WAKE UP!!! IT'S CHRISTMAS ALREADY...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone in my family, and everyone in my 'blog family' too.  I hope you   all have a wonderful day with those you love.

ABOVE:  this is the first Christmas for our two youngest granddaughters, Sienna (above with her sister Haylea), and Emily.  I am sure they will both be surrounded by love today.


With any luck Brylee and Griffin have managed to sleep in for a little while!  
I will be back later on with a few photos before we head off to Christmas lunch at Stew's sisters home.

ABOVE:  the morning so far.
Just Stew, Brylee, Griffin and I.
None of our 6 kids, they all have others to be with.
How times change.  I suppose this is what happens as your family grow up and get their own little families eh.


ONWARD...

 ABOVE:  my Ambrosia dessert.  
Was lovely.

 ABOVE: Stew's sister Khady dishing out presents before lunch.

 ABOVE:  Christmas lunch ... Kiwi style.  Laid back, no fuss.  

ABOVE:  Griffin... only had chicken!  Lots of chicken.  And followed with a small helping of dessert.  The person in the orange top in this photo is a long time family friend of Khady's and us.  She did not want to be on 'the internet'.  


We are now just relaxing and trying not to fall asleep!


End of Day:  a long, tiring, but lovely day.  Leftovers for dinner.  And now it's late and we are all heading off to bed ... exhausted.
nite nite.

A BUSY DAY AHEAD, THEN IT SHOULD EASE UP.

We are expecting Lacy this morning to visit the kids.  That's all I'll say on that subject.


After she leaves we are heading out to deliver a few Christmas Presents, then plan on having a quiet day/evening.


NO MORE shopping though.  I think I have 20 cents left!  lol
Even though I've been buying presents all year, there is always a drain on the finances at this time of the year.   I'm sure everyone is in the same boat... well... except REALLY rich buggers!


I want to say 'SO SORRY' to everyone who has blogged on the last week or so.... I've simply been too busy to read blogs and comment.  I will  eventually get a chance to sit still long enough to do some reading after Christmas, I promise.  Until then... blog on! 


OH, and I'm sure me dogs have fleas.  Just sayin....


OUR DAY IN PHOTOS:  LOTS OF PHOTOS!

ABOVE: Lacy visited the kids.  It went well.  We managed to iron out our differences and come to an agreement on things.  So very relieved that my stress levels can come down again.

ABOVE: After Lacy left we drove to Hamilton, we had lunch at Chartwell Square, met up with Steve there too ... then we went down to the lake and feed the ducks, pukekos, pidgeons and a few other weird water birds.

ABOVE: this is one of those weird birds.... I thought their 'feet' were really amazing!  

ABOVE: after feeding the birds we visited Amanda and Andrew at their workplaces, which are right next door to each other!  He's the Manager of the Flight Centre and she's the Manager of Factorie (clothing shop) ....

ABOVE:  yakking to A & A before heading over to their home to drop of Christmas presents and see the kids.

ABOVE: here we go with Emily photos!  Who needs fancy, expensive toys when ya just love pegs!  

ABOVE:  want one? I will share...

ABOVE:  so many pegs, so little time.

ABOVE:  I'm rather cute eh?

ABOVE:  sharing a drink with me other Grandma, who is looking after me while my Mum and Dad work.

ABOVE:  don't mind if I do help myself to your ice Grandma!

ABOVE:  yum.... it's so hot today!

ABOVE: I'm being cute again...

ABOVE:  more pegs...

ABOVE:   My Grandma H put a peg on me hat... silly woman!  I am trying to get it off...




ABOVE:  after spending an hour at Emily's, we visited Kelly and her family... here is Rena in her new bedroom.  They just moved house again.

ABOVE: my Mum said smile like this, so I did.  At least me Grandma is not looking silly!

ABOVE:  almost home... and it's looking stormy out there!  I hope we get thunder and lightening, I love thunder storms!


END OF DAY:  we are having ham sandwiches for dinner tonight!  Then early to bed I hope, as you can bet your bottom dollar a couple of kids are going to wake us up early tomorrow.  *sigh*
Par for the course ... of course! lol
nite nite.

