growing up

welcome home

2012-01-25T20:10:00.000+13:00

The boys flew back this morning and it's so nice to have them back.

I realised this afternoon that I had actually missed them more than I thought.

Our house feels whole again.

pickled red onions

2012-01-24T20:50:00.002+13:00

Delicious Pickled red onions from one of the Moosewood cookbooks.

Great in salads, sandwiches, on pizza... even the kids love them.

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup water

2-3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp peppercorns

4 red onions thinly sliced

Mix the marinade ingredients together and stir till the sugar is dissolved (I used a big jar and shook it up).
Place the sliced onions in a colander and pour a jug of boiling water over them so that they soften a little bit. Drain.
Place the onions into the marinade and refrigerate for several hours before you use them. They'll last for ages in the fridge but if you're anything like us you'll be gobbling them up.

when the kids are away...

2012-01-23T10:57:00.003+13:00

The boys have been away in Christchurch for the week.

A whole week!

They're having a wonderful time being spoiled and loved.

We're enjoying the peace and quiet.

I've read three fiction books (some selected from the library due to the cover photos
(I have a weird thing for photos of the backs of heads)).

The two of us went to see the seriously awesome movie Hugo. You must see it in 3D. We saw Tintin with the boys before they left and although it was really good, our consensus is that the 3D wasn't really worthwhile. Hugo on the other hand... AMAZING!

We've watched lots of blu rays,

and I haven't cooked dinner once.

Bliss.

It's a little crazy to be a childless couple again.

Thanks to Vitek for the photos from yesterday's (belated) work Christmas party.

sewing

2012-01-11T21:09:00.000+13:00

Our 7 1/2 year old decided recently that he wanted to make himself an elephant.

NanaD was here to help.

He loves to whistle while he works. The elephant turned out great but I don't have a finished photo of it sorry.

destressing

2012-01-10T21:06:00.000+13:00

At the age of 36 I recently bought myself a colouring book (and one for my mum too).

The boys and I spent some time outside one afternoon near the end of term.

It was wonderfully relaxing.

holiday loving

2012-01-09T20:40:00.002+13:00

Today we got to have lots of snuggles with this charming young man.

We have a big time baby lover in our house.

Oh he's just far too cute (5 months old).

And I received this somewhat cryptic note.

Apparently he was unable to ask for himself.

game on!

2012-01-07T17:06:00.000+13:00

Last weekend we taught our littlest how to play one of our favourite games... Dominion.

All four of us played together and the kids totally beat us.

Uh oh.

This weekend it is wet, wet, wet. We made a big list of games (wii, cards and board games) with each of us contributing two or three games we'd like to play over the weekend. So far we've played Dominion, Race for the Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy and Animal Crossing, with a round of Skip-Bo scheduled for after dinner. If it was a bit warmer we might venture to the school pool but it's not quite feeling tropical.

this moment

2012-01-07T03:00:00.000+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thanks SouleMama

seriously good chocolate chip cookies

2012-01-05T20:31:00.000+13:00

I found this recipe on Good Magazine's "the vegan baker" blog. I've been trying on and off for years to find a good chewy/crunchy dairy free cookie. These are really great as they use oil instead of egg and butter. Give it a go but please don't blame me if your jeans get tight! I really should be deleting this myself rather than blogging it for future reference, I have eaten far too many of these. Nom nom nom.

SUPER EASY THIN AND CHEWY AND CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/3 c vegetable oil
½ c firmly packed brown sugar
¼ c white sugar
3 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 c dairy-free chocolate chips (I use Pams brand)

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Mix the oil and sugars together in a medium sized bowl.

Add the water and vanilla. Mix well until the wet ingredients are fully incorporated.

Sift dry ingredients straight into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix.

Fold in the cup of chocolate chips. You can use more chips if you like. Nuts are also a nice addition. You can pretty much add anything you like.

Using a tablespoon, measure out the dough onto two baking-papered trays. Leave 5 cm between each drop of dough to allow for spreading.

Bake for 15–20 minutes or until the edges are brown and the centres are pale. Bake less time for chewier cookies.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before devouring. Makes about 20 cookies.

domestic

2012-01-02T20:36:00.000+13:00

Sewing stockings from the cheap Spotlight fabrics.

Cooking dinner and eating it outdoors (at the newly stripped and oiled table)

Baking awesome vegan chocolate chippies... recipe to follow soon.

this moment

2011-12-31T03:00:00.000+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thanks SouleMama

christmas lunch in the backyard

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000+13:00

B gave me this cute cutlery set for Christmas and it's now the official summertime set.

There was just the four of us for Christmas lunch but we still made a special effort.

Ham, salad, potatoes and wine/grapetise.

The table was looking cute with it's shabby green paint.

Pudding was dairy free trifle, made with coconut whipped cream, soy custard and left over birthday cake in place of sponge. As a big time custard and cream lover, I was impressed how good it was. The kids and I finished it off in the evening after dinner. Shame there was none left for boxing day breakfast.

sale alert

2011-12-29T20:08:00.004+13:00

Spotlight Christmas fabrics are 75% off... although some of mine ended up closer to 90% off I think!

Just thought I'd let all of you crafty mamas know. I'm keen to get stuck in to my lot.

now we are six

2011-12-29T04:00:00.000+13:00

Pressies wrapped in play cloths.

Some from rellies down south.

Dana's chocolate cake (destitute gourmet) for morning tea with the grandparents.

Lego time with NanaRobyn.

Dinner out at a Thai restaurant with an engrossing activity book.

Followed by some general tomfoolery on the way home.

and some tree climbing (wearing his new SuperMario learn to tell the time watch).

I can't quite believe that he's six.

christmas traditions - gift wrapping

2011-12-28T13:00:00.000+13:00

Something else new this year... reusable fabric Christmas wrapping. I hate making more rubbish than is necessary. We managed years of washable nappies, use cloth napkins and stopped using paper towels last year, so why not fabric gift wrap? I sewed up a few bags (some with ribbons attached) from bits of fabric and they turned out really well. Maybe I'll get some more Christmas fabric from Spotlight when it's on sale (surely that's soon?) and do a few more for next year.

I found the cute red material for 50 cents at a school fair recently. Love it!

what did you get for christmas?

2011-12-27T17:14:00.000+13:00

so many wonderful presents

this game is seriously fun (and sweaty)

christmas eve in pictures

2011-12-24T20:54:00.002+13:00

christmas traditions - granola

2011-12-24T20:45:00.000+13:00

We started a new tradition today...

making crunchy granola for Christmas breakfast.
It's sticky but delicious in the making.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it. From one of our favourite kids recipe books Salad People.

