Flipping the Top

2009-07-25T21:10:00.010+12:00

A few photos to relieve the drought this blog has been experiencing in recent times!

These are from today....bike riding after a successful morning at soccer....win to Ohaeawai, with Joseph scoring the only goal of the day and really showing some improved skills with the ball, earning himself player of the day!

Afterwards we hit the shops for new shoes for the big boys....we have given them a stern talking to and told them that any more growing of feet will not be tolerated under any circumstances heh, heh!! At least we are accumulating a nice stock pile of trainers for Samuel for the years to come!!

...And we had to buy our big Kindy boy a new bag for his first day of kindy coming up this Monday!! When I told him the lady had phoned and said he could start he began adamantly telling me that he was still a little boy and that only BIG boys go to kindy! So a new bag was offered as an incentive (definately not a bribe in any shape or form lol!!). He clapped eyes on this little penguin number and it was love at first sight....even has handles and wheels, the lot...so he'll be wheeling it on board the plane in September with all his hand luggage no doubt Gran and Pop!! Its not the biggest bag in the world, but luckily we manageto squeeze in a lunch box and drink bottle and a few spare clothes so he'll be all set for his Monday and Wednesday kindy mornings...thats if it lasts the weekend, its been all over the garden, goat feeding, bike riding, and carried and wheeled all over the house non-stop since getting it home!!

Lo, a garden gnome making the most of some wintery sunshine whitening and brightening the house with a lick of paint!

The daily inspection of the daffodil bulbs...happily all the bulbs are peeking through now and are being eagerly monitored by their little owners, yipeee, not long now until Spring!

....now we backtrack a little with some older pics I found on the camera.....

These are from May...Mothers day...went for a walk in Kerikeri...found a hill to run down...well, ahem, the boys did lol! ...I didn't fancy the long haul back to the top!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

and back up again!

Home for an afternoon of teaching the boys to sew...they really gave it a good go and I was suprised by how much they accomplished themselves...I helped when they got tired but they were determined to get them finished that night...

and they did!

Recently I've been doing a bit of knitting and they wanted to learn how to do that too...so they are busy knitting little scarve's for their teddies at the moment!

June.....Queens birthday weekend we drove down to Cambridge to spend a lovely weekend of chat, board games, food, drink, walks and scrabble matches at Nana and Grandad's!

Here J and S are checking out the ice on the pond after a good old Waikato frost....tsk...look at those Northland boys walking around the frosty garden in t-shirts and bare feet!! I ran out with the camera in my jammies and barefeet too and nearly got frost bite after a couple of seconds...my toes were actually hurting they were so cold....but no amount of coaxing would get these two back in for footwear....

Working up an appetite before lunch at the race course.......

Don't worry Dad...I can see the pub from here!

Back up North the boys took part in the Jump Rope for Heart day...Patrick and his friend Isaiah show us how tandom jumping is done!

Also in June we added to our 'herd' (heh, heh!)....Dominic and Salty Sue had been rescued by the RSPCA in Whangarei and now have a home for life (not just for Christmas) at our place!
They have settled in well with their new paddock buddies...other than a bit of bossy head bunting when the hay and pellets come out...but the sheep just stand their ground and Lulu is quick on her feet and dodges any lowered heads coming her way.... Other than that they are very friendly and will do anything for a handful of feed pellets!!

Our neighbourhood kingfisher....

Oh and our white fluffy hearth rug.....

So there you go....a bit of Wintery goings on from up or over our way!!....depending where you may be!

2009-05-06T11:57:00.004+12:00

Some snaps for you!

The boys making their own pizza's during the holidays which flew by very quickly.

Back at school now ready for a new soccer season, first game this Saturday...brrrr... I will be digging out the thermals for my stint of sideline cheering lol! Dad has volunteered to help with the sausage sizzle so he'll be keeping nice and toasty!

Here is Farmer Samuel helping me pull a few carrots for tea...

and sharing the tops to an eager Lulu...

Even Rosie came for a taste....funny sheep...

After a wet Saturday we were happy to see the sun on Sunday and went for a fish and chip lunch followed by a hoon on the beach at Matauri Bay...the boys enjoyed watching the surfers who were out doing their thing on the water...one day I guess it'll be them out there being gnarly dudes on their boards!! Heh!

Joseph and Samuel were keen to get their feet wet and race the waves....

....while Patrick, Bert and I had a huddle going on to ward off the brisk breeze! lol...gale would be a better description!

and finally....spotted....Samuel last week heading off into the paddock with his backpack full of picnic.... on an adventure...

til next time

ta ra for now...

PS....Go team Rawnsley...we are thinking of you heaps!! any day now!

2009-04-19T09:05:00.006+12:00

Hey there blog, been a while!

Life goes on (and sometimes you have to run to keep up lol!!) but it is all good at the Darges!

Anyway to get the ball rolling again, here are some pics of all of us with some new found friends at The Parrot Place in Kerikeri yesterday. Joseph's best friend Zoe and her family were visiting up North from Huntly so we had arranged to meet them there. Love the way kids just pick up where they left off and they were soon hooning around together having fun like old times...

The parrots were gorgeous, what characters!! We all found a friend to sit on us (and poo on us aye Joseph heh, heh!!)

Annabel the parrot has found a suitable place to crack a nut....on top of another nut ha!!

Zoe's Grandad and Mum keep avaries at home so they were able to tell us the names of all the different sorts of birds there.

This fine blue fellow decided Josephs head would be a good look out.

Samuel didn't want to get too cosy but enjoyed letting them eat of his hand..
This little guy loved having his head scratched just behind his tufty feathers and would give you a little nibble if you forgot to keep it up lol!!

The parrots love anything shiny or metallic so Jims glasses were getting the nibble treatment here and Zoe lost some of the bling off her pretty top lol!!

So if you happen to find yourself in Kerikeri one day wondering what to do, I definately recommend checking out the friendly folk and birds at The Parrot Place, they have lovely tropical gardens too and we couldn't resist coming home with a few bromilliads for the garden!

At least we didn't come home with a parrot!! Although the kids have decided they are saving up their pocket money for one lol! Jim said he thinks the next best alternative is to train chickens to sit on our shoulders although the poo might not be so easily flicked off with a baby wipe. His project for this winter is to build a chicken coop ready for next spring and on top of creating my outdoor hot tub (oh yes, it is going to be very awesome...all done McGyver style of course with a recycled steel bath and gas burner underneath ...I can hear you laughing now but just you wait and see!! heh, heh)....anyway DIY boy is going to be rather busy!

All scrapbooking is on the backburner at the moment...other things to do at the moment...I'm sure one day there will be a time when I get back into it. Thanks to Lisa and Lianne and everybody at Scrapbook Studio, I had lots of fun during my time there! Also NZ dares are running their final dare...had a good innings there too...it was great scrapping alongside all the inspirational dare girls!

ok on with the day...a nice relaxed day at home....more vege gardeing calls....the holidays have been good, doing bush walks, kayaking, fishing, Monsters vs Aliens at the movies, shopping in Whangarei...

catch you later

Meek and the gang!

2009-01-17T21:40:00.008+13:00

Dear Blog...

Sorry but Christmas followed by good weather, summer fun, beach, garden, boys in holiday mode and some house redecorating means time has flown by without a single update for 2009 yet...*gasp!! Even the Bulls crew have updated their blog before me heh, heh!! Go Looby!

So this is us catching up...firstly...

Christmas at Mum and Dads in Cambridge...yay Jim is on holiday at last!...

Ok people so after going through the many, many shots i clicked off of 'the cuzzies' group shot this was the 'best' one....mwah ha ha ha!! They are so going to hate us when we pull this out at their 21st's!!Carol and Al coping admirably with a house 'full' of kids and grandkids!!

Now Santa...about that Pony you promised last year......Samuel found flaked on the couch Christmas day, cuddled up next to his new fire engine from Santa...

and hanging out with his main man Connor...thanks Connor for playing endlessly and so patiently with all your little hanger on'ers!
Nice to have some gorgeous girls around the place! Jessica and Shea get into the spirit of the day with some grape juice bubbles....

...the lovely Nyah....

and even little Daisy la-la was dolled up in her best christmas gears! Poor Bert and Harry didn't know what they were missing!

Jim has the cream whipping all under control with the egg beater which made the move from the farm...it must be an ancient artifact by now that thing...was around when I was a kid...no smart comments please!

Awww look its number 11...playing peek a boo's with Aunty Meek...so nice to meet you at last Ben!

Another ancient family artifact still going strong, the Sorry boardgame...

And cricket also proved popular with one and all...the boys are still into it since getting home and we have had to upgrade Grandad's home made bat to a bigger kids version of the real thing.
and then after a lovely few days catching up with the family..especially the memorable game of pictionary we had, that was really lovely...ha ha ha!! Well it just wouldn't have been right if we had played it nicely... It was home again for New years eve...Jim lit the bonfire in the back paddock and we roasted marshmallows....eventually...once the raging inferno had died down a tad and we could get close enough iwthout singeing our eyebrows...ha!

The boys were given the opportunity to stay up til midnight to see in the new year if they wanted...so we turned the video channel on tv and had a good laugh at some of the old songs on the countdown, the boys busted out some pretty good moves to MC Hammers 'You can't touch this' when they wern't cracking themselves up over his funny pants!....Samuel was snoring by 10, Patrick valiantly lasted until 10.30 and of course Joseph was determined to last the distance and triumphantly counted down the last seconds of 2008 with Mum and Dad and has the champagne cork tucked away on his treasure shelf as a reminder of his first ever New Year that he stayed up!...and so here we are in 2009!!

Oh look it is the resident nudist colony having a picnic in our garden... they are in an out of the pool so much they soon grow tired of getting in and out of clothes and so on very warm days they give up on the idea all together!

Our new past time.....Kayaking...the best fun!!

....Jim (all on his own...and no pressure from the missus whatsoever!its true!)decided as much as he loves him that it was time for little red car to move on...so he is off to live with a gentleman in Christchurch, where he will be very well looked after with lots of other classic cars to keep him company...yes its sad...an end of another little chapter....

...but on a happier note it has enabled us to get set up with our first kayak, aptly nicknamed the 'Big Banana'! Getting the whole family out together and enjoying something together was the aim and its been a great success. After the first try the boys have proved their worth with a paddle and get stuck right in each time...Jim already has his sights on a second kayak so we can all go exploring together, apparently you can even fish off a kayak...who knew?!...so there are great plans for fishing and camping trips...here's to many adventures to come on the HMS Big Banana!!

and when he is gliding through the waters of the BOI he can usually be found in the garden or mowing the grounds lol! The vege patch is coming on great this year...courgettes and green and butter beans coming out our ears, love the red onions...will definately seed a bigger onion patch next time, the iceburg lettuce were a success..but should have staggered the planting...small lesson learned...the runner beans are going nuts, hairy but strangely fresh and tasty lol...the corn and tomato's and watermelons are coming on well, the spuds are growing like weeds and taste good too, threw in some radish, rocket and carrot seed the other day and they popped up in record time...planting conditions are GO!!

Oh look the nudist colony's Dad has joined in the action..heh, heh...if you can't beat 'em join 'em!

Today we headed over to Paihia for the annual sandcastle competition ...such a fun day, absolutely knackered when we got home...some mad closet sand sculpting talent around! Unfortunately our camera was out of action so we couldn't record the day but we managed to score a prize with Jim's creation...so hopefully there might be a pic in the local paper next week to share then...

Well thats it for my mammoth first post of the year...

hey! wake up.

lol.

2008-12-14T21:17:00.005+13:00

As promised...sailing pics..lots of...heh, heh cause we had fuunn!!...absolutely lovely day spent on the water...the boys quickly found their sealegs and were all over the boat...Thank you James and Di for being a fabulous Captain and Captains mate lol!!

Move over Dennis O'Conner....the next contender for the America's cup is starting his training...

Ahoy there Captain James...we are about to take over your good boat the Bellatrix lol!

The boys all kitted out in their flash new life jackets...

After exploring the boat and stowing the bags we were on our way...there was just enough of a breeze to raise the main sail...

Happy to have a go behind the helm....

On the look out for pirates!!

Di bringing in the sail...

Time for a spot of treasure seeking on Turtle island!

Who's this lovely mermaid...mwah ha ha!!

... a game of tiggy on the beach...*gasp has Jim actually taken off his socks and boots!!

Some exploring of rocks and inspection of rockpools
...before rowing back for afternoon tea aboard Bellatrix...isn't she pretty!

2008-12-14T07:39:00.006+13:00

December so far....

Joseph has taught himself to shin up poles at school and can now be frequently found sitting in very high places....I'm sure it's fun but it dosn't half give his poor mother a heart attack!! He has asked if we can have a holiday in fiji so he can climb the coconut trees lol!!

Having loads of fun at Playcentre as always...and we had a Mums only day out a few Sunday...a walk in the bush, a stroll in the bush, followed by a luxurious long lunch...cause we're worth it lol!

Samuel helped me put up the Christmas tree...nuff said...lol...Its cool.. he's right into the whole Santa thing...where does he live, how will he get here, how do the reindeer fly....and 'What would you like Santa to bring you Samuel?' "...heaps, heaps of fire engines!!!!'. Went to the Warehouse the other day....'Santa lives here aye Mum' why is that Samuel...'cause its red like Santa' lol!! and I suspect cause of all the toys...Samuel thinks the Warehouse is just a big playground for him to go and fiddle with all the toys...its nightmare trying to go shopping with him cause he is just off on his own mission the whole time...to the toy section!

School Concert and Prizegiving was this week...the kids put on a very cool circus show with jugglers and clowns and unicycles...they did an awesome job..nothing nicer than kids singing...I love having a giggle watching the little ones singing erratically whilst picking their nose or waving madly at mum or the ones who are really into it singing for all they are worth...
Patrick was given a certifitate for achievement in Numeracy...way to go P!! Although afterwards he was more excited that he was allowed to keep the sparkly hat from his band player costume than getting an award lol!!

Some scrappy stuff here...my DT work from last months kit...I like this one..sooo cute!

And I went digi for the last ever Kiwi Jack Me Up...heh, heh...chubby checker!

Check out Niella's cool layout here...she is offering up 3 prizes from her Randomkitsandpieces shop so if you have time to enter a layout this month...you will be in to win!

Last week of term this week...Playcentre Christmas party on Thursday, Joseph's class is having a Pyjama party...lots of fun end of year stuff....have done all the Christmas shopping WOOOOT!!

Today we are off sailing!! Jim's work mate has invited us along on his boat...so better get off and make a picnic and organise the kids...will update with some pics later...

ta ra!

2008-11-26T22:12:00.008+13:00

Hi!

thought I better dash in and pop something up for November!!

We had a fun day out two weekends ago with Play Centre on the Kawakawa steam train...it was great to have all the Play Centre gang bring their Dads and brothers and sisters along too.

This is the lovely Gabriel who is lovingly looked after by the volunteers at the railway....and just behind you can see the Kawakawa fish and chip shop....does the most beautiful fresh fish with a herbed batter.....just in case you are ever passing through...highly recommend you stop and try the fish and chups here!!!
Some of the big brothers and Sisters...

chuffing down the main street...the Hundertwasser dunnies to the left......Dad and Samuel enjoy the rural scenery and count pukeko's and cabbage tree's... The volunteers love to show off their pride and joy and Samuel soaked it all in...so many levers and dials and of course the fire

and Yay! now we don't have to listen to the kids asking to go on the train everytime we drive through Kawakawa any more lol!!

The warmer weather is upon us at last...Samuel has been enjoying a dip in his 'pool' most afternoons and the vege garden is putting on a spurt all of a sudden! We are expanding all the time and have nearly completed the whole circle of the parterre pattern at last...one more bed to dig!!

Dad and Joseph built a go-cart together for the trolley derby at Kea's but I'll have to pop those pics on later as they are on Jim's camera...apparently theirs wasn't the fastest but was the most controlled...which in my book is a very good thing...I was having the horrors thinking of him flying out of control down a tarmac road lol!! After my stern face and raised eyebrows over the fact that their was no brake...the inventors went back to work and devised a brake to appease the great Mum goddess....heh, heh!!!

I don't have many flower type plants in my garden these days but these pretty little love in the mists are very special as they are from seeds Mum gave me from the ones at the farm...they are planted next to the garage so just as I used to admire the farm ones which were always by the gate as you walked in from the car...I now admire these as we go to and from the car....oh and Mum and Dad...the orchids have just flowered with some lovely great stems....I keep meaning to find out how to look after them properly but they seem to have liked the complete lack of attention I have given them and just got on with things lol!! Sometimes I do remember to splash a bit of water their way...but other than that, thats it!! Keep em keen, treat em mean seems to work!

On the scrapping front, its hard to find a spare moment lately but I have been having a little play with digital scrapbooking which is a lot of fun..I'm learning new stuff all the time...I did this one for last Sunday's Bossy Scrapper at Scrapbook Studio (thanks Boss Jenny for the fun sketches you found for us to work off) and was very proud to work out how to cut my photo into a circle all by myself lol!!

