The Smith-Case Family

Perfect

2012-02-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

During one of our frequent trips around Target Furniture recently (aka me dragging Randel around behind me) we found the "perfect" lounge suite for our upstairs lounge and made an impulsive buy! (Impulsive for Randel as he wasn't planning on a new lounge suite any time soon - not so impulsive for me as I knew this was exactly what I'd been looking for the upstairs lounge!). It has to be one of the most comfortable suites and is being enjoyed by all, not least of all the pets. Now I've got my eye on some gorgeous cushions and a nice big rug for the room...

Sisters

2012-02-10T03:10:00.000-08:00

Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship. ~Margaret Mead

As our girls grow I'm more and more aware of how important they will each be to each other for the rest of their lives and I LOVE IT. I'm really happy that each of my girls will always have not one, not two but THREE sisters to call for help, for a chat, for advice or to just simply hang out with. I love you girls with all my heart and it makes my heart warm to see you relating now as teenagers and to see how, despite your differences, you look out for each other....

Sarah and Milly in 2002

The three Musketeers in 2000

Milly and Chants in 2012

Christmas Day 2011

Rotorua

2012-01-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

Here's to remembering our short but lovely trip to Rotorua. The girls loved the luge, starting off on the "experienced" track!! We shopped for clothes in the city, had a lovely pub dinner and finished off by visiting the Polynesian Spa.

Wellington Holiday

2012-01-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

We have just spend a lovely funfilled few days in Wellington. Definately a beautiful city with an ambiance I could definately get used to. We had dinner and shopped in the city, rode the cable car, visited the zoo, the botanical gardens, Te Papa and the Weta museums and filled the in between times with a lot of fun activities such as mini golf at Carlucciland (awesome place) and riding "frogs" around Oriental Bay. I enjoyed Wellington enough that I'm planning a short getaway there with Randel to celebrate our anniversary....

In the cable car on our way up Mt Victoria

Beautiful view of Wellington City and Harbour from Mt Victoria

Chantelle and Camilla in the Botanical Gardens

Randel and Golum at Weta Studios

Sarah in the City....

Camilla and Chantelle navigating their "Frog"

Beautiful Wellington....

14 Today

2011-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Chantelle turned 14 today! I love you Chants with all my heart and look forward to sharing the rest of my life with you xxxxx Mom

England vs France

2011-10-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Randel, being English born yesterday supported England in their rugby world cup quarter final against France. England unfortunately lost to France 19-7. We went into Auckland City to the fan zone on Saturday afternoon and captured some of the many dressed up supporters on camera. Later, we watched the match at home, in the spa, with the TV outside on the deck!

Flags of Participating Nations

The Cup they are all after....

ENGLAND!!!!

Milly and I in the spa

Austin

2011-10-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

This little creature is too cute for words! Austin was born to Amber one week ago and I had the pleasure of meeting him up close this morning. He still needs to grow into his long legs and kept trying to have a few sips from his mum. We are looking forward to watching him grow.

Here Austin is with his mum Amber

Austin saying hello to Chief

Camilla with Zoe and Thomas

Weekend

2011-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday night. Randel and I have just finished watching a good DVD. No surprises I can't remember the title or who acted in it - it was enjoyable anyway!

Camilla had a call from her good friend Zoe early this morning to tell her that the pregnant horse at their school gave birth at 6am this morning. Zoe's mum drove them down to the stables and they spent a few very enjoyable hours with the newborn foal "No Name" who sounds adorable! I hope to get some photos of him next weekend when Camilla goes to her next riding lesson. The little 6 hour old foal apparently tried to trot and neigh and I can't wait to meet him!

New Zealand is all about Rugby World Cup at the moment. We watched South Africa narrowly beat Samoa on Friday evening. It was a very close, a very tense and a very physical match! Well done South Africa! I'm routing for both South Africa and New Zealand and Randel's routing for England as well...no identity crisis in our household at all.....

My good friend Cathy came over for a visit this morning and our usual catchup chat.

Randel and I took Chants to Sylvia Park shopping centre yesterday morning to buy her "something small" and we left Sylvia Park with a very expensive pair of Converse shoes in hand....how does Chants manage it time and time again?

I did my usual weekend Sociology assignment and finished it earlier than expected.. I'm getting used to this study thing. Other than that we relaxed inside while it rained and was generally miserable outdoors and the weekend has come to an end far too quickly!

Kim

2011-10-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday evening we tragically lost a beautiful member of our family. I will remember you Kim for being an incredible loving mother to your little ones, for your artistic talent and for your calm demeanour. You will live on in many hearts forever. Rest in peace Kim xxx

The Boys

2011-09-28T02:11:00.001-07:00

These three little characters are so different. I love them all dearly!