Doesn't it look delicious? Cherries and almonds yummo.

What are you having for breakfast?

christmas traditions - the gingerbread house

2011-12-24T16:54:00.000+13:00

While I was bed ridden with the flu last week, DaddyB did an awesome job making us a gingerbread house. The boys took some photographs on the wee camera so that I had something to blog...

Best husband ever.

This is how we get our dough to an even thickness.

Great process shots boys!

I was conveniently feeling better by the time it came to decorating.

The toffee roof shingles and windows were B's clever ideas.

Quickly gobbled up on Tuesday by five boys and two mummies.

dinner on the deck

2011-12-23T16:58:00.000+13:00

A few beans and herbs from the garden, lots of other veges, some couscous and chicken kebabs, made a delicious dinner the other night. Our first dinner on the deck this summer, just the boys and I as B was working. Little brother did a lot of the cooking too. Harvesting, washing, cutting, and serving (for some reason wearing 8 pairs of underpants!).

My crazy wee loves.

My favourite beer. Yummo!

things I'm loving

2011-12-22T17:13:00.003+13:00

Loving nature... he spent his savings on this bird feeder and bird seed from the garden centre.

Loving doing kid swaps so that us mummies get to go to the gym at least once a week during the holidays.

Loving big boys who still happily play fairy princesses.

Loving my mother in laws old Tupperware (I got a matching yellow one at the op shop yesterday).

I got this sprouter (I hope!) for $3 from the op shop too. I'm giving it a go but the sprouts seem to be under quite a bit of water. Does anyone have one of these?

Loving helpers.

Loving almost six year olds who take a nap sometimes...

even if a bath is needed afterwards.

holidays!

2011-12-19T13:53:00.000+13:00

Off to a good start this morning with a trip to the Domain for lots of exploring and photo taking. Now I'm exhausted (still groggy from the flu) and need a lie down. Will blog them later I promise...

2011-12-17T12:01:00.001+13:00

I've hardly left the couch or my bed since Tuesday night, it's miserable. My brain is only slowly coming back so no blogging either. Gutted to have wasted my last three childless days on sleeping and sweating. I plan to be on form next week and doing some nice things with the boys. B made the gingerbread for the house yesterday and the boys photographed it for the blog so at least I can post that. Better go lie down again now, feeling woozy.

Check out last years house baking here...

http://growingkiwis.blogspot.com/2010/12/baking-house.html

christmas is in the air

2011-12-10T19:47:00.001+13:00

It was Christmas in the Park dress rehearsal night on Friday. We took a picnic tea (Nana and Poppa were here too) and stayed just till it was dark. We've never been to the actual night with the kids. It's just too crowded and noisy. Even the rehearsal was pretty loud but at least there was plenty of room for dancing. Both boys jumped up when the music came on and unselfconsciously danced like mad things. Gorgeous.

The rides were free thanks to Coca Cola having their staff function there that night. Yeeha.

Sometimes little people get a bit carried away and need a wee telling off.

Franklin Road lights from a moving vehicle isn't quite the same as walking it.

But still very pretty.

For me the hi light of the evening was the Motat Christmas lights. We drank mulled wine (very European) and listened to a group of carollers in the Victorian village. It was very sweet and subdued after the noise and bright lights of the Auckland Domain. The blacksmith was doing his thing and the boys got to make their own lollies ($2.50 each), and play some old fashioned games.

I'd really recommend the Motat thing if you want something festive without all of the craziness that is about. Gold coin entry which goes to local charities to buy Christmas presents for kids. Lovely.

lego party madness

2011-12-10T19:03:00.001+13:00

We had the soon to be six year old's birthday party this morning and it was actually surprisingly cruisey. I tend to get a bit stressed out before parties, decorations to do, food to organise, so much to get done, the house is too dirty etc. Once the kids were here though it was great.

They happily played with the lego for about half an hour and made cars which were raced down a ramp in the hall. The car which went the furthest won a prize.

The octopus cannon car also won for creativity.

Pass the parcel.

Party poppers.

Noise makers.

And of course the cake.

party prep

2011-12-09T14:17:00.001+13:00

Chocolates done, they're so cute!

Colouring books (easy download via scribid here) printed.

Bubbles getting new labels.

Cake halfway done.

Still need to decorate with some balloons and streamers and package up those minifigure choccies.

tech help

2011-12-06T14:09:00.001+13:00

this is the man who fixed the blog

he is awesome and I love him!

Now all of the photos I have ever blogged are public... is that a bad thing?

It didn't work when I fiddled with it but somehow B got this thing working again.

I am so relieved and grateful. Sorry for the drama.

gutted

2011-12-06T13:01:00.001+13:00

Turns out my blog is permanently busted. The images that is, which is really all I'm about anyway. The photos still exist but to enable you guys to see them I will have to manually link back to each image I've posted in the past year. That's around 900 images and I can only imagine how many hours it would take to fix. So yeah I'm gutted. I had been making a blog book but as I've been doing it for 5+ years I was a long way off getting to 2011. It's all quite depressing really.

So in order not to destroy your blog like I did please follow these important steps...

Never change your Picasa album settings from Public.
Back up your blog/keep a regular copy of it.

I'll probably remove all of the broken blog posts and I'll post here if I start a new blog sometime.

In the meantime here are some old never blogged photos.

Camping and toasting marshmallows at Martin's Bay.

Dinner in the bath always goes down a treat.

Love Halloween, giggles and my mincer attachment.

Not sure when I'll be back but it's been lovely.
Meg x

things I'm loving

2011-11-29T10:17:00.000+13:00

We had a great weekend with NanaRobyn and Grandpa coming to stay. They were only here three nights but we had a lovely time and got so much done! I'm almost done with the living room repainting (one lot of window sills to go) and look what B and his Dad made for us...

They made us this wonderful outdoor dining table at the weekend. From a door B bought on trademe. We ate our roast mutton (from the farm) dinner on it with NanaRobyn and Grandpa and it was fantastic. No more sitting with your plate on your lap in the backyard yay!

Afternoon tea was eaten there today too (just without the table cloth and wine).

I made these neighbour gifts after being inspired by Your Home and Garden magazine.

