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Enjoyed a lovely birthday yesterday in large part thanks to this cute beginning:

And this delightful end (you knowwww it's good when you're lying in bed thinking about it at 3am):

This gal ain't never making herself another "traditional" birthday cake again! 

(Deliciousness found HERE.)

Tried this recipe I'd been itching to make for dinner and was definitely not disappointed. Round that out by falling asleep with a good book on a rainy day, getting a "massage" from the fam and some kind gifts in the mail... gettin' older ain't half bad!

One perk of living halfway around the world is that all your loved ones are a day behind you so birthday love gets a nice extension :)

I had a great day and felt showered with love.

(I admit, having kids old enough to handle dishes and diapers for a day is sort of amazing in its own right. And we selfishly kept this girl up an extra hour just to gaze at her crazy cute and exhausting antics. She makes my cheeks hurt.)

A very good day indeed.

how funny is my little penitent snitch??

Good Friends

Always know we're in for something good when we head out to Kathryn's.

We were fed these:

pikelets for tea (mini-pancakes/crumpets) w/ jam and cream

We admired this:

amazingly gargantuan Elkhorn plant - bigger than me

We were given this:

cool piece of Australian history saved from the tip

And this:

for "fluffy milo" of course

Borrowed these:

one for Summer's croupy cough (loving that magical eucalyptus oil)

the other for my pav addiction

Played with this:

 And messed around with these:

(chicken feet are good doggie snacks, who knew?)

Came home, per usual, with the car packed full of goodies. 

Thanks for spoiling us...yet again!

Aussie-isms

Wobbly tooth (loose tooth - remind you of that Charlie & Lola episode?) 
Bee (gathering/party; ie: a Gardening Bee to clean up the school garden)
Collect (pick up)
Tip (dump)
Yukka (work)
Cinema (movie theater)
Vest (women's tank top, formerly listed as "singlet" but apparently that an "undershirt")
Wag (skip class)
Flat out (overwhelmed/ing)
Conserve (jelly)
Fire brigade (firemen)
Let me alone (leave me alone)
Rock melon (cantaloupe)
Beaut (good)
Biro (ball point pen)
Bloke (guy)
Mate (buddy)
Bush (countryside)
Fete (carnival)
Footpath (sidewalk)
Gaol (jail)
Little boys (little hotdogs/weiners/sausages)
Give it a miss (not interested)
Garden (lawn/yard)
It's not on (not allowed)
Loo (toilet)

My Go-To in the Kitchen

Cookbooks. Who uses them anymore? With internet being so prolific and accessible these days, more often than not at 5pm I'm browsing recipes online (Our Best Bites, Allrecipes, Taste) Or typing the contents at the back of my fridge into an ingredient list. Voila! Instant meal.

As a newlywed, I devoured my cookbooks - read 'em like novels. My favorite Taste of Home cookbook (a sweet wedding gift from Darren's grandma) was impressively battered and splattered within the year. Occasionally, I'll pull it out, dust it off and fix an old favorite even still.

But I'll tell you what, if you're looking to ditch your shelf full of dusty cookbooks and replace it with ONE that you'll really love and use, it's gotta be this one:

Every single recipe I've tried is amazing. In fact, 80% of the time I asked a friend for her recipe, the answer was, not surprisingly, "Favorites." In Utah, you could pick out the Favorites dishes just by seeing which serving platters were licked clean at the neighborhood party or church social. Without fail, these dishes are impressive, delectable and doable.

And guess what, they've got another one! Lucky us!!

Go ahead, buy both. Your family (and neighbors) will thank you.

(P.S. No, I'm not getting monetarily compensated for this post - ha! I did ask for the second book for my birthday - hoping to pleasantly surprise them with some orders all the way from Australia...)

Spring Fling

 Our continued love affair with the long awaited spring...

 This is wattle. It's everywhere in Canberra and only shows off it's glory for a few weeks of the year.

 Our crew out sucking in the fresh air.

 "Why hello, and a g'day to you my fine friend!"

Who knew iphones could capture the clarity of a spider web?

All the cherry blossoms make me feel like I'm right back in Washington D.C.

bushwalking amongst the roos and blossoms

I dared her to ride with her eyes closed, then had another WWM moment when she collided bikes with Kenna

 Brilliant, rainbow colored birds eating right outside your door.

 
 One thing that keeps impressing us here is the plethora of flowering trees, particularly those that have multicolored blossoms. Wild.