Oh yeah, those days away...

So to those of you who are interested in what I did with those days away a few weeks ago, here's a bit of an email I wrote to a friend - basically a few long run-on sentences about the gift of having 5 unstructured days to myself.
The house was lovely, although it didn't matter that it was at the beach - it rained for 3 out of 4 days I was there, and I LOVED being indoors listening to it. One night the power even went out from 8pm till 2 or 3am, which made for a great excuse to read under the covers with a flashlight!! What else... I organized a lot of photos, read a parenting book, watched movies, drank coffee, prayed a lot, ate very little, but a high proportion of chocolate. (I was hardly hungry given that I was doing so little, and it was a huge luxury not to have mealtimes rule the day). I did a lot of Christmas shopping and took my time getting from place to place.

It was really just a lovely mishmash of things that didn't require me to think of anyone else for few days. Kind of 'nothingness' and kind of purposeful towards getting refreshed for life and motherhood. I guess it's the bonus side of having a student for a husband, who can give me the time away without taking off work.

Thank you Andrew, you're a wonderful dad and a truly supportive husband. I love you.

Birth from the other side

In the early hours of Tuesday morning I got to witness childbirth without going through it myself!

My sister Jill gave birth to her 3rd boy.

It was beautiful. Welcome baby Isaac. We love you boy!

What to do...?

I leave on Saturday for a driving trip to Oregon by myself - ALL by myself. And I am busy-in-my-head trying to decide how to spend my time. It's like this panic (not really, of course) of wanting to spend it exactly the right way and not waste it. Like thinking it's so good (and so rare!) that it might just slip away if I'm not careful (4 days goes by fast in normal life, right?). So what would you do?

Bring on Thanksgiving!

I do love the American
Thanksgiving tradition
- so much so that I did
my best to reproduce
it a few times Down
Under, right down to
the very same dishes
that my family makes.

Today, while Laura
and I got out the
winter gear for fun,
Daniel was busy
making pumpkin pie
at preschool.

Each kid brought
their own pie home -
how impressive!

They each made a
pie crust on Tuesday,
then filled and
baked them today.
He was pretty proud.

I think cooking at
preschool must be
much more fun than
cooking with me...

Daniel

...the bike and the scooter are having a rest.

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...my calendar gets some decoration!

1st picture: I've written so much about Laura lately. Maybe she's learning so much, so quickly, that it's just fun to share. And besides, Daniel is just busy riding around outside this week, giving his scooter and bike a real workout. I think preschool has made him more independent and happier with his own company

(and more bossy to other kids too, but we are working on that!).

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2nd picture: When he's not outside he wants to read, draw, do activity books... He found my calendar the other morning before I came downstairs. At a glance it looks like scribbles, but no... look carefully - he connected the numbers like many other 'dot-to-dot' activities in books (he added decorations on other months too). And although the look in his eye told me he knew he shouldn't have done it, I did leave it on the ground, so I couldn't be too annoyed with him. . :)

Music class

I have been taking the kids to a toddler music class for nearly a year, and I was debating whether to sign up for the next session, but we go with 2 other friends, and I can see how much the kids love it - how could I say no?

Halloween

In true American fashion, we did Halloween this year. Last year I think I was in a mild state of culture shock, not quite being able to handle the idea of putting Laura, then 4 months old, in a costume, nor the idea of knocking on doors asking for candy. But this year was fun, and my two Tiggers loved their costumes (thanks Anna!).

First the pumpkin patch tradition... They both loved the bunnies. Laura looks so serious, but I think maybe she was eyeing off someone who wanted a turn... :)

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And then the costumes -
Two Happy Tiggers! ...but don't mess with this Tigger!

For a long time to come

I think Andrew and I are still not quite used to the fact that Laura will be making us laugh [in an exasperated fashion] for a long time to come. Here's another example of how different these two kid creatures are: Daniel is 3, and he still could care less who is up when he has to go to bed. Laura is not quite 1 1/2, and she very much cares who is allowed to stay up when she has to go to bed.

For my mom

One of the classic stories of my childhood (which has been terribly embellished, I'm sure) is of me trying to negotiate my way into having 2 or 3 books before bed. Mom says 1 book, I say 3, then 2, then she says, "Sarah, 1 book or no books." I stubbornly choose no books and go to bed.

Well, repeat that conversation between me and Daniel truly word for word, until I tell him 1 book or no books. He says "no books". I say "okay", at which point he frantically scrambles to undo his decision and says, "yeah, yeah, 1 book, 1 book!" So he pretends to be stubborn, and he really does try, but the follow-through is just not in him.

But not to worry Mom, child #2 will play the whole scenario back to me, and I'm sure she will walk straight to bed without a book. You can quote me.

MARATHON BLOGGING: not for the faint at heart (and mostly for the grandparents!)

It's been over 3 weeks since I've posted anything. So here goes. And I mean it when I say marathon. This is not for the casual readers who just want a couple photos. :) I had to post something about our final week with Andrew and Lisa in early Sept, our trip to Australia (late Sept), and this last month of life back here at home. (...actually, no, it's just the trips. Life back here at home can wait. It's 1.02am here, and I'm going to bed.) Here's the photos.

