tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50982329577977778682024-03-05T05:10:10.434-05:00The BinghamsPenny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-47608574868859586242012-11-11T21:32:00.001-05:002012-11-11T21:32:09.376-05:00Ella's Birthday Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ella will be celebrating her 7th birthday this week. She had a
birthday party on Friday, November 2nd. She wanted to do crafts with
her friends. We looked on pinterest together and came up with the idea
of making wooden peg dolls. All was well and good until we had a
stomach flu run through the family the week before her birthday party
and I realized that I had underestimated how much time it would take to
get things ready. Anyway, with Chris helping out with the kids and less
that 48hours to get things ready, the party ended up being a lot of
fun. I enjoyed hearing some of the girls declaring it was the best
party ever. Each of the girls got to take home a matching pair of peg dolls. There were different dresses to choose from, all made with left over fabric from skirts or dresses that I've made for Ella.<br />
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The best part for Ella - opening her presents!<br />
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The pic below is of the kids playing pass-the-parcel. This is a favorite party game in the Bingham household. One that I remember playing at parties growing up in Australia. Basically a present is wrapped in layers of paper (we had 15) and then music is played and the kids pass-the-parcel around the circle. Every time the music stops, a layer of paper is removed. There is a big prize at the end and I add a candy in between each layer. I only just realized at Ella's party that no one here in uses the word "parcel" and so I should probably be calling the game "Pass-the-package" so the kids understand!<br />
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Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-82708124241797890292012-10-28T21:35:00.001-04:002012-10-28T21:41:37.864-04:00Getting ready for HalloweenSo, it's been a while... what can I say, life got busy, In June we moved from Augusta, GA to Alpharetta, GA. Alpharetta is 30 minutes north of downtown Atlanta (that's if traffic is good!) and we are enjoying living in a big metropolis again. After four years in school, Chris started working again (yeah!) and I am loving having him more often. His practice is just 3 miles away and he only works four days a week. We hope to be here for a very long time. In July/August my parents came from Australia to stay with us for a month. And now we are looking forward to baby Zack joining us in a few weeks. I'm 37 weeks and counting down the days until his arrival! There's too much to try and catch-up on, so I'll just start again with what we've been up to this week...<br />
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One of the things I love about the US are the holidays. From now through to Christmas, it's one party after another. I also love the autumn colors and the weather cooling down. Owen, who is 5 and loves dress-ups, has been counting down to Halloween for at least 3-months.This week we had a trunk-or-treat party with church and a Halloween party for our neighborhood. A couple of pictures of my 4 spiders and one Thomas below......<br />
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<br />Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-48086504666680096062012-02-27T20:55:00.004-05:002012-02-27T20:58:53.537-05:00Toddler HeavenWill is a busy little man and keeping me on my toes! Here he is "helping" me clean out some cupboards today.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5d4yhya29ggcqIhqGJNZzLMMEHQoC53fk5MwWUDTHEgYIH4KIQuRF_MqCwnHulGs3GTN5Sebnsgbj-mS8kdTzFfq5y2eKAiBnz0jV7VAwnX_bnwxhnRbpOKE-UVg4vbPTSbX_12BHkGs/s1600/P1000781.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5d4yhya29ggcqIhqGJNZzLMMEHQoC53fk5MwWUDTHEgYIH4KIQuRF_MqCwnHulGs3GTN5Sebnsgbj-mS8kdTzFfq5y2eKAiBnz0jV7VAwnX_bnwxhnRbpOKE-UVg4vbPTSbX_12BHkGs/s320/P1000781.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713999984421384290" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabJ9uQA-X_vOIf0IAviKoYPR9w5ilWrV4agdYjf27XpBoTXTuWjLPi6SQiKfXIIWenuTqlVmCeBZC8haY7K-GltmJRiV6h9iJIOpljWQDUzwO9TAmcUoNCFOAK2snGbAfi6zYNV5nAZ6_/s1600/P1000780.JPG"><br /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-20755618618138061652012-02-23T20:32:00.004-05:002012-02-23T20:42:14.926-05:00A trip to the dentistMonday was President's Day which is a day off for some, but not others here in the US. Sam and Ella had the day off school, but the Dental School was open and so Chris had to go to work. Fortunately, Chris had some free time in the morning. Perfect opportunity for the kids to get their teeth checked by their Dad and have lunch with him. Getting their teeth checked only took 15 minutes, we were then able to go to the Pediatric area to play the video games and still had plenty of time for lunch. Here are some pictures of our day out.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJF25xjxH7ea1KHvcwk6LcvUx6wuvJtd28UgOsQnc2TqxDCSH99AJYwllETbsbH2A5Eh-OTOAkcnOv__LsmnvG0fWPbr5SDVLGhNgEWIlpCNi_ZznCL12VSmCDqWmSn8CuPFhbFvgRf90W/s1600/P1000767.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJF25xjxH7ea1KHvcwk6LcvUx6wuvJtd28UgOsQnc2TqxDCSH99AJYwllETbsbH2A5Eh-OTOAkcnOv__LsmnvG0fWPbr5SDVLGhNgEWIlpCNi_ZznCL12VSmCDqWmSn8CuPFhbFvgRf90W/s320/P1000767.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712511077013230770" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_sjUeYlByPubNJV8CS2KAId5uR0nHv-Pz8VfFLOUyi07U8vRqf-vDiE47K7Bfn9RUoKzmI4ZmRrf41KSOIaIECpcTV9D1ZYUOTfnYMqJBYNDY6O_U6I8iDFjHVvfP9hyedTe_8Z607Za/s1600/P1000766.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_sjUeYlByPubNJV8CS2KAId5uR0nHv-Pz8VfFLOUyi07U8vRqf-vDiE47K7Bfn9RUoKzmI4ZmRrf41KSOIaIECpcTV9D1ZYUOTfnYMqJBYNDY6O_U6I8iDFjHVvfP9hyedTe_8Z607Za/s320/P1000766.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712509503857670338" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPz9Y1rngKmvE34-iDtJHExcV3I7mGs0Eu5rj2fBg6URy9tWJGdPp3FjrE633hlcQNFEdEFJswMRyFNMMudKrhavrgpjwpXu_krGVH148t5vVwHPjVrRVGbU1D2-9sFWsU_RSpu4TT-KW/s1600/P1000761.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPz9Y1rngKmvE34-iDtJHExcV3I7mGs0Eu5rj2fBg6URy9tWJGdPp3FjrE633hlcQNFEdEFJswMRyFNMMudKrhavrgpjwpXu_krGVH148t5vVwHPjVrRVGbU1D2-9sFWsU_RSpu4TT-KW/s320/P1000761.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712509483856224802" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnzqbusXY8xAdKpCljCmTo8xBYAxULAH0DO1ce79qoS3aoojP4sFEbPRJ44i4d4R-K0ciOpwXtg_Pg6CsEBPahHO2ZRuk0KZZjkhsftrrKBw596yhg_zEipBSKRz8p6eK5WwJrlGnPlmL/s1600/P1000758.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnzqbusXY8xAdKpCljCmTo8xBYAxULAH0DO1ce79qoS3aoojP4sFEbPRJ44i4d4R-K0ciOpwXtg_Pg6CsEBPahHO2ZRuk0KZZjkhsftrrKBw596yhg_zEipBSKRz8p6eK5WwJrlGnPlmL/s320/P1000758.