4am

What a lame updater I am. My life should be hugely exciting enough to post at least every other day. Unfortunately, since I am trying to simplify my life, the blog has gotten pushed down on the priority list. However, I will try to update as I can.

Kyle was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 29th. Here's a picture:




We went to Moreton Island for Spring Break (mid-September). Here's some pictures from that:



We took Family Photos at Moreton Island:



I cut Aaron's hair. Here are the before and after pictures.




In other news...
Aaron has taken to playing with cars lately. He's learned to buzz his lips to make them go. I also gave him a haircut. I'll see if I can post a picture before I'm done with this post. He's also started "talking" a lot more. We don't always understand what he's saying, but here are some of the words we've figured out.

bah, bah = ball (this was definitely his first word. He gets pretty excited about balls)
duh, duh = drink
ma (short a), ma = food
uh oh = uh oh
babble, babble, goo, haha,we, boo, ga, oh = "I love you" or "come play with me" or "I've discovered how to use quantum physics to overcome the laws of nature and transport myself to another dimension. I really wish I could communicate this to you. I hope I remember it when I'm a little more advanced in your strange way of communicating."

We've also learned quite a bit of "Strailn". See if you can guess the meanings of these words. Some of them may not be exactly what you think they do.

Brolli
Brekki
Bunny wrap
Theatre
Theatre costume
Bonnet
Mozzi
Brizzi
Togs
Pink fit
Red bag

These are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. Give them a go (another phrase often heard here), and I'll post again soon to give you the answers.

I was at the butcher a little while ago. I wanted some ground sausage. It took me forever to explain it to them (you'd think they didn't speak English here.) Finally, figured out it's called minced sausage here.

Well, this post is getting too long, but there you have the update on the Brouwers. I guess I'll update you on my baby. I went to a doctor's appointment on Friday. Of course, there's not usually anything new to learn. I generally go in, he listens to the heartbeat, asks if I have any questions, which I usually don't, charges me $80 and off I go. It takes about 7 minutes total. Anyway, it looks like everything is good. The baby is already in place, but I've known this for the last couple of weeks. It's a little uncomfortable if you know what I mean. If you don't, don't ask. I have 7 more weeks. Robert is really hoping I go late, so the baby can be born on his birthday on December 11th. Since the baby is due on November 25th, just imagine my icy stare at him. He also hopes I go late because he's taking a trip to Malaysia 2 weeks before the due date.

Sorry for the long post. I love you all.

Update

Our camera has officially died, so I don't have any pictures to post, but I'll give you a bit of an idea of what we've been up to. Kyle and Ashlee are making lots of mates at school. They enjoy their teachers and I think it's great that Ashlee is learning about Aboriginal and English History in Australia. It's fun to hear them speak a little Strailn too. Kyle actually is pretty good about saying "Pardon?" instead of "What?" when he's confused and they talk about the rubbish bin instead of the garbage can and are constantly correcting the way I pronounce the letter "H" which is "haytch" here and "Z" which is pronounced "Zed".

Ethan corrects me all the time too, but that's nothing really new. He enjoys his post as oldest child. I'm glad that he likes responsibility and I give it to him, but sometimes I wish he wouldn't be quite so bossy to the younger kids. Oldest children are tough. I know they have a rough time of it, but I'm glad Ethan is pretty strong.

Kyle will turn 8 on Thursday. He'll be baptized on Sunday. We're happy he's made this decision and is excited about it. We wish more of you could make it to the baptism. Give us a call if you happen to be in Brisbane this week. ;) It's unfortunate Robert and Ashlee will be gone on his birthday, but we'll just make his birthday stretch through the weekend

I've been thinking about how to teach my children to resist temptation and overcome weakness. While I was making chocolate chip cookies on Friday for a fundraiser at the school, an idea came to me. I was having such a hard time resisting eating the cookie dough and cookies when they were cooked. After a couple of bites, I decided, I can tell myself not to eat another bite and I won't, so I didn't. Then, I thought, this might be a good way for me to teach the kids. Part of the idea came from a friend of mine that did the same thing. I offered the kids $150 each if they could go without any sugar until Christmas. We'll make an exception for Thanksgiving and for their own birthday (Kyle), but even Halloween, they'll have to give it up. It'll totally be worth the money if they can do it. I wonder which ones, if any of them, will be able to resist it all. I'm doing the same thing myself. So far, Ethan, Ashlee and Kyle and I have had 2 and a half sugar-free days. I'll let you know how it goes as things progress.

