I'm Loving

Today I am loving the weekend we have just had.
On Saturday we had our annual family BBQ. We invited anyone and everyone and we had an awesome day. The sun was out, the food was good, the company was awesome and the family & friends were flowing.
People came for an hour, they came for 6. We had people in the house, in the garden and hanging round the kitchen. People got to meet new people and mums from school finally got to know mums they had seen but never spoken too.
It was an awesome day and I am already looking forward to next years BBQ

Sunday was one of those classical Sundays. Lots of sunshine and chilling at home. We had a late breakfast followed by doing nothing.
We caught up on computer stuff, we caught up on books.
The boys and I spent an hour in the park playing cricket, just hitting the ball and bowling. Actually I was well impressed with the abilities of the boys. Ben had some awesome throwing techniques and when he hit could actually get great distance.
Alex was wonderful at bowling and did some great catches. We had a wonderful time in the sun playing ball.

Then last night we went to the Hamilton Gardens to see the Sunset Symphony.
Dinner in the park followed by some amazing music. The Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra were amazing as ever and it was a wonderful way to end a glorious summer weekend.
As always the fireworks at the end of the evening were breath taking. I am always in awe of the spectacular quality of fireworks. At one stage last night all you could see was gold sparks filling the sky. It was an amazing feel good moment.

However that feel good moment didn't last this morning when we had 2 very grouchy tired munchkins, with 1 feeling sick and looking rather green around the gills.
So 2 munchkins at home for a day of rest and re-pinking in colour!

Have a great week all x x

Challenge Update

I have a Challenge Page.
You will find it at the top of my page under the heading picture.
Here it lists all the challenges that I want to achieve. Ok I was trying to achieve them all in 1 year but that didn't come about, so now it is just an ongoing challenge that I am achieving.

So what have I achieved in the last few weeks?

#14 Help a Charity - I am completing Relay for Life in 10 days time. This will be raising funds for the Cancer Society. I will post all about this after March 3rd / 4th when I have completed it. However if any of you wish to support me in doing this then please go to their website and donate. Our team Is Wig Girls and you can register under Robyn Creighton.

#24 Clean out your closet and donate everything to your local charity shop rather than sell it on Trade Me - I have a bag sat behind my bedroom door at present that is being filled with things I am being brave enough to part with. As I go through each draw, shelf or wardrobe I am filling the bag.

#62 Write a list of things you would like to do or achieve before you die – ‘Bucket List’ - I have been thinking about this one recently as the Relay for Life is one of the things on my bucket list. So just need to sort my page out on my blog to show my Bucket List - Challenge Achieved


#89 Take baking to a person that you appreciate but pay for their services. E.g. hairdresser, doctor. Take it to your next appointment and simply give it to them and say Thanks - I achieved this one just before Christmas when I had a hair appointment. I made them some of my little Chocolate Christmas Puddings - Challenge Achieved

#90 Have a whole week with no TV - I achieved this one over Christmas whilst we were away for 3 weeks. We don't have a tv at the caravan, so couldn't watch it. Maybe not quite what the challenge was about and probably an easy way out of completing it at home, but hey this is my challenge so I get to make the rules! Challenge Achieved

Get Moving

With my husband deciding that he wants to get fit he announced that I was allowed to nag him to go and do some exercise!

As much as I love nagging my husband, I'm allowed to do it once a month with his diabetes, I did not relish the offer of nagging him more often for his fitness.
So when I saw a pedometer the other day, then I decided to put it all back on him.

All I can say is if you want to get moving more then buy a pedometer, man do they make you competitive.

I decided that we could both do with one and now for nearly a week we have been having an ongoing informal competition to see who can do the most steps per day.

And it sure does make you move more, suddenly you are happy to park in the space at the supermarket furthest away from the door.
You are suddenly happy to take the long way round to get to somewhere.
You are even happy taking 6 flights of stairs at work because at the end of the day it all goes against your daily steps.

Daily steps by the way should be 10,000 and if you think you do that no sweat then get a pedometer and just try it out and see if you actually are!
I thought it would probably be easy, even though I am currently working at a desk job, to achieve this, but boy was I wrong, you really do have to keep moving all day.

So with cutting back on the wrong types of food and increasing the right type of food, decreasing the portion size we eat and trying to achieve those illusive 10,000 steps per day there might just be some small changes in our house over the coming weeks!

Watch this space!

Can't Breath

For 10 seconds just then I couldn't breath!!!

No I wasn't choking or having an allergic reaction!!

For 10 seconds Blogger told me that...."I wasn't following any blogs at present!"

