Christmas 2010!

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a good day - here's some of our pics from the season...


Sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve - so peaceful and content! Mummy slept on the couch this year though -( too hard getting up from a mattress on the floor with all my toilet stops during the night!!

Gingerbread biscuits, chocolate biscuits and a gingerbread house!

Christmas Craft: Peg Angels

Emma near a snow machine - and Rob's attractive foot!!

A few days with Dale and Nell in beautiful, relaxing, sunny Taupo... So glad we went - had the best sleeps I've had in months...

Yes thats my little girl on top of a roof!

Hope everyone had a good day - Merry Christmas. Didn't actually take photos on Christmas day will have to get copies from family...

Waiting...

Yesterday I washed some baby clothes and these little shoes haven't been put away! Aren't they just so cute! I can't wait to fill these... Well I can wait because I'm only 32 weeks and I want wee Percy to grow and come out when he's fully cooked!... But this week I have been thinking of him lots just wondering what he'll be like... I can't wait to see him, meet him, kiss him, whisper in his ear and smell him! I've got to the stage now where I look sooo big that people ask me when I'm due and then they offer sympathy about the heat (which so far hasn't been too bad anyway!) Long list to fulfill before Percy is born - like the major swap around of bedrooms to do once our room is renovated! But for now I'm happy sitting on the couch with hand on my stomach wondering what our little long awaited man will be like!!

First Day of School...

This is my favourite 'first day of school' photo. I think it represents this moment in Em's life perfectly - I love the umbrella - rain which turned to sunshine by the end of the day! I also love the way her Barbie bag brought by Grandma is almost as big as her! I love how she has her Dunlop shoes on which Daddy had brought especially for school in England. I love how she chose to wear bright pink socks pulled up! I also love that hiding inside her bag is a little teddy just in case she needed something familiar during her first day. I also love that I remembered to leave her a love note in her lunch box! A very yummy lunch I made add too! And lastly I love how it represents her heading off into the big world of school - which I'm happy to say after two weeks she is loving. I'm happy that her teacher is kind and loving and that she is surrounded by wonderful friends that are providing lots of fun at lunch times! I love that she is like a little sponge waiting to soak up everything that school has to offer... Good times ahead...

Emma's 5th Birthday Party!

Emma's disco party was lots of fun! And really easy to organise! It took a wee while for some little girls to warm up on the dance floor but with help from the bubble machine everyone soon got into it! For the invitations Rob made CD's of five songs that we played on the night - think Hannah Montana, Justin, Chipmunks etc! We asked everyone to come dressed sparkly - which then became the theme for decorations with mirror balls, sparkly material, CD's etc. Food was easy too - we ordered pizza and hot chips and for pudding the kids made their own sundaes. My wonderful friend Gilly made the cake - she's great! We played Freeze and ran out of time for anymore games. Courtney & Laura were great facepainters even letting the girls loose on their faces to be covered in black paint! Anyway here's some pics...

First Day of Spring!

Only one way to celebrate the first day of Spring... A walk in Cornwall Park amongst the daffodils and baby lambs. Gorgeous sunny weather after so much rain. Em and I even celebrated by having an icecream for morning tea! I love the promise of Spring...

Percy Ticehurst!

Once again it's been a wee while since I blogged... And so much of life has changed for the better! Everyone knows by now (I think...) that I'm 15 weeks pregnant with no. 2! Very delighted and thankful and still blown away daily at the reality that I will be holding a new babe in early 2011. I'm finding I'm having to slow down a little bit and nausea is still there when I'm hungry which I can handle cos I just keep on eating!! Emma is delighted too she has nicknamed the baby Percy which is kinda cute but not a name we would choose... We have however brought a Percy Bear - which the babe (I keep thinking boy) will be able to have from day one. Here's the first official photo and Percy Bear. Hope life is all good with you - have a grand weekend! X

We're also up to our eyeballs in bathroom renovations which is all going well. Can't enter the bathroom today cos of some under floor heating stuff that's gone down... Maybe a good excuse to stay in my PJ's all day!! Especially seem Em's sick and staying home from kindy today.

Black Tie Dinner

We had a great night Saturday night at the Pharmacy Awards Dinner at Sky City. Rob had tickets because he was a finalist and then he won his catergory too! Very proud of him and an award seems like a good token for all the hard work he does! The dinner was yum and it was fun dressing up! Em had a sleep-over at Grandma's and had fun applying her make-up (yes I wish I had a photo of that!)

