Wednesday 30 November 2016

Aquarium

The girls had two in service days last week and we were very happy that Sandy was able to take one of them off to spend with us.  It was only our council that was off so we decided to venture just a little bit further for a fun day so that things would be quieter with most children still being in school.

Granny and Grandad had given the girls some money for their birthdays so we could go somewhere fun and we decided to go to the aquarium at Loch Lomond Shores, in Balloch (which happens to be a place that Sandy and I went on holiday many years ago).

The girls had a brilliant time, Lydia loved looking at all the "FISH!!!!" and the older two had a great time exploring and we were more relaxed about it because there weren't so many people there that we couldn't see them.

Here's some pictures of our very cold (-5 on the way over!) and foggy day.














We finished the day with a cake and drink, the way any great day ends
The day was fantastic and we all (apart from Sandy who was driving) fell asleep in the car on the way home!

Saturday 19 November 2016

Baby IV

Well, only two years have passed so it seemed time to have another baby. Now we'll have to get a bigger boat!

Exciting times ahead :) Here are some obligatory scan pictures...




Miriam is four!

Although she's been so excited about it, it feels like she's been four for months.


 We started the morning with some very excited present opening.

A thoughtful Grandma had also sent a couple of small presents for Naomi and Lydia to open so they didn't feel left out!


One of the sweetest things was this present. Naomi decided that she wanted to buy her sister a present, and volunteered her own tooth fairy pennies to buy it!



Then it was off to NURSERY! One of the best places one can spend a day.

On returning home it was time to play with all those new toys...

Yes, a light-up My Little Pony.
To much of the time, our house is now plunged
into darkness so we can bask in its glory.

This is really neat - basically, Kerplunk Game but with monkeys instead of marbles.
Their curly tails get caught on the sticks so it's a bit more interesting!

We conclude the day with our best friend Connie round to dinner and a cake with more KitKats than you've ever seen. Hooray!

Saturday 12 November 2016

Celebration

Is what you need, apparently (see here and here to get that joke!). Lydia is now 2 - and dedicated too! Really, it's already been two whole years.

Not wishing to have too quiet a day, we arranged Lydia's dedication for the same day as her second birthday, with a party for both in the church after Sunday service was done. A genuinely tiring day but one that seemed to be fun for all. So many friends and family managed to be there to join us and make it extra special for our little girl.

Lydia loves her new dolly pram and various dolly related toys


Also plenty of new stories

Bath drums - these really do exist - and she really loves to play on them. She even has a bit of rhythm!

Fancy clothes on for the dedication

The beginning of a lot of cake and treat these past two weeks. Jay has really been excelling herself.

The furthest traveller by far was our friend Rick who had "just popped over" from Pennsylvania. He is Lydia's god father and beyond proud of her! He is also good at reading stories.

Lydia is only briefly mentioned in the Bible - a businesswoman selling purple cloth, but also importantly appears to have been a leader of one of the first churches - but my Mum was determined to get "her story" as she did for Naomi and Miriam. Here it is.

An excited godfather and goddaughter.

Happy Birthday too!

Wednesday 9 November 2016

Miriam

I have a confession, Miriam. I have felt like you were four for about six months now, so my usual cry of "how can you possibly be four" is replaced with, "really, it's taken this long!?". I think it is a combination of you having quite a few friends who turned four in the summer and also that, for the most part, you are a very big grown up girl, who actually is quite mature for her years.  You are a beautiful girl inside and out and here is the birthday letter to tell you what that looks like right now.


We used to nickname you compliant child, during your time being three that kind of slid a little but that's ok, you were three! We see it coming back, though, you love helping.  Most days when we come home from nursery you pull up a chair and ask if you can help make lunch and if we do some baking you are more than happy to help clean the dishes.  You help mummy fetch and carry things round the house, you are a big help and that is an excellent thing to be :-)


It often catches me by surprise how different you are to your big sister, that's a failing of mine but we muddle our way through.  You are quite happy (mostly) to play by yourself, you like drawing and sticking.  Although if we're all honest, you love having someone to play with. You play beautifully with both your sisters and I think you like being both big and little. When you play with Lydia you help her play with her dollies (there's that helping streak again) and when you play with Naomi you are very good at joining in with all her imaginary stuff, you do a terribly convincing baby cry that has had me convinced (and confused) a number of times!


I guess this is part and parcel of being a middle child but you love the odd occasion when you get some one on one time with Mummy or Daddy, a wee hot chocolate after swimming goes a long way and I am truly sorry we can't do it more often, you are beautiful and precious and I want to build you up as much as I can.

You love being active, it maybe doesn't come all that naturally to you, sitting on a sofa will suit you fine but your favourite activities of the week are definitely jumping beans (you are the most enthusiastic child in that class by a long shot) and swimming. I am so proud of you in the swimming, you have really overcome the nervousness you had for the first few weeks :-)


By far your favourite place to be, though, is wherever Connie is. She is such a good friend to you and you to her.  You are beautifully loyal to her and that is a character trait that will serve you well in years to come. Your perfect day would be to play with Connie at nursery, play with Connie in the afternoon, have tea with Connie and then ideally have a sleepover with Connie.  You two will take over the world one day, I am sure! It's wonderful to have such a good friend, though, I love that you have one.


My prayer for you this year, as you get ready to start school, and become a big sister again and have to share Mummy and Daddy with yet another person (sorry!) is that you would start to realise how awesome you are and how awesome we think you are and how awesome God thinks you are.  I will be praying that this year will be the year that these words sink deep into your heart and you know exactly what you mean to Jesus.

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
                                                                                                                 John 10:10 (MSG)

Baby girl, I love you to an extent I never knew was possible, I love you more than words in a letter could ever adequately express and baby girl I am so proud of the child you are growing into. Well done.