Carolina Blue Suede Shoes

Our little performer

2012-02-18T07:00:00.002-06:00

I know this is a bit out of order, but I'm still waiting to get the pics from our holiday from my photog dad....they'll be in the next post for sure!

But before we left last week a pretty special event happened that I have yet to document! Annie played in her very first violin concert. She's been taking lessons since last May and her teacher decided that she was ready for her debut (of course it just so fell on the morning that we were leaving to take the whole family skiing- yikes!). She did a fabulous job and was SO proud to play in front of the entire lower school assembly. She was by far the youngest participant but she didn't seem to mind at all. Here are a few glimpses of the big event...

Way to go sweetheart!!

Our adventure

2012-02-15T13:50:00.001-06:00

We woke up to a gorgeous snow fall this morning and it hasn't let up since, even as I write this at 8:30pm I'm still seeing snow fall- unbelievable! The girls had an absolute blast playing in the snow, sledding, making snow men and finally swimming in the hot tub at our house with their GIANT snowman towering over them. Sadly, I have no pictures from our day because they're all on my dad's camera- so stay tuned. But here are a few from the past few days...

Annie and Lilly as they raced through Gatwick airport headed towards our Geneva-bound plane.

The first morning all the kids went out sledding- even Lilly! I love the way she looks in all her layers....hehe

Annie ready to go on the first day!

Elle was just as excited!

Although their ski skills aren't too great yet, Daddy still took a very excited Annie down a "big" slope on the first day after lessons. She was THRILLED.

Day #1=success!

We've been having fun!

2012-02-13T13:09:00.000-06:00

I haven't been posting much lately- but part of the reason is that...Grammy came last Tuesday! And we're always busy whenever she shows up :)
And the other reason is because we're slowly but surely figuring out our first trip skiing with the girls- what I've learned thus far is this- while it's VERY fun to have holidays with the kids, it's a LOT of work!! It has made me very thankful to not live in a cold place where I have to dress my kids for cold weather everyday- whew.
I know I do this anytime we're on holiday but here's a link to Grammy's blog....she's MUCH better at keeping up with things than this mama is...sigh. Enjoy!

Where's Lilly?

2012-01-23T16:08:00.000-06:00

Have I mentioned how much fun Lilly and I have together these days? Despite the fact that almost daily she asks, "Lilly, school? Lilly, school?"she is not in any sort of school yet and I, for one, am SO glad. We have all sorts of conversations as we run errands and complete the mundane tasks that must be done around the house that she amazingly never seems to tire of.
For the last few weeks Lilly has been slowly understanding the concept of hiding. When I come to get her in the morning or from a nap as soon as I walk through the door she shouts, "Boo!" And, each morning as I put on makeup and do the other things girls do in the morning she stuffs herself into my closet and says, "Where's Lilly?"

Aren't those little red shoes and purse sticking out just SO precious!?!?

To which I have to respond worriedly, "Oh no, where's Lilly gone?!?!" "Boo!" she says excitedly as if it were the first time she'd done this. And then she repeats the whole process. I LOVE it. I mean, after awhile it does get old- but how long will she actually do this? Soon, as I've learned, she'll be on to other things. So I think I'll appreciate our silly games for now....thanks Lilly.

Our baby blowed up the microwave!

2012-01-10T15:43:00.000-06:00

That's what my two older girls told at least 5 people yesterday on the way to Chelsea to buy a new microwave that Lilly did indeed "blow up". They got looks of sheer horror with their news, and while it wasn't quite as dramatic as they made it sound the microwave is indeed dead. Here's the evidence.....

I was cleaning the plates after dinner while Josh and the big girls sat at the table discussing the day (although I'm positive the scene was not actually as calm as I just described- my kids yell....constantly and about everything, regardless of what they're saying be it nice, mean or in between I can pretty much guarantee....they're yelling- whew, now I feel better that I've gotten that out!). Lilly was ambling about as usual, doing goodness know's what- when all the sudden I smell smoke. I whirl around to find smoke billowing out of our laundry room. I'm not sure what happened after that other than that Josh appeared out of nowhere (did you jump over the table, babe?!?!) grabs the microwave and flings the thing outside. The entire house smelled like burned plastic- and still does I think. Yuck.
So, now we have a new microwave. And little miss Lilly has strict instructions to never go near it....or at least put battery laden toys in it. We hope.

We're back!

2012-01-08T13:48:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it back from the good ol' US of A yesterday and I have to say it was a pretty seamless trip! Amazingly Annie fell asleep for the first time EVER on an international flight- there may have been a little medicinal help (nothing too much though!)- but either way she and her mama felt MUCH better yesterday than we have in years past. I don't have anything ready for the blogosphere quite yet but thought I'd post this link from my mom's....

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:40:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!!

...a little late...

We've had such fun over the last two weeks spending time with all sorts of family on this side of the pond that I haven't been able to find any spare minutes to blog- but here's Annie, her favourite cousin and their beloved Nana on our Christmas morning. A good time was certainly had by all- more on their fabulous time with cousins to come!

And...Happy New Year! It was an unbelievable day today with not a cloud in the sky and 60 degree temperatures. Josh decided we needed a New Years Eve hike so we piled into our very large (in comparison) minivan and headed down the road from Nana and Papa's to Tallulah Gorge. It was amazing!

Even Lilly was up for the hike!

It wasn't too far that we had to hike in before we were amazed by the views. Apparently it's the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi.

I have to say, it was so fun to be able to do something like this with our little, but growing family. We never would have attempted a hike two years ago with our 2 year old, 3 year old and newborn!

They all needed a little help back to the car....Lilly still very happily rides in my Ergo (LOVE that thing!)...

The the "big" girls? They got a little different sort of ride, ha! Go Daddy!!

Happy New Year from our family to yours....

Cutting the curls!!

2011-12-22T15:46:00.002-06:00

For the past few weeks Lilly's curls just haven't been what the were. She had never had a haircut, so when we drove by the JJs kids cuts today I knew we needed to stop.

On one hand I was hoping that cutting the ends would revive the curls but on the other I was so scared that cutting them would make them go away!!! But, I was SO relieved to find that it totally revived them and now she's looking more like our sweet little curly-haired Lilly....and not like a rodent made their nest in her hair! Yay, Lilly!

"Lil-ly 2!"

2011-12-18T20:15:00.000-06:00

Yes, sweet Lilly is two today (well, actually yesterday- I'm a day late!)! I've worked with her for the last few weeks on this question, "Lilly, how old are you?" And until today she would respond with, "Lilly". Argh! But today, she finally got the question right! I asked her and she said, "Lil-ly 2!"
Unfortunately she had to travel on an airplane all day today, but she didn't seem to mind too much- especially when she was greeted by both of her grandmothers, Papa, Uncle Matt and a very pregnant Aunt Melissa! I didn't get many pictures from the day, but I'm sure we will when we celebrate tomorrow. For today though I had to share this sweet "card" that Annie made for her a few days ago in anticipation of Lilly's big day.

Merry Christmas to all....

2011-12-11T16:28:00.000-06:00

Father Christmas came to Marville Road early this year! At least I suppose that's what the girls thought....if they actually stopped to think about it. Up until this year we haven't had to answer any difficult questions concerning the man in red- but when Annie came home with this....

I figured I'd better think fast!
It reads...
1. a DS (well, upon further questioning she doesn't even know what that is!)
2. an earthworm house
3. a fairy
4. a battle gun
5. a bell
6. a groovy girl (which she also wasn't sure what this was- so sweet, she said she put it on the list so she could find out what it is!)
And then came this....

And yes, she did tell Father Christmas that she wants a remote control tarantula for Christmas!! haha! Thankfully my brother is already on top of that one- right Uncle Nick?!?!
Anyways, "Father Christmas" did come through on the Ant House- however he forgot to think through the fact that ants are hard to come by in England during the winter, hmmm....
And, in case you're wondering, when asked about Father Christmas I responded with, "What do you think?" And then managed to change the subject, whew. And, thankfully nobody asked this morning when they came down the stairs to this...

We had a great morning opening presents and just being together...

Daddy reading the Christmas story to his girlies

Big sisters showing Lilly the ropes, it didn't take her long to catch on to the whole process.

Lilly finally has her own scooter!! And, notice Annie's headphones...she LOVES them!

Christmas Breakfast...we had red velvet pancakes- thanks to pinterest!!

And, their last present was the news that.....WE'RE GOING SKIING!! So here they are decked out in their new gear.

Here's Daddy's main present- a vintage map of Fulham, the area where we live

Afterwards they needed a bit of downtime- The Muppet Family Christmas is a classic Shores tradition, so here they are taking it in for the first time.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas concert #2

2011-12-08T15:31:00.000-06:00

We had Christmas concert #2 today, this time for Annie. She had the coveted role of angel- well, her and about eight other little girls. But hey, I can't blame them- it's fun to be all dressed up!

Here she is....in all her glory :)

Well done our little angel!

Our little singer and her big day

2011-12-07T13:49:00.000-06:00

Today was a big day for little miss Elliott. Her long awaited Christmas play took place today and she couldn't have been more excited. They've been practicing since mid-October! Lately I've been having to coax her out of bed each morning. Not this morning! She was downstairs as fast as her little legs could carry her as soon as the sunshine came up announcing to all of us that today was her big day! So, Josh and I (and a TON of other parents!) went to watch- she was precious, and did a fantastic job. Go Elle!

Afterwards she got to go to her favourite pizza place with friends...

Josephine

And Florence!

And then, as if that wasn't enough- she got to bring Florence home with her...

They played for two hours without needing a bit of help- they both have GREAT imaginations! And then we made a few cookies together before we had to take her home.

I think Elle would definitely agree, it was a fabulous day!

The old ladies were right!

