Random Ramblings.....: April 2007

Breakfast Like Kings.....

Well, seeing as how I was feeling a bit extravagant today, I decided to cook everyone a big, fatty breakfast - bacon, breakfast sausages, hash browns, tomato and a poached egg on half a toasted English muffin and a hot chocolate to wash it all down. Place cards were fancy little envelopes with the nicknames I call them on the outside, containing matching little fancy cards with a wee individual note penned in them by me, and a little bit of spending money inside that ;o) What a cool way to kick of the week:

Oh, The Baking.....

We have a Victorian Tea Party to attend on Tuesday, so we've taken loads of books out of the library, perused them all a few times, and gone through the painful process of narrowing it down to one choice each! This took us right up until Tuesday to complete, and it was the least-Mummy-interference bulk baking that has ever happened in this house! All I actually did was help L4 to read the recipe, take hot things out of the oven, check the consistency of dough/icing/ganache/etc. - oh, and *all* the cleaning up!!!!!!!!

A10 settled for Millionaire's Shortbread, and the book didn't have a picture to compare the results with, but it was a shortbread base, topped with caramel and then melted dark chocolate:

L9 went for the Spring Flower Baskets:

H7 decided on Baby Shower Bears:

And L4 wanted holly-leaf-shaped Butter Cream Sandwiches:

Weekend Stuff.....

Back into winter sports officially this weekend - only rugby of a Saturday morning, we still have Saturday netball and Sunday league to start next week ;o) This year, A10's grade in rugby has *no* cancellations, so whilst it wasn't cold, it was certainly wet - the scrums kept getting moved in from the side-puddles, I mean side-lines, lol, and even though I had a brolly, a jacket, a jersey, a shirt, a thermal *and* a bra on - I was absolutely soaked to the skin!!!! The boys all had a good time though, as 10 year old boys are prone to do with rain, mud, a ball and an audience ;o)

Meanwhile, back at the warm, dry whare - The Lad was busy building doors for the linen cupboard and tidying up the dining room window by framing it on the inside:

A10 helped me get the 'Fridge Scraps' lunch ready on Sunday - you know, *that* kind of lunch - the kind where you empty the contents of the fridge on to the dining table and hope somebody finds something to their liking ;o)

The BMX Track.....

We dragged all the bikes out and tightened the chains and the seats, repaired the punctures, inflated the tyres and headed down to meet our mates at the BMX track:

Remember that space? Keep watching:

Its' true, by the looks of it - blondes DO have more fun:

Could we fit any more people round that table, do ya reckon?:

That's so cute:

Honestly, this Work Crew pretty much leant on their spades, texted on their phones and sat in and on their wheelbarrows almost the entire time we were there!:

The Styles.....

These two were hanging out playing "Army Training":

The Drill Sergeant sent his Cadet in with the morning's egg haul from the chickens and I decided they could both do with a haircut:

With the Army theme in mind I started shaving their heads when A10 asked if he could have a mohawk! After much mucking round, a shower and a ton of Sculpting Clay - these were the results:

Anzac Day.....

"ANZAC Day is observed in New Zealand as a day of commemoration for those who died in the service of their country and to honour returned servicemen and women.

25 April is the anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli in 1915. On the first anniversary of that landing services were held throughout the country in remembrance of the 2,721 New Zealand soldiers who died during the eight-month Gallipoli Campaign. Since 1916 ANZAC Day has evolved to the observance we know today.

The assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula began on 25 April 1915, as an attempt by Allied Command to weaken the strategic position of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey, was the New Zealand Expeditionary Force's first major engagement of the First World War.

Commemorative services begin before dawn with a march by returned and service personnel to the local war memorial, where they are joined by other members of the community for the Dawn Service.

Since the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 1916, ANZAC Day has evolved to acknowledge the sacrifice and service of subsequent wars and to encompass new understandings of the full impact of armed conflict on those who have served their country.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them

A10, L9 and H7 were dragged out of bed at 4.30am, dressed in their uniforms, given a milo in a travel cup and a peanut butter sandwich and traipsed off to freeze in the pre-dawn darkness, getting organised by the parade master and told where they were marching in the Dawn Parade:

Then we got to go to MacDonalds for breakfast while we waited for the same thing all over again in the Civic Parade - except this time, instead of freezing in the dark and cold, we were wilting in the mid-morning sun! Never mind, the Firing Volley woke us all up ;o)

Gutting.....

I am seriously gutted. My beloved Hurricanes just lost against the top of the table Crusaders. Not only did they lose the game, but they also lost their top four finish hopes. Mate.

It's A Birthday.....

Our mate Soph has finally reached Double Digits and we got to share with her in her celebrations:

The Lovely Pam, LanLan and Soph with her Nana:

TWO birthday cakes:

Poppy Day.....

A10 and others from his Cub Pack and Scout Troop accompany the NZ Army each Friday preceeding Anzac Day to sell Poppy's. They all gather at the RSA and get split into small groups to cover main routes and business areas throughout the city. This year they had the entire length of Maleme Street to cover - all the way down and all the way back up the other side! Luckily they were with some really cool guys who shouted them all cool drinks and a snack along the way:

He's Back.....

