Day 90 .... Delighting In......

.... a WHOLE Saturday with NOTHING extra on the schedule.

.... a sleep in this morning (bless my Miss5 who thought to tip-toe past our bedroom and flicked on Saturday morning cartoons to entertain herself and Master3, giving MJ and I an extra 2 hours sleep! - should add here that kidzone is all geared at preschool aged children, so harmless viewing!)

..... a 5km run to my sister's place. Meeting MJ and the kids there because their swim school is just across the road. Nailed the run. Whoop.

..... a family swim - MJ and I jumping in after the lessons. SO MUCH fun! Lots of hydro-sliding (them, while I swanned it in the spa) and lots of splash fights and dares to the deep end (Miss5 and I trying out our butterfly styles).
..... my olympic ambition for Miss5. I am only semi-serious.

(She moved into her current group only 5 weeks ago and today we were told that she was ready for Bronze Squad. I told the coach that she couldn't because she was only 5years old and they were already reluctant to put her into this group because she was too young ...... the coach thought she was older - probably because of her height!) We're thinking Miss5 was born with gills - she is just learning to dive and is beginning her breaststroke kick - but check out that backstroke!. Move over whats-his-face Phelps. (Master3 featuring here - all water confidence and no skill..... but SO, SO keen! Cutie!)

.... the tree being up .... and it's still November! Opted for the fake tree this year, cheaper option. Miss5 did most of the decorating...... out of my hands now-a-days. AND I have managed to wrap gifts. Feeling more on top of it - buying gifts as the budget allows....

.... my kids who do things like this to catalogues:

I have explained that circling doesn't mean it's a done deal.... what a crack up.

.... revelation.... while walking and thinking/praying earlier in the week, asking what I could to do to alleviate the pressure at the moment.... and got a picture of raising a wounded leg......putting it higher to take off the pressure.... then words from the Psalm 121: 1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth

I need to look up..... AND I've felt and seen His favour this week by doing so...

......EVERYTHING HERE..... a $2 teapot from a church shop, a tapa print tea-towel bought in Fiji about 7 years ago, a Christmas Mince Tart (one of life's gifts) on a pretty plate and a free two-year subscription to my favourite Parenting Magazine.... all because I filled in their survey and sent it off quickly enough to be one of the first 20 replies. Rock on.

Hope you're having an awesome weekend!

P.S. Parental Bragging Rights kicked in with the video clip! We're proud parents - and we've dug deep to pay for those hideously expensive lessons, so making the most of them!

P.P.S When she wins Gold in 15 years time, you can say you saw her here first. Hahaha

Day 89..... Girlfriends....

.... was explaining to a friend today, that Miss5 understands a concept I've only just got.

She has a birthday coming up in January where we've said she can invite 6 friends. She is a bit of a social butterfly..... has friends in all corners of her life.... a bit like me really.... so I thought it would be quite a difficult task for her to narrow the multitudes down to just 6.

5 minutes later she hands me a list of her nearest and dearest. Oh, okay, I thought. I'm sure that's going to change. Five year olds can be so fickle.

A couple of weeks later, I asked her again about the chosen 6, nope, hadn't changed.

It did change at one point last week, but quickly changed back, because she'd thought one of her dear friends could be included on her list as a cousin because she's as close as family......and she could squeeze another school friend on. No, I said, cousins were blood relatives. But, the argument came, I call her mum Auntie Gillian..... it's different, I said (budget restraints are dictating here... but try explaining that).

Miss5 pictured here with honorary cousin/girlfriend.

This week walking to school, I asked her again.... to be sure. She rattled off the same chosen 6. Are you sure? I asked. What about ......?
No, she replied. She's just a friend. The ones on my list are my girlfriends.
What do you mean? I asked.
You know, she said, They're my girlfriends. My good friends.


It amazes me to see this concept as she sees it.
The friends on her list are quite far spread. One good friend from church. One is a "like a cousin" family friend. The others are school friends - who don't always play together........


She's spread out. A bit like me. A handful of good friends who she calls girlfriends because they are her consistent crew...... she doesn't play with nor see them everyday..... even the ones at school she doesn't play with everyday.....they don't all know each other...... but she knows when she does catch up, months later or a week later, they'll just pick up as though it was only yesterday they last talked and played....

In the fabulous book I'm taking forever to read (who has time to read???!!!!!!) Growing Great Girls, Ian Grant suggests that it's important for girls to establish more than one friendship group - basically so that if things go to custard with her friends at school, she has other friends - church or netball or where ever else - that she can still be happy with........ SO TRUE. My months of loneliness at high school were softened by my girls at youth group or the sense of belonging I had in the school orchestra and various sports teams.

It's taken me years to be this confident with being this type of person. Someone who can befriend easily, but not necessarily be tight with every friend...... Someone who has "her girlfriends" - scattered all over the place, but will happily join in and work with others. Someone who is confident within her own self - and not reliant on others to build that confidence.

