Just trying out this remote blogging thing....

.... not sure if it will work.

We are off this afternoon, staying the night in Auckland as we have an early flight and have to be at the airport at eeeek, 4.30am. This is Mr 7's effort, must say, he didn't do too bad, just had to throw in a couple of items of clothing, and take out a few unnecessary things.

Thanks for all your well wishes, advice, reminders, we are really looking forward to it.... I just wish the kids would stop messing up behind me!

ETA OMG, that was so easy, might have to do all my blogging that way!

Even longer.....

..... between posts.

5 sleeps and counting. Not that I'm getting excited or anything, LOL. This week is all about doing jobs around the house, and outside. Usually all the boring jobs get left till I'm on school holiday, so these holidays they have to be accomplished in 1 week, plus packing. It's all the little jobs, making sure bills are set up to be paid, cancelling the paper,......... if you think of anything remind me will ya?

I haven't taken any photos lately, nothing exciting happening. I will share a couple of pages done, trying to use up some old supplies, especially letters. I don't think I've shown the first one, I just love it so wanted to share. I've taken to doing white backgrounds lately, certainly have lots of white cardstock from my refills.

The other 2 are fairly recent, ones I've actually finished, neither are 2 exciting, but hey, they are done, oh, and I was too lazy to take the Red Hot Birthday one out of the page protector, that's why there is a glare.

Holidays? Well, kids have not been too bad.... wish they would entertain themselves instead of asking for TV all the time. I mean, as is always said, we never watched that much TV when we were little. Trying to avoid doing anything costly, as obviously these holidays are going to cost a bit, but might take them to the pools this afternoon.

So long.....

.... lots happening.

Been spending heaps of time playing with the Wishblade. Trying new things, different things, haven't cut much, but that's the good thing, you can play to your hearts content, and then just try something new.

Jon went fishing last weekend, his first real fishing trip. A real boys weekend away, apart from being sick the first day and night, I think he enjoyed himself, even came home with some snapper for us for dinner. The guys gutted them on the way back in on the boat, but we had to fillet it when he got home, so called our friend from down the road to show us, now we know!
















































This weekend just gone we mucked around home, the weather has started to close in, although it was nice for the Balloons over Waikato on Saturday. We were going, we weren't, we weren't, finally we did. Man, it was packed, far more people there than when they had it at the Lake. I think there were a lot of teenagers there more for the rides and the sideshows, of which there were not so many at the old venue.

Saturday was also our wedding anniversary, Jon jokingly informed me I had to wait a couple of weeks for my present (going to Australia), so when the fireworks started at the Balloons I told him I'd organised it especially for him! LOL.

Sunday we managed to go for a walk up town, just mucking around, and then visited FIL for his birthday.

Have been busy trying to sort a whole lot of paperwork out, you know everything seems to need to be renewed at the same time, warrants, insurances, etc as well as trying to get bits sorted out for Australia, less than 2 weeks to go now.

Aaaargh......

I wasn't going to post tonight, (not that you would miss me, LOL) as we are having family movie night (minus the Dad, because he is away for the weekend) but I need to vent.

Cold callers, phone marketers, surveys, whatever you call them, they annoy the cr@p outta me.

Tonight, right on dinner time the phone goes, and I stupidly answered it, thinking it might have been DH. After a huge pause, which is obvious why later, a lady with a terrible accent, don't know where from, starts talking. Now. she speaks good english, but with the accent, and the distance, (she's in Australia) she is very hard to hear and understand. She waffles on about this Affordable Holidays Vacation Club, which sounds good, but hey, as they say, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is! At one stage when I get interupted by one of the kids she asks to speak to one of them...... saying, we've just had a baby and I love kids. Whatever! I tell her politely that it is a very poor connection and they won't be able to hear her! After close to 10 minutes, she says, OK, I'll put you through to my supervisor, so I wait for him, before I lose it, and tell him how hard it is to hear him, that my dinner is burning and my kids are fighting. He is going to ring back at 2pm tomorrow, ha, when I'm not home.

By contrast, the phone just rang again, and, stupid me, answers it again. This time a lady says in a nice clear voice, this is blah blah, from blah blah company, I'm looking for a suitable person for a survey on blah blah, so I say, 'well, who do you want', and she says, 'female, 20 - 24', and I say 'no, sorry', and she says thanks, bye. Now how easy was that!

I was going to post a layout I did, ages ago, but after reading Trace's blog, was reminded about it, and don't think I've shown it here, but I don't have it already photographed and on my computer, so will add it tomorrow. She has some great info there, something I'm passionate about too, probably not as much as her obviously, but it's information that makes a huge difference when the kids get from her stage, at kindy, to mine as new entrants!

Thanks......

...... for all your concerns and well wishes.

Yes, I did buy a Lotto ticket the next day, and we did win, not a huge amount, but the most we've won in 5 years, LOL. For those that asked, 'no of course I wasn't standing on the table' said in my best indignant voice, (I was leaning on it though, sssshh.)

Right just to catch up, a few photos from Whangamata, didn't get anything exciting, it was quite nice to not worry about the photos, and just enjoy the time.

Easter, well, we didn't do much, with having been at the beach last weekend, and then Jon is away for the next 4 weekends, and then it will be time for us to go to Australia, we decided to stay at home. We did wander to Hamilton for the day, did a spot of shopping, and had dinner at the Cock and Bull. Right that took so long to make that mosaic, so I'm just gonna put some photos up, flick past if you're not interested. (OK, so that mosaic is sooooooo small, not sure what the story is there)

Then on Sunday we had lunch with Jons mother, it was a nice relaxing afternoon, kids had a hunt, spot the big kid out there.

Now it's back to work!

Lucky.

That's all I can say.

After this happening


















and all I have to show for it is this

I have to say I'm lucky. I think it will be me buying the Lotto ticket tomorrow.

I must do this!

OK, I have to do this, before I put it off any longer. I was waiting to finish a bit on a couple of pages, from our little get together at Debbies, so I could show those, but I keep forgetting to take photos, and then something comes up........ you know,........ so I'll just post now, and put the photos up later.

We, well, I can't speak for the others, but I had such a great time at Debbies, will definately plan to stay longer next time.

Not much exciting has been happening, just busy, Jon has been absolutely flat out at work, so trying to keep things going on the home front to make it all go a bit smoother.

We decided in the middle of last week we would head away for the weekend, so rented a friends bach at Whangamata (man, it's been 20 years since I've been there, I can't remember anything) and headed off there after work on Friday night. The kids didn't know anything about it, so got a nice surprise when we arrived just after 8pm, having stopped in Paeroa for dinner (the kids said 'Is this our surprise?')

We went for a wander around town on Saturday morning, had the most beautiful lunch at a place called Cafe Sandz (?), so if you are ever there I really recommend it, reasonably priced, quick and yummy food. Then we went to find the beach, and spent a couple of hours there, the weather wasn't the best, so we didn't swim, but the kids had fun. The waves were nothing like we've ever seen, great for boogie boarding and then it was home, and a siesta. We went up to the school to play cricket, home for dinner, and then a walk to the wharf, followed by a game of Trivial Pursuits.

We also bought a chess set, and taught ourselves to play, hopefully we've learned correctly, must find someone to check that with!

We headed into town to have a game of mini putt only to discover it wasn't open Sunday, which surprised us, as we thought they probably would have got lots of business. It was back to the beach where everyone had a swim as it was just unbelievably hot, before we nipped back to the bach to grab our food from the fridge and head home. Now, I feel like I need a holiday to recover!!

OK, Ruth tagged me ages ago and I forgot about it, so here goes.

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago: Mmmm, had been married a year, working as a Teacher Aide.... nothing too exciting

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: Apart from the obvious, help out families, invest, etc..... splurge...... come on, it is a billion $, I 'm sure there will be some to spare.

3 of my bad habits: Procrastination, spending too much time on the computer, junk food

3 places I have lived: Haven't gone far, grew up in Putaruru (home of Pump water) spent 1 month in Hamilton crashed at an Aunties, then once we moved in together we crashed for 6 months at a friends place in Morrinsville, and now 15 years in Matamata.

5 jobs that I have had: Stable hand, (horses), picked onions, shop work, ran the local Toy Library, and Teacher Aide (actually started as one, and have done a full circle and am back there)

5 Things people don’t know about me: Mmmm, this could be letting too much info out. Thinking, thinking. I think I mentioned it one other time, but I hate yucky toenails, dirty or uncut, and like Ruth, have to have mine painted.

What else? I have a piece of pencil lead in my hand. Imagine 5 years old, running around with little sister, you get the story. Apparently lead is only poisonous if you ingest it, but sitting in your hand is not a biggie, LOL.

I'm addicted to Reality TV, Survivor, Amazing Race, Trading Spouses, Wife Swap, American Idol, So you think you can dance, The F Word, Apprentice, (haven't really got into Americas top model) and game shows.

I can't sleep in, once I'm awake, that's it I've got to get up, can't just lie there, and I'm an early bird, so usually awake early, even the weekend, damn it!

I have a small mouth, so as a child I had lots of visits to the dentist and hospital, and have 4 teeth less than most people, just to make room for them to fit, and Cameron will probably be the same.

There, done!

As I said earlier, we had our monthly crop yesterday. I made this for my cousin, for her little girl, who turned 1 yesterday. I actually started it to give to her for her when she was born, but didn't like the 'album' I was making it in, so made this album yesterday, making the covers myself, and just using the 6x6 inserts from The Warehouse.

Only problem was I made a boo, and I'm gutted, just about cried. At the last moment I decided the dimensional magic the title, and once I started I realised it wasn't going to work, but it was one of those can't go back on mistakes. Then when I opened it to take the photos, it stuck (last minute = wasn't dry properly), so I've told her she can have it for a bit, and then I'll recover the pink bit.

It's nothing flash, but I really liked it, and was tempted to keep it!

The front page is a place to put a nice photo of her, and then they can put her full name, birthdate, weight etc, and then there is just a double page per month, really only a photo, and quite a bit of journalling space, so I hope to see it once she's filled it.

Yay, day 29.....

..... don't know if I could keep this up for a whole year!

Eyetoy on PS! Borrowed from the neighbour, what great entertainment.

Good news on the knitting front, from the previous post, I thought it was going to be a long hard road, but after a couple of frustrating tries, putting it down, starting it, putting it down, picking it up again, he picked it up today and has done several rows with no mistakes, yay!

OK, I've lost a photo somewhere.........

........ will have to check the other camera when hubby comes home.

OK, first up, a favourite, 3/4 pants, cotton, so comfy, I have 3 pairs, and wear them everywhere, I'm a bit like Sharon, so not into clothes shopping.




















Cameron has been doing lots of french knitting lately, and came home with a knitting book the other day, so we borrowed needles, and I've been teaching him the basics, from what I can remember, but knitting is like riding a bike, you don't forget.

We've stepped up the jobs the kids have to do around the house, they were just taking things a little for granted, so Cameron did a super job folding the towels yesterday, very pleased with it.

Afternoon tea at our house, kids are hungry hungry, especially Wednesday when they come home on the walking school bus, so toasted sammies were the order that day.

Right, first Saturday of the month tomorrow, so off scrapping. Hope to make a small album for my cousins little girl who was 1 yesterday, and then we will go up there for a little party on Sunday afternoon, better go get some jobs done before that.

Day 22, 23, & 24

Catch up, again!

