What's Worse?

What's worse than having a cold?

Your baby having a cold . . . in summer . . . with an ear infection . . . while getting her first tooth . . .

Fun week for all :)

*tried to get a photo but because of the newness she just keeps sticking her tongue out over it!

My Husband Says the Darndest Things

Me: *hangs up phone* "Yay, Tasi is all clear."
Don: "Oh, good."
Koa: "What?"
Don: "Tasi got the all clear that she doesn't have whooping cough."
Koa: "What does that mean?"
Don: "That she won't go 'whoop, whoop' all the time."
Me: *water in my mouth almost comes out my nose as I try not to laugh*

2 minutes later . . .
Don: "Are you blogging that?"
Me: "Yeah."
Don: "You are such a nerd!"

**side note: After Makoa was sick all last week Tasi now is. I brought her in to the Dr yesterday and she has an ear infection and as a precaution she was tested for whooping cough (despite being immunized she had a few indicators.)

American R

Over the past 3.5 years I have noticed many differences in pronunciation between Australians and Americans . . . two this month have been related to the letter R:

1. A few weeks ago I was at a neighborhood dinner party talking about my American trip in October and as I was telling my new friends about my visit with an Amish family in Iowa one neighbor asked, "Oh, the A-mish live there." No, I said, the Ah-mish. "Really," he said, "is there an R in it?"
**note: Australians pronounce AR as AH and when the A stands alone it sounds just like the letter of the alphabet. He was trying to be funny!

2. When Makoa asked me what we were having for dinner I replied, "Chicken and coRn."
"That's not how you say it," he said.
"Say what?"
"Cohn."
(it amazes me to see how much kids learn about pronunciation and word choice at such an early age)
Well, however you pronounce it, this family loves it!

What should I wear today?

Helping mommy pick out which shirt to wear . . . actually turned out to be quite a few choices for me this morning after my little helper unloaded my drawer.

Babysitting

There was a knock on my door this afternoon - it was the next door neighbor wondering if we'd like to babysit their swing set while they are getting renovations done on their home. How fantastic is that?!

Koa checked out all he could do at each 'station'.

Both kids seem to enjoying our babysitting adventure :)

Taz quickly bored of the swing set though and decided to make her own adventure. How did that leaf taste?

Not so good!!

Too cute for the camera!

Lego Fun

CAUGHT!

What has Tasi been doing for 20 minutes while I enjoy my lunch? Emptying the box of Legos.

She is taking it seriously too, very focused and intent on her work. (Except of course to pause and smile at the camera!)

Book Shopping Moment

I went to Dymock's Bookstore (it is the largest chain in Australia, similar to Border's or Barnes & Noble) to find Australian Christmas storybooks. I am looking to take advantage of some after Christmas sales since books are super expensive here. First I checked online then went to the store to check out the deals.

I found the right section but didn't notice a big SALE sign. I walked around and found two clerks - my conversation went something like this:

Me: "Excuse me, I was wondering how much your kid's Christmas books were on sale for?"
Clerk 1: "The sale is finished. The after Christmas sale was only from the 26th-31st."
Me: "Really? But you have so many books left."
Clerk 2: "They won't go on sale again, we will just ship them back to the distributor."
Me: "Well, if I order online I will get 15% off."
Clerk 1: "No, the website just hasn't been updated yet."
Clerk 2: "What books were you wanting? I could probably give you 5-20% off, depending on the books. Walk over and show me."
Me: *follow behind for the 30 seconds or so it takes to get to the section then show the man a few books* "But it just depends on the price as to how many I buy."
Clerk 2: "Hmmm, I could give you 15% off, I've already talked to the manager though and he said no to 20%."
Me: *totally confused by the entire interaction* "Um, thanks, I think I'll wait."

In case you missed a few reasons why I walked out of there wondering what just happened . . .
1. Christmas sale only 15% and over on Dec 31st?
2. I am at a major retailer in a mall about to negotiate prices?
3. Going from 20% to 15% off is only about $.50-1.00 difference, we are really going to negotiate $.50?
4. I was following Clerk 2 the whole way, when exactly did he talk this manager?

Oh, what a good Australian Moment to start off 2011!