FRIDAY.... ONE OF THE BEST IN A WHILE TOO

WHY?


Cos Stew gets home tonight, and for the first time in at least 10 years he is getting the time off between Christmas and New Year!   He will be home for 11 whole days.  Unheard of.  AND... he's trying to get another two whole weeks off sometime in January.  He has about 7 weeks holiday's owing!  


Today:  well I am going to finish tidying up the linen cupboards, I didn't get them finished yesterday, what with Griffin's toe incident, cooking dinner,  then a very long phone call from me niece Christina in Australia, and CORONATION STREET!  lol


I want all my housework up to date so I can enjoy the weekend/Christmas Day with family.

ABOVE:  what the HELL possessed me to decide to have a massive re-arrange NOW?
I am stressed out now.
I just made a t-shirt for Steve's sorta brother-in-law... and it's a mirror image of the words.  So I have to go out and buy more photo paper and do it again... on ANOTHER t-shirt!  At least next time I will know to flip the bloody photo eh?
I'm getting crabby...


Griffin and I just spent an hour and a half searching in 5 different shops for photo transfer paper to do a shirt for Steve's bro-in-law.  NONE anywhere.
Came home and found half a page of the transfer paper in the garage... so I cellotaped it to a normal page and did a half page photo... and it worked!  Luckily I bought another white t-shirt while I was out, so problem solved. 


NOW I can get on with the housework!  And soaking Griffin's toe.. it's caked in blood.  Ikkkky.

ABOVE:  I love these plastic bags!  You fill them, then suck all the air out!  Makes storing extra blankets so much easier.
Must buy more of them this afternoon.


IT'S DONE!  After hours of sweating and swearing, I have bagged up all the blankets and sucked the life outta them, reorganised the two linen cupboards... and now I actually have MASSES of spare room in them!  I'm wrapt.  It was worth the friggin effort.


I've still got a fair bit of housework to do and things to find places for that came out of the cupboards... but it's all good.


Stressful afternoon due to Lacy and her issues.  Just what we need at this time of the year... NOT.
Par for the course though, and what we have to live with and have lived with for years.


END OF DAY: Done the very last of my Christmas Shopping tonight at Sylvia Park Mall.  It wasn't even that crowded and the road had very little traffic tonight!  Amazed I am.
Time to just relax and hope tomorrow goes well in many ways.   Dropping off presents tomorrow to various people and then just chillin at home.
nite nite

MUFFIN RECIPE... AND A FIND!

WOMBAT asked me yesterday for the muffin recipe I used yesterday, so here it is:

ABOVE:  I used chopped up ham steaks instead of bacon, and NO Olives... ikkky things olives!

ABOVE:  while I was sorting out all me cooking books I found this old one that I had never seen before.  I have NO idea where it came from or how it got to be in my pile of books, but I'm not complaining as it has some really neat muffin recipes in it.  I'm going to have a good look through it this afternoon.


TODAY:  Steve has a Christmas shared lunch, so he's taking half a dozen muffins, and I have the Hospice Shop Christmas Lunch.... and YES... it is today!  So I'm taking half a dozen muffins too.


Apart from that, I will be home folding all the washing that I got done yesterday.  And there's a shit load of it!  Oh and I might even get around to visiting some blogs too.  *smiles*


ONWARD...

 ABOVE:   well the hospice shop Christmas Lunch was really lovely!  About 2 dozen of us were there. 

ABOVE:  a few people brought Deb's (our boss) a Christmas Present.  Funny... all of them brought her wine!  lol

Griffin and I stayed about an hour, then as it was so very hot in the shop we left early.  3 minutes from home it started raining heavily... which was a bummer as I have a massive amount of washing out on the line.
Oh well... it has to stay out there now. 


Griffin was helping me take bits 'n' bobs downstairs this afternoon... and had a wee accident:

ABOVE: let's all say "OUCH"!!!
Poor kid screamed and cried for at least 20 minutes... then I finally got him to calm down with an ice pack on his head and some chocolate in his gob.  *phew*
Nasty stubbed toe!  He actually bent it under his own foot and stood on it!  So he says.  Either way, it's nasty.
AND NO, I don't think it's broken.  Both his big toes bend in like that!  
Stew suggested taking him to the Doctor... but I know from experience (*HI* Amanda) that they can do nothing for a broken toe!


