12 years old for our pocket rocket Zoe

On the eve of your birthday,look at me go darling daughter, I've finished this years birthday blog xo

Another year older, another amazing year of memories made. You literally amaze us all with your determination, motivation, leadership, humility and maturity. The time came in late 2024 to finally campaign for School Captain. Following weeks of drafting, editing and practice you gave a wonderfully delivered speech and achieved your goal being voted in as CDS School Captain for 2025. Your report card could not be more impressive. From the girl who could barely read a sentence in year 3 to straight Bs at the end of year 5 you have really shown how determined you are. Your body is rapidly changing, and you take every change in your stride, comfortably asking me to book you waxing appointments for your legs and armpits. I love that you are not embarrassed by these changes and still feel comfortable requesting help and answers from me when you are unsure.

You still find girl friendships a bit challenging. Like me, you prefer at this age to just ignore the gossip and drama and walk away from conflict in groups. Unfortunately, like me, this makes you a bit of a target for the girls, particularly as you often just join the boys in a game of touch or basketball to avoid the bitchiness. You’ve learnt that jealous behaviour and negative talk behind your back can come from even the closet of friends. The harsh truth of it all is that it doesn’t matter how close your friendship is, through the teenage years insecurities rattle girls self-esteem, and it’s easier to tear each other apart than lift each other up. Get that armour on Zoe, show them how strong and resilient you are. Be grateful that these qualities have been shown to you now, understand that it’s not you it’s them, continue to shine your light bright, be proud of your achievements, particularly those you work so hard at and understand it’s now your decision as to whether you accept that behaviour from them or you don’t.

A sweet blond haired athletic boy named Taylor Bugdon from school became your first boyfriend. You spoke regularly over kids messenger, saw each other at Touch football carnivals and he was always very supportive and proud of you. Eventually though, like all first romances it ended. You broke it off, telling him your focus for 2025 was academics and sport, fortunately you remain very good friends. Our relationship continues to be really positive, maybe it’s the additional time we get together now Cooper is more independent. You are still the apple of your Dads eye, only you could have gotten away with bringing a new puppy home despite Dad not being super on board.

This past year you were selected to compete in Yarra Glen Victoria for National Cross country. Unfortunately, in the lead up you were stuck in a moon boot recovering from injury, you hated every second of being unable to bear weight on your foot and you felt enormous pressure to recover in time for your race. Your goals were simple for Cross Country, make the ACT team, (something you haven’t managed to do before) and not place last nationally. You accomplished both those things, but it wasn’t enough for you. In the end you came away even more determined for 2025. While following you across the country for sport costs us a small fortune, this time with you is always up there with my favourite things. Your resilience to turn up to track the day after you missed selection into the SSACT track and field team was really inspiring! You also joined a second athletics club. Driving in every Saturday morning to Woden Thunder to compete, you loved the competition, and the new friendships forged with the girls and are excited to continue to compete there next year. Keep being you Zoe. You are perfect just the way you are inside and out. We are so proud of everything you do. Don’t let the insecurities of others get you down and don’t let your own insecurities change how you see yourself! You are fierce, you are smart, you are resilient, and you are strong.

You are: Weight: 36.8kilo | Height: 150cm | Favourite food: tuna morney, subway | Favourite singer: Taylor Swift, | Favourite song: Cruel Summer T.S | Hates: Liars, bullies and people who talk about you behind your back. | You play: Athletics, Touch footy and Netball and you are still smashing goals with each of them | You want to be: an Athlete and a school teacher

Highlights: Your athletic training with Rogue Track and Field saw you come in leaps and bounds over the past 12 months. ACT Champion for High Jump with a PB jump of 1.35m, and multiple medals across different competitions in 400, 800 and 1500m each event shaving seconds off your previous personal bests | A trip to Sydeny with mum and Oma to ride the trains and ferries, shopping at Paddys market, swimming at Manly beach and walking around Circule Quay | Finally getting to go to school camp | CDS age champion for athletics 2024 | CDS age champion for swimming 2025 | Your report card, was a standout at the end of 2024 | Elected School Captain for 2025 | Best and Fairest for YNA in 2024 | Your first NSW State Cup for Touch Football in the u14 girls Bulls team | Stormers Athletics 2025 Club Champion, Club Person of the year and u12 Age Champion. |

Custard Carter - 7 years old

You still love every ball sport ever, You're not allowed to take balls to school now, because apparently it always ends in too much competition. You still crack me up with how much you love to play and commentate your own plays. School is still going well for you. You have found your own condifidence away from Mason, you have your own voice in the school yard and you absoluetly love Math. You need a bit of encouragement to read.You dont enjoy it and you struggle with it. I guess it all ties in with your speech delays. They are basically non existenyt now though, although when you get excited you still stumble over a few words! I'll pop in on the record now, as your mum, I would hedge my bets to say you have some dyslexia like your sister. We'll keep working at it and I know you'll find your way with reading soon enough.

