tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174297942024-03-07T22:58:58.761+13:00awaywithwordsawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-33309877754193214002009-03-30T18:52:00.003+13:002009-03-30T19:51:39.653+13:00<div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3398040162_b78342b1bb_m.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div><div>Ciara is four today, so I gathered a few wee pictures over the past four years.<br /><br /><div><div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3398039824_1e97e36b04_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3398039824_1e97e36b04_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />A day old still in hospital...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3398039980_d805f9cb61_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3398039980_d805f9cb61_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br />Chilling out at 7 months<br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3398040102_a37404a56b_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3398040102_a37404a56b_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br />Having a yoghurt experience<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3398039934_4c96c2f244_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3398039934_4c96c2f244_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Making her own 2nd birthday invites<br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3398039934_4c96c2f244_m.jpg"></a></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3398040044_e74d93bc6b_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3398040044_e74d93bc6b_m.jpg" border="0" /></a>With her lovely Daddy:</div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3398040044_e74d93bc6b_m.jpg"></a></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><br /> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3398040222_2b9be15129_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3398040222_2b9be15129_m.jpg" border="0" /></a>Being cheeky:<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3398040274_2929b23b88_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3398040274_2929b23b88_m.jpg" border="0" /></a>TODAY! </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-46944048027408684502009-03-18T19:39:00.004+13:002009-03-18T19:51:04.977+13:00We've all been working a bit hard, and needed a bit of a chill out, so we booked an impromptu night away in our favourite mountain resort town. We drove up early Sunday morning and somewhere along the way my tiny DPN slipped out of my hand and down the small gap beside my seat. Gah, much as they might look like bamboo kebab sticks, they're not priced as such PLUS I had socks to knit, so we had to find somewhere to stop, and someone with little fingers to get it out. Ciara saved the day, and rescued my needle and we had a great time exploring a Forest reserve and picking about 10 ripe, wild blackberries. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the 'feast' even if I sustained numerous scratches during my foraging.Our hotel was as luxurious as we hoped with a big spa bath, wee patio with outside furniture and separate room for the girls. We had a picnic lunch in the forest, after Brendan tried to drive us down a mountainbike track , and then chilled for the afternoon. After an early dinner, we headed to the pools for a lovely, warm swim. Staying in for about 90 minutes was luxury after the last couple of attempts (with smallish babies) where I have been lucky to have any swim, and generally not more than about half an hour. The kids went to bed really well and Brendan and I had a lovely relaxing evening. On the way to the pools we had discovered an ENORMOUS blackberry patch, so the next morning, while I cooked a slapup breakfast Brendan and the girls picked some blackberries for our French Toast, and then after we checked out we headed back and collected these:<br /><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3345612853_2c38ddbaf0_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3345612853_2c38ddbaf0_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>The container would have been fuller if it hadn't been for... this wee cherub. </div><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3345613051_e47159e01e_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3345613051_e47159e01e_m.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>When we got home we transformed the goodies into three jars of this... </div><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3346446306_02e94c8507_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3346446306_02e94c8507_m.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>which are going down rapidly.</div><div>And Ciara proclaims it delicious!</div><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3346446192_2895610835_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3346446192_2895610835_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3346446192_2895610835_m.jpg"></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Finally, before we came home we went for a blat around town on one of these:</div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3346445958_2d1c6ca499_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3346445958_2d1c6ca499_m.