Royal Wedding

This is one event that can not just pass by without people commenting on it.
Me, being British, even though I live in New Zealand, was glued to the tv for the whole of Friday night here. We even let the boys stay up for the whole thing, well at least until they fell asleep on their own accord.
Alex sadly only made it until 8.30pm so there by missing the main event (but we recorded a highlight show the next day for Alex to watch because he got very upset that he had missed the wedding. He actually wanted to know if there was going to be a 2nd one as he had missed the 1st!), Ben however managed until 10.30pm and only missed the kissing on the balcony.
But to me it was a wonderful time to explain the British Monarchy to them and be able to show the people and explain who they all were. Ben thought this was great fun and got to know who was who.

Was it OTT at all - never, it was done with great respect and tradition. I loved the fact there was hardly any flowers around, thus showing that they had not spent excess $$ on stuff that was not necessary.

The groom - he looked very dashing. He managed to smirk several times when being watched, even though he tried so hard to keep a straight face throughout just like he has been taught over the last 30 years. He also tried very hard to not turn round and watch Kate when she was walking up the aisle, however he did have a sneak peek just before she got up to him. I love the fact he turned and whispered to her that she was looking beautiful.

The Bride - she was beautiful. She out did what everyone was thinking and went with a dress that was so plain and traditional. I was so pleased. I hoped that she would prove all wrong and not go with something very wild, hippy and modern. I think she may have proved to people that she will mix in with the royal family so very well. The Grace Kelly style wedding dress was a wonderful shape and style. I also loved the head piece with the old tiara and the way the veil hung over the back of her head in an old style as well.
She walked up the aisle with such poise and style, I honestly thought her father was going to cry. It was obvious that she has taken everything on board that they have taught her over the last 6 months but has still managed to keep it real, lets hope they do not try to knock all that out of her over the years to come.

The Bridesmaids - were so cute. Again their dresses were plain and simple and I loved it.

The Service - was perfect. They sang all the hymns I love, the prayers were perfect without going over the top, the reading was short enough and so was the sermon. However I was sad that he didn't have a ring. It would have been so nice to see him wear a ring as well. I also hope that they had a sneaky kiss in that back room after signing the register and before they came back out to face everyone.

The Balcony - we all hoped this would be a fun and joyous occassion and it was. It was fun to watch the little bridesmaids so taken with the planes that flew over. To see Kate's face when she first stepped out of the door and realise just how many people were down below watching them. Also the fact William kept talking to her and that he asked her if she was ready for the kiss.

And she was and they kissed twice, much to the crowds pleasure.
I also love the fact that they have not gone on honeymoon........because he has to go back to work. How down to earth is that. He tries so hard to be allowed to be normal for as long as possible and he is, even though they had a public holiday for the actually day of the wedding, this weekend is in fact a public holiday weekend in England anyway, so they all gained a 4 day weekend. So nice to see he has to go back to work and so therefore will honeymoon later in the year. So many people I know have done that nowadays.

I hope you enjoyed watching the parts you managed to watch. I think it was a perfect occassion and showed England in a wonderful light. I also think it did the Royal family good to have a simple, perfect yet tradition plain event that ran so smoothly and was not OTT

Transport

We must be one of the only remaining families in this century who are surviving on 1 car?
We just haven't been able to justify getting a 2nd car yet! It is not the cost, although that is an area of thought against getting one, but more the fact of we are able to live life without one at present.

We are lucky enough to have everyone have to be in the same place, more or less, every morning at roughly the same time and everyone finishes at the end of the day at about the same as well.

However, we just became a 2 car family for a small while. As I am studying, I have needed to travel to get to my weekly lecture, however, the day for the lecture is a busy one for us and not suitable for me to take our one car and leave the rest of the family to sort themselves out, too many activites etc would have had to have been cancelled just for my study. Now I am not against asking my family to adapt to something I am doing, but every week for 6-8 was a little unreasonable.

So we approached my mum and asked if we could borrow her campervan that was sitting around having a quiet moment. She was more than happy for this, although she decided that in fact she had use for the van for a couple of weeks, so therefore lent us her car instead.

So have we used it enough to warrant getting our own 2nd car?

Yes and No.

Yes, in that it has made life easier when there is something happening at work and one of us will be staying late. Yes when we have a judo night, saves Steve having to come with us and having to eat dinner at judo if he doesn't manage it before we leave. Yes it makes it easier so Steve doesn't have to run us all back home and then turn round and race back to judo so he can do his session, as his session finishes about 9pm and I can't leave the boys asleep in the house whilst going to get him......or can I? He also then manages to attend the whole session of judo and not have to always miss the first 20 minutes.
Yes, when there are things to do on the weekend and then you can both go different ways and get things done quicker. Also a yes for when I am on call and then if I get called Steve still has a car to be able to do things with the boys, like shopping etc.
A yes that I can see in the future is sports with the boys. Ben is just starting soccer this winter. With only one car then either everyone goes and endures the games or the family is split and 1 person takes Ben and the rest stay at home not managing to get any chores done outside of the house.
Another yes will be when I am on call for the weekend, about 1 in every 5, soccer will cause lots of hassel that weekend, because if I am called to work, everyone has to stay put whilst I have the car to get me there.

