Jacksta B

wanna come over for coffee?

2012-02-02T11:12:00.000+13:00

I've been meaning to tell ya'll about my new toy. Someone GAVE this baby to us. Friends of my In-laws didn't want it anymore, so we were the lucky recipients. It has hardly been used and came with the massive grinder. The weird thing was I had just given my brother my old coffee that same week. I was quite content just having a plunger every morning and didn't use it much.
But now I have found my coffee mojo. Every morning I make a Latte for myself. I find it quite cathartic to make and it takes less time than I thought...and tastes so much better.

And I have discovered a great new coffee bean that I love. I ordered from the coffee supreme website yesterday and it just arrived this morning. The beans were only roasted a couple of days ago and the price is very reasonable! A 250g of coffee beans only cost $10.50. And $3 overnight postage! I am making my way through the different flavors from all over the world.

If I had a "thing", it would be coffee. I look forward to it everyday.

So since I'm on a FACE to FACE buzz at the moment...who wants to come over for coffee?

its not you its me

2012-01-24T21:37:00.000+13:00

so...its the new year.

and I have been analyzing, reevaluating and rethinking my life.

I'm waaaay past new year resolutions, its ridiculous.

I have been thinking...do I really want another 2011?

Don't get me wrong, in most respects it was a great year.

But in other aspects...a tad unfulfilled.

Unfulfilled because I spent most of it looking a screen instead of into real peoples eyes.

Unfulfilled because instead of waking in the morning and meeting with my creator...I log onto Facebook.

Unfulfilled because instead of being a great mother and wife, I am distracted by gadgets and social media.

Unfulfilled because I haven't put any effort into my career, my housework or community.

Unfulfilled.

And its not you...its me.

I like reading about you and what you are up to.

But I do this a lot. All day in fact.

I am well and truly out of balance when I count up MY screen time.

I do it out of boredom.

I read about your lives...inspired...excited for you...amazed by you...

But I read about you and forget to get out of the house and live my life.

Forgive me while I go through a purging process.

I will still read about you, because you are still cool.

but...I may be cutting down.

beware of the shark

2012-01-19T15:11:00.002+13:00

Beware of the shark that lurks.

He prays on silly woman like me who know nothing about cars.

This silly woman may not know much about cars...but she sure knows how to read people.

The mechanic who checked over my car...someone I don't normally go to, reckoned he can't give me a Warrant of Fittness (WoF), because I need to fix my "rear shocks".

That'll be $330 thank you ma'am.

Yeah..I think I'll have to chat to my husband about this first.

Meanwhile I decide to go and get my car checked for a warrant at my usual spot...just for a second opinion.

And hey-presto

It passed.

I may not know much about cars

But I know a trustworthy person when I see one.

Always get a second opinion folks...for your health...and your car.

big kids day out

2012-01-14T11:22:00.000+13:00

Dadda had Friday off so we ditched the toddler at Grandmas and headed out of town for some big kids fun. First to Albany for some minigolf and then back to Waiwera hotpools

We were all a bit hit and miss (pun intended ;) with our shots...but I was quite chuffed about this shot. Oh yeah!
This was the first time the kids had played so it was a bit frustrating trying to teach them with other players behind us waiting their turn.

Waiwera Hotpools

I had a little play with a photoscape feature using the continuous shooting feature on the camera. Quite cool really. This was the kids favourite spot to be.

The last few times we have been to Waiwera I have been pregnant and not allowed to go on the slides. This time different story! They have lost two of the choobs ( the belly buster...and another one), but have added the twister and the speedslide. Its been a long time since I went down the slide. That along with the extra weight I'm carrying, meant it was super scary how fast I went! Good times!A great day out!

Xmas Highlights

2011-12-28T13:15:00.000+13:00

Wow...as usual all the stress leading up to Christmas and blink and its suddenly over! Here's how it all unfolded for our family.

Christmas eve was spent with my side of the family all meeting at my place, ten of us in total. My little brother prepared the entree, while I made us lunch and pud.
I was keen to try some turkey this year after watching all the northern hemisphere cooking programmes leading up to Christmas. Not convinced I could pull off a whole bird I went for a "Tegel Turkey Breast Roast with Cranberry Stuffing". It was surprisingly delicious and moist after cooking it in roasting bag. To go with it I made Jamie Oliver's roast veges. The best roasted potatoes Ive ever made. For pudding I made us an "Eton Mess". This is a mix of munted up meringues, whipped cream, syrupy strawberries with fresh strawberry on top. All served in a brandy snap basket. So yum! And apparently one of Prince Williams favourites!

We did all the usual fun stuff, opening presents and hanging out together. Good family time.

In the afternoon we did some deliveries to help get the children giving before all the receiving. Then we went and checked out the City Christmas lights. By the time we got home it was 10pm. I was pooped, but in true procrastination style we still had presents to wrap and load into sacks!

The kids only slept in a measly half an hour more despite the late night before. They found their sacks and brought them in to our bed. We read the Christmas story and prayed thanking God for the best Christmas present of all, his Son Jesus. The kids then tore in to their presents. It was fun watching Zak zak doing it for the first time. Yuss! he must think, permission to destroy something!

We drove over to hubby's family to have brunch and then later in the afternoon we drove out to Wellingtons Bay for a BBQ at the beach. It was lovely to see so many others who thought a relaxing day at the beach is a great way to do Christmas.

Pasta Maker!

Check out hubbys new gift from me! Its the gift that keeps on giving! He gets a cool kitchen gadget...and I get dinner done! But seriously, the italians have got it right. Taking the time to hand create something like this makes you savour it so much more. My brother helped prep the tomato based sauce and we all concluded it was the best pasta we had ever eaten! We are already looking forward to making some ravioli and other Italian morsels.

So good!

I hope you are yours are had a great Christmas!

Cranberry and pistachio nut biscotti

2011-12-23T11:38:00.000+13:00

Christmas baking.

I thought I would try and make biscotti as its something Ive always wanted to try and make. I had an idea to try and find a Christmas themed one with cranberry and pistachio nuts to make it look green and red for Christmas. So after googling cranberry and pistachio nut biscotti I found this recipe.

Ingredients
1/4 cup light olive oil
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups pistachio nuts

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.
Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.

Notes:

I found I used more flour than the above as the mix seemed way too wet and loose.

I also tried a batch with part of it dipped in chocolate. Super yum!

Have a go! It was way easier than I thought it would be!

the goings on.

2011-12-20T16:06:00.003+13:00

Well its been a stressful few weeks here unfortunately. Thankfully I have some wonderful friends who have been praying loads for me and my family and I have felt them. So thanks, you know who you are.

So I haven't exactly been getting into the "Christmas spirit". Take my annual xmas picture for example. I planned that months ago and only did it yesterday. Mr Zak zak did not want to comply for my photo. He wanted all the letters for himself. Consequently I took individual photos and then put them in a row. Don't even ask how long it took me to make the red letters stand out. I wish I had spent more time on them...so I really should have started the project weeks ago and not the week of xmas.

Anyhoo in other goings on. The kids had their end of year gymnastics show. Unfortunately I had to miss it because I had to work, but Dada took about a minutes worth of footage so at least I could see something of the night. I had already sat though the weekly practices so I at least knew the routine. Dada said he was so proud when our little Joe got a trophy, the only one in his group. Miss Joy got a big certificate too. My kids are awesome. Just sayin.

And some body has taken a bit of skin off his nose. Another reason I should have taken my xmas photo weeks ago! Joe was undertaking some tomfoolery in the form of climbing up our very high fence. I think he's survived childhood pretty unscathed so far. First blood nose at age 5. Ah well. That'll learn him.

Last week we were all sick with the sniffles. I actually rang in sick for work. I hate ringing in sick.

I tried making something I saw on Pintrest. Hotdogs with spaghetti poked through. The kids loved it! Im not gonna lie... I ate something different for dinner. I may try it again with a different kind of sausage.

Miss Joy turned 8! I can't quite believe it actually. I wanted to keep it low key this year. So we just took a couple of her friends out for dinner at our local Gengy's. It's an all you can eat place. They bring the birthday girl out a birthday pancake and the entire restaurant sings happy birthday and then the BBQ flames are lit. Super fun for an eight year old!

She is growing up to be a pretty special young lady. Kind and sweet hearted. Love my Miss Joy to bits.

Sunday Morning was our churches annual childrens and creche presentations.
Joe and Paisley Jades daughter "letting their light shine".

In the evening service we held our annual Christmas concert. My lovely hubby did a great job as MC for the night. He enlisted the children to help him teach about Christingles. Any northern hemisphere readers heard of these?

Only a few more days until Christmas!! What!?
I may get my A into G and do some Christmas baking.

Ooh and if you are in for something funny...hubby and I saw this the other night on TV that had us in stitches. It was like he summed up our bedtime parenting to a tee. (It gets to the bedtime routine at about 2.30 minutes.)

I did a post called "Worst case scenario mum" and now don't feel so bad! Somebody else does it too

schools out...argh....

2011-12-06T11:00:00.000+13:00

I cringed at the thought of getting out of bed this morning. I wanted pull the covers up and not get out. Why? Because already the madness has begun...the first day of the school holidays. Even hubby gave me a good luck pep talk before he left for work. For the last three school terms it has just been me and Zak zak, the day to ourselves.

So while I was in the shower I knew I needed a plan of attack. I needed to lay some ground rules, and I needed to do it today. "Show no weakness, be in control, take no prisoners....don't negotiate with terrorists"....okay so I may be getting a tad carried away...they after all only children...right?! Some how three children + a fairly small echoie house = Me slowly going MAD. The noise just drives me spare. They are usually happy sounds...but even this irritates me. There may only be three of them...but it sounds like 20.

So we have had a pep talk and have come up with some negotiated rules and an activity chart to look at over the holidays in case somebody is bored. I tend to have a "hands off" policy to parenting. My favourite Nigel Latta line is "go and play" and usually the kids can spend hours outside entertaining themselves. So if they need some ideas we have this.

Am I missing anything?? Or do you have any other suggestions?

School Concert:
The Kids had their end of year school concert, Miss Joy in the red played a dear. Joe sang in the choir. Hubby and I had to take turns outside with the noisy toddler...ahh the joys of having a toddler.

Baby Shower

The other thing I wanted to show ya'll is the pretty baby shower cup cakes I made. I was going for that marbled icing effect. I really need to practice my piping skills. I must admit...they tasted devine. I'd lend you the recipe for my vanilla cupcakes but I'm not sure of exact measurements.

My chocolate cake tasted delish too... I made a massive basic mix for the cupcakes ( I was hoping my cake mixer would handle it all) and put them in first...and with the left over mix I put cocoa and grated cooking chocolate in to make the cake. As you probably already know I hate following recipes. Some times it turns out right...this was one of those times. Yay me!

It was a fun baby shower for my Sister in Law in Auckland. Baby Showers are not really an Indian thing to do, so it was fun introducing them all the games like; Guess the disgusting baby food, blind fold farex feeding, blind fold nappy change and guess the pregnant belly girth. I had fun playing host as well as getting to know the new baby's extended family.

I made a nappy cake too. I think they are such a cool present for baby showers.

Happy Birthday Kristy

2011-11-28T09:00:00.001+13:00

*I thought I would re-post this blog I wrote last year for my new readers and for anyone who missed it last year. All of the below is still true...and then some. A year on PJ still inspires me..and she is still one of my favourite people in the whole world*

If you are a KiwiMummy blogger..there is probably no doubt you have PaisleyJade in your favourites list...and for good reason... I love her blog too. I have the privilege of knowing the famous Kristy of PaisleyJade in real life, and today is her birthday and I wanted to let ya'll in on some inside information on her. We've known each other for about 11 years, our husbands and children are besties and shes one of my besties too.

This is my top 10 list of reasons Paisley Jade is one of my favourite people in the whole wide world.

She has the funniest sense of humour, a great laugh and she doesn't take herself too seriously.
She IS the Proverbs 31 woman.
She is generous.
She is amazingly creative. Sewing, card making, jewelery, cakes, toys and of course crocheting...are just a few
She is a great wife and puts up with all of Symon's shenanigans and ~~obsessions~~ passions ;)
She is an awesome youth pastor.
She is a cool mummy to FOUR lovely, bright kids.
She is the friendliest person I know.
She is an amazing baker.
She is the most encouraging person you will meet. If you are ever down or having a bad day she will always let you know she's there thinking and praying for you.

There you have it...if you love PaisleyJade- the Blog...just wait till you meet her in real life.

