Up Hill Both Ways

We are almost through our first full week of school and so far it's going really well. Ben is coming home tired but happy at 3pm. He's enjoying school and has made some new little friends. How cute does he look with his uniform and huge backpack? It only has a lunch and hat in it but he's proud to carry it around, especially with the Texas patch that Grammy sent for it.

I'm happy with his school but it's very different from a US elementary. There is no bus service and no drop off point. I have to take Ben and pick him up every day and take Alex along through the entire process since we have to go all the way to the classroom. I'm trying to use the morning drop-off as my daily workout since it's over a massive hill and definitely gets me sweaty. Here's how it usually starts out - one happy to ride in the stroller and one complaining that he has to walk.

We start our hike up the hill into the hot morning sun.

I ward off the whining while pushing Alex and dragging Ben (who's usually holding onto the stroller) and we finally make it to the top and start down the other side. Have to allow a few extra minutes for the flower-picking.


Then we conquer the next big mountain, the pedestrian overpass that crosses two busy roads and the train tracks. I ignore the requests to be carried (Alex) and the request to drive next time (Ben) and we finally get into the school yard.

It's a lovely school with lots of different buildings and the pre-primary tucked right into the middle.

This is completely fenced off from the big school and has its own playground for recess.

Alex enjoys a few minutes on the playground every time we're there.

Once I've hugged and kissed Ben and extracted Alex from the playground, we head back over the bridge and towards home.

Back up the hill.

I do enjoy looking at all of the beautiful houses on the street, like this one that has been lovingly restored.

Some are the old original bungalows. Many of these have already been torn down to make way for more modern houses, and usually two narrow ones in the single lot.

And there are a few running in the $10 million+ range that can't help but catch the eye.

Finally, back at the top of the hill and the view is always rewarding.

Back down the big hill to sit inside and cool off for a few minutes before we're off to our other activities. Whew!!

It's only been 4 full days so far but Alex and I have enjoyed spending some one-on-one time together.

A couple of other fun pictures from the week...
We had a valentine's party with some of our American friends and the kids enjoyed all the candy and cards, since they don't do anything at school here.

Alex was more interested in the apple juice. This kid never gets tired of it!

Smart, Ben! Let your woman do all the work.

I've tried to start waking up at 6am to enjoy a few quiet minutes before the boys are around and to try to work on my Bible study. This has been the result on many of those days - lots of company and their entertainment.

We had a swim playdate yesterday in our new inflatable pool. It's pretty great but kind of a pain to drain and clean. Still not sure it's worth it but the kids love it. Notice that Alex went back to his trusty old bucked in the background, though!

Things Worth Remembering

The first time the boys cleaned up a mess without being asked!
I was carrying the vacuum upstairs and saw the boys using a toy car to break crackers on the steps. Lovely. I figured I'd let them vacuum up their mess when I finished but when I came back down the stairs all the crumbs had mysteriously disappeared. I was initially very suspicious but later ran across this beautiful surprise. Someone had swept up the mess!

The first time we caught Alex sleeping with his hand down his pants!
I peeked in his room last night and figured he hadn't moved an inch since we left. Closer examination revealed that his hand also hadn't moved an inch since he fell asleep. Ugh. Men. And you may notice that he's claimed Ben's bed since Ben now sleeps in the guest room. It's about time since he's way too big for a toddler bed anymore.

The first chore we've pawned off entirely on the kids!
Our lovable buddy Clark still visits our porch every day looking for a snack, but unfortunately so do his bigger friends the magpies. I wouldn't mind except I'm really tired of mopping their enormous poo's off the table and floors so I taught the kids to run out and scare them away over and over. Alex took it to a whole new level when he got this plastic baseball bat in a kids meal. Very effective, yet the birds know to come back as soon as he's inside.

Afterward, both Ben and Alex wanted their picture taken getting some air and swinging the bat around. Endless fun!

Bubbles Everywhere

Remember how much Ben loves bubble baths? Click here if you want to hear his "bubbles everywhere" song, which Alex now sings as well. Somewhere along the way Alex has decided he no longer hates bubbles so the kids have enjoyed several bubbly bathtimes this week. Check out the bubble beards!





And once those kids are squeaky clean, never leave them alone with the baby powder! It's not something we typically use anymore, I just ran across a big bottle of it and decided to not to waste it. Alex didn't get the memo.

Premature gray? or a little too happy to squirt "bottom sprinkles"?

Ben got a nice dusting as well. He's also sporting several new, colorful eye patches which we only wear at home. The patch we'd used daily since July finally disappeared so I had to create my own and thought Ben could express himself through color this way.

Here he is on a blue day. Ben was very proud of himself for finding a window seat and naturally Alex needed in on the action, too.

Oh, how I love this sleepy boy when he appears after naptime! He brings everything he can carry from his bed. If you look closely, you can see that he even kept his cookie after lunch, slept with it, and carried it back upstairs.

Sweet boys playing on the starfall website. Now that Ben can manage the mouse on his own he can keep them both entertained!

And for anyone wondering what Baby Reid looks like these days, check out my beautiful nephew enjoying the snow in North Texas!

T is for Trouble

Put these two little brains together and there's no telling what they'll come up with these days. I sometimes wonder if they're more dangerous now than they were as toddlers because now they have imaginations and means to get what they want, like the stamps I keep hidden on the very top of my desk or buckets of dirt from the back of the house. When they're playing somewhere quietly, it always means trouble!

A game of carwash outside turned into naked truck rides.

They were using body paints as the soap and I thought it would be funny to label them A and B. Later I realized I should have written Thing 1 and Thing 2!

Today Ben was multi-tasking...cooking grilled cheese sandwiches and playing with his new car all at the same time. Thanks, Grandma, for the new cars and books we just got in the mail! They were all well received :)

Alex will find ANYTHING to do other than eat at the table. I can take away all the toys and distractions, but he'll still find something more interesting to do than actually eat his food, like stack pretzels on his straw. Only today it was Ben saying "I worked hard on that meal, you'd better eat it!" instead of me. Of course, I still did most of the work but we'll let him have the credit.

Ben is still going to school for half days and I'm really glad they're easing the kids into school because he's already coming home really tired and hungry. For the first time EVER Ben ate all his dinner and asked for more. I was thrilled to pile more food on his plate! At 4 1/2 he still weighs just 32lbs, exactly the same as Alex.

Cheese!!

In more crazy weather here, we've been under high barometric pressure pushed here by the remnants of Cyclone Yasi (the one that just devastated northern Queensland) with hot, extremely windy days. Apparently one guy using a metal grinding machine started this fire on Saturday and it's still burning houses right now. There were four major bushfires burning around Perth yesterday but fortunately they're all considered under control at the moment unless the winds pick back up. Crazy!

New Camera

We've had a series of bad luck with cameras for about the past 5 years. The one I got before Ben was born finally wore out and wouldn't reliably turn on, the one Matt got for a gift would have memory problems and need to be reset at the most inconvenient times, and the new one I got for Christmas last year was baptized in the Indian ocean just a few weeks later and functions intermittently. We actually took all three cameras to Fiji last year just to make sure we got some decent pictures! Finally, I used some Christmas money from my parents to buy a new, reliable Nikon point and shoot and I've been so happy with it since it arrived last Friday.

Here are some of the cute pictures I've gotten...I'll spare you all the boring ones of me playing with different settings. I have yet to look at the manual and really learn how to make the most of the camera, but so far I've been really happy with it. Especially because it works 100% of the time!







It takes full HD videos....pretty cool for a little camera that fits in my pocket. And don't you love how Alex can turn something simple like coloring into a full-on body sport?

I had a great time taking pictures of a beautiful sunset this evening, too! Check out Ben taking pictures with his little camera.

Our favorite bench in the world :)

Looks like we have two budding photographers!

Thanks, Mom and Dad! I love the new camera and hope to share some wonderful pictures with it.

Kindergarten

The big day has finally arrived - Ben is officially a kindergartner! It's called Pre-Primary here but it's the same thing. Since the school year runs along the calendar year here, summer break ends in February and this was the big back-to-school week. This is actually the fourth school Ben has attended so it's a little less dramatic than I would have thought, but a big step for all of us because he'll go 5 days a week from 9-3. They really ease the kids into school here so he goes half days for this week and next before he starts the full schedule. He was looking pretty good this morning in his new uniform.

Not to be left out, of course, Alex went and found his backpack and demanded a picture. I started back at Bible study today so Alex at least needed the bag to go to the nursery, I just don't think he needed to wear it (full) for an entire hour first. Hey, whatever works.

And naturally, no one can resist stealing attention around here. Let's just say after a long summer break, school starting was welcomed by everyone! I had no idea how much these kids could fight and generally annoy each other until they spent months without any separation.

We'll walk to school every day up and down a big hill, then across a pedestrian bridge over a major road. This is the view from the bridge looking at the historic school. I think it was built in the late 1890's.

Inside the classroom we enjoyed a few puzzles, then gave hugs and kisses and wished Ben a great day. He was a bit nervous since lots of the kids went to kindy together last year and seemed to know each other but I know he'll make friends soon. I also liked the fact that only half of the kids attended today so they could adjust in a smaller group. The other half will go tomorrow, then they'll all be together for the first time on Friday.

Ben didn't say much about his first day but seemed to like it and said he's excited to go back on Friday. I don't think it will hit me that he's really started school until he's gone for full days but right now I'm happy for him to have the opportunity to meet new people and have some new experiences outside of the house.

One cute video - our bird friend Clark, the magpie lark. He's noticed that we eat outside a lot and doesn't wait for us to finish anymore before he comes to the table for a snack. Alex's friend Austin was over playing and didn't realize he was a friend instead of a foe (like the big magpie at the end of the video) so Clark was scared away. But he always comes back! Today I found a trail of crumbs leading into the house...I think maybe someone was trying to lure a "pet" into the living room.