WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?

The boys went to the their first prom. No corsages or fancy light blue tuxes required! Baby Proms are held quarterly at the Sydney Opera house for 2-5 y.o. set. They are absolutely wonderful! We took the boys to see the Three Kings. There was a singer/narrator and an 8 piece orchestra and a conductor. She told the story of Christmas and the birth of Jesus. She also wove in some of the popular Christmas carols. It was all interactive and all very fun. The boys did really well at the show, they sat on the mat for a few songs and then wanted to sit with Mom and Dad. They seemed a little shy but Colin has been singing the songs since then. Jingle Bells Jingle Bells HEY and Parumpapumpum are his favs! I was thrilled just to be seeing something at the Sydney Opera House! We are now counting down the days til the grown ups go to Madam Butterfly in February!

 ICE HOPPER!

Pre game snack!

Lovey, LK, Dada, Daddy, Mr.(say missa) Daddy, and to Carson Mike or Michael

 

Whacchu talkin bout Willis?

I'm pretty "big stuff" around here

Could someone please come to visit so we can get a decent family pic?

"one of these kids is doin his own thing"

Shoving a size 12 rump into a size 8 dress

That is how I would describe our moving day. We brought less than half of our "stuff" and it still was almost too too much! The "removalist"aka movers tried to skip out without unpacking one box. I put a quick stop to that but still he "unpack service" would be disgraceful Stateside. All is well that ends well, we are on the road to having our house "put together and livable." And we love our place and we LOVE where we live. Ocean view pics to come!

Tomato Sauce aka ketchup is theee BEST, it also makes a great accessory to any outfit! First night in "new house" meal, fish and chips from Bottom of The Harbor YUM!

He is laughing because he does not have to find room for his toys!

Yes, I did throw up in my mouth when I saw the scene!

6 White Boomers goes dark

Today we started our move. I took two carloads of stuff from the Funky Cold with boys in tow, tried to get them to nap at "new beach house,"as they call it, took a quick shower and hit up preschool orientation just to keep the day rockin'. When we got home at 6:00pm, I felt like I completed the Ironman! Maybe I would hit my goal weight if I could get a gig as a mover, that is some serious stuff. I feel like banging my chest and screaming ME STRONG LIKE BULL! Mike took two carloads sans boys after work and I think we just maybe ready to say goodbye forever to the Funky Cold Medina. We can not get internet service for another week so 6 Whites will be Dark until sometime next week! I guess you'll just have to pour over old posts, or catch up on everything you've TIVO'd or read a book or something. :)

O M F G or "good thing they did not have a didjeridoo!"

My Mom used to tell me if you can only express yourself with profanity then it makes you seem unintelligent and low class dear!  She is right but somedays profanity is the only thing to properly sum things up. I went upstairs for 5 minutes on Wednesday to put on my swimmy for swim lessons, I heard the boys banging their Melissa and Doug wooden maraca on the Thomas rug on the table. I peaked my head around the banister and told them to stop, they did for a minute. Then...I hear more banging, this time it sounds different, I think it is banging on glass, and it is accompanied by screaming. I come flying down screaming a scream that I could hear outside of my body, with my bathing suit top around my waist CARSON COLIN CARSON COLIN CARSON NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STOOOOOOOOOOP! It was too late Carson did not stop until the 3’X6’ window shattered, this made Colin stop banging Carson's head with his rhythm instrument. I was screaming and yelling and cussing who knows what else all in half a bathing suit. YES COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY LOW CLASS. 

I am so grateful no one was hurt. I prayed to God many times that day to thank him for keeping them safe, I also said a few extra prayers that he keep them that way after I got ahold of them. Luckily, we are at the Funky Cold and they had a maid come in “straight away” to vacuum the glass, a maintenance man to take out the stabbing 5' shards of glass and a new window by the time we got back from swimming. Everyone reacts so differently to stress, I put both boys in time out in their crib, Carson shut down completely, he laid down very quietly and stayed that way, Colin screamed and cried and carried on for EVER! Their reactions could not have been more different. 

If you think the day was as dramatic as it could get, it almost was, until Colin decided he did not want to jump on a floaty mat at swimming and reared his head up and busted my lip. At the time I thought, Hmmm...that really hurt, I must be getting wimpy b/c there is not even any blood. Later that night when I remembered it happened I took a peak to find a very swollen and bruised lip, that is still sore and swollen today. So somehow I ended up the most hurt in a day where my kids busted down a glass window? As one of my good friends Nate said, "good thing they did not have a didjeridoo you would have lost a wall!" Good thing indeed! I have promptly returned my first DIDJ to Toys R Us. I also am done with fancy good for the earth wooden toys, a cheap plastic maraca could have never achieved such destruction! 

Our night in shining armor.
Did I mention they broke the window in a driving rain storm?

The scene right before I got my "clock cleaned."
Surprisingly, Carson had his best lesson yet!

He used to be terrified of this slide. On Weds. he did it like 20X. He must have felt invincible.

We are "SO" in AGAIN!

