Zoo

I love going to the zoo. I like walking around taking photos of all the animals.

We don't go to the zoo very often. I only remember going twice. A family as big as mine can't go too often because it is way too expensive.

It is always fun to try and take a photo of an animal in a tank. It is so hard not to have a reflection in the glass.

I like watching the bird and seal shows at the zoo. The seals are very well trained and often do funny tricks. The birds are very interesting.

One of the highlights of the zoo is the elephants. They are so big and strong. I love elephants.

When we go to the zoo it is always a whole day trip. We get up early and get home late. That means we have lunch at the zoo. We have a special picnic of ham and potato salad and rolls. Somehow the rolls taste best there, eaten outside.

I like the giraffes with their long and beautiful necks. They suit long necks perfectly. I think I would look ridiculous with such a long neck.

Last time we went to the zoo we saw three almost grown tigers. One of them was trying to eat a flower pot. He was so cute.

It was at the zoo I learnt a very interesting fact about koalas: They are bouncy in the morning and sleepy in the afternoon. I have only seen koalas bouncing about once. It was very hard to take a photo of them.

There was a fishing cat at the zoo, but it was hiding so we couldn't see it last time. It was a big pity because I really wanted to see it.

There are three Tasmanian devils at our zoo. They are so cute. They run around playing with each other. They were also hard to take photos of.

I love going to the zoo. I hope we get to go again soon.

Xylophone

Gemma-Rose playing the xylophone.

We have a xylophone. None of us can play it properly, but when I was little I used to pretend I could.

The xylophone sat in the study and the only person who ever even thought about it was me. I would pick it up and sit on the floor with it. I would hit it with the sticks making an awful racket. I don't think anyone liked me playing the xylophone.

When Gemma-Rose was a bit older she too wanted to play the xylophone. I gave her one of the sticks and we made even more noise than ever.

Then after ages of playing the xylophone, one of the sticks broke while we were playing it. I was most upset.

Dad soon fixed it with a bit of super glue and it was as good as new. He gave it back to us with instructions to be more careful with it.

Again we had a lot of fun with the xylophone, but then the stick broke again. Dad was too busy to fix it and so we put away the xylophone and our fun.

One of these days I am going to find that broken stick and get someone to fix it so Gemma-Rose and I can have some more fun. It is not half as much fun to play the xylophone on your own with only one stick.

Perhaps we should learn to play the xylophone properly, then everyone will stop saying, "Don't make such a racket! Stop that noise!"

Do you have a xylophone? Can you play it?

When I was Little

Me when I was little

I remember when I was small. I used to follow the big girls around, always wanting to be one of them. They often let me join in with their games.

Imogen would invent some wonderful games. She would be an inn keeper and we used to be people staying at the inn. Most of the game was spent making the inn. We would take our dress ups and go and fill skirts with pine needles for pillows and big dresses for blankets.

Another game we liked was being on a ship. Whenever we went to the park, the play equipment turned into the ship and I would grab the telescope and Charlotte the wheel or Imogen. They often swapped jobs. Sometimes Charlotte was a crazy cook that put nails in the soup or tyres in the bread. Don't ask me where she thought she would find them out at sea!

On rainy days we had to play indoors. Imogen had some wonderful ideas for those games as well. We would play school and libraries. I enjoyed the school games. Imogen was a wonderful teacher.

We had a lot of Little People and we played some games which went on for days at a time. I remember I often got the people Imogen and Charlotte didn't want.

I love my big sisters. They never left me out and they always let me be one of them. Do you have sisters like mine?

Very Exciting

Gemma-Rose on our piano

Today we got a piano! It was very exciting. It's an upright piano. Our piano teacher has a few pianos and she wanted to give this one to us.

This morning Dad, Callum and Imogen went out to get the piano, leaving everyone else at home to wait excitedly. It was very hard.

Finally they came home, but the truck was a few minutes behind them. That few minutes felt like years. I couldn't wait to see the piano. I had never seen this one when I had my lessons.

When the truck appeared, the men, with the help of Dad and Callum, slowly carried the piano into the house being very careful not to break the piano or the tiles. It did not take half as long time as it felt though.

