Run, braid, play and sing

Thursday 31st: Hurunui Zone cross country today. Once Anastasia had fed and had her nap I headed over as I new it was starting at 11am. I didn't however realize that they do the races one at a time, so I was very pleased to hear that Ruth's race was first. Year 8 girls. I always feel for Ruth when she runs in the year group as she is the youngest.
Thankfully it was dry, but it was very cold It was 3 degrees when I arrived and when I left at 11:30 it was only 4 degrees.

10 girls heading off.

What a beautiful spot to have the race. Ruth was thankful that it was not as hilly as her school race. I wouldn't describe it as flat, but perhaps in comparison it seemed flat.

And a sprinting finish. She came in 9 out of 10. Good effort Ruth. I'm sure if you start practicing through the summer you will do a lot better.

Friday 1 June. Rachel left early this morning for her introductory hair dressing course again (before 7am). They were assessed on their braids. She had never done a fish tail braid before, so it was good to get the extra practice. Her other braids were good enough on the first day.

Another "hair up" today. Rachel then spent the night in town as she was flying up to Auckland early on Saturday morning. She was one of just 3 St John Youth (out of the 30 that applied) to be chosen for a photo shoot of their new uniform. So they flew them up to Auckland and had a fun day of activities so that they could have photos in and out of uniform. We have gotten to look at the photos, but because of copyright we can't share any. It was a lovely experience and I'm so pleased she got to do it.
Full school assembly today and Hannah's group got to share their bits about camp to the whole school.
Ruth enjoying working out some songs on the guitar this evening. The children know so many of the songs from The Greatest Showman that we decided to buy a copy so that we could all watch the movie through. So they have been singing a lot of the songs lately. I really enjoy listening to them. Asher and Anastasia enjoyed it this evening too.
Two guys from work helped Brendon to pick up a piano that we were given this evening. Brendon bought fish and chips on the way home to at least feed them as thanks. Anastasia decided she wanted to try a chip too.
What a wonderful blessing to be given a piano. Although Hannah's bedroom has more space, we only just managed to get it through the kitchen into the hall. So it ended up having to just go straight down and into Hezekiah's room. My sewing cabinet was in this spot - so it's moved next door to Hannah now. Ruth didn't hesitate to give it a try and it sounds quite good. It has two keys that stick and would obviously improve with a good tune. But for now, I'm really impressed with the sound and very thankful.
Saturday 2nd: Ruth took Asher down to play today. I'm sure Asher will enjoy the piano a lot too.
Cuddles with Ruth after her netball.

Sunday 3rd: Perhaps not really appropriate to be taking photos in church, but I wanted to have record of this little routine that Asher has. No matter what she is busy with, when the singing starts, she goes to Dad and wants to be up in his arms. She must really love the vibration as he sings. I like his singing too - but she likes the feel of it too.


With Rachel away from early Friday morning till late on Saturday evening, today was the first time to get the monthly children photo. And nice to have it on a weekend and a change from school clothes.
This one was on my phone and so a bit fuzzy unfortunately. Sweet smiles though.

So I took a couple on my camera too. This one is a little clearer, but I didn't catch the smile on Anastasia. It's getting more and more tricky to get a photo with them all looking good. :-)
Monday 4th: A public holiday today, so no need to rush getting dressed. A lovely one of Hezekiah and Anastasia at 8am.
Ruth took the day off school to catch up on some of her Guiding things. This was one activity she needed to do.

Asher often watches one of her music dvds on the laptop while we watch things as a family. She has been breaking the keyboard though, so we got her a simple dvd player so that there are no buttons for her to fiddle with. It was sweet to see Anastasia roll over to have a watch with her. Anastasia likes her bible dvds.