The Smith's Journey

Earthquakes & Thunder storms

2010-10-21T14:25:00.002+13:00

Yep, we're still getting earthquakes and now we get thunderstorms as well! I can handle thunder and lightening much more than earthquakes though. Although in saying that we haven't had any shakes today...yet. Does that mean a big one is brewing or simply that the ground is going to settle for us finally. Which would mean people can get on with sorting out what to do with their land and houses. Who knows; only God does.

We are down to 8 weeks to go until we have baby. In a way it is so much easier to plan for when you know the exact date of baby's arrival. Although in saying that I haven't received a confirmation letter from the hospital whether it's the 17th or 20th of December. My next visit to the obstretician is on November 4th so will check with them then. Otherwise baby is going well as far as I can tell. It moves a heck of a lot though! And the braxton hicks are still coming on strong; especially with the last couple of big earthquakes!

Emily had her high school entrance test yesterday (wednesday), she thinks she did really well and thought most of it was quite easy. We've already had her acceptance letter to Kaiapoi High so have no worries there. I did price a brand new kilt for her for school uniform...$235 from the local shop. Think we'll have a look for second hand one on TradeMe or something! And that price is just for the skirt!!

The girls had their netball prizegiving on Tuesday night and each got a certificate but no trophies for us this season. Although Stephanie their cousin did get a trophy so that was cool. Next year Aimee wants to play netball as well so we'll have Emily in Grade, Sarah-Jane in Primary and Aimee in Kiwi's. Bit spread out but will be good for them. I think I'd like to play sometime too but maybe not next season.

We haven't heard anything from eqc or the insurance regarding our house, no one's even come to view it yet, which is kind of annoying as I'd like to be able to know whats happening. But Terry thinks it will be quite awhile yet as we are probably at the bottom of the list! And he reassures me the house won't fall down, although the piles have moved and the walls are cracking even more!

Our 14th wedding anniversary is coming up on the 9th November. Terry suggested we go away for a night up at Hanmer or somewhere. I'd love to as it would be the last chance for us to spend some time alone before baby comes and then it won't be happening for awhile. But I'm not going to hold out hope, I've finished my job as church cleaner now so we aren't getting that little bit of extra money and with Christmas so close we need to be prepared before I go in for the c-section. Can't see me being able to go christmas shopping after baby is born!!

Well the girls will be home soon so I better go and prepare for them. At least they'll enjoy the cinnamon & milo pinwheel scones I baked today! Just the thing for an after school snack!

Hope you are alll well and I'll catch up again soon.

2010-09-27T21:02:00.002+13:00

It's a bit of a sad time at the moment in one area of my life. For the last few months (can't remember how long) I've been volunteering a couple of days at our Kaiapoi Paper Plus store. The owners Jeremy & Rosalind go to our church. And unfortunately it has come to the point where they have to close the shop. It's not economically viable for them to keep it open. So at the moment there is a huge sale on most everything. Well I have to say that I will really miss working there and have loved being part of the team there.
Not so sad but an end of an era is that I have given notice as the church cleaner. One more week of cleaning (this thurs) and it is done. It hasn't been the most glamorous job I've had :-) . But it is time to give my body some rest before bubs comes. And it's getting very hard to bend over the loo's to clean them with a baby bump that doesn't bend so easy!

My midwife comes tomorrow so we will get to hear the heartbeat again. Apart from Braxton Hix getting stronger and the uncomfortable feeling of stretching in places that I forgot could stretch, I and the baby are in reasonably good health. I'm still not sleeping well and I had the most bizarre dream last night that I became a sandwich! I know! Weird!!

Terry found our very own earthquake crack on our property! We had a rosemary bush at the side of the house along the fenceline; Terry noticed it wasn't sitting in the ground anymore so lifted it up and hey ho there is a crack with multiple cracks coming off it! But we can't say we are any more special for having it than others as we have seen many friends' property's with heaps of cracks. We have yet to hear from anybody to come and inspect both our house and Terry's mum's house. It will take time I know. There are a lot more people worse of than us and still some properties that don't even have flushing toilets and running water!
Anyway enough of the depressing stuff!

I'm looking forward to having lunch with my sister and niece tomorrow, Jessica (niece) is even going to give me a facial! Hows that for getting spoilt! Hopefully the baby will move while they are here (like it is now) and they will be able to feel it too!

Rach & Dale (friends) are going to organise a baby shower for me for late in October so I'm looking forward to that, especially since I don't have to do any organising!

Well I can't think of anything else to add so I shall leave it at that.
Until the next time.

God bless you all and don't forget to leave a message!!

A new start! A shaky quaky start!!

2010-09-17T10:58:00.003+12:00

Well, I see from the date of my last entry it's basically been a year since I have journalled on this blog. In a way Facebook has taken over as it is easy to do and everyone is on facebook (or so it seems). But I have missed doing large entries detailing our life journey as a family. So I have decided (with Rayminda's encouragement) to start doing this blog again.
But instead of trying to catch up with all that has happened since my last entry I shall just start from now.

Most of you know that we are expecting our fourth child. A huge surprise! God really does have a sense of humour when it comes to our fertility! Aimee will be eight and a half when bubs is born so at least the girls are all old enough to get themselves ready for school and feed themselves etc. This pregnancy has been the hardest of all. There is a lot of risk for the baby due to medications etc. But yesterday we had another scan (I'm 26 weeks now) and the baby looks perfectly normal and healthy.

Yes I do know what we are having but Terry doesn't and doesn't want to know so I am not telling anyone. So you'll all just have to have patience. The girls beg me often to tell them what we are having and it is rather fun to know and tease them!

Most everyone will know that we have had a 7.1 earthquake on 4th September that put Canterbury into a state of emergency and put Kaiapoi on the world map of news! It's been a very devastating time for a lot of people, we have a lot of friends who have lost their homes because of the quake and aftershocks (which are still happening). Our home is fine, a lot more creakier than before but it is standing and in one piece. We almost feel guilty that we got away unscathed! Terry's Mum, Margaret, it staying with us as her house has a few cracks through the side and the doors won't open or close properly. So until a building inspector goes through it and deems it safe she shall keep us company. And it's great as my dishes are always done now!!

Emily just came back from a 20 day holiday in Brisbane, Australia, with my parents (lucky her). She actually missed the experience of the 7.1 quake and came home to just the aftershocks. She came back with blonde highlights and pierced ears! It could be worse I know! She had a wonderful time and her and I are going to put some photos on her facebook page within the next day or two.

Sarah-Jane & Aimee were fast asleep when the quake hit at about 4:30am. SJ sleeps on the top bunk and I couldn't reach her properly. The shaking was so bad it was hard to stay in one place. We (Terry & I) got them under a doorway; which we now know is NOT the safest place. I think it took a good hour and a half for them to stop shaking, and because the power was out everywhere it was so dark which freaked them out even more! The aftershocks were very strong and after each one it was diving out of bed (the girls were in our bed) and under the door. The dog was just as scared and tried to get himself between us under the door as well, if it hadn't have been so scary it would be a hilarious thing to see; this big golden retreiver puppy trying to wedge himself between a largeish pregnant woman and her child in a small gap! We made it through the night, sleep was not a happening thing! When it was daylight Terry drove over to his mum's to pick her up, telephones weren't working so it was cell phones which got overloaded anyway. I have to say it was a bizarre feeling knowing you were cut off from the rest of the country...not knowing whether anyone was hurt or killed or what the damage was.

The night of the 4th (Saturday) we were to be having Terry's mum's surprise 70th party. Didn't happen. We had to tell her in the afternoon as we had to try and get through to people to tell them it was not going ahead. Very disheartening but the right decision. As it was some people couldn't even get their cars out of the garage or their driveways! But we shall never forget the date of the quake as it is the day after mums birthday (3rd)! Maybe for her 75th we can do something :-).

Well I think that will do for now. I have washing I have to hang out and stuff to sort before the baby comes.
And don't forget to leave a comment!

Finally I got it!!

2009-09-11T09:41:00.003+12:00

I apologise for how long it has been since I have done an update. No excuses really except that I get busy doing other stuff and then by the evening I'm too tired! Now this morning it's taken me the last half hour to get signed in to my blog as I'd forgotten my username & password! I even managed somehow to set up a new blog but I won't be using it now that I've remembered how to sign in.
Anyway, if I just update the recent couple of weeks that will work better for me otherwise I'll be here for the whole day catching up since my last entry!
Hmmm, let me think, what has been happening lately? Oh, I know, Emily finished her netball season and her team made the semi-finals. It was a tough game for them as they were playing the top team. The girls lost with a score of 4/1. Em played goal shoot for most of the season and got some really good goals. At the presentations Emily got a trophy for 'Most Improved Player'! We are very proud of her. Sarah-Jane (who didn't play this year) did a bit of a "Hey! thats not fair, her trophy is bigger that the one I got!" but it was all in good fun. Emily's cousin, Stephanie, got a trophy for 'Most Consistent Player', so we're keeping it in the family this year!
I'll put some netball photos up of the last game that Em played at the bottom. If I run out of time to upload the photos I'll do a new entry later. Rach and Abi are picking me up at 10:30am so I can look after Abi while Rach does the pregnant womens swim session at Burwood Hospital.
The girls are growing up with a great deal of speed! Emily's starting to change from a child to a teen. We talk about everything together and she feels comfortable asking me questions and talking about herself so I feel very privaleged and blessed about that. It's hard though, watching your first baby grow up. She's only got next year at primary school and then she is in high school!
Unfortunately my epilepsy has been playing up with me having a few tonic clonic seizures (grand mals) and I get the occasional absence and I get quite a few of the myoclonic seizures (muscle twitches). I have my neurologist appointment on the 18th September so hopefully we can get something sorted out.
I haven't got any proofreading work but that is my own fault as I haven't been trying very hard to find any. I guess I am still not feeling confident about my own abilities, but of course the answer to that is to get work so I can become more confident; catch 22 situation really. I am enjoying doing the church Missions Magazine which is a monthly newsletter about the different missionary things going on. I am also enjoying the role of barista at church on Sundays and the coffee group that is on Tuesdays at the church. I'd love to work in a cafe, but again there is the thoughts that begin with "What if...?" I would need to be able to get to the job easily too as I am not allowed to drive still.
I've just realised the time! I will have to upload photos later. I have physio for my back this afternoon as I have twisted it during a seizure and then I have work, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I clean the church - 2 hours per week.
Well the phone just went and Paul (Pastor) has asked me to write a paragraph regarding Alpha for the general report and I have accepted the challenge; unfortunately I only have 20 minutes to do it in, so I better go!

19/09
Here I am a few days late but I'll put up some photo's of Em playing netball. I thought I'd taken some of her holding her trophy but I remember now that I took them on my cell phone. She's at Rach Robinson's helping look after Abi so Rach can get some stuff done. It's rather cute but every time Abi is with Emily she wants to 'keep her' and it's a bit hard to get my daughter back without upsetting Abi too much!

Emily is Goal Defence and then she changes to Goal Shoot. The girls played so well! Emily's cousin Stephanie is Wing Defence. Above is a photo of the whole team with their coach Nicole; Nicole is 16yrs old and she did really well with the girls and made practices fun and encouraged them even if they lost. It was her first year of coaching too.

Below is Aimee and Abi Robinson playing on the tramp. They had a great time. And yes
Aimee's toe is poking through her stocking!

I ended up having another seizure on Wednesday evening, just before 9pm. Again I missed the end of the t.v program I was watching! It took me a couple of days to get over this one and I had a bad head cold as well. My neurologist appointment was on Friday; She is increasing one of the medications I am on as well as adding another one in that I haven't tried yet. Terry was with me, which I was happy about, and mentioned how our own GP struggled to know what to do regarding medication as epilepsy is not her specialty, so my neurologist is going to see me in 3 months instead of a year. We also found out that JME (my type of epilepsy) sometimes gets worse the older the person gets, it can also go in waves where for no reason at all it can get worse and then settle down again. Not exactly what I wanted to hear but it does give us more understanding.
Well I better go and get some tea ready, Aimee and Sarah-Jane are watching 'Annie' and Terry is playing a couple of golf holes; Macaroni Cheese I think will do for tea.
I hope all is well with everyone.

Computer update

2009-05-04T17:23:00.002+12:00

Hi all, just a quick note to all that our computer is not working properly so don't expect emails and blog updates in the near future, or skype or facebook.
If anyone does need to email us use my work email: lydiasmith@windowslive.com
I can access this email account from any computer.

Have to go dish out tea
Love to all

Finally!

2009-04-10T11:56:00.011+12:00

Okay everyone, I know I've been really slack and not updated my blog. It's just pure laziness really; although I have been busy with the usual stuff and in the evenings I'm basically mush!

I entered a photo competition a few days ago, won't know the results till the end of April, and I found out some bad news for me. With printing out other photos with my competition ones I discovered the photos look really grainy and off focus (don't really know how to explain it), anyway after paying a bit of money for them I went to return them, found out that because I had changed the size of the photo on the computer - and saved it - I changed the way they will print out because of the change in megapixels (or some other tech word). So the hundreds of photos that I resized on the computer (because it uploads faster) and saved without saving the original as well, every time I print one out it's not going to look right. Most of them are okay from seeing from a distance so I'll still scrapbook them - if I ever find the time - and hope they will look okay. So for all you folks who do digital photos I suggest you save the original and then copy it and save it under a slightly different name and fiddle with the copy i.e. resizing, colour change e.t.c.

I had a lovely, albeit short, time in Aussie with Mum & Dad. I loved just spending the time with them, shopping with Mum and just relaxing.
I absolutely loved surprising Melanie! This is the way it went down:
Mum asked Mel if she would like to come stay Saturday night with them with no kids or hubby (no offence to them). She had no idea I was there! As soon as Dad saw her pull up the drive I raced up stairs to the bedroom Mel & I would share (how many years ago was it we last shared Mel?). As she was putting her bags down without actually looking in the room, I said "Gidday Mel"! The look on her face was priceless!! After we all calmed down (lots of oohhs and ahhs and hugs, talking at the same time etc) Mel admitted that Shane had a feeling that Mum & Dad were up to something.
Well, that night we had a great time, and we still would have had a great time without the wine but hey, the wine was really nice with our lovely bbq meal too.
On Sunday morning - with drooping eyes due to the late, or I should say, early morning bed time - we went to Mum & Dad's church. It wasn't the usual service but we got to meet some of their friends etc. In the afternoon we watched the movie Fireproof which their church put on at a local cinema. Great movie, I would recommend it to all couples (singles as well, but couples mainly). We have the dvd if anyone is interested in borrowing it.
The weekend came to an end too soon with me leaving on Monday afternoon. Mum & I did some last minute shopping at a mall close to the airport, and then it was off home. The plane was delayed on the way there and on the way home, I'm glad I bought a book at the mall!
I arrived in ChCh about 11:30pmish and was very glad to see Terry there. I do have to admit that I didn't actually miss the girls that much; I don't mean that in a bad way but I think it was just really nice to have a break.

The holidays have just started with the Easter weekend at the beginning of it, so for the next 2 weeks it will be pretty full on. I'm hoping to still get to the gym, I've lost about 11kg now except with the my and the girls' birthdays only 2 wks apart the cakes (which I had to have some of) helped me put back on some of that weight. :-( But I am determined to get back on track - after Easter!

The proofreading is almost non-existent. I am employed as the church cleaner which is 2 hrs a week, so that is a bit extra coming in. Those of you who pray...please pray for more proofreading work.

I am blessed to be a parent help on Emily's school camp in May; well actually I'm not sure whether 'blessed' is the right word - let me get back to you on that one! 144 children will be converging on Hanmer Forest Camp for 5 days! And we're doing the cooking as well! Okay, now that I think about it 'blessed' is not the right word! We'll be hiking, tree climbing (not me), orienteering, swimming (don't think I'm brave enough to get into my togs in front of all those kids), mountain biking (not me) and cooking, cooking and probably more cooking! I do admit I'm looking forward to it. First school camp as a parent help for me.

We're currently hosting an Alpha course at the church. We have 4 guests and Paul is co-host. For those who read this and aren't sure what it is, it's a course that introduces people to what christianity is and why we believe what we believe. We'll be going on a weekend away in May so May is going to be a busy month for me! I feel like the group has gelled together nicely so the weekend away will be great fun.

Emily is now 11 and Sarah-Jane is now 9 and Aimee is 7 at the start of June! How time has flown! another 12 years and they'll possibly be moved out going on their own way! I am at a crossroad as to looking forward to when they are older and more independent and on the other side I'm seeing how fast they're growing up and thinking "slow down - I'm not ready to let go yet!"

Well I'll upload some photos now. I'll do my Aussie weekend first - sorry Mel, a couple of these photos will be... how should I say it... unflattering. But they are expressing the fun we had!

These cockatoos are enjoying Dad's feed troughs, the two photos below I like because the way the cockatoo is walking. In the left photo it is walking toward the lorikeet to 'tell it off'.

These photos are of us feeding the wild magpies.

Now this gets interesting! Mel decides to give Mum a foot massage, I'm not sure whether Mum's laughing at the thought of Mel even wanting to touch her feet or that Mel is tickling Mum's feet more than massaging.

I have no explanations for the following photos except to say we had a lot of fun!!

Mum you are looking great!!

Mel - now I have the proof that I'm brainier than you!!

Some beautiful photos; by the way Mum, I still like that dress I'm wearing and any time you like you can send it over!
Dad what are you doing? It's great to see you love each other so much; but please it really is gross to see your own parents kiss!!

Hmm, it's a tough thing to clean eye glasses! And Mel, over here in NZ we call that a ceiling! :-)

Sarah-Jane went to an overnight birthday party and the next day she was in bed by 5pm and slept till the next morning! Isn't she beautiful. This is just before I woke her to take her to bed. Our party girl!

Well, I think that's about all at the moment. Terry's gone to soccer and the girls are playing schools and I'm eating my chocolate easter egg as I'm doing this. So on that note; see ya later! And I will try to update more often, I did say try!

Wanaka

2009-01-28T15:32:00.008+13:00

Well we are back from our week away in Wanaka, it was so good to get away. The photos are in no particular order. I've realised that the easiest way to post the photos and to write about them is to upload the photos first otherwise the typing goes all over the place. So I will start with this one:

Here we are at the Outlet Camping Park. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to go and stay at Wanaka. It's about 5 min drive from Wanaka township and is a lovely camp surrounded by Manuka trees and makes each campsite private by the way they've cleared out the camp sites amongst the trees and brush. Terry and the girls are biking towards the shower/kitchen/laundry/toilet block through this pretty tunnel. Basically the girls biked every day nearly all day! Apart from Aimee who we are still trying to teach to ride. She would skip behind them. Terry is on Jo's bike hence the reason why she is walking! Such a gentleman eh!

The next two photos are obviously Terry hitting a golf ball; where he is hitting it is the funny part. The blue you can see is Lake Tekapo with Mt Cook behind it (in later photos). The lake was so still and the photo doesn't do justice to the colour of the water, it was the most beautiful aqua colour. This is on the way home and we just had to stop to take photos of Mt Cook, Terry stopped behind us (he drove the work van with Em and SJ and Jo drove our car with the two other girls). He couldn't resist the opportunity to hit a golf ball into the lake; it was a good shot too, went right out into the lake.

This is the photo of Mt Cook, on the way down it was overcast and showery so there was no view whatsoever so when we saw this on the way home (which was such a hot day it was really hard travelling) we had to take the photo.

The following photos were taken at Puzzling World at Wanaka; these are the toilets. Much to say it's very confusing when you walk in and this is what you see the mural on the wall.

I'm not sure quite what Terry is thinking about, perhaps realising how comfortable the seating was! On the wall in the shop of the complex there are photos taken of other people sitting on the 'loo', one lady was brave enough to actually pose with her pants down! Thank goodness you couldn't see all the details! I offered Jo that opportunity of that particular pose but strangely she turned down the offer! The girls just couldn't stop giggling about the mural.

Ray, I thought this quilt was amazing, not sure if the puzzle of it shows very well in the photo but when looking at it the squares can seem to come out at you or recede into the pattern.

