Meeting Alijah

Our family was FINALLY well enough (it has been a long 2 week wait) to go to Palmerston North today and meet our brand new nephew, Alijah. Marty's baby sister, Cheryl has now entered the elite group called 'motherhood' and it was a joy to share this new precious little member of our family.

Cheryl has taken to motherhood like she was born to be a mummy, and is coping really well with all the things that come with it: sleepless nights, silly advice and milk everywhere!  Jaimee was in love, her life dream is to be a mummy herself and on the way home she sighed and told us "she just really wanted to stay there"! ...And check out a grinning proud Uncle Marty!

The girls look so big next to their 2 week old cousin! 

The boys enjoy a shared afternoon tea with their mummies....

...while Uncle Veasna is kept busy by Jaimee and Kate!

 When it was time to go home, Alijah made sure he left a lasting impression on his Aunty Nikki - just in case I forget how cute he is....by giving me a big kiss (ok, sucking on my lip....no milk there buddy)! Awww....

Three dramas.....

This week has been full of mini drama and nothing at all.  Drama in the minor scheme of life, but nothing in the grand picture (as with most dramas).  Each of my children has a story to tell.....we will start with the eldest.  

Jaimee attempted to pull her first 'sickie' this week.  She has been having her normal block swimming lessons at school, and has been saying each day that she doesn't want to do it, or that she has a sore tummy and so she had to get out early (she gets cold and tired so tells the teachers she has to get out).  After a week of this, I was not buying it when I got a phone call from school on Tuesday morning this week: "Your daughter is in the sick bay with a sore tummy".   The lovely office man had already been warned that she can be quite dramatic when she wants to be, and he did tell me that he just wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not - she had pulled out the crocodile tears on him and all.  Takes after her mother there I am afraid....drama queen!  I went in to the sickbay where a miserable looking Jaimee lay.  One good thing about her being so much like me is that I know how to get the truth out!  I knelt beside her, looked her in the eye and gently asked her: "Do you really have a sore tummy, or are you just feeling really tired and don't feel like swimming today?".  She broke.  "I'm just too tired" she cried into my shoulder.  Well, the bus had already gone, so she kind of got her own way....but I did firmly (and kindly) inform her that she would be staying at school for the day.  I didn't want her learning that she could come home after telling a lie!  Jaimee had to write an apology letter to her teacher that afternoon for lying, and I am happy to report that she swam FINE for the next two days after we prayed about it and asked God's power to take over and help her.  Whew!  

Kate just about burnt the house down this morning.  I thought I had smelt something strange when I got up and started doing my workout this morning, but brushed it off.  10 minutes later, Marty discovered this in the girls room - she had somehow got her blanket draped over the wall light beside her top bunk bed.  When we explained gravely that there could have been a big fire and all her toys and room and even our house could have been burnt up...she wrapped her arms around Marty and buried her face silently into his neck.  She was so remorseful, I don't think it will happen again  Marty and I looked at each other and silently exchanged a look: "that was TOO close for comfort".....thank God once again for protecting our family and home.  

And what about Luke? He too has his own event to record, in the midst of a horrid bronchitis infection, and with lots of misery and sadness, he was so desperate to get to me that he WALKED for the first time, crying the whole time!  He just let go of the stool he was leaning on, and took 3 steps before he collapsed to his knees...while Marty and I blinked in astonishment.  Since then, he has taken the odd step, but hasn't managed to quite get the hang of this balancing act yet....but it won't be long now...gulp!  

Fishing and First Words

It has been one of those weeks!  Luke has been sounding like Darth Vader all week with a bad case of bronchitis, leaving him miserable.  The steroids he is on means that sleeping has been non-existent although he is desperately tired.  The result is one very grizzly little boy who just wants to be held all day long and has no idea what he wants.  Thankfully, I have big sisters to help me out with the long tiring days.  Jaimee gave him a bottle while I did a few quick jobs yesterday...she is such a wonderful little carer.  

I had to capture this moment yesterday evening after dinner.  I had suggested that the girls go and find something quiet to do, like perhaps 'sewing' their lacing animal shapes.  Instead, they decided to use them to go fishing!  They have never been fishing in their life, but for some reason they ran and got 'fishing hats' out of their dress up box.  They put their chairs up high so that "they were safe from dangerous things" in the water. 

