mark up

well...my charger is still not fixed but i am not prepared to spend $120. When it comes down to it, I will save up for it because all my pictures of my boys are on that computer that is dead as a door nail. I was running fine, but the battery just died.

Today (in America) is my baptism birthday!!
Best decision I ever made.

I was at Horizons and was baptized in Bader pool. They recently tore that ole gym down. Good memories.

It has been a rainy and freezing cold day today. After church, we took Grandma home and went back to the church to pick up Jared from his men's meeting. We had to wait a little bit so Brennan practiced his driving skills.

He got sad that I wouldn't let him honk the horn continuously and I caught a rare moment of sadness from my buddy. Most people have never seen this face.

heart breaking. :(

I found a photo today of him on one of his first few Sundays. He has grown SO much! His baldness cracks me up.

I figured that to celebrate my baptism birthday, I would spend some time reflecting on my life and my spiritual goals. I really am still doing this SO in the meantime...I got a pedicure. :)

Jared decided to watch Brennan for a few hours while I had some time to focus. Those bubbling tubs help you focus ya know. While I was drying my toes, they were closing up the shop. All of a sudden, I hear one of the ladies yell in Vietnamese and look to see the entire floor flooded by the tub of the chair I was sitting in previously. I didn't do it I promise!

Before my pedicure, I went to a new stall in the food court called 'United Sweets'. Basically, it has tons of American and British candy that you normally can't get here. Next time you get angry over prices of candy at halloween....

 that's right. $14.90 for a small bag of Reese's miniatures. every. day.

 $8.90 for a bag of pretzels. they must have gold dust instead of salt.

high chair racing

Today was a good day. Not as cold as the past two days so I am all for it.

Jared was up at 5 to take the train into Wellington. He has more continued education than I ever had as a teacher. It is good though because it means that he is keeping up with the newest technology and techniques.

Speaking of continued education, he was confirmed yesterday for an exclusive course in QUEENSTOWN in September.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE WE ARE GOING!!!

I am super pumped as it will be my first trip to the South Island.

Brennan and I started our morning by going to check on grandma. She called this morning and said there was an alarm going off (which I could hear in the background it was so loud.) She already knew it was the phone but neither of us knew how to stop it. We can't just unplug it because it is linked into her emergency button that she wears. We got that resolved (as in...the alarm stopped by itself) and Brennan and I came home to do our chores.

This afternoon we (read I) decided to have high chair races in our hallway. We raced America and New Zealand. New Zealand won because the driver slipped and dove into the wall during the America race. Here is the cuteness in his racing gear.

 

sly thumbs up for his home country

 this was just too much fun!

Ended the day by going to our marriage class with the ladies at my friend Michelle's  house. Mrs. Maureen ,that I wrote about earlier, teaches it and it is so good to learn from her wisdom. The other ladies are a great source of encouragement as well and I love studying with them!

Tomorrow holds some pretty crazy things! Having said that...goodnight!

warm and toasty

today has been SO cold...and rainy...and cold.

so...

we didn't do a thing but snuggle and play.

it was the best kind of day.

oh wait...we...

blew snot bubbles (hard to see) while we talked to Grammy J and Saba on Skype.

ate shoes (moving on from socks)

chewed elmo and played in the floor

took a bath solely so we could spike up the hair and listen to our bedtime story while Brennan wore his favorite pjs from Aunty Emma.

like I said...the best kind of day.

full circle.

Today was one of the coldest days we have had this winter in Palmy. So naturally, I decided to go gallivanting about town. It wasn't that bad and we got a lot done...so it was worth it.

Jared had forgotten his lunch and since we had to get out of the car to drop that off, we went into the $2 shop across from his office. I have been looking everywhere for affordable plastic animals and hit the JACKPOT!

I purchased some Borax off of TradeMe the other day and needed to pick it up. It's pretty much the only place you can get it. Apparently, if you mix it with corn meal and spread it on whatever surface you are needing to clean, it gets the smell out. Let me tell you, it works. There was a little funny that happened after I picked up the Borax. I went to use it in the garage tonight and when I opened the bag, there was a thank you note and CANDY. My first thought was 'aw, how sweet,' and my second thought was 'um...candy in my poison?' No thanks...I think I will refrain.

When we got home, I prepared while Brennan napped. Prepared for what you may ask?

