Winter without much snow

So far this winter seems to have a *lot* less snow than recent years, which is a nice change! :-) In fact, after 3 winters in a row with several inches of snow at the end of the year/beginning of the next, it was really nice to have non-minus temperatures! Around the end of December we had a lovely sunny day and decided to go for a drive. We went along a very remote track in Sutherland (quite a few miles long) which wasn't maintained/gritted in the winter - something that would have been *impossible* (not to mention dangerous!) to do at this time of year for the past few years. But the roads were ice-free, which was great.

View across Loch Fleet, which we stopped at when we went for a drive.


Peter and children at Loch Fleet, though the smallest ones are ignoring the camera! ;-)


"Reading" about the wildlife found there


Some sheep heading off together, across the road from the loch.


Clement sitting on a bench, looking cold!


Also across the road from Loch Fleet, Skelbo Castle, which is a ruined 14th century keep.


We saw *lots* of seals in the loch too. Pity my camera is a bit rubbish at capturing something like this!


My big smallest girl - she's *such* a lot of fun! :-)


She still loves her dollies and enjoys pushing them round the house too.


Benjamin with a lovely smile - to make up for the face he did in the photo below (on purpose too, of course!).


All 4 together, though as said above, Benjamin thought it would be nice to pull a crazy face! :-/


My little maid! ;-)


The real worker in my kitchen - yes, a dishwasher!! :-D I didn't think I had room for one (as we had a 2nd fridge freezer in the only "spare" floor space). But Peter realised if we had an extra raised surface/worktop in the corner of the kitchen, we could put the smaller fridge freezer on top and the dishwasher under it! So, within hours of his bright idea, I had already ordered a new dishwasher! ;-) It arrived about 10 days later (middle of December) and has really made a difference in my life. It's so nice to be able to make all the dirty dishes "vanish" in just a few minutes.


We have had a bit of snow, but not much. Deborah enjoys watching the snow fall out the window and this was her first time to walk around in it. :-)


The very cheeky Clement!


They get up to all sorts of stuff together - but are great friends too!


Abigail dressed as Hello Kitty!


Relaxing with a book - yes, she prefers books for older children/adults. The more words and less pictures, the better - literally!


Playing dress-up with her big sister


I did say he was cheeky! ;-) He also can't seem to keep his hands out of *anything* (which can be a problem :-/). On this occasion it was cute and not a disaster! He brought some cows to visit me while I was peeling veg for soup.


My lovely wee girl!


Sisters playing together - they have a lot of fun!


Dressing up again!


Probably about the most snow we've had this winter - so far, at least!


My girls and their dolls!

Pregnancy, birthdays, and autism!

Meet baby #5 - at 12 weeks 3 days:

Yes, there's a lovely little baby growing inside! I'm now around 14.5 weeks along (which means I've taken rather too long to blog about this, since my scan was 2 weeks ago!) but life is always busy. I would have hoped the pregnancy sickness would have passed by now, like it did with my other 4 pregnancies. But I'm still feeling awfully sick - from when I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night. :-/ Thankfully I manage to keep most of my food down - if I'm careful with what I eat!

Nearly a month ago, my dear Abigail turned 6 years old. (Yes, that means I'm rather behind with blogging!) She had her best friend Rebekah over for the day, much to her delight. :)


Presents and balloons!


Seems she thought she was a princess! ;-) Abigail likes to make her own crowns.


I'd only got back from Texas a few days before her birthday, so it was just a simple cake she got!


Deborah loves to colour pictures!


This is actually a photo from Texas - Deborah stole Uncle Gerrit's hat! ;-)


Here she is - proof of the crime! :-)


Oops, looks like another picture of a crime in action! Deborah in the middle, with cousins Brooklyn and Shona - and yes, about to whack Brooklyn in the head it seems!


The lovely view from the beach house my brother Nat rented while we were in Texas.


One last photo from Texas! Our hire car - a Chevy HHR, which Benjamin *really* liked! :) He said I had to take a photo of it so his daddy could see what it looked like.


Abigail and "Buzz Lightyear" (Benjamin) playing paperdolls.


Benjamin and his pyramid he made out of Lego! :-) He decided one afternoon that he wanted to build a pyramid and told me to find a photo of one on the internet. We soon found one and he very quickly put this together.

Speaking of Benjamin, we've just about reached the end of the process for his ASD diagnosis. We started it in March/April and finally found out last month the conclusion they reached. They've said he has High Functioning Autism (aka Aspergers syndrome), which is exactly the conclusion I reached nearly 2 years ago! :-) I think some parents feel their world has fallen apart and have to come to terms with a diagnosis of Autism. But for us, we already knew it and it is reassuring that the professionals agree with what we thought already. I would like to learn as much as I can about sensory processing issues, as it really plays a big part in the struggles an autistic child has with the world around him. Two books I'm currently reading and highly recommend are:

The Out-Of-Sync Child (http://www.amazon.co.uk/-Sync-Child-Carol-Stock-Kranowitz/dp/0399531653/)

and

Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism: Different Sensory Experiences - Different Perceptual Worlds (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sensory-Perceptual-Issues-Autism-Experiences/dp/1843101661/)

The first book is written in a very easy to read/parent friendly style and explains everything really well. The second book is a bit more technical (and probably assumes a basic knowledge of autism and termonology) but I've found it really good and learned a lot from it - probably one of the best books I've read on the subject.