Cheerleading Spring Carnival

2011-09-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

Well done to Chantelle for taking part in her second cheerleading competition. A lot of work and efford went into that!

Catherine Turns 9!!

2011-09-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Catherine turned 9 on the 25th of September! She celebrated her birthday with a sleepover on Friday night with two of her friends, Rebecca and Jewel followed by a much anticipated day of fun at Rainbows End on Saturday again with her friends as well as Randel, Chantelle and Camilla. I stayed home to sort out some chores and take the opportunity to study but it appears that great fun was had by all! Catherine had requested a "mermaid cake"and the photo bears witness to the great cake Randel came up with....Happy Birthday Catherine! Double digits next year...

Clip and Climb

2011-09-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

We recently spent a few hours at Clip and Climb, a really fun, enjoyable and also challenging indoor climbing centre. Once Randel, Camilla and Catherine were safely clipped in, they climbed to some amazing heights!

Rugby World Cup opening night

2011-09-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

The long awaited 2011 Rugby World Cup opened in New Zealand last Friday. Many who didn't have tickets to the opening ceremony and first match (which New Zealand played against Tonga) went down to Auckland's waterfront where an amazing spectacle was put on! After the trains being too jam packed to even stop at the train station we were waiting at, we headed back home and watched it all on TV! Auckland's Waterfront before and during all the crowds

The arrival of the Maori wakas into the waterfront The Tongan Sipi Tau followed by the All Black's Haka And ~~poor~~ Sonny Bill Williams whose shirt ~~unfortunately~~ tore during the match and had to be replaced - and I think the main reason why Chantelle loves the All Blacks......

Fathers Day

2011-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00
We spent a few hours this Father's Day enjoying a picnic and some time together at Mission Bay, one of my favourite Auckland beaches. Although the wind was cold, the sun did make it's appearance and even Benji had a great time! Thanks Panda Randel for being the man you are! Love you!

Lunch date with a view!

2011-09-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's not too often that Randel and I actually get out to have a quiet lunch by ourselves. Thanks to our good friend Cathy who bought us lunch at Limon Restaurant, we enjoyed a lovely Spanish meal on the Auckland Waterfront yesterday. The tapas, desserts and wine were wonderful and so was the view!

Western Springs

2011-08-30T17:07:00.000-07:00
I appreciate the beauty of Western Springs a little more each time we go there! These photos are of our most recent visit in July on a cold day. We arrived there with the sun trying to peep through the clouds but ended up having to take refuge under the trees when the rain suddenly came down. The upside of being caught in the rain is that Randel managed to get some beautiful photos of the water with the rain falling on it. Always a highlight for me is the abundance of beautiful birds and even eels!

Snow Day

2011-08-24T02:18:00.000-07:00
The sight that awaited us...beautiful Mount Ruapehu!

Happy Valley, Mt Ruapahu

And so the tabogganing begun..we all had a lot of fun on the tabogganing slope...

After a few hours some of us were really feeling the cold so we finished our morning on the Mountain enjoying hot chocolates and cooldrinks in the warm cafeteria

Cheerleading Champs!

2011-07-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

In Our Hearts

2011-06-11T03:34:00.000-07:00
Dear Janet, You welcomed myself and my children into your family with open arms. You probably didn't know just how much that meant to me. You had one of the heartiest laughs and you were an exceptionally loving wife, mother and grandmother! Thank you for being the matriach you were which contributed to the makings of the wonderful man I am married to.  I know you will be happy where you are now. You will live on in our hearts and we will miss you dearly. Rest in peace xxxxx

School Ball!

2011-06-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Sarah thoroughly enjoyed her final school ball!
We managed to find the perfect dress for Sarah with a few weeks to spare.....quite a record for us!

Australia 2011 - Gold Coast and Brisbane

2011-06-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Our Wedding - 19 April 2011

2011-06-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

We married on the sandy shores of the Gold Coast on a beautiful April morning. It was a day I will always remember as the beginning of the best chapter of my life shared with our beautiful children, some of our nearest and dearest and friends.

Thoughts on being an expat...

2011-03-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Expat South African or Kiwi? I've spent 35 years of my life in South Africa and to date 8 years in New Zealand. I look forward to the day I can travel "home" to South Africa with my Randel and my children for a visit but have given up my South African citizenship and am proud to be a New Zealander! I love my home in New Zealand. I love my life here and for the first time in my adult life I have found true love and happiness in New Zealand. I will always remember New Zealand as the country that opened it's arms to myself and my children, the country that gave me the springboard to take back my life - both from my now ex-husband as well as financially, the country that made living alone for the first time as a single mother bearable and enjoyable and the country in which I met the love of my life! Most importantly, in New Zealand I reunited with my dreams and zest for life which I had deserted many years ago.

