I am NOT...

Without planning it, I currently have 3 different blog post 'drafts' that start with "I am NOT..." as the title.

So maybe I'll make this a little "series" so to speak, and try to add to it.

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For awhile there the kids hardly had any toys. Then some friends gave us a whole bunch and I bought some used off someone (mainly little people sets) .

I actually set aside two of the little people sets because by then we had enough toys.

Then a toys r us flyer came in the mail with a picture if a train table and Finn started asking for one... so I told him maybe for his birthday, and that seemed to placate him.

Just in an off-chance I checked Gumtree (like Craigslist) and someone was selling a table with some tracks and everything for only $60! The one in the flyer was $200... Reg $300!!!

This isn't the actual train table, but it's similar... the one I'm getting has to drawers as well

So I emailed and someone was supposed pick up yesterday and they no-showed, so I'm picking it up tonight!

Now I just need to find somewhere to hide it, and keep my resolve not to give it to him until his birthday!

Oh, and it could probably use a new paint ( *cough* Conor *cough* )

Finns ramblings

*I wrote this awhile ago... I don't remember if I added it into another post or not, so here it is (really short!)

When we were on the plane to Melbourne Finn knew that we were going to "Australia" but he obviously didn't understand what it was because he asked if we were going to go into the big or little Australia and buy some toys!  I guess he thought it was the name of a store.

Update:  He's starting to understand a bit more... but I would like to buy a big world map, or a globe, to really show him where we are.  At the beginning he would ask if random things were "Australia" so I would tell him that EVERYTHING here is IN Australia.  Then the other day we were driving and he kept pointing at things and saying "is that in Australia? is THAT in Australia" and after I replied yes a few times he said "Everything is Australia!"

He often will talk about our "big house" which means my in-laws house in Canada where we were living.  We were at a playgroup last week and there was a big truck that was similar to one we had back home (not the same one, but the same brand and they probably were part of a series) and he turned excitedly to me and said "Finn had one at Finn's BIG house!"

Sometimes he will get upset and want me to go get said toy from the big house, but I explain that it's too far away.  That we had to get on a big plane and fly for a LONG time to get to Australia.

We had a facetime with both our families last week - a few days later he was having a bad morning and we were driving somewhere and he started crying out that he wanted to go to Grandma's house.  It was sad - but then I told him someday Grandma will get on a big plane and fly from Canada to Australia to see him and he said "will Grandma come see Finnian at MY house!?"

I think he kinda gets it.

Same Moon

Yesterday we were walking to the store and I pointed up to the moon to show Finn.

A little bit later he said "that is the same moon in the sky at our big house!" (he calls my in-laws house in Canada our 'big house')

Yes Finn - same moon :)

900 - Playplaces

Did we go to 900 playplaces?

No....

But I have now written 900 blog posts!!!

Yay me!

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So at two of the shopping centers I go to there are these playplaces set up for the kids.

This is a good thing and a bad thing.  Good because it's sometimes a nice little break for the kids from shopping.  Bad because once you go one time, you have to go EVERY TIME!

So we have to plan for it.

At the big shopping center right up the road, it's pretty easily avoidable.  It's right in front of Big W (think Walmart), so if you don't want to stop at the play place, don't go to Big W.  If I just need to grocery shop then it's all good.

Plus I don't like that one.  It's one where you HAVE to climb up and go through and there's always lots of kids in it, and then you have to go down a slide to get down at the end.  So needless to say Finn won't go in.  He went inside once and then an aggressive kid came up behind him, and there was a roadblock of kids ahead of him and he completely lost it... he was so scared! Poor guy.

There's a little tiny slide that "Finn go down slide all by his self and I didn't even cry!"  So that's kind of nice... it's nice to have something that he feels like a big boy for doing.  But it's NOT a place for Elle... small, not enclosed, lots of big kids, and no where for me to really guard her.

The playplace at the other mall is great though!  And really, I have no other reason to go to that shopping center... if I have to go grocery shopping and I want Finn and Elle to have a nice play then I will drive the bit of a longer distance to go there, do my shopping and then let the kids play.

It's all enclosed with a gate, there's a big open space in the center with turf so it's soft for Elle to crawl around, and around the edges there are toys or simple obstacle course type things that even Elle can manage.

