in her age group. Last year she got 2nd last. I guess that grueling 5k funrun I ran with her, somewhat improved her standing in the cross country this year.