GORGEOUS WEDDING, AND BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF

ABOVE:  Worth the wait, Kate looked absolutely beautiful!

ABOVE:  I hope they live a long and blissfully happy life. 

And in our humble home:

After breakfast today Stew is taking Joshua and Damien back to Whitianga.  Steve and Griffin are going too for a day trip.

Brylee and I are staying home and doing the housework...

Then once I'm happy with my house Brylee and I are going out for lunch and a bit of shopping.

I'm sure we can find a few pretty pretty's to buy!  Brylee is a real girly girl and loves dresses, jewellery and such like.  We are going to have fun.

So for now I am breathing a sigh of relief that shortly the house is going to be quiet again... AND CLEAN!
lol

ONWARD....

IT'S QUIET!  Stew has just left with the boys... I said goodbye and waited for a kiss and cuddle... but they just walked out the door and got in the car!  That sure made me feel flat. 


Brylee and I worked on the house for 4 hours straight... then went to the mall and had a nice lunch and a shop around:

ABOVE: Mine...

ABOVE:  Brylee's

ABOVE:  rather cute... OH and we also bought her some new winter school shoes.

ABOVE:  for the house.

Going to sit down and do NOTHING AT ALL for the next hour!

Hee hee... we fell asleep... me and Brylee. 
The guys got back from Whitianga safely and Stew took us all out for dinner.

End of Day: really happy with how much housework I got done today!  I know, I'm weird.
DIET: good.  And I worked off heaps of 'points'.
nite nite.

I WANT SOMETHING SWEET...

Last night I said to Stew "I feel like something sweet"... so he said "OK, lets go to the supermarket"  ... so we did.

ABOVE:  ummmm... we got all this!  AND three tubs of ice cream... and chocolate sauce.   We DIDN'T eat it all last night though!

Now that I've had my 'sugar fix' I feel I can go without any for at least a week! 

It's the last full day with Joshua and Damien, they go home tomorrow.  They have been good boys... noisy... but that's normal eh? 

I feel I am hanging out for Monday... by the skin of my teeth!  I NEED to get my house tidy again!  Mess drives me crazy... shit I'm sure I've said that before!
*sigh*

Decided on a change with me DIET too.  I'm going to 'dish' up my 'normal' evening meal... and then chop it in half ... and only eat half.  I am POSITIVE I'm eating too much at dinner time.  POSITIVE.

I don't 'snack' during the day... so that's not the problem.  I don't have breakfast either.  But I've never been hungry at breakfast time.   So obviously I am OVEREATING at lunch and dinnertime.  I am going to concentrate on portion control.  (YES I know.. all those lollies... but we hardly ever do that I swear)

AND GET SOME EXERCISE.   I keep meaning to get back into a routine with the exercise.  But every time I start I get all hot and bothered... and I just HATE being hot ... 4 years of HOT FLUSHES/FLASHES all the time has taken all my tolerance of heat away.  I CAN'T STAND IT anymore.  But I just have to get over it eh?  OH and now that it's getting cooler it might be easier too.

OOOOH ... Wills and Kate get married today!  I am taking over the big TV tonight and my eyes will be glued to the screen!  I am dying to see her dress....

ONWARD...

Taking the kids to the local pool today, most likely this morning.... want to get them nice and tired so they are QUIET this afternoon?  Well... I live in hope.

My condolences to anyone affected by the terrible tornadoes in the USA.  Mother nature can be an awesome force.

ANON:  thank you... and I hope you are having a much better day today?

Just back from the pool... the kids had a blast... Steve got in with them and was my 'look out boy'... it was so nice to not have to worry about them in the pool.
AND... I had expected the pool to be totally CROWDED... being the school holidays and all.. but its wasn't!  There was only a handful of kids there!  Which made it so much easier to keep track of our lot.

I'm going to download all the photos I took now... back soon...

ABOVE: a tiny selection from the 425 photos I took! The lighting was crap, and I didn't get very many really good photos at all.  Quite disappointed about that... but I'm sure I'll get the hang of my camera eventually.

Kids are now watching a kiddy movie "How to Tame Your Dragon" and eating lollies.  So they are QUIET!  hee hee.

