Weather forecast

The weather has been incredibly mild of late. We had two quite cold windy nights a couple of weeks ago, but then it mellowed out again. The back door stays open all day long. We don't need heaters at night. Even the duvets have seemed a bit heavy the past couple of nights. Temperatures don't seem to dip much below 20C. We're told this is unusual for April, but we're enjoying it while it lasts!

This morning, the weather changed quite quickly. Dark clouds rolled in, a strong cool wind kicked up, and cold rain began to fall. We were on our way out, and I insisted Ellie bring a jacket (an unusual request to this point). Once she stepped outside, she understood. Despite the fact that this is Dutch summer weather (it's still around 16C), her pronouncement was:

"Yes, Ellie does need a jacket! I think it will snow!"

Truism de-bunked

Whomever said "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" obviously didn't find this on the side of the road:


I took an unusual detour on the way to the zoo Monday morning, trying to avoid a messy intersection, and I ended up passing through a neighborhood that was awaiting its quarterly bulk junk pick-up. Although it is in my genes (inherited from my Dad who ran a bonafide foster home for random trash), I have not ever salvaged a roadside piece o' junk...but then again, I had never seen something like this. I wanted it! I circled, came back, pulled over, and kept two zoo-crazed children waiting while I called Markus and plotted how to get this desk back to our house. The varnish was a peeling mess, but the wood was good, the hinges worked, and the metal wasn't rusted. All it needed was serious sanding, re-varnishing, and love. It wanted to come home with me!
I went back again on the way home from the zoo two hours later, and someone had taken it. It was mine, I tell you!
I spent the rest of the day sulking, pining over my lost piece o' junk.
I really wanted that desk.

Back to the Cuddly Animal Farm

On Tuesday, we drove once more to the Cuddly Animal Farm in Swan Valley. I can't remember a week since our first visit that Ellie has not asked to return. While large (or even semi-large) animals make her incredibly nervous, Ellie adores all tiny creatures. Baby Stephanie love love loves animals, and now that she's more mobile, she got as much enjoyment out of the farm visit as did her big sister. Markus just set the camera in movie mode and took a dozen clips of the girls during our visit, and I pared them down and strung them together for sharing for this week's video post.

Joyful discovery

We don't watch TV, so I've never actually seen an episode of American Idol or any other country's version of it. When a girlfriend who knows of my TV aversion forwarded this link to me, insisting I watch, I knew there had to be a good reason. Now, I have to share it with you! The link is to a performance on "Britain's Got Talent" by a 47-year-old unemployed and (this is important) unattractive woman named Susan Boyle from Scotland. When she strolled out and announced her dream of being a professional singer, everyone (and I mean everyone!) scoffed, not least of which the infamous Simon the Nasty. The turn in the audience is as amazing and beautiful as her performance. We all know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but how quick are we to do just that? The clip is just over 7 minutes long and worth every bit of your time. I have no idea of the follow-up to this show, but wherever you are, Susan Boyle, congratulations and best wishes with your stunning talent!

Easter weekend

In the US, holidays are long-term in the shops (buy decorations weeks if not months in advance!) and short-term in the days off. As far as the business world is concerned, Easter falls on a Sunday, so no holiday required. In Europe, I grew accustomed to Good Friday also being a day off, which makes sense in terms of religious significance. "Easter Monday" off is also quite common, mostly as a holiday to give people time to travel home from wherever they've gone (traditionally to spend Easter with family elsewhere). Here in Australia, we are being introduced to the idea of Easter Tuesday as well. While a few places are open, most are closed. Markus's office is closed. It's a five-day weekend for almost everyone! New to us, but who are we to scoff at extra family time? We're having a blast!

Ellie's last day of school term 1 was Thursday. She will go back again on Wednesday the 29th, so we've got two weeks more to play with and enjoy. Markus took the remainder of this week off, so for 3 vacation days, he gets 10 days with us! We're vacationing at home, and it's great! Due to the school holidays, most people head down South to Margaret River (gorgeous beaches, world-class wineries) or to Rottnest Island (so popular over Easter that there's a lottery for cabins held back in November!), but that means both places will be overrun. We've opted to stick around and do a few daytrips from home. In terms of kid-friendliness, we couldn't vacation anywhere better than here anyway. The beach, the river, the playgrounds, the backyard...all while maintaining our normal eat/sleep routines. It's pretty darn good. The weather is cooperating beautifully. There has been a fluke hot spell that has kept the evenings warmer than usual, but it's not hot enough to require the A/C. Yesterday, we had a rare overcast, then rainy day, but even that was enjoyable. Markus and Ellie did some work around the house, and we all went for a post-storm walk on the beach. There was such a range of blues and purples in the sky and blues and greens in the ocean...a camera couldn't capture them. It was breath-takingly beautiful. If we had painted it, we would have been accused over over-exaggerating the colors, it was so stunning. All at our doorstep. We are feeling very spoiled.

Happy Easter! Frohe Ostern!

Easter morning dawned clear and bright, so before breakfast had even been cleared from the table, Papa headed out with the girls on the Mother Ship. They hadn't been gone long before they called home and gave directions to a new spot along the river. It's public waterfront accessible from parks at either end of a long stretch of private homes. Beautiful!


It had the added bonus that morning of being in the wind shade as well. I trekked on down with some Easter eggs, hoping we might do our first-ever Easter egg hunt there, but the girls were too absorbed with sand play to be bothered. I did manage to pop on their bunny ponchos and snap a few photos.

With all the moving and to-ing and fro-ing we've done in the past few years, we haven't really celebrated holidays the way I grew up doing and always intended to continue. Ellie has never had an Easter basket; she doesn't know about the Easter bunny. Many parents don't tell their kids about the Easter bunny from the moral high ground that it's wrong to lie to their children. We aren't quite so philosophical (ethical?). We haven't done it because she is terrified of Santa Claus, so we figured why risk another holiday of trauma for a creature that isn't real? Being in school, however, does introduce her to the idea of chocolate eggs and chocolate egg hunts, so we decided to "do" Easter this year.

The Catholic church up the street has a big sign posted this week that reads "THE EASTER BUNNY DIDN'T RISE FROM THE DEAD." Though that's a bit melodramatic for my taste, they do have a point. Easter is a religious holiday. If you consider the meaning in Christian tradition, Good Friday and Easter are far more significant than Christmas, though celebrating Easter is more about springtime (tulips, flowers, baby chicks and bunnies) and candy than anything else. Since we don't go to church, we didn't have an obvious in for explaining the holiday to Ellie, but we tried anyway. If she's going to associate the holiday with a character she cannot meet or quite understand, I'd much rather tell her about Jesus than the Easter Bunny. Judge me as you will.

Thinking through all of that made me reflect on my own most prominent Easter memories. First and foremost is hunting for Easter eggs with the church group in Sunset, Utah, where we lived when I was very small (ages 3-6). Of all the churches I attended as a child, that one is most clear in my memory. If you plunked me down within a mile of it to this day, I could take you there and show you around. I still dream about it sometimes. Don't ask me why. The next biggest Easter memory that is forever burned in my brain is the first Easter Markus and I were together in New Orleans. At the risk of making this a ridiculously long posting, I'm going to share it with you.