Homemade Pizza's, chicken and apricot, well, these haven't got apricot 'cause the kids made them and they don't like it, but the one I made for myself had apricot...... mmmm.

OK, a very random photo. Favourite in our house, and very hard to find. We love this multigrain bread from Quality Bakers, but for some reason they only seem to get 1 tray of it in at the supermarket, so I have to time it to get it when it's on special, and I stock up.

I'm in loooooove! I got a Wishblade for my birthday! OK, so first I love my husband for buying it for me, but I love my Wishblade. First it was a mission to get it going, (thanks to Andrea for getting it here in time for me to play on the weekend, and to Jenny for helping me out aswell) it had the wrong cable, got that sorted, sweet. Then the second disk wouldn't load, so I could only do basic tasks, until I realised, duh! that I was trying to load the Mac version, so once I got the right disk in, I was away.

Here is my first project, which in hindsight wasn't a good one to start with. It is a dingbat, which I have made into several pieces to reassemble. I got good at doing a general cut, then got a bit more adventurous, trying to take out some of the cut lines etc, which I managed to do OK with the yellow, but now I've gone back to do blue bits to fill in and I can't remember how I did it. So I will finish off here, and go have another play!

Day 19, 20 & 21......

Wow, busy busy, hadn't realised how long since I posted my photos.

Thanks for all the comments, I guess I just have to bite the bullet and be the meanie.

I talked to hubby, and we've come to an agreement about what we both want, that way we can provide a united front when it comes to disagreements about afternoon routine.

As for photos, nothing too exciting,

I am getting a bit annoyed with the weather, OK, yes we were asking for rain, but I wish it would either rain, or not. That is why my washing is on the clothes rack, then when I get up in the morning if it's fine I stick it out on the deck, if not, it just sits inside the ranchslider and gets pretty dry in there anyway.

2 photos from the garden. As I said before I don't do gardening, but these are looking pretty good in my garden at the moment.

Braden likes to plant things, so this year we are trying watermelon. Apparently they are quite hard to grow, so we will have to see what happens. I had all but given up, as I hadn't seen any action, and they were supposed to be ready in 14/16 weeks, and we must be getting close, however upon further inspection I found a dozen of these little guys, so there is hope yet.

Major vent here & Day 18

Aaaargh, why do I always come across as such a meanie.

We need to have routine in our house after school, as far as homework and jobs are concerned, otherwise they just don't happen.

Yet....... all the other kids in the neighbourhood seem to be out and about all afternoon, one has to wonder when they have dinner, do homework, etc. This photo is an example, of the afternoon outside our house. Funnily enough we have all boys in the street, every single family is all boys, or only children, oh, and there are 3 boys missing.

Some are still out and about at 8pm, when on earth do they do homework. Last night mine were in bed, and asleep by 8, admittedly one had had a sleeping tablet, but the other was so knackered he crashed straight away, and they slept soundly through till 7am. Knowing they need to be settled earlyish, they need to come in early, yet I look the meanie when others are still playing.

What do you do, regarding homework? Make them do it before they go out to play, (and I'm not talking about 'playdates' where they go home after school with a friend and the mother, they're different), homework before TV, or let them relax and have some TV time first, homework after dinner, tell me your afternoon.

Now, I know there is no magic answer, and I know you are going to say, 'do what is right for you', but I'd just be interested to hear what your children do after school.

Day 15, 16, & 17

Gosh, where have the last couple of days gone.

On Friday we lost one of our guinea pigs, so even though it is a bit morbid, here is my pic for Friday. My 7 year old was quite upset, and made this little plaque.

It was quite 'cute'. When I asked if he wanted say goodbye in the hole, or leave her in the box, he said he wanted to say goodbye in the box. He said his goodbyes, I tipped her in the hole and filled it in. Then he came to me, very sad, and said that he'd wanted to keep her in the box (forever was what he was thinking, LOL).


