Update -

Gosh can't believe it has been over a month snce my last Blog update, and truely there is no excuse, in fact we have never spent so much time at home as we have in the last month! Between Josh and I we have had numerous coughs and colds and foot issues. Thank fully Josh foot is now beautifully healed we are waiting for the toe nail to fall off and for a new one to regrow. It hasn't bothered him at all which is great. My foot on the other hand is a nightmare - 3 infections int he last month one being a rather nast case of cellilitis - note to self - must rest more hahahaha.

I'm now struggling to remember what we have done! being the winter time we have had a good few dollops of snow! We have been up to the mountains a couple of time to take the wee fella sledging. The first time we went up to Porters and Arthurs pass but didn't find any snow low enough to sledge on, the second time however we found loads of snow and Josh absolutely adored sledging - I was up the hill in charge of loading and releasing, Brent was at the bottom in charge of well catching and towing! you should have seen his little face, beaming he was. The hot chocolate and marshmallows at Arthurs Pass after was just a bonus. Watch out for the pictures - will upload a winter slideshow.

The river/stream that runs through Arthurs Pass village was frozen solid Josh (and Brent) had loads of fun trying to break throught he ice by throwing stones at it. Luckily it was very thick and they didn't succeed!
What else have we been up too? Not really very much, we had a brilliant gingerbread man decorating party, Ben, Joe and Annissa came over and we iced, sprinkled, m&m'd and ate our ginger bread men - mmm yummy.
We've been on the tram, the gondola, to the park, the beach, playcentre, playgroup, playing with our friends, lunches and generally having fun (when we haven't been laid up) I promis to do better this month and post a better blog next time!!!!!

eauch - not for the squeemish!

Not for the faint hearted - here is a pic of the toe! Boy that must have hurt!!!

First Broken Bone!

What an exciting day we had today - Just after breakfast and having gotten showered and dresed Josh and I were playing happily in the living room. Josh went over to the toybox to get out a car, and then, all hell broke loose - the lid of the toy box (and for those of you who have seen it will know that this is VERY heavy) fell when Josh was trying to open it! Screaming followed, i rushed over to discover that Josh had got his toes caught between the lid and the box. I pulled off his sock to discover that the nail had been pulled clean off (ouch) threw him in the car and off to the doctors who took a look at it and sent us up to the hospital for xrays and stitches. When we arrived at the hospital we were seen almost immediatly. The doctor cleaned up the wound, telling Josh what he was doing all the time - Josh was so brave, he kept telling the doctor that he needed to have a bandage on it like mummy's and that hugs would make it all better. The doctor stuck the nail bck to he nail bed to help the toe to heal (all without anaesthetic!) then it was off to x-ray to check for broken bones. josh just loved the x-ray machine he kept asking the lady all about it. Mum had to wear a very heavy lead jacket and hold josh' foot still while the pictures were taken. It turns out that Josh has broken the toe next to the one that the nail came off of. The doctors have prescribed 2 weeks rest and relaxation! Can you imagine me trying to keep Josh in the sofa for two weeks?

Bless him he was such a brave little boy, he talked the ears off all of the nurses and doctors, keeping up a constant patter about how his foot was now sore like mummies and how we wold both have to sit on the sofa with our feet up until they get better. Mum and Dad were so proud of him (and so were his nannies) it must have really hurt. Brent said to josh "this is how people are tortured for information" and josh replied " do you torture me dad??" well you can imagine the look on the doc's face! Pictures to follow!

Bed Time Thoughts

While reading to Josh at bedtime this evening he looked up to the ceiling and saw a spider, this is the conversation that we had:
J: look mum theres a spider
L: oh yes so there is
J: He;s moving mum
L: do you think he is looking for somewhere to sleep Josh?
J: i do! he can't sleep in my bed mum
L: no love
J: because he doesn't have a ladder!!

How cute is that????

Embarassing Moment (for Brent)

Josh and Brent went to Bunnings (B&Q) today to take the borowed trailer back - Josh asked Dad "Do I have a big Winky??" Brent just didn't know what to say to that!

quote of the week

We were having Lunch at Jo and Ben's house after rugby in Saturday (Jo got player of the day! - a budding fly half if ever i saw one) - Josh and Ben were playing with power tools (the plastic/battery type) Josh came running up to me with a drill and politely asked "would you like me to screw you mum" What should I say to that???? I ask you. The table shook with laughter!

oops what a mess!!!!!

We drove home from Havelock on the Monday and tired from our relaxing trip - fell in to bed exhausted, only to be woken up at 2.50am by an almighty bang (louder than bunsfield going up!) Stunned, and more than a little miffed Brent went to investigate only to find that our glass shower door had quite literally exploded - for absolutely no reason.

