The Toothless Wonder

Here's Gillian all ready for school this morning.

Half-term

We had a great trip to the Cambridge area last week. We left Wednesday morning and drove to RAF Lakenheath where we stayed for much cheaper than on the economy. In a very American-style apartment, I might add. I have to say that the entire time we were on the base I actually didn't feel like we were in England. It was a strange feeling. I felt like we were back in the States until we drove off base every day. I imagine that many Americans who are stationed there would be tempted to never leave base - they have everything they need right there. And if they live on base they probably even enjoy things that I don't get by living on the economy including a garbage disposal and more than one full bathroom! But it did make me realize why my adjustment here was probably so much more difficult that others who are living in places like that. Where we are here we are totally immersed in the culture and town we are living in. It's different than just living on an American base somewhere. Really different.

Anyway, we did have a great trip. We took advantage of our time on base by doing some shopping and American eating. But what we really enjoyed was exploring some new places in and around Cambridge. I think everyone's favorite part of the trip was punting on the River Cam. Anglesey Abbey Gardens
The kids in front of the river at the working wheat mill at Anglesey Abbey gardens
Ely Cathedral
Joshua in front of Oliver Cromwell's house. He was very disappointed that it was closed to visitors due to renovations as he had just learned about Oliver Cromwell this past term. The Round Church - over 1000 years old
Tom, our seasoned punter
The River Cam with some punts hanging around
Joshua and Gillian on our punt ride

I Was Going to Wait

I was going to wait to post again until after our trip, but I couldn't pass this up. We have really been enjoying ourselves here - we are actually staying on an American Air Force base near Cambridge (we can stay here for a much better rate than anywhere on the economy) and have enjoyed way too much American food in the past two days. I think because we haven't had it for so long and there is so much here (Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins, Cinnabon, to name a few) that we are overwhelmed with even knowing where to go.
Which is not what this post is about.

Tonight, I feel like some of our hard work as parents has paid off in a big way. For years and years you teach, you discipline, you bang your head against a wall - well, it feels that way, you pray, you love, you love some more, you question if what you are doing is right, you hope for the best when it comes to your children, you trust that God will honor your efforts, and you have faith.

Tonight, we went out to eat as a family at a steak place on base. (And again, this is not what this post is about, but I have to say this - the five of us ate one appetizer, five meals, 1 beer and 1 glass of wine for just a little more than what Patrick and I paid for Thai carry-out for just the two of us last weekend).

But again I digress. I had told the children before we even left for the restaurant that we expected them to be on their best behavior, that they were to obey, sit nicely, and eat their dinners. Aidan, being two, behaved pretty much as you would expect a two-year old with no nap to act, but he did pretty well - considering. Gillian was pretty wiggly. She has two wiggly front teeth and the rest of her was wiggly, too. I had to keep reminding her to sit still, to stay in her seat. Joshua, on the other hand, behaved perfectly. He was so good. He did great with his ordering, thank yous, and his eating. He sat still, he had great manners, I was so proud. I told him near the end of the meal how well he had done.

When we got in the car Joshua said to me, "Mom, it feels good not to get the lectures." And I said, "What do you mean?" And he said, "It feels good to obey. I like it." And I laughed and laughed and told him how great it was for him to WANT to obey, that I hoped he always felt that way! I feel like we had a breakthrough, and what joy as a parent!

Soon to come, photos and updates on our trip to Cambridge. Despite cold, rainy weather we are enjoying ourselves immensely. Love the half-term!

This and That

I've been asked to update my blog. There are times when I just don't know what to write about. There are some rough days when I choose not to blog for fear that I will say something I regret. (As great as this country is, there are some major annoyances to me and I don't want to offend). And this past weekend was just rough in general (see previous post).
But I have some tidbits to share, I guess, if you're interested ...

It's half-term for school, so I have three children at home with me all week. We are going to Cambridge tomorrow, though, for four nights. So I will have much more to post about after that trip.

