My kind of errand

Hello Friends! The sun is shining and it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day for Paint n' Play at the park! That's where the girls and I are headed on our adventure of the day! A couple of days ago we ran my kind of errand! We were on the mission to find a cheap umbrella stroller for our upcoming trip to Sydney. As we were looking around at the mall, I noticed a chocolate shop...who wouldn't!!! I knew we didn't have time to pop in an indulge in the chocolate fondue that was tempting me because I had squash (pumpkin for my Aussie friends) soup simmering away at home. However, I knew right then and there that I was destined to have some of this chocolate as my dessert after dinner.

We bought a sampler pack.

Max Brenner, you make lovely chocolate...who needs hair to make chocolate anyways :)

Caramelized Pecan Rolled In Praline Cream and Fine cocoa Powder

Milk Chocolate Cubes Filled with Peanut Butter and Roasted Peanut Bits

Honey Chocolate Cubes Filled with Praline Cream and Walnut Bits

It was so yummy! If you visit me, I will place one of these chocolates on your pillow when I make your bed in the morning :)

Tempting?

Yesterday marked the play group's BIG EASTER EGG HUNT at Commonwealth Park! The kids are ready to hunt!

Addi found her first egg.

She loved searching!

Destiny had a basket full right away. She had to share some with her friends!

The eggs were hidden in a public picnic area. It really was a great venue for the hunt and lovely weather too!

Addi searching for more.

Destiny with her FULL basket!

This is one of 3 possible Easter Egg Hunts the girls will be participating in this year. It was a blast!

I keep on thinking to myself how much I LOVE being at home with my girls and watching them grow. To me there is no great joy! I am so lucky!

Enjoy today!

A quick peek into my grocery cart

Good morning everyone! I have time for a quick blog before we head off to the park for an Easter Egg Hunt with our play group! When I'm shopping at the grocery store, especially for produce, I usually don't pay much attention to the prices of things. The weight is in Kg and I am not very good at converting and I don't have 10 minutes to work it out while I'm shopping. Anyways, I bought a bunch of bananas the last time I went shopping. There were 5 bananas in the bunch.

I got home and looked at the receipt and sure enough I paid nearly $15 for the 5 bananas! yikes! That is $3 per banana! They aren't even the pretty pristine ones; they have bruises!

Unfortunately it is one of our favorite fruits, but we may have to cut back a little bit.

From what I hear, bananas are expensive because the majority of the banana crop in Australia was wiped out due to the floods.

So there you have it; just a peek into my shopping cart!

Aussie word o' the day: Trolley = shopping cart!

Enjoy today!

Platypus Hunting

Happy Monday Morning here in Oz! How is your weekend going in the U.S.? I hope everyone is doing really well! This weekend marks "fall back" for us. We gained an hour of sleep Saturday night which was wonderful! We had our usual fabulous Saturday morning: Matt putting the stroller together for our run around the lake. Beautiful, eh?

My view from the back of the pack! haha! He still beats me, even after taking two weeks off of running!

A trip to the farmer's market. Brussels Sprouts, Plums, Brie Cheese, Eggs, Green Beans, 2 lovely muffins (that were devoured right after I snapped this shot) and Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi (also devoured shortly after this shot!) Yum!

Saturday afternoon Matt took off with some guys and went paint balling while I hung out at the house reading and relaxing as the girls napped.

Sunday brought even more fun. A trip to Tidbinbilla, a nature reserve located about an hour away from us. They had an Extravaganza going on. Free entertainment and educational events through out the nature reserve. The girls started the day with coloring at the visitor's center.

They had a stuffed wombat. (this is probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing a live wombat!)

They had balloon rides for the kiddies. The line was TOO long though.

The girls ready to go!

I saw this bus in a parking lot and thought it was fantastic! I had to share it with you all. The animals of Oz pictured beautifully on the side of the bus!

We were so hungry by the time we got there, but only had 17 dollars to spend (no ATMs in the wild!) Nachos for the girls, veggie burger for me, steak sandwich for Matt and ice cream to top it off! We were still hungry though!

Me and Matt

We watch some local natives give a speech on their hunting techniques and they served kangaroo fresh off the barbie! They also had a fire going.

Addi enjoyed the dirt more than listening to the speaker.

My goal while living here is to see the elusive platypus that lives at Tidbinbilla. I had to take a picture of the platypus in art form because I didn't end up seeing the live one on Sunday.

One of the small ponds at Tidbinbilla. It was stunning!

Ducks! They are Addi's favorite!

Isn't it beautiful here?!?!

The girls really tuckered out and fell asleep on the way home. Matt and I popped off for some hot drinks and cookies to share while the girls snoozed in the back of the car! It was a delightful ride home!

When we got home, Matt made the most wonderful dinner. It looked so pretty; I had to take a picture of it:

Salmon Salad! YUM!

Today holds a quick trip to the library for us and A LOT of baking for me!

Enjoy today!

When life give you tomatoes...

...Make Spaghetti Sauce!!!! Hi Friends and Family! How is your day going? It's ALMOST weekend!!! Yippee! I love my Saturday: run at the lake, farmer's market, hanging around with the kids and Matt! So much fun! I can't wait for tomorrow! Here is my adventure in the kitchen yesterday. Boy was it messy! About a bajillion tomatoes from our garden.

simmering with some onion, garlic, and secret spices for at least 2 hours!

whole wheat twisty noodles, a little cheese and it was AMAZING!

