Meeting Baby Frankie

Meeting Baby Frankie

I was very excited for the day ahead of me it was finally time to see my newborn niece Frankie.

I woke up not very eager to get out of bed but I knew I had to.  I got up and went to my parents room to say good morning to the both of them and as I stepped into their room my mum said, “Morning Talia,  go clean your room then have a shower we’re going out today”.

I got very excited thinking about  where we were going, even though that destination was unknown to me at that time. Even though I tried to get information from them, they wouldn't tell me anything.  I ran back to my room made  my bed, opened the curtains and went for a quick shower. As soon as I got out my brother asked if I was coming to see the baby and right then I thought BABY FRANKIE!!! I was over the moon knowing I would see her very soon. I just had to wait in the lounge for my parents to get ready.  I felt like they were taking forever but if I wanted to come I had to wait patiently. It was around 11:30 and my parents we finally ready I said goodbye to my Grandad who was going back to his house soon and went to the car. My little sister was all the way at the back waiting for me to sit next to her since my two older brothers were in the middle and of cause my mum and dad at the front.

We were in Pakuranga and my dad stopped so that my mum could go into Farmers and get something for the baby while the rest of us stayed in the car waiting. It was about 30 minutes after she went into the shop and everyone was getting a little reckless from all the waiting we had to do especially if we were in the car doing nothing. But my mum came out with a cute baby outfit and hat for Frankie we were then off it took us about 15-25 minutes to get to the house and when we arrived I was hoping the baby was still up so I could so her beautiful face but of cause I wanted to hug her. As we were walking up the long stairs I got even more excited about seeing the baby we finally reached the top of the stairs and my little sister knocked on the door where Jane the mother of Frankie she opened up the door and said

“Hi come in”.

I took my shoes off and stepped inside where I gave Jane and her mother a hug saying hi and congratulations to both of them. My dad already had Frankie so I couldn't hold her just yet but that was okay I knew I would have my turn soon, I sat down in a comfortable seat next to my brother and just talked to Jane while I was waiting for Frankie to come to me. After my dad,mum and my older brother Peter had a turn at holding Frankie it was my turn, as soon as I first got her I was filled with joy just seeing her beautiful baby face and knowing she would be an amazing person growing up made me even more happier. I had to give her to my other brother Michael but I got her back again just for one last time before we had to go. I kissed her on her cheek and hugged her than we left to go get some lunch.

Today was an amazing day and I'm glad that I got to meet baby niece Frankie.

Standing United.

Who	What	When	Where	Why
People of the World.	We are all united.	Now,past and the future.	Anywhere in the world.	To explain why we are all united.

Standing United.

November the 13th 2015 will forever remain an  unforgettable day for everyone in the world.  Hundreds of lives were lost and they will never come back.

Paris:

9:20pm 2 explosive bombs have been set off in the Stade De France stadium during the Germany vs France soccer game. After everyone in the stadium fled to the middle of the soccer field there was a sense of panic and worry for everyone there since they didn’t know where the bomb exploded and whether there was going to be another. There was only 1 person that died from the explosion. But of cause there was no more only several other bombs and shootings around Paris at exactly the same time.

In the Central of Paris is where 15 people lost their lives. Gunmen came in a black Seat at the Right Bank area of Paris. The gunmen opened fire onto the Petit Cambodge Cambodia restaurant and also the Le Carillon bar on the other side of the street. They killed 15 people who thought that it would be a great Friday night out. There was another shooting done in Paris it happened on Rue de la Fontaine au Roi a hotel where the same unit of terrorists drove 500 yards to Casa Nostra pizzeria and killed 5 more people. They then drove a mile south-east to passed the area of Bataclan a concert venue to make another deadly attack. Now on La Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne, killing 19 people by spraying a terrace with bullets around 9:35pm. They were then at the Bataclan concert venue where they stormed into the hall randomly shooting anyone they could see. There was 1,500 people in that hall watching an American rock group called Eagles of Death Metal. The tourists then began a siege that lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes, two of them blew up their own explosive belts but the police stopped the siege around 12:30am when the third tourist was shot. Details have been let out to the media saying

