Update

I've been advised that I'm slacking on the job here, and need to update more frequently.  It's true that I haven't been very good at keeping up lately, so I'm going to commit to more frequent updates, although they may be entirely boring.

Jackson and Hollie started back to school this past Tuesday, after being out of school for three and a half weeks.  They are settling back in nicely.  Hollie's school celebrated it's 126th birthday yesterday.  There were some fun events scheduled at the senior school (the upper middle / high school campus), but unfortunately those had to be cancelled due to inclement weather (aka so much rain that we could row to school).

Brynn has started preschool two days a week and is really enjoying herself there.  Her first day happened to be on a day when a farm brought some animals out to the school.  I stayed with her for a bit there, but she was really fine for me to go.  She joined right in with the other kids, who were chasing a piglet around the playground (she's not in this photo but you get the idea)

And then she jumped in the sandbox, shouted out a ":bye mom!" and that was it...she is so easy that way.

All of the kids are required to wear these hats when outside (same with Hollie's school, and I think most others).  The intent is to protect them from the sun, since the UV is so strong here.  Her blue hat signifies that she is in the blue room, so the teachers can spot their kids on the playground.

Other updates..We traded in the Camry.  It was a great car, but didn't provide enough room.  A teenager in a back seat between a car seat and a booster was not working.  So, we now have a Toyota Kluger, an SUV with three rows of seating.  The kids are much happier and it drives really well.  I don't have a picture of our actual car, and it's dark outside now, but here's a picture from Google of the Kluger.  Ours is a dark gray.

On the car note, I will share a couple of photos that I took last week.  One is the Ute, a sort of standard for trucks around here.  I've not seen one Chevy Silverado or Ford F150, or anything even remotely close to them here.

Here is the ute (I think that is short for utility)

And then here is Jeff's very favorite (which will probably not come as a surprise to those of you who know him well).

"Babe, that's smooooooooth" he says.

And then, here is my favorite that I've seen.  

HA!  So me.  No, not really.  It's a Porsche Panamera.  I saw one in traffic a couple of days ago and actually did think it was a pretty nice looking car.  Of course I was curious how much a car like that would cost, and I have found them to be quite reasonable.  That is, If you consider $200,000-$400,000 reasonable.  YES KIDS, we are having beans for dinner AGAIN.  But we can go for a ride after.  Okay, so I'll never have a Panamera.  It's far more likely that I'll be cruising around in that El Camino looking thing with Jeff (perhaps with a big pair of sunglasses so no one recognizes me).

Holidays!

It's holiday season here. The kids are out of school for almost a month, until term 3 starts.  I can hardly believe my  kids have completed a full term of school already!    We are planning a trip to Terrigal next week.  Terrigal is a little resort town on the Central coast, and is about an hour and a half drive from Sydney.  Jeff is going to be attending a workshop on Thursday and Friday there, so the kids and I will kick around while he is doing that, and then we'll stay for the weekend as well.

Our ocean shipment finally arrived!  I am so happy to have our furniture here.  Sleeping in my own bed was a dream!

I need to buy some new pots and pans, since mine don't work on an induction cooktop (which I LOVE, by the way - I don't think I can live without induction now...).  The rental company had supplied pots and pans, and they picked everything up when our things were delivered.

I also need to find curtains for Jackson's bedroom.  The owners have hung really nice curtains in the house (it is a requirement by law that bedrooms have curtains), but the ones in his room are a pink and white seersucker.  Super cute, but not for him.

In other news, Brynn will be starting preschool two days a week starting July 4.  It is going to be great for both of us.  She'll get to play with friends, and I'll have a couple of days to get things done.  Maybe it's just me, but I really struggle to get things done with my kids at home. The downside is that 2 days here cost the same as 5 days back home..urgh...

Jackson finishes school today, so it's just us girls.  We are headed to the mall shortly for pedicures, playground, and lunch...and maybe a little shopping : )

Parenting. The good, the bad, and the ugly

This post is not related to Australia directly, but it's on my mind - Parenting.  It's hard.  I am always reading some parenting book that guarantees that I'll be a perfect mother and my kids will turn out to be superstars and rocket scientists.  Since I've been in Australia, I have spent a lot more time with my kids since I am not working. Brynn is with me all day and Jackson and Hollie are home much earlier than before.  You'd think that not working would make me much less stressed.  Not so.  Now, I have never been one to think that a mother should either stay home with her kids or that she should work.  It really depends on the individual, and we all have the right to make our own choices.  Side Note: It's amazing to me how judgemental women are on this topic.  Have you ever heard a man criticize another man for working too many hours, or not spending enough time at the school doing classroom activities?  I doubt it.

Anyway, my point in all of this is that this transition is hard for me.  I've been a bit snappy with the kids, especially in the morning when we need to be leaving and one of them (usually Hollie) is poking around, shoes not on, bags not ready, etc.  We are working on a responsibility system in the house now, but that is not where I'm going with this.  

So, I was thinking about work evaluations.  They are good for us - they point out what we do well, and what we could improve on.  And then I thought, parenting is an important job.  I should ask my kids for their thoughts on my parenting.  So, I gave Jackson and Hollie a sheet of paper that had 2 questions on it.  1) What does your mom do a good job at?  and 2) How could she improve?

Jackson's responses:

  1)  Overall, my mom is a very good parent.  She is very supportive and outgoing, not to mention incredibly good willed.  She does most of the household chores, sometimes all of them.  Poor mom : /

She has a very good personality and a great sense of humor, when she's in a good mood.  She does a very good job handling Hollie and Brynn.  Well, not always Brynn.  Also, she is very charitable and is more concerned for the well-being of others than her own.  2) Try to yell a little bit less and control her temper.  also in the morning try to be a little less grumpy.  I know that Hollie and Brynn make you crazy but it wouldn't hurt to just try to deal with it better.  I know you try, but try harder!  Also, when saying OOOONNNEEE,  TTWWWWOOOO, don't be afraid to see THREEEEEEEE!

He is so right!  I have to work on those things.

Hollie's responses:

1)Everything

2) She's amazing and I wouldn't like her any other way.

For such a little overachiever, I expected more.  I guess she was having an off kind of day.  But hey, I didn't yell at her for it!