Halloween Preview

Last year we lived a block away from the busiest trick-or-treat street in our city.
We had over 300 kids come to the door for a sweet treat. And luckily for us- no tricks!

This year we're in Australia where Halloween is a little more . . . low key.
My neighbors assure me that there will be trick-or-treating. Since the only kind of candy they seem have here is gummy worms it ought to be interesting.

I finally finished the kids' costumes. The Little Buddy was so excited about his he wore it to his sister's school for pick up. No one knew who he was. Do you?

Check out more Halloween cuties over at I Heart Faces.

Port Douglas and The Great Barrier Reef

Highlights from our recent holiday with Nana and Papa.

We sailed aboard this:

Sailaway IV Day Trip to the Low Isles
Great Barrier Reef Tour

To this:


Spent some time on beautiful 4 Mile Beach doing this:

Cruised the Daintree River where we spotted this:

and swam in this:

Took a ride on this:
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

To the village of Kuranda

Where we saw this:

At the Butterfly Sanctuary

And we all enjoyed this:
(Yes, even me- who hates birds)

Rainforest Habitat breakfast with the birds

Tropical far north Queensland.
Beautiful holiday with people I love.

Three Years Ago Today

We became a family of four.

Little Buddy, sometimes you make us laugh, sometimes you make your sister cry, sometimes you make me want to pull my hair out, but you always make me feel lucky to be your mother. When you wrap your arms around me and say, "Mama, you're my best buddy," my heart melts.

Happy 3rd birthday, sweet boy.

I hope all your wishes come true.

2 Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

I heart Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Really, really a lot. And I've done my fair share of whinging* about the fact that they are largely unavailable here in Australia.
And then I stumbled upon this:

Sugar Fix: an insanely overpriced store stocked with American confectionary goodness. And on display right in the front of the store was my own little Reese's Piece of heaven.

I stood there, drooling, for about 5 minutes whilst* deciding what to purchase. In the end I settled on the bag of mini peanut butter cups. It was $15 well spent. See that lonely bag of Hersey Kisses on the bottom shelf in the photo below? Guess how much those go for here?

Uh-huh. $44.90. And the 8 pack of Dr. Pepper? $23.20. Shocking but true.

It's days like this that make me so glad to be a Diet Coke drinker.

*Aussie word thrown in for fun.
**All Photos taken somewhat discreetly with my iPhone.

Stick Out Your Tongue and Say "Cheese"

Our family has been blessed with some wonderful friendships here in Australia. It is, I believe, one of the main reasons we have had such an easy adjustment to this life Down Under.

Seven months ago, on the Little Princess's first day of school, I met two women who have become quite dear to me. All three of us have 6 year old daughters, and (for the next month anyway) all three of us have 3 year old sons. These boys have become the Little Buddy's very best mates. And I am so thankful to have them in our lives.

In honor of the Little Buddy's 3rd birthday my friend arranged for the boys to have a photo taken with the giraffes at Taronga Zoo. If you know us in real life you know how the Little Buddy loves his giraffes! It was such a thoughtful birthday gift. I'm so glad we'll always have these photos to remember these precious friends we found here in Australia.