Quality Control

Darian and I bake once a week. We never measure anything, yet somehow our cakes and cookies always turn out perfect. It must be all of the love that goes into the process. Darian has the important job of quality assurance. From start to finish, she carefully samples each batch, in order to ensure nothing but the best. Gotta love it;)

Live for the Moment

Well I am again going to talk about how important it is to enjoy every single day. While going through all of my belongings, I came across my sacred shell collection. I have shells from Bali, Malaysia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Australia, and these are just naming a few. Each of the shells are sealed in a bag and labelled carefully. I sat and looked at them for a few moments, and memories came flooding back to when and where they each came from. I then thought about what I would do with them. I decided that taking them to another country may be risky, as they are fragile and decided it would be best if I left them in my box of special things which will remain in Australia in my in-laws basement. The girls had then found me and of course had to check the shells out. "Can we play them Mommy?" I was reluctant to answer as I wanted to protect my shells. I then stopped myself. Hey, why can't they play with them? In fact, why not dump them out and so we can enjoy their true beauty. SO I took them outside and placed them along the window ledge, where the kids can touch them. In a few weeks time I can re-evaluate what I will do next with them. Until then, they are on display. Why should we hide and protect gems and save them for a precious day that may never come. Whether it's wearing my special shoes that I had made in Vietnam, or examining my coral that I collected in the past, I can honestly say that my children are the real gifts, and I get to enjoy them every day.

Winter in Australia and Daddy's off

Well Daddy is on holidays again, and we are all happy. Having fifteen plus weeks a year off with pay really has benefits. (I know, no sympathy for teacher's!) Besides the serious bonding that takes place, the kids get 2 primary care givers. It takes so much pressure off of me. The girls insist that Daddy does everything including baths, painting, stories, and playing. We love having our main man around :)

We love Daddy.....and the beach too

While floating around putting laundry away, I walked by Darian's room and did a double glance. There was Riles, chilling out in big sister's room, with the shades on! As if no one would notice!! I'm glad she likes the idea, we just need to convince 'The Boss' that sharing a room with her little sister is going to be the best experience ever!!!!! ( ;0 )

The last few weeks

Our last few weeks in Australia are becoming interesting, as we find creative ways to have fun. Most of the toys are gone, as well as most of the furniture. We were cleaning out our cupboards, when we came across Rorie's Father's day gift from last year, a remote controlled helicopter. It is quite fragile and therefore we don't want to risk sending it in our luggage. A better alternative, is to use it like there's no tomorrow. So Rorie gave Darian one quick lesson, and boom, she has a new toy (an expensive toy). It's like when you read one of those forwarded emails stating how life is about living in the present moment, and how we should use our good crystal and china everyday and not save things for some future day that may not come. Well here you go....the helicopter is still in one piece, and man were we surprised!!!!





She flew it up above the roof top, 'to infinity and beyond', Motor cross undies and all....

Wild imagination

I have been meaning to write about this for a while now....
Darian was in the bath with her rubber crocodile, when she began role playing. "This iguana lives in the desert; camels live in the desert. When he was born, he hatched out of an egg. My brothers and sisters were there." Where did she come up with that!!??
A few months ago, Rorie was teaching the theme 'mini beasts'. He shared his knowledge with the girls. I recently caught a huge grasshopper and the girls were fascinated. Could this be the source for this episode? Perhaps it was the influence of her new hero Bindi Irwin. Either way, our girls love bugs and creatures, and I think it's wonderful!!

Packing

After our farewell party, we have had a lot happen. Closing this chapter involves many procedures such as packing, packing and more packing!!! We have sold most of our furniture and our 4x4 SUV. We have packed only 6 boxes to ship. We have sorted through all of our belongings, and have managed to get rid of most of them!! Sea mail takes 35 days to ship to our destination, which means our boxes must go out this week!

The pile......

We are aware that less is more, and what really matters is that we are together as a family. The children sense many changes that lie ahead, and are a little unsure.
Riley does not quite understand, however Darian has figured out that she will fit in a suitcase, and so she can come on the plane! (as opposed to being being shipped) ..............