Woodland Antics

Today we celebrated Clay's first year. It's truly unbelievable how quickly it flew by and how much he's changed. Just today his 6th tooth came through. Every day makes such a difference at his age. It's truly been a joy watching him grow these past 12 months. He's such a beautiful little soul, cheeky, but beautiful. Here's a picture of him at just over a week and then today... He's wearing the same outfit.  I remember it being a bit baggy on him as if it were yesterday.  - yes, I know I missed the 9th,10th and 11th month- what can I say? He's the third child and probably pretty lucky I made it as far as I did. Happy Birthday little Clayton. We sure do love you a bushel and a peck. xo

Friday was the last day of grade two for these kiddos. Where did that year go? When I put these two pictures next to each other I was taken aback. I hadn't realized how much growth had happened this year...  Here are the past years...

We're home from our 10 days in Tasmania and jumped directly into Christmas and the last week of school. It's been full on around these parts. But soon enough Ryan will be home for a few weeks, there will be no scrambling in the morning to get everyone off on their day. It'll be a beautiful calm after the storm. Our trip was fantastic...  Tasmania is the island state of Australia. Just a quick 1 hour flight over the Bass Strait from Melbourne. It's so close but feels like a different world.  There are few people and a whole lot of pristine wilderness- our kind of place.  We landed in Launceston's tiny little airport, then we were on our way...  We spent the first 2 nights in the valley of Roland Mountain, pictured above.  (We all got new air mattresses and are loving them!)  The first day was a travel day. We set up camp and took a little walk before the campfire and bed.  The campground had a

Remember our adorable Emily the Elf ? I guess I haven't posted much about her but she is HUGE in our world. Here's a letter Fiona wrote to her a couple months back... She's always thinking ahead. We're headed to Tasmania for 10 days! It's a new adventure for us all and it'll be Clayton's first plane trip. Everyone raves about Tassie so we're off to see what all the fuss is about...

This Butterball is growing up all too quickly. Yesterday marked 11 months since he came to us.  In one breath I feel like I just had him, in the next I feel like I've had him all my life. Last week he started saying "all done" and "dog".  He gets so excited for himself. He'll squeal and clap and do his iconic scrunched up face... it's all so darn cute! Thanksgiving day was like any old Thursday. It was actually an extremely busy day with Fiona's Irish dance show, swimming and appointments. Fiona did a fantastic job in the production of The Little Mermaid. I have some pictures of her in costume that I'll post.  She was a blue Fish.  Clay's top two teeth are pushing there way through.  They are so close that it looks like they're out but they haven't cut yet.  Poor bub.  We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  Love From, The Woodlands

Lately I've been digging through the backlog of kids artwork and school papers. I'm taking pictures of my favorites. This one is a favorite because just when I think we're raising pretty sensible kids this is sent home knocking me down a peg or two. Lets skip over the fact that she refers to me as Trudy.  Take a moment to embrace her recognizing how much Ry helps her with rock climbing and how she encourages him.. too sweet.  Now a long pause with how Reed shows her respect.   "He lets me bite him for no reason" - what in the world?   Then she shows him respect by letting him do it back?   I have no words, all I can do is chuckle.   Oh what her teacher must think! Speaking of making me laugh, I had to grab a picture of this from a recent road trip. This is what you'd call bogan (a great aussie slang we've come to embrace) yet extremely creative.  Who would think to use a microwave as a mailbox? I know you all want to pin this on Pinte

I had the best birthday! The night prior to the big day I slept in Reed's bed which meant I didn't get up once with Clay. (as it turns out Reed was sick that night so I got up with him a couple of times) This was one of the best gifts Ryan has ever thought of.  My birthday morning I slept in while Ry got the kids off to school.  Even better he took the day off from work to pamper me.  It was the best birthday ever! The kids showered me with some beautiful gifts and we went for a hike upon my request. We went to Pound Bend... Pound Bend Tunnel has an interesting history from Victoria's gold rush days HERE   is some information about it.  Seeing a platypus in the wild is a big deal even to especially to Australians. So you can imagine our excitement when we had a sighting... The kids got tired on the return hike... note my sweet new necklace from Fiona