I loved watching the boys decorate their tree with Nana at the weekend. We got a larger (fake) tree a year ago and so the little one became the boys' tree. We let them choose a new decoration every year and they're got a pretty big collection now. I like the idea that one day they'll be showing them to my grand kids (fingers crossed).

Big brother chose one to remind him of GG this year and little brother chose the angel.

He's loving making chocolate Lego Minifigures for his upcoming 6th birthday party. NanaD and Poppa brought the ice cube tray in a Lego store overseas and it's perfect for chocolates.

athletics

2011-11-28T21:28:00.001+13:00

Next year I'll be gong to two different athletics days... junior and middle school. I'm trying to ignore the fact that my blog may be permanently busted and just post some new photos. Busy and tired though.

sorry

2011-11-26T08:23:00.001+13:00

So I changed the privacy settings on my online photo album, changed them back again and still no photos on the blog. It's so annoying! Any suggestions or ideas on how to repair it would be welcome.

I'm in bed blogging from my cell phone. Technology is awesome. I might even find a photo to add from my phone...

is my blog broken?

2011-11-24T18:42:00.000+13:00

On my computer most of the images (and the header) on my blog are just big black squares with white circles and minus signs. Oh dear. Please leave me a comment and let me know if you can see my pictures!

dairy free cream (easy and cheap)

2011-11-24T06:43:00.001+13:00

1. Put a can of coconut milk or cream in the fridge for a few hours.

2. Chill your beaters and a metal mixing bowl too.

3. Open the can and scoop out all of the solid coconut cream. You can use the remaining liquid in a smoothie or something else but the solid stuff is what you'll whip up.

4. Beat it till it's like whipped cream (I added 1T of icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla).

Oh yeah this stuff is really, really good. It'll be going on the pavalova at Christmas this year. It stayed thick and creamy for a couple of days (till we gobbled it all up). I'm not sure that it'd be any healthier than cream from a cow but we can all eat it and that's amazing!

this moment

2011-11-19T10:15:00.000+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thanks SouleMama for the inspiration.

things I'm loving

2011-11-18T11:22:00.000+13:00

Getting some Christmas things under way in the hope that there won't be too much to organise in December.

I adore that this wee guy is loving reading. He's so keen to get stuck in each afternoon and has stormed up through the levels in his first year at school. I think books are just in our blood.

Loving having finally painted our living room after more than ten years living with grubby looking walls. It's so clean! Also pleased that I took the neighbour's advice to ditch the ugly glass light shades on the old chandelier. One was broken anyway and I've never liked them. I don't love it now either but it's a big improvement. Once we get our things back on the walls it'll be lovely.

Finally on the domestic front I'm loving using the washing line in the car port. I've been avoiding it all winter but really it's such a good option for the unpredictable Auckland weather. I even sewed myself a peg apron from an old op shop skirt that I bought purely for the fabric.

after school snacking

2011-11-17T10:00:00.000+13:00

Milk, cookies and apple for afternoon tea today before we headed out for some kite flying.

Yummy oatmeal and raisin ones from Smitten Kitchen (such a cute name). I love the Internet.

Someone didn't want to share. No this shot is not set up.

So greedy (and cheesy).

The boys agreed that the neighbours might like to try some.

We're still doing our intentional acts of kindness but we haven't made it once a week like we had planned to at the start of the year. I wish I'd kept a proper record. Maybe next year?

gratitude

2011-11-16T05:48:00.000+13:00

At dinner we were talking about what we're grateful for. It's a thing we usually do and frequently I'm surprised and delighted by what the boys come up with. Sometimes we say what the best or worst part of our day was, but usually it's just nice to be thankful. Thankful to daddyB for working to earn money, thankful for the people who grew the produce on our plates or the animals that died for our dinner, and we always thank the cook (usually me).

Tonight big brother was thankful for his little brother... and the berry crumble that he'd made for pudding.

Little brother said "I'm grateful for mama for being our big home worker."
I had to write it down immediately, it's so nice to be appreciated by a five year old! I've been reminded this week how much they need me around and how little they still are. I'm grateful that I can be a stay at home mum, even now that they're both at school.

I do struggle with feeling like it's not enough, like I should find work outside the home to make me a proper contributing member of society or something. Simultaneously I feel like what I do is so important and I wouldn't particularly want to entrust the care of our two lovelies to someone else.

Being at home means that I have time to bake bread, I can do regular parent help (I get to know the boys' classmates), I can be there for school events and pick them up each afternoon. It also means B can work his long hours without the stress of finding a babysitter for the boys. I never get bored at home but sometimes a little lonely if I don't make an effort to get out. Having no extended family nearby is hard going, I imagine having a Nana or Aunty to call on would be amazing. There are things I could find to grizzle about but really why bother? Life is what you make it after all and ours is pretty sweet.

What are you grateful for today?

Leave me a comment, I'd love to know. x

free stuff for families: the gardens

2011-11-14T10:55:00.000+13:00

Being a single income family I'm always on the lookout for cool free stuff to do and we really have such a wealth of options here in Auckland. Perhaps I might blog about it a bit more as I know lots of friends/other bloggy mummies are in the same boat.

Sculpture in the Gardens is on until the 12th of February 2012. If you go on a Sunday there is live music from 11:30 - 2:30. Sadly we just missed it when we went but we had a lovely afternoon there. Next time we'll take a picnic and maybe a ball to kick around.

If you have kids make sure to check out the Potter Children's Garden while you're there. It is awesome and has expanded a lot since we last visited.

this moment

2011-11-12T07:45:00.000+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thanks SouleMama for the inspiration.

halloween disco

2011-11-11T21:51:00.001+13:00

I took the boys to the school disco tonight, a belated Halloween affair. I dressed up as Pippi Longstocking.

Grrrrrr argh!!

Didn't get a photo of my odd stripy socks but got one of the boys to get my pigtails.

things I'm loving

2011-11-10T11:11:00.000+13:00

Wookie Cookies from this Star Wars Cookbook. Cinnamon and chocolate chips.

Be warned they are very yummy!

The toadstool fabric which I sewed into a monitor cover.

This cute badge I got from Plastic Fairy at KraftBomb. I also got this lovely Christmas bunting too.

Thanks R&I for the birthday spending money.