2011-12-02T16:07:00.001-06:00

Reality sometimes takes awhile to penetrate through this brain of mine. I often find that I am traveling so fast through my current life that I take little time to reflect on where I've been, where I am and where I'm going. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not so good. But recently I was forced to hit pause when Josh found a data card from an old phone that I had about four years ago. It took me awhile to figure out how to download the pictures that were on it, but once I did I had one of those moments when I finally did slow down long enough to register that life is on fast forward. As I paged through the pictures of our crazy lives when I had two under two it hit me that- yes indeed that stage of life is over! Gone are the "little years". Yes, my kids are still little...but not like this!

This was dubbed the "special cart", they were oh so happy to score this cart on our frequent Target trips!

Poor buba, the bunny, doesn't get taken on nearly as many outings anymore....

The days of matching outfits are few and far between now, sigh....

This is how Elle rode around the house when mommy was doing laundry, she didn't seem to mind.

This was on Annie's first birthday, now Lilly sits in the same chair. Graco, I highly recommend it!

Whereas I often find myself pushing towards the next life stage, I think for once I'm going to try to put on the brakes a bit more and just be happy where we are.....because now I'm realising all those old ladies in the grocery store were right, time does indeed fly!!

And another year goes by...

2011-11-29T15:42:00.002-06:00

My girls kept getting confused yesterday and saying that I was 23. I loved it. It's not that I really want to be 23 again, but it just makes me laugh to think that I could possibly be 9 years past the age of 23!! Well, they say time flies when you're having fun and we've certainly been having a lot of fun with these ever growing and changing little girls. So yes, I suppose I might actually be 32 after all. And here's the pancake to prove it!

Josh told me not to plan on making dinner last Friday night.... "Ooooo," I said! Then he says, "Well, don't get too excited. You know I only know how to make one thing!" Josh does, in fact, only know how to cook one thing but the truth is he makes fabulous pancakes, woohoo! It was quite cute because he raced home from work that night, kicked me out of the house and proceeded to prepare my birthday dinner with the girls. He kept texting me saying that he needed 10 more minutes, then 5 more minutes, then 5 MORE minutes, haha! He looked a little wiped by the time I got home but he managed to make a lovely birthday dinner despite his "helpers".

And if that wasn't enough, he also took me out for my "grown up birthday outing" to look for a guitar!! I've been wanting one for quite some time so we finally decided to go for it! Now I've got a lot of work to do- yikes! I'll post pictures once I take them :)

Thanks babe for a wonderful birthday!!

The holidays are here!

2011-11-27T16:06:00.002-06:00

I have to say that last Thursday I just could not wrap my mind around the fact that it was Thanksgiving Day. Everything here spoke of a completely normal, run of the mill Thursday in November. The girls were at school, Josh worked and I ran around doing the things that constitute any typical day. So when Friday hit I could not believe that the Christmas season was upon us.....sad, I thought! But, then came Saturday. We'd invited several friends and their families over for a typical American Thanksgiving. I woke up that morning and all the sudden "it" was here. I can't explain exactly what "it" is except that it's that wonderful feeling of knowing that the holiday season is upon you. We played Christmas music as I cooked, put up the tree and had a wonderful time that afternoon and evening with our little family and sweet friends. Here are a few photos of "it" as it descended upon us!

The girlies making Ms Sara's turkeys!

VERY proud...notice the chocolate on A's face :)

Annie didn't think the turkey looked very appetising, but she loved helping prepare the bird!

We picked out our own tree this year, no surprises like last year!

Go Daddy!

This one was taken to contrast this similar one from two years ago, haha!

And tonight we decorated the tree, so here she is...in all her glory.

And here's a bit of the process it took to get there!

Lilly LOVED her first experience decorating the Christmas tree, sheer joy...

Merry Christmas!

Fratello

2011-11-20T14:18:00.002-06:00

My brother, Uncle Nick, came to London! It was a quick trip, but we had a wonderful time having him here- our only regret was that he didn't bring sweet Aunt Lindsay along. Definitely next time....

We only had four short days with him, but we made the most of them. We went for bike rides in Richmond park, walked the girls to school, got lots of coffee but most importantly he and Josh had a man-date on Saturday to pick out new bikes! They figured it'd take a few weeks to actually have them in-hand, but through some amazing customer service (especially for the UK!) they walked out that day with their new babies. They did their first ride across the city of London to come home that night and were QUITE excited to show off their new rides. The word "Fratello" is written on Nick's frame, when he looked it up it means "brother! How appropriate for these brothers-in-law to have had that experience together. Here they are with Nick's bike....check out that grin!

And off they go for another ride...

Into the sunset...

(although it was only about 3:30 in the afternoon....the days in London get VERY short this time of year)

We miss you Uncle Nick, thanks for coming!

All the way from....

2011-11-06T14:24:00.001-06:00

Our groceries arrived the other day (yes, they arrive as in I order them online, a truck brings them to our house and a man drops them in my kitchen! A piece of London I'll definitely miss whenever we move back someday...) and I was putting them away. As I went to grab the sweet potatoes I noticed the sticker affixed on them and to my astonishment they had come to us all the way from.....

good ol' North Carolina!!

Who knew??
They were QUITE good I must say, mmm mmmm......

Jackpot!

2011-10-31T17:02:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween! The big girls came straight home from school today and immediately put on their halloween costumes (thanks Grammy and Poppa for bringing them all the way from the States!).

Our church does a halloween themed party every year for school aged children, so off they went while Lilly was finishing up her afternoon nap. The plan was that I would bring them home around 6 and Josh would take them for a quick trick-or-treating jaunt around the neighbourhood before bedtime while I stayed home to put Lilly to sleep. Well....Lilly didn't like our plan. When the big girls walked in from their party all decked out in their halloween fair Lilly immediately knew she'd missed something. So, after a few minutes we caved and dressed Lilly as well. She was ecstatic.

Me, too?!?!

The big girls schooled her in how to trick or treat....

You ring the bell, look cute and they give you candy?!?!

And she was a pro in no time, even remembering to say thank you!

She (and her sisters!) had quite the stash by the time we returned home- and was quite pleased with herself.

I couldn't resist posting this...I love how she says "bumble bee"!!

A full house...

2011-10-29T16:39:00.000-05:00

I returned from Africa on Sunday morning to a FULL house- my mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and wife were all visiting! Not to mention the girls were on half term break from school this week, goodness!
We've had a great time over the last seven days, but they have been quite full as one can imagine. Our guests made it to Hyde Park, Borrough Market, Westminster, British Museum, British Library, the Tate Modern, the National Gallery and much, MUCH more. The girls and I only did a hand full of those things, but regardless we've had such a great time catching up with everyone and hearing about all their adventures over dinner each night. Here are a few pics from our last week...

Uncle Matt and Elle at Borough Market

Going for a stroll in Hyde Park

She almost went for a swim!

The girls found the perfect climbing tree....

We did a TON of walking....every now and then Elle talked someone into giving her a ride....

Lilly loves to walk these days.... just not always in the same direction, here she's behaving for once!

Thanks to Aunt Melissa for the great pics!

The girls definitely had a GREAT half term break, thanks for coming everyone!

Oh, the children!

2011-10-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

You know how a marshmallow looks in chocolate milk? That's how I felt last week, ha! The children especially we're so taken with the fact that someone came to visit them with blond hair and pale skin. The looks I got were hilarious, one little boy was absolutely terrified of me, poor thing. But for the most part they were excitedly shouting and pointing. They were precious.

Since I couldn't speak their language I just did a lot of smiling and waving and occasionally I could take a picture of two and then let them see their own images- something they don't get the luxury of viewing very often.

Aren't they precious?!?!

5 days with Opportunity International

2011-10-25T15:53:00.001-05:00

I went to Africa last week. Ghana to be exact. And, yes! I am serious.

What in the world is a mother of three small children doing heading to West Africa for 5 days you might ask? And surely the next question is....and what did you do with your children?!?! I'll start with the easier of the two and let you know that Nana (Josh's mom) came to town last Tuesday. She got into Heathrow at 10:30am, arrived at our house around 11:30 and 30 minutes later I was getting into a cab heading to Heathrow myself after giving her a whirlwind update on all things Shores-girl. It felt nuts.

You see, for quite some time now Josh and I have been involved with Opportunity International which is a Christian charity organisation that cares for the poor and underprivledged by offering them micro-loans, among other things, allowing them to work themselves out of the poverty cycle. From time to time they do something called Insight Trips, allowing their donors to view first hand how their monetary support is influencing and changing the lives of individuals in the various countries they serve. The original plan was for both Josh and I to go, but as it got closer we realised that might be a bit of a stretch for him so, yes, I went by myself- yikes!

It was an amazing, shocking and heartbreaking 5 days. We arrived on Tuesday evening and then began our touring the following morning. In all we visited 7 different sites ranging from the inner city to remote villages, all along the way meeting and talking to countless people who's lives had been impacted by the kindness and opportunity showed to them by this organisation.

While OI has many facets to it's offerings the main two things it provides the underprivileged is 1) the ability to take out small loans without collateral that can help them grow their businesses and 2) an option for savings- something that typically is not available to poor people and those living in remote areas. They literally drive this truck into the villages to collect people's savings and do other transactions. I think the people were a little skeptical at first when the truck drove away with their money but they've since overcome the fear and love the security saving their money with a bank gives them.

They also provide financial literacy programs

as well as affordable insurance programs- another thing rarely offered to those living in poverty. I must say that while I have read about all of these various forms of aid to actually see them in action was stunning. To witness first hand the proud looks on some of the clients' faces when they brought us to their "shops" was something that can not be explained on paper.

This is a man who's been able to double the stock of his pharmacy from the OI loans.

This is Olivia, a woman who's been able to open a new shop bc of the OI loans.

It was a breathtaking week full of inspiration and heartbreak all at the same time. To see these people who live with none of the comforts that have become standard in the developed world thanking and praising the name of Jesus for the little they do have despite all they've been through was humbling and definitely a cause for introspection.

More to come....

A day in the life with three little girls...

2011-10-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Who's that?!?!

Quite the difference from her usual curly locks!

