Halloween critters

I can't believe it. I finally broke down after 3 years of being in Australia and let my kids celebrate halloween. I even went "all out" by making their costumes. Wow. Do I get the mother of the year award or what? And get this, I even let Candace have a Halloween party in which she invited 9 friends to. Well, maybe I don't get the mother of the year award but just the crazy mom award. 10 13y old girls for 4 hours? Yeah, you guessed it. LOTS of noise. I fared well though. They bobbed for apples, made caramel apples, had a bbq for supper, had a treasure hunt and watched Psycho. Oh and did I mention made alot of noise? I can't believe I lived to tell the tale. I decorated the house even! Yikes! I'm surprising myself just by talking about it. But Canny had fun and I had fun too actually. I can't wait till the pool's done in a few weeks and then she can have a pool party with all her little matey's.

I made the witches cape too. It was too easy. I forgot how much fun making halloween costumes can be! I used to make cute costumes for my kids every year. I miss that actually. Maybe there's hope for this halloween hating mother after all eh?

Tri Pod

Savannah is growing up far too quickly! I can't believe she is 5 1/2 mos old already although that wasn't as shocking as 5 mos. The other day Rick sat her up and surprisingly she stayed that way for quite a while and showed no signs of falling over. It didn't look too comfortable though. I was thinking how big her tummy is and that it seems as though it would be the equivalent of me with a prego tummy and that pose...would NOT be comfortable! Rick started calling her tri pod though probably cuz of her cute triangular shape from a side view.

She's loving her food. So far she's had rice cereal, peas, carrotts, squash and sweet potatoes in that order. She loves her jolly jumper but only for a maximum of 30 min. Someone else told me their baby would spend hours in there. Hmmmm, child neglect? My child wouldn't stand for that and I love getting her out of it cuz it means I get to hold her again! Notice on this bottom pic that little drip of drool? Heehehe soooo cute and licious! She continues to be a bright beacon of light in my life. I'm lovin every minute of it! She brings so much joy to the whole family. Some may think Rick is crazy for having another baby at this point in his life but he says she is so refreshing and sweet to have around. She makes life so much more valuable and makes him forget about all his daily stresses. We love you Savannah Ivory Miller! xoxoxo

Ode to Candace

"You should be proud to know that Candace Perry will be receiving an Academic Award at the 15th Annual Awards Night. The nature of the awards is truly prestigious, showcasing the most outstanding student achievements. You are cordially invited to attend this special occasion and celebrate, along with us, the success of your child."

This is an excerpt from a letter that I received in the mail the other day. I am so stoked that Candace is such a good girl and so bright! She is truly a gem right now. 8 months ago I had almost had it with her attitude and thought I was in for a real uphill battle for the next few years. But somethings happened and I don't know what but she has just turned into the nicest daughter to have! Verry happy most of the time. Obedient. Just an all round good girl. I know I don't have to worry about her doing naughty things either. She is a very trustworthy person. Whew! What a relief. Well, this is my ode to Candace.

This is what she USED to be like on an all too regular basis. Yuck.

Here again, not at her best. But I chuckle when I see this photo. Thanks for the entertainment :)

What a cutie! She has the most beautiful eyes! Bright blue.

I love this picture of two of my gorgeous girls.

Mmmm, chocolate!

Savannah had her first taste of chocolate the other day. I think she's gonna be a chocolate lover just like her Papa. She got all excited on the second time the brownie got close to her face.

Well, who could blame her anyways? I mean, they ARE the best brownie out there and made by yours truly!

The cuplrit. Looking very pleased with himself. He snuck her the brownie btw when I wasn't looking and I didn't really approve but of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to record her first ever chocolate experience.

Here's the recipe. You will NOT be dissapointed! So extremely quick and easy too you'll be amazed. The melts are just baking choc type choc chips.

