Wintry Settings

[Krystin Knight]

Krystin had every reason to be here at the Lakefront. She was glad that her friends were here with her, those that she had grown up with. They had managed to get to the same school, thanks to whomever they were staying with. The waves washed upon the shore, the newly announced Slytherin was displeased. One would very well see why. She snuggled her white jacket around her, because it was a little cold here. Her brown boots could see how cold the water was, and whomever was thinking of swimming was a little crazy. Krystin was disappointed that the Glam Squad she had heard of before were nothing but Slytherins, and now, out of her group of three, she was the only Slytherin. She did not like Gryffindors, and LeAnn and Aphrodite turned out to not be Slytherin material at all. They most certainly acted like they were high class and above everyone else, but why had they not been sorted into the same house together? Krystin could not see why. At least her father was proud of her, that was something that she liked to hear. Krystin wondered that if they were truly brave, and not as mean as she was led on to think, then Krystin would have to change that. The newest Queen B would have no other choice but to change it somehow. Her miscolored eyes glanced down at the waters and she knew for a fact that it was a little chilly out here. Her brunette locks blew around her face as she waited in thought. She hoped that she could talk to her friends soon, and when she was, that was something else. How could she talk to them, when they were in different houses?

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

Aphrodite hummed a song to herself as she allowed her petite legs to bring her body outside. It was a little chilly outside today but Aphrodite was a fan of cool and snowy weather anyways. Hot weather always made her feel sweaty and agitated which she hated with a bloody passion. The fresh air greeted her nose as she she continued to hum and walk away from the castle. Everyone once and awhile she even pulled out a minuscule dance move to add to her little musical moment. It probably looked odd to anyone who didn't really know her, but her friends were probably used to this sort of behavior. It got even worse when she was at home and was able to have something play music for her, it was so much fun to sing along with the singers. The newly sorted Gryffindor grinned as she spotted up a head a familiar figure near the Lakefront. It was Krystin. The oddball of the group for the moment, she preferred the term Queen B but it seemed that at this point she was a lot different because she was the only one sorted into Slytherin. It was probably because she happened to be a lot meaner than either of them really were. LeAnn had a bit more of a mean streak than even Aphrodite did but it wasn't as strong as Krystin's. But still, there was a sider of her that made it easy to see why she wasn't just some musically talented little girl. Aphrodite was a preppy socialite too. This dooming her to be Krystin's friend forever. "Ohhhh Krystin!" Aphrodite finished humming her song and booked it over to her friend, her honey blonde hair flowing into her face and into the air like a cape billowing behind her. When she reached Krystin she grinned, showing her pure white teeth and a million dollar smile. One that help her win many beauty pageants. It seemed that her friend looked a little unhappy. "You look so bummed..what's up?" Aphrodite's blue eyes softened as she pushed some of her hair away and tried to focus on what was up with Krystin. Was something wrong?

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn had been more than happy that she had finally convinced her mother into letting her attend Hogwarts New Zealand. Her mother had gotten a lot easier to manipulate since Andrew came back and LeAnn was satisfied in knowing that it was her doing that brought Andrew back to them , sure they had done some of the work but if it hadn’t of been for LeAnn going out of her way and getting Andrew to come over...well Merlin only knew what their situation would be right now. Then again, LeAnn didn’t have to worry about that for now, everyone was happier – including herself. She had changed slightly since Andrew had come into the scene and it had allowed her to become more accepting of different people, something LeAnn never would have done any other time. He mother had brought her up to know that she was better than others and to only associate with people that she deemed worthy of her friendship. So far in her life she had only given that to two people, her best friends, Krystin and Aphrodite and despite becoming slightly more accepting of people she still found it hard to open to any others apart from those two. This is why she was glad to be able to attend Hogwarts New Zealand as it was the same school her best friends were attending, so now the three would never be separated again due to where they all lived. The only problem was the whole houses thing which LeAnn still didn’t fully understand. Aphrodite and herself had been accepted into the Gryffindor house and Krystin had been accepted into the Slytherin house, to LeAnn that was only different names and colours and didn’t really see any other difference in the houses so it didn’t particularly bother her – it only bothered her that it acted as barrier between her and her friends. For now though LeAnn wasn’t going to let it bother her anymore as the three friends were set to spend some time with each other while they had some free time between the excitement and slight madness of sorting to the excitement and slight madness of classes starting up. Tucking a few strands of the blonde locks behind her ears she made her way to the lakefront and approached her friends. “Hello ladies.” she said, her French accent playing softly with her words.

