Waldeck musings

And then there were 5...

2012-02-09T20:48:00.001+13:00

Tents, that is. First, we bought a tiny little First Light Shadow bushwalking tent. Then, with Ben on the way, we bought a palatial two-room Sportiva thing (something similar to this). That was too big for weekend trips, so we got a smaller 5-man Coleman tent (similar to this). The Sportiva was still too big, but we wanted something slightly bigger than the Coleman for a few days, so last year we got a Freedom Invert 6.
Now, we're thinking of going tramping as a whole family, so we needed a second tramping tent to fit all of us and still be light enough to carry. Torpedo7 had this Kelty on special this week, so #5 has been acquired:

PS. Yes, we should sell some of them, specifically the Sportiva and the Coleman, neither of which we will probably use anytime in the near future. If anyone is coming to visit and wants to go camping, maybe you should come soon before we sell them!

Curse of the sweet tooth cook

2012-02-02T13:24:00.002+13:00

If you've been reading this blog for a while will know I'm into food - growing it, cooking it, and eating it. I also have a sweet tooth. These two things create a dilemma when eating out...especially when I get to the dessert menu. Most restaurant's dessert menus rarely have options on them that we haven't cooked at home and I am usually unmotivated to choose something that we have cooked at home because it rarely tastes any better and for the cost of one (very small) serve at the restaurant, I could eat a whole dish of it at home!

True complementarianism

2012-02-01T21:02:00.001+13:00

So we played Scrabble tonight as it was our wedding anniversary and we remember playing it on our honeymoon (it was one of the boardgames you could borrow from reception)...we managed to use all the tiles (a first for us) AND had tied scores at the end of 260!

(We're not that into Scrabble - we can't remember the last time we played - but it was also given to us as a wedding/engagement present)

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9 years

2012-02-01T13:52:00.001+13:00

It's our wedding anniversary today.

(These are my wedding shoes which I still wear)

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Great morning at the park

2012-01-31T12:56:00.001+13:00

It was nice and warm and sunny. I had a nice chat with the mums and the kids had fun playing together.

Last day of holidays

2012-01-31T08:38:00.002+13:00

Ben goes back to school tomorrow. So yesterday I asked what he would like to do for his last day of holidays...he asked to go to a park in the morning and then watch a movie in the afternoon (that means a movie DVD at home). So that's what we're doing. A couple of his friends are going to meet us at the park too.

Hedgehog rescue...again

2012-01-27T08:21:00.006+13:00

On Saturday evening, we had to rescue another hedgehog from the bird netting that is over our strawberry patch (here's the one we rescued last time). So I had to cut another hole in our bird netting (which actually right next to where the previous entrapment had occurred). And then had the painfully slow task of trying to untangle the netting from the spikes, legs and head of the hedgehog (because every time you touch it or pull on the netting, it would curl itself into a tight ball which meant I would have to put it down and wait for it to relax and uncurl enough so I could gain access again). This hedgehog was a lot bigger than the last one and was perfectly healthy (the other one had mange and was fly blown), so after I'd got all the netting off, I took it down to the gully which is further down our street and let it go.

Culinary milestone

2012-01-27T07:55:00.005+13:00

I cooked my first whole salt water fish last week. It was a whole snapper and it was delicious. This is only the second whole fish I have cooked - the first was a rainbow trout in Brisbane last September. I usually just buy fillets of fish as it is quicker to serve and I don't need to stress as much about there being bones in the kid's fish.

We also had an impromptu fish anatomy lesson as the kids (Joanna especially) were very interested in the carcass of the fish - eyes, teeth, tongue, brain..

Furniture construction

2012-01-27T07:47:00.004+13:00

Because we couldn't paint the house over Christmas/New Year because of the wet weather, Peter made a shelving unit for Ben's room. After it was all put together, Ben helped Peter put the undercoat of paint on. And that is as far as it has got for now, as the fine weather has meant we have been concentrating on outside the house jobs - cleaning and oil the deck and painting the house.

1 week to go

2012-01-25T08:40:00.003+13:00

Ben start school 1 week from today. The holidays haven't been quite as trying as I thought they might have been - and we survived the hump week (Christmas/New Year week). I do feel like I could do with a 'holiday' now (which I know is normal). And it is going to be strange having only Naomi with me in the mornings.

Hardware heartbreak

2012-01-25T08:08:00.003+13:00

My relationship with hardware stores is going through a rough patch at the moment. I still need to purchase stuff from them, but I'm don't feel like I'm getting the service I should.

'Price guarantee' - if you haven't noticed both Bunning's and Mitre 10's 'price guarantee' is only valid if you find it at a 'cheaper' price. If you find it for the same price, they won't beat it by the 15%, which means you will find both stores selling the same item at exactly the same price (including mimicking each others sale prices) so they don't have to give you the extra 15%off. eg. the waterblaster we purchased last week. So I rang both stores to see if they would give me an incentive to buy from their store...Mitre 10 refused; Bunnings said (after a quick 'hold' time while they checked) that they would give me the 15% off as an incentive to buy from them even though it technically didn't qualify for the 'price guarantee'. But when I went to purchase it, the checkout girl wasn't going to give me the discount as it was the 'same price', I relayed my telephone conversation from that morning and then got grilled about who I spoke to (I couldn't remember his name)...Anyway she rang someone who authorised it, so I got the cheaper price. BUT...when it broke and so returned it and it was getting exchanged for the exact same thing, the checkout woman (different one to the first time) was going to charge me the full price and make me pay the '15%' that I had got discounted for the initial purchase.
Customer service - went to Mitre 10 to get some oil to oil the nice clean deck with. Right from the start the guy who served me in the aisle was talking to me like I didn't know what I was doing and what we had done/were planning to do was all wrong (which it was not). Not to mention his overbearing helpfulness - every time I escaped him and went to another part of his section to get something else on my list, up he would pop and ask if I needed help, when all I wanted to do was to be left alone to consider the different product options myself and make a decision. He did give some good advice on paint brushes without just trying to sell me the most expensive ones. But my experience would have been much more pleasant if he'd had the ability to be available when I needed advice, but given me the space I wanted to make my own decision.

It has got me thinking about how having 2 mega hardware chains dominating the market is not very helpful. Although you may get a larger range of stuff, you end up being viewed in terms of profit margins so customer service and satisfaction suffer. And their seemly 'cheaper' prices aren't actually that cheap as there is no competition to stimulate real price beating. Unfortunately most of the smaller and independent hardware stores no longer exist, so I have no choice but to purchase from the 'mega chains'.

I have to visit the hardware store again - we need more decking oil, as it soaked up the first tin like a sponge. My aim is to get in and out of there as quickly as possible...no lingering to browse like I sometimes do - my heart is hardened to you O hardware store.

Finally started...

2012-01-22T19:42:00.003+13:00

With summer having arrived so late this year (if it's really arrived yet...), we haven't got around to starting our big summer job - painting the outside of our house. With fine weather forecast, we bought ourselves a water blaster to clean the house before starting the big job of scraping loose paint and sanding. And... what did we do first, we cleaned the deck of course! The steps are half done in that photo - it's amazing, our deck is actually brown, not grey!

