I Got Those Autumn Blues

Summer has gone & Autumn is here. Normally I LOOOOOOOVE the change of season, seeing the leaves change to sunbursts of yellow, fire-engine reds & finally crunchy browns, the chilly nip in the air, the layers of clothes, the snow trip with the Wilcox street gang, the trips to Bright to fossick for cool stuff, the comfort food & the stocking-up of winter pud kilos..... okay so the last part is not so hot & I've achieved that already, but now today, well nah uh do I want to venture onwards to Autumn & Winter. I wanna chuck a tanty & say NO WAY to the cold stuff.

Is it because we live in a house that has no heating & I'm yet to get used to the whole damp house phenomenon? The whole, it's raining AGAIN & the kids are bouncing off the walls with excess energy & stay away from those million clothes drying racks otherwise you'll be in big trouble missy days. Yep. Can't wait to have the tumbledryer on high rotation & looking forward to that huge bill from the power company.

I do love living in Auckland, but the housing scene seems to bite the big one on the whole. I miss our Lavi house, I miss the cosy feel of the fire roaring away. I miss using it to cook with, boil the kettle, dry clothes, read the papers next to, curl up in front of to watch tv... I just miss it. So there.

Yeah I know - suck it up & quit the sooky la la act.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGI-GIRL!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS

TO

MISS GEORGI-GIRL

I hope that you had an absolutely wonderful day my little georgie puddin pie!

Spot the little cutie.

Big smooches

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

So Long Summer...... it's been swell.

Or as Daffy would have coined it..... Sho long shummer...... it's been schwelllllll.

What a kiwi summer it was. Okay, well the previous summer seemed to go on & on & on as all the kiwi's around me were v. fond of saying on finding out that was our first in nu ziland soil.

So Easter was our final hip hip hooray we're off in the carlycampa, for the season. We went to a fave. holiday spot ~ Awhitu & man am I glad that we are in with management! The luxury of a hot shower & electricity is NOT to be underestimated. Hey, I am happy to go to camping spots with just the basics of a drop toilet & bush shower, i.e. all the camping spots we go to. But if you have the magic key to facilities then why the heck not use em?!? I mean, why stay all sweaty, salty & greasy if you don't have to? So yay to John & Thomas for the hot water, many thanks gentlemen.

One v. impotant piece of advice when camping with itty-bitties ~ don't go when daylight saving has finished, it makes for a very looooooooong night. Waiting for bed-time means that the time has to be filled in without copious amounts of use of torches & lanterns. Mozzies love that light. That's when we got started on the what animal? game, more about that one some other time. Sure, it got dark early, but who wants to send the kids to bed at 6.30pm when you know that they'll then wake up at 5AM?!?!?! And an itty-bitty whispering in your ear that they are awake and is everyone else awake & can I get dressed & I'm hungry & where's my breakfast & & & & & ......is just toooooo much at that unearthly time of the morning, that I just ain't the morning fairy that I used to be (not). Pity that the canvas tenting doesn't mask the screams.......

King Carlyboy is da man. He built us a pay-shio (Kath Day Knight would be so proud of my v. own Kel) onto the carlycampa. This means we have a covered outdoor play area in which to house the table & chairs, stoves, stove stands & most importantly the newest gadget -> the camp kitchen. Even better, this pay-shio is totally detachable & comes in a lovely shade of blue in which to co-exist beautifully with the carlycampa. Already he is planning to add to this area, he's talking walls & clothes line people -> v. civilised indeed.

The area prior to building the pay-shio (after the night-time clean-up & pack-up, but what a thing of beauty the camp kitchen is) :

Now, the same area with the pay-shio da da da da da....... sweet ain't it?!?




That would be Angelface & Fairygirl with their over-flowing Easter Bunny lootbags ~ yes indeedy, the v. same gorgeous bags from Aunty Mel. So the whole thing matches. I'm not much of a blue kinda gal, but them's the breaks. We may even have to venture back to Otahuhu to get a 2 fold mat for the outdoor area to go with the 3 fold mat inside the carlycampa. Now that the camping season is over we get to unpack everything, circle the catalogues, plan for stuff we need & then hopefully we get to go shopping....

So, a few shots from the weekend:




I have gotten into the habit (thanks to a few birthdays) of baking some cupcakes & taking them along with us for dessert. Chocolate cupcakes seem to go down especially well.....

The kid-bait or swing as it is more commonly known. As you can see it attracts kids no matter what & whether you can see it in the dark is of no consequence. But it is bloody funny to see kids racing each other over to use it, reaching up to grab it kind of mid-stride & then come to a screeching stop when they realise the swing is missing. (Does that make me a masochist?!?)

Anyhoo, it's a great thing to have.

It was cold peoples.

That's post chocolate cupcake feast smeared on Fairygirl.

Told you the bags were stuffed full. Not all chocolate thank goodness, our resident choco-holic Miss Fairygirl was in absolute heaven. We had to cut off her supply once we kept finding egg wrappers trails leading straight to her. Harsh, but we had to save her from complete chocolate melt-down (geddit?!? ha ha)





I would just like to state for the record that King Carlyboy was there on the weekend, although there is no actual photographic evidence of his fine self. He was the one on the non-flashing end of the camera for these pics.