If you are a digi or hybrid scrapper don't forget to check out Louise Williams new site http://www.eidou.com/ her team have some fun kits to get you creating.

Paper scrapping wise I joined in the Halloween ATC swap at Scrapbook Studio and created 8 of these...which once you are on a roll wasn't too bad at all...although I did stick to a fairly simple design...I think she's a sweetie little wannabe witch though lol...

There is one more ATC swap happening before Christmas so if you are keen come on over and sign up here...this months theme is FABRIC.

If you are looking for a great way to wrap up your scrapping for 2008 check out fellow DT member Sonya's highlights for 2008 challenge here and her layout for inspiration here upload it in the gallery by December 30th to be in to win some fabbo alcohol inks from Scrapbook Studio.

There is also sign ups for the December guest designer here just put your name down and you will be in the draw to receive a lovely goodie box of scrap supplies to design with.

You have until 30th November to complete Liannes Sketch challenge and Lisa's monthly competition

and if that isn't enough to keep you going its my turn to post up the new NZdare on Friday...heh, heh...this one will get you thinking! and oh my goodness its almost time for a new Kiwi Jack too!!

Phewf...well that makes me tired just thinking about it so I'm off to check on my smallest one who has a tummy bug...he was horrified when I said this to him earlier because before he gets in his paddling pool Mum has to scoop out a large variety of unfortunate Northland bugs which have come to a watery end...'Muuummmmm buuuggs'! lol! So poor kid now thinks he has some creepy crawlies from the pool lurking around in his tummy!!

Oh and one last thing if you havn't seen it already....Jim and I highly recommend the BBC tv series 'Life on Mars' we just finished watching the series on DVD and were hooked!!

2008-11-08T23:33:00.008+13:00

Playing catch up here...

Some pics of last weekend...

Homemade Halloween fun...

Got the boys busy creating their own monster masks....

"Slime and Blood" drinks went down well after all that monster tag in the long grass...

I made up Trick or Treat bags which contained these hard case teeth...very funny....

Followed by ghost stories before bed...the kids had a whale of a time...who needs to go walking the streets knocking on strange doors aye!!

The following day was Patricks birthday party day....a friend over for lunch, spider man cupcakes, treasure hunt and then into town to see Wall-E at the movies....love living in small towns....we were the only ones there for the 1pm session lol!! Had the whole place to ourselves...didn't have to listen to other people rustling their sweet packets, the kids could talk and laugh loudly, Samuel systematically went round and put every single seat down and tried sitting in the front row, the back row and every row in between heh, heh....a very happy six year old...had a lovely day and then on Tuesday his actual birthday got a few more pressies too....thanks to all the far-now who sent something...he loved everything!!

Fast forward through a week of Samuel going down with a cough and cold, having a pet lamb to stay while its owners were out of town, an uneventful guy fawkes, and ususal weekly stuff to today...

It was the BOI A and P/food festival show at Waimate North (2 mins up the road) today. And we actually entered some stuff for a laugh. Seeing as we have been into making our own bread lately we decided to make some for the baking section, I made the traditional white loaf and Jim made his fancy beer pull apart loaf with poppy seeds on the top...Joseph made chocolate truffles...I made a jar of lemon honey and we picked 3 of the best Avocado's off the tree to put in the garden produce section....

Look what we came home with!!!!

A first for my bread, highly commended for Jim's, highly commended for Joseph's truffles, 2nd for the Avo's....and sadly nowhere for the lemon honey...lol...but it has since been spread liberally over thick pieces of bread and is nearly gone...so it really was rather good despite its lack of award!! Very chuffed we all are with our last minute efforts....

...and we also won the DOC raffle for 4 native trees...so it was a bit of a lucky day for us!

Had a fun few hours at the show, Joseph and Patrick tried the rock climbing wall, Joseph had a good go at it and got about 3/4 way up several times...Patrick got a quarter of the way, looked down and bottled it lol! Thought he was very brave to try though...he said he would give it another go next year when he was bigger...good on ya P!

They all scored toys in the treasure dig, Jim brought the most expensive sausage in bread ever from the food festival tents lol...well they were choice organic sausages with saurkraut in french bread...so I let him off....luckily the kids were starving so after eyeing the saurkraut suspiciously for a couple of seconds (in which I was thinking oh my god Jim why on earth did you buy fancy sausages with strange vegetables on the top!!!)I was amazed and happy to be proven wrong and watched them wolf the lot!! Apart from Samuel who was far too busy jumping on and off pieces of farm machinary to bother about eating!!

Came home to spend the rest of the afternoon vege patch gardening... and dreaming and scheming of what we could grow and enter in next years show lol!!

2008-10-27T16:37:00.003+13:00

And then the sun came out....

(look Celia and Mafoo the apple tree you gave us is blossoming!...don't ask about the pear tree..its umm sort of recovering after being munched badly by the goats...but it should come right eventually!)

Hope the sun is shining on you too, where ever you may be!!

Last night was our 17th Bossy Scrapper round at Scrapbook Studio, we have a fun night chatting and scrapping so do pop in and join in every Sunday 8pm in the chat room...feeling super clean and keen at my newly tidied desk lol...I dusted off this pic of me and my cousins...love the summery barefeet in dresses and the classic pic on the steps of our old house....

...man... thats 30 years ago lol!!

2008-10-26T16:06:00.008+13:00

Boo.

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend...weathers a bit chilly for my liking but hey it could be worse....could be out camping in a tent like some crazy people seem to have an urge to do on Labour weekend....rather them than me!! Tents = hot summery weather, people!! not weird four seasons in one day Spring weather!

Well we are on the runaway train towards Christmas....wooowhoooo...all aboarrrdddd!! The school have hosted 6 other local schools for the annual Cross Country event...it was a good day, perfect weather and the both boys gave it their best...

Patrick spurred on by the smell of the sausage sizzle and the prospect of a sausage sarnie coming in 4th in the 5 year olds...

and Joseph kept it steady all the way coming in 11th in the 7 year olds...

...as you can tell it is obviously uncool to smile and look happy as Mum takes your picture in front of your mates...heh, heh, heh!!

Have been busy with Play Centre stuff too...got the Dads working hard out knocking up a raised vege patch for the kids last weekend...Its a small space but should be enough to have some fun growing a variety of veges...a teacher at the school passed on an idea for a very cool project to try and allow us more room to grow things...she suggested we try the upside down bucket idea for growing tomatos...check it out here The vege patch has been constructed in the old sandpit which is under a clear covered verandah so it already has strong beams for us to hang the buckets from in place and will stop those little fingers picking the tomatos before they are ready too!! Will share some pics when we are under way!

The boys are going great guns at their keyboard lessons and the teacher is having to give them extra songs to keep them from getting too far ahead in their songbooks from the others in the class!

Hmmmm I bet you can guess what Joseph was about to do at the end there!! Boys and their obsession with showing their butts huh!! Not suprising really if you know their Uncles lol!!! Just hope he dosn't end his performance the same way at the upcoming Christmas recital!!

The Scrapbook Studio DT have their October inspiration up

Awww....still can't believe it was 10 years ago now!! Love how the Prima Paintables turn out, you really can't go wrong with those and the new Tinkering Ink papers are alot of fun! We had been talking on the forum about using up our older film photos so for my layouts I chose pics from my pre digi camera '90's...its fun to scrap some older memories and good to liven up those old pics!

Thought this was fun check out this awesome wallpaper...you could scrapbook straight onto the wall lol!!

Anyway thats us for another stretch...Patricks birthday next weekend....time to stock up on party poppers and balloons again! He has ordered a Spider man cake...fun times in the kitchen ahead...Jiiimmmmm help....

2008-10-06T08:39:00.008+13:00

AT LAST!!

Something momentuous to blog about heh, heh!!

Joseph has lost his first baby tooth...he's only been waiting all year for a tooth to get wiggly and fall out like everybody else in his class. It started feeling a bit loose last week and he's been working it hard out backwards and forwards (eewwww!) until last night after tea it finally gave up the fight! tiny little thing that it is! I came into the bathroom afterwards to find him grinning into the mirror at the gap in his teeth muttering 'At last, at last...!'

The tooth fairy did her duty last night...she was a rich one!! Two dollars!! (dang it was all I had in my wallet!!) You always get heaps for the first tooth and not so much for the following ones I've told him...in case next time all I've got is 20c!

In other news...of which there is none really! we are all fine, the animals are fine, the weather has been fine!! which has been fantastic for the holidays...first bit of rain today though....
The avocado tree is dripping with avo's again this year...spot who was sent up to get the ones at the top....
Everyone wave to the crazy guy in the tree....

Dad and the boys had fun making a teepee out of the plentiful bamboo we have around the place...Might have to try growing runner beans up some this year...the seeds we planted a while back are all sprouting away...they'll be ready for transplanting into the garden soon...we have had to fence off the vege patch properly from the goats...Lulu the wiley one soon figured she could smash down the temporary fencing we had around it...but it looks good now Jim has taken down some of the fencing between it and the house so it has become part of the garden as a whole rather than being just stuck out in the paddock.

The weather has even been nice enough for a spot of this on occasion...lol had to crop this pic to spare you the full frontal heh, heh!!

This poor old paddling pool finally gave in to a zillion little holes and we've since invested in a new one for the summer.

Scrapping wise there is a new Kiwi Jack up for the month so head on over for some home grown inspiration

and why not have a go at this one at Scrapbook Studio 1+1+1 challenge deadline is Friday night..

And Lisa has the new theme up for the ATC dares blog 1950's retro!! very cool...can't wait to have a play with this one....

If you are going to SENZ have a fun time and try not to spend all your $$ on the first day lol!! If like me you are staying home :-( then come and check out the forum at Scrapbook Studio
where we'll have some fun things going on for those who can't wangle it to Welly for the weekend!!).

Now lookee here Rae!! what is the meaning of this tagging me lol!! I've always managed to avoid this before or more acurately ignore this before heh, heh...sorry if you were one of the ones who have tagged me and I ignored it....but for the lovely Rae I will give a go...but later...will have to think up some suitably random answers first!

Meekxx

2008-09-11T22:44:00.008+12:00

Revisiting an old layout...because Patrick has passed another of lifes wee milestones today...he can now ride his bike without training wheels....A real triumph because it wasn't an easy one for him....

He loved the little bike in this layout but soon outgrew it and progressed onto the bigger bike he has now, he just never seemed comfortable on this one though..being bigger and heavier I think the training wheels didn't give him as much stability and he became very cautious and much less keen on biking, especially when we moved here and there is only a metal driveway to bike on, which makes the going that much harder with training wheels...all the fun had gone out of it for him.

Every now and then we would suggest he try with out the training wheels and he tried a couple of times and it would usually end in tantrums and tears...fear is a yukky feeling...

Dad had done a wonderful job teaching Joseph but Patrick just wasn't having any of it so it seemed I needed to give it a whirl...which I had been hoping I wouldn't have to as I was just as afraid of letting him fall as he was of falling!!Suck it up girl!! So armed with the promise of being able to choose a new bell when he succeeded and a trip to the warehouse to buy a special diary and some dinosaur stickers to record his daily bike lesson progress we were all set to practice a little bit every day. Patrick suprised me by reminding me all this week after school...Mum...its time for my bike lesson....

Here are his diary entries...

Sunday 7th Sept...today I learnt to put my foot down (which we found is an easier way to stop instead of careering wildly into the fence!)

Monday 8th Sept...Remember to sit straight and steer (rocking the handlebars from side to side as you pedal in a panic does not help you to go in a straight line!)

Tuesday 9th Sept...I am strong! (Mum's little mantra to help convince him that he can hold the bike up and control the wild beast!)

Wednesday 10th Sept...no lesson.

Thursday 11th Sept...I am a Champion!!! (You sure are matey!!)

Yep 3 lessons and today Superman was flying once again!! I couldn't believe it as I was flapping along beside him in my gummies, holding the seat...all of a sudden I just felt him take over and balance the bike and he was away! I knew it would just click eventually, but was expecting it to take a little longer....Warning!!You may want to turn the sound down or better still... off!!...I have a bad case of loudmotheritis!

Joseph was great, cheering him on all the way...and proudly said 'Hey P! you'll be able to come to the bike ramp with me and Dad now!'....seeing a little wave of terror creep back over Patrick's face I was quick to add...yep but I think we need to practice a bit more first lol! One step at a time hey kiddo! So proud of you for conquering your fear and look forward to you being happy and laughing on your bike like you used to be!

Here are a few more pics from the weekend...

A little fathers day help for Dad...

Sowing seeds for the vege patch...

The current crop, can't get fresher than this!...Jamie Oliver's leek and chickpea soup here we come....

Speaking of 'Fresh' thats the photography word prompt #5 at Scrapbook Studio...go here to add your 'Fresh' pics and if you scrap them as well you will be in the draw for a fun Spring RAK from me!

Oh and just look at these babies fresh out of the oven yesterday!! A small blonde person, whom I shan't name, kept sneaking them and we were finding half eaten ones all over the house! They are caramel apple cupcakes by the way...a good way to use up those slightly bruised apples that bounce their way to school and then bounce their way home again in the kids lunch boxes lol!

Jim and I have also been baking our own bread this week...for no particular reason except its a nice thing to do and its yummier than bought! The kids are a bit suspicious of the yeasty flavour but are slowly coming to the party, eating it toasted or slathered in choc spread or both lol!

oh and look...sadly no we havn't got chickens...yet...maybe this summer....but we have been busy sharing the many Avacado's on our tree and were lucky enough to recieve these farm fresh eggs in exchange yesterday and today our neighbour also returned the love and gave us a lamb roast!...shhh don't tell Rosie and Poppy...

So feeling rather like the 'Good Life' couple at the moment!

...although it does have its ups and downs...planted 12 lovely strawberry plants yesterday only to have the goats get into the vege patch and scoff the lot this afternoon lol! lucky for them I was on to much of a high from Patricks cycling success to be too upset....otherwise goat ragout may have been on the menu for tonight!!

The Bossy Scrapper is still going strong on Sunday nights at 8pm in the chat room...so if you would like to liven up your evening with some chatting and scrapping...do come and join us! This was my layout for last weeks Bossy Scrapper #10...

Have a good weekend everybody,

Ka kite!

2008-09-06T00:05:00.013+12:00

Ok move over rally cars, its time to get the scrapping show on board again! ...by the way Jim it has been noted that you are a paparazzi extraordinaire and that dude! the date stamp on your camera is whack!! lol.

Ahhhhhh...there we go, a nice layout.... that feels much better heh, heh! If you want to see what else I and the rest of the Scrapbook Studio DT have been up to recently check out our Design Team Blog for lots of fun projects, muses, ideas and layouts and updates on the forum happenings...

..... ooh even better a nice pic of the kidlet reading his birthday books from the Bulls Toomey's...thanks gang! My favourite is the tree one...but without a doubt the kids favourite is the goldfish one...because it says Poo. Several times. Even funnier when its a Goldfish saying 'Poo to you' to a funny little dog. Mum rather likes it too...alot...especially when it produces great guffaws and belly laughs from the boys.

In fact the small boys in our house say the word Poo alot at the moment for some reason...it is deftly swapped for any word at random during any conversation and the person who says it then doubles over in convulsive laughter...and the giggles being highly contagious as we all know usually rapidly infects any small person standing in the vicinity...which tends to leave the grown up standing there in bewilderment until said grown up wanders off to see if they can find another grown up for some saner company or maybe even to talk to the dog or goats. Dogs and goats cannot say 'poo' you see so you are quite safe from 'poo' conversations in the company of dogs and goats. only goldfish can. apparently. and kids.

Oh and by the way no Samuel is not reading heh, heh...just pointing! But he has connected to the fact that the black squiggles are letters which make words and when Mum says the words of the story she is looking at the black squiggles and so he likes to point at them in case I lose my place.

Our Samuel is really into all manner of games at the moment...except he has his own set of rules for each game.

Beetle...flick the spinner but if you don't land on something you need..just stick something on anyway..the object is to build the beetle as fast as you can so you can play pretend games with the beetles afterwards...with Mum....

Connect Four....put the counters in as fast as you can...the first one to use up all their counters is the winner....when you win...you punch the air with both fists at the same time and say 'yay I win'!

Buckeroo...first insist on playing this wretched game..... watch Mum mutter under her breath cause the silly donkey will only stay down if you hold your tongue right and have pressed it down a jillion times until you are about to give up and have to tell your expectant 3 year old that it won't work...then by some miracle it sticks and the game is on...pile things on quickly, but stop midway to pretend to play the little guitar...laugh and run away when the obstinate beast now refuses to Buck despite having everything piled on his back!!! aggghhhh!! Funnily enough Mum is not laughing but muttering under her breath again!

