peek behind the kirton

Blobby Blog

2009-01-11T20:58:00.003+13:00

Okay, so just because I have made the commitment to blog more regularly doesn't mean that I actually have anything of note to report! We are experiencing a heatwave at the moment, temps in the mid 30s and consequently we have spent the last few days moving between the lounge sofa and the school pool and very little else. Not even any new photos to share - sorry, very slack!

Still, many adventures in the pipeline, not least the arrival of two VIPs - namely Mima and Poppa Bill (that's my mum and dad for those of you not in the know). Hamish is very excited about their impending visit, as is Gabbi 'though she hasn't a scooby who they are. A few little surprises up our sleeves for them - more details later.

As for tomorrow, Hamish kicks off some summer swimming lessons with his friends Briarley and Kirsty and we have a mother/ son trip to trawl around the antique shops of Tirau planned for the afternoon. And what of Miss G? I admit I am a mean mother and she is off to creche with cousin Ethan for a few hours tomorrow.

Enjoy the pre-christmas photo of thing 1 and thing 2 cooling off in the drinks tub!

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!

2009-01-04T20:32:00.002+13:00

Happy New Year!

With huge apologies to my regular readers (Hi Mum and Dad!), I am back in the land of Blog, allbeit for a brief time.

When I signed up for graduate school earlier this year I had no idea of the hours it would entail. Consequently, blogging has been a little way down the list of priorities. However, we teachers do have a few perks to our jobs, namely long summer holidays, so I will endeavour to blog a little. No promises, though!

Hope all is well with you and yours wherever you may be (and if that's not New Zealand, then why the bl***y h*** not? Come on down - the weather's great!).

Happy Environment Day

2008-06-10T10:16:00.007+12:00

Hope you all had a wonderful World Environment Day last Thursday. Over here in clean, green NZ, we celebrated by planting a tree at Te Miro School and Hamish dressed up as Captain Enviro (in the best Blue Peter tradition of using bottle tops, sticky tape, ...).

If you're interested in all things environment-related, you might like to head on over to here for some inspriring words on the subject (unless you're american, in which case you might find it all a little cringe-worthy - sorry!).

Take care,

S. xxx

Something to warm your cockles!

2008-05-30T20:46:00.003+12:00

Here's a little video of Thing 1 and Thing 2 taken last month.

This is fairly typical of where they're at right now - Hamish trying to help Gabbi and Gabbi giving a swift boot in return!

The book is "Goodnight Moon", a family favourite and, just in case you were thinking we had slipped further down the evolutionary rung in terms of furniture, the chair is B.G.'s! Enjoy!

Introducing the one and only BG Beagle!

2008-04-30T21:23:00.005+12:00

Yes, our little nuclear family is now complete with the addition of our latest bundle of joy - B.G. the Beagle. Just 2 years old, a toddler in doggy years, and full of vim, vigour and, let's be blunt, poo!

Long story short is that his previous owners were emigrating to Singapore and needed to find a new home for Beeg and fast - they literally left the day after we picked him up - and we were gullible enough to say yes! So there you have it - Mum, Dad, 2 kids and a dog!

In other news, and only slightly less exciting than the arrival of the pupster, both Paul and I have started new jobs this month. I have returned to teaching at a local Montessori school and Paul is now managing a local shop (difficult to describe precisely what kind of shop - kind of like the slightly odd offspring of a newsagents and confectioners).

So it's busy, busy, busy! Most definitely heads down, bottoms up for the foreseeable future!

Enjoy the piccies of Gabbi (in full Paris Hilton mode) and Hamish (Air Rescue Helicopter visit to Te Awamutu). And I'd just like to point out that moments after I took the photo of Hamish, I was brutally savaged by a killer bee - huge wound, absolutely & completely brave, I was.

S. xxx

The Big Trip

2008-03-16T21:23:00.005+13:00

Can you tell what it is yet?

Apologies to my legions of regular readers (aka Mum and Dad!) for the interruption to our usual coverage of all things kiwi-related. We have, as some of you may know, been across the pond, visiting our bonzer cousins in Sydney.

The main purpose of our trip was to celebrate the lovely Jane and Paul's wedding but we did manage to fit in a wee bit of sightseeing too. Interestingly, when I lived in the UK and was an avid watcher of "Neighbours" (quality viewing), my Mum and I always joked about the fact that Aussies always ended everything with the sound "ie" - like barbie for barbecue, aussie for Australian, tinnie for a beer. Well, I'm happy to report that progress has been made by our colonial cousins and they have progressed through the alphabet all the way to the letter "O" as beautifully demonstrated by the headline on Bondi Rescue during our stay which went something along the lines of "The abo at Dubbo was rescued by the brave ambo". The first correct translation of this sentence will be awarded the "Captain Aha! Smart Alec" prize for the week. Answers on a postcard ...

