Rafting

At the caravan this Easter it was obvious that moral was a little low between the people who had been there a while. We got told that usually everyone was chummy with everyone else and that there was usually activities put on for the kids etc.

So one of the regulars had decided a couple of weeks previous that we need something happening at Easter to bring everyone back together. So he organised a raft race.

He was only really able to talk to 2 other people about this so there were only 3 teams but I think it sort of worked.

The rules were very simple, 3 people per team, 1 named captain. Raft must be inflatable rings held together with string but no permanent structures, oh and you needed some oars.

Rules: The raft is positioned out in the water with 2 team members, captain stands on the shore and when told must run into the water to their raft and off you go once round the marked course.

Nobody put up a sign or anything but word of mouth is pretty good as when someone let the air horn off at 9.45am on Easter Sunday to let the teams know they had to get ready in the water suddenly the people emptied the camp to come and watch. It was like they had all been possessed and all just filtered to the water. It was quite a sight.

Anyway the raft race was fun and even though it threatened to rain I think it went well. There was a cup at the end and champagne. They are hoping to do it again next year and make it an annual Easter thing.

So Grandad and Iain, get your planning caps on because Steve has told them that we will have a team for next year. So you are staying at Athenree next Easter because as new comers we need to kick their buts!

Poor Ben

Our little big boy is impatient, not sure where he gets that trait from, but am sure it is his father?!
He wanted Steve to help him cut an apple today and being impatient like he is decided to do it himself.......
Yes you can guess the next bit....apple didn't get cut much but Ben's right ring finger did!
Managed a nice decent size clean non bleeding cut that unfortunately was very gapey and we knew would need seeing too to assist with the healing.
So off him and I trotted at 1pm to the Accident & Medical Clinic to sit for a happy 2 hours so a nice doctor could put some glue on the wound to hold the edges together. They then dressed it and sent us home, telling us to "Keep it dry for the next 2 days!"

At 6.30pm this evening we trotted back to the clinic to get another dressing put on because the previous one, including the glue had all come off!
So here we are back to square one with a open wound and nothing to hold it closed.
Now it is steristripped together and has opsite waterproof dressing all over it to hopefully keep it clean and dry whilst healing starts, although Ben is very good at healing slowly so I am hoping it will granulate together quickly and we don't have to go back to any doctors later in the week because it hasn't stayed together.

Although the clinic did send us home with extra steristrips so I can always fix it myself next time.

Swimming Lessons

Because they both came along so well whilst we were away we decided to check out some lessons for them.
So we are checking out a place tomorrow afternoon when the boys will have an assessment to see which class they will be put into.
Hopefully it will be ok and the boys will gain a lot more confidence in and around the water.

This will be very helpful with going to the pool at the caravan all the time

Blocked!

My blog has had certain parts blocked within the UAE!

OMG I can hear you cry, what has happened?
Well in fact it is not as serious as it sounds..
My parents are in Dubai at present and unfortunately the internet there blocks anything it doesn't deem culturally acceptable!
So no you-tube, facebook, skype or even fun quizs like this or this!

This is not just my site, this is all sites.

Isn't it amazing what control they feel they have to have over their people!?

Swimming

At the place we have the caravan are some hotspring pools. Nothing huge or anything, just a semi medium pool and a small adult soaking pool (this is a lot hotter than the main pool, no kids allowed)

So whilst at the caravan for 5 days it turned out we went swimming at least twice a day!

The boys loved it, well eventually.

Going swimming

Ben had no problem, he got more confident as the days went by. Jumping off the side to us, trying to swim form one of us to the other, unfortunately most of it was under the water, but at least he is not afraid of his face in the water now.

Alex was not a happy chappy for a while but by about the 3rd time of going he was now getting in himself with his ring and happily floating around on his own, kicking his legs and getting himself places.

Dady can you help me please

Off we go...

Ring a ring o rosies

So in just 5 days they have both come so far!

