random tidbits

sunshine in the morning Breakfast with a book (usually comics)

New seating arrangement. . . D has decided he doesn't like his chair and wants a big one like the rest of us. The problem is that he can't reach the table sitting and has taken to tipping. So back to his seat he goes (not looking forward to the fits in getting him there).

Her cute new outfit. She insisted on having these pants. You can't see it but they have a cute pink and white polka dot tie belt, and even though they are white they were 50% off , so I relented (afterall it's hard to beat $6).

I knew better than getting her white pants. She came home covered in grass and mud stains. When I asked her how she got them, I got the "no duh" answer: recess with the boys. All I can say is thank goodness for bleach.

When she saw how many weeds AP had pulled (see below) she couldn't be outdone and got right to work! I would have made her change into grubbies, but I figured she couldn't get any dirtier than she already was. Here she is exhausted from her own weed pulling (that's my little drama queen).

Last week I sent AP out to get some fresh air and exercise while I put D down for his nap (not really expecting the exercise to happen, but figuring he'd at lease get some air while digging in the sand). About 45 minutes later he came in red-faced and sweaty. I was pretty impressed and quite pleased to learn he had been picking weeds that whole time. He has been asking for extra jobs to earn money and asked if he could get paid for pulling weeds. The sandbox weeds are generally part of their Saturday chores, but our sideyard is quite overgrown so we decided that he could get paid $5 an hour for pulling those weeds. He got right to work and has done a great job clearing it out. That whole mud/dirt area previously looked like the area to the right.

Of course he has to get the roots for it to count so out comes the shovel! The best part about the whole thing is that he said work isn't so bad and he actually kind of likes doing it (this is coming from the boy who is "allergic" to work). In fact he asked if we could create our own family holiday: work day. I told him we already have that everyday and I'm glad he finally wants to celebrate it with me.

AP's talk

AP gave a talk in Primary last week, but instead of posting that one I have to share the first talk he ever gave (as a 4-year-old Sunbeam), because it cracks me up to this day, and I don't think I ever wrote it down! The child assigned to talk didn't show up so they asked for a volunteer to bear their testimony. AP's hand shot up and he gave the following (just as a note of explanation, he has loved anything space-related since he was tiny):
"Wormholes. I love wormholes. Wormholes happen when a star collapses. Heavenly Father created the stars and us too. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

AJ's testimony

This was AJ's Primary talk a couple of weeks ago:
When I was really little, my best friend was Dakota. We played dinosaurs and horses. It has been a really long time since I played with Kota, and I barely remember her, but I miss her.
When I was in preschool my best friend was Morgan. We loved to climb the rocks in my backyard and pretend we were lions on Pride Rock. We had a lot of fun. It's been a long time since I saw Morgan. I miss her.
When I lived in Hawaii I played with Brynn. We had fun building sandcastles, gathering seashells, and playing in the water. I haven’t seen Brynn for a long time. I miss her.
In Australia I met Mona. Mona and I had fun playing with our Littlest Petshops and our plush cats. Mona and I are a lot alike and we had so much fun together. I miss Mona a lot.
My cat Midnight was my friend longer than any of these friends. We always had a good time together. She played with me in the backyard and I loved to snuggle with her. Midnight died a couple of weeks ago and I miss her so much.
These friends are all very special to me and even though I miss them a lot it makes me happy to remember the good times we had together.

Another person I miss is Heavenly Father. Even though I don’t remember living with him, He remembers. He knows and loves each one of us because we are his children. One day we’ll remember how well we know Him too. President Ezra Taft Benson, who was the prophet when my mom was little said, “Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us.”
I am excited to see my Heavenly Father and Jesus again. I know that if I follow Jesus Christ’s example I will be able to be with them, my family and my friends forever.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

crumbs anyone?

I made 3 dozen muffins figuring we'd eat a dozen for breakfast and the rest could go into the freezer for another day. I took the first 24 out of the oven and set them on the counter to cool while the last 12 went in to bake. When I came back to take out that last batch, all that was left was a neat little stack of empty papers and a few crumbs. . .