Now you might remember Joseph was trying out for parts in a cultural performance the school is attending...they are going to be performing the Maori legend 'Rata and the Totara Tree'...happily Joseph was given the part of one of the creatures that helps resurrect the Totara...they were allowed to choose what sort of creature they wanted to be and they have to sort their own costumes...Joseph is deciding between either a grasshopper or a weta...Mum is deciding whether to panic now or wait til closer to the time....rofl!!

Now if you are up for Scrapping type challenges this September be sure to check out the new

Kiwi Jack

The Nz dare...to scrap a weird photo...

The Scrapbook Studio September Sketch...I played around with the elements on Scrapblog to create this months sketch....if you want to give this one a go have some fun with it..you can interpret the elements in your own way and feel free to add in more photos if you wish!

have a good one all...might even blog again this weekend if we do something worth taking pictures of lol!

Meek

2008-08-31T19:14:00.005+12:00

This blog is interrupted for Jim to show off his pics from the weekend at the WRC...the normal program will resume shortly....

Friday morning

Getting ready to leave to start on friday morning

Start of SS5

SS9 Mystery Creek Saturday Hirvonen
Hirvonen in Service before SS10 Te Akau South

Sordo on SS3 Pirongia West

Wilson on SS3 Pirongia West

Solberg waiting to leave Mystery Creek on day one. Heading for SS1 Pirongia West.

Loeb at Mystery Creek Super Stage SS5 on Friday after finishing Waitomo SS4

Wilson on SS11 Te Akau North on Saturday afternoon

Loeb leaving SS4 Waitomo 2 Friday afternoon

Loeb and latvala following back SH3 from Otorohanga

Latvala overtaking on SH3 heading north on Friday afternoon

Hirvonen Waiting at Mystery Creek to start rally

Loeb going through Otorohanga

Snapped in Mystery Saturday afternoon

2008-08-25T17:39:00.000+12:00

Ahoy there Cap'n Gran and Matey Pop....look at me in my new pirate bed!! The face says it all huh! Thank you both...hugs and kisses xxooxx and awwwaaarrrr's Samuel!

2008-08-24T20:12:00.008+12:00

Its my birthday and I'll be silly if I want to!

Samuel pleases Mum by tucking into some fruit...after ploughing his way through a whole packet of pink pig jelly lollies in one sitting for breakfast lol...thanks Gran and Pop they went down a treat, enjoyed by all the boys!

Zee artist at work....cheers Aunty Celia and Uncle Maffoo!! a big hit!

Another Jim and Meek birthday creation...I'd asked Samuel earlier in the week what sort of cake he would like and his criteria were Banana and Yellow so we created our 'house on fire' cake from my Big Wonga Banana Cake recipe and painted on some nice yellow icing walls and added a little lego fireman and truck to fight the flames and save the jelly baby people from certain disaster!

For starters we just brought out the cake and no truck, Samuel was delighted with his 'house cake'.....

but then Dad lit the candles and instructed them to yell 'Fire, Fire' and the fire brigade was there in no time to fight the blaze...

So after copious games of his new Go Diego Go game (thanks Toomey's in Whiti!) we ventured out for a wintery walk before the predicted rain arrived...

Can't wait til those branches are leafy green again!!

Joseph spurred on by the mountain biking he has been watching on the Olympics the last few days was right into the rough terrain!

However 'hoodie boy' was having none of the biking lark (as usual) and prefered to beat the feet with Mum and Dad and entertained us with his larrikan ways the whole way round!

A brave little weed persists through the dead winters grass...well come ...on this post has to have a few arty farty pics with no children in it lol!! this was all I could come up with!

Uh oh its spitting...head for the car troops...

Aha...the promise of Spring is here after all....

Bert and Samuel provided the netball girls with a few giggles as they raced by...have they never seen a mad hairy white dog dragging along a kid in a potato head helmet before?

Um...dude...you've got brown on you......

Then it was home for a siesta before we hit Keri Keri for a night out on the town! lol....it was Dad's part of the birthday and we went for a curry....the kids were suspicious but gamely tried the onion bahji, Pakora, kebabs and tandoori chicken platter we got for starters...Samuel declared everything 'YUKKY' in a loud determined manner everytime we tried to tempt him..... but as there was only one other couple seated nearby at the time we wern't to concerned at scaring away the other patrons away lol!

Joseph liked the chicken and the Pakora, P not keen on 'this Chinese food' so far (lol)...Out came the curry's next...butter chicken for the kids, Chicken Saag for mum (eeeeewwww Mum its green!!) and Dads du p'aiza had them gagging and reaching for their water glasses...much fun...but the rice and Naan breads went down well at least!

All in all a good learning, tasting experience and not a darn chicken nugget or french fry to be seen YAYYY!!

For dessert we strolled up to the top of the street to the Petrol Station and treated them to their choice of icecreams from the freezer...stopping for a beam me up scotty pic on these funky lights amongst the palm trees on the way back to the car...

AND THATS NOT ALL....lol...going for the most pics on a blog post Olympic medal here....

today we suprised our fire engine mad birthday boy with a trip up to the local Okaihau fire engine museum...The owner has a huge collection of models, uniforms, memorabilia and 9 real fire engines from old to modern...needless to say the boys loved it! They got to explore inside them, sit in them and 'drive'...Samuel was in firetruck heaven!

The owner got little flickthe fire truck out afterwards and took them for a wee drive with the siren going...Samuel declined the ride...'too loud' lol! but enjoyed watching the big boys and happily climbed on once the engine was turned off!

...pretty good weekend in all from a three year olds point of view!

now we just need to get rid of all the coughs and colds and sneezles that have taken up residence!

Jim....'havn't you got a pic of my new shed wall'....um no. sorry no room. you can have a special little post for that all on its own...when you take a pic that is...

Have a good week everyone...

ta ra for now!

2008-08-22T16:12:00.001+12:00

Guess who is three today?

heh,heh...but we've been sneaky and told him its tomorrow so we can all spend the day with him... so here he is blissfully unaware...which has been rather nice for Mum enjoying spoiling him in little ways all day and enjoying his delighted reactions all to herself without the chaos that reigns on 'the day' with the present overload and the sugar rush and the hype that goes with...lol....selfish of me huh!!

On top of that we have had the most glorious weather today...thank you Mother Nature for sending that lovely warm High over us...a real treat, a taste of Summer to come and a well deserved respite from all the rain...which is supposed to settle back in for the weekend..but hey after a day like today we can handle it!

Anyway Happy Birthday Mr Bum Bum!! Roll on the fun times tomorrow and Sunday! We are having a double whammy with Dad as he is away down in the Waikato during his birthday next week hanging out with Mum and Dad and following the Rally event down there, planning dinner out at a local Indian restaurant, hopefully I shall be able to clear my blocked sinus's that have been plaguing me for the last couple of days at the same time rofl...vindaloo anyone?....Dad has also organised an extra special suprise on Sunday for our little Fireman Sam too...will post the pics as they come in lol!

Here are a few pics from last weekend....Dad and Joseph have been working on the Isuzu....
and putting all those lovely shells we collect at the beach to good use.....My layout from our 'Bossy Scrapper' challenge at Scrapbook Studio last Sunday....aww a little bum bum!

2008-08-07T23:01:00.013+12:00

and the days go by...

we have seen the sun this week though so that is a good thing!

....even so its drumming down out there again...looks like another wet weekend in store for us....will just have to sit and watch the Olympics with everyone else I guess!! I always sort of dread the Olympics...I hate all the media buildup bullpoop...but once it gets going past all the hoopla and concentrates on the athletes and their achievements I get into it a bit more.

I helped Patrick do a little project on the Olympics tonight so have discovered lots of interesting little things like when you put the Chinese names of all the olympic mascots together it says 'Welcome to China lol! Not sure if that was quite what the teacher had in mind when she asked them to find out some facts about the Olympics but too bad, thats what Patrick wanted to write about!! He was quite taken with the little characters, possibly because they have a passing resemblence to Pokemon heh, heh...

Samuel is zooming towards his third birthday...and yay for him he will celebrate his birthday in big boy undies!! No nappies during the day now for the last two weeks....Ka Pai Samuel!! Here he is ready for take off in his airplane..note the controls, the lever, the steering wheel?!! (lol) and the seatbelt....

I was really pleased to hear Joseph mention this week that he had been trying out for parts in the play the school are performing for a local cultural festival next month. He's not usually one for volunteering to be in the spotlight in a performing role like this so I thought it was pretty cool he felt comfortable enough to try...fingers crossed he gets a wee part to play!

Jim is steadily zooming towards his birthday too...hee hee.....love it when the gap between us closes up a little!! Hope you have your big boy undies at the ready too Dad lol!!

Took this pic a few weeks back...it made me laugh because we were walking along and Joseph stopped and said take photo of us and by some sort of miracle they all stopped and willingly posed just like this! Jim had the camera...and I was muttering through clenched teeth 'hurry up and take the shot' before they move!!! No silly faces...just that darned hooded sweatshirt of Patricks which he lives in....with the hood up constantly.... but I can live with that when they are all smiling so nicely!

I spotted this little gem amongst the brick a brack at our playcentre white elephant sale we had recently...and knew instantly it was destined for my kitchen....heh, heh...the perfect apple turnover in minutes!! I'm going to try a meat pasty next....

so what have I been scrapping this week or so....

This for the latest NZ dare...to use a repeated pattern on your layout....

These for the last two Bossy Scrapper sessions at Scrapbook Studio...Sunday's at 8pm...be there or be....not there! Lots of fun and all welcome to join in!

This for the August Kiwi Jack....awww an ickle Joseph!! Adele chose a gorgeous layout by Yvette so do remember to come and check it out and be inspired to create your own layout!and finally this for Heidi's Quick fire challenge last Friday at Scrapbook Studio....yay another one to pop into Jims childhood album...another awwww moment lol!

The Scrapbook Studio DT have a blog underway with daily snippets of scrapbook musings, mini tutorials and updates and info regarding challenges etc from the forum.

and that about sums it up for now!
Have a good weekend!

2008-07-31T21:26:00.005+12:00

Rain

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,

And it dripped in my head

And flowed into my brain,

And all that I hear as I lie in my bed

Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,

I walk very slow,

I can't do a handstand

I might overflow,

So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said

I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

Shel Silverstein

Ok so last night the power went off at tea time...Jim had bought home a yummy frozen apple strudel for pudding...so as we were lamenting the lack of electricity and joking how we could cook it in the fire...I suddenly burst out with 'hey why don't we put it in the microwave'....yep even the kids gave me a stunned look......like the poem...I blame the rain lol!! yup its definately the rain's fault NOT the colour of my hair!!

A couple of layouts using more supplies from my Scrapbook Studio DT kit.

August tomorrow! yay...it just sounds closer to summer....new dare and new Jack go up too.

2008-07-27T17:49:00.000+12:00

Stormy weather mean't there was a legothon at our place all weekend! Even Mum enjoyed it and mangaged to create a space ship complete with moon buggy!!

2008-07-24T00:23:00.001+12:00

Hi world...we are still here...

...yep its still raining....although we went out for a lovely walk on Sunday and dodged the showers... you arn't supposed to dodge the puddles though...but run through them flat tack and get mud sprayed all up your back....mud guards for kids now theres a thought! We were looking for ducks to feed...couldn't find any....so the kids ate the bread instead...lucky it wasn't too stale!

...first week back at school...Patrick has gone up a class...he is very excited about that and it didn't faze him one bit...it was only his mother who had heart palpitations rofl! No longer one of the little kids!

...at least the kids winter ails have cleared up. unfortunately now its Mum and Dads turn....I went to answer the phone this morning and found I'd lost my voice..how embarrassing...hee hee...so I have no voice for the minute...although I can whisper...not very effective when you are trying to yell at the kids though....or talk on the phone.

To Scrapping...its NZ dares 50th dare...hot foot it over for a fab dare to scrap a winter themed layout using the fashion magazine spread given as inspiration...heres mine...a little dig at all those shiny 'townie' gumboots with flash patterns on them mwah ha ha!!

There is a super duper prize to be won from the gorgeous Danielle Quarmby at Qtea Kits

Here is last Sunday's Bossy Scrapper layout, thanks Janine for a good night...these are alot of fun so do come out of hiding and join us at 8pm every Sunday night at Scrapbook Studio...this week Jennifer (aka littlekiwi) will be 'The Boss'!

The Scrapbook Studio DT have fresh new things going up in the gallery for July. We were asked to create a layout and three cards using the new Imaginisce papers...very pretty and sparkly and pastel!! but cute!! Check out the gallery here and theres more to come from the Piggy Tales and Sweetwater collections...later.

its late....playcentre in the morning...some sunshine would be good....I don't fancy another session shut inside with the kids!!

2008-07-16T22:44:00.000+12:00

Today I had a little dabble with digital scrapping! I followed the link from Sistv for www.scrapblog.com and discovered a little world where you can play with digi scrapping!! So here is my first ever attempt at a digital layout! It was great fun to sit and play and not create a humongous mess in the process!!

2008-07-14T01:43:00.005+12:00

This weekend was all about the garden!

The cold southerly has finely gone and Saturday dawned damp but warm...so we dodged showers and got out and did some much needed weeding in the vege patch...dug up the first of our spuds (delicious too...the boys went back for 2nd and third helpings tonight lol!)

The weather even lured a rather crusty old hedgehog out for a snack and Joseph eagerly helped him stock up with a big pile of worms from the vege patch which Mr Prickles gratefully munched and crunched and slurped away on lol! disgusting...but nice to see the poor fella get a good feed before he waddled off back into the undergrowth!!
Then it was into the front garden for some tidying up...we are sticking with a tropical theme...loving lots of big leaves and foliage with the odd bright splashes of colour (well there will be come summer!) We are working on mulching all the beds with wood chip at the moment.
with the odd game of wheelbarrow the kids down the steps thrown in for a bit of light relief in between lol!
Hmmm....yes....an open window....
Peek-a-boo Bum bum....now get your gumboots on and come outside and play...

Pthwaaatththppppssspppwwp!!! yup the master of the wet Raspberry strikes again!!

Raining again so back inside for a spot of painting! Flowers of course lol!!

Sunday morning....sunshine woohoo....happy dance....

We got stuck into tidying up under the Avocado tree...creating a little bit of hard landscaping to put the picnic table on....a nice place to sit in the summer with a glass of wine!

Joseph smooths out the gravel...while Samuel gets stuck into offloading it into the barrow...

and finally after a bit of hard yakka by everybody its done!! ...Of course we had to try it out and test whether drinking wine there would be a good thing to do or not....it is....roll on Summer!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDAD

2008-07-08T10:51:00.004+12:00

2008-07-07T19:08:00.004+12:00

Layouts from this week...

What is your favourite sort of shopping? create a layout and link it up here to be in the draw for a scrappy RAK...

For my layout I used some of the goodies from my last Scrapbook Studio kit...American Crafts paper, Kaiser rubons, Doodlebug strips, Bazzill c/s and my cute round Pink Paislee stamp from Sistv.

'Kiwi Kids' is for the new NZ Dare...use a pipecleaner on your layout! so go and raid your kids craft box and have some fun...the girls have some great examples up...I sewed over mine to give it a kinda cute textured tufty look! Our wonderful prize sponsor this round is Shabby Chic Crafts

The next one was for something we tried last night at Scrapbook Studio called "The Bossy Scrapper"...I got the idea from Sistv and thought it would be fun to try! We completed our layouts in 1 and 1/2 hours...a miracle for me...if you want to find out what its all about check out Sunday nights thread here and if you want to join in...come along this coming Sunday night 8pm and look for "The Bossy Scrapper Round 2" thread..everybody welcome!

2008-07-04T15:48:00.001+12:00

To infinity and beyoooooooonnnnnddd!! Samuel modeling the new must have accessory for trampolining...blue goggles!!

2008-07-02T14:17:00.004+12:00

My layout for the July Jack....check out who it is here

So June has gone and i'm another year older!! Its all good, onwards and upwards as they say! Some of the best bits of my birthday were...

*Jim had a day off to spend with me yay!!!

*All the boys (big and small)spent a secretive evening the night before creating a very special painted birthday canvas...its very cool, and has pride of place in the window where it catches the light and reminds me everyday that it is great to be 37 years old!

*I was taken plant shopping!! my favourite sort of shopping and we found a sale and loaded our trailer with tropical plants...

*Jim took Samuel and I to lunch here where we enjoyed a platter, a melt in the mouth creme brulee and a very civilised glass of pinot gris....a bowl of pasta, ice cream and fizzy was the order of the day for the young fella and seemed to go down exceptionally well...especially when another couple arrived with a little pigtailed girl of the same age and he got to show off all of his nearly 3 yr old charms to her!! Heh, heh!!

