tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466857925915328592024-03-13T12:03:04.074+13:00Tutti FruttiA little bit of crazy amongst all the chaos to help keep me sane . . .Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-7325776431356288472013-03-24T22:31:00.001+13:002013-03-24T22:31:25.084+13:00Preschool Challenges<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">A friend of mine, who is studying Early Childhood Education, sent me the following message:</span><br />
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<i>I'd like to tap into your experience and expertise in having children with what is now called "diverse needs." For my studies I'm writing a paper on inclusive practice in early childhood education. I was wondering if I could ask you to reply to me and tell me what you've found to be challenging or beneficial in your experiences with your little ones in preschool.</i></div>
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<i>Any info you can give me would be great! Even if it's just a quick reply, I would be appreciative of any insight you can share with me!!</i></div>
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This got me thinking, and her a more detailed response than I think she was anticipating! It's also given me the content for another post...</div>
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We had issues at the very beginning with Isaac's enrollment, due to him having had seizures when he was in the NICU. I went back to work when he was just over 4 months old. Was very upsetting, since they knew exactly what had been going on since the day of his birth, and Reuben had been there for the previous 2 years. Anyway Isaac hadn't had a seizure since the NICU, but they had to sort out their procedures for what to do in the event that he did have a seizure.<br />
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Fire engine at Kids Karnival</div>
About a month after he started he had a cold, and started to refuse his bottle. This was expressed milk, so exactly what he was used to. I always joked about my boys having Tui on tap! (the beer..). It got to the point where he was going for his full 6 hours without any food/fluids. In the end the SLT at the hospital suggested using a sippy cup, because she didn't want him to continue getting feed via a syringe (I told preschool to get the food into him any way they could and I suggested a syringe, because I knew he was fine taking his meds via a syringe).</div>
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Apart from that, Under2s at preschool was fairly good.<br />
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Fishing from the balance board - making great progress!</div>
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I think that I really noticed the differences, etc when he moved through to the preschool. He was moving about by bum shuffling and crawling. Which in itself wasn't too big of a problem, but when he was out in the playground, the teachers would get him to head instead about 5 or 10 mins before kai time, etc so that he had time to get in there before all the other kids came in.</div>
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I'm trying to make this as useful as I can for you, but I think it's going to make me cry. I'll try to keep it to preschool, because there were downfalls in early intervention, and it was only because I kept pushing and advocating for him that he finally got the additional support of his walking frame.</div>
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And the rolling walkie thingie...</div>
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Now that he is walking independently (Yay, Isaac!!!!) I'm noticing other things. Although cognitively he is at or ahead of his age, physically he is still struggling. The other week they had some mini balance beams (that's the best way I know how to describe them) in the classroom, and had the children running and jumping over these. For Isaac to step over these by himself would be a struggle. He can manage the tracks of a ranchslider, or small steps without having to hold on. But these were a good 10cm off the floor, probably 10cm wide, and in the middle of the room with no support for him to hold on to.</div>
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Another day they had the obstacle course outside. Isaac is a determined wee boy, and I would consider myself a fairly tough mum, in that I get him to do as much as possible for himself. But when there are things like obstacle courses and the like, I'm not sure what kind of affect it has on Isaac and his self confidence. He knows that he has a disability, and that he's not the same as other kids his age.<br />
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When he was about 18 months old there was an article on Campbell live one night, about a baby that had been in NICU, intubated, etc. And Phil said to Isaac, that he used to be sick like that when he was a little baby, but he's not sick any more. Isaac, with sad puppy dog eyes, said "But I still sick, I fall down all the time." It made my heart break. But it also told us that he knew what was going on, and that he wasn't the same as other kids.</div>
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Now that Isaac has turned three, he will qualify for an ESW at preschool, one morning/afternoon per week. Just waiting for that to get sorted, hopefully not much longer.</div>
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The current challenge is toilet training. I know this can be a challenge for lots of parents, but when the boy is wobbly on his feet, this provides added challenges. Guess I'm going to need to work more with his therapists, to get the information and strategies, and then pass those on to preschool.</div>
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Isaac's ESW (Education Support Worker) starts on Tuesday, I'm really excited as she is someone who spent time working with Isaac last year. The ESW is assigned by Champion Centre and reports back to Isaac's therapists and us on a regular basis.<br />
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Champion Centre has to fund raise large amounts of money each year to continue providing the fabulous service that they do. Last weekend was their annual fair where my boys had heaps of fun: ice creams, bouncy castle, face painting. Afterwards, I had heaps of fun playing with photos editing apps on my phone.<br />
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same photo</div>
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different looks</div>
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layered looks</div>
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all at the click of a couple of buttons</div>
<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-77314728900994574352013-03-17T21:45:00.002+13:002013-03-17T21:45:29.936+13:00Christmas/Summer Holidays 2012/13Christmas is always a fun time when you have little ones. The one just gone was no exception.<br />
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We had a family gathering at our place with Phil's family, then I took the boys down to Mum's while Phil got organised for our camping holiday.<br />
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I made a big decision, and decided that Isaac didn't need to take his walking frame. So Phil packed the van, and we headed down to Timaru. There is a carnival at the Bay every year, including an amazing fireworks display on new years eve.<br />
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We had a great area for camping, away from a lot of the traffic. Uneven ground and shingle drvieways, were a challenge for Isaac, but by the end of the week, he had mastered them. Reuben mastered his challenge of riding his bike. I'm so proud of both boys.<br />
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A friend of Reuben's camped there for a couple of nights, and the boys were all out playing spotlight on new years eve before we went down to the carnival. Both Reuben and Isaac had new flashing shoes, so we were able to see exactly where they were during the game.<br />
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A lovely relaxing time was had by all!<br />
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<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-85647263511614515062013-03-10T22:59:00.001+13:002013-03-10T23:00:12.079+13:00Sunday morning<br />
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We all know that getting out the door on time in the morning can be a challenge, even if it's on the weekend to get to sport or church. Even if the kids behave it can still be a challenge.</div>
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Dad’s Pool of Peace – by Phil Brewster</div>
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I got out of the shower</div>
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The boys own the airways with disobedient fun</div>
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Has Isaac’s nappy been changed?</div>
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I…Shoooosh Reuben I told you, I need to hear mum,</div>
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Now what did you say?</div>
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Yes but the boys need to do their teeth</div>
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Reuben interjects, but we haven’t had breakfast.</div>
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You said you had breakfast!!!!</div>
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No – well I had 5 weetbix</div>
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5?!?!?!?</div>
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Well I was hungry – and I gave Isaac one too.</div>
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Well... that’s breakfast</div>
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But we didn’t have milk on it!</div>
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It still counts as breakfast! Did you have five weetbix
without milk??</div>
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Yeah-s</div>
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Well… you’d better go and have a glass of water,</div>
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or your poo pipes will block up!! And it will really hurt.</div>
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Big eyes, gulps water, a moment to think, time to eat.</div>
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They’re moving to the door now. I don’t want to go</div>
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to church today I say.</div>
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Fine, then you can hang the washing out, and thanks</div>
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I could have had a shower.</div>
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Bye Dad… the door shuts… I’m still… standing…</div>
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Now my heart slows… silence…</div>
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The clock ticks, welcome</div>
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The kids have gone</div>
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And a pool of peace wells around me</div>
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My legs say sit, the jugs boiled</div>
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But I dare not break this moment.</div>
Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-63347438773187663012013-02-04T22:40:00.000+13:002013-02-04T22:43:02.738+13:00Momentous Occasions 1,2,3,4I was meant to write this next post on Christmas and our summer holiday. Promise, it is coming, but I have way more exciting things to share about today!<br />
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Last week was one featuring numerous momentous occasions.<br />
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Isaac hadn't used his walking frame since before Christmas, so we gave it back to the Physio! This means that Isaac is officially walking independently. It was a surprisingly emotional moment, and I was soooo proud of my little guy. I guess it felt like the end of an era, with unimaginable possibilities on the horizon.<br />
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Feeding a friendly duck on the front lawn</div>
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Later in the week, we were invited to speak at a NICU staff training meeting. It was great to see some familiar faces from the time that Isaac spent in the unit. And to have Isaac show off his walking and speaking skills. Some of them remembered how sick he had been, and were almost stunned at how well he is doing. It's also quite amazing the extra bits of information you pick up when talking to people. A year ago, I found out that Isaac had been one of the longest resuscitation that had been performed in the NICU. This time, I found out that a contributing factor to Isaac's outcome was because one of the neo-natal consultants was present in theatre when he was born. He was able to get top of the line care immediately after his birth. She had to use the oxygen at a much higher pressure than is normally used, which did compromise his lungs.<br />
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Check out my new glasses</div>
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Yep, I'm a showoff!</div>
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Next up was getting Isaac glasses. He's had a slight squint (cross-eyed). We'd been to the ophthalmology department at the hospital a number of times, and finally before Christmas they decided that he needed to see the specialist. Upon seeing the specialist in the new year, he recommended that we get glasses for Isaac with the intention that it would correct the squint. It was really easy to sell him on the idea of wearing glasses, as I wear my a lot of the time, so Isaac was quite happy to be just like mummy.<br />
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Bubbles and water wars</div>
