Jo Jo's Solo

As we head into another weekend here I thought I should get these pics from last weekend posted. Josie had another Musical Stars performance, this time at Westpac Stadium for the Parent and Child show. She and I headed over on Sunday morning while Dugs took the rest of the family to church, it was a treat to have some one-on-one time with Miss Josephine and I am pretty sure she loved it too.

Here she is all dressed and ready for the first song:

And here she is on stage singing her solo. I hate that the big bow on her head rather obscures her face. Once again she did a super job and this time the sound was a bit better and we could hear her. 
She's on the far right of this photo, still singing away.

After the performance we wandered around a bit enjoying coffee (me) and hot chocolate (her) and checking out the vendors' stuff. Before we left she got her face painted.

Culinary School

Most mornings we sit down to morning tea around 10 or 10:30 am. It's a nice New Zealand tradition that we have wholeheartedly adopted. The girls love having the break and they are always hungry, and it's the perfect time for me to read to them from their literature selection for the week. 

Yesterday we were shopping at a different grocery store than we usually do. We were on our way home from riding and popped into a much larger one on our way back to Karori. While slowly perusing the aisles in order to not miss anything we spotted these:

and, of course, they just HAD to have them. What's better in the eyes of four little girls than little pink cupcakes with sprinkles?? And, seeing as it was actually a box mix and not something that had to be made completely from scratch, I acquiesced. Under one condition. They would make them all by themselves. And, so they did.






Ta Da!!!
Now for the ultimate verdict . . . they look good, but how do they taste?


They were the perfect accompaniment to our morning tea. Good job girls!

Party Like It's. . .

1983? 1969?

We were invited to a "fancy dress" party last night. To me when I hear "fancy dress" I think of high heels and tuxedos, but what it actually means is that you should come dressed up as someone else. We went to the Karori Normal School's fundraiser with our very good friends Alison and Matt and Richard and Fleur. The theme was "Showtime" and we had a lot of fun getting all dressed up. 

Dugald and the boys went as the Beatles, minus one, and the girls went as characters from the movie Fame. 

We started the evening at Matt and Alison's - they had a brand new babysitter so we came over to really scare her. I am the only one not wearing a wig and I regret that decision now given how awesome these guys look!

The boys. . . Dugald as Ringo, Richard as George and Matt as John
The girls. . . Alison, me and Fleur
Fleur was on the organizing committee and they did a fantastic job! We had a red carpet welcome complete with these ladies as "Press" interviewing us outside and a bunch of kids lined up with cameras cheering and being our paparazzi. They had a camera man shooting footage of everyone arriving and it was broadcast on a huge screen as you entered the party.
So many famous faces. . . here are the Village People.
This is a pic of the band, they were very good. I had to take a picture of their outfits.

Dugald and the boys were finalist in the best costume category, but sadly they got beat out by Kiss. I think it was due to the missing Beatle. Our table did win one of the trivia prizes though thanks to my hubby knowing that the names of the gangs in West Side Story were the Sharks and the Jets. Yeah baby! Speaking of which Austin Powers was indeed at our table.

We had a great time dancing the night away and we met some more fantastic Karori people. Thanks Alison, Matt, Richard and Fleur for inviting us!!

Things that make me happy

Hey Y'all! 

We've been getting a bit of sunshine!!! Winter is officially over according to the calendar. According to an article in the paper I read it was one of the worst in more than a decade. So, I'm not feeling quite so wimpy now that I know, with facts and figures on temperatures and rainfall to back me up, that this year was a doozy. I am SO glad it's over, just knowing that makes me feel better even though today was rainy and cold.

The kids and Dugald and I took a walk this weekend around Karori and I decided to take the camera along to give you an idea of where we live. . .the shots aren't the greatest but I think it will give you at least a glimpse into our lives and some of the things about it that make me quite happy. Enjoy!

First, these people make me happy. . . (and Meggie too but she was ahead of me). 

This is the ceiling in my room and it makes me happy. Not the light fixture, but the ceiling - is it called carrera?? I'm not even sure but I love it.
I also love the leaded glass windows throughout my house, this one is in our master bedroom.
This is Maddie, our neighbor, and she and her sister Lucy are sweet babysitters. 
Some scenes from my garden - encouraging signs of Spring.



This is the backside of my mailbox, which is right by our entry gate, but the reason I'm posting the pictures is to show the flowers growing below it. Whatever they are they smell divine! Their fragrance is a lovely greeting as you enter our yard.
This shot was taken looking out my kitchen window - I love the yellow right behind the pink. 
Ok, now some pictures from our walk. This is one of my favorite houses. . . not sure why but it just draws me in and I would be happy to own it. 
Here's another house I like, but I don't love it as much as the one above.
And this one is cute too, are you getting a feel for the neighborhood yet?
Here's Marsden Village and our main drag, Karori Road. Notice everyone driving on the left? Took some getting used to but now it feels completely normal.
Our church up on a hill just off Karori Road.

Drama Mamas

This weekend Josie had her big performance for Musical Stars - it was called "It's Showtime" and Josie was in three songs and sang a solo bit in two of them. It was really a cute production, sadly the microphones could have been turned up, but Josie was adorable. I videotaped her bits and hope to download them soon and figure out a way to post a few seconds of it on here. . . but don't hold your breath. I am very technically challenged and also slightly lacking in time to mess around with it too much. 

Meanwhile, for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures.  I didn't get any of her on stage because I couldn't manage the video and digital camera, sorry.

Josie after the show with her rose . . .

And her very sweet friends, twins Megan and Emma. Josie had to be at rehearsal at 9 am Sunday morning and the show wasn't until 2 pm so she was understandably a little nervous but these two "big girls" (they're six) took great care of her.
After the show the girls all decided to roll down the hill while Dugald and I chatted. Can't leave them for a minute!
Josie and her very good friend Hannah.
Monday night was the kick off for a big city-wide event in Wellington called "Dance Your Socks Off". Meggie's group from Musical Stars performed a song and dance they are working on for their production in November - "Popular" from the show Wicked. She looked so cute and did a great job too!! Again, I'll work on the video and see what I can show you. This time I had Dugald take some pics so we did get some shots of her on stage.
Meggie is second in the row of witches in plaid dresses. 


All in all a busy but fun few days. 

More riding pictures

At riding last week the girls got to groom and tack their own horses for the first time, then they went out for a trail ride since it was such a beautiful day.

Meg was a bit nervous about getting near the horse's feet, but she did it!


Yesterday Josie  had her Musical Stars performance "It's Showtime" and she did a great job. She had two solo bits and was very cute. I took some video and pics and will post tomorrow because tonight Meggie is performing with her group down in Courtenay Place. They are singing and dancing to "Popular" from Wicked as a part of Wellington's "Dance Your Socks Off" festival. I'll post both events soon.