Engagement

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. 

Brothers In Arms

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

To Go Back To School or Not That is the ?

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.

Ben leaves us

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

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

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

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