A 12 year old and dental success

Mon 2nd: Ruth and Hannah were both very pleased when they heard that Rachel had made bobotie for dinner. It's one traditional South African dish that we do make every now and again. It's a mince dish (with raisons in) served on yellow rice. Hezekiah wasn't thrilled, but at least there was still left over bbq meat for him.

Tue 3rd: The postponed Hangi happened today and the weather was perfect for it. Apparently Asher really enjoyed it. The amazing thing though was that as they were watching them take things out of the ground, and all that could be seen was steam, Asher said "hot food". So although she didn't really understand what was happening, she understood enough of what had been spoken about that she knew that steam was from food. And as it's meat and vegetables, it's her kind of food. All the children enjoyed the food - even Hezekiah who was not really very positive about it when he left this morning. He does have a very simple palate. I'm please he at least tried it and he enjoyed the meat.
Goal setting for Hezekiah was after school today. He got to show me how he uses the numicon shapes to do more complicated sums. Like 19+9.
Rachel baked cakes for Ruth's birthday cake today. As she was in a cake mode she decided to practiced making fondant roses. She has been asked to do her friend's wedding cake in Feb and they want peach coloured roses. She bought a peach dust (that makes this wonderfully shiny - not visible on the photo but very effective). She also had to research how to create a peach colour. She did a great job. I think she is feeling a bit better about it now that she knows how to create the colour and a lovely looking rose.
Hannah joined them for a run this afternoon. They had all agreed that it would be a slower one today. That was the only reason Hezekiah even agreed to go with. And it was a really good thing too. Brendon hung back with Hezekiah to encourage him to keep going and that gave him the opportunity to watch Ruth more carefully. Her knees have still been hurting a bit, even with the corrective shoes, and so Brendon wanted to see more carefully what she was doing. Once they were all back he pointed out to Ruth that she is running on her toes (and this is why her knees are taking too much strain). He showed her how to focus on heel to toe, and so she gave it a try. She was amazed. At first I worried that it would feel too different for her, but she was so pleased. She said "I can go so fast". Brendon pointed out that her stride was already better too. It really is exciting to see what she can do now that she knows how to run. :-) What a blessing to have a Dad who can help you so clearly with your technique. I'm sure it's going to make a huge difference. We are all excited about seeing her speed on the next run.

Well done to Hannah and Hezekiah for joining them.












Anastasia is really getting the hang of the Jolly Jumper.


Asher was looking at me and enjoying the sounds I was making as Anastasia jumped. She enjoyed it so much that she decided she wanted in on the action too. She walked up to Anastasia and turned around, almost wanting to get in with her. She was quite persistent, not understanding why she couldn't have a turn. So Dad came to the rescue and was Asher's Jolly Jumper for a while. What a workout he got. She had so much fun though.
This evening we played Star Wars Family Feud for the first time. Ruth was a bit upset as she wanted to be the host but it was more complicated than she realized.
Wed 4th: Hannah enjoying a book she got out of the library today. It is such a blessing to see her enjoying reading. It was a hard start for her for a number of years, so this is very special to me.
Today was dedicated to Rachel decorating Ruth's cake. Other than taking a tiny bit of time off for lunch (forced by me) and then taking an hour off to help at the school with cheese roll making for Ruth's School Camp fundraiser, she worked solidly on it the whole day.
The only help I gave her was yesterday with cutting the top cake into the round head (she did an amazing job of her crumb coat though to get it nice and smooth). And then today I just helped make the hair. It was already 7:30pm and so Rachel was exhausted. I'm sure she would normally have been able to figure it out, but I was glad I could just quickly get them done for her.
They dried out overnight and then Ruth helped me place them on Thursday morning. Rachel did such an amazing job. It is just brilliant. Thanks for choosing such a fun cake Ruth, and well done Rachel for pulling it off so very successfully.

Thursday 5th: Enjoying the cake with her class. Rachel came straight from work so that she could join us for the cutting at lunch time. As Ruth expected, there were a few comments about her only turning 12. Most of the children in her class are turning 13 this yea. She was a bit worried about there being enough cake as she has almost 30 children in her class. It was more than big enough though and we managed to take some left over home for the family to all have a piece (or two).

