ten on tuesday

1. I had a 2hr33min very free, very clear Skype call with my sister yesterday. (I hope you were able to get up for work today, Rosey!) Plus I had chats with Stef and Amy. Yay for Skype.
2. Quincy's fever peaked at 102.2F (39.3C) but it seems to just be a low grade one now. His cough and nose are still nasty though. He slept through until 6, we read and had a feed until 7, and he's been sleeping ever since. He's a pretty good sickie. He loses his appetite and can be quick to tears but still manages a smile every now and again.



3. I have our Christmas card all finished. Now I just need to have it printed. Yay for photoshop and digital sccrapbooking/card making.
4. Yesterday and today have been super windy and a little rainy. Pretty warm and humid, but still the perfect weather for sick days, reading, playing with trucks, and snuggling.



5. After a less than stellar start, Quincy seems to love swimming now. He stages only minor protests when he has to lay on his back and is pretty content the rest of the time. He even went under water 5 times last week without crying--he actually liked it. He loves having to sit on the wall like Humpty Dumpty and fall into my arms on the count of three. He now even wants to stay and play in the pool after the lesson finishes for pretty long. Oh and ever since his water confidence has increased, he no longer grizzles when I lay him back to wash his hair in the bath. Sadly we have to miss today.
6. I hope Quincy is better by Thursday. We have booked (and paid) for the American Women's Club Thanksgiving dinner. I really want him to meet some other Amerikiwi kids.
7. My in laws are coming down here for Christmas. Yay no travelling or trying to squeeze the five of us (including dogs) plus all of our gear and gifts in a sedan. I have been wanting to host Jeremy's family for Christmas for quite some time, so I am looking forward to it. It'll be a full house and I have no idea what to make, but it'll all be fine.
8. I am not as far along in the Christmas shopping department as I planned to be and I have plenty of things left to make. I better get my act together.
9. During Quincy's naps today I really need to get going on a Beagle Club Newsletter. They take way more time than I have, but at least now someone else takes care of the printing and mailout portions. The website is dreadfully out of date and needs my attention too. What would I prefer to do? Work on these blocks I am making for Quincy for Christmas. They are just over halfway finished.



10. He just woke up... It's 10:54 and might be about time for breakfast.

Santa. No thanks.

Last year, however, he couldn't get enough of him.

Turns out the little monkey is quite sick with a high fever. That explains his skepticism of the giant Cookie Bear, his unwillingness to try the candy floss, and his immediate tears when we walked in the Chrismas grotto and he spotted Santa. Not like him at all.

Hopefully someday he realizes Santa isn't out to get him.

And hopefully we get more sleep tonight than last night.

the carnival, candy floss + fire trucks

I was really looking forward to the Eastbourne Carnival. Fire truck rides, bouncy castles, candy floss (cotton candy), Santa, craft stalls. How could I not?

I went on my own in the morning to see if I could get any Christmas shopping finished and browse the white elephant loot (the used items). Success. Then at lunchtime we went back with Ollie and family and had a very nice (hot) afternoon. I came home with a beautiful new ring for my birthday, courtesy of Ollie. And I had to eat two helpings of candy floss because Quincy wouldn't touch the stuff. Life's rough.

As expected, Quincy's favorite part was the ride on the fire engine. He was in total awe of the firemen. They even let him hang out in the compartment where they keep all the uniforms. They told him to come back in 16 years.

We decided to give the bouncy castle a miss this time. He wasn't his usual happy-go-lucky self, so Jeremy thought he might hate it. Nothing could have beaten the fire truck anyway.

Jeremy's favorite bit...the food. Naturally.

dump trup

I will never tire of hearing Quincy say the words, "dump trup".

I hope he never learns to say it properly.

four photos that make me happy

First up...

Big Q, little q. What begins with Q?

The quick Queen of Quincy and her quacking quacker-oo.

[note: I was trying to get some nice shots of him reading (his hands down favorite pasttime), and he happened to turn to this page and stay there for a long time all on his own. No interference on my part.]

And second...

A certain eighteen-month-old appears wiped out after a rough morning of music and playing with friends.

meet bridie bear

Quincy is enamoured with the seven-and-a-half-year-old neighbor girl, Bridie. Often in the afternoon they meet up at the fence while the three dogs have a barking contest. She hides under the stairs and crawls under our deck and pokes sticks through for him to grab. He likes to copy her and once wanted me to give him his digger shirt off the wash line so he could show it to her. If she is playing in her backyard, he just stares. She has friends over to play a lot, and if we're out, she always brings them up to the fence to introduce us. She invited him over once to play and he didn't want to come home.

When we walk past her driveway, he points and says "Bridie". And when we are on the deck and she isn't out, he goes looking for her.

He definitely thinks she is all that.

