Debate and day out

Tuesday 3rd: I had to smile when I saw Ruth on the computer working on her debate this morning (and it wasn't even 7:30am). It's so handy that they can e-mail their work to each other and work on things at home like this - ready to get printed at school when they are done.
Ruth is really excited about the debate. She will be the first speaker and then will have to summarize at the end too.
Wednesday 4th: Asher loves using tongs with different games, so the Playroom Specialist had this empty chocolate tray filled with little balls of play dough for her to take out.
Asher really loves playing with magnets too. The OT found this nice small set and it gave me a good idea for something to have for Asher to play with in church. She has been struggling to even sit for a couple of minutes lately, so I'm trying to come up with ideas of what to do. The OT is so great in helping me think through things and come up with ideas.
Asher loves these Montessori bees. Such a pity toys like this are so expensive. It's a real blessing she gets to play with such wonderful toys at Champion Centre every week.


In the afternoon Ruth got some badges at Guides. She was exhausted by the time we got home though, so missed Karate practice tonight. She does leave for Guides as soon as she gets home from school at 3pm - so she will have to re-think all her extra mural activities if she wants to stay at school.
Thursday 5th: Hezekiah was pleased with getting these puzzles done this morning.
I have been adding photos to Asher's picture book and so wanted a photo of a hat. I thought it would be nice having a photo with a hat on - so Asher was my model. :-)
Friday 6th: Ruth got an award today "For settling into Kikorangi Class so well and writing and presenting an excellent debating speech in your first week!" Well done Ruth.
In the evening I headed into town with Rachel and Ruth for the evening session of the Confident Christianity course that our church was hosting. I was so glad we went as it was an excellent evening.

Just after we left Asher has a short semi-conscious episode. Thankfully it didn't affect her too much. It did make me a bit more nervous about Saturday though. Brendon, Rachel and I headed off for the Confident Christianity conference at 7:30am and were only back at almost 7:30 that night. We dropped Hannah and Hezekiah at the Loves (as a last minute backup as our previous family got a tummy bug on Friday). Ruth and Asher stayed home with an older teenager friend. Ruth has been practising giving Asher her medication this week and I had a page with reminders of things through the day.
Rachel and I did loads of food preparation on Friday too, so all the food was ready for all the children for the day (as well as Sunday's lunch).

I knew Ruth would also know what to do if Asher had a seizure and Ruth is the one person Asher is happy to lie with after a seizure. I was so thankful that she didn't have to deal with a seizure though. I had to smile though when we got home and Ruth said "it's really hard being a mum. It was so tiring watching Asher the whole day."

Brendon, Rachel and I had a great time at the conference. We learnt so much and it was wonderful to have a full day together of just enjoying learning and talking and having no responsibilities.
We decided not to worry about sticking to our diet while we were at the conference and just enjoy the food provided (which we did). Unfortunately Brendon and I suffered the consequences of that decision. On Sunday morning (mother's day of all days) I woke very irritable and depressed. And although not as quick a reaction - Brendon got a migraine on Monday evening (he had 5 months of no migraines while strictly on the diet).

We still managed to get to church and I'm so glad we did. It was such a blessing to get that "how are you" from a good friend and I could be honest and say "not good" and get a much needed hug.
On our way home we stopped at the Woodend park that we have been to before. I was looking for a toilet and realized the school play ground was just around the corner. The kids had so much fun exploring the two new parks.
Unfortunately while Brendon and I were looking around the next corner (for the 3rd park), Asher had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic. So she missed out on the two new parks (although they were for bigger children anyway).
Brendon took this photo of the others while I held sleeping Asher. I realized afterwards that I should have gone and sat there with them for a mother's day photo with them (even though Asher was sleeping).

I'm glad the "bigger" seizure happened today and not yesterday while Ruth was watching her.
I was also thankful for one of the mothers who was around for asking if we needed help. Rachel told her that Asher has epilepsy and the woman explained that she was a nurse. She even asked if I needed a wet wipe (thankfully she wasn't drooling though). It's always so nice when strangers show that little bit of kindness and willingness to help.
Brendon had a couple of errands in the afternoon including picking something up from the farm. So Ruth went with him and they enjoyed some time together.

In the evening I had an Epsom salt and baking soda bath (what Hannah always does when she has a bad reaction). So that was nice and relaxing. Then we got to spend a bit of time with the older girls working on a Bible study that we are working through (40 days in the word). We will most definitely take many more than 40 days to get through it, but the time we do spend together is always so good. So although the day started out as a real challenge for me, it ended really well.