While we were in New Orleans, we often drove over to Ocean Springs on the weekends. Markus loved getting out of the city and unwinding on the bayou, so I usually attended my favorite church from high school while we were there. That weekend, we drove over on Saturday night. About halfway there, I realized I'd forgotten my church shoes. I had packed a white suit, so unless we wanted to turn back, I needed to find white, heeled shoes on the night before Easter in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Our only shopping option was Wal-Mart. I was not hopeful. Markus, on the other hand, was surprisingly supportive and enthusiastic. He would help me. We would look together. Divide and conquer! Scour the shoe racks until we found something wearable and white. And if there were no white shoes, we could buy another color and spray paint them.
Yes, folks, my second most prominent Easter memory is the night Markus first embraced his inner redneck.

Happy Easter to you all!
Frohe Ostern to our friends and relatives in Deutschland!
And Happy Birthday to Uncle Bob!

500th post!

When I started this blog in the fall of 2005, I used it to share photos and our doings with friends and family, much as I would have done with a mass email. Mass emails aren't much fun to receive and often get lost in the shuffle, so I thought the blog would be a good place where people could check in whenever and however often they wanted to (or not). Ellie was brand new, and we had lots of baby cuteness to share. We were living in Houston as "displaced Americans" from Hurricane Katrina, not knowing that storm would be the first of many major events to follow rapid-fire in the months and years to come. Since then, we have lost both of our fathers, moved internationally three times, and had another baby. It's been a whirlwind! Through it all, I've tried to maintain this blog. Email communications have been dropped off and on over time, phone calls prove challenging with 12+hour time differences, letter writing is so rare...often, our blog has served as the only communication coming from us as we muddled through the mayhem.

Recently, SouleMama wrote a post about why she blogs, and it has had me thinking ever since. Why do I blog now? What is the purpose of my entries? I was surprised to realize that I wasn't really sure of the answer to that anymore. Talking it out with Markus helped me realize how the blog has evolved and changed over time. To maintain regular posting, it has become less of what would be a mass mail and more of my thoughts and experiences through a filter, snapshots of our lives that do not attempt to encompass the whole but still a little glimpse for those who are too far away to share. Particularly during the times when all other communications dropped off, this blog has been a little forum for sharing that I have enjoyed as much as an outlet as anything else. Curiosity led me to add the sitemeters, and I have been fascinated to see how internationally our blog is read. This led me to write more generally, hoping for more dialogue and commentary...which in turn led to great frustration on my end when there was none, even when requested. I would love to know who is reading this blog and why. Do you come back often? Do you like the stories, or are you more interested in seeing photos and videos? Would you like daily photos, even (or preferably) without stories? More about living overseas? Nothing different? What brings you here?

As I write this, my 500th post, I also want to know what brings me here. There are a few people we know and love who check in here daily and regularly give me feedback. Part of me knows the reason I am here is just for you! The fact that you check in makes me want to be sure there's something new here for you. Because of your enthusiasm and support, I know I will keep blogging. I'm just not sure of the content and format right now. If you have suggestions or feedback, you know I'm all ears.

In the meantime, as a reward for slogging through this stream-of-consciousness (or a happy scroll down for those who skipped right past it), here are some pics to make you smile:

Weekly Video Post

Okay, so the weekly video post hasn't been very weekly of late. Sorry. Often the cuteness happens with no camera in sight, and camera in sight often ends the cuteness. Sigh. Not so yesterday afternoon, when I was able to capture baby Stephanie's new favorite game. Scooting away from Mama is more fun than you can imagine, and it cracked up both girls to no end!


Unfortunately, baby Stephanie had a bit of a wipe-out at the end of the clip there. I think it hurt her feelings more than anything else. Scooting at top speed does have its occupational hazards.

How Ellie views the world

One of Ellie's most favorite activities is taking pictures with the digital camera. We turn off the flash, snugly fit the strap around her wrist, and she's off! Extreme close-ups are her forte, and often the camera finds itself so close to (i.e., touching) its subject that the image is black. She also likes to keep things flowing, so most of her images are blurry as she moves on to the next subject while the camera records the image. There are also many, many photos of her feet, which she snaps as she walks between items of interest. She takes an average of 100+ photos each time she gets hold of the camera.

The first time Ellie took photos was during our city trip to Berlin, and we were amazed at how the images revealed her perspective and interests. What caught her eye? What did she find interesting? Since then, she's used the camera countless times. Most of the time, I delete the images because they are, as I wrote above, blurry or too close and dark or too difficult to discern; however, I finally realized that even these blurry, funny, close-up shots still reveal quite a bit about Ellie's view of the world, what she'd like to record, and what she found interesting in that moment. With that in mind, I have set up a flickr account just for her. I can't keep 100s of Ellie photos on the hard drive, but I will dump them into flickr for your (and her!) perusal. I'll even be adding a flickr badge of her images to the sidebar, so check that out any time you are so inclined. When you have the opportunity to look into Ellie's view, you might be surprised at what you see. Thankfully, I have editor's privilege. I just loaded up the latest batch and was faced with an extreme close-up of my bum, fresh from the shower. Excellent.
And no, that won't be on flickr.

Online addiction

They say don't knock it 'til you try it, so I gave facebook a whirl.
I don't like it.
I do, however, like Ravelry.
I have a bit of a Ravelry addiction. I can't even consider getting on there unless I've set aside a chunk of time for it, because once I'm in, I'm lost. If you knit or crochet, don't say I didn't warn you.

Changing seasons

The weekend before last, our clocks "fell back" with Daylight Savings, and the weather decided to do the same. Now, it is officially heaven here. The days are still sunny and warm and wonderful, and the nights and mornings are blessedly cool and crisp. I begin to understand why the locals are so fiercely protective of their bubble. While they get a bit overzealous (it is, after all, quite far away from EVERYWHERE), this is a beautiful place! I'm starting to be convinced that there could be no more ideal climate for outdoor living. We have the beach, we have the river, we have a big backyard...what else is needed? The isolation keeps the population relatively low, which means the beach and river aren't usually too crowded. Our favorite spots remain our favorite spots; no one else has claimed them yet. And now they are better than ever, because the sun isn't barbeque-ing us in our skins. Okay, it does if you are in it directly, but it's lower in the afternoons now. This weekend was the first time I went for a decent paddle in the kayak, because I was able to do most of it in the shade...and it's still warm enough outside that Ellie can hose the kayak off in the buff when we come home. How I would love to post a picture of that (it's too cute and funny!), but there are freaky people out there who do not need access to such an image (alas, the perils of sharing with family and friends and the whole world at the same time!).

It's funny how the change in weather has revealed my internal programming. I stepped outside on Saturday morning to head to my knitting group, and it was so cool and lovely that I found myself thinking of designing our Christmas cards. IN APRIL. Yes, I am a Northern Hemisphere person in a Southern Hemisphere life. It's very odd to think that it is the start of cooler weather in what I know as the springtime, but so it is. At least I can hope this will motivate me to knit up a storm and have homemade gifts for loved ones completed by Christmastime. Usually that motivation kicks in at the start of autumn in October or so, and I run out of time. I've got several more months to play with this time, so we'll see how it goes.
I am having so much fun with my knitting group, by the way. I am the youngest person there by about 20 years, and most of the women have been knitting since before I was born (many have been knitting since before my mom was born). My knitting is very slow, but I do enjoy it a great deal! It is so fun to create something beautiful with my hands, even when it comes together more slowly than I would like.