You still love a cuddle, you still reach for my hand and you are still full of kisses before bedtime. You are more open with your feelings now, it's obvious when youre upset, because you still recluse, but you're also much more vocal in standing up for yourself. The other kids are convinced you're my favourite. I dont have a favourite, but I can see why they'd think that. Youre softer natured than the other boys, well, thats not exactly true, Coop once used to be like you are. Sweet, kind and always checking on me. I give you longer cuddles because you dont let go as swiftly as the others do. You still love your league, watching it, playing it, practicing it. You are not a fan of summer touch. Its just not suited to your strong heavy body. You my dear are strong, at athletics you have such great strength in throws!

I often wonder if its because you boys have each other, but the friendship ties you and Mase have aren't as strong as Coopers. Dont get me wrong you enjoying playing with your mates, and beg mne to take you to birthday parties but it's different. You are far more content playing at home or out on the street with the kids than with your school mates. Different interests I guess? You are an outdoors kid, happy fishing, camping, riding your bike.... I get the sense your school friends are more into video games. I adore how much you love watching Cooper and his mates. You genuinely believe his friends are your friends, and youre lucky because they all love when you tag along (Coop not so much).

Theres not a single Rushby kid who loves Forster as much as you do. You love the waves, the body boarding, the fishing and snorkling. You are so brave out there, happily snorkling for as long as I'll let you, venturing well out of my reach to following fish or to see an octopus or string ray. You make my heart sing. I am so proud of who you are becoming Carter. Keep doing you mate, the world is your oyster!

you are: 1.28cm tall you weigh 24.5 kilo You've lost 5 baby teeth you love: playing football, playing starwars lego on PS5, fishing your favourite food is: anything that Cooper likes, but also spag bol and tuna morney your best friend is Mason but you play with Jordan and Ethan at school and Ollie is still a footy favourite. you hate: When Cooper just wants to play with his mates, Zoe bossing you around. Reading. The funniest thing out of your mouth this year after winning best on ground at footy one week "I really deserved this, I made some really great tackles today" - and you know what bud, you really did!

Mustard Mason - 7 years old

You are firey and loud, you are caring and strong, you are smart and curious. A world without Mason is a world i wouldnt want to live in. This past year you have thrived at reading, you love asking questions, decoding words and independantly thinking about things. You deeply care about your family and closest friends, often coming in after playing out on the street with tears in your eyes because you think you've hurt someones feelings. You love the rules, but gosh you always teeter on the edge of wanting to break them all. Especially when you are with your cousins. You love time on the farm when Dean and Adam are there, you relish time at Forster and are getting braver and braver in the water. You spend countless hours ourside playing. Although I quickly tire of the constant in and out of the house on weekends I know eventually I will forget the chaos of you with the kids on Disco drive playing, laughing getting into mischief!

Your teacher for year 2, Ms Helen Hardy has been a godsend, you adore her and show such respect in class for learning. You remind me so much of Cooper at this age when everything his teachers said was gospel, even when its not! During school holidays you will often spend a day or three on the farm and while you always come back tired you come back happy, with wide open eyes, filled with stories of driving the truck with poppy or hearing about the bear stories Oma tells of Canada.

This past year we’ve supported you in playing footy, soccer and even athletics. We’ve been to parks, zoos and sporting events, we’ve camped by the river, paddleboarded, been on boats and swam in oceans. I've spent my days and nights watching you grow and grow and grow inside and out! You make me smile so big! You and Carter have sleep overs every week in each others beds. I wonder if that will ever stop. I find it unlikely, you still insist when you grown up and get married you are Carter will share a bed and your respective wives will share another.... gosh I hope they're a twin pair too, or they might find it very odd! You love to hear Cooper cheer for you at games, you love to tackle hard and pride yourself on being able to out run most players. No special cake request this year, which both made me incredibly sad but in our busy lives also very grateful. Instead you instisted on dinner at the soilders club with whatever you wanted for dessert!