We did also blast one side of the house, and I've managed to scrape and sand most of it - it should be painted next weekend.

We did also manage to burn out the water blaster. According to the instruction booklet, it's suitable for "cleaning buildings". According to the helpful man at Bunnings, it's not. If you use it for more than about half an hour at a time, it's likely to burn out. So, we got given a replacement seen as it had failed within a day. And I guess we'll have to treat it carefully and hope it lasts for the rest of the house...

A good day...

2012-01-20T08:12:00.002+13:00

After being in need of adult conversation on Wednesday, yesterday I got to talk to some adults and not have to talk so much to the kids. Ben had a friend over to play in the morning, which meant the mums got to talk for a bit and Ben had someone else to talk to and then we had friends from Auckland come to visit in the afternoon and stay for dinner, so the kids (ours and theirs) went off and played all afternoon and the adults got to chat.

I'm in need of some adult conversation

2012-01-18T17:16:00.002+13:00

I am finding myself continually checking my reader and (Peter's) facebook for anything new to read of happening in the adult world!

Picking songs is hard

2012-01-18T17:05:00.002+13:00

Especially when the kids don't know that many to start with. I feel like I have to introduce at least 3 new songs a term to get good coverage of the themes in the lesson material.

Kids church writing

2012-01-18T15:37:00.001+13:00

I think I'm getting quicker. Nearly finished formatting. Still need to choose songs.

Just need to keep going...

New gadget

2012-01-17T09:18:00.001+13:00

New gadget, a photo by peterjwaldeck on Flickr.

This is our new stickvac. Our old dustbuster has been needing replacing for a while - it's suction has got very weak and the battery only lasts for a few minutes. I had been considering options for a while, but the best solution was too expensive. Until...I found it on sale for $100 off, a 40% discount.

I also not only chose this particular stickvac, but also chose the 'green' version which is made of 70% recycled plastic.

Wherefore art thou, summer?

2012-01-17T08:09:00.003+13:00

Summer still hasn't fully arrived. I'm sitting here with my polar fleece robe on. Yesterdays sun with cool breeze felt decidedly like Spring weather. At least the weather is going to be dry for a while now, so that will make it feel a bit more summery (January/February are usually fairly dry months here).

Last day of holidays

2012-01-16T16:05:00.001+13:00

Kind of...Joanna starts morning kindy tomorrow. Ben still has two and a half weeks until school starts.

Getting better every year

2012-01-14T13:33:00.003+13:00

The first year we tried to grow garlic...it didn't even germinate.

The second year we tried to grow garlic...we harvested about 10 very small bulbs.

The third year we tried to grow garlic (this year)...we harvested 26 large bulbs of garlic (the same size range as the bulbs you buy at the supermarket).

Now this isn't a totally random result, there are factors that we have control over that we have changed/adjusted each year.

The first year we used garlic bought at the supermarket as our seed garlic - this shouldn't have made a difference as we bought NZ grown garlic which doesn't get treated with the same chemicals as the imported stuff (the imported stuff is sprayed with a chemical to specifically not let in germinate), but the general advice is to buy 'seed garlic' from the garden shop.

So the second year I used garlic I'd bought at the farmer's market (so I was able to check directly with the grower that it hadn't been sprayed). But after we planted them, we didn't pay much attention to them, so they didn't get watered much and I don't think I fertilised them at all. I also realised that I didn't plant it in the best location - it was a bit shady and got almost smothered by the potato plants.

So this year, our third year, I planted them in a nice sunny location, made sure that I watered them regularly and also fertilised regularly. I also had planted a greater number of seed garlic (as each clove of seed garlic produces 1 new whole bulb).

So maybe I'll get to have my whole roasted bulb of garlic this year!

How to become a 'green thumb'

2012-01-14T13:29:00.002+13:00

You would all be familiar with the term 'green thumb' to describe a person who is good at gardening. Well the way to get a green thumb isn't all that difficult...all you need to do is remove some of the leaves off your tomato plants. Every time I do this I get green thumbs and fingers (I do it without gloves on because I find it too fiddley/delicate of a task to do with gloves on) and when I come in and wash my hands it turns the soap an antiseptic yellow colour for about 5 minutes of washing and scrubbing with a nail brush to get them clean!

Motivated by profits = bad environmental practices

2012-01-11T13:53:00.002+13:00

I know this is nothing new, but I've just had an annoying experience of this today.

Item - Vacuum cleaner

Issue - a small thin ring of plastic that connects the cleaner head to the neck bend that attaches to the main wand is broken

Solution provided by the store - instead of just being able to replace the small ring for the cost of $5 (I know the cost as they sell replacement of exactly the same thing, just a bigger size for the hose attachment points), I have to buy a whole new 'head', at a cost of $39 or $49.

Reverse psychology

2012-01-09T11:14:00.002+13:00

I've heard/read about the parenting technique where if your toddler is having a whingy cry, you mimic the behaviour to show them how ridiculous it is, so they stop. Well I think Ben has discovered this technique all by himself...I just observed Naomi have a whine at Ben, and Ben mimicking the behaviour back at her and...she stopped it.

Strange day

2012-01-09T11:09:00.003+13:00

It has been raining all weekend and the forecast was for it to continue all this week...But when we wake up this morning there is sun and blue sky! I had psyched myself up for a week of kids being inside and had planned to go shopping this morning, just to be able to get them out of the house for a bit. Instead, I got them to get themselves dressed and jobs done quickly this morning and sent them outside to play (while the non-rainy weather lasts - there are still threatening grey clouds floating about the sky). They are having fun, but it has put me out of sorts a bit as the jobs I thought I was going to do this morning (ie. shopping) aren't getting done (as I don't want to waste fine weather being inside a shopping centre, I want to save it for one of the forecast rainy days) and I'm having to find different jobs to do at home.

Trying to get into the spirit of hot summer weather

2012-01-06T16:35:00.002+13:00

I made up a bulk batch of sugar syrup this afternoon to make into various flavoured ice blocks. But it hasn't really felt hot enough for ice blocks yet (I had to put a light weight jacket on while sitting reading after lunch today as I was feeling a little cool). I do have memories of enjoying a nice cool ice block after walking home from school at the start of first term last year, so they should get eaten then, it they last...

Christmas packed up for another year

2012-01-06T16:29:00.001+13:00

Prompted by a certain young boy starting to destroy decorations with his knight spear.

Potato Economics

2012-01-04T12:10:00.002+13:00

As Peter posted yesterday, we harvested our first crop of the potatoes for the season. Although he included a photo to show how much, I thought it was a bit hard to really see how many we got (especially when you don't know the size of the box we had them in). So in the process of packing them away I've done some sorting and weighing, and have included the relevant statistics below:

Total Yield = 6.814kg

Broken down by quality:
3.369kg of perfect potatoes
2.934kg of damaged potatoes (ie. got damaged when forking them out of the soil or split while they were growing) - still edible, we will just have to eat them first as they will spoil quickly
0.511 of potatoes we won't eat (1 potato that is inedible and then 8 potatoes we are going to use as seed potatoes for another crop - these would otherwise have been included with the perfect potatoes)

We paid $6 for the 1kg of seed potatoes, so the crop has worked out at $0.89/kg (if you add on the cost of some fertiliser and water that we used to help them grow, probably works out at about $1/kg). And they are guaranteed to taste better than potatoes you buy from the supermarket! (we know from the taste difference we experienced last year)

First spuds...

