What does your nose do?

On Sunday Teagan’s Sunbeam teacher (Sis. Lopez) said that they were talking about “noses” and she asked the class what do noses do? Teagan raised his hand and said, “Mine has boogers.”

Ahhh... my kid! :)

What does $1,850 AUD in rent get you?

• Roughly 1,100 sq ft
• An older 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house
• Only 2 of 3 bedrooms with built in robes (we call them closets)
• No dishwasher (unless Jeremy counts)
• No place to put a clothes dryer (oh wait, we have a clothes line outside and we spent $6.50 on a clothes hang dryer for our house to put in front of our one heater on the wall for when it's cold) - However, this is actually more common than having a dryer here at all. Most people don't have them or use them.
• No A/C - Summer in the heat at Christmas doesn't sound pleasant
• One small heater on the wall to heat your whole house *It is also more common NOT to have air conditioning and heating.  We were told to make sure we have lots of blankets for the winter.
• No double pane windows so the insulation is not good (again... no one has these here)
• No garbage disposal – I haven't seen anyone that has one yet. Even the million dollar apartment we lived in Kingston didn’t have one.
• Internet takes a month to get hooked up (we are still using the wi-fi connection that we pay for by the download.
• My phone already doesn't have anything special on it... no call waiting, no online connection
• We live in the very last city of the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) before we are no longer considered in the ACT.
• It takes 15-20 minutes to get anywhere

(Update 5/7/12) We turn our heater on in the morning and at night for a bit before we turn in. It is between 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit (0-3 degrees Celsius) here and sometimes colder at night; so it gets pretty cold. I worry if the boys are warm all night long. We have been hanging our wet clothes from washing in front of the heater and it makes them dry so much faster. So, it hasn’t actually been too bad not having a dryer. However, when we were at church yesterday, none of my family wore coats. I’ve never had to wear one at church before, but everyone else had one on. The church hadn’t turned the heat on during church time. Also, our bishop’s wife came over to babysit on Saturday night so Jeremy and I could have a night out for our anniversary and she came over with a blanket and was surprised how warm it was in our home. She said they haven’t turned their heat on yet. Jeremy and I started getting nervous how much we had used our heater. Today at work someone told Jeremy that they used their heater as much as we have been using ours and their quarterly bill for gas alone was $1,200. (sigh) So, today I bundled the kiddos up for winter and we turned the heat off.  I don’t want to end up with a $1,200 bill as a surprise. It’s weird to see how much the cultures are different in America in that regard. I’ve been told that in Utah if you don’t pay your gas bill and if you have kids, they still won’t turn it off in the winter. I don’t know if that’s true, but it is definitely not the same outlook here. People just don’t even turn their heat on. Now I’m for sure going to worry how warm my kids are all the time during the coldest parts of the year. We have lots of blankets and warm pajamas for them, but they all kick the blankets off all night. We are always putting the blankets back on them.


(Update 5/27/12) A couple of people gave us electric space heaters. We still try to use them sparingly because I remember if we would use them too much in Utah, it made the heating bill go up there. Who knows what it would do here. You pay your utilities quarterly here, so we still haven't gotten our first bill. I'm still grateful for the heaters though because sometimes it is hard to get warm right before bed.

I feel like this is a story you would hear when someone goes on their mission. I had a perspective change when writing about our own story. I only ever looked at mission experiences as a short term "experience" in your life. But the reality of it is that people are really living like this every day. I know you may think, "Duh Tara"... but, it didn't hit me the same way until we were actually here living so differently than at home. It's not like we are even in a third world country or anything, but I sure do appreciate all the things we have grown up with. We've never known any other way. I will post pics of our house soon.

Cockington Green Gardens

This post is far behind. We went here in February when my mom was here. Cockington Green Gardens is another place to put on your list of cool places to go if you come. It is an entire miniature village and has a beautiful garden. Plus they are always adding new buildings. Each building costs about $30,000 to make and some cost even more than that. They have a mini Stonehenge and Machu Picchu and many other things like that. It is pretty awesome actually. There is a little train ride there that you can go all around the whole garden which the kids loved to do. They are open all year long which I was surprised that they keep the gardens up through the winter. I think we might get a year long pass since the boys are free to enter and it would only cost $45. It would be nice to go and walk around there often and have lunch with the kiddos.

 

 I like how the kids look like giants in this little villages.

They also have this really cool doll house that has 34 rooms in it. This picture is for Phyllis, my dad's late wife because she loved collectable dolls.