A big No, is the fact that apart from sports and the convenience of having it, mum's car has sat in our back garden collecting dust!
We can actually manage to go 5 straight days without using it, although we have just gone through the school holidays and so wasn't as necessary as during term time due to no judo etc, although when away over Easter, I did manage to go to the caravan a day before Steve because he didn't have as much time off work as I did.

Now I know when I was younger people did manage with just 1 car, but at the time activities did happen to be close by, mum's didn't work as much as mum's do now. Lots of other factors as well.
So are we getting a new car soon.......not that I can see. Yes we will have to bite the bullet very soon, but everyday we can manage without is another day that we don't have that extra cost

Useful Blogs

In the 6 years, (wow is it really 6 yrs already?) that I have been blogging things have changed in the blogging world.
Firstly when I started 99% of the blogs I followed or casual glanced at were from America. Nothing wrong with that, I have a love of the country so happy to read about it and people's life all the time.
Nowadays there are a lot more blogs from our home country of New Zealand.
Seems everyone is joining the blogging world and sharing a little glance into their world and life.

Secondly, all the blogs with useful information were sadly again based in the US, blogs that gave you reviews of products, retailers and great useful places to visit with a family etc.
How I wished there was something like that here in New Zealand?
With a growing family of 2 boys, who sometimes without realising it, do actually keep growing and getting bigger by the day, then I love reading about great places to visit that don't cost a fortune, that someone else has been to and highly recommends and is family friendly with something to hold every member of the family's attention.

Well, I have found it........




Let me introduce you to this developing blog written by Kiwi Mums for Kiwi Mums like you and me.
Welcome to Undercover Bloggers.

What It Is.......A resource for people who want to know the great places to go... and the terrible places to avoid.
The Purpose.....To harness the power of blogging to rave about our great experiences and warn others about the bad ones. To shout the praises of people and companies who go the extra mile. And to scold the ones who have forgotten that service is everything.

This blog is written by mums around New Zealand, so sadly it does not cover all areas of the country, but they are working on that one. So for all you people in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Tauranga then  there are some places that you might want to check out.
For those in Hamilton, well there will soon start to be some reviews of areas appearing.
For people in other areas who have places to shout out about then why not consider getting in touch with Nicci and seeing if you can't help out.
So when you have 5 minutes with a coffee, yea I know when does that ever happen! Go over and check out the blog and see if there isn't something that takes your fancy to use as your next place of interest for your next family day out.

Easter

The boys woke at 6.30 and totally forgetting the fact that a bunny may have visited, they proceeded to watch a movie in the caravan.

However, by 7.15 they had been to visit a friend’s caravan and suddenly remembered who should have visited. So they started to tear the place to pieces.
They came and told us sleeping wide awake big people that the bunny had missed them out and had not visited. Then with the help of their friends proceeded to tear the place to pieces even more on the ever determined quest of finding some chocolate eggs!

However, Ben had requested that we could do an Easter egg hunt like last year. Unfortunately he seemed to have forgotten this part so early in the morning.
I however, was on the ball and had the hunt all sorted, just not laid out ready to go. So while Steve calmed herded the roaring crowd, I quickly ran around the park and laid the said trap.

We then let the boys loose to see what was discovered. We first let them know that maybe the bunny had left the eggs in the car. This lead to them finding the puzzle start but for some reason Ben had it in his head that this was for a treasure hunt and not for eggs, so stepped over it and carried on looking for eggs. When questioned he said it was for a hunt, which we then had to mention that usually a hunt had prizes.........like possibly eggs? This hit the spot and suddenly they were on a hunt mission.

After sorting the clue and finding many others they found the lost eggs. They even seemed to forget that the bunny had been late in delivering them anyway. They also seemed to have not noticed that they had run up and down the campsite at least 4 times and were now using loads of energy! Wow mums are so sneaky sometimes!

The rest of Easter has been lovely, a nice relaxing chillin’ time at the caravan with friends.

A lot of card games have been played in the last 4 days.

The main one being “Phase 10”, a Rummy based card game with a twist. You can play with 2-6 players and the more you have the longer the game and the more frustrating it becomes but man is it good. It has kept many of us occupied for many hours this last weekend.

Leading on from this, many have been playing “Rummikub”, a tiled based card game. Again, I love this game and so look forward to being able to teach the boys when they are slightly older.

The other one that we have played is “Skip-Bo”, another basic card game that is suited for the children; well at least Ben at almost 8 has been enjoying it and also learning about strategy. I think maybe we have started off his love affair with card games and how much fun they can be.

I also had the pleasure of teaching my boys how to play “clock patience” this weekend and now they both keep getting out a pack of cards to play on their own.

However given the current state of the weather, anyone know of any ducks that want a new home? We have enough water for them and have you got an umbrella to go with that? Yes it has decided that raining is the best possible way to ensure everyone gets very wet and stays home.

Although whilst at the caravan I don’t mind the rain, ok the caravan is not very big and so 4 people stuck inside does have its moments, but it is so much fun watching the poor campers trying so hard to pack everything up without everyone getting too wet! Whilst also trying to explain to the kids why they have to stay sitting in the car whilst mum and dad pack everything up? And that ‘no’ they can’t have another ice cream whilst they sit and wait!
Such fun to watch.

