Favourite thing Friday

I really wanted to post something about Kiwi music but after trying to upload some song links from YouTube (with no luck) I'm going to have to pick something else.

Meet Silvetty our World Vision child.

She lives in Zambia and is 12 years old. So for $40.00 nz dollars a month I am helping her and her community. How exciting to know you can make such a difference in ONE child's life.

So if you are interested in sponsoring a child check out World Visions website.

Ambury Park Farm

Yes, I know this is meant to be a crafting blog but it is school holidays and so we have been out and about.

Today we visited another Auckland Regional Council Park called Ambury.

Of course, all these parks are free of charge since our rates help pay to run them.

Our children love this park as it is a working farm with attractions for the kids.

Here is Button feeding Cameron the Clydesdale. Cameron put his leg out of the fence and it got stuck. He was throwing his leg around and the fence was rocking back and forth. I was telling my husband ( Mr Divine) to help as the horse was panicking (and so were we). Mr Divine managed to hold the wire of the fence down and Cameron was freed. YEY!!! Mr Divine, your my hero :)

We found a very friendly calf. Button found it loved being scratched under the chin. It enjoyed it so much that it tried to show Button it's appreciation by licking her. YUK!!!

Meet Timmy the turkey. He was a real show off and kept fluffing his body up and making this booming sound that shook his body.

Boodles wanted to play some games, so we had a 3 legged race.


And my version of the 'egg and spoon race ' Is the egg holding the spoon?

A great morning out.

Friday declutter challenge

The Organising Queen has set down the latest decluttering challenge.

The utensil drawers!

So this is my before photo

and my after photo.

And another before photo ( don't ask me why the photo is on it's side)

and the after photo.

Yey! It's done. Hope it lasts for more than 5 mins.

Favourite thing Friday

I am loving this blog right now.

Simple-green-frugal-co-op.

Rhonda Jean from down-to-earth is one of the contributors to this great blog.

I am trying to minimize the impact I have on our Earth and since my word for the year is

the ONE thing we are doing differently is wearing clothes more than once with the motto of 'if it's not dirty, don't wash it'.

Let me tell you the difference this ONE thing it is having. I am now washing only every second day (instead of 2 loads each day) which is a great time saver and of course there's the savings in power and water.

I did use to make my own washing powder, but now that I am washing nappies my homemade powder would leave a residue and make them less absorbent. Since cutting down on my washing I am now able to afford an eco friendly powder.

So, what is the ONE thing you are doing differently this year?

Soup time

Sometimes I go quite a while without posting.

You see it's because I'm doing all those mundane, normal house stuff that keeps the family fed and clothed. And really, who wants to hear about that.

Like today for instance. I cleaned and tidied etc and I made a yummy vege soup.

So, here is the base I use and then you just chuck in any other vegetables that are going slightly limp/brown.

BASE

x2 large cans (800gm) tomatoes

8 litres water

6 stock cubes or (6 tsp stock powder)

1 onion, diced

ADDED

3 carrots, diced

1/2 a celery, diced

season as desired

Then simmer away for at least an hour, till everything is

soft. Then I blend it with a hand wand.That's it.

Now this does make heaps, so I like to freeze this for lunches during the week.

Scrapbooking kids albums

I have had a sore wrist for a few days. Actually to say its sore was an understatement. I think maybe a pinched nerve or something. It's all better now. Weird!!!

So I couldn't knit or sew ........ then I remembered the photos our new children came with.

So I am in the process of making smallish albums (cause that is what I had on hand). These photos are of Peanut. Isn't he a cutie.

My new skirt

My wonderful friend Dee of sew-funky made me this awesome skirt. If you want to check out a much better photo of it go to here.

I just love it. Would you believe it started it's life as a table cloth?

Thanks Dee :)

Waharau Regional Park

Today we went to Waharau Regional Park for the day.

I love this park/campsite as it has beautiful streams for the children to paddle in and lovely picnic spots.

Button, (my 12yr old Aspie), loves building dams. She will do this all day long and have the other children on her chain gang collecting rocks. So most of the photos of her are head down, bum up building the dam (except this one).

