Oops I did it again

I am SO excited to have new laptop - yay!! This is my first blog post on my fun new MacBook Pro. Love it, love it, love it, thank you Dad and Jayne.

Unfortunately I forgot my USB cable and therefore I still can't post pictures. I hope to remedy the situation soon as my memory cards are quickly filling up, but in the meantime I thought I'd just check-in and let you all know that we are in Florida and loving it.

We flew to Florida on our American Airlines miles and Dugald surprised us by upgrading us for this portion so we had a very comfy flight and were the first off the plane in Tampa. Of course as soon as we landed we had to take all four girls to the bathroom, but once that was accomplished we headed down to baggage claim. Since we had taken a bit of time to get downstairs the girls and I went straight outside to see if anyone had been waiting to pick us up. In order to avoid the high cost of parking and the difficulties involved with getting luggage to the parking garage, the standard operating procedure for family picking up family in Tampa is to circle around the baggage claim area until the people you are picking up emerge. There are always security people out there trying to hurry you along - and don't even think about leaving a bag or car unattended or you will be told in no uncertain terms that you cannot do that.

I was outside with the girls less than a minute when my sister Ali pulled up in one car and her husband arrived right behind her. Dugald was inside waiting for the bags and we were trying to hug everyone while staying close to both cars when a security guard came and told us to move the cars. We explained that Dugald was coming right out with the luggage and we would move soon. Anyway, long story short, the guy was insistent and I just thought he was being extremely rude but then we looked around and noticed lots of police sirens and that what had been a VERY crowded area was suddenly empty. The guard insisted we leave right away so we jumped in the car and left - leaving Dugald in the baggage claim area which was now locked. Ali decided to drive us on home and Stacy, her husband, stayed nearby to collect Dugald and all of our luggage once the crisis passed. Needless to say it was all a little disconcerting and I made the mistake of saying out loud to Ali that I wondered if it was a bomb scare - that comment aged Meggie about 10 years in one second and caused her no small amount of stress, I am a bad mother! I was kind of freaking out myself and just hadn't thought it all through. Thankfully all is well - Stacy was able to finally collect Dugald and the bags and they even got to sneak in a beer before coming home seeing as nobody knew exactly what was going on and when to expect them. It turns out it was indeed a bomb scare, you can read about it here if you are interested. That was the beginning of our first day.

Today, our second day, we had even more excitement. We are in a rented house down on the beach this week and last night the girls and their cousins were all playing with a phone that looks like a cadillac. They said it wasn't working and that they were just playing - all the cousins were involved and we didn't think much of it. This morning they were apparently at it again, this time just my girls since the cousins are staying next door, when I heard Josie talking to someone on the line. I was a bit confused as I thought the phone was unplugged but when I took the phone from her the man on the line said he was from the fire department and that there were EIGHT fire engines on the way to our house. I totally thought it was a joke and said something along the lines of "Cut it out Stacy". He said something like "Maam I can assure you I am not joking - is your address _____?" When I then realized he was serious I assured him there wasn't a fire and asked him to cancel all the engines but at that point they were at the door unloading - at least one ambulance and one fire truck were here, and the police were on their way.

Turns out the phone was real and Josie had called a few times pretending to be a damsel in distress - she actually said there was a fire! And not just once. She and Katie, who was also involved, got a stern talking to from the fireman, from us, and soon after from the police that arrived. It was no small amount of excitement and their poor cousin Lilly next door started crying when she saw the ambulance at our house thinking something terrible had happened. I still cannot believe they did it and we will spend tomorrow morning making cookies and delivering them to the fire station. It was a BIG deal let me tell you and we may even get a bill in the mail to cover it which we totally deserve. I'm hoping tomorrow is a lot more uneventful.

Should be able to post pictures tomorrow if I can find someplace open that sells a USB, it's a holiday weekend here so it may take a day or two.

More later. . .

The Eagle Has Landed

We have landed safely in Texas, in the land of the free, home of the brave, after an arduous journey. We arrived at DFW at about 9:30 pm Thursday night to the news of Michael Jackson's demise - and Farrah Fawcett's as it turned out although she got very little media coverage compared to the King of Pop which I find disturbing given she was Charlie's cutest angel. Nevermind.

The children did well on the journey but they didn't sleep - not even sweet Ellie. However we survived and checked in to the Grand Hyatt, ordered some room service and called it a night. When we arrived I said I was so happy I wanted to kiss the ground and Josie heard me and actually did! So cute, but oh so dirty.

We didn't have too many problems in immigration despite my having two girls with expired American passports - Dugald was questioned pretty thoroughly, as always, but that's because even some people in my family reckon he's running a drug cartel. :)

I'll post more soon with pictures but we're having a fabulous time and are so grateful to our dear Texas friends for welcoming us home. It's 100F here but I am so loving it!! I'll write more soon.

Parenting and God

Great quote from Take Your Vitamin Z:

"You need to get used to this reality. Once you become a parent, for the rest of your life, you'll never be happier than your unhappiest child, because your heart is tied to your kids. That is a way of learning the gospel because before you have kids you don't really know what it means that God suffers for your sins. He has to. He has to suffer for your sins, because when you have children you suffer for their sins. Your heart is tied up to them."

- Tim Keller, quoted from this Q and A session at The Gospel Coalition

K is for Kitten

Just a note to say we are FREEZING!! It's been so stinking cold here the past few days that all I can do is dream of the beach -sand between my toes, cold drink in my hand, Jimmy Buffet singing in the background - beam me up Scotty!