However, I miss my family who still live happily in South Africa and although I feel that I am "home" in New Zealand, my heart still yearns to see a lot more of the world - I dream of living in Australia one day - I dream of living in England and possibly other parts of Europe. I had thought that this wanderlust was due to not having really "settled" here in New Zealand but am realising more and more that as long as my heart is close to my nearest and dearest and as long as they are happy, I would happily settle anywhere in the world!

So thank you New Zealand for being here for me when I needed you most.  You will always have a special place in this Kiwi's heart!

Best visit ever!!!

2011-02-28T18:46:00.000-08:00

A few photos of our December visit from my Dad, Hilton, Shaun, Emily, Craig and Dawn. It was so nice seeing them again and getting to know some of them properly as well! We missed you as soon as you had left and hope to holiday again soon!

All the cousins together

Dawn and Dad

At the dinner table

Sarah with Aunty Dawn

Myself, Hilton and Emily

Eastern Beach

2011-02-26T02:59:00.000-08:00

Just another reason why I love where we live.....Eastern Beach in February....there's not a lot can beat it!

Simple words which moved me

2011-02-23T15:58:00.000-08:00
These words hit me between the eyes. They were spoken by a new grandfather.

"If I could re-do my parenting from the beginning I'd ignore every one of my children's faults and celebrate every one of their strengths."

Fortunately for me my children are still at home and I feel that I want to take these words to heart.

Australia here we come!!!

2011-02-23T01:33:00.000-08:00

Our airtickets are booked and we are off to Australia's Gold Coast in April! I am beyond excited and so so happy. Randel and I plan to marry on the beach, we will be staying at Surfers Paradise, spending days at waterworld and movieworld, exploring Brisbane, catching up with old friends and best of all enjoying it all with our Australian family!

Too Sad For Words

2011-02-23T01:27:00.000-08:00

Christchurch, New Zealands largest city in the South Island was struck by another huge earthquake at 12.50pm yesterday. Unlike the September 2010 earthquake, this one hit during the busiest time of the time and has left many many people dead, injured and still unaccounted for at this stage. The prime minister has declared a state of emergency and this it seems is our country's worst natural disaster.  As a New Zealander I find it shocking that something so dramatic, violent and tragic has hit one of our major cities and as a wife, sister, daughter and mother I'm filled with sadness at what the people in Christchurch are being forced to endure. May the angels carry them all through this. xxx

First Day

2011-02-03T00:19:00.000-08:00

First day of school and VERY excited!

Team Building and a lot of fun

2011-02-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

Last night I joined my work colleagues at Main Works where an awesome Aussie chef show us how to make a delicious three course meal - all three things I haven't tried before. We then broke up into two teams and with the aid of a few glasses of wine each managed to then cook our own three course meal using our new found culinary skills!

It was really enjoyable and a lovely time spent with my work colleagues.

My team (a really good combination I must say - I'd choose them to help me in my kitchen any day)

Michelle with Justin our chef

The main meal - lamb rump, rosti and spinach in a lovely sauce, the name of which I can't remember right now! Delicious...

Sitting down to dessert - lemon tarts

And so the school year begin

2011-01-30T03:47:00.000-08:00

Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you. ~Erma Bombeck

New school uniform, school sandals, stationery packs, sneakers and hair cuts......the boxes have now all been ticked! I'm a lot poorer for it and the girls are now officially ready to begin the school year! This is a big year for Sarah being her last school year at school (and sans school uniform), a HUGE years for Chantelle beginning college (high school) as one of 2000 pupils AND being having the freedom to wear make up and hair dye and of course a big year for Camilla being the last year of Intermediate School. I know you will all do well once again this year and I'm looking forward to the dance show, the school play, the drama shows and everything else the schools are going to throw your way this year. My wish is that the friendships you form this year are healthy and stong. Love you guys.

Loving life..

2011-01-20T22:45:00.001-08:00

Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad. ~Norm Papernick

I am proud of the person my lovely 13 year old is becoming as she grows up. I love her sense of humour, her honesty, integrity and love of life. I love that she is happy, easy going and a pleasure to be around. I am proud of her and know in my heart she will surround herself with good people throughout her life. I want to remember you as you are now Chants as you are growing up SO fast! I love that you love animals, are full of compassion, show good judgement. I love that you are SO excited about starting college/high school next week. Love you lots xxxxx

Chants and Milly

Enjoying the Auckland spring weather!!

2010-10-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

Our weekend

2010-10-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

While Ollie sat in the hand basin (for reasons best known to himself)......

We got stuck in this weekend and painted Chants' bedroom....

And it was an early morning wakeup for Chantelle in her new blue bedroom.... thanks to two of her sisters....

I miss you guys........a lot......