2012-01-03T20:39:00.000+13:00

We had a crop of fast growing potatoes that are supposed to mature within 60-90 days this year - the plants had died back a few weeks ago, and we got around to digging them out today. According to Mel's trusty calendar, it had been 87 days in the ground for them. This is what we got out, from 7 seed potatoes - I reckon they're pretty impressive!

We also pulled out a couple of heads of garlic to see how they were looking - we'll probably pull the rest out pretty soon seen as they're looking pretty good.

Big boy

2011-12-27T09:30:00.002+13:00

Ben has graduated to riding a 2-wheel bike (no training wheels!). We took the training wheels off about 6 months ago, but have probably only practiced 5 times until last week, when he was riding well enough that I'm confident that he can ride his bike to and from school now (1.2km). He can start off, ride and brake safely all by himself. We've already done a couple of trips up to the shops (they are just across the road from school) which have gone without incident.

Christmas

2011-12-27T09:24:00.002+13:00

Our Christmas was long, tiring, but good. It started with Naomi having a sleep-in, so we had a nice relax before having breakfast and opening presents. The kids surprised us by not bugging us about when they were getting to open presents. Later in the day with had the obligatory long, late Christmas lunch with friends. The kids have had fun playing together and Peter has enjoyed helping build another tree house. We will post some photos later when we've downloaded them.

The country comes to town

2011-12-17T13:37:00.013+13:00

In late October, we went the the annual A&P show. Apart from seeing the usual horse judging, sheep dog competitions etc...This year there was a professional 'Lumberjack' show, where 2 guys climbed up really tall poles of wood and did some cool stuff with chainsaws. We also watched some 'sheep racing'. And the kids enjoyed getting up close with the baby animals again (well Naomi was a bit frightened by them, as they are still pretty BIG compared to the size of her).

School Gala

2011-12-17T13:26:00.003+13:00

In November, Ben's school's PTA ran their first school gala (Kiwi for fete) in 10 years. Each class was resposible for running a stall and there was the usual performances by the school's performing arts groups and local dance schools etc. Ben's class was in charge of the Drinks stall, selling softdrink and juice. Other stalls included a number of 'side show' style games, food stalls and stuff to buy.

Ben's favourite was the 'Cherry-picker ride'.I thought the 'Splat The Rat' game was the best game invented for the day.

Trip to Auckland

2011-12-17T11:34:00.002+13:00

While my parents were visiting us we went up to Auckland for a couple of days to show them the sights. The first day included visiting the Museum (to see some of the NZ culture/history stuff and experience the cool volcano/tsunami simulation room) and the Art Gallery (which has a cool interactive kids area). The next day we took a ferry trip to Devonport and walked around North Head (this was the kids 3rd visit, but we discovered some stuff that we'd never seen before) and then a trip up the Skytower when we got back into the city. The final day we visited MOTAT (The museum of Transport and Technology), which is kind of a combination of the Ipswich Railway museum (although covers more transport than just trains) and the Science Centre in Brisbane.

Ben's birthday party

2011-12-17T11:16:00.003+13:00

Nearly a month ago, Ben had his 6th birthday party. The party was an adventure theme. Activities included: making parachute army men, a treasure hunt and an obstacle course. The food included: swap sludge, chocolate sinking sand, treasure bags, mossy boulders and monkey cupcakes. And the birthday cake was a Volcano. The boys had great fun and didn't want to leave.

Test kitchen

2011-12-15T17:05:00.002+13:00

Next year, we are planning a trip to the South Island where we will be camping for 3 weeks without any electricity and nowhere near any supermarket (except for 4 times where we are moving from one campground to the next). So I've been scanning my recipe books for things to cook that don't contain perishable ingredients and modifying others. So each week for the next few weeks I plan to make a couple of these recipes each week to check for flavour, quantity, able to be cooked in only 1 smallish pot and a frying pan and...whether the family will eat it!

Things I have already discovered...

you can make white sauce with oil instead of butter or margarine for the fat
a box of 'no egg' (egg replacement, made for those allergic to eggs) should be all i need for recipes that contain egg eg. fritters.

Long term tenant of the 'To Do' list evicted

2011-12-15T16:54:00.002+13:00

Today...I cleaned out/organised 2/3 of our large linen cupboard. About a year ago I had managed to organise 2 of the 5 shelves, and had never got around to dealing with the other 3, plus the floor space. With it being wet and windy outside today and in a mood to clean and organise my stuff (as 3 kids at home on holidays makes enough mess for all of us)...I tackled the task. This involved unpacking a bag and 1/2 a box of stuff that hadn't been unpacked since we moved in 1.5 years ago! So now all the shelves and the floor space are looking respectable, although I'd still like to get some baskets/boxes to put some thing in to make them easier to store and access (to make effecient use of the space). Unfortunately that will cost money, so it may be a while before that happens.

Christmas is coming... and has been

2011-12-11T16:13:00.001+13:00

We had Christmas with Granny and Grandpa B while they were here (yes, we'll blog about that one day!), which meant that we had to have a Christmas tree. This was the most suitable thing growing in our garden, so it got hacked down and plonked in a pot:

Today, it was time to get the "real" Christmas tree, from the Christmas tree farm. We were only just in time - there were only half a dozen trees left to choose from. Here it is, ready for two weeks time:

End of a very busy week

2011-12-09T12:55:00.002+13:00

This week has been one of the busiest weeks...apart from all the normal weekly activities, there has been a number of extra Christmas things, as well as extra appointments. Christmas activities have included:

playgroup Christmas party, and
Kindy family Christmas Dinner.

Extra appointments have included:

dentist appointments for Joanna and Naomi
Ben's class sharing afternoon (where they share what they've been learning during the term)
Drs appointment for me
watching Ben's class performing a kapa haka at Junior school assembly

I'm looking forward to holidays!

Plugged In

2011-12-04T15:39:00.002+13:00

As the kids get older the more we are having to interact with kid pop culture. Today I'm particularly thinking about movies. It can be hard to tell from a preview or synopsis if a certain movie is suitable for kids (the 'animation' filter doesn't work these days - 'The Incredibles' being a case in point) or if they content (language/actions/themes) that don't align with a Christian world view. So I have been using the Focus on the Family's 'Plugged In' website to do my research - somebody else has taken the time to watch the movie and compile a report noting all positive elements, spiritual content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug and alcohol content, other negative elements and a general conclusion.

I have found this useful to make a decision about the kids viewing in a number of situations including - DVDs we pick up in the kids sections at the library, movies that are on TV and 'movie nights' the school P&C has run.

A new favourite

2011-12-03T17:24:00.003+13:00

Naomi came up with the idea of play hair dressers yesterday...It's the first time my kids have really played it. She dragged out all Joanna's hair stuff from the bathroom and proceeded to put as many clips and headbands in Joanna's hair as she could fit. Then today she has dragged out the hair stuff twice to play the same game. I can see it being a regular activity for the girls from now on.

