Living my dream

It's hard to say good bye.... even when you know it's time.

Last Monday on the 7th December, my husband lost his father. My children lost their Grandad, I lost a father in law. And that is only one branch of the McClune family. 

We were expecting it. He had been sick for a while. But it didn't stop the hurt that goes with the realisation that someone will no longer be around.

I was so incredibly proud of my husband and his family as they went about the organisation that needs to happen when someone is no longer with you. They work well as a team, supporting each other, making plans. They are a great unit. I feel incredibly lucky to have become part of their 'team'.

But the organisation can take it's toll. It's a funny thing when you go to the supermarket at Xmas time and buy a whole heap of food/drink for a family gathering and the checkout operator comments and say's have a good party. How do you explain that it's actually for a wake? You don't. It's too hard, so you wander off with the thought that this is really happening.

Our children are the youngest of his 19 grandchildren, so I think they may have it a little easier than the rest of the Grandchildren? They are still at the age where they don't really 'get it'. The rest of the Grandchildren are older, and even some great grandchildren are older than ours. They will 'get it' and they will feel it perhaps more than ours? But they also had him for longer and will have more memories. It's just the way it is. There is no right or wrong. But each person will go through their own grieving in their own way. For me, I couldn't face social media. Am still a little hesitant about it. Alot of it seems so trivial.

But I did gain an insight into my daughter. So proud of my 12 year old. Talking to her the other day, she was quite wise. I asked her how she was doing. She replied "I'm ok Mum. I think it will hit me in a week or so when we would normally see him, and we don't". 

Peter was an incredible man. He was wise. And clever. He was astute. He could read people well. He wasn't perfect, none of us are. But he was special. I will never forget my first real conversation with him. It was an awkward one. But he took me for who I was and accepted me for that and I will be forever grateful to him for that.

And he loved our kids. Boy did he love all his kids and grandkids and great grandkids. 

Since his death, I have been questioning alot of things. As you do. And I realised when I was at their house and looking at Val's scrapbooks how very important they are. And how important the stories are. For me, it's always been about the stories, but sometimes you get sidetracked and I have found myself doing 'prettiness' more often than stories. I know, I still love that, but it's made me rethink...since last Monday I've started working on our Christmas's. Project life way. With more pictures, more journaling (hopefully) and less 'fufu'. For me it was a reminder of why I do what I do. I will aim to make time to do that more often. All the holidays, the birthdays. The family get togethers. They are so very important.

In the meantime, I just want to say a big thank you Val and Peter for the family you have created. For the place we can call home. For the feeling we get knowing we belong somewhere and that these people are 'our' people.

Peter is and will always be sorely missed. 

Surviving the last few days of the school holidays.

Ok, so that sounds a bit over dramatic, but at times like this it can be! Grin.

I love my kids. Anyone reading my blog for a while now, will know that without fail.

However, I also like my own time. I'm can be quite selfish like that. And what I mean, is that unadulterated time where you get to choose what you want to do when you want to without having to think of anyone else. And I guess during term time, I get to do that. So by the end of the holidays, let's be honest, not only are the kids turning feral, we all are.

But for the next few days it's still school holidays. And if your kids are anything like mine, then they're getting ready to go back to school. They are bickering. They are bored. They are wanting to spend money. And they are generally ready for some structure.

So what I've found over the last few days is that they need a bit of structure in their play. They need a bit of adventure in their play. And, they need to be able to work it all out for themselves.

Here's an example.....

We went for an amazing walk in the bush. It was incredibly steep and by the time we finished we'd walked UP the equivalent of 38 flights of steps. HOWEVER, the kids loved it. They knew there was a beach somewhere down there at the bottom that we would all go for a swim at. They knew we had that as our goal. Also that we would have lunch down there. Another big goal! But I'll get to that in a minute. This was an adventure. Something we hadn't done before (or in a very long time). It was new to them. A little bit challenging. But also for me, it meant I got to exercise PLUS it was free!

Lunch. I got all the lunch items out. And all I heard were moans and groans. But as I left them to choose their lunch the moans stopped and they were happy. I need to learn they are growing up and can make a lot of decisions for themselves now. That the little bit of extra responsibility helps them and me.

So here's a couple of tips to help you in these last couple of days before school starts back:

1. Do something adventurous.

2. Give them some responsibility

3. Encourage them to come up with 'free' ideas that you can do together.

4. Be creative at home (my boys have spent the last two days making bows and arrows. It has kept them totally happy and entertained).

5. They've probably been spending a lot of time outside in this amazing weather we've been having (it's summer here), so it's ok, to let them have some down time. In fact I recommend it. Go to the library, get some books. Encourage them to read. Hire a movie, take a couple of hours out of the middle of the day when it's hottest and relax in front of the telly (not all day, but a couple of hours won't hurt!).

6. Get them to help you get them ready for school. Do you have all the stationary you need? Uniform? Shoes? Lunchbox? Drink bottle? Bag? Get them to make a list (with your help if needed) and then get them to work out what they still need. Then go out together and get those things so they feel totally prepared and ready.

7. Along the same lines, get them to do some baking that can be put into the freezer for their lunches. Ok, so they might not have done much before, but they will LOVE that they can tell their friends that made 'this' or 'that'. Plus it will keep them occupied for a good hour or so. PLUS, you get to teach them about cleaning up after (especially if they're anything like my bakers!). PLUS it's a cheap way of keeping them entertained.

8. Get them to google 'free things in ......' (your town), then get them to make a list of any that they might like to try. Go along. Check it out. Here in Auckland there are plenty of pools for the kids to swim in that are free. A great one is in Birkenhead, it's even outside. Or somewhere like the Art Gallery which had an amazing programme on this school holidays.

