Shop, sunburn, building and a bike

Wednesday 3rd: Ruth created such a big game outside today. She was making "Lucky Dip" bags for the others to buy. Thankfully the money was just acorns. I heard them telling Hezekiah that he must collect more at the start of the day, and that must be his money for the day. It's not fair that he keeps going to collect more through the day. :-)
In their game money really does grow on trees. :-)

It's been great having Brooke coming over to join in the fun. I always appreciate her willingness to play with Hezekiah as well, and she is even aware of Asher's need to be watched more carefully.

These two didn't put suntan lotion on, and had a lot of exposed skin over the hottest hours of the day yesterday. So they were rather sore overnight and are still sore today. I had suggested a bath with Epson salts last night but I think they wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. When Daniel left this evening he quickly put some Calomine lotion on to at least make it more bearable to drive home. I wish I had thought of the Calomine lotion last night.
Hopefully they have learnt the lesson (a very hard way) and won't expose their skin so badly again.

Asher had been watching the children on the tramp from the window and really wanted to join them. So we decided to give her goggles a try. Her neurologist believes the light has more to do with the seizures on the tramp than the actual bouncing. And for now it seems to have worked. She had a great time with them with NO seizure!!! Yay!

Thursday 4th: Rachel was back at work this morning but then Daniel and most of his family came back for a visit this afternoon. I spent so much time chatting that I missed taking photos. Tim had so much fun playing with the younger children. And then he was such a blessing to us and used Brendon's week-eater to clear the two ditches around the property.

Above: Philip heard me mention that I would like to ask the tall guys to help get the safety net and canopy poles down. He got busy with it straight away and within no time the canopy poles were down. He and Ruth then got the tools out to take the bottom poles off properly. I feel so much better about it now. It was rather unsafe with poles breaking and being loose.
The main reason for the visit however was for the 4 parents and Daniel and Rachel to sit and have a good chat about their relationship. It's the first child of theirs in a serious relationship, so we are all in a new area of parenting. We had a lovely time of sharing and getting to know each other more. It's nice knowing we are all on the same page and have the same ideas for the years ahead.
Saturday 6th: Ruth took this photo of Anakin with Anastasia. Anakin was lying on her mat, so she put Anastasia there for the photo.

Ruth and Brooke used this old frame to create a tent (with old sheets that I had thrown out).
They did allow Hannah and Hezekiah to come and visit.

Sunday 7th: Our Pastor came around for a visit this afternoon. When he was leaving I asked if he would be willing to give the children a ride on his bike.
I have such fond memories of having rides on my Dad's bike - so I was sure they would enjoy the experience. Just a short ride down the road was enough for the fun memory to be made.

Ruth wanted to try and hold Anastasia on her potty. She is not as dry during the day as she was in her first month. She is often dry through the night though. Even holding for 4 to 6 hours and then using the potty when she wakes for a feed. I remember Ruth being dry at night when she was a baby. I also remember that she would eventually just wake for a wee (not needing to eat) and so I eventually "trained" her to ignore the need and just use her nappy as I didn't want the hassle of waking to take her to the toilet. I'm hoping I will have enough energy to keep Anastasia dry at night.
Ruth also enjoys getting Anastasia to "walk". It really is sweet seeing the reflex that babies have to lift their feed and place them in front of each other.

Monday 8th: Hannah was invited to attend the CEF camp this week. She was so excited about going. She was up so early this morning, dressed and ready with her bag all packed.
Last night Asher had a bad episode at 9pm. They are happening more often lately which is a concern. Today she had a 1 min Tonic Clonic at 4:15pm. She went very blue, even her hands. So we were very thankful it was again short.
Wednesday 10th: Asher was showing a bit more interest in Anastasia today when she was under her toys. I encouraged her to lie under there with Anastasia, and so she started gently touching her. So special.

No harm I having a mid-week outing. Brendon and Ruth enjoyed some ice-cream-Sunday's at the tea rooms this afternoon.

 

Father's day and a day of fun

Sunday 3rd: Father's day today and the children came prepared with a number of cards for him.

We had bought a Toblerone for him last week, so it was nice to surprise him with one of his favourite chocolates (which he hasn't had for years).