I've spent the afternoon relaxing.... and doing washing.  Stew came home early from work tonight... which was nice.

End of Day:  and I'm settled in front of the telly... eagerly awaiting the 'Wedding of the Year".  Stew and Steve are watching sport on the TV in the Family Room.  Kids... in bed... yaaa.  Oh and I have a tipple in front of me too.  BLISS.
DIET: pfffffffft.
nite nite.

BLOODY STUPID... AND LUCKY

ABOVE:  I held a tube of frozen sausage meat for a good half hour last night!
WHY do you ask?

Well cos I had cooked chicken in the heavy cast iron roasting dish .... and I STUPIDLY forgot the lid was SCALDING HOT and picked it up with my bare hand... and got burnt.

LUCKILY for me I dropped it IMMEDIATELY and whipped around and got my hand under running cold water within a second or two and kept it there for at least 10 minutes, then I held that frozen sausage meat tube for ages too.

As a result I do not have blisters, just a few very shiny patches on me fingers and thumb... and a general soreness where it was burnt.

I have always been so very careful with that roasting dish too... I know it is solid cast iron and holds the heat...  I hope I never do that again cos it bloody well hurt!

TODAY:  Going to get these kids OUT OF THE HOUSE... don't know where yet... but it will happen.  They need to burn off some energy cos they are driving me and Steve nuts!

ONWARD...

I went mad... and had a big cleaning splurg...  well actually I do it often so I suppose I'm mad all the time!
Anyway... I got the laundry cleaned out... and the linen cupboards... and now I'm taking a break.
Steve is still in bed (9.30am here), and I don't blame him!  These kids don't have volume control buttons, or MUTE.  Shame that.

I can't believe how many of you have your brains in the GUTTER!  I know the photo was a wee bit........."suggestive"....... but come ON.. I ain't that type of girl!  NO, really ...... I'm NOT.  lol!

It's cold today!  I have on a cardy and ugg boot slippers for the first time this year!  And we are staying home... watching movies, playing with Lego, Playstation etc.  It's quite nice.

ANONYMOUS:  I did not post that photo because it looked rude.  It was what it was.. me holding something that was frozen and in the right shape to stop the burning on my fingers and hand.  SO THERE.  And yep, my wrist does look fat... probably just like yours eh?

ANONYMOUS:  yep, it's a public blog... with COMMENT MODERATION on... so I can CHOOSE to publish or NOT PUBLISH comments.  So I'm choosing NOT to publish your next one... ahhh the joys of 'DELETE' options! 

ONWARD...

End of Day:  seems I upset a certain person over my 'rude' photo.  Too bad said certain person thinks I put too much on MY blog about me and my family... it's MY BLOG and I can put whatever the hell I want on it.  So "Marijke", f*#k off would ya?  I don't need all your stupid comments...
DIET: blew it
nite nite.

NICE AND GREEN

I am amazed at how quickly the grass is growing at the moment!  We put grass seed on the dirt patch where the kid's spash pool was and it's already all green!

ABOVE:  *sniff*, the new grass makes the old look pathetic.  Oh well.... not much we can do about it eh?  Can't see Stew re-sowing the entire lawn somehow.

ABOVE:  wooo hoooo , I can talk and see the kids through the computer!  I even had a three-way conversation with Amanda and Lacy last night... and before that I'd had a yak with Russell and his partner over in Australia.  Modern technology is wonderful!

Today:  might take all the kids to the local pool... anything to get them out of the house.... and I'm sure they would love it.  Will have to wait and see how the day goes.

ONWARD...

WHOOPS!  I forgot... it's Wednesday eh?  I gotta go do me stint at the Hospice Shop!  Poor Steve will have to look after the kids ....  

HI!  I'm back from the shop.  Had a ball today... I love being there!
I raided the boys clothes rack and got lots of clothes for Joshua and Damien... they are seriously low on clothes.  They are all in the washing machine and will be chucked into the dryer soon... as it's pissing down with rain outside.  
Steve hung a load of towels outside... now they are hanging in the rain.  Oh well... at least they are out eh?  
I refuse to put heavy stuff (towels and the like) in the dryer. ... it's too expensive!   AND I have heaps of towels ... lol.

