Cat Training

How do you train a cat??

We have placed a cat door in the garage because ultimately the cats will be outside during the day and also have somewhere dry when we go away over night etc.

The cat door is in situ but now we have to get the silly things to actually use it.

We have shown them the door several times, we have pushed them through it and also enticed them out of it.

We have shut up all the garage so the only way out is via the cat door but alas they must be too stupid to come through it!

They quite happily sit in the garage and stay there.

Ok we have only done this for an hour or so, so not sure what will happen if we left them there all day and then they decided they needed to wee etc.

Probably find we would come home to a mess in the garage somewhere.

So if any of you have any wonderful ideas on how to teach a cat to use a cat flap, then much appreciate a few pointers!

Fines

The other day I was sat at the side of the road waiting for Steve to collect me after work.
The road I was waiting on, is occassionally a 2 lane road. It actually has a clearway at certain times of the day. Mainly when everyone is rushing to work and then in the afternoon when everyone is rushing home again. When it is not a clearway, then you can park for up to 60 minutes at a time along the road.
The clearway on this road is a relatively new thing, couple of months, and it has always amazed me that there is still a traffic warden (TW) on duty in the afternoons!

The other day, I sat observing the TW as he waited for the tow truck to come and collect an obviously well over due parked car, that was also blocking the clearway.
He was about 150m away from where I was sat.
Suddenly this green car stopped just past me and parked. The guy got out and crossed the road to the Police Station.
Now if the guy had come around his car, then I would have immediately warned him that the TW was so close, but alas he didn't!
So I sat there watching the guy cross the busy road at the same time that I kept turning and watching the TW walk down towards his car.
As the TW passed by I commented "That will cost him!"
He just smiled at me as he passed.
Suddenly the guy came rushing back across the road and talked to the TW.
Would you believe the TW let him off. Yea for him.

When he walked back past me he said "We can sometimes be nice on a Friday afternoon"
This time I just smiled, but then added "Well when my husband picks me up in a minute, I'll get him to pull in to the Movie store here!"
His reply "I would, otherwise it will cost you $105!"

So there suddenly was my answer to why they still have a TW on duty every evening on the clearway. They only have to ticket 1 car and his wages are paid for!

Still $105 is a massive amount to park your car for 2 seconds to run across the road to the police station to pay your other fine!
For all you guys from the USA, that means $210 to you!

Is It a......?

Is it a bird? No

Is it a plane? No

It is a turtle.....

Yep that is right a turtle, and it is a hot air balloon, which is part of the Balloons Over Waikato.

An annual ballooning event held here in Hamilton. This is the 10th year they have held it and it is such fun seeing the balloons floating past every morning on the way to work.

However yesterday moring they were right outside the front door. I almost felt like if I was taller I would have been able to reach up and touch them!

This shot is very deceiving, this was taken from accross the street and they definitely were not that close to the houses! Just looks that way!

In the background you can just make out a birthday cake balloon trying to get over the trees. This was in honour of the 10th birthday of the Balloons Over Waikato.


Here you can just see the Ladybug balloon creeping out from the trees.

Busy Week

I know it seems like I haven't been here all week!

On Tuesday my dad had his operation for his Prostate Cancer, so I had the lucky time of spending over 10 hours up at the hospital with my mum.

Dad's op was very successful and he got to go home on Friday.

So for most of the week I have been looking after the family, working and then visiting dad.

Ben didn't get to see grandad on Thursday, so at 7pm I quickly rushed him up to say hi, because I knew dad was going home the next day and Ben would be really miffed if he didn't get to say goodbye. Glad I did have a late night with him by taking him up, because he definitely enjoyed seeing grandad one more time knowing he was going home the next day. Ben likes to know what is happening and then he is more relaxed.

For the rest of the week I have been working.

I am now well settled into my new job as Vaccinator with the community programme, going around all the schools in the area vaccinating the young girls with the new HPV Vaccine (Cervical Cancer)

Some of the young girls are fun to chat with for 2 minutes, some are dramatic drama queens and some just plain don't want to see us!?

I am enjoying what I am doing and really am glad I decided to have a change of scenery for 6 months.

Not actually sure what I am going to do job wise in October when this contract ends? But for now I am not worried and I am looking forward to having 2 weeks off over Easter.

Bribary!