 It was one of those lovely moments...a total contradiction to the conversation in the bath the night before:

Jaimee: "Did you know that when you fart in the bath, it makes Bubbles?"

Kate: "For real?  I'm gonna fart.....(pause)....I farted!" 

Giggles everywhere.  Charming girls!

Meanwhile, even with a cold Luke is still growing up fast. His latest milestone is his first words. It is always a big event when your child starts using verbal language to communicate with you...long may it continue. Check out this wee video showcasing his new words.

First is the very clear "Hi-ya" - often said with a phone, remote or even a shoe pressed to his ear. Next is what we THINK is "thank you" (Ng-Ng) as he passes us things....he hasn't quite mastered the concept that WE say thank you when we RECIEVE items, not as we GIVE items....but hey, its a start in the manners department!

If you don't do...your hair will be blue!!

Last night we went out for a girls night on the town to farewell Vicki-Lee, who is off to live in Fiji for 9 weeks shortly.  Her husband, who I know loves to surprise her, phoned me on the sly and suggested that we make it a 'bon voyage' night of dares and fun challenges - and of course, I agreed at once!

When we showed up at her place with a 'beautiful' hawaiian skirt and lei for her to wear, she was very gracious and immediately popped them on - and left them on all night - well done Vicki-Lee! Although I would never ask her to do anything TOO embarrassing, we did have a slight blackmail plan up our sleeve to help keep her 'motivated' - If she didn't do anything...we would put some lovely blue hairspray into her newly cut, coloured and straightened long hair. hehehe.....she did everything we asked of her to avoid that blue spray!!!

It was a fun night with lots of giggles and fun.  From telling our waitress firmly that she liked eggs (to which our very flustered waitress started explaining which dishes had eggs in them) to singing a nursery rhyme to a bouncer, we had lots of laughs. 

We hit the dance floor as soon as we could (which was still after midnight - wish someone would bring back the 'dance hall' days of the 1940s!!) and I got home at 2am, with the thought crossing my mind that I am probably getting a bit old for this...but It's worth it occasionally for a good dance with friends!!

Thanks for being a good sport Vicki-Lee, you did rather well....although your coke skulling abilities were rather pathetic!!!

The best friends ever

A couple of years ago, It hit me that I have hit the jackpot with friends....big time.  I shared the (somewhat morbid) thought to my family in Auckland that if anything ever happened to Marty, I would NOT be moving back to Auckland!   Hawkes Bay had well and truly become my  home support network, and there is no way that I would ever want to leave the amazing people that have entered my life here.  

Marty has proven to be a wonderful source for friendship - I have developed wonderful relationships with all the wives of his groomsmen from our wedding!  

Anne-Marie and I get along so well and are so similar in some ways. Anne-Marie and Geremy have been such source of faith strength for us, when we were told we couldn't have children..they prayed. Our girls are in the same class at school, and their siblings will also be starting school together soon which is so cool. I laughed to Marty the other day as I noted that I now know I live in a small town because the second generation of friends are going to school together! I can't help but smile with contentment as I drop off our giggling friendly happy girls together to gymnastics, and remind Jaimee that Mrs Anne-Marie will bring her home (to which she doesn't even blink because she feels so comfortable with the family). Jaimee has been desperate to visit their church for a while now, so we joined them on Sunday at their service, followed by a chilled out 'chip sandwich' lunch together and a game of Yahtzee as our kids played happily. Bliss.

Another 'groomsman wife' that was introduced to me some 10 years ago is Vicki Lee. After living on the same street for a few years in Flaxmere and having countless lunches and coffee dates together with laughs, tears, sharing and encouraging each other...not to mention lots of babysitting swaps, we both made the move into Hastings within a year of each other! Now we have coffee together every Thursday afternoon, and this has become a highlight of my week. I am not quite sure how I am going to cope without her for 9 weeks as she is off to live in Fiji for a term....I expect lots of skype dates (probably on a Thursday afternoon!!!).

These guys are our adult equivalent of 'best friends', and we had no hesitation in making them Godparents for each of our children...we can't think of anyone more suitable to support us in the way we raise our children. We have so much fun together as couples - whether it is laughing until we are crying over a noisy game of cards or chatting until the wee hours of the morning on a night on the town! The girls adore Paige and Dylan, they are like cousins to them....on Tuesday evening we went over to their place for cake and cards, putting the kids to bed there. Dylan (11) lovingly gave Luke a bottle, while Paige read the girls a bedtime story. Awwww.....THIS is love. Check out how content my usually clingy son is with Mr Jeremy....he knows who he can trust.