9. And/or to all the above. Just relax. Pull out the hose and get wet in your backyard. Go for a walk in your neighbourhood. Make daisy chains (yes, even if they are older, it's a great time to just sit and chat!). After all the fun over the school holidays, they might just be a little bit tired and need 'downtime' before they go back to school. Time to rest their minds. And in this 'go go go' world nowadays,  it's sooooooo ok to do that!

Have a fun last few days.

T

Disclaimer: I in no way claim to be a parenting expert. I get it wrong all the time. These are just a few little things I've found that have saved my sanity on occasion.

 

 

A quiet Sunday afternoon

This afternoon we sat down with the kids and asked them what they wanted their rooms to look like in the new house. They didn't really know. So we suggested we look through the internet for fabulous childrens rooms to get ideas. 

We warned them that some of the rooms they saw wouldn't be practical. Either in size or money. And then we hooked up the telly to the internet and went through some images. 

I was surprised at how few of them they liked. They weren't into all the big fancy rooms like I thought they might be. Admittedly they did like the room that was like a village with shop fronts making different parts of the room, but even Dan said "Oh that's going to be too much isn't it Mum?"

I dunno, what do you think?! ROFL!

After we'd got bored with trawling through photo after photo after photo of childrens bedrooms, we downloaded an app that allows you to build your own room. You can add in furniture, colours, carpet, basically anything you might need. 

That's Dan's one up on the tv screen.

They love it and to be honest are still going as I type. They've even started to build the rest of the house. 

The funniest part was when Dan added a full size car to his room, oh and a toilet! 

**Just overheard from Matt I'm fencing off an area for Mum**

Fencing off???? Oooooook.

It's been a great afternoon.

And because Andy and I have been talking 'styles' lately, check out my new phone cover. Sooooo my style....

I LOVE it.

Later.

Some personal stuff

Lately, my blog has been filled with all my scrapping fun. There's been lots to share and I don't apologise for that, but realise that there hasn't been much else. So I thought I might get a bit personal here today and just talk about some stuff that's been happening.

Well of course right now, it's the school holidays. We've been hanging out and taking it easy. No plans these holidays. Just literally all doing nothing. It's been lovely. 

Of course being around the house means we get to hang out with the chooks and cats too. Both Oreo and Swedy have got their winter coats on and are looking amazing. They love boxes. Any box. Which makes packing kits a little tricky. LOL! But their current favourite is the wood box. We can handle that! They are just a little more uncomfortable sleeping on wood! Go figure?!

And because of the beautiful weather (until this last week) we've already got our beautiful little daffodils popping up. 

We found Oreo playing in them the other day and just had to grab a photo or two. Unfortunately this is the only one that's half way decent. Nevermind.

Because we had to pull our fence down a couple of months ago, the chooks are roaming free anywhere they want. I LOVE it as it means they are near us alot more. But it has it's disadvantages like all the chicken poop everywhere! Sigh! Plus they have taken to having dirt baths under our temporary wooden front steps making for dust everywhere!

The kids are growing up quicker than ever. Sarah in particular is very tall for her age, but all of them are their own little people and really nice to be around (mostly! LOL).

This photo was taken yesterday when we went for a walk in the evening. The sun was setting and the lighting was lovely. It shows each of their personalities particularly well.

Apart from that, we're slowly but surely working towards the house build. I'm packing up my scrapping stuff (that's taking FOREVER!!!!), and the kids rooms. I've attacked a couple of draws/cupboards in the kitchen and given away a ton of clothes. I'm working on the basis of doing something little each day to help in the long run. 

I'm still at that stage of disbelief that the house thing is actually happening. I think I'm in for a rude shock shortly when we have to move! Grin.

So as you can see nothing major happening. Just enjoying each day as it comes along. And being.

I hope you guys are all well too!

We went to Hobbiton

I've never been a huge Hobbiton fan. Don't get me wrong. I truely enjoyed the books as a child and have loved seeing the movies with my children as an adult, but I didn't think too much about all the hype about the movie set until my niece shared her excitement about going. I said, let's go then and we arranged to go in the holidays and boy am I glad!!!!

 

 

It was just stunning! We had a bit of a funny start with my silly GPS taking us way off the beaten track to get there. But again, it was so worth it. Stunning scenery! Then getting there, having some lunch at the cafe (delicious!!!), then jumping on a typical old NZ country school bus to get to the set.

 

 

We learnt so much from that bus journey and the wonderful driver. All about where things were set up, how the set was found and so on. It was so interesting!

Our guide (Dan) was also full of energy and keen to show us all the set with fun and information. 

 

 

My sister and I kept going "wow, this is so beautiful". We really couldn't believe how amazing this part of the country was and how well they had preserved the set. We both commented to each other how realistic it looked and that we were expecting a pack of rampaging Orcs on horseback to come riding over the hills.

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed the tour as much as us adults, if not more.

One of the things I found so amazing was Peter Jacksons attention to detail. In the book, it talked about hobbits sitting around under plum trees. Well, the farm had pears and apples, not plums. So they took off each pear, each apple, each leaf and replaced them with plums and plum leaves. Just for a 3 second part in the movie.

 

 

The tree above Bilbo Baggins house had 220,000 leaves added to it. Amazing! Who would like to have that job? Not me! But it was done for authenticity and I have to say wow to someone with such focus and vision.

 

 

The Green dragon was FANTASTIC. A great way to end the tour. I wish we had more time there to leisurely drink and eat in such glorious surroundings.

 

 

We went on a day that was drizzling on and off. Overcast. Not sunny. But it was still one of, if not my most favourite 'tour' taken in NZ. I think if you have just one day here in New Zealand, and you want to see the countryside and a bit of special magic, then this is the tour to do. And if you're a kiwi and haven't been yet. Set some time aside and make the trip. So very very worth it!

To find out more, just click on the tour website.