HELLOO!!

Ok, so this isn't going to be a long post, but it is a post nonetheless! It is now after 11pm, and I know that our alarm will go off at 5.45am tomorrow so I'll make this quick...

GREAT NEWS - One of my assignments is now complete and submitted already to the Open Poly, so tomorrow night is a study free night - you can look forward to a nice newsy photo-filled blog then! Ha ha ha :)

Catchya tomorrow, toodles, B x

I know, I know...

Yes, I KNOW that I haven't updated in ages, and I KNOW that you people think I'm a slacker for not keeping you up to date, but I am truly running out of hours in the day at the moment, honest.

Thankfully I am on holiday this week, although I do have a couple of assignments to finish before I go away on Thursday....

I have been trying to juggle working full time, being a wife, mother and photographer, AND studying. I think I must be NUTS.

D took J outside yesterday morning so that I could get some study done, but J got bored and wanted to know what Mummy was doing. He ended up sitting on my knee drawing hugs and kisses on my study notes. Cute, but inconvenient. Not fair to get mad at him though, because tbh he doesn't get to spend that much time with his Mummy when she works all week and he's at daycare, but MAN I really need to get that study done. I think my day off tomorrow will consist of a couple of hours (at least) at the library, knuckling down and getting the assessments done really to email off to my tutor.

Nic R called in for a coffee today (which ended up being a coke cos it was so hot!), which was awesome - nice to catch up with someone from scrapping and just have a natter, you know?

I do have some photos to show you of what J has been up to lately - nothing of me of course, because I haven't been doing anything worth taking photos of!

He had a trip to Chipmunks last Saturday where he got to play with his wee friend Arthur (a buddy from daycare who is now 5 and off to school so he doesn't get to see him). They played for three hours straight, only stopping BRIEFLY for lunch. J was literally wet with sweat when we took him home. It was straight into the bath for him! He had so much fun though.... see:

I know he looks terrified, but he assured me it was AWESOME!!!!

The other thing he has done lately is have a play at the BMX track down in the Scenic Reserve. We took him down there thinking that he'd maybe play only on the flat area, but he went up and over the smaller jumps no worries - he did look a little sh*t scared a couple of times, and he did get the speed wobbles a few times too, but all in all he had a blast. We had to have at least four more 'one more lap Daddy' when it was time to try and get him and the bike back into the car to go home for tea! Check out this future Crusty Demon:

Check out the air under that back tyre! Yeeehaaaaaa!!!!!! He'll be doing Crusty-style backflips in no time! Ha ha ha.

Look at the dust and dirt all over him - didn't bother him a bit - he hit the dirt more than once, and the only time he got upset and required rescuing was when he got the major speed wobbles off a high ramp and did an impressive set of cartwheels involuntarily off his bike (oops)

Although, MOST of the time he looked like this - one very happy, crazy, mischievous little boy! (but hey, what's new huh?)

Hope you all had a happy, hoppy Easter full of rest, relaxation and above all CHOCOLATE! Good Ol' Easter Bunny visited at our place, and much to J's excitement, he bounced all over our lounge depositing eggs everywhere! It was SO FUNNY watching him find them all and put them in the little bag that Easter Bunny left him...

Well, I might go and surf a bit of TradeMe and the scrap sites before I go to bed. If you're lucky I'll post again before we go away on Thursday! Toodles, B x

Woohoo - Hot Lap in a V8 - YEAH!!!!!

Yip, we really did go to Christchurch on Tuesday and have a hot lap each in Andrew Porter's Hydraulink V8 Falcon. IT ROCKED! Here's the proof:






D waiting (on the left) for them to adjust the belts from the previous passenger (on the right) before he climbs in...




Thumbs up from D! Second Hot Lap for him in just over two weeks, talk about lucky!

Me about to get in - yummy yellow race suit huh?! ha ha ha :)



Phew - trying to climg in past the roll cage etc - NOT EASY! Ooops...



Thumbs up, sit down, hold on, let's go! Yeeehaaaaa!




Aw man, it's over already... dammit.

Wow - what a BLAST! Can't believe it was over so fast, but am so pleased I got to do it, it was just AWESOME!!!!!

Well, it's time for me to get to bed - catch ya soon.. Toodles, B x

Motorbike Boy!!!

On Saturday, D borrowed a 4-wheeler from a friend to let J have a go... and he loved it! Check out these pics...

I'm just gutted that I was working at the wedding and missed it - lucky D got some pics so I could see how much fun he had :)

Next up, the Hot Lap!

I have so much to tell you...