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712509495707183074" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNnB4Wzn5osFRaqgxKquBplqhEFgdECTwAQgmRz3aT1IWg7rBXtCFBBKeZtr4DY9E-qUmP8i6hLnnsgV0l-s6pV-Z1QVGmpW-E0M7VLNn9H5pvFLpBOSNIGkrGc3DRYLTobqF7JYe58UZ/s1600/P1000770.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNnB4Wzn5osFRaqgxKquBplqhEFgdECTwAQgmRz3aT1IWg7rBXtCFBBKeZtr4DY9E-qUmP8i6hLnnsgV0l-s6pV-Z1QVGmpW-E0M7VLNn9H5pvFLpBOSNIGkrGc3DRYLTobqF7JYe58UZ/s320/P1000770.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712511083822250642" border="0" /></a><br />Looks whose walking! <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQOt2fu_oCVGvkEbbQ9PO1pfBwSLmlk3OtJ70YM7hfWfrRwrJhs1obpzJutrGVn9u1dVxBqSCHUg17GcsGo-kGk22meIEys6sIl69cuSVTRwk7FOHYJ7DWlOLEq5aunO20KPo7TPLcbyN/s1600/P1000772.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQOt2fu_oCVGvkEbbQ9PO1pfBwSLmlk3OtJ70YM7hfWfrRwrJhs1obpzJutrGVn9u1dVxBqSCHUg17GcsGo-kGk22meIEys6sIl69cuSVTRwk7FOHYJ7DWlOLEq5aunO20KPo7TPLcbyN/s320/P1000772.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712511097640098226" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-28928354323526289052012-02-21T19:51:00.006-05:002012-02-21T21:43:26.660-05:00Bye-bye BirdieOk - so before you read, this entry revolves around a dead bird. We did not kill it, we found it lying peacefully under the swing in the park around the corner. I pointed it out to Owen, who was soon looking at it, then picking it up, then stretching it's wings out. I have to say I agree with Owen, it was so interesting. I have no idea how the bird died. A neighbor suggested that it may have been hit by a car. It looked like it's neck was broken.<br /><br />After Owen had examined it for a while he wanted to bring it home to show Sam and Ella who were at school. After school, they too carried it around and examined it. I then explained that it would have to be buried. Before we buried it Ella drew a picture. Our kids have found that a great way to remember something or someone who they won't see again for a long time. I was impressed by the detail in Ella's picture. Sam also took some photos. Ella then placed the bird in a small box with some straw ready for it's burial. The next morning (Saturday), Chris took the kids into the woods behind the house and buried the bird.<br /><br />A couple of years ago I would probably not have let the kids even touch the bird. But, I've come to realize that for many children, their lives are very detached from nature. Over the past year I've let the kids spend more time outside and expanded their physical boundaries. They learn so much! Nature is endlessly different, far more interesting than any toy, and so much more interesting than a text book! Anyway, I think they learned a great deal from the dead bird. Not only did they get to examine it up close, but it also gave us a chance to talk about what happens to us when we die.<br /><br />And just in case your wondering, yes they did have to wash their hands really, really well after touching it!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CVo0Gg26qLprDmex2q20OBj709vd31oFNaA19v1DH5i3yC1DaEndWjTlMuBPSkPygNNaq_0JyxOUFbcdsJEU74m0-FF_6IVpoE4kqrGAPuaORFhszVzSqW2SKoCsLpwJaPeA8-18OSqR/s1600/bird+by+Ella.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CVo0Gg26qLprDmex2q20OBj709vd31oFNaA19v1DH5i3yC1DaEndWjTlMuBPSkPygNNaq_0JyxOUFbcdsJEU74m0-FF_6IVpoE4kqrGAPuaORFhszVzSqW2SKoCsLpwJaPeA8-18OSqR/s320/bird+by+Ella.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711769460056940258" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sHJgfClBy0w1NzR8OLV8nq-ZtW4WxnMI18t_ambCXx15VBbB6bA3cjnM-SpmgeB_4yW4HPwxEKcr7gcXNOg9-qDgmLzkpvCzx4C5lvQJ0mfVdVybGUVtCUIZj79JEgS9RWMyNJi1X1so/s1600/P1000749.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sHJgfClBy0w1NzR8OLV8nq-ZtW4WxnMI18t_ambCXx15VBbB6bA3cjnM-SpmgeB_4yW4HPwxEKcr7gcXNOg9-qDgmLzkpvCzx4C5lvQJ0mfVdVybGUVtCUIZj79JEgS9RWMyNJi1X1so/s320/P1000749.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711769341316537874" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VvUK2KAj8Zf00FYx6d3QUpeie6-zcoLQgXp_YousUDCmxU27DwgVtBdTXQzSePaWDVxZQvpdHGFq-2mdkdF2d5Bfht5jz4uiYx98aRgp3FPc5vpHfZJ2FYjUrz0oD7WDz5vX-PQTBWZL/s1600/P1000748.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VvUK2KAj8Zf00FYx6d3QUpeie6-zcoLQgXp_YousUDCmxU27DwgVtBdTXQzSePaWDVxZQvpdHGFq-2mdkdF2d5Bfht5jz4uiYx98aRgp3FPc5vpHfZJ2FYjUrz0oD7WDz5vX-PQTBWZL/s320/P1000748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711769330224210434" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4jnHY-PT6dgQouwNDW9hKaZwDmadfX9nY7-osVt2dX-r0kvFCs7NNMi9Brl1XGraJ4Hx4ry0ZnIcHO0W3gsy8JJPzQvRU37c8KMUCZQdmLP4ylPcYYn_QudTGTYtgnIARtzQ6LJ-F1pR/s1600/P1000747.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4jnHY-PT6dgQouwNDW9hKaZwDmadfX9nY7-osVt2dX-r0kvFCs7NNMi9Brl1XGraJ4Hx4ry0ZnIcHO0W3gsy8JJPzQvRU37c8KMUCZQdmLP4ylPcYYn_QudTGTYtgnIARtzQ6LJ-F1pR/s320/P1000747.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711768327397825426" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDXVQaST2kjdhUnwZ8ufDX-7Gm2Z1pWJUkV-0m48nc2I-eMrptPYxqzcz8WUCdCNR4cF95yiqUz1nksL2O2-DSvuIC5YaI5MlP011CW-OVkiznRTQa3Ev8jk6hyphenhyphenWpjts6NoZv9u5ERt0i/s1600/P1000746.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDXVQaST2kjdhUnwZ8ufDX-7Gm2Z1pWJUkV-0m48nc2I-eMrptPYxqzcz8WUCdCNR4cF95yiqUz1nksL2O2-DSvuIC5YaI5MlP011CW-OVkiznRTQa3Ev8jk6hyphenhyphenWpjts6NoZv9u5ERt0i/s320/P1000746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711768324167244450" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-2842196191048306492012-02-17T13:46:00.004-05:002012-02-17T14:46:04.492-05:00Valentine's DayWe had a fun Valentine's Day this year. Sam and Ella both scored at school with a shoebox full of cards and treats from their classmates and then after school we headed over to a friend's house for afternoon tea. Just the girls were invited, the boys happily headed upstairs to play the Wii. Here are Ella with her friends. My friend Nicole planned all this and Jessica kindly acted as the hostess. Nicole is a great photographer and you can see some very glamorous pictures of the event on <a href="http://dorothynicolephotography.blogspot.com/2012/02/valintines-tea-party-augusta-ga.html">her photo blog</a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIShqrJNmHsCIlXbPM6uk4Qo0LhNF3IsxAsvNf-A43y0FsQsAtTirXgJu08ezmWSJyy4Xd4UZeYFxC-W-GuejmetLIiT5d-DSwYaOlPKlcVmwiYlUJH4HwWdIhiceI1WncvOe4dHs12Rg/s1600/P1000735.JPG">.<br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpL2VZsE-Z_mBqIdsR7vcDJeoMaS3WSLWZdq5iJCAvYP_HZDLx1RPjTzZyEe_BiPdm8GW3zDSuZzfHU6xeQLn3qJz-7CcC3ZXYgyharfk_WVoD9uwl5KAGQlYOdj-BDRXfP4SeHDofDFG/s1600/P1000728.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpL2VZsE-Z_mBqIdsR7vcDJeoMaS3WSLWZdq5iJCAvYP_HZDLx1RPjTzZyEe_BiPdm8GW3zDSuZzfHU6xeQLn3qJz-7CcC3ZXYgyharfk_WVoD9uwl5KAGQlYOdj-BDRXfP4SeHDofDFG/s320/P1000728.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710180637604845266" border="0" /></a><br />Here is Will with his Valentine Haisley. They are the same age and love to see each other.