Chasm Schmasm

Hurry Angie! Take the picture, I can't hold it much longer!

A cute picture of my boy.

After dance, lunch and a quick cleaning run through the house (still grossly lacking), we decided to embark on an afternoon adventure...a little outing to Standley Chasm. How exciting! I've wanted to go since I saw the beautiful photos from Fred and Jason's trip a couple of months ago. And of course, this would give me a great opportunity to play the photographer bit myself. You see, I'm trying to learn the tricks of the trade. After being gifted a nice digital Cannon that will let me manually adjust the settings, I've been diligently studying f-stops, shutter speeds and the camera's mechanics. But I haven't really had much opportunity to put it all to the test.

With visions of Fred's lovely photos dancing in my head, I eagerly anticipated the trip. Jason and I discussed ISO settings on the way up. You know Jason, seems to know something about most things, and even though I haven't seen him adjust any camera's settings in the 10+ years we've been together, I wasn't surprised that he knew what he was talking about. And of course he spoke to me with that authoritative voice of knowledgeable teacher speaking to lowly, uneducated student. Men!

Well, let me tell you, I was sorely disappointed. And since denial is a normal state of being for me, I blame the Chasm. And the lighting. And the camera of course. It could never, never be user error! That would be just too depressing!

I took lots of photos of trees (they all looked so cool when I was stumbling past) and plenty of my family's retreating backs (I was too busy constantly adjusting my settings to keep up). None really scream out at me. Most are too dark and the coloring seems a bit off. It's a mix of the overexposed, underexposed and downright uninteresting. But I had fun.

Double click to see the fruits of my labor. No laughing or tsk-ing allowed. Like I said, it wasn't really my fault.

Standley Chasm

Brady Gets Her Ears Pierced

Brady's almost 6 and she finally gets her ears pierced!

Picking out the earrings. Won't even go into how long that took.

Waiting to get the marker (texta) dots to mark the spots.

Janine - she was wonderful.

Here's where they'll go.

More waiting.

More waiting.

What we're waiting for (other than the earrings).

OK, here goes. So very, very brave.

Not so very brave anymore.

Yes, I'm dedicated to the documentation of this monumental event. But that's where the photos stop and Mummy's consolation begins.


And, later that night, the finished product.....

After observing all of this and on the way back to the car:

Gracie: Mom, when will I get my ears pierced?

Me: Maybe next year sweetie. When you're able to take care of them yourself.

Gracie (crying): But I don't want to get my ears pierced!!!

Gracie also refuses to every marry. She doesn't want to have babies. Says it hurts.

What to do on a lazy morning?

My husband cooked for me last night. Well, technically for the children too. But who do you think more appreciated the effort? And it was good. It put us all in a very pleasant mood so we decided to head out for Saturday night mass, even in the nasty rain. Mass was uneventful except for having to cross the alter when all three kids had to go potty. Having the restroom only accessible via the alter puts you in quite a position as a mother. You ask yourself "Do I take them during mass or just let them wet themselves?". Let me tell you, it's a tough decision. At first you kind of disregard the request, as if the whole urge will disappear. Soon though, you have to face facts. Take the bull by the horns and drag those kids up the alter or risk a puddle on the kneeler. Although I've seen people slip back there before, I still feel as though mass will just pause and everyone will stare at us. Or, worse yet, lightning will strike down from the heavens. Oh, and you have to time your flush. Better to do it when the music can drown it out, or else Father Raas' mic will pic it up and amplify it for the entire congregation to hear - just in case some of them missed you slipping up there.

I digress. This post was supposed to be about the fun morning we had since we didn't have to get up and go to church. Mid-morning we were still lounging in our jammies when my neighbor called. She had a couple of kids spend the night last night and was trying to figure out what to do with everyone to kill some time. She came up with face painting. And since I'm not one to be left out, and since I knew she would have coffee on, I crashed the party.

Here are the results.





One of the big kids did Grace's.



And no, I have no idea what kind of water splashing party her kids had to make the mirror behind Grace's head look so disgusting. But I do know she'll kill me if she ever finds out I posted the picture!

