Happy Leap Year!

     What a week!  The weather is changing again.  Hot and muggy this week, looking to get nice and hot by the next weekend!  This last one was drizzly and kind of low key.  Lyle is traveling pretty much all this month, so weekends are laundry, rest and repack.  We took the kids to the Queensland Museum on Sunday.  What a treat!  I had taken the kids a few months ago, and it has been closed to the public for some refurbishment.  They opened a couple of weeks ago, so we missed the big hullabaloo!  Ian loved the dinosaur playcorner wearing dino tails and costumes.  Annika and Alex headed upstairs to the what I called the stuffed room.  The taxidermists were busy getting this room done-displays of nearly every species found here!  The spider wall was something to see.  Mouse spiders?  They are the size and body shape of, you guessed it, a mouse!  I'd hate to see what a squished one would look like. . . and also the variety of Huntsman spiders.  The big one we found is only medium sized if we go by the display!  Ugh!
     Alex tried out for the school aerobics team, and made it!  She is now doing after school aerobics 1 day a week, training during the school day over their breaks, and swimming 3 days a week.  She exhausts me just thinking about it!
     Ian's birthday is next month.  It is hard to believe he is going to be 5!  I've nearly finished his party invites.  We'll be inviting his class to a park play on the morning of the 18th.  Early parties are the must here as it gets so hot in the afternoons!  He mostly enjoys school and his teachers say he is a sweet tempered boy.  Glad he is at school, because he has been a bear lately here!  I think it is because he is so tired-he goes to bed by 8 and sleeps until between 6-7.  I can tell he is tired though because by bedtime under his eyes is so purple it looks like he has double black eyes.  We're halfway through 1st school term though, so we'll get a couple of weeks off and he can rest up at bit.
     Annika is Annika.  She loves choir and is so excited to wear her new music school polo for the Thursday practices!
     I was also able to get my mother in law on Skype to visit finally!  She had several computer issues to work out prior, but finally got them taken care of!  It was nice to see her, and we are looking forward to getting the kids on with her and Lyle's dad as well.
     Tax season is upon us as well.  I spent most of Tuesday doing the info forms for the accountant.  Ugh!  I also am now starting my Utah teacher certificate renewal.  Wish me luck-they want a current background check, which I had to do already this year.  Here's hoping I can just send them the results and avoid more fees!
     Counting down to June. . .

     But in the meantime, here's an aussie burger recipe to give a go for chicken burgers.  It is yummy!  I learned it when I spent a day cooking them for the canteen last week when they needed some extra help. One of the freezers got turned off and they had to save 20 kilos of chicken thighs.  I'll give you the ground version for ease of preparation!

Chicken Burgers
1 lb ground chicken, turkey, veal, or beef.  Lowfat is preferred.
1 medium grated carrot
1 medium onion grated
1 cup dry cracker crumbs (rice crackers for gluten free, saltines work fine)
2 eggs
ground pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 cup your favorite salsa

mix ingredients well.  Form into 6-8 patties and bake in oven at 375 until cooked through (about 20 minutes).  Many BBQ's are outfitted with both wire grills and a flat cook surface.  I do not suggest cooking on the grill unless it is a fully flat surface.  They also panfry well.  Turn only once though as they are pretty fragile.
Serve on buns with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and bbq sauce or ketchup.  If you really want to be authentic aussie, put a slice of beetroot on as well!  I don't. . .

1st Day of Work!

