Happy New Year!

Well here we are the last day of 2008. Amazing how the year has gone by. We have moved and moved again and in the new year we will move one more time.

I am looking foward to many great days in 2009. There will be shopping and dinners and movies and other great things to look forward to. I am looking foward to hanging out with great friends and making more memories that we can laugh about in 2010.

Well I wish you all a happy and healty 2009.

Love,
Helene
xoxox

Balmoral Beach

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are enjoying some much needed time off. Today we went to Balmoral Beach and what a great day we had. The children played for 4 straight hours and had the best time. This is a great beach because there are no great waves for the littlies. They loved the sand and we had a great time because we were able to sit under the big tree and relax. If you ever venture to this beach bring your own lunch. They have very nice fish and chips but a large chips cost 15.00$ It was very expensive and next time we go we will bring our own lunch. Mind you we packed enough food for 5 days.

Love,
Helene

24 December 2008

Well here we are the last shopping day until Christmas. The parking lots are filling up and the fish market is standing room only. The stockings are filled and the hidden away. The gifts are wrapped. I just wanted to say a very Merry Christmas to all my friends out there and thanks for keeping in touch with me this past year.

Be safe and happy and know that you are always in my thoughts.

Merry Christmas
Love,
Helene

xoxox

Shopping

Shopping should be considered for the 2012 Olympics. Really you need a lot of stamina and you use a lot of energy to get through a whole day of it. Well four hours. I mean the training is always being done and you are constantly trying to achieve better so why shouldn't it be a sport.
Today was a great day out. I do love my sport and with a good friend it makes the whole day better. Thomas survived and is now passed out cold. What a trooper and thankfully we had the stroller so we didn't have to carry everything.

Cheers to all you future Olympians out there.

Helene
xoxo

Thomas's 3rd birthday

What a day. Thomas turned 3 on Friday and today we had a little party with the family. The kids had a great day but Thomas still needs an afternoon nap and today he didn't get one so he is already in the bed. He was so exhausted. I decorated him a Thomas the Tank Engine cake. He does love his Thomas trains. Well I thought it came out OK. We hung some doughnuts from the washing line and they tried their best to get them off. The little ones did really well and used their hands through most of it.

Friends

Friends are wonderful things to have. I thankfully have some great ones. Today being Thomas's 3rd birthday I was in a bit of a spot. I need to make a cake for a Sunday lunch with the family and the fact that I am not home near my friends made this a dilemma. I always borrow a cake tin from a friend and because I am no where near home I can not. Well when she happen to call before I told her my dilemma and she has very kindly offered to bake the cake. I will pick it up tomorrow and start decorating. I am so thankful for friends. Where would we all be without friends.


"I get by with a little help from my friends."

-John Lennon

Boys in the pool

Well this is the best photo I have taken of the three boys in forever. This was before WWIII broke out and they had to get out.

Under the hose.

Well the boys are just loving the warmer weather. Thomas loves to have his shower outside. It saves me so much time in the afternoon when they play under the hose and then get straight into there pjs.

xoxo
Helene

Potty Training

Well we have started the task of potty training our little Thomas. He is such a good boy and would really like it if we would just put his nappy back on. We only started 2 days ago and as long as we don't put any pants on he is happy to pee in the potty. It is the number 2's that have us in a bit of a quandary. He won't wear undies so it just comes out. Gross huh? Well just imagine having to walk around the house looking for where he has gone. We will still put the nappy on if we are going in the car for a while.

Yesterday we went to visit Davids cousin who had a beautiful baby boy two weeks ago. He slept the whole time we were there. Babies are so good like that. When no one is around and you have a million things to do they seem to be up and screaming the whole time. When you have company and they all want a cuddle they sleep beautifully. Crazy.

Only two weeks until David comes home. He is so looking forward to it. We are all looking forward to seeing him too. Thomas is excited because he is getting his best friend back for his birthday. He gets all excited when we talk about his birthday. He can't wait. Three already. Where has the time gone.

