Monday, January 31, 2011

HOW CUTE ARE THESE THEN?





ABOVE:   the change mat is a generous size... I wanted it to be big enough for a baby for a long time...


ABOVE:  all my hard work yesterday resulted in these... a Funky Nappy Bag with matching Change Mat.  AND the mat has a plastic/rubber type of inner so it's waterproof!  It took me ages to make the mat... cos I quilted it all too.  And I only had a small amount of the fabrics, so I think I did well to get it done using what I had.

Stew's back at work today ...whoops, no he's not!  It's Auckland Anniversary Day! ... and I am on the 'count down' until the kids go back to school... 3 MORE SLEEPS!  I suppose I should check out their uniforms and make sure they still fit... bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

*waves*.. HI!  we didn't stay home as expected... we went to Hamilton for the day.... firstly to pick up a T-shirt for Blondie in Taupo and secondly to visit the girls.

We had a lovely day... lunch at Chartwell Square with Kelly and Rena then over to see Amanda and Andrew... I must show you Amanda's belly!



ABOVE:  she has only 3 weeks to go and she's HUGE!  But the baby is only expected to be around 7-8 pounds.  Phew.... still a big belly.  She is at the "I'm totally over it" stage... poor girl.

I took a photo of Kelly and Rena too... Rena had a new haircut.  It took my breath away... and Stew's .... will show you tomorrow! 

It was a tiresome trip home... we literally crawled for over half the time... holiday traffic was diabolical.

Off to bath Coco now, she was sick last night and stinks something awful.  *sigh*

End of Day: another week about to start... a GREAT week... three more sleeps...
DIET: so-so today.
nite nite.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

'WORKING TODAY'....

I'm off to Spotlight first thing this morning... I didn't get around to going yesterday and I really MUST GO and get a few things so I can get an order done before next saturday.

It's a 'stay open bag' and a baby change mat for my neighbour.  She's off to a baby shower next weekend and her gift is a nappy bag and change mat.

I'm rather chuffed she asked me to make them... so now I really must get me arse into gear and do it!

The weather is much nicer today by the look of it... which means Stew can mow the lawns, they are up to our knees well almost!  lol, and the kids can play in their splash pool.

If they are busy I won't feel bad by sewing all day....

ONWARD....

Wow would ya look at the time!  I've been sewing solidly since 10am... I've made the change mat and now I'm working on the bag.

Stew, the Darling, has done the washing, fed the kids, mown the lawns, cleaned both cars and is now off buying more Diet Coke, cos we are down to the last bottle and I'm getting the jitters!!!!   lol

ABOVE:  this is what I started with this morning... and you will have to wait until tomorrow to see what I did with it!

END OF DAY:  I'm stuffed.  Been working on bag and change mat all day, happy to say I have finished it.  Yaaaa... now where's me lunch!   (yeah, it's 10.30 pm and I forgot me lunch AND dinner)
DIET: much better today obviously!
nite nite.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

ONE HAPPY BOY

Our son Steve was here for his Dad's Birthday three weeks ago, when he left he told Griffin he would send him some of his old clothes.  Griffin loves wearing Steve's clothes you see....

so... for the past three weeks Griffin has been running out to the letterbox after lunch to see if his parcel from Steve had arrived... well yesterday it finally did!







ABOVE:  as you can see he was really, really happy... and he changed right there and then into some of his Uncle's clothes.  Now those yellow shorts I'm sure I bought for Steve when he was about 16....  7 years ago!   It looks weird having Griffin wear them now.... AND he's only just turned 9! (funny what makes some kids happy eh? And rather sweet)

THANK YOU Steve for sending the boy some of your hand-me-downs.  Do let me know if you need more clothes now!

Today?  Ikkkkk... wet again.  Hopefully it will get a bit nicer by tomorrow.  We have had quite enough rain thank you very much!
I have to go out and get a few things to make another bag and baby change mat for my neighbour... and some mozzie repellents!  I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.  

ONWARD....

Grocery shopping... DONE
Lunch... DONE
Off to look at another house shortly.....

