It has been a good week, of course with the usual intermittent shouting and arguing from Arley. These last few days he has been really good, and the kids have been getting along quite well, which sure does make things easier. Carmie had her hair chopped off this week. We have continually cut her hair shorter and shorter, but we were still dealing with 20 minutes of tears every morning while I brushed her hair, because of her ultra-sensitive head. It was always an argument to get her to brush it herself, and then last week, she actually became nauseous from the pain of me brushing out the tangles. So, we decided to go short, and I tell you what, we love it. She loves it, I love it, Jeff loves it, she is getting tons of complements, and more importantly, it takes about 30 seconds to brush, and there are no tears! We should have done it long ago. Her long hair was beautiful, but she can go long again when she is older and can handle it better.
We went on a family trail ride on Saturday. Jeffrey SO didn't want to go. He hadn't ridden a horse since before he could remember, and he kept saying he was just going to drop us off, that his back hurt, did he really have to...Yes, he did have to! And low and behold, it was so fun. Jeff was on a really large horse, but he handled it well. The kids had a little time racing each other ahead, my horse took up the rear. We rode through the national park and back to the farm, and it was so much fun...that is until the end when poor Arley fell off his horse! His horse had stalled as we were near the stables, and my horse walked up behind and stalled too. Then my horse pecked his horse on the butt, his horse jumped and ran, and down Arley went, right onto his head. Before I knew it, Arley's riding instructor was at his side checking him over. He was crying and very shaken, but ok. He ran away and got really angry, but I managed to get him and we coerced him back onto his horse, and his instructor lead him around the farm again. It was a bad ending to such a lovely morning. However, since then, Arley has had another lesson and he got back on Rocky like a champ, so all is well.
We met my friend Svenja and her son Finn for a play at Narrawallee park. And I also invited over to our house a little boy called Ben and his mother, as I wanted our boys to meet because I heard Ben is five and will be homeschooling next year. Arley and Ben were slow to warm up to each other, but after a few hours they seemed to gel and played on their own while us mums had a chat and got to know each other. It turned out to be a really lovely morning and I think Arley has a new friend :)
We've also had iceblocks at the harbour, plays in the neighbourhood park, softball in the cul de sac, big swims at the pool, occupational therapy, Japanese class and play with friends. Really busy, despite the rain. We had a few days indoors, and during that time I got the family room, essentially our 'school' room, organised. And remarkably, this has completely transformed the kids! This week they have made jewellery, made me colouring books, studied their nature table, started spelling and writing books, and they've been drawing a lot. It seems an uncluttered room really does un-clutter minds!
So yes, it's been a good week. Next week we get busy starting with Carmie's assessment. She is going to a speech therapist for her first assessment. And then next month, she starts seeing the psychologist. Today our OT had a chat with me about her dyspraxia, and it really explains a lot. We shall see what this assessment reveals...fingers crossed there's nothing to worry about.
Park play at Narrawallee
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