Visiting Violet

On St Patrick's day, our new neice made her grand entry into the world. Her birthday will be well celebrated world over with leprechauns and clovers, green and Irish!

But green was not the colour of the day, that would go to the colour purple. Little Violet is aptly named, she is dainty and beautiful and well dressed too in her mums favourite colour. We think she's special. 

The kids were very excited to meet her at just 4 days old, and all got cuddles with the sleeping beauty. Kate sat beaming beside anyone who had her, her arms waiting folded in a cradling position, begging for an extra cuddle until she was rewarded

Luke was a bit shyer, so adoring and in love but a little unsure how to handle this wee delicate bundle of snuggles. Granma helped while he gazed on. 

We gave the tired family a chance to rest in the afternoon, popping out to the mall for a wander. All the girls wanted were baby dolls that wee and cry. (They didn't get one) but when they got home all three children grabbed their own baby dolls and started breastfeeding, swaddled go and rocking them to sleep!

So welcome baby Violet, your cousins adore you already and your aunty and uncle will always be here for you xxxx

Update: the very next day, the girls begged me to let them buy another baby doll each. They came home with life size dolls, which can wear newborn outfits perfectly. It's been nothing but babies all day!!

Fire Station

This was one  trip that there was WAY more then enough parent volunteers along to! Luke was especially invited to come along too, so today Luke and I joined Kate at the Hastings Fire Station for a morning.  Kate was delighted to have her wee brother there, and the parents all cooed to see them cuddle and hold hands together. 

Lucky Kate was selected  to put on the whole fire uniform from toe to top!  She giggled the whole time of course, especially when he suggested she go for a run in it.

 The kids LOVED squirting the hose and changing the spray.  Luke cried afterwards that his turn wasn't long enough for him, he wanted more.  Standing on the hose to try and stop the water was funny too - the cheeky firemen were trying to bet the kids that they should make cakes for the fire station if they couldn't keep the water from going through!

Kate wrote her  very own ebook on the ipad documenting the adventure- she typed and laid it all out by herself.  We made it into a movie so you could enjoy it with the sound bites she recorded...the quality is a bit shoddy but you do get to hear her!

Swimming sports

Kate bikes home from gym now with dad, today Jaimee set off walking to brownies for the first time without an adult...my girls sure are growing up. 

Today was a first for us - first swimming sports. Because our school don't have its own swimming sports, it was straight to the interschool competition, Jaimees name on the list purely because I happened to mention to her teacher that she does swimming lessons the week before. Poor jaimee did NOT want to do this, she hates the unknown and new and was the ONLY year 4 kid on the list (the youngest year group allowed).

But we encouraged, gave pep talks and prayed (ok and bribed - she gets to pick pudding tonight), and so off we set on the bus to take part with 15 others from st Matthews. 

When we got there I had a laugh with jaimee - she only had to swim one tiny width! At lessons she swims whole lengths over and over so no worries. 

But of course She burst into tears when it was time to get going, being new and unknown of course, and I was quickly called on to meet her at the other end while her teacher gave her a wee pep talk. 

To her credit, once the gun blew she was off to me beautifully and came in 4th, not bad for a nervous crying girl swimming against 20 others! 

She was much happier once it was over and by the time the backstroke came around she was ready and settled. I tried to get her to do the competition level (double the distance, recorded for interschool) as this was her best stroke. But nope, maybe next year when she knows the system better. 

That's her in the middle. 

And her growing confidence showed, this time she came in SECOND! Would have been first if she hadn't gone all wonky at the end! 

That's my girl, we keep telling her she is a great swimmer, definitly the best in her weekly lesson class. She wants to give up lessons but her swim coach, her school teacher and us are trying to encourage her to stick with it as she's doing so well. 

I was so proud of her too, she was asked last minute to make numbers up for a year 6 boys team who were short one more. She cried of course, She had no idea what to do and was already nervous. In the end it wasn't the pep talk or the prayers or the explanation that got her to agree - it was the promise she could have chewing gum (a normal no no!). The team was entered with the year 6 boys to keep to the rules, but actually had two year 5 boys and jaimee in it! So although (unsuprisingly) they didn't win, jaimee was much more confident and actually swam the strongest.

How did she feel at the end of it? Well, she said to me "mum, maybe next year I will actually do the competition level after all (2 widths)". And Kate can't wait to join her :) 

Awesome stuff darling! 

Luke's way of loving me

This is how luke measures love:

Me:"Hey, luke I love you"

Luke: " well I love you 20-16-19-63!"

Me: "well I love you 100-29-59,000"

Luke: "wow, that's a lot" 

Pause

Luke " I'm the winner!" 

Ahhhh I love your logic Luke xxx