New Years Eve

Due to shifting we missed spending Christmas with my brother in Ashvegas so we decided to see the New Year in with them. Packed the car with kids clothes and Dave's new road bike and off to Ashburton we go. We stopped off at Grandmas in Oamaru and the kids had a great time with Grandma reading stories to them and loading them up with lollies.

It seems to take longer to get to Ashburton than it does to drive back to Dunedin for some strange reason. However we finally make it to my brothers only to find they had gone away OOPS! sometimes surprises don't pay off. Luckily my nephew lives with them and he was home. So we made ourselves at home.

The kids are real townies and not use to animals. My brother has a life style block and has animals everywhere from Margaret the hen to Nick the horse. Cheri's race horse Chrystal recently gave birth to a massive foal and unfortunately the she died. Chester the foal is gorgeous and very friendly. Kate loved the horses but screamed at the cat and dogs. Nicholas also had a fascination with the horses he even walk through the paddock with horses in them without batting an eye lid but very stand offish when it came to the dogs and hens (strange children). Kate was very lucky she got to ride the pony and she couldn't stop talking about it.

My brother arrived home the next day and we still managed to see the new year in with him. I love my brother and his wife, I feel blessed to have such an awesome whanau.

The Wriggly Tooth

Nicholas is 6 years old now and since he was 5 I've been waiting with much anticipation for him to loose his first tooth. At least once a month I would get Nicholas to open his mouth and I would wiggle each tooth to see if one was ready ... alas none. However today I was investigating his mouth for cleanliness and there it was a wriggly front top tooth. Sooooooooo excited I told Nicholas and he wanted to feel and see. Proud as punch he runs to tell his dad and asks him how much will the tooth fairy give him.

Whilst I slept today Dave and Nicholas went to town for a little post Christmas shopping in which I scored a nice T-Shirt. Dave took Nicholas for a haircut and Dave informs me he was having a very interesting discussion with the hairdresser when all of a sudden he changes the subject and shows the hairdresser his wriggly tooth. Dave said it was very cute.

So our little man is growing up and as his teeth start to fall out we'll wait for his big teeth to come through. Dave worries that they will be crooked just like his were (Dave needed a plate when he was a young lad). When Dave was 18 he attacked himself with a file and smoothed the front of his teeth YES people Mere Male struck even back then. He went into his garage and put on some real loud heavy metal music and got a huge file and attacked his teeth (he thought they were too rough)OUCH!!!! is all I could think when he told me that story crazy MM!!!!

Christmas at the Finnie's 2009

Superhero finger puppets

Old McDonald had a farm finger puppets

Look at the camera Kate

Kate with her dolls house Yes Lego

What a beautiful Christmas day we had such a great time as a family. The weather was hot hot hot 32 degrees amazing. Awesome presents and great family dinner. But most of all we remember the birth of our wonderful Saviour Jesus Christ!!!!!

The Shift

Today we shifted into the new rented house. Thankfully throughout the week I had taken all the boxes over and set up house, so today was Dave's turn to bring the big furniture. We had help from the Missionaries, Craig, Mikey, Phil and Nicholas. It took two trips and all was done.

However the story leading up to the shift is somewhat funny with Mere Male Dave. He picks up the truck we hired and drives it back to Galloway Street (which is somewhat a narrow street), he then proceeds to pull up the drive with the truck but forgets that trucks are bigger hence they need to take a wider berth. Next you see Dave's car being squashed by the truck and the tyres on the truck start spinning. Dave thinking he is stuck on the kerb tries to give the truck more gas. We all wave at MM to stop, he looked puzzled so I approach him to tell him of his trouble. "the truck is on top of your car" MM "well can you back my car up" so I did, car saved from big truck and moreso MM some dents and scratches otherwise car still works. After a couple of attempts MM finally gets truck up the driveway. MM then tries to tell us that the reason he was having difficulties parking up was the dodgy clutch (YEAH RIGHT!!!)

New House

The highlight of the shift:

1. The piano didn't get broken, thanks to a unilateral thinking Elder.
2. It took two trips
3. I was totally organised in both houses
4. I was awake for over 24 hours (due to working the nightshift)
5. MM's car

We are so happy we are in our new home and everything is unpacked and has a place (well from my point of view) The garage is Dave's department. Now I can relax and wait for MM to build our new home. Thank you to those who helped it was awesome. That is the greatest thing about being in the church helpers come at a drop of a hat its amazing.

