Working and much more.

I have been a slack blogger of late. Life has had me really busy and my husband has been home. Yes. I blog mainly when he is away and he has just gone away on a 12 day trip Auckland (home) Hong Kong London Hong Kong and back.

Life has thrown a lot our way in the last couple of weeks. Firstly everyone, except me, got a bad gastro bug. McKenzie really only caught the 24 hour variety, DH and Andre caught the 4 day bug and of course Hayden and this bug do not sit nicely together. In fact this is the bug that cause the brain atrophy all those year ago. Of course it is not the identical bug but you know what I mean.

I must say once Andre fell ill we tried really hard to sanitize our house etc etc but without fail. By the Saturday morning about 10am, Hayden was showing all the symptoms of a vomiting bug. I quickly finished mowing the lawns and had a shower, as you do in these situations, dragged the hospital bag out of the cupboard, checked the list twice and off we went. Now I know that it might see strange that I took time to finish were I was and have the shower but I have been caught short in hospital no shower, bag anything for the night and I did wonder if we were going to be admitted.

Middlemore hospital is our closed and with open letter in hand we are allocated a bed. By now Hayden is showing all the signs of dehydration but I know he has a port a cath so not a problem. Instant access to a vein so fluid can be administered. Alas not to be. This hospital rarely has to deal with such technology so two hours later discharged and sent to Starship Hospital down the road.

By now it is 2pm and the following 6 hours entail plenty of IV fluids, blood tests etc etc while still in ED. Surprise surprise we are sent home. Hmmmmm it is to good to be true and by 9am the next morning we are back at hospital, his consultant is called and by 930am we know a night in hospital is in store.

Much more of the same...more fluids, blood tests and anti nausea drugs. By 4pm finally we are in a ward, an Orthopedic ward no less, in isolation. More fluids, blood tests more more more. At least isolation means a room of your own and I get a bed not a mattress on the floor.

Sunday is now well on its last hours and the nurse has woken me 5 times before midnight. (I am due to start a new job the next day does she not know this.)

Monday morning and the vomiting has stopped but now the other end is going. Haydens electrolytes are still well out of kilter and I have to ring my new job and say I am going to be late, persuade my ill husband that hospital is a good place for him too so I can go to work for half a day.

Finally at 7pm Monday Hayden is home with a medical plan and the bug.

Nothing like a little drama in our life.




credits can be found here at Nuts4Digi

Imitation

Isn't it funny how life sometimes is imitated. Children can be caught imitating their parents both the good and the bad. Sometimes I think that children can provide their parents with a timely look at ourselves and other times are really something to smile about. I took these photos of Hayden, even though life has given him many challenges to overcome, he was busy imitating Dad in the bathroom.



The credits are here at Nuts4Digi

I smile because I know that the back of the shaving cream will be the closest that Hayden will ever get to holding his own shaver, because the imitation really was just done perfectly and the power of observation should never be under estimated no matter what the cognitive capacity is, and finally it was just one of those perfect father and son moment.

Here's hoping there will be many more.

P365 week 41 and 42

It is just incredible to think that I now only have 10 weeks worth of photos to scrap. I find that I am now thinking about how I will get my book published and bound for prosperity and if there is anything about 2009 I should photograph for further reference. I anyone can think of anything that would be great to look back on and should include post a comment on my blog.

Anyway on to the pages.

week 41


The credits can be found here at Nuts4Digi


week 42



The credits can be found here at Nuts4Digi

MIA and Monday Menu October 24

I am sorry to my loyal blog readers that I have been missing in action. It has been one challenging week that has just past what with everyone, except me having had the V&D bug, DS2 in hospital and me starting a new job. But that is all another story.

Here is this weeks menu. I miss last week due to life and me trying to catch up. i have to say I really missed being so organised.

Monday Chicken potato and salad ( something easy as it is a public holiday)

Tuedsay Chicken and vege udon noodles

Wednesday raisin and walnut brown rice salad

Thursday meatloaf potato and salad

Friday Pizza

Saturday corn fritters with advocado salsa.

Our tiling is done

At long last our bathroom is looking like it is nearly finished. The last 3 hour final push to adhere the tiles to our bathroom wall finally is paying off. Not to mention to week of preparation that DH put into everything before the cutting of tiles could take place.

So the before I blogged about the bathroom with the bath had just been removed and the walls were bare too.

Now, if you dont look too closely you get to see the lovely tiles glistening in our newly nearly finished bathroom.



Not a great photo and the tap ware still needs to be fitted along with the towel rail but we think it is looking great. Thanks to You Tube for the tutorials.

Monday Menu 12 October

Another week gone and it is the first of the last term of the school year. This week is calf club at my children's school and we will be busy getting ready for that.

Here is my weeks menu.

Monday mince baked potato and peas.

