are officially over as of today! The Holidays for me start with Halloween & end with my wonderful husband's birthday (yesterday)! Christmas was amazing this year for so many reasons. The biggest of which was having 2 sets of family come over from the states to spend the Holidays with us. My Mom & Priya were here for Christmas & we went over to Paris. Then the Hope's came over for New Year's. The kids were the best part of Christmas as they are the best part of everyday for me so that is no surprise! They lit up with joy as they opened everyone of the literally almost 100 gifts once you count all the family sent over from the state's. No one needs that many toys. You will be glad to know we are donating lots of "old" still perfectly good toys very soon. I of course did WAY TOO MUCH like always & feel stupid come January every year when I realize how very little the presents actually matter to the kids. It really is more fun for me to buy them than it is for them to open that many gifts! They really just want a few gifts from Santa & time from everyone! My New Year's Resolution #1 is to not go overboard next year for Christmas & I intend to keep it this time! Daniel got me the sweetest gift ever...it is a picture box & I will post pics because it is too good for words. I also got lots of decor for the house that he knows I have had my eye on. Daniel got a Wii, accessories, & an outdoor fireplace that will come in handy here with this cold! I believe the family all enjoyed the gifts we picked out for them...it is my favorite part of Christmas watching everyone open the gifts I have carefully selected for them. We had a great visit with both sets of family though vastly different. We burned the candle at both ends with Mom & ran her ragged (sorry Mom it will be better next time) & then with the Hope's we just spent a lot of time together which was amazing! As you can imagine loads of stories from both visits but not enough time to write them. After we got both families on the plane & home safely life went back to normal.
Daniel turned 27 years old yesterday & each year I am more & more proud to be his wife & of course just love him more & more each day. The kids & I decorated his office (in High School Musical that the kids picked out), left yummy fresh baked Brownies, & blew up 25 red balloons to fill his office. The reason I mention that it was 25 is because when I told Daniel I blew up the whole pack of balloons myself & there were 25 of them he said "Do you mean that I am so old now that I have made it out of 1 pack of balloons?" I followed it up with "Yep & I had to buy 3 packs of candles to get to 27 " :) He is just so funny! For anyone who doesnt know what it is like to spend time with Daniel you are truly missing out. He is one of the funniest people in the world...very clever & witty & just SO MUCH FUN!!! That is the reason I miss him so much while he is at work. He works so hard for so many hours every week. We often wish he DID get paid by the hour because money would definitley not be a problem then :). When he isnt here I just miss him! Anyways, after we decorated his office the kids brought him a balloon each that they picked out for him...1 Princess & 1 Winnie the Pooh that he enjoyed very much! After he got home (we will leave out how very late he actually made it home) we had a mini birthday party with his favorite cake & milk of course. Homemade Pizza for dinner & then opened his gifts from the kids & me. We got him all things to relax with at HOME so maybe he will want to spend a little more time here...he found it very funny :). He got a really warm, very soft manly robe (which you need here because it is so cold during the winter) from me. Charley got him new socks which is an inside joke with them because she always tells him how bad his feet stink after wearing combat boots all day. I managed to find these new socks that are "Non stinky socks" & supposedly repel the stink...Charley loved telling him that his feet wouldnt smell like a boy anymore! And he loved that they came from Charley. (insert here anyone who knew me when I was little mine & my Dads favorite gift of all time were his "$5 socks" he got from me one Christmas! Love you Dad!) Anyways, Colin got him some new gloves because he had to borrow Uncle Seans last week but they had to go back to the US so he needed some of his own & Colin picked them out. He also got new houseshoes that aren't suppose to be able to smell (same brand as socks) & an ice scraper because obviously we have never needed one until now & we have been using a flimsy cutting board...not very successfully might I add :). Anyway, I think he had a great birthday & we all had a wonderful Holiday. Maybe some other time I can add in some of the very funny stories from our adventures with the family in December! I will upload a pic of my favorite present soon! I love you all!!!
Quick shout out about 2 things I am SOOOOO excited about & feel the need to let everyone know since I dont get to gush over them in person:
*Finding out if my very best friend is going to give me a niece or a new nephew...I dont think anyone knows how happy I am that Kristen is pregnant! We have dreamed of having kids together our whole lives & I am going to love this little one just like my own & spoil "it" SOOOO much just like she has done mine! My bet is thats its a boy for the record! Love you C$!!!!
* Finding out where the Gryzen's will be stationed...keep your fingers crossed EVERYONE!!!
Thank you to everyone for being a part of our lives!!! Happy 2009!!!
Friday, 9 January 2009
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Au Revoir Blankie...
Well everyone, we are home although admittedly a little more somber than we left. I guess I should start from the beginning...
We left for Paris very early in the morning last Saturday. We were up until close to midnight the night before & Daniel & I got up at 3am to get the car all packed. We had never "caught a train" before & it intimidated us a little thinking of it pulling off with the four of us standing on the landing watching in complete astonishment as our train to Paris left without us. So we drove to London the kids in tow in their pajamas but WIDE awake at the thought of seeing Mickey the next day! After successfully finding the train station we found the infamous parking area that cost us 25 Pounds a day...for those of you who are lucky enough to get to use your US Dollars that is $37.50 a day!!! Needless to say this did not start off our morning well thinking of paying that for 5 full days but there was literally no other option in the center of London...OUCH! We were there in plenty of time & made it on our first of 2 Eurostar trains for the day. The trip went according to plan until it was time to get off of our 2nd train in Paris that was en route to another part of France. We were seated upstairs on the train & had: 2 toddlers, 2 big suitcases, 2 small bags, 2 strollers, diaper bag & all of our coats. We started getting off & everyone else started getting on. We could hardly make it down the stairs one time much less again to get the rest of our things, Daniel ran back on to get the last of our things & the terrifying whistle blew!!! I ran to the door & shoved my WHOLE body in the doorway & forced it back open I was not about to be that girl in that movie left watching the love of her life be taken away waving goodbye out the back window! SO the French Police & Train Station authorities start blowing their whistles & running at me yelling (I think they even had sticks) but Im not moving! I finally see Daniel shoving people out of the way & he all but dives out of the door. Whew! He made it. I know there is no way you guys can understand how very scary that was because I havent even mentioned that everyone around us speaks French & Im not sure since I do all of the trip planning that Daniel even had a clue as to what train station we would have been stranded or how to get back to it. Anyways, after honestly calming down after that ordeal we proceeded to our very nice hotel room & on to the city for some sight seeing. We saw only a couple of the big ones because this trip was for the kids, we are so close we will be back tons of times for us to see all of the others. The Eiffel Tower was even more amazing than I had ever thought it could be. It is SO much bigger than I thought it would be! Pictures just do not do it justice! It is SO HUGE & in the highest winds it never sways more than 3/4 of an inch!!! That use to sound like a lot until I saw how huge even one beam is!!! I cannot even explain how massive. The construction is truly a flawless wonder. Then we saw the Arc de Triomphe, it too is so big & just as beautiful as the pictures! The best part was that the streets were decorated for Christmas which just plain makes everything better!
That night was the SEC Championship game. We were able to buy Internet access at our hotel but since the game was broadcast on CBS you cant watch it live outside the states. My computer savvy husband has tried it all to maneuver his way around the rules to no avail. Thankfully Eli Gold paints a picture that is sometimes even better & Daniel got to listen from the hotel. He started out in the room so we could both listen but the kids WOULD NOT go to sleep. He did eventually come back & listen from our bathroom so I got to hear some but HAD to get some sleep to be able to usher the kids throughout Disney the next morning. Honestly, after the stress leading up to the game & feeling like we were not going to come out on top I was relieved to be able to sleep through it & just find out the outcome! Daniel listened to every minute & went through the wealth of emotions all Bama fans did when we "had a chance". We were both SO happy that we put up a great fight & were not embarrassed (which from what I watched of Florida this year I was a little worried). Enough about that......Roll Tide!!! It has been a great season & unlike OTHER teams around our season isnt over yet :)
We went to Disney the next morning, checked in & went to the park. Thankfully this part of the trip wasnt frought with drama, it was seamless just the way I like it! The next few days were a very sleepy, very very cold blur with a few cute stories to share (very quickly I promise). The first day was Colin's 2nd Birthday!!! YEA!!! He loved Disney...............until the characters came around where he proceeded to scream like a girl at the top of his lungs each time one got within touching distance. He enjoyed them from afar but this was alarming since I had his party planned for that evening with..........MICKEY & FRIENDS!!! It went just as I had feared all day. He wouldnt let a single one NEAR HIM & shook with fear the whole time! Charley had the time of her life & got pictures with them all & signatures in her new prize pssession princess autograph book. One character did brave the screams (true to his character actually) Captain Hook scared him several times & if we had had a video camera I would soon have ten thousand dollars plus. As a matter of fact a french speaking person next to us mustered up enough English to say "Funny Video Money". Colin kept his eyes peeled for each one as they made their way around the room never letting up for a second after Captain Hook caught him off guard. He opened his presents from Mom, Dad, & Charley & was able to pick out presents from the rest of the family that sent him birthday money! (HE LOVED THAT PART! ~ Thank you Maw Maw & Paw Paw, Pops & Sheryl, Aunt Po & JRJ, Gee & Daddy Gee! FYI: Lighting McQueen & Ratatouille took most of your money!) So now when everyone sees all of the pictures & it is just Charley with the characters we were only obeying Colin's Disneyland Rules :NO CHARACTERS & I WILL BE FINE!!!