Good Morning to Youuuuuuu........ NOT

What's the first thing a mummy wants to hear in the morning? Is it a) Miss Angelface & Miss Fairygirl gently whispering Ï love you's with lots of smooches & cuddles, b) King Carlyboy setting down a cup of coffee next to me, gently whispering I love you with lots of smooches & .... or is it c) hearing a joyfully yelled rendition of Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin flew away, WonderWoman lost her bosoms flying TAA* yaaaaaaay........ let me tell you it was option c) this morning & although that's a great xmas song for the primary school set & I am the one who taught her this particular version & Miss Angelface is clearly becoming a christmas junkie like me, it is NOT a great start to the day. Welcome to the last day of term 1 ~ which means 2 weeks of holidays...... da da da dummmmmmm. (<- hum the music in your head, believe me it works)

In the past I have not been a big morning person (okay ~ stop laughing now, you'll fall off your chair), but have done my bit & gotten going, granted some days it is with a raised voice. But today it was damn hard & it was all my own fault, well not entirely my own due to my staying up til 2am reading other blogs. I only realised the time when King Carlyboy came stumbling out of the bedroom looking mighty cute & all rumpled & wanted to know what the hell I was doing at 2am?!? Obviously my chuckling over the other blogs woke him up, can't help it, it's addictive stuff dontchaknow?!?

So today I have to stumble thru packing (curse my obsessive control freak self) for us all except King Carlyboy ~ he's in control of his clothes (he can stretch a pair of undies thru until... ooops too much info right?!) & the manly stuff like the bbq, stove, camping gadgets etc. Okay, I can do this I thought until I noticed that The Wotwots tv show seems to be extra loud this morning, maybe Miss Fairygirl found the remote (AGAIN), but nooooooo ~ it's raining! Not only is it raining, but it is now HAILING, oh yeah, bring on a camping weekend in that -> noice.

* TAA -> vintage Aussie airline, look it up peoples if you don't believe me.

Let The Choc-Fest Begin

So, it's that time of year when chocoholics are looking in equal parts extremely blissful (oh, the chocolate supplies to choose from!) & extremely frazzled (how do I choose just a few dozen types?), yep peoples ~ it's EASTER!!! The magical time of the year when the fam goes camping, eat chocolate & chocolate hot cross buns (well, think about eating them coz $9.00 for half dozen is just out of the ballgame right then & there -> thanks a lot B.D.) & the new winter pj's arrive for Miss Angelface & Miss Fairygirl from team Heriot........

We got a lovely surprise from the Scotties, Miss AF & Miss FG received easter presents early. My beautiful S-I-L Mel saw some handbags that my girls just NEEDED & I have to say that they went down V. well in our ken & barbie household. Easter Bunny will be extremely impressed when he hippity-hops into the carly-campa on Sunday to load up the goodies in these stylin' bags. Miss AF immediately took herself off to her room & loaded the bag up wth just the essentials, you know, phones, lipgloss, notebook, pens & bling. It was also carted outside in order for the little girl over the fence to ooooh & aaaaah over the fabulous new accessory. Score!!! Miss FG was v. impressed that her little bag had a chicken on it. Miss FG is a big fan of "chick-ahhhhhhn"as she pronounces it. Pretty much well every meat is chick-ahhhhhhhn to her way of thinking & King Carlyboy & I are not bothering to clear things up if she's happy to eat it then it can be chicken for as long as she wants.

Did I mention that this craft-challenged mummy spent an entire afternoon primping & recycling 3 Tea2 shopping bags into easter eggs bags?!? (Did I also mention that we looooove this shop & Miss FG is their unnofficial mascot for the Botany Downs store) They looked pretty okay (well so I thought) until we unwrapped the pressies & copped a look at the accessories & then my easter bags took themselves off to a dark corner of the cupboard & wept in shame....... We were allowed to open them early coz Aunty Mel said we could. So there. Plus I knew that they'd be mega-cute. Pics will follow on after easter has actually arrived.

All good so far. Miss AF & King Carlyboy attended a clean-up & easter egg hunt on the weekend & Miss AF came home with an absolute stash of goodies. Obviously it pays to be in with the in-crowd at these events. Mega pot of marshmellow easter eggs have found a new home in our fridge & I for one am actually a little over them.

Then today the second easter goody package arrived in the post for Miss AF & Miss FG, & thus it was the official start to easter for the carly gang (all easter eggs consumed prior to this point in time was just practice) -> the arrival of the winter pj's. Okay, laugh if you will, but you can rely on Aunty Dann to always come up with the goods of cute & funky pj's for my girls. Now this year was a little different as Miss Georgie-Girl (aged 4 almost) put her fashionably shoe'd foot down & decided on who was to receive which pair. Well, my whirlwind G-G just knew that Miss AF needed to have the pink ones as that's her favourite colour. It's just an absolute JOY to know these cousins are all so alike in being strong, individual girls...... I'm holding onto that thought the next time we have a drama-rama over fashion, yes I'm looking at you Miss FG.