How many animals can you see in the above photo?
How many legs does the elephant have?

One of those power balls with that follow your hand around it with the electricity.

This is outside of the complex where anyone can go and take photos. It's really hard holding up a building that big! We grow strong girls over here eh!

Cromwell witht the big fruit. We were able to catch up with my Auntie and Uncle who own a pub there called 'The Pub'. It was nice to catch up albeit briefly.

Back at camp with Terry on the mountain bike again, he really enjoyed a ride that Steve and he went on. He would get into it if he wasn't already busy with Soccer and Golf!

You might be able to tell by Emily's face that it was cold in the lake! We did manage to swim a few times - by we I mean me and the girls; the other adults were to sissy to get in. The water was, how shall I put it... refreshing. Okay it was jolly cold and my hands froze! But at least I got in!
I better add that Terry and Jo did get in at different times, very briefly but they did.

This is a view of the mountain on the other side of the lake, I'm standing at our campsite when I took it.

I would have taken more photos but my batteries kept going flat at the most annoying times! Jo has more which she'll be passing on to me. I might post some of those when I get them.

The weather wasn't the best when we were down there, quite often it was overcast and windy. At night we froze and the wind kept most of us awake most nights. One night saw Emily in with us and then later joined by Sarah-Jane, Terry ended up in the girls tent with Aimee that night and I ended up in the annex bit of our tent freezing because there was no floor in that area, Em and SJ had a good sleep though! Another night Aimee ended up in bed with me and once again Terry moved to the girls tent - that was the night the wind just about blew our tents down! But we had a great time with me winning most of the games of Rummikub that Steve, Jo, Terry & I played (had to put that one in!), Steve won Crib and Jo won Trivial Pursuit. Terry did win a game or two of Rummikub.
Terry managed to fit in a golf game and played well. Jo and I did a lunch and shopping day together.
We went on a day trip to Queenstown which we didn't think much of in the fact that it is so touristy that it was a bit of a let down, everything was so expensive. We stopped at Cadrona (spelling?) at a pub that is famous for something which I forget at the moment - but it's really old and it is a very pretty place.
All in all it was a lovely time and we'd be quite happy going back.

This is Emily throwing up rose petals and Sarah-Jane took the photo; nothing to do with Wanaka but this is a great photo.

Well I better get my butt into gear and get tea going. I'm not feeling that well so if I start now (4:30pm) it might be ready on time.

My angels

2009-01-09T15:05:00.004+13:00

The photos with Emily and Stephanie dressed in red is from their school end of year production. It was called The Truth About George and they were baby dragons.

This is Sarah-Jane (as you can see) as an angel in the sunday school production. Sarah-Jane's school teacher came to the production too and also brought a couple of class mates with her. Sarah-Jane was over the moon that she was there. I could hear Sarah-Jane singing and it was just like an angel! Aimee was an angel too but I didn't take the camera but Jo did so she sent me these photos for me.

Emily was one of the three wise men in the Sunday School production. Jo and I reckon she looks so much like Terry!
All the kids did so well and the Sunday School teachers deserve a medal for all the work they put into the children.

Tank at the beach

2009-01-09T14:52:00.004+13:00

I've been forgetting to take the camera down to the beach when we have Tank with us but this time I remembered; it was sunny so the photos didn't turn out so well. He loves the water and it's hard to get him out. We have a bit of trouble calling him back to us when he takes off to meet another dog, selective hearing I think! Although it's noisy witht the water and my whistle isn't that loud.

I love the shake photo, we try to get away but I'm sure he comes to us on purpose!

It's hard catching the photos because he's so fast, there were quite a few that ended up just water or sand :-).

General photos

2009-01-09T14:43:00.003+13:00

Aimee won a reward for her spelling. We are so proud of her!

Below is all the xmas tree photos. The girls took most of these photos except the one of the three girls of course!

Sarah-Jane is such a poser! I'm sure she'd do well as a model.

About time update!

2009-01-09T14:20:00.005+13:00

Hi everyone, I know it's been a long time since my last update. With end of year school stuff and xmas and everything else the days seem to blend together! And now it's 2009!
I'm going to post some photos and just write a short description for each set. We're in the middle of the holidays and the girls are at each other often because they're bored. So hopefully I can get this done in one go.
The first photo's are of our garden and Tank and Terry playing soccer.Tank doesn't like his kennel so we keep trying to tempt him to go in; unfortunately it hasn't made any difference! And now Mickey, our cat, has decided to make the kennel her own.
Terry and Tank quite often play soccer together; Tank is gloating over the fact that he's often faster than Terry to the ball and is able to carry the ball in his mouth whereas as a pup he couldn't.

This is our garden this year. We have spuds (which we have since dug up and planted more), cauli, broccoli, carrots, beetroot, brussel sprouts, cabbage, lettuces, corn, yams (self sown from last year); I think that's about all.

The photo below is of another garden patch getting prepared which now has beans, cauli and broccoli, and I think some cabbage. You can also see the next patch we'll be getting ready, not sure for what yet.

We've had a good crop of rasberries that have grown under the fence from the back neighbors and our plum trees have had an abundance of fruit too. Except the birds have noticed the plums and have eaten most of them.

forgotten photos

2008-11-07T16:06:00.007+13:00

Here's some more photos.

Terry is in the process of teaching Aimee to ride her bike. Tank was rather interested in the bike riding, I think he was trying to work out whether this was a new game that 'Dad' was making up. And a photo showing evidence of Terry's advancing age (he he, I can say that on the blog 'cause he doesn't look on it).

This is a photo of Em and Steph her cousin (and best mate), they constantly talk on the phone (I'm told it will get worse). Steph has been afraid of dogs so we are trying to help her build up confidence to be around Tank.

I put this photo in because I think it's a beautiful photo of Tank, we have a lot of photos of him and of course each one is cute.

One hot day (yes we have them occasionally) the girls, along with Megan our neighbor and Casey from across the road, played in the sprinkler. I think in this photo they're trying to get up the courage to run under it.

Tank was not so hesitant and went straight through and then did his wet dog shake, Megan was a bit taken aback.

Tank tries to eat the water and sprinkler. It's hilarious to watch because he looks so puzzled and snuffs and snorts because the water gets up his nose. I like this action shot of the girls.

Steph making friends.

We figured that Steph would relax a bit more if she played with him and could see how much of a baby he is, albeit a big one.

This is a nice photo of Emily & Steph, two peas in a pod!

Tank is laughing as usual, probably at Terry (he he).

Aimee and Tank have a very good friendship. He is very gentle with the girls which is extremely good, he's also protective of me in the way that if Terry and I are play fighting he'll get agitated.

Well I'll leave it at that for now. Terry's due home and as usual these days I'm running late getting dinner.

The girls continued...

2008-11-06T16:08:00.002+13:00

More photos.

This is for a Crazy Hair Day at school to raise funds. Emily was too 'cool' to have her hair done but the other girls got right into it.

See, sometimes the girls get on really well!

The girls had athletics day last week. Aimee gave everything a go and didn't cry this year (she did last year because it was all so new to her), she did well although she was last in all the running races she did well on the hurdles and long jump, the main thing is that she did it. There were a lot of exhausted children (and teachers I think) at the end of the afternoon.

The other two girls had their athletics on Monday - which was great because Terry could watch as well. Their day was an all day event so Terry and I couldn't stay all day. SJ came 2nd in the distance race and now is in the twilight race (not sure what that is yet but it must be good), she did well on other things as well. Em came 3rd in her distance but didn't qualify for the twilight. We saw Em do discus and unfortunately she couldn't hold it properly because her hand is too small; which meant she didn't do very well. It was hard to see everything because the girls are different ages they're in different groups. We did however see the teacher/student relay - very much a laugh! Especially seeing Em's teacher race, he is 59yrs old and still bikes from Ashley to Kaiapoi every day - even in snow and rain (a picture of him biking in the snow was in the newspaper).

On Monday mornings Terry and I take Tank for a walk/run/swim at the beach, it's our marriage time and it's great, we get a take away coffee (fair trade of course) and head to the local beach after dropping the girls off. Tank hasn't been right into the water up to now, he mainly splashes around in the shallows. Terry threw a stick in for him and Tank ended up going under the waves and having to swim - the first time he's had to actually swim. It was so cool watching him, except when he comes running up and does his shake thing - then we get wet as well!

Well I better go it's getting close to tea time. We're having crumbed fish with salad and spuds and peas for tea. Although because it's been stormy and thundering today it seems a bit cold for a salad, but can't waste it. Emily cooked tea last night (with my help) and we had a very yummy lasagne.

All about them!

2008-11-06T15:48:00.003+13:00

I'm going to put up some photos of the girls as an update of them.

These are more photos of the girls netball presentation and the certificates they got. And of course the trophy that SJ got for player of the year.

This is Emily all dressed up ready to go to the disco. I did her hair in a french plait and put clips all down it, and of course there had to be make-up! She wore the beautiful pink dress that Gran and Poppa bought her from Aussie.

In this photo Emily looks all grown up. My daughter is blossoming into a young lady right before our eyes!

And then in the photo below it captures Emily the child again (phew)!

About time!!

2008-10-30T18:44:00.004+13:00

Hi everyone. I'm sorry for the long gap since my last entry. As usual I've been absolutely busy; like a lot of you no doubt.

Well I had the wonderful experience of driving for 2 1/2 weeks before having another 2 seizures during the holidays, so here I am back to the start again. I think it's been harder to accept this time as I did have those 2 weeks of driving. It would have been easier if I'd just had to carry on with another 6mths without that taste of freedom. The doctor has added in Epilem to my other medication, I've been avoiding taking this particular drug as I've taken it before and not liked the side effects. Which I'm having again with it: drowsiness, exhaustion, and I've yet to experience the weight gain (more on that later). I have decided to ask if there is some other drug that I can take.

I'm going to take a short break to get Aimee into bed, she had athletics today and now she's over tired and running amok! And the other two are not helping the situation.

Right, back again.

I had a lovely time on the weekend with my mum (23 - 26 Oct). She flew over on the thursday and stayed with us the whole time which I was especially happy about. My cousin Kristy had her wedding on the Friday, which I must say she looked so beautiful. And to think I use to change her nappies!

I love the way their looking at each other; pure love and devotion.

I like the father/daughter dance too (surprise, surprise Don can dance :-) )

The flower girl is Renee, Kristy's half sister.

A huge surprise was Melanie turning up at the wedding venue!! Which Mum kept secret from me. It was so good to have both Mum and Mel over.

On the Saturday we had a family barbeque at Don's and caught up with the married couple - a rather tired married couple.

Sunday was raining and cold and a perfect setting for having to say goodbye to Mum at the airport. A lot of tears and that's all I'll say about that (or I might cry again).

Nothing else has happened that is big news, just the boring but tiring normal day to day stuff.

Oh one more thing is that Jo and Steve and Beky get home from their month long holiday in the States - Oh how I wish I could go!

I better sign off because I need to use the hair dryer on SJ and get her into bed; and I think Terry wants to browse and dream on TradeMe.

TTFN

(Ta Ta For Now as Tigger would say)

Photos

2008-08-29T10:48:00.006+12:00

This is the girls last netball game. Em is all focus, waiting for the ball to come, unfortunately it didn't get down there much. The other team was all tall players!! This is a great action shot of Sarah-Jane, Jo took these photos and I love this one. The one of Aimee is her being the onlooker. I'd like to know what she is thinking!

These are some of the photos we had done at Groynes, Rach did a great job and nearly all the photo's were great. We had a lot of fun and it was great to catch up with all of us.

I like the one of Emily and Abi, they seem to be in their own world, and I think it is so, so, so special that they have bonded together - a friendship that will hopefully last for eternity.
This photo of Terry with Aimee is dear to me because it is the dad and daughter thing happening and they have a bit of a rough relationship, it's great to see this bonding moment.

Of course this is my diploma, and
hopefully you can read the part that says 'graduating with merit' part. :-) This is a family photo that I love. I think everyone is smiling and just the way Rach arranged us behind the trees is fantastic.

Another behind the tree shot.
Dad is getting the son-in-laws into line.

And a couple more family shots.

The long awaited update!

2008-08-26T13:20:00.005+12:00

Well, I have received my diploma. Yay!!!! It has been a long road but it's worth it to get a qualification in all my education years. I am proudly displaying my diploma on the wall above the computer, which is in our lounge. It's so cool!!

I'm struggling to find the confidence to write letters to potential clients. I haven't had to do anything like this before. It's finding the right words and the right way to write them. It's also feeling okay about 'blowing my own trumpet' which feels wrong.

Mum and Dad were over for a holiday recently and it was great seeing them. Well done Mum for losing all that weight! You've done so well and I'm very proud of you. I also have lost weight. I've joined the local gym and actually enjoy it. I've lost 3.5kilos in 3mths. I seem to have found the right exercise that suits me.

The girls are doing really well. They've all had great school reports (of course why would it be any other way). All 3 of them are above their age for reading. Aimee seems to have stopped being totally stubborn (I'm sure that's inherited from Terry!) and is becoming quite good at all her subjects. Emily and Sarah-Jane are both excellant students according to their teachers (why that's not the case at home I don't know!) and they enjoy school and have lots of friends - especially SJ. She's teacher's pet I think.

Emily is growing up so fast. She's entered the phase of not child but not teenager. I think she feels a bit left out with SJ and Aimee as they are still into their dolls and lego etc. I'm not sure what to do but she does seem to enjoy sitting at the kitchen table waffling on while I get tea ready. She also writes lots of stories and reads lots too.

It's been raining non-stop for the last two days (I think it's two). We've got the puddles returning and there's lots of debri in the river, whole branches and tree stumps. It's not meant to stop for another two days. Not good for getting washing dry!

The girls lost their last netball game, I'm not sure who was more upset, me or the girls! They've done so well all season. Both Terry and I are proud of them.

Well I'll get some photo's up. Most of them are self explanatory, especially of my diploma :-).

For some reason the photo's aren't loading properly, it's not showing the photo but it's html code thingy. Will have to sort it later as I have to pick up the girls. Sorry folks.

End of an Era

2008-07-09T18:10:00.002+12:00

I have finished my last assignment!

I have my last assignment ready to post and after that my Diploma will arrive and I'll be a qualified proofreader!
It's kind of bizarre to be finished and nothing to take the place of the hours that I put aside to study. I guess it will mean more hours to sit back and read my books, do jigsaw puzzles, being a lady of leisure!

Okay I've woken up now and face the reality of having more time and less excuses for getting the housework and garden done.
I better sign off and get the girls their fruit salad for dessert before they drive me and Terry mad!!!

I'm off to the movies tonight to watch "Freedom Writers", our church run a ladies night called 'Connect' and they have spoilt us all by booking out the local cinema and given us free tickets in exchange for taking a couple of cans of food for the food bank. Cool eh!

Well I've just been reminded 3 times in the last minute that they're waiting for the fruit salad. Better go.

Love to all

Exciting news!!!!!

2008-06-23T19:19:00.002+12:00

Well as the title says I have some exciting news to share. I'll start at the beginning and then it will all make sense.

I have been getting some business cards made at the local camera shop. A lady phoned me on Saturday and introduced herself then told me she had noticed my card at the camera shop and asked the staff how to get in contact with me. Obviously they handed on my phone number (which I am fine with). Anyway, she went on to tell me that she is looking to employ a professional proofreader. Her name is Michelle, she asked what my rates were and if I would be available to meet (she asked to meet at my house) to discuss work. So we made a time for Monday 2pm (which is today). Much to say after trying to sound very calm and professional on the phone I hung up and jumped around my room and ran out and hugged the girls and turned in circles etc. The girls did think I was crazy but the excitement was catchy!
So all weekend I was going between being a nervous wreck to being as happy as a dog with a juicy bone! On Sunday I did a bit of tidying up and nail biting. Today I cleaned the whole morning and the house is probably the cleanest it's been for a long while! Terry was great, he helped me where he could and prayed with me before taking off to play golf, we figured that it would be better if he wasn't here. When she arrived we started chatting and exchanged files (my resume and her work examples), well not to drag it out but after some time asking questions and getting to know each other a bit better I asked her if she would like to go and think about sending work my way. She said..."no, I know I want you, I perceive you as a person of good faith and trustworthy."
So I have my first client!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't remember whether it will be 4 - 5 hours a fortnight or month. But it's a start and it is a foot in the door, because she works in the corporate area she has a lot of contacts.
I forgot to say that the company she works for sells the woollen rugs, and she sells them to corporations etc. So I will be proofreading the sales brochures and other information that needs to be distributed. They sell in both New Zealand and Australia and are going international soon.
I am sooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I better go, people to phone etc.
Catch you all later.

FIRE! FIRE!

2008-06-16T10:35:00.004+12:00

Exciting stuff happens at the Smith house! This morning (Monday) Terry went to start the work van ready to take it to Kevin's to get something fixed, but what should have been a normal action soon turned into a disaster...

I hadn't got much sleep last night due to a cough so I was sitting on the couch vacantly staring at the TV (I think I was watching the Sky Sport channel but can't say I took much notice!) when Terry came running in and said "Shit! There's a fire in the van! Got a tea towel or something??" (no offence to those that oppose swearing). He sort of ran into the kitchen and grabbed a tea towel and ran off again. I wandered out to see what was going on and asked in a nonchantly way "It's probably just steam from the cold."
Then I saw the flames under the dash. I ran inside to grab the water jug, raced outside for Terry to throw it onto the fire. We thought it was out but a few seconds later more flames came out and we got more jugs of water - we did try the hose but it didn't reach - the flames wouldn't go out and in the meantime of me getting water he phoned the 111. A policeman turned up with an extinguisher (top priority now is for us to get two; one for the car and one for the house). He sort of got it out but the dash was still smoking, then the fire engine got there and hey hoh they got it out for us. But they also had to rip the dash out and disconnect all the wiring etc. We did manage to save the GPS thing; which Don was happy to hear. So I'm waiting for the panel-beater's to get here to tow the van away. Insurance is a very good thing! We're very pleased we don't have the responsibility to get it fixed. And to think we were going to buy the van for Terry to use for work! So here are the photo's.
As you can see the dash is pretty munted. There is a wire that seems to be too long and was just hanging there, so possibly it was rubbing against something and eventually sparked.

I couldn't resist putting this photo of Tank cuddling his toy while asleep. Terry tried taking it away when he had it under his paw but Tank woke up straight away and gave Terry a doggy frown.

Tank and his toy

2008-06-15T17:37:00.006+12:00

These photo's are really cute so I couldn't resist blogging them. We bought a new soft toy lion, he loves his soft toys and still has the teddy he came to us with.

This is the first view and the "Oooh, this looks fun! Is it for me?"

This is the "Yes! Got it!"

This is the "This is all mine!!"

The girls won their netball game again on Friday, this time it was Sarah-Jane's turn to fall over! It was not as bad as Em's but still a nasty graze on the elbow. I wasn't at the game due to Aimee and I having the flu but Terry got to see the game, when SJ fell over it was a quick cuddle and kiss and a "You're alright" and a push back onto the court! If it had been me I probably (well definately) run onto the court to comfort her and make a fuss about it! Probably a good thing I didn't have the opportunity to do that, harden her up a bit for her future in the Tactix (Christchurch Netball Team)!!

Well ta-ra for now.

Aimee's Birthday

2008-06-09T15:20:00.006+12:00

Here are some photo's of Aimee's birthday. We had a meal at Pineacres Restaurant, it was really nice there, it includes a play area for the kids which gave us adults some space to chat. We had more adults than children as we had Terry's mum, his sister Sue, Gail and Noel, Steve and Jo (with close to being a cousin Beky of course), Racheal and Deon (with Aimee's best mate Charlotte) and of course us. Fifteen people in all. The food was nice and reasonably priced. I paid for a cake as well - as you can see it's her favourite character Dora.Aimee opening Nana's gift:Everyone who was there, some of which you can't see much of:

Aimee and Charlotte seeing Dora. The staff made a good job of the icing:Cheeky Aimee eating the icing off the cake and leaving the rest of it!Steve couldn't resist sticking the knife into Dora, to be honest I can relate as we have heard and seen a lot of Dora over the years!

