Positive Vibes

 Least favorite parenting jobs? Potty-training is pretty high up there. We've been putting it off. Much more fun this time around though. Not sure if it's that she's older or there are more examples to watch (and people to do the potty dance with) but she's quickly getting the hang of it. Like wayyyy easier than the others. And way less clean up, because she's pretty darn independent. I used to hate the little potty because it spread the mess but it's definitely the ticket for her. She literally went 4 times in the last 90 minutes, and she is so darn proud of herself. We'll see if it lasts... fingers crossed.

 I can't complain about having some cute little buns on display lately either!

Rocket Bagels

Bagels are amazing. I love them. I wish I could find more of them here. Occasionally I make them. I use THIS bagel recipe.

It's delish. DE-LISH. And fun. Who knew you could boil bread? I usually make my bagels into a rocket (salad) sandwich.

Kinda like I eat a Costco cheese pizza - with a pile of greens on top. Can't eat it plain - just too much choking on globs of bready cheesey goodness.

Anyway, try out the bagels. They're nice.

Don't forget to share!

Seaside

Forgot to post this little blurb on our trip to the coast last month. As Darren was gingerly recovering, we took advantage of a long weekend and headed out for some fresh sea air. I think it did him good.

 Loved the beautiful little local "zoo" Birdland. Got up close and personal with some great animals. Check out the Herculean ant. Sometimes the iPhone impresses us.

the irony's not lost on me that deer are the novelty here :)

 We go to a different beach around Bateman's Bay every visit, but as we kept driving south they just got prettier and prettier. Around every bend there was a beach even cooler than the last.

We let the kids choose so they would be good sports about the explorative delay, but we can't wait to get back down to visit more of them.

 We ended up at Broulee North where a little inlet stream empties into the ocean providing more than enough fun for all our ages. Bridge jumping, rock pool exploring, body surfing, floating down the shallow stream, crashing in the waves - it was perfect. Of course our underwater camera was out of battery, darn it all. But we'll be back.

 Here's Will one week later after he refused to wear his rashie AND refused to re-apply sunscreen. Two lessons learned (I hope.) That old sun'll getcha down here!

Heart Happy

I've mentioned before that holidays are celebrated differently in this country, that is to say, much more low-key. And while I'm enjoying the break from such intense commercialism/consumerism, I do miss the hoopla sometimes. And so do these kiddos. To make up for the void of missing Valentine Boxes and Valentine Parties and fancy-pants Valentine Cards... I made today all about the love. Hearts everywhere. Seriously, the big holiday celebrations at school are one of the things my kids miss most about the States. Even simple ones like Pajama Day and Crazy Hair Day is the stuff they dream about upon our return next year.

I tried that heart shaped egg thing that's all over Pinterest, but Warning: it doesn't work with already cooled boiled eggs. Don't try it. So I got creative with their lunches and made everything else "hearty" enough. It was fun. And their friends got such a kick out of it at school. V-Day is sort of a "lovers-only" holiday here, if celebrated at all, so you don't really go around wishing anyone a Happy Valentine's Day unless you want to really weird them out.  

We sneakily "heart-attacked" their violin teacher during lessons and had a fun visit with our good friend, Eeva. The birthday cake we'd left was stolen off her doorstep so we pooled our last American mallows to make a replacement "V-Day Cake." Needless to say that one was hand-delivered.

The kids eagerly anticipate surprises after school on holidays so this year I sent them on a hunt with about 30 clues around the house, written in white crayon on white hearts. They had to paint each one as they found it before they could read where the next one was. Awesome teamwork and fun enough that they didn't even mind the dinky little gifts at the end.

 Since boarding a plane on Valentine's Day 2011 to start a new chapter halfway around the world, a new tradition has been born - candlelight dinner on fancy china to celebrate our Australian anniversaries. Two years ago today. Hard to believe. Everyone shared their "bests" and "worsts" (of which Annie's were the same, ha ha - falling in Sydney Harbour and breaking her leg.) It was delightful.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! 