Anastasia rolled herself over to this drum and was having so much fun with it. She would mostly scratch it, but was laughing with enjoyment.
Brendon and I had appointments this afternoon, so we brought pizza home. Anastasia enjoying a bit of crust again. We do need to get the highchair in for her soon so that she can start trying out some other finger foods.
This evening we played Family Feud again with Rachel (she was out on Tuesday). It was much more successful and good fun. Ruth was just disappointed that she was again on the loosing team.

Fri 6th: Going to the Dental nurse is a real challenge for Asher. Last year she screamed as soon as she was in the truck. So Rachiel (her Learning Assistant) and I have been discussing how to try and help Asher. We decided to split the appointments of the 4 children between two days. Today we had Ruth and 9:30 and then Hannah at 10. When I came to book the appointments, Asher had seen me and so been happy to follow me up into the truck. That was already a great first step. So our plan was to get her to follow Ruth and I this morning. If she was happy to just see Ruth going, that was our first step. We would then have Hannah's appointment to give her a 2nd opportunity to go in, getting her that little bit more comfortable with it. Well, she shocked us all and not only happily followed Ruth and I in, but when she saw the chair, she just went in and hopped on.

We were all giving her praise, taking a photo and showing it to her also helped. Then she allowed the chair to go back, with us talking excitedly about how much fun it was and how clever she was. She wasn't that keen to open her mouth, but I asked if I could brush her teeth. The dental nurse was onto it and quickly grabbed a toothbrush for her. So while I brushed her teeth, the dental nurse had a look around. She has even given me one of their mirrors so that we can use that regularly. It will help us check that there are no clear issues, and also help her get used to it for next year.
Rachiel is sure it has helped that the truck as been parked just outside her classroom for weeks now. So she is already more comfortable with it (compared to last year, just arriving and going in). She has also gotten used to the noises it makes and that children go in and out often. So we were just thrilled.
Ruth unfortunately needed a filling on one of her back adult molars. They are tricky to keep clean and it didn't have a seal. Amazingly she decided to try it without the anaesthetic and she managed. Well done Ruth.

The dental nurse had told her that if at any point it was too painful, she could just raise her hand and she would stop. She didn't need to stop though, and Ruth said it was only a bit sore when it was right down, getting the softer bits out. I was so pleased she managed so very well.
Hannah was super quick and so we managed to get Hezekiah in as well (who was also quick). So we don't even need the 2nd day of appointments. What a relief.
It was lovely having a visit from Dave and Jenny this afternoon. We did a beef / pork swap which we were very thankful for.
Brendon and I both managed to get to squash this evening. While Brendon was out I had to smile at Asher and Anastasia. Asher was allowing her to grab her socks. Sometimes they even ended up in Anastasia's mouth. They were both giggling and having fun. So special.
They had a full school assembly for the end of term today. There are so many photos though, that I will put all of those in a separate post.

A Clean up, a hair cut and some exams

Saturday 26th: Always good when Brendon can get some jobs done over the weekend. Ruth was very pleased when he said he had some stuff to burn. She was happy to keep an eye on it while he got some other things done.
Hezekiah loves the tree line above the wood stacks. He was up there again with Anakin today.
Hannah and Hezekiah really wanted a picnic today, so Hannah got some snacks sorted for them.

It was also so good to finally get the deck cleaned off. The chooks needed the extra bit of shelter with the snow and cold, but they made a real mess on the deck. So I was so pleased that Brendon could get it so well cleaned today. Now to just find time to put another layer of varnish on (I don't know what it's officially called - better than paint though as it soaks into the wood and doesn't need to be taken off - just extra coats put on every couple of years).
Another sorting job was the teddy draw under Hezekiah's bed. So Ruth put a load of "give away" teddies together for a photo. I ended up saving a few - but most were given away.

Sunday 27th: It's always so special to see Asher wanted to look at books. She went through a couple with Dad this evening.

We have around 40 braids still to re-do for Ruth, but she asked today that I cut the longer ones so that they were more similar in length. So she officially has a bob haircut. It looks really nice.
It's a huge adjustment for her though. Thankfully she did get a part cut a couple of weeks ago, so it's been done in stages which has given her time to adjust as we go.

