I bought the house kit from Ikea and let Sydney & John go to town on the frosting and decorations. There was (almost) no limit to what I would allow them to eat versus stick on the house. Sydney was all about the decorating, John was all about the eating. Rich was instantly like "yum", so I slapped that sneaky hand away and directed him to the leftover candies, what there was, in the cupboard. Our "creation" managed to stay intact until Christmas and adorned our kitchen counter.
Fake tree versus real tree - that is the question. I'm all about the real tree. Always have been, always will be. However, Rich convinced me this year that when we're spending Christmas in Australia we should use a fake tree (you know, no watering, doesn't dry out, cleaner....) and we can have my real tree when we're in Wisconsin. Yes, Mom, we're chopping a tree down this year, even if its from your backyard.
So off we went to Myers to buy our tree. I muttered not-so-under-my-breath the whole time - I can't believe we're buying a fake tree, I can't believe this. Then we went to the loading dock and had it put in its box in the back of car (National Lampoon would be so disappointed as it wasn't strapped to the top of the car). A few days later I took my three-part tree out of its box and attempted to set it up.
For those of you blessed souls who've never had a fake tree (I love you) it was not as quick and easy (or clean) as they'd have you believe. You have to make sure you put the lettered parts together in the correct order - I didn't the first, or second time (yeah, there were directions, but seriously, how hard is it to put together a tree?). Then you have to lower the branches down, one at a time, into their holding pen. Then you have to manipulate each and every mini branch to give the tree that "full" look. This took HOURS. And as I did it, the fake pine needles riddled the floor, requiring just as much vacuuming as a real tree.
Anyway, the kids couldn't care less that we had a fake tree, and isn't that what counts. And once the lights were on, all our ornaments, Bing Crosby was playing, and the annoying train was going around the track underneath the lowest bow it was all good. Rich told me next year he'd buy me Pine Fragrance so I can spray it around and therefore stop staying "but it doesn't SMELL like Christmas".
Katy continued to settle into life in our crazy household. She put up with a lot. 
I don't think it will matter how may Christmases I spend in Australia, playing outside, riding scooters and wearing shorts and t-shirts a few days before Christmas will never seem quite right. Because of the flipped seasons, we've had two Summers in a row with just a few short weeks of Spring when we first got back. The kids have been loving it. Especially as there isn't the humidity in Perth that we had in Texas, so they can play outside a lot more. They aren't bothered by the heat at all, and they are already accustomed to bathing in sunscreen (or "Scun Screen" as John calls it) before they go out. The sun is scorching in the middle of the day, but with the addition of shade sails over most of our backyard, we were able to enjoy a lot of early evening outdoor play together.
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