Skating with my stars

Katie's birthday party was today!! She invited some of her new friends to a skating party and a good time was had by all.
I have to admit that I haven't hosted a birthday party for any of the children in ages. I think I just got completely overwhelmed with the way we started out. . . Meggie had three, yes three, birthday parties when she turned one. They weren't small parties either, they were big deals. Then as the kids kept coming and it felt like I was planning birthday parties from March until September I came up with a plan. We started offering the choice of a party, a trip as a family or anything they wanted (one present) from the toy store. I realized even as I made these offers that I would have to put a price cap on the toy store stuff once they got older, but the times they chose that option they never spent more than $50, if that. So, we avoided parties for awhile and had some fun trips as a bonus. It hit me today though that Josie has never had a birthday party- well, except for her baby dedication/1-year-old birthday. I feel a bit badly about that. All that to say, today was simple, small, fun and a HUGE blessing to Katie. I think I'm finally recovered enough to start doing parties again.

We've only skated as a family once before so there was a bit of hugging the wall at the beginning. Katie had spent a few afternoons in her rollerblades on the back porch in Texas, so she caught on quickly and was soon gliding relatively effortlessly across the floor. Thankfully Ellie didn't feel the need to skate so she just ran around sliding down the ramps and generally entertaining herself. That left Meggie and Josie to be looked after and Daddy did a good job with the two of them so that I could take pictures and video, visit with the other adults, set out lunch and take Ellie to the potty on a regular basis. (As an aside, I hate to type it because I don't want to jinx it, but it's been three days since Ellie has had an accident!)

Georgia was the best skater starting out, but it didn't take long before most of the girls were cruising. This pic just caught her after a fall, but as you can see she's not too fussed about it.

This is Katie with Emma. She says she was having a rest for a minute.

Aren't they cute??

By the end of the party, as you can see, even Josie and Meggie were skating on their own. They all begged to go back again soon so obviously their confidence levels were up.

The obligatory photo with Mommy in it just to prove I was there. However, I realized once we got home that I didn't really get too many shots of Daddy either. Oops.

Happy Birthday sweet Katie!! We love you and look forward to celebrating as a family on your actual birthday next week.

CATS!

The big girls and I had a night out on the town last night - we went to the Wellington Opera House to see CATS. It was our first official outing with the Wellington homeschool group and we had a great time.
Here are Meggie and Katie outside the theater - the pink coats are a bit unfortunate as they've outgrown their good wool coats and I haven't replaced them yet.

They warmed up sufficiently during the show to have an ice cream at intermission. They both enjoyed the performance- Katie was enraptured while Meggie found all the songs too long and a bit boring. Surprisingly, at the end Meggie said she was glad she got to see it and that she liked it.

It wasn't the best way to meet other homeschoolers as we couldn't talk during the show, but I did sit with a lovely family of three girls and a baby on the way in a few weeks. The wife, Anna, is Canadian and her husband Peter is a Kiwi so they are also an international couple which is fun. Homeschooling suits people like us because it makes the travelling back and forth between countries so much easier! Hopefully we will have a chance to get together with them again after the baby arrives, and we all hope it's another girl since having four girls in our family is such fun.

Until next post. . .

We're Celebrating the Queen

Today the Kiwis celebrate the queen's birthday so it is a public holiday. Since all our friends were out of school and Dugald was off work we spent our time socializing a bit. But first, here is a picture of what Willow found in our house and killed. This is a baby Weta. I've posted pictures of these hideous creatures before, but keep in mind that this one is a BABY!





In other news, Katie finished a level in math so Daddy gave her a certificate of achievement in honor of her accomplishment.

But back to today, we had lunch with our friends James and Julia at their house. They have two sons, Jacob and Sam aged 10 and 7 who get on quite well with the girls. The adults always have interesting and fun conversations so we thoroughly enjoyed our time together and it was a lovely way to while away the hours as the rain poured outside!

Later in the afternoon Katie's friend Pippa and her family came over here for afternoon tea and that was great also. Pippa has a little brother, Monty, and he is five like Josie. He does remarkably well over here in girl world - he really likes to play Mario Carts on the DS Lite and he enjoys playing animals with my little animal lovers as well. Ironically he doesn't like the dog, but with the weather being awful and Rico being outside that wasn't a problem.

The weather forecast says tomorrow will be sunny and bright so I am planning on washing sheets and towels in the hopes that they will dry on the line. We are also looking forward to Katie's party next weekend and will spend a bit of time this week preparing for that. When I asked Alison (Pippa's mom) where I could get a nice cake she offered to make one for me - for shame!! Thankfully Julia gave me a place so I will go buy it but I do feel a bit like a lazy mom, but I really can't be bothered with that. I will make box lunches for everyone instead of ordering pizza as originally planned - that was also Alison's suggestion and seeing as most people here eat rather healthily it's probably a better option.

That's all for today!

Winter at the Beach

We took Rico to the beach for a swim this weekend. It was chilly but sunny and he loved it!