Happy or Sad?

don't worry, he can't decide either. . .

A minor D-tale

This weekend we discovered that our little monkey can climb the ladder into AP's loftbed. The obvious problem is he also wants to climb down--head first!
I caught him but not before he smacked his head on the top rung (I know, I know I should have gotten him down right away instead of taking pictures but I really didn't think he would go for it! He's usually so good about going to the edge of a bed and stopping there). We can hope he won't try it again, but since we're quite sure he will, we'll be keeping the door to AP's room shut . . .

Woohoo General Mills!

I got on google to find a recipe and instead hit the jackpot for gluten free blogs (I have added just a few to my "sites I like" sidebar; for a much more complete list go to http://www.shaolinglutenfree.blogspot.com/ ). Anyway, after a little blog surfing I found out rice chex have been reformulated to be gluten free and Corn Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Strawberry Chex, Chocolate Chex, and Cinnamon Chex are on the verge (check out http://www.delightfullyglutenfree.wordpress.com/). I am so excited to go to the grocery store and be able to buy a non-sugary cereal that is gluten free! Thank you General Mills!

Who calls this Spring?

Apparantly we do!! These pictures are from yesterday morning. I guess the upside is that A&A have gotten to play in the snow a bit, but we haven't had to do any shoveling (well except AP who shoveled the deck and part of the back lawn in an attempt to creat the world's biggest snowball).

a little Australian trivia

Anybody remember these? I posted about them a little while back. We couldn't figure out what they were at the time, but yesterday AJ brought home a book that identified them as a jellyfish called (drum roll please) "Man O' War." And while on the subject of Australian creatures, we also just read in BYU Magazine that early settlers dubbed the kookaburra "laughing jack-ass" (I figured if it's written in BYU magazine it's ok for me to repeat here). I personally didn't find the kookaburras that annoying; the crows were though!! A lot of Aussies wear spiky bike helmets (wish I had gotten a picture of them, they were funny) to protect themselves because the birds do attack (and can be quite vicious). Anyway, there is our Australian trivia for the day!

A sad day

Today is a sad day. We had to say goodbye to our cat. She has been sick for a long time, but the last several days got really bad. J took her into the vet this morning. I didn't think I would get emotional, but as soon as he got home and I saw his eyes my heart just broke. He said she went to sleep in a sunbeam, just how a cat would choose to go. Hello tears! And they haven't stopped. I opened a can of chicken for lunch and, as silly as it is, started crying again, because she always came running when she heard the can opening to beg the broth. Then when I walked past the laundry room (where she spent most of her time) to put D down for his nap, he kept pointing at the door (which he does when he wants to play with her). Man! It has been tougher than I imagined! And I haven't even told AJ yet. That cat has been her best friend, and yesterday she told me, "Mom she has been with me through so much and when I feel sad she always understands and helps me feel better. It's not fair that she's dying on Easter!" It was a good opportunity to talk about why we celebrate Easter but still tough for her to think about letting go. She finally said, "If she does die I'll be ok if we can bury her in the yard and put "Midnight [our last name]" on a rock. Because Mom, she has been like my daughter and is part of our family." So as often as we joked about her not being a cat but more of a lump, the truth is she wasn't just a cat, but she wasn't a lump either; she was a part of the family and we'll miss her!

AJ and Midnight - Summer 2007

A year already?!

A year ago. . .

photos courtesy of Amy Bennion

And now!

photos courtesy of me (and the professional is?)

I can't believe my boy is a year old!! This year has gone way too fast, and although it is so fun to watch him grow, a part of me is sad to see my baby disappear into toddlerhood. Even so we are loving each stage, and are so grateful to have him in our lives. Not a day goes by that at least one of us (and usually all of us, just at different times) is heard saying, "What would we do without you D?" He brightens each day and makes us all happier. We love his big grin and even bigger personality. We're so glad to have you Little Bear!

Cake for dinner?!

