Rosie joins the 30 club....plus cake in a can.

It was Rosie's turn to celebrate the big three-oh milestone today.  I celebrated by totally disrupting her class with mini cupcakes for the kids, and a mini cake for Miss Cammock.  I lit a candle and made them all sing her happy birthday.  Then Preston became a mini celebrity and had 26 kids all up in his face.  

Happy Birthday Rosie!  Hope you had a great day and here is to a great year ahead.

Miss Cammock enjoying a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday

Birthday cupcakes (props for all the colourful artwork rose)

Preston getting mobbed by the kids.

Devouring a cupcake, and smiles for aunty rose

cake from a can...

(I have been wanting to make this for a while now, and Rosie's birthday provided a good opportunity to test it out.  Now the concept is very cool, but unfortunately mine is no the best looking.  When I rearranged the layers i managed to squash icing all out the side.  Which didn't matter in the end because it fell over twice on the drive to school due to roundabout corners.  Nevertheless I do like the cake from a can project! I got the idea from the Oh Happy Day blog - so click on it if you would like to see a much better version of this, in triplicate.  Now that I look at it again I think mine was too tall.  Not to mention the untidy icing.  Oh well.  I think I will give it another go for Preston's birthday).

A surprise wedding

I went to a surprise wedding over the weekend!  How cool is that?!  Huong and Regan decided they really did not want to deal with all the 'drama', expense, and stress that typically accompanies a wedding.  So what better way to avoid it then to not actually invite your friends to a wedding, but to an engagement party in your own backyard?

That's right - friends and family showed up for an engagement party, but about an hour into it, the happy couple conveniently disappeared, only to re-emerge as bride and groom!  I was actually in on the surprise, but it was still exciting waiting for the big moment and watching everyone's jaws drop as they realized they were actually getting married....right now!

The wedding was intimate and romantic, and went off without a hitch.  The vows were touching, the groom was funny and heart felt, and the bride was stunning.  Gorgeous flowers and tea light candles were dotted around the garden, and delicious food was everywhere.  It really was the perfect wedding, and I am so thrilled I got to be there.

Oh, and one last note....an ice-cream sundae bar with a REAL snow freeze machine can only add to a perfect day!

Congratulations Huong and Regan!

finger painting fun

Actually to be honest, Preston was rather serious during his first finger painting session.  But he gave mixing up all the colours a good go, before deciding he was bored and would rather crawl away.  Of course he made this decision very quickly and is obviously faster than me, because I only managed to catch him after he had crawled off the newspaper and had one blue hand firmly on the carpet.

I used an easy recipe to make my own fingerpaint from Our Best Bites, which you can check out right here.  Because I made it myself and knew there was nothing toxic in there, it didn't matter when he decided to have a taste  : )  Plus it is cheap, and you can choose any colour you want... providing you have some food colouring of course.  (The same link has a recipe for edible play dough too, if your babe is into eating everything...)

And if you are looking for a fun indoor activity with your own toddler, but can't quite face the mess of finger painting, try putting the paint in a large ziplock back, and taping it down firmly on the table.  they can mess it up all they like, and at the end you get to throw away the mess!  Will definitely use that when Preston is older.

    

                                             

p.s i hate that I don't have windows live writer anymore now that we have a mac.  Anyone know of a good alternative?

p.p.s he is so good at walking now

sunset symphony

I think Preston is eyeing up those german chocolate cupcakes...

Sunday night we all headed to the Hamilton Gardens to enjoy the free outdoor symphony.  (Well free to us because we all forgot our gold coin donation, oops).  We decided to make a night of it so threw together an impromptu picnic, took chairs and blankets, and had a great time.  There are some really great events in Hamilton - you just have to get out and actually go!

I was quite worried I would have to leave with a noisy and screaming baby - let's face it - Preston isn't well known for sitting quietly.  But I was pleasantly surprised at how great he was, and I think all the people around us were secretly relieved a noisy baby was not ruining the music.

I think it was the music that actually kept him happy.  That boy of mine really loves his music and is constantly grooving away whenever he hears a beat.  He was quite transfixed most of the time - except during an upbeat irish number when he really started dancing away.  I, of course, was delighted that everyone around us was smiling and laughing at my little dancer.

It was getting quite late and cold so we left at half time - which unfortunately meant we missed out on some gypsy dancing and the fireworks...Paul and Kita (being child free and carefree as they are) said it was great though.

What was the last big event you went to and enjoyed?

laughing and grooving to the irish tunes..

oh no the big three oh

It finally happened...that birthday I have been dreading for the past few years...I am 30.  It just sounds so old.  A whole new decade.  Bugger.

Earlier in the week it seemed like a good idea to have a birthday breakfast with family and a few friends...but Friday night when I was at the supermarket at 10pm it was starting to seem like a silly idea, and early Saturday morning it seemed like a thoroughly stupid idea - I could have been sleeping in after all!

But the breakfast went well despite my tiredness.  Lian made delicious custard/cinnamon/savoury buns, and then we added french toast, fruit, and yoghurt berry parfaits.  I think everyone had a good little munch. And of course Preston made his walking debut!

I added a midday nap to the agenda, and that night the Warwick's and Ardern's joined us for pizza and some cheesecake-so-good-you-won't-even-believe-it courtesy of Lian.

