Hi,
Wee Toby is coming down with a cold. My mothering intuition can tell these things - the bright green snotty nose just gives his Dad the clues. Heheheh. Yep - poor wee Toby wasn't up for a day at school yesterday. I don't think he was overly sick, but just enough to produce lots of tears and some fantastic retching. He's such an actor. Anyhow, time to call in sick to work and comfort him a bit.
When he has a sick day, the rules are no television, no computers and stay in bed. This worked well for the most part. I decided to clear out the pantry (we inherited a lot of food from my parents as they couldn't take food to Australia) and re-organise it. Toby started reading (an allowed activity) and ploughed through books. Then I got some audio books for him to listen to as well.
After lunch I tidied the house a bit (so Ruth can lux on Thursday morning without sucking up valuable items) and the around 3:30pm lay down on the bed to read with Toby. Finished one book, started another and then I fell asleep. I guess the rules were fair game for Toby then. When I woke up an hour later, I noticed he was watching a DVD. Hmmmmm.
Made dinner and Mike came home. Mike finished the shelves I didn't touch in the pantry and now it looks stunning. He also tidied up outside where he'd dumped some torn off gib.
Then inside to watch a special episode of Time Team - they went to Orkney. Such a great episode. I love Orkney. I watched it twice. Once while Mike said he was coming "In 5 minutes" and once when he finally came in!
Mike and Toby are off for the weekend to Ruapehu (I hope Toby's cold is ok). I'm off to a 40th birthday party (hopefully with Vivienne, if she's still free on Saturday night).
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Monday with no Keas
Hi,
Monday went well - I was busy all day at work and the ride home was a welcome respite. I did find it a bit tougher than usual riding up the hill. But I blame the kilos of groceries in my bike pannier. It does make it harder.
Mike was going to ride straight to the Scout Hall to help with the wet tents from the weekend, but I was just starting dinner when he rang and Toby and I had to drive in to get him. He had a meeting and couldn't get away on time as he was planning. He dropped us at home and went to the Hall and Toby and I made dinner.
We had just started to eat when Mike got home after putting away all the tents. Hooray! They were dry!
Toby has a great day lined up. He'll be collected from Skids by Jack and his Dad and taken to Karori Park for bike riding (Toby took his bike to school) and then he'll have his first midweek sleepover. Ooooo.
We're off to see The Kings Speech tonight. By all accounts (and I have heard a few) it is a great movie.
My parents are in Hawaii enjoying some warmth and fun. I can't wait to hear what they think of it. It seems to be a rainy time of year for them (I checked the weather forecast yesterday) - a bit like Samoa I guess. Karen went there years ago and told me I needed to go one day. She thought I'd enjoy it. And I bet I would too. Hawaii is one hour ahead of NZ (so three ahead of eastern Australia) and a day behind. So they are currently in Monday! Funny, eh?
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
Monday went well - I was busy all day at work and the ride home was a welcome respite. I did find it a bit tougher than usual riding up the hill. But I blame the kilos of groceries in my bike pannier. It does make it harder.
Mike was going to ride straight to the Scout Hall to help with the wet tents from the weekend, but I was just starting dinner when he rang and Toby and I had to drive in to get him. He had a meeting and couldn't get away on time as he was planning. He dropped us at home and went to the Hall and Toby and I made dinner.
We had just started to eat when Mike got home after putting away all the tents. Hooray! They were dry!
Toby has a great day lined up. He'll be collected from Skids by Jack and his Dad and taken to Karori Park for bike riding (Toby took his bike to school) and then he'll have his first midweek sleepover. Ooooo.
We're off to see The Kings Speech tonight. By all accounts (and I have heard a few) it is a great movie.
My parents are in Hawaii enjoying some warmth and fun. I can't wait to hear what they think of it. It seems to be a rainy time of year for them (I checked the weather forecast yesterday) - a bit like Samoa I guess. Karen went there years ago and told me I needed to go one day. She thought I'd enjoy it. And I bet I would too. Hawaii is one hour ahead of NZ (so three ahead of eastern Australia) and a day behind. So they are currently in Monday! Funny, eh?