As I finished drying Elle's hair tonight another little girl was apparently patiently awaiting her turn. Lilly immediately came over pointing to the stool and saying, "Hair, hair, hair??" So, I popped her up there and gave her quite a transformation in a matter of minutes. By the time I was done it was quite clear that she thought she was big stuff!

Her sisters complimented her and then took her to the bow box and set to work...this was their finished product.

I'm not sure Lilly liked it as much as they did though!

A day in the life with three little girls...

And they all said, "AMEN!!"

2011-10-09T15:59:00.000-05:00

We've now been living here for 20-odd months. For the entirety of that time as well as many, many months prior our church, St Paul's Hammersmith, has been working on an expansion that will provide not only the church with more workable space but also be used as a community centre for west London thus creating a great outreach opportunity for all those it will serve. Today was the official opening ceremony. I assumed a few people would be there, cut a ribbon and that would be that. No way. Instead of the three services normally taking place on every other Sunday throughout the year, there was only one 4pm service- meaning the entire 800? person congregation was in this ancient building at the same time. Candles lined the side of the stone building, the Bishop of London delivered the sermon, it was quite a special time.

And after all that there was a reception complete with champagne and cupcakes.

The entrance from that main worship area to the new addition- sorry for the crummy pics!

The adults got to tour the new area while our children were entertained by a very well know children's entertainer, Mr Marvel. Even Lilly joined in the action.

It was such a reminder of God's faithfulness as well as His plan for the future of London, our church and our family....

Indian Summer

2011-10-02T15:17:00.000-05:00

We had yet another visitor over the last few days....Ms Sara!!

She couldn't come for long, but we made the most of our three days that we had with her. We just did the normal routine with her for Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday we headed out to Richmond park for a hilltop picnic...

bike ride....

and even a dip in the creek before it was all done.

which Lilly couldn't decide if she loved....

or hated....

Either way, a good time was had by all. We missed you already Ms. Sara!

Heat Wave!

2011-10-02T14:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, those are my girls wearing sleeveless dresses and flip flops on October 2nd in London, England- what in the world?!?! For some reason mother nature has chosen to give us a true Indian summer and we are living it up. It looks as if tomorrow will be our last day of it, but these past 4 days of 80 degree plus weather has been such a gift.

MIA!

2011-09-28T04:33:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's the end of September and I've only done 4 posts for the whole month- good grief! We said goodbye to Grammy this morning and are gearing up for another special person tomorrow, but meanwhile, here's a glimpse into what we've been up to these last few weeks. I'll get back on the wagon soon!

13.1...It's about time!

2011-09-26T04:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, I ran 13.1 miles yesterday....and I have to say...."It's about time!" This is the third half marathon that I've trained for but only the first that I've actually completed, a little pathetic I know. Two weeks before the first in Wilmington, NC I found out I was pregnant with Annie- so Josh ran alone. And a week before the second in Memphis I fell tearing some ligaments in my foot, so again....Josh ran alone. This time poor Josh didn't bother to sign up and I actually made it to race day to complete the 13 miles- woohoo! My mom went with me so Josh could take the girls to their school fair, so when I got home the first thing Annie said to me with a very serious face was..."Mommy, did you finish last?" I died laughing- I guess I've played up Josh's speed and my lack there of a bit much. I certainly didn't finish first, but I most definitely wasn't last either amidst the 17,000 runners yesterday.

It was nuts, but I can finally say I've done it- whew!

Hooray, it's my birthday!!

2011-09-13T04:33:00.000-05:00

Elle's birthday is finally here! Woohoo! Here's our sweet four year old with her birthday cupcakes....

It's hard to believe that the sweet little bundle that surprised us at 2:51am on this day back in 2007 is the our vibrant, funny and beautiful little Elle Belle who's now four years old!

Belle, what a blessing you are- thanks for always bringing a smile to our faces with your antics and for your generous little heart. I loved that you wanted to still snuggle with mommy yesterday and it made my heart melt every time I opened my eyes and saw you just laying there watching me. You're turning into such an amazing girl both inside and out. We've loved watching you grow over the last four years and are so excited about what God holds for your future. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

We're actually not going to celebrate her big day with our family until Thursday when Grammy and Papa Scott arrive, but we figured one early present wouldn't hurt....Elle agreed!

A new lunchbox!

And, if you haven't noticed yet the girls are wearing their school uniforms because, drum roll please, they FINALLY started school today- woohoo! Annie is feeling quite big as she heads into year one, and Elliott has moved up to the oldest group in her nursery class. They were both SUPER excited to be headed off to school this morning.

Not only were the big girls and I ready, but I think Lilly is ready for a bit more down time herself with no sisters to torment her- haha!

Elle Belle's Ballerina Party!

2011-09-05T15:42:00.001-05:00

It's quite tricky having a September birthday here in the UK as it falls exactly when school is starting- and this year Elle's birthday actually falls directly on the day that school is starting......so.....we decided to have a birthday party for her today instead of next week which will surely be crazy. It's a little complicated explaining to her that while we did indeed have a birthday party today it's not her actually birthday....meaning she's yes, still three. Oh well, regardless of her confusion she still had a wonderful ballerina party today.

Obviously I did not make the cake- isn't it cute?!?!

Even Lilly dressed up for the occasion.

They had a BLAST with the balloons- totally made the crazy price I paid for them worth it, haha!

Daddy was a lifesaver- he's quite the great entertainer!

Thanks for the birthday outfit Nana and Papa Dave!

They loved the ballet shoe pinata....

even Lilly joined in....

It was tough to crack so Daddy finally had to take a whack!

After all her friends left Elle looked at me and said, "I love my friends, and mommy...I loved my ballerina party." She melted my heart, especially after all the effort that goes into a four year old birthday party. But after that unsolicited comment I'd gladly do it all again!

Just Gibberish

2011-09-02T13:24:00.001-05:00

This has been a rather uneventful week, hence the lack of posts. The girls participated in Fulham FC's football camp once again but I believe they spent more time making "scarecrows" out of orange cones and american soccer balls than they did actually playing football. And since there's not much to tell you other than that I thought I'd include a humorous comment that Elliott made earlier in the week....
As time has gone on I keep expecting Lilly to begin to have more to say- well, let me correct that statement- I keep expecting her to have more intelligible to say. She talks a LOT and seems to think she's being understood, but unfortunately even I can't understand what she's saying 99% of the time! Poor thing. Anyways...the other night we were sitting at dinner when Elle asks me quite seriously, "Mummy, does Lilly speak Indian?" I thought I'd die laughing- poor little Elle thought that she didn't understand her sister because she was speaking a different language as many of her friends here do- haha! Once I stopped laughing I finally was able to explain to her that Lilly didn't speak another real language per-say- just gibberish. I think Elle felt genuinely relieved that her sister wasn't talented enough to actually be speaking another language yet!

We're back!

2011-08-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

Well we made it back to our side of the pond and have spent the last five days playing with Nana, enjoying a little more space in our own house and getting used to the English weather once again. We went from 100s+ and feeling like the middle of the summer, to 50s and more fall-like weather...craziness. I did take these pictures one particularly hot day in Raleigh, I'm posting both for our UK and US friends

anyways.....it was HOT....

....but so very fun to see so many family members and friends. We slept in five different places, packed and unpacked 13 times over the almost five weeks, and saw at least 50 people we've been missing over the last 7 months. Thanks to everyone who hosted us, cooked for us, went out of the way to meet with us and just generally loved on us! It was another great summer spent in (mostly!) the Carolinas!

Over the river and through the woods

2011-08-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

We definitely felt like we were doing just that last Friday as we made our way from the coast to northern Georgia. What should have taken us 5.5 hours took instead 7.5- yikes, not fun with 3 kids in tow but we finally made it and the girls have not uttered the b-word (bored!!) since! Oh what fun they've had at their Nana and Papa's house. When we arrived their cousins were still here so the first few days were spent with their favorite playmates. Have I mentioned there's three girls in each family relatively around the same ages meaning no girl is ever left out? It's little girl heaven. They've been going on hikes,

playing in waterfalls,

finding tadpoles,

having picnics,

having talent shows,

going for pony rides,

Annie got to canter this year which she was QUITE pleased with,

and so much more.

Thanks Nana and Papa for the great times thus far!

Little Chef's Party

2011-08-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

As soon as the girls could hold a spoon they've been helping my mom cook whenever they were given the chance and it hasn't stopped since. So.....because their birthdays fall in June and September we figured August was the perfect time to celebrate and why not with a 'little chef's party'?!?! Here's a link to Grammy's (my mom's!) post. And....how appropriate that it's on her cooking blog! I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again- if you've ever had anything that I've made that's just divine most likely it came from my mom, feel free to snoop a bit around her site I promise you won't be disappointed!

Beach Week II

2011-08-03T20:40:00.001-05:00

We're still in the SC low country and loving every minute of it. The girls have been having a blast spending more time on the beach, in the pool, going on bike rides, cooking with Grammy, searching for starfish and going on alligator hunts!

What an amazing week it's been thus far- one more fun-filled day to go....

Shores Beach Week 2011

2011-07-31T21:07:00.001-05:00

Shores Beach week 2011 has sadly come and gone....but it was just as great as I had been anticipating all year long. Thanks fam!!

This was Lilly's first time down to the beach for the summer- you can see the wonder in her face, love it.

Feet in the water...bliss

I think it's definitely safe to say that a good time was had by all!

Best buds

The yearly throwing of the girls...

Little Mermaids

Sheer joy, can you blame her?!?!

Girls, girls and more girls!

2011-07-27T08:52:00.001-05:00

We're at the beach in SC at the moment but you'd never know if based on the weather....gray, dreary, rain- didn't we leave London for this?!?! But amazingly, weather aside, our girls are having a blast playing with their other three cousins. They've played games, built forts, gone for rainy walks on the beach and swung in the hammock more times than I can count. Yay for cousin time!

Add caption

Even Lilly has a buddy!

