Saturday 30 November 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

I’m a bit late posting my Feel Good Friday this week… no excuses… just busy with writing reports at the moment.

Last Friday when I was down in Gisborne with my sister and her family I had the opportunity to watch my nephews and niece perform in the Kapahaka Festival and it was wonderful.  I was super proud of my ‘babies’ as they did their waiata and haka. 

They looked fantastic in their Kapahaka outfits and their Dad had given them each a special taonga to wear.  They were so proud of them.

This week the kids from my school were in the Rotorua Kapahaka Festival and lots of them were wearing greenstone taonga from their families. 

With all the cultural events going on lately I thought it would be a good opportunity to create a page dedicated to the special treasures connected with these events and here is what I came up with:week 48 - greenstone

I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend xx

Thursday 28 November 2013

Exciting News!

Hi everyone :)

After several weeks of looking at teaching positions… preparing CV’s for positions that appealed to me… waiting…. actually LOTS of waiting… I’m happy to report that I have  been offered… and accepted… a new position in a primary school in Gisborne starting in 2014.

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Of course in the meantime I’ve got LOADS to keep me occupied including getting all my reports written, proof read, checked and ready for printing by management on Monday!

Sunday 24 November 2013

Project Life: Week 46

Hi everyone :)

With all the stuff going on around here it’s been a bit crazy and I didn’t get a chance to blog my Project Life pages from last week… but they’re ready now.

Here’s an overview of the week:FULL

My Feel Good Friday was all about food styling and I loved this photo of the cookies so I had to use it for my date card:

date card copy

On Monday’s Carey and I often go up the road from school and sit under the big shady tree to eat our lunch.  In reality we’re only 3 minutes away from school but it is so nice to get away from the chatter of children for 20 minutes!lunch

Ethan was awarded the trophy for being a good role model at school and although has wasn’t about to smile for the camera he was quite pleased with the award.

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My kids have done some fantastic writing this year and sometimes it’s hard to get the wall displays up as quickly as I would like to.  This one about the Big Bad Wolf has taken a while to get published and mounted but it’s all done now:big bad wolf copy

We’ve started working on a new art project… landscapes using layers and painting techniques.  The kids are really getting into it and learning a bit about perspective as well:

James art copy  makaire copy focused copy

By the time my hair appointment comes around my fringe is usually starting to annoy me so when I get my text reminder to go along for some pampering it’s very welcome:haircut copy

On Saturday I headed over to Hamilton to spend the day with Krystal.  We did a little bit of window shopping and then Toby sent me a ‘telepathic’ message about something he wanted to buy me for Christmas… he’s a good boy LOL

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After we did a bit of actual window shopping, Krystal and I headed to a Mexican restaurant she wanted to try.  They had some pretty interesting food and we ordered several small plates so we could share.  Our favourite was the Quesadillas with Prawn and CACTUS!  Really delicious!

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We decided to have a pitcher of ‘Virgin Margaritas’ and they were so delicious!  I might have to make some for Christmas!!

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We had some time for a little more shopping and I found some more ‘vintage’ style Christmas decorations… I’m getting quite a good collection now:ornaments copy

After lunch we went for a walk around the man-made lake.  I was so pleased that I had my camera with me because there were some excellent photo opportunities like this pukeko heading for the water lilies:walk copy And this house which I really liked the look of:cool-house-copy

On Sunday I woke Mikayla up at noon… she’s totally NOT a morning person!  I got her to help me with the lawns and she wasn’t all that impressed.  To be honest it took a LOT longer than I thought it would… 5 hours and 3 tanks of petrol in the mower!!!  I lost count of how many catchers we emptied but I do know we flooded the motor twice!  lawns done copy

We also trimmed up all the ivy growing along the rock wall and by the time we were done we were both feeling quite pleased with ourselves. 

Of course Toby had to be involved too… and by ‘involved’ I mean barking at the mower and wheelbarrow, running off with long bits of ivy and generally ‘supervising’ what was going on:toby supervising copy

So that was my week… I’ll be back later on today with this weeks pages :)

Saturday 23 November 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

This week has gone so fast that I actually forgot about doing my Feel Good Friday post yesterday.  I’m currently sitting in my sisters’ lounge surrounded by the happy chatter and questions of my niece and nephew.  It’s not a bad way to spend a morning.