In the news...

2011-12-02T11:19:00.002+13:00

For those you who wonder what Peter's company does, here's a news article that gives you a bit of an idea (written because the founder of the company won an award).

Naomi's party

2011-12-01T19:52:00.001+13:00

Naomi had a handful of friends over for a party... she had lots of fun eating cake:

And playing cricket:

Rewind: Naomi's birthday

2011-12-01T19:30:00.001+13:00

We've fallen a bit behind in blogging stuff recently... we'll try and catch up over the next week or so! Anyway, first up, Naomi's birthday, just over a month ago now. I'll post some stuff about her party, but for now, here's her cake (it's an animated GIF, so click on the picture, and it should cycle through the stages of the cake being made...)

Windy weather

2011-11-24T14:16:00.002+13:00

Anybody who knows even a little about NZ would know that Wellington is known as the 'windy city'...well this week you could have mistaken Hamilton for Wellington - it has been really windy all week! Had to take down the outdoor umbrella on the deck this morning as I thought the gusts were going to bend the metal post.

Freebie

2011-11-23T07:10:00.001+13:00

I like getting freebies... particularly when they're things that I actually like! This is what I got yesterday, gratis thanks to Random House NZ:

I have a photo in there (this one, if you're wondering!), so, in exchange for being allowed to use my photo, they offered to give me a copy of the book.

Sunglasses shopping

2011-11-23T06:47:00.002+13:00

I am in need of new sunglasses...my current ones are 5 years old and the lenses are all worn and scratched from use every day. The problem is I have been wearing the same model of Oakley's for the past 10 years (I owned another pair for the 5 years before the current pair), and they no longer make my model. And now as mortgage payers/house owners we are a lot poorer than we used to so forking out lots of money for a new pair of sunnies is a big deal.

We thought we might have found some decent ones on a good sale, but I went and tried them on yesterday and I'm not sure...problem is because I have been wearing the same sort for so long, so am so used to how they feel/fit my face that I don't know how much is just because they are different style/shape and how much is wrong shaped frames for my face. (This is one of the reasons I've been putting off finding new glasses for so long!)

About to reach milestone...

2011-11-23T06:43:00.002+13:00

200 feedback rating on TradeMe! (currently on 199) This is the number of individual people who have given positive feedback to trading with us (if the same person buys multiple items and leaves feedback for each item, it only counts as 1 feedback towards the 'feedback rating') minus any negative feedback (don't have any).

Birthday party season over

2011-11-21T16:29:00.002+13:00

Ben had his 6th birthday party on Saturday, which means I have no more birthday parties to plan until the middle of next year. So I have time to get back to the more normal activities that need to happen during the week, like weeding the veggie garden. Hopefully it will also mean a bit more time to blog. But right now I have to get on with the daily task that doesn't stop for birthday party season or most other events...cooking dinner!

Strawberry season...

2011-11-16T19:12:00.001+13:00

Is here... this is today's haul:

Strange chooks...

2011-11-12T16:07:00.001+13:00

Yesterday we got 3 eggs. Two of them were normal size ("large" as they'd be called in the supermarket). One of them was tiny... smaller than any chicken egg I've ever seen before. We've had soft-shelled eggs, slightly mis-shaped eggs, but never anything like this. We're yet to crack it open and see if it has a miniature yolk as well!

Trying to get life in order

2011-11-02T10:36:00.003+13:00

This last quarter of the year always seems so crazy, busy and I always feel like I'm one of those circus performers frantically trying to keep all the plates spinning on the sticks!

Naomi moved into a big bed on the weekend, which involved not just setting up a new bed (for Ben, not her), but Naomi and Ben swapping rooms, which meant swapping over all their stuff too! This still isn't completely finished as some of the stuff that Naomi had in her old room was actually baby stuff that we aren't using any more anyway and need to get rid of (either selling or giving away).

Which brings me to the two towers (each 4 huggies nappy boxes tall) of clothes the Ben and Naomi have grown out of which need selling.

I am also in the process of organising Ben's 6th birthday party - it's an adventurer theme. I got the invitations out yesterday and have 19 days until the party!

My parents arrive in 10 days to stay with us, which involves the usual tidying/reorganising to fit and extra 2 adults in the house (ie. moving the 2 towers of clothes boxes).

Auckland Half Marathon 2011

2011-10-30T19:35:00.000+13:00

Auckland turned on another beautiful day for marathon day this year - perfect sunshine, light breezes, temperatures that would have got up to the high teens by late morning. I was only doing the half this year - I haven't got nearly enough work in to consider doing the full.
After some horror stories of people missing the start because the ferries across to Devonport were too full to transport everyone, I decided to be safe and get one of the earlier ferries - ended up on the 4:30am one. Seems like a bit of a silly time to go for a cruise on the harbour really. I then ended up sitting around for a couple of hours in Devonport ferry terminal until it was race time.
The race itself was more crowded than I would really like - 7000+ runners means it was always busy and you had to weave in and out a little bit the whole way. The North Shore section of the race is really quite hilly - more than I remember from the full last year (that part of the course is the same). The second half of the race showed that I hadn't really done enough miles - I had intended to be able to kick on a little, but didn't really have much energy left. Oh well. 1hr48-ish will have to do for this year. It's a PB by somewhere around 5min, so I can't really complain!

Strange sleeping

2011-10-22T19:44:00.004+13:00

Joanna sometimes has a sleep in the afternoon, sometimes she just plays during rest time. Sometimes she plays for a bit first, and then ends up sleeping in some really weird positions: Sleeping Super-Hero:

Yes, she really was fast asleep, standing up like this:

New rail...

2011-10-22T17:28:00.002+13:00

Just got around to putting up a new rail above the stove - for hanging a handful of implements and oil bottles. I reckon it looks pretty good - let's see how functional it is.

Ice skating report...

2011-10-22T17:03:00.001+13:00

Mel mentioned the other day that we were going to go ice skating... the kids were really excited at the idea, but had no idea what it was really like. They discovered that it's actually kind of hard! Mel went for a spin around the rink first to make sure she could stay upright before taking Ben round. Ben really struggled to stay upright, spending most of the time hanging onto Mel with his feet sliding all over the place. Joanna wasn't a whole lot better, although she didn't thrash around quite as much as Ben. With a little bit of practise, Ben was getting slightly better, although he still hadn't quite worked out how to effectively propel himself forwards.

I managed to stay upright going round by myself, so took Joanna round as well - which worked fine until we were about 2m from the edge, when I sprawled on the ice with Joanna next to me.
They both enjoyed the experience - I think it was a little different from what they were expecting though - not quite as easy as gliding along effortlessly!

4 Seasons

2011-10-21T09:06:00.002+13:00

One of the things we like about Hamilton compared to Brisbane is that each season lasts its traditional 3 month period. We get warm summer, autumn which get cooler and the leaves change colour and fall off the tress, winter which is cold and wet and spring where the sun gets warmer, the bare trees grow new leaves and the flowers bloom.

