so how come a year passes so quickly??

I can't believe I haven't posted for A WHOLE YEAR. that is beyond slackness. Anyway here I am again. what's happened since I was last here?

We moved last December from Kelson up to Riverstone in Upper Hutt, very cool to finally move into a big house and spread ourselves out.

Spent a week in Rotorua & Tauranga in late January, then summer began the day the kids started back to school - typical!

Finn turned 6 years old in Feb - went to Pirates Mini Golf and McD's

Work conference in Martinborough in February, the quad biking was both petrifying and exciting

Martinborough fair and B&B with Adam & Barbara the weekend before, great weekend thanks you guys

Had a family reunion in Napier at Queen's Birthday with Craig's family for Merridee & Dougal's 60th birthdays. Aaron provided the appropriate drama that weekend by taking a tumble on his mountain bike in the middle of nowhere, knocking himself unconcious and nearly breaking his collarbone. He was fine a couple of days later, but reminded him and Craig how easily these things happen

Went to Cub Camp with Connor at Brookfield in June. Awesome experience for both of us. I learnt a huge amount, and Connor had a ball with all the new activities.

Had the coolest weekend in Pukekohe with the Kiwipea chicks at the end of June. Stayed at Lucy's house, scrapped all day at Nic's house. I love those girls, enough said.

Connor turned 8 years old in July - went bowling with Nick, Kyle & Joel, Jordan & Nicole, then to McD's. Also had a family dinner at Ginjis which was great

Scrapping accomplishments this year - count em on one hand! very proud of the mini album I did for Nana's 91st birthday. cool little Kiwipea album at Nic's house. one page finished last weekend. that is it. oh well, I'm sure the mojo will kick in eventually (someone send me some please). going to CC07 Stacy Julian & Friends in November, looking forward to that.

Work is still occupying about 95% of my time it seems, but still a great place to work. Bit more travelling time now we're in Upper Hutt, but worth it to keep the kids in the same school.

Craig is studying 2 military history papers through Massey this year, keeping him very busy along with work. He's also cycling a lot with the guys which he loves. We had a very intense 3 weeks earlier this month watching the Tour de France. spent about 3 hours every night catching up on the racing, I couldn't believe how addicted I got to it. Felt quite lost when it was over, will look forward to next years tour. Craig really wants a road bike, but we'll have to see if the magic bike fairy can sort this one out (or maybe Father Christmas)

Still a leader at Keas, Connor has moved onto Cubs which suits him much better. Finn started at Keas in Feb and he is pretty cruisy there making my job much easier. Another help has been Kendall who started as a leader this year too. Having 4 leaders now has definitely taken the pressure off.

Jo & Aaron moved down from Tauranga at the end of last year, and we see heaps of them, generally every weekend, and the kids love spending so much time together

So that's a quick summary of this year, will find some photos to post later hopefully. Feels good to get back into this - will be a bonus if anyone actually reads it, but just looking back on past posts is a great reminder of our lives.

Tania

CC06

where do I even start with this amazing weekend? Once again Kiwiscraps have outdone themselves with the most well organised scrap event in the Southern Hemisphere (probably the world going on some comments I have heard)

After doing 6 classes at CC05 and being completely knackered I decided to ease off a bit this year and only booked 4. On Friday I did Ali Edwards Favourite Photos class, still have to finish off the album, just a few last minute things, but all the photos are in and will need to do some journalling. She is one super relaxed chick and her class was great to do. I haven't taken any photos of this yet, but Andrea has emailed me photos of hers so she may end up posting them on her blog.

After killing a couple of hours inbetween classes (wandering Lambton Quay then hooking up with Tana) we did Nic's Passport class. My fave project class I've ever done. That chick is awesome, she is up there with the international tutors in my eyes. Her little passport album is just the coolest. I finished mine at the Megacrop, although still not decided exactly what I'm going to put in it, so it's ready and waiting for photos and journalling. The colours were awesome. Nic's got photo's of it on her blog.

The Mega Crop was a bit of a blur, everyone tired, not enough room to scrap properly, but still managed to finish off my Passport journal so that's good (I'm usually the queen of unfinished projects lol) All the other girls were staying at the Intercontinental but I decided this year I would just go home and come back in the morning so I could get a good sleep.