I'm so pleased that Miss5 has that confidence developing already. I'm praying that she will grow up - confident in who God has called and created her to be..... with girlfriends who will see that, encourage that, and allow that to simply be.
I know that her girlfriend crew will change..... there are a couple in there though who could possibly be girlfriends for life..... that would be cool..... it is possible.... MJ's nearest and dearest friend is one he met as an 8 or 9 year old. Father to pictured like- a -cousin.



P.S. Had lunch with an angel today. It was so good. A chance to BREATHE.

Day 88 ..... Dinner's in the Oven....

.... but I think I'm about ready for bed!

I'm loving fish parcels..... with salad. Yummo. Boring-as probably to the good chefs out there, but a fish fillet, with a squeeze of lemon.... mmmmm. The rest of the family are having lamb chops. Haha.

There is just so much, SO MUCH going on at the moment - my calendar is crazy busy and every day there seems to be a couple of more dates/things to add to it: School concerts, break up assemblies, kindy concerts, carols in the park... let's chuck in a parade or two and a handful of kids birthdays (Note: Please try to refrain from having children in December or January. Those months are booked solid now. Thanks.)

Loved Anya's post the other day - trying to remember to take a chill pill every now and then. Mine looks like this:

I swear it's what's keeping me moving!

And loved this today - a surprise thank-you treat from my sister for my kitchen wall:

We had to get her boffy Bulldog Barry into her car today for an unexpected visit to the vet - Ange on her own can NOT lift this dog, who, I swear, weighs the equivalent of stone henge.
All a bit much when all she really wanted to focus on was getting herself and her two kids to the plane on time to meet her husband in Sydney for the weekend.

Envy MUCHLY. (God knows I'm good for repentance on this).

Day 87 ... And Then I Woke Up....

I remember a time (maybe at 11 or 12 years) when I thought I was a literary genius because every out-of-it fantasy and fiction story I'd write would end with ..... And then I woke up.
Hahaha. Talk about creative. It meant I could write whatever, and justify it. Who else did this? I can see my teachers rolling their eyes now, marking another one of my uneventful dreams....

I felt like I had an And Then I Woke Up moment last Saturday afternoon.
We took the kids to Mission Bay (a very nice spot in Auckland's most beautiful waterfront - can I entice you all for a visit? there is a MOVENPICK parlour there....) so MJ could do a 10km flat run.... and so the kids could do a spot of riding and playing while I got caught up in my own thoughts watched them and enjoyed them.

It was while walking behind them riding their bikes, trying to take nice pics on the cellphone.... that I woke up. My thought process for the entire time MJ ran was like this:

How did I get here?

Where did time go?

Are you for real, these are my kids?

I'm a mother.

How old am I again?

Crikey, when did I become an adult?

How come my friends are turning 40?

Yikes, I'm 33 years old!!! 33 years.

These are my kids!

They are so cool.

Whoops, they're on the walkers side of the path.

Then, while actually awake......

God, you are Awesome.

Check out how beautiful this place is.

Haha. He's throwing rocks into the sea.....He's going to hit her. Actually, I think he's trying to hit her.

I'm so lucky to live here.

Wow, they're so clever. God you are so clever.

I love the beach. Sand is so cool. So are shells. Wow, He knows how many grains of sand are here......

And today.... hanging out the washing, eating lunch on the deck with Master3.... trying to remember to BE STILL. Trying to grasp everything that's swirling around my head about the next month.... my silent prayer.....

I will try and not get stressed about money, but God, I NEED you to pour out your favour.

I already have.

You're right, you have. Thank you. I need to sit back and see...... you will not abandon us....

And during lunch conversation....

Master3 tells me he is not going to be an adult when he grows up. He is going to be a superhero. What will you do? I ask. Will you save the world? Yes, he tells me, with a mouthful of biscuit and a face smeared with marmite. And then I spot the passionfruit vine.... I planted a year and a bit ago..... it's wild and it's bearing fruit. And I think, this is too cool!!! Since when did I care about plants?

And I'm so awake.

Day 86 ...... Text Love

yep, I know I've already posted about text love... doesn't mean I can't revisit right? And anyway, this is a about a lesson in laziness.....

So..... I just flicked off a text to MJ

Hey babe, ur awesome! Love u

xx

(I really can't stand the text spelling thing.... ur and u and 4 and 2 are about as text-y as I get)

Anyways.... I had texter's remorse as soon as I sent it. Not because MJ isn't awesome - he totally is! But because I wasn't 100% that it was MJ that I'd sent the text to.

Hmmmmm. For about 2 mins then, I wondered if I'd sent any of my love texts to MJ. This is because instead of using my contacts and finding his name, I prefer to just punch in his number...... but as I punched send, it occurred to me that perhaps I hadn't been typing his number in correctly, and that perhaps I've been sending text love to various people all over the vodaphone network...... doh!.....

