skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This morning I decided on the spur of the moment to take Bella to the Wellington Zoo. We arrived shortly after it opened and spent two hours roaming the exhibits in the sunshine. These two otters were delightful as they squealed at us for food. I think they mistook me for a zookeeper as I was wearing a black cap. Bella loved seeing the animals, including the lions, tigers, giraffes [we were only two feet from them with nothing between!], sun bears, kangaroos and meerkats. I was sad to see that Cairo the camel had died since my last visit there. Bella adores 'Alice The Camel' song and I wanted to show her a real live Alice. We had a really pleasant time. I think Lockie will be annoyed with me though! 
Lockie is shown here proudly displaying both the medal he received at his soccer prizegiving yesterday, and the two sock puppets he created right before bedtime ['Ben and Lisa']. Bella was fascinated by them and a little afraid! This morning I had the medal engraved for him and have promised to deliver it to him when I collect him at the end of school today - so he can quickly show it off to his friends. I'm pretty sure the engraving cost way more than the medal... but it was worth it. He reckons he won't be playing next year but hopefully he will change his mind by next Winter. Not that I can blame him for not wanting to play - this is the harshest winter we've had in years. Wellington hasn't dipped below zero officially but the fields where Lockie plays soccer are sub-Antarctic as far as I am concerned.
I took Lockie to see his paediatrician last week for his regular 3-monthly checkup and all is going well. In fact, the Prof was delighted with his progress and the fact that he has been fairly well this winter - often a really hard time for Cfers it seems. I always feel a wave of relief when I hear this kind of feedback and can come away from the hospital smiling.
I went out last Friday night with two of my oldest girlfriends [not old old, I am older!], and we had a bite to eat up Cuba St followed by a drink at Kitty's and then boogied the night away at Boogie Wonderland, a really fun bar next to the Paramount Theatre on Courtenay Place. Haven't had so much fun in too long. A Ceroc dancing class had just finished before we got there and we watched in wonder as the dancers continued to monopolise the dancefloor with their wild shimmying and dipping, partner-swapping constantly and keeping us guessing as to who was actually with who! We even entertained the notion of returning another Friday night and joining in but I'm not sure any of us are quite that bold...
Gee,
I just can't resist posting cute photos of Bella on my blog! [A shame about the dirty sneakers though.] She's just so adorable... except this morning I was in the shower and Daddy was in charge of the kids and Lockie came in to tell me how she had picked up a bottle of Jif and sprinkled globs of it all over the kitchen floor and herself, and was starting on the living room before she was discovered! Fraz did an admirable [for a fella] job of cleaning it up but I still had to do a fair bit of scrubbing to get it off the carpet. I said to Bella, 'look at you', to which she replied 'I'm a messy girl', very matter of fact about it!
I decided not to take Lockie to soccer this morning as he is on antibiotics for a cough and also, I just couldn't be bothered. Woke up feeling apathetic and empty for some reason. I really really wanted Fraz to take the kids out for a while but he only took Lockie. I realised that a bit of retail therapy was in order so packed up Bella in the car and went to Westfield Queensgate for a browse. Came away with a pair of jeans for me and a little kiwi toy that makes REAL kiwi noises when you squeeze his tummy. The latter was a bribe to get Bella through me trying on copious pieces of clothing in the changing rooms of three different shops! We dropped in on Fraz and Lockie and then headed home for lunch and naps :)
I caught up with a couple of old friends I used to party with a lot years ago, before marriage and kids [of course], last night and it was great to see them. One was housesitting in Northland and we met there - there's a lot to be said for being single and unfettered, Jo! The house was awesome.
Only a few more weeks before I'm relaxing, shopping, partying, and most importantly, sleeping in [!] in sunny Sydney...can't wait. And can't wait to see my twin of course!!
Bella loves to brush her teeth in the bath, but only once she's opened her Maisy Mouse book to the right page!
Lockie played soccer on Sunday, for the first time in a month [weather woes,etc] and I nearly wet myself laughing at times! The best bit was when he was goalie and all the action was at the other end of the field, and then a wee voice could be heard asking "can I have a little help here please?" - Lockie had managed to half-collapse the portable goal posts and was trying to hold them up - and then the ball was heading his way! A couple of Dads rushed over to sort it out while I wiped the tears from my eyes and tried to stop cracking up. He had a great time, despite the wintry wind and freezing drizzle that was falling. Last weekend he simply refused to go at all, to our horror. Not sure why he changed his mind this week but it could be he couldn't face his parents' ranting and raving about it!
