4 Children and 2 dogs

Eli loves having Meisha sleep with him

Well it is a busy weekend. I am down one husband (he has gone to Akaroa to have time out to finish two assignments and study for exams.
I have acquired one dog - Meisha - the parents-in-law dog (they are in Akaroa too). Meisha gets spoilt when she stays as she is allowed on beds etc.

My sister has gone to Cromwell (for a party and a local show) with her partner. So we have Montana-Rose and Albie staying too. Thanks to Uncle Simon I got a 2 1/2 hour break as him and Lyn picked the kids up to go and watch Matthew play rugby (they lost :-).)

At five pm all were tired so they got to watch some Thunderbirds.

They are now all in bed, though I can hear little voices so growly aunty will be happening soon.Dishes to do, things to tidy and then I am going to give myself a treat.

In spite of all of this ( or because of all of this - I was so shot last night all I could do was sit down and watch some of my recorded programmes and stitch a bit) I managed to get some stitching done on a quilt I am designing. This has been on the go since the day I had with Leanne and Rosalie last year.It is based on the concept of design that Leanne taught us.  I have just managed to start designing some of the stitching. Am not yet totally happy with the applique but it is a learning curve and I want to keep it  reasonably simple. So it is flowers and hearts. (very normal I know but a begining).
I have gotten very optimistic by putting 2011 on the quilt. It now has to be finished this year!!!

The Road Trip

Well a lot has happened lately and I have had a lot to blog but have not done it.

Crashed and wrote off our little car. The only decent small cars with lower km's seemed to be in Auckland. So we bought a Toyota Will and Aaron and I had a three day road trip driving it back down to Kaiapoi. The funny thing is that we have not yet taken a photo of the actual car!!!
Her name is KCC (said Casey) short for Kaiapoi's coolest car.

Off we drove

only took a few photos on the way

Gorgeous Mt Ruapehu

And on the ferry

Stephen's 30th birthday

Well Stephen is getting OLD. But the sun came out, it was 20 odd degrees and gorgeous. Huge turnout for his party. All the cousins were there - Mieke, Jasmine, Alissa, Jakob and Eli. It is amazing what happens when you turn your back for 20 mins. The boys came out looking very interesting!!!

Mothers Day stroll

 This year we spent mothers day in Akaroa on the Banks Penninsular. We stayed in a lovely house that was on a steep site so that when you went onto the deck you were level with the tree tops. Birds singing in the morning, sun shining and a view of the harbour. It felt like you had the place to yourself due to the dense bush but the houses were very close together. It was amazing to be so close and feel so private.

the view from the deck, lounge and bedroom

Eli showing off his new gloves I finished knitting

The rescued and shifted lighthouse. Due to earthquake damage we could not go inside.

  We had a lovely walk in the middle of the day that took a few hours, just mucking around being a family. Thanks so much to Colleen who allowed us to stay in her house with her.

getting wet

practicing their writing

Aaron playing with the camera

Lots of posing

All of us enjoying the wander

The School holidays are coming to an end

There have been sleepovers, movies, tramps, cycle trips and the list goes on. As the holidays wind down (back to school tomorrow) we did a few last things.

Jakob and I took Morris for a long run down at the river. We have not been able to do this for a while due to muck from the earthquake. Morris had the most fantastic time having races with Jakob.

It was raining as we ran around doing our last jobs and getting to be very late for lunch. So stopped at a bakery / cafe which had free face painting (by sheer chance). The boys got painted as different coloured dragons.

Then last of all - preparing for school - they had a long bath by candle light. Winds them down ready for a big sleep and the start of our normal routines. This can only be done in the winter months as it needs to be dark outside to be effective.