Since the first day was suppose to be all about Colin the next day was Charley's! We referred to this as the Day of the Princesses & oh how true it was. We started out by touring Sleeping Beauty's Castle & then on to our lunch with the princesses. There she got to meet & talk to CINDERELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (she was the perfect Cast Member & was so good to Charley) Then we met Snow White, the Prince, Sleeping Beauty, & Prince Phillip! It was so great! Snow White kept coming back by & REMEMBERED Charley's name each time & we only said it once! Charley is lucky if I remember her name half the time so I was VERY impressed! They answered all of Charley's questions & when the Royal music played & they were leaving Charley yelled "OH NO I have to hug them bye!!!" & she took off running in her princess dress!!! She made it just in time & almost knocked them down flinging herself around their legs! Honestly Snow White & Cinderella really did love Charley & her excitement (Sleeping Beauty was not my favorite, kind of a "you know" :) & she LOVED them! (just a little insert - as most everyone knows Daniel will eat anything, but the appetizer they gave us he swears was actual Cat Food! He couldnt even get it down & that is an absolute first!!! I didnt even touch it with my fork! :) That night we went to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Dinner Show (completely American...felt so nice!) Colin had the time of his life. He ate everything they brought him (good old fashion southern & southwest cooking :) & never took his eyes off of the animals & riders. He danced, sang & screamed with laughter! He was glued to the ring. Now I cant wait to take him to a real rodeo that is all in English. Most of the show was in English but being that we were in France it had quite a bit of French as well. The couple next to us couldnt speak English & it was so neat to watch. If they asked you to raise your hand , we would. They would just look at us like we had lost our minds until they said it in French. The whole room was like a wave because they did English, French, then Italian, German & Spanish :) So funny! We taught Charley a little French before going & she introduced herself to everyone in French & said Hello, Goodbye & Thank you when appropriate which completely impressed me. One time she said " Je m'appelle Charley (then pointed to me & said) Je m'appelle Mommy" Which is: my name is Mommy :) Very Appropriate!
The next day we stood in line for Ariel only to have them switch to Jasmine & Aladdin JUST BEFORE we made it up there after an hour PLUS. Charley was thrilled to see Jasmine but had her heart set on Ariel. SO to the back of the line we went after visiting sih Jasmine because Ariel was indeed coming back & she did...only to leave AGAIN just before we made it BACK to the front of the line after another hour! By this time it had actually started SNOWING!!! (that is another amazing story but for now hold on) The guy at the "Princess Throne" finally felt sorry for us after all that time in line & let us go get warm for about 15 minutes & let us be break in line for Ariel when she got back again. SO finally after a total of 3 hours just waiting in actual freezing temperatures we got to meet Ariel & Prince Eric! Charley's excitement was worth the wait! Charley dressed as Belle on her Princess Day & of course "Operation Get Belle's Signature" was a failure because she never came out in 4 days!!! Charley has every princess dress & of course wanted to wear Cinderella but it is in too bad of a condition to wear in public! SO she choose Belle, her next favorite, & she was the one that decided to stay home??? She is the only one really FROM France, what is that all about?
Now I hope you caught it earlier...IT SNOWED WHILE I WAS AT DISNEYLAND, IN PARIS, AT CHRISTMASTIME!!!!!!!!!!! My own personal fairytale just keeps getting better. It snowed all day long & was wonderful because unlike anything I have ever experienced it actually stuck to the ground & didnt stop after 5 minutes!!! It covered everything in a beautiful blanket of white, we saw Santa & in true Disney style there was Christmas music playing the background of my White Christmas Fairytale! A couple of times I had to make sure itwasnt Disney pulling one over on me! It was just too perfect!
The whole trip was wonderful & full of memories that I hope I never lose. Colin ended up LOVING the parades & ALL the rides while Charley stuck to the Princesses & anyone who was dressed up & would write in her book!
Now I suppose it is time to go back to our only casualty during our trip. Remember when Daniel almost didnt make it off the train...well, in his rush to jump off the train & save me from being pulled apart my a locomotive he left a "member of the family" behind...Charley's very favorite pink blanket (insert gasps here) that she had never slept without. She has had it since the storm when she was 3 months old. It was the first thing I bought afterwards for her to help soothe her transition into our new transitional life :) Anyways, I have never seen my sweet angel so sad. She just kept saying "Oh No! Oh No! What are we going to do! It is my blanket with the pokey things Mom! I love the pokey things!" Then after I said I would buy her ANY blanket in the WHOLE world if she would just be ok she said "ok I want my blankie with the pokey things" (by the way "pokey things means knitted & she can "poke" her finger through it" I have scoured the internet & have found nothing. Each night she says " I am so very sorry I lost my blankie" & I have to remind her it was my fault. But if anyone remembers what it looked like & you EVER see one BUY IT & I will pay you triple!!! It is such an awful thing to know that it is your fault your child is so innocently upset. She has never pitched a fit or been ugly, just very sad. I told her I wished she would pitch a fit or be mad so I would not feel so terrible about it! She always "consoles" me & tells me she forgives me but she wants her pokie blanket back when I can get it :) Hence the title of the blog......Au Revoir Blankie may it rest in peace in the big French Train Station in the sky!
Happy Holidays Everyone ~ Je m'appelle Mommy
We left for Paris very early in the morning last Saturday. We were up until close to midnight the night before & Daniel & I got up at 3am to get the car all packed. We had never "caught a train" before & it intimidated us a little thinking of it pulling off with the four of us standing on the landing watching in complete astonishment as our train to Paris left without us. So we drove to London the kids in tow in their pajamas but WIDE awake at the thought of seeing Mickey the next day! After successfully finding the train station we found the infamous parking area that cost us 25 Pounds a day...for those of you who are lucky enough to get to use your US Dollars that is $37.50 a day!!! Needless to say this did not start off our morning well thinking of paying that for 5 full days but there was literally no other option in the center of London...OUCH! We were there in plenty of time & made it on our first of 2 Eurostar trains for the day. The trip went according to plan until it was time to get off of our 2nd train in Paris that was en route to another part of France. We were seated upstairs on the train & had: 2 toddlers, 2 big suitcases, 2 small bags, 2 strollers, diaper bag & all of our coats. We started getting off & everyone else started getting on. We could hardly make it down the stairs one time much less again to get the rest of our things, Daniel ran back on to get the last of our things & the terrifying whistle blew!!! I ran to the door & shoved my WHOLE body in the doorway & forced it back open I was not about to be that girl in that movie left watching the love of her life be taken away waving goodbye out the back window! SO the French Police & Train Station authorities start blowing their whistles & running at me yelling (I think they even had sticks) but Im not moving! I finally see Daniel shoving people out of the way & he all but dives out of the door. Whew! He made it. I know there is no way you guys can understand how very scary that was because I havent even mentioned that everyone around us speaks French & Im not sure since I do all of the trip planning that Daniel even had a clue as to what train station we would have been stranded or how to get back to it. Anyways, after honestly calming down after that ordeal we proceeded to our very nice hotel room & on to the city for some sight seeing. We saw only a couple of the big ones because this trip was for the kids, we are so close we will be back tons of times for us to see all of the others. The Eiffel Tower was even more amazing than I had ever thought it could be. It is SO much bigger than I thought it would be! Pictures just do not do it justice! It is SO HUGE & in the highest winds it never sways more than 3/4 of an inch!!! That use to sound like a lot until I saw how huge even one beam is!!! I cannot even explain how massive. The construction is truly a flawless wonder. Then we saw the Arc de Triomphe, it too is so big & just as beautiful as the pictures! The best part was that the streets were decorated for Christmas which just plain makes everything better!