So I checked. Phew, I'd used the correct number. Next time I'll use the contacts.

MJ's reply : :) ur awesome too!

My reply: I know!

A tiny bit of nothingness today.

Day 85 .... Entertaining Angels..

You may or may not have noticed the fact that I quite like a bit of a social gathering.

This has not always been the case, nor is it always the case - but I think that's a different blog post.

Recently I've been reflecting on this verse:

Hebrews 13:1 - 2
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

I'm not sure my reflections make sense in my own mind..... but here goes.....

We've been making an effort to open our home more, to get back into the groove of entertaining.... there have been a few too many winters of Friday and Saturday nights spent on the couch, watching DVDs or LOST or any other show we get hooked into. That's all good - we really enjoy those nights and, let's face it, sometimes we HANG OUT for the chance to just plonk it...... however...... we're created to be in connection with others. And it's this that I've been really pondering. After a couple of weeks without getting together with friends, I start to CRAVE it. It's quite natural, I think....... I wonder if others feel the same?

Belonging to a large church family really helps....( although even within that I find that we can become too complacent and lazy about making a move to invite others over..... making do with catching up briefly on Sunday mornings or at connect group..... or on Facebook. Shame.)

....most (not all) of our socializing is done with friends we've made through church. People we know have the same values as our family. People we've gelled with. Friends we feel comfortable with.

A few weeks back you may recall we had the school gala and then we had invited a couple of families back for a casual BBQ. This soon changed from being a couple of families to six. I was fine with that..... naturally.... but MJ would have preferred a smaller group...... especially as most of these were families from school and he had no idea who most of them were. In fact I'd only met a couple of the fathers that afternoon. NO WORRIES I thought, we've been here before..... but then it hit me.... yes, you have, but it's been with family, close friends or with friends from church. Not strangers.

On reflection of the evening we both had to say it went really well..... though there were some real differences to other large BBQS that we've had...... the language was a bit different ... and the amount of alcohol being consumed was quite a bit more than our normal dinners/BBQ. (I'm really trying to write this without sounding like a CHRISTIAN PRUDE.) It was different. But not bad-different. Just not the same as usual.The one thing that was consistent though - the need to connect.

In fact, there actually seemed to be more appreciation from these families towards us for organizing it..... gratitude for inviting their family...... it made me feel.... like we'd done them a huge favour, to be honest. It was quite unexpected....... but made me remember that values and family culture aside, our basic human needs give us common ground. And for some, the connection aspect of life isn't always easy.....

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.....

The whole concept of entertaining angels is an interesting one, aye? Something that may not be revealed until a few years down the track, I know this for a fact as I look back at our first encounter with our antenatal group, a couple of months before Miss5 was born, walking into the first session, meeting all these pregnant STRANGERS and walking out of the session saying to MJ, well we have NOTHING in common with those people.... I don't think I'll be joining in the coffee group.

Almost 6 years later, I can identify the angels who were once hidden from view. One of them I count as a dear friend..... she has been an ear to whinge to, a girl to have coffee with..... we meet regularly while our kids have swimming. My life has been blessed simply by knowing her.

If I hadn't met with strangers, I would have missed an angel. How many angels have I missed?......

And I've had the chance to be an angel too.

Actually, in my pondering, I've concluded that I don't believe that we should be just entertaining angels, but that we should be seeking and accepting opportunity to be an angel ..... that we can entertain strangers simply by showing up when invited too...... and allowing time (well, allowing God, through time) to reveal how that connection is going to pan out.... being an angel... bringing a message, giving hope...... being the light.

Just some thoughts.

Day 84 .... It Started with a Ginger Cake last Monday......

.......and finished at about 11:45pm last night with a bowl of leftover trifle, brought home from Simoney's 40th.... where I managed to dance myself to starvation by the time we arrived home.
I am impressed with myself. Not only did I get off my this-is-not-a-diet wagon, but I crashed it head-on into a delicious pile of treats.

There has been no arm twisting this week. Simply in the rush of life I got lazy and enjoyed a smorgasbord of things that do not belong on my hips...... in my Sunday evening blurr, I can recall from this week:

ginger cake

chocolate oat cookies

a coffee too many

a playdate in the park - shall we have fish'n'chips? the mum asked, why not? I replied

an expensive cheese scone

banana pancakes

enough chocolate to turn me into a chocolate santa

ice cream from the new parlour (it was made from Bounty chocolate bars.... coconut heaven)

potato crisps

fish n chips (and let's chuck a mussel or two on that) in the mad rush to get ready for yesterday evening...

some corn chips and roasted peanuts; a couple of glasses of bubbles and some fruit punch....

one toffee pop

let's call it A WEEK OFF shall we? I'm sure there is more.

