The many faces of Gracie Face

So this little photo shoot was completely impromptu. We were lounging around in our bed with Grace after Lizzy had gone to bed, and she starts crankin out all these hilarious poses. Very quickly she can go from sweet and adorable, to ornery, to a fire-breathing, tantrum throwing
2-year old. But actually on this occasion, the 'angry eyes', were all in play. She's quite an actor, and will do these faces at most any given moment if she is prompted and gets immediate laughter as a reaction. She eats up the attention from it and will pull these faces over and over. We're practicing for when she sees Gramps Gardner again =).

photos from Mt. Manganui beach

Gracie's Birthday!

Well, not really. Lizzie decided that it was Grace's birthday today. So we made a cake. And then we ate it.

Lizzy's Dance Recital

Lizzy's dance recital was the other day. They performed 'Peter and the Wolf'.' Lizzy's class had a 2 minute stint where they danced around like butterflies. So stinkin adorable. Some of the pics are pretty bad, due to the lighting and the fact that we couldn't get any closer to the stage. She's the taller one in the blurry pics.

I was a little afraid she would get nervous on stage and with all the people, but she seemed not to mind. Although she, and most of her class, stared out at the audience looking for a familiar face while they were supposed to be dancing. We were able to snag a few decent pics of her in her butterfly wings at the end. She's not quite ready for Juilliard, but she sure looks precious. We love our little butterfly!!

Lizzy the Ballerina

Lizzy recently started taking ballet lessons. She loves to dance so we figured it would be a good outlet for her. The first week she didn't have a clue what she was doing, and mostly just did her own type of dances, which included throwing herself rather dramatically across the floor, and then yelling to me from across the room, "did you see, mom, that was pretty good huh!" After that I wasn't too sure if ballet was going to be a good match for Lizzy after all, it requires quite a bit of discipline and concentration, and she's 4, but so are all the other kids, so it seems to work. This teacher is incredible at getting kids to fall inline...she seems to have the perfect blend of warmth and high expectations for the girls, and they respond very well to her. After the first week Lizzy learned quickly not to talk during class, and to save her more "interpretative" dance styles for after class. To my surprise she didn't seem to have a problem with that, and has enthusiastically returned to class each week. She tries hard to please the teacher, who gives high praise for it. It's only a 30 minute class, but Lizzy is quite tired by the end, and comes home and likes to crash on the couch for a while.

In a few weeks her class is doing a little dance recital in conjunction with the older girls' classes. I can't guarantee that she'll get all the steps right, but she'll look pretty darn cute trying!

Halloween in Rotorua

Princess Lizzy, and Gracie Face (rawr!), the Bear.

So we did the Halloween thing this weekend in Rotorua, or something somewhat resembling the Halloween thing back in the States. People don't really do Halloween here, at least traditionally. In the past few years it has somewhat caught on with the younger crowd, much to the annoyance of older generations. So we didn't know what to expect going out to trick or treat. We were told people would know what we were doing. And we weren't the only trick-or-treaters out. But we did receive a few blank stares when the door opened. One lady oohed and aahed at the adorable princess, and after a few seconds realized that Lizzie was waiting for something. She looked at us and whispered "Is it money?" So I would say Halloween hasn't quite caught on here. But whatever, it doesn't take much candy to make these kids happy. Overall people were friendly, inspite of being somewhat bewildered by what we were doing. But we did get one old crone who upon opening the door to find two darling children smiling up at her, told us she did not believe in such a holiday. What is there to believe in? It's two adorable children just wanting a friendly smile and a piece of freaking candy...whatever lady. Can you tell I was just a little annoyed by that interchange? But you get those kinds of folks in the states too, I just wish they wouldn't open their doors to spread their misplaced piety.

Anyways, the kids had a good time. They were so very cute.