Ben's Rationalising

Ben announced to us this morning that he couldn't put his rubbish in the bin because only big boys do that!
When asked if he was a big boy he replied "No"
When asked why not he replied "Because you have to be 5!"

So life according to Ben is as follows:
2 yrs old = Baby
3 yrs old = Little boy
4 yrs old = Big little boy
5 yrs old = Big boy

So Ben is a Big little boy and Alex is just changing from a baby to a little boy.

Life according to a 4 1/2 yr old boy!

Dead or Alive

What do you know they have a quiz to tell you how much you are worth dead!
Although I think what I am worth is decent, I think I will stick around for a lot longer thanks.

$4775.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

Countries

How is your Geography??
Funny I can name more countries than I can colours???

31

Not Sure if This is Fun?

12

Why I would want to do this I have no idea.

How they can tell this from a bunch of questions is another thing I have no idea on??

Who makes these things?

Colour Fun

25

Ok so not that many really, but hey it is 9.45pm

And when you do the test and see some of the names of colours then you will see where I went down!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to you all.

Would you believe we have just been away for 5 days without one Easter egg!

We just don't seem to do Easter!

But what about the boys I hear you cry???

They don't know anything about it. We have never seemed to get into it.

Ben wouldn't eat the chocolate eggs if we did buy them for him and Alex doesn't know so why not make it wait a couple more years.

We do realise that things will change next year as Ben will be at school and there will be more knowledge coming his way from peer pressure.

He will know about every dam thing as it happens next year because someone at school will be talking about it or the school will be doing something at that time.

Oh well maybe we will do Easter Eggs next year or not!

Caravan Holiday

So after dinner on Wednesday we had the pleasure of packing the car and shipping off to our new caravan.

The weather has been good so far so lets hope it stays for Easter, although they are saying it will.

Here are some pictures showing you the caravan once it is lived in, although remember to refer back here for pictures before it was completed.

Enjoying time on the deck.

Life in the sun (sorry about the washing!)

Our Room

The Boys Room

Living Area

Kitchen area

So there you have it, the wonderful place we are spending Easter at.

New Product

New Zealand have just got all excited about this new product from Kraft.

Another one in the Philly Cheese range.....Philly with Strawberries

Now I don't have the heart to tell everyone this product has been around for years and I was in fact eating it in the US for lunch back in 1995!

Cribbage

Where on earth did this card game come from??
My parents can play this and now I find out so can Steve. He had the pleasure of teaching me over the weekend whilst at the caravan!
OMG what a game, I am sure he was cheating, although I have never played so wouldn't really know, but he definitely got into the cribbage spirit because I almost lost lots of points because I wasn't playing quick enough, but then seeing as I have never played how was I meant to know I could get the points!!
I am sure as I get to know the game more and understand it and know the scoring system better then I might actually enjoy playing it, but we will see.

I did look up info about where it came from on Google. This is what I found...

"Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for scorekeeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen.
According to John Aubrey, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th century, as a derivation of the game "noddy". While noddy has disappeared, crib has survived, virtually unchanged, as one of the most popular games in the English-speaking world. The objective of the game is to be the first player to score a target number of points, typically 61 or 121. Points are scored for card combinations that add up to fifteen, pairs (plus triples and quadruples), runs and flushes."

Steve was taking points left, right and centre! You gained one for this and if you did it this way you gained another, but if you weren't quick enough in taking the point someone else took it! I am sure half the points he took were made up, he could have said you get one for a Queen just because there is a Queen of England for all I know!

So for now I think I will just wait to watch my parents and Steve play together, then I might get a better understanding, although I know my mum tried to teach me many years ago!

Statement by Alex

Today we went to Katikati to stock up on the fresh essentials that we required. It is only 10ks down the road from the camp.
We stopped before hand to get a drink, the usual stuff, Flat White, Hot Choc, Fluffy and cup of milk.
Before we had finished this is the conversation we had with Alex.....