There are many other things but I'm not in a bloggy frame of mind (isn't that a Billy Joel song?) at the moment. I used to feel like I needed to post every day but these days I'm quite okay with my sporadic posting. Another busy week. Thanks for all your lovely comments about GG, we appreciate all of your thoughts and good wishes. I especially love my Aunty Dianne's quote from Prince William "grief is the price we pay for love".

we miss you Nana GG

2011-11-09T11:09:00.000+13:00

Our most dear, lovely Nana passed away early on Saturday. She was 89 years young. We are all missing her but so lucky to have known such a kind, wonderful lady. I am reminded of a quote I saw in the staff room at school... "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." There have been many tears and also lots of talks about the good times we had with her. She was "GG" to all of her great grand children, and Nana to us bigger kids.

She had only been my Nana for 17 years, she adopted me as one of her grandchildren when B and I started going out in our late teens. Or maybe I adopted her? Nana always made me feel so welcome and loved.

She loved to knit for others and made us this wonderful blanket/shawl. It's from such lovely soft wool and was so stretchy and warm for our winter baby back in 2004. We used it daily as she told us that it wasn't to be kept for special occasions. This is the obligatory coming home from the hospital shot.

Whenever we'd go to Christchurch to stay, she'd come up from her home in Geraldine to see us.

A couple of times she even made the long trip up to Auckland to visit. Once we took her to the Sky Tower and to visit my work (TV3), where she got to meet John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld. They both thought Nana was delightful (they told me later).

When the boys were 2 and 3, we went and stayed with her in Geraldine. I went to a conference and GG, B and the boys had lovely times hanging out and playing together. She read to them from her old books and sat and watched while they ran around being silly in her garden. One night we took her out for a pub dinner. I think GG enjoyed the boys even more than her meal. She was always smiling.

I feel so fortunate to have known Joan, she really was a special person. And no I can't write this without crying no matter what that quote says.

"cheeze" cake

2011-11-08T19:32:00.004+13:00

Oh yes.

No cheese in this cake but plenty of "cheeze".

Delicious raw food cake from Huckleberry Farms.

things I'm loving

2011-11-04T18:33:00.002+13:00

I'm loving that the little guy is into sewing. It started as a way to keep him busy while big brother had a friend over to play, and he really likes it.

Soaking and cooking chickpeas, freezing some and making roast pumpkin hummus with the rest. The bread rising always makes me happy too. Although lately it's rising too fast! Maybe it needs popping in the fridge?

Chocolate black bean brownies. Gluten free, dairy free and seriously delicious, you won't know the beans are in there. I've seen them around before but I used this recipe from My Darling Lemon Thyme.

Loving it when the loaf turns out this beautiful... trust me it doesn't always,
especially not lately with the super fast rising.

I love these corn lollies that a friend brought us from Martha's backyard. They remind me so much of living in California when I was seven, yummy high fructose corn syrup (ick).

Loving not being a professional photographer so I can happily share average cell photos on my blog.

Little brother spent a whole hour stamping paper for his friend's birthday wrapping paper.

While big brother spent the same hour typing his story about an evil pumpkin.

Loving random holiday photos that I'd forgotten about. At the Huka falls.

If you're in Auckland tomorrow you'll be loving this amazing school fair.

It's seriously a wonderful family time. We'll be going early.

tent time

2011-11-03T22:47:00.003+13:00

Today's play cloth invention was a hut of sorts. Apparently a castle.

The king and princess were in the tent and their servant made food down the end.

It's always nice to see the old tea set getting some use.

Much giggling from the royals.

And just to show that I'm really not superwoman here is some unedited mess.

The boys need some more shelving!

Dirty dishes oh what fun.

Stacks of stuff on the dining table. It's still there now (10:48pm) and a whole heap of folded washing too. I'd better go and clear some space for breakfast. Actually I think I'll do it tomorrow.

Our sweet dishwasher emptier.

happy halloween

2011-10-31T02:00:00.000+13:00

I love all things spooky and supernatural and so I love Halloween. Not the annoying trick or treating part but the costumes. When else is it acceptable to dress up like zombies and vampires and walk the streets mumbling and groaning? Having said that, these ones were very last minute. We headed to Motat for Olde Hallows Eve and it was great fun. They had ghostly horse and carriage rides, coloured lights, fog machines, face painting, actors in Victorian garb and free freaky photos (yes that's B's head posing with us). For the late night visitors (we left around half eight) they also had a steampunk band playing. It was a good free night out.

eggs

2011-10-25T22:50:00.000+13:00

One of the favourite things to do was collecting eggs on the farm.

I wish we had the room to have chickens like these lovely ladies.

down on the farm

2011-10-24T03:00:00.000+13:00

There are many stories but I'd rather just share the photos I took while we away. The kids were out every day doing/watching farming things, shearing, riding, eeling, hunting rabbits, rounding up stock, collecting eggs, spotlighting, fishing...

The boys loved the horses.

I'm amazed how these two look so alike in this photo. Her mum and I are first cousins but we don't look alike at all. I'm not sure what relation the kids are officially but we just call them cousins, keeps it simple that way. They got on brilliantly.

There was a fair bit of farm biking involved (with helmets). Check out the city kid gumboots!

rotovegas

2011-10-23T07:00:00.000+13:00

We found some pools of bubbling mud and the jury was out on the stench.

"Ewwwww this is the most disgusting smell in the world" (M7)

"This is the best smell ever! I love it!" (R5)

On our way South we stayed overnight in (smelly) Rotorua and it was really great. Our fancy motel (a tiny step up from a youth hostel), had it's own spa which the kids thought was awesome. We managed three swims that afternoon!

Our first was in the natural hot river near Wai-O-Tapu, the second in the boiling hot mineral pools at the motel and the third in the spa above. B and I were introduced to the hot river when we went to Rotorua many years ago. Back then we stayed at the YHA and spent our money on an amazing day tour... which included scree running, a bbq lunch in the bush and a blissful soak in the hot river. Maybe the polynesian spa is nice but you really can't beat the beauty of nature. Bliss.

It hadn't occurred to me that the boys have never stayed in a motel/hotel before. I think in the past seven years every one of our family holidays has been to Christchurch or camping. They were pretty excited.

The next morning we headed to the local markets where we bought coffee and the boys had a play. That's also where we found those boiling mud pools fenced off in the park.

Before we left for Masterton we took the gondola up the hill...

and the luge down (a couple of times). It was so much fun.

scenic lookout

2011-10-22T22:48:00.002+13:00

Just a scenic lookout on the way... we live in such a gorgeous country.

we're back

2011-10-20T14:30:00.001+13:00

I know you probably didn't miss us (the beauty of being able to schedule blog posts) but we've spent a lovely week with our farm cousins in the Wairarapa. Such a fantastic time was had by all and us townies got to have a heap of farm experiences. Our kids all got on beautifully (thank goodness) and we look forward to having them all to stay with us sometime soon. I have lots of photos to share but for now here are my favourites of the girls... Mum you can click on the photos to see them bigger.

this moment

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thanks SouleMama

this week I learnt...

