I made a skirt

because that's what I do when I'm tired, hot, a little bit cranky and hungry. =) I packed most of my clothes today and was going to throw the fabric and pattern in the suitcase but decided to just make it. Now I need some shirts to go with it.


I was trying to figure out how to hem it without making it much shorter and decided to use some ribbon. Now it's one of my favourite parts even though no one will ever see it. Well, beside you.

I even added a picture of it on me. Aren't you lucky? =)

passport photos

went to get Nate's passport photos yesterday and the lady was so enamored with the little man that she printed these photos off for free. too bad you can't smile in Australian passport photos because these are cuter than the official ones.

today

me getting Nate's socks out to pack while holding Nate who just woke up. Picture by Emma. =)

• helped Jennie some more yesterday with sorting stuff before they move. We got rid of 6 huge bags of stuff. It makes me want to get rid of stuff here but actually the entire house is tidy and the closets aren't too bad so I'm pretty happy.
• Josh got the suitcases down from the attic. I forgot we had two brand new ones because the airline ruined 3 or 4 of ours last trip and replaced them for free. We put two of them up in the attic without even unwrapping them.
  
• I unwrapped one of the new ones today and put in all the Tim Tams (which were on sale this week!! woo hoo!!) and other stuff I've gotten so far to take. I also packed all the stuff for Nathan. All I need to add for him is whatever nappies I have left in 2.5 weeks.
• I realized that I don't have Nathan's Australian passport. DOH!! so as soon as Beka wakes up from her nap I'll go make an appointment at the post office for that and get his picture taken.
  
• Catie has gotten behind in some of her work (history and science) so has two books in each (like PACE's) to finish in the next two weeks.
• I'm going to go sort through the girls' clothes and get some of their stuff packed too.
  
• I'm at this stage where I feel like I need to be doing stuff to get ready to go since it is getting so close but there is only so much I can do. Maybe I should start spring cleaning the house and hope it still looks good when we get back.
  

oh the pictures you find

walks with Daddy

I love watching them walk out the door together but even more I love watching them come home.

I also enjoy going with them but most often it happens during dinner prep.

it's nice to share, right?

Catie is still sick, Emma started at 10:30 last night and is still sick and Josh got sick around 2:30 this morning and so is still in bed. I think Catie and Emma are on the tail end of it but I've canceled their swimming lessons this afternoon and we aren't going to Bible study this evening. Getting up every half hour or less has made us pretty tired. Hopefully this is it and by tomorrow morning we'll all be good as new.

yuckies

Beka and I are sick today. I feel miserable and feel even worse when I think of my babies feeling that way. Josh came home around lunch to help Catie and Emma get lunch for themselves and Nathan and put Nathan down for a nap. That helped heaps. I'm afraid he's gonna be on dinner duty because the roast is still frozen solid in the freezer. =)

More annoying than being sick?? that person somewhere around here who is listening to SUPER annoying music at a very much TOO LOUD level. I can feel the beat as I lay in bed and it gives me a headache. Seriously, get a job!!!!

update: music has stopped but now Catie is sick too. yucky yucky day

aaahhhh....Tuesday

Nate slept until 6:30 this morning!!! makes it much easier to face the day!

uggghhhh....

it's definitely a Monday.

• very little sleep last night.
• running late trying to get everything tidy this morning.
• Nathan threw up in the car just as we turned in to our street
• Then threw up 2 more times this morning
• had a homeschool meeting at 1pm
• i don't feel good

I shouldn't complain though

• Chantelle was given an extension on her assignment so was able to come clean today.
• We received an invitation to visit with friends
• the house is clean!! and tidy!!
• the homeschool visit was a nice break in the day
  
• Josh came home for the meeting and the people were very nice.
  
• I have a big washing machine and the laundry was already mostly caught up so was able to wash everything Nathan has thrown up on.
• He seems to be feeling better now and has gone down for a nap.
  
• I bought chocolate at the grocery store. =)
  

Because

a clean craft room calls for some crafting

and looking at craft blogs always gives you something else to add to your craft list.

tutorial found here

DONE!!

Thanks to a 3 hour nap and a good friend's offer to watch the girls.

