Hudson and his love of socks and laundry

Hudson ... what would we do without him and ... sometimes ... what would we do with him?!? I cannot tell you how many single socks have been chomped by him over the years and you have to be very quick to catch him! He also loves laundry day - no sooner are the sheets taken off the bed and he runs away and rolls himself in them. Just as well he is so cute about it all!

Whose toy is it anyway?

Joshua has recently discovered just how much fun Huddy can be. Hudson has a fetish (that is an understatement) for soft stuffed toys and has recently inherited about 8 from the school gala. He loves nothing more than to come up to you with the toy hanging out of his mouth, and wants you to grab one end and play tug-of-war. When you finally manage to get the toy off him, the aim is to then lay on it or hide it in your clothes and the funniest thing is Hudson then trying to burrow underneath you to get it back. Tonight the game was between Joshua and Hudson and Joshua was shrieking with laughter as Hudson tickled him with his cold wet nose trying to snuggle in and retrieve his soft toy.

It starts off innocently enough. Josh lays on top of teddy and Hudson is quite oblivious.

Josh trying to convince Huddy to give it up - no ways says Huddy, it's mine!

And to prove his point, Hudson almost pulls Josh off the bed and retrieves HIS toy

Fitness Training

The inter-house athletics at Scots is looming and we have also been given rugby practise homework! So tonight we all headed down to the park to run 3 laps and then some rugby passes up and down the field with Daddy. Huddy loves being part of it all but then doesn't quite keep the rules and now and then takes himself off to the beach!

One of those beautiful Wellington days

Today was one of those days ... although there was a slight autumn crispness in the air, there was also lots of brilliant blue sky and sunshine and absolutely zero wind. One thing can be said for Wellingtonians .. when there is a gorgeous day, just about everyone is out there enjoying it ! After school/late afternoon, the boys (Josh and Huddy) and I headed over the hills to the beach. We didn't take our swimming gear but Josh insisted on stripping down to his underwear and playing 'tag' with the waves. His laughter and Hudson's happy barking blended with the crashing of the waves and the hissing of the water as it retreated. We were sorry when the temperatures dropped and we had to head home.

Beautiful Wellington, thank you for a glorious day.

Mr Fred, the Dentist

Our appointment immediately after school today was with Dr Fred, the orthodontist. Joshua is having a brace made for his upper and bottom teeth. It will be a night brace in that he needs to wear it only at night plus for an additional one-hour each day (which we will do either after school or in the evening). The purpose of the brace is to re-distribute Joshua's teeth but mainly to realign his jaw which has some discrepancies. All this is aimed to help him swallow better, speak more clearly and place his tongue correctly in his mouth, guide and align his growing 'big' teeth and help correct his mouth-only breathing habit (phew, sounds like a lot doesn't it?!?!)

They say that an ideal age for children to have this orthodontal work is between 6 and 9 years old and by starting this young the treatment needs to be for only 6-12 months approximately, although obviously it depends on each child. Today we had a quick appointment to simply take upper and bottom impressions. Josh had all sorts of contraptions in his mouth to have various photos taken (obviously so we can have 'before' and 'after' photos). He did not enjoy having a mouth full of some form of setting solution and he was not impressed with the mint-flavoured water! Oh dear ... it may take some convincing to get him back there in 3 weeks time!

We started off quite happy in the dental chair .. but then after much stretching and pushing and pulling, Josh was VERY relieved to get out of the chair!

Bubbles!

We could learn a lot from children ... they seem to have the ability to have fun in most things they do ... tonight Josh had fun simply lathering up with soap in the shower and blowing bubbles - and I might add, some of them were very large ! Mmm, that might also explain why we are going through a great deal of flowing soap at the moment!

Training for a second time this weekend

Friday night training was obviously not enough for Coach Kevin, so he called for another training session today, Sunday. It rained all afternoon but then the clouds parted and we trained for over an hour in brilliant sunshine ... it was meant to be afterall! Today was great fun ... the Mustangs were all fired up and Kevin made the practise serious but fun at the same time. One thing is for sure ... Coach Kevin is determined that the Mustangs are going to be well and truly ready for their first official game on Saturday 9th April. Josh played as HALF-BACK today and seemed to really enjoy it!

Josh is determined to hang onto that ball!

And who says that beauty and rugby don't go together ... beautiful Maia

As with every game and every practise we always end the same ... with our Mustangs chant (and it seems to get louder and louder every week!)

