Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Eviction, Birthday Disaster, and Whales
I am writing again as we did a few things I wanted to share. First off we added to our family, two pet rats, for Mikaela. She had a pet rat before we left and had to leave it behind as immigration officials wouldn't let us bring it into Australia. No rabies are found anywhere on this continent and they are set on keeping it that way. (Cats and dogs brought in are quarantined for up to 6 months). Anyway, we have leased a house that stipulated no pets. Mikaela was finding herself missing her pet more and more as time went on and we began to consider asking the landlord to bend the rule and allow us the pet rat. After finding out about a lady who needed someone to take over her two pet rats we decided to get brave and make the call and see if we could have the rats. She was agreeable and allowed us the pets as long as we continued to keep the house clean, good smelling.... Well, a few days after we got the rats the landlady needed to come over to the house to check out some damage from a recent rain storm here. She is Chinese and had only made it into our entryway when Elise ran up to her with the rat in hand and practically stuck it in her face, various Chinese words emitted from the landlady and I grabbed Elise and scuttled her back to Mikaela's room and put the rat back in the cage, and went back out to the entry to receive my eviction notice. The landlady had recovered from her shock and thankfully, as far as we know at the moment, still have a place to live.
The day before was no better - It was Nathan's 16th birthday - a big occasion in one's life. I dropped all the kids off at school and proceeded to spend the rest of the morning chopping, cutting, baking and getting ready a big birthday dinner for Nathan. I had everything ready and at 5pm talked to Todd and found out I needed to pick him up from work - it was raining. I turned off all the food and left and went to pick up Todd. On the way back, I called the kids told them to turn on the dinner and get it warming back up. We hit traffic and needless to say the dinner got burnt! Oh well, it was only dinner that took 5 hours to make, we still had presents and birthday dessert! We had an elaborate plan for Nathan's birthday, we gave him a floor rug, a small rug, that just sits on the floor and pretended that was all he was getting for his birthday. Actually, he was to be getting a bass guitar. We had arranged to pick up the guitar that very evening to surprise Nathan, under the disguise that Todd needed help with visiting someone from church. Nathan willingly got in the car to assist his dad, on his birthday, with a burnt dinner and only a rug for a present. When they arrived at the place to pick up the guitar I had purchased they found out I ordered a 6 string electric instead of a bass guitar - who on earth knows the difference between an electric and bass? Apparently, everyone but me! That was disaster number two. Nathan was pleased, at least, that I had tried, so on to home without his guitar to have dessert. We had decided to try a local pudding dessert which is, a type of cake with sauce. We put in the candles - fortunately no fire - which would have been par for the evening - and sang and served the cake. We all took a taste and kinda of looked around at each other, no one wanting to really say anything until Elise broke out with "THIS IS YUCK!!!" - and that summed it up beautifully, it was so horrible the whole thing was put in the trash (rubbish bin). So that was Nathan's 16th birthday, burnt dinner, no present, and yucky cake. Believe it or not he is still smilin'.
Friday night Mikaela was invited by a friend from church to attend an end of term party with the girls from her class at school. These girls are all around 11 or 12 years of age. As they were gathered together after school several of the girls began to get nervous to meet an American. They approached Mikaela's friend's mother, who was hosting the event, and asked her if she thought Mikaela would like them. They wanted to know if Mikaela would like their hair up or down better and wanted to know what she would be like. The mom said the girls were beside themselves with worry over meeting a real American girl. Once Mikaela got there and was introduced, they began to inundate her with questions. The best so far was if she knew all the famous people from American TV and radio. Thanks to the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo she was able to say all the famous singers she has at least seen.
Saturday was the makeup day for all the bad previous moments, it was a dream come true day. I have always had an interest in animals, like my kids, and heading out Sat. to see the whales on their migration to Southern waters was a much anticipated event. We meet up with our friends that were joining us on the boat and set off for a glimpse of humpback whales and possible other marine animals. Typically, the tour gets to spot the whales and see possibly up to 6 whales. They use binoculars and watch as the whales go by. The captain using sonar stopped the boat without anyone spotting anything, and within a few moments all around the boat under the water we could see huge glowing white masses. These were the whales. The whales kept circling our boat. There were three, and they were very curious about us. We had a marine biologist on board with us and she was beside herself with pleasure as the whales decided to stay with us the entire two hours and put on a show. At first they scouted us out and then they begin to talk and at the end they actually flipped out of the water. We got amazing photos of the whales and it was a day I don't think any of us will soon forget. One whale seemed to like Elise and Carson and kept coming up out of the water right in front of them, this was great but when whales come up out of water they displace a lot of water and they blow water out of their blow holes, so Carson and Elise got lots of whale spray on them. Whales are amazing animals, their sounds are amazing and their shear size is amazing.
