happy early valentine's day, baby...

one thing i *really* miss when we're camping is my stainless steel espresso machine, which sits on the kitchen bench and needs electricity. it's the morning ritual, a shared ristretto moment before hubby flies out the door to work.
it's just that french press/plunger coffee *tastes* so different... and it's rather a drama, boiling water in the pressure cooker on the little two-burner gas stove and then making the plunger.. a whistling kettle is still on the to-buy-for-camping list.
so when my friend deb told me about this unbelievably sexy set on half-price sale today... it was a done deal. isn't it g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s !!!!!


i think we'll leave the dr seuss cups at home, and take some old ones camping, though.

So, what on *earth* have The Gang been up to for the last *two weeks*???

highlight #1 CAMPING@TARAWERA:
i think that hubby won the wasp-war.. D17 swatted only eighteen of the little stripers...

our very own tent city... complete with $14.95 gazebo/kitchen/dining room/lounge in the background.. cos we remembered the poles this time.... and didn't have to tie it all to an overhanging tree...

D17's tent-pitching skills
(girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.. )

Daddy and the boyz playing with the plastic soldiers, tentside.

R13 and S9 and J11 jumping off the bridge..
S9 doing tumble turns off the bridge...
jumping off The Cliffs of Insanity (photos to follow)..

floating down the river.. trekking to the waterhole,
S9 fighting off something jungl-ular...

Darryl's and Frank Spencer's (aka Hubby) swimming race across the lake at dusk..
great budgie-smugglers, boys...
(I know I am so naughty posting that photo *evil giggle*)

the beautiful Tarawera falls...

(some of) da kidz

the trick with going camping.. it's all about *da peeps*.. the more the merrier, i say. and of course, Hubby's famous frozen pina coladas. so decadent.

highlight #2 WACKY*WEIR'KEND*:
Bee and Pea at our place: two very cool chickadees.

and with two extra kids, where shall we go?? (rhetorical question)

Bee and S9 braving the waves.

Pea and M5 making a sandcastle... with a moat...

the kidz: check out those sherbet-smiles
(and note the Charlie's angels:
looks like a photo from the past that I have of you'n'me, Doozie...)

cereal-heaven in the pantry:
and that's just the leftovers.
it's always a foodie-party with the Weirs.

love the fun, love the laughs, love the movies and the music, the mussels and pinot gris and chortling to Carl Barron.
down with love, big ups to Napoleon...

"OH KAY, BOY-Y-YS: eets toime for a goime orv backyard creecket..."

this game tends to spontaneously happen whenever extra lads turn up at our place... *especially* if Hubby is home.
it's always accompanied by his legendary commentating, in a roilly LOUD New Zild accent, "The-aaaat's a siiiiiiiiiiiix!!" "Yew gooooohw bowy!!!" "'E's owwwwt!!!"


and between overs, (or when the ball gets hit over to the neighbours' and a fence-manoeuvre is necessarily performed), there's always time for a quick game of *samoan kung fu* (can't remember *who* named it that lol) which is really an elaborate variation of paper/scissors/rock... but there's a LOT of hollerin' "Haaaahr!!" "Heeee-arrrr!!" "Seee-ohhhhh!!!" in loud testosterone-amped tones... and if you win the paper/scissors part, you quickly point North/South/East/West and try to get your opponent to point the same way. and if he does, you get a point.


oops, Chris got caught out... it really is the most hilarious thing to play, and even more hilarious to behold.

the manolo, he would love...

the shoes.. but maybe not the jeans...



the kids'n'i popped out this morning to get school stationery for D17 and R13, who are starting (real) school in three weeks *sniff* and i couldn't believe it: $88 for mostly paper. that is a ridiculous amount of trees to be cutting down.. thank heavens i have been conserving trees for all these years (ie not buying many exercise books to write in lol).

we had to get R13 some school regulation shoes too, and then... we girls just couldn't *resist* the sale on these gorgeous sandals. cork wedges for her and strappy silvers for me: mine were only $12.99 which almost beats Dad's steal of $9.20 for his casual runners last week. but i'm going *dancing* in mine...

small but significant note:
*Darth Vader breathy voice*
The Genes Are Strong With This One, Mum.
Both R13 and I have your big toe !!!!!