That night was the SEC Championship game. We were able to buy Internet access at our hotel but since the game was broadcast on CBS you cant watch it live outside the states. My computer savvy husband has tried it all to maneuver his way around the rules to no avail. Thankfully Eli Gold paints a picture that is sometimes even better & Daniel got to listen from the hotel. He started out in the room so we could both listen but the kids WOULD NOT go to sleep. He did eventually come back & listen from our bathroom so I got to hear some but HAD to get some sleep to be able to usher the kids throughout Disney the next morning. Honestly, after the stress leading up to the game & feeling like we were not going to come out on top I was relieved to be able to sleep through it & just find out the outcome! Daniel listened to every minute & went through the wealth of emotions all Bama fans did when we "had a chance". We were both SO happy that we put up a great fight & were not embarrassed (which from what I watched of Florida this year I was a little worried). Enough about that......Roll Tide!!! It has been a great season & unlike OTHER teams around our season isnt over yet :)
We went to Disney the next morning, checked in & went to the park. Thankfully this part of the trip wasnt frought with drama, it was seamless just the way I like it! The next few days were a very sleepy, very very cold blur with a few cute stories to share (very quickly I promise). The first day was Colin's 2nd Birthday!!! YEA!!! He loved Disney...............until the characters came around where he proceeded to scream like a girl at the top of his lungs each time one got within touching distance. He enjoyed them from afar but this was alarming since I had his party planned for that evening with..........MICKEY & FRIENDS!!! It went just as I had feared all day. He wouldnt let a single one NEAR HIM & shook with fear the whole time! Charley had the time of her life & got pictures with them all & signatures in her new prize pssession princess autograph book. One character did brave the screams (true to his character actually) Captain Hook scared him several times & if we had had a video camera I would soon have ten thousand dollars plus. As a matter of fact a french speaking person next to us mustered up enough English to say "Funny Video Money". Colin kept his eyes peeled for each one as they made their way around the room never letting up for a second after Captain Hook caught him off guard. He opened his presents from Mom, Dad, & Charley & was able to pick out presents from the rest of the family that sent him birthday money! (HE LOVED THAT PART! ~ Thank you Maw Maw & Paw Paw, Pops & Sheryl, Aunt Po & JRJ, Gee & Daddy Gee! FYI: Lighting McQueen & Ratatouille took most of your money!) So now when everyone sees all of the pictures & it is just Charley with the characters we were only obeying Colin's Disneyland Rules :NO CHARACTERS & I WILL BE FINE!!!
Since the first day was suppose to be all about Colin the next day was Charley's! We referred to this as the Day of the Princesses & oh how true it was. We started out by touring Sleeping Beauty's Castle & then on to our lunch with the princesses. There she got to meet & talk to CINDERELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (she was the perfect Cast Member & was so good to Charley) Then we met Snow White, the Prince, Sleeping Beauty, & Prince Phillip! It was so great! Snow White kept coming back by & REMEMBERED Charley's name each time & we only said it once! Charley is lucky if I remember her name half the time so I was VERY impressed! They answered all of Charley's questions & when the Royal music played & they were leaving Charley yelled "OH NO I have to hug them bye!!!" & she took off running in her princess dress!!! She made it just in time & almost knocked them down flinging herself around their legs! Honestly Snow White & Cinderella really did love Charley & her excitement (Sleeping Beauty was not my favorite, kind of a "you know" :) & she LOVED them! (just a little insert - as most everyone knows Daniel will eat anything, but the appetizer they gave us he swears was actual Cat Food! He couldnt even get it down & that is an absolute first!!! I didnt even touch it with my fork! :) That night we went to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Dinner Show (completely American...felt so nice!) Colin had the time of his life. He ate everything they brought him (good old fashion southern & southwest cooking :) & never took his eyes off of the animals & riders. He danced, sang & screamed with laughter! He was glued to the ring. Now I cant wait to take him to a real rodeo that is all in English. Most of the show was in English but being that we were in France it had quite a bit of French as well. The couple next to us couldnt speak English & it was so neat to watch. If they asked you to raise your hand , we would. They would just look at us like we had lost our minds until they said it in French. The whole room was like a wave because they did English, French, then Italian, German & Spanish :) So funny! We taught Charley a little French before going & she introduced herself to everyone in French & said Hello, Goodbye & Thank you when appropriate which completely impressed me. One time she said " Je m'appelle Charley (then pointed to me & said) Je m'appelle Mommy" Which is: my name is Mommy :) Very Appropriate!
The next day we stood in line for Ariel only to have them switch to Jasmine & Aladdin JUST BEFORE we made it up there after an hour PLUS. Charley was thrilled to see Jasmine but had her heart set on Ariel. SO to the back of the line we went after visiting sih Jasmine because Ariel was indeed coming back & she did...only to leave AGAIN just before we made it BACK to the front of the line after another hour! By this time it had actually started SNOWING!!! (that is another amazing story but for now hold on) The guy at the "Princess Throne" finally felt sorry for us after all that time in line & let us go get warm for about 15 minutes & let us be break in line for Ariel when she got back again. SO finally after a total of 3 hours just waiting in actual freezing temperatures we got to meet Ariel & Prince Eric! Charley's excitement was worth the wait! Charley dressed as Belle on her Princess Day & of course "Operation Get Belle's Signature" was a failure because she never came out in 4 days!!! Charley has every princess dress & of course wanted to wear Cinderella but it is in too bad of a condition to wear in public! SO she choose Belle, her next favorite, & she was the one that decided to stay home??? She is the only one really FROM France, what is that all about?
Now I hope you caught it earlier...IT SNOWED WHILE I WAS AT DISNEYLAND, IN PARIS, AT CHRISTMASTIME!!!!!!!!!!! My own personal fairytale just keeps getting better. It snowed all day long & was wonderful because unlike anything I have ever experienced it actually stuck to the ground & didnt stop after 5 minutes!!! It covered everything in a beautiful blanket of white, we saw Santa & in true Disney style there was Christmas music playing the background of my White Christmas Fairytale! A couple of times I had to make sure itwasnt Disney pulling one over on me! It was just too perfect!
The whole trip was wonderful & full of memories that I hope I never lose. Colin ended up LOVING the parades & ALL the rides while Charley stuck to the Princesses & anyone who was dressed up & would write in her book!
Now I suppose it is time to go back to our only casualty during our trip. Remember when Daniel almost didnt make it off the train...well, in his rush to jump off the train & save me from being pulled apart my a locomotive he left a "member of the family" behind...Charley's very favorite pink blanket (insert gasps here) that she had never slept without. She has had it since the storm when she was 3 months old. It was the first thing I bought afterwards for her to help soothe her transition into our new transitional life :) Anyways, I have never seen my sweet angel so sad. She just kept saying "Oh No! Oh No! What are we going to do! It is my blanket with the pokey things Mom! I love the pokey things!" Then after I said I would buy her ANY blanket in the WHOLE world if she would just be ok she said "ok I want my blankie with the pokey things" (by the way "pokey things means knitted & she can "poke" her finger through it" I have scoured the internet & have found nothing. Each night she says " I am so very sorry I lost my blankie" & I have to remind her it was my fault. But if anyone remembers what it looked like & you EVER see one BUY IT & I will pay you triple!!! It is such an awful thing to know that it is your fault your child is so innocently upset. She has never pitched a fit or been ugly, just very sad. I told her I wished she would pitch a fit or be mad so I would not feel so terrible about it! She always "consoles" me & tells me she forgives me but she wants her pokie blanket back when I can get it :) Hence the title of the blog......Au Revoir Blankie may it rest in peace in the big French Train Station in the sky!
Happy Holidays Everyone ~ Je m'appelle Mommy
Monday, 1 December 2008
A tale of 2 blogs...
First of all let me say that this blog will be divided into 2 parts both vastly different from the other...
Blog PART 1:
This time of year is always hectic to say the least but this year it was a bit different. We didnt have to drive 12 out of 24 hours to make our rounds, no spending the day with 2 toddlers in the car or sleeping in the same room as them at night, & getting to spend it in England with our Air Force family! BUT there also was no REAL family, no Maw Maw's dressing (even though we made it "exactly" the same...it just wasnt as good not being at her house). No putting up the tree at Gee's or seeing the faces of the people we love the most. No long talks with Paw Paw or Daddy Gee. No talking through Patti's belly to the newest member of our family...Butterbean(ette). Heck we even miss the family drama that always ensues when that many people get together! As a matter of fact we have spent numerous Holidays without them all but knowing that we CANT be with them hit me harder than I thought it would. Today on Facebook I finally got to see pictures of our family's Thanksgiving without us...quite sad but also very happy that our family had such a wonderful time...they all deserve nothing more! We actually had a great Thanksgiving & it was SO BUSY we didnt have time to think of what was to come in a few hours on the other side of the pond.