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And last but not least, Isaac's third birthday. We celebrated with a "bubble" party and had a mini water theme park set up on our front lawn. It makes a nice change, to have a birthday party in the mild of summer - Reuben's birthday is middle of winter, so we always have to plan for an indoor activity. We had a great time with friends and family celebrating with us. It's amazing to think what we've been through in the past 3 years and what a blessing our boys are.<br />
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<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-7807250883994839542013-01-13T01:10:00.004+13:002013-01-13T01:10:55.506+13:00Watch out 2013, here we comeIt's hard to believe that 2013 is here already. I feel like I have been incredibly slack, reading hardly any blogs over the last couple of months, and writing no posts of my own.<br />
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In my defense, there has been a lot of things going on over the past few months. I was struggling with the necessary change in mindset between working in a high performance sport environment, and then being at home with a child who has physical disabilities. The company that I work for was in the process of restructuring. I decided, since I'd been there for 5 years, that it was time to look at moving on. After numerous applications and interviews, I secured a position as financial administrator at the Cochlear Implant clinic. I've been there for a couple of months now, it's been a steep learning curve, but I'm really enjoying it and am slowly getting my head around everything that this job entails.<br />
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We've been having problems with Reuben's behaviour over the past few months. I was getting really bad - hitting, kicking, biting, swearing, name calling, throwing things, etc. I was finally able to get some help to put some strategies in place to help me deal with and diffuse the behaviour and the anger. A lot of kids in Christchurch have been having problems due to the ongoing stress from the earthquakes. I wan't sure if that was what caused Reuben's problems, or if it was because he was a 6 year old boy, or because he had a younger brother, or if it was because he had a sibling with disabilities. Probably a combination of all of the above in varying degrees at any one time.<br />
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I went to a session at school that was put on with clinical psychologists talking about what to do with kids that have been suffering from ongoing stress. It was an okay session, but I was pretty down by the end of the session, To be honest, if it was just the earthquakes I could handle that because I know that they're not going to be forever. But it really highlighted to me that Isaac's disability was going to be ongoing, like for the rest of his life. Not quite what I was hoping to get out of the evening.<br />
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I've been talking with various people who read my blog, and it has been really encouraging to hear some of their comments. One couple in particular, we met at the mall one weekend. They said that it was great how not only did we get Isaac out and about, but also that we were open with other people about the experience we were going through. Now, any of you who are reading this at the moment who have special kiddies, will know that as a blogger you don't put everything you're going through in your posts. But I'm pleased that I'm able to give people a bit of a glimpse into our Tutti Frutti life.<br />
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One of the additional benefits that I've received from having Isaac at Champion Centre, is the connection that I've been able to make with other mums. I never realised how isolated I was until I hooked up with a group of champion mums (past and present) who go out to dinner and socialise once every six weeks or so. It's great being able to share experiences and concerns with others who are on the same page and a great excuse for a night out.<br />
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What's Isaac been up to, I hear you ask. Well, let me tell you just how fabo this little guy is! Each week at his therapy sessions he works really hard. So hard in fact that he can hardly keep his eyes open on the two block drive from Champion centre to preschool. The therapists and teachers all say how much of a pleasure it is to see him each week. He has worked so hard and progressed so well, that he is moving to a different session when classes resume after the summer break. This year he will be going fortnightly instead of weekly. There's some down sides about that - not being with friends and teachers that we know and no computer sessions :( But on the plus side - meeting new friends, new challenges, new teachers.<br />
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We had some new front steps installed. The rise was too deep for Isaac and he struggled to walk up them by himself. Now, although they come out a lot further, each step isn't as deep and with that combined with the handrail that got installed at the same time, he can now walk up and down the front steps by himself. It also means that he can go out and play with Reuben or the neighbours without the need for me to stop what I'm doing to help him down.<br />
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Mid December Isaac had an appointment with the Paediatric Neurologist. He'd been referred by his neonatal consultant, who had also said that she'd be passing him on to the developmental paediatricians. When we met with the neurologist, he said to us that since we'd been referred to him, there wasn't much point in seeing the developmental paediatricians too. So he would take over managing Isaac's case. Sounds like a good plan to me.<br />
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Over the last few months, Isaac has been relying on his walker less and less. The week before Christmas, I decided that he didn't need to take it to preschool. Most of the time he's dump it anyway, and we'd have to go looking for it before we went home. Going to the mall has started to be easier (and quicker) if he holds my hand, or walks independently if there aren't many people around. Result - he hasn't touched his walker in 4 weeks!<br />
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Bye for now, I'll be back soon with more on Christmas and our summer holiday...Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-64896508854610602212012-09-10T00:46:00.002+12:002012-09-10T00:47:10.921+12:00I'm baaaack!No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth, I've been finding things a bit tough going recently, hence the lack of posts. A dear friend told me a couple of weeks ago how long it had been since my last post....<br />
Starting with the anniversary of my Dad's passing.<br />
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We've been having some behavioural issues with Reuben. He's fine at school and his after school programme. But at home, well that's another story. Hitting, kicking, biting, throwing things, breaking things. Poor wee Isaac gets terrified when Reuben gets like that. I get bruised. But I'm not giving in, I will continue to discipline him, and not allow him to behave with such disrespect! Mum has spoken, you have been warned!<br />
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Work has been difficult, restructuring which is going to take a total of about six months to complete, in addition to other things which I am unable to talk about here. So I've started having a bit of a look around to see what other opportunities are around.<br />
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After I got over the flu, I've ended up with the hundred day cough which seems to be doing the rounds in Canterbury at the moment.<br />
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On a positive note, we've hit spring big time. And I've started getting motivated to do some baking with the boys. Been doing something each week, and because we've got a convection microwave, I don't have feel guilty about heating the whole oven just to cook/bake one thing.<br />
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I have missed international Cerebral Palsy day which was also the second anniversary of the first of the earthquakes - September 4th. We've had over 12000 earthquakes in the last two years. But we did just have a stretch of 10 days where there were none at all - it's a bit surreal that a statistic like that is a milestone!<br />
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Isaac has been a star. He's making fantastic progress with his walking. He is only using it at preschool intermittently, and occasionally at the mall. His motor control for feeding is improving. He now has a special raised chair that he uses at the table. I was initially a little wary, thinking that it would create more mess, but actually it's been okay. Balance is getting so much better and the exercises that he's doing at champion centre have lead to him being able to jump off his chair (when I hold his hands) knees bent and everything. Yeah, I'm a proud Mama.<br />
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The next few weeks are going to be hectic. Why is it that all the apppointments end up happening within a couple of weeks of each other? Isaac has his first IP this week. I'm kind of nervous about it, but at the same time quite excited. He has come such a long way in such a short time. Optometrist appointment which we've had to wait 3 months for. Appointment with Paediatrician - I think she is going to be impressed with our little guy. OT home safety assessment, and Lifelinks assessment (my best advice for people is to get into the system as soon as you can, that way you can access as much funding, etc as possible). Add in some interviews, a couple of staff leaving lunches, pamper day, Silver Ferns test.<br />
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We were really fortunate to be able to get our house insulated with batts (under floor and ceiling). It has made such a difference and although we've past the worst of winter and headed into spring, I think that we're going to notice a difference through summer and into next winter - YAY for saving money on Pellets for the pellet burner!<br />
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If anyone knows how to do a circular or oval crop, please let me know. It's something that I haven't had time to figure out - or maybe I don't have the correct software. We're not allowed to put photos of champion centre staff on the net, so I've improvised.</div>
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A group a mum's from champion centre have started getting together for dinner once every month or two. Last time was the first time that I'd been, but I figured if I don't do it now, I'll wimp out later too. I got my friend Cushla (also a Champion Mum) to come with me. We had a great time meeting new people and eating great food. Some of the mum's are graduates, so they know what we're going through. It is crazy how ordinary people end up going through an extraordinary journey for their child. </div>
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I have been amazed a the courage of parents I have met online from around the world. There are a couple of people from the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Freddysawarenesspage" target="_blank">UK</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/KeiraleeWilliams" target="_blank">Australia</a> who are raising awareness of the newborn cooling which Isaac had at birth. I watched a story on tv tonight about an <a href="http://www.facebook.com/walktalkfly" target="_blank">amazing father with a child who has cerebral pals</a>y, it was really inspiring.</div>
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Until next time, and I promise that it won't be so long</div>
Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-45118782632800808952012-08-02T23:55:00.000+12:002012-08-02T23:55:06.881+12:00Through the Lens ThursdayIt's been another of those weeks, ended up on another lot of antibiotics - this time for a throat infection. I am so looking forward to this winter being over. On a positive note, we're getting insulation installed in our ceiling and under floor. It will be really interesting to see how much difference it makes to the warmth of our house, and how much we save on pellets for the pellet fire.<br />
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Although I haven't been posting on a very regular basis while I've been under the weather, I have been thinking about other topics that I can blog on. How about a regular post on things from my childhood? "Blast from the Past" will be featuring soon.<br />
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Something else which I quite enjoy is finding new, unusual and cool fonts. So I'm playing with the idea that I do a free font of the week. Just need to do a bit of testing to ensure that my page will be able to support this idea - that's the old analyst programmer in me coming out. Some fonts that I've discovered are great for scrapbooking, others for children's party invitations and some for handcrafted card inners. I know, kind of an odd thing to like, but hey at least it's got practical applications! Probably comes from the stamping and scrapbooking that I have done and from when I worked at the stamp shop and made suggestions on new designs for word or alphabet stamps.<br />
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Probably should remember to give you an update on the boys at some point too!<br />
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<b>Sunshine</b></div>
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Shoot the sun! Easy!</div>
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Sunset requires sun, so here you are. We have been very fortunate to witness some stunning sunsets over the past couple of weeks. I love the fact that through most of winter here in Christchurch, after a frosty start we have a stunning sunny day. I much prefer that kind of a day to the drizzy, overcast kind, they can get a bit depressing.<br />
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<b>On the Road</b></div>
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Take a photo of something on the road, you driving, other cars, paint on the road, anything!</div>