     Finally, a call to sub!  And what a memorable morning it was too.  Murphy's Law rules supreme of course as it was on a Monday.  Alex has choir at 8 am, so I took all the kids with me to drop her off.  Lyle just happened to still be home as he was going to Gladstone for the week and took the call.  I had my mobile turned to silent and it was in my purse, so of course I could not hear it.  I got home and he met me at the door.  "You'll be working at Whites Hill grade 7 today.  They called 10 minutes ago and need you there by 8:45."  YIKES!  Gave him a quick kiss, grabbed something out of the cupboard for lunch, got the kids back into the car and headed out.  Fortunately the out of school hours care had space as I did not even get a chance to ring them to check.  Made it to the school at 8:30 and got settled in.  I figure it was a just in that morning call as the materials were ready to go, but all over the room as if she had planned on being there herself.  I know how much fun those days can be!  The kids were great and I had a good day.  Nice to teach again, even if they aren't mine!  Course, nothing since then, but the year is still young and flu season just around the corner here!
     Now for more swimming news. . . Alex took 10 seconds off her 50m freestyle this week!  We were totally floored, as was she.  She won her heat by 10 meters, so I expect they will bump her up a couple of heats.  Excellent swim night for her.  She was moved to the 4:15 training session last week, and has already been moved into the middle lane group for training as well.  Her physique is starting to look like a swimmer too-great shoulders and arms.  I watched a bit on her Tuesday swim-she is looking so smooth in the water now, no more shark bait style splashing and is breathing off both sides when she swims.  Awesome Alex!  She is also enjoying the aerofit on Monday and tried out for the school aerobics team.  She earned a spot on the 2nd level team and is very pleased!  Most of their training will be done during school hours, so hope to have a couple of evenings back once swimming is done the end of this term.  Hard to believe we are already halfway through the first term!  Time flies too fast.  Alex is also going to be inducted into school leadership week after next.  She was selected to be a class representative the end of school last year.
     Annika is doing two nights a week of aerofit.  I decided she isn't going to do the competition team this year-too much time, travel and money for a 7 year old.  If she sticks it out and still likes it, we'll look at doing it next year.  I am a bit of a stinker though and told her if she does competition aerobics she will only do recreational swim.  Of course I'd have her swim with the school croc team, but Friday night swim club competition only, no intercity meets on the weekends.  She can swim the 25 m pool with a sort of freestyle stroke, so when swim club kicks off again during term 4, she will be there I am sure!
     Both girls are doing choir and loving it.  The senior choir has their first performance in mid March at a school parade (assembly).  Ian is in swim classes on Saturday mornings and is actually enjoying them!  He holds his breath and goes under the ropes and is trying very hard to move through the water.  I am so proud!  This from a kid whose idea of torture was for us to give him a bath!  They are all loving school too.  Ian just glows and is finally sitting down and reading books with us.  It has been such a struggle with him not being interested, but patience and another environment is just what he needed.  He is also trying to write and tell us what he has written.  Lots of marks with some recognizable letters and numbers already, so good progress.  Thank goodness he has such a short name too!  He has to sign in every morning for attendance.
     Lyle has a couple more travel weeks, then a few at home, then most likely off again.  I do appreciate that he is home for the weekends though!

Just keep swimming. . .

