My beautiful clean home!

I love having a clean house. My Mum always kept our home spotless and so that is what I like to see too, but it's a high bar to reach in a home with 5 young kids, but I'm always trying! Anyway, after several months of prompting from Chris I finally conceeded to having a cleaning service once a month. I LOVE IT! The "ladies" came for the second time this week and after we got home I quickly ran around and took photos so I could remember that nice calm feeling when I walked in. It's as good as a trip to the spa, even if it truely only latest 10 minutes!

Disney on Ice

On Saturday night I took Sam, Ella and Owen out for ice-cream and then to Disney on Ice. It was so fun to be out with the "big kids" for a while. Chris stayed home with Elliott and Will. I kept the evening a suprise and they did not know where they were going until we were almost at the venue. Ella was a lucky girl, she got to go to the show twice, once with all the kindergarten kids on Friday and then again with me on Saturday night. I loved the show, but loved even more watching their expressions of amazement.

Happy 6th Birthday Ella!

Our little Ella Bean turned 6 today! She has been so excited about her birthday counting down the sleeps. I decided earlier this year that we were only going to have birthday parties with friends every second year and so this year Ella just had a family dinner (pizza, fizz and cupcakes) and presents at home. Chris also arrived home today from a trip to Florida and so Ella had to wait until after school to open her presents. All Ella wanted for her birthday was a hulu hoop - she got a nice hot pink! She also received a pair of very cool African dwarf frogs from Sam and Owen.

One of her favorite presents were raspberries, blueberries and strawberries from Grandpa Bingham. Ella and Grandpa share a special dislike of chocolate and an extra special love for all berries. Ella has already consumed one container of raspberries!


The present opening ceremony..... Ella invited her friends Holland and Harper to to watch her open her presents.

And Ella's frogs...

A trip to Greenville, SC

Last weekend we headed up to Greenville, SC just over 2 hours drive directly north from where we live to see Chris's cousin Christopher Galbraith and his family. The first thing I have to say is that I think it is so funny that Chris has a first cousin named Christopher. My Chris always goes by Chris and not his legal name Christopher, and well his cousin always uses Christopher, so there was no confusion all weekend.

With five young kids we normally opt for a hotel these days (with at least a separate bedroom and a kitchen is possible!) lest we cause havoc on someone elses home. But Christopher and his wife Alicia reassured us that we were welcome. Christopher is the youngest of 10 children and Alicia is the oldest of 6 and so they are used to alot of bodies being around. And they were fabulous hosts.

We had an awesome time! I had not meet Christopher or Alicia before but immediately found lots of common ground and things to chat about. We also have 3 boys the same ages and so the kids got along great too. We checked out downtown Greenville - definitely worth a visit and alot better than Augusta. The kids burned off some energy at Giggle Bugs, an inflatable jump house. And we were able to leave the kids with a baby sitter (all 8!) and go out for dinner on Saturday night.

Some pics from the weekend....

Happy Haloween!

One of the things I LOVE about living in the US are the holidays - Haloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everything is in the right season and done with great enthusiasm. It also makes the end of the year seem to tick along faster, with another holiday to celebrate just around the corner.

In Australia, we love our holidays too and are always planning the next one, but a "holiday" in Australia means a "vacation" in America. And I have to say I love the Australian version of a holiday too! Personally, I think Americans just don't seem to take enough holidays / vacations and could learn a little bit about how to kick back and relax from the Aussies!

Anyway, we've had a great deal of fun over the last few weeks attending a Halloween storytime at the library, a trunk or treat at church and of course Halloween last night! We now have a reusuable grocery bag full of candy that should last us until Valentine's Day!

Lisa and Noah

One of the hardest things about being away from friends and family is missing out on funerals. That may be an odd thing to say, but going through hard / sad things together (funerals being one of those) brings us closer together.

This week my cousin Lisa King and her family said good bye to their ten year old son Noah. And I would like to encourage those friends and family members outside of Tasmania to read their story - it is truely inspirational. Noah was born with hydranencephaly, you can read about his story here http://www.hydranencephaly.com/stories/noah.htm. Lisa has also kept an amazing blog that has touched many people, you can read that here http://lisajking.blogspot.com/. I have been greatly touched as I have read Lisa's blog over the past couple of weeks, first hoping that Noah would come home from a trip to intensive care and then reading as Lisa and her family said good bye to Noah and now try to move on.

