A birthday

Today is my birthday. I am 31. The day started at about 1:30am with a killer headache that kept me awake for a whole until some panadol kicked in. At 7am I was woken by my darling to get ready for work. the kids soon followed in a tumbling rush - birthdays are very important to kids! having been presented with homemade cards declaring their love for me, i hit the shower and had my toast. It seemed a bit wrong as I walked out the door with 3 kids on my way to work - while my dear husband sat down on a day off to watch football. "Enjoy my birthday!" I called out to him as I left!

Playgroup was fun though with a grand 11 kiddies and their lovely parents sharing my day with me. We celebrated with iced coffees (thanks Deb!), flowers (thanks Anna!) and yummy food.

I had been instructed to get home by 12:45 for some kind of surprise - Marty loves surprises! I had a slight inkling that I might be getting my nails done as we had discussed this being a cool idea - Jaimee's best mate has a lovely ibeautician mummy at Bjork. We piled in the car and sure enough, I was walked into Bjork! I was greeted warmly and Marty grinned broadly at the look on
My face as he said "bye love, see you in a few hours".

Yep - hours! He had booked me in for " the ultimate relaxation facial" - an hour long treat with the works. I had never had a facial before and was a little awkward as I lay down on the bed and was tucked up like a toddler at bedtime! Kerry (that's Jaimee's mates mummy) was awesome though and we spent our time chatting pleasantly - a little odd at times as she stroked my hands, massaging them as we bonded over our girls! I couldn't believe I had been there for an hour until I sat up and felt a bit light headed.

Next I was ushered out to the nails area and told I could choose a colour. Settling on a safe dusky pink, I loved getting this special treatment for the first time! I got "shellac" polish, which lasts 2 weeks and then you go back to get it soaked off as its that good. I keep staring at my first ever beauty treatment. Love it.

I came home just in time to resume my weekly coffee date with Vicki Lee after the holidays. We had a good catch up and Marty kept Luke busy for me. Bliss.

The birthday person always gets to choose dinner in our house so I asked Marty to cook. Can't afford takeout but didn't want to cook! We had a typical man meal - tacos. Easy to make, and yum!

After the kids went to bed, we made the final adjustments to our dance playlist for part of our vow renewal tomorrow (another blog to come!). There was much singing, laughing and trips down memory lane as we checked out playlists from the different decades. We found loads of classic dance hits, so hope we will get everyone up and on the floor!

And now I'm off to bed...thanks for a great day number 31! Ha- 31 on the 31st,,,,thats once in a lifetime!
So far, it's a good year....

A Crafty moment - trying anyway!

Hi my name is Nikki and its been almost 2 weeks since my last blog.

Sorry. I have been kinda busy being on holiday.  You know - sunshine, computer games during the daytime (zoo tycoon Sus!), playing card games(Jaimee keeps beating me at Skip-bo), swimming, reading my kids "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (they are totally loving it), gardening (I so want chickens, clearing a space in hope someone will make me a coop)....and a touch of sewing.




Yes, that came from my blog.  SEWING.

It promises to be fun filled.  Hmmmm

Kate was given a very cute little felt monkey kit to make last year for her birthday - from one of my amazing capable sewing friends, who probably assumed I was quite capable of helping her with a project that was aimed at 5 year olds and proclaimed that "IT'S SEW EASY!!" all over the front (in rather a taunting tone i felt).

It has been hiding at the top of their cupboard all year with the random half finished sticky mosaics and beado projects, but it was time to tackle this thing (and I knew that attention loving Kate would LOVE having a special project to do with me).  With Jaimee on a playdate and Luke napping, we set to work.

I was feeling very pleased with myself after we successfully put together the face without too much hassle.  Kate was doing some lovely basic stitches all by herself, and we were having a very educational discussion about all the things that are sewn (clothes, soft toys etc) - complete with us checking every item of clothing we were wearing to find the stitches.