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIShqrJNmHsCIlXbPM6uk4Qo0LhNF3IsxAsvNf-A43y0FsQsAtTirXgJu08ezmWSJyy4Xd4UZeYFxC-W-GuejmetLIiT5d-DSwYaOlPKlcVmwiYlUJH4HwWdIhiceI1WncvOe4dHs12Rg/s1600/P1000735.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIShqrJNmHsCIlXbPM6uk4Qo0LhNF3IsxAsvNf-A43y0FsQsAtTirXgJu08ezmWSJyy4Xd4UZeYFxC-W-GuejmetLIiT5d-DSwYaOlPKlcVmwiYlUJH4HwWdIhiceI1WncvOe4dHs12Rg/s320/P1000735.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710180645664097794" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-26173037907861581032012-02-12T13:32:00.003-05:002012-02-12T13:55:52.954-05:00Fringe-a-liciousI have a good friend at church who cuts my hair. She suggested a couple of months ago that I get "bangs". I haven't had those in years and it took me a couple of months to think about it before I consented. So here I am with my new bangs!<br /><br />After 11 years in North America there are lots of American words that I have adobted and don't think anything of it. Words like diapers, cookies and candy. But there are some that still sounds sooo.. American to me and almost hurt my ears. Bangs is one of them! I still want to call it a fringe. After my hair cut Chris started teasing me calling me fringe-a-licious, because he thinks the word fringe sounds so funny! Anyway, we got a good laugh out of it. And I'm happy with my new fringe - I thought I'd always be trying to push it away off my face, but it hasn't bothered me at all.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8d4AOLXS7aOfn4T09TXbN4UYF-b_y7N9Kn_Fi6WQXqI1PHyy8uHNZ-05DbBEzwOpUDzonoU1ANmcMy6lrVDNiEXKVto4UJUICqC752-u6kWeWZEy3hDryqXTJvvt8w-YjUgBEwI1aIKj/s1600/P1000700.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8d4AOLXS7aOfn4T09TXbN4UYF-b_y7N9Kn_Fi6WQXqI1PHyy8uHNZ-05DbBEzwOpUDzonoU1ANmcMy6lrVDNiEXKVto4UJUICqC752-u6kWeWZEy3hDryqXTJvvt8w-YjUgBEwI1aIKj/s320/P1000700.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708322921957024866" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-9136385652943930232012-02-07T19:48:00.005-05:002012-02-07T20:06:14.493-05:00Junuary and getting ready for Valentine's DayWe are having a very mild winter. This time last year we'd already had a few days of snow. It's been so nice that it reminds me of the nice summer days we had when we lived in Calgary. The boys have been wearing shorts and t-shirt. And Owen runs around most of the time in boxer shorts or swimmers and no t-shirt at all! The great thing is that with all this nice weather the kids have been playing outside alot. Below are a few pics from an afternoon in the backyard last week.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFD5Z5zbW9bD3Z7kqRMP33acC09axp3Dyj3Wa3kCtqh3kiW_BLBArCCk5aCmb1KpiJ0m7eFZYsdbtlQTQQVK0hTb5bqbbLbO2-S-9U01WFFyLxHvyueboMs83z9bBWEReUOo2-MexKGKDf/s1600/P1000683.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFD5Z5zbW9bD3Z7kqRMP33acC09axp3Dyj3Wa3kCtqh3kiW_BLBArCCk5aCmb1KpiJ0m7eFZYsdbtlQTQQVK0hTb5bqbbLbO2-S-9U01WFFyLxHvyueboMs83z9bBWEReUOo2-MexKGKDf/s320/P1000683.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706562381710987490" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN8OEuyaA5NiIKEzT2sgbBz0nXnYASee2W0oQyt_m9l7ZSvj9IKzk5MAVh6-qRJ29kRScgu5amgzKLi41gqYnrg1mKZyc2nj42CizFej9vJI-fpPvzFLAO4IBHH51OwQ8vM2buVPbCJ_7/s1600/P1000687.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN8OEuyaA5NiIKEzT2sgbBz0nXnYASee2W0oQyt_m9l7ZSvj9IKzk5MAVh6-qRJ29kRScgu5amgzKLi41gqYnrg1mKZyc2nj42CizFej9vJI-fpPvzFLAO4IBHH51OwQ8vM2buVPbCJ_7/s320/P1000687.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706561947580476402" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCBw7xvQJ-VNwll8-pr6kG_2TOhd5WsjQ1beL9Z3VZdmhtHlp5g5UOSvP7fgBrWf3CwxnvkEmvhWC09oSBc2YCWww_SW3BkkF6DRdKJci4BcVE463I2qJ8VwyG2fPKy5VWt3mOkMo5Re1/s1600/P1000690.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCBw7xvQJ-VNwll8-pr6kG_2TOhd5WsjQ1beL9Z3VZdmhtHlp5g5UOSvP7fgBrWf3CwxnvkEmvhWC09oSBc2YCWww_SW3BkkF6DRdKJci4BcVE463I2qJ8VwyG2fPKy5VWt3mOkMo5Re1/s320/P1000690.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706561941284120178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAG4QykQJuBm5S3vywTahzsTIUEj5GTVUrv__Zbvkbe2BeKKlhicbwhC0TNCvyJpzDm0C5XrBNfPb9hhHtYsq7Ou3k0DE_mFw3XtYFOafoNgHZXEi7IT_tZvAAb-K2V1Og8AqEgqMpxmF/s1600/P1000681.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAG4QykQJuBm5S3vywTahzsTIUEj5GTVUrv__Zbvkbe2BeKKlhicbwhC0TNCvyJpzDm0C5XrBNfPb9hhHtYsq7Ou3k0DE_mFw3XtYFOafoNgHZXEi7IT_tZvAAb-K2V1Og8AqEgqMpxmF/s320/P1000681.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706561935043820418" border="0" /></a><br />Tonight Sam and Ella made boxes to take to school for Valentine's Day. Every child prepares a "letter box" for their class mates to drop Valentine's in. The Valentines are mostly cards, but sometimes come with a piece of candy or a cookie (that's a lolly and a biscuit if you're speaking Australian!). They are very excited to share their Valentine's next week<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD869D9mNmJUvEe5Kb5HBeM5Ymj3ndvolHl3PSH0DMCJtaRP2pi0R3EtxUZcGlkveliNouWzrbfmiUnC9woKhzJBW37Z9MvaZNLy2lbM7-2nEBLxbhs-K_kdy5V2zVv_ZzVztDUCPSn4MX/s1600/P1000694.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD869D9mNmJUvEe5Kb5HBeM5Ymj3ndvolHl3PSH0DMCJtaRP2pi0R3EtxUZcGlkveliNouWzrbfmiUnC9woKhzJBW37Z9MvaZNLy2lbM7-2nEBLxbhs-K_kdy5V2zVv_ZzVztDUCPSn4MX/s320/P1000694.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706562389487847106" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5i8Gww0AyfUvd-Jz2o7VB9iKnkdGl33V2S1C-w25Pu47fGlBkBI6qndjnBGb1EzUADTP0gs3aBeKEM7TBvX3QHqmlaxDJlLMTBnM0IkwHAUQAX3oZtVfgWtLR7Wj5vsXOh-00-okJljvQ/s1600/P1000697.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5i8Gww0AyfUvd-Jz2o7VB9iKnkdGl33V2S1C-w25Pu47fGlBkBI6qndjnBGb1EzUADTP0gs3aBeKEM7TBvX3QHqmlaxDJlLMTBnM0IkwHAUQAX3oZtVfgWtLR7Wj5vsXOh-00-okJljvQ/s320/P1000697.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706562399812375714" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-16188425995500065472012-01-27T21:35:00.006-05:002012-01-28T12:30:08.609-05:00Please remeber Lisa in your prayersLast October you may remember me writing about my amazing cousin <a href="http://penejayne.blogspot.com/2011/10/lisa-and-noah.html">Lisa King loosing her son Noah</a>. Yesterday her husband Aaron died suddenly from a massive heart attack at the age of 39. This is so shocking, tragic and hard to comprehend. Please remember Lisa and her three boys in your prayers. To read her story you can <a href="http://lisajking.blogspot.com/">visit her blog</a> and you can also <a href="http://www.sevencherubs.com/2012/01/king-family-donations.html">make a donation</a> to help them through the coming weeks.