...and not much time to tell it! Things have been crazy busy here since my last post. Friday - worked. Saturday - out with Ma in the morning, then working at a wedding for the afternoon/evening. Sunday - D worked on his motorbike while J and I baked, then I spent SIX HOURS working on a programme for the Kart Champs this Easter. Monday - J at home sick (asthma the night before). Tuesday - quick trip to Chch for a HOT LAP at Ruapuna. I promise to elaborate more and post pics tonight :) Gotta go get ready for work, Toodles, B x.

Before Rachel says anything...

Yes, Rach/Bo - it has been a couple of days since I blogged. Thought I'd better do something before I got another one of those texts from you about not blogging often enough! I seem to have been really busy this week, but can't really see what I have accomplished...

My double page layout of J's first birthday still lies unfinished on my scrap table, the washing is still piling up in the laundry, and the lounge still needs vacuuming desperately. Oh dear!

I still haven't even looked at the few photos I took out at the track on Sunday, so you won't see them for a bit yet. I spent two hours on Tuesday night studying some of my Legal Exec stuff with Nichola - it's going to be tough... this week we were reading/discussing the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Don't even get me started on how much I love the Treaty of Waitangi - NOT!!!!

On the positive side, I have been really good at getting off my butt and going walking/jogging/stumbling first thing in the morning, which is NOT easy I have to say. Tonight I hope to get more study done, because I have assessments due 31 March and 5 April, and the end of the financial year is looming at work, so I'm under a bit of pressure to get shitloads of stuff done there too... Man I am looking forward to my week off after Easter!

Is anyone going away for Easter? If you are going to be hannging round here, I plan to spend that weekend doing NOTHING!!!! (In other words I could easily be persuaded to go out for coffee etc!)

Well, I have to go make J's lunch and get out the door by half seven, so I best skedaddle. If anyone wants to talk in depth about the Treaty, just let me know ok? (just kidding!). Catch ya later, Toodles, B x

Yep, I got a TATTOO!!!

No, really, I did! Well, a spray-on one anyway, ha ha ha!!!!! Looks pretty cool huh?! Will post some pics of the racing tomorrow once I've had a chance to look through them. Toodles, B x

Check out the size of that smile!!!!!

Well, D went for his hot-lap yesterday afternoon. For the uninitiated, that means being driven round the track at speeds of up to 200kph by a professional driver in an awesomely super-cool V8! Ha ha ha!



He just LOVED it... check out the pics..



Listening to instructions from the pit crew....


The car - number 82, driven by Michael Bristow, who (no offense) looks about 12 years old!




Waiting for the previous victim (I mean race-fan) to get his helmet off so D could have his turn...


Squeezing those legs into the car!!!



Ready to go racing! Incidentally, Michael Bristow shook hands with D when he got seated in the car, which I thought was nice..




Doing massive speeds around the track...

Check out the size of that smile NOW!!! I am SO jealous, ha ha ha!

Here's what D thought of his hot-lap: "BLOODY AWESOME Sorry I can't publish what I really thought as this is a family show!! D."

Well, that's it from me, time to go get ready to head out to the track again (as purely spectators this time tho). Toodles, B x

Racing time!!!

I nearly forgot to tell you - on Wednesday, a few kids from daycare (J included of course) walked down to Paykels to meet Jono Lester - the 18 year old gun Porsche driver the Blackwoods Paykels sponsor. J was really excited to be going, but of course we got there and he clammed up, got all shy, and wouldn't say boo! He did talk to him eventually, and of course he got to talk to Grandad Caithness who incidentally works at Paykels. Grandad was manning the barbecue, so all the boys got a sausage to munch on while they checked out the race-car. VERY COOL! I asked Jono some questions about the car, and apparently at the last Timaru meeting he was at, the cabin temp got up to 63 degrees! And no, he doesn't wear a cool suit, he just prides himself on being fit enough to tough it out. Now that's impressive!

The kids posed for a quick photo with Jono, and some of them were even brave enought o climb in and check out the passenger seat... Look at that cheeky monkey!

So this afternoon we are off to the track to watch D, then most of the weekend off and on will be spent out there watching fast cars and inhaling avgas fumes - yeehaaa!!!!! :D. That's it for now, Toodles, B x

AND, I have been scrapping!

Last Sunday when it got to like 36 degrees out, I was indoors hiding in the shade, scrapping! I am trying to make myself go back and do earlier photos of J, I am only about 3 years behind, ha ha ha! So I started by going a wee way back - to last September when he got his tonsils out. I have had this Eeyore paper forever and thought it was so cute when I bought it, but couldn't bring myself to cut it up (you know how it goes girls!). But I did, finally, use it!

And then I went out to Gina's last night (twice - long story, I was doing a Lelia!), and I have nearly finished a double page spread on J's first birthday...

