Project Life: Week 16

Hi there :)

Well my blog is well over-due for an update so here’s Week 16: 13th - 19th April

This was the second week of the school holidays and looking back on it I definitely got a lot of things done during the week.  Here’s an overview:

On Monday night Game of Thrones began it’s 5th Season.  Krystal and Chris are really into Game of Thrones as well and since Mike and I subscribe to the SOHO channel and they don’t we asked them to join us to watch each episode.  We also decided that Monday night would be ‘dessert’ night. 

Since I had a bit of time to ‘play’ in the kitchen I came up with a ‘deconstructed passionfruit and lemon cheesecake’.  It was actually really simple to make but it looked (and tasted) pretty amazing!

Meanwhile, Mike made us American hot dogs for dinner which happens to be one of our favourite ‘easy dinners’.

Here’s a close up to the start of the week:

Mike and I had been looking for a ‘winter’ duvet set for our room.  We looked in heaps of different places but couldn’t find exactly what we were looking for and then we popped in to Harvey Normans and there it was… and it was on sale too!  For now we’ve teamed it up with the black Euro pillows from another duvet but Mike REALLY likes the red ones that actually go with the duvet.  I like the red ones too but they’re $45 each so for now they can stay in the shop!

On Tuesday night Mike brought home his new painting gear and did a little ‘show and tell’.  He’s really happy with the new gear but Toby didn’t like it at all… he barked and growled and tried to hide and then barked again.  As soon as Mike took off his head gear Toby was a happy puppy again LOL

One thing Toby did have right though was sunbathing outside his ‘day room’ on Wednesday.  It was actually warmer outside than it was inside and Toby made the most of it. 

While he was busy sunbathing I got busy finishing off the travel album I started at Autumn Escape. You can check out the album HERE if you missed it.  It now sits proudly up on the bookshelf and I really love how it turned out.

While I was busy making my album Tracey rang to ask if she and the kids could come through and stay for a couple of days.  I knew I was going to Tauranga on Thursday to visit the Education Resource Centre but it worked out perfectly because they weren’t arriving until at least 5pm.

Toby was super excited to see Auntie and his cousins again!  He’s really missed the kids since we moved back from Gisborne and he spent most of the night following them around and keeping an eye on what they were doing!

Here’s a close up of the second part of the week:

Mike ended up working a short day on Friday so when he got home by mid morning we decided that it was time to go and get some firewood.  Luckily we still had the big trailer because we ended up doing a couple of loads of wood. 

Then we all headed into town for some lunch.  We decided that Brew would be a good place to try and I had the eggs benedict which was totally delicious.  We definitely enjoyed spending a bit of time eating out as a family and Brew has a brilliant menu for the kids so it was a perfect choice.

After lunch Tracey and the kids headed into the shopping mall to have a look around while Mike and I did a couple of jobs from the ever-growing ‘to do’ list.  While we were at the chemist we spotted a pretty perfume display and I was quite taken with the ‘Kimberly Glitz’ perfume.  It’s a knock off of Kim Kardashian’s Glam perfume.  I haven’t actually seen her Glam perfume but I really like the Glitz one!

On Saturday, Tracey and the kids headed back to Gisborne and Mike and I went shopping for a sofa bed for the family room.  Now that it’s colder and we’re lighting the fire at night it’s quite nice to sit up in the family room to watch TV in front of the fire. 

Mike had to work on Sunday so I went into school for the day.  By 5pm I was totally over it but I still had my big whiteboard to do.  I was trying to create sections using masking and washi tape but my eyes weren’t really seeing straight so Mike came down to help me out.  In the end the board turned out fantastically well and all the lines are straight!

So that was our week.  Lots of interesting little things with plenty of family time as well… it was a perfect end to the school holidays!

I hope you’re all having a fab weekend xx

Project Life – a couple of inserts!

I’ve gotten a little behind on my blog again but not to worry… I’ve still been keeping the calendar updated and I’ve got loads of photos so I’m sure it will happen as soon as I get a chance.

In the meantime, I had so many photos from Autumn Escape that I decided to do an insert.  Here’s the front of the page:

The set up at the candy table was gorgeous! There were so many things to see and I loved the vintage feel of it all.  It was definitely luxurious at the resort and a gorgeous setting for taking photos. 

Here’s the back of the insert page:

Miss Jane gave Esther a hair cut on Saturday night and did an amazing job… I didn’t get the courage to have my hair trimmed until Sunday morning by which time we’d already handed in our keys to our rooms so I had mine done outside!

