bubby69

Miss Kate 2011

2011-12-17T11:15:00.000+13:00

For the last 4 years I have been taking Master Nicholas to swimming lessons, piano lessons, coach his T-ball team, soccer and T-ball on Saturday mornings. Miss Kate has been the passenger and attended all these events without complaint. This year I decided it was time to Miss Kate should have an activity of her very own. So I talked to one of the mums at school who runs a dance school. She told me to bring Miss Kate along to give her a trial and see if she was ready. Miss Kate was very excited and her first two trials were great she listen to her teacher and did what was asked of her. Miss Kate loved it too. Next step was to get her the gear.

Here is Miss Kate

Throughout 2011 every Wednesday for an hour she went off to ballet. Parents were not allowed in the room to watch and you could never see what they were learning. At the end of each term we would get to watch them. It was so cute and adorable and I would always welt up watching her. After her performance Miss Kate would ask me if I was proud of her? Hugs and kisses and a firm YES very very proud of you.

Two weeks ago the whole dance school put on a big show it went for 2hours and Miss Kate was a star on stage. They performed three shows over 2 days and Miss Kate insisted on being in all 3 shows. The show was called The Wild Wild West and Miss Kate was one of the farm animals a very cute piglet.

Miss Piglet

Miss Kate & her friends

Miss Kate is looking forward to 2012 so she can continue to dance dance dance.

Consequences

2011-12-16T14:16:00.000+13:00

As 2011 is ending I can only say I'll be glad when its over and I really hope 2012 sees a vast improvement. This year has been in one word a DISASTER! Although, I have had a couple of wonderful things happen which has saved me from having a total break down, 2011 will be remembered for me a nightmare.

Without disclosing to much information I made a huge MISTAKE in which I confessed to Dave. The consequence has been so damaging that even as I write this I struggle with what our future holds together as husband wife and as a family. The consequences has seen friendships broken, our beautiful new home sold and last but certainly not least Dave turning his back on the church. It has caused many arguements and fights involving the police and me leaving for awhile only to return for the sake of the family. This mistake has caused the children to see some ugly scenes and many tears by me and by them. This mistake has made me question my faith, my worth and my life.

Can we move on from the mistake? Time will tell.

I'm Back

2011-12-15T05:11:00.000+13:00

Hello followers yes its been awhile and I have missed blogging. However I have still enjoyed reading all your stories throughout the year.

I've been otherwise occupied with life and its dramas. Hopefully I will be able to fill you all in over the next few weeks before 2011 finishes.

So stay tuned for blog number 1.

The Other Job

2011-01-07T10:56:00.000+13:00

When Alison lived with us she had a small job where she would go to 4 shops in Dunedin and count the jewelry and fax the amounts to a company called Aquarius Design. Before Alison left Dunedin she asked me if I would like to have this little pocket money maker. I thought it doesn't sound too big a task and I can always do with extra pocket money. So I have been doing this job on the side and its been fun sometimes.

Once a month count the jewelery at 3 shops and all but 2 shops have a fantastic setup it only takes me 30minutes to count and rearrange things. However one shop takes me about 3hours and I always have to start from scratch its very frustrating. Here are my before and after pics.

Messy and disorganised

Start from scratch

Finished stand

The one thing that annoys me and I question? Why do customers take the jewelery off the display stand and then put it back somewhere else???

Outside Completed

2010-12-22T08:00:00.001+13:00

After 4 weekends Dave and I finally finished the outside of our house. All gardens are in and grass is in place and now we watch them grow and blossom. Dave made a beautiful fence and now the outside of the house looks awesome. The funniest thing is at the beginning Dave was totally against having any roses, however we have gone with 3 white standard roses out the front garden complemented with icing sugar Hebe's. Amazingly all went well with nil arguments and fighting (that's so not normal for us, very strange indeed). Our summer will be all about relaxing and enjoy the outside living just as much as the inside living. Great team work.

Ready lawn is layed

Fences are built

Roses & Hebe's planted

Finished!!!

Montessori Xmas Party

2010-12-21T03:51:00.000+13:00

Last Wednesday all the Montessori children, teachers and parents hopped on the bus and headed to Charnacle Farm for a Christmas Party. It was a lovely day and we all had fun looking and feeding the animals. It was so nice Dave could come too and watch his little girl particpate in her centres activity. Nicholas was not so well so he tagged along and totally played the big brother role making sure his little sister and her friend were safe.

Off to feed the animals

Here donkey eat my bread!

Scream!!!! not my finger

Kate's favourite animal

Cute poaka

Riding on the carriage

Santa came

Present even for Nicholas

Kate not to sure???

My Little Helper

2010-12-20T01:28:00.004+13:00

The advantage of having a spare room is that when visitors come and stay they can have their own room. The disadvantage is when kind and thoughtful hubby brings in the washing and decides to put it in the spare room (unlike me who folds them and put them away the same day). I wonder where certain clothes are and discover 2-3days worth in the spare room, grrrrrrrhhhh.

Luckily for me I have a great little helper who loves to help me with everything. Today when I discovered the unfolded washing I went about folding them when I hear a little voice say "I'll help you mum" I told Kate its ok mum will do it (I really just wanted it done and I do have a particular way I like to fold things). Unfortunately Kate was insisting and so I had to grit my teeth and let her help me.

She was a busy wee girl trying her best to fold the clothes, telling me "daddys shirt, Nicholas socks, mums shorts etc. She was very proud of herself and I was too despite my OCD behaviour.

Well done Kate

HELLO CD!!!!!!

2010-12-18T04:17:00.002+13:00

I am the music leader in primary and for the last 4years I have taught the children hymns/primary songs through visual pictures. The first time I used pictures I would photocopy the pictures and coloured them in, cut them and laminate them. It was time consuming and my colouring skills were not the best. Then I discovered the CD version and now all I do is print off the pictures already beautifully coloured, cut them and laminate. This CD is sent over from the USA and it takes about 3 weeks to get to me. So I was rather excited today when it arrived in the mail. Now I'm soughted for next years primary presentation. YIPPEE!

The Garden

2010-12-05T06:00:00.000+13:00

So after much patients and some nagging, Dave finally decided to get someone into make us a decent lawn. Mr Ready Lawn (YEAH!!!!!) Building is something Dave is great at but landscaping is not his forte. He threw some grass seed out not long after we moved and some bits grew but overall a bit of a disaster.

So Thursday came and Nevin arrived with truck loads of top soil, then he got his cool little digger and moved the soil into the places he needed.

You can see Dave's lawn

Man screeds and levels out the top soil and then lays the lawn

Finish Product

AWESOME!!

Now because the lawn looked so nice it helped us to get our flower garden in order and so in 2 days we created our garden

Chocolate is not aloud on the new lawn so her home is now in the corner.

With the back completed we venture to the front. That will be fun..

Monday Morning Moaning

2010-11-29T08:29:00.000+13:00

1: Get home from work my child has wets my bed
2: Hubby says otherside of bed is dry it'll be OK (NOT)
3: Child informs me he needs to do his homework now
4: Child is wearing a not ironed uniform
5: Hubby hasn't made school lunch
6: Car warrant ran out 2 days ago
7: Child doesn't want to wear blue today its pink
8: Some animal poos on my new lawn
9: Knowing I'll be working with a random person tonight
10: Knowing its going to be too hot to sleep today!!!!

Primary Presentation 2010

2010-11-17T03:11:00.001+13:00

I was feeling rather nervous on Sunday. All the songs we have worked on over the year were about to be put on display for the congregation. With 26 children ranging from 4yrs to 12yrs all seated the Primary Presentation began.

Some children had speaking parts either scriptures or talks they had given over the year during closing exercises. Some of the boys sang solos or duets. We had harmonies and split parts (A Child's Prayer). Between each theme/scripture or talk we would perform a song. I was so very proud of all the children they never let me down and most if not all remembered the words to all the songs. These children do not have words in front of them when they sing, they are amazing.

Highlights for me: The boys who sang Follow the Prophet, (no words), watching Ammon lean over the microphone (he's very tall), nearly butting in on Matthews part, A Child's Prayer, Junior closing remarks so fitting and beautiful and finally giving out cookies/lollipops at the end.

Another successful Primary presentation completed. I love my calling I am so blessed to have awesome kids to teach. I now look forward to 2011 with a new theme and a new Presidency. The CD already ordered and on its way to me I'm excited already :-)

Engagement

2010-11-16T03:15:00.002+13:00

On Saturday, after TBall I went into town with the children to meet Ben and Shenelle for a cuppa. I haven't seen Ben for about 3 months and it was nice to see him looking healthy and happy. We went to Mojo and whilst we organising what we wanted to eat, Shenelle wasn't feeling well I joking said are you pregnant? They both said no, then came the BUT! as Ben grabs Shenelle's hand and flashed a beautiful diamond on her finger "we're engaged. Honestly my first thoughts were are you crazy? too young 18yrs, what the????? After my brain had registered the fact, I could see these two people before me were very happy and committed. I am all for happiness!!!

Since Shenelle has been living in Dunedin I have made the effort in getting to know her. I felt I had been somewhat harsh before I met her (being a protective mum). I can honestly say I am very fond of her now. She is a genuine person who portrays great qualities, she has her head screwed on right. I have seen her beauty, her forgiving side, her generosity (even though I didn't get to go to the Vodaphone Music Awards), a great sense of humour, she never pretended to be anything other than herself and she has never sucked up to me or call me mummy or invaded my space. I love that she is honest with me and I can see she makes my son Ben very happy. I am proud that she has completed her course and already has a job. I know the rest of the family like her as well. I am very happy she is part of our family.

I gave them both a hug and congratulated them and just advised them not to rush into things ie babies, enjoy being young and having you time. Get money behind ya and set yourselves up properly.

Its a funny good feeling the thought of being a mother in law and gaining a daughter.

St Mary's Fair

2010-11-14T11:37:00.001+13:00

What a beautiful day for the school fair. There were lots of people out enjoying themselves. Plenty of activities for everyone old and young. I baked generous amounts of afghans and chocolate chippie biscuits. The Finnie family had a lovely time and each of us had favourite things. Dave enjoyed the food, I enjoyed the Harley ride, Nicholas enjoyed the everything and Kate loved the pony ride.

Nicholas on the Harley

Nicholas on the BIG horse

Bouncy Castle

Mum on the Harley cool fun

Kate

The fair raised $16,000 for the school to use which is an amazing effort Well done!!!

Athletics Day

2010-11-13T05:15:00.018+13:00

Nicholas's school and 5 other school participated in the annual athletics day. I offered to help out and was put in-charge of the 7 year old boys. We had six events to complete by lunch time.

Now with Dave being the fitness freak in the family, I assumed that Nicholas would have that gene in him. Alas he has my gene, I was never any good at any athletics days when I went to school. I did try my hardest though which is what Nicholas did too.

Nicholas in the 400m run

Great Effort Nicholas

It was a fun morning with everyone happy getting points and participating. Nicholas spent the afternoon recuperating at home funny!!

Lullaby by Nicholas

2010-11-12T04:48:00.005+13:00

This piece Lullaby, Nicholas will play at his recital in December.

