Thursday photo #213
Some weeks, I get to Thursday and can’t believe how much we’ve crammed in. This was definitely one of those weeks. Reaching the end of the school holidays is always a milestone. It’s amazing to have the girls around but it took me until yesterday to stop feeling overwhelmed with work.
The wedding of the year
My sister got married last weekend. She looked beautiful, the weather was kind and Libby and Lia didn’t get into a fist fight whilst walking down the aisle as flower girls. It was the perfect day.
It’s quite a unique thing growing up with siblings you don’t live with. In some ways, you get the best of both worlds. I’ve never argued with my brother or sisters. No fights, disagreements or even getting fed up of each other. We were rarely together for more than a couple of days.
It was also lonely. Seeing the close relationship they had with each other, the shared childhood. It’s one of the things I enjoy the most about my girls’ bond now, knowing they’ve got each other. As I’ve got older, I’ve realised the value of having a close friendship. Whether that’s with a sister or a best friend. I hope I can teach my girls how important that is so they’ll stick together.
I was so grateful to my sister for letting Libby and Lia be flower girls. I hope they will always grow up feeling part of the family on both my mum and my dad’s sides. And gestures like this give me hope that they will.
Swimming
Having turned four a couple of weeks ago, it was finally Lia’s turn to start swimming lessons last weekend. She’s not as confident as Libby, and I worried a little bit that she wouldn’t want to join in. But from the moment she got in until the moment she got out, she had a huge grin all over her face.
She has now realised she can touch the bottom of the pool and doesn’t need to wear her float. She’s bouncing around off the bottom to get along, putting her face in the water a little bit and not panicking. She has come so much further in that one lesson than I ever thought she would, and it restores my hope that one day she’ll be as confident as Libby.
I do think that when it comes to exercise, it’s important to set a good example. And at the moment, swimming is the one thing I’m doing quite well at. On Monday, I swam in the river for nearly an hour and a half with a friend. It was hard going against the current, but also beautiful, idyllic and great exercise. I’m still working with XLS nutrition and am really pleased with how easy it has been to maintain the weight loss I achieved with them. I had hoped to try to lose a little more this week, but life got in the way. So next week I will definitely try harder.
Our Thursday photo #213
The coming week is an exciting one for Libby. She’s doing her first ever triathlon, and will finally be turning six. Having had her party a few weeks ago, her birthday seems to have taken a long time coming. Despite this, I don’t think it will compete with the excitement of being a flower girl. It was one of the best days either of them has had for a long time.
What beautiful photos of the girls! How exciting to be flower girls. I can’t imagine growing up without siblings and am awe that you’ve never argued with yours! My brother and I used to fight a lot. I rarely argued with my sister, as she is much younger, but we have had our moments!
Thank you, they had such a lovely time being flower girls.
Nat.x
Oh your girls look beautiful. I love their dresses and how lovely that they got to be flower girls for your sister. It is quite a different experience having siblings you grow up with and ones that you don’t – I had a mixture of both and I am certainly a little closer to the siblings that I grew up with. Your girls always look like they have the most wonderful sibling bond. Glad that Lia is enjoying her swimming lessons x
Thank you, that’s a really interesting take on it, I’ve never really had the perspective of anybody who grew up with both siblings they lived with and siblings they didn’t because I’ve never asked my sisters about it. Totally makes sense that the siblings you grow up with would be the ones they were closest to. My girls do have a lovely sibling bond and I think of you all a lot now because Jessica and Sophie as well as Laura Bear and Beanie’s two girls often remind me of my two when I read your blogs. Sisters growing up close in age seem to have a lovely bond with each other and I’m sure it must be so difficult for Sophie now that Jessica is gone.
Nat.x