Her birthday was on the Friday and on the Saturday the weather turned cold and wintery. here are a couple of photo's of the snow, Kaiapoi doesn't get much snowfall as we are below sea level, we didn't get any last year.

The above photo shows our back yard and the photo below shows the front, I'm not sure if you can see the actual snowflakes falling but it is.

That was Saturday, on Sunday Emily and I went to the much waited for High School Musical Ice Tour. We were both quite excited! We had VIP seats, I figured if I'm going to go I'd rather pay a little extra to see it up close. We were in the second row from the ice rink and definately got to see it! Here follows some photo's. By the way; it was very, very expensive to buy the merchandise. We got a bucket of popcorn and got to keep the plastic bucket - $17, I let her buy a pen - $15, and a programme which was actually worth buying - $26. So there went the money all in one go! The main thing is that we had so much fun, I took great pleasure in seeing the expressions on Emily's face.

This is Sharpay in the pink who I think is Emily's favourite, which is funny since her character is a snooty rich girl who thinks everything (including Troy, one of the main characters) should be hers!

This is a car that they brought onto the ice as part of High School Musical 2. Pretty cool eh! It came up really close to us but I forgot to take a photo!This is the character 'in charge of the school production', she was right on the edge and shows how close we were.And this is a group shot of some of the actors/skaters, doesn't show everyone but you sort of get the idea. I have quite a few more photo's but figure at this stage you're pretty much photoed out! So will say farewell and get on with preparing tea. As Tigger would say 'TTFN' (Ta Ta For Now).

Exciting!!!

2008-06-05T16:12:00.002+12:00

Just wanted to update on the proofreading job that Idid for the school principle (see previous update). I went to see him to ask how it went, this is his words...
"I'm most impressed, very happy with it, definitely will give you more work! I didn't know I could make so many mistakes!"
The other news is that a friend I haven't seen was at coffee group, she mentioned that she had assignments that needed proofing so I have offered to do them for her, I'm also going to give her an advertisement to put on the noticeboard for other students.
So I'm very happy! I am feeling a lot more confident in my ability to work in this field. Well that is all for now. I'll put some photo's of Aimee's birthday on soon. My baby is 6yrs old tomorrow!!

Oops

2008-06-02T11:37:00.004+12:00

This post will probably be before the other one I just did but I forgot to put Em's photo on of her netball thing. So this is her...as you can see she is very focused on where the ball is going. Sue (the coach) has some more photo's that she's going to send to me that are more action ones. I'll upload them soon.

Better late than never!!

2008-06-02T10:12:00.007+12:00

My gosh, it's already June!! Where has the time gone? I've been pretty flat out the last couple of months but it's no excuse to not doing a blog entry! And when I have found the time to rest it's usually in the evenings and I'm so tired I just veg.

Aimee turns 6yrs on Friday. Our baby growing up! That's kind of scarey as that means we're getting older! Em turning 10 back in March was a big mile-stone too. I was talking to a lady at Church on Sunday and her daughter who was 16yrs when we first met them is now 20yrs in a week! I think when it comes to others' children you don't think of them growing up as well!

Terry was in a golf tournament for the last couple of months (every fortnight was when they played) it was what they call matchplay (I think that's right) Terry was playing for Kaiapoi C, they won their games and made it to the semi-finals. Out of 4 teams they made it into the final, played against a Rangiora team and sadly lost by a very close margin. Bit disappointing but considering He only had 15 minutes till the tee of for the finals, it's still a really good outcome to come runners-up. They got a medal which is hanging proudly next to the soccer ones he's won. I even walked around the course with him as his caddy (although he did have to pull his trundler

for a lot of it :-)) for the semi's, I had a rest for his first 9 holes then walked the back 9 with him. It was wet and cold.

Emily and Sarah-Jane play netball now. They've played 3 games and won 2 of them. The first game Em was goal shoot and showed a natural talent and shot 6 goals, she only missed a couple. The other team got no goals, they played like they hadn't had much training. The girls had practises twice a week for the couple of weeks last term. It's only a basic level of grade but I have turned out to be one of those mothers that is rather loud on the sideline! But I'm not yelling at the ref's (especially since they're only young girls) and am not booing the other team. But I do strongly encourage our team. Two games ago Em fell over on court and badly grazed both knee's, elbow and hands, and her chin. Once she saw the blood she went into shock and cried louder (for very good reason), shaking, and wanted to go home which I couldn't do as we relied on a ride with one of the girls coaches. It's the first time one of the girls have fallen like that, I must admit that I wanted to cry too. Sarah-Jane shows promise as centre or on the wing but she was goal shoot for their last game, I'm afraid to say that she's not a natural in that position. Especially since she was day dreaming and watching a game on the next court! I'll put some photo's on the end of this post.

I have one tutorial to go and I've finished my study! I'm getting rather nervous about having to get out there and get work. This last week I went to the girls principle and offered to do some voluntary proofreading for him. He gave me a 47 page document that I had 3 days to complete. EEEEK!! Much to say I felt a bit anxious and suddenly lost confidence that I could accomplish this. But I got my head down and got into it and did nothing else except work. I think I did okay, had to ask my tutor a couple of things which she was fine about and helped me out. But I got it done and handed back again and now I have the waiting of hearing back from him. I'll phone him this week and see how it goes. At the present we are trying to work out how to get me an office. There's no where in the house that I can do it as it's so small here. We've had a suggestion of buying a small caravan and parking it by the garage for power etc. Which is a good idea. Have to work on that one.

Hmm, what else has been happening...oh, I've moved out of my comfort zone and joined the local gym. I've only been going for two weeks but I think I'm going to really enjoy it. And with having to pay for it, it's motivation to keep it up! There's actually normal looking people that go and all sorts of shapes and sizes and ages. I've even met up with a lady that we use to know about 12 yrs ago! I knew I knew her but had forgotten where from and how. I asked Brett (one of the gym instructors) her name but he couldn't remember either! We were both on the bikes and he very tactfully asked her a couple of questions and remembered her name and said it in a conversation and even asked her where she knew me from! Now I remember her and am very grateful for his help in that without letting on that I had forgotten!

Anyway enough words now and time for photo's. As you can see, SJ is a tad shorter than the other girl so it's sometimes hard to defend and shoot for her.

The girls are getting good at intercepting the ball, they had the ball practically the whole game.

I took the girls to a gypsy fair that was at the reserve just down the road. Sarah-Jane chose a dolphin and Aimee chose a heart. I was very impressed and it looked so pretty. SJ was going to a birthday sleepover that night and was very happy to show of her picture. Unfortunatly there was a lot of yucky stuff there and the usual tarot and palm reading and other stuff that seems to go with the 'gypsy' lifestyle.

I really like this photo. Em play's around with my camera sometimes and comes up with some really good ones. Although there are some that is not so good, such as photo's of her bed and her drawers!

Well I better sign off. Em has a friend over and I need to figure out something for lunch. Plus this is a longer blog entry than I intended!

What's been happening!

2008-04-16T15:37:00.004+12:00

Hi all, it's been a wee while since posting a blog; sorry about that. Time seems to slip by and before you know it it's two to three months later! I know most of you, if not all of you, can relate to that situation!

Well it's Autumn now and the trees are beautiful with their leaves ranging from golds to reds. I love Autumn - apart from the rain! I enjoy walking the girls to school each morning. For starters it gets me up and dressed and out of the house, and it also gives me a chance to think on things on the way home, to pray ready for a new day. It's restful and sometimes I stop on the bridge of the Kaiapoi River and look for fish and watch the current and birdlife. And of course not to forget the excercise (can't decide whether I should spell 'excercise' or excersise).

Well Tank is getting bigger and is taller than Emily when she is kneeling on the floor and he is sitting on his haunches! And he still has some growing time left! He absolutely loves to rumble with Terry (who is the only one allowed to rumble with him) here is a couple of photos of them.

This is a photo of Tank wearing my sneaker. Isn't he sooooo cute!!! and this is when we buried him with cushions.

Emily has been offered to do a special science certificate for having her homework always handed in on time and presented neatly. She got a commentation at assemble as well. She has the choice of 10 different projects out of 40. We are so proud of her. And today Sarah-Jane told me she also got a commendation today. Great stuff! Aimee is in the top reading group in her class too. Both Emily and Sarah-Jane have started netball. They're actual games start the first week of next term so they've been hard at practise.

As for me, I am halfway through my last assignment (yay!) although I have three more tutorials, those ones are all about what to charge, how to do quotes, resume, and getting yourself out there into the world of publishing. Because this is the last assignment it has to be a good one with high percentage. I'm a bit nervous about it but I have a lot of prayer happening for me.

I'm just going to put up some random photos.

Top left is Emily and her best friend Dominique, they've been friends since they both started school. Top right is of course Emily when we had our tent up in the summer holidays and the girls got to sleep in it a few times.
Bottom left is Charlotte and Aimee, Charlotte is Aimee's best mate and they've been friends since they started school last year.
Bottom right is the girls with their cousie Bevan, Emily is at that age where boys are yucky to touch! Can you tell?

Terry has had the chance to play in a golf tournament (quite a big one for North Canterbury) and has only lost 2 (or is it 1?) out of 6 games. They play 36 holes in one day and are now up to the semi finals which Kaiapoi team is in. I'll keep you up to date. Who knows it could be the PGA next!! He is mourning the fact of not playing soccer this year, we had to have an ultimatim of soccer or golf but can't have both. He chose golf which is good as it's easier on the body, after all he is getting older (I'm lucky he doesn't read the blogsite!). He has got a nasty knee problem at the moment that I can't remember the name of. He has to do physio or it won't get better, it will just get worse. He sort of needs his knee for work so he has to get right. Prayer would be appreciated.

I'm up to the stage of needing to apply for a job. It's very, extremely nerve racking. I haven't worked for 11yrs and it's such a huge change. I'm slowly getting a resume ready - very slowly!

Well I think that's all for now. Hope all is well with everyone.
Love and blessings
Lyddy :-)

Mistaken Identity

2008-03-19T16:22:00.002+13:00

I forgot to let people know how I got on with the lady that I accidentally invited for lunch last week (see post below for the details).
She (no names) came over for a cup of tea Friday morning. I did recognise her once she arrived. I felt the conversation was a bit stilted, but we did talk and get to know each other a bit better. She also bought me some very beautiful flowers. I was so nervous that I would let slip about the situation that I talked a lot. I'm not sure she is someone I can connect with, but she is a nice lady. And I will definately be a bit more careful what phone number to use for others!!

Well I better go, getting on to tea time and I still have no idea what we're having.

Blessings to all

Connect

2008-03-18T16:33:00.002+13:00

On Friday 14th March, I went to the ladies night at Church that they call 'Connect'. They are organised by a team of ladies that are good at finding creative things for us to do and see. This particular time was the theme of Roses. We made a sand saucer and had to do a quiz about roses and each team was awarded points. One of the questions was what is the name of a fairytale that had a rose in it. Our team (called the Sexy Rexy's-Maureen's idea) wrote down the "Beauty and the Beast". The team that acted out the fairytale got extra points, so we decided to do that. Well, I ended up as the Beast, Jo was the narrator and Maureen was Beauty. It went well considering we only had 10 minutes to come up with it. Well at the end of the night when we were walking out the door, we got given a scroll with a parable on it. It's very touching and quite true, so I decided to share it on this post.

The Parable of the Rose

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought...

How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?

Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose: The God-like qualities planted in us at birth growing amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.

This is the characteristic of love...to look at a person and know their true faults. Accepting that person into your life, while recognizing the nobility in their soul.

Help them to realize that they can overcome their faults. If we show them the rose, they will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.

The End

Hope you got something out of this like I did. Better sign off as TJ has just walked in. Blessings to all.

2008-03-18T15:39:00.006+13:00

Well, here’s how Emily’s birthday at Science Alive went:
We started off being told the layout and what is what etc, the assistants were absolutely fantastic, Very impressed. It was smaller than we expected, but there is lots to do and see. The major things would be the vertical slide and the gyro sphere. The other things were interactive science education. Aimee loved the ball thing where you pull up a heavy ball just smaller than a basketball, then let the rope go and it pushes air through a tube and forces a tennis ball to go up the tube and fly into the air. Emily is sitting on a pulley thing that you pull yourself up by the rope. It's pretty hard to do but the girls did really well.

As you can see from the photo's Terry has a go too. Just a big kid!

Dominique and Chrystal are on the Gyro Sphere. And then there's Emily and Megan on the climbing wall and Sarah-Jane is nearly at the top. She's just a wee monkey!

Emily's cake was from 'Devine Cakes' which our wonderful friend Gail (who works there) provided for us. The party package includes meals from Burger King across the road. Above is Stephanie (cousin), Chrystal and Dominique in the 'earthquake house'. It was rather life like! Brought memory's back from when I was in one at Granity. This is Dominique on the vertical slide. I think she went up there about 10 times before getting the courage to actually go down! But the main thing was that she did, and once she did it once she wanted to do it over and over. Chrystal also had a go. Our girls didn't go on it. Down stairs was the glow-in-the-dark mini golf; which we didn't do because it would of been too long. There was also the gallery where they do other exhibits. This time it was 3D pictures and illusions like looking into a moving spiral for 30secs then looking at your hand and it looks like it's moving. By that time both Terry and I had a headache and we were ready for the time to go. We had the parents coming at 5pm to pick the kids up, we met there at 1:30pm so it was a very long afternoon. We all had a lot of fun though, especially Emily which is the main thing.

Catch up

2008-03-13T15:18:00.002+13:00

Well it's Emily's birthday on Monday. We're having her celebration on Saturday with five of her friends and we're going to Science Alive. We haven't been there so we're all looking forward to it. A friend who works there has been marvellous and is providing the food and cake. Em said she wants to try the big slide they have and do the wall climbing thing. I'll let you know how it goes, and upload photo's (if I remember my camera).

Our fridge has been repaired today, Yay! It's really good not to have to walk out to the garage to get the milk or cheese etc. For the first few days that it was broken we all forgot and opened the fridge to find it empty! As Terry would say--Smarten up!!

The other good news is I have sold a couple of things on TradeMe which has been a huge blessing. I think we're coming out the other side of the latest (probably not the last) financial struggle.

Tank has had his operation. His eye is looking great. For those that didn't know, our golden retriever puppy had what is called 'Scrolled Cartilage'. It's extremely rare in retrievers but unfortunately Tanks litter has had it. I can't remember if it's one or two of his siblings that has had the same problem. The breeder that we got him from has been such a blessing with sharing the cost. They didn't have to do that but did. So we owe them huge thanks. I forgot to take photo's of Tank wearing his plastic 'cone' to stop him scratching at his eye. He looked so riduculous! And being clumsy normally was extra clumsy with the cone. He even banged into the doors because he misjudged the gap and didn't allow for the cone! With how tall he is now he is constantly sweeping things off shelves etc with his tail! Imagine what he's going to be like when he is fully grown! He's so beautiful when he runs. They're such a handsome breed.

For Emily's birthday present we bought two tickets to the High School Musical Ice Tour. It comes to Christchurch in the beginning of June. She keeps talking about it and has told me which friends of hers are going. In fact she has just finished telling me that our neighbor is taking her daughter to it. We've told her it's too much money. Which it is so that is the only gift she's getting from Terry and I. I so cannot wait to give it to her. We will wait till Monday which is her actual birthday. She gets her friends gifts on Saturday. I will be going to the musical with her. Which I am really excited about! I did say to Terry that he could take her, but for some reason he didn't want too! :-))

I've had a mucky sort of day and have really only achieved cleaning the freezer ready for the guy to fix it. Mum Smith came over for lunch which was nice, other than that I've done nothing except to nearly fall asleep on my bed while doing a crossword and Aimee sitting on my back. She stayed home from school today due to having a cold and being very tired. She had gone to a wee friends house (also called Amy) to play, when she was dropped off she proceeded to cry and shout and scream at me for the next hour and a half. And it was all over her being hungry but not wanting what I said she could have! Much to say she was in bed early and asleep 10 minutes later! So I kept her at home to have a quiet day. She is most definately going to school tomorrow!

I have a lady from church coming tomorrow for morning tea. There is an extremely funny story about how she was invited. It started last Sunday, we have been slowly getting to know a young couple in church with a wee baby. So when I got home we decided to phone them and invite them for lunch the next Sunday. I found their phone number in our church phone directory, I ended up leaving a message on the answer phone. Then we waited for them to return our call, we waited and waited. Then I happen to see Gill (the young woman) at church yesterday (Wednesday), I asked her if she had received our invite, to which she replied "No", to which I said "Do you have an answer phone?", "no" she said. Then I said, "oh, I wonder who we invited to lunch then!" When we looked in the directory she realised it was the wrong number and gave me the right one. When I got home later that day I had a message on the phone, yep, it was a lady from church returning our message of invite on Sunday! She said that she couldn't on Sunday but would love to come over for morning tea on Friday. In a quandary of what to do - mainly because I had no idea who this lady was, I didn't phone her back. Only to have her phone this morning and catch me at home. So without telling her what really happened, I did invite her for morning tea tomorrow! Guess I'll find out which lady she is when she arrives!
When I told Rach she laughed a lot and wanted to share this story with Neal! Of course we don't want this other lady to know it was by total accident that she was phoned!

Well I better sign off. This has been a longer entry than was intended! Hope everyone is well, and blessings to all.

March - here already!

2008-03-05T15:56:00.003+13:00

Gosh, how time flies! We had the cancer fundraiser (Relay For Life) on the weekend. It was great fun even though it rained all of Saturday. There was mud for miles and everyone was glad of the tents. The weather didn't deter anyone from walking the track. We made new aquaintenances and had a few laughs. There were a select few that stayed through the night - Terry being one of them - and they did well to keep up the walk/run. Terry brought me home about 11pm and I had a good sleep, picked up by friends in the morning to return, Terry decided to head home to sleep and everyone finished with a big cheer. Being a part of something like this was great, sad to see photo's of all the people/kids that cancer has taken so far, it's good to be reminded that there are always people worse off than me. Below is the banner I made for our team name. It worked out really well, but I didn't think about the rain which was not good as I'd only stuck the letters and stuff on with double-sided tape! Good thing I had a bag of safety pins with me! To those that don't know Jo, she was a lady/friend at Church that had cancer and is now up with her heavenly father. She loved all colours and was sparkly and bubbly and we all miss her. Hence the name of our teams. Most of us knew others with cancer too, Terry and sister Sue had a photo of their Dad scanned on to the tee shirts.

Onto other events, I had another seizure on Monday night, halfway through Aimee's bedtime story. I felt extremely sick with a migraine afterwards and it felt like my head was going to explode. Many thanks to Mum Smith who dropped everything to come round and help with putting the girls to bed. Terry was halfway through staining our bedroom window and couldn't stop so he set me up on the couch (where I came out of it) and had to carry on. The girls handle it well now, guess they've seen a few now. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so will talk to her about the seizures. It means not being allowed to drive till August now instead of June.

Unfortunately I think I hurt my shoulder again, and have a bump on my head. I'm still very tired and had Aimee home from school today after having a rough night with bed wetting and a snuffled nose. She's most definately returning to school tomorrow!

Tank has his eye operation tomorrow, the vet seems very nice and has explained the surgery very well. Terry is dropping him off early in the morning and will pick him up when he gets home.

Well I think that's all the latest news. Emily is turning 10 in 12 days. She wants to go to Science Alive, I'll be sussing that out tomorrow. And our fridge is still not fixed - we have to wait for the finances to do that one. Thanks to friends we have a fridge in the garage, although we are getting sick of having to walk out there to get the milk every time we want a drink!

Anyway I hope you're all having a nice time and are all healthy no matter where you are in the world.