Let it Grow

2010-11-11T14:55:00.002+13:00

For 2 years and 8 months I have waited patiently to put a hair tie in Kates hair. It maybe little, nevertheless its still a very cute pigtail. With hair up we went out for brunch. As we sat up at the table all lady like the waitress approaches our table "hello would your boy like a cushion to sit on"? I shook my head with disbelief and corrected her. Come on how many boys wear a top with cute strawberries on it. Unbelievable!!!!! I look forward to Kate's pigtail developing into a pony tail and whats more awesome her hair is curly super duper cute!!!

Guy Fawkes

2010-11-10T05:44:00.001+13:00

I know animal lovers hate Guy Fawkes and for good reasons but I just love them. I love seeing the sky light up in pretty colours and writing letters with sparklers. When I was a little girl my mum would buy lots of fireworks. Back then they had tom thumbs and jumping jacks and sky rockets it was so awesome. One day Peter and I were doing the dishes and mum lit a whole packet of jumping jacks and some how placed them in the kitchen whilst we were doing the dishes. The sound inside the house was deafening, Peter and I jumped and screamed our heads off whilst my mum was laughing her hysterically.

The cost of the fireworks is the only reason why our Guy Fawkes night was brief with sparklers and a few flower pots.

Nicholas wanted to have halloween too so I made this latern out of a tangelo

A Day in Wellington

2010-11-09T14:34:00.001+13:00

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning hard to believe yesterday was so miserable. We headed out for breakfast at McD's and we planned the day. First stop Te Papa overall opinion BIG from the outside and some of the exhibitions were awesome however, I think Dunedins Museum is just as impressive.

Our walk to Te Papa

Whilst at the museum we caught up with Alison and she spent the day with us which was awesome. After lunch we headed to the Beehive. Kate was very tired and fell asleep whilst Dave carried her. Unfortunately my camera has something wrong with it so the photos are dumb and some didn't even save.

Next destination was the cable cars and that was a view not to miss. Seven hours later we say goodbye to Alison and head back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

These bodies were painted

Awesome View

We flew home on the Saturday and as I reflect on our holiday apart from some minor hiccups the overall experience was awesome. I'm already planning the next trip.

Lets Go To Wellington

2010-11-08T11:01:00.001+13:00

Today we drove from Hamilton to Wellington a huge drive. The day was wet and dreary thus meant it wouldn't be too hot in the car. Unfortunately we wouldn't get to see much scenary. As I had driven the length of the north island many times and seen the scenery I opted to drive all the way so Dave could get admire our beautiful country. The trip was pleasant and our first official stop was Waiouru. We went into the Waiouru War Museum and Nicholas enjoyed playing dress up.

We continued towards Wellington, by now it was pouring with rain which made driving a longer event. Coming into Wellington there was extensive road works, the single laned type. All of a sudden I could hear fire engines and ambulances siren and somehow we had to make way for them scary!!!! Later we heard there was a head on collision between two trains due to slips.

We arrived into the city centre and being organised (not) thought we could rock into any motel/hotel place Oh how wrong were we???? Aparently the Wearable Arts were on in Wellington great where would we stay now. We sat in the car and rang most of the places in the AA book took over an hour no luck. Finally I remembered from days of ole when working in at the Leviathan, there was always a duty motel they were responsible for knowing where vacant accomodation were in the region. So I told Dave to go into the hotel we were parked outside and ask. By now we were all tired, stressed and we were all wishing we had stayed in Temple View. Dave came back from the hotel and what a blessing. This hotel had another hotel two blocks down with a room with a queen and a single bed, YES it was ours.

Settled into our room we walked the main street of Wellington to find a place to eat. We found Abrakebabrah made great kebabs and rice dishes. Hopefully tomorrow would be a much nicer day and the rain would stop.

Temple Week Day 3

2010-11-07T10:17:00.022+13:00

Leading up to the temple trip I had prepared some relatives names to have work done for them and so I headed up to the temple first thing so the youth could do baptisms. How awesome that felt.

Most mornings at home the TV is going to entertain the children whilst I get breakfast. By day 3 we had forgotten we didn't have a TV the children had found colouring in and playing with their toy a cool thing to do. Doing things together as a family was a great feeling.

Dave went for his usual run and then we walked up to the temple. Im sure Dave was feeling if not more nervous as I did the previous day. He too missed his buddy Phil, but I told him Roy would be waiting for him inside. He made his way inside and the children and I decided to go back to the visitors centre. Before we went Nicholas wanted a photo of him sitting outside the temple.

We spent over 2 hours in the visitors centre we had that much fun. Highlight was when an Elder was showing Nicholas and Kate all the different temples in the world. In his cool American accent he told Nicholas that when he is a big boy he would be able to go inside the temple and see how beautiful they are. Nicholas response "well actually I've already been inside the temple" the Elder said "you have what a special boy you are" Nicholas "Kate has too but she didn't see because she was in mums tummy" The Elder laughed.

At 1pm we saw daddy come out of the temple. He was a different man the frowns on his forehead had gone he was smiling and it was a joy to see. As we walked back to the apartments he told me his concerns and it was so nice to know what he was feeling and that it wasn't me etc.

We went out for lunch and went to the swimming pool which was a big disappointment. Highlight at the pool was meeting a little girl:

Little girl: "whats her name"
Me: "Kate"
LG: "who"
Me: "Kate"
LG: "what"
Me: "Kate"
LG: "cake"
Me: "No K A T E"
LG: "thats weird"
Me: "really! What's your name?"
LG: "Rangima.........??????"
Me: "What"
LG: "they call me mamma for short"

Back at the apartments Dave and I left the children with the Jenners and went to the temple together. It was the best thing for us to go as husband and wife to sit in the celestrial room together and to have us time. Dave was able to do my grandfather endowment too. Knowing that we were departing the next day we knew the time we had at the temple was one of testing and conquering. Dave is keen to go next year and hopefully time it, so our other friends are there too.

Temple Week Day 2

2010-11-06T10:13:00.000+13:00

Our drive to Hamilton was uneventful, children slept whilst hubby and myself took in the scenery. By the time we arrived into Hamilton it was dusk and as we approached the temple we could see it glowing in all its glory. The children were awake and were excited to see the temple. Nicholas was explaining to Kate how he had been inside the temple and how Kate was in my tummy when she went in. Very cute conversation.

We collected our key to the temple apartments and proceeded to unload the car. A sense of relief to have arrived safely, as we entered our accomodation the first thing everyone noticed was NO TV!!!!! Amazingly enough Dave was the one who screwed up his nose the most and protested. I'm generally the TV addict.

For the first time we had to think about what we were going to do to entertain ourselves without the TV (challenging). We drove back to Dinsdale to get some supplies and dinner and stopped outside the visitors centre to view the temple.

Back at the apartment we were putting the children to bed when there was a knock at the door. It was Elder Donaldson (Matty) what a pleasant surprise. It was lovely to catch up and that was one way we entertained ourselves without the TV.

Tuesday came and Dave went for his morning run. I was getting ready to go into the temple for the first time in 4years. I was totally nervous and as I walked to the temple I text Amiee for support my heart was pounding and concentrating on my text to Amiee I walked into a pole ÖUCH". I missed not having my best friend with me to hold my hand. I stood in front of the temple contemplating my options (to go or not to go in). A couple came out and saw me they approached me to see if I was ok (I must have looked terrified). I explained my predicament and they were so helpful and I am so grateful they came out when they did. I took a deep breathe and told myself I can do this on my own and entered the building.

The beauty and peacefulness was overwhelming I could feel the spirit strongly and for two hours a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. As I walked back to the apartments I felt light uplifted and refreshed. Unfortunately it all came crashing down when I walked into the apartment to "What took you so long" Hello reality!!! Luckliy I had been inside the temple and still feeling calm and peaceful my response was of the same nature.

We decided to go and explore Hamilton so we went to the Base, a huge shopping mall had lunch and a bit of shopping. We finished off the day at the Hamilton lakeside. The kids played and we admired the view and the sunset it was lovely.

When we got back to the apartments we saw the "Jenners"and discovered they were our next door neighbours. Lorraine had offered to look after the children whilst Dave and I went to the temple together. Dave still wasn't keen to go and so Roy and Dave had a talk. Later on Dave returns and I'm not sure what happened but Dave had decided to go with Roy tomorrow. We went out for dinner and on the way back the visitors centre was still open so we went inside the children loved it. Kate just wanted to hear Jesus talking and Nicholas loved the LDS video ads. The children did not want to leave so I told them we would visit again tomorrow while daddy was inside the temple.

Whilst settling the children to sleep Kate asked me "what would Jesus say to me mummy?" I told her he would tell her that she was a special little girl and that he loved her. Kate nodded and then she said "and keep his commandments and love one another" super cute answer. She had obviously listened to the big statue of Jesus in the visitors centre.

Sleep well Finnie Family

The School Change

2010-11-05T16:03:00.001+13:00

It hasn't been the best year for Nicholas as far as schooling goes. We started him at Elmgrove and he didn't like it (even though he had his best friend in his class). We sent him back to Mornington and he was so much happier unfortunately it wasn't financially viable and so after term one we talked to Nicholas about giving Elmgrove another go.

Term two started off rocky and we still could sense he wasn't happy. Parent teacher interviews came and we soon noticed the consequences of our decision to send him back. He had fallen behind in maths now the bottom of the class (from the top at Mornington). Reading level dropped from 20 to 18. Dave expressed his concerns to the teacher and they both agreed to disagree with each others opinion. I asked about the lack of homework and apparently other parents had mentioned that also. Therefore starting in term 3 homework would be on the agenda.

Term 3 started and we signed Nicholas up to Number Works to help him out with his maths. A homework book came home and for awhile things seem to be okay. One day I was rung to go and pick Nicholas up from school he was sick. I went to the school he was in the sick bay crying his eyes out. I took him home and it was like a miracle had happen between school and home he was better again. The next morning when it was time to go to school he became sick again so he stayed home again the same the next day. So I asked him what was wrong he couldn't /wouldn't tell me. I asked the teacher about bullies and she said that was a problem in Nicholas class but that some of the boys give as good as they get. Horrified with that remark I could somehow understand where Nicholas was coming from and why he never played with any of the boys in his class. He mainly played with Ben two classes above him. I would take Nicholas to school and we would say prays to ask Heavenly Father to help and protect Nicholas whilst at school. Each day I would pick him up and he would tell me his tummy feels better when school is over.

Finally we get a brief report home from the teacher outlining the term. It read along the lines of him being a better friend without being angry and improvement on listening skills and he had reduced telling tales. So we went on holiday thinking our son was unfriendly, angry, disruptive and a tattle tale. As Dave and I pondered on this report we couldn't believe a teacher could be so negative. When we arrived home from our holiday I was at Amiee and noticed Jareds profile book curious I looked and blow me down the same report was in his profile book. My personal opinion of this is that Nicholas's teacher had summed up her class as a whole and wrote one report photocopied it and slapped it into every ones profile book. Whatever happened to individuality. When I told Dave he was not impressed and insisted we withdraw him asap.

The hunt was on for a new school we only had two options Silverstream or St Mary's. Our neighbour just down from us has a son the same age as Nicholas and he goes to St Mary's. I couldn't help but wonder if this school would suite Nicholas as both Stacey and Ben went to St Francis Xavier and both enjoyed their time there. Then the whole religion thing could be a hurdle but Dave said we will jump those hurdles when/if they pop up.