2011-10-12T22:09:00.000+13:00

that if a recipe says "shortcrust pastry" it doesn't mean flaky puff pastry.

I didn't know if it would make much difference but it really did. We had to smash holes in the top of the puffed up pastry circles so we could put the jam in. Oops.

Of course the boys still liked them... they'll eat almost anything.

From a cute book the boys brought home from the library.

viva la france

2011-10-10T10:07:00.000+13:00

Sometimes being forced to try somewhere new is a really great thing.

We went to Cosset with Nana and Poppa recently and it was so crowded that we had to go elsewhere (but not before I grabbed a piece of cake for our youngest as most cafes have nothing dairy free).

We've been to Les Pyrenees French deli several times before but had forgotten how good their food is. This delicious eclair was sticky and sweet.

The Cosset coconut slice was pretty great too.

French cuisine is amazing. Just check out these drool worthy desserts.

And of course la fromage (cheese).

Auckland is awesome

2011-10-08T22:02:00.000+13:00

Where else in the country can you go on a class trip and get to touch a three month old crocodile?

Then get to travel on a tiny train with your friends?

And who said crocodiles and bunnies can't happily coexist?

Auckland is so culturally diverse, so different from Christchurch where I grew up. This is our boy and his classmates on their school trip last week. There are boys in his class too but they went on the zoo trip instead (they got to choose). The wee sweetie that he's standing beside is his "girlfriend" he says with a slight blush and a shy smile. It's pretty gorgeous.

thing's we're loving

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000+13:00

Being outdoors and exploring.

Spinning at great speed.

Snuggling with someone lovely and finding animals in the clouds.

A movie during the daytime all by myself... bliss.

mario update

2011-10-04T10:15:00.002+13:00

We heard yesterday that we've made it into the finals of the Wii competition. There's a $10,000 family holiday up for grabs! We should be really excited and motivated to get everyone voting for us... but we're not. We felt really ripped off and angry at the way the competition was set up. We had the most weekly votes but didn't win and spent a lot of time feeling confused and frustrated. Apparently more than one vote per IP address disqualifies those votes. So if two people in the same office or house are voting, then those votes don't count... wasn't specified in the terms and conditions.

Anyway this time we're not going to go hard out. We have a super busy week ahead and although it'd be amazing to win I just don't have the emotional energy required right now. So I'm going to post this once here and on facebook and then let it go. If it's meant to be perhaps something amazing will happen.

It only takes two clicks, no registration required. If you'd like to vote for us please do... and if you were willing to help us out and share this with your friends/family on facebook or your blog then we'd be very grateful too. Thanks for all your support!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR TEAM MARIO

Just remember only one vote per house/office each day till Monday (the 10th).

day in the life of a sicko

2011-10-03T21:22:00.000+13:00

Last Thursday our five year old was really hot... 40 degrees!

He spent most of the day in bed, with Scorch his dragon, some Rainbow Magic books and a few other entertainment devices. I have a Gameboy Micro which the kids get to use when they're sick. The rest of the time it lives in my drawer and gathers dust.

Lovely big brother made him breakfast in bed. His appetite wasn't great (that's when you know he's really sick) so half of his weetbix and banana made it into his berry smoothie later in the day.

Despite not finishing his breakfast, it wasn't too long before a whiteboard message appeared from the sick room...

I sent him a message back...

Alright then.

Banana bran muffin and golden kiwifruit coming right up.

After lunch and a nap he finished Flora the Fancy Dress Fairy and wrote me this message...

So I let him play with fairies for a while.

Saturday the fever had gone but he was still pretty tired. That night though we hardly got any sleep as he had bad pain in his ear and was crying most of the night. It was horrible. Doctor has checked it out and says it's healed up now and hopefully won't need antibiotics. He gave me a script anyway in case it gets worse again.

old cell pix

2011-10-02T15:11:00.000+13:00

Usually I don't blog cell pix but I've discovered a quick easy way to pop borders on them and generally mess about called pixlr-o-matic. I've been downloading them as I might be getting a new phone for my birthday soon. My current one is so unreliable. It likes to switch itself off, delete texts as you're writing them (grrrrrr), and frequently tells me that my SIM registration has failed so I can't receive/make calls/texts.

this moment

2011-10-01T20:04:00.003+13:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Thanks SouleMama

things I'm loving (in the kitchen)

2011-09-29T09:49:00.002+13:00

This week I took a look around my kitchen (probably the place I spend most of my time) and photographed some things I love and am grateful for...

Our wee alphabet cutters are so cute.

I'm in love with my red thermos jug ($6 Red Cross find) which keeps a litre of water hot all day for cups of tea.

The salt pig given to me by a friend who had two, and the wee wooden spoon from an op shop.

The lentil sprouts on the bench, so quick and delicious.

I really like using our new water filter jug and the sturdy Agee jars the boys drink from. Visiting kids often think it's a bit weird to drink from a jar. I picked up a whole heap of them at a market once and it reminds me of drinking hot chocolate at Java cafe when we were teenagers. I don't know if Java survived the quake.

Most of all I love my sous chefs, here one is making sushi vinegar, using a cute spoon from NanaRobyn. If you make your own sushi please don't use that ready made sushi vinegar, it has high fructose corn syrup in it which is really bad for you. The recipe we use is really easy. For 2 cups of uncooked sushi rice (I cook that part in my rice cooker) you'll need...

1 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Heat in a saucepan over a low heat till sugar dissolves. Do not microwave, trust me it doesn't work. Mix into warm rice and cool before making your sushi.

If you want your own heart spoons you can get them here.

bush walk

2011-09-26T11:39:00.000+13:00

Wasn't Saturday lovely? DaddyB took a much needed day off and we headed West to the Waitakeres stopping on the way to pick up a picnic lunch.

Little brother really impressed me at the supermarket, insisting that he get to read the ingredients on the bread rolls and chips. It made me realise than someday it will be his responsibility, not mine, to make sure only safe (dairy free) food goes in his mouth. That was quite a revelation.