• The first policeman to get to the concert came at 10:15pm just 20 minutes after the 3 tourists started shooting.
• At 10:15pm an armed Swat team arrived and entered the hall. The tourists were on a higher floor level and the officers evacuated as many people as they could find.
• The officers went in two columns and went up the stairs both from right and left sides of the auditorium.
• As the officers were going up the stairs terrified people were hiding cupboards and other hiding places so they could take cover.
• 20 minutes after 12 police officers were told they could start the final assault, so they burst down the door by a heavy metal shield advancing down the corridor where it was full of 20 hostages.
• They were finally face to face with the tourists and the officers threw a stun grenade as they were blasting their guns at the Islamists.
• One shooter went down and the others blew up their own body to pieces.
• The assault lasted 3 minutes.

Almost 130 people died that night just by 3 tourists who would never give a reason on why they did what they did. Many families lost someone they cared about and someone they would never see again. Boy, girl, man and women have left us  all in shock with what happened on Friday the 13th of November.

We will never forget about what happened to Paris that night, though it might have happened to one country we all come together to pray and help those who were hurt. The World stands united as one and nothing can break us.

Camp Writing For Movie 2015

A collaborative construction of room 8’s experience at Merc 2015

Confidence,Teamwork and Leadership is something that we all learnt at camp while facing challenges throughout the 3 days there. Teamwork was one thing that was most important throughout our 3 days at camp if you are in a team you encourage others to move forward and never give up if they are struggling with the task you were given, and if you never had confidence in yourself with completing the task there would always be someone there to be with you every step of the way. That’s what made camp more fun for me just having people there to be with you. But one more thing that made camp an amazing experience was the opportunities that was given to us all.   

Confidence, Teamwork and Leadership were the key values targeted across the many challenges the intermediate students faced at the Marine Education Recreation Center at Long Bay.

Challenges provide opportunities to grow and facing these sometimes requires encouragement and there  was no shortage of that.  ‘You can do it’ ‘We can do it’ Cheers of affirmation, and laughter echoed representing achievement and pride not just for the individual but for the Team as a whole.

Challenges including those on land and on water, involved Teamwork.  The feedback and support given made us determined to ‘Do our best’ - to be actively involved, and everyone grew in confidence.

What does it mean to be an effective Leader ? How did they help others adapt to face and meet the challenges given Leaders

Leaders have positive can do attitudes, they encourage, support, help build confidence, they are fair, they make decisions for the benefit of the group, show respect and encourage everyone to be involved,they are problem solvers  and team players. Analysing this information demonstrates that there is  leader potential in everyone.

A key objective for camp was linked to our Mission Charism which involved demonstrating  our sense of community and reaching out to support others. Both of which were successfully and repeatedly shown.  

Life provides us with many opportunities, to grow in confidence physically, mentally and emotionally and spiritually make the most the them.

Many thanks to all those who made our experience at Merc one we will never forget.

Only Child or Sibling?

Who?	What?	Where?	When?
Yourself and your family.	Do you want to have siblings or be an only child?	The World	Now

What’s it like being an only child - having no siblings? This is a question that gets asked by many children around the world, who are not the only child in their family. Those children who have one or more siblings often get annoyed by them and at times wish they were an only child but, really is being an only child as  good as we all think?  Let me explain.

Having a sibling can be very hard.  Some siblings get along very well with each other without any fighting which I would add - from my own experience, is pretty uncommon!   For most of us who have siblings, there are moments when we can  have very negative feelings! Some siblings have been reported as having very negative feelings about their sibling irrespective of their age or their position in the family e.g. being the oldest, middle or youngest.

Having a sibling... is it that terrible? If you're reading this saying NO! nothing about having a sibling is good well, if you really think about it, what would you do without a person to  play with when you’re bored or someone that can stand up for you by telling the person  who might be  bullying you to go away  perhaps before being  hurt, Isn’t that something you would miss?  Consider this,  even if you fight with your siblings everyday you have to make up sometime right?  Having that sibling love is something you would never want to lose or forget but if you're still with the whole only child idea then let me persuade you a little more.