Sweet Sisters

But, we're definitely hoping for a bit more sunshine to come our way soon!

A glimpse

2011-07-22T19:01:00.000-05:00

It's been non-stop ever since we landed in the States on Tuesday, but here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to!

Made it!

2011-07-20T07:06:00.001-05:00

After an interesting turn of events Josh had to stay behind in London for a few extra days so the girlies and I attempted our first solo flight across the Atlantic (sounds so epic!) yesterday. And.....I'm proud to say- we made it!! It was touch and go for a while and not much sleep was achieved by any of the girls, but we're here- finally...

Here they are at the beginning of yesterday's journey outside Heathrow....

Bye for now...

2011-07-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is a big day. For months now July 19th has loomed in my mind for two reasons. One, because we are headed back to the good ol' US of A to spend some long awaited time with friends and family which we are quite excited about. But the other reason it has been such a is because not only are we leaving the UK tomorrow but Mr Josh and Ms Sara, our now former nanny and still dear friends leave to move back to the US as well. Let me first say that I never in a million years planned on getting a nanny at any point in my life. "I can do it myself", has been my motto for better or for worse since I was two! Those words were true of my parenting style as well until Josh announced his plans to go to Tokyo last spring after we'd moved here and reality hit that I had three small children in a foreign country without knowing a single soul. Enter Sara, an energetic American teacher living in London with nothing to fill her time. God, seriously? Could the match have been any better? I have no idea how many hours she has spent with our girls in the time since, but they are in love with her and I think she'd definitely say she is in love with them. She has been such a blessing to us in the way she cares for our children- but also in the friendship we've built over the many hours spent under the same roof, dealing with the same tantrums and loving the same little girls' hearts. Never did I dream last April the blessing that God was about to pour out onto our lives through our need- but it once again reminds me of his goodness and faithfulness to work for the good of those called according to his purpose. He not only filled our need but gave us so much more- and despite the sadness of no longer having Ms Sara in our daily lives I am convinced of two things...1) we have a life long friendships to look forward to as they build their new lives in Charlotte and we come to visit and 2) God will surely provide beyond what we ask or imagine yet again.

We're going to miss you Ms. Sara, but can't wait to see how our relationships develop in the years to come!

Last Day of school!

2011-07-14T12:39:00.001-05:00

I know school has been out for weeks now in the States, but believe it or not today was FINALLY our last day of school on this side of the Atlantic! They're allowed to wear "home clothes" on the last day of school- hence the lack of their normal uniforms. They were SO excited and had their outfits all picked out two days before hand, hehe...

We decided that the special occasion warranted a little treat on the way to school- yummy croissants!

Annie had her big sleepover last night with Mr Josh and Ms Sara, so she was a little tired- but oh, so happy.

Today was only a half day, but I think the excitement mixed with a bit of sadness was a little tough to take, they were both physically and mentally exhausted. Early bedtimes tonight :)

But what a great year we've had!

Sweet success!

2011-07-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

Elliott's slumber party with Mr Josh and Ms Sara was a hit! She went to bed no problem and had a blast with Ms Sara the next morning at Hyde Park.

So big!

It's Annie's turn tonight, so we'll see how it goes....

Slumber party #1!

2011-07-11T15:46:00.000-05:00

Tonight is a long awaited night. For weeks now- basically since the last time they did it!- the girls have been asking to have another sleepover with Ms Sara and Mr Josh. But instead of it being both of them we decided it might be nice for each of them to have their own special night. So...after school today Elliott came home to the good news that today was her special day. She was pumped and immediately ran upstairs to get "dressed"- ie take off her sports uniform that she loathes and don something a bit more girly. She came downstairs shortly thereafter ready to go- and off they went....

hand in hand.

Just like my big "didter"!

2011-07-08T07:03:00.000-05:00

This picture makes me laugh, just thought I'd share.....

Happy Friday!

The peaceful Cotswolds

2011-07-07T09:59:00.002-05:00

While I got a taste of the Cotswolds a few months ago with my mom and sister-in-law Josh still hadn't experienced them so....I'd asked Sara, our nanny (and friend!), if we could have one last getaway weekend before she moves back to the States. She gladly said yes- I think they had great fun of their own, see it here.
So Josh and I packed up the car and headed north about two hours to the lovely Cotswolds. They are unbelievably picturesque and so authentic!

This is the village of Chipping Campden where we stayed.

It cracks me up how they'll have a mail box on the side of a country road in the middle of nowhere like this one!

We went on a long country walk to the next village where we found a delightful little pub to have lunch. There are miles and miles of "public foot paths" throughout the Cotswolds. Basically these paths existed before the towns did, so they go through sheep fields, vegetable fields, people's private property, etc etc.

Here's Josh going through one of the sheep-proof gates on the public foot path.

I'd certainly never been in a sheep field before visiting the Cotswolds!

Saturday evening we headed about 10 miles north to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Sound familiar? It's where Shakespeare was born and where the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is located. We got there with time to go to dinner, but as we drove into town and saw the river we decided to scrap the fancy dinner plans and instead go for a boat ride on the Avon!

Josh started off with the oars....

but since he's nursing some tenditis in his forearms I took over. One of the guys sitting on the bank of the river definitely yelled, "That's it! Get your missus to row!" haha.

I didn't mind, and I must say....I was the better rower....I think all those years of rowing at UNC-Chapel Hill finally paid off!

We couldn't possibly go there without seeing a play but the only thing playing was MacBeth....a dark tragedy. So, we went. It was not exactly an enjoyable story, but wow- I have to say it was quite the experience getting to see a Shakespearean play in Stratford-upon-Avon. I felt quite cultured, haha!
The following day we rented bikes and rode on the country lanes through various villages and towns.

Here we are on the edge of a field of poppies.

What a wonderfully peaceful weekend!

Happy Birthday USA!

2011-07-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

It's quite odd to have not be at the beach with Josh's family for the 4th of July. Except for the year Annie was born I've been there every year for the last ten years. Of course, for Josh it's an even longer streak! His extended family has such a great tradition of heading to Litchfield Beach, SC every summer over the 4th of July week. It's a streak that's been going now for almost 50 years! But, since school doesn't end in the UK for another two weeks there was no way we could swing an independence day family beach week so....they all changed! We couldn't believe it, but I guess being together is more important than the date we do it so thanks to all who switched their schedules to include us- we're sad to not be shooting off fireworks on the beach tonight but so excited to see all of you in a couple weeks! Happy Fourth of July!

Sports Day

2011-07-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

For weeks now the girls have been coming home saying they've been practicing for their "running races", ie Sports Day.

But as we began to ask further questions we realised there were other races as well....

Skipping

Sack races...

"Tunnel ball"

Obstacle courses

And....drum roll please....a Daddy's chicken race- and Josh, being the great dad that he is, participated!

Elliott was SO proud.

Great job to all!

I'm not making this stuff up!

2011-06-29T07:55:00.000-05:00

I know I tend to be quite the whiner when it comes to the British weather....
But for the past two weeks we've been having the craziest weather day after day after crazy day. For almost two weeks straight we had these swings from bright blue sky, to driving wind and rain- and that cycle would happen 6 or 7 times each day. You NEVER knew what to dress for! But the worst I have to say was Monday to Tuesday. Monday the thermometer topped out at a steamy and humid 90 degrees- which is fine if you have AC, but in the majority of houses and businesses in this normally temperate city this in not the case- including our house! So we sweated it out for two nights knowing that a cooler day was forecasted for Tuesday. It started out cloudy, but OK, so Sara, Lilly and I decided to take a trip out to Richmond along the Thames. Everything was great until we were eating outside by the river. It started with pelting rain, then came the thunder and lightening, wind- you get the picture. We huddled under this tent as it seemed to pass as our car was a good third of a mile away. It finally looked like things were getting better so off we went. Unfortunately I only had the car stroller in tow which didn't have a rain cover, so this is how Lilly rode to the car....

She kept peeking out and getting pelted in the face with rain, poor thing.

We got about half way or so when all the sudden it completely stops raining. I take down my umbrella. Bad idea. Something hits me on the head! I look around and realise it's HAILING!! ha! We found a bit of shelter next to this ancient brick wall and under a tree to dodge the bigger than pea sized hail and about died laughing at the absurdity of it all. Here's a video just so you know I'm really not making this stuff up!

And today?? Absolutely the most perfect day. Sunny, 70s and not a cloud in the sky. Almost as if Mother Nature is saying...."who, me? I would NEVER do such a thing!"

Happy 5th Birthday Bananie!

2011-06-25T15:36:00.000-05:00

I'm warning you now...this is going to be a long one, with LOTS of pictures....we had a big day!!

I can't believe I'm actually writing these words....but my sweet little firstborn Annie is five years old today! Where has the time gone? Although I really don't remember much about life before her it's quite hard to believe only five short years have gone by.

I had a think of what Annie might like to do for her birthday and I realised the thing she'd like most is to be able to help with the preparations. Like her mother, she's not a big surprise kind of girl. So, yesterday we started making her cake together- some parts she watched, but every bit that she could do she did. Here's the final product, she was quite proud.

We finished the cake right before bedtime...which meant neither of them went to sleep till probably 9:30 out of pure excitement! Then it was up again this morning to start the real festivities. We had a birthday breakfast complete with french toast, eggs, fruit and....of course, presents!

For months she has been asking for roller skates. Not roller blades, roller skates. I'm not so sure where she got the idea but we got the memo. I ordered these online a few weeks ago and I have to say....they are the COOLEST roller skates I've ever seen. I was so excited last week when they arrived...

...and yes, she loved them!

Josh came home from work yesterday grinning like a cheshire cat. He had been thinking about the fact that Annie was turning five- a fairly big occasion- and so had decided to pick out a "real" necklace for her that she'll (hopefully!!) have for a long time. It's a little silver heart, and Annie loved it.

We spent the rest of the morning helping Annie skate back and forth across the downstairs and playing with birthday gifts. After a brief quiet time for all the little girls we headed to The Little Gym where Annie had her birthday party.