I went to St Mary's to check it out and was most impressed with everything. The Principal was so inviting and he showed me around the whole school. Just like Mornington Principal he knew his pupil in every class we went into from NE to Form 2 he knew them by name as he picked pupils out to show me things they were doing. I still haven't met the principal at Elmgrove the only person I could talk too most days was the receptionist she was amazing and definitely holds that school together.

Next step was to bring Nicholas for a tour and he totally liked the school and every classroom made him feel very welcomed. Nicholas was keen to sign up. Our next hurdle was to meet Father Dooley he came to our home and we talked about the nuts and bolts including our different religions and we decided that we all wanted what was best for Nicholas and Father Dooley gave us the thumbs up.

So two weeks into term 4 Nicholas started at St Mary's and he hasn't looked back. He is so happy and instead of I don't want to go to school to hurry mum we'll be late for prayers. He has been at St Mary's two weeks now and already his reading has gone from 18 to 22. We went to Number Works and Naiom asked us whats happened to Nicholas he has changed he is flying through his activities. We explained what we had done and told us it certainly shows.

In conclusion I decided that different strokes for different folks and although Elmgrove has some great qualities some schools suites some children, and some that don't. May the next years at St Mary's be happy ones for us as a family.

St Mary's Boy

The Finnie Family Holiday

2010-10-24T06:01:00.005+13:00

Well its almost a month since we went to the temple, time sure does fly by. Leading up to the trip was somewhat trialling and as most of our friends have commented that's a normal process.

Day 1

Our family flew out on Monday 27/9/10, we had a direct flight to Auckland Yeah! It was Kate's first time on plane and she loved every minute. Nicholas and I had trouble with our ears so most of the flight we were holding our noses and blowing gently to 'pop' our ears. We arrived in Auckland at 11am, that meant a whole afternoon in Auckland.

We got our hired car which was a white Toyota corolla 2009 very posh. I had booked the car a year ago the price @ $270 for the week it was a bargain. Mr Finnie proceeds to asked about insurance and other stuff and before I knew it my cheap car rental had doubled in price. Looking at Mr Finnie I expressed my concerns "honey I feel that is a little extravagant" It took him awhile but he came to the same conclusion (PHEW). We piled into the car and headed off on our adventure.

First stop was Rainbows End. Dave and I haven't been here since 1996. Nicholas was very excited, Kate was not too sure. Our first ride was the Pirate Ship, thinking its just a big swing, Kate will be fine. Think again!!! Poor Kate screamed and screamed the whole time the hardest thing was not being able to put her on my knee as we were locked in. So I had to lean over her and hold her as tight as I could whilst she screamed in my ear (I deserved that I suppose).
Next stop, Free Fall I wasn't to sure what this ride entailed and Kate was still a little shaken as she clung to my neck. I suggested Nicholas and Dave go while we watched. Thank goodness because as I stood and watched, I saw the boys go up up up up along way up and then they stopped. The word free fall became clearer as I watched them plummet down to the bottom. The funniest thing ever was hearing Dave involuntarily scream and watching his long legs tense straight out. I couldn't stop laughing. The boys came out, Nicholas was laughing and saying "that was the meanest mum". Dave's face said it all and he was shaking hilarious

Free Fall

Can you see Dave's stiff legs?

The amazing thing about being at Rainbows End was because of the school holidays, we were expecting lots of people but there wasn't thus meant no queues awesome. Our next adventurous ride was the famous Log Flume. Kate sat with her dad and felt safe whilst Nicholas and I rode up the front. Kate enjoyed this ride until the drop at the end.

The End

The newest ride The Invader looked scary but infact it was the best ride for me personally. Except Kate we all had two to three goes on this ride.

Nicholas & Dave

Nicholas and Dave soon were off to the roller coaster and again Nicholas just loved it and had two or three goes on each, once with mum and once with dad and when we could all four of us.

By boys have fun!!!

Nicholas and Dave in the green cab

After a bite to eat we went into Cadbury Land there Kate was able to have ago on everything without screaming just lots of smiles and laughing. I'm sure this was Kate's favourite part of the day. Even Nicholas enjoyed himself.

Kate's Favourite Ride

Our day at Rainbow's End concluded with tired children and very happy memories. Next stop Temple View Hamilton.

Where Have I Been?

2010-10-07T08:08:00.002+13:00

I wrote this last month and it didn't post due to setting the date wrong.

I haven't felt like blogging lately, and I contemplated whether I should even write this but I feel sometimes you have to write the bad/ugly to appreciate the beauty. I have been in a dark space and the last month was rather rough not only for me, but my friend, my marriage. I have been doubting everything ie church, marriage and the list goes on. Dave and I have been at each others throats everyday and I just felt like leaving and I just know that life isn't suppose to be so miserable.

I went to conference and listen to the speakers and the talks were great but I left feeling inadequate and envious of those big wigs. Wishing that my life was as happy as theres. I came home from conference and asked Dave where are we going in the gospel? What is the point? Are we in or out? Of course he took it as a personal attack. I said we have the temple trip coming up to which he replied we shouldn't go? That was the last straw I have booked, paid and planned this trip on my own since November last year and to have him dimiss it so easily just made me want to go and never come back ever.

I had to stop by at Sister Jenners house and when she opened that door I lost the plot and totally broke down. (poor sister Jenner). I unloaded my burdens on to her that took awhile. I am totally blessed that she was there at that time I felt her love and support and she was amazing I love her so much.

I left feeling better and with a new perspective. A couple days later she gave me a letter with an article from the August Ensign titled Tie A Knot And Hang On. I'll hang on til the end (i hope).

The House Finale

2010-08-16T17:33:00.000+12:00

Well its been work in progress and definitely a learning curve which still needs some tweaking, but if I don't post this now I'll never do it. So sit back and enjoy my first movie maker ever. Many thanks to Ange for showing me how it works. My music choice was some what limited although I have heaps on the computer its under i-tunes which for some crazy reason wouldn't load.

Toothless

2010-08-05T12:44:00.001+12:00

I've been waiting and waiting for Nicholas to loose his teeth. Not only has he lost one but he's lost 4. The latest being on Sunday. This tooth has been wiggly for ages and he refused to let me pull it. After watching him in Primary playing with it and bleeding and showing the primary children. I made an executive motherly decision to pull that tooth as soon as we got home.

I asked Nicholas if he wanted a cuddle and he came over I told him to lay across my lap (he did). I had a tissue ready and I lean't over him and held him firmly. He soon realised what I was up too and tried to fight me but I had him hook line and sinker. He yelled which gave me the perfect opportunity to pull it and with one scream I pulled it and the tooth was out Mwhahahahaha! Nicholas tears running down his face was not impressed until I showed him the tooth. Then a wee grin followed by a bigger grin followed by running down the hall to show his dad.

Nurse vs Bystander

2010-08-04T12:40:00.000+12:00

On Sunday at church one of the primary children ended up with a ball smacked into his face which caused his nose to bleed. I entered the hall and saw him sitting on the floor bleeding. I must admit it looked like alot of blood on the floor. So I put my nursie cap on and set about doing my thing.

Bystander comes into the hall and insists that I lay the boy on his back and put a tournique around the arm of which the nostril is bleeding from. I looked at this person with a smirk thinking this person is joking. Oh no they were serious. I shook my head and said no thats not best practice. Bystander was tring to convince me that their idea was right. I continued with what I knew best only to have the bystander still rave about their way. Some of the older primary children told bystander Sister Finnie's the nurse which was backed up by President Lydiate telling the bystander to "back away tree hugger". Bystander conceded but not without putting their 10cents worth in as they walked away to get tissues to clean up the blood. That job I knew they could do safely.

Later on in the chapel I checked on the patient and President came by too, to see. The child apologised to President for bleeding all over the hall floor. How cute!!

Pride/Proud is there a Difference?

2010-07-28T04:34:00.000+12:00

So the other day I was talking to someone and they asked me about my house and did I like it etc. I replied by saying I loved the house and how Dave did a great job etc and then I said I'm really proud of him. To which the so called person replied you can't be proud of your husband, pride is a sin. I was somewhat puzzled by this and so I asked them "so what should I say instead" Conclusion I am well pleased with my husband. I'm still not sure about this what do my readers think????

I quiet often tell Nicholas and Kate that I am proud of them, am I wrong?

Bathroom Disaster

2010-07-17T09:41:00.001+12:00

The Main Bathroom

The day before we move in I went around to the house to find this disaster. Thats right some intelligent person thought putting the heated towel rail behind the bathroom door was a great idea. Dave (hubby/project manager) left instruction on where the rails were to go (can you see the white tape) but did they adhere to his instruction???? NO!!! But wait theres more in the ensuite the towel rail was also placed incorrectly, what was this person thinking. The nightmare about this was, the main bathroom has tiles on the floor and halfway up the wall. To get this changed meant ripping off the tiles and hoping the gib board isn't destroyed too much. Reapply the protection coat and put two new tiles insitu. The ensuite not so bad as it just meant repositioning it filling in the screw holes and repainting.

The Ensuite

Dave being the efficient project manager, was on the phone Thursday night talking to all who would be involved in fixing this error. Friday (shift day) morning he met all involved at the house and made his instruction clear, then left them to do the job. I came around after dropping off the children to find a terrible mess in the main bathroom. The tiler was fantastic I'm not sure if he spoke much english because as I shook my head in horror he just smiled and bowed his head as if to reassure me he would have it fixed in no time.

Whilst the tiler was busy behind closed doors I was beginning the packing/unpacking phase. As this was shift day my main objective was to get the kitchen functioning before the end of the day. Sleeves rolled up I set about on my mission. I was totally impressed with Mr Tilerman because I left the house to go and get more stuff from rented house I was gone maybe a couple of hours. When I returned Mr Tilerman was packing up his car, was he really finished? Yes indeed he had completed the job and cleaned up all the mess (regret not taking photo of mess). I went outside and shook the mans hand and thanked him so so much, he bowed his head smiled and replied no problem.

With Tilerman gone it was Mr Sparkys turn to put the towel rail in the correct position and hook it up to the power source. Being that Mr Sparky was the intelligent person who put it on in the wrong place to begin with I felt his uneasiness as my big beady eyes watched him. I was encouraging though saying thats perfect....... (ok slightly sarcastic). He had redeemed himself when all was put right. Following him was Jane the gibstopper/painter she mended the holes and repainted the ensuite and by 5pm Friday afternoon the disaster was fixed.

All in a days work and a job well done thanks everyone

Brothers In Arms

2010-07-16T20:25:00.007+12:00

Today Nicholas and I were looking at old photos and having a great time laughing at certain things. We came across this video clip of Nicholas 3yrs and Ben 14yrs singing a Hooley Dooley song.

Priceless

Forgot the After Shots

2010-07-15T20:24:00.000+12:00

Just finishing reading blogs and just notices my last post didn't have the after shots of the driveway. That's what you get when you blog at 4am at work. Anyway here are the after shots:

The Entrance

The Garage

The asphalt goes all the way down to

the end of the house

Chapter 3 & 4

2010-07-15T04:32:00.000+12:00

Chapter 3

The Letter

For mothers day Nicholas's class made special cards for the mums. Unfortunately Nicholas misplaced/lost his card for me. As I was cleaning out his school bag I found this letter.