I am not much of a practical joker (didn't inherit that family trait), so April Fools' Day is usually lost on me. However, I remembered this meatloaf cake from a magazine J gave me several years ago and had to give it a try. I wanted to have it all done before everyone got home, but didn't have time and was afraid my joke was ruined since AP saw me make the meatloaf and AJ saw me make the mashed potatoes. However, she thought I was putting mashed potatoes on a chocolate cake so it was still pretty funny!

We had "wormy" apples with our dinner too. Overall it was a hit and AP is already asking for a repeat! I hope everyone had a fun fools day!

confuse whats?

While I was busy trying to get everyone settled, AJ asked for help setting up the Gamecube. I told her she needed to try and figure it out or wait until I finished what I was doing. After a while she came back and told me, "I did it! I figured it out with only a few little confusements."

Home Again!

It's nice to be home, but boy is catching up hard to do! We are adjusting pretty well to the time change except for D. He is not sleeping well at all, poor kid (as a result I am not getting much sleep either). Because of the sleep inertia he is pretty grouchy/needy when he is awake,which makes it a little difficult to get stuff done; it's almost harder than when he was a newborn (anybody want my baby for a day?). I have also decided to continue homeschooling AP, so most of the day has been devoted to that. On the other hand, AJ was very anxious to get back to public school and wasted no time in doing so. We got back Saturday night and she was ready to go Monday morning. We brought back some little koala clips for each of her classmates, so her teacher had her come up and tell about Australia before handing them out. I was so impressed with how much she knew and remembered! Anyway, I am hoping that it doesn't take too long to get caught up on things; sleep, unpacking, cleaning, reorganizing, (we moved a lot of stuff around to make space for our housesitters). All in all though it is good to be back! AP&AJ are so happy to be with their friends, toys, cat, and backyard!! And for me, it was delightful to go to the store today and not have to pay for parking (it was such a pain always trying to come up with the correct change) and so nice being able to find all my favorite brands and foods. What a joy to get apples for less than $5/lb and ground beef for less than $6/lb. . . And grapes for .99/lb--yeah Albertsons! It was also great to be able buy bulk items. Oh, how I missed Costco! Of course, it has been fun to see faces we missed while gone (can't wait to see more) and I am looking forward to catching up with everyone!

as the sun sets. . .

Another adventure comes to an end. With less than two weeks left, I am excited to go home! Yet I can't help feeling a bit sad. I will miss this beautiful country and the opportunities it has allowed us. I will miss looking out over the lake each morning and seeing the hot air balloons go up at dawn. I will miss watching the sun set over the mountains and seeing Telstra Tower light up at night. I will miss our walks around the lake, to Questacon, the Museum, and even the shopping center. I will miss the coast, the gum trees, and the kangaroos. But most of all I will miss the people and the friends we have made. I will miss playing with Kalista, the Seaches, and the Olsons. I will miss Mary, Lucy, Penelope, and Monique and the love and patience they have shown working with my children. I have never been one to linger over goodbyes, and I don't see the point in prolonging the inevitable, but I find myself wishing I had just a little more time here. Even so, I am grateful for the experiences, the friendships, and the memories, and I'm glad I can take those with me!

Getting into character

We love role-playing and facepaint makes it all the more fun! We found free facepainting at a mall so we have gone a couple of times. AJ always wants to be a cat while AP prefers alien creatures of his own demise (it's funny to watch the painter's face as he describes what he wants). Below his face is on fire.

Here AP is an alien from Jupiter and AJ is, as I'm sure you can tell, a very ferocious tiger.

Bollywhat?

Bollywood dance (modern Indian dance) is really popular here. I found a class down the street from us taught by Krisha (pictured left), and with some encouragement from J decided to give it a try. It has been fun learning the dances and meeting people. I'd forgotten what a great creative and social outlet dance can be! At bollywood class I have met people from Australia, India, England, and Canada. And thanks to a bollywood friend, I got to attend an African dance workshop a couple of Saturdays ago. The teacher, Tuza, (pictured right) is from Ghana and he was amazing! He had so much energy and was hilarious. The movement was awesome; so joyful and BIG. I got there late, but worked up a sweat in no time (and had SO MUCH FUN!). And not only did we get to learn a cool dance we got to do it to live African drumming. Talk about motivating. Anyway thanks to the dance scene here in Australia I've had quite the multicultural experience, heh, heh.

