Shona...

This is my niece Shona...

Shona is 18 tomorrow.

I have to write a piece for Shona's Scrapbook .. about Shona, using my favourite memory of Shona as inspiration..

and therein lies the problem..

There are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many to choose from.. so where do I start??  I actually don't remember the first time I met Shona.. I know when her Mum met my brother I'd just got married and I was possibly  pregnant with Jake when I was introduced to the small person who was to become my favourite niece... so thankfully I can blame my fuzzy baby brain for forgetting the important details of our first meeting.. or maybe it was that she talked my ear off and it was so traumatic I blocked it out??  hehehe I'm just kidding... or am I?  Shona is not known for being quiet and shy after all..bless her talkative little socks!

So..favourite memory .. favourite memory... favourite memory...hmmm...

Ok..I think, my most favourite memory of Shona is of the day she visited us just after Jake was born.. it was Halloween and there was a knock on the door - a reeeeeeeeeally quiet one cos we'd just had a baby and she was trying not to wake him!!

I opened the door and there was a teeny little girl dressed as a witch complete with back-combed hair and a green face with warts and all and she looked up at me with a big smile and said "trick or treeeeeeeeeeeeeeat Auntie Jennie!!!!!!!!" which was fine.. but then she gave ME sweets!!  

I think that's the only time Shona gave me food...lol Of course then she set up camp on my sofa and helped me eat them but the thought was there and as we all know, that the only thing that counts!!

Since then she's been a constant source of amusement and love..  like the time the seagull pooped on her in Scarborough and we all laughed and instead of throwing a teenage tantrum she took it in good fun... and was rewarded by Uncle Richard getting his own fair share of seagull poop, which we all agreed was much more fun for us.  There's the time Rich told her he'd eaten her share of the pie left in the fridge and she almost kissed him when she found out he was fibbing.. or maybe the time we went on holiday to the Norfolk Broads and she threw herself into the task of finding out all she could about the birds and wildlife and then made us all sit quietly and listen as she told us all about it.

She doesn't moan (well not much) even when we went to Starbucks and Heather would ONLY go to the toilet if Shona was taking her..and then she made her take her about eleven times..

She's not afraid to join in and make a fool of her teenage self and jump in some puddles sometimes..

She's patient and kind and she makes Easter baskets and plays with the kids even when I'm sure she'd rather be in her room by herself...with her head in a book..talking of books... she read Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie over and over and over so many times she knows the words off by heart now and she does it all with a smile and a "Ok ok ok!! Come on.. lets read it again!" 

She's a total superstar.. and not only that.. but she makes a mean cuppa..too..

We did try to change her name to "Put 'kettle on Shona Mona" a few times but she wasn't having it..

What else can I say?? Just one more thing...

We love you so much Shona.. don't change..

and stick 'kettle on babe  ..just cos it's your birthday doesn't mean you get out of it y'know!! ;)