He's Got The Funk!

On Monday night, my throat felt a bit sore and scratchy, and I was all prepped to seek out pity points when Markus came home. I didn't feel great, and I was ready to hand over the parenting baton the second he came home from work...except he came home in a far worse state than I was in. For the next two days, Markus stayed home from work SICK. The poor man. When he gets sick enough to stay home, you know it's bad. When he's sick enough to fall back asleep mid-morning with the curtains open and the sun brightly shining, you might want to check his breathing. This is a man who does not nap, who cannot nap, who cannot be paid good money to settle down his busy behind even when he's ill. But those two days at home seem to have helped a lot, and he's back at work, trying to recoup in a sea of meetings and spreadsheets. I seem to have skimmed over the top of the funk, but I've come out exhausted on the other side (of course, that could also be due to the extra loud weekend and the week since of early wake-ups as we readjust to "fall back" on the clocks). Thank goodness it's Friday!

Colorful circles

Almost a year ago, I discovered a portrait artist through a design blog I enjoy. Markus and I had been debating a family portrait, so this one really struck me. We have so many photos up in our house (some might say too many), but a painted portrait would really be something different and special. At the time, we couldn't find a style we liked (most were way too stuffy and formal and blah), so we had moved on from the idea...until I found this artist. Her name is Kristine Baerlin, and she works in New York City, painting portraits in a pop art style she's developed over the years. Her technique and use of color seemed to me perfect for capturing children, so just after the new year, I commissioned baby portraits of the girls. Kristine was awesome about communicating across the distance, working out a color palette with me over email based on photos I'd sent her and info I'd supplied about our home, color preferences, etc. The final product arrived last week, and we are so happy! After debating the best spot for them, we ultimately hung them in Ellie's room (a room we hope the girls will eventually share), and we are all excited to see them every day!


I will try to get a better shot of the individual paintings, but this room shot will have to do for now. When I photograph just one, the colors get distorted, and the blues become particularly electric (and not in a good way). Dear friends and family, we'll be proud to show them if you'd like to come visit...

Death by Partying Neighbors

When we first moved into this neighborhood, we were so pleased with the number of families, the relative peace and tranquility... Ha. It was all quiet for the first four months, but after Christmas, our neighbors got the party bug! Since mid-January, there have been LOTS of late night parties, and to call them "loud" would be an understatement. Friday night, what was clearly a college kid party (an anomaly thus far) commenced up the road. I think I attended quieter frat parties than that one, but whatever. College kids party. I don't know how or why they ended up in this neighborhood (the university is the next town over, and no college kids live here), but they have the right to enjoy themselves. Except at 1:30 in the morning, a large, drunk, mostly undressed guy left the party, stormed down the road until he was on the sidewalk just opposite our house and started screaming in a deep voice, "F*** YOU! YOU WERE MY F***ING BEST MATE! F*** OFF! JUST GET THE F*** AWAY FROM ME! GO THE F*** HOME! YOU F***!" Etc. You get the idea. This intellectual debate continued for over 90 minutes, with various friends of his trying to calm him down (unsuccessfully). I spent most of the time watching out the window to see if he would lose it and start smashing our car (parked just out front) to vent his frustration. It was not a fun night.
Then last night, different neighbors (this time on the road behind our house) had a big loud party. At around 10:30, someone decided it just wasn't loud enough, so they kicked up the volume another 20 notches. It was so loud that the windows were shaking in our extension...where baby Stephanie sleeps. She woke up screaming and terrified. As most of our other neighbors were home, I thought surely we cannot be the only ones who find this more than a tad annoying. I hoped one of them would call the partiers or the police or whomever to induce just a bit more sanity to the volume, but nothing. There has been no interference for any other party, and Markus said it was the same in South Africa. No one calls. No one complains. But they sure seem to seek their revenge when it's their turn to party. At 11:30, I called the police and (given the lack of enthusiasm for foreigners here) politely inquired as to whether there was a local noise ordinance. I was informed that it was just a matter of assessment based on time of day, day of the week, etc. If I wanted to make a complaint, I could request a unit be sent out to my house, where the officers would speak with me about my complaint and try to make an assessment on scene. Now I know why no one calls. The last thing I need is to be told in the middle of the night that I'm too uptight about noise on a Saturday. Forget it.
So, it was quite the sleepless weekend around here, which is extra handy since we "fell back" with Daylight Savings overnight. Ellie was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:30am (her internal 6:30 alarm clock)!
We live in a beautiful house in a great location, but I tell ya, the neighborhood is losing its charm.

Rainbow crayons: how-to

This afternoon, I decided it was time to take control of all the random crayon bits in Ellie's art box. This move was motivated by baby Stephanie, who has discovered the joy of munching on said crayon bits when she finds them. I peeled all the paper off the remaining crayons, broke them up into manageable pieces, and filled an old muffin tin with the bits.


Place the muffin tin in an oven preheated to 250F and observe closely until crayons melt. Our crayons were a collection of various brands, so the melting times varied (you see the biggest ones hardly melted at all). As soon as most are melted, turn off the oven. DON'T MOVE THE MUFFIN TIN. If you do, the colors will mix and the whole lot will turn into an icky browny yuck (which could still be used but isn't nearly as fun). Once the oven and the muffin tin are cool, remove the tin and press lightly on the underside of each muffin cup to release the molded crayons. At first, Ellie wasn't sure what to make of them since they are clearly not meant to be that way...but once she started coloring with them, she was a total convert! I used to make these when I babysat back in high school, and I have yet to meet a kid who doesn't love them. Give them a go!

No one said this was easy

Yesterday was a rough day in the life of Raising-a-3-year-old. There was hitting (a behavior picked up from school that is a post in itself). There were tantrums. Lord, were there tantrums. When we were leaving ballet class, I had just put the car in Drive after backing out of our parking space when Ellie emitted a scream of such volume and peril that the only plausible explanation could be that a bee had flown into the car and was stinging her in the eyeball. The suddenness combined with the horrible scream itself needless to say scared the poo out of me. All in an instantaneous rush of adrenaline, I swerved the car, slammed on the brakes, threw it into Park, whipped around in my seat only to see nothing unusual and had to scream to be heard, "WHAT IS HAPPENING??!!!! WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING??!!!"...to which Ellie replies cool-as-a-cucumber, "I want a snack." By this point, of course, ALL the moms and kids from ballet class are staring HARD at me for being THAT mom who freaks out and yells at her kids, and for extra points, happens to be an out-of-control driver. You have got to be freaking kidding me.
I really didn't recover from that moment until about 11pm. It was more than slightly distressing.
When Markus came home and offered to take them to the playground, I told him I couldn't go out while they were gone because I might not come back. I wrote an email to a very understanding, supportive and blessedly humorous friend that simply said, "If Ellie has another tantrum today, I might actually quit this job and move somewhere they will never find me. Ever."