We go together!

Kalista took us to this cool lake park and was so sweet to follow us around taking pictures so we could have some Australia shots with us all together. This is the first time D made it into a family picture! A sweet shot of my little ones. . .

And we can't forget the silly!

I love this one! What's funny is that she is always trying to prove how strong she is by picking him up from behind. I'm pleased that it looks like a nice hug though, heh, heh.

This cracks me up! He has so many funny expressions.

I love my kids!

This is J's favorite of all of us. . .

and this is mine. I love that she caught us all laughing! Thanks Kalista--we love you!

Last beach trip

Canberra Day was Monday so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head to the coast for one final hoorah. We found a last minute rental at Long Beach called "The Sandcastle." It ended up being overcast and a bit stormy, so we didn't get to play in the sand and surf much but had a lot of fun in the hot tub!

We also took full advantage of their huge selection of DVDs and had a great time lounging around; we all loved the bean bags and the blue sectional was quite comfy as well (in fact the first night AP, AJ, and I all ended up on it).

Even though it was stormy we had some really nice walks on the beach

We even saw a pod of dolphins and were able to walk/run along with them! I couldn't get a good shot--they were too quick and the waves kept getting in the way, but there you see J pointing at them. I did get some video, but couldn't get it to download, so that may come later. . .

And talk about planet strange! We saw some of the weirdest sealife wash up on shore. We are still not sure what these blue things are. They were all over the beach and we couldn't decide whether they were more like slugs or jellyfish. . . and then we came upon this clam conglomeration that kept spurting tentacles. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd love to know what these things are! Also AJ found these spongy things (not pictured) that would squirt water if you stepped on them.

J sporting his new hat that he got at a rugby game he went to with some work buddies two weekends ago. Isn't he handsome?

After all the fun we were pretty worn out. Driving home AP fell asleep in the car. That hasn't happened since he was a baby!

Over the rainbow. . .

For those of you who don't know (I didn't before we came here), Aussies call their homeland OZ. So when we saw this rainbow AP exclaimed, "Oz really is on the other side of the rainbow!"

Sometimes it actually feels that way and, while much is similar to the U.S., much is very different. So here are some of the little “tid-bits” that I keep meaning to mention, but never quite get to:
1. Canberra is very clean and as a whole Australians are very environmentally conscious
-they line dry their clothes (and dryers here are really small)
-people take reusable fabric bags for shopping
-there are recycling bins at the store for your plastic bags
-the dry cleaners reuse your hangers
2. Food is similar, but not quite the same
-groceries (along with everything else) are SO expensive
-HUGE selection of gluten-free food at the grocery store
-Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine are common; Mexican not as (we miss our corn tortillas!)
-You can get baby food in Capri-sun type pouches with a valve for sucking (great for on the run!)
-No velveeta here (AP asked someone at church where we could find some and the response was, “Is that something Italian?”
3. Driving
-on the “wrong” side of the road
-confusing roundabouts
-the roads go in circles or change names suddenly and it’s easy to get lost
-tons of people walk, job, ride bikes everywhere; we do too and the exercise has been great for all of us!

My great find

Being the Queen of Cheap, the cost of things here has been discouraging to me and shopping for anything (from groceries to clothing) hasn't been much fun . But on Saturday (while everyone else was at the beach), I took the opportunity to walk D over to the shopping center and and get a few things we needed. While there I walked past a shop advertising everything under $10. Unheard of here, so I had to take a quick look! There wasn't much, but I did find this dress for $7! Woohoo! J was so proud of my find he had to get a picture (hee,hee).

Since we were already taking pictures, I had AJ snap this one of J and I. And while I was very excited about the dress, I was reminded that my greatest find has been the sweet, sexy, strong, smart (and sometimes silly) man that I married! Love you babe!