The Easter Sunday treat

Instead of just having a pile of eggs I made an easter cake. Well I was trying to make it look like a nest full of eggs. I made a banana cake in a ring tin and then iced it and covered the area near the centre in the more natural coloured eggs by cadbury.

the 5 s continues!!! Now the Laundry

We have done the dining room and computer, Jakobs room and today I got stuck into the laundry. I cleared the under sink cupboard out and found a lot of cleaning products that were unused. So that will save in the shopping over the next wee while. I then cleared out behind the shelf as we could never properly open the door. Filtered down to at least half the number of things on the hangers. Bulky things nearer the kitchen so that the door opens (I am going to be really anal and label the hooks so that the correct things get put away in the correct place. The top of the shelfs is cleared of junk and the shelves organised. The window sill cleared off. Then it all cleaned (except the floor). Man I am on a roll!! (or procrastinating as I do not want to have to do my room - that will be a mission!)

"oh happy thought indeed, the shelves in a cupboard"

Dressup Man

Well it is school holidays and when we went shopping Eli and Jakob found a sun hat with pig tails attached. Eli insisted on buying it and has been wearing it ever since. Much to the embarrassment of Jakob, who tried very hard to persuade Eli to leave it in the car when we went shoe shopping. Two days later it is still one of the first things he puts on!!!

You know it is the school holidays when there are 8 children in the house!

On Tuesday I was looking after Jorja and Spencer in the morning. We were going to make a piñata.When it comes to things like that it is always  a case of the more the merrier. So I invited all the girls over too. We had great fun with a flour glue, getting sticky and using the hairdryer to dry each layer. It still remained pretty damp so we could not finish it off. But everyone found the bag of balloons and started drawing. By the time that was done, hot cross buns were made for lunch and the kids occupied themselves with playing the brain teasing games. We all had a great time

Now you see them

now you don't

A night away in Hanmer Springs without the kids

Our gorgeous breakfast of croissants and coffee, in the sun

Yesterday we dropped the boys and Morris off to Anna and Mark and went on our merry way to Hanmer Springs. We stayed in a cute cabin in the River Holiday Park. It is 8km short of Hanmer, lovely little camping ground, considerably cheaper than those in Hanmer, quiet, pretty, great games room and amazing vege garden. We went to the pools for 3 hours and then to the Tapa's cafe. Our favourite. Had a good night sleep, I did not wake till 9.30am and we had to be out by 10am. So a quick shower, pack the car and we took a picnic breakfast down to the river. We had a lovely two hours reading magazines, walking to the confluence of the rivers and relaxing. Along the way I found heaps of water cress and a couple of mushrooms.Then back to Amberley to pick up the kids (who had been fantastically entertained by Anna and Mark and had eaten like horses!)

Once home and unpacked I made watercress soup with floating islands (poached eggs) for tea.

Karen's watercress soup
Finely cut 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 stalk celery (from the garden) and saute in a bit of olive oil. Add the vege stock you have in the fridge (or chicken stock if you have made some) to a total of 1 litre. Bring to boil. Add a good bunch of watercress and simmer 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and a couple of drops of tabasco sauce. Blitz with blender till smooth. In another pot of water poach an egg per person for 1 1/2 minutes. Put watercress in bowls, add an egg per person making sure it shows (it is an island after all) and serve. As you are eating the egg will finish poaching. Yum

Hitting the house with 5 S theory

Well yesterday was a revelation. Aaron cleaned out the computer desk!! While I am only working 4-8 hours a week I am using the time to go through everything and reorganise the stuff. Now it is a mission that I am expecting to take a good four months. I had been working toward a garage sale but have started listing on trademe to see how it goes.
Anyway - last week I started with a vengence with Jakob's room. Rearranged the entire room so that you can access his wardrobe, put Dad's bookcase in. Today I have taken down all the little kid pictures etc and have started framing certificates of achievement that he gets from school, soccer, swimming etc and making the room a bit more adult. I still need to sort the wardrobe and make some bunting and redo a bean bag for his new reading corner. But we are well on the way.
Anyway, was in bed discussing what I want to do with the kitchen so that I use the nice things I have. At the moment they are all behind doors and harder to access. Talked about how to make the dining room look more spacious and how to make the kitchen more attractive. PRESTO - Aaron was out of bed, dressing gown on, and was working through all his computer gear. I was not going to stop this particular whirlwind from occuring. 1 1/2 hours later and look at all the clear surfaces!!!!