Ben had to have some antibiotics the other week. Nothing new here, as he has had them many times now.
Although he absolutely hates taking them. We can actually have a stand off with him for 20 minutes, all while holding a spoonful of medicine, before he will open his mouth and take the medicine!

So Grandma had an idea of maybe, god forbid, bribing him to take it all?
So I did!
I got some of the toys from my wardrobe, my own personal toy shop where I keep spare stuff for just this sort of thing, and placed it on top of the fridge.

We added a chart to it, and as he took his medicine, we ticked of the appropriate time and day.

One of the days had a star by it and when he successfully reached this point he got a toy.

Worked a treat. Even though he argued with us about taking it once or twice. We just casually would say to him "which toy was it you wanted?" and then the medicine got taken nicely and promptly.

Who said you can't bride them everynow and then....?

PS - 2 days after writing this post, Ben is back on antibugs and there are now more toys on top of our fridge!

Magazines

When I got engaged last year I of course acquired several Bridal Magazines.

Nothing ever actually jumped off the page for me, but I did get a few inspirational ideas about things I liked.

6 months later and I finally cleared the magazines from under my bed this weekend just gone.

I looked at them long and hard and racked my brain to see if I could think of anyone I could pass them on to??

There had to be someone I knew who was getting married?

Would you believe, no one!

So with despair I walked to the garage and placed them in the paper recycle box.

Today I have had the awesome pleasure of retrieving them from the garage because my Cousin Lucy has just annouced today that she got engaged over the weekend to here boyfriend Gareth.

Yea, so happy, they are so great together.

So even though she has told me it will probably be end of 2010 before they actually get married I am really happy that I finally have someone to pass these magazines on to. I mean they are really expensive and such a waste to chuck out when they are useful for many years after you have brought them.

So congratulations to Gareth and Lucy, so happy for you both.

Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Claire,

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to my one and only sister in law Claire.

Hope you have a good day.

Homework

Ben has a small amount of homework every night from School.
It always consists of reading a little book and going through the new words of the week.
Simple words like "and, I, have, said, here"
He is doing really well with them all, although of course they are now getting harder and it is taking a little bit extra to learn them.

Steve is amazing, he sits with Ben to do the homework and he is fabulous with him.
Now I would like to one day train as a Primary School Teacher, but I sometimes think Steve should change his career path, I think he would make an awesome teacher, although I do already know he is a great teacher because he was a Nurse Educator when I first started dating him.

He just seem to have the knack with teaching Ben how to do things, although sadly he sometimes lacks the patience with him and I feel this would ruin the teaching side.
But for us at home, well I can't wait for Alex to start school so he can have his super duper dad help him with his homework.

Insomnia

Yes, I have insomnia!
Well in fact I have a drug induced insomnia, so as soon as I stop taking the drugs then hopefully the insomnia will go away....!
And seeing how the doctor has agreed to me stopping the steroids (drug of effect) then hopefully the world will be a much better place tomorrow morning at 4am?

Because, even though I had been warned about the possible black dreams and marriage breakers side effect, nothing quite prepared me for the effect at 4am this morning!
As far as I was concerned this morning the whole world could just disappear.
Steve was the root of all evils and the boys were not much better.
I had no time or life and I really just wanted the whole of my life to go away and let me start again.

Now I am currently aware that I have too much on my plate and I am scrapping parts of it away as we speak to get back to something I can manage, but I am not one to actively voice my expressions of help until it is way too late, by which time I then suffer in silence and wonder why no one has picked up on the fact I am not coping?

My other bug bearer this morning in my torid moments was 'when was it my time to be sick?'
If the boys are sick, then I stop everything to look after them.
If Steve gets sick, he gets over being sick and I keep the life trundling along.
When I get sick, I still have to remember the cat has to go to the vet, the boys have swimming and that the toilet really can't be left in that state for another day!
It made me realise that in fact I should have said something yesterday to Steve and let him know that in fact it would have been much better if he had stayed home from work to look after Alex, because looking back I don't think I was in any real fit state to be doing it!

But then hey, where would all the fun be if we didn't have drugs to wack you around the head everynow and then and make you realise that some things need to change?!

Oh and do you know that C4 (music channel in NZ) has a programme running through the night called "Insomnia" how apt!

Prostate Cancer

At Christmas, my dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (PC).