Then the men left. We all wanted to hear the piano. The piano we had been playing on before was an electric one and sounded much different.

Imogen rushed off to get her music and started to play one of her favourite pieces on the new piano. It sounded wonderful, not that it needed an upright piano to do that, but it did make a big difference.

I was all eager to try out the new piano and went straight off to do my piano practice. I had not done it earlier while they were getting the piano, because I wanted to practise on the new piano. My music sounded so different and grand. I could hardly believe it was me playing the piano!

I love our new piano. It is so wonderful! Do you have a nice piano?

Unexpected Garden Photos

Yesterday I went outside to take photos of our trampoline for my blog post. I ended up taking more photos of our garden than of the trampoline.

 

This is our wonderful ash tree. It was tiny when we got it, but now it is taller than me!

This picture is of a big gum tree at the bottom of our garden. It turned out a lot better than I thought!

These flowers are some of my favourites. They are chrysanthemums which always bloom close to Mother's Day. Maybe that's why they are the most popular Mother's Day flowers. They are very pretty, aren't they?

We have quite a few bushes like this one. It is very nice. I like how it has both red and green leaves.

These flowers are in the bottom of one of our flower beds. They just grow all around the plants. 

There are only a few of these flowers left now. They are a lovely pink, but you can't see that very well in the photo.

Our daisy bushes just keep growing. They make the garden look wonderful.

I love our garden. It has some wonderful plants in it. Which is your favourite picture? Mine is the top one with the pink flowers.

Trampoline

Gemma-Rose on our trampoline

When I was little, Mum and Dad bought us a trampoline. I jumped and jumped on it. 

After a few years, the trampoline started to fall to pieces. Last year it got to a stage where it was too unsafe to jump on. I was very sad.

Mum knew Gemma-Rose and I were upset about not being able to jump on the trampoline and so she made up a sneaky plan.

On Christmas day when we were giving out our last presents, Mum gave me and Gemma-Rose a surprise. We had to close our eyes as Mum and Callum brought something into the room. It made a lot of noise and I wondered what it was.

When we opened our eyes, there in front of us was a new trampoline! Of course it wasn't assembled. A put-together trampoline wouldn't have fitted through the door and into the living room. It was in a box.

I bounced up and down (on the floor, not the trampoline). It was too good to believe. A new trampoline. Gemma-Rose was just as excited.

a very bad photo of Gemma-Rose on our trampoline

The very next day Dad and Callum put the trampoline together and Gemma-Rose and I got to bounce on it.

Gemma-Rose and I love jumping on our trampoline. It is one of our favourite things to do outside.

Special Charlotte

Charlotte is my wonderful big sister! 

She is a great artist. She draws excellent dragons and princesses. I sometimes wish I could draw like her. 

Charlotte enjoys reading. She is a bookworm. She reads everything from fantasy to history. She enjoys helping me find books at the library. I really appreciate it when she does that. It is so hard to know whether a book is good or not.

Charlotte is a wonderful story writer. She writes fantasy novels. She inspires me to keep writing even when my novel isn't going too well.

Charlotte often knits me toys. She is always helping me with my knitting too. The toys Charlotte makes me are so special. 

Charlotte loves chemistry. She is always making crystal models and watching movies on the elements of the periodic table. She used to teach me and Gemma-Rose some chemistry as well. I never knew much about it until Charlotte started to have an interest in it. Now I am interested in it too.

Charlotte always takes an interest in what I am doing. She is always finding names for characters in the books I am writing, helping me think up story lines for a new story, helping me out when she notices I am having problems with my piano and a lot of other things.

I love my Charlotte. She is very special!

Restaurant Dinners

I have been to a restaurant  twice. Both times were for very special occasions, birthdays. We went to an Italian restaurant both times. It served wonderful food.

The first time was for Imogen's eighteenth. We decided to eat pizza.

We sat at our table talking and laughing while the chef made our pizzas. After a little while heaps of lovely smells came out of the kitchen and over to my nose. It was delightful.

