OUR DEVONPORT TRIP

ABOVE: Waiting for the ferry to Devonport.

ABOVE: the girls after shopping... Lacy already had her hat, Amanda and Kelly bought their's in Devonport.

ABOVE: as you can see, it was a beautiful, midwinters day!

ABOVE: Keeping the kids quiet while waiting for the ferry in Devonport.

ABOVE: the conductor on our train... I asked him if they had a toilet on the train (I was busting for a pee) and he said "No sorry, we don't have any TRAINS on board" ... then we all cracked up cos I am SURE there were no trains ON THE TRAIN! He was a really lovely man. We gave him a hard time, and I told him I was going to put him on me blog!

ABOVE: on the ferry, Griffin being a dork.

ABOVE : our darling son/grandson Griffin.

ABOVE: Pensive.....

ABOVE: the twit....

ABOVE: playing with his (Andrew's) new iphone.....

ABOVE: kisses in the park....

ABOVE: three sisters sharing some fun moments in the park....

ABOVE: caught all three of them with silly faces! My girls... love them all! (well... most of the time) lol

Today (Monday)... we are going out to find a portable wardrobe thingee for her flat in Kerikeri.... and I need some paua shell buttons from Spotlight...

The girls and I did a mini-dash out ... left 5 kids with Andrew! LOL
Got the few things on our list.... home now and just chilling.... WELL... I'm not!

I have folded up and put away all the bedding, dragged the mattress's down into the garage again, tidied the house, done the dishes, cleaned out the fridge, made the lunch... you get the drift!

Lacy has left for Kerikeri... a long drive for her. Amanda and Andrew and boys are leaving this afternoon, which only leaves Kelly and Rena... who are leaving tomorrow! Phew... it's been busy.

Hee hee... I fell asleep on my lounge chair holding Rena... who was also asleep... APPARENTLY I snore. Pfffffft.... I DO NOT! Do I?

End of Day: I'm pooped! Dinner is left over meatloaf and veges... nice and easy. I hope to have a relaxing, quiet evening! Will be back to 'normal' blog reading/commenting tomorrow afternoon! nite nite.

MY MOTHER OF THE BRIDE DRESS!

Right, here is me MOTB dress, which I will be wearing next year to Kelly's wedding:
ABOVE: but HOPEFULLY there will be less of ME BOOBS by then! lol
Yes ... I know... totally rude photo, get over it.

Now...as for today? Amanda and Andrew are expected back from their overnight stay in town .... then we will make some plans for the day... if it's fine we might be going to Rainbows End... an Amusement Park just up the road from here.

I sewed hearts on t-shirts last night... will no doubt have photos soon...really chuffed with them too!
ONWARD...

HEY!!! Anyone here in Auckland able to 'babysit' Teddy and Coco next Friday/Saturday? Must have massive loves for me dogs... and not mind puppy piddles! We are going to Whitianga for two days... and I don't wanna pay $162 for the kennels!

Now here we have the shirts I adapted last night, as modeled by my three girls:

Yeah... the last one made ME laugh too!

We finally decided where to go today: We caught the train into town, had lunch at the bottom of Queen Street .... then caught the ferry over to Devonport. The girls and I went 'shopping' while the guys babysat the kids in the park! Worked out wonderfully as far as I'm concerned! I got spoilt by my girls again!

ABOVE: 3 stacking boxes for cards, some cute earrings, a book 'lamp', a gorgeous coat hook thingee, a fat quarter and a file box. Spoilt I AM!

I took masses of photos of our day... will put a few more on tomorrow!

For now....

End of Day: having Pizza for dinner I understand... Stew's request. All good...think we shall even partake of a drink or two as well! yaaaa.... nite nite.

$88 ... I DON'T THINK SO!

Last summer we were in Matakana for lunch before heading to the beach and I saw this really cool t-shirt in a ladies fashion shop. It was pure white with a really cute pink heart appliqued on the front.. I thought it was really lovely so mozzied over to check out the price.

It was $120 REDUCED to $88 ! OMG! I was like... totally gobsmacked! $88 on SALE ... for a bloody t-shirt! Like hell was I gunna pay THAT for a t-shirt.

So I got to thinking... why couldn't I just buy normal plain t-shirts and applique my own shit on them? I gave it a try with an old t-shirt I had and:

my own designer t-shirt.. THANK. Y0U. VERY. MUCH. Cost? $12.