We took the walkie talkies (so much fun for playing hide and seek in the trees) and the boys wore their adventure bags containing magnifying glasses and big brother's pocket knife. Little brother was understandably envious and is looking forward to turning six so he can have one of his very own.

I spied this week green gecko in the grass and we had a lovely time checking him out. Despite his initial apprehension even big brother bravely had a hold.

Happy trails.

Added note about B's tattoos:

He has three tattoos. One of each boy's hand print taken when they were a few days old.

And the third one is for me. An ambigram that he designed (that means it can be read both ways). It has red hearts and white stars in it too.

things I'm loving

2011-09-24T08:57:00.000+12:00

I'm loving the amazing pancake breakfast in bed I was given last weekend and those awesome Ikea animal cookie cutters that Mum and Dad brought me back from Sweden.

Loving our little magician and Jedi (can you spot his lightsaber?).

So pleased that they're still into dress ups and imaginary play.

The magnetic poetry beanstalk that has sprouted on the fridge makes me smile.

I love that leftovers can be transformed into something completely different with a bit of pastry.

The rainy day box, perfect for a wet weekend when Daddy B is working.

These spring flowers were a gift from lovely friends who came for the opening of the World Cup. I adore spring flowers but have never sussed out how to grow them in my garden.

Loving having a lie in on the weekend and a great book to read, I need to get myself book three now.

I adore the painting of our wedding vows that B did me for my 30th birthday, even when I see all this mess that I'll need to tidy up later on. Oops.

I love eggs.

scared

2011-09-23T18:22:00.002+12:00

I don't know if I should blog this or not... something happened last week which has shaken me up in a big way. We're all fine but B and I witnessed a violent crime in the middle of the night and now I don't feel safe in our home. The man responsible is not in custody and lives nearby. The kids slept through the whole thing thank goodness and have no idea, but now I'm really jittery and any noise in the street or someone shouting freaks me out.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this except to just let you guys know why I haven't been doing much blogging except for the fiasco which was/is the Nintnedo Wii competition. I was super angry about that but now am not sure I have the energy to pursue anything. Legally we can't fight them and they'd just rather we went away I'm sure. I'm just so annoyed that we, and everyone who supported us, were used by the company. We still love our Wii and Mario, but not the Nintendo Australia marketing department.

If you feel like complaining to them Dean is the guy I've been talking to 0800 743 056. Office hours 11am-

7pm NZ time. Team Mario is our entry name.

two posts in a day!

2011-09-20T20:40:00.003+12:00

Took the point and shoot to the beach this afternoon. It was windy!

The boys and I had a really great time at the beach. Sometimes after the grandparents leave we have a really rough couple of days, especially after school. So a wee trip to the beach helped them as well as me. I felt much calmer and at peace with the world afterwards. I'm quite keen to get these Nintendo marketing people sorted out so that other families don't have to go through all of the effort, excitement and ultimate disappointment that we've been through in the past few days. I'm sure it has already happened to others and will continue to do so if we don't step up and force the issue.

coming up for air

2011-09-20T14:46:00.001+12:00

First up thanks for all the votes guys! We got the most which should have seen us be the weekly winner. Long annoying story... we're not. It's all very complicated and apparently involves "fraudulent votes"... which may mean someone did something to their computer (like what??) or maybe that people voted more than once from an IP address or perhaps something else altogether? Really who knows? The whole thing stinks and doesn't make much sense at all.

We're feeling really gutted and annoyed that we asked so many friends to help us and it was just a big waste of their time and our time. A lot of unfulfilled expectations going on. I'm also sure that we're not alone in this, that there are other families in exactly the same boat, who got masses of votes and then for some reason missed out.

So I'm going to get my boys from school and head to the beach. Perhaps with some winter hats because it's blowing a gale and I still have sore ears from my head cold two weeks ago.

I'm hoping the sea air will blow all these grumpy feelings away.
Missing my Mum and Dad already (in these photos) and they only left this morning.

I had these images saved to do a post about the beach sometime but never quite got there. We're not much of a beach going family but when we get there we love it (as long as it's not too hot or crowded!).

why not...

2011-09-18T20:29:00.001+12:00

This week why not try something new with your kids...

Tape them together with sticky tape and see how long it takes them to escape.

Let them unscrew old electronics and do some tinkering.

Teach them how to use tools, the real ones.

Go camping in your backyard.

Get the kids working in the garden, whatever your garden may be.

They can fertilise it (with stinky worm tea)...

or harvest the produce (the best bit).

this moment

2011-09-16T14:10:00.000+12:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Thanks SouleMama

things I'm loving

2011-09-15T11:12:00.001+12:00

Right now I'm loving all of you for voting for us!

We currently are sitting on 622 votes this week, so I think we're leading.

I'm also loving...

that it's still cold enough for boots.

Having my parents staying for the week.

My new hair clips and earrings.

I blogged too soon

2011-09-13T14:57:00.000+12:00

DaddyB said...

Competitions not over people! Keep clicking! :D Please... pretty pretty please... I wanna ride the roller coasters and hug Mickey Mouse again! or was it Snow White ;)

Here's the link

It'll only take you two clicks. I've put the link in the sidebar too in case you lose this one.

THANKYOU!

game over

2011-09-12T06:47:00.000+12:00

Thanks so much for all your votes, we got more than 400!! We were feeling pretty great about that until we noticed that another family have over 1000. Oh well I think it's more of a popularity contest than anything else isn't it? If it'd been for the best Mario box popping game I'm sure we'd have it. I've been sick all of last week which has not been fun. No blogging and no photos taken either.

Four lovely friends came to stay for the weekend (from Christchurch and Australia). They were here for the Rugby World Cup and luckily chose to walk to the game rather than take the train. Thank goodness! How gutting would that have been to have spent all that money and looked forward to it for so long, to be stuck on a train and miss the game? These friends are old family friends and it really was just like having family to stay. The boys loved having an extra Nana and Poppa around for a couple of days.

Perhaps due to the Wii competition we've been playing on ours a bit more than usual. The boys only get to play on the weekends (for about an hour if they're lucky) but once they were in bed on Saturday the grown ups had a great time on it. We often have friends over to play board games but hadn't really thought about doing multi player video games. It was really funny. We played Raving Rabbids which we bought from nzgameshop. If you're into video games at all it is a really cheap way to buy them (often cheaper than trademe) and they deliver really quickly too.

The other thing I've been using the Wii for is exercise. I got this game which comes with a heart rate monitor and motion sensors. They call it "a personal trainer in a box" and it's actually a really decent workout. If you buy it though I'd recommend not using the resistance band the first couple of times. I hurt after that!