And then this morning, I felt guilty for having been so frustrated with her yesterday for so many hours. Kids live in the present. She doesn't register the fact that she used up her week's worth of crazy by midday Wednesday. She does something and learns from my reaction. I am human (a human who sometimes has had more than enough), but I'm not really supposed to be. Argh. This point was driven home for me all the more by the fact of the hitting she's learning at school. There is one kid in her class whom I have witnessed being quite aggressive. Even her baby brother (20+ months) is aggressive with other kids when they come for pick-up in the afternoons. He has hit baby Stephanie more than once, and today he even hit, pushed and scratched Ellie! What drove home the parenting point for me is the fact that their mom does nothing. When he hit and pushed Ellie today, the mom just shrugged and said, "Hmm, he keeps doing that." Then she told him to give Ellie a hug, at which point he went in for the scratch on her face. It took me telling the mom that I would need to take my kids away to actually make her pick him up and move him away. I am stunned by her lack of behavior management. Then again, I tend to react towards the other end of the spectrum to such behavior, which isn't so great either.

Every day is a learning experience. Some days I get a better grade than others.

She's gotta boogie

The other night, I cut well into Markus-Jennifer time to make our little movie and update the blog, thinking I'd be more likely to get it done then than during the day. So true! That night, Ellie woke up about 100 billion trillion times with (prepare yourself for the horror) THE SNIFFLES. That girl cannot abide a boogie in her nose, and heaven forbid she blow it out! Oh no! So much better to sniffle and snort for hours and intersperse that with tantrum-y wailing all night long. I have long wanted a Simon sign in my kitchen that says, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"...though I often think the word "Mama" needs to be replaced with "Ellie" for the sake of accuracy. Ah well. That was a no-sleep night for us. Thank goodness baby Stephanie sleeps far away from the commotion, so she actually got a normal night. I had to keep Ellie home from school yesterday so she could rest a bit. Thankfully, she's fully recovered now. Apparently there's a bug going around her class, so it seems we got the most minor of doses. I'm grateful for that!

School carnival

Two Fridays ago, Ellie's school had a carnival. It's a small school so the carnival was small too, but it was pretty fun. There was a big bouncy castle, a fun surfboard set-up that was similar to a bucking bronco ride (surf until it throws you off into the bouncy-castle-like perimeter), a velcro-ninja wall, bouncy sumo, a band, a baby animal farm, a clown...oh, the clown. Yes, the clown. Why oh why did there have to be a clown? The trauma. If you heard piteous 3-year-old wailing on Friday the 13th, it was probably Ellie's reaction to that darned clown. He was nowhere near her, but his existence was enough to do it. Well, if there's anything that can possibly undo serious clown trauma, it would be the baby animals. A traveling farm set up a pen with a calf, several small lambs and goats, chickens, ducks, bunnies, and (randomly) a huge brown dog with fur like a sheep. Ellie was none too crazy about the huge brown dog, but she loved the rest and baby Stephanie loved it all! Please excuse the cheesy music in the little movie I made. My song of choice refused to play. I have no idea why.



For some reason, the movie upload is so pixelated that it looks like we are in a witness protection program. The girls' expressions are the reason for the sharing, so I will try to fix this problem soon.

Slacker

Last night as he was getting ready for work, Markus asked me if I knew where his cycling shorts were. Huh? Oh yeah, I usually wash them over the weekend! Instead, I still haven't folded the laundry I washed last Friday. Whoops. Caught slacking! I'm on it.
I notice I let the blog go by the wayside too. This seems to happen quite a lot lately. We're just caught up in all the little moments here! Baby Stephanie has become so busy and engaging, and Ellie never stopped. They keep us both going going going until they go to bed at night, and by then, I'm well out of blog-mode. The good news is it's all good. Both girls are happy, healthy and well. The weather is slowly turning towards autumn, and we've had some lovely cool mornings and evenings of late. We've been getting outside and enjoying every minute! The downside is the coolness is reminding us of how cold it gets in this old house in the winter; we're trying to fight the dread...and trying to plan a short summery holiday to escape the depths of it sometime in July.

I have lots of photos yet to share, and I've uploaded many onto flickr. You can see them shifting around on the sidebar. Clicking on that will take you to the whole bunch. I'll also do some catch-up posting. We have had many fun outings that came and went so quickly that I forgot to share at the time. The nice thing about the internet is you can always come back and check in to see what's new. I've been caught slacking, so no excuses.

Air-drying the nappy* rainbow

*"nappy" is British-English for "diaper"

Now that baby Stephanie is just over a year old, we're making the switch to cloth diapers. Why? Well, I'll tell ya.
When we were pregnant with Ellie four years ago, we debated the whole cloth v disposable thing, and we couldn't come up with a solid choice. Landfill waste v extra laundry detergent and energy used...it comes out about the same environmentally, considering the disposables we have been using are at least partially biodegradable. Markus was still inclined to try cloth, so we ordered a big trial pack of four different brands in the newborn size. Of course, Hurricane Katrina had other plans. By the time we were allowed back into New Orleans to get our things, Ellie was too big to try them out so we just stuck with disposables for her.
When baby Stephanie was born, we gave them a go, but I didn't like a single one. Each of the four brands was flawed. They cinched, they leaked, they were generally icky and we didn't like them. Disposables won!
But recently I saw a cute flash of fuzzy turquoise on a baby bum while we were out and about, and I asked her mum about her diaper. I told her our cloth saga, but she had nothing but rave reviews of the brand she was using. Never a leak, never a problem, and they are so cute and soft that we had to try them. I ordered two and put them to the test. Not only do they lack the flaws we experienced before, but also baby Stephanie seems to prefer them! An extra bonus for us is that she knows how to remove the disposables on her own, and I've been dreading the day I would find her naked and covered in poo in her crib. The cloth nappies snap shut and present more of a challenge. When we ran the numbers, we realized that even if we just use a full set of cloth nappies for the next six months (assuming she might outgrow this size by then), we will still be saving more than 2 months worth of purchasing disposables. Hopefully, the size will fit even longer than 6 months, in which case we save even more. So, we gave it a go and the fluffy package arrived yesterday. I'm not sure if these are available outside Australia, but I am a huge fan of the itti bitti d'lish AIO! So cute, so soft, and (most importantly) soooooo effective. And who could resist the rainbow of colors? We got one of each (minus the black), and now baby Stephanie officially has the cutest baby bum around, covered or not.

Treasuring the little moments

Recently, I wrote a post about mindfulness inspired by Stephanie Nielson of NieNie Dialogues. I continue to be grateful to her for opening my eyes and my heart to the countless moments of beauty that fill my days. Tonight, Markus came home quite late from work, and the afternoon/evening routine was sheer madness. Baby Stephanie didn't nap much today, so she was tired and clingy. Ellie didn't have any one-on-one time with Mama or Papa, so she was cranky and wild. Every time I set baby Stephanie down so I could do some work (like attempt to empty the dishwasher or start dinner), Ellie pounced her, took her toys, or otherwise harassed her so that I couldn't not watch their every move. Trying to prepare even a simple dinner of steamed veggies and pasta took ages. I was irritated with Ellie for torturing her sister and more irritated with myself for not having something planned that would engage her while I worked (yet when was I supposed to do that?!). Then I found myself in a beautiful moment. Ellie had commandeered two of Stephanie's favorite books and was contentedly reading them to herself aloud, and Stephanie was fully and happily engaged with a wooden spoon and a pot into which I'd poured a bit of water and some peas. The kitchen was a disaster area, the dishwasher was still full, and dinner was only half-done...but suddenly it just didn't matter. The routine was different and no one liked that, but the girls were content and peaceful, each happy with her own favorite activity. When Markus did make it home and I told him how the afternoon and evening went, I realized that pausing to enjoy that beautiful moment had diffused all the rest of the mayhem. I wasn't bothered or stressed at all; instead, I felt blessed. Life with little ones is rarely straightforward and easy, but it is beautiful and good.
Thanks again to Stephanie, for helping me to see.