All I'll say is that it was a BIG hit, totally her kind of party!

And after a little cake (or a lot!)....

....it was time to head home!

What a great day, Happy 5th Birthday Annie Bananie! We're SO proud of you!

Bye, bye summer solstice!

2011-06-24T04:06:00.000-05:00

Now that we've been here for almost a year and a half some thing about living in London feel completely normal while others are still going to take some getting used to. Like this....

I took this picture from the top floor of our house at 10:15pm the other night. Yes, I feel like I'm ten all over again having to go to bed while it's still light! Since we're so much further from the equator here it doesn't get dark till around 10:30pm and begins to get light again at 4am. While all the light is nice compared to the dark winters, I'm definitely looking forward to some longer nights in the coming months- it's hard to sleep when it looks like daytime outside. Bye bye for now summer solstice, I'm a little tired (literally) from all the sunshine!

Happy Father's Day Daddio!

2011-06-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Not sure exactly where the "Daddio" came from, but that's been Josh's name for the last 6 months or so according to the girls, and Daddio had quite the day on Sunday.

Father's Day breakfast

Annie reading to Josh the "My Dad" book

The lovely picture Annie drew of him

I know this is hard to read to I'll translate...I love my Daddy because I like to jump on his belly. She loves her rough playtime with her daddy!

Happy Father's Day sweetheart, what a privilege it is to parent next to such an amazing man.

Even stinky doggies

2011-06-22T03:50:00.001-05:00

I think I brought this one on myself...
I’m always pointing to flowers, leaves, etc along the way as we walk from place to place saying, “Look, isn’t that amazing? Who made that?” To which the girls answer, “God!!” So, today A & E were waiting for me to come out of the house and a woman with a little dog walked by. I heard the girls ask her if they could pet the thing. It took me another minute or so to get out of the house, so by the time I got out there the woman was gone. We started walking to school and Annie says, “Mommy, that doggy was stinky!” “Oh no”, I’m thinking to myself....did they tell that woman her dog was stinky?!?! As I start questioning them about it and explaining that you can’t tell someone that their dog stinks Elliott all the sudden pipes up saying, “Mommy, do you know who made that dog stinky??? God made that dog stinky!” haha! It’s true I guess...God even makes stinky dogs.

Dear Lilly...

2011-06-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

Dear Lilly,
You are growing up so fast. It makes my momma's heart quite sad, but thankfully lately I've had a little extra time so that I can really enjoy you at this current stage before you rush off to the next one. Each day I get to spend at home with you is such a blessing. You make me smile and laugh so often I just can't record it all on this blog!
Your enthusiasm for books is priceless. Just today you motioned for me to sit down on the ottoman near the kitchen, once I was in place you went over to the toy basket and pulled out the first book you could find, handed it to me and then climbed up into my lap. You weren't satisfied until I had read it at least four times, and quite honestly....I would have read it a hundred times!
You can't really say a single word yet, but we have so much fun talking gibberish to each other, it sounds a little like some language they must speak in Africa, but you are so convincing as you "tell" me something, I just have to answer back in that same funny language. You are so full of life right now and just so happy (almost!) all the time. Tonight before bed you gave your daddy a kiss and then pulled back making the most endearing face- I think his heart about melted.
You are quite adventurous and ready to explore anything and everything. Today I was downstairs and all the sudden I heard quite the clatter. Suddenly you started crying, but I knew you weren't hurt- it was just an "I'm frustrated" cry. When I walked into the bathroom this is what I found.

You had climbed up those steps and onto the counter, then apparently tried to grab something off the mirror shelf and instead fell into the sink. Please forgive me for the extra 10 seconds you sat there while I rushed downstairs to grab my camera. It was just too precious not to capture!

We went to the corner shop the other day and you insisted on pushing your baby buggy and carrying a purse. Who taught you that little girls are supposed to do that? You're getting SO big.

And then just last night I was standing in the kitchen with my back to you apparently long enough for you to climb the onto the kitchen table chair, onto the table and then into your highchair to let mommy know you were hungry and ready for your dinner- ha! I mean, who needs a vocabulary when they can quite clearly get their point across by using other means??
Lilly, you are a joy to have as a daughter and I'm loving each day I get to spend with you. Thanks for being my little buddy, I love being your mommy.
Love,
Mommy

Mission Accomplished!

2011-06-06T07:50:00.001-05:00

Josh and I are feeling quite accomplished at the moment. As we pulled onto our street late last night having completed a most wonderful week on the coast of Cornwall we high-fived- ha! Traveling and trying to vacation with three under the age of five is a little daunting so we've had yet to really take a vacation with just our not so little family. While we LOVE doing our yearly combined family trips with the aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins there was something very grown up feeling about having completed a week on our own. I have to admit, going into the week I was quite nervous thinking it was going to be SO much work and not at all relaxing- but it was actually just the opposite. It also helped that the last two days ended up being absolutely gorgeous!

This was the girls' highlight of the week, I believe. They did it four times each and both figured out how to flip backwards and forwards. Annie even figured out a double flip, go Bananie!

And on the last day....Mommy did it, too!

I was soooooo sore today.....and felt quite old :(

Lilly was content to be a spectator, maybe next year Lil!

OK, we did cheat a little bit and had two very special visitors towards the end of the week which just topped off an already fabulous week....Mr Josh and Ms Sara!

And while Ms Sara doesn't have her wetsuit on in this picture- they BOTH braved the cold waters and tried surfing, Woohoo! I think Mr Josh enjoyed it a bit more than Ms Sara, but she was a good sport.

All in all it was a great half term week at the "seaside", as the girls called it. We'll definitely be back!

Writing in the sand

2011-06-05T14:20:00.000-05:00

These were Annie's work....

This was Elliott's...

precious and backwards....

And this one just cracked me up, my new name I suppose....

So sweet, I love this family...

Loving the Cornish Coast

2011-06-04T03:53:00.000-05:00

For the past four days we've been exploring the southwest corner of England. While gorgeous, it's not exactly what most of my US followers would think of when I say "we went to the beach in June". Here's what I wore to the beach this morning....

....and I was still cold!

We did manage to get some decent (ie 60s) weather later today...for about 3 hours. So we made the most of it and headed down to the beach.

Lilly wasn't so sure about walking on the sand with her bare feet....so she stayed put on the blanket....

And ATE the sand instead- gross Lilly!!

Regardless, I believe a good time was had by all!

Crash test baby

2011-06-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

This is Lilly's latest obsession.

For years I've scoffed at parents who put their children in a harness. Famous last words...yes, I bought one for Lilly a few weeks ago thinking it would be quite convenient for teaching her to walk down the busy sidewalks of London. That idea didn't go so well. As soon as I attached the "leash", she became limp as a noodle. Oh well...I put the thing away. Lilly found it a few days later and ever since has been obsessed with wearing the thing....minus the leash, along with a helmet. I guess since she sees her sisters wear their helmets everywhere they go she figured she should wear hers, too. So this is what she often looks like...

And thank goodness because this is what she enjoys doing in her recent spare time...

No joke, she did this at least 15 times before I was able to distract her, she just found herself so stinkin' funny....I have to admit, I agree!

A free spirit

2011-05-30T04:05:00.000-05:00

Elle Belle has been my free spirit since day one and hasn't stopped. I mean, the kid arrived both upside down and backwards....sunnyside up I think they call it? And most of the time, she is indeed quite sunny in her disposition. Since Annie has started playing the violin Elliott has become yet again obsessed with playing her purple guitar that Nana and Papa Dave got her for her third birthday. We were outside the other day and the shots that I captured of her were so indicative of her personality, I just had to share...

Doesn't it look like she should have a little hat laid out to collect tips?!?!

Off she goes to make her way in the world...

Sunny-side up girl...
Love you Belle!!

Our little violinist

2011-05-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

Annie had been begging to learn a musical intrusment for some time now and after consulting Papa Scott, aka the music man, we decided on the violin. So, a few weeks ago I loaded her onto the back of my bicycle and we took a little trip across the river to the music store where they measured her for a violin. It was adorable, given her small size she needs a 1/8 sized violin. Meaning 1/8 of the size of a normal one!

Josh's hand in comparison!

She's had a few weeks of lessons now and is doing quite well. She practices about 3 to 4 times a week and has even given her little sister a few lessons...

At the moment she's the only one in her class learning violin, so she's quite proud on Monday mornings when she gets to carry it to school for her weekly lesson.

Great job Annie!

Little Lilly's not so little...

2011-05-17T01:54:00.000-05:00

While the big girls get their fair share of air time on this blog, I realised that since Lilly turned one (in December!) she hasn't gotten nearly as many posts dedicated to just her....so here goes.
Here are a few pics from Lilly's recent favourite pastimes...

Looking at books (like my big sister Elliott)...

Being a monkey (like my big sister Annie!)

Walking by myself down the sidewalk...

Any chance she gets she's out the door and down the road, not too sure what the attraction is other than to annoy mommy, but she LOVES it!

"I got a little booboo," Lilly says. "It looks a lot worse than it actually was....and mommy said it made me look even cuter!"

This is how her hair is looking....minus the Southern US heat and humidity- can't imagine how it's going to look at the beach this summer!

Thanks for checking in!

Restoration

2011-05-16T13:34:00.000-05:00

As some of you might know whether from personal experience or from reading this, we had to begin cutting Annie's beautiful curly blond hair quite short from the age of 20 months because of a habit she'd developed of pulling it and then ingesting the stuff, gross- I know, but kids do crazy things. The most recent time we've cut it was a little over a year and a half ago (right before Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa's wedding, sorry about that guys!). Here's a link from then, check it out....

Since we'd started cutting it so early on in her little life we never knew what gorgeously thick and beautiful hair God had blessed this child with...until now! The bible says in Joel 2:25 that "God will restore what the locusts have eaten". And well, while no locusts ate Annie's hair it was quite a trying and heart breaking period to have to do this to such a young and developing little girl. It seems, however, that those horrible haircuts didn't scar little Annie too much and if at all they did then all compliments she's currently getting on her locks should smooth those hurts over in no time. Check it out just 19 months after the last buzz cut...

