Th' Dude, Again.....

L4 is *such* a poser - he loves having his photo taken almost as much as he loves dressing up, and A11 is always on hand to lend some style tips to his little bro':

For The Record.....

Even though the World's Grumpiest Cameraman *refused* point blank to get our placards on TV, we're gonna get our 5 minutes of fame and post them here instead:

Double Yolker?.....

These two nutty hens have been snuggled up in the same nesting box for a fortnight now. Nobody has told them they're not actually sitting on anything, lol, but every time they get shoo'ed off they find their way back again. We'd like some actual eggs please girls, if it's not too much trouble!:

Growing Anyway.....

Because we're looking at moving, we decided not to plant any vegies this year, but a quick scavenge through the weeds today revealed some the Maori potatoes sprouting:


And some garlic growing:


Hmmmm - garlic potatoes, anyone?

Holiday Hut.....

L9 has made the Holiday Planner, and Tuesday's activity list revealed "Make a hut in the forest" and "Logan's Family Fun Night".

We decided that if they were going to sleep in it, the forest would probably be a bit 'slopey' so we opted for the corner of the lawn instead. Turns out it poured down - that didn't stop the 3/4 hour game of 'Bat Down In The Rain' though, much to my dismay!:

The Charm Of It.....

Today, the girls and I set about making some individual charms for our drink bottles because we are sick of sharing drink bottles with little nearly-5's who leave half their lunch in the bottle when they take a swig ;o)

The Lad has very kindly drunk his way through two dozen Grolsch swing-top bottles over the years (we sometimes need to buy replacements for the ones we smash), because water tastes so much better out of glass than plastic. We bought a very sexy wine bottle carrier crate to transport the funky green bottles, and now we each claim a bottle as our own by adding our charm and there's no more floaties that don't belong to you ;o)

L4 chose the seashell for his, A10 the starfish, me the LOVE, The Lad got the car chosen for him, H7 chose the angel and L9 has the little flowery padlock:

Farmers Market.....

Yay! No more Saturday morning sports so I get to go to the Farmers Market instead ;o) This morning I came home with such treasures as tender new pea shoots cut when you buy them; divine orange vinegar; plant seedlings for the garden; gorgeous (read: expensive, lol!) organic olive oil; organic kale, spinach, potatoes, aubergine, courgettes, avocados, carrots, brocolli, cauli, watercress, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, lettuce, parsnip, cabbage, snow peas, green beans and mushrooms; organic chickpeas, alfafa, mung beans; organic german fruit and marzipan bread and a 9-grain loaf; pears, apples, oranges, tamarillos, kiwifruit and melon; beautiful orchid stems; smoked cheese and chicken.....yum!!!!!!:

Morepork, Morepork.....

It's really hard to see, but these two ruru came a calling tonight. It's really cool to call to them and hear them answer back. What else I find really amazing about them is how absolutely silent they are when they fly, it's almost as if you couldn't have believed it if you hadn't have seen them up and fly off:

Official Enrollment.....

Even though she's been guiding for a while now, they decided to have an official enrollment ceremony for L9 this week.

They needed to form a Guide Wind Shelter in order to get the campfire going:




Then her and Alana, the other 'newbie', were invited up:


And recieved all the official badges and paraphernalia after they had recited their Promise and Law:

Let Sleeping Balls Lie.....

I went in to give A11 his compulsory mummy kiss before I go to bed and found him zonked out like this, hanging halfway out of the bed, while his rugby ball was all snuggled up beside him, with the special Holden hat on to keep it warm, and all tucked up in the special Holden blanket:

Selwyn Ridge Netball Photos.....

We went up to Selwyn Ridge School this morning so the girls could have their photo taken with their Thursday netball team. It was really dark in the hall that they were taking the photos in, and I didn't want to encroach on the professional photographer's space too much.....:

Birds Galore.....

A11 hung the bird feeder he made (wild bird seed mix stuck with peanut butter into the spaces of an open pinecone) near the trellis, and we were amazed at the amount of sparrows that congregated in a very short time. This photo is a bit blurry because A11 took it from inside the house:

Th' Dude.....

L4 wanted to wear his 'bling' he acquired recently and so A11 helped him pick out a suitable outfit to match it, handed him a cellphone, and voila! - my very own 4yo pimp, lol!:

Papamoa Bulldogs U11's Best Forward 2007.....

Actually, this photo is taken with last year's trophy because they spelt his name wrong again this year:


The Under 11's team being spoken to by their "Coach Extraordinaire" and getting their trophies awarded, their medals and t-shirts presented and their team photo's distributed:


The Lovely Rina and Rianna:


Ahhh, she's so KEEWUTE:

D and D.....

We got to see Uncle Darren and Dorothy at Nana's tonight. Uncle Darren had the coolest pants on that he reckoned he'd scored from Mitre10, of all places! Famed for being a bit of a label basher in his time, this was cracking Mum and I up:


His waaaaayyyyy better half, Dorothy, bought her guinea pigs down with her, they were *sooo* cute, the girls were in love:

The Game.....

Yay! The Wellington Lions were almost local this week, so we packed ourselves up and headed over to Hamilton to make sure they won (every time A11 has been to Waikato Stadium to watch a Wellington team (whether it be the Lions or the Hurricanes) play, they have won).

We did the obligatory Face Painting so that there was no doubt in those Waikato minds which side we were there to support:






Wellington were victorious, leaving our lucky supporter status in tact, and we ventured out onto the pitch after the game:


Saw a few players:





A11 got his shirt signed:


By the spunkiest prop Wellington's ever had ;o)

Our Bubba.....

Because we were in Hamilton we had to stop by for a cuddle with our newest little cousin:


He's growing so fast, it's incredible. He's just so scrumptious:

Te Puke Homeschoolers.....

Her and him ;o) kindly invited people round to thier place for a bit of a welcome lunch to a few newbies to the area:


While the Mama's did what Mama's do best - chat over flash coffees:


The kids do what kids do best - they did things like eat:


Play:






Ride bikes:


And some of them even collected a million blue ladybirds:


Thanks, guys xoxoxo