Creativity.....

L5 *created* some vehicles and a museum out of Lego:




My fabulous cousin Shari sent me some pics of my bro and my Poppa in the post, *creating* a smile on my face (I know, I know, pics of pics never work, but I don't know how to use the scanner, so these will do for now. And I accidentally *created* a new look for my Nana when I peeled some of her off.....)





A11 created a flavour sensation in his Blackcurrant-Vanilla-Lemon-Chocolate Milkshake (note the layers in the shake, and the coaster he cut out, sanded and made last week (sitting on the board he cut, glued, routed and oiled last year)):




L10 wearing her newly-finished apron she *created* (note the pocket), and *creating* a letter (after having *created* a HUA of a mess on her bedroom floor):

Girl Guide Bikkie Time Again.....

So it's flogging our wares to the neighbours and friends time again, too. We don't have too many left to sell, actually, and so it's just getting the stalls out of the way and it's over again for another year:


L10 wanted to learn to sew today, so she cut herself out some material to make an apron (she invented the pattern), then she set about threading and pinning and sewing and un-picking and re-sewing and opting for the no-hem-look because it was just too daunting a thought for her:



Happy Birthday Brittany xoxoxo

A Concert.....

A11 and L5 call us into L5's room for a Rock Concert:


While A11 sings into the Tube Of Sound, and beats a rhythm with the flyswat on the lego box and other equipment he has strategically placed around, L5 does some impromptu rapping:


Then it's L5's turn with the Tube of Sound and the Flyswat Drumstick:


Then it's A11's turn again - get the picture?:


A11 also mowed the lawn today, but apparently the catcher is broken, and it's been so long since the weather was amenable to lawnmowing that the clippings are abundant, which means that they are abundantly dragged inside every time someone comes in. GGGRRRRRR:

Self-Imposed Science.....

L10 wants to know if she can make some sort of edible slime, she doesn't know the recipe but she'd like to try to make one up, and then she wants to do an experiment with it. She wants to make it a colour that doesn't reflect the flavour it is, and see if people can guess correctly:


And she does a great job of it - H8 guesses it's peppermint, L5 guesses it's lime, I guess it's green apple and, because everyone's been wrong so far, A11 opts for smelling before tasting (with his eyes closed for both the smell and the taste test, so as not to confuse himself), and comes out the winner when he guesses coconut. The ingredients she used to make her slime were icing sugar, coconut essence, green food colouring and some milk.

Continuing the Science theme, A11 decides to go one better, and after some consultation with Kate's J12 shows us how to make a Raincloud. He is very scientific (read: lazy) in his choice of equipment, he gets the water bottles still left out from breakfast and precariously balances on them the breadboard still left out from breakfast, and then sets the jug to boiling underneath it:


It was collecting on the bottom of the breadboard (that which wasn't escaping over the top, lol! but I wasn't going to interfere) and 'raining' back in to the jug. He also figured out that the jug stopped boiling when the lid was on it, but not when the lid was off it - I explained how it was pretty much that exact same principle he had been expanding on himself, that makes that happen!:


We took a few photos to send to Nana, because I haven't wiped the reminder off my phone, so it keeps sending me messages near the end of the month to remind me to take one and send it to her. It seems like we haven't seen her for ages. A11 thought H8 looked a bit evil in the second photo, and I sorta hafta agree, really:

Sailing.....

The Lad and A11 went sailing with the Scouts today:

New Wall Art.....

So I had a plan and a vision, but the kids weren't really in on the enthusiasm. I made them all sit in front of the washing on the wet lawn for me, while I tried to take some photos of them (I couldn't get auto-focus to work, so I had to try and manual focus them). And, for the record, A11 *still* doesn't want a haircut:





Then I figured, I would crop some of them and turn them black and white:





My next plan, but I couldn't suss it that far on my own, was to split each photo into 9, and print the individual parts onto canvas, then mount them all (36), arrange them all, sort of tile-like, on the wall. I know. My problem is - I'm a Big Ideas Girl. Details and Visualising The Finished Product aren't really my strong points.

Then I figured I should do something similar with the kids' great-grandfathers, all five have passed away and while I was on the black-and-white and canvas-tile-arrangement-on-the-wall kick, I thought I should send the help-call out to the rellies for some photos.

Like I said, I'm a Big Ideas Girl, we'll see if anything *actually* comes of any of these plans.

Heavy Machinery and a Hedgehog.....