Yep can guess what I was doing after reading this little beauty. I am so so grateful to have such a thoughtful son. Times like these just makes you forget the times when they are not so pleasant. Thank you Nicholas I love you too.

Chapter 4

The Driveway

The house is technically finished and we have officially moved in, however so much has happened that I need to post leading up to the big shift. Just a day before moving in Foote Haulage arrived to create and make the driveway which was crucial for the shift. It had rained for a few days making the ground somewhat muddy and the last thing I needed was mud tramped through the house. So I did my usual routine dropping off the children at their schools and went around to see how progress was going. Totally amazing how these men worked and how fast the driveway came together.

ECLIPSE

2010-07-14T05:00:00.000+12:00

My mission to read the book and then go to the movie failed. Due to shifting etc I somewhat forgot about reading. Lucky for me the Cooks were away on working holiday so I thought it might give me a chance to finish but alas right up until 7pm last night I still hadn't finished the book. I managed to get to Chapter 23. Did this disappoint me maybe but the movie was still awesome I loved it. I'm still on team Jacobs side. Yes I shed a little tear for him and grit my teeth at Bella. Of course I haven't read Breaking Dawn and I am hoping that happiness will come for Jacob surely? Listening to Ange and Stacey it sounds like something good will happen for Jacob. I'd better start reading the book now and hopefully I will have it finished before the movie comes out

Favourite part: Kicking the people out of our seats. The big fight (wicked), and of course the tent scene (funny)

Disappointment part: My husband didn't come with us :-(

Thanks Ange and Haki for coming with me next movie date Harry Potter unless something great comes along first.

Second Hand Dealer vs Trade-me

2010-07-13T05:16:00.000+12:00

When the house was near completion Dave suggested we get rid of some furniture. I really couldn't be bothered selling them on trade me so I called up the local second hand dealer. He came around home to take a look. On offer was the childrens tubular bunk beds, 1 cane chair, 1 rocking chair, 1 scotch drawers, 1 entertainment unit, and my beautiful dutchess only 2 years old and made from recycled pine. The man appeared over his glasses and made a mmmmmmmmm sound. He told me that he would get back to me but that the entertainment unit is not worth much because not many people are buying them these days, however he would take it off my hands. He left and I wasn't feeling very confident about what he was going to offer me for all the stuff. He phoned me later and informed me that he could stretch himself to offering me $200 for the lot. I was very polite and said I would tell my husband and be back in touch. When I finished on the phone all I could say was "ARE YOU SERIOUS"!!! my dutchess alone was $500 new. Dave agreed and so this motivated me to try my luck on trademe. Dave decided to keep the wooden rocking chair (yeah) I really liked that chair and Stacey wanted Dave's scotch drawers.

So I listed the other four on trademe and waited for a response

The bunks starting bid $10, I was hoping to get at least $60-80 as they were 4-5 years old.

Sold for $151.00

Cane Chair starting bid $1 sold for $5

The entertainment unit that noone would want, starting bid $10 sold for $150.00

My beautiful dutchess starting bid $100 and sold for $342.50

I am so so happy that I took the time to put them on trademe. Sorry Mr Second-Hand Dealer you loose

Time Does Fly

2010-07-12T04:22:00.000+12:00

Have you missed me? I certainly have missed blogging. Time sure does fly, where to begin? Gosh there is so much that has happened since I last posted. So over the next few days I will endeavour to inform you of the Finnie family adventures.

Chapter 1

Born to be Wild

We have met most of our neighbours in the new subdivision and they all seem friendly and I feel we will all get on well. The neighbour across the way is a single mum with two children, a girl same age as Nicholas and a 4 year old boy. They have a grandad and grandma who live two houses down and they are the most awesome parents, grandparents. They are very supportive and always helping out at the house. Anyway grandad saw a 4 wheeler on trade-me and he purchased it for the grandchildren. We happened to be visiting Dave at the new house when the bike appeared. Nicholas wide eyed watched and watched and then the grandad asked Nicholas if he wanted a ride. He looked at me with such excitement I couldn't say no. He has never been on a motorbike before so I was a little nervous.

Here he is getting instruction on how to ride. For a first timer he was pretty good and he only tried to run over the grandad once. After the ride Nicholas said he was going to enjoy living in this neighbourhood.

Chapter Two

Chocolate

So last month I looked after the Jenkins rabbit and guinea pig, which at first was nerve wrecking but after a week I was really fond of them both and really enjoyed looking after them. Buying special treats and spoiling them with fancy bedding (which I don't think they liked). Anyway when they left I was somewhat lost without them and the children missed them too. Craig did mention when he left with princess bunny and gouda that he could get me one if I wanted one? Looking at Dave he hum and ha and left it at that.

One week later we went to the Jenkins for dinner and in a little box for us was this little cutie

Meet our very own little princess who Nicholas named Chocolate

We are so happy with her and she is such a friendly little bunny. Craig also has lent us a hutch for her to live. However for the first four nights she slept inside in a container and she jumped around the furniture. Eventually we knew she would have to get used being outside and so she is now happy in her hutch. I love her floppy ears and yes I have been shopping for her and yes she is somewhat spoilt.

Stayed tuned for more adventures with the Finnie's

The House

2010-06-16T03:51:00.000+12:00

Entrance

The house is near completion here are a few pics of the outside. I can't go inside at the moment due to the painters spraying up a storm.

The Garage

The patio with master bedroom and lounge

Lounge/Dinning & Spare Room

We have officially handed in our notice with the landlord which means there is only 3 more weeks and the Finnie's will move into the new house.

Dave has two jobs to do inside which are installing the kitchen and putting on the skirting boards. This weekend he will install the kitchen so watch the space for pictures......

Princess & Guinea

2010-06-15T02:54:00.001+12:00

Princess & Guinea

Over the past 3 weeks I have been animal sitting for our friends, whilst they whisked off to Perth for their daughters baptism. I was somewhat nervous about this as these little darlings are the joy and very very precious pets to two lovely girls. The rabbit (Princess) was imported from Perth when the family shifted here and it cost a little bit of money to do that.

The first week it rained and rained and rained I got a big sheet of plastic and covered their little shelter. The bedding was soaked so I went to the pet shop and it was so much fun looking at all the animals I was tempted to buy a little rabbit myself but instead I spoilt my new stay overs. I got them some nice soft pine bedding which is suppose to absorb moisture and odour which is good because guinea tends to do her toilet stuff inside her house. The shop also sold treats and nuts and I also got them a cool drinking bottle. All geared up I went home and cleaned out the sloppy mess and laid the new bedding it looked very comfortable. I set up the new drink bottle and dished up the nuts and treats not to mention the apples and carrot and silverbeet leaves. I came back to see how they were enjoying the new stuff only to find half the bedding kicked out of the shelter ungrateful critters (or perhaps I put to much in).

I had to move the cage every three to four hours because our grass was so short they would tear the lawn up and the landlord would not be a happy chappy. Consequently I took them around to the new house as there is lots of grass. Worried they would get stolen or mauled by dogs or cats I visited them 2-3 times a day.

I have grown to like these little ones and now the owners are home I will miss them. Who knows maybe I will take another trip to the pet shop...............................

Princess eating nuts and the new water bottle

Eclipse

2010-06-14T01:47:00.000+12:00

With only 17 days to go until the Eclipse movie hits the big screen, I have challenged myself to read the book before it comes. I wasn't going to read it but I really enjoyed watching the New Moon movie and seeing the book come to life. I have seen the trailer preview for Eclipse and I got excited so hence the challenge. Realistically I don't think it will happen but I have started off with a hiss and a roar, reading 102 pages over 8 hours. Gosh I even shocked myself but its been alot more easier to read than New Moon. So cheer me on readers and keep encouraging me.

Building Inspector Part 2

2010-06-03T01:01:00.045+12:00

After my terrible experience with the inspector from hell, my darling husband informed me that he had booked another inspection for Wednesday. I just cringed and told him please don't ask me to do it. I really really didn't want to go through all that again. Dave told me not to worry that he had made an official complaint to BI boss. He then informed me that he had emailed my blog post to the boss so he could read it for himself. I said you didn't!! how embarrassing. Furthermore Dave said that the boss man himself is coming out to do the inspection NO!!!! I definately didn't want to meet or do the inspection. Dave told me not to be silly that the boss man is really nice and that he wanted to come out and meet the author and to apologies personally.

Putting on my brave face I went reluctantly to meet BI boss man. He was on time which was a good thing and he looked friendly. He greeted me and shook my hand and said it was nice to meet the author. I felt my face warm up and I held Nicholas hand firmly. I explained my blog post is where I vent and I still cant believe Dave sent you the link. BM was grateful for the details as he had had complaints before but unless someone writes it down nothing can be done about it. He then went on to express his apologies and that that particular BI was somewhat strange. He left it at that and began the inspections which to my amazement took all of 5-10min. No questions asked just compliments and big tick of approval to carry on and complete the house. Thank you BI boss man my faith in the system has been restored.

That's right hard to believe the building of our home is near completion. We should move in approximately 4-5 weeks. Looking back on past post I need to update more photos so stayed tuned .........

Missionaries for Dinner

2010-06-01T23:36:00.072+12:00

Today I was at the supermarket and my phone rang. It was the Elders, they were looking for a meal (I had offered to feed them one day) so they were taking my offer up. I didn't think it would be a problem and told them to come about 5.30pm.

Nicholas and I headed off to piano lessons after school, stopping off at the bakery for our weekly chocolate donut. After piano lessons we drove home over three mile hill, which happened to have road works going on to repair the damage due to a weeks worth of rain. The road was frosty and we had to stop for a little while. Looking at my watch it was 4.50pm I still had to pick up Kate from Montessorri and then get home to cook dinner YIKES.

After getting Kate from daycare I rushed home and started cooking savioury mince on rice and a fruit crumble for dessert. 5.30pm the Elders hadn't arrived (thank goodness) then the phone rang it was them. They were going to be 10min late. I said with much relief be as late as you like. They arrived approx 5.45pm I greeted them and they came in, we sat and had a chat. I then went to the kitchen to check on dinner and whilst there I informed the Elders it didn't matter they were late because Dave hadn't arrived home yet either. Both missionaries stood up promptly and apologised and quickly went to leave. I had totally forgotten that they couldn't be in the house without Dave being there. I felt really bad for them as it was so cold, frosty cold they were going to stand outside and wait for Dave to come home. I suggested they wait in the car instead.

I text Dave to see how far away he was and unfortunately he was going to be another 30min. I knew the missionaries had another appointment to go to and so I told them I would bring their dinner to them in the car. I felt so embarrassed what I thought wouldn't be a problem was a nightmare. The missionaries came to the door and I had their dinner they insisted on standing outside in the freezing cold to eat their meal.