Bubble living

Life in WA...
The sun shines every day.
The beaches are beautiful.
The river is shady and inviting.
The playgrounds are plentiful.
The political debate rages on about the sanity and moral soundness of Daylight Savings Time.
The list goes on, but the result is this: we live in a bubble.
Every day is the same, and I'm not just talking about the weather. People here do not like change. The most popular make and model of car here has been the most popular make and model of car for the past 30 years! The car seat design for newborns looks like something my mom wouldn't have opted to put my little brother in over 25 years ago, and the seats for toddlers aren't much better. The safest brands from the US and Europe are "possibly not up to Australian standards" and are thus unavailable on the market here. I know that's a small example, but really it distresses me each time I see a baby in one of those things.
Living in the Western Suburbs of Perth only increases the bubble by at least a factor of 10. The housing market is nearly impossible to break into. My Aussie friend tells me the average income of an Australian family is AU$58K. Houses in the Western Suburbs start just above AU$1 million. You do the math and guess the income average in this area. As is often the case with high income areas, the population is fairly homogeneous. Call it Stepford, call it the Twilight Zone...for now, we call it home.
Despite all the weirdness, I don't mind it. The fact remains that this is a great place for young families, and we are in that category. It could hardly be better for our girls! Ellie runs around in the garden with no clothes on most days. Stephanie scoots around anywhere and everywhere, meeting doggies and making friends. We eat breakfast outside nearly every morning. As long as we avoid direct sun, the weather is almost always perfect for playing outside. Although the summer is hot, I can count on both hands the number of days we actually used the A/C all day and all night, because the heat is dry and the old house with its high ceilings is nice and cool.
WA is isolated, geographically, politically, culturally...isolated. You can get to small island nations faster than you can get to Sydney from here. Isolation is bound to create a bubble effect. Sometimes I marvel at the thickness of the bubble (like the day I read the outraged and incredulous article in the newspaper about how shocking it was that President Obama made his first international priority the Middle East and not Australia), but most days I opt to take it at face value and enjoy it.
I will admit, however, that the local suburbs newspapers are a guilty pleasure of mine. We get two free issues a week, and I look forward to it each and every time! The issues people have here are amazing. I am so happy that there is a place where the biggest concern people have in their lives is the notion that a hotel might be built with more than 4 stories or there was a barking dog outside the grocery store that made some patrons nervous or...let's just pull an example from today's delivery, shall we? It's too good. It's about the evidence of foxes in the area, which seems a joy and relief to local animal lovers who have been concerned about foxy absence. The writer was so pleased to see that foxes were in the area, rummaging through trash, and eating scraps that she had to share a close-up picture of a Pink Lady apple sticker in fox poo, which the newspaper printed in full color. Yippee! This is breaking news, people!
We live in a bubble.
And what a lovely bubble it is.

Composting questions

Hi all! It's about time we started composting, but I'm not sure where to start and what system to use. The two systems I've looked into most are worm composting (vermicomposting) and bokashi. I do not want (and probably am not allowed to have) an open air system. I know worm composting gives me lovely soil/fertilizer and bokashi gives me stuff to mix into the soil (rather than fab-looking soil itself). What else? I'm looking for help and feedback. What experience do you have with composting? What system to you like? How easy is that system for beginners? What are the benefits of that system? Please help! We've got to get started with this, and I want the start to be good enough that we keep it going from this point onwards. Thank you!

Sunny report

This morning, I met with Ellie's teacher for a two week progress report on how Ellie is settling in to school. She could not have had more glowing things to say! Although Markus reminds me that flowery language is to be expected with Nigerians (Ellie's lovely teacher is Nigerian), the underlying message could not be missed: Ellie is doing beautifully! She has taken to the Montessori classroom like a duck to water, as we knew she would! She never gets tired of learning new things, is so determined that she keeps trying even when things don't go her way, has an astounding vocabulary, and generally knocks her teachers' socks off. We are not at all surprised to get such a great report, but of course we are so proud to hear what a joy she is to have in the class!

Already at home, we've observed some changes in her behavior that definitely come from her time at school. She has assumed full independence for getting dressed in the morning: going into her room on her own, choosing her clothes out of the drawers, putting away her pjs, and getting dressed as independently as possible. She offers to share food as she brings it to the table. The other day, she carried a bowl of blueberries to the table, but she walked around and offered some to baby Stephanie and to Papa before setting it down and getting into her seat. In the past two days, she has started emptying the dishwasher, particularly the utensils. Outside the home, her sociability has increased dramatically. When we are out and about, it has been her norm to shy away from strangers, even other children. Since she started school, she asks other children their names, how they are doing, etc. When we parted from friends after ballet class yesterday, she waved good-bye and shouted, "Have a good week! We'll see you next time!"

The best was yesterday afternoon when I picked her up from school. I always arrive a bit early, when the kids are out on the playground. She always sees me coming and runs over to give me a huge warm hug. Kids cannot be dismissed early, so she typically waits with me and baby Stephanie, snuggling both of us over and over in raptures that we came back. Yesterday afternoon, she came running as soon as she saw us walking through the gate, as usual. She threw herself at my legs, wrapping me in a huge hug and giving me a wonderful loving smile. I told her I was going to sit down and wait for the bell, and she said she would be over there playing with her friends under the tree...and off she went!

This is only week 3, but we know this school is the right choice and the best place for her. We are so proud of our smart, strong, growing girl, and we can hardly wait to see what she will do next!

Pondering my insignificance

The Indian Ocean is beautiful.
Ellie's school is located across a (very busy) road from the beach, so I see the ocean every day when I drop her off and pick her up. Although the wind usually kicks up in the afternoons, the mornings are almost always calm and the sea is gorgeous and inviting. Last Friday as we made our way back to the car, we looked down to the water and observed dolphins swimming along fairly close to the shore. There was even a mother-calf pair. Watching them swim was such a peaceful, beautiful way to start the day!

Ever since I've started taking Ellie to school, the ocean has been calling me to swim. The water in front of her school is shallow and clear, and it runs along the Cottesloe reef. I've often seen snorkelers paddling along, looking at the sea grass and reef outcrops, and I have wanted to join them.
The trouble is I am deeply afraid of swimming in the ocean (or any body of water in which I cannot see well). I feel so exposed, so small, so insignificant...so not-the-top-of-the-food-chain. Ever since I was nine when we moved to Florida and I heard of a shark attack on a girl my age who was wading up to her knees collecting seashells, I have been afraid to swim in the ocean. More specifically, I am deathly afraid of sharks.
And this area does have sharks. There have been so many sightings this year (and a death) that several official ocean swim races have been cancelled.

