WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH FOR A SUNNY CHRISTMAS, AND A SUNNY NEW YEAR!

Our wish came true. And how. We enjoyed a somewhat typical Christmas morning. Wyatt slept in till 7 (pretty good considering), he seemed pleased to see that Santa had in fact delivered some presents despite his behaviour in recent days. He sat on the potty (just to make sure the presents stayed) and even waited patiently while we woke Cooper and Maddy up in the neighbourhood of 7:20. Then he gently knocked on Catty’s door with a clear “Merry Christmas Catty” and waited for her to emerge before touching anything. Jeff and I were very impressed with his restraint. We called Grandma and Granddad for a video chat so that the chaos could be witnessed from across oceans. The excitement level was average.
Their stockings had tons of little cars, socks, and other random things I picked up from the local op shops and second hand stores. The most exciting thing for Wyatt was his KungFu Panda Pez Refills – upon opening them, he exclaimed “Look mom, refills!”. Amazing how their vocabulary can be so developed and yet so tailored towards their interests. Cooper got lots of Bob the Builder stuff, Maddy is into Dora so that was a pervasive theme in her presents but she got a purse (which she quickly filled with HotWheels cars), and Wyatt, well, he is still hooked on HotWheels. Their main gifts were complementary hummers, and they each got a LEGO kit of some sort.
Otherwise, we kept it pretty lowkey. Lots of pjs which they needed because try as I might to stop it, they just keep growing!

Once brekkie and a second video call with Grammy and Grampy were done, we decided our Oz Christmas NEEDED a trip to the beach. This marked the end of the traditional part of our day. We packed a lunch and headed to Brighton Beach for some sun and sand, along with all of the other expats in Melbourne. Definitely a notch up from loading up the car in a snowstorm! Jeff and Catty got their requisite Christmas shovelling in - digging trenches and trails for the hummers, while I sat by with my camera realising that I could easily get used to this life. Don’t worry. We are still coming home this summer.


Then home for nap, not us, just them. I cooked a turkey roll full of stuffing, mashed potatoes and some veggies and we enjoyed a very non-traditional Xmas dinner OUTSIDE. Again, not much to complain about! Hope you all enjoyed time with family and friends. We missed you (when we weren’t at the beach) and we look forward to celebrating with you in 2009.

Diamond Valley Miniature Railway & Pony Rides

Another weekend, another interesting adventure with the kids. Melbourne has too much to do for children. What Jeff and I really need is friends and neighbours with whom we can just hang out and let the kids co-exist...none of this, pack a lunch for another day trip, hope the weather holds, try not to screw up everyone's nap...
Anyways, this was a good trip. The trains and track are better than the other miniature railway we visited and we met up with a colleague of Jeff's named Nick and his two kids. Did the pony cart thing, then a picnic lunch. All in all, a wonderful way to spend a day with family. But we are truly exhausted...and this leading up to the holidays.

BEACH ELVES...

COOPER AND MADDY TURN 2!!!

PARTY LEAD UP :
In the eleventh hour, I decided to see if any of my friends could come for a last minute birthday party for Cooper and Maddy. Initially it looked like it might be a big affair, but two last minute cancellations left us with Lisa, Sarah and their kids being the only ones able to join us.
Visit the toy library. Pick up loads of toys including one of their party packs - climbing structure with double slides, whirly rocker and two roller coaster tracks with cars.
Boys get haircuts.
I pick out birthday outfits for Cooper and Maddy. Oh, too much fun!


PARTY DAY :
Breakfast - I decide to frost the cupcakes, thinking no one will pay any attention as they are absorbed by morning cartoons...wrong. Check out the pics of Maddy and Cooper cleaning off the mixer and the spatula! Maddy then decided to clean off Cooper...oh he is in for a lifetime of mothering...sorry Pooper!

Maddy wears her "party skirt" and lets me take a bunch of pics :) But she will NOT let me style her hair in any way...

Lunch - a trip to see Santa, unsuccessful as we were not prepared for a long wait (no strollers) but we managed to pick up a few extras for the party...and we even made it back so the kids could ALL have a wonderful pre-party nap!

PARTY TIME -
The weather cooperated and we had a lovely dinner, loads of sugar, some choice cupcakes, and some good times. The kids all played amazingly together and the only downer was when Declan slipped on our front yard marble tiles and tried to use a very large birdbath to keep himself on his feet, only to have the 30 pound basin crash into his head! We took tons of pics of Maddy the rockstar, Cooper, the urban homey and Wyatt in his new HotWheels t-shirt. As with all of our birthday parties in Oz so far - my kids end up in diapers running around saying "Naked Girl" and "Naked Boy."

