Did you know that every bird that is sitting down in Australia is laying an egg?  It is an amazing and not widely known fact.... Coop cracks me up sometimes. A lot of the time actually.

We have concierges in our building and we have gotten to know each one of them and their personalities. Some are GREAT with the kids others, not so much. Our favourite (here we go with the Australian spelling again) is definitely Darren. He is about 25 with short, dark hair that is spiked a bit on top (this is important momentarily). He is the morning guy and he always greets the kids by name and he humours Cooper with all of his questions and ideas.  We brought him some homemade cookies the other day and he did the whole get super excited for the kids thing. So the other night, Coop got out of the bath and looked in the mirror at his new haircut. His hair was a bit spiked on top and he said, "I look just like Darren!"  Too cute.

Speaking of the building we are living in-- a scary thing happened yesterday. Tuck and I were out on a walk and came back to see the building cordoned off with police tape and tons of police cars and ambulances parked in front.  It turns out someone jumped from one of the windows. I do not know any details, it was very freaky and sad. Really do not want to know any more than that....

On a lighter note, I am making some Chicago style deep dish pizza tonight (thanks for the recipe Karen). I hope, hope it tastes good. I am still trying to find the right ingredients and make the right conversions when cooking.  So far Coop has told me dinner smells like candles and something yucky and something yummy. I am going for the yummy idea.

Tucker is mending slowly. The green elevens are still there and he is still cranky (yes Tucker is cranky), but I think he is getting better. If not, we will head back to the doctor and reassess the situation.

Pizza update- I did not have the right pan so the crust was WAY too thick and did not have much flavor and I did not like the sauce, but the recipe has potential. I am thinking about putting butter in the dough instead of oil- any thoughts?

Doug is off to Singapore again for two weeks so we are going at it alone again, but this time I found a great sitter to help out.  We met her last week and the boys already love her.  I am so happy!

This is kind of a lame blog entry so I am going to end it here. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some excitement for you all to read about.  :)

Did you know that every bird that is sitting down in Australia is laying an egg?  It is an amazing and not widely known fact.... Coop cracks me up sometimes. A lot of the time actually.

We have concierges in our building and we have gotten to know each one of them and their personalities. Some are GREAT with the kids others, not so much. Our favourite (here we go with the Australian spelling again) is definitely Darren. He is about 25 with short, dark hair that is spiked a bit on top (this is important momentarily). He is the morning guy and he always greets the kids by name and he humours Cooper with all of his questions and ideas.  We brought him some homemade cookies the other day and he did the whole get super excited for the kids thing. So the other night, Coop got out of the bath and looked in the mirror at his new haircut. His hair was a bit spiked on top and he said, "I look just like Darren!"  Too cute.

Speaking of the building we are living in-- a scary thing happened yesterday. Tuck and I were out on a walk and came back to see the building cordoned off with police tape and tons of police cars and ambulances parked in front.  It turns out someone jumped from one of the windows. I do not know any details, it was very freaky and sad. Really do not want to know any more than that....

On a lighter note, I am making some Chicago style deep dish pizza tonight (thanks for the recipe Karen). I hope, hope it tastes good. I am still trying to find the right ingredients and make the right conversions when cooking.  So far Coop has told me dinner smells like candles and something yucky and something yummy. I am going for the yummy idea.

Tucker is mending slowly. The green elevens are still there and he is still cranky (yes Tucker is cranky), but I think he is getting better. If not, we will head back to the doctor and reassess the situation.

Pizza update- I did not have the right pan so the crust was WAY too thick and did not have much flavor and I did not like the sauce, but the recipe has potential. I am thinking about putting butter in the dough instead of oil- any thoughts?

Doug is off to Singapore again for two weeks so we are going at it alone again, but this time I found a great sitter to help out.  We met her last week and the boys already love her.  I am so happy!

This is kind of a lame blog entry so I am going to end it here. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some excitement for you all to read about.  :)

Just Call Me Doctor

Noughts and Crosses anyone?  

 Naughts and Crosses is a game we play in the US as well, only we have a different name for it.  Be the first to guess correctly what it is called in the US and win a free, round trip ticket to come see me. 

