a-glamping we will go...

that's glamorous camping, coz if i'm going to spend 2 weeks living under canvas, i'm gonna make it worthwhile! this was our set-up last year:
the smaller extraneous tents belong to small and not so small children of varying sizes. that big bugger in the middle? the one with THREE rooms (each with electricity), containing his and hers zip-together airbeds, the bread maker, waffle maker, fridge, cold beer, gin, vodka, wine, chocolate, prayer books.....

that's ours. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL ours.

but hey - i still use a sleeping bag. i'm no sellout. nosiree bob.

note the indoor/outdoor flow

while we're away someone will have a birthday

there'll be some of this

plenty of this

lots of this

and some whale watching (hehe)

see? now, this is how much i love you, my blog family; that i am prepared to show you a picture in my 'should-have-died-in-the-90s' tankini and associated lumpy bits.

also, the reason you only SEE me holding a board, is because i can't catch a wave to safe myself. all the photos of me trying to catch a wave show me with my eyes squeezed shut and my mouth either wide open, or closed resembling a puffer fish. you'd think it's funny, but i ain't sharin'.

(check out miss 17 putting herself back together in the background. now THAT's funny).

NB: THREE new tanks and bikini bottoms bought in hong kong (that have been itching for a day out) are soon to replace that raggedy old blue thing.

back in 2 weeks!
(missing you already)

watch out for my blogoversary giveaway which is scheduled to post jan 20th NZDST

introducing oscar and RJ

miss 12 is probably one of the most responsible kids i know and has had some serious bad luck as the conscientious owner of several goldfish (now deceased).

we really wanted her to have a pet of her own, so yesterday we headed down to the local vet who was having an adopt-a-thon. we only intended to come home with one bunny, but of course came home with two - who just happen to be the brothers of tara's miss 11's 'nibbles'.

RJ.

moe enjoyed herding them. maybe he was a sheep dog in a former life?

check out that tongue! no, we didn't feed bunny to kitty for dinner

RJ (top) and oscar.
we can only tell them apart because of the twink we put on his head

photostory friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek this is my first photostory friday, so hey cecily, hey mamageek... it's nice to be playing!

i finished the week the same way i started - leaving the house at 7.45am in the rain. walked miss 11 to the train and carried on my way.

having committed to walk 5 times in 5 days, i'm very happy to have completed this little challenge to msyelf! yesterday's walk was in much sunnier conditions and we started at a spot that is literally 5 minutes from my house, that i didn't even know existed! almost 25 years i've lived in wellington and i didn't know this was here!

we walked through the bush and came out at the girls' guide headquarters, smack bang in the middle of the confidence course. there was nothing to it of course, but to walk the high ropes!

i would have been much steadier on my feet if i hadn't gotten half way out, thought it would be a good idea for tara to take a picture of me; walked backwards, balanced on one hand, gingerly removed my camera from my pocket, stretched out and handed it to her!

i stuck my leg out just for fun.

it would have served me right if i'd lost my balance and fallen in the creek...

then it was tara's turn

these are ominously called 'the steps'. there are 205 of them. see that speck of sunlight to the right of tara? that's the top!
and looking back. many down, many to go.
it actually only takes a couple of minutes! so good for the bum and such a relief to get to the top!

that's miss 10's primary school (the two red buildings). it's such a sweet sound hearing the kids outside playing at lunchtime. i love listening to their squeals of joy. complete abandon. no responsibilities!
after a very hurried dinner and pick up from drama class, it was off to miss 10's keyboard concert. these events are very cute, in that each child plays one or two pieces of music, each lasting approximately 7 seconds each.

they introduce themselves and the first piece. we clap. they bow. we clap. they play. we clap. they introduce the 2nd piece. we clap. they play again. we clap.very cute.

not so cute is the obligatory supper of store bought chocolate crap that the kids hoover in 90 seconds flat. not only did i not buy or make anything, i told miss 10 that we would be leaving IMMEDIATELY after the concert, ie - NO SUPPER!!!

she complained. i held firm. the world didn't end. did i mention this is at 8 o'clock at night? sheesh. the whole supper idea is completely superfluous. enough already.