There was nothing to suspect this at the time, no pain or symptoms. He was diagnosed purely by a routine blood test taken as part of his on going 'Well Man' check at his doctor's.

Pretty similar to women being diagnosed with Breast cancer after having a routine mammogram.

The blood test checked his PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) Levels, which is only produced by the prostate cells. This test, if above normal, gives indication of changes within the gland that therefore need to be followed up further with a Urologist (Surgeon who specialises in problems of the urinary system)

He needs to see a Urologist because the prostate gland (walnut in size) is located beneath the bladder in the male pelvis, the urethra, which drains urine from the bladder, passes through the prostate. The glands main function is to provide nutrition for sperm.

There are several different diseases of the prostate thus the reason to get a follow up to see eaxctly what is going on, whether it is cancer or not.

PC is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths amongst men, after lung cancer, although it is rarely diagnosed in men younger than 40.

In Australia, 1 in 11 will develope PC by the age of 75

In the USA, over 230,000 men are diagnosed with PC each year.

About 10% of PC runs in the family. So like Breast Cancer if there is an immediate family history, then routine check ups are adviced.

Over 600 men die of prostate cancer every year in NZ - this is directly comparable to those figures for breast cancer.
Over 2,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.
Prostate cancer is now the prevalent form of cancer for NZ men.

So what is my dad doing?

Well he has been followed up and he has seen a lovely Urologist I know here in Hamilton.

He is now scheduled for surgery in 7 days time to surgically remove the prostate gland.

He is reasonable young (65) fit and healthy, so after the initial surgery and a little time of quiet and taking it easy, then he should be bouncing back fine, although that won't mean he will be playing squash 3 weeks later! He wasn't playing squash 3 weeks before so forget the after!

So what can you all do?

Help raise awareness of this silent disease. For men all it takes is a simple painless blood test to check their PSA each year. Due to infections etc in the prostate then a high reading does not always indicate cancer. However it is easier and safer to follow up with a biopsy and have an infection than to ignore it and have PC. So next time someone you love, who is over 50 is having a check up, then get them to add checking the PSA Levels to the test.

Men are well known for ignoring health issues, they are known for not going out of their way to have things done. They don't keep up with the latest findings and then decide to rush out and have that test or peocedure. We need to casually remind them of things everynow and then!

There is currently a challenge being undertaken by 4 guys downunder.

On 19th April 2009 4 of us will set out in a bid to become the first 4 man crew to row the Indian Ocean. We will be competing in the inaugural Indian Ocean Rowing Race to raise some much needed funds and awareness for man’s number one killer, prostate cancer. All being well the race will take approx 60-70 days and will see us cover approx 3,568 miles (5,742 kms), from Geraldton (Western Australia) to Mauritius...that's a long way and a long time to be sat on our prostates!

Go check out what the guys are doing and how they are getting on.

Cat Update

Prenzel is back from the hospital and a lot more full of beans.
She has been desperate to get outside, but the SPCA told us to allow her at least 10-14 days before letting her out!
Today she managed to sneak past Alex as we were coming in and I did not have the energy to chase her so I just let her go!
She is having a ball. She is leading Barnie all round the garden, investigating, using the veggie patch for her business etc.
They both keep coming back to the backdoor and lounging in the sun.
So I think maybe when we are home, if she wants to go outside then she is free to do so.
I think it will make her happier and maybe settle easier.

Only thing is I now have to go and find her to give her her next dose of medicine from the vet!

Hospital

The cat is in the hospital.

Our latest addition to the family, who is called 'Prenzel' by the way has not been well since she arrived on Tuesday. She was fine for the first day but then slowly she has stopped eating and has not been having pleasant poo's.

She is getting along with Barnie very well now, and they are tolerating each other nicely.

We took her to the vet on Wednesday and they dosed her up with pain relief and extra stuff. She ate a little when she got home, but has really not touched anything since.
Unfortunately she poo'd in our room 4 times during the night, not pleasant, and has become a little too laid back for our liking.

So we called the vet again today, explained all that had been going on in the last 24 - 48 hours and they made us an appointment.
10 minutes later the phone went, and it was the vet herself to say that she would like Prenzel to be brought in to her, not for the appointment, but to the hospital so she can observe her over night.


Ben helped me and we took her off to the cat hospital.
Ben was all very worried, he wanted to see where she was going and even told me in the vets that 'he was going to miss her tonight!'


