Bugs and boxes

Ruth is such a good sister and
often rubs Hezekiah's sore gum.

Thursday: Brendon felt terrible today with not only the sore stomach but also a splitting headache and nausea whenever he moved around. So he slept most of the day except for a couple of hours in the afternoon when he could not sleep and so lay on the couch watching a movie with the girls.

These girls make me smile.

It was a very long day for me. I got quite a bit of sorting and packing done which was great but I was exhausted by the time 7:15pm came around. The girls got ready for bed and Ruth said "Mum - the long hand is not at the 6 yet so it's not bed time yet." My response: "Today has been a VERY long day for me. So guess what? It's bed time."

Hannah really enjoys playing the
Reading Eggs games on the laptop.

Friday: Brendon had today off for working last weekend and I am glad he did as he spent most of the day in bed again. He was feeling better though and was able to eat a little bit. I think it was very frustrating for him as he had hoped to get a lot of packing done today. It was a very hot day though and so I asked Josie if she would take the girls down for a swim.

Once Hezekiah had woken and fed I headed down with him. The girls had just finished their swim and so they sat eating the food I had brought and watched Hezekiah while I got 20 lengths done. It was wonderfully refreshing and great to get a 500m swim. I walked 1,5km this morning and the exercise does feel good.

I even got some sewing done today. The material and cushions have been sitting around for years. Nothing like knowing my sewing machine is going to be packed away for a while to get me motivated. I also changed this dress into a skirt for Rachel which she is thrilled about.

The girls also got to put on their Cinderella play for us today. They had lots of props for every scene (and even had the stage marked off with bikes). It was really well done. They have been practicing for over a week so were thrilled to finally get to show it to us. I like how Rachel has done the choreograph for this scheme. This is where Lucifer (the cat - notice the ears) comes in and dirties the floor that Cinderella has just cleaned. She then chases him out.
I wanted to show you a scene with Hannah in too. She was the step sister practicing her music when Cinderella comes in with the invitation. Ruth does the step-mother role really well. Sorry about the bad sound. You don't realize how loud the birds are until you take a video. :-)

Saturday: Thankfully Brendon was feeling much better today and so lots of packing got done. The girls room is getting packed up with boxes. The lady who will be moving in here started moving her things in today too. So she is filling up Rachel's room and the garage. This has honestly been the most stressful move we have had (far more stressful than our international move). Trying to make place for someone else but not having any place for us to start moving to has been hard. But at least we know we are doing all we can to help out.

Hezekiah sitting in the walking ring
for the first time. He enjoys being able
to watch everyone from this angle.

Other exciting news as that Ruth has her first loose tooth. I don't know how long they can take to actually come out - but it will be very funny if it comes out at the airport on the day we leave for our SA trip. Rachel had a tooth come out at the airport when we left SA.

Sunday: Packing and sorting and more packing today. Nothing like a move with a few weeks notice to get you sorting through things and throwing away or giving away loads of stuff. We had a really successful day and got half of the items on the "to do list" done.

And it finally happened - I planned the meals for the week so that we could start packing away pots and pans.

And to add to the business Rachel leaves for Jamboree on Saturday too. So she has been practicing packing her box. She did it on Saturday but it took over and hour to get everything packed. Today she got the box packed in 20 min (with an extra 8 minutes to check her day bag and tie up her box). She has decided that she will practice again on Tuesday and then of Thursday she will do the final pack and re-seal all the bags to get some extra air out of them all. It may sound like a simple thing but the box needs to be packed in just the right way to get all her sleeping gear and clothes (for a week) in. Her excitement is growing by the day.