Emigrating

My brother and family have arrived in Dubai to spend a couple of days with grandma and grandad.
All very emotional and exciting for them.
Start of a very big adventure but sad to leave all the people behind in England.

They get here on Wednesday afternoon, so we will all be at the airport to meet them and welcome them to NZ

After daycare

Little rituals are what sometimes keeps this family flowing right.

Ben and Alex always love having a drink as soon as they get in the car from Daycare, so we utilised an old baby bag we had and it is now the drinks bag.

Every morning we do bottles of drink for them and then we put them in the insulated bag and the drinks then sit in the car all day whilst we are at work, until we pick them up.

We came up with the bag as the drinks were getting hot sitting in the sun all day long!

This way they don't get too hot and if they do leak for any reason it just messes up the bag and not the car.

So before the car can leave Daycare, we have to get out the drinks, you would think they hadn't had a drink all day sometimes.

My Brother

Today my brother and his family start a new chapter in their life....they are emigrating to New Zealand.
Yes it seems that everything is happening to my family all at the same time.
In fact Steve and Iain are both starting their new jobs on the same day....Oct 1.

So at 14.15 today they board their first flight this way.
They are joining mum and dad in Dubai for 4 days and then mum is flying with them to NZ on Wednesday next week.
We are all going to the airport to meet them and then they will stay with us over night before going down to Rotorua, where they will be living in our parents house for the next year.

Mum is staying with them for a week to get them all settled and sorted and then she is flying back to Dubai.

So all the best to my little brother and his tribe, Claire (wife), Ellis (6) and Harvey (3).
I look forward to getting to know you all and having our boys get to be great mates with your boys, they are cousins after all.

See you really soon.

Steve's Last day at ADHB

Today is Steve's last day working with Auckland District Health Board.
He has been working with them now for just over 12 years.
In that time he has started in the Operating Rooms and ended in the IS Department.

He originally started as a Staff Nurse in Theatres, he then also took on the Anaesthetic Technician Role. Through doing this he was one of the people that assisted in getting Auckland Hospital all set up for the start of doing Liver Transplants within New Zealand in 1998. (Would you believe he was also involved with the first heart transplant as well in about 1987)

In 1999 he became one of the Nurse Educator's within the Operating Rooms, this then lead to him being seconded to a project within the IS department to look at the computer programme they were planning on implementing to capture the data within the Operating Room. As a senior person with the OR's he was an ideal person to represent the OR's on the project.
Unfortunately Steve never went back to the OR's because when the project finally finished he secured the position of Functional Support Person for the programme.

So Steve has spent the last 4+ years looking after PIMS (the computer programme from iSoft, not the drink!) or iPms as it is now known as.

It is through doing Pims that Steve has obtained the position down in Hamilton.
They have just implemented Pims within their hospital but have not gone live with the Theatre Module of it, that is Steve's job.
So rather than being on the team this time, Steve is going to lead the team.

I know he will miss ADHB, it has been a big chunk of his working life for so long. He has met some wonderful people along the way (including me and look where that lead him!)

This is Steve's farewell to all at work:
'The time has come now to say goodbye as this day is my last at ADHB.
I have spent 12 years working here starting at MBOR as a Staff Nurse to a Charge Nurse to a Anaesthetic Tech to a Nurse Educator to the IS department.
I have had experiences here that only ADHB could supply such as being involved as a Tech for the First Liver Transplant, involved with the change programme to install iPMs theatre and build a new hospital.
I wish to thank all I have met for the fun times as well as the stressful ones.
I am off to Waikato District Health board to help in installing the iPMs theatre module to their hospital.
All the best.'

So I am sure everyone will join me in wishing him all the best in Hamilton.
They can all buy him drinks at dinner tonight.

Trains, Trains and Trains

In the last couple of weeks Ben has really got into his trains.
We set up some track in the study on the weekend before his birthday and it has stayed there ever since.
We started with a pretty basic set up and as he has gained more track along the way for different things, like birthday and extra special gifts for very good behaviour, we have extended it.
He loves disappearing into the study and running his trains, Steve loves joining him too.


Alex likes to help but seems to spend more time getting yelled at for sitting on the track or running off with a train.

The last picture here shows Alex with his own little track and train, our little way of trying to distract him from what Ben was doing, but as you can see all he wanted to do was sit on it and keep showing Ben stuff.

A Place We will Miss

Since Ben was 7 1/2 months old he has been attending daycare. He had a 6 month break as he turned 2, whilst I was at home on maternity leave with Alex, but after that he has been there until this day.
Alex joined him when he was 7 1/2 months too.

We chose this daycare as we felt it had a homely feel to it, plus Ben took an instant liking to it on the times we visited prior to him starting. He was always fascinated by what was going on and all the pictures on the wall, all the other places we visited, he never seemed that interested in them.
We have never for a moment regretted sending our boys here, this has been the 2nd place for them to grow up, the place where they do all their messy play, learn to share with more than just 2 other people and learn where they fit in with a big group.


