Super Sunday

Today was one of those days that make me think I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world! It was sunny, clear and warm with enough wind to feel good but not too much. Oh how I wish winter wasn't coming soon!!

The girls had big fun today with their cousin Hamish and his girlfriend Delaney who took them to the marine center here in Wellington. It's only open once a month or so and it was on our list of things to do, so we were all excited for them to go. Delaney took a bunch of pictures for me! Thanks so much H & D !!

Dugald and I had a wonderful day - we probably should have been doing things around the house but it was just too beautiful so we headed into town for a great date!! We had lunch on Oriental Parade, shopped a bit on Lambton Quay and then had a coffee before heading home. Hamish and Delaney and the girls arrived back about a half an hour after us and they had picked up Wills along the way so we got to play our favorite game - adults only- before dinner. I made a very easy meal and after eating the grown-ups played again. Delaney won the first game and I won the second so I'd say the girls pretty much wiped the floor with the boys. Sorry guys, maybe next time!

Zoo Sleepover

Last night the oldest three girls and Dugald went to the Wellington Zoo for a sleepover with a group of other homeschooling families. They had dinner here then headed on over for their night of adventure.

Here they are with their friend Rachel. Rachel's mom Anna and I hit it off immediately when we met last year at Cats. She is Canadian but lived in the U.S. for a long time and is married to a Kiwi. We've enjoyed getting to know each other better this year and have a lot in common.
I really should have Dugald do a "guest blog" about the evening, but my entire family is currently asleep - I hear it was a rough night!

Becky is one of Rachel's sisters, she is next to Josie. That's Rachel again sandwiched between Meggie and Katie. They are also a family with four children, only their fourth is a boy.

This is Peter (Anna's Kiwi husband) with the girls. Anna is also my friend who looks after Josie and Ellie on Fridays so I can go horseback riding with Meggie and Katie. Their family also loves Settlers of Catan as much as we do, so we have game nights together as well.

Anyone remember Meggie's obsession with "The Lion King" back in the day? She still loves all animals but particularly lions like Simba or Aslan.

Of course there were kangaroos. . .

and dingoes. Dingoes are wild dogs from Australia.

This dingo better not eat my baby (sorry for all of you who don't know the reference here).

Ellie and I had a slumber party of our own - she got to sleep in our bed with me for the evening. To say that she was disappointed to not get to go with her sisters would be a major understatement. I tried to make it up to her with lots of treats, tv and whatnot.

I have given up sugar for lent. I probably should just go about it quietly but I need the accountability of telling people because I'm finding it terribly difficult. I guess that is the point. You would think that given how much sugar I eat in a day I would lose weight giving it up - but I may in fact end up gaining pounds because I'm constantly eating to try and fill the void in my palate left by the lack of sugar!!

We're off to a big 40th birthday party this afternoon so I better finish the laundry and finally get dressed. Have a great weekend!

Busting my Gut and Losing teeth. . .

This weekend I got a wild hair and decided to do the Meridian Energy "Gutbuster". The Gutbuster is an 11.8 Kilometer walk or run, depending on what you signed up for, that starts off in the park behind our house. Some of my girlfriends from swimming had signed up to do it and were encouraging me to participate. I let the thought simmer in my mind until the morning of the race, no pre-registering for this girl, I like to keep my options open. At the VERY last minute (8:20 am, registration was meant to be by 8:30 at the latest) Katie and I headed to the park to sign up - she for the kids 1K race and me for the big walk. It was drizzly as we headed out and I think I secretely harbored hopes that they would cancel but my friends would still be impressed that I was there. Silly me. This is Karori - they walk places rain or shine my friends, there wasn't a thought for canceling!!

Here we are on the back porch with our numbers ready to go. We had time to go home for a few minutes after registering because the race didn't actually start until 9:20 am. We also managed to recruit Meggie to come and cheer for us while daddy stayed home with the sickies.
I hear Katie did well at her race - and she enjoyed it very much. I can't say the same for me on either count. It doesn't make a lot of sense to attempt something of this magnitude without training but that is exactly what I did. I have not been walking for exercise. I have not been stair climbing. I have had very little cardio training of late, just when we do time trials at swimming. This event was KILLER! We took off UP Campbell Street, and when I say up I mean the road was on an upward incline. But, at least it was a road. And a fairly gentle incline. Because after the first kilometer we were climbing a very narrow, muddy pseudo-path up to the top of Wrights Hill. It was steep. It went on and on for an entire kilometer. I was breathing hard and we were only two kilometers into it. And did I mention the mud?