But the sea has been calling to me. Every day it calls, and I know I will feel foolish when we leave this place if I do not answer the call from time to time, despite my fear. So this weekend, I took the plunge. Markus stayed home with Ellie while Stephanie napped, and I grabbed my snorkel gear and headed for that crystal clear shallow water.
When I came home again, dripping, elated and energized, Markus commented that I hadn't been gone very long. Maybe not, I told him, but I definitely got in some serious aerobic exercise: I was hyperventilating into my snorkel the entire time.
He laughed at me and then headed out for his turn in the water.
Upon his return, he gave me a very serious look and informed me that perhaps my hyperventilation was justified. Apparently, from the relative safety of the kayak, he observed a "quite large fin" that was "very triangular" and "definitely not a dolphin" moving along the Cottesloe reef near the area I chose to swim. Markus went on to assure me that it was pretty far out from the shore, so I would probably be just fine where I swim. Ha.

The sea is calling to me.
But from now on, it can leave a voicemail.

Calling cards

Stephanie was here:


Ellie was here:

Speaking of mindfulness

Via a Friend to knit with, I discovered Green Week at shining egg. Being asked to notice green was all it took. Suddenly, green is everywhere! As I type, I spy it on the blogger button bar for hyperlinks. I spy it on the handles of Ellie's scissors on my desk, the outside cover of the toy library binder I am currently neglecting, the plastic Barrel of Monkeys on the floor. I love how the thought of a color brought a simple awareness to my daily living. Without intending to participate, I became fully involved in Green Week. I'll be looking forward to the next color.

Mindfulness

You might notice a new button on my sidebar: I Read NieNie.
NieNie Dialogues is written by a beautiful young woman named Stephanie Nielson. She is a daughter/sister/friend/wife/mother of four very young kids/expressive human being with strong faith who recently survived a near fatal small plane crash with her husband. He suffered burns over 30% of his body; she has 80%. She was a blogger before the crash, but I didn't know her blog then. Bad news travels fast online, and many of the other blogs I do read posted notice of her crash and links to donate to help their family. In the weeks after I first learned of her blog, I visited a few times here and there, but since Stephanie herself has resumed posting, I check in nearly every day. I am profoundly moved by her entries, her honesty and openness not only about (some of) the pain she currently experiences but moreso the tremendous effort she makes to focus on the joy in her life, the love in her marriage, and the countless happy memories of simple moments that any one of us experiences daily and takes for granted, as she probably did before. When I read her blog, I don't feel sorry for her. She seems to have an amazing support network of loving family and friends who care for her, her husband and their children. Rather, when I read her blog, she opens up a new level of mindfulness for me, reminding me to be present in the beautiful, joyful moments life offers up every day, the tiny things that could go unnoticed or even be a nuisance in some ways but are blessings in others. When I have a bad day, I don't think "my woes are nothing compared with hers"; rather, I am reminded to notice all the moments of joy that were hidden from my sight at the end of the day by my exhaustion or echoes of the tantrums. She has given me a gift of mindfulness. I read her blog and I wish I could be her friend, could help her smile, could offer support...but the closest I can get as a complete stranger is linking to her blog, so that's what I've done.

Bundle's first birthday!

Baby Stephanie celebrated her first birthday today! It is amazing to us that one year ago we were experiencing the profound beauty of her home birth. We are so thankful that we embraced that new experience; it is one of our most treasured memories as a couple, working together to help baby Stephanie into the world. Today, even more amazing is the idea that it was only a year ago! It seems she has been with us so much longer! Happy Birthday, you happy wonderful beautiful little girl! We love you so much!



As you can see, the mutant hot pink koala-head cake was received as expected. She gleefully tasted, smashed and smeared it around! She is currently obsessed with using utensils to eat, which made the birthday cake a whole new challenge. Apparently, she found it worked best when her foot blocked it from the table edge. Actually, her little foot frequently makes its way to the tabletop; we've learned that it's a sign she's enjoying her mealtime.

We were happy to celebrate her birthday with our new friends. Thanks to my gorgeous redhead girlfriend for taking the birthday video! It's so nice to have pictures and video clips of us all together as a family! We also find it fun that we have her Aussie well wishes recorded at the end of the birthday song, just in case we ever need proof for our girls of the many continents they've inhabited.

And yes, baby Stephanie is STILL "baby Stephanie". It is her name, and it's here to stay. She'll probably still be "baby Stephanie" at her 20th birthday. We hope she won't mind.

Creative caking

For Stephanie's first birthday cake, I decided to make a koala face, since she has always been our little koala. I made a cake in two circular pans, planning to use one for the face and cut the other for the ears. Once done, the ears were a bit too big, but I didn't want too many crumbly sides for frosting, so I decided to shrug it off. Not willing to make grey icing, it was a choice between a blue or pink koala. Stereotyping won, and we opted for pink. I use gel coloring, and the pink was a lovely pale pink until POW the beaters hit a wad of gel and the pale pink turned hot pink in an instant. We now have a hot pink mutant koala head for a birthday cake. Not quite according to plan, but no big deal, right? It will be photographed, smashed, smeared and eaten regardless. I think the fact that I'm not stressing out about serious lack of perfection is a sign of growth.
I also just want to eat the cake.

Knitting projects 2 & 3

It turns out knitting is the perfect new craft for me! Each project takes me ages because I'm new and because I have so little downtime (even less if you look for downtime when I'm not a zombie), but I enjoy it so much! I have now completed a scarf and a hat in addition to Ellie's poncho. The scarf was made for my wonderful friend's birthday. Inspired by yarn that reminded me so much of her, I knit like a mad thing...only to still be a bit late. Fortunately, she doesn't mind my tardiness! Before I mailed it off, I took it in to show the ladies in the yarn shop, since they have been so helpful as I plug along. The scarf came out so well that they are making one as a sample in the store! Since then, I've bought yarn to make similar scarves in two different colors, which should find their new homes next Christmas.


I also knit myself what I call my "pink rasta". It's a chunky knit beanie knit with a very pink Aspire wool/alpaca blend. That yarn is so soft and wonderful that I couldn't resist. The pattern called for one ball of chunky yarn to knit an adult and child hat, so I thought I'd knit matching hats for me and Ellie. Thus the pink. But oh...the PINK. It is just very seriously pink. I'm adjusting. The fact is I love this hat! It is so soft and forgiving that I can actually stuff all my hair inside and it still fits just as well, thus the name "pink rasta". Ellie's is almost done. I have to try to pin her down to test the size before I cut and seam it, because I made her hat a bit smaller than the pattern. I'm so crazy about this pattern (so easy!!) that I've already got plans to make three more before I move on to a different project.


Knitting is so enjoyable. I love that I can still sit and unwind with Markus in the evenings and yet create something beautiful with my hands at the same time. For a long time now, I have been tempted to buy a sewing machine and start sewing, but I realize that sewing would take me into a separate space, whereas knitting I can do while we sit together in the living room at night. I think knitting will be my new craft of choice for a while. Cooking still hangs in there too. Looking forward to creating baby Stephanie's first birthday cake this week!