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>And just to add to the excitement, Issy fell asleep about 500m from the place where we were handing the bike back, so we finished looking like this.<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3345612769_50b82f90da_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3345612769_50b82f90da_m.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>In her relaxed state her wee feet dangled and both her shoes fell off. We didn't notice until we stopped, so then had to spend half an hour finding them. All in all it was a thoroughy enjoyable night away, and we're all looking forward to planning another one.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-17255929291332816782009-02-18T11:40:00.006+13:002009-02-18T11:51:02.160+13:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoCULOvCfLc9BkH78fmiynxV9DvsQvWxrVXR9qJBpqLMduog7c0Yd6q9T8ldy2DXd0e8fh-smO-hxJJXY5X4N6VhGgrJBrtpwAinCTvx7v4TKXry7EpdZps70Qj028KTfY_69Nw/s1600-h/P2150063.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303902460825408290" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoCULOvCfLc9BkH78fmiynxV9DvsQvWxrVXR9qJBpqLMduog7c0Yd6q9T8ldy2DXd0e8fh-smO-hxJJXY5X4N6VhGgrJBrtpwAinCTvx7v4TKXry7EpdZps70Qj028KTfY_69Nw/s320/P2150063.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMF0gWNIK4yWi6WnHX0o2Fz4m_4-vQVX2Wlvg92qPxmROYXS06yWeRf6ln6c5m3uAQACKnOGX4XL-g3lVn5v9Pb628bs1hYrPqiuSg6Uk4ErGp01uWA7fzPF3HX59srypLYFCrmg/s1600-h/P2150068.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303902473732383714" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMF0gWNIK4yWi6WnHX0o2Fz4m_4-vQVX2Wlvg92qPxmROYXS06yWeRf6ln6c5m3uAQACKnOGX4XL-g3lVn5v9Pb628bs1hYrPqiuSg6Uk4ErGp01uWA7fzPF3HX59srypLYFCrmg/s320/P2150068.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQVCVOnwEW7vhrSkeDmb6A9PaOuPZ_s_FzdeFS1XqhqBS32dcGbw6InfdyzOOXoCZUrewsFOgpdAUGfGdj6NWn12h0pyBx-iZndwKd6UFhgbGXfMNDJNiV9uLoG5pxHgUXLbdFg/s1600-h/P2150072.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303902464597924978" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQVCVOnwEW7vhrSkeDmb6A9PaOuPZ_s_FzdeFS1XqhqBS32dcGbw6InfdyzOOXoCZUrewsFOgpdAUGfGdj6NWn12h0pyBx-iZndwKd6UFhgbGXfMNDJNiV9uLoG5pxHgUXLbdFg/s320/P2150072.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9NiKs2AqpkPkDR1f0hFlE_TGXVBzN49CvPzXhk5S6h1gpex_mE508ojXkBGcnRfugvc1wVz1Sejg_YEdAMdJjFuwnOkDrsdYQOTZiyDCwKhtOj-kFNjVmsoqxbnwlWfWnEiprQ/s1600-h/P2150059.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303900271115026226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9NiKs2AqpkPkDR1f0hFlE_TGXVBzN49CvPzXhk5S6h1gpex_mE508ojXkBGcnRfugvc1wVz1Sejg_YEdAMdJjFuwnOkDrsdYQOTZiyDCwKhtOj-kFNjVmsoqxbnwlWfWnEiprQ/s320/P2150059.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The Chinese Lantern Festival.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The girls and I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival on Sunday evening. It wasn't supposed to start until 5pm, however we turned up around 4pm and there was still heaps to see and do. We took the bus into town, then the tram down to the festival site. We walked around looking at all the animals and lanterns and it was vibrant, bustling and interesting. We bought some Chinese food from the food stalls for dinner and sat and ate that by the river.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Ciara was fascinated by the Foo Lions, and she wanted some ladies walking along the path to 'be lions'. The ladies were very obliging and gave some good growls.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>After dinner we had a Vanilla Ice sundae, which while not Chinese, was exceedingly yummy. We caught the tram back to the bus station and then the girls roared around and ran up and down the yellow lines painted on the floor for the fifteen minutes we had to wait until the bus came. We'll definitely make this a yearly event, as it was heaps of fun, and we're looking forward to being able to stay late enough to actually see some lanterns lit up!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-25034088477317033262008-07-30T22:02:00.003+12:002008-07-30T22:21:55.409+12:00A haircut called 'Brave'!<br /><br />I have to record this event that had Brendan and I laughing so hard this evening our cheeks were hurting. It involved an imaginery pair of scissors, an imagination and Ciara!<br /><br />Just before Ciara went to bed she decided to brush my hair, and then to 'cut' it. As she moved around my head gathering the hair up and pretending to cut it, in much the same way that I cut hers, Brendan commented 'Wow, that's a great looking cut, what do you call that style?' After a short pause, Ciara says 'Um... ...Brave!'<br /><br />Well, that started us all giggling, and then I jokingly said 'Brendan can you please grab some scissors for Ciara so that she can really give my hair a haircut.' Ciara's wide eyes and giggle at my 'Just kidding' was a treat. Brendan laughed and commented that she was doing a really good job, and then he went a step further and said 'Just imagine you are having a nap one day, and then you wake up to the sound of snip, snip, snip as Ciara cuts your hair.' I laughed (secure in the knowledge that I never nap when alone with the kids), and I laughingly cautioned Ciara 'Don't even think about it'.