Merry Christmas!

Morning Tea with the Perkins Family

Now that Cameron, Simone, & Flynn live in Dubai, we don't get to see them very often, but they are in town now for the Christmas holidays, and we had a wonderful visit with them this morning. Julia was a bit shy at first and Liam & Flynn had a brief tug-0-war over the dump truck, but overall the children played really well together, and we were able to catch up with our friends. After morning tea, all seven of us somehow ended up on the floor of Julia's room, and the kids were in heaven amidst the piles of blocks and blankets. We're looking forward to see them again in the new year for a trip to the Thomas the Train exhibit at the Ipswich Railway Museum (and hopefully a few more times before they head back overseas!).

How (Not) to Make a Gingerbread House

With exams over and Christmas rapidly approaching, I decided that we should do some Christmas baking and crafts to overcome the 100+ degree temperatures outside and get into the holiday spirit. I started off with something quick and easy-- Gourmet Rocky Road -- to take as an end-of-year gift for Julia's teachers (she had her last day of school on Thursday). I've never made rocky road and I don't even particularly like it, but this turned out really well and was a big hit at school and at our house (Matt has now requested a batch to take to the office next week). Fuelled by this holiday treat success, I decided that Julia and I could make a gingerbread house together (from scratch). The rocky road sugar high obviously had me a bit delusional, as I scoffed at the store-bought kits for $20 and proudly told Julia that Mommy could make one herself, and she could do all the decorating.

I'm not artistic, but I do consider myself somewhat crafty (enough to entertain my children at least). And I don't do fondant icing or anything, but I do own a piping bag, and I thought surely I could whip up a gingerbread house. So I pulled out my trusty Joy of Cooking to the pages (the fact that the instructions span 3 double-columned pages should have deterred me) and we got started (3 days ago). Here's how it went...

Day 1: Pour flour into bowl. Move canister of remaining flour out of Liam's reach. Add spices to bowl. Abort project with only dry ingredients mixed in order to clean flour off of Liam.

Day 2: (a.m.) Mix eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, etc. Pick up screaming Liam (he was scared of the mixer). Attempt to add dry ingredients to butter mixture while holding Liam. Battle Liam for control of spoon. Lose battle (and half of my clean shirt) to Liam and the flour mixture. Next step, get Julia's hands out of the sugar ("Mmm...yummy, Mommy"). Abort project once dough mixed to clean off myself and the children and take Julia to school.

Day 2: (p.m.) Didn't have the called-for graph paper or spare manila folders, so cut out templates for house pieces (including a chimney!) with baking paper. Julia spent the whole time alternately asking, "What you doing, Mommy?" and "Why?". . . my answers to the latter rapidly digressed to something along the lines of, "Oh, just trying to emulate the housewife from a 1950's TV commercial, dear"

Day 3: (a.m.) Finally time to roll out the dough. Lacking the called-for 1/4" dowel rods to assess the evenness of the height of the dough. Decide to eyeball it. Realize that not having the 1/4" dowel rods is the least of my worries. Decide to skip next column of instructions pertaining to adding scalloped edges and clapboard siding and attempt repairs of gaping holes in cutouts instead. Put in oven to bake. Help Julia and Liam get dressed for the day. Race back to the kitchen after realizing I didn't actually set the timer. Rescue half-burnt roof pieces from oven and continue baking other pieces. Leave pieces to cool.

Chimney & door pieces

Day 3 (p.m.): No nap for Julia but Liam is sleeping. Now it's fatigue making me delusional as I beam proudly at the cooled dis-assembled pieces of the house and suggest to Julia that we'll just "whip up some icing" and get started decorating our creation. Turn now to page of instructions (only 2 columns this time) for Royal Icing. Get egg out of fridge. Get powdered sugar from pantry. Catch egg just as it rolls away from Julia's hand and off of the counter. Heat egg whites and some of the sugar for recommended 30 seconds then test heat to see if it's reached the optimum 160 degrees. Not there yet, return to microwave for recommended 30 seconds more. Test heat...180 degrees. Decide to ignore cookbook's warning that "it should not exceed 175 degrees". Finish making icing and place in piping bag. Pipe nice neat lines for "glue" as instructed and voila-- 4 sides of the house! Add roof pieces. Add roof pieces and hold. Add roof pieces and hold for longer. Abandon piping bag in favor of big free form globs of icing generously smashed into roof pieces for extra holding power. And we have a gingerbread house:

"Well done, Mommy!"
(my little cheerleader who has this whole time been eating icing as it falls off)

But about 15 seconds later...

"Here's money, Mommy. You go buy one."

We had a good laugh at the failed gingerbread house attempt, but as I started clearing up the dishes Julia's sugar high began to wear off and she was edging dangerously close to a total meltdown. When she's really tired, the best way to head off the tantrum is to ignore her, so I walked away to take sticky tea towels to the laundry room and was pleased to note that within about 2 minutes she had gotten quiet. I walked right back into the kitchen to find her sound asleep like this:

Talk about a sugar crash! I couldn't stop laughing! I wasn't game to move her though, so Liam and I played in the kitchen while she slept on the counter for almost an hour.