Happy Birthday PaisleyJade
xxx

♥Things Im lovin♥

2011-11-25T10:17:00.001+13:00

♥ Things I'm loving ♥

♥ Loving looking out my kitchen to this rose bush. Most of my gardens are either weeds or green shrubs...so when this baby blooms every spring I always think I must get some more rose bushes. Such a pretty colour too.

♥ Loving watching the kids get ready for their gymnastics show. This is the one after school thing we do. Its been great watching the kids develop their motor skills and learn some new things.

♥Loving celebrating 10 years since graduation with a couple of my lovely class mates. Everyone has pretty much scattered the country and globe so it was a bit hard to do a real class reunion.
Thankfully after all these years none of us have changed too much.

Enjoying a champagne breakfast the morning of our graduation 10 years ago!

♥Loving this cute shot. Hubby did a skit as part of a speaking engagement at a conference using these props dressed as a crazy doctor. Apparently he had the delegates in fits of laughter. That's my hubby.A funny guy.

♥ Loving new words. Remember how I was telling you about Zak zak and his ear piercing screaming. I thought it was probably due to the fact he can't communicate his desires.Well he's finally learned a word; "Noooo". He says it in such a cute tone, that it makes me laugh all the time. I'm sure I'll get sick of "nooo", but for now its a nice change to the screeching.

♥ Loving the movie "Soul Surfer", out on DVD. When I first ~~judged it by its cover~~ saw it, I thought- here we go another cheesy surf movie. After investigating a bit further I found out it was about the chick Bethany Hamilton who was on the road to becoming a pro surfer when a shark bit off her arm. Even Hubby enjoyed this one. Bethany is a Christian and a bit of this comes through, but I wouldn't class this as your typical cheesy Christian film. It has the likes of Helen Hunt, Denis Quaid and AnnaSophia Robb (from Charlie and chocolate factory and Bridge to Tarabithia), so some great acting. The surf scenes are awesome. Apparently Bethany and her family had a lot to do with making sure the surf shots looked as authentic as possible. And the digital effects were super great too.
Show this movie to your daughters!! A great message and inspiring story.

And that's My lovin List for the week.

Linking in with the fabulous PJ

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

Operas and Echos

2011-11-18T09:26:00.001+13:00

Heff and I

Kate and I

Opera...
So as mentioned in my last post...I was off to the opera that night to support a friend who was in the chorus. Me and a couple of my girlfriends got dolled up in our prettiest dresses. What did I think of the opera? Well it was better than I expected. I was expecting constant soprano singing in a different language. But it was in ENGLISH and it had a few lines! And it was an Opera comedy even! I must admit it was a little hard to contain the giggles when the first verse was belted out by the first character, the maid. It was just such a sudden assault to the ears. It was more a nervous giggle I think. Any hoo. I can pop that on the list of things I've done in my life time. I think the next cultured thing I would like to try is attend a ballet. Have you ever been to one of those before? The NutCraker is playing in December at our local. Hehe "Nutcracker"... I always think of the men dancers in their tights...Somehow I don't think that's why its called that.

image from here

Echo(cardiogram)...
Yesterday I took Zak zak for his follow up ECHO appointment for his heart murmur. I was advised to have him be nil by mouth for 4 hours before hand because he would be sedated. I hate watching the kids be sedated and all dopey. I've only seen one other of my kids have it, but it had to be done. Or did it? I got there and they wanted to just give ago without the sedation. He had already been a monkey, and was petrified of being weighed or having his height done. So by the time we down to the radiology department, he wasn't even having a bar of sitting on the bed. Fortunately Hubby was in the department working and was able to lend his hand. In the end we just had to hold him down for the minute while the heart was quickly checked. Its times like these Im greatful to have trained as a nurse. The nurse*get the job done* in me completely overrides the *oh no! my kid is crying* mummy feeling. Or maybe I'm just heartless. Any ways we got the job done while he screamed the department down. The results show just a teeny little hole that is healing nicely. Thank you Lord!

What are you like with medical procedures when it comes to your kids?

R is for Random.

2011-11-16T10:05:00.000+13:00

So today's blog is brought to you by the letter R. R for Random. My thoughts are scattered and random today, but I feel like blogging.

I am off to the Opera tonight. I am an opera virgin. Hmmm we shall see how we go. A friend is in the chorus, so its probably more about supporting her than anything else. I am looking forward to getting dolled up and looking pretty with my two friends. We are seeing Die Fledermaus and I have Wikipedia'd it and am at least up to date about what the heck its all about. I have promised my friend that I won't walk out no matter how painful to my ears.

You see my ears have been getting a real battering lately. Zak-zak is back to his high pitch screaming. Like super high frequency. We had this faze a while ago, I tried to control it by giving him a little poke in the cheek. It doesn't seem to be working. Between him and child number twos loud crying faze...I am sure I will be deaf before I'm forty.

This is my first kid to have Tanties. Like actual drop on the floor tanties. I just cannot believe it. I don't feel like I'm doing anything different as a parent from the first two so I am in need of some strategies for this one. Its really wearing me down.

I bought Bear Grylls's autobiography "Mud, sweat and tears". I have no idea what compelled me to buy this while I was walking past it at the Warehouse. I have never watched an entire episode of Man vs Wild. I was always skeptical. I kinda figured it was all rigged and there was probably a massive RV with a comfy bed and real food just waiting for him until filming finished. I guess I prejudged. I do that a lot.

Any hoo the book is amazing. I haven't read such a riveting book. What an inspirational dude. I can recommend this book for husbands who love adventure or are in desperate need of it. It would make a great Christmas present. Its well designed for the man reader and for mums with toddlers. Each chapter is only 2 pages long! I did however feel like I couldn't put it down. Its the fasted book I've read.
So today Im on a good book come down. Is that even a thing? Where you are so engrossed in a book, that once its over you are slightly sad? Maybe I just need to find another one. I'm all about the biographies at the mo. I like reading about real people doing extraordinary things.

Christmas is coming and I need some creative inspiration. I have lost my Mojo. I was thinking of doing a Christmas with the Kranks deal. At least I have already sorted the kids pressies. They are the easy ones.

Did I mention that I'm supposed to be training for another triwoman event. I still haven't even been in the water and practiced a swim. I can barely run 1km. But I'm feeling a bit more confident on my bike. I went for a Bike ride on Sunday. i did 9km in 33 minutes. I have two more months to double that in way less time. I am so scared of falling off my bike that I ride slow.

I have been thinking about my last post and how morbid I am. I think about death way too much. I guess its what I am faced with as a nurse. At my work place people are constantly dying or are sick and may die imminently at anytime. In my early days as a nurse I was so afraid of death that I would pray..."God don't let any of my patients die today". I went years...literally years without ever having to face it. Now I make sure that patients are given the dignity in death that they deserve. Supporting family is also a big part of it too.

Speaking of death, I read Heaven is for real a couple of weeks ago. Meghan had it up for a giveaway a few months ago...I didn't win so I bought it myself. What an amazing book. Now I'm really looking forward to seeing Jesus when I die. But I've got way to much to do before then!

And finally... we have birds nesting under the roof right behind the TV in the living room. Its is driving me nuts. They are so loud, I just wanna get a ladder and rip them outta there. Its too cruel though...or is it?

Hope ya'll are having a great week. :)

That's what you get!

2011-11-08T09:17:00.000+13:00

One of our family quotes is "that's what you get!!". If the kids are pushing each other around on the trampoline and I tell them to stop and they don't and then one of them falls on to the springs and begins to cry...the first thing that comes out of my mouth before- are you alright? is "That's what you get!!".
It pretty much is the catch phrase for "see if you weren't being such a goof ball you wouldn't have got hurt."

My lovely husband has had a range of hobbies since I we have been married. One of his first hobbies was to go rock fishing with his friends. This would often entail heading to the beach pre-dusk and then making their way home around the rocks in the DARK! I didn't really think so much about it until he showed me one of the rock faces he trekked where he admitted it was a little scary and he may have been a little lost for a while! Often coming home late into the night I let out my frustration. "Midnight! You have until midnight to come home before I call the search party" Thankfully that phase is long over, however we are now into a new one...road cycling.
It started as a little bit triathlon training, but now its becoming a new thing in itself. He even has the appropriate clothing. Taunting me he says..."guess how fast I got to? 70km/hr down the hill"
WHAT!?!? " Do you know how badly you could get hurt if you fell off?! You could even die!"
I get so angry at the thought of being left to raise three kids on my own. Jokingly I reply..."do you know what Im going to write on your tombstone if you hurt yourself cycling? "That's what you get!". He just laughed.
This morning I wondered if there was some sort of site where you could generate a tombstone...(How morbid am I?!) And I found one here...just incase you wanna give it ago ;)
So today's post is dedicated to my hubby. Take it easy or else this is what is going on your tombstone!

A kiwi dinner

2011-10-31T09:22:00.000+13:00

Can there be anything more kiwi than a Sunday evening eating fish and chips at the beach.

This was Zak Zak's first fish and chip dinner at the beach. He ate 3 chips and then found it was much more fun to run around instead. Little monkey! The toddler stage drives me nuts!
Hope you had a great weekend.

Labour weekend

2011-10-25T10:10:00.000+13:00

The weekend started nice and early for me with a 7am Saturday morning shift. I had a good day at work and then hurriedly made it home to quickly get ready for a 45minute country drive to a friends 30th birthday. She is a lovely friend I did my nursing training with and we have managed to stay connected having children of similar ages. I love how we can pick up where we left off. Just a treasured friend that I don't get to see so often now the kids are at school etc. I love her extended family too! Great people.

While I'm at work hubby has made ~~ginger~~ NINGA bread men. Yes Ninga! He bought these funny cookie cutters on his recent trip to Aussie! And dare I say it they tasted fabulous! He meticulously followed the recipe. This would be the second thing I have ever seen him bake! EVER! Yep we have now designated him the official ninga bread baker.

Sunday morning I awoke to the smell of my favourite takeaway mochaccino. My hubby gets up early and goes for ride on his bike then picks up two mochas to takeaway and then somehow carefully rides the coffees home. Clever man.

All day I dread that I will have to be at work for the Big game. Had I thought about when the RWC final would be theres no way I would have scheduled myself to work Sunday afternoon shift. But I made the best of it. On Sunday afternoon I stopped at the shops and picked up some chips and dip and lemonade. I arrived at work and set about inviting as many of the ward patients into the day room as possible. A few opted to stay in bed and listen on radio, or had TVs in their room. I worked hard to get all my work done before 9pm...kick off.
I managed to watch most of it. Between me and my colleagues taking turns to check buzzers etc. We had a room full, all cheering the boys on. And it was great! I would have loved to have been home enjoying the game, but I will always remember where I was the day the AB's made history. At work!

And what a game!

Monday Morning. It was my turn for a ride on my bike. It was my first ride since April 9th! I managed to only get part way down the road before my bike chain fell off. Not knowing what to do about it I walked it home for Les to fix. Oops better figure out how to fix it myself! It was a flat 5km ride and my legs hurt today! I'm aiming for 17km for the triathlon in February. Arrrgggghhhh! What was I thinking signing up to that!
Hubby was on a roll with his cooking and made me some French toast. An appropriate breakfast I thought! And they tasted delicious too. I think I may have to let him in my kitchen more often!
Off to work again for an afternoon shift. Home at midnight.

What a weekend. I'm pooped! Lucky its back to school day!

things Im loving

2011-10-21T20:12:00.003+13:00

Things I'm Loving

Before

Loving bubbas new haircut.

It was looking pretty boofy! Kinda looks like a wig in this shot.

It was his first real haircut and he was pretty wriggly. So much so, the poor hairdresser cut her self. Whoops!

after

Loving finding random photos like this on the camera dadda took while I was at work.

Loving watching the bubba find fun in the simplest of places. Not loving having to tidy it back up again!

Loving the amazing Lego creations that keep the kids occupied QUIETLY for ages in their room.

Loving taking a picture of my super healthy food! Don't tell anyone I had three chocolate bickies to balance out the healthiness!

Chicken Tikka Masala kebabs with Bulgar wheat salad

Loving the latest addition to my Mr Vintage tee shirt collection. Loving being a NZer. Loving the Rugby World cup. Loving NZ in the final.

Suck that I have to work on the night of the final though! But I'm going to gather as many as my patients into the Day room which has a plasma, get a little dressed up and try and enjoy it with them anyway. As long as none of them get too excited and have chest pain..it will be a good night.

GO THE ABS!

Linking in with Paisley Jades Things Im loving

trip to the big smoke

2011-10-19T12:47:00.000+13:00

Hows your school holidays going? I don't know about you but ours have half gone and we have barely done anything. I had loads of ideas to do but the baby hasn't been well and the weather has been crappy. BUT I was determine to take a visit to Auckland, the hub of the Rugby World Cup. I needed to see what all the fuss was about "the cloud"; "plastic waka" all down at the waterfront.