The one problem I have is with clothing in spring and autumn. As the weather is changing either cooler or warmer, some days are suitable for shorts and t-shirts, some days long shirts and pants are needed. Which means for at least a couple of months in each of the seasons the kids need both summer and winter clothes at hand. Which makes for messy drawers and regular weather checks in the morning so the kids make suitable clothing choices for the day.

We're going ice skating...OUTSIDE!

2011-10-20T14:02:00.004+13:00

There is currently and outdoor ice skating rink in the city. It is something that I've seen in movies and magazines and have always thought it would be a cool thing to do (the outdoor ice skating thing - I've done a lot of ice skating indoors). The kids have never been ice skating. So we thought it would be a great family activity - something we would never get to do in Brisbane and probably will never get to do again (this is a one-off thing that the council has set up for the duration of the world cup).

(It has been slammed by locals and others as the council wasting rate payers money, I probably agree, but will still take the opportunity for a possibly once in a lifetime experience)

Cookie cutter produce

2011-10-20T12:36:00.002+13:00

While preserving our harvest of leeks this morning, I was pondering the nature of modern recipe books. When fruits and vegetables are listed in the ingredients of most recipes, in most recipe book, they simple just list a number - not a weight. But anyone who has grown their own fruit or veggies know that they can come in a variety of sizes...For example leeks (seeing as that is what I was dealing with at the time), the only way I've seen leeks listed in a recipe is by number eg. 2 leeks, finely chopped. However you can have tall leeks, short leeks, fat leeks, skinny leeks so that the amount of chopped leek you have could vary greatly. Which got me thinking...have modern recipe writers succumb to the supermarket 'cookie cutter' approach to fruit and veggies, where they demand they are produced to look all the same size, colour and shape. Or are they just lazy and can't be bothered working out more specifically how much of a fruit or veggies is required (by working out a weight).

Obviously I realise that recipes should be used a guide and there is room in any recipe to make adjustments and variations based on personal preferences. But for those who are culinarily challenged and like to be able to follow a step by step recipe and have the finished product look the same as the picture, a more specific measure would be helpful/reduce stress.

Good news!

2011-10-20T12:31:00.002+13:00

After fearing I had not earnt enough (marking QCS papers) to pay for our flights to Brisbane...I got paid this week and it was enough to pay for the flights with about $200AUD left over. (That's after tax, so I'll still also get another $200 after I fill out my tax return next year)

Zoned out

2011-10-20T09:12:00.001+13:00

My brain feels like it has used up all it 'data' and is on slowed down speed this morning. Not much getting done.

Got him finally!

2011-10-18T20:21:00.001+13:00

Home-made muesli

2011-10-17T14:00:00.002+13:00

We've been making our own muesli for a couple of years now... and always wondered how it compares cost-wise with normal cereal... so the last time I made some, I measured out exactly how much I use (rather than just "a bit"!). So, here's the recipe (along with how much each item costs us):

700g oats (~$2)
130g pumpkin seeds ($1.67)
150g sunflower seeds ($0.89)
130g cashew nuts ($2.52)
65g coconut flakes ($0.58)
200g maple syrup ($1.33) (you can also use honey)

That gets mixed together, then baked on a baking tray for ~40min @ 150C, until it's all nice and golden. You need to stir it every 10min or so. Once it's dried out in the oven, it made ~1.15kg of muesli, and cost ~$9. Served with home-made yoghurt, it's yum! That's roughly the same price as the very cheapest muesli you can get in the supermarket, and it's certainly a lot nicer than that! We do mix up the ingredients a little to vary things sometimes.

Simple, but effective...

2011-10-12T11:46:00.003+13:00

Borrowed a paper plane making book from the library yesterday. It is amazing how putting a few folds in a piece of paper can create such excitement and enthusiasm (and not just for the kids). We made a couple last night after dinner with Ben. Then this morning we have had the book out again with some school friends...the boys of all ages were really into it (the only older girl wasn't interested).

Scary...

2011-10-12T11:42:00.001+13:00

Cleaned the bathroom mirror this morning...Just got a fright when I went in there to wash my hands - I could see myself clearly!

(the kids seem to delight in spreading toothpaste gunk - from toothbrushes - all over the mirror)

School holidays may be interesting

2011-10-10T16:27:00.002+13:00

I checked the weather forecast this morning and it is forecast to rain for the whole two weeks basically.

It was raining this morning, so we stayed home and I sewed the bunting for Naomi's party - it was great to be able to get it out of the way. And with the weather forecast in mind, we went to the park this afternoon to run off some energy while it wasn't raining - although it was pretty windy, cloudy and a little cool.

My other defence against total madness due to wet holidays is that I have organised some of the kids friends to either come here to play or go to their houses to play, so even if they are stuck inside the whole time, there is a chance for a change of scenery/play mates.

Feeling productive and on top of things....kind of!

2011-10-09T12:44:00.003+13:00

Yesterday, Peter and I had a list of things we wanted to get done around the house/garden:

weed the strawberry patch (if you didn't know it was a strawberry patch, you would have just assumed it was a large patch of weeds - couldn't see any strawberry plants for all the weeds)
mulch the strawberries, raspberries and garlic
plant the potatoes (that I had bought before going to Brisbane and had sprout about 10cm long on them!)
oil the deck f
urniture (table and chairs hadn't been oiled for at least 12 months)
replace the toilet tap (it was old and stuck, we couldn't turn it off)
make a batch of coconut ice cream

The amazing thing is, that unlike our usual Saturday to-do lists where we only get 1/2 the stuff done...we got all of it done! Plus we had extra time to do a couple of extra things - I planted some seeds in the garden (carrots, beetroot, rocket, parsley and chives) and Peter

started constructing the Ikea wall mounted clothes airer that I'd brought back from Brisbane.

I still have things to do like making the bunting for Naomi's birthday party, writing kids church Christmas program, organising advent calendar, working out what I'm going to do to celebrate my 30th Birthday...

Athletics athlete

2011-10-06T20:09:00.002+13:00

Last night I went and checked out one of the local Athletics clubs. They have a club meet every Wednesday night which is a combination of competition and training. I am going to join for the season as I feel I need a goal/motivation/direction to my gym sessions, plus I will enjoy getting back into some competitive sport. Most the people there are either a lot younger or older than me, but I had been warned by a friend that this was the case.

School production

2011-10-06T19:53:00.004+13:00

On Tuesday, Ben performed in his first school production. The production was titled 'Stories of Aotearoa' and was a collection of Maori legends (the equivalent of Aboriginal Dreamtime stories). The way it was put together reminded me of the Opening Ceremony to the 2000 Sydney Olympics...an overarching story line which linked the individual stories/performances together.

Ben did very well and enjoyed the experience heaps. His class did a dance to a song entitled 'Cheeky little fantail'. He has a reasonable sense of rhythm so was able to perform the right dance moves at the right time and in the right order. I thought it was very cute when the turned around and wiggled their bottoms/fantails every time the phrase 'Cheeky little fantail' was sung in the song.

You can go here to see more photos.

Brown bread ice cream made

2011-10-06T19:48:00.002+13:00

The ice cream tastes almost like cheese cake mixture and the crispy bread bits are just like having biscuit crumbs in the ice cream...We are really looking forward to trying this one!