We had a great time at playgroup today. I picked a great day to go as great snacks and treats were EVERYWHERE! Car took a liking to some very good looking homemade pigs in a blanket, made by an American(from Virginia and has two y.o twins) of course! Col ate three Gingerbread men, well not all of three, he would eat the same pattern everytime and then give me a wet 3/4 eaten cookie and say “take it, TAKE IT.” I tucked into a little fudgy delight. The Moms were all so nice, some Aussies, some American, some “other” like Belgium and other European cities that I could not place the accent. The room was very big and had an extensive Thomas set, which is mostly where we stayed, that and the car area. They both played well alongside other children and occasionally with other children. They read a Christmas story and at the end sung songs and played. Colin who could not be swayed to join the group activities opted to "march to the beat of his own drummer" during sing along. Car loved it, I could not get the greatest pic of him under the parachute but the smile was priceless. WE all enjoyed ourselves. The good news is we are in for next year and this is a very good thing because this is the first time in three years they have opened the group. I am learning it is tough and competitive being a Mommy in this town, you have got to be on your game and ready to jump when things open up! You can’t sit idly by and just hope you get in to the right playgroup and preschool and swim lessons and etc...you have to be a TIGER MOMMY! ROAR!!! Hopefully, the good news is once you are in you are IN and you can leave your tiger suit behind.  Now, I can not remember if I filled the paperwork out all the way?

These events happened simultaneously...

Why would someone want to actually play with other kids at playgroup when you can have the whole lawn to yourself! 

We are SO in!

We found out today that the boys got into a “preschool” program, it is technically a long daycare, but is for ages 2-5.5 and has a curriculum. This is soooo incredibly huge. Moms at the playgroup today were encouraging me to sign up on multiple waiting lists, all which charge a fee to be on the list, I was feeling cheap for not doing so. And you may remember we are already signed up on a list for a real preschool for a start date of January 2013. 

You say POTATO I say HOT CHEAP EASYBAKE MESS!

Rarely have I been accused of being overly frugal, actually I never have been accused of anything close to frugality. I do not think I am like a Real Housewife of New Jersey, but no one is going to come to me to get money saving tips! During our move it hit me that I was just a gross over consumer. We had so much wonderful beautiful expensive stuff and most was rarely used and we had WAY too much of it. So now I am really making an effort to be cognisant and mindful in my spending and I am working to not “overconsume.” I ask myself if I really need the fanciest mixer, I am no pastry chef, I rarely bake etc...So, trying to be a nifty thrifty got me all gummed up on this potato thing. I was so excited to be invited to the American Thanksgiving Extravaganza that I volunteered to bring ANYTHING. If I had to shoot my own turkey I would have done it, truly. Well, I usually make a great mashed potato I did not say as much but that is what I ended up making. Then it hit me, I do not have my serving utensils, bowls, my pots suck here at the Funky Cold, no mixing bowl, and oh yeah and most importantly no mixer. Other than that things were off to a really great start. I easily acquired the mixing bowl and a nice inexpensive serving bowl. Then I headed out to get a little hand mixer, still mindful of my big girl Kitchenaid back in the States that rarely saw the light of day. I went to Meyer, like a Dilliards equivalent. I picked up the least expensive handmixer, a Breville on sale for from $45 to $35, I am so thrifty I congratulate myself as I go to the counter, way to go resisting the fancy ones I cheer myself on! The lady wrung me up and said oh boy an extra $5 off, yeah! I hear everything is negotiable here in OZ and this has worked for me at this store before so I say “do you have any other discounts.” She says, “No, but these handmixers do not last long, you do not need a Breville, go to Target and pick one up for $10. I say great, “thanks!!!” Feeling so proud of my sensible shopping I head to Target, the same mixer is $45 there, but they do have one model for $16, so I pick it up. I do not bother to open the box and verify this is not part of the Easy Bake Playline of kitchen appliances. I then head to Woolies to get my potatoes. The POs look different here, they are either bright white, like they have been peeled, or orange clay brown. I ask the produce man which I should use for mashed, he says, “well, the brown are cheaper and if you are just mashing, it does not matter, I would get the brown.” So I go cheap again. I get home and start washing them and realize the clay color is not their color, it is actually clay and dirt on the damn potato. I wash, and I wash, and I wash and I wash. Finally, my HUGE bag of POs are clean. I peel them and still have to wash them again. I then cut and boil them in two pots and in two shifts. While they are boiling I bust out my new fancy mixer. OMG! Are you kidding me? This must have been placed in the wrong section, this is clearly a toy mixer, I would have been better off  mashing them Lucille Ball grape stomping style. But I am stuck, they boys are napping, Mike is at work and this is just going to have to work. I mixed and I mixed and I mixed and I mixed and still my potatoes were lumpy. I thought that little thing was going to catch on fire it was so hot by then end and the littIe motor was revving to max RPMs. I was devastated, I mean having good potatoes could have the potential to get me into all the right social circles, but now with lumpy potatoes forget it, just forget it I will NEVER have friends! I eventually decided that people may give me a second chance. Mike said they were yummy but I was not happy AT ALL! I tried to forget it and just be happy with lumpy POs. I couldn't, I woke up the next morning before the party and blended again but still lumpy. He said he overheard someone at the party saying they were good, and they were all gone, but I don’t know, it seems impossible that they were good. Bottomline, cheaper is not chic'er when it comes to mixers and potatoes, and of course shoes. Also after writing this blog one question is really bugging me why is the singular potato and the plural potatoes? Why the addition of the E? I know there are some really smart people who read this, so please  learn me somethin' on this one! And yes the mixer is going back to the store and I have picked out a lovely one that is not the highest end but it is certainly adult sized and functional and will not catch fire from an oversized batch of mashed potatoEs.   

   

Yes, this is my hand and yes those were the beaters and no apparently it was not a joke

Even Car thinks it is a toy, it looks just his size