A moment of peace

It is raining for the first time in I can't remember how long.
The coolness in the air and the sound of rain on the skylight are so soothing.
Ellie is at school, baby Stephanie is napping, and I am sipping a mug of pumpkin soup, a new project freshly cast on my knitting needles.
A little moment of peace and contentment.
With gratitude, I drink it in.

Weekly Video Post

Baby Stephanie is a musician! I introduced her to the piano this week, and she could not be more enthusiastic! Listen for her little "tah-dah!" in between masterful music pieces.

Another first

Baby Stephanie had her own first today: insisting on feeding herself with utensils. It's been coming on gradually, but tonight she was having none of being fed by a third party. Forget it! She had to do it herself! Thank goodness cottage cheese sticks to utensils pretty well, although there was a rather amusing moment when she flung a wad of it onto her eyelid and sat motionless, trying to figure out what had happened.
Mealtimes are about to get a lot messier.

First Day!

To alleviate any suspense...Princess Ellie's first day of school went extraordinarily well!

After I posted last night, I went into the living room where Markus was working, and I started to cry. The typical Mom thing: my girl would be starting school, a first sure sign that she is growing up...and will grow away from me. Although I have been ready for her to go to Montessori for ages, although I know she will thrive there, although although although...I didn't want her to go! I became oh-so-distressed. Thankfully, it happened at a time when she couldn't see me. I worked it out of my system last night, so this morning was smooth sailing. She did try a stealthy get-out-of-it move in the car on the way to school when she announced matter-of-factly that she was very tired, so we must turn the car around and go straight home where Ellie can take a nap. It was an admirable attempt, given that she hasn't napped in days and knows I crave her naptime...but I didn't buy it. On we went.

For our first day, we were asked to arrive an hour later than the usual time so the teacher could have settled the others well before Ellie arrived so she could focus more on helping the new child adjust. We checked in at the office and made our way to her class. We passed lots of children her age doing a variety of fun activities, but she didn't notice because she was trying to become permanently imbedded in the back of my skirt. She hadn't peeked out at all even by the time I stopped at her class and began talking to her teacher. We had been asked to bring photos of Ellie for a timeline, one photo for each year of her life. As I passed those to her teacher, Ellie's interest was piqued. She came out from hiding to look at the photos, and that allowed her to see that many of the children in her class were snacking. SNACKS! Why didn't I say so? Well, she was fine after that. She got right to the business of taking out her lunchbox and trying to get at the contents. I took the opportunity to run away, and she didn't notice me leave. After snacking heartily, she spent a long time cutting paper with scissors, a much beloved activity which is too rarely facilitated at home. I think these two starter activities were enough to cement a good first impression: Ellie likes school.

I returned early to pick her up so I could chat with her teacher while the kids were on the playground. This first day was called a "readiness visit" to assess if Ellie would be ready to start on a daily basis. Her teacher emphatically informed me that "she is ready. She is so very very ready!" Ellie apparently did very well. As expected, the structure of the Montessori classroom appeals to her greatly, and she fit right into the mold. She even made friends with an older girl (the class is mixed ages 3-6), who taught her a few new materials. The only point that was hard was mid-way through the morning when they read a story as a class. After that, Ellie looked around and became distressed that I wasn't there. In Holland, school was done for the day after the story, so I guess that old programming kicked in and she expected me to come get her. There were many tears when she realized that wouldn't happen, but then she bounced back and did fine.

When the kids returned from the playground and she saw me, her eyes welled up with tears and so did mine. She was so overwhelmed...but she was happy. I felt the same way.
My girl is growing up.
I am so proud of her.

Big news

I have been wanting to post about our doings over the past weekend, and I have some wonderful pictures to share...but first I must interrupt for an important news bulletin: Ellie starts school tomorrow! You may or may not remember the saga we had with schools when we arrived here six months ago. Every school and preschool and daycare and even playgroup has a waiting list, as the population has recently boomed out of proportion here around Perth. I have wanted Ellie to go to a Montessori preschool since before she was born, but it was looking quite unlikely when we started making inquiries. I applied to four Montessori schools and was put on four waiting lists. Then, magically, four spots were offered to us! Her mama's Montessori background opened all doors! We could take our pick, and we chose the Montessori school closest to our home. It's also the most philosophically grounded in the Montessori method (almost obsessively so). We were told she could start the next week...and that was in November. Then that got pushed back until after summer break. Remember, we are Down Under, so summer break like we have in the US happens over Christmas holidays here. School was out from mid-December until late January. Classes resumed a few weeks ago, but new students are brought in after the returning students settle back into routine. On Tuesday, I went in alone to observe Ellie's new class and her teacher. The school requires the observations to acquaint parents with the Montessori system, but I was happy to acquaint myself with the faces Ellie will be seeing daily from here on out. Her teacher is a lovely, soft-spoken, friendly woman from (just to show how interlinked life gets once you start living abroad) Nigeria. I am so happy Ellie will have a wonderful role model of a different race, because the Western Suburbs of Perth are some kind of white people Twilight Zone the likes of which I haven't experienced since living in New England. Ellie will go to school five half-days a week until she's old enough and ready to stay for full days. This is a Montessori school (not just preschool), so it carries on until middle school. Once she's in, she's in.
There have been too many administrative debacles (that I won't whine about here) for us to feel confident about staying with the school at the moment, but we're hopeful these issues will melt away once Ellie gets going in the system. After my observation on Tuesday, I was so excited for her to get started! She wants to learn! She wants to be around other children. She wants to try and do new things, every day. She wants to be challenged and engaged. This school will give her those opportunities at a time when baby Stephanie is demanding more and more of my time and attention as well. We expect the next few weeks to be tough as we go through the transition (she'll be exhausted every day!), but we are happy to get going with this new phase of her life! Ellie will be starting school! Amazing.

Typical

Last night, the girls took turns waking up five times between 12:30am and 5:30am, at which point I threw in the towel and stayed up, surrendering to my fate. Ellie is almost always up for the day by 6 anyway.
Almost always.
Since I got up exhausted today at 5:30am, she's sleeping in.
So is baby Stephanie.
Typical.

Ellie says

This morning as I ate my breakfast, I felt Ellie crawl up in the chair behind me and start playing with my hair.
"I'm fixing your hair," she informed me.
"Yes, I'm fixing your hair because it's a little bit broken."

Feeling the love

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
This morning was the second and final toy collection at the toy library. When I collected the booty this afternoon, it completely filled our station wagon. If each individual toy went to a different child, our little toy drive will be able to bring smiles to more than 50 kids! Even more amazing is when you add ours to the greater pile being collected and shipped over. "Play To Heal" (our organizing partner) collected so many toys in the first 4 days of its 7 day drive that they have had to ask people to stop giving! They already have FIVE TONS of toys, and that doesn't include the collections from smaller organizations (like us) to whom they have given the green light. And this is just one toy drive from one large(-ish) organization in one part of Australia. Imagine the overall response around the country. I know it will never replace what the fire victims have lost or displace the horrible images they have seen, but the outpouring of support is overwhelming.
I am so proud to have been a part of it.

Ballet girls

This week, Ellie resumed her ballet class after the summer holiday with great joy and enthusiasm! Baby Stephanie scooted off to join the fun...