Alex: I take this cup with me?

Me: No it belongs to the restaurant!

Alex: No mum!

Me: Yes

Alex: No! This is not a restaurant, this is a cafe!

Geeze doesn't everyone know the difference between a restaurant and a cafe??

Our Caravan

We have a caravan and it is on the site at the campsite waiting for us to go over tonight and spend 5 glorious days there.

I had the pleasure of going over yesterday and getting everything ready when they put it on the site.

So to give you a taster of our Easter plans, here are some pictures of the caravan, oh and girls, Cam does not come with the caravan, sadly he was just there to put it all together for us!

Falling in Love

Yes I have fallen in love, but it is not with whom more with what....

I have fallen in love with New Zealand....

Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving through the Waikato region about 1 1/2 hours to get to the site where our caravan is being placed.

I did the drive on my own and I left Hamilton at about 8am. The sun was just rising above the tree tops and all the plains were covered in fog.

It was beautiful, the sun was just hitting the right places to make everything shine.

You could just see the sun poking through the fog. This big round circle trying to shine down.

As I came to the Kaimai ranges the fog was sitting like a skirt, I could see the top of the ranges and I could see the bottom but there was this fog over the middle, add to this the sun shinning down and making it all sparkle and you have the most glorious sights.

By the time I got to the campsite I was totally sold on New Zealand all over again.

Don't you just love life....?

Gibbing the Wall

We had a horrid piece of partical board up in the kitchen that was very old and not good at all.

We got a gib stopper in to make all the seals nice, but he said he could do it even better if we could replace the board with proper gib board.

So Steve had the pleasure of removing said board and replacing it with a nice smooth board that will give the wall a much better finish. And we want that seeing as we are going to be painting the kitchen and the previous owners had it wallpapered.

As always Steve had 2 little helpers in this project who are always ready to climb the ladder and generally get in the way!

The Zoo

As a committee outing for the children we went to Hamilton Zoo the other day.

Now I can't say I really like this zoo, think I have been spoilt by Auckland Zoo.

They have lovely giraffes and rhinos, the walkway round the zoo has been done ever so nicely and the chimps have a wonderful enclosure but the rest I just don't like.

It is this maze of paths that seem to go nowhere.

The enclosures are very impressive but due to this the animals can all hide very well in their homes and you can't see them.

So you spend the whole time searching and telling the kids that "apparently a lemur lives here, or a red panda etc"

My 2 love the tigers, but unfortunately their enclosure is so big we have never seen a tiger on all the times we have visited, which doesn't sit well with Ben as this is all he races around the zoo to see!

They do have a playground that sits well with my 2 and the giraffes are so big and right there that you can't miss them.

Caravan Update

We actually got to go to the factory workshop where our caravan is being built the other day to see how it was coming along.

Our kitchen area.

Our Bedroom

The boys bunk beds

The deck on the side

It is all looking really good. The colours I chose are all looking good together and I can't wait to spend Easter in the caravan at our new site.

Kelly Tarltons

The boys Daycare have been doing an under water theme for the the term and so decided to take the older children to Auckland to Kelly Tarltons which is an underwater experience place with penguins and fish.

Unfortunately they went on a day that the boys were not attending daycare so if we wanted to join them we had to drive up seperately.

We decided to do this and also asked our friends Wendy and Eleanor to join us for the day.

So we had a road trip with 2 adults and 3 children, what fun!

We actually had a great day out. The kids were great in the car on the long drive north and they had a blast at Kelly Tarltons, they loved the sting ray and walking in the tunnel to see all the fish.

We even saw them diving in the tank and cleaning it out. The kids thought it was great to see someone in there!

Kelly Tarltons was built over 10 years ago under ground. They made a huge fish tank and then placed a tunnel through it so the fish are all swimming around you as you walk through. There is also an antarctic experience all about Scott Base and real live penguins in their own special built area.

