Audrey and Tom

Audrey and Tom

29 December 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy NY









Kerstmis 2011 in het kort samengevat:

*Smurfen in de Kerstboom

*Champagne en toastjes met Franse pate (met accenten)

*Een veel te grote hesp (11kg)

*Veel te veel kado's (met een TV en de laatste Harry Potter - DVD voor Thomas en een nieuwe pop met buggy voor Audrey)

*Genoeg dessert voor de volledige bevolking van Murphy's Creek

*De familie Van Cauwenberge voor de eerste keer in 6 jaar samen op Kerstdag



Op tweede Kerst of Boxing Day is Katrien teruggevlogen naar Belgie, maar niet voordat we de winkels in Brisbane hebben bezocht voor de sales. Met vier paar nieuwe schoenen en een schoon kleurke, hebben we haar op de trein richting luchthaven gezet.




En nu zijn we druk in de weer met verven en laminaat plaatsen op de kamers van de kinderen. Thomas heeft een mooi geel kleurtje (Honey Bear) gekozen voor de muren, met een fel Teal voor de meubels.




Opa, Alan en Thomas proberen zichzelf en elkaar iedere dag te verslaan bij een partijtje Wii-golven. Audrey's dagen zijn gevuld met het maken van Mud-pies, afgewisseld door een koele dip in het zwembad.



We genieten nog een paar weken van het mooie weer (drie keer per dag buiten eten, vinden we geweldig) en mekaar (de dagen vliegen weer voorbij). In januari gaat Thomas een week op Soccer Camp en dan maken we ons klaar voor school - nieuwe boeken, uniformen, brooddozen, etc... Maar daar denken we eventjes nog niet aan!

22 December 2011

Holidays



Na drie prachtige weken aan zee, zijn we sinds zaterdag terug in Murphy's Creek. De voorbereidingen en inkopen voor Kerstmis moeten nog steeds gebeuren, maar toch zijn we gisteren voor een dagje naar de Bunya Mountains getrokken - voor Katrien was het een nieuwe ervaring... Veel wandelen, picnicken en naar de beestjes en plantjes gekeken. Thomas heeft Katrien gered van een dodelijke red-belly black slang waar ze bijna opstond tijdens het poseren voor een foto - en we zullen dat nog heel lang mogen horen!!!!















22 November 2011

Ze zijn aangekomen!

Aangezien we nog geen tijd hebben gehad voor foto's, hier maar een recente foto van Thomas en Audrey.

Na een extra-lange vlucht, zijn ze toch aangekomen. Ze zaten al comfortabel op de vlieger in Brussel, toen gemeld werd dat ze er terug af mochten - een klein defect! En dan maar wachten in de luchthaven, een paar uur zonder nieuws, ondertussen was het al zaterdagavond heel laat. Uiteindelijk kregen ze de mededeling dat een bus de passagiers naar een nabij hotel zou voeren. Die bus moest natuurlijk van verweg komen (ja, het IS Belgie) en die was verloren gereden. Om 3uur 's morgens zijn ze dan toch aan de Hilton beland om daar dan tot 7 uur te 'overnachten'. Muttie had dan het schitterend idee om de hotel-shuttle te nemen ipv de bus, waardoor ze veel vroeger op de luchthaven waren en een andere vlucht hebben kunnen bemachtigen. Niet meer via AbuDhabi, want daar moesten ze lang wachten en de hotels zaten vol (F1 racing). Dan maar via Londen, waar de wachttijd 'maar' 8 uur was, naar Dubai en zo naar Brisbane.
28uur te laat aangekomen en in volle zomer beland, hoewel Opa 's morgens klaagt dat het frisjes is, maar rond 9uur zetten we de aircon toch al aan. Zaterdag vertrekken we voor drie weekjes richting kust. Nu verwachten we buien voor dit weekend, maar we laten het niet aan ons hart komen.

Volgende keer zijn er hopelijk wat foto's bij....

Groetjes

11 October 2011

Audrey's Second Birthday Party










I decided to do something special for Audrey's Birthday this year. I wanted something girly, but not too pink and I considered several themes, such as A Garden Tea Party, Vintage Circus and The Wizard of Oz. It was a combination of things that led me to Little Red Riding Hood. First, Alan came home from the Op-shop one Saturday with three beautiful pop-up books about Little Red. Second, I won a Woodland-package from Mon Tresor and third, I fell in love with The Princess and the Pirate's goodies.























Once I decided what to do, it wasn't that much work. I found a local cake supplier and she made the strawberry cake, the apple cake pops and the flower biscuits, exactly the way I had asked her to. The night before the party, I made the chocolate mousse (with Belgian chocolate, of course!) and Tommy made the jellies. We cut some strawberries and filled little cups with popcorn. Once we started putting things on the table, they sort of came together by themselves.




We made a little 'fill a bag'-station and poured lollies into small buckets and baskets. Tommy LOVED this and has already requested them for his party.






































































11 September 2011

Ten on Ten - September 2011

Joining Rebekah from A little Sunshine today.
Saturday is our day of jobs: laundry, cleaning, gardening, etc. We found the occasional moment to enjoy family-time.


Dancing on the deck after breakfast.


Walking the dogs




Having a bounce




I spotted a mouse above the pond! HELP!




Collecting eggs



Washed Audrey's hair - what a challenge!