Aside from the wedding, there were three highlights for me.

Firstly, the family afternoon at Cronulla beach - very relaxed, just a quiet amble through the town and along the beach.

Secondly, the apartment in Sydney, which overlooked Darling Harbour - absolutely stunning views and prime location. A precious moment for me was falling asleep with Gabbi and Hamish in our bed with the curtains open, watching the city light up at night.

Finally, I absolutely loved the day we spent at the Australian Reptile Zoo - koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, venomous spiders and snakes. The zoo is just a great size for little kids, with a huge playground at the end. Hamish loved the Spider exhibit, though Paul looked a little green around the gills as this point, and I was just happy that I got to say "G'day!" to the kangaroos! Gabbi enjoyed the pies!

Other than that, it was probably not the most relaxing vacation I've had - extended family, small children, multi-level housing, measles outbreak - yes, let's chalk that one up to experience and move on!

Will update you soon on the exciting changes happening in the Hill house. Also, will add more photos once internet is sorted - Grr! Curse you Yahoo!Xtra Bubble!

Until then, take care.

S. xxx

So you see! There's no end to the things you might know, depending how far beyond Zebra you go!

2008-02-05T20:11:00.000+13:00

Well, I know it is a cliché to say that time flies, blah blah blah, but honestly, it seems only two minutes since we took him to kindie for the first time and here he is, a big school boy now.

For those of you who thought I would be a blubbering heap on the floor at the prospect of my first born striding off into hills, I'm sorry to disappoint but I was entirely calm and composed. He didn't look at all lost or small. In fact, he breezed into his class, casually dropped off his backpack and headed straight outside to the trampoline as if he had done this a thousand times before.

At the end of his first day, when asked how it all went, he simply said, "It was lovely!". What more can you ask for.

The school field

The playground

The Library

Enjoy the pics of the school, not to mention the man himself! Hopefully they will help you see why we chose to send Hamish up the mountain!

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

2008-01-25T15:20:00.000+13:00

After one false start, due to aforementioned "Great tummy bug incident of 08!", we finally got round to having Hamish's 5th Birthday Party. Thankfully the casualties due to the date change were few and Tommy, Hamish's best friend, was still able to make it (not to mention cool big cousies Zack & Bryce!).

As with all good birthday parties, the sun shone, the kids got thoroughly drenched and everyone consumed vast quantities of sugar, salt and blue food colouring - I'm sure before too much longer our birthday parties will require a government health warning.

Enjoy the pics - I'll upload more to flickr soon.

S.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-13T21:49:00.000+13:00

Apologies for the length of time between posts. It's due to a combination of birthdays, Christmas festivities, temperamental computers and broadband allocations, beach holidays and nasty tummy bugs (again!).

Still, I'm back on deck now and hope to resume some kind of more regular blogging this year.

So many things to catch you up with but don't now where to start.

Firstly, if you cast your eyes to the right you will see one of my new additions - the flickr page image gallery. The most recent pics will display here but if you click on any image, it should take you to my flickr site, where you can browse the family album at leisure. At the moment, this consists of exactly three random shots I used to check that I had in fact done it all correctly but I will upload more once we get our broadband connection sorted (Grr - I hate Xtra!)

Other news in brief since my last post:
Gabbi turned 1; Hamish had his last day at Montessori Pre-school : ( ; All my students passed their exams (hurrah and thank god!); Christmas came and went in a flurry of wrapping paper; Hamish turned 5; holidays at the beach; I got sick with a tummy bug again and had to get what the doctor referred to as a "BFN" injected in my posterior (are you loving the mental image?); Paul's store had an amazing Christmas; basically everyone poor but happy!

Other big news this week has been that Gabbi has finally moved into her own room. Not sure why we kept her in ours for so long but I'm really loving the fact that she's moved on! Imagine, being able to put the light on to read a book in bed - ah, the sheer novelty of it makes me faint with excitement even now!

Attached to that has also been the un-attaching of Gabbi herself, if you'll pardon the expression. I loved breastfeeding Hamish and I was very sad when it ended around the time of his second birthday. I'm kind of torn between the La Leche League side of me that really loves the idea of the self-weaning child and the side of me that wants to be able to wear a dress in the summer and entirely frivolous underwear! Anyway, I fully intended to give Gabbi her full two years (WHO recommended time for breastfeeding as well so I keep thinking it really must be right) but she has been a different kettle of fish altogether. She bites, she twists, she wriggles, she lunges - it is like a full-contact sport with her. So I've been cutting her down more and more to only the essential nighttime and naptime feeds but with being sick and not being able to feed her, she's been quite happy to take a cup of milk and a cuddle instead and so that's that. Weaned! No great emotional wrench on her part, certainly no tears shed on my part and off we go, launching into the next stage!