How Cute

Steve and I are both Theatre Nurses and so we have some wonderful hats floating around the house.

I had one at work the other day and Alex found it.

Not sure if this is a Surgeon or Theatre Nurse in the making!?

366 Posts

Man I never realised how difficult it would be to get this goal.
We are half way through the 3rd month and already I am about 7 posts behind.
Ok I did leave my engagement post up as the main one for a week and never posted anything after it so everyone always came to that one first!

So why am I behind??
Time mainly, I think about things to post about and really should write them down so when I do get the chance to post I have a list to flow from. Although if you have pictures involved it just takes so long to up load them. Yes I know I should change their size so they don't take so long but hey in reality I just have to multi skill more.....set the pictures to up load and then do something around the hosue while they are loading..easy really when you know how.

Anyway, I am trying to reach my goal, still have lots of the year left, thus the reason I chose to do 366 posts and not one a day.
I will do it, I have faith in myself.

Hope your week goes well, mine is very busy, yes somethings I can blog about so you see them when I get 5 minutes to post.

Expo

I have just spent the whole weekend at an expo promoting Parents Centre.

I had lots of fun doing this, but man am I tired.

Today was quieter than yesterday but each day was still great.

It is fun promoting something you know so much about and are passionate about.

We have another expo in May that we are attending, so this was a good practice run for that, iron out a few kinks, see how things worked and whether we want to do them differently next time.

All good fun at the end of the day.

Happy Birthday

I heard on the radio today that Pam Ayres is 60.

Pam is a poet from England who writes the most humorous poems and my mum thinks she is great.

She writes poems about any old thing, and with her quaint accent they always sound so good.

So Happy Birthday to someone who makes us all laugh.

The Wall

There is a wall by a junction that we pass through everyday. And everyday as we are sitting at the lights Alex will pipe up and tell you that his daddy is going to get his ladder and bring it to the wall and then Alex will be able to climb over!

Not sure how this started, but it is so cute to have Alex planning how things are going to get done and who is going to do them.

Our Little Helpers

Our two little munchkins have really got into wanting to help us do things.

Ben is always planning what job myself or Steve can be doing next. How we will do it and also when!

Alex has just reached the stage of actually wanting to help you do something, like washing up or cooking the dinner.

We have fights in our house over who is placing the fish fingers on the oven tray to cook them and also who is going to stir the Mac Cheese when it is ready!

Shame they haven't yet learnt how to get the vacuum cleaner out when it is needed or how to clean the toilet? Maybe it will happen one day?

Although I am not going to hold my breath over it!

PS I Love You

Only when they started to advertise this movie did I know it was being made, or had been made.

I read the book last year, it took me several attempts to read it, but keep trying I did.

It was reasonable, not one of the all time greats but something to read none the less.

It was the authors first book.

So here I had the afternoon to myself to get all my reports done for the AGM tomorrow night at Parents Centre and I take myself off to the movies with my last free movie pass I had.

It never happens that I have an afternoon like that so it was a nice feeling, plus I also know that Steve would never of wanted to see this movie.

And after watching it I am glad I never sat him through it.

It was different, well done considering I knew the story line and I can totally see how that poor guy in Christchurch fell a sleep during it when seeing it with his girlfriend. Totally different thing but some guy fell a sleep whilst watching this and his girlfriend got so annoyed at him she left him there sleeping and he got locked in the cinema. When he woke at 3am he set off the alarms trying to get out and the police were called!

This is definitely not a bloke movie, but a good thing to watch when there is nothing else. Some very sexy men in it and some beautiful scenes of Ireland.

So snuggle down with the popcorn when your man is away and watch it in the comfort of your own living room.

Favours

One of the joys of planning a wedding is organising all the little bits.

Wedding favours is one of those such things.

Now who ever came up with the idea of giving gifts to those that attend your wedding? I thought they were meant to bring you gifts?

