We had a busy weekend with Ben staying while Martin & Sarah were at youth camp. Lachie thought it was quite fantastic. Nicole and Chris popped in on Saturday afternoon, they were in town for a wedding. It was great to see them and for Nic to have a cuddle with Fletcher.

On Sunday night Lachlan & Fletcher both moved in to new beds! Lachie moved into a proper bed, and Fletchie took over the cot. No drama thru' the night so that was good.

Was supposed to have coffee group today but Lachie has a rather revolting looking snotty nose. So I thought I'd better not pass it on.

Home Again

It is a stinkin' hot Friday here. Ben is staying the night while Martin & Sarah are at youth camp at Papamoa. Zac is staying with his friend Caleb B. We've just a whole day at home today (it was a long one!).

Last night all of us went up to Grant & Abby's for cell group. The boys did great sleeping in strange beds for a couple of hours!!

Wednesday Lachie went to Starlights - his first day - and it seems he enjoyed it. Yesterday we went to Mainly Music.

We had a lovely time staying with Grandma & Poppa in Havelock North and look forward to our next trip!

Does this look familiar?

The Kopuriki Store is still going strong, and I think Mr & Mrs Wright still own it. Although I remember seeing it "for sale" in the Beacon (www.whakatanebeacon.co.nz) a while ago.

Stopping in Taupo

We stopped in Taupo for a bit of late lunch, on our way home Tuesday. It seems such a long drive from Napier to Whakatane! Although it is just under 300km. We took advantage of the beautiful day and the beautiful lake. Lachie sat obediently on the blanket eating his plum and drinking his juice. Hewas great company, pointing out the boats and the airplanes and the trucks and buses, and shooing away the ducks.

Poppa, Grandma & the boys

Taken on Tuesday the 20th, the day we came home.

More...Havelock Happenings

A nice sunny Monday morning here. Has been a quiet weekend, not doing terribly much, just working around the boys' sleep times.

I went in to Hastings on Saturday afternoon by myself and did some shopping, well, actually I didn't buy hardly anything (I was in an indecisive mood). Yesterday morning we went to church with Mum and Dad which was great. Lachie had a lovely time playing with the other kids.

Last night I went to the movies by myself! It was alright, the trick is to go late, so you're not standing in line for a ticket for ages. Just a lite & fluffy number called Music & Lyrics.

There is still a bit of building going on in Mum and Dad's street, so Lachie is having a great morning watching the digger next door in action, and a mini-crane across the street picking up some timber.

Happenings in Havelock!

Yes yes, hello to you all from lovely Havelock North. I drove here this afternoon with my lovely wee boys, leaving Jamie at home to go to work and go fishing and watch rugby.

I came through Galatea/Broadlands rather than through Rotorua. Galatea was lovely and I was thinking of stopping to take some photos. Perhaps on the way back. However, it is quite a drive here and I was glad to pull up at Bourke Place at 4.30pm!

Lachie is asleep in his very own queen size bed (he was very tired and I think fell asleep straight away) and I think Fletcher is asleep in his portacot.

Lachie also went for another visit to Starlights this morning, before he starts going next Wednesday. It was a real shame to say goodbye to Millsy and his friend Jamieson yesterday.

Here is Lachie having some spaghetti for dinner and also sitting with Poppa.

Toooesday

We have some made further progress on the "dog" front. Essex saw the orthopedic vet (?) this morning and had x-rays. He has diagnosed Essex with OCD. No, that's not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but rather Osteochondritis Dissecans...it is a disease of the cartilage that affects the joints in a dog's body. Sometimes it just goes away, sometimes it requires surgery. However, as of right now I am still not sure (a) what will happen to the dog or (b) what Jamie will be doing workwise until the next initial course.

We have had a good week so far. We have enrolled Lachlan at Starlights Childcare Centre. He will be going for 3 hours on Monday mornings and 3 hours on Wednesday mornings. This is because his carer that he has been going to for 6 hours on Wednesdays, has quit. I think I have mentioned that already. So we are very pleased to get him in somewhere so quickly. It is quite a small centre. Morning tea and lunch is provided for him. And those days are really ideal - I can still take him to coffee group on Tuesday and Mainly Music on Thursday. It is also ideal should I decide to go in to work - I share an office and it is free on Mon/Wed.