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


End of Day:  my wee man is feeling a lot better now!  His toe has stopped throbbing and he's happy again.   He couldn't eat much dinner though...he'd had a lot of chocolate and jelly beans!  
nite nite

I'M GOING TO BAKE!

Yes I am!  Indeed I am.... I even went out yesterday and bought some muffin thingees... made of Silicone no less.  I really wanted to find some bigger muffin pans, but no one had any ... oh well... I will keep me eyes peeled for some.

I have some lovely cooking books... I had to hunt for them last night too!  I found them in a linen cupboard of all places.... I'm going to find a new home for them today.

I want to make nice savoury muffins for Stew (Husband) and Steve (Son) to have for their lunches sometimes.  Making sandwiches every morning sucks.  I bought those two muffin cook books years ago, I'm sure there will be some really nice ideas in there for me to try.


I almost feel INSPIRED to make a cake or two as well!
Must get my sugar urges satisfied before the New Year!  I am going to be full on : 'ON A DIET' come the New Year I tell ya.


Well actually, I am going to do what I know works for me.  Diet carefully 6 days a week, and have a little splurge on the 7th day... that way I don't feel deprived all the time and then fall off the wagon totally again!  


2012 is going to be MY YEAR... in many ways.  I am turning a new leaf in me book. 


ONWARD!


Griffin and I went down to the local mall to get ingredients for baking, and a new phone adaptor thingee so my new phones will work.


But, the new phone adaptor thingee did not fix the problem. So now, instead of having 4 working phones in the house, we have 1.  And it's in the garage.  Not happy.  Hopefully on of the guys can get it sorted when they come home.


BAKING:  is on hold till this afternoon.  I just remembered it's the Hospice Shop Christmas lunch today.  I've quickly done some ham/cheese crackers and we are almost ready to go.  20 minutes later..... I got the day wrong. Sheesh, I really should learn to check the blasted calendar eh?  It clearly says "Thursday, 12 noon",  DOH.


Griffin is really enjoying all the ham/cheese crackers. He's got a jar full of Piccalilli in front of him too... he rather likes it.


I have success with the phones too.  I took the new one down to the garage and plugged it in there as that phone line seemed to be working.  And YES, it works!  I now can use me new phones.
BUT, it means the phone connection thingee in the house is not working.  *sigh*
That means probably having to get someone in to sort it out.  DRAT. 2 Loooooong hours later... I have personalised the new phone system... taken a couple of calls, made a few... and it's all systems GO!  
It's a neat phone, I love it already.


I know... it doesn't take much to make me happy sometimes!


NOW I am going to bake...


So, I get out all the ingredients, turn the oven on and start to get ready to mix stuff together.  BUT ... there is that smell?  Like burning.  I open the oven door.... to be swamped in plumes of smoke!  Massive plumes of smoke.  Like MY GOD what is happening in there?
Once the smoke clears a bit I peer inside me oven.  Ahhh Haaaa... something has spilt onto the bottom of the oven and is getting ready to burst into flames by the look of it.


SO.... cancel baking for now...

ABOVE:  waiting for the oven to cool so I can clean it....THEN bake me friggin muffins!  The fan is just to hasten the cooling process...


I REALLY felt like cleaning the oven today too.... NOT!


Using the fan was a good idea if I do say so!  The oven was cool enough to clean in half an hour... and now the muffins are cooking.  Must keep an eye on the time, don't want to burn them now!

ABOVE:  before and after.   I wasn't sure how much mixture to put in each dish... so I only filled them 3/4's, and it's worked out fine.

Now I have to turn around and make dinner. Wonderful.

End of Day: I didn't make dinner afterall.  Stew brought home chinese.  Spent the evening watching telly, there's quite a few really good programmes on a Wednesday night!

nite nite.

NOTES TO REMEMBER:

Don't spend hours looking for a really nice  Christmas present for someone who obviously didn't spend a second thinking of something nice for you.  (I know it's supposed to be all in the giving, but COME ON!)


