Sunday 7 December 2014

December Daily – Dec 7

Hello again :)

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I’ve been industrious today!  I’ve been busy packing and the boys have been ‘supervising’ me.  They both have the perfect reason/excuse for not helping of course… NO THUMBS!

The moving day is fast approaching and I have moments when I don’t think I’m going to get it all done… but I’ve always managed in the past so I’m not going to stress over it.

This afternoon the boys decided they really wanted to Skype Grandma.  Dougal hasn’t seen Grandma since he got back and although Toby saw her just last weekend he is missing her and wanted to say hello.  They were super cute and both had plenty to tell her!

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After the boys got done with their chat I managed to have a few minutes on Skype with Mum as well and I took her on a ‘tour’ of my garden.  There are some huge hollyhocks growing along the side of the house and they’re pretty stunning at the moment. 

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So that’s it from me today… I hope you’ve all had a fantastic weekend xx

December Daily – Dec 6

Hi there :)

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When Toby and I got home on Saturday morning we were too tired to take much notice of what Dougal had been up to while we were out… but after a catch up on our sleep we were both a lot more observant.

Observation #1 – WHY was my foot spa on the kitchen bench?

Observation #2 –WHY were there candles on the kitchen bench?

Observation #3 – WHY did the house smell of lavender?

Observation #4 – Is that one of my shower caps on the bench???

Dougal was in a very relaxed mood on Saturday morning and Toby and I soon found out why.  It would seem that one small wee puppy thought that it would be a ‘waste’ to run a big bath of water for his bubble bath on Friday night… especially when he noticed that my foot spa was nice and handy.

Lord knows how he got it up onto the bench but needless to say I have noticed a few little teeth marks in the cord!

Dougal filled the foot spa with lots of nice warm water… turned it on and then went in search of something ‘bubbly’ to put into it.  He managed to find my very luxurious (and expensive!) lavender bubble bath and helped himself!

Apparently the foot spa is ‘excellent’ because it agitates the water ‘just right’!  He was quite keen to show me just how excellent it was and here are the results!

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Life would certainly be boring without Dougal around… and I have to admit that on this particular occasion I might just be a ‘little bit’ jealous that he can fit into the foot spa!

Saturday 6 December 2014

December Daily - Dec 5

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Friday turned out to be a VERY busy day!  We had our usual 8am staff meeting and then it was straight into our final school assembly for the year.  After morning tea my Year 6 students got busy creating their own pages for the ‘Leavers Booklet’.  I was quite impressed with some of the things they put on their pages and it will be good to see the final booklets.

Next up was another practice for our prize giving on Monday.  While all that was happening Kat and I went down to pick up the hot chips and pizza for the senior classes parties.  Kat’s car looked really full by the time we’d picked up 45 pizzas and $70 worth of hot chips!

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My class were blown away when they got back from their prize giving practice to find our classroom all set up for lunch!  They insisted on Dougal joining us of course and Dougal was extremely happy to accept the kids invitations… although I think the kids would have rather he didn’t sit ON the table and BARK at THEM whenever they tried to get a bit of pizza!!

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After lunch our senior kids got to have their swim.  The water is still pretty cold but the kids really seem to enjoy getting in for a bit of a splash around.  One of the girls asked if she could ‘DO’ my hair and for once I thought ‘why not’.  Mary-Ann did a ‘fishtail’ plait and then Jody took a photo of it for me so that I could see what it looked like from the back.

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By the time school was done Dougal and I were both more than ready to head home and spend some time with Toby.  We hadn’t actually been home long when I got a phone call to go and play some pool at a friends house. 

I decided to take Toby with me since Dougal has had lots of my attention for the past few days… and besides, Dougal said he wanted to have a bubble bath and watch TV for the night!

After a couple of games of pool my friend asked me if I wanted to go ‘spotlighting’ for possums.  Having never had a go at that I figured why not… I went home to get changed and discovered that Dougal was sound asleep so Toby thought he might as well tag along for some possuming too!

It turned out to be quite exciting!  I had wondered if Toby would be frightened when the gun went off but he was completely silent in the back of the truck.  He did keep a keen eye on what was going on though!

We finally got back home just after 2am… very tired but pretty pleased with our nights efforts. 

