WOW... this has been a long long time since the last update! FIVE YEARS!!!!

We've moved again... this time it was back in early 2016 and we're in the UK. The kids are all in full time school and are busy and I'm working very part time and enjoying all our travel opportunities on this side of the world. 

The world seems to have changed so much in such a very short time. 

Here they all are this past spring in a park near Leeds.  They love having 4 seasons here and are playing 'football' (soccer) and are busy and doing very well in school.  

Will update when I remember too, but I'm on IG and FB and most of all those other apps out there.

H and Mama!

And just a sweet photo of my little guy and me!

 Meg is totally in love with the color RED. I don't know if you can tell in the picture here.. but she dressed herself in her school shirt and she picked out her new backpack based on the color, she is fine with ladybugs as long as they are red and not real or on her.

School has been a joy for her and the only thing she asks is for us to do is to pick her up when school is done, we always have and we are always telling her that we will come and get her.

 This is a paper fan that Meg painted. She loves to paint so both days she was at school she made one, and she gave one to her sister. She's got a big heart that way!

My big kid

 

 Here is a pic of Shivani in Uniform. She's in the Catholic school here and she was wary at first of wearing a uniform, but we kinda enjoy not having to worry about picking out clothes for school. There's also a hat that's mandatory when they go outside.

She's done pretty well, there's the usual drama about being a new kid in school, but for the most part she is doing well. Getting used to a new school midway thru and leaving a beloved school in Texas was pretty tough on her and my heart has broken when she cries sometimes about missing friends back home.  I hate moving for the reason that her heart breaks for leaving her friends, and it's going to be unbearably hard when we have to move from here back when she's older. Hopefully she'll forgive us!

I've been up to her school to help out and the teachers are really nice and welcoming. The kids are very adorable.. I worked with a KG class and S's class. Thinking about sending in my teaching paperwork so I can substitute teach (called relief teaching) here.

Overall it's been good, a transition, but it's going well so far. 

First days...

Today was the first day of Kindy (which is the term here in Australia) for 3 year old preschool. M absolutely loved it! It's 2.5 hours per day and she goes twice a week. They do a lot of crafting and are read to and get to get their energy out! She loves that she gets to be this independent little girl!

Meg at Kindy 2/19/2013

Here is a photo of big sis on her first day at Kindy (circa 2009)

Big Sis is a 2nd grader and in dance and gymnastics and Girl Scouts and is SO busy!

And here's a nice and random photo of the little big man

So far we're all doing well, just missing family and friends a lot!

I can't promise timely updates, but I WILL try!

SO here is it 2013. Life with three kids moves by at a breakneck pace and it's hard to find time to blog! I wish I could. I've become an Instagramaholic! That's where most of my memories and photos of the kids and hubby come from.

I keep the blog around as a way to TRY to keep up with what's going on.

So many things have happened since Baby #3 was born. He just turned 1 on Jan 14, he is just about walking, holding everything and walking and has been crawling up a storm for the last 4.5 months or so. He can say Uh-oh anytime he does something naughty like throw toys. He's a joy to be around and his big sisters fight to play with him.

Meg has really grown up in the last year. But the biggest improvement has been with her eating habits. This girl was only want to eat things she decided to eat. Now she's willing to try new things. Yesterday we had cauliflower and I was prepared for her not to eat a bite of it, yet she CLEANED her plate! She said it was so delicious! It gives me hope she will eat more veggies. We keep offering and it's starting to pay off that she's interested in it! In other news she will be starting school soon!

Shivani is in 2nd grade... but before I get to that... We moved back to Australia! YES... over the Christmas/Holiday break we packed up and moved out!

Dennis is very happy being back! WE all miss being so close to family and friends in the US, but we knew the time to be overseas again was while the kids were young.

Shivani is in 2nd grade here in private school. I love it because there is no fighting about clothing choices, I love uniforms for that. They still get days they can pick out what they want to wear, but it's so much less stress! She has friends and loves to go to the canteen (cafeteria) here to eat lunch. She is pretty relaxed here, apart from some anxiety from the move itself. She still misses her friends back in San Antonio, but overall is doing well here.

I'm back in the swing of things, re-met a bunch of friends we had here, and made some new ones! It's good to be back here because things are so laid back and very low stress! I'm in some groups to learn a new hobby and will report on that in another post!

That's it for now! Head over to instagram for photos.. I'm ska1ser, but I have to add you as it's a private account, or go over to flickr... again most photos are private as well, just send me a message!

Hope all is well :) 

Project 52 - Week 4 and 5

Exposure	0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture	f/3.5
Focal Length	18 mm
ISO Speed	400

This photo above was brought on by not having her baby brother in her lap and not being allowed to handle the DSLR. The age of 2 has been soooo wonderful!

Exposure	0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture	f/5.6
Focal Length	130 mm
ISO Speed	400

A closeup of Baby H. I love how perfect his mouth looks in this shot... babies are so wonderful, til they turn 2!