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A concrete truck, but not the normal kind of concrete truck. This truck was carrying slabs of concrete, having been removed from a deconstructed building. Over the past 23 months we have seen so many things that we would never have imagined seeing in our wonderful city. In that time, we have survived the unimaginable, but I think that everyone is looking forward to the future. It's going to be tough, but I almost wish that we could look into the future and see 10 years into the future.<br />
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<b>Cup</b></div>
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What's your favourite cup to drink from? Or a trophy cup you won?</div>
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Or a drink you had today? Shoot it and share it.</div>
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I quite like to drink my night time hot chocolate from this cup. But what I really like is the way that the stripes look as though they vary in width depending on what angle you are looking at it from.<br />
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<b>Last thing you bought</b></div>
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Was it something exciting or toilet paper? Or something more extravagant? Share it!</div>
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Don't you love it when you find a bargain? And it was actually something you were looking for! A friend had one of these apple peeler/corer/slicers and I thought that it was fantastic. The other week on one of the one day special websites (Grabone, I think in this instance) had purchase a voucher for the Homestore and get double the value to spend in store - basically 50% off. I jumped onto their website and found that they did indeed sell this particular item, so purchased the voucher and have just been and got my new gadget.<br />
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<b>Calm</b></div>
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Earlier in the month we shot busy, now let's shoot something calm. What's calm in your life today?</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uasMprDd9nY/UBpfda7uAUI/AAAAAAAAAgE/7jQz18L8HhE/s1600/20120802_calm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uasMprDd9nY/UBpfda7uAUI/AAAAAAAAAgE/7jQz18L8HhE/s400/20120802_calm.jpg" width="338" /></a></div>
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A cool little bridge, over a wee stream, surrounded by native plantings. Peaceful and relaxing, just need to relocate it from where it is to our front yard and it would be perfect!<br />
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<b>Toothbrush</b></div>
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Boring right? Make it interesting. Play with apps, to make it more interesting. Have fun!</div>
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Who needs to play with apps when you have a gorgeous model to assist with the taking of photos? Isaac loves to brush his teeth, and is very much into routines. Immediately after finishing breakfast he wants to go and brush his teeth before we get our bags and coats to head out the door in the morning. At night, after dinner and some play time or cartoon watching, once Isaac is in his pajamas, he will go and do his teeth, then give Daddy a kiss goodnight and off to bed.</div>
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<b>Outside</b></div>
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Take a photo of outside/outdoors or something outside of something.</div>
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So a person outside a door, a lolly/candy outside a lolly/candy jar.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wZi-KygKK6w/UBpjqpsR9bI/AAAAAAAAAgs/ZNvnHFtAtmc/s1600/starfish+blessings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wZi-KygKK6w/UBpjqpsR9bI/AAAAAAAAAgs/ZNvnHFtAtmc/s320/starfish+blessings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Occasionally you need to bend the rules, when you find an image that is stunning. This really speaks for itself!</div>
<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-67916866116382741302012-07-26T21:27:00.001+12:002012-07-26T21:27:14.466+12:00Through the Lens ThursdayI'm starting to get the hang of this photo a day thing, and quite enjoying coming up with photos for each day. Now I just have to get a life, so that my blog has a chance of being interesting!<br />
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<strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Animal/insect/pet</span></strong></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Take a photo of a little critter or a big critter today.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vEg6enYcFmw/UBDfc6Q39xI/AAAAAAAAAeA/DUc2tHkLG48/s1600/20120725_animal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vEg6enYcFmw/UBDfc6Q39xI/AAAAAAAAAeA/DUc2tHkLG48/s400/20120725_animal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Had a visitor in the office the other day - I'm not really a dog person (or a cat person for that matter). The only reason I took any notice of the pooch was because I suddenly remembered that I needed a photo of an animal. Don't hold it against me, I'm sure that there is something you don't like that I do :)</div>
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<strong style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Eyes</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Take a photo of eyes, on you, someone else, a pet or even a toy.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ-Szyj9h_w/UBDfRGNR3KI/AAAAAAAAAdw/yfe3e0HfLWY/s1600/20120724_eyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ-Szyj9h_w/UBDfRGNR3KI/AAAAAAAAAdw/yfe3e0HfLWY/s400/20120724_eyes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Cheeky little monkey - you can just see the mischief in these eyes. Both of my boys have lovely blue eyes.</div>
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<strong style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">9 o’clock</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Take a photo of what ever you’re doing at 9am or 9pm. Your choice.</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kEW08er4oJ4/UBDe5LhqFXI/AAAAAAAAAdg/N6tMYq8ot_M/s1600/20120721_nine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kEW08er4oJ4/UBDe5LhqFXI/AAAAAAAAAdg/N6tMYq8ot_M/s400/20120721_nine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Washing, washing and yet more washing to be folded and put away. Sometimes it feels like this is never ending and that all I do is washing, dry, fold....<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Upside down</span></strong></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Coming Soon';"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Take a different look at the world.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Take a photo upside-down or of something upside-down.</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EOTJF_PMOQc/UBDfR8NP47I/AAAAAAAAAd4/wSNH_cbs-jA/s1600/20120724_upside+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EOTJF_PMOQc/UBDfR8NP47I/AAAAAAAAAd4/wSNH_cbs-jA/s640/20120724_upside+down.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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Isaac loves it when Daddy throws him upside down. Reuben used to, but has grown too big.<br />
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<strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mirror</span></strong></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Coming Soon';"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Take a photo of a mirror, or your reflection in the mirror.</span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-koWWCIt_9ng/UBDfP2VZnDI/AAAAAAAAAdo/u35qTtUJBoA/s1600/20120723_mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-koWWCIt_9ng/UBDfP2VZnDI/AAAAAAAAAdo/u35qTtUJBoA/s400/20120723_mirror.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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When Isaac has his music therapy there are various mirrors around the room so that he can see what his body is doing and so that I can see his reaction to the activities that he's doing.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">A stranger</span></strong></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Coming Soon';"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Be brave or sneaky. Take a photo of a perfect stranger.</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uv0U3933qnA/UBD9gRrEGMI/AAAAAAAAAeg/dIJgVwG-iPQ/s1600/20120722+strangers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uv0U3933qnA/UBD9gRrEGMI/AAAAAAAAAeg/dIJgVwG-iPQ/s400/20120722+strangers.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There are some strangers in the background of this photo! We took this while away on holiday at Christmas. Tiny town at <a href="http://www.splashplanet.co.nz/">Splash Planet</a> in Hastings was a huge hit, as was the gondola and luge in Rotorua. I think that the thing that I appreciated most about our holiday was that we were away for the <a href="http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/archives/2011/dec-23-2011-christchurch-hit-again-at-christmas.html">5.8 and 6.0 earthquakes that hit Christchurch again on 23 December 2011.</a></div>
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<strong style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Heart</span></strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Take a photo of a heart.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJScPVa8Fg8/UBDfzR1G2EI/AAAAAAAAAeM/-xWc7FWxls8/s1600/20120726_heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJScPVa8Fg8/UBDfzR1G2EI/AAAAAAAAAeM/-xWc7FWxls8/s400/20120726_heart.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
When a saw this necklace a couple of years ago, and thought it was so pretty, I just had to get it. Love it when the sun hits the glass and the colours in the refracted light shine through.<br />
<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-57836319635787539222012-07-20T00:09:00.001+12:002012-07-20T00:09:07.098+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I was getting prepared to write this post, I started getting really confused. The subject matter didn't correspond to the pictures I thought that I was meant to have. Turns out that two weeks ago, I couldn't count to seven! So this week I am intentionally adding an extra photo.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Letter</b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Take a photo of a letter, perhaps one you get in the mail, one you wrote or even a letter from the alphabet {in a sign, or in a book or somewhere else!}</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cddLMZIuECM/UAfp6P20SAI/AAAAAAAAAcY/SU2PsoPkO3Q/s1600/20120714_letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cddLMZIuECM/UAfp6P20SAI/AAAAAAAAAcY/SU2PsoPkO3Q/s400/20120714_letter.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
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Reuben's birthday ended up being spread over three weeks. There's nothing like getting home at the end of the day and finding a package sitting on the doorstep.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Texture</b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">This is a toughy! Take a photo of something with texture; carpet, wood, a painting anything that has texture.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84vESPfBaZM/UAfrCje7jDI/AAAAAAAAAcg/gULIkZKKV_E/s1600/20120713_texture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84vESPfBaZM/UAfrCje7jDI/AAAAAAAAAcg/gULIkZKKV_E/s400/20120713_texture.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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You may have noticed Isaac wearing this beanie in other photos. It was actually given to Reuben last<br />winter as part of an initiative where people around the country knitted hats/beanies for kids in Christchurch.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Open</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a picture of an open sign, or something open; a door, a jar, anything that can be ‘open’!</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QmfQ2ZJIvRA/UAfs8XLKYtI/AAAAAAAAAco/YAWHYFLFIrE/s1600/20120715_open+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QmfQ2ZJIvRA/UAfs8XLKYtI/AAAAAAAAAco/YAWHYFLFIrE/s400/20120715_open+cropped.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
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"ROAR!" Watch out I'm going to eat you all up.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Building</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a building you see. It could be a big or small building.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_6N645YBrI/UAften-zhPI/AAAAAAAAAcw/hh7ussoHNX8/s1600/20120713_building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_6N645YBrI/UAften-zhPI/AAAAAAAAAcw/hh7ussoHNX8/s400/20120713_building.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reuben decided that he wanted to put stickers on his shirt. Not sure about the motor bikes and boat in the sky among the buildings, however the airplane was positioned perfectly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Finger</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Take a photo of a finger, yours, someone elses, a finger sign or even a toy finger or sorts.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp7hWX-1DqQ/UAftqykHePI/AAAAAAAAAc4/QX7sVczmm_0/s1600/20120716+finger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp7hWX-1DqQ/UAftqykHePI/AAAAAAAAAc4/QX7sVczmm_0/s400/20120716+finger.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I will admit that I cheated on this one. When Reuben was a baby, we got some photos taken, and this one was just too cute not to include in this post.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Sign</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Get creative! Find a sign {a street sign, someone doing sign language or even a sign of fate!}</span></div>