So I gathered the kidlets and we took the 2 hour journey south to the big smoke.

After seeing Megs post about the French Deli...I was reminded that STILL haven't tried a Macaron...so that was on the culinary to do list. I accidentally found these in the "Cakeshop" in Takapuna. I had to try one of each flavour...well I did share with the kids..next time I'm having one all to my self! They were as good as people go on about. Those French and their genius culinary ideas!

Finding live crabs was on the to do list too as I haven't had any crab curry in ages. So I decided to hit the "Fish Market" Down at the waterfront. Seriously, I'm usually the navigator when we go to Auckland, so having to navigate and drive was a bit hit and miss. And with all the changes going on around Auckland at the moment...I may have gotten my self a bit lost once or twice!
This is where I stumbled across the Wynyard Wharf. I found parking right outside the fish market, where someone was fixing the ticket gate and ended up getting free parking in the end, score! Turns out they didn't have any crabs :(

At the Wynyard Wharf the kids had great fun on the playground. There is also a tram that runs around that part of the wharf.

The foot traffic down there was amazing. It was great people watching. Obviously a lot of international visitors sight seeing after a great semifinal the night before.

We headed to the "Plastic Waka". It was in the headlines because a) It cost a lot of money for a temporary structure and b) It wasn't completed before the RWC began. So with all the talk of how much tax payer money went into it...I went to get my part of it. And it was great! If I didn't have a restless toddler in a push chair I would have spent more time reading all about the NZ Maori Rugby players. We stood in line and went in the back part which had a 3D movie. The kids thought it was a hoot! The 6 minute movie is about the LEGEND of Maui and NZ

We continued walking along to the Cloud, by then the kids were complaining about sore legs...blah blah blah. So we pretty much walked there and then turned to walk all the way back to the car. But at least we got to see something.

We left the city before peak rush hour to Papakura to surprise my Sister in Law for her birthday. The kids excitedly decorated the house with streamers and balloons all ready to yell "surprise" when she walked in after work.

We all went out for dinner to Denny's. My first time! And probably my last ;) There's something about a place that has "Home Improvement" on TV in the dining room that was a tad weird for me! Its all just mostly fried food anyway. Classic American Dining.

On the way home I caught up with some family and then stopped in on the Shore to check out my next Triathlon venue Narrow neck.

I also managed to catch up with the Lovely Mon from Delissimon. Whoops I'm all chins in this pic...but Mon looks great... so its in. My kids had a great time playing with her youngest two while we had a chat over coffee and some of her yummy chocolate fudge cake. Lucky me.

I'm starting to really like that part of the city. Takapuna and Devonport is a lovely place.

On my journey I saw so many cars with flags...but this one took the cake. In front of the car in front of me was a white van with 4 Massive Tongan flags and two small ones! Even other pedestrians thought it was funny as. I don't advocate driving a taking photos! I was stopped at a red light!

And finally on the way home we stopped in at the Italian Cafe in Kaiwaka. Another thing on the to do list. Apparently they serve chocolate croissants, so I picked one up along with an almond one. OH my Gosh! So Good! Will be doing that again next time we pass through on the way to Auckland.

Travelling with three kids on my own was exhausting but totally worth it.

The Owl movie

2011-10-10T22:13:00.000+13:00

Its the holidays and $1 Mondays at the DVD shop and one of the kidlets picked this movie. Have you seen it? I could stop thinking how amazing the the animation was. So real and lifelike...not that I have ever seen an owl up close before!
I really liked this movie. Usually I am kiddie movied out. After years of Shrek and Hoodwinked...and all those other random kiddie movies I rather avoid at the movies....this one was a winner for me.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Things I'm Loving.

2011-10-07T08:56:00.000+13:00

Thing I'm loving....

Loving Kiwiana....

Can you get anymore kiwi than playing with a Buzzy Bee in a silver fern tee shirt.

Loving...The classic worn out dadda and toddler shot.

Loving...A balanced diet.

Hummus and smoked salmon on wholemeal bread toast...with a side of Duty freeToblerone. God bless the Swiss and their chocolate making skills.

Loving....Hubby's game of Pick up sticks...dishes style.

We don't have a dishwasher so when we have a massive pile of dishes to do my hubby likes to see how high he can stack it without it falling over. And of course the game for the "dryer" is to see if they can pick out the dishes without any falling off and breaking. Great game...NOT!

Loving...Stories.

Miss Joy's latest passion is typing up her imaginative stories on Word. Love the title of this one...I honestly didn't think she knew what the word "Funky" was!

Linky in with my friend Paisely Jade.

not a morning person

2011-10-04T10:01:00.000+13:00

Im not much of a morning person. Lucky for me I have an awesome hubby who gets up early to get himself ready for work. Since his noise wakes up the three kids...I blame him for them getting up early...therefore in my head they are his responsibility until I roll out of bed at the last possible moment before we might run late. I have it timed to a tee.
On a typical morning at the Jacksta B household....

The baby eats its his cereal...like chips...one at a time. Great for motor skills...and a great way to keep him occupied while I do stuff.

I had to take a picture of the kids lunch box today. They actually asked for carrots and humus dip and Chicken and pesto sandwiches. Healthy or what? I'm usually a "slap peanut on sandwiches" type but I roasted a massive chicken on Sunday night for tea and the left overs are good for them. And the humus request? A completely new liking for them. It just goes to show...offering new stuff once in a while develops their taste buds.

Almost every morning Joe can't find his shoes...even though I have a shoe basket in his room...WHY???

Most mornings Miss Joy trys on two to three outfits. How does this look? She asks. I secretly love that she cares about my opinion.

My morning wake up...Plunged coffee and toast while I watch Breakfast. I multitask from the comfort of my lazy boy chair. Periodically when I can hear the kids have lost focus and are fighting or playing tag...I yell...Have you brushed you teeth!? Have you brushed your hair?! Have you tidied your room?! Find your shoes! Pack your Bags!

Unbelievably we make it out of the house by 8.30 for drop offs....Just another morning at my house.

yummy stuff I've made lately

2011-09-27T12:53:00.000+13:00

I have a friend who has a son that is allergic to nuts among other things. So when I invited her over for coffee last week, I just knew I had to help her get her peanut butter fix! They avoid buying the stuff. So I settled on a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter cream icing... She loved them.

Chocolate Guiness Cake with cream cheese icing. One candle for each decade...yes someone is getting old!

It was Hubbys birthday this weekend...well he wasn't in the country on his actual birthday....so we celebrated a day late. I made him a Chocolate Guinness cake with a cream cheese frosting. I have made this cake once before...but had iced it with a chocolate Ganache...I think I liked it better with the Chocolate Ganache. BUT the cream cheese icing on its own was to die for. It had a tub of thickened cream in it so it wasn't so cream cheesy. Sooo yummo. The recipe is from Nigella Lawson. The white icing is supposed to make it look like the froth on a Guinness. Great idea for a cake if your man enjoys the odd beer. Its a very MAN cake.

For his birthday I thought we would construct our own pizzas. We had 8 adults so I rolled out dough bases that were big enough for one person (A dinner plate size), chopped up all the topping and let people make their own pizzas. I had a vege platter, a meat platter and a cheese platter for peoples creativity to run wild. I cooked them individually in a pizza oven appliance. The whole process took a lot longer but it was kinda fun.

Paisley Jades Creation

And Lastly...for dinner last night I had a hankering for a bit of mums cooking...and when you are a grown up and have moved out of home you have to give it ago yourself! I felt like some of her bean curry. I'm not much of a fan of plain old boiled beans, but bean curry is so good. Taking a vege and add a few curry spices to change the flavour up a bit make all the difference. So tasty. And taking the time to roll out some roti (the Indian flat bread) which my kids absolutely love, really gives it a real authentic Indian feel. A taste of home. According to hubby though it was not as good as my mums...ah well... I thought it was pretty close ;)

xx Jks*

Our 2 seconds of fame

2011-09-21T12:19:00.003+12:00

While I was watching "Breakfast" yesterday I saw that they were coming to Whangarei...Lets go see Tamati...YEAH!! said the kids.
We watch Breakfast most mornings while I drink my coffee and have my toast...so the kids are very familiar with Tamati and the other hosts. And most mornings I say "go and get dressed for school...wait lets see what Tamati says the weather is today". So it was such a cool experience for the kids to see what goes on behind the scenes of a live TV show. I recorded it at home on the off chance we might get in the shot and look what Grandma found...

Thats us in the backround...she took a photo of it. Miss Joy was so keen on getting on TV..so she is going to be stoked...even if it was only for 2 seconds!

Here are some other shots. I am usually a confident person EXCEPT when it comes to famous people...I hate bothering them..so I did what any shy parent would do...I asked Miss Joy to ask for a photo...how could they say no to a sweet little face like that?!

Kids with Tamati...the TVNZ weather dude

Kids with Corin Dann TVNZ presenter


Tamati reading the weather from his phone.

Yep...Our 2 seconds of fame!

Bay of Islands

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000+12:00

Bay Of Islands in day.
I grew up in the around the Bay Of Islands, so with my parents still living there, it's great taking the kids to the old stomping grounds.

First stop the Kawakawa train. We pass through Kawakawa all the time and I had promised to take the kids on it for the longest time. Today was their lucky day. It goes right through the town to the Taumarere stop, about a half an hour round trip. So fun, the kids loved it.

The famous Hundertwasser Toilets in Kawakawa. If you need a tinkle...make sure you tinkle there ;)

It's quite unique having a train come right through the middle of town really. As member of the community it used to be quite an annoyance having to wait for it to pass through before you could proceed on to your destination. But when you experience from the other side it's quite fun.

Later on we went to the Rainbow Falls near Kerikeri. So pretty and a great little walk.

On our way out of Kerikeri I found this chocolate store open. And the first thing the salesperson does it offer us some samples. And oh... my...goodness...that was it..I spent way too much. I bought this .Macadamia Butter Toffee Crunch. Traditional toffee made with wicked amounts of real New Zealand butter, laced with macadamia chips, coated with milk chocolates on both sides and dusted with macadamia fines
....so delicious

It had a great little viewing platform for the kids to watch.

Next we headed to Paihia Wharf

The kids found the RWC flags painted on the path and played hop scotch

And that is only scratching the surface...there is so much to see and do in this beautiful part of the country. It was great to be home for a day.

ol Blue Eyes

2011-09-15T20:41:00.000+12:00

I love blue eyes and I was not aware of where this obsession came from until today! I was reading this blog post where the blogger mentioned Amy Carmichael...and that name seemed so familiar. So I googled it. And sure enough it was the "AMY Story" I remember from Sunday school.

When I was a little girl I went to a Sunday school where my teacher read me a story about a little girl called Amy who grew up to be a missionary. When Amy was a little girl in the late 1800's she would pray that God would change her brown eyes to blue, and she would go to look at her eyes in the morning and they were still brown. She would be very disappointed that God hadn't answered her prayer.
Later in life she decided she would become a missionary. God lead her to India where she worked with children who were forced into prostitution. At times she would go incognito dressing in Indian dress and colouring her white skin with coffee so that no one would suspect who she was in order to save children. And if she had BLUE eyes then her cover would have been blown. She came to appreciate that she had brown eyes for a reason.
After hearing this story I have always observed and appreciated people with blue eyes...and also cats...or any other species. However, I always took this story to heart never myself wanting blue eyes and knowing instead that God had created me just the way I needed to be. A great lesson for a 7 year old to hear and believe.
I did however think it would be great to have blue eyed children! In 4th Form (Year 10) Science class I first learned about genetics. I worked out the genetic possibility using the punnet square, like one of these....yes obsessed much

from here

...As you can see, in this example, I put your brown eyes on top (Bb) and your husband's blue eyes (bb) on the side. Remember, you and your husband only contribute one version of gene 1 each. You can give either a B or a b to your kids, not both. The Punnett square gives you all four possibilities of you and your husband's combinations.

	B	b
b	Bb	bb
b	Bb	bb

So obviously I needed to find a blue eyed Husband first! I wanted to look into his beautiful blue eyes too!

Fast forward to baby making time...Miss Joy...born dark black hair and dark brown eyes. The most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Ah well, I thought to myself..I don't have the genes...but I sure do make great babies! So I forgot about it, until Joe came along. He was white as, with blue eyes and not an Indian gene in him. Ohh I wonder what number three will turn out to be, blue or brown? I was sure it would be brown. But no..another blue. Dadda is stoked that his genes "kicked ass". So now I have a lovely blue eyed hubby, an almost clone of myself in Miss Joy with the brown hair brown eyes and two lovely blue eyed white boys. And I love them all! All masterpieces of the Creator himself.

I love this photo. Miss Joy weeks old.

Joe with Dadda 8 months old

Now a days since I am more mature, I just love looking at every ones eyes. I've noticed other people love dimples or hair, but I love eyes. Everyone has different shades and they can change as kids get older. Eyes can tell how someone is feeling, what horrors they have seen, and what triumphs they have celebrated.
It is written somewhere, "the eyes are the windows to your soul".

Do you have any little human body part obsessions?

From bad to worse

2011-09-13T14:12:00.001+12:00

Today I woke up determined to get out for an early morning walk. Except 6:30am and the window of opportunity went and passed as I enjoyed dreamland. So I decided I would walk the kids to school instead. I went to pull out my push chair from the boot and felt a rip in my back. It was; try not to cry in front of the kids sore. Different from my usual nurses back. Hurts to breathe sore. Scrap that idea. I pop the kids in the car for drop offs. I came home, popped some painkillers and lay still on the couch while bubba had a nap. Pain killers kick in...not so bad now.
later in the morning...
I decided yesterday that I would try and give Mainly Music ago again. Its been a while so ring and confirm that its still on today and the correct time. I wake bubba up early from his nap so we can walk there instead...I'm still in my track pants! I get to the church only to find a big absence in the usual people mover crowd. Where is everybody today? Apparently this week and last week its been changed to Monday. Great!? Maybe someone should let reception know. I turn to head home and it starts to rain. GREAT! Lucky I have the rain cover for the pushchair...meanwhile I'm cold and wet. I'm trying not to be angry...So I sing at the top of my voice.

Plans have changed for the day...what to do. I feel some baking mojo coming on. I peruse through some blogs for inspiration. Delissimon has a Lemon and Polenta cake I have been meaning to try. I bought some polenta especially for it. She says it needs fine polenta...I only have course polenta. Hmmm I decide to try and make it with the course stuff. Ive never worked with polenta before so I experiment. I also don't even have any lemons...the experiment continues with oranges instead. And its not even a cake...cupcakes...does the experiment end? This is the result...

Yip they are a disaster. The polenta is still crunchy. Maybe they need some more cooking. I need to disguise them anyway so I add a coconut meringue top...and put them back into the oven to brown.

End result... still crunchy but a slight improvement.

I decide to make some cookies after that. Another experimental recipe, Chocolate, weetbix and coconut cookies. Finally some experimenting that pays off. Lovely chewy biscuit.

Moral of the story today.
1) ALWAYS bend to your knees when you lift

2) ALWAYS follow Delisimons recipes to a tee.

3) Sometimes experimental cooking works out...sometimes its just a waste of eggs! I like this quote "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. ~Thomas Edison"

4) SING when you are angry..."....yet I will praise Him". Ps 42:5

Hope you are having a great day.xx

A happy Sunday...

2011-09-11T20:19:00.000+12:00

I love a Sunday that does not include work...It went a little something like this.
Me and Hubby..dig our heels in...which one gets the sleep in today...I decide I had better let him have it today. Zak Zak is awake and a reeking havoc where ever he walks. Files being pulled out of the filing cabinet is the last straw...what ever happened to our lie ins...oh yeah...they are long gone.

I decide Waffles are on the menu for breakfast today. After a bungled attempt last weekend for Fathers day, I needed to redeem myself so I can take a picture for you all. I call it my "Bacon and banana waffle club". With the mandatory maple syrup drizzle. Sooo delicious. Eat them like little sandwiches.

We make it to church on time for a change! I love hanging at my local. Seeing familiar faces...singing familiar songs...meeting with my amazing God.

Home for Bacon and veges soup. Always tasty.

I do the coffee run to my favourite cafe. One Mochacinno for me and one for hubby. I picked up the Herald to read in bed while bubba sleeps, kids watch Peter pan and hubby heads out for some Triathlon training.

The Herald has an interesting article about a study comparing the level of spirituality and IQ. Apparently people who are Fundamental Christians have a lower IQ. Hmmm...might exercise my intelligence and avoid such a lame newspaper who would bother to print such drivel.

Sunday afternoon. I don my runners. The first time since April 9th...Yeah a whole season and a half ago...Bad me. My new fitness book recommends I do a series of fitness tests like how fast I can run 1km, how many push ups and tricep dips in a minute, and whether I can do a sit up. I surprised myself (and hubby with the stop watch) 1 Km in 7minutes. Not bad for someone who hasn't even been for a walk all winter. Day one begins tomorrow. Watch this space.

What a happy Sunday...
Hope your weekend was grand!

when you are 18 and leave home...

2011-09-08T10:20:00.001+12:00

Ive created a new "nag". In order for me to get my children to embrace learning how to do household chores these are the words that "fell" out of my mouth... "You need to learn how to do the dishes...so that when you are 18 and move out of home, you'll know how to look after yourself."
Oh yeah that's right...when they are 18 they'll be grown up and moving on their merry way. I am mortified at the growing trend of teenagers who decide living at home, where they have it so good, beats growing up and moving on.

I celebrated the day I left home as a an almost 18 year old. I was out at the beach with some friends when I was suddenly hit with the wave of freedom. I realised I no longer needed to phone home to let anyone where I was. I felt free. Now my home life wasn't horrible but my parents did have high expectations of good children...and anything out of line meant discipline by humiliation. The entire extended family and family friends would know if this good girl stepped a foot out line. So I relished the new found freedom.
Apprehensively I moved into a flat with two others. Thankfully I knew how to cook so we didn't go hungry. I had to do my own washing, keep our place clean and learn how to do the entire weeks worth of shopping. I learnt to be responsible with the very little student allowance I received during my degree and found myself a part time job for more income. I learnt to be independent and self sufficient, something I would never have been able to do if I were still at home.

I want this for my kids. I want them to be empowered, independent and self sufficient. I want them to know how to change a tire and oil, know how to cook a three course meal, sew on a button.I want them to have the tools to be great adults.I want them to experience life in the real world before they get married. I want them know how to look after themselves and others. So I'm starting early. I'm going to drum into them that they need to learn how do these things so they can move out at 18 and be a responsible grown up.

But mostly this nag is for me. Its going to take me 18 years to let them go into the big wide world. This mother who is so protective I don't even let them play at the park by themselves without an eagle eye watching. So I'm thinking if I start psyching myself up starting now...maybe when its time to kick my little chicks out of the nest I will actually let go.

ButterScotch Baked Cheesecake

2011-09-05T14:57:00.000+12:00

A few weeks ago I posted about having my bloggy friends over and the delicious cheese cake I tried out on them. And a few of you were keen for the recipe...except I don't generally follow recipes. So I had to try another one and actually measure the ingredients for you all!
I'm such an experimental cook. I keep encouraging my friends to biff out their recipe books and try it. Its quite liberating! Maybe you could try some experimenting?
If you like cheese cake, I have figured these are the basic ingredients you need for a basic cheesecake. And then the world is your oyster when it comes to adding flavours you like.

Base: 1 X packet Plain biscuits. Digestives work well, but any plain biscuits. Pulse them in a food processor until resembles fine bread crumbs. Add 150grams butter (melted). Mix until combined and then press into a spring form tin. Place in to fridge while you prepare the cream mixture.

I'm not sure where I learnt this tip but its a good one. Line the spring form tin base with grease proof oven paper. And then clip the outer ring over the top. When the cheesecake is cooked and chilled downundo the outer ring and then the base slides right off onto the serving platter.

For a little fun try making little mini ones for mini tummies or for finger food.

Cream mixture: 3X 250g tubs of cream cheese, 1 cup castor sugar, 3 eggs, 150mls of cream, 1/2 C flour, 150g sour cream.
Ensure cream cheese is at room temperature, it can be microwaved for 30 seconds or until room temp. Cream the sugar and cream cheese together until well combined in a food processor or cake mixer . Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each one. Add the cream, sour cream and flour and mix well until there are no lumps.

Now you can have fun with flavours. Try different liqueurs, Baileys for example. Add a shot of espresso for a cappuccino flavoured or some melted dark or white chocolate. Add lemon juice, or pureed fruit. Or berries on top. Seriously!? Have a little fun experimenting. My motto is..how wrong could it possibly get as long as it has all those yummy ingredients. And if it really doesn't work out...you just learnt one way NOT to do it!

So back to the Butterscotch Baked Cheesecake. I added 1/2 cup of Preznels Butterscotch cream liquor to the cream mixture. Pour that over the chilled crumb base. Place into a preheated oven set at 150 degrees Celsius.Cook on bake for 30-40 minutes. It should still have a little "wobble". Then turn the oven off and let it cool down in the oven. When completely cooled place into the fridge overnight.

To finish it off I topped it with a butterscotch sauce. A good description of the sauce recipe can be found here. And because I like to experiment! I added a little more Preznels Butterscotch cream the sauce while it was cooking too! Tasted Fab.

Are you an experimenter in the kitchen?

One year blog-aversary

2011-09-01T07:06:00.002+12:00

This time exactly one year ago September 1st, I started Jacksta B the blog. See here.
And what a year it has been. When I started I had a 2 1/2 month old baby along with the older two siblings. And now that same bubba is 14 months old. As I sit and reflect on my year of blogging words like thankfulness, friendship, challenges, inspiration come to mind. So let me break it down.

Thankfulness: My year of blogging has encouraged me to get out the camera and pay attention to the details of my life. What I bake, the kids, books I'm reading, what I'm up to. In doing so I am thankful for my life and all it entails. Adding the the Things I'm loving Linkies really reminds us to be thankful for ALL things.

Friendship: Way back in February I organised the first Whangarei Bloggers get together. I was inspired by Simoney from GreatFun4Kids. She often hosted or gathered together other bloggers. So between PJ and I we sent out the invites. And low and behold The Whangarei bloggers group was born. We all got on so well that it has progressed from "bloggers" meeting to "FRIENDS" meeting.
And then last month we had our first Kiwi Mummy bloggers meet up in Auckland where I was able to meet more bloggy friends. So thank you all to those who read my blog and allow me to read whats going on in your lives too. I now call you friends.

Challenges: Parenting brings about its own challenges and I have found great encouragement from blogland to be a better mumma. I also gratefully received the cheers from the sidelines of blogland to do my first ever mini-triathlon. There was something powerful in blogging about it as it made me accountable to you all to spur me on to finish it.

Inspiration: I can't even begin to explain how inspirational I find my blog friends. Bloggers who pour out their good days and their bad days. Women surviving life threatening illness (here and here), mourning the loss of a husband or child( here), expats living abroad and missing home (here, here and here), or bloggers living with illness. To each of you I say your story inspires me and I regularly pray that God will strengthen you and fill you with his love, joy and peace.
I love reading how you all do life. You have inspired me to be a better mum, wife, nurse, and friend.

So Happy Blog-aversary to me and thanks for coming along my journey in Life.

xx jk*b

Girls trip to conference

2011-08-29T09:13:00.007+12:00

As promised from my last post I was going to share about my lovely three days with a couple of girlfriends and our trip to the big smoke for the Manifest Presence Conference. It is a once a year Christian conference at the Habourside Church in Takapuna.
I had been wanting to get to this conference for a couple of years but it just hadn't happened (baby and study). So I was keen to go this year even before I found out that my favourite gospel singer was one of the speakers. If you know me well you would know that Kim Walker-Smith has been constantly playing in my stereo for three-four years. Ever since a friend showed me this You tube clip...I have been a tad obssessed.

A friend and I had booked our tickets months ago...and a third friend was waiting on job offers but was free that week and was able to grab a ticket the day of the conference starting. Lucky I had booked a room unit with an extra spot.

We headed to Albany early for a spot of shopping. I bought I dress...only my second one in my warddrobe at present...yeah I'm more of a jeans and tee shirt kinda gal. So much fun!

The first night was the ever so wise Bill Johnson. He is the Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding California. His teaching blows my mind. He explains stuff from the bible that I would never have thought of if I read it on my own.

The next day we heard from a guy called Danny Silk. He was hilarious. One of his sessions was about Daring to dream. I learnt that it was okay to have a dreams list. That dreaming of building the house of your dreams or wanting to swim with the dolphins is not a selfish thing, but that God takes delight in seeing us blessed and fulfilled in all details of our lives. It changed my thinking how we can overspiritualise everything. Everytime a dream came true, he called it a little Kiss from heaven. I thought it was amazing that in their church they had a specific person who helped all the students and team memebers of their staff, encourage them to dream their own dreams. Rather than "you belong to our church...and this is what you should be doing for us."