I am thankful this year most of all for our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ who died to save us all so that we may have a home with Him in heaven for all eternity & never be separated again. I am thankful to be married to my best friend & have the most precious gifts from God as my very own children that I never have to leave. I dont know how I would live with out the 3 of them!!! They make life worth living & I truly am happier than I ever thought possible & I have been that way for the 8 years Daniel has been in my life & I KNOW it only gets better everyday!
I am thankful for the health of my family & the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for! If only a few more lived next door (again). Oh I could go on forever but I wont.
Now on to our actual Thanksgiving in all its glory! First of all as you have all read we had lots of people over to our house this year because our house is well big enough to house us all, our military family. We woke up bright & early to get started on the ham & Maw Maw's dressing (for the 1st time). Everything seemed to be going great until we ran out of Chicken Broth! So I immediately became very thankful that England doesnt celebrate Thanksgiving because I was able to run to a grocery store THAT WAS OPEN (unlike any in the states if you mess up). My errands to pick up Chicken Broth, flowers, & candles took way longer than expected. I finally made it home & the British chicken broth tuned out to actually be Chicken Soup which was a whole new problem that my wonderful hubby eventually found a fix for. On a side note, one of my favorite things about England that I failed to mention in a previous post is that you can buy beautiful flowers on any street corner, grocery store & every gas station in the country at any time of year. Beautiful & because of the weather they last forever. In the states I would have paid a fortune for the arrangements I made for our feast & would have had to order them weeks in advance! I was SOOOO happy being able to get it all done that morning! And everyone knows how much I love doing flowers anyway! Ok back to the story...after getting the house cleaned, the flowers arranged , kids dressed, a quick shower & the meal started Daniel rushed off to the base to pick up some of our guests whose vehicles have not arrived from the states. Our first guests arrived & I am rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off to get everything timed just right! Keep in mind our British oven will hardly fit any traditional American Thanksgiving dishes in it. So we had arranged for the turkey to be brought to dinner. Well to make a long story short, in true Peebles fashion the TURKEY NEVER CAME!!! When I realized what had happened I proceeded to call Daniel who would undoubtably have everyone already in the van with him to tell him we had no Turkey. He of course was in shock as was I but he handled it like a champ never letting on to our guests that their Thanksgiving might me turkey-less! He dropped them off as I am still running around like crazy now trying to do the rest alone (totally throwing off the timing schedule because it was timed out for 2 Peebles to be fixing everything!!!) & went to Newmarket (the next village over & biggest town around us) to try & FIND a turkey. Please all of you keep in mind this wonderful country is nothing like the states when it comes to convenience. There arent stores on every corner or 24 hour anything much less a place to go BUY a turkey at the drop of a hat. However, my genius husband did find a solution to our turkey problem. He found the one grocery store in Newmarket that happened to have a deli & furthermore used his charm to explain to the lady what had happened & what he needed her to do :). He had them slice off big slices of turkey just as we would when carving it & he bought it already carved & warmed it up in turkey stock to moisten it up nicely when he got back home. ABSOLUTE GENIUS!!! Im sure everyone wondered where the bones of the turkey were & why they never got to gaze at the beautiful bird before we carved it up but no one seemed to mind. I proceeded to burn 2 oven loads of rolls & forgot to make the chocolate pie but after all of our turkey woes the day turned out wonderful, we had plenty to eat & everyone left happy. We had smores by the fire, a hot cocoa station, bouncey castle inside for the kids & enough pies to choke a horse! Whew...we made it through!
Blog Part 2:
Now this I KNOW, everyone reading this knows that Daniel & myself are HUGE Alabama Football fans! Well as it happens since we have moved to England our team has gotten quite good, as a matter of fact we are undefeated even after the glorious Iron Bowl of '08! We watched this weekend with complete anxiety at the thought of them beating us again & ending what is the best display of Alabama Football since our '92 season. Since we are 6 hours ahead of CST we usually have to watch the games in the middle of the night which even in a bad season is well worth it. But this year, this year it is different we are playing with the fire & intensity only produced by the great Bear Bryant himself! We all knew Nick Saban would restore our prgram to its former glory but who knew he could do it in 2 short years! If we had only known all it took was us moving to another continent to make our team this good we would have moved ages ago! This weekend we are going to Paris to Disneyland for Colin's 2nd birthday but it is also the SEC Championship. Now obviously as previously stated we had no idea we would be 12-0 at this point in the season when we scheduled our trip, the thought of going to the division title game was only a dream. So we are headed to Paris by train with no way to watch the game, thankfully Eli Gold can be heard world-wide through the glorious internet. We also have ESPN 360 but when the games are broadcast on CBS they are unable to be seen which is the case with Saturday. So we will be in 1 hotel room with 2 toddlers & a game that doesnt even START until 10 pm!!! All with our first day at Disney, our son's 2nd birthday & party with Mickey being the next day. It looks as though it is my time to show my husband & children exactly how much I love them & exactly what true sacrifice is. I have often said I would take bullet for them & die to save them, but now is where I can show them even more than that...this weekend I will have to miss even hearing the game so that my sweet Daniel can take the computer to a coffee shop in Paris & listen to the game while I get the kids in bed & ready for what is sure to be one of the busiest & best days of their life so far. If we both stay up until 3am listening to the game our wonderful kids will have no parent with any coherant thoughts at Disney the next day & we might even miss Colin's birthday party by putting our bodies on auto pilot because we are so sleepy. So I, Ashley Peebles, will regrettably be missing the SEC Chamionship for my children. There you go death might not even be this difficult, I mean after all God is an Alabama fan & I bet He will be watching! ;)
In closing to this never ending blog; I am thankful to be a FAN of the greatest team in college football (every year), a MOM to the best kids a girl could ask for, a WIFE to the bravest man in the greatest Air Force in history, a RESIDENT of wonderful & beautiful England, a CITIZEN of the greatest country in the world & a CHILD of the God! May God bless America!
Blog PART 1:
This time of year is always hectic to say the least but this year it was a bit different. We didnt have to drive 12 out of 24 hours to make our rounds, no spending the day with 2 toddlers in the car or sleeping in the same room as them at night, & getting to spend it in England with our Air Force family! BUT there also was no REAL family, no Maw Maw's dressing (even though we made it "exactly" the same...it just wasnt as good not being at her house). No putting up the tree at Gee's or seeing the faces of the people we love the most. No long talks with Paw Paw or Daddy Gee. No talking through Patti's belly to the newest member of our family...Butterbean(ette). Heck we even miss the family drama that always ensues when that many people get together! As a matter of fact we have spent numerous Holidays without them all but knowing that we CANT be with them hit me harder than I thought it would. Today on Facebook I finally got to see pictures of our family's Thanksgiving without us...quite sad but also very happy that our family had such a wonderful time...they all deserve nothing more! We actually had a great Thanksgiving & it was SO BUSY we didnt have time to think of what was to come in a few hours on the other side of the pond.
I am thankful this year most of all for our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ who died to save us all so that we may have a home with Him in heaven for all eternity & never be separated again. I am thankful to be married to my best friend & have the most precious gifts from God as my very own children that I never have to leave. I dont know how I would live with out the 3 of them!!! They make life worth living & I truly am happier than I ever thought possible & I have been that way for the 8 years Daniel has been in my life & I KNOW it only gets better everyday!
I am thankful for the health of my family & the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for! If only a few more lived next door (again). Oh I could go on forever but I wont.