P.S The windows look great!!! Terry has discovered a new talent, although he isn't exactly itching to do more :-)

Just a quick post

2008-02-27T12:12:00.002+13:00

Well we are finally on broadband thanks to TelstraClear. Everything seems a lot faster!
Unfortunately our puppy Tank needs surgery for his eye. He has what they term as Scrolling Eye. It basically means his third eyelid is pushing his brown bit of eye up higher so we can see more white underneath it. I'm not sure how they fix it but surgery is the only option.
Our fridge broke down as well. Thanks to friends we have one now but for a few days we've had our milk sitting in the sink in cold water and our cheese etc in a chilly. Our lovely neighbors have had our excess milk in thier fridge. We're not sure how much it's going to cost to fix. Hopefully not much. The fridge we just got last night has had to go in the garage and we have to unlock the garage to get stuff out!
Well they say things come in three's, we have had some misunderstandings with the council regarding our rates so now we owe quite a large sum!! Like Emily's speech last year - we wish money grew on tree's!
We've just had Sarah-Jane's 8th birthday! So grown up, although she is still very much a young girly girl. She loves playing with her Polly Pockets and dolls. Emily is turning 10 on St Patricks Day. She's going through that awkward stage where she's not into dolls etc, but not quite a teen. She tends to play alone quite a bit at home, but the girls all love playing schools. She starts netball in a week or two. She's very excited, as we are, it's good to see her involved in something outside of school. Terry has tried to 'coach' her but I reminded him of when he tried coaching me at golf, it's not good to coach family at times - this is one of those times!
The girls have today off school due to parent-teacher conferences, they get half day tomorrow too. It's rather annoying in the way that my routine is a bit mixed up now and I have to go talk to the teachers about 'dreams, goals and achievements'. They've only just started school and we have no idea what their achievements are so far. Never mind we'll see what happens.
Well it's gone lunchtime and we're hungry. Love to all.

School's back!!!

2008-02-12T10:54:00.000+13:00

It's now February 12th, time is flying by and soon it will be Easter. The girls are settled at school and getting to know their teacher's. Em was a bit timid (understandable with having her first male teacher), Sarah-Jane was absolutely fine and just didn't have a care. Aimee was a lot more timid, she only had 6mths last year so it was like her first day at school again. She was extremely clingy. They all have nice teachers and apart from Emily the teachers are new to the school.

I am enjoying the break, even if it was only 2 days then Waitangi Day. We took the girls and Margaret to Ferrymead. It started off with Aimee grizzling and crying, which frustrated us to heck! Otherwise we had a nice day out. I think the model trains were my favourite. It was amazing how they make up the towns etc. I took some photo's of course.

There were a couple of fun mirrors that we had a few laughs with. Emily goes on and on about having a cell phone so I couldn't resist the phone booth! The next one is of one of the villages with the model trains. I took a few photo's of the planes to send to Dad as he is into them. The notice caught my attention because our government are 'encouraging' women to go out and work at the same time as going on about the need for stronger family ties. It reads "This council is of the opinion that in all cases where men and women are engaged in the same employment of Government or private individuals, equal wage should be paid for equal work" Christina Henderson, 1902. The girls got to help the tram driver change the direction of the tram.

Terry has been busy staining our archatraves on our lounge sliding door. We think the rimu stain looks great against the colour (spanish white) of the alluminium.

He's going to stain the bedroom windows and we're painting the rest. We've discovered our roof leaks in our bedroom. We've had some really heavy rain and it's obviously been too much. Not sure what we're going to do with that.

I have finally sent in my 9th assignment and am over half way. I'm also making a banner for the Cancer fundraising event that is held at QE11. A team of about 10 take turns to run/walk around the track, this is over 24 hrs. At least 1 member has to be on the track at all times. Terry is a part of one out of three of our church teams. It's going to be fun I think. I'm hoping to be out there at some point even though I'm not going on the track.

We are getting to know Aimee's best mate's family, Charlotte is in the same class as Aimee and the two of them are very cute together. Racheal is a lovely woman with a lot in common with me. Her husband Deon is quiet but is also very nice (even if he does support his home country-South Africa-in sports!).

Well I better go and do something constructive and I'm sure your getting a bit tired of reading this entry! Hope everyone is well, blessings to you all.

2008 already!

2008-01-11T14:41:00.000+13:00

This entry has been a long time in coming. Sorry for the delay. 2008 hasn't been a good one for us so far.

Christmas day was great, we had such a lovely time at Sue's house. She did the table up so beautifully. We'll definately be there again!! We had a fun, relaxing time with lots of laughs (not at the lame jokes in the crackers though - they were pretty bad!), great food - really excellent turkey (thanks to Kev) and lots of other yummy traditional Christmas fare. Not to forget the brandy snaps! There were great gifts and just a really nice time. I missed my family though, Mum & Dad and Mel and Shane in Aussie, Deanna told us she and Jess were off to Kaikoura only to turn up in Aussie at Mum and Dad's!! Surprises for everyone. But Terry's family are my family and they more than made up for mine being absent.

I can't actually remember what we did in the evening, sounds good doesn't it! But there is a very good reason for that which I will get to shortly. No - there was no alcohol involved!!

New Year's Eve we went next door, we have lovely neighbors - Alex & Aaron with Megan who is 6yrs and Josh who is 12yrs. They're from England but we forgive them for that :-). We had a lovely time and had a few drinks, played some pool (very badly I must say) and ate nachos. The girls just watched DVD's together and it was great. Saw in the new year then tootled back home bout 1am.

Unfortunately here is where it goes bad. I ended up having 3 seizures on the 1st day of the year. Alex called the ambulance after the third one and they took me in to hospital, I had a big one in there as well so they kept me overnight. I have flashes of memory for that day but that's about it, I haven't been right since really. Been having trouble remembering the last few weeks really and have been getting a bit dizzy here and there, not sleeping well. I've been sick with a stomach bug the last two days which has been utterly horrible. I think I'm run down a bit. I'm a bit concerned about having another seizure with having this bug as I haven't held anything down including my medication. But the girls have been keeping an eye on me and Emily knows what to do if I have a seizure. Everytime they here a thud they come looking, I've gotten into the habit of yelling out that I'm fine if I drop something. The neighbors are great and Alex has looked after the girls a few times already. They stayed the night there when I went in to hospital. It's such a blessing to have good neighbors.

So that's my big moan and groan. I'm really angry and upset because I only had until March and I could drive again. I probably shouldn't have had a few drinks and late night but I didn't have that much alcohol and surely I can celebrate along with everyone else? I hate having Epilepsy. I hate it so much. The girls miss out heaps because I can't drive them to places. I can't take them to QE2 pool or the city gardens etc. It's hard for them. I would get so frustrated if I were them. Once I'm over this stupid tummy flu I'll be taking them to the local pool. The weather has been fantastic.

Tank is growing and growing and growing. I'll put a couple of photos on and hopefully the size is easy to tell. We have a beautiful healthy garden growing. We're loving the fact that we are saving money and also know there are no sprays on the food etc. Well I'm going to sign off and upload the photo's, I have to go get some veges out from the garden ready for tea and I'm fast losing energy and focus to keep going. Hopefully I won't take so long to do another entry soon.

Terry looks rather cute in this photo I thought and it gives a sort of comparison to size.

This is Sarah-Jane singing with the school choir at Northlands Mall and this is Aimee dressed for her production of Goldilocks and the three Bears.

Tank has got attached to my watering can and plays with it all the time, growling with it and now has also fallen in love with my green hand shovel!

For those of you who don't live here, this is a sunset down at Kairaki Beach at the height of Whitebaiting season - see what you are missing out on! The next one is Emily and Sarah-Jane, Emily loves using the camera and comes up with some pretty cool photo's. And then there is our Princess Genevieve aka Sarah-Jane with her trusty steed Tank.

This is Em, SJ and our next door neighbor Megan. Look how grown up Emily is looking now. My baby turns 10 this year.

This is Aimee at her athletics day, an athlete in the making! She did really well and had a ball - no pun intended!
Well better go as the girls are starting to get at each other and I have to get the spuds out of the garden. Not that I'll be eating any as it just goes straight through. Yuk!!

Here we go again!

2007-12-08T12:51:00.000+13:00

Well, the Christmas season is here again. We have our tree and decorations up. Although we had to put the tree in the hallway in front of the front door as there is no where else to put it! :-)
But I have got a few other bits and bobs around.

I think I have lost a bit of the Christmas cheer this year (a poet!), I just hate not being able to buy gifts and not worry about the price. It's quite depressing really. But in saying that we don't have that much to go now. We are doing the Christmas advent calendars with the girls. We tried to find the ones with the nativity scene on it but obviously the shops don't want to acknowledge that side of it, I guess it's the fact that they aren't the bestsellers either. Anyway we got the girls novelty ones, Terry chose Buzz Lightyear for himself and I got a Barbie one. We're doing the chocolates after tea and asking the girls questions pertaining to the meaning of Christmas.

Terry has been out playing golf this morning, he's been playing every Saturday for a few weeks (except when he had cut his thumb) and doing really well in a tournament thing that is on. It's so good seeing him happy and passionate. I think he might give up soccer soon and just enjoy the golf. When He's out playing the girls and I are being quite lazy, I didn't get up till 10am this morning, the girls were up watching a dvd and colouring in, still in their pyjama's. We had breakfast and then got the bedrooms tidied and washing out. When Terry got home and found out what time we got up etc., his comment was, 'well I'm pleased I'm out on the golf course!'.

This is just a quick update, now that Terry is home we'll possibly go do something. Might take Tank to the river or something.

Love to all

Update and some photo's

2007-11-26T14:36:00.000+13:00

Hi all, it's been some great weather lately. Even washed and hung out sheets and they were dry to remake that afternoon!

Enough about housework.

We are onto our last window today. David and Terry are working hard and I am so pleased all the windows are in!

Christmas! I'm hoping to actually send out the cards this year. I found some that I had written out a year or two ago! We are looking forward to having lunch at Terry's sister's (Sue) house. Mmm all that lovely food. We are proud to say that we will be providing the potatoes from our vege garden this year. The corn has come through and we are waiting for the rest of our vege's to show themselves.

Tank is growing bigger by the day, we have to keep reminding ourselves he is only 14 weeks old! Here are some photo's.

As you can see (if you crane your head) Tank is very helpful. Terry cut down an overgrown bush and Tank wanted to help take the branches round to the back.

When we first got Tank he was only the size of Sarah-Jane's lower leg (height wise) now he is just about up to her hips!
I took him down the river bank the other day so I could chat with Jimmy about his whitebait, Tank was very excited about the water but got too close to the edge and took an unexpected swim, both of us got a surprise. As he scrambled to get up the bank I was trying to pull him out without falling in myself! So that was Tank's first experience of swimming in the river!

Sarah-Jane is in her barbie dress given to her by the 6yr old girl next door. She's living up to her name - Sarah means princess.

Well the girls have just got hom so I better go, it will be "Mum I'm hungry", "Mum I'm hot", "Mum I'm hungry", and so on.

Books I'm reading

2007-11-11T15:50:00.000+13:00

Books that I’m reading
My best mate Rach told me about this idea to blog the books that I’m reading at the moment, giving a brief review. So here is my first entry.
At the moment I’m trying to read four books at once—not an easy task!!

The first one is “Pilgrim’s Progress in Today’s English”, written by John Bunyan retold by James H. Thomas.
I tried to read this book a number of years ago. I didn’t get very far when I gave up, the way it was written with the old English language was too hard to understand. I am really enjoying this version. Of course I haven’t finished it, but I do look forward to get back in to it. This copy I have borrowed from a friend at church who is a person after my own heart. They (Ian & Debbi) have a hallway full of books! I could spend a long time just looking at them all let alone reading them! I very much appreciate them opening up their book collection for me to read.

Book number two is “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Golden Retrievers”, written by Margaret H. Bonham.
Again I haven’t read this from cover to cover, but I find this kind of book one that I can flick through to find the topic I want to read about. It’s helpful to get the gist of how to train Tank. I used it to teach him to stay and it has worked well. Some of the techniques I wouldn’t use or wouldn’t be bothered to use, but all in all, it’s good for someone like me—new to owning a dog.

Book three is “The Dog Listener” by Jan Fennell
This book was recommended by Rachael, it is a book that is about learning the language that dogs speak. Recognising that they will never learn our language but we can learn theirs and be able to understand what our dog is trying to tell us. This lady has been on U.K. television with her techniques. I have used a couple of techniques and it has already made a difference in the relationship between me and Tank. He now understands that I am the ‘Alpha’ the leader of his pack.
I haven’t finished it yet but it is making interesting reading and I would recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting a dog or already has one.

Book four – “Seduced by Success” by Ann Kiemel Anderson
This is one I found in the church library. It caught my eye due to the front cover blurb ‘No longer addicted to pills, performance, and praise’.
People who know me very well will know my past errors. This woman had it all with being a successful teacher, writer, speaker, wife, and mother to four boys. What caught my eye was the fact that for years this woman lived behind a mask of happiness. In the end she snapped and God met with her at the bottom of her ‘pit’. There are similarities between her and I; not the four boys or the speaker, teacher etc; but the hitting rock bottom thing is very familiar. Once again I haven’t finished reading it but I do believe I will get a lot out of this book.

I hope you enjoy this part of my blog. Feel free to leave comments on books you’re reading. I find it very interesting finding out what others are reading. It shows a bit about the type of person they are. Of course I hope that doesn’t mean I’m a fragmented character because I read four books at a time!

Just a family update

2007-11-11T15:46:00.000+13:00

I took Tank to the vet today for his vaccination, micro-chipping, and worming tablet. I also learnt how to trim his nails. He weighed 7.5 kg when we first got him. He now weighs a whopping 11.5kg!! That my friend’s, is only three weeks worth of growth. Wow! He’s gonna be a big boy! We already knew he was going to be big so it’s not really a surprise for us. He’s so beautiful. The vet goes all soppy over him. She told me to drop in any time as they would love to see him. She’s not the only one that goes soppy. He’s very popular at school with both children and parents/teachers.
I taught him to ‘stay’ today. He’s already cottoned on to it and I only spent two lots of 10 minute sessions with him. He has already recognised a few other commands without me doing anything.
He has found a new toy—the watering can. As you can see from the photos he is a very entertaining animal! I am however getting sick of rotten rags, bones, and other things that he keeps digging up and ‘retrieving’ for me. I found one of my socks on the front lawn today. Much to say he knew he had done a naughty. I was playing baseball with Emily on the front lawn this evening and he started to ‘retrieve’ the ball, it was great until he decided he wanted to keep it. We gave him his favourite toy in a trade off—his pine-cone. Yep, he has a thing for pine-cones. He has one out front and two out back. Oh and I have given up on the toilet mat. It’s my fault really as it is very close in texture to his sheep skin. Who needs a toilet mat anyway?!
Anyway enough bragging!
Emily and I had a very intense girl talk today. It was about the fine art of friendships. It was so good to spend that time with her. It was only about 15 – 20 minutes, but it was precious. I could have shrugged her off and carried on with the hundred and one other things I had to do, but I made the choice to stop and talk to her. I have felt guilty for a long time about not spending one-on-one time with the girls. Now that I’ve made the first step, I will make an effort to carry on. I think Em is up to the ‘pre-teen’ age and stage. Where relationships get more complex, awareness of yourself and how others see you, and the silly giggly age. I certainly need help on the silly giggly thing. Em has a great sense of humour but some of is just plain silly!! In fact I think she’s the only one to find something in particular funny, then, she’s laughing too hard to tell us why she’s laughing! I’m sure I wasn’t this way at her age! Don’t comment on that one mum.
I’m still not sure what to do with Sarah-Jane. She is – hmm, what is she? I know, a bright star that shines through the clouds at night. Her personality is one of vitality mixed with stubbornness (she gets that from Terry) and determination. But she is such a girly girl. She came back from Megan’s house (neighbour) with a beautiful princess dress-up dress on. Megan had given it to her and I think SJ would have slept in it if I didn’t have to sow up a couple of tears in it (which I haven’t done yet). She lines all her teddies and dolls along her bed, there’s hardly room for her! Yes, I know mum, I use to do that as well. Even have the photo’s to prove it. Sometimes I think that Sarah-Jane and I are so alike that we end up clashing heads.
Aimee, she’s a wee minx! Her teacher informed me this morning that yesterday Aimee refused to do her work. Absolutely refused! In the end Amber (Mrs Wing) had to put her in a separate part of the class room and she had to stay in there till she did her work. But Aimee didn’t budge and ended up being in there from morning right through to lunch. It’s the first (and hopefully last) time that she has behaved like that in fact she is the first of all three that has played up at school! Oh dear, what is in store for us! I do think that if we stomp on it now it won’t become an issue. I have made an agreement with her that if she behaves at school then she can have a reward when she comes home. But if she has played up then Amber will write in her notebook and Aimee will have to go to bed 10 minutes early. Here’s hoping. I will reward each day for a few days then take it to every two and then three etc.
Well I better finish now as it is midnight and I must get up in the morning to the girls as Terry is off to golf at 8:30am. I hope he is still well enough to play. He’s very blocked up and is rather miserable. Now I can hear him snoring – very loudly! Maybe I’ll sleep on the couch. Nah, I’ll just shove him every now and then. Gotta have my comfy bed. Any way Tank is sleeping on the floor beside me and He is snoring as well! Men!

Surprise, Surprise!!

2007-11-07T20:12:00.000+13:00

Ok Mum, here goes your story...
It happened on a fine thursday afternoon. I was at home with the girls after school when I get a txt from my big sister asking if they can pop over as they are out my way, (Deanna & Jess live in ChCh). So of course I txt back "yep".
I heard the girls say "Jess! Jess is here!"
Then I hear "Gran!! Gran!!"
I thought that was a strange thing for the girls to say so I came out to the lounge. And lo and behold, there is my Mum standing in my lounge! The strangeness with this is that mum lives in Brisbane, Australia.
She was not meant to be here!
I stood for a while with my mouth open and my eyes popping.
"Well don't I get a hug?" Mum said in a nonchalant voice.
"I... uh... I... uh... What are you doing here?!" Obviously my brain was having one of those moments where a brain-cell explodes. Of course I did hug her, lots!
From there I found out that she had surprised Deanna too. Mum and Dad had asked Deanna to pick up some 'friends' from the airport. Deanna and Jess were trying to spot these 'friends' when Mum appeared in front of them.
It's amazing how the mind works. Because they weren't expecting mum they didn't actually recognise her at first. Of course once they did it was all on with hugs.
When Deanna had txt me I had the fleeting thought of, 'oh, I should clean up a bit. Nah, it's only Deanna'. I wish I had now!
Anyway, Mum ended up staying a couple of weeks. She had to come and sort out the stuff they'd left here. We got to spend some time with her when she stayed with us a few nights. It was such a nice time for both Mum and myself. We shopped (thanks Mum for that), and we blobbed, had coffee and lunch. I even got to show her off at the Coffee group at Church. It was very good that she also got to see and stay with Nana. We had a farewell dinner at Sequoia 88 restaurant. It was a lovely time but hard to say goodbye once again.
Dad, you did so well over there while mum was living it up here. It would have been nice if you were able to come too, next time eh.

So there ends the saga of the surprise!

Warmth!

2007-11-02T15:49:00.000+13:00

Definately noticing the difference for warmth. I'm getting a bit worried about how hot it's going to get if summer actually arrives!

News on a more personal note. I have lost 4kg in 7 wks! Gives me the motivation to carry on.

Terry and I celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary next friday. Been good times and bad times but more good. I'm not sure what we are going to do if anything.

Ray, your house is looking so good. I think I would very much like living in it. Maybe I'll settle for a holiday some time.
I'm looking into starting some proofreading. I'm half way through my course but they are encouraging us to start getting our C.V. ready and maybe do some volunteer proofreading to gain experience. So on that note if anyone has any proofreading to be done just email it to me as an attachment (so long as it is compliant with microsoft office.

New puppy! New windows!

2007-10-31T14:01:00.000+13:00

Wev'e been wanting a puppy for a while now. We have finally found our new member of the family. He's a Golden Retriever and his name is Tank. The owners of his mum nicknamed him Tank and it was kind of cool and totally suits him. He's only 10wks old and has grown like mad! He's going to be a big boy! Tank is such a good dog. He's been no trouble. We gave him a sheepskin rug and he loves it. Although I am a bit grossed out when he tries to you know what to it. I didn't think he would do that being so young - I'm wrong! And he is a boy after all.

Here is photo's of him when we first got him.

Isn't he gorgeous!