What a gorgeous sunny weekend we have had. Now it's Monday again. They keep on happening. But so far so good - Lockie was on best behaviour this morning - he is trying to earn a new book which I have promised him at the end of the week, providing he is good that long! I'm kinda hoping he'll realise that being good has its own rewards e.g. happy Mummy, calm atmosphere at home, more cuddles and less shouting, etc. We'll see anyway... I am prepared for setbacks along the way.Last week Lockie had his first swimming lesson and all went errr... swimmingly! Bella was interested at the goings-on in the pool too, although not enough to want to get in, which was, for once, a good thing. We are all looking forward to tomorrow's lesson.Bella had her own 'first' class too - she is a 'Dancing Dot' on a Friday now. It was so cute to see her Incy Wincy Spider-ing and banging drums to a rhythm and shaking shakers, etc. Of the 6 kids her age there, she is the smallest, and [in my humble opinion] the most bold, and naturally musical. Of course, all Mums think this way so never mind me. I was really proud of her though and feel I have her childcare centre to thank for her ability to follow instructions when it comes to action songs. She can fool people who see her small stature and think she is much younger and therefore less capable.Today at our playgroup I met a man who has bought a house in our neighbourhood and moves in soon. He has a one-year-old son, and his wife works full-time. He's a Brit [there's loads of them at playgroup], and we have several mutual [English] friends. His son has just started to walk and was toddling around the room and landing on his bum frequently. When he ventured near Bella I noticed that they are the same height! We are sorry our old neighbours are moving out but it'll be nice to have fresh faces in our street, even tall people. [I have nothing against tall people and sometimes I put on tall boots and join them!!]Yawn... another early start for me, so am tempted to have a wee lie-down while Bella is napping. Why not.
I have been devouring a book these past few days that I wanted to blog about...it's called "Don't Kiss Them Goodbye" by Allison DuBois. [I think the title alludes to the idea that one doesn't need to say goodbye to a dying loved one - so much as 'until we meet again'.] It is the true story of the woman who inspired the TV series 'MEDIUM'. A fascinating read. This book was published in 2004 and she has recently published a second book [not sure of the title]. I like the thought of my Mum and grandparents dropping by to visit me and my family [invisibly]. It really makes me smile. I no longer think aloud 'I wish Mum was here to see the way Lockie is so smart and Bella is so funny' - I am convinced she can see them as clearly as I can. It would be fascinating to be psychic or 'mediumistic', but possibly over-rated - like those people who say they'd love to have a twin - if they actually had one they may not feel that way. What am I saying - there's nothing better than having a twin!!!! Being able to see dead people would have its fair share of stress though...
I had a weird dream this morning - right before the alarm woke me up. It involved me bravely wrestling with an alligator while my sis [Meg] hurried my kids to safety. I've been trying to 'interpret' it ever since. Maybe I have found a new inner strength, or my sessions at the gym have inflated my ego along with my muscles...who knows. It was pretty cool anyway. Just can't figure out why I was wearing yellow rubber gloves at the time though. This morning I realised that the swimming togs I had bought in summer had never seen light, so, once it was confirmed that Lockie's soccer was cancelled [boggy pitch probably], I took him to the Karori Pool instead. It was pleasant and Lockie had fun as always. He starts 'water confidence' classes in a couple of days at our local pool and has mixed feelings towards the idea. He's never had swimming lessons before and is unsure of how much fun they'll be. His friend is joining him at the lessons so I'm sure it will be fine. I think the classes are kept small - only 5 kids at a time.
Bella loves to call me 'crazy mama' these days. Not sure how that started. Kids are intuitive though, and she hasn't learned to lie yet...Well, the school holidays are almost over and I feel I may have let Lockie down a bit. I'm not one of those Mums who are endlessly creative with entertaining their kids. I do kinda leave the creativity to Lockie - and he is a creative and imaginative kid generally. Only, I have let him watch a bit much telly [he's a Pokemon fan now, much to my horror], and let him play a few too many computer games too. The weather has been awful, Bella has a chest infection so my promises of a trip to the pool were nixed, and I've just not been in the mood to be 'fun'! I guess I 'must try harder'...maybe next school hol's will be better.Fraz's Granddad passed away last week, on the morning our 'family holiday' was scheduled to start. We don't normally go away all together and it turned out this time would be no exception to this rule. Fraz decided to stay home, with Lockie, and Bella and I skipped up the line to Wanganui, with a delay on the way of a night at Foxton Beach [thanks Ju!!!] as the road was closed at Whangaehu due to flooding. We only stayed a couple of nights at my Dad's but it was restful and had me resolved to return again soon. Bella seemed to enjoy having my full attention too. Then it was back to Wellington, in time for Granddad's funeral. A short, but emotional service. It was sweet to see a number of the caregivers from his resthome there too. I guess that can be a tough job and they might get attached to the oldies and be saddened when they pass. Resthomes have had a bad rap lately so it's good to see there are still good people in these places.I rather like the look of the Malvina Major Retirement Village here in Johnsonville actually. They are extending it at the mo, with a spa, sauna, gym, theatre, etc, being built. Not that I need to worry about it for another 40 - 50 years! Ha ha!Lockie has just informed me that 'blue-ringed octopuses are deadly', a fact I was unaware of previously. So it's true, your kids can teach you things.