</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pRXPLVCj7Mk/UAfudfuwTDI/AAAAAAAAAdA/qLFzqPXy-ls/s1600/20120719_sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pRXPLVCj7Mk/UAfudfuwTDI/AAAAAAAAAdA/qLFzqPXy-ls/s400/20120719_sign.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Created by the amazing Rachel, this mosaic was made from broken crockery on the anniversary of the February earthquake. It is displayed in one of the windows in our church.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Your Addiction</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">What’s your guilty pleasure? What do you love? What are you addicted to? Share it!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ns5wW4oDznI/UAfu9XGCjII/AAAAAAAAAdM/E0Ku_HaYW6c/s1600/20120719_addiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ns5wW4oDznI/UAfu9XGCjII/AAAAAAAAAdM/E0Ku_HaYW6c/s400/20120719_addiction.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I was having difficulty thinking of what to do for this photo, then I realised that one of the things that I enjoying a lot is hanging out at the mall.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Plate</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Take a picture of a plate, with or without food on it.</span></div>
</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q8L6pabiZko/UAfvV_8X2GI/AAAAAAAAAdU/6eLWZPGvGEY/s1600/20120719_plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q8L6pabiZko/UAfvV_8X2GI/AAAAAAAAAdU/6eLWZPGvGEY/s400/20120719_plate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Because we live near the beach, I have quite a bit of beach themed crockery.<br /></div>
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Sorry that this post is a bit on the short side today, but it is getting really late, and I still need to get a few things done before I can call it a night.</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-45069356908503666142012-07-16T23:39:00.001+12:002012-07-16T23:39:09.821+12:00Slackness & a VERY late Through the Lens Thursday<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am slack, slack, slack! No posts in almost two weeks is not the way to win friends (readers) and influence people.<br /><br />After a week in bed with the nasty bug that's doing the rounds and a week of trying to recover, get back to work and get the house operational again, I am starting to feel like I've just about returned to normal - well as normal as I can be! I'm so pleased that I had Reuben booked in for holiday program, and Isaac at preschool. Over the holidays, I try to let the boys have a bit of a sleep in in the mornings, so we're not out the door as smartly in the mornings as we are during term time, but on the other hand we can't just laze around home all day either.<br /><br /><br />Since I last updated you, Isaac has been doing amazing with his walking. Not only does he not use his walker inside the house any more, it usually gets ditched when he arrives at preschool (although it's good that he still has it if he needs it or is having a 'wobbly' day), Champion Centre he used it for walking into the building and walking out again - he flew solo the rest of the time, at the weekend we went to the mall (this time across town to Riccarton, which is significantly bigger than the others in the city) and he went the whole length, twice with his walker! I can tell you, he's been having great afternoon naps after all that exercise. He is getting more and more stable, and has figured out how to regain his balance if he's walking along and starts to loose it. I am just so proud of the little guy! His determination is inspiring.<br /><br />Reuben has now lost his two front teeth (bottom ones), I guess mid-winter Christmas is nearly as good as Christmas. <br /><br /><br />Here's last weeks Through the Lens Thursday....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Fun</b> </span></div>
</span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Shoot a picture of something fun or something you enjoy doing</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lmn7UzMv66A/UAPnOF4MtCI/AAAAAAAAAbU/nvwm908JunI/s1600/20120707_fun.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lmn7UzMv66A/UAPnOF4MtCI/AAAAAAAAAbU/nvwm908JunI/s400/20120707_fun.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I could watch Isaac play for hours. He is such a happy content wee fellow. My heart just wants to melt when I think about him. And, if I think about what could have been, my heart wants to break. But we are making the best of everything, and are constantly asking the Lord for His strength to keep us going.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">On the floor</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Take a picture of something on the floor. Your feet, patterned tiles, toys, grass – what’s beneath your feet?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V1O5wiTo1Do/UAPnlKUPKrI/AAAAAAAAAbg/dJh2Y3IIrtA/s1600/20120709_on+the+floor.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V1O5wiTo1Do/UAPnlKUPKrI/AAAAAAAAAbg/dJh2Y3IIrtA/s400/20120709_on+the+floor.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
I had a lot of help from my sister and niece when I was sick. Reuben was also really helpful, one night he got Isaac ready for bed - nappy, pajamas, teeth, prayers. What a great big brother. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Chair</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a chair you see in your travels or at home/work/school etc.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6SfwftKLnj8/UAPoAddxkaI/AAAAAAAAAbo/zuhP01bPEkA/s1600/20120707_chair.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6SfwftKLnj8/UAPoAddxkaI/AAAAAAAAAbo/zuhP01bPEkA/s400/20120707_chair.jpg" width="331" /></a></div>
Sometimes as a special treat, Reuben and Isaac like to sit in Daddy's recliner and watch cartoons. There is just enough room for both boys on here, but this particular day it was Isaac's turn.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Garden</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a garden, yours or someone elses!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb7Fs_CHhZA/UAPoXKKCwmI/AAAAAAAAAbw/lxIfeP53MOg/s1600/20120711_garden.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb7Fs_CHhZA/UAPoXKKCwmI/AAAAAAAAAbw/lxIfeP53MOg/s400/20120711_garden.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Ok, it's a fence rather than a garden. Every time I drive down this road, I am astounded by how much this fence has sunken due to liquifaction (terms like this come up in everyday conversation in Christchurch).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Lunch</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What’s for lunch today? Take a photo before you eat it!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bCl0-S9hFlY/UAPollme4yI/AAAAAAAAAb4/V9Hb8T8vczo/s1600/20120710_lunch.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bCl0-S9hFlY/UAPollme4yI/AAAAAAAAAb4/V9Hb8T8vczo/s400/20120710_lunch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Lunches are a bit of a production line around our place. Each night, the sandwiches, fruit, and snacks are lined up, wrapped, packed, and ready for the next morning. Sandwich content ranges from jam or peanut butter through to cold meat and salad. What goes into your lunch boxes?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Big</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of something big. Perhaps make it look bigger by getting down low and shooting it looking up?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9khS1xClZoA/UAPo6t99kNI/AAAAAAAAAcA/ZKgbuDNZLj0/s1600/20120711_big.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9khS1xClZoA/UAPo6t99kNI/AAAAAAAAAcA/ZKgbuDNZLj0/s400/20120711_big.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
As the city continues to undergo massive changes, there is more and more heavy machine coming in. Durham Street has only just reopened, and this is what I saw driving to work. That is one BIG crane. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Your favourite colour</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What’s your fave colour right now? Take a photo of it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-umrE_1j9V0M/UAPpYMZblBI/AAAAAAAAAcI/Tu1Ty11vjNY/s1600/20120712_fav+colour.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-umrE_1j9V0M/UAPpYMZblBI/AAAAAAAAAcI/Tu1Ty11vjNY/s400/20120712_fav+colour.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Saw these in the shop the other day. Love the colour, and the style, am thinking I might need to make a return visit!</span>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-39109165721310466632012-07-05T16:38:00.003+12:002012-07-05T16:38:38.060+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've spent most of the past week in bed ill, hence no posts. Haven't been this sick in many years, it even took a few days for the antibiotics and steroids to kick in. Just as well it's only the athletes and not the staff at work that get drug tested after a match!</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Coming Soon'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b>Bathroom</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Coming Soon'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Share a bathroom - yours, a public one, a friends - can even just be the door</span>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J-st2C0WTjs/T_TsmQpjrOI/AAAAAAAAAVM/d-9N8_wqvkU/s1600/20120629_211413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J-st2C0WTjs/T_TsmQpjrOI/AAAAAAAAAVM/d-9N8_wqvkU/s640/20120629_211413.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I knew that today's photo challenge was bathroom. Our bathroom at home is not very exciting, it's not modern, is a bit worse for wear (and earthquakes). So when I needed to use the bathroom at the mall I figured that I'd just take a photo of the door. I actually quite like the coloured frosted glass with stainless accessories. Wasn't until I went to upload this week's photos that I realised that the suggestions included public bathroom and that it could even just be a door.</span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">On the shelf</span></b>
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<span style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">Shoot a shelf and what's on it</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljq42DehiEA/T_TtE88e3MI/AAAAAAAAAVk/j1EE47_yYpc/s1600/20120705_120616+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljq42DehiEA/T_TtE88e3MI/AAAAAAAAAVk/j1EE47_yYpc/s640/20120705_120616+cropped.jpg" width="417" /></a></div>
No cupboard is complete without a cookie jar! What does your cookie jar or cake tin look like?<br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">Soft</span></b>
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<span style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">What's soft? Is it your hair, a toy, a sofa, or something else?</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZlbaPvaC-mg/T_TtZukggAI/AAAAAAAAAVs/dvuur2_Z7wM/s1600/20120705_121335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZlbaPvaC-mg/T_TtZukggAI/AAAAAAAAAVs/dvuur2_Z7wM/s400/20120705_121335.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Soft cuddly toys, for cuddly boys - and this is only some of the collection. Some nights there isn't much room in bed for the boy. Other nights the boys both get into bed together and there isn't much room for the toys.<br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">A friend<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Coming Soon';">Take a snap of a friend and share it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-btUKLWr8FqE/T_Ts7uMHGjI/AAAAAAAAAVU/66y4Bpa00hc/s1600/20120630_144718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-btUKLWr8FqE/T_Ts7uMHGjI/AAAAAAAAAVU/66y4Bpa00hc/s400/20120630_144718.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's so good to have Aunty and Uncle home. They've been working overseas for the past 9 months. Welcome home! </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Self Portrait</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A photo of yourself that you've taken (get creative, take a photo of your reflection maybe?)</span></div>
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Snuggles on the couch, and playing with the phones camera. That was about all that I was up for.<br />
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<b>Best Part of Your Day</b></div>
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What's the best part of your day? Your morning coffee? Seeing your kids or loved one? Going for a walk? Snap it and share it.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YeDXUCANR3g/T_Tti4FBGNI/AAAAAAAAAWc/odKU0O46ICI/s1600/stats+overview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YeDXUCANR3g/T_Tti4FBGNI/AAAAAAAAAWc/odKU0O46ICI/s400/stats+overview.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AOagV6Ctj0/T_TtiPAK8dI/AAAAAAAAAWU/62HEJFDJF6w/s1600/stats+audience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AOagV6Ctj0/T_TtiPAK8dI/AAAAAAAAAWU/62HEJFDJF6w/s400/stats+audience.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What a surprise I got when I went onto my blog and found that I've passed 2000 page views! That really made my day. There are people around the globe who are interested in what is going on in our lives, very humbling.</span><br />
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<b>Busy</b></div>
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Take a photo of something busy - the street, your to-do list, people shopping, just something that represents busy.<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It's been a bit difficult to get a shot of busy, and I've been thinking about having a go at using some of the various photo apps that are available. I'd been wondering how some of the photos on other blogs looked so fantastic. Tints, saturation, contrast, as well as various effects within the different apps. Had a bit of a play and this is what I came up with:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2O5-AvxhHH0/T_TtaXORrfI/AAAAAAAAAV0/PxfRjfa0LEA/s1600/PF_Sepia_05072012125439096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2O5-AvxhHH0/T_TtaXORrfI/AAAAAAAAAV0/PxfRjfa0LEA/s400/PF_Sepia_05072012125439096.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_K0cMXCyO0/T_Ttg3IVfcI/AAAAAAAAAWM/tAkSGHRcwiA/s1600/PhotoArt_07052012124706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_K0cMXCyO0/T_Ttg3IVfcI/AAAAAAAAAWM/tAkSGHRcwiA/s400/PhotoArt_07052012124706.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ESQYrONowcA/T_TtgK-WBWI/AAAAAAAAAWE/KDNtUVFdvJc/s1600/photo+editor+2012-07-05+12.21.24+-4sat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ESQYrONowcA/T_TtgK-WBWI/AAAAAAAAAWE/KDNtUVFdvJc/s400/photo+editor+2012-07-05+12.21.24+-4sat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qtrLeTGrNDU/T_TtbTFVrqI/AAAAAAAAAV8/Twsu9qw0HUQ/s1600/PF_Warm_Spring_05072012125221272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qtrLeTGrNDU/T_TtbTFVrqI/AAAAAAAAAV8/Twsu9qw0HUQ/s400/PF_Warm_Spring_05072012125221272.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Obviously different effects will work better on different photos, but I thought that this one of the cuddly toys was a good place to start.<br />