Can't wait for summer now.... I am going to have some very funky t-shirts. Yaaaaa.

The girls saw my t-shirt last night... so now I am having to make them at least 3 each... using blocks I have already made ... I shall give you a look-see later on today when they are done.

Today... well we are off shopping... the girls want to buy the plain t-shirts... and gawd knows what else!

ONWARD...

ABOVE: the cutest wee video of the girls dancing last night.

ABOVE: another wee video, this time of Rena dancing.

We have spent the whole day shopping ... and lunching.... and shopping.... and then some more shopping. Sheesh... what fun again!

I found the MOTHER OF THE BRIDE dress for me to wear to Kelly's wedding next year!!!! I bought it too.... and will show YOU all tomorrow!

Amanda, Andrew and the boys are due any minute, and I need to get dinner in the oven....

End of Day: all fed and half in bed. Going to have a lovely, quiet (yeah right!) evening. Already half pissed... on Totara Cafe'... eee gads that stuff in Niiiiiiice. hic..... nite nite.

LOVE HER....AND HERE COMES A BUSY WEEKEND!

ABOVE: this is a sculpture at the Botanic Gardens, it's named "BUTTERFLY"... and I love her! She even has a ponytail like me! I think this sculpture shows us that even BIG.. you can be beautiful.

We are heading into a VERY busy weekend here at the 'Chris H' house! Tonight Kelly and our granddaughter Rena arrive from Hamilton and Lacy arrives from Kerikeri... both are staying for a few days.

Tomorrow Amanda and Andrew, Huston and Joel arrive. Huston and Joel are staying here while Amanda and Andrew attend a work function in town. Sunday all my girls and their kids are here... for the night! (oh and Andrew of course!)

So we will have extra beds/mattresses all over the place. And I don't mind! I love having my family to stay.

I have decided NOT to lock me dogs away for days on end... they are going to be confined to an area I have set up for them... this way they won't jump all over Rena, who is only little. AND the bigger kids will be stopped from picking the dogs up all the time... hopefully this works.

The 'bitch' ...formerly known as me MOTHER, bathed me! (This is Coco, see how big she is getting!)

I am like.... soooo not impressed. *sniff*

NOW, ... it's off for a walk time. Then when we get home I must get the beds sorted out for our visitors...

Slight change of plans... we are going for a walk after lunch today.. mainly due to me needing to take me piddle pills first thing in the morning or they don't work as good. I didn't take them yesterday so I could walk without having to find a loo every 5 minutes (impossible around here).. so I really need to take them today. I will piddle all morning and be fine by this afternoon to walk! Yaaaa. That will be the 'plan' from now on too... walk after lunch.

TEDDY: is still wearing his cone because twice now we have thought his neck was all better, taken the cone off and immediately the bloody little shit has scrached the very tender skin and opened up the wound all over again! So now I am waiting until the hair has all grown back before taking off his cone. How long has it been? It seems like ages already. He HATES the cone. We hate the cone. Grrrrrrrrr.

WEIRD: I just went to publish the latest two comments for today's post.. and there were about 6 from older posts there? Blogger must have 'lost' them for a while! So, I published all of them anyway.

Our walk is done... only did a 40 minute walk today... me legs are sore!
Teddy is a pain.. he does 3, YES 3 poo's and at least 20 piddles on our walks! I swear he stops every 100 yards for a piddle. such a pain.

I was going to make an ENORMOUS meatloat for dinner and lunches over the next few days... but I have no breadcrumbs... bugger, damn and blast. I would drive down to the supermarket to get some.. but as I don't know what time Kelly is arriving I think I better stay home. I'll do the meatloaf tomorrow.

Lacy is about halfway here according to her last text. ONWARD...

*******PEPSI UPDATED*********PEPSI UPDATED************

End of Day: the first 'wave' of visitors have arrived... better go feed them. Don't think I'll get back on here tonight... so .... nite nite.

YOU ARE FAT AND UGLY!

When someone who is supposed to love you says that to you over and over again... it really 'f*#ks' you up.. it does not HELP. It hurts. It hurts OVER and OVER again.

I have not been able to get those words out of my head... they have swirled around in there for over 15 years now!
When I can... food will not be able to rule my head... and my life.

I have to decide that I am OVER his words.
I have to decide that I am not FAT and UGLY.
I have to do this for me, for no one else.

I am going for a walk today. So are the kids and dogs. We are going to walk every day.. even if it rains.

