Look what I'm making now!!

just a quickie post cos I've got a mega headache from lack of sleep:(

Just wanted to show off these adorable handmade crochet headbands I've been making for lil Miss :)

I've already made a million and one different coloured flowers and headbands...it's so easy to get carried away and I'm enjoying it so much cos yanno how clingy lil miss has been lately...well this is something I can practically be doing while still sitting next to her highness *sigh*  It's hard being soooo loved by her lol.


Oooh nearly forgot to mention...what makes these even more super dooper...is that the flowers are interchangeable!!  YES - that's right.  You can take one flower off and pop another one over the button which is affixed to the headband...heck you could even wear it with just the button!!

Random Weekend Pics...

So we had the NZ Elections this weekend just gone...I hope all you NZders voted!! :)  It's just sooo easy to do, there were bugger all people there when I went in at lunch time...I was in and out of there in 5mins! I just can't understand why so many people don't 'bother' to vote :/

So this is where I went to cast my vote...a local Mormon Temple up the road...it's a couple of years old, I'm not Mormon, so not sure about other Temples, but this one is HUGE and really gorgeous...the buildings, the landscape...but most of all - the view!!  

On my way through Manukau, at the busiest intersection in NZ (It's a fact I read it in a newspaper lol) what do you think I saw??  

Neat huh? lol.  There was a guy at each corner with a sandwich board :)  I went to see their show about 7 years ago (I think it was 7 years...my brain has gone to mush since having baby *sigh*)  I thought it was really neat!!  

Then driving through Papatoetoe I saw this...

Now call me 'Nana' but I don't think that is legal!  At least put the kid in front of you if ya gonna drive around busy streets!!  I did think it was awfully cute - maybe it was just the paranoid mum in me that could just see the kid letting go to wipe his nose and whoops...anyway, I bet the kid had a blast!!  

And of course my I can't add random pics on my blog without putting one up of my lil side kick!!  So here she is, she's just moved out of her baby capsule and into her big girl carseat.  I hate this bloody carseat.  There were only two options to choose from as I didn't want the kind of seat that needs to have the bolt clip thingy...the other carseat I could have chosen, needed a longer seat belt!!  So i was left with this stupid car seat!!  Man, things have changed since I had my other kiddies...threading the belt through this was almost as bad as threading my flippin overlocker!  She sits so darn high in it - it's as if she's riding an elephant! lol.  It JUST fits in the back of the car...it doesn't fit in the front - I'm gutted cos I LOVE having her next to me!  But  I had this yellow dragon mirror, and it's great I can see her through my rear view mirror *BIG SMILE!!*  And most of the time, she is always looking back at me...she LOVES me!!

 
 Tomorrow fingers crossed I have the time to I have LOTS of PICS to share of a trip the kids and I took to one of the local beaches!!

Hubby went to Australia on Sunday morning with his brothers and Mr 13 went to a school camp.  This was his very first school camp ever and he was REALLY excited to go.  There were only 10 boys selected to attend...and the teacher taking them encouraged the families to go up with them if they wanted...either to sleep or just for the day.

So I decided to take the kids for a drive...much to Mr 13's horror - he said I was "Embarrassing"  How rude!!  Embarrassing parents don't fork out money for a camp mr!!

Anyway, we HARDLY EVER go out and do things as a family and we sure as heck don't go for long drives and take in what this beautiful country has to offer...so I thought, bugger you Mr 13 - I'm coming up whether you like it or not!


And so we did.  

I dropped him off to school on Sunday morning...told his teacher we would see them later in the day :)  Came back home and packed our lil car and off we went :)

1 hour out of Auckland and here is a sneak peak and where we went :)

Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend and a fantastic start to their week!!

The garden...

About 2 weeks ago (can't quite remember) we made a start on our vege garden.  We always start late, with promises that NEXT year we'll start earlier...never happens.

Our SMALL vege plot is just that - small (approx 1m x 2m).  But you'd be surprised how much you can actually grow in such a small space - and!! IF we actually knew what we were doing, I'm sure we'd do even better LOL.

Anyway, here are some progress pics...

2 weeks ago, hubby had already gotten rid of most of the weeds from out small raised garden by the time I found the camera :)

I finally got around to planting a few seedlings out a couple of evenings ago.  These pics were taken this morning :)

 Not the best pics (thanks to mr 13's lack of interest in the subject!) and I suppose he's just not into being asked at 7am to come out and take photos lol.  We have Runner Beans, Spinach, Silverbeet, Pak Choy, Basil and Tomatoes.  I'd like to put some beetroot in too but you can't grow them close to beans...so will have to find another spot to put them in.


And this year Mr 9 and I are having another go at growing a watermelon!  Last we 'tried' and hello - ended up growing a cucumber instead - some bugger at the garden store must have changed the labels around!!  