For all those sibling haters and only child wishers that want the whole house or their parents attention all to themselves what would you do if you were all alone in the house with just your parents and no one your age to play with. I’m sure that having all of your parents attention would  be awesome but think about the bad things as well.

1.You don’t have anyone to play/talk with except your parents who you sometimes don’t want to talk to about your problems.

2.You won’t have anyone to make you feel better when you're going through problems your parents won't understand.

3.Who will help you with haters that you have in your life either at school or at sporting events?

Not being an only child allows opportunities to learn from your siblings and for you to support them (if they are younger).

These are just some reasons why having siblings  can be a great experience. When it comes down to it, we can’t choose to be an only child, that is not our choice to make.

Make the most of your family.

Advertising Critique

Cadbury Caramel Eggs

WALHT:Write an advertising critique about an advertisement using Ethos,Logos and Pathos.

Advertisement Clip: Cadbury Chocolate Eggs

In the advertisement the writer very cleverly gains audience's attention when he uses the phrase ‘Don’t get caught’ to open the advertisement and it is repeated throughout the clip.

For this advertisement Cadbury was the big name that was mentioned ,in the clip because Cadbury was the company that made the chocolate egg in the first place.Cadbury is a chocolate company from New Zealand that is known around the world for it’s yummy chocolate.

The writer  used a little girl in saying that she is an little angel which makes us the audience think that she is sweet and inosinate.

The writer also used the actual chocolate of the egg with all it’s yummy chocolate the makes the egg a chocolate egg.The smooth double coated chocolate with creamy caramel and yacht chocolate.Which makes the audience wanting to buy the chocolate egg.

While the writer uses another phrase saying that the chocolate is irresistible using.The smooth double coated chocolate with creamy caramel and yacht chocolate.Which makes the audience wanting to buy the chocolate egg.

Trust Or No Trust

Trust Or No Trust

In preparation for our camp next week we had a class challenge.

We were given 3 challenges for the first challenge  I'm calling “TRUST OR NO TRUST” it’s when you are given a partner one partner is numbered one and the other  is numbered two the number one person has to guide the number two all the way to the entrance of the school saying the directions out loud while number two has their eyes closed and their hand on number one’s shoulder. You weren't allowed to go on the grass, you had to go on the pathway that went around some classrooms and lots of trees. Everyone made it to the gate and that was challenge number 1 finished.

Challenge number 2 was swapping roles with your partner so the person that was the guider was the person who became the follower and the person who was the follower became the guider. But there was one change instead of going the way you came to get to the gate you could go anywhere except for the bottom court to get back to the classroom so the guider took the follower another route that the follower didn't know of. When everyone came back from the second challenge,  challenge number 3 was made.

For challenge number 3 students turned the classroom into a maze for the person at the front to go through with their eyes closed. Desks were mixed up, chairs were thrown on the floor and of cause there was lots of noise that the person at the front did not know why it was so loud. When you get to the other end of the classroom you got to go to morning tea so that meant guiding another person through the classroom maze. I had to guide my partner through the maze I took her under a table over chairs and kept making her bump into tables but at least she got out safely.

Today was all about trusting in your partner while having faith in them which we will use at camp.

Actionworld

Actionworld

On Saturday the 4th of April my family and I went to Actionworld at Paihia to celebrate my nephew’s birthday.

It was a long ride to where Action world was I went with my cousin Kim and my little nephews Noerene and Connor. When it seemed like we would never get there we arrived at ACTIONWORLD  I was already getting excited looking at all the fun things you could do there.My other cousin Christle paid for me to get in and I hurried to what I thought looked interesting, the first thing I tried was you had to jump off this not so high platform and jump onto a mat with softer mats underneath I than jumped off and felt comfyness under me.I was then off again to a long slide one rule they had there was you had to get a potato sack to slide on while coming down I got one and started climbing up the inflateable stairs which I found very difficult. I was then up the top and I heard my little sister Brielle at the bottom waiting for me yelling out

“Go Talia go” in a excited voice.