<br /><br />There was a pause, then her whole body gathered in on itself and tensed as her eyes grew like saucers and she exclaimed with a squeal and a giggle 'OOOOOOOOOH! That would be SOOO BAD!!!', then 'I DID think about it.' We were both watching her and realised that she had totally transported herself on my words 'Don't even think about it' to an imaginery place where she was cutting my hair while I napped. The thrill of defying my caution combined with the vision of herself as Mum's secret hairdresser was the kind of 'whole body experience' that three year olds are just so good at!awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-82810496537090707072008-06-24T15:09:00.003+12:002008-06-24T15:18:26.441+12:00It finally happened!<br /><br />The thesis is finished.<br /><br />At 5.30am Brendan stumbled into bed having worked all day and night and following a month of very late nights, and months of working day and evening on the beast! He was a bit tired when he had to get up at 7.30 a.m. to take the file to Dad for printing.<br /><br />You might think that this is a sure sign he has left it all until the last minute, but in fact, he has been very disciplined about the whole thing. The fact that he picked a HUGE study topic didn't help, which meant his final product is 50% longer than many. He has also been extremely thorough and done some groundbreaking work on new techniques which is very exciting - but extremely time-consuming as well, because you're forging a new path yourself.<br /><br />We celebrated by taking the girls along for the ride to drop the file off, then into Drexyls for breakfast. Yummo. The pelting hail which started just before we left just added to the excitement of the morning for Ciara.<br /><br />When we got home Brendan went to bed for a couple of hours while I did puzzles with the girls and Brendan and Ciara have just popped out on the bus to pick up the printed copy.<br /><br />The enormity of the project really came home to me when I realised that Brendan has been working on this project for half of Ciara's life! And all of Isabella's life. Ciara doesn't remember a time when Daddy wasn't disappearing out to the garage office to work on his thesis.<br /><br />Now, we can relax a little, tidy the house, do a bit of gardening and just chill out for a wee while before he starts the next wee project.<br /><br />His PhD.awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-34190036841650733832008-06-08T22:35:00.003+12:002008-06-08T23:08:56.283+12:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-gWkUSiHk8YrlMO3aC7ag-uhp5DaKETHJsvdN5Go2ZIGagcf1JKGzEpKRQUNeiTjhi_e2jE6SJtWEqD3bW00DQDo2PozgRiffxjSjMeXOKZGmrep8d9Vu_Su4X9vDjmGNViZAw/s1600-h/Buddies.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209466016351599842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-gWkUSiHk8YrlMO3aC7ag-uhp5DaKETHJsvdN5Go2ZIGagcf1JKGzEpKRQUNeiTjhi_e2jE6SJtWEqD3bW00DQDo2PozgRiffxjSjMeXOKZGmrep8d9Vu_Su4X9vDjmGNViZAw/s320/Buddies.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Adoring your big sister.<br /><br />Isabella loves and adores Ciara. It is so plain to see.<br /><br />In the mornings if we are up earlier with Isabella (Ciara has been sleeping in this week) she is a bit scratchy until Ciara gets up, and she would be off down to Ciara's room like a shot, waking her up, if we let her.<br /><br />Since Ciara 'taught' Isabella how to wash her hands, Ciara can no longer go wash her hands by herself, she has to have her wee buddy up on the stool next to her washing her hands too. It's often quite a wet process, for me too, seeing as I have to stand behind and make sure Isabella doesn't fall on the tiles.<br /><br />This morning Ciara and Brendan were joking that Ciara was going back to bed straight after breakfast. Ciara was wrapped up in her duvet, and brought over to Isabella and I so that we could 'say ni-night'. As soon as Isabella thought Ciara was going back to bed she started crying, and she wouldn't be consoled. It was only the reappearance of Ciara a few minutes later that stopped her crying, and even then, she couldn't quite bring herself to look at Ciara without little sobs escaping for a few minutes. It's very sweet.<br /><br />I used to think 'subsequent' children must miss out a bit (on that one-on-one that the oldest child gets for so long), but I was wrong. In fact, they seem to be enriched by the two-on-one, or three-on-one, and in Isabella's case she seems to really miss Ciara when she is temporarily absent.</div>awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-67785022632028405202008-05-28T05:52:00.000+12:002008-05-28T17:52:15.351+12:00The magic of lasagne.<br /><br />Why is that if you call something 'lasagne' you can pack it full of all sorts of inedible ingredients (to a 3yo) and it still disappears as if it were a bowl of hokey pokey ice-cream!