Here's Deborah looking very cute! She's walking now - since about 2 weeks ago and seems like she already wants to run! They grow up soooo quickly!


Here's the amazing play house that my very clever husband started building while I was in Texas last month! It's all finished now and really fantastic. I think the kids will have a lot of fun in it, though perhaps it's a bit cold today with the snow we've got on the ground!


One last photo - I love kids in winter pjs! :-) They look very cosy. But of course, winter usually means colds and right now Clement has a nasty croupy cough. :-( Deborah has had a cold for a couple of weeks now, but thankfully no cough. But Clement is all wheezy today and couldn't even sleep through his nap. I hate to think how he'll be tonight.

OK, must get busy around here!

Sarah & David's Wedding - 4th Nov 2011

I didn't think I was going to be at my sister Sarah's wedding, but right at the last minute (less than 2 weeks before the wedding) I decided I should go over for it. So I made all the travel plans and booked tickets, and on the 27th of October, Benjamin, Deborah and I got on a train and headed for Aberdeen. We stayed overnight in a Travelodge room and then got a taxi to the airport before 4am, to catch a 6am flight to Amsterdam! We probably could have slept longer, but it was good to be early and everything went smoothly. In Amsterdam we met up with Leah, Shona, and Brooklyn. Leah has pregnancy complications which means she's had to return to USA for medical care (since she was only on a 6 month visitor Visa in UK, she'd have to pay for everything - and if she ends up needing a C-section, that would be very expensive) so she's gone back to Texas early. Anyway, she was able to change her ticket and fly back on the same flight as we were taking from Amsterdam to Houston, so that was nice. We arrived in Houston on Friday afternoon - a bit exhausted, but glad to have arrived safely. It was nice to be there a week before Sarah's wedding - at least it meant we were a bit more awake by the day of the wedding!

Oh yes, I didn't mention where my other two children were! ;-) lol I decided to leave Abigail and Clement home with Peter, and only travel with 2 children. I didn't *really* have the energy for travelling at all - but thought it would be easier with only half the children! And I have to say, I realised how EASY it is to only have 2 children! :-O Not that I've ever regretted the 4 children I have - I am very thankful for them and happy with every child that God blesses me with. But it wouldn't be true to say it was *easy* having 4 young children - so it seemed "a piece of cake" to only have 2 for 12 days (even if I took the two more difficult ones, and left the easier two for Peter!). But I was so glad to see Abigail and Clement when I got back on Tuesday this week - I think Clement really missed me too. :(

OK, time for some photos. I didn't manage to get as many as I would have liked (nor are they very good quality) but I was mainly busy looking after my kids.

Sarah and Dave leaving the church


Anna (maid of honour) and Jonathan Schuit (best man)


The waiting limo, with some of the wedding party and ushers standing by


Bridesmaids Shelby (cousin) and Anna (my sister)


Ushers: Casey Kuiper (Dave's brother) and my brother Josh


Bride and Groom outside the church


Left to right: Rev John Macleod (minister who married them), Donald Freeke (from Scotland, of course - with the kilt on!), and Jeshurun Hembd.


Me, Deborah, and Benjamin (making a funny face)


Dave and Sarah with Anna


and again


My brothers Nathanael and Gerrit - also the photographers at the wedding (and very good at it too!)


The reception was at a lovely venue called The Hidden Palms.


Some of the guests waiting and chatting


My dear Benjamin - feeling rather nervous!


Me and the rascal!


Loving his sister! :)


Leah and Shona


The bridal party: Shelby, Leah, Anna, Sarah & Dave, Jonathan Schuit, Ben Kuiper, and Randy Winkels (all cousins of Dave).


Stephanie (married to my cousin Carl) with their youngest, Louis, and two of Dave's sisters, Margaret and Dena Kuiper.


The reception hall before everyone came in.


Some of the guests entering


My lovely little Deborah


Sarah and Dave entering the reception hall


Head table in the background


Guests at tables


My lovely sister Sarah, with me and Deborah. Deborah was *exhausted* after 5+ hours of being contained. But she really enjoyed it and wanted to shout and clap her hands while some of the speeches were being given. :)


Benjamin getting a hug from Aunty Sarah at the end of the day. Poor thing - he *really* didn't enjoy the day. He said there were too many people, too much noise (music, talking, clapping), and he *couldn't* understand why a wedding should be SOOOO long! He kept telling me "I *don't* like weddings! I want to go home!" He said "I only liked the practice wedding we went to the other day" (ie the rehearsal) as it was very quiet and there weren't many people there.

So, that's all the photos I've got from the wedding. I probably have a few more photos from our 10 days spent in Texas, which I might get round to posting eventually.