Soccer

 We had soccer again today.  It finally stopped raining enough to actually play some soccer!  We haven't had training for weeks with all the holidays and rain so it was fun to be out there again.  I actually don't know the score as it should be and the kids had a blast!  Pretty much it still looks like a melee but it is a bunch of kids burning up energy and a bunch of parents randomly chatting on the sidelines.  Ah! Saturday sport! It is a lovely thing.

The rest of the day we had Ruby over to play.  I love having Ruby over!  It is so fun to have a girl over.  They are really different in the way that they approach things.  Maybe it's just Ruby, but she is so different from the four boys that I have had and they were all different from each other.  They were different but not as diametrically different as Ruby's approach!

As you can see in this photo, there was more tackling of each other than anything too 'team' oriented today.  Here is a photo in the middle of the game that has all the red players and no blue ones.  I love it!  The concentration on all of the little faces you can see, but none of them really are seeing each other. 



Sunday

Today Ruby came over to play.  Her Mum and Dad are away for the weekend.  Well, they are in town, but with Powderfinger finishing up with weekend, there will be some severe partying and so Ruby and Hugo are being sat for the weekend.  Ruby was over all day and I thought that she would be much more into the baby goat than she was.  Interestingly Levi was the one who wanted to hold him and pat him.  We spent lots of time going up and down, finding nice food for the poor mother goat, who is still recovering from birth, surgery, blood loss and likely being in labour far longer than perhaps she should have been.  The kids had loads of fun though.  They played Lego, painted, caught tadpoles and ran around after chickens. 

Not Much

OK I wish that I could say I am having a fantastic day today, but it wasn't much better.  On top of that, pretty much the whole office had a bad day.  One of the young Physios that I work with cut a kid today with the cast saw.  We have all done it and she did it less than most.  She barely broke the skin.  When I did it as a young Physio in Michigan, the poor guy needed 10 stitches.  Yep, I never do anything by halves.  This sweet thing was so upset, it took me about an hour to calm her down.  The child's Mum was very relaxed and even called later to see how the Physio was doing. 

Levi has been as excited as any one child can be to go to the Powderfinger concert with Ruby.  Tonight he said that he thought that I was going and that is why he was so excited.  He said he didn't want to go without me.  I don't think that it is easy to stop at this point, but I don't really understand why Levi is so freaking timid.  It drives me nuts at time.  He gets these great opportunities but he stresses about them.   It is not that different from just going to her place and playing, but if it's a bit different, he is nervous.  I am trying to see it from his point of view but I'll have to say, sometimes it is hard.

My work isn't much better.  It is still stressful but I have some wonderful people that I work with in Strathpine.  We went for coffee this morning, and it was nice to just be with some normal people, talking about normal things and reacting normally. 

Ruby's Birthday

Gladiator Boy
Roman Boy

Levi

Today we went to Ruby's birthday party. It was a party where you had to dress up like a fairy, princess, wizard or elf. Levi went as a Gladiator. Yes I know it wasn't on the list. I asked if he wanted to go as a wizard and he said that "No, he wanted to go as a soldier." He wanted to be the soldier that guarded the fairy princess. I found a great outfit on ebay that just involved a white tunic and a chest plate. They then called and said that the one we had bought was not through customs and could they send the deluxe version? So he got a much better outfit for pretty cheap.

Then about 1 pm, he said he wanted to go home. He slept from 1.30 to nearly 4pm and then went back to sleep at 7pm. He is still really tiring out during the day and isn't really coping with a whole lot of activity. It would be good to know what exactly he is fighting, but you know 2 - 3 working days for tests. Don't get me started. I hope it is some 7 - 10 day virus that he is taking his time over. It does make me quite nervous that I don't really know and don't really have anyone I can trust to ask. We would need results anyway. Well I am going to go snuggle with him, because I have to go on Outreach next week and I will really miss him.

Show Day

Today was a day off. It was great! Levi and I actually both woke late. It was a miracle! It is Show Day here today and so Levi has only three days at school this week, as he also got Monday off.

Now it rained here all night, so there is always some risk in that. The creek can go over the causeway and trap us in, so today's schedule was always very flexible. We got 92mm of rain last night on top of the 6mm we got the day before. The creek did go over but you could still wade through and with the 4WD it was very safe.

Levi and I went to Go Wild. It was still nasty and rainy so there were few other options and that was reflected in the number of kids there. Ruby and her Mum and Hugo, her baby brother all came to play. Well basically Georgie and I played with Hugo while Levi and Ruby ran wild in the huge play structure. They had so much fun, it is always a pleasure to watch. Hugo is at a great stage and is a Speech Therapist's dream. He is at that beautiful stage of learning to talk, where he has long conversations in some random language, all in response to really any attention.

We are trying to lots with Ruby and her family at the moment as they are all going to go on tour with Ian for his last tour. They will just go down for the concerts and come back to Samford in between. Georgie has offered to take Levi with Ruby to one of the last Powderfinger concerts in Brisbane. She has some great headphones to protect their ears and they would both come home at 9ish somewhere in the middle of the show when they got too tired. I would have Hugo for the concert at home quietly. I think it would be really fun for Levi to do, but I am not sure how well he will cope with that much sensory input all at once. Ruby will be used to it by then, but it will be all new for Levi. We shall see. Of course in the meantime, my job will be to try to have him listen to at least some Powderfinger before he goes, so the songs are not completely new. It is hard enough for me to listen to music and I tend to hear a lot because I am driving all day. When Levi comes home from school, we make dinner and do bed things and it doesn't really lend itself to listening to music. Maybe I'll recruit some nieces to teach him the songs. He would have an experience that his cousins would love, but he may not even really understand what he is being given.

I love you like a T-Rex

We went back to Go Wild today, but this time we took Ruby with us. Ruby is the girl that Levi is going to 'marry' and he has been unwavering in that conviction since about 18 months ago. There are times that he is going to marry other people but Ruby is always there as well. I went and picked up Ruby, so they played at Ruby's house and then played at Go Wild and then played at our house. Pretty much they played all day. Played well all day actually. The only time that there was any disagreement at all was when Levi came out of the play structure crying because he had done something to make Ruby sad.

Tonight I was given the best Mother's Day present of all. Levi said to me as he was going to bed "I love you as much as a T-Rex, as big as the whole world". He is so sweet.

I am missing Frankie tonight, as the day before Mother's Day. I remember that day so well. It was the last Sunday and Frank wasn't really coping that well but Robert and Michaela got us disc shooters for Mother's Day. Frankie and the boys had so much fun shooting us and the nurses and the family in the room next door. I know that it may not be completely true, but I remember that time as the last time I heard him laugh. Yep I'm really missing him tonight.