No Googling allowed folks!!! See contest details below.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Today has been a day of medical wonders in our home.  First, I, Stephanie Whittle, gave Manzie an injection.  Yep, put a needle right into the little dogs neck and pushed!  She didn't even flinch!  I am so proud of myself.  Maybe I should become a veterinarian- just kidding. I suck at science.  :)

On the people side of things we had a rough night last night.  Little Tucker just cried and cried throughout most of the night.  He would sleep for 20 to 30 minutes and then cry for a few minutes from about 11 pm until 5 am.  Poor little thing.  I made an afternoon doctor appointment thinking that we would watch him during the day and see how he did.  Duh, Tucker is always happy even when he is feeling terrible- not a good way to judge how he is feeling.  Anyway, he looked a little funky when he woke up from his nap and the sitter he was with in the am said he seemed off as well. He was also sporting some serious green 11s (thank you Dr. Davies for the terminology).  What is a green 11 you wonder (or maybe not), too icky to describe, but if you just have to know, I will tell you sometime.  The phrase is so gross, but so catchy and descriptive!  Okay, I digressed from the story at hand.  After his nap we headed to see the doctor.  Turns out the little guy's throat was all swollen and red (no wonder he does not want to eat).   So a prescription, a smoothie (for his throat) and a taxi ride later, we were back at home.  Poor kid spiked a fever but was still as happy as a clam!  Guess we can all learn something from him, huh?

Hoping for a quiet, non-medical evening.  As you can imagine I am a just a wee bit tired.  I just got Coop to bed and will now get the dogs settled in for the night and go to sleep myself.

Sweet dreams all!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Contest details: Ha! Just kidding.

 Did you figure it out???

This is just a sneaky way to get you all to COMMENT on my blog so I know that 

someone out there besides my mom is reading it. 

Hee. 

Just Call Me Doctor

Noughts and Crosses anyone?  

 Naughts and Crosses is a game we play in the US as well, only we have a different name for it.  Be the first to guess correctly what it is called in the US and win a free, round trip ticket to come see me. 

No Googling allowed folks!!! See contest details below.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Today has been a day of medical wonders in our home.  First, I, Stephanie Whittle, gave Manzie an injection.  Yep, put a needle right into the little dogs neck and pushed!  She didn't even flinch!  I am so proud of myself.  Maybe I should become a veterinarian- just kidding. I suck at science.  :)

On the people side of things we had a rough night last night.  Little Tucker just cried and cried throughout most of the night.  He would sleep for 20 to 30 minutes and then cry for a few minutes from about 11 pm until 5 am.  Poor little thing.  I made an afternoon doctor appointment thinking that we would watch him during the day and see how he did.  Duh, Tucker is always happy even when he is feeling terrible- not a good way to judge how he is feeling.  Anyway, he looked a little funky when he woke up from his nap and the sitter he was with in the am said he seemed off as well. He was also sporting some serious green 11s (thank you Dr. Davies for the terminology).  What is a green 11 you wonder (or maybe not), too icky to describe, but if you just have to know, I will tell you sometime.  The phrase is so gross, but so catchy and descriptive!  Okay, I digressed from the story at hand.  After his nap we headed to see the doctor.  Turns out the little guy's throat was all swollen and red (no wonder he does not want to eat).   So a prescription, a smoothie (for his throat) and a taxi ride later, we were back at home.  Poor kid spiked a fever but was still as happy as a clam!  Guess we can all learn something from him, huh?

Hoping for a quiet, non-medical evening.  As you can imagine I am a just a wee bit tired.  I just got Coop to bed and will now get the dogs settled in for the night and go to sleep myself.

Sweet dreams all!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Contest details: Ha! Just kidding.

 Did you figure it out???

This is just a sneaky way to get you all to COMMENT on my blog so I know that 

someone out there besides my mom is reading it. 

Hee. 

Another Day at the Park

We went back to Rushcutter's Park today. The weather was perfect- sunny skies and about 60 degrees. We took the bus there and the kids ran right to the park.  Tucker is actually really fast!  You would think that big noggin of his would make it difficult.  :)

When we got there the first thing Cooper noticed was that they had added a new piece of play equipment- a blue, bouncy motorboat. Both boys hopped right in for a ride.  Then Tucker took off to explore other parts of the playground.

