OPEN DAY AT SCHOOL

On Thursday Madi had an opened day at school. We got to go and listen to a science lesson from her teacher and then have morning tea! She wanted Kev to come so on Wednesday after school she called him to see if he could make it. He told her he would see what he could do and tell her when he came home. She was so excited when he told her that he had rescheduled some meetings in the morning and would work from home in the afternoon so he could go to school. (What a fantastic daddy!)

We all headed to drop Madi off for school and then wait for a little bit before we could go into the classroom. Before the open day started I swapped out the home reading books and then we went to the play ground for a little play.

Madi's teacher is amazing and a very patient and brave woman. Her lesson was on flow charts and also an experiment to see how yeast works. She read the story of the little red hen and then had the kids break up into three groups and make their own bread. One group had cold water, another tap water, and the final had warm water. The parents got to help get the kids mix all of the ingredients and then they placed them out in the sun. Brave woman - there was flour everywhere - especially Madi's table they seemed to be extra crazy! They also had the cold water - so we knew it wouldn't work anyway.

After the lesson we got to see what was in Madi's books and she showed us her creations around the room. Then it was out to morning tea and a little play on the oval. Kevin and I even joined in a game of tip (tag) with Madi and her friends. It was a fun morning!

TAG YOUR IT! - ALL ABOUT ME!

This is an "All About Me" tag:

Four places I go to over and over.
1. To pick drop off and pick up Madi from school
2. Preschool
3. The shops - mostly the grocery store
4. The clothes line :(

Four people who e-mail me the most.
1. Dayna - I love to hear about what is going on in her life and she is so super sweet (couldn't ask for a better neice!)
2. Kev
3. Britt from ScrapMatters
4. My family and friends sometimes when they decide they miss me.

Four of my favorite foods.
1. Mango chicken curry - yummo!
2. Chili's baby back ribs - how I miss those!!
3. Pizza
4. A really good sandwich

Four places I'd rather be right now.
1. Home in the mountains!
2. On a cruise - still haven't done that but it is still at the top of the list (someday it will happen)
3. Touring Australia with no worries about money so I could see and do everything!
4. New Zealand or Fiji (these are places on the list too)

Four movies I'd watch over and over.
1. How to loose a guy in 10 days
2. 13 going on 30
3. Any pirates movie
4. Little Mermaid (love that one!)

Four people I'm tagging.
1. Wendy
2. Julie
3. Jen
4. Lisha

VEGEMITE

We finally bought some vegemite this week and gave it a try. Kevin and I had already tried it when we came to visit years ago and I remembered that I didn't like it. However, I also knew that I had to try it again or the kids wouldn't. We put a small bit on crackers and everyone (except me - way to salty) enjoyed it. I did try and make a vegemite sandwhich for Cooper and Madi the next day and they weren't too keen about that. So I guess we can handle it in small doses with a cracker to wash it down.

CRITTERS IN THE TREE!

Last night Kev went out to bbq dinner (yes it is winter and we are still using the bbq - love that!) and came back in telling us all to come and see. This is what we saw in the tree in the backyard!

It brought back memories of 8 years ago when we visited Kev's parents in Melbourne and went to feed the possoms in the park. It was a cold and fun adventure until one took a chunk out of Kev's finger. We did feed this possom some bread but we put it down on the ground. We watched him climb down the tree and onto the ground where he started to eat. FUN MEMORIES!

I'm a wimp!!!!

Yes, this is me! When we came to Australia I kept saying that we could cut costs by me riding my bike to the train station every day. Well, after doing it for almost 9 months I have given in.
Stace and I talked about the pros/cons of getting a small used car or a scooter. If you haven't guessed from the pictures the scooter won out. It is cheaper and we wouldn't have to worry about buying someone elses problems.

So I started researching what had to be done to get my license and here is the process:
1) Take a two day training course (3.5 hrs each) on the basics of riding
2) Knowledge test (45 questions and you can only miss 2 knowledge and 1 safety)
3) Get your learners permit (You must display a big "L" plate on your bike (80 k/hr limit)
4) After three months (and before 12 months) take another training / driving test
5) Get your "P (90)" plate that means you can't go more than 90 k/hr for one year
6) Get your "P (100)" plate - can you guess what that means - for one year

As you can probably guess I have now completed 1 - 3 and now have my "L" plate and will be practicing. The other law is that a new motorcycle driver can not have a passanger ride with them for a year. The kids don't like this one very much.

