Sprinkler, stunts, triathlon and tummy

Saturday 4th March: Brooke came over for a visit again this morning and her and Ruth enjoyed some guitar practice together.

Hezekiah showing us the tricks he is already learning on his bike.

Vanille popped in for a visit today on her way up to the North Island. She has been working in the Mount Cook area for the last 3 months. It was great to catch up with her again. And to keep with tradition, she asked Hannah if she wanted to have a fame of Uno. :-)

And then they enjoyed cooling off under the sprinkler.


Sunday 5th: Asher had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic during church this morning (at 11:15). She went very blue, so we were glad it was again a really short one.

Hunter came over for a visit this afternoon. the sprinkler was a big hit again.

These two had so much fun. They had the sandpit open and buckets of water over making mud. Then they rinsed the mud off and enjoyed dunking their heads into the water.

He even got his eyes under. Well done Hezekiah.

Brendon and Hannah managed to get some time at the park too this afternoon. The months have been so busy it's been a while since she has had some parent-child time. So it was good to finally get out together.

And then I took Ruth to measure out the 5km race she will be in on Tuesday. She is doing the bike ride for her triathlon team. I was so very glad we did this. On the way out, the 2.5km took her almost 15 minutes. I kept watching her having to stand and ride and kept thinking the bike was just not good enough. She only has use of the back cog as the front gear lever broke. We chatted about it before the return trip though, and I kept checking where her gears were and telling her to change more. She then managed to get them changing and it made such a difference.

On the way back, even though it was more up hill, she only took 5 minutes. Well done Ruth.
And then this evening it was time for a Girl Guiding challenge again. She was the leader who could not use her hands, and we were her team, who could not see. So with us all "blind" she had to direct us to build a "shelter" out of some cloth, toothpicks and mini marshmallows.

Ruth has also been busy with her oil pastels again this weekend. She got these pictures done.

Tuesday 6th: Champion Center today, and thankfully a full session without any seizures. She had a fun time at music today and I just missed getting a nice photo of her climbing through that lovely big harp type instrument - and peeping through the hole at me. It will be my goal to try and get one another time. It was so cute.
Below: She had a great time playing with a ball and the frogs while I got to chat to her OT (and the team leader) about some of the questions I have about "school".
And then group music went so very well. I was amazed at how well she sat through the two very new songs. Hilary (the computer teacher) was there to take a video of them, so I could play that at home for Asher. It looks however, like we may not need it. She sat and looked around and listened. Not at all intimidated as she normally is. I really do wonder if sleeping through the songs last week really helped her to get to know them - even if that was subconsciously.
Then we did our monthly special library stop. And then it was to the hospital for a check-up with her neurologist. So a very busy day in town for us. It all went well though - especially the doctor's visit. I had her church bag of toys with and she just happily sat in the middle of the room and played as we talked.

It was a very wet day and I always feel bad about the children having to ride to school in the rain. Thankfully it wasn't raining too much when they left. It also helps that Hezekiah can ride now too, so Rachel doesn't have to walk up with him.

Rachel did walk up later today though, so that she could take some photos of Ruth in the triathlon. She did the cycling leg which was after the running. Their runner is her best friend Jess, who is really athletic and did really well. So it was a nice head start for Ruth. She felt the ride didn't go as well today as it did on Sunday. If I look at the times on the photos, she did it in about 15 minutes. So much better on the whole than Sunday, but I think she was hoping for 10.

It wasn't the nicest weather though, and with the old bike that she has, I think she did amazingly well. It was so nice that they could get a team together and enjoy it together. Lovely memories made.



Wednesday 8th: A new meal for Asher today. I have started including kiwi crush into her diet as she never really likes having a huge bowl of berries for desert. The kiwis have a much higher carb value - so she doesn't have to eat as much - which she likes.
The cucumber has shown to be too much for her too. She would happily eat more of the fatty things, and just not bother with the carbs. We have to keep things exact though, so I'm working on making it all as palatable for her as possible (which for her means making the carb content as compact as possible). So this has worked well. And it's also great for her tummy. Many children on this diet are on laxatives on a DAILY basis. Asher has only had to have twice. And the 2nd time only half a dose. So I'm very thankful for this too.

Cats, cars and Ketones

Saturday 21st: This is how my boy wanted to do is reading work today. Such a clown.

It's fun watching these two play.

Little Miss is only just over a year old, so she is still full of fun.

Ruth getting a lovely one of the two of them.

Tired out after all that playing today. We have fun with the toy that Hezekiah bought for him and often get him running around and jumping for it in the evening, to get him ready for bed. :-)

Sunday 22nd: I decided we had better have "tacos" again and do it a bit more Mexican. I was going to get Chilli corn chips for Arianna, but she showed me the wraps that she would buy (not the big ones like we have done before). As they are corn minis, they are gluten free, so it was nice for everyone to be able to try them. Arianna showed us how to warm them up in the frying pan to be ready. We bought some "Hot salsa sauce" for her, but it ended up not being hot at all for her taste-buds. We should have just got some really strong chilli sauce. She is going to love all her chilli food when she gets home at the end of Feb.

Arianna loves the spoon game, so they play that often. :-)

Monday 23rd: Tobias came around this morning to help change the door on the container. The previous one had taken on so much water and was just never going to be normal again. So we were thankful for a nice dry day to get this done.
Out with the old.
And in with the new (2nd hand one). Tobias actually had quite a job to start because they had sold us this aluminium door without a key. He had said "you can unlock it from the other side, and I'll give you a new lock". It could not however be unlocked from inside. So Tobias had to break into it first.
He did a great job installing it and the girls are thrilled to be able to finally close their bedroom door (and lock int from the inside). :-)

In preparation for our trip into town tomorrow to see the dietitian, Rachel got her car washed so that we could see how much we could get for it as a Trade In. We want to get her a manual so that she can learn to drive in a manual and get her licence in one too. She could sit the test in an automatic, but then her licence would only be for automatics (at least for a time). So it was a good opportunity to start looking into what is available with Brendon and I being in town, without children. :-)
As I was helping Tobias, Ruth was the photographer and her and Arianna were watching Asher.

Once the door was done I swapped with Arianna and she finished up the garage. We had moved one shelf out to Rachel's room, but the last shelf still needed sorting. It looks SO good now.

The before picture just so that you can fully understand how much nicer this is.

Asher had a 1 minute semiconscious seizure / episode this evening at 7:15. It's odd that she has had 3 of these this month. The last time she had one was in August last year. It makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the "new" drug we trialled. I'm glad it won't be long and she will be off it.

And only with writing this blog do I realise we didn't take a nice "last photo" together with her as this was her last night with us. We were so very thankful to have her stay with us for these 16 days and I'm glad we have loads of special photos to remember it.
She wrote such a lovely note in our guest book and had a whole lot of word bubbles that help us remember so many fun things.
Tuesday 24th: Arianna came with Brendon and I to the hospital so that she could get to see a bit of it. Being a nurse it is obviously interesting for her to see how different it is to the hospital's she has worked in. We had an appointment at 9:15 (which we were a bit late for) so we had a quick goodbye when we arrived. Her flight to Auckland was only after lunch, so she had time to see some sites before.
Brendon and I then had a good meeting with the dietitian. This photo shows all the things we got to get us started on this journey. Brendon was especially thankful to learn how specialised she is. She is only doing Ketogenic diets and has travelled all around the world learning. She still has all those contacts too, so we have a wealth of support. I have another meeting with her next week and at this stage Asher is booked in to hospital to start the diet on 13th Feb. She will be in hospital for at least 3 days (but up to 5) as they slowly get her onto the diet and work out what her exact "prescription" is. It's not just a blanket 4:1 ratio, but is worked on exactly on how each child's body responds to the food.
After the appointment we headed to Turners to see what they would give us for Rachel's car, and see what manual cars they had available. We had to have an appointment for an assessment, so we headed off to enjoy lunch together first. A belated birthday lunch for Brendon - which was delicious.
Back to Turners after lunch and we decided we would sell her car privately. We wanted to have a look at what they had while were there.