Well I think that is all for now. Keep smiling and Happy Thanksgiving.

Love,

Helene

PS Any tips for potty training are welcomed.

Well here we are another week gone by. The time seems to be moving quickly which for me is a great thing. 6 weeks and David will be coming home and then another 4 after that and we will be moving home again. We won't have a whole lot of furniture but we will be home.

So the boys are getting on with school. They like the new school and have even made a few friends. Only one more school hopefully before going off to High School. Don't you wish High School could be like the new movie and everyone was walking around singing and dancing? ow much more fun it could be.

Thomas is changing every day and all things are for the better. I don't think he is sleeping real well at night because by 11 am he is or wants to be back in bed. We don't go out very much and I really think he is getting bored with being around just us. Next year he will be back in school 2 days a week and that will be good for him and very good for me.

David is very happy to be coming back home and the best bit is they are paying for the move and giving him a car too. Now I will need to get a car so I can get out of the house.

I am looking forward to the few outings that have been planned over the next few weeks and before we know it it will be Thomas's 3rd birthday and then Christmas. My how the time flys by.

So happy to be home.

Love to you all.

Helene

Ok so it has been forever since I have written but I thought it was time. Well here are back in Sydney and would be loving it but... Ok so I am really happy to be back in the land of OZ. I get to have conversations with my friends and have even gotten a social life if you can call it that. I am not aloud out of the house unless my mother-in-law goes with me, I can't spend any money because they want to know where the money is coming from and ask a million questions. I miss my privacy my space and my house. Is it January yet????



Well I have been home for 2 weeks and I have been by myself twice. I think I may have a melt down before to long. I just keep smiling and think of the diet I will have to put Harrison on when we leave because he should be 20kgs heavier once we leave. She is not happy unless she is fussing over them and feeding them up. I never fuss. Maybe that could be a bad point but at 10 and 8 should I still be dressing them and doing everything for them? I ask you this how do you ask your mother in law how to stop mothering??



So when is the Mamma Mia sig along now the DVD is out? I will be getting it on Monday. I will wrap and present it to myself. The children can give it to me. They sometimes still love me.

Well I think that is all so happy days.

Love,
Helene

Another Day

Today is yet another day. For the past few weeks the water board has been digging up Albany Hwy to put new water pipes in. Well over the last few days they have gotten to the front of our house. Well it is every little boys dream to have big diggers right outside the front door. Thomas loves it. David is up there looking in the big hole with him now.

Lately I have not had a car so the boys have learned to take the bus. They love it. I don't mind much either because then I don't have to fight the traffic back and forth to the school. With Thomas at preschool 2 days I have been walking down to the preschool and then catching the bus with the boys home. They think it is brilliant. Thomas loves no car days but only if he gets to take the bus too. Next week is school holidays so the boys will get to relax. I am happy about school holidays but ask me at the end of next week.

Today I decided to bake some cookies for the boys when they got home from school. Jonny was so excited and Thomas just wanted them to be cold so he could eat them. I thought I would share this recipe with everyone because it is dead easy and tastes YUMMY! I used to make these cookies with a friend of mine when we were in grade school and now I get to make them for the boys. Hope you get the time to try them. Enjoy.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (less for fan forced). In a mixing bowl, beat the

butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in Egg and Vanilla until well blended. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, and stir in the remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Combine the 4 T sugar and 1 1/2 t of cinnamon. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinn/ sugar mixture to coat. Place balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are beautifully golden.

MOTAT

Yesterday the weather was beautiful and so David and I took the boys to the MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology). We had one of the best days out that I can remember in a really long time. The boys got to ride on a tram, go in an old sea plane, play with toy tanks, go to the centre of the Earth, see model trains, have an egg and spoon race, fly an air plane, and ride in an Army truck. Well the list goes on but it was just great. The best part of the day was that it was an under 50$ day. With life so expensive we are really trying to make our outings interesting and as cheap as possible.

