The big Weekend Away

What a fantastic weekend we have had. Brenda, Helen and I tripped away to Queenstown for a gettaway. We took our scrapbooks and and I am pleased to report that I completed 8 pages for Daniels album. We also did lots of knitting, nattering and had the odd glass of wine. Of course we also managed to fit in a walk around the town and a spot of browsing in the shops. We found the most decadent chocolate shop, they make their own and have all the flavours that you can imagine. They also had the most delicious hot chocolate that I have ever tried! So if you are in Queenstown go to Patagonias. http://www.patagoniachocolates.com/ We also found the wee shop where they actually make the chocolates in Arrowtown and the smell is out of this world divine!

The other place that I found was The British Lolly Shop. I was very excited to find many wonders from my childhood and bought a couple of things in there. We did have to go back the next day though becuase I had eaten them and wanted more lol! http://www.thebritishlollyshop.com.au/t-queenstown.aspx

I managed to fit in a walk around Fernhill which was lovely. The weather was crisp and cool but very still. I really enjoyed it. I have found lots and lots of clothes that will look fantastic when I have lost lots of weight - so I will need a trip back up there to buy them all later in the year hehe. Although the $900 merino shawl might stay in the shop lol!!!!

It was great to have some one on one time with my gorgeous bubba Charlie. Lots of relaxation, laughs and chatter, just what the doctor ordered.

Here is the gorgeous view from the patio of the house we stayed in - cant get much better than that huh!

The knitting part.......
The gorgeous Charlie, just chilling out.......
Cuddles with nana...........

Pig Pig Pig

Look what we got............



10 little piggies! One for the freezer, one for the neighbours freezer and 8 little piggies for the market. Not sure what breed they are - but they look like they might have some Duroc in them. The neighbours got some mastitis milk given but had no where to keep the pigs, so we are going halvers in them. The kids were so excited when we got back from school and they were there. So we dug out some fruit scraps to go feed them.
Sam said "pig pig, ugh, ugh" which his his oink sound!

After pig feeding (there is now a Spotty, a Babe and a Jessa!) We went out into the paddock toget some carrots. There was a few parsnips and we even got some new potatoes!!! YUMMY.
The kids love picking stuff we have grown and they helped to plant.

Check out Jessas huge carrot - she was very excited about this one, even if she did get a little muddy pulling it out! (check out the knee) Daniel found a huge one too - they are really sweet to the taste too. We had homegrown carrots, swede and potatoes with homegrown beef topside stew and peas (they were from the vege stall) very satisfying.
In other news - the kids stall is now up and running and the other day they sold two swedes ( We think it might have been the neighbour) And today there were several bags of kindling gone and some horse poo. So in one week they now have the total of $24. They were so excited, there were lots of coins so they thought there was heaps of money there. It is really cool to see them reap the rewards to their efforts of collecting all the horse poo. (Dad helped with making the stall, chopping swedes and bagging the kindling) They are all set to collect more horse poo and kindling this weekend.

Which brings me onto the other exciting news - I am going away for the weekend and leaving the kids with Jase, I am so excited and looking forward to it. I am taking Charlie of course, he sort of needs me right now (although we did have to have a talk about biting the boob that feeds you the other day!) I have sorted all my scrapbooking stuff to take, my knitting is at the ready and I think I may even be able to sneak in a little bottle of wine! My sister in law and mother in law are coming too and we are going to Queenstown to stay in a friends house (thanks so much if you are reading this - it is awesome and just what we needed) Cant wait to update on what a great weekend we had!