<br /><br />We had lasagne for tea. It was combined effort between Alison and myself. I borrowed her basic ideas but made it my own, and it was still wolfed down by all. Feeling very virtuous about all the coloured veges that the kids had consumed I followed it up with self-saucing chocolate pudding and hokey pokey ice-cream.<br /><br />In case you're interested it went something like this: Cook some brown lentils until soft (I usually stick some in a pot first thing in the morning, bring to boil, turn off, leave an hour or so, bring to boil again, turn off and leave until soft). Throw in food processor with a tin of tomatoes, a roughly chopped onion, a packet of any sort of soup (I used tomato), some basil and oregano, 5 big cubes of defrosted frozen spinach (or huge pile of fresh if you have it), 1C hot water. Whizz.<br /><br />Layer in crockpot with lasagne noodles then pour over 1C milk, with 1Tbsn cornflour and 1 egg all whisked together. I threw the grated cheese on once I took it out because I find it sort of burns in the crockpot.<br /><br />Ah, the magic of lasagne, wonder what flavour we'll have next.awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-12751951640348715002008-05-20T13:10:00.000+12:002008-05-20T09:51:22.805+12:00Balmy autumn days.<br /><br />We've had a great day today enjoying some unseasonably warm May weather. This morning I popped both girls in the Chariot and went on a big bike ride to the wool shop. I bought some yummy wool for a couple of birthday pressies, we admired LOTS of wool, then the girls got back into the Chariot and I biked towards home.<br /><br />It's quite a loooong way to the wool shop! I know that now.<br /><br />Half way home - once all the busy roads were crossed - we hopped off again to have a picnic. Isabella was asleep, so we left her sleeping in the Chariot and Ciara and I just hung out by the river enjoying our picnic, the view and the peace. Ciara kept asking why there was no-one else there. I wondered the same thing. It was so beautiful, I couldn't believe there weren't more people out enjoying the day.<br /><br />We had a lovely chilled afternoon tidying up, pottering around cooking a vegan dinner, and playing with some balls. Oh, and I knitted up a storm trying to finish Brendan's slippers so that I can start on my new wool.awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-82607049784793743762008-05-16T13:21:00.000+12:002008-05-15T18:21:24.741+12:00Visiting friends and the Next Door Cat<br /><br />Well, today was a big day for us...<br /><br />but before I go on, I just have to say that we've had a very busy couple of years, hence why I haven't posted for a while. I was waiting for something momentous to start our blog up again, but then a friend pointed out if I waited for it to be perfect, it would never happen, and she's right, so here we go again.<br /><br />... anyway, the big moment was that Ciara went and visited a wee friend, on her own, and she had a ball! I have a bad cold, so when we were invited to Z's house I didn't feel up to it, but Ciara did. So Isabella and I dropped her off for a couple of hours. Five hours (and one phonecall) later she eventually arrived home, with blue paint on her nose, a big smile, and a full tummy. I'm not sure what they ate, but Z tells me 'they ate all day' and she didn't eat much dinner here. Funny that. No doubt Z's food was so much more interesting than ours.<br /><br />Now, the Next Door Cat.<br /><br />I looked out the window, to see Jack, the cat from next door - who spends all day here - jumping into the compost bin. I wondered why because soggy old porridge, ripped up envelopes and vegetable peelings doesn't seem very appealing to me, even for a scrounging cat, but I soon saw why. Seconds after jumping in, he jumped out again, with a mouse in his mouth. Both the girls were eating dinner, so I decided to postpone any conversations about Jack eating our mice, and other than taking a quick walk outside to confirm my suspicions I said nothing. I suppose I should be happy that we haven't got a mouse infestation, but I did feel a bit sorry for the poor wee thing.awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1155690927379957192006-08-16T13:08:00.000+12:002006-08-16T13:15:27.393+12:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/1600/Pasta.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/320/Pasta.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Ciara's indulging in one of her favourite pasttimes - reading cookbooks and saying 'WOW' at every colour picture :)<br /><br />Goodness me, my last post was March and now it's August!!! Eeeek!<br /><br />As you can probably guess things are hectic as usual! Brendan is doing his first year of Masters (his papers year) and he's flat out. I'm studying Maori language again this year, and it's a bit of a step-up from last year, so I'm having to work quite hard at it.<br /><br />The wee girl is full of mischief and now walking and running all over the place. Her vocabulary is coming along in leaps and bounds and we estimate (it's a bit hard to count because she keeps surprising us) that she now knows and uses about 60 - 70 words. Her favourite colour word is 'purple' (everything is purple at the moment) and when she's hungry she's not shy about demanding 'dinner'! Ciara has started at Playcentre and she loves it. She is also really enjoying swimming at the moment and is proving to be fearless like her big cousin Ella.