parkersanity

Homesick Texan - Kolaches!

2012-02-02T03:20:00.002-06:00

Recently, my dear wife, Amelia (the principal author of this blog, though long absent from it), got a new cookbook: The Homesick Texan by Lisa Fain (Hyperion, 2011) [check out here blog here]. Maybe I can convince Amelia to get back on here and write something about the book and how it makes her feel.

From my point of view, just owning the book makes her feel loved. Loved just by being known and understood in ways that any ex-patriot to their homeland can relate to, especially as it relates to food. What is it about food that just grabs your heartstrings and yanks you 'home'? Whatever it is, this book does it for my wife. And for me. I am strangely weak-at-the-knees when I see full-blown pictures of 'Gorditas' and 'San Antonio Tortillas' and 'Brisket'....Yum. Mouth-watering, eye-glazing yum.

But this post is about yesterday's first venture into said cookbook, and what's on the menu is kolaches.

I can't say I know a lot about kolaches. In fact, my first thought when I looked at these big pastries, was 'Huh, that's not what I had pictured in my head.' Kolaches are Czech by origin. Brought to Texas by that wave of Czech migration in about the 1860's (as I remember it; you can 'czech' my facts online, here or maybe here?, or chime in with your own link), the kolache of my memory is firmly rooted in West, TX, just north of Waco. Anyone driving down I-35, will certainly notice the big signs at the gas stations by the roadside signaling, 'Kolaches For Sale'. And while I'd have sworn I'd stopped and had one before I certainly hadn't had one like these.

So, a kolache is an almost donut-like, pastry with a big dollop of cream-cheese in the middle. Amelia made these with just a hint of 'lemon' and they were good! These were big and thick, but what I really liked about them was that they were just the right sweetness and just the right texture. Not too sweet that I felt like I was eating a danish and not too flaky or spongy that I was eating a crescent roll or pound cake. The experience was something in-between all these and it was nice.

Half of one was enough for me and even though our boys LOVE sweet pastries none of them ate the whole of theirs. It was a bit too much for them. So, maybe they could have been made smaller, but 'smaller' and 'Texan' don't go so well together, so I'll say they were just right. Anyhow give 'em a try!

My parting note is less about taste and more about where this food 'takes me'/'yanks me':
My girlfriend in high school, her family hailed from this part of Texas, just a few miles north of West, from Abbott, TX. She always spoke of Abbott like it was 'home' for them. Catholic, small, and quaint; with a Truck Wash as its main highway presence. I went there once with her. You felt like everyone in the town knew you were a visitor and everyone knew I, at least, wasn't Czech. (My girlfriend had blonde, super-curly hair that signaled her ethnic heritage, even if she didn't grow up there.)

But the key thing to know is that West and Abbott are joined by 'Willie Nelson Rd' for a reason: Abbott is Willie's hometown. Now you know. So, hey, if Kolaches are good enough for Willie, they're good enough for you and me, right?

They are if they're made this way, thanks to my wife and Lisa and Fain. And if they're made a long way from Willie's house, they're even better still.

As The Birth Approaches....

2010-07-18T08:49:00.002-05:00

My mind is often swarming with many thoughts about this birth.

Other than the obvious "when will the baby come" I have been battling thoughts of fear and worry throughout the pregnancy. The other day I found myself rebuking fear and death in the name of Jesus as I was suddenly worried that the baby would die before labor started or during labor. Or that I would have another shoulder dystocia with a midwife that panics instead of facing it calmly. Or that Jon's thesis would not be done in time and life would feel even more stressful since he'd need to be home helping instead of finishing his thesis.

Now I have 9 days to go and I find myself praying that God would send the perfect midwife for our birth. I have no idea who will be coming to my birth. I have only met one midwife who may be on call and I do not want her to be the one for my birth. I don't trust her. She is nice and pleasant but I do not like the way she sees my past births. She made an offhand comment at my last appointment that I felt was unprofessional and unhelpful--and I felt it gave me a true glimpse on her perspective. I feel like if she is coming to my birth then she will be looking for any reason to transfer me into the hospital. (In the UK if you are having a homebirth with the NHS you are assigned a community midwife that is based out of the doctor's office you are assigned to. You don't rotate through the different midwives.)

I've been listening to the hypnobirthing cd for the last few weeks and that has helped me to stay positive about the birth. Ultimately I am looking to the Lord for his peace, wisdom, and comfort as I have been working out whatever emotional hangups I've been having with this pregnancy.

This pregnancy has been the easiest in many ways--I've gained MUCH less weight-about 20 lbs. instead of the 40 I've gained in the past. My body feels better, healthier and it is easier to get up and around. I think it has saved me from a lot of discomfort. I haven't had any Symphysis Pubis pain with this pregnancy and my back hasn't been a problem either. I don't find it difficult to sleep because my hips aren't bothering me at night either. Heartburn has been minimal as has swelling in the legs/ankles.

Truthfully, I want to get the birth over with and move on to the baby-in-my-arms-craziness because I'm tired of trying NOT to worry about everything. I think if the midwife I meet with was more encouraging and would take the time to look at my whole person I would feel much more peaceful about everything. It is for this reason that we have hired a doula. She is familiar with the system here and is a voice of comfort and encouragement to me.

I keep going back to the verses we've been praying for this baby and hanging on to God's promises.

If you would like to pray for us and the birth here are some specific things you can pray for:

The right midwife for the job would come to the birth.
Jon would be nearly done with his thesis by the end of this week. (He is halfway done at this point.)
Peace in my heart and mind (instead of worry) as I continue to prepare emotionally for this baby's arrival.
The kids will be emotionally ready to welcome another little brother into their lives.
The birth goes smoothly without any problems.
The baby won't be born on Ewan's birthday (July 31st). Due date is July 27th.

Strawberry Pickin'

2010-07-10T16:31:00.004-05:00

We went strawberry picking on Thursday afternoon at a farm just a few minutes drive from our flat. We were there for less than an hour and picked a huge harvest of strawberries to enjoy. We've had them for breakfast and dessert and I have put several bags in the freezer for smoothies and other fun dessert nights. The scenery is absolutely beautiful!

Being 9 months pregnant and picking strawberries isn't really the most comfortable activity. I was on my hands and knees picking the berries and trying to avoid the stinging nettle weeds. Had I worn long pants it would have been a little easier on the knees but I still managed to fill my basket.

There is something so peaceful and fulfilling about being out in nature, picking your own fruit, and connecting to God's creation.

Our harvest. Plus Isaac's basket he's filling the background. It was difficult to stop picking berries.

Hartlepool (Pronounced Heart-lee-pool)

2010-07-10T15:23:00.011-05:00

Today we ventured out to Hartlepool which is a coastal town about 30 minutes south of Durham. The porter from our building mentioned to me a few weeks ago that Hartelpool is a port for the Tall Ship Races sometime in late July or early August and also happened to mention that it had a pirate ship and fun marina to walk around. It sounded like a fun day trip AND like something we should do while the weather is still nice.

We ventured out with our friends, Orrey and Kristi. They were brave enough to join our family and the boys loved having some friends come with us on our little adventure. Graham has a little toddler crush on Kristi. He thinks she is one of his best buds.

Orrey and Kristi

Me, Kristi, and Graham walking along the coast

It turns out the pirate ship is actually a naval ship from the mid-1850s and you can (for a fee) gain entrance to the Maritime Experience and go aboard the ship to learn about how ships worked and what they looked like. The ship is the oldest floating naval craft in Europe (we think). After going on the ship, I gotta say that being a sailor must have taken some non-sensitive nostrils because this ship had only plastic/wax dudes on it and some parts of the ship smelled as bad or worse than the boys floor of a college dorm. I can only imagine 250 men working the ship. Stinky-ola!

The front of the ship

The back of the ship. The windows are part of the Captain's Quarters. It reminded us of one of Jon's favorite movies, Master and Commander.

Looking at upper deck of the ship. I couldn't believe how many cannons were on that ship!

Jon is teaching the boys about how the ship was steered.

We got to go to the lower decks of the ship and here Ewan and Isaac are looking all the weapons stored on the ship.
Orrey is checking the sick sailor in the infirmary.
The Captain's Quarters. His hammock is behind me and to the left.
The boys are checking out one of the cannons and how they could be adjusted to aim at other ships more accurately.

The Maritime Experience also has a marina set up with different shops that would have been around 18th century where you could learn about buying swords, trading goods, proper dress for naval sailors and the like. I learned that QUAY is actually pronounced KEY at the Maritime Experience. Who knew? I still want to look at it and say QWAY.

Need any pots or pans? Or baskets or buckets?

This is my favorite sign!

There were some exhibits that had some great hands on learning for the kids.

One of the boys favorite things was the AWESOME wooden pirate ship they could play in. I think it would be so cool to build something like this in our (future) backyard for the boys to play on. The inside had all kinds of rooms and places to run around. Unbelievably fun! It took them all of 10 seconds to start playing a creative role game.

After we left the Maritime Experience we ended up driving around the town and landed at the coastal front. There wasn't a beach but we did happen upon where the first soldier was killed on British soil in WWI. It was near the Heugh Gun Battery which houses military vehicles and artillary weapons. We didn't go in the HGB but instead walked around the coast and enjoyed being near the ocean and smelling the breeze.

Looking out at the ocean.

Me and Grahammy

Catching a smooch with the hubs!

Where the first soldier was killed on British soil in WWI.

Hartlepool is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. The marina in Hartlepool is apparently one of Europe's most modern marina facilities. Who knew? We didn't even get a chance to go to the marina and look at the boats currently docked. I don't think we will be going to the Tall Ship Races this year but I would love to go back sometime while we are here and see the ships come into port.

Some Cultural Observations...

2010-06-22T14:36:00.004-05:00

*Isaac working the obstacle course*

*Ewan in the running race*

*Ewan is skipping rope and being encouraged by a Year 6 student. It was a little chilly so he had on his sweatshirt over his house shirt.*

*Isaac is in the red hat in the middle being helped by a student in Year 6*

About a month ago Ewan and Isaac's school had a sports day (It is the equivalant of Field Day in the US). The kids had been practicing all sort of activities like skipping (jumping rope), running obstacles, racing etc. They were very excited about it because it also meant that they could wear shorts and their house colored shirt. Each kid in school is assigned a house (think Harry Potter and the different houses all the wizards and witches are in) that works together throughout the year to accumulate points. Ewan is in the green house and Isaac is in the red house.

All the parents were to meet at the school grounds to watch sports day and their children do some healthy competing. The children were sitting in groups according to their grades and the parents were facing them across the field.

When it came time for the events and the children set off for their races, all the kids were cheering for their houses. And here is the cultural difference....

The parents were silent.

No cheering, hooting, hollering, clapping--nothing. Everyone just watched the events. There were a few exceptions--if any particular child who was young or disabled was struggling then parents would cheer them on. But no one was cheering for their own child and encouraging them in the races.

Except me. I couldn't help myself. I cheered for Ewan when he ran and Isaac when he did his obstacle course. I wasn't a complete jerk about it but I did feel conspicuous.

In the US all the parents would be rooting for their kids and all their kids friends. It's just how we do things.

And language differences....

Remember that episode of FRIENDS when Jennifer Coolidge appears as Monica and Phoebe's old friend who is visiting from England? The one from Yonkers who went to live in England? They make fun of her fake British accent saying, "and she was like--Call me on my MOH-BILE...". Remember that one? Here is a link from youtube from that episode.

Well, when we were at Legoland I thought I left my cell phone in the cafe where we ate our lunch. I went to the nearest guest services and asked the lady behind the counter if anyone had turned in a silver cell phone because I thought I had left it laying on a table. She looked at me as though she didn't understand what I was saying. I repeated myself and then remembered that I needed to use the proper wording. So I said, "I think I left my MOH-BILE on the table in the cafe next door. Did anyone turn one in?" She said, "Oh right. What color did you say it was? Sorry love, no one's turned in a moh-bile."

It turned out that Jon had it the whole time and didn't realize he'd put it in the stroller (or should I say pushchair?). I had a nice chuckle to myself as I walked to meet the rest of the family since I promised I would never say moh-bile phone after seeing that episode!

Words I find are now in my vocabulary:

Mochas are pronounced Mokkas so when I order one I say Mokka

Pushchair is used interchangeably with stroller

Trousers for pants

Toilet for bathroom

Loo on occasion but toilet is much more common

Wonky for broken or messed up

Cheers for thanks (only when addressing other Brits though--not with my American friends)

Jumper for sweatshirt/sweater

The kids (additionally) now say:

Wee for pee (Mom, I need to go wee).

Trousers

Toilet

Football for soccer

Ladybird for ladybug

Tell or Told Off for getting in trouble with a teacher (i.e. So and So got told off today at lunch my Mrs. Teacher because he hit me)

And on meeting people:

I can't remember if I've written about this before or not but I have found it very difficult to connect with other Brits while we are out and about. Especially at the kids school. People here are nice--but not friendly like we are in the southern part of the US. People don't just start a conversation with you or really smile at you seeming like they are open for conversation. I gave up trying to friend the other moms at the kids school because everyone just seemed closed off. Jon said I should try to mention something about the weather when trying to meet someone because Brits love to talk about the weather. I've tried it a few times but have never gotten anywhere.

If however, you are introduced to someone by a mutual acquaintance, then you can have pleasant conversation and begin to get to know someone. I've decided this stems from the old custom from hundreds of years ago that it was socially taboo to talk to anyone whom you have not been formally introduced. Think Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Collins tries to speak to Mr. Darcy and makes a complete fool of himself. Even though this custom is not formally a part of the culture--it still has an impact on how people interact. I have found it much easier to talk with other international students from other cultures than with Brits.

Jon took Ewan to a birthday party several months back and stood next to two other dads for a good 30 minutes before either of them finally started talking to him. Since then, he has a comfortable relationship with one of the dads and they would chat when they ran into each other at school drop off. Two weeks ago Jon came with me to pick up the boys and he started chatting with his friend (Jason). Even though Jon and I were standing next to each other Jason would not address me in conversation until Jon said, "Jason, I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Amelia." And even though Jason and I have seen each other everyday for months at pick up time and our 2 and 3 year olds have talked he only now will smile and wave hi since the formal introduction.

Of course there are exceptions in all cultural behaviors but that has been my experience. I'm glad that I have a better understanding of how things work because it helps me in my day to day perspective.

At Ewan's soccer (or should I say football?) class there were two other moms (who were friends) in the gallery above the gym watching their kids in the class. I had Graham and Isaac with me and they were playing and/or doing homework while Ewan's class was going on. I finally decided that the American in my was going to come out and I asked them a question about some of the t-shirts the other kids were wearing in the class. I had another question about football leagues in the area and lo and behold we engaged in conversation for the whole time. And yes, we did talk about the weather. I was so excited that I got to talk with other moms and feel more connected to the community my kids are in. Time easily could have passed where they only talked to each other. I was glad I took the risk to engage in conversation.

So, It's been 2 months...

2010-05-22T14:34:00.004-05:00

So, it's been 2 months since I've written any blog post.

What have we been up to?

March 20th-April 21st we went back to the States for a visit. We visited family and friends and even though we were there for a month we didn't get to see e

veryone we wanted to see. We decided that April is the BEST month to visit Texas because you get wonderful spring weather and get to avoid the dreary (aka cold and rainy) English weather for a whole month.

We visited Alnwick Castle (pronounced Annick) and thoroughly enjoyed the grounds and pleasant weather that day. The Duke and his family still live there. The gardens are absolutely beautiful.

Spring has finally arrived in Durham and all the trees now have green on them. The daffodils have bloomed and now the tulips are in bloom. Canola (here they call it Rapeseed oil) fields are in bloom and beautiful over the English countryside.

Graham is thrilled that he can wear his Crocs without socks. "I no not wear socks with my crocs, Mommy?" He was a little concerned about not having to wear socks.

Isaac has lost his first tooth.

Graham is now sleeping in a Big Boy Bed. Thankfully it has been a smooth transition--no Jack in the Boxing from him--yet. It's been a month now and he's been doing great! Next task is potty training. We're bracing ourselves for a more difficult transition. We'll start that in early June.

I'm 30 (almost 31 weeks) along in the pregnancy. The baby LOVES to kick around and do his alien baby moves every night from about 9:30-11:30. He is pretty active. Even though we are planning on this being our last baby--I'm ready for the pregnancy to be over. I know I'll miss all the baby kicks and it is easier to take care of a baby in my belly than on the outside but--all the extra effort of exercising so diligently, watching what I'm eating, checking my blood sugar is wearing on me. I'm trying not to worry about having another Graham sized baby but it is difficult not to. I won't be sad if the baby comes a few weeks early! I'm sure the next 9 weeks will go by quickly. Probably a little too quickly for Jon who is working on writing his Masters Thesis.

Jon is enjoying studying and working on his thesis. His goal is to finish before the baby comes. I hope that happens! The sooner he finishes the longer break he has before he starts working on his Doctorate thesis.

We've discovered our new favorite park (Riverside in Chester-le-Street--pronounced ChesterLEEStreet). We have to drive there--it only takes about 10 minutes but it is perfect for all 3 boys. It has sand to play in, lots of modern climbing equipment, swings, slides, fields for running, playing football or picnicking, and a river with swans to watch.

Ewan has started collecting Match Attaxx which is a British football (soccer) trading card phenomena. He is very excited about collecting and trading cards.

Ewan has switched from Year 1 to Year 2 in school. With the way British schools work, he should have started the school year in Year 2 (equivalent of 1st grade) but we asked if he could be in Year 1 instead since he didn't attend Kindergarten in the US. The school agreed to let him be in Year 1 with the intention of moving him to Year 2 at some point in the year. His teacher, the principal (or Head Teacher), and the Year 2 teacher all agreed that he was ready to transition after the Easter break. The transition has gone well and he enjoys being in Year 2. He is still not quite caught up but he works hard at school (at home is another issue) and is learning a lot. I'm amazed at some of the things they are learning already--like cursive! We've been doing a handwriting bootcamp of sorts at home to help him correct bad printing habits and will move on to a cursive bootcamp when he completes his printing one. Ewan enjoys math and science. Writing--not so much--but only because he struggles with writing. I'm hoping that the bootcamp will boost his confidence and ability to write down his (creative and wonderful) thoughts.

We've also discovered a farm that sells raw milk and the BEST ice cream in England. You can also purchase beef from their grass fed and very well taken care of cows. Why buy the crappy ice cream at the store that has VEGETABLE OIL in it when you can get homemade ice cream made from Jersey Cows? We've tried the chocolate (to die for), coconut, wild cherry, lemon sorbet, and wild strawberry. All wonderful--made with REAL ingredients. The farm has a parlour with an indoor preschool play area and a play area outside for running around. The name of the farm is Wheelbirks in case you are ever traveling in Northern England and want a cozy place to have some coffee and ice cream.

That's all for now.....Next stop London. We'll be taking a little vacay there soon. The boys are VERY excited about their first trip to Legoland. I'm excited about my first visit to London. I'm curious about the difference in the northern England culture and "The South" as it is referred to here.

One more thing......it is 9:38pm and still bright out. The sun starts shining around 3:30 (maybe earlier). How's that for a long day?

St Patrick's Day in England? Just a Pinch.

2010-03-17T14:42:00.002-05:00

Cultural Note:

So, yesterday I (Jon) was in class. After noting the date I was writing into my notes, I remarked (before we started) to my professor (an Aussie who has lived most of this life in the UK) and the other students (2 from the USA, 1 from Canada, 1 from Germany, 1 from Australia, 3 from England) that today was going to be St Patrick's Day.

There was a very minimal amount of acknowledgment about the veracity of this statement so I followed it up with an observation,
"It doesn't seem like St Patrick's Day is celebrated as much here as in the US."
(I had noticed how there isn't green everywhere and big sales on Guiness or stuff like that. No sign of an impending party anywhere!)

Professor Barton agreed,
"You might find more of it in someplace like Liverpool where there are more Irish immigrants."

"Hmm!" I said, "That's interesting! I had never realized how much Irish culture has impacted American culture."
(I realized at that moment that the UK has cumulatively been through hundreds of years of war with the Irish, so celebrating their nation may seem a bit odd? I think there are still parties here but perhaps this history tempers the excitement.)

(There was a pause--as there often is in British conversation--to weigh the merits of such a statement.)
Then, my fellow American, Orrey, spoke up [correct me if I'm wrong Orrey but this is the way I remember it]...
"I guess you don't do the pinching thing here."

Prof Barton looked a little stunned and quipped,

"We have laws about behaviour like that!"

We all had a big laugh and started class. I'm not sure the other non-North Americans had any idea what Orrey and I were talking about! I wonder what they think of us now??

I Can't Believe....

2010-03-10T14:16:00.002-06:00

I am going to be the mother of 4 boys. 4 BOYS! 4!

We got the ultrasound today to check and see that all is well with Baby Cinco and to find out what it is.

Here's how it happened....The sonographer was looking around and taking measurements. She just happened to land on a shot where we could see the legs straddled in a "v-position" and there was the penis sticking out for all the world to see. Since I've already had 3 boys, I knew what to look for. I looked over at Jon and said, "Oh my gosh--It's a boy!" She didn't even have to tell me. She confirmed my announcement by saying, "Aye-It's a lad alright. He made no mystery about it. That's for sure."

Many of you are wondering how I feel about that. Well, I am thrilled that as far as anyone is able to tell, the baby looks healthy. Sure, I am a little sad that I won't have a daughter and all the wonderful things that go with that.....pink clothes, wanting me at the birth, the mother of the bride etc. But, I also know that this little boy will fit right into our family and it will be impossible to imagine our lives without him. So, I'm truly happy and I know that this boy is a gift that has been given to us. We will love him forever.

It does give me pause to think about what a responsibility it is to raise 4 boys who will become men who (I pray) love and follow Jesus. I am already praying for the wives of my sons--that I will have a good relationship with them and be a great mother-in-law. I've learned a lot just by watching my own mother in law be such a great one! And maybe at least one will invite me to the birth ;).

Early on in the pregnancy when I was so worried about having another miscarriage the Lord gave a verse to Jon:

1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has ever conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

I wrote it on a big piece of paper and put it on the ceiling above my side of the bed. Every time I have worried about the baby, the birth, or have felt fear I have remembered that verse. This baby is being knit together by our heavenly Father who loves him and already has great things prepared for him, me, and our family. I know it doesn't mean that nothing could go wrong--but it is a word from the Lord and has been comforting for me. So far, each baby has had a whole Psalm to be prayed during the pregnancy but I wonder if this baby will just have this verse.

Having another boy does make some things a little simpler--I have lots of boy baby clothes in storage back in the US. We have the toys. I know what to expect (MORE WRESTLING---Lord help me!) What potty training a boy is like, their love for sticks and holes. (seriously--read that link--really funny post by one of my favorite bloggers)

Things that aren't so simple....

1. We have to confront the whole circumcision thing again. Not looking forward to that at all. It is not common in the UK and you have to pay out of pocket. There are not many places (if any) locally to go either. I heard about one option in our town--but it sounds a little sketchy.

2. We have to pick another boy name--+ 2 middle names. We've already used 9 names with the other 3 and now we gotta come up with 3 more that fit all our criteria??!! I really enjoy the whole process--I just don't think it will be EASY.

3. I am seriously outnumbered in my house! My strategy is to get a girl dog when we go back to the US. Her name will be Darcy. And I'm considering adding on a second girl dog just for some balance. Although I do like the idea of having a boy and girl dog whose names are Mr. and Mrs. Darcy....but that's another post. 5 men and 1 woman. 5 to 1. I guess I better learn to love the smell of boys dorm rooms--cuz I think my house will start smelling like that in about 10 years!

Spaghetti and Meatballs OR......

2010-03-01T14:29:00.002-06:00

Yummy cupcakes?

I made these for our weekly potluck on Sunday. The theme was Italian so these seemed appropriate. Someone saw them from across the room and thought it really was some kind of spaghetti muffins with meatballs on top! I had always wondered what kind of event I would take some spaghetti and meatball cupcakes too--and now I know!

They are pretty easy to make--especially if you have a boxed cake mix (they don't really sell those here so I had to make from scratch). I got the recipe from the book Hello Cupcake!

I brought the book with me to England and I was considering taking it back to the States on our next trip because many of the cupcakes require US candy that is impossible or difficult to find in the UK. After making these on Sunday though, I may keep it here for a while. The book does offer some good ideas for inspiration.

When Little Boys Are Sick...

2010-03-01T14:15:00.003-06:00

They fall asleep in the hallway while mommy is taking a shower. He snuggled with his favorite stuffed puppy and his favorite lego guy and crashed.

Poor guy slept on the floor for about half an hour and then got up and fell asleep in my arms. He uses that puppy as a pillow in his bed and it gets carted around the house--so of course it makes sense that he would use it to sleep on for his makeshift bed late in the morning.

Top 10 Boy and Girl Baby Names in the UK for 2010

2010-02-26T05:44:00.003-06:00

Okay...I think this is an interesting list. Mainly because of the boy names.

Boy

1. Jack

2. Harry

3. Alfie

4. Thomas

5. Oliver

6. Daniel

7. Joshua

8. Charlie

9. Mohammed

10. George

3 of the names are the names of former Kings (Harry, George, Charlie). I hear Harry being called out ALL the time by parents to their children. I'm surprised it isn't #1. Charlie and Edward are other common boy names I hear being called even though Edward isn't on the list. Oliver is often shortened to Ollie which I think is cute. But Alfie? Really?

Girl

1. Olivia

2. Ruby

3. Emily

4. Grace

5. Lily

6. Jessica

7. Amelia

8. Chloe

9. Isabella

10. Emma

I don't think the UK girl names are very different from US top 10 names for 2010 kids--except maybe Ruby.

Mind the Queue (a cultural note from Jon)

2010-02-21T09:46:00.002-06:00

So, let's start with the basics. In Britain, it's not a 'line" it's a queue. Etymology? Apparently French, meaning "tail." That makes sense enough.

More importantly, queues are a major cultural live-wire. In Britain, you don't "jump the queue," if you you do, they may jump you. Not really, but you may feel actual physical pains from the amount of nasty, dagger-eyes slabbing you from behind, and it's entirely possible that you will be publicly shamed.

This is all in theory, of course. I've never seen it happen. That's because people are so trained (or scared) not to jump the queue that they don't. Ever. Seriously, I've never seen someone jump the queue. One clearly immigrant guy at the grocery store lost his head a few weeks ago and walked right in front of me to take his place at the self-serve checkout machine. But he only lasted a nano-second before he popped right around and excused himself profusely to me for forgetting there was a queue. Not that I had said anything.

O wait, Amelia has just read this over my shoulder and reminded me we did see ONE person ONCE jump the queue. And it was raining at a outdoor light festival at the Cathedral and some folks walked right into the Cathedral rather than stand patiently for 30 minutes in the rain to get in. Someone yelled sharply at the them, "MIND THE QUEUE!!!" We were coming out and had, of course, not waited in the rain. (We don't really have British patience for queues.) We used good ol' American ingenuity and went around to the back entrance where there was no line! Ha-ha!

This is all a lead-in to yesterday. We were standing in a queue, and my impatience began to kick in. "Why am I feeling culturally annoyed?" I asked myself. We had traveled to York by car and parked at the Park and Ride to take the bus into town to see the Jorvik Viking Festival. Here's the scene:

A small canopy with some benches for what would be a normal amount of commuters to the city centre. One bus pulled up to the curb (double-length) with two more behind it. A queue of would-be Jorvik celebrators and York-shoppers standing some 200 long all streaming from the one bus in front of the one canopy. Each buying their tickets from the bus driver for the first bus. The other two buses are just waiting. No movement from their drivers. No movement from the queue.

I realized then that it was entirely possible (if not likely) that in the States people would not wait patiently in the queue for the first bus but would break their line in half and begin trying to get onto the second or even the third bus. In a very logical way, everyone would get to their destination sooner if they all split up and got on three different buses with three different drivers giving out three different sets of tickets. But not in Britain. In Britain, you "Mind the Queue."

That meant that everyone waited until the first bus was loaded, then the second one drove up and it too was patiently loaded, then the third, and so on. Quietly. Orderly. With no one but my inner American having showing the slightest sense of annoyance at this way of doing things.

Oh well. It could be worse. I could be in a hurry all the time instead of trying to slow down and let things take their time like the Brits do. (I wonder if they would ever have road rage here... I doubt it.) And after all, it could be worse. I could be in Russia. There (correct me if I'm wrong Karen), if you see a queue you get in it and you wait. You may have no idea what it's for, but if there's a queue, it's probably worth having, and Russians can wait a LONG time in their lines. 5 hours I once spent in a queue in Russia! (Long winters have trained them well for patience, I guess.)

So, remember, when in Britain, mind the queue!

Differences in Maternity Care UK vs. US

2010-02-08T13:58:00.004-06:00

I thought that some of you might be interested in what maternity care and birth is like here in the UK. So far there are a lot of differences that I've noticed and I'm only in my 16th week of pregnancy. Some of my knowledge comes from friends who are also currently pregnant or have recently had a baby.

1. Everyone here sees a midwife, unless you are a high risk pregnancy. If, during your pregnancy, you have an issue arise that might require an OB's help, you have a consultation appointment with an OB. But, you keep seeing the midwife for all your prenatal appointments.

2. You can choose to have a homebirth or hospital birth where a midwife will attend your birth.

3. Even though there might be 6 or 7 midwives in the hospital group you are assigned to, you will typically see the same midwife each visit. This is because you are assigned a particular doctor's office and the midwives don't rotate their stations--they work at the office they are also assigned to. (Usually in the US if there is a group of midwives you rotate through all of them to get to know them and vice versa.) You don't know who will be on call when you go into labor.

4. They don't monitor your weight here. They get an inital weight at your first appointment and then they don't weigh you after that.

5. Some tests, like the glucose intolerance test, are not routinely administered unless there are certain risk factors to indicate a need for the test.

6. You only see the midwife for appointments at 8, 16, 28, 34, 36, 38, and 40 weeks. They routinely do 2 ultrasounds-one around 12 weeks to check for dates and one at 20 weeks to check for abnormalities.

7. You carry your health records with you to every appointment. They fill in information but they don't keep the file--you are responsible for it.

8. You have to bring EVERYTHING with you to the hospital if you have a hospital birth. Pads, diapers, hat for baby--normal things the hospital would provide in the US you are responsible for bringing.

9. It's FREE!

10. There seems to be a general assumption that your birth will be normal.

11. Epidurals are not as common here--somewhere between 30-50% of births, I think. In the US it is about 95%. They do use something here called "gas and air" which is laughing gas, I think. That is very common for women to use during the most intense parts of labor.

12. You get free dental, eye care, and prescriptions while you are pregnant and for 1 year after the birth of the baby. (The prescriptions may not be free for one year after--I can't remember)

13. You also get to bring in your "wee" (pee) at every visit. They provide you with a container that you wash and bring with you for each visit.

Overall there are a lot of good things that come with the NHS and the care you receive here while pregnant. I do wish that I was going to meet with more than one midwife during the pregnancy and also that I went a little more frequently. I know there isn't a lot that is done during appointments early on--checking for the heartbeat and feeling the top of the fundus to make sure everything seems like it is growing like it should, checking blood pressure and urine--but it would have been nice to hear the heartbeat a little sooner. Because of the fewer visits I feel a more disconnected from the practice and shy about calling for problems that concern with the pregnancy. Thankfully, I haven't had any issues come up but I don't feel the same kind of closeness that I experienced at the birth center in Pittsburgh. The system still feels like a system rather than the "mother centered care" value I had grown to love from the midwives in Pittsburgh.

There are independent midwives that are not part of the NHS and do homebirths but they are uber-expensive--I wan't to say around 6000-7000 US dollars. I think I would enjoy working with an independent midwife more but we don't have that kind of money to spend on a homebirth and I think the care I get is adequate.

Once I'm further along into the pregnancy I'll probably have a part II to this. I have my 16 week appointment on Thursday and I am looking forward to it. I haven't heard the baby's heartbeat yet and I'm still wearing my normal clothes. I'm tempted to be thankful that I haven't gained much weight or worried that the baby isn't growing like it should. This is the FIRST pregnancy that I've still been wearing my normal clothes for this long. With the boys I was growing out of my clothes somewhere between 12 and 14 weeks. I think I have another few weeks left in my trousers and I want some reassurance that everything is progressing normally. It works out well since my maternity clothes are still in the US!

Once I'm further along in the pregnancy, I'm sure I'll have a part II for you.

On British Customer Service

2010-02-02T13:28:00.000-06:00

We unsuccessfully ventured out to get the boys hair cut this afternoon. We left the house at 4:15 hoping that we could find some kind of barber shop/cheap salon open to cut their hair. Everything here closes early--even on a Saturday. We are so used to getting whatever service we want in America that we don't really think about planning very far ahead in the day. After driving by several places that were already closed before 5 on a Saturday afternoon we thought that Supercuts was our best chance since they are a chain and more likely to have later hours.

We arrived at Supercuts at 4:40. They didn't close until 5:30! Great!

Me: "Can we get the boys' hair cut?"

Supercuts: "No, we are finishing up here."

Me: "But, I saw you are open until 5:30."

Supercuts: "Oh, we have to cut this lady's hair first."

There were 2 stylists available. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the US we would have been welcomed since we got there well before closing time.

It is common here in the UK for restaurants, shops and other service shops to not let you in well before it closes because they don't want to serve you. If a restaurant closes at 6pm and you come in at 5:45 they are likely to tell you to leave or not let you order anything from the kitchen. In the US stores don't start closing until the last customer is served.

It makes life easier for the shop workers because closing time is closing time. The customer isn't the number one priority. Anyone who works in retail would appreciate the cultural difference. I was talking with a friend of mine who is from Canada. She is Muslim and we were talking about cultural differences in customer service. She lived in Egypt for several months and said that if she was looking for something the store owner would say, "Oh yes, we have what you are looking for (even if she didn't tell him what she wanted)." If the store owner did not have it he would find a way to get it. In Canada (and US) if you are looking for a service most places are willing to find a way to help you or even make some kind of special circumstance for you. It just isn't like that here in England. It's not right or wrong, it's just different!

(I started this post over a week ago and we did get the boys hair cut on Saturday. We went in the morning this time.)

Homesick?

2010-02-02T07:02:00.002-06:00

For the past two days I've been feeling in a funk. Sort of like a gray cloud is hovering nearby. Kind of sad. I don't have any real reason to feel sad. I think maybe I'm just missing home and all the familiarities and comforts. I miss our family, the ease of talking to my friends, the familiarity of how things work, the ease of getting around without having to plan in advance, the sun. In regards to the sun I still have to get through February and March. Thankfully we'll get a good dose of it when we are in Texas in April! I'm soooo looking forward to warmer weather and sunny days! And Chuys, and Whataburger and, and, and...

That isn't to say that I don't enjoy living in England--I do very much. Life is simpler here in so many ways than it is in the US. I love our community here, the slower pace of life, the adventure, walking everywhere, making a smaller carbon footprint, hardly driving anywhere, spending less money on "extras". We don't spend as frivously here because it is such a chore to go shopping and we have very limited storage space to pack things in. Parking is difficult so we tend to stick to Durham, which is small, so we don't face the same temptations as we would if we "just ran into Target". No Targets here! We tend not to go anywhere. There are fewer fast food options so we don't do fast food very often. Simpler lifestyle=less spending on "extras".

I don't know what it is about loving the familiar but I miss it. I'm wondering when living here will be like second nature. When will doing something like DRIVING to Newcastle not seem so daunting and intimidating? (That reminds me of a story I should post about....) Maybe in another six months? Who knows. I do look forward to that and having a better understanding of the culture here and what to expect.

A Boy, His Elephant, an Unexpected Nap, and His Wellies (post from Jon)

2010-01-24T09:28:00.024-06:00

This is Graham's friend, "El-phant." El-phant sleeps in his bed, but sometimes they like to go for walks together.

One day, Mommy was tired (the new baby "shot her with a tranq") so she let Isaac play Wii and let Graham watch while she curled up on the couch to nap. When she got up, she went looking for Graham. This is where she found him...

On our bed!

It's been snowy and rainy so much lately that there has been a lot of "Wellies"-wearing going on. Graham felt particularly drawn to wear his around the flat one afternoon. Too cute.

I wouldn't be surprised if all these were taken on the same day. Day in and day out, that kid keeps us smiling!

I'm Such An American!

2010-01-18T14:03:00.003-06:00

Last week when Isaac and I were walking to the hospital to get my sonogram, a line of cars was waiting to get into the parking lot. A car pulled up next to us (on our right--remember, we are in England) and a woman got out of the left side of her car and walked past us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her car rolling. I started yelling at her, "Your car is rolling! Your car is rolling down the hill!!!"

She looked at me funny. It was then I realized that she was the...

passenger--not the driver.

I had an "I'm so American" moment because when I saw someone get out of what I'm used to as the drivers side and saw the car rolling backwards I freaked out that she forgot to put her car in gear and set the brake.

As soon as I realized my mistake I quickly apologized and hastily made it the last 20 yards to the hospital entrance. Apparently I still think like an American driver when I fear there is car chaos happening around me. I forgot all about it until tonight when I told Jon what happened and we had a nice big laugh about it. Good times, good times.

***Tonight we celebrated Jon finishing his first term. He has worked non-stop at writing papers and they were due today. These papers, known as Formatives, are very important for his admittance into the PhD program. We went out to a restaurant called Slug and Lettuce for dinner celebration. (It was our first time eating there on the recommendation of some friends.) When we first moved here I saw the restaurant and thought it must serve gross food--I mean SLUGS? Blech. Actually as far as restaurants go in England, I'd give it an A+! Mondays are 50% off EVERY meal night. Our whole family ate for 20Pounds and Jon even ordered a beer and I had dessert. Had we not ordered the beer and dessert it would have cost the same as our whole family going to McDonalds! So, we got healthy, TASTY food for an awesome price. We will definitely be going back there. I can't tell you how nice it is to find a GOOD food restaurant. It was a good night--especially after the past few weeks --which I'll write about soon.

2010-01-17T10:16:00.000-06:00

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About the blog.....

2010-01-17T09:00:00.004-06:00

So, I realized that in the last several months I have lost a purpose/focus about my blog. At one point I wanted to write about birthy things but I feel like so many other bloggers do that better than me. I've thought about writing about parenting but I did that for The Mom Crowd and didn't want to add it to my own blog. I used to tell a lot more funny stories about the kids--but either they stopped being funny, I lost my sense of humor, or I just couldn't muster up the energy to write anything. I think I feel a little more self conscious about what I write now--plus I find that Facebook is a pleasant distraction and way to connect with people.

Because we are living overseas now the blog is a good place to update family and friends with photos but honestly, that feels boring to me. My blog has lost its spice. I've thought about closing it down several times because I'm not sure who even checks in on it anymore and if it is worth it. I've been asking myself WHY do I have a blog in the first place? It feels like my reasons are different now than when I first started blogging.

There are many things I enjoy writing about--cooking, knitting, parenting, birth junkie topics-but so many are much more experienced than I am, better writers, and more interesting.

Grandma--I know you are checking in and I promise I will keep posting pictures of your great-grandbabies so you can see them! I'm just trying to figure out what else I want my blog to be about :)

Out of Graham's Mouth

2010-01-10T11:57:00.003-06:00

Jon and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner and rearranging foodstuffs for the icemaker we are buying from somone in our building. In comes Graham.

He says, "Grahammy poo-poo!" and points to his behind.

Mommy says, "Oh thanks for telling us Graham! That is a very big boy thing to do!" and gives him a kiss.

Graham says, "Daddy poo-poo? Daddy change poo-poo?" and runs off.

My heart melts because he asked Daddy (and not me-heh heh) to change his poop. I can tell that Jon doesn't think this is as cute as I do even though it is the first time he's told us he pooped and asked for a change. As Jon was working to get to a stopping place Graham runs back in the kitchen.

He says, "Come on daddy. Change poo-poo." And then went to lay down in the hall to wait for him.

Come on, that is cute!

Hadrian's Wall

2010-01-08T07:17:00.002-06:00

Hadrian's Wall is a wall that was built by Romans almost 2000 years ago when the Roman spread. It is very close to the border between England and Scotland. It is over 70 miles long and there are several stops along the wall that you can visit. Due to the weather (as you can tell from the pictures) we only made one stop and we made it at the perfect part of the day. It was pretty cold when we arrived but when we left a front blew in along with some very cold wind. We stopped at the fort of Housesteads that at one point housed many soldiers. Of course it was mostly covered in snow but we got to climb around on the fort and look at all the views. (England lets you climb on everything--so fun!)

Here our group (our family + Jon's parents) is going up hill toward the wall and fort. The pathway was very slippery.

Papa and Isaac standing on top of the wall. You can't tell because of the snow but there is a drop off into a valley in front of them. I think it must be beautiful in the summer.

Graham had to be carried on someone's shoulders or carried to get around. He wasn't too keen on walking on the slippery pathways. Plus, he was turning in to an icicle.

Ewan, doing his favorite thing: running around in the snow and making snowballs to throw at his favorite people.

Nice shot of Isaac and I.

Jon explaining the fort and wall to the boys.

I think I'd like to go back in the summer because the view was outstanding even with seeing hills and fields covered with snow. The boys will enjoy climbing on the fort and coming up with some sort of game to play.

For My Grandma (short post from our Scotland trip)

2010-01-06T02:35:00.002-06:00

Graham trying to catch fish on the floor.

Funny mirror self portrait.

Ewan and Isaac by one of the many cannons at Edinburgh Castle.

Jon, Isaac, and Ewan in front of the Edinburgh Castle.

My Little Lego Guy

2009-12-11T16:13:00.002-06:00

I know the lego boxes say that legos are not meant for kids under 3 BUT when you have 2 older brothers who like playing with legos.....

Age doesn't matter. Graham loves playing with legos and building "ships" and making different "guys". He is very proud of his work and spends many minutes of his day playing with legos.

The little guy in his hand is part of a Power Miners Lego set and Graham calls him "Mars". If he has misplaced "Mars" he walks around saying, "Where Mawrs, where mawrs??" That little lego guy's real name is Glaciator--I'm not sure where Graham got Mars from but it sure is cute!~

Everyday

2009-11-28T15:42:00.003-06:00

Wrestling

Every. Single. Day.

It's always fun until someone gets hurt.

Every. Single. Day.

Gotta be primordial instinct because it happens

Every. Single. Day.

Driving in the UK

2009-11-26T14:39:00.002-06:00

I bit the bullet and drove the car. I've been dealing with some sensitive tummy issues and thought that walking to pick Ewan up from school might put me in an, uhum, compromising situation, so I thought I'd better buck up and drive.

I invited a friend from our building to come with me. She is British and has driven both in the US and in the UK. I thought I might feel better about driving if another adult was with me--and also less nervous if Jon weren't the other adult. He couldn't be there anyway since he was at school. Driving to the school is the route I know how to get there and back best. I know how to drive to our church and back home but ask me to get anywhere else and I'm pretty sure I'd get lost. Those roundabouts are tricky I tell you.

The funniest thing that happened was after I got Graham and Isaac in the car and got to my own seat. I had never even sat in the drivers seat before and it definitely felt different. I reached over my left shoulder to pull down the seatbelt (you know cuz I was DRIVING) and go figure, the seatbelt wasn't there. It was on my RIGHT side. You don't realize how habitualized you become at driving until all the parts are in the wrong place. I chuckled to myself that I didn't realize ahead of time to reach to my right to pull the seatbelt down. Next, the car was started and I went to put it in reverse. Our car is a manual shifter. Another little difficulty in learning how to drive on the other side of the road. Not only do you have to remember to stay on the LEFT side of the road you also have to change gears while driving.

I'm used to a stick shift. I've been driving one (different cars along the way) since I started driving 18 years ago. Driving a stick is automatic--I barely think about it. That is until I have to shift with my left hand.

As I was saying, I went to put the car in reverse and knew that it was still in first gear. (Reverse is to the left of 1st gear instead of to the right of 5th) I had a very vague memory that you had to do something to move the shifter into reverse--push something down, pull something up...but I tried everything that seemed obvious and could not figure it out. I texted Jon and asked, "how do you put the car in reverse?" His response, "up and to the left". I knew that part already but WHAT do you do to put the car in reverse? My friend who was with me was just as perplexed as I was. She finally flagged down a friend of hers in the parking lot to see if he could figure it out. Let me tell you, I felt like such a "woman". Turns out you have to pull up on a spring loaded sheath (on the gear shift) and then magically you can move the shifter all the way to the left.

After laughing at ourselves, I pulled out into our car park (parking lot) and started the journey.

Thoughts going through my head:

" Stay left, left, left, left"

"Don't bump the left curb" (Americans tend to hug the left side of the lane because we aren't used to the spacial differences from the drivers seat)

"Go slow if you have to"

"Lord, please let me get there and home safely"

"How do I use my blinkers on the roundabout again?"

My friend, whose name is Kate by the way, offered some helpful instruction about when to turn on my blinker on the roundabout and when to switch lanes--and when to signal my blinker while switching lanes. When you are on the inside lane of the roundabout you signal with your right blinker. And you use the inside lane when you are going more than 2 exits away from yours on the roundabout. When you are on the outside lane you signal to the left. That means you are taking the 1st or second exit off the roundabout. When entering a roundabout you watch what the cars to the right of you are doing. Are they exiting? Are they entering the roundabout? Do you have room to enter? You don't really pay attention to the cars to your left (the cars waiting in the entrance to the left of you) because they have to give you the right of way. I'm sure you are getting the picture that there is quite a lot to think about when at a roundabout.

To get to Ewan's school I have to go through 5 roundabouts--some more complicated than others. Kate was very calm and as I was driving I had a huge grin on my face. I was driving in England! It wasn't so bad. A little nerve wracking sure, but not quite as terrifying as I thought. I think I was ready to tackle another challenge.

Remember when I mentioned that driving a stick shift is like second nature? Well, my left hand isn't so used to it. I kept trying to shift with my right hand and don't you know my right hand kept hitting the drivers door! Mental note: Gear shift is on the LEFT! Using my left hand, I was timing the clutch, gas and shifter all fine. But when I went to put the car in 3rd gear I'd end up back in first. Or when I'd go to put it in second gear I'd end up in 4th. Oh bother! So much for second nature!

We made it to the school and I parked a block away because the parking lot at Ewan's school is typically very British and small and crowded with loads of cars parked on the sidewalk and every crevice. I didn't want any fender benders my first day out in the car. Better safe than sorry.

As I collected Ewan from his wing of the building he quickly noticed that Isaac and Graham weren't with me. "Mom where are Isaac and Graham?" "In the car with Kate," I respond. "I thought you didn't know how to drive in England." He was skeptical. I was still a little skeptical myself because I knew we still had to get home --but I wasn't going to tell him that!

We get to the car and Ewan gets buckled in. First question, "mom, do you know where you're going?" "Uh-huh--sure do" The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful I'm happy to say. Once we pulled into our spot in the parking lot Graham said, "We made it!" just as I was saying the very same thing in my head.

Conversations

2009-11-23T04:17:00.003-06:00

Isaac:

"Mom, how does God hear us when we pray? He is all the way up there and we are all the way down here? God and Jesus must have really big ears to hear us. And how does God hear everyone praying at the same time?"

Mom: Those are great questions, Isaac. God can hear us from anywhere. I don't think He has really big ears but he is able to listen to everyone at the same time. Pretty amazing huh?

The next day: (Isaac again)

"Dad, how do birds fly?"

Jon: They use their wings.

"I know they use their wings but how do they fly WITH their wings? How does it work?"

Jon: What a great question, Isaac. (and then Jon gives an explanation about aerodynamics and wind)

Graham:

"We made it!"

This was after we got home from picking Ewan up from school and I was driving (another post to come). How could a 2 year old know that I was thinking the same thing??!!

Jon has another conversation that he should write about. I was in the same room but somehow missed what happened. Ewan had a world perspective shattered when he discovered that his friend from school who also lives in our building doesn't know Jesus. His brain was in overdrive as he tried to grasp the idea that his friend doesn't believe in Jesus.