 

[Krystin Knight]

Krystin slowly turned to see Aphrodite, but her eyes were not so welcoming. But they lightened up fairly quick when she saw that it was just Aphrodite, recognizing her and smiling somewhat. She hated it here, this house thing, it was keeping her and her friends apart, but jealousy soon kicked in when she realized that both Aphrodite and LeAnn would see each other yet Krystin would never be able to see them, to talk to them at night, giggle and such. It was horrible, and Krystin wanted to be in the same house with them, regardless of what house that would end up being. "Bummed? No, Aprodite," said the queen, "I am pissed off. This separation of houses, it is similar to going to a different school, and it isn't fair that we intended to stay together, and something, a dingy old hat no less, separated us again. Or more or less, me from you and LeAnn." Krystin might be throwing a bit but right now, she did not care. Let others see it, her temper was fearsome, but her face remained as calm as the waves on the shore. Her eyes glanced over to see LeAnn coming, and the wheels in her head started to turn. Slowly and surely. Krystin thought that maybe they should be the newest glamorous group there was. Only this time, Krystin was bound to be the leader, because she had that feeling of power within her. To others, it might seem that Aphrodite and LeAnn were her workers, but they were so much more than that. Krystin smiled over at LeAnn, and greeted her with a simple, 'hey'. The thoughts of having this school and the students in the palm of her hand was just too delightful to pass up to just anyone. Krystin smirked slightly, her mood drastically changing from sullen to scheming, "Okay, so I am thinking, how to we go about to end up being together - a lot like we originally intended - and still make a good dent in this school?"

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

Aphrodite softly raised an eyebrow when Krystin said that she wasn't bummed but she was actually pissed off. For a moment the blonde couldn't be sure of what she was pissed about, but Krystin told her anyways. She didn't like that her and LeAnn got into Gryffindor while she was all alone in Slytherin. Aphrodite didn't blame her because separation was no fun really. It wasn't the same without all three of them being in the same dorm together. "Hey relax Krys, it only means we sleep in different places. We can still hang out all the time, go to class together, eat breakfast together, you know..all that sort of stuff. I guess the hat thought we all had different personalities or something." Aphrodite pulled some singers through her hair and noticed that LeAnn was approaching. They must have all gotten the same feeling to go outside today. How awesomely weird was that?! The sort girl turned her head and smiled at the approaching French girl. Well Aphrodite was French too but she had spent the last few years in Bulgaria, and now she lived in New Zealand. All over the world it seems she had been in the past five years. "Hey LeAnn! What's kicking?" Aphrodite grinned showing her shiny teeth and gorgeous smile. She had perfected it over the years and she hoped that it succeeded in showing just how friendly she was for the most part. Some birds chirped in the background as the wind picked up and blew some of Aph's hair into her face. Her hand came up to brush it away as the leader of their little group started to talk. Was she talking about another Glam group or something? Aphrodite's bit sister Alyssa had been in the original but from what she heard it fell apart because of bad leadership skills or something. An eyebrow was raised before Aphrodite giggled. "Why does making a dent sound really mean when you say it like that Krystin? However, count me in." Aphrodite wouldn't do it with meanness though. She was too sweet hearted to be like that, she ruled with kindness and obvious authority. Plus she liked being the center of attention whenever possible.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