Luckily by the time they had finished their dinner Dave had arrived home thus they were able to eat their dessert in the warmth. One of the Elders laughed and said our dinners in Mosgiel are always fun because the last dinner they had was at the Jenkins and they didn't realise Kate was in labour upstairs until they asked why she wasn't joining them for dinner. Craig just casually informed them she was in labour the midwife will be here soon but we wanted to make sure you guys were fed (funny).

The Building Inspector from Hell

2010-05-21T12:02:00.000+12:00

Whilst Dave works I am in charge of meeting the building inspector. The previous inspectors were lovely and friendly and just came to do the job. Building inspector number 3 ......... well what can I say about him?

I was to meet him at the house at 1.30pm I was prompt and waited, 1.45 no inspector, 2pm no inspector, 2.15 still no inspector at 2.26 the car pulls up. You can imagine I wasn't a happy camper but polite I remained. Did he come and knock on the door oh no he walked around the house a couple of times and so I went outside to meet him:

Me: "hello"

BI: "hello, I'm suppose to meet a Dave Finnie to inspect the brick work"

Me: I'm Paula Finnie the wife

BI: "hi but I'm suppose to meet Dave to do an inspection

Me: "he's at work and he told me to come and let you in and give you the consent papers"

BI: "Well it says on my paper Dave Finne"

Me: (in my head) "what part of he's at work did he not get" I smiled

BI: "Well i'm here to check out the brick work"

Now I'm not a brick layer or a builder and he starts telling me things I have no idea about. He insisted that we need some bars under the windows and doors. I asked him if Dave would know this? He should do was his reply and I wont be able to sign it off until its done. He started to notice things that were already signed off and suggested to me that this needed doing and so forth. Go figure I had no idea what he was on about. So I said I'm the wife not the builder I have no idea what you mean. I asked him if he was going to do the pre-line inspection. No was his reply. I asked are you sure because my husband told me you were coming to check the bricks and the pre-line. No he replied. He then opens his planner to show me surprise surprise in the fine print it said brick work and pre-line inspection. He then went on to say oh I didn't see that there. Funny the print was the same throughout. I'll just go and get the moisture metre. Few minutes later he returns I can't do the pre-line inspection I left my metre in Momona. I need to go back and get it you stay here and I'll be back. I looked at my watch it was 2.55pm. I replied I'm sorry I can't stay I have to pick up kids from school. I had offered to look after the Mendy clan for Amiee. He then says well I'm sorry I can't sign it off without the metre. To which I said well I really need to get my kids from school, but I can come back. He then says I suppose that'll be alright then. I was some what hot around the collar by then, was it my fault he was late no, my fault hubby wasn't there no, my fault I'm not a brick layer or a builder no my fault he had left the moisture metre ...no, my fault I was the wife ok yes.

So I left to pick up all the kids thats 6 kids in the car and headed back to the house and waited and waited. The BI finally turns up and tested the house for moisture content. Was it over oh no it was just the beginning!!!! He asked me if I had a pink batts bag so he could check the correct size of batt in the walls and ceiling. I said no we had a big clean up and all that rubbish had gone. He goes on to say well I will need to see a receipt for the batts. To which I replied well I'm sure its at home somewhere. Being a BI you would think by looking at the batts he would instantly know they were the correct ones. He goes on to ask me if I knew what type of lighting we were installing. I told him just your normal lighting I'm not sure again I'm just the wife not the builder. I then asked him if he wanted to speak to Dave via a phone as I pulled out my phone ready to dial. He replied oh no I'm sure he knows what is required when it comes to lighting. He then went on about the batts how there were some gaps that needed filled and straightened etc ...... By now it was 3.50 amd I was somewhat over him. So I asked are you going to be any longer as I need to get all 6 children home. Oh no just need to give you the paper work. What a relief but you would think the paper work would be as simple as pushing a button but oh no its a much more complicated than that oh yes another 15 more minutes of waiting. I had put all the kids in the car thinking the paper work would be quick. Six kids in a car not a great combination I opened the boot so the noise could travel to BI car. As I sat on the bumper one of the kids said I'm bored whats taking so long. I voiced my opinion loudly I'm bored too sorry its taking so long we are waiting for some paper work.

BI finally gives me the paperwork and then pointed out the spelling mistakes he had made. I smiled and bid farewell.

I told everything to Dave and he knew which BI it was and so he rang the BI's boss and put in a complaint. The stuff he was pointing out had already been passed and approved from the other inspectors what should have been a 30min job took 2hours 40min.

May I never meet that BI ever again

Remember This?

2010-05-19T05:34:00.001+12:00

Remember this picture? I asked if anyone knew what it was? I took it to work and some of my colleagues thought it was a white pumpkin. Well George (landlord) came the other day and I asked him what it was. Its not a pumpkin its a courgette who would have guessed that. Apparently very nice in salads, I told George I thought it was a pumpkin and had roasted it he grinned. So readers mystery solved thanks for the imput.

The Curtains

2010-05-18T05:24:00.001+12:00

Chosing the curtains for the house is a process I dread because I've had some terrible experiences. Once when Dave renovated one of our many houses I purchased some pre-made curtains took them home ironed all 10 curtains gathered all 10 and put all 10 up, only to have Dave arrive home screw his face up and say "no don't like them take them back". Could you imagine what my face looked like???? I hate gathering curtains its a process that has to look even and when you live with a man who has an eye for detail its tough. The next house I got pre-made again and was a bit more clever showed the hubby before taking them out of the bag and then I only ironed one lot of curtain and put it up and awaited the approval from him in doors and lucky for me cause he did not approve. Apparently its another whole look when they are out of the packaging go figure.

Building the next house I did get a curtain expert in and they made and put up the curtains which was awesome however, when it came to selling the house some of the comments where the curtains were bland and why have the same coloured curtain in every room.

This time Ive gone with another curtain expert and I told her to give me options. So I went in for a consultation and was most impressed with her choice of fabric and colours. The greatest thing of all Dave really really likes them too which is a bonus.

So readers what is your opininon??

Our bedroom

The lounge

The kids/spare room in a Roman Blind style

As we have three large windows in the lounge we are going to go with blinds as this will still give us wall space and not over power the lounge with lots of curtains these blinds will be a dark grey with a stainless steel rod (to blend with the kitchen appliance). As we await the quote I hope they come within budget as I do not want to go through the whole process again.

The Bricks Go On

2010-05-17T05:23:00.000+12:00

On Wednesday I had to meet the building inspector so he could approve the pre-line inspection. All but one thing passed and we couldn't get that passed off until the bricks were three quaters on. I rang Dave to tell him the not so good news. He was on the case and rang the brick supplier who unfortunately forgot to inform Dave that the bricks we wanted were not in the country and weren't able to get any for a couple of months. I would have been a little angry about that but not Dave he just changed to another colour and I must admit I like these bricks way better than the others.

Friday came and the bricks are placed on the section already for the brickies to come and start work. Dave informs me that they will have it done in two Saturdays?????? Really????? I don't think so.

Saturday and Nicholas, Kate and I go off to the soccer tournament. I left at 8.30am and arrived at the section at 2pm. WOW!! these brick layers do not muck around they are a working machine. I think there were approx 8 guys there and they had completed over half the house. If they didn't have to wait for the building inspector to come and inspect the cavity space I think they would have had the whole house completed. IMPRESSIVE!!!

Dave meanwhile is busy inside putting on door handles and starting to line the walls and generally just potting around with odd jobs. The gibbies and gibstopping should start next week followed by the painters and then the kitchen so stay tuned for more on the Finnie Family Home.

Young Stars

2010-05-11T05:36:00.000+12:00

From the moment I could talk, my mum taught us many songs. She played the guitar and we would sing. My mum was a hard teacher and sometimes she would smack us if we got the words wrong. Even though she was tough I still loved singing and to this day its my most favourite thing I love to do.

Pete and I would often be the nights entertainment at pubs and family gatherings (weddings, 21st etc). My sister sent me this photo of me and Pete. I am 4years old and Pete is 5yrs. Its 1973 and we are singing at my Aunty wedding in Palmerston North. I'm not to sure of the song but at a guess its probably "I'm Nobodys Child"

Tough & Yuck

2010-05-10T05:17:00.001+12:00

I consider myself to be a good cook. One of my favourite dishes I love to cook is a roast dinner. Whilst at the supermarket I was in the meat department and I had an urge to cook a roast. So I found a nice roast mutton @ $11.00 a little on the expensive side but I really wanted a roast dinner so I purchased it. I prepared it with herbs and seasoning and placed it in my slow cooker and went off to bed leaving my roast to cook. When I awoke the smell throughout the house was yummy. I so wanted to eat it right there and then. However I refrained and went to get the children from school/daycare. I prepared the veges and approx an hour later I took out the meat, which had been slowly cooking for 7 hours. I was looking forward carving this soft tender juicey meat. Oh my goodness it was as tough as old boots and full of gristle and fat and it was totally disgusting I needed a chainsaw to cut this rubber. Oh how disappointed I felt for two reasons: 1) I had been dreaming about my dinner and was really looking forward to it and 2) The money I had spent made me a little bit angry. Lucky the roast veges and gravey were still delicious. I took a photo and when I look at it I can understand why some people are vegetarians.

Windows Installed

2010-05-03T23:32:00.021+12:00

No windows

Cut Out Windows

Windows In

All doors and windows are in place now and its amazing how much warmer it is inside. Tonight I bought butter chicken and we went around to the house and had our first meal inside the house. Dave setup the portable light and we sat on the gib-board and ate our dinner. It was very cool and exciting.

The internal doors

This is our ensuite and walkin wardrobe

Kitchen Appliances

2010-05-01T04:42:00.001+12:00

I went to Harvey Normans to choose the kitchen appliances and lucky for me it was "slash n grab" sale on. Lets find a salesman and buy buy buy.

I have cooked with both electric and gas and I like gas better its quick and instant sometimes too quick and instant. Gas ovens are not cheap though and I was fortunate to get this beauty on sale

Gas Oven

The rangehood had to be a glass canope (Dave preferance) and again I was able to score the hood on sale too

Rangehood

The fridge/freezer had to be side by side because my current fridge/freezer in particular freezer part is so small I can only fit in a loaf of bread, frozen mixed vege, fries, ice-cream and 4 trays of meat and then thats maxed out. I wanted a big freezer and again SALE was sweet.

Fridge/Freezer

Last and certainly not least the dishwasher, I wanted to get dish drawers and too my amazement the salesman highly recommend that I didn't. He recommended BOSCH which is so expensive and I knew money bags wouldn't go for it. So I went with a delonghi brand (goes with the gas oven too)

But wait all the appliance are stainless steel and my current microwave is not???? Oh well as long as I'm here I might as well throw in a new microwave.

Now lets talk about money bags he was in contact with me on the cellphone the whole time and I'm sure his fingers were doing the walking on the calculator. He was asking all the questions and I had to send photos of each appliances I love my i-phone. So after approx an hour I had chosen and sealed a deal that pleased money bags and if hes happy we are all happy.

Lets Go Inside

2010-04-30T03:58:00.001+12:00

Now that the house is wrapped up lets have a look inside. The plumber has been and we have the pipes etc installed. All ceiling battons are completed and Dave is currently waiting for the internal doors so he can install them.