Dad graciously shared his special chocolate with us for morning tea. Rachel and Daniel missed out as they left early for a walk and then a visit to the hot pools. When Asher saw chocolate she wanted her own piece. I had offered her a bit of mine but she got quite upset. She saw the size of the pieces others were getting, and she wanted the same. :-)
Not long after this, at 9:45, she had a seizure. She slept so long afterwards that she only woke a while after we had all finished lunch.

We had brought our pick up sticks, but there was a very nice fancy set at the house which the children have enjoyed playing with.

As a special holiday treat I bought some chicken kebabs and sausages for a BBQ. Today seemed a good day to enjoy them. The only problem was that it meant Brendon ended up doing the cooking on Fathers day. He said he didn't mind and he did a great job. It was a lovely lunch.

Ruth then worked on a big fruit salad for us to have as a late desert once Rachel and Daniel were back from the pools. Daniel then headed home. It was good that he didn't get away too late and was home before 5. We so appreciated his help at the house yesterday, so it worked out well that he and Rachel could get to enjoy some extra time together too.

Monday 4th: The day started with Asher having another seizure at 7am. Poor girl has had a really hard start to the month. She has had a seizure every day since Thursday (and 2 on Saturday). That makes it 5 seizures this month already and it's only the 4th.

The children have been enjoying playing cluedo and got a game going early this morning.

Rachel and Ruth then headed out for an early walk. I asked them to please get some photos. All but Rachel and I had gone for a walk yesterday afternoon after Daniel left (I stayed at home to sleep and Rachel had walked enough in the morning) and they didn't take any photos. So it was nice to get a look at how pretty the area is.

At 10 we headed out to get one of our hoped for activities done - going on these big bikes. We have often seen them when we have come to Hanmer Springs before, and so it was lovely to get to ride one ourselves.

I quickly realized that the cycling was too much for my stomach - so I switched with Hannah and Hezekiah and I sat in the middle of the benches and just enjoyed the ride while the others pedalled.

When we got back I asked the manager to take a photo with us all. Not the best photo as faces are hidden and we had changes seats. I had to laugh though when he said he hasn't been given a camera in ages. It's normally cell phones that he is given and asked to take a photo with. :-)
I was really thankful that Asher did so well. I wasn't sure how she would cope sitting up front there on her own, but she was fine.


Below - a shot of some of the mountains around Hanmer Springs. So beautiful with the snow.

Cuddles after lunch.
With her having seizures every day for a while we gave her an extra dose of medication in the evening. We forgot last night though, so gave her a double dose this morning. We could see the difference in her though. It was just too much for her little body.
I finally remembered to get the children's photo for this month. Unfortunately I couldn't get a smile out of Asher. She really is just not feeling herself today with the extra drugs on board. Thankfully the extra doses do seem to have stopped the cluster though.

Then Brendon took the older children for a game of putt putt. We had bought the "combo" with the bikes, so saved a bit on this.
Ruth taking a hard swing to get her ball up this steep hill.

Rachel took the camera and got this photo of Dad and some of the course behind him.

Ruth playing left handed.

And one handed.

Brendon had taken the camera and tried to get more photos. This is the only one he managed to get of Hezekiah playing as he and Hannah kept running ahead.
A nice one of Hannah.

The beautiful surroundings.

A predictable score card with the score going down as the age went up. :-) Even after all these years of not playing, Brendon is still good. I'm glad the children got to enjoy the afternoon with him.

