Just another Saturday....

6.30am.  Luke toddles into our bedroom, jumps into bed (daddy's side of course, all the kids are trained to go there) and falls back asleep.

7am.  Jaimee joins Luke.  After a few minutes, she whispers "breakfast?" to daddy.  Daddy gets up with his two darlings right behind him.

8am.  I'm still not moving.  The kids have eaten and are watching Ice Age...again.  Luke insists.  I slowly wake up and catch up on facebook.  Interesting article on menstrual cups shared by a friend- I have never heard of them.  Do some research on the internet as am rather intrigued in a disgusted kind of way.  Huh, rather awesome reviews.  Consider buying one.....

8.30am Hmmm I had better get up.  Marty is off for a bike ride very soon and I will have the kiddies to sort out.

9am  I hit the shower as Marty leaves.  Bonus for me - Luke is dressed, so the nappy has been done. Fist pump to myself.  

9:30am. Drat.  Nappy stinks.  Marty missed the morning poop.  Washing goes on.  Kids ask me to make a hut.  No worries.  An hour later, I still haven't had breakfast but the kids are having a blast in their super awesome 3 bedroom and a tunnel hut.

10.30am  Washing is hung out and kids are happy.  I sit down with a coffee and attempt to sneakily start a new mystery game on my laptop at the table while the kids play.  Kids find me within minutes.  They always know when I am sitting down.


11am Marty is home and showering.  I suggest we hit a park for a while so out we head to Havelock Domain.  Lots of fun playing soccer and then practicing netball passes.   We pick up some highly recommended gluten free sausages from the butchery on the way home for Marty.

12.30pm With tired kids in tow (Jaimee crashed as we left the park!) we head home just in time for lunch, the breadmaker has done it's thing and the house smells yummy.


1pm  Luke heads to bed, Marty snoozes on the couch and the girls hide in their room creating farm cities...and I put through the online grocery order for Monday's delivery while I sip a coffee.  Love online grocery orders!  It doesn't take long before the girls quiet constructive play turns into a silly giggly girl game, so I suggest they take their giggles out to the playroom.  Ah...5 minutes peace.  

2pm  The girls and I head out for a spot of birthday party planning shopping.  Jaimee is having a fairy tea party this year, so we stocked up on a cheap teapot (love second hand shops!), a plastic 'lace' tablecloth and a pretty cardboard cupcake stand.    We have 4 pretty teacups, must ask around the family to borrow another 4 for the guests.  Managed to find fairy dust and wands for all, but put my foot down at the price of buying fairy wings too.  Some crafty activities to keep everyone happy didn't cost much. ..and the find of the day - a peter pan style hat for Luke! With some cheap green fabric sewn into a tunic and some old navy tights of the girls we have us a very cute pixie.  

5pm  Finally arrive home. That took far too long and now the evening is going to be nuts.  Yep, I was right...Chaos time!  I rush around putting items away, getting the washing in and feeding the rabbits (meant to be the girls job, but once again time slips away) as Marty supervises the big toy clean up.

5.30pm  Dinner is hurridly whipped up (beef cantollini tonight with jelly for dessert) as Marty finishes the shower duties.  Shower time in our place is always noisy.  Kids yelling at each other, other kids being silly, Marty yelling to hurry it up, clothes everywhere....its not a quiet venture.

6.15pm  Ahh. Dinner time.  Everything pauses and we enjoy this half hour together.  "Bible?" asks Luke as we finish up.  Good thinking son.  We read our nightly devotional.  Jaimee keeps putting her hand up to share her thoughts.  This time it was about the importance of quoting scripture when sharing the Gospel.  "What's quote?" asks Kate.

6.45pm Next burst of chaos: attempting to get all three kids settled down for the night.   Luke found my camera and took this self portrait.  
Teeth get brushed and stories get read.  "Bathwater's hot, seawater's cold.  Ginger's kittens are very young, Buster's getting old"  - Marty and I can quote this Shirley Hughes book from beginning to end, Luke has it every night.

7.15pm.  Lights out for the girls and peace reigns.  Browsing our new smart TV, I discover that TVNZ on Demand doesn't work on the basic web browser it came with.  Neither does movie4k.  Neither does Marty's new football website.  We are a bit disappointed.  No flash player?  In 2013?  Stupid!    But, as I remind Marty, it does play YouTube clips and connect to our ipods and computers...and that's pretty cool.

8.15pm.  And here I am, as the time rolls into 8.15pm.  Marty is doing the dishes as he watches football shows on his computer (he moved it into prime dish washing viewing position.  I sit here and type away, contemplating whether to watch Dr Quinn and work on my THIRD crochet scarf (I'm getting the hang of this), or whether to play that game I kept trying to play today.  Or whether I should finish the cross stitch and watch the final of  The Voice with Marty...

goodnight.  Thanks for spending the day with us!