They will call tomorrow to let us know how she has been over night and then hopefully, if they can get her to start eating and drinking they may let her go home tomorrow afternoon, if not maybe Monday. They want to assess her for IV fluids, extra drugs she may need and also what is happening with her insides to create so much poo.

She is so cute and unfortunately we have all fallen in love with her just in 3/4 days, so hopefully she will come right very quickly.


I'll let you know what happens and when she comes home.

Junkie

I feel like a junkie!
I went back to the doctor's yesterday, I was feeling so crap, I needed to.
He listened to my chest again and decided that he could hear something on both sides at the bottom. So mentioned pnuemonia or a chest infection and proceeded to does me up with pills!

Today at breakfast I felt like a junkie! I had to take the following.....
1 x Augmentin (antibiotic)
1 x Prednisone (steroid to help dry things up)
1 x Vitamin (makes sure I am getting some good stuff)
2 x Panadol (pain relief)

Oh and did I let you know I am horrid at taking tablets, so breakfast was a long process.
To add to this, the steroid is making me wake up at about 3am and it is difficult to get back to sleep. So the nights are getting longer and the days are getting tiring. Oh yea and it is also drying up my cold so breathing through my nose is such fun in the middle of the night!
Man I will be glad when this starts to go away and I am feeling more like my old self.

Sick

I have had enough!
I have had a persistent cough for 4 weeks now and I am knackered!
I have been feeling ok with a nasty cough.
Had lots of people getting concerned when they hear me cough, but other than that apart from being extra tired in the evenings I have survived.
But alas not now....
I am tired, always aware of my breathing, still coughing, which in turn is hurting my ears, my throat and my whole body because my muscles have had enough of the coughing!
I am loosing my get up and go because it is running away from having had enough.
The doctor has checked my bloods and they are fine, waiting for the result on my throat swab and they say it could take about 2 weeks to get the results on whether I have whooping cough!

So today I finally took a day off work to just sit down and relax on my own for 5 minutes.
Unfortunately Ben was sick in bed last night so there are 2 loads of washing to get done.
We are out of cat litter, so need to go to the supermarket later this afternoon
The house is a mess and we have cricket at Ben's school tonight (last game of the season luckily) so dinner will be on the run and we won't get home until after 7pm!

Am I able to say 'STOP' yet and just step off the world??

Book Giveaway #2

Mary over at Owlhaven is giving away another copy of her wonderful book she has written.

Pop over sometime and check it out

Sandwiches

Where on earth does a 3 1/2 yr old get his sandwich choice from?
I have always offered them a variety, cheese, jam (jelly), ham etc.
I can understand cheese and marmite, love it myself so no worries.
I have even introduced them to the good old PBJ, not that it is a popular choice here in NZ but hey, open to all things.

So where does Alex get the idea for cheese and jam (jelly)?

I have sure never offered that combination to him! I know his grandfather likes it, but he hasn't been to stay for quite a while now and Alex would never have been old enough when he last stayed to hear him ask for that!

The wonderful minds of a little guy!

Sickness Update

We took Ben to the specialist the other day to get his ears checked out.
Turns out he does have Glue Ear, but they are not worried at all.
They think it all stems from the major ear infection he had at the end of October last year.
They tested his hearing and have found no problems with it at all.
They said this is what confirmed it for them. Kids with Glue Ear usually need follow up treatment because they loose their hearing in the affected ear, whereas Ben has perfect hearing.
So they are happy to just sit back and watch.
I have to take him back if he has any discharge from the ear or complains of pain and they maybe want to see him in a years time just as a check up. So on we go with life and just step over this little bump in the road.

On the other hand though, I have had a nasty cough for just over 3 weeks now. It is breath taking and very tiring.
So I whisked off to the Dr's and they did every test available. I am now on Ventolin to help me breath, Prednisone (steroid) to help dry things up and give me a quick boost. They took a throat swab to see what is there and also took some blood to see what is circulating. Would you believe they are goign to test me for Whooping Cough!
I am fully immunised and so are the boys, but apparently it is flying round NZ at the moment. It is known as the 100 day cough in adults and you don't get the whooping sound you just have a persistent cough.

Will hopefully get the results today or tomorrow, and then I will know if I am on antibugs, like Ben, to clear up what ever I have.

