Woodland Antics

W e have big plans for this week (it's Fiona's Birthday on Friday) so we decided to lay low this weekend. The highlight of the weekend was a Wild Woodland Rumpus a.k.a  A Water Balloon Fight.  This video doesn't do our battle justice.  All the best parts weren't recorded. Like when the girls tried to sabotage the boys and they got their revenge by soaking us with an entire container of water.  Although, Reed's swim trunks continuously falling down was cause for lots of laughter and we did get that on tape. The song is Rumpus from the soundtrack Where The Wild Things Are .

Every Monday morning all of the students at the kids school along with the parents and staff gather for assembly.  They sing the national anthem (I really need to learn it), announcements are made and students are recognized for their various accomplishments.  It's quite nice. This past Monday our little man stood in front of the crowd and was honored as The Student Of The Week!   Words can not describe how proud we are of Reed.  His teacher took some pictures of him receiving his award, I'll share them with you once I get my hands on them. "Have a Go" ~ So Australian In other school news~ ~At our recent "chats" with the teachers both of the kids teachers told us how everyday at recess Fiona stands on a bench and yells "Reed'O, Reed'O"  If she can't find him she asks a teacher to help her find her brother and make sure he's okay.  {melt}  She's such a mother hen. ~ They were sent home with this paper. I was totally

Early one morning Fiona & Reed set up the gear for some family rock out time.   Fiona ,of course, wanted to take video of it.   Like so many of her pictures and videos it was saved and set aside. I just came across it again and had to smile.   It's so us right now in our lives.   Weekend mornings hanging out in our PJ's being a silly family. Wishing you and yours a rockin' weekend!

Poor Ryan, out on a boat doing field work for 3 days.  ~ This is what I was thinking until this picture was emailed  to me . Look at that grin. Tonight he'll be taking two hour sleep shifts so I assume that grin won't be as bright come tomorrow morning. He can be as grumpy as he wants as long as he comes home safe and sound. {I think I'd pay money to see Ryan truly grumpy} I always give the "talk" to him before he goes out in the field. You know the whole,"you have a family and we need you so please be careful" talk. This week he said, "Don't worry I won't play with any sharks" He's referring to the time I caught him NOT being careful. I gave him the "talk" and then when he returned home we watched a video of a shark on the boat. Who was all over it? You guessed it. He decided he'd be the one to get close enough to push it off the boat. That Guy! How we love his antics. He's on Western Port Ba

L ife is so busy right now and you know I will take bustling around with my two healthy, happy children while walking across fire barefoot any day over where we were 3 years ago...  A disappointing day We were so excited for today. The plan was to take Fiona off the ventilator and see how she was. I really thought I would have a weaker version of the old Fiona back. Ryan and I had breakfast together and discussed the fact that I had such big expectations. I felt there was no other way to be. I realize now I am in a different world here and in this foreign land you can not allow yourself to get too excited. Darn it! Fiona was taken off the ventilator a bit before 12. She was not her old self at all. She was extremely irritable and her movements were jerky. The reason for this? Well there COULD be one or a combination of many. perhaps she was withdrawing from the meds, or maybe because what is going on in her brain or she could have been agitated because it's a scary feeling to s

I think of Fiona's time at Childdrens Hospital in Washington D.C. everyday.  When she makes a strange movement I stand frozen just staring at her making sure she's not having a seizure.  When the kids eat I'm all over them about chewing & sitting properly.  Mostly I think about how good life is having my children safe and sound.  Everyday worries are put in perspective as I remind myself, as long as our family is all together I need nothing more. February is a month I find these thoughts surface  with more intensity than usual.  It was three February's ago that I wrote updates in the Care Pages. I think since writing them I've probably re-read them only a few times. They don't do justice to that time in our lives.  Nonetheless I've decided to re-post those notes in this space over the next couple of weeks.  I write in this blog for a million reasons, the greatest of these is for Reed & Fiona.  I want them to have a recorded history about themsel

Since the kids started school I'm more busy than ever.  Who would have thought?  Almost everyday I'm at the school in a meeting or volunteering.  We're all exhausted as we adapt to our new routines.  Because of this I'm grateful Australian children don't exchange Valentines cards, it would have been one more thing on our long list of  To Do's this week. In celebration of Valentines Day we cut and hung hearts on our climbing tree, gifted the teachers with cards & love buttons and Ryan made Love Day donuts with the kids.  My valentine and I retreated to bed early officially showing our position in life; Confidently in love.  After all, everyday in our home is a celebration of love. W e sat around sharing what we love about one another. I recorded some of our thoughts on hearts. May your home be filled with zealous love everyday! Happy Valentines Day!

T he girls had a beach day this past weekend.  That's something I love about our family... The kids often break us into two parts "the boys" and "the girls".   I find it endearing and I'm so grateful for the even spread.   Ryan and I both get to experience the phenomenon of having our own mini-me. Anyway, us girls went to the beach on the windiest day ever!  We were forced to spend our time in the raging ocean or nestled in the protection of the dunes.   Between the two was the sandblasting, merciless beach. {that's putting it mildly} running between the two safe havens When it was time to go home I swaddled Fiona in a towel and carried her and our picnic basket down the beach against the wind.  It was painful and difficult.  When we reached the path heading towards our car I let her down as it was sheltered from the wind.  She said to me, "Mom let me carry the picnic basket, you must be exhausted."  I was near tears with how th

My favorite thing about having children this age and so close in age is listening to them play together. Everyday I giggle a thousand times over as I eavesdrop on their antics. Then I peek in on them and crack up. I could hear Reed calling Fiona his kangaroo today.   When I joined them in the back yard I found out why. Aren't kids great? Because really, how many adults would walk around with a teddy bear in their pants?

Isn't it beautiful? Are you wondering what those masses are hanging from the trees? Here are some closer looks. They're Grey-headed Flying Foxes !  There are about 40,000-50,000 literally hanging around  Yarra Bend Park .  At dusk they all wake up and leave their roost for their nightly feeding.  It's an amazing sight. You'll have to forgive me for all these batty photos. I just couldn't help myself. Also for the grainy shots.  I don't have the proper lens for this type of photography. They were diving close to the river to get a gulp of water. I find them absolutely adorable. Here's a video of them throughout the evening.  As the sun gets lower and lower you can hear they get progressively louder.  You'll also hear the same goes for my munchkins.  An interesting bit of information...  The emergence time of adult males depended on their social status: smaller bachelor males emerge from the colony earlier than larger harem-