BTW, people are definitely not concerned about unwrapped candy here like they are in the states. Most everything we got was unwrapped. Lots of gummy worms (individual worms, mind you, taken in handfuls from a bowl). Umm... I might get some flak over that, sorry Mom, I already let them eat it, and they're okay, I promise! =) They would have been really upset if I had tried to take it away!

Random pictures from around Rotorua

These are some random photos that we took by the museum downtown. The grounds are quite pretty.







































































Above is the Maori Museum downtown. Lizzy likes it because it resembles a castle.
This last one is of Rob and Lizzy on a paddle boat on Lake Rotorua.

Gracie Face and the Wiggles

I noticed that I did not have many recent pictures up here of Gracie, so I decided to remedy that.

One of my favorite things is watching Gracie dance to her all-time favorite show, the Wiggles. Until quite recently, Grace had never paid much attention to T.V., but come 4p.m. she is glued, as you can see, to the tube, as the theme song for the Wiggles begins.
































































I have tried here to capture the adorable dance that she does at the beginning of every Wiggles show. It's much cuter in person, but you can kind of get the idea.

Grace gets rather annoyed if anyone talks or makes too much noise during 'her show'. She doesn't really chew you out, especially since she can't really talk, but she will give you a glare that says it all too clearly! We love our little Wiggles fanatic.

Ode to the Hubby

So some of you already know this, but last week Rob separated his right shoulder in a bike accident, which to make a long story short, involved hitting a parked car. It’s okay, go ahead and laugh, he’s not seriously injured =). And no, he’s not sure how the car made out, which is everyone’s first question! The best part of this is that he came home with this makeshift sling from the ER that looked like something you’d contrive if this happened while camping, and, get this, a prescription for Tylenol to use as a painkiller! Well I am guessing they must not have a prescription drug addiction problem in this country if that’s all they give out. The funniest/saddest part of this was when Rob taped his shoulder/elbow areas to help get the joints back in the right place, and in the process of taking the tape off partially waxed himself...I have never heard a man scream like that =).

Anyways, as a result of this injury, he has spent the week at home, becoming a third pesky child to attend to, so please get out your violins for me. Actually, he’s been pretty good. But it has made me realize what a good hubby/daddy he is, I seriously don’t know how single parents do it! Here’s to you Rob, we love ya!!!

On a separate note, here in New Zealand a child has been kidnapped/abducted for the first time in like 20 or 20 plus years here. In the last 15 years 3 kids were technically ‘kidnapped’, but they all involved domestic disputes where it was a family member, (custody battles), and all were returned home safe and unharmed. So a random abduction basically never happens here, New Zealand is regarded as very safe. Crime, especially violent crime, is extremely low. A lot of people here don’t bother locking their cars or their homes. It has really upset people here, from what I can tell. Yesterday while at the grocery store I overheard two women discussing it, the one saying that her children were scared, and she now had a gun by her bed. It seems to be causing a bit of a panic. Such news certainly wouldn’t have that effect in the states, where that sort of thing unfortunately is much more common. I hope for everyone’s sake the little girl returns home safely, though in my mind I’m thinking this will most likely not end well.

Lizzy's Birthday

For Lizzy's birthday she wanted cupcakes. So we made 40-50 of them to take to her kindy. FYI, making that many homemade cupcakes and frosting takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Next year I'll take suckers to pass out at her school. But she had a blast helping make them.

Barbie gift from Olivia (friend that lives next door).

The big surprise. Lizzy's first bike!

Our house was a cupcake factory on Sunday...we grossly underestimated the time involved with this. Lizzy loved decorating the cupcakes though. She actually got pretty good at it.


Lizzy Lou turned the big 4 yesterday. I mentioned to her about a week ago that her b-day was coming up...to which she replied 'presents?' I said yes, and sort of hom-hummed the question of whether she would want a party or not, or just a quiet b-day at home (of course I had no preference =), to which she said, "mom, I just want presents and cupcakes." Good enough for me! Except after having made roughly 50 homemade cupcakes, planning a party would have probably been easier!