I was able to attend Noah's funeral this week via a webcam, I wish I could have been there in person, but I'm very grateful for technology that makes this world a smaller place.

Back to school!

It's been a very long time and one busy summer since my last blog. This week school started again! Sam will be in first grade this year and Ella in kindergarten. I think they were more excited than me about school starting. A couple of pictures of them ready to walk to school on Monday morning. Summer is not at all over here in Georgia though. The walk to school has been very nice, but picking them up at the end of the day in 95-100oF (35 - 37oC) is a very sweaty exerice! I'm looking forward to fall.

My turn to be in the paper!

Yesterday some friends and I did the Marine Mud Challenge at the Fort Gordon Army Base here in Augusta. The course was 5 miles long with 19 obstacles - think mud pits, tyre walls, balance beams. We had fun, but I managed to sprain not one, but both ankles! The first couple of pictures below of me made it onto the local paper's website!

That's me right up front in the red t-shirt and several of my team mates behind..



Me & my team mates...

5 miles, 19 obstacles I was happy to be done! no wonder I have a sprained ankle today!

In the news and on the news

In the past month our family has been showing up in the local papers and on the local TV stations!

On April 12 we went to a local preschool meeting to present letters and a petition requesting that the school board reverse their decision to cancel the preschool that Owen and Ella attended this past year. The preschool is at a highschool were the "teachers" are actually highschool students taking early childhood education. The preschool has been a highlight of our time in Augusta and it's very sad for us to think that Ella and Owen may be the last class of a preschool that has been running for 20+ years. After the meeting was over a reporter from one of the local preschool stations was outside and we were on the news later that evening! The kids were very excited.
Click on this link to check out the story online. If you look very, very carefully you can see Sam, Ella and Owen in the backrgound. Here is another picture of that night.

The next week, the picture Ella drew below was feature on the morning weather report. She got to go with Chris to the TV station to pick up a prize. She drew this picture preschool and her teacher sent it in. It's a picture of her and her preschool teacher Mrs McGough (the real teacher in the classrom). What is sad is that MrsMcGough won't have a job next school year because they are cancelling her class.


The really big news for our family though is that Chris won a fellowship in advanced implant surgery. I'm really proud of Chris. This is the biggest award his professional organization gives out each year. It means that we will be staying in Georgia for one more year. Below is a copy of an article about it in his school newspaper. His name also appeared in he local Augusta newspaper as well.

Mud Fight

Chris took the kids outside one evening a week or so ago. When I went to check on them, the boys and Chris had headed to the end of our street. Ella and I waited for them to come back. We waited. We aited some more. Then this is what came home! Chris had supervised a mud fight. Of course Owen was the one to start things off. They had a great time!

Goodbye Nan Ella

On April 4th my Nan van Hoorn passed away (my mother's mother). She was born on April 25th, 1917 and so today would have been her 94th birthday. I was not able to go home to the funeral this time, but attended virtually. My brother-in-law, Jason Rowlings carted his laptop around so that I could participate in almost everything while sitting at home in Georgia in the comfort of my rocking chair. How amzing technology is! To see some pictures of the funeral and me on the laptop, check out my sister's blog.

My Nan lived a very full life. She was born in Holland and migrated to Tasmania with my Pop when my Mum (who was the oldest of 4 girls) was 5 years old. I always loved my Nan's maiden name - Elsienna Pieternella Lindenberg, it sounds almost royal! When they moved to Australia, everyone called her Ella. And this is who our Ella is named after and over the past few years we've refered to Nan in our home, as "Nan Ella". I'm glad she passed away peacefully but will miss her and miss being able to visit her next time we go home.

Here is a picture from Christmas day 2009, with my Mum, Nan, Elliott and Ella.

As a young girl I always felt comfortable and at home at Nan and Pop's house. It was really the only place away from home that I could go and without getting homesick. Tammy and I would usually go to stay with Nan and Pop at the same time and I remember once catching the train with Tammy out to Kimberly. Nan would take us down to the hot springs or for swims in the river. I remember having fun with the old typewritter or trying to use the magnifying glass to burn holes in paper. Other things I loved at their home were how neat and tidy everything was and the food. REAL chocolate sprinkles on rusks, speculaas, Nan's biscuit tin filled with Arnotts biscuits. And as a teenager I even started to enjoy pumpernickel bread. I liked how Nan and Pop would eat their sandwiches open faced with a knife and fork at a table with a crisp table cloth. It all seemed so civilised, from a different time and place. Nan had a way of making me feel loved and special.

