30 years on...

We would love to see all our whanau and friends for my 30th...

Friday 27th May 2011

from 6.30pm 'til late

VENUE...

We're having it at Sifa's rugby club

DIRECTIONS:

Teachers Eastern Rugby Club which is down Watene Cresent in Okahu Bay - head down Tamaki Drive from central city, turn right down Watene Cresent - when you get to Okahu Bay. Our rugby club is past the park and fields on the left hand side - plenty of parking! Here's a map below - head to google maps if you need more specific directions.

View Larger Map

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD...

We'll be doing a pot luck meal - so if everyone could bring a plate of food to share, then we'll have an assortment of food for everyone to choose from - easy peasy!

DRINKS AND THAT...

The rugby club will have the bar open for people to buy their drinks from. We'll be discounting on the night - until the tab runs out. No BYO people - the club has a strict no BYO policy, this is because the bar is where they make their money to support the great work they do with all our rugby boys.

NO GIFTS

Your presence is my present :)

RSVP

Get in touch with Tara to let us know that you'll be coming - taramoala@gmail.com

We'll see you there!

Tara, Sifa and Milan Xx

Our 'Lil Rugby Fan is turning 1 ;)

Green Gecko :)

Update on The Green Gecko GREAT SHAVE!

Hey everyone!

This is an update on how my sister and I are going on our quest to raise a total of $10,000 for our friends at The Green Gecko Project in Siem Reap, Cambodia. To date, we have a combined effort of $2,641 - that's just over one fifth of what we are aiming to raise! Thank you all so much who have contributed to the cause already! It's awesome to get your support and we get a buzz with every donation we receive!!

The fundraiser has evolved...

Since beginning our fundraiser we've been asked time and time again, why your hair?? We've even been offered donations to NOT shave our hair! This was a completely unexpected response but as more and more people encourage us to NOT shave our hair off we got to thinking and so the fundraiser has evolved...

It's YOUR decision! For us to SHAVE or NOT SHAVE! - Whichever side is larger when we've reached our goal, we will do! So!

Let us know with your donation! Should we or shouldn't we?

---NEWS FLASH---
We met up with Michelle from The East And Bays Courier for an interview! Come check it out at this link.

(It's also a brilliant pic' of our lovely lovely locks!)

Ren's been busy with the Franklin Life and The Franklin County News too so keep an eye out for those articles too!

PLEDGES ARE ON!!
If you haven't had a chance to get to the website to donate, and feel that it might be easier to email us, then just reply to me via email and put a pledge down! We'll happily add your pledge to the blog on the website :) As soon as you have time to get onto the website to donate (or give the money to us or into our bank account) we'll switch the pledge to a donation!

Changesz is behind us all the way! Karaoke anyone?
Changesz is an awesome Youth Movement in East Auckland. It's a gathering of young people that want to see change in their community. They have stepped up to support The GREEN GECKO GREAT SHAVE by hosting A Karaoke Night! It's only a gold coin donation to enter, with food available and all proceeds will be donated to the Green Gecko Project. It would be fantastic to see everyone there - to support the fundraiser - but also the effort that Changesz is putting into the event!

Where: Sanctuary @ Mayfair, 10 Mayfair Place in Glen Innes
When: Friday 18th December Time: 7pm - 9pm
What to Bring: Your best singing voice and a little change in your pockets to contribute!
Call Us: If you want to come but have no mates :) :)

Just a little bit more on the reason for our cause...
The Green Gecko Project supports more than 70 former street children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is a home, school and family to these kids, all who used to beg on the streets for money, defenceless to abuse, disease and abduction. It is all about empowering the children - helping them out on multi-levels, giving them and their families a means to get back into work, it was never the intention to just feed them. It's about the future as much as the past.

One thing we really love about this N.G.O. is Green Gecko's holistic approach in both the long term health & well-being of the children & their more immediate day-to-day health and care. A donation from you will help meet the needs of every day consumables such as dental & hair care products, soap, washing powder, blankets and mosquito nets which are encompassed in this area of care. The support of community-minded people like you means so much to us.

And finally from us...

We know it can be hard to give at a time like this and we're asking for you to give to a cause that's not even in our backyard. We realise the Green Gecko Project is miles and miles away and cares for children that most of us will probably never meet. We receive emails every day about different causes, from right here in New Zealand to throughout the world and admittedly we end up deleting a lot of them because we 'just don't have enough time' to wade through and support everyone.

All we have to offer to you that is different to those causes is our relationship to you and our offer of thanks for believing in us and in what we believe to be an amazing cause. When we say thank you to those of you who have already given to our fundraiser, we don't just say thanks for getting us one step closer to our $10,000 goal;

We say thank you from our hearts for believing in us.

We say thank you for your friendship, for your love.
And we say thank you for giving those kids that Ren fell in love with - a chance to,
dream about a better future - and believe that they will have one.