Hope you Easter break has been as enjoyable as ours and that you didn’t get too wet and the kids didn’t get too sick from excess chocolate consumption!

Challenges

Yes I have been a little slow on completing these, although, as I always state, I am always thinking about them, so haven't totally forgotten them.
I have however completed 2 challenges in the last week or so but whilst being at the caravan I have been unable to load pictures from the camera so will do another post about them when I am home, so I can use photos taken to show all.

I have managed to complete the following:

#31 - Go for a walk on the beach in the dark.
#88 - Have a family meal by candlelight

I think I need to maybe print this list of challenges off and hang them in the kitchen, that way I will see them everyday and maybe manage to complete some more a little quicker.
Just wish there was a challenge on there for managing to finally get to a music concert to see my favorite band play or even managing to complete some official further study after not studying for over 10 years!
Maybe I will just keep those ones as personal ones I have managed to achieve, maybe off of my bucket list which is part of challenge #62.

Keep on challenging yourselves

Movies

I love watching movies, ok I am very select about the type I will watch, not in for much body count here I am afraid, although hubby loves high body count, so always a conflict when choosing a movie!

Give me a good comedy, family saga, romance etc and I am happy.

Since the boys have come along, we haven't got to the movies as much as we use to, but then we all know what that is like, but that is life and I am not going to go on about it.

We have taken the boys to some movies recently as well, managed to see Tangled over the Christmas break, which went down very well in this house, we then also got to see Yogi Bear, went down well with the boys, but can't say Steve and I are rushing to see it again, to the point that we will not be obtaining it on DVD when it becomes available.

We just saw Hop yesterday, it was ok, Alex wanted to leave after half an hour but we managed to convince him to stay, not rushing to see it again, but it might grow on the boys if they watch it again in a couple of months time.

We saw ads for a few that are coming out that we will endeavour to see Cars 2 and Kung Foo Panda 2. The boys both loved the first ones so will definitely give the 2nd ones a try.

Myself, well can't say there is much coming out that I wish to see, fancy seeing Arthur, the remake with Helen Mirren and Russel Brand, so that will probably be the next one to see.

However, we do have a lot of movies at home on DVD. If I like something then I tend to buy it to have at home to watch again and again.

I do find however, that you always get different things from the movie the 2nd or 3rd time round.

Last night we watched Kinky Boots, awesome movie, and got so much from it that I don't think I got last time, although it has been a long time since I last saw it.

I sometimes feel like I should give more movies the benefit of the doubt. I rushed out to see Blind Side when it was on last year, had heard great reviews about it and I love Sandra Bullock. However, not quite what I expected or thought it would come across as. I liked it, but it just didn't seem to sit well with me, must have missed some main points because it just seemed a little odd to me. Came away a little disappointed.

Then last weekend, I raided my brother and family's DVD draw in their house and came across it on DVD. Decided to bring it home and give it another try.

Really glad I did, understood it much better this time and actually enjoyed it. Not about to rush out an buy my own copy but glad I have now seen it again and understood how Sandra managed to get an Oscar for it.

The same goes for Valentines Day, after seeing it last year I decided that Love Actually was much better and this was just the American version of that. However I know have the DVD to watch and hopefully it will go down better the 2nd time......will wait and see on that one!

Get Well

I have to send get well wishes to my Uncle who is sadly recovering this weekend from a stroke. Not a bad one but enough of one to have left him with left sided weakness. His speech is good but his walking is a little troubled.
Going to Rotorua today, so may get time to pop up to the hospital to see him.

Also to my brother in law who apparently has lost his appendix.
Good thing he doesn't need it!

Get well both of you please.

What Would You Do....?

Once again the Lotto has jackpotted to $32 Million.
What would you do?

I am sure everyone at some stage has sat and dreamt about how they would spend it, how much they would give away and whether they would give up their current job?

We are no different, we have done just that, in fact last weekend, whilst out for the evening Steve and I had that exact conversation.

There would be the obvious things to start with:

1. Pay off the morgage
2. Buy a new car or 2
3. Take a holiday
4. Put money in trust for the boys

Then we started thinking of the next level, how to help family, giving to charity and helping organisations close to us.

However selfish it sounds, I would not like to just turn all my family into millionaires, I would however like to make then comfortable, so I would put money in a trust for them that would allow them to be morgage free and maybe take a nice holiday.
Due to tax laws etc on the money you win, we couldn't just give them the money out right, but the trust could buy their house from them, they could then rent it from the trust for a year at a stupid amount, like $1 per week/month and then a year later buy the house back for a silly amount, again maybe $1.

We would also then consider charity donations. Steve is a diabetic, so this is a charity close to home for us, anything to assist others in not having to live with this infliction.
Breast cancer is a charity close at heart for me, and this is the main one I would want to support.
Steve however, does also support the Heart Foundation and I am sure we can stretch to a 3rd charity if decided upon.

The next thing we thought about, was who else to support?
Steve and the boys do Judo and we would love to support them in some way. They do so much for all the kids and the Dojo could definitely do with some work etc.
Also the boys school. It is an awesome place, but like all education facilities in NZ, there is never enough money. They have a great little school pool that needs work and it would be awesome to help support getting that well improved.