Today is a new day. Today I am going to take control again.
I have been floundering for the past few weeks.
Letting small things ALLOW me to emotionally eat crap again.
NO MORE.

I am going to be strong... and one day... feel good about my self, by body, my fitness AGAIN.

SO. THERE.

(this post is really for me... not you poor buggers out there)... but as this is my blog, and YOU choose to read it... you have to like it or lump it!

And YES, I have said all this before.. I know, I know... but for today.. it is how I am feeling. I want to change this pattern.

Can you help? YES you can.... just continue to be here... no matter how good or bad I do. OK?

*** I suppose I should say who it was.... who said not just those words, but many, many more.. in private, in public, in front of other people, who did not care who was around. Who told Stew HE should 'do somthing about his fat wife'... it went on and on... everytime we saw him he couldn't help himself! He even called me a ' huge heifer' right after I had given birth to my 6th baby, who was a 10 pound 4 ounce baby, yet I only gained 2 kilos through the entire pregnancy! It was my father.

My father drowned in 2000, and to this day I don't miss him. I loved him... but I don't miss him. And I am not sure I should be publishing this... but here goes.

*****************************************************

ABOVE: a little video of the Botanic Gardens this morning. We did indeed walk this morning, from 9am till 10 am! We walked to the Botanic Gardens, had a look at a part of the gardens we had not been in before, it was so lovely.

It did rain, and the sun came out too.. but most of the time is was cloudy and threatening to piss down on us.

On our way home again (which was ALL uphill I might add) we saw this little bugger!:

He lives only two minutes up the road from our home, and I had NEVER seen him before! He's gorgeous! And NOT so little for a Kune Kune pig!

ABOVE: a few photos taken at the Botanic Gardens.

It was a really lovely walk, one I thoroughly enjoyed, so did Teddy! We left wee Coco at home, it was too far for her to go. Griffin was good too.. until we headed for home again... he did not like the uphill trudge back! Too bad. We are doing it again tomorrow!

ABOVE: another wee video.. this time of that cute piggy!

Since this morning we have had lunch, watched some telly, I've done some cleaning, decided I ain't cooking tonight... and had a nap!

Oh and now I'm going to read some blogs!

BLOGGER is being an arse again and not publishing some of the comments left today. Hopefully they will turn up eventually!

MY LEGS HURT... wonder why? Hmmmm... probably that walk eh? Shows I need to walk MORE.

End of Day: I'm having a carb-less kebab for dinner.. Stew is going to go out to the mall and get us them. Yum. thanks for all the comments today... I am so thankful to have so many kind and caring friends out there in blogland. {{{HUGS}}} and nite nite.

OFF TO POST OFFICE

First thing today, we are going to the mall to post some cards to a lovely lady in the South Island, she's taking them overseas with her to give with gifts.... hee hee... getting orders from girls who read me blog is quite exciting!

If anyone wants some of my wee gift cards, they are $3 each.... or you can pay $5 in the shop! lol

What else? Ummm... dunno. Probably come home and sew, or do some friggin housework... it never sleeps.

Coco must be teething really bad right now... she will chew ANYTHING if it's not tied down or too high for her to reach! Every time I turn around she's got something else in her gob... and there is always a trail of chewed up bits all over me floors. Twigs, leaves, stones, bits of wood, me cane basket, innards out of stuffed toys... you name it! And yes, she has even got a toilet roll of paper and had a go at that. Grrrrrrrr.

The thing is, she's so bloody cute I can't get mad at her...
ONWARD...

ABOVE: two new fabrics I just bought... for cards.

Also got myself two new pairs of jeans... no photo.. jeans are just that ... JEANS. One's blue, one's black.

The kids just had a silly-buggar lunch of custard, fruit and... CHOCOLATE. LOL... they thought it was neat. Still blackmailing them to be good.... and it's still working!

ABOVE: Yesterday I bought a new border cutter thingee... and it's gorgeous! I did the last few cards using it.

.... not been doing much else this afternoon yet... feeling tired for some reason.

End of Day: I was going to read and comment on blogs all night... but I have just spent an hour or so commenting on just ONE blog... and now feel kind of defensive about being fat and useless... and unfit... so I am going to stop before I leave any more comments that may be taken the wrong way. In this mood I am likely to offend someone! Back tomorrow in a better mood. nite nite.