Kim Walker-Smith's session really challenged me. She shared a little bit about how she came to be involved in Jesus Culture music. I just love her laugh. She is such a nice young lady. Later on that night she joined the House band and led us in a couple of her songs. I love it when you listen to singers live...and they sound exactly the same in real life as they do on CD/DVD. So awesome.

For dinner we found a stylie place in Takapuna , that served $57 Wagyu beef. (Yeah I think Ill add trying that to the bucket/dream list ;). Instead I tried something Ive always wanted to try after seeing it on TV a lot, Beef Carpaccio. An italian dish , it is raw beef tenderloin sliced ultra thin. It had olive oil, mayonaise and parmasian cheese with baby cress. Was tasty but probably wont have it again. Nice to try once!

On the last night we combined with the opening night for the conference two at another larger venue. An estimated 2000 christians all in the same place. The sound of that many people singing along to Kim Walker-Smith and the band was electric. We prayed for people with terminal illness and cancer...With that much faith in the room plus God in the place...anything is possible.

Ive already got in early and bought two tickets for next year. Im hoping hubby and I can make it together. We haven't been to a conference together...ever.

In short, I feel refreshed...even though it was such a busy schedule, and I feel full of Faith.
Maybe Ill see you there next year ;)

Loving....

2011-08-26T10:32:00.008+12:00

Its been a while since I linked up with my buddy PJ for a wrap up of things Im loving....so you might wanna grab a cuppa as I have a lot to share!

Love watching my daughter grow in confidence each year. She is now in year 3 and this is her and PJs daughter narrating a story for school assembly.

I think back to her first ever year 1 assembly, so shy she wouldn't even talk into the microphone...sing...but not talk.

Loving that while I was away this week for a conference (more on that next post ;), my darling hubby put up the bunk beds...it was supposed to be a surprise but through the grapevine I found out!

Loving new books!

I have signed up for another triwoman event in February...(anyone else wanna meet me there and do it too?) And while in my tea room at work I came across this book from the Biggest Loser Auzzie Trainer. It seemed like the all in one book I need to help be educated to be more healthy. It says how to lose the LAST 5kgs...but she doesn't need to know that I need to loose the FIRST 5kgs. It has the exercises and the training schedule and my personal favourite part the recipes for the eating plan...mmm...food...
whoops off track there for a moment...the exact reason Im in this unhealthy position...to much cake!

New books for the kids..the Roald Dahl Collection. Loved him as a kid and now my kids are enjoying him too.

Loving my first ever Amazon book purchase arrived today...Meet Mrs Smith. I read the a few pages of the preview and I am looking forward reading this. She is the wife of the amazing musician Martin Smith from Delirous. They say behind every great man is an even more amazing woman. Whoa they have SIX kids!

And lastly for a while now I have been wanting to start a Letters to Miss Joy book. I found this idea from Dee Construction. So I picked up Smiggle journal with a lock so we can share our secret letters with no boys allowed! Shes going to love it.

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

bloggy meet up.

2011-08-21T13:59:00.006+12:00

Yesterday a few of the Whangarei bloggers and I hopped in a car and toddled off to the big smoke to meet up with some other Kiwi Mummy Bloggers.
We arrived early...and a little apprehensive. As each blogger arrived we nervously greeted each other, trying to link together the face with the blog. In some cases these faces and blogs were new to me, but others I felt I knew better than friends or relatives. I read about their life struggles and triumphs, what they are baking, what their kids have been painting lately, how work is going, what books and music they are into. We all blog about such different things and lead different lives...but were united in one thing. We were all mothers. You always have something in common with another mother....the craziness that is parenting.
So it was a pleasure to meet and give each other a big squeeze. Laugh together and eat together.
I still can't believe how many new friends I have made through this blogging world, in my home town, from NZ and around the world
We had a great time. The food was great, the atmosphere was great, and the company was great.
Special thanks to Leonie for the organizing (and for letting me steal this photo!)

one proud mumma

2011-08-17T12:56:00.005+12:00

Today was the kids school cross country run. In previous years Miss Joy has done well and been in the top three. So it is usually an exciting event. I encouraged them to do their best, aim high and go for the win.
Thankfully it was a sunny day. If you are from NZ you will know the last few days have literally been freezing. So it was a welcome relief to see the sun. The wind still had a winter crispness about it however.

In the morning while getting ready Joe had advised me that his shoes often flicked off when he ran, I reassured him it would be fine. So off they went for cross country.

Miss Joy warming up with some of her classMiss Joy and Bestie

Joe's first cross country run. He looks a little unsure.

And sure enough he starts running at the sound of the hooter and his shoe flicks off. I cringe for him as the other kids run off over the hill. He puts them on and tries to run..and they flick off again. I run to him, and tell him to take his shoes and socks off. He looks like he is going to burst into tears. I wait for the I don't want to do this tantrum and cling on. But off he runs over the hill after his little friends. We wait to see the outcome. I fully expect that he will come last...probably crying...probably going to blame me for his loss. I wait for the "I told you about those shoes!"
He comes up over the final hill. He's not crying, "Go Joe!" He runs down the chute to the sign in Marshall.
I got first place mumma! What?! And sure enough in come the rest of his little class mates after him.
I'm so proud. Not necessarily because he came first, but because he kept on going, even though he was so far behind and for actually finishing the race.

Miss Joy did well in her race too. First place all round. Well done Miss Joy and Joe!Grandma and Poppa come to support

A very creative day

2011-08-09T15:57:00.005+12:00

Today I hosted Sock monkey making for our bloggers get together. Leonie our ubber patient tutor helped us all create our very own monkies. However as the host I was too busy to take photos so you might have to check out PJs or Leonies blogs. So all I have is miss joy loving her new very colourful Sock monkey...whom she has named "Rainbow Dash the rainforest monkey". And because I bought knee high socks I was able to try my next project on my new sewing machine...wrist warmers.
I decided to make a cheesecake. Oh yeah..this baby was delish. A butterscotch cream Baked Cheesecake. Will be making that one again!

And I tried my very best at creating a gluten free, egg free and dairy free baking item for one of our bloggers. A jam tart. Base: castor sugar, Gluten free flour, and Oliviani. Blended together and put in the fridge to harden. Then spoonfuls pressed into a mini muffin tin. Making a little dent in the top, put a little blob of jam and then bake for 10-15 minutes.

Was so cool having PJ, Leonie, Renette, Tracy and Becky around. Glad everyone had a great time. I enjoyed playing host! Missed Neetz and Sima J.

my new toy

2011-08-08T09:54:00.007+12:00

I have no idea where the inspiration came from to get one of these (perhaps from here, here or watching too many episodes of "Project Runway") But I decided I wanted one. The long standing joke at our house is "Mum! this is ripped and the buttons fallen off". And I reply "oh well lets take it to Grandmas to get fixed". So its time for a new hobby and challenge.

I was taught sewing as a 11 and 12 year old at school. And quite frankly I sucked at it then. Cooking was more my thing...I did get the Home Economics award for all of Form Two Ill have you know. I gave it ago last year with my mother in laws tutoring to make three Christmas present sacks. And they turned out pretty cool.I bought my new sewing machine with my flybuys points along with a new double pie maker (I'll save that for another post). And tomorrow I'm having my bloggy friends around to make Sock monkeys and I don't even own any cotton! or needles and thread! But not for long...I'm going to brave Spotlight fabric department and get some supplies today...already for the girls tomorrow

And I'll probably be up late reading the manual because even getting it out of the box has me confused! I wonder if the library has a "Sewing for Dummies" book?

What the Frack are all these things for!

new do.

2011-08-02T16:27:00.004+12:00

Thanks Everyone for the votes on Monday. The encouragement helped me take the plunge. And Im glad I did. Im loving the new colour. And because it is never going to look this good again heres the pics. Doncha hate when you go to the hairdressers and they use all their special hairdressing skills to do your hair and you never look as good again!? Maybe its just me because Im so "UnCo" with my own hair.

2011-08-01T09:26:00.004+12:00

Hi!

That's all... I just wanted to say "hi". I'm feeling a little uninspired and wordless of late. So I thought I would just check in and say hi.
The holidays are finally over. We didn't do anything special. I didn't take many pictures. We just...well...rested. It was a long term and I think we all just needed a break. So I tried not schedule much. Little play dates and nights with Grandma and poppa.
So I sit here after having sent my kids back to school, quite relieved and thankful that my kids get to go to school. And I can sit and take a breather while Mr Zak zak has a nap. In silence.
I worked all weekend, and so today I take a breather day. I will clean the bombsite...eventually. But this morning I take a breather.

Tomorrow Im getting my first haircut in months...literally 5months! Well it was cut pretty short back in Feb..but I am way overdue for a pampering. It will be my first colour treatment in a couple of years. Ive been sticking with my natural colour for a while. Mainly because it costs a bomb but also because it was nice to have change and be just dark brown for a while.

I like this one but NOT with blue...but with RED. I like how the colour is underneath so it won't show my regrowth if I can't get my hair done for another 5months! Yay or nay? Register your votes before 9am Tuesday morning :)

It's August! Three more weeks until I get some time off to myself with a couple of days with girl friends. First to the Auckland bloggy get to together...and then to my first conference in what seems like years...this one. So looking forward to listening to my favourite gospel singer Kim Walker-Smith from Jesus Culture

And thought I might share some link love. I am loving reading this inspiring story from my fellow Whangarei Blogger- Neetz and her battle when she was a teenager with Ovarian Cancer. A miraculous story.
And also this Story of another beautiful Whangarei Friend and blogger Arna with her heart wrentching story of her premature bubba over the last month.

Guess I did have a few things to say afterall ;) Hope all is well your reality

LOVE

2011-07-28T10:37:00.004+12:00

Source: etsy.com via Marshal on Pinterest

childs play

2011-07-20T15:20:00.004+12:00

Hi Bloggy friends! Hope you are all doing great. Its holidays here in NZ. I love not having to be anywhere, drop offs and pick ups etc...but I find all day with three kids very very long! Any hoo time for a post NOT about cake!
The other day I couldn't believe how long Zak-zak was occupied with this broom. He spent a good half an hour with it. I have tons of preschool age appropriate toys...and do you think he's interested? Nope. Opening and closing doors, unraveling toilet paper, opening and closing draws, pulling books off the bookshelf...these are the things my one year old occupies his time with.

Oh and he has started walking. Yipee! (*insert sarcastic face here*) Getting better at it with each day. Along with this has come the climbing...and the falling. We have had a few bumps to the head. He just has not figured out "backwards". You've gotta keep your eyes peeled at this age. The moment the back door is open, he heads out the back steps and doesn't look back. Man I hope I don't have one of those moments where the neighbour finds him up the road. It hasn't happened with the other kids and I pray it never does!

Stuck between a wall and the desk...oh dear.

How did you find the explorer age?

EAT SOME CAKE

2011-07-11T15:21:00.003+12:00

EAT SOME CAKE

THATS ALL.

AS YOU WERE.

♥

I was just playing around with my new piping bag...I think I'll keep practicing :) I kinda like the joyful mess look. Adds a nice bit of texture to a boring banana cake.

yummy goings on.

2011-07-07T11:05:00.009+12:00

Oh my Goodness Cup Cakes.
I was in the mood for some cup cakes and thought I would have a look through Delissimons blog for the perfect one...because you know shes a baking goddess right?! And I came across her Best Fudge Cake recipe. It had an interesting range of ingredients...which excluded eggs and dairy and had white wine vinegar. I love trying out a new recipe so I gave it ago. And OMG(oodness) they are delish all right. The texture was uniquely different, and the best part was it was a throw it all in the bowl and mix kinda recipe. Just my kind. I HATE creaming butter and sugar. Ive hated it ever since Miss Bolus (my form 1 Home Economics teacher) made us do it by hand! Any hoo, they came out yummy as. I topped it with a peanut butter cream icing. Yes I'm still on my Reece's peanut butter cup craze. Try it out and have a look at Mons other recipes.
Cheesy surprise meatballs.
I can't remember where I learnt this idea but it has a great way of making the meatballs fun. Add a square of cheese in the middle of your meatball and roll in to a ball. Bake meatball until just cooked. Throw them in with your favourite tomato sauce recipe over a bed of spaghetti pasta. Viola. Dinner is served.

Griffins Collisions
Have you tried any of these from Griffins? I may or may not have bought one of each just to try them all..*ahem*. Well they were on special! Our (mine and Hubsters) conclusion was that the Mint treat cross with the Mallow puff was the best. The other ones all the just seem to blend into the same biscuit. I like how the chocolate mint treat has that solid base of chocolate biscuit and they do it in this biscuit too. That along with the mint flavoured marshmallow....Marriage made in heaven. Yummo.

I dont mean to boast but...