This was so fun!  Look at me being all crafty! And then we got to the blanket stitch.

I remember at Christmas time I admired one of my many crafty friends handiwork.  She replied "this? oh that's just a simple blanket stitch - so easy".  I looked at her blankly.  "What is a blanket stitch?"  I asked, feeling like a complete idiot and totally out of my zone.  She probably was rolling around laughing at me on the inside.  She did kindly explain how to do a blanket stitch to me without batting an eyelid - after all, that's what friends are for.

It didn't start that badly actually.  I carefully read the instructions and studied the diagram.  Then I did a few stitches on Kate's "lace up toys"  to practice before attempting to put the monkey's tail together.  Soon Kate was doing her own blanket stitches with quite a professional flair, letting me know with a very important voice "I'm just doing my blanket stitches now mummy".  And then I ran out of thread.

oh dear.  Can only improve! 

How the heck do you secure the old thread and then start a new one without making the very obvious stitching look stupid? I read the instructions again. Nothing. I checked youtube for help. Nothing. I was on my own, with Kate looking at me with great expectation. I tried. I really did try. But this tail was starting to look more and more like an actual 5 year old had done it alone. Sigh. Luckily, some of this will be hidden between the front and back of the monkey!

In hindsight, probably should have just stopped and called in the big guns at that point.  Nana, Granma and Granny all could have shown us what to do...as well as most of my friends.  But I am not very patient and wanted to keep going.  And have perhaps a little pride too.  I wanted to do this one thing with Kate.  ME.  The Mum.

So the tail is shoddy.  Can only get better, right?!

Later on, as Kate showed off her work proudly to her big sister, explaining to her all about the different stitching, Jaimee pleaded at me to have her own project.  I am SUCH a nice mummy.  I swallowed my sighs and went back to Spotlight, where I had seen the same range on sale for $5 the day before.  I picked up the last one, a happy looking red felt cat, and the fun and games resumed tonight - this time with BOTH girls vying for my attention.  It was much tricker with both of them - they kept looking at what the other one was doing and then missing holes and mucking up stitches.  Kate took the "expert" role, informing Jaimee "oh yeah, thats just a normal stitch....Oh, you have to do a blanket stitch like I know how to do soon"

They had so much fun sprawling out with me on the lounge floor, making their very own toys, and I must admit....deep down, under the desire to throw the toy kit across the room, I was really enjoying doing this project with them too.  Even if it was nowhere near the quality of my friends work...this was quality TIME right here with my girls, and we were having fun.

While browsing the sales racks at Spotlight, I even impulsively picked up a basic counted cross stitch to do (you know, the easy kind. complete with the nice little graph with symbols to colour in as I do each stitch!) , just to prove that I can.  I last did cross stitch when I was about 17 with my mum beside me to help, so I will start simple and see if it sticks.  I used to enjoy it.  So far I have done 4 stitches, and it is going swimmingly.   If anything, it might just be enough to refresh me for teaching the girls to crossstitch.....


wow.  Listen to me!
Would you believe, I think I might actually do this again.
Even if I do have the ability of a 5 year old...
at least that way I can learn WITH my girls right?!

4 stitches so far.  Going well.

A trip to Bex's farm

This week we are house sitting for our friends again - you remember that beautiful home we stayed at in October? While we are out here, we thought it the perfect timing to go hang out with friend (and the kids beloved Sunday School teacher) Bex at her home in Waimarama.  Bex invited us out for lunch, a trip around the family farm and a swim at the beach.  The girls raced up to her at church that morning, giving her big hugs and jumping up and down with excitement to be going to her house!  

We had such a lovely BBQ lunch with Bex, Ken and Judy, chatting about homemade preserving, fruit trees and fairy lights.  Thank you Bex for filling my girls plates, pouring them drinks (and making sure they were EXACTLY the same size) and listening to their chatter as you sat with them while the rest of us chilled!  The girls just love you, and its so great to have awesome adult role models investing into their lives like that.  