I didn't, however, expect my girls to want to get into the cold water.

Silly me! They kept inching in deeper and deeper. Meggie and Katie pushed up their leggings as high as they could and then Meggie didn't want me to get a photo of how silly she looked.

But I did - even in her silliness she's a beauty!

After their "swim" daddy showed them a how to tell how old a tree is by looking at the rings.

Ellie wanted to keep getting wet so it was back into the cold water for a few more minutes.

Who's watching the children and dog while this photo is being taken?

On the way home we passed a lovely church so I took a photo.

Hope you had a great weekend too!!

I'm a weather wimp. . .

Yesterday the sun was out for about two hours. Oh well.

I've decided that among other things I am a wimp when it comes to the weather! Yesterday the girls had their Musical Stars program at 3:30. It had rained off and on, mostly on, all day, so I was trying to decide how to get there - it's only about one and a half Kilometers away. The decision was made for me when I realized how late we were so I decided to drive them. On the way I passed an absolute ton of people walking around. It was cold, drizzly, windy and miserable out. I felt sufficiently shamed and so Ellie, Rico and I walked to get them at 5:15 pm (it was already getting dark) - and were cold and wet! But, again, so many people were out and none of them even looked fussed by it. Go figure. I'm going to have to buck up!!

I also am going to have to get a little more outdoorsy to fit in here - most people love spending their weekends outside, regardless of the weather. I'd rather be curled up by the fire with a good book and cup of coffee, but I want to have adventures with the girls so we are planning some fun things to do with them in the great outdoors. It is a shame to waste our opportunity to see some of God's most beautiful creation up close and personal, and the lovely thing is they don't have nearly the bugs and pests we have in America. So, no excuses, we're heading out. . .

It Worked. . . Mostly!

Rico spent a fairly silent night in the kennel - yay!!! He whined a bit before Dugald went to bed and unfortunately Dugald had to go out there and physically push him into the kennel, but he stayed in there all night!! I am SO grateful. I went out to get him this morning for our walk and he was just as happy as can be, whew!

In other exciting news, Ellie has chosen to wear panties for the last two days! We've had an accident or two but also lots of successes, woo hoo!

And, to top it all off, the sun is out today for the first time in more than six days. I am so blessed!

A Welcome Relief

Well, we've failed as parents as far as Rico goes! The poor dog - I finally fixed the kennel so that he couldn't get out. His first night to spend in its entirety inside his kennel and run was an absolute disaster. It was cold and rainy. He howled and cried all night. He tried to escape. This was Friday night. At 6 am he finally fell asleep - outside of the kennel and in the rain - exhausted.

When we went to let him out we discovered him cold and wet and bleeding - the poor thing! He'd tried so hard to get out that he'd cut himself deeply enough to need stitches. I felt so badly I thought I might cry. Meggie had a soccer game so she and Dugald left in the van, despite the wet weather. Surprisingly the people who decide such things didn't cancel her game, apparently it wasn't raining as hard there as it was here although it was still cold and drizzling.

So, left without a car the other three girls and Rico and I donned several layers of clothes and topped it all of with our raincoats and headed out in the rain and wind to walk down to the vet for him to see if Rico did need stitches or if I was overreacting. Since I was right, and not overreacting, we made an appointment to come back after lunch and get the stitches. I had called Jo, the very compassionate and skilled dog trainer, and told her our story and how I felt like I didn't deserve this dog for putting him through such agony (she also acted like my therapist) and asked her what we were going to do. She offered to come by for an emergency visit at lunch.

So, after trudging home in the rain again and having a cup of tea to warm up, we all waited for Jo. Meggie and Dugald got home, unfortunately Meggie's team lost the game but Daddy says she played very well. Finally, Jo arrived.

Jo had asked us to put Rico back in the kennel and run about half an hour before she was coming. He went in well enough but cried and whined again until about 10 minutes before Jo arrived when he fell fast asleep. Again in the rain. Silly dog. And of course he stopped before Jo arrived - isn't that the way it always works? I wanted him to demonstrate for her his hysterical whimpering, howling and whining, but he was asleep. Oh well.

Jo was very kind and had a look at the kennel and told us some things we could do to improve it, then she worked with Rico for about 15 minutes putting him in and out of his kennel and trying to teach him that is where he should go to stay warm and dry. After working with us for awhile she suggested that she take him for a few days and train him herself out at her farm with her other dogs. I was so happy I could have cried.

I took Rico back to the vet after Jo's visit and left him there to get his stitches. Then I went home and fell asleep for two hours while Dugald watched the girls. That afternoon I picked up a warmer, dryer, stitched-up Rico and brought him home and then Jo came and got him. He's been with her since Saturday, today is Tuesday and he is coming home. We've all missed him terribly but she has given us daily updates and progress reports and apparently he is a star student.

So, tonight will be a big test! Will he revert to his crying and whining, or will he see the kennel and run as a safe and warm place to be. Stay tuned. . .