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_HwtHXNau8HrsUDV7KBz1bY6pPZzObu3HWFxzk1FcacvKvsyUP14ASJVWoLDmgsOvAuNSyi8s998ux23aB1zJrFbI4FK9XEkScrYNBYNcqR217owIqSLdq1dHH7ufbabO6AkS4H44xe7/s1600/154155_10150133191189572_688399571_7844332_8002313_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_HwtHXNau8HrsUDV7KBz1bY6pPZzObu3HWFxzk1FcacvKvsyUP14ASJVWoLDmgsOvAuNSyi8s998ux23aB1zJrFbI4FK9XEkScrYNBYNcqR217owIqSLdq1dHH7ufbabO6AkS4H44xe7/s320/154155_10150133191189572_688399571_7844332_8002313_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702512491527612306" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-68268192270027332232012-01-25T20:30:00.003-05:002012-01-25T20:49:51.431-05:00Australia DayI like to celebrate Australia Day in our home. I love sharing a bit about Australia with the kids and this year I also went into Sam and Ella's classrooms to talk about Australia and share a couple of stories. It was so much fun! Owen came with me on the school visits, it was fun for him to be my helper and see a bit of what goes on at school.<br /><br />For family home evening on Monday night we made chocolate and strawberry Lamingtons to share with Sam and Ella's class mates. There are no bakeries here to buy them from and so the only way we get them is if we make them. They are fun to make but very messy! Especially with 4 kids helping out. I'm still sweeping up bits of coconut.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TIG77DVcY9fKjbfE2rmM3uzHvbFZyyTJHcTsT5-R41x0TkmliUsTgBzXP5aoSHv7BHNYaKXyit6ji56vZTj-S2aOy3Vg2t8NWlxvt4CF0Ics_D_oEB7X88zVFTaQkaECUZQujU2qPfCJ/s1600/P1000629.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TIG77DVcY9fKjbfE2rmM3uzHvbFZyyTJHcTsT5-R41x0TkmliUsTgBzXP5aoSHv7BHNYaKXyit6ji56vZTj-S2aOy3Vg2t8NWlxvt4CF0Ics_D_oEB7X88zVFTaQkaECUZQujU2qPfCJ/s320/P1000629.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701748809294178738" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6kydCXYiBYb21Xknfs116Vurf43FWr0BtT1E33Cb82hN_KTgUvwy5QvlZgbOqkuIFIG8NVaUDZZvFYVduoxVsmvap5oSkG9-dSWDHcxHX8wehIl246OBcDadTd85lQ0xPUF80z_5Goig/s1600/P1000628.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6kydCXYiBYb21Xknfs116Vurf43FWr0BtT1E33Cb82hN_KTgUvwy5QvlZgbOqkuIFIG8NVaUDZZvFYVduoxVsmvap5oSkG9-dSWDHcxHX8wehIl246OBcDadTd85lQ0xPUF80z_5Goig/s320/P1000628.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701748805352569538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrJZdmcpbGrvQ50o3upXzY6rV-vm3b2vyBKjFOqOygZIBiuXeUzZKaJuPW57uq3KpHvgg21JZqiX9ZbCzwkj5MhZDNjrlYOBUjk8-915otJfvWBT0pWktSC8KgsKvMqugAd8o0R2Wuzaw/s1600/P1000633.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrJZdmcpbGrvQ50o3upXzY6rV-vm3b2vyBKjFOqOygZIBiuXeUzZKaJuPW57uq3KpHvgg21JZqiX9ZbCzwkj5MhZDNjrlYOBUjk8-915otJfvWBT0pWktSC8KgsKvMqugAd8o0R2Wuzaw/s320/P1000633.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701750108377963106" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW1cM2bX_6Cf-STHukW9lS2B5V8bPqZwvhyBFi-unaHCWsTiaTPkEuQIj14IMh1nqTKISYBmB-5ENmOb0YM0wKpTQVsgMXhtRnpEr57sWjyeB1XEvLc2YrGY014CTOBz-z86Pg2xXnC-B/s1600/P1000637.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW1cM2bX_6Cf-STHukW9lS2B5V8bPqZwvhyBFi-unaHCWsTiaTPkEuQIj14IMh1nqTKISYBmB-5ENmOb0YM0wKpTQVsgMXhtRnpEr57sWjyeB1XEvLc2YrGY014CTOBz-z86Pg2xXnC-B/s320/P1000637.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701750101936285090" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl-5ufJn4-1eIzmf1HtDa6T_mQ9oDYUTIvCM25vwR6zoiaI0GlehVcVbreSsQeiUFCQIYu7ZCzaFw-hX6Q1-8OK5KOSyWGvw4YdhiZr-TSP_mMvr89ddRA-P4CeRogyk2Nouwt63sfhl5/s1600/P1000646.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl-5ufJn4-1eIzmf1HtDa6T_mQ9oDYUTIvCM25vwR6zoiaI0GlehVcVbreSsQeiUFCQIYu7ZCzaFw-hX6Q1-8OK5KOSyWGvw4YdhiZr-TSP_mMvr89ddRA-P4CeRogyk2Nouwt63sfhl5/s320/P1000646.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701748801170615842" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-66488226347659277032012-01-22T20:11:00.003-05:002012-01-22T20:35:17.754-05:00All in a WeekendThe weekend always flies by so fast! This weekend Sam played his first game of basketball for the season and got four goals! Go Sam! Here is a picture of him with his good buddy Harper. They got to be on the same team which they were both very excited about!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoSjZsQOvhGW9_6igBRa3hM7Pe3t0UVaunBXJK-SXigeaGWujVI_EzQoguAHLG7EUPyKSjpETZb6QkX0M0vYHk84DtrtJxrU3snBLWg3U5GN2I6wjCfnez5cCrvGokOqSctsBB7hf24B3/s1600/P1000608.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoSjZsQOvhGW9_6igBRa3hM7Pe3t0UVaunBXJK-SXigeaGWujVI_EzQoguAHLG7EUPyKSjpETZb6QkX0M0vYHk84DtrtJxrU3snBLWg3U5GN2I6wjCfnez5cCrvGokOqSctsBB7hf24B3/s320/P1000608.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700633072952177954" border="0" /></a><br />Ella went to a her friend Caroline's pony birthday party. Unfortunately a big storm came through and so they did not get to ride the ponies as planned, just got to look at them longingly outside in the rain. Oh well..<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPNZMKUhvGJXr52zjjKnzfSw0SUo4gSJx7mM-o3b01FiYe39bIYIQMa400AuGwGAQ8dQC9N5he2QMNRRV1iF_pfy1tuYutqY4J7DIcyyaMFVOcRE_vyQ-T8njtuUF2hfbbYwqY4cadDMK/s1600/P1000613.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPNZMKUhvGJXr52zjjKnzfSw0SUo4gSJx7mM-o3b01FiYe39bIYIQMa400AuGwGAQ8dQC9N5he2QMNRRV1iF_pfy1tuYutqY4J7DIcyyaMFVOcRE_vyQ-T8njtuUF2hfbbYwqY4cadDMK/s320/P1000613.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700633064454372594" border="0" /></a><br />And Will got to wear some new birthday clothes from Grandma Bingham to church today. Thanks Grandma!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPp5usk4SCwtYZpToJYVN42c-OdWSX26-3YUNFzU2C-091Av2fIeE96hqOYLjpDPHOBVNtXlKpIflcn0svlXusDebytD-V9JbbtCnlYRQUVccHqN3daup6poiR1tr_XO1JR5b4tlVmBLT/s1600/P1000615.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPp5usk4SCwtYZpToJYVN42c-OdWSX26-3YUNFzU2C-091Av2fIeE96hqOYLjpDPHOBVNtXlKpIflcn0svlXusDebytD-V9JbbtCnlYRQUVccHqN3daup6poiR1tr_XO1JR5b4tlVmBLT/s320/P1000615.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700629204481279634" border="0" /></a><br />And this afternoon, Sam and Owen helped make homemade tortillas to go with the tacos we had for dinner. They all declared that they taste better than the store bought ones!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrLeXdWdJdkYZAZl8Qfa9GV6ipQ76HIDpTOMJjr3_rNKPLmidoNNzHpNyq6y-sV2NVDFlsyruNcwDpU9pzWgnwjHKXz-aEWbiMGFqOgMQtdQV8s74u2bu7VeENY_qR50bDyByVw5uJEWTj/s1600/P1000626.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrLeXdWdJdkYZAZl8Qfa9GV6ipQ76HIDpTOMJjr3_rNKPLmidoNNzHpNyq6y-sV2NVDFlsyruNcwDpU9pzWgnwjHKXz-aEWbiMGFqOgMQtdQV8s74u2bu7VeENY_qR50bDyByVw5uJEWTj/s320/P1000626.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700633055425667826" border="0" /></a><br />And now we're ready to start another week!Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-91866786704762104832012-01-09T20:03:00.002-05:002012-01-09T20:11:03.538-05:00How to turn a fussy eater aroundSam is not the only fussy eater in our home. Owen (4.5) has proven to be quite stubborn about trying anything new. Owen doesn't have any trouble chewing his food like Sam did, but just likes to stick with a few favorites. Saturday night we had Thai green curry for dinner. Ella and Sam tucked in, but Owen chose to go to his bedroom, with the light out instead of touching his food. About half an hour later, he finally came out, willing to try some food, if he could play Uno at the same time. Owen LOVES Uno and is pretty good at it. Every time he plays a card he has to take a bite, a game we played last week with when he was struggling with potatoe and leek soup. We've now discovered that Owen will eat just about anything, and finish his plate, if he can just play Uno at the some time!