Cooper spent most of the time we were at the pack finding "problems" with the equipment and "repairing" them as you can see in the photo below.

Tucker played hard for a while, but then found his own niche (not sure if that is the right word)- he found things that were wrong or misplaced and made them right.  The first thing he did was approach a little one whose toy had fallen over. Tucker walked over, stood it upright and then knelt by the boy and watched how the toy worked. Then he was on his way.  He also found two different stuffed animals and quickly returned them to their rightful owner.  I was impressed. I thought he would just take them and play with them or just walk right by. Then again, this is the kid that says, "Uh oh." throughout the grocery store whilst (Aussie for while) pointing at all the things that are out of place or have fallen on the floor. Come to think of it, Coop did the same thing...

The cockatoos and magpies were out and about at the park.  I am still amazed and in awe of these birds. The sounds they make and the "design" of their feathers and other features are just beautiful. I wonder if seeing these birds will ever become ho-hum and we will stop noticing them.  My mom always asks me if I ever got "used to" the beauty of Mt. Rainier when it was "out" and the answer is no so hopefully the same will be true of the birds down under.

Another Day at the Park

We went back to Rushcutter's Park today. The weather was perfect- sunny skies and about 60 degrees. We took the bus there and the kids ran right to the park.  Tucker is actually really fast!  You would think that big noggin of his would make it difficult.  :)

When we got there the first thing Cooper noticed was that they had added a new piece of play equipment- a blue, bouncy motorboat. Both boys hopped right in for a ride.  Then Tucker took off to explore other parts of the playground.

Cooper spent most of the time we were at the pack finding "problems" with the equipment and "repairing" them as you can see in the photo below.

Tucker played hard for a while, but then found his own niche (not sure if that is the right word)- he found things that were wrong or misplaced and made them right.  The first thing he did was approach a little one whose toy had fallen over. Tucker walked over, stood it upright and then knelt by the boy and watched how the toy worked. Then he was on his way.  He also found two different stuffed animals and quickly returned them to their rightful owner.  I was impressed. I thought he would just take them and play with them or just walk right by. Then again, this is the kid that says, "Uh oh." throughout the grocery store whilst (Aussie for while) pointing at all the things that are out of place or have fallen on the floor. Come to think of it, Coop did the same thing...

The cockatoos and magpies were out and about at the park.  I am still amazed and in awe of these birds. The sounds they make and the "design" of their feathers and other features are just beautiful. I wonder if seeing these birds will ever become ho-hum and we will stop noticing them.  My mom always asks me if I ever got "used to" the beauty of Mt. Rainier when it was "out" and the answer is no so hopefully the same will be true of the birds down under.

I'm Back and Blogging Again

Haven't been much in the mood to blog lately. Well, I also haven't had a computer for a few days. It seems my hard drive was "no longer able to mount." I know that is not a good thing, but the terminology is so wrong! Anyway, my computer basically froze and wouldn't do a thing so I headed over to the Apple Store to talk with one of the "geniuses."  The guy was a genius. He did all kinds of fancy stuff (to no avail) and then told me the hard drive had to be replaced and I may not get any of my data back, but he would try. Holy #@#%! That would have meant I lost the last 5+ years of photos the most important ones being of the boys. I know some of you are asking- well, weren't they backed up and all I will say to that is no.  Let's leave it at that, okay?  They called later that day and said they were able to retrieve my photos, music and documents.  Thank goodness!  I now have a new hard drive that I assume is mounting away and all my sweet memories.  Actually, I have all my photos times 3.  When I put all my photos back into iPhoto I ended up with 3 copies of each photo plus a gazillion copies of each photo cropped. No clue what happened. At this point don't really care. Better to have 3 copies of each than none of any of them. How is that for a positive attitude?  :)  Needless to say, I will be doing some serious backing up (and deleting for that matter) over the next few days (unless any of you geniuses know how to easily get rid of all those duplicates).

On Saturday night we walked over to Winter Fest which is going on a few blocks from here. Basically they have recreated a Swiss village and put in an ice skating rink.  It seems so strange that it IS winter, but not really because the weather is so mild.  It was really a very tame "fest," but the boys like watching the skaters and it was a beautiful night to be outside.

