Mum, Dad, Andrea and I went to the Stetson Club in Dairy Flat last night to listen to Chet O'Connell play. It was great. Dad and Mum danced at least half of the dances. Mum liked the slow dances, but Dad kept doing ceroc moves and they would both burst out laughing because they're not very good at them. It was good to see them having a lot of fun.
Mum and Andrea and I tried out our amateur improv line-dancing skills (or lack thereof!). It's a great aerobic exercise, I can tell you that! Ange even got to do a couple of ceroc/rock n roll dances with a random guy. Some of the people there were highly talented dancers and it was great just watching them. We probably danced to at least three quarters of the songs though. Oh, and Dad won the door prize - a bottle of sparkling wine. :)
Chet was pleased to see us. He has given us a heads-up on some upcoming gigs. I think Mum and Ange plan to go and watch him play at Muldoons in Orewa later this month.
I really enjoyed myself. I don't get out without the kids very often (this was the second time this year, and incidentally both times have been to see Chet play!) and it was all just fun and laughs and good music. I really enjoyed it.

On Friday morning, Jayden went down to feed the rabbits and discovered that Caitie’s one had died. :( They both seemed to be fine the previous evening when Jayden had fed them, so we have no idea what was wrong with it. We buried it Friday evening in the garden. Caitie doesn't seem overly upset and is keen for us to buy her a new one. We're going to wait a week and see how Angel goes. Although, she looked perfectly fine this morning. She was eating well and even eating out of the kids' hands, so it looks good for her. If all goes well, we'll look at getting a new rabbit for Caitie. It's not fair to have only one anyway, as they get lonely.

I went for a ride on the back of Steve's motorbike today. Just ten minutes, around the block. I was pretty nervous. Mostly I was worried that I would have trouble holding on, and would just fall off. Thankfully Steve had a jacket and helmet that fit me.
Obviously I didn't fall off. Actually, although my hands cramped (I said I was nervous!), holding on was easy and I think once I relaxed I would find it pretty simple.
It wasn't thrilling or exciting. I will not be getting a bike of my own.
But it also wasn't as scary as I expected.
I think after you get used to it, being a passenger would be quite boring.
If it's fine, we'll probably take the bike down to Hamilton for Chelsea's birthday. The kids are staying with Mum and Dad, so it'll just be the two of us. And it will be cheaper to take the bike. Obviously the bike isn't usually an option for us anyway because we usually have the kids, but for long trips where it's just the two of us, it could definitely be an option.
So there you have it. Yes, I finally went on the back of the bike.

Jayden and I didn't end up going to the Ark In The Park as it was raining pretty heavily this morning. Steve and Caitie went and picked up the rabbit hutch, using Dylan's ute. It's huge. It wouldn't even fit on the tray of the ute so Steve had to tie it on. It's big enough for Jayden and Caitie to sit in the run. Honest.
Mum and Ange and Callum came down about 3pm and we headed off to pick up the rabbits. The people we were buying them off had heaps of rabbits, all in outdoor hutches with runs. There was no grass, just mud. And it was on top of a hill, so it was pretty windy. The poor little things. Some of them were adorably cute though.
We had three females to choose from. Two 'blues' and a beige. Caitie immediately chose the beige one and Jayden chose the blue one without the white nose.
The mother Grace was a blue and bigger than I had expected for a dwarf rabbit. The father (according to the birth certificates...yes, we got birth certificates) was a smaller blue Netherland dwarf named George.

Grace and her babies:


We managed to escape with only the two rabbits, a water bottle nozzle and 2kg of pellets. The lady was determined to upsell more 'essential' equipment to us - hay, feeding bowls, harnesses (for taking them for a walk), nail clippers, hay racks (for having hay hanging on the side of the cage for the rabbits to nibble), carry cages.... I felt quite proud of myself walking away with just the rabbits and the water bottle nozzle we arranged in advance and 2kg of pellets for $6. She was one determined saleswoman. :)

Back home, we introduce the rabbits to their new home. Caitie named hers Pipsqueak which I think is adorable. I was pretty sure Jayden was going to call his Tom and then he changed to Angel at the last minute. Honestly, I preferred Tom, but I didn't comment.



Smudge was most intrigued. As far as she was concerned, this was the best dinner we'd bought home in a long time....


We put some shredded paper in the enclosed end, and some pellets. And the kids picked some grass, spinach and plantain and put that in the run for them. Angel is quite the adventurous one.


Then we went inside for Caitie to open some of her birthday presents from Grandma. Grandma bought her two duvet sets and Beatrix Potter audio stories on CD. Andrea and Callum gave her a Whinnie The Pooh puzzle and a painting book.

