Milestones

 We don't hit restaurants very often.

(Dad's a bit sensitive about causing a "scene" with our rowdy ones.)

But we thought we'd give it a whirl for Kenna's birthday dinner. After a nice pep talk in the car about "public places" and "manners" we walked in - cool as cucumbers. However, this irresistible water window called out like a siren beyond our table, so you can see how successful the exercise was...

 Great birthday celebrations though.  Kenna had an ART PARTY - very fitting. Drawing, coloring, painting, ironing beads, Pictionary, chalking the circle (which got a little out of hand, resulting in me out there the next day with a bucket and a broom) but a good time had by all. (HIGHLIGHT: one gal tromped a glob of paint all over the living room while mom had a heart attack, shouting "Sit down! Everyone, sit down and show me your feet!!" Nothing like blue & yellow footprints on the carpet of your rental...)

Happy 7th, special little light of my life!

I feel like our whole family's growing up. We all officially play instruments now. Well, minus Summer, of course, unless spitting into the harmonica counts...

Another milestone: Angel's picked up running.

Hmmmm.

Not sure I'm liking that.

She's also entered that awwwwwwesome stage that allows us to go on mini-treasure hunts every day! Our recent finds:

socks in the toilet

remote control in the trash

slippers in the (full) bathtub

homework in the shower

shoes in a kitchen drawer

You get the drift- it's delightful. 

(Particularly all the empty tp rolls and tissue boxes.)

Lastly, Annie's a big girl now! Another round of training wheels all packed away (sniff, sniff)

This girl falls more than anyone I've ever met (except maybe her cousin Katie - wink) so there's always a variety of gruesome scabs, bruised lumps and bandages decorating her appendages. Fortunately she's super tough, 'cause she trips on air and is a magnet for corners. (She's a regular at the school's sick bay, most recently for literally running into a pole.)

So, I'm sure there are serious wipeouts in our future, but for now, she's feeling pretty proud of herself. :)

check out that little grin

Latest Australianisms

Getting tired of these yet? They just keep croppin' up...

Full On (term of disbelief/intensity)
Tinned (canned)
Sleeps (naps)
Embiggen (enlarge)
Chilly Bin (cooler)
Lounge (living room)
Entree (appetizer)
Stockings (tights)
Pop it (place it, throw it)
Good Mark (good catch)
Assessments (report cards)

Random Shuffle

Got up at 5am a few nights in a row last month to catch a non-cloudy view of this "once in a lifetime" event: Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, & Uranus all aligned with the moon on the horizon before sunrise. I thought it was awesome.

 The kids took a glance then shuffled back to bed, unimpressed. 

But they were thrilled to see Saturn's rings, the spectacular Jewel Box, and Alpha Centauri at the school's stargazing party the other night. There were about 10 highfalutin telescopes there from the Canberra Astronomical Society with friendly volunteers guiding us around the galactic beauties.

What's with this hair? 

No product, nothing. Straight out of the shower. I'm thinking some seriously unhealthy build up of some sort?

Had to chuckle at these prices. I remember stocking up on these for gifts last year.

They were $0.88 each.

Will about had a panic attack of "they're gonna kill me" when he did this (tried to pull out a shirt that was jammed in his closet door.) The whole thing fell over.

I was just relieved no one got slice'n'diced.

Last note: it's COLD here. 

4WD Saturday

we sat eye to eye with this gorgeous fox forever - what, you dont see it? I'm slow

row on row of very well manicured trees out in the middle of nowhere

pics don't really do these lookouts justice...

 Decorated the car with some fresh gouges when Dad decided the kids deserved another turn at the wheel.

Could we maybe choose an open track rather than a side sloped blackberry bush run next time?? (For the record, I hate every second of this foolishness... but they did sorta deserve it with all the carsick vomiting on the way out there.)

Gotta keep 'em fans of the FWD somehow I suppose.

The Artiste(s)

I joke about marrying a renaissance man, but when I bought the art set for our birthday girl, I never dreamed it would come to this...

Apparently, Dare's a crazy good painter - busted this outta nowhere, having never before picked up a brush!

Like I said, he's picked up more hobbies since we moved here than in the last 10 years combined. His Mid-life Awakening, shall I call it? Four-wheeling, telescopic photography, cooking (fish, at least), building computers, plunked out his favorite hymn on the piano, dons his painter's pallette in the evenings... What's next?! Keeps life interesting, that's for sure.

A closer look at some of his recent work - check out those brushstrokes:

 Kenna, Annie & Will got in on the action too.

And of course, I couldn't resist trying my hand as well.

(I have to say I enjoyed doing the funky use-up-the-excess-paint ones best. No stress of messing anything up there.)

These were all acrylics, but D's been online researching oil paints and brush sets and I bought a bunch of canvases, so looks like we've birthed a new family hobby for the cozy winter evenings ahead. Thanks, Dad Van Gogh!

WWM Award

 I've oft been frowned at for allowing my kids free reign of the banister or to hang over precipices and other such dangerous shenanigans. But the climbing gene runs deep in our blood...

turned the corner to find her here (10 months)

 Have you ever felt like you're the World's Worst Parent? This post's for you. Even though getting unsolicited criticism from a stranger is arguably the lowest blow a parent can receive, I do wonder what strangers think of me sometimes.  

Eating off the floor? Check. 

Playing outside shoeless & unsupervised? Check.

Not installing enough baby-proofing gadgets? Check.

Riding sans helmet on occasion? Check. 

Playing with balloons? Check.
Forgetting a child at the bus stop? Check.
Not enforcing a brush-your-hair rule? Check.

Leaving them home (with me on the cell) for a quick errand. Check. 

I'm not always in top form, but I think we do alright. Okay, I could step it up a notch at times. Who couldn't?

I definitely feel like I deserve the World's Worst Mom award when I notice another booger wiped on the wall. Or see my impatience mirrored in their reactions to things. But my 5 year old knows how to scrub a bathroom and make her own lunch, so...

You pick your battles, and for me, letting a kid dress like Pippi Longstocking for a few years is just not that big of a deal. I choose to believe I'm giving them ample opportunities to practice their independence, which is a plus, right?

(this is where I knock on wood)

When I start having a few too many WWM moments, I find solace in some of my favorite reads. If you are aiming to raise your kids into responsible, contributing members of society while maintaining a loving atmosphere in the home, snag these books, chock-full of real advice on how to get there:

 Parenting With Love & Logic

The Parenting Breakthrough

Christlike Parenting

Teaching Your Children Values

The Mint

Australian money's pretty cool. Fun, fancy colors and coinage that is actually worth something ($1 and $2). Darren is intrigued by coins. It's one of the many new interests he's taken up in the last couple years (sort of the opposite of a mid-life crisis, I'm starting to think - which, for the record, is cool with me.)

He took us on a fun little outing to the Australian Mint...

We got to "make" our own new coins.

Then watched robots dumping huge barrels of unprinted gold coins into machines that stamp and sort them. Cool displays on how everything's done, examples of misprints and cool, specially-produced coinage.

I love a good factory.

My friend pointed out the different lengths of their bills to aid the blind. Poses the question: How do blind Americans differentiate between bills?