Our babies are no longer babies. Bring on the terrible twos...I don't really mean that actually...

So what if Santa tells stories...

At the local libraries, they scheduled story time with Santa. We met up with Sam and Connor (my Canadian friend). Maddy loves Connor , she often states “I lub Connor.”. The kids were more interested in the toy section and train table at the library than they were in Santa and his stories. This was becoming a recurrent theme in my life. Then came the tamborines – a few moments of complete commitment to the Christmas festivities, then it was gone! The kids got some lollies, Wyatt sat on Santa’s lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas, we made a few tree decorations and then headed off to the park across the street. The park had a whirly tomato that the kids adored – a few times around and I was feeling nauseated but I held it together for the kids. Another day down, another chocolate out of the advent calendar.

YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING!

After missing the first concert a few days after we arrived in Melbourne, Jeff was on a mission to get us to a Wiggles concert while in Australia. We packed the kids up half asleep after a short nap (not a good start). We underestimated travel time, the traffic, the lack of parking and wound up arriving late, but we made it. The kids were a tad overstimulated by the whole arena full of people, loud music, dim lights, etc... Maddy was pretty interested in naming the characters she knew but they were finishing up her favorite song when we arrived so I was a bit disappointed on her behalf. Cooper did the most dancing, and then there was Wyatt. Wyatt was very excited by the flip-up chairs, especially those that we didn’t have tickets for. He spent more time trying to convince us to let him sit in all different rows, seats, on the steps, in the hall – than he did watching the concert. Overall, I would say they enjoyed the concert and we have the pics to show them when they get older as a rebuttal for the inevitable lament : “You never take us anywhere exciting!”

TEAM NAME : DEATH THROUGH THE MOUTH

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to play in a 2-day Ultimate tournament called the Melbourne Hat. For those of you that are not Ultimate players, a hat tournament is where you sign up as an individual and rank yourself as a beginner - intermediate or advanced player. After everyone has registered, names are drawn from a hat and in this case 24 equal teams are picked and the tournament begins. I was pumped to enjoy a break from the kids and get some serious playing in after winning the Division 1 championships on Wednesday night (yeah Milo!)…then came the weather forecast – GALE FORCE WINDS. For those of you that are not Ultimate players, these are NOT ideal playing conditions. Wind makes a complete mockery of the sport. So fast forward to Saturday morning, the alarm sounds and I look outside, knowing by the light intensity in our bedroom that I was not in for a treat. Not too much wind but TONS of rain. I get to disc central, meet up with a few people I know, then get assigned a blue shirt and a team who for reasons I do not understand named itself Death Through the Mouth. At first glance, our team did not look like much…a few of us looking less fit than we would like (myself at the top of the list) but we managed to hold our own. The rain persisted for the entire day, the field was a mud pit, my team had a few super layout players which made the day very exciting to watch, we won our first 4 games and lost our 5th by one point. By the end of the day, the winds had picked up so much that winning the flip at the beginning of the game to decide who starts with the wind became the MOST critical play of the game! Not bad, we made it to the top bracket for play the next day. That night there was a tournament party – the theme BOND, JAMES BOND!
I went with a few girls and the costumes were pretty good – Odd Job, people painted themselves gold, one painted herself black to represent Ms. Fields who died covered in oil in Quantum of Solace (I think?), and many others. I was a generic bond girl but got some compliments – mostly because people had never actually seen me without my baseball cap on . A few of our players “won the party” – meaning they were drunker and messier than everyone else. These same players arrived late to the game the following morning (I was impressed that they arrived at all!). The weather was MUCH better, still a little windy but it was Melbourne after all, and the games looked more like Ultimate than the crap we played the previous day. We started off very slowly and lost to the eventual champs of the tournament in our first playoff game. I played one more game, probably my best of the tournament (we won), then I had to leave early to catch the Wiggles concert (my teamates were of course VERY jealous – NOT!) All in all, a very positive experience, despite horrible weather! It took me at least a week to be able to walk again however, so I am not sure how this whole competitive ultimate thing will pan out…I'll keep you posted!

Mel Mac Merry in Melbourne!