Anyway I'd better get myself organised for the day, it is Monday after all and we have more visitors coming from Christchurch tomorrow. Yay!!

disney dreaming...

2011-09-05T17:34:00.001+12:00

Hello amazing blog readers.

B and I would love to take the boys to Disneyland but obviously it's super expensive... you could help us get there for free if you vote for us this week on the Nintendo Wii page. Pretty please.

You can vote once every day this week, so click away and we'll see if we can give the kids a trip of a lifetime. Thanks so much!!!

Big love

M, B and the boys.

Click here to vote it won't cost you a thing.

encouraging writing

2011-09-04T21:22:00.000+12:00

I've been thinking a lot about learning lately. How kids learn and how to encourage it. Partially because a teacher recently asked me "what did you do?" (to turn out such clever boys). I guess we did do quite a lot of learning things when the boys were preschoolers but not really formal stuff like reading and writing lessons. Mostly it was about following their interests and doing fun things. Exposing them to a wide variety of experiences and joining in doing things with me (like cooking and gardening). And talking, always talking, and reading heaps of books. I had a friend who taught new entrants and she emphasised to me the importance of kids knowing the letter sounds rather than the letter names which I would never have thought of myself. Just in case you have a kid whose almost school age it was quite a handy tip.

One of the ways I have encouraged the boys to write is by sewing them these "letter satchels" (from Soule Mama's Handmade Home) for their correspondence. Sometimes we sit down and write to grandparents, cousins and friends. Both boys love having the old replies and postcards to reread "I'm just rewinding my memories" my 7 year old told me after reading them one day. So sweet.

Another thing they like is to write on post it notes and stick them on things. Or reminder notes to stick on the fridge. Our perfectionist child wouldn't write anything for a long time because he hated making mistakes. He has no problem with it any more but for a while I gave him stickers to cover up any errors. It seemed to make him way less inclined to screw up the whole thing and have a melt down.

The note writing thing worked well for him because to write a little "muffins for the zoo" note on the fridge was much less threatening than a letter or a story. They've also enjoyed writing menus and shopping lists and lists of toys they'd like!!

If you're wanting more ideas to encourage your kids writing try these sites...

Playful Learning and The Write Start

Some old blog posts of mine about writing

vet

2011-09-04T09:54:00.003+12:00

Horse got bandaged up.

Teddy had some medicine (in the eye?).

Frog had doctor's orders to get a good nights sleep.

Big brother had a nice time playing vet with the doctors kit when we got it out of storage the other day. I had printed out some prescription papers and hey were well used by our vet,
I came back later to discover this cuteness...

Prescription papers and other writing templates are free to download from The Write Start.

this moment

2011-09-03T09:00:00.000+12:00

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Thanks SouleMama for the inspiration.

what do you play?

2011-09-02T08:00:00.000+12:00

Recent op shop purchase for $1! I love games with wooden components.

Especially when they're super cheap and have all the pieces.

Little chef and friend playing one of our favourite family games "Hey! That's My Fish" (recommend this one).

Just to show that we've always been a gaming family I discovered these old photos lurking in the dusty depths of the computer...

Here we are playing Carcassonne. If you don't own this game why not? It's only $42 for years of family enjoyment. It works great as a two player game too. Up to 5 people can play and you can get an expansion pack with more tiles and another set of guys, so six people can play. The wee guy wasn't actually playing the game with us, just with his own stack of people, but these days we do all play it together. Everyone that we've introduced this game to has gone and bought it.

I really want to copy this idea to display some of our games.

Does your family play games? What are your favourites?

spring at last

2011-09-01T01:33:00.000+12:00

Officially today is the first day of spring.

We're all looking forward to some sunshine and swimming...

and I'm loving all the spring flowers.

works for me wednesday

2011-08-31T18:30:00.001+12:00

We are weekly library visitors and each of us having our own book bags works for us. It limits the number of their books I have to carry and (mostly) restricts them to the ones they can fit. Auntie(s) Katie and Charlotte made awesome bags for the boys a few years ago but they've finally given up. So I went though my fabric bits and pieces and sewed up these easy tote bags (the same pattern as my one) adding a little pocket for their library cards. I would have used zips but I haven't faced that sewing fear yet... I keep promising myself I will.

I've told the boys to put the books back in their bags when they've read them so that we know which ones are ready to go back. So far so good.

dairy free

2011-08-30T20:42:00.000+12:00

It has occurred to me that most of my recent blog posts are food related. Well here's another one. Just a few pix of the little chef making pizza. I'm still a little nervous with him using the adult knives (he is five) so I stay within hovering distance. We made biscuits at the weekend and I realised why things don't taste quite as good as I remember them growing up... it's the butter. Or to be accurate the lack of butter.

I wish sometimes I could use butter and cream and condensed milk in my baking. Condensed milk is oh so delicious! I remember eating it straight from a can with my friend Annabel when we camped in her back yard as kids. It was our midnight feast and I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to be having it. Oh those condensed milk memories. Mmmmmmmmm.

switch off sunday

2011-08-29T20:40:00.000+12:00

Daddy B was away on a boys weekend (fishing) and so we found ways to keep busy without him. Little chef made up a batch of pancakes. We poured the mixture into squeezable bottles (actually designed for icing) and the boys took turns making pancake shapes in a hot pan. Do you use cast iron? For a weird reason I felt like maybe everybody did, wondering if it's just us now. They're heavy and take a bit of looking after but last forever and are pretty much non stick.

They were awesome at taking turns and helping each other out.

The downside of letting the boys cook is that they sometimes have to learn through making mistakes. Ouch!

The trick to getting faces to appear is to pipe/draw the features first, then the outline and then fill in the space in between. That way the first bits are a little bit more cooked than the last bits. Here's the recipe we use (click on it) for a super easy pancake mix that we keep in the pantry.

Little chef cut up the fruit and plated the dishes (teehee).

The pancakes were gobbled up lickety split.

Here are our favourite books about pancakes...

this moment

2011-08-26T19:28:00.001+12:00

works for me wednesday

2011-08-24T07:16:00.019+12:00

Can you figure out what's going on here?

This empty tin can is what allows us (as grown ups) to watch our favourite TV programmes such as True Blood (vampires), Dexter (serial killer) and The Walking Dead (zombies) without risking the innocence of our sweeties. When the can clangs to the floor we pause the programme and go and see who needs assistance. I really wouldn't feel okay with watching these programmes otherwise, as the boys could sneakily see the television without us knowing. Must protect the children!

once again... allergy allert!!