Went back in at midday on Saturday and had two Cathy Z lectures. I love that woman, and her classes were so inspirational and funny.

Had a cool dinner out with the some of the Kiwipeas at the Loaded Hog. They all learnt what it's like to be with Tan1a when she doesn't get food at a reasonable hour - not a happy girl. I am a grazer and had not eaten since midday, and dinner didn't get to our table till 8.45pm, luckily I had a stray muesli bar in my bag to eat at 7pm cos I nearly couldn't stand up. Not good, but man I perk up fast as soon as I hoovered my dinner up in 2 minutes flat lol.


Had loads of laughs, Lucy freaking out a poor young waiter who she dubbed McHottie by telling him how cute he was, poor guy was so flustered he dropped a plate on Kathleen (note, the guy in this photo was NOT McHottie lol)

(photo kindly taken by Kathleen's son Jonathan, thanks dude, and hope you've recovered from spending a night out with a group of oldies lol, (sorry girls I speak for myself of course, and definitely not Tana)

Had an awesome weekend. It was so cool to catch up with Lucy, Nic, Tana, Andrea, Lesley, Kate, Kris, Kathleen and Tracy again. Jo, Ruth, Annie & Jan we missed you girls so much last weekend. And there were so many other scrapper friends there that I chatted with/saw across a crowded room, wish I'd had more time to catch up with everyone properly.

And Evana had her baby boy that night too! We were sitting in the restaurant knowing she was in labour and Nic constantly checking her phone for news. We hoped she would have it while we were having dessert so we could celebrate. She ended up having it at 10.50pm so close enough! Huge congrats Evana and family, Joel is gorgeous.

Still recovering from CC06, I need to clear my head so I can get some of that inspiration out. Looking forward to CC07.

Tania

your worst nightmare

Tuesday 8 August, we woke up to hear on the news that 4 houses in Kelson were on the edge of a gigantic landslide. Kelson would end up being the lead item on the national news for the rest of the week, felt quite bizarre to keep hearing our tiny suburb's name continually.


we couldn't imagine what it must be like to have to evacuate your house and watch it teeter on the edge of destruction. Kelson was like a media circus all week, with roads closed off, emergency services and demolition equipment up and down the hill. Finally one house was demolished and collapsed down into the gully. Our thoughts are with these families.

Hang Dog

One of our recent Kea sessions was at the Hang Dog climbing wall in Petone. We were amazed at how quickly the kids took to this. They were scampering up and getting to the top in no time

Connor wasn't too confident on it, but we may take him back on his own and he may give it a crack when there's no pressure.

Happy Birthday OJ!!

my nephew Oscar had his first birthday on Thursday, happy birthday little man!

My Bandit Moment

So 2 weeks ago I had a scrapbooking revelation (which I would learn the following weekend from the amazing Cathy Zielske that it was probably my "Bandit Moment" which I will explain later)

I was organising some photos for CC06 the following weekend (yes I am a lastminute homework doer lol) and found a photo of Finn taken the week before he was diagnosed as a Coeliac. The photo grabbed my heart and I realised I had to get that story written down before I forgot all the details. I am usually not an emotional journaller and find it hard to start writing down a story. Then I remembered the latest dare from the No 8 Wired ladies which was the topic The Chaos Within. This gave me some direction, and it all came pouring out. I wrote the story first then scrapped it in the afternoon and didn't stop till I had the page finished. I felt a huge relief in doing this page as Finn's illness was a turning point for our family, and it also seemed to unblock something within me that will now mean my journalling might hopefully be a little less "who, when, where, why"

Here's the journalling:

This photo was taken on 10 December 2005. I can see in your eyes the chaos that was going on in your mind & through your body. We were about to learn that our lives were going to change forever, but it would be for the better eventually.