2010-10-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 2 October 2010 my sister Joan's eldest son became a husband - to a wonderful woman who I know will help hold their family together like glue...

Welcome to our family Zelda!

Wish I could have been there and look forward to meeting up with you all again one day soon.

Zelda with Lauren

My handsome nephews Bevan and Bruce and gorgeous niece Lauren

Another beautiful niece Emily with her big cousin Bruce

And the lovely bride and groom

Earthquake in Christchurch...

2010-09-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Christchurch (New Zealand's second biggest city) had an awful earthquake in the early hours of Saturday morning, registering 7.5 on the Richter scale. Miraculously and being 4.30am in the morning there were no fatalities however four days later they are still suffering with some big aftershocks - the latest one being an hour ago and registering 5.1 on the Richter scale. Having been in New Zealand for seven years now I feel for them just like the rest of New Zealand is - families have lost houses, pets are missing, workplaces and schools have been shut down while the stability of buildings are assessed, power is out in some areas and water and sewer pipes have burst. Here's hoping they rebuild themselves quickly.

An interesting fact though and not surprising is that a record number of births tooks place at Christchurch hospital within the 24 hours following the quake!!

Mt Ruapehu - A Day in the Snow...

2010-07-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

We took a long drive yesterday to the snow and spent a gorgeous few hours having fun in the snow....

Mid Winter Plunge..

2010-07-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful sunny and warm (for winter) day here in Auckland today and celebrated it with Randel and Camilla joining in the Mid Winter Plunge at Mission Bay!! (the only two crazy enough in our family to do so). Here are some of the crazies who partook...

Randel with The Incredibles

Here he is again enjoying his photoshoot with lycra clad Superwoman

And with this extravert couple..

Let the race begin.....

When Camilla saw others take their dogs in she insisted Benji take the plunge as well....

He was NOT HAPPY and had to be wrapped up in a towel afterwards

All in all another lovely and fun Auckland event

Mid Winter Christmas Dinner (in June!!)

2010-07-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

When the first English settlers arrived in New Zealand they missed their cold winter Christmases so much that they started a Mid Winter Christmas Dinner tradition which still carries on today. Last Friday we had our annual mid winter Christmas dinner at work and lots of fun was had by all. Here is the evening in photos....

I got to try on Cally's mink coat....

Sarah's Year 12 School Ball

2010-07-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

I love family time!

2010-07-03T01:57:00.000-07:00

We started off this cold Saturday morning with a gorgeous walk around Western Springs. The colours were beautiful as always this time of year and of course so were the many black swans, geese and ducks who live there. The girls did a bit of rock climbing as well as tree climbing and we were treated to a spectacular display of a pair of black swans chasing other swans away from "their" little piece of lake before kissing each other! We had a picnic lunch at the park and some good family time. We finished off the day by going to watch Toy Story 3.

'

Front garden view on a rainy afternoon

2010-05-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

Camilla turns 11 and goes on school camp!!

2010-04-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

Camilla started off March with her intermediate school camp at Camp Adair which was a great success, pretty challenging and I'm sure has left her with wonderful memories. Randel went along as a parent helper which meant I was fortuntate to get these action shots

And of course Camilla turned 11 on the 24th of March.....
You are my precious girl Milly - love you always - Mum

Summer holidays 2009/2010

2010-01-15T18:36:00.001-08:00

Our holidays included a lovely few days away in Whitianga where we all throughly enjoyed the holiday park swimming pool, spent a morning at Hot Water Beach and a day at Cathedral Cove....

Sarah and Chantelle relaxing by the pool

Randel and Chantelle fooling around as usual....

Relaxing on the lilo

Synchronised jumping.....

Sarah at the waterfall which falls onto the Cathedral Cove beach

Sarah and Chantelle posing in the water

On the Cathedral Cove rock

Sarah and Camilla sitting in their "spa pool" on Hot Water Beach - their pool had temps of about 35 degrees due to volcanic activity underground...
They are surrounded by others with spades digging their own little holes to live the experience..

Bev and Richard who visited over New Year

Our New Years day barbeque with friends

Bev and Catherine

Sarah and Ben

Camilla with Nicky

Chantelle turns 12...

2009-12-12T22:41:00.001-08:00

Chantelle turns 12 on 18 December and celebrated with a party on Saturday and a trip to "Spookers" at the old mental institute

Above and below with their "friendly" tourguide.....
Camilla and friend below....
Catherine and her "baby".....
And Chants below with a "friend"..... she found there

The party group gathered at the entrance and waiting their turn to be "spooked"....
All in all, a great time was had by all
Happy Birthday Chants....

