A Whole Lotta Lovin'

See this ball of happiness?
Just a bit of cuteness from school Cross Country races today.

But not all was smiling and laughing.
There were plenty of tears today.
If you've been around for a while you might remember last year's cross country, where Miss Fab won her race in tremendous style.

This year we knew it would be a harder race. Three times as many runners, girls from Year Four as well as Year Three, twice the distance to run... We tried to prepare our little champion as best we could.

She seemed to have it sussed when she told me yesterday: "Don't worry mum, I know I won't come last, and all that matters is that I do my best and enjoy it."
Yeah, sweetie, that's the attitude!

The reality of keeping your head in the right space on Race Day though, is something altogether different. When you wake up to a tummy dancing with butterflies, its hard to keep calm.
Before we even left home she was begging not to run and complaining of a headache. She ran anyway.

When I saw her come down the field, I knew she was struggling. She was walking, obviously exhausted, but then dug deep and ran the rest of the way. She came in tenth in a field of over sixty girls -which is awesome - but Miss Fab was gutted by how she felt running.

"I couldn't find my breath, mummy!" she told me in tears, as she collapsed into my arms.
It's a big jump going from Year Two to Year Three.

As a non-runner, I admire my girl's courage and guts. She ran even when she didn't feel well. She couldn't find her rhythm and still managed to come tenth. I am so impressed.
And grateful to have such a gutsy girl for my daughter.

One of the coolest things though, was how Dash had got all his friends cheering for his sister. Miss Fab said that as she ran around the field she could hear them chanting all the way, "GO AB-BY! GO AB-BY!"

She went over after the race to thank her big brother for his support. It brought tears to my eyes, I tellya.
Loving the love that is growing between brother and sister lately. Grateful for every bit of love and kindness I see sprouting between them.

{"Tenth" is awesome... Dash came tenth as well!}

Dash was running too. He ran a good race, and managed to sprint at the end and pass some other runners, coming in tenth - one better than last year in a tougher field.

{Which made me grateful that my competitive son is showing strong signs of good sportsmanship - the ability to give his best and still smile if he doesn't come first.}

{Dash sprints and finishes strong, after giving 100%}

 Of course Dash had a very enthusiastic cheering section too...

If you can't beat em, join em, I say!

I can't help it if I get a bit carried away when my kids are involved!

We've been getting so much closer since I've been focusing on regular "play" with each of them, (which of course I LOVE and am hugely grateful for).

Fridays are mine and Scrag's special day together now that I've dropped Friday morning kindy. {This was a play session involving a family of giraffes and a rug-swimming race in my messy bedroom.}

Scrag loves it. And wants to bring the giraffe family on all kinds of field trips...

I just have to remember to put my camera where he can't reach it! Yep, these are SELF PORTRAITS that I never knew he took until I went to upload my photos... {grateful my camera survived}

And finally. Mum and dad have moved into their new house... and passed on a few treasures to me that they no longer have space for. Like this antique sewing machine table which now decorates the corner of my duck-egg blue living room. Love Love Love it. And you can bet I was grateful.

So grateful for this and all my other new treasures. Like the antique china lamp bases Mum gave me today. But you'll have to wait til next week for a glimpse of them, because I have rambled on for long enough now.

What? You're waiting to find out who won the Bakers Delight vouchers?
OK, here goes...

Hot Cross Bun Voucher Winners
(1) Jen
(2) KiwiMama
(3) Linda B

Congrats girls! Email me on greatfun4kids@live.com and let me know your address and I'll pop them in the post to you!

PLUS, some good news on the gluten free buns front - BakeWorks are bringing out their NEW Gluten Free hot cross buns in supermarkets from next week - so if you're in NZ and gluten free... look out for those!

{Will Miss Fab need to go incognito now that she's famous?}

Ooh just one more little thing...

Me and Miss Fab got blog-recognised in Countdown today!

It was after cross country and she was a bit under the weather so I signed her out of school and we went to visit Mum and dad, stopping to pick up some gluten free treats to take for morning tea.
We were in the bread aisle, when a smiley lady came up to me and said, "Are you Simone? I read your blog!"
She recognised Miss Fab from her photos, and told me that I had inspired her to start her own blog... isn't that great?
So *hi Claire!* You totally made our day, and Miss Fab was buzzing all day because she's "famous".
...................

This was actually a very mixed-bag week, with some awfulness and some awesomeness. In this post I have focused on my highs, because as PaisleyJade says:

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.