Monday 28th: Ballet exam day today. This was the most nervous Rachel has ever been for an exam. She hasn't been able to dance for 3 weeks, so she had no idea how her foot would cope. She did have pain on and off through the exam, except for when she was finally in her pointe shoes. So we were all thrilled that she was able to get through it all.
We even got results really quickly and were thrilled that she was able to achieve Very Highly Commended - the same grade she got last year. Well done Rachel.
Ruth had her exam after Rachel and it went well too. Not sure when we will get results, but I'm sure she will do well. They are both really good dancers.
Asher's EIE was happy to take Asher home after preschool as we would only be back after 1. They were just a little bit late in leaving though, and that ended up being a real blessing as she had a seizure just after 11:45 (the time she normally leaves). So it was helpful to be at preschool (rather than on their own at the house). Brendon headed to the preschool. They got Asher home and settled and she slept till after we were home. Asher had a wonderful 10 day break since the last seizures, so we are very thankful for this. We all needed that break.

Tuesday 29th: Champion Centre today went well. Asher enjoyed this sing for the first time I think.
And she went on this bike for the first time too. We often try to encourage her to ride on some of the bikes or scooters here, but she has doesn't seem to enjoy it here in the same way she does at preschool or at home. So it was great to see her enjoying it (and showing her OT what she can do).

Wednesday 30th: Classics mock exam for Rachel today. She had 3 hours to write it in and only took 1 1/2 hours. So it will be good to get feedback from her teacher on how she did on it. So good to be able to get these practice exams in so early (exams are only late in November).
Brendon started with bad toothache yesterday and thankfully I was able to get him an appointment for this morning. A cavity had developed under a very old filling and had gotten down to the root. He wasn't interested in a root canal procedure, so had the tooth removed. The tooth was so strong though (and fused to his jaw bone) that it took them a full hour to get it out. They are hopeful that they got it all out though, so we now pray for good healing. We are so thankful that it happened this week and not next week while we are away. The dentist couldn't believe he has only had pain for just over 24 hours and hadn't even taken pain killers. He has pain killers now though, and anti-inflammatory tablets to get the swelling down.

The children were excited about getting packed for our time away, so they got busy with that this afternoon. They are mostly in their school uniforms during the week, so could plan what they wanted to take with, and we could pack away extra clothes (working at getting all draws empty for the move on Saturday).
Thursday 31st: This photo is a good summary for this week. Possibly for the last couple of weeks as I have been packing as much as I can.
Today I got a lot more packed and just left basic things out for Asher to play with. She was happy to have her balls available. Ruth got that last lonely middle shelf sorted this afternoon. With her bedroom outside, she has the shelf for things in the house. So it was good to get that sorted too.
While Asher's carer was playing with her this morning, she had a 1 min TC seizure. I had just gone out to the garage to get something, and heard her calling when I got back inside. That was her first one too - so it was a week of firsts for the two carers this week. Thankfully the seizures continue to be short although she does seem to be needing more sleep afterwards.

Pink or Blue?

Monday 29th: Hezekiah is most often up quite a while before the rest of us. So he puts a movie on to watch while he waits for all the females to wake up. When Brendon leaves for work he leaves a light on in the lounge so that Hezekiah knows it's morning and he is allowed to get up.
Anakin gets up with him and often enjoys this time to cuddle.
At 4pm Asher had a 1 1/2 min Tonic Clonic. That brings the total for May to just 7!!! This is excellent. She averaged 8 a month when she was on 2 AEDs and she is only on 1 now. When she stopped the AED they went up to 18 a month. So we are really pleased with this improvement. We are praying that the diet will continue to make even more improvements.
Tuesday 30th: Asher has also made wonderful improvement at Champion Centre this year. Here she is during "roll" ticking off her name. At the start of the year this whole "group time" at the start of the day saw Asher screaming and hitting me. So it is wonderful to see how far we have come.
Her OT has also been really impressed with her improvement in allowing change. In the past she would "feed" the crocodile the frogs that she loves playing with. Today the frogs had disappeared and there were fish instead. She had to "catch" the fish first, and then feed them to croc. It is so sweet hearing her say "yum yum yum" every time she gives croc some food.
She had a great time during her music session too. I didn't get a photo of her at the keyboard but I was amazed as she normally only lasts for 20 to 30 seconds. Today she spent a few minutes there, playing away and enjoying it so much.

