Why It's Great To Be Me

I am proud of my kiddies. There is no denying that. I am proud of how they're growing up, I am proud of how generous and kind they are to others (not always each other but atleast towards other people). I am proud of their morals and how they don't seem to judge others (I hope that continues). And I'm really proud of the way that they all say that they love Jesus. I know they are young and that they might just be saying it but not really understanding what it means to say it, but it starts young in some people to know Jesus as their friend and Saviour and we are sowing into their lives now. 

I was so so so proud of Daniel when it came to doing his news topic this term 'Why It's Great To Be Me'. I am not good at talking myself up. I hate doing interviews or even accepting compliments. I just find it hard to do, so I was nervous when I saw that was Daniel's first news topic for this term.

The kids needed to present 3 reasons why it is great to be them. I asked Daniel what his 3 people were going to be. He responded with I don't know. I left it for a bit and asked him for 1 reason and he came up with this one. 

My heart was so happy to hear him say this. Not just that he loves Jesus, but also that he wants to let others know about Jesus so that they can be in Heaven also. I love that he was bold enough to say this infront of his class. I love that he hoped it would change some of his friends' thoughts about Jesus. 

I told Carol, our children's minister, about what Daniel said and she told me that I should video it for it to be a good news story to share with the wider church family. Daniel was more than happy to do it.

I hope that as he grows up (and Eliza and Alexander too) that their love on Jesus continues to grow. I hope that they continue to want others to know about God and his love and what Jesus did for us. I hope that they will be a light to those in darkness around them. I hope and pray that lives will be transformed through these 3 kiddies. I believe that they will.

Great work Daniel!

Eliza's and Alexander's Riding Progress

Previously I have posted about Eliza and Alexander's bike riding and where they were at. Both were able to ride on their bikes but weren't so confident. 

Eliza had gotten really good at riding her bike but she couldn't start on her own. She was too nervous that she would fall down each time she tired to start. This meant that I always needed to be on hand at the park, on the road, on the pavers to help her start. This was ok but one morning when I wanted to do some gardening out the front Eliza kept needing me to help her start. She would only ride one lap of the road and then want me to help her again. I started to get frustrated because I knew that she could start if she put her mind to it and I also knew that I just wanted to do the weeding. Anyway, me pushing her resulted in her refusing to get back on her bike for a week, instead riding her scooter. Oops. I broke her.

We then headed to Daniel's combined 7th birthday party and she decided that she wanted to have a go at starting on her own. I think that seeing everyone else being able to start on their own pushed her to give it another go. She asked James if he could help her on the oval ride while the other kids played on the bmx track. He was great at encouraging her and she did it! She started on her own! So proud of her.

She then wanted James to help her on the BMX track with the other kids. Love that he confidence is growing when riding her bike.

Later that week I took the kids out to ride on the road and Eliza was so proud of herself that she could still start on her own. No turning back!

You can hear her saying 'Even though I started off a little bit wobbly, it doesn't matter'. Last week it did matter, now she has the confidence to keep going. Winner!

Alexander has also started to grow in confidence on his training wheel bike. Starting on his own, riding it further, preferring it over his tricycle. Just great to see!

 After being hesistant to ride more than 1 lap at a time, Alexander did do a few laps riding at the combined party too.

And then he wanted to get recognised for starting to ride on his own too, like Eliza did.

I love that the kids enjoy riding their bikes. I hope it continues to grow and that as they get older James and I can go on bike rides with them to explore new and different places as well as get some good exercise.


 

And Then They Were 7...

I love my mothers' group. I love that we still catch up. I love that those who have moved away from the area still come to the catch ups. I love the friendships I have. I love that our kids still play together and have a connection, even when they don't see each other regularly. I love that our husbands get along. I love this group.

This year, all of our babies turned 7 and we got together to celebrate. 

We met up at a park in Hornsby and brought something to share. The kids had a great time riding their bikes and scooters. The girls were a bit shy to start with but then were happy to hang out with doing some gymnastics and warmed up. 

It was a lovely time together. Great chats, the kids enjoyed riding their bikes, Nick made equipment challenges like trying to avoid the stairs and make it to the top of the equipment, tasty food.

So many kiddies

Sam could light the candles before the wind blew them out. Nice work Sam!

The boys blowing the candles

Our friendship started 7 years ago thanks to these babies.

So grateful for these Mummas (and those who weren't able to make it). Such an amazing support network, so encouraging, a listening ear when needed, friends who make us laugh.

And their cheeky kiddies. Love Ivy in this photo

Looking forward to many more years of birthday celebrations and friendship.

Bye bye Thumb Sucking

A few months ago (17th July) I wrote about us working with Alexander to help him stop sucking his thumb. I am pleased to report that after 2 solid months of working hard with him...

he now does not suck his thumb! Hooray! These pictures might not mean much to most people, but to James and I it is a sign of a strong kid who had tried really hard to break a habit. It is a sign of a kid who has worked with us to try and stop sucking his thumb. 

How did we do it you many ask?