I tell her, "I wish MY hair grew that fast!!"

Don't you?!?!

My little independent soul....

2011-05-10T06:55:00.003-05:00

Each night before the girls go to bed I sing, "Go to sleep". The other night Annie stopped me halfway through and asked, "Mommy instead of singing 'Little Annie', could you sing 'Big Annie'?" Just the other day she told me that her wish as she blew on a dandelion was that she would grow up to be an adult as fast as possible. "That's mommy's WORST nightmare!" I told her. But, as much as I don't like those reminders that she is not only wanting to but indeed growing up, I can totally identify with her because I was the exact same way as a child...always wanting to be older and bigger- regardless, it still makes this momma's heart sad.

But today my little independent soul was quite happy. She'd gotten a bike for Christmas but had been highly insulted that it had training wheels attached. After some quick talking Josh and I were able to reassure her that in time and with some practice she would eventually be able to cycle with them removed. Well, last weekend was the big debut. We all went down to a nearby park and Josh removed the hated training wheels. I assumed she'd have a hard time at first so I took the little girls around the corner while Josh worked with her. Not five minutes later I looked over my shoulder and this is what I saw...

She had a little trouble starting and stopping so we told her she had to wait a few weeks before riding to school, a fact she was NOT happy about. She worked hard in the days since and today was the big day. It's a little nerve racking, I think, learning to ride a bike in London because either you ride in a park like this or you ride on the sidewalks which have a brick wall running down one side- yikes!

She did well though, only one fall this morning on the way to school, SO big! She was quite proud as you can see....

Congratulations "Big Annie"!

Poor Elliott had to run all the way to school to keep up, she didn't seem to mind though :)

Mommy Grace

2011-05-08T06:56:00.004-05:00

This is a sweet adaptation of 1 Corinthians 13 that I thought quite appropriate to share on Mother's Day....America's version anyways. Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to both my mom and my mother in law for embodying the love that this speaks of....

“ I can read bedtime stories till the cow jumps over the moon and sing “Ten Little Monkeys” until I want to call the doctor – but if I don’t have love, I’m as annoying as a ringing phone.

I can chase a naked toddler through the house while cooking dinner and listening to my voice mail, I can fix the best cookies and Kool-Aid in the neighborhood, and I can tell a sick child’s temperature with one touch of my finger, but if I don’t have love, I am nothing.

If I live in the house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness, not godliness.

If I scream at my children for every infraction, and fault them for every mess they make, but have not love, my children become people-pleasers, not obedient children.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh. Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window. Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk. Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love is patient when my child chooses to show their artistic talent with crayons on the wall for the third time.

Love is kind when my child says, “I don’t like you anymore!”

It does not envy the neighbors’ swimming pool or their brand-new mini van, but trusts the Lord to provide every need.

Love does not brag when other parents share their disappointments and insecurities and love rejoices when other families succeed.

It doesn’t boast, even when I’ve multi-tasked all day long and my husband can’t do more than one thing at a time. ☺

Love is not rude when my spouse innocently asks, “What have you done today?”

It does not immediately seek after glory when we see talent in our children, but encourages them to get training and make wise choices.

It is not easily angered, even when my child acts like the world revolves around her.

It does not delight in evil, is not self-righteous, but rejoices in the truth. Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present “mommy,” the taxi-driver to every childhood event, the counselor when my children fail or are hurt.

Love does not give up hope. It always protects our children’s self-esteem and spirit, even while handing out discipline.

It always trusts God to protect our children when we cannot. It always perseveres, through blue nail polish, rolled eyes and crossed arms, messy rooms and sleepovers.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child and then, stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection. Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.

All the projections I had for my house and my children have faded away into insignificance, and what remains are the memories of my kids.

Love never fails.

But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labor, they will fade away.

Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease.

Where there is a child who thinks she knows everything, there will one day be an adult who knows you did your best.

When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us. Now that we’re parents ourselves, we have a heavenly Father who adores us, shelters us, and holds us when we need to cry.

Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture, dishes with missing place settings, and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings, but the greatest of all is the Love that permeates my relationships with my children.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

A weekend to remember

2011-05-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned in the past couple posts the girls were out of school for quite some time over the last month....actually ALL of the last month. Which was actually quite nice at first, but by last week we were all beginning to feel the strain. Thankfully this past weekend we were invited by some friends of ours here to come away with them to the country. Now here I must stop for most of my US readers and explain that while "the country" doesn't mean anything special in the US- perhaps as it exists in such abundance??- it most definitely is something special here. After a very LONG drive (5.5 hours+) we arrived in an area of England called Northumbria. It was spectacular.
We were most definitely outnumbered by sheep, but still- it was just stunning rural and beautiful. The girls, who have become quite the city girls in the short course of their lives, had an absolute blast fishing for tadpoles,

baking bread and roasting marshmallows over a bonfire,

going swimming in a freezing cold pond (yes, in their underwear!),

running up and down the coast of the North Sea overshadowed by an ancient castle,

and just being free to be little wild girls. (It helped that we were on holiday with our friends and their two boys!)

Despite all the car time it was an amazing weekend away from all that we call familiar at this point in our lives. And, as much a we love London, we LOVED the English countryside as well. Even little Lilly who didn't understand much of this "tom-foolery" seemed to enjoy herself. As we drove home she kept pointing to the multitudes of sheep we passed saying, "Eeep, Eeep, Eeep! Aaaaaaa"

A good time was certainly had by all...

Another bunny lover....

2011-04-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

All three of our girls were gifted a Bunny by the Bay bunny by their sweet Aunt Annie, my mom's youngest sister. Our Annie fell in love with "Buba" quite early on. Elliott and "Momo" followed suit. Lilly is undeniably attached to her bunny as well, although it remains unnamed as of yet...
I learned my lesson over the years and now each girl has several bunny "sisters" so that when one becomes lost or dirty I can substitute a "sister" without them loosing any sleep. While I was quite carefully to hide the sisters while Annie and Elliott were younger I've since become quite lazy in that department and Lillian is very aware that there are multiple bunnies around this house. She spotted one here on the drying rack (top right) and simply stood there screaming until I handed it to her. (yes, I did feel like a terribly mean mom taking this picture, but it was just too cute not to!)

Happy Girl....

The other day my mom brought a few new instalments from the States. Well, our housekeeper found them and seeing as how she has such a soft spot for little Lilly she handed them ALL over!

Oh, I have never seen this child happier...

Here she is headed up to her room surely thinking she's going to have the nap of her life!

Ni-night...

The Cotswold Walk

2011-04-25T15:39:00.001-05:00

I kind of did these posts backwards, but I just couldn't leave this day out....

We left on a somewhat cloudy London day and drove 2 hours (I think I may have taken the longer route- too much talking!) north to the Cotswolds. Not sure what to expect we were absolutely delighted with what we found there.
Precious little village houses....

Saintly looking churches.....

Rolling landscapes.....

Perfectly thatched roofs...

Sweet little lambs...

And....brussel sprouts...

Yes, brussel spouts. We starred for quite awhile until all the sudden my sister-in-law, Lindsay, says, "Are those brussel sprouts?!?!

Check 'em out...

Cabbages, too. I totally felt like city-girl come to the country. But it was just so amazing, and stinky, to see a big huge field of cabbages!

We did a lot of walking literally through hill and dale, but it was so amazing because there are these ancient foot paths that must remain open to the public regardless of who's property they lie upon. They're marked with these...

From these posts it would seem that all we did was exercise, which is quite true. But the 24 miles biked and 5 miles walk was so we could afford to eat this!
Our very English lunch....

And, of course, tea upon our return....

Our Cotswold Ride

2011-04-19T16:21:00.000-05:00

We've been in the Cotswolds for the last two days, Chipping Campden to be exact- more pics to come- but today my mom, sister-in-law and I took a bit longer than expected bike trip winding through the unbelievably gorgeous countryside. While we had all pictured a nice, easy country bike ride it was more like a ride through the terrain of Blacksburg, VA in the mountains where my sister-in-law currently lives! We worked hard, but had a fabulous time just being together. All in all we rode 24 miles and covered who knows how many vertical feet. I think we'll all have aches, pains and a slight sunburn tomorrow but it was well worth it.

Take a look!

This was a sweet little church we passed complete with a red English phone booth.

Here I am in the town of Moreton-on-Marsh with a baguette hanging out of the back of my bike saddle bag for our lunch. We'd bought a bit of meat, cheese, nutella and the baguette and then went in search of the perfect field for lunch and a nap. It took awhile to find, but we finally found it and wow, it was amazing!

Happy Birthday Ms Sara and Mr Josh!

2011-04-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

Since both Ms Sara and Mr Josh have a birthday this month we decided to have a spur of the moment surprise birthday party for them on Sunday afternoon. Amazingly the girls were able to keep it a secret, so when they came into the house after church this is what they were greeted with. The girls LOVED celebrating with them, and even helped blow out their candles.

Football Camp!

2011-04-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that these girls are on holiday from school for four weeks!?!? Our first week's activity was football (aka soccer) camp through Fulham FC which is less than a mile from our house. I was a little apprehensive considering neither Annie nor Elliott had played much before; in fact I hadn't even signed Elle up to begin with, but then after finding out that her big sister was doing it she decided she didn't want to be left out.

So, Monday morning they suited up and off they went.

It was only two hours each morning, but they had a blast and burned a TON of energy. Hip, hip hooray!!

Lilly was just along for the ride, maybe in another couple years Lil....

The Story of the McCauley Street Guys

2011-04-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

As I was writing a recent post it occurred to me that there is a great story that has yet to be written about on this blog. It is the story of the McCauley Street guys, of which Josh and our most recent visitor, Dave, are a part.