I prepared for our first Bible class. He doesn't go to class here yet because he is too young. I figured that he needed to be getting it...so we are going to do it at home. He was just as excited as he was in America, only we didn't have that neat seat to reign him in. He was moving on to animals that we weren't to yet. Then he ate his socks.

 okay mom...you are like paparazzi over here!

 no more pictures please!

Man, I love that kid.

After Bible time, we played and played and then waited for the O'Donnell's to come over. Today is Kent and Rachael's 14th anniversary and we wanted to watch their kids while they went on a date. It's funny to me to think that all those years ago I met Kent and Rach and now, their kids are hanging out at my house. It was a full circle moment for sure.

I told Chloe that maybe some day our kids could come to her house while we go out for our 14th anniversary!

After much pizza, jelly beans, partying, Lego Batman and Ratatouille...we settled down to Andy Griffith and vegged out.

and they will probably kill me for taking this photo!

Kent and Rach came to pick up their littlies and ended up staying until 12:30 chatting about life and God and all sorts of good times. It was a good night. and I am sleeping in tomorrow. :)

splat.

So I found my phone and can upload my pictures from today. :) It was buried deep in the diaper bag.

This morning Brennan and I decided to make brownies from scratch to take to playgroup. We were both in the kitchen and I was mixing and singing and I turned around to get a paper towel...

WHAMMO! The bowl tipped over and some fell out on the floor!

It;s not very often that your brownie batter (pre-cocoa) falls to the ground in a taunting smiley face. ha. (pardon the 80's lino...we rent.)

Overcoming that fiasco, we went to playgroup sans brownies. They just weren't ready and I didn't want that to be my baking debut to other moms.

We headed off to play group. This is the first time he has worn this shirt. It is a 12 months size and is almost too tight! 

Today was Boogie with your baby day. I was probably more excited than Brennan to be able to go. I could not wait to see his reaction. He loved every song and I learned quite a few. Some new ones, but definitely old classics (even though here it is 'incy wincy spider' instead of our friend 'itsy bitsy'). When she broke out the bubbles...the mesmerizing commenced. He followed those jokers all over the room!

This was the only shot I was able to get. ha.

We came home and did our normal stuff except that Jared came home between his Foxton bus run and an afternoon patient. That was nice. I love it when he comes home unexpectedly! While we were playing with Brennan...it started a random hail storm!

It had been pretty all day and then came up all of a sudden. Weird.

Grandma came over after her concert that she went to with some friends. On Tuesdays, she goes to a singing class with some friends from an association that helps HD patients. Her new friend Karen is with her almost every day. When we can, we steal her away so she can play!

While she watches Brennan on Tuesdays, I usually cook dinner and get ready for church. Tonight, I decided to be brave and cook a rack of lamb that Jared brought home the other day. It may look a bit rare...but I promise, it was great! (not bragging of course!)

 Just getting ready to cook lamb for my family when they come over...GET READY! :)

my sneaky little spook

Today was a pretty straightforward day. A little shopping through a gazillion Hot Wheels for my brother and not finding anything of interest was the beginning. After we came home and I laid Brennan down for a nap, I went to work organizing the office so we can get the ottoman/bed moved in there for guests. I had the baby monitor on and about 10 minutes after laying him down, I heard his door open!

I knew I was alone in the house but was kind of freaked out because his door must have opened by itself or something. I don't believe in ghosts...but I don't want one to prove anything to me.

I tiptoed to his room to see what was going on. I stopped by the door just in time to see Brennan reaching from his crib and trying to shut the door back. He had opened it himself! He saw me and opened the door back up and said 'hi!' (or what sounded like it!)

What a stinker!

This afternoon, we had some awesome friends come over. The youngest just turned a year and the oldest boy shares a birthday with me! He just turned three.

Brennan was moving so fast...it was hard to get a picture!

Brennan thinks these boys are awesome. He had so much fun and was absolutely worn out after they left!

We went to meet Jared at work and take him so dinner so we could do paperwork. Jared instead surprised me with a date night! (We were having taco leftovers so I was TOTALLY okay with it!)

We went out for thai and I tried my first 'bubble tea'.

 Looks disgusting but tastes pretty great! Jared says you have to make sure to get the right flavor...otherwise it tastes like pants.

I am glad Jared is adventurous and wants to try things so that I can try tastes of them and not waste a whole lot of something.

My friend 'til the end is being induced with her little girl tonight/early morning! Love you Bethany and i cannot wait to see pictures of Kinsley Anne! 

As a side note, we snuggled up in bed to watch a movie and little mister fell asleep with creepy open cross eyes. Here is one for blackmail in the future!!

 

Superman eats socks.

Today, we had a wonderful worship! Jared led singing and I always enjoy that. My kids were great and we talked about Balaam and his talking donkey. :)

For Jack's birthday yesterday, I got him a NERF gun. Found out today that I may have to take it back.

Every time he shoots it, their dog gets scared and poops in the floor! hahaha. Not an intended consequence of a birthday present for sure.

After worship today, we came home and had a lovely lunch with Grandma. Then...nothing. Brennan and I took a nap and I am not sure what anyone else did!

It was some much needed snuggle time after he slept in his room ALL night by himself. I however, did not sleep well. So we may do naps in his room and night time with us. It is hard to regulate the heat in his room without central heat so he gets a little too cold or too hot easily.

It was nice to nap because it was raining really hard. Although, there apparently was a tornado touch down about 30 minutes from us. I was told those weren't a problem here...Jared? haha.

After our nap, we played and played. Did you know Superman eats socks?

breakfast with fire eaters

Today we knew was going to be busy. So we slept later (as in Jared took Brennan and let me sleep in!) and then got up and went to brunch in town.

There is a cafe here that Jared likes called Trio. I like it too and he was nice enough to share it with us today!

On the same street as Trio, they were having a Art on the Edge day. It's basically where the artists come and show off their talent. Some play music...

Some paint graffiti...

Some freeze in positions and lie on the ground... (this was the weirdest thing at the event)

Some look extremely scary on stilts...

and some eat fire....

yep...he ate it.

As we were meandering through the street and people, we came across a store called Humbug.

It is a 'sweets shop' that sells all kinds of new and old school candy. Everything is in big glass jars and the walls are completely lined with shelves that are chock full. The purpose of this place is to...

isn't that awesome?! They were super cool with me taking photos. I told them I wanted to mention them in my blog. They got excited because I think they thought my blog may have a bit more readership than it actually does. I explained it was simply for me and my friends and family but they were still happy to let me take some photos.

We dropped Jared off at home so that he could run some errands while we went to Brennan's first friend birthday party. It was great. Happy Birthday Jack!

After the party, we went to get grandma and take her to the grocery store. As we were checking out, it came an absolute downpour and I looked like a wet dog...but my groceries were saved.

I had bought an ottoman that turns into a sofa bed on a site here called TradeMe. They wanted it picked up today of all days in the POURING rain. but...we are awesome so it was no problem. I'm excited about it because it will give us two guest rooms [technically].

Which translates into...COME VISIT!!

on a side note...Brennan slept the whole night in his bed and in his room.

and I slept on the floor. Which is beside the point. Good news is that he is in there alone tonight and doing well so far!

shmallow.

Well for the technical fourth of July we did it up right!

Red, white and Blue...

Steaks and S'mores...

It's been a great one.

Brennan started out this morning with his Dad's American Boy tee shirt and it stayed clean all the way until supper! We had a little photo shoot in the garden.

 yum...

 should i hold it in my mouth like a rose?

We had youth group tonight. They were to come dressed or adorned in red, white and blue. We were having s'mores (cooked in the microwave.) It was a blast.

 Ben and his facepaint!

 Chloe's fingernails!

Kris with the prize of money bank globe that he won for best red, white and blue!

I tried to get this to rotate but no luck. These are HUGE marshmallows. The only American marshmallows to be found and believe me there is a difference. Wanna guess how much?

13.99

YES. I paid fourteen dollars for marshmallows so that I could channel the fourth of July fun.

I am officially in need of an marshmallow intervention.

nice s'more ya got there.

Funny thing was...when you put them in the microwave they DO melt but they ALSO...

get insanely bigger!!!

Today the sun shined long enough for me to get TWO loads of laundry washed and dried! It has been a really good day. Lots of playing with my boy and enjoying CatchPhrase and fellowship with my church family.

Speaking of my boy...

he is sleeping in his crib...

in his own room.

It was just so warm in there, I couldn't justify shocking him with the cold to bring him in with us.

As soon as he cries though...he'll be my snuggle buddy!

and no...

I did not leave him lying on his face.

:)