Here's the recipe, if you are interested.

Pumpkin Ice cream made!

2011-10-06T14:40:00.004+13:00

There is 2L of pumpkin ice cream now sitting in the freezer. We all had a taste at breakfast (licking the churn bowl and blade) and everybody liked it. It doesn't have a particularly strong pumpkin flavour - it might be because the type of pumpkin I used isn't particularly strong or it might suppose to be like that.

Using leftovers/surplus

2011-10-06T07:32:00.002+13:00

On the topic of ice cream, the two flavours I'm in the process of making are both because I have ingredients that need using...pumpkin and bread.

The pumpkins that we stored from autumn are coming to the end of their shelf life, so need using really soon and if you're having trouble imagining pumpkin ice cream, think american pumpkin pie type flavour.

And we always have bread crusts floating around, about 1/2 end up being chook food and about 1/2 get made into bread crumbs. And there is only so many dinners you can put breadcrumbs in, around or on top. So when I came across a recipe for brown bread ice cream, I just had to give it a go.

How many flavours?

2011-10-06T07:21:00.002+13:00

Yesterday, I borrowed my friend's ice cream maker again. We have 4 x 2L ice cream tubs plus a 1L ice cream tub to fill...and an endless possibility of flavours. So far I am in the process of making pumpkin ice cream and brown bread ice cream. We are thinking of making the coconut ice cream I made last summer again and I will not get away with not making a batch of peanut butter ice cream!

Chinese fish and chips?

2011-10-03T19:44:00.000+13:00

One of the things we noticed when we first moved over here, and haven't yet commented on (I don't think) was how you don't get fish and chips quite like you do in Australia. In Oz, your local fish and chippie generally sells fish and chips, burgers, potato fritters etc and not much more. Here in NZ, it seems that every fish and chip shop is also a Chinese takeaway (they do seem to be mostly Chinese owned for some reason). So, our local fish and chippie has a special on currently: you can get $3 of chips for free with your sweet and sour pork. Dunno about you, but I still find that kind of weird.

My favourite part of a MasterChef series

2011-10-01T12:52:00.002+13:00

Is the trips away.

When I travel, one of the things I really like to do is to eat. To try the local produce, the local cuisine, to visit the original source of some of my favourite products. And I love to be able to bring some of the produce and ideas home and try and recreate some of the food I have experienced. A lot of my best travel memories are associated with food/drinks and I have made some great discoveries.

So I get really excited when I watch the episodes where the MasterChef contestants are doing just that. I feel like jumping on a plane and going somewhere myself. Unfortunately both money and season of life prevent me from doing that. But at the start of next year, we have planned a trip to the north part of the South Island of NZ, so I'm going to concentrate my excitement of the MasterChef contestants experience into researching opportunities to have some great food and wine experiences on our holiday. We have already specifically planned to spend a couple of nights in the Marlborough region, as well as a day in Wellington and I have also suggested we drive home on a slightly different route so that we can visit the Wairarapa region too. We are planning to camp the whole time (to both save money, as well as to be able to stay in some pretty amazing natural places), so hopefully I can find some great food to glam up the camping experience a bit, as well as some produce that we can bring home to enjoy over the following months.

What I've been doing this morning...

2011-09-30T12:30:00.002+13:00

Making decorations for Naomi's birthday party. We did all the thinking about theme, food, cake and decorations before I went to Brisbane, so I've been able to come home and just run with the plans. The theme is 'Garden Party' (kind of like a 'Party in the Park' but at home because October still has a frequent possibility of rain, so having it at home minimises logistics of wet weather plans). So this morning I cut out a whole lot of cloth triangles to make bunting. The cloth is scrap material I got from somebody on 'Free cycle' just after Naomi was born, so the decorations have cost nothing so far.

Shared lunch

2011-09-29T14:49:00.002+13:00

It was shared lunch at kindy today. But from the food that was brought to share, it was more like a lunch party - sausage rolls, chips, marshmallows, cake, pizza and a stack of fairy bread etc.

The surprise for me was that the teachers sang 'grace' in Maori before we were allowed to start eating. And it sounds like they sing it with the kids during normal kindy sessions as I noticed a number of the morning kindy kids singing along too. This is something that you totally wouldn't find in a government run/public kindy in Australia (if there is such a thing - there isn't in Queensland).

Out of it

2011-09-28T11:23:00.002+13:00

I've only been gone for 3 weeks, but I feel totally out of the loop at both school and kindy...

School has a 'production' on next Tuesday night. All the year 0-1 classes are involved which means I have to find Ben some black pants and shirt to wear (they are dressing up as fantails - the bird, not the lolly...don't think you get the lolly here)
Kindy has swapped mat time from the last thing before home time to earlier in the afternoon, so we don't get to see what the do and my first impression from our first afternoon back is that it makes the end of kindy very messy and the last 30 minutes is a bit of a waste of time.

Holiday at Dicky Beach

2011-09-27T11:40:00.004+13:00

This morning, I got around to downloading the photos from our holiday, so now I can start to blog.

The first week we went up to Dicky Beach with my parents for a nice beach holiday. The kids had stacks of fun playing in the sand and water each day. They especially liked playing in the 'creek' that flows out next to the flag area (for those of you who are familiar with Dicky Beach). I enjoyed being able to sit in the warm sun while watching them, playing with them, and reading.

Other things we did were: go for a walk along the beach; play at the park; eat fish and chips (which costs twice the price it does in NZ); and have a couple of swims in the heated swimming pool (part of the apartment complex we were staying in). It was a really nice relaxing time for us all...I wish I was back there this week!

Changing seasons

2011-09-27T11:24:00.002+13:00

Being away for 3 weeks means that things that progress a little each day have made a bit of a 'jump'. Things I've noticed since being back have been:

the sun has swung around significantly to the east/west now, not so far north as it is over winter;
the sage plants have a stack of new leaves (so obviously it has warmed up enough for the plants to decide to come alive again)
a stack of weeds have appeared in my strawberry patch (again, an indication that the weather is getting warmer/sunnier)

This is not to say that all the aspects of winter have left us yet - we had frost this morning (although it was only a light one).

Beach holidays

2011-09-11T15:47:00.002+12:00

I think I've worked out why I find them so relaxing...It's because they have such a routine to them that I don't have to think/organise much throughout the day. Beach holiday goes something like this:

wake up and eat breakfast
get ready to go to beach
sit on the beach for the rest of the morning (swim if I want to)
back to accomodation for lunch
rest time
do some easy outside activity - go to park or go for walk along the beach or go for a swim in the pool
bath, dinner, kids in bed
relax and go to sleep
Repeat the next day!

Magnificent Mt Ruapehu

2011-09-09T14:45:00.000+12:00

Wow. What a trip! While Mel and the kids are away, it's become my tradition to get away to a mountain somewhere for a bit of a walk. The first year it was just Mt Pirongia, the second was Fantham's Peak on Mt Taranaki, and thoroughly miserable weather last year meant that it was "just" Mt Pirongia again.