It turns out that the glass was rubbing on a tiny piece of metal that once was covered by a millimetre of plastic, but the glass has over time worn it out!! Thank goodness we weren't in it that's all I can say!

Easter Holidays

Here is a view of the Beautiful Marlborough Sounds, where we spent a fantastic 4 days out fishing and relaxing. We drove up to Havelock on Thursday, driving through the beautiful Canterbury plains before hitting the stunning, rugged coastline around Kaikoura. Josh was an absolute star on the journey singing songs and telling dad to climb up the mountain with his carpet machine and clean the snow off!!!!!

We met Bruce and Susanne at the Foxy Lady and settled in for the night, Josh was so excited about sleeping on the boat and went to sleep immediately, thoughts of fishing filling his head! We all slept in the same cabin, me and Josh in the double bed and Brent up in the bunk above us. Josh thought that this was hilarious as Dad kept hitting his head on the roof!

We set sail early next morning for Paradise Bay and then out to the outer sounds and into the cook straight. We fished and relaxed and relaxed and fished, drank tea (and beer) read books, chatted and mucked about really. Our first haul of Cod was a good one and we caught some really big ones and well as some barracuda and a couple of Sharks (which we threw back).

While Brent and I were busy catching dinner Josh was busy learning how to be a ships captain. As you can well imagine he was a bit chuffed about having the chance to skipper the boat and every time Bruce left his chair Josh jumped straight in. I think almost every pic I have of Josh from the weekend is of him in that chair. Lots of buttons and monitors to look at, depth gauges and a ships bell!

We whiled away the entire weekend in much the same way! Bruce taught me how to fillet fish! and yes I did it - major mile stone in my life and I HATE fish. My fear of touching them (dead) now well and truly over (having gutted about 60 over the weekend) maybe next trip I will master how to take a live one off the hook.

We experienced a real magic moment on the way back towards Havelock - we sighted Dolphins. We all rushed up to the bow of the boat, there were hundreds of Bottle nosed dolphins swimming into the boat from every direction, leaping out of the water and riding on the bow waves. Just an incredible sight, babies and adults turning to look up at us. Unfortunately no pics as my camera ran out of batteries!
A truly wonderful weekend had by all.

quote of the week (quite probably the century!)

So we are sitting at the lunch table on Saturday, having eaten his sandwiches (including the crusts) I thought that Josh might like a treat - I asked him what he would like to which he answered "I'd like some cock porn please mum" well I tried to keep a straight face - can you imagine!
Just had to share.

Leeston A&P Show

Imagine that you are two and a half -Question: What could be better than a field full of Tracotrs? Answer: A field full of vintage, working, steam tractors! On sunday we went over to the Leeston Agriculture and Produce show, it was their 50th anniversary and they had displays of vintage tractors, trucks and cars and Josh was just in 7th heaven! you should have seen his little face. We watched sheep shearing and Josh went for a ride on a dinky tractor - he had a thoroughly fab time

The lyttleton Tug

Hey guys - we did this a little while ago but thought that you might like to see the pictures. the Lyttleton Tug is a tug boat built in Glasgow, it was sailed to NZ under its own steam at the beginning of the 19th C. It worked in the Harbour until it was retired. It now takes tourists and steam enthusiasts (and those of us with small children) out on afternoon cruises to the Godley heads and back. A small team of enthusiastic steam heads keep it in tip top shape and working order and they allow their passengers to (literally) climb all over the boat during the sailing - Josh and Annissa thoroughly enjoyed their maiden voyage.

On the Tram

Well - Josh had just the most exciting day today (30th March) after Playcentre we went off into town for a ride on the Tram and Josh got to drive!! The driver let him sit in the drivers seat, he even lent Josh his hat! Much to the amusement of the German tourists on the tram, josh sat with his hands on the stearing wheel shouting "Faster Faster".

March 09

Hi guys - I thought that you would all be pleased to know that it looks like our summer has come to an end (although I remain hopeful that it hasn't) the days are getting shorter and cooler and the evenings are positively freezing. We have taked certain measures so as not to freeze this winter, Brent has put thoses nasty brush type bars on the bottoms on the external doors and some of that 1970 sticky foam stuff round the door frames and windows! Can you believe that we have to go to such measures. Its funny actually, i saw an advert on the TV the other day for the new weapon against the cold weather - a radiator!!!!! Imagine putting some of those into your home! amazing. It is true what they say some things about NZ are truly 30 years behind.