Aaron is really growing up and developing quite the personality. I've been taking him to Nursery the last couple of weeks. He loves singing the songs and playing with the toys. He even sort of participates in the lesson (helping the teacher get out everything from her bag). He doesn't like getting pushed around by some of the other kids though. He LOVES balls. None of my kids have ever been so passionate about something. His first word was definitely "ball" and he sees them everywhere. Any circular-shaped, anything is a ball. He is also passionate about his blanket. A friend of mine crocheted it for him and he has trouble going to sleep without it. Ammon has taken to carrying him everywhere. It's a little dangerous and not Aaron's favorite thing to do.

Ammon had his birthday. We had a great time with Robert's Aunts and Uncles for dinner and cupcakes at the park with his friends. I think I did okay. He plays almost every day with his friend, Caleb. They are starting to understand each other now, and I raerely have to referee any arguements.

Robert was just called as a Seminary Teacher for our ward. Class starts at 6am. He shares the calling and only needs to teach 2 days a week. They are studying the Book of Mormon this year. He'll do such a good job. Robert is an excellent teacher and loves the youth. It will be a good calling for him.

We went to the Australia Zoo yesterday. It was alright. For the price, I think I would rather go to some of the other features around Brisbane, however, they had a special deal that if you went once in August, you could get into the park for free the rest of the year, so we went for it. I do like the habitats for the animals. They do especially well for the Kangaroos. We did a little more Kangaroo petting yesterday.

Ashlee had a choir concert on Friday. It was fun to hear her practicing her songs. She has a really beautiful voice. Ethan played in the band on Saturday for Aviation High Open Day. He still loves percussion. Not quite as challenging here as in American Fork though.

I was called as Relief Society Extra Meeting Coordinator. I'm currently working on a Goal Setting Meeting in September. We're going to have a lesson on using your patriarchal blessing to set goals, then a couple mini-classes about teaching your children to set goals and re-setting goals particularly once the kids have left the house. I'm working on a display with ideas for your bucket list. I'm going to try to get a bunch of buckets to give out with little squares of paper people can write ideas for goals on. If anyone has some ideas for the bucket list, please let me know. I'd love to have more ideas. I think it will be a good activity and I'm getting more excited about the calling.

Well, I guess that about does it for now. I continue bulge as my baby is expanding me. I can't believe it's only 3 more months, but at the same time, I think I'll be ready. My body can't take much more of this. If anyone wants to see my big belly, feel free to Skype. We love you guys!

Pictures

Here are some pictures to update what's been going on the last couple of months. I miss my good camera.



We went to the Alma Park Zoo yesterday. The kids had a great time. There's even a kangaroo petting zoo. That was fun.

I am giving a talk on living after the manner of happiness and the Plan of Happiness. Any suggestions?

BTW

I guess I need to update our banner. Since we currently have 5 little monkeys, but we'll soon have 6. I went to the doctor just before we left. It was pretty obvious that this little monkey wanted to make itself known. Soon we will have 5 little monkeys and 1 little bird. Ashlee will be the lone female in this brood. I think she is getting used to the idea. Ahhhhh...the trials of being a girl!

Way Behind...Here's the ketchup

So, here I am in Brisbane. I've had my moments of stress, but I'll give you a brief synopsis of our time so far.

Sunday - Fly out of Salt Lake Intl Airport full of excitement and trepidation as to the adventure awaiting us. Arrive in Las Angeles with a 6 hour layover, so we decided to visit the beach. Realized we were only about 2 miles away from my good friend, Sally, so tried to call to hook up, but no such luck. I wish I would have thought of it earlier :( We walked on the beach, got some pizza at a pub, looked at a little aquarium and returned to the airport for another 3 hours. While in the lounge, Ashlee began to look a little pekid. She finally threw up on the carpet. I told all the kids after that if they could make it to the bathroom to throw up, I'd pay them $5.00 (Thanks Carrie for that advice. I wish I would have thought of it earlier.) Kyle starts to look a little flushed and complains of a stomach ache. Robert takes him into the bathroom and tries to force him to throw up so he'll get over it. Yeah...that didn't work. Poor kid. Well, we were expecting the worst when we got on our 14 plus hour flight to Sydney. We got the kids in their pajamas, Kyle went almost immediately to sleep and Ashlee perked up. Then, we ended up waiting on the runway for an hour and a half as they had to de-plane a couple parents who had had a little too much in the first-class lounge. They had to find all their luggage as well, so it took a little time. Finally, we took off. The kids were pretty peaceful on the plane, slept quite a bit and watched tv or played games the whole way. We got the whole of row 5. If you've never flown business class before, row 5 is coveted. It's where they generally put celebrities (or the Brouwers!) There were curtains that completely contained the whole area, so we basically had 3 rooms to ourselves. This worked out really well and made the ride a little more comfortable. The flight attendants were so friendly and helpful. I know it will be different traveling coach, but it was fun to be treated this time.