Homemade Pizza

2009-11-16T15:14:00.004-06:00

A lovely friend of mine (Hi Kelly!) gave me her recipe for making pizza dough. I finally tried it on Friday night and it turned out GREAT! Tasted good and looked delicious! Since it was my first time to make pizza dough/pizza from scratch I was a little nervous that the dough wouldn't rise or that I would mess something up along the way. One pizza had thinner crust than the other one and we all liked the thinner crust better. All things considered, it was not difficult to make--it just took a little time. I made a sausage and red pepper pizza (silver pan) and a bacon and pineapple pizza (black pan). Making pizza is so much cheaper than buying it!

Here are the pics:

One Benefit Of The NHS

2009-11-13T08:30:00.002-06:00

I have come to appreciate a few things about being part of nationalized health care here in the UK. The NHS (National Health System) has a program that you can use if a health problem should come up. It is called NHS Direct. If you fall ill or your child falls ill you can call the NHS direct number and talk with someone over the phone about the problem. It is sort of a phone triage system, if you will. The person on the other end of the phone asks you several diagnostic type questions and then puts you in the system to receive a phone call from a doctor. The doctor returns your call fairly quickly and decides if you need to come in for a visit. The doctor then schedules you in for your appointment later that day or asap.

If you get sick over the weekend then they have after hours offices you can go to. You follow the same process above and get an appointment at the after hours office. This way, if it isn't an emergency you can get medical care quickly without having to go to the ER and wait and wait.

The system saves a lot of money because it keeps people from going into the ER--which is the most expensive way to be seen with a medical problem. And you don't have to worry about paying out of pocket to go to a medical clinic that isn't covered on your insurance plan if your problem occurs after hours.

We've used the after hours place twice--once for me and once for Ewan. It worked great! And we used the NHS direct to be worked into a doctor's office during regular office hours in the week when Graham had his rash a few weeks ago. We talked to the doctor directly on the phone for Graham (after going through NHS direct) and he even called us back because he could see us sooner than our appointment was scheduled for.

I'm sure there are glitches in the system, but we have so far been pleased with being able to see a doctor when we were in need. I've heard some negative things from other people's experiences but for us, so far so good.

Quotes from the Kids

2009-11-11T07:03:00.002-06:00

"Mom! They aren't called markers. They're called FELT TIPS."

Can you guess who said that? I don't think I responded very well to that one. It was something like, "I can call them whatever I like. In the US we call them markers so that is what I'm going to call them." What can I say? My flesh gets in the way of good Spirit led parenting sometimes.

"Mom, is there anymore shrimp in this jungleaya?"

Isaac said that at lunch today. It gave me a little giggle.

Your Teacher's Name is What?

2009-11-10T06:49:00.002-06:00

I've been trying to figure out how to write this post since last night. Ewan on occasion has a different teacher in his class if his regular teacher is out for the day. I have noticed her a few times and was curious about what her name is. Ewan's current teacher, Miss Rennison, is leaving after the term is over because she is getting married and I wanted to know if the substitute teacher yesterday is going to be the replacement for Miss Rennison. I know the teacher replacing Miss Rennison is Mrs. White but I don't know what she looks like.

As I picked Ewan up from school we were beginning our walk home and I asked him what the name of the teacher is who was at the door. Our conversation went like this:

Me: Ewan, what is that teacher's name?

Ewan: Miss Crellis.

Me: Miss Crellis?

Ewan: NO! Miss Crudis!

Me: Miss Crudis?

Ewan: NO, Mom! Miss Curtis.

Me: Miss Curtis?

Ewan: No that isn't her name.

At this point I'm totally perplexed because I think I'm pronouncing her name exactly how I hear him saying it but everytime I try he tells me that what I say isn't her name.

Perplexed, I dropped it and thought I'd try again at dinner to see if Jon was hearing something I wasn't hearing. When I asked him again at dinner, he said what sounded again like the same sounds and so Jon took a stab at trying to say her name.

Jon: Miss Crellis?

Ewan: No! Miss CRELLIS!

Jon: Miss Credis?

Ewan: No! Miss Crudis!

Jon: Miss Crudis?

Ewan: Miss Crutis!

So I try again:

Me: Miss Crutis?

Ewan: No! Miss Crudis!

Me: Miss Crudis?

Ewan: No- that isn't it either.

Jon and I looked at each other and laughed. We were thinking that maybe Ewan was confusing himself because he would say it a little different everytime but when we repeated the same sounds we obviously weren't saying it right.

Jon suggests that maybe the only thing we are doing wrong is pronouncing her name with an American accent. To his ears, he hears everyone calling her name with a British accent and since he may not know how it would sound with an American accent it sounds like we are saying her name incorrectly.

So we start trying to say the different versions of her name with a British accent instead of an American one.

Ewan: Miss Crellis.

Me: Miss Crellis?

Ewan: NO! Miss Crudis!

Me: Miss Crudis?

Ewan: Yes--that is it!

Me: Miss Crudis? (with american accent this time)

Ewan: No mom.

Me: (with British accent) Miss Crudis?

Ewan: Yes.

To my ears I heard no difference and I'm not sure I could even say her name correctly today. I wish we had that conversation on film because trying to write it down truly does it no justice. I think I'll ask Miss Rennison today what the teacher's name was from yesterday because my curiousity wants to know what her name really is. The mystery named teacher allowed for some funny dinner conversation and for that I am grateful.

Seaham Beach

2009-11-09T13:28:00.010-06:00

We made our way to Seaham beachfront this past Saturday with our friends, the Linebaughs. Seaham is about 20 minutes away from Durham. This beach is filled with interesting caves, TONS of rocks, cliffs, and sea glass! There was something for everyone. Climbing for Isaac, exploring for Ewan, rocks to pick up and throw for Graham, the beach (in general) for me, and for Jon? Hmmm.....not being stuck in the house all day on a Saturday? Actually Jon liked exploring too. For Fall weather, the day was about as good as it gets. It was beautifully sunny and not too chilly or windy.

Before our big descent down the steps to the beach.

Just some surrounding pictures. As you can see, there were lots of people taking advantage of the beach. It seemed like just about everyone had a dog along for their walk.

Lighthouse.

I think, if I'm not mistaken, this is a far off view of Sunderland.

Rocks along the shoreline.

There are some amazing structures that the water from waves has cut into the rocky cliffs.

There was also some mud which we all got our feet sucked into. Ewan's shoe got it the worst.

General shots of the kids:

What 2 year old boy wouldn't LOVE being on this beach?

Ewan and Isaac were lifted up into a carved out "cave".

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

Take that, rock! Does anyone else see the "face"?

Walking along.

Jon thought he should try the local seaweed.

Ewan was inspecting all the tidal pools for fish or crabs or shells. No luck. Just lots of cool rocks. I don't have very many pictures with Ewan on this trip because he was exploring with our friends who were ahead of us and then I had to trek all the way back up the beach and stairs to take him to the toilet. Jon took over the camera at that point.

This plaque was at the top of the stairs you had to climb down to get to the beach.

Tidal pool inspection.

This was my score for the day. I remember reading in a novel about 4 or 5 years ago that sea glass is valuable and that a lot of people collect it. Some people make jewelry out of sea glass. There was loads of it sprinkled all over the beach. I don't know much about the hobby of it but I do think it looks pretty in a jar or pretty vase. I can't wait to go back and gather some more! I think the most unique piece is the white and red round piece of sea glass.

Visit to Eureka! Children's Museum

2009-10-31T04:56:00.010-05:00

Yesterday we drove for 2 hours to go to Eureka! Children's Museum in Halifax, England. This was our longest road trip so far and it was fun to see more of the countryside.

I took several pictures from the road to try and catch a feel for what it looks like driving around:

This is a picture of a church tower in Halifax. I was standing near the sandbox at the museum so I don't know any details about the church.

I like this picture because to me, it captures what the roads look like. You see the british stone walls on the left. A car parked halfway on the road that you must drive around to pass. You see the stone houses and get a feel for the "older look" that England has.

Entering a roundabout. This one has 5 exits and it is a 3 laner which means it is a little more complicated to navigate than a 1 or 2 laner. We had to make sure we were in the correct lane so we could make our exit off the roundabout without bumping into another car. We'd be lost without our GPS!

On the left you see a covered barn with tons of baled hay. These are very common to see--I imagine because the growing season for hay is short so it must be stocked for the winter.

You see lots of sheep grazing as you drive along.

On the left is a group of row houses. Most of the homes here look very similar to this. A group of rowhouses won't have much distinction other than how someone has landscaped their front yard.

The children's museum was worth the long drive. There were so many hands on interactive things for the kids to do. It was very crowded since it was half term break and many children are on holiday. The museum had a section that was a "city" for kids. A grocery store, bank, post office, mechanic, and house were all set up so that kids could pretend to shop for groceries, operate a cash register, deliver mail, rob a bank, print out their own money, give a loan, work on a car, and "drive" a truck. We spent a long time in this section trying out all the different things.

Isaac navigating with the map.

This is how I practice my driving.

Ewan worked in the auto shop and got to dress up as a mechanic. He had to deliver the package he's holding to the right place.

Changing a tire.

Stamping money at the bank.

Graham had a blast shopping for groceries at the store.

The museum had a great exhibit about the human body that the kids liked. There was even a video showing a birth (not super graphic but it birth nonetheless) and how babies breastfeed after they are born. There were close up shots of babies nursing. I thought to myself--"How wonderful that children can see something so normal promoted about the human body!" and then I wondered if the US would ever let something like that be shown in a children's museum--or any museum for that matter. It amazes me how liberal (and skanky) the US can be on some things and how conservative the US can be on other things. Sometimes we get it backwards, I think.

Outside the museum were rides, a HUGE sandbox--like as big as a public pool sandbox, a giant connect four game, some tunnels and other climbing gear.

That red on Graham's cheeks is more hives. He is still welting up in hives all over his body. He's on some antihistimine and hopefully we'll figure out the cause soon.

Ewan and Isaac learning about teeth.

Learning about sound.

The museum had a bike kids could ride and when they pedaled hard enough the lights dimmed and a skelaton appeared on the other side of the mirror to show what bones move when you pedal a bike. Ewan thought it was cool to see how bones work.

Isaac crawling through the tunnel.

Graham Woke Up Early From His Nap

2009-10-29T09:45:00.006-05:00

Because of this:

We have an appointment today in about an hour and a half to get his rash checked out. For the past 3 weeks we have been hit with stomach bugs, terrible coughs, runny noses, high fevers, tiredness, and now a hot to the touch, welty rash.

Graham hadn't been asleep more than an hour when he woke up moaning and half crying from his nap. I went in to check on him and he was still obviously very tired but was rubbing his ear a lot and saying his hand hurt. I laid down with him on my chest for a few minutes and laid him back down after he fell back asleep. A few minutes later he was calling for me. Defeated, I got him up convinced that the poor kid had some kind of ear infection since he's had runny nose and cough with fever in between for the past 2 weeks. It wasn't until I had him in our room in the sunlight that I noticed that his cheeks were bright red and there was a rash to go with it. Then I noticed stripes on his neck and it wasn't until Jon got home that I checked the rest of his body and noticed the rash under his arms and diaper area.

So, what is this? Is it an allergy to something? Is it ANOTHER illness we have to get over this month? The only new thing I've done was try some fabric softener in a wash load the other day. Only the pants he is wearing were washed in that load. Nothing else new. Is he suddenly developing a rash to peanut butter? He had some on a sandwich for lunch. Or is there some other allergen lurking somewhere that I need to discover?

The Parkers are really tired of dealing with sniffles, hacking coughs, stomach bugs, fevers, rashes and any other illness floating around. We are ready to feel like healthy, normal people so we can do normal things. Ewan has this week off from school and I was still planning on doing school with Isaac in the mornings and incorporating some other fun things into the week. We can't get out in the afternoons if someone is running fever! We've had to take 2 days off of school because Isaac's been running a high fever for 2 days. Tomorrow we were planning on going up to Scotland for a family fun day. But with fevers and random rashes it looks like another fun activity has to be thrown out the window.

I'm hoping that maybe we are getting all the winter illnesses right now and then we will be nice and healthy the rest of the season.

So, enough of the doom and gloom. How's your week?

**Doc said it was a histimine and that it could be caused by anything or nothing even. He said that sometimes the body's histimine blockers get out of whack and you get hives. He is taking an antihistimine and it helped most of the welts/rash go down. So, I'm hoping that it a random occurence and that we won't have to go hunting for allergy sources. I had a lot of trouble with allergies and hives as a kid and I don't want him to have to deal with the same thing.**

Homemade Sauerkraut

2009-10-28T11:19:00.003-05:00

I've been reading a cookbook called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for a while now. The cookbook is focused on eating traditional foods-real food if you will. The book teaches you how to cook with traditional fats, cook meat, grains, and vegetables. One of the specialties of the book is how to add fermented foods into your diet. Fermented foods are so good for you and add to your health. I ventured to try making some sauerkraut because it has few ingredients-- plus it tastes good.

It will have to sit at room temperature for 3 days before I move it to the fridge. I can keep it in the fridge and start eating it on the 4th day but I'll probably wait a few extra days as it improves with age.

Ingredients:

1 Medium Cabbage shredded

4 Tbsp. **Whey

1 Tbsp. Caraway seeds

1 Tbsp. Sea salt

Wooden mallet

Large bowl

End Result

Directions:

Add cabbage, caraway seeds, whey, and sea salt in a bowl. Pound the cabbage in the bowl with the wooden mallet for about 10 minutes until the juices are released. Squish all the cabbage in a wide mouth jar until there is about 1" of juices covering the top of the cabbage. Let it sit at room temperature for 3 days then move to cold storage.

So easy!

**Whey is easily homemade by letting whole milk yogurt separate all day long. If you take a quart of yogurt and put it into a strainer lined with cheesecloth over a bowl the whey will separate into the bowl during the course of the day. Whey will keep in the fridge for several months. The Yogurt will make a cream cheese which also lasts for several weeks in the fridge.

The Journey

2009-10-26T15:32:00.001-05:00

Monks Carrying St. Cuthbert's Body To Durham Cathedral

Windows, Gates, and Doors

2009-10-19T03:33:00.001-05:00

Trip to Europe's Biggest Mall

2009-10-17T10:20:00.004-05:00

It just so happens that we live very close to the (or one of the--depending on who you ask) largest malls in Europe. We took the train up to Newcastle this morning which the kids loved. It is a 10 minute ride to the first train stop in downtown Newcastle and then a very short--maybe 5 minute train ride to MetroCentre Mall. I was trying to find a picture of a map so you could see how enormous it actually is. The mall is color coded so you know where you are and there are map kiosks frequently so you can remember where you are or help you decide where you need to go. We were there for a little over 3 hours and we still didn't see everything. We didn't have a main shopping reason to go--we just thought it would be a fun Saturday excursion.

One thing we DID look at were strollers. Our stroller (or pushchair as they are called here) is now on its last leg--or wheel. I wish I could show you a video of the stroller wheels rolling. They are very wonky and look like they are about to fall off. The cobblestones and frequent curb checks haven't been very kind to the wheels. The stroller already had a lot of miles on it so we are now looking for a new one. We have discovered that strollers are EXPENSIVE here. It is very difficult to find a (new) stroller for less than 100 Pounds--which is $160 american dollars! We are shopping for a used one but are in of one pretty quickly since one of the wheels is about to fall off!

Here are some pictures of our journey:

Walking home from the train station

Fall colors on the streets of Durham

Downtown Newcastle (looks a little like Pittsburgh, eh?)

Pictures from the train

Another picture of Newcastle from the train.

Ewan on the train

Jon and our friend Jono, with his son Liam

Graham turning around giving me a "cheesy" smile on the train

What Do Toddlers Do During Homeschool?

2009-10-03T04:30:00.004-05:00

They join right in, of course!

Graham wanted to run around naked the other morning instead of wear his diaper. I made sure his potty was nearby in case he started to pee. We aren't potty training but he likes to sit on the potty and I wanted something nearby to catch any runoffs. Running around naked means that he participates in school naked too. Isaac and I were working on making a painted poster of the seasons and Graham wanted to paint too. Of course his version of painting is a little messier than Isaac's. Needless to say, he got a bath afterwards.

Surprisingly, having Graham around while we do school has been pretty easy. He likes to join in any of the art projects and do his own or sit in my lap while I read. He really likes all the science books we are looking at. Sometimes he'll go off on his own and play but for the most part he is by our side or in my lap learning right along.

Homeschool hasn't been as tough as I thought it would but I've only been doing it for a week--so maybe I'll change my mind about the difficulty in another few weeks.

Ewan is enjoying his classroom at his school. I don't have a very good picture of him in his uniform but it'll do for now.

Our situation ended up working out great--thanks be to the Lord! Ewan is technically enrolled in Year 2 but is really in Year 1. Originally, the head teacher (principal) and I talked about Ewan starting off in the Year 2 class and spending some time in the Year 1 class to catch up. Then we thought that maybe he should just be in Year 1 full time and move up to Year 2 at Christmas. But, after talking to his teacher (who taught Year 2 last year) we both feel confident that he will most likely stay in Year 1 all year. I don't exactly understand how that will work with the county and how they work--but it really isn't my problem to fix or worry about. All I know is that Ewan is in Year 1 which is the right class for him. He really enjoys it! From what I can tell, Year 1 is just like Kindergarten. They spend a lot of time playing--and learning through play. There isn't any pressure for any kid to be at a certain level. They put children in groups in the classes who are on similar levels and work with them according to their levels. They get to spend a lot of time outside too--which is great for Ewan.

All in all, I'm pleased. I think everything has worked out well.

One cultural difference: Ewan's school provides shorts and shirts for kids during their gym class. But that is unusual--most kids at other schools just do gym in their underwear. The whole class changes their clothes together in the same room though. They don't separate the kids at all. Of course the kids don't think twice about it. That is one thing that would NEVER happen in the States these days!

The Flat: Before and After

2009-09-28T04:23:00.007-05:00

This is our building.

Ewan and Isaac's Room BEFORE

Ewan and Isaac's Room AFTER

Dining Room BEFORE

Dining Room AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Hallway BEFORE (part 1)

Hallway BEFORE (part 2)

Hallway AFTER

Our Bedroom BEFORE

Bedroom AFTER--My wardrobe. Jon's is next to mine with all his clothes in it. Those sweater hangers are amazing. I really didn't think all my clothes would fit in this wardrobe...but they do.

Bedroom AFTER (My workspace)

Our Bedroom AFTER

Graham's room AFTER I didn't have any before pictures of his room. It is still rather plain but will have more of a look over time. We gave him the biggest room because the desk in our bedroom is attached to the wall and I needed the workspace. We thought it might make a nice guest area in addition to a play area.

Bathroom--It is hard to tell in the picture but the tub is fairly high off the ground. We are working on putting up a shower curtain because the glass "door" causes a leak all over the bathroom floor.

1st half of the kitchen. Notice the mini fridge. Somehow it works--a lot of food packages come in smaller portions here which helps everything to fit in the fridge.

2nd half of kitchen

Cookies Vs. Biscuits

2009-09-26T03:47:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday at church our friend, Jono, was in the nursery with Graham. At one point the nursery worker said, "Who would like a biscuit?" All the kids dropped their toys and ran to the little snack table. Except Graham.

Graham was very happy playing with his toy and didn't really care for a biscuit. So he thought.

Since Jono was in the room helping his own son, he watched Graham playing while all the kids ate their biscuits. Jono looked at Graham and said, "Graham, do you want a cookie?" Graham dropped his toy and yelled out "COOKIE!" and ran over to the snack table to get one.

Thus begins the process of making our children bilingual in English.

Biscuit=Cookie

Going To School Should Be Easy, Right?

2009-09-24T07:15:00.002-05:00

ACK!

As I'm writing this I am feeling at the peak of my emotions. Here are the events of the morning:

We had an appointment to tour the school we are hoping Isaac can get a spot in. The receptionist told Jon two days ago that it looked like there were spots available. The school offered a tour for parents interested in sending their kids there--next year. Everything here works a year in advance so you apply now for a spot in a school for next year. This morning we took the bus because it is about a 30-35 minute walk and we are trying to take advantage and learn the bus system here. The bus was almost 15 minutes late which made us late for our appointment. We went on the tour and got a feel for the school (more on that later). After the tour we talked with the Head Teacher (principal) about getting Isaac into school starting Monday. According to the Head Teacher and receptionist, they have space but because they are at full capacity according to county standards, we had to wait a few minutes to get final word from the County. The County called back and told us that we have to file an appeal with them. So, they said no he can't just start Monday--you have to file an appeal first and sort of "prove" that you should go to that school. We aren't sure how long the appeal process takes--they have to mail us the forms first.

Here is the kicker--in order to give Isaac a better shot at getting into their school this year the Head Teacher and receptionish said I could register Ewan now as a Year 2 student (meaning he skips Kindergarten and goes right into first grade). It gives Isaac a "sibling advantage" of getting into the school. If the appeal commitee sees that Isaac has an older sibling in the school they will most likely put him in the school as well. We have already bought a homeschool curriculum and I don't want to put Ewan in school just to get Isaac a spot. That would be money just flushed down the toilet---even though it is unused there is no way I could get my $$ back due to the shipping fees. We already paid to have it shipped here and the likelyhood of me being able to sell it here is vey slim.

We have 3 options:

1) Sign Ewan up for school at Neville's Cross to give Isaac a better chance at getting a spot and essentially flushing curriculum down the toilet.

2) Take our chances with the appeal process without signing Ewan up.

3)Try another school and start the whole process over.

Another little glitch in the system is that if we want to send Ewan to this school next year (to Year 3) then we would probably have to sign him up to start Summer Term--which starts in late April--as in this coming April. This is because there is a school near Neville's Cross that only goes up through Year 2 and those students need to find a different school starting in Year 3. At Neville's Cross, there are only 34 spots available for year 3. 30 spots are already taken for next year. Waiting until the Fall Term might be too late and then we'd have 2 kids at 2 different schools. So, Ewan could do a partial year of Kindergarten, skip most of the first grade year completing the 3rd term of it and then start Year 3 (2nd grade) the following year. Make sense?

I walked out of the school and burst into tears. Getting your child into a school feels so difficult. Maybe it would feel differently if we had a car and it were easier to pick up and drop off. We walked on to our bus stop and realized once we got there that we'd have to wait for an hour before the next bus came. It was almost 12 and the kids were tired and hungry. Graham was falling asleep in the stroller--which he can't do or he won't nap. Jon didn't bring enough cash/change to take a different, slightly more expensive bus so we either had to wait for an hour or walk home. We decided to walk home--which let me tell you did NOT get a good response from the boys. Ewan got up very early this morning because he had to go to the bathroom and didn't go back to sleep. He threw an enormous fit about not wanting to walk home and screamed for a third of the way. So sad that waking up early and choosing not to go to sleep means you are miserable when you need extra energy! Hopefully that consequence did some talking.

I know we are used to the American system and how it works--and that there are many, many people in the world who walk miles and miles to school just to get some education. I get that. I'm sure in a year's time I'll even like the system. I just need some room to dislike something that feels so difficult.

In the meantime, I have no idea what to do. I feel too cloudy in the head, and frankly--angry, to hear what God might be saying. Any prayers are welcomed!

Best View of the Cathedral and Castle

2009-09-23T07:16:00.003-05:00

This is a better view of the Cathedral taken from Wharton Park. Jon's department office is right next to the Cathedral (where Sting recently performed). How cool is that? I haven't been there since last week--which means that I also haven't brought my camera there yet to take some close ups.

British Phrases Etc...

2009-09-21T10:19:00.003-05:00

Some things I've noticed....

*Parking lot=Car park

*Basic tv service= "Freebox" except you actually have to pay for it. The channels are free but you have to pay about $240 a year to have access to basic tv channels. I think we've decided not to pay the tv tax in lieu of using that $$ toward car costs. We brought our movies and bought a dvd player. Other things we can see on the computer if we want. I don't think we'll miss having access to regular tv too much.

*Doctor's office= Surgery If you have to go to the doctor's office you say, "I'm going to the surgery" or "I'm going to surgery" or "I'm going to the surgery center"

Here you can either go during "open surgery" hours without making an appointment or you can call ahead and schedule an appointment to be seen by someone. The latter is recommended for us because many of the undergrad university students are assigned to the same center we are and open surgery hours tend to have a long wait.

*Chips=Crisps

*Highway=Motorway

Megan was telling me that instead of police waiting in hidden areas and pulling over people for speeding they have hidden cameras everywhere looking for speeders. If you get caught you get a ticket sent to you in the mail. Our GPS beeps at us when we go through an area with one.

*Vans=People carriers

*England is VERY green conscious. You can recycle a lot of things here. Keeping things out of landfills is encouraged. In our building we can recycle cardboard, paper, glass, and plastic. I saw a box that I think you can put lightbulbs in but recycling bulbs is also highly encouraged.

*England is also promotes products that are FairTrade. I bought bananas this morning that were fair trade, Fair Trade coffee and tea are easy to find, and even the church we visited this past Sunday mentioned in the bulletin that they are a "Fair Trade Parish" and provide FT coffee and tea during refreshment hour after church.

*Diaper=Nappy

*We have an information packet for a school that we are hoping Isaac gets a spot in.

Uniform requirements:

red sweatshirts, sweatcardis or jumpers (with school logo)

grey trousers or shorts

white polo shirt (with school logo)

fleeces or reversible coats (with school logo for outside use)

For indoor PE:

red shorts

white t-shirt

plimsolls

For outdoor PE:

tracksuit top and trousers

old trainers

For swimming:

towel

costume

hat

Words in italics are clothing items that are new vocabulary. We aren't sure what some of the things are.....plimsolls (a particular kind of shoe but we don't know what kind), tracksuit top and trousers. The rest we can figure out in context (i.e. for swimming a swim suit is obviously called a costume)

Brown House Farm

2009-09-20T13:54:00.008-05:00

Jon brought back some incredible pictures from the farm he went to this afternoon. What a place! Being able to drive here easily might just make it worth getting a car so we can get there. You can't really get there by bus and it is too close to take a train. It is FREE and there are some really fun things for the kids to do while they're there.

I'm posting some of my favorite pictures although I wish you could see the slide show I can see on my computer because seeing all the pictures together give you a better idea of how great this place is.

Isaac jumping from hay bale to hay bale

Isaac pretending to be the tower guard

Ewan playing soccer with Jono

Isaac burying horses in the sand to protect them from pirates

Here little piggy!

Jumping from hay bale to hay bale

Cobblestone wall

Ewan pretending to be the watchman in the tower

Sheep tic tac toe

More soccer

Isaac hiking

Ewan and Isaac

Playing King of the Hill

Fields of England

One thing that is striking about being here is that there is no suburban sprawl. You can look on Google earth and see that farmland and fields surround all the cities. Makes for a beautiful drive.

Halleluja

2009-09-20T08:45:00.004-05:00

We went to our first church experience this morning and I couldn't help but think of this Mr. Bean skit. The church we visited, St. Johns, was a small for US church but the people seemed very warm. We are interested in visiting 2 other churches before making a final decision. The children join the congregation for worship and then go to their own classes. Apparently it is pretty rare for a church to have any kind of nursery or programs for children in the UK. So few people attend church and there aren't enough resources to have the kind of programs we have in the States. Ewan and Isaac did well in their classes (a miracle) and there was a nursery for Graham until Eucharist. Then all the families come back together for communion. The diocese of Durham has decided to only serve the bread for Eucharist in order to help prevent the spread of Swine Flu.

Jon and the 3 boys walked to church while our friend Jono and his son, Liam, showed Jon how to get there. I rode with Megan in her car (she is very pregnant). It is about a 30 minute walk to get to that church.

After lunch, Jono and Jon took the older boys to a nearby farm to play for the afternoon. Graham is napping and I am avoiding dishes (Oh, how I miss our dishwasher!!!). I was a little jealous that I didn't get to go see the farm but I'm also thankful for a very quiet house. I think our place will be easy to keep tidy but it also seems a little louder without so much space to drown out the noise.

Next week's tasks are to do something "fun and touristy", get Isaac a spot in a school that is nearby, hopefully get the rest of our boxes we shipped so I can start homeschool with Ewan, and decide whether or not we want to buy a car.

Jon talking to some peeps after church

(Above) Jono and Liam playing leap frog

Graham (below) playing on a sculpture outside the church

What it's like in Durham, England

2009-09-16T15:58:00.007-05:00

Wow! We made it!

Our travel day went better than we anticipated. The 9 hour flight was long, but tvs in front of each seat kept the boys entertained for a long time. There were some kids movies available and we knew to bring kiddie headphones for viewing fun. The funniest thing that happened on the plane was when the kids were telling knock knock jokes. Graham's favorite knock, knock joke goes like this:

Graham: knock, knock

Ewan: who's there?

Graham: chicken!

Ewan: chicken who?

Graham: (the answer varies but usually we can't understand what he's saying)

Graham: hahaha! (total fake laugh)

It is very cute but this time when Graham was answering Ewan's "chicken who?" he said something that sounded like "chicken chit". Ewan yelled out very loud, "Grahammy said CHICKEN CHIT!" Of course Ewan had NO idea what it REALLY sounded like Graham was saying--he was just celebrating Graham's joke. Ewan is very good about celebrating Graham and this time he did it rather joyfully. No intentional harm on his part, but somewhat embarrassing to us since it sounded like maybe Ewan DID know what it sounded like Graham was saying. Or worse, that Graham was actually saying that word! What do you do in those situations but laugh? And share the story with your friends.

We almost missed our flight from London to NewCastle because once we got into the London area we had to circle the city for 20 minutes. We were at the back of the plane and because we were flying a giant 777 it took a while to actually get off the plane. After getting off the plane we had to go through customs, fill out several pieces of paperwork, answer some questions, go back through security and make it to our plane on time. Going through security was more difficult the second time around because the kids were very tired and we had to pull out Jon's laptop, my desktop, the Wii, all of our liquids (of which we only had some OTC fever reducer). We noticed the time and that it was very close to the time our plane was supposed to leave. We then had to repack all the things we had to pull out and run to the gate where our plane was leaving. As we were running through the airport we heard over the intercom "Last call for Parker, Last call for Parker". Aye! Pick up the speed we did and we made it to the gate just in time. We were seated in the VERY last row which meant that everyone on the plane was watching 5 tired and very frazzled people get on board. Ewan had a difficult time (aka melt-down) when he couldn't sit in the middle seat. He really wanted to be by the window but it wasn't possible with Graham's carseat. Thankfully it was a short flight and everyone was happy that we were almost done with all the plane flying.

After landing in NewCastle, we collected our bags and then realized that our 2 red crates and Ewan and Isaac's carseats were not coming. The baggage customer service told us that our crates would be on the next flight in and we would get them by the end of the day. She gave us two booster seats for free so the boys could ride safely to our new home.

Our friend Jono, and his friend Peter, came in 2 cars to pick us up and take us back to our new house. Jono and his wife Megan also went to Trinity and live in the same building. Having them help us has been HUGE!!! Jon and I were laughing that they were our official bridgers at Trinity and here they became our unoffical bridgers.

We got to the flat (apartment) and unloaded our bags. I can't remember exactly what we did right after that--I think we unpacked some of the basics and put sheets on the bed. We went down into the city to see the Cathedral and get a feel for what Durham looks like. I didn't bring my camera--I was kicking myself for that. I need to bring it EVERYWHERE with me right now because I am seeing so many new things with fresh eyes. I keep seeing so many different photo opportunities for amazing pictures and I want to take advantage. For dinner, we went to the Linebaugh's flat for dinner and met some other people in the building. After we ate and mingled for a while we came back upstairs and crashed. We all slept for at least 14 hours the first night we were here. Sleep never felt so good.

The past few days have been going grocery shopping, Ikea, unpacking, signing up for our NHS cards, rearranging furniture, exploring our new city-- you know settling in.

view from the living room of our flat

another view from the living room of our flat

Exploring a park by Durham City Council. The pond had some ducks and other aquatic birds.

Jon posing in Wharton Park. Durham is across the river in the background.

Walking up a very steep hill to get to the park.

Gate entrance to the park.

Graham telling me to STOP pushing him on the swing. He wanted daddy to do it.

Funky exposure of the Castle.

Closer look of the Castle.

Ewan learned how to slide down a pole and I caught it on camera!

So did Isaac!

Church cemetary.

An old church. (I can't remember the name of it right now).

I have some pictures of our flat but I'm holding off posting pictures until I get it a little more put together. I have to put some bookcases together and do a little rearranging before I take the "after" pictures.

Coming soon:

A post on transportation

A post on some of the differences here

CHECK!

2009-09-14T07:17:00.002-05:00

Passport-check!
Tickets-check!
Baggage-check!
Goodies for the kids on the plane-check!
Goodbyes to family-check!
Car rides arranged for the airport-check!
Post office-check!
Bank-check!
Best buy-check!
Excitement-check!

Night of good sleep-not exactly

We leave this afternoon to go across ocean. It still doesn't seem real in so many ways. We have been very blessed this summer with friends, faithfulness from God, relationships, good times, gifts....the list goes on. I am not sure that it will all seem real until we land in England. I've never been to the UK so it is hard to imagine what my days will look like past getting all of us and our stuff on the plane. Surreal, surreal surreal.

My plan is to blog as soon as I can about our trip.

Bon Voyage!

The Gator Farm

2009-09-06T08:31:00.004-05:00

On our most recent visit to East Texas where my dad lives, we went to a Gator Farm. It is basically a zoo whose main feature is alligators. I really didn't know that alligators could get so big. The Gator Guy who runs the farm told us that it isn't a very good idea to swim in lakes and other bodies of water in the surrounding Canton area since all the alligators on his farm came from a 50 mile radius. So, pay attention next time you go swimming in an East Texas lake/pond.

The gator in the middle is eating a piece of chicken. He was faster than the one on the left. You can see the one on the left with his mouth open and angled to the side.

This alligator hopped up on that little fence. I'm pretty sure it could have jumped right over it if it wanted to. He was really looking forward to that cut up chicken meat.

Some kind of lizard I thought would make a good picture.

They found a dead mamma opossum and when they looked in her pouch they found 5 babies still alive. They took out the babies and bottle fed them. That was the first time I've ever seen a opossum and thought it was cute.

Ewan was a little nervous but he held one for a few seconds. He got jumpy and almost dropped it when he felt the little guy's claws.

Isaac petting a little goat.

I thought this was a good picture of Jon.

Me and my dad.

Isaac trying out the rope swing.

Ewan trying out the rope swing.

It didn't really hit me that we are moving so far away until we were leaving my dad's house. I got a little emotional. It felt like it sort of came out of nowhere. Perhaps because this has felt like the longest moving process EVER it has been easy to neglect some of the emotional realities about moving. It suddenly occured to me, "what if while we are gone something happens to my dad?" "what if I have to fly home suddenly because he has some health issues?" I am glad for the time we were able to spend with my dad and his wife before we leave--it was a sweet time together. We spent a lot of time fishing, four wheeling, and driving the golf cart. The boys enjoy going there (and so do I).

San Antonio Trip

2009-09-04T13:28:00.001-05:00

Jon and I lived in San Antonio for 7+years. I moved to San Antonio after I graduated from college so Jon and I could actually live in the same city while we were dating. That was back in 1997. Jon had already lived there for almost 2 years. We got married in 2000 and bought our first house in San Antonio. We had Ewan and Isaac there too. There are many things about San Antonio that feel more like home to me than anywhere else. I suppose it has something to do with establishing ourselves there, having children, buying a house....you know, doing all that "grown up" stuff. We made some incredibly good friends there--lifelong friends.

Some of our lifelong friends.

Kids from 3 families. Each family has 3 kids who are all close in age. It is fun to get all the kids together! I have great love for all these kids (3 are my own of course).

Sweet Frida-girl trying on my glasses at Sea World.

So, of course it made sense that we would make a trip to SA before we head across the pond for 4 years. We stayed with our dear friends, The Castros. We piled their two oldest kids + our two oldest kids into one room (our boys sleeping on an air mattress on the floor). Graham, Jon and I shared a room. We are so glad The Castros invited us to stay at their house because I looked forward to all the night time fun. We stayed up way too late talking and investing in our friendship--of course it was worth it.

I'm so glad we got to go for a visit. Investing in relationships is important to us and well worth the effort!

Let The Countdown Begin!

2009-09-02T14:18:00.003-05:00

In 8 days we will be leaving on an airplane to live in Durahm, England.

We have our visas in hand. Whew! Long story but basically we neded up figuring out by a fluke that we needed to apply for separate visas for each of the members of our family. Originally we thought that me and the kids got in under Jon's visa. After hours of looking for the right information we finally found the right application on the UK's consulate website and applied and got our visas with time to spare.

We don't have too much left to do on our "to do" list but there are still some important people that we want to see and spend time with.

On Friday, Jon and I spent the day doing a "dry run packing day". We have an idea of all the things we want to bring with us and on Friday we figured out if it is possible or not. I was planning on bringing a bedspread for our bed but I think that is the first thing on my list that is ggetting cut. Jon and I are sharing 3 duffle bags, Ewan, Isaac, and Graham each have a duffle bag, 2 duffle bags of "stuff" (sheets, towels, movies in cd cases etc.), and 2 crates of toys. We have plenty of room and even have room to bring Ewan and Isaac's costumes/dress up outfits they enjoy playing with. I don't think we'll be able to bring ALL of their costumes but their favorite ones for sure. I think the apartment will feel like home to the kids when we get there.

It took hours for Jon and I to decide what clothes to bring for ourselves and to actually pack the duffle bags. We are using lots of space bags which work amazingly well, by the way! Packing for the kids has been much easier--but I think that is partially because their clothes are smaller and you can pack more in without having to make so many decisions about it.

Now that I have a much better idea of what summer weather is like in Durham I feel like I know what kind of clothing I need to bring for myself and the kids.

I have more or less packed Graham's clothes in his duffle bag already. He is a big 2 year old so I am worried that he will outgrow many of his 2T clothes before next summer. I decided to pack several 3T items for him in addition to his 2T clothing.

We are carrying on my computer, a large canvas bag with our Wii, camera and other random things. Each of us also will be carrying on a backback or small personal sized bag.

At the end of this week I have 3 boxes of Bradley books/supplies to ship, 1 large+2 small boxes of curriculum for homeschooling, 2 boxes of "other" books one for me and one for Graham.

We are still investigating what to do about phone services but we will either get vonage or magic jack so people from the states can call an american number without having to pay for international phone calls (and vice versa). That will make it a lot easier to keep in touch with everyone.

We sold our last car and are on the serious countdown. I think next week will be connecting with friends, saying goodbye and finishing any last minute details that need to get taken care of. Like the bill we got from the city of plano for $500 for the ambulance ride I took back in June. Our insurance paid one third of it and should have paid for all of it. You know how all those phone calling things go with insurance companies.

I have several other posts to write about some of the other things we've been doing the last few weeks--like celebrating Graham's 2nd birthday! Stay tuned for those.

Celebration Park!

2009-08-24T19:53:00.004-05:00

My mom lives near the coolest park! It is called Celebration Park and has a zero depth water park, a huge playground, trails for walking or riding bikes, 2 ponds to look at ducks, fish or turtles, soccer fields which are GREAT for kite flying. We manage to get to the park at least once a week--sometimes more.

The park has some great climbing equipment that Isaac loves to practice his climbing on. Oddly, even if it is blazing hot outside none of the boys love to play in the water portion of the park. Isaac doesn't like getting sprayed and neither does Graham. Ewan doesn't mind it so much and has played in it a few times but prefers to run around on the playground part instead.

Today we went and rode bikes there for a while and played. These are some pictures from one of our recent excursions to the park.

Me and My Big Brother

2009-08-21T09:09:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I went to spend the night at my brother's house. It had been many years since we had any kind of quality time together as brother and sister. He is 13 years older than I am and when we were growing up I always looked up to him. I thought he had to be the coolest brother on the planet. We did a lot of fun things together when I was a youngster.

Post (my) high school we sort of went our separate ways and didn't talk very much (and by not much I mean never). I always have had a big space in my heart for my big brother and missed him a lot. At my visit to his house, we made a commitment to restore our relationship and my heart has been happy since.

We took this picture together and I like looking at it because I love him so much!

Photo Experimentation

2009-08-17T19:46:00.003-05:00

I've been playing around more with iphoto on my computer and this is the result. The top picture is the original and the bottom picture is the experimental one. Which one looks better to you and why?

Mom, Can We Keep Talking About Chickens?

2009-08-10T11:00:00.004-05:00

I've been reading a book called Real Food What To Eat and Why by Nina Planck. The book has led to several interesting discussions between Jon and I. While in San Antonio this past week (post and pics to come) Jenny and I talked about our desires to have a chicken coop in the backyard for eggs. We went to eat this past Saturday with my mom and the kids and ended up talking about raising chickens. Since the topic was fresh on the mind from the conversation in San Antonio, I asked mom how many chickens a family would need to provide fresh eggs for eating. My mom grew up around chickens because my grandma and grandpa raided them for eggs, food, and um, competition.

We were discussing all the needs for chickens and Ewan started chiming in with his own knowlege of chickens. I was surprised at how much he knows about caring for chickens. He knows you need a coop, you can let the chickens out in the morning for some feed and then collect the eggs while they are busy eating, and that you need to make sure they all get back in the coop at night so they don't get eaten by any predators (his words). He volunteered to be the egg collector and the feeder. He also volunteered to help them find insects to eat.

Occasionally, when Ewan gets excited about something, he wants to keep talking about it and talking about it and talking about it. It is an endearing quality that he has. If you try to change the subject you get the response, "Mom, can we keep talking about _____?" In this case it was chickens. If you try to contribute to the conversation he lets you know that he isn't finished talking. This can go on for 45 minutes.

Ewan decided that he would be the teacher and that all the chickens could go to chicken school. He will teach the chickens the alphabet and what to do if they see a cyote. He knew this was somewhat silly but I think part of him thought it could be a good idea.

We talked about waht kind of food to feed the chickens, if you need roosters or not, what the chicken coop should look like. He thinks the coop should have a picture of a rooster painted on it and that it should have a button or lever on it to open the coop door--but it HAS to be high enough that a cyote can't figure out how to reach it. And he thinks we could have enough chickens to sell some of our eggs and give them away to people who might need some eggs too. He also thought we could find out more information on everythingyouneedtoknowaboutchickens.com. That isn't a real website but Ewan thought that is where you should go online to find out more about chickens. Even though he barely let me get in a word edgewise, it was fun to see him so excited and on board with doing something that is currently outside of his box.

I have a lot of dreams about how I want our family to live once we get back from the UK. Chickens, huge vegetable garden, own cow, compost pile, recycle everything...you get the idea. Who knows if all of that will be possible, but chickens are definitely high on the priority list. Until then I expect to keep hearing, "Mom, can we keep talking about chickens?"

Wild Cat Rescue

2009-08-02T20:06:00.002-05:00

In the town next to where my mom lives, there is a wild cat rescue place that takes in big cats from people who try to raise them as pets. There are several lions, tigers, cougers, lynx, and bobcats. It was 3 kinds of hot today but we went and walked through to see all the big cats up close. There were two layers of fencing but I have never been so close to lions and tigers before in my lifetime. If I had a stick I could have stuck the cats with it--that is how close we were to them.

Graham was quite fascinated with the tigers and Ewan and Isaac liked the panthers. Unfortunately, cats being cats, most of them were sleeping and not too active. We got some good looks and some not so good smells. It was a nice way to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon though.

The Case Of The Missing Tooth!

2009-08-02T19:59:00.003-05:00

Today I picked up Ewan from Sunday school and in addition to getting his craft from his teachers, they also handed me a little baggie with a tooth in it. Apparently Ewan was doing the coloring portion of craft project and popped up announcing this his tooth came out.

I didn't think his loose tooth was that close to coming out but it most certainly was! I can even see the new tooth just coming in underneath. He said it didn't hurt at all.

I had to dig around all the packed clothes in the duffle bags for the tooth fairy pillow. We are using the tooth fairy pillow I had when I was a kid. My mom made it and passed it onto me a few months ago. After I was about to lose hope that I would find where I packed it, I found it in the one crate I packed. I had to dig around through all the space bags but I found it! So, tonight we will trade his tooth for a special Sacagawea coin and leave him a special note praising him for taking care of his teeth.

Here he is with his missing tooth!

It's a Star Wars Birthday! Ewan Turned 6 Today!

2009-07-31T20:55:00.004-05:00

Today we celebrated Ewan's 6th birthday. It was Ewan's desire to eat a very special dinner--at Sonic. We gave him a choice to eat just about anywhere he wanted but he wanted to eat at Sonic. I don't think it is the food that he loves so much. He really likes being able to push the button when you order and loves eating outside at the little tables. We planned on eating at Sonic and then coming back to the house for dessert and presents. We were all our running errands earlier today and Ewan convinced his Grandma that we should also include a silly string fight as part of his birthday celebration.

One very special thing about Ewan is that he is very good at spontaneous and creative ideas for fun. We have agreed to several of his random "fun" ideas this summer and have made some good memories. i have learned to engage more in the fun of life just by listening to my son and going along with some of his ideas. Participating in a silly string fight is just plain fun!

For his birthday dessert he went with Jon and his brothers to pick out donuts. I assmebled the donuts into a tower and stuck some candles in them. About the easiest "cake" I've ever made!

He opened presents from grandparents and us and got to stay up a little late to play with them. Overall, I think that Ewan felt loved and celebrated. He is very happy to be 6 and feels like such a big boy.

As of today he is 46 inches tall, weighs 47 lbs, has a loose tooth, LOVES Star Wars and Transformers, fishing, getting to spend any one-on-one time with Mommy or Daddy, and is one very friendly kid. He is excited to be starting Kindergarten--despite the fact that he will be homeschooled. He learned to swim without floaties this summer, moved across the country, and will be leaving on September 15th to spend the next 4 years in England. I'm so glad that he is our son!

After a few tries, Graham figured out how to make the party horn pop out.

Ewan's birthday donut "cake" and presents

Donut Cake

It isn't a celebration with out party horns!

Ready, Set, SILLY STRING!

ACHOOOOO!

I love this picture because you get a little glimpse of Isaac's face in the video camera Jon is using.

Nothing but pure delight!

Loving every minute of it!

From Pappy and Gigi

After blowing out the candles

Ewan's "mean face". He's trying to be menacing as Bumblebee.

Darth Vader Meets Firegirl

2009-07-05T19:26:00.004-05:00

A.K.A. Playing Dress Up With Your Cousin

Deep in the Heart of My Son

2009-06-30T22:28:00.002-05:00

As a parent, I often wonder what kind of Spiritual Formation my children (5,4, and 1) are actually experiencing. Their words often don't tell me much. Many of their words are spent experimenting with their world; trying out phrases for the sound of them, or trying out their effects on others around them. The kind of deep reflections and truths-from-the-heart that a parent longs to hear feel hard to come by.

Last night, I had a glimpse.

Lately, at night, my 5-yr-old, who is very extroverted and has ALWAYS hated going to bed, has been saying how he doesn't like to sleep because he is scared. I have been someone skeptical of this though never outright calling it false. Instead, I have tried to minimally comfort him. I figured he was saying that because he knew it stopped me in my tracks and made me stick around and do more things for him before leaving his room.

Last night he wasn't complaining about fear, but I know he was dealing with it.

I was laying at the end of his bed as he tried to go to sleep when I heard (very faintly, whispered):

"God is with me."

He rolled over, eyes open, sucking his thumb.... Then, a minute later, I heard:

"God is stronger than anything."

I was stunned. These were things I had taught him to pray if he ever felt afraid, but I had no idea he actually prayed them. Another minute went by, when he thrust his hand in the air from the laying-down position and whispered forcefully:

"In the name of Jesus, I will not be afraid!"

I was so proud of him and so glad to see him living his faith out with his own heart.

As a parent, I really want to ask him about this, but as an amateur spiritual director, I know these are precious words. Words spoken in private (forgetting I was in the room) between him and his heavenly Father. He needs those words to stay warm in the oven of his heart. The private verification of faith and prayers met by the holy presence of God.

The desert fathers talked of "keeping the oven doors of your heart shut," and not letting them open for everyone around. We need these moments so that our rich and living faith can grow with God privately, dearly, nearly to us.

I'm so glad my son is getting that even now. Praise the Lord.

I'm Going To Miss....

2009-06-29T14:45:00.003-05:00

Here are the things we're going to miss about living in Pittsburgh.....

*Spending the summers outside all the time

*Not needing the air conditioning for most of the summer and leaving the windows open

*All the parks to choose from (I mean, there are tons of parks in Pittsburgh!)

