Lazy Days at the Beach

We have just returned home from a lazy week at the beach with good friends. Well, perhaps lazy is not the best word. Four adults and eight kids aged 6 months to 5 years!!! We went to Whangamata, quite possibly the coolest place to be...except at New Year's when seeminglyevery teenager in the country converges for a drunken fest and the police set up temporary holding cells in the carpark.

The kids had a ball, playing in the estuary, riding bikes on flat roads with practically non-existent traffic, eating treats almost every day, meeting new friends, drawing, playing games and relaxing as kids do...at full throttle!

The adults spent a lot of time organising said children, managing squabbles over toys, nursing owies and trying to keep everyone quiet through the night in the tiny three bedroom bach.

We did get to spend some time with old friends who made the move from Auckland to the BOP a few years ago and have now moved on to reside at the beach....the lucky things.

The guys went fishing, J caught his first fish...two legal snapper! We ate smoked kahawai and fresh bread for lunch one day and fresh pan fried fish with lemon and pepper another. Mmmmmmm!!!

The girls went out for a coffee and caught up on the latest with old girlfriends, and also scoured the opshops looking for and finding thrifty treasure...vintage fabric, woollen blankets to mend and embellish for the kids beds, knitting needles and kids books... I finally found the Bobbsey Twins. (Yes,I am on an Enid Blyton collecting spree at the moment... Lashings of ginger beer anyone?) Bliss! I will be updating with my thrifty refashions later.

After a lovely week away our hearts sank and both J and I audibly sighed as we came over the Bombay Hills and back into Auckland traffic, noise and concrete. We have both solidified our desire to move out of the Big Smoke for a quiet life, where we have time to think and live slowly...and get a puppy!

Wild Week

I have had the wildest week...and haven't had any energy to blog at all...but we are off to Whangamata (awesome surf beach) for a week with our bestest mates...so I should be up and running again soon.

Have a fantastic week
K
xxx

Shows and Shops

Today we took the kids to the annual Kumeu Show. We took the camera but forgot to take any pics and anyway it was the SLR (we are slowly being dragged into the digi age...but we will always love "real" photos) so wouldn't have had any to show yet...

Anyway we figured we'd see 20 people we knew...and we did! The kids loved looking at all of the animals, and O5 was intrigued by the woodchopping. J tried to encourage O to climb up the huge wall on the bouncy castle that O really wanted to go on and I of course wanted to check out all of the artsy, crafty, thrifty stalls to glean ideas and fondle lovingly handmade pickles, baby cardies and jewellry

I was very self-controlled and only picked up a sweet wee Turkish purse for my stitch holders...I would have posted a pic but our digi camera sucks the juice out of the batteries so fast that I am always charging them. (note to self...buy TWO sets of re-chargeables!!!) I joked to Jamie that he should be thankful for my friend who is aiming to boycott sweatshop-china-junky-cheapo goods, cos after talking to her I just CAN'T contemplate buying said stuff at the moment. He is unconvinced about the philosophical side of it, but is happy to have more dollars in the wallet.

After two hours of wandering around in the hot, hot, sun...scrounging some sunscreen for the kiddos off a friend we happened to bump into...eating ultra salty hot chips and yummy organic grapes and watching an amazing guy play his flutes/panpipes etc from around the world, we headed off.

We made a quick detour past the mall so I could pick up something I needed...I do so dislike the mall which is strange because even a couple of years back I used to regularly go to the mall just for something to do. Now it feels like I am entering a huge cavernous wasteland. The abundance of articfical lighting and no windows least one gets distrated by the real world without and the myriad of people spending a beautiful sunny day shopping for things they most likely don't need and won't use is quite depressing really. I couldn't wait to get back out again and breathe.

Again...I think J is quietly pleased...isn't an anticonsumeristic, shopaphobic wife just a dream come true for a bloke??? On the other hand...get me within cooee of a yarnstor or a bookstore and all my above rhetoric goes out of the window.

I love my husband...
Let me tell you why...
He folds the washing almost every night
He willingly gets up in the night to attend to C2 who only wants Daddy...and usually has a smelly present waiting for J in his nappy!
He lets me lie in almost every Saturday morning with the paper while he wrangles the hungry hordes
He listens to me when I am having a rotten day and ring him at work to cry...and doesn't tell me to harden up...even when he is thinking it
He encourages me in all of my crazy ideas
He loves me unconditionally...and didn't leave when I was a screaming hellwitch for months after the twins were born
He works hard every day...leaving before dawn to provide for us, and very seldom complains.
He reads to the children every night at the dinner table and at bedtime and inbetween...he taught them to dance to Where the Wild Things Are
He encourages me to go out and relax and spend time with my friends...even though we talk about making undies and threaten to knit ipod covers
He comforts me when I am sad or overwhelmed and doesn't always try to "fix it"...just listens and loves

I know you will read this honey...thank-you for being such a fantastic husband, and an amazing Daddy...we love you sooooooo much and we appreciate you!
xxxx

Crafty Goodness

Okay, so I stole the title from somebody else...not sure who...there are Sooooooooo many fantastic craft blogs out there!

Here are just a FEW of my favs
http://www.rosylittlethings.typepad.com/
http://www.worstedwitch.com/
http://www.jesshutch.com/

So in celebration of craftI am sharing a few pics of things I've made. I tend to knit a lot, and I definitely only make practical things...I just don't have time for little trinkety stuff.

So here are some things I've made lately... Hand embroidered T and soaker made with
hand-dyed wool...this was sent to Australia for a little girl...I hope she liked it!