Monday-yeah...pretty much skipped this day.

Tuesday-We made it to Sydney on Tuesday morning and missed our flight because of the delay. So, we had to change our tickets. Sydney airport is not easy to fly through. I hope we can get direct flights from now on, but we made it anyway. Juli picked us up from the airport and everything went pretty smoothly.

Wednesday-We dropped Robert at the Gold Coast for his Leadership Training Conference and went to Surfer's Paradise. This was definitely the hilight of the day. The kids had an amazing time jumping in the waves. Ethan couldn't wipe the smile off his face. I haven't seen him so happy in a long time. It made me happy to see them all so happy.

We spent a couple of hours there before heading back to Brisbane. Juli made us PB&J sandwiches and I walked over to the school to pick up forms for school. It's been so nice to have a stopping place...a real home to relax at. We went back to the apartment after that and the kids became super stir crazy. I finally decided to take them to find some food.

[Side note: Driving in Australia - stay to the left, but make sure you aim for the center of the road. If you want to turn, turn on your windshield wipers and pass on the right. Everything is narrower. You have to really concentrate when you drive. The lanes are narrow, the parking spaces are narrower, there are very few medians or chicken lanes. People are much more courteous and conscientious (sp), but they don't put up with you if you're being stupid. So far, I have gone to the passenger side to drive 2x, driven on the wrong side of the road 1x, put on my windshield wipers numerous times and nearly sideswiped a couple of garbage cans, several curbs and a cyclist 1x.]

So, back to finding food. I finally found parking in the city for $14. We walked about a mile and found a Subway and a park to eat at. It gets dark here around 4pm. We went to find Juli's house in the dark after that so Ethan could go to a YM activity to watch an Aussie Football game. Because of the game, several streets were blocked off and there were so many people in the streets and cars. I missed our turn a couple of times, but finally made it to Juli's house, after a very stressful hour or so. Of course, I had to wait up for Ethan, so after lugging the kids back to the hotel, I sat up trying to figure out how to call Robert since none of the 4 phones I had access to could call out. I resorted to reading the phone book trying to figure out if I was dialing incorrectly. It is a little panicky to feel so disconnected. Needless to say, this was not a very good night. I was so happy in the morning when Robert was able to finally call my hotel room.

Thursday-Don't really remember much about this day. I think I was working on the kids school aplications and the kids swam in the pool for a couple of hours at the hotel.

Friday-We picked up Robert at the Gold Coast and played a little in the ocean. Good news- Ammon's warts disappeared on his feet. The warts on his hand, he apparently scratched off all on his own. Thank goodness I don't need to find a dermatologist here yet. We still need to find a doctor to take his stitches out though.

Today-Robert picked up his new car and we've been doing laundry at the Robinsons. I'm still working out how their washer works. It's taken 3 hours so far just on the wash. I think I'm not doing it right. Juli, if you read this, you can give me some tips maybe. So far, everything is going pretty well. I've had my moments of frustration, but I'm learning a lot and learning that happiness is a choice. I'll choose to be happy.

I'll post pictures later...

We'll go to church tomorrow. So far, all is well. I

Our new home!

Here is a link to the house we'll be living in in Australia. (I hope!) This is the one I saw when I was there. It's really cute. Come and visit. We'll have plenty of room and a nice big pool...

It's also about a block from the school and just around the corner from Juli and Shon Robinson. Yipee!! Friends.

Our Home

Mother's Day Gift

I had a good Mother's Day. As promised, I didn't feel guilty once. The best gift my kids gave me was to all be asleep at 8:30 tonight, including Monkey #3 who never sleeps. I had a nice talk with my mom and cleaned up my kitchen even though I thought I wouldn't because it's Mother's Day. I'm glad I'll wake up to a clean kitchen tomorrow morning.

I still miss Robert terribly. When he's gone I get far too analytical and emotional. Add pregnancy onto that and I'm sort of a wreck. I'll get through it all though. Thanks for everyone's encouraging words. I really didn't think anyone reads my blog. Now, I'm sort of embarrassed for being so open. Of course, we're all friends though, right?

My nice camera is kaputt, but we took these with Robert's camera when we were in Australia. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Back in the Blog

Just to knock everyone off their feet, I'm blogging two days in a row. I sort of stopped because I had a couple of really good friends tell me that blogs are just for moms who want to brag about their kids. I think that's most of the time true. You usually only want to put the good stuff in because that's what you want your kids to remember. But, most of us that know, know that bad stuff happens to everyone and not all children are perfect.