School Disco

Friday night was the school disco. Much excitement has been happening in our house this week with the promise of dancing and fun - and a late night! The theme was pirates and princesses. So both the kids decided they wanted to be pirates. Daniel was easy as he got his pirate costume from uncle Bruce a couple of years ago. Laura took a bit more thought. She is wearing my boots and shirt with a cut down pair of her old trousers. The boots add about three inches to her height and I got a bit of a fright when she put them on - 8 going 18!!!! She asked if she could keep them - ahem NO!!!
Anyway when we got to the disco I realised that there was some of the younger kids there too plus a couple of Jessas wee friends. I felt mean because I thought it was just for the school kids and had told her she couldnt go. She was round at Nanas with dad. So I popped home and got her wee dress and then went around and asked if Cinderella wanted to go to the ball. The look on her face says it all. She was so excited she kept hugging and kissing me. She had a great time and partied on long after Daniel had fallen asleep in the corner! (well 9pm is late when you are little) We had lovely supper (which funnily enough Daniel woke up for) and then home to put some tired little people to bed.

Doing the limbo!

We have spent most of the weekend around at Armagh as Gina and the 'tussons' (cousins) were down for a couple of days. The kids had great fun all playing - nanas lounge looked like a toystore after an eathquake though!

We had potluck tea on Saturday which was yummy and Nana Dark came out for the night. Nana Dark is Jasons nana, she has 5 children, 22 grandchildren and I am not sure how many great grandchildren but I am guessing it is somewhere in the 50s or 60s! She is a lovely lady and I think she enjoyed seeing all of the great grandchildren in this part of her family.

Lochiel School Enviro Day

Well we have had a great day. We had a special day for preschoolers based around our Enviro school status. There was lots of activities for the wee kids to do and they had a ball.

Peter brought the horses around which were a huge crowd puller of course. Everyone wanted a ride. Lauras class did a homework project on the Cobb and Co coach so they had some questions to ask afterwards. Thanks Peter, you made the kids day.

Jessa enjoyed the activities - here she is decorating a pot in which she then planted a native seedling to grow at home. Not sure what she got but I know Daniels is a Kowhai!
Sam spent most of the morning in the coach with the horses or at the bubble blowing activity. There was a bubble machine and big bubble hoops which were very impressive.

So all in all a great day has been had, the kids enjoyed themselves immensely.

Sams new coat

Well I made Sam a new coat this week from my new pattern magazine. (check out http://www.ottobredesign.com/ ) I had some fleece that is windproof and too thick for normal stuff. It has made a lovely duffel coat. It is lined with dinosaur print cotton.
I am really pleased with it as my first 'real' item of clothing that I have made and Sam just loves it.


Jessa - I caught jessa in the bathroom using my electric toothbrush to clean her hands. Apparently just rubbing didnt work. Unfortunately she had been digging worms with Daniel so her hands were quite dirty!!! It makes me wonder how many other times she has used the motorised scrubbing brush!! Little ratbag.

The gorgeous Charlie and a word of warning...

We got an exersaucer for Charlie to try out this week. He loves being able to see what everyone is up to but gets a little tired with all the head control and stuff! The Toy Library is a great thing for borrowing things like this from.
He is 4months old now. I cant believe how quick it has gone. He is such a little person now but still oh so snuggly.

Playing with big brother
A word of warning - make sure you always supervise the 2 yr old while you are feeding the baby - I was feeding Charlie and Sam was in the kitchen (which I could see from where I was, I just wasnt looking!) when I glanced over I found Sam had the sunblock - he must have thought it was going to be a sunny day!

It was raining this morning as we drove past a field of deer. Jessa said they were Reindeer and I said no sweetie they are just deer. She said, but they are laying in the rain the must be raindeer!!!!

grrr computers

I was trying to put some photos on but I am having issues getting them to upload. I have just cleaned the computer out so maybe that will help.
The kids are back at school now and enjoying seeing their friends again. They have started netball and hockey practices too.
Jessa is stoked to be back at kindy again. It tires her out a bit too which is good for me lol!!!
Well I really havnt got much news, I just thought I should update for fear you may think I am getting slack!!!!
Oh I think I forgot to update how the weight watchers is going too. I lost 1.1kg last week and 400g this week. I was actually pleased with the lower loss because we went out for tea during the week and I managed to blow my diet with a huge creme brulee. But it was really yummy!!!
I am starting to notice my snug fitting clothes are getting a little looser now and I have more energy. Also I have noticed it is easier to sit down on the floor with the kids and roll around and stuff!! So it is all good.
Well that is all from me for now - have a nice day.