In my last post I wrote about us bandaging his hands and putting socks over that. He did really well for the first few nights and then he started to take them off during the night. He started to suck his thumb again. I decided that I'd keep him up in the daytime so that he'd be more tired at night and try and go straight to sleep. That worked for the going to sleep, but unfortunately not during the night. He would wake up and take off his socks and bandages. Bummer!

During the holidays I played Lego Masters to the kids and they loved it! One of the competitors explained that he loved Lego and his parents actually used lego as a reward when toilet training. He got a piece of Lego each time he went to the toilet and he made a Lego set over the time. This gave me an idea for helping Alexander. I took him to the shops and had him choose a $9 Lego kit that he wanted to make. The deal was if he went to sleep with his bandages and socks on he'd get 1 piece of Lego. If he woke in the morning and we saw him still have them on then he'd get another piece of Lego. He was so excited!  Each night we repeated what the plan was and he would tell us what he needed to do. 

After 4 days he was so excited that he had made a little person.

For the next 3 weeks Alexander went to sleep with his bandages and socks on and woke up with them on. Each morning he was so excited to get 2 pieces of Lego. his poor hands struggled with it, being really dry and sore. But he was a trooper, just applying moisturiser at bedtime. After the 3 weeks we changed it to just wearing socks on his hands. This gave his hands some relief from the dryness. 

Again he did so so well. He went to sleep with them on each night. 1 piece of Lego earnt. only a could of times did he wake and didn't have a sock on. We think it fell off during the night but we couldn't be sure. We changed to some tighter socks so they would stay on all night and it worked a treat. 3 weeks of socks staying on. So so so proud of him!

Then came the big one. After 3 weeks of just socks on we went hands free. The first night he fell asleep with his thumb out of his mouth. 1 piece of Lego. We then told him that if he had his thumb out each time we checked on him in the night (when we went to bed, if one of the other kids woke up we'd check on him) then he would get another piece of Lego in the morning. The champ kept his thumb out!

So so so proud of him! It wasn't an easy run for him and it was such a big habit for him.
After 2 and a bit months Alexander completed his little snow Lego. 

He was a bit excited! He is loving playing with his Lego men and his snow mobile.

It worked so well we decided to try Lego as a reward with toilet training. This seems like a slower process but he is getting there.

We also did Lego with Eliza to turn her light off at night before going to sleep. After a month she turned it off on her own without us reminding her. Well done Eliza! We are so proud of you overcoming your fear of going to sleep in the dark.

And we had Daniel make a Lego racing car for sitting properly at the dinner table. Something that was really testing James' and my patience each meal time but Daniel really rose to the occasion too.

Yay for Lego and bye bye to thumb sucking.

Run Run Run As Fast As You Can

It is true and known that James and I are both not runners. We don't come from running families. And this skill (or lack there of) has passed onto our kiddies. Daniel had his Year 1 athletics carnival and he was pretty excited about it. He was going to run as fast as he could. Bless him. In his mind he is so fast. In reality he has the Gower/Noble genes that aren't so fast. It's fine, we all have our own strengths and we all are good at different things, running just isn't one of the them. I might sound like a bad mum saying that he isn't good at running, but it is reality and it is something that I had to come to terms with too. Still love him and still just want him to do as best as he can.

Before the carnival he was talking about how he wanted to try and beat others. I told him that he just needed to try his best. I reminded him to just look ahead, not to the sides to see how others are going because that can slow you down. He listened to that which I am really proud of him for. I also loved his enthusiasm for others who are running and cheering them all along. 

He (and Lachie and others) had a cute cheer squad and Anne made some streamers for the kids to wave around.

Daniel ran his race and tried his hardest. He came last but as he said 'That's ok. I tried my hardest.' Really proud of him.

Great work kiddies!

Walk with a different view

With both Eliza and Daniel at school on Monday and reading groups cancelled, I felt like taking Alexander out for a walk but felt like having a different view. I decided we'd head to Bicentenial Park where he could have a bike ride and I could go for a walk. It was a lovely time out with my little man.

Riding around the lake

Looking at the birds

We climbed the tower

Riding around the fountains

We headed to the park and had lunch. Then we kicked the AFL ball around for a while. Alexander then had a play on the equipment. He was hesitant at the start but then grew in confidence with climbing up ladders and playing on his own. 

I do need to try and make the most of these moments before he heads off to preschool next year and then to school in 2 years time. They sure do grow up too quickly!

Daniel's Auskick Debut

Each game at the SCG during half time the Auskickers come out onto the field to play a little game. James and I had wondered in Daniel would be able to do it but we didn't know and hadn't heard anything. Towards the end of the season we got an email asking if he would like to play at the Swans vs Geelong game at the SCG. For sure! Daniel was quite excited and so were we. Because we got tickets for him and me, Mum was able to go and sit with the rest of the family and see Daniel play. I also got to go onto the field and help coach the game that Daniel was playing. 