I hopped in the potato sack and slid down I was going fast and then camp to a jump that made your heart beat fast I was than on the mat of comfiness I found that slide very exciting. But then I heard my cousin Wiremu yelling my name out

“Talia come hop on here and try beat me”with a proud voice he had

It was a bean that one person had to be at each end and the person opposite your end you had to try and push them off to win the game but it had little battons that you had to use instead of your hands. I went on and found my balance not so well my first three steps I was struggling with do I already knew I was going to lose so all I said to him was “Laters”,

and jumped off the beam onto another mat of comfiness all I could hear was the laughter of my cousin’s voice and he then jumped off the beam straight after.

It was then time for the long slippery water slide which looked very fun my little nephews were already on there and I was watching them for a little while, then I decided to go on my first turn I thought was bumpy but after 2 turns I loved it my older cousins then got on they were Molly,Mara,Christle,Logan,Kateana,Kolio,Wiremu and lots more. I loved the water slide but got hungry so I had a quick bite to eat and then held my little nephew Mesiah who was just born 7 months ago so he was still little which I thought was cute. I held him until my mum came and said to enjoy my time since there was little time left. I held a little more turns on the water slide then went on the trampoline they had there it was super bouncy and fun which was cool. I went on the long slide again showing my cousin Mara how to do it and I was tired out after that so I just did little things that they had there like hollow hoping,putting the rings in the little pole,trying to walk along a tightrope and the rock climbing wall. After all the small activities I got to hold Mesiah again so I took him around showed him where everyone was and what they were doing and after showing him everything it was time to go and get dinner to eat by the beach.

I loved my time at Actionworld and mostly spending time with my family I hope I get to go there again.

Welcoming The Malama Honua Voyage

Welcoming The Malama Honua Voyage

On Wednesday the 25th of March all the manaiakalani schools in Auckland New Zealand gathered to welcome two waka’s coming all the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.

An hour before we welcomed the people to our country schools started filling in their spaces coming after each other there was

Pt England, Saint Patrick’s, Sommerville Special School, Ruapotaka, Glen Innes, Panmure Bridge, Glenbrae, Tamaki Primary, Tamaki College, Stonefields, St Pius and  Te Kura Kaupapa those were all 12 schools that joined us on the amazing day. For every school there had to be at least two or more people that represented their school for my school it was Johnnie, Giovanni and myself Natalia. The people that got chosen to represent their school were taught 3 songs and actions, 5 weeks before we welcomed the waka’s, and had to teach their school those songs and actions.

After every school was seated on the cold, wet grass behind their leaders who were on the beach in front of everyone you could see the waka coming from the side and another waka in the middle of the river.When the visitors stepped onto the sand we started the first song it was E Oho that was the song with the actions to it the leaders started off then the schools followed on we did it 6 times until it was finished. The sun was burning hot but we still remained in our positions. The people from Hawaii gathered into 3 lines and someone from our side of the beach went up by the microphones and said a few words in Maori welcoming the guests to our wonderful country. Then it was time to sing another song the song was called Nga Waka it was all about the 7 wakas that came to New Zealand years before our time here on earth.

Then a man from their group said a speech in Hawaiian and a lady then sang a song again in Hawaiian after they had finished their song 3 students from Pt England school came up and said a mihi with pride. After the mihi Mr Burt a teacher from Pt England came up and told everyone why we are gathered here and what it means to be in the manaiakalani cluster.Than it was time to do the IMPOSSIBLE yes that’s right all 2000 students there at Pt England Reserve were to shake hands with the group of people from Hawaii all at once in a long, long line we were all thinking it will be too hard but we were wrong every single student there shook hands with the people from Hawaii.

It was done we completed a fascinating day of heritage and greetings and I will never forget that day where I got to represent my school doing  something I love.

The Worse Singer In The WORLD!!!