<br /><br />As well as parenting and studying we're both also working part-time, fitting it in around our other commitments.<br /><br />Anyway I must away and do some study while the wee girl is in bed having her afternoon 'sleep' (actually at the moment she's warbling away to her toys, but she'll probably fall asleep eventually).awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1141201464286084752006-03-01T21:16:00.000+13:002006-03-01T21:24:24.300+13:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/1600/060301%20Ciara%2011%20months%20001.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/320/060301%20Ciara%2011%20months%20001.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Hi All,<br /><br />Wow it's March already - time flies when you're having fun! Haven't posted for a while - I thought we were busy last year - if possible we are even busier this year!<br /><br />We have just about completed the building the new garage, which is great, have so much more space inside now that all the garage things are finally finding a proper home!<br /><br />Ciara is coming up with new tricks every day! Her favourites at the moment are blowing kisses and waving (usually done at the same time). The words 'Hello', 'Bye bye', 'wave' and even 'the trees are waving in the breeze' all prompt frantic waves - too cute!<br /><br />Brendan very busy with his first Masters year, and trying to finish off the garage.<br /><br />I'm slacking on my triathlon training (triathlon is this Sunday) - oops! I think it is because I know that I have no problems with each of individual discipline lengths - putting them all together might be interesting though!<br /><br />Will leave you with this picture taken today :)awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1136515376122938992006-01-06T15:39:00.000+13:002006-01-06T15:42:56.136+13:00Happy New Year!<br /><br />Just a quick note to let you know we are still here (it's been a while since we last published!).<br /><br />Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We did, we had Christmas dinner for 12 at our place, and it was great fun. Dave's Mum joined us from Timaru, Sharon from Wellington, Naomi and Kathy from Rangiora and Gaye and Dave from Auckland - so a far travelled bunch we were!<br /><br />Our trip overseas was fabulous, it was lovely to catch up with Brendan's parents and for them to meet their new wee granddaughter and spend so much time with her. I will publish a couple of photos when I get a minute.<br /><br />Gotta zoom, wee girl is in bed, so should be doing something (like washing argh) while I can.<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Nicci, Brendan and Ciaraawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1131916591916371532005-11-15T07:12:00.000+13:002005-11-14T10:16:31.926+13:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/1600/0510%20Ciara%20vegemite%20bread!.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/320/0510%20Ciara%20vegemite%20bread%21.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Mmm as you can see Ciara really likes her bread!<br /><br />Jeepers more than a week has flown by since I have had time to even add a sentence to this! I had my exam on Saturday, so yah - no more study for either of us! Brendan has been working out of town (last week) and again this week, so it's a busy time for me doing everything around home!<br /><br />Still getting ready for up upcoming trip, so will be doing lots of last minute things this week. Hope you're all great and not getting too stressed in the end of year madness!awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1131086769453257652005-11-05T16:54:00.000+13:002005-11-04T19:46:09.470+13:00Well good evening again! It's Friday night, Brendan has finished his exams - yippee, and celebrated by going out and washing the car (a fabulously frivilous thing to do).<br /><br />I am sick - argh, I have the worst head cold I have ever had, but so far have managed to not pass it on to the wee girl (touch wood) or Brendan.<br /><br />Ciara has had fun on the swing next door every day this week. Each time we go she enjoys it more and is starting to get very excited when we walk over to it now. She has also been on the see-saw but I think the swing wins hands down at the moment.<br /><br />Well hope this finds you all well, take care and catch up with you soon.<br /><br />Nicciawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1130635083126149692005-10-30T14:14:00.000+13:002005-10-30T14:18:03.140+13:00Wow the week has whizzed by and I haven't posted an update - so here it is!<br /><br />We've had a week of great weather, resulting in 4 BBQ dinners! Mostly just Brendan and Ciara and I (although Ciara has yet to progress on to bbq'd snags), but last night we had friends around, so of course the good weather went away and we thought it was going to rain! In the end it didn't rain, but it certainly wasn't good enough for sitting outside.<br /><br />Brendan is still studying hard, first exam tomorrow, and Nicci is starting to think about what to take on our upcoming trip.