All Day!

Last night I realised that I had nothing planned on the calendar for today.
Yea I thought, I can finally get all the linen moved into the new cupboard.
By the time I went to bed though that had changed slightly, there were several small errands I could run, but they shouldn't taken me too long.

Turns out, Alex and I managed to stay out all day and I am not sure how??
We left the house at 8.20 to take Ben and Steve to work and school.
I left school at 9.15 after catching up with Ben's teacher, saying hi and chatting with my work colleagues who just happened to be at the school vaccinating the girls there today, oh and I also had a quick chat with the lady from the PTA about some books they sold the other weekend.

About 9.30 I ended up down town meeting a friend for coffee, we so needed to catch up because we hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks, we managed to hash out her twins 4th birthday party for Saturday, so she now feels happier about what is happening.
We then had a quick look in 'The Bra Shop' on the way back to the cars. We desperately tried to show Alex which pieces of lingerie mummy would like for Mother's Day next weekend so he could pass the info on to Steve. Not sure if anything went into his little head?!

I then zoomed across Hamilton to take Alex to a make up swimming lesson because he missed his lesson Monday. He was not the most pleasant student he could have been today. He messed around a lot and at one point I actually gave him the choice of staying there or getting out and going home!

So at 11.15 we were then going across to The Base Shopping area, because we were that end of town, and I needed to check out a shop there that hopefully sold long black trousers for Ben for school. No luck but they did have black socks, which he also needed for school. I also had a look around the shop whilst Alex played in the little play area, helps him stay happy if I let him have 5 mins at something he wants to do.

12.00 and we arrived at Bunnings (hardware shop) to get the paint sorted out because it is not yellow enough. Unfortunately 5 mins after arriving Alex had to visit the bathroom, so that took ages because it was the other end of the store to where we were and the store is a huge warehouse style shop! So we sorted the paint, checked out door stops, found a new shower caddy for the shower wall and checked out new laundry bins.

Now I realised that it was lunchtime (12.50) and we still needed to get to the tile shop, so Alex and I ended up having BK for lunch, this took another 1/2 hour because of course they had a play area and I again knew Alex would stay nice if given 10 mins to play.

After lunch we raced back to the other side of Hamilton and went to the Tile shop. I had sample tiles that needed to be returned and other colours to check out. Found some more samples to bring home and also discovered that they have 25% off all tiles till the end of May, so guess we will be getting the tiles very soon so as to get them cheaper.

Called into the Land Transport office down town to collect some brochures for Parents Centre and then realised what the time was so decided to come home for 30 minutes before going out to school to collect Ben (school ends at 3pm).
Unfortunately, Alex and I hadn't managed to get to the supermarket to get more bread and milk, or the ingredients that Steve needs to make a cake for work, so after collecting Ben we went there.

It is now 4.30, I know what we are having for dinner tonight, Steve needs collecting from work in 20 minutes time and I am out tonight just before 7pm.
Man and I thought I was going to have a quiet day moving the linen into the new cupboard!

Found

Once again we are a 2 cat family.
Yes that is right, the elusive wandering cat has been returned to us after 2 weeks away.

A nice gentleman called today to say that he had been given our details by the SPCA and he wondered if the cat that he had at his mother's house was ours?
Turns out she had arrived there about 36 hours ago and he had took her in and looked after her, fed her and then called the SPCA to see if anyone was missing her, because she was pleasant, well groomed and had a collar on.

Luckily I had called and informed them that she was missing last week and they in turn placed her on their 'lost and found' board.

Let's see how long she sticks around for this time!

Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same national day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

The Gallipoli campaign
When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, under a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stale-mate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This shaped the ways their citizens viewed both their past and their future.

Every April 25 there are dawn services held all over the country to mark the significance of this day to New Zealand history.

Kindness

One of the cats, Prenzel, has gone for a walk!

We always guessed that she was a wanderer, but never thought she would prove it to us within 8 weeks of having her.

But what gets me, is that there are still some kind people out there!

We have put fliers in peoples mailboxes this week and we have had 3 calls about it. Now people don't have to call but I was really touched that they took the time to call and say they had seen a cat like ours around in the last hour, day or week.

The boys don't seem too bothered that she is not here. They know she has gone for a walk but they are not all that upset by it?

I do miss her, she is so cute. But if she is a wanderer then maybe she doesn't want to live here. I don't want to go away for the weekend wondering if she is still going to be here when we get back each time?

Barney is not at all bothered that she is not here. She is ruling the place like this is what was meant to be!

Life

I keep coming up with things to write about when I am out and about, but by the time I get home and get to the computer then I have forgotten what I wanted to write about them!
But having said that, I actually don't have the enthusiasm for it at the moment.
I have noticed that occassionally I find that life gets all too much and I can't think straight and I guess this week is one of those weeks.
The house is a tip due to the bathroom being done.
The workmen are coming in day by day or every other day and so therefore, nothing can be put away because it just has to be dragged back out again.

