VALENTINE'S DAY

We missed you GRAM!

I happen to love Valentine's Day.  Since I was a little girl it has always been one of my favorite holidays.  It was always so fun to make your mailbox in school and assemble your valentine's notes at home for your friends.  I love that it is day where we tell the important people in our lives how much we love each other.  

I think that if we spent more time each day telling people what we love about them and focusing on the positive aspects of each other, this world would be a different place.  

 As I was growing up, my mom always tried to make valentine's day special.  She never bought us extravagant gifts but she always did little acts of kindness and love to make our February 14th memorable.  She would always write us lovely notes and make her AMAZING sugar cookies.  Whether I was 7 and living in her house or I was 32 and living in my own house, I always received a care package on Valentine's Day.  This LOVE package was always filled with her heart shaped cookies and a delightful love note.  Sometimes she would throw in other items but, I could always count on a delicious cookie to arrive in my mailbox.  

This tradition has become one of the many things that my children love about their GRAM.  They love that she takes the time to bake for them.  They knew that this Valentine's Day was going to be different because she was not going to be able to mail us her traditional package due to the distance.  I tried to make the day special and hopefully the girls felt loved by us.  Some of the things we did on Valentine's Day this year…..

1.  Claire and I delivered flowers for a friend who owns a beautiful flower shop in Sydney.  Valentine's Day is the BIGGEST day of the year for a florist.  They are swamped with flowers, candies, teddy bears, and balloons.  They needed a little extra help with deliveries so they asked us if we wanted to help.  Of course, I jumped at the chance to spread joy on one of my favorite holidays.  Claire decided to take the day off from school and be my flower runner.  We had a FANTASTIC day driving around and brightening everyone's day. We saw amazing vistas and met some very excited recipients.  :)

We tried to deliver these flowers, but, the address was incorrect and there was no contact number….So I got to take them home.

2.  I made heart shaped food for dinner.  I have made various heart shaped food for my children in the past so I tried really hard to think of something new.  I ended up with heart-shaped watermelon slices (benefits of living in the Southern Hemisphere), turkey-pesto puff pastry Palmier, Kiss cookies and heart shaped sugar cookies.

3.  Opened some cute little Valentine's Prezzies (Presents) for our lovebirds.

4.  Claire attended a Tri-Stake dance that night and we watched one of my all-time favorite movies "Can't Buy Me Love."

Valentines Day was a success … however, when we return to the USA, I will happily hand the SUGAR COOKIE QUEEN title back over to my lovely mother.

BACK TO SCHOOL 2014

We have officially started school -- again.  The summer break went far too quickly.  In Australia, summer holiday is only 6 weeks and you have the Christmas/New Years celebrations in there as well.  It seems to go really quickly and I would like it to be a bit longer.  My girls are to the stage in life that they are pretty self-sufficient and they are quite a lot of fun to have around - except on those really hormonal days.  

Jane began Year 4 (4th Grade - USA terminology).  She was excited to go back to school and was really happy to be there for the first day of the year.  In Australian schools, you do not know who your teacher will be until you arrive for the first day of class.  You come to school and go to last year's classroom.  All of the students then go to an assembly where announcements are made identifying your teacher for the NEW year.  

Jane's teacher from last year was like "Miss Honey" from the book Matilda by R. Dahl.  She was amazingly kind, young, beautiful, sweet, strong and challenging all wrapped up into one.  Jane has had some wonderful teachers over the years and we were a bit worried that she would get one that she was not so fond of this year…..so you can imagine she was feeling a little overwhelmed on the first day of school.  As I dropped her off, I told her that whomever she got she would survive/thrive.  However, I had prepared myself mentally to help a very sad little girl just in case it did not work out the way she wanted.  (I planned to make her favorite dinner and I had a special afternoon snack waiting in the wings.)  When, I went back to pick her up later that afternoon, Jane was all smiles.  She had gotten the teacher that she wanted and was very happy with the results (Mrs. A is her teacher for 2014 - very similar to our favorite North Carolinian teacher Mrs. Sheats). I was so relieved.  

Jane is sporting her summer uniform - it is still really HOT here.

Grace was beginning Year 7 this year.  She was feeling a bit nervous herself because Years 7-12 are in high school here in Australia.  There is no such thing as middle school and she was very worried about being thrown into the deep end with really big kids (many of them are double her size in height/weight and have lots of facial hair).  She was asked "what type of skin creme do you use to keep your youthful look" by one of her classmates because they think she looks like a five-year-old.  She is very petite, but don't let size fool you. She is one tough, smart, sassy, confident young lady.  

With just a few days of experience Grace had her schedule mastered and was feeling good about her new school setting.  She does not love being in high school but, she is learning to accept it and flourish in the new environment.  I have a firm understanding about why we have a middle school program in the USA.  It helps to bridge the gap between the little and big leagues.  

First Day of School - feeling a little unsure.

Claire is finishing up Year 9 and beginning Year 10.  After nine months of "experimentation" with schooling here, we pulled her out of high school.  Her academic needs were not being met, socially, some of the kids were anti-American, some staff and students were anti-Mormon and she felt as if her "soul was being destroyed".  She came home everyday frustrated with the lack of academic challenge and wondered how things were going to turn out as she just idled away her time in Australia while her Australian peers caught up to where she was educationally.  