I am not very happy today - I took a carload of clothes/shoes/toys, etc to the Johnsonville Sally Army Family Store and was treated with disdain... the two young women behind the counter were interested when I said I had a load of things to donate - until I mentioned that a few of the toys were left over from a recent garage sale. I was told 'we don't take ex-garage-sale stuff as it is mainly poor quality and we have to end up dumping it'. They seemed to presume I was giving them a carload of junk apparently. This was insulting to say the least! Sure, the toys were a bit the worse for wear and I was happy to chuck them myself, but most of the things I wanted to give them were clothes culled from my wardrobe, and clothes and shoes the kids had grown out of...not stuff I would consider junk. I decided to leave - I told them I would not be back to their store and they smirked bemusedly - and I went to the Mary Potter Hospice Shop in Tawa instead where I was greeted with smiles and delight by the dear little old ladies who worked there. They helped me take the things from the car and thanked me sweetly. I recommend this place!! Unfortunately I still have a bad taste in my mouth from those Sally Army tarts, hence I am blogging my frustrations out. I have since heard from another friend who had poor customer service from the same place. Sorry about the whinging, people!!
Bella is saying Hello to her cousin Lilli, in Boston. Although it was actually late at night in that part of the world and little Lilli was in bed - she's a few weeks older than Bella. Fraz doesn't catch up with his little bro much so this phonecall was a welcome one.
Today I had my Garage Sale. The weather was pretty dreary and it rained on and off all morning. The first punters only arrived half an hour before the advertised time and carted off $40 of stuff straight off so I was happy with that. A friend came over to help me out and Lockie was dropped at another friend's house as Fraz went to work - so it was just the 3 girls doing the biz. Bella pottered around the garage and got a bit underfoot at times - she just said 'sorry' a lot, very cutely, and nobody minded. We must have had at least 70 people come through over the next three hours and sold quite a bit. I made about what I expected, so it was all good. The rest of the stuff will be given to charity next week, and the de-cluttering will be complete! Feels good. Now I just have to go out in the cold to remove the signs I posted around the streets...brrrrrrr.
Here's Bella at a friend's house. She adored this castle at the bottom of the garden, built by my friend's father, for the kids. A step up from your regular cubbyhouse! The picture doesn't show but it really looks like a castle.This morning I looked out the window to see our front lawn littered with much of our neighbours' recycling, released from its green bins by a helpful stormy night...yuck. That's the trouble with living at the very end of a cul-de-sac - the wind blows rubbish into our garden on a daily basis. At least the rest of the street looks clean... On a brighter note, the recycling collectors actually did clear much of the stuff off our lawn.Bella appears to have fallen for one of The Wiggles - Murray. Maybe he's just the easiest to say - she calls the yellow one Egg, although most of us would know him as Greg.
Somebody wants to read my thoughts! Thanks Jess :)Yesterday I had a cord of firewood delivered and spent a while stacking it into the garage. A friend came over and helped - although I wasn't keen for her to help as she is pregnant. Later in the night Fraz and I finished off the job and he even got the axe out and had a chop - 'just to see what it's like' - come on love, it's wood...what do you expect? Feel smug now that we will stay warm and cosy this winter, and even fed the fire last night way more than it needed...I am part-way through the list I had of jobs to do for Lockie's health - Day 1 of the Food Diary is complete [and what a crappy diet he has - not a fruit or veg in sight!], and we have handed over a sputum sample for luck, although still haven't tackled the other end one. Have also managed to miss only one dose of his Augmentin in the last week - he even takes a tablet to school for lunch. They are BIG tabs but he's such a trooper - I know some adults who would have trouble swallowing pills this big, but not our Locks.I am one step closer to the Garage Sale - Lockie will go to his Nana's in Otaki for the night [or two], so now I need to book a newspaper ad, or maybe just make a big cardboard sign to hang near the shopping mall - seems to be the done thing around here.Better go wake the kids - I hear Bella chatting to the toys in her cot but Lockie is bound to be sleeping in - what a great idea...it is Saturday after all. Sigh. Today we are hanging out with a friend who is a single mum with a son in Lockie's class. Not sure what we'll do - Lockie suggested we could 'go to The Warehouse and then McDonalds', but I'm sure we can do better than that. [These are activities that Fraz sometimes does with him on a Sunday and it's win-win for Lockie!]
