The Feast of all Feasts

                 Thanksgiving, what can we say...  It is a day of family and eating turkey and stuffing until you feel like a stuffed turkey.  And I  am learning very quickly that Thanksgiving in Australia also involves the added heat and pouring sweat of cooking tons of pies and assorted dishes (that all must be baked in the oven...) in 90 degree weather...  Yes, this american girl is insane... and desperately holding onto a cherished family holiday and tradition at all costs, heat stroke, and stress.  And so with three air conditioners cranked full blast I began cooking on Wednesday for our feast that was to be on Saturday, as everyone in Australia is still working on Thursday...  including yours truly.  And so on Thursday I made two extra pies, one for Mick's coworkers and one for mine. 



The two pies I made for us to take to work, and the cute turkeys Lucy and Es made.



Mick being cute as usual while I made French Silk Pie... I think he likes it...

One of our fridges getting full.



Mick kissing the turkey last year



And kissing the turkey this year.

           So, my Thanksgiving was off to a good start as we got the turkey in the oven with plenty of time to roast before our afternoon feast.  I asked the girls if they would like to help and they all jumped at the chance to help clean the floors... I told them that they were all like Cinderella and I was the wicked step-mother... They liked that :)

Carsey helping to clean the floor before the guests arrive.

Lucy and Taylah helping too.

             Soon everyone had arrived and it was time to make pilgrim and indian hats and eat some yummy veggies and dip while we finished preparing the featst.  The indian hats were by far the most requested as everyone wanted to have a cool hat with feathers!

Taylah digging into the yummy veggies and dip.

Everyone making their hats

Esther told me that she was a turkey...

Esther crying over her dead turkey relative...

Mick showing off all of the food...

Everyone chillaxin... :)

Getting full about now...

Pies!!!

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Everyone digging into their favorite pie... or pies... :D

Yummmmmmmm

yummy

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Getting ready to play some Thanksgiving Bingo!



The girls getting their Bingo prizes from Jeff and Wendy.

Esther with Jeff and Wendy in their matching America shirts.

not long now!

Getting ready for some yummy bangers...

Bobbing for apples

playing "dress your mummy"

Freaky...

Hey guys how you going… good? That’s good.
Well I only have 24 more days of work till we are headed over and
I can’t wait. We have some busy weekends coming up which will make the time go
even quicker. Brookes work Christmas party is in two weeks and then
thanksgiving (what ever that is) and then good bye party for taylah and carsen
and lana.
My work is going good. This time of year things start to slow
down. The year 12s only have 1 week left of school then the following week the
year 11 and 10s finish. What this means for me is that I will have less classes
to teach and more time to clean the tools and make projects for myself.
The attached video is off the girls going crazy while brooke was
at work. It was really cute to see them all having so much fun together.
although half hour later they were all at each other. I hope they only remember
the good times.
We had a Halloween party last weekend. The photos are attached. Lucy
invited 3 friends from school and we had a blast. Brooke did everyones make-up
and costumes and decorations and cooked the best food. We played games and ate
yummy food.
I hope everyone over there is staying safe and planning a happy
thanks giving. We wish we could be with you.
Ok see you all soon.

also this is lucys first painting which she is trying to sell on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OCEANNA-Lucy-Steed-Collection-/140632471657?pt=AU_Paintings&hash=item20be593869

girls dancing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylXQ2OiwhEk

Rainy Weekends

          So a few weeks ago Mick and I once again found ourselves facing an entire weekend with a house full of all five crazy girls... and what was the forcast outside? Rain!  What on earth were we going to do?  Then in a shear stroke of brilliance my wonderful husband remembered the garage full of boxes we had from our recent move and thus our rainy Saturday was filled with Mick and I building a super awesome fort for the kids.  And to be honest I think Mick and I had even more fun than the kids! 

Just getting started

Isn't he soooo cute!?

I love this man.

The girls relaxed while we built our creation...

Super excited!

Esther super happy inside the fort.

Not a Lover Of The Plover....

*Corinne, because I love you dearly as a sister, and I still would love for you to come visit me here, do not read this :)
              So, a few weeks back I learned a difficult lesson.... One I think that was only a matter of time, something I had only heard of but never truly gave much notice (or credibility....)... See as a relatively naive American girl, having grown up in middle-safe USA, far away from the more vicious forms of wildlife that the world can offer... I did not believe, no surely, the things I heard...  And this is where I introduce you to exhibit A.  The very first clue toward what I was bound to learn: 

...yeah...