After our tummys were all full and happy, Ken gave us a tour of his dog breeding area.  These purebreed puppies were beautiful!!!  We learnt a lot about dog breeding as we chattted, it was especially interesting to hear how Ken sells his puppies up to 2 years before they are even conceived!! This helps him select the correct mum and dad for the customer's needs.  He even had these 6 week old adorable critters sitting on demand already!  Luke loved the puppies, watching them with great interest.  The girls liked the puppies, but cried at the noise the adult dogs made with the excitement of having visitors! Not really dog people huh! lol

Then it was off in the heat to see the chooks and ducks.  My girls love hunting for eggs, I am very keen to get some chickens myself, I love the idea of animals that earn their own rent!  We have the perfect area under our fruit trees (no grass, just dirt) for chooks, it is just a matter of making a run for them and a nesting box.  Dad....project for you?!  

We all stroked the chickens (who knew their were so many varieties) after I watched Bex pluck one out of their run easily with amazement!

We were all sweating by now, and agreed it was time to head to the beach.  Waving a happy goodbye to Ken and Judy we headed off.  Bex took us to her favourite part of the beach, far away from the crowds.  After checking the waves like an expert, we decided it was safe for boogy boarding!  Us girls hit the waves and had a blast cooling off together, despite being nipped by a crab (me) and losing sunglasses (Bex).  Jaimee is becoming a bit of a pro at this boogy boarding thing, just like any good kiwi kid!

As we were getting dressed and waving goodbye to Bex, we could see big black clouds over the hills rolling in quickly.  I had already spotted some flashes of lightening and we could hear the thunder.  We weren't QUITE fast enough, and pretty soon it was directly overhead.  The girls ran screaming and crying to the car as thunder boomed and cracked over us, and fork lightening started a bush fire on the hills that had the local fire sirens sounding.  I watched with disbelief as another lightening fork split over the water.  Marty had disappeared to put the kids in the car (they were shaking with tears by now) and I had all the gear and a very puzzled Luke with me just staring around him, not sure what was going on.  We finally got back to the car just as the rain started in earnest.  Jaimee chatted loudly and non stop all the way home, a sure sign of her adrenaline rush!  By the time we got back to the Strides home, the rain had stopped, the sun was out...and we all hosed off to jump in the pool for an hour!

It was a very fun day out, and the kids slept very well that night!!  As I write this, the girls are back in the pool just outside the open door, where they have been for the last hour.  Luke is chilling on the couch with a DVD - exhausted after two day with no day sleeps and a tumble off the climbing frame.  Marty is on a 2 hour bike ride around the valley...and I am about to pour my second cup of coffee.  Bliss.

Luke is cute!

Things that have us swooning over the youngest member of our family:

1. He has just started singing. He takes a deep breath and launches into some cute little medley that he makes up. This happens often in his day. It's adorable and has us all calling him our little sing star.

2. He just discovered the world outside the car window. "Ooh!" He comments as he points to hills and trees like they are the most exciting thing he ever saw.

3. Luke has started copying words. From his favourite "uh. Oh" to his cute little "amen" at dinner time grace, it has his sisters frantically trying to teach him new words. Today they tried very hard to teach him to say "please can I get down" one word at a time! He responded with "ta".

4. He loves to wave. As he ran through taupo the other day he didn't even stop as he waved to three passing teen girls, leaving them all giggling. He loves waving goodbye to Kate when we take her to daycare too with a grin and calling "eye ate" to her.

5. He is growing up in a world of technology. He came running through with a remote, handing it to me and making high little "mmm?" noises to tell me "how bout some tv mum?" i smiled and relented. When I put the remote down ( to exchange for the correct one) he had a moment of panic and said " oh...oh..." Trying hard to hand me any other remote and pointing at the screen. When it finally came on, he huffed in happiness at my choice of channel and crawled up to the couch, popping his thumb in to blob.

