So where was I? Ah yes...life lately...

How has it been 3 weeks since I last blogged?! I feel like I have sat down to try and write almost every day since then and I haven't even made it to the login button with so many other things taking priority every time I've tried. But I'm here now and that's what counts, right?!

Somehow the days are just flying by as we are in the middle of a very busy time with the house build, and already thinking about packing up for the move in six weeks time. It's also term 4 of school which is busy at school at the best of times let alone with hip hop, swimming, Cubs and cricket also on during the week. Throw in a long weekend away, a big walk to the Blue Spring, firework action for Guy Fawkes, phone book delivery for Cubs and it has made for a busy household - some days we don't know whether we are coming or going!

Over Labour weekend (a while ago I know) we spent a couple of days in Auckland with my oldest friend Andrea and her family. We've been friends since Intermediate so that's a cool 25 years of friendship right there...wow! We took the kids to Motat since the weather was a bit pants on Saturday, and then had a cruisy morning at home on Sunday after we all got up for the All Black semi final at 4am and were feeling a little jaded. Then we headed to Butterfly Creek for the afternoon which wasn't cheap but was a really fun family day out. The boys loved the butterflies landing on them, and were wowed (and also scared out of their wits) by the opportunity to get up close with a tarantula.

There were also two very cool crocodiles there, a dinosaur kingdom as well as a very interactive farm park - Noah and Mark got more than they were bargained for when they saw a very frisky goat jump the fence right in front of them.

After we got home, the following day (Labour Day) we went on an impromptu walk to the Blue Spring with friends Tracey, Dayne and kids. It was nearly two years since our last adventure there, and I was surprised how much the track had changed and become more commercial and how many people there were on the track (Elizabeth from To Find a Silver Lining and her family for a start - although we actually missed each other on the walk somehow!).

One Saturday the boys had 300 phone books to deliver as part of the annual Cubs fundraiser which took a few hours - but it felt good doing something for the community nevertheless. We'd already spent an hour and a half helping pack up the 10,000 phone books the night before as well!

The boys have started Friday night cricket, and what a way to start it was with a glorious sunny warm night last week. It's a lovely atmosphere with families pitching up with picnic blankets They'll be playing in a school team against other schools down at the beautiful town square which looks as much like an English county cricket club as any in the northern hemisphere.

We got together with Sam and Alesha at mum and dads and had a few (read MEGA LOADS) of fireworks last Saturday night - the joys of having left overs after selling them in the Evo Cycles shops. There were a few random ones that gave us a fright the way the wind kept blowing them back towards the house but we enjoyed getting together for the fun of it all. It's hard to believe that this time last year we came up to see Nic and Kim the same weekend (and had fireworks then too!) and it was pretty much the beginning of our journey to moving here. It's so wonderful to be able to fast forward a year and see this God-given dream has been fulfilled.

Can you see Mark's back-to-front 'I love you'?

And one of these days I will finally get around to sharing the ins and outs of the house build like I have been meaning to do for weeks with all the plans and designs etc if I can just find a few spare hours hanging around waiting for me during the day - ha ha not likely - so I'll have to just figure out a way regardless!