It took quite a while for the pizzas to cook, but it was worth it. The pizzas were yummy. Callum and I ate nearly a whole prawn pizza between us. Everyone else was too busy eating the chicken pizza. I didn't like that one quite as much as the prawn one.

The next time we went to the restaurant was for Callum's twenty first. Mum said we could have either pizza or pasta. Callum, Duncan and I went for the pizza. Everyone else had pasta.

Once more wonderful smells came out of the kitchen. I could not wait.

Once more we talked while we waited for our pizzas and told stories until the waiter served us. It felt so strange but royal to be served.

The pizza was once again delicious. I could have eaten three times as much as I did, but I didn't. I saved myself for the lovely dessert that was to come.

I love going to the restaurant, but with a family as big as mine we don't get to go too often. It is all the more fun when we do go though.

The good thing about the Italian restaurant is that if you don't eat all your pizza or salad before you want to go home, you can take it home with you.

The next big birthdays are Charlotte's 18th and Imogen's 21st in 2015. Will we have to wait until then for our next restaurant dinner?

Have you been out to dinner?

Quite the Most Exciting Main Character

Each evening Dad, Gemma-Rose and I settle down on the sofa to watch one of our favourite TV series, Joe 90.

Joe is a very funny nine year old boy who goes on all these exciting adventures to save the day. He is always going off and flying planes, rescuing people in space and so many other things. 

Whenever people ask what Joe is doing, all he has to do is to say the truth to get out of trouble, for who would believe that a nine year old boy was finding a bomb?

Once Joe had to help a famous pianist to get out of trouble. To do so, he had to play the piano instead of the pianist. No one thought it would work, but it did.

Joe's father does not always like Joe going out and saving the day, but whenever he says no, Joe always ends up helping out anyway.

Joe is a really good main character, not like some you can find. I love Joe 90.

Pets

Dad has a lot of pets. He just keeps getting them!

His collection is made up mainly of dogs.

Canine

There is Canine, his oldest and most trusty pet. He will sit and guard the house all day, and the best bit about him is that he does not eat or need attention. 

Next there is this little dog that someone gave Dad for Christmas one year. He is not even half as old as Canine, but he is still loved. 

This dog may look old, but he is really quite young. I think his rust is starting to show a bit. 

Dad also has some other quite exciting pets...

Pocock

...like Pocock. This lovely peacock is the newest edition to the collection. He is handsome and charming, but the only problem is that he falls over all the time.

This Meerkat is always ready to welcome people. Standing there with his welcome sign he looks very cute!

This snail is always in a good mood, even though not many people like snails. He just keeps on smiling.

Dad got this turtle at the same time as the snail. He sits beside it and does not even think about being annoying. 

This flamingo is as vain as can be. Standing in the middle of the garden on its long legs, it is most definitely looking down on everyone else.

Feline

Dad also has one cat, Feline. You would think that living with so many dogs she would be going up the wall, but she just sits there happily beside Canine, watching people go past.

Dad also has two birds, a chicken and a mouse. He some of the best pets ever. Which is your favourite? I think Canine is mine.

Orthodontist and Dentist

I was quivering with nerves as I entered the orthodontist. What would he say when he found out that I hadn't wiggled my baby teeth out? I can't have my braces fitted with those teeth still in my mouth. Would he be angry?

It turned out that the orthodontist wasn't angry. He just smiled and joked about it. He poked about in my mouth a bit and then he looked at the x-rays he had of my mouth. He turned to Mum.

Me after teeth came out

"Sophie will have to have three teeth taken out," he said. I stared. Three teeth? I had never even h one tooth taken out by the dentist, let alone three.

Mum rang up the dentist and arranged for me to go and have my teeth out.

Yesterday afternoon, Mum, Imogen, Charlotte, Gemma-Rose and I hopped into the car to go off to the dentist. Mum, Imogen, Charlotte and Gemma-Rose were going just for check ups.

I was worried. Charlotte had already had four teeth taken out before she got braces. She said there was nothing to worry about, but I still worried. Charlotte told me that the worst bit after the anaesthetic was the noise and the crack as the tooth came out. It didn't sound nice.