So those are our dreams for this week. Will let you know next week if we were successful :)

One Little Step Forward

I have done it........!
"Done what?" I hear you ask....
Submitted my first essay for my degree course I am currently undertaking in all that spare time I have between work and family and life!

Not totally happy with it, but happy enough to hand it in on time, but at the end of the day I only want to pass it, not ace it with flying colours, although that would be nice :)

Next one is due May 10, and then if I pass both of them I have completed the first paper for my nursing degree, only 3 more papers left to do after that!

One foot in front of the other, keep breathing and smiling and it will all fall into place.

Home Help

Some very dear friends of ours have an Au Pair. I wrote all about it last June.

I mentioned at the time about looking at getting a local university student in to care for the boys 2 afternoons a week. Well low and behold, we did.
As of the end of February we have had a loving young 3rd year student collect the boys from school 2 afternoons, bring them home, organise afternoon tea for them, assist them with their basic homework needs and then just generally be here until we get home at 5pm.
And the amazing thing about it.......it actually works for our family. Tuesdays before Judo are now so stress free and relaxed, everyone has eaten before Judo so no trying to serve dinner to 2 very tired boys at 7.30 at night! Chores are completed so no racing around the house getting frustrated because nothing is getting achieved. I am loving it.

We made sure they had their own car, in good condition with all the current insurance needs. We were not too fussy in whether they were studying childcare or not, we didn't need someone with that specific skill, although it was very easy to gauge whether they knew about children or not.
The person we chose is 20 yrs old and is the 2nd oldest of 5, with her younger siblings currently being 10 and 12, so got the immediate feeling she has been around younger ones for a few years and understands them.
We purchased 2 new carseats for her car, as both boys are still in seats and will in fact remain in some form of safety seat for at least another 6 years! Both seats will grow with the boys, both have backs on them at present but have the ability to grow to booster seats when they just need that little extra height to use the seatbelts in the car. So even though this was an expense we just had to carry, it was a worthwhile one. When she finishes at the end of the year, then I am sure we will employ another next year, even then when we purchase a 2nd vehicle ourselves then we will need seats in that car too.

I was very sensible and actually made a contract up between us that we all signed. She was happy with this and I feel this made us all comfortable with where we all stand etc.
I organise dinner for the nights she is here and then she just has to do a small amount of preparation work to serve it to the boys. If rice or pasta is involved then she cooks enough for us as well.

Money wise, then we are paying 60c more an hour than we were paying putting them into after school care for the hour, but the benefits so out weighs the money. The boys are more relaxed, they are at home enjoying their own surroundings, they have eaten at a sensible time of day therefore have more energy for Judo and they are getting their homework finished, which sadly did not happen last year very much at all, mainly because being at after care 4 days a week they got very tired and were not interested in homework at 6pm.

The plus side of this is that in the 3 weeks she has been here Alex's teachers are already commenting that he has come along really well with his reading etc because he is getting his sight words better and following through and this is showing in class. This was an area of concern for all at the parent teacher meeting last month we had to discuss our aims for the year. Alex is not as high in the reading levels as they would have expected and so therefore work needs to be done more around this area, so to see some improvement already is awesome.

Oh and the other thing....the boys love her!

Chores

I have a feeling that very shortly my family are going to kill my printer!
I have been finding it very stressful at present getting everyone to follow through on their chores within the house!
Now these are chores that the whole family have sat down and decided on, not just me dishing them out. The boys even sat with use agreeing on what chores went where and with whom.

As a few things have changed around here it was necessary for the chores to be on a list on the wall, a) so we could all keep track of who did what and b) so our home help knew who did what as well.

This however lead to me printing out a list of daily activities for the boys. Just the days of the week and listing whether they had before or after school care, whether it was swimming, library etc at school and also, not that they needed any reminding at all, what nights we have Judo on.

Although this then lead to me writing a list of chores for the morning in our house. If there is ever one area of the day that I hate it is the mornings. Ok so it doesn't help that I am NOT a morning person, not one little bit, however to add to this hopeless cause is the fact that neither are Alex or Steve. Ben however, springs out of bed at 6.30am (6am sometimes!) full of life and eager for the day to start which usually includes turning on the tv.
It has taken many a time to convince him to get up quietly and creep downstairs by himself, which he is happy to do. He will turn on the light in the hallway, go downstairs and then turn the light out, snuggle under a blanket on the couch and happily watch tv until others surface in the building.
Sometimes however, he will turn on his bedroom light and succeed in waking his brother up! Alex on the other hand could usually do with at least 30 minutes more sleep!
However on week mornings, we have made a new rule....everyone up by 6.30 and absolutely NO tv at all.
Everyone now has their chores lists so we know who is responsible for getting what achieved.
On Monday, first day of following the list, things ran very smoothly, there was no yelling or shouting, everyone knew who was responsible for what and things got achieved. I actually got to work in a very calm mood, and if I noticed it within myself then my colleagues must have surely noticed it too!

So even though the noticeboard in the kitchen looks like it has been taken over by laminated chore lists, if it makes the house run more smoothly and efficiently with everyone happier, then they are here to stay for a while.