Oh, and there's free wi-fi.  So I go in there with the kids, let them loose, and sit down with my iPhone!  I bring snacks because they eventually come and bother me.

There's a train thing that Elle has taken a liking to, but I have to be there because she can't get back down once she climbs up.

The last couple times we have gone, one or both of the kids have made a little friend or two, which is great!

One time there was a little girl that reminded me so much of my little niece! And I think Finn got the same impression because he played with her just like he played with my niece.  It was great.

Then yesterday I had to go grocery shopping and didn't want to JUST do that, so we headed up to that mall, got through grocery shopping (barely, almost had to just walk about because Finn was having a ROUGH morning, but he finally snapped out of it and was very helpful the rest of the shop), and then went to the play place.

There was a really cute little girl that liked Elle.  She kept coming up and patting her head and following her around.  At one point I looked over and they were crawling towards eachother (this girl was older... maybe 2, so she COULD walk) and the next time I looked over they were giving each other a big KISS! haha

The other mom noticed and immediately apologized to me, and I to her... it was so cute and funny and wrong at the same time.

Lesson of the day for Elle (especially after she tried to kiss the girl on the lips again): NO KISSING STRANGERS!!

Meal Planning

I'm starting to get excited about implementing my weekly meal planning (which will hopefully lead to just a weekly grocery shop).

The thing is, I'm pretty sure that this will be the most exciting part for me... the cooking part not so much.  It's not fun to cook with 2 grumpy kids around, which they usually are at that time of day!

But at least this will take the guesswork and the stress out of the cooking.

I have to tweak my grocery list to have a Costco section... But otherwise it's working out well!

I did up a meal plan for the week last night and did up the grocery list. I want to have hamburgers on Sat and I didn't want to buy the buns today, so I'll do another shop on Saturday.

Feels good to be a little more organized!

Playing catch-up

Each year, without actually trying, I have written more blog posts than the year before. But this year might be a challenge!

I had been greatly slacking before we moved so now I'm playing catch-up... Posting every day this helped!

More shopping

There were still some things we wanted for the house, and since they weren't urgent I was looking out on a website like Craigslist called Gumtree for used items to save us some money.

One of the things we wanted was another Ikea couch like ours, and I found someone selling a white one. So I contacted the seller. The ad mentioned they were moving overseas, so I asked if they had other furniture they would be selling as well.

Turns out they have almost everything we wanted and for a very good price. Also, it's pretty much all of the Ikea stuff in even the same colors that we have going!

We went and looked at it today and will pick up later. Conor will have to do a couple trips, but I keep reminding him how much we are going to save!

They are a UK couple, who moved the Melbourne right after they got married - just like us :). So we are getting a couch, double bed (for the spare room), bedside tables, tv stand, and a couple bookshelves... oh and a smaller table and chairs to go in the eating area in the kitchen.

After we went to their place this morning we went to Ikea to buy some rugs and a few other kitchen things (basically more of our set of plates, bowls, forks, knives, etc)

I LOVE the rugs, it makes such a difference to be playing with the kids on a nice rug instead of the hard (cold) floor.

The last big thing I need/want is a dresser for the kids room. The problem is that I want just one tall dresser that I can fit both of their things in, but that will be very difficult to fit in our vehicle... So we will see.

I bought one hanging shelf thing from ikea today for the spare room...I put Finns clothes in there and it works well for that, so I could just get another one for Elle... But they don't have a closet in the kids room, so the clothes would have to stay in the spare room or our closet... We will see.

Now for something to go on the bare white walls...

Dishwasher?

I've always thought dishwashers for less than 5 people were just silly.

I have TOTALLY changed my mind! Haha

I've always liked doing dishes, and maybe I will again when Elle is older and doesn't need me every 5 seconds, but right now I think a dishwasher would really save my sanity!

I can pretty much can only do them when Elle is napping. Which means the breakfast dishes pile up with the lunch dishes and I go crazy looking at ten there, but know there's no point in starting them.

I still think a dishes washer for 3 or less people is ridiculous!

Don't get me wrong though, when dinner is over and I have the choice between entertaining the kids or doing the dishes (in peace and quiet) I will take the dishes, thanks!