Fire victims in Victoria

With the news content being so heavily focused on homes and stories, it's easy to forget that people aren't the only victims of devastating fires. The brother of one of Markus's colleagues is a volunteer firefighter in Victoria, and he shared this photo today:



For those of you looking to make a monetary donation to help, you might want to consider Wildlife Victoria or the RSPCA. I believe the latter site is currently down due to overload, but it should be up and running again before long. The need for help will continue for months as they try to rehabilitate many injured animals, so it's worth checking back.

Victoria bush fires

Over the weekend, deadly wildfires ignited in Victoria, Australia, that have left over a hundred dead and hundreds of people homeless. Extreme climactic conditions (over 40 degrees and 100 km/hr winds) spread the fires far faster than could possibly be contained, and most people had no warning before the sky blackened and the flames surrounded them. With calmer, cooler weather today, the fires are being brought under control, but they are still burning, possibly helped by "firebugs" (the news' nice word for arsonists) who ignite areas that have already been extinguished. Looking at the pictures and reading the stories have brought back memories of the only comparison I personally have: Hurricane Katrina. The source and scale of the devastation are different, but in other ways, this is too close to being the same. I know what these people are experiencing, and it hurts my heart...but as has been my line for the past three-plus years on the Katrina subject, "Don't even get me started." In the midst of the horror, there were innumerable kindnesses. The generosity and support of total strangers moved us to tears time and again, and it brought hope in a hopeless situation. I want to somehow do that for the survivors of these fires, particularly (probably because I'm a mom) for the children. I want to help, and I want to help as much as possible.

So, here's my idea: As a committee member of the Nedlands Toy Library, I have a great link to lots of locals. I checked with the other committee members today (as well as the Salvation Army, which is handling all item donations) and we will host a new toy drive this week. Anyone who wants to help can drop off a new toy and new or gently used children's clothing during toy library hours (9:30am-11am) this Thursday and Saturday, and I will box them up Saturday afternoon and send them on their way. By limiting the drive to this week, I hope to get comfort on its way as soon as possible.

So...if you read this blog and happen to live in the Perth area, please bring a new toy and/or children's clothing to the Nedlands Toy Library this Thursday or Saturday between 9:30 and 11am. Let's give the children who've made it through the wildfires a new reason to smile. Thank you!

Ellie says

When Markus brought the girls home happy and excited from the playground this evening, Ellie could smell dinner cooking and asked what I was making. I told her she smelled the soup simmering on the stove.
"SOUP, Papa! We're having SOUP!" Ellie shouted joyfully. Her enthusiasm was astounding for such a notoriously picky eater. I was suspicious but happy with her jubilant response.
She continued, "SOUP! Mama's making soup!
And Mama...what are you making for me?"
Ah-ha.

She's mobile!

In the few weeks around Christmas time, baby Stephanie was giving all the signs that she would skip crawling entirely and go straight for walking. She even took a few tentative steps and had a blast motoring around the coffee table. Now, all of that has slowed again. She still likes the coffee table, but she's more interested in trying to climb on top of it than motor around it. She also still likes to walk with Papa, but she has stopped attempting it on her own. This may or may not have to do with "help" she received early on from an enthusiastic big sister who often "helped" her onto the floor. At any rate, she's taken with the floor and has decided to scoot around and out any open door at any opportunity. She's getting quite quick about it too! I set her down so I could clear the table the other day, and when I looked up from the first two plates, she was out of the dining area and into the playroom. When you watch her scoot, you'll notice she uses two hands and one foot flat on the floor while she drags the other bent leg along beneath her. Ellie did the same thing. Apparently, so did I. Is crawling style hereditary?

Cuddly Animal Farm (again)

Ellie requests a return trip to the "bunny farm" every week, but it's been too hot and the drive has been too long for me to acquiesce. On Saturday, Markus had to go in to work for a few hours, and Ellie immediately asked if we could go to the bunny farm. I told her it was too busy on a weekend. With so many families visiting, the baby animals will be full and Ellie won't get to see them much. I told her we might go during the week instead. She asked what day it was, and I told her Saturday. She asked when is a weekday and I told her.
Wouldn't you know that Monday morning Ellie asked what day it was and when I replied it was Monday, her face lit up like a light and screamed, "We can go to the BUNNY FARM!" Monday happened to be another record-hot day, but there was no way she would understand or accept that. I got out of that by telling her it was closed. Yesterday, we were so busy she just forgot. This morning, I knew I shouldn't make her wait anymore, so I offered the trip before she remembered to ask. She was so excited!


There were no chicks or baby rabbits today, but there were baby guinea pigs and little goat kids. Ellie was in raptures! The funny part is so was baby Stephanie! She was sooooo happy and excited, flapping her arms and laughing and reaching for the baby animals. She wanted to be held, which made it hard to capture her joy on camera. I did manage one shot of a kid nuzzling her toes. When nuzzles first turned to nibbles, she giggled and enjoyed it, but she soon put that goat in its place with a few kung-fu kicks of her baby legs. (disclaimer for the animal rights people: she did NOT kick the kid, but the flailing legs were enough to make it give her space)

Mademoiselle Artiste

Until recently, there was a large bare space on the wall in Ellie's room that cried out for decoration. I've had several ideas about how we might fill it creatively in a way that was very much Ellie, but we hadn't done a thing until I was inspired by this post at UNIFORM Studio. Ellie loves to paint, so this seemed the perfect solution. It was her first experience with canvas and also her first opportunity to paint something of this size. I am not a graphic designer or professional artist, so I skipped the lesson in composition and color that was part of the inspiring post. It was to be a painting for Ellie's room, so I let her choose 3 colors. I bought a variety of inexpensive brushes ranging in size from fairly small (given the canvas size) to a wide as the width of my palm. I set up the materials and let the creation process be entirely up to her. Ellie being Ellie, she opted to paint with only the smallest brushes, so a lot of white space remains.


I have to admit, I waffled for ages in the art store about that canvas. Stretched canvas is not cheap, and it felt mighty pricey for a 3 year old's project. Ultimately, I decided to go for it. I justified the price by thinking that she can add to it again later if she wants to, or at some point we can just paint over it and start again. She is so proud of the end result that I know I made the right choice.

Weekly Video Post

After December's daily posting and then a couple of weeks of intermittent computer access, I admit I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon. However, I will be making a valiant effort to get right back on, because I do enjoying sharing with you! I may be making some changes in the weeks to come (possibly to another provider), but I'll give you plenty of notice if I do. I've also been toying with a separate blog, because I use this one to share our family life with friends and loved ones far away but I do have other things to say (remarkable!) and I feel this isn't the best place for that. Again, I'll keep you posted!
For now, back to our regularly scheduled programming!
Today's submission for the Weekly Video Post was captured less than an hour ago as Ellie and I went through her bedtime routine. Over the past few days, I have heard her reading stories to her dolls at naptime, and I've been so impressed to hear her "read" almost verbatim. Attempts to catch this on camera, however, only gave her the much-desired excuse to abort naptime (or even quiet time), so I let her read undisturbed. Sometimes in the evenings, I have heard her reading with Markus, and tonight she allowed Markus to record us while she read with me. The clip starts when we are about half-way through the book, so she's lost a bit of steam. For the first half, she read voices for all the characters, just as I do. I am so proud.