Another Friday with Chelsea. And again I had it easy as Lachie went to play at Zac's for the afternoon. Masses of rain here today so we have not really got out. Chelsea just off home now.

We are very fortunate to live next door to Graham, who got himself a fancy pants new boat late last year. Jamie's been out fishing with Graham a couple of times now. Here's a snap of the bounty from Wednesday's trip! (caught with his own rod)

A "Braces" pic at last!

Well I have now got the knack of taking "self portraits" - I might try it again more often!

Nothing much to see, is there? I have these clear things on the top teeth. From far away you can't see any difference. And of course you don't normally see my bottom teeth anyway. They are feeling much better - eating is still not so great - but they are not irritating the insides of my mouth now. I am determined to keep flossing - which is very a time consuming exercise - and you use way more floss! And it is a bit sore brushing too.

Got the fire going tonight, so cosy! Decided not to go to Shirley Carpenter meeting at church. Have justhad a quiet Saturday around home.

Just a few pictures of my cuties ..

Paraire!

Its our first day looking after Chelsea today. Its going great so far - she arrived just before 8am, watched me and the boys eat our breakfast, and then went to sleep for two and half hours! The boys played outside while I sat on the back door step and watched them. They don't really like to play outside unless one of us 'parentals' is close by.

Around 11am, Lachlan left to spend the weekend with his Nana and Great Poppa. I am sure they will all have a great time at Lake Rotoma!

Me Fletcher & Chelsea went for a quick walk after lunch and then home so both of them could have naps.

In other news....

We've run out of broadband for the month - too much watching TV on the net!! And oh my Lordie dial up speed is SOOOOO SLOW! And I don't get broadband speeds back til the 11th of May!

Omega Place update....the people on our eastern boundary have started to build! They are on a sloping section so they are digging in - presumably a basement garage and a house on top of that. Its kind of a shame really, I was hoping we wouldn't have neighbours for a while. It will be interesting to see what kind of house they put up.

Braces update...sorry Steph, I still haven't posted a photo. Jamie took one last night, but I didn't feel it was flattering enough to post on the www. Besides, you could hardly see the braces anyway. My teeth are sore I guess - just mainly when I eat though.

Righty, I've put some meat into the slow cooker, I'd better go and add some vegetables. Ciao!

I got my braces on yesterday afternoon. I drove over to Rotorua about midday, picked up Mum and then went to my appointment.

I suppose I'll have to put a picture on at some stage. They're certainly not my best look. But I'm looking forward to everything in my mouth being corrected.

Had dinner with Sarah & Mum last night, and they are coming here tonight!

More later!

About an hour ago, Jamie got back from a three-day course in Wellington. They were learning about how to look after police foster puppies so they can turn into great future police dogs.

So me and the boys had a pretty quiet weekend. We did have a first birthday yesterday which was fun, and church this morning.

I also spoke to Chris B about our quote for building - I think he should have it to us this week.

Its a rainy bleak day out there today. We just went and got a pizza for 'afternoon tea' - how bad is that? Anyway it was pretty easy to polish off! I was going to go "open homing" but I've left it a bit late.

Til tomorrow!

Who dis little cutie?

ramblings

Not so much to report from 213 King Street today. I went to work this morning - stayed a little later as Jamie picked up the boys from Starlights.

We lit the fire for the first time on Sunday and had it going last night and tonight. We are pretty pleased with the job it does - considering it is an in-the-wall jobbie.

Not much planned for the long weekend ahead - just a 1st birthday party on Saturday - so hopefully someone invites me around!

House Update #3

We got our building consent today!!

We really did not to expect to get it this soon. It is getting so exciting, and we haven't even got on to the really cool stuff, like choosing appliances and colours and carpets!

Still have not had any quotes come in.....hopefully soon. I'll let you know what happens next, once I know myself!

Thursday Thoughts...

(aha, my alliterative post titles continue..)

I think that the rainy weather has finally departed. It didn't rain much today and there were even sunny spells. I got out this afternoon and went for a walk with the boys.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mum and congratulations on the job!

These pictures of the boys taken Wednesday night

Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow

Ow ow ow!!!!!!!!

I went to the orthodontist quickly this morning in preparation for getting the ole' braces put on, Monday week. He put these rubber band thingees between my back teeth (or should I say, my molars). Apart from feeling like I have great hunks of meat stuck in my teeth, they are pushing my teeth around and hurt like jiminey!

Oh well, nothing like preparation for the pain of actually having the braces on!