From a bit further back it would look like Krystin was a little upset over something, the girl was very good at not letting her face show her emotions but LeAnn had known her long enough to know when something wasn’t right. LeAnn enjoyed so much being with her friends and being able see them like this everyday was such a privilege for her as it was only on such a rare occasion that they actually got to see while growing up. In a way it made her appreciate their friendship even more when they didn’t see each other as much and they made the most of whatever times they did get to meet up but LeAnn was too excited that she was still in the same school as them to think about that and she was just going to appreciate the fact that she would be able to spend time with them whenever she wanted. When LeAnn reached her two friends she heard the end of what Aphrodite had been saying. She didn’t catch the whole thing but the general gist that she gathered was that Krystin in actual fact mustn’t be happy about something – like she figured. With the mention of the hat and that the three girls had different personalities LeAnn thought for a moment, it was strange that the three got along so well and that they seemingly had different personalities. LeAnn never thought that they had anytime that they were together but in actual fact she thought that they were almost all the same as they had the same interests in fashion and whatnot. Although LeAnn decided not to mention anything about it right now because she didn’t want to jump in on the middle of a conversation and not know what it was about exactly. Also, she didn’t want a damper to be put on their meeting by keeping the conversation up because it was nice that the three could just talk and while it was the first of many more times to come she didn’t want to ruin the first. “Not an awful lot, still trying to get used to the castle.” she said in response to Aphrodite’s question, the place was so big LeAnn was worrying that she’d never get used to it by the time she graduated. The petite blonde listened to her multi-colour eyed friend as she talked about them being together like they had originally planned. Isn’t that what this was, they were all in the same school after all and no longer separated by countries but more so houses that were only a few floors apart, which is considerably less than what they’ve been separated by in the past. LeAnn laughed softly at Aprhodite’s comment on how Krystin seemed to make it sound bad. “I’m not really sure I follow but count me in as well, I’m up for anything that has people putty in my hands.” she said in a completely sweet voice that it made her words sound eerie almost.

 

[Krystin Knight]

Her miscolored eyes swarmed with built up anger and emotions. Krystin shrugged lightly and she said, "Yeah, I am stuck in the dungeons, with the rest of the pathetic people, but I suppose you both have it the same way." Krystin was not as friendly as others were, and she was cold and uncaring. Krystin let out a soft sigh and she smiled somewhat. Well, more or less smirked but it counted all the same. She was a lot nicer to her friends. "At least we have similar classes. And dinners at the same time. Hope you girls won't mind sitting with me at the Slytherin table." Krystin was not going to be caught around other Gryffindors. She simply refused. Krystin thought that getting used to the castle would be something that would take years to do By the time that it happened, they would have graduated. Poor Krystin though, she did not even realize that she was part-Veela. She thought that she shared the same blood type as her father, pure. The wind brushed through Krystin's hair and she waited for something to come into her mind so that they could scheme or something. She was really good at scheming. Krystin would think of something in the end. She always did. Krystin turned her eyes to Aphrodite and she narrowed her eyes at the girl. She might be her friend and all, but Krystin hated someone that seemed so nice all the time. Krystin rolled her eyes, and said though her tone was soft as if she were a mother talking to a child, "Grow a backbone, Aphrodite. If you don't take anything by force, you will be a doormat. Do well to remember that, okay?" Though Krystin seemed to appreciate LeAnn's tone a lot more. It had hidden venom in there. "Anyways, what I am saying is, first years are known as those that are targets; especially out of my house. What I am thinking is, we somehow prove to the older students and to the rest of this school that we are the best, the powerful, and the - well this goes without saying - the glamorous. We need to rule, and we need to be known. I don't know if we can accomplish it by just being first years, but I know that we need to make sure that no one, and I mean no one, can push us around." Krystin was a fighter, by words and physically as well. She loved to fight, and that was probably one of the things that made her just so nasty to begin with.

