Wassup wit Karaka?

Karaka is the colour of Paint that is the large fence surrounding our house, all the garden edges, trellis, retaining walls etc etc. It is Dark green.

Morningside, Whangarei is HOT, especially in Summer. Hot summer sun punishes paint. Hence the old Karaka was looking a bit drab so a quick trip to Placemakers and 10 L of Karaka was ready to tackle the drab surrounds.

Trouble is, it is too hot and there is only one of me. Oh hang-on... I do have two rather cute kids :)

Good work Kids...carry on!

Don't spill it...

Now that looks better.

So with their expert help we have breathed life into the old. Thanks kids!

Wassup wit Bedtimes?

When I was a wee chap my parents would make me go to bed at 6:30 - 7:00 PM whether it was Daylight saving, a weekend or whatever.

Sure I grumbled a bit when you could hear other kids still playing outside or the sun was still blazing. Who wouldn't?


As a parent of two beautiful children I have now seen the wisdom of a strict bedtime. Kids get to know routine and a harmonious family ensues.

It was one such bedtime and my kids were off to brush their teeth and choose their stories when I looked outside - brilliant sunshine!

"Hey kids! Check this out!" The gymnastics challenge was on!









Alas there are no pictures of me, which is probably just as well. My little gymnasts would have kicked my gluteals :)

What was your bedtime? And what would you sometimes do if you got to stay up late?

Wassup wit Numberjacks?

After a hectic day celebrating my daughters 6th Birthday yesterday 18 Dec 2009, this morning was an atypical lazy one. Mumma was sleeping in, the kids were watching Kidzone whilst Dada (me) prepared breakfast. Hang-on, that sounds like everyday. In any case, great squeals of delight were released when Kane (Kidzone host) announced the Numberjacks were about to start.

For the uninitiated:

The Numberjacks are animated characters - the numbers zero to nine - who live in an ordinary sofa and solve problems outside. In response to a problem that arises one or two of the Numberjacks will go out into the real world to solve the problem, while the remaining Numberjacks stay in their base and watch their progress on a screen.

I love the 'evil' characters:

The Problem Blob spits out lumps of green slime that cause anything they touch to suffer from a particular problem.

The Shape Japer causes problems by changing the shape or size of objects.

The Puzzler traps the Numberjacks inside a puzzle bubble or causes other problems and sets mathematical puzzles that must be solved before the problems will go away. He is arguably the most fearsome enemy of the Numberjacks, as any Numberjack unable to solve one of his puzzles would be trapped in a puzzle bubble for all eternity.

The Spooky Spoon mixes things up, which the Numberjacks have to sort out.

The Numbertaker is a white-coated live action man with an exaggerated top hat who removes numbers or numbers of things. As numbers themselves, the Numberjacks must be particularly careful when dealing with him. He uses a number sucker upper, a number grabber, a net, a magnet and a hook to take things. My personal favoutite :)

So back to my story:

My now 6 year old daughter annouces, "I'm the yellow 6, not the number 5 anymore" They grow up so fast, soon she'll be the red 7 *sniffs*

I'm Pink and Blue...what colours are you?