It's easier for me to be motivated when I have a goal to obtain. I can't help it, I have always been this way for as long as I can remember. Making a sports team, earning a starting spot on that team, getting into college, getting the guy, losing the weight, getting the job,saving up for something I want really really bad....if I have the goal in sight even if at first it doesn't seem possible I will work my ass off to accomplish it because I do not like failure and I don't like to admit that I gave up on something.
I have put off taking care of me for too long. My body is not anything like it used to be. My knees have been taking over by arthritis that can tell you when the weather is about to change simply by allowing or not allowing me to get up and down off the floor with my kids. Years upon years worth of running the court and banging around with sports have left my ankles weak and since I graduated college I have been diagnosed with crazy asthma that has me sucking wind with aerobic workouts or hot humid days if my super cool inhaler is not in my bag. But this is finally my time. I may be 31 but I deserve to feel good about this mom bod. I have been weight training during Logan's nap time in my living room and running in the evenings when Jerrod gets home. I started at 2.5 miles and have worked up to a full 5k at 3.2 miles in just over 6 weeks. My body is feeling better, I am feeling better and I am actually proud of myself. Sure my 5k is nothing like it used to be...but that was also at quite literally half my age. I no longer push my body to the max past my limit, I no longer need to pass out at the finish line or puke my guts out 2/3 through a course, I know my body, I know my limits. My current mantra when I'm running and I feel like I'm running out of steam "your not that old. You. Are. Not. That. Old. You are not old!" This seems to push me through. Keep in mind my playlist relays heavily on the best of 2000s pop genre, add in some j-lo remixes, basement jaxx, a little 90s hip hop with a casual pop punk song and you find my rhythm. My love of running has been restored! It's something that can't be taken from me, as long as my legs work I will get them moving. I want to do a 10k, I will slowly add in more distance now that I have a solid 5k down. I told my sister in law we have 18months until we can run the half marathon at Disney (my favorite place on earth!) She is a casual runner as well so I think an 18 month training plan is completely do able. Once again, it all comes down to goals and willing to put in the work. I now look forward to my evening runs. The weather is finally a cool 75 at 6:45pm and the street lights line most every road of this quaint town. I take the time to check out. I put on my tunes and just go, my only concentration is on the little voice occasionally telling me my mile markers so I know where to turn around or how much further I have. If I can do it anyone can do it, and since the world revolves around social media (hey if I didn't post it it didn't happen,right?) this is where I'm stating my goal. If I forget later on in months to come anyone can now remind me why I'm doing it; it's for myself, because we are never too old to make goals no matter how big or how small they may be.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Monday, May 1, 2017
Catch Up Please
I cant believe it has been so long since my last post....and lets just say us SMITHS have been very busy. Let's do a fun short recap of our adventures since mid march.
My sister in law Jessica and her partner came to visit us down under! It was awesome to have a familiar face and even better that it was part of the family.
During the visit we swam with whale sharks; which obviously I survived! wahoo I did not get devoured in the ocean. The down side is that 3 out of 4 of us got wicked sea sick and tapped out of the last 3 swims.
We flew down to Perth and stayed on our first air b&b. Jerrod and Jessica ran a 10k around the commercial business district. We went to a zoo and snuggled koalas and wombats and saw many other very cool animals. We visited Ferrel Brewery in Swan River Valley. We rented cars and drove south (which we learned Addison gets car sick in 4 door cars as she barfed twice) to the Busselton Jetty and walked out to sea about 1 1/4 miles and rode a cute little train back on the pier. We continued the trip down south all the way to Margaret River where we stayed at Taunton Family Holiday Park. It was a cozy little fully equipped cabin where the kids could feed the farm animals dinner, we had bon fires and BBQs at night. We visited several winery's and brewery's, the chocolate factory, a dairy that made homemade ice cream right from the cows outsid
e the door and Addison even got to go cave exploring with her aunt one day. After 4 days we headed back north to Perth where we stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast before saying good byes and parting ways with our company and they headed back to NY and us to Exmouth.