Gillian is almost 7. She is so excited about her birthday coming up and has asked for any number of toys. Gillian also has two loose teeth. They are the ones on top right in front. One is hanging so precariously low that she could actually just bite down on her lip and it will fall out. She won't let me anywhere near her mouth.

People in England like baked beans on toast. That is a treat. They have commercials about it. And in the grocery store, the beans aisle is an entire aisle dedicated to beans.

If you want to re-fill a prescription, it couldn't be more of a hassle. It almost makes me want to not re-fill a prescription, it's such a pain. The first time I did it I couldn't believe it. And I said to the receptionist at the doctors' office, 'Isn't there a way that I can just 'call in' a prescription re-fill?' And she so totally didn't get it - she said, 'Can you imagine how busy we'd be if we had to take re-fill prescriptions over the phone?'
Let me describe to you what I have to do to get a prescription re-filled, and then YOU can decide if this is more or less work than just calling it in.

First of all, to get the original prescription, you have to go to the doctor, which is completely and totally understandable. So this is what we did when we first moved here - for Joshua's two allergy medicines. However, they will not generally give you more than a one-month's supply of medication, and they do not "do" re-fills. So, after one month, I called the pharmacy. And they said, Oh, you need to call the surgery (which is English code for "doctor"). So I called the doctors' office and requested a re-fill on Joshua's two medications. And the receptionist told me that what I need to do is write a note and include Joshua's name, date of birth, our address, the doctors' name who originally gave us the prescription, and the names of the medications we need, AND how much we need.
Are you kidding me? And she told me I needed to bring it to the surgery or just mail it to them.
Okay. So after I do that, I need to call the surgery to find out when the prescription will be ready for me to pick up and take to the pharmacy. However, the pharmacy we use is next door to the surgery and they will pick it up if we request that. Finally, something somewhat easy about this process.
But, do not ASSUME that just because there is a prescription at the doctors' office waiting for the pharmacy to pick it up that it will get picked up. I made that mistake. Apparently, the doctors' office will let a prescription sit on their desk for who knows how long until I make a phone call to the pharmacy to ask them to pick up my prescription and fill it.

So. By SPECIAL REQUEST I have managed to get Joshua's medication for two months at a time, so I only have to go through this ordeal about once every 7 weeks. Some days I really miss America.

Alright, that's it for now unless something amazingly funny or interesting happens in the next few days. Maybe I'll even blog from Cambridge if I can get an internet connection. Until then, cheers!

Mamma and Daddy

For weeks before and days after I am a big fat jerk. This anniversary comes around every year, and I don't anticipate it. Bless my wonderful husband, though, for always remembering, for never saying a word except for the beautiful ones he puts to paper once a year - on that day. When he reminds me what amazing people my parents were, that they will never be forgotten, that their legacy lives on in my siblings and me and our children. Not that I need reminding, but it's wonderful to read. And I remind him that I have three sisters who pretty much act like I do, so if he's ever feeling down about what a jerk I'm being then he can rest assured he's not the only husband going through what he is!! I know, what a comfort.
I really, really miss them.

Crocus are Blooming!

I am not stealing from your blog, Sara, although the pics you posted of the flowers here are beautiful. But I had to comment, too, on the weather here and the seasons. Winter has been pretty miserable. Actually, last summer and the rain and flooding were pretty miserable. But winter here is dreary. The sun comes up late, goes down early, and it affects your psyche. It rains almost every day. It is windy - I mean, WINDY. And cold. Cold that seems to blow right through you.
It has been hard to defeat psychologically on some days. I would have to make a regular effort some days to leave the house so I wouldn't get down and out.