Friends to play over the weekend

We had a weekend of playdates ... Emma & Sam came over after rugby practise on Friday night and all 3 of them went down to the park to play with the inflatable rocket that Daddy had bought back from the UK a few years ago; Fionn & Ciaren came over on Saturday and we then took all three boys to see the movie 'Rango'; and then Ben & Jake came over for a play down on the park on Sunday. We are so fortunate to have the school park literally over the fence - it is like having our own huge back lawn with a sports circuit and play equipment ... and yet the wonderful thing is we don't have to maintain it! Visiting friends love it. At this stage, we still always go down to the park with Josh - and his friends - but in a few years time we have visions of Josh down there with his mates just 'hanging' and having fun. But in the meantime, we don't wish away these special times of Josh wanting us to be there with him.

The Start of the Rugby Season

A sure sign that summer is coming to an end is the start of rugby training. And this year it is 'serious'. Josh is the youngest Mustang and the team are playing in the U9's with 10-a-side and they play on roughly half a pitch sideways - so lots of running and lots of fitness required! New rules including restarts by kickoffs and fending is allowed (although not encouraged thank goodness!).

This season they are also given set positions to play. Coach Kevin has put a lot of time and thought into placing the Mustangs in positions suited to their strengths. Joshua has been given the position of HALF-BACK or in northern-hemisphere-speak, SCRUM HALF. This is a great position for Josh as he will be the lynch pin between getting the ball from the forwards and getting it out to the backs. He won't be involved in the scrum with all the pushing and as long as he has quick hands, he should avoid being 'munched' by the opposition. Fear is a wonderful motivator so I am sure Josh will learn quick passing!

We have 14 Mustangs (10 boys and 4 girls) and tonight they met to 'pound their hooves' at Wakefield Park.

We feel very lucky that the Mustangs have 3 coaches this year. Coach Kevin who is quite exceptional remains as the head coach and he is supported by Tom's dad Coach Rob, and Joshua's dad Coach Paul (just quietly ... Josh is delighted that Daddy is one of the coaches). This year the Mustangs also have an 'official' Manager ... yes Joshua's Mummy - me!! Now that the coaching is becoming more technical, the Club (and NZRUF) suggest separating the roles of coach and manager. So I will be doing all the work behind the scenes no doubt!

Well it is going to be an 'interesting' season and this year will truly be the time to find out who wants to play rugby and ... who doesn't.

Josh looking at tad worried at the first team briefing by Coach Kevin

Don't be fooled by this skinny little line-up ... looks can be deceiving!

Josh trying out at his new position as HALF-BACK placing the ball into the scrum

Scots School Gala

Every 2 years Scots College hosts a Gala - and it is a very special event. However because of the recent earthquake disaster in Christchurch, they toyed with the idea to cancel it as it did not seem appropriate or wise to run a fun and fund-raising event for the College's benefit when the country was coming to terms with such a huge tragedy down south. On balance they decided to go ahead with the Gala and use it as an opportunity for the Scots community to be able to play an active part in helping the citizens of Christchurch and to make a really tangible contribution to help people get back on their feet. So this year all net proceeds from the Gala are being donated to Christchurch.

It is somewhat ironical that the theme of this year's Scots Gala is "Heroes" - the very services that have been working 24 hours a day to rescue those injured by the Christchurch earthquake. The Gala theme was chosen mid-last year (before the first quake in September) to showcase and profile the range of emergency services to the boys and the wider community - a rather fortuitous choice it turns out to be. It is heart-warming, yet again, to be part of such a caring community and the turnout today at the Fair was overwhelming.

We had a great time and Josh tried out just above every side-show there was. Malcolm & Jill joined us and we all sat in the sun and sampled some of the culinary delights on offer and just soaked up the music and the carnival atmosphere. Joshua loved it but possibly the highlight for him was having the lucky ticket no. 44 which won the raffle which was a HUGE Easter Basket full to overflowing of so many 'things' chocolate!

Hudson didn't miss out either - Joshua was given so much money at the start of the Gala, all in $1 and $2 coins. Out of that money he had to buy himself lunch and also two soft toys for Hudson. The funny thing though was when we returned to the Gala mid-afternoon after receiving a phone call telling us we had won the raffle, we were approached by Mrs Bell who said "Joshua, have I got the deal for you!" - She presented him with a large bag and he was able to go and collect ANYTHING that was left ... for free ! Josh couldn't believe it ... he ran around and came back with 5 more soft toys for Hudson and 2 jigsaw puzzles for Daddy (albeit of flower gardens!)

This was VERY popular - throwing a wet sponge at the Principal, Mr Cassie. Josh had a powerful throw and got him right on the nose!

Huddy couldn't believe it .. so many new soft toys for him to love - but alas as the next picture shows TOO much loving Huddy, reindeer teddy has already lost an eye ... gentle kisses!

The winning raffle ticket - one HUGE basket of everything chocolate!