It's Christmas time !

Spevers and mum have been home now since the weekend and what a week ... New baby sister, Xmas, new manager for Spurs!

Got some awesome presents for Christmas. I have used my new nerve gun the most which Father Xmas gave me but I love the punching bag Kai got me - I haven't set it up yet but it looks so cool.



Father Xmas gave Percy this playmat for Christmas and later on in the day she turned into a Santa elf just in time for our roast dinner ...



Boxing Day was very chilled and we played Cosmic's new Egyptian game and the Game of Life.



Today the Everingtons came round and we opened more presents and people who like raisins (yuk) are Christmas pudding. With Zilly and Cosmic both at sleepovers this evening Spevers and I have Mum and Dad to ourselves - yay!

Baby sister. Greek Goddess.

Hi I am in the hospital now meeting my new baby sister.

She was born yesterday and weighed 6lb 11oz.

I thought she was going to be a boy and if he was a boy I wanted to call him Jonjo. As she is a girl she is called Persephone.

Hopefully Mum and Persephone will come home at the weekend.

Dick for mayor

Thanks Sally for taking us to the panto this Saturday.

Pizza was yummy and it was really fun to play with Ollie and Wills.





Panto was awesome - and I now have a whole new collection of cheeses and dick jokes ... That sounds so wrong !!!!

Bob's full house

Got Bob's grand slam at last - 15 points out of 15.

Cosi won the age 6 category ( won 2 and drew 1) - he is 7 but whose counting?

Seagulls, giant teacups and hot milkshakes

Amazing birthday treat yesterday as Nemo, Elliott, Beau and I went to see Brighton play Watford with Dad and Cosmic.



We ate chips, pies and hot dogs and I spent my birthday money on a huge blue and white hat.



It was really chilly and Dad bought as all Brighton scarves. I nearly hid behind mine when my name and a happy birthday message were read out at halftime!

The final score was 1-1. Watford thought they got another goal but it didn't go over the line so I am glad the ref didn't give it! Then my friends came back to stay the night. It was a really full house as Tim, Di and Will were there too!

This morning we had breakfast and played cricket in new street.

After they went I read some of the new book with Mum. Di bought me it for my birthday. It is called Goblins vs Dwarves.Then I got the weirdest delivery. A huge package came for me and when I opened it all up it was a giant tea cup.




Thank you Kai - it was the weirdest, coolest birthday present ever!

Then we went to the park with Suzie and Sophie. It was sunny today but I think it is going to rain for the rest of halfterm!



After the park it was milkshake time with Mum and Dad. I had a hot Oreo and caramel one - it was so yummy but it would have been even better if it had been in my new huge teacup!

Then we bought a new game (story cubes) from Battlequest and played it when we got home from town.

Number 10

Bedtime now after an awesome birthday.


It began with bagels and prezzies in bed. Then I went downstairs for a hot/ cold present search in the living room. Cosi gave me a huge tube of bubble gum balls and Zilly have me a teapot. I got this from Mum and Dad ...



Then we went swimming while Mum walked the dog and all met up again for a posh French lunch at Cotes.



I had seafood pasta and dark chocolate pot for pudding. It was yummy. Obviously i undertook the birthday nose/spoon challenge and oh yes - I've still got it ...



Afternoon was bowling with Amy and Zara.



I would have come second to Zara but Amy pipped me to the post in the last second as she took an extra go because of a strike earlier in the game.
The lady at the desk got our names wrong so Cosmic was Comic. Seriously I was not impressed with my name ...



Then it was back to Moo and Auntie P for pizza, GrownUps and another awesome cake from Zara






We missed Kai but he skyped us to wish me happy birthday.



Have to brush my teeth really well before I fall asleep. Loads of cake and gumballs may not impress the dentist tomorrow!

Thank you everyone for lovely birthday presents, cards and messages. I feel very special.

Dog dies peacefully on the sofa

He was about 19 and had been with zill, cos and I all out lives.

We are all very sad - RIP Dog.

Chess mates ...

I won Bob's tournament today and Cosi won the age 6 category (even though he is 7!).