<br /><br />Here's Owen enjoying his Thai green curry...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWJYW8pvTZe0IJCrFg7lRAchl-r1Mf_NTnwMFprzg1Op66D_u19rTSv1EAh8Cs90p4cnjGTj_7lsFgKgQ-GGTLajoscxNr1nDlrhDynqAwo1YVufFzoBM0Y_bGenOxi2IoEJoZz2xcOSN/s1600/P1000596.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWJYW8pvTZe0IJCrFg7lRAchl-r1Mf_NTnwMFprzg1Op66D_u19rTSv1EAh8Cs90p4cnjGTj_7lsFgKgQ-GGTLajoscxNr1nDlrhDynqAwo1YVufFzoBM0Y_bGenOxi2IoEJoZz2xcOSN/s320/P1000596.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695803115199609602" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-86141587488930444942012-01-04T20:23:00.004-05:002012-01-04T20:30:12.675-05:00They should have these at Burger King!We're on a vegie kick at our house at the moment and are trying out two new vegetarian cookbooks we received at Christmas time. Tonight for dinner we had Black Bean-Chipotle Burgers. Half way through his burger Sam declared enthusiastically "They should have these at Burger King!" The funny thing is we've only ever taken the kids to Burger King once and they hated the chicken nuggets we got them. Also, Sam, until the last year was a very fussy eater, after some help from a speach thearapist who specialized in helping kids with eating disorders, Sam is gaining ground fast and now will try most things, a huge improvement on 18 months ago. So for Sam to declare that he loved his burger and that they should make them at Burger King sure made his Dad and me smile!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCneZ8wEhXpCKaPqlNri2Srs8R02oTxzkC3Q6WytUKh1B9pUxHbBRFNqdXN6HKPRp0Vt0aCPQTZVQPxF_20vC-Q7XdYpGjZVDaNB-WrBZkfHPbzMql2W8J3EchGkxpCp-y7hGYuwVCL1b6/s1600/P1000594.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCneZ8wEhXpCKaPqlNri2Srs8R02oTxzkC3Q6WytUKh1B9pUxHbBRFNqdXN6HKPRp0Vt0aCPQTZVQPxF_20vC-Q7XdYpGjZVDaNB-WrBZkfHPbzMql2W8J3EchGkxpCp-y7hGYuwVCL1b6/s320/P1000594.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693953874414919266" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-70510614449813434892012-01-02T20:00:00.004-05:002012-01-02T20:10:26.575-05:00Happy First Birthday Will!Our little baby Will turned one today and is not so little anymore! Sam, Ella, Owen and Elliott were excited to help their little brother open his presents. He received three new baby toys from Oma which he loved. He also got a stuffed monkey which the kids all help make at Build-A-Bear last week. In our family everyone has a special blanket and stuffed animal to take to bed and Will has been trying to snuggle up to his sibblings stuffies and needed one of his very own.<br /><br />For dinner Ella decided we needed to have pizza (the family birthday dinner of choice) and a pavlova for the cake. Will loved it all!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhO19y7-hY6yW1VAA36H8eAfXTNVGADosLE0m8076l_OQxMvX3x57xInjULBUhBKCt0wL4wo93qpm5KyC1HRmxFpzLRD3X0TwqaNO4GsgnNKfbYiyWlecOTemEB8XUT7L1CS9eI0f5J5eU/s1600/P1000420.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhO19y7-hY6yW1VAA36H8eAfXTNVGADosLE0m8076l_OQxMvX3x57xInjULBUhBKCt0wL4wo93qpm5KyC1HRmxFpzLRD3X0TwqaNO4GsgnNKfbYiyWlecOTemEB8XUT7L1CS9eI0f5J5eU/s320/P1000420.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693204924575196738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwdOzzwTP1iZLzRkDs_S0eOkVtUkDj_jeApFnaqMHTDGGAxm93VLxK3nwxX_elsx6sFoIBm_ZyeXXbCQl0ZHgSC6rodEJfORaAtbA2_xt46QA4BCh6gF9wB8dWxrmNK9lZopXeFsJ6p_t/s1600/P1000576.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwdOzzwTP1iZLzRkDs_S0eOkVtUkDj_jeApFnaqMHTDGGAxm93VLxK3nwxX_elsx6sFoIBm_ZyeXXbCQl0ZHgSC6rodEJfORaAtbA2_xt46QA4BCh6gF9wB8dWxrmNK9lZopXeFsJ6p_t/s320/P1000576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693204919126101874" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcFHyCTCO-Bevh8STIkE0dqBXiYvJe2-sUpmpoBuT895j7mq5PLZiA0US0wYc87JC1CRlecRs47oEG7TpElfvRmal4LxUe2hOlxSIheTngAtUE5xG5mUKhtvTER-Hyqnn7rI471RMIbVB/s1600/P1000577.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcFHyCTCO-Bevh8STIkE0dqBXiYvJe2-sUpmpoBuT895j7mq5PLZiA0US0wYc87JC1CRlecRs47oEG7TpElfvRmal4LxUe2hOlxSIheTngAtUE5xG5mUKhtvTER-Hyqnn7rI471RMIbVB/s320/P1000577.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693205579644544114" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdWnUQ21N9KCacFmJYB9y1XafUoY7En2m2Lq0O3erYrm_dqicHcreY3q5vDGZyDvaKlMOUxgUVG341ZszPuOYXIsGd9rmf3ar544gOYOMVASP4zmTBkSIVH_phCjTL3rP4v3EGI4ZqmLc/s1600/P1000585.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdWnUQ21N9KCacFmJYB9y1XafUoY7En2m2Lq0O3erYrm_dqicHcreY3q5vDGZyDvaKlMOUxgUVG341ZszPuOYXIsGd9rmf3ar544gOYOMVASP4zmTBkSIVH_phCjTL3rP4v3EGI4ZqmLc/s320/P1000585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693204913069339714" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsp3xlywRKuFtAPymDowfwZ_GLhVIFsNs7hGRsVb0fQl0Rzf4Be-E8NnyJEF44tF8Rpc4ayAw6RC06jlfs_lSxLu-TRjWKk0RGhM_BXwJH5jQcoibXpo_vxj2ivklPN_-HZ1eNRO1kodxk/s1600/P1000591.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsp3xlywRKuFtAPymDowfwZ_GLhVIFsNs7hGRsVb0fQl0Rzf4Be-E8NnyJEF44tF8Rpc4ayAw6RC06jlfs_lSxLu-TRjWKk0RGhM_BXwJH5jQcoibXpo_vxj2ivklPN_-HZ1eNRO1kodxk/s320/P1000591.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693204910047258930" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-47951833534673950382011-11-24T16:04:00.007-05:002011-11-24T16:47:45.316-05:00My 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!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WT1gSqB0GUSDMj7RlY-Wx8U-sIrjTJHaVz3VI2X_qIxvkIjycpcZ0kt0Q6r_rGgHWbKZCsr5eLXWIA_OOgH3JaMYLsKyZJFj3qHH6fLTW0Y91xrHawrMelh68nvEjUdTzpXufcPzNzYM/s1600/P1000260.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WT1gSqB0GUSDMj7RlY-Wx8U-sIrjTJHaVz3VI2X_qIxvkIjycpcZ0kt0Q6r_rGgHWbKZCsr5eLXWIA_OOgH3JaMYLsKyZJFj3qHH6fLTW0Y91xrHawrMelh68nvEjUdTzpXufcPzNzYM/s320/P1000260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678678002535571730" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi14qmvdMG2oGxIo3AlipS8IMGkc69dU7aHn5QR-ZWoeBeEhABWqbs0pWqlyAujsC_eHohoJGZ4Qtwu-N363ywsyULwz1W9IRrC6udMAq_34_J9fX4QzVoUCIH8cKExq2D6Vw2vdlY3GU/s1600/P1000279.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi14qmvdMG2oGxIo3AlipS8IMGkc69dU7aHn5QR-ZWoeBeEhABWqbs0pWqlyAujsC_eHohoJGZ4Qtwu-N363ywsyULwz1W9IRrC6udMAq_34_J9fX4QzVoUCIH8cKExq2D6Vw2vdlY3GU/s320/P1000279.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678679960542747378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf__flzcyt9GF2y1AAFuXXw4uZohKLdbqwdTtAmUXPL9A0voEYy2vNo7QFjCIFI3lrBhaVGB38IMp5j8w3y5eHU9R3Jx8SPffj5Nlw63W7Zn4OyCwWmnje7UYX0RGjuu7OcN07XjLg4C2-/s1600/P1000275.