You had been sick for a few months – getting worse as every week passed. The GP was baffled by your symptoms. You lost nearly 5kgs over 3-4 months, down to a frightening 14kgs. You had so many blood tests & samples, & were hardly eating a thing (ironically only Weetbix, which were unknowingly making you sicker). Finally we were referred to a paediatrician, & things happened so quickly after that. Dr Shaw had her suspicions (some terrifying ones which thankfully she kept to herself for a while), one of which was something we had never heard of before, & had no idea how to even say or spell it! {Coeliac} We had to research it at home on the internet just to get our heads round it. A sensitivity to wheat & gluten - it seemed to cover just about every food we ate, how would we cope with that?!

So more blood tests were ordered, & while we waited the 2 weeks for the results you were on Losec in case it wasn’t coeliac. That was a drama in itself, you hated those pills, & I spent hours sprinkling the contents of each pill on your food & trying to convince you to eat it. It just made you eat even less. You were like a little skeleton. You were completely withdrawn at crèche, no energy to play with your friends & clung to me every day when I dropped you off. This was the worst time of our lives to see you so ill & unhappy, & having no idea what to do.

Then came that phone call on 15 December 2005 – the blood tests had shown coeliac disease. I was at work & the relief I felt was unbelievable – lots of tears! Strange to think that we were relieved that you had a lifelong food intolerance, but it was infinitely better than some of our worst fears.

Robyn Shaw was able to pull some strings to get you booked in for a gastroscopy the following week at Bowen Hospital, as you couldn’t start a gluten free diet until after the diagnosis was confirmed. You had the operation under general anaesthetic, Daddy went into the theatre with you as I wasn’t brave enough to see you go to sleep. The doctors & nurses at Bowen were amazing, they did everything to make it not so scary for you. The surgeon said he could see enough to make a positive verbal diagnosis so we could start the new diet immediately. The official results would end up being a month off as everything shut down for Christmas.

The gluten free diet is a huge learning curve, & our lives seem to revolve around food, but look at you now after just 7 months – all the weight back on (and more), rosy cheeks, 2 terms at school, a changed little boy!!

As it turns out this was a blessing in disguise, since then Connor has also been diagnosed as a Coeliac too (it is hereditary), & he is much healthier too. We are all eating a gluten free diet & feeling better for it. The food you boys eat now is amazing compared to last year, no junk food, loads of meat, & heaps of my yummy baking! I think it is making me a better mother too as I am now more aware of food & cooking in general. It is very time consuming, but so worth it when I look at how much healthier my boys are now.

We just don’t know what is going on inside our bodies, & how fast lives can change.

And endless thanks to all my family and friends (especially my awesome Kiwipea chicks) for all the feedback about this page. It was quite personal for me and to hear them all saying they were moved by it really made it special

So for all the people who didn't do Cathy's class last weekend I know you're thinking what on earth is a Bandit Moment? Cathy explained it was the time she realised she had to move from event scrapping to non-event scrapping. She did a page about a dog she had as a teenager called Bandit, describing his effect on her life and her memories of him before he died. Doing my Chaos Within page made me realise too that even though I need to continue doing birthday parties, school trips, and Christmas pages, I also need to get more stories written down before they are forgotten forever (and believe me the way my brain is feeling lately, that is already happening lol) More about Cathy's classes and CC06 in a later post.

where do the weeks go?

in catchup mode again. The last couple of weeks have gone by in a crazy blur as usual.

Mum & Auntie Sandra got back from Rarotonga. They had a great time but unfortunately it rained most of the time but it did stop for Adam & Barb's wedding luckily

2 days later Mum was back into Granma mode again. Natasha & Colin moved to Nikau Valley in Paraparaumu (their house is another story for further along in the catchup lol). Mum had Darcey & Oscar for 2 days while they were shifting and I took Darcey for the Friday. This was the first time her and I had spent some good girlie time together. She came up to school when I dropped the boys off, sat on the mat with Finn for roll call and wanted to stay, she looked so cute.

It was a very different experience to have a little girl in the house. Connor & Finn are always off occupying themselves building endless lego creations and other boy stuff. Darcey followed me around the whole time wanting to help me with what I was doing. She is also very independant now and everything was "I do myself". She helped me bake bread, entertained me with her singing and dancing during the Wiggles (new to me - my boys have never been the singing/dancing type lol), had a wee bounce on the tramp - "I bounce high", and if I disappeared for more than a minute on the computer or something I could here this little voice "where you Taya?" she was a total joy to have and I can't wait for the next time.