Road Trip 2013!

Road trips are getting to be a bit of a family holiday tradition in our family.  Last year we did two - a big day trip to the snow and a fleeting visit to Wellington (via Palmerston and Masterton)....not to mention our twice yearly trips to Auckland and Snells Beach!  Generally we do road trips because we can't afford accommodation costs anywhere, so we either beg spare rooms or we come home the same day we left!  

So when we knew our adorable nephew's first birthday party was going to be in the school holidays, and then we spotted that "Grab One" had a big half price sale on Rotorua attractions, we didn't think anything of the fact that actually, these two are in totally opposite directions from our wee spot in the country.  After all, we were itching to get away from the WEEK long downpour that had left us all feeling a bit water logged and our backyard underwater.  So it was down to Palmerston North on Sunday after church for a party and a couple of days catching up with family, and then up to Rotorua on Tuesday for a DAY.  No worries.  

the 'white cousins' all together!

Check out Alijah.  Is he not adorable?  He was a bit out of sorts at his party, full of a head cold and overwhelmed by the number of adoring fans, family and friends there, but the next day he gave me lots of smiles and cuddles to make up for it.   Love you Alijah!  And although Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Veasna were exhausted and full of colds, they still took the time to make us all feel really welcome and at home.  It was a really nice relaxing visit....and I even managed to finish my first crochet scarf, which Kate promptly claimed and proudly wore.  Jaimee went to her first movie with daddy, enjoying Monsters University.  And we all had lots of fun at the pools with the extended family.  Minor hiccup when the AA had to be called out to replace our car battery and tell us our clutch needs fixing, drat....bad money timing!

On Tuesday morning, we had to get up bright and early to be on the road by 7am.  Sadly, Desert road was closed, meaning we had a FIVE hour road trip ahead of us.  No worries.  The kids were awesome, it actually was quite a bonding morning in the car having us all contained together!  We marveled at the snow on the roadside as we drove along but didn't stop as it was drizzling and the kids were snoozing (NEVER wake the sleeping kids by stopping on a road trip!!).  They were all awake to see this beautiful view though as we drove up towards Taupo.  Wow.  There was a lot of snow on those mountains, and it was just stunning.  We loved it, and gave the girls a good geography lesson, telling them the mountains names and that they were in the middle of the north island now.  

We stopped on the shores of Lake Taupo for a quick break, as Luke was getting a little restless 3 and a half hours into our drive - time for a stretch!  Jaimee thought pumice was pretty cool, and picked up a piece for every person in her class, while Luke just ran around with sticks enjoying being out of the car and Kate built volcanoes in the sand and made 'secret places'.

 Finally, we got to Rotorua bang on our target time (lunchtime).  We stopped to grab some hot pies to take to the park and that is when I discovered it. Oh. My. Goodness. Funniest thing ever.  You see - as we had left Palmerston North, Marty had hit a duck.  At speed.  We had thought not a lot of it, although had cringed and said "oops, sorry God" and commented on how hard we had hit it...Marty hoped it hadn't dented the car.  Well, when we got to Rotorua, I happened to glance at the front bumper.  Where I saw two big wings sticking out.  The ENTIRE duck was still in our bumper, firmly lodged between the gaps.  Marty had to give it a huge yank by both wings to get it out.  I seriously thought he was going to pull the wings off.  But no, out it eventually popped.  The whole duck.  Marty said we should cook it.  It was rather funny, even if we did find out the whole cover of our licence plate had come off in the collision.  No photos, biggest regret.

So we had our lunch in the park, where the girls once again were full of morbid questions about burning mud pools and children falling in ("but HOW did he die mum? ).

 Then it was off to our first voucher attraction - aMAZEme.  It was SO much fun.  We split into two teams going into the hedge maze.  The girls won, Jaimee made us run to be first, and then we had great fun calling through the hedges to the boys who were still a bit lost.  Marty told me that Luke LOVED running through the lanes.  Every time he got to a wall block he exclaimed loudly "OH NO! Door Closed!" before turning and running the other way.  He confirmed this new phrase to us by reliving the maze several times over the next day.  This morning those were his first words to me as he recalled the fun.  He didn't want to leave, pointing at the entrance to the maze as we left calling out "want...want".

In the middle of the maze: WE DID IT!

The rest of aMAZEme was fun too, with all sorts of old fashioned family fun.  There were giant chess boards, connect fours and snakes and ladders.  There was tug of war (Marty won), stilt walking (Marty failed) and sack races.  Luke found a car he could drive, and the girls mastered walking the cats up the wall.  It was a lovely way to enjoy the sunshine.