Torrential Tuesday

I took this picture of the boys tonight just before they went to bed

It is raining a treat outside - day 2 of rain. I'm not complaining yet, because we need the rain! I've done a bunch of laundry and put it in the dryer. I managed to get out for a walk with this boys this morning, before the rain really set in. It was great to get the fresh air.

Coffee group was a no go this morning, a couple of girls texted to say they wouldn't make it, the others didn't text at all! So instead me and Jamie and the boys went out to the new "Hub" shopping centre and ...did some shopping. Jamie got some nice sweaters from Rebel, and I got some "ugg boot" slippers, which, as I speak, are keeping my feet roasty toasty warm. Lachie got another new pair of shoes and some clothes too. The only one who didn't benefit today was Fletcher...

Jamie is on late shift - a great shift - he starts at 2pm and is usually home by 10pm. He called in home for his dinner tonight, and boy did he save my bacon!! Just as he arrived, Lachlan threw up his dinner over the carpet and himself and Fletcher started to howl. So he put the boys in the bath for me while I cleaned up the mess!! Thanks babe.

And for the record, I'm sure Lachlan is fine. I think the throwing up was the result of him not chewing his food properly.

I should probably go and sweep up the food off the kitchen floor that routinely falls from my darling boys' dinners. And maybe I'll get an early night too!

Water trucked in as Whakatane deals with foul taste

That's the headline, click here to read the NZ Herald article.

As Sarah mentioned on her blog, the water here is ghastly at the moment. And it seems the Council are acknowledging it by trucking in free drinking water. We have two ten litre containers on the bench - one from Kawerau supply and the other from Opotiki. We also have nine litres in the fridge bought from the supermarket!

The Situation on Sunday

Jamie & Fletcher stayed home from church today - poor Fletchie woke up with his eyes practically glued shut with gunk in them! So Jamie took him to the duty doctor - he has been given treatment for conjunctivitis. He is having a nap at the moment.

I went to church early with Moana as I was on the singing roster. Auntie Sarah & Uncle Martin picked up Lachlan for church and he was with them for the whole service - as good as gold (I think, I didn't hear anything from where I was sitting).

We've just had a nice weekend and I think I will go and have a rest myself. We are all fighting sore throats and coughs and snotty noses - except for Lachie.

My kiddies!

Wasn't up to much first thing this morning - Jamie had the car - and I COMPLETELY forgot that I had coffee group scheduled. So I missed out on that, what a bummer.

Just this week we've noticed that this house isn't very warm. Y'know some houses that are warmer outside than in. We had that problem at James Street and we have it here. We will not have that problem at Omega Place!! Anyway, So me and Lachie went shopping for some new pyjamas, shoes & slippers for him. We got some cute PJs from Farmers and good shoes & slippers from K Mart. He is wearing his new PJs tonight to bed and feeling very proud of himself - and looking so cute.

Here is Fletcher yesterday... brushing his teeth before bed and having a nap earlier in the day. He has a runny nose and I don't think he is feeling on top of the world really. And yes, that is the extent of our bathroom!

Mum, I have been putting him in his sleep suit.

ps. here is a link to a Beacon article about the "Crop a Cop".

and here is a picture of Willy's son getting his head shaved

A Visit from Anglican Childcare

As you know, from the end of the month I will be looking after our niece Chelsea one day per week. We are doing it through Anglican Childcare, so I have signed up to be an "Educarer". Today Dianne came to check that our house is OK and safe for children.

So, of course, Murphy's Law came into operation today, my children were fighting with one another over toys...but really, the best bit was when Fletcher managed to get a great big knife off the bench and bring it out the back door where me and Dianne were looking at my laundry!

Hopefully I get approved!

A New Old Dishwasher

Last week we bought a second hand dishwasher off Trade Me. We are totally over having to handwash the dishes - we do 2 - 3 washes a day - & more if I make lots of dishes baking or making dinner. The kitchen is all hooked up for it. So Jamie drove over to Tauranga this morning to collect it. We've been making a few extra trips lately, which has been hurting the petrol budget...

Its just about set to go, we just need to get another hose as the existing one is not long enough. Hopefully it will be set up tomorrow! Best go buy some dishwashing powder!

Tuesday happenings

Its been a day of comings and goings at our place. Jamie & Lachie went for a walk first thing. Then me and the boys went up to Abby's for coffee group. Then after lunch I went in to work - just for an hour and a half..After that we went for a family walk - we went around to Poppa's and picked up some feijoas.