Bikes and bean bags

Sunday 19th: Daniel and Rachel had discussed him coming for another Sunday visit. So I had suggested he rather just come on a Saturday and then stay over. Hezekiah has a bunk bed, so there is room for him. So he arrived yesterday morning, enjoyed the day at the show, and they got to have the Sunday visit too.
After church Brendon got meat cooking on the BBQ while Daniel got the kids bikes set up with noise makers on their wheels. Hezekiah was so excited about having his bike sound like a motor bike. :-) Ruth even had one put on hers (although she took it off before school on Monday). I was thankful for a bit of a warmer day today.
At around 1pm, while at the BBQ (on her tower watching) Asher had a 2 minute Vacant seizure. She was still moving a bit, but could not talk. Later in the afternoon a teenager from the neighbourhood came over to chat about first aid care for Asher. She is going to do some carer support hours for us, and there will be times when the older girls won't be here. Before she has always had them here as a backup for medical stuff. After we had gone through things she hung around for visit. It ended up being a blessing that she did as Asher had a 1 minute Tonic Colonic at 5pm. It was good for the neighbour to at least get to experience one with us all around and handling it. It makes it that little bit less scary if it happens when she is here without us.
Monday 20th: Ruth doesn't do karate anymore, and so I encourage her to use that evening time to get Guiding things done. This evening she did some more of her weather badge. Lovely clouds you created Ruth.
Hezekiah didn't attend karate last week, but decided he wanted to go again today. So we went up with him. Ruth and Hezekiah on bikes and me pushing Asher. Wonderfully he decided to go again on Wednesday night. I told him not to worry if his legs get sore - that just means they are getting stronger. When he got home he told me "my legs are a bit sore - but that's ok". Such a brave strong boy.
Tuesday 21st: Champion Centre this morning. When Margi (OT) tried to introduce a new game to Asher, she just got very agitated and wanted to leave. Thankfully this swing helped calm her down a bit and then we tried again.
Margi had already shown her how to walk along this plank and then around the semi-circle of rings. She had done that with no issue earlier. Thankfully, after the swing, she was willing to give this new addition to the game a try.
At first she had either Margi or I holding her hand as she leaned over to pick them bean bags up, but after a couple of goes, she could do it all on her own. She then enjoyed it so much she didn't want to stop.
On the way home I wanted to try and exchange a faulty bread machine. I didn't need to be in the shop long, but it was far too long for Asher. As the box itself was rather big, I didn't bring her buggy with. BIG mistake. I had some puzzles, but after doing 2 of the 4, she looked around and just lost it. She just screamed and hit me in her attempt to get loose and get out. Eventually I had to just leave. It was an incredibly hard thing to go through. On reflection, it also makes me so sad. This is how stressful new and different situations are to her. I think if I had her buggy with, she would have a sense of security in it. So I have learnt that lesson well.

Wednesday 22nd: Asher had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic at 7:15 this morning. Thankfully once she was asleep I could give her to Ruth and get her breakfast finished as well as the rest of the packing for the day. She woke at 8:15 and had to have her breakfast. So we dropped the older children at school first (they need a lift on a Wed because of the guitars) and then I took her. She normally arrives at 8:30 and is one of the first to arrive. Today it was closer to 9 and because it was so cold out - they were all inside. This was really overwhelming for Asher. It was loud (even for me) and then she was stuck inside too. So she had a bit of a rough morning and was looking forward to coming home, even half an hour before I was due to arrive.
She had a nice relaxing afternoon though and I managed to go through an IP (Individual Plan) preparation document in preparation for the IP for her at Champion Centre next week. It is such a blessing to have a whole team of ladies working with me at developing strategies to help with issues, and ways to help Asher reach her potential.

Friday 24th: This is Asher's new favourite spot and activity. On our bed with an iPad.
Rachel worked almost a full day yesterday instead of just the morning, and worked till 2 today, so I was especially thankful for Josie's help with watching Asher this morning. After lunch we just chilled out in the room till we had to fetch Rachel.

Thankfully Rachel could then watch Asher while I headed up to assembly.
Whero class read either a bit about a butterfly, or about the Hawarden Show. Hezekiah had written a nice story about the show, so he read that.
Then they all showed their butterfly art.

Ruth got a certificate today for "wonderful detail on your water colour vintage butterfly art!"
Well done Ruth. You do enjoy your art and I know you always put a lot of effort in.

Hannah also got a certificate today for "being confident and enthusiastic at maths problem solving and being convincing with "I Think That Means" in Reading." Well done Hannah.
Your teacher noted that even though you have gotten a certificate recently, you have done so very well that she had to award you one for all your effort.
Hannah was pleased that one of her best friends got a certificate too. :-)

And then Hezekiah got one too for "A brilliant recount from the show all on his own, and for going up a reading group." Well done Hezekiah. You are doing so well on your reading and it was great that you got to share you show account at assembly too.
Previously when they had to do "writing" he was rather intimidated by the whole process as he knew he could not spell the words. So he stuck to really simple things. It is great that he now realizes that he just has to do his best at trying to write the words that he wants. He then reads it to the teacher and it gets typed up for him to read at assembly. I remember him telling me during the week that his teacher had said he had done a really good job at sounding out the words.
He is also really enjoying his new reading books.