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

Rolling her light blue eyes Aphrodite wondered if it was possible that Krystin could be positive about anything in her life. The girl always had a problem with something and if Aphrodite wasn't such good friends with her then she might have found it very annoying. "Can you be positive about something today? I'm sure the Slytherin's are not that bad, I mean..they had some really cute boys. And you know LeAnn and I would always be willing to water dinner at your table and everything. Just relax and puh-lease smile for like just a sec okay?" Aphrodite let out a breath that was being held it before she had said all of this. There was always a thin line when it came to talking to Krystin so she let a subtle grin go LeAnn's way hoping the Gryffindor girl would actually agree with her and get Krystin to calm down a little before she drove the two of them nuts with her antics. As pretty and strong willed as she was, Krystin had a very terrible temper that she let become known to easily. She needed to conserve that anger for things that really deserved it and not something so small as being sorted into a different house. Flicking some of her hair out of her face Aphrodite tried to make more sense of what her friends wanted to do. Rule the school and become the best and most powerful. But..they were only eleven years old! How could they be the best as anything when they were like at the bottom of the pyramid? The Seventh Year obviously had more social stature right now then they did, her friends weren't quite grasping that either and that would ruin them. "Guys, how in the world could we prove to the school that we belong on top? Were only first years! I'm not saying we become doormats but, don't you think that people would like us if we were so much nicer?" Aphrodite asked with a flick of her hair and a more strict sounding compromise with her friends. She was going to try her best to convince her two friends that there could be easier ways to come out on top then to just bully everyone that they met. Aphrodite preferred the sweeter method than the meaner one. The Part-Veela sucked at being mean anyways, well on purpose at least.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn listened to the conversation that her two friends had started before she arrived, not wanting to interrupt them, especially Krystin who seemed particularly annoyed today; well more than usual anyway. Her soft brown eyes flicked back and forth between Aphrodite and Krystin as they talked. She frowned a bit because she could sense how upset this had made Krystin and to be perfectly honest she wasn’t one bit happy that the three of them had been slip up. Granted it wasn’t as bad as it had been when they weren’t in school and were living in different countries but the fact that the three of them had to semi-plan meeting up because of their different locations in the castle was not what LeAnn had wanted from going to school. She almost wished that Hogwarts New Zealand was like Beauxbatons when all the girls stayed in dorms beside each other and weren’t split up by houses. LeAnn had known nothing about the housing system at Hogwarts New Zealand because her mother had gone to Beauxbatons and Andrew had gone to the Wizarding School in Brazil and neither of them knew anything about how Hogwarts New Zealand seemed to work. It was only on the Express did LeAnn first hear about houses, at first it didn’t seem to bother her but now she saw how it was making her friend feel and she was beginning to get annoyed about it too. “I don’t mind, but I don’t see why everyone has to be split up in the first place. Obviously there are some separations that are needed, such as...” she looked over a group of people who were playing and acting like fools and were being very loud, giving them at a dirty glare she turned back to her friends, “People like that, and people like us. Why could there not be houses for that?” she asked with an eye roll at how silly it all was. The young blonde smirked a bit at Aphrodite’s take on the whole thing, the girl was such a polar opposite to Krystin, it was amazing they were friends at all – then again, opposites attract.

Then just as Aphrodite showed how opposite she really was from Krystin, the brunette went and trumped it. At times LeAnn enjoyed Krystin’s comments to people that deserved it, but as her friend, LeAnn didn’t think Aphrodite deserved to be spoken to in such a manner. She frowned a bit and looked over at Aphrodite, hoping that she wasn’t taking anything Krystin said to heart, she was just upset over the whole houses thing. LeAnn listened to Krystin and smiled at her words, it all sounded perfect but she was rudely brought back to Earth as Aphrodite pointed out that they were first years after all, no one really took first years seriously after all. “Please Aphrodite, nice people never get anywhere. If you want something you have to grasp it and do whatever you can to keep it.” she spoke with a sure and steady voice. “And sometimes you have to be not nice to get what you want in the first place.” She added. She wasn’t, however, sure what they could do to get them noticed. “Well maybe we should start off by being at all the events, in all the right clubs. Things like that that will get us noticed in the first place.” she suggested.

 

[Krystin Knight]

"I...I haven't seen any cute guys in Slytherin yet. But I guess I can think of some positive things. But you should know, I don't smile unless I have someone practically bowing to me," Krystin spoke with her tone a little less than venom in it, as she normally spoke with, but this tone was a lot softer for her friends. She adored them, but she wondered how Aphrodite was even here anyway. She seemed just too nice, at times. Krystin thought that maybe, she could be just a little meaner with time, as it really took time to truly develop. Meanness needed time to really sink in and let live. The moment that it would be seen would be the day that Krystin will learn to love her friends for who they were. As long as they were with her at the dinner table, she would be fine with the house situation. Maybe it would give her some time alone as well. Krystin needed some time alone at times, especially when she was talking to her father as well. Her father was one that was something that just seemed like he was made of power, which was what she was after. She wanted power, but she had no idea that she was Part-Veela while her father was pure-blood, and that would cause an issue. LeAnn had a point, there should be houses for people like them and well, everyone else. Krystin nodded and replied, "You are so right, LeAnn." But the moment that Aphrodite had to put a damper on what she was saying, about gaining power in the school, Krystin did not want to go against the seventh years. They could perform magic that she had never dreamed of, and could in fact humiliate them. Krystin wondered if they could get in with the older crowd somehow, that would bring up their own reputation. Before Krystin could point out the obvious, that nice people never get anything, LeAnn had managed to do that for her. Krystin nodded and she stated, "Nice people finish last, period. Everyone knows that. You have to rule with an iron fist or else people will in fact take advantage of you. But maybe we can start off small, and get in with events, start to gain positions, we will soon be able to establish a foothold in this school. Maybe get on a Quidditch team, except me because Quidditch isn't my thing. What do you girls think?" Krystin placed her hands on her hips, before she glanced up to see some people watching them. She narrowed her eyes and they then minded their own business and went on their own ways.