Anyway, after the excitement of checking out the pj's & me laughing at my midget-legged children they discovered the chocolate rabbit lurking within the package. One smarties rabbit had unfortunately been squished en-route & was looking a bit sad & inside-out, who knew that rabbits guts are smartie sized?!? So, what's a mum to do? Either, a) wait for the "mine's broken & her's isn't & it's not fair speech", b) oooops, the rabbit dropped on the floor.....accidently.....4 times. (that rabbit was hard to kill) or c) tell the kids to harden up & wait for the fall-out to start. Hmmmm, I'll take option b) thanks = smart mummy.

Miss AF & Miss FG proceeded to devour their chocolate rabbits, I was hearing Nigel Thornberry narrating in my head "Watch the hungry carnivores as they pore over the carcass of their latest kill... see how they react angrily if another carnivore takes some of their prize from them. What an absolute feast for the carnivore....let's hope that they rest up before going out hunting again....." Well, nuh ,they SOOOOOOO did not rest up after the feast. I was responsible (of sorts) & stopped the little chocoholics in training before they reached the half-way point, but it was too late. Picture this, rainy afternoon, chocolate buzzing thru the pint-sized bodies & stuck inside with no King Carlyboy in sight. It was a recipe for ÖKAY - OUTSIDE NOW! if ever there was one.

I wish you all a very happy Easter peoples, enjoy the holiday weekend the best way you know how, whether that means church, family, friends, camping, eating, drinking & being merry or all of the above, have fun & take some time out for yourself......

Angelface is a Tri-athlete!

Me ~ I am a certified couch potato ~"NO TRAIN - NO PAIN" is my motto.

BUT, Miss Angelface completed a triathlon at school & I am one proud momma!!! She sooooo didn't get any athletic ability from me. Okay, so it was downsized for the munchkins abilities, but my AF gave it her all & she scored. She was in the turtle group for the swim & came first in her group (YAY) & then it was a little drama in getting her shoes on before the run to the scooters & a final run around the field for the breathtaking finish! My girl was so proud of herself to finish & so was I.

There were a few tense moments this morning as my athlete hasn't grasped the concept of shoelace tying - we are almost there - & was convinced that she would get into trouble at school because she couldn't get the job done, but I managed to coax her into by letting her know that there would be help if she needed it. Connor's mum was a gem in helping out at this stage.

After the swim across the pool & changing drama, she was so busy concentrating that she zipped right by Miss Fairygirl & I on her way to the scooter arena. I don't know how she did coz the scooter bit was around the corner & there was no parental access. So will imagine that she put the pedal to the medal & went for it as afterwards she sprinted as fast as her legs would pump past us to the running field. Miss FG & I only made it down to the track in time to see the last 20 metres of he run, she was going that fast!

So my big girl had a blast & I didn't get any pics (ooops sorry!) Unfortunately King Carlyboy had to work so he'll get the full details tonight at dinner. That's my girl!

Crafty Carlygirl - NOT

Okay, so it's official ~ I am craft-challenged & have a baaaaaad case of craft envy.

My name is Fiona & I am useless at arts & crafts. (when do I get to feel better?)

I wonder if I google "craft envy" if it will come up as a real-life diagnosis on wikipedia. Stop rolling your eyes King Carlyboy ~ I can hear your reaction from across the room.

I've been reading some blogs, especially the country craft ones (which I LOVE) & the green-eyed witch of envy has settled firmly on my shoulder. It's great that there are people out there in blog-world who are so generously including how-to tips & steps to those of us with this particular challenge, whilst also showing off stuff they made but people, this is just a bit depressing. This also means that Miss Angelface & Miss Fairygirl kinda miss out on trying out new stuff, coz I just know that wth me involved -> the project just ain't gonna work out. & it's a fair assumption that there's going to be heated words involved.

I would like to overcome this & have enlisted the help of a friend who is going to attempt to teach me how to knit..... Little does she know what she's let herself in for! I'm determined to excel at making knitted squares so one day I'll have to sew them together & make a blanket -> woo hoo. Yeah, stop sniggering, I have to start somewhere.


My sister-in-law is soooo talented, check out some of the reborn babies she makes:

These bambinos look like the real deal & she should know, having had 4 real ones ..... (big smooches to my gorgeous nephews & nieces). This is just the tip of the iceberg of what she can do. Kudos to my S-I-L Dann, but could you just share a little sprinkle of some craft talent around? Pretty please with sugar on top?!? Maybe just tip some into a thimble & post it to me.

I am a Christmas junkie & I should be able to produce something country-style for my beautiful 6 foot xmas tree, that most importantly I made (& actually stays together). Okay, I admit I attempted to get crafty last Xmas ~ I made a beachy Xmas tree for our garden. The tree is made out of driftwood & I hung seashells on the branches for decorations. It looked great, for a while. Now 4 of the shells have snapped off their twine hangers & it's looking a bit sad all in all. I can't really blame it all on Auckland wind & rain (dammit.)

Sigh. Maybe one day I'll be able to proudly post pics of something crafty I did. One day. Stay tuned.