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, March 7, 2011
The weekend with the Cub Camp
Hi,
As an indication of the weather for the weekend, a Cub's mother rang me at 9am Saturday morning to find out if the camp was still on. Yep - it was great weather alright. So good Mike was the only punter left on his WTMC family trip. Needless to say, he didn't stay in a tent at the Catchpool roadend by himself. He went home to catch up on all the jobs we have missed doing for the last few weekends.
I went to the Scout Hall to collect some gear to take to the camp, while Mike took Toby swimming. By all accounts (well, Mike's account) Toby swam very well. Half the length with breathing! Wow! He'll be chasing Tyler's efforts in the pool yet. She had school swimming races on Friday and came in 5th place in the school over 100m. How amazing is that? She is so wee! Next year she'll concentrate on the 50m (freestyle and backstroke I think) so she can keep her strength up. She did well in those events: in her 50m freestyle heat she came 3rd and 2nd in her backstroke heat.
Look! I pasted in Karen's text and now I have a nicer font! Happy about that.
Meanwhile, while Toby was swimming I got to drive by myself to the camp. I sang loudly all the way!
Helped pitch heaps of tents - some of the Cubs have nailed the half slip knot used on the guyropes - others think they have and others know they haven't. I re-tied quite a few! I am a dab hand at that knot now.
Anne was in charge of the camp kitchen and she did an amazing job. The parents all chipped in and the organisation of the camp was brilliant. Bagheera and Chil are dab hands at it. I am trying to absorb all that happened to get it running that smoothly as next year it'll be me and Mike running it. Yikes!
We had lunch quite quickly after the tents were pitched. Mike and Toby arrived just before then and Mike took off again to get stuck into his weekend tasks. This lunch was a packed lunch from home. Toby had had lunch with Mike but was keen to eat again so he munched on some of my snacks with the other Cubs eating their lunches.
After lunch the Cubs all decided to go swimming in the freezing wee pool. Oddly they seem to like it. Lots of splashing and jumping. Then someone noticed a huge spider on the side of the pool. That coincided with the end of swimming. A parent called it "The South American Water Spider" and Toby was convinced by that!
Back to camp and into groups for kayaking and the confidence course. Toby's group was the one I followed and we tackled the confidence course first. It was great and Toby did very well. He was paired with Tom and they clambered over everything on their way around. Some of the older Cubs were used to the course from previous camps and had time trials.
Then we were into the kayaks and Toby had a ball. The wee lake was a great spot for it, with a small "beach" and some wooden rafts at the edge. At the end of the kayaking, Toby was leaping from raft to raft and then ended up in the lake like the other Cubs. He was loving it! A few goes on the flying fox and then back for afternoon tea.
The activity before dinner was a game of soccer and they all loved that. Dinner was cooked on two BBQs and a gas griller (courtesy of Ryan's father). We ate sausages in bread and salad. It was scrumptious.
As it got darker, we played Spotlight. Then we made up damper and the Cubs cooked that over the fire and supper was Milo and toasted marshmallows.
By 9:30 the Cubs were all asleep in their tents. The leaders and parents sat in campchairs around the fire (oh, my font has switched back) and chatted for a while (midnight apparently) but I escaped to my tent at 10:30 to read. I read a few chapters and slept like a log. Well, until the rain pelted down. But then I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
The rain was settled for the day however and Sunday was constant drizzly rain. Breakfast was cereals (hardly anyone ate Weetbix) and the griller was used for making loads of toast and the Cubs ate lots of that.
More activities including kayaking and the confidence course again. Flying fox was again popular. Then lots of eating to consume the food we had leftover. Morning tea quickly melded into lunch. Lunch was ham and cheese toasties under the same griller.
After lunch we struck the tents and it took quite a while to pack up everything. It's amazing what Cubs are good at getting things done and what Cubs need constant attention to keep them focussed. By 2:45 we were done and I gathered up Chelsea and Brennan and took them home with Toby.
We collected Mike on the way to Karori and dropped off the kids at the Sampson house while we hung the tents up in the Scout Hall. Phew!
Back home to eat dinner (thanks Mike) and I fell into bed exhausted.
No Cubs on Tuesday this week so we can recover from the experience.
Have a marvellous week.