So now that I have my scooter I have to practice. Tomorrow will be the first day that I get to ride my scooter to the train station and the big question is where will I be able to park? I am going to try and park next to one of the bike stand and see what happens. I have seen another person park their motorcycle there so it shouldn't be a problem.

I did get to ride my bike around today and also rode it to soccer practice. I have to admit that it is really fun. It has reminded me to the time that Kev Worwood and I went to Hawaii, rented scooters for an afternoon, and just drove around the hills of Hawaii! It was tons of fun. Stace calls it my 'Boy Toy' so I guess I will just have to let it live up to it's image. (However, at soccer some of them did make fun of me and tell me that it should be red so I can go and deliver mail as the mail people drive red scooters! Ha ha ha...)

BE AS A LITTLE CHILD

I was reminded of this during the week with an experience I had with Cooper. A few days ago when Cooper was watching TV the picture turned to black and white for no apparent reason. He came and found me and told me there was something wrong. When I came in I tried to figure it out, but couldn't and told him that he would have to wait for his dad to come home and he could help us out. Several hours later we turned on the TV and Cooper was disappointed to see that it still had no color. I told him it was okay we could just wait and watch it like that. A few minutes later a quiet voice said, "Mom, if we ask Jesus he will fix the TV for us." I asked him if Jesus would care that the TV was in black and white and not color. He said that he would fix it if we prayed. I told him that he could say the prayer and he thought about it for a few minutes. Then he said okay mommy. We closed our eyes and he said, "Dear kind Heavenly Father, Jesus will you please fix the TV so that it has color?" We said Amen and opened our eyes and to my surprise the TV was in color. I was so surprised! I have had many prayers answered in my lifetime, but I was reminded that day that Heavenly Father cares about even the little "insignificant" prayers. I was also reminded to learn something from my 4 year old - who definately has more faith than I do.

GOING HOME!

Our friends Jessy and Kelli moved back to the States this week after two years in Australia. We loved spending time with them both in Adelaide and in Sydney. Just wanted to wish them good luck in their move to Utah and with their switch to civilian life. We will see you in a few years - unless you have an inkling to come back to Australia, our place is always opened!

TWITTER PATTED

What am I going to do with Madi? She seriously is going on 17 - can she slow down?! Any advise on this little one would be so helpful - even if that means that you think I am overreacting and need to calm down too.

A little story: Remember a couple of months ago when I told you the kissing story? Well if you don't here's the link.

Well Madi still has the same "boyfriend" and some days she tells me they are just friends and other days she tells me that she is going to marry him. Today in fact on the way home from school she told me that she was going to marry him and I told her that she couldn't get married until she was about 25 and she wouldn't be in Australia then so she couldn't marry him. She told me that she would just move back.

Well this boy just got back from a trip to California and he brought her a necklace. Madi decided that she would give him a thank you card. Tonight she started on the card and started it with the words "I love you! Thank you for the butiful neclice." I told her that she probably should write something else because the words I love you are special words and they should be only told to family and the boy she will marry someday. Now I know realistically she will probably not wait to say those words to the boy she marries someday, but that was the way I came up with to explain it to her. I told her that telling him thank you was fine and that maybe she should say that she was glad that he was her friend. Let's just say we had a blow up. She yelled at me and told me that I ruined her card because she had to start over. I tried to explain and she was so mad that it went no where. She slammed her door and started crying.

Later, when the dust had settled, Madi and I had a great conversation while doing the dishes. I asked her if she understood what I was trying to tell her and if she had any questions. We talked it through and I think that she understood by the end of the night. She finally finished her card which reads, "Your my best frind. thank you for the best necklace and the wundrfl necklace." She drew a picture of the two of them playing under a rainbow.

I am just not sure how to deal with her. I know that it is all innocent at this point and I am trying not to make a big deal out of it. However, I also think that she needs to know the importance of certain things, and I thought it a good opportunity to teach her about those three words "I love you".

Any suggestions? Is this a sign of things to come? Is she always going to have to have a boyfriend? Am I going to survive all of this?