Oh and as mentioned Ben is on antibugs again. Came out in more spots and so more drugs. Unfortunately we have had to resort to bribary to get him to take it. More on that later.

Logically Thinking of The Young

Over at Owlhaven, she was commenting on what one of her 6 yr olds had said about swimming. It was the perfect conversation of logic that come from the young.

It made me remember a conversation I had with Ben (5) just a few days ago. It went sort of like this....

Ben: Did you have a seat like mine when you were little mum?

Me: You mean the booster seat on your chair?

Ben: Yes

Me: I don't remember darling, but probably. You will have to ask Grandma and Grandad?

Ben: Ok. Was I around when you were little?

Me: No, not when mummy and daddy were little like you.

Ben: Oh, so who were my parents when you were little?

Me: Well you were not born yet.

Ben: Was I still in your tummy then?

Me: (trying not to laugh) Sort of

Ben: Could I talk when I was in your tummy?

Then the other one joined in.....

Alex: Did I talk when I was in your tummy?

Me: I don't know, did you talk? Does a baby talk?

Both of them: No, a baby cries lots!

Latest Addition

Here is the latest edition to our family.
She doesn't have a name yet, although it is now Ben's turn to choose one, think it might turn out to be 'Prenzel' but will confirm that when we know.


Of course Barnie and her are getting along like a house on fire.....not!
But hey give them chance and maybe oneday the will end up loving tolerating each other!

Glue Ear

Ben has Glue Ear. I thought we had managed to pass by all this seeing as he had made it to school, had not had hardly any ear infections and has no real problems, apart from his pronouciation of words!

So when the ear nurse told us he has glue ear, we were a little shocked.

I googled 'Glue Ear' and this is what I got.....

Glue ear is when fluid is present in the middle ear, an air-filled space, behind the eardrum.
It is different to an ear infection when the fluid in the middle ear is infected, and the eardrum is red and bulging, causing fever and earache in your child. When an ear infection has resolved, this infected fluid becomes sterile but, it is still present. This is glue ear. The eardrum in front of this fluid is no longer red and inflamed.

We have an appointment today with a specialist. We decided that even though we only got diagnosed with this problem last week, we were not messing around with his hearing.

We may need grommets or we may just need a long course of antibugs (think I would prefer the grommets, at least then we don't have to fight with Ben morning and night to take his medicine!)

So will keep you posted as to what the specialist says this afternoon.

Book Giveaway

Mary over at Owlhaven has written a book.

Yep that is right, a whole book.

It is called "A Sane Women's Guide to Raising a Large Family"

She says it "shares the story of the growth of our family, as well as the hints and tricks I’ve learned over the years that help me stay sane as a mother of many. I’d never claim to have all the answers, but having a large family has forced me to become more efficient."

Mary is married to John and is the mother to 10 children, 4 arrived via the natural stork and 6 lucky ones arrived via adoption. They are all hers and she loves them to bits, in fact her oldest has just got married, so life is forever changing in that household.

Even though I do not have a large family, this book looks rather interesting from what I have already read via Amazon.

Mary has several copies of her book to giveaway each week, so stop on over there sometime and take a look for yourself.

Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day.

Did you know that? No neither did I.

My calendar mentions it, but I had never heard of it before.

Turns out it has been celebrated since 1909 as a way to celebrate for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together.

So did we all get flowers, did the men even realise that it was a special day for us??

Don't think so....!

Earth Hour

Do you guys know about this?
Me neither until I heard about it on the news.

Turns out they want us to turn off the lights for an hour on Saturday 28th March

Found the following on the Earth Hour Website....

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming.

WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from.

VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community.

A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet.

Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts.

Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

Now I am not sure on the time. I know that there is an activity at the Universitiy that night and Earth Hour has been incorparated into that, but I am not sure if the time mentioned above is just the New Zealand time or the whole world time?
Looks like it will be a fun night out anyway.

Proud Again

When Ben first started school I was given a little advice by the ladies I worked with at the time....
'Join the PTA' they said and your child will always be looked after at school because the teachers look out for the kids of the parents who are active at the school.

Unfortunately due to other committments I have as a volunteering person, joining the PTA is not something I can do at present, but after yesterday I don't think I need to worry?!

