Lorikeet feeding

overheard in the house

Mary to Gabe: "Lets have eight more, just like you."

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Cole: "How can you expect me to listen when I keep talking?"

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Cora: "My heart isn't beating. Here, feel my chest."

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Cole to Cora: "Can you just not be yourself for five minutes?"

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Me: "I have a nice convent picked out for her."

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Mary: "Why am I so tired?"

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Cora: "Please hang onto this rock for me."

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Me to Mary: "I really want to try making macarons, except you banned me from making sweets."

Mary to me: "Consider yourself un-banned."

the catch-up

It has been a while since I have logged into my blog account. I just took a quick peek into the blog pages of friends and found that I have been missing out on significant events in their lives, and it has only been two months since I have last written.

I want to dive back in. (and please do not consider these items to be in chronological order. Rather, consider it to be a 'mix-tape' of memories.)

This is Gabe on his change table. He is a happy little guy and a good sleeper.

Cole and Cora are marvelous. Both are growing so quickly. They play well together and they fight well, just like kids should. I read something about siblings getting into arguments on average six times every hour (a very debatable statistic) and that the arguments are developmental in helping them learn conflict resolution. This has made me much more relaxed about their spats. There are still moments where I want to spank them both and let them sort out if it was worth bringing me into the conversation.

My laptop died some time in the past month. Consider this a reminder to back up your photos/stuff. I am serious; go do it right now. I lost about two to four months of data (depending on if we are talking about e-mail, photos, or general things I don't back up that often). It was a good laptop. Loved by me for four years. It will be missed. But, on the plus side, I am now rocking a snazzy little Toshiba with 64-bit Windows 7, built in finger print scanner and a web cam. w00t!

We celebrated my beautiful wife's birthday in February. Her only instruction to me was "no chocolate cake this year." I tried a sponge cake recipe which failed dismally, but I was able to salvage it with strawberries and cream.

We have a family pass to a koala and kangaroo sanctuary near our house. It is pretty sweet. We need to go back more often.

We received many packages from friends and family (Thank you Bette!) which are very appreciated. This shirt came from my aunt Mary and uncle Joel and it seemed to throw down the "spoil me" gauntlet.

Cole is in first grade now and is learning to read. He likes to ask questions about spelling and is eager to sound out words. It makes me very proud to see the speed at which he is learning.

I was downloading photos off the camera and found this. My wife apparently felt the need to re-enact this particular scene from E.T.

Cole, Cora and I met some friends at the ocean last weekend. It was a gorgeous day. We cooked up sausages and walked in the sand. Cole spent most of his time at the nearby skate board park. Cora spent her time frolicking in the sand and sea (and putting random found objects in her mouth). And this, my friends, is why we were not in our swim suits enjoying the waves:

That bubble with a bright blue tentacle is a bluebottle jellyfish. Darn near impossible to spot in the waves and while it won't kill you, it will put you in a world of hurt if it brushes against your skin. They live in large colonies (1000+) that seem to come close to the shore after storms. If you walk along the beach and see them where the waves meet the sand, I find it is best to avoid swimming that day.

I just returned from a weekend camping at Flanagan Reserve. Mary and her mom tended the kids while I enjoyed sitting under canvas with friends. I still have the task of unpacking, cleaning and re-organizing my gear because it is wet and muddy from the rain but it is well worth it.