Next we headed to Paradise Valley Springs, which we have already been to twice in our married life.  Once when I was pregnant with Jaimee, and once when I was pregnant with Luke!  This time I can assure you I was not pregnant.  We got there as planned, just in time for the lion feeding.  Luke pointed and said "lion, lion" happily - until one of them stalked the chain wall directly in front of us.  Then he squeeled loudly like a girl, crossed his arms and turned his body away with a big scowl on his face.  Hehe.  Lion nice while lion not that close!  After watching the lions have their 'yum yum" in Luke's words, we headed off to see the Kea get fed.  

I am sure Jaimee will end up working in the Department of Conservation.  She is so passionate about the environment and protecting NZ.  On Luke's birthday she really wanted to go for a 'rubbish walk' to celebrate.  A walk to pick up rubbish...what fun!  When we walk through a park, you can be sure she is lagging behind, picking up disgusting packaging and finding a bin or taking it home.  Her equally passionate  teacher has been a big influence on her, and they have spent a lot of time looking at environment this year.  

So when it came to the Kea, Jaimee was giving us just as many facts as the educator.  She asked questions (actually, she was  bit shy and made me ask them for her) and enjoyed seeing these cheeky birds up close.  As for Kate, she just adored patting their resident possum and spent the longest time with it....and Kate was a bit nervous inching in close to a Kea for a photo, even I was waiting for it to pull her hair!   

We enjoyed the rest of the park too, filling up our drink bottles in the natural spring and having a big drink of the cold yummy water and feeding the animals.  Luke especially was taken with the goat, feeding them more and more and saying "goat...goat" as they leaned over for a feast.  Jaimee looked like a Disney princess, with three wallaby feeding out of her hand at once.  

We finished the day's fun with dinner at Breakers in Taupo, another family tradition on our road trips!  Luke had promptly fallen asleep as soon as we left Rotorua from all the fun, so he was wide awake on the road home, but ipods kept the kids happy and we were all safely home by 8.30pm, exhausted but happy after another road trip.  

Raving reports!

One very proud mummy can't help but share these reports. What awesome comments your teachers made girls! I know you have worked super hard this year and you are both doing so well, I couldn't be more proud. 

Jaimee, also well done on a class award at prize giving for "a positive attitude to learning and achieving high standards" - you certainly did, look at all those excellences! You are so caring and considerate, your teacher knows this just like we always have.

Kate, you are amazing. Only at a school 6 months and blowing us all away. You are so well above your years academically that your teacher gives you special homework just for you! Your report reflects what we already knew - that you are an awesome young learner. 

Projects and Projects and Projects...

Whew.  Its all been a bit nonstop over the last few weeks!  I have about a zillion (no exaggeration at all there) things on the go at once, which is all a little alarming because I don't rest easy until i have finished  something till completion normally).

Part of this is an attempt to distract myself from the rather (squeel!) exciting news that I am going travelling around the world soon.  Just me, some shopping money, and no children to feed and dress. Me, my parents, my brother who I haven't seen in ELEVEN years now, and my younger siblings who I just don't spend nearly enough time with.    Little bit excited!!!!

So what has been keeping me so busy in my precious child-free time (the blessed 7pm-11pm slot) that I have barely had time to blog lately?

1.  My cross stitch.
Do you remember this blog from January about my crafty stint?  I went a little nuts and purchased a few cross stitch projects to do, a sewing basket to store them in, neat little scissors and funky boxes of bright colours.   Should have just stuck with the $10 I spent on the first cross stitch set as I am STILL working on it 6 months later! Hazard of having too many projects on the go at once I think.


2.  Ipod Apps.
Oh dear, I know.  This one is just sad.  I got mildly addicted to the game Hay Day over the last few months.  Really need to stop collecting milk and making jam to fulfill my orders on the farm game.  And candy crush saga just takes far too much of my time too.  I  limit myself to just one 'set of lives' per day, but really.  Far too rewarding a feeling to be matching candy.  What a silly game.  And let's not get started on scrabble, or the kids virtual pet that I must feed and groom daily!

3.  Our Lounge.

I am surrounded by dust and inhaling the smell of fresh paint on the roof.  The fireplace is gone, we have carpet quotes coming in and the wallpaper goes up on Saturday.  It's all a bit exciting!  To be fair, my mum and our friend Shane have helped with a lot of this work...But it sure has kept Marty and I rather busy on top of our usual stuff too!

4. Church stuff.
I am preaching in church in August, and its all a little bit terrifying.  I am not used to speaking to adults, and so have been writing out what I want to say word for word and reading it back over and over.  I don't want to be waffling or incorrect or boring.  Don't know how pastors do this every week, its taking me months just to prep for a one off!   Our annual light Party that I lead up is also not that far away, considering I am away for 3 weeks the month before the big event.  I wouldn't list these things in my 'free time' current projects list, except for the fact that they are always sitting in the back of my mind, no matter what I do, I am thinking about some big upcoming event or responsibility. It's exhausting!