While we were looking for somewhere to do the haircut we came across some beautiful toadstools so I had to get some photos… even if I did have to get down on the wet grass LOL  We also met a very friendly little fantail!

The following week Jodi sent me a copy of the group photo so I’m going to use a 5x7 insert as well… that’s a first for me!

Here’s the front of the mini insert:

And on the back I’ve got a couple of mementoes from the weekend:

It was a really fabulous weekend :)

Now to catch up with the rest of April!  Have a great day xx

Project Life: Week 15 & a mini album

Hi there :)

Last week seems like such a long time ago… mostly because so many things have happened since then.  Here’s an overview of our week:

This week marked the start of the school holidays and of course with Easter thrown in there as well Mike and I both had Monday off work.  Originally we were going to meet up with a couple of my friends down in Taupo for brunch but there was a last minute change of plans so Mike and I met up with Carey for brunch at the Fat Dog in Rotorua.

I decided to try their eggs benedict since it’s one of my favourites but Mike couldn’t make up his mind so he just said ‘surprise me’.  One thing I know about Mike is that he LOVES waffles so when I saw waffles with bacon and banana on the menu it was a bit of a no-brainer really.  We ended up sharing our breakfasts so it worked out well for us.

We also scoffed the chocolate Easter Bunny that Mum gave us… very delicious!

Here’s a close up of the start of our week:

Mike had a change of jobs last week… well to be more accurate he’s actually doing the same job but with a different company.  He had his last day on Wednesday so now there will be no more TBS shirts hanging on the washing line.

On Thursday we had planned on going for a bike ride over to Hamilton and spending the day together but the rain decided to get heavy and we weren’t too keen on getting cold and wet so we did a few jobs around the house and then headed into town to do a few jobs.

Since we’d missed out on our lunch in Hamilton we went to Brew instead and I had the Bourbon beef salad for lunch.  It was totally delicious and is still one of my favourite things from their menu.  Mike had the big breakfast (surprise surprise) but he said it was delicious!

Later that day Esther arrived from Wellington so she came with us when I had to go to my doctors appointment.  I’ve had a horrible cough for several weeks now and to be honest I thought it might have become a bit of a chest infection but after a check up with the doctor it might just be a little more than that so for now I’m having to use an inhaler and I’ve had blood tests and a chest x-ray this week.  I’ve also got a Spirometry test tomorrow.

After we’d been to the doctors we headed down to the supermarket to pick up some fresh seafood and fish and Mike and I made our seafood chowder to share with Esther for dinner.  We’ve got it down to a fine art now and Esther gave it her seal of approval.

Here’s a closer look at the rest of the week:

On Friday Esther and I packed up our cars and headed down to Taupo for Autumn Escape.  Esther talked me into going to Autumn Escape around October or November last year… AND it was in the school holidays so it worked out well for me.  I booked myself into a couple of Teresa Collins’ classes and the first one was on Friday.  She’s a great tutor and a lovely person.  Esther and Jane both joined in on the class as well and we had a blast… PLUS I’ve actually finished my album!

Meanwhile, while I was away catching up with some of my scrappy friends, Mike had Brody and Lane around and with chainsaw in hand they cut down one of the big trees we’d decided needed to go.  There were three HUGE trees in the corner of the backyard and since I bought the house over eight years ago they’ve grown… and grown… and grown some more and they were blocking off a huge amount of light.  Plus they made a fairly big area of the backyard pretty unusable. 

We’d had someone come and look and he’d said he would cut the trees down for us but Mike had just borrowed a chainsaw off Mum… and he’d had it serviced and a new blade put on it… SO he HAD to test it out!!  Well that’s what he tried to tell me LOL

Brody and Lane arrived just at the right time so they all had a bit of ‘boy fun’ (Toby included!) and got busy in the back yard.  On Friday the first tree came down and on Saturday the next one bit the dust.  There’s still one more to go but I’m sure that won’t last long once the weekend arrives.

When I got home from Taupo on Sunday afternoon Mike and I decided to head over to Tauranga to get a few t-shirts for Mike to wear to work.  We called in to see Mark and Rattaya and they invited us to join them for dinner at a local Indian restaurant.  Mum came with us as well and we had a great night catching up, chatting and trying out new dishes.

I know I haven’t told you much about Autumn Escape but I’m working on an insert for my Project Life album so I’ll share it when it’s finished.