Lizzy had a special day though. They sang to her at school and she got to sit in the b-day chair and basically be a queen for a day. I brought the cupcakes in and the kids were pretty thrilled. Grace hid my camera, which I couldn't find until returning home, so we didn't get pictures there unfortunately. After dinner we just had a quiet little party at home with Lizzy's new little friend Olivia from next door and her parents. Lizzy seemed quite pleased with her gifts. Of course the highlight was her very first bike...pink and barbie and with a snazzy little bell. She'd been wanting one for a while, especially since her little friend next door has one that she is constantly riding. Though we forgot to get a helmet, and based on her bike wreck today, I'd say she needs one! Don't worry, she's okay, just really in need of practice and understanding properly how the brakes work.

On a sentimental note, it's hard to believe that she is already 4 and such a big girl. I don't know exactly when it happened...this growing up/big girl thing...losing the baby fat, her cheeks becoming less and less round, choosing her own clothes, telling me how exactly to do her hair, etc. A part of me feels a little sad, a little mournful, that my baby Lizzy is gone, but mostly I am excited to see her evolving as a person, finding her own way. And anyone who knows Lizzy knows that she is her own woman (well, little girl for now), and already has some strong opinions about her likes and dislikes. I love her fiestiness and independence, although at times they are maddening to deal with as a parent, but I wouldn't trade it, it's part of what makes her strong. I love her tenderness and devotion to those she loves. I love her concern for others and their feelings. I love that she is a friendly child who never hesitates to introduce herself and make a new friend. Most of all I love her because she is mine.

Happy Birthday Lizzy, we love you. You are our little princess, now and always.

Lizzy the escape artist

Here's a story to brighten your day. Most days Lizzie gets up at 7:00 or so, and comes in to wake us up and get breakfast. This morning Jenny rolled over and poked me at 7:30 and said it was time to get up, and I figured Lizzie must have been tired and let us sleep in some. So I showered and sat down for breakfast, and Grace started crying. I got Grace up and she sat with me while I ate, and at about 8:00 I thought I'd go check on Lizzie and make sure she was ready for school. I found her bedroom door open, and her not in her bed. Some days she decides that she doesn't want to go to school, and has a few places around the house that she hides. So I checked her closet and mine behind the clothes, under beds and behind the couch, and she was nowhere to be found. At this point I asked Jenny if she had seen Lizzie, and tried the front door. It was unlocked. We nearly had a heart attack, and I handed Jenny the baby while I went to see where the Lizzie might have gone off to. Now our driveway opens on to a busy road with lots of cars going past in the morning, so the idea of Lizzie going out the door is not a pleasant one. We share a driveway with another house where Lizzie has a friend, and they are often back and forth between houses throughout the day. As I was walking around the house, I noticed that the wife was in the kitchen, and I thought I'd ask if they had seen anything. I knocked on the door, and Lizzie comes running up to announce that she has had pancakes with her friend Olivia. She had walked out the front door without saying a word to anyone, gone over to the neighbour's house, walked in, and said that she was here for breakfast. She was asked if her parents knew where she was, told them that we did, and sat down to eat. She still has no idea why anyone would be upset. Ah!!!!!!!!

More Hobbiton photos

The landscape was so beautiful here, I couldn't stop snapping photos. The land that Hobbiton was filmed on is actually all part of one sheep farm. There were sheep dotting the hillsides every direction you turned. Our tour guide told us that there are plans to start filming 'The Hobbit', about a year from now in this same location. If we're still in the area, we'll have to come sneak a peek! Course we'd probably get arrested doing it =).

Our visit to Hobbiton, LOTR; Matamata, NZ

Looking out of a hobbit hole.



What a ruggedly handsome hobbit!

Sheep shearing/feeding the sheepies

This was the highlight of the trip for Lizzy!


I couldn't help but think that poor sheep must be chilly after the shearing. They keep them inside at night for a few months after shearing until they grow back some of their wooly coat.