The Bathroom

Nicholas's Room

Kitchen to be

Entrance and spare room

Food Storage Room

Lounge/dinning/Kitchen

Tomorrow the windows and external doors are being installed and then on Monday the electrician will come and wire the house up. All is going to plan and all is very exciting.

A Blast from the Past

2010-04-21T05:39:00.001+12:00

Jackie & Me

My dearest friend Jackie turned 40 and she celebrated the only way she knew "Party Party Party" Dave and I attended and it was like a blast from the past. All our old friends that we use to party hard with were there. Many of them we hadn't seen for years due to family commitments or just of the circumstances everyone is in now a days. It was so cool seeing them all again.

The Leans

The party was held at the Leviathan Hotel this has very fond memories for Dave and I as we were married there and I also worked there for 2 years. There has been changes in the hotel which are amazing. Peter (the owner) was there he's still the same friendly awesome gentleman, although he has lost the mow which makes him look younger.

The Leans were there and we reminisced about the past and the great time we all had at the Mill. We all came to the same conclusion that we all missed the mill days. The Leans all asked me if I missed drinking alcohol as its been 7 years since my last drink. I must admit I honestly could say no. I can have a great time without getting drunk.

Dancing Queens

We danced and sang and had a great time. Talking about time it seemed to go so fast. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. Dave and I arrived home at 2.30am. It felt like the past especially the time we got home the only exception was we were both sober :)

Yummy Cake

Singing together I think?

First Day A Success

2010-04-20T01:23:00.000+12:00

Nicholas and I approached Elmgrove and we sat in the car for a few moments.

Me: Are you sure Nicholas?

Nicholas: Yep I'm ready

Me: Shall we have a prayer

Nicholas: Yes please mum

Once the prayer was over he jumped out of the car and we made our way to the office. Nicholas went up to the desk and the receptionist looks up......

Nicholas: I'm back

Receptionist: Welcome back

Teacher: I know you

Nicholas: Yep I'm back

I was so proud of him. His teacher told him they had a surprise in the classroom and he went off with her without even looking back.

Whilst I filled in the enrolment form I could hear him talking to his buddy they were laughing and I felt a sense of relief. I went into his classroom and he was happy playing with the hand puppets. The bell rang and he waved bye and sat on the mat.

After school he caught the school bus with the Mendy boys and I picked him up he was still smiling and he had had a great day YEAH!

The House

2010-04-19T03:33:00.001+12:00

Wow seems awhile since I last blogged and I know you all have missed me mwhahaha. However I am still alive and the house is still in progress can you guess what's new???

Before

After

Thats right its all go at the Finnie building site. Dave has been working like a man on a mission. His efforts has paid off and the house will be closed in before winter. The house is on track the budgets in tack and moving in around August is still on the cards so very excited can't wait. Here are some more shots of the house.

Before

The lounge/dinning and sunnyside

The Garage

The doors and windows will go in next week and the brickies will be able to start on the cladding. Meanwhile on the inside the electrician and plumbers will do their bit and Dave will put up the gib. Stay posted..........

It's back to Elmgrove

2010-04-18T04:16:00.010+12:00

So last term Nicholas started at a new school Elmgrove and alas only lasted 1 week at which time he really wanted to go back to his old school in Mornington. At that time it really didn't seem that big of a deal. I'd organised a ride into school everyday (thanks Mandy) and all that meant was for me to pick him up after school how hard could that be? Well after having the school holidays I realised it means a big deal on my time and my wallet. Admittedly I have been on holiday too thus travelling into town has not been on a regular basis. Amazingly I have only had to fill my car with fuel once whereas before I was filling up twice a week thats $160 on gas only. It has also meant I had to get up earlier so I can get into town to pick him up by 3pm and then scoot back by 3.15pm to get Kate from Montessorri its been somewhat crazy. However, I feel its really important that a child is happy at their school no matter what and so if thats what makes Nicholas happy then thats what you do.

Over the school holidays Nicholas has been hanging out alot with the Mendy boys and consequently has decided to return back to Elmgrove. When I asked him why? Its cost you alot of money mum taking me to school everyday (I didn't even realised that I talked about the cost). I told him that he didn't have to worry about the money that he needed to be happy at school. Nicholas said he would be happy back at Elmgrove (he calls it Almagrove funny). I also told him that he really needed to be sure about his decision because this would be the final change of schools.

Well after two weeks he has assurred me that he is ready to give Elmgrove another go. Part of me is relieved but I am also very very nervous that it could all blow up in my face, fingers crossed.

Elmgrove here we come again!!

Movie Time

2010-04-09T10:51:00.000+12:00

Hoyts has 3D now so cool. The Mendys, Nicholas and myself went to see this and although it cost $75 did you see that price thats right $75 for two adults and 3 boys, the movie was awesome. Nicholas and myself both jumped at certain parts of the movie. 3D is fantastic.

Dave and I watched this and of course it made me cry. I must admit I would hate to have my husband here one minute and gone for days or months.

I have always been a huge fan of Michael and watching this movie made me feel happy and sad. Happy because I loved his music and his dance moves are awesome and for a 50 year old he still got the moves. Sad because its the last time to see him perform. Sad for all the hard work that all those people did to prepare for the tour.

To be honest this looked like an interesting movie. Dave and I were poised to watch and for the first half hour it seemed weird but I can't tell you how it ended as Dave and I fell asleep.

The Trusses Are In Place

2010-04-06T22:41:00.000+12:00

I climbed the ladder to get this shot YIKES

Easter for Dave has been putting up the trusses, perlings & hips. What an amazing husband I have so grateful for all his hard work. I have been doing my little bit providing food and today I had a hammer and put up some bracing brackets which was fun. Bradley who has been helping Dave has only half a pointer finger which makes holding little nails very hard for him so Dave thought it would be a perfect little job for me. Now we wait for the roofers to come and do their job and then its wrapping the house and windows will be next to go in. GREAT EFFORT DAVE!!!

Bradley screwing down the perlings

My Awesome boys!!!

Musical Fireside

2010-04-05T20:04:00.002+12:00

Easter Sunday at church our district music leader organised a musical fireside. The theme was Women at the Well. When I first joined the church we were going to do this theme but due to unforseen circumstances it never eventuated. The culprit who was helping to organise it left the country for a holiday and forgot to come back from the holiday. Five years later the culprit returns becomes the district music leader and redeems herself by completing the task she started 5 years ago.

Readers: Ange, Sarai, Teressa, Ata

Pianist: Awesome Joyce

Song:

Women at the Well Singer: Annemarie

Close Enough to Touch Anna

Daughter, Arise Emily

If Thou Had Been Here Stacey & Me

Go In Peace Deanna

Foolish Or Wise St Clair YW

Daughter Everyone

Day Of Tears Me

Miracle From Heaven Ite

He Came For Me Kate & Mekyja

Greater Love Annemarie

What a beautiful fireside everyone sang like angels and I must admit I felt my song Day of Tears went really good (I managed to keep the emotions under control). Stacey and I for the first time duet stayed on our own notes. A huge admiration for our pianist, Joyce, she is amazing, learning all those songs a fantastic effort. I love musical firesides and I especially love performing in them too.

Thanks Kate for organising such a special evening

Bath time

2010-04-05T18:33:00.000+12:00

Kate and Nicholas love having a bath. They play for ages and its always a war trying to get them out. Kate see me coming and starts screaming no not ready whilst Nicholas submerges and tries to hold his breathe so funny.

Water Rats

Building Update

2010-04-04T18:15:00.001+12:00

The house is taking shape its looking awesome. Dave has been working very hard from morining til dark. Now that daylight saving is over Im sure he'll be setting up some lighting.

Driving to the house and in front of me was our trusses arriving.

Now to get those beauties on top of the wall frames

Lucky the crane was on hand

Hope the wall hold up?

What is this??

2010-04-03T09:00:00.003+13:00

Every rent day I give George a jar of my preserving and he gives me vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, silverbeet) Today when I looked in the letter box I discovered this

What is it?

How do you cook it and do I trust it?

Osh Kosh

2010-04-02T19:48:00.000+13:00

My buddy Bec who recently got married spent her honeymoon skiing in Utah and Tahoe. They were there for 5 weeks lucky them. Anyway whilst there I asked Bec if she could bring back a pretty dress for Kate 08. Well not only did Kate get one Osh Kosh dress but she got 3. Here in NZ they can cost up to $60 they are expensive but Bec got them for $12 US amazing. I took them home and showed Kate and she was very excited. Its funny even at 2yrs she has her own taste in clothes. I really liked one particular dress but Kate liked the poka dot one.

Kate's Favourite

April Fools

2010-04-02T13:13:00.000+13:00

Every April fools day I can never think of something to do or I get fooled. Today I finally got no only one person but two.

April Fool No1: Dave is building our house and yesterday the trusses arrived and was laided on top of the house. Dave spent 3hours laying them into position and getting ready to stand them up on Friday. It involved alot of work. Anyway I text him "Hi honey John from Carters just called they have sent us the wrong trusses and so they need to collect them and drop off the new ones at lunchtime today" I was at Amee's at the time thinking well he wont fall for that.......................... 15 min later my phone starts to ring its Dave.

Me: Hello
Dave: I've just been talking to Carters they have no idea what I'm talking about and suggested I ring the place where the trusses are made
Me: Really
Dave: I just rang them and they don't know who rang. Who were you talking too again?
Me: John from Carters couldn't hold it burst out laughing
Me: Big April Fool

Funny thing was he was teaching a class at the time and told his class he needed to take an urgent phone call.

April Fool No2

When Stacey joined the church we had a great relationship with a particular missionary Mike Jaggi. He baptised Stacey and we have had this on going thing that one day Mike would come back to NZ and marry her. Today I texted her:

Me: Hi Stace guess who arrives in NZ at lunchtime today?????? Jaggi!!!!

I herd nothing from her and then whilst I was in the supermarket she must have rung me 3 times and text me heaps all excited and stuttering.

I texted her back saying look at the calendar honey.

later that day I called into see her at work and she was not impressed she told me all I could think of was my hair ok what will I say etc etc.

Finally I get some satisfaction

Kate's Easter Basket

2010-03-31T18:12:00.002+13:00

Kate came home from Montesorri today and she had made this cute bunny basket. Inside were four eggs 3 chocolate and 1 hard boiled with a shrinkie on it.

All she wanted to do was eat the hard boiled egg and she gave Nicholas the chocolate ones (Nicholas knew he had scored big time).

I wanted to take pictures of Kate with the basket and she was not impressed she just wanted to eat the egg (hence the sad face)

The Walls Are Up

2010-03-21T03:43:00.123+13:00

On Friday the wall frames arrived, EXCITING!! times. Dave organised his helpers which included Haki, Bradley, Leon and himself. Friday night Dave did not sleep very well due to nervousness and perhaps a little bit excited too.

5am Dave arose and went for his 3 hour morning bike ride out to Portobello today, just a casual ride to clear his head for his big day. On his return he loaded up his car with tools which included his brand new nail gun (the best tool ever) and off to the section he went.

Nicholas, Kate and myself headed to town for Nicholas's last game of T-Ball for the season and unfortunately we lost by one run. We stopped at Carters on our way home to pick up the metal brackets and we headed to the section to see what progress had been made.