Here are photo's of him now. We have only had him two weeks.

I'm not sure how easy it is to tell how much he has grown. Believe me when I say he has grown heaps! We had to take him to the vet when he was 9wks old and he weighed 7.8kg.

Right now he is lying beside the couch looking up at me saying 'please play with me'. Hard to resist but I want to show you photo's of our new double glazed windows. You may have to visit an older blog entry to remind yourself of how the old ones looked.

Well I better go. Emily's returning from her first school camp today and I want to meet her at school. We have the light party this evening as well.

Take care people.

The First Day in Wellington (5th Oct)

2007-10-10T17:29:00.000+13:00

Well we are in Wellington and have plans for the day.

We started with breakfast at L'a farre cafe - french toast with banana, maple syrup and bacon, not to forget our moccachino with a Sante chocolate bar melting in it.
Walking past shops and onto a bus to the Bee-Hive. We were going to go on a tour and sit in the public gallery to watch the politicians yell and swear at each other. But we just missed the start of a tour and the politicians were on holidays. So we decided to make our way to the Cable Car. We made a couple of stops on the way starting with the Government Bookshop which is on the corner opposite of the Bee-Hive. I was able to purchase a couple of books that will help me in my course and work in the future and also a copy of the Copyright Act 1994 (riveting reading I'm sure). We also stopped in Borders bookshop where we found some books to take back for the girls.
We finally got to the cable car and bought a return ticket. We wanted to go up to the gardens at the top to see the tulips and some of the spring festival. We started to go down a path that we thought the banner signified. We started to realise we were the only ones on that path, thought it was strange as the cable car had been full of other tourists, kids and university students (they weren't there to see the flowers, the uni is up there too), we being southern chicks figured that we were on the wrong path. Back up the hill; thank the good Lord that we hadn't gone very far; we did find the right path; it had spray painted flowers on it (dah!). We followed the path and 20 minutes later found ourselves at the bottom of the hill; no need for that return ticket huh! The tulips were gorgeous and worth seeing. Unfortunately I had left the camera behind at Paula's (Jo's aunty). We bussed back to Cuba Mall and did the shopping thing. I was on the lookout for a nice sweater/jersey and a pair of 3/4 trousers. No shops had my size at a reasonable price (I didn't buy the skirt for $950, thought it might be a tad too expensive), I started to feel a bit depressed as this was one of those horrible moments of reality with my need to lose weight.
The agenda for the evening was to see a movie. We chose 'Evan Almighty'. Paula ended up lending us her car which was very nice as the theatre was right in the middle of Wellington and at that time of night was a bit scarey.
Both Jo and I were not aware of the unexpected experience of the Regent on Manners cinema. As most females we went to the loo before the movie started. The toilets were not a pretty sight. We went loo to loo to find a decent looking cubicle. I opened one of the doors to find a large amount of blood in and around the loo. I basically freaked out a bit. Jo was adament about not having a look. A good choice. We did find a loo that wasn't trashed. Jo pointed out the ceiling that was crumbling above the wash basins. When I looked down to wash my hands I found another lot of blood; another freak out. We let the two young male staff know about the loo, funnily enough they were rather alarmed! Not sure if it was due to the blood or the fact that it was in the ladies loo and they were the only two there. They informed us that their cleaning lady had not turned up for work. Wonder why?!
After all that the movie was well worth watching. I haven't laughed that hard at a movie for a while. In fact tears were streaming down my face and I exited looking like a racoon due to my mascara running.
A full day and once in bed I don't think I moved till the morning!
Mmmm, blissful sleep!

6th October - 2nd day of Wellington

2007-10-10T17:07:00.000+13:00

Another day of holiday! Another great day of weather. Another day of shopping! Actually it was only half of a day shopping. We slept in and had a leisurely morning of breakfast, shower and reading. Today we caught a bus into the city and then a train to Tawa where we thought we would find a market in the carpark of DressMart where we wanted to go as well. But there was only a vegetable stand at the market. No crafts or nic-nacs as we were led to believe in the brochure. So on to DressMart. I found some nice clothes for the girls in JK's but limited myself and only got a hat for Aimee and a singlet top for Sarah-Jane. After all it was a weekend for me!
I made my way to EziBuy and found a lovely blue top, pink tee-shirt, white linen trousers (only $5 down from $40!). I got some jewellery from some other shops and some other bits and pieces. I was very impressed to find a pen and key tag with my name on it; that's not often I find that; so I couldn't resist buying it.
We caught the train and bus back to Paula's to take stock of our 'goodies' and relax before going out for dinner.
We went to a chinese restaurant (according to Paula one of the best chinese restaurants in Wellington), I hadn't been to an authentic chinese restaurant before. It was a fun new experience for me and I eventually got the hang of using chopsticks (I have to confess to using a knife and fork sometimes). Jo introduced me to Bejing Dumplings, Bejing Duck and Lamb with vegetables and some rice on the side. Very yummy! For dessert I had toffeed apples. It was delicious and I love toffee a lot! Which caused me to have a bad moment. I was wearing the blue top that I'd bought that afternoon. I was attempting to get some of the toffee that had set hard on the bottom of the plate. Unfortunately I spilt some of the toffee on my top. I was devastated and hoping it wouldn't stain. Back at Paula's I soaked it in napisan and washed it. The next day the stain was still there so I tried the baking soda, but again the stain stayed. Our intentions for Sunday was to attend the Central City Baptist Church. And to visit the Katherine Mansfield House, maybe some lunch and more shopping.

I forgot to add that I did get the stain out, when I got home to CHCH I sprayed some Sard stain remover and washed it again. Yay, it got out

The last day in Wellington (7:10:07)

2007-10-10T15:59:00.000+13:00

I had a bad nights sleep last night. Stupid dreams and noisy dreams. Makes sense considering it's nick name is 'Windy Wellington'! I woke up quite early and dozed for a wee bit -a luxury- Jo and I got up to watch the 1/4 final of the Rugby World Cup between the All Blacks and France. A sad day for New Zealand, it was such a close game and considering I'm not into sports I was gutted that they lost. I ended up very close to the t.v. and shouting at the ref!
We decided that it was too late to go to church as we had to catch a bus at 9:20am and at that time we were still in our pj's. Couldn't leave a game like that! We were reluctant to ring our hubby's not being sure of how deep their grief was. Steve took it pretty hard, Terry was a bit more philosopholic, saying that it was only a game after all and in four yrs they will have their chance at it again.
We got ready to go to Ezibuy to look for the clothes we had wanted to find, we were successful and I ended up getting one or two other things besides. We had a quick bite at the Borders bookshop cafe to figure out what bus to catch to go to the Katherine Mansfield house.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the house. It was done in the way it would have been in her time (late 1880's). It had so much information on our (NZ's) most famous author. It saddened me to find out that she died in 1923 at just 34yrs old. Such talent and creativity as a young female writer in a time that didn't have a lot of female authors. I bought a book of her journals and letters published by her husband and Jo bought a book of all her short stories. We are going to do a swap.
On the way home we had to stop at the Haitaitai Chocolate shop. We had arranged for a gift for Jo's Aunty as a thankyou. And of course we had to have a taste of some as well. I also bought a few for Terry which didn't last long when He received it. We grabbed a Mocchacino at the cafe next door who used the same cocoa beans as the chocolate shop. Yummy!
We got home just in time for Jo to catch a taxi to the airport. She had to be back in Kaiapoi in time for the Fuller St Cafe night that she organises. After She left there was a lightening and thunder storm with very heavy rain. I was a bit anxious about Jo's flight and hoping that mine didn't get delayed!
For the rest of the evening I read my book with a glass of wine and my chocolates until I had to taxi to the airport. A nice wind down to finish our most excellent holiday. And my flight was not delayed!
I do thank the Lord for the lovely weather (except for Sunday), and the chance to have a break away which both Jo and I needed. I have come back ready to face the new term (I think!).

The 'School Holidays Syndrome'!

2007-09-29T16:05:00.000+12:00

Can someone please tell me the cure of my 'School Holiday Syndrome'? It's only been one week! Every half hour they are whining that they are bored. It's hard to always say no. At these times I hate how I can't drive. I find it really tough to take people up on their offer of chauffer's. I have plans to take the girls to the local pool and the movies (local cinema). I guess it's made harder knowing that in exactly six sleeps till Jo and I go to the raging metropolis of Wellington.

I've been helping decorate the OCC shoe-boxes (Operation Christmas Child). It's so cool to know that the joy that the child will have when He/She recieves the box. Possibly the first and last gift they've got. Although it's hard to watch Neal & Rach go through the stress of getting it all together. But in the long run it's so worth it and they never seem to lose their passion for it. Very inspirational. Keep it up guys.

I am still trying to lose the weight. It sure is slow at moving. Although I do know that I could definately do more exercise (who couldn't!). It's especially hard during holidays. The girls just want to snack on everything!

Well better go, nearly time to get the savs on. At least the blog is short this time!

A Mother's Prayer

2007-09-26T20:02:00.000+12:00

This one really tugged on my heart. I think most of it can be for Father's too. After all there are two parents to every child no matter what the situation.
Again this is from Word For Today.

"I prayed for this child ... now I give him to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27 - 28 NIV
Mum, here's a prayer for you to pray: "Lord, help me to give my children the best - not of things, but of myself, cherishing them on good days and bad, theirs and mine. Teach me to accept them for who they are, not just for what they do; to listen to what they say, if only so they'll listen to me; to encourage their goals, not mine. Let me give them a home where respect and integrity are the cornerstones, and there's enough happiness to raise the roof. May I give them the courage to be true to themselves; the independence to take care of themselves, and the faith to believe in You. May I discipline them without demeaning them, demand good manners without forgetting my own, and let them know they have limitless love no matter what they do. Let me feed them properly, clothe them adequately, and have enough to give them small allowances - not for the work they do, but the pleasure they bring. Let me be moderate in all these things, so that the joy of getting will help them discover the joy of giving. See that their responsibilities are real but not burdensome, that my expectations are high but not overwhelming, and that my praise is thoughtful and given when it's due. Help me to teach them that excellence is work's real reward. And when it comes - let me revel in each honour, however small, without once pretending that it's mine - my children are glories enough. Above all, let me ground them so well in Your truth that I can let them go. In Jesus name, Amen!"

Pretty powerful eh!

You are somebody's hero!

2007-09-26T19:50:00.000+12:00

This is from the Word For Today distributed by Radio Rhema.

"Who is it he is trying to teach?...children." Isaiah 28:9 NIV
A father writes: "Dear Coach, I just read your letter to my son telling us of your expectations for your athletes. Johnny's mother and I couldn't agree more. We've long recognised the value derived from High School sports. Judging from your records you must teach the game very well. But there's another phase of coaching that's even more important. Let me explain. We are giving you our most prized possession. Throughout the next four years out son will make you one of our prime household conversations. He'll tell us about how you could have made the team for the Green Bay Packers if only you hadn't hurt your knee back in '65. He'll tell us about your emotional half-time talk when you came from behind and beat Rivaltown. We'll hear about how you can still pass or kick the ball. When we're hearing all this talk our son's eyes will shine. You see, Coach, he'll idolize you. We don't have heroes anymore. Many professionals would sell their souls for a buck. Some college athletes made the news this year in a very negative manner. We know all athletes don't shoplift and do drugs, but that's what we hear about. So, you are our son's hero. We're relying on you. His muscles are nearly developed, but his mind is still fragile, and so impressionable. Your responsibilities are great. Impress him, Coach. Pour it on!"
Isaiah writes, "Who is it He is trying to teach?...children." You are somebody's hero. The world is full of gangs, drugs and violence because a child picked the wrong hero. But you can change that, if only for one or two children.

Back again!

2007-09-26T18:52:00.000+12:00

It's a few days later that I am writing this. I just get so so busy!! The confusing thing is that I have no idea what keeps me busy! I guess it's juggling so many things at once; girls, study, husband (this is not in any order!), garden (been raining for a few days now so don't have to deal with that), housework, hmmm what else, oh catching up with friends (how could I have forgotten that one!), and church. Gosh what a list! No wonder I'm busy!
Any way to finish what I started in the previous entry...
I'll start with the duathlon. The school had a fundraiser duathlon. The kids can either buddy up with one doing the run and the other doing the bike ride. Aimee got buddied up with a girl called Emily - who Aimee calls "Little Emily" so she doesn't get confused with sister Emily - They both did so well. It was rather chaotic with all the year ones. They were also dressed the same and it was rather hard to tell who was who!
The next of my girls was Sarah-Jane who ended up having me as a buddy. I felt so sad for her because all her friends had buddied up with each other. So I offered to do it with her. I laid down the law though - I don't run!! So I did the bike ride. Leading up to the day I was so anxious! I was worried I'd be the only adult riding. And I have a road bike, so I did a practise run a day before so I could know whether I could do it as the course was partly on grass, partly on a road and partly on gravel track. Hence I was rather nervous. After all I was intent on not embarrassing myself! Anyway on the day Sarah-Jane did the first lap of the run and then I took off. I was very pleased to see that I was not the only adult 'buddy'. However I was the only one with a road bike. I did quite well considering I had to stop before crashing into some kids that were bunched up. I have to admit that I felt a bit frustrated with me being rather competitive. I made it back and went to get off the bike but my legs refused to hold me up and had betrayed my unfit body by turning to rubber. I waddled my way to tag SJ using my bike to hold me up. She ran the second lap and I had to meet her at a certain point and then run together to the finish line. I had not recovered! So you can imagine me using SJ to hold me up and look like a drunk running to the finish line. To my complete amazement we came 12th in her particular class!! I will admit that it took me a couple of hours to recover and was able to encourage Emily on her run. I was so proud of all of them! And myself as well. :-)
Well onto the boyfriends! Honestly I now understand why Dad wanted to lock us up until we were adults! We'll start with Emily, she has moved on from liking Ben (He left for Hanmer) and now likes Jayden. I think he likes her as well as she comes home with tales of how Jayden shows off in front of her (Boys!!). Sarah-Jane has a more serious boyfriend. His name is Liam and he can't take his eyes off her!! He even hangs around at playtime even though she is with her girl friends! I've seen (okay, spied) them playing together and he put his arm around her twice!! She's only 7yrs! Hence I have had a "chat" with her highlighting the order to not kiss boys until she's 50yrs old! Somehow I don't think that will be the case! Seriously though I am concerned as Sarah-Jane has something about her that attracts people to her. She is a real beauty. As is the other two but there is just something different with her. Anyway I shall continue to pray and try and let God guide her as He needs to.
Aimee also has a "boyfriend" but in a different way. The boys name is Jackson and they have cottoned onto each other in a seriously cute way. Jackson went to Aussie for a holiday and insisted to His mother that he had to bring back a present for Aimee! Only Aimee - no one else! They also make sure they are next to each other on the mat or lined up. For the duathlon Jackson was upset because He wasn't Aimee's buddy, that was until His mum explained that with the run they could run together, if they were buddies they wouldn't be next to each other. Very cute!
Now the other thing I was going to waffle on about was the girls weekend that Jo and I are having. We leave early (very early due to my misunderstanding of when I had to be at the airport) on Friday 5th Oct and return on Sunday 7th Oct. Jo had to come back to ChCh by 5pm Sunday but we didn't realise that until after I had booked and paid for my tickets. So She leaves Wellington about 4pm and my flight home is not until 9:45pm. Five hours in a strange city all on my own! Can't wait!! I think I'll go to a movie. I'll have to taxi to the airport (I hardly ever get to ride in a taxi!!). We have free accommadation thanks to Jo's Aunty living there. We are going to start off with breakfast at a cafe called La Farre (or something like that) and then we'll maybe do a bit of shopping, Jo's going to show me some cool wee shops that are with character and not the boring Warehouse etc. I'd like to check out what Te Papa's exhibition is. We're going to suss out a movie to do with the film festival and also relax and sleep in! We both are so excited.
I'm still enjoying my correspondence course. I'm just about finished my 6th assignment. The content is getting harder and more intense which of course makes sense. I'm a wee bit behind with having been sick etc but I am going to make up for that as soon as the school holidays are over.
Everyone is well now. Terry and I think I had a seizure while asleep the other night, I woke up with a full on migraine and a very sore tongue. Terry has also come up with bruises that weren't there before. I always get a really intense migraine after a seizure and the times that I've bitten my tongue it was in the same places on both sides. Takes awhile for the tongue to heal, at least I don't eat all the time due to the soreness! It's hard to know though. The doctor tested my medicinal levels and it's smack bang in the middle of the normal range. They want to add another drug, I've had it before and don't like the side effects of increased appetite and bloating. So I've refused to take it. I think I'm getting more use to not driving. I don't feel as angry about it this time. Still frustration but no anger.
Well I'd better go get these girls into bed. It's only Sarah-Jane and Aimee tonight, Em is at Nana's for two nights. Aimee had her turn the other day and SJ has hers next week.
Oh I'm going to scrap the other blog. I don't have the time to do both so don't bother reading the lydieblog. I'm not sure how to delete it so will possibly leave it there.

Long time between blogs!

2007-09-20T13:06:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone! I have the excuse of being unwell for the last few weeks re the time between entries. Aimee has had a really bad dose of the flu. We took her to after-hours because we were scared she had meningitis from the symptoms. I got no sleep for about 2 nights as she was in bed with me. Terry slept on the couch (sports was on anyway. Big sacrifice my foot!!). Unfortunately for me Aimee sneezed on me a few times - once on my face (there's some things only a parent will accept from a child!!), so hence two to three days later I came down with it. I ended up with it worse than Aimee due to lowered immune system. From the flu came bronchitis and another seizure. But that is all behind us now. I am back to being able to study, Aimee is back at school and everyone is healthy. My internet connection is playing up rather badly so I will have to come back and continue on with the latest update which includes duathlons (me involved), boyfriends (girls) and a girls weekend away in two weeks (me & Jo)!
Will carry on this evening I hope, dependent on internet service.

Photo's - finally!

2007-08-22T20:33:00.000+12:00

Well everyone this is going to be a long entry to my blog. There's so much to catch up with! I'll start with the house photo's. Sorry it's been so long, I keep waiting for the house to be tidy but there's never a time of that one! But I have taken the photo's of the outside. I'll download the photo's then do the explainations. Obviously the front of the house is the front (strange that!).

The next photo shows the two windows of the girls bedroom (the sunniest of them all!) and one of our bedroom windows. Photo number 3 is the dining room window on the left and the french doors in the lounge, the deck is quite small but we've got plans for that. The next photo is of the right side of the back yard and the one beside that is the left side of the yard. As you can see we have a rather large back yard! When we first moved in Terry put the trampoline down the back of the yard (close to the swings) but the girls hardly played on it, so the other week Emily and I moved it closer to the house - now they play on it. Emily said that it was too far away from the house!

This is a photo of the vege garden that Terry has started digging. We're going to put potatoes and kumara in there this year and build a higher garden for lettuces etc next to it. We'll raise it high enough to grow carrots in it as well. The soil is quite cloggy so we're looking at getting a rotary hoe.

The photo below the vege one is facing the house. It looked clearer on the camera, our other bedroom window is on the left corner and next is Aimee's bedroom. Then its the bathroom, loo and laundry.

This is a photo of the kitchen towards the back door. As you can see we have a lot of cupboards. Next to the fridge is the hot water cupboard with lots of room for airing clothes, and then the cupboard closest to camera is the pantry. There's a door to the hall on the other side of the fridge.

Our house is quite small considering the size of the property, just over one acre, our lounge is very small for being a lounge. We don't have a lot of room for changing the furniture around which is highly frustrating as we like to change furniture around every so often. I didn't take a photo of the lounge 'cos of all the washing. I know, I know, nobody would mind about that. But I would so that photo will come later. I'm a lot happier with all my books unpacked. I'm getting frustrated because we still have a box in our room with all our wall photos etc in it. Well I think that covers the house. Oh, forgot to mention that we're getting double glazed windows put in and am going to shorten our bedroom window on the south side of the house and re-brick the wall. While we're doing that we'll try squeezing in some pink bats. We've been blessed with having a friends help in installing the windows which is going to save us about $4000.

