Getting children to nap is so satisfying

Even blogging once a week is proving a challenge. The days and weeks are flying by and I can't believe another week has ended. Our 6 on 2 days off rota also provides constant confusion when trying to work out what day of the week it is and when I need to blog. This week has been a good week for us and we are settling more and more into the roles. Although I'm working 11-12 hours a day it completely flies by and doesn't feel that long at all. I've spent a lot of time outside this week working on weeding the vegetable patch ready for Candy to lay carpet over the soil and plant new veggies throughout. It's been back breaking work and hard on my knees but 4 wheelbarrow loads of weeds later and it's finished. I think Tikka the dog approves and Lucy the cat is certainly enjoying leaving nice dead presents for us on the freshly weeded soil! This week I baked cookies for the workers, baking is always to very appreciated on the farm. Cassidy wanted to help so later in the week we also made gingerbread biscuits together for everyone which only took us about 5 hours due to her wanting to eat and "help" with everything. It's amazing the amount she wants to help you but sometimes you know a job could be done so much quicker if you could do it alone. She has been a bit violent at preschool this week and it's really dawned on me how I am now another parent to her which means learning how her parents want her to be brought up. I had two days with her not at preschool this week and one of those days Nick was off work so he came with me on a trip to Timaru to take the girls swimming. Thank goodness he was there as I'm not sure how I would of done it without him. There's a strap on the baby changing table for holding Eliza down but even still I would of been panicking she could wiggle out if I was getting Cassidy or myself ready. Him being there allowed me to change one while the other one was held or kept entertained. Eliza didn't like the pool much today because I think it was rather cold but towards the end she started to enjoy being jumped up and down in the water. We enjoyed a packed lunch together before heading home. It was hard work but so rewarding for the girls and nice to spend time with Nick as well. This week has also been great for Cassidy napping. Everyday she has fallen asleep on the way home from preschool or gone down for a nap with no issue. She is a joy after she's napped so it's always an achievement when she naps easily. There's been a large number of calves this week so Nick has been working hard and then helping with milking after if they have finished in time. He's lost so much weight from the hard work and now most of his home clothes from the UK are massive on him. I'm slightly jealous but will have to plan more active activities with the girls to try and catch up! Hopefully moving forward we continue to become even more part of the family and farm.Read more