Next on the adventure list was my trip to Coral Bay. My best mates and I decided we would do a coral bay trip (hour and a half south along the reef) the last week of vacation for the 6 kids. Since we still do not have my van on the road (yes we are going on 10 months!) My friend so graciously threw me in her drivers seat while she drove another vehicle and I drove all the way to coral bay! I was in an Australian car, on the opposite side of the road and lets remember I have not driven in 9 months so this was kind of a big deal. Luckily I only set off the wipers twice going for my turn signal, but we made it safe and sound and I was relaxed and feeling great in the drivers seat after the first 20 minutes. Coral Bay was gorgeous! It is a town about the third size of Exmouth but is pretty much just a caravan park and a hotel resort. White sandy bay, palm trees and tourist shops, it was like a tropical vacation away from our tropical town.
We have finally taken out our brand spankin new instant tent! it literally takes 5 minutes to get it up and holds 9 people, I thought it would be too big at first but after we got our air mattresses and all our stuff inside i'm glad we went with what we went with. We opted out putting the rain fly on as the chances of it raining ever are about 1 in 90 and we were so glad we made that decision. once we got snuggled in with each designated child we gazed at the bright stars and the milky way right above us in our full ceiling sky light.
My son turned 3 and I threw him a pretty roartastic dinosaur bash party. I was pretty proud of myself.
Lo has also
started potty training, this is the 3rd attempt in 9 months and it finally clicked. The day after he turned 3 he was just suddenly ready and I couldn't be happier, and he seems to be happier too. After a short 3 weeks hes already able to tell me when he needs to go so we can get him to the potty. He did get a little confused after his first poop where he turned around and asked why a hot dog was in his potty! It was pretty priceless as he was very serious and confused at the same time.
Ok, so although there is so much more that has happened I really don't want to bore you to death.
My attempt to update a little more frequent starts....NOW
My sister in law Jessica and her partner came to visit us down under! It was awesome to have a familiar face and even better that it was part of the family.
 |
| Busselton Jetty |
We flew down to Perth and stayed on our first air b&b. Jerrod and Jessica ran a 10k around the commercial business district. We went to a zoo and snuggled koalas and wombats and saw many other very cool animals. We visited Ferrel Brewery in Swan River Valley. We rented cars and drove south (which we learned Addison gets car sick in 4 door cars as she barfed twice) to the Busselton Jetty and walked out to sea about 1 1/4 miles and rode a cute little train back on the pier. We continued the trip down south all the way to Margaret River where we stayed at Taunton Family Holiday Park. It was a cozy little fully equipped cabin where the kids could feed the farm animals dinner, we had bon fires and BBQs at night. We visited several winery's and brewery's, the chocolate factory, a dairy that made homemade ice cream right from the cows outsid
e the door and Addison even got to go cave exploring with her aunt one day. After 4 days we headed back north to Perth where we stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast before saying good byes and parting ways with our company and they headed back to NY and us to Exmouth.
Next on the adventure list was my trip to Coral Bay. My best mates and I decided we would do a coral bay trip (hour and a half south along the reef) the last week of vacation for the 6 kids. Since we still do not have my van on the road (yes we are going on 10 months!) My friend so graciously threw me in her drivers seat while she drove another vehicle and I drove all the way to coral bay! I was in an Australian car, on the opposite side of the road and lets remember I have not driven in 9 months so this was kind of a big deal. Luckily I only set off the wipers twice going for my turn signal, but we made it safe and sound and I was relaxed and feeling great in the drivers seat after the first 20 minutes. Coral Bay was gorgeous! It is a town about the third size of Exmouth but is pretty much just a caravan park and a hotel resort. White sandy bay, palm trees and tourist shops, it was like a tropical vacation away from our tropical town.
 |
| sunset at osprey bay camping |
 |
| osprey bay camping trip |
My son turned 3 and I threw him a pretty roartastic dinosaur bash party. I was pretty proud of myself.Lo has also
started potty training, this is the 3rd attempt in 9 months and it finally clicked. The day after he turned 3 he was just suddenly ready and I couldn't be happier, and he seems to be happier too. After a short 3 weeks hes already able to tell me when he needs to go so we can get him to the potty. He did get a little confused after his first poop where he turned around and asked why a hot dog was in his potty! It was pretty priceless as he was very serious and confused at the same time.