Now on to our actual Thanksgiving in all its glory! First of all as you have all read we had lots of people over to our house this year because our house is well big enough to house us all, our military family. We woke up bright & early to get started on the ham & Maw Maw's dressing (for the 1st time). Everything seemed to be going great until we ran out of Chicken Broth! So I immediately became very thankful that England doesnt celebrate Thanksgiving because I was able to run to a grocery store THAT WAS OPEN (unlike any in the states if you mess up). My errands to pick up Chicken Broth, flowers, & candles took way longer than expected. I finally made it home & the British chicken broth tuned out to actually be Chicken Soup which was a whole new problem that my wonderful hubby eventually found a fix for. On a side note, one of my favorite things about England that I failed to mention in a previous post is that you can buy beautiful flowers on any street corner, grocery store & every gas station in the country at any time of year. Beautiful & because of the weather they last forever. In the states I would have paid a fortune for the arrangements I made for our feast & would have had to order them weeks in advance! I was SOOOO happy being able to get it all done that morning! And everyone knows how much I love doing flowers anyway! Ok back to the story...after getting the house cleaned, the flowers arranged , kids dressed, a quick shower & the meal started Daniel rushed off to the base to pick up some of our guests whose vehicles have not arrived from the states. Our first guests arrived & I am rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off to get everything timed just right! Keep in mind our British oven will hardly fit any traditional American Thanksgiving dishes in it. So we had arranged for the turkey to be brought to dinner. Well to make a long story short, in true Peebles fashion the TURKEY NEVER CAME!!! When I realized what had happened I proceeded to call Daniel who would undoubtably have everyone already in the van with him to tell him we had no Turkey. He of course was in shock as was I but he handled it like a champ never letting on to our guests that their Thanksgiving might me turkey-less! He dropped them off as I am still running around like crazy now trying to do the rest alone (totally throwing off the timing schedule because it was timed out for 2 Peebles to be fixing everything!!!) & went to Newmarket (the next village over & biggest town around us) to try & FIND a turkey. Please all of you keep in mind this wonderful country is nothing like the states when it comes to convenience. There arent stores on every corner or 24 hour anything much less a place to go BUY a turkey at the drop of a hat. However, my genius husband did find a solution to our turkey problem. He found the one grocery store in Newmarket that happened to have a deli & furthermore used his charm to explain to the lady what had happened & what he needed her to do :). He had them slice off big slices of turkey just as we would when carving it & he bought it already carved & warmed it up in turkey stock to moisten it up nicely when he got back home. ABSOLUTE GENIUS!!! Im sure everyone wondered where the bones of the turkey were & why they never got to gaze at the beautiful bird before we carved it up but no one seemed to mind. I proceeded to burn 2 oven loads of rolls & forgot to make the chocolate pie but after all of our turkey woes the day turned out wonderful, we had plenty to eat & everyone left happy. We had smores by the fire, a hot cocoa station, bouncey castle inside for the kids & enough pies to choke a horse! Whew...we made it through!
Blog Part 2:
Now this I KNOW, everyone reading this knows that Daniel & myself are HUGE Alabama Football fans! Well as it happens since we have moved to England our team has gotten quite good, as a matter of fact we are undefeated even after the glorious Iron Bowl of '08! We watched this weekend with complete anxiety at the thought of them beating us again & ending what is the best display of Alabama Football since our '92 season. Since we are 6 hours ahead of CST we usually have to watch the games in the middle of the night which even in a bad season is well worth it. But this year, this year it is different we are playing with the fire & intensity only produced by the great Bear Bryant himself! We all knew Nick Saban would restore our prgram to its former glory but who knew he could do it in 2 short years! If we had only known all it took was us moving to another continent to make our team this good we would have moved ages ago! This weekend we are going to Paris to Disneyland for Colin's 2nd birthday but it is also the SEC Championship. Now obviously as previously stated we had no idea we would be 12-0 at this point in the season when we scheduled our trip, the thought of going to the division title game was only a dream. So we are headed to Paris by train with no way to watch the game, thankfully Eli Gold can be heard world-wide through the glorious internet. We also have ESPN 360 but when the games are broadcast on CBS they are unable to be seen which is the case with Saturday. So we will be in 1 hotel room with 2 toddlers & a game that doesnt even START until 10 pm!!! All with our first day at Disney, our son's 2nd birthday & party with Mickey being the next day. It looks as though it is my time to show my husband & children exactly how much I love them & exactly what true sacrifice is. I have often said I would take bullet for them & die to save them, but now is where I can show them even more than that...this weekend I will have to miss even hearing the game so that my sweet Daniel can take the computer to a coffee shop in Paris & listen to the game while I get the kids in bed & ready for what is sure to be one of the busiest & best days of their life so far. If we both stay up until 3am listening to the game our wonderful kids will have no parent with any coherant thoughts at Disney the next day & we might even miss Colin's birthday party by putting our bodies on auto pilot because we are so sleepy. So I, Ashley Peebles, will regrettably be missing the SEC Chamionship for my children. There you go death might not even be this difficult, I mean after all God is an Alabama fan & I bet He will be watching! ;)
In closing to this never ending blog; I am thankful to be a FAN of the greatest team in college football (every year), a MOM to the best kids a girl could ask for, a WIFE to the bravest man in the greatest Air Force in history, a RESIDENT of wonderful & beautiful England, a CITIZEN of the greatest country in the world & a CHILD of the God! May God bless America!
Monday, 17 November 2008
The Things I Love About England...
Just thought I would share my thoughts on some of the things I really love about living in this country & maybe some things we dont love so much :)
We love wearing coats, jumping in "muddy puddles" in our rainboots with the kids, fires in the evening, & roundabouts (the best traffic invention ever - forget 4 way stops!!!). I love that the National Government cares about education so much that they cover the expense for toddlers to get in preschool a few days a week so that they are more prepared for big school the following year! We love castles on every corner & churches that look like castles in the middle of the smallest towns you have ever seen! You can drive into any village no matter the size & they all have cathedrals that would rival any I have seen in the US. There is so much history here it really makes you understand how very young we (the US) are as a nation. It truly is amazing that we havent been around very long in the grand scheme of things but are already the most powerful nation in the world...also a bit scary to think about it changing just as quickly! We love that there are no racial issues here...there are no "African British" because they are all one...just British! If someone is refering to someone of another color they just say what color they are because it isnt offensive to anyone, thats what color they are it isnt an insult. You honestly wouldnt believe how very little race matters around the world! When there is no one getting offended or doing the offending you truly can exist as one without walking on eggshells around each other!
I love hearing people do American accents over here, they really have us pegged. Unfortunately they also have us pegged on some not so great stuff. Our love of material things, love of over-eating :), over working & we are looked at in most cases as ignorant about what the rest of the world deals with on a daily basis. Unfortunately people like Paris Hilton & Britney Spears are the face of our nation most of the time so you can imagine how we must seem with our big homes & fat wallets (of course not all of us!) to these people who never see the true face of America... people like us who are very normal & A LOT like the everyone on this side of the pond!
We love that everyone no matter how small their home is has a garden & takes great pride in it. Recycling is huge here & is a must since your garbage is only picked up twice a month!!! They also serve more realistic portions of food so there isnt as much waste (or over-eating for that matter) Everyone goes to the local pub after work whether you drink or not because that is the gathering place for each village. The people here definitley do not take life so seriously! Everyday when it gets dark around 4:30 this time of year everything closes & family/socializing time begins. They are not at work all hours of the night nor do they seem to think about work all hours like we Americans do. It is refreshing to see the emphasis on the family life even coming straight down from the government with their national work hours. You are kind of out of luck if you want something to eat in the middle of the night or if you forget to pick up milk :). Of course you can imagine how low the crime rate is with all of this emphasis on the family & by everything closing early. There isnt just rif raf on street corners all hours of the night.
We love the Christmas markets, antique auctions every week, car boot sales, antique fairs & the ease of being able to travel around Europe even on a modest budget. Since we are an island they do make it fairly easy to visit the continent whenever you want whether by train, plane, ferry or the chunnel.
Another thing that is so nice is that every restaurant or shop has 3 bathrooms men, women, & handicapped or family bathroom where I have plenty or room for me & the kids even with a stroller. They take care of their elderly in everyway by having handicap facilities all over! They also have parking right outside of the stores on the side of the building for family parking so that you dont have to walk your kids through the parking lot & risk anyone getting hit by a car. They make sure there are carts waiting near your car under a covered awning so that you can pop the kids in if necessary instead of having to carry them through the rain (which it does most everyday here) This is especially nice when it is just myself & the kids!
We truly love more than I can even think of right now so I will probably include more in future posts. Now I guess it is time to say a few things that just arent the Good Ole USA!!! The TV here stinks & we NEVER watch anything except Alabama Football which might I add is on the computer in the middle of the night! Well worth it dont get me wrong but a little inconvenient nonetheless! The cartoons all have British accents which is SO funny! Sometimes you will be driving down the road & BAM! there is a house in the middle of the road! Its because this country has been around longer than roads & they just built all these crazy little roads (where the speed limit is 60 MPH!!!) around everything! Also if you are like me & driving an American spec car you can never pass anyone because if you stick your nose out far enough to see around these cars you will be smacked in a heartbeat so I choose just to drive 15 MPH behind the tractors (which definitely drive on the "interstate" too). Also you cant drive into town without passing a couple of people riding their horses down the road. You have to slow down to 5 MPH, turn your radio off & give them a car's width between you if you have it. If that horse gets spooked & hurts himself you could have to pay for the horse & all of the money it would have made its owner during recovery or the rest of its life if it dies. Crazy but they say the most expensive animal to hit is a chicken because you have to pay for the chicken & all money that it would have made in eggs for the rest of its life! The crisps (chips) here are crazy flavors like steak & onions, french fries & ketchup, potatoes & gravy & lots of other gross things! The utilities over here are ridiculous because you only get huge bills every quarter & it takes WEEKS to get them all turned on. Also they dont have coops where EVERYONE gets their power you have lots of companies competing & you always feel like you are with th wrong one! From the time we moved in it was a month before we had it all hooked up. Plus there is no such thing where we live as unlimited internet which means you only have so much a month!!! Not so great for a family who totally communicates with the "outside world" through the computer! We just have to wait & see what is going to happen when we go over, which we KNOW we did. Atleast it didnt shut off!!! Well let me end on a positive note since that is how life truly is here...positive! We love it & despite it not quite being "perfect" we look forward to our 3 years here & feel so lucky to have this opportunity! Have a wonderful day in the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave! There truly is no place like home!