It was nice to be out and about doing things that not only interest the children but is interesting to us also. Well I can honestly say that it was a great day out.

I hope everyone had an interesting Sunday with their families.

Helene

Friends Long Ago

Over the years the Internet has changed the way we see the world. It can be an on-line dating service, an encyclopedia, a weather channel and a place to find friends from long ago. Not to long ago I joined Facebook with the prompting of a few friends this opened a whole new world.

In June 2009 I will have been out of high school for 20 years. I got an e-mail from a girl that I went to school with a few weeks back telling me that they are organizing our reunion. I can't believe it has been so long. I look back at my yearbook and what people wrote to me and I can't imagine that I have not seen more 5 people out of all those people that wrote we would be friends forever. I laugh now but if you asked me 20 years ago what I would be doing now I don't think this would have occurred to me.

Well with Facebook I am now in contact with a dozen people that I went to school with in either high school or college. It made the world so much smaller. I started to look up other of the people that I went to school with. I got an e-mail from a friend that works as an editor for a big book company.

It is just amazing that with Google you can find people that you haven't spoken to. I do realise that not everyone is out to look for friends from the past and that the Internet is also a bad place for people to be but today mine is a happy story.

Wishing everyone a happy day.

Helene

A memory for me

Narelle was kind enough to give us homework this week. Now to all who read my blog if you could write down a memory that we share. If you want to play then leave a comment and then I will comment on your blog or like Narelle says I can leave you a comment on my blog. Well start typing or if you have only bad memories don't read my blog anymore.

Today was a big day for the boys. They had to take the bus home from school. We are down to one car and this means a lot of public transportation. It isn't to bad. The stops right near our house so it will work out fine. David and I were more panicked than the kids. We got Jonny an old mobile phone so if something happens he can call home. I called him 3 times just to check if they were OK. I'm pathetic. I worried more about Harrison having a fit and not getting on the bus or something like that. It is a bit sad that Jonathan is in charge of them. I did give Harrison his own money so he got to pay for his own ticket. Well it worked out just fine. They jumped off the bus and said "can we do it tomorrow?" I am happy it is so easy. Right now they are ripping up the street out of the front of our house so it is harder to cross the road but we will survive.

The good news is that David is once again looking for a job in Australia so maybe we will be back sooner than later. Yeah!!! Well we can only hope. He hates the job he is doing right now. I don't think he will ever be happy. Well that's all for now.

Helene

Our Trip to Rotorua

Well since my mother has been here we have tried to show her a bit of the land. On the weekend we went down to Rotorua. It didn't smell as bad as the last time. We have had so much rain that it has covered a bit of the bubbling mud. Don't get me wrong it was still horrible but I guess i was not surprised. Well the weather held out but it was cold.

We did some fun things. We went to an authentic Maori Village and saw them doing there songs and we were able to walk around their village. Then we ate a traditional Hungi. That is when the food is cooked under the ground. The boys liked walking around the village. It was dark and cold but they seemed to enjoy it. Then we went into the hall to see the songs and dance and the night went pear shaped. Well I enjoyed it and Thomas was just amazed by the whole thing. He loved it. The food was very good. I was almost a great night. Someday I will learn that my children can never behave through an entire outing.

We also got to see some amazing other things. We went back to the place we went last time where they have all the mud and cool formations in the rock. It is an incredible place to see.
We also went to a place called rainbow springs. There the boys fed trout and we saw a Kiwi bird in a special en closer. The boys really enjoyed this. Mom liked it too.

On our way home we made a couple of stops. I wanted to stop a a blueberry farm. That was nice. I do love blueberries. The other stop was a place called Candyland. That was fun. We all got make our own lollypops. They were those big ones that we never buy for the children. The woman who was the tour guide made it look so easy. It was so not easy.