Daycare have always been very accommodating to our needs, always being able to help us when we have required extra sessions, be it for 2 weeks or 6 months.

When Alex was first born I could ring them at 8.30 to see if they had space for Ben and he was usually there playing by 9.15.So he did quite a few extra days when Alex first arrived. It was great to have that outlet for both myself and Ben.
He got to play and have lots of attention and I got to have one on one time with Alex, or more time to sleep!

The current owners took over a month or so before Ben first started and lots has changed whilst we have been there. The rooms inside have become even bright and colourful than I remember them on our first visit.
There are so many little corners for the kids to hide in, escape to or even discover. The walls are always covered in pictures and stories of what everyone has been up to in the centre and it is always fun to find out what has been happening.
The boys have their little set routine and are so good with what happens when they arrive and leave. It makes collecting them and dropping them off so enjoyable.
So thank you so much to Glenda and her wonderful team at 'Under 5' Care and Learning.

My sons have grown so much with all your love and care.

We shall miss you all very much, we are very grateful for everything you have ever done for our family, your support and your open door to our family.

Favourite Food for Alex

Alex has taken quite a shine to Nutella. A hazelnut chocolate spread.
As the following show, he can quite happily eat it all day! Regardless of whether there is any bread around or not!




Mmm, Nutella is dreamy........can I have this every meal time?

Family Time with the Camera

Alex got very clingy the other night and it was such a cute picture, so Steve got the camera out.


Then Ben decided it was his turn to take some pictures. He is actually getting really good with the camera, ok it is pretty straight forward, place mummy or daddy in the window and press the button. Still the following 2 pictures were pretty good for a 4 year old.

As for Alex, well he just liked the pile of wet washing. He tried to sit on the side of the plastic tub and fell backwards, I just managed to shot this before he rolled over and climbed off.

SOLD

The sign says it all.......

Oh Whoops...

A word of warning from ones that know....if you are ever going to play with the digital camera and see why it won't hold the flash setting you want or anything like that, then please, please download all pictures currently stored on the camera.
This way you do not run the risk of loosing the pictures and video of your son's 4th Birthday, or the cute pictures of your 2 year old son, or the picture of the vegetables that have successfully grown in the garden.

Steve is still feeling really P*#%^! about that one, as it seems he may have accidentally, and I do believe him, wiped all the above from the camera.

Oh well such is life.

Where were you 2?

Yes it is that fateful day 6 years on and the question many will always ask is...Where were you?

I was in Hong Kong, having just flown in from New Zealand the evening before. It was 9pm in the evening and we had had a full day sight seeing and were having a quiet evening in the hotel room on the 23rd floor!
They interrupted the tv programme to show us CNN news and then we tuned into CNN to watch everything unfold.

Our biggest worry was the fact we were due to leave Hong Kong on the Thursday and fly to London! And of course London suddenly went into high security alert and shut!

So the next few days were a little weird not knowing if we could continue our holiday or not.

We got to London ok on the Friday but spent the rest of our 6 week holiday in England watching the news and wishing to go home really soon so we could get away from it all in New Zealand.

I have friends in OH and CA but I know they were all ok. All my family were either in NZ or UK so no worries there, but I felt for the people in New York.

Like everyone else I can not believe it happened, but I hope people have been able to get some sort of life back together 6 years later.

Sick Again!

No raging temperature to go with it, just 1 very grumpy little boy with raging conjunctivitis again!
He still has a runny nose and this is not helping as he is obviously wiping his nose with his hand and then wiping his eyes and hey presto...yucky eyes and a grumpy child.

So back to the eye drops again!

Haircuts

The boys have been going to a Barber for quite a while now. They just use the local one that Daddy uses. Alan's Barber Shop in Onehunga.

Ben has been really good at sitting on his own for his haircut for a while, but today was the first time that Alex actually sat on his own.

Pictures of my big boys getting their haircut.

Oh and they were both lucky enough to score a free lollipop for being such good boys.

Unconditional

The Lawyer's office called today to say that they have had verbal communication from the vendor's Lawyer to say all is fine with the 2 reports they wanted and so we have gone unconditional on the house.
Yea we have sold our house.

We have somewhere to live

So we finally couldn't wait any longer at 6.30 so we called the lady to see if we had been successful.

We have somewhere to live in Hamilton.
Yea for us, now all we need is for our house to go unconditional and we will be all sorted.

Finding Somewhere To Live

So we spent Thursday evening checking out Trade Me website for all the rental porperties in Hamilton.
We called the people about the ones we liked and we were successful in setting up about 3 viewings for saturday morning.
On Friday evening we double checked the web for any late postings, got a few calls from people we had left messages with and by Saturday morning we had 5 places to view.