We went for a visit at Starlights this morning - Lachie went straight to the sandpit and seemed pretty reluctant to leave it.

Lachie's last day with Millsy his carer tomorrow and I plan on going in to work. Not quite sure what to do about the work thing, I never seem to have time to do it at home. And I don't even watch tv!! Or am I just not interested (about work, that is) ? I guess we'll see how things progress with Lachie at Starlights....

An Abrupt End..

Jamie started his initial dog training course at Trentham on Monday the 5th. Unfortunately, he was home yesterday, Friday. His early arrival home was a combination of a dog with a sore leg and that is too young. Jamie is very very disappointed. He takes the dog to the vet on Monday for x-rays (they think it is just growing pains, but want to rule anything else out). We are not sure yet what will happen next. Will keep you updated!

here's Fletcher just 'chillin' in his bassinet...I've got my fingers, who could ask for anything more?

Waitangi Day

The end of a nice sunny hot day here. We have had a great day. We spent the morning with the cousins - Lachie with Zac in the sandpit and with the cars - I played a bit of Cluedo with Martin & Ben. Fletcher slept on a bed most of the morning. Then we were home for Lachie's nap and half the day was gone. This afternoon Nathan & Jas came around to see the boys. So all in all much better than yesterday, we stayed home all day and I think Lachie found it a bit of a grind. As did I!

Jamie headed off yesterday to Trentham, he left home at 5.20am, to get to Tauranga for his 7am flight down. Sounds like they have a pretty nice setup down there - I think I've mentioned that they live in a big house, which has everything that whizzes and ticks (including plasma TVs and playstations). One of the guys on his course lives in Havelock North (but not the one around the corner from you Mum, a bit further away) so he will catch a ride with him not this weekend but next, when me and the boys are there. As for the actual dog training course, I think Jamie is going to find it reasonably hard work - he says there is more to it than he ever imagined! Apparently he was even holding the dog lead the wrong way! And the dog is finding it hard work too - lots of physical & mental work for him. He's used to chasing flies around the garden.

Catch ya again soon!

Happy (early) Birthday Jamie!

Jamie's 30th birthday is on 18 February, but as he will be away then, we had a birthday brunch for him today.

The weather was fantastic and we had about 25 guests around. Jamie had to do the cooking - but we borrowed John T's fancy new BBQ - to do all the eggs & bacon, while I was inside with the pancakes.

We had a really cool time and Jamie got some neat prezzies. Just on the clean up now - lucky we at least had paper plates! And the only thing we forgot was to fry up the tomatoes we had all nicely prepared in the fridge!

Just been for a walk on a cool summer evening. Its been a quiet day. Jamie went to the dentist this morning, and I went yesterday morning. So our yearly check ups are over - its been a while since we both went!

Lachie got a few more birthday presents today, one on the courier from Grandma and one from Auntie Mel. Her & Paul were over this afternoon and Paul was putting some new flashing on our roof.

I think its time for an early night.

Happy Birthday Lachie!

Tonight we have tried to teach Lachie to say "I am 2"! It has been a pretty normal day however. I'm not sure that he has yet completely grasped the whole birthday/present thing. Here is a picture of him on his new bike. We bought him a trike from The Warehouse, but surprise, surprise, it broke during construction! So we returned it and decided we needed to spend a bit more money. We ended up getting a proper bike with trainer wheels. It also has a thing on the back that we can push him along and steer. Its pretty cool.

We had a nice Auckland Anniversary weekend. Jamie finished night shift at 7am Friday morning. At about 3.30pm we drove up to Lake Rotoma to stay with Jamie's parents. Me, Jamie & Fletcher went in to Rotorua to do some shopping on Saturday. We had a swim in the lake on Saturday afternoon! It was lovely. Sunday was pretty uneventful, the weather wasn't that great - apparently it was fabulous at home.. We decided to stay Sunday night too. We went back in to Rotorua on Monday and went out for lunch.

Let's see...oh, we think Lachie might be left handed. We finally noticed that he has been holding his spoon to eat with his left hand. Bye for now.

