Naomi's party

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

And playing cricket:

Rewind: Naomi's birthday

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

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

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

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...

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

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...

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

Strange chooks...

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

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).