I am feeling punished..... I think they should start drilling for oil on my face.

I did get in a few runs. And lots of walking.

And I went to bed last night with throbbing feet, and woke up this morning with aches in the weirdest places....... I was the most committed dancer last night.... (Sammy, I'm disappointed you didn't come and display old faithful on the dance floor in all her robe-esque 70's glory.) ..... there are photos, I'm waiting and watching like a hawk just in case I need to swoop in and untag myself on facebook..... I'm still seeing spots from all the flashes that were going off as others went to town on their fancy phone-thingies. My cell phone can only take photos that don't require a flash. I'm that high-tech.

In the meantime, Miss5 has quickly sketched up this tonight..... her reflections of the weekend. It is awaiting emerald green glitter and a fur waist coat. I'm not sure what's going on with the 3-fingered hands...... possibly my gangsta hands.

Back to the drawing board to piece together my wagon.

Day 83.... Ginger Cake

Well, what do you know? I need a quick post NOW!

In the next 45mins I must post, do the dinner dishes, sort out a costume for Simoney's 40th (sadly, I will be probably attending as MOI), get the kids ready for their sleepover at the cousins, and drop them off. At 6:30pm. Yikes.

Ginger Cake (from the good ol' Edmonds Cookbook).
aka. The devil.

125gm butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp golden syrup

2 Cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup chopped crystallised ginger

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup sultanas

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup milk

(I left out the walnuts and substituted the sultanas with raisins. You use what you want really).

Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup until light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, ginger and mixed spice together. Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with beaten eggs (it says to do all this but I just shoved it all in a bowl and beat it). Stir in ginger, walnuts and sultanas. Dissolve baking soda in the milk and stir into mixture.

Pour mixture into a greased and lined shallow 23cm square cake tin (I used round :)

Bake at 180*C for 40 - 45 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Leave in tin for 10mins before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Whoop, whoop.

Have a good night.

I will check spelling tomorrow.

Day 82 ..... Delighting In ....

(Please excuse the rubbish photos! It's the best my cellphone can do!)

.......... way too much of this devil cake. It's a Ginger Cake.... with crystallized ginger in it.... recipe very soon..... when I need a quick blog post!

...... Miss5 and her little quirks..... like her little draft letters asking such cute things......


..and leaving bowls of flowers around the house...

..... Master3... insisting on walking to kindy instead of going in the buggy..... holding my hand and stating 10 metres into it "see how close we are now!"

....and sitting so patiently while Aunty Ange cut SO PATIENTLY through his thick island hair....

and just check out his coolness..... now and in the future.....

I KNOW!!!!Who knew!? Hahahaha.

.... Brodie Boxer's new collar...... giving me a few laughs. She is a girl. Miss5 choose a pink collar with purple hearts (as any 5year old girl would).... and now MJ is not all that keen to run her with her new look.....

.... my new Hydrangea plants... $5 at the school gala. Am wanting them to establish a bit before planting them out. I love their flowers and have GREAT hope that these three will be filling vases one day....

the most pathetic image I could find... of my future bushes...
....... the NEW Gelato bar in the village..... great (and not-so great) for after school treats!

....... A verse I've been pondering .... and have a post in the making about.....
Hebrews 13:1 - 2

Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

..... Albertine by Brooke Fraser (a kiwi girl).... a couple of years old now..... swirling in my head recently, coming up in conversations.... and emails (for you Cat)...... and blog posts (see Seeds of Hope)...... her words:

Now that I have seen, I am responsible.....

What have you seen recently that you're being prompted to move on?

Have a great weekend!

P.S. NOT delighting in the blood-curdling screams coming from the trampoline; the rushing out to find that it's a sore leg not a broken one. Does any one else have a child who cries wolf? I find it so hard to deal with the hypochondriac. Praying for more empathy..... but seriously! Arghh.

Day 81 .... Translating a Tea-Towel....

So Cat, winner of the tea-towel has asked for a translation....... of the tea towel.
This had not crossed my mind at all because I had assumed the world would know what we Kiwis are going on about at all times. We speak English. Don't we?? No we don't, it's kiwi-talk.
It got me thinking that perhaps our blogs aren't completely comprehensible?? Like we've got our own little in-house thing going on.

Anyways, I did explain to Cat that there may be some differences in opinion about the definition of these words/terms. ........
Before I go there though.... here's a bit of Gail's take on this beautiful nation:

NZ is made up of two three gorgeous Islands. The bottom island is called Stewart Island. I'm not even sure if mankind has really been there yet. There are birds there, and maybe a caretaker or two.

The North Island (where I am) and the South Island (Widge lives there) are fiercely competitive. Well, in rugby they are. In the south-south, they roll their "r"s. They rrrrrreally do. It's cold there. Within Islands there are differences of opinion about how words are pronounced etc. One town has now added an "h" to it's spelling because some would pronounce WANGANUI with a "WH" ..... it's all very complicated.

