Laundry help

Daniel was helping with Laundry. There was a lot of it, so it deserves a capital letter.

Daniel: "Folding all those socks was so hard!"
Mum: "It wasn't hard, c'mon. It took awhile but it's totally something you can do."
Daniel: "But that's what my wife will do for me one day."
--at which point my 'Dad' eyes come out, and by 'Dad' eyes, I mean MY Dad, not Andrew, and Daniel backs down slightly, because apparently when I do those eyes, he can see the 'cracks' in my eyes and it freaks him out.
Daniel: "...well hopefully..."
Mum: "ummm, yeah, well that's why you need to know how to do it... so you can be helpful like Dad." (that's the best I could come up with in the moment!)

So I think he'll be helping me with Laundry more often.

Dipping in

Making bread has always been in my too-hard basket. But over Christmas I watched my sister make bread and rolls, etc... and I didn't see her clear her calendar, or clear the house of everyone, or take deep breaths or anything. She just did it and it didn't seem all that dramatic. (yum and very appreciated, but not 'don't-bug-me-I'm-making-bread' kind of dramatic). Now cooking and baking is just like breathing for her, which I admire, so in the spirit of being deliberate about how I spend my time (a current theme for me), I have made a bit of bread. Only a bit. 2 of my mom's all-time best recipes actually. I did stumble on a bread making blog with that tempting title "10 helpful tips for breadmaking". Well... I won't do that again. I can't for the life of me figure out how there is time for such rigorous routine to breadmaking that includes recording the temperature and every other detail about each breadmaking experience. What?! I have a mixer and dough hooks, I have bread pans, yeast and flour. That's where I'm starting. 

So the dough has risen, the kids have loved it, and that's a great start in my book. :)

Crescent rolls

(a hit for school lunches, and great as garlic rolls 

and as cheese and vegemite scrolls too!)

Wheaties bread!! 

(a bit too dense, but still Mom's Wheaties bread! 

I didn't want to share it with anyone...)

So here's to trying new things and - even if it is just bread - dipping in to that too-hard basket and adding to the repertoire of 'can-do' stuff. Hmmm, what's next...

Walking!

I've said for weeks and weeks that miss C will definitely walk in February. 

So on March 1st, she took her first steps.

Didn't actually capture the very first ones, as I had no thought that she actually would! 

But all the cheering on after the first few steps kept her going for about 

a dozen more before realising that crawling is still faster!
So fun that there were so many people here to share it with!

Another February...

January seems to go by too fast. So I like to think of February as the beginning of the year. That way the year isn't racing by so fast right? Right. :)

Anyway because school here starts in Feb, it's perfectly sensible to me!

Looking back on a Dec/Jan blur of travel and family fun and sad goodbyes. It's not all sad, I got to see some family I haven't seen in years. But shame grandpa isn't in this photo, dang it.

My one living Grandma, managing to amuse me 

with a smile, despite her dislike for the camera.

 Sweet but oh-so-feisty!!!

Traditional airport snap

Last time Nick fell asleep first on the long flight, 

this time Daniel succumbed, haha!

Animal-loving girl

Slippery summer fun

We celebrated 15 years since we've looked like this, 

...while Aunty Sharon (with Oma and Papa) looked after the kids. 

Did they get sick and vomit while we were away? 

Yep, one did. Shame about that. 

I did offer what I could by throwing up too. :(

Laura finally getting to have her horse riding lessons! 

Love the I'm-taking-this-so-very-seriously pose.

Lately it's this I see. 

With brief moments of this.

I don't feeling like going back to rotate this photo, but as we went through 

old school papers from last year, I found this in Nick's weekly journal. Ha!!!

A fun trip to Melb to hang with friends while our husbands had a boys weekend... Kath and I braved the zoo with 9 kids (must get those photos from you Kath), and then I hung out with Lisa while kids played and we went on long walks (well, one long walk) and tried to minimise iPad time. Sheesh, kids these days!! hehe ;)

Some must-have childhood shots... 

and proof that she is a toddler, not a baby anymore.

And so we begin school again, now with 3 kids at school every day, 

and one little girl home with me every day. 

What a different sort of year I will have! 

Sock Alert!

Discarded socks.

First world problem, I know.