I missed more than 1 breath or 2. I choked, I swore, I screamed, I went into panic!
How can Blogger loose all the blogs I follow? Come to think about it do I have a list anywhere else of all the blogs I love to follow? NO

Seems I might have to rectify that one very quickly.
However 2 seconds later after refreshing the page...pooff and all the blogs I follow appeared in the reading list?
Why - I don't know, I don't care, they are back, I am happy!

Inspiration

One of the most common topics amongst girlfriends is what latest diet is anyone on? Does it work and how much have you lost?

As females it seems to be that we have a perpetual craving for diets and loosing weight.

Now I will be the first to admit that I don't follow diets, well maybe I follow that "Sea Food Diet" you know the one "See Food will eat it diet"!
I have always been happy with my weight, however if I am not happy then it never seems to bother me enough for me to want to do anything about it.
I liked my weight when I got pregnant the first time and even though there were a few more kilos involved when I got pregnant the 2nd time, I was not bothered.
I have certain clothes in my wardrobe that in fact look fabulous on me, not sure whether I have learnt to dress for my shape or whether they just suit me, I don't know, but damn I look great in them.

However if anyone does want to go on a diet then I think they need to be in the right mind set for it, I do also think that you can only diet when you are ready for it, when it hits home to you and you know you want to do something about it, not just the "I really should go on a diet but I can't be bothered" moment.
You always hear about people who saw a picture or tried to do something and then suddenly realised that something had to be done. Almost like they got inspired.
I feel that that inspiration is what puts you in the right mind set.

Well that inspiration has hit, I have seen the light or the picture or the video what ever it was that gave me inspiration.
Those 10 extra kilos I have from my 2 kids are now at war with me. They want to stay and I want them to go!
I am not going to be wild and try and get them out within 10 weeks but they will be leaving bit by bit.

Steve is all behind me on this, well he was until he realised that by default he is involved as well!!
He suddenly has to be aware of what he is eating too. Not going to do him any harm to loose some as well although we have to consider his diabetes in all of this and make sure it is all still managed sufficiently, however loosing some weight will be good for his diabetes.

He told me that he needed to get his fitness in shape this year, so I got him a pedometer (we both have one; 10,000 steps a day here we come) and I am amazed at how much it has been used so far. He has worn it from morning till night religiously and comments each night on how many steps he has completed that day. maybe this will be his inspiration to reach his goal.

Let's just hope our inspiration can stick around for a while

Look What Arrived

I took part in the Initial Heart Swap that Cheryll organised and my swap parcel arrived the other day.
I was a very lucky girl and received some gorgeous items from Shiree

some lovely material that will back some ornaments when I make them

Just wish I had a bath to soak in with these bath salts!

a cute little brooch

3 gorgeous little hearts, think I will call them 'Tattered Hearts'

The all smell of Lavender, so my room is going to smell sweet

This is my favorite one

Gorgeous

Thank you so much Shiree for my lovely gifts.
P.S. hope you enjoyed dinner with my mum when she dropped by your house this last weekend. What a funny coincidence her meeting you and you being my swap partner.

Cute and Funny

I just love this, so cute

Initial Heart Swap

Over here at Gone Stitchin Cheryll hosted a lovely little Valentines Day Swap.
Like all normal swaps, you signed up and then received your swap partners details.

For this swap we had to create a heart inspired things for our swap person with their initial on it.
I was lucky enough to receive Cat from Catalina's Cottage as my recipient.

So I got my stitching mojo on and created a lovely little ornament for her with the letter 'C' on it.

 I backed it in some cute little chocolate inspired material that I brought, I thought it was all very valentines inspired.

I also wrapped up a nice little box of Hersheys Mint Kisses and sent them all off to her.

Luckily for me they all arrived on Valentine's Day, not sure I could get it to arrive on the day again if I tried!

In fact I got so inspired whilst making the one for Cat that I even managed to get a 2nd one stitched for a friend who requested one for his wife as a surprise.

So after 2 little stitchin projects I now need to find another one to complete?
Sure it won't take me too long...!

Unfortunately at the time of writing this post, I still haven't received my swap gift yet, but I am sure it is on its way.

Easter

Yes I know, it is not there yet. I also know that we have at least 7-8 weeks to go.
However you may have noticed that Hot Cross Buns are already out and about.
They are in the supermarkets and the bakeries.

Luckily for me, I do not like dried fruit, so hot cross buns can come and go as far as I am concerned.
Sadly for me Bakers Delight do Chocolate Hot Cross Buns with oodles of chocolate chips in them and zero dried fruit in them!!

And yes as it sounds they are devine.
Just out from under the grill with butter melting on them....oh gosh my mouth is watering already and I only just finished some for breakfast this morning!

There are more chocolate chips in them than you can count and they are not too sweet.

So if you want to try a Hot Cross Bun that has no fruit in it, then check them out.