Hornet alert - but no killer sting

Our first Horsham Hornets game today against Chipstead and it was 2-2.

Mum took us because Dad is at a wedding and I didn't have chess.



We bumped into Arran, Blake and Niall there too and played some footie on the sidelines.

Zill like Horsham number 11 and Chipstead number 2. I liked their goalie but my favourite was number 7 - I think he is called Byron!

Yesterday we went to Moo's to eat goodbye Kai chilli.



He is going to university next weekend.



I was really tired after our first week back at school and fell asleep on Grandpa. I am trying to get no minutes off because if I don't get any for a whole year Mum says we can have a tortoise.

Two days in the life of Kai

So yesterday my cousin turned 18 ...

And today he found out he is going to Manchester University to study Physics (A* in Music and Maths and A in Physics and Further Maths).

Seriously awesome!

77

HAPPY 77th BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

Love you xxxxx

Mega final

Yesterday was this year's chess Megafinal.

Cos and I went.

Cosmic got 2.5 out of 6 which was really good for his first time!

I got 5 out of 6 and only just lost to Amadip. You needed 4 out of 6 to go through to the next round so Reading here i come.

May the fourth be with you - 11th time

Happy birthday sis!

Happy Birthday

Happy being 3 Alfie.

I was 3 for ages because I loved it so much.

See you next weekend.

The cousins xxx

My awesome cello teacher and her new book

Let me tell you a story.

When I was three my toddler music group stopped and mum saw an advert for a lady who played the cello and made music with children.

When Mum rang the lady she said she didn't have any groups at the moment but I could
come and try the cello and sing songs with her anyway.

Mum and I decided to give it a go and I have been playing the cello with Kay ever since.

Kay's way of teaching meant I could read music before I could read words. The strings of my cello all have names beginning with the letter of the note - Alice, George etc. At the beginning the notes are also written as different shapes and then Kay slowly adds the lines.

To learn rhythm Kay teaches that a crotchet is a ta and a quaver is a tet-tay (sorry about the spelling Kay) and it helps you play the music the way it is written. I still use this way of understanding note lengths now when I play and at music theory at school.

I love football, Tottenham, chess and loads of other things but I am never going to stop learning with Kay. She is really nice and funny and has a dog called Barney who is really cute.

She has also made me really love the cello and music and has also made me really confident. I was Joseph in my school play of Joseph and I wasn't even scared to sing all the solos.

Anyway I am telling you my story because Kay has this new book out on teaching cello to children and I think you should all get it. She also has one on teaching violin too and their are more to come.

You can get them at Ackerman music shops or go to her website www.stringbabies.com .

If you go to her website you can also read more about Kay and the work she is doing to get all kids to love music from Hackney (where my mum, dad and sister lived and my aunt and cousins are) to Surrey which is in the country near London.

This is what I think and this is my story. So far.

It is birthday season again ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANNY!!!!!


We love you x

Off to cello day

Heading off for my day of cello playing in Billinghurst.

The rest of the family are going to lunch with Granny and Mum's God Mother Mary Ann. Except George who is going the Greas audition at the Hawth which I did last week.

Mum says the kind of people who do cello days are geeks and too cool for school kids. I think I am going to like them but I don't know which type of person I am. What do you think?

Chess Bros

Won Bob's tournament today. 15/15.

Cosi did really well too getting 10 out of 15. He drew 1, won 2 and lost 2 - his best performance yet.



PS we are kissing our silverware not eating it - in case of any confusion.

Evidence

OMG Michael Rosen Retweeted about our readathon on twitter. Everyone in our house loves him and we are really happy.

Thank you so much for sponsoring us everyone who has already. We will thank you properly.

Mum took these pictures of the books we read.

Me:
Favourite: I am still not a loser
2nd: The night Bus
3rd: You're thinking about tomatoes


Zill:
Favourites: Wonder and Kethup clouds
3rd: The Night Bus



Cos:
Favourite: Cup Final Kid
2nd: Invisible Vinny
3rd: The Sword in the Stone

Thank you for all the books ...