The water from the taps today is just awful. Usually I can grin and bear it, but not today. Jamie went to the supermarket tonight and bought us a 10 litre container to drink. Much nicer!

Winter really feels like it has arrived today. I've been wearing jeans all day and several layers on top. Tonight the temperature is supposed to really drop to about 9 degrees. Boo hoo!! I've just made a shopping list of the winter stuff we need to buy. I've been wanting to put Lachie into warmer clothes but they are all too small for him! Fortunately we have loads and loads of firewood.

Enjoy the 'mega post' (I know, little and often is far better) and all the pictures. Keep reading all the way down til you see the 'ankle picture'.

Crop a Cop

A guy that Jamie works with - Willy - has been suffering from leukemia for a while now. He is back in Hamilton under going his second round of treatment and awaiting a bone marrow transplant. Lots of guys from Jamie's work have been working hard to help them out - e.g around the house doing working bees. They also came up with some fundraising ideas - Willy's wife and their 4 year old twins are renting a house in Hamilton to be closer to him - a bit tricky paying your mortgage and rent!!

So Friday night they had a Quiz Night - which I attended with a team from my work - as well as about 29 other teams! It was a great night out. They raised about $4,000 at that.

Last night (Monday) they had a "Crop a Cop" night. Jamie and maybe 20 others got sponsors - people to pay them money - if they would shave their heads. I think its a common cancer fundraising idea. Anyway. They raised about another $4,000 for that too! And together with other donations I think they are looking at about $10,000 all up! Here are the pictures of the fun! Me and the boys went down to watch.

The hairdressers who volunteered their time got a bit swamped, so Jamie picked up some clippers.

Jamie shows off his handiwork

Then its his turn...

All for a good cause....but we've decided it'll be the last time he shaves his head!!

from the weekend

Jamie worked night shift over the weekend. Friday night while tracking someone, he rolled his ankle running under a bridge somewhere. Here's the damage. He's doing good though, hasn't taken any time off work and it seems to be recovering well. The swelling has gone down a lot.

Our weekend was a pretty slow one. Jamie worked a night shift in Tauranga on Friday - which was a great opportunity for him. But it meant he was out of action all Saturday morning getting some sleep. Me and the boys went for a walk and to the playground. It can be a bit of a stress trying to keep the boys quiet while Jamie is sleeping off a late shift. But now I have realised it is an impossible task and I don't bother trying! And, wouldn't you know, Jamie didn't hear a thing from us.

Cleaned the house this afternoon - which is lucky cos I am going to have coffee group here tomorrow. Looking forward to that..

House Update #2

Submitted the plans to the Council yesterday. No going back now! Handed over the first of many cheques too...

Some pictures for you...

Thought I better post some pictures of what we have been up to lately. Another good day today. Lachie is just in the lounge with me playing trains, we've also been doing some colouring in tonight. Hoping to settle down with a few books once he is in bed!

Helping Dad wash the car

Here is Fletcher giving Dad a hand to wash the car today. He's so industrious! We had a busy morning out for a walk, then to the playground, then home for lunch and car washing.

At the Lake - Easter Weekend

Here is Jamie after he had taken his Poppa for a spin on the Lake.


After a ride on the "Skurf" board..

Did I ever mention the $1000 worth of marine accessories we won? When we insured the jet ski we went into a draw. And we were the lucky winners! I was in the newspaper and everything, a photo of me receiving the voucher. Amongst the things we got were some cool life jackets. The Skurf board however, was bought at a garage sale!

Jamie's Graduation

Here is a snap of Jamie and Cruz from their graduation at the end of February. It took some serious photo shopping and I'm still not sure its quite right!

House Update #1

Our working plans are complete - we picked them up last Thursday. We will submit them to the Council this week some time.

Jamie also dropped them off to our builder Chris today. He is going to do a quote for us, but we probably won't get it for a month.

Easter & such..

First up, I must tell you I have no photos to post! Sorry. I did take the camera with me on my Easter travels but I didn't get snapping.

We had a great Easter weekend. We started off by having friends around on Good Friday for breakfast. Me and Jamie cooked breakfast for 10 adults in our tiny kitchen with 3 frypans running! It was a great start to the weekend.

In the afternoon Jamie & Lachie went up to Lake Rotoma with the jet ski. I stayed home so Fletcher could have a nap and also so that we weren't running around like headless chickens before our dinner with Mum & Dad and the Wintersons.