After Mum and Ange left, Caitie asked if she could go down and see the rabbits again. It was pretty cold outside, but the rabbits hadn't previously been handled much by their previous owners and I knew it would do them good to be handled as much as possible to get used to it. And Caitie and Jayden return home each weekday in the dark so there won't be much opportunity to play with them until next weekend. So we bundled up and headed downstairs to the garden.
Caitie and Jayden went inside the run (see, I told you!) and I shut the door behind them. This meant they could handle the rabbits without there being any chance of the rabbits escaping. I hadn't expected the hutch to be big enough for them to do this, but it's really perfect, what with having Smudge around. I don't need to worry about them getting eaten and the kids can enjoy handling the rabbits.



Angel was exploring her cage and Caitie and Jayden and standing up on her hind legs to look across the lawn. Pipsqueak on the other hand was snuggled up in her house and happy to stay there, much to Caitie's disgust. Actually though, it proved to be a good thing that Pipsqueak is so docile - when Jayden put her in Caitie's lap, she just stayed there and snuggled up. It's perfect - Jayden chose the adventurous, lively one and Caitie has the docile cuddly one. :)



We stayed down there until it was dark and started raining, then we headed inside after making sure they had some greens to keep them going tomorrow. After dinner I prepared a casserole to put in the slow cooker tomorrow and I have set aside the vegetable scraps - cauliflower, celery and carrot - for the kids to give the rabbits tomorrow evening with some more grass. Actually, because the cauliflower was on its last legs and I was throwing the rest of it out, the ice cream container is full to the brim so they can have a handful or two a night out of it to complement their greens. :)

All in all, a great day. Thanks Aunty Lynda! I'm sure both children will write you a thank you letter very soon (well, Caitie will dictate hers, but you know). Also, I have a letter ready to send to you, so as soon as the kids have done theirs, I'll post it. Hope you enjoyed seeing how much the kids enjoyed their birthday present.

OMG, guess what Aunty Lynda is buying the kids for their birthdays?????!

Baby rabbits!!!!!!! I think I'm going to be more excited than the kids!!!

It's been so long since I owned a rabbit.

We're looking at getting two of these females, but the kids can choose which particular one they want each.

And Lyn has also thrown in this cage and a water nozzle. I can get unlimited shredded paper from work for them to sleep on, and we have masses of grass and puha and stuff for them to eat. They shouldn't cost anything. Famous last words, I know.

We'll have to be super careful about Smudge though, cos she's an excellent hunter and has caught wild rabbits before.

I'll have to take pics when the kids get them. Aw, so exciting! I love rabbits! :D

I just won two tickets to the Beatlemaniacs concert in Tauranga on the 20th May, thanks to Solid Gold FM! Yeah!!!
The only problem is...Chels is away in England at that time. Dammit!!! So I'll give the tickets to Mum and Dad for Dad's 60th (on the 25th May) if they can make it. I'd love to have gone with Chels, but Steve's not really in to the Beatles, so might as well give it to two people who will enjoy it.

Did I ever tell you that my dad's cousin is in a Beatles tribute band in Northampton? The Accrington Stanley Band, they're called. Chels, you should check them out while you're over there. lol

I remember seeing an ad on East Coast Road years ago, outside a major church there, on Good Friday that said 'Thank God It's Friday!' It's stuck with me since then. I guess that makes it an effective ad, huh?

This weekend we have only a very few simple plans:
- Steve and his brother are picking Grumps up from hospital today and settling him back at home.
- Chelsea and Richard are coming to visit, probably on Sunday.
- Mum and Dad might come down to visit.
- Steve is going to mow the lawns.
That's it. Yay for a relaxing weekend!!

The other day we bought two little cars for the kids from the Shell petrol station - they were $3.50 each when you bought $20 worth of petrol. So I bought a red Ferrari and a black Ferrari. They're 'pull back' cars and they have 'dynamic engine sounds' apparently. This morning I told the kids they could have the cars when the following chores have been done:
- Jayden's bedroom floor (Jay)
- Jayden's desk (Jay)
- Caitie's bedroom floor (Caitie and Elle)
- Caitie's bed (Elle)
- Clean washing put away in drawers/wardrobes in respective bedrooms (Steve)
- Lounge floor (Steve)
- Lounge table (Caitie)
- Dining room floor (Steve)
- Dining room table (Elle)
- Dirty dishes washed (Elle)
- Clean dishes put away (Elle)
- Outside tables and chairs cleaned (Caitie)
- Linen cupboard cleaned out and linen put back in some semblance of order (Steve)
Obviously once I've done my jobs I'll have to help with their jobs, but Jay's room isn't very messy, nor is the lounge or dining room.