We hope to hear from you soon - email, call, pledge or just straight donate on www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/copycatshave or www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/shavingforgreengecko
We would love for you to forward this onto anyone you think would be interested in supporting us too.

Love from all the hair on our heads.
Ren and Tara
xxx

Sacrificing our lovely locks for a GREAT Cause!!

Kia ora koutou!

This is a little crazy, but my sister (Ren) and I have decided to launch a fundraiser for an NGO that's really close to my sisters heart - The Green Gecko Project in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

If we each raise $5,000 - we will both shave ALL the hair off our heads!!

After my sisters' 3 month stint volunteering with The Green Gecko Project, she - and indeed now I, completely believe in the well rounded education and holistic care they provide for the 73 kids currently at the project. My sister was there first hand and learnt all of the kids names, taught them English, got beaten at volleyball by them, picked nits out of their hair, learnt the chorus of their favourite Khmer pop song, was called Ruler instead of Lauren - She just loves them and can't wait to get back there.

Seeing how far the kids have come already is amazing, their futures are so bright now where before they didn't have a flicker of hope. Supporting the Green Gecko Project is very important to my sister and after seeing this passion and dedication in her, I've decided to get behind her 100% and support her by doing the fund raising and shave myself! So please support us! Our hair is very important to us but we're willing to give it up, how much are you able to give?

To support the cause please, please don't hesitate and donate online straight to the cause through our pages on a completely secure online fundraising website.

Alternatively you can deposit into this bank account number, 12-3023-0429567-00, just make sure you leave your name in particulars.

Some people we have spoken to expressed interest in making a weekly deposit (for example) $10 for 10 weeks - a $100 donation made easy! Absolutely! With internet banking its easy to set up a weekly donation limited to a number of weeks - whatever works for you works for us : )

We completely and utterly understand everybody's circumstances are different and appreciate every dollar donated!

Come and see our fundraising pages,
Ren's - www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/shavingforgreengecko
Tara's - www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/copycatshave

All our love and from every hair on our heads,
Tara and Ren.

The 10 Week Challenge

Well, Milan is now 10 weeks old. 10 weeks since my life was turned upside down. It seems much longer than that. It feels as if Milan was always meant to be here with me and Sif. We've just been waiting for him to come and now, things are complete. We're loving it! hehe. Tell you what though, it's a damn huge challenge! Just because we love and cherish our 'lil boy, doesn't mean everything we do for him is a breeze...

The most challenging thing that I have learnt over these 10 weeks thus far has nothing to do with how to soak the nappies to get the pooey stains out or how to breastfeed the boy without spraying milk everywhere, or even how to read his different signs of hunger, tiredness, boredom and comfort. It's about how to make decisions that will affect another human being so immensely.

Everything I do for my son, affects how Milan will feel. That's a big thing! If I change his nappy now or wait until I finish this blog entry will affect how Milan will feel. If I decide to cram our day with activities and trips about town or we stay at home and busy ourselves with cleaning, play, washing and cooing; Milan will be affected. These are just the little things. What about the big decisions! Within these first 10 weeks, I've had to decide if Milan will be injected with chemicals with the hope to avoid some illnesses, I've had to decide if I will be committing to return to employment - which will pull away from "us" time - even if he will be with me. I've had to decide if I will be giving him my own milk or provide to him a man made concoction of nutrient. I've had to decide if I will be wrapping his little bottom up with the simple option of disposables, or if I will commit time to cloth nappies and all that they promise.

Some things, are simple decisions - I have to sleep less for the needs of Milan. I have to react to his cries of hunger, sleepiness and desire for comfort. I have to do the washing and have to clean our baby boy. The harder decisions are the ones with choices - especially with so much pressure from society looking down on us.

Putting aside the controversy of what is 'best' for baby.
Putting aside the shoulds, shouldn'ts and different opinions on what 'worked' for them.
What will I do?

~Will I bottle or breast?~
~Will I Dispose or Cloth?~
~Will I Immunise or Naturalise?~
~Will I Work or Be Employed?~

I don't know.
There is only one simple decision to make,
I will love.

I hope that's enough to justify all of the decisions that may turn
out not to be great choices I know I will make.

Milan Moala - one month on...

We are completely besotted with our lil' man. He is lovely and we haven't had any problems at all - he only gets upset when he wants something and it's not really his fault that he wants something almost every second of every day! haha. He's just learning how to smile and rewards us with them every now and again - but makes us work for them just the same!

People told me it takes 4 - 6 weeks to find any kind of routine, I'm starting to just get there now, and it's definitely a mission and a half to get everything done in a day. I can sooo see how people could go round the bend a lil' with a new born. I have the amazing whanau support of my parents and sisters, so am grateful for that and living with them means that I only have to organise dinner on one day a week and have plenty of helpful hands to rock a little boy to sleep.