I

Mere Male

Now don't get me wrong I do love my husband and I think he is awesome ra ra ra etc. But sometimes he can be a Mere Male. When we sold our house the posession date for our place is the 15th Jan 2010. That's great he says that will give us time to find a place and we will be able to take our time shifting save us some money by doing it ourselves etc. I'm thinking thats great for me cause I'm working 4 nights a week and its school holidays etc. No need to stress about the shift at all.

Finding a place to rent in Mosgiel has somewhat been a mission. Rental properties are very rare and the ones we looked at were dumps and I can't believe they want $280-300 p/week rent. Looking in the paper an executive home for rent appears we ring we saw we took. Its a big 4 bedroom home only 4years old, its perfect for us. Dave excited that we have a home makes a drastic decision to move in Christmas Eve and the whole lets just take our time has suddenly turned into lets move now people go go go!!!

Today we drove out to pick up the key for the new house and on our way pack he informs me that he'll get the power to our old home disconnected on the 23rd Dec???? My response was somewhat abrupt "Are you crazy?" How am I suppose to clean the house completely if you switch off the power? Answer from Mere Male Just boil the jug to get hot water...................

The Lene's

These are the "Lene's" we all use to work in a team together, at the Mosgiel woollen mill factory(a factory that made balls of wool for knitting). We were the twisting/winding team, a process where you take strands of yarn and twist them together hence 2ply or 3ply balls of wool. We were all made redundant in 2000. Since then we have different careers and have kept in touch thanks to Jackie every few months.

However due to our busy lives it has been at least 6 months since our last outing. Thankfully tonight we were all free and we all went out for a Xmas dinner in Mosgiel. It was really nice catching up with the girls. The cool thing about moving to Mosgiel is being able to see these lovely ladies more not to mention my other awesome friends. Let me tell you a little bit about each person:

First and foremost Maurene (Mo or Edna) she was our team leader and an awesome boss. She is a legend and she still works at a rolled oats factory in the packing dept and how old is this lovely lady you ask? ............. she is 76yrs that's right 76 she is totally amazing. For her 70th birthday she got a green alien tattoo on her thigh.

Irene (Renne 70yrs) the golfer. Irene always smells really nice. I always remember walking by her machine and she would always have a beautiful scent about her. So everyday I would go over just to say hi just so I could smell her. She is retired and loves playing golf and looking after her grandchildren. She always wants me to join her church so I can sing with her in the choir.

Marlene (mid-late 50's) The seamstress always keen to be involved with everything and anything. Currently she works in a factory that makes wigs.

Debbie (Deblene) mid 40's. Mother of 1 child and heaps of animals. She looks after everyone pets while they go away on holiday. One particular dog lives with them 335 days of the year whilst the other 30 days the dog lives with the owner when they come over from Japan for a holiday (crazy). At one time she held down 4 jobs a workaholic.

Raylene (Rayls mid-late 50's) The green fingers/renovator and home bus owner. The adventurer who until recently lived in their bus and travels the country. The party goer and sing star queen (apart from me)

Last and certainly not least the loveliest of them all my Barbie girl:

Jackie (the baby of the group) The organiser she always kept us informed of special events coming up at work. Always reminded us of how many days til Xmas or payday or daylight savings not to mention her wedding. Kept a strict diary and totally hates mice/rats. The shy one who after a bit of persuasion convinced her to go in Stars in their Eyes with me and be Barbie whilst I played Ken to which we lip sync the Barbie Girl song. That started a tradition for following years. We've been Danny and Sandy from Grease and the rocky horror picture show act and the Village people YMCA. Jackie always thinks of others always remembers every Lene's birthday and always sends us a cards/gift. We've had some fun nights out on the town and she is a great friend to have. I love her heaps.

So there you have it, the story of the "Lene's" I am blessed to these fantastic women in my life and treasure their friendship immensely...

Kiddy Treats

Chocolate/Caramel Muffins

Last year I made treats for all of Nicholas's class and this year is no exception. I finished my nightshift and went to the supermarket to get supplies. Once I had taken Nicholas to school and Kate to daycare I set about making 20 chocolate caramel muffins and decorated them with mini M&Ms. I also love to give the teacher a small something too. I made her truffles and chocolate dipped strawberries. This took me to 11.30am to complete and then I went up to catch a couple of hours sleep. When I awoke I quickly made up loot bags with the muffins and candy canes and balloons packed them in my Christmas basket to deliver them to school.

