Making Me Smile

{artist's impression: kids playing Wii}

I'll tell you some stories from my week which made me smile, but there are no photos.
Why? Because I have to share my rechargeable camera batteries with the Wii remotes until we get around to buying some more. And when you spot a great photo-opportunity it's such a hassle to fumble the batteries out of Wii remotes, what with numchucks and rubber sleeves and all; plenty great snap-worthy moments have past by sadly unrecorded.

My battery-less camera sits photo-less and I've had to use all my creative powers to bring you some pictures. Because a post without pictures is for me like Lady Gaga without her wierd outfits (unrecognisable and slightly boring).

Making me smile this week is...

{artist's impression: Dash making lunch}

Dash waking up before 7am every morning and making his school lunchbox. In fact, the first morning he also made Miss Fab's lunchbox, but she was in a morning-grump and was less than impressed and complained about his food choices (don't worry I scolded her ingratitude)... so Dash gave up being the Lunchbox Angel for his ungrateful sister, which she now regrets.

{artist's impression: Dash with lunchbox}

But that first back-to-school morning, to wake up to the sound of fully-clothed Dash saying, "I've made our lunchboxes"...?
Priceless.

Loving that he is being so responsible.
Grateful that there's one less job for me.

{artist's impression: back to school}

Also making me smile is the kids being back at school.
A quiet house. Floors that stay clean. Blogging time!

Loving a few hours to myself each day.
Grateful for a great school and good teachers for my kids.

{artist's impression: brotherly-sisterly love}

This one really made me smile.
The kids have recently been given MP3 players and they have both become huge Stan Walker fans, especially Dash.
Both my kids belong on the stage. Neither of them lack in confidence.
Miss Fab has been planning and practising her entry for "School's Got Talent" since last September, singing and dancing in her room. the choice of song changes weekly, but it's always a Stan Walker track.

So this morning I hear this from the next room...
DASH: Hey Ab, you know how we both love Stan Walker?
MISS FAB: Yeah?
DASH: Well do you think we could maybe do something together for Schools Got Talent?
MISS FAB: What, do a Stan Walker song you mean? Together???
DASH: Yeah, maybe that rap song of his cos I'm really good at rap...

Awwwww, shucks. Now wouldn't that be a sight?
I must mention that there is no guarantee there will even be a "School's Got Talent" show this year. And if there is, it will be in September. But hey, isn't it sweet that Big brother wants to get up on stage with his Little Sister in front of all his school friends??



Loving that he wanted to sing with her.
Grateful for Stan Walker - an awesome role model.

{artist's impression: my pregnant belly}

OK this next one is one of those "if you don't laugh you'll cry" stories.
I'm in my bedroom hoisting myself into a brassiere when Miss Fab walks in.
She smiles at me sweetly as she walks over and slides her arms around my waist...
"Hey mum," she says gazing into my eyes oh-so-lovingly, "Do you know that your tummy looks like there's a baby inside?"

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

And then. I drop Scrag off at kindy and run into a (tiny little) kindy mum who had asked me yesterday if I'd be interested in doing a Boxing class.
This morning she asked me if I'd mentioned the class to my friend Meg, "I've noticed she's looking amazing," this skinny mummy said, "What's she been doing?"
I listed off Meg's amazing fitness efforts... the gym, Couch-to-5k programme yada yada yada.
"Yep she's pretty amazing," I conclude.
"So what's your excuse????" she says to me.

Gulp.
Sputter.
Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Feeling really good about myself here, people.
Obviously my return to gluten-free eating is not yet paying many dividends. My extra-sweaty-house-cleaning is obviously not shaking any pounds and neither is my sporadic walk-to-the-cafe-instead-of-driving. And I haven't kayaked enough for it to count.

So here I sit. Salvaging my self-esteem and kicking myself for not coming up with a witty retort.

Loving that I'm still loved by my family even if I'm 13kg away from my goal weight.
Grateful that tomorrow is a new day and I can still justdoit if I want.