<br /><br />Hope you are all well,<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Nicci, Brendan and Ciaraawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1129885095739988612005-10-22T18:00:00.000+13:002005-10-21T21:58:15.743+13:00Good Evening - wow it's Friday again, so must be time for a new post!<br /><br />We have had a very busy week - Brendan is studying. Yesterday we went and had a lovely lunch with Beth and Tom and then visited their almost finished house, which is fabulous!<br /><br />Today we had carpet laid in our lounge and master bedroom - yah yah yah! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to finally be rid of the olive green shagpile!<br /><br />Hope you're all well, take care,<br /><br />Nicci, Brendan and Ciaraawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1129275807922759912005-10-14T20:36:00.000+13:002005-10-14T20:43:27.923+13:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/1600/0510%20pumpkin%204.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/320/0510%20pumpkin%204.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Tena koe,<br /><br />Yah it's Friday - don't know why I say that really because now that Brendan is on study leave one day is very much like another around here! Yep, that's right Brendan has officially finished his lectures and labs of his undergrad degree and once his exams are finished will be ready to graduate BSc! December graduation (14th December) has now been cancelled for Brendan because we decided it was just too close to our return from the UK (on the 12th), and there was too much likelihood that Ciara and/or Nicci would end up missing the ceremony. We'll look at it again for the April ceremony. Brendan has 2 exams and I have just the one, so not long now until study is over for the year. Hope this finds you all well. Off to make a cup of tea now. Oh by the way that's pumpkin that's going down with great gusto!<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Nicciawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1128991346165483882005-10-11T13:39:00.000+13:002005-10-11T13:42:26.170+13:00Kia ora,<br /><br />It's a chilly Tuesday here, and I am feeling a lot better than yesterday! I was up all the early hours of Monday morning with a tummy bug, which fortunately only lasted 6 hours (but it took all day yesterday to recover!). Brendan was SuperDad and looked after Ciara and I very well, with trips to the local garage to pamper to my whims (a chocolate bar at 8pm last night! - I wouldn't have thought it a good idea, but it was just what I felt like and it worked a treat!). The wee girl is asleep now after a huge lunch of kumara and mashed banana and milk - yummy!<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Nicciawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1128670043005603632005-10-07T20:21:00.000+13:002005-10-07T20:27:23.010+13:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/1600/big%20eyes.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1386/1680/320/big%20eyes.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Greetings all, this is the wee girl about 3 weeks ago showing how good she is getting at tummy time! Daddy thinks she looks like Casper with those big blue eyes!awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1128579632658172062005-10-06T19:19:00.000+13:002005-10-06T19:20:32.663+13:00Greetings. Ciara is splashing around in her bath, which Dad gives her every night. I take the opportunity to catch up on emails, blogs etc!<br /><br />It's been a lovely sunny day here (thank goodness as the washing was piling up!), and the evening is still nice and light thanks to Daylight Savings.<br /><br />Hope you're all well, take care,<br /><br />Nicciawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1128415825745284512005-10-06T05:50:00.000+13:002005-10-05T09:46:42.076+13:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/6/8182/640/gorgeous%20close%20up%203.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/6/8182/320/gorgeous%20close%20up%203.jpg" border="0" /></a>Hi All,<br /><br />It's now 5/10/05. Brendan pretty happy this morning - when he finished feeding wee girl all her baby rice and pumpkin she gave a big contented sigh and said 'Ahhhh Dada'. Brendan's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he said to me 'Did you HEAR that?' Have to confess I did, and it was very cute. Take care, Nicci<br /><br />PS You can post comments here for quick reply if you want to.<br />Wee girl chilling out (Sept 2005)awaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17429794.post-1128412230039229172005-10-04T20:48:00.000+13:002008-01-29T22:14:19.937+13:00Hi All,<br /><br />Welcome, this is the place to catch up with Brendan, Nicci & Ciara and see what they've been up to. Today we had a great lunch out at the university where Ciara enjoyed visiting her Dad.<br /><br />Tonight Mum and Dad had carrot cake to celebrate Brendan's birthday, and Ciara wolfed down all her pumpkin!<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Nicci, Brendan & Ciaraawaywithwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965625988769218774noreply@blogger.com1