snippets and snapshots

i've received comments and emails lately, wondering if, in fact, our life is *really* this beautiful???
er, *why* do i blog??
i was gonna save this post for my blogthday/blogiversary in april 2007, but i've found my muse today instead:

it started out as a photo album, to force myself to negotiate the digital camera, because i have four years of family photos languishing under my bed (the word *scrapbooking* makes me cringe).

and so i mostly stick with familystuff, and don't bother blogging my soul here. i save that for other people's blogs lol...
so, it's the quirky stuff, the funny stuff, the things i wanna remember that appear here.
kinda like my dad's *black book*. sort of a memo to self. snippets and snapshots of the things that we love. milestones. poetry. special love-messages to my kids and friends. and (special treat) *you* get to open the window and see into my heart too.

i've always been a journals person; i have journals for each of my kids that i write special things in, i have books that i write letters in and post, and then they get written in and posted back (hi nik and nic and becki!!). i even have a dreams book that i stick ideas and jewellery pictures and "i wanna go to paris" articles in.. and then i close my eyes and hold my breath and watch them come true.
so, stevie nicks' inspiring words make sense to me:
I tell people all the time that they should keep a journal, even if it's just, 'I had a terrible day today and I don't want to talk about it, love Stevie,' or 'I dreamt last night...' Even if it's just three sentences because at the end of five or six days, you would have created a habit and you will find that over a month that you have a whole story growing. Whether it's just for your own memories, so you can go back at any age, or if you are a writer or a singer, or some part of the creative business. You can be creative ~ anyone can be creative if they want to ~ you just have to want to.

my personal challenge this month (i hate new year's reso's that don't last past Jan 3) is to download the whole nine or so months of The Gang's blogged 2006 and arrange it into a clearfile to keep in the lounge as a family record of our unashamedly beautiful life.
and to do my pilates dvds (hi leighleigh and raych and rach).

while we're talking about blogs, i have noticed that this week (well, maybe it was last week?) in the blogosphere, it's international de-lurking week.
which is where *you* get to leave *me* a wee comment.. i promise it's not going to hurt.. if you don't have a blogger account, then just click "other" and say hi.. surprise me.. just poke your head in a give a little wave.
it's just a jump to the left... and a click to the right...

and now i'll get back to bloggin' our fab family's funny and freaky stuff lol

summer wanderings

When I was a little girl we often used to go for family walks during the long summer evenings, after dinner: "there and back, to see how far it is"...
Our family loves it too, scootering, walking and chatting alongside.

This evening we ventured to the willow tree that is down the end of our street, by the big blue hydrangeas and trickly creek.

It has a rope swing and is perfect for playing on, in and beside...

and best of all, it's a secret location that the whole neighbourhood hasn't found yet...

party.. party... party.... PARTY.....

We're into our *fourth* day of celebrations...
HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!!!

We had a fabulous sunny afternoon at *the Quarry*.. where the kids had a blast...

S9 zoomed up and down and up and down the hill on his scooter

M5 negotiated the bridge.. and found some tadpoles

After climbing up and down various structures with her brothers, R13 needed a moment or two alone with her pink phone.. which has now been BOOSTed to two thousand $10 texts a month. mmmmm, yep. i kid you not...

while we sat around discussing life, the universe and everything...

Dad, you are so naughty avoiding the camera like this. I do love the hat though...

on the way home we stopped for fresh berry icecreams from the best little icecream maker in the world..

The birthday dinner party, all crammed around our table outside on the patio for BBQ beef kebabs and a huge salad with a million avocados and yummy bits..
GD and J11 had a serious wine-tasting moment: courtesy of Waiheke's Stony Ridge..

Anne's surprise arrival.. so cool to have you with us, you are such an integral part of Mum and Dad's life (and birthday parties!!) and you always have a moment for our kiddos.. they love engaging you in conversation and showing off their latest trampoline move/piano piece/fave book...

Birthday speeches and The Cake.... thanks, Dad, for everything you are to us. I have such wonderful childhood memories and we really treasure the wisdom and family history and foodie-ness and love of cryptic crosswords and sudokus and creativity-genes and love that you and mum gladly impart.