This year, we HOPE that we are in fact growing watermelon (Sugar Baby variety), we are also having a go at growing a Rockmelon.  YUM.  We arent' going to let it sprawl though, I am going to build me a cheap bamboo frame and train it up that...I'll support the growing fruit in individual hammocks made out of Miss 16s old school stockings lol.  That is am idea I stumbled across on the internet...so will give that a go :)

See how small the seedlings are - I hope we haven't left it too late!!  They need a LONG growing season.  I've got a coke bottle cut in half over the two smaller Sugar Baby seedlings, to protect it from snails, birds, wind, sun...will remove it once they're much bigger :)


Now, about three weeks ago, I organised most of the pots and plants that I had stored over winter at the back and side of the house.  In one of the pots I put in rhubarb, and silverbeet.  In another I already had Mint growing, so I popped 3 Cos Lettuce plants in...and hello...the lettuce is ready for harvest and the silverbeet is not far off - perfect to add to miss 6mths home cooked meals :)  How easy is that??  Right by my back door :)

LOL! Sorry - but I just had to giggle at this....

Vodafone employee sacked for Samoan slurs

I'm on a roll - not enough hours in the day!!

Lil miss 6mths is so clever!  Her latest 'thing' is to spit and blow raspberries blimmin near ALL the time - even when I am feeding her, I am almost starting to think I need to wear a pair of overalls to feed her lol.  If she's not doing that then she is sucking on her lower lip...haven't got a clue how to effectively stop her doing either of these things *sigh*  She'll just have to grow out of it. 

Here she is mid-way through a raspberry!!

Anyway as a result she is REALLY dribbing now (plus the reflux!)! See..

  And yanno how I had trouble finding good quality baby bibs, and decided to make some...well I've started selling them :)

Honestly, they are way better than any bib I can find in a shop atm.  They are soft and super absorbent and if you give a hoot - they actually LOOK really neat on!

The ladies I have sold them to so far are really happy and have gone on to buy more...one even suggested I try selling them on FB - now I am NOT a fb freak...don't know my way around it enough to save myself, so I got Miss 16 to help me out...and I now have a FB to promote my goodies...bit of a joke really as I would really have a clue how to promote it and get people looking at it yet hahaha!! But I'll get there - I'm sure. 

At the moment there are not nearly enough hours in the day!  My creative juices are flowing, I lay awake at night thinking of what else I can sew/make/create to sell...I spend any moment I can browsing the Internet (with baby bouncing on my lap lol) looking for ideas!!

Anyway...apart from the bibs I am making these really cute travel pouches that carry two disposable nappies and a travel pack of wet wipes AND look GOOD!!


In the pipeline I am just working perfecting the sizing for a 'Bib with Sleeves' pattern...it will be so handy for when baby is starting to feed herself in a month or two, cos we all know what a mess that can be!! 

 And as you can tell by the photos, I have invested in a Snap Press machine (no more Velcro) - it's my fav toy atm and I always find myself thinking what else I can use it for oh how exciting my life is lol  I have already had to lay down the law on Mr 13, the bugger lol.  He thinks it's a hoot to put snaps on various items laying around - like my tea towels!!

Gorgeous day out with the kiddies...

Spent the day watching mr 13's Waka Ama Sprint comps at Orakei Basin today...weather was overcast - but perfect...not too hot, not too cold.  

Not much to say for once!! just lots of pics to share :)

I love my baby's feet...lil faddy!!

This photo does NOT do this place justice - the scene  was really gorgeous!!

Mr 13 giving lil sister a kiss before he went out on the water...he truly adores her!! (Miss 16 holding lil sister :)

.And another lil squeeze of the cheeks before he went out *nawwww*

My big girl and lil girl :)

Completely random pic of the houses directly on the waterfront...lucky farkers!!

Out they go...

Yeah, so 'scuse the smiley face...mr 13 absolutely forbade me from putting his mug shot up here, so to protect his identity (fefe ia ki'o) here is the compromise!

Mr 9 just itching to jump in!

It's all good fun for some!!

 
And that's it folks!!  A lovely day out in Akarana!!

I love FREEBIES!!! I hate LOST shoes!!

about a month ago a friend sent me a link to a website promoting Family Health...I filled out the details and forgot all about it.  Then this morning, the courier turns up with...

And inside the box...

 Full sized cleaning spray, sugar free lollies and a small bottle (travel size) hand sanitizer lotion.  Single serve of cereal YUM couple of vouchers for discounts off various baby products...great start to my morning indeed ruined by teenage son realising this morning that he left his school shoes at waka ama training yesterday *deep breath*!

All the kids have gone to school breaths a sigh of relief! I just got back from dropping miss 16 off to the bus stop.  She has the first of her NCEA exams this afternoon - English.  Have wished her well...and given her the pep-talk lol.  She passed NCEA level 1 last year with merit, so we expect the same if not better this time around for level 2 so no pressure love, I believe in YOU!!

