Earlybirds, Spilt Milk and Blueberries

Having already planned to get up at 5am to be on the road early for our big journey up country, it felt like a bit of a rude awakening when that turned into a 4.30am wake up call when Mylo fell out of bed. (He’s still getting used to no sides on the cot, and despite the soft landing on a duvet inner, it still gives him a bit of a fright!)

The best way to settle any night waking episodes like this usually involves a quick drink of milk, a cuddle and then straight back to bed without engaging in too much conversation or turning on lights around the house. Except this morning, in my early morning haze, I clearly didn’t put the lid back on the drink bottle properly and me and Mylo wore half the contents of the milk as soon as he tipped it up to drink it. So a complete change of PJ’s and sleeping bag was required, nothing like completely waking up a child you want to go back to sleep for a while…sigh!

So there was little point in going back to bed so we got up and at em, and were away just before 6am. Apart from a few random meltdowns in the car by the lil guy who decided he wanted cuddles (impossible when in a moving vehicle), it was pretty uneventful.

Except for the glorious weather giving us a stunning view of the central plateau as we drove ever northward.

And the great coffee and leg stretch in Ohakune.

Two sleepy souls decided to close their eyes for half an hour so we skipped our second stop and drove on through. Before we knew it, we were at Hamilton Airport saying hi to Poppa who was in the middle of his Super Shuttle shift. It was the fastest trip up we've ever done, making it in 6 hours 15 including the stop! And there was no speeding either I might add!

After a quick stop at Punnet Café (the scene of my recent photos in Uno Magazine fame), we headed home and back out again to pick some blueberries. Another tick for the Summer Bucket List! The blueberry rows were sodden and we quickly ditched our shoes and wandered barefoot through the rows, squelching through watery grass, sometimes halfway to our knees in places. It was surprisingly therapeutic padding through the warm water, almost like a foot massage.

And we came home with four full containers of blueberries, the little guy having consumed nearly his body weight in fruit which made for an interesting nappy change the next day!

Yay...the summer holiday has begun!

Unto Us...

"a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9 v 6

Amazing though the virgin birth was, today is not just about that.

Yes it was a miracle. And yes, it's still pretty cool and all that.

But it's not the best part...not by far.

'A child is born'.......

but 'a son is GIVEN'......

God didn't just give us a miracle baby's birth to celebrate each year. He gave us his only son, through whom the world would be saved.

From all sins past, present and future. In the greatest gift of love this world has ever seen.

So....if you were asked to think long and hard about the best gift you've ever been given?

I'll bet you wouldn't say it was the latest electronic gadget out this year, a bestseller book off the shelf, or that dress you'd been eyeing up in the store window.

No matter how you desperately want it at the time, the mere fact that it was a gift that can be bought cheapens it with that knowledge.

But not the gift of love.

Love cannot be bought. Despite how hard we might try to prove otherwise.

True love is always freely given.

Freely received. When we choose to accept it.

And so we come back to today....

The gift of love freely given 2,000 years ago, just as real now as it was then.

Today is...the greatest gift of all.

Things I'm Loving 23.12.11

On the wall
It seems a while ago now that we went to our Jo Frances Photography session. And yes it has taken us a while to get any of them framed, but I'm happy to finally have this set of four up on the wall to look at always. It makes me smile.

Another gorgeous necklace
I received a lovely thank-you from Sally the other day for all the business I've put her way these past few months. As much as I love my other necklace, this one rocks big time! I can see me wearing this many days this summer! Pink and lemon, such an awesome combo!

Nativity Advent Calendar
Loving that the Nativity Advent Calendar I made last year is getting used again, and day by day the story grows on our kitchen cupboard.

A tree full of kisses
Loving this last attempt at creativity before Christmas. Hoping the recipient will enjoy it too! I started gluing them on to begin with, but switched to toothpicks after Mark said he was worried I might give one of my nearest and dearest glue poisoning...that wouldn't be a great end to Christmas now would it!

Delete cookies
This tickled my fancy.....I can just imagine his horror?! Ha ha ha.

The Crackle Nail Effect
We opened our Christmas presents from Grandma & Grandad early via Skype last weekend. And I got 2 cute little nail varnish pots in pink and black. The crackle effect wasn't something I'd heard of but apparently it's all the rage in the UK. So I gave it a go...you put a base layer on first and then put the crackle vanish over the top....what do ya think?! Kinda freaky and kinda funky all at the same time!

Little Boy loses his door
We've finally taken the cot rails off Mylo's bed. Just in time for our holiday away so he will hopefully be OK with sleeping on a mattress on the floor or in our In the Night Garden kiddy blow-up bed on our travels.

He was so cute and concerned when we put him to bed for his lunchtime nap last weekend though. 'Where's my door gone?' he kept saying. Bless. He did stay in the bed though which was the main thing!

That hat
We're still lovin it!

Milky face and all!

And as you read this, we are winding our way up the country on our 8-9 hour journey towards Nana and Poppa's in Hamilton for Christmas. Right this very minute, I'm also loving the invention of a portable DVD player for the car too!

How To: DIY Christmas: Cookies in a Jar

If you're stuck for last minute gift inspiration this Christmas, how about Cookies in a Jar for a simple, yet good-looking idea? And who doesn't love home baked cookies? You'll probably find most of the ingredients in your cupboard at home too which is a bonus too!

Take a 900ml-1 litre glass jar (I made two gifts and used two different types of jars - a preserving jar from Moore Wilsons and a clip-down from The Warehouse)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white or dark chocolate chips

Start with the white sugar layer and tamp down firmly afterwards before pouring in the brown sugar. Tamp down again.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl before pouring in and tamping down again. Tamp gently on this layer as otherwise the flour will fly everywhere!