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day (for yesterday..) to all those lovely, caring, beautiful, self-sacrificing, tender, gentle, fun, cool, wonderful mummys out there. I hope you were all treated to something special and if not maybe treat yourself for a change this week... XX (Emma loves being let loose with facepaint - she loves painting my face and then me doing hers yesterday we even had fairy dust too for the occassion...)

Church Camp!

Em & I ventured to Matamata for the bi-yearly church camp at Totara Springs this past weekend. Rob had a conference in Wellington. It was my first long distance driving but I actually really liked it... I have wonderful memories of Totara Springs and so much of the weekend was like going on a time walk - remembering past camps there. We had a blast at camp. The photo above is of some of Em's dearest friends - photographed with High5 who ran the concert and were delightful! Not sure if Em looks a little star struck!

But Em's favourite thing at camp was the Hot Pool - I wish I had counted just how many hours we had spent in that pool! Wonderful weekend - I've decided we need more weekends away it's so refreshing! Hope everyone had a good weekend too. X

Goodbye Beautiful Simba!

Last week was a crazy week with lots of really dramatic things happening in some peoples lives! One of those weeks I just wanted to end... Anyway one thing I will share is that darling Simba was put to sleep on Thursday night. He was 15 years old and a treasure to the end. But illness and old age meant that it was his time. Mum (actually her cat) and I were with him when he had his injection and it was very peaceful. Here's a few random memories that I don't want to forget about this precious cat...

*Firstly he was known as wobbly cat. They think he had an inner ear infection when he was a kitten that affected his balance for the rest of his life. He walked like a bendy bus - but after being very sick he adapted beautifully.

* When he was sick and we weren't sure he would survive I used to carry him round in a sling - I was doing my nurse training at the time so I remember studying and nursing Simba at the same time!

*The softness of his fur - he used to pee in the pots on the deck and never went outside much so his fur was beautifully soft.

* Jonty Mum's other cat and Simba were great friends - and watching them play was always amusing. Jonty protected Simba from the neighbourhood bullies.

*And lastly his wonderul meow... He was the most chatty cat that I've ever known. I'll miss our conversations...

Emma says Simba is now hanging out with Rocco (neighbours cat) & Pop. She also mentioned that he may become human when he gets to heaven thanks to the fairies... Interesting idea!

You'll be missed wobbly cat... XX

Girls Craft Weekend!

Had a wonerful weekend last week. Rhyanne, Mel, Kelly and me headed off to Orua Bay for our annual girls craft weekend. We had a great time - achieving mostly scrapbooking pages and for me a couple of wooden trees (post to come in the future...). What made it great was not only the craft but also the quality uninterupted conversation, food, chocolate, wine and I would like to say the beach but this weekend we hardly ventured outside cos we were so craft focused! Here's the lovely ladies minus Kelly who managed to avoid my camera - Kelly made heaps of awesome cards which I'm hoping there's a pink flower one left for February!

Rhyanne who managed to achieve the most pages... We should've had a prize for her! Thinking & praying for this special gal today as she starts another round of chemo.

Mel showing her favourite page - love it Mel you're sooo clever!
And of course not forgetting the guest of honour this year 6 month old Chelsea-May (Mel's baby). I won't ever forget those gorgeous raspberries sweetie!...

See you soon Janet & John!

We farewelled the last of the English crew on Monday. It was great having Janet & John staying here - especially for all their home renovation ideas and the way I didn't have to do dishes for a month! It was great to spend time with them and for Em to get to know them properly all over again. Thank you for a lovely time and we'll see you Christmas 2011...London -July 2008 - Em aged 2

Auckland March 2010 - Em aged 4 yrs

Summer Holiday!

Just had a wonderful three weeks with Rob's sister Jo, Pat and their kids Maia & Holly visiting all the way from England. We did a bit of a road trip to Port Waikato, the Mount, Napier and Rotorua. Rob's Mum Janet and partner John are here for another week but travelling this week round the Bay of Islands. It's so hard to reflect after such a great holiday so I'm going to write a list of a few of the special things that I don't want to forget:

*Emma & Maia meeting at the airport - they chatted away like they had never been apart.
* Holly's gorgeous cuddles!
* Fish n Chips on the beach at each destination
* Lots of beach days & swimming pools
* Emma & Maia playing 'Operations'
* The spa pool at the triangle house
* Holly's love of action songs!
* Also Holly starting walking
* Maia teaching Em to wash her hair
* Maia and Em encouraging each other with stuff - Em helping Maia with putting her head under water and Maia helping Em with hydraslides.
* Watching the Black Caps beat Australia* All the gorgeous sunshine
* Grandma Janet & John helping with 'childcare!'
* Having time to read a book!
* Emma & Maia's swapping of clothes and catwalk shows.
* Em & Maia dancing & singing on every stage they could find.
* Hearing Maia's lovely little English accent!