In the north we call a holiday house a BACH. According to sources, in the south they call them CRIBS. All-righty then.
Te Reo is taught in schools - basic Maori terms/words..... mostly greetings, songs.... sometimes a bit more. Our national anthem is sung in Maori and English.
I quite love all of this. Some New Zealanders don't and sadly, it can get really messy.
I love-love that our National Anthem asks God to Defend New Zealand.
There are many other things...... AMAZING scenery, laid back people, the beaches.... the ingenuity...... so much. It's an awesome place to live. You should all totally move here. There have been many times I've thought about why, out of all the places in the world, why I had the privilege of growing up here, in one of the smallest, most isolated countries. It's a weird thought.

Well that was all a bit of a tiki-tour of my thoughts...... Cat, I can only offer you my suburban Auckland version of this tea towel. And I invite you other kiwis to give your takes too.

AOTEAROA - (literally, ao = cloud, tea = white, pale, roa = long). This could be translated as (the) long white cloud. It does not mean "Land of the Long White Cloud". In Maori that would be Te Whenua o Aotearoa.
Aotearoa is commonly given as the Maori name for New Zealand

Good On Ya Mate : Well done. Congratulations.

Cheerio: Good bye. Cheerios are also little red sausages for birthday parties.


Chrissy : Christmas

G'Day : Good Day, hello ..... actually I'd say we stole this from the Aussie" gidday".

She'll Be Right: No worries, not a problem, it'll be ok (and my take on it sometimes.... - HARDEN UP).

A into G : Arse into Gear..... stop procrastinating and get on with the job. A hurry up. Get off your butt and do something about it!

TA : Thanks.

Aye: - hard one to explain. No, we are not all pirates. Usually said at the end of a sentence, almost as though you are waiting for someone to agree with what you've just said..... for example: Gail seems to have a lot of spare time, aye?
OK, we're a nation of pirates.

TIKI Tour : a really long, scenic way of getting from A to B. A roundabout way..... my preferred way to drive to avoid motorways.

Hard Yakka : really hard work

OE: Overseas Experience

Dag: refers to someone who is funny or quite hard case....... Gail is a bit of a dag, aye? Hahaha.

KAI : Maori word for food.

Good as Gold: saying yes in a really definite way; something is a sure thing.

Were you born in a tent?: If you say it in a sarcastic way (the only way really) it's like saying: Flippin heck, would you close the door, you're letting all the cold air in!

Haha. We're a crazy lot. What do you think?

Day 80 .... Winner/Wordless/Wordy/Wasted Wednesday

The wordless part....

The winner .....
Looks like Canada needs a hit of KIWI. Flick me an email with your address Cat!! Rrrrrowwwwwwww!..... (sorry, was reading Scarface Claw to Master3..... the Cat just sparked me off!)

The Wordy/Wasted part.....

Oh man. I am feeling SO WASTED. I don't know if that's a term anywhere else in the world other than South Auckland, but I am using it today, not to describe any nasty addiction symptoms, no I'm just feeling EXHAUSTED. Wasted.

Yesterday my car was visiting it's doctor because it failed, FAILED it's warrant of fitness. So I had to walk. EVERYWHERE. After I did my morning run (FYI, BTW, I lost 100gms this week but haven't had a chance in my blogging schedule to tell you that..... I have gained it back by making a cake - let's name it the devil cake - which has found it's way into my mouth at any given opportunity. Naughty cake, recipe tomorrow.....)....... after my morning run, I walked Miss5 to school, then home again. 3kms. After lunch I had to walk Master2 to kindy and then went home again. 3kms. Then I had to walk to school and kindy (on the same site) pick them up and then home again. 3kms. And they were complaining. So yesterday I almost completed a 1/2 marathon. Not really, but it felt like it. Because if I wasn't holding anyone's hand, it seemed I felt I had to move like I was in a competitive race.

So I'm paying for it today.

THANKS SO MUCH for all the lovely blog comments yesterday! As you can see, I've gone for the highest of technical draws for the give away.

SJ - nice to meet you!!,

Shellie - your comment almost made me cry!!!!

This blog has definitely given me a space to breathe over the past couple of years..... and believe me, I've needed it!!!! Sometimes I've thought it time to give-it-away (like to who??)....... but, I'm addicted. So be it.

This blogging marathon of 100 days has been quite full-on. But I like a challenge! Only 20 days to go!!!!! And there will be, wait for it........ (I am already prepared!) another tea-towel to fly away (I can hear the excitement!). The same one. It was a good day to buy! AND another special treat for someone too!

Time for a piece of..... rice cracker.... and a cup of liquid gold.

Day 79 ..... My 500th Post!!!!! (Give-away!)

Crikey! That's a WHOLE heap of extra talking I've done online!!!!

500 posts - 79 of those in the past 79 days! Ha.