Godfather (and one of our groomsmen) Jeremy gets BIG snuggles from Luke

Of course, there are more. We have the most amazingly loving church family, surrounding us with support, love and friendship. We are all busy, and don't get together nearly as much as I would like to - but I love that even if we only have a proper catch up once every few months, it still feels comfortable and honest. I feel loved and accepted for who I am, and I can only hope that these people feel the same way about me!

Friends for the kids AND us! Bex comes for tea and reads her adoring fans a bedtime story.

So thank you, my Hawkes Bay friends. I really appreciate you in our lives. Oh, and come over for coffee soon!

the girls are fast asleep at the Dempseys house while us adults play cards.!

Fun in the Winter Sun

Jaimee carefully wrote out and created three special invitations for her upcoming birthday party last night (We are only having a small party at the indoor pools this year, followed by a family dinner).  One of her good friends is Jordis, who came over and spent the day with us today.  

After a morning gluing, stamping and colouring we decided it was time to hit the park and enjoy the sunshine.  We took along a picnic lunch and the girls spent two hours playing, climbing and using their imagination. 

A picture says 1000 words, so here is a glimpse of their time at the park....

Playing a game of witches and fairies planting their gardens and robbing each other's plants!.  

Kate tells off the older girls: "hey, didn't you see my sign? it says 'don't steal my grass'"

Good Friends!

Here's just a wee video of their play in action....

Ah...I love that I can record these moments for them on this blog..its a real family diary.  Remember your childhood games at the park girls, these days are priceless.

School Holidays thus far.

Marty snapped this one the other night....it didn't last long with Luke though!

Well, its half way through the school holidays and we are all very relaxed here, enjoying the slower pace of life.  Today I lazily got out of bed at 8.30am, Kate and Luke woke 15 minutes later (Jaimee was watching cartoons) and we had pancakes for breakfast at around 10.30am....

I kicked off the holidays by taking the girls to the local theatre groups pantomime of 'Sleeping Beauty'.  It was the kind of production where we crammed into a tiny little hall where the kids sat on cushions at the bottom of the stage and the lovely old lady plays the piano to the side of the stage while the queen (a guy in a wheelchair) and the king (an older lady) try hard to remember their next line.  The kids did enjoy it though...well until the third and rather confusing act where the wicked witch kidnaps the prince and Sleeping Beauty has to rescue her from the witches caves.  I don't remember that bit from the story, but ah well....anyway, my kids were terrified of the very convincing witch with her evil cackle, and begged me to take them home as they buried their heads in my lap.  Sigh...one day, my kids will be able to handle villains.
At the moment, they won't even watch 'Tangled' because they are scared of the witch!

sticky mosaics keep us quiet for hours

Anyway, the holidays had begun and so did the rain....and it didn't stop for an entire week! I rushed out and purchased a cheap box of sticky mosaics (seriously, they are the coolest craft activity for 4-5 year olds to do without help) and some colouring in books. We went to the library and found 30 books. Next stop was the DVD store ($1 hire day rocks) for 5 movies that they got to choose for a change, making their day. There....all set for the long week of rain! Ok, perhaps a few hours. I love the holidays....It was so so nice to just hang out at home with no agenda (housework aside). I got pretty lazy actually, and had to force myself to cook meals and exercise at the end of a long day doing not much.

Jaimee had a birthday party at Jungle Junction on Tuesday with all her school mates, so that was a nice treat for her. The girls love it there, but I can't stand the chaos of the cramped and crowded kids spot, so I am always relieved that other people have parties there so I can drop my kids off and run. We even managed to avoid tears, because Kate happened to be invited to a party for the following Sunday at the same place - whew, its hard having girls who are used to doing everything together sometimes!
However, life still does go on for us adults, and I still had to work Thursday and Friday.  We were almost late to work on Thursday because Marty hadn't been waking me up all week and forgot to on my work day!   At 8am, I woke with a start and hit the ground running to make it on time.  Playgroup was packed out with 5 year old visitors, making a much noisier bunch then we are used to, especially with cabin fever added to the mix due to the wet week.  We had a slight drama when everyone left and I went to put Luke to bed...and then realised that someone must have taken home his muslin cuddly by accident!  Uh oh.....how will he sleep without it?!  I resorted to popping him into his car seat and leaving a car door open as I worked in the open room beside the car....luckily he crashed out.