An awful photo of my teeth

I sat down in the waiting room while everyone else got their teeth checked, and I thought about having three teeth out. I wondered which teeth. I was starting to think that the anaesthetic must be really painful if it was the worst part of having teeth out, when it was my turn to go in.

The dentist smiled at me as I entered and sat down in the chair. "I will start by putting the anaesthetic in," he told me.

"Are you going to take the teeth out before or after checking her teeth?" Mum asked.

"After. I'm just putting in the anaesthetic first so it can start taking effect," the dentist said. I closed my eyes as the needle went in. I opened them a few seconds later.

I hardly noticed what he was doing. I was too busy listening to what he was saying. Not all of it was on the subject of my teeth.

Then the dentist examined my teeth. I was not worried about them having any cavities or anything. I was not even thinking about what he was doing. I was thinking about all Charlotte had said about having teeth taken out.

"The inside of your mouth will hurt a bit more," the dentist said. I started to pay attention again. I suddenly realised that he had finished checking my teeth. What was wrong? Why was I feeling no pain? The dentist was still smiling and I could hardly feel my upper mouth. It turns out that all the teeth that were going to be pulled out were in the top half of my mouth.

Nothing was wrong, and in a few minutes the dentist was getting a tool to take out the teeth.

He started on the left side of my mouth. I closed my eyes again.

My mouth after the teeth came out, can you see the big gaps?

"Got it!" The dentist said. I opened my eyes at once. The dentist had my tooth and was putting it down on the tray. I had felt nothing.

The next one came out the same way. I was hardly feeling anything.

"Two more to go!" said the dentist as he put gauze in my mouth.

"Two more?" Mum asked. "Wasn't she going to have three out?"

"I was told four. I will check if you like." The dentist looked at the letter he had from the orthodontist. "No, it is definitely four."

"The orthodontist must have changed his mind," Mum said. The dentist agreed.

He started to take the next tooth out. I was trying to bite onto the gauze and have my mouth open at the same time. It was not easy.

The dentist kept putting his tool around my tooth and pulling, but the tooth did not come out. I was starting to feel a bit scared again. The dentist talked to the nurse and she went off to get something.

"The adult tooth has grown up the side of the tooth I am trying to get out, but it is in the way of my tool," the dentist explained. "I am going to get it out with a different tool."

As soon as he tried it with the new tool, the tooth came out. It still had a huge root.

The last tooth came out as smoothly as the first two. I was very glad. I got some more gauze to absorb the blood and was then able to go home. At first I tried to talk, but then I worked out it was no use and I just nodded and shook my head.

As soon as I was home, I sat in front of the TV and watched a movie till dinner.

By dinner time the bleeding had stopped enough for me to take the gauze out to eat. My mouth was still very numb.

Mum and Imogen made me custard for dinner as I couldn't eat burgers. It was very nice, but the only problem was that it was hard to get it off the spoon without my top lip. It took a long time to eat. By the time I was finished everyone else had finished washing the dishes. They had given me the night off.

Mum let me watch another movie in the evening. I was very grateful. The movie took my mind off the teeth or rather lack of teeth.

This morning I was feeling a bit better, but not brave enough to try some toast for breakfast. I made porridge instead.

It is still a bit tricky to eat with so few teeth, but at least I am eating proper food again!

I don't want to have any more teeth taken out, even though it was not as bad as everyone made out.

On to the next step, braces!

Nuts

I love nuts. They are so yummy and crunchy.

Dad often gets nuts for his birthday and Christmas. He loves nuts too.

Often Dad shares his nuts with us. I like it when he does that, especially when we are watching a movie.

We often put nuts in our curries. They are my favourite bit of the curry.

I don't know what my favourite nut is. There are so many to chose from. I could chose almonds or peanuts, walnuts or cashews, Brazil nuts or hazelnuts? There are so many of them. Do you have a favourite nut?

Sometimes Dad gets really hot nuts. I don't think I like them quite as much. They are a bit spicy for me.

Quite often we get walnuts on finger buns or cakes. That is my favourite way to eat walnuts!