Dang kids and their propensity to shed their socks anywhere, anytime. 

So when I found a pair of dirty discarded socks today, 

I started calling out "Sock alert, sock alert!!" really loud and annoying like a siren. 

They came running, bewildered, and got the socks as I walked away. 

Then I heard, "Geez, I hope that doesn't happen again!"

Me too kids, me too.

50 times!

"Happy half a century!" Andrew said when the flight landed. Took me a few moments, but oh yes, that was my 50th crossing of that ocean.

3 feelings:
- Incredibly, overwhelmingly grateful - that I have been able to come back so often. That Andrew is willing to make it happen.
- Perplexed at how it all came to this!!! - I did consciously and deliberately choose to marry this handsome Aussie guy - of course! - but sometimes I am just baffled at the reality of it all. The very good reality. And also the very much harder-than-i-ever-realised reality. No regrets, just harder than my 21-year old self could have known.
- Tired. - Jetlag? Maybe. But I suspect I've lost days and weeks of my life in travel. Literally. And although the kids travel well, it still completely exhausts me.

But I'm here, and I know crossing that ocean is more than worth it. All 50 times. 

Because Grandparents are worth it.

And cousins are worth it too.

 Great-grandparents are so worth it.

And the sight of those 19 stockings is definitely worth it!

Too many goodbyes

I can hardly bear to post this. My grandpa died yesterday. All of my grandparents were alive in July, and now 3 of them have died and it's a bit much. There's some sadness settled in me right now. I want to say how glad I am that he didn't suffer from his disease any longer. I want to say its all okay. But I'm just sad. So goodbye to my card-playing, cigar-smoking, fun-loving, laughing-loud, always-feisty, wine-drinking, truly-loyal, and patient-to-the-end grandfather. Back in the day we would play cards till 3am, only going to bed cause Andrew and I were exhausted. I'll never play pinochle again without thinking of Grandma and Grandpa. It was a fun relationship we had with them both. I'm so sorry Grandma that you feel so lost without him, and I'm sorry Dad that you've lost your fun-loving Dad.

Yeah, I'll miss that smile, that's very you. 

19something

Okay Mom and Dad. Here's your sweet revenge, I guess. Or whatever this is called.

Daniel was telling me some cool fact about football, some major comeback a team had in the Grand Final one year.

Me: "What year was that?"
Daniel: "Oh, 19something."

Oh that's right. I used to think that 1949 and 1951 were an unfathomable number of years ago (sorry mom and dad). So "19something" is plenty specific enough for someone born in 2004. Of course. OSM. Thanks Daniel.

Another Goodbye

It's not been that long since saying goodbye to my Grandpa. But sadly, and also with some relief for her sake, Grandma didn't have much more time than he did. I am glad that she didn't have to live in her room for years not knowing or remembering anyone. But I am full of sadness for my parents - for my mom losing both her parents this year. Because I think it's living without people that's truly hard. Grandma, today I had a cream-filled cupcake and thought of you. I think you made them too, way back when. I know I should have probably had a chocolate chip cookie, but there was this cupcake sitting there calling my name, so I made a coffee and said Happy Birthday to you, for what would have been 94 years. Thank you for everything your life has been, you did it so WELL.

 

A big year

This has been a big year for us, for a lot of reasons. Most of all because this little girl has changed our life. As would any child really. With fostering it's just been a whole different ballgame though. Actually some days it doesn't feel any different. But then in that moment of feeling like it's no different, I am aware that it IS different. She does have a birth mum and dad, and it's not us. They are her family AND we are her family.

So while she has grown up this year in our family, I have grown too. And I have this feeling that there is so much more to come, so many more things to learn. We have been so privileged to have this year with her. We hope very much that she will always be in our family.

Happy birthday sweet cheeky girl. We love your squishy face, your clapping, your unrestrained love for your stuffed animals, your ever-increasing will, and your affection. I am grateful for everything you have brought to our lives this past year.

A few moments after we first met her

A few weeks later

Seriously cute stuff at 7 months old

And now a whole year old...

You aren't going to say don't touch, are you?

Oh that was a lot of chocolate in one hit

I really don't want to be on this couch taking a 1-year old photo

Happy 1st birthday, we all love you like crazy girl.