Schools Out! (almost)

Ok...they still have one more day, but I couldn't think of a good title. Looking forward to getting Christian's report card; he's done really well on the last two, but I have a feeling that he might have gone down a grade or so in one or two subjects....Math to be precise. He mentioned that he had a test last week (after the fact, of course) which was to determine which "set" he'd be in next year. He is currently in the top set (one). Yesterday he mentioned he'd heard a rumour that anyone who got below 74% on the test would be going into set 2 next year.... he then told me that he only got 53% on the test. Ok; I am really not happy about this because I know he is capable of being an A student if only he put a little effort in. Anyway... we'll see what tomorrow's report card says.

Katia got her report card a few weeks ago .... same old same old .... says all lovely things but gives me no indication whatsoever how well or not she is really doing - I have begun to loathe these primary school progress reports. As for her long jump competition last week - she did really well, but did not place in the top 3. After reviewing the video footage, I think she may have done herself a bit of an injustice by not taking enough of a run up.... but as she wasn't able to practice on a real pit, I think she did amazingly well. If she goes for it again next year, we will try to get her to practice at the local high school where there is a long jump pit.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we were considering changing estate agents as we haven't had one viewing (or any correspondence) from the one we've been listed with in over 12 months. Well, we cancelled our contract with them and Martin said they actually sounded a little relieved (?!). We're re-listing with a national firm that specializes in commercial properties; let's hope we have better luck with this one!

Lastly - I got a new camera! Christian accidentally broke mine when he took it on a school field trip to the beach. It was a very windy day and sand got into the shutter and now it won't retract. :( Apparently it also happened to another kid's camera. I was fuming at first, as I thought Christian had done something to it, but then realized it wasn't really his fault - it was an incredibly windy day and it was actually very stupid to expect the kids to use their cameras. They had stressed that it was very important for each kid to have his own camera, but I wish they'd suggested a disposable camera!! Anyway, as it was nearly 6 years old I didn't want to spend much on getting it fixed, so just did some research on the internet, found myself a pretty good bargain and bought myself a Fuji F70 EXR - after seeing this review! I should point out that this review is nearly a year old - but I am happy with an almost-up-to-date model!

You can see what a fantastic zoom it has from this photo I took of the castle from Christian's bedroom window - you'd think we live much closer to the castle than we do!

And here's a photo I took of our boy Henry - awwwww!