Our Loom Band Addiction :)

29th April 2014

We have discovered the wonderful world that is loom bands and all the amazing things that is can create.

And I say 'WE', because I am just as addicted to it as Miss Personality.

When we bought our first loom, we just bought one.

When it became apparent that I was just as keen as her to create things with it. The next day I went down the road to buy me one :)

Then I realised it was Miss Blondini's birthday and what a great gift it would be for a 14 year old, so off I went to buy another one.

So we have become a family of loom band fanatics.

But I guess there are worse things in this world that we could become obsessed with,lol.

You tube has become our second addiction, as that is where we have learnt how to use our loom's and all these amazing coloured rubber bands.

All I can say, is there are some pretty creative adults and children alike, that have taken the time to not only create these master pieces to begin with, but also made video recordings to share, so others can have a go too.

Miss Personality made these, fishtail bracelet, single loop bracelet, and a flower ring.

 Mum's attempt at a starburst bracelet, and a single loop bracelet.

 I like this one, and have made a couple of them. It is the rainbow ladder bracelet.

I decided to change the colours and do it with a white border. It looks quiet nice, if I do say so myself :)

Being the big Minecraft fan that my daughter is, she could resist but do this minecraft creeper bracelet.

I love dragons and when I saw this tutorial I couldn't help but have a go. This is originally done in reds and orange as it is meant to be a Chinese dragon. But my favourite colour is purple, so  I changed it a little, but think it still came out awesome :)

I also made this cute baby tiger.

I think I enjoy making little animals and things better than the bracelets.

But it certainly takes a bit of concentration when following the tutorials.

Thank goodness for the pause, and rewind function of videos.

What cool, interesting things have you created ?

The Great Easter Egg Treasure Hunt!

23rd April 2014

I love this photo. It makes me giggle and to me, it is what easter is about, kids having fun.

Now we are not a religious family. We don't go to church, but we believe that religion has some great morals and guides as to how we can treat each other better. 

We had a quiet easter, away from family. But in some ways that can be a good thing.

Miss Personality doesn't handle too much chocolate well.

Saying she gets hyper is a bit of an understatement :)

But then again, I don't want easter to be just be about how many chocolates can I get.

Especially since we live in a country where we can just go to the shop and buy chocolate when ever we want.

I like the magical, child like excitement for the easter bunny though.

I like watching some fun movies about easter, like HOP.

I like getting sucked into the imagination of a child and just enjoy the idea of the easter bunny.

But we also started up a while ago, an easter egg treasure hunt.

We did it one year and ever since then, my daughter just looks forward to it every easter.

I like to go to the budget variety store type shops, they use to be called the $2 shop here in New Zealand.

You can find bags of these empty plastic easter eggs, and the great thing is you can use them every year. The amount of them you will need just depend on how many children you have.

Then I also buy from these budget variety stores, little bits and pieces. 

This year I bought a sheet of stickers (mermaids), some fairy fake tattoos, plastic rings, bouncy balls, little water pistols. In the past I have also bought little rubbers (erasers), but anything you know your child will like and will fit in the egg. 

Oh and of course some tiny easter eggs, can't forget those.

Then I write clues and put one in each egg, plus one or two of the little treasures that I have bought. The clue is what they must read and figure out where the next egg will be.

Not every egg has chocolate in it, but by doing it this way it actually become less about the chocolate and more just about playing a special game that she only gets to do at easter, where she gets to find treasures in an egg.

The other great thing about doing it this way, is that if you have a child with food allergies, you can miss out the chocolate inside the eggs all together.
Miss Personality had lots of food allergies when younger, which always makes easter hard to try and include them in all the easter fun.

Any way, no matter how you enjoyed your easter, hope you and your children had fun and really enjoyed it.

3 WEEKS AND COUNTING.................

Thursday 10th April 2014

It nearly feels surreal to think in 3 weeks our idea/ goal of living in a bus is going to become a reality.
It really feels like the statement above how it has all come about.
We came up with the idea, brain stormed how we were going to achieve it.
Didn't think it was going to happen quiet this quickly.
But asked the right questions to the right people and TADA!, it has all fallen into place.

It's funny though the reactions we are having with those who we share with, what we are about to do.
Most people have been really supportive, but you can kind of tell from there tone of voice that they kind of think you are a little crazy too.
Or at some point you will change your minds.

Some friends are, your so lucky, I would love to do that, but......................
Like anything in life though, if you want it bad enough, you will make it happen.

We have certain family members who are concerned, and that is okay, because that means they care.
But it is okay to not have all the answers straight away.
It is okay to be spontaneous.

Life some how becomes magical, adventurous and exciting again, to not have all the answers, to have a little bit of mystery about it all.

A lot don't quiet understand though that this isn't going to be short term, this is long term.
This is just the beginning of the journey to where we want to be :)

At this stage we have a home - housebus,
We have somewhere to park our new home,
We know where our money is coming from,
And we have each other.
At this stage that is all we need to know :)

Over time we will personalize the bus to be more us and to cater for us in every way.
Part of that personalisation is going to be coming up with a name.
Why name our bus?
Well why not :)
It is going to have personality, just like the rest of us.
The challenge will be coming up with a name that everyone who lives in the bus will be happy with.

For all those other people who travel in a bus, caravan or motorhome.
Have you named your home?
How did you come up with your name?
If you would like to share it, would love to hear what it is :)