Right, now I'm off to use my Active 2 Wii game* - with heart rate monitor and fitness band.  The very same one that helped Kristy kick her Christmas pounds, and which awesome fit-and-fab Meg helped me set up yesterday. You just wait, skinny kindy mum. This time next year I won't be mistaken for a pregnant lady!

...............................................

• Active 2 is awesome and clever and best bought from NZGameShop - currently only NZ$22.95 + Free Postage
  
• The pencil-pictures are created from old photographs in Photoscape, in Edit/Home under Filter/Pictorialisation/Pencil - lots of cool effects to play with there

   

If you've lost your blogging mojo

I hear it everywhere, "Ahhh, I've lost my blogging mojo, I just can't be bothered with blogging anymore..."
If you've been feeling like this, you're not alone.
Apparently there is an epidemic out there, sweeping through the blogging community.
Blogs lie dormant, neglected, as one blogger after another begins the new year devoid of inspiration.

Why is this?
I've been thinking on it quite a bit, as some of my favourite bloggers have been posting so infrequently I'm worried they've given up altogether.

Probably for many, the tug of the Real World has made blogging too difficult. Maybe there's no time in your day, or when you get some free moments, the last thing you want to do is hunch over a computer. Or maybe you just lack inspiration. Your blog feels stale, you struggle to find things to say. Or maybe you feel like your blog is just an unmapped desert island in a great big ocean of blogs; maybe you feel small and insignificant.

Whatever the reason if you're in this situation, I'm writing this post in an attempt to encourage you to keep blogging.
Because to a blog fanatic like me, when my bloggy friends give up, its like you've died. Or moved away. And since I don't get to see you in the Real World, the only way we can be friends is in Blogland. So it makes me sad when I lose a blog-friend.

Can I encourage you to think again? Cos I hate losing friends.
Maybe I can wrack my brains and come up with some ideas to help you regain your lost blogging mojo.
I'm going to give it a crack, and if it doesn't work, well, at least I tried.

#1 Problem: I have no Time
OK, this is a pretty good reason. I can't argue with that. If you're at home with small children or started a new job or just juggling the responsibilities in your Real World, blogging is going to come way down the list of priorities. But maybe you could look at it as carving out a little corner of space for yourself. Perhaps you could schedule in some blogging time. I'm not talking about posting every day, but three times a week might be do-able? Maybe when the kids are in bed, the dishes are done, pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some music and sit down with your blog. Figure out a pattern of blogging like my friend Kristy does (a mum of four, with a part-time job and umpteen pets). Kristy  posts four times a week. 1 = a recipe; 2=something she's made; 3=something from her week/family life; 4=Things I'm Loving linky.

For you it will be different, depending on what you're into. But it's more do-able when you have a plan {especially if you make use of post-scheduling... write a couple of posts at one time and then schedule them to post on certain days - brilliant.}

#2 Problem: I have no Inspiration
If your blog no longer inspires you, its time to rethink it.
Anything becomes boring after a while. Even Disneyland (I'll bet if you spent every day there you'd be sick of it before long).
So you have to shake things up a little.
When I get bored I tinker with my blog's look, first of all.
Change the header, the fonts, the colours, the sidebar.

Of course this is just cosmetic and doesn't deal with the underlying issue of boredom. But it's a start.

Next, think about your blog's voice. What is your purpose in blogging? Who are you wanting to reach (who is your readership?)
You need to re-focus. You might even need to re-brand and change your blog's name to match a new purpose. But you don't need to ditch your blog and start over. If you do, you will lose many of the readers/followers you worked so hard to gain, trust me. You can change the name without changing the blog's URL.

Later you can change the URL to match, if you want to, as my friend Alicia over at Project Alicia did. She re-purposed her blog (focusing almost completely on Photography and sharing her photography and editing tips) without starting a new blog and losing her readership.

