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!