December Days

Saturday, December 3 was a busy day in the Rock Wallaby household.  With the boychild celebrating his ninth birthday,

there was of course cake to prepare, 

chocolate mudcake as ordered,

(jaffas replacing the fresh raspberries I would have preferred),

   ... but still given the nod by sister number three.

(note the front teeth, or lack thereof ... already tiring of the "all I want for xmas" remarks, and after two nights of tooth-fairy no-shows, was most appreciative of a visit last night).

Saturday also included much backing and forthing to the yards, observing and AI-ing donor females in preparation for next week's flush,

and no, the stickers aren't part of our festive, decorative theme for the month, but instead act to assist us in determining when a heifer is in 'standing heat' and therefore ready to be artificially inseminated some twelve to fifteen hours later.  Always nice to use red or green ones this time of year though.

And of course in preparation for Christmas, there were bacon pieces and hams to be smoked.

With the aroma of smoky, baking hams wafting through the house, and Sarah's just downloaded Christmas tunes belting from her ipod, it was starting to feel just like a 'ripper little Aussie Christmas', as one of the songs declared.

With Wallace's remote controlled helicopter buzzing around our heads,

and unwilling to share this year's crop with the flying foxes and parrots, we wrapped mangoes in newspaper and hid them in a dark corner to ripen.

The kids set about erecting the Tree



and adorning the house,



racing to be first from bed to see what treats our advent doll has in store,

some days better loot than others.

(If the tooth-fairy can't even remember to visit, you can imagine how well this is going).

Wallace is hoping for somewhat of an advantage at being first on the scene,

 with this birthday present most timely.

And so the birthday celebrations ended with lasagne on the menu,

and Julie Goodwin's Milk Chocolate Pots

a fitting finale to a fun day, before the children retired to the cubby, where for the second night in succession the very bravest of the brave laid their sweet heads

which of course contributed to the tooth-fairy dilemma I've no doubt.

And now with another weekend coming to a close, two more Christmas porkers hang in the cold-room, donor heifers are back in their paddock and we're readying ourselves for the last week of school.