For instance, if your blog started out as a general day-to-day record of your life and family doings, but now your kids have all gone to school, or you're just over it, have a think about what gets you excited in your real life.
Photography? Cooking? Painting? Books? Writing? Home decor?
Allergies? Fitness? Personal Growth?
Or a combination of all of them...

Focus on what you love and draw inspiration from that for your blog.
Create pages where people can find your posts listed on each topic.
And set yourself a posting schedule - three times a week is do-able {again, post-scheduling}.
Find some linkies or memes happening on the topic you want to focus on... join in and draw ideas from them.

#3 Problem: I can't keep up with it all
You might have found yourself on the Blog Etiquette treadmill, endlessly replying to comments, reading and commenting on blogs out of politeness.
Guess what? You can get off the treadmill at any time.
Work out what you can cope with and which comments you will reply to, which blogs you will read... and then take away the pressure. I've just written a post on this topic over at The Blog Guidebook (where I am now a contributor) called "Blogiquette Revisited".

Here is my advice on Blogiquette:

We figure out how much blogging time we get. Hmmmm. Not as much as we'd like.
We'd better Prioritise.
What comes first? Writing content for our own blog, surely? And reading those blogs which truly inspire us, make us laugh - the ones we will read whether the author ever comments on our blogs or not.
We can also make time to read the blogs of those bloggers we've built meaningful friendships with.
We check out a few newbies... and leave some encouraging meaningful comments.
But not every day.
We reply to the comments where someone asks us a question, and to the comments that made our day, or intrigued us. If we have time we hop over and check out those bloggers (who knows, they could become our new favorite?)... and we leave it at that.


Then we walk away from the computer.
Conquer the Laundry mountain. Fight back against the Dust Bunny Revolution.
Reintroduce ourselves to our children.
And live our actual Real Lives. Without which we will have nothing to say.

...........................

Has any of that helped at all?
{The correct answer is, "Yes Simoney! I am now inspired to start blogging again!"}
I hope that it has helped somebody, at least.

• For help revamping your blog's new look, check out my Blog Tips Page
• For further inspiration, here's a bunch of linkies you might like to join in with - not all of them, just the ones that make sense for you and your new blog mojo! {Full list over on Curly Willow}

Sunday Showcase Party @ By Stephanie Lynn

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm 
Anything Goes @ Type A Decorating
Trash 2 Treasure @ Sassy Sites 

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart and Home
Power Of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Open House Thursday @ No Minimalist Here
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show And Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Frugal Friday @ Shabby Nest
Weekend WrapUp Party @ Tatertots and Jello 
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal

These are the ones I like to join in with...

        

Where are you at with your "Blogging Mojo"?

Rite of Passage

This boy just started at Big Kindy.
That's what we call the kindergarten all the kids went to, the last stop before School.
Only Big Boys (and girls) go to Big Kindy.
Big boys who wear undies and go to the toilet by themselves.
At Big Kindy kids stay all day.
We've been on the waiting list for a while, and finally it's our turn.

Here is Scrag on his first day. The first day of the last stop before I have no more littlies at home.
{Time to start working on my Resume...?}

We have an association with our local kindergarten stretching back over nearly seven years.
The first one to go to Big Kindy was Dash...

Dash on his First day at Big Kindy, November 2005

This is a real community kindergarten.We made friends there for life, people we still hang out with.
It was on a day when I was early for kindy that I spotted the home that would become ours, as I cruised the block looking at For Sale signs and dreaming...

Miss Fab started going when she turned three. Her best friend from kindy is now her best friend at school... the little sister of one of Dash's Big Kindy friends.

Miss Fab on her First day at Big Kindy, July 2007

My Big Kindy pals were the first to hear that Scrag was on the way. In fact it was them who suggested I better go home and take a pregnancy test when I told them I was feeling squeemish and had a metallic taste in my mouth...

I could not have imagined how fast the years would fly by; how the tiny speck in my belly would become a big boy off to Big Kindy himself, in the blink of an eye...