The Holidays Are Here-- Hooray!

I am now officially on holiday! I had my last exam this morning, and I think (fingers crossed) I finished on a high note for that class at least (let's hope the grades don't say otherwise). I may or may not get any extra sleep, but I'm looking forward to a break from studying and the 2-hour/day commute and some quality time with my family. Many catch-up posts to come...

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Thanksgiving - Part 2

Simon & Sarah stayed after Thanksgiving and got a chance to practice their babysitting skills (they have generously offered to take the children one night while Matt & I go to see Cirque du Soliel -- my birthday present). Julia adores Simon, but Sarah is definitely vying for top spot because in addition to the balloons (which were such a hit), she brought sparklers for Julia to play with (yes, that's right-- fire for the 2-yr-old -- we gave her a bit of a hard time). Such a hit though! Julia was fascinated and asked us to light one after the other--they were gone in a matter of minutes. Liam was a bit apprehensive of Julia weilding flames (smart guy!), and Matt & Simon got a sort of synchronized sparkler routine going but were a bit disappointed when Sarah, Julia, Liam & I weren't vocal enough in our praise of their skill.

Sarah got the bathtime routine mastered...not an easy feat with little Liam who LOVES the water and has absolutely no fear of (and quite enjoys) dunking his head (face first) into the water. Seriously, the little guy goes from sitting to belly flop and back to sitting in seconds flat and barely pauses from his happy crowing! Then Simon stepped in for storytime with Julia and did admirably at reading Fox in Sox (the Dr. Seuss tongue twister book-- just a sample from the book: "When tweedle beetles battle in a puddle with a paddle and a poodle eating noodles, it's a tweedle beetle puddle poodle noodle paddle battle...").

Thanks for hanging out & helping out! The kids loved all the attention, and Julia now frequently tells me, "I want to see Simon. And Sarah. Sarah has balloons." (you've secured your place, Sarah!)

An Aussie Thanksgiving

Since we don't have any holidays this week, we celebrated Thanksgiving early with a lunch at our house-- traditional Southern Thanksgiving with an Aussie twist (i.e. 90 degree weather and the turkey cooked on the barbie).

Julia was incredibly excited and helped me set special places for her and Caydence at her little table. Even that early (around 9am) she was ready for the party (and the turkey!). I had to explain that it would be awhile before the guests actually arrived for our 2 o'clock lunch.

Sarah brought these great long balloons for the kids and they were such a hit! Liam at first was too busy in Julia's kitchen to pay attention to the balloons (apparently, he wanted to help fix the Thanksgiving meal!), but once he found them he was thrilled (as were the girls)!

Luke & Bec's daughter Jess (turning 7 yrs old today-- Happy Birthday!) took Julia under her wing (and even carried Liam around for a bit too-- so cute), and within minutes Julia was happily trailing her everywhere.
Just a funny aside: The girls decided for some reason to play in Liam's playpen that I'd put out in the backyard. Julia decided she wanted to get out and without help started climbing over the edge--a feat she's previously been too short to accomplish. Apparently she was still too short and took a big spill. Bec was out there ready to rush in and help, but instead of the usual drama and tears, Julia stood up and proudly exclaimed, "I did it myself!". Meanwhile Liam had a string of people to hold him and play with him, and he was in heaven! It was great for me because with the children so well entertained I was able to really enjoy the party too.

Matt's turkey on the BBQ turned out brilliantly, and in true male form, the boys all stood around for a good 15 minutes debating carving techniques before actually cutting into the beast. In addition to the turkey we had cornbread dressing (Grandpa's recipe but not nearly as good!), holiday sweet potatoes, spinach madeline, salad and pumpkin pie. The Aussies all decided that we Southerners are on to something in adding marshmallows to vegetables! Pumpkin pie was also a really foreign concept (despite the fact that roast pumpkin is a common side dish in this country). I definitely missed having a can of Libby's to make the pies! (who would've thought making pumpkin pie actually began by roasting/skinning & straining a fresh pumpkin and not just opening the can of pie filling?!)

Simon brought bocce ball (or boulle), and we all migrated outside (leading with our belly's, I'm sure, after the big meal) for a game. Julia didn't quite get the concept and "helped" by collecting all the balls before anyone had had a chance to figure out the score. She was soon distracted, though, and the game continued.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope to make this an annual tradition here in Oz. Thank you to all of our guests for joining us! It was wonderful to share a bit of the South with y'all.
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Raulstons in Hattiesburg! We're missing y'all and wish we could be there too!!

Our Little Hurricane

Our little man has been a bundle of energy ever since he first figured out how to roll over, and he just gets more and more active each day. His play continues to be completely destructive in the happiest possible way. He can cross a room in seconds and leave a wake of scattered toys/books/breakables in his path all the while crowing like a proud rooster. As soon as you intercept his path or comment on the hurricane trail he's left behind, he just stops what he's doing and laughs up at you. Some new favorite motions are waving and splashing in the water, but banging on anything (pots & pans, a big ball, furniture, my head) is always great entertainment (see video below).