Last Saturday I spent the day with Krystal and we went for a walk around the man-made lake in Hamilton.  It was a beautiful walk and I was incredibly pleased to have my camera with me.  Along the way we saw tons of gorgeous water lilies so I thought they’d make a great page for my album.week 47 - water lilliesI hope you are all having a great weekend.  I’ll be back tomorrow with two weeks worth of Project Life… yes I’m playing the ‘catch up’ game again!

Take care xx

Friday 15 November 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

Another Friday has rolled around!  For some reason the idea of ‘comfort food’ really appeals to me today.  It’s not so much the chocolate etc that I want when I feel a bit down… it’s more the ‘comfort food of home cooking’.

I started having a look around the net and discovered a whole new world out there… food styling!  I wonder how come I never knew about this job before??

After tripping along a few sites I discovered some great photos that combined great food styling with home cooking and here’s what I’ve come up with:week 46 - comfort food 

I’ve got a busy Friday ahead… and an admin meeting to get to at 8.15am so best I get a move on!

Happy Friday everyone xx

Sunday 10 November 2013

Project Life: Week 45

Hi everyone :)

It’s been a good week here :)  My running records (which are actually reading tests) are all done and I’ve finally uploaded all the data.  There’s HOURS of work involved and all the reading, writing and math data has to be finished by this coming Friday.  It’s going to be a busy week.

Meanwhile, here’s an overview of the week that’s just been:Full_1

Here’s the date card I made using one of the images from Feel Good Friday:date card copy

On Monday night Mikayla decided to make pancakes with banana and bacon.  It’s a family favourite and we haven’t had it in ages so it felt a bit like having comfort food.pancakes for dinner copy

This week I’ve been doing a bit of reading.  In fact I read both the second and third books from the Hunger Games trilogy and loved the writing!  I’m still surprised that I enjoyed them so much.

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I spent a bit of time this week mounting kids artwork and writing.  Sometimes I really do wish that I was happy to just staple the kids work up because it would save me so much time… but that’s just not how I am I guess.artwork copy

I have to admit that the final artwork looks pretty darn awesome hanging up in the classroom.paintings copy

On Wednesday the Sky man came and installed Sky for me.  It was actually more complicated for him than I had expected and the poor guy ended up doing some of it in the rain because he had to update the sky dish that’s been sitting idle for the last 7 years.  Since he’s been I’ve watched far too much TV!!!!  I think it’s the novelty factor of having so many shows available to me… and the My Sky means that I’ll never have to miss a favourite programme ever again!sky copy

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I get lots of stuff sent to my inbox… some of it’s quickly read and some of it really jumps out at me and this week I received one that falls into the latter category so I turned it into a 3x4 card for my album:remember copy

While we’re talking about quotes… I had another one that really spoke to me and a quick look on Google found me the perfect image to go with it!

stairs quote copy_1   stairs copy Aren’t those stairs impressive???

On Thursday I went out after work with Chris and Carey and we had a wonderful time relaxing after a busy day at school.  The breads and dips were perfect!breads and dips copy

Back at school on Friday I managed to get all the kids writing up on the wall.  They were really impressed to see their work mounted and printed off in colour.kids poetry copy

Yesterday Mum saw a deal on Grab One that looked awesome for me… it certainly would make life a whole lot easier!grab one copy

Last night Mikayla and I didn’t feel like cooking so we decided to get pizza for dinner.  It’s actually been ages since we’ve had pizza and it made a nice change… plus I’d seen an advertisement for their new prawn, bacon and feta toppings and really wanted to try it!pizza copy

As I said earlier, I’ve spent a bit of time today uploading all the data from my reading testing.  It’s a bit time consuming so being able to do it from home certainly makes life a little easier.  It’s hard to believe how many hours those pieces of paper represent!running records copy

So that’s been my week… and from now until the end of the school year (which is really only a matter of another 5 weeks) it’s going to be crazy!

p.s. for those of you following my cryptic messages about next year I still have nothing new to report.  I’ll be sure to share any news with you as soon as I have some worth sharing! 