December memories

2009-12-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

Our drive this past Sunday up to the Dargaville Lakes was awesome! My first visit up there and well worth the long drive... Chants and Randel above of course playing around in the lake... We expected the water to be freezing cold and did not expect to be swimming hence the fully clothed bathers... The lake below had the feel of a Halloween Lake to me!

I couldn't resist the photo below of my little model Frank posing on the fence....

Below is the light aircraft which made an emergency landing on Macleans Reserve (just up the road from home!) after encountering engine problems

My good friend Carin and little George enjoying our swing

And below....our beautiful long haired Benji had a fight with the scissors...

And is now sporting a "new summer look"......

Halloween

2009-10-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Halloween, what can I say?? Randel comes alive at Halloween and always manages to get it to look as if his flesh really is about to fall off his skull..... He was quite pleased with the outcome of his "face" this year as he got lots of big "YUCK"s from the girls....

The girls about to set out on their trick or treating...

Little Bo Peep with Benji the "sheep"

Catherine the Ghoul

Like father like daughter

Sarah lately......

2009-10-09T23:40:00.001-07:00

Sarah in her school dance production which was excellent

In the middle of the icerink....

Horseriding with Randel and her sisters.....

Chantelle lately

2009-10-09T23:02:00.001-07:00

Chantelle's had a school lead as a doctor in her school play

Chants enjoyed a makeover at Madeline's birthday party

She managed to sneak up behind an unsuspecting sheep at Ambury Park and pet it...

Seven Years Old

2009-10-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Catherine.....

Her favourite birthday present!

On Catherine's request, we took her cake up our local Pigeon Mountain to eat it there......

All saddled up....

This is how she emerged from the soapy pool.....

Nothing is safe from THESE little rascals.....

2009-09-08T00:15:00.000-07:00
Nothing is safe anymore.....

Not the kitchen sink......

Not the couch......

Not the laptop......

Not even the dishwasher.....

Certainly not us humans as we walk past the kitten hiding under the bedskirt and waiting to STRIKE....

Not the mouse on the computer screen......

And not the computer table either.

What do I have to do to get a "normal" photo??

2009-09-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Past few weeks in pictures

2009-09-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Camilla's view on vegies

2009-08-26T01:48:00.000-07:00
Camilla was awarded fourth place in her speech competition. Well done Milly....

Sleeping Heads and Suchlike

2009-08-20T04:03:00.001-07:00
Benji has had a rough week having gone to the vet to have the BIG SNIP.... However, the good news for Benji is that our new kittens (also known as The Sleeping Heads) quite like him :)

Disco Divas

2009-08-19T03:35:00.000-07:00

Chantelle's first intermediate school disco. With Courtney and with a group of friends.

Welcome to our Home

2009-08-18T11:57:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our family little Olivia and Frank. As you can see, Benji is delighted to have you here. He loves you already as do we.....

Spring is ON ITS WAY.....

2009-08-03T03:29:00.000-07:00

This is Patch, our neighbours beautiful dog. He climbs onto their roof (which overlooks our garden) from an upstairs balcony and watches us in our yard.....

Mr Whippy, the mobile icecream shop had a very successful drive down our street.....

Flour Fight!!

2009-08-03T03:00:00.001-07:00

There Chantelle was making Calzones when along came..........

RANDEL......

He tipped a little flour on her.....she tipped a little MORE flour over him.........

Camilla came to see what the noise was all about.......and promptly joined in........
AND THIS WAS THE END RESULT
And since we don't get snow in Auckland.....Camilla made the most of the flour by making flour angels

Sophie

2009-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

You were struck by a car yesterday and are already in Heaven. Goodbye our little furry friend. You have been a source of joy to each and every one of us. Firstly to myself and your Dad with your not-so-gentle masseuse/claw abilities at 5am (and which was so cute), to Sarah whose bedroom you had claimed as your own and to Chantelle, Camilla and Catherine simply with your beautiful loving nature. I know I speak for all of us when I say that you are already sorely missed and we will remember you always. Enjoy Heaven my little girl. Love from your Family.

A Mothers Love

2009-07-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

"A Mothers' love is like a circle, it has no beginning and no ending. It keeps going around and around ever expanding, touching everyone who comes in contact with it. Engulfing them like the morning's mist, warming them like the noontime sun, and covering them like a blanket of evening stars. A mother's love is like a circle, it has no beginning and no ending."

Without a doubt, my biggest "accomplishment" so far has been bringing up my three beautiful daughters. As those who know us well will agree, our road up until a few years ago had its times of joy and its times of tears but above all else it has been a road I wouldn't have wanted to travel with any other children!! I look forward with anticipation to travelling the road ahead with you girls ...... You are all so talented and special in your individual ways. I believe you were placed in my life for a reason and I hope to learn a lot more from you. I love you guys as much as a mother can.
xxxMum xxx

I'd Rather
I'd rather be a mother
Than anyone on earth
Bringing up a child or two
Of unpretentious birth.
I'd rather nurse a rosy babe
With warm lips on my breast
Than wear a queen's medallion
Above a heart less blest.
I'd rather tuck a little child
All safe and sound in bed-
Than twine a chain of diamonds
About my foolish head.
I'd rather wash a smudgy face
With round, bright baby eyes-
Than paint the pageantry of fame,
Or walk among the wise.
-Meredith Gray

Difficult to find the words to title this one.....