....just a taste of my cutie!

Snells Beach 2013

My parents have a bach at Snell's Beach.  It is a wonderful thing.  We love going up, and this is becoming an annual trek (all 7-8 hours on the road is worth it) for our family, beginning with our honeymoon 10 years ago.   I love that our kids are growing up with a beach holiday, and get to enjoy these gorgeous safe and warm beaches that Snell's Beach offers.  

We started our holiday by heading off at 5am, keeping the kids in a nice dozy state until we stopped for breakfast in Tokoroa.  We were in Auckland by 11am, and headed to Dad & Anneke's place to see my family.  I miss my siblings - now that they are growing up (my stepbrother turned 21 just after Christmas!!!) they don't come down with the parents to see us and so we only get to see them once or twice a year when we get the energy and funds up to take our troop up.  I didn't even see my stepsister this trip as she doesn't live at home any more.  Growing up is tough!   The kids were excited to see their Aunty Steph, Uncle Josh and Poppa and Oma again though, and it wasn't long before they were running up and down the stairs (what a novelty).

After lunch, we headed off for the last 45 minute journey up to Snell's Beach, stopping off at Warkworth for supplies.  We dumped everything and went straight to the beach!  The girls had a great time, although Luke has decided he is not that excited by sand or water this trip round.  We found a good solution though - grassy banks and playgrounds right next to the sand and water!  Marty is not a beach bunny either, so the boys stayed clean while us girls frolicked on the beach every morning, afternoon and evening of our stay.  

Poppa and Oma joined us on Saturday for a day of Kayaking.  We Kayaked right over to the far shore, and then weaved our way between the Pohutakawa branches, pretending we were in a swamp with crocodiles in the water.  The girls love sitting on the front of the Kayaks, dangling their feet in the water and splashing to "help" the boat along!  On our journey, we found a concrete stand in the middle of the ocean with a trampoline perched on top and a ladder to get up.  I encouraged Jaimee to climb up and jump into the water.  She did manage to get off Poppa's Kayak and up the ladder before chickening out.  I decided I would have to have a go at this....looked way too fun!  As I got to the top of the ladder, I realised why Jaimee had chickened out though - its a LONG way up!  I did it though, with the kids and parents cheering me on, what a rush!  

We had a really cool time.  Kites were flown (and one was lost when Jaimee let go) , sandcastles were made, swimming was practiced, boogy boards were floated on (no surf here!), and we walked along the boardwalk after tea, with Luke cheerfully waving at everyone he passed.  One elderly man stopped with his wife to comment on our cute little man, and Luke promptly put his hands out to be picked up!  The man gave him a cuddle with our blessing as we all laughed, and Luke looked happy to go home with this stranger, cuddling up with his thumb in.  

Back at the bach, we played lots of card games together - Phase 10 became quite the competitive game, with a girl pairing up with each parent and some very narrow wins.  I enjoyed reading short stories to the girls in the sun and cuddling up with Marty each evening to watch movies.  

On Sunday morning we decided on a change of scene from the beach and headed to Matakana Country Farm, for more playground fun and to pet the animals.  While there, we discovered they were doing pony rides, and the man very kindly told my girls they could have a ride each (before we had made the decision as parents to pay the $5 each - cheeky!).  We did let them have a ride, and it was lots of fun - even Luke hopped on a pony for a wee sit.  

about as far as Luke got in!

practicing those lesson skills

See Saw fun

warming up after a swim

Let's go fly a kite....

Jockey girl!

On Tuesday, it was time to clean up, pack up and head home.  But not before we visited Auckland Zoo, something we had tried TWICE to do on previous visits but had been rained out.  We did it this time, along with half of Auckland - it was packed!  We did get a great Zoo visit though, stopping at the seals just in time to see them practice their tricks with the trainers, seeing the elephant go for a walk through the zoo and stopping at the tortoise just in time to see 6 keepers lift the giant onto a container so they could take blood samples from its tail.  Pretty cool!  And our cunning plan paid off, the kids were exhausted - sleeping soundly until Huntly and then again after dinner in Taupo all the way home.  Another great holiday - thanks Poppa and Oma for sharing the bach with us, we all love our time there and seeing you. xxx

Oh, and here is a couple of shots of my beautiful 18yr old sister Stephanie at the zoo with us......