The Easter Bunny is going to visit on Sunday (well, in the wee hours of Sunday morning while we're all asleep). Other than that, I have the two cars for the kids, plus some candy eggs they can paint with food colouring and I have two little 'eggs' that they need to submerge in water and something inside them (a toy dinosaur or lizard or something) will 'hatch' out. And that's about it for the long weekend. It's a gorgeous day. I'm going to go and help the kids finish the chores and then while they play with their new cars, I might do some scrapping.

While we were in the car on the way to drop the kids at Julie’s this morning, we heard this little gem:

Jayden (to Caitie): 'The Easter Bunny is coming this weekend. BUT, even MORE important, CHELSEA AND RICHARD are coming to visit!!'

Honestly, he was that excited. You guys are better than the Easter Bunny!!!

I keep logging in to do updates when something interesting happens, but every time I get interrupted and don't end up posting. I'll keep trying...

Steve is making me a banana-lemon layer cake to take for my birthday morning tea at work on Wednesday. Mmmmm....the house smells yummy!!

We went to the Teddy Bears Picnic yesterday, in the Auckland Domain. It’s the first time we’ve been, although it’s been held annually for many years now. We watched Ronald McDonald do a performance first and were suitably impressed. He was very good, very entertaining. The kids got free McDonald’s caps which was great as we’d taken umbrellas and rain coats, but no sunhats or sunscreen and the weather turned quite hot and sunny. Steve and I ended up quite sunburnt, but thanks to McDonalds, the kids didn’t. :)



The kids had professional photos taken with their bears, which turned out really neat. Then they had their faces painted and got certificates for each of their bears, we watched a couple of shows and both kids got to have a bash on a real drum set (we won’t be buying one of those any time soon!).



And Jayden won himself a Popsicle cap by doing really well in an air guitar competition. He was rocking away with his eyes closed, went down on one knee, did a few leaps in the air… He was great.



Steve even got snapped by the NZ Herald photographer carrying Jayden's bear... Aw... How cute is that??!



All in all, a good day.

It's pretty darn cool to find out that your poetry has touched other people's hearts.

Silent Memories.
I wrote this in 1998 in memory of my brother, Philip Maud 1976-1978. The original version is here.

Silent Memories.
Same poem as above.

I'm Still Here.
I wrote this one in 2000. It's used here on a memorial page. The original version is here.

Nothing, Nobody & Me.
This one isn't so much shared because it touched somebody, but hey, someone thought it was good! :) I wrote it in 1997 and the original version is here.

So my little boy has his arm in a cast. He was playing at Sue & Jim's house this afternoon on the trampoline when he bounced off backwards. A bit of a cry, but nothing too major. His hand was sore though. Steve brought him home, and after a while I thought maybe we should get his arm checked. I didn't think it was broken, but I did suspect it was sprained, and he seemed to be finding it a bit painful. Well, he has a greenstick fracture near his wrist. He didn't cry at all after the initial accident, he's been very brave. He's got a half cast on it at the moment because it's swollen, and we have to go back to get it checked again tomorrow. Then next Friday he has to go in to have a proper fibreglass cast put on. Aw, my poor baby. Funny enough, I was so sure it would be Caitie who would break something.

Instead of sharing photos, I thought I'd share some of my recent work, which includes some recent photos. :)

( Click here to see them... )

For Christmas, Caitie got a little china tea set from Nana Rose. So on New Years Day, she had a little tea party with Elmo and Dolly and enjoyed some scones with them.







The temperature was at least 27 degrees, so we decided to head for water. We ended up at Lake Tomarata and had an absolute blast. The shallow water and lack of waves meant the kids were the most confident I'd ever seen them in the water, and they really enjoyed jumping and splashing. Photos courtesy of Steve...