2009-06-24T02:11:00.001-07:00
Lets try it a little more "normal" this time guys

The Wig....

2009-06-14T00:48:00.001-07:00

Catherine REALLY took to this wig. She wore it all day and kept asking whether it looked nice on her!! She's informed us that she wants to grow her real hair to look just like the wig..... :) Personally, I think she may change her mind in a few years..... :)

First school camp...

2009-06-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

On our way to school on camp morning

Camilla set off on her first school camp at Chosen Valley this past week. I dropped off a very excited Camilla at school with three very LARGE bags of clothes and bedding. By the sounds of it great fun was had by all during one very cold, wet and muddy four days at camp!!

Part of the camp group all rearing to go....

Sarah Turns 16 !!!

2009-06-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Do you see the resemblance??? My firstborn, Sarah Jane has turned 16!! I remember the little girl above as if it were yesterday.

Here are a few words ("of wisdom") Sarah, from Mom.....

You have grown into a beautiful and talented young lady, of whom I am very proud. You are brimming with potential and I have no doubt that you are going to have a good go at living your dreams......

I often dream of my years ahead surrounded by my loved ones......I am so looking forward to watching your adult life unfold and being a part of it.... I am looking forward to enjoying holidays and visits with you, hearing about your dreams and watching them unfold. I love you more than words can express and I thank God that my life has been blessed by having you as my oldest daughter.

Love you always,

From Mom

Just a walk in the park......

2009-06-01T01:30:00.001-07:00

Me and my girl...

One of my favourite Auckland parks is Western Springs - although too cold for my liking already, autumn is of course the most beautiful time of year - with some of our trees showing off their autumn colours.... Western Springs is a great place to walk Benji as well as he meets up with heaps of "friends".....

Benji meeting up with some other little walkers

Sarah's haircut

2009-06-01T01:01:00.000-07:00
After wondering whether she should.....wondering whether she shouldn't......Sarah finally had her lovely long hair cut a little shorter and with a fringe today. It looks lovely. The first photo is the before ...... with Catherine who LOVES the wig she has on and wore it all afternoon.....

And these are the after photos.....

Wanted.....

2009-05-25T02:46:00.000-07:00

Rawhide Randy
Texas
1886

The furry members of our family....

2009-04-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

These two furry "people" make our home complete. I love my little Papillon boy as well as our gorgeous silver cat. I'm looking forward to many more years with these two causing chaos in our home :)

Randel's Birthday!!!

2009-04-25T12:08:00.001-07:00

Randel turned 34 AGAIN on the 3rd of April!!! You are special to all of us in different ways and we love you just the way you are..... Here's wishing you another fifty 34th birthdays!!!

Family

2009-04-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

We have been fortunate enough to have had a wonderful Easter holiday with Randel's Mum and Dad - it's been wonderful getting to know them and we had a great time with them going on picnics, going to Rainbows End and shopping with lots of coffee stops in between ...

My sister Dawn also spent a lovely five days with us this Easter. Again we thoroughly enjoyed her stay and hope we can make this an annual event - one way or the other.... Thanks for the visit Dawn!!!!

Dawn made volcanoes with the girls as well as slime!!! Grandma Case taught them how to knit.........

The Big Kids played well together ..... :)

Slippery slime.....

Camilla turns 10!!!!

2009-03-23T03:10:00.000-07:00
Camilla turns 10 on the 24th of March. She thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party this weekend. Here it is in pictures.....

The Birthday Girl - love you Milly

The cake/cupcakes - baked by Mum and decorated by big sister Sarah....

The Birthday Girl about to blow out her candles and make a wish

Friends.....

Fun in the spa pool.....

And the Balloon Game......which was a lot of fun and also very competitive - there was a lot at stake as the prize was a bar of chocolate....

Baking fun...

2009-03-14T00:49:00.000-07:00
Camilla, Bianca and Amaya baking (and tasting...) choc chip cookies ........ they loved the instruction "kneed the mixture together into a dough"

The finished products

And Sarah giving the cookies her thumbs up.....

Lately....

2009-03-07T19:09:00.000-08:00
Sarah and Emma, all dressed up about to go out

The roller skating king .......

A trip up Mt Wellington, a good walk and a view forever ...