Well, that was a whale of a tale and my fingers are tired and I've written too much, so I'll end now.
Hope everyone is well, and know that we miss you all!
Love,
~Pam, Todd, Nathan, Mikaela, Carson and little Elise
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lions, Tigers and Marsupials!!!
Hi everybody,
It has been awhile since I updated, I apologize. The computer had to go to computer hospital, and lots of money later we are reconnected. We seriously considered euthanasia for the computer, but in the end we tried a miracle cure and it worked. The poor thing had an onslaught of more viruses than the Australian company had ever seen, some of the computers' functions will never be recovered, like our music library, but he is with us again and that is all that matters.
So, onto lions, tigers and marsupials. We have spent a lot of our free time finding the indigenous animals of Australia, eventually, we may get tired of seeing roos and wombats, but for the present we enjoy it. We ventured to a State park, Caversham, here you get the best of wild animal viewing and a zoo type experience. The park encompasses a wildlife refuge. Here you get to pet and feed the animals. These animals were once injured or sick and have been cared for and looked after by the refuge, now they are too dependant on humans and will never be let back into the wild. They are all tame and you can see in the pictures the animals snuggle up to the kids at times. We fell in love with a blind, white kangaroo, he would put his paws on us and snuggle his head close. A female kangaroo was very gentle to him and allowed him to nurse even though she is not his mother, so stated the staff. We saw wombats, wallabies, dingos, dragon lizards, parrots of all kinds, Tasmanian devils (the ugliest thing I think I have ever seen)and multiple more animals. All, but the parrots and Tasmanian devils, could be petted.
The children really love animals and aren't afraid around them, the older two are planning on volunteering at a nearby animal refuge that takes in mostly joeys that have lost their mothers. (usually from getting hit by a car) They need to be held in a pouch and feed by a bottle. The center doesn't require many hours from the volunteers and the kids can choose when they sign up for their shift. The only problem is if they will waive the age requirement for Mikaela, she is not old enough yet, but we are hoping they will allow her in anyway.
We have been thinking about and praying for all our family and friends in the Houston area. We felt so distant not being there to help with the clean up effort. Thanks dad for checking on my house and taking care of the damage. We hope you all have electricity again and are returning to life as before Ike.
I got to volunteer at Elise's school for the first time. Very interesting. If a student is showing something, like show-in-tell, when the child finishes he/she is instructed to say, "Thank you for letting me tell you about....", then all the children reply, "Our pleasure". The children are sent outdoors quite often and it is so funny to hear the teachers reminding the children that they must have their shoes and socks OFF before going outside. Once outside the children are given the garden hose to fill up a large bucket so they can dip smaller bowls, cups, pans in to mix the sand with water or just pour it out. This is the very thing our school at home would have kept the kids from for fear they would be all wet. Interestingly enough, only one child changed his pants afterward.
We found a place called Rockingham this Saturday. We explored around a bit and found the most unusual seashells we have ever seen. Here the beach is all limestone rock formations that jet out into the water. Unfortunately, I forgot my memory card for my camera. Just a ferry ride away from Rockingham is an island called, Penguin Island, so called for the little penguins that live on the island. The island is shut down during the breading season, to protect the babies. We plan on taking the short ferry ride out to the island, anyone who comes to visit we will take you also.
At the end of every school term the children get two weeks off. So, Carson and Elise get off school beginning next Monday. The kids at the international school happen to get a week off also that overlaps the second week for the younger kids. With this vacation time for the kids we decided to take our first overnight trip. We are planning on heading up north, where it will be hot in the summer, so we think it would be good to see it now.
Monday the 27th is a holiday the Queen's Birthday. Todd and all the kids get the day off.
Nathan turns 16 years old tomorrow! I have gone out and tried to find familiar foods for his birthday. American bacon is hard to find and costly, they serve the English bacon here, which is much more like ham. A Mexican dinner is what he choose, so that's what we are doing. When we visit home he will get his drivers' license, he finished and passed all the requirements before we left. Children may not drive until 17 and a half here.
Next time I write I will tell you about the whales, and the postmen. I have to run take all the older three to the orthodontist, who by the way, is a Texan, who was asked to come help out here 14 years ago for a 3 year contract. He said it's turned out to be a long three years but will never go home he loves it here. I'm lucky he is here, he was trained in Texas so he knows exactly the type of braces Mikaela is wearing and can work with them. Carson is going to see if he needs braces yet, and Nathan is getting a new retainer, as his retainer was a causality of the move.