Teachers treats

A basket of treats

When I got to school the children eyes all lit up and they were very excited. Miss Lawless had the children sit in a circle and I handed out the treats. Thinking they would leave the treats til after school alas they all dived into the bags and devoured the muffin in seconds (boys mostly) the girls just picked off the m&m. Then Miss Lawless asked the children if they wanted to say anything to me. Lots of hands went up and the thanking began. I thanked them all for being such awesome children and for being Nicholas's friend. I will miss this school alot its been a special journey and I hope the next school is just as good. Look out Elmgrove here we come.

Music Recital

Nicholas is in his second year of music lessons through the Yamaha Music School. Its amazing how much he has learnt in two years. Last year he could play songs with one hand and this year he is playing with both hands. On Sunday the school had there music recital it was held at the Otago Museum and there was a big audience. Nicholas's class consists of 4 boys and 4 girls. They start by singing the musical piece in solfege and then they play the piece on the keyboards. This years musical item was I'm a little teapot. The children stood at attention to start singing to the piano but instead of singing in solfege they all started singing the words to the song. Jenny (teacher) had to stop them and they started again.

Then it was sitting at their keyboards to play the piece to the audience. The difficult thing about this and successful in the performance was the children played at the same time and they stayed together throughout the whole song, which for eight 6year old children is amazing.

I must remember to get Nicholas a more formal set of attire to wear next year (he was the only one in shorts and tee shirt) note the boy next to him they were all dressed very formal oops!!!!!

Well done Nicholas I am so proud of what you have achieved this year and I love listening to you playing. I am really excited about next year as you progress into the extension class.

Jig-saw King

Nicholas loves jig-saw puzzles and he is very very clever at them. He is so cleaver that when he has done a puzzle a few time he then sets another challenge for himself. Thats right he does the puzzle, picture down. I find this incredible and I asked him how do you know which piece is right? Nicholas replies because it fits mum. AMAZING!!!

Please note he is wearing my shoes.

Kate's First Bobby Clip

That's right people its taken 21 months but at last I can finally put a clip in Kate 08 hair. Please note it does not last long in her hair because she keeps pulling it off. But the proof is in the picture. Hopefully I can teach Kate to leave them in her hair for an hour at least

The Awesome Drawing

A few blogs ago I wrote about our lovely boarder Alison. Well we miss her very much. Before she left, she gave us a drawing of the children. She drew them from two separate photos and I know exactly which photos they are. Nicholas is at Moeraki beach when that photo was taken and I had just finished telling him not to get wet but surprise surprise he forgets the meaning of NOT TO!!! hence the cheeky smile/laugh. Kate is holding her new push chair and it is her birthday. I just found this picture so awesome and Alison is so talented. I decided to get in professionally framed (which cost a bomb). Anyway I picked it up and it was well worth it. We all love it thank you Alison!!

Brother and Sister Love

Nicholas was playing on the computer when his loving sister decided she wanted to play/watch with her big brother. At first it started out very friendly but the more Nicholas ignored her the more she annoyed him it was so funny.

Kate: Hi Nicholas what you doing?

Nicholas: Concentrate on the game!

Kate: Can I play with you Nicholas?

Nicholas: Do I have too just ignore her.

Kate: Please play with me Nicholas

Nicholas: Just ignore her she'll go away soon

Kate: What would happen if I pulled his ear?

Nicholas: Don't do it Kate!

Kate: That got his attention!!!! Nicholas: Okay I'm listening!!!!

Kate: That was fun

Nicholas: Not impressed!!!!

Helper of the year

Today while I was putting away the books at school the children were all sitting in the central area watching a video. When I finished doing my book duty I sat down to watch the video with the children. Once it finished Mrs Gray stood up the front and asked me to come up I looked at her strangely. Mrs Gray said Paula we want to embarrass you. Feeling my face get warm I went to the front. Mrs Gray spoke to the children about how I had help out of the school all year putting away books everyday and helping out at discovery time every Friday and PMP every Tuesday and they wanted to thank me. Then she pulled out a big card and gave it to me and the children gave me a big clap it made me cry. I will miss helping out at the school its been awesome to be able to give my time and feel apart of Nicholas's education. It was nice to know all the junior children by name and they always say hello to Kate and myself every morning.