Ok, so although there is so much more that has happened I really don't want to bore you to death.
My attempt to update a little more frequent starts....NOW
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Mums day out!
Today was a day where I cast my cares to the wind and headed for total relaxation...ok not quite...but pretty darn close! The husband was off today and graciously accepted the offer of watching our 2 year old son and his best friend (another little 2 year old girl) so that me and her her mum and another dear friend could hit the Oyster Stacks for some much needed snorkeling around the west side on the reef. I have never been to this location, and I have only been out snorkeling twice, both times being in the last month.today we arrived at this spot and the wind was blowing pretty strong, it is by far one of the most popular snorkeling spots as the water never gets too high because of the reef and because of that no really big fish can get in so the little cute fish,rays,turtles etc. can live and relax and not fear about big bad fish (i.e. Sharks) so it made me feel much more at ease as well. The girls just got done telling me this; as they know my fear and as we walk down over the rocks to get ourselves in the water what should we see at our ankles swimming around but a baby reef shark about the length from my fingers to my elbow. Next to him 2 blue leopard printed rays. This little baby shark just wouldn't leave us alone, he kept following us like a little puppy dog. We finally lost him once we got out. The fish we saw were remarkable. The colors, the shapes....they were like nothing I had ever seen before and they were everywhere! Am I really living here? Sometimes I have to remind myself where we are. After our hour snorkel and a quick ice cream treat on the way home us mummy's headed home to our kiddos.
This evening Jerrod and I loaded up the kiddos and headed down to the marina to check out the Game Ex weigh ins. Game Ex is a super massive fishing tournament held here every year, people come from all over to it. In the evenings the fishermen bring in the fish to weigh and display them, then there are filleting demonstrations with the fish just weighed in and then we get to take home what they filleted up! We brought home about 2 lbs of yellow fin tuna (which we grilled tonight yummmm) and about 3 lbs of Spanish mackerel (I see fish and chips in my near future!)
Overall great day!
This evening Jerrod and I loaded up the kiddos and headed down to the marina to check out the Game Ex weigh ins. Game Ex is a super massive fishing tournament held here every year, people come from all over to it. In the evenings the fishermen bring in the fish to weigh and display them, then there are filleting demonstrations with the fish just weighed in and then we get to take home what they filleted up! We brought home about 2 lbs of yellow fin tuna (which we grilled tonight yummmm) and about 3 lbs of Spanish mackerel (I see fish and chips in my near future!)
Overall great day!
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
A home for critters
So the good news, yes the good news is that we got a call two days ago letting us know our van was in exmouth (6 month transit exactly). It had been here for several weeks but it did not come with any paper work so no one knew who it belonged to. Some more good news, only seven large dents and chips taken out of my relatively new hood as I had just got a new one on last January from the ass that hit us on Christmas 2015. Now the bad news, are you ready for this? At some point in this trip someone responsible for our vehicle decided to get in and roll all our windows down. Yep you heard me right. And guess what, when I opened the back door to the van I could see dirty black animal prints all over the floor that led to the back where.... wait for it.....we lifted up the third row seats that had been down and sure enough there was evidence of a critter living in our van! The entire carpet is soiled in brownish dark yellow substance....something has been relieving itself and sleeping in it and my god it is a nasty sight. Since the windows were down for who knows how long the entire car is BLACK with grime, dirt, dust and who knows what else....I won't even sit in the front seat because of the condition. It does run though. I had to go buy a battery for the keyless entry control....but it does drive. I am so saddened that someone treated our vehicle this way.
I keep going back to the golden rule in my head as to treating others how you want to be treated. I don't think they teach that anymore, or else the hurtful and hateful words I see in facebook posts wouldn't be typed and people would take care of each other and each others belongings better.