Hamish is a sweetheart, as ever. He drives me crazy most days but he has such a great heart and a devilish sense of humour that I am still bowled over with love for him everyday. Can't believe he's about to start school - my little baby!!!!Waahhhhh!!!

Pull yourself together, Sinéad!

Anyway, if I haven't caught up with you yet, hope you had a great Christmas and New Year! Do check back here from time to time and find out what we're up to in this neck of the woods.

Love, Sinéad

Cool Pool

2007-11-26T18:22:00.000+13:00

Not wanting to rub anyone's nose in it, but the weather here is rather fabulous at the moment. Paul inflated the pool for H & G this afternoon. Enjoy the pics!

Weekly Roundup

2007-11-25T08:18:00.000+13:00

This is the week that was!

Tuesday was Andrea's birthday and I managed to find her a very funky-looking vintage smock (actually, I think this one is more of a smocket - great big 'roo pouch in the front for life's little essentials). I really think there will be a smock revival in days to come!

Gabbi had her first taste of Bunnies. I was so worried about sending her off to creche two days a week but she absolutely loved it so next milestone marked off the list. She also has four new pearlie whites!

Hamish's kindie friend, Tommy, came around on Tuesday evening to have a sleep-out in the little tent. It was a lovely evening, complete with sparklers and hot choccie. They both crashed about 9pm and ended up snuggled in our bed.

We also caught up with Céara and her little troupe of dancers on Saturday - disappointed that there was not too much by way of ringlets but plenty of poodle socks on display! (FYI, Céara runs an Irish dancing school, hence the reference to ringlets.)

I won! I won! I won!

2007-11-15T12:19:00.000+13:00

I've been on a bit of a competition-fest for a while - the criteria for entry being that it must be free to enter and the prize must be something that I genuinely would like to have (and will not add clutter to the house).

It's been lean pickings on the competition front for a while (since the great "Jumbo Nappy Pack" giveaway - jumbo pack, not jumbo nappies) but today we had success!! Free movie tickets for me!! Hurrah!

Okay, so it's not a Smeg Fridge but for two cash-strapped parents it's exactly what the doctor ordered.

Hope you enjoy the random piccie!

S xxx

Christmas, Fairies and Chocolate

2007-11-06T21:05:00.000+13:00

Unfortunately, due to my date with the toilet bowl, I didn't have time to write about a wonderful evening I shared with Andie (sister-in-law) and Lyn (mother-in-law) last Thursday.

As it is coming up on Andrea's birthday (and she being incredibly difficult to buy for) and Lyn looked as if she needed to escape from the throws of house-moving, I treated them (and myself) to an evening at the Christmas Heirloom Company.

After wine and nibbles, we were treated to tips on how to store our tree lights, how to decorate the tree, wreaths, table centrepieces and so forth. Andie and I got a wee bit merry on account of having been teetotal mammas for 10 months so the bubbles went straight to our heads and I fear we got a reputation for being "the naughty ones". Whenever I have a wee drink I always get a little spend-happy (just call me Rothschild) but did manage to limit myself to a couple of well chosen (not to mention supremely tasteful) decorations.

We also managed to find the most adorable fairy for above Gabbi's bed on Christmas Eve (I'll try and post about this tradition nearer to Christmas) and I've added a rather wonky shot of said fairy for you to ooh and ah over - I just can't take photos, goshdarnit!

After the mini shopping spree, I took the whanau to "Domaine" for a coffee and have discovered my second favourite hot drink (I remain ever faithful to Earl Grey, even after all these years!). Have you ever tried a Submarino? Close your eyes and imagine (okay, so you can't close your eyes and read so maybe close your eyes after you've read this bit of the blog and then let your little mind muscles do their thing) a mug of hot frothy milk served with two sticks of chocolate - one dark, one light. Oh, the possibilities! I opted to dunk the dark and munch the light - heavenly! I'm sure much the same could be worked at home with some frothy milk and a couple of Whittakers bars? I'll let you know.

On a completely unrelated note, why is it that men cannot grocery shop? Paul offered to take the kids to Countdown for the weekly shop yesterday and returned triumphant. However, on careful inspection, all I can see in the pantry are some Cheezels, a packet of Squiggles (actually, that's now an empty packet of Squiggles - must have been the cat?!) and some pizza shapes. Somehow I don't think we'll be the poster family for the 5-a-day campaign this week!

Have a great day wherever you are - I'll update you on all things crafty tomorrow!
S xxx

Normal service will be resumed momentarily!