Your best friends are: Carter, Ashlyn Kerr, Ethan, Ollie and Brock. You have 4 adult teeth You play league, soccer, touch and athletics You love spending time with the kids on the street, PlayStation games, reading, when Charlie elf arrives, time with me alone. Favourite food: Nachos, Tacos or Burrittos. Barbeto sauce (a concoction of tomato and BBQ sauce youve made up) You hate: when things aren’t fair, tomatos, red onion Carter not sharing, being left out. The funniest thing you said this year "look at that sign (no left turn sign) is says no throwing boomarangs" You are 127cm tall Your weight: 23kg

Our first teenager_ Happy 13th Birthday Coop

 This year I'm going to attack this entry a different way. Each big moment has a title and a little blub about my thoughts on it. There is nothing that you do that doesn't make me immensely proud. From giving NRL another go, to jumping on a plane completely solo to Cairns and all your amazing accomplishments at high school, you make my life so worth while and I think you are growing into the most amazing man. 

Puberty: Look I'll be honest, there really haven't been that many teenage blow ups, but you have stepped right on the puberty train. The boys will often comment about the physical changes in your body which you always reply "its normal, one day it'll happen to you too". You are close to 164cm. This time next year you'll tower over me. Your shoulders are broad but you still have a slight boyish look to your grin.

Sport: In the past 12 months you really shone with your Hockey, you trialed for the u14s ACT school Hockey side and made shadow for the team.  We travelled up to Tamworth for NSW State Titles for Hockey and you had a really cracking competition, coming away 4th. You took out most improved for your Wests team after narrowly missing out on winning the grand final for a second year in a row, going down to Central again. It was your second year of AFL and you really came into your own. As one of the bigger kids you put your body on the line each game winning Runners up best and fairest  this year. Never letting anyone tell you what you cant do, you even joined the Yass girls at the Young Cherry Festival netball Gala weekend, wearing your tie-dyed tee shirt and having the best time playing with Zoe and Bronte and Abby. Your final memorable sporting moment is your first season of touch footy. I'm not sure why you thought you should give it a go but in the summer of 23/24 you played socially to try to make friends before you started High School. From there you backed yourself to try out for the Representative team and found yourself travelling to carnivals with a great bunch of boys.

The unholy trinity  (You, Liam & Lewis) at Graduation

Your year 6 graduation: Boy did I cry. I cried for the weeks leading into it, the day, the night and then for a few days afterward. I was not expecting to be so emotional about it, I think it was a culmination of being glad to be done with St Matts, feeling like I was going to be losing my solid mum friendships and nerves for you leaving the security of your friends for the unknown of Yass High School.

Girls: While you and Bronte managed to stay really good friends (almost best friends I'd say), towards the end of 2023 you and Abby McEvoy decided to "go steady". You spent a lot of the summer together and I get the sense you really liked her so it hurt when she broke up with you a text message. From there you really had quite the string of short relationships.

Your first solo flight to Cairns for a week camping with Paxton: What an amazing experience this was for you. In Sept 2023 I drove you to Sydney and popped you on a plane direct to Cairns, you literally didnt even bat and eye. Through the doors you went onto that plan and up to camp, hike and explore Cairns with the Cordwells. They took you back up through the Daintree on the skyrail, took on the BIG FISHY speed boat and headed off camping where you had the time of your life! I felt like when you returned home and I picked you up again from the airport you'd grown so much emotionally. You had this new twinkle in your eye, like you knew the world was now at your feet.

A phone: ugh, this one i'm not proud of. I wish I could have been a stronger parent and said no, but how could I? You were starting a new school where you would have been immediately outcaste for not being connected. You spend entirely way too long doom scrolling that thing. I have stood firm on tik tok but caved on snap chat.... dont ask my logic, i dont know why, I guess one brain numbing platform is enough and Snap chat is the only way your friends communicate plans. 

High School: Like a duck to water. you have nailed stepping into highschool. You've found a great bunch of friends, work hard to achieve good marks and so far not a single phone call from the school about you jumping in class (if you know you know). You even, made it through (surprising yourself and me) to Regional XC. So far it's been a breeze. 

So here's to your 13th year mate. Keep smiling, keep talking to me and keep being you, because you're pretty freaking amazing!

Best Mates: Liam Carter, Travis Rattenbury, Bronte Brown, Lachlan Griffiths. Lewis Kelsey.
Shoe Size: 11
All your adult teeth
Weight: 41kg
Height: 164cm

High School Photo

Last day Primary School

Fav Song: Give it Away - Red Hot Chilli Peppers Fav Book: Hunger Games Fav Movie: Grown ups 2 Food: Nachos Favoutite subject at school: Maths and History You play: AFL, Hockey, Touch Footy, Rugby League You love: Camping, swimming, video games, fishing and hanging out with mates