4th of December

I think the older I get the more that date seems just like another day.  My birthday started last month, I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan so I booked myself and Shaun into Gold Class theatre to go see it.  Of course we pick a day where our big boys are at school & kindy and it was just us & Kaea.  There was a bit of a twist tho, it was a Baby on board gold class session so... although Kaea was great (apart from the 3 nappy changes he required) the other babies were not great... BUT I did enjoy the movie and can't wait to see it again on DVD.

Yesterday we went for a flash lunch at Kuzhinas cafe in Newmarket... Shaun bought a voucher off 1-day $50 food for $25. Mmmm Yum-oh eye fillet steak and braised pork belly and focaccia bread with fresh made dips... it was pretty awesome we spent an extra $8 on drinks and the starters so it tasted even better!

Delicious omelette for brekky this morning made by my Huni, I decided to make pancakes for all of us too, spent the day cleaning up, doing dishes, doing the washing etc etc.... Shaun  made delicious gourmet pizza and I made myself a mars bar chocolate birthday cake, not too bad here are some pics... Lots of well wishes on facebook lovely texts from my brothers :o) Lovely day so Happy birthday to us Sissy :o)

Shauns gourmet pizza

Kaea enjoying Mums birthday cake

Mars bar birthday cake

The Next Step...

Well my wife is doing this blog thingy and i probably wont get on here much (my wife does enough for the both of us) so thought id do one straight away.

Well ive just finished a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and it was hard yakka! especially with three kids. But now that I have finished im now looking for a job and it sucks! There just doesn't seem to be much opportunity here at home in NZ, and we might have to go back to Oz.

You see we used to live in Aussie and the lifesyle was great, my wife used to get paid as much as I would be after a few years in my profession! And frankly her job wasn't that hard (luv u huni). The work environment is good too the bosses are mostly good to you and give incentives to work harder (even though thats not very hard lol!). But being home has been so good being around family, that it maybe hard to leave again. We were shocked at the living expenses when we had to move back to NZ, especially here in Auckland it is just ridiculous. Aussie was cheaper for just about everything. But when it comes to food NZ tastes so much better!

So you may of heard things about oz but if you had any questions just ask. My wife lived there for 7yrs and I for 4, so we have quite a bit of experience.

Chur. Sh.

Weight loss challenge

3 weeks ago I joined the Community weight loss challenge.  I decided it was time I REALLY REALLY went hard out on this.  With my husbands looming family reunion and my desire to have another baby soon the pressure was on!

So far I have lost a grand total of 5.7kgs in 5 weeks!!!  Wooohoo!!  I added an extra 2 weeks because I actually started 2 weeks before I officially joined the challenge, they wont count in the challenge but they make me feel pretty good when I add up the total amount of lost kilos.  Last week I was the biggest loser in my group with a loss of 1.2kgs.

The challenge is run by herbalife distributors but there is absolutely no pressure to buy their products.  There is a joining fee and once admin costs etc are taken out the rest is divided up into 1st, 2nd and 3rd biggest losers.  This has been really motivating to me because of the fact I have to pay to join and then for the possibility of any cash winnings.  I havnt been able to move any weight for a long time and finally we have some success!  Whats the secret? Lots of activity, healthy eating and skinny shakes!  Bring on Summer!

Weigh in is on Monday nights and finishes up on the 13th of December (it is only a 6 week challenge, not the usual 12 week challenge) I will let you know how I go after each of the remaining weigh-ins and how I think I did through out the week!! Kia Kaha! Ku.

December

Here is our very own toilet paper roll nativity scene.  Really fun! 

I Love December!  #1. on the 4th day of December not too long ago my parents and 2 older brothers were blessed with the addition of beautiful twin girls to the family.  Yes myself that is, and my twin sister Kiri.  This year Kiri will be in Australia for our birthday, returning with a perfume of my choice :o) and I will be in Auckland preparing for family Christmas at my house, with the in-laws.  Shaun is taking me to a lovely cafe in Newmarket for lunch on Friday I'll be sure to let you know how it that goes.  We have already done the birthday movie Harry Potter 7, Gold Class - Baby on board bargain (remind me to tell you how that went some time!)  #2. Who dosn't love December for this reason... CHRISTMAS!

Last night for our Family Home Evening we were suppose to set up our Christmas tree but our lesson part went a bit long.  I don't mind at all because it was a great little learning activity for the boys on the true meaning of Christmas.  I have been on Trade me for the last few weeks trying to find a nice nativity scene for our home. (no we don't have one yet!) Unable to find one I liked, that was also in our price range, I decided yesterday to search how to make one and found this fabulous printable colour-in nativity scene.  Once its all coloured in, cut em out and stick em onto toilet paper rolls!  They turned out really adorable and my boys just love them!!  Plus I dont mind them playing with them and looking and touching and doing those things kids (boys in paticular) can't help themselves from doing!  Here is the link Printable Nativity scene I had just as much fun colouring as the boys did :o) Ku.

Our Christmas tree waiting for all the pressies