BESTIES!

I have stolen this blog entry from my friend Renee's blog,  she always takes such amazing photos for her blog with her amazing camera and I just had to steal these ones of our boys and cut and paste her entry too.
Thanks Renee for loving my boy with so much of your heart,  you are such an inspiration to me as a person/mum I can trust, respect, love and who I just so enjoy being around! Love ya no number xx!

Renee's Entry below....

I love that one of my besties, Bex has one of the most gorgeous little monkeys on the planet & that Niwa & Mac are also besties :)

Isn't that just the cutest little face!!

Him & Mac get on so well so it's the coolest for them to be able to hang out together & to have Niwa come over to play :)

We loved having you over to play yesterday Niwa 

& can't wait for you to come again!!

Everyone eating frozen peas waiting for the dinner to be ready :)

They were laughing & giggling playing out the back, & when we went to see what was so funny, we found them jumping up & pulling the washing off the line :) What great little helpers! 

Sharing iceblocks :)

The Church Fairy

One of my closest friends Renee below,  has inspired me with her "Church Fairy' Idea for her yummy son Mac,  Niwa's little mate....  (read below for her story and then I will share Niwa's first experience with the 'Church Fairy' last week.

Church has always been a struggle with Mac so even though he's knocking on the door of 5 now!!!, he still doesn't particularly want to be there....& he definitely doesn't want to sit still or whisper :( .....So at our whits end around 6 weeks ago, we introduced the church fairy.

The church fairy watches him at church & keeps an eye on his behaviour in sacrament & then in class, so she can know whether or not she needs to leave a treat in the letterbox for him for when he gets home :) (We always sit in the rec hall & if he's being noisy we point up to the little air vents in the ceiling where she could be spying on him from?!)

He still tries to push the limits & loves to break free to the toilet any chance he can, but he IS doing better :)....And you should've seen his face when he opened the letter box the one week he was a right off & thought he'd still get a treat anyways - talk about devastated lol 

NIWA'S STORY

Every Sunday morning,  Niwa wakes up and  when he figures it is Sunday he throw tantrums about having to go.  It is a bummer as I want to go to my class etc to get uplifted myself but he wants me (not Dad) to come to all his classes with him and he has such 'Puppy Dog' eyes with tears in them if I go to leave so there is no way I can leave him like that.  So last week after reading Renee's blog, I thought I would set out to initiate the 'Church Fairy' Idea as a means to get him to go to Kids Sunday School classes etc without me.  He knows everyone there but is just a Mummy's Boy.  Anyway so we prepared him and he was very excited.  He was amazing during Church and let me go to class which was a total first.  Then I was able to go to my next class and when church was finished, he came running to me so so proud that he had been a big boy and gone to class without me.  When we got home,  I told the kids to go and get changed first before Niwa went to the letter box.  The  photos below are of him looking in the box and then of him unwrapping his pressie around Arama and Terina.

Don't you just love our letter Box,  we are getting our front landscaped next week and a new letter Box is on its way, thank goodness!  I don't know how many times Keith has run over our current one.  LOL

Below:  He opens his treat with his brother and sister looking on  CUTE!  Even the kittens joined in which you can see in some of the photos.

This was so effective week one,  but Mac last week got nothing.  Renee told me just because you have the Church Fairy, it does not always mean it is going to work after the faze has worn off.  Well it is working for us as of day one so for now we will make the most of it!  LOL!

OUR 2 NEW FAMILY MEMBERS!!!!

We have debated over whether to get a kitten/cat now for years.  Arama has begged us for years and years.  Last year we nearly did it but then thought, no we can’t afford it etc.  But this year we just knew it was the right time.  Our lovely neighbours, Shirley and Michelle foster cats and kittens for the SPCA and they are such ‘cat lovers’ they treat them better than I would treat my own kids which isn’t hard some days!  LOL!  So all holidays the kids had been going down to their place to play with the kittens etc.  Arama got very attached to one of them and so begged his Dad about getting it.  Keith was bought up by a mother who hates animals and thinks they are very unhygienic etc so as a consequence he is like that too.  Anyway we managed to convince him of the benefits of having an animal especially the positives for children.   The day we had to go and get the kitten from the SPCA I was on a professional development course for work and so he went with all the kids by himself.    They went all the way out there and Keith of all people, felt sorry for the mother and decided to bring her back too.  So from not wanting a cat/kitten at all to already feeling empathy so much so that he bought the two of them home, totally cracked me up and one of the coolest things that I am enjoying is seeing how quickly Keith is becoming attached to them.  He loves the experience and I love seeing the transformation in him!  LOL.  So here are some photos below of our two new family Members!  Mum is called PIPI and Baby is called KINA.

Above:  The poor cats on the way home from the SPCA in the car.