School Holidays - Week 2

Monday was a lovely clear, warm day with only a breath of wind. I got a heap of washing done and dried and we decided to get the bubble machine out. We had thousands of bubbles in the garden. Much fun was had catching, popping and even eating (!) bubbles!






Tuesday was spent pompom making, Laura made some with her friend the other day so all the kids wanted to try. Sam wasnt quite up to making them but enjoyed running round leaving trails of wool behind him! Then it was off to get some much needed haircuts.

And today we made playdough, each child (well apart from Charlie!) had a wee bowl and made thier own playdough. Sam tried eating the flour and the look on his face was priceless - apparently it didnt taste very nice! But they had fun with the finished product.
I did have a photo of them all but my computer appears to be sucking them out and putting them in funny places and I cant find that one.

School Holidays

Sorry for the slack updates. Things are a bit busier in this house right now as it is school holidays. We have been having fun.

Last week was spent organising things for the kids new 'Lochiel Stall' venture. We painted a sign and dad has started to complete the actual stall part, with a little help from some little people.

Welcome to the world little Mollie Elizabeth

I am an aunty again - YAY!!!!

WELCOME to Mollie and CONGRATULATIONS to Andrew and Liz.

My new little niece has just arrived in the UK. Now I am working on lotto so I can afford to go and meet her!

School holidays are very busy around this house. We spent the day doing jobs in town. Laura had a scrapbooking class so we dropped her off, did the groceries and then took Charlie for his immunisations. A obligitory 20 minute wait at plunket and then off to get Laura. We went to the library for a new pile of books. (Laura has just about read all of her already, wee bookworm that she is!) Picked up a battery from the jewelers and popped in to the shop for Laura to look at bikes. She is going to use the money that she makes from the stall to buy a new bike so she needed to know how much she had to save. (I think she was a bit shocked!)
This afternoon Laura, Daniel and Jess painted a board for a sign for thier stall. Tomorrow we should be able to sign write it.

Sammy gave us a bit of a check last night. I was making tea and he was playing in the kitchen near me. I went to tidy up and was taking some things to the bedroom. When I got back he was under the table playing. So I continued to tidy up in the lounge. Then he brought me the empty biscuit box. - nothing odd there I hear you say. Apart from the box previously contained about half a dozen butter biscuit to which he is allergic! So he wasnt playing under the table the little sneak was scoffing the forbidden fruit!!!!!
I watched him for about an hour and he showed no allergy signs - yay I thought. Tea half and hour later and he didnt want to eat, and started to scratch. So I gave him some phenergan and sat him on my knee for a cuddle. And he promptly vomited on me three times!!!!
So him and I had a shower! He was good as gold after that and still hasnt shown any excema signs that he normally would. So good and bad!!!

First weigh in EEEK!!!

We last night was my first weigh in - and to keep myself accountable I am going to let you all know how it went. I lost 2.2kg YAY!!!!! (just under 5lbs for the pomes!) So here is to the next week. I would like to loose another 2kg but as the average is 1kg I will be happy with that too. (just not quite as happy as I would be with 2kg!)

Yesterday afternoon I had a lovely suprise when Jimmy arrived at my door. Jimmy came to NZ the same year I did and then to our wedding two years later, which was the last time I saw him. He is here for a wedding so it was neat to catch up with him.

I spent some time yesterday fixing the last of three blinds for the kitchen. I did the last two last winter but somehow managed to miss 10inches of the width of it (!) I just needed a few more rings and eyelet thingies to get it up.