Take Aaron for instance...no, the little guy is perfect! (right now!) I'm sure he'll have his moments, but I sort of needed him this year to be the perfect baby. Since Robert's been gone, he's taken to waking up around 3am. Instead, of rocking him to sleep like I know I should, I'm too tired and bring him in bed with me. He lies on my chest and sucks his little thumb and falls asleep. Right now it's not too uncomfortable and I sort of need someone to snuggle up to because my bed is so big and empty :-(.

I'm a little lonely without Robert. I told him this morning when he called around 7:30am (11:30pm his time) that it's not as bad as those early pioneers who had to leave their families for missions. Those poor wives didn't have anyone and couldn't talk on the phone to their husbands for years. No wonder they practiced polygamy. They needed more women around to help.

I talked to a friend today who thinks I'm always too busy to do anything fun. I wish I didn't give people that impression. I didn't used to be that way. I still don't think I am. I'm a little shy I guess, and it's easier for me to just hang out at my house with my kids than go out. It may come as a shock to some people that I get anxiety when I think I have to talk to people. That's part of the reason why I always join book clubs. It's the place I've forced myself to get out of my comfort zone. The problem is that our book club here only has about 4 or 5 participants. I never figured out where you're supposed to go to meet friends here. Oh well! I wonder what Australia will be like.

I just finished a whole sleeve of crackers with butter. What am I thinking? I've used probably a half stick of butter. Totally negated my walk this morning. Wait a minute...that's why I workout. I think I'll have another cracker with butter.

Update on the Brouwers

I've been needing to update this blog for forever. It's been so long and there is so much happening. I don't know if anyone ever reads this or not, but here's the latest on us.

I just finished a successful Odyssey of the Mind Tournament. These are the things I gave up so I could put this tournament on.

1. Taking pictures and playing with them.
2. Blogging
3. Going to the park with the kids so often.
4. Laundry (can't say I mind that one.)
5. Decorating the house. (I never did much anyway)
6. Going out with friends. (I did miss that)
7. Shopping
8. Movies and TV
9. Other volunteer opportunities

These are the things I did not give up:
1. Family prayers
2. Family scripture study
3. Family Home Evening

And, when it comes down to it, these are the most important things to do. Our Heavenly Father's Plan is for us to live in families. If we don't teach our children to live in righteousness, the whole earth is utterly wasted (D&C 2:3) or at least the earth will be smitten with a curse (Malachi 3:6). If you're doing those 3 things, the other stuff doesn't matter quite as much.

Next: Our move to Brisbane, Australia...Robert came home one day in February and asked what I would think of moving to Australia. I said, yeah...like in 5 years. We just moved here a year and a half ago, my free flying bird wasn't ready to go yet. But, of course the adventure beckoned and off we go. Robert and I visited the end of last month. He's still there and has started working. He'll come back on May 21st to help me get everything in order and shipped and then fly out with the kids.

The kids are getting excited. They weren't so much at the beginning. It's hard to leave good friends, but we know we'll be back. We're not selling our house and will be back in 3 years time.

The good news is that Robert has family in Brisbane. His Mom's family immigrated to Australia in the 1960s. His parents moved back to Holland shortly after their first 2 kids were born, but the rest of the family stayed. So we have 2 aunts and 3 uncles and a couple of cousins already there. It's too bad Oma died at Christmas time. We would have loved to get to know her better as well.

Not only do we have family, my good friend from Twin Falls, Juli Patterson Robinson lives in Brisbane as well, and she's supplying friends for my kids. She has 5 kids that are roughly the same ages as my kids! Yipee! How more perfect can you get. We will be living just down the road from them. I think we'll have a great time together. It's so nice to have a friend already there, and we have history. In fact, in comparing notes, we found that we've had the same jobs and even dated the same people (weird...).

And...just because I can't possibly move without having a baby. Surprise monkey #6 is on the way. This will be my first baby born outside the US. I'm not too nervous about it. I am a little nervous about having 2 babies at the same time. I wasn't quite ready for this. Some people really struggle with being patient for things like moves and babies. What would be the opposite of patience that I have to learn? Really, sometimes I wish life would slow down a little. Maybe that's why we're moving to Australia though. Maybe I need to learn to slow down.

Today, I got up as usual, thinking about all the things that needed to be done today. I never get everything done. So, today I went to the temple. It was so peaceful I kept falling asleep. There was a part of the ceremony that really touched my heart today though. It made me think about my role as a mother. I'm so grateful for families. This mother's day, I'm going to really enjoy. I usually feel guilty that I'm not a good mother, but this time, I think I'll focus on Heavenly Father's Plan for families and be grateful for the time I have with these kids. They're not perfect by any stretch. And, I'm certainly not a perfect mother, but I sure do love them.