*I was then treated to a new pair of shoes...which then went back to the shop as I realised they wern't right once I got them home (cue a bit of a hissy fit 'why do shoes never fit me right!! sort of hissy fit) did you know shoes shouldn't hurt your feet?...and they went back to the shop....but my personal shopper and chief fashion expert(Jim..sillies!) refused to give up and found me the 'perfect' pair online...available in Whangarei...so off we go the next day (luckily soccer was cancelled...LUCKY!!)roll up into the shop, the lady has them there waiting as Jim had rung earlier to make sure they had my size (he thinks of everything I tell ya!)...the only thing was...WOULD THEY BE COMFY!!...nail biting stuff...and they were! So they came home to stay. My husband is the most patient, persevering person in the world and he's all mine!!

*We had cake...chocolate gateaux and even better!!....yes it gets better....there was enough to have some for breakfast the next day too!! forgot to get a pic so thought a nice one of the empty plate and crumbs would suffice lol!!

So thank you to my lovely family for a lovely birthday...thoroughly spoilt!!

2008-06-23T09:48:00.004+12:00

Getting ready for Scouts...Joseph's age group are the Kea's.

In the end the wet weather mean't they had to have their campfire gathering indoors, but he came home with his face shining and full of stories so it by all accounts it was all good! He is very proud of his scarf and woggle so there was minor panic in the ranks when he couldn't find it the next morning...he had taken it off when he got home and left it on the couch...after much searching, and turning the couch upside down and inside out...we thought of the next possibility...BERT!! and yep sure enough there it was squirrelled away under the bed...should have looked there first before getting all hot and bothered lol!!...ah well...next time!

Patrick has decided he is going to be an author when he grows up and has written his first book all about dogs!!

2008-06-21T10:54:00.004+12:00

Joseph takes after his Uncle Anton and loves baking...his choc chip cookies are pretty darn good too and they disappear fast!!!...he's also progressed to cooking himself up beans on toast with a fried egg on top for brekkie...one thing is certain when my boys leave home they are going to be able to fend for themselves! I can't stand it when I hear of grown lads who have no idea how to cook or use the washing machine...to all my future daughters-in-laws you can thank me later rofl!!

I love American Crafts papers and products and was so happy to get some in my Scrapbook Studio DT kit recently...the little chipboard piggies are sooo cute and in the same pack you also get elephants, speech bubbles and jigsaw pieces...good value!

The So You Think You Can Scrap competition is bombing along...the girls creativity with Lianne's style blew us all away...judging is so so hard....and I always have a list of favourites as long as my arm which is torture trying to whittle down to the top three....this week the contestants are scrapping up a storm in Heidi's style...good luck everybody and have fun with it!

The new dare is up and you need to bust out those stamps...I really need to organise my clear stamps better, they are tumbled all together in a plastic container and I saw a very cool idea recently using DVD covers to hold them....they stick nicely to the inside...must try...

Oh and the prize for this dare is sponsored by Stampin Up...they have a fantastic prize pack up for grabs so have fun stamping and be in to win!

No Soccer in the Far North this weekend...too wet...so we have been keeping occupied playing chuckit chicken, last card, battleships and listening to music. The kids have been loving this CD by Fatcat and Fishface called Dogbreath lots of fun to leap about the kitchen to singing at the top of our voices!

I came across these guys last week and love their music... Julia and Angus Stone have some of their stuff linkied up in the sidebar....Just a boy and Babylon are both really good.

Dad and Joseph are rugging up and heading off this evening to their first big Scout campfire in Whanga's...celebrating one hundred years of scouting in NZ. Joseph is really enjoying Kea's and was invested a couple of weeks back so has his t-shirt now and the woggle or toggle or whatever you call it that hold his Kea scarf in place....havn't got a pic yet...maybe tonight.

Yesterday was assembly at school...Patricks teacher had asked if Joseph and Patrick would give a little piano recital...they suprised me by being very keen even though they knew it mean't getting up in front of the whole school and so we practised all week and both of them made me very proud, as despite being nervous, they kept their cool and played their pieces beautifully!

I love that they have the confidence to do this...I would always avoid being under the spotlight if I could...I remember being asked to play (with other piano students) at an end of school thing and said no...keeping this info quiet from Mum and Dad...heh, heh...and they were rather suprised (or knowing what I was like maybe not) when I didn't give a little performance with the others....well I explained afterwards the teacher asked if I wanted to...and I didn't want to so i said no which I thought was fair enough!

Ka Kite and have a good weekend everybody!!

Meek

2008-06-15T10:33:00.000+12:00

Scrappy stuff first up....My layout for this week's NZ dare ...it was Vicky's turn and the dare was to take a picture with you and someone else in it doing something you do every day..morning tea time...so yes that is why there was a pic on the blog with me in it a few days back heh, heh! It was a challenging dare to think about how I was going to get the pic I wanted, and in the end it was a complete fluke..yay for the self timer button....but I'm glad I persevered as I love the shot....and they wouldn't be dares if they weren't a challenge so hope you all give this one a go too!!

We are in week 3 into the So You Think You Can Scrap competition at Scrapbook Studio....the gallery is brim full of gorgeous layouts and the girls have been scrapping their butts off each week creating some stunning layouts! The aim of the competiton is to encourage you to try new things with your scrapping and its been great to see everyone rise to the challenge...cracks me up to see everyone having a bit of a freak out at the beginning of each challenge and then by the end they are really proud of what they have come up with...keep it up ladies you are doing GREAT!!

Only 2 more soccer games to go!! how quickly did that soccer season go by! Very exciting game yesterday...both teams were evenly matched and it ended in a 7-7 draw...Joseph scored one of the goals which is always a great boost for the confidence...not sure if they'll be playing soccer next year though...as they've been learning to play hockey during school and they've both asked if they can play it next year!! Well I'm all for it being a hockey player from way back and good to try different things...but we'll see wait and see what they feel next year...maybe they'll be into rugby by then lol!!

Here is a little joke that Patrick made up...it cracked me up...I don't know why it just tickles my funny bone imagining it...for ages now he has been trying to get the concept of what makes a good joke and we've been suffering for ages under a barrage of alot of very unfunny made up 'jokes' lol!! Joseph went through this stage too...where you don't know whether it is best to pretend to laugh just to make them feel good or not!!

Anway Patrick's joke of the day....

Q: What is green and red and white?

A: Peter Pan jumping from cloud to cloud with his butt on fire!

Thought Granddad might like to share that one with the fella's at Golf ha ha!!

2008-06-11T13:23:00.003+12:00

Still here,
doing our thing,
enjoying the sunshine and birdsong whilst enjoying a morning milo,
Samuel dreaming up mischief,
Mum in scrapbooking la-la land,
Bert wondering if there will be any more homemade afghan bikkie crumbs forthcoming....
Big boys at school,
Dad away in Auckland for a few days doing a course for work..

The little manderin tree is loaded...nearly ready..still a bit sharp, need to sweeten up a little longer in the sunshine before we let the boys loose on it!

CHEEEESSSEEEE!!

2008-06-03T14:03:00.006+12:00

Just having a little play learning how to attach a video clip...i had no clue you could do this until I saw you had done it Pop!

Anway we managed to dodge the showers yesterday and found some sunshine on Paihia beach! Just a snippet as I ran out of space on the camera...shall do better next time!

Yeehhaaaaa!!!

Bert rather worried Patrick was disappearing in the sand so threw himself into digging his feet out!

2008-06-01T14:21:00.003+12:00

Hope everyone is having a good 'Queenies' birthday weekend...sun is shining here up North and we are all happily chilling out at home.

The new Kiwi Jack is up....I couldn't resist using these pics of 'the girls' when they were woolly little babies....although they are known as 'the two fat ladies now' rofl!

Hope to get out the fabric I bought down in Cambridge tomorrow and have a play sewing...watch this space...

Jim and the kids say...HI.

2008-05-30T09:37:00.004+12:00

The first challenge is up for SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SCRAP!! heh, heh, heh!!! CHECK IT OUT HERE!!

2008-05-27T16:10:00.005+12:00

KATE NASH - PUMPKIN SOUP (this is a linky, cause I havn't worked out how to embed it in my post....yet lol!)

Just discovered this girl (thanks to Lalalee)love her voice, love her songs and cute videos!! You can check out more of her stuff on You Tube....ahem and please dont' ask me what rock I've been living under if she's been around for ages....I am about to hit my 37th birthday ya know, it takes us old ladies time to catch up ya know mwah ha ha!!

Well we are hunkering down for winter here...got the fire going now in the evenings...trying to entice the kids to eat my yummy soups....so far they take a sip and thats it...but hey at least I've educated them now not to spit it out and declare that 'ITS DISGUSTING!!!' Heh,heh!! Oh and rather miffed that Patricks teacher made them vege soup last week, there topic for the term is food, and I laughed when he told me and asked 'well did you eat it?' and he said YES!! Apparently Mrs Ritchie had said they HAD to...so funny, I then threatened to invite Mrs Ritchie for tea every time I dished up soup...should have seen his face!

The vege garden is going great guns now...it sure loved the leaf mulch, sheep pellets and compost we fed it a few months back! We've got leeks, spinach, carrots, broccolli, radish, lettuces, sweetpeas, nastursiums and potatoes all looking healthy and growing well...considering the summers dismal efforts i am well pleased!!

oh and lookie here....somebody has been sneakily using the camera to take pics of his friends the little einsteins lol!!

The So You Think You Can Scrap comp at Scrapbook Studio is revving up for the first challenge this Friday!! Wow we have had an amazing response to it...thanks ladies for taking part...cant' wait!!

Megan's new forum has been a huge success...huge kudos to her for bringing all NZ scrapbookers together in one place! check it out HERE if you havn't already.

2008-05-21T23:37:00.006+12:00

Feeding the ducks with Nana and Grandad at the park in Cambridge (man there were HEAPS!! obviously they know that it is duck shooting season and head for the nearest urban park, they're not silly!!....which can't be said for those unfortunate hunters sitting, freezing their bits off in a damp cold maimai of a foggy morning rofl!). Lovely to see some Autumn colour as we don't get much here in the North....will add some more pics tomorrow....I wore myself out making the fantastic new blog banner up there so I'm heading to bed...heh, heh.

Edited to add more pics......
A beautiful sunshiney Cambridge day!

Look at how big these two rascals are getting! They had a great time at Rainbows end on the way down, there favourite bit was the arcade where you bought tokens and played different types of games which gave you tickets at the end depending on how well you did...you then got to trade your tickets in on toys at the counter...they really enjoyed the whole process, counting up the tickets, and working out what they could buy for that amount of tickets...we came away with a wonderful booty of rubbishy plastic toys...the best one was the wind up false teeth which we presented to Granddad in case he might need them some time soon rofl!! We did our bit on the kiddy rides at the Cadbury Land area but I could see that next time we go they will be well ready for some of the bigger rides like the log flume and the go karts etc....we walked around and looked at the big swinging pirate ship and the new roller coaster, their eyes bugging out with glee!

Our little fireman Sam...every single day there is some sort of fireman role play...the little plastic one he got for Christmas is on its last legs with bits lovingly pulled off and the wheels enthusiastically squashed down so they don't turn anymore, the siren dosn't work anymore, but he still loves it. The ride on firetruck loaded with the belt off my dressing gown for a hose and with a serious crack in the seat that has been worn smooth by small bums still gets raced up and down the house to various emergencies followed in hot pursuit by Tom the helicopter pilot (Mum) who has to whirl a piece of plastic piping above his (her)head when flying the helicopter. Playcentre is a favourite as the play fort has a fire engine incorporated into it and any time we go to a playground the first thing he flies down is the pole...in fact many things are turned into firemen poles...the washing line pole, the leg of the coffee table, the shade cloth pole (owwee splinters!)

Jim sporting his winter goatee!

Here is Mum and Dads Beautiful new house, currently having a new garden landscaped with ponds and all! They has even joined the blogging world From the Horses mouth so we can keep uptodate with life in Cambridge!

A bit horse riding action across the road at the training track every morning makes for a great atmosphere!

Its a great home stay I tell ya, gorgeous rooms and we got bacon and eggs for breakfast and delicious roast dinner, a little waiter who runs around swatting the flies and they even have a baby sitting service! 5-star **** recommend to all! heh, heh, heh!!

2008-05-20T22:50:00.003+12:00

Ok this is purely a scrappy post to tout, shout and pout? (well it rhymes so what the heck lol!!) all about the FABULOUS competition we have put together over at Scrapbook Studio

CHECK OUT THE DETAILS HERE!!

(and for the family who don't give a two hoots *gasp* about scrapbooking.... pics of us hanging out with Nana and Grandad in Cambridge coming soon....as soon as I remember to get Jim to download the pics off his work camera lol!)

2008-05-10T12:39:00.004+12:00

Happy weekend all....sun shining here, the boys had a great soccer match, Joseph scored a fantastic goal, Patrick was a wee tiger tackling and had a great run dribbling the ball up the field and kicking into the centre....there were lots of enthusiastic parents giving encouragement from the sideline which was nice to see....rather showed up the oppositions coach who sounded cross 90% of the time...forgot here happy pills this morning I think...poor kids being on her team!!

Check out this fella....

Yesterday Samuel came out from his room like this and announced very seriously that he was the Dad and I was the Mum (oh yay...I always get to be the Mum!!!!) He then did a wonderful job looking after the baby, wiping her bum, putting her to bed, took us for a drive in the car to the beach and the 'big town' making sure we both put our seat belts on first, pushed the baby in the stroller.... what a great Dad!! Just a little old fashioned in that he insisted I had to follow him around everywhere lol!! and not quite sure where our income was coming from either as neither of us had to go to work heh, heh...maybe we were lotto winners!

Have been enjoying doing some 6x12 layouts recently, they are so quick and fun to whip up!

The So Happy one is for the new dare that went up last night...Trina has created a great sketch to follow....be creative, have fun and interpret it in your own way!

Well winter is nearly upon us and at Scrapbook Studio we have been turning the old brain cell cogs and and have come up with a super fun idea to keep everyone busy and happy scrapping during the dreary season... its going to be fun, fun, fun so watch this space for more details soon!!!

2008-05-03T00:03:00.003+12:00

Using up more old supplies...yay it feels gooooddd da da da da da!!!

SEI paper...I lined the stripes with pen, a mm metal plaque, an old tag, and some ancient stickers too!

Heidi has got a quick-fire challenge happening over at Scrapbook Studio so if you are in the need for some scrapping fun click the link....

The Kiwi Jack for May is up...a wonderful layout by fellow Scrapbook Studio-ite Louise Williams....give it a go....heres what I did using some of the April Astro boy kit from Scrapbook Studio...love me some robots!! and my little P when he was very little...only I have been told now that I am never to call him P at school or on the soccer field sidlines or when we are out....waaahhhh....being told off by your five your old smarts!

Not sure whats on the cards this weekend...although it is NSD (National Scrapbooking Day) which means a whole lot of fun challenges happening around the cyber scrapbooking world....I've already got my name down for one at SiStv

which means me getting up at around 6 am to scrap heh, heh....its ok I'll just sit and scrap in bed...jim won't mind I'm sure!

2008-04-30T23:30:00.009+12:00

Hello.

Heh, heh, isn't he cute....and a bit of fun for the kids (and me!) to put together one rainy day! There are lots of different ones to choose from and they are free to down load here cute wee site!

I found the link here at Elles studio the etsy shop is sponsoring the prize for nz dares this round...

Some scrapping over the last couple of weeks...

This one for the NZ dares to use numbers on your layout...I have a little book of quotes from the books written by Paulo Coelho...which I have been loving at the moment and this one especially which reminds me to find 'the magic moments' amongst the 1001 every day things! Its a bit of a hard case picture but it tells me that we are who we are and we can still have fun and do cool things even if we are having a bad hair day or a bad mood day...whatevah!! ....lol..

I have been reading again....whole books at a time....and not just bedtime story's for the boys! I have joined the reading club forum at SiStv...and its good motivation, so many people have recommended the author Jodi Picoult and finally I know why... just finished up her novel My Sisters Keeper the other night...will be scouring the library shelves for more! Hmmm although I have a huge hard copy of Bryce Courtneys The Persimmon Tree to tackle first though...

I am also reading The Spiderwick Chronicles to the boys, we finished the first two books in two nights lol!! and are waiting impatiently for the next three to come into the library. Dad took them to see it at the movies too last weekend while Samuel and I hit the shops in Whangarei lol! Well we started by going into a 2nd hand book shop first....fatal....before I knew it the phone was ringing...movie was out and I hadn't even bought the new jeans I was after!!

Anyway books are my thing at the moment...so I came up with this little 'Book lovers companion' with my Scrapbook Studio DT kit for April...

Go here to my Sistv gallery to view

(I nearly choked on my milo this morning when I saw both of these made the catwalk on SiS this week!! Thank you Gigi and Becca you made my day!)

The new Kiwi Jack is going up today....Beverley has chosen a really fun layout i know you will like!

