Front page reporter!

Declan is part of the team that produces the Neutral Bay magazine - Navigator twice a year. The first issue has just been published, and Declan has the front page story! He was very thrilled to show me the whole magazine, in which he has two more stories - a serious report about Gladiators, and a game review.

Dinner

Gradually, more and more, the boys help Evan cook dinner most nights. Declan was inspired on Monday night to declare that he would cook the dinner entirely by himself.

And he did! It was pasta with Bolognese sauce, and he cooked the pasta, the mince, some vegetables, stirred in the sauce and served it up entirely by himself.

And then once dinner he sat and chatted to me in a very grown up way while Callum and Evan cleared the table.

Callum is now determined to take a turn soon.

Sydney geek heaven!

I happened to notice a tweet from Adam Spencer this week, asking for some "smart, slightly geeky" 10-15 year olds to help review his new book this weekend. So I signed the boys up (via twitter - first time for everything) and they were part of the group in his tweet below for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

Fascinating process as a group of a dozen smart 10-15 year olds year my maths book to pieces. #Proofread
— Adam Spencer (@adambspencer) July 26, 2014

They came home with a proof copy each, and a promise of a credit in the published book, and even more fascination with numbers than they had before. Declan took the book to bed with him, and has been continuing with the proof reading today, when he has a spare moment.

And as a bonus, Evan got to meet Adam Spencer.

Just shook @adambspencer ‘s hand. #greatgeekymomentsinsydney
— Geek in Sydney (@GeekinSydney) July 26, 2014

Schools decsions

We've finally had to narrow our options down on schools. With slightly shaking hands we've turned down the selective school offers and removed Declan from the private schools lists. So he'll be going to Mosman High. We're all happy with the decision, but can't help having some qualms as the options disappear.

Young ICT Explorers

Callum and Declan are entering the Young ICT Explorers competition. It's a national competition in which kids create something using information technology.

Cal is in a team of one and has produced the Car Share Monitor. It uses a sensor to monitor the parking space where a car share car should park. If a car parks there illegally it warns the driver they are parking illegally via a LED screen. If the car doesn't move, the device then sends an email to the Council Rangers and to the car share scheme and, potentially, to the driver of the car share car. It's all solar powered.

Declan is in a team with his friends Nick and Nikita. They have made Bin I.T! They have a device that sits in a recycling bin and sends information on how full it is to the Internet where it ends up on a web page that teachers can put on their smart board or students can put on their computer or iPad. (The page is at: www.GeekinSydney.com/binit.) The aim is to encourage more recycling by showing how much is going on and offering rewards if the bins are filled.

Both teams have fully working prototypes of their projects up and running, although not without some frustration on the way thanks to a series of complications and cheap electronic parts failures. We're all really quite chuffed with what they've managed to achieve.

They've now submitted the reports on their projects to the judges. The next step is that successful teams are invited to a final judging day at UNSW which operates like a trade show. We should find out if they make it to the finals in a couple of weeks.

Family shortbread - the tradition continues

While I was away ("gallivanting") in the Blue Mountains this weekend, Granny came and gave the boys a lesson in making her famous shortbread.

Callum took detailed notes of both ingredients and method, and has promised me that he will be able to replicate it at will.

I can report that although there was very little left by the time I got home on Sunday night, it was delicious. We have a theory that it has been improved (if that is possible) by the use of our special family sugar (which has a vanilla bean in it to give it a subtle vanilla flavour).

First week of the holidays

The boys spent the first part of last week at courses at UNSW. Declan did an economics course, and Callum one on controlling computers with his muscles. They both seemed to enjoy themselves, Callum more because of the subject matter and Declan because he made firm friends in the first ten minutes although the course itself wasn't quite as engaging as he'd hoped.

They proceeded to make up for this flurry of activity by spending much of the next few days playing computer games.

Cal's second report with other seconds

Callum got a second report at the end of term - this one his Year 10 Maths report. It came with a second Principal's Award. And he is coming second in the class.

Three out of three

We found out tonight that Declan has comfortably got into his first choice selective school - Manly Selective. We are all pleased (as that means he's done as well as necessary in all three of his exams).

We are probably going to turn it down, though, after a final check with Mosman High that they will definitely take him next year (they offered him a place, which he accepted, but for some bureaucratic reason the final confirmation takes some months).

Come to the dark side - we have cookies

In our Saturday afternoon cooking, Declan has got back into biscuits in a big way. After we made chocolate spiral biscuits, he decided that we needed to make Darth Vader biscuits - and this time we would make light and dark Darth Vaders.