What do you think about Daddy? Well, I think he’s a bit nice and hairy.
What do you think about Mummy? Pretty. And loves working.
What do you think about Caitie? Lots of toys, likes playing with me. Quite cute.
What do you think about Poppa? Nice. Got lots of cool books and toys for me to play with there.
What do you think about Nana? Nice. Loveable. Good at work.
What do you think about school? Cool. Good at teaching me about art. And good at teaching me about maths. I learnt maths straight away!
What do you think about Julie? Kind. Sometimes lets me play on her computer if Riley’s gone and Caitie’s gone to sleep. And if me and Nigel are good, we can play on the computer.
What do you think about your teacher? Happy. Grumpy sometimes if somebody is naughty.
What do you think about Grandma? Playful, nice.
What do you think about Grandad? Likes the world. Playful. Kind.
Do you know what sex is? It’s when two adults sleep together.
Is that all they do? Sleep? Well they normally talk together, probably.
What do you think Daddy thinks about Mummy? You are quite nice. Very nice.
What you think Mummy thinks about Daddy? Silly. Nice, again. Good baker.
What do you think Mummy and Daddy think about Caitie? Very cute. Very nice and playful with me. Got lots of nice presents and toys.
What do you think Mummy and Daddy think about you? Nice. Big boy. Play quietly in the mornings. Not that naughty.
What’s your favourite thing to do at school? Read. Cos now I don’t play on the computer at school, so my favourite thing to do is read.
Who is your favourite person in the whole world? My family.
What’s your favourite thing to do on the weekend? Play with Caitie.
What is the one thing you wish you could have got for Christmas? A new surfboard.
If I gave you $100 what would you buy? Xbox 360.
Do you think that would use more than $100 or do you think you would still have money left? I think I wouldn’t have much money left. And if I did have money left, I’d buy myself a new phone. The cheapest one I could find.
Do mummy and daddy have a lot of money? No.
Do you know why? Because… I don’t know why. Because we buy food a lot, and we buy lots and lots of food.
More than we should be? Not really.
Do you know anyone who has a lot of money? Jeff and Jenny. Cos they certainly do have a lot of money. Cos Riley told me.
What countries can you name? King Kong (Hong Kong??), New Zealand, Australia, North America, Fiji, Korea, Hawaii, Brazil, Asia, Europe, China.
What job would you like to have when you’re an adult? Being a animal scientist.
Studying any particular animals? Well, I want to study colourful birds, meat-eating and a couple of plant-eating animals. Huge, big and small ones, not medium animals.
Do you know what Daddy does for a job? Makes money.
Do you know what Mummy does for a job? Makes money.
Is that what everyone does? Nope. Julie looks after us.
Do you know anyone who does an interesting job? You guys.
So what do we do that’s interesting? Make money. And I think that’s quite interesting. How you can make money.
How do we make it? What do we do? I don’t know. But I think you get a little round thing and you put yellow plastic over it. And on it there’s whatever it cost and a little picture.
Who makes the most money? I think you do the same amount. I think if Poppa’s job is making money, I think he would make the most.
What’s the worst thing mummy could ask you to do? Bring the rubbish bin out to the bin.
Out to the bin? We don’t have a rubbish bin at home. If we did.
What’s the best thing mummy could do with you? Play with me in the water at the beach.
Do you like answering questions for Mummy? Yeah, kind of.

Look what Santa put in my stocking!!!

Santa rang us. And he asked Caitie and Jayden what they wanted for Christmas. And Santa is really sneaky, cos then he recorded the answers and sent them to me and Steve.
Now you can listen too. :)

Listen to what Caitie wants for Christmas...

Listen to what Jayden wants for Christmas...

Isn't that cute?? They're fast asleep now, with the stockings hung up, waiting for Santa to deliver the goods. Aw...

We had a most productive Labour Day yesterday...with lots of labour!Sue, Jim and Andrea all came over. The boys put in a vege garden while us women tackled the trees and bushes around the house. We took out a lot of the foliage that was blocking the light in to the living room and it's amazing the difference it's made. The kids were supposed to put the actual veges in the garden, but by the time we got to that stage everyone was so sick of gardening that I ended up doing it, under Jim's direction...

Let's see if I can remember what we ended up with in the vege garden... In pot plants (cos we ran out of room) we have mesculin lettuces, and oregano. In the garden itself, we have tomatoes and beans along the back, peas down the right hand side, corn down the left hand side. Spring onions in the centre left, spinach in the centre and cauliflower and cabbages (Chinese and regular) in the centre right. Along the front we have watermelon, capsicum, gherkin, apple cucumber and some more cabbages. Not bad, eh? Especially considering the garden is only 1m x 2m! We didn't end up with enough room to put the potatoes in.

By the end of the day we really felt like we'd accomplished something with our long weekend. The inside of the house was mostly tidy, except
for our bedroom and Caitie's bedroom. The outside of the house was looking much better. And we had our very own little vege garden. Sue and Jim stayed for a roast chicken dinner, and today I had delicious chicken soup for lunch.

So, what did you guys get up to for Labour Weekend? He he he...