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What do you do with your photos? Use them as is, or crop them? Do you have a favourite effect or app?<br />
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<br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-43647593536862613942012-06-28T23:09:00.001+12:002012-06-28T23:09:49.088+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know that I'm not the best photographer, but over the past couple of months, I've taken more photos than I have in a long time. Better angles, positioning, etc - see I don't even know the correct terms - will come with time and practice. So in the interim, you my faithful reader, are going to have to put up with my inept attempts at creating an artistic masterpiece!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>On your mind</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are you thinking about? The news? Your family? Yourself?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Share what's on your mind.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M1S-Bovhd98/T-ws-hU1USI/AAAAAAAAASk/J7fVIEGiliA/s1600/20120621_100342+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M1S-Bovhd98/T-ws-hU1USI/AAAAAAAAASk/J7fVIEGiliA/s400/20120621_100342+cropped.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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When I was at the mall the other day (yes, I do spend quite a bit of time there - it's winter, give a girl a break) I noticed a billboard advertising the university. Really made me think. We have come to rely so heavily on technology, what does happen when we don't have access to our laptops, smart phones, emails, etc? Even after the earthquakes, we had some capability to connect to the rest of the world.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Fave photo</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Re-share a favourite photo</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jP16lQA59fg/T-wdTSW03YI/AAAAAAAAARs/1gfZMWtwcTY/s1600/family+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jP16lQA59fg/T-wdTSW03YI/AAAAAAAAARs/1gfZMWtwcTY/s400/family+photo.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reuben has always loved his little brother, and I think that the love is radiating from him in this pic. To be honest, I usually don't like photos of myself (who does), but this one isn't too bad. I think that Phil looks rather handsome here too. We had photos of Reuben taken when he was about 9 weeks old, so I really wanted to get some taken when Isaac was around the same age. This was a bit later than that, but with everything that had happened, I was going to go easy on myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Where you slept</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Where did you sleep last night? Take a photo and share it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smDGtiw8Vp8/T-wl52Fw7bI/AAAAAAAAASI/x3j6wu1QFPU/s1600/20120622_074359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smDGtiw8Vp8/T-wl52Fw7bI/AAAAAAAAASI/x3j6wu1QFPU/s400/20120622_074359.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes on a cold frosty morning (we've had a lot of those lately), when I don't want to get up, the boys will come in to bed for a cuddle with me. Only problem is, they can get a bit rowdy, and then don't want to get up and get ready for school/preschool.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>From a high angle</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shoot your photo from a high angle looking down.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTGbQqoBt8o/T-wmnQ_oMuI/AAAAAAAAASQ/a1ymu9sGhDU/s1600/20120616_171641+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTGbQqoBt8o/T-wmnQ_oMuI/AAAAAAAAASQ/a1ymu9sGhDU/s400/20120616_171641+cropped.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These boys sure know how to chilax!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Movement</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of movement; a car flying by, a person dancing, someone jumping - anything!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J4gnft19ZsY/T-wonBUvxzI/AAAAAAAAASY/FXbhXbslfhc/s1600/20120607_180849+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J4gnft19ZsY/T-wonBUvxzI/AAAAAAAAASY/FXbhXbslfhc/s400/20120607_180849+cropped.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know I'm always saying about how much Reuben and Isaac adore each other, but you know what, it's really cool when they can just behave like normal brothers. Wrestling on the floor, tickling each other, the sort of thing when Cerebral Palsy doesn't really get a look in. It will always be there, something that affects Isaac, but I pray that we're able to raise him to be a person who does things despite the limitations of his disability.</span></div>
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The other day Isaac's Physical Therapist said that she had seen a teenager playing goalie on a hockey team. The boy had similar movement and balance issues to what Isaac has. He didn't let any goals through, and when the game finished, he was coming off the field and fell over, the same way that Isaac does. This has given me real hope that Isaac may in fact live a close to normal life. That his disability won't limit how full the that life he lives will be.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Something cute</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you spot something cute? An animal? A person? A thing?</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLbkFSPYWfc/T-wvF5NKYqI/AAAAAAAAASs/vID5we4kAoE/s1600/20120625_082551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLbkFSPYWfc/T-wvF5NKYqI/AAAAAAAAASs/vID5we4kAoE/s400/20120625_082551.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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Oh, yes, I so spotted something cute! There's a cheetah and a crocodile, Reuben and Isaac, a couple of hats. . .yep, they ticked all the boxes.</div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Where you shop</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you shop online? Or in a store? Share where you shop.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JlGOCNM4F1c/T-w2jDHgiRI/AAAAAAAAAS8/uzag0c5e7jM/s1600/glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JlGOCNM4F1c/T-w2jDHgiRI/AAAAAAAAAS8/uzag0c5e7jM/s400/glasses.jpg" vca="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've talked a lot about going to the mall a number of times in my posts. And now, I'm being really brave. I need to get new glasses, it's kind of an age thing, lol. So ignoring the fact that I really hate taking my own photo, which pair do you think look best. Leave your comments and votes - left, middle or right? Please be honest, I can handle it.</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-84665989168172208062012-06-26T23:07:00.001+12:002012-06-26T23:07:46.811+12:00Happy Birthday ReubenThis year for Reuben's birthday we decided that we'd have some of his friends come over for some games, dinner and a sleepover. We were blessed with a fantastic, unseasonably warm day.<br />
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Phil was in charge of the games - having worked as a youth pastor for many years, he has loads of games to call on at a moments notice. For the party he decided on food games. Although it was a toned down version of what would normally be called food olympics, because this was a group of five and six year olds.<br />
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After tossing marshmallows and catching them in their mouths, the kids then threw them all at Phil (food fight style).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nt10a-AUTAw/T-mKI5mr33I/AAAAAAAAAP8/UxCAQfTlbE8/s1600/20120623_162320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rca="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nt10a-AUTAw/T-mKI5mr33I/AAAAAAAAAP8/UxCAQfTlbE8/s400/20120623_162320.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />The trampoline is always a great attraction, we knew that getting the largest available was going to be a necessity with a family of boys.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vOKfR35mbWQ/T-mKUs7CfXI/AAAAAAAAAQE/oBtW_g8e9HQ/s1600/20120623_162423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vOKfR35mbWQ/T-mKUs7CfXI/AAAAAAAAAQE/oBtW_g8e9HQ/s400/20120623_162423.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Boysenberry drop: open one can of boysenberries, drain of juice and drop boysenberry into volunteers mouth. Phil and I did a demo for them, but they weren't too keen on this one. Isaac, however, was up for the challenge!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d-m3y5WAawM/T-mKq09Pa8I/AAAAAAAAAQM/HHBIb4-iF9E/s1600/20120623_163114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" rca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d-m3y5WAawM/T-mKq09Pa8I/AAAAAAAAAQM/HHBIb4-iF9E/s400/20120623_163114.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Reuben was not about to be outdone by his little brother. You'll notice that we werre responsible and covered their clothing.<br />
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Hotdogs and chips all round.<br />
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Chocolate mud cake, mmmmm.<br />
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All in the bed and the little one said . . .<br />
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All Blacks third test match was on that night, so the boys put their haka skills to good use after the national anthems.<br />
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None of the boys were able to stay over, but that didn't stop the fun. Reuben, Isaac and Phil had a sleepover in the lounge.<br />
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Happy Birthday Reuben, I love you buddy.Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-636911803879739902012-06-21T18:58:00.000+12:002012-06-21T18:58:06.231+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From a low angle<br />Get down low and shoot</span></div>
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Saw this double rainbow on the drive home from work the other day, the incredible thing is that the main rainbow was complete, across the side from one end to the other.</div>
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Time<br />
Take a photo of time; a clock, a watch, before and after - anything that symbolises time!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSE6-ionv50/T-G0U_z1eNI/AAAAAAAAAOk/BbKNA9ADi14/s1600/20120621+time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" rca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSE6-ionv50/T-G0U_z1eNI/AAAAAAAAAOk/BbKNA9ADi14/s400/20120621+time.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>
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When I was pregnant with Isaac, I seemed to lose things all the time. The clasp on my watch broke while I was out on day. I didn't even feel it fall off. This is the replacement that I got. But, not only did I lose my watch, a couple of months earlier, I lost my wedding and engagement rings. I'm not a really sentimental person, but it was my rings given to me by husband to express his love for me, so I was a little upset. I have to admit that I did enjoy going shopping for replacements!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F45pTX4OQkg/T-KJL-7tDZI/AAAAAAAAAPU/Kzs6gKt-6PQ/s1600/20120621+time+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" rca="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F45pTX4OQkg/T-KJL-7tDZI/AAAAAAAAAPU/Kzs6gKt-6PQ/s400/20120621+time+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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You'll notice that the clocks at the old railway station (yet another building in the process of being demolished) are showing different times. The one on the left stopped at 4.36am on 4 September 2010 (when the first of the big ones hit).</div>
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Yellow</div>
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Take a photo of anything yellow - the sun, or something you see!</div>
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I know that this looks silver, it was a cloudy, overcast day. Normally, if the sun is shining, the yellow of the sun reflects a golden glow from this statue/momument. Not quite sure what to call it, but it's the logo (emblem, symbol) for Champion Centre.</div>
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Out and about</div>
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Get out and about today and take a photo of what you do</div>
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Often on a Sunday afternoon, while Isaac is having his nap, I'll go out and do a couple of messages. Reuben comes with me a lot of the time. Poor Isaac wakes up, and is really sad and disappointed that he's been left at home with Daddy. Around school holiday time, you can sometimes find the vertical bungy at the mall. They were there this past weekend. Reuben asked me a few times if he could have a go. Since he had some money of his own, I said that if he used that, then yes, he could have a turn. He had a great time.</div>
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Something we don't know about you</div>
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Can you twist your tongue? Did you get a diploma in something? Do you love Justin Bieber bad? Share something that we might not know about you.</div>