I got the basic travel album from Teresa’s class done on the Friday night of Autumn Escape but I knew I wanted to add some more photos to it so yesterday I got busy selecting photos and went and had them printed.  This morning I put them all together and added the finishing touches so now the album is done.

Here’s the front cover:

We used Teresa’s Wanderlust collection featuring black, white and gold designs and I love how it really made my photos pop!  I decided to make my travel album about our trips on the bike so all the photos feature the bike, places we’ve visited and food!

Here’s a selection of the inside pages… there’s flip ups, envelopes, tags, fold outs and all sorts of things to make the album quite interactive.

There’s heaps more pages than this in the album but this gives you the general idea.  I’ve added stickers, stamps, and plenty of bling to the album as well.

On the back page I decided to use a photo that was taken during the class along with my little ticket. 

So there you have it!  One finished project and a whole lot of fun!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you’re having a great week xx

Project Life: Week 14

Another week has flown by and it’s now the school holidays.  I’d like to say that I’m actually having a holiday but I’ve still got loads of paperwork to do so I’ll be going to school for a few more days yet.

Meanwhile, here is a look at the overview for Week 14.

The week started off with men doing concreting in the driveway.  Several weeks ago when they had to cut into the driveway to fix the water toby they said they’d be back ‘later’ to redo the concrete… and it seems like ‘later’ meant this week.  They did a good job and it looks great now!

This week was really packed at school… we had two nights of parent-teacher interviews, Whaea Hiria had her last week with us, we finished our camp fundraising (hopefully) and we had the draw for the Easter raffle.

Parent-Teacher interviews are always interesting… you DO get to meet a lot of parents but often the parents you really NEED to see are the ones who don’t come.  I did get to meet the parents for 22 of my children so that was pretty good going!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

It was Whaea Hiria’s last week with us as she’s taking up a teaching position at another school.  We’ve been so lucky to have her with us and she has made a real impact on the kids.  On Wednesday Hiria bought in pizzas for lunch and the kids enjoyed having a picnic in our classroom… especially when they found out there were chocolate treats as well!

On Wednesday we also had the Easter raffle draw and Madison from my class was lucky enough to win one of the baskets of goodies.  I’m sure her family will be really thrilled with all the chocolate!

My kids also surprised me with an Easter egg and a beautiful card that they’d made for me.  I was so touched by their thoughtfulness.

Here’s a close up of the rest of the week:

On Friday Mum came over to spend the Easter weekend with us.  The plan was that we were going to attack the blackberry and attack we did!  Mike had organised a trailer and it really didn’t take long to fill it up.  We had blackberry going in all directions and we found the roots were actually quite easy to pull out.  One thing we hadn’t planned on though was finding a wasp nest!

Mike was right up at the top of the retaining wall and the next minute he came flying over the side… shirt coming off as he ran… straight around the garage… hooked up the hose… and washed himself down.  In his own words… ‘There were a PLATOON of wasps’ after him!  He suffered stings on his back, stomach, arms, legs and a really sore one on his ankle.  He felt a bit better after having a shower and luckily we had some arnica cream to help with the soreness.

Later that day we went to the Redwoods to take Toby for a walk and thankfully Mum took her camera with her because we came across a whole forest of toadstools.  They were absolutely stunning to look at and Mum took heaps of photos.  Luckily for me she let me borrow her camera so that I could get a few shots of my own.

On Saturday we carried on in the gardens and then we did two loads to the dump.  The fees weren’t too bad either.  It’s only a single axle trailer but with the high sides we were able to get a LOT into it!  Our first load was all the blackberry along with the rubbish left behind in the garage… $30  We did three more loads over the weekend but they only had green waste and at $10 per load it worked out pretty economically.

On Saturday night we also went out to dinner with Krystal and Chris.  We all like Indian food so we went to the Chimney for dinner.  The food was great but it took a LONG time to arrive and the service was pretty shocking.  I have a feeling we won’t be going back there again.

We did make a new friend over the weekend… Mr Weta decided that he was going to come and see what we were doing in ‘his’ garden.  I’m not a huge weta fan and we don’t normally see them in our garden but this guy was quite impressive!

Mum headed off on Sunday morning to see my sister (it was her 11th wedding anniversary – Happy Anniversary Kate and Simon!) We did our loads to the dump, came home and Mike kept on clipping away at the privot roots and then we got cleaned up and watched a movie together.

It’s been a pretty productive Easter weekend and today we’re heading off to Taupo to have brunch with a couple of my girlfriends.  We definitely feel like we’ve earned a break.

I hope you’re all enjoying your Easter weekend xx