After that steep kilometer the path evened out a wee bit, we were still heading upwards and onwards to the wind turbine though. Let me tell you, they have that turbine in the right place. When I finally got there, huffing and puffing, I thought I was going to be blown right over. It felt good though since I was dripping with sweat. Oops, I mean I was glistening in a very ladylike fashion.

So, after the wind turbine we got to head down. This is the part where I fell. I had so been looking forward to going down. Little did I know how steep and muddy it would be and what a challenge it would be to stay upright. Oh my.

Next we came to the part Fleur called the roller coaster. Picture a roller coaster and you've got the terrain - up, down, around, up, down, around. I found it quite pleasant.

Near the end we had another killer climb and I truly thought I might just sit down and let Fleur send someone for me. The problem is sitting there would have been a challenge - the path was again narrow and muddy and steep and I'd probably have just slid on down to where I started on it. At last we were back to Campbell Street and heading back to the finish at the park. As we approached there were our children yelling and screaming and joining us to cross the finish - here we are (thanks Alison for sending these pics):

All in all I'm really glad I did it, I do have a sense of accomplishment, but I did have to get immediate sustenance in the form of a coffee and I headed straight home and into the bathtub where I would have liked to stay for the rest of the afternoon. I am still sore today.

In other Morrison news, Josie has lost her first tooth!! She came downstairs this morning and just handed it to me. She said it was completely painless and there wasn't even blood. Tonight she will be expecting a visit from the tooth fairy. Here's hoping the tooth fairy has been taking her fish oil. . .

They grow up so fast!

Every once in awhile it hits me . . . my girls are really growing up quickly! At each new stage I think it's my favorite, but then they grow and I like them even more. It's hard to believe we are half-way through our time to really speak into Meggie's life before she leaves home, and we're even closer to an age where we may no longer be her favorite people. It gives me a sense of urgency and also puts me on my knees before the Lord. She is truly becoming a remarkable person and it's fun to watch her grow.

The other girls are growing up too and are also a joy to be around - I can't help but remember this time last year with Eleanor! It was tough. The poor thing was still recovering from having her whole world rocked and the only way she knew to express herself was to act out. This year is so much better - she talks much more clearly and frequently, she doesn't wear diapers, she can even go through the day without a nap, she's very funny and she's clearly independent.

Katie is a friend magnet! She is the social butterfly of the group, though Josie is a close second. Meggie and Ellie are quite content to be at home, in fact often when we are out Ellie will ask us when we are going to go home. But not Katie, she would party all night if given the chance. She is amazing in her ability to make friends and play with children of all ages, sex or nationality. I admire that about her. She's also interested in all things "tween" - she is 7 going on 16 without a doubt. She's beautiful and brilliant and I know she can do just about anything she puts her mind to, the challenge is simply to keep her focused.

Josie is still full of life and joy and drama. Nothing in the middle for our Jo, life is either wonderful or devastating as far as she is concerned. She is a gifted little ballerina, an accomplished reader and a very grown-up 5-year-old. She's also free with compliments for everyone and eager to be a part of all that is going on, it's difficult for her when the big girls get privileges like staying up later and she has to go to bed. If we could only cure the whining this girl would be just about perfect.

The other night Meg decided she wanted to make dinner. She made a list of what we needed and we headed to the store. She found a recipe in a kid's cookbook and true to her word she made it from start to finish. Here she is with her bolognese sauce:

Another sign of their growing independence is that Meggie and Katie now go places, alone, without one of us. They walk to their Musical Stars class and their gymnastics without me, and last Saturday they walked down to the shops to get us milk. They often take their bikes and head over to the park for a play. I lean a little right of overprotective so this has been a challenge for me, a big part of me wants to get them a cell phone, but then the more rational part reminds me that they aren't that grown up and the phone will most likely get lost or damaged before it is ever actually needed for an emergency!