So many other things that I could mention - wonderful time. Received some gorgeous flowers from Jo & Pat today - thanks guys we miss you and we're suffering from post holiday blues!! We'll see you Christmas 2011! Xxx

34th Birthday!

What wonderful friends I have! This morning I had a tea party at home with some friends. And not one but three of my friends brought me sunflowers. So love them for their brightness, cheerfulness and they've been my favourite for years. Isn't it nice to have friends who know you so well! And then all my other pressies were craft related which is so me too! Hubby is buying me a sewing machine can't wait to choose that... I even thought about getting a sunflower tattoo once upon a time but then decided I was too much of a wimp! So loving them ladies - thanks for a fab morning and for the gorgeous flowers and pressies. You're all fabulous and mean a lot to me XX

We're ready for Maia!

The bunk bed in Emma's room is all made up and ready for you Maia! Looking forward to seeing you real soon! (I couldn't take a photo of Holly's bed - cos that isn't made up yet but it will be soon!!)

I'm not the kind of person who can endure parenting books. So often I read them and think what boring common sense they are... Quite often I buy them or borrow them thinking they might blow me away but I am often left disappointed. However two parenting gurus who I would listen to and read until the cows come home are Ian & Mary Grant. Two great kiwis that have opened the Parenting Place as part of Parents Inc - the positivity and advice available through this place is amazing. Emma & I made a trip to the Parenting Place the other day. Great selection of books and wonderful cafe. I've only ever heard Ian & Mary Grant talk once - but one day I hope to go to more seminars on a topic of interest for only $10. Anyway the other day I went with one book in mind 'Cappuccino Moments for Mothers ' - by Mary Grant. A simple little book full of fun creative ideas.

One idea that I had to do for Em straight away was a treasure hunt afternoon tea. It was such fun. I left to pick her up from kindy and at the front door I left two fancy dresses one for her and one for me with the first clue. She was thrilled and quickly got into the spirit of the occasion. And she was delighted when the clues led her to a little tea party round the back of the house. Wonderful way to have some quality time after a day at kindy and so much better than TV! Mental note to self: Do more of this kind of thing with my darling little girl!

Happy Valentines Day too! To all believers in love out there! I treated my two darlings (yep I included Emma this year) with a tin full of favourite candy! And I copied Becky Higgins blog by putting in some note paper to encourage us to write love notes to each other this year!... We'll see....

Christmas Recap - if I can remember!

Some random Christmas memories like promised. Photos to tell the story...

Opening Presents - Em wanted pink balloons from Santa!

Eating way too many of these! Even grew some this year!

'Mummy can I open just one present?'

Fun craft adventures with Em!

Our first attempt at making Gingerbread houses!

Enjoying the sunshine at a park on Christmas day

Stayed at Grandma's for a night - while Rob & I had a great date night! Em enjoyed seeing the Christmas lights with Grandma, Courtney & Laura. We went to Mum's for Christmas dinner.

Trying to get Kaleb to sit still for a photo!

Wonderful famiy time! Santa parades, Christmas in the Park, Christmas services, Christmas shopping... So love this time of year! X

My Movie Girl!

This one is for you Mum after saying it had been ages since I posted the other day! I know I still need to do Christmas too... And I was looking at old posts during a loooong night shift the other night and I noticed I never did get round to posting pictures of our new kitchen which has been finished for ages now - so I'll do that soon too.

But this post is about Emma's love affair with movies. She use to have a very real fear about the trailers/previews - why, not completely sure?? Anyway now she quite likes them and it seems to work in encouraging her to go to more movies.

This holiday season despite it being Summer we've managed to see three movies. Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs - on the last day of kindy. The Princess & the Frog - which she saw with just me - she decided one day that she sees lovely girly movies with Mummy and silly ones with Daddy - suits me!! And then on Saturday she saw Alvin & the Chipmunks her first movie with Grandma.

Since seeing Alvin she has been playing 'Alice in Wonderland' which is a trailer she saw. She loves acting out movies. I saw in a magazine the other day that one of the latest things in a America at the moment is movie-oke (don't know how to spell it..) Basically like karaoke but you act a movie scene on stage instead. The pictures surrounding it had Kate & Leo on the Titanic in that classic I'm flying scene. And they also had the Meg Ryan - Harry met Sally cafe scene! What classic movie scene would you act out? Anyway here's some pictures that I took while leaving the cinema after watching the Princess & the Frog. It started a chain reaction of others taking the same kind of photos!