I just have the journalling to do and maybe a bit of fiddling with embellishments etc.... Man, looking at these photos, they seem like and eternity ago.... I suppose they were really, ha ha ha!

Oh well, I am going to go now, as it is nearly time to get out the door with J for the day. This afternoon we are going out to Levels to see D having a hotlap in Cameron McLean's NZV8 (a Ford of course!). Should be AWESOME! More laters, Toodles, B x

History IS interesting (sometimes!)

Back again. I often have interesting little chats with Mark at work about matters historical...the other day he showed me a photo of the port, which didn't have the Port Loop Road on it. It looked SO strange. So we got to chatting about when the Port Loop Road must have been built and how long it probably took, and a couple of days later he brought me this from the museum...

So, apparently it was built in 1972 (two years before I was even thought of, ha ha ha), and was a mammoth task at the time. How cool is this photo? I think it's really cool to know a bit about what's around you, you know? More soon. Toodles, B x

Yikes! - It's official...

I know I haven't blogged in a few days (thanks Bo and Rach for reminding me!) but things have been super crazy busy around here... Last weekend vanished in no time at all which hardly seems fair...

Yep, no turning back now - I am officially a student again - holy crap! Part of me is SO excited, and the other part is sh*tting itself!!! Ha ha ha. Apparently a HUGE pile of paperwork is due to arrive on my doorstep any day now..... Arrgghhhh!!!! Toodles, B x

I LOVE TradeMe!!!

He he he - my mini sewing machine arrived today, I LOVE getting parcels in the mail (although it IS better if you don't have to pay for them first!!!). I can't wait to get a layout together so I can use this thing, although I have spent most of the evening figuring out how to thread the bobbin into the right place and adjust the friggin tension on the darn thing.... me and my bright ideas huh?!

Honestly though, what a bargain - $20 on TradeMe, and it runs on either 4 AA batteries or an AC adaptor. The coolest thing about it compared to other mini ones I have seen at The Warehouse etc is that it does both straight stitch and zigzag - fabulous! Not to mention it is SO cute! Ha ha ha. That's like buying something for the tin that it's in, isn't it Rach?! Not that WE would ever do that of course!

Anyway, I'm off to beddybyes now... Toodles, B x

Woohoo - it's coming back!!!

OMG, I am SO excited - Dancing With the Stars is coming back, from next Tuesday night - I just saw an ad for it tonight - yeehaa!!!! I just LOVE that show! Don't be ringing or texting that night unless its mighty important, ha ha ha! Ok, I just had to share that, it's outta my system (for now!)... Toodles, B x

Plums anyone?!

No seriously, does anyone want any plums? We have a tree absolutely laden with them at the moment. I went out last night and picked plums for about half an hour, and this is what I ended up with...

So today I am taking a huge trayful to work, another container-full to daycare for the kids to munch on, and I'll drop some off to Nan too. After washing THAT MANY plums, I'm nearly plummed out! Ha ha ha. I did cut and stone some last night and stewed them up to go with J's cereal - they seem to stew up quite nicely, thank goodness. So I have one more huge container full of plums (not counting the ones still all over the tree) sitting on my bench to be stewed and frozen. Phew!

Anyway, how was everyone's weekend? Ours was crazy busy... After my last post we rushed around getting a few things done here before dropping J to Mum's for the night at half twelve, then came home to get prettied up for the wedding (which takes some doing, ha ha ha!). Sue picked us up at half two, then we were off! The sun came out in time for the ceremony which was lovely - I even got sunburnt. Surprising considering the CRAP weather we had been having for the previous 36 hours. Nic was just gorgeous, Scott was very handsome in his pinstriped suit and the ceremony was lovely.

The reception was fun - ate far too much food because it was SO yummy, and then we danced until the band stopped at half past midnight. We wobbled home not long after that, getting to bed about 1am......another late night! Man, I am WAY TOO OLD for all these late nights!

Sunday morning disappeared as I drove next month's bride around possible wedding photo sites, and when I got home, we took off straight away to go see Clayton at the motocross out the back of Pleasant Point. I took a few pics of him while were there...

And now it looks like I may have managed to score some work at their Champs in April. Woohoo! Excellent! Oh, and I forgot to tell you all what a lovely surprise I got on Valentine's Day when I got home from work.... I came home to this:

We had decided not to do Valentines day this year (other than cards) because it is a big anniversary for us this year - 12 years next month! - and we are off to the Marlborough Sounds for Mary's wedding a week or so later, but look what D did for me... what a sweetie... Love ya!

Oh well, enough rambling from me - this should keep Rach happy for a day or so anyway (!!!). Toodles, B x Oh PS - HAPPY HUMP DAY!