SEE.. SEE... I'M A BUSY BEE, AND WHAT A PRETTY BALL!

Last night I laid out on the dining table all the cards I have made in the past few days... and the kids counted them up.. it came to about 120! And I have at least another 20 already finished in the drawer... so I think I'm safe from running out for a while.

Which means I can get back to some sewing now!!!! Yaaaa..... I so want to finish a few UFO's...

Might take the kids out to a mall today... they were so good yesterday I should do something for them... And they both LOVE shopping! They get that from me. .... lol.

BALL?....Yep, this ball came in the mail yesterday! Stew had won it by using his 'ONE' Card at the supermarket... and was automatically entered into the draw to win a COKE BALL! It's one of the prettiest balls I've ever seen. Hopefully the kids won't fight over it ...

ONWARD....

The kids and I went down to Manukau... I bought them some new winter trousers, got myself a pair of Addidas trackies.... some more material and ribbon... and came home again.

Have spent the rest of the time catching up on some TV programmes I've taped.... yikes there's quite a lot!

*** If you have left me a comment and it's not published yet... it's a glitch with Blogger.... not me! Grrrrrr... blogger can be such an arse sometimes.

End of Day: Dinner... was left overs.. yaaa... I didn't have to do much. ONe gets so sick of cooking. *sigh*... time for bed. nite nite.

WHOOPS, FORGOT

I was going to show you my new Cuttlebug Die! It's going to become one of my favourites I am sure.

ABOVE: there it is. You can use it three ways... as above... and then you can mix 'n' match the seperate 'bits' like this:

ABOVE AND BELOW: I have used different colourways to enhance the heart design... just LOVE it!

Obvioulsy you could just use one part of the heart too.... but I think it looks so much nicer using the contrasting colours. What do YOU think?

AND did you notice I had used ORANGE? Doesn't it look smashing? I like orange in some settings... maybe just not ON ME! lol

Don't have any plans for today... apart from NOT wanting to throttle me kids! lol

ONWARD...

There is a good side to school holidays.... I stayed in bed until 8.30 am! I think Stew told the kids to be VERY QUIET before he left for work.... I am not feeling all crabby and ready to throttle them! Yaaaa. It is a VERY wet day out there... so we are not going anywhere. I shall make more cards... I want to get this latest batch finished so I can get back to my patchwork!

My sister-in-law suggested I start making 'Christmas' Themed cards ready for Christmas sales too.... so at some point I will hunt around for suitable materials for them. It's so neat having lots to do.... no time to get bored or lonely.

Remember the Jellybeans? Well they are coming in very handy! I am blackmailing the kids into being good and quiet... by giving them a few every hour, on the hour! WORKS FOR ME! (I know, I'm evil)

ABOVE: look what arrived in the mail! A red showercap for my bathroom... from Blondie! What a tart... a lovely TART I might add... Thanks Chick! It did make me laugh.

I've been busy... vacuming and washing floors.. my usual Monday job. Now I just have to stop Coco from pee'ing on it! Grrrrrrr.

End of Day: cooked a lovely dinner .. pork chops, bacon, potatoes with cheese and veges. Was bloody nice too. Spent the evening card making... have made over 100 in the past few days! nite nite.

TOTALLY WRAPPED UP IN FRIGGIN CARD MAKING!

I got really engrossed in making more cards last night using a new Cuttlebug Die... it's a heart shape, with inner spirals. It's gorgeous!

I will get my camera out of the car soon and take a photo or two to show you ...

Stew is in bed, it's his turn for a sleep in.... mine turn was yesterday.

The school holidays have only just started and the kids are already bored, and telling us too! Little shits. We have spent THOUSANDS of dollars getting them everything a kid could want in the way of electronic games etc... for the wet days when they are stuck inside.. ungrateful little buggers! HELL.. some kids don't have anything like what these two have. They have Playstation 2, Wii... PSP's.... DVD's coming out their ears.... *sigh*. Maybe I should just chuck them outside to play in the mud???

Knowing my luck... they would LOVE IT!

ONWARD...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg&feature=player_embedded........ CLICK ON THIS AND GO WATCH A REALLY FUNNY CLIP ABOUT iphones!

Stew is finally out of bed... and now... we are going grocery shopping. I. CAN. HARDLY. WAIT.

And it's wet and windly out there... not a nice sunday at all.

A BIT OF ADVICE FOR ALL YOU WEIGHT WATCHERS OUT THERE: NEVER EVER GO SHOPPING WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY!