End of Day:  a bit early... but I'm busy cooking and then I plan on sewing.

I JUST DID THE MOST STUPID THING EVER.
I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

DIET:  I'm having HOME MADE CHICKEN PIE for dinner. .. how do ya think it's going?  ha ha ha
nite nite.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

COUNTDOWN to what I can hear you ask.... well to when school starts again OF COURSE!
6 sleeps to go.... though I must say it feels like these holidays have gone rather fast.   Still... it will be nice once they are all back at school and I can get me house all tidy again.  

I'm a 'tidy freak' me thinks!  (Stew reckons it will be etched on me tombstone)

Now... some photos from yesterday:

ABOVE: back row, L to R:  Rena (3) and Emily (2 months).  Front row, L to R: Brylee (10), Joel (7), Huston (9), Damien (kinda adopted Grandson 7), Joshua (almost 10) and Griffin (9).  

ABOVE:  Steve adores his wee niece Emily.... as we all do.

ABOVE:  our eldest son Russell's boy, Joshua.  Joshua lives with his Mum and 4 siblings in Whitianga.  Russell lives in Perth, Australia and his partner is about to have his next baby any time now.

 ABOVE:  everyone say 'YUM'.... ice cream with pebbles added...

ABOVE: this wee miss really loved her ice cream...

ABOVE:  Brylee and Joel.  

I took lots more photos, but as I'm still getting used to me new camera a lot were ikkkk... blurry, bad lighting etc.  It takes time to figure it all out eh?

Today?   Well I got the wadding and backing fabric from Spotlight in Hamilton yesterday so I can start quilting each Dresden Plate block before putting them all together!  Only got 30 blocks to do!

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  the front and back of the first block quilted... just sitting thinking what to put in each corner now.... hmmmm..

ABOVE:  it has taken me hours to do two bloody blocks!  Just deciding what to put in the corners took about an hour!  Derrrr!  lol

And I'm still wondering if I should do a couple more 'designs' in the corners too?   Like some blocks with flowers, some with ??  IDEAS APPRECIATED...but nothing too difficult!

End of Day:  had a lovely evening yakking to some of me kids over the computer... saw Russell's partner's big preggy belly... looks IMPRESSIVE I must say.... lol.  Fingers crossed the baby comes soon!
DIET: not too bad
nite nite.

OFF TO HAMILTON TODAY...

Last night...

ABOVE:  Coco adores Stew...

ABOVE:  Teddy is being a snob.  He does that sometimes.

TODAY:  we are off to Hamilton at midday to have a catch up with Amanda and Kelly.  This will be the first chance to get a recent photo of all our Grandkids together! All 7 of them right now.
Our next Grandbaby is due in about 12 days!!!  Only it's being born in Perth, Australia.  So it's unlikely we will get to see him/her for ages.
Travelling to Aussy is just NOT in the budget for a long time sadly.

Hopefully we will be sent MASSES of photos though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my niece in Melbourne, Australia.  I can never forget her birthday, it's always on ANZAC Day!  lol

Right, off to make a start on the day...

Well we got to Hamilton... picked up Rena and met up with Amanda, Andrew and kids at the mall... got a few photos of all 7 grandkids (plus Damien who's our bonus grandkid) ... gave the kids an ice cream and headed home.
The drive home was SLOW and TEDIOUS... we got caught in holiday traffic.  The trip usually takes about an hour and 10 minutes.  Today:  2 and a half hours!  At least 3/4ers of the trip was stop/start/crawl along the road.

AND it rained non-stop.  So we played 'I SPY'...

It is very interesting playing it with little kids.
Damien:  "I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'R'..."
We all guessed lot of things until we gave up.
The answer?  GRASS!

So... finally home... feeding the kids chocolate easter eggs for dinner (and a sausage thrown in)... lol.

I'll post more photos tomorrow of the kids ....and of course some of wee Emily.... I am sure she has grown even more adorable in a week!

ABOVE:  I couldn't resist posting a photo of these two cute girls!   Rena is loving her ice cream... And Emily?  I'm sure she would love some.. one day.

End of Day:  well we had a lovely day ... ended with easter eggs! What more could ya ask for?
lol
DIET: me lips are sealed.
nite nite.

