Friday, July 31, 2009

Two boys & a MacBook...


Turtle (and Mu) gave me their version of a 'tutorial' on iMovie, and Photo Booth this morning. And in the process showed me their 'portfolio' of work - very, very creative and entertaining. Turtle definitely has the makings of a teacher - albeit a rather bossy one - or a comedian! Off on une promenade de famille - have a great weekend!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I'm feeling very much like I need to...

Nothing a good cup of tea won't fix. What is it about tea that is so restorative? We've a lot on over the the coming days. On the good news front my dear friend C is back in town - nothing like good friends to help you see things in a more cheery light. Must rush we have the first lot of people viewing our house today, Mu's glasses need to be dropped off and it feels like there's about 400 other things...

Image from the Keep Calm Gallery.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Cute & crafty...


Thank goodness that my boys are into many things that are cute and crafty - especially Turtle. Yes probably a product of my mothering but it does mean that I have an attentive audience to share some super cute finds with. I'm delighted to hear that Asher Jasper's Etsy store is back in action. These sweet little balls of cuteness are needle felted from wool.
And I'm quite smitten by the range of cute little stamps over on The Small Object. It's just a matter of working out which ones you want.....

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Books, books, books....


In Auckland today sorting out visas. I had a great flight up. Well it was great once I was actually on the plane - nothing like being paged and last on. The North Island looked spectacular and I had great views across Mounts Ruapheu and Tongariro. I just love watching the world from high above. All the little valleys with clumps of trees and rivers snaking their way through the landscape. Then as you start to descend you see into backyards, factories and so on. It always reminds me of Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day. Tidying out the boys rooms over the weekend and we rediscovered all our old story books, some which were my grandparents. Among our favourites include:
One Bear at Bedtime - Mick Inkpen.
Badjelly the Witch - Spike Milligan.
Flower Fairies of the Garden - Cicely Mary Barker. (Ok so Turtle & Mu don't rate this - but I was into fairies big time as a child).

A busy few days ahead - Hooray R is back in NZ after a very looong three weeks away. Looking forward to seeing Turtle & Mu this evening!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A crafty day...

Turtle, Mu and me pottered along to Craft 2.0 at the New Dowse this morning. It was full of interesting bits and bobs - it's so inspiring to see so many talented people in one place. Turtle came home with an epilog from minu - the cutest creature ever!

And Mu is the proud owner of a toastie plushie from Bad Animals.

Me? Well OK I managed to bring home a sweet owl journal, some dear little magnets and linen covered push pins. After a good look around the exhibitions, it was home to tackle Mu's bedroom. I'm pleased to report that we are 90% done with orderly piles of things to pack, store, sell or gift. Tomorrow we start on Turtle's room.....

Friday, July 24, 2009

Phew! What a few days...



This week seems to have been becoming more manic as it progresses. I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. As crazy as the days have felt there's been the odd calm patch. Driving to school this morning was one. OK as we were running extremely late it wasn't that calm, but I still managed to have an intriguing conversation with Turtle & Mu about bad journalism and sensational headlines. This is what comes from their learning about advertising 'tricks' at school. Believe me this is the least of my worries, earlier in the week Turtle asked what the difference was between manslaughter and murder was. I'm reasonably certain he's not got his eye on the cat or his brother. At least I haven't been asked to explain the intricacies of the economy and exchange rates again! Possibly my attempt to explain it last time befuddled them to the point of being too scared to ask again. Well a busy weekend ahead, off to visit Oma, attend Craft 2.0, and make an initial attempt at sorting out Turtle and Mu's rooms. Oh and I know I promised something on books - will try and get that up in the coming days.

Image from Flickr.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Our Oma...

Today Turtle & Mu's Oma is having a major operation. We are all hoping and praying that it goes well. Things like this make you reflect on life, it's meaning and what is truly important. On that note I love this quote from Pablo Casals -
....Sometimes I look about me with a feeling of complete dismay. In the confusion that conflicts the world today, I see a disrespect for the very values of life. Beauty is all around us, but how many are blind to it! They look at the wonder of this earth and seem to see nothing. Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them: do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. And look at your body - what a wonder it is! Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must cherish one another. You must work - we all must work - to make this world worthy of its children.
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. Pablo Casals

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Popcorn & penguins

As a special end of school hols treat we had bowls of popcorn whilst we watched The Penguins of Madagascar,(and here's the important part) it was right before dinner! I know we're really living life on the edge. Intriguingly Mu's holiday highlight was a trip to the supermarket as "we got lots of treats". Turtle's highlights? Apparently there were too many to mention.

A sunshiny Sunday

Another day of sunshine. So clear and blue. Turtle, Mu and I wandered down to the City Market and the weekend farmers market. Filled up on yummy samples of things and then wandered home in the sunshine. It got so hot Mu even removed his hat for a while - wonders never cease! Just pondering rental options for our first few months in Portland - it's so hard to know. Do we get two cars and live out of town, or do we do the inner city thing? Today has reminded me of how lucky we are to be so close to a city, and to have such an easy and scenic route there. Well it's time to make popcorn, and school starts tomorrow so we have to be up early - ugh! Oh and I really need to start packing soon....

Saturday, a day of...

Blue skies, cupcakes, computer manuals (!?!) and traffic light jelly. Our traffic light jellies were a success (unlike our pancakes), and the sun shone brightly all day. The lovely Kate arrived last night with the yummiest cupcakes, and all so sweetly decorated. This afternoon Mu discovered the computer operating systems section of the library and was overcome with delight. Ten manuals covering everything from Google, to Leopard OS X were lugged home by the boys. As you can imagine this evening is very quiet with all that reading going on. Tomorrow we start, albeit tentatively, packing some boxes.....

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A long walk & racing cars....


The boys and I went out for a long walk this morning - through the bush, along the waterfront, up a hill, past the playground and home again. I will miss our little city's network of paths and tracks. After lunch it was off to the Formula One exhibition at Te Papa. Well! I must say those cars are very cool. And the exhibition was really well put together with some great artifacts/memorabilia, including some very stylish posters, and of course the cars.

My hopes of Mu taking up F1 were dashed when he said "No, because you could get killed and there are more attractive jobs than sitting in a squashy, sweaty car".

Monday, July 13, 2009

One Gingerbread House

Mu went along to his 'make a gingerbread house' class this morning. Turtle and I hung out in Borders. Well the class was a huge success. Out came one very proud boy and one very cool gingerbread house! A slow and careful drive home followed by a brief discussion about empathy after Mu announced that he did not intend to share any with Turtle (or me!). As you can see below all that remains are two walls and half a roof. I imagine even these will be gone by bedtime - it is rather delicious.

The classes were run by the Capital E and the lovely decorada, who make the yummiest and prettiest decorated cakes and biscuits. Thank you both!

Why a separate blog?

I thought I should explain why I set a separate blog up. I'm working on the idea that this one will be more of a 'family adventure' journal - especially with our BIG move coming up scarily soon! And it means that all my lovely friends and family can easily see what we've been up to without having to search through Elsa May and the lovely things there. To be honest I'm not sure if this is the best approach - but I thought I'd try it and see what happens. There's bound to be some cross-over - like last night I posted a wee bit on Elsa May about Mu's gingerbread house... Hmmm we shall see.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

A wintery Saturday

Spent at the cable car museum and tearing around the Botanical Gardens.