            Now mind you, the first time I saw this I thought it was pretty funny... Then I thought it was some bizarre, cool trend to look "bad ass" or something... Like when people wear those dog spike collars on their necks... But then I noticed lots of people with these things sticking out of their helmets... People who traditionally aren't too concerned with putting off a "bad ass" vibe... Like grandparents... and cute little children... and overweight, middle-aged men... Hmmm... So I turned to my expert in Aussie lore, tradition, culture, and overall behavior, my dear husband Mick... Now apparently it all has to do with the birds... that's right, the crazy, psychotic, Norman-Bates-Motel- Alfred Hitchcock Birds.  Apparently, there are two main types of birds here in Australia, the magpie and the plover, that are known to be particularly malicious and aggressive if they so much as get annoyed by some innocent passerby... For example, in this case, someone out for an innocent bike ride.  Hence the spikes in every body's helmet.

             After Mick told me this, I honestly must say it was still a bit hard for me to imagine a scared, innocent little bird actually having the nerve to attack a big human... So I moved on... Days passed, I went outside many times, to parks, beaches and saw tons of birds... none of them ever attacked me or even came close.  And so it was that I became lulled into a calm, false sense of security that I carried with me up until a few weeks ago. 

The Plover... In his field.

             And this is where the real story begins:  Now all of you who read my blog are aware that we have recently moved.  Behind our house is an open plot of land that we have discovered is being lorded over by a very possessive plover.  Apparently he is the king of that tiny plot of land.  And more than once our girls have run in screaming, the older ones claiming that the bird was trying to "kill" them, and the youngest one crying her eyes out.  And I admit that when this has happened it has simply annoyed me... that they were being ridiculous and a bit annoying and they should stop scaring poor, little Lana!!  So the other day when Lucy and Esther, who had been in the back yard kicking the soccer ball, came in to tell me that they "lost" their ball and could not get it back, I couldn't help rolling my eyes and laughing when I saw that it was simply in the center of "Plover Field"...  And so feeling a bit annoyed and amused all at once that they were too scared to go get the stupid ball, I very confidently and naively marched on out to get their ball for them and to show them once and for all that there was NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!  ... Hmm...

A picture of the plover haunting me outside our living room window.

                This is what happened instead... As I got closer to the ball I could see that plover starting to get pretty agitated... He was screeching at me and began to swoop around in the air... I was invading his territory and he did NOT like it.  It was just as I was reaching the ball that I began to question my decision.  I looked over at Lucy and Esther who were standing under the porch with a look of horror on their faces.  I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm... I was trying to prove a point after all... um... yeah... But now I could see the shadow over my head of that angry plover and hear his loud screeches getting ever closer and closer.  I had heard of these birds taking out people's eyes and at this point I did not dare question it now to look around at what was happening behind me.  Lucy and Esther however, who were safe under the porch and were able to see the entire horrific scene could no longer remain silent and began shouting things out to me like "run mom! run!".  And yeah, at this point I seriously began to question my judgement, and so I picked up that ball threw it has hard as I could over to the girls and ran for my life.  
                  I am proud to say that I survived my brush with the Plover and have lived to tell the tale.  I have learned my lesson.  Never again will I question the things I learn from my loving husband about this crazy country of his... And now... well, those spikes on the helmet are looking like a brilliant idea...

Moving House!!!

     So, I feel very sorry for how long it has been since my last post... but I have had a good excuse... honest I have!  First of all my new job working as a medical receptionist in an extremly busy clinic has left me with very little time to blog to you all... And if that wasn't enough, over the past month and a half we found out to our great dismay that our current landlords were wanting us to move out so that they could move on in!  So Mick and I began our mad search for a house big enough, spread out enough... with something of a yard for all five of our crazy kids. We had till October 20th before our lease was over and we had to be moved on out... so we were stressed to say the least to find a place, and the right place for our large family. 
           And so it was that this last weekend we finally heard the great news that we got a great place to move into... So this last weekend with the help of the wonderful missionaries (all americans!) and Mick's brother, as well as his absolutly wonderful parents who watched our girls for us so we didn't lose our minds!!! We finally moved out! And into a great, new, beautiful home that I am loving living at more and more each day! And now for your viewing pleasure... here are the pictures!

The girls HAD to take the opportunity to play in the empty truck...

ESTHER!

CARSEN!

LUCY!

TAYLAH!

The wonderful missionaries helping.

Elder Fox says hello...

Our new kitchen full of boxes...

Our grown up sitting area...

Veiw from our back patio.

Mick and Taylah unpacking a box...

Lucy and Carsey making her bed in her new bedroom.