THE PILE

ABOVE:  Finally!  I've sewn all the blue flowers onto the backing blocks!  I can't believe how long it took... but they are done now.

On to the next stage... only I'm not too sure what to do.  I want to do 'Quilt As You Go' for this quilt...  so need to do a bit more research on the net before I attempt the next stage.

Not sure what's the haps today... probably visit the park... feed the multitudes... bla bla bla...

ONWARD...

SHIT!  Almost forgot!!!  IT'S STEVE'S 24th BIRTHDAY TODAY!  Maybe I will bake him a cake??? 

Hmmm... it would appear Steve is avoiding his Birthday... it's almost 11am and he's still in bed!

I can't do any more on my Dresden Plate Quilt today afterall... I need to buy wadding... and all the shops are CLOSED!  Easter Sunday an all... grrrrr.

OH and I found a really good Tutorial on Quilt As You Go on the net... by a lovely lady in Wales in fact.. and she blogs so I spent ages last night reading her blog!  Thanks Andrea!  Yet another blog added to my reading list!  lol

He (Steve) has risen... and made a dinner request:  Nachos.  So we have to find SOMEWHERE that's open to buy corn chips and sour cream!  AND Happy Birthday to Vic down in Wellington too!

Yaa Stew and Steve have taken the kids to the park for a play.
Brylee got a blood nose just as they were leaving... ball hit her in the face.
Once they had gone I thought I would have some peace.
HA!  Coco decided to vomit in the garage... super IKKKK.

Trying to practise QAYG... with three blocks left over from Michael's Heart Quilt...

ABOVE:  my first attempt at Quilt As You Go, using 1 inch strips on the front and 1 and 3/4 inch strips on the back... so you end up with a half inch sashing.   I decided I didn't like only a half inch sashing so I thought I would try doubling the size of the sashings...

ABOVE:   I had to make a couple of blocks to practice on... so it was a good chance to try cotton wadding... I like it much better than the polyester stuff...  I only had a little bit of it so will buy more tomorrow for my big Quilt.

ABOVE:  it also gave me a chance to try Stipling using Free Motion Sewing again.. I still suck at it!  I mean really SUCK.  I don't know if I will ever get any good at it.  *darn it*

ABOVE:  so there you have the sashing... twice the width ... I think that will do for my big Dresden Plate Quilt.

Cooking dinner now... Stew managed to find what we needed at the garage... 3 times the price... but it is a public holiday afterall.

End of Day:  oooo dinner was just delish!!! I made enough of the mince/beans to last two night... SO I THOUGHT!  It's all gone.  Everyone except me had 2nd's. 
DIET: yep... just think about it.. it's EASTER!
nite nite.

FREE THE FROG ????

RIGHT.  According to 'ANONYMOUS' and WOMBAT we should free the frog before we manage to kill it.

So... who agrees?

Do we release it and hope it lives after the trauma of being in our home... or do we keep it and hope it lives???

While we all ponder that....

We will get ready for Joshua and Damien to arrive on the Airport Shuttle Bus from Whitianga....

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Joshua and Damien arrived bright and early this morning... 9.45 in fact!  Luckily we were all up...  no plans for the day except RELEASE THE FROG!  (Griffin is 6 months younger than his cousin Joshua, who is standing beside Brylee!)

We are going to take the frog down to the Botanic Gardens where there is a small lake.  It should do well there. 

 ABOVE:  Here we go... off to free froggy...

ABOVE:  in he goes...

ABOVE:  He lingered for about 30 seconds... 

ABOVE:  ... then he was gone and we were left with just ripples on the lake.  He's got a rather nice new home don't ya think?

 ABOVE:  A new section of the Botanic Gardens...  up by the shade sail are vents ... which spew a fine mist every minute or so...

ABOVE:  it looks pretty awesome .... a really lovely addition to the gardens.

WOMBAT:  If Froggy had 'family' in our backyard it's just tough tits for him... I'm sure he can find a new girlfriend (or boyfriend) in his new  home!   lol

End of Day:  a pleasing effort on me sewing today... and have spent the evening chilling out in front of the telly... reading a few new blogs... I really shouldn't!  I already follow so many... *sigh*
DIET: ikkkk
nite nite.