2011-08-23T14:47:00.000+12:00

Just another warning about Pope Jam... I wrote this post last year and had been assured by NZFSA that they were getting it sorted... ie that the extremely dodgy Pope Jam would need to include "butter" on their ingredients list. I found it in the supermarket yesterday "NEW PRODUCT" proclaimed the sign. It is labelled exactly the same as last year.... grrrrr makes me so mad. I have had so many conversations and emails to sort this over the past year and Mr Owen Pope has done absolutely nothing. I could go into much more nasty detail but I will hold my tongue, email NZFSA again and see what they're going to do. Kinda tempted to give Fair Go or Campbell Live a call... here's my old post anyway.

Okay so I'm a label reader. It goes with the territory when you have a kid with a serious food allergy. So when I fed this raspberry jam to our four year old recently I checked the ingredients. Raspberry and sugar, sweet, no dairy in that... or so I thought (cue ominous music). He had a number of pikelets with jam for afternoon tea and then didn't feel like his dinner (not like him, he usually is asking for seconds and thirds!). Later that night I found him asleep in a bed covered with vomit, oh lovely. Anyway a couple of days later I notice that on the top of the jam it mentions that it's made with a "knob of butter"! Now I can't tell if that's what caused R to throw up or not that night. There's no way to tell without trying it again... which we won't be doing in case he has a much worse reaction. Bloody sneaky labelling if you ask me. Not impressed with Pope Jam.

octopus for dinner!

2011-08-21T21:25:00.001+12:00

DaddyB went fishing today and came home with this suction cup covered beast... for our dinner!

We were all fascinated how the suckers still sucked long after it was dead. It was weird and freaky.

It was very, very chewy at first after B had cooked it. But after mincing and pan frying it was much yummier (and edible yay!). I think I'm still in shock that the four of us ate it for dinner.

Photos by the awesome photographer DaddyB

baguette

2011-08-21T20:08:00.000+12:00

I'm learning that my sourdough bread can come in many different shapes and sizes.

This one was from last weekend. Tonight's bread is black on top.

Oops.

I should really take a photo of it but I'm feeling kinda lazy,

and cranky too if the truth be told.

I'm going to do two posts though tonight... because I have some crazy photos from today!

our daily bread

2011-08-16T19:42:00.001+12:00

The sourdough is getting better and better...

I'm baking it about three times a week, for sandwiches and toast.

This pathetic looking thing was how we started back in February! Turned out our oven was baking things at 70 degrees higher than it was supposed to. But the purchase of an oven thermometer fixed all of that. I just bought a second tin yesterday too, so I can bake two loaves at once (will save on power). We tried it as baguettes at the weekend and it worked well too. Even back when the bread was looking freakin ugly it still tasted okay (this picture is of the inside of the ugly loaf).

The thing I like best is that this bread has only three ingredients! Flour, water and salt. That's it. I know it takes time to make, but as I'm not in paid employment and both kids are at school, I have time for bread. It makes me feel good too, to be able to nourish my family in such a traditional way. And it's tasty too!

The thing the boys like best is using the bread slicer.

If you're interested in making your own sourdough... this is the book which I used to start with.
Taste - Baking With Flavour
Problem is that the bread is pretty complicated, heaps of steps.

Now I'm making a modified version of this one
River Cottage Sourdough

Let me know if you give it a try... or if you're in Auckland and want some starter :o)

waaaaaaa

2011-08-08T22:40:00.000+12:00

You know if I kept looking I could probably find a few more...

wordless sunday - childhood memory

2011-08-07T19:16:00.001+12:00

2011-08-03T16:45:00.003+12:00

this moment

2011-07-29T11:29:00.001+12:00

the robot

2011-07-28T18:26:00.000+12:00

Here he/she is. Only one piece of tape used (for the eye patch), all the rest is done with makedo. So cool because you can use all the bits again and make something else. The head swivels and the arm moves about with a hinge.

makedo

2011-07-27T17:03:00.000+12:00

A wee blog post from our 7yr old about our robot making at the weekend. We have a new set of makedo, a totally great toy and one I'll be recommending to everyone! It's basically a set of plastic clips, hinges and a saw, that you can use to creatively build anything you like. Sorry that there's no photo of the finished product, it's still on the camera.

It was fun making the robot robot robot!...?

It was very very tricky!

We had to rip some bits and use the saw.

We poked holes with the end of the saw and joined bits of box to our robot.

We used hinges for the robot arms.

holiday visitors

2011-07-25T10:35:00.002+12:00

Working together on a welcome sign for their Aunty and Uncle, visiting from Christchurch.

Then waiting ...

and waiting.

When they finally arrived they were led on a treasure hunt all over the house (including into the fridge).

Their mission, to find the letters of Uncle Wayne's name and then follow them to their bedroom.

The boys were extra excited that the iTouch had come for the visit too (Angry Birds anyone?).

wordless sunday - liquid

2011-07-24T15:45:00.003+12:00

this moment

2011-07-22T17:35:00.001+12:00

2011-07-19T15:49:00.000+12:00

2011-07-18T22:32:00.003+12:00

I've been reading some photo blogs recently which are mostly photos with a caption here and there... perhaps it's the way of the future? I like it a lot. http://lilawashere.com/ is particularly divine and I've totally copied by using dates and times on my pictures today. I'm thinking of maybe getting all my (years of) blogging printed into some books and then taking down the old posts. It seems a bit weird leaving thousands of photos online and stories about my boys lives for anyone and everyone to see... what do you think?

wordless sunday - motion

2011-07-17T20:21:00.001+12:00

So I totally cheated and posted old pictures today sorry. I didn't realise about the "theme" for Wordless Sunday until it was already dark out. So here are two old photos. One from years back (taken with the awesome photographer Lisa) which I still love. And a recent one from the bike park. We're all over our cold/flus thank goodness and managed to avoid the tummy bug that seems to be doing the rounds. I'm pretty glad that the school holidays are finally here. I won't promise anything but I'm thinking a bit more photography and blogging may be in order. We have a few plans for outings and the boys want to do some stuff with their new stash of stationery from Smiggle.

Oh and tips for getting the motion blur shots like these, one's with a relatively sharp subject and a blurred moving background.... read this, they explain it really well.

Haha I just realised this is not at all wordless. Oops! Maybe next time.