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

Aphrodite gave her friends a daft and bored look because she knew better than to completely agree with the both of them when it came to how they treated others. They preferred to bully and hark down on people which worked for them, but when one ruled with a nicer tone it was a lot easier to get people to what one wanted if they trusted you and actually liked you. It would reduce the amount of people that disliked you as well. Alyssa had told that to her siblings herself. "Come onnnnnn guys, have you ever even tried being nice to people! They still listen to you, and they are usually more than willing to do things for you. Plus it reduce's the amount of rumors and harsh things spread about us. Are either of you even capable of really being nice to anyone?" Aphrodite asked with a raised eyebrow as she dug her feet into the ground and listened around at the other students that were headed to the castle. They were all gossiping about something or another and sometimes she liked to listen to what they were talking about. She had become way too used to being with her friends because she couldn't even remember a time when they all talked about something normal like most little girls their age would talk about. Like pigging out on junk food during sleepover's. Nope, instead they drank purified water and ate fat free rice cakes, almonds, all the icky health stuff that was ensured to keep their body's at tip top shape as well as healthy as can be. They could never go window shopping. Granted the fact that they were all loaded so that became an issue from time to time, but they always had to buy something. It always had to be stylish too. Never silly and just for laughs. Like those big ugly sunglasses that people sometimes wore for Halloween or something. Luckily the subject was changed because now the actually wanted to talk about something positive, well it lasted for a fraction of a second before Kyrstin started to talk about getting positions and getting involved in the events. This actually did make her feel a little big better, despite the fact that it was mostly behind the idea of getting their name known and gaining popularity, getting involved with the school was something that the blonde had already been working on. "Already working on it. I joined Accio already. I wish there was a club where I could display my singing talents, unfortunately there is none. But I intend to try out for Quidditch in your place then Kyrstin. I tried to get myself on the team this year but your lame brother told me I was too young. I personally think he was just afraid that I'd upstage him, or he's sexist. What about you guys?" Of course they should have known that she was going to get involved. Especially when she was known for trying to get her name up in lights. Quidditch was a secret talent of hers too. They both also knew she was skilled at it and next year she would try to secure herself a position on the team. Ahhh how talent paid off sometimes.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn wondered why most conversations with girls their age had to do with cute boys. LeAnn was different than most girls her age and didn’t really take any interest in boys, she was far too young for that and in a small sense she was still quite closed off in that sense as she didn’t particularly have a good role model to look up too when she was growing up. Sure her mother may have been a model, a super model, but when it came to being a role model to her daughter when it came to such matters as love – she wasn’t so hot. LeAnn grew up seeing different men go in and out of her mother’s – heck she didn’t even know who her father was and probably never would. Although this didn’t bother LeAnn all that much because for now she had the next best thing to her real father – she had Andrew. When Andrew first showed up in her and her mother’s life it took the young girl a bit of time to get used to him and in all fairness she just expected him to be like the other men and leave at the first chance they got when the appeal of her mother wore off or when the met LeAnn – surprisingly many men didn’t like the idea of dating someone with a child already. Although Andrew was different and when he actually treated the young girl like young girl and not the prim and proper young lady like her mother had raised her to be LeAnn grew very fond of him and as past events showed she tried her best to be sure that Andrew stayed in her and her mother’s life for as long as possible. Now the two were as close as ever and there was no signs of Andrew leaving anytime soon LeAnn began to see herself as a little ‘match maker’ or ‘cupid’, whichever worked. Even when she was sitting on her own in the Great Hall or outside she would watch people closely and could almost sense a couple, even if the two didn’t know it themselves. Yes, she could really see herself as ‘Little Miss Match Maker’ but she never saw herself with anyone, the part of the deal about being cupid was putting other people’s love in front of her own – something she didn’t mind; then again, she was too young to care really. Coming out of her own train of thought she rolled her eyes at her friends who were still bickering about the whole house thing. She couldn’t help but smirk and laugh to herself about Krystin making it known that she wouldn’t smile at anyone unless they were ‘practically bowing to her’. She was so bossy, but it was one of things that LeAnn admired about her friend – how she knew what she wanted and did whatever she could to get it and not stand for anything less.