The card design is from sewing wool around the letters. Some of the children done the sewing themselves Nicholas did the letter "T" It was appropriate for me because at discovery time I was always in charge of the sewing table. I loved sitting there and getting to know the children and I use to hear some fascinating stories. Inside all the children had written their names and drawn me a picture on their own individual card so cool.

Ben leaves us

Today Ben is leaving us and going back to work on his dads dairy farm. I am feeling very sad and that somehow I failed him as a mum again. His time with us has been one of ups and downs. The ups was him being baptised and joining the church. Getting to know my son has been a journey in its self one I will treasure.

Ben left school this year and unfortunately he is one of those statistics (fallen through the cracks) with no qualifications. So when he came to live with us getting him a job was going to prove a little difficult. However despite all the odds Ben managed to get a job at McDonald's thanks to Hakopa clan. The job started out alright with regular shifts however as time went by work dwindled off and that concerned me. I found out that he hated working there and some managers treat staff poorly. Ben was struggling with keeping up with tasks. I knew it would be only a matter of time before they would dismiss him. Meanwhile when you don't work and have too much time up your sleeve you tend to find things to occupy your time for Ben he wasn't using his time wisely and manager to get into a little trouble.

We decided to try and look for a new job for him and went around lots of places. We managed to get some application forms to fill out. Then last weekend he went back to his dads to celebrate his grandads 70th and I think he realised that he missed the farm life and so he came back to us and made the decision to move back to the farm.

We shall miss him alot (although I wont miss the big piles of washing he brings to me at the end of the week despite asking him everyday if he had washing).

Kids say the darnest things

Tonight at dinner we were trying to get Nicholas to eat zucchini. Dave: Come on Nicholas its good for ya Nicholas: Nah Dave/Mum: It will make you strong Nicholas: Nah Mum: its like gherkins but sweeter Nicholas: Nah Dave: Oh well Nicholas obviously doesn't want to be strong Nicholas: Dad I'm not a superhero and I'm not fighting criminals tonight Conclusion: No zuchinni past his lips

A house to Rent Finally

Since selling we have been looking for a rental property in Mosgiel. Well what a mission its been why you ask? There are very few houses available in Mosgiel to rent. Everyday I would look on trade me property and would find 5 homes maxs and most of them were 1 or 2 bedrooms. Saturdays newspaper would generate 4 properties tops. Problem 2 was we need a home in January and most properties are available now. Problem 3 the ones we viewed were dumps I wouldn't even put my cow in it (if I had a cow).

Finally a property came up on trade me, possession date mid Jan (perfect), 3bdrm (perfect), located in Bush Road (perfect as the section is not far thus great for Dave building) and it looked very tidy. We must have this property no matter what!!!!! Dave makes enquiries about the property and she informs us other people are interested (BLAST!!!) Real estate agent informs Dave money talks so we offer more.

Meanwhile our dearest friends are also looking for a rental property and you guessed it the other people interested in the same property are our friends after a conversation with my friend(double blast). BUT wait the Saturday newspaper has an executive property available so after conference we headed out to Mosgiel to view the house. WOW!!! this is the one for us and so Dave paid the man a weeks rent to hold it for us and we officially take over on the 23rd this month.

Hopefully with us out of the picture for the other property our dearest friends will get that one and so win win all round.

PS Still think the 6 bedroom estate would have been awesome to share with our friends!!!!!

District Conference

This years District Conference was different from previous conferences that I have attended. Different because we didn't get to share a meal or do the Saturday night concert. Instead our concert slot was replaced with the adult session. (not impressed)

Conference hot topic was about unity. All three speakers were amazing and their talks linked together beautifully. The Mission President then wanted us to ask him question anything we liked. Would I ask him why we didn't have the concert????? (could I ????) Well after two or three questions from others from the congregation I built up enough courage to ask. His answer I felt was vague and to me his answer was "because I said so"

When I think about the hot topic of unity, the meal together and the concert is the unity part. Having all the other branches in Otago/Southland come together is awesome. The meal allows us to mingle and talk to the other people from other branches and the concert again allows us to have fun and watch the talented and the not so talented. I don't believe it takes away the spiritual feeling that the President suggested, but that's just my opinion.

Sunday session was spiritually up lifting as usual and the choir was amazing. Kate taught us well and she is so amazing. I was called as a councilor in the District Young Woman's (yikes what have I let myself in for??) I really hope this calling doesn't take me away from the one calling I truly love, my primary singers.

Apart from the disappointment of no concert or meal, conference overall was great