Learning to be at home

Yesterday was an inside day for us. And it wasn't because of the weather. It was actually a very warm day, probably the warmest since we moved here.

But I'm still learning this mothering-2-with-no-company-around thing... I tend to get us out of the house at every opportunity just for something to do. But even though it's tiring being inside with the kids all day, it's tiring always being on the move, too.

So we stayed inside all day until Conor came home - and we were all still happy!! Then we went in the backyard and played until supper time (and Finn wouldn't leave Elle alone so he had quiet time in his room until we sat down to eat)

Finn was in his PJs all day, and Elle would have been too but she had soaked through her diaper so she was changed right away in the morning.

It was nice to just chill out!

Two breakfasts

For the longest time Finn has been having two breakfasts.  Back in Canada he would often go upstairs at 7 or 7:30 and have breakfast with Grandpa before he went to work... and then when we would come up at 8 he would have a second breakfast with us.

Now when he wakes up, Conor often tries and succeeds in getting him into the living and then has breakfast with him and then when Elle and I come out of our room (where Elle has normally been since before 7am) then we have second breakfast together.

If Conor has mush (porridge), than I  make eggs and toast - if he has eggs and toast then I make mush.

That way I don't have to wash the mush pot or the egg pan BEFORE I make breakfast... I just do them all after.

I've noticed though, for whatever reason, Finn doesn't seem to eat the mush Conor gives him... so lately Elle gets to have a two breakfast day because she gets toast from me and she also gets Finns mush.

Either way the kids are pigs - Even after having two breakfasts Finn will be saying "Finn want something to eat" until at least 10:30... cereal, apple, banana, more toast... I'm not looking forward to his teenage years!

Box Hill Miniature Steam Train

When we first got to Melbourne we were staying in Box Hill and driving up the road to Doncaster for shopping and house hunting.  One time Conor saw a sign for a "miniature train" - so we thought we would check it out.

Turns out it's a miniature steam railway, run by the Rotary Club, and it runs once a month for just $3 a ride!  We kept this in mind as a little thing to take Finn to, knowing he would love it!

As the day was approaching, without us telling him anything about it, he saw a miniature train in a book of his and started asking if he could go on it.  I think he was thinking about the train at the Aldergrove Zoo, but the one in the picture was actually very similar to the train we ended up going on.

If you're in Melbourne and the train is running, check it out!  Here's the website "Box Hill Miniature Steam Railway"

Stinky Steamy

Finn loved it!  I didn't have to pay for Elle, but they gave me a ticket for her.  When you sit on the train a guy comes to stamp your ticket and told me just to hang on to the fourth one and use it later, that was nice!  As soon as we got off the ride Finn was asking to go again, so I went and got another ticket and just he and I went on another ride.

Getting ready to go

So excited!  That face is priceless

I don't think Elle really liked being on the ride, but she REALLY liked watching it.  Everytime we would go past her and Conor she would point and wave at us.

The Station

The trains were really cute!  They had one steam train running and one diesel.  And it was all these old guys running the trains.  We took the steam train first (had a long lineup) and the diesel second - it worked out well because we had to wait in line for the first one, but I ran and got my ticket and Finn and I got on the diesel one right away.

Conor and Elle... she wasn't as impressed as Finn was!

For the second ride I let Finn hold his ticket for the guy to stamp it - he was so excited and kept pointing out that they man had stamped a star in it... then he didn't let go of it the whole ride!  As the ride was coming to an end I told him that would be the last ride and then we would be going to our friends house and he could tell them all about it.  He kept saying yes excitedly... but as I figured would happen he got very upset after the ride was over when he realized we were going, haha.

Can you see Finn holding his ticket?

We finally got him out of there and to the Andersons house where he showed the kids his ticket and told them he went on "one, TWO trains!"

It was a nice little family outting.  Maybe we'll go again, there's also a large picnic area around there and a park.

Olympics

I didn't really find myself that interested in the Olympics this year.  I think a lot of that had to do with not having a TV for a big part of it, and having Australian coverage, as opposed to Canadian.  In general there are a few sports that I really do enjoy watching, regardless of whether a Canadian is in it or not... I've always liked watching swimming and especially diving, and sometimes I really get into the equestrian...but otherwise I mainly just watch to 'cheer on my country'.

When we first got to Melbourne and were staying at the rental place, we didn't turn the TV on for the first few days and then once we were over jet-lag and going to bed at our regular time (as opposed to as soon as the kids were asleep), we started watching TV, and then the Olympics started, so we watched a bit.  Then we moved and didn't have a TV so we missed a lot, and then we got a TV and started watching some in between whatever else was playing on other channels.

In general the TV isn't on when the kids are up, except when Finn watches either Bob the Builder or a DVD about CAT machinery after his quiet time.  But I thought it would be nice for him to see some of the sports, so I usually turned it on around 430 or 5 (unless it was boxing... sorry, don't want him watching that!)

Elle pointing at something on the screen - she was quite interested in the Olympics.

He really got into it!  Especially the diving - you should have seen his face!  After a few times watching it, he started say "this is my favorite show" haha.

There were a few times where he really didn't quite get the concept of some of the sports. For example, the first time he saw pole vaulting, it happened to be an instance where one of the guys snapped his pole in half.  So then Finn thought that was supposed to happen every time.  The other time was when we were watching the equestrian, again the first time he saw it, the horse knocked down one of the jumps, so then Finn thought that they were supposed to do that everytime, and seemed so disappointed in the competitor if they didn't.

She WAS interested until she noticed me taking pictures - then she crawled over and tried to take my camera!

It was pretty funny.  I think he eventually realized that the Pole Vaulters were supposed to make it over the jump, so then he didn't care that they didn't break their pole... but he never did stop pointing out the horses not missing their jumps.

Cooking

So... Conor is still doing most of the dinner cooking around here! haha.  I did a few meals almost all by myself... but then it all fell apart when I had been having a particularly bad day, and tried to make stir fry for the first time.  It was my first time doing rice and it BURNED, Boy did it burn.  It wasn't all my fault, we didn't have a proper pot at the time, so the pot I was using was too big.. and we are still getting used to the burners, a few in particular heat up and then take a long time to cool down.

Either way, I kind of gave up after that!

In all of our marriage I have never been the cook, Conor has, save for a few meals that I always do, like spaghetti.

It's not that I don't want to do any cooking right now, it's just that I'm still learning.  Also, we like to eat closer to 6, and Conor is normally home around 530, so it's not like I have to have dinner on the table when he gets in the door... or even really on the go at all before we gets home.

Anyways, for me to really get into cooking there are 3 things that we need to sit down and do.

1.  We (meaning Conor) need to go online and just get a whole slew of new meal ideas.  I say Conor needs to do this because I've always been picky so I'm always drawn to certain meals... usually pastas, and probably the more fatty ones!  So it's better if Conor gets more meals because they will be a bit more adventurous and more of a balance.  We kind of just keep cooking the same few meals over and over with a few variations here or there.

2.  I am really drawn to doing a weekly meal plan.  I know people who do monthly ones, but I don't think I could handle that much!

That brings us to...

3. A master shopping list.  I'm always forgetting things, even though I add to my list constantly when I use the last of something I don't always know when Conor has used the last of something. This is another reason I need a meal plan, because I don't always have the kinds of ingredients to do meals different than the ones we always do.  I've found this "ultimate editable grocery list" online.  If we can get this catered to ourselves then I can print them off, and everytime I'm going to go shopping I can just go down the list and decide if I should buy more of that item or not.  There will be spaces on it as well to add different items, items we don't often buy.

I enjoy cooking new meals, and using a recipe.. so if we're just having one of our regular meals, I just leave it to Conor.  I really think that if we can get some new meal recipes, do a weekly meal plan, and get a master grocery list so that I can just do once or twice a week shopping to make sure we have what we need for those meals, then I'll be able to get into a groove.

I'm a little bit over-organized right?  Oh well, that's what works for me!

The Abbotsford Convent

There's this old convent in Abbotsford (not my hometown, but a suburb in Melbourne) - it's geniously  named The Abbotsford Convent.

When we lived in Melbourne before we could walk there from our place, a nice walk along the Yarra River. There's actually a little petting zoo right there as well, we want to take the kids sometime, but this particular day was quite cool and we were just parked in a 15 minute parking zone! So, next time!