Now the next thing in the time line is Aimee's birthday. We had a party at Rachael and Neal's. As we were in the middle of moving it made it much easier. If I've told you all this in an earlier blog then just skim past this. I can't remember if I've blogged this. I definately wouldn't have put photo's on - I think! I've included a photo of the fairy outfit that Gran & Poppa sent over from Aussie. She went to church wearing it too!

This is our beautiful 5yr old. She's so grown up now. But she is still an angel when she's sleeping.
This is the fabulous, wonderful cake that Jo made. Aimee loves Strawberry Shortcake.
I will check through the other blog entries whether I've blogged other birthday pics.

Now the next 'big' event has happened very recently. I have been waiting a few months for an operation - Laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, D & C, and insertion of a Mirena. Very routine surgery. I've had it before. It came up for the 16th August (Terry's birthday), so we got to the hospital at 7am, (I am not a morning person - don't think I ever will be), I think we waited about 2 hrs before we went to pre-op. Anyway short story is that I had the surgery and went home a few hrs later. That night I had a look at the incision in my belly button. I saw what looked like a tiny bit of fatty skin. Thought nothing of that. I woke up at 5am with a bit more pain than expected. Again thought nothing of it and took some painkillers. While Terry was taking the girls to school I had another look at the wound. There was a lot more of that fatty looking stuff coming out of the incision. I told Terry to take me to my GP. We saw the nurse first and when she had a look she said "Hmmm, I think I'd better get the doctor." So our doctor came in for a squizz, she said "Oh, I've heard that this could happen but haven't seen it before. You'll have to go back to the hospital." So we arrived at the hospital, eventually we were seen by a lovely doctor who told us that the 'fatty stuff'' was fatty tissue from under the skin. She tried with local anaesthetic to 'poke' it back through. Much to say that Terry had his hand squeezed so tight that I think he would have lost his hand completely. The doctor gave up and bought in the 'big boss' doctor. He walked in and took a look and like so many before him said "Hmm, never saw this before, heard it could happen though. You'll have to go under general anaesthetic to get it sown back in. Its the fatty tissue that protects the bowel. It must of come off during the surgery."
Nobody's fault, just my body doing this really freakish thing that no doctor has seen before!
So I went back under the knife and this time they kept me in for the night. Why is it that you're at the hospital 'cause you're unwell and the nurses never let you sleep the night through! I had a lovely room mate though. An elderly woman called Joan. She warned me before sleeping that she's been said to snore. I told her how use to that I was because my hubby snores too. Well, I haven't heard someone quite so loud as her! I had the Mp3 player up to top volume trying to drown her out with the music. I envisioned myself throwing my pillow at her but it hurt too much to move so I turned the music up even louder! Eventually I did drop off and then awoke with a fright hearing 'Smoke on the water' come on very loud in my ears. I'm really sick of hearing that song as it's one of Terry's favourites. I did drop off again. Till I got woken at 5am by the nurse telling me I had to have an antibiotic and painkillers but had to have something in my tummy. So I find myself dunking a couple of biscuits into a cup of milk at 5am so I could have these tablets! Why they couldn't wait till a more decent hour I don't know. I'm sure the nurses just get bored!!
As for hospital food - let's not go there!
Anyway, I got home just in time for Terry to go to soccer and lovely Jo took the girls to her place so I could get some rest. She even had the two younger girls stay the night with them. Em was picked up by Terry and I was in bed by 7pm that night. It's wednesday and I'm still a bit sore but my 'fatty tissues' are staying where they're meant to and I'm not so tired now. Well that's about that! The girls sound like they're getting colds and I am hoping they're well enough to stay at school till week's end.
This has been a very very long blog so thank you for taking the time to read it. Oh, just about forgot - belated happy birthday Scooter, same to Steve (21st) and Rach (20th).
That's all for now folks.

August already!!

2007-08-04T22:02:00.000+12:00

Wow! Time flies even though you don't do anything except day to day living!
I apologise yet again for not being more up to date with postings.
We haven't been up to much. My last seizure was 2 wks ago. They've upped the meds again and it's a continuing wait for us to see if it works. Waiting is a very trying thing but of course it teaches patience as well. Not that I ever ask for learning that one!
Aimee is doing really well at school, her teacher is wonderful. I've met a Mum of a boy who's in the same class. She happens to live down the road from us and to have epilepsy as well! I have been praying for a while to find a friend who has epilepsy. Someone to be able to relate to each other. Not having to try explaining feelings or the seizures themselves. Hers are a result of head injuries and mine is one that your born with so there's a few differences. She has a daughter 4yrs and a 5mth baby called Jessica. We're both really excited at having found each other.
I have just had a twitch in both legs and that gets me a bit concerned so I'm going to cut this update short and take myself off to bed. Will post this much and finish it another time.

2007-07-21T21:13:00.000+12:00

Tonight Neal is over watching the All Blacks play Australia. The score is 26 - 12 to us with 2minutes to go. I have to confess I haven't been paying any attention to it. I've been putting our budget onto Excel. Thanks to Rach, I now know how to work it. Its actually fun to do it using such an easy software. We have finally been able to sort out all the fluff with WINZ. Which means I can finally work our budget out. Now its just up to us to stick with it! We're not so good at that part! I'm glad to say that we're able to have our pocket money back, which is excellant seen as though I've already spent mine this week! I went to a scrapbook night with Mum Smith and Sue Band. Sue sells Creative Memories now, which I think is better than tupperware. With scrapbooking you use what you buy and need to get more. Tupperware has this wonderful lifetime guarantee! You can have only so much tupperware! And Sue is much more passionate about scrapbooking, and got some really creative ideas. So anyway, last night I've ordered some stickers.
Nothing else really happening for us. Aimee starts attending full school days from monday on. And her best mate Emma is starting in a couple of weeks too. They're not in the same class but I don't think that will dampen anything. Emma is a very outgoing little girl. Aimee is going to Emma's 5th party tomorrow. She wrapped up the gift with a lot of sellotape and I'm hoping Emma will be able to open the card with all the tape on that as well!

On a more serious note. I have talked with my neurologist and she has raised my meds again. Apparently I do have a bit of room to move within the safe levels of the Lamictal. Unfortunately we won't be able to tell if its made any difference until a few weeks. In the mean time I am still not allowed to ride my beautiful bike and of course drive. I am in constant unrest not knowing if I'm going to have a seizure in the next few hours. This is more stressful than anything else we are experiencing at present. I haven't really talked to Terry about how he feels about all this. I know he is worried about me. There's not anything that he can do though. Its funny in an odd sort of way. The health professionals tell me not to stress as this can cause a seizure, but now I'm stressed about having a seizure! I'm not very confident at the moment. I only shower when Terry is home. I don't want to go anywhere unless I'm with someone who already knows about my epilepsy. I dread the thought of having a generalised seizure in a public place. Apparently the body can lose control of the bladder/bowel when having a seizure. Thank the good Lord that that hasn't happened to me.

Well I'd better sign off. I'm tired and its nearly 10pm. I better get this bag o' bones of to bed!

Car troubles

2007-07-19T15:29:00.000+12:00

Well our day trip to Hanmer Springs didn't eventuate. We went to church on the Sunday and when we came out our car wouldn't start. It wasn't a flat battery, we thought it might have been because it was freezing cold that morning. So we walked home intending to go back and try it later. Later came and the car still didn't start. Terry & Kevin ended up towing it to Kevin's and then on Monday morning towing it to the auto electrician. It ended up something to do with the fuel pump or something like that.
Anyway all this meant that we couldn't go on our day trip. Terry went for a game of golf in the afternoon and I took the girls and Jess to the movie Shrek. We went to our local cinema and it was great because it wasn't crowded and the sofa's are so comfy! I enjoyed this Shrek, I wasn't too fussed on the 2nd one.
I had another seizure last night. I'm fine today, just feel a bit sick and headachey. I've been in touch with my neurologist and we're in the beginnings of adding to my current medication. I'll keep you up to date with what comes.
Aimee starts full days at school next week. She's settled in so well. Her best mate Emma is up to her school visits now so the two of them are just about inseperable. Their in different classrooms but I don't think that will be a barrier for them.
Well I'd better get on with stuff. Got a pile of washing to sort and vacuuming to finish. I'm starting to get use to the days without Aimee now. Although I still sit and wonder what I could do, it's so quiet. We have Parent/teacher conferences next week. I find them a bit of a pain in the way that I know the girls are doing well and it is cold and dark in the evenings to go and meet teachers. But I do see the need for them as well. Now I'm just waffling! Catch you all next time.

Another one rocks the boat.

2007-07-05T12:19:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone, hope all are well. Its thursday today and I've had enough of this week - bring on the weekend!! Tuesday morning I woke up to rain. I had a doctors appointment for me and Em. I phoned Daphne for a ride to the doc. She was kind enough to be able to help me. I jumped in the shower with a really strange feeling. Not sure how to explain it, just had a thought that I could have a seizure today. I got out and I remember drying myself, having another thought about how embarrassing it would be to have a seizure when not dressed!! Then I had one. Not that I knew I was having one, just piecing things together afterwards. All I remember is feeling really sick and not understanding why. Apparently I phoned my friend Rosalie a couple of times, she figured something was up when I kept hanging up on her! I had asked her to come get me to take me to the doctor, not remembering I'd phoned Daphne! Apparently I'd phoned Terry as well! Doctor has written a letter to my neurologist for an appointment. We found out my next planned appointment wasn't till November 08. Think I need to see her before then.
Hence I am not allowed to ride my bike again. At least not on the road, thought I might go riding around the school. Wednesday night I found a large bump on my head and a bruise on my back. Not sure what from. I must have fallen in the bathroom, when I came out of the seizure I found myself struggling to get my trackpants on! Bit like Terry when we had SJ, very late night having her at about 2am. By the time Terry got home he was exhausted, in the morning he couldn't work out how to put his pants on and had to phone his Mum!
Back to tuesday: I hung out with Rach till Terry could get home. When he got there Rosalie turned up to take SJ & Aimee to play. Emily ended up getting a migraine and so me and her jumped in my bed and slept for a couple of hours.

I am very blessed to have such caring friends
and family. I'm not sure what it's like for other
people but for me I am overwhelmed with
gratitude that I have so many people I
and my family can call on and trust, people
that don't expect any favours in return apart
from being loved and cared for back.
Thanks goes to our heavenly father loving us.
This yellow rose is used as a sign of friendship. I
give this rose to my wonderful friends and family.

Yesterday (Wednesday), I had to go to the dentist. Big hole in my tooth, big pain too. He told me I could get a root canal and filling for $1100 or take the tooth out and pay $230. Guess which one I chose!! Yep, lost another tooth. So I'm still exhausted today as it takes a couple days to bounce back from a generalised seizure, especially when I had a long absence after it as well. Plus the tooth thing! Much to say I think I'm within my rights to have a doze on the couch today.
We're settled into the house now, apart from hanging up the pictures, the laundry has been finished enough to be usable, we will wait for summer to do the vinyl and painting. We've put sealant on the gib to protect it.
Its meant to snow down to 200m today. The girls want it to snow. I've planned a pyjama day tomorrow too. Next week will be a scrapbook day. I'll think of a couple of other things we can do. We're going up to Hanmer Springs on Monday. We're all looking forward to that...mmm those lovely hot pools. We haven't got a bath in this place.
Well I shall go and get some lunch now.

Our five year old

2007-06-29T12:36:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone. Been a while since I've updated. We've moved house, had birthdays, study, change of employer (for Terry), and of course Aimee starting school. We both did really well at her school visits. And She has done really well with going to school every day. The first week was a bit hard for Aimee and me. The monday she started both Terry and I were there to drop her off. I cried when we left her in the class room. Terry said that she wasn't even crying - I cried harder!! Even now typing this I feel a heavy feeling. I've been looking forward to her going, I've always struggled being an at home Mum. I love the girls to bits and would lay down my life for them, I didn't think I'd find being a mum hard. Anyway, I am sad to have all three at school now. If it weren't for my study I think I'd go a bit insane. I thought I'd have a lot of time on my hands - what a laugh that turned out to be! I'm busier than ever! I have been able to help Rachael with Abigail, I entertain her while Rach gets some of her OCC stuff done. I'd forgotten how much energy it takes with a wee one. I'm glad to play with her, and glad to hand her back!

I'm going to attempt to attach some photos. Bear with me as its been a long time since doing that. Let me know if the photos don't turn out.

This is Aimee all ready for school. I had wanted to take photos on her first day but she wouldn't let me, I made her promise that I could take them the next day. "Nup, no photos today" she said. So here she is on her third day! She got her Strawberry Shortcake bag for her birthday, the tiger she's holding is for being 'star of the day'. She felt very proud of that. She loves her teacher Mrs Wing. She's great with the kids. She now sits on the mat right up the front and just waves goodbye to me. I always leave a bit sad. I'll get over it I'm sure.

Here is her wonderful, beautiful strawberry cake, thanks to Jo for doing that for us. I am useless at cakes unless they're just plain round! And it took a bit of stress of as we were moving the same weekend. Five candles, it took a bit of blowing for them to go out.

She had a few friends over and we played some party games and I had fun because it was simply done and at Rachaels house. Another thankyou to Rach & Neal for that.

now I forgot to turn the photo around, you'll all have to twist your head 'cause I can't work out how to turn it now.

I thought this photo shows just how much concentration it takes to open pressies!

Oops, I've done it again! Sorry about that. Our little girl, now a big five year old. Hard to imagine

that this girl was just a baby five years ago. It's amazing how much they grow and learn in such a short time. Emily only has another three years at primary school before she moves on to high school!

Both Em and SJ are doing really well at school. Em has a couple of boys that like her! She's still so innocent and naive. We're going to try and keep it that way for a long time yet! SJ loves everything girly. She's a natural sporty person but itsn't interested at all. She says it's to much a boys thing! Em is naturally academic, unfortunately she doesn't like maths (takes after me). We're really happy with the school and how it's dealing with the kids.

Terry's settling into working for Uncle Don. It's a lot earlier start - 7:30am, He is so wonderful because when he gets up at 7am he makes me a milo and brings it in for me, helps me wake up. Aimee comes in to sit in bed with me and wants to drink my milo. Usually I'm too sleepy to deny her. Terry's started making Aimer her own milo!

Well I think I'd better go. Meant to be studying. Aimee's home and watching 'The Secret Garden'. The rain hasn't stopped and hopefully the girls don't get home all muddy.

As we still haven't finished the laundry I have to give all our washing to Mum Smith. Between her and Terry we are toting it back and forth.

Blessings to all. Don't forget to leave a comment so I know people are reading it. Its easy to do, just follow the instructions, when signing your name click in the circle next to the word 'other' and type in your name then publish comment.

3 down hopefully no more to go!

2007-06-03T18:59:00.000+12:00

Sorry, no photo's yet. I actually keep forgetting to take the camera! I will try really hard to remember to take it tomorrow. I've just asked the girls to remind me. Sarah-Jane and Emily are doing the dishes and SJ is singing 'My favourite things' from Sound of Music. She has a very good voice. There's good singing voices from both sides of the family so the girls couldn't really miss out.
The title for this post is referring to my third Generalised Seizure (grand mal) in the last 6 wks. I was at Rachael's when it happened. We were walking to her place when I had 3 partial seizures (absences), I had just finished telling Rach about them as she made me a coffee when I had the grand mal. Quite funny really as she thought I was demonstrating one. I of course don't remember anything, I came out of my fog to find myself in the loo feeling very sick, then I must have blanked out again because the next time I 'came to' I was on the couch and a couple of ambulance officers were taking my vitals. I'm not sure of the details. I remember Rach taking me to the doctors and having migraine type stuff happening. I think I phoned Terry and he came from work to pick me up, I can't remember very much. When I got home I slept for about 3 hrs. Its very tiring and I find I'm very confused in my mind about a lot of things, things not necessarily to do with the seizure. It lasts for a couple of days.
Terry's taught Emily how to use my phone to get hold of him. I hate the fact that our nine year old has to learn how to look after me if I have a seizure. I hate that she has to have that responsibility. I even have to make sure the bathroom door is unlocked just in case I have a seizure. I have lost confidence in going out without Terry, I haven't seen a seizure but I know what I do during one and I would be so embarrassed to have one in front of people. I know that I shouldn't worry about that sort of thing but I do. Rach said an interesting thing the other day, she said that now that she's seen me have a generalised seizure that my epilepsy is more real to her. I can relate to that in the same way, for the last 8yrs I haven't had a generalised seizure and was starting to feel like it was gone. Guess I got showed the truth to that one.
I'm not sure what the doc will do. I think she'll refer me back to my neurologist and we'll talk about medication.

The move is going fine at present, except the laundry has turned into a mission. We had thought that we just had to replace the tub and back wall, when Terry pulled it all of today we see that the floor is saturated and we'll have to replace quite a bit of the floor and another wall. But God came through for us with regards to a new supertub. Terry was talking to someone at church and was offered a new one for $100. Isn't God good. Hopefully we can afford a new toilet now. I've been busy cleaning the cupboards and oven. Thanks to Daphne, Sue, Margaret (having the girls), and Kevin, we got most of the garage stuff moved and most of the kitchen cupboards clean. I don't think the tenants ever cleaned the oven! I thought I was bad but at least I clean the ovens before we move out of a house.
This will be our 14th move in our 10yrs of married life. I don't know how many times we moved when I was a child. Only 2 of our moves have been into our own homes. And most of the moves have been in Rangiora and Kaiapoi. No, I'm not going to say this will be the last one!
I better go as the girls are brushing their teeth then its bed time for little Aimee. Her third and last school visit is on thursday. I am of two minds with how I feel about her going to school. I look forward to getting on with my study (which is going really well), and being able to get out for some excersise, (hoping to be allowed to ride my bike again soon) and just being able to keep the home a bit tidier-until the girls get home from school-and the garden too.
Better stop waffling now. God bless

Home owners again

2007-05-30T16:35:00.000+12:00

We are now in possession of our new house, although we haven't got the keys yet. The money has been given over. Its actually quite bizarre, we discovered that the owners live in the house next door. We met them last night for our last inspection. Terry doesn't think anything of it but I feel a bit weird about it.
We are hoping to have take-aways there tonight with the girls, thats if we get the keys on time!
We have a bit of work to do, Terry's going to lay some carpet in one of the bedrooms and the laundry is desperate for an update. The old concrete tub has a crack in it and we think its been leaking for a very long time by the looks of the mould growing!
We have 10 days to be out of our rental so it makes it easier to shift. I'm going to be able to clean up the house a bit, the tenants consisted of a 30yr male, a teenage male and a very skinny teenage female. Not the tidiest people.
The house we've bought is straight across the river and 3 houses down. We live on the corner of Sidey Quay and Cridland st East and our new house is 31 Cridland St West. The girls can still walk to school and get there faster than it would be to drive and we are still close to the Cam river to feed the ducks. My main concern is our 2 cats. We'll have to keep them inside for a while and even then they'll probably return here.
I've packed a few more boxes too and will be able to unpack as we go so it won't be too overwhelming. The house has a heat pump in the lounge and a dishwasher. A huge yard, the section is 1012m.
I definately want to get a new clothesline, a cat door, a freezer and I think thats all for now. Not too much to ask.

Terry played soccer on saturday, unfortunately for him he didn't make it too half time. The girls and I were watching, I was chatting with Jo when we saw someone fall down. I didn't make too much of it until I saw it was Terry and he wasn't getting up. Now I know that its not 'cool' for a mother or a wife to rush out on the field to see what had happened. I said to Jo "Should I go out there and see what's happend, no I probably shouldn't" He didn't get up so I ran onto the field, well I walked very fast, He had rolled his ankle and people heard a crack, its the same ankle that he'd sprained a few weeks ago. The guys carried him off and we tried to work out whether he'd broken anything. Meanwhile Terry's laying there in agony. His Physiotherapist was watching the game so he came over and suggested we get it x-rayed. So into the after hours we went, 4hrs later we got home. 2hrs waiting to see the nurse, 30min waiting for an x-ray, and then an hour before we saw the doctor. There were a lot of other injured sports people there, most of them went through to the doctor then came out with a cast on. We were very happy to see that Terry sprained his ankle rather than breaking it. Later on the soccer team passed on a message through Steve that they'd be able to help us shift if we needed them. Which we don't, we have enough helpers.
Well that's all for now. Terry's home for 10min then off to physio so better go and greet him.

The countdown...

2007-05-21T17:37:00.000+12:00

We are only 9 days from taking over possession of our new house. We're getting excited now, although we can't remember what it looks like on the inside! Terry keeps driving past the house and we can see the packing boxes inside, obviously the tenant has found somewhere.
I'm really slack, I've only packed about 4 boxes! The pictures and the books, oh and some ornaments. We still have boxes at Rachael and Neals from when we were planning to go to the USA.
This is just a quick update as the tea is cooking and we're all hungry as I forgot to feed the girls lunch today, they got off early due to a union meeting so I didn't pack sandwhiches, when they got home they got changed and we went out grocery shopping! No wonder they're hungry!
Catch ya later

An Answered Prayer

2007-05-19T11:40:00.000+12:00

Here is an excellant example of how God works through people of any age, race or religion.

17 May 2007
Rachael phoned me this morning in a panic as she couldn't find her diary to check the times of her appointments. I know the paniced feeling well as this happens to me on a very regular basis. So I prayed with her over the phone, asking the Lord to reveal by either a picture or word that would trigger the memory of where she last put it. We hung up after that so she could continue searching. Meanwhile at home here, Aimee asked me:
"Mum who was that?"
"It was Rachael, she's lost her diary and she needs it to remember what she's doing today." I replied.
With a chuckle and backward glance at me, Aimee said
"Oh mummy its under the bed".
I disregarded what she said as a childs answer for everything that is being looked for as I am always telling them to look under the bed if they've lost something. I was putting my shoes on and could not stop thinking about what Aimee said. I kept dismissing it until finally I phoned Rach with the thought of 'she can do whatever with what Aimee said but at least I'd get some peace'.
On the phone to Rach:
"Rach after I got off the phone Aimee said its under the bed, but I think that's just what she's said because I always told them that."
"I'm just at the bed now" Rach replied, "I can't see it anywhere under there."
"Oh well, I'll let you keep looking" I hung up the phone and continued to get ready for my day.
A couple of minutes later, the phone rings.
"Oh my gosh!! Oh my Gosh!! I'm shaking!!!" Rach was basically talking faster than I've heard her before. "I was flicking the blankets around and reached my hand down under the bed and my hand touched a book and oh my gosh, it was my diary!!!!!!"
My reply "oh my gosh!!! Now I'm shaking!!" Rach then asked me to ask Aimee where Abi's plunket book is. I did ask her but she laughed and said under the pillow! But this time it was just Aimee talking as under her pillow is her favourite hiding place for her 'treasures'.

Isn't God amazing? I look at creation, and the beauty and complex wonders of the world, and I praise God, but I don't tend to expect God to answer prayer so obviously and so innocently through a child-my child. A good reminder to never under estimate God's love and power. And as far as I know Rach still hasn't found the plunket book. I hope this encourages us all to know that God our Father loves us so much that even the littlest things are provided for us. His grace knows no bounds.

Today

2007-05-12T13:13:00.000+12:00

We are still missing the lovely warm (hot) weather of Brisbane. We are also missing Mum & Dad. Aimee has been quite sad with missing her Gran & Poppa. Not sure when we'll get back there, but with the technology we have we can talk and email and eventually when we get broadband we'll be able to use our webcam.
Terry has started working for Don. Its going okay. Change is hard for a lot of people. Not so much for me, I think that has to do with moving around lots. Not that that was a bad thing! I love to know that I had a really special childhood with lots of adventures. Terry has only lived in North Canterbury. Our holiday to Aussie was the first time he has gone outside of NZ. I reckon he found it was fun so I'm sure that bodes well for more travelling!!

I went to the library the other day and got out some books about Epilepsy. One that I'm reading is called "Understanding Epilepsy" by Neil Buchanan. Its such a good book that explains things in a way that's really easy to understand. It's opened my eyes to a few things that I didn't realise. One of them being that I forget stuff all the time, even forget to take my medication sometimes. Its a side effect of having epilepsy. With all the mucked up electricity in my brain it causes short circuits in some areas. Memory being the main one. It sounds like I'm making excuses but I'm serious. I always thought my memory loss was to do with the drugs and alcohol and then having the three girls. When I read about this in my book it clicked with me and explained a lot. Other signs are the physical ones with muscular jerks & twitches. Then there are the seizures that no one sees or realise that they're happening, the few seconds of lost time. Sometimes I feel really dumb when in conversation I suddenly go blank. Its embarrassing too. A lot of epileptics are labelled 'clumsy' and 'spacey'. With a more open society epilepsy is starting to become just as 'normal' as asthma and other diseases. Well I'll leave it at that. Please if you want to know anything about epilepsy leave a question in the comments. just remember to leave your name too.

I have to go now and get ready to go with Terry to watch him play soccer. I better make sure Aimee has shoes on this time. We went to Belfast Warehouse and discovered she had no shoes on! Her answer to this was "I didn't hear you tell me to put shoes on". She didn't hear me cause I didn't tell her too! I thought she would have known to put them on herself! Obviously I need to remember she has only been on this earth 5yrs!
Cheers for now.

Home again, home again, jifferty jiff

2007-05-05T20:25:00.000+12:00

We arrived home about 11:30pm on the 29th April. From 29 degrees to 9 degrees is a bit of a shock to the system! In fact its just not good at all! We are re-climatising again. We do feel for the Aussie's going through the drought, we came home to 4 days of rain.

We had a wonderful time, already miss Mum & Dad. We can now imagine them having breakfast out on the patio, listening to the birds, watching the ants.

On the Friday, Dad took us to Alma Park Zoo. It was a lot like Willow Bank where we could feed certain animals. Terry took a very strong aversion to the reptiles and didn't appreciate one of the rangers mentioning the several wild snakes around the park. I'll insert some photo's of different bits and pieces. I'll put some up of Sea World too. This first photo is of a Dugong. Part cow and part seal. Its so ugly its cute! This is the Polar Bear that I fell in love with. Terry let me buy a soft cuddly toy of it. Aimee loved the animals at the zoo. She made friends with a joey. The other girls were a little shy.The lorikeets were beautiful. I was taking these photos with them just an arms length away.The dolphin show was our highlight at Sea World. I didn't get many good photos as the camera was too slow. But this was one that shows how high the dolphins were getting! Awesome show.

We saw so much and did so much that I can't share it all. We would recommend Sea World, not so enamoured with the zoo but it was a good small size for us to go round with the girls when we were tired and at the end of our week. It was also the most reasonably priced.

Some other news we can now share is that we now own another house. We went unconditional on a place the day before we left for Aussie. Its a three bedroom, brick, with huge section. We take possession 30th May. Its not far from where we're living actually. I keep saying that we could build a bridge over the Cam river opposite us and then wheelbarrow our stuff 3 houses down! Admittedly we have been under stress. I shared in my last entry about having my Grand Mal seizure at Easter. Well the Wednesday 2nd May I had another Grand Mal. About 10pm I had been brushing my teeth. Thats the last I remember then I woke to Terry comforting me and Mum Smith there helping too. This time we didn't need an Ambulance but I was very sick for awhile afterwards. Terry is so fantastic. He put his own stress aside and supported me, even holding the sick bowl for me and cleaning up. His Mum is great too, coming at that time of night, I'm so grateful that Terry has been there both times (all 3 counting the one 8 yrs ago). On Wednesday night Emily & Sarah-Jane were awake and saw me having the seizure. Freaked them out a bit, but I guess its good that they have seen it now and if it happens again they may not freak out so much. My doctor is still trying to get hold of my neurologist and so I haven't been able to do anything medication wise till they both talk. In the mean time I'm not allowed to drive (we knew that one), go for bike rides or swim unattended. Really sucks. Well that is about that I think. Enjoy the photos and keep healthy.

Aussie Land

2007-04-27T00:36:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone. Again apologies for taking a while with an update. Well, Easter has come and gone, with the art hunt over. It was so well done this year- congrats to Jo and everyone else who helped. Wonderful experience. see Jo's blog for photos etc www.joonajourney.blogspot.com .

We are currently in Australia for a weeks holiday. We have been here since Saturday 21st and go home on Sunday 29th. We're staying at my Mum & Dads in Brisbane. Its very hot here, although the locals are feeling a bit chilly due to it being Autumn here (Wooses!). They are selling winter wear in the shops, stuff like woollen jerseys and polar fleece stuff! We are of course wearing as little as decency allows! I shall give a timetable of each day we are here.

Saturday:
Arrival. A very early departure: 4:30am to check in at 5:15am! The girls did really well.
We were early with our flight but had to wait on a runway for about 15 minutes for a gate to come free. I was just starting to get seriously claustraphobic when we started moving again. I'm fine when the plane is moving but stopping and sitting there is not so good. We spent a few minutes hugging Mum & Dad then off home to have a lazy day to adjust to time difference and hotter temperatures.

Sunday:
Went to Carrara Markets. Shoppers Paradise! For those that know the Riccarton Market in ChCh - twice the size!! Of course I did stop at the Bead stall. The market area is actually a permanent one, so most of the stalls are in wee shelters. We left there to go to a beach at Surfers - Broad Beach. First we had to go to a mall called Pacific Fair-must have been bigger than the area of Pines Beach, maybe slightly bigger! I had left my togs at home so had to buy some. We started in the 'cheaper' shops such as K-mart, Target and another one. No togs, just winter wear! One shop that sold togs sold them for around $210.00. Much to say we walked out of there empty handed! Finally found some in Rebel Sport! So off to the beach. The only ones swimming were Kiwi's and Poms. The locals are of course to cold! We swam in the shark pool (got a net around it to keep the sharks out!) later that night on the news we saw an article warning that sharks had been seen around the Surfers paradise beaches! gotta be glad for those nets!

Monday:
Mum had to work, so Dad took us to a mall called Churnside. About 3 times the size of Riccarton Mall! NO EXAGGERATION!! We saw about half of it in about 5 hrs. Found a beaut craft shop though!

Tuesday:
Mum & Dad took us on the train to the CBD (Central Business District), walked through ANZAC Square. Where My sandal decided to break, henceforth it was on the hunt for a shoe shop that sold shoes for a decent price, took us awhile to find one! Its very embarrassing to enter a shop and be asked by a snooty posh shop assistant if she can be of help. I asked where the shoes were and looking down at my bare feet she proceeded to say "I presume you mean the Ladies shoes?" Mum & I had a laugh over that one!
We caught a bus to the wharf on Brisbane River and rode the River Cat Ferry up the river as far as it goes. Very enjoyable!

Wednesday (ANZAC Day):
We went down to the Gold Coast to see my sister Melanie and her family. Lovely home with an even lovlier pool! We stayed there swimming, eating, drinking, eating and more swimming! Great Pizza from their Big John's Pizza (I think thats the name of their shop, sorry Mel if its wrong. Leave a comment to rectify). Home again, Home again, Jifferty Jiff.

Thursday:
Where do I start? Sea World. Love it!! Anyone going to Brisbane or there abouts, head down to Gold Coast to see the Sea World. Great for all ages, especially the little ones. Heaps of rides for them. I have so many things to say about it. I'll have to do that as a seperate entry with some photos.

Friday:
We are off to the Brisbane Zoo.
Terry & I are off to the Sun Corp Stadium to watch a Bronco's vs Storm rugby league game.

Saturday:
Going to catch the train and boat to the Museum.

Sunday:
A relaxing day at a beach with a picnic lunch. Then off to the airport ready to depart at 6:30pm to home, arriving about 11:30pm.

I'll give more details when we get home.

Life and its twists!

2007-04-10T18:44:00.000+12:00

Its been a while since I've updated. I am constantly amazed at how fast time goes by. And yet some days it seems every minute drags on and on. Today (10th April) has been a rush. But I guess I need to start with why it was that way. Which means I have to back track to thursday last week...

Terry was home from work with a badly sprained ankle. I had just put my lunch into the microwave to heat up, and that's all I remember. The next thing I know I am lying on the lounge floor with Terry telling me to lie still the ambulance is on its way. I remember thinking that he's having a joke with me. Then I realised where I was but couldn't remember why or how or anything else. Panic set in and Terry had to calm me down. He was so fantastic. My rock! He was so calm and comforting. He answered my questions over and over. The ambulance guys were so great too. I can't really remember much about it. Aimee took it all in her stride, bit worried about me. She wanted to go with me in the ambulance but Terry convinced her to stay with him. I think the ambulance officer convinced her too. I stayed in the A & E for about 4 hrs. And of course I'm not allowed to drive again. This is what gets me so frustrated!! I have been taking my medication, trying to avoid tiredness and stress are a bit harder, but definately haven't been drinking too much either. So we don't know why. Obviously it's something we'll never have the answers to.
I am still not quite with it. I'm finding it difficult to get some of my speech out. And my memory is very bad at the moment too. Yeah, I know its always bad but at the moment its extra bad. Only in the very short term. I'll find that I'm repeating myself etc. Multi tasking is a bit tough at the moment too. I'm positive that its all going to right itself in the next day or two.

Well back to today and why it was so rushed. Jo was a real blessing for me, she came and took me to drop Aimee at Rainbow Preschool and then up to Rangiora for my Why Weight course, looked after Sarah-Jane, then picked me up and back to Kaiapoi. I forgot to get lunch today as I had to go and look at a house for sale. Sorry can't give out any more info on that subject at this stage.

I have started a Book Editing, Proofreading & Publishing course, run through the NZIBS. Its fully correspondence and usually goes for a year (up to individuals and how much time they put into it). I get a diploma at the end of it (provided I pass) and its recognised in NZ & Aussie. The internet is making this industry very lucrative. And its what I love doing too. Part of my homework is to double my reading time. Hmmm, sounds like something I could manage! Poor Terry, I'm not sure he knows what he's in for!

I better sign off now. Emily has stayed at Nana's last night and is in desperate need of an early night. Aimee is on chocolate high (been that way since Friday), and Sarah-Jane is just being herself. Actually she's been quite well behaved today. Anyway gotta go get them sorted.

America Update

2007-03-20T20:02:00.000+12:00

Here's the news everyone has been waiting for. Will we go or will we stay?
After a long time of weighing up all the pros and cons, we have decided not to go to the States at this time. We don't know if it will happen another year but at this stage its a no go. Without going into details we calculated what we'd need to survive the daily grind of living expenses and weren't able to balance the figures. With my medical history of Epilepsy I need to have health insurance which is rather expensive for an American Citizen let alone a non citizen. Yes we're a bit disappointed and feeling slightly foolish after saying that we're going. But wisdom prevails and we stay.
We do have a couple of other plans up the pipeline. One of them is actually happening for me. I am starting a Book Editing, Proofreading & Publishing course. This will provide me with a diploma and is NZQA, (whatever that means). It is recognised in NZ & Aussie. The course is a 6 - 12 mth one but depending on circumstances it is possible to do over 2 yrs. I wont need that long though.
Our close friends Scott and Rayminda came for a holiday from Eureka, Montana. They have been the 'go betweens' with our plans to move over there. It was so great to catch up. We were kinda hoping that we weren't going to have to say a proper goodbye, thinking that we'd see them in a few months. After a fun dinner together with Rach & Neal, we said our goodbyes and I have to admit, I wasn't feeling that happy for awhile after that. I'm not sure whether the dishes got washed with dishwater or my tears. I do hate goodbyes. We had such a cool time with you guys (Ray & Scott), I'm stoked that we got to spend the time we did together. Great how all the girls got on too. Cool to see that tape you made of Eureka and its unique youth group.:-) Which we still have by the way. You left it on top of our t.v. We shall work out how to get it too you.
Aimee is starting school at the start of June. Not far away eh!! Scary!!
Emily had her birthday on the 17th March. We went out to Woodpeckers on the friday night, nice food. Loud. Lots of kids. Figures seen as though its a family restaurant!:-)
We even saw another family that has a kid at the same school as the girls. The saturday was actually her birthday. Terry & I took her out shopping. Her face lit up when we went into a bike shop. We'd been teasing her about taking her shopping for fruit and veg! She thought we were taking her to buy some lollies! It took 3 shops before we found the right bike. She's over the moon, she had her bike stolen soon after we moved in here. It was really old and rusty so we didn't file a claim, but then we didn't want to buy her a new one if we were going over seas. At the same shop I got my birthday present (an early one I know). For me we got a Sara Ulmer road bike. Its really light and so easy and comfy to ride. Albeit I haven't had the chance to go for a proper ride. We took the girls down to the school grounds to ride so I tried it out there.
Well I think thats all the news for now. Remember to leave a comment.

Having fun in the sun!!

2007-03-11T21:05:00.000+13:00

Sorry guys and gals. Haven't updated for a while. We're now enjoying some summer. The Church camp was on this weekend at Eyre Lodge. Beaut weather. We didn't stay out there but went for the afternoon. The guys have been challenged to a soccer game by Parklands Baptist. They (Kaiapoi Baptist) had a practise out at camp. Quite a few came back with rather red faces. Sadly one of the men lost a necklace that was his late wifes. Most of the people at camp formed a long line of searchers. Sort of felt like I was a CSI agent! It was found but at the swimming pool. Its such a relief to have it found.
We attended the church service out there today. Again a beautiful hot day. After church we went to the Swannanoa Fair. Man! Huge! The girls got to buy a pretty glittery magnet/window thing. Sarah-Jane & Aimee chose a ballet dancer and Emily got a butterfly. All three went on the bouncy castle, Me and Em went on a ride that whirled within a whirl. Dont know what its called but it was fun. Terry went on with Sarah-Jane but she wasn't too keen on it. Aimee and Sarah-jane had a pony ride. They loved it! I actually thought that Aimee would chicken out but no she was a real natural. SJ's face absolutely lit up. Terry took Em to a pirate ship slide. It was worth the sunburn on my shoulders. We had friends that had a stall there so we cruised out with them (and used their sunscreen for the girls).
The girls are doing well in school. Settled into their classes and enjoying the teachers they have this year. Its so amazing to think that Emily is in yr 5. She's getting so grown up. Our friend Rach told us about a writing competition so Em is writing a story. Entry has to be in by the end of March. She's doing really well.
Sarah-Jane is still a real girly girl. Loves her cuddles. She's settling down a lot better now that I sing a song to her at bedtime. What can I say? I'm brilliant!! :-)
Aimee is so full on! She is getting good at making up excuses to not get into bed! But she is so cute. She fell over today and I put a bandaid on, well at bedtime she comes through and does this wee act about her knee hurting. I got up gave her medicine and then sternly said "Now Get To Bed" Of she runs with a wee giggle that I interpret to be "ha ha mum I played you!".
Any way I've probably waffled on a bit too much. That's what happens when I do my blog while I watch CSI and Jericho.
Hope you are all well. Remember to leave a comment so I know that you're alive.

Nearly March!!