The holidays are going well...a bit of argy bargy between the boys at times but they would be pretty abnormal if they didn't don't ya think....I say trying to convince myself this is the case even though it drives me completely batty at times!!

I find it so cool that they Joseph and Patrick have their own friends they go round to or invite here....Patrick and his little friend are so cute, ringing each other up!!

Today we went for a blat on the beach at Matauri Bay....you know a hoon, a run, a get rid of the cobwebs....not a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich! We had egg sandwiches. lol. Anyway it was SOOO warm, the breeze, the sea and all three boys plus Bert went in for a dip!

Doing the hulaballoola cause Mum said we had too as we looked like tin soldiers all lined up with our arms by oursides complete with fake smile! Samuel didn't move a muscle, contrary wee sod lol!

Look at wee Harry dog...enjoying his day at the beach...in the dark! (Harry is blind for those who don't know lol!) and dosn't let it bother him one bit! Bert is his seeing eye dog...white...I pretend I'm going in with my big brothers.... then I spin around and race the waves in....

and then I pretend I'm going in....

Warning, mad dog having fun....coming through!

Catch of the day!

Whoa look out Patricks caught an egg sandwich!

Happy boys! Happy day!

Oh and just in case i have a secret stalker i *need* more alphabet stickers and holy moly just look at the cool schtuff in here

2008-04-19T15:11:00.005+12:00

Isn't funny how some things just crack you up for no real reason....this t-shirt of mine does...just tickles my funny bone....
Hey look at us zipping along! we're on broadband, things move a bit faster so blogging should be a little less time consuming these days...especially as I like adding lots of pics!

It was a busy couple of weeks leading up to the end of term, pet day was a winner, great day, lots of happy kids and an interesting array of pets despite the no dog rule... the boys came up with some great entries .... Joseph caught some crickets and made them a little habitat in a container which earned him 2nd place in the creepy crawlies section...they are not in the pic as he had already let them go, but you can see the wee info sheet he made to go with them.

Patrick was unsuccessful in his attempts to catch crickets and we came up empty handed after spending a good half hour searching the bushes and under rocks for anything else suitable....apparently snails were dumb so the ones I triumphantly discovered were happily left to go on their slimy way. He is quite interested in fish so I helped him create his own fish tank with a cut up drink bottle and some bits of card and a few stones and shells....no prize for this but he scored a highly commended on the fish he made out of recycled items! Both boys helped each create a fabulous pair of giraffes made from veges and won third place for their efforts!

The school disco was a success too...although I felt rather creaky and old as I muttered how dreadful I thought the music was rofl!! Lots of gangster type rap type stuff eeek! Didn't seem to worry the kids though and the DJ was free so can't complain!

Soccer in Russell last week mean't an exciting trip across the water in the fast ferry taxi...I'm sure the guy steering the boat did a few extra little swerves and stuff for the kids benefit, yay him! Both kids and parents agreed this was a very cool way to get to soccer...and the Russell games will be looked forward too! No soccer now until after the school holidays...aww man just when we were getting into it!

Tried out our hand shears on the sheep last weekend too...spot who went first....yep the one who looks like a fluffy white cloud heh, heh...Rosie has been feeling a million bucks all week with her flash new do...Poppy's turn this afternoon!

The double decker kitchen table tent...entertainment on a rainy day....

Our favourite cookie of the moment...Chocolate Crinkles.

I found this super cute apron pattern when we were in Welly last month....just need to find some super cute fabric to make some up now!! I love the apple and pear they've used in the pattern pic....will have to keep my eyes peeled and do some searching...I looove the fabrics available at Scrapbook Studio but am keeping that in mind for a tote bag...for these little cuties i'm thinking something retro or some Japanese kawaii type fabric, will have to search the net and the second hand clothing shops too I reckon I might come up with something cooollll! Baking cookies will be so much more fun wearing one of these!

The latest NZdare is a cracker, SJ has chosen a great ad for inspiration...hope on over and check it out....complete a layout and be in to win a fab prize from TSS in Nelson. I came up with this for it...

2008-04-07T22:39:00.014+12:00

It feels like Autumn....daylight saving is over, the sun is more mellow, warm breezes.....and the first soccer match of the season!! Yayyyy the boys were both excited to get on the field in their new red and black kit....

Hooray to the boys being on the same team, no dashing to different venues and they have a great little team and managed a win with almost everyone scoring a goal and getting lots of ball play....I like the fact that their are girls on the team too! !

I have a little challenge running at Scrapbook Studio.... Take Stock and dust off those old supplies and use them up! I found lots of slide mounts lurking in a drawer....and decided to use up/cut up some random 'dud' photos and compiled a fun little mini....also used a metal rimmed tag, a vellum definition and some cheesy old white rubon words,....I'm going to delve deeper into my dinosaur stash and create a layout next...watch this space lol!

This weekend we also....

planted pongas'....but had a minor malfunction when Jims spade hit the phone line and sliced it in two...'whats that dear?' did you say 'CRAP' rofl!! The stupido peeps who installed the phone line hadn't buried it deep enough....it was waiting to happen!

Samuel in his hot tub...who needs a bath aye! Pity its a bit small for my butt lol!

Poor Patrick stubbed his toe and so recuperated doing 'mazes'....his favourite thing...the tea-towel is so he dosn't have to see the blood lol....guess he's not going to be a docter or a vet then heh, heh!

Yep its definately Autumn...munching on Feijoas!

Full time job collecting bamboo leaves for the girls!

There is a couple more days to get your NZdare layout in....scrap a childhood memory....I combined mine with the very cute shorething Imaginisce goodies I got for my DT kit from Scrapbook Studio

I also created this sunny little layout using the kit....the colours are a bit off due to bad lighting but I wanted to show off all the cute little rubons, and tape and journalling boxes etc...etc..that come with this range! and I still have loads left!!....including that cute wee penguin stamp....keep a look out for more soon!

and not forgetting the Kiwi Jack Me Up....is starring the a layout by the lovely Trina McClune this month....we have also decided the winner each month will choose a following Jack...which is half the fun seeing as we are not a prize based blog...so if you want to Jack Up a scrapper you admire enter a link to your Jack in the comments and you will go into the draw!

2008-04-04T12:12:00.002+13:00

Saying goodbye sucks, sorry not very eloquent but it just does!

We loved having you here Gran and Pop...thanks for coming, thanks for everything...you know we appreciate every bit!!!

Ka Kite Ano

Until next time!

2008-04-02T00:00:00.010+13:00

So you could say life is full on at the moment! a bit of stuff to catch up on....so be prepared with a cup of tea and a bikkie, you might need some energy to get through this huge post!

First of all I would like to introduce you to ....'the girls'.... Chloe and Lulu joined us the week before Easter and have settled in beautifully to their new home...they get on famously with 'the two fat ladies' Poppy and Rosie and are getting friendlier by the day...we only have to pop our heads out the back door or arrive home in the car and they are maaa-ing their greetings and making their way over to the fence in hope of a few goat pellets and a chat. They live in goat paradise with several fallen logs to climb on...plus the kids fort to play in, lots to eat including the bamboo leaves which they love.

Chloe is the lovely lady in blue who has the funny habit of pushing her ears forwards and covering her eyes and Lulu is the wee lass in pink!

So yes our menagerie is growing and its really nice to look out the window and see them contentedly munching away out there...chooks are next I think....the kids are really enjoying the animals too....'all' this livestock means the paddocks need to be fenced properly though so Jim and Pop were hard out all week digging and hammering and tensioning wire...and just plain enjoying doing stuff together I suspect!

Neat and tidy and another big job done!

Joseph turned Seven on the day before Easter....friends over on the Friday and lunch out, mini golf and a water slide on the Saturday, a pokemon cake awesome pressies.....lots of good stuff!

Over Easter Jim and I were lucky enough to escape to Wellington for a couple of nights while Gran and Pop held the fort in the North...we had a ball, the best weather, we walked so much our feet and legs came home for a well earned rest! We did Te Papa, the City and Sea Museum, several galleries along the waterfront....the waterfront itself..so much fun, Cuba Street so cool and the shops...we found Lush and spoilt ourselves on yummy soaps and bathbombs...I reveled in the hotel bath....we brunched and drank coffee and found great places to eat! our fave was Chow and we overdid it at Strawberry Fayre the dessert restaurant...well it had to be done really! We rode the cable car and enjoyed the fabulous views from the top...such a fun city, great atmosphere, loved the street art and the people watching and the sights...definately will be back for another visit one day!

umm yep that is a billboard but it had to be done cause lately I've noticed Jims profanity of choice at the moment is 'CRAP' tee hee!...layout in the making of course!

Happy Tenth Anniversary to Us!!!

Meanwhile the kids were at home having a ball!! Gran and Pop had lots of little treats and suprises up their sleeves to keep them entertained all weekend! Cowboy outfits for J and P...

and a reversible Bob the builder/Fireman Sam outfit for Samuel...if you knew how much a fan of these two characters he is then you would understand the extreme coolness of it lol!

Phew life has also been.....

a blur of playcentre and playcentre workshops...finished my course 2 yay me!

Joseph and Patrick took part in the school Duathlon and in their age group J got 2nd and P got 3rd, they were well chuffed with that...Mum and Samuel cheering madly on the sideline!

Joseph and Patrick are going great guns with their Yamaha keyboard lessons and they (and me!) are really enjoying the fun way it is taught, its not just about the notes they are learning to sing, keep rhythm, and feel the music....a world of difference from the little lady in the church hall who taught piano when I was a kid....feel like an old granny saying that lol!!

Harry is coping amazingly well with his loss of eyesight....and is still able to chase his ball which is the main thing! He has a new found friend in Pop who will throw his ball tirelessly for him!

Jim is flatstick at work, they recently built the new astro turf Hockey pitch in Kaikohe which is due for its big opening in a couple of weeks...yay him and Works!

Soccer season has begun today with the boys having the first game this weekend...Oh and Patrick informed me the other day he has signed up for the Kapa Haka group at school...heh, heh what a dude, how cool is that....

Gran and Pop have had some great weather and have been busy digging in the vege patch and generally been very helpful elves around the place!! They have spent the last two nights in the Hokianga....and its rained on them! Oh dear but a good sunny day today....will post some more pics tomorrow Celia!

Crikey thats about enough for now.....congratulations if you got this far rofl!!!

2008-03-16T16:23:00.008+13:00

Gran and Pop are Heerrrrreeeeeeee!!! Some pics from Pops camera...

End of the day at Opito Bay

Samuel showing off his 'farting chair' to Pop who wishes he had one just like it!

and some from Meeks....Gran reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe...

Meeks new House-Elf....

Jims new DIY-Elf....

A lovely blustery day the kite was flying beautifully today!! we actually tied it to the fence and just let it fly while we ate lunch!

Needless to say the kids are really, really, really enjoying having devoted Grandparents on hand!!!

2008-03-02T23:27:00.014+13:00

The weekend that was....

Nice weather for ducks....yep rain again. We have two sometimes four ducks come often for feeding...and it is eagerly supplied by three welcoming little boys. 'One leg' is the favourite (yep she is uni-duck!) and care is taken that she gets plenty too....best fed ducks in the neighbourhood I reckon, and they know it! I have no idea where they belong, they just arrive through the fence, marching up to the deck and as from today I notice ON it! and look all cute waiting for some bread!

Also spotted out on the deck in the rain, this strange fellow whipping up a bacon and egg buttie brunch on the barbie! I can't decide whether that means he is showing she'll be right Kiwi behaviour by steadfastly barbequeing in all weather or English behaviour in that it is quite normal to have to barbeque in the rain LOL!

Little P, coping admirably with a horrible bug this weekend, fever and vomiting and sore throat, he slept loads, best thing really and by the end of the day Sunday seemed to be feeling a lot better and managed to eat something and keep it down...now to the tummy bug god up above, please go away and don't let anybody else get it thanks!

A spot of kite flying in between rain showers...

and Bert....whenever he hears a police or ambulance siren he launches into this funny little howling song...very funny...

Chocolate milk kisses...

Jim came home from the shop with these! They are delicious, well peaches are as a rule....but really they could have come up with a better name!!!

The bathroom is nearing completion!! woohoo!! Its clean and crisp and white and the terracotta tiles are setting as I write....it is no longer the 'scarey bathroom' as the kids dubbed it on moving here...spiderwebs and mouldy and stinky...bleugghh! Jim the super DIY dude that he is has outdone himself this time!

Baking this weekend was blueberry muffins ala Alison Holst...very tasty too...

And apples taste so much better when you can peel, core and slice them yourself on this little device...

Last but not least it was a weekend of new dares and challenges going up scrapping wise...

My turn to choose the NZ dare this time...you must have at least 200 words of journalling and the words 'Don't you love it' must be used somewhere, somehow on your layout...easy....Don't you love it when the words just flow! Heres mine...

The new Kiwi Jack Me Up also went up this weekend....and Mich chose to Jack the lovely Lesley Cooper....here is what I came up with using Lesleys wonderful layout as inspiration..

I was also up for creating the sketch challenge at Scrapbook Studio this month, anyone is welcome to join in and be in to win a voucher to spend on goodies in the shoppe....check out the sketch here this was the layout I made with it...I would love to see what you come up with!

and last, last lastly.....Have a great week MUM and DAD moving into their new digs in Cambridge this week!!

and to Gran and Pop....I am stockpiling tea bags for your arrival heh, heh...the countdown begins!!

Have an awesome week everybody!

2008-02-20T21:03:00.006+13:00

My Scrapbook Studio DT work for Feb! yes very black and white...everything in my kit was lol!! kinda shocking for a girl who likes to mix every colour imaginable onto a page!! I actually really enjoyed it...a bit like having a holiday from colourful patterns...paint and pens were handy for adding a dash of colour!

Even got carried away and created a journal from a cardboard box and some old office supply file folder pages and a sweet little flip page pocket calendar for me bag!

Umm yeah so I have been doing rather alot of scrapping lately.... Kids and Jim and the dogs and the sheep are still here I promise.....note to self...take more pics of the family otherwise you won't have anything to scrap roflmao!!

2008-02-17T22:01:00.005+13:00

Told you I was working on it! My contribution to the NZ dares...to use 10 or more photos on your layout. I was flicking through my photos on the computer wondering which ten to put together when I noticed quite a few featuring yellow 'things'!! Yellow is my favourite feel good happy colour....or though the weird thing is when people ask me what my favourite colour is I always automatically say blue...because it used to be blue when I was five rofl!! Although I do still like blue...I think Yellow is my grown up favourite lol!

2008-02-16T23:46:00.006+13:00

Definately in the mood for scrapping today and the poor chocolate chippie biscuit baking suffered as a result and got left in a liitttlleee to long rofl!! ...still edible just rather crunchy!! as did ahem cough the housework....shame on me!

Here are today's creations...if you hadn't heard there are lots of fun challenges up and running on the message boards at Scrapbook Studio purely because we can! the more the merrier so come on over!

This one inspired by Heidi's challenge to use black/white and one other colour....

and this one for Kelly's sketch challenge....had to laugh as I went for a roughed up look with the paper and Patrick helpfully commented...aww stink Mum your paper got all scrumpled up!...so much for my arty look rofl!

New NZdare up...I'm working on it.

Also I promised to share the chocolate chippie recipe....and remember to set the timer...just saying...heh, heh

...here I was about to type it out and then I noticed the website at the bottom of the extremely stained, scrumpled recipe lol....you'd think a scrapbooker would DO something with her favourite recipes wouldn't you?!

So here it is Chocolate Chip biscuit recipe

2008-02-15T16:55:00.003+13:00

I have been scrapping.

I have finished Kims layout for her (she was one of the lucky December Jack me Up winners), sorry can't show you that one until she sees it first though lol, its busily winging its way to Aus this minute...and I will have a bone to pick with the Post people if they lose this! package!! Oh and have you seen Kims Kwik Kliks

This is one I did for Scrapbook Studio this afo using more of my January DT kit...who dosn't love thickers!! The pp is Stemma and I used the fancy pants transparency polka dots to embellish along with a basic grey rubon....sometimes simple is good! My little boy....so cute and small! Even if he is the defination of the term 'terrible two' at the moment rofl!

I feel like doing more scrapping this weekend too...so if you want to join me check out THIS THREAD at Scrapbook Studio for some fun challenges...you can come along and add your own too whether they are ones you've seen elsewhere and always wanted to try out or lo and behold be it one you've thought up right this minute lol! come along and share the inspo, the prompts and get some pages done and have some fun in the process!

You know you really want to alter a loo roll tube don't you!! heh, heh...oh come on you know you do!

2008-02-13T15:13:00.001+13:00

I've decided that Thursday is a decidedly unsexy day to have Valentines day....don't know what it is, middle of the week maybe or maybe its cause its the Thurs part sounds so clunky...it dosn't exactly roll prettily off the tongue now does it...roll on next year when its on a Friday....now Friday is a sexier day by far I think lol!!