The readathon has finished and we have all read 7 books in 7 days and are very tired!

Thank you very much everyobe who has sponsored us. we are really grateful. And there is still time to donate if you want to but haven't had a chance yet.

https://www.justgiving.com/Zillyan-Rustom/

Here are the books we read:

COSMIC
Invisible Vinny - Jenny Nimmo
The tales of King Arthur - the Sword in the Stone by Karen Wallace and Neil Chapman
Fighting Dragons - Colin West
Old Tom at the Beach - Leigh Hobbs
Dogball - Pippa Goodhart & Sue Mason
Claude on holiday -Alex T Smith
Cup Final Kid - Martin Waddell
ZILLY
Them - Lee Weatherly
Black Bones - E E Richardson
The Night Bus - Anthony Horowitz
Claude on holiday -Alex T Smith
Wonder - R J Palacio
Clockwork - Philip Pullman
Ketchup Clouds - Annabel Pitcher
ZEVON
Claude on holiday - Alex T Smith
The Night Bus - Anthony Horowitz
Black Bones - E E Richardson
I am still not a Loser - Barry Loser (Jim Smith)
The Twits - Roald Dahl
Them - Lee Weatherly
You're thinking about tomatoes - Michael Rosen

Loafing around at the O2

In readathon news...

I have read these 4 books in 4 days so far (well almost - I am on day 4 and am reading 'I am still not a loser' now).

They are all from the library - I think they will be surprised when I return them so quickly and say I have read them all!

Haven't decided on my last 3 books yet. I will keep you posted Blog!

7 books in 7 days

Two years on and Zill and I are doing another readathon.

Still 7 books in 7 days but this time Cosmic is doing it too. We have a different charity too - this time we are raising money for Red Nose Day.

I know no one has much money at the moment BUT if you can spare any then you can sponsor us here. We would really like to raise at least 150 pounds for our charity and if we can get more than 230 then we will have made more than last time!

http://tinyurl.com/dxv3xzm

Thanks all! I will blog the list of books we are reading v soon.

No no no more Jo

Today I performed my last Joseph.

It was really fun. I was playing Joseph and I sang the coat song and acted the dream and Potophar scenes.



Catherine, Ayush and I (the 3 Josephs because we shared the role) gave flowers to the teachers who had helped us do the play.


We also gave wine to Mr Bone who did the lighting.



We have performed it three times for parents and more for other pupils in school.

Although we are going to buy the DVD of our performance, this is a very quick taster of tonight's last encore:

Kai, Cat, Torrin, CJ and Mum and Dad came last night to watch and Granny and Zillyan were there tonight. Kai wolf whistled; mum and Cat sang and Granny was very excited. Cosmic snuck in in both nights - he told me he really liked it and so did Zill and Dad.

Jamie day - it's Jamie day!

Mother's Day ... or in my case (non) God Dad day.


Here is Jamie, his Daddy and his new non-God Daddy!

Byron's ball antics

How my footie game with Mum became a rugby disaster ...

This was Saturday's dog walk!

End of the season

Football today with Edward.

And Alex's last day.

So long, farewell ...

Last night we had a goodbye party for Alex. He isnt going until Friday morning but everyone was home so it was a good time.

Grandma and Grandpa came and so did all the Everingtons except Amy who was staying with Auntie Kari.

Edward, Alice and Katie came too but Luka couldn't come because he is in Croatia. Cat popped in really quickly too.

Alex gave a speech and opened his presents. We gave him an engraved photo frame with a picture of him, Zilly, Cos and me in it.

He also had cake and we sang to him:

We will miss Alex because he has been our au pair for three years. This is the picture we gave him in a frame.



He is going to Germany to be with his Mum and sister for a while. He says he is going to be an engineer and build aeroplanes in Japan one day.

Ferring in February

Tim, Di and Will are with us today.

We played tennis this morning with Gary in Horsham Park and Di did cello practice with me.



This afternoon we took the dog to Ferring and had lunch at the Bluebird Cafe.



Then we dug a hole in the beach.



Took the dog into the sea.



And admired the beach huts.



Home now and playing Braggart!