Chrysanthemums, from my mothers garden – picked by me. Photo taken with my hipstamatic iphone app.

Its school holidays and the kids have been wondering what to do – with me working at home, they have been doing their own thing. Reading books, playing video games, and getting the craft box out. Their current obsession is Harry Potter – they have seen the movies, listened to the audio books and now are reading them on their own. So naturally their craft projects also are all about Harry and Voldemort.

Otilija (10 yrs) designed and made the puppets and wrote the script and directed the play. Orlando (8 yrs) played along. Rob filmed them – it only took a few takes – some fiddling with the script and then they edited it a little on the mac before uploading it to youtube. They loved the whole process and are now very excited of course to be on the internet – and to make more productions – they can’t wait to share the video with all their classmates when they go back to school.

So without further ado – here is their little production … its very straightforwardly called ‘Voldy gets bashed’

Movie reviews are not generally my specialty – however I was asked to review this aussie drama about family and thought that this was the best location for the review.

The boys are back is a bit of a heart wrenching tear jerker, if you do like a bit of a cry at the movies then this one might just fit the bill. A sentimental journey of fatherhood, a love story, and the aussie bush as a gorgeous backdrop – with these three elements you might just think its a good girly flick. There are some challenging grim moments, lots of humour, and of course there is a moral to the story. While the general rise and fall of the drama is predictable, and some of the storylines don’t always make sense, the convincing acting, and the fact that it is based on a true story, along with the fantastic scenery and photography, make it convincing – enough to wreak havoc on your mascara – bring tissues (its rated pg – but is not a kids movie). Check out a trailer here.

Hopscotch are offering 5 Australian movie goers a double in-season passes to see this flick at your local cinema. Leave a comment here – you have 48 hours – telling me your fave aussie movie of all time.