The week is not panning out quite like I wanted so things are getting all jumbled up, so bear with me whilst I am not around. I know I have some things to tell you about from our holiday last week but they can wait.

Steve and I have a date night on Thursday, so I will concentrate on looking forward to that because it is our first one in quite a while!

For a Reason

I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason.
It was meant to be as far as I am concerned.
Ok I haven't quite found the reasons behind the really bad stuff like death, destruction and war, but there has to be a reason somewhere?
If you go for a job, then if it was meant to be yours then it will be, but if not then someone had a better plan for you.

Sadly my brother has just lost his job. I kinda wish it wasn't meant to be but it is that typical saying "when one door closes another one opens" well that seems to be just what is happening with him.
He had a big talk with our dad last night and already several little options have come to light, now ok, nothing may come of either thing but it gives him hope. It allows him time to think things through sensibly.
He has already thought about a different direction, something that flows on from some things he is already doing on a part time basis as a hobby. So even though it is not nice, maybe this was meant to be, this was the push he needed to change direction.

When he moved to New Zealand just over 18 months ago, it was on the understanding that I sponsored him for his visa and this meant he was not allowed to claim benefit from the Goverment for the first 2 years.
Well now he is unemployed guess who has to support him!? Well at least according to the Goverment.
Maybe I will send him a food parcel at the weekend, isn't that enough support? 1 a month for the next 6 months should see him through nicely?

Bikes

Ben has been slowly learning to ride his bike without training wheels.
When we were here several weeks ago we took 1 of the wheels off.
He wasn't entirely happy about riding it that way, but he managed and all was going well, that was until the remaining wheel broke.
So this week our mission, if we choose to accept it, was to get Ben riding his bike with no training wheels.

I think we may have managed. he can ride his bike with out training wheel once he gets going, but he is having a little trouble getting started.
He just has to learn how to push him self off and keep peddling at the same time.
Practise, practise, practise....

We have the rest of the week here at the caravan, so we are not going anywhere. Plenty of time and space to practice.
Oh and incentive too....as lots of the other kids are riding without training wheels and he doesn't want to be left out! What more incentive could any child need?

Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Lucy,
Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to my cousin Lucy, grand old age of 22 today

Holiday

We are currently having school holidays at the caravan, well at least I am with the boys, Steve is at home working.
Feel a little like a WAG (wives and girlfriends) as currently at the site there are several families here without husbands, as they are back home working. The pool yesterday was filled with mums and kids but no dads!
The weather has been kind to us and the kids are spending the whole time outside running around and riding bikes. I am loving that because I have never had so much time on my own and not had to worry about what they are up to or had to come up with entertainment continuously.
The other side of that coin is the fact that by 7pm everyone is so tired they fall asleep very easily and sleep most of the night. It was 7am when we all woke this morning. My type of holiday.

I have noticed, however, that due to being away my blogger reading list is mounting up each day. Of course I have to pay to use the computer here, so I have a whole heap of blogs to catch up on when I get home!

Over the Easter weekend the campsite was full and we managed to get several games of cricket going. Well the best you can get when the average age is about 6 yrs old! But anyway, everyone that joined in had a blast and seeing as one of the games lasted for 3 hours! it was just a continuous rolling game. People came and went, parents dealt with kids and still there was always someone to keep the game playing. The kids had a blast, but then so did all the parents that joined in. We had some very budding cricket players in our midst. Some good throwers. Watch out Black Caps we are grooming the next intake for you!

Hoep you Easter has been as much fun as ours?

Holidays

Happy Easter to you all.

Hope you have a good holiday for however long you have available.

Hope you have fun at the egg hunts you attend and don't end up gorging on too much chocolate!

Manners

Where have all the manners gone in the world?
Are parents just giving up on teaching their kids about a simple little thing like 'please and thank you?'

Is it pc to not use manners now?

At the weekend I was in Rotorua for my mum's birthday party and I nipped out to the local store for some supplies and whilst I was there I witnessed 3 counts of parents demanding from their kids rather than asking nicely!

1 person I followed out of the store (she was leaving at the same time as me, I wasn't actually following her!) and watched her as she put her bag in the car. She then turned to the 2 yr old with her and said "get in the car" no please with it at all.
The child sort of ignored her and then she tried again, same result. Then in a fierce voice she more or less demanded.
Now I am not saying that the child would have jumped to it if she had said please, but what happened to trying?
What happened to keeping this parenting lark stress free and friendly? After all, yes we are the parents but we are not the dictators, the children are people in their own right and deserve some respect otherwise they will grow up with none!

Some come on guys, lets remember to say please and thank you to our kids, it may for a while feel like you are constantly saying it, but they do get it eventually at some stage.
I am beginning to feel like all the manners and values my parents instilled in me are now lost and I don't like it. Maybe I am old fashion in my outlook on life but manners is such a simple little thing that people like, so let's look at keeping them around.

Goodbye

Goodbye to the shower and the vanity with the black tile surround.