Thursday 4 December 2014

December Daily – Dec 4

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I’m writing today’s installment of my blog while I’m still at school.  I’ve had a couple of ‘no shows’ for the Student Led Conferences so I’ve got a bit of time on my hands before the next lot of students and parents arrive.

Dougal decided that he was definitely coming to school again today.  Just as well too because he’s spent most of the day ‘helping’ Auntie Marie in Room 16! We’ve been having our practices for the end of year prize giving assembly every morning and today was no exception.  The new part was that Marie’s choir group practiced their performance. 

Now we all know how much Dougal likes to perform but this time he traded in his microphone for helping Auntie Marie with the sheet music! 

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I don’t know how helpful he was sitting on the keys but both Marie and Dougal seemed to have a good time. 

This afternoon Marie got busy wrapping the PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) book awards that we are giving out at next weeks prize giving.  Luckily I had warned Marie about Dougal’s love of presents (remember when he renamed all the presents for himself??  Check THIS post)  Thankfully Marie had put all her markers away where Dougal couldn’t find them… but he still managed to surround himself with the goodies!

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I’ve just received a lovely email from Mikayla.  She’s been studying hard down in Invercargill and she was extremely happy to report back that she’s passed her course!

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It was so nice to hear her sounding really happy!  She’s got an interview tomorrow and she’s hoping to start her nursing training in 2015.  It’s strange to think of her being so far away but she’s doing really well down there!

So that’s my Thursday… only one more day and then it’s the weekend… and there’s LOTS of packing to do!

Wednesday 3 December 2014

December Daily – Dec 3

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Today has been a long day!  The kids all went home at 12.30 today and then at 1.30 we began our Student Led Conferences.  It’s actually been pretty awesome to see my kids families come in and share in their learning. 

The kids have made a Google Presentation each highlighting their best pieces of work from the year including: reading, writing, maths, inquiry, blogging, camp, bucket drumming (including videos) and a slide of their own choice.  It’s been a LOT of work but seeing the parents faces when they view their kids work really has made it quite worthwhile.

Since I was going to be at school for a long time Dougal decided that he would like to come to school as well.  My class were a bit too busy for him to stay with us but Mrs Chatfield (the school librarian) said that she’d be quite happy to have Dougal help her for a while.

With that settled I went back to my class and got on with my day and when I called into the library later on ‘Mrs Chatfield’ had quickly become ‘Auntie Anna’ and the two of them were best of friends. 

Anna visited Europe earlier this year for a big holiday so I think they may have been sharing some of their travel stories.  Dougal was set up on Anna’s desk beside her and was busy scanning books into the system for the end of year stock take.  It turns out that Dougal has a natural talent for ‘scanning’… although I’m not sure I want to know where that talent comes from!

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So that’s been our day today.  Toby was very pleased to have us both back home tonight and now both of the boys are napping on the sofa after their busy day.

I think Dougal might be coming with me again tomorrow so I hope he’s as well behaved tomorrow as he was today!

Tuesday 2 December 2014

December Daily – Dec 2

We’re on the countdown at school… we’ve only got 6 school days left for 2014!  I’ve got the countdown cards for my December Daily album organised as well.  They were free downloads from Heidi Swapp’s blog.

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At school we’ve been getting busy for our Student Led Conferences which start tomorrow.  School officially closes at 12.30 for the next two days… but in reality the teachers are going to be there until almost 8pm on both nights.

After school today I popped into town to grab a few things… Briscoes was having a sale!  I also picked up a book I’d ordered from Paper Plus.  The boys in my class really like Andy Griffiths writing!  I find it quite entertaining as well!

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Then it was time to come home and see my boys.  Dougal decided to stay with Toby today and catch up doing ‘brother’ things.  It turns out that they kept themselves fairly well entertained.  From what I can gather they watched a few animal programs on TV, ate some dog biscuits and did a bit of playing… rather uneventful really… and that’s a good thing!

I sat Dougal down to tell him my big news (and now you get to find out too!)… When I finish school next week the boys and I are moving back to Rotorua!!!  I actually interviewed for my new job two months ago but I’ve been keeping the news to myself until now. 

Dougal and Toby are both excited about moving… although Toby is a little concerned that Santa won’t know where to bring his presents.  I’ve been trying to reassure Toby that Santa is in fact extremely smart and really does know where he will be living although I think he’s going to need a lot more reassuring over the next few weeks.