As I'm sure some of you are wondering what we are going to do, we have already contacted the embassy which will start the claim process and we will go from there. I am sad, but there is nothing we can do.... better the car to have gotten damaged on this journey than one of us....after all it is something that (fingers crossed) CAN and WILL be fixed.
I keep going back to the golden rule in my head as to treating others how you want to be treated. I don't think they teach that anymore, or else the hurtful and hateful words I see in facebook posts wouldn't be typed and people would take care of each other and each others belongings better.
As I'm sure some of you are wondering what we are going to do, we have already contacted the embassy which will start the claim process and we will go from there. I am sad, but there is nothing we can do.... better the car to have gotten damaged on this journey than one of us....after all it is something that (fingers crossed) CAN and WILL be fixed.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
End of the Year thoughts.
Well, we survived a hot Christmas where the temperature reached around 110 F. I wouldn't really know since we never laid foot outside (the children refused the beach; they wanted to play with all the new toys and I don't really blame them) but my sister gave my husband a new indoor outdoor thermometer so we can see the temperature rise before we head out. We spent most of our Christmas morning face timing with family and opening presents in front of the ipad. YAY for technology!
The tree is now bare underneath which is the saddest sight. It looks so empty without the brightly covered presents. The anticipation and build up of the holiday is amazing and then just like that it is over and we wait a whole 364 days until the next one. For the days following Christmas I feel a little lost. How long after Christmas is it acceptable to keep listening to Pandora Christmas channel, or watching Christmas specials on DVD and Netflix? As you know from previous posts I do love my Christmas, but at what point do you hit the pause button on Christmas until the following November? Most people say New Years, I would normally say longer but this year is slightly different for me. In the states at our previous homes we have snow through march, so as long as its snowing and you can drink hot cocoa to me it's relevant to keep up the holiday cheer. This year was a little bit harder for me to get into the spirit. It could have been the 100 degree temps. It could have been the beach days before and after the big day on the 25th. It could have been the lack of Christmas lights in the town (although the ones we did see were pretty amazing). It could have been the lack of Christmas get togethers and parties; but most likely it was knowing that our family and friends were on the other side of the earth. I went through the motions for the kids, but truly honestly it was hard. Christmas Eve service was amazing, we found a little church since our church didn't do eve service and attended that. It was a good reminder of what Christmas is all about. Addison helped make our annual 'birthday cake for Jesus' as our Christmas day dessert, but this year was just harder than others. It hasn't quite been a week and I look around and i'm feeling anxious to get the house in order and back to its usual look. I usually have to fight with Jerrod to let me keep the tree up a month longer, or to keep my winter dishes out until valentines day; but i'v been slowly already gathering odds and ends to be packed up.
My big job for the holidays is over; giving the kids the best holiday and Christmas season that I could give. As long as it was over the moon fantastic for them then I achieved my parental goal. My daughter told me it was the best Christmas ever, so i'm thinking I achieved that.
Now onto New Years. At the end of this month we are officially a quarter through our time here in Australia. Mind Blown. I don't want to wish it away, we are having a great time discovering this amazing country and are anxious to take our road trip down south at some point in the new year, but I am even more anxious to see my family again. To sit on my moms deck on a warm day and just chat, to snuggle my kitty in bed, to take my dog for a walk on a beautiful fall day in the leaves and of course take the 4 munchkins to our yearly trip to Storyland (maybe more by the time I get home ::winking at sister::)
I'm thinking about it like this. Only one more Christmas apart. Only one more Halloween and Thanksgiving apart. When I think about it like that it makes it easier. Time goes by so fast. I don't want to wish away this once in a life time experience. I just wish I could fly everyone out here so they can experience it with me! Anyways, that is what is on my mind today.
I don't really believe in New Years resolutions as no one really keeps them after February anyways. The gyms will get over crowded for about a month and half and the salad bars won't be able to keep up with demand but by March everyone reverts back to the way they functioned pre new years. But what I will do is hope to achieve some pretty realistic goals. Continue to stay positive on this adventure down under. To try and take advantage of experiences that I feel comfortable doing that I will never be able to do again. Travel and see more of this country. Keep raising my children to be fearless, adventuress and kind hearted human beings.