There is a house in Chapel Hill, NC that lies less than 100 yards away from the edge of campus- quite a gem of a spot given the state of Chapel Hill living situations/pricing, etc. however it is far from a gem of a house- it is an absolute and utter dump. But somehow, that seems like a minuscule detail. You see, until 2002 there was a long line of guys who proudly called themselves "McCauley Street guys". They were, for the most part, Christ followers and involved in various on and off campus ministries. I can't tell you their majors, or where they are today or even their names for the most part- but there most certainly has been a legacy of good, solid and sometimes quite ridiculous guys who lived in that house and I have only been privileged to know a few. I first heard about the house my sophomore year and always wondered about the bond that was mysteriously built in that ramshackle house. My senior year I was invited to live in the girls' house next door, while Josh- my friend at the time- was asked to live next door. Every week without fail these guys had "guy-time". Now I must say that I have NO idea what went on during that time as I was obviously not privy to that information, despite "my friend, Josh" turning into "my boyfriend, Josh" and finally to "my fiancée, Josh". But what I do know is that it was sacred time, no one- and I do mean, no one- missed guy-time even once that entire year!! I didn't and still haven't asked questions, but what I do know is that the time spent together over the course of that year bore friendships that are still going strong a decade later. In fact, next week Josh is headed across the pond not for a business meeting, but for a guys weekend. They're coming from near and far to the NC mountains for a few days of time spent together. How cool is that?!?!

Another fun bit of info....Josh and I got married shortly after graduation as did two others in that house. The first three wives were obviously sorely outnumbered for awhile, but as each guy has gotten married it's been as if another sister has been added to the ring- quite a neat experience in my book. We all got together most recently 18 months ago for the last guy's wedding, here's a pic from the occasion- although we're somehow missing a few here, and for some reason the preggos got put front and centre! haha....

Success!!

2011-04-12T13:35:00.005-05:00

Well, from what Sara has told me it would seem that the girls' first slumber party was a success! Here was a comment she heard from them while they were making dinner...

Annie: Elliott, can you believe we're really here and going to have a sleepover?!?!

Elliott: Well, I can't really imagine it, but I can believe it because we are here!

Ha!

Here's a pic she sent me from the evening...

The next day they told me, "Mommy, mommy! We even got to eat popcorn and watch TV AFTER bathtime!!!" It's the little things with 3 and 4 year olds, precious...

Slumber Party!!!

2011-04-10T16:18:00.001-05:00

I'm praying as I'm writing this that my two sweet little angels are fast asleep in Ms. Sara and Mr. Josh's guest bed. Yes, my girls had their first sleepover tonight. They were PRECIOUS as they asked permission this afternoon promising up, down and sideways that they would behave. We'll see in the morning...I'll keep you posted. In the meantime....Good luck Mr Josh and Ms Sara, you guys are studs!!

Bad Hair Day

2011-04-10T15:20:00.002-05:00

Poor little Lilly. This is what her hair looked like this morning after I'd tried to get it into a ponytail. It fit quite nicely, but then she and I had a war when it came time to nap. Apparently this child does NOT like to go to sleep with her hair up. She kept throwing her bunny on the floor and I kept coming back in to give it to her until I finally realized she still had her ponytail in. I took the thing out and immediately she laid down and went to sleep. This was the "after the war" picture. Poor thing. Sorry Lilly!!

A Snail and the Whale

2011-04-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd let the blogesphere know that Annie has made her theatrical debut (and mommy managed to forget her good camera!). Her class performed The Snail and the Whale and sweet Annie was the snail! I'm still not sure exactly how the storyline goes but WOW those kids were adorable and their costumes were fantastic....especially my little snail.

Great job sweetheart!

More please!

2011-04-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

The girls have been begging for ice cream for months now but it's been so cold that the answer was always no. Finally last Friday it seemed warm enough to indulge their pleas. It occurred to me that Lilly had never tasted the stuff before, I didn't get my video camera out until her third bite, but her face reads pretty well what she's thinking. "Mommy! What in the world were you thinking putting this horribly cold stuff in my mouth...wait, this isn't so bad....no, actually it's quite good...more please!!"

Love it!

Last day of School...

2011-03-31T16:31:00.001-05:00

This was on the way to school yesterday, they even got to wear "home clothes" as opposed to the usual uniform....SO exciting!

Today is the first day of our 32 day Easter holiday, yes I counted. I do have to say though that it's actually been really nice to just hang out today with absolutely no agenda. The only outing we had was to the post office....and Nanny, you have quite the masterpiece headed your way, hopefully in time for your birthday next week!

Edinburgh

2011-03-31T13:54:00.003-05:00

Anyways, now back to my rather late post. While Dave and Jaqueline were here last week we got to escape for a night (thanks to sweet Ms Sara!). We left early one morning to ride the train about 4.5 hours due north and had a wonderful two days in the stunning city of Edinburgh! We had fantastic weather, sunny for the most part and 60s, and had a such great time taking it all in while in great company.

Here we are standing on a section of Edinburgh castle.

This the the view of the castle from below, it was very impressive and quite well done.

This was the view from atop the castle (thanks for your photography skill Jacqueline!).

Dave convinced Josh to take an interest in Scotch several years ago, so they HAD to go to the Scotch Whiskey Experience to see the whole process in action.

Thanks Dave!

Daddy's girls

2011-03-30T10:07:00.002-05:00

This is another pic from our fabulous afternoon out in the park. I don't say this often, but this picture just depicts it so well...Josh is such a WONDERFUL dad to these three ever growing and changing little girls. To some men being the father of all girls might seem like quite the daunting task, but my "guy's guy" of a husband has embraced his role in every way.

Annie had been begging to have her toenails painted for several days and I hadn't found the time- so, what did her sweet daddy do? He did it himself!

Way to go Daddy!

What a privilege it is to parent beside this man :)

If tables could talk....

2011-03-14T16:14:00.007-05:00

A few months ago we decided it was finally time to retire our $30 yard sale kitchen table which rode home from Charlotte with Josh and I in the back of our Volkswagen Bettle eight years ago. I still remember the excitement of spotting the ugly thing as I drove up to a youth group yard sale while Josh took his first level of the CFA exam in Charlotte, NC. I somehow managed to fit that thing in the back of my tiny car (along with a few other finds I'd stumbled upon that day) and we took it to our first house in Greensboro, NC where I refinished it on our back deck. Even as I recount the story of the second life of that table it makes me realise that I LOVE kitchen tables and the stories that surround them. Although it wasn't much to look at, SO much happened around that table over the course of eight years. Which leads me to my next point and what this blog is really about- our NEW kitchen table.

It only took me about six months to convince Josh that this was indeed a "good investment" and necessity. But, when the finish (that I'd applied- oops) started peeling off the old kitchen table he finally caved. I did my research and finally found a place not far from our house that makes hand made tables and such. It took quite awhile to finally order the thing, as I've mentioned before customer service isn't great here. But, once it finally arrived I almost teared up at the thought of all that would go on surrounding this piece of wood...all of the conversations, laughter, and inevitably tears that will make up our girls' childhoods and beyond. We were just settling into life with this new "member" of our family when Josh had a GREAT idea. "What if we let them decorate the bottoms of their chairs?" I wasn't sure at first since we're still trying to solidify the whole "we don't' draw on anything but paper" thing. But I think it went pretty well, here are a few pics from the process.

We let the big girls first paint their own creations.

Then we finished with hand and foot prints. Apparently the paint brushes tickled...they LOVED it.

Even Lilly!

We let them pick their own hand color, but....

Carolina blue on the feet- of course!

The next day Josh bolted all of them down. Another memory documented.

Give that table a few years...oh, if tables could talk.

PS, the old one didn't fully retire. It's now the craft table in the playroom :)

Happy Friday!

2011-03-11T14:35:00.000-06:00

Fridays are good days in the girls' books. I pick them up at the early release time, we go to a park and then head to Starbucks or the like to get a special treat. Today they finally got to get ice cream- after a long hiatus for winter. Happy Friday everyone!

Sweet sisters

2011-03-04T16:00:00.004-06:00

For so long now we've concentrated on the bond between Annie and Elle which is quite understandable given the mere fourteen months in between them. But today for the first time it was quite obvious that Elliott and Lilly, too, are going to have a unique sister relationship as well.

I normally pick up the big girls early from school on Fridays to give them a bit of a rest. Today, however, Annie had a play date scheduled after school so I only picked up Elle. It was actually sunny (gasp!), so we headed to the park. As I watched Lilly and Elle play it was so neat to see them together without any distractions. They were on the swing together and almost seemed to have this ah-ha moment together as sisters. It was just so precious to watch!

Mr. Cow

2011-03-03T09:54:00.001-06:00

Elle keeps talking about her new dance teacher, Mr Cow- I was confused. Today I got the weekly letter from her teacher and in it Mr. Carl, the new dance teacher was mentioned- I started laughing. I ask Elle what his name is, "Mr Cow!" she says. "You mean Mr Carl?" I said, enunciating quite clearly. "Haha, no mommy- Mr Cow!!"

So, Mr Cow it is I guess :)
Love it.

Wow...

2011-02-27T14:59:00.001-06:00

There's not much to say about this post other than wow.....this is what Lilly's hair is looking like these days if you run your hands through it just a single time, haha.

We're loving it!

Half Term Break

2011-02-21T13:50:00.003-06:00

This past week has been half term- which means the girls are out of school, again. The school year here runs more like a year round schedule than a traditional US one. There are essentially three trimesters with a month break in between each one falling in December and April (yes, April) and a week break in the middle of each. Sweet Nana loves to come visit when they're out of school so this past week she has surely played every game in this house twice and sung every song imaginable. We said good bye to her this morning as she left for the airport but not before she and I got to spend a blissful day being pampered and absorbing the beauty of this city. We started our day with a few spa treatments and then it was off to Buckingham Palace. I've lived here for a year but hadn't yet seen the changing of the guard. Now I can check it off my list, been there done that. My comments? Cold and long. :)

It's crazy that despite the fact that I live in London I rarely get to see sights like this! Trafagar Square....even on a foggy day isn't it beautiful?

