Audrey and Tom
29 December 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy NY
22 December 2011
Holidays
22 November 2011
Ze zijn aangekomen!
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.
11 September 2011
Ten on Ten - September 2011
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
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
29 August 2011
Remember
22 August 2011
Cherish your cherubs - week 1: Recording
Thomas – 7 years, 5 months and 25 days.
*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 chickens and guinea-pigs.
*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.
*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.
*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!