Dougal decided that he would make me a ‘surprise’… it’s always a little bit scary when Dougal heads into the kitchen so of course I had to keep an eye on him. 

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He gave my new blender a whizz and apparently it was a nice way for him to cool down his tummy!!!  Here’s what he came up with:

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So tonight we’re celebrating… new job, moving home and Dougal’s return! 

Monday 1 December 2014

December Daily – Getting started!

Hi :)

It’s December already… or as my Mum said today… it’s the ‘oneth’!  Yes,the silliness is hereditary and from what I can tell it’s a slippery slope from here on!!

After doing almost nothing creative for a whole year I’ve decided that I AM going to make a December Daily album.  In fact I bought a few things for it during the last school holidays.  This year I’m going to use Heidi Swapp’s Believe collection. 

I’ve bought the memory files album which is spiral bound:

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I’ve also bought the 6x6 paper pad:

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And yesterday I came across the ephemera pack as well:
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Along with that I’ve got some chalkboard elements and some cork stars so I think I’m pretty set.  I still haven’t quite decided HOW I’m going to put it all together but it will definitely be a bit of a hybrid album… so for now I’m going to share the story and photo(s) of the day and worry about the album later.

Dec 1

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I’ve been at school all day and it’s crazy busy!  My reports are finished and all printed off but there’s still so much else to do!  After school I met up with a couple of colleagues at our local Paper Plus store to purchase book prizes for the end of the school year.  Three heads were definitely better than one and we got the job finished in record time… and within budget!

Since I was in town anyway I called into the local Farmers store and there was a SALE on!!  I picked up a fabulous cheese platter/board!  It has a space for brie, camembert and blue cheese.  I’ve looked at it before and really liked it but couldn’t quite bring myself to purchase it but since it was on sale I didn’t have an option really LOL  I’m really looking forward to having friends and family around for a party so that I can use it.

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I also bought a small colander (I’ve already got a massive one!) and a hand held mandolin… that will be super handy!

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By the time I got out of Farmers it was right on 5pm so I decided to head for home but I got a bit more than I bargained for when I arrived!  Toby normally barks his head off when he hears me pull up into the driveway at the end of the day but today he was suspiciously quiet! 

In fact he didn’t bark when I opened and closed the front door either… so I went to the back door and I could hear giggling!!!  I popped my head out the door and here’s what I discovered:

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Yes!!!  Dougal is home!!!  I was so excited to see him!!!  It turns out that he and Toby have been talking on the phone recently and Toby told him that I’d just been out to a Mexican restaurant and had a great night out so Dougal thought he’d help me get into the ‘Christmas spirit’ so to speak!

We’re having a lovely night (and yes I’ve had a margarita – thank you Dougal).  The boys are having so much fun catching up with each other and just ‘being boys’.   They’ve got so much to tell each other that I haven’t even had a chance to tell Dougal my big news yet… maybe I’ll get a chance to tell him tomorrow.

December has begun and I couldn’t be happier xx

Tuesday 7 October 2014

A day with Krystal

I’ve got LOADS of photos to share so you might want to grab yourself a coffee for this one! Last Wednesday Krystal came over to Tauranga to spend the day with me and see her Grandma.  Her bus arrived before 8am so I went down to pick her up and we got from breakfast from McDonalds. 

Toby got very excited when he saw the paper bags of food… and Grandma was quite happy when we gave her some hot cakes with syrup for breakfast as well.  Of course Toby was disappointed that no food seemed to be coming his way!

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I LOVE hot cakes Grandma… hey that was supposed to be for me!20141001_083208_1

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Nom nom nom… I REALLY LOVE hot cakes Grandma… thank you for sharing!20141001_083405_1

After breakfast we left Toby supervising Grandma for the day while we went into town.  Krystal is in her first year of teacher training and I thought she might enjoy going to the Teacher Resource Centre… besides it gave me an opportunity to get a few things for my classroom.

We both loved this wall display:

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I’m always on the lookout for cool certificates I can use for my kids… I know I can make my own but they seem to really appreciate the bought ones just a little bit more.

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I also got some more borders for my classroom walls and a few prizes for my treasure box.

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Then Krystal and I spotted a really great book that will be a welcome addition to my writing programme:

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It’s made up of lots of cartoons and the kids get to write in what everyone is saying in the speech bubbles.