Progress was in full swing with a few frames up. The men were in deep concentration soughting out the big puzzle. ( I think they needed Nicholas our puzzle king to help them). I quickly zoomed away to get some bundies and a meat lovers buns for morning tea. After taking a few more snaps I went home to make lunch for the hard workers. I made 8 filled rolls and 12 large banana chocolate chip muffins and threw some hot savouries in just in case they were extra hungry.

This is Leon trying to convince me he's working?

On my return they had put up all the external walls they had definitely earned lunch. I stayed on and watched the house take shape it was awesome to watch and explain to the children which room was theirs. Kate for the rest of the day walked into her room saying my bedroom. Nicholas thought his room was too small. The children enjoyed playing in the gravel filling their gumboots with it and emptying them. Somehow Kate forgot to empty her gumboots, because when we went back home the gravel ended up inside.

The patio, Nicholas is standing in the lounge.

The hallway from our bedroom

The Lounge/Dinning Room

The house takes shape

What a wonderful day and now all the frames are up and we have rooms to walk in and now I can visualise how big each room will be and already I'm thinking where to put each piece of furniture plus where to add extra furniture (unfortunately it does not include a hot tub). Thanks to Haki, Bradley and Leon for all there help (not to mention their spouses who lent them to us for the day). Over the next week Dave will be preparing the tops of the frames so the trusses can sit on top. They arrive Easter weekend (oh my gosh its nearly Easter!!!!)

The Hot Tub

2010-03-20T06:31:00.000+13:00

So over the summer period Philly has been hard out building a deck and a concrete pad to place his trophy on. That's right they have a hot tub and it is awesome.

The kids have lots of fun in it and the adults have some relaxing time. All your hard work paid off Philly awesome job. If your're ever looking for Amiee just look in the tub.

Kate 08 says the darnest thing

2010-03-15T16:53:00.000+13:00

Yesterday when i got home from church Kate 08 was asleep on her daddy. When she woke up Kate was very concerned for me. She kept looking at me and with a worried look she said ök mummy" She proceeded to tug at my skirt and kept wanting to look up my skirt. Then she looked at me worried again and said "you done poos" to which I replied "no, poos go in the toilet"she continued to look at me and then she said "oh just wees then" Funny Kate 08

The Slab is Down

2010-03-13T02:33:00.000+13:00

Today the foundations of our house was poured. They started pumping the concrete in at 8.30am and I arrived at the section at 9.15am amazingly they were halfway. The pumping machine was awesome to watch and they had another machine which blew out air bubbles and stuff and helped spread the concrete out. I could have watched the whole process but I got the feeling the men were somewhat uncomfortable with me running around like a paparazzi taking photos.

The pump

Nice smooth surface

Screeding the concrete

Floating and finishing

When I went back to the site in the afternoon the man was floating and finishing off the slab. It was the perfect day because it was cool and damp which meant Dave didn't have to panic about watering the slab at night. Bring on the wall frames they arrive this weekend and hopefully Dave will have his merry men to help him stand them up and so the fun and exciting times begin.

Amiee's Beetroot

2010-03-12T02:53:00.002+13:00

My dearest friend has an awesome garden which tends to grow rather rapidly and for a few weeks Amiee has been talking about bottling some of the veges before they go to seed. So I went over to help her out as she hadn't bottled beetroot before and I have had some experience in this field.

First I went and picked the beetroot and WOW!!! they were the biggest beetroot I have ever seen they were like bowling balls. Whilst ripping them out of the ground it started to rain and so I did get rather damp but it wasn't going to stop me. I had a mission and I was focused on getting that beetroot in a jar.

Bowling Ball Beetroot

Now I am use to preserving normal/baby beets so my initial thoughts were these babies are going to take alot longer cooking than the norm. I generally use just a basic recipe ie vinegar, sugar, and water. However Amiee mother has a special recipe which involved pickling spices and cider vingegar and sugar. As we didn't have the recipe we just made it up and I must stay it had a diffinite punch. So two days later we finally finished those beasts We managed to get 12 large jars.

Building Continues

2010-03-07T01:45:00.001+13:00

To date the house is on schedule and now its ready for the floor to be poured. Dave has been lucky enough to have help from Phil, Darcy, Bradley and Haki thanks guys you all rock!!!

Laying the mesh

Ready for pouring the floor

Bring on the concrete

Kate 08 turns 2

2010-03-06T23:20:00.001+13:00

Kate 08 Pretty in Pink

Our beautiful baby girls turned 2 years old today, oh my where has the time gone? Over the last two days she has been so excited about her birthday. She even went up to Mr Tucker at school and told him "it my birthday" so random and forward. When we asked her who's having a birthday she placed her hand on her chest and says "me"

The past two years have been such a blessing from the day she came home from the hospital she has always been little Miss Independant, never liked sleeping with us always likes her space and her own bed. Took to daycare very easily and moving daycare centres not a bother at all. Unless she asks for help you don't bother trying to help. Very particular about who kisses her and she decides who can have cuddles. For awhile when daddy went to give her a kiss or a cuddle she would tell him "get off me" or "stop that".

Kate is very caring and motherly she is a girly girl loves her babies and dressing up in her pretty dresses. Kate loves to sing and she quite the dancer. Her favourite singer is Stan Walker or as she calls him "Stan the Man" At night she loves story time her favourite stories are Billys Bucket and I Know a Rhino. Kate loves horses and most days we go and feed carrots to them. I'm sure she'll like her very own pony one day or we'll just send her to her Uncle Petes and Aunty Cheri who own horses.

My goal for all my children was to have them toilet trained before 2yrs. However, I have failed miserably with Kate and so the process continues. I suppose being little Miss Independant she will do it in her own time.

I'm not such a big fan of birthday parties. I don't mind going to them but I hate organising them. I just get stressed out and I always worry about the food and is everyone having fun. So I wasn't going to have a party besides she wouldn't even notice. How wrong was I? I'm sure Nicholas planted the seed but she seemed very excited about the thought of having a party. "My party" My Birthday" So at the last minute I texted a few close friends to come have cake and juice.

"Happy Birthday to you"

Cake time

Not too close

I did it!!!!!!

Kates friends

Kate had a great time and it wasn't stressful for me.

I look forward to many more years of fun times with baby Kate and thank Heavenly Father everyday for such a beautiful sweet Missy Moo!!!!

Sing for your Supper

2010-02-28T05:08:00.000+13:00

Saturday night at the chapel, we had an activity evening organised by Kate J. It was a talent night which saw some amazing and not so amazing acts.

Highlights of the evening

Fabian's kapa haka group amazing!!! they were the opening act and they could have stayed on all night they were awesome.
Nicholas Finnie playing the piano. (all week practicing and making mistakes he was a little nervous) He never made one mistake and he did the cutest bow after the performance so so proud of him
A great turn out of people
Asha 3yrs singing solo "Baptism" very very cute
Brother and Sister Lee magic act "HILARIOUS"
Manu & Fiona truly perfect
Ana singing sassy Summer Time
Lydiate boys 7yrs & 5yrs singing with their grandad a very long song and remembered all the words.
Craig the MC kept the evening going smoothly (there were 22 acts we started @ 6.50pm and were finished by 8.30pm well done Craig
Craig allowing me to sing a quick solo even though I wasn't on the list.
The supper well earned

Thanks Kate for organisng such a wonderful, fun and entertaining evening we should have more of them.

Birthday Surprise

2010-02-25T09:08:00.000+13:00

Yesterday was my 41st birthday. As I worked the night before most of my birthday was spent in bed sleeping. When I woke my husband had organised with Amiee to look after the children (sorry Ange I had no idea but I will be calling on you sooner than you think). He wanted me to meet him in town so he could take me shopping and out for dinner. So I dropped the children off and headed to town however I received a phone call from Alice my dads wife. My dad was in hospital having tests and needed to stay in Dunedin overnight. I offered a bed and too my surprise they accepted. So that you understand dad and my relationship is rear (once in a blue moon). I never in a million years would have my dad stay at my house. What a wonderful birthday surprise unfortunately we never got to have dinner but it was worth missing out just to have dad stay over. My husband surprise was getting me an i-phone so cool I love it!!!!! Farewell telecom XT and hello vodaphone.

I was a little nervous about dad staying as we never done this thing before. What would we talk about? Can dad hold a conversation? How would Dave react? What about the children? Would we be comfortable around each other. Well the answer to all the above was everything was great. I went off to work feeling warm and fuzzy.

Highlights for my birthday:

Getting texts from my family mum was the first to text me, followed by my brother Robin
Actually sleeping without cooking in the heat
Lots of birthday wishes on facebook
Amiee made me a cake
Kate made me a card at Montessori
My I-PHONE!!!!!
my dad staying over
choosing 2 nice shirts for Dave in less than 30mins whilst he was there

Downer:

getting an unwanted womans cycle (too much info sorry) but the highlights so outweighed the downer.

My dad and Alice left this morning to go home and just as he left he slipped me two purple notes. It reminded me when I was a little girl dad would have money in his pocket and he would ask us what colour money we liked. Pete liked the blue ones $10 and I like the green ones $20 but the purple ones $50 were my favourite. Thanks dad love ya

House Building Part 4

2010-02-25T00:32:00.000+13:00

The Drains being laid

The house is coming along in leaps and bounds and today is no exception. I generally go to the section everyday to see what's happening and when I visited today the plumber and drain layers were busy putting in the drains in and outside the house.

The other thing I noticed is the hard fill is in. The next step is to lay the mesh and the polothene. On the cladding front we have choosen our bricks and window colour (iron sand), roof (iron sand) entrance door (cedar) garage still deciding.

The BIG Day Out

2010-02-24T03:25:00.010+13:00

My group

Yesteday Nicholas and I went on a school trip with 45 pupils, 8 teachers, and some parents. We met at the school watching the little people load up on the bus was very exciting. The teachers went on the bus whilst the parents took cars. I was fortunate to have two parents in my car to keep me company and to to keep me awake.

Our first stop was Waihola where we had morning tea and the children has a toilet stop and a play.

At Waihola

Morning tea time

Then it was off to our next destination which was Berwick camp site where the year 6 were camping there this week. It was a beautiful and hot day. The camp site was amazing and it did bring back fond memories of my school camp days.

Berwick Camp

Each parent or teacher were assigned 4 or 5 pupils to look after. My little cherubs were very well behaved and we had a great time. The year 6 children showed us around the camp site and demonstrated activities that they do at camp. Most of the juniors were keen to have a go but alas were not permitted.

Archery Demonstration

Kyaking

After the tour of the camp site it was time for lunch. We all sat under a huge tree which was fantastic, it kept us shaded and yet we could still enjoy the sun. After lunch we played lots of games. We were split into 10 groups and had races. I find it fasinating how little people don't quite grasp the concepts of instuctions. A example was asking my group to line up in a straight line behind the leader. They managed to stand up and some were beside the leader and others went to other lines.

Tabloid Sport Groups

The train race

We had a great time and we left camp at 2pm and headed back to school. I love being a helper at school outings the children are wonderful and they always make me laugh.