Enjoy those parties for us! And go smooch someone you love :)

Tongue Tied

before

after

 A few weeks ago, Desmond had a small surgery to release his tongue. He was born "tongue-tied" or with an "attached tongue" that the nurse noticed on her check up at our home a week later. His frenulum was too tight. What? You don't know that word? Me neither. It's that thin piece of skin under the tongue that attaches it to your mouth - his extended almost to the tip. Nursing was okay, but when he tried to stick out his tongue it would get all forked, not pointed like a normal extended tongue. Not a big deal, but when you can't push your tongue past your bottom lip it means you can't lick an icecream or clean between your teeth properly and sometimes leads to speech impediments. Anyway, we decided to have it clipped.

We waited ages to see the one doc who does them regularly (and then he was over an hour late each of the three times we saw him that day - which royally ticked me off as I tried to soothe a "fasting" nursing baby!) But seven hours and over two grand later*, it was freed! I was sorta ticked when I was told the doc could've done it at a week one or two in 30 (free) seconds during a check up in his office, but you live you learn. The hospital time was actually really nice to have with my little guy. Des and I don't often get to indulge in one on one cuddle time. It actually happened before school resumed so Will even earned a good chunk of his camp $ by babysitting basically all day. Here's the happy little man now.

I have yet to get a shot of him extending it very far, it may be a bit painful still. Funny enough, we've discovered both Annie and Darren also have (less severe) attached tongues. They both always wondered why they couldn't stick out their tongues as far as other kids. It's genetic - go figure. A great little party trick though.

*insurance will reimburse most of it but it would've been nice to avoid the time suck of organizing, copying, filling out and mailing the separate receipts/reimbursal forms for the doctor/hospital/clinic/anesthetist/surgeon, etc. One of the downsides of living overseas...

Carless

I suppose it's an interesting choice for a couple to share a car with 5 kids to tote around, but I admit it has been much more doable than I anticipated. In fact, it sort of made my summer.

Due to Darren's extended illness and recovery, he was unable to bike in to work for over a month, so to cut down on all the driving him to/from or coordinating rides/buses, he usually just drove in. That left us with a lot of cozy, quality time here at home - mom and kids. Five of 'em. And while that might seem like a recipe for disaster (or loss of sanity) it actually was quite nice. All of a sudden - voila - I had no errands to run. No schedule to keep. No get-togethers to attend. Because really, I couldn't. And man, what a load off. Just to escape the clock - that pressure of timing it all right, mapping my errands, traffic/parking, naps, meals and all. Staying home lounging about, playing, reading, eating together, was a way simpler life than trying to take 5 kids out and about even just once a day. If someone wanted a playdate, happy to oblige if they would do the driving. If we needed groceries bought or library books returned, Darren was happy to oblige on his way home. It was awesome. A bit of a revelation to me, the Queen of Efficiency. I'm hardwired to cram it in and maximize every outing - it's honestly in my blood. But just chillin' at home with the chilin' for once was real nice. Of course, the pool helped a lot on those hot, sweaty days when we were all at each others' throats. Being cooped up without that outlet would've made things much less fun.

I suppose I didn't even realize it until Monday when I spent 5 hours running errands after dropping off the eldest 3 at their first day of school. They sorely needed new school shoes/supplies and some missing grocery items and I knocked it out all on the first day just because I could. Doing it with two babies in tow is much less maniacal than all five, but it was still no picnic. We had some meltdowns and nursing breaks and falling asleep in arms and carts with kind strangers loading the conveyor belt for the poor lady "with her hands full" at check out.

But I sorta missed those days of having all my little chickies gathered around me, safe at home. Asking if I want to play a game or what's for lunch or if I can come see this new trick they learned or app they're playing. I admit, I relish having an hour or two of quiet in my day again to be super-focused/uninterrupted, whether in a relaxed or productive state. And I'm an extreme fan of losing the daily discouragement that was walking into every freshly thrashed room, just minutes after I'd tidied up. But I do miss those guys and the glorious simplicity that was this car-less summer.

Might just have to try it again next year.