Busy at home

Our weekend started with great excitement when a parcel arrived from my mom. It was packed with loads of goodies for the girls (birthday presents for Caitlyn, and some things for Bianca that didn't fit into the Christmas parcel and something for Terence and even something for me and yummy easter eggs and chocolatey treats). I was quite shocked to see the size of the parcel and it totally made the girls' day as they just love opening presents! Thank you Mom! Bianca immediately put on the dress, hat and handbag you made and wore it for 2 days before finally putting it in the wash and she has already decided what she will make from the recipe book.

Other than that we didn't do much this weekend at all. We sorted out some of the kids toys and I realised the kids have far too many soft toys like teddy bears and other stuffed toy animals and they really don't play with all of it, and even after clearing out the Teletubby toys that we will put in Bianca's memory box (as they have been her favourite at one point), getting rid of one of the big Pooh bears, countless Tweety toys from McDonalds and a whole load of other soft toys that the kids don't seem particularly fond of, and haven't really ever played with they still have a pretty big box full of soft toys that are left over. And one thing I will say is never involve your kids when you decide whether they still play with toys or not "Caitlyn, do you still play with this toy?" "Yes I do" and just to prove a point she will then immediately grab the toy and play with it even if it is the first time in forever.

Bianca does seem a bit more realistic as far as that goes. However, she also has a huge pile of toys in her room, special toys that aren't suitable for Caitlyn, but a lot of these toys all have special meaning, like the Pink Panther she got from CCF when she was just diagnosed, the hospital teddy she got from the hospital after getting her port surgically inserted, the soft toy monkey she got when she went to Camp Quality the first time and the soft toy dog the second visit to Camp Quality, the puppy that breathes which she got from Juliette in Wellington, a Cabbage Patch doll that Bianca got from our new friend Chantelle, and of course a whole collection of Barbies which my mother and her friend have kindly been sending to Bianca and a few others that Bianca got for some or the other reason. And of course some special things from her Make-a-Wish. So a lot of these toys and books and board games and puzzles we really can't throw out, because I think Bianca does still play a lot with these and one day Caitlyn will likely inherit some of these and the rest will be for Bianca's memory box.

In some respects getting ready for the move is actually at the right time because Bianca's school will be having a car boot sale soon and this will be the perfect opportunity to go through all the stuff at home and decide if we are still using it. It is tough though, but it is needed because it is amazing just how much stuff you accumulate over time. So if you are in the Albany area, it will be at Oteha Valley school on Saturday 14 March 2009 if you might be interested in finding some unwanted treasures...

On Saturday we planned to take the kids to a Teddy Bear's picnic and Terence was going to join the CCF dads for a Father's day out, but they predicted lots of rain and whilst we didn't get as much rain as they thought, it did rain, so outside activities were not really suitable. And so we spent the day at home and later in the afternoon the kids and I went to the shops to get our daily quota of bread and milk (seeing as most other things we now buy on a weekly basis with the exception of milk and bread) and it seemed the whole of New Zealand thought going to our mall was the right way to spend a rainy afternoon. It was really hard finding parking and almost seemed like Christmas was upon us and it was so crowded inside, we rushed in, bought our stuff and left pretty quickly.

Today was our weekly shopping day and this morning we took the kids to the shopping mall play area which they enjoyed a lot and then later we did our shopping. On the way there Caitlyn asked Terence "ready Daddy?" and then said "I ready" (I'm quite surprised that she is referring to herself as "I" and I thought at this age kids still talk in the third person, but of course I can't remember how it was with Bianca).

Nowadays Caitlyn is not so keen on sitting in the trolley anymore and she'll quickly tell you "walk self, basket" and so we found it works best to let each girl take a basket (on wheels) and we take the trolley and we let them help. Slower, but far less frustrating than fighting with a 2 year old over why she needs to sit in the trolley. (Sorry for the blurry photo, Caitlyn walked quite fast!)

And so we prepare ourselves for another busy week, another busy month and I will start my temp job in the morning, Caitlyn will have daycare, Bianca will have school and tennis and a hospital visit on Tuesday and again on the 16th, we have a move on the 19th, we have loads of packing still to do in between the usual house cleaning, laundry and attempt at ironing. I have a feeling March will be over before we know it (just like January and February). But overall, we really can't complain. Things are busy, but they are really good at the moment and so we appreciate that!