2011-07-04T09:35:00.003+12:00

I don't mean to boast but, My husband is awesome. The guy works all week and then capably takes care of the kids on the weekend while I work.
He's not the greatest cook...probably because I don't let him near my kitchen, so when Im away for the evening shift the kitchen is all his. Imagine my surprise to find this blog including pictures of his night. Not many dads can handle THREE kids during jungle hour. But mine can..usually ;) And then most mornings since he's up early, he gets the kids breaky and looks after Zak zak while I gain a few more minutes sleep.
Love you My love. You are a great Dadda

Silver service.

2011-06-30T07:25:00.003+12:00

Last week we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Often in previous years we would off load the 2 kids to Grandma's and head off for a romantic weekend away, but since having bubba we haven't managed that yet. In fact the last time we had dinner out alone, just the two of us was exactly a year ago, because he was born the morning after our wedding anniversary. So we headed out to the swankiest restaurant in town "A'deco". Known for its high end prices and quality complicated food, my hubby has justifiably put off taking us there for many years, because he really just appreciates a decent feed of steak. However this year was big...10 years! So off we went.
When we arrived there was one family already there. I could hear the mum ordering "Now if I order the prawn dish...exactly how many prawns will there be...more than two?". The waiter tries to explain the dish.."well you see it is deconstructed.... " Her daughter says "Mum! Just order!" Yes! I thought...we are surround by other silver service virgins!

We carefully looked through the menu. My years of watching "Top Chef" helped me in the food knowledge department. We decided to go for the 5 course tasting menu...Ive always wanted to do it! At an eye watering $95 each...you won't want to do it very often! I didn't take my camera with me...on purpose...it was our special night... okay I lie, I just didn't want to look so unclassy in such a pretentious place. ;) I kinda wish I had though...the food just looked so pretty. Maybe pulling out the line, "it's for my blog" may have got us some extras?!

So I have taken the liberty of finding a picture and editing so you can see what it looks like on the inside.

One of the waitresses was a student at the local polytech. The poor thing was so nervous, doing her first silver service placement. Hubster found it a little unnerving being constantly watched from his angle, but as soon as his water looked anywhere near 1/4 full, it was refilled very quickly. Can't fault the service. It was strange having someone lay out your napkin on your lap for you. Our cutlery was laid similar to this...
We argued between ourselves..is it work from the inside out or the other way around.. you know from that scene on the Titanic movie. The five courses were all very nice. Food there's no way you could cook at home...which is the precise reason to go out for dinner! The sizes and components of the dishes meant that we were full by the end of the night but not overfull. Overall we had a great night.

For the expense, I think what you are paying for is dinner and a show if you know what I mean. But the food was all high end produce (Tuna, eye fillet steak, pork belly) which justified the expense. I would definitly try another silver service 5 course meal again one day, maybe for another big anniversary!

peanut butter and chocolate slice

2011-06-28T08:07:00.002+12:00

Ever since I had my first Reese's peanut butter cup a few months ago, I cant stop dreaming about them. At a couple of bucks a pop I thought maybe I can somehow incorporate the flavours into some sort of baking to extend it out a bit.

So I tried to mesh together a chocolate caramel Slice. I based my recipe on PJs one but then changed it up a little.

Peanut Butter and chocolate slice.

Base:
1/2c brown sugar
125g melted butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2c cocoa
1 tsp baking powder

Sift dry ingredients then mix together in a bowl. Press into a lined and greased square baking tin. Place into oven at 180 for 10-13 minutes.

Filling:
1/2 can Condensed milk
2 Tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
30g butter

Melt these all together in a pot over a stove at a moderate heat until fully combined. About 3 minutes on a low to moderate heat. Take off heat and poor filling over the base once it has finished in the oven. Put back into the oven for 5 minutes.

Topping.
100-200gram cooking chocolate (depending on how much chocolate you like!)
50 grams butter

Melt together until combined and then poor over the filling.
Wait until fully cool and set in fridge before cuting into squares.

So good! Kids Loved them

Zak Zak turns one

2011-06-25T16:30:00.006+12:00

I can't believe its been a whole year since little Zak-zak was born. (See his strange birth story here) It has been a fantastic year. We have so enjoyed the newest member of our family. Even Joe loves him to smithereens, which I was quite surprised about. I thought as a little 4 year old he probably wouldn't be that interested in him. He adds a whole new dynamtic to the family. Essentially he has been a good baby, eating and sleeping when he should. I love that first year when they are babies. As a mum, I like that they just so darn cute and mostly compliant before the horrid toddler years. I love his strawberry blond hair and deep blue eyes. He is fearless, social and rearing to catch up to his older siblings. I look forward to seeing him grow and wonder at what surprises I will be in for.
We celebrated his birthday today with our imediate family. He had a good morning nap and so was in a great mood for the family gathering. I spent most of the morning on my VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR CAKE. Getting the colours of the butter icing right seemed to be a real trick. But heres how it turned out.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

I used a round silcone "bundt" cake mould for the chocolate cake and cut into bits to make the shape of the caterpillar. I also made another cake in a loaf tin to make up the head and tail. I was trying to get the greens right like on the book, but I just didn't have the right shade of yellow. It came out more orange than yellow. I found the fruit lollies at the supermarket and had a great idea to include them around the cake plate, incorporating the foods that the hungry caterpillar eats. Hersheys kisses made for great feet. I had fun whipping up some yummy finger foods for our lunch and trying out some new recipes. I tried making some mushroom filled Vol au vants. The cases I made out of pre rolled puff pastry. I also wanted to try mini chorizo quiches...which turned out delicious.

Happy Birthday Little man!

10 years today!

2011-06-23T08:01:00.005+12:00

And so here we are 10 years later...I can hardly believe it has been a whole decade since our wedding day. What an amazing 10 years they have been. Heres the condensed version:
We left the reception and had fun honeymoon in Taupo ;)
Year 1: I continued my last semester in my degree, graduated, then found a job.
Year 2: We saved to pay off both our student loans, took a BIG trip all the way to the Gold Coast ;)
Year 3: We had our first baby. Miss Joy. We adjusted well to parenting and enjoyed our new expanded family. I took a full year off maternity leave before reducing my hours down the part time.
Year 4: We took a trip as a family to Fiji...and then vowed never to travel with toddlers...ever!
Year 5: We were ready for baby number two- Joe. We did not enjoy the sleep deprivation that the next 6 months brought. We got there in the end. We took the plunge and finally bought a house.
Year 6: Les changed departments at work saying see ya later to shift work forever and hello 8-430pm.
Year 7: I relished my mummy role and also returned to work 1 shift a weekend.
Year 8: We ran a home group in our home for young adults. I also started some post grad study.
Year 9: We welcomed our well thought out and prayed for baby Zak-zak.
Year 10: We continue to live happily ever after in our own little part of the world.

Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary to US!....its been a lot of fun!

"To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, but to be loved by the one you love is everything"

our love story-part two

2011-06-21T13:25:00.007+12:00

See part one (here)

Those six months flew by rather quickly. I was in my last year of nursing study, so having homework, placements and part time weekend work as well as planning the big day, all seems rather full on now that I think back. I guess when you are in love you don't feel it so much. Invitations were out, reception booked, flowers, catering, wedding attire, order of ceremony...arrghhh! So much goes into a wedding! I had held it together relatively well right up until the night before. We have wedding footage of me the night before the big day just ready to burst into tears. All the details of the big day had finally come to a head and I was stressed to the max. I guess it was a lot for a 20 year old! With help we set up the church and as we were leaving for the night one our pastors saw us on the way out. He must have sensed I was upset and stressed ( we later found out that he had spent most of the night praying for us).
When I arrived home to my flatmate also my bridesmaid she prayed for me that God would give me a peaceful sleep. And He did. I woke up the next morning after a fantastic sleep, feeling absolutely peaceful about the day. There was nothing else I could do now except turn up to the wedding venue, hope that everyone would do their parts and get married to the one I loved.

We all excitedly got ready, and was ready for the limousine pick up...just a little bit late (fashionably).
We had picked a song by Third day for me to walk in to, "Love song"

I guess this song along with our scripture reading Romans 8:38-39 really set an example from the outset which was that, if we as a husband and wife could love each other as much or as well as Jesus did us (an unconditional and self sacrificing kind of love) then we couldn't go wrong.

I walked in with both my parents, one on each arm. I should have just stuck to tradition and went for just the dad like everyone else. My mum started crying right from the beginning of the VERY long aisle all the way to the end! I should have known! She is indian and they cry at weddings! Determined not to cry I held it together, I really didnt want to ruin my lovely make up and besides this was the happpiest day of my life not the saddest as is the case for some indian weddings.

There he was...looking rather handsome in his suit. Mere Piyar - My love. We whispered sweet little things to each other at the front while the singing continued....You look beautiful...you look pretty good too...
As the service continued I grew more and more nervous....we were going to lock lips...very very soon! I suddenly forgot how we were going to do it. We practiced which way we would lean the days leading up. Hold hands...lean to the left and... or was it to the right?! I can't remember!!
"And we now come to the kiss..." says the pastor. And nothing...we stand there and do nothing for 5 long seconds. I was waiting for "And Les you may now kiss your bride"...but nothing. I look to the pastor...like now?! Yes go for it! The entire congregation laughs. We laugh and then we engage in what is the sweetest kiss ever....just like we had practiced but with the kiss.

After the formalities of signing the register we danced our way out of the church to The Lads "My forever Smoochy Girl".
After an afternoon of photos all over town we went to our reception venue. We planned on having an afternoon tea...not a wise decision on the the shortest day of the year...and at 4pm. It got pretty dark, pretty quick. My poor guests...so many details I would do different if I could go back in time.

Syms with his very funny pure and simple joke, our epic wedding cake, and part of the crazy family

After a lovely night of speeches and mingling with friends and family we headed to Auckland for our honeymoon and the rest of our lives together.

stayed tuned for the last installment tomorrow....

our love story.

2011-06-21T09:09:00.011+12:00

It all started way back in the summer of 1999. I had just finished high school and had headed for the nearest city to start my nursing degree. I had so looked forward to getting out of my small town and out of home. After being the only high school student at my small town church I was looking forward to going to a bigger church with other young people. The first time I attended the youth church on a Friday night I was introduced to a young man right in the middle of his hacky sack game. "This is Les...he's in his final 6 months of his nursing degree". I'd like to say it was all rainbows and cupids hearts or love at first sight...but it wasn't. It was just a simple introduction to a fella playing hacky sack. From then on however we had something in common. I would ask him questions about my homework and he was a willing teacher. We got on well because...well he's friendly and would get on well with anyone.

Zealous...70's styles

I got on with studying my degree and making friends at my new church. I also became really involved in the youth church and growing as a Christian. I began to really want God's best for my life and that included waiting for the right guy. Later in the year Les and I were assigned to run a home group together at our flat. We seemed to make a good team and had another reason to talk to each other. Around that time I was inspired by another lady I knew, who when she was younger had compiled a detailed list of what she had hoped for in a husband. I thought I might try the same thing. Mine was a pretty short list which went something like this: Loved God, blond and blue eyed, someone nice (No bad boy for me thanks ;) and someone funny. Those were the essentials. At the time I also wanted to him to be an international rugby league star too...;).. so bizarre!

funny man Les...not his real hair ;) and me with the youth group mascot Shebees

I had absolutely no other thoughts about Les other than friendship for that entire first year. That was until I heard what I would describe as a strong impression from God that I was going to marry him one day. WHAT?! It literally surprised me. He was a little older than me so I wasn't so sure,but when I looked at my imaginary list he seemed to fit the bill. I prayed and prayed. If he was supposed to be the "one", it sure didn't seem to be the case because he had no interest in me. So I just sat on it. I continued our friendship and perhaps placed myself in the right places a little more than usual. Months went by, still nothing. Eventually it finally started to look like some one was reciprocating my feelings. The reality of a real relationship dawned on me and I freaked a little. I didn't know what to do or how to go about it. Most of all I wanted to honour God so we decided to get some wise counsel to make sure those closest to us could see that it was a good idea too. We pray some more...until finally we were both IN. We were officially courting!
We really wanted to honour God, and so decided early on that we would do what the bible says and wait until marriage to get our "Love on". I knew it was going to be hard and I was so afraid of falling into temptation. I had read a book about a young couple who had decided to wait until their wedding day to enjoy their first kiss. Can't have sex without kissing first I thought! So my lovely suitor agreed to my ridiculous request...we would wait until after the I do's for the first kiss.
We were engaged on a small island off the Fiji mainland. Les had come to Fiji to meet my mothers family and come to my brothers wedding. My family were especially nuts that week. Oh no! I thought...would he still want to marry into such a loud crazy family like mine. In tears I asked him...are you sure you want to be a part of my crazy family? He still did!