After Champion Centre we headed to the hospital for a follow up EEG. Asher started playing with one of her boxes of puzzles while we waited. She was half way when we were called in and moving the box into the room was a great help. She didn't even look around at the room and just carried on with her puzzles. It got harder from here though. They have to put a tight cap on which is attached tightly to a strap around her chest (so it all stays in place). They then have to get each contact connected to the scalp and they do this by scratching the scalp a bit (with some lubricant). Asher tolerated with it for a while, but eventually didn't even want to finish the last puzzle. They got all the connections done but by that time she was totally stressed. So they discounted the cap and we were able to get out the room to walk around. Unfortunately she was beyond a walk getting her back. She was just screaming and hitting and so totally stressed out.
Through the visit we had a Autism representative present, Helen. I thought she was there to meet me, but it was actually to be a support for me. She was so encouraging and often said things like "you don't even need me - you have this all under control".
During this time of not being ale to get Asher to calm down, she told me that there was no rush, that we had plenty of time, and that I was doing a great job. The encouragement was much appreciated. I then thought of using the lift to calm Asher, as she does always love the lift rides. And it worked. The crying finally stopped.
As soon as we got out the lift though, she started getting stressed again, so I asked Helen to fetch her mini iPad from the room. We had tried before to entice her, but she wanted nothing to do with anything she was so past it all. In the lift though, with her calm, I was able to entice her with an Old MacDonald song app. She loves touching the different animals and getting their reactions. So we were able to leave the lift without crying. With the promise of "room then lift" we got back into the room for the test.

She played with the mini for a while but as soon as her interest decreased, Helen started blowing bubbles for her. A bit hit with Asher. And that saw us through the rest of the test. I asked them to do the photosensitivity part of the test again as she was photosensitive at the last one. I think it may even be worse now though because she had two clear jerks while the lights were flashing.
So although a really hard thing to go through, we managed in the end. I'm especially thankful that they had booked her for a much longer session (it was more than twice as long as the previous ones with the stress factor).
Rachel's ballet teacher had asked if we wanted to attend a show at their hall this evening. We bought tickets last week and I was so glad we had this special ending to a rather stressful day. The music was so enjoyable and it was exactly what I needed. Just to relax and enjoy the beauty of music and people's creativity and talent.
As a bonus, the one musician was an older Scottish man. Even though he has been in NZ for most of his life, he still has a very Scottish accent. So not only did he look like my Dad (with is grey hair and beard) but he sounded like my Mom's parents (my mother only moved to South Africa from Scottland when she was 7). So it was extra special for me to be thinking of them both.

Wed 31st: Dental nurse for the 3 school children this morning. I took a few extra photos of Hezekiah today so that we can make a social story for Asher (for next year).
I am so thankful for how well it went today. I was not asked once about doing any fluoride treatments and x-rays where only a quick passing discussion. I had refused them last year, so thought I would be pushed to do them this year. There was no real indication of their necessity though. What a relief.

It was so good to just be respected for my opinion. She told Hezekiah "I can see your mother feeds you good healthy food" and then she asked him if I still made our toothpaste. He said yes to which she replied "aren't you lucky".
Ruth has old holes in some molars. There does not seem to be major change since last year. On the other side of the mouth (with worse holdes) the teeth have fallen out. So I was pleased I refused fillings for them last year (and they didn't cause any pain before the teeth did fall out). So it worked out really well.
Hannah had a filling fall out almost a year ago. She doesn't have any pain in the area, but it is a pain to clean (as it takes so much more effort). So she offered to just "fill it up". It was no performance at all - just cleaning it out and re-filling the spot. No injection, no hassle and over so quickly. So all in all it went so very well.

Asher had her appointment on Thursday morning. That didn't go very well, but there was not much expectation. The ladies were really great, singing with her to relax her and eventually quickly just having a look and counting the teeth. She is also happy that they all look fine.
I have learnt from how well Asher did entering the EEG room on Tuesday, that she needs to be busy with something. I should have had her little box of 4 books. She always reads them ALL, so if she had started them outside while we waited, she would have wanted to carry on once inside, which would of help distract her from this "strange new place". As soon as we walked in she had started screaming. So hopefully I have learnt for next year. :-)
Wednesday also saw the internal container walls being finished up alone with the electricity. What a wonderful blessing this father and son have been to us in getting this all set up. We are overwhelmed with appreciation and gratitude.

On Wednesday evening I travelled with a friend in to town for a Parent to Parent Coffee and Craft night. I had a great time making this banner and an even better time chatting with the other mothers. It is always so very encouraging and so helpful to talk with people who understand in a deeper way what we are going through.