The kids are on school holidays so they have been spending some time with Nana before she jets of for Wellington. Jessa is having a sleep over with Nanny tonight so she is very happy. We haven't got too many plans for the holidays but the kids have decided to start their own business and have been collecting bags of horse poo to sell at the gate. They are going to cut swedes and have negotiated a deal with Gegen to buy wood offcuts to sell as kindling. They have made a business plan and decided on a name. All they need now is dad to help them build a wee stall and mum to help them paint a sign. So watch this space for the entrepreneurs.

Sammy's 2nd Birthday

Today is my little man's 2nd birthday. Wow, how did that come up so fast. We have had a lovely day. He got up to open his present from Grannie and Grandpa. He loves his new 'moo moo' cup and insisted I fill it so he could drink out of it. And he has gone to bed with his new cow toy. Then we brought out our present. It was too big to hide in the house so I popped it in the hut. I realised, however, when I started to upload the photos that we havnt taken one of him with it. We bought him a new bike - so out goes the little pink, plastic three wheeler and in comes bright red flames and two wheels. (He is suitably impressed) He is a little bit small but has figured out how to get on and off by him self already and demands the nearest person give him a push!

Here is the cake of the day - of course it had to suit the moo moo mad boy so it is the cow jumping over the moon (well obviously!) Although as Brenda pointed out for a boy allergic to dairy it is a funny favourite!

Blowing candles with big sis as a coach

Opening presents - Uncle Jamie, Uncle Gareth, Auntie Brenda, Aunty Brodie and Uncle Anton came along with Nana and Gegen and we all had a birthday lunch.

Playing with my new toys!

Here are the nappies I made Charlie - they are fitted nappies made out of burley knit terry - a real super soaker - and they have a scrummy soft aqua velour lining. The terry was some I hand dyed. It was supposed to be blue but it came out sort of purple. I guess I didnt leave the dye long enough.
Charlie is a real wetter, so on a night now he is sleeping longer I need something with a bit more soakability. These nappies need a cover over the top and will be a bit bulkier but should be really thick and thirsty.

Back to reality!!!

Well it is back to reality again and the same old!!! Kids back at school and kindy. They were all pleased to see thier friends again. Jess has been a bit off colour and very quiet but is pretty much back to normal again now.

Monday night I went to my first weightwatchers meeting. I have finally accepted my willpower will not work without a bit of encouragement. I weighed in at 91kg EEEEEK!!!! Having said that we had two weeks of treats, I spent the weekend chomping all the nice stuff I knew I wasnt going to have after Monday and made sure I ate a huge tea before I went. The theory being that come next week I should have lost something surely!!!! (even if it is just because I didnt eat tea before I went!!!) So wish me luck - I want to be thin again for my 30th in October so that is my goal. (gosh that sounds terrible saying 30 - how did that sneak up on me!)

Tuesday morning I had Charlie at plunket, he has put on another 700g and weighed in at just over 7kg. (Little bit different to me huh!) He is doing so well. They are very pleased with him.
After that we popped into playgroup to catch up for a while before heading home so Jessa could have a sleep before Kindy.
After picking up the kids from Kindy I had to go to the Chiropracter (apparently driving 1200km and back isnt terrible good for my back!) She managed to fix me again so fingers crossed it stays that way.
Back home and have tea, bathed the little ones and then Laura, Daniel and I headed back up to school for the opening of the Museum. The kids have been doing NZ history as part of thier project this term and they have made a museum. They had an opening night for parents. It looks really good and they were all very proud of thier work.
So a busy day!

Today was much quieter, I made a vege soup and a stew for tea. While the kids were in bed I made a couple of nappies for Charlie and then made some muffins. Jessas kindy teacher is leaving to have a baby and it was her last day (well so we thought but she is actually back for a couple of weeks next term so Jessa was happy!) And we have shared morning tea at school tomorrow so some will go there too. They were choc chip muffins with a square of white choc buried in the middle - good job they are going somewhere or I might just be tempted to eat one!

We had a board meeting at tea time so Jase was in charge of dishing up and washing down.