P.S. I wasn't asked to try these out. I am just telling you about them because I love them.

Valentines Day

Happy Love Day to you all.

If you have someone special in your life, then I hope, if you follow this day, that they have made you feel special.

Valentines Day is not something my husband and I do. I told him in no uncertain words years ago that I did not want flowers on Valentines Day! Because how much it would cost to buy them I would rather he spent that money and bought me flowers at other times of the year. It would still cost the same and I would get flowers more often instead of once
(Sadly don't get flowers at other times either, so that plan went wrong somewhere!)

However this day is special to me for other reasons.

Firstly, Happy Birthday to my Sister In Law Karen. We may not see you often but we still think of you all the time.

Secondly, today is my anniversary, no I did not get married on Valentines Day, I arrived in New Zealand on this day instead. Not intentionally I might add, just how it happened.
I arrived to start the rest of my life on this day in 1998, so today is my 14th anniversary.

Weetbix TRYathlon

This weekend Ben once again completed the Weetbix Tryathlon.
Once again it was an awesome fun event that everyone enjoyed and got behind.

1500 bikes in transition area

If you have never had the pleasure then now is the time to take note and look out for next years events for your kids.

The kids have to be 7 yrs old to participate and they can do it every year until they are 15.

And like the name suggests it is a Tryathlon, yes there are 3 events to complete, swimming, biking and running (or walking if that is what you do) but the main focus is on TRY athlon as in "give it a go, try it out."
And yesterday that is just what 1500 kids did at Waikato University and they were awesome, every single last one of them ( and I know a little something about the last one too)

The first event, the swimming, is done in age groups, so you enter the pool when your group is called. Due to the distances that are swum (7yrs - 50m, 8-11yrs - 100m and the rest 200m) this will decide on when your age group swims. Yesterday Ben's age group (8yr yellow caps) were the very last group to swim, in fact by the time they had even entered the water most of the older bigger kids had finished their whole tryathlon! But at the end of the day it is not a competition it is a 'fun give it a go day'.

Waiting with mates from school

However, for some reason Ben hit the water and stopped. He got given a float board to use but he didn't seem to go very fast with it, consequently the 2 or 3 little groups of boys left to swim all passed him and he was one of the very last people to leave the pool area and transition onto the bikes.

Waiting to get in the water

 When he was at his bike he seemed to take forever. He had a little trouble with his helmet and we assisted over the fence. However whilst he was getting ready to go on his bike an official came up and asked him if he was alright for his run? Ben told him he was just going out on his bike and you saw the official whisper something into his little mic, obviously letting someone know they still had one left to go out on the bike!
My heart sank!! In fact my heart is sinking writing this (but only a mother will understand where I am coming from)

I soon realised that Ben was the very very last person on the biking field. The very last contestant of all 1500 kids! (Ben however knew absolutely nothing of this and just kept going with a huge smile on his face)

I also knew that from last year he didn't like the running part and walked, so my heart and brain very quickly put 2 & 2 together and yes I got that horrible answer of "oh my gosh he is going to be the very last kid to cross the finish line!

Sole rider getting sorted for the ride

I raced round to where he came out of the bike area and told him where to go, however I could see the 'tailend charlie official' ahead of Ben, so I ran like mad next to Ben telling him he had to catch up with the 2 men in the yellow jackets ahead of him. About 100m later a marshall saw Ben and stopped the officals and they waited for him. So there I stood on the large University field watch my lone 8yr old cycle round the path with not another person insight!

I am not sure whether I wanted to cry or scream, a few profanities came out of my mouth but then I realised we had to make the best of the whole situation. So I raced back to the school tent and found all his mates and their siblings and quickly explained that Ben was the very very last person. It sank in with them very quickly and then we sprung into action.
We all waited at the bike arrival area and cheered like mad for him when he came in on his own, we cheered for him while he parked his bike and set out on his run, the kids ran with him for about 200m and then they raced to the finish area. I ran with him about half of the run, but the thing that amazed me was him, he just jogged along and over took 6 people, I then realised that he wasn't going to come in dead last, he was going to be one of the last ones home but not THE last.
Half way round the course all his mates were on the side again with Steve and Alex and another parent and they all cheered him on again. We cut through the trees to where he was going to come out after going round the lake and we cheered him on again.
The last bend and some of the straight and everyone was running with him, then they all stopped and cheered as he ran the last bit himself straight across the finish.

Because it was the end of the day, and 1493 other kids had already come home, the finish straight was empty, there was hardly anyone standing along it cheering the kids. Of course not, because everyone else had their kids home so they had already moved over to the prize giving area which was happening about 10 mins after the last kid got home!
So after cheering like mad for Ben I stayed on the finish line and cheered like mad for the last few kids to come in. Really supported them, made them feel like someone was still there for them.