Tuesday vege Thai red curry with noodles.

Wednesday Meatballs and spaghetti

Thursday Chicken rice salad

Friday Homemade pizza

Saturday Middle Eastern lamb wrap

Sunday Leftovers

Have a great week everyone.

P365 week 39 and 40

With only 12 weeks to go I am determine to complete the years pages. So without further ado here is my next installment.

week 39



The credits can be found here at Nuts4Digi

week 40


The credits can be found here at Nuts4Digi

On Holiday in Rotorua

I have been on holiday. Well it really was a dual purpose holiday but a holiday none the less. We went to the sulphur smelling tourist destination of Rotorua, New Zealand. We spent the first 3 days watch DD play hockey in an inter provincial competition and the last few days playing the tourist and catching up with friends.

Hayden was in Respite Care for a week so that the whole family could go and participate in life as ordinary families do. I get a chance to sleep in and sleep through the night and the children get to things without having the restraints that Hayden brings upon us. I know this might sound harsh to some but that is just how it is with Hayden in our life. I work really hard to protect and unite the rest of us as it would be very easy for Hayden to unwittingly pull us apart.

Anyway the first three days were full of hockey. We were very proud of DD and her efforts playing hockey. She is only 8 and is playing up against girls more likely to be 10 or 11 years old. Size is a serious issue for her as she is small for her age and young again many of the others but really persued excellence in her game. She has learnt just so much about the game of hockey this year and is passionate about it too. So here she is in action.

Sweeping the ball to another team member


In action with the opposition


It was the first time our children had been to Rotorua. It is a very touristy place. People go there to experience traditional Maori culture and the geothermal activity that takes place. Then there is the adventure tourism. All just so much fun. It is very iconic New Zealand really. So here are some photos just to show a little of what we did.

Rock climbing



A lovely afternoon luging. Adventure tourism for children and adults alike. The photo is not a good one but you can get the idea. Put one or two on a toboggan like machine and use gravity to go down hill as fast as you can.


Then a morning looking at the geothermal activity. As you can see from the photo the children as exaggerating the smell and behind them is the steam being produced from the boiling mud.






Naturally it was raining while we did the walking around the geothermal events.

Later that day we went swimming in a nature warm mineral pool. It was found out in the forest and free. Two and a half hours later we emerged from the water. What a fun day. I will put some photos up about this soon.

Well that's it. Our trip in summary.

Homemade Fish and Chips

Last week one of my readers asked how the homemade fish and chips went so I thought for a change I would put a recipe up.

A little while ago my husband was up in Rarotonga with work and bought us home some fish. For some reason I could not cook it up that night and reduced the fish to being frozen. Now I am not a fish connoisseur by any means but what I do know is that fish is best eaten fresh. By the time the fish got back to New Zealand it was not more than 5 hours out of the water. Lucky us.

Finally after a number of weeks I get round to looking into what to now do to the fish especially since it has been in the freezer and came a cross a nice simple kiddy friendly recipe that not only would they eat but could make with a little help from adults.

So here is the recipe.

Fish Fingers

4 fillets fleshy white fish
1/2 cup flour
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 Tbl low fat milk
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
4 lemon wedges to serve

Serves 4

1. cut your fish fillets into finger length strips.

2. Spread the flour and breadcrumbs out on two separate plates, and season the flour with salt and pepper.

3. Beak the egg into a bowl, add the milk and mix together using a fork or whisk.

4. Coat the fish fingers with flour, then dip them into the egg mixture. Then coat them well on both sides with the breadcrumbs.

5. Heat the oil ina fry pan over a medium heat and add the fish firngers. Fry for 3-4 munutes on each side un til browned on the outside but cooked in the middle. The fish fingers are cooked when the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and the flesh has turned white.


As for the chips.

You will need

two large potatoes
spray oil
flavour of your choice.

Cut the potatoes into even bite sized pieces. Lay them flat on a baking tray that is lined with baking paper. Spray lightly with oil and sprinkle with your flavour.

Bake in an 200 degree C oven for 20 minutes.

My children just loved the result and can't wait for Dad to go to Rarotonga again. If I says so myself the fish was just perfectly light and flaky.

Monday Menu 5 October

I have been away and a bad blogger because the cost of internet access was astronomical. So here I am back today and with the menu ready to go.

This week I am trying to make do with the pantry and freezer items until Wednesday when I get paid. It will take a little doing but be worth it.

Monday Pie (from freezer) baked potato and peas

Tuesday Pie (from freezer) baked potato and peas

Wednesday Meatloaf, home made oven fries and salad

Thursday Chicken and vegie udon noodles from weight watchers

Friday Homemade pizza with vege topping

Saturday Corn fritters with advocao salsa and grilled tomato

Sunday Leftovers

I will be back tomorrow with a recipe