Anyway, this calls for a give-away. One that can be packaged up small and sent at an economical price.
Something I've bought for my own use.
I'm a tea-towel lover. They bring me a little bit of joy. This one I love. This one I'm going to find a frame for and hang in my house. Because that's the kind of thing I do.

I wonder if anyone else would like a bit of kiwiana? A bit of NZ talk/lingo? Something from AOTEAROA, the land of the long white cloud. My home.

If you're in, you are a follower and you've left a comment here...... by midnight (NZ time, tonight!) It's a quickie.

Day 78 ..... And the Wooden Spoon goes to .....

ME ..... and I accept.

OM Jolly Goodness, in true Diva style, I believe that I have created, quite possibly, THE MOST EXPENSIVE bloggers swap EVER.

I am so sorry for breaking each of your budgets. I pray your husbands (or whoever is in charge of the monies in your home!) will forgive me.

This is so true, unfortunately, of most things I create. MJ will tell you, with great understanding and authority, that most of my bright ideas, whilst being ever so brilliant, will almost, ALMOST, always, ALWAYS have hidden costs.

I can turn any $20 herb garden into a $200 extravagance. Just like that. Without any plants or soil.

So Chelle ....... there is a 2.2kg box containing $15 worth of sweets heading your way, two homemade dolls..... and almost $50 worth of airports and carbon credits in flying. (Abigail, I posted yours off today too! NZ Post stole $80 altogether from our bank today!)

Next time, (ahem, you may think twice about joining any of my hair-brain ideas) I have plans for a envelope exchange (A4 size)..... or we could all chip in and I'll take a suitcase of sweets to the northern world and hand deliver them myself. It may be cheaper.

Needless to say, I am fore-going any pocket money for the next few weeks.

So there, we have it........ one child reading The Babysitters Club Book, has turned into a mega-bucks lolly exchange. The lesson here people, is to always watch what your children are issuing out of the library.

Day 77 .... Made in New Zealand....

........ and zooming off to Canada tomorrow morning. I hope it all gets there safely!

Having so many sweets in the house has been DIABOLICAL. I've already had to replace some of the goodies..... a serious case of the munchies .... combined with a bit of PMS and voila Houston, we have a problem. See I've carefully labelled my favourite Licorice-Choc Logs.
And.... squeezing in to make sure the candy reaches it's destination....
One Pay-it-forward....

and one baby gift for Cordelia, Chelle's new baby! (well, we're talking a few months on now, but you know how I'm always on Island time.)

And yes, there are a few more IOU Pay-it-forward dollies getting their final stitch-ups.

Island time I tell ya.

Day 76 ... Parental Assumptions....

Not sure if this is an appropriate title...... regardless, here are some thoughts I've been bantering around in my head for a while.

My thoughts stem back to something someone said to me in conversation just after we'd had Miss5. She was a baby, parental-ness was all too new to us. This person has six children. The comment that came up in conversation was that stopping at two kids was being selfish. What a dumb-ass thing to say. At the time I think I was in the haze of nappies and sleep deprivation, so whilst the comment went in, I had nothing to say. Today, I'd have more than something to say.

The discussion came back to me yesterday when Master3 was at swimming. He shares his lesson with another little 3 year old boy. He comes with his mother and grandmother. The mother has told me she will never have anymore children. This little boy is it. And she is very open about struggling with him. My observations from the side of the pool - he is truly loved, they want the best for him...... Not spoilt at all (another assumption that can easily be jumped to when you are thinking only child)...... He is more work than my two plus my sister's two put together (if we put them all in a line, seriously it would be like our kids were on pause and mute). FULL ON does not describe what his 20 minutes in the pool has shown me - let alone the 15minutes in the changing room afterwards. I think the swim school have intentionally kept this class to two kids because of him. I'm cool with that.
Her parenting style is COMPLETELY different to mine..... but really, who am I to judge? I would never, EVER comment on it because I don't know what it's like to be in her shoes.( My parenting style has many, MANY, MANY flaws.... I am thankful I am able to access good resources and help as I need it.)

So, where am I going with these thoughts......

We are pretty sure at the moment that our 2 children are our quiver. There are a few reasons why we have come to this place..... not blog-able ones though. However, in saying that, if our family grew, then we would be happy with that also. Strange, I know. It's an interesting place to be in, especially as it's been quite popular around us to go to 3 or more kids.
A mother in Miss5's class has just had her 10th child. Good on her. They range from 21years to 3 weeks old. When baby was 4 days old, the mum was dropping off her daughter at school. Taking my hat off to her!

Back to my thoughts.......It does bug me when I hear comments like you only have 2 to worry about.... try having 3.
I find that patronizing. I really do. And I hear comments like this quite often. I'm getting used to biting my tongue..... but really, it won't be long before that won't work.