Small Engagement party on our return from the pretty island

We came home and began wedding plans. I hadn't been to many weddings by then, and really had no idea what I was doing. I was trying to keep costs low, because at the time my thoughts were "Cheap wedding all out on the honeymoon!" Silly really now that I think back. Sex must have been on the brain! After a 6 month engagement we planned to marry 23rd June 2001

Stay tuned for the next chapter in our love story....

Weekend getaway-Matakana

2011-06-20T09:22:00.004+12:00

This weekend we went away for a "B" family getaway in celebration of Father Bears/Poppa 80th birthday celebrations. Mother Bear/Grandma had organised everything to the finest detail (she's good like that!). She had us all booked into stay at a lovely place in Matakana, just east of Warkworth. It is a truly lovely area out there.

First stop birthday lunch at Mahurangi River Winery and Resturant. It was set high above a beautiful vineyard and overlooking the Warkworth hills. It would be absolutely beautiful in the summer when the grapes are out. Even though this winters day was a bit dreary, the atmosphere was still lovely and warm. I was impressed that they cater so well for children too. They had a highchair for Zak-zak and a small kids menu for the older ones. They even had an activity sheet for the kids to do. I had to laugh at one of the kids doing a word find. "I can't find the word MERLOT" Teachin em young!
We were all impressed by the food and lovely Maitre d'.

Later back at the place we were staying we tried eating some more...and then lit up Poppas cake. Lucky the smoke alarms didn't go off!

Saturday Morning we headed into Matakana to check out their famous Saturday Morning Market. Lots of delicious morsels to try. I bought some pastries and some chocolate covered macadamia nuts.
Again Hubster and I found a NZ "star" to take a photo with. The former All Black and host of the CODE on Maori TV Glen "OZ" Osbourne. He had a brief chat with us and he is exactly the same in real life as you see on TV. He was coming in to the market to get his hunting knife sharpened! Classic.

Later in the afternoon we took a drive out to Snell's beach because I had never been before. The moment the kids got there they found a new friend. I love that about my kids, always friendly. Zak Zak enjoyed the sensation of playing in a shelly beach and tasting a few.

Playground at Snell's Beach

We headed home Sunday morning after a lovely weekend getaway.
Happy Birthday to Poppa...still young! And thanks to Aunty J who flew all the way from across the ditch for the special weekend. And thanks Grandma for a very successful "almost surprise" birthday weekend getaway.

Whats been cooking lately

2011-06-15T09:14:00.007+12:00

As you probably know if you follow my blog, I like my food... I like to make it and I like to eat it. In fact I would pick eating out at a cafe or restaurant over buying new clothes. Hands down. Weird I know!( It may have something to do with fact that all my eating has led to looking a little tubby which makes shopping for clothes sucky! Time to get back in Tri training mode!)
Anyhoo thought I would share some pics of some food I have tried out lately.

Sesame Crusted NZ Salmon with potato rounds on Spinach with hollandaise sauce

So yummy...it was a nice touch with the seseme seeds on the outside...will do again sometime! The holandaise sauce was a cheat from "Kato" because I have never tried to make my own before. So good!

Mocha Cheesecake cupcakes

These were a modified version of my Mocha Cheesecake. I found doing it this way made more portions, was a great little treat for my coffee group buddies.

Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake with raspberry

This was a bit of an experiment mixing two of my favourite loves together chocolate brownie and cheesecake. Alas I find it so hard to get the brownie right sometimes. Definitely needed more chocolate. Will try again maybe with Paisley Jades Fudge brownie recipe

What about you...if you had a few spare dollars...clothes or cafe?

Jacksta Bs VLOG

2011-06-13T14:05:00.004+12:00

So I did one! Thanks Gail for the fun idea.

The week that was...

2011-06-11T19:58:00.007+12:00

"My name is JackstaB and Im a Social Media-aholic. Its been 6 days and 7 hours since I last logged in."

So my computer has been out of action for the week. And I just cant believe how much I rely on being logged in to the internet. Need a recipe..I google it. Need to figure out who that actor is from that movie..I google it. Bored...I log in and browse. Need to know whats going on in my friends lives... I facebook. Need know how my blogland friends are....you get the picture. The week left me thinking how much we rely on being logged on, both hubby and I. I never realized how addicted I was...like a media junkie. In our house if the computer screen isn't on the TV is, or theres the newspaper or magazine...theres always something... constantly bombarding my senses with information. Hubster and I were talking...what did people do without TV and computer? When do we just chill out and just BE?

So what did I do all week with all my glorious free time? I cleaned. I sorted. I met with real life people. I baked. But I REALLY missed you guys. I missed reading your blogs. I missed updating my FB status. I missed sharing my photos of our Queens birthday holiday. And I log on to find everyones VLOGing! I missed being in the loop! So my week without a computer has made me realise that perhaps my life is a tad out of balance. So like a true junkie says Im gonna cut down! I promise!
So since I was rudely interupted by my computer carking it last Monday trying to upload my pics...here they are today. We took a lovely drive out to Ocean Beach (Because Hubby knew the swell and surf was huge) and we had a cup of tea and chocolate fudge brownies (PJs recipe) at the beach. Happy belated-not-actual-birthday to the Queen.

And it so good to be back!Who knows I might figure out a vlog post for you all next time
This is JackstaB Signing out :)

Humble Pie

2011-06-01T09:16:00.004+12:00

So its been a month since the little fella has started moving, crawling, pulling himself up on the furniture and "cruising". It has also been a month that I now have to have eyes at the back of my head, constantly thinking where is he?! what is he touching?! After a couple of years not having to worry so much about the other two because they are a little older (now 5 and 7 years) , this constant worrying is exhausting. I find myself saying "naughty hands" ALL day. Except when he is napping...thank the Lord he still naps!

My friends would tell me their stories of the their toddlers, who played tea parties in the toilet (*winks at Paisley Jade*), or who would get into the cupboards, put things in the video players, or rip books. And I would say "My kids never did that". Inwardly feeling rather self-righteous about my parenting skills. I would watch the huggies ad for nappy pants with the toddler running away from his mother because he can't sit still at nappy changing time and think "My kids never do that". I would secretly pat my back when I heard the words "baby proofing"...Because you guessed it "my kids never needed that".

And so now I sit here eating humble pie, with my very normal little almost 1 year old, slightly exhausted and stressed to the max, who now does all those things and then some. And I am contemplating finally giving in and actually buying the stupid baby proofing cupboard locks.

I also think...Mr Inquisitive....Its so darn lucky you are cute!

Worst Case Scenario Mum

2011-05-26T11:08:00.006+12:00

Worst case scenario mum.
I'm not sure where I developed this trait. It probably comes from my realist and cynical views of life in general. It started when child number one was young and manifests its self every so often so that my thoughtless children are fearfully brought back into submission.
Like when my kids are dangerously close to falling over the rails...out it comes. "Don't do that...you fall 0n your head and die" Or like "don't jump on the trampoline with your apple...You'll choke and die". Or "don't go by the road...you'll get hit by a car and die".

I didn't really discover what a strange parent I had become until a friend had told me what my 5 year old son had recounted to her. He had an infected pinky finger. It was red and painful and he really didn't want me touching it. I was trying to convince him that I needed to put some antiseptic ointment on that little finger and a plaster to cover it. NOOOO, NOOOO, NOOOO! And out came worst case scenario mum. "Look, if you don't give me that finger, the infection will spread to the bone. I will then have to take you to the doctor who will then have to chop it off....and you will have to wave like this" I motion to him a four fingered wave. The look of horror comes over his face. "Here mummy..." Oh yeah...Worst case scenario mummy strikes again.
A week later he's telling my friend..."look at my finger... its all better now. Its a good thing otherwise I would have to wave like this...". She laughs.

I'm not sure what I will do when the kids are teenagers and they want to live on the edge, as you do. My hope is that I will have ingrained it so much into them, it will go something like this....
" Honey be careful when you are driving..."
" I know, I know...don't speed or I'll crash and die, got it".
Thats right...

Herb crusted Lamb Rack

2011-05-20T09:16:00.006+12:00

What do you do when Grandma decides to take the older two kids for the night? You promptly update your Facebook status inviting ideas for a Romantic Dinner for two because its been so long you can't even remember what to do! With the food critics gone, I was excited about making something delicious for us that we could enjoy in peace. Sima J suggested a yummy rack of lamb...and it went from there.

Menu

Entree
New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels in a red Thai coconut cream curry, with crusty bread

Mains
New Zealand Lamb with a herb crust, over hassle back potato and balsamic and honey glazed carrots.

Dessert
Sara Lee Sticky Date pudding with whipped cream.

And because I know you desperately need to know how to make one of these bad boys next time you want to cook a romantic meal for your love...I'm gonna share the recipe! Beware though...rack of lamb is not cheap...so a nice once a year meal for us I think! But oh my! It tastes so good!

Herb Crusted rack of Lamb.
Ingredients:
Rack of Lamb (French trimmed)
Mustard
1 cup Bread crumbs
2-3 cloves garlic
Some Parsely
Some Rosemary
Salt and pepper

Method: For the crust. Blitz your bread crumbs garlic and herbs together until all crumbly. Add a little olive oil just to help bind it a little. Set aside on a plate.
Season lamb generously with salt and pepper, then sear on all sides to get some good colour, (because as Gordon says colour equals flavour!). Then smear mustard all over it. Place your crumbs on a plate then put your mustard covered lamb on top and coat it all over with the crumb mixture.
Place it in a preheated oven at 180 Celsius until cooked to your liking...best at medium rare which took about 10-15minutes. Serve with a nice red wine jus and veges. Bon appetite.
If you need to see how Gordon Ramsey does it...check out his You Tube Video

And the winner is...

2011-05-19T21:08:00.003+12:00

And the winner for the giveaway is....Drum roll please Mon...from Delissimon! Congrats!

Giveaway entries

2011-05-18T09:31:00.002+12:00

If you haven't already entered into my giveaway for this....

head over here.
Im gonna draw it tomorrow (Thursday)
Goodluck

Losing my identity?

2011-05-16T11:53:00.000+12:00

Seven years ago I entered into a new identity. It wasn't new for the universe, but it was new for me. At 22 years old we added to our family of two another little being. Our very own, half him and half me. Up until this point my life was being a wife, a Jesus lover, being a work colleague, being a sister, a daughter, a friend, a worship vocalist, a caffeine and food lover, music lover, a loud laugher, a movie buff....these and many more made up my identity, and the essence of who I was.
My how my life changed when Miss Joy came along and I became a new mother, a new role. Apprehensively I read all the books, gleaned as much information from my older wiser mother friends and set off on this road of discovery of the new me.
Did I lose my identity when I assumed this new role? I think not. I am still all the above things, the essence of who I am has not changed since I became a mother. My life is now even more enriched and the essence of who I am has been added to and enlarged. I am now also a teacher, an encourager, a- ready-for-anything-at-any-hour-of-the-night-machine! I am stronger and more assertive. I can dance in the face of adversity. I can negotiate with tiny terrors and make a boo boo better with a kiss and a cuddle.

Mothering is a tricky and precarious place to be sometimes. Lost in the mundane of nappies, never ending hungry tummies to feed and constant emotional tugging, our children can consume our lives- if we let them. But what then when they hit 18 and move out. What will we be then? If our lives are constantly revolved around them and they move on in life, what will we do with our selves? Where do we find our identity again?
My advice is never lose it in the first place. Continue to do the things you love and be who you are.
I will continue in my quest to find the perfect plate of food, the most amazing cup of coffee, the funniest joke to laugh at, and the next great movie. I will continue to give my best at work. I will continue to pursue Jesus. I will continue to be a loving wife, loyal friend and great family member.
Don't let the essence of who you are get lost because you are a mother, instead let it grow you and enhance you to an even better woman.

Things Im loving....Giveaway!

2011-05-14T15:03:00.006+12:00

Hi bloggers...guess what it's GIVEAWAY time! I feel so OPRAH! Except her prizes are worth like, thousands of dollars more...but hey! Gotta love a good giveaway!
So today Im linking in with Kristy's Things Im loving and then giving you a chance to win them. It in celebration of my 100th post. I know right!? 100 posts is kinda a big deal for me. And as a Thank you for reading my blog! I wouldn't bother doing it if nobody read it...so thanks!