I am reading a very interesting book called 'Rare Moments', by Jeanette Wilson, a medium who moved from the UK to NZ a few years back and published this book last year, following her first book, 'Medium Rare' which I have yet to read. It is fascinating stuff and extremely good for the soul - she doesn't believe in 'death' and says our loved ones who have 'passed on' are around us and often may appear to us in our dreams, to let us know they are alright. I love the thought of my Mum and grandparents being close by me; it's really comforting. Read this book yourself if you think I've lost the plot, and you decide... Jeanette is a very spiritual person but freely admits she was a sceptic for much of her life, until 10 years ago. She has recently published another book named after her TV series of 2005, called 'Dare To Believe'.Lockie and I went to his 3-monthly checkup at the hospital today, and, after parking halfway up a curb [kerb?] in the parking lot, owing to the severe lack of parking spaces - like about 50 other cars incidentally - we were seen straight away and very thoroughly. We had the usual 5 other medical people in the room, along with the paediatrician, but Lockie is used to this and performed ably. I sometimes feel I should take notes as we are often there for a good 45 minutes and a lot is said and discussed. I have three tasks to complete over the next 3 months - get a stool sample from Lockie to be tested [my least favourite task!], keep a food diary for 3 days and send to the dietician to analyse [this is just a drag], and call the paediatrician after two weeks of Lockie being on a new course of antibiotics to tell him how it's going. Game on.I think I'll have a Garage Sale. Not sure what I will be making cash for but there are a few options. I spent a couple of hours this morning clearing clothes and toys out of wardrobes in all the bedrooms, and put them in the garage [funnily enough]. Quite a 'cleansing' experience really. But I can see that I will have to lose Lockie on the day of the sale as he will not part easily with his old toys. I will have to rope in a few friends to help me.Today I cuddled a sleeping newborn boy [birthweight was 8lb 14oz incidentally!] for nearly an hour - my neighbour's third child. He is 8 days old and as he dozed in my arms I briefly imagined I was holding my new niece instead. His mum didn't mind! Later when I was sorting stuff for the garage sale I took a few useful baby items over to her and they were well-received. Whew this is getting long! Last thing to mention is that I took my car for a WOF today [it's been a BUSY DAY], and it failed because of one tyre needing replacing. Just gotta find the locking nut so they can remove the wheel now... My WOF ticket was so faded I didn't notice the date and see now it expired nearly 3 weeks ago...oops.
Once I reached page 200 of my book I discovered that the heroine [Anna] is actually a widow - she's 33 and was married for less than a year. So now I'm depressed. Marian Keyes does that though: she writes with a hilarious quirky Irish style and throws 'serious life issues' into every one of her books...but I still like her stuff anyway. Just not sure if it's really 'chick lit'.'Tis raining and bleak this afternoon. Spent much of the morning sipping tea and chatting at a neighbour's house, with another neighbour who is awaiting the birth of her third child - she's a week off her due date. Our 3 littlies played together nicely [mostly]. Bella was thrilled to get her hands on a full-on wooden Thomas the Tank Engine set-up, although she pretty much demolished it. The owner [aged 3] was very good about it. He wants his Mum to have a baby girl so was very sweet to Bella.
I took this photo around 7:20am today, as I wanted my family to see it too, only I was the first one up. Had to mix the pancake batter you see. We always have pancakes on Sunday mornings and I could mix them with my eyes closed - sometimes I nearly do.
This morning was Lockie's second time at soccer, and once more he excelled in enthusiasm and even kicked the ball a few times. I even nipped away for 20 minutes in the middle to go to the shops - don't worry, I put a team member's grandparents in the picture first, and I'd told Lockie I'd be doing this - he didn't notice I was gone anyway. I had to book a haircut for him as the shaggy dog look was getting beyond a joke. So we trotted down to the mall after soccer, and left a short while later for home, one of us looking very trim and tidy, and the other looking windblown and a bit scruffy [me]. Spent the rest of the day pottering around the house - Bella is so good at doing her own thing, which is lovely as I can do my own thing too, and we are each comfortable with that. She comes and goes from the room, often pushing a doll in a buggy, or in a shopping trolley, with a bag over her arm, waving goodbye as she passes through. Cute as.