     Yeah, the routine is certainly set around here!  The kids are settled into school and I am waiting, still, to be called into supply teach (substitute teach).  So, in the meantime, I am working on my history lessons for certificate renewal, reading the books I have stockpiled, and enjoying doing housework at my own pace instead of slamming it all into a couple of hours on a weekend.  I met several other parents this morning for coffee and had a nice visit and am trying to volunteer a couple of days each week at school.  I did a Friday in the Tuckshop (cafeteria) and let the kids's teachers know I love to do science and math, so hope to spend some time there too when I am not subbing.
     Summer storms continue.  After the whopper we got on Wednesday last week, we got another one that was nearly as good this weekend.  The window tracks filled up, but did not spill over.  Thank goodness!  It has been pretty nice for weather too.  The humidity has been tolerable and the temps in the low to mid 80's which is pretty much perfect.  I love the evening breezes that start about a hour before sundown.  They sweep all the sticky out and sleeping is such a treat in the cool!
     Lyle will be spending the next several weeks traveling.  He's got some measurement campaigns to do at various locations, so is spending time flying about the country.  I like that he is home for the weekends and often home before the kids so we can both go pick them up.  They love to see Daddy at school!  What a treat for them-not something they were able to do in Wenatchee.  I think he secretly likes the travel too-much quieter evenings, even if he is doing work stuff, has all the adoration when he comes home, and doesn't have to wear his office clothes!  As nice as he looks when he has to dress for the office, the work gear settles onto him pretty well too. :-)
     The kids are already planning things to do when we go home for our visit in June.  They all are looking forward to camping out in the pop up in the back yard, and I think have convinced Baba that a day at the gun range or out in the Desert would be a fun thing to do.  Ian desperately wants to see Baba shoot his gun and have a go at it himself.  We have tried to explain that the guns kick back and with his size would be knocked on his butt, but he is determined to try!  Thinking the air rifle would be the best to start with. . . Annika wants to go shopping at Costco and sew with Grandma and Alex sewing as well.  Perhaps some shopping for some out of school clothes-she is growing so fast!  Her arms and back are getting such definition with her swimming-Michelle Obama would be jealous!
     School pictures are March 1.  I am so excited to get them done!  They will look so smart in their uniforms!  Yes, I will post when they are returned to us and bring some when we visit.  I do have to put in my plug for the uniforms again though!  It makes getting dressed a non issue.  This is what it is, everyone else has the same thing, and it is cheaper in the long run.  The girls tops are $45 each, coulouttes are $35 each.  Alex has 3 shirts, 2 coulouttes, and a set for sport day, which is $60.  Annika has 2 shirts, 2 coulouttes and a sport set as well.  I just bought them their choir shirts $35 each that they wear on music events and rehearsals with their school coulouttes.  Ian's shirts are $28 each and shorts are $25.  He has 2 full sets, plus a sport day outfit.  So, doing the math, we have spent about $500-$600 on school clothes for all 3 kids.  Here's the best part though-several of the items I bought second hand for $15 from the uniform shop, Ian's shorts could be bought from Big W(Walmart) for $10.  The girls are still wearing the same stuff we bought last July when we moved here.  Annika will fit hers this year, and from the looks of it most of next year as well.  Ian, the same.  Alex's will either be saved for Annika, or sold at the uni shop second hand for money back to me.  Folks, this is really the way to go.  Yes, they are more expensive than I would spend on typical items, but they are good quality and last a long time, I'd have to buy more items to get through a school week, so the value over time is really inexpensive.  I love that there isn't any of the social games that come with clothes-designer stuff does not exist in school uniform land for sure!  No sagging and bagging, no butt cracks, no boobies hanging out.  The most rebellious I see are colored socks instead of the navy.    Besides, the reality is that many people do wear uniforms to work.  They are cost effective, look fine, are comfortable, and just make moms life easier in the morning.  Unless, of course someone forgot to do the uniform wash load last night. . .
     

Awesome!

     I have to brag a bit here, since it is my blog and I can do what I want!  Alex, as I noted last week, decided she was ready to kick it up in her swimming.  Just goes to show you mental attitude is as important as physical ability. . . she totally has rocked her swim times the last two weeks!  The first week's swim after start of term she slashed 8 seconds, yes, 8! off her 25m butterfly time.  She is only 2 seconds slower than she needs to be to make the 50 m swim!  She cut 7 seconds off her breaststroke time this last Friday, and is also just a couple more seconds to go to make the 50m cut.  WOW is all we could say!  THEN that fish went in the pool for her 25 freestyle and took 4 seconds off that swim as well, now qualifying for the 50 m this week.  No wonder she's tired!  I asked her what her secret was.  I got a big smile and, "I just figured out the rhythm of the strokes finally Mom!"  SO, so proud of her!  Her backstroke is steady at about 1:03 for the 50 m.  Not bad for a kiddo who really just started swimming at this level this year!
     Now for the other awesome, but a bit scary just so.  We had a whopper of a storm crash through here yesterday just after 5pm.  I was running Annika back to school for her aerofit class and the clouds were looking really dark and gloomy like.  I parked the car, it started to drizzle, and I motioned Annika to run for it.  I grabbed my stuff and just as we were at the door the skies opened up and dropped on our heads!  Raining cats and dogs just does not describe it-more like sheep, pigs, goats, cows and horses!  Water meters said about 50mm, which is about 3 inches, in 30 minutes.  I was at the hall at school, to roof was leaking all along the main ridge line and with the metal roof it was so loud you could not hear anything other than the rain.  Even the yelling kids!  Lyle was at home with Ian and slamming windows as fast as they could.  Said there was a lot of water to clean up, even after things were shut.  The water came in through the frame tracks!  Alex was over at the pool for swim training and she said the last lap before they evacuated the pool felt like hailstones hitting her back.  They had the kids take shelter under the bleacher covers.  Water was cascading down the steps like a waterfall and it was pretty scary for some of the little ones.  Her backback got soaked so we were drying out her notebooks and such last night all over the table.  She walked over to the hall once the rain passed, barefoot, as her shoes were dripping wet.  Aussie!  I was watching the car next to the curb-the water was going up over the wheel and I was wondering if we'd be getting water in the back of it!  At least car insurance here covers flood damage!  We got some water in the garage and a box or two got damp, but nothing serious.  Thank goodness!
     And it dawned beautiful, sunny, and clear this morning.  Glad for the cooler temps as it was pretty warm and muggy last week.  We all slept well last night, I was even chilly!  So, grocery run, loads of towels from yesterday's clean up, and uniform load ready to go.  Lyle will be traveling the next 3 weeks, lucky him, up to Gladstone for 2 of them.  It's about a 7 hour drive north, but flying of course!  So, warmer and more humid than here, which he just loves. . .
     Time to get the kids to school!  Love you all!