As we arrived at school, Ben said hi to one of the teachers walking in. She commented to me that usually it takes the teachers a while to get to know all the students but that there was no problem of that with Ben! Because Ben knows all the teachers, personally, and always says hi to them. Turns out that is Ben, he loves the company of adults and always feels secure knowing they are there for him to talk to if he needs them. He has lots of friends at school, but it is lovely to know that he is also very comfortable with the teachers as well.

Just after I had dropped Ben at school, he came running past me on his way to the office. He was the leader in his class so therefore he got to take the attendance record to the office.
He was full of life and beans when he went past and one of the teachers turned to me and said "your son is awesome, I think he is great!"
What better compliment could anyone ever ask for about their son?

Christmas Presents

It sounds like all we do in this family is celebrate an occassion and then delay the actually enjoyment of it until later on?

Well for Christmas last year, Grandma and Grandad gave the boys vouchers to buy themselves something when they knew what they wanted.

Of course they had no idea that they had these vouchers and so they have been in my handbag since Christmas Day.

Finally at the weekend I decided we would take them to the shop and let them look at the toys. We didn't actually tell them they had money to spend, again they are too young to understand that yet, but it was just nice to be able to say 'Yes' when they asked if they could have something.

They perused several things and then finally I found some 'Hot Wheels' Car stuff. They had lots of track that you make loop the loops with and send the cars flying. The boys thought this was all good fun and came away with a nice little supply each.

Alex got 2 things with his money. 2 things that build into a track and have a loop the loop, one sets a plane flying as the car goes around the loop and the other the car jumps at the end of the track.

Ben managed to get something quite huge. A series of loop the loops all around itself, like a roller coaster. The car zooms through the maze of track and then shoots up a jump and lands back in the motorised starting area and then races off again, all on its own.

I managed to get a small video of it running. What is so funny is that the cat loves this toy! She happily sits there with the boys watching the cars zoom round and round. Occassionally she will put out a paw to try and catch the car, but she is content to just sit and watch.
Can't get video to load at present so will try again later

In fact when the boys finished playing the other day, she climbed on in and tried to get the cars moving again! It was so cute to watch.

Birthday Presents

For Steve's Birthday last year, I know sounds really bad but you have to remember that his birthday is actually on Dec 26, so not that long ago!

Well I got him tickets to see Billy Connolly. Yes the one and only, comedian extraordinar.

I had never seen this guy live before and after a little prying last year, I discovered that Steve had actually seen him on stage before, but I knew that wouldn't matter.

I bought the tickets last November (they sold out within days) and we finally got to see the show last week.

It was a blast, very funny and so on the ball.

He spent most of the night relating to New Zealand and seeing as he has been here many times in the last couple of years, he knew what he was talking about.

A few places had me laughing so much I was crying, but overall a wonderful night out with a lot of laughs.

Life

So I have started my new job, well I have had lots of education towards my new job. We actaully start the vaccinations in 2 weeks time. But so far so good.

Steve is busy as at work, he also suddenly has lots of education that has come his way, so nights of study and long days at work.

Ben is at school and loving it all, well apart from swimming! Yea I know, the boy that loves swimming is not enjoying it at school, turns out, after some investigating, that he is finding school swimming cold and boring. He is so much more advanced than they are doing.

He has new words to learn each week and we are progressing nicely with them.

Things like "I, we, and, went, mum, dad, got, a, it, at"

He will be reading before we know it!

Alex is still loving Daycare, although he does get a little clingy when we go to leave, but we are not worried as we know he has a ball 5 minutes after we have gone.

Today is not a daycare day, so after 2 weeks of fulltime, I think he is looking forward to a quiet day at home with mum.

The cat is progressing well and you would have thought she had always lived here! She is a very big suk and has made herself right at home. We have no worries with her and have even started to let her explore the garden. She loves watching the boys play with their toys and even tries to join in. Will tell you more about that in another post. Oh and Alex has choosen a name for her, well he gave the cat the name and it seems to have stuck.....the cat is called "Barnie"

Or in Alex's world it is called 'Barnie the Cat' because he also has 'Barney the Dinosaur!'

Ben has accepted this because he knows he is allowed to name the next cat we get hopefully this weekend

Blogging just seems to get a backseat at present, but it doesn't help that we lost internet connection for 36 hours due to all the rain we had at the weekend! But now I am not at work fulltime maybe I will be back online a little more.

So that is our family this week. Look forward to catching up with all of you during the week.

Have a good one.