update on Miss Millie!

Here is an update on Miss Millie (our cancer friend) for those of you who have helped so much!

http://bradyandamanda.blogspot.com

Mary lost her FIRST tooth!

Mary has been desperate to loose a tooth and after 1 day of it being loose, she bit into an ice cream cone and it "fell out"  I had just told her the night before to be patient and that it might take a week of wiggling until it would come but she proved me wrong. 

 I know this is difficult to prove, but Mary probably lost her tooth around the exact same day Olivia lost her first tooth. Seeing that they are only 5 days off of being exactly 2 years apart, I just think that is crazy!

The Tooth Fairy brought Mary a gold $2.00 coin that night, she was so excited!

Baby Bunnies!

For Easter the girls got baby bunnies. They are our first pet and the kids LOVE them. I LOVE them, they are very easy compared to other pets. For instance, they have a hutch outside which they stay in except for after school when the kids get them out to cuddle for a few hours. I clean the cage about once/ fortnight and I refill their food bowls about once a week. They are potty trained (they go in a little box) and they don't make any noise :-) Does it get any better?

 This is Chloe- she belongs to Mary

 And this is Patches-she is Olivia's

 Here are some candid pictures we have taken of the bunnies!

 Thomas LOVES the bunnies too but can hold on a little too tight

 When Mary has the bunnies she puts them in her doll house and she plays with them

 Studies show kids benefit greatly from pets on many levels psychologically. While Stan and I are not "pet people" bunnies seem to be the perfect compromise for us and the kids.

 Mary before school with Chloe

Happy Easter

This year we had a wonderful Easter! Below are some pictures of the children painting Easter Eggs.

 This was the last of our kits from America, I think we had a three year supply!

 Brown eggs are the norm here in Australia

 

 Easter morning came and the kids excitedly found their Easter baskets and chocolate eggs!

 Best of all were the "Easter Bunnies" we got as our first pet, now that we are in a house!

 Mary named her bunny, Chloe (she is a miniature lop eared), and Olivia named her bunny, Patches (who is just a miniature bunny)

 bunny kiss

After Easter morning we went to church, and had Easter dinner at two different houses! We have been so blessed with an abundance of friends here in Melbourne!

Easter Holiday!

After moving into our house 4 days before school, I felt like I never really got my feet on the ground. I was desperately trying to just get through each day one at a time, and after we finished our 10th week of school, term 1 was over; the house was unpacked and I was exhausted! Easter break was here--two weeks of nothing to do and nowhere to go. 

Most people take a holiday, we thought of going to Tasmania for the fall leaves....they are supposed to be gorgeous. You drive about 10 minutes from our house to a big ferry boat which you can drive your car onto. The boat ferries over to Tassy (8 hours) overnight and then you are there! We cancelled a few days before as I decided that I really needed the two weeks to just relax and let the kids play, now that everything was  unpacked.  Here are some pictures of our down time for the two week break (Easter on a different post!)

 Now that we have a backyard (or a "garden" as they call it in Australia), we took the time to teach Mary how to ride a bike without training wheels. She mastered it in about a week! We are so proud of you Mary!

 Olivia and Mary also got the hang of their rollar blades/ skates

 After Mary got the hang of her bike we went on our first family bike trip!

 This park is just a few minutes from our house--the scenery is SO Different from Sydney.

 Here is Thomas, who just got the hang of peddling.

 I love this picture of all three kids!

 Something you should know about Mary is that she doesn't like to get hurt or tired...so riding a bike was a big deal for her. She didn't want to learn and we had to bribe her to try. In the end she was really proud of herself so it was a great experience for her.

 Another great holiday activity- the girls playing the Wii on the bean bags. So glad they are friends!

And of course a day at the beach...since the seasons are changing (Autumn) we are getting more wind and rain...perfect for kite boarding!

And of course, dinner with the Bozeman crowd (Me, Miles Scheere, Wes Anderson, Scott Broadaway & Candace (Extine) Anderson)...all went to High school with me in Bozeman, Montana and we are all living in Melbourne, Australia right now--Crazy hu?!