OH Yeah....ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We love wearing coats, jumping in "muddy puddles" in our rainboots with the kids, fires in the evening, & roundabouts (the best traffic invention ever - forget 4 way stops!!!). I love that the National Government cares about education so much that they cover the expense for toddlers to get in preschool a few days a week so that they are more prepared for big school the following year! We love castles on every corner & churches that look like castles in the middle of the smallest towns you have ever seen! You can drive into any village no matter the size & they all have cathedrals that would rival any I have seen in the US. There is so much history here it really makes you understand how very young we (the US) are as a nation. It truly is amazing that we havent been around very long in the grand scheme of things but are already the most powerful nation in the world...also a bit scary to think about it changing just as quickly! We love that there are no racial issues here...there are no "African British" because they are all one...just British! If someone is refering to someone of another color they just say what color they are because it isnt offensive to anyone, thats what color they are it isnt an insult. You honestly wouldnt believe how very little race matters around the world! When there is no one getting offended or doing the offending you truly can exist as one without walking on eggshells around each other!
I love hearing people do American accents over here, they really have us pegged. Unfortunately they also have us pegged on some not so great stuff. Our love of material things, love of over-eating :), over working & we are looked at in most cases as ignorant about what the rest of the world deals with on a daily basis. Unfortunately people like Paris Hilton & Britney Spears are the face of our nation most of the time so you can imagine how we must seem with our big homes & fat wallets (of course not all of us!) to these people who never see the true face of America... people like us who are very normal & A LOT like the everyone on this side of the pond!
We love that everyone no matter how small their home is has a garden & takes great pride in it. Recycling is huge here & is a must since your garbage is only picked up twice a month!!! They also serve more realistic portions of food so there isnt as much waste (or over-eating for that matter) Everyone goes to the local pub after work whether you drink or not because that is the gathering place for each village. The people here definitley do not take life so seriously! Everyday when it gets dark around 4:30 this time of year everything closes & family/socializing time begins. They are not at work all hours of the night nor do they seem to think about work all hours like we Americans do. It is refreshing to see the emphasis on the family life even coming straight down from the government with their national work hours. You are kind of out of luck if you want something to eat in the middle of the night or if you forget to pick up milk :). Of course you can imagine how low the crime rate is with all of this emphasis on the family & by everything closing early. There isnt just rif raf on street corners all hours of the night.
We love the Christmas markets, antique auctions every week, car boot sales, antique fairs & the ease of being able to travel around Europe even on a modest budget. Since we are an island they do make it fairly easy to visit the continent whenever you want whether by train, plane, ferry or the chunnel.
Another thing that is so nice is that every restaurant or shop has 3 bathrooms men, women, & handicapped or family bathroom where I have plenty or room for me & the kids even with a stroller. They take care of their elderly in everyway by having handicap facilities all over! They also have parking right outside of the stores on the side of the building for family parking so that you dont have to walk your kids through the parking lot & risk anyone getting hit by a car. They make sure there are carts waiting near your car under a covered awning so that you can pop the kids in if necessary instead of having to carry them through the rain (which it does most everyday here) This is especially nice when it is just myself & the kids!
We truly love more than I can even think of right now so I will probably include more in future posts. Now I guess it is time to say a few things that just arent the Good Ole USA!!! The TV here stinks & we NEVER watch anything except Alabama Football which might I add is on the computer in the middle of the night! Well worth it dont get me wrong but a little inconvenient nonetheless! The cartoons all have British accents which is SO funny! Sometimes you will be driving down the road & BAM! there is a house in the middle of the road! Its because this country has been around longer than roads & they just built all these crazy little roads (where the speed limit is 60 MPH!!!) around everything! Also if you are like me & driving an American spec car you can never pass anyone because if you stick your nose out far enough to see around these cars you will be smacked in a heartbeat so I choose just to drive 15 MPH behind the tractors (which definitely drive on the "interstate" too). Also you cant drive into town without passing a couple of people riding their horses down the road. You have to slow down to 5 MPH, turn your radio off & give them a car's width between you if you have it. If that horse gets spooked & hurts himself you could have to pay for the horse & all of the money it would have made its owner during recovery or the rest of its life if it dies. Crazy but they say the most expensive animal to hit is a chicken because you have to pay for the chicken & all money that it would have made in eggs for the rest of its life! The crisps (chips) here are crazy flavors like steak & onions, french fries & ketchup, potatoes & gravy & lots of other gross things! The utilities over here are ridiculous because you only get huge bills every quarter & it takes WEEKS to get them all turned on. Also they dont have coops where EVERYONE gets their power you have lots of companies competing & you always feel like you are with th wrong one! From the time we moved in it was a month before we had it all hooked up. Plus there is no such thing where we live as unlimited internet which means you only have so much a month!!! Not so great for a family who totally communicates with the "outside world" through the computer! We just have to wait & see what is going to happen when we go over, which we KNOW we did. Atleast it didnt shut off!!! Well let me end on a positive note since that is how life truly is here...positive! We love it & despite it not quite being "perfect" we look forward to our 3 years here & feel so lucky to have this opportunity! Have a wonderful day in the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave! There truly is no place like home!
OH Yeah....ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, 13 November 2008
It's Christmastime at the Peebles House...fa la la la la la la la la
Well hello everyone! Just thought since I am the worst blogger in history I would try to catch everyone up on things that you probably already know :). I am presently snuggling with my beautiful daughter on the couch as she watches her new favorite show "Peppa Pig". It is a wonderfully freezing day here in the East of England so we are under our favorite snuggly green blanket from Nana. Charley has stolen it from me lately & left me with the Princess blanket :). I am not ignoring Colin, my wonderful boy is asleep. I successfully built my first fire by myself yesterday :) I cant believe I lived with Daddy Gee for so many years & never mastered his art of fire tending, then again I definitely CAN believe it because he always took such good care of us that we never had to worry about doing the fire ourselves, it never crossed our minds that it wouldnt be done. He truly is the best!) We have 5 fireplaces in our house & usually have a fire every evening which is my very favorite thing about our new life - sitting by the fire with the family, drinking a mug of hot chocolate, & watching horrible British television :).
Last week was a big one for our family. As most everyone knows my little ones have always stayed home with Mommy but Charley started preschool last week. I was completely unprepared for this. Coming from the states we all assume our kids will start school at age 5 & maybe preschool at 4 to get them use to a schedule, sitting down, & listening to someone other than Mommy & Daddy. Well, here in Great Britain kids start big school at age 4 so Charley will actually be in "kindergarten" even though that is not what it is called next September! AHHHH! They are taking my baby away! To help families out the British government pays for a 3 year old to go 5 sessions a week. For us that works out to 2 full days (9-3:15) a week. She goes each Tuesday & Friday. It is a wonderful school & Charley loves it. On her first day I was nervous all night the night before & didnt sleep one wink. Got up early to pack her lunch & never stopped shaking all the way in the front door of her classroom. The teacher started talking to me & I LOST IT! Of course they understood but I didnt want Charley to see me upset because she worries about Mommy & Daddy if we are hurt or upset & I knew it would ruin her first day! So I got out of there before she saw. As a matter of fact she couldnt have cared any less that we were leaving which did make me feel good about leaving her. If she had cried we would have been out of there & never looked back! I took my little buddy home & he looked for her all day. Running upstairs to her room & back down yelling "CHARLEY!" That of course made me cry even worse but I got lots of Colin kisses that got me through the day! When we picked her up she was SO HAPPY to see the 2 of us but still didnt want to leave. She told me when we got in the car that she had missed me a lot & cried because she wanted me earlier. Now this is where the bad part comes in... I was SO happy that she had missed me & so glad that she had been upset about our first day apart too. I know good mom's would have been upset that their child cried BUT thats what separates me from them :)! Anyways, now everything is fine & I have until next September until I lose her everyday & until next January until Colin starts preschool twice a week. Oh goodness I will need lots of prayers around that time!