Bec's Brownies

200 g of chocolate melts (1 1/2 c?)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. caster sugar
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 c. flour

Icing

100 g chocolate melts (3/4 c.?)
1/4 c. sour cream

Melt butter and choc melts in double boiler. Add to sugar. Mix. Stir in eggs very well. Add flour mix well. Bake at approx 350 for 25-30 min in square cake pan lined with baking paper. Take out of pan to cool. In the same double boiler melt remaining melts. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and spread on brownies.

We're goin' to Airlie!

Well, last week Rick, Savannah and I made a trip up north to the Whitsundays or for those who have never heard of that, the Great Barrier Reef region of Australia to pick up a car from a little resort town there called Airlie Beach. It is about 1000km away from where we live so we flew up and drove the car back. I had been searching for a car for 47 long days and had several different cars that I had researched. Checked out the auction websites and seen what was out there on offer and after about 4 weeks of looking to buy a 7+ seater had a change of tune after seeing a cute as little car called the Suzuki Swift. Now, I am NOT a car girl by any means. I'd far rather be driving a big 3/4 tonne diesel around and even go so far as to have a 4 horse trailer hooked on to the back of it driving down dusty gravel roads. BUT...since I can't do that here, I saw this car and thought, "Man! That is like the CUTEST car I've seen!" and wished that I could just drive a cute little car around like that. Well, having 4 kids makes that seem like a bit of a bad choice so I put it out of my mind. But then when I went back to the dealership to show rick what they had in the way of SUV's I told him what I thought of this little car. So he says, "Why not? Why don't we fix up the surf, put an extra bench seat in the back for when we all go somewhere together as a family and then you can have your little car to boot around in and not have to worry about the price of gas because its SO fuel efficient. Then I can drive the surf to work and we'll save money there too on my fuel costs as well." Well, I sure thought that sounded swell so that started my search for the perfect little Swift for me. To make a long story short, I ended up buying a cute little "Burnt Orange" one with 36,000k's on it 2007 model. Excellent condition. Its so fun to drive and it is so cheap on gas! We only spent about $60 coming back from Airlie with this car. Wow! I think I'm in love. Here are a few pics of our trip up there. We had a good time just being together and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.

We also passed a few funny towns on the way back. Little Pig Creek and Gin Gin being two of them. Australian towns have the funniest names!

Rick is holding Sav under her head only. She has plenty of chub on her to act as a floatation device! Yummy yummy chub!

Yay! Swimming with the Papa!

On the ferry from Hamilton Island to Airlie Beach.

Just one of the many islands in the Whitsundays. Famous for its beauty. It was looking a bit brown to me though. I think they were starved for rain.

This is the little Cabin we stayed in overnight. It was so cute and perfectly cozy and just my country style. I just hate hotel rooms unless they look like the ones in the movies like the really lush house looking kind. But well, when you can't afford the best then I'd rather have this.

If it was mine though you can bet it would have some heaps cute curtains and bedding. Not this crappy motel style fashion! Yucko!

Home at last and here we are in front of our cute lil Burnt Orange Swift. Who'd a thought I could have the cute kids AND the cute car!?

Mesa thinks she is going to take it for a drive and Savannah "bags" the front! In other words, she called "shotgun"

I just love being out on the water! I definetly have sea legs which confirms to Rick why he married me. I am willing to go out to sea with Mr Sparrow any time!

Rick has the best of both worlds here. He just probably wishes he was at the helm of our very own yacht instead of a ferry. But this is better than scaling the walls of a newly framed house anyday! It was quite windy cuz of the speed of the ferry and a bit sunny for Savvy's little eyes.

Some guy from Sydney took our picture in the hot tub. The hot tub wasn't even hot! It was the temp we wished the pool had been so we were forced to stick to the tub which is why we only stayed in there for about 1/2 an hour.

Savvy's all tuckered out after our breakfast cruise and a nice swim. We took a breakfast cruise out to Daydream Island where there is absolutely nothing to do but swim and eat and spend a fortune on spa treatments if that's your thing. I could do this for a couple days but then I'd need to get the heck off Daydream and do something!