On Thursday 1st June Asher had a 2 minute Tonic Clonic at around 5:30 while I was out with the girls at dancing. I always start worrying when it goes over 1 1/2 minutes that it may end up a really long one, so I'm glad I didn't have to be there for it, and I am also very thankful it did stop when it did.
Friday 2nd: Got the monthly children's photo this morning before the school ones headed off.

We had expected to wait 2 weeks to get the blood results from the extra chromosome test that I had done. Wonderfully I got the results this morning already (just a day after 1 week!) and we are no a LOW risk! Thank you Lord.
They can't say with 100% accuracy that the baby will not have Down Syndrome, but it is very unlikely. We are so very grateful.
An added bonus from this extra test (being focused on chromosomes) is that we could get confirmation of baby's gender (which I did want to know).
It's a girl!
Although we all would have loved for Hezekiah to have a brother, I do think that a little sister for Asher will be a huge blessing to her. God does have a very good plan in this all.

And just to clarify about the Down Syndrome testing. I have nothing against people who have Down Syndrome. Asher has had some Down Syndrome children in her groups at Champion Centre and they are lovely children. They do have challenges though and there can be a lot of extra work for the family in helping them overcome those challenges. So for us it was more about getting mentally prepared for that extra work if there was a strong possibility. I am glad we did the testing as Ruth specifically said she is so glad. She says she has forgotten what it is like to have a "normal" baby. Ruth loves Asher dearly and is the sibling that spends the most effort teaching Asher new things. I think this does however make Ruth very aware of the extra effort that it takes.

Hannah made this bird feeder at school this week. As our cats catch birds, she is going to give it to a friend to hand up. :-)

Speech finals, farewell, bread and bags

Monday 27th: Hannah unfortunately destroyed her previous set of sneakers (using the toes to slow herself down on her bike) so she had to use a spare pare that we had. She was very upset about having to use them on Friday (when I insisted she not wear the ones with holes to the theatre) as they have laces (where the broken ones are just Velcro). So I was really surprised when she put them on this morning. I was expecting to hear her call me to help her with the laces, but she called to show me that she had done it herself. So she just needed the opportunity to just get down and do it. Well done Hannah. Brendon has been teaching her how to tie shoelaces for years, and it finally just happened.
Lynda wasn't able to be at preschool with Asher today, so I went down with her for a couple of hours. It was nice for her to get some time playing there again. She has missed so much over the last 2 weeks from being ill.
After lunch it was Dental Nurse check up time for the middle three. Thankfully she is getting really used to me saying "no" to fluoride treatment and fillings. Hannah has actually had a previous filling fall out. They would naturally want to re-do it, but as it's not causing her any discomfort and it's nice and clean, I said we would rather leave it. Thankfully it's on baby teeth, so eventually it won't be an issue at all.
Ruth was the only one I allowed to have x-rays again this year, as she had the most issues last year. Most issues are between teeth and although there was a bit of deterioration on a couple of them, we have also decided to rather wait and see. They are also all baby teeth, and the dental nurse even pointed out that the one tooth would be out by next year, so she would not even worry about doing any work on it.
With the diet changes we have made over the last few years (cutting sugar and then wheat as well as most processed foods) I am confident the adult teeth will all be much better. I also feel confident that Hezekiah and Asher won't even have any of these issues with their baby teeth.

Last week the girls had speeches to do at school. We were really impressed with both girls work and got the exciting news today that Ruth had made it into the finals. Her cards had gotten rather worn though, so I helped her make some new ones this evening and she got some extra practice in. Well done Ruth. We are very proud of you.
Tuesday 28th: I'm really having to get used to plans changing. The original plan for today was that I would get to join the children for a parents morning tea at preschool. Lynda couldn't make it again today, so I planned to just head down a bit later than normal and enjoy a couple of hours there with Asher as we did yesterday. We were not even there for half an hour though, when Hezekiah looked at me and said "I feel sick". He had been perfectly fine up to that point. I quickly took him to the toilet, but he just said he feels like he might vomit, so he needs to go home. So we missed morning tea and headed home. As soon as we got home he took his lunchbox and started eating. I then noticed that he had left without eating his breakfast that morning. So I wonder if he was just hungry. His stomach did seem to worry him a bit through the day though, so it was good for him to just be able to relax at home.

