The boy has an eye for a good pic!! Jim took this at Hokianga harbour yesterday...

and other news.....Happy Birthday to me!! lol!

EDITED TO ADD....

Awwwww and look what else he sent me today....

Joseph was very intrigued that the gerberas had copper wire springs in the centres and declared ‘why did they do that?! They are beautiful just as they are!...so true….a little boy perspective is always so honest!.....so I stopped sputtering on about florists trying to be fun and trendy and agreed with him lol!

And so at last it was Friday....

Miss you?! Nahhh, what makes you say that!

...scuse the blurtastic photograph but I was laughing, the kids were all over the place and I was jumping up and down waiting my turn lol!!

My happy mail came on Friday too....and yes I was very very VERY happy when I opened it and found that BAMPOP paper which I have been wanting some of for sooooo long!! Heather you are a STAR swap sis!!

So Saturday was soccer and the weather made mum insist that dad check the cancellations...lol! But once we got out there it wasn't too bad and mud and wet made for some fun and action on the field.....so pleased when Jospeh came away with the player of the day trophy and he deserved it with his determination throughout the game.....but then P rocketed on the field for his game, did some awesome dribbling manouveres and came away with the POTD trophy for his team too!! Woohoo go the Darge boys lol! So got home and of course mum was wanting to take a pic...and they kept giving me the cheesiest fake grins ever....so in desperation I blurted out 'wouldn't it be funny if you had to play soccer in your undies' and got a natural shot lol!

The new NZ dare is up...Yep thats right no photos this week...you are scrapping a piece of memorabilia....so get searching those cupboards, that junk drawer, your keepsake box or the bottom of your handbag lol! for that little special something that holds a memory for you. Here is my take...

...using a cd single. The journaling reads
" I am convinced this song was written for me! 1996 and it suddenly hits me...This James, this English fella who I've been enjoying this warm, funny, exciting relationship with is THE ONE!!. This is the 'Real' thing baby!! Head over feet thats me!! And of course its all Jims fault Ha Ha!! I still get goosebumps."
So yeah this song has a special little place in my heart.

Hurrying to publish this now cause Jims making us a cup of green tea, battening down the hatches cause its howling outside, and then we are going to snuggle down to watch 'Little Miss Sunshine'....catch yas later!

Thursday....

one more sleep until Jims home again ...yay! My hug-o-meter needs recharging!!

Well yesterday I was wearing my jacket inside it was so cold, today it was so mild i was in jeans and t-shirt and I havn't had to light the fire tonight! Weathers not changeable at all these days lol!

It was all about playhuts today, playing in them....

On top of them.....and launching yourself off them...neither Bert or the scrapping supplies got a look in on the table today lol!

Then when Joseph came home from school he was sad he'd missed the fun so we built another in the lounge good for a spot of afternoon tea, a bit of telly watching and then playing ships. Those pop up tents are good these days but I'm sure they are never half as fun as building your own with furniture and blankets!!

I stayed up late last night working on the next NZ dare layout and then gave up in a huff in the wee hours as it just was not working the way I wanted....cracked it tonight though phew! Just shows you if it ain't happening stop and come back to it another time...don't waste several hours forcing it to come together and making a hash of it. Fresh eyes in the morning are always good!!

If I'm lucky I might have some happy mail tomorrow, I joined in a swap on SiStv so am expecting a parcel from the US!! We had to send 3 things that inpire ourselves, 3 things we have never used from our stash and 3 things to inspire our swap sister.....sent mine a week ago so shouldn't be too far away Heather!!

Well Wednesday was WET and FREEZING COLD!! Brrrrr the red line didn't move all day!

Although Mother Nature did treat us to this first thing this morning...
Poor Samuel was fed up with being inside...

And so was Bert...

Patrick was most disappointed soccer practice was cancelled.."well how are we going to get good for Saturday!!"...Joseph sensible boy said "oh good" and voiced what Mum was thinking lol!

Took over the kitchen table with scrap stuff this afo and had to eat tea on our laps this evening lol...shhhh don't tell Dad lol!!

Tuesday is farm day...



Our Patrick is at the age where routine is everything, it feels safe and cosy to a four year old.

Every night when I'm tucking him in he asks...where are we going tomorrow mum? (its Monday tomorrow, you've got all day Kindy matey) then where mum? (then its Tuesday, Tuesday is farm day) *big grin*then where mum? (next is Wednesday and you've got Kindy in the morning and soccer practice in the afternoon) yay soccer! then where mum? (Thursday is playcentre in the morning and the library in the afternoon)good I like playcentre, then where mum? (Friday Nana comes for lunch) *big grin* then where mum? (then its Soccer on Saturday) Yes! a whole game aye mum? (Yes mate, night night, sleep tight).....Every single night...he knows it off by heart but loves hearing it out loud.

