International Day

Today, at MissM's school, they had 'International Day'. The school she attends has something like 32 different nationalities that attend (beat that!), so each year they hold a special day for everyone to celebrate where they come from.

In the morning, many parents (myself included) set up in the gym, displays of their country. The Australian stand was co-joined with New Zealand and our displays were overloaded with books, stuffed animals, flags, boomerangs and a very special football jumper...

(I'm sure Grandad would've been very proud to see the Western Bulldogs represented in an UAE school - it was the only football team represented!!)

We all too bought along sample of food from our country. Our stand was awash with Pavlovas, lamingtons, Vegemite sangas, fairy bread, chocolate crackles and a very special slice (made by yours truly!), a Jelly slice - it originated in Melbourne apparently and bloody hell, it was delicious and oh so easy! (That's it there with the green jelly on top.)

Besides having countries represented in forms of display stalls and food, the children from the younger grades, did performances. Some grades did really well, especially the children from KG2C - oh, that would be MissM's class...

I was very proud as MissM spoke in a loud and clear voice of where she was from and what she liked about her country (Koalas!)...

...All her little buddies did well and I felt mighty proud.

Not only was I proud of MissM and her little spiel, I was also proud of the fact that I am Australian! A terrific day of International proportions. I'm already looking forward to next year's International Day.

Dressing Up

One thing with having a baby/toddler is that 'you' get to choose what they wear for the day. They don't have a say. When they turn 3 they become all fussy and choose to wear what they want. Well, that was MissM for you! It took some convincing this morning for her to wear this gorgeous dress to casual day for school (photo taken at my parent's house back in late December)...

...rather than what she wanted to wear which was about 2 sizes too small! Children! Huh!

MissL doesn't get a say. Take yesterday's outfit for example.

Too cute eh? My Wonder Woman/Baby was even cuter when she fell asleep in her Superman pose...

Speaking of dress ups, MrL and I were invited to a 'dress up' party last week at a neighbour's place. I'm not one for dressing up, usually, but the theme for Andrew's birthday was 'Come in your favourite UAE costume'. Who could resist that? I therefore present to you, me in my Abaya, (look just like a local lady! - not!) and my husband, the Labourer. (Photo taken by MissM)

I wasn't there for long as my little Purple Telytubbie (Tinky Winky) became awfully tired. (Pictured with her Purple Fairy sister!)

My Friend Melbourne

There is something about Melbourne I just love. The vibrancy, the people, the familiarity of it all. Things have changed in the city, for the better in my humble opinion. The place has expanded dramatically, even in the year we were absent from her.

Both sets of parents live in country Victoria (90 mins out of the city), so to stay in Melbourne we have to book accommodation. (We could stay with friends but we prefer our own space.)

Mid December, MrL and I decided to spend three nights in the city with the girls. It was a chance for us to do some shopping, some exploring and catch up with some friends. We booked an apartment, on City Road in Southbank. It was fabulous and it actually felt we were in a time warp as we could see our old apartment building across the way, in a similar set out apartment layout. Except this time we were 23 levels up. The view was terrific...

As the city was 39 degrees on the day we arrived, it was amusing to see how hot everyone was and how much everyone was complaining. MrL and I would just smirk at each other. We didn't think it was hot. (It was hot, but nothing like the searing temperatures we had endured only months earlier.)

The night before MrL flew back to Abu Dhabi, we decided to spend another night in the city, though MissM declined the offer to join us and had decided she wanted to spend the night at my parents. This time we chose to stay here. We'll definitely stay there again. Fantastic location, clean, bright rooms, fabulous views...

...and it is where the Australian Cricket Team chose to stay when the Boxing Day Test is on. So yeah, we hung with Ricky, Pup and the boys over breakfast, it ain't no big deal! *heehee* Believe me when I say, that WAS a thrill. MrL and I couldn't wipe the grins off our faces and Little MissL got a few smiles from a few of those cricketers!

I do love Melbourne. She's a great city, but I'm not ready to return to her yet. Hopefully she'll wait for us. One day...one day...

Two Wheels

One thing we will always remember of our time in Australia just been, is that MissM learnt to ride a bike with no stabilisers.

After months of wanting to ride her bike back here with no training wheels, we had told her that she will be taught in Australia. So the day after MrL arrived (two weeks after we had), he taught her. After a quick lesson about balance, MissM picked it up straight away and was off.

And we were all so proud.

*awesome*

There is no stopping her now, no way.

Little MissL's Round Face

The very first thing I noticed the first time I saw MissL was her little round, round face. Of course I instantly fell in love with her little round face but I have never been able to quite capture it with the camera.

I feel her round face has been captured now with the help of Melbourne (& fellow blogger and friend), Lee. She kindly took photographs of young MissL when we visited her during our recent Australian visit. Yesterday Lee put up a small post about our visit on her Photographic Blog and sent me a link to her gallery of MissL photographs. They are gorgeous shots and I am finding it difficult to chose a favourite.

I won't send you a link of the gallery, but here is a link to a sample of the photographs. I'm sure you'll agree that the photos are wonderful.

Thank you again Lee for your time and the plateful of Tim Tams. I look forward to meeting up again further down life's highway.

To Continue or Not? That Was The Question.

Here I am. Yeah, I still frequent these parts, though not as often as one would have liked... It is now 2010. Shite, when did that happen? The last time I did a post I was half a world away and was over a month ago...

I came very close to pulling the pin on this blog a few weeks back. I ummed and ahhed on whether or not to continue.

I decided to not spend so much time on the computer come 2010 as I did in 2009. So far, so good. I've slowed up on the Twitter and my Facebook, which I have found good for me. I got a rather rude shock back home when I saw an old work friend who said "Ohh, Lily slept through the night, last night did she?". What the? It hit me in the face there and then - too much information I was giving away, I need a bit more privacy, especially when it comes to my children. I forgot that I was back in the place where I knew a lot of people and a lot are my Facebook friends, but was it necessary for me to have put in my status that Lily slept through the night as soon as it happened? I instantly went back to my parents after that and unlinked my Twitter and Facebook account. People don't need to know the ins and outs of my life. I personally can't stand knowing the ins and outs of others so why was I encouraging this? Then it came to the question of this blog. Will I continue it in 2010?

You'll be glad (hopefully) that I have decided to stick with it. A fellow blogger (and friend) told me to remember why I had begun to blog and who for? Ultimately it was for my sister (living overseas) and my baby (at the time) Monet, five years ago. This has been a record of stuff we've done with Monet and how could I possibly not do the same with Lily? However there are going to be a few changes here and there. Even though I know you all know my children's names, from now on they will be known as MissM and MissL. (There will still be pics of them however - does that defeat the purpose though?) The husband will be known as MrL, but I'll still be Melody. I need to feel that I have a bit more control over what is out there. Hopefully too there will be no one coming here via Google - I've stopped that (I think) as I was sick to death of people reading my most popular post by far, which was to do with wondering if cockroaches could fly. (They can!) *heehee* I'm still in two minds on whether or not to make this a Private Blog for invited guests only, I'm still undecided there.

So here I am, back in the comfort of my own home, in the Middle East. We've settled back nicely into our life back here after spending close to six weeks back in Australia. I'm looking forward to a lot of things this year with my ever growing baby (over 4 months old already!) and my 5 year old growing into a pretty 6 year old. MrL will (hopefully) be starting his new job in the weeks to come and me? Well less time Twittering and FB-ing and a bit more time visiting my blog friends, and also stopping to smell those sweet smelling roses.

Twenty Ten is looking great already.

Happy new year to you all. I've got stuff to blog about so stay tuned... (and I hope you're happy I'm back!)