Camilla

2009-01-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

Camilla is nine already, turning 10 in a couple month's time. She will be in Year 6 this year being her last year at primary school. This will be her first year at school without either one or both of her older sisters being at the school as well! She had an active year last year playing netball for Rebels Netball Club where her favourite positions were goal shoot and wing attack and she plans to play again next year. Camilla is especially close to our dog, Benji and loves her computer games! I'm posting a few photos of Camilla taken tonight and will dig a few others up as well....

Summer holiday in the Bay of Islands

2009-01-03T03:56:00.001-08:00
We have just had a lovely three day holiday in Paihia, Bay of Islands about 4 hours north of Auckland. The weather was wonderful when we needed it to be. The girls had fun shopping in Paihia and swimming at Paihia beach. The photo above is of the girls "patiently" waiting for our tour bus which took us up to the Kauria Forests, to Cape Reinga (the most northern point of New Zealand where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet) and on a 80km ride down Ninety Mile Beach. A definate highlight was a stop off at the sand dunes to boogie board down them for a while.

Here the girls are standing on a flattened kauri trunk which is believed to be 40,000 years old.

Here we are at the top of New Zealand (Cape Reinga) with the Tasman Sea far below us.

About to go through the Hole in the Rock on the boat. It's pretty far out to sea and once we travelled through the Hole in the Rock we were surrounded by shoals and shoals of fish.

Here the girls discovered "friendly" little cat fish in the water all around their feet.
Fooling around at the island stopover....

Chantelle celebrates her 11th birthday!!

2008-12-26T02:42:00.001-08:00

To celebrate her 11th birthday, Chantelle had a party a few days beforehand. It was a disco / spa pool / sleepover / movie party and seemed to be enjoyed by all!

Chants has always loved the colour green and didn't hesitate to ask for green walls when we decided to make over her bedroom. Here she is in her new room.

Chantelle Graduates from Macleans Primary School

2008-12-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

This has been a big month for Chantelle. She graduated from primary school this month, begins intermediate school next year and turned 11 years old!!!. We love you Chants. You are growing up so fast.....

Here Chantelle is receiving a Certificate from Mr Bayley at her Prizegiving ceremony. Below she is with her good friend Jemma.

Prizegiving Fourth Form

2008-12-10T23:34:00.000-08:00
Today Sarah received a Certificate of Merit for Progress in Graphics Technology at her school's prizegiving. Well done Sarah!!! She's now on holiday until the end of January when she begins her first year of chosen subjects.

The Papillon Shoe

2008-12-02T02:17:00.001-08:00
This is one of Benji's favourite spots. Sleeping in the shoe rack. He thinks it's great - when he disappears this is one of the first places we look.....

Meeting Roger Moore.....(by Randel)

2008-11-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

So there I was having a chinwag with me old mate Roger Moore & his wife Kristina explaining how great their work was with UNICEF & their tours in Africa & how it made a difference to the world & various stunts in his program "The Saint". Or maybe I was just to awestruck & happy to have his mark on my copy of his autobiography. In the 30 minutes I had to read before the signing, I got pulled into his life story & think he's one of those extraordinary people who live to make a difference in the world.

Summer weekend - part two...

2008-11-15T23:59:00.001-08:00
Hi there. This is actually part two of "Summer Weekend". As I'm still new at this blogging thing, I don't know how to change them around and until I do....they are back to front. Also, the post is shown as Saturday but it is actually Sunday evening here in New Zealand so I have to work out how to correct that as well.....

Myself, Chantelle and Camilla visited my good friend Carin - here she is with her son, George. Carin is a South African I've known for about two years now. Carin's daughter Nicky is a good friend of Camilla's.

Randel and I had a few hours out on Sunday afternoon when we went to watch a concert held at St -Matthews -In-The-City which is the most impressive old english type church I've ever been into. (Dawn, remember the necklace....) A work colleague of mine played the violin in the concert. Below is a photo of the orchestra and a bit of how spectacular the church is.

Summer weekend

2008-11-15T23:34:00.000-08:00
Summer is officially here in Auckland and we plan to take full advantage of it. This was a very relaxing, lovely and warm weekend. We relaxed in the sun.......

Randel, Chantelle and Camilla........

Sarah had her friend Nathan over and they enjoyed the spa pool

Camilla slept over at Nicky's house on Saturday night. Here Camilla and Nicky are with Nicky's baby rabbit....

The Foam People

2008-11-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Before draining the spa on Sunday, we put some bubblebath in, just to make life interesting!! It didn't take long for Chantelle, Camilla and Catherine to jump in and soon after that this is what they looked like!! Needless to say both the spa and the girls were squeaky clean after that....