Love,
Angela
As an indication of the weather for the weekend, a Cub's mother rang me at 9am Saturday morning to find out if the camp was still on. Yep - it was great weather alright. So good Mike was the only punter left on his WTMC family trip. Needless to say, he didn't stay in a tent at the Catchpool roadend by himself. He went home to catch up on all the jobs we have missed doing for the last few weekends.
I went to the Scout Hall to collect some gear to take to the camp, while Mike took Toby swimming. By all accounts (well, Mike's account) Toby swam very well. Half the length with breathing! Wow! He'll be chasing Tyler's efforts in the pool yet. She had school swimming races on Friday and came in 5th place in the school over 100m. How amazing is that? She is so wee! Next year she'll concentrate on the 50m (freestyle and backstroke I think) so she can keep her strength up. She did well in those events: in her 50m freestyle heat she came 3rd and 2nd in her backstroke heat.
Look! I pasted in Karen's text and now I have a nicer font! Happy about that.
Meanwhile, while Toby was swimming I got to drive by myself to the camp. I sang loudly all the way!
Helped pitch heaps of tents - some of the Cubs have nailed the half slip knot used on the guyropes - others think they have and others know they haven't. I re-tied quite a few! I am a dab hand at that knot now.
Anne was in charge of the camp kitchen and she did an amazing job. The parents all chipped in and the organisation of the camp was brilliant. Bagheera and Chil are dab hands at it. I am trying to absorb all that happened to get it running that smoothly as next year it'll be me and Mike running it. Yikes!
We had lunch quite quickly after the tents were pitched. Mike and Toby arrived just before then and Mike took off again to get stuck into his weekend tasks. This lunch was a packed lunch from home. Toby had had lunch with Mike but was keen to eat again so he munched on some of my snacks with the other Cubs eating their lunches.
After lunch the Cubs all decided to go swimming in the freezing wee pool. Oddly they seem to like it. Lots of splashing and jumping. Then someone noticed a huge spider on the side of the pool. That coincided with the end of swimming. A parent called it "The South American Water Spider" and Toby was convinced by that!
Back to camp and into groups for kayaking and the confidence course. Toby's group was the one I followed and we tackled the confidence course first. It was great and Toby did very well. He was paired with Tom and they clambered over everything on their way around. Some of the older Cubs were used to the course from previous camps and had time trials.
Then we were into the kayaks and Toby had a ball. The wee lake was a great spot for it, with a small "beach" and some wooden rafts at the edge. At the end of the kayaking, Toby was leaping from raft to raft and then ended up in the lake like the other Cubs. He was loving it! A few goes on the flying fox and then back for afternoon tea.
The activity before dinner was a game of soccer and they all loved that. Dinner was cooked on two BBQs and a gas griller (courtesy of Ryan's father). We ate sausages in bread and salad. It was scrumptious.
As it got darker, we played Spotlight. Then we made up damper and the Cubs cooked that over the fire and supper was Milo and toasted marshmallows.
By 9:30 the Cubs were all asleep in their tents. The leaders and parents sat in campchairs around the fire (oh, my font has switched back) and chatted for a while (midnight apparently) but I escaped to my tent at 10:30 to read. I read a few chapters and slept like a log. Well, until the rain pelted down. But then I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
The rain was settled for the day however and Sunday was constant drizzly rain. Breakfast was cereals (hardly anyone ate Weetbix) and the griller was used for making loads of toast and the Cubs ate lots of that.
More activities including kayaking and the confidence course again. Flying fox was again popular. Then lots of eating to consume the food we had leftover. Morning tea quickly melded into lunch. Lunch was ham and cheese toasties under the same griller.
After lunch we struck the tents and it took quite a while to pack up everything. It's amazing what Cubs are good at getting things done and what Cubs need constant attention to keep them focussed. By 2:45 we were done and I gathered up Chelsea and Brennan and took them home with Toby.
We collected Mike on the way to Karori and dropped off the kids at the Sampson house while we hung the tents up in the Scout Hall. Phew!
Back home to eat dinner (thanks Mike) and I fell into bed exhausted.
No Cubs on Tuesday this week so we can recover from the experience.