Lovely, lovely, lovely wool from http://thewoolcompany.com... longies made in gems wool...just scrummy!
I'm on a dishcloth making binge at the moment. I have made a whole heap out of thrifted cotton. I crochet them because it is superfast. They work so well and are so bright and cheerful...much better than the synthetic shop bought cloths.
Another little set..more yummy woolcompany wool...this time my absolute favourite watermelon....mmmmm!
Shhhh...don't tell my niece...this little tiki singlet is off to America for her birthday. Sorry the pic is not so good, but I embroidered and appliqued this tiki for her to remind her of her kiwi heritage. He has cute little vintage button eyes and a red felt tongue.
I always have lots of crafts on the go...so will add more pics now and then to spur me on to actaully finishing projects!

RIP Fizzy

I meant to post this yesterday...but y'know how it is...

Yesterday we had a bunny funeral, so no celebrating...well J may have been secretly glad because we have been waiting for "Bunny Heaven" ever since we got the things!

O5 blogged it, so check out the link

http://ollieblogmunter.blogspot.com

Now we are hoping that our other bunny doesn't end up stiff as a board too...we have NO idea what prompted the death of the first bunny.

On the bright side the bunny was ceremoniously buried in the vege garden, and will provide fantastic fertiliser for our winter crops. Now would a vegetarian eat veges grown with bunny nutrients?

And...a big cheer for J who came home from work to bury the bunny and console O5...I am such a wuss...no touching dead stuff for me baby!

Words of Wisdom

I have just edited my blog-to-date to preserve a bit more privacy for our family. Somebody older and wiser than me (okay, it was my Dad) offered me some advice that perhaps I was being just a bit too open by posting my children's names and so forth. Well, as much as I hate to admit it...I think he is right.

I am by nature an open person, but when it comes to the actual and potential safety of my kids I will go out of my way to ensure they are not exposed.

So...if you are new to my blog you'll have to imagine the names of my family...it could be lots of fun...my hubby J could be Jasper or Jehosophat or even Jorge. My eldest boy has his own blog...so it won't be hard to figure out his name, what about the twins... Princess A for Araminta, Aretha or Abigail...Master C? How about Coltrane, Cletus or Cyril...and my precious Baby Ecould be Engelbert, Ebenezer or Ezekiel...maybe I could change their names in each post even.

Any great names to offer peeps?

Addled

Addled...okay I have JUST looked it up in the dictionary...and now I find that it not only, or even usually, means confused as I thought, but ROTTEN... as in rotten, non-fertile egg!!!!!!!!

So now, do I change my blog title because, although my mind is frequently confused, I don't think it is rotten...or just leave well-enough alone???

Sundays in our Family

As a family Sunday is our day to get together with other Christians and worship our God. The children have their Sunday clothes and we have just bought O5 his own Bible to take with him to Sunday School. On the way to Church today I asked O why we went to church. He replied that he didn't know, so I asked him what we did at church and he thought and said, "We sing and pray and go to Sunday School"...and on went the discussion. It is so exciting having the opportunity to share why we do what we do with our boy...he is growing up so fast.

Church for us is potentially quite stressful, but we persevere...we choose to makethe worship service a part of our lives when it would be so much easier to stay home. We want our children to grow up knowing that God is important in our lives everyday...and that we are able to have a special celebration on Sundays as well. So today we celebrate Sunday...we celebrate God...we celebrate the freedom to worship together as a family...and we even celebrate God's goodness in making raisins...because without raisins our precious two year old twins would struggle to "make it through" the worship service until creche begins.

We also are very thankful for wonderful people who love our children and also impact into their lives in our Christian family...Mr E who teaches O5's Sunday School class and has already won a fan, the 12 year old girls who willingly cuddle babies, read books and play with the little ones in the creche, the lovely older lady who genuinely thinks my fiery red-headed daughter is beautiful and offers a word of encouragement when I have to walk out of the worship service carrying a very loudly screaming princess, and the many others who show God's love for our family.

So roll on next Sunday when we can celebrate in this special way again.

Party,Party,Party

We love to Party!!!
Come on in and join the party!!!
Welcome to our world...this week we are gonna celebrate each day something special in our family...
So join us and celebrate and check out the ultimate party blog for more party fever!

Edited to tell you a bit about me...I am a sahm of four fabulous kids...O5, A2, C2 and E 7 months. They keep me busy. I have a fantastic hubby, J, who keeps me sane and holds our family together...I love God and seek to live intentionally for His purposes in my life and the lives of my family. In a former life I was a Primary (Elementary ) School teacher..but now I teach my children at home and we are having a ball!

First Pleasures

Here is E7months having his very first swing on the deck. He was quite pleased with himself and sniggered away at Daddy as he swung back and forth.

If we could remember the first experiences of our lives what would we feel?

I wonder that as I watch my sweet baby exploring new sights, sounds, tastes and more everyday.

As we get older it is so easy to lose the wonder at the magic and mystery that sourrounds us... the warmth of the sun as it breaks through the clouds...the intricacies of a beetle...the simple delight at splashing in a mud puddle, or making a sandcastle or finding a smooth pebble in the garden.

I think we can learn so much from watching our children's firsts... as their eyes are opened to new and amazing things.

Oh, the eagerness and freshness of youth! How the boy enjoys his food, his sleep, his sports, his companions, his truant days! His life is an adventure, he is widening his outlook, he is extending his dominion, he is conquering his kingdom. How cheap are his pleasures, how ready his enthusiasms! In boyhood I have had more delight on a haymow with two companions and a big dog-delight that came nearer intoxication- than I have ever had in all the subsequent holidays in my life. - John Burroughs