What are some of the promises you will make to yourself for the New Year?
Talk to you all in January
The tree is now bare underneath which is the saddest sight. It looks so empty without the brightly covered presents. The anticipation and build up of the holiday is amazing and then just like that it is over and we wait a whole 364 days until the next one. For the days following Christmas I feel a little lost. How long after Christmas is it acceptable to keep listening to Pandora Christmas channel, or watching Christmas specials on DVD and Netflix? As you know from previous posts I do love my Christmas, but at what point do you hit the pause button on Christmas until the following November? Most people say New Years, I would normally say longer but this year is slightly different for me. In the states at our previous homes we have snow through march, so as long as its snowing and you can drink hot cocoa to me it's relevant to keep up the holiday cheer. This year was a little bit harder for me to get into the spirit. It could have been the 100 degree temps. It could have been the beach days before and after the big day on the 25th. It could have been the lack of Christmas lights in the town (although the ones we did see were pretty amazing). It could have been the lack of Christmas get togethers and parties; but most likely it was knowing that our family and friends were on the other side of the earth. I went through the motions for the kids, but truly honestly it was hard. Christmas Eve service was amazing, we found a little church since our church didn't do eve service and attended that. It was a good reminder of what Christmas is all about. Addison helped make our annual 'birthday cake for Jesus' as our Christmas day dessert, but this year was just harder than others. It hasn't quite been a week and I look around and i'm feeling anxious to get the house in order and back to its usual look. I usually have to fight with Jerrod to let me keep the tree up a month longer, or to keep my winter dishes out until valentines day; but i'v been slowly already gathering odds and ends to be packed up.
My big job for the holidays is over; giving the kids the best holiday and Christmas season that I could give. As long as it was over the moon fantastic for them then I achieved my parental goal. My daughter told me it was the best Christmas ever, so i'm thinking I achieved that.
Now onto New Years. At the end of this month we are officially a quarter through our time here in Australia. Mind Blown. I don't want to wish it away, we are having a great time discovering this amazing country and are anxious to take our road trip down south at some point in the new year, but I am even more anxious to see my family again. To sit on my moms deck on a warm day and just chat, to snuggle my kitty in bed, to take my dog for a walk on a beautiful fall day in the leaves and of course take the 4 munchkins to our yearly trip to Storyland (maybe more by the time I get home ::winking at sister::)
I'm thinking about it like this. Only one more Christmas apart. Only one more Halloween and Thanksgiving apart. When I think about it like that it makes it easier. Time goes by so fast. I don't want to wish away this once in a life time experience. I just wish I could fly everyone out here so they can experience it with me! Anyways, that is what is on my mind today.
I don't really believe in New Years resolutions as no one really keeps them after February anyways. The gyms will get over crowded for about a month and half and the salad bars won't be able to keep up with demand but by March everyone reverts back to the way they functioned pre new years. But what I will do is hope to achieve some pretty realistic goals. Continue to stay positive on this adventure down under. To try and take advantage of experiences that I feel comfortable doing that I will never be able to do again. Travel and see more of this country. Keep raising my children to be fearless, adventuress and kind hearted human beings.
What are some of the promises you will make to yourself for the New Year?
Talk to you all in January
Sunday, December 18, 2016
A Little Christmas Nostalgia
It is officially one week from Christmas and I'm feeling nostalgic and a little bit homesick. The holidays are a very special time for me. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It is not about the actual Christmas day; which is obviously awesome (I mean I got engaged on Christmas morning after all!) but for me it's the season. It's the anticipation and traditions and festive activities leading up to Christmas. I suppose it is my parents fault. I personally think we had the hands down most fantastic holiday season experience. My mother is a little Christmas crazy herself and I suppose that is where I get my love for it at. I couldn't wait for her special Christmas time dishes to be pulled out. She has a setting for 12 atleast (but I'm pretty sure more!) plus every piece of serving ware imaginable; how I love those dishes with the Christmas tree and the little train that went around at the bottom. She had this Santa that I actually believe was made to be a piggy bank...hes old and made of porcelain and I think she once said it came from home interiors, but I love it! Perhaps the best was her nativity which still makes it appearance every year; I remember her getting certain pieces when I was younger. It is gorgeous. larger than a traditional nativity and the pieces are painted beautifully. Today she also displays a nutcracker collection that takes up an entire book shelf. Many years ago we got rid of a piano the once small collection sat on top of it during the holidays and our only thought was where are the nutcrackers going to go at Christmas?
