Fourth Week of Summer

Jaden and Kirsten have been in Vacation Bible School every morning this week so Nicolas and I have been spending some quality time together as he gets a bit neglected as there is so much going on when the kids are here. While we were playing at the bottom of the front garden he decided to try to climb up the back of the playset on to the top of the slide. I've given up trying to stop him, so I made sure he held on and didn't fall. You could see he felt so grown up and he loves going down the slide. Now unfortunately everytime I go to get in the truck he runs down the yard to get to the playset, which is really annoying as I can hardly walk, let alone run and catch him!

Kirsten loves to paint so when she got the paints out this week Nicolas had a go too. I've tried painting with him once before but this time he had Kirsten to watch and he did much better. He certainly isn't "Picasso Pickles" but he had fun.

Leo is still in dog heaven to have his whole 'pack' here, even though he hasn't been walked for nearly 2 weeks now. He lost his ball behind the couch and it was just funny seeing him and Jaden trying to get the ball back!

The kids cousin Luke had his birthday party on Friday night so the kids had a great time playing at his house with all the kids who were there. Ben and Erin are both really sociable and Luke is on a baseball team, so you know there will always be lots and lots of people at their house. It was great to catch up with their friends who I hadn't see for ages.
The birthday boy!
Erin's best friend Rebecca is expecting twins and is measuring at 37 weeks although she is only due at the begining of September. As I'm 37 weeks we thought we would compare bumps. I'm so uncomfortable that I can't imagine how she is coping, and her little boy is not quite 2, so she has just as much running around after a little one as I have!
Ben and Erin have all kinds of boy toys at their house and Nicolas found their motorized four wheeler. It has a button on the handle bars that make it go forward and Nicolas quickly understood that he pushed the button and moved forward. He wasn't so good at the concept of steering, but he loved it and looked so cute. I doubt we can run to one for him, but it was a great
experience for him.

My big trauma this week was the fact that we have decided we need to sell the truck and buy a minivan. I never thought I'd get one, but having looked at lots of my friends, I think I will have to give up my 14 mpg beast and get a more efficient and far more practical vehicle. Now I've accepted this, I'm actually quite looking forward to it. The problem will be selling the truck for a reasonable price as we can't really afford a car payment so we need to sell it well to get a decend down payment. We went for test drives this morning and I love the Honda Odyssey but unless we find a bargin newer one I'll have to settle for an older model. The kids are so excited that Leo will actually be in the car with us and not riding in the back of the truck. They may change their minds when they realise how much he'll make a car smell!!