However, it truly makes you appreciate the sunny days. Today is sunny - it is gorgeous. People are out everywhere, everyone is in a chipper mood. It is wonderful. But one thing I really, really love here is that everything stays green year round. Because it never gets quite so cold that the ground freezes, the plants and grass do not die. Our back yard has been green and lush all winter long! And yes, it is February, but the daffodils and crocus are already blooming. You can get tulips in the shop already, and they are freshly cut. The forsythia by our front door has not stopped blooming since we moved here.

Tomorrow it will probably be drab and dreary and rainy again. But today, we enjoy, we celebrate, and we thank God for his sunshine mercies!

Not a Girly Girl

I am the oldest of five children, four of whom are girls. My brother is 14 years younger than I am so it is safe to say that I did not grow up "knowing" boys. Although, and this is one of those embarrassing growing up stories - I desperately wanted an older brother and when I was in kindergarten I actually told people that I had a big brother. My cousin Kevin was a good substitute at times, too, when we were together. Although he was only two months older than I!
However, having two sons of my own I am learning what it is all about to have a house full of boys. It's fun, it's loud, they like to wrestle, they like to jump, run, destroy, and "shoot" things. I am embarrassed to say that my 2 1/2 year old son has already learned to pretend shoot things with his fingers - even making that shooting noise that all boys naturally seem to know how to make - and Aidan has subsequently demonstrated this ability to the other sweet children in his pre-school class.

All this being said, my sisters and I were not necessarily very girly. We liked to run and jump and play pretend superhero games. Oh the joyous times we had jumping off the wobbly jungle gym that Daddy would set up at every new house we moved to onto big fat play pillows in the grass with blankets tied around our necks as we yelled, Wonder Woman! With that sing-songy voice like in the opening credits of the actual show. However, we didn't play with boys very much, and it showed as I got older. I was awkward and shy and didn't know how to talk to boys very well.

Which brings me to my daughter, Gillian. Gillian is not a girly girl, either. Although she does like to dress up sometimes. But that's about as girly as she gets. And I love it. I love watching her wrestle with her brothers and her daddy. She can keep up with Joshua with almost no problem. She is tough; she can go frontwards AND backwards on the monkey bars with NO PROBLEM. Don't get me wrong - she is girly in other ways; she is emotional, thoughtful, kind and considerate toward others. But by being around her brothers, especially her older brother, Gillian has learned to not be intimidated in the least by boys, and I am so thankful for that. She is confident in her own skin, and I love that, too. I pray she remains so always.

Which brings me to this: I learn things about my children every day. Gillian has been home sick from school for three days now. She feels okay, would rather be in school, but she has a horrible cough and a very raspy voice. So I am not comfortable sending her. So we have had some boring times during these days. Gillian likes to watch movies, but she knows that she is limited in the types of movies she can watch when Aidan is around. So yesterday, I told Gillian that when I put Aidan down for a nap she could choose a movie just for her to watch. In my mind, I saw her choosing The Black Stallion, maybe Shrek or Ratatouille. But when I came downstairs I heard the unmistakable sound of light sabers, and when I walked in the living room I saw why: My daughter had chosen, out of all the movies she could have watched, to put on The Empire Strikes Back. That's my girl!

I am no Fashionista

I think you all would find it interesting to know what you might see about 75% of English girls wearing this winter. As if it isn't bitterly cold. Caitlin and I discussed this during her visit as we did a little shopping. We both agreed it wasn't for us. Certainly I enjoy wearing shorts, and during the summer months I have no issues with shorts (well, except the size of my thighs, but that's another post for another day). But this look just doesn't do it for me. The other look I see women wearing is tall boots with short pants - not exactly capris, not exactly culottes, but short pants that come to just below the knee. Not sure how I feel about it. I think it can look cute in some instances, but I have not dared to branch out to this look. Which is actually more a testament to my comfort in my good old American LL Bean duds than to my fashion sense or lack there-of. Much to my sisters' chagrin, I still clomp around in my Birkenstocks most days. And yes, Stacy and Clinton would throw them right out. But when you have three children and don't get out much, it really IS about the comfort.