It's not a real convent anymore, but I think the land was going to be sold and probably have apartments or something built there, until the community came together and saved it.   Now it houses a lot of different things: yoga, cafe, bread bakery (where you can get baking lessons), etc.

On the radio last weekend we heard there was a used book/CD sale going on so we went on Sunday just for a little something to do.  Finn and I each ended up getting a couple of books and we had a nice walk around the grounds and some warm mochas because it was chilly out!

Home Sweet Home

I am really quite happy with the place we are at... so far at least!  It has it's little quirks, some of which we can do temporary things to make it more convenient for us and others that we just have to live with. But that's how it is with most houses I would assume, even if you own it you can't always afford what it takes to make it perfect.

So let's just dive right in with some pictures!

Finn looking at the backyard from the dining room window.

This is our new car!  And if I took a picture right now you would see that, in the first week of owning this thing, I put a nice ding right above that rear wheel!

Bathroom - wish it had better/different storage, but we will figure something out.
It's actually quite awkward, in my opinion, but this room is just the sink and a bathtub (with a shower head, but we don't use it), then there's another room with just a shower, and another room with just the toilet.
I don't really like the little toilet room... it's like being in a stall in a public washroom, and then you have to leave and go into another room to wash your hands!

"formal" Dining room - looking into the back yard

Living room and dining room.  We need nice pillows and a carpet!  In that back corner we might get some sort of desk, we'll see

The garden that has been pre-occupying Conor's mind!
There's a little lemon tree there already, and there are 3 fruit trees, we'll see what kind of yield they give.

Rest of the backyard.  Hideous clothes hanger! haha.  Unfortunately the door to the backyard is to the side of the house, and there's not really flat patio area, but hopefully we can find someplace to put a table and chairs out there, and get a BBQ!

Back of the house.  The door to the back is on the left side of the house in this pic.  That left window is the kitchen, middle window is an eating area, and then the door (that is permanently closed!) and windows is the dining room.

Laundry room, the door to the back is from here.
We need some shelves or something eventually.

"Spare room"
Right now it's Finn's room until we get more settled and Elle starts sleeping better.
There's also a HUGE box fort where that train set is - it's from the couch and it's awesome!
There's a big closet in this room.

"Kids room"
We finally got the crib set up the other night though, so the playpen is gone.  There's no closet in this room so I need to figure out what kind of furniture I want in there.  Maybe a dresser and a small closet? Or keep their hanging clothes in the spare room and just have a regular dresser in there?  We will see.

"Master Bedroom"
We have our own room again!  I have a 3 drawer dresser in the same style as the nightstand but we have to assemble it still.  It will go right in front of the mirror there.
We have HUGE closets... so if that dresser isn't big enough I think I will try to get some sort of hanging shelves for the closet.
And we need some sort of rug.

HUGE hallway!  If we ever need any extra storage or anything we can even put some closets and shelves  in this hall.  There's a big window at the end on the right there.  That door at the very end is the master, the door at the end on the left is the kids room, the one open infront of the stroller is the spare room,
Across from that door is the front door, then to the right is the bathroom, left goes into the living room, and behind me is the eating area and the kitchen.

I still have to get a good pic of the front.  Someday when it's not raining :)

Feeling connected

I have to say right now that I am so so so glad I have an iPhone! Well mainly just that I have a smartphone in general, but I am partial to the iPhone.

I've been homesick, and just this little thing, being able to check emails and Facebook, is the one thing keeping me from loosing it during the day!

As I expected, Conor starting work is a big transition for me... I'm not used to having him gone, but even more so I'm not used to having NO ONE else around to talk to. There were very rare times at my in-laws house where it was just the kids and I. And if that did happen, it was only for a couple hours max.

We are slowly adjusting, though.  We have gone to the library a few times, a couple playdates, and lots of walks and shopping!

Anyways, even better than an iPhone is that we finally have internet at home!  It took me awhile to decide who to go with.  User ratings online for pretty much EVERY company was terrible.  I was limited by the fact that we don't have a home phone, and that we don't want one (you pay by the minute for calls out from a home phone here... so if I'm not even using all of my credit per month on my mobile, why would I want to pay for a home phone on top of that?!).  So we could either get cable internet - only one company that I knew of, at over $70 for just 5MB of data, totally ridiculous! Or we had to find someone who did "naked ADSL".  There was one company that had VERY low prices, just $30 a month or something for a decent amount of data, but the sales guy was SOOO pushy on the phone, and would NOT listen to me when I said that we didn't want a home phone line to bundle with... also we were in the middle of Ikea with Elle sleeping in the stroller and Finn getting grumpy, when I told the guy I would think about it and call back and made me sound like I was being so rude to him or something... totally turned me off.

So a friend on facebook mentioned a company, again not the best ratings online.. but they happened to have a good deal on if you didn't want their voip package (video calls or something? not sure).  So I just made the call and crossed my fingers that it would be half decent,

When we got here 6 years ago and got internet it was outrageously expensive and not very good (as far as speed) We really didn't have a lot of money to spend, but we needed some internet at home, so we paid $25 a month for 200MB of data... 200 MB... that's absolutely nothing... it's LESS than nothing!  My iPhone plan gives me 1 GB of data.  I didn't realize how little 200 MB were until I went over the limit in ONE DAY by uploading my pics on facebook from our few weeks in Melbourne.

All of that to say that they've come a long way here with their internet.

And Internode? So far so good!  One thing I don't like is that the password for the router is the same to access the internode email and account webpage, and there was a hiccup when I tried to change the password and I couldn't get on the internet for awhile and had to call support.  But they were really helpful, and it said that they were experiencing a very high call volume but I was on hold for less than 10 minutes, so that makes me happy.

Finn and I facetimed with my  mom today and the speed was great, the picture was good and I didn't notice any delay... so I'm happy!

Expect more blogging again!

Kisses

Elle has learned how to give kisses - I LOVE it!

She won't always do it, but if you get one kiss you get at least 5 kisses out if her!

I was reading her a book the other day and I told her to give the kitty on the page a kiss and then she wanted to kiss every page when we were done reading it.

Speaking of reading, she loves books all of the sudden. Finn loved them right from the start, but Elle would just grab the book and not let you read it. Now all of the sudden she really enjoys them and lets you read book after book to her. And she will even sit for a good 10 minutes just looking at books all by herself. It's great.

No pics yet

I'm at a yummy chocolate shop right now enjoying a dark chocolate Mocha frappe while Conor puts the kids to beds.

I'm reading :)

They don't have wi-fi though, so I can't post those house pics yet (plus I don't have any of the front of the house)... BUT I got an email today that our Internet should be set up on Wednesday! So hopefully that works out and I'll do pics then :)

Bullets

By that I mean this post will be in bullet form, because that's all I have in me right now!

• Elle is teething her top 4 teeth, and it's killing us both! She isn't sleeping or eating the same and she is sooo whiny.

• we were praying the other day and Conor said "Holy Ghost" instead of Holy Spirit. Later on Finn said to me "remember when daddy said Holy Goat?" haha

• Had a visit with Kate and her 5 kids yesterday - it was perfection! I needed that so much, some adult interaction with someone other then cashiers! And those kids are the best! Anytime Elle fussed one of the older three would just come pick her up and take her somewhere and play. One of the boys read to Finn while I chatted with Kate, they built things for Finn. It was just perfect and totally lifted my spirits. She's invited me to their fortnightly play group on Friday - looking forward to that!

• we are settling in nicely at our place. I have pics to post, but only have Internet on my phone right now... Conor is letting me go out for coffee by myself tonight while he puts the kids to bed, so if there's wi-fi there I will do a blog post with some house pics.

• I have decided on an Internet service provider so that will come in 2 or 3 weeks (don't ask me why it's so long! It's like that with every company here though, except the really expensive one is 3-5 days... sorry not going to pay $70 for only 5GB thanks!)

Nap time soon, blessed nap time!

Poor baby girl

I was getting so frustrated at Elle's bad sleeping pattern lately and finally looked in mouth to see (well, feel) her four top teeth all just under the gums

Poor baby, that's a lot of teeth at ones, hopefully they cut through soon!

On our way to Costco here to see if we want a membership, I might be able to get powdered iced tea!!