From Rachel

"It was 7am on a Thursday morning as my phone sang its wake up call. After a moment of fumbling about, my hand discovered and silenced it. As my brain struggled to consciousness two thoughts dominated. One, sitting up past 1am to read Persuasion is not the wisest course of action - particularly when you have read said novel before and are fully aware of the outcome. And two? Geoff would arrive in 30 minutes and it was important that I look awake and organised....I was certain of one thing. I needed coffee.

My dear brother arrived 20 minutes later, laughed at my bed head and pjs, plopped his son into my arms, handed me a bag of clothes, and drove off. And so commenced my time Elijah.

One of my goals in life is to be a great auntie. The kind of auntie that the kids want to spend time with. The kind of auntie that they will think of fondly, even when they grow up. The kind of auntie who will induce happy memories, and so will still be visited, even if she turns into a crazy old lady with lots of cats (we all have to plan for worst case scenarios folks). With those cheerful thoughts in mind, I looked at my nephew and said "Hey Booger, you want cinnamon rolls for breakfast?" These words acted like magic, and he promptly went from snuggling against me half asleep, to bright eyed and wriggling, "Yeah!". Cinnamon rolls just out of the oven, and fresh coffee. Elijah giggling, slurping his milk and displaying an appetite to match his dad's. As I contemplated the scene before me, I decided that the day was off to a pretty good start.


I had also decided that we should go to the toy store - regardless of age, toy stores are fun. It was a big store, there was wide-eyed wonder at the rows upon rows of toys. Then I felt Elijah pull my hand 'Come on auntie'. Oh right, yes, we were here for the kid. We wandered up and down the aisles, checking out the race cars, confirming that anything pink is not for boys, and stocking up on toy swords. Because little boys need weapons of warfare. Since then much of our time has been spent in sword-fighting, and during these fights I am frequently required to die. After being informed that I was dead, I flopped to the ground and decided it was the perfect opportunity to rest. Elijah looked at me, poked me with his sword and ordered "Get up!". "I can't. I'm dead!" He looked at me for a moment, and moved closer. I braced myself, fully expecting that he was going to jump on me. But he didn't. He leaned down, gave me a kiss, and said "Now you can be awake again!" Who teaches them such cuteness??

Everyday we go through the alphabet, Elijah loves doing this - although I'm not entirely sure whether it's a love of learning or the opportunity to laugh at my British pronunciation! A danger of having me as an aunt is that I might decide that being three years old and American is no excuse for not learning the Hebrew alphabet. Elijah may not know which alphabet is his alphabet, but as long as it comes with flashcards, he's happy.

After a morning of cutting and sticking, Elijah looked at me quite seriously and declared that he had been working hard, and was done now. Work was done. It was time to play, the sun was shinning. It was time to play with water pistols. By lunch time, we were both wet and tired. Elijah was so tired, that he lay down on the ground! Definitely time to re-fuel!

So dear sister-in-law, this is how we have been spending our days! If I had more time I could tell you about the amazing things we have formed out of play-doh, the ciabatta bread that Elijah helped to make, the battles with pecking hens, hide-and-seek between the silage bales, and the search for Father's Day presents...but it's time for Elijah to get up from his nap - so all those things will have to wait :)"

He gets his little chair, and just sits. Watching.

The slide is still going strong after all these years
It started with bemused glances....
Slowly the pieces started coming together.
I was quite impressed.