Lulu's first time in a stream. Button soon had her working out on the dam project.

Peanut had fun eating the flora and fauna,

and me and Mr. Divine got to relax and laugh together.

A good day had by all.

Favourite thing Friday

This little piggy....

sat on my shelf.

One bad day

The thing I like about bloggers is that even though they have crap going on in their lives they still focus on the positive things in life. But lets be honest, sometimes thats harder than other times.
Yesterday my Aspergers daughter (12yrs) was really mean to her respite caregivers. She ran away from them and told members of the public she was being held against her will and that they were abusing her.
So a good meaning member of the public phoned the police (even though the caregivers asked them not to) and so my daughter told bigger and better stories and lapped up the attention the public and police were giving her.
So, we had to go and get her early :( Yesterday I was angry but today I am really low and sad. I am so upset that my girl could make up such horrible stories about such amazing people who treat her with nothing but dignity and respect.
Because of her disorder she just doesn't get it. She doesn't get that she could have got her caregivers into serious trouble or that they may not want to have her again. She doesn't understand that we would still be feeling upset today.
So thats me today.

Miss Boodles 6th birthday

Today my sweet girl turned 6.

I made her cupcakes as requested.

She played with her play dough ice cream sundae maker

and tied her first bow by herself.

She wore around her new bag made by Dee for her birthday.

Happy birthday my sweet girl.

ONE

You may have read how some people pick a word for the year.

My word is

So, today I rang World Vision and arranged to sponsor a child. I am following the premise that ONE person can make a difference.

So for $40.00 a month I am choosing to give a child life.

Homemade birthday cards

My friend Dee brought me some blank cards so I can make my own. She had already bought some for herself so I asked my husband to grab me some while he was out. Long story short, he couldn't find them and so Dee came to my rescue and found me some (at the same shop he was at). I know.... shouldn't send a man to do women's work ;).

Here's just a small sample of what I have made so far.

I am trying to be more organised and so I have made cards for all the upcoming birthdays this year, popped them in envelopes and filed them in birthday order.

Cool crayon wrap

My friend Dee from sew-funky came over today with a little gift for Miss Lulu.

Do you know what it is?????

A really cool crayon wrap (sorry about the photo)

Dee even made her own crayons. I am so going to borrow this idea as I have a couple of 2nd birthdays coming up.

Thanks Dee ;)

Word for the Year

Dee of sew-funky has posted here about choosing a word for the year and the other blogs that inspired her to do this.

(Drum roll please)

So without further ado my word for 2009 is

I am basing this word on the premise that ONE person can make a difference.

I may not make a difference to thousands such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr or Oprah , but I (one) can make a difference to ONE.

And who knows what difference that ONE will make to our world. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

Lulu's 3rd birthday

My gorgeous birthday girl. 3 today!

Today we went to the zoo (Auckland) to celebrate Miss Lulu's 3rd birthday!

The elephants were out for a walk.

The children fed the birds.




The seals were obliging and swam right in front of us.



And I managed to get a family photo (minus me of course)

FYI. The growers of the trees that produce palm oil (commonly found in food products) are killing off the habitat needed to support orangutans. It was said, that if we keep buying these products, orangutans will be extinct in 10 years. So please think about this the next time you are grocery shopping.

Happy 3rd birthday Miss Lulu xxx.

Favourite thing Friday

Colourful Frosted Glasses (and piggy plate)

I love this shelf of gorgeous glasses, colourful eggs and my piggy plate.

Oh, how I love little collections of things. They make a house a home!

Favourite thing Friday

My Kitchen Window Sill

A delightful cup and saucer

Pig cookie cutter and tea pot napkin ring

(both from my friend Dee)

Funky scrubbing brush, you just have to have something pretty

for those less than fun jobs.

A bluebird toffee tin from England

and last but not least this gorgeous cup and saucer that commemorates

the birth of princess Margret in 1930.


Now, I know this post is a day late, but a couple of other favourite things happened yesterday (Friday). We came back from holiday (which is NO holiday when you have kids) and my friend Dee came over bearing Christmas presents. Dee and I just don't get to catch up enough and it was lovely to see her even if the visit was toooooo short.