Mel Mac was Merry in Melbourne they say.
But was this normal or an unusual day?
What caused her to be merry, you ask.
A December day with sun in which to bask.
After a morning of fun with her young,
And a nice conversation with Jo that was fun.
She packed up her bag and to ulti did go,
but before that, she ventured to St. Kilda’s row
Where fabulous artists display all their wares
Not charging a fortune, but prices, so fair.
She needed a bag, cause her own was now dying,
Okay, “needed” might actually be considered lying.
In any event, a bag she did find
So happy she was, “This bag is now mine!”
Then off to her training, she happily went
In her flip flops and shorts, an afternoon well spent.
Driving along the esplanade in her beat up van,
Watching kite-surfers racing, and kids in the sand.
As she drove down the road, she tried to remember,
What life back home was like in December.
Snow, slush and sleat, and 3 kids wearing fleece,
Or even the departure of our field crapping geese?
So a smile on her face, knowing this feeling was new,
She thought “I think I like Melbourne. I think that I do.”
So a bit late to the field, she was in a great rush,
She parked the Tarago, then cut through the brush…
Oh no! A cricket game set up on our pitch.
What a pity, would practice be something we ditched?
“Oh no. We won’t cancel, we’ll move the whole gang,
Let’s head to the beach?” The coaches all clanged.
So they ran to the beach, not ten minutes away,
And some drills and a game they all got to play.
Driving home to pick up her favorite Thai food,
Mel relished the continuation of her Merry mood.
To this day, she has come to be fond of this bay,
If her friends and her family were here - she might stay!

My Ultimate Woes…

So as you all know, Jeff and I are playing ultimate two nights a week. We played together this session on a Division 2 team called “The team formerly known as the Hat Team” and we placed 9th out of 11. We also played on a Division 1 team called “Milo of Croton” and have managed to secure a spot in the finals which are to be played this evening (wish us luck). In addition to league, I have started “training” with a woman’s team called Honey. For those of you that know me well, you know about my “self-esteem” issues when it comes to my physical appearance, my parenting skills but most importantly my athletic abilities. I have always wanted to reach a level in sport where my abilities are recognised by the elite within that sport. Here is a short recap of my past in sports that may shed some light on this issue…
Fall 1994 – After a hard summer of training I made the McGill Varsity Rugby Team as a starting winger (after playing on the B team and having issues with the coaches for 3 years) and then dislocated my shoulder in the first half of our first game of the season – SEASON OVER.
Spring 1999 – After a stellar season snowboarding in the Laurentians, I travelled to Banff where I tore my ACL before even reaching the top of Lake Louise Mountain – SKI TRIP OVER.
Summer 2002 – I was cut from both co-ed ultimate team tryouts then I picked up with the SpankDevils (Yeah Devils!) who went on to place in similar rankings to both of the co-ed teams WITHOUT a single practice!
Winter 2002 – I was selected to play indoor ultimate in the Elite division. YEAH, I MADE IT! Then in the first half of the first game I tore my other ACL and didn’t even make the D I was trying for – SEASON OVER.
Present…I am “trying” out for a women’s ultimate team in Melbourne. I am by far the OLDEST player on the team, and the only woman on this team to have any children. I am definitely the most “EXPERIENCED” and by that I mean simply I have played for the most years. I am trying to be realistic. It has been years since I have played competitive ultimate, I am still 20 pounds over my “athletic” weight, I have 2 post-op knees, I have 3 kids and I am getting freakin’ old…but how badly do I want to make the A team? Pretty badly. Why? Because as always I feel like I have something to prove. To whom, you may be asking yourselves – these people I barely know???? No good answer can be provided at this time. So, what is the problem, just do your best and see how it goes? (this is the sage advice Jeff gives me. He says, just do it for the exercise and if you play, enjoy it) So easy to say, so hard for me to do. Not only have I depleted my levels of self-esteem to all time lows, but I have also mastered the art of being self-defeating. The A-team wants to record times for a BEEP test, for a 5km run, as well as other benchmarks for throwing and fitness. So what do I do? To give myself an excuse, I CHOOSE to play a game of ultimate BEFORE doing the Beep test (DUH!) and then I can’t even pretend that I gave it a real go because I totally wussed out while doing it. I keep trying to convince myself that it would be better for me, for a million reasons, to be on the B team – but I don’t feel it. At the beginning of the Beep test I summarised my feelings in this fine quote “I am too competitive for the body that God has given me.” – loads of laughs – me crying on the inside because it is so true!
You may be asking yourselves why I am venting all of this on you, our loyal readers…well, I need to put it out there so that I will have motivation for changing my way of thinking. I need you all to know that I am a sucky baby so that I will make a real attempt at being happy that I am able to play at the ripe old age of 36, with 2 bionic knees and 3 kids under the age of 4! So I swear to you, my friends and family, I will try my best, I will train as hard as my body (not my mind) will allow and I will not give up on myself. If I make the A team, great, if I don’t, so be it – but it won’t be because of my negative attitude or my lack of trying! What I need from all of you – prayers that my body can take what I am about to put it through without giving up on me!
Thanks for listening and wish me luck!