I know we will soon get a new routine sorted up North but it makes me sad to think this particular little ritual is soon to end.

I see Red Velvet are doing a kit club now.....Oh to be one of the cool girls and oh to be able to afford the shipping!!! Still lots of pretty creations from the red velvet girls to adore.

Also don't forget to stitch up a cute critter for the NZ dare...you don't have to know how to sew....really! the more huckery and random the stitching the cuter they look honestly! Mr Mojo needs more friends!!!

I like Mondays.

Joseph and Patrick look forward to seeing their friends at school and kindy after the weekend and Samuel and I got to hang out together in the sunshine in the garden...

A good day for drying, blue skies, blue shirts!








We discovered the first primulas brightening up a shady spot...












I hope the new owners like golden tamarillos, our tree has been just dripping in them for the last few months....delicious!












Speaking of delicious look at this book I got out of the library....

yum! a particularly decadant muffin on the front cover but I tried the boys out on the sticky ginger muffin recipe in the weekend served with icecream in the middle and dusted with icing sugar! Nothing like a good pud in the winter



It was lovely to have Jim back home for the weekend, all is going well with the new job and this week he is staying at the Ohaeawai hotel not far from where our new house is so he's hoping to get to meet a few locals at the pub in the evenings lol!

Got a call from him this afo and he was sent out to get familiar with the area( he is a roading engineer) and so there he was sitting at the south end of 90 mile beach soaking up the view lol! its a hard life!!

Have had great feedback for our Jack Me Up blog thanks everyone and we have had jacks coming in already so don't forget to check them out, they are fantastic!

Check this out!!! Hee hee....

JACK ME UP

Big thank you to the very talented Raewyn, Janenne and Michelle who have come on board to be Jack Me Uppers too and thank you to Jo Kneller for the fabulous banner she created for us!

Hope you'll come and play too and look out you might just be Jacked some time soon!!

Have you met "Mr Mojo" yet? He is in very good company with the rest of the 'cute critters' over on the NZ dare site.

Jo mentioned he bears a remarkable likness to ol' lips Mick Jagger and I think she hit the nail on the head lol!! I can just imagine Mr Mojo here busting out a few pelvic thrusts!! What to do with the remaining sock though?? A Mrs Mojo maybe?

Well Jim headed up North to begin our big adventure on Saturday....all on his ownsome (sob!), it feels very very strange not having him here, I think during our 9 years of married life we have only been apart one or two nights total! But hey its only for 3 weeks, just soooo glad things moved so quickly so that it didn't have to be any longer....I can but admire people like my super woman sis in law who is having to cope without her other half (my big brother) for 3 MONTHS while he is doing his stuff with the airforce in East Timor at the moment...(Hi Looby!) and my other super woman sis in law who spends days away from her family on the job with Air New Zealand (Hey Merrie!)...

Its funny its good in a way in that I’m realizing how many little things that I take for granted when he’s here and I am really noticing them now that he's not….Like when I cook tea he always stands in or near the kitchen and chats, reads mail or the paper, keeping one eye and ear out for the kids too…sometimes I get a bit annoyed as at some point he stands in front of cupboards I want to get into, or talks too much when I’m trying to get on, or the kids are drawn to him being there and crowd in too and then they start all start horsing about (oh yay love that while I'm trying to cook at the 5.30 witching hour when my brain has turned to mush!!!) but tonight I found getting the tea was very quiet and boring cause he wasn’t there doing just that, and I missed it so much!! Silly chook that I am!

Anyway Bud, huge hugs and good luck for your first day on the job tomorrow, you know I'm with you all the way!! Look forward to hearing all about it tomorrow night!

Multi photo layout is the NZ Dare for this week...heres mine...

Pile a heap of pics together and you are away...deadline for this dare is 6pm tomorrow

This made me laugh this weekend...poked my head into Josephs room and was told "I'm scrapping Mum"...the bit that made me feel good was he gets into just as big a mess as I do when I'm scrapping!!

Look at this crazy dog...we often find him standing on or sometimes just sitting in the sun on the dining table....not quite the done thing Bert!...maybe he just likes the view as much as i do....one thing I'm going to miss when we move is looking out at the hills every day!