2007-11-04T08:34:00.000+13:00

We've all been holed up with a tummy bug for the past few days but we're on the mend now (amazing what a few lollies and a good dose of L & P will do!). Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting next week.
S xxx

And she's off!

2007-10-28T10:21:00.000+13:00

Well, it's official - we have a walker! Yes, Gabbi strode out from piano stool to Daddy on Saturday evening. I immediately dashed for the camera but could only get this shot of the group cuddle that followed.

After the initial walking incident, we spent the next 20 minutes trying to get her to repeat it for the camera but, being the diva she is, she refused, muttering something like "Talk to my agent ... show me the money ... blah blah blah!".

This morning is another glorious sun-filled one (quelle surprise?!) and we're heading off to the farm for a cup of tea. Paul is out there working on his Christmas display for the store - all very hush-hush and top secret, naturally. I'm making the most of today's empty schedule because tomorrow is the start of music exam week - 3 terms of blood, sweat and tears condensed into a 14 minute ordeal by examiner. I keep asking myself if this is really the best way to create lifelong musicians? But that's a blog for another day.

S. xxx

Sand, wash, dry, sand, wash, dry, ...

2007-10-26T19:57:00.000+13:00

I've finally started my first furniture project - hurrah for me!

The table in question was made by Paul's Ampy about 40 years ago. I found it languishing, along with four teeny chairs, at the back of a shed when Hamish was nowt but a babe-in-arms. I've always thought it would look cracking with a bit of TLC and it's only taken me four years to get to work!

I had already started to sand it back by hand a few weeks ago but decided to go a bit high-tech (for me) and bought myself a little mouse sander so this afternoon, whilst Gabbi slept and Hamish watered the flowers, I set myself up outside the dining room and set to with the sand/ wash regime.

I've added some pictures so I can do a before-and-after-type thing. Tomorrow I'll finish off the sanding and fix up a couple of cracks with filler.

And, yes, in case you were wondering, it was another beautiful day here in Cambridge. Being born and raised in England, I can't help but be a little obsessive about the weather! We've been scheduled some really stinky gale-force winds and rain but it hasn't eventuated in this neck of the woods (touch wood).

Right time for a nice cup of tea (best drink of the day, hey Mum?).

S.

And the sun shines on

2007-10-25T11:13:00.000+13:00

Another beautiful spring day in Cambridge. Just as well really as Paul disappeared off to Te Awamutu with the car seats, forcing us to don our walking shoes and stride out to kindie. Still, a beautiful morning for a walk. (Mum and Dad, check out our Hebes!)

The calendar seems to be getting pretty full at the moment, what with kindie, night classes, teaching and all those other events that seemed like a good idea at the time! Trying to keep on top of the housework is proving difficult. I need to practice my mantra of "That sounds like an awesome idea but I just have too many commitments on to do it justice! Maybe next time?" so that I can use it the next time someone asks me if I'd like to bake some cakes for a stall, run up some flyers for an event, ... .

My Little Treasures

2007-10-24T16:18:00.000+13:00

Here are Thing 1 and Thing 2, aka Gabbi and Hamish.

Gabbi was baptised Gabrielle Rose but has been known as Gabbi pretty much from day 1 - it just seems to suit her temperament much better. She is 10 months old.

Hamish is 4 (5 in January). He is definitely getting ready to move from pre-school to school and my big challenge is giving him enough space to make the transition.

First ever blog entry!

2007-10-24T15:52:00.000+13:00

It's a tip-top kind of day here in Cambridge, NZ. Skies are blue, gentle spring breeze and a pleasant 18 degrees - just the sort of day for pulling your hair out as you try for the umpteenth time to upload your fancy-shmancy header and get an error message! Anyway, undeterred I soldier on and finally get around to adding my first post (minus pictures!).

I'm looking forward to using this blog to record progress on a number of personal fronts over the next year as our family life continues to evolve. These are my goals for the next year:

design and decorate a music room, both for teaching and personal use
actually finish an entire craft project - especially keen to start (& finish!) furniture painting
discover just exactly what I'm supposed to do with myself - do I have any special talents or abilities? Do I need to start afresh and look at something new?

Alongside this, there is the never ending quest to be a better parent. With the long summer holidays 8 weeks away, it's time to pull together strategies for managing this stressful time (two birthdays, Christmas, the stresses of Paul's shop commitments over the holidays). Do I micro-manage? Do I just chill out and go with the flow?

And with that thought I will sign off as Gabbi's dulcet tones drift through from the bedroom, signalling that I need to get my a in to g and start thinking about dinner.

Tomorrow I will try and add a little about my family and maybe a couple of photos of my gorgeous kids.