Happy Feet Down Under

Another rainy weekend day – what to do…Jeff suggests checking out the new Antarctica exhibit at the Melbourne Aquarium. So off we went, talking about penguins, Happy Feet, Pingu and other penguin favorites on the car ride in to town. The exhibit is very modern and quite beautifully designed but for me personally, Happy Feet has ruined my ability to look at penguins in captivity without thinking that they are longing to get out, trying to communicate, or waiting for us to leave so they can do their happy dance. The kids were quite taken with the penguins who waddled along the wall and seemed as captivated by all little people, as much as the little people were fascinated by them. Maddy was mimicking their walk, and they were all entranced to see them swimming in the glass pool. A ton of beautiful pics later we moved on to revisit the rest of the aquarium. The kids are finally reaching an age where they are beginning to enjoy animals and looking at things instead of necessarily doing things, and we have begun taking them to public places without strollers (much to the annoyance of all of the other public patrons) where we let them roam freely within a defined area. They get very excited and tend to get louder as their excitement mounts. Jeff and I wander around half watching, almost pretending that they aren’t really all ours.

Christmas Concert at Ardrie Park

The City of Stonnington (our municipality) holds several Christmas events over the month of December. The first of which we decided to attend was the Mr. Happy Christmas Concert in Ardrie Park (the park literally half a block away from our house). Sam and Ben (she is from Calgary, he is an Aussie and they have moved here permanently) and their son Connor joined us. After a lovely morning, the skies were looking rather menacing (surprise, surprise) but we ventured out with all of the kids piled into the double stroller. The event started at 4 and we arrived shortly thereafter. There were sausages, a café, facepainting, a decoration painting station, a “Fit for kids” group running physical activities for kids, a “Fairy Dance Party” group putting on dance lessons for all of the girls, and about 200 people enjoying some typical rain in Melbourne. Major difference – most of the adults were drinking alcohol that they brought from home. We are still too Canadian to even think about bringing alcohol to a children’s concert but I can imagine it would have made the event much more pleasant for us. In any event, the kids ran some obstacle courses, painted some decorations and then we decided to head home for dinner, with the intent on returning after dinner to actually catch Mr. Happy and the concert portion of the event. On the way out, we passed the line for the Fire Engine rides and I convinced Jeff that this would be worth the wait. Three turns later, we had our seats aboard the antique fire engine. Jeff volunteered to stay back and take pictures. The kids loved it. Our sometimes shy demure kids were yelling “Hello” to everyone that we passed on the street. They also chanted “Zoom Zoom” for the better part of the 10 minute drive at the top of their lungs. Very enjoyable indeed. Thanks to the City of Stonnington and to the driver of the Fire Engine for making those extra runs!
Dinner was not one of our finer hours so we bailed on returning for the concert. So our only complaint is that Mr. Happy came out too late for those of us that are from Canada and don’t want to mess with “bedtime”. Someday before we leave we may loosen up…

Goodbye Movember! Goodbye Mullet!

The end of Movember was a happy time for Jeff and I. He didn’t really enjoy having facial hair and was very anxious to shave it off, and after my mom told me how much Jeff looked like my father with his moustache, I felt a bit weird kissing him.





To keep with the theme of getting rid of unwanted hair, I decided to tackle Maddy’s mullet. Maddy is follicly challenged. The powers that be gave her more than her fair share of cheeks when they could have spared a bit of energy on her flowing mane. With pigtails, her hair looks cute, otherwise, something of a rat’s nest.

So while she sat eating her breakfast, I snuck up behind her and chopped away the mullet in favor of a slightly more tomboyish, but definitely healthier looking bob. Kitchen scissors are not the required tool for a haircut, but the wave in her hair has been very forgiving! She now almost has beautiful hair to match her beautiful cheeks and smile!