Photo Book Craft Night

So we tried our hands at a different sort of scrap-booking.  We made these little accordian style albums up from scratch.  They turned out pretty cool!  You girls are truly so creative!

For more photos, check out the album.

Morning Tea at the Gardens and Kindy Talk from Liz

The Gardens

We enjoyed some beautiful weather and as well as each others company 2 weeks ago at the Botanic Gardens Cafe Miko. The kids enjoyed riding around on bikes, playing with diggers (thanks Josh) and a ball (thanks Joe) while us mums sat around for a nice chat and coffee.

Check out a few pics of our gorgeous kids at WM!

Kindy Talk

This week we were priviliged to have Liz from Kiddywinks kindy answer our many questions about what to expect when our kids are about to go to kindy! This is especially near and dear to me, as my Lucy is turning 3 on Thursday and will start at Kiddywinks on her birthday. It definitely creeps up fast! Thank you Liz for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us.

Christchurch Earthquake Fundraising!

We are so thrilled with last weeks response and generosity from the mums who came to WM last Tuesday! We managed to raise $100 to give to a very worthy recipient from Christchurch for the newborn "care package." This was all lovingly put together by The Sleep Store (http://www.thesleepstore.co.nz/) with the funds we raised.

We have been given permission to share with you the story of Jenny Payne who wrote in to The Sleep Store, in the hopes of being considered for a care package.

Jenny writes:

"2 days after the earthquake and 26 weeks pregnant, I had bleeding and contractions and was air ambulanced out to Dunedin hospital as the NICU in Christchurch wouldn't be able to cope.

Luckily, they managed to stop the labour and I am now nearly 30 weeks! Such a miracle! We lost our last baby at 3 days old as he had Posterior Urethral Valves and was born at 32 weeks so the whole experience was like reliving the nightmare.

We have to stay in Dunedin now until the babies born (which could be at any moment as I'm such high risk) and am unable to travel back to CHCH and the NICU is still unable to cope.

We hadn't finished getting all of our baby things ready and are finding it hard to remember what we need and also trying to cover the costs of being down here inDunedin with our 5 year old and still paying the mortage and bills up in Christchurch.

My husband works in the CBD and his building was destroyed, thankfully he is still getting payed for now, but his job future is very uncertain.

If we could be considered for the care package, that would be amazing."

Jenny and her family has (and is) truly going through some hard times, and we hope that her story can encourage you, knowing that you have blessed her in this way. We will be praying that this little baby remains safe inside her until a safe time to be born, and that they are healthy and a real source of joy to the Payne family. Please see the picture below of the items she will receive from The Sleep Store.

Ambury Farm Park Visit

With the forecast for showers, we wondered what we were going to be in for, but it quickly turned out to be a stunner of a day! We were charmed by cows, sheep, goats, a grumpy looking turkey, and some VERY eager chickens....


Some of our group got to see a sheep being shorn; and we learned some weird words naming those wobbly bits on a turkey! (Carbuncles & snoods!) Did you know that when it's red, it's not a happy camper? When they're blue, they're relaxed. As you can see, this guy was TOTALLY enjoying our visit!

Our morning tea/lunch was enjoyed in some lovely shade outside the kitchen. Yay for the shade! Ambury Farm Park is a wonderful facility for getting up close and personal to the animals, and the best bit is it's free! There's a bit more info on the website (www.arc.govt.nz/parks). I noticed there is also some walks along the shoreline there...

Beach Fun!

The Mission Bay playground is really a great place for littlies. There's heaps of stuff to keep the slightly more adventurous ones occupied, and enough 'placid' stuff for our smaller kids. The day was a perfect mix of sun and clouds, and the water was like a bath! (Although, we did have to squat down to get completely soaked.)

We enjoyed having the chance to catch up, and the children had a blast playing with the water feature in the sand-pit! Check out these pics of some of the kids.

Welcome Baby Kyson!!

Kyson Eric Hill arrived on the 28th of December at 2.57am to a very happy Julia and Glen.

He weighed in at a VERY healthy 9lb 9oz (4.3kg), and measured 55cm long.

Julia had a home water birth (you go girl!) and is doing so well. Kyson's siblings are so excited to have him out of Mum's tummy and adore him (check out the FB photos!).

We're so proud of you guys! A huge congratulations, Julia & Glen, and we can't wait for cuddles at WM!

Christmas is coming!

15 sleeps till Christmas!
14 sleeps till Christmas Eve - which is really my personal favourite.

Last night we got together and had a pot luck dinner together, and my goodness, there was some yummy food! Check out the photo album here. Click here for photos from our last Tues too.

Wow - we have truly had such a great year at WM this year. We really enjoy hanging out with you each week and being a part of your and your precious children's lives. We hope you have a GREAT christmas break and you especially have so much fun making those treasured childhood memories.

We're all looking forward to a good ole catchup in the New Year!