A few weeks ago Katie went to a birthday party and the requirement was that you dress up as something that begins with the same letter as your name so she chose kitten. She made a cute one so I wanted to show the pics.

Have a great day!!

Rockin' Out with Katie

Katie is absolutely a little social butterfly! She was just plain giddy with excitement the day of her party and even the days leading up to the party were filled with lots of enthusiasm and a continuing countdown starting about 14 days prior to the big event. 

Here she is with her daddy awaiting her guests:

I still haven't mastered the cake-making so we made it a family project and this is the result - homemade chocolate cake with homemade strawberry icing. Don't think I didn't head to the grocery store first to try and order something or at the very least find icing in a can because I absolutely did, but alas Hannah Montana cakes are not all the rage here and even the big grocery store didn't have strawberry icing in a can. I have to say that I now know, after several birthdays here in New Zealand, that making icing is easy peasy, but I aim to simplify every step of the way when it comes to planning birthday parties. 

(Sorry the quality of photos is even poorer than usual, I forgot to edit them before uploading them here but I just cannot face doing it again, it takes a sweet forever)

One of our activities for the night was to make our own body glitter. I thought body glitter was  a kind of rock star thing but most of the girls at the party had no idea what it was, am I still hopelessly stuck in the 80's? 
We set up "stations" around the house - one for makeup, one for costumes, one for hair and then the aforementioned body glitter. 



After the girls hit each station I had planned for us to go to the "stage" for performances. However, that is also when I remembered that we had a pinata. As you can see it was already dark (darn you winter, Katie was a SUMMER baby, in SUMMER it's still light at 6 pm). The girls still managed to get it to bust open (with a little extra help from dad and some scissors), but finding the candy in the moonlight was a bit of a challenge.
Undeterred we headed inside and began the show - 

They were totally cute. Next up, pizza and cake:


And finally, presents:

Katie loved every minute of it and she has some precious friends, it was a fun evening!

Kate the Great is finally 8!!

Today is sweet Katie's long-awaited 8th birthday. It's t-minus one hour until her party begins and the house is in order, the cake and cupcakes are made and frosted, the girls are dressed up, it's the calm before the storm. Actually it's really not that calm, the anticipation level climbs with each passing minute. It was quiet when I started this post but I imagine by the time I finish the roof will be raised.

I am not a huge fan of giving birthday parties -the stress of so many children in the house, the noise, the mess, the endless requests - but honestly I've never seen a child more excited so I know it's all worth it (and I'll be looking forward to a glass of wine and Grey's Anatomy when it's done - and we haven't seen the season finale so nobody tell me what's wrong with Izzy please). I'll post pictures soon of Katie's Rock Star Birthday Extravaganza. Thank you again grandparents for the Wii and for the Wii Sing Disney songs that are going to be an integral part of this celebration.

In other family news - Lloyd continues to do well in Seattle and Hugh was in Wellington for an overnight in a private hospital where he had some procedures done to relieve his angina. So far the reports on both have been quite positive and we are grateful.

We are getting excited about our trip to the States. I have to use my few remaining brain cells to focus on one thing at a time so this week it's been preparing for the birthday party, but starting next week I will be ready to concentrate on packing and I can promise you there will be much rejoicing as we put our summer clothes into the suitcases. We are just so stoked about seeing as many friends as we can - you will be sure to recognize us despite the girls having grown about 3 inches each, me gaining a few pounds and Dugald sporting the first different hairstyle he's had since we married - because we will all be wearing our clothes from two summers ago when we left. It just isn't hot enough here to ever wear them and I have yet to find a clothing store that I love and can afford (I can sometimes find one without the other) for the girls or myself and Dugald spends every extra dollar on ties. 

I'll post some photos tomorrow once the dust settles. Thank you to all who called, emailed, facebooked and celebrated with Katie today. xoxox

Grandma and Grandpa's

Last weekend was a long one here in New Zealand to celebrate the Queen's Birthday, so we headed up to Palmerston North on Sunday and spent the night. Because we had waited too long to book we couldn't stay in our usual motel and could only find a place to accommodate four of us, so we had Meggie and Katie spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. 

The next morning we arrived back at 238 around 9:30 am and found Meggie and Katie cooking with Grandma after having had breakfast in bed!

The fairy cakes they were making were out of a cookbook that was older than I am! First published in 1967. The night before Grandma had read to them in bed from a book first published in 1900 - such precious books, we brought home one of Daddy's favorites that actually belonged to Uncle Rob when he was a boy. 


As the girls cooked Dugald and I started to gather our things to pack the car. I heard him call me from the room Meggie and Katie had slept in to show me this - it clearly indicated which child takes more after him and which one takes more after me:

Meggie's bed -
Katie's bed - 
I should also have photographed the suitcase because Meggie had folded her clothes so nicely, and as you can see from the photos Katie's pajamas were tangled in the bed sheets that were on the floor. Genetics!!

Anyhoo - we had a really nice visit. When we left Wellington it was snowing and so stinking cold! After about 45 minutes of driving we saw the sun and it was a very pleasant trip. We listened to the last story in the Chronicles of Narnia series produced by Focus on the Family - if you have children and haven't listened I highly recommend it, very well produced. Now we are home and the sun is out so I am taking this opportunity to wash as many sheets as I can and hopefully get them to line dry. 

Hope you Americans had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. xoxoxo