Other Life

I have discovered that sadly there is a life away from the computer.
I am not entirely sure what it consists of but I think it has been my life for the last 4 weeks or so.
Life has just taken over, turned me round and plodded right on past.
I have often looked into the study at the computer with a longing in my eye, thinking of all that needs to be done and said and then promptly turned away and carried on.

I can't say that I am totally back, but hopefully if the boys (all 3) go to the caravan this weekend then I will have the house to myself and I might even treat myself to some time on the computer blogging.

Hope you are all doing well, surviving life and I hope to catch up soon

Not Here

I have always thought of New Zealand as a safe place. Nothing happens here, we are always safe.
In 2001 as 9/11 struck, I was overseas and desperately wanted to return to the safe haven of New Zealand.
We have watched over the years the horror of other disasters and always been thankful that we don't have that here down under.

And now we do, everyone is speculating about their own home towns, what is the chance of it happening here? Are our emergency boxes up to date and ready to use? Do we have enough of everything to survive, like Chch is being told to, at home for 2-3 days with no water, gas or electricity. Do we have batteries for the radio? I know we currently don't and so will be purchasing from the store today.

Although staying at home is not really an option for Steve or I. Yes the schools are all closed so if it happened here in Hamilton we would have the boys at home but unfortunately we both work at the hospital. Yes ok as Steve mentioned last night, family comes first, but when you work in an area like we do you feel compelled to go and help, it is in our nature.
We discussed last night that only one of us would be able to go in and assist but which one.
I work in a clinical area and 90% of my colleagues are parents of young children as well, so we would be a little streched to get staff in, but we are in a specialised area and our area would be needed. Unfortunately, as already mentioned on the tv from Chch, people are having heart attacks and ongoing chest pain and they need to be treated. That is what I do.
Steve however, is the main person for the whole of our hospital looking after products. So he would be the main person coordinating obtaining extra products as required from the warehouse storage the hospital has off site. His job would be ensuring the products are getting to the right places as required and also obtaining further products, from medical companies, once the stock has been run dry, or more to the point getting the stock in so nothing does run dry.

So a little bit difficult for us, we are both in positions of need importance and would both feel bad for not being able to help in any way that we can.
Lets hope we never have to make that decision!

Mother Nature

I am one of those people that believes things happen for a reason, but at present I haven't established the reason for yesterdays earthquake in Christchurch.
5 months after the last one and they are just getting things sorted and wham the whole CBD is now flattened with many still trapped in buildings. The sad thing to me is all the old churches that have been destroyed, all that glorious history disappeared and crumbled, I know it is just a building but they are icons of Christchurch.

I discovered it at about 3pm yesterday and did not turn on the tv until 6, since then sadly it has been compelling viewing, even though they are repeating the same thing over and over you just don't seem to be able to resist watching further, waiting for news of wonderous moments etc and trying to comprehend the devestation that has happened.

I was thinking myself lucky in that I know no one down there, well a nephew, that I have not much to do with (sounds sad really) and wouldn't have any idea how to contact him, although his mother will soon let us know if there are problems.
However this morning I was watching some more footage and suddenly on the tv is one of the Doctors (Urologist) I use to work with in Auckland and now suddenly I realise I do know people down there. Not people who live there but unfortunately much worse, people who are visiting the city for a few days to have a conference. People who are staying in hotels in the CBD.
Suddenly it is hitting home a little more, are the Urologists I know from Hamilton there as well, we know one of them very well, seeing as they mentioned on the tv that they were all together, I guess they are all safe but I feel for their families all over New Zealand.

An organisation I am part of is holding its annual conference in Chch this year too, June July time, who knows if it will be held, will the CBD be able to hold it?
Who cares really, a conference is a minor thing and can be rescheduled when everyone is back on their feet and a little more stable.

Unfortunately life goes on, we will not forget this, but in a few days life to us in Hamilton will continue, you will work for 8 hours without thinking about them and you will catch up with friends over drinks the same as last week, but we need to still remember Chch is going through hell and we need to continue to let them know we are here and ready to help however we can.

2011 for Alex

It seems this year as if any sickness or unwellness that is going to hit our family is going to hit Alex!

We started the year with him complaining (as he had been doing for a little while) about his bottom and it being itchy etc.
Turns out he had worms so we all got treated and yea ha for that little exercise.

Then I noticed that his bottom was still really red. Didn't want to clear and so back to the doctors we went with that one.
Now I suspected 'Strep' yes you can get strep of the bottom, Ben had it when he was 4, a nice big dose of antibugs and all is correct again. Don't know how you get it but it seems to last for ever unless you treat it.
So after voicing my opinion to I think the 3rd doctor we saw, I managed to get a swab taken (only way to prove it, by growing it) and 3 days later Alex had a 10 day course of antibugs to take.
They finished last week. He was actually very good at taking it morning and night as prescribed and we were very proud of him.

Yesterday we collected the boys from school at 5pm and Alex was walking with his head tilted to one side. Said it was sore and stiff.
My first thought was why hadn't the school called us, Alex said he hurt it at fitness, which was held at 9am!
Because he was perfectly fine in himself and had shown no previous signs of unwellness I did not even think of anything illness wise like meningitis etc, so was never really worried there.

A quick talk to his teacher, who was still around after the staff meeting, and she said he had not complained all day about any aches or pains?

Now to me a 5 yr old does not get a stiff neck, they are fit and active, I know it can happen, but they shouldn't get to the point of not wanting to move their head etc.
So we decided to do a range of movements with Alex and then make a decision about seeing a doctor.
Decision was made and off we went to the emergency doctor.
Her conclusion was that he had probably pulled a muscle in his neck, take anti inflammatory drugs, use a wheat bag to get some heat on the muscle and rest. Oh and also get him to do some basic exercises to make sure he moves his neck to keep it active.

So here we are today, he is off school today to rest. His neck is still a little sore and stiff to move although a good nights sleep did help that but then so did the Ibufen probably!
However, he is still complaining of an itchy bottom and it is still not settled enough for my liking, so guess what.............we have an appointment at the doctors for later today!

Will it ever end this year with him?

Recipes

Challenge 71 calls for me to create a recipe.

Now I am not very adventurous when it comes to mixing flavours or being able to tell what would go with what nicely to create a truely awesome new experience with food and there by create a new recipe.

I will however quite happily adapt an already written recipe, taking something out and adding something else!
My latest adaption is a salad. I found this one in one of my cookbooks, it is for a 4 Bean Salad.

For the Salad:
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 420g tin black eyed beans
1 420g tin chick peas
1 210g tin red kidney beans
OR 2 420g tins of 4 bean mix
4 tbsp chopped coriander
salt and pepper

For the Dressing:
1 tsp curry paste
1/2 tsp thin honey
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
6 tbsp oil

1. Deskin the peppers with which ever method suits you, grilling or frying until skins are black and then peel away
2. Discard skins, seeds and core and cut into small strips
3. Drain and rinse all the beans together and place in a bowl
4. To make the dressing mix curry paste, honey and garlic with a fork.
5. Add the vinegar and then blend in the oil, whisking all the time.
6. Add salt and pepper.
7. Mix beans with peppers, coriander and dressing.
8. Cover and leave to allow flavours to mingle for several hours before serving

I however am not a great fan of 4 Bean Mix (unless it is in Spaghetti Bolognese) or coriander. So I made it one day with just Chick Peas (which I love)
I, however, did not roast the peppers just finely chopped them and I also added very small pieces of Feta Cheese.
All in all, the feta, with the chick peas, with the curry and honey went very well together.
So here is my adapted recipe...

1. Ingredients as above with the exception of:-
2. Use 2 tins chick peas instead of other beans or 4 bean mix
3. Deskin peppers only if desired
4. Omit coriander altogether
5. Chop feta cheese (your choice of quantity) into small pieces.
6. As above chop peppers
7. Wash peas
8. Make up dressing
9. Combine altogether in a bowl and allow to stand for flavours to mingle.

Guess you can adapt it for any bean mix if you happen to have a favourite one.

So back to the challenge, do you think it counts if I create a new recipe by adapting an already written one or should I create something new from scratch?

Differences

Living with 2 boys can sometimes be a challenge, but othertimes I am glad I have 2 boys.

Although it can get very challenging when one expresses an interest in doing something and then the other wants to do it as well, that is when I wish we had a boy and a girl cause then the boy could get on and do his boy stuff and the girl her girl stuff, and they would have their own thing to do.

Unfortunately our boys are very a like in their activities and so are both doing Judo and absolutely loving it.
Alex last year expressed a wish to play soccer, but being so little and us not quite ready to give up our Saturday mornings, then we managed to change his mind a little on that one, whew, at least for last year.

Unfortunately Ben has now expressed an interest in wanting to play soccer this year. We have started to check it all out and will attend the club muster in March, however, I have a strong feeling that it won't be too long and we will may have 2 boys playing soccer.
I already know that Alex has expressed a desire to play this sport before and feel that when we check it out they will both want to give it a go.
So once again they will both be doing the same activity. Now I do realise that with having 2 boys, this is sadly going to be the case, unless one of them suddenly developes a need for not doing sport anymore then they will probably be in the same clubs for a little while to come yet. Although on the extra plus side for us, it means they both have to be at the same place at the same time and not one at each end of the city 5 minutes apart!
I know that one day 1 will give up something that the other keeps doing and vice versa, and we will support them in their choices at the time.

Even at home they always want to do the same thing but with different approaches to it.
During the summer holidays they both sat down one day to build new Lego they had received as presents.
It was such fun to watch them build it.

Ben sat there and methodically seperated each piece into colour piles, as the instructions suggested (always one to follow the instructions to the letter!)

He followed each picture on the pages step by step and almost double checked each thing before moving onto the next step.

Alex on the other hand, well his approach was very different.
Lets empty everything into a pile.
Lets look at the picture but try to combine 2 pictures at the same time
Lets get really frustrated when things don't go together as they should.
Lets yell and scream and get very annoyed because it is not working!
So lets throw the Lego around and proclaim "this is stupid"
And generally end up sitting there frustrated and in tears because it just isn't all coming together nicely like Ben's!

Before the tantrum started

It was such fun to watch and interveen with, but at the same time so funny to see 2 little boys who are so a like in one aspect of their lives, sport, yet so totally different in their approach for other areas.

Man it is going to be such fun growing these 2.