Happy New Year!

 Last year we were up at Snell's Beach for New Years, watching movies alone.  This year we were invited to hang out with our Friends.  I say Friends with a capital F....as in the TV Show.... 6 close friends who get along great and always have lots of fun together!  The Dempsey's hosted, and with their family we made a fine sized New Years group of 10 adults and 9 children.  The kids had lots of fun in the pool while we chilled in the sun before sharing a BBQ potluck meal together.  A real kiwi way to spend a New Years eh?

There was no way my kiddies were staying up until midnight, that would require far too much effort on my part for starters.  We tucked the girls into bed at 8pm and hoped for the best.  HAHAHAHA.  With that many people in the house it was wishful thinking, and it was after 10.30pm before they finally fell asleep.  Luke fared better, but took a few false starts to settle too. 

Finally, the little ones were in bed and the big kids happily set up with Avengers on the big screen in the garage.  It didn't take us long to get into a rowdy and fun game of Cranium - girls vs boys!  Quotes of the night would have to be a frustrated male yelling out "Can someone please give me a blue" (giggle), followed not long after by "get her dad's thing out!" by a well meaning female.  In a moment of pictionary brilliance, somebody  couldn't believe they were beaten when "I hardly got the lead to the pencil".  And we were all sober too!  Boys won by one card.  

We followed up with a game of celebrities - OAC style.  For those who don't know this hilarious version, it is quite simple and a great group game.  Everyone gets a few strips of paper, and writes the names of 3 well known celebrities (one per strip).  These get folded in half and popped in a bowl all together.  .  You have to get through as many pieces of paper as you can before an egg timer finishes, with your team having to figure you out before you can move on to the next paper.  We played boys vs girls again - when the timer goes off, the next team takes over until there are no more names in the bowl...then you change rounds and it gets tougher (although easier, because you already know the names in the bowl now and can guess easier!). 

My Michael Jackson pose

Jonah Lomu? Tickle me Elmo? Hmm...

Round 1: you can say or do anything except use the person's name. Lots of fun to get clues for the next 

rounds.

Round 2: You can say THREE words, and act out the name (watch out: 'um' and 'ah' count!).

Round 3: You can act silently only - no talking

Round 4: your team shut their eyes as you strike a pose as a statue, then you tell them to open eyes and they guess who you are....hold that pose until they get it right!

After a game of spoons to finish of the night, we all hugged each other as we saw 2013 in with a lot of fun.  

After a big sleep in for our kids (9am), we loaded the car with snacks, sunscreen and spades and headed out to Waimarama Beach for a picnic lunch with our church family.  Nobody could believe that I had lived in Hastings for 9 years now and STILL had never been out to this popular beach.  The thing is, we just really aren't that beachy.  The sand gets everywhere, the water is always too cold and the clean up when we get home all tired is horrid.  And its a long trip out unless you stay for a few hours, which we find hard with toddlers.  We normally do all our 'beach time' at once, with a week at dad's Bach up north each summer!

However, the kids are growing up a bit, and THEY LOVE the beach.  So we try to give them as much beach time as we can cope with in the summer.  It is always more fun with more people, and we had a great day out today - I even got in the water twice!  The big kids dug a massive hole, all the way to sea level (we were quite far up the beach so impressive) and the little ones had lots of fun playing in the inch of sandy water at the bottom.  Luke coped very well without his sleep (he was out within 2 minutes of leaving the beach!) and the girls loved playing in the surf shallows.  What a great way to start 2013, with our 'other' family.