Project 52 - Week 2 and Week 3

Exposure 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 3.9 mm
ISO Speed 500

Exposure	0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture	f/2.8
Focal Length	3.9 mm
ISO Speed	1000

So instead of posting on Friday the 13th, I was going to post on the 14th... but instead I went into Labor at 3:30am, and well here's the result! Here is Henry with me on his birthday, and another of him with his paternal grandfather! He was named for his great and great-great grandfather's on this grandpa's side.

He weighed 4 lbs, 13 oz, was 19.25 inches, born on 1/14/12 at 12:14pm.

Other than being an itty bitty guy, he's great!! Eats, sleeps and poops like a champ! :)

Wow! at the end of the 2nd week of the new year we have a new addition to the family! It's pretty awesome!

Project 52 - Week 1

Project 52 - Week 1

Metadata: f/5.0, 1/8, ISO 400

Photo info : I cropped the original and used Pioneer Woman's Seventies effect for this look via (Adobe Photoshop) Elements.

Inspired by Styleberry Blog's Project 52, I too wanted to get back into photography, but I knew doing it daily would be tough. Baby #3 is going to be an adjustment and I want to be back into photography as I know it would force me to take and hopefully be in more photos with the kids and husband. I shy away from the camera for many reasons, but I don't want to look back at this time and see virtually zero photos or photos where many of us are not together.

The above photo is of my Meg peeking around the corner after she stole out of the "mudroom" with her big sister's umbrella. She is a very mischievous little imp and this photo captured her as best as I could in the one second she actually stops moving!

I've titled my theme for my project 52 "Peeks". I think it will/can be a peek into my life, or the kids or family or into whatever we're doing. Should be fun and hopefully can keep it up for the year!

Thanks Shawna for opening this up and letting us be a part of it!

Any comments/constructive criticism re:photography is welcome.

Trying to get back in the saddle!

On the left hand side of my blog here will be a link to my Project 52, which will be a weekly updated (hopefully) photo of what's going on in life... I want to get back into photography and hopefully this will give me the push to do it! We'll see! Come back and visit often!

Yeah I know I haven't updated in a million years...

So yeah... it's beeeeeen super light on posting for like EVER... lemme catch up here...

Since last Winter/Spring, we've gone from a mild spring with planting and new trees, to the HELL that was the summer of 2011. It was over 100 days of full on 100 degrees plus (40 Celsius) here. Horrible. It was just bad.

D and I went to Hawai'i while the girls got to spend time with their grandparents. It was a nice vacation, and while we did miss the girls it was nice to go on a vacation with no children... well almost...

We found out in late May/early June that we are expecting baby #3. And in September it was confirmed that baby is a boy! So that's been pretty exciting!

Lil S is in 1st grade now, and absolutely loves it, is enjoying her class and new friends she has made. She is reading at a 2nd/3rd grade level, and overall just has been really doing well in school.

Baby M, now gonna be called Lil M, is just a full on toddler. She has just been talking up a storm, this happened later in age with M than with S, but I've been told many times that 2nd kiddos usually wait to talk. She has a definite opinion on EVERYTHING and isn't afraid to share it. She's very sweet when she wants to be though saying loudly, "I LOVE YOU!!!" Too cute for words!

Baby Boy is due end of January, and we still don't have a name, that's the only issue at this point, just have a few that we kind of agree on, but nothing that we're totally in love with... but once we see him I'm sure we will pick one and that will be it!

Oh I also took Chem 2 and A&P2 in Fall of 2011, and got a 4.0, so that was wonderful! Hard work and studying really do pay off, but it's only because I have a wonderful husband!! :)

For now that's it, we're all just waiting for baby to arrive, and then I'm sure we'll have more posts...

Now to update the girl's letters blog... need to get on that!

Hope everyone is having a great 2012! Happy New Year!

Springy Spring

Here it is about a month and a half later. So we spent most of February on and off sick with allergies, the kids were sick as well. It was so not fun. We're doing better as spring has sprung. Planted and really got the front and backyard looking good over spring break, and went down to the beach in Corpus Christi for a few days. It was good to get away. It's almost April and before too long SUMMER. This will be the first summer we've been in TX in 9 years. That's craziness! I'm not too excited, because I hate humidity, and compared to Australia and Colorado, I know it will be humid on top of the heat. Thank goodness for pools and A/C.

M is having a lot of fun with separation anxiety and S is still in love with going to school. Hopefully M gets over her issue and S never gets over hers... That's about all for now from here.

Ahhhchoooo!

Whoa.. it's been a crazy past few months... some sad craziness in mid-December, and then the holidays which were fun! The new Year has been good, but quite cold. I can't remember Texas ever being as cold as it has THIS year.

Above is a picture of the girls this morning. They didn't want to stay out too long, and there wasn't too much to actually play with.

Been trying to keep up with the blogs, but it's been tough. :) Will try to do a bit better now that I'm not in school this semester. We'll see if/when I go back.

Not too much else. Just trying to keep warm, and looking forward to spring, just no mountain cedar or other allergens I hope!