Then add oats, cranberries, and lastly chocolate chips, tamping down between each layer.

If you find you still have a little room in top of the jar, put something in to fill up the gap (I put a little bit of bubble wrap in). This is so if the jar is not vertical when being stored under the Christmas tree (or transported), the layers won't move around.

Add instructions for baking on a Christmassy template as follows:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Pour cookie jar contents into large bowl and mix to combine. Beat in 100g melted butter, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla essence. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls 5 cm apart on baking paper on a baking tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes until browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Or you could use the one I created just by downloading this picture and re-sizing to your own tastes.

Happy creating and baking!

Original idea found on Pinterest here.

Recipe: Candy Cane Icecream

When I saw a recipe for a Christmassy Peppermint icecream on Pinterest, I knew I would have to make it. And even better, I knew that we could just adapt our own Crunchie Icecream recipe base and turn it into a little slice of candy cane Christmas heaven.

Ingredients:
1 tin of condensed milk
500ml bottle of cream (whipped)
12 pack of candy canes crushed in a blender (less one or two that might have gotten waylaid into two little mouths while 'helping' 
1 tsp peppermint essence

1. Whip cream
2. Gently, gently fold in peppermint essence and condensed milk, trying not to lose any volume in the mixture
3. Gently fold in crushed candy cane. Freeze immediately, should be frozen overnight (or 10-12 hours)

And it was very hard not to watch the clock or get it out until it was proper ready!

School's out for the summer!

We've survived our first (half) year of school.

I think we (Mum and Dad that is) feel a bit like we've been just surviving at times, running the gambit of having to remember a million things like swimming on Tuesdays, school council icecream day, craft days, money for school trips and book orders, just to name a few!

Noah, on the other hand, has quite obviously been thriving. A glowing school report came home for the end of the year.

What an outstanding introduction to school Noah has had. He has made amazing progress in all areas of school and this is because he has such a fantastic 'can-co' attitude towards everything that school has to offer. Noah is an extremely focused and independent worker who uses his initiative to work out new things as well as persisting with tasks. He listens carefully to what is being asked and then gives 100% to follow the instructions. (Wish this always happened at home...ha ha!)

Noah is responsible with his own equipment and packs up after himself and is willing to help out in the class as well. You should be very proud of yourself Noah. This attitude and skills are wonderful. 
Noah is very popular with his peers. He can often be found organising games with his classmates and taking a leadership role yet he is also great at working in a group. He does have some definite ideas but he is willing to compromise with his peers.

Noah is very thoughtful, considerate and he has a fun personality. He does like to get things right (wonder who he gets that from!) and be seen doing the right thing however he understands that everyone makes mistakes and that is all right.

It has been a real delight to teach Noah and to see him blossom and grow in all areas.

We were also asked by Noah's teacher a couple of weeks ago, if we would be happy for Noah to move with 3 other kids in his class who are also in the highest reading and maths group to move over to the big school and go into Room 3 next year, rather than Room 2 which is the natural progression for the other children from Room 1. We know that this will be a great opportunity to challenge and extend Noah. He is very excited about going over to the 'big' side of school. It's hard to believe this was the same kid who were were so worried about being too shy to cope well with the move to school.

On the last day of school, this was the lovely gift Noah's teacher made for him. So special.

Noah also got to bring home a ton of lovely artwork he'd created too. Some went straight on the kitchen wall, and a few other select pieces have been turned into Christmas gifts. These are my favourites!

He's clearly had a ball these past few weeks making some cute Christmas crafts too which are adorning various windowsills and bookcase shelves around the house.

I like this list for Santa..good to see the water balloons are still clearly top of the list!

So now, seven weeks of school holidays await. With working full-time, it's a bit of a juggling act, but we've had friends volunteer to look after Noah this first week, and then once we're back to work after our Christmas break, he'll be going to the school holiday programme 3 days a week, I'll work a shorter day from home one day a week, and then have Fridays off to spend with both the boys.

And no doubt before we know it the 7th February will have rolled around and we'll be back for another year of fun and learning at school!

In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with making our own fun!

Things I'm Loving 16.12.11

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Lights

Love the Giant Telecom Christmas Light Tree that has appeared in Waitangi Park again this year. Loving the giant beanbags that the boys enjoyed jumping into that lie under the tree.

And even though the lights weren't on (it was the middle of the day) it was still so magical!

Talking to Da Man
Whilst there, we got down to business. And hmmm, looks like there is some serious discussion being had in there!

Craft Craziness
As you can see, that bug has still been biting me strong this week too!

 Beautiful idea found here by Remaliah

In the Spirit
Even the Lego Club gets in the spirit and sends us a cute decoration to make each year - this year was a Reindeer with a movable head and legs to join last year's Snowman. It is definitely worth signing up your kids (free under five) for some cool free stuff throughout the year!

My Elves
Cuteness personified. Mylo was SO excited when he spotted a Santa hat in Pak n Save, and because I was in the mood for having some fun, I popped it on his head. He promptly wore it round the shop beaming at everybody saying 'Ho Ho'. It was so cute that I got him (and Noah) one each, mostly just so I could hear that little 'ho ho-ing' all day long. Despite it being a hot day, the boys loved bouncing around the trampoline with their little white pompoms waggling everywhere.

How cheeky does that little face look hiding under there? 

Chocolate milkshake and fluffies in the sun

The hats proved so popular, I could only steal a quick turn with one when Mr M was having a mid-afternoon zzzzzzz and I'd convinced him it would be too hot to wear to bed!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these here parts isn't it?! And I'm loving that this time next week we'll be leaving for our Christmas holiday...whoop de whoop!

Joining in with other lovelies at PJ's place: