Frankton Gala

I love school gala's.  I love the family atmosphere, I love that all the proceeds are going to help a school, I love all the food.  This was the first time the boys had been to a gala.  It was not as big as I had expected, but still really great.  I'm so glad that it worked out that Tui would be home that night to come with us.

The boys got to ride on a mini Ferris Wheel.  We're so lucky that Malachi is such a great brother, coz there is no way Vili would have gone on it without him.  It was so cute, every time they went around they SCREAMED at us "Hi!!! Can you see me??!!! I'm up here!!! Whooo hoooo!!".  It was so cute.

 

We did a few carnival games, but only the ones where everyone wins a prize. :)

 

Each of the classes had to set up and run their own game or stall, so Malachi played a few of their games too, like the frisby toss.  He won a bottle of water.  He could not have been more proud of his water.

The boys got their faces painted.  Malachi wanted to be a boy butterfly, and Vili is a tiger. It was the first time that Vili was brave enough to let someone paint his face. 

 

 

 

They were going to have hot air balloon rides but it was too windy, so instead they just let the kids run around inside the balloon, which they still thought was really cool.

They also had the Super XV trophey on display, which the boys were underwhelmed by.

And of course, there was lots of yummy stuff to eat.

 

We topped it all off with a picnic for dinner and called it a great night.

Toilet Training Vili

I had been dreading this process for a while.  Malachi was generally a placid, obedient kid, no real drama from him, so potty training was drama-free.  Vili, however, is a lot more ''spirited'' and I was worried toilet training would be opening a can of worms.  So we spent a week prepping him, telling him he was going to wear big boy undies, that he'd go to the toilet like Malachi, that he'd get treats when he went etc.  Him and I went on a special outing together to choose his undies and his reward treats.  We dusted off the ol' potty and we were ready to go.

Monday - He wet through every pair of pants and shorts he owned, didn't have a single success.  In fact, I would have him sitting on the toilet for about 20minutes, nothing, the second he got off and got his pants back on, wet.  Over, and over, and over again.  And he would SCREAM that he hates the toilet, he don't like the toilet, and I'd have to hold him down to sit on it.  So by about 10.30am, with no more pants to wear, he was back in nappies.

Tuesday - I wasn't game enough to try again.

Wednesday - A total repeat of Monday, accident after accident, except he did have ONE sucess.  By 1pm all 18 pairs of his pants and shorts were wet and he was back in undies.

Thursday - I hadn't done the washing so there was no pants for him to wear so we took a break.

Friday - I decided this would be my last try.  If he wasn't ready then we'd just try again in a few months.  Vili wakes up and says to me "Mummy, I need to go toilet", very much to my surprise.  So I take him, sit him down, and he goes, just like that.  I'm astonished.  I cautiously put on his pants.  About 20 minutes later he tells me again "Mummy, I need to go to the toilet".  It took Malachi about 6 months to get to the point where he would initiate the going to the toilet, so this was a big deal to me.  That day he had only 1 accident.

 In the 6 weeks since we started, he has had 6 accidents total, none of those in the last 2 weeks.  He is also dry during naps and at night (although I'm not brave enough to let him sleep in undies so he still sleeps in a nappy).  We've been on road trips, to the movies, and still he's dry.  It's totally flabbergasted me, that of all the children to be a super easy potty trainee, it's Vili.  Don't get me wrong, I'm EXTREMELY grateful, he's now saving us about $15 a week.  I'm pretty proud of my 3 day wonder boy.  And he's pretty proud of himself too.

Up north

(Careful, this is a loooooooong one!) 

My Dad's older sister got married and ask me to come and take the photos for her.  I was excited to be able to take Tui up north and to show him a little more of NZ.  We stayed in Ngunguru in the same holiday house that I had stayed in as a kid when we would come for summer holidays.  I had forgotten how beautiful it was up there.  We played tourist a little bit, visiting some historical sights, and had such a good time that we're going back for a few days early next year.

On one of our many pit stops along the way.

Ngunguru is such a great beach for kids. The bay is sheltered by an island, so there is vertially no waves or wind, and there are tons of different spots you can go to.  Dad took Tui and the boys for a little putter around, just like we used to as kids.

Lani just stayed and played in the sand with Grandma.

 




Soaking up the undivided attention from Grandparents.

 
My children are obsessed with Trampolines, but our house doesn't have the space for one, so they were over joyed to discover that the holiday house had one, and they spent every second they could on it.

 

We went to Paihia and visited the sight where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.

 

 

This is the tree that was cut down to make this canoe, the largest in the world, made from one single tree.

  

 

 

We visited the Treaty house and the old homestead. If my 7th form history memory serves me correctly, I think this is James Busby.

  

 

 

 

This waterfall is one of 2 in the world that are in a horseshoe shape, the other being Niagra falls.

We thought that since we were already half way there were might as go the whole 9 yards and drive up to the top of NZ, to Cap Reinga.  It took way longer then we expected, but I was glad we did it.  It was surreal to stand there and look out and see nothing but sea, and this amazing amazing light, and to see where the pacific ocean and the tasman sea colide.

 

 

 

I've just finished watching a documentary about Zimbabwe and it made me feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful country where we can freely move around and enjoy the landscape that's been created.  I don't ever want to live anywhere else. :)

Miku

Last month we had a Japanese exchange student, Miku, come and stay with us for 3 weeks while she went to a local school.  What an experience it was.  I had experienced a sort of culture shock when I moved to Hawaii, but that was nothing compared to what our student went through.

She was 15 years old, deathly shy, and an only child, who's mother and father were both an only child.  So she had NO aunty's, uncles, cousins, nothing.  Imagine her shock when I told her I was one of 6 children, and had 43 first cousins on my mum's side of the family alone.  There were just so many things that were different to what she was used to; little kids and all the noise joy they bring, eating cereal for breakfast, using a western bathroom, hanging her washing outside on a washing line, helping cook dinner, having lots of free time. Language barrier was huge, but with the help of google translate and some sign language we made it through, and by the end of the 3 weeks she was so much more confident speaking english.  The boys loved her.  Vili called her "meetuuu" and bossed her around like no other, ordering her here and there, telling her to bless her food and get in the car and come play cars.  Malachi just wanted to be with her all the time.  They must have sat for hours on her bed reading books to each other.  He picked up on how I would speak slowly and with hand movements and started doing it too, it was hilarious.  It was awesome to share our ''kiwi'' lifestyle with her, and to have her share a bit of her with us. 

Here are some of the things we did while she was with us.

Playing at the park with the boys. She was super sporty so we were outside as much as possible.

 

We went for a walk through the arboretum, which happens to be infested with chickens. Miku was DEATHLY affraid of them, and after about 20minutes of coaxing, and me holding her hand (literally) we finally got her to feed one. She was so proud of herself.

 

We went out to Raglan Beach to play and have fish and chips.

 

 

We went to the stock cars, something very different for her.

  

She wore this super cute school uniform every day. 

  

 

The day before she left, her and the other students that had come over from her school in Japan put on a farewell evening, where they sung and danced and showed us little Japanese games.

 

 

They even had a little 'graduation' ceremony where they got a certificate for being in NZ lol.

 

We hope to have another student come next year and look forward to it.