Deals of The Week

Everyone I know loves a good deal, and I am definitely one of them.
Now you don't always get good deals, not ones that you really feel are worth it.
Maybe after the surprise I had on Friday then my luck is just carrying on over into the weekend as well.

On Sunday I went to the mall with a friend, not often I get the time to wander round a mall with a girl friend. Anyway, we passed the kids store and they had 30 - 60% of most things.
I noticed some undies for the boys that were 60% off.
It worked out that a packet of 3 for the boys turned out to be $2.39. Less than $1 per pair!
There were only sizes 8-10 suitable for the boys, but I know they will definitely grow into them and definitely need them. And we have brought this brand before and they are good and wash well.
There were other sizes available in the store but they only had 30% off, due, as I found out from the lady, because the ones in the store were this seasons design and the ones outside the store were last seasons!
Now I know my boys are not bothered whether they wear blue, red and green ones from last years season over yellow, green and black ones for this next seasons.
So I walked away with 6 packets ($13 for 18 pairs) that will sit in the draw ready for when they need them.
Definitely a good deal.

Next we went into the Homeware store and I discovered that they had a 'buy one get one free' on their cutlery sets. Now Steve and I have been looking for new cutlery for a while. The ones we are currently using are cheap ones one of us brought into the relationship 11 yrs ago, and we have felt for a while that it was about time we had a decent set of cutlery. The set I found and liked was a 24 piece stainless steel set (6 of each item) for $100.
To add to this deal I also had $70 in gift vouchers for this store as well.
So with the set costing $100, all in all we walked away with a 48 piece cutlery set costing us the grand total of $30.
(set = $100, -$70 of vouchers = $30 + 1 free set)
Oh and by the way Mum, we spent our Christmas voucher on cutlery, thanks very much x x x

The last deal of the week is more a deal of convenience than anything else.
Our school has a pool and during the summer they usually lend out keys to parents who ask for them. They charge you $30 for the key whilst the pool season is on, usually until about Mid March early April time.
Last year we didn't get one but I could so see the pleasure of having one, so this year we got one.
We have used the pool 3 times in the 5 days since having the key.
We have not had the chance to spend a long time there, maybe about 20 mins each time but the convenience of being able to go when it suits us, for how ever long it suits us is awesome.
If we paid to go to the public pool each time we would have spent over $30 by now and we also would have had to share with other people.
So this has definitely been the deal of the summer, no pool care to worry about, just drive the 5 nins down the road and splash to our hearts content in a nice clean safe private pool.

Happy Summer everyone.

Thirteen

For some people this number is totally unlucky, for others this is their lucky number.
Me, I come from the long list of people who are a little dubious of the number.

However for today only I am very happy with the number 13.

Why I hear you ask??

Today, as this post goes live, I will have been in New Zealand for 13 years.
Is this lucky or unlucky for me I guess you are asking...?

It is lucky.

I was 27 when I moved here and I don't know if my life would be where it is today if I had stayed where I was in England.
I was living at home, working as a Theatre Nurse at the local hospital.
I really, looking back on it, had no life.
I went to church every Sunday in the village but didn't really socialise much, there wasn't really anyone I wanted to socialise with. They were not my type of person. Don't get me wrong, I knew them all but they had all lead very different lives to me and some had great trouble in understanding the type of life I had lead up till then.
I had spent my main schooling years in a boarding school whilst my parents lived in foreign countries. I had travelled loads and had a very different out look on life. I was very strong willed, stubborn and very independant. If I wanted something to happen, well I just set about getting it achieved, within reason. I had very large grand ideas on what I wanted to do in life.

I hadn't dated for about 3 years, never met people to date either. So life just ticked over day by day never changing.

Coming to New Zealand, sort of made me have to start again. Make a difference, get a life etc and I did.
I met Steve within the first 2 months of working at Auckland Hospital but it was another 18 months before we finally got together as a couple and since we did that, then life has just rolled on forward.

So here I am now, 40 years old, married to my man of 11 years with 2 gorgeous boys, thinking how lucky I am to be here in this glorious country.
I am sure I would have survived if I had stayed in England but I don't think I would have been so happy, life would certainly have been very different there.

So happy anniversary to me and Happy Valentines Day to you all.

Pro Athelete

Well Ben now thinks he is a pro!

Last weekend, for the first time, he was finally the right age to enter the Weetbix Tryathlon.

Ready to go

The Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRY-athlon is a community event in its eighteenth year where kids aged 7-15 can swim, cycle and run for fun, plus take home a medal and a certificate for having a go - because every kid is a champion!

Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRY-athlon have a Philosophy:
They believe that inside every child there is a champion. It doesn't matter about their size or shape, it doesn't matter if they don't usually get involved in sporting activities. They want them to give it a go and feel like a champion. The emphasis is on being involved and giving their best.

Unfortunately we only found out about it happening in our area 5 days before hand, but Ben was happy to give it ago and try his best. We will train better for it next year, plus he is now registered with them, so we will gain email info months before when the dates for 2012 become available.

He had to swim 50m, cycle 4km and run 1 1/2km
He was very excited, especially as his big cousin, Ellis came over from Rotorua to partake as well.
All in all it was an awesome proud emotional day for me.
He tried his best and achieved so much for my little 7yr old.