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I have worn glasses for reading since I was 15 and about 8 years ago I got progressive lenses. As a bit of a gody-good at school, it was unusual theat I preferred to sit down the back of the classroom. But when I had my eyes checked by the optomitrist because of continual headaches, I found out why. I'm far sighted, and it wasn't picked up until then because I could always see the charts - at school they only did testing at distance. What's been really funny, is that a lot of our friends have been getting reading glasses over the past number of years. They say they feel like they're getting old. What does that say for me?! As for my lovely sister, she is always giving me a hard time about having bi-focals.</div>
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Imperfect<br />
Share something imperfect. Is it you? A broken glass? An irregular shape. Something!</div>
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Aside from the fact the this photo is not quite in focus - auto focus cameras, I must have had a case of the shakes - this shows my imperfect, white, chubby fingers with short uneven nails. Once my nails get to a certain length, they just seem to break. For no reason whatsoever. Frustrating and annoying, and me not at my best (lol on the last part).</div>
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In your bag<br />
What's in your bag? Share it.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITBtTuggSj4/T-KJZXKQ_2I/AAAAAAAAAPk/GBxTP8qydLM/s1600/20120621+in+your+bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" rca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITBtTuggSj4/T-KJZXKQ_2I/AAAAAAAAAPk/GBxTP8qydLM/s320/20120621+in+your+bag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I carry this lovely little bag in my handbag. It was given to me by the lovely Miriam from <a href="http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/">Create, Hope, Inspire</a> and is just the right size. I've actually managed to cram quite a bit in there. Sanitiser, bandaids, lozengers, powder foundation, puffers, and at least a weeks supply of my medications (you know because without them, I am more than a little crazy)</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-89744605184203667532012-06-18T23:12:00.000+12:002012-06-18T23:12:21.142+12:00Bubbles, Bubbles, BubblesI sent Isaac into the bathroom to wash up ready for dinner tonight. He's normally pretty good at washing his hands, but seemed to be taking a while. When I went to check on him, I found him sitting on the floor, with a whole bottle of liquid soap poured out over him. "Wouldn't work" he tells me.<br />
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The other day, when the soap was running low, Reuben had opened the pump and poured a little bit out onto his hand, so that we could get washed up for dinner. Obviously Isaac thought that he would do the same! Since dinner was already sitting on the table, I wanted to get Isaac sorted quick as possible. So I pulled off his clothes and got him into his pajamas, then we went and ate dinner.<br />
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Later, when it was bed time, I suddenly realised that I had just left the bathroom as it was. I did another quick clean up, and then threw the clothes into the washing machine. Our washing machine is a front loader and front loaders are meant to use low sudsing soap powder . . .<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NI9PdogDOP4/T98KPS9Z0BI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/48-zE9A1rd4/s1600/20120618_213615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" rca="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NI9PdogDOP4/T98KPS9Z0BI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/48-zE9A1rd4/s400/20120618_213615.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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So now I'm trying to figure out how to get the soap out of the clothes! I scooped the remaining suds out (3/4s filled the tub with bubbles, twice), added some water, drained and repeated a couple of times. Hopefully it's been enough to get any excess soap out of the machine.Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-53574768029174178862012-06-15T22:42:00.003+12:002012-06-15T22:42:49.857+12:00Just how much does he understand?Tonight on the news there was an item about a baby in NICU. Afterwards Phil was helping Isaac finish his dinner, they were talking and long story short, Phil said "you were sick like that when you were a little baby, but you're all better now." Isaac said to him with a sad face "I fall down." "Yes, you fall down more than other kids, but you're getting better at walking, and you'll be able to do it buddy." "OK Daddy" replied Isaac.<br />
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When Phil told me what happened, I wanted to burst into tears and hug my precious little boy. It also makes me wonder just how much Isaac knows and understands about what has happened to him. But it's amazing to see the faith a young child has in his father. Isaac trusts Phil implicitly, and believes that if Dad says it's going to happen, it will.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QojcYB6O_mw/T9r_MGpk3FI/AAAAAAAAANc/zkBl_eveVGo/s1600/20120615+computer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QojcYB6O_mw/T9r_MGpk3FI/AAAAAAAAANc/zkBl_eveVGo/s400/20120615+computer.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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As I've said before, Isaac loves going to Champion Centre. The therapists are fantastic, and they think that Isaac is great. But I have to ask you, who wouldn't love a little cutie like him? Computer therapy involves singing and stories, counting, pushing buttons and popping bubbles on the screen. As if that's not incentive enough, there's usually a reward of stickers for a session well done.</div>
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There are always interesting toys to play with and textures to explore in play therapy.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oCA05OMOaRY/T9r_zl9ZLWI/AAAAAAAAANs/P-X5YAHoqOw/s1600/20120615+physio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oCA05OMOaRY/T9r_zl9ZLWI/AAAAAAAAANs/P-X5YAHoqOw/s400/20120615+physio.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
Isaac enjoyed standing to play with this puzzle track. It's a lot like the car tracks we have at home, only this one is painted in pretty colours. I am amazed at how well his balance is improving. It's hard to believe that he's only had his walker for two months. What a difference it has made. His confidence has grown, and his brain is learning what is required to keep him up and steady.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQHJJdkZr4I/T9sAIhk3m4I/AAAAAAAAAN0/RiW1oc4xvo0/s1600/20120615+physio+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQHJJdkZr4I/T9sAIhk3m4I/AAAAAAAAAN0/RiW1oc4xvo0/s400/20120615+physio+2.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
Before he got his walker, Isaac often used to practise his standing and balance on the trampoline. This is great since it's got a rail to hold onto, no falling and breaking your wrist with this one!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BkNbbb5BUdU/T9sAX0MDJLI/AAAAAAAAAN8/91dABAHGaQg/s1600/20120615+music+cradle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BkNbbb5BUdU/T9sAX0MDJLI/AAAAAAAAAN8/91dABAHGaQg/s400/20120615+music+cradle.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
Another thing that Isaac has been doing regularly at home since he started at Champion Centre is singing. And music therapy is all singing. When he getting into his carseat, we sing up, up, up, and then when he sits down, we sing down, down, down, raising then lowerly our voices.<br />
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The sound cradle is really cool. I've never seen anything like it before. It's stringed like a guitar or harp or something, and when it's played, the sound waves vibrate through the wooden cradle.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QHtaDcYi2-4/T9sAqZ3tFlI/AAAAAAAAAOE/EGv4F0H_PfQ/s1600/20120615+music+ribbons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QHtaDcYi2-4/T9sAqZ3tFlI/AAAAAAAAAOE/EGv4F0H_PfQ/s400/20120615+music+ribbons.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>
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Look at the balance and concentration. Aren't those ribbons moving beautifully? Not only does this work on on balance but moving the arms across the centreline of the body, both horizontally and vertically. Think that I've got that right.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ntzwtPeb9dA/T9r-3SyLXEI/AAAAAAAAANU/IrqJ0hQatQc/s1600/20120615a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" pca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ntzwtPeb9dA/T9r-3SyLXEI/AAAAAAAAANU/IrqJ0hQatQc/s320/20120615a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Lots of concentration here matching the shapes and colours then getting the shape into the hole round the correct way.<br />
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It's not surprising that when Isaac has finished his morning of therapy that he is super tired. So tired that sometimes he is almost asleep in the car by the time we get to preschool - less than 2km away. When he gets to preschool, it's lunch time, then he goes down for a nap.Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-29447688751964558142012-06-15T01:58:00.001+12:002012-06-15T01:58:05.811+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your view today</span></strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">What's your view today? What can you see? Snap it. Share it!</span></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZa0ehfGsM0/T9nkQu9kdwI/AAAAAAAAAMg/-aDiDnLy-64/s1600/20120608_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZa0ehfGsM0/T9nkQu9kdwI/AAAAAAAAAMg/-aDiDnLy-64/s1600/20120608_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZa0ehfGsM0/T9nkQu9kdwI/AAAAAAAAAMg/-aDiDnLy-64/s400/20120608_view.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Through the skylight at work, the sun is slowly melting the snow away. Brrrr, makes me cold just looking at it.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drink</span></strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a drink, a beverage etc</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4tc4MtffFg/T9njURFwTBI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/-qjzdQYOOFo/s1600/20120607_drink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4tc4MtffFg/T9njURFwTBI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/-qjzdQYOOFo/s400/20120607_drink.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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With all this cold weather, hot chocolates have been the drink of choice around our place.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">6 o'clock</span></strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of what you're doing at either 6am or 6pm</span></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hIMXT2F3l3c/T9njfOXd5eI/AAAAAAAAAMY/8ndEMf6pV5A/s1600/20120608_6pm+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hIMXT2F3l3c/T9njfOXd5eI/AAAAAAAAAMY/8ndEMf6pV5A/s400/20120608_6pm+a.jpg" width="372" /></a></div>
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Preparing for the spellathon next week. I thought that the words were quite difficult, considering Reuben didn't know what most of them were to read.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>Best bit of your weekend</strong></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">What was the best bit about your weekend? Take a photo of it.</span></span></div>
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My bed! I booked a sleep-in for Saturday morning. There was no rugby Saturday morning due to the snow, and since Phil had been away the weekend before, I decided it was my turn for a treat. I really did not want to get up. </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Door</span></strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a door, big or small.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4dW7xWKFMUs/T9nk0ENhFsI/AAAAAAAAAMw/mojFNr1Sqaw/s1600/20120612_door+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" pca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4dW7xWKFMUs/T9nk0ENhFsI/AAAAAAAAAMw/mojFNr1Sqaw/s400/20120612_door+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Many doors in the central city look like this - behind security/safety fencing, with USAR (Urban Search & Rescue) tagging after the building was searched for survivors/victims of the earthquake.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obetW9k7H3o/T9nlCD7XidI/AAAAAAAAAM4/nZv2-k2iRFs/s1600/20120613_door+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" pca="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obetW9k7H3o/T9nlCD7XidI/AAAAAAAAAM4/nZv2-k2iRFs/s400/20120613_door+b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I noticed these doors from across the park, on my drive to work the other morning. Whether these toilets are functioning or not, I'm unsure since there were a couple of portaloos nearby.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Art</span></strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "PT Sans", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a photo of a piece of art you have displayed in your home, you've created or you see while out. Any art will do!</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsCYAvI5j3s/T9nlQsOqXGI/AAAAAAAAANA/o-EZTCSYprc/s1600/20120613_art+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" pca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsCYAvI5j3s/T9nlQsOqXGI/AAAAAAAAANA/o-EZTCSYprc/s400/20120613_art+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This art installation is on the site which was previously Oxford Terrace Baptist church, the first baptist church in the city. Don't need to say much more than that.</div>