Mommyfest's High 5 Contest

not sure how i came across this blog, but on the very same day i did, i had taken this pic, which i took to be a sign (i'm big into signs. i believe it's the universe's way of telling me stuff).

so, here's my entry for the MOMMYFEST'S HIGH5 CONTEST.

it shows my youngest two lovelies with my girlfriend tara's three lovelies enjoying their lunch on our gorgeous wellington harbour. it was taken recently during our school holidays. i threw 5 scooters and 5 kids in the car and off we went.

when i got home and discovered this contest called for '5 of something', i figured i would give it a go. i don't think i'm breaking the rules, by saying 'follow the link above and go vote for me!!!!' (if that's how it works. i have no idea). i'm just entering coz i can and you know what a blog tramp i am. the more visitors and commentators, the better.

the ngaio sixpack are off to the rugby tonight and despite the fact that we will most likely get very wet (and cold), we are undeterred! our team is doing well and we're just pleased that we are all in the same place at the same time for more than 5 minutes...

Free money, cupckes and new shoes

bought these today -sooooooo comfy. on sale (which makes them instantly more comfy than if i had paid full price). shoppers code: rule 3.78-imadethisup.

In my quest to save the planet one shopping bag at a time, i usually reject these...

but miss 18 insisted she would ‘re-use’ (and therefore recycle) so i relented.

it IS kinda funky.

didn’t draw this (but sort of pleased i can be responsible for some of her creative DNA).

miss 18 started a Bachelor of Design degree this week at Massey University. One of her first assignments is to capture the culture of Cuba Street. it's one of those cool pedestrian only areas in town where you can watch the world go by, and it's home to all kinds of weird and wonderful folks.

her degree will take 4 years at a cost of $4400 every year (plus books'n'stuff). as a generation x-er, she is able to make use of a national student loan scheme, whereby the government pays her course fees directly. this is perfect for today's teenager: invisible money that doesn't have to be paid until - well, not today so who cares?

this wasn’t the case ‘back in the day (last century and beyond) when i was a polytechnic student. In ‘those’ days, the government paid YOU! i was paid the princely sum of $16 per week, $4 of which my mother held out her hand for in return for room and board. she was of course trying to teach me the value of money. At the time i did not appreciate this valuable lesson. I simply thought my mother was the meanest mum in the whole wide world. No wait, that’s me!!! I know, i think there might be more than one ‘mean mummy’ in the universe.

Anyway, the kids of today, they just don’t appreciate the value of money! And you try to tell the young people of today that - and they won’t believe you! (name that movie)

Paying back invisible money is BORING.

Here’s something that’s not boring. Watching your 10-year-old make cupcakes. Well, watching her make half a pint of runny purple icing. I actually think the cupcakes were an after-thought.

Maybe i made the icing too runny?

Yep, but i don’t care

I love you...

Who says sugar makes ya crazy?

It’s just not TRUE!

in other news, stick insect fired for failing to correctly camoflauge.....

that's all folks!!!

Synchronised Swimming 101

possibly the most under-rated olympic sport (definitely the most BERATED). i think photographing your children should be an olympic sport - we'd all be winners

Blogging is addictive...

and frustrating - it keeps running all my paragraphs together!!!

so no-one tagged me with this hubby tag, but i thought it was kinda fun, so here goes...


What's his name? mr scrappy
How long did you date? 3 years, including a one year engagement
How old is he? i'm going to be throwing him a big party next year. he'll be half a hundred
Who eats more? he does (it's not even close)
Who said 'i love you' first? he did, standing in the kitchen in his flat. my knees almost gave out
Who is taller? he is, by a good 5 inches
Who sings better? he does - again, not even close!
Who is smarter? physics was (did i say was?) IS his favourite subject.
Who does the laundry? ME!!!!!! and i do it very well too
Who does the dishes? he/she who cooks doesn't have to do the dishes
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? as you look at the bed, i do. if you in the bed, he does
Who pays the bills? i do. i'm very good with paperwork
Who mows the lawns? a nice man called graham
Who cookes dinner? monday to friday - me; saturday and sunday he does
Who drives when you're together? he does
Who is more stubborn? i'll probably have to put my hand up for that one...
Who kissed who first? he did
Who asked who out first? he did
Who proposed? he did - very romantic it was too
Who is more sensitive? i am. hellooooooo, i'm a chick!
Who has more friends? i do. hellooooooooooo, i'm a chick!
Who has more siblings? he does 6 to 1
Who wears the pants in the family? ME!!!


and here he is...

DH with #4 daughter