The Helmer Family

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The kids got booked and thrown in a cell at the Old Melbourne Gaol. It was tempting to leave them there...ha, ha! Sorry the pictures were so crummy. There was a really long line and we were trying to hurry!

Rock Climbing

While I was getting a massage back at the hotel, Garrett and the kids went rock climbing in Melbourne. The kids loved it and had absolutely no fear. They all had sore arms the next day, though!

Avery climbed to the top of this wall about 4 times. She was amazing!

Braden was a super belayer!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent on a 14 hour train ride from Sydney to Melbourne. Garrett was working in Melbourne during the week, so the kids and I headed down to meet him for a long weekend and, of course, another Rubiks Cube Competition.

I had been saving this $12 can of pumpkin I found last year at an import store for this special occasion. But, I figured pumpkin pie on the train wouldn't be the easiest endeavor...

...So we made Pumpkin Whoopie pies instead! Thanks Crystal for your yummy recipe! I also packed a few turkey, cranberry, avocado, brie, and rocket wraps. Voila! Thanksgiving on a train!

Cemetery

Did you know we live across the street from a city cemetery? It is a very old cemetery, with dates back to the 1800's. My kids love to play in the cemetery. They look for lizards and bugs, they play Hide-n-Seek, and Tip (how the Aussie's say Tag). It's a bit creepy to me, but they sure have fun!

Jacaranda

We have a beautiful Jacaranda tree blooming in our garden.

It makes me so happy.

Until I look down and see this...

You can barely tell we have grass. And all those lovely lavender flowers end up everywhere! In the house and in my car!

Bubble Bath

This is what happens when the boys ask Dad if they can have a bubble bath.

Touch

Carson and Braden, along with mates from school, played in a touch Rugby League this spring. They both had a great time learning the game and even scored a few try's! Well done, boys!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Swimming

The Aussie's are serious about swimming. You pretty much have to enroll your child in swim school before they are even born. But, after about a year on the waiting list, Davis finally was awarded a spot! So with his speedo, goggles and a cap he wouldn't wear, he was ready to go!

Halloween part 2

Halloween costumes this year were a bit easier. Braden and Carson just wanted to be "scary" so they dressed in black and put on a creepy mask and called it good. Davis wanted to be some super hero and decided on the day to be Captain America. The day before he was batman. Thank goodness we had a few costumes in the toy bin! Avery was another story. She wanted to be a witch. But, not just any witch. A "pretty" witch. She knew exactly what she wanted and according to her, I was not understanding her. After a few trips to the fabric and craft shop, many tears, and a few revisions, we finally settled on her "pretty" witch costume. Sheesh!

And just for fun, I rounded up a few of Halloween pasts...

2009 in Temecula

2008 in Raleigh...Knight, prince, princess, and dragon

2007 in Raleigh

2006 in Raleigh...Star Wars...Davis as Chewbauka (sp?) was a favorite!

2005 in Kansas....definitely had to do the Wizard of Oz!

2004 in Kansas

2003 in Kansas...Braden really wanted to be a cricket that year so we went with the bug theme.

And our first halloween in 2000 as Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Super baby!

Halloween

Last year we arrived in Sydney on Halloween and pretty much missed the celebration. Although, there wasn't much of one anyway. Halloween just isn't that big here. But, this year we decided we were going to bring some "spook" down under! Our house was quite the attraction around the block and we had so many trick or treaters we actually ran out of lollies!

We even had a fog machine we found at Aldi's for $15!

Skull mural was drawn by Avery and Garrett

Mouse

Some friends of ours left on holiday to New Zealand and had asked us to take of their kitty cat, who was called "Popcorn." Braden had been doing most of the "sitting" until he left for Bangkok, then I had to take over the last few days. On the last day, Davis and I went over to do the duty and right there on the counter was sitting a nice little surprise. If anyone knows me, they know that I do not do well with small rodents and this was not any different.

I was on my way to a doctor's appointment, so did not have enough time to deal with it right then, so I decided to wait and figure out what to do later. I considered many options...calling a friend from church, a neighbor's son, and yes, I will confess, I did consider just leaving it. But, finally, I found a willing volunteer! Although, I did have to bribe him with a special "Harry Potter" wand he had been wanting for a while. Carson was a champ and the mouse was easily disposed of in the rubbish bin without me having to be anywhere near it!

The only comical part of the whole ordeal was that the silly cat had carefully placed the mouse on the counter next to his family's photos and awards that were displayed. I think he missed them and wanted to feel like he was a part of the family again!

Friday, November 11, 2011

A Little DIY

Over the past few months I have been dabbling in a bit of DIY projects. The projects seemed to take forever, but I have finally finished them!

First up, was to revamp our outdoor lounge set. I bought the set off ebay for a steal. Unfortunately, I do not have a before picture, but just imagine 1980's cane with hideous blue and maroon pillows. I painted (with the help of my willing American friend, Chelsea!) the cane coral/orange and had the seat cushions recovered. I made the floral cushions myself from fabric I found in the States. I ordered the grey geometric print cushion covers off etsy from a Canadian seller right when the Canadian post went on strike. The pillow covers took over 4 months to get here! But, it is finally complete and we are enjoying relaxing and lounging on the deck!

Next up was our curtains. We have a large back window/door that opens up to the deck. We had been searching for a "curtain" solution to this window for some time. We needed something functional, easy to push to the side, and something 1/2 way attractive. In the winter time, it was quite cold because the cool air would come right through the windows, and in the summer it was quite hot. We also needed to be able to push the curtains all the way to the side so that we could open up the doors. We discovered a rail system at IKEA that would allow us to do just that. Then, we were able to find Thermal fabric that would block out cold, light, and heat. Seemed like it was the right fit, only it was not very stylish or attractive. Here is what they looked like at first...blah!

I stumbled across a few blogs that had tutorials on how to stencil curtains and I was SOLD! So I gave it a go! It was not an easy project and tested my patience more than a few times! They are not perfect (I had to throw perfection out the window!) but definitely an improvement!