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf__flzcyt9GF2y1AAFuXXw4uZohKLdbqwdTtAmUXPL9A0voEYy2vNo7QFjCIFI3lrBhaVGB38IMp5j8w3y5eHU9R3Jx8SPffj5Nlw63W7Zn4OyCwWmnje7UYX0RGjuu7OcN07XjLg4C2-/s320/P1000275.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678679950785382130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMzt-I5Kmv8t6fysDmKY2Gyq7HMhM6v9d7uFB9OcDg6bMx6eJPVeeovMj1n4yGmLLxiWxpMdoSXRZsNnjCkgUwYBw0FKjokaDFcj6auhk-ds7HWPGleLjdXR0DcP9WRL4nmS5xcll6-XN/s1600/P1000269.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMzt-I5Kmv8t6fysDmKY2Gyq7HMhM6v9d7uFB9OcDg6bMx6eJPVeeovMj1n4yGmLLxiWxpMdoSXRZsNnjCkgUwYBw0FKjokaDFcj6auhk-ds7HWPGleLjdXR0DcP9WRL4nmS5xcll6-XN/s320/P1000269.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678679502889465858" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguY57cj0V2wVIDQ93V7ikcwEcNbFbwiG9LDgsVCMI0H_ZLq_xVNFGB42RasuanG4-FOM38oJ7S9blddwbQhlXQwR1VZnvGfgwGEmjLZOiX_JrINoDJuSCRtAzTfIO9ShIbXLJJKsftgWNf/s1600/P1000267.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguY57cj0V2wVIDQ93V7ikcwEcNbFbwiG9LDgsVCMI0H_ZLq_xVNFGB42RasuanG4-FOM38oJ7S9blddwbQhlXQwR1VZnvGfgwGEmjLZOiX_JrINoDJuSCRtAzTfIO9ShIbXLJJKsftgWNf/s320/P1000267.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678679497049663058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemNCKaIyC4TeYmp6DL8KAFfHl9mBcotCAo5ubRjHKrPmhwmCk5CE-nJjmFOoEWx-9FE-5GXgas6UOsh087_Fs4g6bICAIm87pA9zpdhcnuzgHprtxLj_sgVwDU-dJaL2I53NooE4rldxw/s1600/P1000266.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemNCKaIyC4TeYmp6DL8KAFfHl9mBcotCAo5ubRjHKrPmhwmCk5CE-nJjmFOoEWx-9FE-5GXgas6UOsh087_Fs4g6bICAIm87pA9zpdhcnuzgHprtxLj_sgVwDU-dJaL2I53NooE4rldxw/s320/P1000266.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678679489271238514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp1J_IBUEWmWGS7Z0qQJRZ54PMJ1OZ4-7Qj5SYHZaVAxa7aYyxmkp4ulTIvZhOO7aGY6Lxpz5Q7p7Cc1sIn5JOArDCxTAL8ilc0u2SYa8ayEOSNxuMIfecGJBbGuVyUkPNIHFGOlcAq-y/s1600/P1000264.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp1J_IBUEWmWGS7Z0qQJRZ54PMJ1OZ4-7Qj5SYHZaVAxa7aYyxmkp4ulTIvZhOO7aGY6Lxpz5Q7p7Cc1sIn5JOArDCxTAL8ilc0u2SYa8ayEOSNxuMIfecGJBbGuVyUkPNIHFGOlcAq-y/s320/P1000264.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678678327015543058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzk08aSN3HnivU3AGJMQjMa-_yTWKUihcf6GWUeeov131z1qkSr8lkzJFRL8mmCyeQaltGlMHcA7ggy1hROKJVgtj6qskGXtXHwz3eWgseOz7FIZG36DwEsgix-0MhsTO9PToGPEXDDC5/s1600/P1000261.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzk08aSN3HnivU3AGJMQjMa-_yTWKUihcf6GWUeeov131z1qkSr8lkzJFRL8mmCyeQaltGlMHcA7ggy1hROKJVgtj6qskGXtXHwz3eWgseOz7FIZG36DwEsgix-0MhsTO9PToGPEXDDC5/s320/P1000261.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678678321738814130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WT1gSqB0GUSDMj7RlY-Wx8U-sIrjTJHaVz3VI2X_qIxvkIjycpcZ0kt0Q6r_rGgHWbKZCsr5eLXWIA_OOgH3JaMYLsKyZJFj3qHH6fLTW0Y91xrHawrMelh68nvEjUdTzpXufcPzNzYM/s1600/P1000260.JPG"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_RbcO07nXGbzH5pPzIQ8HJvulb8XfS2r59x2hczr4kZmTzV7rL3ZySjuCjvFvf1D7h7MYiDIPVoD7w30K-iNQfRTGMYupxzm2tlWyFCVsm2xmgMH4lBvwZVTPCro-uslj-rbNSLbxhrV/s1600/P1000284.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_RbcO07nXGbzH5pPzIQ8HJvulb8XfS2r59x2hczr4kZmTzV7rL3ZySjuCjvFvf1D7h7MYiDIPVoD7w30K-iNQfRTGMYupxzm2tlWyFCVsm2xmgMH4lBvwZVTPCro-uslj-rbNSLbxhrV/s320/P1000284.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678680604427804450" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-37137386269659518082011-11-22T17:57:00.003-05:002011-11-22T20:13:30.644-05:00Disney on IceOn 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. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy72RpHwoUcxRf-lv3aIR0USHL-YrSU5kzN59Z_7aj7T2K-rwBezb0c1rxQP03o5a_DInNnYV0P32ABamGqD6XJ3wmCmJ7Hl6omJxgtRV5kUydZvF25Cx7XzeHQUH_8KiT6FH_0KelgC9B/s1600/P1000237.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy72RpHwoUcxRf-lv3aIR0USHL-YrSU5kzN59Z_7aj7T2K-rwBezb0c1rxQP03o5a_DInNnYV0P32ABamGqD6XJ3wmCmJ7Hl6omJxgtRV5kUydZvF25Cx7XzeHQUH_8KiT6FH_0KelgC9B/s320/P1000237.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677958949021509218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXXVlINlcsj5H6spNuCW_gzy6uPTGSCsbgoOiTAHUkleEbJPXA8_ElVH_YLi4R5bQGxVoRfaPqlVmKd4TsR5iD3lACxeTqFobWrjzCMauy3i87_glmwTkzNJZxP8AWq5aOw-aXfUmAZwB/s1600/P1000238.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXXVlINlcsj5H6spNuCW_gzy6uPTGSCsbgoOiTAHUkleEbJPXA8_ElVH_YLi4R5bQGxVoRfaPqlVmKd4TsR5iD3lACxeTqFobWrjzCMauy3i87_glmwTkzNJZxP8AWq5aOw-aXfUmAZwB/s320/P1000238.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677958939893837282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm__PMnhiX9EoCTL5GL2wN-nIJzGcWc0owJOsInm0qxWpeuYlAuk8kC0SBgae4ukA58BzlJ0-b9Dxl3YjuaGB80fTa9mfQrAunugpMZ3HRNtbcvqkdC3du9nT9BPl9LeU13BRVGzIG8QEq/s1600/P1000255_2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm__PMnhiX9EoCTL5GL2wN-nIJzGcWc0owJOsInm0qxWpeuYlAuk8kC0SBgae4ukA58BzlJ0-b9Dxl3YjuaGB80fTa9mfQrAunugpMZ3HRNtbcvqkdC3du9nT9BPl9LeU13BRVGzIG8QEq/s320/P1000255_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677958935222458354" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-42530610182522846872011-11-15T20:28:00.004-05:002011-11-15T20:48:16.783-05:00Happy 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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQW3Vfl1T308ASVgvY0vg6oya8XRusr-vd9A9B7BAeQlzVYuVe1P1AoKVrrLi6xlvf2JHyXmhtggTJj8WQ09pojp2_raw9sxXnmzyIgHZaPCyJBP7VWKHTFOPbAjX-ZtSLvdcWWNH49NE2/s1600/P1000223.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQW3Vfl1T308ASVgvY0vg6oya8XRusr-vd9A9B7BAeQlzVYuVe1P1AoKVrrLi6xlvf2JHyXmhtggTJj8WQ09pojp2_raw9sxXnmzyIgHZaPCyJBP7VWKHTFOPbAjX-ZtSLvdcWWNH49NE2/s320/P1000223.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675400530054409218" border="0" /></a><br />The present opening ceremony..... Ella invited her friends Holland and Harper to to watch her open her presents. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTNb-M2bFuKmgrPS-OhW2T_ep2lTJwRWzk8eFSHssHkqEw9lGvKlpW4IubIv3SZiV_3JND7LKO0i3t6SqaZ2uB_Fhyphenhyphen36FCgHdl10QLBwGc2Mcz8v4-qtTaYV_HucIGK456yZqqRiXsaiV/s1600/P1000217.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTNb-M2bFuKmgrPS-OhW2T_ep2lTJwRWzk8eFSHssHkqEw9lGvKlpW4IubIv3SZiV_3JND7LKO0i3t6SqaZ2uB_Fhyphenhyphen36FCgHdl10QLBwGc2Mcz8v4-qtTaYV_HucIGK456yZqqRiXsaiV/s320/P1000217.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675400522763221490" border="0" /></a><br />And Ella's frogs... <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-vmZRR-GR2CU8XqzbZGVHLuljQkljQs6755ZpesWHXbgKsj15f34WLT6qAIvIDMwAIy8N7LjGd0Yd2I6olbcz8jTrH6Yk-SsvQpWUsrh5INYwf-nE-7xVhLnqGfRzJoyUmO_EaSeMtHr/s1600/P1000108.JPG"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xfIfJ29rhJ15AnTFkVR-N9L5Gr1DO9okrsxYp5PifeB1WnA8d50eccXlN9efDHhrl_Voqkri_cEJLsxB4Ci20Q1DggBgfWG7_5gFfLqGepatDGtMYGnDU9iJkqDoYBuioYpig82CoOw9/s1600/P1000229.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xfIfJ29rhJ15AnTFkVR-N9L5Gr1DO9okrsxYp5PifeB1WnA8d50eccXlN9efDHhrl_Voqkri_cEJLsxB4Ci20Q1DggBgfWG7_5gFfLqGepatDGtMYGnDU9iJkqDoYBuioYpig82CoOw9/s320/P1000229.