Don't forget dessert...my lovely creation of chocolate chip peanut butter blondies! Yum yum! Matt stole a brownie before I could get a snap shot of it. You ask, did I gain 10 lbs last night? I answer, yes, yes I did! Happily :)

Last night was also date night in this house. I had to pleasure of escorting the gorgeous AddiSue on a date! We went to a park that has just her size play equipment. Her attention span lasted about 10 minutes there and she was ready to go home. We walked home to find we were locked out of the house...with a few ninja like maneuvers we were safe and warm in our house and ready to take Dusty for a walk.

Here is a view of our 'hood'. Please tell me this makes you want to visit us!!! It was a bit cloudy, but I promise the sun does shine a lot!!!

First signs of Autumn. This is the tree in our front yard! I'm not sure I'm ready!

Well, dear friends, it's time to get the little ones up and ready for the day! See you tomorrow!

Enjoy today!

Who would have thought?

Good morning, friends!!! How is everything going for you? I hope life is treating you really well!

I bet you all are wondering how I meet people here. Some of you have put your self in a position where you have to meet all new people and make all new friends in your new location. I have found that the most effective way to meet new people here in Australia is to take the girls out on a wagon ride. Nearly everyone we pass says something about our wagon. They don't have big ones like these here. Most people don't even know what to call it! It's been referred to as a "thing", "car", "carriage" and many others!

Yesterday we took the wagon to the park for paint n' play and each of the 50 or so kids took turns having wagon rides! I think I should charge a dollar per ride!

Anyways, to my surprise, it is a fantastic conversation starter and boy am I ever happy we have it!

Yesterday I happened to hear this comedic band from Australia for the second time. I wanted to share a video of theirs on the blog. So I hope you enjoy!

We are off to play group soon! Enjoy today!

Crazy Dayz

Hi Friends! This week has been such a busy week. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be busy than have nothing to do. However, some weeks are just extra busy. Those types of weeks I call...CRAZY! Yesterday, I accomplished a few things that I want to share with you: (1) Attended a Military Spouses Brunch to promote the Play group that I started for the U.S. Embassy here. (2) While I attended the brunch, I opened my house to all the women to be a drop off point for child care for the brunch (my house became a day care) (3) I got to try a new fantastic place for dinner! I am excited about this one, folks! It's a blue-collar restaurant, located in a hotel. You walk in the door and up to a meat case. Pick out your meat and grill it yourself on a community grill located in the center of the room. So cool! (4) Said our good-byes to one of the families that is leaving here. I find that we consider all U.S. Embassy members as family. The Embassy community here is pretty tight knit and I really enjoy getting to know my "temporary family" in Oz. It's really sad to see parts of that family leaving. A couple of days ago we found some time to play at the park. Here are a couple of cute pictures from our adventure. Before we left, Destiny put a blanket on Dusty dog. so sweet.

Addi said her first 3 word sentence..."push me please". Addi also says "thank you" not only to me, but also to her babysitters yesterday! I love it!

Destiny's favorite hobby: getting dizzy! She's already crazy enough...add dizziness onto it and you have a super crazy child!

We are off to paint and play in the park today! Then hopefully a quiet evening at home!

Enjoy today!

2.5 days

Hi Everyone! Did you miss me? It is amazing what a person can fit into two and a half days. It was a mad dash to Sydney where we attended the conference at Hillsong Church. 5 ladies in one car and 2 in another. Most of us didn't know what we were getting ourselves into! 3,500 women attended this event (all in one location). 3,500! That's a LOT of estrogen...we even dared to mix it with chocolate on a few occasions! In the morning there was a sign that made me think of a special person that I love to say good morning sunshine to.

After every session, we received something as a little "gift". After the first evening session they served us Magnum Ice cream bars that were fantastic! After the morning session they gave us snack packs that included water, apple, a scone, and chocolate. After the afternoon session we got a box of decadent biscuits. After the evening session they put on a fire works show for us. After the morning session on the last day we received another snack pack only this time it had banana bread in it instead of the scone. They sent us off with a t-shirt and water bottle to boot! crazy! The snack packs are pictured above!

Here is a picture of the location of the event. It's huge! An amazing building!

and they had it decorated so nicely just for us!

They put on shows (better than Vegas shows). It was amazing! The lights, the singing, the dancing. AMAZING!

They even had guys who dressed up in dove costumes and provided a variety act (if you will) for the people who were saving the seats before the show actually started.

A ballerina dancing on a piano...beautiful!

It was quite a spectacular time and reminded me so much to be Thankful in life. I find myself thinking through out my daily chores:

"I am thankful to have laundry to hang"

"I am thankful to have a floor to wash"

"I am thankful to have food to cook"

"I am so lucky to have Destiny and Addi to hug and kiss"

Some of these things I have found myself complaining about:

"Oh, I don't wanna do the laundry"

"Ugh, I don't wanna wash my floor"

"I'm feeling too lazy to cook today let's just go out"

"These kids are driving me nuts"

I am thankful for a new prospective to help me be a more positive person and use my abilities to do great things in not only my life, but other people's lives as well.

Enjoy today!

P.S. On a special note: My dear cousin Cora (originally from Fargo, ND) just had her first baby girl!!! Congrats to Cora and her new little family!