One good thing from our time at preschool this morning (even if so very short) was with the prams. Asher loves pushing a pram around the room - especially when she would rather be outside and it's too cold, frosty or wet out. Yesterday she did a number of "laps" and she started again his morning. I had brought a pram over for her and when she turned it around to start walking, I noticed that she only goes the one way around. So I tried to encourage her to go the other way. She would have nothing to do with that. So I grabbed the 2nd pram and started walking the other way around. I called her when we passed and said "come Asher, follow me" and it worked. So I enlisted Hezekiah's help and got him to go around with her a few times. It may sound like something so simple, but for me it's really wonderful to see Asher able to adjust like this.
Although Rachel couldn't do ballet this afternoon, we still headed off as soon as Brendon got home. Rachel and Ruth got to do some St John competition training before their division meeting started. Ruth was so pleased to be able to join them and they both learnt a lot. Rachel feels a lot better now about the competition in August.
Wednesday 29th: Thankfully everyone was healthy this morning, so we didn't need to make last minute changes again. It was nice to get Asher back to Champion Centre after missing two weeks.
She had so much fun with Jackie this morning creating a new game. They took turns stamping. After this I even joined in and we took turns between the 3 of us.

For different reasons Ruth missed the last two weeks of Guides. During that time we also finally made the decision that Ruth will continue attending the local school. So we also made the decision that it is just too busy for Ruth to attend Guides every week too. So today was her last official day as a member of the local group. She will now be transferred to the Aotearoa Region (which is like correspondence Guiding) and we will see if that works for Ruth. She will still be able to attend any special events that the local group have on (they will be her buddy unit) and she is looking forward to joining them for a camp later this year.

The girls planned a surprise party for Ruth. She had to re-say her promise as a Guide and had missed the previously planned events, so they made a special plan for her for today so that they could also have a farewell party for her.
They were to so much trouble decorating things and had a lovely afternoon together.

Thursday 30th: A normal Thursday today except for lunch. I was pleased to be able to have Hezekiah's help a little this morning while I got lunch ready. Rachel works on a Thursday morning, so it's always a bit tricky to prepare lunch as Asher needs to be watched all the time. I decided to just bake the fish, and it worked really well. I took a photo of my plate as I was just thrilled with eating all these foods. Food that I have had to avoid for 10 months now. The big challenge for me now is to take it slowly as we start re-introducing foods. I have already suffered twice from having bad reactions.
So even though the EAV testing shows that I should be fine with certain foods - I do still react to some of them. So I need to take it slowly. Which is really hard when it's such amazingly healthy delicious food.
I took the photo of the temperature when we fetched Rachel from work. It actually got colder through the morning. Rachel's toes were numb when I collected her, and she said the wind through the morning was really icy.
Saturday 2nd July: I had a much too hard day yesterday to even think of getting the children's photo taken. A really bad reaction to my over-indulging on vegetables.
I unfortunately had the same reaction a week and a half ago, with the same combination of 3 veggies. Now to work out if it's just one of them, a combination, or just the fact that I had too much.
Even though I didn't feel great yesterday, I still had enough energy to get some needed cooking and baking done. I had been struggling with the bread recipe (which worked so well at the start) and so decided to try a different recipe in the bread maker. I made a 2nd loaf today in the machine, and once I have finished experimenting with little changes, I will post the recipe.
A great photo taken today of the children.

At 4:30 Asher had a 1 1/2 minute Tonic seizure. She had been playing so happily with Brendon and Hezekiah and it hit right in the middle of their tickle game. Thankfully she breathed well through it and it's been a nice 11 day break.
Unfortunately Asher needed sleep after the seizure, so we missed out going with the others to the Lantern Walk. Brendon got some lovely photos though, so I will put those all in a separate post.
Sunday 3rd: Always fun to have the children showing us their creations and telling us what they learnt about in Sunday School. They have missed it the last 2 weeks with us not being able to get in for church. It's a relief to have the family well again.
Hannah specifically moved her people so that the one was in the water, being baptised.




We did stop at the park close to church on our way home today. Hezekiah ran straight to the slide to show me that he was now brave enough to go down it.








I was hoping to get a photo with all 4 of them, but Hezekiah didn't stay still for long enough. So I had to be content with these three. At least Asher waited long enough for the photo before whizzing down the slide.

They enjoyed using the lanterns again this evening.

One advantage of shorter winter days, you don't have to stay up late to enjoy a dark adventure outside. It was only 6pm.

Ruth then got some glue gun work done on the gift bags she is making for her birthday party next weekend. Rachel embroidered flowers on the pink felt and she glued the pink pieces onto the bags this evening. She had made the bags herself earlier.