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675401638022624050" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-14501337195312305992011-11-11T20:23:00.003-05:002011-11-11T20:40:22.917-05:00A trip to Greenville, SCLast 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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Some pics from the weekend....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYsscvLbxUNNxlqSqekixuHIQBdnQOfBauQf-iiYrpC609vHk1iO7eoCLJavlQgIkCrtFulko0WnMcwsZuhqCpwwqd6C1tHDDwmNbLux3I0TQSZH8fvdP9B7AqPX7M_S6yhyphenhyphen9f0pioAvP/s1600/P1000179.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYsscvLbxUNNxlqSqekixuHIQBdnQOfBauQf-iiYrpC609vHk1iO7eoCLJavlQgIkCrtFulko0WnMcwsZuhqCpwwqd6C1tHDDwmNbLux3I0TQSZH8fvdP9B7AqPX7M_S6yhyphenhyphen9f0pioAvP/s320/P1000179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673914291218545522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonJW_x55wfYy9ePYHdiz3O9zIjkha_F1p01pELv70L4VJ0UcQguSYkU8PkLYdP7IicUwAeTiHQUNfMPvLPSeDakoqo58aZwjnWn06Svw27XF5ZJVfyHZp8HZqVzNj_AQ6r3KZ6M4l1JVY/s1600/P1000180.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonJW_x55wfYy9ePYHdiz3O9zIjkha_F1p01pELv70L4VJ0UcQguSYkU8PkLYdP7IicUwAeTiHQUNfMPvLPSeDakoqo58aZwjnWn06Svw27XF5ZJVfyHZp8HZqVzNj_AQ6r3KZ6M4l1JVY/s320/P1000180.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673914272414026018" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsv33T_x2pypwO1UphEjh_3zzgjysegOJ5c5rC9Pl2vTj1OXPv5vDbuXW0NGXTjgYuoCC2aaCoC4_5SZdiueSvwPMf5gRkdtlqdhKvgeoQprp-XYEJHBLvSBUlqjPc72G21Eofdx6XzTS/s1600/P1000189.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsv33T_x2pypwO1UphEjh_3zzgjysegOJ5c5rC9Pl2vTj1OXPv5vDbuXW0NGXTjgYuoCC2aaCoC4_5SZdiueSvwPMf5gRkdtlqdhKvgeoQprp-XYEJHBLvSBUlqjPc72G21Eofdx6XzTS/s320/P1000189.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673914264955195442" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-8676917048556816042011-11-01T14:06:00.003-04:002011-11-01T14:23:42.647-04:00Happy 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. <br /><br />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!<br /><br />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!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKmevpbYE9_akmP8hZS0HPQmO-NnFzrPlpxiu2wHB6zo1lxlnfiYwFQvvEMSvAsL_lpZp665FBKRZdk7qcCymItGFUsSwLs9bb6UiEimgFVk78ZCml2Ert62Lw2GuZ4B81KYk5dOhWoAi/s1600/P1000154.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKmevpbYE9_akmP8hZS0HPQmO-NnFzrPlpxiu2wHB6zo1lxlnfiYwFQvvEMSvAsL_lpZp665FBKRZdk7qcCymItGFUsSwLs9bb6UiEimgFVk78ZCml2Ert62Lw2GuZ4B81KYk5dOhWoAi/s320/P1000154.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670092269696743138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_jpSVHLatGMyxCkxf083niTA9ZMbhB0ArwRwwSV5iNsikblOA3qxWUviv5P4rTj64Xz5QC_Os71r8QCcxq6gkMMHrux8x1qUdN1PvIfDlkErxRVzTHv0FKVl1PMHpCSWiYCIrEbysm94/s1600/P1000158.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_jpSVHLatGMyxCkxf083niTA9ZMbhB0ArwRwwSV5iNsikblOA3qxWUviv5P4rTj64Xz5QC_Os71r8QCcxq6gkMMHrux8x1qUdN1PvIfDlkErxRVzTHv0FKVl1PMHpCSWiYCIrEbysm94/s320/P1000158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670092250178827714" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsZCvxiVub8817Xz514bFoPH_qdFpExarZUhUH26wGcro3Ya7KzD6AaAQYm3j5ygeJorE1U8CGismdRRpxGD5XjSv8L53Yzh170Hew-mTqJYxd3qjki6HR44SQvwbA3WJ-c6MSTStuSeN/s1600/P1000155.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsZCvxiVub8817Xz514bFoPH_qdFpExarZUhUH26wGcro3Ya7KzD6AaAQYm3j5ygeJorE1U8CGismdRRpxGD5XjSv8L53Yzh170Hew-mTqJYxd3qjki6HR44SQvwbA3WJ-c6MSTStuSeN/s320/P1000155.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670092248033142402" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii15XV45y-6FjYQvoCQk7wcCQYiYD-p-WWmbjcHXOcrRupX162e-PNkrX69SuQ1QLx6pJG3xu3LL6C_BPpwE2LIuACU4PgYeMFpdCjE_R7diwhxnbjRoqxxPd1Fx6Iz2ebjAbCuyBu8Mwh/s1600/P1000152.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii15XV45y-6FjYQvoCQk7wcCQYiYD-p-WWmbjcHXOcrRupX162e-PNkrX69SuQ1QLx6pJG3xu3LL6C_BPpwE2LIuACU4PgYeMFpdCjE_R7diwhxnbjRoqxxPd1Fx6Iz2ebjAbCuyBu8Mwh/s320/P1000152.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670091479770066178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1Qb-24_ipkjilx9-V8LPHvImKpJWailLf0xNcpVrAGECBYDGR0sV5AzBaTDvZcefqR5w0tiPhVjOfVeLw1CIcPPzJkEZjmWsapNHMOneew_WbG4MtKyn45310h59m2TmPwFWjNhXEDdy/s1600/P1000151.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1Qb-24_ipkjilx9-V8LPHvImKpJWailLf0xNcpVrAGECBYDGR0sV5AzBaTDvZcefqR5w0tiPhVjOfVeLw1CIcPPzJkEZjmWsapNHMOneew_WbG4MtKyn45310h59m2TmPwFWjNhXEDdy/s320/P1000151.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670091463557421730" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3O4af5-E9LDDfjgsH5owYq2fWg0OHQekqQLQWsEX220qeC9JYJji7HH-ELzXQ_BK-6ZfeoS5jwFpFqUZkgtHzKfaOHpbCWYnNmnGHsdqHVCBykSkJYjf1VjOmrmvCrtoZus4zUWEA7AuP/s1600/P1000107.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3O4af5-E9LDDfjgsH5owYq2fWg0OHQekqQLQWsEX220qeC9JYJji7HH-ELzXQ_BK-6ZfeoS5jwFpFqUZkgtHzKfaOHpbCWYnNmnGHsdqHVCBykSkJYjf1VjOmrmvCrtoZus4zUWEA7AuP/s320/P1000107.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670091457023481330" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1ZU0PKmHxcvm5I0ZdC-Hu4vItJfM4FmOmwcB1TnXehF2ddcAMWJa8LQRj6jWckNPLZBFAU0PMiPurtGMlW75zPZrOom9Pgp0etWoZ_UDKefZ5ylULZOlvk0Q0gTvWf3jREsCDyZn-D6Y/s1600/P1000098.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1ZU0PKmHxcvm5I0ZdC-Hu4vItJfM4FmOmwcB1TnXehF2ddcAMWJa8LQRj6jWckNPLZBFAU0PMiPurtGMlW75zPZrOom9Pgp0etWoZ_UDKefZ5ylULZOlvk0Q0gTvWf3jREsCDyZn-D6Y/s320/P1000098.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670091445900731330" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-a_HVMKMQt2fJrfA9GGcnlBoa8YZpqnuhSl3yHqd_jODsiG2OpFC2RGuokRUBuAYMX5Iy9di5yxeH415_BkRF5vl580qdOTcUP5RCs-yAtahkRgqH0DzsGpJPqh9-mtVm69uYxlELXK74/s1600/P1000091.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-a_HVMKMQt2fJrfA9GGcnlBoa8YZpqnuhSl3yHqd_jODsiG2OpFC2RGuokRUBuAYMX5Iy9di5yxeH415_BkRF5vl580qdOTcUP5RCs-yAtahkRgqH0DzsGpJPqh9-mtVm69uYxlELXK74/s320/P1000091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670091435439024306" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-8589256060876217722011-10-16T20:25:00.004-04:002011-10-16T21:13:27.396-04:00Lisa and NoahOne 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. <br /><br />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 <a href="http://www.hydranencephaly.com/stories/noah.htm">http://www.hydranencephaly.com/stories/noah.htm</a>. Lisa has also kept an amazing blog that has touched many people, you can read that here <a href="http://lisajking.blogspot.com/">http://lisajking.blogspot.com/</a>. 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.<br /><br />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.Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-84906172499260569312011-08-13T20:18:00.003-04:002011-08-13T20:25:52.069-04:00Back 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.