Niwa looks cute here but he is a bit of a 'Rat Bag' with the cats, as soon as they see him coming they take off.  I have heard a few sharp cries from them when I am in another room then I hear him giggling the poor things!  (notice the little blanket he has put on Mother cat below and she has tolerated it.  LOL.

          

A few photos below of Keith and his new found mates.  I think he likes them so much because they like and appreciate his mirimiri and cuddles and they don't talk back like most of the other family members do in this house.

The kitten likes Keith's  Puku as a nice padded resting place he he!

Niwa below scheming his next plan of attack.  Poor cats!

Some cute shots of KINA below.

OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY TO CAMPBELLS BEACH

As a family we always head up North to Campbells Beach for a few weeks during Summer.  We go during the year at times also but this is our longest holiday there.  Mum and Dad own the coolest Beach House which we have enjoyed for many years.  Now that Dad has gone however mum may sell it as it is just a bit much for her to manage alone.  We will definitely miss all the fun times we have had there over the years but we have many memories and photos  of the great times we have enjoyed there.  Anyway for now it is still ours so we will make the most of it!  Campbells Beach is only an hour away it is 10 mins from Matakana  and is off the Road on your way to Tawharanui. 

Things we love about Campbells…

-       Kayaking when the tide is in

-       Swinging from the tree swing into the Estuary

-       Eating the Blueberry icecreams from the Blueberry Orchid at Omaha

-       Boogy Boarding at Omaha

-       Going to the Matakana Markets

-       The Peace and quiet

-       Listening to the Tui’s and other amazing bird sounds

-       No internet access

-       Having friends come up to stay with us while we are there

-       Going to Goat Island

-       Going to Tawharanui

-       Good food, especially the BBQs on the great size deck

-       Pipi digging and eating

-       Bush walks

-       Rock pool exploring

-       Bike/scooter riding

-       Having time out to recharge as a family

-       Late nights

-       Morning walks

-       Its only an hour away from home but feels like you are away from everything

-       Plus about a million other things too.

I must admit,  it was  a little hard this time heading up there as everywhere we turned we were reminded of my amazing Dad.  The garage was filled with his stuff and his sports photos,  his little drawers of screws and his saws hanging from the walls,  ‘Everything has a place and everything in its place’.  That was Dad for you.  So yes it was a little tough.  Mum came up for a while and we went through Dads old clothes  which was pretty sad but kind of good at the same time to get that job done!  Below are some of our memories there during our Holiday this Summer.  (sorry most of the photos are I phone photos so not the best quality)

Fun at Omaha below......

Burying Terina.....

Whos silly idea was that???

Below,  our Castle that Keith Built.  Amazing aye!

Just Kidding!  They were filming an advertisment on the beach this day and this was one of the props,  it was actually Polystyrene covered in sand to look like a true sand castle,  it was very well done.  So if you see a bank ad on TV with this castle in it,  we were there that day so we are nearly famous?  LOL!

Below:  Keith constructed this fort with the kids and then they waited for the water to come and break the dam.  As usual he got very fussy and precise and people from all over the beach came to comment on his skills.  LOL,  sure he loved that!!

The water coming in to destroy their fort....

Going, Going,  Gone!

The Boogie Board Queen.

 Below:  Niwa getting more and more brave by the day. (hour)

Below:  Nanny/Mum came up to stay for a few days and we made cookies this morning,  this was when Niwa was licking the beater sticks,  he didn't want to share this stick with nanny.

But eventually he gave in!  Cute!

Below:  The Bickfords come to visit us.  This photo below is of the kids on the 

little train at Matakana.

Connor and Arama at Campbells Beach.  Look at the size difference,  even though Arama is older than Connor by 6 months.  

Below:  The beautiful Campbells Beach  I love this place,  it is perfect to Kayak at when the tide is in.

This Photo below (not a good one) was of the two Kayaks having a race,  Keith Driving one and Uncle Donovan driving the other,  the kids were in Heaven trying to beat each other,  there were  only about 4 kids on each Kayak and no life jackets  typical  ha ha!  Then it was off to the tree swing to bomb into the Estuary,  it was so much fun as usual but my i phone went flat so no photos.  Crazy uncle Donovan went Jumping from the top of the tree into the water,  he freaked me and Sarah out as usual.  Flip I hope one day he doesn't break his neck doing one of his mad stunts.  

He is ADHD for sure!  Ha ha!

Niwa at Campbells on his Boogie Board.

Then home for BBQ on the deck,  Uncle Donovan and Maia below.

Chef Keith below with his guests.  Cooking up a mean feed as usual!

Sarah and I below.  This was our attempt to take a photo of ourselves with the I pad.  Crazy ladies!

All the kids inside eating their Kai around the TV after a long day of fun at the beach!  You gotta love these days I remember camping with my cousins as a kid and they are some of my fondest memories now.  Summer, Beaches, Good food, Sun, Surf, Kayaks and cousins  HOW COOL!