2007-02-26T19:43:00.000+13:00

I can't believe how fast the year is going. Our little girl turned seven on the 23rd february. Sarah-Jane is such a young lady now. The more she grows up the more beautiful she gets. I think she knows it too. We went to Burger King for her tea. Her friend Courtney came with us as did Nana, Jo & Beky. I didn't take any photos. It took everything I had to remember what to order for 5 hungry children!!
We've just had a busy weekend. I had an all day scrapbooking workshop on Saturday. It was through Creative Memories which is not the same style as mine. But it was great to get a few pages done with other ladies. Seeing all the different ideas was really inspiring. That was from 10am - 4pm. Then that evening we had a 40th to go to. It was great fun. We didn't know anyone else but with a couple of wines (beer for Terry) we were able to have a bit of confidence to meet others. Our wonderful Mum, Margaret, stayed the night so we could have a night out. On Sunday we went to Church then was settling in to blob for the afternoon to get over our late night (1am in the morning is very late for us oldies!). But we ended up having visitors. Ironically the house was a mess, whenever the house is tidy no one visits!! But like Max pointed out (after my apologies for messy house) if people come and look at the house and judge then they're not real friends. So we had a lovely visit and an early night!
Sue (Terry's sister) is now signed up as a Creative Memories consultant. I'll be having a scrapbooking party on the 10th March. If anyone wants to come phone me and I'll give you details.
I had to keep Emily at home today. She's not been able to get to sleep till 10pm, sometimes later. I took her to the Doctor today and we have discovered she has Nasal Pollyps, Same as terry. Doc gave us some spray for her and a sleeping medicine to see if we can break the sleep cycle. Terry & I changed the kids around today. Emily now is in Aimee's old room and Aimee is sharing with Sarah-Jane. Its 8:10pm and there's no sign of sleep from either bedroom. I'll give them till 8:30pm then put my growley voice to action. We've had a lot of battles with getting the girls to go to sleep. No matter what we do we can't get them to understand the need for sleep. It's so frustrating. I'm pleased to say that Aimee is now having dry nights although I have had to take her to the toilet when I go to bed. We're hoping that being closer to the toiled will get her to wake up and take herself.
Terry is out enjoying his last game of golf before His membership runs out. Its been 31 degrees C. here today. A Southerly is now coming through. Although I am still in singlet and shorts.
Our friends from America are over on holiday, well they're in Aussie at the moment but will be back on the 3rd march, so we'll catch up with them and see how/if things are progressing over there. If we don't end up going we have got about 3 options that we can do if we stay here. At this stage none of them are to move to Aussie. Sorry family that live there. After 31 deegrees today we don't do well in the heat! Any way we will keep you all in suspense until we decide what we want to do. We have decided to make a decision and after that let people know what we are going to do. I know most of you know of the options we have but we'll decide on one and then let you all know. Hope that makes sense. Well I better go and discipline my daughter (Aimee), its weird to think that she'll be 5 in 3mths! What will I do with myself??? Okay I can think of a few things eg scrapbooking, sleeping, reading, excersise, maybe a part time job, journalling, so many choices. Hope you all noticed I did not say house-work.
I'll leave you with that one.

Classical Sparks

2007-02-07T21:31:00.000+13:00

Monday Night Jo and I went to Classical Sparks in the Park. For those in another country it was the 5th February. The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra played beautifully, the brass band was cool with a few dance steps thrown in there. The highlight was Dave Dobbyn. Oh before he came on the Crusaders horses and team came through, I was at the time in a queue for the loo. I was 2nd in line after a 20 minute wait so I wasn't about to go and watch them. When I started waiting in line for the loo, it was dusk. When I went to find my way back to our seat I found it had got quite a bit darker! I found the approximate area of where we were sitting but couldn't see anything. A friend of mine however did find me (not the one I was sitting with). So I txt Jo to say I'm catching up with a friend for a moment. After that moment I went to find our seats. Hmmm. Harder than I thought. Being dark its hard to discern who's who in a crowd of a few thousand! I was standing beside a little girl waving a blue light stick. I asked her to keep waving so I could tell my friend where I was so she could tell me where she was. The darling little girl replied
"You could always go to the lost parents tent"
Cute!!
Anyway I didn't get a reply from Jo so I thanked the girl and her family and went awandering.
A few feet later I saw a family that were sitting in front of us. Turned around and lo and behold...
Our chairs!!
Except no Jo! I sat down and rather worried tried txting her and phoning her. No answer. So I waited...waited...waited. Jo came back. She couldn't wait any further for the loo. And her phone went flat. So we settled back down and enjoyed Dave Dobbyn. Great singer!!
The fireworks at the end were awesome! Looked close enough to touch and looked like we were going through hyperdrive on starwars at times. Fantastic and worth the headache I got later on that night. (Flashing lights don't go well with epilepsy).
Well the night ended and we got home safe and sound. Very tired the next day though. It was a late night by the time we got through traffic.

So that was our evening out.

Terry's Mum is enjoying a computer and the internet now. I'm helping her learn how to work it all and surf the net. I think we're both enjoying it. She's patient with my teaching so that's helpful. So Mum S. welcome to the internet!!

End of Holidays!!!

2007-02-01T19:35:00.000+13:00

6 sleeps to go! The girls start next wednesday at school. We've been busy today covering their excercise books. Brought back memories of a time when I had to cover my books. I shared with the girls how I loved to start the year with new books, new teacher, new friends. Unfortunately it was a different story for high school.
It's hitting me already that I'm turning 32 in march! I still feel 25yrs most days. Okay I'm feeling my age a lot more now but I hope to change that with my cycling & swimming!
I took the girls to Spencer Park yesterday (thursday), we had so much fun. I took a friend of Sarah-Janes and we had Nana there too. I took some great photos, I'll try to add a couple to this entry.

We still have Aimee coming into our bed at night. We're exhausted! I'm in the process of bribing her to stay in her own bed and she'll get a reward in the morning. Hasn't worked yet. I don't want to put her back in bed only to have her scream the household awake. I'm hoping she'll grow out of it by next week!! Yes I know Mum, I use to get into your bed when I was little. But I don't any more!! I think we're all glad of that! :-)

2007-01-22T13:52:00.000+13:00

I've been slack in keeping up to date with our family happenings. But with the Christmas and New Year holidays fading into the past, I'm hoping to publish more often on the blog. Hopefully people are still reading it! Are you? Is anyone out there? Please do comment as then I know this is worthwhile. Even if its just a hi back or some news of your own that you'd like to share with us.

We had a lovely holiday in Fielding a couple of weeks ago. For those that don't know its about 10 minutes out of Palmerston North in the North Island. We have friends that moved up there to be closer to their family. They have a big house that use to be a back packers. So you can imagine how many rooms it has! 13! The girls loved seeing the Chisholm kids as they have three the same ages as our girls. Sarah-Jane has known Henry since birth and they've been best mates since then. Aimee has wee Rose that is similar in age. Rose turns 3 soon. They were very shy of each other for the first few days then became inseperable on the last 2 days we were there! Pity they didn't befriend each other sooner. Emily has Lael to play with and have known each other for 7 yrs. We had a lovely time with the weather being the best its been for ages. Of course its because we were there!!
I was highly disappointed that we didn't see any dolphins on both trips on the ferry. I basically kept up a vigil to see them. I could have been relaxing in the warm! But driving down through Kaikoura we saw some dolphins out at see. They looked like little black jelly beans from the distance we saw them but that's cool. At least we finally saw them. Terry even graciously stopped so we could watch them.

As usual with holidays we came home on a low. Back to real life and real budget! Since returning we haven't done anything exciting and the weather hasn't been that great either. Did you hear that its snowed in California!!! That is freaky as they don't have winters.

Some sad news for us is that the day after we returned we got the news that a friend had died of cancer. She went very peacefully and in the arms of her husband. The memorial was beautiful. She had arranged her own service and asked that everyone bring a flower. So there were hundreds of flowers as some bought more than one. Well Jo I can't wait to catch up with you in heaven.

Thats all the news so far. Aimee has attached herself to my arm crying and whinging for food (I obviously starve her). I better go. Thanks to Terry's Mum having her stay for a night I had a decent nights sleep.

Love to all.
Lydia.

The Aftermath

2006-12-28T14:53:00.000+13:00

Christmas is once again over. Its bizarre how we all rush around for the month or so (if you're organised) and buy gifts and food ready for the day. Then in one day its all over. Presents are given and recieved, food eaten (as much as one can fit in anyway).
I always feel a bit cheated on boxing day, as if there should have been more for all the preparation done.
But this year we had quite a cruisey day. We went to church in the morning (arriving half hour early, that's how keen we are! OK we got the wrong time and I could have had breakfast after all), then home to gather food and gifts, lunch at Terry's sister's. With the traditional ham and turkey and vege's. Great food. Even greater pudding! Lovely gifts. Leaving there around 5pm and home to phone my sister's in Brisbane to talk to my family. Girls in bed. Snuggled in front of christmas movie and then bed. A nice relaxed christmas.
We hope you have also had a relaxed christmas.
We take off to Feilding on the 3rd January. I can't wait! We're looking forward to meeting wee Katie who we haven't seen yet. She must be about 6mths old now.
Anyone outside of Canterbury, perhaps even NZ, wouldn't know that we haven't really started our summer yet. Its been raining and cold leading up to Xmas day and now yesterday and today are the first days of sunny weather we've seen.
At the moment I am watching 4 girls doing "ballet" to the DVD "Twelve Dancing Princesses". Very adorable. Beky is here for the day and they are wearing pink skirts and Aimee and Beky are in princess dress ups.
Well I'd better go. We are going to friends for a bbq tea and I have to suss out our meat. NZ summers - are all about bbq's with friends.

Glad tidings to all

2006-12-23T20:55:00.000+13:00

To all that visit this blog ... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Smith Family.
Please remember why we have Christmas. Happy birthday Jesus. I am aware that technically its not his birth date. But Jesus is still the reason for the season.
Its hard to believe the year has gone so quick. When I reflect over the year, the girls have grown so much, Terry and I have continued to grow together, We've sold our house and moved. We have a job in America. So much other things have happened. In my mind is the change in me. The growth that has happened in my own life, spiritually and mentally.
Well people, enjoy your christmas celebrations.

Christmas again already!!

2006-12-12T19:49:00.000+13:00

Our girls are like all other children at this time of year. Tired, grumpy and restless. We have started a family tradition of putting our christmas tree up on the 1st December. In previous years, I hate to admit, I have allowed the girls to decorate the tree but once they are abed, I would go and "tidy" the tree up. Ok, there's no sugar coating so I better 'fess up. I changed the whole lot of the decorations to how I would like it. My defense to Terry was that "they are to young to know how to decorate it properly". Each time he would just make that sound of "mmhmm".

Well good news everyone! I didn't change a thing this year!! Instead I was busy behind the lense of my camera. I did however add a few dec's up above their reach. Only a few I swear!

The girls had a wonderful time. We had heaps of decorations this year as Mum & Dad left their decorations for me to sell in our garage sale. They surprisingly didn't sell, so taking advantage of the situation I thought 'why not?' Cheers Mum and Dad.

This weekend we are having our 5yr tradition of getting together with Steve, Jo, Beky and Neal, Rach and Abi for a christmas dinner. It's Abigail's first christmas so its very cool having her with us this yr. Of course she loves me to bits and smiles every time!

Our 4 wee baby kittens are starting to open their eyes, very cute. Tiggy has kept trying to take them out of the laundry and hide them somewhere else. So far we have found them in Emily's drawers, Aimee's bed (at night so we had to turn on the light when aimee was asleep), the dress-ups barrel and my wardrobe. If she can't get all 4 there she will often just take one. Then the hunt is on! I have figured out that if I put a kitten in the middle of the hall and shut the laundry door, Tiggy will take the kitten to where she's hidden the others.

Jo, Steve and Beky are of in Wanaka for a holiday, live it up guys, you'll be coming back to christmas mayhem! We are going up to Fielding, Nth Island for a week after New Year. We'll be catching up with the Chisholm's, where we'll be able to totally relax. I'm so looking forward to it.

Well, Merry Christmas to all and safe holidays.

God Bless

New Kittens

2006-12-05T18:47:00.000+13:00

A couple of days before December, our cat , Tiggy, had 4 beautiful kittens. I was very surprised as I didn't think she was due till mid December. About 7am Emily came through and said " Mum, Tiggy bought a rat onto my bed." Well being the only one to handle the 'presents' the cats bring in, I got out of bed and went to the rescue. I saw this wet looking thing and realised that this was the first kitten.

"No Em, this isn't a rat, Tiggy's having her babies." I said.

Right then we watched her give birth to her 2nd kitten. I woke up Sarah-Jane and we watched her birth her third. I told the girls to go tell Dad, his answer was "mmmm" then he was back to sleep. 10 minutes later she had her 4th. I'm glad she's only had 4 as she is only a year old. Tiggy is a great mum. Emily's had to sleep in Aimee's top bunk as we couldn't shift Tiggy of her bed. I've just shifted them into the laundry yesterday. I had to take the birth sheet into the box as well. Sometimes when the door has been left open for her she's tried shifting the kittens back to the bedroom. So far I've found her with a kitten in the girls top wardrobe in a sleeping bag, and in one of Emily's drawers! I think she likes Em. I've been able to retrieve the kitten and put both mum and baby back in the laundry. I have added in another photo and hope this shows up now. I haven't a clue how to delete the one that didn't show so the square is still there.

2006-12-05T14:28:00.000+13:00

This is a family photo we had taken a few months ago at a school fundraiser. Its the best photo we've had done.

Settling down

2006-11-25T23:59:00.000+13:00

I am happy to say that we are settling into our new home ok. Still have boxes to unpack but managed to get the girls to unpack their room, and thanks to Aunty Sue, Sarah-Jane now has her clothes in drawers not a suitcase.
We are finding it a lot smaller. The house is a normal size and the ceilings are the normal height, but after living for 3yrs in a house with big rooms and high ceilings it takes a bit to get use to. We keep feeling like we need to duck our heads.
Jo (our friend) is very very very happy to be in Auckland for the U2 concert. I tried to convince her to take me as her bodyguard/ladies maid, but alas she didn't take up the offer. Of course it could have been because she'd have to pay my way! Glad your having fun Jo.
I had a bad experience with a plant pot tonight. I got my finger stuck in one of the holes in the bottom. Stop laughing, it's serious! Ok I guess it was quite funny, Terry found it very funny. At the time however I was rather worried I was going to lose my finger. I did lose feeling in it for awhile, and now it feels bruised. How? do you ask did I manage to get my finger stuck? Well a saucer was stuck inside at the bottom, I wanted it out so I could use the pot. So I poked it with my finger from the bottom outside. I didn't realise my finger was going to "pop" into the pot as well! Any way, terry managed to retrieve the bottle of liquid soap and proceeded to try and help me out of the predicament. Ok now you can laugh.

The New House

2006-11-19T21:57:00.000+13:00

We are now in our new house. Its a bit smaller than we're use to, but I do feel at peace here. There's hardly any traffic and the girls discovered kids from school just around the corner. We still have heaps to sort out. Mostly the bedrooms now. We do miss the old house but so far we haven't pulled in the drive forgetting that we've moved. (We've done that in another house or two that we lived in.).
We both had had a very stressed day and became a tad grumpy with each other, (maybe a bit more than a tad!). That day I had taken a load over to Sidey Quay (our new address) and proceeded to lock the car key (our only one) in the car along with the bond cheque. With the Landlord there waiting for the money he had no choice but to use his AA membership. Well that prob was solved.
Next one... I drove off to the journalling course after picking up Leigh and Jo, got 3/4 way there and get a ph call from Terry "Where are the house keys to move the stuff in?" my response...
"dolt!!!" Yes. I had done the deed of forgetting to leave the guys the house keys. So after dropping Leigh and Jo off I headed back to meet Terry half way. That prob solved.
After a tiring day I came home to an empty of furniture house. The girls were on mattresses, but in search of my own I discovered the helping hands got a bit too enthusiastic. I had no bed!!
We ended up with me on a single mattress at the old house and Terry sleeping at the new house on our bed. Much to say I had a bad nights sleep.
I would like to say a big Thankyou to the Men's group that Terry attends for helping shift everything on the Thursday evening, I am so grateful as it rained on Friday and has ever since. Good for us bad for the new owners who shifted in the rain.

Anniversary details!!

2006-11-12T20:05:00.000+13:00

I just remembered I was meant to tell about our Anniversary weekend...
It was a Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the birds singing. Terry took Sarah-Jane to swimming lessons, when He returned, the car was packed (only took me 10min to figure out that his golf trundler dosen't fold like mine!!), the tank full, the chilly bin full of treats. We were off... I allowed him to drive through Christchurch to the south bound highway. He reacted negatively to the suggestion of me blindfolding him, (plead it would cause travel sickness). He had actually guessed right numerous times during the week. We went to..........ASH VEGAS!!!! Oh for those out of towners its Ashburton! An hours drive south of CHCH. We stayed at the Regency Motel. Nice place. Average Motel. I have to admit we regretted not taking our own pillows! We played a wonderful game of golf in the late afternoon. Ashburton just happened to be the hottest place to be in the south island! I played 9 holes - refused to count my strokes! I was much happier that way. I'm too much of a perfectionist (ta Dad!). Terry had a great game, scoring an eagle on a par 5. We had subway for tea and hung out at the motel for the evening, just cruising out enjoying the quiet. We travelled back (Terry drove) through Methven and Rakaia Gorge. We have decided to treat ourselves to staying in the Methven Resort next time. A great weekend!! And Terry loved being surprised.

2006-11-12T19:51:00.000+13:00

Well, Its only 5 days and we leave this wonderful house. I'm really going to miss it. We have decided that however unlikely that the States falls through ( as I said, very unlikely), we still don't regret selling. This is a 1920's villa, and does require a high maintainence. We don't have the finances and frankly aren't the sort of people to hang around every weekend at home fixing stuff and tidying the gardens etc. That insight came after we bought the house. We are a family that love to have a social life and meet new people and host spontaneous bbq's and visit friends and family, so you see that we really can't fit the house stuff into our schedule. When I have the days at home I am more likely to play with the kids or read a book, on the computer, scrapbook etc.
So back to the subject at hand... Packing!! That stage doesn't really phase me, nor the unpacking, but what gets to me is getting use to a new layout, new night noises. There's nothing worse than stumbling half asleep to the toilet in the pitch black and ending up in a hall cupboard and trying to work out who moved the loo!!
We are excited of the prospect of a different house. Me being a gypsy at heart (Dad, Mum fault, shifting us all over Aussie/NZ), I get itchy feet after being a couple of years in one house. We've lived here for 31/2 yrs now. A record!!
I shall let you all know how the move goes - please remember me in your thoughts should you be using the loo in the middle of the night!!!

Happy Anniversary to us

2006-11-02T15:32:00.000+13:00

Its coming up our tenth wedding anniversary. Ten yrs!! It dosen't seem that long. I can think back and remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. Even the point where Terry was meant to say "I do", he hesitated. Well He claims it was because he couldn't remember what to say!! But He has stuck with me through better and worse, through sickness and health. We have 3 beautiful, well adjusted girls. There's so much to be grateful for. Too many to list. But there is many a day when I grumble and whine to God just like the Isrealites did those many many yrs ago. At least I know I'm not the first one eh!
I have organised a night away with Terry. I haven't told him where we're going or what we're doing. I've hinted by saying we're heading southish from Christchurch and we need to take our golf clubs. I'll let you know how it goes!

Big Changes

2006-10-30T19:52:00.000+13:00

Most of you know that we are in the process of obtaining an American work visa. Terry has accepted a job offer in Eureka, Montana. Our close friends over, Scott & Ray Linton, have been able to help this opportunity become a reality. For the last 4yrs we as a family has had a lot of 'stuff' going on, the good, the bad and the ugly. So when this change was suggested we jumped at the idea and have prayed that God would lead us. Well we have so many miracles that God has done for us to open the doors, that we no longer question that we are heading down the right track.
For starters, we had to have finances to get over there and we decided that selling the house was the right step for us. 6hrs before signing with a real estate agency, we got a private offer on the house that we have accepted. Saving us around $12,000. It was subject to the buyers selling their house which we gave them 6 wks. Approximately 90 hrs after listing their house on the market it sold. So that was that and we started packing.
We thought we would buy an investment property to rent out while we were away. That door was closed to us quite firmly, so the search was on for a rental. We (well I) went into a bit of a panic as we hadn't found anywhere suitable. Plus being short term tenants makes it harder. Terry went off to Men's group and phoned me saying a guy (Neville) said a co-worker had just posted a note at work asking for tenants for a 3 bdm house. Much to say I ended up looking at it. Perfect. Don't know why I let those fears and doubts take seed. Our Father knows exactly what we need and He came through for us.
So now we say goodbye to 101 Otaki St, our first home. The longest we've stayed in a house. We have a lot of memories, but we are so at peace with selling. So that's we're our journey starts, the next phase in the lives of the Smith's.

My other blog spot

2006-10-29T20:17:00.000+13:00

The link below is my other blog site. I will be using this as a more personal journey. My struggles (the ones i will admit to anyway :-) ), my successes and failures. My feelings and anything that inspires me. Feel free to contribute your thoughts etc.
http://lydieblog.blogspot.com