I WAS .... HUNGRY... 'tis me only defense. I am going to win NO prizes for being a role model today. *sniff*

End of Day: Stew made dinner tonight.. pork chops and veges..oooo it was delicious! I had some jellybeans too. *hanging head in shame* nite nite.

SLEEPING IN I HOPE!

This.... is a 'forward post'... I am (hopefully) still asleep!
Saturday in MY sleep in day, tomorrow it's Stew's.... lol.

So while I'm slumbering, here's a few of my latest cards for your perusal:

I think what I am loving about making these cards is that it allows me to be creative and I try to make each and every card different! YOU should try it... it's so much fun! I get a real kick out of each and every one when I have finished it!

YES... I'm a twit I know! *smiles*.... but ya have to get pleasure out of whatever you can eh? I just have this creative/arty fatry bent....

ZANNA (Anne)... you really have to stop calling me a LADY... cos there is no way I am! ha ha ha! Me thinks I swear just a WEE bit too much to be considered a 'lady'.

ONWARD... wonder what we will get up to today? Any guesses?

OMG... I slept till 10am! Stew had done the dusting, had washing on and had fed the kids... WHAT a man! We are heading out soon, still not sure of our destination!

Been out... we went over to the North Shore to pick up a coupe of Cuttlebug dies/folders, then we went into Newmarket for lunch and a look around.. man they have some really neat shops in Newmarket! Horribly expensive boutique type clothes shops... *sigh*... did not buy a thing! How boring! lol

Home now, and feel really tired, which is weird considering how long I slept in this morning. Oh well..

End of Day: I've been so wrapped up in the card making I just realised I'm hungry! And it's 1/4 to 10 at night. Hmmmm... what can I have to eat? nite nite.

HOSPICE SHOP

I am working at the hospice shop today... so there really isn't much more to say right now.

Well.... there is... but it's kinda boring.... it's the last day of term... the kids will be home for two weeks.

PRAY. FOR. ME. (or them).. whatever floats ya boat!

Hoping to find a treasure or two at the shop today too... taking me wallet...

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY? Gunna buy sommit?

I'm Back! The shop was busy today! Lots to do... and I bought the above stuff, two ties for me man, two cute cut glass jewellery boxes and some baby booties..cos hopefully we will have more grandbabies ONE day!

NOW... the kids just got home and I'm tired! I'm going to sit down and relax for a wee while.

ABOVE: a close up of one of the ties... KIWIS! So cute.

I have been doing more card making this afternoon... soon I will have a lovely stock pile of them ... and will never run out again.

End of Day: we are having takeaways for dinner tonight.. I simply can't be arsed cooking! Expecting a quiet evening... TV... maybe a tipple or two... yaaaa. Nite nite.

MY REST DAY!

I quite like Thursdays!
It's the day I pick Griffin up from school and take him to his SPELD lesson... which means I get to sit in the car and read a book!
Tess Gerritsen is my author of choice right now.. I have two of her books 'on the go'... one in the car and one in the house! LOL

Also today I have a meeting with the Occupational Therapists to discuss Griffin too. It is going to be a bit of a rush getting from the Speld lesson to the OT Meeting... but oh well... maybe I will be late? NOT like me at all... but they are literally back to back and with the Auckland traffic you just never know when you will get held up on the motorway. *sigh*....

Did I mention my Laptop died? Well it kinda died, then I tried to kill it some more by trying to fix it! So... I have sent it down to Palmy for Steve to try and fix it for me! Hence... I haven't been reading blogs and commenting much... cos I used to do most of that in the evenings ... sitting in the lounge with the laptop! I will try to catch up again later on today.

ONWARD!....

Home again.. it was a bit of a rush getting from one place to another this morning/midday.. but we did it. I missed an off-ramp on the motorway and ended up having to go a bit further out of my way ... but luckily I was not running late!

This afternoon I want to continue getting ahead with the cards for the shop, dinner is in the crockpot... so all's good!

ABOVE: it's a hive of industry in my sewing/craft room!

ABOVE: I did this many in 2 hours this afternoon.... while the dogs lay on the couch and watched me... awwwww.

I made a really tasty beef and bacon casserole in the crockpot, now I'm going to use it to make PIES for dinner. YUM YUM.

End of Day: dinner was indeed yummy! I can't go wrong with meat pie. nite nite.