And since Jasmine (the big kid) got to paint faces too and none of the little ones could, I decided to do the only right thing. Offer myself up as a kiddie canvas!!!!!!



Yes...I need my roots done. And yes...I need a shower. But don't I look marvelous?

Dumb ol' American

ANZed


If I haven't mentioned it before, I will now. Sometimes living in another country just makes me feel like a Dumb ol' American. I am likely to actually be considered a Dumb ol' American by a lot of people, maybe even some Americans (I know it's hard to imagine - I'm so cool and all). Anyway, things that make me feel stupid? Well, let's see. The metric system. The metric system makes me feel stupid. I know, I know, it's just numbers. But when I start to get all confused (often), I just get flustered (understandable) and I throw the tape measure (or my shoe) at the nearest Australian (or non-metric-challenged individual)and scream "I give up".

The fact that I still find it hard to understand people who are speaking English, that makes me feel stupid. But they talk so fast. And I have this whole hearing issue when there is background noise (no really, it's not just an excuse). I constantly find myself saying things like "I'm Sorry?", "Excuse Me?", "Come Again?". That makes me feel stupid.

The fact that I have no idea what some of their words mean when I do hear what they say, that makes me feel stupid. Like when they tell kids to use their "Textas" (markers) or when that guy needed me to get him a pen and he called it something else (never actually figured out what) and he finally had to use sign language.

Or like when I live her for 9 months, always telling (probably hundreds of) people "You know, right down the street from the ANZ bank." Or "Across from the ANZ". Only to be corrected by my husband one day that it's actually the AN-Zed. They call Z zed here, as do most English speaking countries other than the US (gotta love Wikipedia), and I, being confident of and secure in my alphabet knowledge, was too dimwitted to realize it - FOR 9 MONTHS! That makes me feel stupid.

How embarassing.

Mrs. Wishy Washy

Entertainment News
In the small central Australian town of Alice Springs, Mrs. Smith's Transition class put on a production of Mrs. Wishy Washy today at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College class assembly. Mrs. Wishy Washy is the gripping tale of a cow, a pig and a duck, jumping, rolling and paddling through the mud. Discovered by Mrs. Wishy Washy and wishy washied up, only to jump right back in again. Starring in the pivotal roll of "the cow" was the up and coming star, Brady Cavanagh. As you can see, her performance was riveting. I smell an Oscar.

(Keep an eye out - Brady comes jumping from the left)

Mrs. Wishy Washy

The Definition of Sacrilege

sac·ri·lege
Pronunciation[sak-ruh-lij]
–noun
the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred.



Now before all of our Pats Peeps start getting downright belligerent, let me say that Brady loves, loves, loves this bandanna (aka doo-rag). She wears it on her hair because she has flyaway, static-y stuff and it keeps it out of her eyes. She also wears it on her hair because we won't allow her to wear it as a shirt - yes a shirt - that's how she rolls. We won't allow the shirt because it doesn't actually stay up and soon becomes a skirt - not cool when your 5 year old is running around outside with no shirt and a bandanna around her waist. She also likes to wear it because she know she looks cool.

Now when I wore my Tampa Bay t-shirt (you will remember these are goodies received from our wonderful cheerleader friends when they visited), Jason looked very stern and said (in his voice that brooks no arguments) "You do realize that this will have to stop don't you?" He scared me, he really did. So to keep the same from happening with my sweet little breakable girl, I am tasking the people of Mass. Find us a Pats doo-rag. That way we can get rid of the Bucs doo-doo-rag.

Man I crack myself up!

School Photos

I was too cheap to buy the individual photos. After all, have you seen the prices for these things?!?!? All the students rushing out to their Mums with head shots or sibling photos (yes, they do that too) were so excited. Here come my two with their class pics going "but where is the one of us". Although I know that logically, yes, I can take a better photo than those horrid school shots with weird backgrounds (don't you dare question my abilities!!!!), I also know that having those in a photo album to show their kids one day might be important to them.

The guilt. I'll make a good Catholic.

Oh well, the kids will have to suck it up. They can just work all of it out with their therapist when they're grown.

Brady - 2nd from right, middle row.