Anway I found this rather fun....cheesy fun....but fun nonetheless thing called smilebox and you can create all sorts of funky greetings, postcards, layouts even to send people or add to your blog like I am about to inflict on you mwah ha ha! So here is my little tribute to Valentines day....love always makes me feel silly!! The bee flying upside down just does it for me lol!!

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Oh and if you need some inspiration for a card for your hunk of burning love this Vellies check out NZdares for some gorgeous creations!

2008-02-06T23:37:00.000+13:00

Kei mai koe ki au, he aha te mea nui te no?
Makue ki atu - he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

If you should ask me, what is the most important thing in this world?
I will say - it is people, it is people, it is people.

I saw this on another blog tonight and I really liked it as it pretty much summed up our day. I think this is the first year I have really felt the true meaning of the day...previously it was always just another day off, but today it was all happening 'just down the road' and here we were stepping onto the treaty grounds, admiring that beautiful swathe of lawn where a huge part of NZ's history was played out... running from the treaty house and the marae down to the sea, the flags flying, the navy band playing the anthem and more, enjoying the day and the sunshine with lots of other kiwis (and tourists taking it all in too) and really feeling it ya know!

The boys soaked it all up, the carvings and the mighty waka a big hit...

As were the huge bouncy castles they were allowed on for free later....lots of fun stuff was going on which made for a great atmosphere.

Oh and I can't leave you with out showing off the yummy homemade icecream Joseph and I made the other day....it tastes as delicious as it looks and it wasn't hard to make at all....we just used the edmonds cook book recipe, but something the book dosn't tell you is to whip it up again after freezing for a couple of hours and then put it back in the freezer for another hour or so for the perfect consistancy....other wise it is too soft and fluffy, so yeah you need to knock some of the air out of it. We used fresh vanilla pod seeds in this batch but are looking forward to experimenting with different flavours...fruit purees, hokey pokey, choc chip....Patrick who loves Jelly wants me to try and make Jelly tip ....hmmm could be messy! Anway the general consensus is homemade is definately best and we'll be making our own from now on...so there Tip Top *blowing a raspberry* lol!!

PS... Beverley next time I'll share the choc chip cookie recipe too I promise!

Back to school and playcentre tomorrow...the bags and lunch boxes are all lined up waiting...yeehaa!

2008-02-03T14:51:00.000+13:00

You can make your own Library card here ...heh, heh, have fun.

2008-02-02T21:47:00.000+13:00

I found my favourite chocolate chippie biscuit recipe that i'd 'lost' today....the best choc chip bikkie recipe ever...crispy and crunchy on the outside with a slight chewiness in the centre and easy peasy to make...so easy in fact that Joseph makes them now too...it was a printout on a piece of a4 paper and do you think I could find it for the last 2 months or so! I turned the kitchen upside down and inside out, went through every single recipe and book I have and nothing, so annoying...then today I opened my recipe book which has all the loose recipes that need to be stuck in properly but i can't be bothered to in...one fell out and floated to the ground...mmmmm life is as it should be again lol!

Its summer yay! Yay! YAY! I like summer. The garden is adrift in cicada shells and their song.

Jim and I are very proud of ourselves today...we crutched our sheep...we feel like proper lifestyle blockers now we've carefully trimmed them with a pair of kitchen scissors rofl! Ain't no flies going to infest our girls, they are as clean as a whistle! and no we are not silly enough to shear them entirely by hand with the scissors, we'll bring in the big guns for that job eventually!

We've been really enjoying little escapes to the beach recently, waiting until Jim finishes work then head off with a picnic tea to soak up the last of the day. Our current favourite is the lovely sheltered Opito bay, lots of shady trees, pebbles not sand which is better for picnics! and the calm water is great for kids and soothing swimming after a long day....Samuel is slowly getting over his suspicion over the water and now ventures in up to his knees for a splash and on the odd occasion a sit down!

and finally a stroll along the beach to the rocks at the other end for some exploring.

We also sneaked in a final visit to the the farm...really noticed how dry it is in the Waikato at the moment...oh and yes that is our resident poser Samuel in the pic yet again!!

Joseph practically lived in the pool and can now proudly execute a very splashy form of freestyle across the width of the pool lol! Grandad also taught him how to do Honeypots!

New Jack is up...Neen chose a real good one for you start the year off with! Heres my version...

and one from my Scrapbook Studio DT kit...american craft paper, mm velvet sayings (these are so fuzzy and nice!), basic grey rubons and crystal bling! Such a cute pair!

2008-01-18T22:24:00.000+13:00

You know how it is ....its the school holidays and summer....sorry blog lol!

Off to play in the fort Dad whacked up for them...the sheep are most intrigued and can often be seen bounding around it too, inspecting this strange apparition that has appeared on their hill!

Hogwarts fever has struck our household and Harry Potter is the latest hero of the day. Lots of wizard play and sticks which are really wands and spells and potions are the order of the day. I am currently reading the philosophers stone to Patrick and Chamber of secrets to Joseph and they can't get enough!! So I bought all 7 books on trademe the other day and the lady even through in 2 dragon bookends with them lol....expecting the owl delivery any day now!

Here they are concocting a poly juice potion which in case you don't know enables you to transform into someone else for an hour lol!

Joseph found this little guy the other day, by the expression on his face I guess he's not too fussed on this whole flying lark!
On the scrapping front I have been working to finish my album for care2crop which will be zooming its way to its new owner on Monday yay!!

...but I have also managed this past month to sneak in a couple of layouts for Scrapbook Studio using the products I was sent for December...some lovely papers and a transparency by Fancy Pants and paper by Imaginisce, crystal stickers (these are so fun and easy to use for instant bling), rubons by Basic Grey and Rhonna Farrah, the gorgeous twill by Autumn Leaves, buttons and bazzill and some other things which have yet to be played with...Lisa sent us all different kits at random so it was a great suprise to open the box and see what we got...and a great challenge as I have used colours and items that I wouldn't necessarily choose myself...but so much fun to make these items work for me and my style.

And the No.8 wired dares are back! Vicky has chosen a fun dare to start off the new year...scrap something that 'Tickles your Fancy'! So head on over to the blog for some more yummy inspiration to put you in the mood!!

Oh and the Jack Me Up blog will be back on the 1st of Feb with a brand new Jack!

2007-12-27T21:22:00.000+13:00

Hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas, I think thats the key...just to go with the flow, I think we managed to do just that....

Christmas eve we made the most of the sunny weather knowing the next day was supposed to rain... Celia doing her bit on the mower... before we took Matt back to his boy scout days and cooked our tea round a campfire in the paddock...with some lovely bottles of local wine they had picked up during their visits to the vineyards earlier....
Christmas day, the boys were up at a civilised 6.30am...and were rather amazed that Santa managed to fit such a huge trampoline into his santa sack...Dad and Uncle Matt were rather suprised at the size of it too as they were putting it up in the garage the night before...it just kept getting bigger and bigger....took all four of us to cart it round to the garden and heave it over the fence lol! For now it has pride of place in the middle of the lawn....hmm not exactly what I had in mind as a feature in the garden but will put up with it over the holidays and then maybe shift it into the paddock! Saying that everybody has been enjoying bouncing around on it...even the grown ups!

Some other pressies that were hits...Samuels fire engine....even comes to to the dinner table with him!!

Josephs Freaky Food Lab kept the lads amused concocting up all manner of disgusting things! EWWW thanks Nana and Grandad lol!
and lots of games...always a favourite in our house...Aunty Celia teaches Patrick and Joseph how to play battleships..
Boxing day we headed for the beach at Matauri bay, the boys tested their boogie boards and I tested me new swimmers and went for a dip (sorry pics were banned rofl!!)...and it was fantastic...the water was warm but the wind was a bit fresh!! The plan was to walk up the hill to the Rainbow warrior monument but the track was closed for repairs so we headed back in to Keri Keri and walked the path to Rainbow Falls instead....

Ok I'm not quite sure how I managed to get them all looking at the camera at the same time without someone pulling a weird or funny face...but I did!! Yayyyy!! One for the scrapbook!
and into the new Year we go.......

2007-12-24T08:03:00.000+13:00

More pics of Maffoo and Celia at large in Northland!

horsing around.....
Paihia...
Cottle Hill vineyard in Kerikeri...
icing gingerbread cookies with the kids!

2007-12-22T16:31:00.008+13:00

3 more sleeps until Chrimbo!!

excitement is mounting in the Darge household! lol! blogging got pushed to the bottom of the priorities list over the last 10 days or so...not enough hours in the day and all that!

The advent activites have included the boys cooking dinner for Mum and Dad and creating a restaurant...they did a wicked job...decorated the table with flowers and candles and they made a menu and napkin rings out of pipe cleaners...so cute and they did a pretty awesome job on the dinner too...Pasta with mince bolognaise sauce and veges followed by jelly, fruit and icecream for dessert with Mum overseeing the proceedings...

What else did we do...a Harry Potter style treasure Hunt...a pajama party where we watched

...of course....Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone...he's the new hero of the moment and even surpasses *gasp* Ben 10!! and some other things which I can't remember off hand now lol!

Of course the big event of the last week was Aunty Celia and Uncle Matt arriving from the UK ....they have hired an MX5 convertible while they are here and so one of the weeks advent cards was to arrive at school in style lol...Joseph lapped it up being dropped at the gates with the top down...P was a bit self-conscious about the whole affair and Matt said he got out of the car and ran for it lol! The boys havn't been shy with them one bit, even Samuel who had never met them before which is just lovely to see! Anyway here are a few pics...sorry its taken so long to get them up here Gran and Pop!!!

Celia has a few more of our day out today lunching at the beach in Paihia..so will try and upload them off her camera and add too over the next few days....they are starting to look very relaxed now and are sporting a bit of a tan already after the sun got them (through the clouds!)and turned them a bit pink on their first day here... Jim whacked off a few leaves of Aloe and we slathered them in the juice to take the sting out.

No Scrapping being done til next year now!!

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS all!!

Thank you to anyone who has visited this little old blog of mine and left a wee comment along the way...much appreciated!

Safe Holidays everybody!!

Meek and Family!!

2007-12-10T19:20:00.000+13:00

Every year this man says 'we're not putting lights up this year'....every year we have sparkly twinkly's heh,heh...he just can't help himself!

The advent fun continues....on the 8th day of Christmas.....we had a snowball fight!! ahem, Kiwi style with scrunched up balls of newspaper...huge amounts of shrieking and laughing and barking..yes even the dogs joined in and it filled in a dull rainy morning just nicely! On the 9th it was still raining! stink!! So we took the boys shopping and they each chose a little something to give to their brothers.
Today the 10th...we held a Family Awards night... I can thoroughly recommend doing this with your kids...so funny....I printed some mini certificates off the internet and then we each wrote every member of the family a certificate for something we like about them or for something they do....after tea I announced we all had to go and 'get ready' for the award evening and everybody raced off and came back attired in all manner of strange things which included quite alot of underwear being worn on heads and over clothes etc....thats the Toomey coming out in everybody rofl!! and sorry was laughing too much to get a pic of the outfits!Then we presented our awards...check out Josephs award to Patrick for being the 'best bother' lol! The ceremony ended with a rousing chorus of we are the champions! Nothing like a bit of loving yourselves to bouy everybody up!
Only a week until Uncle Celia and Aunty Matt get here...heh, heh kids aye...tend to get their aunties and uncles round the wrong way....waving you guys....not long now and you'll be stretched out , feet up, drink on hand winging your way to the soggy north lol!! don't worry I'm sure it will have all blown over by the time you guys get here...she says hopefully!!

Ok i'm off to work on my next project in waiting....my Care2crop album...

2007-12-07T15:43:00.000+13:00

The advent calendar activites are really proving to be a fun way to tick the days off, here is what we have been up to recently...

3rd December...Make christmas cards so we got busy with the good old potato stamping trick and some of Mums supplies and away they went!

4th December....Make homemade Lemonade....my helpers squeezed madly and even thought up a name for their brew! Samuel was chief taster and drained his glass in seconds(not taking after your Grandad there are you Mr Bum Bum!!)...must say its quite delicious with a drop of gin in it too!

5th December...a phone call from Santa!!!

6th December...Put up the Christmas Tree.

Sparkly twinklies!

and tonight December 7th.....a nice simple one...reading christmas stories..

Over to scrapping...it was my turn to create a sketch for the Monthly Sketch challenge at Scrapbook Studio....would love to see what you create with it...everybody is welcome and you may just win the $20 voucher to spend at the shoppe...now that would be a nice little addition to your christmas stocking!

I actually got out from under my little scrapbooking rock and went to a local Scrap n Chat last night...it was bliss! Got my layout done and met some other ladies who like to shuffle bits of paper round too, completely relaxing with no distractions...this could become my weekly escape lol!

The last NZdare of the year is going up tonight too... Everybody is sure to have something they can scrap for this one!

2007-12-03T11:15:00.000+13:00

Woohoo the countdown to Christmas has seriously begun!!

Finally got the Advent calendar underway...a day late but the boys didn't mind...we still did the first activity on Saturday which in honour of a pinch and a punch for the first of the month we punched holes in tin cans to make tealight candle holders...well in the end it was too hard banging nails in so Dad got out the big boy tools...the drill and the grinder...and set too them...the boys were happy to cheer on the sidelines everytime the sparks flew lol! Then we painted them and let the boys stay up until dark to light the candles...a big hit!

Yesterdays activity was 'head to the beach and take a boat ride' so we took the ferry over to Russell and spent the day exploring, beaching it, climbing hills, eating fish and chips and icecreams and playing airdrums to the Foo Fighters full bore in the car! Oh yes you had to be there but lol!

Boats everywhere!

He's got that...'now what can I sell so I can buy a boat' look in his eye lol!

Being the true little pirate that he is...Patrick was quick to find the X that marks the spot!

Deep inside there is an artist trying to get out!!you could always take up scrapbooking mate heh,heh!!

Wave racing in ya undies, life dosn't get much better! Keeping cool...Long Beach (or as Joseph observed...a not so long beach), Russell

Ok so really! who would call their Takeaway shop Birdie Num-Nums!! Jim reckons we need to photoshop it to Nerdie Bum-bums lol! don't ask!

Uh-oh look out Patrick the Birdies are after your Num-nums!!

The ancient old Fig outside the ancient old (well for NZ standards!) police station in Russell...gnarly!!

We stopped at Paihia on the way and the boys were agog watching the hole in the rock jet boats getting ready and the sight seeing helicopter coming in...especially when 4 kids got out lol! I think now they have ditched the idea of spending their pocket money savings on scooters and skateboards and are now saving for rides on these lol!!

The Jack Me Up for December is Upppp!

2007-11-30T23:39:00.004+13:00

A good night was had by all at Scrapbook Studio last night for the Christmas Cyber Crop...some cool challenges are still running so if you've got christmas photos to scrap...you are sure to find some mojo to scrap them when you check out all the layouts the DT have been working away on for the last couple of weeks! Lisa has some fabulous goodies to give away too...so enter a layout to be in to win!

My challenge is the Christmas Cheer card challenge...to create a card that will make someone smile this christmas...

Kelly's challenge was sketch based and congrats to Beverley (fifiscrapz) for taking away first prize for that one on the night...this was my 6x12 version of the sketch

My take on Liannes Non Traditional Colours challenge

My take on Heidi's OTP christmas table decoration challenge BBQ is our traditional Christmas meal so I combined my two favourite hobbies gardening and scrapping and created something for the outdoors table.

My take on Louise's Christmas Carol challenge ...a line from Joy to the World.

2007-11-25T01:20:00.000+13:00

Oh yes I've become a Greys' anatomy addict like the rest of the female population of the world...well it was inevitable really so why fight it....she says after watching another 4 episodes in one sitting ha, ha...no ads for me!!

Have you ever tried to get a group of preschoolers to all look in the same direction with their tongues out like the maori carving...take it from me, don't even go there...its just not possible rofl! This is our playcentre on a little excursion to Rewa's village in Keri Keri on Thursday...

Yoohoo anybody home?

Sign for a clueless scrapper maybe?

Samuel practising setting the hangi for the royal visit....heh heh...wavies Aunty Celia and Uncle Maffo!!Its looking pretty zingy and colourful over at NZdares, have you checked it out yet...do the dare and oh maybe redecorate a room or two while you're at it!!

And a little peek at the Acrylic album project I completed for the Scrapbook Studio November 'dare to be clear' kit....why an acrylic album? why not...its funky and fresh and a little different than the norm and the clear pages combined with the hot pink, orange, green and blues in the kit are just perfect for a summer holiday album!

and don't forget its the Christmas Cyber Crop happening this Friday at Scrapbook Studio, the challenges will be open all week long but we would love to have you come along and say hi and join in the fun and games on the night...sneak peaks of the challenges are being posted this week...heres mine...Ho Ho Ho...a bit of christmas cheer to get things started....