Ben is still totally oblivious to where he was in the race, doesn't understand what I saw but then why should he, he did the swim, he did the bike and he did the run. He knows his age group were the last to do everything and next year his age group will be before this group. And the year after his age group will be earlier again.
Although I know that in 2 years time we will go through it all again with someone at the end as Alex will be 8 by then and he will be in that dreaded group that has to go at the very end of the day.

Cleaning

I can always sit and watch someone else do the cleaning

Can't you??

Red

18 months ago I discovered the colour red.

Yes I know it has been around for ever but I always found it a very striking colour and very strong.

Not sure if because I turned 40 (18 months ago) I wanted to become striking and strong but suddenly I am in love with red.

No I haven't gone out and changed my whole wardrobe nor when I think about it do I actually own any red clothes! But I do own red accessories.

Since my first son was born I had a little pair of red slip on shoes and I always got compliments about them.
When I turned 40 I had highlights put in my hair, the hairdresser and I had put red ones in before but they always faded so quickly, so we tried a different colour and brand and holy smoke, I had bright red highlights for several weeks, it made for a fabulous 40th birthday as I got compliments from strangers in the street for nearly 5 weeks!

Highlights are 5 weeks old at this stage

My aunty brought me a lovely big red bag for my 40th birthday, I purchased myself a lovely little red bag a few months ago.
I even found a nice little pair of court shoes for work too.

However my greatest buy has to be my new red shoes.
I found them at the Warehouse the other day and decided I could afford the $30 for them, happy for them to only last this summer.
Imagine my surprise when at the checkout they scanned to be only $15! It was so meant to be.

So for the last 2 days they are all I have worn and I love them
They also remind me of the shoes I use to get as a treat when I was younger and we visited the Greek Islands.

My youngest son thinks they are my ballet shoes, which is so cute.

Party Time

Last weekend was a holiday weekend here in New Zealand.
For some reason we are lucky enough to sometimes, due to when certain days fall, to gain 2 long weekends 1 after the other.

So we, as always, went to the caravan.
There we had a big joint dinner with the other permanent campers, but to add some fun to it we classed it as a Toga Party.
All the food was in that theme as well.
We had hummus and feta cheese, moussaka, a lovely chicken casserole with tomatoes and olives, beautiful salads etc and wonderful chicken kebabs and mince meatballs. Everyone worked hard on preparing the food.

However everyone worked just as hard on their costumes.....yes that is right we all dressed in Togas for the evening.

As you can see, everyone got in on the action, even though we had had a very hot sunny day.
My shoulders are pink and so are Alex's cheeks!
But for just a little while we had a warm evening, sadly by 7pm we were all dressed in jeans and jackets as the temperature dropped.
A good night was had by all.

Our next joint party is at Easter time and we are having a "mad hat party"

Excuse Me....!

When school finished at the end of last year, all the artwork for the year came home.
We usually go through it all and decide on the good pieces and this then gets pride of place on the notice board in the dining room for all to see.

However this year I didn't manage to get through the bag of art until we came back from holiday.
Alex had created a star in the classroom which was obviously the childrens way of saying that they are awesome little stars in their own right and these are some of the wonderful things I can do.

Alex's was very well done and looks so cute.
I read all the sayings on the back with eager enthusiasm.

• I am good at playing soccer
• I like reading
• I am good at Judo
• I like playing on my playstation....... excuse me...!

Back the bus up a little.....I enjoy playing on my playstation....
Playstation, what playstation? We don't own a playstation!!

Is this his way of informing us that he would like one? Or did he just follow what others were writing in the class?
The powerful mind of a 6 yr old. I will never try to understand it.

Schooltime

Yes that time of year has fast approached and the boys are back at school.

6 1/2 weeks have gone by very quickly (but then so has January!) and I can not believe that they were actually eager to get back!
New bags have been purchased, new lunch bags too. All new stationery has been covered and named where necessary. Uniform has been checked and new brought if needed.

Today they practically ran into school and were eager for me to go as they had friends to catch up with and play with. Neither of them were too worried about mum standing there watching them, they were very happy to just yell 'Bye Mum' and be away.

The holidays have been fun this year. We have managed a very desent time away at the caravan, they have spent time at home with me, they have spent time at the holiday programme and they have spent time at home with my cousin. So time has been spent doing all manner of activities and outings which they seem to have revelled in.

One last holiday weekend to get through this weekend and then life gets back to normal for a few weeks until Easter!

Sneaky Peek

Here it is, a quick little sneaky peek at my Valentine Swap project.

Cross stitching all complete just need to now make it up.

Really excited that I have got things completed with lots of time to spare.