Cole - 2nd from right, top row.

It's A Man Thing - Part Deux

"Billy goat terrain" That's what Jason calls the land they trekked to Emily Gap. To walk 4 1/2 miles, it took them 4 1/2 hours. They arrived to meet us sweaty, achy, tired and hungry. Luckily I brought the old picnic staple - Kentucky Fried. Yes we have Kentucky Fried Chicken here and it gives me a source of endless pleasure to see the caricatures of Colonel Sanders on the walls. Makes me feel like I'm stepping into any KFC in the states. One big problem...no Extra Crispy on the menu - only Original Recipe! Just when I thought I could delve into a big bucket o' crispy goodness...

Anyway, I digress. The girls and I stayed for an hour or so to feed our guys. Then we literally dumped all their gear and hit the road - singing about how girls are cool and planning our toenail painting session! Jason called after dark - said he had to walk 2 miles to get reception - gross exaggeration! They were doing fine and would see us at 7:30 am for the pick-up. It got down to 40 last night and I slept (peacefully) with the phone beside the bed just in case they should need rescuing. Turns out they slept pretty peacefully too. They were warm enough - only cold when the had to crawl out of the sleeping bags at the crack of dawn. They ate dried chicken and rice and dried scrambled eggs. Mom (ever the hero) showed up with McDonald's bags in tow. Cole was elated, Jason just irritated. Acting like the food they ate was so yummy and filling - ha - I laugh at this!

Two Person Tent - $250
Tiny, Tiny, Tiny Pocket Size Stove - $35
Dried Meal in a Bag - $10
Male Bonding - Father and Son Style - Priceless

It's A Man Thing

Jason and Cole have been planning a man's trip into the Australian bush since we've arrived. So the other day, I wasn't surprised to find lots of "stuff" (that's a substituted word - but after all, we are a family friendly site) saved in our Amazon account, ready to order for use on the very manly excursion! It included a two person tent, lots of packaged food items (like dried chili mac - bluh!) and another, yes another, stove. This is the third one, but it's different because it will practically fit in your pocket. Just what every family needs!

So today was the day of departure. The men will be hiking about 4 1/2 miles to Emily Gap to camp. Since one of the men is actually a munchkin man, Jason was having a hard time figuring out how he would carry all of the equipment to the Gap. I suggested that they carry a few provisions and the girls and I would meet them there, have a picnic, drop their gear and leave them to scratch and fart their way through the night. Excellent idea (of course women are the true intellectual superiors). Well actually it was Mom's idea upon hearing our frustration - but it was a woman nonetheless.

These are my guys heading out.



A little further now.



Of course about 1 hour into it, Jason calls on the new cell phone (to check that it's working). When asked how far they've gotten he replied (half whispering with a bit of frustration) "Not very far".

Stay tuned for another installment...

Say No to Crack.

Ok I couldn't resist the title or the shot. Sent Thing 3 to time-out. It had gotten too quiet (you know the very loud and noticeable sound of no sound at all). Went to investigate and this is what I found. Nothin' cuter than baby butt!



More butt:



And I better not get any "How could you put this angel in time out?" comments. I can't quite remember exactly what she did but it was a punishable offense.


And we can't be swayed by her innocent looking face. I'm hardened to it...she can't get to me...she'll have to do better than this...those pinchable cheeks won't sway me...


Oh forget it! She's a cute little thing isn't she?!

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

...no wait. That's what little boys are made of. Sugar and spice and everything nice. No wait. That doesn't sound right either. I'm confused. Well it's understandable. Brady after an afternoon of play:

The Good Wife's Guide

I received an email today from Debbie (thanks Debbie for the tips). It was a copy of an actual article published in Good Housekeeping 1955. That's right 1955! Titled "The Good Wife's Guide". Now, those of you who know me well, know that I constantly ask myself "Angie, how can you be a better wife?". Stop laughing. I mean it, stop laughing. So of course, I decided to look the article over, compare it to my habits, and see just where I stand in the Good Wife category.