We arrived early with Dad so that we could meet the rest of the players and get our tickets. While we waited we went along Driver Ave and did some of the activities. Daniel had a blast. He spun the wheel and won a ball, handballed into the carboot, sang the Swans song, pretended to drive a car, got his cheeks spray painted and had a photo with Cyggy.

Handballing into the carboot

Cyggy!

We headed to our seats with the rest of the Auskickers and watched the first part of the 1st quarter before heading down to the rooms for the kids to get changed. Because of helping coach this past year, Brendan asked if I wanted to go onto the field to help coach one of our teams. For sure. What a brilliant opportunity. Although I did have a moment of stress when they gave me a whistle and said I was to umpire the game. Not cool! I was happy to coach, not so keen to umpire. Fortunately one of the other coaches was happy to umpire instead. Phew! Daniel looked cute in his Auskick outfit.

All the kids were pretty excited to head out onto the SCG.

We then walked down to the tunnel to go out onto the field. Again, the kids were very excited.

The kids were great on the SCG. They had a blast running around, kicking the ball, scoring goals, marking the ball. I loved being a part of it. A highlight for me (and Daniel) was Daniel scoring 2 goals on the SCG. After the first goal I couldn't help but give him a kiss on his head and say 'Daniel. You just scored a goal on the SCG. What a special moment for you. Not everyone can mention that they had scored a goal on the SCG.' He was pretty chuffed with himself too. He also scored the last goal before we had to run off the field before the end of halftime. I'm grateful for Dad sneaking his way to be closer to the game so he could get some photos and videos of Daniel. And I loved being able to experience it with him by coaching the kids. So grateful to Brendan for asking me to be on the field. It is so loud on the ground, you see how the players can't hear all that is going on on the field. My voice was going from shouting so much, even though the kids couldn't hear me.

Here is Daniel scoring his 2nd goal.

After getting changed back into his clothes, we headed back up to our normal seats (so much better. Better view of the ground). Fortunately 2 seats behind everyone were free so we sat there for the rest of the game.

After the game we had Kick2Kick on the ground. Fortunately we had 2 balls for the kids to play with because of Daniel's winning before the game and meeting Wynstan with a 'y'. The kids loved kicking and catching the ball (and so did the big kids).

 What a fun time! Thanks for coming to the game too Mum.

Meeting Andy

For Daniel's birthday Auntie Jenny, Uncle Howie and Oscar got Daniel (me, Jenny and Osc) tickets to go and hear Andy Griffiths talk about the 117-Storey Treehouse book. We really had no idea of what to expect. Daniel loves the Treehouse books and so I thought it would be fun to go and hear Andy talk about it and be able to meet him and get his book signed. 

We met Auntie Jenny and Oscar at their place and then headed to the train. The boys where highly social on the train, reading their Andy and Terry books.

When we arrived at Chatswood Daniel got his book (that was also part of the present from the Howies) and Oscar bought his own book. The boys then sat and read their books as they waited for Andy to come out.

Andy then took us on a journey of the new levels in the 117-Storey Treehouse book. He was such a great speaker - engaging both the kids and the parents. He took questions from kids and was so down to earth as he answered them. He loves to pay out Terry. He knows his books to well, able to refer back to certain events in past books being specific about them. I couldn't even remember what books different parts came from.

Daniel really enjoyed it. Oscar really enjoyed it. There were times when Oscar was laughing but a lot of it went over the top of Daniel's head. Things like at the start when Andy asked 'Why did the kid fall off their bike?'
Answer: 'Because a refrigerator fell on top of him'.
Daniel wasn't laughing - probably trying to work out how that would happen.

But other moments he did get the giggles, he did follow the jokes, or he just laughed because other people were laughing. Interestingly parts of the 117 Storey Treehouse were from the Dumb Dot storey which Mum and Dad brought back for him from their UK trip a couple of years back.

 Daniel got the giggles when some kids were invited up on stage to reenact a scene from in the book of a battle between Terry, Andy and Jill. He dressed up 3 kids and they had different defense techniques. Terry had long noodle arms, Jill had a horn and Andy had a super soaker. Of course Andy would win but the funny part was when he said 'that was the end' and kid Andy turned on real Andy and started to spray him with water. Brilliant! Again Andy responded so well to the kid.

He then spoke about the 'Door of Doom' and what could be behind it. Daniel (and the rest of us) giggled as Andy went through the different possibilities of what could be behind the door. Vegetables, falling fridges, elephants in fridges, etc. 

Nervous about what could be behind the door

Happy Daniel

What a great present from the Howies.

Auntie Jenny and Oscar then headed home while Daniel and I lined up to have Andy sign his book. The line was very long. Very, very long. I was super proud of Daniel who was so keen to meet Andy and have him sign his book. He sat and read his new book, his older book and his new book again.

So close

He was very excited to meet Andy. Andy was lovely and very down to earth. We had been in line for 1.5 hours. 

Writing Daniel's message

Daniel with Andy

I did like Andy's message for Oscar.

Special to have Daniel's book signed.

Great present! Thanks Auntie Jenny, Uncle Howie and Oscar!