Postcards

As mentioned before, I have joined Postcrossings, a postcard exchange website.
We have been receiving a few cards recently and the boys are loving it when another card arrives from somewhere else in the world. They are just beginning to realise that there are other countries out in the big wide world. For a long time they thought everything was in New Zealand!

These are the ones we have received recently:

From Japan

From China

This is of course helping me in my quest with sending snail mail each week. Sadly I haven't been that creative with what I am sending lately, but I am still managing to send something each week

This week I have just sent out 4 more postcards.
They have gone this time to America, Finland, China and Germany.

I was lucky enough to find some lovely cards of Hamilton and landmarks of New Zealand in a local $2 shop for 50c each. Really do need to keep an eye out for postcards so I have a collection ready for when I need to send more out. Some of the people who you send to have specific requests on the type they would like to receive! None with multi pictures on them, no churches, no animals etc Sometimes I think people should just be grateful for what they receive and enjoy receiving them.

Other Cute Pictures

There were a lot of pictures taken during our recent weekend away to Nelson.
The boys wanted to take pictures and Steve also learnt some new tricks with the camera.
So here is a collection of very cute pictures taken by all....

 You are my new big friend, will you stay with me forever?

And finally, when going to a wedding with kids, it is always sensible to take activity books with you for them to have something to do at the reception.
I scored huge mummy brownie points with this. They were so very well behaved it was easy to forget there were there most of the time. So proud of them and their behaviour, everyone commented on how good they were all weekend.

Playing Around!!

Please bear with me whilst we are under construction, trying to get an new template design sorted.
Have to blame RCR for this, she just changed her template and it inspired me to sort mine out!

Watch this space.......!

Wordless Post

Spring and Summer

I love spring and summer. I love the feeling of relaxation, the lift in spirit and the endless days of warmth and sunshine.

I love the flowers and colours of this time, the start of life and coming together of friends to sit around and enjoy.

I love the cool colourful clothes people wear, not afraid to just throw on a shirt and shorts with flip flops, grab the sunnies and you are ready for the sun.

The lounging by the water, splashing and cooling in the endless summer days.

The colours at this time are glorious, the flowers are out, the trees are blooming and the vibrant pinks, yellows and whites are everywhere.

Wait a little while longer and you gain the darker pinks of summer, the greens and blues, some reds and oranges mixed in too.

Although come to think about it I love all the colours of the seasons, they all have their magical power on you setting the mood for the time of year you are currently in.

Spring and summer to me is open doors and windows, long cool drinks and laundry blowing on the line.

In the winter the laundry has to dry in the house or in the drier, you feel like you are living under a laundry cloud! Everywhere you turn you fall over washing racks, things drying in the warm air of the heating or sending the electricity bill sky high when you need to get the smalls dried in the drier.

At this time of year the laundry finally gets relegated to the garage, where it can hang on the inside line (husband kindly put a line up in the roof of the garage) and dry in the natural heat of the room from the sun, or blow on the line in the gentle breeze with sun shinning. Clothes feel and smell fresh from the air, you can dry things in hours and it is especially nice when you have a 6 year old who is no longer wearing night time nappies but has the odd accident. Sheets and protector washed first thing and dry by lunch ready to go back on the bed, all smelling fresh and warm from the sun.

So summer does it for me, I am a spring summer person and I love to feel warm and relaxed.

News Items

There are always things happening in the news that catches my eye, interesting little stories that probably are not much, but interesting to read and understand.
This week in New Zealand I have read 3 stories that interested me.

1) Whilst erecting a Christmas tree in Auckland Viaduct this week, the helicopter used to raise it got its rotor blade struck by one of the wires assisting the tree and did a 180 degree flip onto the concret below. The pilot walked away from the wreck and to an extent was lucky he was so low to the ground when it happened. I am sure if you search the internet or check out the New Zealand Herald website you will be able to see video footage of the whole thing, as there were many people video the spectacular sight of this tree going up.