Aside from the inevitable onslaught of the autumn and winter (we will no doubt see more sunshine than you guys thought) we are doing well. We have eaten all the veggies out of the garden including the winter crop that i mentioned last time and we are just starting to think about what we can grow next. My last batch of broccolli was eaten by (now very fat) caterpillers, so I am thinking that organic gardening is NOT the way to go. Josh loves them - he thinks that they are facinating, he spends ages looking for them. The raised beds haven't quite gone in, we have bought the timber but have lacked the time and strength to move it. The spa pol is also in and is lovely! 2 recliners and lots of jets much better than the portable one that we had. We often sit in there of an evening reading, drinking wine and gazing at the stars - we can even see the milky way some nights. The (soon to be) courtyard has been paved, this has made a huge difference to the outside area as you can walk out there in bear feet without the fear of standing on glass or nails! We have inherited the Wedlake family swing that has been in the family for over 30 years - Josh and his friends are loving it.

Brent and I have been to some great concerts over the last couple of months, things that we probably wouldn't have seen in London, Bill Bailey, Billy Connolly and Iron Maiden, all very very good. We were supposed to see the Killers too but they cancelled the NZ leg of their tour (we are just not important enought down here) which is a real shame coz I was looking forward to that! The tickets were my birthday pressie from Brent so instead we have bought each other ski passes for Porters Pass and plan to do a lot of skiing in the upcoming season. i think i might need a few refresher lessons.

Speaking of lessons - we were at Auntie Helen and Uncle Steves house and Josh jumped on an old bike - and started to try and ride it, it was far too big for him but Raymond helped him to lower the seat and ride around the yard, he thought that it was just the best thing - until he saw the Chev that Steve is re-building (see pictures). Steve and Helen tragically lost their youngest son Jamie in a road accident on the 21st Feb, he was 18, him and his dad were members of the hot rod club and the chev was to be Jamies project. Steve is rebuilding it for Jamie. Josh has volunteered to be Steves apprentice, he was climbing all over the Chev the other dayasking why the doors weren't on it and if he could use his screw driver to put them back on. It made Steve laugh so thats all good.

Other exciting things that we have been doing - hmmmmm Josh and I went out on a steam Tug boat over at Lyttleton, was fab! He just loved being on the boat, he got to see the engine and how the pistons worked, he got to steer for a while and spoke with the captain - we saw little hectors dolphins jmping out of the water and a blue penguin too (this impressed me more than him).

Brent took Josh out to the Swananoa agriculture and produce show where he had his face painted up as a pirate! he came home and told me all about it. Josh loves having his face painted and is a very lucky boy as sarah (bens mum) is just a whizz with a paint brush!!!

Look out for the next exciting installment!!

February 2009

Hi guys - well its about time I hear you all saying, dissapeared from Facebook and pretty terrible at keeping in touch! Sorry we have been really busy since arriving in NZ nearly a year ago. We have renovated and moved into the house that we bought many years ago.....(it would have been easier, cheaper and less stressful to build one from scratch i think), we have bought and are running a business (Brent is doing all the hard work and I'm doing the bookwork) Josh has doubled in size and has turned into a propper little boy. We have met some really lovely people and Josh and I have made great friends - you can see some of them in our pictures.

We enjoyed our first Christmas is the summer - wierd but enjoyable. Mum and Eddie came out and spent Christmas with us, we had a great time. Eddie played Father Christmas at three different parties the kids (and the mums) loved him! Good Job Ed!!

While you guys in the UK have been (and continue) to freeze hehehe we have been enjoying a great summer temperatures up to 38* some days. Don't worry when its your summer we will be cold and remember we don't have any central heating!

It has been the summer holidays and so all the kids have been off school/kindy etc - we have been doing sme very exciting stuff with our friends, we've been to the beach, to the zoo, to willowbank, on the trams and the gondola, on the steam boat in Lyttleton harbour, over to Quail Island and Diamond harbour and up to Spencer Park. We try to fill our days as much as possible. Josh is very keen to keep on the go, he is very energetic, has dropped his afternoon sleep (unless its in the car) and talks constantly.

We are now in the process of sorting out the garden - having just purchased a new spa pool, we are looking at decking around it, putting in raised beds and relaying the paving at the back of the house. When you all come out to visit you will be able to relax after a hard days sight seeing. The veggie patch is coming on well, we have been enjoying home grown veggies all summer and have just put in our winter crops. I've become quite green fingered! What with that and cutting our own firewood (our only source of heating) I feel a bit like a country bumpkin.

Any hoo enough for this post I will aim to post messages more often and i hope that you enjoy reading them.

Love Lou, Brent and Josh xxxxxxxxxx