The neighbours have got some men in to drill them a well, we'll go down later in the week, when it gets a bit more exciting, to have a proper jack-nohe, but for now, peeking through the trees is as close as we're game to get:


H8 made this Hedgehog at Brownies today - they had to take natural materials from around their homes, and we picked this growth thing off one of the Camellia bushes:



Happy Birthday Jake xoxoxo

Two Weeks in a Row.....

I went to Church, of sorts, tonight, that makes twice in a row. Never mind, we're off to Great Barrier and we're staying at Uncle Darren's the night before, which is next Sunday, and unless I tag along with Dorothy if she heads of to (Catholic) Church, I don't think there's much chance of me and a hat-trick. And it was more Temple than Church.

I attended the Buddhist temple, it was fabulous, very welcoming, very easy to follow the chanting (in whatever language it was), and some great stuff in the literature they gave me when I asked for it:

The Buddhist Path. The Buddha taught a path of spiritual awakening, a way of 'practice' that we can use in our daily lives. This 'Path of Practice' can be divided into three mutually supportive aspects - Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom.

and, The Five Precepts (to be taken along with a commitment to the Three Refuges (Wisdom, Truth and Virtue):

1. To refrain from killing living creatures.
2. To refrain from taking what is not given.
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. To refrain from harsh and false speech.
5. To refrain from taking intoxicating liquor and drugs.

and, the longest quote I've seen in a while:

Do not rely upon what you have heard proclaimed, or upon custom, or upon rumour, or upon scripture, or inference, or established principles, or clever reasoning, or favouring a pet theory. Do not be convinced by someone else's apparent intelligence, nor out of respect for a teacher.... When you yourself know what is wrong, foolish and unworthy, and what leads to harm and discontent, abandon it.... And when you yourself know what is right, develop it"

So. Be respectful, and improve yourself - because it's the right thing to do, not because someone tells you to.

I like that.

Mudslides, Carnivals, Orzo Salad and a Movie.....

Whoa, what a busy day - the two girls went to Guides Thinking Day celebrations, they had an old-fashioned carnival where there were toffee apples and candyfloss, horse-shoe tosses, coconut shies, sack races and egg and spoon races.

Meanwhile, on the complete other side of the city, A11 had Scouts Mudslide. But, this year, due to venue issues, there was no actual mud, lol! But, there was plenty of water and a great day was had by all.

For dinner, we had Cathy's Famous (and tasty) Orzo Salad - orzo, sundried tomatoes, black olives, goat feta, chopped basil, and parsley, spring onions and a balsamic dressing. I added cherry tomatoes and used mint instead of basil:


Then I so enjoyed the movie last night, that I went agin tonight (to the theatre, not the same movie). Eastern Promises, great movie, great casting, very sexy (strangely enough) goody-baddie guy.

Camera Trouble.....

Maybe I can blame the foggy day for the lack of focus I experienced every time I tried to take some photos today. L10 face-painted as The Lad:


And soccer in the rain with Matt, Petra, Kean, Christopher and our lot:


We had visits from Tracey and Steven and their kids, and from Louise and Christopher, and then Matt and Kean came to pick up Petra, who stayed the night last night.

I went to see the movie Death at a Funeral tonight - laughed my tits off (and that's not a moderate task, lol!). It was Kerry's birthday, and Louise even came and picked me up and dropped me off home afterwards.

Otanewainuku.....

We jumped in the car after swimming this morning, got an ice-cream (with a flake) at McD's, punched our destination into the GPS and then drove. We had a bit of excitement in chatting with a man whose ute was upside down in a ditch (he didn't want any help 'cos his mate was coming), and then we rendezvous'edwith Colleen, Su-an and their kiddos:


Like Kate's D18 on our Mount walk one day, there were some interesting choices in bush-walk footwear - pink jandals through to riding boots:


A11 had the camera for some of the walk and took some quite cool shots, here's a few of them:



We saw a few of these cute Miromiro (North Island Tomtit) on our walk:


Then we hooned off to Colleen's place for lunch and some afternoon excitement. Here's the smoochiest cow that side of the Black Stump:


Some of the terrain on Colleen's "gentle walk" (that's L5):


Leah was the taxi-driver for the afternoon, much to everyone's delight:



L10 decided to have a go on a *real* bike, *by herself*!:


Sometimes, she surprises me, she'll give anything a go:


H8 had a go also:


But she wasn't quite so successful, lol! No harm done, Colleen assures me - to the bike (or H8):


L5 was out of luck, I couldn't bring myself to let him have a *real* blat:


This was H8's preferred method of transport for the trip back: