Monday, June 30, 2014

Mind the Ditches

So hello & hola & all that good stuff! How was your weekend? Good, I hope. Ours was awesome! Now that all the phone calls have been made (at least I'm pretty sure they have) I can now tell you that we found out that Brian got promoted. (Yay!!) A few months ago he tested for his next rank and we found out a few days ago that he finally made it - we're super excited!! I'm so proud of him! (He's so awesome)

And he had a wedding to go to over the weekend. I (sadly) didn't go with him so that I could stay with the kids. But last time I showed you a picture of him from our 100 Days of Happiness project & we had just begun to get his suit all put together. Well, I am very happy to say that it turned out very nicely. He looked....wonderful.

So handsome, right? I might be biased though

Anyway. I'm actually digressing from the real reason I popped on here today. Lol. (I do that a lot I think.) 

So the kids and I had a bunch of errands to run today, and on our way out to the bases got stuck at some train tracks. And when I say stuck I mean I that we had to wait for 3 trains. I kept thinking we'd get to go but then we just kept waiting. As I was sitting there, waiting not-so-patiently, I realized that some months ago I told you about the ditches on the side of the road, but I couldn't show them to you. Well, this isn't the greatest of pictures because I was in my car, and no I wasn't going to get out. I try to avoid looking like a crazy American when I can. But, here's what I was talking about...

It's kind of hard to see because the grass is tall...but look in the middle. There's a kind of brownish area...that's water...it's a ditch. That's a huge drop from the road. 

Again, not a great picture. But you kind of get an idea. The gravely area right there at the edge is right next to my car. And then there's the grass...which just slides right into a ditch. *This is what my nightmares are about.* Sliding off into one of those because my car is too big. (Don't judge me.) The countryside is pretty though, right?

So now you've kind of seen the ditches. :) Aren't you excited? I know you were absolutely feeling like something was missing in your life without that picture. 

But! Now I must go because I just looked at the time & dinner must be made. Hungry children wait for no one. 

Much love! <3



Friday, June 27, 2014

They're Not Bored...Yet

Can you believe June is almost over? That we're halfway through 2014?? Ridiculous, right? (Too fast!! Seriously!) Is time moving that fast for you too? Or is it just moving that fast for us? Is it maybe an England thing? I don't know. 

The kids are 2 weeks into their summer break & I have to tell you, they are doing fabulously. I fully expected to hear the dreaded "I'm bored" about 15 times an hour, every single day, starting about, oh, 2 weeks ago. I haven't heard it yet. (((knock on wood))) However, I think this is probably the most prepared I've ever been for a summer break & I have them moving nonstop. Between school-type activities, reading, and outdoor stuff...plus keeping them busy with some crafts and baking, we're all worn out by the end of the day. Their least favorite part right now is our family walks together after dinner because all they want to do is relax. :) But once we get going they have so much fun & we've found some awesome stuff to take pictures of. Even after living here a year and a half, we're still finding stuff. 

We' actually walk through these fields all the time, but I'm always amazed 
by how different they look throughout the year. It's just beautiful!


How freakin' gorgeous is that?? It just doesn't get much prettier!


I think I've walked past this before, maybe not though. But, as you know, I love the churches around here. They're beautiful and inspiring and I could sit and look at them for hours. The bonus on this one is that little brick right there -- those stones were laid by M.F.W. Savidge (whoever that might be) on July 15, 1885. (Did ya catch that?? Almost 130 years ago!) I love love love how much history resides in everything around us out here! I will miss it so much whenever we leave.


So yes, while I haven't heard "I'm bored" yet, I'm started to wonder if my kids are going to go on strike at some point. Do you think they know what that is?? Oh! Of course they do - SpongeBob did an episode about it, which I'm sure they've seen about umpteen million times. Yes. They'll probably strike. (Let's cross our fingers that doesn't happen!!)

I do have to tell you, though, yesterday we did start one other thing that I'm super excited about. While the whole use of hashtags all over social media kind of escapes me, I've seen a lot of people using the #100daysofhappy one a lot. I, of course, had to investigate. And, of course, I fell in love with it! So we're totally starting it around here. I'm participating via my Instagram, but I've gotten the kids involved as well. We grabbed an empty jar I had sitting in the utility room, and scraps of paper from crafting activities. And every day they're going to write down something that made them happy - playing with friends, watching a special movie, having an air conditioning unit in the living room,....whatever. I'm beyond excited! We did something similar last year and with what they were thankful for and I got the absolute cutest stuff out of it! It memorializes they're handwriting & phonetic spelling, not to mention they're hysterical! 

So if you're on Instagram, feel free to check out what I'm feeling happy about on any given day. Yesterday was Day 1 for me, and it was all about my hubby. 

He bought a new suit for a friend's wedding this weekend, and seeing
him showing it all off made me very happy. He looked super handsome! 


So yay for all of that! But seeing as it's almost lunch time, I should probably figure out some food for my munchkins. You know, so they really don't do that whole strike thing. I can't have that. It would be mass hysteria & I would cry. (That would be bad!) 

Happy Friday! And Happy (almost) end of June! Hope you have lots of wonderful fun this weekend! Much love! <3


Sunday, June 15, 2014

Epic!

So first of all - Happy Father's Day!! I have been immensely blessed in life to have the most amazing father ever. I would not be who I am without him. (I love you daddy!) And I've been even more blessed to know so many other incredible dads, especially the guy I was lucky enough to marry. You dads rock! And I hope you have a fabulous father's day!!

As for the "epic" -- that's Kierstin's new *word*. If something is in any way a good thing, it has become "epic". (And I have since realized I've reached the age that I'm too old to understand the purpose behind the current popular words. Sad.)

But anyway. We have had an incredible weekend. Kierstin's birthday was so much fun & I still can't believe she's already 10. 



I'm not sure what her favorite part of her birthday has been - the cake...the mp3 player (which has not left her side since she opened it...or our trip to the Harry Potter Studio. I can tell you the Harry Potter was my favorite. It wasamazing!!

I went in expecting to see some awesome stuff, but not fully realizing that we would be seeing the actual things from the movies. The actual costumes and props, the real sets....everything. I was just in awe. And of course I have pictures to share with you, but I'm basically going to give you the highlights. We took A LOT of pictures and there's no way I could post them all here. (Mostly because I think our snail-speed internet might go on strike if I tried to upload that many pictures right now.) But I'm going to try to show you as much as I can....Hope you enjoy!






Outside the studio with pieces from Wizards' Chess

Kierstin got to help open the door to the Great Hall because it was her birthday

Costumes for (L-R) Professor Flitwick, Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Trelawney, Professor McGonagall, and Dumbledore

All of the characters' wands

Makenzie and Kierstin with the Marauders Map

Hayden at the entrance to Dumbledor's office

Dumbledore's Memory Cabinet

The Tri-Wizard Cup and Golden Egg from Goblet of Fire

The Goblet of Fire

Makenzie at the door to the Chamber of Secrets

Mad-Eye Moody's trunk

Magic is Might Statue inside the Ministry of Magic

Various props from the movies

Walking into Diagon Alley

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes


The kids finally get to see Hogwarts


 So there you have it. Our trip to the Harry Potter Studio. It took us about 2 hours (give or take, I think) to get through the tour, but to be honest with you, I'd love to go back (sans kids) and spend probably the entire day there. They have so many employees there that will sit and talk to you about all things HP - things you'd never find out anywhere else. (And that makes the Harry Potter nerd in me just swoon!)

And like I said, these are only a few of our pictures. I would love to show you all of them but it's taken me 3 hours to get these uploaded. Lol. If you're interested in seeing the others I'd love to show them to you (which actually means mailing you a cd with the pictures on it). Just let me know. 

I hope you've had an amazing weekend! And again - to all the dads out there....Happy Father's Day!!