You can read more about it at cockingtongreen.com.au

Bateman's Bay

This weekend we decided to drive down to the beach with our friends Bodra and Jasmin. It is only a 2 hour drive from our house, so we thought it would be fun to take the boys to the beach for their first time. We thought for sure it'd be too cold to swim, so we were just going to let them wade in it and play in the sand. When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised how much warmer the weather was. It was much warmer than in Canberra. We went to Bateman's Bay and over to Surfers Cove. It was so nice! There weren't that many people there so it felt like we had the beach to ourselves. The boys had fun finding shells and making sand castles. Teagan had fun playing in the smaller waves as they came in. Tate was too scared of the water. The waves kind of freaked him out. After he went out there once, he stayed on shore and played with the sand and chasing the seagulls. Jeremy put Steffan's feet in the water and he didn't like it too much. I thought the water was really cold myself, but Jeremy and Teagan didn't seem to mind the temperature at all.

Yes, we are BOTH retarded and didn't realize that we put 2013 instead of 2012.

They had so much fun playing all day.

 Here comes Tate. He loves running after all the birds wherever we go.

 Love that bum crack. :)

I just LOVE this picture of Steffan. Isn't he a beautiful baby? Big blue eyes and big lips. They go good with the sand that Teagan and Tate threw on him. ;)

 

Here is the Swift family. I stole one off of Jasmin's FB. It is really cute of her and Fae.

Happy Mother's Day Mums

Happy Mother's Day to our mother's who are so far away and still manage to take care of us some how. :) And to the women who love our children just as much as we do.

Happy Mother's Day to my selfless Mother who would give up her life to help me whenever I needed it! Here is a pic of one us and one of my favorite trips with you. It was a fun little girls trip. Something I don't do very often (if at all). We had a fun night of laughing and laughing and some good long talks on the long drive with just the two of us.

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful, Chicago Cubs Mother-In-Law whom I miss dearly. I also miss walking over to her house and chatting with her whenever I want. Thank you for all of the care packages. We love getting surprises from home!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend (we are a day ahead of the US). Our family went hiking on Saturday with our friends Bodra & Jasmin and their little girl Faeryn. Jeremy works with Bodra and Jasmin and I have started hanging out during the day with our kids. It has been so great to have them here and to have friends to hang out with. They are pictured below. There is also some cute pictures of Steffan. He fell asleep in the carrier Jeremy was wearing. I thought we didn't have our camera when we were up on the mountain, so I didn't take pics until we were almost done. :(

My boys made me a card. Teagan wrote on it and when I asked him what it said, he said, "Happy Mother's Day! I love you. Don't get mad." Isn't that sad? Kinda funny, but mostly sad. I asked him if I get mad a lot and he said I do. :( I guess I should work on that. I also received some beautiful tulips which are my favorite! Jeremy got up early with the boys so I could sleep in. He also did the dishes and vacuumed and made french toast for breakfast. Thank you JJ! We went to church and the priesthood members taught all the classes and had hot coco and bikki's (cookies) after church for the Mother's. Tate managed to run around and get people to give him cookies. ha ha We also all got cute little flowers made for us as well. It was really nice!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas & Homemade Tortillas

I made this over the weekend and it was mucho yummy! :) Probably not the healthiest, but it was good for fast Sunday. We had it over rice. You should try it. I got it off of allrecipes.com and modified it a little bit. Jeremy even LIKED the leftovers and just for that it's a winner in my book. It just went up as one of my go-to recipes.

 

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1 pound shredded chicken (I used 2 large chicken breasts)
• 10 (6 inch) flour tortillas, quartered--- I made my own. See the recipe below.
• 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 (12 ounce) jar chunky salsa
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1/2 a diced tomato to put on top (optional)
• 1 small yellow onion (optional)

Directions

1. Boil chicken and shred with a fork. I cooked it in vegetable stock for flavor. Add taco seasoning and water until mixed and seasoned well. (i also added 1 small yellow onion and sauteed it in the pan before adding the chicken and taco seasoning)
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the salsa, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup. Mix in most of the cheese, reserving 3/4 cup for later.
3. Place a layer of tortillas covering the bottom of a slow cooker. Scoop a layer of the shredded chicken over that, and then spoon a layer of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers until you run out of stuff, ending with a layer of tortillas on the top. Top with remaining cheese and add diced tomato on top.
4. Cover, and cook on High for 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

 

Chef John's Flour Tortillas

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for dusting

Directions

1. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add vegetable shortening and work into flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Form a well in the middle of flour mixture and mix in hot water. Work flour and water mixture together with a fork and transfer to a cutting board.
3. Knead until a smooth, soft dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Add more flour if dough is too sticky.
4. Place more flour on cutting board, cover dough with bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. Cut ball of dough into eight equal parts and cover until needed.
6. Roll out balls of dough either by hand or with a tortilla press.
7. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place flattened tortilla in skillet and cook until it begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Flip tortilla over and cook for an additional minute. Flip again and cook for 1 more minute. Repeat with remaining dough.

