Seizure, sushi, shiny medals and smiles

Saturday 1st August. This afternoon Ruth and I headed off for ice cream Sunday's at the tearooms.
When we got home I remembered to get the new month's children photo.
Hannah didn't look very impressed with the funny faces I was making for Asher and Hezekiah. :-) Well - at least they enjoyed it.

Rachel was busy in the afternoon getting sushi made. Ruth and Rachel are heading off to St John competitions early in the morning - and so this is their lunch.
At 7pm Asher had a 9 minute seizure. It started off as vacant (for 6 minutes) with her still moving around quite a bit. We managed to get her medication in just as to moved into a Tonic Clonic seizure with her pulling to the right. Her lips and even hands went purple and so we were very thankful when it stopped and she got her nice pink colour back. Her purple hands had even gotten us to call our neighbours who have oxygen, but they were not home. So we were very relieved when it stopped.
Sunday 2nd: It was a very early morning for the girls (and Brendon who took them into Amberley). They left home before 6am. The photo is taken in Amberley at 6:30 - just before they headed off to town for the day.
I remembered to take a photo of some of Asher's visual cards today. I have a few little helpers in the house who regularly get cards for what she is doing. It's so sweet to see Hezekiah get her box (with the green board on) and put on the picture for her snack (in photo) or breakfast. When she is finished she will take the picture off and put it in the box (it's a tissue box which makes a nice little post box for her cards).
Asher was so funny this afternoon with her grapes. She took every single one, bit it in half, and placed it "cut side down". Perhaps she didn't want them rolling around the plate. ;-)
The girls did really well at competitions today.
Ruth's Junior team came 1st in Communication and 3rd in Drill. A great day for her being her first competition.
Rachel's Intermediate team did very well.
1st place for Drill
2nd place for Written
3rd place for Communication
1st place for Clinical One
2nd place for Rachel's Pair test
1st place for Rachel's individual test
And so they ended up being 1st place Intermediate Overall.

So they got both the Team Intermediate trophies that were available and a whole lot of medals to go with it. This also means they qualify for Regional Competitions in September. Well done!
Monday 3rd: I found this photo on my camera from today. Ruth enjoys decorating her food.
On Tuesday we went back to the doctors room for Ruth to get some more blood tests done. The nurse struggled to get a vein though, and poor Ruth was in tears from the pain. She sat there so quietly but the tears rolled down her cheeks. The nurse even said that her crying was making her cry. And it was having the same effect on me. So the nurse asked that we come back on Wednesday morning, when the doctor was there so that he could rather do it.
Well, when we arrived on Wednesday morning, the doctor had gone off to an emergency. The receptionist had given us a great tip on Tuesday when we left though - and suggested we put a warm bean bag on Ruth's arm on our way in. Another friend also suggested warmth - even having Ruth run around a bit before. So when we arrived, Ruth and Hezekiah went for a run around before we headed in.
The nurse suggested she try again, and it went very well. Other than the first little prick, Ruth said it was not painful. Even when the vials were changed (a time I often feel a bit of pain). So the nurse is really very good and it was just a pity it was so hard yesterday. Ruth was very brave and the blood flowed nicely. Thankfully, because today there were 3 vials to fill.
I wasn't even aware of Ruth taking this photo. Asher does enjoy using me to climb. :-)
And Ruth's domino creation that she took a photo of.

Friday 7th: Asher just loved playing with the seeds this morning. She would regularly clap her hands to get the seeds to fall off though - so there were seeds everywhere.
She enjoyed it so much that the teacher brought out some beans for her to play with too. She sat for quite a while playing with them, picking up with the small cup and pouring into the big one.
Here you can see her board that she has here. It shows her what activities she will be doing. When she is done she "posts" the card into her "finished" box.

She had a lot of fun with the physiotherapist today on a ball.
Rachel was a great help with getting the girls packed for camp. They left this afternoon for a weekend Brownie camp. Hannah's first camp - so she is very excited and has been counting down the days. A cold weekend (with snow) is expected.