A Day At Takapuna Beach

         A Day At Takapuna Beach

It was a hot sunny day and I was going to the beach with my older brothers Peter and Michael,my little sister Brielle and Peter’s girlfriend Tracy. We all packed what we needed in the car and drove off to Takapuna Beach.

We arrived at the packed beach and found a car park near the shade, unpacked the car and found a perfect spot to set up our things right next to a tree that had lots of shade and was right next to the beach. Then  we set up all of our things like our pillows,blankets,towels,food and put all of the drinks in the cooler, and of course we also had to leave a spot for the other people that were coming.

My little sister went to go play on the sand and then I took her down to go play in the water. I didn’t want to get wet yet and my sister said the water was too cold, so we stayed away from the water and collected seashells instead.  I found a complete cockle shell which was partially white with blended bits of orange that reminded me of the sunset.I was so impressed with it that I took it back to my family and I felt really happy when  Tracy also agreed that it looked pretty.Carefully  I laid it where I thought it would be safe and then I laid down in the sun.

After I laid down for a while I decided to go for a swim so me Peter,Tracy and Brielle went to the water while Michael staid back to look after our stuff,when my feet touched the sand they started burning the sand was so hot I ran quickly to the water and cooled down my feet. The water was more warmer now so it was easy to swim without being cold, all of the waves that kept on coming and coming were so big I kept on getting knocked over by them then I thought it was time to go back to the land.I had to run quickly back again and dried myself in the sun while I had something to drink and eat.At around 1:00 some of Tracy’s family came and we all started to set up where their stuff would go  I played with Tracy’s neice Jaydean then got her all ready to play in the water. As I carried Jaydean down to the water she was eager to splash around with me then Tracy and Jaedyn’s mum came down to the water with us as well and after a while we all got hungry and went to have a big lunch. I had Chicken rolls with chips,sausages,salad and bagel crisps but for a treat I got Chocolate Santa’s and Chocolate Coins. Me and the rest of my family did a chocolate toss where Tracy’s mum threw all of the chocolate in the air and whoever caught it got to eat the chocolate, I got some chocolate but then they got stolen from me and I only had a few but it was ok cause I was full.

It was almost coming to the end of the day and I wanted to go for another swim  I went with my friend Christina and we both went very far than when we finished our swim I found a dead crab on our way back.We picked it up and put it on my older brother who fell asleep on the blankets and he got up straight away so did his girlfriend and we both laughed but the laughter was over because. It came to the end of the day so I took Brielle to the showers near us and just washed our bodies with our togs still on of cause, then we went back dried ourselves and put our clothes on top of our togs than said our goodbyes to everyone there and took our stuff back to the car to go home.

It was a very nice and cool day I loved seeing everyone and having fun also going for nice swims. I can’t wait to go back to Takapuna Beach again.

Marshmallow challenge.

                  Ko te Raapa 10 o te Mahuru tenei ra

                        The Marshmallow Challenge

It all started when Mrs.Dines my teacher said we all had to get into our Kidpreneur groups in my group was John, Johnny, Soana, Melayka and of cause me.What were we doing I thought “Each group has to build a tower in 20 minutes with the 20 spaghetti sticks, sticky tape and wool while holding a marshmallow at the top” Mrs Dines said. My friend John said we should try and make a tripod.

The time had started and we began to do John’s idea we were taping the spaghetti sticks together really well but we had to make sure it was able to stand. The tripod could stand “yes” we all said and there was still 13 minutes left “We should just leave it now” John said.

“I think we should make it bigger” Johnnie said so that was what we did we added more tapped sticks to the tripod, but then we tried to make the tripod stand again and it couldn’t stand by itself.One of the sticks was uneven and so that meant we had to try and  fix it by breaking some of the sticks to make the them  all even.

By trying to break the sticks 5 minutes had passed but we were finished and the tripod could stand by itself, Soana put the marshmallow back on the tripod and we left it alone. “5,4,3,2,1” We all shouted and are tripod was still standing after all of our noise.

It was fun making the tripod with my group even though we did have some mistakes at least we finished it off with a smile.