She smirked when Krystin agreed with what she had to say, she was right and she learned that from her mother – at least the woman did something right when raising LeAnn. “I’ve been nice to people, Aphrodite and can be nice whenever I want too, that is when the person deserves me being nice to them. And I’ve also seen nice people getting trampled over and becoming the world’s biggest pushovers, getting no-where anytime soon and being the lowest of low.” she said, speaking with more force than usual in her voice. “Trust me, it’s not pretty.” she said, scrunching up her nose in disgust. If she didn’t know how stupid the people were in the first place for getting into that situation themselves she would almost feel sorry for them – but she didn’t. LeAnn listened to both of the girl’s ideas on what they could do to get their name known in the school. For Aphrodite being the nice one of the group she was already doing a bang up job on getting her name out there in the school. “Nice job, Aphrodite. Why not try that Conglomerated Club, I’ve heard people with talent go there, something about a singing club that someone used to run.” she said. LeAnn may be quite at times but it meant she could listen, and listen well because she knew most of the things happening around the school because no-one would see her when she was lurking in on private conversations or at least no one would expect so innocent looking to go spreading any secrets. “And I’ll be trying out for Quidditch too. Andrew has been teaching me some amazing skills on a broom during the holidays so I can’t not try.” she said, with a little bit of enthusiasm that caused a few of her golden locks to fall over her face. Pushing the bits of hair out of her face she turned to Krystin. “What have you gotten up your sleeve?” she asked, knowing the brunette always had something planned, especially when it came to her getting known.

 

[Krystin Knight]

--Krystin turned her eyes over to Aphrodite and her lips were parted and looking at her as if she swallowed a lethifold. How in the world could she really fit into the group when she was wanting to be nice? Krystin really wanted nothing more but to smack her friend upside the head and tell her to grow up and take responsibility, which meant lose the niceness. LeAnn knew just how it was, and that was how it was going to be. Krystin took her miscolored eyes over to Aphrodite before she stated coldly, "I am being nice to you by not smacking you for saying things so weak. I could careless about rumors because I won't let them affect me, and neither should you. People listen more when you have leadership material, and that is what we need to have. Grow a backbone or else you will be walked on, Aphrodite, mark my words." Krystin was starting to get a little mad now, as her pale skin was flushing with a light, red hue which never meant anything good. And her anger was being directed straight at Aphrodite, but she let out a frustrated sigh. "I can play nice, to get in favor with the older kids, maybe. Get on the good side of my Head of House perhaps and maybe I can get more authority in the school." Krystin hoped that her friends would do the same. It would be impossible if both would get authoritative powers, but it may be possible. Krystin hoped that maybe she would be granted something or another for her years here, wasting the time she could have been doing something even more important. She could learn something far more important if she were learning under the rule of her father. He would teach her something more about business and stuff like that. How to earn lots of money and lots of power. She wanted as much power as she could possibly get her hands on. And with her father being like he was, soaking it up, it was just making her want it more. She loved her daddy, so she would not ever take it from him. When she heard that Aphrodite already joined Accio, and then she was going to try out for Quidditch, but mentioned that her brother pretty much told her no, she raised an eyebrow. She had no idea that Damian was in control of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Krystin shrugged lightly, "Damian is the Captain? Wow, I'd try to show off my skills if I were you. I don't even know if he is that good. He's just a Seeker. Both of you get on the team, and I'll work in the clubs maybe. Next year, I'll see about more clubs." Krystin glanced around the lawn before she wondered if she could tell them what she had up her sleeve. "Pretty much, the back work. We need to work in the back, gain some respect, get in touch with the older kids and then soon, we will be on top."