Goodbye to the pink bath.

Goodbye to the sink that had no working hot water tap.

Goodbye to the black lino on the floor and the black vinyl wallpaper with little pink flowers.

Hello to the nice builders, plumber and electrician who are now installing our new bathroom.

Death

Last week, as we were driving to collect Steve after swimming, Ben sat in the back of the car and told me he was never having anything to do with daddy ever again! Typical 5 yr old thing and I thought not much more of it.

On further discussion, he listed everything he does with daddy and said he was never doing them again. No sitting next to him, no wrestling, no reading books, no playing etc, you name it he wasn't doing it!
I asked if he was talking to daddy and he said "maybe tomorrow"

I was quite shocked, I wondered exactly what Steve had done to warrent such exclusion from Ben's little 5 1/2 yr old life?

But what Ben told me was the reason for this sudden departure from his life was more of a shock than anything I was ever expecting............he had decided to exclude daddy from everything because daddy was going to die and there would be a funeral.

I was gobsmacked. I felt like someone had just twisted my heartstrings and said 'welcome to the rough side of motherhood'
I had a quick discussion with him whilst we drove across Hamilton to collect Steve, explaining that yes one day daddy would die and that yes there would be a funeral, but that hopefully Ben would be at least Steve's age before that ever happened.

When we collected Steve from work, before I drove off, I told Steve about our little conversation. I got Ben to tell Daddy why he was not having anything to do with him.
Whilst he was telling this, I sat there with tears rolling down my cheeks.
Steve was more concerned with me to begin with, he wanted to know what was wrong, but then I said "ask him why he doesn't want anything to do with you?"

And so Ben told him he was going to die and there would be a funeral.
Steve was a little taken back, but again reiterated exactly what I had said to Ben earlier. Reassuring Ben that he could still be part of daddy's life, as daddy was not going anywhere.

We did decide to mention it the next day to Ben's teacher, as it was obvious it had come from school. Ben said they had discussed it during news time!
The teacher informed us that no it hadn't been discussed during news, but that one of the little girls in the class had sadly lost some family members a couple of weeks ago and she was having a very hard time getting over it and she was still quite angry. She said she would make sure they had a healthy discussion about death as a whole class because she was aware that this little girl was mentioning it to all the children during break time and upsetting some of them.

I know this is something that we can't avoid, and I am happy for Ben to know about it. I know there is never going to be a good time in his life to bring up death. It was just the sudden way he was dropping Steve from his life that got me.

Fall Back

Tomorrow morning we have that wonderful pleasure of gaining an extra hour in the day.

Yes we are in that transitioning faze from Summer to Autumn and our clocks are falling back.

It will be nice to actually go to work in some daylight, seeing as how I am usually at work at present just as the sun in beginning to start shining.

Now if only we could get the boys to understand the 'extra hour' in bed part and actually stay in bed for the extra hour!

Yea right, like that will ever happen. Guess we will be having breakfast at the normal time, just with the clocks saying a slightly earlier time!

Our Saturday

So what have we been doing today?

Well last weekend Steve and Alex tidied up the flower bed out the front of the house. Alex had a ball and also got filthy dirty!

Today I managed to get at least 3 loads of washing done and out to dry in the beautiful autumn sun.

Our new gazebo for the caravan arrived during the week, so we got it up to check it all out, before we go for the Easter weekend.

And I managed to get some autumn colour to put in the freshly organised flowerbed, so Steve and the boys, oh and Prenzel the cat, got down to business and put them all in for me.

Hope your Saturday was as much fun as ours?

65th Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy 65th Birthday to Grandma,

Happy Birthday to you.....

Big party on Sunday, so hope you have a good weekend.

Twilight

Yes we had the Twilight movie here and yes we have had the books but not to the extent that I think others have had them!

I have started to read the series, yes, I know....where have I been? Why has it taken me so long to catch up with Bella and Edward?

There just wasn't all the hype here in NZ like there was in the US!

I knew about The Twilight Movie at the end of last year from reading everything that Julie wrote from My Journey to Family.

I then googled it to find out what was so special about the movie? Only then did I find out it was taken from a book that had been written and caused so much ho ha amongst the ladies.

It came out in NZ just after Christmas, but there was no hype, no special previews, no crazy girls going silly in the sun waiting for the midnight showing or anything like it.

It was a movie, it came out on a Thursday like all others and if you knew to watch it, then goody for you.

So while you are all still going gooey over Edward dolls, we still have people who are only just discovering the series, in written form, let alone know there was a movie made!

It is due out on DVD here soon and I am sure there will be a bigger uptake on this than the movie at the cinema mainly because the books are everywhere, people are now talking about it and most people have read the books.

Me, well I am now on book 3. Yes I am enjoying them, they are different. Although I did find book 1 a little boring, book 2 was interesting and I am now only at the beginning of book 3.

I will get the movie out on DVD from the rental store when it is available. I am interested to see it now, but am glad I have read the book first!