Next up, Saturday we had Cameron's birthday party. His birthday is late December, but as all his friends are away on holiday, we postponed it, so had a 'shark' party. The party went well, the kids are now at an age where they can entertain themselves, and not make too much mess. As they are getting past the classic party games I had hired an extra set of buzzers, so we could have a big "Buzz quiz". As most of the kids had this at home (it was very new and exciting to us) they weren't too impressed, and said they didn't want to play. However I set it up for those who wanted to, and all but one ended up playing, and even playing a couple of games, lots of fun.


Last night I had a mega tidy up in my scrap area, purged lots of stuff to sell/give away/throw, and re-sorted what was left.

Today I spent a little time making some 6x6 pages for this cause, these were so easy, there are 10 pages here, only took about 4 pages of cardstock, and a piece of patterned paper, which were all in my pile to give away, but hopefully these nice bright simple pages will do the kids photos justice. I know we have a similar charity here in the form of making an album for a child, but I found this to be something much easier to do, and would quite happily do it again if it is found there is a cause in NZ. As they don't have to be ready for another few weeks, I will definately do some more.

Thanks so much for the comments on my canvas, I think my hubby liked it, I wasn't there when he opened it, but he did say he loved it, so I'll have to take his word. The fact that he hasn't bought it home, means it must be displayed at work, which makes me happy. The title, has special meaning to me. When we first started going together, he wrote me a love letter, and thats how he signed it, so we often use it when appropriate.

Day 14........

..... as posted about last night, I finished it! I was working on it literally as he walked in the door, threw it in the cupboard behind me when he got into the room, then whipped it out again while he was in the shower.

He left early for Auckland, hopefully back mid afternoon, so I have wrapped it, and gone down and left it on his desk at work. After work tonight he is away to golf, so I don't want him to go the whole day thinking I've forgotten him!

Me, well, we don't normally do Valentines pressies, but I am fortunate to be getting a Wishblade for my birthday, so I said that would count for Valentines for the next couple of years aswell, LOL.

Day 13.......

... and I'm working away furiously, trying to finish a canvas for tomorrow. Yes, I know, it's the night before, why haven't I done it before now, but that's me, 'last minute minnie'.... so on that note I'll leave you with a treat my hubby just came home with and go work on the canvas while he is in the shower

Day 12......

Just got beaten in a round of Trivial Pursuits!!! We played the original version while we were at the beach, so wanted to buy one of our own, but decided to go for the Pop Culture one, which is far more entertaining, (especially 'cause I suck at geography and history), and there are even some questions the kids can answer. Lots of family fun, we team up, one adult with one kid, makes it lots of laughs, and we are very competitive!

Day 11

Yes, it's been a busy few days, and I'm feeling very tired at the moment, but I think there is more to it than school. I'm going to stop drinking Coke Zero, and see if that will have any effect, as I heard aspartame can do it to you, so will try that for a bit and see if it helps.

Speaking of school, the kids have gone back, they seem to be happy with their class/teacher. Braden would be happy whoever he got, he is such a happy go lucky kid, I'm thankful, because Cameron can certainly make up for it. He does seem happy with his class, and I'm quite happy with his teacher. I've already been to speak to her, and she seemed genuinely interested, asked questions, and was very approachable, so that's a great start.

I've had a couple of questions about the frames I used in a couple of my photos. I refused to pay all that money for Photoshop, just 'cause I wanted some cool edges, so I found this program, "Professor franklin's instant photo effects", it's pretty basic, but that's all I wanted. I think you will be able to download it here

So, to finish........ meet Arthur. Arthur is the culmination of weekly magazines, Funny Bones. We are now receiving the skin to put on, but I really want to sit down with the kids and look at the insides first, as it's quite difficult to put together, and once I do the skin we won't be pulling it apart all the time.

Day 10..........

A favourite.

Sorry, too tired to blog properly, will get back to it once this school stuff is settled.