2) 6 girls at a local college (aged between 13-15) got taken to hospital this week after one of the girls brought, what they think were Ecstasy tablets, to school and proceeded to take them along with the other girls. Unfortunately they all had agressive side effects, getting abusive and agressive.
The girls have all been suspended from school and when 2 of them did visit the school gates to see mates they received a lot of verbal abuse from other pupils for their stupidty. They are still waiting for the toxicology reports to come back to knwo exactly what the sunstance was that was taken.
The big question at present is where did the pills come from? The answer tcirculating is that one of the girls obtained them from her parents stash in the house!
Again check out the above link to read more on this.

3) This item is not really a big headline story, but you just feel so sorry for them.
A little 13 month old girl burnt the soles of her feet when she stood on tiles on the balcony that had been heated by the sun. As she had not long learnt to walk, her reactions and ability to move quickly were still not mastered. She stood on the tiles and her little feet got burnt.
The parents did all the correct things for treatment of burns and she is currently in hospital receiving treatment.
Her father, got a thermometer and tested the temp on the tiles in the sun and discovered that they had gone to 69C. the tiles were made of basalt stone. The home was new and the parents had no idea this could happen to the tiles when they laid them, however, they were again reiterating the fact that the child didn't have the reaction ability to move off the tiles fast enough when she discovered them to be so hot.

The helicopter pilot, well he is just so lucky, especially when you see the video, makes you grateful for all littel miracles that come our way.
The girls with the tablets, were just plain stupid, but at the end of the day, they were being teenagers, but think they might have learnt the hard way about trying things out.
The little girl, she will have months of rehab and will have to learn to walk again but makes you realise the power of the sun nowadays.

Whats happening in the news in your country this week?

Today I am Thankful

I am thankful for…


My children who complain about doing the dishes because it means they are at home and not on the street.

My partner who snores all night because it means they are at home asleep with me and not with someone else.

The mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

The clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means I have enough to eat.

A floor that needs mopping and windows that need cleaning because it means I have a home.

The spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.

Too many e-mails because it means I have friends and relatives who are thinking of me.


Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

This year I am truely thankful for so much, for the lack of stress in my life by having changed jobs, for feeling healthy, that my family and friends are all still with us and healthy too.

I am thankful that I have started to take the time to enjoy what is going on around me. For taking the time to realise that Friday will still arrive at the end of each week but if I enjoy the other 4 days I am even happier by the time Friday does arrive.

I am thankful for the time to be able to stop and smell the roses, and in my case literally as they are still blooming in the front garden.

I am thankful to all of you, for visiting me and making me smile with your wonderful words, not just the ones you leave as comments, but also the ones you write in your blogs that inspire me more often than I care to admit.

Happy Thanksgiving All x x x

Fun in Nelson

Our weekend in Nelson was a lot of fun.
The boys were very well behaved and made the whole weekend such a breeze.
We saw some wonderful sights and acted like tourists just a little bit whenever we could.

As mentioned before Nelson is situated at the top of the South Island and has lovely large bays. There is a huge mountain range in Nelson so there are many wonderful places to go and look out at the bays and the surrounding gorgeous areas.

Here a some views looking out towards the bays.........

Just an amazing place and some breath taking views and sights to be seen

Babies

Alex is our nuturing and caring one in the family, well after me that is.
He loves babies.
If we had gone on to have a 3rd child I would have had a mother's helper from day 1, in fact I probably would have had to fight him for the baby sometimes.

He patiently waited 2 days to manage to get a snuggle with Dylan whilst in Nelson!

There was always someone else getting a snuggle before him (not always me) or because Dylan was only 6 weeks old he was tired, grouchy or even hungry and screamed the moment Alex had hold of him.
Finally on the Sunday, there was hardly anyone around, he had had a good sleep followed by a good feed and we managed to catch 15 minutes for Alex to have him

He was in his element snuggled there with Dylan and happily sat for ages snuggling him.

So cute.