The instructions were as follows (paraphrased of course):

. Plan well and have a delicious dinner ready when he returns from work.
. Prepare myself (i.e. look your best).
. Be gay and interesting. (After all, his day has probably been boring and it's one of my duties)
. Clear away clutter.
. Prepare the children so they look the part of the little treasures they are. Minimize noise.
. Be happy to see him.
. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in my desire to please him.
. Listen to him and remember his topics of conversation are more important than mine.
. Make the evening his. Don't complain if he's late or goes out after work.
. My goal: Try to make sure my home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where Jason can renew himself in body and spirit.
. Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
. Don't complain if he's late or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
. Make him comfortable in his chair or bed. Bring him a cool or warm drink.
. Arrange his pillow and take off his shoes.
. Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement. He is the master of the house. I have no right to question him.

and lastly,

. A good wife always knows her place.

Now, let's in turn look at the reality that is our household. My very own Good Wife's Guide. Listen up ladies - the times they are a changin!

. When your husband arrives home from a hard day's work and there is nothing cooking or even defrosting, smile sweetly and offer to "let him" run to McDonald's.
. When you haven't even bothered to shower or brush your teeth, just maintain a goodly distance. And, for God's sake, don't breath on him!
. Be a happy, dirty, non-cooking wife.
. Make sure there is no clutter on his recliner, or at the very least, that the clutter is flat so it's not lumpy under his butt when he sits down.
. Make sure that the children understand that their father is the only one who can answer questions regarding computer games and Nintendos. And that he will definitely want to speak them about their issues as soon as he walks in the door. Repeat regularly that "Mom doesn't know anything about those sorts of things".
. Be happy to see him - or at least act like you are.
. Greet him with a warm smile that hides your "I really don't give a crap" attitude.
. Listen to him - who cares if it goes in one ear and out the other. But make sure to interrupt him a lot with random comments - lets him know you have a life of your own to lead after all. Allow children to interrupt at least every 10 - 15 seconds with technical questions (see above) - makes him feel important.
. If your husband is late or goes out after work, feel free to hold it over his head - makes him feel wanted.
. Greet him with all your complaints and problems, implying that he can fix them - makes him feel smart.
. If your husband stays out all night, feel free to cosh him over the head with your 12" cast iron skillet.
. Allow him to sit or lay comfortably amongst the clutter after he fixes his own damn drink.
. Don't worry about taking off his shoes. You don't have to touch his feet. And nobody can make you.
. Question all of his judgments and decisions - makes him feel like he married an intelligent woman.

and lastly,

. A good wife knows her place. Right beside her husband making him miserable. It's our job.

Could Mother's Day Get Any Better?

These are my babies.



And these are my babies.



And on Mother's Day, 5.11.08, my babies were baptised.

These are my babies after baptism. Tired babies.



Our day was beautiful. Mine started at 5:30 to get the house and all of us ready (the day before had been spent, cleaning house, cooking food and decorating the candles). Our day didn't end until we put the kids down at 8:00 last night. We had friends over to celebrate until about 4:00 pm and then we went to the Whitman's house and celebrated some more. As is typical of Alice Springs, we drank numerous bottles of wine and ate, ate, ate. Father Raas and Father Nick joined us also. Father Raas is from Fiji and played guitar and sang a couple of songs in his language! We sang along as best we could (not well mind you)- it was way cool! Check out all pics from our big day.

And yes, my Mother's Day was emotional, overwhelming, beautiful and completely unforgettable. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!

Baptism

Dance, Dance, Dance

Just can't get enough of these! There are 2 - watch them both!

Dance, Dance, Dance

The Bangtail Muster

Bangtail Muster

What a great day! May Day! The kids were out of school for this official Australian holiday but Jason had to work. But I'm sure he felt that being back at work after his two week absence was better than having to help with the pre-school's Bangtail Muster parade float. "Bangtail what?" you ask. The Bangtail Muster. Happy day in Alice Springs! Big parade with lots of wonderfully decorated floats and people. And our pre-school kids (Gracie's class) participated. Of course it was a lot of parental hard work. I co-coordinated with another Mom and, as much fun as it was, we both were very glad when it was over. It was quite a success.