Again our hearts go out to all the Houston folk, hope all is well and our prayers are with you.
~the 6 woodfords
Pam, Todd, Nathan, Mikaela, Carson and Elise
It has been awhile since I updated, I apologize. The computer had to go to computer hospital, and lots of money later we are reconnected. We seriously considered euthanasia for the computer, but in the end we tried a miracle cure and it worked. The poor thing had an onslaught of more viruses than the Australian company had ever seen, some of the computers' functions will never be recovered, like our music library, but he is with us again and that is all that matters.
So, onto lions, tigers and marsupials. We have spent a lot of our free time finding the indigenous animals of Australia, eventually, we may get tired of seeing roos and wombats, but for the present we enjoy it. We ventured to a State park, Caversham, here you get the best of wild animal viewing and a zoo type experience. The park encompasses a wildlife refuge. Here you get to pet and feed the animals. These animals were once injured or sick and have been cared for and looked after by the refuge, now they are too dependant on humans and will never be let back into the wild. They are all tame and you can see in the pictures the animals snuggle up to the kids at times. We fell in love with a blind, white kangaroo, he would put his paws on us and snuggle his head close. A female kangaroo was very gentle to him and allowed him to nurse even though she is not his mother, so stated the staff. We saw wombats, wallabies, dingos, dragon lizards, parrots of all kinds, Tasmanian devils (the ugliest thing I think I have ever seen)and multiple more animals. All, but the parrots and Tasmanian devils, could be petted.
The children really love animals and aren't afraid around them, the older two are planning on volunteering at a nearby animal refuge that takes in mostly joeys that have lost their mothers. (usually from getting hit by a car) They need to be held in a pouch and feed by a bottle. The center doesn't require many hours from the volunteers and the kids can choose when they sign up for their shift. The only problem is if they will waive the age requirement for Mikaela, she is not old enough yet, but we are hoping they will allow her in anyway.
We have been thinking about and praying for all our family and friends in the Houston area. We felt so distant not being there to help with the clean up effort. Thanks dad for checking on my house and taking care of the damage. We hope you all have electricity again and are returning to life as before Ike.
I got to volunteer at Elise's school for the first time. Very interesting. If a student is showing something, like show-in-tell, when the child finishes he/she is instructed to say, "Thank you for letting me tell you about....", then all the children reply, "Our pleasure". The children are sent outdoors quite often and it is so funny to hear the teachers reminding the children that they must have their shoes and socks OFF before going outside. Once outside the children are given the garden hose to fill up a large bucket so they can dip smaller bowls, cups, pans in to mix the sand with water or just pour it out. This is the very thing our school at home would have kept the kids from for fear they would be all wet. Interestingly enough, only one child changed his pants afterward.
We found a place called Rockingham this Saturday. We explored around a bit and found the most unusual seashells we have ever seen. Here the beach is all limestone rock formations that jet out into the water. Unfortunately, I forgot my memory card for my camera. Just a ferry ride away from Rockingham is an island called, Penguin Island, so called for the little penguins that live on the island. The island is shut down during the breading season, to protect the babies. We plan on taking the short ferry ride out to the island, anyone who comes to visit we will take you also.
At the end of every school term the children get two weeks off. So, Carson and Elise get off school beginning next Monday. The kids at the international school happen to get a week off also that overlaps the second week for the younger kids. With this vacation time for the kids we decided to take our first overnight trip. We are planning on heading up north, where it will be hot in the summer, so we think it would be good to see it now.
Monday the 27th is a holiday the Queen's Birthday. Todd and all the kids get the day off.
Nathan turns 16 years old tomorrow! I have gone out and tried to find familiar foods for his birthday. American bacon is hard to find and costly, they serve the English bacon here, which is much more like ham. A Mexican dinner is what he choose, so that's what we are doing. When we visit home he will get his drivers' license, he finished and passed all the requirements before we left. Children may not drive until 17 and a half here.
Next time I write I will tell you about the whales, and the postmen. I have to run take all the older three to the orthodontist, who by the way, is a Texan, who was asked to come help out here 14 years ago for a 3 year contract. He said it's turned out to be a long three years but will never go home he loves it here. I'm lucky he is here, he was trained in Texas so he knows exactly the type of braces Mikaela is wearing and can work with them. Carson is going to see if he needs braces yet, and Nathan is getting a new retainer, as his retainer was a causality of the move.
Again our hearts go out to all the Houston folk, hope all is well and our prayers are with you.
~the 6 woodfords
Pam, Todd, Nathan, Mikaela, Carson and Elise
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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