Our baby turns four!! "Just call me Princess Holly mum!"

Holly really enjoys life here in Wales. Her outgoing personality has made making friends easy. She has several special friends. Isobell, Sophia and Alan from nursery. Sophia is also the daughter of Holly's childminder so she loves going there on the days that I work.
For her birthday she wanted a pink princess party and she also wanted her friends which includes the above mentioned and our neighbours Megan, James and Katie (10) our fourth daughter.

Holly eagerly opens her gifts. Sophia and Julia found it really hard to leave her to it.

Opening a 'fluffy' dog which she just loves!

 Holly still has a strong will which has been evident from the age of two, sometimes she can 'assert' herself if things are not as she would like. 

Nursery describe her as a 'character' and are able to happily manage this streak...however last Monday when I was at work I got a phone call re: her having a fall at breakfast club and banging her head...the club staff were quite concerned it must have looked bad. She was ushered inside and told to sit on a chair. She refused to talk much to anyone about it. When she was asked where it hurt she said "I don't remember", this comment I think escalated their concern. They got Sophia to ask her questions and Sophia quickly worked out that it didn't really hurt and that Holly couldn't work out why everyone was making such a fuss. She can often take a knock or a fall (which looks bad) but she bounces really well.

Several staff members were frustrated/annoyed that she wouldn't communicate more about it. I assured them that if she was really hurt that you would know about it. They wouldn't let it go, and I heard more about it several times that week. All my girls are quite robust and don't cry easily, its just how they are. 

It is however nice to know how concerned all the staff were and how well they look out for the children. I had a conversation with Holly about how she could tell people how she was feeling...lets hope it sinks in.

She has picked up a bit of an accent Oma tells us on Skype, she also    
uses words like 'Wellies', 'poorly', 'trainers'. She will frequently say "we are not from here, this is not our home", almost in a manner to remind me. I think she has conversations at nursery about her home being in New Zealand. She also says "we are in England, and we are living in Wales".

Its going to be hard for all of us to leave the friends and special people we are enjoying here.

Princess Holly, Megan, Katie, Sophia, Alan, Little Sophia, Julia, Isobel

Musical statues

Yep, the highjinks begin

Gotta have a Princess cake for a Princess.

Candle time!

"How old are you now Holly?" "I eight"....Mmmm must work on that ;) ;)

Snow causes school closure, but lots of fun at home!!

 Snow has been forecast for the early hours of Friday morning. Every effort will be made to keep the school open but in the event that teachers and support staff are unable to travel to school, the school may have to close.....

We had received three letters with content similar to the above over  as many weeks so started to doubt if it would really happen BUT IT DID! Over a period of 2 weeks there was quite a bit of snow. Our school was closed all day on the friday and then half way through the Monday which was difficult for me as I was working. I had to drive back through it all at the end of the day to collect the girls from one of their friends. Phoebe lives off a main street so the car skidded a little ...bit scary!!

Our street from upstairs window

Going to Northop Hall school in the snow...school was later closed that day due to more snow falling.

Awesome snowperson created by Kerstens and Brown family

View from outside my classroom at Penarlag C.P school

Sophia now double digits!

Can't believe our clever, funny, sporty, creative and beautiful daughter is 10!! As her Granny pointed out she is now double digits until 100 :)

Sophia, Emily and Jules

Soph requested a Master Chef/ Master Artist party...oh and "can we tidy the house up a bit"!!!

So with that theme in mind we had a lot of fun, her friends a really nice bunch of chatty girls which have embraced her so well were all in good form. They chatted non-stop while sculpting biscuit creations, decorating cookies and creating balloon animals.

Phoebe, so creative! These non-stop chatty girls went kind of quiet while the creative juices were flowing.

"Now that you have created a symmetrical picture with your strawberry put it back together!" "Gee, thanks mum!!"

Too good to eat!

The time did fly...not unlike the last ten years. We had a meringue artists palette as a cake. Phoebe stayed for a sleepover. Phoebe is a friend who is not long back in the area from France. They were there for a two year contract which ended up being 7 years. The year 5 girls at Northop used to be a small group of 4 girls but in the last year it has grown to 8.

India, Phoebe, Iona,Taylor, Sophia, Emily, Katie and Jules. Fab, u.k  friends!

Such a fun group, lovely girls!

Thanks for the cards and wishes from New Zealand! "I miss my friends" (Sophia)

Terrifically 10!