Life is changing…the kids are getting bigger and that means I have less time on the computer. We are at the point where we might need a chart of who gets to go on when, especially as the infants now have computer accounts for their homework! How times change.
So many events have happened recently in our family and it is hard to know which to think and write about first! I guess our anniversary should come first as it was the last big event in our family. It was our 15 year anniversary and we used it as an excuse to get away together for the night. We even had time to discuss the fact that it wont be long before we don’t need excuses and getting away will be so easy, unlike the stress of trying to get 5 kids organised for 1 night away – which is sometimes just as hard as packing for A 2 week holiday!
Rebekah, Adam and Seth went to Grandma’s, Hannah to Evie’s and Elizabeth to Charlottes. Safe to say that all had a fab time and there were tears when they had to come home….I should emphasise that Adam and Rebekah did not actually cry!
We dropped the kids off to school on the Friday morning and away we went to the Lakes. We climbed Skiddaw and to be honest wished we had the kids as I was pretty rubbish at the beginning and really struggled up the steep hill! I picked up though and actually found the rest of it pretty easy. We had zero visability up there, but a huge opportunity to chat and chat and then chat some more.
After the climb we went shopping and then back to the B&B to get ready. I can not emphasise enough how lovely it was getting ready without sorting kids out and having a messy house!
We ate at a tapas place, which was very informal and ‘us’ and then on for a walk around the lake, which was also very ‘us’. It was, in short, great!
On Saturday we did some quick shopping in Keswick, which consisted of us finding stuff for the kids and then back home to the stress of family life, kids not going to bed on time and mess!
And so to Adam’s birthday…11 years old. Wow, 11! A few months a go i would have thought he was too young to turn 11 or go to secondary school and he has proved me wrong. He has matured so much recently and we are just waiting for his time at Barnes to be over. I think 11 is a difficult age as you’re getting older, but not quite old enough! Adam is riding the storm well and leaning a lot about himself in the process. One more year and he gets the Priesthood and goes into Young Mens. That is why 11 is just not quite old enough. He is still in Primary! I watch him in there and can see he is older than the others now. Adam remains very loyal, to his friends and his family. He enjoys good friendship and as he finds new ones in his new school he will also learn that he can spend more time away from home and I’ll need to learn to let him go!
Adam still wears his heart out in the open, still tries to please everyone and still thinks aloud. He is a right proper mixture of Andrew and me…we sometimes can’t work out where one of us ends our influence and the other begins.
I’m excited to see him continue to grow and become more of the ‘Adam’ he wants to be. Safe to say we love him very much and not just because he makes us laugh, which is why he thinks we love him. He thinks he has strict parents and a difficult life…he will learn that strictness comes from love and childhood isn’t that difficult after all. He’s a really good kid, so kind and so aware of others. He can pick out those who need a little bit extra and can give that to them.
So it is with a relaxed feel we wait for secondary school and we wait for the holidays. I am not even waiting for the school report…I am proud of all Adam has achieved this past few years without written proof of his stage of learning. He is an awesome lad!
And to the May birthdays and Hannah turning 9! Ah man 9. Hannah has grown up and even though I hang on desperately to her being a little girl I really know she isn’t! She’s getting taller and more sure in her personality. She is hard when she needs to be and soft at other times…she has the balance right and still has the appearance of ‘butter wouldn’t melt’. She remains, as always, a girl who can greatly benefit your life when you give her the chance. She will not charge into your life, but will make it richer if you invite her in.
Hannah has maintained her friendships and they are currently going through the road bumps of life. She has the delight of her best friend moving onto her street. I have the worry when they all play on the front!
Yesterday Hannah won at her races in sports day. She told me about this as if it was just another thing in the day. We’ve made a little fuss so she understands she is allowed to celebrate her successes in life. She has loads of successes and you usually hear about these around the dinner table after we’ve finished talking about everything else.
At the minute she is also facing the trauma of boys. She keeps telling me how annoyed she is that the boys keep asking her out and trying to kiss her!! She is a beautiful girl.
She is going into year 5 in September and that feels mental as well. She quietly goes about her school day and so I am looking forward to her school report as it will be a little insight into how she is doing. That is how Hannah functions…little insights, every so often. I know she tells her friends more than she tells us. I watch her with them and can see ‘Hannah’. She is a delight.
And so as we ride out these last few weeks of school and bring 2015-2016 to a close I can honestly say what a good year it has been. A fast, but good year.