After Pop passed away in 1991 I started spending one night a week with Nan to keep her company. I was in grade 12 at Don College and would walk down the hill to her house after school. I loved this time with her, just the two of us. While I worked on my homework, Nan would make me dinner, which was always meat and potatoes. I loved the way she cooked the meat and created a simple gravy afterwards that tasted so delicious on the potatoes. After dinner Nan started teaching me Dutch. Nan was a patient and good teacher. After a few months I could read passages fairly well but didn't always understand what I was reading. Nan would take time to explain what we were reading. She would also share photos and stories about her familly, friends and life in Holland. I looked forward to these weekly visits with Nan. Sometimes I would help her with things around the house, or drive her to the supermarket. I looked forward to sleeping in the firm bed with the crisp sheets and heavy wool blankets. She always seemed happy and grateful, even that first year being on her own.

I also had itchy feet that year and could not stop thinking about leaving Tasmania and going off to see the world. In 1992 I went away to university in Sydney and the following year I spent a year in England on an exchange. This gave me a chance to go to Holland. Nan made arrangements for me to stay with several family and friends. My first Christmas away from Tasmania was spent in Holland. I'm so grateful I had a chance to see Holland. I discovered a whole country of people who loved their meat and potatoes, who also ate their sandwhiches open faced with a knife and fork and who had firm mattresses and crisp sheets. I got to see homes designed by Pop's father in Loppersum and a town in the south full of people with Nan's maiden name, Lindenbergh. I started to gain an appreciation for the country Nan had left behind and the rich heritage from which I come.

As an adult I often think of Nan and some of the parrellels my life has had to hers, even though we are generations apart. Nan worked in England for a time as a young adult, just like I had spent time away from my family when I went to university. Pop and Nan were married at 29 and 30 just like Chris and me. I now find myself living far away from family with young children, just like Nan did. Nan took all these things in stride and she has inspired me to do the same.

A few months before I met Chris I decided that I wanted to name my first daughter Ella Jayne. Ella after Nan and Jayne is my second name. To me this was a special combination and it daily reminds me of the special bond I've always felt with Nan. She was the grandparent I felt closest to because of all the time we had spent together. I'm sad that because I've lived in North America for the past ten years I haven't been able to keep up that relationship as closely as I would have liked. On our last visit home in Dec 2009 Nan could nolonger remember who I was, but she was tickled when we introduced little Ella to her and could remember her name.

I will miss Nan, but she will continue to inspire me and comfort me. When I feel like I'm too busy and overworked I remember her worn hands and think of how much harder she worked. And if she can go through life grateful and with a smile on her face I can too.

Our tubby baby

Will is now 2 months old and is proving to be a sweet, happy baby who only fusses if there is something wrong, I didn't know that babies could be so easy! He is also fat! I just love all his baby rolls - so yummy! A few pics from the past few weeks

Will and Ella back in January before he started packing on the pounds!
Will in the bath last night - look at those rolls! It had been about 2 weeks since his last bath (he did have a shower or two in between!). One of the things he doesn't get as frequently as he needs because he is number 5!


Sam and Will


Elliott is very sweet with his younger brother and watches out for him. As soon as he starts crying he says "Will, Will" and goes to him.

Welcoming Will

On January 2nd the newest member of our family entered the world! William Chayne arrived at 10:50pm weighing in at 7lbs 7oz and 20.5 inches. I really don't like being in labor at the hospital and so this was the perfect scenario for me, Will arrived just 15 minutes after we got to the hospital, just enough time to get to the delivery room! We caused quite a commotion for the nurses. While the nurses were all fussing over me trying to put an IV in I announced "He's here!".

So far Will appears to be a gentle soul and his siblings love him already. He also likes to eat! At his two week check-up he had already put on 2lbs and has a nice double chin. Here are a cuple of funny things about being baby number 5 -
- His first bath was actually a quick shower at 2 weeks old. We were trying to get him cleaned up for church quickly!
- His second Mum is his sister Ella (age 5) who already knows how to burp him and soothe him.
- I didn't get any baby gear or clothes out for him until after we arrived home from the hospital. When I finally did get the baby clothes out I realized that we didn't have any warm clothes. Even though he is our 4th boy, all the others were born in the summer time! Thankfully we received a few presents soon after he came home and is now suitably dressed.
- He regularly stays in the same outfit for days..