*Living one block from the Farmer's Market that lasts all summer through November

*Buying local honey from a local farmer

*Driving over one of the 300+ bridges

*Tons of fireflys in the summer

*Swinging on the porch swing

*Eating dinner/lunch/breakfast on the front porch while we enjoy the nice summer weather

*Hanging out on the front porch while we watch the kids play

*Being able to cross the street for a spontaneous playdate and get some good talk time with friends

*The way all the trees turn different colors in the fall

*My lovely and very good friends

*Being able to walk to Jon's school, the hardware store, health food store, friend's houses, CVS (a.k.a. local convenience store), bakery, popcorn store, hole in the wall- but tastey- Chinese take out, park, local coffee store in 10 minutes or LESS!

*Family lunch day at Trinity

*Craft group every Monday where I was surrounded by several wise women (and where I asked all my questions about how to knit--who am I going to ask now??!)

*Not having to drive 30 minutes to get anywhere

*Racoon Creek (state park with cool swimming area)

*Our pediatrician--lovely Christian man who prayed for Graham before he got his circumcision and vaccines. He gave us his HOME phone number so we could call him if we needed him!! I only used it twice.

*Ewan and Isaac's Preschool--Noah's Ark

*There was something about living in Ambridge that felt very LOCAL--being able to walk several places probably had a lot to do with it--but you felt more connected to the people around you versus the subarbs, where you tend to feel more disconnected from your neighbors and you really have to drive to get to most places. People walk and even though we lived in a more urban environment, you get to know people's faces even if you never learn their names.

*Watching the squirrels do gymnastics on the electric/cable/phone wires in our backyard

*Watching Ewan scare the bunnies away from our garden in the backyard

*Having a backyard (we'll be living in campus housing for 4 years so no backyard)

*The Trinity community

*Spring! I never REALLY knew how beautiful Spring could be until I lived somewhere there are actually seasons. You tell yourself in February and March that Spring will arrive in April and you can make it.

*Looking at my favorite tree in the front yard, a Japanese Maple. And it is where we buried Keeva. I'll miss that a lot.

*Having my own garden

*The Midwife Center

Things I'm NOT going to miss....

*The long, cold, dreary GRAY winter. Oh wait, I only get to enjoy a sweltering Texas summer before going to England where it is a long, (not quite as) cold, dreary winter. But then there are the summers there.....

*Living in a 4 story house. I've never had such a hard time keeping a house clean before!

*Stink bug invasions

*A cluttered entry way 6+months of the year from winter coats, fall coats, scarves, boots, mittens, hats....

*Fine coal dust finding its way into my house

*Shoving 3 kids with heavy coats on into their car seats

*Feeling like I live in a drum (hardwood floors on 3 levels echo like you wouldn't believe!)

*Not being able to see sunsets

I'm sort of surprised, but I ran out of things I'm NOT going to miss pretty quick. There were a lot of great things about living in Pittsburgh while Jon went to Trinity. I'm still reflecting on what God taught me while we were there although the first word that come to mind is endurance.

We are glad for our time in Texas before we head across the pond. We want to spend a lot of time with family and friends before we see everyone less often than we did while we were 1200 miles away. Even though it is hotter than hot, I'm enjoying the sunny days and looking at the great big sky. My mom lives in the country and we took over the second floor of her house. My computer is set up next to several windows and I spend a lot of time looking out those windows. (Insert dreamy look here)

A little praise note for ya....we got our Visas! We got notification that the visas are on their way. HUGE relief! Those things are complicated! I know some of you know what I'm talking about!

The Worst Move With Some Great Help

2009-06-24T12:26:00.003-05:00

So, I told Jon that having a miscarriage in the middle of moving across the country and then to another country pretty much makes it the worst move ever. There are many thing about this move that have been so complicated--selling a lot of our stuff on Craig's List, Ebay, and a yard sale and doing all the sorting, sorting, and more sorting before that. I did find that it is very freeing to get rid of stuff. I kind of liked that part. I think I'll be much more aware of buying thing and making sure I really need it.

After passing the baby on May 29th, I had some friends come over to help me price things for the yard sale that we were having the next weekend. The day before the yard sale I started running fever and didn't feel too hot. Saturday morning of the yard sale I was still running fever but managed after taking some ibuprofen. My good friend Lauren, came over early in the morning and helped run the yard sale. She sacrificed her whole day and worked my yard sale while I tried to take it easy. Another friend, Kelly, came in the afternoon and I took Isaac to the movies. We figured that sitting in the movie theater was probably going to keep me from doing too much at the yard sale. Our friends, the Corns, took Ewan fishing with them for the day.

I ran a fever from June 5th until June 16th when I ended up in the emergency room because I had some major, major bleeding. I had finally scheduled a sonogram to double check and make sure that there wasn't any tissue left from the pregnancy. Running fever for several days isn't normal and I was convinved that the fever was related to the miscarriage somehow. The fever never got very high until June 13th or 14th. I had already lost a lot of blood the day I passed the baby so I was concerned at losing copious amounts of blood again. I called the midwife on call and she told me to go ahead to the ER. Oh yeah, did I mention that this all happened the day we were loading the moving truck? And did I mention that we hadn't gotten as much done as we needed to because I'd been running fever for so many days? I could manage the fever during the day with Ibuprofen but by the night time I was toast and the fever was back. So, I could do some packing during the day but I was not full of the amount of energy I normally would be. I felt like I needed to monitor the fever so I would know if it was getting above 100.4.

Anyway, the bleeding was so bad that everytime I stood up it was like a faucet of blood leaving my body. I started getting light headed and had a friend take me to the ER. Jon was gone getting the moving truck when I went to the ER. He didn't even know until he got back. Jon's mom somehow managed taking care of all 3 kids, doing some cleaning, and even a little packing.

During this time I was running fever (before the bleeding) Jon is working double time packing, managing kids, and applying for our Visa to England. Holy cow, that was a lot of paperwork that needed to be done. So, so, so many details to be done--I can't even remember all of them now.

While I was in the ER I passed a large something that we think was probably the placenta. The theory is that my body was trying to attack it to get rid of it. After I passed the clot the bleeding slowed down significantly. By the time I got home from the ER I was a little loopy from the blood loss and was told to do nothing but sit on my hind quarters. I enjoyed dinner and took a shower and managed not to do very much Tuesday night. I wasn't supposed to do anything on Wednesday either except save my energy for the plane flight with Graham later that evening. Well, that didn't happen. There was still SOOOOO much left to do because of all my stupid health complications that I HAD to help finish packing. Jon's mom did pretty much all the cleaning, except for our bedroom, which I did. Somehow, by God's grace alone we got mostly everything done that day. Jon dropped Graham and I off at the airport on Wednesday night and because of severe weather, I had to get rebooked on a flight at 6am the next morning. Jon came back to the airport and picked me up and we all stayed up until midnight cleaning and finishing all those final details of packing. Then it was up at 4am to get ready for the airport. Jon, his parents, and the two older boys were heading out laterthat morning in the moving truck and our Honda.

Thankfully and seriously, the easiest thing about this whole moving experience was that plane flight with Graham. He did very well and I was able to keep him entertained. Neither of our planes were full so he had plenty of room to run around and could sit in the seat next to me.

We had a LOT of help from our friends. I had friends bring over meals after we passed the baby (which by the way we named Keeva (Gaelic for Beloved) and we had a little family burial service for the baby too), friends come and help do some packing, run the yard sale, price yard sale items, pray for me, take the boys, or come over and entertain them while we got work done. We could not have successfully made this move if we didn't have the help of our community. Thank you to all of you who were persistant in asking if I needed help, offering your time, resources, and food. We truly needed it. God provided everything we needed just in time.

I was so thankful to finally get to Texas because the hardest part was over. At the same time, I feel the most emotionally disconnected from how I'm feeling about this whole experience. I haven't had very much time to emotionally process the loss of the baby or moving away from some very good friends. Everything was such a rush to get out of the house and make our moving schedule happen on time that I didn't even have a moment to stop and say goodbye to our house, our neighborhood, and our community.

I'm finishing this blog post several days after I started it. I went back to the ER this past Wednesday after passing out at a church event. I whacked my head when I fell and my nexk hurt. I had about an hour of heavy bleeding earlier that morning and don't think I drank enough fluids to cope with the blood loss. With the heat I just passed out. At the ER I got a CT scan to make sure there was no brain injury or broken neck. They also did blood work to check my blood count, which was lower than the previous week. Basically, I'm working at 60% of my blood volume and need to take it easy so my body can heal. That is pretty hard to do and not feel guilty about it all the live long day. So, I do more than I should which at this point isn't working out so well.

Jon just took Graham to the ER after he fell off the kitchen counter. Someone should have been closer by, but turned around for a second and off he fell. They are waiting to be seen right now as I type. I am beginning to think that our family is under spiritual attack. Jon is scheduled to be ordained in a little over 2 weeks and I'm wondering if the enemy is not liking that too much. I am asking all my friends and family out there, who read this and who pray, to pray for our family. We need the protection of the Lord during this time.

Family Fun With Shaving Cream

2009-06-12T08:58:00.004-05:00

Ewan had a great idea this morning. "Let's get out shaving cream and put beards on all of our faces and take a picture!" Everyone thought this sounded like great fun--except for Isaac who wasn't thrilled with putting shaving cream on his face. We tried convincing him to participate to no avail. He did take some pictures of the 4 shaving cream faces though. A neighbor came down to say hi and took a picture of all 5 of us. I think when you pack for a move you have to have some good laughs in between!

Ewan looks like that famous painting in this picture.

I highly recommend family fun with shaving cream!

Fun Pictures

2009-06-01T21:44:00.006-05:00

I'm avoiding posting about the miscarriage. I have some things I want to say but tonight isn't the night--mainly becuase I'm starting this post at 10:45pm. Why am I not in bed?!

I have some pictures that are much more enjoyable for me to think about right now. And they are adding up on the computer. May as well post them now while I'm in the mood.

On Memorial Day we went to a parade in a nearby town to celebrate. We went with our friends and neighbors, the Prescotts.

Everyone lined up waiting for the parade to start.

Old fire truck.

Vietnam Vets.

I'm not sure what this vehicle was but there was a guy on it shooting a cannon that was LOUD. I think he really enjoyed scaring all the moms and making them jump 5 feet.

Cool biker dudes, and chicks.

Bagpipe band. They were AWESOME!

And how do you keep a 20 month old entertained while all the cars, bands, dogs, police, firetrucks go by? Let him chow down on lollipops being tossed out! One for each hand. Aw...the benefits of being the third child.

In case you've forgotten what kinds of things entertain 1 year olds....making a mess and moving messes from one place to another.

Naked cuteness reading a book? I mean, how much cuter can you get!

Ewan and Graham were "helping" me work in the basement. And by helping me, I mean taking things out of all the different sorting piles and leaving them on the floor in no order whatsoever.

This is me holding baby Noah. One of the couples from my classes came by to show off their wonderful bundle of preciousness. They came to my Monday night class last week and told their birth story and I got to hold him the whole time! I was in baby love land. They took this picture and made it look all cool.

I'll post about how we are doing soon--miscarriage and moving stuff. We moved up our date to leave Pittsburgh to June 18th. That means we now have 17 days to get everything done! YIKES! On that note, I'm going to go unwind and do some emotional eating on the couch.

Cheers, and enjoy the pictures!

Jon is a Master!

2009-05-18T16:41:00.007-05:00

Saturday we attended the graduation ceremony for Jon to receive his Masters of Divinity. It was a great ceremony!

The above pictures are him getting ready for the procession. He has on a cassock and surplice and in his arm is his masters hood. It kind of looks like he has on a clergy collar but it is just his shirt underneath the black cassock. He will be getting ordained as a deacon later this summer and then will be allowed to wear the clergy collar.

This is part of the procession.

Worshiping during the ceremony.

The class president offering some reflections on their time in seminary.

A very happy Jon to be graduating!

Filing in during the procession.

Jon won an award and won a 14 day trip to Jerusalem! They give out 5 or 6 awards every year at graduation and Jon was one of the "winners". It was the one award that I was selfishly hoping he wouldn't win. He has up to two years to take it. This summer is pretty much out of the question although I think I'd rather him go while we have just 3 kids and not 4. One of our friends won the same award last year and he hasn't taken his trip yet so they are scheming when they can go together. Our friends are expecting another baby a few months before us. Anyone want to come next summer and stay with me while Jon goes on his trip to help me watch the kids?

One of Jon's professers, Grant LeMarquand is explaining the awards being given.

Jon is getting the award from the Dean President, Justyn Terry.

Justyn is calling Jon's name to come up for his degree.

The lovely hug that follows.

Getting hooded.

There he is, an official graduate!

I think he looks thrilled, don't you?

Here is the recessional. Those peeps are most of Jon's professors.

Graduates and faculty getting a class picture taken.

Sharing a celebration moment with Ewan.

Family photo at graduation. Graham was super cooperative during the pictures. We had a hard time getting good pictures of the older boys. Or in the pictures that they did look good, I looked terrible. And since this is my blog, I don't want to post any crummy pictures of myself. Hee-hee.

We are all super proud at Jon's hard work!

And The New In Utero Name for Baby #4 Is....

2009-05-16T19:10:00.002-05:00

Quatro.

After some other names were tried, this one seemed to fit the best. The baby will now be referred to as Quatro.

All the kids have had an in utero name.

Ewan was Nemo.

Isaac was Doodlebug.

Graham was Tex.

And now baby Quatro.

No more baby news for now. I have my first midwife appointment next week and I am looking forward to that.

Next will be pictures from Jon's graduation.

Baby Astronaut

2009-05-14T19:01:00.002-05:00

These pictures make me laugh for multiple reasons. Graham wanted to wear Ewan's astronaut outfit around the house. Of course it was too big so we walked around flapping his arms like a bird. I caught a shot with his arms in mid-air. Hilarious!

This picture looks like he is doing a skit walking around on his knees. He scooted around the house looking all cute. He must have worn it for about 30 minutes.

The Countdown

2009-05-13T12:41:00.003-05:00

Cook for the staff appreciation lunch at Jon's school. (yummy carnitas!) Check!

Senior dinner. Check!

Pick up in-laws from the airport. 2 hours.

Try to wait patiently for Jon's last paper to be finished. Still trying.

Baccelaureate service. 2 days

Graduation! 3 days

Pack, sort, sell....pack, sort, sell....pack, sort, sell, store.....4 days!

First midwife appointment. 7 days

Head to Texas in the van. 49 days

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions and the BIGGEST To Do list ever

2009-05-09T17:04:00.000-05:00

So, as most of you know from facebook, we are moving to England this summer. To Durham, in fact. It is in northern England about 2 hours south of Scotland. Jon will be continuing his studies there and we are along for the ride.

I cannot even begin to tell you all the things that have happened in the last few months to get us to where we are now. We waited for months to hear back from school whether or not Jon was accepted into Ph.D. programs. We got a yes from Durham University to go for a 1 year Masters program before rolling over into the Ph.D. the following year and a yes from Wyclif College in Toronto. We prayed and talked, prayed and talked, asked friends, prayed some more, talked some more and decided that God was leading us to England.

It feels exciting and crazy to move our little family of 5 + another one on the way overseas. And the To Do list to actually get over there is so unbelievably long. I know once we get there it will be easy-breezy. But what to do with all of our STUFF? George Carlin has a hysterical bit about how the purpose of life is to find a place for our stuff. It sure feels that way. We are working on storing most of our belongings with family up in Canada but we are in the process of decluttering/selling/getting rid of TONS of STUFF. It is overwhelming.

We just bought some crates and duffle bags that we will be using to take the necessities with us. We decided against suitcases for a few reasons: 1) they are heavy to begin with and limit what you can take 2) they are hard to store. The crates are multifunctional and stack on top of each other and the duffle bags can be stored under a bed easily.

So many things are still up in the air--We just found out we are getting family housing which is GREAT! A 3 bedroom flat will be wonderful for our 6 person family. But, we DON'T know when we can move in. Ewan and Isaac will both be in school full time and school starts September 3rd. Our housing is available starting September 30. Unless someone moves out sooner we won't be able to show up until the 30th which means that the boys miss the first month of school. We are looking into the possibility of getting temporary housing if moving in early is not possible. The school will notify us in the next few months if someone moves out earlier and we can move in.