My Superhero's

2010-02-23T02:01:00.000+13:00

Spidergirl & Batboy

Nicholas loves dressing up and now he has started dressing up Kate. So today they both came out and I had to laugh alot. Nicholas was telling Kate the big adventure they were going on. There mission was to protect mum from the baddies. They played so nicely and they were laughing and it just made me so happy and I told them that they were my superhero's and that I felt really safe. These are the moments I treasure.

Puzzle World

2010-02-22T01:33:00.001+13:00

Whilst at Wanaka the Finnie family took a trip to Puzzle World. It was amazing and we had a great time. The last time I went there was when I was about 12yrs old and I never ever found my way through the maze. However, this time and with the puzzle king on hand we managed to find three of the four towers and that was because time didn't allow us to finish.

Our favourite place was the illusionist room that was amazing and really funny. We laughed so much because of the room which makes things go up hill. There were some Asian tourist in the room and they couldn't balance very well and they kept falling over and stumbling around. The Finnie family were in fits of laughter.

Nicholas going up

Kate's turn

When we finished doing the stuff inside it was time to head back and get ready for the wedding but we had to take photo's of the leaning tower.

Mum's turn

Nicholas's turn

Kate 08's turn

We really liked our time away in Wanaka we shall go again.

Bec & Rod's Wedding

2010-02-21T23:00:00.001+13:00

So at last the big day finally came for Bec and Rod. I work with Bec on nightshift and for the past year I have watched her make all the invitations and organise the guest list and listen to the stories of what will happen on the day. I saw the dress and also watched her loose weight and turned into a fitness freak running duathalons and triathalons. I also heard about the honeymoon they are spending 5 weeks in USA and she and Rod are snowboarding in Utah.

After all that I was lucky enough to get invited I tried to get onto the wedding party but unfortunately Becky was fit and well to do the job. Even though I tried to think of ways to poison her or wished she broke a bone. I was much satified to go as a guest.

The Finnie's

The day in Wanaka was beautiful and very warm. We arrived early enough to see an awesome view. It was great to see a few familiar faces from work and others who use to work in Dunedin but have since gone over to Aussie.

The crew

After three attempts of getting the music right Bec made her way out from the bush with her lovely bridesmaids. She looked stunning its amazing how a dress can look totally different on someone else when you seen it in a picture. Her hair was gorgeous and I loved her flowers.

Waiting for the bride

Here she comes

The ceremony was very special. Rod had grown two rose bushes in separate tubs and they gifted them to the parents so they would remember the day. The roses were called everlasting love. They also had both sets of parents give a blessing on their wedding rings. They had a candle burning throughout the ceremony to remember those who had passed on. All very special moments in the ceremony. When they recited their vows they both had "one liners" that they promised each other they would or wouldn't do.

Kate & Bec

After the ceremony Kate had been playing with the horseshoe and when I asked her to give it to Bec she wasn't very happy about it (hence the face).

The Happy couple

The reception was amazing great venue lovely cold drinks, food that was unbelievable like fresh blue cod and marinated chicken meat and lots of salads and new potatoes and more...... I managed to have seconds and still have room for dessert which again was divine

Mark, Erin & Mel

The Cake

Rod's sister made the cake and OH MY!! it was divine the yummiest chocolate cake ever and I ate alot of it my waist line needed a good workout. Luckily for me there was a dance after dinner and so I danced the night away well until 1.30am when the band was shut down. I had a great time.

House Building Part3

2010-02-16T04:00:00.003+13:00

The wise man built his house upon a rock. MM is focused on the building and today is no exception. Even tho its Dave's birthday there was no rest for the wicked he spent the day boxing up the block work and preparing the ground for the new patio. Over the week the block layers came and the concrete truck filled the blocks and now Dave has to prepare the inside for the big foundation pour which should happen in approximately 2weeks. So far so good we have managed to choose the bricks and now its time to focus on the bathroom etire. Always makes me nervous when we have to choose things together because we have such different taste I hope we don't get into too much strife over which toilet or shower to have. I had better say a prayer.

Preserving Season

2010-02-12T22:21:00.001+13:00

Prepared Apricots

Its that time of the season where I get out my preserver and do apricots, peaches, nectarines, to replemish my stock. I really enjoying preserving. The trick to great preserving is the prep work. My preserving does not include sugar which MM really likes and it saves money.

I like to arrange the fruit very neatly and try not to get burn't at the same time

Placing them into the boiling water is somewhat of a challenge I really should get some preserving tongs

The finished products

The most annoying part of preserving is preparing peaches and nectarines because they are so attached to their stone. They never look that pretty in the jar not like apricots do.

Blue One Week Red The Next

2010-02-11T04:18:00.002+13:00

Elmgrove School Uniform

So Nicholas started his new school this week and despite having his buddy in the same class Nicholas still talks about his old school and how much he misses it.

Dave and I made a deal with him that he should continue for a week at his new school and if he still not happy we would send him back to his old school.

A week passed and we had a family meeting. Nicholas informed us that he really wanted to go back to his old school. He really missed his friends and school routine. So as promised we have decided to send him back.

Mornington Primary Uniform

Bex's Hen's Night

2010-02-10T00:57:00.027+13:00

Next weekend my buddy and co-worker Bex is taking the plunge and getting married.

Elaine (our boss) organised a hens dinner. The last hens night I went to was my own which was rather great fun. (remember the pole Amiee?)

We started the night off with nibbles and drinkies before Leeanne whipped into the first game of the evening. We had to bring something blue and place it in a bag to which we all had to close our eyes and guess the object.

Later on we had a fantastic potluck tea with some yummy food not to mention my funeral potatoes. Elaines sister from Canada made an awesome 7 layered dip it contained sour and cream cheese, mince mixture, layers of salad. I can't wait to make it myself and serve it to my darling friends

Game 2 involved decorating undies for Bex. I'm not that creative unfortunately but Bex and I share a love for Twilight and she loves the Edward camp where I'm for Jacob. Of course I didn't win the wearable arts reward that went to Mary who created from the front a awesome ski slope with Bex skiing down it and the back end was a tropical beach resort. This symbolised there honeymoon as they are going to America and Fiji for 5 wonderful weeks. Bex and Rod are going skiing in Utah and she is going to take a picture of the temple for me.

Game 3 again was to be creative not my forte unfortunately. We were given a piece of play dough and were asked to create an object or something you would find or see at a wedding. Can you guess which one is mine???? Again I didn't win but the bride to be was voted best with the beautiful yellow rose. Have you guessed mine yet??? Did you say the plate of food with the serviette then you are correct. Bangers and mash with peas a perfect wedding breakfast.

The favourite part of the evening was this awesome chocolate fountain. This was our dessert along with fresh fruit and mashmellow we also had rice pudding, ambrosia, triffle and pavalova. I just stuck with the chocolate fountain and ended up with lots of chocolate on my clothes. This is a must thing I should buy to me from me.

Game 4 was another creative game that involved a heap of toilet paper and skills to create a wedding dress. I was lucky to have such a creative team and we manage to make Rambha (the middle bride) into a beautiful toilet paper bride. A very enjoyable evening was had by all.

All the best Bex for your future and I look forward to seeing you in Wanaka on the 20th xxx.

To Go Back To School or Not That is the ?

2010-02-09T04:07:00.002+13:00

Ben left school at the end of term 1 last year. Unfortunately Ben didn't leave with any qualifications. He came to live with us and managed to get a job at McDonalds thanks to friends in the business. He started off on a great note however, as the year progressed and Ben got a taste of freedom and money some of his decisions were not wise ones. Consequently he quit McDonalds and went back to the farming arena to work on his dads dairy farm.

Last week Ben rings me and tells me he is going back to school and that he had made an appointment with the deputy principle at Taieri College. To be honest I thought he was joking and I laughed out loud whilst on the phone. To which Ben said "so you wont support me then" and the laughing stopped. Yipes! he is serious, what to say? that was the question. As I listened to his case I could understand where he was coming from BUT he didn't do to well last time what would be different now?

I told Ben that I would support him 100% however, I knew I had my work cut out trying to convince Dave and true to my word as I told Dave the plan his face said it all. Furthermore Dave also had good points about why Ben should not go back to school.

And so I'm left stuck between a rock and a hard place how will it pan out that is the million dollar question. Stay tuned for the outcome.

Training Wheels No More

2010-02-08T01:40:00.003+13:00

I have waited along time for this moment and I am so excited and proud of Nicholas. Finally he can ride his bike without his training wheels.

Lucky for me he was riding his bike whilst on his training wheels when he got one of the training wheels stuck and hence it broke off. He was devastated about it and suggested we buy a new set of training wheels. Right I thought this would be a great opportunity to get him to ride trainer free. So I told him that the broken wheel was a sign from heavenly father that you are ready to ride without the trainers. He looked at me not convinced of course but then he said "OK lets see then" A quick silent prayer, then I proceeded outside to help him get started. To my amazement he started off really well and managed to bike from one end of the section to the other before falling off. The smile on his face was memorable you could tell he was so proud of himself.

I love the victory dance after the ride. Awesome Nicholas!!!

Easy Rider

Victory Dance

Finnie/Boys Testimony Frenzie

2010-02-07T02:08:00.006+13:00

Finnie/Boys Family on a happy day.

I wont go into too much detail but Saturday wasn't one of the Finnie/Boys fun days. To be perfectly honest it was a "crap" day, which involved yelling and crying etc and to top it off I had to work that night.

Sunday was here and I love Sunday because I get to go to church and spend time in the Lords house with friends and family. Where you can go and remember our Savior and forget about the outside world for 3 hours.

I was excited because its a new month and I was teaching my primary children a new song. When I got home from work I realised that I hadn't printed the pictures for the new song but alas everyone was still asleep so I was able to quickly print cut and laminate before I heard the words "mum where is my breakfast"

Church for us starts @ 12.30 so I had time to have a quick kip. The family headed off to church and I was greeted at church by Ben who hadn't come home the previous night hence he had no church clothes on. He had on a pair of high riding white shorts and a purple tee with white slip on shoes (what a sight). He also had his sorry face on as well.

First Sunday of the month is fasting and we get to bear our testimonies. Today was no exception the previous speaker talked about the temple trip and the sealing of friends which made me reminisce about our temple trip and sealing and I knew I had to get up and share it with the congregation. Once I had finished, Stacey bore her testimony which is another whole post, but it involved her waving to her brother from the podium it was so funny. Stacey sat down and Dave got up and I thought he was going to the toilet but he went the wrong way and before I knew it he was bearing his testimony AMAZING!!! Just when you think you've seen it all something else happens Yes Ben decided to get up and bear his testimony. Trying to cover himself up with his arms he starts off with "I'm probably the least active person here today and I'm not dressed for the occasion but I want to bear my testimony.............. " His heart felt testimony was awesome and I couldn't help but forgive him for his wrong doing the night before.

The sister that followed Ben's testimony acknowledge Ben and made me and the congregation realise that life isn't perfect and that people who appear to look perfect are generally not. I can't remember word for word what she said but it was something along the lines that Jesus loves us when we do wrong he love us unconditionally. By now I was sobbing and what do you know I had to conduct the closing song which was Because I have been given much I too must give. And so the music starts along with my tears and I couldn't even see the words or sing what a MESS!!! In conclusion testimony session was definitely filled with the spirit.

PS: crying on fasting Sunday causes so much dehydration not good!!