Now my father; his lights were amazing. We had this deck with lattice wood underneath so he would hang those big old C9 bulbs in giant X patterns on the bottom then twinkle icicle lights from the actual seating of the deck. My first Christmas being married we went to buy lights and I insisted on the C9 lights because it was what my dad had always used, after half of them braking against the house that one season and spending a fortune to replace individual bulbs I gave in and let Jerrod buy smaller outdoor lights. The icing on the lights; our old plastic blown light up Santa and his reindeer which still make an appearance every Christmas.
We had so many ornaments we had 2 trees, one real one for the living room which was always bought too big and always needed to have the top cut off to fit in the room and tied to our deck door to prevent it from falling ( do I have to tell you how we had to figure out to tie it up!?). Our artificial tree appeared in the dining room which was great because who doesn't want to look at a beautiful tree while eating dinner plus every homemade ornament from when they were in pre school.
There was a little pond in front of our house that we would spend days skating on. We would spend all day out on that miniature rink and at night my dad would bring down the portable work flood light for us. Today that pond has grown over but my memories are still there (side note-my cats are actually buried right next to it).
Christmas time meant baking. My mother would make what seemed to be 100s of sugar cookies with every sprinkle you could think of and atleast 6 different colors of frosting. The 3 of us kids would sit down and decorate until you get to the point where you stop caring about doing details and you are just throwing on green frosting onto any cookie just to get them all done. Peanut butter balls were always a must, my mom made tons of these as well to give out as Christmas gifts. Leftover balls always got put in a bowl in the fridge but they never lasted too long....they were so amazing.
Ginger bread houses were something my sister and I did together. Yes they were a pre made house and yes that made it awesome because they were ready to go with minimal prep and cleanup work.
Perhaps one of my all time favorite traditions would be getting in the car and driving to town in the evening with the Christmas music playing. We would grab a hot chocolate and ride around some of the bigger neighborhoods and look at all of the beautiful lights and displays. You know what makes this all super awesome, is that when I go home it all still happens. Every thing (minus the skating and PB balls) but every thing else is still carried on when we are able ot make it home for the holidays.
The magic my parents brought into our lives on Christmas morning was phenomenal. I was left believing; really truly believing much later than most kids. The details of a type writer typed tag with our names on special gorgeous Santa paper, stockings over flowing onto the floor. Everything was just always perfect and magical, and just because we are older now there is still that same magic all these years later. If you wake up at my parents house on Christmas morning you better believe cookies and milk had been drank and nibbled on, and yes he has left you a special gift. As much as you can say thank you in the moment of something, I only hope my parents realize what they did for me and my siblings and how much I truly am thankful; so in a way I guess this is a thank you to them for the magic of Christmas, for the memories that will never be forgotten and for giving me traditions to carry on with my children.
My house currently smells like ginger bread (can anyone really complain about that?) I gave in last night and spent 2 hours baking homemade pieces for ginger bread houses. Jerrod made me do it our first year married as his family tradition is making the houses from scratch (nod to aunt lou and aunt peggy for making enough for like 20 people!) and they assemble them all together the saturday after thanksgiving. I have proceeded to make them every year except last year and felt guilty yesterday so busted them out. Not quite stale enough yet to build, hopefully by tomorrow. Anyways; building traditions and memories of the holidays regardless if snow is on the ground or not with my little munchkins is all I can hope to accomplish. Id say if when they get older and can look back and love the holidays for what we did together and remember the love poured out for them then I did a good job. Now im going to throw my thongs (flip flops) on head out in this 99 degree heat to grab dinner at the store. Happy memory making and merry Christmas to everyone everywhere!