Sometimes Mum buys little boxes of dried fruit and nuts for morning tea. I like them. Nuts and fruit go really well together.

Nuts are so yummy and you can eat them in so many different things. They go well with so many things you would think they shouldn't.

My Mum

I love my Mum. She is so kind and loving.

My Mum unschools me at home. She never gets upset or angry. I think she is the best teacher in the would.

Mum likes reading to me and Gemma-Rose. I like it when she reads to us. She is a good reader and makes the characters in stories come alive.

Mum is always willing to help people out. She helps me knit, helps Imogen with her uni work and helps with so many other things that I would have to sit here for a year to list them all. Mum never gets upset when I ask her to help me with something. She just puts down what she is doing and helps me.

It was Mum who taught me to knit, it is Mum who taught me to sew and it is Mum who is now helping me learn to sew on the machine.

Mum is a good knitter. She enjoys knitting cardigans for me and Gemma-Rose. She will go down the shops and come home with heaps of balls of wool and then for the next few weeks she will knit away. The cardigans I own that she has made for me are my favourites.

Like me, Mum likes to blog. She writes wonderful blog posts. She can make even a boring subject interesting. I wish I could write like Mum.

Mum is always listening to my novels and giving me praise. She enjoys helping me out of sticky spots when I don't know what to write next in my stories or when I don't know how to add a character. Mum is really good at giving advice like that because she also likes to write stories.

What would I do without Mum? I have no idea. I would probably go mad. I am so glad I have her.

I want to be like Mum when I grow up. 

Lyrebirds

I love lyrebirds. They are so funny.

I was watching a documentary on birds once and I saw a lyrebird imitating a chainsaw. I wonder how they do it. I also heard the bird make the noise of two different kinds of cameras. 

Sometimes, lyrebirds imitate other birds like kookaburras or magpies. I wonder if there is a limit to how many things they can imitate. There seems to be no end to the noises they can make.

I think my favourite noise they make has to be either a camera or the chainsaw. Which is yours?

I love male lyrebirds' tails. They are so beautiful.  It looks a bit like an umbrella when they sit under it. Lady lyrebirds don't have half such beautiful tails. The female birds never seem to be as pretty as the male ones. They always seem to be the plainest. I wonder why?

Lyrebirds are one of my favourite birds. I bet you know why. Which is your favourite bird?

Kitten Excitement

We were all eating lunch. Well all of us except Callum, he was at work, but Dad was home.

"I wish we had a cat," said someone. I don't remember who.

"I saw a sign outside the pet shop in town saying they are selling Abyssinian cats," said Imogen.

The next thing I knew we were going out the door to see the cats, and maybe buy one.

"Don't get your hopes up too high.We might not get a cat," said Dad. We could not help but be excited though.

All of us girls hopped into the van. Duncan was staying home. I think he was as excited as we were, but he had things to do.

All the way to the pet shop I could hardly sit still. I bounced around. I had never owned a cat. I had always wanted one though.

"I'm sorry we have sold all the Abyssinian cats," a lady told us as we entered the pet shop. My heart sank. It seemed we would not get to take a kitten home with us. "We do have a Himalayan-Persian  kitten," she added.

"We will see her then," Dad said. He had not driven all that way for nothing. My heart rose again.

The lady went over to a cage and brought out a cute little kitten. She had big brown eyes, a bit like an owl's. We all fell in love with her.

Everyone took it in turns to hold the cat. We all sighed over her nice soft fur and loud purr.

"Does she have a name?" we asked.

"Oh no! We leave that for the owners to do," The pet shop lady said.

It was soon decided that we would take the cat home.

The next job was to chose our cat a collar. It took a lot of thought, but in the end we bought her a nice purple one, the collar I had wanted the cat to have.

It was a long and exciting trip home. It was not long in distance, but for Dad it must have seemed like miles and miles.

The cat was scared stiff and tried to climb everywhere. Imogen got a lot of scratches from trying to hold her down.

At last our van turned into the driveway and we all hopped out with all the cat's stuff and the cat herself.