New Rules

Ok, who changed the rules...?
It was instilled in me when I was little that you brushed your teeth with toothpaste and then you spat it out and rinsed.
This is what I have instilled in my children and this is what Grandma still reminds them as well.

Well, hey guys, we need to move with the times....apparently!
It has changed.....you now encourage children to spit only and no rinsing.
The reasoning behind this......that the toothpaste they are using has flouride in it and if they spit only then residuel toothpaste with flouride will stay on their teeth during the night and help strengthen them further.

How do I know this update...by taking my kids to the school dental nurse. Unfortunately I thought I was being a good mother in taking Ben for an appointment outside of his normal school dental appointment schedule when I discovered some plaque build up on his new big teeth, I didn't want him to wait another 5 months until his next scheduled appointment at school, unfortunately what I wasn't prepared for was the Dental Therapist kindly telling me that 3, yes you read right, 3 of his back teeth are showing signs of bugs playing there and that they need to be filled.

I felt disappointed with myself, I thought I had been doing so well with them, they brush for 2 minutes (we have a timer) ever morning and evening, ok we are not fab at flossing, like not at all really and I suppose we have been a little slack in supervising their brushing this year, so even though they may have been brushing for 2 minutes I can't ensure the quality of the brushing. But I have been keeping a small eye on them and they have always had good check ups at the dental nurse who has always been impressed with their cute little purly white nuggets.
My boys do not sit all day long eating sweets and lollies, yes they drink cordial, but do not sit there supping it for hours on end, they drink their drink and then have a break before drinking again, so they are not having sugary food and liquid constantly sitting in their mouth.

So I was a little shocked actually today for her to ask if we were happy for her to fix up 1 of his teeth and to come back another time for the other 2.
I was suddenly having flash backs to my younger days of sitting in the dental chair having the same teeth filled.
However he was a fabulous little soldier sitting in that dental chair, he was giggling most of the time, the therapist had the best rapor with him that made everyone feel right at ease.

So this Wednesday coming he is having another little injection and filling done and then another 1 the following Wednesday.
I feel bad that he has to have it done, but at the same time very grateful that I took him today and we didn't find it all out in 5 months time (when it probably would have been a lot worse) at his next scheduled school appointment.

So maybe brushing time has just gone back on our schedule of things to watch over in the evenings when getting bedtimes sorted, no more just sending them to the bathroom, we need to pay a little bit more attention to what they are doing because now we have good practices instilled in them about brushing twice a day we now need to work on how/what exactly they are brushing.

P.S - when we collected Ben from school for his appointment today he proudly informed me that whilst eating his raw carrot at morning tea time he now had another wobbly tooth. (takes the current total to 2!)
Guess I better warn the tooth fairy this time round so she doesn't miss him out!

Little Boys

Boys will be boys and I love that.
So here is a recipe for little boys to have fun with....

1) Take 1 dirt pile

2) Add 1 little boy

Watch the fun last for hours!

Boys and dirt...they are just drawn together!

Nelson Wedding

Of course the main reason we went to Nelson last weekend was to attend the marriage of our Niece Sarah to her partner Joni.

Joni and Sarah

It turned into a wonderful family event that was short and sweet but perfect for what they wanted.

They held the wedding service at a local garden within Nelson that had a wonderful lawn and lots of plants. The gardens apparentlly belonged to the local Council but there was a house in the grounds that was part of a trust. It looked very pretty but we didn't venture in, as you needed money to visit with and also we didn't have time, maybe another visit to Nelson is needed!

The service was very short and sweet and to the point, although the celebrant could have done with a ray of sunshine pierced through her body! Just a little lacking in joy and happiness for the joyous occassion.

We had prepared the boys the week before for the fact that this wedding was not like all the others they had attended, that there was not going to be a groom and more likely 2 brides in pretty dresses. This never fazed them at all and no odd comments were ever made. Amazing what kids accept nowadays, but then guess we never made a deal out of it so it wasn't a deal to them either!

It was a very joyous occassion celebrated by all who attended.

I have lots more fun and cute pictures of Nelson so will organise another post of them later on