Yay! We went and picked A10 up from the bus station today. He managed to get all the way from Nana's to Rotorua, on two different buses, whilst only eating two Snak Logs in the entire 6 hour period! He said the bus was *really* quiet and he was too embaraassed to eat any more of the HUGE lunch that Nana packed for him, and he was too frightened to get off at the lunchtime stop in case the bus left without him, lol! It's great to have him home again, he's had a ton of fun with Nana, he's come back with exciting stories and bearing presents - the one I loved the most was this new oven mitt he made for me:

Look Mum, I Can Ride.....

Today, L4 decided he would like to have a go at riding H7's two-wheeler bike. All good. The only problem, I thought to myself, would be that up until today L4 has actively avoided all attempts at riding a bike, L4-sized and equipped with trainer wheels, despite our encouragement and offers of help.

So anyway, while they're eating breakfast the discussion turns to bike riding and all of a sudden everyone abandons any thoughts of getting dressed and the remainder of their WeetBix and dive off outside to give it a go:

And what do you know, after deciding to get dressed - the jamies were getting a bit wet round the knee when he fell off on the dewey grass, he can ride a bike! Just like that:

They're Back.....

Yay! Nana and Grandad bought the girls home today in their soon-to-be new car:

It was *so* good to see them again, they've been away for 9 days! The longest they've ever been away, and the place was unrecognisably quiet without them, and then with A10 gone as well for the last couple of days, poor old L4, The Lad and I were a bit lost, rattling round all by ourselves.

The girls came back only owing Grandad $12, according to L9 - yeah right! They (Grandad?) bought us all presents, regaled us with all the fun and exciting things they had been up to, all the rellies they'd seen and the hand-me-downs from Tyler (who has such cool clothes) they'd scored - man it was good to have some babble back in the 'hood, lol!

Luging It.....

The Lad, L4 and I headed off to Rotorua this afternoon to meet Manoj et al at The Luge. We took the gondola up:

We got helmeted:

And we waited in line:

Then we hooned on down the track:

And when we got to the bottom, we jumped on the chairlift back to the top to do it all over again!:

He's Off.....

A10 has been looking forward to this for a long time - having a real drive in Jed's truck! We drove him over the hill to meet up on the side of State Highway One, he climbed into the truck (man, it's a long way up!) and off they went! 7 hours later Nana was waking him up (at 12.15am) because he was at his destination. He had a sleep in the bed in the cab (he's not sure how he got there though) and he managed to sleep through helping unload as well ;o)

All in all, it was a very exciting first leg of A10's little holiday at Nanas.

Holiday Visitors.....

L4 got stuck into the chicken carcass after I had taken what I wanted off it for our gourmet pizza selection I was making for dinner - ham, cheese and pineapple (with a bbq swirl, lol); chicken, brie and cranberry; chicken, olive, feta and sweet chilli; and chicken satay. Our overnight guests were a bit late getting here so L4 was getting a bit peckish while waiting:

Then they got here, it was lovely for me to meet little Pranuja for the first time - we really must get together more often!:

Last of the Jazz.....

Unfortunately, today is the last official day of the Jazz Festival, so we cruised round taking in all that we could for the afternoon:

While we were at Harbourside admiring these guys, we ran into Judith and Bruce (Barrie's David's Mum and husband - any the wiser?) who were there as well:

I know how this fullah felt, lol:

Holiday Fun.....

WARNING: SOME IMAGES MAY DISTURB.....

While the girls have been away, the boys have been playing. They've been stunt-biking:

They've been bulk jigsaw completing:

And they've been possum shooting in the forest:

Happy Easter.....

Luckily for some little folks in our house, the Easter Bunny paid us a visit this morning:

Fun at Nana's.....

We got these bunny photo's emailed to us today, H7 and L9:

Aunty Sokchea:

Grandad is certainly the BBQ King:

I wonder if they're missing us as mush as we're missing them? I think not.....

Saying Goodbye and Hello.....

Whilst we were sad to wave the two girls offf to stay with their Nana and Grandad for a week or so this morning, we were very pleased to be saying hello to our friends from Raglan, who are visiting Tauranga for the 45th Annual Jazz Festival:

Of Bees and Peacocks.....

H7 and The Lad discovered this wild beehive in one of the trees in the forest when they went for a walk this morning:

And they saw this ostentation or muster of wild peacocks down there as well:

Family Fun Night.....

L9's turn to organise the Family Night tonight, and she opted for a bit of an Easter theme:

We all made little paper Easter baskets, then went on a night-time Egg Hunt to fill them:

Sashimi for dinner, accompanied by 'Kiddie Wine':

Ambrosia for pudding (well, the aftermath, anyway):

Then we settled down to watch Open Season to roun the night off:

Cubs.....

Aidan attended his last Cub meeting tonight because he was invested as a Scout at last:

The Tooth.....

L9 has a big hole in her mouth now after she had a visit to the Dental Nurse at Arataki School to get the abcesses that have been bothering her for the last few weeks checked out:

She was very brave as her gum was put to sleep and her tooth removed. Another tooth is due to be pulled the first week back after the school holidays: