Golly! ‘Tis the season to not have a moment to write my blog. I don’t know what the deal is, but I have been “flat out” as they like to say down under. Christmas shopping, Christmas teas, Christmas lunches, Christmas presents, Christmas programs, broken systems, and kindy graduation. That just about sums up the last month. I probably don’t need to bore you with all of the details, so how about if I just attach some pictures and if it is worth commenting on, I will. I have been feeling like I have been lagging behind on everything – including my blog – so this is a quick catch-up…

Ty had been rubbing his eyes constantly for a few weeks. Every so often he develops a new nervous twitch, and at first I thought this was one of those. But it went on longer than the others, so I took him to the doctor. He needed some eye drops. And I needed alcohol. Who knew putting eye drops in a 4 year old’s eyes could be so stressful.

We got a package from Aunt Staci! Full of all sorts of goodies. Thank you!!

Jay and I went to see the Hunger Games movie in style. We sat in the Gold Club Lounge. Whoa. Fully reclining seats, only about 20 seats in the theater, appetizers and beer served during the movie. Awesome.

Christmas decorating!

Have I ever mentioned how much Ty loves Legos?

Starting to get hot – love having a pool to cool off in!

Jay joined in the office Movember fundraiser. I was so glad to see December 1 arrive. Lily was sad – she liked petting dad’s face. It was all worth it – jay raised a lot of money for charity and he won an award for the Best Mo.

What says “Christmas” more than a blow up Santa in a ute? Nothing. The answer is nothing.

Let the baking begin. Gingerbread houses, Tim-Tam balls, sugar cookies…yum!

Lily is obsessed with this hat.

Love the mud flaps on this truck…and this camper is about the only one Jay would approve the AFE for.

Santa sightings!!

Now THAT is a proper reusable shopping bag. We are thinking we will take it to the grocery store.

The school year ended. Lily has grown heaps in the past year. She has had lovely teachers at daycare in the Infants room – Miss Steph and Miss Tia. We are all going to miss them!

And then Ty finished his time at Bonny Babes. I went to his graduation ceremony thinking I would not be one of those moms that cries at my son’s preschool graduation ceremony – but when Ty started crying I couldn’t hold back the tears. My baby is growing up. He is so excited to go to big kid school, but was sad about leaving his friends and teachers behind. He is such a sensitive little man.

Ugh. Our good mates, the Torrey’s, had to move back to the USA. :(. While I am happy for them to be able to be home for the holidays, it isn’t going to be the same here without them. They were our primary local support family for our first year here. I am certain that our transition would have been much more challenging without their assistance. They were always cracking us up with their stories about things going wrong. Ty loved the kids – and they were always so patient with him. We miss you guys!!

Sanctuary Cove had a Christmas celebration. They had all sorts of fun things to do – petting zoo, pony rides, best face painter ever.

Entirely too many presents. What do you do when you have a cheeky toddler that likes to reach through the redneck fence around the Christmas tree and tear the presents? You add a redneck cardboard barricade. And then you fill it to the top. Spoiled kiddos.

Jay and I had to work Monday thru Wednesday (actually I didn’t stop working through the weekend – long story – I basically broke the system and it took forever to fix it), but daycare was closed. We were lucky enough to have some awesome people watch the kids for us. They brought their dog over, went out for a picnic and a play in a park, made cards, swam, played Legos, read books. Pretty sure the kids would have rather gone home with them than be stuck with Jay and I. 🙂

Yep, too many presents.

Ty was sooooo excited for Christmas. He spread reindeer food in the front yard, left milk, cookies and a carrot out, and couldn’t wait to go to bed. He woke up super early – wide awake and ready to party!

We spent Christmas day assembling Leogs, playing with dolls (trying to overcome my fear of dolls), playing kitchen, cooking a ham and cheesy taters, and building the extreme marble track – like Mousetrap on steroids. Fun times!! Merry Christmas mates!!