Scrag on his First day at Big Kindy, January 2012

Its the beginning of the end of an era.
*sniff*

goodbye Forever, Duraseal

When Dash started school four years ago, one of my first tasks as the mother of a soon-to-be school child was to cover a mountain of exercise books with Duraseal {that sticky plastic film teachers like you to cover your kids' books with so they can withstand rough handling, spilt water and sticky fingers}.

I was all "Lets make sure there's no bubbles" and "When his teacher sees how well his books are covered she'll know I'm a mother who really cares..."
*snort*

By year two I was over it already.
And by the time I had two kids with mountains of books needing sticky stuff put on, I wanted to personally strangle the person who invented Duraseal. Or preferably the bright spark who recommended books be covered.
One year I even took out my book-covering frustration in a Poem, here on my blog.

But not this year. No more Duraseal for me.
No more wasted hours spent bent over my kitchen table trying not swear at my wrinkled and bubbly Durasealing efforts.

This year I discovered EZcover {pronounced Easy-Cover, cos its EASY}.

Actually, I didn't really discover it. The nice inventor of the stuff emailed me and asked me would I like a sample of his bookcovers, which remove the need for Duraseal.
I replied, Oh Yes Please! How did you know I hate covering schoolbooks? You must have read my Poem from Last Year...

Bryce went ahead and sent me some samples.
I thought, Yep, that looks pretty easy alright. Plastic covers that just slip onto the books. No measuring. No cutting. No air bubbles. No wrinkles.

Bryce said, Get your kids to pick which designs they like and what sizes you need and I'll send them to you.
Gee I love being a blogger sometimes.

So I got the kids to pick their designs {There are twelve pretty funky designs to choose from, all designed in New Zealand.} and I sent Bryce my list. It was pretty easy figuring out which sizes I needed because the codes are all there on the website when you go to order.

When the package arrived the kids couldn't wait to cover their books.
"Can we do our own, mum?" they pleaded.
Oh wow. This just gets better and better.

I handed them their book piles and covers.
Got out my camera. And took photos while the kids covered their own schoolbooks.

I love you EZcover. You just saved me about six hours of frustrating toil.
I will sing your praises to the blogosphere!

And best of all... the covers are re-usable. Next year I just have to slip them off this year's books and recycle them onto next year's. Brilliant. Easy. Gorgeous. And Eco-friendly!

With school beginning in a few days, forget the Durasealing. Get on over to Bryce's EZcover website and order some of his cool book covers. Your back will thank you, I promise.

........................

DISCLAIMER: This is not a product review blog and I usually turn down requests to review products, but this one was perfect for me, as I have moaned and groaned every year about covering schoolbooks. So it fits for me, and will hopefully be useful to you too - all you mummies of school-agers who agree with me that covering schoolbooks with Duraseal is PAINFUL. If I didn't love this product I wouldn't be raving about it ♥

Summer by the Lakes

We are now at the stage of family life where holidays can actually be... enjoyable. Relaxing. Fun.
Gone are the holidays which revolve around getting the kids to sleep in a strange bed or changing pooey nappies by the roadside.

These days when we hit the road in our people-mover we are crammed to the hilt with kayaks and scooters and bikes, not portacots and highchairs.

We are out on the other side, baby! The promised land of kids who are old enough to take themselves to the loo. Old enough to stay out til the sun goes down, sit up and watch a movie.
Holidays are a whole new adventure in fun now that we have no babies. Or toddlers. And everyone is potty trained.
Yeeeeeeehaaaaarrrrrr!!!!!

So when we got the last-minute chance for five nights away together, we said "Kids! pack your bags!" and away we went. How awesome is it when your kids can pack their own bags {and actually pick the right stuff?}

A mere three hours away from Auckland is Rotovegas. Oops, I mean Rotorua.
Think geysers and mud pools and tourists. The luge. The agrodome.
We ignored all that and hit the Lakes {with our super-duper kayak of course}.