Another GREAT part of last week was realizing that since there is no Thanksgiving in England they start celebrating Christmas when I do every year...the day after Halloween! We put our tree up last weekend & of course I am LOVING walking down the stairs every morning to a Christmas tree. Having a Christmas tree up is one of my biggest joys in life! It makes me so happy to have it up & brings a smile to my face each time I walk past. We were driving home that night & I noticed other families putting their tree up through their windows & realized that I am among "My People". The Town Square & High Street in each village are already decorated & each shop window is flocked with spectacular Christmas delights! We were in the British version of Home Depot the other night & as we left the man said "Merry Christmas" I almost fell over I was so happy! No one in the states would dare say that until after Thanksgiving! I have already been to a couple of Holiday Markets but the real Christmas markets start this weekend! On Friday vendors from all over the UK & Europe are coming to Mildenhall for a Holiday Bazaar then on Saturday we are traveling to Birmingham (Not Alabama) to go to the only authentic German Christmas market outside Germany & Austria. I absolutely cannot wait!!! We also have a military celebration dinner Friday night in honor of the 60th Anniversary of RAF Lakenheath so I think I might have a real date :)
We are also having a big Thanksgiving dinner here at our new house for the single Airmen from Daniel's Squadron that live in the dorms. Otherwise they would have to eat in the mess hall & that is no way to spend Thanksgiving! Hopefully they wont mind a Thanksgiving with a Christmas Tree??? I am missing doing all of this with Heidi since our families combined & spent Thanksgiving together with the Airmen last year. Our British kitchen is not equipped to handle an American Thanksgiving so we are having to get a little creative. A turkey will not fit in our oven & the 2 hams we need wont fit at the same time but none of it will fit in our frig after we cook it so our timing will be critical! The Major & his wife are coming & doing the turkey since they have an American size oven in their house on base. I will keep everyone posted on how it turns out...hopefully not a disaster! We will be traveling to 2 different Christmas markets each weekend until my Mom & Priya arrive just before Christmas.
The English word meaning "Have great day" or "Thank you or goodbye" (really just any salutation) is Cheers! It is so sweet & everyone says it. Daniel has tried to say it on a couple of occasions without sounding funny but has failed miserably. Anytime he tries to use the word he always says it with a British accent..(insert my laughter here)...which always sounds so funny & almost like he is making fun of them because his accent is so bad. I just burst out in laughter everytime I think about it & so does Daniel for that matter :).
So.........................................CHEERS (said with a bad British accent)!
Last week was a big one for our family. As most everyone knows my little ones have always stayed home with Mommy but Charley started preschool last week. I was completely unprepared for this. Coming from the states we all assume our kids will start school at age 5 & maybe preschool at 4 to get them use to a schedule, sitting down, & listening to someone other than Mommy & Daddy. Well, here in Great Britain kids start big school at age 4 so Charley will actually be in "kindergarten" even though that is not what it is called next September! AHHHH! They are taking my baby away! To help families out the British government pays for a 3 year old to go 5 sessions a week. For us that works out to 2 full days (9-3:15) a week. She goes each Tuesday & Friday. It is a wonderful school & Charley loves it. On her first day I was nervous all night the night before & didnt sleep one wink. Got up early to pack her lunch & never stopped shaking all the way in the front door of her classroom. The teacher started talking to me & I LOST IT! Of course they understood but I didnt want Charley to see me upset because she worries about Mommy & Daddy if we are hurt or upset & I knew it would ruin her first day! So I got out of there before she saw. As a matter of fact she couldnt have cared any less that we were leaving which did make me feel good about leaving her. If she had cried we would have been out of there & never looked back! I took my little buddy home & he looked for her all day. Running upstairs to her room & back down yelling "CHARLEY!" That of course made me cry even worse but I got lots of Colin kisses that got me through the day! When we picked her up she was SO HAPPY to see the 2 of us but still didnt want to leave. She told me when we got in the car that she had missed me a lot & cried because she wanted me earlier. Now this is where the bad part comes in... I was SO happy that she had missed me & so glad that she had been upset about our first day apart too. I know good mom's would have been upset that their child cried BUT thats what separates me from them :)! Anyways, now everything is fine & I have until next September until I lose her everyday & until next January until Colin starts preschool twice a week. Oh goodness I will need lots of prayers around that time!
Another GREAT part of last week was realizing that since there is no Thanksgiving in England they start celebrating Christmas when I do every year...the day after Halloween! We put our tree up last weekend & of course I am LOVING walking down the stairs every morning to a Christmas tree. Having a Christmas tree up is one of my biggest joys in life! It makes me so happy to have it up & brings a smile to my face each time I walk past. We were driving home that night & I noticed other families putting their tree up through their windows & realized that I am among "My People". The Town Square & High Street in each village are already decorated & each shop window is flocked with spectacular Christmas delights! We were in the British version of Home Depot the other night & as we left the man said "Merry Christmas" I almost fell over I was so happy! No one in the states would dare say that until after Thanksgiving! I have already been to a couple of Holiday Markets but the real Christmas markets start this weekend! On Friday vendors from all over the UK & Europe are coming to Mildenhall for a Holiday Bazaar then on Saturday we are traveling to Birmingham (Not Alabama) to go to the only authentic German Christmas market outside Germany & Austria. I absolutely cannot wait!!! We also have a military celebration dinner Friday night in honor of the 60th Anniversary of RAF Lakenheath so I think I might have a real date :)
We are also having a big Thanksgiving dinner here at our new house for the single Airmen from Daniel's Squadron that live in the dorms. Otherwise they would have to eat in the mess hall & that is no way to spend Thanksgiving! Hopefully they wont mind a Thanksgiving with a Christmas Tree??? I am missing doing all of this with Heidi since our families combined & spent Thanksgiving together with the Airmen last year. Our British kitchen is not equipped to handle an American Thanksgiving so we are having to get a little creative. A turkey will not fit in our oven & the 2 hams we need wont fit at the same time but none of it will fit in our frig after we cook it so our timing will be critical! The Major & his wife are coming & doing the turkey since they have an American size oven in their house on base. I will keep everyone posted on how it turns out...hopefully not a disaster! We will be traveling to 2 different Christmas markets each weekend until my Mom & Priya arrive just before Christmas.
The English word meaning "Have great day" or "Thank you or goodbye" (really just any salutation) is Cheers! It is so sweet & everyone says it. Daniel has tried to say it on a couple of occasions without sounding funny but has failed miserably. Anytime he tries to use the word he always says it with a British accent..(insert my laughter here)...which always sounds so funny & almost like he is making fun of them because his accent is so bad. I just burst out in laughter everytime I think about it & so does Daniel for that matter :).
So.........................................CHEERS (said with a bad British accent)!
Monday, 20 October 2008
Just a bunch of rambling...next one will be better!