Catherine (minus a tooth)

2008-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Catherine's front tooth has finally come out after wiggling around in her mouth for weeks. One front tooth not only makes her look different but also makes her SOUND different.... She convinced her Dad to cut her hair "shorter" and here's a photo of the job he did. We think it looks good on her!

A Day at Rainbows End

2008-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00
We had another fun day at Rainbows End on Saturday. Chantelle and Camilla are adrenalin junkies with the Power Surge and Roller Coaster being their favourites!! Camilla braved the dreaded Fear Fall for the first time. She was very nervous going up but the first thing she said when she reached the bottom again was "I LIKE THIS!!"

Catherine Turns 6!!!

2008-09-30T02:35:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE!! On the 25th of September, Catherine turned 6 years old. Here's the birthday girl and the cake Randel baked for her!!

Auckland Zoo

2008-09-30T02:32:00.001-07:00
We've just spent a very enjoyable Sunday at Auckland Zoo doing what you do at a zoo, having a picnic lunch and enjoying our day together. Here's a video of us feeding the giraffe who wraps his HUGE purple tongue around the celery stick before putting it in his mouth. Very cute. The meercats and otters seem to be favourites as well.

Benji

2008-09-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest addition to our family, Benji the Papillon. He's adorable although it's taken me months to actually mean that when I say it!! :) Benji is slightly smaller than our cat, Sophie and thankfully they get along well (most of the time.....) Benji keeps us on our toes (literally - by running up the road to catch him after he "escapes" out the front door) and he makes sure we don't leave things lying around (a nice way of saying that he chews up anything he finds on the floor) :) Benji has wormed his way into all of our hearts over the past few months and I couldn't imagine life without him now.

First school ball

2008-09-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is. My oldest daughter Sarah with her boyfriend, Nathan. They attended Sarah's first school ball and loved it! She loved her dress, was spoilt with new high shoes and a friend of hers in the beauty business did her hair and makeup. All in all she had a "ball" and is now looking forward to the next one. On dropping Sarah off at Nathan's house from where they left to go to the ball, he presented her with a bunch of roses. We managed to get a photo before leaving them to enjoy the night.... Sarah is the oldest of the four girls ....If my calculations are right - 3-4 school balls each during their student years - this would have been the 1st school ball with 15 still to go....... :)

Kylie Minogue

2008-09-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased. We have tickets to see Kylie Minogue when she comes to Auckland in December!! Randel's always enjoyed her and I haven't been to a concert since Tina Turner in Durban, South Africa in the early 90s..... We are really looking forward to it - I believe her concerts are spectacular - costumewise, stage, dancers etc.... Her first concert sold out in 19 mins earlier yesterday and while browsing the net last night, Randel found they had just released tickets for her second show and snapped two up!

Last few months....

2008-08-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been in our lovely new home for 4 months already! There is still a lot I'd like to do but we will get there in time. Auckland has had one of the wettest winters in 12 years (so I'm told) so of course the garden is drenched and unusable. I am SO looking forward to summer.
Sarah has turned 15. She's been to her first "school ball" and looked stunning and 19 all dressed up. She's made her subject choices for her final few years at school and thinks she might like to become a secondary school teacher - which I think is great.
Chantelle is 10 and a half and just joining the band of pre-adolescence. She spends most afternoons playing with the neighbourhood children out and about. Chantelle and Camilla (9 years) have just finished the netball season with the team "Rebels". They had prizegiving this weekend and were Runners Up in their netball league. Catherine (5 years) is very excited about her sixth birthday next month. She is looking very cute sporting a new and much shorter haircut at the moment.
Randel and I are very much enjoying our time together. Randel doesn't sit still, always fixing, always improving, always looking for something to do at home - which is GREAT. Things get DONE.

Lazy Sunday

2008-05-04T03:06:00.000-07:00

It's a lazy Sunday evening to end a lazy weekend. Thanks to the continuous Auckland rain we couldn't do much outside today. Fortunately our youngest (5 years) has found a similar aged friend across the road and spent most of the day walking to and fro between little friend's house and ours. Luckily we live in a quietish cul-de-sac as despite the little 5 year old assurances that "yes, we always look before we cross the road", I'm not too sure that that actually happens much.... We've spent two weeks having to "nag" contractors to finish a smallish job converting an internal access garage into a part bedroom / part storeroom. However, looks like the job is rolling into week 3!!! Very frustrating but hopefully all over at the end of this next week. All peaceful tonight as all the girls are asleep and ready for back to school tomorrow for term 2. I think they have all enjoyed their two week school holiday with Sarah (14) having done a week long introduction to modelling course, Chantelle (10) having done a speed reading course and Camilla and Catherine just chilling out. Thanks to being cooped up indoors all weekend, the new house is slowly taking shape - items are finding homes etc and I'm feeling comfortable in all the rooms now.