Well if I could have it over I would have left the children home but there were points where they seemed happy. I wish I could have those kind of children that even when they are bored they could fake being interested. Oh well live and learn. I enjoyed myself. My mother on the other hand is very much looking forward to going back to her peaceful life.

Well that is all here. Hope everyone else is well and happy.

Love,
Helene
xoxox

You would think I had the best child that you had ever seen. He is so naughty most of the time and then he looks at me like this and he just makes me smile.

5 September 2008

Well here we are in September. Spring has sprung in New Zealand. The daffodiles have been beautiful this year. These are some pictures of the neighbors daffodiles. It has been nice to see them blossom. The boys loved to pick them and bring them in to me. I love flowers and since my husband never sends them my boys do. Speaking of which Thomas has just come in with a handful now. How lovely.

Well my mother has come to New Zealand for the first time. She was kind enough to bring the nice weather with her. It hasn't been raining as much as before. We have been told it is the wettest winter in 30 years. My luck.
It has been wonderful to have her here. David started with Panasonic and we don't see him very much. He is working 12-14 hour days and at least one day of each weekend. Not loving it. He is away for the next couple of days. I like having my mother here. It is nice to have someone to talk to.

The boys don't get away with as much as when my in-laws are here and they find it difficult. At least they get to go out on the weekends. If it is nice tomorrow then we will get to go to the top of the Sky Tower. It is Thomas's favorite building. They are very excited. Last weekend we went to the aquarium. It is nothing compared to the one in Sydney. It is good because of the Penguins. They are arctic king penguins and they are beautiful. They are great to watch. That is the best part of the whole place.

Well only about 15 or so weeks until Christmas. Hope you are all starting your shopping.

Love,
Helene
xoxox

24 August 2008

Hi everyone. Well another week down. We had a busy week so it made it go pretty quick. Jonathan turned 8 on Thursday. He has been such a good boy that I haven't even threatened him with bodily harm. He had a good day. We bought him some lovely new LEGO. I love LEGO because it is fun to do but I hate LEGO because I find it everywhere!!!!!

We had Jonny's party on Saturday. He had a movie party. The kids saw Kung Fu Panda.. They had a good time but little boys are very noisy. Two of them in particular. They were just animals. Well Jonny was really happy about it. I will put some pictures up of the kids and one of Jonny and his girlfriend Kate. She is a lovely little one. Very wild. She can give as good as good as she gets.

So I have a new addiction. I have become addicted to Trade Me which is the NZ ebay. I love it. I sell things and buy things. I bought 17 Goosebumps books for 20$. It is great fun. I love the bargain but I get cranky when someone outbids me.

My mum is coming for the next four weeks so I have been scrubbing the house today. I do hate cleaning on the weekend but it had to be done. I have to much to do tomorrow.

Well hope you are all well.

Love,

Me

18 August 2008

Well here we are again and amazingly enough it is raining again. I can't believe how bad the weather is here. I hate the cold and wet. It just makes the days so long because we can't go outside and play. We have a huge yard and the boys are stuck inside almost everyday. They are all sick now anyway. They like being inside on these days. We have been watching a bit of the Olympics. They cover great things like the table tennis. It is great fun. We did get to see the swimming and rowing too.

Well we have been here 7 months now and we finally have some where to sit. I have become a bit obsessed with the NZ version of ebay. I got a lovely lounge suite for only 200$. It would have been a few thousand new and it is still in great condition. David said it was a great bargain. He is happy. We have made the downstairs into a great toy room for them. They just don't go down there because it is so cold.

My mom is coming in just a week. I am so excited. David has started his new job with Panasonic and he is not around very much anymore. I have no one to talk to and life gets very lonely. I did see Mamma Mia again last week. I have a bit of an obsession with that movie. I love happy movies. Ok so I really need to get a life. At least with mom here I can do things during the day.