Back to Routine!

     Ahhh, the kids are in school and peace reigns.  Part of the time anyway!  The kids' schedules are coming together and are going to make us very glad we chose a school close to home.  Here's what a typical week will look like:  Monday-Alex choir 8 am (early drop off for her), Annika aerofit (an aerobics/dance class) 3:30-4:15, Alex Aerofit 4:15-5:00.  Tuesday Alex swim 3:15-4:15ish, Wednesday Alex swim 3:15-4:15, Annika Aerofit 4:15-5:00.  Thursday-catch your breath day, Friday Alex Swim club night 6:45-8:30, Saturday Ian 7:30-8:00 swim lessons.  Alex may add another swim on Thursday as long as it does not make her sore for club swim night!  Once my sub days start picking up the kids will go to before and after school care.  They make sure the kids get to their various spots on time, so then I won't have to do the multi trips back and forth!
     I met my friend Vicki (the family we met over Christmas up in Bagara) in the CBD for tea and a visit on Monday and had lunch with Lyle.  This is the first time EVER having a lunch during the work day with each other!  Between the fact Lyle works on a site and has to change clothing coming and going, visitors also have to suit up, and my 1/2 hour lunches on a good day at school, this has never happened before!  It was quite nice.  I got a building tour of the high rise-very posh and modern.  Cubicle farms should be this nice for everyone!  We had lunch at a food court a few blocks from the building and wandered around Queen Street Mall a bit before I hopped the bus for the ride back home.  Very nice!
     Time to brag on the kids a bit!  Alex has decided to kick it up with swimming this term.  She is swimming 2x per week, maybe more if she decides to, and joined the aerofit class to give her body a different type of workout.  She mentioned that the girls in the aerofit have better flexibility, but she has better stamina, so figures that both will make her stronger.  What a thought process!  In her first swim night back from break, she took 5 seconds off her butterfly time, 1 sec off breaststroke, and the timer system freaked out on the backstroke, so no time for her, but 1st place in her heat!  Her freestyle is only 1/2 second from qualifying for the 50 m, so we'll see how this week goes!  Annika is doing Aerofit 2x per week.  We figured this will give her something to let out some energy and dance, which she loves.  Good social time for her as well-girls from different classes both older and younger, so she loves it.  Of Course!  Ian is doing swim lessons Saturday mornings, and is doing fine with them.  Considering how he yelled his head off with every bath from birth on, this is a GOOD thing.  He might even put his face in the water before the end of session in March. . . but I won't hold my breath!
    I'm working on my US history course so I can get the final credits to renew teacher certificates this year, enjoying reading some good books, and signed up to sub.  It is slow at the start of the year, but I expect that it will start picking up soon.  Lyle will have several weeks of traveling coming up the end of February and most of March, but that has not firmed up yet.
     Well, that is pretty much it for the week.  The weather has calmed down a bit-still drizzly, but not the slashing rain from the last couple of weeks.  The flooding has eased a bit in Brisbane, but is getting bad up north and to the west.  I decided I miss the rain-the cloud cover kept the heat down!  The humidity from all the wet plus the heat is icky.  And it isn't even hot yet-only mid to high 70's!  I'm dreading the February/March time as that is the hottest and wettest time of year.  Lots of tanks, shorts, swirly dresses-anything to keep the air moving around you helps.  Thank Goodness the AC has been fixed!  The bottom part of the house is cool, but the upstairs is like a hot sauna.  Ceiling fans on high!
     Love and miss you all-June can't come soon enough!