We are ALL mothers, not martyrs. I don't care if you have 1/2 a child or 296 children. There is no room to make assumptions or to comment on anyone else's situation. I don't know what it's like to raise anyone else's children other than my own!
I think comments like the above are unnecessary. When they are said to me, they suggest an inferiority..... when really there isn't one - it's easy to hear it though....... There are no awards for parenting the most children (SOMEBODY TELL THAT TO BRANGELINA PLEASE!!!). The rewards are in bringing up happy, confident, loving people - be it one or one hundred million of them!

I know a lot of you out there have bigger families..... I'm not looking to offend here, but other than biting my tongue - blogging my thoughts will stop me from a verbal confrontation!!

Day 75 ..... Tonight .... Now with Pics.

The WORSE pics in history. We've had to give back the camera we were borrowing.... and now I am using my phone. Which is just crap. I can't seem to work it properly in front of it or behind it...... - and it makes life quite difficult for a blogger.

Just have to wait and save up now for a new camera. (So sometime next year...!)

Anyways......

was a good night.
Just made it home in time to get my post in.
6 couples, ferry, Italian restaurant.

Need I say more? Yes I do...

My original invite was for bowling or laser strike, golfing and some food. Parental hats at home. We ended up ferrying across to Devonport for a ROWDY dinner at Portofino..... Good stories...... I'm watching Facebook eagerly to see if anyone dares share..... or if what's said in the Devonport, stays in Devonport.....

I tend to leave getting ready to the last minute......

...make up in the car..... relied on the ferry ride to dry my hair.... the fro was fairly untamed...

... my driver. We take his car in the hope that it will get stolen and lost so that we can get a new and better one with the insurance....

..... girls.... minus two.... one you may be familiar with there....

.

.... husband... much more camera coy these days..... hehe.

... lots of noise. LOTS of noise. Mostly from the other end of the table, right Simoney??

.... I love Auckland at night. Pity my cellphone camera can't depict that.
..... a quality self portrait.
What am I going to do about this camera? Pray with me.

Day 74 ... Grocery Shopping In Heels....

I had a good laugh a couple of weeks ago reading this article in the Sunday Herald: Fashion War Breaks Out at School Gates.

The opening sentence reads....

A silent war between yummy mummies and slummy mummies is being waged in Auckland's upmarket suburbs.

Hahaha. A silent war.

It both cracks me up and makes me roll my eyes. (and somewhere in between I felt a bit sad for both sides of the story - that identity can be defined by what you are wearing. Seriously sad.)
Another line from the article:

"The yummy mummies are mean," she said. "They block you in and they don't make eye contact. They wear high heels and designer gear or gym gear and they have Botox parties."

I'm considering a drive over there to see all this going on. It's got to be good viewing.

At Miss5's school I haven't noticed this sort of thing at all. But at the same time, I'm not looking for it. And when I think of the mothers I see daily, being Yummy or Slummy totally does not come into the picture. There is one friend in our class who we'd all agree has the BEST wardrobe and skill at throwing together clothes. I've been to her house. She is a self-confessed clothes and shoes addict. I've seen the evidence. Most of it she has sourced from op-shops. I'd love to see her walk into one of these little block-out groups. She'd force a wrinkle or two into that smooth botox, simply because she OOOOZES style, colour, confidence and individuality. I love that. It comes from her.

It did get me thinking though .....so where do I fit? As I read the article, it did cross my mind. Of course in my own mind, I am fabulous.

Here's how it suggests we spot the difference, just in case we need to judge:

YUMMY MUMMY
labels, heels, make-up, designer sunglasses

SLUMMY MUMMY
trackpants, sneakers, food stains, pyjamas (on a bad day)

(rolling my eyes) Really??!! That means I'm ... neither. I dress each day according to what I feel like putting on straight after a shower. There is not much thought. I love wearing heals..., like love-love....... but because we usually walk to school I would rather chuck on my sneakers, and then I just stay in them all day. I have a million pairs of jeans - out of which I currently like 3 pairs. I have a few skirts that are now making their way out into the world...... as the sun does the same.

I have no real style..... just my style. It's a mish-mash.

But today.... I thought I'd wear heels. To do the shopping in. And to see if anyone would notice. So after walking home from school drop-off, I quickly whipped off my trainers and whipped on my short heels, then took some pics. As you do.

I like wearing heels because they make me taller. I am tall already (5ft 10.5inches) ...... so in heels, I'm even taller. I enjoy towering..... not so much the bending down to talk to people.

Did I feel yummier than usual? No. Just me.

Did I feel noticed? Yes, because I was even taller than usual. And because my shoes made loud clip-clopping noises around the supermarket.

Did anyone say anything? Yes. I like your shoes. And that's about it.

Anyone up for a ride across town to see how it's done? Can't believe it made the Herald....... caught my eye though.