End of Day:  and I've fallen in love with another house!   It's in the next suburb over from our's.... it's a 100 year old villa... 6 bedrooms, 2 living areas, a TO DIE FOR kitchen... so now we have to wait before deciding what to do... as there are whisperings in the air of something else.  That is all I can say for now. 
DIET: FAIL today.
nite nite.

Friday, January 28, 2011

YEAH... I LOVE BUMS

 ABOVE:  Zebra bums.... don't they look lovely?  ha ha ha  My Sister-in-Law took lots of photos yesterday while she had the kids at the Zoo...

 ABOVE:   I had the devil of a time getting Griffin to agree to be THIS CLOSE to his sister for a nice photo ....the little shit! 
But, I did get one good shot.


 ABOVE: awesome shots of the tiger...

 ABOVE:  I thought the composition of this shot was just awesome... I particularly love the way the tree branch frames the picture at the top.

 ABOVE:  this is where the kids ran into Lynda, feeding the Giraffe's. 

 ABOVE:  my FAVOURITE animals!   I love them.

 ABOVE:  I wonder how my SIL explained what these two were doing????   lol


ABOVE: after visiting the Zoo and having lunch at St Lukes mall, my SIL took them swimming at Point Chev beach.... they loved their day with Aunty Khady. 

Now...how did I go at Weight Watcher's last night?   I fully expected a gain... but instead I had a .600 gram LOSS!  I was surprised and THRILLED.   Now I just have to be careful so that the evil food I did eat last week doesn't come back and bite me on the bum next week at weigh in!  Oh and I really enjoyed the meeting last night too.  I stuck up conversation with lots of the ladies there.... which was really lovely.

TODAY I'm looking forward to having Stew home for the long weekend (Monday is Auckland Anniversary Day)....
No plans for today, just hang around home I expect. 

ONWARD...
As I thought, it's been a very quiet day today.   Just pottering around the house doing the washing, reading, watching telly.... almost time to put dinner on... we are having lamb chops casseroled in mint sauce with veges.  Yum yum.

Dinner was lovely... we had it without Stew.  He's stuck on the motorway somewhere... the traffic is unbelievable tonight... masses of people are leaving the city as it's a long weekend, so the motorway is congested.

Once Stew gets home and has his dinner we are popping over the road to our neighbour's for a few 'drinkies' to celebrate the New Year and her first teaching job.  She, (Stephanie) is in her 50's and had just finished teacher training and has got a really good job near here.  So she is thrilled.

End of Day:  and we have just come home from the neighbours, it's almost 11 pm!  Time for bed. 
DIET: yep, not too bad today!
nite nite.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

OFF TO THE ZOO....

I think I'm in for a nice day!

The kids are going to the Zoo with their Aunty Khady... and I am not.

So, it's an early start for us... I have to get them to the Zoo front door by 10am!    Yeee Gads that's gunna be hard.  We have been staying in bed until 9am most days!

*sigh*... but I suppose if I want a day to myself I better drag myself out of bed eh?

 ABOVE:  the lounge after I re-arranged it AGAIN.
I like it.  It feels roomier... and I took the cream wool rug out... I am over it fluffing up and spreading bits of wool all over the floor!  Back to our original lounge rug... one that we were given by Stew's Mum and Aunty 23 years ago!!!

ABOVE: and just how typical is this???  Our lovely big plasma TV has gone and shit itself!  We've only had it 2.6 years for F*#ks sake!  Grrrrrrr.  Still trying to find out from Harvey Norman's if we purchased an Extended Warranty or not.   Knowing our luck... NOT.

ONWARD...  Debbie:  that thick black line down the middle is not supposed to be there!  Tracy:  thanks for the info... hopefully it helps.

Whoops!  Havn't been on me blog much today at all have I?  I have been too busy being a lazy tart!  Oh and my aunt from up the road called in and yakked me ears off to two solid hours!  I can't do what I wanted for dinner now cos it's too late to put it on!   Darn.... we will have to eat takeaways! WHAT. A. SHAME.

I've got my Weight Watcher's meeting tonight too... I'm not feeling that confident of a loss this week... I've been over indulging a bit ... HOLIDAY an all eh?  No excuse I know!
Fingers crossed the damage isn't too bad.

I'll come back later and report the gain....do sunburn blisters weigh much????