Vegas/Grand Canyon Fiasco!!

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When I told Daniel the next day that Lisa and I rode on the rollercoaster, he was so impressed, "you rode on that rollercoaster while I was sleeping last night, whoa!"

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What do you do in Vegas with kids?

Go to the pool!

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We think Laura and Summer really did like each other, as Summer would start kicking and flapping when Laura walked in the room. We hope it wasn't cause she was scared... :)

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Obligatory Canyon family shot.

----------------------------Woke at 5.30 (by myself!) to see this. Couldn't pass up the chance to see a Canyon sunrise, even with a couple dozen tourists around me all enjoying it too...

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While the adults were gazing at the canyon, the kids were more fascinated by this hole in the wall!!

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We all have our own ways of coping with 6 hours in a car with 8 people...

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While I frantically unpacked from the Vegas/Canyon trip, did laundry and repacked to head to Australia, Daniel declared that he was ready to go. A couple undies, a couple tops, (a cute girl in tow)... what more does a boy need?

-------------------------------We said goodbye to the Harris' right before our own flight. After they left, Daniel happened to fall down, and cried, "I want Ella!" When I said that they had gone on their own plane, he said, "But I want to keep her because she's my friend and I love her!" Ah, they really did have fun together...

------------------------------------Some stranger guy in the airport happened to take this excellent shot, which I think is my FAV PHOTO of the whole holiday. We love you Harry's!!

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AUSTRALIA

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We got some nice end-of-winter weather, so we flew kites and had a picnic. Oma is a great photographer, I love this one!

--------------------------------------Oma and Daniel

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What you do at Bruny Island:
chop wood, walk on the beach, read, go for a row...

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I can do girls' hair, right?! :)

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...even Auntie Sharon joined in the fun!

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Daniel's new past-time is hide and seek, and of course Laura loves to do anything Daniel does... She has even begun to cover her eyes when she is 'counting'!!

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3 cheers for the Bruny Island jackets...and cute shot of the sister and her brothers!

I won't cry. Bye!

Well yesterday was Daniel's first day of preschool. I must admit, I didn't think it would go smoothly, given we had just arrived home, he was still pretty tired, and so much of his routine has been different over the past 5 weeks. But no, much to my delight, I stayed for a short while, and he seemed pretty comfortable for me to go, saying, "Mum, you'll do your stuff, and I'll do mine, and then you'll come pick me up, right?!" Yep, that's right, Daniel. Then as I walked away, he calls out "Mum!" (with me thinking 'oh here we go...'), and then, "I forgot to give you a hug! [hugging takes place] I love you. And I won't cry. Bye!" And off he runs. Ooh, I love it. He loved it. It's all good. I love being that kid's mum. (hmm, is this blog becoming a bit of a journal instead of just a few pictures every once in awhile...?)

Where go Daddy?

Well, this is Laura's second 3-word sentence: "Where go Daddy?"

Okay, it's not quite that enunciated, but she says it over and over, and is not sure why Daddy left this morning (for his first day of classes). She walked around for awhile with her hands out asking "Where is he" and "Where go Daddy?" Her first 3-word sentence was a couple weeks ago. She found her blanket and showed Dad: "My bay Daddy!"

Do you think she is in love with her dad?

So I guess we are still jetlagged

Well, this is our 3rd night back, and while the first night was hilarious (kids woke up at 1am and all 4 of us headed downstairs to eat cereal cause they were on Australia time), the 2nd night was much better and we foolishly thought jetlag was over. It was not to be.

The picture above was taken 10 minutes ago. After going to bed, Daniel woke and we've spent the last 2 hours trying to get him back in bed. Normally I would say we are pretty consistent (at least we try) but clearly we gave up, as the picture proves. And what, you may ask, was the final straw... Daniel sitting at the top of the stairs calling out for Dad (cause Mum was off duty by this point!), then saying 'Dad, I feel much much better now.... Can I come downstairs now?' Okay, fine, Daniel, come downstairs.

For those of you who are in Australia and didn't know we were there, I apologize. We had a quick trip to Tassie and spent 10 days with Andrew's family before returning for Andrew to start school today.

Another beach holiday...

The Harris' arrived Sunday morning at 10am. We went from the airport to a beach house north of San Francisco, arrived there at 1pm, and stayed there till Friday. Not bad for getting immediately into holiday mode! Ella and Daniel have been become great friends again, it's been so fun to watch...

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It was all very organized actually. One of the Andrew's cooked,

while the other Andrew was on kid duty!

The kids played hard, can you tell?

We had to put Laura in the middle just to keep an eye on them...

Saying goodbye to the beach life...



Oh, and yeah, we did actually go to the beach!

A week on the Oregon coast camping...

First, a very long car ride...

...some serious fun at the beach...

...lots of late bedtimes...

...and just squeezing in time for a photo...