No 9

No3 Boy was 9 today.  We were due to be leaving the house at 7.30am for football matches in various places around the countryside, but due to the recent rain and flooding in the Hunter all the matches were called off - yay!  We got a lie-in, Boy got to open his presents, play games, build Lego and we generally chilled out together.

Biggest Boy had a piano exam after lunch which he passed.  I have never seen him quite so shaken afterwards!  I don't think even he realized how nervous he'd been.  He has been learning some hard lessons of late to do with working hard and getting out of things what you put in.  I hope for his sake he learns them sooner rather than later.

Back to No3 Boy, we got home and finished decorating his cake.  I had a little assistance from No2 Boy who considers himself an expert in the fields of Lego and modeling.

For those of you unfamiliar with the latest Lego craze, this is Zane from the Ninjago sets.

(Edited to add that I have written up a tutorial for this cake here)

After cake we got (relatively) spruced up (they're a scruffy lot)  and went into Honeysuckle for dinner and the Winter Heat events put on by LiveSites.  These events include fire installations, live music, activities for children and this evening fire-eaters, fire-twirlers and beds of nails!

This one taken by No2 Boy with my phone - I love it!

It's been quite a revealing day for me today, actually.  No3 Boy is always a very sweet, loving, kind boy with a fairly mental side.  While many kids would be possessive of their presents, he has spent all day sharing, giving and thinking about his siblings.  No2 Boy is not known for these qualities but when I told the 3 of them that their sister had gone to the front of the crowd on her own because she couldn't climb up to their vantage point, without being told, or telling me, he went and found her and stayed with her until the end.  And No1 told me in the car after his exam that he was grateful to God for helping him to be calm while he was playing his pieces.
It's so lovely to have a wee glimpse, every now and then, of the decent human beings that they will become.  Bit more of it would be nice...