Now we have to fill out a school application for the Local Education Authority. We have to research what schools are nearby and which schools might be a good fit for our kids. They have schools in the UK which are run by churches but funded partially by the government and the church. It doesn't cost anything and is a good choice if you wish to have some religious education taught to your kids. They are apparently difficult to get into because many people want their children to go to those schools. The school system works differently there in that you apply to the Local Education Authority and the school finds a spot for you in a nearby school. You don't just automatically go to the school nearest to your house.

So, we know we are moving to England, but we aren't exactly sure when. Mid August or sometime in September? No idea. We can't apply for Visas until we know when we can move so we can either opt for waiting until Sept. 30 or take our chances at moving earlier.

Three words on my mind all the time are: Downsize, downsize, downsize! Everytime I walk into a room I see something that we either need to give away, sell, or throw away. I don't have the patience to post everything on CraigsList but I have to do it. I haven't had any results with that yet. I want to try selling some things on Ebay but I'm a little intimidated by the whole process. The part where you figure out how much to charge for shipping paralyzes me. We are planning on a yard sale sometime in late May or early June. Freecycle is a fabulous way to declutter.

I recently went through my closet and got ride of 2 giant trash bags of clothes. Then I went through all my maternity clothes for an initial downsizing. I have mostly summer maternity clothes since I've mostly been pregnant in the summer or living in a place where it is still blazing in October. I doubt I'll need to take all the short sleeved maternity shirts that I have since I will be majorly pregnant in northern England in the late fall/early winter.

And now comes the sorting process. Everything will be sorted into 5 categories: it's going with us, we are getting rid of it, we're storing it, or we think we want to store it but we may not have room. Deciding how to store our things is a bit complicated and we are praying about it but this is what is stressing me out. We'll also be getting the house ready to rent out. We have renters (praise the Lord!!!) and there are a few projects that need to get finished before we take off. We can't actually do anything until Jon is finished with his school work and takes a deaconal exam for ordination.

The deaconal exam is for the church, not school, but it is a long test and he'll need a few days to study for that and take the test. Jon will be getting ordained sometime later this summer at our church back in Texas.

Speaking of Texas, the plan is to move back there at the end of June/early July. We'll stay there until we take off in a plane to England. We are planning on making a trip to San Antonio to visit friends while we are in Texas.

I know I have been a very lame blogger for a few months now but I am planning on getting back into the groove of posting things and pictures. It isn't that life has been boring--just the opposite!

So, that is what is going on in our world. Please pray we get it all done without going crazy!

And Speaking of Birth...

2009-05-01T17:35:00.003-05:00

I have found an AMAZING blog. The writer is an L&D nurse who has some powerful, eye opening posts about her job and the kinds of things she sees at work. Some great, and some not so great. Her hearts desire is that women would KNOW their options about birth, KNOW the stats about the providers they choose, and to ADVOCATE for themselves. I feel the same way!

Here is the link!

The Birth Survey

2009-04-22T14:21:00.002-05:00

Have you seen this? The Birth Survey is a survey being put on by The Coalition of Improving Maternal Services (CIMS) and the purpose of the survey is to encourage tranparency of maternal health care. This survey will help women to make fully informed choices about their providers. Please fill out this survey if you've given birth at any time the past 3 years!

Happy Easter Cupcakes

2009-04-13T14:38:00.003-05:00

Ukranian Easter Eggs

2009-04-06T15:05:00.004-05:00

My mom sent me a Ukranian Easter Egg kit similar (but better) than the one pictured above. The tradition is that you give these eggs as gifts on special occasions-holidays, anniversaries, other significant moments. You use melted beeswax and dyes to make these eggs. I invited a friend over to come and do them with me. It took us about 7 hours to make 4 eggs apiece. It took a while to get used to using the the special tools. It isn't very hard, perse, but it is very intricate work and takes a lot of concentration. And time. Our husbands took charge of all the kids and let us work in peace.

Mine don't look near as beautiful as the ones we were looking at in pictures but they came out better than I thought they would. Drawing straight lines and covering all the right places with beeswax is tricky. I think this makes a really fun hobby and can't wait to make some more of these. You can blow them out after you are finished or leave them as whole uncooked eggs and they will keep indefinitely. The whole eggs will eventually dry out.

If you are looking for a fun new hobby then I really recommend this for fun!

A Boat Tour

2009-03-31T13:17:00.008-05:00

We took a boat ride on a catamaran boat like the one below. Except for the kids, Jon, myself, and Jon's parents all got a little green around the gills at some point. We went from the southern coast of Kauai all the way around the west coast of the island to the Nepali coast and then back down. It took several hours to get there and back. Going up the coast was the roughest portion of the trip and I enjoyed the fresh air and being able to see out so I wouldn't toss my cookies. It was beautiful though. We saw whales, sea turtles, spinner dolphins, and a bottlenose dolphin. We stopped to go snorkeling and the water was so blue you could just see them from the boat. Jon went scuba diving, Connie and Deane took Ewan out snorkeling, and I stayed back with Isaac and Graham. The boys liked going in the lower part of the boat (where all the adults stayed far away from due to the increased feeling of sea sickness while down there). And Ewan knew that on boats the bathroom is called the "head". So, of course, he had to use the head and made sure that we all knew it was called that too. We had lunch, lots of fun drinks--speaking of drinks--the bar was opened on the boat and I just couldn't help but think that boating and alchohol don't really mix--for many reasons. One of the crew members joked with me that he thought I'd want a festive beverage for sure since I had all those kids. I think the last thing the kids needed was a tipsy mommy helping them navigate themselves around the boat.

Spinner dolphin next to the boat.

Humpback whale breeching.

Waving tail.

Baby humpback whale jumping out of the water. The whales are there seasonally. The mothers go there to birth their babies and stay for several months while the babies grow. They drink up to 200 gallons of milk a day! Once the babies are several months old they migrate where the mother then is able to eat. She doesn't eat the whole time they are in the safety waters.

Jon back from scuba diving. Telling a story.

When you are on a boat ride you get to drink fun juice--with high fructose corn syrup! What a treat!

Deane (FIL) back from snorkeling.

Scene from Jurassic Park.

Me and Graham.

Scenery.

Connie (MIL) with Isaac and a tired Graham.

Isaac looking out.

Jon's scuba instructor going over important details.

Graham conked out twice on the boat and this was his preferred way to sleep. He wanted the hat over his face.

More scenery.

Ewan and Jon pre-scuba dive.

What a (cleanly shaven) handsome husband I have!

Scenery, rough waters.

Chowing down on breakfast and enjoying the day.

Body Boarding

2009-03-31T13:10:00.003-05:00

We rented a body board and decided to spend a few hours playing in the ocean with it. Ewan thought it was great fun. Isaac is still a little wary of the waves so he didn't want anything to do with it. Jon and I had our turns on it too. It brought back a lot of great memories of going to the beach when I was a kid. We just used a thick canvas blow up raft but it did the same thing.

Every once in a while Ewan would have to get out of the water to warm up. He doesn't have that much body fat to keep him warm in the cool water.

Another memory builder.

A Day With Ina May

2009-03-29T15:54:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I went to "A Day With Ina May Gaskin" that was sponsored by Heart and Hands Doula Services based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Ina May is a well known midwife that has a passion for decreasing the level of maternal mortality here in the States. She has written a few books about midwifery and childbirth. You can read more about her here.

I learned some fun and interesting things about Sphincter Law, how the use of technology has decreased the use of our hands as tools to comfort and aid mothers in labor, post-date inductions, demand c-sections, and the state of maternal mortality in the United States.

The most moving part was learning about how the maternal mortality rate has not improved since 1982! And how it is actually rising. And how no one really seems to care or be doing anything about it. She started a quilt several years ago to comemmorate the women who have lost their lives after birthing their children. Some of course, were unavoidable--but many were preventable. She hopes to use it as a tool to help open the eyes of those that have power to make GOOD changes in healthcare to pregnant mothers. She started a website devoted to this topic.

I am excited about using some of here teaching in my classes. I have read her books and was familiar with most of the information but hearing it in person and connecting stories to the material put it together for me in a new way that I hope to apply to my classes. I got my picture taken with her as she signed my book. I'd post it but a friend took it with her camera.

It left me thinking about what can I do to help make an impact on the state of birth and health of pregnant women. I've been thinking about going back to school after Jon's schooling is finished to get my degree in nursing. I think I'd love being an advocate for women by helping those who do want a natural birth in the hospital. If I get my nursing degree it open up the door to go to midwifery school later on if I desire to go down that road. I've also been thinking about getting certified to be a doula. I'll have a while to decide on all these things but it is something I'm chewing on. Of course by the time Jon is done with his schooling I'd be entering school in my late 30s. That seems so old to be going back to school and starting a new career. People do it all the time, I know.

If you haven't read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, I highly recommend it. It has several positive birth stories in it, and some great things to be consider as you think about giving birth.

Aloha! Favorite Shots from Hawaii

2009-03-22T12:57:00.003-05:00

Climbing on lava rocks looking for crabs.

Midway through our 5 hour catamaran boat tour.

Swinging on a hammock.

Isaac and I had special time together at the playground.

Another canyon shot.

Taking a walk on the beach.

Isaac playing on a playground--right by the beach.

A canyon overlook. We are even with the clouds and close to the center of the island of Kauai. An attempted family picture with some tired boys.

Graham by a waterfall fountain at our hotel.

PoiPu beach

I have almost 500 pictures so it is hard to know where to start. I'll start off by saying that Kauai is beautiful and I don't really want to go home yet. We have had a blast here and I have some fun stories and amazing shots to share. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the surroundings. I'm so thankful to be here in Hawaii. We are about to pack up and get ready to check out of the hotel. We have to check out at 11am but our plane doesn't leave until 9pm. We can still hang out at the hotel--but we won't have access to our room. We are going to hang out at the pool and beach for the day until we need to go to the airport. We have to fly all night and are really hoping that the kids sleep on the plane. If they don't sleep that means we don't get to. I'm nervous that we will turn into zombies by the time we land in Pittsburgh. I'll be sure and take a picture if that happens!

The Benefits of Being a Third Child

2009-03-06T08:28:00.003-06:00

It is true, once you start adding siblings to your first child you realize that you relax on some things. Discipline, no. Well, maybe for some. But things like how old the second or third child is when he/she gets their first taste of ice cream or cookie get younger and younger. Or eating off the floor isn't as big of a deal to you because you saw how your first child survived even though you were much more diligent to keep the floor swept, vacuumed, and clean. Once your first child is old enough to watch tv, how do you keep your second/third/fourth child from watching tv? You get slack. Even though you tell yourself you won't, it still happens.

Ewan got his first ice cream when he was 2. 2! I don't remember how old Isaac was but he was a lot younger. Same thing for cookies. When we thought Ewan was old enough to start chewing gum then it was hard to keep it from Isaac too. Well, apparently the age for gum chewing with the third child is 18 months.

Okay, well maybe our third child found some gum in my purse, knew what it was, unpeeled it, knew to put it in his mouth and chew. I didn't give it to him. But I didn't freak out after he put it in his mouth either (which I would have after child #1 or 2). I waited to see what would happen. I figured he would swallow it. Or spit it out somewhere. Speaking of which, I should probably go see if I can find that chewed treasure somewhere. But he figured out how to chew it and swallow the juices that come from a yummy piece of gum. He chewed it longer than Ewan or Isaac did when they were first getting the hang of gum. It was a camera grabbing opportunity--I just couldn't resist.

The Ear Infection Blues

2009-03-04T17:26:00.004-06:00

Graham, a.k.a. "The Shoveler", falling asleep at dinner.

He is nicknamed "The Shoveler" because he loves to eat. Anything. Anytime. And he loves to shovel his food into his mouth. Eating is a joy for him.

I took him to the doctor today because he has had a cruddy cough for the past several days that was getting worse, not better. He hadn't (as far as I could tell) been running fever and had been pretty chipper. He didn't sleep that great last night which is usually a sign that worse things are to come. I called the dr. and got an appointment for him for this afternoon. The poor thing was diagnosed with 2 ear infections--AGAIN. This is probably the 5th time he has had an ear infection in his 18 months of living.

As we sat down to dinner he started getting pretty spacy. He didn't even look at his food. Or touch it. Jon sits across from Graham and said, "Look, Graham is falling asleep." I grabbed the camera, took a few shots, finished my dinner quickly and got him ready for bed.

The fun part of the day was that Graham and the older boys all got their hair cut today after the dr. appointment. I think Graham's hair is the shortest it has EVER been. Shorter than when he was born, even. He looks very cute--even with his pitiful, sleepy body.

He should be feeling better in about 24 hours. I think I got him into the office at the right time. If I had waited another day I think he would have been in a LOT of pain tonight.

Now, if I can just get over the fact that the pediatrician we saw today laughed at me and was very patronizing then I'll say the day was a success. Actually, I am over it--I don't like seeing that dr. at the office we go to but when you gotta get in for an appointment sometimes you gotta take what you get.

As a side note, Graham is 31.5 lbs and is 35 inches tall. Ginormous! His weight gain is slowing down (which is nice for our arms while we lug him around) but he is still growing like a weed.

Filling Daddy's Shoes

2009-03-03T20:12:00.002-06:00

What parents don't think their kids look cute when they put on Daddy's big snow boots? Graham loves to put on everyone else's shoes.

And look at his big toddler belly!

"Look at me, I did it!!"

"Um, how do I get out of these?"

Look At My Bread!

2009-03-03T20:04:00.002-06:00

So, I've been making some changes, slowly but surely in our house. I have a hate for High Fructose Corn Syrup and want to keep it as far away from our house as possible. I have a GREAT breadmaker that I got for free from some friends (thank you MacDonalds!) and have decided to stop buying bread from the grocery store. It is healthier and cheaper to make from home. It is almost impossible to find grocery bread that doesn't have HFCS in it. I do the dough in the bread machine then take it out to do the second rising and put it in the oven. Homemade deliciousness! I like the bread shape when I bake it in the oven myself. The bread maching makes the bread more square-shaped and doesn't last as long.

I addes some sprouted wheat berries to my bread this time too. I didn't add to many because I wasn't sure whether or not it would disrupt the science of breadmaking but it didn't seem to mess it up.

Oh, it tastes so good. And smells so good. Mmmmmmmmm.....

I've also been making our own yogurt which is soooo much cheaper as well, and doesn't have any weird additives in it. We eat a LOT of yogurt at our house. When you are living on a budget a few dollars can go a long way.

I'll probably be posting some more food changes in the near future but I wanted to share pictures of my pretty bread loaf.

Invasion of the Birds

2009-02-23T16:48:00.002-06:00

So I was in the sunroom and I suddenly saw bird after bird after bird flocking in our backyard. They were flying in by the dozens and attacking the ground in the backyard. You can see traces of snow on the ground in the pictures but the snow had recently melted and it was sunny outside. I ran upstairs to the attic where Jon was studying and got him to look in the backyard. These birds were EVERYWHERE! I don't know what they were eating but they were having a field day. They are pretty birds with orange beaks and speckled feathers. Any idea what they are?

Jon Turned 35!

2009-02-23T16:40:00.002-06:00

So you can't tell what it looks like in the picture too well but Jon is holding a platter of Chicken Piccata that I made for his birthday. It is from the Whole Foods Cookbook and soooooo delish! We opened presents, ate some yummy food, and shared a little pan of brownies. We also watched America's Funniest Home Videos while we ate the brownies. It was a lovely evening.

A Little Contest

2009-02-15T08:08:00.003-06:00

I think that I might finally have a child that likes to draw. So far, Ewan and Isaac haven't been into drawing for fun. It is boring to them. They'd rather run around (Ewan) or play imagination games (Isaac). Graham likes markers, pens, pencils you name it. He likes to draw on his hand, the walls, and books. I am trying to train him that we only draw on paper. I know I'm squishing his creative outlets but I really don't my whole house to be a canvas for marker creations.

Ewan and Isaac never showed a lot of interest in drawing. A little from time to time. We'll see if his interest is a passing phase or something that sticks around.

We pulled up the little IKEA table from the basement so Graham could have a drawing place--or book reading place. I took a few pictures so you could see him in all his cuteness.

So, can you guess which FRIENDS episode this picture reminds me of?