Martha Stewart

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Tomorrow is Friday!  Woot! Woot!  The kids' school, St. Monica's, has a tradition of having the kindy (kin-dee) (kindergarten) classes acting out the Christmas Nativity. Erich and I will both go tomorrow to see it.  We can't wait!  Tomorrow is also the U.S. Embassy Family Christmas Party.  It should be fun!  We get to visit with Santa, and they will have a bounce house, a sausage sizzle (an Aussie tradition) and a cookie contest. (the contest was not optional if you were attending the party.)  I'm not a baker.  But I think my Oreo Truffle Balls will win.  Erich said if they don't win, he is going to cause a scene.  

My Oreo Truffle Balls.  They look good and taste even better.

Louie is hanging out by the gingerbread house Chaney made.



Charlie is checking out the gifts under the tree.
(Yes, he is sporting Batman undies.)

These are the gift tags I bought here in Australia.  They don't get snow.
And even if they did, it wouldn't be in the SUMMER.  Hmmmm...

Louie was playing with the tape.

My first haircut/highlight here in Australia. 
You don't even want to know how much it cost me.



Face painting from the zoo.  I love this girl!

Charlie had them paint the San Antonio Spurs icon
on his face.  You can't see it but he is wearing a Spurs jersey.
He loves basketball and football!

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• Remember our beautiful Christmas tree that I pictured above?  It is a pre-lit Christmas tree.  A U.S. pre-lit Christmas tree.  So the plug for our tree won't fit in an Australian outlet and it needs to be converted to 240 volts.  We have the cord stretched across the floor (since the placement of and lack of outlets in this house makes no sense to me.)  and it plugged into a converter that converts the Australian 240 volts to the American 120 volts.  (Or is it 125 volts?  I can't remember. And it doesn't really matter.  And I don't care.)
• So world maps here look different than maps in the U.S.  It makes sense.  Think about a world map you would see in the U.S.   North America is in the center of the map.  Well, in Australia, the world map has Australia in the center.  The United States is in the upper right corner of the map.  Check it.
  
• I've been doing this long enough now, and I can't remember what I've told you.  Have I told you that my soap opera that I watched in the U.S. is shown here??!  I was so excited to discover this! When I tuned in (that's an old phrase!) I discovered that the soap, The Young and the Restless, is about a YEAR behind where I was watching it in the U.S.   Bummer!
• Our neighbors have a sand box and our kids have rediscovered the fun of digging in the sand!  And I have rediscovered how much I can't stand getting sand in clothes. And in shoes. And in socks. And in underwear. And in hair. And stuck to legs.  And stuck on arms. (You get the picture.)  But I love watching the kids have fun in the sand.  So I decided to get them a sand table.  A sand table is something they can stand at and play in, but they don't sit in the sand.  Sitting in the sand is when the sand gets into places you just don't want sand.   But sand tables they sell in the stores are too short for my kids and are made for toddlers.  SO, I decided to design my own sand table. The kids love it.  And we aren't getting sand everywhere!  It's a win win!

  

  I used a blue shell that is to be a pool or sand box.  I just set it on top
  of two sturdy, empty storage tubs.  My plan is to find a used
  coffee table height table to set the sand box on top of.

  
  

  

  Covered up for the night.

• The kids are just 6 school days away from summer "holiday"!!  Holy crap. And then they will be in "Year One." (1st grade).  Double crap.  When in the hell did they grow up?? It's happening too fast. TOO FAST I TELL YOU!  I miss being with my babies all day.
• Chaney made her first marriage proposal.  Well, it wasn't actually a proposal.  She just informed a boy in her class that she is going to marry him. :)  I asked Charlie who he wanted to marry.  He thought for a moment and said, "Well, I'd like to marry you, mommy. (pauses) But no one marries their mom."  (*love!)
• Like other foods, meat is different here in Australia.  The cuts are different.  Some meats taste different. (I hear its the difference between grass fed and grain fed meat.) And don't get me started again about the bacon and the hot dogs... Remember this?
  
  But I digress...  Australian stores don't have sausage the way we think of sausage.  There is no breakfast sausage.  No Jimmy Dean.  My kids would eat sausage almost every morning in the U.S.  Well I feel like Martha Stewart!  I made our own breakfast sausage!!  And the kids love it! Welcome to Australia, where you make your own sausage and hang your laundry to dry outside. Like I said, Martha freakin' Stewart.