So we travelled to Hamilton first thing Saturday morning and it was a good journey, apart from the part where Alex got all antsy in his seat and then threw up 10 minutes outside of Hamilton.
Yes I had taken a complete change of clothes for them both, but didn't think we would be using them within the first 2 hours!
Anyway, we successfully arrived at the first property and found a very nice old villa.
Lovely big bedrooms, new bathroom and kitchen and a huge barn like garage with so much storage.
Little things that bugged us was that there was no power sockets in one of the bedrooms! not sure on that one and also the lounge had some fixed benches in it with red cushions, this would make it very difficult to fit our furniture in.
So we left to view another, and told them we would call if interested further.
On driving to the next house we were able to drive past one of the other ones to view and called the guy and cancelled as it was not suitable.

The next house was ok, nice 4 bedrooms, but old and would have bugged me because it felt like the whole place just needed a good paint, and I don't think it was going to happen soon, so that one was off.

Someone from my Antenatal Coffee group has also just moved to Hamilton so we went and visited her after we had had a picnic lunch in the park.
Great to catch up with someone you know and I think she loved having someone just drop by, as she said, there is no one to just drop by at the moment.
Then we zoomed back down to view the last 2 houses, which were in the same street actually.
The first one was nice. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge and a seperate dining come sitting area. Nice fenced garden and generally clean with carpet throughout.
We both liked this one and actually spent 10 minutes trying to work out where we would put things.
The other one in the same street was no good, dark and small with only really 2 bedrooms and a small study, although they said it was 3 bedrooms!
Yea right as long as it was only a small person sleeping in there.

So we went back up to the other house and called the owners to say we wanted it.
The guy came out, let us have another look through and got us to fill out the papers, happily accepted a cheque for 6 weeks rent and then said he would have to give us a definite answer on Sunday when his wife was back because she was the one who dealt with this side of things, they have 5 rental properties.

So we drove away knowing that probably about 80% chance of it being ours.
So fingers and toes crossed they got in touch and let us have the place.

Daylight Saving Time

For many years people have been mumbling every March that Daylight Saving should be extended.
We always have so many more glorious days after the clocks have changed to winter time.

So a year or 2 ago an 2 MP's (Peter Dunn and Mark Holmes) ran with the idea of extending our daylight savings by about 3 weeks.
This would give people extra time to spend evenings outside, which is good for everyone getting more fresh air, but also good for the enviroment as there would be less surge on the electricty grid as everyone got home.
It would also be good for New Zealand's tourist industry as there would be longer hours for people to visit and enjoy beautiful areas within NZ.
It would also make people think that our summer had extended, because people always seem to think that summer has ended when the clocks change.

So the MP's took this to parliament at the beginning of this year, as the clocks were about to change and put their arguement forward, along with a petition signed by over 42,000 people.
They got all the backing they required and was......SUCCESSFUL

So March next year our change over from summer to winter will happen 3 weeks later than previous years.
So on Sept 30 2007, our summer daylight saving time will start and will continue right through till April 6, 2008.

This apparently does still not bring us into line with other countries and the amount of daylight savings weeks they have, but it does bring us closer.
We will extend from 24 weeks (as set in 1990) to 27 weeks.
The US has 34 weeks and Great Britain has 31, so at least we are getting closer.

So well done that person. I think New Zealand will benefit from this incredible change and so will the people.

A Mouse Trap Story

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered?
He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning :
There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,
"Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mousetrap catching
its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.
In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.
To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died!

So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you,
remember when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life.
We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a FRIEND ! ! !

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to our darling big boy Ben, 4 today.
Also happy 21st birthday to my future cousin-in-law, Daniel, he marries my cousin Kerry on Nov 17, 2007
Also to my best friend Debbie, an old school friend Kirsty and Oliver, the little boy from my antenatal group who shares his birthday with Ben.

Happy Birthday to you all, hope you have a great day.

Sick Boy Again

So as the party finished on Sunday I happen to notice Alex's eye...full blown raging conjunctivitis. At least we have a reason for the significantly high temps. Only bugger of it is that we have to go back to the emergency doctor as you can only get drugs for this through them, not straight from a pharmacy.
So to begin with we thought we would wait and visit our own doctor first thing the next day, but with another temp of 39.6, we decided we couldn't wait.
So 7.45 at night, I am having cute little conversations with Alex as we wait to see the doctor, again!
Luckily he was fab, told us of this bug going round and Alex had all the classic symptoms, so 1 script for eye drops and antibugs later and we are sailing.
Alex is just such an angel, before we got home he had already told me that he would sit on the side in the kitchen, that he would put his dummy beside him and that daddy would give him his medicine and that mummy would put the stuff in his eyes.
And true to his word we have had no trouble getting any of this stuff into him, he has been very cooperative with it all.