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Various kinds of art is popping up on empty sites all over. The city may be broken, but healing comes from brokeness.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-40290212516298006502012-06-13T20:53:00.000+12:002012-06-13T20:53:23.802+12:00Weekend ShenanigansWe've spent a fair bit of the past week being home bodies. I love wearing my merino tops and sheepskin slippers, snuggling under my new quilt with the pellet burner cranked up against the cold. Sometimes the kids drive me nuts, and other times they are really cute and I just want to cuddle them. It doesn't take much to drive me nuts! But I think it was made worse because Phil had decided that he was going to go camping in the back of the van by himself over the long weekend, so I spent the whole long weekend at home by myself with the kids.<br />
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The boys were disappointed that they hadn't been able to go with Phil, so the other night Phil took them out to the van for their bedtime stories.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pKJPyT2JSKY/T9cRMKIVlYI/AAAAAAAAAL4/uBYi_F4buPE/s1600/20120609_191723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pKJPyT2JSKY/T9cRMKIVlYI/AAAAAAAAAL4/uBYi_F4buPE/s400/20120609_191723.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Since he hadn't packed it down, the bed and everything was still set up.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S3oV3aHGYME/T9cR62daVcI/AAAAAAAAAMA/mzpDfysoacA/s1600/20120609_191825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S3oV3aHGYME/T9cR62daVcI/AAAAAAAAAMA/mzpDfysoacA/s400/20120609_191825.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I really enjoy how well Reuben and Isaac get along with each other and play together. Sometimes they are so funny . . .<br />
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx5KfMh7Bnid0n4BRpMuRL8EilECbBHFpzEVpNnXM29avtLBXgkxEG-V8UAbGF83YItHyaaVin4dudOxqXn' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I have been determined to become more regular with my posts, and tried loading this on Monday. But what do you know, I encountered more technical glitches. I'm getting really annoyed at things not going right, might just have to give our work IT guys a call.</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-89372235658755791242012-06-07T22:32:00.000+12:002012-06-07T23:03:29.224+12:00Through the Lens Thursday<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">I'm hoping that for once I'll be able to get this post done and dusted BEFORE midnight! </span><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Time will tell . . . (doesn't help when something bizzarre happens with the formatting, apologies for that - I've managed to get it less weird than it was)</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Morning</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Anything from your morning; you in bed, breakfast, commuting to work, anything!</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx_DlhPKBfU/T9BysTSHIBI/AAAAAAAAAK4/fWdzQprLMMk/s1600/T0607+20120601_083629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="395" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx_DlhPKBfU/T9BysTSHIBI/AAAAAAAAAK4/fWdzQprLMMk/s400/T0607+20120601_083629.jpg" width="400" /></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="background: white; color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Unfortunately the frost on the plants didn't show the way I had hoped. I snapped this shot just before we left for school and work. And BTW, I DON'T do mornings ;-)</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Empty</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Anything empty; an empty room, glass, bottle, sky, beach, anything!</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ODgOvJf4v8I/T9CCLwFKjZI/AAAAAAAAALs/PE3B4BUV7v4/s1600/T0607+SSPX0107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ODgOvJf4v8I/T9CCLwFKjZI/AAAAAAAAALs/PE3B4BUV7v4/s400/T0607+SSPX0107.JPG" width="400" /></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">I had nadda, nothing, zilch for today's photo, so I've pinched one from last year. This is one of our fish tanks on the afternoon of 22 February 2011. When I left for work in the morning this was full of water and tropical fish.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">On your plate</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">What's on your plate? That could mean - what's on your to-do list today? Or literally what's on your breakfast/lunch/dinner plate?</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">My boys like their food. Can you tell? Today we had banana and yogurt for desert.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Close-up</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Something close-up; your eye, the grass, a toy ... absolutely anything!</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Isaac loves having a bath and loves the bubbles. He would have several baths a day if he could! Doesn't even mind having his hair washed - such a change from his older brother.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Sign</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">A street sign, a shop sign, someone doing sign language, any sign!</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Everyone in Christchurch knows about these. I ran out of time to go and take a photo of the "Earthquake Damage" road signs, which I'm guessing have been specially made for little ole us.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Something Beautiful</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Share something beautiful in your life</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">We had about 10cm of snow fall yesterday. It's the third big dump in the past year, that has vertually brought the city to a standstill. I can't believe how big the snowflakes were.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Hat</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">You wearing a hat, someone else wearing a hat, a hat in a shop - and yes those in cooler months - beanies count! </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">With so much snow around and the temperature barely making it into single figures, Isaac wanted to wear this really warm hoodie. Ted is dressed for the weather too. We had the pellet burner cranked up to keep us nice and toastie warm.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-48447669401466820772012-06-06T00:32:00.001+12:002012-06-06T00:32:07.790+12:00What I Forgot YesterdayWhy is it that after I've published a post, I think of heaps of other things that I should have said? Maybe it's just because I'm not much of a writer. English was my least favourite subject at school, and the worst assignment I could have been given was to write something from scratch with no guidelines as to topic. So what on earth am I doing writing a blog? Who knows!<br />
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Over the weekend, we did other things too. Isaac and Reuben both enjoy playing snap. After each card is put down, I check with Isaac, "Are they the same?". If the answer comes back "Yes", I say "What do we do when the cards are the same?" and get my hand ready to snap. Isaac goes "Nap!" and snaps his hand down.<br />
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Whenever we're going out or coming back home, I have been getting Isaac to walk down/up the front steps, holding onto the rail, and only using my hand for a bit of balance. He's been doing really well with this.<br />
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We read heaps of stories. Reuben's reading has improved so much that he can now read a lot of the "little kid" books that we have. Isaac loves having Reuben read to him. He also enjoys taking a book with him when he goes for his afternoon nap. Well, ok, it's often 3 or 4 or 5!<br />
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There are some great apps out there, and I've downloaded a couple of cool ones for the kids onto my phone. Shapes, numbers, ABC, puzzles, and story books. Great for Isaac to practise his point and touch (I have no idea what the real word for that is - perhaps hand eye co-ordination). These are some of the sorts of things he does in computer therapy.<br />
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Before bed, Isaac came out to the lounge, carrying his PJs and nappy. He then proceeded to attempt to get changed ready for bed. Too cute.<br />
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So we covered most of the different types of therapy over the course of the weekend.</div>
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I called it wrong on Isaac's reaction about going to preschool on Tuesday. After we dropped Reuben at school, I said to Isaac "Shall we go to preschool now?" "Yay!!!" was the response that I got from the back seat. I left it at that, no way was I going to jinx it by saying anything further. The reason for this is because usually if you ask Isaac a question, then ask him the same question again, you'll get two different answers. If you give him two choices, he'll generally choose the second option. Swap the two options around, and he'll choose the second option. </div>
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<br />When we picked Isaac up from preschool, he decided that he wanted to go to rugby practise with Reuben. Just one problem with that, little dude. Rugby practise is tomorrow night, and if the predicted weather front arrives bringing snow tomorrow afternoon there won't be any then either.</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-29097177166414891152012-06-05T00:05:00.000+12:002012-06-05T00:09:03.421+12:00Sick Kids and DIY Therapy<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">I don't like it when my boys get sick - most Mum's don't. We've had a couple of weeks of :-(</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">First Reuben had really bad pain in his side, so bad that he could hardly walk, let a lone stand up, and definately no rugby playing that day. Really not like him at all and because it was the weekend I had to take him to the after hours surgery. I was concerned that he had a problem with either his appendix or kidneys. When we eventually got seen, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong, so it was a case of resting up, taking pamol and keeping an eye on him. Later, after Phil got home from work and wherever else he'd been, I told him what had happened. He thinks about it for a few minutes. "I wonder if it could have happened last night when I threw him up onto his bunk?" Now don't go calling CYFS they were playing, and Reuben had been in Isaac's bed (as happens a LOT), and said he was too tired to climb up into his bed. So Phil's solution was to innocently throw him over the safety bar and onto his bed. Seems like Reuben isn't as light as he once was, and this action caused some internal bruising.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Monday was Champion Centre, then the next day Isaac got the vomiting bug that's been going round. That meant a couple of days off preschool for him (and work for me). Saturday came round again, rugby match in the morning and in the evening we had our monthly family movie night at church. That night Reuben got the bug, only he had it a whole lot worse. He was miserable! Phil stayed home with him on the Monday, so I could take Isaac to Champion Centre, and then head in to work for the afternoon - let's face it, I wouldn't have got anything done if I'd worked from home that afternoon.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Fortunately, everything is back to normal again now.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">We have a routine every morning as we drive to school and preschool. Last week, after we'd dropped Reuben at school, I'd ask Isaac where we were going next. "Champ Centre" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Mum: "no preschool" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Isaac: "Champ Centre" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Mum: "it's not Monday, we only go to champion centre on Monday's. Today is Thursday (or whatever day it was), we're going to see your friends at preschool" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Isaac: "no Champ Centre" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Mum: "How about we go to Champion Centre another day?" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Isaac: "ok"</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">We have this conversation every day. I get the feeling that he likes going to Champion Centre.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">It was a holiday weekend, so we did a few different things. Well, some of it was what we regularly do - Saturday morning rugby. Isaac discovered the hill (only about a metre </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">high), and him and a couple of the other younger siblings spent half the game running down the hill. Isaac certainly got up some speed on his walker!</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Sunday, we skipped church (that doesn't happen very often), and I took the boys to Chipmunks. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">They had such a great time playing on all of the different equipment - slides, mazes, puzzles, climbing frames, etc. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">We spent a couple of hours there, then stopped by Maccas to grab some lunch on the way home. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">My sister and niece came for dinner and then we went to the netball. The boys love going to the netball, the crowd, the excitement, and because it's indoors there's no need to worry about what the weather's like. Isaac was so funny. When the teams were warming up, he was sitting on my knee facing the court, with his arms open ready for them to throw the ball up for him to catch. Awww, so gorgeous! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit;">Because Monday was a public holiday, there was no Champion Centre. Not looking forward to the drive between school and preschool in the morning. So over the weekend I've tried to spend time doing some of the sorts of things he does in therapy. Today we ended up getting together with some of Reuben's rugby mates at the park for a bit of training, some play and a BBQ. The playground had a wobbly bridge, tunnel, and slide very similar to the ones in the playground area at Champion Centre. As soon as Isaac saw it, there was no stopping him. I was so busy helping him get round it, that I forgot to take photos. I really do need to learn to multi-task with my camera/phone.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-20539595538588551522012-05-31T23:39:00.001+12:002012-05-31T23:39:19.462+12:00Through the Lens ThursdayIf you've been following my blog for a couple of weeks, you'll know that usually I do a Wordless Wednesday with photos on topics from photoaday via <a href="http://www.fatmumslim.com.au/2012/05/photo-day-june-challenge-list.html">chantelle of fatmumslim</a>. So where is this week's post?<br />