Up with the Birds

I've had an early start today and yesterday. Fletcher has been waking to be fed at 5.30am so by the time that is finished I figure I may as well start the day. Jamie is at work and I expect he will be home in half an hour.

Lachie is going to Millsy's this morning, from 9-12. Me and Fletcher are going to visit Megan.

I guess we've had a busy week with Jamie coming & going at different hours while I do the usual things like coffee group. We got Lachie under the sprinkler on Tuesday which was great - he had a little help from cousin Ben, who came to play Tuesday morning.

Here is another photo of Lachie & Fletchie. Lachie often asks for a cuddle and then says "have a photo?". So here is his latest shoot.

Greetings on a very warm Monday evening. I am so thankful to have two wonderful boys who go to bed without a fuss around 7pm!!! Jamie is at work so I have done the bath-dinner-bed routine by myself.

Jamie also worked all weekend. I took the boys to town on Saturday morning and did a spot of shopping. I bought myself a cheap little MP3 player so that will be cool for when I am out walking.

On Sunday morning I was on a mission to get the boys ready & over to Ohope to visit a friend before church started, which we did, although we were a bit late to church. I spent a good while on Sunday afternoon picking yummy plums off one of our plum trees. So that is two trees down and one left.

Last Thursday night, Jamie was again, working, so rather than sitting at home me and the boys went up to Grant & Abby's for cell group BBQ. Both of them went to sleep in the spare rooms without a fuss so I was able to enjoy the evening! It was just a bummer having to get them up and take them home - although Fletcher hardly stirred.

The other main event of last week was that we tried to buy a new house! We saw a house around the corner in Riverside Dr that we had liked for a while, and then a 'For Sale' sign appeared. We looked at it Monday and made an offer Wednesday. However two other people made an offer the same day so we missed out. The people who bought it paid just over asking price (which is pretty rare around here). But we are pleased that we gave it a shot.

Jamie is home tomorrow until 2pm so I have made an appointment at the optometrist for the morning. I will try a bit harder to post more this week and add some photos!

Comet McNaught

I wish I could say that I took this picture but I didn't. I just copied it from an article on the net. However, that was the sight we saw last night about 9.30pm, we got a fantastic view from the end of the driveway. We kept checking back and it just got brighter and brighter. I have never seen anything like it! It was so awesome. I was expecting something that zipped across the sky but of course, that would be a shooting star... I think we will keep an eye out for it tonight too!

Sayoonara, Senator

The Senator purred out the garage door to its new home in New Plymouth today. Our stint of V8 glory is over.... Jamie is glad is has gone out of town so that he doesn't have to see it driving around and say "why did I sell it?!"

Well, lets see, damp and muggy day number 8. We haven't seen the sun properly for a whole week! However I think it is set to improve. The clothes dryer has been getting a real work out.

Jamie has the day off today before he works 10 days straight. This Saturday he is going to 'general duties' so back to the blue uniform and on the street.

Yesterday at church Angie O from youth group days was there with her husband. They have been travelling around Central America and are settling back here for a while. I filled her in on what you, dear readers (those who know her), are up to.

The sun is poking through the clouds. I am going to put some laundry on. It always seems like you have so much more when it rains.

Wednesday

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning we had 'coffee group' - or should that be 'tea group'? at my place. Everyone is back from their Christmas holidays. Lots of fun. In the afternoon and well into the night it rained so that kept us inside. Although it didn't keep Jamie from going go-karting with Mark V over at the lagoon. He came home a muddy mess.

This morning I went in to town with Fletcher & Lachie. I was a bit nervous as Lachie was going to have to hold my hand and walk the whole time. Apart from one episode where he tried to escape in the midst of the lingerie section at Farmers, he did great! We also went to the library and got him some Thomas the Tank Engine books and one other from a series about a silly Duck that he likes. He also found an annual report for Plunket Society - it had lots of neat pictures on the cover so he wanted me to read it! Unfortunately only boring pie graphs etc on the inside!

I just zipped up to the maternity annexe to see Karen P and baby Daniel, but they had already gone home. Silly me should have checked before I left!

Here is Fletcher, taken this afternoon. He is even laughing already!! Jamie can get a good giggle out of him. Plunket came today and weighed him, 12lb 80z.