Have a marvellous week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Thursday with Bear
Hi,
Mike and I were busy at work, but Mike hurtled home to collect Toby for the big event. We caught up with Sally at The Lone Star and I enjoyed the meal. I did eat a bit too much though. Then we went to see "An evening with Bear Grylls".
I think Mike is right - it should have been better organised. We were treated to a surprise concert by Tiki Taane, which we enjoyed. Then Maria Quigley (the Children's Hospital events organiser) talked. Then Mark Ingles talked - he lost both legs on the summit of Mt Cook, trapped in a snow cave for 13 days. He was an inspirational speaker - very normal and passionate.
We then were treated to a comedian, who I am sure might be quite funny in a club setting after 5 pints of lager. But for a family audience, the swearing wasn't received very well.
Finally, when Toby was almost asleep, Bear came on. He talked on a couch for a while to some silly clown and then answered questions from the crowd. We saw a few clips on the screen behind them. Bear seems to be quite a normal chap. He said he sometimes eats Mars Bars from his camera crew. It was quite entertaining.
The weekend is full of Cub Camp. Toby has invited Bear Grylls along via Facebook. Heheheh. The weather is supposed to be awful, but I think it'll be fun.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Mike and I were busy at work, but Mike hurtled home to collect Toby for the big event. We caught up with Sally at The Lone Star and I enjoyed the meal. I did eat a bit too much though. Then we went to see "An evening with Bear Grylls".
I think Mike is right - it should have been better organised. We were treated to a surprise concert by Tiki Taane, which we enjoyed. Then Maria Quigley (the Children's Hospital events organiser) talked. Then Mark Ingles talked - he lost both legs on the summit of Mt Cook, trapped in a snow cave for 13 days. He was an inspirational speaker - very normal and passionate.
We then were treated to a comedian, who I am sure might be quite funny in a club setting after 5 pints of lager. But for a family audience, the swearing wasn't received very well.
Finally, when Toby was almost asleep, Bear came on. He talked on a couch for a while to some silly clown and then answered questions from the crowd. We saw a few clips on the screen behind them. Bear seems to be quite a normal chap. He said he sometimes eats Mars Bars from his camera crew. It was quite entertaining.
The weekend is full of Cub Camp. Toby has invited Bear Grylls along via Facebook. Heheheh. The weather is supposed to be awful, but I think it'll be fun.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Wednesday with karate
Hi,
I think finally Toby attended his correct tennis lesson for the term. Yay. And next term he will move up to full court tennis. That should be a lot more fun for him.
We think Mike's mother got home ok - mainly because she wasn't back at our house by the end of the day. So she either got to Dunedin fine, or is sleeping at Chch airport. Hopefully she got back ok. We were so busy last night we missed the opportunity to ring and confirm.
We walked to the bottom of Wadestown hill to collect the wee green car inf or a service and then collected Toby for karate. I took him while Mike cooked a great tea. Toby says "This chicken tastes delicious". Good!
Then Mike demolished the wardrobe in the green room and even got our internet back on. Toby and Mike promptly caught up on lost internet time! Heheheheh. I finished reading my book. Internet? What internet?
Mike also did a lot of WTMC homework - having no internet meant he couldn't keep things up-to-date recently.
Back to work. We have Bear Grylls tonight here in Wellington. I will ride home, change and collect Toby and then we'll bus back into town for tea and Bear!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
I think finally Toby attended his correct tennis lesson for the term. Yay. And next term he will move up to full court tennis. That should be a lot more fun for him.
We think Mike's mother got home ok - mainly because she wasn't back at our house by the end of the day. So she either got to Dunedin fine, or is sleeping at Chch airport. Hopefully she got back ok. We were so busy last night we missed the opportunity to ring and confirm.
We walked to the bottom of Wadestown hill to collect the wee green car inf or a service and then collected Toby for karate. I took him while Mike cooked a great tea. Toby says "This chicken tastes delicious". Good!
Then Mike demolished the wardrobe in the green room and even got our internet back on. Toby and Mike promptly caught up on lost internet time! Heheheheh. I finished reading my book. Internet? What internet?
Mike also did a lot of WTMC homework - having no internet meant he couldn't keep things up-to-date recently.