Water, I need water....!

"I did it mum"

Look what I got

There were over 1600 kids taking part and it was so well organised. Never once did I feel the kids were lost or confused, there were so many marshals aound in red t-shirts willing to help and direct the kids.
Even in the swimming part, which due to the size of the pool space the parent's are unable to watch, the pool was a sea of people in red t-shirts, ( I spied through the fence when able too) they were spaced out in the water, all holding float boards, I don't think any child had to go more than 2m before they were in catching distance of the next guard, just in case they got into trouble whilst doing their swimming.

There were marshals in the transition area helping them find their bike, if they forgot where they put it! People along the whole course of the cycling and running, helping them, encouraging them and making sure they knew where to go.

Now which one will I take?

The entrance to the bikes from the swimming area with excited parents waiting for their little ones to run by

Keep going Ben

I even witnessed one helper see a young girl really struggling with the last 50m of the run (last activity) and he joined her on the course and helped her along so she finished with her head held high.

Looking down towards the finish area. The kids were running the other side of the people on the right hand side of picture

Everyone was so encouraging, it was an awesome atmosphere all day and a real privilige to be a part of it all.

Surprise

I love surprises, especially when they are for me, but occassionally I love surprises when they are for other people.
Yesterday I was the person who got surprised but at the same time it involved heaps of other people so was an all round great surprise.

I got a call from the boy's Principal yesterday telling me in no uncertain words that "I was awesome" (I always like phone calls like that, don't you?)
Anyway, turns out that I had forgotten I had entered a competition on behalf of the school and low and behold, WE WON.

Yep that is right, they had a competition on the radio for 4 weeks and each week they chose a school to receive a $3000 gift card for Paper Plus to spend towards books and stationary, as required by the school. Also a $1000 grant towards advertising our next fundraising event in the community.

All I had had to do was fill in my name and address, the school's name and contact for the Principal and say in I think (I can't quite remember) under 35 words why our school deserved this prize. I think I mentioned something about Education being important, the kids doing their best always (our school motto) and maybe something that was a play on words for the Paper Plus latest advertising etc
Obviously what ever I wrote went down well, cause we now have a whole heap of shopping to do for the school.

The Principal was beside himself with joy when he called me, saying thank you so many times, and telling me how astounding the boys were when they got called up on stage at assembly by the Radio Station people and interviewed etc.
The actually slot on the radio, I sadly didn't get to hear, as it was on during 1-2pm and I was working, although the local station will be playing it again at 6.40am on Monday, so we will all be awake and up listening for sure.

So a huge thank you to Classic Hits and Paper Plus for making this such a rewarding competition to enter. I never thought for a million years that we would win one of the prizes, but my boys education is very important, and any oppotunity to help them, then I am there, supporting them all the way.

Heat Wave

Yes, just like everyone else I am going to blog about the heat!

Yes it is hot,
Yes it has been a while since we had this.
Yes we would all like it to be slightly cooler.
But then we all complain it is not hot enough, so we can't win really.

But then our friends up in the Northern Hemisphere are wondering if their winter is ever going to be over with the cold snap that keeps on coming through. Would love to have a cold snap of snow like them, but not at the moment I am enjoying my summer way too much.

Although the heat is reaking havoc with other areas of our life. I am finding at present that I have to go to the supermarket everyday.
Now I try hard to budget, we do a weekly shop every Saturday and then usually I can get away with going to the supermarket for fresh bread, milk and veg 2 more times during the week. Sophie Gray, Destitute Gourmet, says you should try to make it last for the week otherwise you spend even more money, when you go to the shop. Now I am on the whole pretty good when going in mid week for the basics, although going in everyday has been a huge challenge.

It is mainly bread that I am going in for. I am finding that the bread is just not lasting more than 24hrs (and no it is not due to us having none left!) the bread is going dry and even mouldy very very quickly. Usually I will buy 2 loafs and this will see us through at least 2 days if not even into the 3rd, then it is time to go back to the shop. Sadly at present I am not making it past the 24 hr mark and so I am back to the shop after work everyday. Man it is a struggle to not walk out with the odd packet of nice biscuits as a treat, the odd little medium bag of lollies or even the latest special on meat.

So as much as I am loving, to an extent, this heat wave I will be glad when it chills just a scrap so food lasts a little longer and I don't have to enter the cool fresh air conditioned supermarket everyday!

Pretty Things

When will I ever learn that I can not have pretty things?
When will I ever learn that I am now the mother of 2 gorgeous boys and wife to that other male in the house.
When will I learn that between all those above sentences means no pretty things like cake trays, tableclothes and pretty frilly napkins!

I placed a tablecloth on the table at dinner time the other day, thought I would try and culture the heavin lot I live with, make them realise that things can be nice looking and tidy..........think I had forgotten to take my tablets that day!

2 minutes, yep that is right, 2 minutes of everyone sitting at the table and someone had spilt their drink all over the place. To an extent it was a good job the tablecloth was on because it soaked up most of the drink.

I don't actually want daughters, never have really apart from when I was pregnant with Ben, but every now and then I would love to do the frilly stuff and have tea parties with friends.

Is that too much to ask to keep my female sanity in check??