Our Little Artist

Julia has found a renewed interest in painting lately, so we have been doing a lot of art during Liam's naps (I haven't been game to let Liam join in the painting fun yet). I love this new stage in her development where she'll now tell me what she's drawing. This started a few months ago with her coloring. I commented on her lovely picture and asked her to tell me about it. She pointed to one squiggly line and declared it an apple. The huge swirls surrounding the "apple" were "a shoe". The current favorite subjects are snails and dinosaurs, and the snails actually hold a vague resemblance to the actual animals. She hadn't labeled this painting as anything yet when I took the photo, but by the time the paper was starting to tear from being soaked through with paint and all the colors were mixing into a brownish mass she declared the piece simply "finished"-- perhaps we're moving toward the new trend of modern art that transcends all concrete labels of what it is. I got distracted trying to save the patio furniture from her paint-covered hands and didn't actually get a final photo of the masterpiece, but I have no doubt that there will be many more to come.

Home Improvements

We have been slowly working through our list of home improvements that has gone virtually untouched since we moved in nearly three years ago. Nothing major (as much as I'd love to renovate the entire kitchen), but it's amazing what a coat of paint and some shifts in the furniture and wall hangings can do for a room. We really like our house with its great open plan layout that allows the kids ample space to play in and out while we can still supervise, but most of the original owner's interior decor was pretty atrocious. Just to give a few examples, when we decorated Liam's nursery, we had to begin by painting over lavender and lime green walls (yes, in the same room!) and the study is still painted in a shade of sickly peach with a feature wall of slightly brighter sickly peach. How to improve the kitchen has been the great debate. The color theme seems to have been what Faded Pepto-Bismol --tiles, curtains, countertops, back splash, etc. Fortunately, the walls are just cream-colored, so I decided starting with a nice blue feature wall and getting rid of the awful curtains would be a major improvement. Julia was a great foreman -- "No, mommy, up high" or "Here, mommy, a screwdriver". She even stood back with her hands on her hips and after staring at the test patches of blues, declared one her favorite. I wish now that I'd taken more before and after photos, but I was trying to get as much done during Liam's naps that I forgot about the camera mostly. At any rate, the kitchen was finished in time for Thanksgiving, complete with new curtains and a new square table to seat 8 (in the photos our old table is still set up too because we were gearing up for 15 people to come). The pictures don't really do it justice, but we're pleased. Next...the living room (pictured with the test patches and new bookcase and lots of toys and debris on the floor!)

a glimpse of the awful old curtain being used as a drop cloth

The finished product (it was really bright outside so you can't really see)-- I'll try to get some better pictures later

The Annual Christmas Card Photo Attempt

Every year for as long as I can remember, my family has talked about sending Christmas cards. The kind with the cute family photo...everyone in matching outfits, gorgeous backdrop, etc. The kind we receive from family and friends every year. Yet somehow despite all our good intentions and even many attempts at the family photo, we have never actually sent a holiday card. These days it's a bit of a joke because the tradition of not having a Christmas card tradition has continued with my own little family. Don't get me wrong...we've all got some great pictures. It just turns out that despite sweeping mountain vistas or serene beach backdrops, when it comes down to the family portrait, we can't seem to manage one where we're all looking in the same direction or all have our eyes open. Or there's the classic one from Ireland when I was about 14 where Mama, Daddy, & I are at the top of a cliff in Ireland...perfect day...perfect scenery....but the wind changed direction right as the shutter clicked [pre-digital cameras] and although we're all looking right at the camera, our faces are all mostly obscured by the swirling mass of mine and my mom's long hair. Anyway, this is all simply leading up to this: the other day, I took photos of the kids for our Christmas card and true to tradition, the results were hilarious. Some of my favorites:

Yes, that's my daughter using her plastic chainsaw to slice her brother in half. Festive, right?

And here the adorable hug turned into mild strangling right as I took the photo.

Happy holidays to everyone with Thanksgiving fast approaching...maybe one of these days you'll get our Christmas card!

Julia Sleep Update

Still no sleep for the wicked, but thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me with advice! If anyone else has more, keep it coming! Julia has an appointment next week with the respiratory specialist to examine further the possibility of pediatric sleep apnea, but the tonsilectomy is postponed till at least January. Meanwhile, we're altering the daytime and bedtime routines a bit in hopes of seeing a bit of improvement. Julia really likes the new addition of "getting the wiggles out" before bed -- thanks, Bonnie--where we shake out the wiggles from the day and then give her a massage while Matt "catches" all the wiggles as they escape and takes them (still wiggling, of course) away from her bed so she can sleep well. Even if it doesn't get her sleeping, it does get lots of giggles!

Park Fun with Gran & Pop

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, but they were just too cute not to put them up! Gran & Pop (Matt's parents) came by for afternoon tea (a good excuse to bake cookies) and a trip to the park with the kiddies. Julia loved having new guests for her tea party, and Liam thought it was great fun to have more people to dote on him.

Whoa, no one's guarding the cookies....

I'll just take one, okay?