Wishing you all a great weekend ahead xx

Friday 8 November 2013

Feel Good Friday

Hi everyone :)

Last night I went out with a couple of my friends and we ended up sharing a ‘breads and dips’ platter… super yummy!  The bread was lovely and warm… some toasted and some not… and the dips were fantastic!  We happily shared everything on the platter while we had a couple of drinks and chatted away… but sharing food from a platter isn’t for everyone.

I decided to use my lovely platter experience as the prompt for this weeks page:week 45 - breads and dips

Quite a few years ago I was dating a lovely man and we went out for dinner.  All was going well until I ‘took’ something from his plate and ate it… he was horrified!  Apparently that is ‘not the done thing to do’… he promptly informed me that his meal was for him and mine was for me… ok I thought… no drama… I can leave his food alone.

Then we got an opportunity to go somewhere and have a platter… I wanted to see what would happen when it was something we were ‘supposed’ to share.  The platter arrived filled with the most amazing selection of breads, dips and cheeses.  He promptly picked up a little side plate and took the things he wanted to eat and left the rest of the platter alone.  I was completely dumbfounded… I’ve come from a background where we used to try each others meals when we were out so that we could see what ‘everything’ tasted like and the whole ‘not sharing’ thing was completely foreign to me.

Needless to say,  I remain a ‘sharing is caring’ type of person but I do ASK people before I simply take something off their plate!  How about you… are you a sharer?

p.s. the man is still lovely but we decided that going out for meals together isn’t much fun for either of us… he worries about going home hungry and I have to keep slapping my hand not to touch his food LOL

Wishing you a great weekend xx

Sunday 3 November 2013

Project Life: Week 44 and an insert

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s been an eventful week in our household with lots of things happening.  I also had a great day yesterday doing something I haven’t done in years… but I’ll show you that soon. 

I’ve been having some problems with the photos on my blog… they’re coming through really pixilated and going in all different sizes even though I’m using the same settings as normal so I’m going to try something a bit different this week.  In the meantime here’s an overview of my week:

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I’ve had a bit of feedback from my Feel Good Friday this week and it seems everyone likes the otter lounging on his back in the water so I decided to use his photo for this weeks’ date card:

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Last Sunday night my youngest sister came over for a visit without her children and we ended up having an impromptu dinner party since Holly had arrived to take Krystal home.  Thankfully I’d made lots of Tandoori Chicken and had it marinating in the fridge since Saturday.

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And what’s a dinner party without dessert??  Holly and Krystal got busy and made walnut brownie which we had with Pavlova, cream, strawberries and passionfruit.  It was a great end to the evening.

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Of course Monday was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand which meant that I got to get lots of those ‘little’ jobs done… the ones that seem to have been on the ‘to do’ list forever!

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I seem to have bought a few things lately and one of my purchases finally arrived with the Home Care lady.  I’m super pleased with my new Santa table runner and I know it’s going to look great on the table at Christmas time.

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On Monday while I was at the Warehouse I spotted the ‘Clever Sharp’ from those really annoying ads on TV.  It turns out that it really does do everything they say it can do and now all my knives are like new again!

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I also made a quick trip to the local Indian Spice shop and found some really good spice mixes.  I was super thrilled to find a more ‘authentic’ Green Thai Curry paste and I’m looking forward to trying it out.

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Meanwhile, Mikayla loaned me her copy of the Hunger Games.  I’d heard quite a bit about it and to be honest I didn’t think it was my kind of story… but in the end I read the whole thing in just a couple of days.  The book is FANTASTIC!!  Really good writing and a nerve tingling plot.  Mikayla also owns the DVD version which I’ve now watched and quite frankly… what a disappointment!  I’d score the movie 2/10 and that’s being generous!

hunger games copy

This week we’ve been down at the Aquatic Centre every day for the kids to complete their swimming programme and they’ve done so well.  They’re all much more water confident and most of the kids actually completed the required 200m swim to pass their assessment!

swimming copy

Chris (one of the teachers I work with) gave me some good pointers on how to get the rest of my wall paper off the toilet and it worked brilliantly.  Actually it probably worked a little too well because I got so excited that I ended up removing all the wall paper from the bathroom as well… it really did need to be done!  Now I’ve got to get it all prepped and ready to be painted.

