We have a great house, live in an amazing suburb (every time we drive to our house, we come over a hill and the Indian Ocean, in all it's turquoise wonder, is laid out before us), have made two new sets of friends that both have kids Lainey & Harrison's age (so that is 4 new friends for Lainey & Harrison as well), Lindsey and Lainey are doing fantastic in school, Sam works with wonderful people, I'm learning my way around and how to effectively shop and we've found a church home. As we pass the 2 month mark, I'm feeling extremely blessed and proud of Sam and I for staying positive in this process and loving and encouraging each other. The homesickness is always with you, but it's a bit like a roller coaster. Some days are really good days, and then some days are really bad days. I have to say that I've tried really hard to not get too far down and depressed. What good does it do to allow myself to go there anyway? We are here, and we are tasked with making the best of this adventure. And as a parent, it's my job to never let the kids see me sad. Their need to see me be strong about the move has really made it easier for me to stay strong.
So what have we been up to this last month (since I've clearly been too busy to blog since March 1st)? I'll touch on the highlights. We've been to the beach - Yanchep (the lagoon). Yes, it is the same beach that the showed the shark frenzy at a couple of weeks ago. I have several of you mention they showed that on the news. Keep in mind they were not Great White Sharks, but yes, sharks nonetheless. All I can say is that we don't typically get very far in, never go out past the sand bar (which you can see in the picture below - where the water is breaking in the distance), and thank goodness for the air & land patrols that keep a look-out for the dark shadows in the sea.
Here are a few pics from that adventure - like always you'll find more on Facebook.
We also went to Lansdale Farm with some of our new friends and their kids. We had a fantastic Sunday afternoon! The farm is large with a petting area at least 2 acres. They have chickens (actually enjoy letting the kids touch them), cows, sheep & goats that wander around freely and also like to be pet, pigs, ponies and fish. They grow fresh vegetables and Lainey loved this part - said this was like Grandpa B.'s garden in Needville. (Forgot to take my camera with me - so no pictures of this little adventure.) :-(
I've been having the kids do activities here at home. We made sun catchers to send back to some of our family (we just mailed them Wednesday - so they are on the way). Lainey has been working on writing her name and I must say she has nailed it, except her N is backwards, but hey she's doing great! She's already adding numbers...I think she's going to be a little math whiz - like her daddy. That would be just fine with me! I didn't think we had a Build-A-Bear here (but I have since been told we actually do) so I made the kids sock animals - Charlie the monkey for Harrison & Alice the rabbit for Lainey. They love them and sleep with them every night. Today we made Easter hats for the Easter Parade that she will be participating in at school. Naturally I made Harrison one too. I figured he can wear his when we go watch Lainey's parade. Here are pictures of the creations (Lainey dictated the placement of every single item on both hats and you KNOW the hats had to be glittery):
I've been cooking a lot and loving it, as always. I made homemade cinnamon rolls yesterday and oh my....SO GOOD! The dough was absolutely perfect! Yum just yum! It's funny the things that remind you of home. They don't have cinnamon rolls here, which is one of the MANY things I'm finding they don't have. I've order a few things we wanted from the USA Foods store in Melbourne, but they were out of a lot of stock, so I was limited on what I can buy. Besides that, it is very expensive to buy from there...so I had to stick with buying a few treats - like Bisquick! :-)
Updates on a few logistics - our container is HERE, but not technically HERE. It has currently cleared customs and is now in quarantine for who knows how long. We are praying we get it before Easter. We are waiting on the call from Crown Relocations to tell us a delivery date. It seems like that is still so far away even though I pray it is any day now. I know I've said in previous blogs that I've been told it will feel like Christmas when we get our stuff, I'm not so sure. I mean, I'm DYING to have my bed back, as I've totally over sleeping on Ikea foam, but I am also worried it is going to make me miss home more than I already do. I don't know...something about seeing all our things...in this house...and not in 2012 Stapleton Drive. <sigh> We'll see how I feel when the delivery truck pulls up! We have a contract on our house in Friendswood and hope to close by mid April. However, with changes in banking/lender laws since the credit crisis, many appraisals are being botched (coming in way lower than fair market value) and people are having to give their houses away if they want to sell them. PLEASE pray our appraisal goes through without a hitch and the house appraises for the negotiated price. We really need to sell the house in order to be at financial peace here. I am now working with the recruiter to find a job. I've laid out the hours I want to work, salary requirements, etc. Now all I have to do is wait to see what's out there. I am very hesitant about putting the kids in daycare. I've visited a few and one I liked and the other I didn't. I walked out of there with tears in my eyes...this particular one just wasn't for my kids. I didn't feel good about it in my gut. Please pray the one I have chosen still has openings when the time comes for me to start working.
Thank you all for your kind words of support. We appreciate you staying connected with us! We love and miss you all.
Cheers,
Wendy
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