I

Coop is having a blast at swim lessons. When he stops, listens and concentrates he can do amazing things, but I must keep reminding myself that he is not even 5 yet and playing around in the water when the teacher is talking is not unusual at all-- right Teacher Anne????

We attended a music class today.  We took a bus to community center in Paddington (a neighbourhood of Sydney, I guess) where we joined a class called, "Shake, Wriggle and Roll." The first class was a freebie to see if we liked it.  Well, the kids liked it alright.  Tucker danced the whole time with a HUGE smile on his face and Coop just loved every part of it. I think he also liked being the older kid. All the others but one were Tuck's age.  The teacher was great (no Melissa tho'). She has a beautiful voice, is very knowledgable (musically speaking) and had a great manner with the kids. When the class was over Coops turned to me and said, "Is it over already?" He was just gearing up for more and all the little ones were DONE!  I am hoping we can sign up and go again, but like everything else here it is not cheap. We will see. It was great for me too to see other moms and kids in a small setting.  It felt very comfortable.

Manzie's age is beginning to show.  She has arthritis in both her back hips and she is limping around quite a bit. It is really heart-breaking.  I am really hoping that the injections we began last week will help her.  Despite her pain, she is still able to get up and down from the couch and sit under our chairs at dinner and beg for food...

Oh, look what Tucker made today.  Some of you may not be overly impressed, but you educators out there know that this is a developmental milestone.  And, when he was done he pointed at it and said, "Ta-da!"

Can't think of much else that is happening down here.  We are just going along day by day and making the best of it all.

I "made" this shirt for Coop (from his favourite show)

Boys watching tv together

Okay, strange thing happened in this post- my computer now knows Australian!  I tried to spell "neighborhood" and "favorite," but it insisted I was wrong!!  It made me spell them "neighbourhood" and "favourite."  That is a little creepy to me....

I'm Back and Blogging Again

Haven't been much in the mood to blog lately. Well, I also haven't had a computer for a few days. It seems my hard drive was "no longer able to mount." I know that is not a good thing, but the terminology is so wrong! Anyway, my computer basically froze and wouldn't do a thing so I headed over to the Apple Store to talk with one of the "geniuses."  The guy was a genius. He did all kinds of fancy stuff (to no avail) and then told me the hard drive had to be replaced and I may not get any of my data back, but he would try. Holy #@#%! That would have meant I lost the last 5+ years of photos the most important ones being of the boys. I know some of you are asking- well, weren't they backed up and all I will say to that is no.  Let's leave it at that, okay?  They called later that day and said they were able to retrieve my photos, music and documents.  Thank goodness!  I now have a new hard drive that I assume is mounting away and all my sweet memories.  Actually, I have all my photos times 3.  When I put all my photos back into iPhoto I ended up with 3 copies of each photo plus a gazillion copies of each photo cropped. No clue what happened. At this point don't really care. Better to have 3 copies of each than none of any of them. How is that for a positive attitude?  :)  Needless to say, I will be doing some serious backing up (and deleting for that matter) over the next few days (unless any of you geniuses know how to easily get rid of all those duplicates).

On Saturday night we walked over to Winter Fest which is going on a few blocks from here. Basically they have recreated a Swiss village and put in an ice skating rink.  It seems so strange that it IS winter, but not really because the weather is so mild.  It was really a very tame "fest," but the boys like watching the skaters and it was a beautiful night to be outside.

I

Coop is having a blast at swim lessons. When he stops, listens and concentrates he can do amazing things, but I must keep reminding myself that he is not even 5 yet and playing around in the water when the teacher is talking is not unusual at all-- right Teacher Anne????

We attended a music class today.  We took a bus to community center in Paddington (a neighbourhood of Sydney, I guess) where we joined a class called, "Shake, Wriggle and Roll." The first class was a freebie to see if we liked it.  Well, the kids liked it alright.  Tucker danced the whole time with a HUGE smile on his face and Coop just loved every part of it. I think he also liked being the older kid. All the others but one were Tuck's age.  The teacher was great (no Melissa tho'). She has a beautiful voice, is very knowledgable (musically speaking) and had a great manner with the kids. When the class was over Coops turned to me and said, "Is it over already?" He was just gearing up for more and all the little ones were DONE!  I am hoping we can sign up and go again, but like everything else here it is not cheap. We will see. It was great for me too to see other moms and kids in a small setting.  It felt very comfortable.

