Pockets.

Who needs pockets?  They are so over rated.   

   
Teeth.

Ty and I both had to have some work done to our teeth to take care of the cavities that we both had.  Ty was so brave!  He didn’t have to get any novacaine, didnt cry, said it didn’t hurt, and played tennis afterward.  Such a big boy!  I, on the other hand, had to get novacaine.  While it wasn’t terrible, I would just as soon avoid the dentist chair as much as possible.  

   
Art Exhibit.

Ty’s school had an art exhibition to show the artwork of all students, grades Prep to Year 12.  Holy talented kids.  It was so impressive.  The students were walking around with appetizers, parents could sip on wine while looking at the artwork.  Some of the older students had made outfits out of random materials (playing cards, sticks, feathers, paper, etc).  They were awesome!  Here is Ty standing proudly next to his artwork.   

 Super-VISOR!

For those of you that don’t know this little detail about the Shearer’s…we LOVE Halloween.  I went to work the day before Halloween dressed up (because it fell on a Saturday).  I was the ONLY person that rocked a costume.  I sort of was batman – I just threw together a few things kind of last minute.  If I had been thinking, I would have told everyone that I was dressed up as Super-VISOR!   

 Pumpkins.

As pumpkins cost a bloody fortune here, we only bought 2 pumpkins to carve.  This year Ty did one pretty much by himself.  He drew the face and with Jay’s close observation and assistance, carved it himself.  He did a great job!  Em and I made one for Lily, which turned out pretty cute.  Carving pumpkins is not a common thing for Aussies, as Halloween is only minimally celebrated, so it was fun to show others our traditions. 

    
    
    
    
    
   
Halloweeny.

We have been known to throw some pretty memorable (if not blacked out from memory) Halloweeny parties back home. The last one we hosted was when Ty was 5 months old and we dressed up as The Hangover – Ty was baby Carlos. As Ty grew up and Lily came along, it became too difficult to host a party. After Emily’s persistent prodding, we thought sure, why not. She then proceeded to invite everyone she knew to the party.  Jay told us to not go overboard and not spend money.  Excluding the food budget (no idea what that tally was), we spent approximately $20 and 5 trash bags on decorations.  The house looked spooktacular.  The food pretty much all turned out awesome.  The jelly worms and the puking watermelon were the big hits.  A bunch of Ty’s classmates and their parents came to the party.  The kids all went trick or treating on the buggy.  We had a little photo booth set up and had fun taking silly pictures.  Ty wanted Em and I to be Ninja Turtles with him, and Jay and Lily were Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  It was a great time – so glad Em talked us into it.  :).   It was the trashiest Halloween party ever!

    
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
Swim.

Lily got to ring the bell at swim lessons!  She graduated from level B2.  However since there was only a week left, her last B2 lesson was her last lesson at Gullivers.  She had come a long way and shown great improvement since she started lessons!  She was super proud to ring the bell. 

 Art.

Ty gets to go to Art lessons after school on Mondays and Fridays.  He loves art with Miss Betty.  He is always bringing home fun projects.  This bowl of fruit is my favorite so far.  It will get framed when we move back. 

 Races.

The Melbourne Cup is a BIG deal for Aussies.  It is a horse race that basically shuts down Australia.  I cannot begin to imagine how much money goes into the event – gambling, fancy dresses and fascinators, high teas, not to mention the horses themselves.  It is the social event of the year.  I had to go to work, of course, but I thought I would just go to work a little more fancy than normal.  Lily got dolled up, too.  Dang, she’s cute… 

    
    
    
    
    
   
PB Cups.

The office vending machine has FULL SIZE Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.  For real.  We have had plenty of Reese’s miniatures over the past 2 years, but they really aren’t the same as the full size.  When Alana told me that there were Reese’s in the vending machine, my willpower lasted approximately 1 hour.  I brought a package home for Em, who savored every. Single. Bite.  Mmmmmmmmmm. 

 Aircon.

Seriously.  We have had issues with the air conditioner in this house at least half of the warm/hot days in Australia.  Whoever designed this air con system was an idiot.  It sucks.  I am so looking forward to not having to rely on other people to “fix” things in the house I am living in.  Just a few more weeks…

Marketta.

As hard as it is to believe, Lily was kind of a pistol this week, plus it was year end for Jay so we worked later than normal.  Em needed some time away.  We were able to leave the office a bit early on Friday so Em and I went to Miami Beach Marketta.  What a cute little night market!  She has had her eye on a purse at a little shop called Lokoa for a while.  Unfortunately the purse she wants was out of stock, but I found a cute new bag and wallet.  Every bring was 25% off so I couldn’t resist.  :). After we finished shopping we stuffed our faces with yummy market food and listened to the band play.  Then we went to Harbour Town to see a movie in the Gold lounge.  We saw The Dressmaker – Kate Winslett and Liam Hemsworth.  Totally random, but pretty good. It was fun that it is based in a little Australian outback town.   Lots of Aussie references.   

 Birthday.

Addie turned 6!!  I had a haircut so I missed her party, but everyone said it was super fun.  It was art themed, and the kids came home with some pretty spectacular face paint.   

    
   
Brumby.

Brumby is getting a little facelift.  One of Ty’s classmate’s dad, Neil, is a cabinet maker.  Jay got some leftover Australian Spotted Gumtree wood flooring from the next door neighbor, and Neil has been working on laying it in the bed of Brumby.  Not an easy task for a number of reasons – one being that the fuel tank is in the bed.  He has done a fantastic job so far!  It still needs a few more coats of varnish on it – nearly finished!  Just in time to load him on a ship and send him across the Pacific to the good old USA.  

    
    
 Buggy.

The people that are buying the new house next door bought our buggy.  We won’t give them the keys until the week that we move out, by it’s a relief to know that it is sold.  

Boat.

The guy that bought the boat finally came and picked it up.  Now all we have to sell that is a big ticket item is the seapen that the boat was sitting in.  Fingers crossed that someone buys it soon.   

 Pack.

Pack pack pack pack.  Sort and pack.  Sort and pack.  This is what I have been doing in my spare time.   I have a bunch of stuff that we are going to try to sell in a garage sale next weekend.  Started putting “winter” clothes in our checked bag piles.  Stuff that I don’t need now or immediately when we fly home is in the air shipment piles.  A lady came by the house to estimate how much space we have to send things back to the U.S. – fingers crossed everything fits!  

So yeah, things are getting real.  

Jay is booking our flights home this week – 95% sure we will catch the Tuesday, Dec 15 flight home.  Woot woot!!

No, we don’t have a house in the U.S. yet.  We aren’t going to be able to take a house hunting trip – not enough time.  So we will be nomads for a bit.  Hoping to find the perfect home shortly after we land.  

No, I don’t have a job yet.  But I am hopeful that something will fall into place soon.  I honestly don’t have the mental capacity to stress about that at the moment.  Too many other details cramming my brain.

Christmas presents (almost all) are ordered and being shipped to the farm.  Check. Check. Check.

Nanny Cam.

The nanny cam must have been broken this week – not many to share.