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<br />Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-86107952425843693812011-05-15T20:23:00.007-04:002011-05-15T20:55:08.752-04:00My 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!<br /><br />That's me right up front in the red t-shirt and several of my team mates behind..<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7a4ThYGcWU8_6PY7WyWrwAxKhNWqImIElenMtKQSijAm3CDDYvV8vE0j0cDOVkRcQWso66OMHNfPjJcUfZZcbEAphkQfr_WS_z4bW-exoB1EgBLDpVzCDvB-cAfnJp0m71S84X2BrhQx/s1600/1034447.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7a4ThYGcWU8_6PY7WyWrwAxKhNWqImIElenMtKQSijAm3CDDYvV8vE0j0cDOVkRcQWso66OMHNfPjJcUfZZcbEAphkQfr_WS_z4bW-exoB1EgBLDpVzCDvB-cAfnJp0m71S84X2BrhQx/s320/1034447.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607106325963584978" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpYGAjuiJSqoEe76JxoDUBOlawlTvq8Mb9vIXVKdet0m8r-o9uNm1GG0r6hN69IzWlp1AyIdfFZDPlooYeCezO6GYLSnKSuq6YJxvboz3sbd11q2BAol_slQ929mmNhfdoxdYMH2PXzE7/s1600/1034457.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpYGAjuiJSqoEe76JxoDUBOlawlTvq8Mb9vIXVKdet0m8r-o9uNm1GG0r6hN69IzWlp1AyIdfFZDPlooYeCezO6GYLSnKSuq6YJxvboz3sbd11q2BAol_slQ929mmNhfdoxdYMH2PXzE7/s320/1034457.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607110889915214082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Me & my team mates...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqC4ql6bjiGXckYnuro3Vyo98KFi_1v47dDQC8FFa-jXsRlIvEEYDMH8T6q9gOcai70CO8Zf0y4fn0ejXFU5FIIkvxO-uGextdxmecWs2_eA674Z7MFYHKt4XSu0s31VihLcbO3OSUmQG/s1600/230771_10150185071959021_709194020_7020510_7920945_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqC4ql6bjiGXckYnuro3Vyo98KFi_1v47dDQC8FFa-jXsRlIvEEYDMH8T6q9gOcai70CO8Zf0y4fn0ejXFU5FIIkvxO-uGextdxmecWs2_eA674Z7MFYHKt4XSu0s31VihLcbO3OSUmQG/s320/230771_10150185071959021_709194020_7020510_7920945_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607109601663114354" border="0" /></a><br />5 miles, 19 obstacles I was happy to be done! no wonder I have a sprained ankle today!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfR-mPGUzES8NlfXnRkXikw8Sobqiamh12qFU8ISjIyvuiDglLo1h_SyOED-rK9VyxJotSncbil-h9xq_fQCxZWtPAU6rrvehcP0NoshQdUsaMXN7o5FnxgUU8ybxUModAeXIUK5IvhQc/s1600/227839_10150184759614021_709194020_7018216_3019889_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfR-mPGUzES8NlfXnRkXikw8Sobqiamh12qFU8ISjIyvuiDglLo1h_SyOED-rK9VyxJotSncbil-h9xq_fQCxZWtPAU6rrvehcP0NoshQdUsaMXN7o5FnxgUU8ybxUModAeXIUK5IvhQc/s320/227839_10150184759614021_709194020_7018216_3019889_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607107748729247858" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-75051908453366069482011-05-05T20:58:00.007-04:002011-05-05T21:25:28.459-04:00In the news and on the newsIn the past month our family has been showing up in the local papers and on the local TV stations!<br /><br />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.<br /><a href="http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Cutting_Camelot_Kids_program_will_hurt_both_HS_students_and_preschoolers_119746549.html">Click on this link</a> 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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEYB8auosiua_NJ9TpSmcYK9jiJ8QCQ51SpRp2MfqgsyD1Qhr-6RgSwKm6Rq4nxyIdNMWo7jEwOf8IKgPhzcKwIm-UFdcYthuRyn9eFY_KUEuLOXm2k0R5Ped90OsO7p7kZCwMc5GhZ13/s1600/DSCN9314.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEYB8auosiua_NJ9TpSmcYK9jiJ8QCQ51SpRp2MfqgsyD1Qhr-6RgSwKm6Rq4nxyIdNMWo7jEwOf8IKgPhzcKwIm-UFdcYthuRyn9eFY_KUEuLOXm2k0R5Ped90OsO7p7kZCwMc5GhZ13/s320/DSCN9314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603405514193304914" border="0" /></a>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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAF4g9vo9WvMZ5NThAbcaUHch5LZfuW7J2iCa4hLgwk-6Z2uorZzYDoSYaFc9Pek4gux9PJuWu-zwpXh8vzZgS8xkes_-foIhcyudzhqbMYesSyHwN7iZtMilCbLZO1_3Gmn9VGWeaU9_N/s1600/Ella+Picture.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAF4g9vo9WvMZ5NThAbcaUHch5LZfuW7J2iCa4hLgwk-6Z2uorZzYDoSYaFc9Pek4gux9PJuWu-zwpXh8vzZgS8xkes_-foIhcyudzhqbMYesSyHwN7iZtMilCbLZO1_3Gmn9VGWeaU9_N/s320/Ella+Picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603404071356264098" border="0" /></a><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdGTsUbAivm4bYSPwFHmmY0g_ig3j-MUmVmYgpN3PFRwpWpXW5ds7ek34N7i-xfM9YhePl-gNgkbksI0ULuDDVmWsv-JDT_SH7yjNr8uaXs-YRJfCuxg8fXFqHJZg3okIPU8gM-JUnUOvq/s1600/Chris+Lazara+Article.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdGTsUbAivm4bYSPwFHmmY0g_ig3j-MUmVmYgpN3PFRwpWpXW5ds7ek34N7i-xfM9YhePl-gNgkbksI0ULuDDVmWsv-JDT_SH7yjNr8uaXs-YRJfCuxg8fXFqHJZg3okIPU8gM-JUnUOvq/s320/Chris+Lazara+Article.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603407979057391602" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-60942343025158652752011-05-02T14:10:00.003-04:002011-05-02T14:18:09.244-04:00Mud FightChris 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!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVywAaQd57wlPpB_nxFPBGl8vtIEZTuJsX2Bg877H_g04OWCC5_rL3z6pd1WWqqIbO3Wvzyr24w-NIr9Ut1o6AJ17LuRkDKr9bCDnIQUd6WsGvaaQZCsYxAnu6JSUzONeojK4WkuGBYwJo/s1600/DSCN9329.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVywAaQd57wlPpB_nxFPBGl8vtIEZTuJsX2Bg877H_g04OWCC5_rL3z6pd1WWqqIbO3Wvzyr24w-NIr9Ut1o6AJ17LuRkDKr9bCDnIQUd6WsGvaaQZCsYxAnu6JSUzONeojK4WkuGBYwJo/s320/DSCN9329.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602184433434795426" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBeerByHmJT5WDgVeLOIdD7bt7-ndx65P1GCEmuflGdAIixH1WZpgCUQE2dlJefkW_qNnYMx44VClri5t8qLfD_ZtmVpjorpSH1JBcSQONqXn5l0NuuJPJEQ1DYFPy9WFMPKmq3EkuaIC/s1600/DSCN9325.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBeerByHmJT5WDgVeLOIdD7bt7-ndx65P1GCEmuflGdAIixH1WZpgCUQE2dlJefkW_qNnYMx44VClri5t8qLfD_ZtmVpjorpSH1JBcSQONqXn5l0NuuJPJEQ1DYFPy9WFMPKmq3EkuaIC/s320/DSCN9325.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602184447977219314" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIOgtKPkYQE8Gzl4Jrv7kwvz7ULvoj_LuA_CRfH5rBsc3KNzAuBrWKGZeV6si-uoRbQX_yNGF9KpadL4LI9bwwF8iwjMo9icpV6n2UJ7NG4ivGKfeFhlu_p-DTNz0mfrMHe992kizDFee/s1600/DSCN9322.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIOgtKPkYQE8Gzl4Jrv7kwvz7ULvoj_LuA_CRfH5rBsc3KNzAuBrWKGZeV6si-uoRbQX_yNGF9KpadL4LI9bwwF8iwjMo9icpV6n2UJ7NG4ivGKfeFhlu_p-DTNz0mfrMHe992kizDFee/s320/DSCN9322.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602184440890286162" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7FhMfjKRulV-DjF6zK-GTWulRuy2L1E1ldU0FF6pmvTYtdwCSr6D1J-xaEPPOJk8QRWkRChU3NKEUFKZiAZFpTJFvQL9PaKuKnf-ofx-zEz5CRWwIEAQ6aj-JsFafAKn34NjL2N0Bfcp/s1600/DSCN9326.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7FhMfjKRulV-DjF6zK-GTWulRuy2L1E1ldU0FF6pmvTYtdwCSr6D1J-xaEPPOJk8QRWkRChU3NKEUFKZiAZFpTJFvQL9PaKuKnf-ofx-zEz5CRWwIEAQ6aj-JsFafAKn34NjL2N0Bfcp/s320/DSCN9326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602184418600783410" border="0" /></a>Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098232957797777868.post-47193387567435620552011-04-25T20:51:00.005-04:002011-04-25T21:49:53.615-04:00Goodbye Nan EllaOn 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 <a href="http://rowlings.blogspot.com/2011/04/farewell-nan.html">my sister's blog</a>.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Here is a picture from Christmas day 2009, with my Mum, Nan, Elliott and Ella.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGtciDRUa-2_81jAqvpFpvhA66JNPR4v8fXjV3mRPO1mb7FeXwwQ68PWEi3NoQPMp7Pd_D6uE5XWCTfVtYZ-LanM3Ct_4Owu5nsXvxQeig7nC_g07xlEBPEgBR1QiCgJ_PrILKVsDWed-/s1600/DSCN7901.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGtciDRUa-2_81jAqvpFpvhA66JNPR4v8fXjV3mRPO1mb7FeXwwQ68PWEi3NoQPMp7Pd_D6uE5XWCTfVtYZ-LanM3Ct_4Owu5nsXvxQeig7nC_g07xlEBPEgBR1QiCgJ_PrILKVsDWed-/s320/DSCN7901.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599689637781662130" border="0" /></a>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Penny B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07558762585395473360noreply@blogger.com2