LOL PATRICK:  I know the blisters weigh diddly squat in fact nothing, I was just joking! 

Jackie:  yes, you most likely saw Brylee and Griffin at St Lukes... they were with their Aunty having lunch after visiting the Zoo.  How funny!  I was at home basking in the SILENCE for the first time in 6 weeks!!!

Funnily enough Brylee and Griffin met Lynda while they were at the Zoo too.... talk about my kids being recognised twice in one day by bloggers/people who read my blog!   Auckland is a huge city... what's the chance of that happening again??

End of Day:   I will keep you all in suspense until tomorrow to tell you how it went at Weight Watchers! 
DIET: yep, all good there!
nite nite.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

BLISTERED BOOBS

ABOVE:  well that say's it all really!  I'm in pain.  Every time I get hot and sweaty (which is often) I get little blisters all over me burnt bits.   It ain't pretty.  You may not be able to see the blisters in the photo, but let me assure you, they are all over the red bits! 

So I'm trying to be careful for the rest of the summer... don't want to do any more damage!

I'm taking the kids out today to the mall... I NEED hair dye!   I can't believe how many grey hairs I have, now that I've let a lot of my 'natural' hair grow out I can see them!   Far out... there is a lot.  Scary.

AND Brylee needs school shoes desperately... we have been looking all summer for new school sandals for her.  She has IMPOSSIBLE feet to get shoes for!   LOOOOONG  and narrow.  We just can't find anything anywhere that fits.  But today I'm going to try over in Remuera, there's a shop there that specialises in kids shoes, and OK, they are bloody expensive in Remuera, but I know that they will have some that will fit her.  Keep your fingers crossed  for me!

ONWARD...

School starts again in 8 days!  These holidays have gone fast!  Probably because I lost track of time... and wasn't counting down till they were back in school!  lol  They have been really good on a whole these holidays, I've hardly felt like throttling them at all. ha ha ha!

There was a shoe shop in Sylvia Park that we hadn't tried, so I went there first... and SCORE!

 ABOVE: they had sandals that fitter her, AND you got two pair for the price of one... so I grabbed another pair the next size up for her too!  Thrilled about that buy.

ABOVE:   I also go the sheep shorn!  He looks much better now, and his lip is almost 100% healed now, it took a long time!

ABOVE:  I also got Brylee's fringe cut.... so she's a happy kid too.


Lunchtime here.  Going to make yummy Egg/Cheese sandwiches, the kids love them.

MAGPIE:  Thanks... but I am well aware of the dangers of sunburn.  I didn't go out in the sun  expecting to get burnt.... no one would!  It just crept up on me... I had no idea the sun was that strong the day I got burnt... probably because I was in and out of the water and didn't actually feel HOT until much later on in the evening.  Usually I get a light tan and build on it over the course of several weeks, but this summer I had not been out in the sun at all!  Hindsight is a great thing eh?

End of Day:  and it's been another hot one, with us spending most of our time indoors.  Stew got sunburnt too and is peeling, so I don't feel all alone.
DIET:  yeah not so good today.
nite nite.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

BEACH AND DOGS

I doubt we will EVER take the dogs to the beach again.

Why?

Because they both got allergies to SOMETHING over there... and scratched and chewed themselves to pieces.

I have bathed them both and put  BOTH of them in cones (around their necks) ... to stop them attacking themselves more.   Hopefully their skin will heal without having to visit the Vet. 

Today:  taking the kids to the movies I think.  The weather is getting better finally... so they can also have a swim in their splash pool.... while I do something constructive .... just don't know what yet! 

ONWARD...

Nice quiet morning, doing diddly squat in fact!  Ok, I did some vacuming, but that is all.
I'm taking the kids to see a movie with Jack Black in it.. Gulliver's Travels in 3D... I hope they enjoy it.
Then when we get home we are going to pick up our CrossTrainer... Stew's coming home early so he can get the trailer etc.

ABOVE:  so .... my opinion of this film?   CRAP... utter crap, even in 3D.  The kids were not that impressed, it was slow, had an incredibly weak storyline, was bordering on ridiculous.... and it was not worth the money or time.

