Waitakere Ranges
Herne Bay
Ceramco Park
Waitemata Harbour
Manukau Harbour
Antarctica
temperatures
antonyms
synonyms
homonyms

Yes, he chooses his own words to learn. Crazy boy!!

Edit: He got 9 out of 10. He got 'synonyms' wrong. Awesome result, Jays!

Caitie: When I grow up, I'm going to call my kids Elmo and Kayla.

My godson, Daniel, is in New Zealand. He's coming to see me tomorrow afternoon. How exciting! It's just over a year since I last saw Daniel, and almost exactly six years since Steve saw him. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

Rest in peace, Sir Howard. We have lost a great entertainer.

Whakaaria mai to ripeka ki au
Tiaho mai ra roto i te po
Ki konei au titiro atu ai
Ora mate hei au koe noho ai

For his eighth birthday present, Chelsea bought Jayden a flight from Hamilton (where Chels and Richard live) to Auckland (where we live). The flight takes about half an hour. They finally flew last Sunday.

In Jayden's words: 'We went early in the morning. Well first we got in to the airport. We went to something with these lines taking luggage. We went down and watched some TV. Then when it was time to get on the plane we went outside and Chelsea took some hilarious photos of me. Then the man signed our ticket and we hopped on the plane. It was the smallest plane in the airport, and there were 18 planes in the airport. There weren't very many people on the plane...about 16? When we were on the plane, we went up, up up. And I saw the propeller going faster and faster outside the window. It went at 510km/hr. Well, the plane did. When we got up and there was not much air in the sky, there was air coming through this hole by the window, which you turned around to get the air in. There were also these drain things on the top of the plane, well inside the plane at the top, which let air come in too. And while this happened, my voice went funny! Chelsea said that it was because my ears were doing something. And when the plane went down, we went over this river. Or a river lake. Whatever. And when we were done, we got off the plane. And I said thanks to the pilots. There were two pilots. Then we went off and got through this tunnel. We were back in the airport, waiting for Mum and Richard. When we got back home, Caitie went to Fin's party.'

Photos courtesy of Chels:

Jayden posing


The plane they flew on


Jayden getting on the plane


Jayden on the plane

While we were out doing some grocery shopping with Mum, Caitie told Mum and I that the supermarket carpark reminded her of a wedding. Understandably confused, I assumed she meant something else and was using the wrong word.

Elle: What's a wedding?
Caitie: Where two people get married and a song comes up.

Caitie: Dad, do you have a fishcase?
Steve: A what?
Caitie: A fishcase.
Steve: A what?
Caitie: A FISHCASE!!!
*confused look from Steve*
Jayden: A briefcase.
Steve: Oh, a briefcase. No, honey, I don't have a briefcase.
*Steve walks away shaking his head*

We bought a new rabbit for Caitie today. A gorgeous 2mo brown rabbit. Same breed as Angel - a dwarf. Incredibly placid and happy to be cuddled and held by anyone, including Caitie. Caitie has named her Maggie - from a TV show called Maggie and the Ferocious Beast apparently. :)
Unfortunately it may have been a big mistake. Angel has been extremely aggressive towards Maggie, attacking and fighting her. I was warned that Angel wouldn't appreciate a new rabbit in her territory, but...
We've separated them for the night - Maggie is in the sleeping part of the hutch, and Angel is in the run. Not sure what we're going to do if they don't start getting along tomorrow. I don't want Angel to hurt Maggie. :(

$80 for a doctor's visit? WTF??!

Caitie: Can I have a piece of cheese?
Elle: *thinks about it*
Caitie: Please?
Elle: *thinks about it*
Caitie: I'll be happy....and I'll let you make dinner!

Ha ha. So if I let her have a piece of cheese, she'll let me make dinner. I'm convinced. lol :P

Jayden is sick, so I'm home with the kids today. Steve is going to stay home with them tomorrow.

I'm feeling reasonably productive. Yesterday I wrote a letter to Daniel, my godson, and one to Niki, my goddaughter, and another to Lyn. I made another scrapbook page for Beth (one of these days I will send them to ya, Beth, but since you didn't receive Caitie's letter, I'm going to try with another letter first before sending my precious scrapbook pages!). And now I'm working on a DVD for Lyn, incorporating a bunch of little videos and photos from the past year. It's a good time waster. :P

Jayden has to get sponsors for a quiz he's doing at school. Primary school. I have to emphasise the primary bit because the questions are really hard. It's a science quiz.

These are his questions...

Where is a whale's habitat?
What is the biggest planet in our solar system?
What happens when you rub two sticks together very quickly?
What do you call an animal who hunts and eats other animals?
What is the symbol for water?
In a butterfly's lifecycle what stage comes before it hatches in to an adult?
Can water run up hill?
What is the name given to the light a torch gives out?
What is a biodegradeable material?
What do our lungs draw in to the body?
How can I make metal liquid?
What is the normal temperature of the human body?
What is the process called in which plants make their food?
Which gas do fuels need in order to burn?
What four letter word means air that is in motion?
How long does the moon take to revolve around the earth?
Which organ of the body removes waste from the blood?
How does sound travel?
When lightning strikes, do you see or hear it first?
What is the smallest part of any element?
What is the difference between heat and temperature?
If one bulb is wired up to a battery it lights normally. What would happen with two bulbs?
What in the human body are the hammer, anvil and stirrup?
Why do leaves have a waxy coating?
What happens to water during evaporation?
What do we call a liquid that dissolves things?
What is the correct name for a pouched animal?
What does an artery in the heart do?
When you push the piston of a bicycle pump, what do you do to the air molecules?
What metal is indicated by the symbol K?

I tested him on Monday evening and he got 19.5 right out of 30. :) Insane. Steve was sitting in his chair with this look that said 'my eight year old son is smarter than me!!' lol Kids these days...

Edit: He got 29 out of 30 right on the actual test. So proud of you, Jayden!!

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.