And there you have it.  30.  And I'm not that excited about it.

  

take off! We have a walker...

The big news around these ways (apart from me turning the dreaded three-oh over the weekend - that post still to come) is that our baby boy is walking.  I guess he is not such a baby anymore.  In fact he was 11 months old yesterday...just a few short weeks until he is one.

He took two steps toward me on Friday, then at my little birthday gathering Saturday morning he took about 5 steps between me and Lian.  It was very exciting, and he looked so very proud of himself.  Today he was up to 12 steps.  This video was taken at the Farthings yesterday on his 11 month mark, but he was a little tired and over it, so you only see a few steps in there.

officially unemployed?

This time one year ago I had my last day of work at the Museum.  Wow that has gone fast, yet it seems like so long ago at the same time.  I had every intention of visiting all the time and staying in touch, but I guess I'm just like all the dozens of other people who left while I was still working there...you just kind of drift away, as life at work carries on without you.  You feel a bit strange returning, a bit on the outside - and naturally so.  It seems like such a different place, especially now that my director of 7 years has also left.

Thanks to clever planning on my part, (and the use of all my annual leave) I actually did not start maternity leave officially until after Preston was born.  So I was due back at work on April 7th.  Today I let my manager know that I would not be returning full time...he was disappointed but he understood.  We are discussing some options though...perhaps a few hours a week??  Not sure at this stage how it will all play out.

So there you have it.  No longer am I on maternity leave.  I really am a stay at home mum now!  Wow life is different.  Sometimes (like when he is biting me, yelling for fun, or spitting out his breakfast) that little boy seems so naughty, but most of the time, he is a fabulous little person so full of laughs and smiles and cleverness and finger pointing and nose scrunching and funny noises....and as of today....TWO STEPS.

I was so excited but he has yet to repeat the feat ; )

Valentines Day

I made a surprise visit to Sam's work with these cupcakes...which probably couldn't get any pinker and/or girlier.

Farewell Hamilton

That title sounds rather exciting and dramatic doesn't it.  Like we're moving away on a grand adventure.  Alas we are not.

I went into town today to drop off cupcakes for Sam's meeting.  (Very home-maker of me).  On the way past the movies, instead of the usual 'now playing' or 'coming attractions' there was a sign that read:

Farewell Hamilton
20 years
1992-2012

(If I had a snazzy iPhone I would have taken a photo.  Jasmine if you read this, take a photo when you go past with your snazzy iPhone and send it to me).

Wow, 20 years ago that cinema (Village 5 at the time) was the biggest, flashest place in town.  Always packed out on a Friday or Saturday night, always exciting.  And now, after 20 years, it has had to shut down.  It was a little run down in later years, and certainly a far cry from the Chartwell cinemas or the new Hoyts cinemas at the base.  But still, I think it is a little sad to see it go.  No movies in the central city?  Crazy.

I remember clearly my first movie at Village.  We went to "Hook" for Family Home Evening.  I remember coming home from school to mum cooking large quantities of popcorn...which Wade then had to smuggle in to the cinema for us all because there was no way mum and dad were forking out for the overpriced movie popcorn.  He didn't look suspicious at all with a giant yellow bag filled with popcorn in ice-cream containers...






I remember going to Beauty and the Beast one night with Aunty Joanne (and possibly more aunty's?) and Lian....and Paul.  I remember being so mad that Paul got to come because it was a girls night.  How mean is that!  We got to the theatre late and it was packed, so we were split up in little groups and I put Paul's (homemade) popcorn under his chair for later.  Then I got shifted and poor little 6 year old Paul forgot about his popcorn and didn't get to eat anything during the movie.

Then there was the time I went to Mission Impossible with dad, and after a particularly far fetched chase scene he called out "yeah right" and got a few laughs (which he was quite proud of).

Didn't Wade and a few of the Cammocks and other YSA make it into the Waikato Times for lining up for a midnight screening of Star Wars circa 1999?

There have been some big movies to hit that cinema over the years - Matrix, Star Wars, the early Harry Potters, LOTR...plus lots of other rubbish we all happily paid because a night out at the movies is a night away from reality.

So yes, Village 5/Village 7/Sky City cinemas/Event Cinemas (I think that's all the name changes?) - you were a little worse for wear in your old age, but you provided us with some good times.  Thanks for the memories.


Who has a favourite memory of the town movies??  Or if you are not from Hamilton, what's your favourite movie going memory??

groundhog day

Sometimes I feel that this motherhood gig is pretty tough.  In fact yesterday a day at work would have seemed like a walk in the park in comparison.  Preston seems to have grown into a very, very, inquisitive and active child.  Or as Paul likes to put it "A tutu with ADD".  These last few days have felt a little like groundhog day, and no toy I produce, no walk I go on, no game I try to play seems to capture Preston's attention for more than about 75 seconds.

I woke up hoping today might be better, but by 7.30am he had already managed to deftly kick the bowl of weetbix from my hand and it landed upside down on the carpet.  I guess it's just another day.

It's not often I post with out a photo, but really the only appropriate photo here is one of me, looking tired and fugly.  And no one really needs to see that.

Oh well.  Off to do the dishes I suppose before Preston wakes up and we start round 2 for the day.  I guess I should just be grateful he actually went to sleep!