I'm curious though, do you notice it at all - am I just oblivious to it? (this wouldn't be the first time I'm walking around with eyes wide shut)

Day 73 ..... A Humble Acceptance Speech....

Ummmm. Gosh, I'm speechless.

Thank you so much.

Ummm. ......where to start ........... I'm so unprepared.....
speechless. ummmmm. ahem..... is this mic working? Testing, testing.

Ummmm. I don't know what to say....

1. First of all I want to thank GOD. Without HIM (cue hand pointing towards heaven) NONE of this is possible. You have created me to be who I am. I am who I am. I love you. Thank you for taking the scales off my eyes and saving me from self-destruct mode. Thank you for releasing me and giving me a freedom and confidence that can only come from you.

2. Secondly, to my amazing husband MJ.... (cue tears)..... thank you so much for supporting me. For graciously stepping aside and spending time on your PS3 so that I can blog. For buying me my own laptop for my birthday last year so that I wouldn't play with your computer. For giving me raw material to blog about. For challenging me in SO many different areas..... for not letting me sulk and paddy-fit because I feel sorry for myself. For keeping me real. For eating whatever I put in front of you. I know I'm relatively high-maintenance. But we pretend I'm not. You are my world.

3. To my gorgeous children, Miss5 and Master3 (cue mother-heart-adoring smile). You are my world too. Without you, there wouldn't be the need to find my own space in the bloggersphere to air my thoughts. Without you I'd be working full-time. Without you I wouldn't be finding joy or delight in the small, unseen tasks like......... ummmm..... painting Miss5's toenails or running my hands through Master3's hair. Without you I wouldn't have identified so many areas in my own life that I need to work on to become a better, stronger, calmer and more confident person (yes, there is room for more confidence, I am, quietly, a shy person). Without you my guard would still be up, and I would still be hiding so much of who I am. Without you I wouldn't stop to smell the roses as often as I do. You keep me grounded - especially when you throw yourselves on the ground and have the hugest hissy-fits..... or when I have to wipe huge big green boggers from your nose, or better still you wipe them on the clothes I'm wearing. I love you guys more than you'll ever know.

4. To my bloggy friends. You know who you are (big wink). Thank you for reading. For giving me such pretty and thoughtful awards. For listening to me go on and on about nothing. For commenting (I'm a lover of comments) .....For not reporting me to authorities because I am so random - and there is a slight split-personality thing going on. For allowing me to reminisce about the good ol' days when 508s and dr martins/white nikes were the rage, and MC Hammer was coming to town. For keeping me young. For sharing your recipes. For allowing me to read about your lives and to talk about you in my "real life" as though you are close friends. For making me think that I have a pad to crash at when I take the troops to Canada or Christchurch (jokes - but dinner is definitely on the cards)...... for giving me more than a few GREAT laughs..... for reminding me that we are all human, that we make mistakes which are easily forgiven, that there are things in life that may seem pointless and mundane, but actually they are the small things that add up to count for something. For offering me ideas and solutions I may not have concluded to myself. You are ALL my blogging-world.

5. And in conclusion..... I know I am fabulous. But as iron sharpens iron, fabulousness does the same. You are all fabulous too. True story. Look at these awards......... shucks......

Thanks for the awards peeps. You'll see them in the sidebar shortly.
I'm so slow at doing these things....

P.S. Are you liking my "aftershot" predictions? My big head on Halle Berry's hot body?

The Great Candy Exchange - a Hiccup!

but phew, it's hopefully sorted - if Heather will forgive my email ignorance!



ALWAYS CHECK THE SPAM!
For some reason all of Heather's attempts to contact me went there - let that be a lesson to us all.


Sooooooooo...... the cool thing is, that MUZZA (Weza's hubby- go the mo!) will be joining us in the exchange of fabulous CANDY... and partnering up with Heather.



You can read them here:



Heather & MUZZA





There had to be one hiccup didn't there?

I trust everyone else has made contact and are on their merry way?????

Day 72 pt2 Button Anyone?

Thanks Simoney,

You are awesome.

Just copy and paste and link. We know nothing about that HTML stuff.

And just because it's appropriate and I love the original (I'm sorry J. Depp but you and the new Oompah Lumpahs were just a tad weird....)




However.... this just wouldn't go down in a Kids movie these days, now would it?

Day 72 .....Self Service..... and Postage Issues

MAMA, I NEED CLEAN UNDIES...........


Just have a look in the clean washing pile sweetie, mama's a bit busy closing a deal in her new importing/exporting opportunity. It's most important.


And while I'm on that..... I've had a look at nzpost.co.nz ....... ummmmmm RIP-OFF for economy post!!!! You may want to send less than 1kg - negotiate with your swap buddy. Obviously postal services are a rip-roaring trade to get into! Who knew?! I bet blog swaps are keeping them in business.

Man, this Candy better blow our minds!!!

I've just had a bit too much cake for afternoon tea.