Manzie's age is beginning to show.  She has arthritis in both her back hips and she is limping around quite a bit. It is really heart-breaking.  I am really hoping that the injections we began last week will help her.  Despite her pain, she is still able to get up and down from the couch and sit under our chairs at dinner and beg for food...

Oh, look what Tucker made today.  Some of you may not be overly impressed, but you educators out there know that this is a developmental milestone.  And, when he was done he pointed at it and said, "Ta-da!"

Can't think of much else that is happening down here.  We are just going along day by day and making the best of it all.

I "made" this shirt for Coop (from his favourite show)

Boys watching tv together

Okay, strange thing happened in this post- my computer now knows Australian!  I tried to spell "neighborhood" and "favorite," but it insisted I was wrong!!  It made me spell them "neighbourhood" and "favourite."  That is a little creepy to me....

Music of Australia

Before I begin this post- did you know that emu eggs are GREEN?  Totally random, I know, but Coop and I discovered this tidbit today and were so amazed.  Cheap thrills, I know.... Hey, thrills have to be cheap down here considering how damn expensive everything else is!  Ha, ha. I crack myself up.  Just kidding.

Anyway, on to the real post.



Before we left of AU, I gathered a bunch of children's books about Australia, the people here and the animals. I hung pictures of the sites we would see here around the house, purchased videos and posted a map of AU on the walls.  We read the books, looked at the maps, watched the videos and talked about the photos, but the one thing I didn't do was play the music.  For some reason that slipped my mind completely. Fortunately, a lot of the folk music is music we are exposed to in the States- Waltzing Matilda, Kookaburra Song etc.  So my latest quest has been to gather music to play for the kids.  I bought a children's cd online called, Australian Songs for Kids (not so good) and pulled together all the songs I had in my itunes collection.  I bought a copy of the book, Waltzing Matilda (with cd) and have been searching high and low for a copy of the Kookaburra Song in book form.  So hard to find. I think I will make my own.  

Tucker absolutely loves the Kookaburra Song.  We have seen a few of them at wildlife parks and at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Whenever he sees a photo or drawing of a Kookaburra he sings, "bub bub" and he sways back and forth.  We found a postcard with a Kookaburra on it today and he had to have it. He has been carrying it around all day. He even "fed" it at lunch and dinner time. I think I have sung the song at least a dozen times today.  Cooper loves to sing the song too.  Tucker gets a big kick out of the fact that Coop can sing the whole thing. Here is Coop's version of the song:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Merry, merry kingdom of the bush is he

Laugh Kookaburra! Laugh Kookaburra!

Aye your life must be.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Eating all the gum nuts he can see

Stop Kookaburra! Stop Kookaburra!

Aye your life must be.

(note: "aye" rhymes with "gay")

Interestingly enough, we stumbled upon a few new verses that we didn't know. Some are fine and others are really meant for the slightly older child.  This is the third verse some of you may or may not know about:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Counting all the monkeys he can see

Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!

That's not a monkey, that's me!

This is one of the verses we found that is, shall we say, interesting, at best. Use at your own discretion. 

Coop loved it of course....

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail

Gets a boo-boo on his tail

Cry Kookaburra! Cry Kookaburra!

Oh how life can be.

Waltzing Matilda is another Australian classic or "bush ballad." I think we all know the tune, but did 

you know that it is the unofficial national anthem of Australia? Yup, it is. I always thought that matilda was a lady. Come on, fess up, you did too. Actually, the word matilda is a swag or bedroll that is carriedon one’s back. It is also slang for something that has been stolen. So basically the song tells the story of a swagman (a man who travels the countryside with his swag and survives by doing odd jobs or 

begging), making tea at a bush camp and capturing a jumbuck (sheep) to eat. When the sheep's owner 

arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft, the worker commits suicide by 

drowning himself in the nearby watering hole, and then goes on to haunt the site. Nice uplifting song, 

huh? 

Ah, once again the teacher in me comes out. I prepared my kids for this adventure the way I would 

prepare to teach my class. Now on to the next lesson!

PS Something funky is going on with my formatting- sorry about that....