5. Hidden Object Adventure Games.
I am such a (not so) closet geek.  I love casual gaming, and "Big Fish Games" has me totally wrapped around their  big website finger.  I meet their typical market being a woman in my 30s and I love their mystery adventure games.  Find the key, solve the puzzle and unlock that door to find out what to do next.  Such fun!!! My girls are just as hooked as me, we play some of the same games now.  Time waster...yes.  But Such a fun one!  It's like being part of a crime drama.

6. Photo Albums
I can get some odd looks when I mention that I still do photo albums for all my kids (thats 4 albums to keep up to date including our 'parents' album).  A few times a year I print 4 copies of all our  fav photos, or 2 copies of the ones of the girls, or 3 copies of the ones of the kids....you get the picture.  That is a lot of photos to sort out, cut out, and then paste into each album in creative ways.  I am almost up to date, all the kids ones are done up till May and our photos are ready to go in.  And then I need to print out all the photos that I took while I was putting the other ones in the albums...it's never ending.

...Actually, while we are at never ending projects, lets pop "Blogging Journal" into this part as number 6 1/2!


6.  Crochet?!
The other day I went into spotlight and grabbed some pompom makers to make life easier for the girls with their current project (pompom scarves).  I walked past a "learn to crochet" scarf kit for $5 and thought "Why not?".  HAHAHAHAHA.  I should have stopped and thought a little about the above projects eh?!  But I am a sucker for attempting new projects and so tonight I sat down with my mum and she taught me all about treble chains.  By golly, I think I have got it!   Considering I can't knit or sew, I am feeling rather good about my first attempt now that I am a whole 14 rows in.  I have no idea how I would do anything except rows, but who knows?  Mum got me this far in just an hours lesson.....

7. TV.
I can't deny that this is taking up some of my time too, although to be fair, I watch a lot less then I used to (Kind of have to be picky with all these other projects to do in my "SPARE" time!!).  I watch Dr Quinn every day now, it is a classic and I find it such fun to revisit this show that I last watched at about 12 years old!  After gymnastics class, I love sitting down and watching Grey's Anatomy and Marty and I have a good old belly laugh over The Big Bang Theory and 2 Broke Girls.

8.  My Books.
I love to read, and will pick my book up at bedtime even if It is far too late to be reading.  Often I just get a few pages in before my eyes start closing if its late!  I am determined to get through some of the ones on my "to read" list in my bookcase, so I am avoiding the temptation of  the library and sticking with what I own.  I am halfway through "Gone with the Wind" at the moment, and loving it.  The girls are just discovering chapter books they enjoy too, which is a real delight to me as they learn  that joyous feeling of picking up a book by a favourite author and snuggling up for a good read.



...I could also mention the card making, but really it is a little on hold at the moment due to so much else filling my precious little 'free time'.   7pm till 11pm is just not long enough to make any headway.  Did I mention that I am soon to be without children or obligations on my time for TWO AND A HALF WEEKS?!  Did I mention that I am rather excited about this?!  I know I will miss my family a lot once that novelty day wears off,  so now you may understand why I will be packing my crochet hook, my book, my cross stitch, my computer......I will be keeping me busy in that very weird 8am bracket when I am NOT going to be getting kids ready for school.

Hanging with the Grandparents

This weekend the kids beloved Poppa came down for a flying visit.  We were all so excited to see  daddy/poppa that we took a day off work and school to spend what little time we could with him.  It was a wonderful visit, from the moment we picked him up and whisked him to Mcdonalds for breakfast!  We visited the brand new 'bike park' in Napier, and the kids are already asking to go back.  It was nice and quiet being 9am on a school day, and we loved the working traffic lights, the roundabout and the stop signs, giving the kids a real chance to practice road rules in a totally safe environment.  What a cool place.

Then it was home to do some drawings for Oma, who couldn't make it and the kids were missing.  We had a nice afternoon, finishing up with a quick walk to the park with Poppa while I made dinner (in the quiet!!! Love Poppa for that!!) and family movie night, snuggling up to watch Shrek 2. 

The next day, Poppa and I took the kids to their swiming lessons  and then to their school fair.  Home for lunch and a couple of rounds of Skip-bo with the whole family joining in finished off a lovely visit.     The kids just adore their poppa, who plays charades with them and counts their skipping for hours.  

But our grandparent time was not over yet!  On Sunday afternoon, we all headed out to McCafe to celebrate Granma's birthday (and Uncle Paul's too!).  The older kids took off to the playground, leaving Luke to have a few more special kodak moments, this time with his great Nana and his beloved Granma and Grandad.  A weekend of family.  Love.  Love. Love!