NOTE TO ANONYMOUS FAMILY MEMBER:  a calendar is a suckful 'present'.  Edit:  The calendar was for Stew and Me.  I was upset about it as this person just does not seem to care one iota about us anymore.  And that hurts.  I am not an ungrateful person, but if you knew the background you would understand why I'm hurt.   In hindsight maybe I should not have blogged this.

 ABOVE:  if you want your hydrangeas to be BLUE, you have to put sulphate of aluminium in the soil before they flower.


NOTE TO SELF:  buy friggin sulphate of aluminium for next year.

ABOVE:  if you don't want Griffin nagging you for days on end to set up the Playstation again, get Steve to do it for you.


NOTE TO SELF:  well done on rearranging the lounge so he can play there in the corner and drive you nuts with the noise instead of nagging. (clearly I can't win)


TODAY:  pack Brylee's bag... cos she's going to spend a few days with her Aunt Khady!  And she can't wait.  
Then Griffin and I will go and pick up our new house phones.  Yipee!


NOTE TO SELF:  what a great way to stop them bickering at each other!


ONWARD...


The morning went well.  Brylee is very happy at her Aunts... she will not miss Griffin I think! lol
Griffin and I did a little shopping at Sylvia Park then came home to chill out for the afternoon.


We are expecting a visit from Lacy this afternoon.  She wasn't going to come over when she heard Brylee wasn't here, but then I think she realised how that would look and changed her mind.  

ABOVE:  my Sister in Law just got a glass splash back for her kitchen.  It's her colour to a 'T'.  And she's wrapt with it.

ABOVE:  as mentioned, Lacy turned up to visit Griffin. (Lacy on the right)


I can't help but say it.  When you arrive at your Mother's you don't just barge through the door, tell your friend "That's HER" and proceed up the stairs as if you don't even exist.  No 'Hi Mum'.  NOTHING but a dirty look.


I was SO MAD I almost told her to turn around and get out of my house.  
But as she had made the effort to visit Griffin even though Brylee wasn't here, I let her stay.


If Stew had been home I am positive he would have kicked her out. 


Now that I'm fuming I shall go and do some housework.  I'll take it out on the washing!


*** PEPSI UPDATED, full 'Calendar Story' on it.  PEPSI UPDATED ***


End of Day:  well an eventful day.... some I knew was going to happen, and some I didn't know would.  Had a nice dinner of chicken.... the guys went for a walk in the evening.  I would have gone if I'd known BEFORE dinner that it was on the cards.  I simply cannot walk on a full tummy.  Makes me ill.
Maybe tomorrow?
nite nite

A FUNERAL

Stew's stepmother passed away quietly last week, and her funeral is this afternoon.

ABOVE:  Nana Joan at her 90th birthday 2 years ago. The kids and I are going to catch a train into Greenlane to meet up with Stew, then we can all go to her funeral together.


Hopefully the weather holds and its not raining ... 


Apart from that I just want to do a last minute look around the shops for a few last minute things.  Christmas food mostly, chocolates, wine.... I am not leaving anything to the last minute.  


Also first thing this morning I have to cut Griffin's hair.  He looks like a sheep.  

AND before I forget:  My niece up in Whitianga has expressed disgust that she has not been mentioned on my blog for months, so I will just give you a  few photos of Sabrina Maxine:

ABOVE:  there ya go Max, some lovely photos of you!  Now you have a lovely Christmas, and we will see you at some point when we come up to see Joshua.  OK?   *smiles*

Would you believe it?  The trains are not running this week due to maintenance on the line!  so Stew is going to pick us up instead.  Drat, I was looking forward to taking the kids on the train too.  

OH well, at least it's a glorious day out there today with no hint of rain.

Back.... the funeral was small and intimate.  Very nice service and Griffin can attest to the food afterwards being very nice too. 

ABOVE: The church was gorgeous, with a very nice view of the Waitemata harbour.

After the funeral we stopped in at Botany to look at a new phone set for the house.  

AND yes, I did get a three phone set a while ago, but I hate it.  So I'm getting the set I wanted BEFORE Amanda and Steve talked me out of it.  Lesson learnt: go with what you want in the first place.

End of Day: watched the season finale of 'The Mentalist'... it was really worth watching.  Awesome ending.

nite nite.