We toured through Covent Garden and then set off on rented bikes to Borough Market- my FAVORITE place to visit in this city.

This was the view as we crossed one of the bridges. I'm sure I was taking my life in my own hands stopping to take this picture, but I just couldn't resist. The Eye, Big Ben, Parliament??

Thanks for visiting Nana, we miss you already!

Big girls and their bunk beds

2011-02-19T02:59:00.003-06:00

Wednesday is normally date night at our house, but this Wednesday night we had a different kind of date night. Josh's mom is here so we thankfully had a third set of hands in putting together the big girls' bunk beds!

Two months ago we spent an entire Saturday morning visiting the children's furniture stores in our area of London. Josh shook every bunk he could find to check for stability and we finally decided on one. I went the next day and ordered it, then we waited....and waited, and waited. Six weeks later we gave up and canceled the order after the company told us that a mix up had happened and that we wouldn't have the bunks til mid-MARCH! Welcome to customer service in the UK.

Meanwhile our girls were asking daily when the bunk beds would finally be here. I searched around a bit and found an online company with good reviews. Amazingly they were here within the 10 day period promised and now these girls are happily sleeping in their new beds.

Hitting the bunny slope

2011-02-18T15:01:00.003-06:00

Josh and I talked about taking the girls skiing this year, but then decided it'd probably be best to wait until another year instead but in the meantime, we thought it'd be good to let them get a little practice. They're on term break this week so we decided to head up to the indoor ski center and take a lesson!

They were quite excited!

They only did a 30 minute lesson, but it actually went quite well and there was a great little coffee shop complete with a balcony to observe from.

They both took a tumble or two...

But by the end they'd both made it down the bunny slope several times.

Well definitely be back!

It's a Party!

2011-02-18T14:39:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I told the girls they could have a Valentine's Party (yes, what was I thinking! haha). They have been so excited and could barely sleep the night before. The day finally arrived and we had eleven three and four years olds at our house for two and half hours.

Thankfully I had great help between Ms Sara and Nana!

We made heart shaped pizzas...

Did heart crafts...

And decorated heart shaped cookies!

Needless to say I had two VERY happy little girls.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-18T14:19:00.001-06:00

We started off the morning with Daddy having flowers for everyone....even Lilly, so sweet!

Nana, too!

And....we had a little Valentine's Day party. Post to follow :)

Train travel

2011-02-11T04:05:00.001-06:00

Josh and I flew into Zurich last week and then took the train to our little ski village. It was about a 2 hour train ride all told, but on the way we were traveling in the dark. Of course there was no security checks, but otherwise it felt much like traveling by plane. We arrived in the village and made our way to the hotel only to wake up the next morning to the most beautiful scenery! We anticipated a gorgeous return trip having taken in the glory of the Alps for 5 days whilst skiing, but it was even better.

Traveling by train, especially by day, is SO delightful! We were on a double decker on the return trip and sitting on the top level was stunning, not to mention it was great to simply head down to the dining car when Josh ineveitably got hungry and I wanted a cappuncino!

Skiing the Alps!

2011-02-07T13:56:00.001-06:00

Josh and I committed a crime. For the past five days we've been hanging out in the Swiss Alps and...forgot to bring our camera!?!? So, I apologise for the quality of these pictures in advance- I'm sure they will not do it justice as it was amazing, beyond words.

Josh and I love to ski. So as we prepared for this trip Josh took down his ski bag which we've been schlepping from one house to another during the last 10 years of our lives togehter. When he took out his ski gloves the lift ticket from the last time we'd been was still attached. The date?? 1/10/01! It had literally been ten years since we've been, craziness. Once I realised it'd been that long I got a bit nervous, but a few hours out there and it's just amazing how it comes back to you. We had a wonderful three days skiing to our hearts content having left the girls here with our stud of a nanny, Ms Sara and her husband Mr Josh. We're hoping to bring the girls next year, however until our trip, they had no idea of what skiing even was, so we tried to take lots of pics along the way. Here are a few...

This was the view from the highest peak of the mountain we skied. Breathtaking....

Bad thing about not bringing your camera....you are always your own photographer.

Ahhh.....

Stay tuned for more!

Run away, run run away!!

2011-02-06T15:46:00.003-06:00

That's exaclty what Josh and I did for the last five days thanks so our wonderful Ms Sara.....I'm still working on the post for our trip, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU Ms Sara and Mr Josh for all that you did. (And these pictures were just do cute I couldn't resist the chance to post them!)

Swimming in January

2011-01-29T13:36:00.002-06:00

So, I took Elliott to her first swim lesson of the semester last week and when she got out her lips were blue. Her teacher said she didn't have enough body fat and recommended that she wear a wet suit- why they can't keep the pool a little warmer is beyond me. So this is what the poor kid wears to swimming lessons now....she doesn't look to sad about it does she?

Curing the January Blues

2011-01-24T15:50:00.000-06:00

For six years prior to moving here Josh and I were home owners, well kind of- actually I guess technically the bank owned most of our houses- but whatever, you know what I mean. So when we moved over here renting was the best option since we weren't sure how long we'd be here and really, who's kidding who here....we never could have affording these crazy London home prices! So for almost a year now we've been renters, and I have to say it's actually really nice. I mean, washer isn't working? Call Rupert. Sink isn't draining? Call Rupert. Broken toilet seat? Call Rupert. I wish I could have a "Rupert" for the rest of my life! That is until I was about to hang some picture frames three weeks ago and Josh said, "Um babe, you need to call Rupert first." What the?!?! Apparently it was in the contract, so after procrastinating for these last few weeks I finally got up the guts to call him- well email him, I was chicken. And he said YES! Yay! So here's the finished product.

And this makes me smile. I have to say that January in London is pretty darn dreary. November and December were, too- but having the holidays to look forward to somehow makes it OK. But seeing pictures of my sweet family each time I go up and down these stairs will certainly bring a little cheer.

Sisters.....friendship is forever

2011-01-24T03:49:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday, just a short video to make you smile...

Late Night Date

2011-01-09T15:52:00.001-06:00

This is most definitely my last Christmas-related post, but I just HAD to get this in here before the season was completely over. We were at my parent's, aka Grammy and Poppa Scott's, for almost two weeks before we left for GA where Josh's parents live on Christmas Day. The night before we left my sweet and smart little daughter found her Grammy's ear and said worriedly, "Grammy! We haven't had any parties yet this trip!" My mom, being the sweet Grammy that she is, noted the fact and later asked me and Josh's permission to awaken Annie in the middle of the night for a "party". This is the scene I woke up to the next morning....

She'd gone to bed and set her alarm for 1am, gotten up and set this sweet little table for "tea" in front of the fireplace. It was only supposed to be a 15 minute affair, but turned into much longer- Grammy certainly couldn't very easily send her to bed on her last night! ha!

Apparently mom and dad used to do this with me as well when I was a little girl, but I'm not sure that I actually remember any of these instances- probably because I was half asleep. So, reason would have it that Annie won't remember these special "dates" either, but regardless she knows that she is precious and prized enough to warrant a very tired Grammy (after having granchildren invade her house for two weeks!) setting her alarm for 1am just to satisfy this little one's request. The feeling that surely accompanies that fact will indeed be remembered. So, for as much as I zing my mom on this blog for all her craziness today I have to say thank you for loving ALL of us so well Grammy (and Poppa!), we love you!

It's in the genes...

2011-01-05T14:45:00.003-06:00

I you ask my girls who the sweetest person they know is their immediate answer is "Aunt Lindsay", if you ask them who the funniest person is "Uncle Nick!" is their reply.

Read this link please written by Linds, and discover what I've been dealing with all my life.

My brother got this "gene" from my mother...it's most definitely hereditary. Need I add, I did NOT? Whew, makes for some good laughs though....my poor sweet sister in law.

Cousin time

2011-01-02T20:59:00.001-06:00

Josh has three siblings, only one of which has kids as of yet. But, just between us and them there's already 6 girls who span only five and a half years! We always lived far away from family while I was growing up and I had no sisters so the thought of having girlfriends who've literally known me since I was born is quite foreign. Thankfully that will most definitely not be the case for my girls since besides their own two sisters they've got three MORE girlfriends. It's been so cute to watch the relationships grow between the oldest three and now the oldest four. So one of the things that we quite obviousy look forward to each Christmas and summer States trip is getting to watch all of the girls play and develop relationships.

Here's a few pics of their adventures...

I'm walking!

2010-12-30T15:20:00.001-06:00

This child has been crawling for MONTHS now, so I thought for sure that she'd be our earliest walker....until miss Lilly got wind of this. No doubt this kid is the most stubborn baby of the three thus far and once she figured out that it was something we were encouraging her to do, every time we tried to hold her hands and walk the kid would go limp, stubbornly plopping herself on the floor. It wasn't until two weeks ago at a party for her Uncle Matt that the convenience of walking finally occurred to her whilst watching another little boy two months older than her doing it (thanks Max!). She's pretty stable now and as it turns out is right on time with her big sister Annie's walking debut.

Good job Lilly!

How old am I?!?!

2010-12-28T19:04:00.001-06:00

I have to say that although I'm fighting it I'm indeed feeling the fact that I recently turned 31 and not 21. Now I know that's not all that old, but I have a few complaints. Such as....I can not for the life of me sleep for longer than 8 hours in a row (not that I have the opportunity to very often) and quite often I find myself saying things like...."I love you too much to let you grow up to be a little girl who etc, etc, etc" prior to delivering a spanking, argh. I suppose that's another blog post for another day, but all that said....

....for a brief 2 minutes or so on Christmas Day I did not.

The girls got these plasma cars for Christmas from my parents. They had a blast riding them around and around the garage until nap time...then it was our turn.

My brother, his wife, Josh and I took them outside to the hill- the pictures tell the rest, hehe!

Don't they look ridiculous? I love it!