MATARIKI 2013

The above video is one we made at school for the classes to watch.  It explains Matariki.

Matariki is a special time of year for our whanau,  we try to take advantage of all the cool things there are to do in the community to celebrate our 'Maori New Year'.  A few weeks ago we went as a family to make Maori waka at Corbans Art cnt out West.  The kids made some beautiful waka and we are about to collect them after them having been fired.  Keith was so in his element,  the tutors there couldn't believe he was so into it,  we explained to them that he was an artist and then they got it.  We were the last to leave of course as he was perfecting his master piece.  I can't wait to take some better photos of his final product.  Here are some photos of the potters in action!

The waka below is Niwa's creation.  He was so into it!

Our other SPECIAL niece Nicole!

Last year I published a few posts on Nicole, especially of her getting married etc.  She was a very special niece also and over the years has done so many special things for us.  The day Terina was born she travelled down to Taumarunui on the train and arrived about 3 hours after she was born.  She stayed for the first week of Terina's life and she was the very first family member to meet Terina.  It was so so special that she came back to NZ 2 weeks ago,  as she now lives in Perth with her husband, Joel and their lovely new addition and bundle of joy, Matthew who is about 8 weeks old now.  He was such a cool little spirit and just so chilled and happy.   Here are some cute photos below of them all.

A BUSY WEEK!

Well the time has finally come to smash out our kitchen and to bash a few walls down and so we were told 2 days before the big birthday party that the kitchen would start getting demolished the day of the party.   Thanks goodness we had arranged to have the party elsewhere!  So it has been a crazy week packing and partying and there is still lots of stuff to do before Monday when they totally bash down all the walls and gut the whole place.  Thank goodness mum is going to Fiji on Monday and we can move into her house  for a few weeks while the worst of the mess is happening!  Here are some shots of some of the smashing etc this week.


First though,  here is our current kitchen......

Arama took the first swipe at smashing the gib wall below.

These photos below are of what it looks like at the moment.  Lovely aye,  but I can actually visualise what it is going to look like it is quite exciting.  Hopefully by summer we will have a lovely indoor/outdoor flow kitchen and dinning area.  Its gonna look so cool.  

The lovely pink bats in the roof are revolting so yukky and brown. Thats one of  our tasks this weekend, to remove them all.  The other task is to remove all the stuff out of the cupboards, pantry etc and store them somewhere until our kitchen is complete.  Lovely weeks ahead!  LOL!

I will post more photos as it slowly gets ripped apart!

What would you like for your birthday Niwa??

I just had to snap a shot of this one.  We asked Niwa what he would like for his birthday.  It is always the 'Great Annual Toy Sale' at the Warehouse around the time of Niwa and Terina's birthday .  So I handed the brochure that came in our letter box promoting the sale  to Niwa and I gave him a vivid marker and asked him to circle the things he loved the most in the  brochure.  Here is a photo of some of his favourite things.  Note:  Everything on the whole page has been circled in fact everything  on every page had been circled  CUTE!

Terina and Niwa's Birthday.

Terina and Niwa's Birthday .

Terina turned 8 on the 14th July and Niwa turned 5 on the 17th of July.

We have been through some real tough stuff the past few weeks and were just going to flag the whole party/Birthday thing this year but then at the last min,  we thought stuff it we are going to have some fun.  So we invited all our favourite people to come for a Dance party.  See the I movie invite above.

Lots of party photos to come.

KYLEE MY SPECIAL NIECE.

Kylee has always been there for me and my kids.  She takes our kids willingly every time we ask her and loves them so much.  She often asks if she can please have them.  LOL. Here are some cute pics of her and Niwa below obviously when she had him one day.  I just stole these off her facebook page.  

On Wednesday we had Niwa and Terina's party and these are the cakes she made for them.

The cupcakes are for Terina,  the Transformer cake is for Niwa.

Kylee is one giving person and so creative too.  I love you lots Kylee!  You will always

be so special to us and our kids.