Seriously though...she's an angel and the perfect daughter/student compared to me at her age hahaha.  I'm sure karma will hit me in the arse with Miss 10 though..heck mr 13 is already sending some my way with all the things he's putting me through lately *sigh*

Did I tell you about mr 13 and Guy Fawkes?  No I didn't did I...sit back and relax, I'll try and keep it short lol.

So, Mr 13 is a very inquisitive child - always has been.  Loves to know how things work every since he's known how to hold a screw driver, he's managed to take a lot of things apart...putting them back together is another thing! 

Guy Fawkes is one of his most favourite times of the year.  It used to be cos he just loved lighting them, standing back and watching them explode into glorious colours and patterns...now though, it's not enough.

Nope...for the past couple of years he's been buying them and dismantling them and making them up again...this year though with the help of bloody youtube!! I must admit, he has re-made some pretty spectacular ones!  BUT...a few days ago, while I stood in my kitchen holding the baby...preparing diner..I HEARD an almighty explosion and FELT the vibration through my feet!! from the back of our house followed by the smell of gunpowder!

I ran as fast as I could through the house, where I also met up with miss 16 who was also running out to the backyard to see what was going on!

We have a small backyard, but when we got there there was no Mr 13 - just a huge puff of white smoke!!

I yelled son's name...once...twice...third time lucky I get a reply from around the other side of the house "Yes mum?"

Me "What the HELL did you let off this time??"

Son (pops his head around from the corner of the house "Ummm...just my fireworks..."

Next door neighbour (pops their head from over the fence) "He did the same thing yesterday - and both times whatever the hell it is has smashed into the side of my house!"

Me "Oh my GOD...you did this yesterday too??"

anyway...blah blah blah...I look at neighbour...apologise, make mr 13 give a full apology, the kind where he promises never to do it again (yeah right - I remember giving those apologies to my mum a few times too...this is payback!)  I take son into the house and proceed to tell him that it's great that he's interested in how things work, and that he is clever enough to make his own BUT enough IS enough!!  He's gone too far now with his BOMB making - cos that's basically what it is!  He's either gonna blow a hole in someones house or worse blow himself up!!

  

Anyway...here are a couple of pics that I took while driving lol from my 'hood' this morning, when I went to drop miss 16 off at the bus stop:

 

OK...so as you can see it's a miserable day out there.  I'm hoping to get out with baby today, just wanting to go to the local fabric store and see what I 'NEED'.  Did I tell you about my addiction to buying fabric??  Ia, I'll save it for another day lol.

Grrrr teenage boys!!

Finally gave in and bought my son a brand new Snap Back hat for what I consider a small fortune for a friggan cap!!) and less that one week after getting in the post, it's been STOLEN.

All last week I told him - "don't wear it to schoolwhere else is the guy supposed to wear it too?  Bed for all I care! " - but did he listen??  Nope - cos I don't know shite. 

Then when I picked him up from his waka ama training this evening, I asked him where it was, his reply "Someone stole it from my bag at waka ama last Friday"

FARK me.  Fark that and fark the lil farker that stole it!!


Then low and behold, he's on facebook and guess who is wearing an identical cap and yeah I KNOW his cap isn't the only one in the entire world, but our 'world' isn't very big and I know this boy VERY WELL, same school, same friggan family and I just KNOW it's my son's hat!!....*sigh* who's wearing it, hubby's nephew...
Grrr I'm just friggan venting right now...sick of kids that can't afford to buy their own shite, have to steal off others, pass it around, sell it off, whatever the hell else they do at that school!  I hope he gets nits and his balls fall off!

Good morning world :)

So I HAD been harbouring ill feelings towards ONE particular person...and when I came across this on the internet it pretty much leapt out to me as the reason WHY I had ill feelings (note past tense!).     

Like that other saying...There comes a time in your life when you realize who will always matter, who does matter, and who never did. 

Now I'd like to know if anyone has a saying about NOT expecting so much from others in future?? lol.

Manu Samoa...he said she said...

it's just getting juicier and jucier...if you can be bothered reading it all, and yes this bored/excited housewife is :)  OK, so I haven't read all of Harry's letter...after the first two paragraphs I just saw "blah blah blah..."

Mahonri said...

Then Harry said...

and now Mahonri is saying...

I'm getting the 'vibe' from Mahonri's latest letter (and Matthew Tuala's first letter of responce) that M. Tuala might have been a 'naughty boy' on tour...Hmmm...stay tuned lol.

I want to see what Tuilaepa has to say about it all...he's lucky his tinky ass didn't go on tour...Although something tells me if he did, the headline on the Observer would have read "Mahonri is STUPID" Says Tuilaepa.