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Every three years teachers have to renew their Practicing Certificates which is fine… but it certainly takes a long time and it also costs us.  Mine took 6 weeks for the paper work to go through and a whopping $270!  At least I know I can carry on teaching for another three years!

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While I was in town on Monday I bought a new duvet cover to replace the one that His Royal Highness decided was good to eat!  I was just about to throw the old duvet cover out when I suddenly had an idea.  I put Toby’s duvet inside the old cover and put it back on his bed… and it’s worked!!  Toby has actually stopped sneaking up onto my bed during the night and we’ve had five nights in a row with him sleeping on his own bed quite happily.  Life is Good :)

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The courier man arrived on Saturday morning with a small order I did in America.  There were a couple of things I needed for the Creative Chemistry 102 class that I couldn’t source here in New Zealand so I used the class coupon and grabbed myself a discount.  Actually I got a couple of things that I didn’t need for the course as well but that’s beside the point LOL

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This morning Carey and I got together for a weekend meeting… nothing heavy… but we figured we might as well go out for breakfast and talk while we were there.  Capers do a fab Eggs Benedict and we both left feeling very happy :)

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While I was trawling around the internet I came across this gorgeous photo board on Pinterest and I’m looking forward to using this idea for a project I’ve got in mind.

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And now for the insert!   Yesterday Mum was having one of those ‘can’t get out of your own way’ days… I know exactly what she means… anyway she’d had a look in the paper and found out the races were on so she invited me over to have a look.  Here’s how the insert turned out:

Insert front Insert back

Before we went to the races we popped into town for a quick look around and I found this cool carved ball with the quote “Love is patient, Love is kind” and absolutely knew I had to bring it home with me!

carved ball copy

Then we were off to the races!  It was actually a LOT of fun!  I had a bet on the first race we were there for… just a little bet!  Turns out it was beginners luck because I didn’t get anything after that!!  But the horses I picked came in second and third so I was pretty chuffed!

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We arrived just as a race was starting and the Marshall’s were all dressed in Santa outfits… Christmas is starting earlier and earlier every year!

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I was lucky enough to have my camera on sports mode and managed to get a good photo of the horses at the start of their race.

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When we arrived there was nobody there to take out $5 entry fee so we just followed where other people seemed to be going.  Turns out we ended up in the Members Grandstand but nobody told us to get out so we just stayed there.  We had perfect seats right in front of the finish line and when the horses were parading before each race we had a fantastic view!

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On the second to last race Mum decided to bet on her ‘favourite’ horse Number 15.  When I checked out his stats he wasn’t expected to do very well but Mum insisted that was the horse she wanted.  I’m wishing I listened to her now because ‘Sacred Star’ won the race!

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All up we had a fantastic afternoon at the races… we saw lots of interesting fashions… quite a few ‘fascinators’… got very caught up in the cheering as each race ended and even managed to find the ice cream man during the afternoon.  Plus the weather was absolutely stunning!

After we’d been at the races we headed down to The Warehouse because Mum had seen a TV she wanted with built in Freeview.  It was quite a good price because it already had $100 knocked off it but as she went to get the TV I noticed the second one had clearance stickers attached to it.  She ended up saving a whopping $140 off a TV that originally cost $299… talk about lucky… or maybe it was just good timing!

Untitled-155 copyWe actually took this photo after dinner 

Whether it was luck or good timing Mum decided to shout us takeaways for dinner so we grabbed some Chinese from her favourite restaurant and we headed to a local park for dinner.  It was the perfect setting to eat and over the years we’ve had lots of good times there.

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I did mention to her that ‘good things come in threes’ so we stopped off to get her a LOTTO ticket on the way home.  I haven’t checked with her yet to see if she’s won anything but maybe she’s already booking herself an overseas holiday LOL

So that’s been my week… and it’s been a good one!Hopefully you’ve been able to see the photos (and writing on them) a bit clearer this week. 

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead xx