Heres what you need for Trafton family ginger bread
5 1/2-6 C flour
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP salt
2 TSP ground cinnamon
2 TSP powdered ginger
1 TSP ground nutmeg
1 TSP ground cloves
1 C shortening
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C molasses
2 beaten eggs
1.Mix flour, baking soda, salt, spices
2.melt shortening; not too hot. add sugar, molasses and eggs in that order. add 4 cups dry mix
3.knead in remaining dry mix. make it firm and add extrra flour if needed.
4.roll out to 1/4'' thick
bake at 375 10-12 minuites and makes ~40 cookies or 2 houses ( i use wilton house piece cutters)
Now my father; his lights were amazing. We had this deck with lattice wood underneath so he would hang those big old C9 bulbs in giant X patterns on the bottom then twinkle icicle lights from the actual seating of the deck. My first Christmas being married we went to buy lights and I insisted on the C9 lights because it was what my dad had always used, after half of them braking against the house that one season and spending a fortune to replace individual bulbs I gave in and let Jerrod buy smaller outdoor lights. The icing on the lights; our old plastic blown light up Santa and his reindeer which still make an appearance every Christmas.
We had so many ornaments we had 2 trees, one real one for the living room which was always bought too big and always needed to have the top cut off to fit in the room and tied to our deck door to prevent it from falling ( do I have to tell you how we had to figure out to tie it up!?). Our artificial tree appeared in the dining room which was great because who doesn't want to look at a beautiful tree while eating dinner plus every homemade ornament from when they were in pre school.
There was a little pond in front of our house that we would spend days skating on. We would spend all day out on that miniature rink and at night my dad would bring down the portable work flood light for us. Today that pond has grown over but my memories are still there (side note-my cats are actually buried right next to it).
Christmas time meant baking. My mother would make what seemed to be 100s of sugar cookies with every sprinkle you could think of and atleast 6 different colors of frosting. The 3 of us kids would sit down and decorate until you get to the point where you stop caring about doing details and you are just throwing on green frosting onto any cookie just to get them all done. Peanut butter balls were always a must, my mom made tons of these as well to give out as Christmas gifts. Leftover balls always got put in a bowl in the fridge but they never lasted too long....they were so amazing.
Ginger bread houses were something my sister and I did together. Yes they were a pre made house and yes that made it awesome because they were ready to go with minimal prep and cleanup work.
Perhaps one of my all time favorite traditions would be getting in the car and driving to town in the evening with the Christmas music playing. We would grab a hot chocolate and ride around some of the bigger neighborhoods and look at all of the beautiful lights and displays. You know what makes this all super awesome, is that when I go home it all still happens. Every thing (minus the skating and PB balls) but every thing else is still carried on when we are able ot make it home for the holidays.
The magic my parents brought into our lives on Christmas morning was phenomenal. I was left believing; really truly believing much later than most kids. The details of a type writer typed tag with our names on special gorgeous Santa paper, stockings over flowing onto the floor. Everything was just always perfect and magical, and just because we are older now there is still that same magic all these years later. If you wake up at my parents house on Christmas morning you better believe cookies and milk had been drank and nibbled on, and yes he has left you a special gift. As much as you can say thank you in the moment of something, I only hope my parents realize what they did for me and my siblings and how much I truly am thankful; so in a way I guess this is a thank you to them for the magic of Christmas, for the memories that will never be forgotten and for giving me traditions to carry on with my children.
My house currently smells like ginger bread (can anyone really complain about that?) I gave in last night and spent 2 hours baking homemade pieces for ginger bread houses. Jerrod made me do it our first year married as his family tradition is making the houses from scratch (nod to aunt lou and aunt peggy for making enough for like 20 people!) and they assemble them all together the saturday after thanksgiving. I have proceeded to make them every year except last year and felt guilty yesterday so busted them out. Not quite stale enough yet to build, hopefully by tomorrow. Anyways; building traditions and memories of the holidays regardless if snow is on the ground or not with my little munchkins is all I can hope to accomplish. Id say if when they get older and can look back and love the holidays for what we did together and remember the love poured out for them then I did a good job. Now im going to throw my thongs (flip flops) on head out in this 99 degree heat to grab dinner at the store. Happy memory making and merry Christmas to everyone everywhere!
