Imagine that!

The kids and P made a big effort to ensure that I enjoyed my birthday. It was lovely. It was my first without Mum and the first one where Dad had to send cards and presents without her - I cried (of course) and sent him an email thanking him for hte care he is taking of us all - Mum would have been proud. His email reply was lovley - "Yes it was strange writing the cards without mum on them. You can be sure she was next to me seeing I did it right and she left a kiss on each one.". I think he was right.

We had a small party for the brats birthdya on Saturday - before the Buddy Walk. It went well I think and they had a lot of fun. I made the cake - hired a cake tin in the shpae of a 4 - chocolate cake. It was very rich! Mondya was a nightmare of trying to get stuff done and still put in a full working day. I thought I'd managed it but at 2.30 in the morning (the dog woke me wanting to go outside) I remembered that I had totally forgotten to take Hannah to her individual speech session that morning! It hadn't been a great day - I was exhausted after the weekend and Han had been happy enough to go to child care but once we were there she had become mmiserable and just wanted a cuddle. I cried after I left there - I wish she was able to make at least one little friend of her own there. She likes it and follows the routines etc but when it is free play otuside she seems to want to play with soeone but has no idea how to do it. THe other kids have already paired off or are going too fast for her. Some of it is just her personality - she is a little more introverted or shy than the stereotype of the happy kid with DS who goes up to anyone. Hannah isn't like that.

P made me go for a walk in the evening when I got home and I went to bed early so I am feeling a lot better today. A woman from the organisation who run the brats' childcare came and interveiwed me for an article in their annual report. She is lovely. I met her when they used Han as the focus of their child care centres (integrated services etc) as part of an ad that gives an overview of the work of the whole organisation. It is made up of stills and I ahve asked for a copy of the photo of Hannah they use as it is very cute - she is 'roaring like a lion' in it.

19 October

Buddy Walk 2008 - Another success!

Nine Days Late ...

Where does the time go??? I had hoped to blog each day because October is Down Syndrome Awareness month and Chirstina from Unringing the Bell organised a bit of a bloggers festival. How much reading will I have to catch up on with everyone else's blogs? At least that will be fun. I'll try and ake a start this afternoon. For now the brats and I have returned from our roadtrip to Brisbane where we had heaps of fun - a few posts may evolve from our time there - once we have stocked the empty pantry and restored a little bit of order here! Until later here is a sneak preview (ore like a wrap up of the week in review) of our time away:

Wednesday Oct 1
We arrived in Brisbane. It was great to be back. Hannah loved riding on Mum's scooter - I think she was rather disappointed when Grandpa went and sold it on her! Kit enjoyed being a superhero.

Thursday Oct 2

My sister and I took the kids to a park at Scarborough and then for a swim at Settlement Cove. It was a great day and the kids had a lot of fun. They were rather tired afterwards!

Friday Oct 3

A mixed sort of day. Dissembling Mum's domain - her sewing room was hard. The grief felt as bad as the day she died but once my sister arrived to help it was easier. She had so many beautiful things and she loved being creative there. We sorted through stuff. Here are 2 projects that Mum hadn't got to finish - that I am hoping to do for her. One is a Snakes and Ladders quilt for the brats - it looks hard so I am leaving it for a bit! and the Memory quilt of our family that Mum had so much fun working on and had just about finished. In the afternoon I went shopping and bought 2 pairs of shoes - no I don't hav e a fetish - I really needed them!

Saturday Oct 4

Mandy (my sister) and her husband Tim came over. Mandy and I went and did some shopping. That afternoon my Aunty Alison came over for afternoon tea, Dad, Hannah and I went to mass and then Mum's sister and her partner and daughter came over for tea. It was lovely to catch up with them and it ended up being quite a late night. Mass was at the church where Mum's funeral was so it was difficult - I kept seeing her coffin placed in front of the alter. It is Dad's parish though and I often go there for mass when I visit so next time it shouldn't be so bad.

Sunday Oct 5

In the morning Dad, I and the brats went to the cemetry with some flowers for Mum. Then we drove to Victoria Point and caught a ferry to Coochiemudlo Island where everyone had fun - especially the brats and their cousin Daniel.

Monday Oct 6

A quiet day at home. I packed the car, read a detective yarn and pottered. Hannah had her shopping List and was off to the shops. The bucket later became her book bag as she headed off to the library.

Tuesday Oct 7

We left Brisbane at 6am and had a late lunch at Nambucca Heads. Pam is a cousin of my MIL and she is a wonderful woman. She brought a picnic and met us at this park en route.

Wednesday October 8

We drove home from Forster stopping at the botanic gardens north of Newcastle (near Hexham) on the way. The brats loved it. For some reason Hannah wanted to have this rock in her photo. They also enjoyed their first paddle pops there. Another milestone.

Hannah looks a bit like Chewbacca with her knotty straggly hair so as well as gorceries I'd best get going as I think we need to visit the hairdresser as well!