Our first Fejoa's

This horrible wind blew our first fejoa's off the tree before they really had a chance, but we were told it wouldn't fruit for a few more years so this is still exciting.

Daddy's Home!!!

Daddy went to Waiheke fishing over night (a really loooonnnnng time, not) But Nicola missed him. Can't say you don't feel loved when this is the greeting you get when you get home :) So adorable

"Why are you so beautiful?"

Awhile ago a friend of mine said I was training Nicola up to be a Princess. Nicola asked me why I scrapbooked this page cos we say it all the time to each other. I said cos one day it will stop & I want to remember it. When I arrived at work the other day I had to drive thru a tree to get to my park. Now I park there everyday, why the tree suddenly decided to hang down like this I do not know. It wasn't broken, but is a rubber tree, so maybe that is it?

Grass!!!!!!!!!

We spent most of last weekend digging & clearing the front lawn. Scott hired a rotary hoe & my job was to collect all the stones, concrete & other rubbish that was in the front yard. At some stage in the distant past there was a pond under what is now a deck; it collects water (obviously) & breeds mozzies. So that is where I was putting all the lumps of concrete. Yes those are my feet. I did not meet any bugs or critters under there :) Look!!!! Grass!!! So exciting!!!!Nicola's class went to Omana reserve to study the 'Rocky Shore' & I went as a parent helper. They had park rangers talk to the kids about all the animals, etc. It was cool. My finger is pointing to a blue crab we found. That other thing is a 'Feathery Sea Hare' I had never seen one of those before. It was sort of like a mix between a jelly fish & a rock!?! It retracted when you touched it, but looked solid, very weird. Nicola & her friend Gabby like playing wheelbarrow.
Exciting new tires.......
And finally a lazy pic of Zak, he likes to sleep on the path (or stairs) by the front door so he can keep track of us ;)

February already!

As you may have noticed I have not been going to well with the photo a day thingy. I have been taking more ordinary photos than usual trying to catch some normal things that we do. I was really upset when they demolished a local landmark building so now I have no reminder of the many hours I spent there as a child, you don't think of buildings changing when you are a kid. So I took a pic of my messy desk at work (must take one of building too). For those of you who saw the pic of the fence fallen over & have voiced their concern, here it is after Scott fixed it. Good as new :)

Anyway school is finally back!! The kids are happy with their new classes & teachers. I bought Nicola the new school uniform dress today, she is very excited & didn't want to take it off. It was expensive but all the rest of her uniform as been hand-me-downs (except the new polar fleece) so overall she has been cheap. I just couldn't stand the state of some of her tops anyone, I hated sending my beautiful baby to school looking like that..... Daniel decided he wanted to be more organised this year, so we made 'mini' pencil cases to fit inside his big pencil case. Red for red pens, blue for blue pens, etc.... Hopefully it works for him, he was very pleased with our results.

The second week of Youth Town went really well too. Nicola made a new best friend & Daniel traded Pokemon on his Nintendo with some of the other kids. The had Laser strike & a trip to West Wave pools also.

Nicola has decided she doesn't want go to Pippins this year, she wants to wait until she is 7 & go straight to Brownies with her friends. Pippins is the same time as the Hip hop dance lessons she wants to go to. I don't mind her skipping Pippins, our one is pretty lame, they only play for an hour a week, no badges or anything.

I went to the Mega Crop at NZScrapbook last weekend. I am making a mini album of our alterations while it is still fresh in my mind & people are still interested in it. I met Louise & her mum there & we had a lovely time with not alot of scrapping done ;) I found a cool new OTP project too, cos I need more UFO's!!! LOL! Here it is coated in gesso & ready to go....

Talking about unfinished projects & the house.....with all the crap weather the other week our house has developed a leak. It is downstairs in the old bit, not the new. The new mdf skirtings have swelled & the new carpet in our bedroom & wardrobe got rather damp (stinky being wool). One of the tiles in the en suite had water coming up through the mortar joints when you stood on it :( So where is all the water coming from?????? Today Scott dug up part of the garden outside the wardrobe. There seems to be no waterproofing or drainage, the dirt is hard up against the bricks. Bricks are not water proof so this could easily be tracking dampness inside, however the dirt that Scott was digging was surprisingly dry for all the rain we have had lately. So we have come to the conclusion that this would cause dampness, but not the amount of water we had coming inside. So now what? Guess we wait till the next down pour & see if we can see anything then. We should still dig down the bricks & fix that, but it is not a nice job, it has to be done by hand, & it is too hot today.

Sights of Summer...

Day 6 Progress so far on my trellis. Who's idea was this? Oh yeah it was mine. It looks great, but is very time consuming. Day 7. Kids 'helping' paint. Nicola was such a good helper, handing us brushes, getting us drinks, & actually painting, Daniel.....(it was more for the photo, he didn't want to be left out.

Day 8. Nicola reading the Weekend Newspaper by the pool. I was wondering where she had got to & when I found her I asked her what she was doing "I'm reading the paper"....ok.....ask a obvious question....get the obvious answer.....

Day 9 this is what summer is about...kids in the pool with their friends :) Day 10. The L&P truck giving out free drinks at Eastern Beach

Day 2 & 3

Our Happy (not) Hot (not) boy (2 Jan)Our little fish (3 Jan)

Welcome 2011

We went up to a friends bach for New Years at Snells Beach. They had a black Labrador puppy staying & Nicola got over her fear of dogs so much that now she wants one! They had lots of fun taking him for walks etc. This is a pic taken on Scott new iphone of the 2 kids playing on their own island, hehe. We also saw other frinds of ours that live up there. They took the kids kayaking & sailing. Nicola even said she enjoyed the 'bumpy bits' (waves, as the wind picked up alot.) She was pretty good at kayaking to. Daniel showed us what he learnt at Cubs kayaking the other week. I got burnt :( the first time I can remember ever getting burnt. We ate & drank to much & spent alot of time just lazing around the house :)

I was thinking about doing the 365 scrapping challenge. It is to take a pic a day for a year. See pic number 1 above for yesterday.Just took pic of sunburn for today will upload later ......