It didn't help that Griffin was told right from the word 'go' that I was not buying him a drink as he'd just finished a big frozen raspberry drink from McDonalds... and he said that was FINE, but then he proceeded to grizzle through the ENTRIE movie about being 'so, so thirsty'... I could have throttled him.  But I didn't get him a drink.  I pride myself on sticking to my guns... I mean what I say and I say what I mean.  FULL. STOP. END. OF. STORY.  

I had bought them an icecream and caramel corn.... Brylee didn't want her icecream afterall... so she just dropped it on the movie floor...  it's carpeted.  When the lights came  on I was so damn angry with her.  But what can you do?  I shall be sending her to bed right after dinner tonight for that total disregard for other people's property.

*sigh*

Stew came home early so he could pick up the CrossTrainer which had been repaired... while doing that he also took our Treadmill in to be assessed... hopefully we can get that fixed too.
Then we spent ages down in the garage moving things around so it all fits in better.

This weather is just dismal...so humid! 

End of Day:  spent the evening happily watching the telly and yakking with a neighbour who wants me to make a bag for her.  
DIET:  blew it today, sorry.
nite nite.

Monday, January 24, 2011

OUR MATARANGI HOLIDAY... masses of photos!

Our holiday, in no particular order, thanks to Blogger being an arse again.






ABOVE:  We went to the Market in Whitianga on Saturday: some amazing fish wall hangings carved from various types of wood.  I wanted one sooooo much, but they were really expensive, so we left them there.  booo hooo.

ABOVE:  the kids playing with bubbles at the Whitianga Market on Saturday.



ABOVE: on the thursday we spent most of the day on the beach, Matarangi is so very beautiful.  We loved it there...

ABOVE:  me on the beach!  I even went swimming, the water was lovely.

ABOVE:  Stew keeping an eye on the kids in the water.  There were lots of really neat waves that day.




ABOVE:   me and Anne R ... we had morning tea together on Sunday morning before we came home.   She was one of my lovely Weight Watcher friends is Palmerston North.

ABOVE:  this was the wee quilt and matching pillowslips I made as a 'Thank You' gift for Anne F and her hubby John.   I can't thank them enough for giving us the chance to spend time at the beach in their home.

ABOVE:   the view from the Matarangi house on Sunday morning..... the day we came home.  It was WET, WET, WET.... though it wasn't only wet there, it was wet everywhere!


ABOVE:  The beach on Sunday morning, very rough and churned up. 
On our way over to Whitianga from Matarangi we came across flooding ...
ABOVE:  Our first flood, which was at Simpson's Beach, just before getting to Whitianga ... we got across just fine.


ABOVE:  the second flood... just by the Golf Course outside Whitianga.....and...





ABOVE:  the BIG ONE further up the road about 10 kms out of Whitianga!   I was a bit worried we would not get through... it was huge, and quite swift in places....

But luckily we did get through.

ABOVE: half way through the last BIG FLOOD we were stopping half way as oncoming cars were asking us if they would get through.... which we said 'Yes' to.....


ABOVE:  and the coolest thing ... we ran into (right in the middle of the last big flood) an old friend of the family ... Richard!  So we had a very quick 'Hi, how are ya' before we had to move or risk getting stuck in the water!  It was rather funny.


The next thing that was mildly exciting was a cowshed burning .....  AND then the main road we were travelling on was blocked due to an accident, so we (and hundreds of other cars) had to be diverted onto windy country roads for AGES to bypass the accident. 

We were very glad to get home I can tell you! 

NOW:  Today?  Well Stew is back at work and I am trying to get all the washing done and dried.... and unpack all that I didn't get to yesterday.   How joyful....

ONWARD!

Getting masses done.... while it still rains and rains.... hopefully in the next few days it will fine up again!
I have gone and re-arranged our lounge AGAIN!   It is something I tend to do when ever we get home from being away!  Weird.... must be some sort of 'nesting' instinct in me?  lol

Apart from that, it's just a 'get the washing done' sort of day. 

Hopefully later on I can start reading your blogs again to see what I've missed out on!

End of Day: I'm knackered.  I'm done for the day....been busy non stop doing jobs around the house. 
Diet:  on track. 
nite nite.