Back to work. We have Bear Grylls tonight here in Wellington. I will ride home, change and collect Toby and then we'll bus back into town for tea and Bear!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Tuesday with Cubs and a wee earthquake for Wellington
Hi,
We rushed home (as Tuesdays leave little time for dawdling anywhere) on our bikes, ate the sausage casserole I had in the slow cooker and left for Cubs. No time for anything other than eating, changing and driving to Cubs. I was on the "coming in activity" so I had to be on time. It went really well. We played Friend or Foe, and gave every Cub another Cub's name and they ran around the bush trying to find their 'foe' without being caught by the person hunting them. They seemed to love it.
Then we learned about this weekend's Cub Camp to Brookfields. We pitched a Scout tent (a gruesome canvas thing with no groundsheet) and learned the half slip knot for the guy ropes. I will be using our two person MacPac tent, thank you very much.
Home and into the shower for Toby. Wednesday is his school photo day so he had to look his best. His hair is far too long and even he has suggested he get a haircut.
Off to bed for all of us. But as we were almost ready to settle down at 10:10pm, we had a wee earthquake. It is actually the first one Mike has felt since we moved back to Wellington and the strongest one he has felt since the big Dunedin one. Our mirrored wardrobe doors wobbled enough to make a noise. Mike wandered down to make sure his mother and Toby were fine. It had woken Toby but he was oblivious as to why and went straight back to sleep. The news said that people were nervous about it. Earthquakes in Wellington aren't fun anymore.
Ok. Time for a cup of tea. The car is in for a service and the galeforce winds might prove an impediment to Mike's mother's return to Dunedin today. We shall see.
Love,
Angela
We rushed home (as Tuesdays leave little time for dawdling anywhere) on our bikes, ate the sausage casserole I had in the slow cooker and left for Cubs. No time for anything other than eating, changing and driving to Cubs. I was on the "coming in activity" so I had to be on time. It went really well. We played Friend or Foe, and gave every Cub another Cub's name and they ran around the bush trying to find their 'foe' without being caught by the person hunting them. They seemed to love it.
Then we learned about this weekend's Cub Camp to Brookfields. We pitched a Scout tent (a gruesome canvas thing with no groundsheet) and learned the half slip knot for the guy ropes. I will be using our two person MacPac tent, thank you very much.
Home and into the shower for Toby. Wednesday is his school photo day so he had to look his best. His hair is far too long and even he has suggested he get a haircut.
Off to bed for all of us. But as we were almost ready to settle down at 10:10pm, we had a wee earthquake. It is actually the first one Mike has felt since we moved back to Wellington and the strongest one he has felt since the big Dunedin one. Our mirrored wardrobe doors wobbled enough to make a noise. Mike wandered down to make sure his mother and Toby were fine. It had woken Toby but he was oblivious as to why and went straight back to sleep. The news said that people were nervous about it. Earthquakes in Wellington aren't fun anymore.
Ok. Time for a cup of tea. The car is in for a service and the galeforce winds might prove an impediment to Mike's mother's return to Dunedin today. We shall see.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Monday that feels like it really should have been Tuesday by now
Hi,
First Monday at work for two weeks and didn't I notice that! Busy at work and then a furious ride to Keas (got there with two minutes to spare) and running around with the Keas wore me out. Fortunately Mike came to collect me and helped me do the dishes at Keas (someone hasn't been doing them for ages) and then we got dinner and collapsed at home.
Wilf The Builder has finished the garages and they look smart. We're waiting on the doors now but Mike has cleared the debris from building away and the cars are parked back in their space. We have even put some storage boxes into the roof space. Now we're going to put our French doors in the two bottom bedrooms and probably start some other work down there.
But, first things first. I need a cup of tea! Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
First Monday at work for two weeks and didn't I notice that! Busy at work and then a furious ride to Keas (got there with two minutes to spare) and running around with the Keas wore me out. Fortunately Mike came to collect me and helped me do the dishes at Keas (someone hasn't been doing them for ages) and then we got dinner and collapsed at home.
Wilf The Builder has finished the garages and they look smart. We're waiting on the doors now but Mike has cleared the debris from building away and the cars are parked back in their space. We have even put some storage boxes into the roof space. Now we're going to put our French doors in the two bottom bedrooms and probably start some other work down there.
But, first things first. I need a cup of tea! Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
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