Took Tommy to see the Smurfs (his second viewing)

Audrey napping




Picked veggies for dinner from Tommy's veggie garden


Playing in the tree-house with Audrey

05 September 2011

Week 3: Interview

Linking up with Cherish your cherubs' Naomi's project for a third week. This week's task was to interview our little cherubs. First, I asked Thomas some questions about his life and my mothering skills. Then, Thomas and I judged how Audrey would answer the same questions. Here is a brief summary:

Thomas is feeling good about his life at the moment; he is happy with everything he knows, has and does. He especially enjoys spending time with his family, going on trips together and playing games with sister. He loves seeing his friends at school and playing soccer. He reckons I am doing a great job as a mum because I let him do a lot of things, like soccer and swimming and all the sports he feels like doing. I am especially amazing for having Audrey. When asked what I should do better, more or less, he had a long think about it and concluded I should bounce on the trampoline more often.

Audrey is content as long as she gets her regular dose of vegemite sandwiches. Being with her brother, mum and dad is what makes her happy, especially when we all dance, laugh and sing together. I think she is pretty pleased with my mothering-skills, although she would probably love to be home with me more often and she sometimes thinks I spend too much time on the computer (hint: she closes the laptop on me quite often).

Have a great day,
An

04 September 2011

Happy Father's Day

Throwing heads back in laughter - Alan and the kids in March. Time to take a more recent photo today.


29 August 2011

Remember


Week 2 of the Cherish your Cherubs-project and this week we remember.
The moment I have chosen to remember, is the day Audrey was first taken out of the oxygen at five days old. For years, Tommy had been looking forward to his 'sister'. (Never once did he imagine he might have a brother! )
But when the day finally arrived and Audrey was brought into the world by Cesarean, nothing was like he had expected: his sister was in the Special care nursery, he had to wash his hands and ring a bell before visiting her, he was not to touch her as she was behind glass. He would stand there and look at her for several hours each day.
When Audrey was 5 days old, she was breathing a little on her own, and we were asked if we wanted to take her out for a few minutes. This is when this photo was taken: he got his dream - to hold his little sister.

Looking at the photo, it is a significant moment for me: it was the first time we dared to hope that all was going to be alright. And seeing the pride and happiness on Tommy's face, brings back those positive emotions we were experiencing at the time.

22 August 2011

Cherish your cherubs - week 1: Recording

This blog post is part of Naomi's from Seven Cherubs-project. Click here to find out more.



Thomas – 7 years, 5 months and 25 days.
*He is my special man, who knows what I am thinking sometimes before I do. He is genuinely kind and inherently good. He is responsible, intelligent and funny. And wise beyond his years.
*Loves soccer, swimming, the Smurfs and his sister.
*Likes Spongebob, Mario Bros., Superheroes, AC/DC, Masterchef and Merlin. He has taken a recent interest in Harry Potter.
*Suffers from severe Monday-itis.
*Talks a LOT – even in his sleep.
*Loves his hair, but had it cut this week when told he looked like Justin Bieber.
*Sells
chicke
ns and guinea-pigs.
*Wants to be a chef, a mathematician, an architect, a rock star, a doctor and a superhero. Judging on his debating skills, I think he might be a lawyer.
*Hates vegemite and meat. Loves chocolate (Belgian) and fruit.
*Has an itch to travel and explore: he cannot wait to go to London, with Perth and Tasmania also on his ‘to-see-list’.


Audrey –22 months, 23 days.
*Audrey is the little princess our family has always wanted and her health seems to have stabilised after two years of asthma-attacks and lung-infections.
*She is determined, intelligent, adorable and stubborn. Loves to cuddle. Hates the camera (which is something I am not accustomed to)
*The most beautiful, funny and entertaining girl for 22 hours of the day. She needs one whole hour to wake
up in the morning and one hour to fall asleep at night.
*Loves yaya (her name for Thomas), toast (and we love the way she says it) with vegemite, Mary-cake, books and animals.
*Is crazy about the Wiggles, whom she calls ‘Anthony and Greg’ (our DVDs are pre-Sam).
*Has one dozen babies (dolls, teddies, etc) whom she cares for.
*Sings all the time: Row your boat, rock-a-bye-your-bear or Three little ducks.
*Stays home with me on Mondays and goes to day care two days/week and to Mary’s two days.
*Is crazy about shoes and dresses. Wears bright colours very well.
*Has the most amazing hair, but screams every week when it is time to wash it.
*Says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’...






10 August 2011

Spring clean-up

It’s that time of year again – Spring clean-up. And, here ,it means the kids’ wardrobes need sorting out. This is when my pile of empty nappy-boxes comes in handy. One box of too-small-for-Tommy-but-not-worth-keeping-for-Audrey, one box of too-small-for-Tommy-and-may-come-in-handy-for-Audrey, one box of too-small-for-Audrey-straight-to-lifeline, one box of cute-little-Audrey-clothes-I-cannot-bare-to-part-with-yet.

And here’s the rub! WHAT do you keep FOR-EVER!??? Next year, I will look through this box and halve its size, until I have maybe 1 piece left. There is the cute little outfit Aunty Katrien got in St-Tropez

before I even knew I was having a girl, but I was already calling my unborn child Charlotte. (We have such confidence in our gut instinct in my family! And we change our mind about baby names more often than other humans!) Will I ever part with that? At the moment, I think not!



Tommy had this gorgeous jumper (cashmere, I think, and 150 Euros!) that I will treasure forever. And his first Birkenstocks! Will I ever let Audrey wear them? Undecided as of yet. By the time she fits them, something new will have come our way.


And then, there are those nice (but not great) size 10-dresses I keep in the back of MY wardrobe. They went out of fashion 8 years ago. I am sure I never want to be seen in them again, but I will keep them for yet another year, just in case, maybe, this is the year they will fit me again. And that thought is just too exhilarating.

Time for chocolate!

06 March 2011





Vorige week zijn we naar de Gold Coast gegaan en hebben we ons allemaal super-geamuseerd in Dreamworld!

Enkele foto's