Our cat went straight to the job of exploring. I could not help but wonder if she was a little scared to be in a new place with a lot of strange people staring at her.

"She needs a name," Mum said. She went over to the computer and went to a cat name site.

After a lot of thought and shouts of no and yes we got ourselves down to two names, Poppy and Princess.

"Why don't we call her Princess Poppy?" Mum asked. We all agreed. I am glad we did not call her Pumpkin as that was one of the names we found.

"Poppy for short," Mum said.

Poppy did not seem to notice that she had just been given a name. She just continued looking around. I have to wonder how a cat can miss such an important event in their lives. I guess I didn't really notice when I was named either though.

"Let's not tell Callum. Imagine how surprised he will be to come home tonight and find we have a cat," Imogen said. We all giggled.

When Callum rang to say he was on his way home we all hoped he couldn't hear the big purrs coming from someone's lap.

Mum didn't tell Callum about Poppy. She just told him there was a surprise waiting at home. He had no idea what it was. He was very surprised when he saw her.

"A cat!" Callum said and picked Poppy up. I still could not believe she was really ours.

I love Poppy. We have had her for a few years now, but she is as cute as ever. Do you own a cat?

Jaguars

Jaguars are wonderful cats! They are so big and powerful looking. I don't know much about about them, but I always wished that I could see a real one.

Jaguars have wonderful fur. All orange and black. I wish I could have a coat like that, but it might be hot in summer, now I come to think of it, it would be very hot indeed.

What always amazed me about the big cats, is that the women are the hunters, while the men sleep and laze about. What a life. I think it is unfair for the women as they have to do all the work.

I can imagine running through the trees as a jaguar. It would be very exciting. I would be one of the fastest things around and everyone would know it and know to get out of my way.

The only problem if I was a jaguar is that I would have to do all the work because I am a girl, and that does not sound fun at all!

Would you like to be a jaguar?

Imogen

Imogen is wonderful! She cooks dinners most nights. She is a wonderful cook. She never complains that someone else should have a go at cooking the dinner.

Imogen is always watching movies with Gemma-Rose and me, even when she wants to do something else, like write. She will leave what she is doing and sit down with us.

Even though Imogen is doing uni work, she still finds time to read Shakespeare plays with us, go running down the bush tracks and basically have fun.

Every time I need help with something or other, I can always go to Imogen for help. She is always willing to help me work out a maths question or sort out a problem in my knitting.

She is always playing board games with me and Gemma-Rose. She is a very fun person to play with, but so hard to beat. I don't think even Dad can beat her.

For the past few years Imogen has been teaching me to play the piano. She is always very patient and kind. Even now that I have a professional teacher she still helps me out between my lessons. I don't know another person who would do that.

Imogen is the best second oldest sister I can think of. I am glad I chose her as my confirmation sponsor!

Hats

I was a hat baby! I had nearly no hair and so in summer I had to wear a hat otherwise I would have got sunburnt on the top of my head, and in winter I had to wear a hat to keep my head warm.

Unlike most babies, I liked hats. I didn't take them off or anything like that. I would sit there happily under my hat.

I still do like hats. Gemma-Rose and I have a big collection of hats, though I think I like hats better than she does.

I have heaps of beanies for winter and sun hats for summer. I love them all.

Whenever Charlotte has a hat she does not want, I will always take it in and add it to my collection. I can never have too many hats.

The only problem is that some of my hats have gotten too small and Gemma-Rose is the only one who can wear them, but then again, some hats are too big for her and so it is all fair in the end. 

I don't think I have changed much from when I was a baby, except, now I have quite a bit of hair. My hair is not as thick as the big girls' or Gemma-Rose's though.

Do you like hats?

Gebbles

My little sister, Gemma-Rose's nickname is Gebbles. We all call her that.

It was Charlotte who came up with the name.

Gemma-Rose has never liked being called Gemma as it left out half her name and so Charlotte mixed  Gemma-Rose and the word gerbil together and got Gebbles. Gemma-Rose liked it.

At first only Charlotte and Dad called her Gebbles, and then it caught on and I started to called my youngest sister Gebbles instead of Gemma-Rose.