2007-11-14T22:11:00.000+13:00

Ha! made it!

have been meaning to get here for the last few days...I have to tell you it is so nice to have two big school boys! Watching them come tumbling over the fence (well its far too easy to just walk down the drive...you have to take a short cut cuz its cool man!)together after school is very satisfying.
Patrick was so ready for this and has taken to it like a duck to water! So very proud of his new bag, lunch box and drink bottle (he keeps coming up and giving me a big hug and says Thanks Mum...I say what for....for taking me to the warehouse to buy a new bag...oh to be five again!) In fact I do remember the wonder of my first school bag....it was a blue suitcase rofl! Puh-lease...laughing is rude...this was 1976 after all!! It was fantastic because I could sit on top of it while waiting for the bus...which explains its saggy demise towards the end of the year no doubt lol! The boys all had duffle bags...remember those?! Samuel sees all and wants to be just like his big brothers...he quite happily carries Josephs bag all the way home if we decide to walk down and meet them after school.... Isn't his blonde surfy hair cool! We are convinced that is his calling in life rofl...with hair like that how could it not be! Jim loves to blow dry it on end after his shower and he goes all fluffy and bouncy and loves to run madly about with it blowing back lol...we call him Dash off the Invincibles! Only then I have to go out with him the next day looking like that (only less bouncy after sleeping on it)I forget about it and wonder why people stare at him rofl!!

Here's the boys getting a taste of being behind the wheel at the BOI show up the road (this show has been at the same showgrounds for 165 years!! whoa!!) It was cool too, lots of animals to pat and farm machines to sit on and exhibits, rides and fun stuff for kids...they had been busy all week entering artwork, flower saucers and vegetable models and baking etc...I loved doing all that stuff at school. The food and wine tent was scrummy...could have spent longer there tasting and watching the cooking demos going on...but the kids dragged us off to the treasure hunt and the mini jeeps instead! Jim pretended to race Joseph and Patrick. Josephs face was just hilarious...a mixture of pure fear and determination as he screamed (it must have felt like that to him) around the tyres trying to pass Dad and Samuel...he "won" in the end and swaggered (or staggered away from the jeep) trying to look as if he did that sort of thing every day lol!

Its scrap a digi photo at NZdares this round...much to my horror!!! Mine was an example of using the basics that every computer has rofl! a bit of lighting improvement in word picture manager and a cute little telephone embellishment created with Paint! Sharon our resident digi expert has given lots of tips and links to help you out on the blog though, so if you are digitally challenged like me check them out along with all the gorgeous layouts the dare girls have created....cool prize too...I want that little space robot dude lol!

The Scrapbook Studio November Kit - Dare to be Clear...is here at last!!! yippee...check it out HERE it comes complete with an acrylic album and my very first DT task is create a project for you with it...very cool, I have seen some wonderful work using acrylic albums recently and can't wait to try one out! This months kit is jam packed full of great product so it was worth the wait!

The Scrapbook Studio DT are also busily preparing challenges for the Christmas Cyber Crop on Friday 30th November...come on over and pop your name down HERE for a fun nights scrapping and chatting before christmas...be inspired by the team with card ideas, layouts and OTP projects! The challenges deadlines will run through the week, so even if you just want to chat and play games on the night you will still be able to get the challenges done afterwards.

Lisa sure is one busy lady bursting with fantastic ideas for the shop...have you seen the wonderful fabric she now stocks and check out the great blog she has started purely to inspire you with ways to use it The Sewing Room. The message board also has a sewing section so if you have projects to share we would love to see them!

Thats me...done for another day! STill havn't got round to watching a full season's worth of Grey's anatomy from DVD unlimited lol! I never did get to see it on telly and people rave about it so didn't want to miss out did I!! Jims not impressed heh,heh!! He reckons its must be just like Casualty on steriods rofl!!

2007-11-07T14:23:00.001+13:00

So after weeks of wondering just how I was going to make a 'Ben 10' cake it dawned on me the day before that all I needed to do was make something to 'put' on top of the cake! Yes it takes a while sometimes...blame it on the aging process lol!! A bit of printing out and sticking and pasting and ta da!!!

Patrick thought it was pretty cool....so yay the parents pass another year with a gold star!

So onto Christmas....50 days to go!! heh, heh...well people seem to take great delight in counting down the days so if you can't beat 'em....join 'em!!

I got the urge to create Christmas cards last night....

So fun what you can create with a box of scraps and left over embellies! If you have been creating cards in preparation for the festive season please come and share them with us at Scrapbook Studio HERE

Also did you know its as simple as putting your name in the draw to become a monthly guest designer at Scrapbook Studio...if you like the idea of recieving a box of goodies to create with and inspire others with...then sign up for December HERE

2007-11-03T20:17:00.000+13:00

Well we have just tucked our little four year old Patrick into bed for the last time....tomorrow he's going to be a big 5 year old boy! Phew thank goodness his birthday is here at last, poor fella has been hanging out for it for weeks lol!!

Gran and Pop, the boys have had a great time on the bouncy castle this afternoon, thank you for such a wonderful idea....we put it up a day early because the weather forcast is for a bit of rain tomorrow and didn't want them to miss out....although once it was up we realised we could actually fit it in our lounge if we were desperate lol!!

Dad caused much hilarity by joining in the fun for a bit and I managed to catch this wonderful shot of his bouncy castle dismount rofl!!

Its been a lovely week with Mum and Dad coming to visit....Matt and Celia the re-vamped sleepout has passed their inspection and you are good to go at Christmas lol!!

Had a great week weather wise so we ate breakfast in the sunshine every day, Joseph walked to school with Nana and Grand each morning, we went to the beach (the little girl is Almari who has been coming to play recently while Mum works)and they got to experience Kai night at the local

Oh and Dad if you ever need a reference for a handy man job...tell them to call us lol, thanks heaps for doing all those little fix it jobs...I think you are right Mum...you definately need to buy a place that needs some work doing to it otherwise he is going to drive you mad!

If you are looking for some fun scrapbooking challenges be sure to come by the forum at Scrapbook Studio...Kelly has a weekly 'two for tuesday' challenge and there is a monthly sketch challenge AND a monthly challenge all with great prizes to be won from the shop...you'd be silly NOT to come and play! Also every month a forum member is selected to be the guest designer for the month, all you have to do is sign up to be in the draw...congrats Julie Maree for wearing the November guest designer hat this month!! It should be a goodie!

Oh and the new Kiwi Jack is up...go and check it out in all its gorgeousness!!

2007-10-28T22:50:00.003+13:00

Ok this is a little lesson in what not to do...this was my contribution for the latest NZ dare...to use two colours only....I chose blue and yellow...yay! love those colours...but I got carried away with my black pen to outline and you can't ok... only for the title and journalling can you use black or white...so if you want that gorgeous, yummy, Tarisota kit to be yours (yes thats the prize this round!) then put your black pen away I tell you rofl!! I'm going back to the drawing board...cause I couldn't bear to pull this one to bits...and I'm going to do another! Its going to be tough because I use black pen ALOT! on every layout I do would be closer to the truth heh, heh....but if the rest of the Dare girls can do it....so can I!! and you!! I DARE YA!!

2007-10-22T22:21:00.000+13:00

So that was labour weekend!

Heres some pics of us today....*wavies to the grandparents and any whanau tuning in!!

Joseph and Patrick have been getting stuck into doing lots of chores around the house and garden this last week. They have decided they would like a scooter and a skateboard and I said they need to earn them. So they sat down at the table one afternoon and brainstormed a list of jobs they could do...so they have been very busy this weekend preparing the lamb milk and feeding Rosie and Poppy, washing Dads car, folding washing, emptying and filling the dish washer, tidying the lounge and their rooms, setting the table for meals to name a few....they write what they do on a piece of paper and at the end of the week I will price up their work sheets and pay them...so far so good....hope it lasts!!!

Samuel brooming his digger in the sun this morning...love it when he gets so absorbed he dosn't realise I'm there with the camera...love his fuzzle hair rofl!

Awwwww!! found them like this this afternoon while we were busy painting.

2007-10-20T21:11:00.000+13:00

A big thank you to all those who have congratulated me on managing to score a place on the Scrapbook Studio Design Team for 6 months! I can't wait to get started and have some fun creating up a storm every month alongside Lisa,Lianne,Kelly, Heidi, Louise (you just have to check out her Santa mailbox dt entry in the gallery...cute!!!!) and Faye!

Thank you Lisa for giving me a go lol!

OK so if you havn't before....come on over and check out the wonderful shop, forum and gallery HERE!!!! Kelly and Heidi are currently hosting a cyber crop this weekend and there is still time to join in the challenges, create some gorgeous layouts and you might even win a prize too...bonus!

And while we are on the subject of scrapping don't forget to get those entries in NZ dare scrap a mood dare and there is one week to go (midnight this Friday) for you to get your Delys Jack in!! I am just about to go and post up a couple of faves...never get tired of seeing so much inspiration come from one persons layout....thanks to all who have joined in the Jacks so far...and good luck if you are in the draw this round....that Itchy Nail kit might just end up on your door step!

We have a lovely relaxed household, happy in the knowledge its a long weekend, the sun is shining (even if its a tad chilly...whats up with that!! lol!), we are woken in the mornings to the dulcet tones of the tui's and the persistant baa's of hungry lambs rofl!!! Jim has been heard to mutter under his breath they are not eating grass fast enough and was spotted mowing round the edge of their paddock, heh, heh, he just can't help himself, he announced it is their jogging circuit!

Shock, horror I have no photos to add this evening, maybe tomorrow I'll get trigger happy...so I'll leave you with this...

2007-10-15T21:27:00.000+13:00

Our baalambs... Now officially named Rosie and Poppy...I put my foot down at Jims idea of calling them Briggs and Stratton (lawn mower engines) cause they were far too manly for my sweet girls! They have found sheep paradise at our house as they will only ever be pets and lawn mowers for the back paddock...Bert loves them (and thankfully not in the same way he 'loved' the chickens at Mum and Dads...to death!) and can be found at bottle time licking the drips of milk from their chins and is also eyeing up those tails that are still to drop off

lol!

Jim is currently tackling his biggest DIY challenge yet...renovating the bathroom himself and got off to a good start this weekend by replacing the existing window for a smaller one so we can fit a shower in....unfortunately the space is far too pokey to fit a bath in as well, the manky old shower over the bath trick set up that was there has been turfed! But all is not lost, the longterm plan is to fit a bath into the 2nd bathroom by the master bedroom which has acres of space to spare and only a shower, sink and loo...we can't quite figure what was going through the previous owners heads when they put the extension on the house because as we keep saying.....'we would have done it differently' lol!

Do miss the bath though....the best thing for grumpy tired kids before tea is to put them in a bath, chills them out no end just sitting there in the warm water splashing and playing.

The NZ dare this round is to scrap a mood....there is a ton of inspiration up on the No.8 wired blog with the new contributors (Donna Meuli, Vicky Gibson and Sharon Topliss) getting stuck in already with some wonderful layouts. I chose to scrap an older photo from Jims childhood, I was inspired by the warm summery mood of the photo....big skies, golden fields, sitting in the grass eating sandwiches....

This months Kiwi Jack still has a couple of weeks to go so if you are looking for more motivation and inspiration head over there and check out the layout by Delys Cram who was Jacked by our previous months winner Lara! There is also a fab prize this month sponsored by Tracey at The Itchy Nail....she puts together fanatastic monthly kits and one of them could be yours if you get your Jack on and enter!! This is my Delys Jack....

I bought some clear stamps from the Poppy ink stamp sale not long ago and love them (the bird in So Small is one...can't wait for the next sale...you have to be in quick though cause man they walk out the door fast!

Have you seen this site? Care2crop....if you have some scrapping time you can volunteer please drop Louise a line....a fantastic idea.

2007-10-02T22:45:00.000+13:00

Some pics from our visit last week to 'The Farm'!

We got lucky with the weather, the boys loved being back with Nana and Grandad, Samuel was in his element with Grandad, hauling him off for rides on the tractor and the scooter and eating toast together in the morning...note the gumboots already on with his jarmies!

Joseph and P spent lots of time trying to catch the little spratty type fish (although they were convinced they were tadpoles! because there is a resident frog)in the pond,

Mum and I had a lovely girls day out shopping til we dropped and Jim and I were treated to a night out without the kids, a lovely dinner and a movie....hmmm I'm sure it was the fastpaced action flickering on the screen and not the large glasses of wine at dinner that made me feel woozy at the end rofl! Still a good night!

Not sure it was warm enough to be swimming, but the boys couldn't resist the clear sparkling water and in they went!

The cherry trees were in full spring glory and I took lots of pics one early morning to remember the place by as Mum and Dad are officially moving on to new things....it was a beautiful spot to have lived...a credit to mum and dad for all their hard work over the years and so wonderful the boys were able to have been part of it too...so many memories...the farm will always be with us.

Even my NZdare layout this round was about the farm...with this photo of Mums cat Marjorie in her favourite spot in the window...the sun streaming in, I love that!

2007-09-22T22:41:00.002+12:00

Yay, I have something to skite about....!!!

seven weeks and seven layouts ago I entered Scrapbook Essentials Ultimate Champion competition, great challenges and great group of ladies to scrap along with, I love the layouts I created during those weeks, the challenges pushed me out of my lazy zone to try things like black and white pics, no pic layouts, I even dusted off my foam stamps and paints and got busy...which is usually far too messy for my liking lol! But anyway....by the skin of my teeth....one point....I won! Louise was seriously snapping at my heels with her gorgeous layouts every week, so it could have been either of us there at the end, but I managed to sneak in there to win the title!

Needless to say I'm chuffed! A great prize by Scrapbook Essentials, HUGE thank you to Meg and the DT who had to do all the hard work behind the scenes...

and so I couldn't resist this pic heh, heh, heh!!!!...need to work on the staunch look though rofl!!

I am truly honoured to wear the Scrapbookings Ultimate champion headscarf until I need to pass it on to the next winner!..

This was my final layout from week 7 to use a quote or words used by someone you know or a quote which relates to them....I am so pleased to have scrapped this little gem from Joseph...its one of his little funnies from toddlerdom which has stuck with me and I was lucky enough to find this photo which went perfectly with it!

and so for all those wondering what to do with themselves now the comp is over...don't forget to get those Ann Jacks in...you have until this Friday midnight...

and NZdares is all about using your favourite TV show as inspiration...there are some fantastic examples up by the kiwidare girls already....enter to win the prize draw and be a guest designer the following week.

I came across this site today... Sweet Spuds....so cute with a page that has cool music downloads for you to bop along to while you scrap....great looking kits too!

Also Rusty Pickle has a blog...and they are having a nine day giveaway to celebrate...so head on over and leave a comment...you gotta be in to win!

Looking forward to the holidays now...taking the boys down to Huntly for some fun on the farm with Nana and Grandad....heh, heh...we're cooooommminnnggg!!! (HI Mum!)

Remember that song by UB40 'theres a rat in my kitchen' well I've been humming it for the last couple of weeks after finding two of the darn things munching out on cornflakes in my pantry...eeewwwwww...Jim came to the rescue with large amounts of rat bait set out in traps all over the place.....the furry germs on legs even tore into the unopened boxes of bait in the garage and stole off with it...hopefully back to share with all their friends and family heh,heh!! So anyway this morning after not having seen one since setting the dogs on them the last time amid lots of screaming from me (yes I'm big girls blouse!) I sleepily opened the cupboard and reached in for the cereal (now housed in its new plastic rat proof container!!), having to push aside the bulk bag of flour and heard a very indignant squeeeaak as I squashed a poor ratty between the flour and a bag of oranges....he was definately suffering the effects of eating too much rat bait and could hardly move....Jim came and 'removed' him for good...hopefully his mates have already succumbed and I can start humming something else this week!!!

2007-09-15T21:17:00.005+12:00

Another week just whizzed by then! Nearly school holiday time again...which means we will have been 'Norfies' for 10 weeks! And we are still having to pinch ourselves that we live here lol! Especially on days like today when we can just jump in the car with a few things and find a beach to run on without it being a full scale mission!

We stopped on the way to wander around this wonderful Kauri grove....still can't pronounce the name of the reserve properly rofl!...here you have a go!....

Then we carried on to Matauri Bay where we were lucky enough to get a nice break in the showery misty drizzle and the sun came out for a bit.

The big boys had a great old time playing in the waves, while I searched for pretty shells

and Samuel helped Dad with his sand sculpting....

then it was to the shop for an icecream and home for tea!

The competition at SE is hotting up for the grand finale this week!! I'm lucky enough to be in the top three so far....currently sweating out what i should do for this last one which is to use a word or phrase you use alot or a quote that you associate with someone?!!! Anyway good luck to all the girls at SE...its been very cool scrapping along with you all whatever the outcome!