We stayed at this place: Marama Resort, on Lake Rotorua. Not this actual picturesque cottage, but one close by on the same property. Just over from where we stayed five years ago, when we spent half our time stressing about keeping our kids away from the lake/canal/stream/estuary. Fun times.

Now they spend half their time in the water, our little fishes. Making friends and swimming to their hearts content. Er yeah, we did make them wear buoyancy vests. Just so we could relax and actually read the book by the pool/river/lake.

So many lakes to choose from down that way. Each one more beautiful than the last.

{Lake Okareka, Rotorua}

We thought this one was pretty good. It's off the beaten track, not many tourists. Good for kayaking...

{Miss Fab got the hang of paddling}

{Dash enjoyed jumping off the diving platform; every lake needs one}

The kids befriended the locals. Sort of.

{Lake Rotorua}

It was beautiful, to be sure, but windy and cold. Where are you, Summer?

{Lake Tarawera, Rotorua}

Oh there you are! Here on Lake Tarawera. See that mountain in the distance?

A volcano. The infamous Mt Tarawera, which erupted in 1886, destroying the world-famous Pink and White Terraces, a natural wonder of the World. 

She's all quiet now, of course. Kind of spooky though.

Beautiful, serene, quiet lake. Until the tourists arrived.

An extended family of Brazillians/Pakistanis/Iranians took up residence on the boat ramp, blocking all access, roaring up and down on their jetski, smoking cigarettes and laughing loudly at private jokes in Brazillian/Pakistani/Iranian.  

Kind of spoiled the serenity.

Lucky we got there early aye? And the weather was good.

{Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngaruhoe, from Taupo at sunset}

The next day we went to Taupo.

The big Lake in the centre of the North Island; a lake the size of Singapore.

World famous for trout fishing and parasailing.

{Kinloch Beach, Lake Taupo}

There's a little-known beach 20km away from the main town. A place few tourists know about. Kinloch.

A beach I remember from my teenage days. Memorable for the worst sunburn of my life... and the best swimming ever. When the day dawned cloudless and perfect, I suggested we head to Kinloch.

It's still popular with teenagers. It has that all-important diving platform.
And water so clear that you can see the sand on the bottom when you're swimming.
Even when its deep.

We parked ourselves there for the day, under a shade tree.

We swam and relaxed, kayaked, read. The kids got icecream from the shop and played at the playground.

Swam some more. We watched the teenagers haul a couch out to the diving ramp. 
Mr G took Dash out fishing on the kayak. They had a great time; caught some driftwood, some water weed and lost their line. Came back with stories about the One That Got Away.

We got fish and chips for dinner and didn't leave until the sun went down.

A perfect day.

The day we left, the clouds had returned. Overnight a spot of rain.

This summer has been short on beautiful days. We've only had a few.

But a few perfect days was all we needed to create memories of  Summer by the lakes.
..................................

Beautiful Lake Spots, Rotorua & Taupo


Lake Okareka. Turn off Tarawera Rd onto Okareka Loop Rd, then left onto Millar Road. Keep going until you see a cool playground and reserve on your right, a beach and diving platform. Caution: Not a tourist spot. Tourists are recommended to attempt a Kiwi accent as best they can.


Lake Tarawera, Kotukutuku Bay. Drive past the Blue and Green lakes to the end of Tarawera Road. Stop at the Buried Village, for some poignant history or the Lookout for a great before heading down the hill to Kotukutuku Bay. {Note to Tourists: Please don't take over the boat ramp or smoke cigarettes and spoil our beautiful clean fresh air}


Kinloch, Lake Taupo. Turn off State Highway 1 onto Poihipi Road, follow it until you turn left into Whangamata Road, and after a while, left again into Kinloch Rd. Kinloch is not signposted, so watch carefully for road signs. Enjoy the perfect swimming spot, complete with diving platform, playground, toilet block, convenience store and cafe... and the clearest water ever. Caution: Take plenty of sunscreen and go early to get the shade trees.