Well, you guys have just zipped into town this morning for *more food* (with D17 as the pilot.. will check the greyness of your hair upon return lol), and we're looking forward to another day of food and vino..
and I'm thinking that mum and I *must* do the pilates dvd today...

*singing* we drove for MILES and MILES and wound up at your d-o-o-r...

*grin*
and it was *so* worth it...
Happy Birthday Nicky!!!!!
love your groovy new pad girl:

Jessica and Pebbles the acrobatic goat who *jumps*

Latte and Fudge the piggies

(R13:"They were *so* c-u-t-e: and they s-q-u-e-a-l-e-d like... um, piglets!!")

M5 and Tiahnee on the D.I.Y. seesaw

Nicky and Jessica and Jack blowing out ALL THOSE CANDLES!!!

The Happy Family

The cutest umbrella grins in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD...

Seriously, next time, we're bringing our tent and sleeping over. Can't wait to slide down that hill on the sled!!! We'll bring the sunshine though, ok?

Where are we gonna eat today, Napoleon?

Wherever we feel like. Gosh!!
Whenever D17 hangs out at Chris' place, there's the inevitable late afternoon phone call home asking THAT teenage-boy-question, "Mum, what's for dinner?"
Napoleon, give me some of your tots.
and then the lads decide where they'll eat...
tonight:
I caught you a delicious bass.
NOT!!
homemade pizzas here wins out over macaroni cheese there.


but even though i am the sneak paparazzi (Yeah right. Who's the only one here who knows the illegal ninja moves from the government?), they both insisted on the eyes-closed-photo...
to which the correct reply is Peace out, dude...
or maybe *singing*: I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I STILL love technology... Always and forever. Our love is like a flock of doves, flying up to heaven above... always and forever, always and forever...

sox on box and box needs fix

M5 knows now what happens when ya climb *on* the letterbox>>>>>
*splat*
the box falls off its perch...
necessitating a quick trip to the local hardware store for bits'n'bobs.. and he and Daddy performed a fix-it job late this arvo.

da boyz: on da tools

ahhhh, finished letterbox:
Hubby has a spot of relaxation in S9's groovy hammock:


It's been a great weekend's box-ticking all round: we've finally packed away all our camping stuff from last week (and the Christmas stuff) that was threatening to break our leg as we kept dodging h-u-g-e piles, the kids've seen a ton of mates, and Hubby has washed down the house too... *and* fixed my laundry wall tiles... *and* trimmed all those shady leaves off the grapevine so our gorgeous grapes will now taste of summer sunshine !!!!!

sweet lil' suckers

R13 and Steph have spent the best part of two days trialing different sherbet recipes and flavours to stuff into straws which are sealed top-and-bottom, using a candle flame heat-and-squeeze technique (rather creative, i thought).


they now have all sorts of entrepreneurial ideas about flogging them off at 20c a pop to all the kids on our next camping holiday... er, if there's any sherbet (or teeth) left !!!!!

just putting his feet up...

this goes in the strange-but-true-family-antics category...
or, how to get M5 to lie still for more than two seconds:


this funny little foot rest thing started out as *i'm the king for the day*...
M5 has been announcing this little statement for a couple of weeks, and there is always lively debate over whose turn it is etc.
it's still going on... on the beach yesterday.. i think M5 asked D17 for a massage and then he just lay there in the sun while D17 had about ten mins of foot-resting...

camping @ coromandel

*singing*
fun and laughter on a summer holiday...
of course we loved *tent city*...
we got the chunderbug for day two/three but apart from that it was a blast:
sun, surf, and smiles.
fresh fish and chilled asti riccadonna.
strings of glass beads from the little hippie himalaya shop along the road.
was so busy having fun that I took hardly any photos.
must remedy that next camping trip (in just over two weeks time)...

the perfect NZ beach,
complete with craggy pohutukawa trees.
oh i love those red red flowers

James Bond aka hubby hits the waves

M5 takes shelter with Aunty Carol, the hat lady

view from the top

i do love tenting, but oh how wonderful it is to arrive home, pop the clothes in the washing machine, the dishes in the dishwasher and *push the button!!*, have a hot shower and smooth legs again... and fall asleep in our soft (uninflatable) bed.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz