Slackest blogger EVER.

Slackest blogger EVER... that's me.  I can't believe the last time I updated this thing was in MAY.

Since May a lottttttttt has happened, too much to really go into detail about but here is a brief summary.

June
Emersyn turned 3!!!!

My favourite of our professional wedding photos!

We went and saw the All Blacks playing against France in New Plymouth (... and I sprained my ankle)

July
... nothing of note really comes to mind

August
We went and saw the All Blacks playing against Australia in Wellington

September
We took an impromptu road trip to New Plymouth to see Taranaki play Hawke's Bay... the weather was terrible...
Nan, Poppa, Aunty Terri & Bronté arrived for my birthday weekend

All of the family at our official wedding in September

Mamie arrived from France for a month!!!
We got OFFICIALLY married!  No more civil union for us.  We officially upgraded to marriage!
I turned 30
Aidan turned 6
Lauriel turned 36

October
Gaby turned 7

November
I officially finished my first year of study... start back in February

Us at the game in New Plymouth

What else is happening?
The three older kids are doing great at school, Emersyn is loving preschool!
Me, Lauriel, Gab & Emmy are headed to Christchurch for the Christmas break, while Aidan and Eloise head up to the bach with their dad & his side of the family

..... It is hard to think of everything that has happened since May & I am sure I have probably left something important out... but I will try to be a better blogger from now on and keep you all up to date on the goings on in our slightly crazy household!

Little update from the old married couple

I've been very busy with uni work, so haven't had a chance to update the blog...  Well, I could have, but I hate giving half-ass updates on here.  It HAS however been a month since the blog was last updated, so here goes!

The children are all well.
We are well.
We are happy.

Really, what more could we ask for?

Life has (predictably) gone back to normal after the wedding... Which is nice, really.  The kids are

Family time at the park!

to enjoy it!  Gab continues to read up a storm - I think having Eloise around has encouraged her to read outside of school - the two of them always have a book or two on the go, which is really great to see.  I love that our children are readers.

Aidan is making great progress at school, and got a 'Positive Person' award at the end of term assembly last month... Him and Gaby are currently enjoying searching for snails and worms, and playing outside on the bike.  They have the ability to fight a lot, but when they aren't getting on each others nerves, they have an awesome little relationship going on!  Being that they are so close in age, I guess it is to be expected... and it means that Aidan can protect Gaby from all those evil teenage boys when they are a bit older.

Emersyn... my little baby.. she's almost THREE.  I don't know how time has gone so fast, because I'm sure that it was just a few months ago I was celebrating her FIRST birthday.  Emmy loves Eloise, and is constantly by her side... it's very sweet, but not doubt also a little annoying at times, for Eloise!  Emersyn loves preschool and always comes home and tells us what she's done that day.  Usually it's 'went outside'... and for awhile it was painting painting painting.

As for us???  We are already an old married couple.  But I don't think that's as much of a bad thing as it sounds... I think it means we are comfortable enough with each other that we can just be ourselves and do our own thing, and don't feel the need to have to impress the other person.  That said, all my study has been taking it out of me, and I feel awful for not being able to stay up past 10pm - and even moreso for falling asleep within minutes of going to bed.  I hope that when my exams are over, I'll be a bit more like the old Emma!

At the rugby in Palmerston North

We are looking very forward to our night in Hamilton next weekend - we get to see our boys playing, and we also get a night in a fancy hotel, courtesy of a very generous wedding gift!  We did recently have a night without children - we went to Palmerston North (as you could guess, for rugby) and the kids had a slumber party with Amy, Kallum and Ellie.  It was lovely having that time alone - and the time away from home... and I finally got to experience what Palmerston North has to offer...  We crossed another rugby stadium off our list, and got to quench our thirst for rugby.  Perfect!

Speaking of rugby, on June 22nd we are crossing another rugby stadium off our list - AND seeing the All Blacks... v France! 

I will now sign off, we have kids that need to be fed!

Toilets, School, Rugby & Food Glorious Fooooood!

Hello to all our friends and stalkers!

It's been awhile since we updated, about 5 weeks actually - but don't fear, we are back now!

Emmy showing off her new Dora cup that Nan & Poppa
bought for her in Australia.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks,  the kids are back at school and all doing awesomely!  Emersyn is now (day time) potty trained, she still has the odd accident, but generally it's when she's having so much fun she forgets about the whole toilet thing.  It's nice to not have to deal with poo on a daily basis.  I'm so over poo.  I am also back at school, studying toward my Bachelor of Communication at Massey University - at the moment my major is Journalism Studies & my minor is Expressive Arts, but I think the order of those two may swap.  I don't know.  It's a pity I can't have a double major....  (Or maybe I can?).

Back where we belong... well, the stadium aspect...
Sadly it was in the wrong city!

On March 8 Lauriel and I finally went to a rugby game together... it was a long time coming, our last game was Hawkes Bay v Canterbury, in Oct 2012, in Napier.  This game was in Wellington, the Hurricanes v Crusaders (y'know, OUR men)... sadly we walked away with a frown on our faces, as the Hurricanes won in the last few minutes of the match.  BUT it was great to be back in a rugby atmosphere, and also to be on our own.  Of course we love our kids, but all parents would agree that sometimes you just need that alone time, to do something that isn't Mummy/Daddy related.  At the rugby we are Emma & Lauriel the rugby fans... the rest of the time we are Emma & Lauriel 'the Mums'... the latter is a role we love and adore and wouldn't change for anything, but all the same, a break is nice.  And needed!  Our next game is most likely Hamilton in May (Chiefs v Crusaders), but in July we are very excited to be taking Gaby, Eloise & Aidan to Wellington to see the Hurricanes v Highlander.

Highlanders = Jarrad Hoeata.  Enough said.

Two of our little flowergirls!

Our wedding is approaching rapidly - I think we are now down to about 3 weeks and 3 days to go, and everything is starting to come together, a lot of that is thanks to Lauriel's wonderful bridesmaids, Sophia & Kath.  My sister is planning the hens night - she is a seller for Cocobella, who sell.... 'adult novelty products', and to be honest, I'm a little scared to see what she has up her sleeve!  There is a lot of secrecy surrounding it - well, as far as Lauriel and I go... but we know our bridesmaids will make sure nothing too dreadful goes down.  (Those of you with dirty minds can stop giggling right now!).  The girls got their flowergirls dresses this weekend just been, and they are AMAZING... made by the fabulous Amy at Little Miss Tutu.

We have been doing a lot of baking and cooking in the McBonbon household.  Lauriel and I both loved baking and cooking prior to living together, but there is something to be said about having another adult to share the fruits of your labour with... someone who you KNOW will appreciate what you've cooked, rather than looking at it and going 'it looks gross, I am not eating it'.  Generally our baking and cooking has been very successful, but we are still fine tuning the oven, which tends to burn very easily.  As proof, here are some photos of our various baking/cooking sessions...

Lauriel's (pink!) almond meringue drops

Sponge cake!

Cooooookies!

an enormous cookie just for me! my wifey-to-be is the BEST!

Almond & pear tart... this was sooooo good

Slow cooker vege soup, prior to cooking

Because I'm sure at least one person will ask, here are the recipes for the almond meringue drops & the tart!

Almond meringue drops
Pear & Almond tart