There were 2 manual cars in our price range listed, and as we were walking to have a look at one of them, we spotted a Nissan Pulsar. From the back if felt like we were walking past Rachel's car. We peeped inside, and it was a manual! So we got the info from them, as it wasn't fully on their system yet as the photos had not been taken. We had a look at the info on the car, had a drive around in it, got $300 knocked off the price and so bought it.

So we gave the children a nice surprise of twin cars when we got home.
The family enjoyed some watermelon on the deck. I had to smile as Brendon and I immediately walked to the edge of the deck to start spitting the pips. Such strong childhood memories for both of us with this.
Hezekiah had enjoyed most of the day with his friend who stays up the road. He was so excited about telling me all that they did today. They had such a great time.
Hannah stayed at her friends from last night and I picked her up on my way home. She also had a great time. That left just Rachel and Ruth home with Asher - which makes it just that bit easier for them.
Ruth wanted Dad to pick her up this evening (I'm not sure what the reason was - to test his strength perhaps or to see if she was too big now). So he gave her a nice big kiss. Then we took a "normal" photo. :-)

And then she asked to take another like this. She wanted to feel what it was like just hanging. So Dad finished the picture with a bit of fun. :-)

At 6:30pm Asher had a 2 minute Tonic Clonic. She went very blue. I was thankful it didn't happen during the day while we were out. I fully trust Rachel and Ruth as they are both very competent and knowledgeable with her seizures, but I don't really want them to have to handle the stress of it on their own. So I was really grateful they had a nice quiet day with her.

Happy Birthday Dad

Hannah had put a notice up on the board about a surprise for Dad. Everyone who wanted to join in needed to meet in the kitchen when Dad got home. So they all crowded into the kitchen and gave him a big fright when he walked in and they shouted "Happy Birthday". They had so much fun and it was a good laugh for Brendon too.

I decided at the last minute to make him a cake today. Ruth wanted to put candles, so suggested writing 43 with them.

It was a Gluten and Dairy free Lemon Drizzle cake and it was a great success. It was very rich, but wonderfully light and fluffy.
For those who are wondering, I did use normal sugar. I was already changing it from butter to coconut oil, so didn't want to mess around with it too much. We compromise with our "no sugar" for birthday cakes. :-)

Arianna offered to take a family photo. :-)

And the kids helped blow the candles out.

Asher is getting really good at bouncing on the balls. So good for balance and just so much fun.
Anakin has a favourite sleeping spot for during the day - in Brendon's clothes basket. :-)

This afternoon the girls got into netball again.

So nice that Arianna is so good as it motivates the girls.

I can't leave any of them out - Hannah taking a nice long shot.

And then they started a new game - around the clock - where they have to shoot from different spots. They only move to the next one once they have gotten it in at the current one.

And then we headed off to bible study and the ball and game just changed - they continued with their fun.

Asher was happy to go into her buggy when we arrived today, so Brendon took her for a little walk. She loved looking at the pigs and was so relaxed. A great start to the evening.

We headed back closer to meal time and she happily ate. Once she was done I pulled out her bag of games and she had so much fun.
I took this photo even though it doesn't capture the moment well at all. It just serves as a reminder. Hannah sat next to Arianna and she had this guy on her other side. She had never met him before but got chatting away. At one point they were both laughing so hard. It was so fun to watch her, just so relaxed and talking so passionately as she so often does.
Hezekiah and the boys climbed up the wood stack to get their ball back. He has so much fun with them each week.

I remembered to take some photos of the cards they made for Dad.

From Ruth, Hezekiah and Hannah.

Hannah had asked everyone in the family what their favourite colour was and she dressed their picture accordingly. :-)