Oh and luckily she loves having her photo taken!

arrr me hearties

On Saturday Connor & Finn went to Josh's pirate party for his 6th birthday. They had loads of fun, and looked so cool in their costumes

Finn had the Johnny Depp thing going on, but we had trouble trying to get Connor to look mean lol

Right, off to prep for Keas. We've got a campfire tonight, with toasted marshmallows in choccy thin sandwiches, yummo (I'd better make sure there's enough for us leaders too!)

Tania

I miss my Mum!

Mum & Auntie Sandra are in Rarotonga at the moment for my cousin Adam & Barbara's wedding. They left last Sunday night and come back tomorrow night. I spoke to Mum today and they have been having an awesome time, although has been monsoon type rains most of the time. A & B's wedding was yesterday and apparantly the rain stopped just for the wedding and there was a beautiful sunset. Congrats Adam & Barb!!!

Tania

catching up a bit

have been a bit slack over the last week or so, so will start to catch up a bit now.

Last Saturday we had Connor's 7th birthday party. We said he could choose whatever he wanted, so bowling was the decision. He invited 3 friends - Griffin, Nick & Liam.

Started out with lunch at McD's, then headed for Petone Bowland. Connor & Finn have never bowled, and it's been a LONG time since Craig & I bowled and we had such a blast. Granma & Pop came too, and they enjoyed it too (I think they must actually secretly bowl on Saturday nights cos they were both really good). Was a fun, easy way to have a party, and no baking!

Then his actual birthday was on Tuesday, and he woke up to a huge pile of pressies. After work I picked up Hell Pizza (thanks Hell for your gluten free bases!), and Kent & Veronika came round for tea too. Craig had taken the day off work, so had picked the boys up from school and made a yummy choccy birthday cake with them.

Where have the last 7 years gone???

Tania

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Tracy, this is pretty cool

4 jobs I've had
office junior
accountant
mother
kea leader

4 Movies I could watch over and over
Love Actually
Grease
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Pirates of the Carribean

4 TV shows I love to watch
Lost
Desparate Housewives
Dancing with the Stars
anything on the Food Channel

4 Important things to me
Family
Friends
Health
Scrapbooking

4 favourite foods
curries
chocolate
lasagne
macaroni cheese

4 tunes that play in my head
Breathe - Anna Nalick
Sweet Child of Mine - GnR (listened to best of GnR the other day and can't get it out of my head, that's a good thing lol)
I Like the way you move (always love those Mitsubishi ads)
Running - Evermore

4 Websites I visit daily
xtra webmail
heaps of blogs
Stuff
BNZ

Four Scrap company's I like
Chatterbox
Basic Grey
Making Memories
Scenic Route

Bloggers to tag
Tana
Andrea
Lesley
Annie

How cool is this ....

The NZ Dares blog is going to be huge. The layouts are so cool, I can't wait to see what others come up with. This is such a cool idea you girls.

Tania

not much news this week

just a week at work. Had Monday off as I'm working Friday instead. Kids have been with Mum for the last 3 days, she is a saint, tomorrow they are off to the holiday programme. It's dragon day and they are being taken into Wellington on the bus to the Red Brick Theatre to see Dragon of an Ordinary Family by Margaret Mahy, they'll have a ball.

Looking forward to Saturday, Mum is having the kids (again!), Craig and I are off to an afternoon session of Pirates 2, then meeting Barb & Adam, Sarah & Joe for dinner at Genghis Khan, gotta love that mongolian restaurant.

Just been catching up on some taped telly tonight, saw the first episode of Waterloo Rd which was quite good, will be giving it some more time next week. Will need something to fill the gigantic gap left by Lost after next week's finale (2 hours, can't wait). The Amazing Race is good again, and of course NZ Idol starts again on Sunday night (will you be joining me Lesley & Simon?)

Tania

practising links today

I'd love to be able to link to everyone but would be here all day so instead I'll just link Nic since she is Captain Announcement & is always first to know anything that is worth knowing... hi Nic!

Oh yay it works. Ok what to try next?? This blimmin blog is so addictive lol