 

Huh?

Tonight Teagan was saying our family prayers and he said, "...and bless the baby that mommy is going to have". Jeremy and I opened our eyes with raised eyebrows looking at each other and I said, "What the?" and Jeremy whispered that Teagan also mentioned it earlier to him.

Ugh. Not yet please. We need a break for a couple years. We decided that that the reason they are all here so close together is because Teagan plotted it before they came and planned the whole thing out as a joke. ;) That's possible, right?

Growing Up

Today (last Friday) we started the process of signing our little T-Man up for Pre-School. I can't believe he is just about old enough to go off on his own to school for a few days a week. Since the boys are so close together, I can see how quickly it will feel like they are all going off to school one right after the other. Tate is starting to wear the clothes Teagan was wearing right before we came here and Steffan is already wearing the clothes that Tate was wearing right before we came here. My friend Jenya already registered her daughter, Avery, for school and I know she was a bit sappy about it, but until I started it myself, I didn't get it. We have to get a lot of paperwork done for Teagan's registration because we are from overseas. I'm kind of dreading rounding up all the info they need. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Jeremy's job is listed on the "approved" list of skilled jobs from the Immigration Department so that the government will pay for the boys schooling. Otherwise it's $3,600/ year for public school. What?! I'm pretty sure that it will be covered though. I also found out today that all of the children in the ACT schools are required to wear uniforms. That will be a new experience for me. I've never been anywhere that had a uniform requirement.

Teagan is very smart! I have been working with him a lot during the time that Tate and Steffan are napping each day to learn things that will help him in pre-school. He already knows all of his shapes and colors. He can count to 15 but always misses #5. We've been working hard to not forget #5. We read and sing a lot and go over nursery rhymes and letters and numbers. We've even started writing some of them. He loves when I buy him work books to work in as well.

Since the seasons are opposite of the US, the school year begins in February and their summer break is from the end of November thru the beginning of February. It will be hard to get used to that. It's already hard to think that we are going into winter right now when I know that all of the Orem summer festivities are beginning. I will really miss that!

Tate has officially hit his "Terrible Two's". It is exhausting. His "Thing" is to pour, dump, play with, smash, rub in any food or liquid he can get his hands on.  And Teagan is practicing his "power" as the older brother. He is always telling Tate, "Tate, go get those cookies in the pantry and ask mommy if you can have them. Here Tate, play with this soap bottle and razor that I can climb up and get for you. Here Tate, let me put bum cream all over your head and face (diaper rash cream)." Tate willingly does everything that Teagan tells him to do and Teagan blames everything on Tate. 

Teagan has also started asking the rhetorically dreaded question, "Why?" For example: Mommy what are you doing? - I'm turning on the heater? - Why? - Because it's cold. - Why? - Because it's almost winter. - Why? --- Why do you think Teagan? -OR- Get in your car seat Teagan? – Why? – Because we’re going somewhere. – Why? – Because. –I don’t want to go somewhere mommy. ----- Sometimes I find myself not responding because I don't want to get angry.

A couple of days ago I was feeding Steffan and thought I'd put what i though was an interesting movie on for the boys to watch so they wouldn't get into trouble while feeding him. About 3 minutes later, Tate comes in crying and yelling, "Owie, Owie, Owie!" I didn't look up because this is common. I just yelled... "Teagan, what did you do?" I didn't get a response so I looked up to see that Tate had some sort of brown powder dumped all over his head. I ripped the baby off from feeding and ran out to see what it was. I found the Costco size Cinnamon bottle empty! I ran and pulled Tates clothes off and put him in the shower to wash the cinnamon off his face and out of his eyes. It was burning his eyes and his skin was getting all red on his face. Teagan ran and hid (hence why there was no response). Just one of the little adventures we have quite often here in the Green home. (sigh)

On a positive note Steffan just turned 5 months old this last week.and is about to roll over any day. He discovered his hands and feet about a month ago, but they still seem to entertain him all day. He just stairs at them. Teagan also did this a lot. He is a big boy just like Teagan was. I LOVE his rolly-poly legs and bum. He watches us eat food and is starting to look interested in it. But nursing him is helping me lose weight so I don't know if I will give it up anytime soon. I've lost 29 lbs since we've been here (3 1/2 months). I only have 9 more pounds to go before I'm pre-pregnancy with Stefffan. Woo Hoo! If I keep going at this rate, then I will be at the weight I was when I started dating Jeremy at Steffan's 1 year birthday. Maybe I can come home looking like a brand new person!