Things Im loving.
Esk Valley Coffee beans from the Beanlab, Whangarei. Roasted locally in my town. Loving the taste...and I'm just a bit fussy when it come to great coffee. Heres where you can buy some of your own if you really want. If you are local, I can give you their Email and they deliver to your door like they do mine. Or you could drop by and have a cuppa with me...I'll share I promise ;)... Love it!Also loving Holly Wagner's new book "God Chicks and the Men they love". She and her husband pastor a church in Hollywood. When Hubby and I were newly married Holly and her husband visited my city and did a relationship seminar over two nights. They had us in stitches, just funny and very honest about their relationship. I learned so much from them. On the night I won her book "Dumb things we do" which I was hoping to find for the giveaway but my bookshop only had this one which is actually better I think, because it has a mans perspective too. They seem to know that men hate reading books on relationships and have little summary chapters that are a page long just for them...too clever! It is not only for married couples but also for young God chicks looking forward to that special someone and what to look out for. A great read.
And finally whats not to love about Lindt chocolate...Do I need to say any more about it! Only the best chocolate ever!

So there you have it! Just make sure your following me and leave a little comment telling me about your favourite marriage book, favourite chocolate or coffee brand and your email so I can contact you if you win. I don't mind posting it overseas too. I will draw it next week. Good luck!

The simple faith of a child

2011-05-06T13:00:00.000+12:00

Recently my neighbourhood, which isn't that bad, made the headlines for the wrong reasons. A particular "group" had moved in, and they had a rep of being bad news. They had set themselves up in hopes of luring young people to "help them out" etc. A wave of fear hit me. Like real fear. Fear for my home being invaded, fear of being intimidated in my own neighbourhood, and fear for our city. Real, keep me up at night fear. I decided for a while that I would avoid that route for a while, not run past and certainly avoid my children biking past. That was until I was reminded of the scripture in the Bible " ‎"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind". So that afternoon I decided, we weren't going to be afraid. Of course we would be on guard, but I wasn't going to avoid going down the same street I would normally just because of them. I also decided to pray for them... and get the kids to as well. We prayed out loud every time we drove past, "Lord shut them down and save them ".
And guess what!? This week its gone..only two weeks after opening. We drove past again and I urged the kids to have a look out the window and tell me what was different..."The signs gone.. Its shut down..!"

Getting them to pray real prayers and seeing them answered is what builds faith in little people. When you have things like Santa, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy that get "Myth Busted" when they get older and they basically learn it was a big lie...the question is how will they not think that God (who they also can't see) even exists when other fairy tales are advertised to them as real and then aren't true.
The Hubster and I are committed to trying to instill not only the good values the bible teaches but also the reality of the Author behind it.

"Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:2-4 (New Living Translation)

Image from here

buying handmade

2011-05-04T19:05:00.006+12:00

I just had to take a picture of what arrived in the mail today from "Felt". Zak-Zak was in need of some winter slippers so I popped over there to have a look. I'm pretty fussy about what the kids wear...Shamefully I will admit I prefer new to homemade or handmade, but I love these. They were made by this seller.

I also bought one of these off there a wee while ago too which looks perfect in my kitchen. I think these rules are more for me than the kids though.
And did you know that the talented Paisley Jade sells her awesome stuff like this here. Luckily I got a pair of these for my birthday! I'm sure she wants me to get on the Crochet Brigade..sorry Kristy not budging ;)

and also South African Kiwi sells some awesome handmade jewellery here too!I liked this one the best.

I am in awe of the creativity of ladies that take time to create something unique and not manufactured in China. I might be coming around to handmade stuff.

Go on BUY NZ made :)

First day of school.

2011-05-02T10:01:00.004+12:00

Master Joe recently turned five and today is his first day of school.
Are you excited Joe?... "No" Are you scared Joe?.... "No" What are you? ..."Nothing...I'm just gonna go to school".
That's my boy, take it as it comes ready for any thing!

I couldn't stick around for long as little Zak-Zak was in no mood for it, tired and grumpy, so I bolted during assembly. I left as they were singing their songs to Jesus.
I believe I send my kids to the best Christian School around. I can't say enough about the place. My children are encouraged in the their little spiritual lives to pray and remember little memory verses from the bible. They are taught about a real God who loves their little lives and that they can live big lives now and in the future. The teachers genuinely care about them and pray for them and the school before school starts. Of course they learn to read and write stuff too!, with a great academic achievement level due to the small classes.
I drop my kids off knowing that they are in the best place, and that makes my happy as. Sure it costs more but in the long run I will hopefully reap the benefits of great teenagers and no trips to the shrinks!

Time now to catch up on some lunch dates and start some preschool activities with the baby. Two kids Down, One to go!

Things Im loving....

2011-04-29T14:31:00.007+12:00

♥ Things I'm loving ♥

Being thanked.
I had my workplace appraisal this week, and at the end of it my boss thanked me for the great work that I am doing. That made me blush and then a walked out just a little bit taller. When I'm a boss one day...I'm going to make sure my employees are thanked for the work they do.
Loving mini-me Father and son shots. I can't see any of my genes in this little fella at all. He is all Dadda

Loving the school holidays. No where to be, nothing to do, just a restful couple of weeks for the kids to recuperate and be raring to go come monday. Especially Joe who starts school. What will I do with myself all day! By the looks of the background of this shot...perhaps I can try and stay on top of the washing pile.

Loving that Miss Joy let me get her hair cut into a reverse bob style. She would always get a bit grumpy at hair brushing time before school. And she loves it!

Loving First tastes for Zak-zak... in this case...Chocolate!

And finally loving that today is the day we watch our beloved Prince William wed his bride. Its amazing that we are all enchanted by the whole affair. God save the Queen!

Linking with the lovely Paisley Jade..who is making it a Friday institution to be Thankful.

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

Gutted

2011-04-28T10:06:00.004+12:00

Either Im really clumsy or they just don't make things like they used to!

Exhibit A

The little plastic part on my new kitchen whizz broke off as I was putting it back together! This is part of its safety lock system...so now that its snapped off the whole thing won't work! I'm not the best at keeping receipts and thought for sure I would have to pay something exorbitant for a new lid, but I just rang Breville Customer Service and they are going to send me out one for free because its still under a year old. Good on ya Breville.

Exhibit B

My Samsung front loader broke down a couple of weeks ago. Its done pretty well, 4 and 1/2 years without a problem. I called in some appliance guys and they decided the pump was broken because one of Miss Joys hair clips had stuffed it up... cost of hair clip 20cents. Cost of repair bill... $300. Ouch! Almost the price of a whole new one! Ah well you gotta do what ya gotta do.

What do you reckon? Do the electrical appliances they make these days seem to last as long as the old time stuff? It seems we are becoming a disposable society perhaps because spare parts and labour almost cost the same as buying a whole new one. Weird huh? I'm no greenie but all this crap and rubbish has to be put somewhere?

Jacksta B's guide to.... training your "baby daddy"

2011-04-25T12:26:00.006+12:00

Jacksta B’s Guide to training your Baby Daddy.

You may be pregnant with your first baby, filled with anticipation of seeing and meeting your new bundle of joy. What will he/ she look like? Will the birth go according to plan? How will I get the hang of breastfeeding? What kind of mum will I be? These are all valid questions but one of the most important questions to ask yourself is… will my “Baby Daddy” (father of the baby) cope!

Feel free to disagree, but I feel that in most mothers there is an inbuilt mothering instinct. We carry our precious offspring around for 9 months and after we give birth that bond just seems to be established much more definitely than for the daddy.

I have a fantastic husband, and he is a great father to our kids so I thought I would share some ideas to get that baby daddy in your life primed and ready to go with the huge life change that is about to happen in both of your lives.

1) Encourage Baby Daddy to attend as many appointments during the pregnancy as possible. We were really blessed in our first pregnancy that we both worked shift work. So I would try and pick times for our appointments when we were both free so we could both hear that precious heartbeat together. If he can’t attend them all I would recommend the minimum to be the ultrasound. There is something special about seeing the intricate details of your baby’s anatomy together that makes it so real and exciting.

2) Make your birth partner your Baby Daddy. Give him and only him this task. Some mums do themselves a disservice by picking their mums or best friends over their own baby daddy to be their birth partner. Why? You are pretty much saying from the outset that you don’t trust them to be there for you at the biggest event of your lives. It sets a precedent for the rest of the time devaluing his input as a dad. He should be in awe of what you go through during labour, because it is amazing and amazingly painful! This alone will always be great leverage for a multitude of future squabbles.

3) Give Baby Daddy dibs on the first bath. The sooner he gets used to handling your new baby, the sooner he gains that valuable confidence. Many dads are afraid they are going to break them or drop them somehow, so encouraging him to “get in there” really helps. I would recommend getting him to do it regularly. Make sure baby is well fed and in a happy mood. Set the bath up and clothes to change into and let baby and baby daddy bond in a nice relaxed way.

4) Don’t criticize the way he does stuff. There is nothing a baby daddy hates more than hearing… "you are doing it all wrong!”, pretty soon he will give up, thinking well I can’t do it right so I won’t do it at all. Not good for his self esteem and not good for you because you’ll have to do it all yourself. Try encouraging him instead. Even if he puts the size 2 jump suit on your 6 month old baby; and backwards to boot. When he uses 20 baby wipes to clean up smelly number two’s, praise him for a clean, clean baby. Eventually we all become more adept at these all too familiar tasks and pretty soon he’ll be showing you how he can clean the worst baby explosion with a single wipe! Men are competitive…and thrive on encouragement and challenges.

5) Let your Baby Daddy feed the baby at times, either expressed milk in a bottle or formula if that’s what you do – they secretly enjoy snuggling up with a content child. It sure beats being constantly being handed a screaming baby to try and soothe when you’ve reached the end of your tether.

6) Make sure Baby Daddy has a little time out of his own. He will soon become resentful of the fact that his day is working and then coming home to family to do more “ work”. Encourage him to have some time out doing some exercise or pursuing a hobby or familiar interest. He will be happier for it.

7) Chuck Baby Daddy in the deep end from time to time. Sometimes you just have to leave him to it, give him all the things he needs for a couple of hours and head out for a little a time out of your own. He may surprise you and himself. Let him know that you need some time out too.

8) Make sure Baby Daddy still feels loved and appreciated. In those first months you may feel like you have nothing left to give when you are giving it all to the little one. He can feel a little left out when your focus is not on him, so a little hand squeeze or a thank you lets baby daddy know that you still love and appreciate him.

9) Baby Daddy loves to show off his precious offspring in public. Let him do the honours of pushing the pram or carrying them to see friends and work mates to ooh and ahh over. He’ll love it. If you need to rescue your child from an obviously struggling baby daddy, do so discreetly and with a ‘thanks for giving it a go’ attitude. Never Ever undermine his parenting in public. Baby daddy’s confidence will disintegrate before your eyes.

10) Let your Baby Daddy be the dad. Our job is to nurture, organize routines, and make sure they are eating healthy… etc… all the boring mushy stuff. Dads just want to get in there with a bit of throwing in the air, rough and tumble play, and kick a ball around. Just let him get in there and do it. Of course he might need reminding that the 3 monther might not appreciate his first fishing trip yet… and that he might like to wait a little longer to take him paint balling, but when the times right, just let him do what he know best, which is to be the dad.

There you have it, my top 10 tips on how to train your baby daddy. Don't forget parenting is a learning process for both you.

Thanks to my Baby Daddy, my consultant on these tips. All the best on your parenting journey ahead.

Jacksta B

Jacksta B

wanna come over for coffee?

its not you its me

beware of the shark

big kids day out

Xmas Highlights

Cranberry and pistachio nut biscotti

the goings on.

schools out...argh....

Happy Birthday Kristy

♥Things Im lovin♥

Operas and Echos

R is for Random.

That's what you get!

A kiwi dinner

Labour weekend

things Im loving

trip to the big smoke

The Owl movie

"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"

Things I'm Loving.

not a morning person

yummy stuff I've made lately

Our 2 seconds of fame

Bay of Islands

ol Blue Eyes

From bad to worse

A happy Sunday...

when you are 18 and leave home...

ButterScotch Baked Cheesecake

One year blog-aversary

Girls trip to conference

Loving....

bloggy meet up.

one proud mumma

A very creative day

my new toy

new do.

LOVE

childs play

EAT SOME CAKE

yummy goings on.

I dont mean to boast but...

Silver service.

peanut butter and chocolate slice

Zak Zak turns one

10 years today!

our love story-part two

our love story.

Weekend getaway-Matakana

Whats been cooking lately

Jacksta Bs VLOG

The week that was...

Humble Pie

Worst Case Scenario Mum

Herb crusted Lamb Rack

And the winner is...

Giveaway entries

Losing my identity?

Things Im loving....Giveaway!

The simple faith of a child

buying handmade

First day of school.

Things Im loving....

Gutted

Jacksta B's guide to.... training your "baby daddy"