It was great to catch up with the parentals over yorkshire puddings....& brownie & icecream...

Saturday - another lake day!! It was such a great day. The weather just got better and better. Me Jamie & Paul had lots of fun zipping around on the jet ski and towing each other on the sea biscuit etc. I had a nice swim after my last sea biscuit of the day. I didn't want to leave!! Maybe we'll get one more day like that in before its too cold.

Monday we went up to Galatea where a friend of Jamie's from work lives. They had got us a bunch of firewood so we went to collect that.

In other news....

* I am getting braces to put on my teeth at the end of April. Its to correct my bite and make room for a tooth coming through.

* Also at the end of April, I will be looking after our niece Chelsea every Friday, while Mel goes back to work.

Lachie's awake! Better go.

Remember this?

Remember this?

I've been leaving it so long between posts, I have to check my blog to see what I wrote last!

I got home from work about 12.30pm, and Jamie just went off to work - the 2pm til 10pm shift. He is loving work. He got called out at 2.30am Saturday morning and had a great few hours tracking people down...then he went and cut firewood for the morning! That was probably a good thing because it kept him going for the rest of the day.

Lachlan went to his Nana and Grandad's on Friday afternoon - a spur of the moment thing. Nana called in to say hello and he asked if he could go home with her. So he did! Uncle Paul & Auntie Mel brought him home on Sunday.

Looking forward to Easter weekend - we'll just be around I think. Hopefully the jet ski will get a run.

Lollipops!

How cute is this kid??!!

Today me Jamie & the boys had a day out. We went to Tauranga and took the boys to Lollipops Play land. It is a great little set up there. Unfortunately my boys weren't feeling too adventurous, so we mainly stayed off the fun looking climbing tower with tunnels and slides. They were more in to the merry go round, the digger, the ride in cars and the play house.

It was our first Sunny Saturday in a few weeks. Me & the boys headed out this morning about 9.30 while Jamie slept in from his night shift. We spent a good while at the play ground and then came home via the sushi shop. I might make sushi my Saturday treat. A store opened in town a few a couple of months ago, though I only found out about it 3 weeks ago (shows how much I go to town). Anyway every week I go there I think the sushi gets better! Hopefully they do well so they don't close down (like the squillions of eateries at that premises have).

After the boys naps me Jamie & Lachie went over to the Harbour for a cruise on the jet ski. Fletcher went to his friend Connor's house. Lachie was supposed to go to a friend's as well, so me & Jamie could have "couple time" but they phoned back and cancelled. Anyway, it was lovely out on the water. Jamie thinks the jet ski is running well since its service at the beginning of the week. And I backed the trailer down on to the boat ramp! Luckily its really wide...

We got our TV out of storage yesterday. We can only watch DVDs and VCR though because there is no cabling to hook up the TV in the bedroom it is in. That's OK though. So I watched "Becoming Jane" last night, which wasn't very worth while.

Jamie's last night shift tonight, and then a few days off! I'm off to bake some cookies.

An Update!

It is very quiet at my place at the moment - all the boys are asleep - Jamie included!

Jamie has been on night shift since Monday night - 7pm til 3am. He has been going really well - caught his first crim with the dog on Tuesday night! Its a bit of a mission keeping the boys quiet in the mornings - although Tuesday & Wednesday we were out of the house as part of our usual routine anyway. In our new house our bedroom is the farthest point from the kids living room so that will be great.

Speaking of new houses....we have booked in Chris Ballantyne to do the build. He has a great reputation for good workmanship. Also a property developer bloke we know (Lance) has offered to project manage the build for a small fee. He is building a house across the street so that is going to be incredibly convenient! Lance has already done a job for us - we have to get our house plans signed off by Ian Lysaght, the Coastlands developer. Jamie met with them last week and it didn't go so well - they didn't seem very happy - but Lance just phoned to say that he has spoken with Ian and everything is all go!

So, proposed timeline for the house is: final drawings done in March, plans in Council in April/May, costings done after that.....should be ready to go by August/September.

On the potty training front, things are going very well. After two days of staying home doing "intensive training" we were out much of the weekend. Lachlan did great - he went to the toilet at the Ohope Craft Market on Saturday, then at Riley's house, then we went out for dinner to friends' and he went on their toilet too!! And of course church on Sunday. He hasn't had any accidents since....Tuesday. However, we are still working on the POO front! But he's doing so good with everything else, I'm not stressing about that (which is a miracle for me!). And all with the help of the book "Potty Training in Less than a Day" by Mr Azrin & Mr Fox (although it was a bit longer for us!)