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Next we headed over to Bayfair for a bit of a look around and I found a couple of books to add to my growing classroom collection:

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Then we headed to the Warehouse for a look and I found these books.  I think my kids will really love the twists and turns in the All Black book!

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I also found some neat little ice cube trays for a couple of dollars each:

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As we were heading towards the checkouts I spotted something that I’ve been waiting to see come out… super pleased to have this one!  I watched the whole series and loved every episode so now I’ll be able to watch it whenever I like.

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After all of that we stopped for a late lunch and a hot chocolate.  We were very impressed with out cronini’s (combination of a croissant and a Panini). 

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We spent quite a lot of time trying on clothes and Krystal managed to pick up a couple of good bargains but to be honest I wasn’t in the mood for clothes shopping and nothing seemed to appeal to me.

Then it was back to Grandma’s to pick up Toby and pack my gear before heading over to Rotorua.  It was certainly a couple of full-on days but spending time with Krystal and Mum was wonderful.

Take care xx

Monday 6 October 2014

It’s the school holidays again!

Term 3 has whizzed by in the blink of an eye and it’s the school holidays again.  I had planned on going to Rotorua on the first Tuesday of the holidays but things didn’t go quite to plan. 

Over the weekend Mum got a virus/stomach bug that really knocked her around.  She couldn’t keep food down and was downright miserable.  I knew she was really sick when she rang in sick to work for three days in a row so Toby and I decided to head over to her place and take care of her.

We (in other words me) packed up the car and headed off to Tauranga on Monday and got to Mum’s in time to have dinner… or at least Toby and I had dinner. 

The next morning I booked Mum into her doctor and took her down there.  Turns out she was ‘over the worst of it’ according to the doctor but he did give her some anti-nausea meds which really helped.

Since we were out and about I decided to visit a few of my favourite stores that I haven’t been able to get to since the last holidays. 

First up we went to Spotlight and I bought a couple of little things with the idea that I might actually create a December Daily album this year!

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Next up was the Culinary Council in the Gate Pa shopping centre… I absolutely adore this place and always come away with new ideas and things to try!

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I love finding cookie cutters and this time I bought a pear and a funky heart:

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Then I spotted a cool pot mitt… really needed one of these!

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Then I found a silicone mold and cutter set to make little flowers to go on my cupcakes:

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I also found a fabulous cloth for Christmas… I’m going to use it to line a basket for bread rolls to go in… fancy schmancy LOL

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Then Mum found a couple she liked… one of the ones she picked was PERFECT for me but it was the last one… so after a bit of haggling and coercion I managed to snaffle it for myself!  Thanks Mum!

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I also found a great little chocolate making tray featuring sea creatures… yep more embellishments for my cupcakes!

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Next we headed off to Mum’s work to drop off her medical certificate and then on the way home I realised I hadn’t bought any icing to make flowers so I went back for another look at the Culinary Council.

After we got back to Mum’s I immediately tried out my new flower maker and it worked BRILLIANTLY!!

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Oh yeah… we did make one other stop!  We called into Warehouse Stationery to pick Mum up a new set of Cuttlebug plates… just the regular size.  I had bought a couple of my new dies with me and they needed long plates so I was going to buy them and then I realised I would have to buy the spacer plate as well.  Oh dear… it was starting to get a bit costly.  Then Mum said she would buy them because she had one die at home that needed the long plates.

That night we got out the Cuttlebug, my new die and some cardstock and as it turns out I didn’t need the spacer plate at all because the die was the thick kind… oops!  Oh well, at least Mum has the plates she needs now.

We started by cutting everything out with the die and then we had to tape all the tabs… we even managed to watch a bit of MKR while we were working.  Toby was quite happy snuggled up on his bed too!

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Ta da!!!  A luminary light… no decoration on this one… we just wanted to see how it all worked.

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The next morning Mum found a balloon in her garden… no idea where it came from… anyway she brought it in for Toby.  Toby was less than impressed because he’s been caught out with balloons before and got a hell of a fright when a red one popped on him.

He was super funny prancing all around it and I couldn’t resist taking a wee video of him.  Very entertaining!

Toby and the scary balloon at Grandma’s house

So that’s the start of my holidays!