Hum bug

End of a week.

House is a TIP.

Not vacuumed for two weeks.

Bathrooms terrible.

Laundry piled up with wet stuff everywhere and 2-3-4-5 loads to wash.

Just burnt the dinner.

No other food in the house. With a birthday dinner and takeaways already this week, have already spent around $150 on eating out (teenagers are NOT cheap eating out!).

Wet weather.

Wet soccer boots and sneakers (I cannot get them dry to wear next day - friend said to turn heat pump on to do this. Have had fires more this week...).

Threw those in the clothes drier and killed said pair of sneakers.

Oh dear! 

At least I met the opposition leader David Shearer at school and had a good chat with him on poverty etc. he is a good guy -  I think several kids were brainwashed by his charm - they are the future of the country! It was fab to see him sitting around with some boys playing the ukulele and guitar with them!

I think a weekend spent at home is a good idea!

Candles

Happy 12th birthday to Kieran. Born 2.5 weeks early (and quite frankly lucky I went to the hospital as my placenta had come away and his kicks were getting less and less.... This never hit me until the first day of school for him and I cried and cried and cried ), screamed for the first 5 months and the took till 11.5 months to sleep through the night and was hospitalised twice too in his first year with bronchiolitis !

Our cruisy kid, over- scheduled but when he is knot everything in a huge way, what do you do?? (thankfully the other two do zilch activities by their choice!). A perfectionist!

Rest of the weekend - sorting out old toys to take to school and BARGAIN book buying at Scholastic - a BOX of books started at $20 and by Sunday afternoon was down to $5 - huge amount for school!!!!!

Just a few for home.

This even I have had another good clear out of the boy's bookcases once again! I have boxes and boxes of childhood books up in the attic but cannot throw them out. As they get older , we do keep less.

What do you keep from your children's childhoods? 

Week's End

Winter blankets out for the boys-  crocheted ones and quilts both made by my mum.

Loving new magazine (3 hours pay for these! Did get the husband a computer one too.) Outrageous cost in NZ!

Loving tulips .

It is bucketing down ! We go from the worst drought in 70 years to rain, rain, rain and decent rain! I need to get my winter vege garden planted too as it is also still quite warm!

Dinners this week - orzo salad and chickpea, feta and spinach parcels - neither eaten by the boys who got themselves something else! This bugs me when they will not eat it!!

Goodness this new layout for blogging on the I- pad is doing my head in but practice will make perfect!

Giveaway and Penfriend hunt

I have a " Mollie Makes" issue 23 and a "Making" issue 32 to give away- I have ended up with duplicates of both.

(they both are an issue or two behind what is available in England as being down under we are behind with things anyway! :)

Comment and I will pick two lucky winners to post them to!

I would also love some new penfriends worldwide - comment below or send an e -mail to me -

Kimberley@atkinson.org.nz

I could even organise a penfriend swap if people are interested. Please pass around to other bloggers you know!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the gorgeous women out there.
And lots of thoughts to those who are unable to be mothers.

A quiet day here - my own mother is down south and the husband's mother we saw last weekend.
I have been knitting and over the road to a cafe for afternoon tea. And shopping with the husband - a very rare treat! He hates shopping but I managed to get him some new shoes.

Treats for me - gorgeous tulips in a sweet bucket (from the supermarket no less!!), stationery from Kikki K and a WHS Smith box of stationery too, a gorgeous bag from www.emmamakes.com (gorgeous items - lots of stationery too! This basis made from a vintage NZ made woollen blanket - I adore it!!) and L'Occitane bubble bath. (how hard is it to find bubble bath in the country.)
And NZ made socks and tights. My favourite little things!!

The best part of the day? Boys who have not had one fight and boys who have out away the pile of clean washing in their bedrooms! Clean bedrooms would be great , but I am grateful for little things!

The roses bought on Friday are gorgeous in the sunlight. Love bacon and eggs for breakfast too!

Planning to

Fold up lots of laundry
Another 4 loads on clothesline
Get a kid to clean this room up (he was so good until he started the next school and voompf! His life is crazy!!!)
Roses. Gorgeous $12.99 roses from The Warehouse. Went up to buy kindling - we have lots of fire wood but no kindling and too lazy to chop some... Came home with roses , mugs for school at $1.29 each, NZ made at $1.50/2.50 (great for swaps - might grab a few more), Halloween items sooooo cheap (swap items) and the Adele cd.
Beautiful Saturday.
Apple mac and other e- waste disposed of and collecting items for our forthcoming inorganic collection. (every year or two the council collects everything from old fridges, couches, bbqs etc!)
Loving my new NZ made tights.

Off now to shop for me for Mother's Day!

Bits and Pieces

A new school term. Walking around my library looking at it and moving things around. Looking at some fiction which sits for months on shelves with no issues and wandering how to promote.

Making won tons - were so-so.

Cousins reading together.

Messy kitchen. (yes - keeping it very real!!!)

To much laundry to catch up on already!

First fire of the winter season a freezing yesterday and 23 degrees today!

Chocolate self saucing pudding which I (surprise) seem to have no taste for any longer.