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I've been thinking that it wasn't working the way I wanted it to, and have been wondering what to do to change it up a bit and make it more me. Driving to work this morning, I figured it out! I'm still going to use the subject list from photoaday, but I'm going to do it weekly on a Thursday AND it's not going to be wordless anymore. I want to share with you the story behind the photos.<br />
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something new {what's something new in your life?}</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cR-52C7OZWs/T8c_0oHlDpI/AAAAAAAAAHM/-slD9cWX668/s1600/20120525_202826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cR-52C7OZWs/T8c_0oHlDpI/AAAAAAAAAHM/-slD9cWX668/s400/20120525_202826.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's starting to get cold here, we're getting a frost most mornings. The boys and I have been enjoying curling up on the sofa with this gorgeous quilt, made by my friend Deb.</div>
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unusual {share something a little odd or weird}</div>
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There is so much deconstruction happening in the city at the moment, however, this is still not the sort of thing that you would see every day. A crane holding a steel beam with some kind of mesh which was used as part of the internal make up of the building. And check out setting sun reflecting on the clouds.</div>
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12 o'clock {take a photo at noon or midnight, whatever you're doing}</div>
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Saturday morning rugby was later than usual, meaning a nice sleep in for mum! Isaac loves going to watch Reuben play rugby, cheering him on, messing around on the grass.</div>
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something sweet {a candy/lolly, a cake, a person, something cute ... }</div>
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Hot chocolate, trim, extra strong ... I don't drink coffee or tea. If you're a barrista and I order a hot choc from you, you better make sure that you get it right! I'll send it back if it's not. You think I'm kidding?</div>
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the weather {is it sunny, rainy, cloudy? Shoot it!}</div>
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Because we've been getting frosts most mornings, we've been getting lovely sunny days. I don't mind this kind of winter. I'd much rather have frosts and sunshine than dull and grey.</div>
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<br />a number</div>
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There are so many of these around the city. I drive through at least 6 sets of road works in my 15km drive to work each day.</div>
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personality {show us your personality in a photo, a word etc}</div>
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Does this little dude have personality or what? He's also really really good a making a mess eating his yogurt! When there's a huge mess to clean up, I often need to remind myself to pause and be thankful that he can feed himself and in fact that he is able to eat food fullstop.</div>
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So that was this weeks Through the Lens Thursday, let me know your thoughts.Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-24341777372100731482012-05-25T22:26:00.001+12:002012-05-25T22:26:17.987+12:00A Beautiful Gift From A Beautiful Friend<div>
Yesterday I met a friend for lunch. We'd arranged to meet a couple of weeks ago but ended up having to postpone. I almost put it off again as I hadn't been at work most of the week 'cos Isaac had a tummy bug, and I couldn't really afford more time out of the office. But I just knew that I had to keep this appointment. I am so pleased I did.<br />
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To my utter surprise (and delight) she gave me a beautiful quilt. I had tears in my eyes when she told me the story behind the quilt. Deb is a fellow Christchurch blogger and will tell the story a whole lot better than I ever could, and her photos are gorgeous too. <a href="http://deb-robertson.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/happy-quilt-for-friend.html">Here's Deb's post</a>. I've just realised that the quilt has lots of the colours that I love in it, which is remarkable because Deb uses lots of bright happy colours and she often uses lots of yellows and oranges in her quilts (I don't really like yellow or orange). Blue, red, pink, black and white, are definately my colours!<br />
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We had such a nice lunch - I really should try to get better at remembering to take photos - the cafe was so cosy and the food was delicious. We talked and we talked. We talked about blogging and Deb gave me a couple of helpful tips about my posts. We talked about the earthquakes - Christchurch had another 5.2 today. Apparently we've had 41 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater since September 4 2010. And we talked about raising a child with special needs, negotiating the corridors of the Champion Centre, and dealing with the uncertainty that it all brings.<br />
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I feel blessed to have met such a beautiful, generous friend.<br />
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</div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-62804636015110285702012-05-23T23:41:00.001+12:002012-05-23T23:41:39.847+12:00Wordless Wednesday #4Ok, so I know that it's basically Thursday, and I've already done one post today, but I didn't want to do two Wordless Wednesday's in a row. That would have meant that I hadn't actually done a post in the past week. On top of that I was ready to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard - just doesn't have the same ring to it) and let you know what was going on. Truth of the matter is that I forgot that it was Wednesday when I did my previous post, LOL. I know, I know, Sssshhhh.<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Snack, </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something you made (and isn't he CUTE!)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A favourite place, </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something you can’t live without</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where you stand, </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pink (merino and really warm)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Technology (new phones for everyone at work)</span></span></div>Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46685792591532859.post-44689310413250327952012-05-22T07:15:00.000+12:002012-05-22T07:15:00.566+12:00So Much to Process<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I feel like I might have been MIA this past week. There has been so much going on and I've just needed to take some time to process my thoughts and feelings.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week Isaac started his Early Intervention program at Champion Centre. I had a function to attend after work that same day, and decided that I would drive home a different way to normal. I had heard that one of the main one way streets through the central city red-zone had been reopened, so thought I'd go that way to see how different things were. Work has been crazy busy - but I'll leave it at that as I'm trying to avoid putting work related info on my blog, due to the sensitive nature of my role in the company. My weekend was not spent doing the things that I wanted/needed to. And then yesterday was our (I mean Isaac's) second session at Champion Centre.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from Isaac's therapy sessions at Champion Centre, but the first one wasn't how I imagined it to be. Part of my wave of emotional feelings came from thinking about what could have been with Isaac. His disabilities could have been much more severe than they have shown themselves to be to date. I don’t want to compare him with other children with disabilities but in a way I can't help it. I know every child is an individual who progresses at their own pace, the ones who have special needs even more-so. I'm relieved and thankful that Isaac can eat and drink, that he is able to communicate with us and can sit up on his own. His independent walking is improving.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amazing how we adapt to any situation we're put in, and how quickly we pick up the phrases associated with that situation. I'm now talking about Isaac's independent walking rather than his walking. Who knew that I'd want to be so specific about what I was referring to when I was talking about walking?</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was also thinking about what could have been if we hadn't had the <a href="http://tuibrewster.blogspot.co.nz/2012_03_01_archive.html">complications in Isaac's birth</a> that lead to his Cerebral Palsy. Phil was probably the one who started this as he was talking about what Isaac will do for a job/career when he grows up. Whether he will get married, or if his temperament will mean that he won't get to go out with the girl he wants because he is too nice and stands back when another boy likes her. I hadn't gotten past thinking about how he will be when he gets to school. Will he be in a regular class, or a special needs class, or a combination? Is the after school and holiday program that Reuben </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;">attends going to be able to accommodate Isaac?</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">There were a few of the activities that Isaac did really well at and that had me wondering if he really should be at Champion Centre, or whether the other parents would wonder how we'd even managed to get in.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> I know that it was done through the proper channels and that he wouldn't have been accepted if he didn't meet the criteria, but still....</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">I was a bit emotional after I took Isaac to preschool, but needs must and I had to go to work. After the function that I needed to attend, I drove home via Madras St, which has only recently had it's red zone cordon lifted. It was quite surreal driving up a road I've driven hundreds if not thousands of times before, but this time there were so many cleared sites I struggled to get my bearings, even though there were street signs all the way (and I am able to read maps!). I drove past the sites of CTV building (which had the largest death toll in the quake), a couple of churches (one of which is now an artwork site covered with white chairs of all shapes and sizes), car dealership, backpackers and other accommodation, and there are so many that I couldn't tell you what used to be there.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">The cordon is reducing and there are more buildings coming down all the time. Recently the Crowne Plaza (aka Noah's hotel) has come down, and the demo crews have started on Westpac Building (formerly Canterbury Centre - which I used to work in years ago on the 5th floor, used to be able to go up to the 13th/top floor for Friday night staff dinner and enjoy the fabulous views of the city), Radio Network House, Price Waterhouse Building and Forsyth Barr House (originally Robert Jones House - I remember my first job was as a receptionist for the company who built this building - I used to find my way around the city when I first moved here based on what cranes were where. That was in the late 1980s before the sharemarket downturn). Now there are so many cranes around the city it is amazing.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">So I'm going to skip over the work stuff, and the weekend. Hmmm, this is turning into rather a long post, but I guess that's what happens when you have a weeks worth of writing to catch up on!</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">Yesterday, going to Champion Centre wasn't as intimidating, but I still need to ask about a few things, like is it okay to ask other parents about their children's disabilities? In NICU, that was one of the rules, basically allow other families their privacy and don't look or ask questions.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">Already the therapists have picked up on a couple of things that may be issues for Isaac. Someone mentioned about Isaac overstuffing his mouth when he eats. I just thought that he was being a typical boy enjoying his food, apparently not. Seems that the sensors in his mouth may not be registering that he has food in his mouth until it is so full he struggles to get it eaten. Another one said that she wants to check on his use of his hands. Not quite sure what that's about, I thought he was doing ok, but maybe not. And the PT tells me that he doesn't have much core strength or leg muscles. Here w</span><span lang="EN-GB">as me thinking that he did have good core strength and strong leg muscles.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">I know that I wanted to get Isaac the best treatment possible, and there will be more issues arise. But it kind of did come as a surprise that they were able to see things so quickly. Maybe it just means that they're good at what they do.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">If you've reached the end of this post, thanks for hanging in there with me!</span><br />Tuihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07943324467987107991noreply@blogger.com1