(I don't know why my paragraph breaks aren't working properly, so annoying!)

Today the little two are sick and snuffly - so Daddy and the big girls headed to Palmerston North and we three stayed home. They've been in their pajamas all day - which is fine since it's been raining nonstop and Dugald took our only car. We've spent the day watching movies, blowing noses, playing on the computer, blowing noses, playing games, blowing noses, coloring, blowing noses, and this:

They are playing "Wii Cheer" on the wii and it is one of the funniest, most adorable things I have ever seen. The wii has been a fantastic gift - even Daddy is addicted to the tennis - thank you so much Papa and Mama!!

This is another new addiction - a game called Settlers of Catan. We LOVE it. I got an expansion version for my birthday and was very excited.

That's the news for now. . . please keep Lloyd and his family in your prayers. He and Julie flew to Seattle this week for further treatment. Dugald is scheduled to go over for 10 days in March to give Julie a chance to come home and be with the children. Each of the siblings is going to go at some stage so that Lloyd will hopefully never be there alone. It is a very tough time for all of them.

Lots of love from all of us!!

My Birthday - Part Two

The celebrating continued on Saturday with friends . . . it was the Cuba Street Carnival that night and Alison and Fleur made reservations for our families to eat together and then watch the parade. On the way to meet them Dugald and I saw two very young little girls crossing the street in Karori, one in a diaper and a t-shirt and the other in panties and a t-shirt. They were both under three-years-old and as best we could tell they were unaccompanied. We stopped and I got out and asked them where their Mommy was and the older of the two wouldn't answer, the younger one couldn't talk. I tried again by asking her where she lived and she vaguely pointed behind her. I asked her if Mommy knew she was out and she said she was just going for a walk. I kept on questioning her trying to determine where she lived but she was adamant she was going for a walk and kept walking away from me, dragging the baby with her. Finally the baby fell and started crying which gave me the chance to scoop her up and sternly tell the other little girl we had to take the baby home. She VERY reluctantly started showing me the way home.

It took a lot of talking, coercion, manipulation and hand-tugging on my part but I finally got to what I was told was their house. I knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. I couldn't help but wonder when nobody answered if perhaps the children's mother was unconscious or something. The oldest of the two got fed up with waiting and started to leave again so I begged her to go get her mommy first and then go for her walk. I could see through the glass door we were at into the kitchen and could tell it was a family home and most likely it was really where she lived. She then went in the open door as I yelled out "helloooooooo" several times. She finally returned with a rather overwhelmed and confused man, along with about five other children all under the age of seven. He had no idea they had been out walking and I had to repeat myself several times before he worked out why I was in his kitchen. I am still not sure if he knows, but I am grateful nothing happened to those darling children.

Anyhoo, we went on and met our friends and headed into town. Here we are with all the children eating at the Chinese restaurant:

Words cannot express how loud they were, but a good time was had by all. Thankfully it was a family-friendly place and was also fairly empty as it was still early. . . the manager only told them off once which is pretty good considering:).

My dear friends Fleur and Alison. We spent the evening ignoring the chaos as much as possible and discussing possibilities for a girls weekend away. It was lovely.

Matt, Dugald and Richard, also ignoring the children, which might explain the fact that the manager had to send them back to our table. Tsk tsk.

We headed downstairs from the restaurant to participate in the evening's festivities.

This magician was from New York and we enjoyed watching him break out of his straightjacket in under 1 minute and 30 seconds to break a new world record (at least that's what he told us).

There were plenty of bands around and lots of dancing in the street.

Friends Rock!!! Meggie and Pippa

Josie and Isabel:

Julia and Katie:

Alison and Monty still dancing:

The prelude to the parade:

These lovely "ladies" weren't planning to stop but the kids kept yelling out "dance for us please". . . so they did!!

We were interviewed by several tv stations thanks to our enthusiastic bunch, our girls were hilarious - when asked where they were from they always said "Texas" which of course got them even more attention for having come "all the way from the United States" for this grand carnival.

Some scenes from the parade:

This last picture . . .that's another guy. Go figure.