Much love! <3

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Another Year Gone

Today marks the kids' last day of school. Another year gone. Sad... It's been a pretty awesome school year! 

And I would love to sit here and say that I was that super cool mom that got up early and made a fabulous last-day-of-school breakfast. But I didn't. I did, however, wake up 10 minutes late and serve them cereal because I'm that kind of cool mom.



His last year of elementary school has finished. This is one sad mama, y'all! I am *not* ready to have a middle schooler! But that's what he is now (or will be as of this afternoon...or something like that).



4th Grade is done. Sad sad sad. (She even started the day in tears.) :( 




My baby. She is officially a *3rd grader*. And she is super excited about it!


To celebrate the end of the school year, and our sweet Miss K's birthday tomorrow, we are headed to the Warner Brother's Harry Potter Studio tomorrow. (Eek!) I'm so excited! Not half as excited as the kids though. But I can't wait to tell you all about it.

But! Since we do have a birthday tomorrow, I have some prep work to do & I should probably get started. I hope your Thursday is going swimmingly! Much love as always! <3

Friday, June 6, 2014

A Lot of Yays!

Happy first week of June! (lol) And happy Friday! (Yay!) I love Fridays. I don't really know why. It's not like I get a break on the weekends - dishes still get dirty...and there's actually more laundry. But I still love Fridays. Maybe it's something that gets ingrained in your subconscious when you're little. Friday = awesome! I don't know. 

I have spent the better part of this week finding projects to do around my house. It almost seems ridiculous. But I'm starting to get antsy being stuck in the house with nothing to do to entertain me. We had beautiful weather a few weeks ago so I could at least be outside. But then it all just left. 


This isn't how it always looks. But the sun just seemed to run away and hide, meaning no being outside for me. (Boo!!) So. I had to start searching (inside) for stuff to do. And sadly, I cannot rearrange any furniture in this house. Seriously - I am really sad about this (even if Brian isn't). I love to rearrange my furniture. But the way our house is built, the furniture only fits the way it is. (So sad!) Thankfully though, the sun is back out (yay!!) and between my projects and soaking in all that vitamin D, I'm finding my entertainment somewhere. :)

Anyway!! Enough about the weather! 

Have I told you our very awesome news? We are not moving. (Yayyyy!) I am very happy about this. Like, really, you have no idea. As much as I like to rearrange furniture, I hate to move. I think it's the packing part of it. Well, no. It's probably 20% packing and 80% house hunting. House hunting is not fun. (Especially in England - ask me about it sometime, but be prepared for my soapbox.) The other half of the "not moving" awesomness, is that....the girls are switching schools next year. I got the confirmation email this morning. (Really, how many more times can I say "yay"??) They will be attending a British school next year. 

When we first brought up the idea to them, Makenzie was all for it. She asked if she could start the next day. Lol! Right now, their bus ride is an hour long which means they have to get up at 5:30 in the morning. When I told them they wouldn't have to get up until *maybe* 8-ish and they wouldn't have to ride the bus anymore, she was sold. Kierstin on the otherhand was not. Being the tween girl that she is (lol!!) she did not want to leave her friends and she was adamantly opposed to wearing uniforms. She's coming around to the idea though. You know, once she found out that the school has it's own swimming pool. Lol!

We are leaving Hayden in the US school here - I don't want to mess up his routines and systems and everything. And next year is going to be enough changes for him as it is. So it should be interesting trying to remember 2 completely different school schedules. Hayden will stay on the schedule that I'm used to - the same one we've pretty much always had. The girls, however, will start a year-round schedule. It'll be fun...challenging...character building. (Ha!) We're excited though. In a few weeks, the Head Teacher (a.k.a. Principal) is letting them visit for a day and follow other students around the school to see the differences so they'll know what to expect. I think they're really going to love it!

Speaking of those sweet not-so-little munchkins - they should be starting to get home soon. So I guess that means my free time is just about over. I hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

Much love sweeties! <3