Bangtail Muster originated in Australia as a roundup of cattle where the end of their tail hairs were cut straight across to ensure they had been counted for transportation. Somewhere along the years, the Bangtail Muster evolved into an official holiday in Alice Springs where it has been a favorite May festival for over 25 years - held on May Day. Every year there is a themed parade that winds through the Todd Mall (an outdoor shopping area).

This year's parade theme was "The Australian Work Horse - The Ute". Which as you should know from one of my Christmas posts (if you've been paying attention) the Ute is like a truck. The pre-school also sets a theme of it's own for the kids. This year is International Year of the Potato and we thought it would be great to have a Mr. Potato Head theme. So combined, we came up with the "Spuds Ute" (as you can see on the license plate). It was basically a truck full of potatoes - or should I say Potato Heads.

The Mr. Potato Head hats and the potatoes used for decoration along the float, as well as the stuffed potatoes in the sacks were all made by the pre-schoolers. Pretty good job. We sang to The Wiggles "Hot Potato" song as we rode along. Click on the pick to watch it evolve.

Snakes R' Us

Python

Click on the Alice Springs Reptile Center to see our most recent outing! Highlight of the day was when a Blue Tongue Lizard peed on my hand. My disgust is evident in the picture.

(By the way...we know that Brady's pants are too short. She refuses to let them go and still insists on wearing them. I try to choose my battles wisely.)

New Posts

Please note that there are quite a few new posts. Make sure you read them all!

Out Bush

Ayers Rock

Since Fred (my stepfather) probably won't be returning to Australia, we decided that it was imperative to squeeze in seeing two of the most famous sites in the country, Ayers Rock (Uluru to the Aboriginals) and King's Canyon. Both are within driving distance but, although they look close on the map, are quite a distance. Since Cole hurt his leg, and camping exhausted us, we decided to cut the trip to two nights away. The first was spent at Ayers Rock in a small cabin on with facilities close by, the second was spent in nice little hotel rooms at King's Canyon Resort.

Ayers Rock is a huge rock (not mountain)held sacred by the Aboriginals. What to do there? Well, you look at the rock. You can also take various "walks" around the rock or actually climb the rock if you choose. The aboriginals discourage climbing although it is allowed and there are even chains/ropes to help you up and down. In the pics of AR, towards the end there is a blurry one with little people on top climbing up. It looks to be a scary little climb (I'm afraid of heights). Either way, even if we had wanted to do other things, time would only afford taking in the sunset and sunrise views. Which we took many pictures of. It was truly beautiful and probably would have been quite peaceful if not for our crazy loud kids. Note, in the pictures of sunset, we look disgusting. We had been traveling all day.

Kings Canyon

King's Canyon is like our Grand Canyon only much smaller. We drove in on our second day, and walked the bottom of the canyon. There is also a 3-4 hour rim walk but only Jason and I could have walked it and we didn't have the time. Towards the end of the canyon pictures, you see a pic with people climbing up the steep slope to the rim. Jason wants to go back one day to do it, it makes me a little queasy thinking about it.

At the end of the King's Canyon album are the pics from our drive back home. Now this was absolutely the most exciting part of the trip for me. (I know, I'm crazy) For the first 2 1/2 hours of the drive, we traveled Aboriginal land (had to a purchase a permit) all of which was dirt/gravel road. Talk about a ride. The girls rode in the 1994 4 Runner and the boys in the 2005 Ford F150. Worse yet, the A/C on the 4Runner has been going out. Out of necessity, we led the way home, since open windows on dirt roads behind big trucks spells dirty disaster! The 4Runner rattled until I thought it was going to fall apart. Halfway there I actually had to stop and pee out bush!!!! Talk about an exposing experience - even though it wasn't until the last half hour out that we actually saw another vehicle on the road. The highlight was when we had to stop to let camels and wild horses cross the road! I loved every minute of our roughing it while the boys had a very boring cushy little ride.

Desert Park Pics

Desert Park

We visited the Alice Springs Desert Park. Great place, tells all about the different types of desert and the wildlife of each. These are mostly people pics. There are a couple of Gracie with the map. She became the navigator since the walk was long, hot and boring for her. Celebrated making it through with icy poles in the cafe!