Smile

At the moment in New Zealand it is wintertime.

Although we are lucky enough not to have snow on the ground, it can get pretty cold here.

This, as everyone will know, can really get you down somedays, especially if it has been raining all day and the temperature has not risen at all all day.

I have a calendar in the toilet, not sure why, although it is pretty to look at.

It is an Anne Geddes one with lots of pictures of babies in poses that are so cute.

However I am in love with July's picture.

It is of a baby laid on rose petals and it makes me smile and feel so happy everytime I see it.

Not the greatest shot of the picture, I tried to find it online but to no avail, so had to resort to taking a picture of it myself and cropping it

Definitely a moral booster for the middle of winter!

School Holidays

Ben has gone to Grandma and Grandad's house.
Yes he managed to drink sufficient for my liking and now he is having a party with them.

Alex on the other hand is not quite sure what to do with himself.
He is at Daycare today, but yesterday he was not exactly himself. And he must have asked at least 4 times if Ben was coming home today?!

He is fine going to sleep at night in his room by himself. This is something I thought might have been a problem, they share a room, and he is staying in bed all night as well. Surfacing about 7am.

But he is definitely missing his big brother.
Not sure if he will manage until this weekend when we go to the caravan!

Boys Art

We have got to the stage in life with the boys where we are constantly getting art work brought home.

Everyone knows what I mean......you look at every piece and say all the right things but then you wonder "what the hell am I meant to do with it all now?"

We have treasure boxes for the boys and I do manage to keep some of the better pieces for them to view when they are older.

But I also love to have it on display so we can appreciate what they have achieved.

So, I copied an old friends idea, and created an art board in the dining room.

This board can now display any piece of art that we want to view for a while.

Then when something new comes along, we change it all over.

Ben also gets to display any achivement awards he gets from school there.

Works for us.

Blackmail

Well maybe it could be down loaded to bribery!

We are once again blackmailing Ben into doing something. No not medicine this time......drinking, not alcohol, just everyday normal drink.
He just doesn't want to drink!

We can send him to school at 9am and when he comes home at 5pm he has drunk all of 100mls.
Now in my book that is insufficient for someone to go over 6 hours without having drunk anything.

So we started to bribe him this week.....if he drinks sufficient, then he will get a star.
3 stars and he gets to go and stay with Grandma and Grandad next week (school holiday time), all on his own.
On a day that he doesn't get a star, then he gets no computer time.
This is big to him at present as we have a ball game on the computer called 'Peggle' that he is just loving. It is a super little game that both him and Alex are managing to master very well. In fact better than I am at times!

So even though I am trying not to make a big deal over all this, I still am trying to get him to understand that he does have to drink something during the day.

Swimming Update

Alex has been working hard with his swimming recently.


He looks like a little champion channel swimmer.

He loves going under the water and then staying there for a long time. Sometimes a little longer than the teacher likes!

Looking After

Steve woke this morning not feeling great.

He went to work, but after Alex had finished swimming, we went and collected him from work and all came home.

Alex asked why daddy was coming home, so I explained that he was not feeling well.

So Alex decided that daddy could sit on the couch, with him of course, and a blanket, pillow, drink and soft toys (Barney and Kung Fo Panda) and they could sit together snuggled under the blanket and watch a movie.

So that is where they are currently snuggled together.

Joke

A 75 yr old lady rings her local hospital and this conversation follows:

"Hello, I'd like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. She was admitted last week with chest pains and I just want to know if her condition has deteriorated, stabilised or improved?"

"Do you know which ward she is in?"

"Yes, Medical Ward, room 5-1"

"I'll put you through to the Nurses Station"

"Hello, Medical Ward, how can I help you?"

"I would like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. I was wondering if her condition had deteriorated, stabilised or improved?"

"I'll just check her notes for you.........I'm please to say that Mrs Tiptree's condition has improved. She has regained her appetite, her temperature has steadied and after some routine checks tonight, she should be well enough to go home tomorrow"

"Oh that is wonderful news, I'm so happy, thank you ever so much!"

"You seem very relieved? Are you a close friend or relative?"

"No, I'm Mrs Tiptree in room 5-1. Nobody tells you f*#k all in here!"

New Banner

Thanks to the wonders of those wonderful people over at The Cutest Blog On The Block I have a new banner (heading at top of blog).
They have so much on their site at present for novice computer designers like myself.
I can do most things on the blog now, but changing html code and such likes is a little beyond me at present.
But with the help of their 'how to' section and the joys of my darling husband, we were able to get the banner looking just right for the design I have from their website.

I love it.....

Sunday Prayer

Dear Lord,

Every single evening
As I'm lying here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer
Keeps running through my head:

God bless all my family
Wherever they may be,
Keep them warm
And safe from harm.

For they're so close to me.

And God, there is one more thing
I wish that you could do;
Hope you don't mind me asking,

Please bless my computer too.

Now I know that it's unusual
To Bless a motherboard,
But listen just a second
While I explain it to you, Lord.

You see, that little metal box
Holds more than odds and ends;
Inside those small compartments
Rest so many of my friends.

I know so much about them
By the kindness that they give,
And this little scrap of metal
Takes me in to where they live.

By faith is how I know them
Much the same as you.
We share in what life brings us
And from that our friendships grew.

Please take an extra minute
From your duties up above,
To bless those in my address book
That's filled with so much love.

Wherever else this prayer may reach
To each and every friend,
Bless each e-mail inbox
And each person who hits 'send'.

When you update your Heavenly list
On your own Great CD-ROM,
Bless everyone who says this prayer
Sent up to GOD.Com

Amen

Bath Time

As many of you may recall, we have been redoing our bathroom.

Ok it is not totally finished, in that it still needs painting! One day Steve will get round to it, although it has been a little too cold to paint. Damp and wet does not make for great ideal paint enviroments!

Anyway, we were actually brave when redoing the bathroom in that we took out the bath and have not replaced it!

We have just a shower in the house now.

We looked at how many times we used it and found it was about once every 6-8 weeks and even then it was just the boys jumping in for a splash around.

So the decision was made and the bath disappeared.

However, the other evening, Alex wanted a bath, he had had a rough day and you could tell it would calm him.

When the boys were little, we actually used a 50l fish box in the bath, saved us having to fill the huge bath with all that water for such a little person. It worked well, Ben used to love his deep bath.

So Steve came up with the wonderful idea of getting the bin out again, and so the boys had a shower bath instead.

Kept everyone happy, although I am going to have to make sure the bin disappears again soon, because they seem to want a bin bath more than a shower now!