I do remember at all the weddings I attended in England we always got a little sample of Sugared Almonds, I am sure this because someone had a deal with a dentist, near half broke your teeth trying to eat them!

So the big question is how do you find something different that hasn't been done too often before, that won't break the budget but stayes within your theme?

Do we have personalised chocolates?

Candles?

Gift Boxes?

Or some other little favour to say thank you for attending?

The joys of planning a wedding!

Why We Love Children

1. A nursery school pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but it was dead.
'How do you know that the cat was dead?' she asked her pupil.
'Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move,' answered the child innocently.
'You did WHAT?' the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
'You know,' explained the boy, 'I leaned over and went 'Pssst' and it didn't move'

2. A small boy is sent to bed by his father.
Five minutes later.....'Da-ad....
''What?'' I'm thirsty. Can you bring a drink of water?
''No, You had your chance. Lights out.
'Five minutes later: 'Da-aaaad.....
''WHAT?''I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??''
I told you NO! If you ask again, I'll have to smack you!!'
Five minutes later......'Daaaa-aaaad.....
''WHAT!''When you come in to smack me, can you bring a drink of water?'

3. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him
'How do you expect to get into Heaven?'
The boy thought it over and said,
'Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says,
'For Heaven'ssake, Dylan, come in or stay out!''

4. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice,
'Mummy, will you sleep with me tonight?'
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug.
'I can't dear,' she said. 'I have to sleep in Daddy's room.'
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice:
'The big sissy.'

5. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon.
All the children were invited to come forward.
One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the minister leaned over and said,
'That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?'
The little girl replied, directly into the minister's clip-on microphone,
'Yes, and my Mum says it's a bitch to iron.'

6. When I was six months pregnant with my third child, my three year old came into the room when I was just getting ready to get into the shower.
She said, 'Mummy, you are getting fat!'
I replied, 'Yes, honey, remember Mummy has a baby growing in her tummy.'
'I know,' she replied, but what's growing in your bum?'

7. A little boy was doing his math homework.
He said to himself, 'Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine....'
His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, 'What are you doing?'
The little boy answered, 'I'm doing my math homework, Mum.''
And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?' the mother asked
'Yes,' he answered.
Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, 'What are you teaching my son in math?'
The teacher replied, 'Right now, we are learning addition.'
The mother asked, 'And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?'
After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered,
'What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four.'

Dress

Today I sadly had my first encounter with panic over something to do with the wedding.

Only one of the most major areas - the dress!

The lady in the shop told me what I wanted was out of style and I would never find it anywhere. She suggested I find a picture (nie impossible) and take it to a designer to make!

If I could actually find a picture that would help. If I could find a paper pattern from the fabric store that would help to, it seems that if you want to get married these days you have to want to wear strapless and that is it!

I got told I was an older lady, with children and was out of touch with styles today!

Not sure what all this had to do with finding a dress for my first and last wedding but hey there you go.

After sobbing with my Aunty and Sister-in-Law in Rotorua, we finally got things sorted and would you believe the style I want is perfect for me and can be made very simply and effortlessly.

I also got a makeup and hair person at the same time so things are falling back into place again.

All I Want for Christmas....

Well I did want a ring...but oh look I just got that.

So I will tell you about the other thing I want....

A charm bracelet, but not just any, a Pandora Charm Bracelet.

Now I never had a charm bracelet as a little girl, but these ones are so me.

Ideal for all sorts of occassions to receive the beads or charms, would make gift time so easy, yet expensive.

I had just mentioned to Steve that I know what I want for Christmas, his response was that I had received more than my fair share this year with my ring.

But a girl can always dream, although having just checked out the price I will be dreaming for many a year to come.

House

The house is coming along nicely.

The kitchen is stripped and we are now waiting for the new kitchen to be delivered and installed. This is happening the week after Easter.

In the mean time we are all helping to get the place sorted.

Our little helpers are so good at stripping the walls for us.