Snow Trip 2007

In the last weekend of September we spent 3 days down in Taupo with our good friend Glen and Sarah. Glen was our Best Man at our wedding so we go a little way back. We had a wonderful weekend and so enjoyed their hospitality!!
While down there.............

On the first day:

We Ate Crayfish...yum yum...........


Quite an education for JK and G(my sis)! Learning to get as much flesh out of the shell as possible and then having a sample......what a shame they weren't that keen on it.....wink wink GRIN! (more for me!!)

On the Second day:

We headed for the snow (which was nothing short of a military operation!!)....


Note the ash on top of the mountain, there had been an eruption the week before and if you look carefully there is even a molten rock flow.

We dressed up warm and caught a bus to the ski field from the car park.....................



We Tobogganed......




We Ate...............


We fought with snow (note JK hiding behind Glen....he's got the idea!)...................


We rode on the chairlift....................



We viewed the majestic scenery....................


On the Third day:

We soaked ourselves in natural hotpools............

A fabulous weekend, so much great fun and fellowship......let's do it again!

Anticipation..........

Anticipation of what? you may well ask...........
True....I have been silent for over 2 months
LOL! So much for my goal of at least blogging with some regularity.
I'm Back and have lots of blogs to write so watch this space as I sort through photos (which we thought we had lost...all 9Gbs worth....) and share a bit of what we have been up to in our world.
This is the start of my week long BLOGARAMA!!!! (imagine some crazy carnival music)
So please visit once more to find something new, something fresh and something funky.

I Leave you with this pic of LJ......You can't really see it but that top he's wearing says
"NOT MY FAULT".............hmmmmmmmm

ALL DONE!

FINALLY!! It is finished.

The colour in LJ's quilt reflect the personality
and nature of our little boy.
He was so sweet when I gave it to him on his
1st birthday, He lay on it and said "ahhhhhh..."


Now he cuddles under it each night and sometimes
we even catch him examining the colours and patterns.


Many sweet and peaceful dreams our little LJ.

28 Years Ago..........

.................on the 3rd of August I came into this world a few weeks earlier than expected..........
My first language was Dutch as my Mama and Papa had only arrived in NZ 6 months earlier from The Netherlands.
We lived in Auckland in a little street named Onedin Place. Now it just so happens that this is the same street that my friend Jess' husband Javi was bought up in. In fact we were bought up with a few other kids that I still keep a finger on where they are at in life.

I have lived in many places in the upper half of the North Island and now 28 years on I am married to my darling Ken, I have 2 beautiful boys, JK and LJ. I live in Hamilton, 20 -30 minutes away from the rest of my direct family. Life is great and God is good.

On my actual Birth Day my hubby took me out for dinner which was FUN! It took us a large walk around the resturant block in Hamilton to finally make a choice! I have no dislikes (except for BAD QUALITY FOOD) so making a choice is rather difficult. Ken had never tried Thai so we stopped in at the Thai Village Restaurant. We had fun just chatting and enjoying our meal.

I had some lovely texts and emails from my dear friends from NZ and other destinations in world. I just had to SMILE (even though my kids had been sick all week and I had for half the week).

On Sunday my family came to celebrate my birthday. My Mum and one of my sister's organised lunch so that I wouldn't have to do anything. My Mum made me an Apple Tart which is a bit of a family tradition.
My Family gave me cards with special heart warming words.



My Hubby and kids bought me a pair of new sneakers/runners which is FAB as I have a bad back and need good cushioning when out and about on Concrete. The rest of the family put together so that I could buy a watch.........LOL I may actually turn up to something on time!!!
It was lovely just to hang out with them for a few hours over lunch. It's always an interesting mix as I am the eldest and the youngest are twins who are 9 years old. I have a total of 5 siblings. But I do so love having them all around and my kids just love their Oma and Opa, Aunties and Uncles.

So here's photo to finish it of............... Me, my new shoes, JK and my big little brother JJ

Post Script #2

I've caught Kate's Bug !!!

What possess me to clean and tidy after 7:30pm???

All day I've been feeling highly unmotivated and sluggish.......then hit the evening and KAAAZAAMM!! I'm revitalized and ready to roll!!!

It's dumb really........I should be sitting with my feet up with a hot drink and doing some knitting or other enjoyable activity instead I have sorted out the laundry and the hot water cupboard. Sorted all my 'homeschooling' resources into some semblance of order and HIFFED a large amount of junk and have a bag ready to go to the opp shop. Looking much better might I add....I just need to find a thrifted curtain or large piece of material to hang in front of the shelves in the Laundry.

Soooo.............what shall I do next time I get one of these moments of inspiration????
I think the cupboard under the stairs (aka...dumping ground) and the unused hallway leading from one of our 3 entrances to our house (aka...dumping ground #2). OH and I'ld like to rearrange the kitchen cupboards so things are once again where I expect them to be, not 3 doors down..........
Oh and then there's the..........................................................................

STOP!! No More I say!!!

That's plenty to keep me busy for a while.

Uses For Kiwifruit #1

Now I have the habit of just going a bit crazy at the vege shop.........I would love to go crazy in a garden but we live in a hostel house and they are a bit vege garden unfriendly.
Anywayz....I bought a bag of green Kiwifruit for $2. I just can't leave a bargain, but then we tend to not be able to eat through the amount I buy before it goes off.
So my new rule is...."Thou shalt not let any fresh fruit of vege rot in the bottom of ones pantry or fridge."
FIND A USE FOR IT!
Now eating a bag of kiwifruit would play havoc with ones digestive system as they are rather good as a laxative......so that wasn't an option......
I searched around on the internet for a recipe................and this is what I came up with

Kiwifruit Chutney Recipe

Ingredients
1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) Kiwifruit

2 bananas

3 onions

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 3 lemons

1 cup raisins

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons crystallized ginger (I used normal raw ginger root)

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup white vinegar

Instructions
Peel and slice the kiwifruit, chop the onions and bananas. Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and boil gently for about 1 hour until soft and thick. Stir frequently, cool, spoon into sterilized jars and seal.

Yum Yum Yum.............
It's FAB and my new favourite chutney (i'm a bit of a chutney lover!).
Easy, flavoursome and no nasty preservatives, flavour enhancers or colours.

Farewell Our English Friend

Last week we said Goodbye to our friend Ed.
He has been a Gap student here at the hostel where we live for the past year, working as an Assistant Master in exchange for board and opportunity to experience life in NZ!
We will miss having him around as he has definitely become part of the furniture.
Ed is back in the UK now and will start studying to be a PE teacher in September. He assures us that if life goes as he imagines now, he'll be back here when he's finished.
Our boys will miss him as Ed built a special relationship with them both.

You go get 'em Ed! Thanks for be part of life here at HBHS hostel, we look forward to seeing you back in a few years.