Here is last weeks layout which was to show case a technique...I chose stamping and blew the dust off my MM foam stamps, busted out the paint and stamped the title, also tried the stamping with bubble wrap thing and used a clear Autumn leaves heart stamp to embellish! Love this layout of Jim and me, so nice to have one of us for a change!...I was inspired by the song by Muse which we were singing along to one morning....and for ages I've been wanting to do this feet shot totally inspired by the wonderful fun photography of Vicky Gibson.

Have a great weekend and week all...gardening tomorrow....hopefully we get another warm Spring day like some we've had this week...its been so warm by the middle of the day we are seeking the shade....

2007-09-09T22:27:00.000+12:00

Rainy day today.

We had a bed pile-in this morning, and played connect four. Joseph was the champ and won most of the games....and then they played choose a dial tone on dads phone for a bit lol!

Decided it was suitable day for a 'proper' Sunday lunch *gasp* yes the first time I've ever cooked a hot Sunday lunch! The boys thought it was a right hoot having tea in the middle of the day....even I got a tad confused and called them to the table with the usual 'teatime guys' lol!!

So full of Roast pork, apple and crackle, Jim braved the weather and went off to plant his spuds...Samuel under the thumb of his dad actually had a nap without any of his usual 'getting up and down out of bed a thousand times driving his mum bananas' shenanigans...

...speaking of which my layout for the SE comp this week was all about this whole not wanting a nap anymore thing...! The theme was to scrap a double layout of something that challenges you.

The new Jack has been posted....for those who like to use circles on their pages you will love this one by Ann McLachlan...everybody is welcome to play come and check out the fab inspiration the girls have jacked you up with this week! This was my interpretation...

2007-09-03T15:27:00.000+12:00

Have you tried Andrea's 1,2,3,4 recipe yet? Check out NZdares for the details....its a great kickstart to creating a layout quickly...heres mine, I kept it nice and simple...(the photo dosn't do the nice creamy bazzill and BG paper justice, but hey you get the picture!) I used 1 pattern paper, the flower cut from BG...2 rubons, the word 'ducks' and the tiny red star above the journaling...3 pieces of material...cut from different patterned quilting squares...and 4 embellishments, sequins.

The winner of the Christi Jack has been drawn at Jack Me Up...the lovely Lara will be our guest designer for the next Jack AND she will be choosing who to Jack for the following one!...so tune in this Saturday for the new one...

The Effer dares are running their last scrapper standing comp again this year...check out their website for details...

If like me you like scrappy challenge blogs then their are a few new ones up and running by SIStv girls...

Colour Your World

CreARTions

This is Me

and a new kiwi one by Neen The Music in Me

Happy Scrapping!!

2007-08-30T21:20:00.000+12:00

Another birthday boy this week....

and the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed spoiling him with flash choccies from Makana in Kerikeri, Champagne and posh nosh cooked by little old moi for dinner....oh and of course a cake.... vanilla sponge with homemade lemon curd (Delias of course)...a little tasty memory of home as it was Jims mum (Hi Sue!)who taught me to whip up these wonderful sponges when she was training me up to be his wife 10 years or so ago heh, heh!!

The boys had much fun searching for the corks from their sparkling juice and our very scrummy champagne...who needs restaurants when you can dine out in the late afternoon sunshine in your own garden!

(Look out old man, I'm an expert at this candle blowing lark!)

Here is my entry for the 4th challenge for the SE comp... using black and white pics, with a White OR black background and one other colour accent....a real challenge for this colour loving scrapper I tell you but I quite like the toned down result for a change!

2007-08-23T22:13:00.000+12:00

ooops ...forgot to blog the last week or so lol...but here we are with.....

Birthday boy piccies!!! Yes Mr Bum-bum...blonde boy bombshell extraordinaire... is TWO!

Paaaarrppppp!!

Heh, heh, I think I love party blowers as much as the kids do!

He had a cool day, loves his pressies...thanks Gran and Pop, Nana and Grandad and Aunty C and Uncle Mafoo! Tool kits, dump trucks, trucks and trailer, big machines dvds, remote control car...harmonica and books...man he was happy as!! And the big bro's are enjoying sharing the love too lol!

This cake was a light bulb moment a couple of days before his birthday as Patrick (my right hand man birthday organiser) and I were racking our brains trying to think of a cool (Patrick) but easy (Mum) cake to make him....he loved it and he also loved us singing happy birthday...the next day I heard him singing a little tune under his breath and then puffing out his breath and wondered what he was doing until I realized...he was re-enacting singing and blowing out his candles from last night...cute!!

Oh, and here are the seed trays the boys planted up a few weekends back, just bursting out, they are so proud and check their trays every day for progress...might get those peas and beans in a garden patch this weekend.
and on to things scrappy...this one is my current contribution for the latest NZdare... the dare is to only use scraps to make your layout, so anything half used etc...lots of fun and so quick to do!! Just delve into your box of leftover scraps and start building a layout!

These next two were for the SE comp...having much fun with this too...this one was to scrap something in your life that you do every day..I am just loving using bright colours at the moment they make me feel good!
and this was last weeks challenge...a no photo layout and I chose to scrap why I love the Desiderata....

So this weeks challenge is scrap black and white photos, on a black OR white background with just one other accent colour.....should be good for an all nighter lol! At least I've finally chosen some pics....not really into bl and wh...can't see the point of losing all that lovely colour!! but will be good to try something new! watch this space!

Building ramps n digging holes

2007-08-12T22:42:00.000+12:00

Jim 'ere. Hijacking Meek's blog.

Nice sunny weekend up north. Bit of a heavy drop on Saturday night but soon dry due to brisk (and warm) winds. Promised Joseph that I'd build a bike ramp and so got an old log and a few barrows of dirt and voila! He tried on the bike for a start and promptly fell off when I wasn't looking. Anyway.... who need's a bike!!

We've also found a novel was of disposing of green kitchen waste before we a) get a pig or b) build a compost. Yep dig a hole and chuck it in. The worms will love it..... so do little people!! Ok Meek back again...blimin people who start writing a blog entry and then give up halfway to go to bed...stating...you finish it cause you're quicker than I am rofl!!

Anway! next photo...you will remember last weekends cereal offender....well he was at it again...only this time emptied my big bag of rice onto the floor and was playing in it like a sandpit with a few kitchen utensils...oh my you gotta laugh or you would cry with that one...

(ummmm riiiiiight, you are probably thinking I did this, but uummmm yeah....I'm sure I saw Joseph and P poking around in there...you should go ask them *while I scarper*....

We also did garden shopping this weekend, after I got to spend a lovely half hours spend up at the scrapbook shop in Kerikeri while Jim took the boys to the car museum...little red car was taken out for a run too....before we treated ourselves to a cafe lunch! We bravely walked past the safe haven of McDonalds where kids can freely spill drinks and make noise(dragging Patrick mind lol!) and went to a 'proper' cafe where Jim and I indulged in grown up Paninis and coffee while the kids enjoyed cheese toasties and chips lol...well ya gotta have chips! and yes Samuel promptly spilt his juice 5 minutes after we sat down but luckily we were seated outside and it started raining so we moved inside away from the sticky puddle (luckily it missed my bag of new scrapbook papers!!)and only another lady with a baby laughed! I felt like saying 'yes you laugh now lady but give it another 6 months and this will be YOU' rofl!! It felt good though, the boys were very well behaved on the whole and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

and remember my vege patch vision....well we made a start on it...love digging lol!! but the seeds the boys sowed the other weekend are sprouting and will soon need somewhere to go!!

And I couldn't let a blog post go by without a layout or two to pretty things up heh, heh! They are both of my lovely Patrick....I think the next one of him should be of him in one of his grumps though cause when he does grump he GRUMPS!! lol!...This one was for Vicky G's cardstock/rubons/stickers/pen only challenge at SBO and the next one is for the new Jack Me Up that went up last night....check it out HERE , Christi's layout is just beautiful and was so much fun to jack with all those lovely layers to inspire! Thanks also to Hannah, our wonderful guest designer who created a fabulous layout and had to keep it top secret from her friend Christi for a good week!

And with that I am going to bed too....guess who is asleep already now!!!

2007-08-08T15:13:00.000+12:00

Hump day today...heh, heh...sorry that one always cracks me up!

No news as such just showing off more layouts lol!

Thought the grandparents might like this one of their little pirates rrrawrr me hearties! My first 6x12 layout, so darn quick to make which is always a bonus and handy when you havn't got much to journal...its for Rach's challenge at SBO....shh don't tell the boys I used some of their pirate stickers hee hee!

And this one was for the 1st challenge at SE which was to make your own embellishments...so I've been seeing some cute mushroom paper on US sites (its heidi grace I think) and it inspired me to make some wee mushies for my layout....plus I made the 'Elsie' style buttons. I have just spent some time looking at all the wonderful layouts created for this competition, wowsers everybody did so goood with this challenge, neat to see so many taking part and having fun with this!

2007-08-06T13:47:00.000+12:00

I've been wondering how to scrap this pic of me for ages, i was going to use it for the Tia class at CC freestyle earlier this year but never did, so after taking part in a truth or dare game at SIStv over the weekend I was dared to create a layout using 6 pattern papers, 6 brads, 6 ribbon and 6 flowers, all different...I came up with this for it last night...

Well we got to Rawene yesterday on our wee Sunday tikki tour...ate our sarnies overlooking the harbour and the boys indulged in a spot of seagull chasing, the tide was in so there was not much beach to play on so we decided to take the car ferry over to Kohukohu and drive back round from there....bit of an adventure for the boys and it is so fun to have somewhere new to explore, the scenery is amazing here, its got a wild edge to it which the 'manicured' farmland of the Waikato dosn't really have....and all the settlements are a little like stepping back in time!

2007-08-05T08:38:00.000+12:00

I think I blinked and missed that week!

Juggling the housework between the scrapping is not easy you know...uh hang on maybe that should read the other way round....heh, heh! Finally got to the local playcentre this week so P and Samuel are very excited to be making some new friends...and Mum was relieved to have some adult company lol!!

Man, are there some fantastic scrapping challenges going on at the moment or what!...a 'beaut' new dare is up...and if you havn't given one of the dares a go yet, why not give this one a crack...come on Hannah you know you want too!!

there is also Scrapbook Essentials Ultimate Challenge contest happening at the moment, just love this mojo woman in her headscarf it cracks me up! I just get this mental image of scrappers all around the country making layouts with sleeves rolled up in their headscarfs!

Something else to get the inspiration going is the US Scrapjacked team jacking the Effer dare girls this month.

Speaking of jacking Raewyn has just announced this months Jack Me Up winner....and the new one will be up next week.....sorry to keep you hanging on but good things come to those who wait heh, heh...its not easy hijacking layouts you know....cue Mission Impossible music with Tom Cruise hanging over those red laser lights....Neen looks great in her cat burgler suit too I gotta say!

Scrapbook Outlet had another fun crop last night and some of the challenge deadlines are not until next week so there is still time to join in.

Well that should just about keep me busy this week I reckon!

We are heading off for a Sunday tiki tour today...pack a picnic, find a beach, blow out a few cobwebs and fill our clothes (and fur) full of sand lol! will add some pics later...

Edited to add: something tells me i spent too long updating the blog rofl! Joseph came to inform me that he thinks I need to come and arrest Samuel!!

2007-07-29T16:04:00.000+12:00

yayyyyyeee wwooooh! this morning I realised we'd made it!...we'd got to the point where all the boys can amuse themselves for a bit on a weekend morning so mum and dad can have that extra half hour...or so heh,heh....sleeping in!

What a mile stone! Patrick looooves 'the upside down show' with Shane and David so he is happy in front of the box (well actually I love this show too and have been known to get up and watch with P lol!), Samuel is usually busy raiding the pantry for anything edible...although luckily his favourite thing to munch is cereal like cheerios or honey pops so I make sure they are within reach, Joseph is a bit like a talking clock wandering in to announce the time every so often and if we are lucky he is usually keen to show off his big boy skills and will make us some toast in bed!

Now that the fencing is finished we are turning our attention to the garden, and first things first the vege patch....I got a beautiful book from the library on french style gardens and so this is my vision... minus ye olde stone building in the background! lol!

Yep so after ditching the idea of raising a few sheep or whatever for the freezer in the paddocks...cause we didn't think we would be able to bear to see them donked and then dished up for dinner (and I grew up on a farm rof!) we are going to put one of our paddocks to use growing veges instead...I don't tend to get so emotionally attached to a carrot or a row of peas for some reason lol! The boys are super excited and we have spent the afternoon sowing up a heap of seeds in trays...

If you are playing along with Jack Me Up...this is the last week for Roo's layout, the deadline is Saturday 4th August and the deadline for the NZ Dares everyday moments dare with some wonderful Fisker cutting doodackies to be won is this Wednesday...so go on, go on, go on....get scrapping!

2007-07-23T23:49:00.000+12:00

Bert my friend, your visiting days are numbered!! Heh, heh, heh!!Bugger!!

The new improved fence will not only be for the dogs benefit either...as Samuel demonstrates his limbo abilities on the old one pre-adjustments! Jim has now nailed palings in the gaps.
All we need now boys is some leaves and twigs to cover the hole and we'll have our very own Bert booby trap!
Joseph and I did some scrapping together Sunday afternoon (nevermind the fence, Dads got it all under control!) He's definately got the freestyle thing happening here, Amber Skolnick would be proud of you mate!
My layout for a 'use pattern paper only' challenge at SIStv. Samuel's nickname was bestowed on him one day by Joseph and it stuck...it sounds even better with a silly french accent 'Monsieur le bum-bum' lol! Nevermind matey you could have been called 'Scone' or 'Mounga cave woman' like I was rofl....loooove big brothers!!

2007-07-20T22:15:00.000+12:00

Ok so I'm pretty glad to see the back of that week!

Although I must say there were a couple of highs amongst the lows of having the whole family succumb to evil tummy bugs....like Joseph making friends at his new school already, having some sunny weather to lighten the spirits, watching the kids and dogs enjoying all the space!!! , Patrick so excited to have his first morning 4yr old visit to school...roll on November he can't wait! Having some lovely snail mail...a fab lava lamp for the boys from Jenny (thank you again, still can't believe it arrived in one piece!!) and Friday choc buttons for the boys from Nana...

Our mission this weekend is to fence the front garden so our ever so friendly Bert cannot go visiting neighbours when our backs are turned....The council have a dogtrap set up on the pub property down the road as there has been lots of problems with straying dogs here...yep, wednesday morning I let Bert out for his morning wee, turned my back for 2 minutes and he had vanished! Called and called and wandered down the drive in my dressing gown and Jims slippers for a bit until I decided it wasn't really a good look for me and returned to don clothes before heading out in the direction of the pub where the night before we had a drink after an evening stroll with the dogs and Bert and Harry had been introduced to the publicans dogs...so I knew, being the social hound that he is, he had headed back there to say good morning...next minute a white van is coming down the drive with Bert in the front seat...its Ray the publican...Bert was in the dog trap and Ray had sprung him for us...luckily....the council charge $5o0 to get out of doggy jail...on account of the kiwis and all....so Bert, my nerves can't take it....we are fencing you in!!

Its birthday time at NZdares one year old....and Fiskars are sponsering some fabbo cutting out doodackies...not just one but three sets....so get over there and whip up a layout on an everyday moment in your life and you might just be a winner! And...if you have time between dare layouts and Jack Me Up layouts.... heh, heh....please take the time to reply to the NZdares questionnaire too!

My Everyday Moments layout is all about the noise and wrestling matches that are a daily part of our household at the moment...The quote in the middle is from Story people and those words 'luscious chaos' just fit the bill for these pics....I am trying to imagine those three small boys as large lanky teenagers wrestling on the floor...rofl!

Have a great weekend all...

2007-07-14T14:12:00.000+12:00

The new Jack Me Up is posted...hee hee can't wait til she finds out!! Great choice Rae, thanks for jacking this one... we've all had much fun with it!

The Bam Pop paper was just made for this photo of Patrick!

2007-07-12T15:37:00.000+12:00

After the storm...the sun is shining!

Great to have the boys out burning up some energy! For anyone wondering, the little district of Ohaeawai where we are, is high and dry and suffered very little damage over the last few days that I know of...and after watching all those whose houses were flooded we feel very lucky with our choice to lived in this particular spot!!

The only tornado left is called Samuel, who yesterday tipped out a whole pack of 100's and 1000's onto the kitchen floor and today tipped a 3l bottle of juice over and left it emptying until I discovered it 5 minutes later...too late lol!

There is a great new dare happening over at NZdares....I am still in the thinking process for this one...but I have do have a plan lol!!

And don't forget the new Jack Me Up goes up this weekend....so no excuses for not scrapping, lots of challenges around to get the creative mojo cracking!! Also it was brought to my attention that wordpress bloggers couldn't leave comments but thats all fixed now, so comment away everybody!! you are all welcome honest lol!!

And finally a big shout out to Michelle from our Jack Me Up team who made it on the catwalk over at SIStv
yay!!!! you go girl!!