Thank you Grandma, for the potty training present, which arrived yesterday. I was at work but Lachie phoned me from home to tell me the wonderful things he got. I just checked on him to see if he was asleep, but he was gazing at Mater (still fully packaged)!

Here are the boys the other night playing nicely together with the blocks. Note Lachlan's red undies!!

Fletcher

This morning Fletcher was out much of the morning with Dad while me and Lachie potty trained. In the afternoon we dug out Lachie's bike from the garage - Fletcher was more interested than Lachie I think! Anyway he is great at holding on and loves being pushed around on it. He even managed to get himself on the seat! Here he is watching Dad and Cruz playing around. I thought all the pictures were so cute I had to put them all up.

Fletcher is proving himself very err... strong willed. He was having hissy fits over sharing the bike with Lachlan. Then tonight he had a hissy fit over dinner - then I realised he wanted to feed himself. So he held the spoon and graciously allowed me to guide his hand & the spoon from the bowl to his mouth!!

Potty training Part 2!

We have had another day of great success! By the end of today Lachie has been telling us when he needs to go potty - tonight after dinner I even sent him off by himself! The other great thing is that it seems he has transitioned to the toilet! He has been great using the potty, and I don't mind it. Its just that going out of the house gets a little tricky. I didn't really want to take the potty to church on Sunday!

Anyway, ages ago we bought a seat insert for the toilet seat. I gave him a try on it this afternoon and he loved it! We even went to the gas station and the library this afternoon (just for half an hour) and we had no accidents!

I hope tomorrow we will have more of the same!

One Way Ticket to UndieVille

At long long last I have decided to toilet train Lachlan. I tried several months ago but quickly decided that I was not ready! But I realised I really needed to get on to it after he turned 3. There is no going back now!

Jamie took Fletcher out most of the morning so me and Lachie could have some one on one training time. There have been a number of accidents, but lots of success too! Most notable of these being that he did a poo on the potty, and also he told me that he wanted to go potty and once he was on, did the business! He's done so great and I am so impressed with him!

More of the same tomorrow!

The Final Countdown...

yes, hum the tune with me now. I think I used to finish a step aerobics class to that tune. Knee repeaters everybody!

Anyhoo..

Jamie is home tomorrow. He graduated from his course today! I am so proud of him and can't wait for him to be home and start work! Although the week's holiday before that will be great too. Jamie over-ran his goal to be a dog handler by age 30 by three days. (I think it still counts!)

Finalised our house plans this week - got the quote from the architect today for the working drawings. We will talk to builders next week....it's starting to happen! It would be nice to start soon, but we have discussed September as a start date for the build.

Did a smidgen of work from home just now....also we are thinking about starting a family trust so I played around preparing a few documents for that.

Beautiful Fletcher

Yesterday morning me and Fletcher went for a walk. It was a bit chilly, so together with a sweater and pants, I put proper shoes on him for the first time ever! He thought he was pretty cool. After his nap yesterday afternoon, he brought the shoes to me and wanted them on. Doesn't he look cute?

Here he is on Sunday afternoon, after a biiiiiig nap. He's so gorgeous I just had to get out the camera.

At the Lake ...Again

Well its all quiet at my place.

We went up to the lake this morning, this time with the Wintersons & Dean & Gaynoll. The weather was a bit iffy, but in between the showers it was great! Nice not to be up there allll day though.

Lachie is staying with his grandparents for a few nights from today - so I left him at the Lake with his grandad.

Fletcher is having a sleep after a big day and I should be getting ready for Megan's 30th birthday party tonight. It is a uniform/costume party so I am going in a soccer uniform. Martin & Sarah are looking after Fletcher for me and I am also going to spend the night at their place. Hopefully I enjoy the party even though I am going SOLO!

We are back!

Its been about two and a half weeks since I have posted. From the 29th of January to 2nd of February we enjoyed a trip to Poppa and Grandma's at Havelock North with our cousins. Here are a few pictures.

Other than that we have just been doing the usual routine!

More again soon.

At Ocean Beach

We spent a couple of hours at the beach. Lachlan wasn't very cheerful that day, so there are no photos of him!

At Poppa's work

On Lachie's birthday, we went to the stockyard where Poppa works (Stortford Lodge or something..). It was really interesting to look around, and also to watch the stock being auctioned!

Lachie's 3rd Birthday!