Hey Everyone! Ok so I just have been so busy lately that I have neglected this whole blogging thing. Im not sure what this will end up saying. Lots of the times I will think "Oh I have to remember to blog about that" but it never happens so here we go :). SO I guess the first thing is right before we moved I bought a brand new fancy camera because HELLO we are going to travel Europe for the next 3 years & we needed a good one. Well once we got here & moved into the house the charger broke. After waiting & waiting on a new one to come from the US it finally arrived. The anticipation growing greater every moment until BAM! the camera is GONE!!! What you ask?!? Oh yes, we looked & looked & looked to no avail. Colin has a BAD habit of throwing things in the garbage (especially if he is finished with it or its all gone, its broken or doesnt work anymore) so all we can figure out is he got it down (from obviously not a high enough place) it wouldnt work & there it went into one of the moving boxes that eventually went to the dumpster. SO after all of that hoopla we bought yet another camera & as nice as it is I still have a little animosity each time I use it! I HATE re-buying things! Anyone who knew me after Katrina knows this very well! I didnt even want to buy new underwear & I only had 2 pair! Ok too much information I know! So since then we have been looking at preschools for Charley because every morning she wakes up, gets dressed, puts one of her little backpacks on & says "OK Mom Im a big girl now Im ready to go to school". Most of you also know that I have always thought sending Charley to school would greatly alleviate a lot of headaches even though I never dreamed of doing so but since we have moved here she & Colin have just become even more my very best little friends! We do everything together & our house is so big now we rarely get in each others way unless we want to. We can all go pitch our fits throughout the day in separate rooms & then come back downstairs for a game of tag or a snuggle on the couch. We have found THE BEST PRESCHOOL I have ever seen. It is a Montessori School which all by itself is AMAZING but it also has ponies, goats, chickens, pigs, rabbits, fish, an aviary, even alpacas & so much more. It is on 10 acres with its own garden that the kids get to grow their own fruits & veggies in. But as amazing as this place is I am just having a hard time losing my baby for even a couple days a week. She is so much fun, the sweetest little angel on earth & I WILL MISS HER INCREDIBLY! On top of that I guess I am suppose to put Colin in a couple days a week too (so everyone says that way I can do something without dried jelly on my forehead & 2 shoes that actually match) but I need to take baby steps...maybe next year...or not!Daniel & I worked ALL WEEKEND as hard as we could & FINALLY finished the house...almost. The only thing left is painting our peach room, not peach! Soon I will put up pictures of the almost finished product. I also got to go to my very first antique auction last weekend (WOW so much fun!) & we visited 2 more castles here in England (Orford - our favorite so far & Framlingham). We also live one village over from the horseracing capital of England so we went to our first horserace on Sat. It was so neat! It was not nearly the Alabama Football atmosphere but as close as we will ever get in the UK. Everyone from everywhere was there, drinking & eating of course either wine or tea with brandy. Surprisingly or not so much, these Brits can handle their alcohol better than the rednecks on college football Saturday. You would never know they are drinking if they didnt offer you some :). The track is just about 5 minutes from the house & they had all kinds of bouncy castles, kids bouncy horse races & jungle gyms set up for the kids who care nothing about their parents losing their money. It is also again surprisingly a very big family atmospere. Everyone takes their picnic lunches & sits out on the green the whole day with the entire village full of kids playing around them. Everything stops when the horses race & then its back to socializing. It was a great day with a lot of cultural observations to be had. We also went to the British pumpkin patch & let the kids pick pumpkins. During the 15 minutes we were in the garden the temperature dropped 20 degrees so we got the heck out of dodge & back in the van pretty quickly so no pictures...sorry! The other day Daniel's SQ had a BBQ & they had a pie in the face contest which of course Daniel won by a landslide. He had over 2000 votes for him & they auctioned who got to throw the pie in his face & it finally sold for $160 if you can imagine!!! Charley woke up that morning so excited that Dad was going to get a pie in his face but then when it happened Colin cried uncontrollably (sp?) because he thought Daddy was hurt! We are now gearing up for the Holiday season English style with a huge Southern Thanksgiving meal planned for all of the Airman without family here in Daniel's squadron. Then shortly afterwards on Colin's birthday we are going to Disneyland Paris where Colin will have his birthday party with Mickey & friends. Neither of the kids have any idea so that should be awesome to see their faces when Mickey brings in his cake & sings Happy Birthday! The Friday before Christmas my Mom & Sister are flying in to spend a week then the day they leave Daniel's family is coming in for the New Year in London! We have a busy, busy couple of months coming up but it should be a one of a kind with hopefully lots of great pictures for all of you stateside residents! Hope this blog catches you all in the middle of the best Monday ever! Love you all & miss you!
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Oh how I missed the Internet...
Hi All! Well after a whirlwind of a month we are living in our new home & officially have Internet access!!! PRAISE!!! This is definitely a new & wonderful experience. Atleast 10 times a day I wish I could call someone & just tell you all about it. We do have a home phone number now that you all will be able to call with a calling card & I can call you back for free once our overseas calling plan gets going (your guess as to when that will happen is as good as mine). We have not tried Skype with our new connection yet so hopefully it will work...keep your fingers crossed because I miss you all so much! The house was definitely more than we bargained for as far as getting it "Peebles Ready". I guess I should tel you the good points first... it is huge & twice the size of our old house, beautiful garden, lots of history, high ceilings, beautiful windows & so much more. Charley's room is like a little dollhouse & SHE LOVES IT because she tells me everyday!!! Colins rooms is much bigger sthan his old room as well as ours! We did have to switch up the rooms at the last minute but everyone ended up with the perfect room. We also turned the parlor into our dining room ITS WONDERFUL!!! So the bar room is now Daniels man room with his big tv, playstation, Alabama stuff, comfy chairs etc. Now for the other side of the move: The homeowners didnt clean before they moved out...AT ALL (No Exaggeration) nor did they take all of their things with them. So we spent about a week just unpacking our boxes & filling them back up again with the things they left, it was out of control & a little discouraging at times. I wanted so bad to just run to Heidi's house & hear her words of encouragement about it eventually being finished & well worth all of the work when we finish ( I just told myself that & pretended I had Heidi with me). So we have cleaned & cleaned & cleaned & are almost finished. When I say cleaning I dont mean windows & dusting I am talking climbing up ladders to the 20 ft ceilings to clean up cobwebs as big as I am that have obviously been there all 100+ years the house has been in existence!!! We still have to unpack our clothes & put them in the drawers. The biggest task ahead is painting almost the whole house. They have painted a thousand differnet colors on each wall & in some rooms painted over wallpaper. So if anyone plans to visit soon get ready to pitch in because we can definitley use the help! Our bathroom is hot pink right now & our room is peach so those are first on the list. Also the owners replaced the carpet in our bedroom during the week before we moved in which all sounds great but they put in BRIGHT TEAL carpet!!! SO we are working with it :)! We are also eventually going to try & pull up the yucky, wobbly vinyl floors in the kitchen & refinish the original hardwood floors underneath. It will look so much better when we get something done to the floors & paint the kitchen! We also have a full wine cellar/creepy basement that Daniel took on as his pet project. It use to be a secret tunnel directly to the pub here in Kentford when Lilly Langtry lived here. He swept it out & tried to de-spider the area & now all of our Christmas things & all of the landlords things they left behind are down there. We have only one wall of closets in the house & they are in Colin's room so storage was a bit of an issue until Daniel fixed up the cellar. There is a huge walk-in safe down there & a few kegs left over from the hotel bar. Another cool fact is that when we call places the caller ID from our house shows up as The Langtry Hotel :) Not sure if it will work from across the world but if you ever miss a call from there its us :)! We have 5 fireplaces in the house that have been cleaned out & are ready for our first fire tonight...a very chilly day today. We have been blessed with amazing weather since we arrived so we have been able to let the kids run free in our awesome garden!!! They absolutely LOVE it!!! They also have their own playroom which is a nice change from all the toys being everywhere in our Biloxi home. We will have pictures again soon but our camera charger broke so we havent been able to take any new ones in a couple of weeks. The other night we took Charley & Colin to the family night out for September at the base & the theme was "Princess & Pirate Party"...so much fun except Charley has worn her princess dresses everyday since her NaNa got them for her for Christmas & they are completely torn apart from head to toe so she didnt have one that was party-worthy. After we got home from the party she brought me the phone & said "Mom I need to call NaNa & tell her to bring me new princess dresses at Christmas, she has some at her house. It will be so great!". Needless to say since they are her favorite things in the world we will make sure she has new ones in a few months even if they have to come from the states :). Still the party was so much fun for them both & Charley is really excited about this month because she will get to wear her Fairy Halloween costume. She wants to wear it everyday but after seeing what happened to all 6 princess dresses I wont let her wear it around the house until after Halloween. I do not believe anyone will recognize Colin except for his curly locks he has grown up so much & is finally talking a little more (when Charley lets him). He loves playing outside & mowing the grass with his lawnmower. He also takes his garden tools & digs up my flowers EVERYDAY no matter how many spankings he gets, I guess it must be worth it! Both of the kids are officially off the paceys (YEA!!!) & no more milk at bedtime (this had to be done since we are 15-20 min from the commissary & no 24 hour places in our village. Not to mention that in the UK since the frigs are so small they only sell half gallons of milk so we were having to buy 4 at a time & they didnt fit!) There are a few things that we are missing from the states like my favorite potatoe chips, Yuki's teriyaki sauce, Olive Garden, the dollar not being worth 50 cents, my Soap Operas (for those of you who keep up with it, the UK is so far behind on Y&R that Brittany just disfigured her face, Katherine has no clue Jill is her daughter, Christine & Danny are still on the show & together, Paul & Lauren are still hooking up, Sharon is still likeable, the only things that is the same is Victor & Jack still hate each other & everything else is just as it was in the states in 1995!!! WOW I will never catch up after 3 years of this!!!) Actually, since we didnt have internet this past weekend Daniel knocked on all of our neighbors doors until he found a wireless connection so we could watch the Bama/GA game. The only trick was we had to sit in the doorway of someones stables/garage OUTSIDE at 1AM to get to see it, if we took the computer inside the doorway or closed the door we lost connection. It was freezing but neither of us noticed since it was SO WORTH IT!!! We hooked up the monitor to listen to the kids & sat outside until well past 3:30AM here :) This week thankfully we should have our own internet if not its back outside for us! The England Bama fans represented well in the middle of the night...ROLL TIDE #2!!! Daniel has long since started work & LOVES his job & being Flight Commander! He is working long hours again & loving it. So much has changed with this move but his wonderful work ethic is still the same, I just dont have my Heidi next door while both of our husbands work late! You couldnt have convinced me while moving to Biloxi 4 years ago that I would leave with such amazing, close friends as Heidi & Jessica so hopefully this will be the same! To sum this all up even with all of the differences, England is wonderful & so are the Peebles! Again if anyone would like to come visit we are dying to show someone around!!!
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