Green Smoke and Whispers

When my daughter woke up that morning, she talked about green smoke coming out from her ears. That means she's hearing whispers. She was telling me about this while whispering to my ear.

Too many movies for her. Interesting imagination.

Play Dates and Picnics

Weekends tend to be short especially if you squeeze in play time and picnic at the park on both days.

The weather is surprisingly warm as we headed to Onepoto Domain at Northcote. They have a great cycling route ideal for small bikes and scooters. The playground caters for both small and big kids and they've got a flying fox!

It was a play date with Julia's kids. We brought the kids' scooters and packed a picnic (pasta twist in tomato sauce, baked potato wedges, potato crisps, sliced apples). I've been busy in the kitchen since 7am that Saturday. Did the laundry early so i had clothes waiting to be folded by the time we headed back home. We got home mid afternoon which was plenty of time to vacuum and wash my car. Grocery was sorted, and I had dinner going shortly: ginisang ampalaya with giniling na baboy.

I was exhausted and got in bed early, which was before 9pm. The next day, we went to church and the kids wanted to go for a picnic lunch. I still had leftover pasta and i made some brownies that morning so it was easy to prepare for this. Sunday is cloudy but that didn't stop father and son to take photos. We went to Cornwall park and decided to take some family photos there, with the sheep! My son enjoyed taking photos with our old camera. it was getting chilly so we headed back.

Dynah and family came for a visit and they got 6 month old Juanito with them. We haven't seen them for close to a year and it's great to finally meet the newest member of the family.

Both families are looking forward to the next play date, hoping that the next weekends can still be enjoyed outdoors.

Finally, i passed the test!

I'm in my late 30s and have only started driving about 7 months ago.

Yup, i took the exam and got my Learner's license. Took 10 hours of paid driving lesson with AA (ouch!) before i finally had the courage to drive my car. Had a few months of hubby picking me up from work and him letting me drive the car home. It was on my 4th try when I finally passed my practical test at AA Penrose, which i hear has a very low pass rate. It's such a big relief. I'm glad that the hard part is over. Some time next year, i will then take another practical test to get my full license. I need to be on Restricted license for at least 5 months before i can take the next practical test. Crossing my fingers knowing that the hard part is over.

Ash Wednesday

It's the beginning of Lent. I heard mass at 9am and saw the familiar faces of old people in our neighbourhood. There were a few of us (not so old) around, some are parents from Marist. When you walk your kids to school/ daycare, you can actually see the faces within the community. I think it's a good thing as you get to be a familiar face as well. It also gives me a sense of familiarity.

A Pinay friend told me how the local catholic community is very pleased with the Pinoys because we fill up their churches. I was surprised when she told me that there wasn't much pakeha attending mass in the CBD, even in St. Benedict's which is city fringe. It's the complete opposite for us in St. Mary's Parish. I think it only shows the demographics of the residents in the area.

So I haven't been strict with fasting and abstinence since I got here. I had all sorts of excuses, which is really just my kids. But there shouldn't be any excuses for me now as we're almost past the toddler years. I managed to avoid meat last Wednesday and will try to every Friday during Lent. I'll also be cutting back on junkfood, specifically those bag of crisps. Yes, I have at least 3 of those hidden at the bottom of the kitchen shelf. I know my inventory. Another thing is that I'm trying to cook fresh veggies instead of frozen. Actually making use of fresh herbs as much as i can. I find it time consuming sometimes to chop carrots, potatoes, parsley, cabbage, capsicum, etc. But those are good stuff. I try not to think about lying down in bed whenever I get home as I simply won't have the energy to prepare a complete meal for family dinner. 

I have been reading Our Daily Bread 2016 diary. I don't read 1 page a day instead, I read a few pages. It's a good read, a nice refresher and it makes me feel light and positive afterwards. So lately, whenever I feel bad about anything, I really just try to focus on what I can do to make things better. It's small things like playing board games with my kids, encouraging a dress up day for the women at work, playing football during lunch with my colleagues even if I don't know the game, or simply taking a walk during lunch just to clear my head. 

Something about Lent that puts me in a reflective mood.

Auckland Anniversary Weekend 2016

You know that it's a long weekend and you know that most Aucklanders are probably leaving town. Because we're probably not up for a long drive and we do like sleeping in, we've decided to revisit the harbour and check out the SeePort event. I remember how the kids enjoyed those free rides last year. From then on, it was a "let's see how it goes" weekend. As with any weekend, we do check the forecast before we leave the house and hubby makes sure that he's able to take enough photos as he experiments with his camera equipment. Somehow, we always realise that we to forget an item or two as soon as we're on the road.

SeePort
What's different this year is that they have food stalls, lots of it! My kids successfully climbed the wall and rang the bell (Rose did it twice!). Both were eager to try all the rides, inflatables, the mini golf, face painting and the navy display. It was a sunny day and I did get a bit dizzy while waiting in line for the tug boat tour. It was hot! Lots of ice cream and cold drinks consumed that day.

There were more in store the next two two days and what i think we should check out next time is the Symphony orchestra playing during sunset ending with a fireworks display later in the evening.

Music in Parks
Hubby usually does the weekend shopping for us but this time around, I wanted to join him so I can choose the bread and see other items in the store that we'll be consuming for the week. I wanted to try some new recipes.

I prepared sandwiches for our picnic lunch at the Domain. I now know that my kids don't like the bread (Quinoa and Flaxseed) that I got for them unless you've got a good spread on it to mask the flavour. We bought sushi and sausages from the nearby stores as well for our picnic. We found a spot that's across the road from the band stand. Live Jazz music played. I've covered a few pages from Bo Sanchez's My Conspiracy Theory. It was cloudy and the kids enjoyed their space as they clashed their light sabers around. Later on, hubby took out the RC for the kids to play with until it ran out of battery. Then it felt like rain was about to fall so we headed back to the car. (False alarm!). We were parked near the Wintergarden so we brought the kids inside as it's been a while since they last visited the place.

Summer Picnics
It felt like a Sunday morning (Monday holiday). The kids were hooked up on morning tv shows. I was trying out the Chickpea, carrot and feta fritters recipe. I thought i'd make corn muffin too but realised that i don't have corn in the pantry. There were some morning showers so it felt right to have prepared nilaga for lunch.

We headed to Cornwall Park in the afternoon, setup our picnic in one of the shaded areas near Pohutukawa Drive, close to a fenced area where a flock of sheep was resting under a shade. As soon as we've unpacked, Rose declared that she's hungry and started opening a container full of WanWan rice snacks with his Papa. Max took out his cricket set and asked me to play with him. Max is actually getting better with hitting the ball. Rose played frisbee with hubby, then with Max. The football wasn't played much but those trees surrounding us sure had lots of fun as the kids played hide and seek among them.

We had a stroll across the field, up to the cottage when Max said he needed to go to the toilet. On our way was the Creamery and Rose said she wanted ice cream. On our way back, I told her that we'll have ice cream at home as we still have some in the freezer.

So three days went past. There were enough lull moments for me, and even enjoyed two afternoon naps. Can't help but think of the luxury that we have here in Auckland. We've got time to be with our kids. We have lots of open spaces and many free family-friendly events that are meant for us to enjoy. I told my husband how it's noticeable to see parents or a parent walking their kids or a pram along a footpath. And this is almost everywhere we go, even in commercial areas. Hubby said that it's a good sign.