After a little while, everyone in the family was calling her Gebbles. We sometimes still call her Gemma-Rose, but never Gemma.

After a little while a lot of our friends stopped calling her Gemma and started on Gebbles.

When Charlotte first came up with the name, I never thought I would use it all the time, but it is much easier than calling, "Gemma-Rose", whenever I want her.

I think Gebbles suits Gemma-Rose. It is a very catchy name.

I love Gebbles!

Fingerless Gloves

My fingerless glove

The cold weather is back, and winter will soon be here.

We are all cold and in jumpers and jackets. I see Gemma-Rose rush out of the room.

"Where are you going, Gemma-Rose?" I call after her.

"To get my fingerless gloves," she answers. As I think about it I decide she is right. It is time to bring out the fingerless gloves and warm my poor hands up.

Last year I made myself and Gemma-Rose fingerless gloves when I was tired of having cold fingers, especially when playing the piano.

This Easter I made another pair of fingerless gloves, this time for Imogen. I gave them to her on Easter Sunday as a gift. She was very surprised.

I was also surprised, but for different reasons. The main reason was that I had made three pairs of fingerless gloves out of the same three balls of wool. It was hard to believe that the balls of wool stretched so far. Another reason was that I had made Imogen's glove pattern up when I lost the piece of paper with the instructions for the gloves I made myself, not that I would have been able to make her another pair like mine. Mine took a lot of wool as they were very long!

Charlotte also has fingerless gloves, but she made hers herself out of other balls of wool. She did not knit hers, but took the quicker option of crocheting them. If I could crochet I would have done that rather than spent hours knitting!

I love fingerless gloves and they are very useful! I am going to have to put my gloves on.

Easter

I love Easter! We go to the Easter Vigil Mass, then come home and have a feast of hot cross buns and chocolate.

We all talk about Easter as we eat them and then Gemma-Rose and I wander off to bed,and leave everyone to do a bit more talking and the dishes.

Easter Sunday is just as special. I get up and Imogen, Charlotte, Callum and Dad have gone out again to sing at another Mass with the choir.

This year Gemma-Rose and I had breakfast and got into our nice white dresses and then did all our own jobs and the big girls' jobs so we would not have to wait around when they got back for the Easter egg hunt and presents. This was the first year we had presents.

Some Easter eggs

We had soon finished the jobs and so I laid the table for dinner. I did not want to have to do it later.

I read a book until everyone else got home and then I heated up more hot cross buns and put them on the family room table and we all sat down to eat them.

When we had eaten ourselves to a standstill, Mum gave us each a big Easter egg. We each got to choose the flavour we wanted. I chose dark chocolate!

My dark chocolate egg

Then Gemma-Rose gave everyone the presents Mum had bought us. I got a big pencil case, sharpies, a stopwatch, hair flowers, a cream egg and two shirts. I felt special.

Next Duncan gave everyone another big egg. I got another dark chocolate one! Mum's egg was massive!!!

After Imogen and Charlotte had given Mum and Dad a few presents each, I gave everyone a present. I gave the boys and Dad a chocolate bar each. Everyone else's presents I made myself. I gave Mum a needle case, Imogen fingerless gloves, Charlotte a small bag and Gemma-Rose a toy rabbit sock creature.

The toy I made Gemma-Rose

Then we had the Easter egg hunt. We ran all over the house trying to find Easter eggs. I came about fourth, which is good and we only lost three eggs! We always lose some eggs.

I then took out my sharpies and doodled until dinner. The sharpies are wonderful and picture was nice and bright.

Next came the big lamb dinner, and after dinner came trifle made by Imogen!

Then everyone went to have a bit of a rest. I played a card game on my own while Gemma-Rose played Pollys.

Imogen, Charlotte, Gemma-Rose and I watched a movie. It was a lot of fun, especially as we gave movies up for Lent.

Our Easter cake

Then we had the biggest Easter cake ever and then I played Pollys with Gemma-Rose!

It was a wonderful Easter Sunday. I love Easter, don't you?