He started playing with this bear the other day. When I told him that Bridie and her family gave it to him when he was a baby, he aptly named the bear Bridie. Now Bridie Bear goes for rides on his ladybug and occasionally shares his snack.

So without further ado, meet Bridie Bear...

just checking

if I fit...

a few more layouts from cincinnati

Still about ten to go. Even though I am enjoying working on these, it'll be good to move on!

Oh and mom, now that I know you are all computer savvy and reading, maybe this will jog your memory...

i may not get the look

but whenever I make reference to a mother while reading a book, Quincy turns to me, pats me, says "mama", and gives me a hug.

Plus I get Eskimo kisses from pirates.

I sure am lucky too.

And as proven by the crow's feet, birthdays come even when we don't want them to.

Last year on my birthday, my mom made me waffles for breakfast and we had La Rosa's pizza for dinner. Yum.

This year it's been a mellow day so far. Listening to the election results on NPR, scrapbooking, taking a long, windy walk by the beach, and stopping for ice cream on the way home. A couple phone calls from near (Upper Hutt) + far (Norway). A few emails from Cincinnati + one from Abu Dhabi. My parents insist it isn't really my birthday yet, so they always call when it is the fifth there, so I get to celebrate for two days.

I feel loved + lucky, despite approaching forty at a far-too-rapid pace.

And now Jeremy is home and it's time to open a package from my mom and a few other gifts and cards that I have been staring at all day with great discipline. We also have to stop by across the road at an election party. And then some takeaways. But first, today's layouts...

vote for us

Two years of campaigning is finally coming to an end. New Zealand has an important general election this Saturday, but there is probably more coverage of the US election! I'm not sure how I would cope with it if I were there. I sent off my absentee ballot just over a week ago. Hopefully it finds its way into the right hands in a timely fashion.

Back to NZ's election. This will be my first time voting here. It's interesting that you don't have to be a citizen to vote, just a permanent resident. Also there is a set amount of time candidates are permitted to campaign. And it's only about a month. Now that I can cope with.

So will Labour's Helen Clark stay on as prime minister? Or will it be National's John Key? Masterpet made a range of "Make 'Em Squeal" dog toys so that canines could have their say.

I for one couldn't help but fall in love with the Green's campaign. How could you not?

And last night I found that you can upload your own image to create a poster. Or four.

But I consider more than beautiful imagery when I decide who gets my vote. I also tend to hold my political views close.

Buzzy Bee

I have wondered for a while why Quincy never played with his Buzzy Bee. Then I realized I had never showed him how to pull it. Once I did, there was no stopping him. Until he spotted a book, that is.

can this be?

Is it really possible that only 365 days separate these two photos?

Halloween 08 Recap

When you celebrate Halloween in the spring, a makeshift pumpkin patch has to do.

Making a break for it, only to realize mama had cunningly moved the chairs...

I won't win any Mother of the Year awards by feeding him a Reeses for breakfast, but, hey, it's Halloween and I was in photographer mode. It was his first one and he loved it. My patriotic side was thrilled. His mouth was still full when he got another and said, "more."

He was loving his costume. Especially the hat.

On Halloween afternoon, something I hope becomes a tradition, we baked cookies. It was the first time he got to sit on the bar stool and he stayed up there quite contedly for ages. It must have made him feel pretty big. He is into matching things at the moment, so the fact that there were real pumpkins and cookies shaped like pumpkins made him very happy. I must say they were "I can easily eat nine in two minutes" delicious. He had one. And that was enough. Then he just wanted to read and eat peas. Oh, I can't remember what that tantrum was about, but it lasted all of 7.5 seconds, and then he was once again all smiles.

We went trick-or-treating in the Village. We went early and only saw a handful of trick-or-treaters out. We pulled over when we saw a really decked out house. Quincy was intrigued by the decorations and was really happy because he thought we were going there to play soccer. The kids had great costumes and were very friendly. We definitely chose the right house. We figured he got to experience it and that was enough for this year. So we ended up starting and finishing at the same house!

Then an impromptu pizza picnic on the beach. We couldn't let the gorgeous night go to waste.

Later at home the neighbours and some of their cousins and friends came over to trick-or-treat and visit Quincy. A nice ending to a fun Halloween.

Oh wait there's more.

You definitely can't forget to brush after all that chocolate. And apparantly when you're very tired, you want to keep brushing your teeth forever or else a tantrum may ensue.

And finally, his loot. Seeing as how we only went to one house, the bulk of the goods are courtesy of mama + papa. And to prove that not everyone here gets it... The two dollars came from a friend of Jeremy's from the ferry. We ran into him on the footpath and he thought we were out delivering candy, so he gave Q $2 for a Crunchie Bar to bring his three-year-old son.