We had a lovely day out last weekend. We went to a river and did some walking through the forest. It was actually very nice. The weather was cold but it was sunny that day so it made it very nice. The boys loved the suspension bridges. There were two to cross. It was an old mine and you can go down in the tunnels but we forgot our flashlights that day so we didn't go in them. Something for next time. It was very beautiful.

I will have to add photos next time because it won't let me right now. So I will love you and leave you and look fowrad to posting again soon.
Helene
xoxox

10 August 2008

Why?

That is the question of the day. Actually that is the question everyday, all day. We hear it in the morning noon and night. Why do we have to eat? Why do we have to get dressed? Why do we have to go back to bed at 4 am?

Thomas is the most independent child we have. "I do." That is what we hear. That and Why? It makes me a little crazy but it is funny in a way because you just want him to do something and he looks at you with a straight face and just says "Why?". Amazing how you can't get cranky because you are running late but start laughing because really what else can you do.

If Thomas wants to get out of something he says " I am going to read." He really loves Spot books. He can't really read but he knows what the pages say because we have read them so many times. He remembers everything. I don't discourage the reading ever. He loves books right now so we are always reading to him.

3 August 2008

Well we are now a few days into August a seriously where has the year gone. On Friday was a new experience for us. Jonny had a play date with a girl. This is the same girl that he gave flowers to at the last school dance. It was very nice. She is a self proclaimed chatter box. I don't have that experince with girls but the 2 hours she was over was a whrilwind. She is very active. Lucky for us the rain stopped for a few hours so they could be outside. It is still raining everyday. I really hate the rain.

The boys and I went to see Momma Mia! What a great movie. I loved it. The boys loved it too. Harrison had a bit of a tear when he thought the mother was going to give her daughter away. I always threaten him with giving him away so he thought she was going to get rid of her daughter. I loved all the music. Pierce Brosnan is a really bad singer. I laughed and sang. It was so good. Can't wait for the DVD.

We are having a bit of a daffodil explosion in our yard. There are about 1000 little daffodiles coming up. Spring will be so beautiful up on the hill. I will wait a few more weeks and then start taking photos. The neighbor out the back has rows and rows of them growing in his yard. I don't know why but they are really in rows. I have never seen them grow in rows but it is really beautiful.

Well everything else is quite so I will leave you now. Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Helene

24 July 2008

The boys came home with their school photos so I thought I would put them on a new page.

23 July 2008

Well here we are back in New Zealand. We had a great flight and the boys were 90% good. Thomas did a runner in customs so that took alot away from the trip. Other than that I can honestly tell you that Emarites is a great airline to fly. The boys loved the in seat video. They had every movie under the sun and lots of games to play. Lucky for us David will now be working for Panasonic. Yes he got another new job. This one he will actually have to leave the house for. He will have to get dressed and be on time. It is going to kill Thomas with out having his Daddy around. He loves playing with him.

Well Sydney was great. I got to see everyone and like everyone we were all sick too. It was terrible. We got through it. We had a really nice time. We got to go to the powerhouse during the second week and that was a great day. The boys had fun in the space part of the museum. They have a new antigravity chamber. You don't actually lift off the ground but it feels like you are floating. It was great fun.

We saw a couple of movies and just hung around. It was great to relax and do our own thing. I also enjoyed yum cha and shopping at DFO.

Only 6 more months and we will be home in our little house. I am looking forward to that. I need to get back to the people and things that I love.

Keep well and I will write again soon.

14 June 2008

Only 2 weeks left until we go to Sydney and let me tell you everyone is very excited. I can't wait to have a bit of time off and relax. The boys can't wait to be spoiled rotten.

Last weekend the boys had their first school disco. Jonny was very excited. He has a very cute girlfriend by the name of Kate. He was very excited to go and dance with her. He picked some lovely flowers from the garden and took them to her. She was the only 7 year old that got flowers. I did forget to take the camera so of course I have no photo of her. I did remember to take one of the flowers.

