Woodland Antics

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...

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 ...

I just wanted to share a little video I took with my phone earlier today... He's such a fun and happy baby! The best part is when I showed him this video he laughed even harder and when he heard me asking him to say mama he would say it again. My goodness gracious we are so lucky to have him. xoxo

LOOK BOTH WAYS PLAY FAIR SHARE EVERYTHING HOLD HANDS STICK TOGETHER RESPECT ONE ANOTHER You may be wondering what in the world Reed has on... It's clay's kangaroo pouch.  (I'm not sure what it's actually called)  He and Fiona were playing an imagination game together and the pouch was an accessory. I don't always understand what their antics but my goodness I love watching them together.

My babies... They hover around me as if I'm the center of their universe. I'm sure a day will come when the world distracts them and one by one they will leave my nest. Then I will hover around them because they most certainly are the center of my universe.

Yesterday was Athletics Day at the kids school.  There's Fiona getting ready for the sprint.  That hat! We fixed it up for the next race.  Always smiling! She is probably the youngest child in her grade and she's really petite but she has spirit and zip 10 times her size.   Clay helped me cheer all the kids on.  Even though his morning nap was delayed he was so good. Gotta love baby #3, they just go with the flow. Clay and I did our very best to watch both Reed and Fiona do their field events but they were going on simultaneously on opposite sides of the oval. We also missed about 40 minutes of events in the morning (they arrived at the field just after 9 and leave at 1.30). I was able to watch Reed do the high jump...  He's such a natural. He cleared it no problem.   Throwing the discus..  While the kids ate lunch a few were asked to come up for an interview. Something I really like about this...