On the edge of the plateau

This year I had four weekends to choose from, so decided to be adventurous and plan a trip down to Tongariro National Park, with the aim to get up onto Mt Ruapehu for a night, hoping that one of the four weekends would be perfect weather-wise. At 2797m, it's the North Island's highest peak, although there's actually about half a dozen different peaks above 2700m that are part of the huge bulk of the mountain. It's also an active volcano, although it hasn't had a major eruption since 1996 - only "little" ones.

Tents in the snow!

Access to the mountain is nice and easy because there's a huge skifield at the base. We caught the chairlift up as high as you can go (around 2000m altitude) before putting the crampons on and starting the steep climb up towards the summit plateau. Conditions were perfect - sunshine, a breath of wind and firm (but not too icy) snow underfoot. It's a fairly long trudge up, with the views getting better and better, although you don't get to see much different. Once we got to the rim of the summit plateau though, we got to peer across the vast bowl that is the plateau - ringed by the Te Heu Heu ridge, Cathedral Rocks, Dome and Glacier Knob - an absolutely magnificent sight. By this time we didn't really have time to dig a snow cave (which had been one plan), so we found a hollow that some previous group had dug in the lee of Cathedral Rocks to pitch our tents. It needed a bit of enlarging to fit the two tents, but the snow wasn't too hard, so that didn't take too long to do. Once that was done, it was time to get dinner started and get set up for the night - it was decidedly chilly up there and wasn't going to get any warmer once the sun went down! By the time the sun did go down, the wind was gusting (probably only 30-40km/hr gusts), but with the temperature down around -10C, it was very cold indeed. Dinner ended up being served in the tents - for some reason nobody felt like sitting outside to eat!

The summit plateau at sunset

Click to see a slightly bigger version!

The night was spent snuggling deep inside a sleeping bag, trying to stay warm, as well as get some sleep with the tent flapping a bit each time the wind blew. Every gust of wind also brought a gentle sprinkling of snow inside the tent (no, my tent's not really intended to be a mountain tent!). By the morning, water bottles that were inside the tent right next to sleeping bags were frozen solid, so it must have been cold!
We managed to get a reasonable sleep considering the conditions, and I got up around 6am to get some photos of the dawn. I intended to just walk around on the plateau taking some photos, but the lure of a view of the crater lake at dawn proved too much, and I ended up sidling up the side of Dome, trying to get a good view. I managed to get a fantastic view, but then also realised just how icy the slope was - and I hadn't put the crampons on! Silly boy. Anyway, I managed to get down safely enough and back to the tent where everyone else was still in their tents. Not sure why - it was only about -15C.

Fun on top of Dome!

Once I'd made some porridge for breakfast, we all headed up for the top of Dome, where there's an emergency shelter (it's primary purpose is to house seismic monitoring equipment, not shelter) and the best views of the crater lake. We enjoyed the magnificent view up there before heading back to the tent to get all packed up and ready for the walk down. The walk down was relatively straightforward, other than getting very hot with the sun in our faces! We were down shortly after lunch time, and that was that.
There's a full set of photos at flickr, as usual!

It's finally here...

2011-09-09T14:05:00.002+12:00

The Rugby World Cup that is. There's been a lot of flags flying out of car windows the last few days - about an even split between Tongan, Samoan and All Blacks flags. The Pacific community have certainly been out in force anyway!
(Not that I think that's going to stop the All Blacks hammering the Tongans tonight...)

On our way!

2011-09-03T06:34:00.002+12:00

At the airport waiting to board our plane for Brisbane. Got questioned about my checked baggage by security - they were puzzled about the x-ray image...things they couldn't figure out were: my stove top espresso maker (they thought it might be a fishing reel), and the kids scooters. Then had one of our cabin bags searched going through security - they thought there was something unusual in our food, but it was all ok.

Pencil sharpeners on planes?

2011-08-31T07:51:00.003+12:00

Does anybody know if you can take pencil sharpeners in your cabin luggage? Or are they considered a prohibited sharp item as they have a removable sharp blade?

Oops

2011-08-29T19:44:00.001+12:00

While taking the rubbish out this evening, I managed to brush the bag against my leg...and there was a bit of glass in there. So... I now have a few stitches in my leg. The cut isn't too deep but was enough to require about eight stitches.

Snow Holiday 2011

2011-08-27T10:05:00.003+12:00

Last weekend I took a day off work to make a nice long weekend to go away and enjoy some fun at the snow. We just picked a fairly random weekend after the school holidays, and it happened to be a very good one: the week before was the biggest cold snap of the winter and one of the coldest in years... which means lots of snow! The forecast for Saturday was "cloud, clearing", so we decided
not to hurry down, rather having breakfast at home and getting down to Whakapapa for lunch before heading up the mountain for the afternoon. By the time we got to the village, there were thousands of people around, because of the sunshine and recent snow. The road up the mountain was closed because all the carparks were full, but we were let through to get to Scoria Flat - roughly halfway up the mountain. It's usually a spot where you can fit chains if required, but was being used as a carpark so they could get more people up the mountain. We had lunch there and then caught a shuttle bus up to the top. The weather was perfect, so we got a few toboggan runs in. The sliding area this year was much longer than last year,

and shaped reasonably nicely - it was also faster than last year. We tried to get Ben to go by himself on the toboggan, but the first run he did, he got smashed in the ribs by someone else on an out of control toboggan. So he didn't feel like sliding again by himself. The kids also made a snow man with a carrot nose that had been specially brought all the way from Hamilton!

Sunday morning was fine and cold (got down to -7.6C in the village where we were staying apparently!) so after some breakfast we headed up the mountain again. We were early enough to get a park this time, although we were down in carpark #10, so it was easier to catch the shuttle bus up from there than get the kids to walk up! There was a light breeze blowing, which made it rather icy. After a few toboggan runs

the kids were feeling rather tired - a combination of the cold and not-particularly-good night's sleep. Ben and I went for a little bit of a walk up the other side of Happy Valley to explore, and then it was time for some lunch. Everyone was exhausted, so we just went back down the mountain to have a rest in the cabin. After a rest, we went for a walk down to the stream behind the holiday park (where we had a snowball fight!) and a short walk around the village which we'd never done before.

Monday morning was time to pack up - we'd had a much better night's sleep, so we got packed up and back up the mountain for yet another day of perfect sunshine, this time without any wind. Being a weekday, there were far less people around, so we had some nice quiet runs on the toboggan (this time Ben did go by himself, although he still fell off each time!). Mel was feeling a bit weary after walking back up the hill a few times, so I took all three kids for a walk again. Ben said he would show Joanna how to climb the icy mountain, because he was a big boy! We all managed to fall over and slip a little bit on the way up, but got to a nice spot to look down on the ski slopes. And then Ben decided to keep exploring and then found that he could slide down some of the nice smooth icy stuff on his bottom. Joanna thought that was a grand idea, so she joined in.

And Naomi in the backpack on my back was bouncing up and down, wanting to join in. After that we just had lots of fun climbing ever higher, finding nice spots to slide down on our bottoms! We had a couple of final toboggan runs before heading home (and Ben slid the whole way down by himself, without falling off!).

After lunch, it was time for the drive back home, along with a stop at Over the Moon Dairy in Putaruru to get some yummy cheese... and some rest to recover!