I am reading the latest Marian Keyes novel ['Anybody Out There'] and I am worried I'll be unable to get through it before it's due back at the library. I waited several weeks to get it on reserve so cannot return it late as someone else will be waiting for it. In my defense, it is nearly 600 pages long and the fattest book I've read in a long while. BTW, its main character is called Anna. Nice.
Watched 'Narnia' again tonight on DVD with Fraz. Not as powerful on a TV screen but still a gorgeous movie. Lucy is so adorable. We borrowed it from new friends we have made. They are fresh to Wellington from New Plymouth so I'm going to help them find their feet in the area if I can. They have two boys and a baby on the way. The eldest boy is a week younger than Lockie. They've played together and may become friends hopefully. A pity they go to different schools though.
Here's Bella in her Big Red Car, checking out the stamp on her hand that she got at Story Time at the library this morning. Today a good friend gave us this Cozy Coupe car with its top missing and quite a bit of scuffing and fading, and she LOVES it. As I write this, Lockie is pushing her around the house endlessly - she hasn't figured out how to push it along herself, Flintstone-style. He really wants to drive it himself, but I am trying to convince him that he is just too big.
Fraz is away tonight in Auckland at a managers' conference, and he has given Lockie the role of 'Boss of the House'. Funnily enough, Lockie realised this was a thankless task only 5 minutes in and handed the power back to me... No, but seriously, I had a lovely Mothers' Day on Sunday, with chocolates and a tiny glass Guardian Angel from the kids, and a gorgeous dinner from Frazer. And Lockie and I hung out all morning at a special viewing of 'Narnia' at The Penthouse, and then picnic-lunched at Mt Vic Lookout, although we had to eat in the car as icy rain was falling at the time. A great day!
I wanted to be the first aunty to blog about my brand-new niece! She is a beautiful baby girl, named Elizabeth and she lives far away in sunny(?) London, and was born on 9 May. Hearty congrats to my awesome big sis and her lovely hubby and Elizabeth's big sis too. Have heard no details so am waiting in anticipation of them, as we mums must stick together in sharing our birth stories with each other!
What a man! Here's my Dad, perched high in the mountains of Nepal, looking quite comfortable in these snowy surroundings. This picture was taken on a recent trip there with a bunch of like-minded NZers. I have yet to hear all the stories but I'm looking forward to that. My Dad is awesome!
We are almost back to full health in our house and not a day too soon I say. A few boxes of tissues and several days later, Bella and I are nearly over our colds and coughs, and this week should hopefully be a 'normal' one, with me going to work and Bella to childcare, etc - unlike last week.
This morning I took Lockie along to his first session with the North Wellington Junior Soccer Club - he is in the Nursery Grade [!?] in a team called The Wolves, and was all kitted out with soccer boots [cleats!], shinpads [compulsory], and long thick socks to keep out the pre-winter chill. It was a drizzly morning with icy winds so it was with some trepidation that I went along. Contrary to my expectations Lockie had a great time and we parents had lots of laughs watching the kids gang up on the ball as they had a couple of 10-minute 'games', and a couple of sets of 'ball skills' [happy feet was a cute one]. Frazer had lit the fire at home so I was able to thaw out eventually. Not surprisingly, Lockie wasn't cold at all after all that racing around. I was delighted to find we can recoup all our costs for Lockie's sports from Breath4cf.
Yesterday some b****** broke into Frazer's car while he was at work, smashing a window and rifling through the glovebox. It was parked in a parking building in Lower Hutt, where he always parks. [This happened last year too, in a nearby caprpark.] What is it with the Hutt? Anyway, it's more a nuisance as nothing of value was taken, and insurance covers the smashed window. Ironically, it meant Fraz got home late from work, and this delayed his BIRTHDAY DINNER celebrations. What bad luck to have this happen on his birthday!
This morning I decided on the spur of the moment to take Bella to the Wellington Zoo. We arrived shortly after it opened and spent two hours roaming the exhibits in the sunshine. These two otters were delightful as they squealed at us for food. I think they mistook me for a zookeeper as I was wearing a black cap. Bella loved seeing the animals, including the lions, tigers, giraffes [we were only two feet from them with nothing between!], sun bears, kangaroos and meerkats. I was sad to see that Cairo the camel had died since my last visit there. Bella adores 'Alice The Camel' song and I wanted to show her a real live Alice. We had a really pleasant time. I think Lockie will be annoyed with me though! 
