American Girl

Gracie and Angie are turning five. I have promised them all year that for their birthday I would take them for a special lunch at the American Girl Doll shop. It was a lovely girls' outing, even more special with their Bobby there too. The girls chose a doll each (called Bitty Twins), and also chose a pair of pajamas with a matching set for their doll.

The lunch was an amazing affair. The room was beautiful, with lots of pink daisies everywhere. For drinks we had pink lemonade. The girls had a special chair to put their dolls on to sit at the table with them, and a celebration birthday hat. They shared an iced birthday cake, though I think Angie was a bit overwhelmed when the waiters joined in the singing.

Back at home in their pajamas, here is what the girls thought of their day...

Visit to Oz

I had a wonderful visit to Australia. It was so nice to catch up with my old friends, and see some new babies that had been born.




My beautiful god-daughter Joanna, and her new baby sister Simone.











The reason I went was to be part of Kate Orchard's wedding. It was a special priveledge to be her bridesmaid (matron of honour sounds far too old!). It was really nice spending time with Anna and Emma, the other two bridesmaids.




Thanks especially to Ros and Chris, and the Fong family, for hosting me in their homes, and lending me their cars (very brave considering I had been used to driving on the right side of the road!). Thanks also to my Mum and Scott for looking after the kids while I was gone.

Mum and Dad

My parents have come to visit. Yeah! Mum is going to stay here to help Scott while I am back in Melbourne for my friend's wedding. So this blog is for my brothers (do you guys read my blog???) to show them that Mum and Dad made it here.

Halloween

The Halloween hype has already started. Actually, it started about three weeks ago in our family, with the kids wanting to choose their costumes. Now everyone else is catching up. The neighbours have started to decorate their houses, and even the main village square has put on quite an amazing display (not sure that it is so great for the little ones to see!).

Autumn

Autumn is arriving in Chicago. The temperature has dropped, and the leaves are all changing colour. People who live here say that autumn is their favourite season, so I am looking forward to watching the trees. Apparently they all lookf great for two weeks, and then all the leaves drop over five days. I just hope I will not miss the show while I am in Australia.

With autumn comes lots of "Harvest" festivals and decorations. These get mixed up with Halloween a lot. But basically there are lots of pumpkins around, bales of hay, people decorate with scarecrows, and every so often there is a pilgrim statue. Oh - the other popular item is apples. People go apple picking, and eat toffee apples (or apples covered in fudge, or chocolate, or whatever!). Of course, I took my parents to the Botanic Gardens for the Harvest festival.

Limitations

Over here I listen a lot to Moody Radio as I drive around. I heard a sermon where the preacher was talking about limitations - not being able to do everything, fix everything, solve everything etc. It is interesting that in America the preacher has to remind people that they have limitations. It is a culture where you are told that you can do anything, be anything - even the President! This concept of limitations was familiar to me because I read a book earlier in the year with a chapter on "the gift of limitations" (Americans know how to make everything sound positive!). In America you don't ask for help because it makes you look weak. You have to try to convince people that working together with you towards this particular goal is to their benefit. The art of manipulation. Yet Americans are a lot more open about their emotional struggles than Aussies. It's OK to "have a moment" - as long as you can still "get with the program" and get the job done.

I don't think you would hear a sermon about this in Australia, but I have found it interesting to reflect on. Going to live in another culture can bring out some strengths. I feel we have done well with moving over, setting up the house, getting the kids organised, and Scott doing well in his studies. But moving overseas also shines a big bright light on our weaknesses, as individuals, and as a couple. When I am unable to achieve what I want, sometimes I get angry and try to blame other people (usually Scott), or circumstances. Other times I get down, and feel despair at myself. As you can imagine, neither is helpful.

So maybe the sermon and the book chapter are helpful for me. Being willing to admit my limitations without shame, learn how to live with them graciously, appreciate other people's strengths without begrudging, and trusting in God to carry us through. A hard lesson to learn.

We had a great day at the zoo with John and Gayelene.