The flickr set has lots more photos, and the videos on there are also pretty funny!

BP#3 Construction Birthday Party

2011-08-27T09:17:00.001+12:00

We did this one for Ben's 2nd birthday. The original plan was to have the party at our local park, but it was raining on the day so we had to have it at home instead.

Invitation: Was a photo print of a dumper truck with text on it.

Decorations: We didn't have any as we had planned to have it at the park.

Food: We timed the party for the food to be a brunch meal. The food was pancakes, croissants with ham, cheese, maple syrup and jam for the guest to put on as they liked. We also had some cut up fresh fruit.

Drink: There was milk and juice for the kids and tea and coffee for the adults.

Cake: Was a toy dumper truck filled with edible dirt. This was made with cubes of chocolate cake, scoops of chocolate self saucing pudding and chocolate biscuit crumbs. This is the easiest cake that I have made. Just throw it all in the back and it looked great!

Activity: We had planned to take some diggers and dumper trucks for the kids to play with in the bark chips at the park.

Thankyou gift: Was a small construction vehicle (digger, bulldozer, roller) that the kids could use in their sandpit at home.

BP#2 Am I a Kiwi or Am I an Aussie? At least I know I'm turning One!

2011-08-27T09:09:00.002+12:00

This was Naomi's first birthday. Fairly specific, but there are a number of families who would have a similar situation, with parents born in a different country to the kids or kids living in different countries to which they were born in etc.

Invitation: Was a photo print of Naomi, with NZ and Oz flags on it and the text.

Decorations: Thanks to when my parents had visited just after Naomi was born, we had a packet of Australian flag balloons, we then got some black with silver fern balloons from the $2 shop here for the contrasting NZ theme. We hung them on the curtain rails and light fittings inside and around the edge of the market umbrella on the deck (The black NZ progressively popped over the morning as they got too hot in the sun!).

Food: For food we served food which BOTH Aussies and Kiwis claim to be theirs: lamingtons (the first time I've ever made them - apart from some fuzzy memory of making some in class at primary school), meat pies (the mini party variety), BBQ sausages on bread and pavlova.

Drink: We served 'Lift' (the aussie lemon soft drink) and 'L & P' (the kiwi version of the lemon drink).

Cake: It was two simple rectangle chocolate slab cakes, one was iced as an Australian flag and one iced as a New Zealand.

Activities: We had a gumboot (for the Kiwis) and thong (for the Aussies) throwing competition. It wasn't a distance competition, it was the person who got it closest to the target.

BP#1 High Tea in the Park

2011-08-27T09:08:00.001+12:00

This is what we did for Ben's first birthday. We held it at Roma St parklands (on the grass between the lake and the ringroad - for Brisbane people), and had people bring their own picnic rugs/chairs to sit on. As with most first birthday parties, it was a mainly adult gathering, with a group of one year olds, as well as a group of toddlers.

Details of the party plan are a bit sketchy as it was a while ago now and I didn't record my plan like I do now. But this is what I do have:

Invitations: We think it was a photo print with text on it. It asked guests to bring a plate of food to contribute to the 'High Tea'.

Decorations: We strung a few balloons in the trees we were sitting under, mainly to help people locate exactly where we were in the park.

Food: As I said we asked the guests to bring a plate of food, so I didn't actually make anything. I did get my mum to make some smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches.

Drink: There was hot water in a thermos for the adults to make tea (a selection of fancy flavours), as well as juice for those wanting a cold drink.

Cake: It was a Noah's ark cake. I got the directions from here. Instead of baking the cake myself, I ordered slab cakes from Woolworths and cut to the appropriate shape (I used 2 layers of cake for the ark). It was a pretty ambitious cake to make, the royal icing animals were a fair bit of work - lots of different colours and detail.

Activity: For the older kids we had crayons for them to draw/decorate their party bags and then filled them with a small ball and a small box of dried fruit.

Party thank-you: As I said, each child got a small ball and box of dried fruit.

Finally starting the series

2011-08-27T09:02:00.002+12:00

After promising a few weeks ago to do a series of post on my party plans that I've done for the kids birthday parties, I post the first few today. The earlier parties don't have as much detail or pictures as the later parties, but I hope people still find it helpful/inspiring.

Tax returns done!

2011-08-26T20:38:00.002+12:00

The usual fiddling around because we have stuff here and there, but only took a couple of days. Just in time for me to pay more tax and wait another year to get it back.

Fashion marathon

2011-08-26T13:42:00.002+12:00

Got both the girls to try on all their clothes for this coming summer...worked out what fitted, so now I can choose what stuff to pack for our holiday!

Can finally do my tax!

2011-08-25T12:33:00.003+12:00

Got the last piece of paperwork I needed in the mail yesterday. Now I can do my tax and Peter's tax and then look forward to the nice chunk of enforced savings to show up in my bank account!

All chooks on the lay!

2011-08-24T11:08:00.002+12:00

We have collected 5 eggs the past 2 days, which means all 5 chooks are laying! (we had been at 4 eggs/day for a month or so) This means eggs are well and truly on the menu at our house. I made a savoury bread and butter pudding last night with the leftover pizza bread that I'd made for our snow holiday lunches...I used 12 eggs in it! And we still have 10 eggs in the fridge today.

Busy busy busy...

2011-08-24T08:35:00.001+12:00

I haven't posted for ages...been busy with Joanna's birthday party, then getting ready for our snow holiday (post to come) and Joanna's actual birthday. Now trying to recover and tidy up from birthday stuff and snow holiday before I have to start packing next week for our trip to Brisbane.

I just saw snow falling outside our house!

2011-08-15T13:19:00.003+12:00

It was only a few flakes which melted before they touched the ground, but it was still snow!

(Hamilton is not suppose to get snow - ever!)

Day has gone well

2011-08-12T17:40:00.002+12:00

Everything has taken as long as I expected it to take. I would have liked it to be quicker than I expected.

Only stress was when I couldn't find the figurine that is the centre piece on top of the cake. But I found it after 20min of looking.

Busy day

2011-08-12T10:45:00.001+12:00

Got to prep about 1/2 the food for the party, plus other stuff.

Finally

2011-08-11T07:50:00.003+12:00

Planted my garlic yesterday. I've planted 16 - 20 cloves and we are going to try and get them to grow a bit bigger than last year. The plan of attack is to fertilise regularly (with our worm wee) and water regularly too.

Birthday party plans

2011-08-08T13:46:00.002+12:00

While in the middle of my party planning season, I've decided to publish the party plans for all the kids parties I've done. When researching my party themes I get lots of ideas/inspiration from the internet and this year I noticed that a number of my ideas have come from blog posts where people have blogged about their party plans. So I thought that me blogging/publishing my plans, might help others out there. Now I know the level I go to with my parties is more creative and involved than a lot of people (I've blogged previously about why), but the way I'm going to organise the plans, you will be able to just take bits and pieces that you want to use. Where I can, I'll include the links/references for where I got the ideas from. I'm also going to include which age birthday I did each themed party for, but a lot of the ideas (decorations, food...) could be used many different ages.