The best baby

In the weekend, Marty took the girls out for a 'daddy-daughter' date.  Normally we do these individually, but the girls really don't mind sharing daddy at this age...so I timed their outing for Luke's sleep time and was able to sneak in reading a few chapters of a book - a cunning plan by me!  After a trip to the local school with their scooters (one of our favourite spots - large open concrete to ride on and an empty playground bonus), He took them out to the old fashioned lolly shop, somewhere we had not been before- you know, the kind of shop where they point to giant glass jars lined up and choose what lollies they would like.  Sadly, the prices are not as old fashioned as the shop is, I think Marty just about had a heart attack at the price of their small bag!

And that brings us back to this week and our lazy cycle of getting dressed at 10am begins again much to our delight.  We do have a few loose plans this week -  Jaimee has a friend coming to play on Wednesday and is off to another friend's house on Friday.  I have promised that Kate can have a couple of days off daycare to hang out with her sister this week, meaning on Thursday I will be dragging THREE kids along with me to playgroup and work.    A doctors visit is in the agenda tomorrow too for poor Luke, who has a bleeding red bum despite lots of creams and some limited 'air time' without nappies...something that I am always nervous doing so it never lasts long enough.

TWO WHEELS! Go Kate!!!

Big Girl Bike (Thanks  for handing it down Paige!!)

Tomorrow we are going to hit the school again with their cousins and their bikes because that is what we did today ...and guess what? Both my girls upgraded their bike skills today much to our delight!  Kate has almost mastered her sister's 2 wheeler (once we get her going) after just one session, and Jaimee is feeling super proud at being able to ride her (new to her) big girl 16" bike for the first time.  I attempted to put Luke on a little ride on bike..it was so funny: he totally locked his legs when I sat him on it.  I could not budge them at all!  Guess he is not quite ready for wheels. But this all reminds me that my babies are growing up....and I am so glad that I have this time to hang out with them before they get too big to enjoy mum's company.

Moments captured

Here are a few moments I have captured in my house over the last week.  I post them up for a few reasons: Firstly, to keep these memories living and etched in my mind forever.  Secondly, to brag to my family and friends how amazing, cute, loving and wonderful my kids are!  

Today I walked into the girls bedroom and found this delightful table setting, complete with a flower in a vase.  This is Jaimee at her best.  

Tonight, I just had to snap this one for the record!  Marty works on the computer (sorting finances as per usual - cleaning up after my spending AGAIN) as Kate plays hairdresser, giving him a delightful row of clips.  She asked him to please leave it in for her to finish it tomorrow...I giggled to myself as I reminded her he had to work tomorrow!  

 Here is my big girl Jaimee (the short one of course), receiving her principal's award proudly at her school prizegiving at the end of last week.  My heart swelled with pride as she got this award for "being a great example in the way she  learns and cares for others".  This is the perfect award for her and reflects her heart attitude perfectly.  

Check out Luke, who has just discovered the joys of the TV and the couch.  With their magical powers combined (and of course with a cuddly and a thumb, just like Jaimee), I can now get a meal prepared while a tired baby is entertained for a few minutes!!

And I leave you with a little bit more Luke...here is my wee man, now over 13 months old and at his ultra cute best. Luke says "ta" now (aaaaahhhhhh), but that doesn't always mean he will give up whatever he pretends he wants to give you. He also likes to play "where's Luke?" - although I don't think he has figured out that I can still see him when he hides his ears behind his pudgy wee hands....

He has now added dancing to his tricks database (although here I haven't managed to capture the way he bops his entire upper body side to side). Just watch how he says "no" with his entire body, not just his head. Daddy is not so impressed with his obsession with the girls pretend nail polishes at the moment though....


We watched the movie "Courageous" last night, it was an inspiring reminder of the importance of spending time with our children, and how this impacts their life.  I will continue to be alert and aware of my children's little achievements and moments as much as I can - it might not mean much to anyone else, but it means a LOT to us.