It was very overwhelming to Tom and I because after many meetings and conferences with the school, Claire's needs were not going to be met.  We decided to pull her out and allow her to do a online American high school program through our college Alma mater. It allows Claire to move at her FAST pace of learning, study in an environment where she feels safe (bullying is a HUGE problem) and take the classes that she enjoys.  Is it the solution long term? We are not sure, but we are certain that she is HAPPY and being stretched to HER abilities.  She is a very self-motivated girl with unbelievable drive!  She loves learning and that love was being smashed in her previous situation.  She still gets plenty of social time through seminary every morning, church youth group, ukulele lessons and youth art classes.  

We are very proud of the girl that she is and that she is resilient.  Most children would have given up far sooner with the opposition that was thrown her way over the last 9 months.  She got up every morning, put a smile on her face and went out the door.  However, Tom and I know when enough is enough.  We feel VERY STRONGLY, that you go to school to gain an education.  If you are not learning and being challenged, what is the point of going to school? 

One very HAPPY girl. 

CONGEWAI

Miss Jennie & Mr. Ron's slice of farm "Heaven"

The vineyards

Two weeks ago we were invited to spend a long weekend in the Hunter Valley Region, the town of Congewai.  We have met some Aussie friends through our North Carolina neighbors (thanks - Seilers) and they have a second home that sits on the 170 acres in the wine/cattle country of New South Wales.  At the farm (aka ranch in American terminology), they have 15 steers (Black Angus), 4 alpacas (Sunnie, Charlie, Pablo & Andy), 4 dogs (Edwina, Burt, Archie & Max) and many wild animals i.e. kangaroos, emus, snakes,….

As many of you know, we left our dog, Cooper, in the states with my brother because we were so worried about him coming to Australia.  We were not sure that he would survive quarantine and not knowing how long it would take (anywhere from 8 weeks - 6 months) ….we were quite worried for him.  He was living quite a human life with us in North Carolina and our vet felt that being confined to a cage for many weeks/months might just kill him emotionally.  So we made the toughest decision in terms of coming here and we gave up our dog.  There were tons of tears from all family members.  I won't say who may or may not have cried the most at that final goodbye but, he is the only one with a Y Chromosome.  We have days when our entire family MISSES that little guy and we wish that we had brought him for selfish reasons.  He brought joy into our lives, gave us snuggles on a regular basis, and just kept us happy.  Cooper, we miss you.

So you can imagine, my children jumped at the opportunity to spend an entire four days with dogs and other livestock.  It was a complete joy to be in the Hunter Valley.  Miss Jennie and Mr. Ron were lovely hosts and so generous with their little slice of heaven.  

600 Kg Black Angus Steer

Feeding them HAY biscuits (aka cookies).

They were beautiful!

Claire is LIVING her dream…..she is a country girl at HEART.

We went for rides on the QUADS (ATVs) looking for kangaroos.
They girls will able to see a momma with her LARGE joey and to herd about 20 Kangaroos into a paddock with the steers.  They were searching the fencing for holes that needed to be repaired.
 The Roos had been busy making holes….they found 40 of them. 

Swinging - a favorite. 

Emu

Pool Volleyball - so refreshing on a HOT, HOT DAY!

We LOVE pool time.

It was a fantastic experience and one that our girls will NEVER forget -- Thanks Miss Jennie and Mr. Ron.

MELBOURNE

When we moved to Australia, one of the many places that Australians recommended that we visit is Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin).  It is south of us in the state of Victoria and is known for its fantastic food, shopping and many sporting events (Australian Open Tennis, Melbourne Cup Horse racing--similar to the Kentucky Derby).

When my parents decided to come visit us for Christmas, one of the places that they truly wanted to see was Melbourne.  So we thought that we would go with them after the holiday and see what all of the "buzz" was about.

Melbourne is almost the same size of Sydney but does not feel as big.  The streets are wider (traffic does not seem as congested), the city is much flatter and just feels more intimate.  The cafes and shops are amazing and I would not be surprised if we went back again just for this.  Every meal we had was a different cuisine….Greek, South African, Mexican, and Malaysian.  I think you get the picture we basically ate our way through the city.

We enjoyed visiting the Old Melbourne Gaol (the jail where BushRanger Ned Kelly was held prior to being hanged), Parliament House, rode the city trolley, shopped, and ate, visited the beautiful city gardens (and ate some more) and we spent an entire day traveling the GREAT OCEAN ROAD. 

Papa Bruce rented a car for a day and took us on an ADVENTURE!  We traveled the Great Ocean Road and went to all of the surfing hot spots.  It was so beautiful and we really enjoyed our drive.  There were a few hairy moments with Papa behind the wheel but, there  were no HUMAN causalities besides a "minor scrape" on the car bumper (from a MAJOR brick wall but hey--who said walls were major stopping points??).  Overall, it was a great trip and we were so happy to share it with Papa Bruce and Gram.  Here are some photos.  

Inside the old "Gaol"

Wow those doors are short.

The widths of the cells were only as wide as Tom's arm span.

Grace dressed and standing by Ned Kelly.

Jane ready to "shoot" her way out of the gaol.

In the courtyard of the prison. 

Parliament has two houses (Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly).
This is the higher house - Legislative Council.

The Library - where proposed law is researched before going to the Houses to become law.

The entrance doors

Parliament House of Victoria

St. Peter's Cathedral

Carlton Gardens

Waiting for the city Trolley - it was raining. :(

Graffiti Alley - very cool what some artists can do with a can of spray paint.

South African Hot sauce!

A View from the Great Ocean Road.

Papa and his girls.  :)

Love these two beautiful people - Papa Bruce and Gram.

Posing at St. Kilda at sunset…the kite surfers were amazing!