We also had another big thing. Harrison has finally learned to tie his shoes. Now this would sound silly, seeing as he is ten, but if you know him you would know what a struggle it has been for him. I can honestly say that I cried. I was so proud. He is having a great year so far. His teacher is no noncence and it seems to have worked for him. He has really taken a turn for the better and it is wonderful being around him again. His teacher looks for me in the afternoon just to tell me how wonderful he has been and how hard he has been working.

The other day Jonathan being Jonathan decided to see how far he could walk with his eyes closed. Apparently he was "testing" himself. Well you all know it did not go well. He walk into the wall of Harrison's classroom and ended with an egg on his head. First place stupidity prize. Well I went to get his stuff from his classroom and his teacher looked at me and said I didn't realize that he was not here. All she ever does is complain about him every time I see her and then she doesn't even realize he is not there. Well I have no soft spot for her.

The boys have school photos this week. Well I thought they were last week and was in a panic because they need a haircut badly. Harrison always looks like he needs a hair cut. Well lucky for me I had a whole nother week. Yeah!

Well other than another ear infection for Thomas he has had a pretty good week. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine now so we got the trains out and now all he ever wants to do is play trains.

Well that's all for this week.

love ya long time.

27 May 2008

Well here we are another week has passed. Only four weeks until we leave for Sydney and I am so excited. I can not wait to be back amongst the familiar.

We took the boys up the coast to a marine park. In the summer you can snorkel and scuba dive among the creatures of the sea. They have a glass bottem boat that will take you around the little island and show you alot of the stuff. It is a black sand beach and very tiny but very beautiful. There were some great climbing trees and rocks. The boys loved looking in the shallows to find creatures. They didn't find many but had fun all the same.

The boys have there cross country on Wednesday. Harrison is not looking forward to it at all. We are going to go and cheer him on all the same. It has been quiet here but I am so looking forward to catching up.

Love,

Helene

20 May 2008

Hello everyone and welcome to my world. New Zealand is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are all changing colour and the weather is getting colder. We have had some beautiful weather lately. On Sunday we took the family to the zoo. It was a beautiful zoo. The sun was shining and the children were screaming. I actually like it better than Sydney zoo. I think because it was flat and spread out and really well done. It does not have as many animals as Sydney but it was just so pretty. The boys enjoyed it. It was also not as expensive. That always makes for a good day.

David came back from Bangkok on Saturday and the boys were so excited to see him. He says it was an experience that he would not like to repeat. I got a nice Dolce and Gabbana knock off. The boys got a few dvds and yu gi oh cards and Thomas got a Thai elephant pillow. It is really nice.

The pictures I am posting are from the zoo. It really was a great day out.

Love and miss you all,

Helene

xoxoxoxox

6 May 2008

Amazing how rumours get started. Yes we will be coming over for the July school holidays even if I have to sell one of them to get there. Nothing will happen until David gets back. If he doesn't come bareing gifts he knows not to return.

Last week we got a bucket load of rain. Well after the rain cleared and the children went back out side we found some beautiful mushrooms growing in the moss on the side of our driveway. These are called Magic Mushrooms. If they are dried properly you can eat them and they have a psycadelic effect on you. Yes they are the original 'shrooms. David thinks it is great. We have a good group of them growing now. They are incredible. Jonny goes out and checks his mushroom patch every day when he gets home from school. We have about 4 different varieties that we found.

Jonathan is learning all about space in school. Apperently he told the teacher he already knew everything so he didn't feel like writing anything down. You gotta love him. Everytime I see his teacher she has something new and very bad to say to me. One day I will get him back for all the grief.

Harrison's class is getting ready for the cross country. Well you all know how much he loves to run. Well he doesn't want to go to school most days now.

Well I have also included some new photos of Thomas. One showing his missing tooth and the other I thought was very cute.

I can't wait to see you all when I come and visit. Sam you be a good boy for Mummy. Send some new photos.

Love,

Helene