The boy has moves =)

As you can probably tell Mythbusters is on in the background. But Nate kept pushing the button on his tractor to play Old McDonald Had A Farm. He pushed it over and over and over and each time would "do the twist". It was pretty funny.

hmmm...

life's been a little bit different but in a good way. For instance, in the last week we've gotten 3 bags of stuff off to the op shop and heaps more in the bin. Our bin day is on Friday and already we have so much rubbish that you can't close the bin. Nathan and Beka made a huge mess out of the kids' games box so I cleaned that up and then tackled the whole linen cupboard. It looks beautiful and there are even empty spaces! And I ended up with a whole empty container!! Then yesterday Josh had to move the fridge and so we cleaned behind it, on top of it and it's surface. It is so shiny and clean. No papers and a lot less magnets. That prompted a cleaning of all the cupboard faces. Nice clean shiny kitchen! And yesterday we also tackled the school room. It's nice and clean now too and the girls have been bribed with promised $5 of American money (that's the ultimate prize at the moment) to keep it clean in the 32 remaining days.

32 Days!!!!!

I'd like to get the painting finished in the house before we go but I guess it isn't a necessity. I HAVE to get the crap craft room cleaned up though. It seems it has become the dumping ground lately--"People are coming over in 10 minutes, throw everything in the craft room" "Mama, I don't know where this goes. I know. I'll put it in the craft room" "Daddy, this needs to be fixed. I'll just put it in the craft room." I have a few sewing projects I'd like to get finished up before we go including some Christmas presents but I guess I can take those with me and use Mom's sewing machine.

Well, Nathan just woke up and the Wiggly Waffle is over so back to work. =)

p.s. can't have a post without pictures so I leave you with these pics of the girls with Beka's new hula hoop.

wish list shopping list

so have I started a wish list yet? Can't remember if I put one on here yet or not and am too lazy to go look. I am LOVING that the Aussie dollar is almost equal to the American dollar. Good for me but not so much for them. well, except that I am about to help stimulate their economy. =)

• veggie Tale videos
• Dr. Dobson's raising girls book
• John Rosemond's well behaved child book
• Lisa Whelchel's creative correction book
• Arch books
  
• cake mixes
• chocolate chips
• new clothes and accessories with Tasha as my style guru. =)
• fabric
• new scissors
• new rotary cutter
• Crayola markers for ME!
• Crayola markers for the kids
• cupcake liners
• curriculum
• maple flavouring
• fake flowers
• freezer paper
• food colouring
  

I am sure there is more to add as I remember but I can't seem to think of them at the moment.

Boys are Funny!

*friends at Beka's party: Andy C, Asher B, Ben S, Andy S

These feet were made for walkin'

hmmm...sometimes the video shows up and sometimes it doesn't. weird

Josh

I asked Josh to do a simple thing for me: grill some sausages, hamburgers and onions for Beka's birthday lunch. He agreed and neither of us realized what a pain that would be. Apparently the burgers were pretty fatty because flames kept shooting up sometimes a couple feet high. Also, the wind was blowing the wrong way and the smoke alarm in the house kept going off until Josh unplugged it. (don't worry, he plugged it back in already.) And the onions must have been pretty strong because Josh's eyes couldn't handle them. By the time he was done everything smelled like smoke, his jeans were covered in grease spatters, his eyes were bloodshot and sweat was running off his head. Good times!!

5

when did this little girl get so big? I swear she was a baby just the other day. Can't believe she's 5 today. Happy Birthday, Rebekah Jane!

Here's some pics from her celebration lunch yesterday.

Flowers in Toowoomba

took a holiday to Toowoomba last week and it was the last few days of their carnival of flowers. We went to a couple parks and checked out the flowers. That's also where most of the pics of the kids came from the last few posts. As you can see the Sauvageot's were there too. Actually they hired a house for a week and invited us to spend some time with them. So they're the reason we were there.

Don't forget this Kid

• is a very big helper with her brother
• is constantly reading everything she sees
• well, almost everything, she's not a big fan of doing her schoolwork =)
• is 7 years and 8 months old
• loves to help cook in the kitchen
• has started asking big and hard questions
• thinks about and analyzes everything
• comes up with solutions for everything.
• gets very grumpy when she has been reading for too long
• will watch anything on tv whether its interesting or not
• can be a bit scatterbrained
• is a very loving big sister, most of the time
• has started trying to take notes in church and listens really well
• always has questions about the sermon
• comes up with very imaginative games to play with her sisters outside.