Gloria's farewell & the long journey home....

Almost two Saturdays ago, we headed up to Whangarei to farewell our beloved G who has been in Hawaii for almost a week now!! 

Her children had organized a lovely dinner for her & Mell & I were lucky enough to get free passes to join Dad & Jeanette on a trip up North for the evening :)

G's daughter's had done such a great job of decorating & baking cupcakes. The one below was filled with german choc cake icing & was absolutely delish!!

It was so cool to see G surrounded by all her kids & grandkids (she has 11 of them). I actually came home & told Stan that we should really think about having another baby because otherwise we may not end up with too many grandkids - & seeing G with all hers, just looked so cute!!

This was G's brother Brian & a group of those that knew it,

 singing the Church College one little candle/missionary song :)

Bitter sweet to say our goodbyes!! It was pouring & a miserable winter's night that night though so I think everyone was actually just jealous that it was G getting to go to Hawaii, rather than the rest of us! (At least that's what I was thinking anwyay).....little did we know how bad the rest of the night would get though!!

After we left the party we got about 20 minutes down the highway, only to be stopped & told that there had been a slip on the Bryn Derwen's & that we would have to turn right up a little side road. They then said that we should take a left & then left again. So we continued up the road they'd sent us, but once we'd been going for 15 minutes & hadn't come to any roads to turn left down, we all started to panick a bit. We ended up turning into a driveway where Mell saw some lights still on & Dad & Mell got out of the car to go & ask for help. 

The guy took them inside & Jeanette & I sat in the car for what seemed like forever, waiting for them to reapear. When they finally did, the guy from the house came out with them too & started leading us back down to the road where where'd been sent on the detour in the first place. The guy said that it was too dangerous a road to take, especially at that time of night & that they should've sent us left, heading towards Mangawhai instead. 

About 15 cars passed us heading up the other way on our journey back down, so we worried about them & whether they'd ever make it out alive that night haha - or if they even had enough petrol to make the trip. (I think it ended up that that way was blocked as well anyways so those guys would've had a super stink night too)

So yea, it was thanks to the man who lived in the remote house, with his mail order bride & a 1000 teapots, that we made it out that night. He said that he had 7 rooms so we could've stayed the night if we'd wanted to - but the 1000 teapot thing creeped us all out so we were grateful, but relieved to be on our way!!

The Mangawhai road wasn't without it's dramas either though - we got lost a few times on that leg of our journey as well & tried to use my GPS to help us get back on track, but the GPS just kept changing so we were pretty much stuffed. 

Anyways, we eventually found our way back to the main highway & arrived back in Auckland, but probably an hour & a half later than we would've if it had all been smooth sailing. Poor Mell hadn't factored that major detour into her timing for the night either, so by the time we got home she was desperately needing to see her baby.

My oh my, what an adventure that night was!!! The first part of the evening was awesome & then it just turned into a frustrating nightmare haha...so grateful for the fun company that I had with me along the way, but do wonder why I'm always with Mell when painful trips like this take place? Am thinking I may have to think twice before I travel with her in the future now ;)

My boys xoxo

A few weeks ago the boys went to church with matching ties so Stan asked if I could get a few pics of them when we got home....

It was then that I realised that our big boy really does have a talent for cracking out the most beautiful photo smile - an art which our little boy hasn't quite mastered yet haha

Because Spence still doesn't cooperate when he's asked to smile for the camera, the only way to get a nice photo of him is to take the pic while he's just smiling or laughing naturally - hence the reason he's almost never looking at the camera in any of his best photos. In alot of ways I love those shots even more though, cause they really capture the enjoyment of the moment xx

Anyways, I'm so eternally grateful for my 3 handsome boys & that we can be together forever. Some days they can drive me up the wall & around the bend, but my life just wouldn't be the same without them in it & I love them more than any treasure money could ever buy - wouldn't trade them for anything xxx

The out-takes on the iphone lol....it's tough work trying to get good pics!!

Little things...

Here are just a few random pics from the last couple of months that I need to catch up on....

Can never get enough of my babies when they're asleep xxx (too bad the feeling's not always the same when they're awake lol) This was Spence crashed out after we got home from the gym & creche one day. Love the little routine me & this little sidekick have while Mac's at school :)

Icecream treat after me jamming his fingers in the truck door one afternoon :( Oh my gosh, it was so gross & distressing for me (& him of course!!), but since I was the only one at home with him I had to pull myself together & get him up to the White Cross asap....straight after it happened he had a big dent across all of his fingers, but by the time we were seen by the doctor about 15 minutes later, his fingers looked back to normal!! Amazing!! Thank goodness for soft baby bones!

Those poor puppy dog eyes still made me feel like the worst Mum in the world though!

Aunty B & Dallin x (Wonder whether B's gonna be holding a pink or a blue baby in 6 months time??!!)

Dallin all happy & content now that she's with Uncle Pete haha

This little guy in a bit of a jam at the park one afternoon lol

Aunty B to the rescue :)

I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday x 

(Spence & I had this little walk around the temple while we waited for Aunty B & Uncle Pete to finish their visit at Bill & Judes one afternoon (is that the right names B?)

A few more pics from Ella Bella's party...

Next birthday this little dynamite will be in a school uniform! :D 

Watch out Summerland lol 

(p.s I wonder why they called it Summerland? 
Summer feels like such a distant memory right now after two long weeks of wind & rain!)

Awhile ago the boys decided to make a fort so pulled off all the couch cushions & brought out heaps of blankets & pillows from the room... then they changed their minds & decided they wanted to go ride the bikes on the deck, & so off they went. Don't worry about putting anything away guys!! I love to follow you around & tidy up all of your mess :(

Mell & B do you remember this S thingy? I dunno who taught Mac to do it but I had a little laugh when I found it on the bench one day cause I'm pretty sure we did those at some stage too :)

Mac's first ever bedroom door sign which he made on Queen's birthday weekend. I dunno why, but after talking about what that holiday was for on the Monday, he thought it was appropriate to make one of these signs lol

Our very own Stonedine. My master chef was in heaven the day this arrived! Actually I was too cause our old frying pan was rubbish & this is just amazing. Absolutely love it!

So easy to clean & you don't have to use any oil!!

Kiwiyo date with this little guy while Mac was at his end of term disco

Mac's costume for his space themed book week

Selfies with my Spence x

Pyjama day for Mac - last day of term 2

My first ever little love note about me from my big boy. I'm glad he thinks I'm a good mum cause although I'm not as patient as I wish I could be, I do try my best - so hopefully this is the first of many more love notes to come haha....so cool he can write on his own now! Love seeing him learning & growing :)