Heres what you need for Trafton family ginger bread
5 1/2-6 C flour
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP salt
2 TSP ground cinnamon
2 TSP powdered ginger
1 TSP ground nutmeg
1 TSP ground cloves
1 C shortening
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C molasses
2 beaten eggs
1.Mix flour, baking soda, salt, spices
2.melt shortening; not too hot. add sugar, molasses and eggs in that order. add 4 cups dry mix
3.knead in remaining dry mix. make it firm and add extrra flour if needed.
4.roll out to 1/4'' thick
bake at 375 10-12 minuites and makes ~40 cookies or 2 houses ( i use wilton house piece cutters)
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Land of the Flies
I have composed this post in my head probably a dozen times if not more. The temperatures are finally reaching 97 degrees and up on a daily basis and something no one prepped us for, something no one talked about to us nor could we read about in any books or our welcome booklet---FLIES. I'm not talking a pesky fruit fly, but a straight up swarm of full sized flies. They are everywhere, you can't go outside without getting swarmed. They buzz around your ears which I think might be my new least favorite noise in the whole world, they fly under your sun glasses into your eyes, they fly up your nose, in your mouth and land on the corners of your lips. They gather on your back and on your shoulders in the dozens. There is literally no escaping them. I thought they were bad 2 months ago, October had nothing on December. The only relief is a windy day that keeps them at half bay. I have tried every kind of bug dope they have here, nothing seems to work to MY satisfaction which would mean they stay a mile away. The only positive thing I can find is that they do not bite...or at least not yet? they mostly just want our moisture and sweat. (Ummmmm...YUCK!!)
They really should have warned us about the flies. Would it have changed our minds about coming...no...but at least I could have prepared myself mentally. I am officially renaming Exmouth as the Land of the Flies.
End Rant
On a happy note, we have learned the Aussie Jingle Bells song almost word for word and I have posted it here for your enjoyment. It's pretty awesome and is incredibly accurate of life here.
Just click the link below and it will be like you are right here with us!!
Aussie Jingle Bells
Wish to sing along? Here are the lyrics, just sing it to the tune of jingle bells :-)
They really should have warned us about the flies. Would it have changed our minds about coming...no...but at least I could have prepared myself mentally. I am officially renaming Exmouth as the Land of the Flies.
End Rant
On a happy note, we have learned the Aussie Jingle Bells song almost word for word and I have posted it here for your enjoyment. It's pretty awesome and is incredibly accurate of life here.
Just click the link below and it will be like you are right here with us!!
Aussie Jingle Bells
Wish to sing along? Here are the lyrics, just sing it to the tune of jingle bells :-)
dashing through the bush
in a rusty holden ute
kicking up the dust
esky in the boot
kelpy by my side
singing christmas songs
it's summer time and i am in my singlet, shorts and thongs
jingle bells, jinjle bells, jingle all the way
christmas in australia on a scorching summers day
hey
jingle bells, jinjle bells christmas time is bute
oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty holden ute
engine's getting hot
dodge the kangaroos
swagie climbs abord
he is welcome to
all the family is there
sitting by the pool
christmas day the aussie way by the BBQ
oh
jingle bells, jinjle bells, jingle all the way
christmas in australia on a scorching summers day
hey
jingle bells, jinjle bells christmas time is bute
oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty holden ute
come the afternoon
grandpa has a doze
the kids and uncle bruce are swimming in there cloths
the time comes round to go
we take a family snap
then pack the car and all shoot through
before the washing up
oh
jingle bells, jinjle bells, jingle all the way
christmas in australia on a scorching summers day
hey
jingle bells, jinjle bells christmas time is bute
oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty holden ute
oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty holden ute
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