Spring is in the air, in the UK!!

We were driving and thought we would take a few shots of our favorite things. Daffodils are in full bloom here and we LOVE it!! The streets are all lined in them and it is lovely. I forgot how much I missed spring here. Yes, I know all of you are jealous of our beautiful Spring. I am trying to get a picture of the new colts with their mommys that we pass on the way to base, they are so adorable!
Freshly plowed fields, trees with little buds on them. I can't get enough. We have passed a few fields of sheep and they have their little lambs running around. The horses in one of the pictures are quite often right by the road. They run back and forth and the kids love it. My mom loved it while she was here so I included the picture for her as well. Here you go mom! :)

OREO

Who doesn't enjoy a good double stuffed Oreo? Well, in this family that would officially be all of us. Technically Brennan only enjoyed the chocolate cookie part, because that is all he got. What is a parent to do when their baby is in the car screaming, hungry and you still have 25 minutes until home? You give them a cookie. Yes, that was the healthiest option. He loved it and wow was he super cute covered in a chocolate mess. :) I think he takes after his mommy on this one.

39 Years

I just wanted to send a big shout out to the two people that have influenced my life the most! My mommy and daddy are celebrating 39 years today!! These two have been through so much together and have taught me that anything is possible. They both are fine examples about what it means to have a marriage that you work at, you love through, and you laugh through. I am really overwhelmed with how much I love them today for some reason and wanted to make sure that they know. They have taught me how to love someone and I am a better person for it. True commitment could be defined by this picture, because that is what they have for one another. Unconditional love is here in this world and you are looking at it. Mom and Dad, I love you both so much. Happy Anniversary!!

Ratatouille

Tonight I am the best mom ever, says Carter. I decided plain boiled zucchini was not that appealing to my children no matter what health benefit I could convince them of. So I decided on this. .....

It was perfectly lined up and filled the pan before I took this picture. When I took the aluminiun off the pan Carter yelled out, "you made ratatouille!" He was so excited and Taylor joined in with much enthusiasm also chanting, "ratatouille, yippee." Mason was asking for some and I beamed with excited as my plan of getting them to actually eat zucchini worked. Carter finished his, Taylor ate about 5-6 slices, Mason even actually partook of the goodness. I love when for one night only I am the best mom ever! :)

*** I sliced the zucchini, spread evenly, olive oil sprinkled over, garlic seasoning, red pepper flakes. Put in the oven covered with aluminium for about 20 minutes. I have a grill oven, and i have no idea how to use it(the top half). It was on about 150 degrees C. ***

dryers

edit***THE DRYER IS UNPLUGGED IN OUR HOUSE UNLESS IT IS BEING USED*** edit

Taylor needed to get a sticker that was stuck on the drum inside the dryer. Her angle just wasn't good enough from the outside, so what better choice did she have? The fact that she just hopped right in there was pretty amusing. You have to also take into account that this is an English dryer. I would say about half the size of your lovely American dryers. Now we are trying to convince her that it is not the best hiding place in the house. Good luck with that one!!!

The Landlord

I was really proud of Carter tonight for his actions in Operation Fix the Carpet. I am in charge of making sure that money chores get done every morning and every night. Mike was in charge of setting up the meeting with Mr. Buckle our Landlord. Mike and I initially did not see eye to eye on this coming clean with the Landlord deal, but we decided it was best to have Carter face up to what happened. Today was the day. Mike called Mr. Buckle and gave him a heads up. Instead of making Carter go to him he said he would come and let Carter show him what he did. We did explain that it would come out and so not having a heart attack would be great. Carter explained exactly what he did, why he did it and what he is doing to fix it. Mr. Buckle was fabulous!!! He sternly, but very nicely explained to Carter that he was disappointed that he would draw on his carpet. He asked Carter about the carpet being replaced, that is when Carter explained his chores to earn money. After Mr. Buckle left Carter was near to tears as he told us how nervous he was. We gave him plenty of praise and told him not a lot of children could have followed through with what he had done. He did awesome and was very polite about the whole thing. He told Mr. Buckle sorry, said it would not happen again and told him thank you for coming over so he could tell him. What a star!!
Carter has also completed Level 1 in his reading. So he is now on too Level 2 books and couldn't be more proud of himself(us either). We bought him a couple new books just for him to celebrate. Our little man is growing up fast. He is really a fun kid to have around. I need to make a list of British things he is picking up, I have to really control myself from laughing out loud sometimes. The other day he told Taylor as she had just shut the van door and stood very close to it at the same time, "Taylor you nearly snapped yourself. Don't do that, it frightened me." He also said his class, "made loads of sweeties today." There are so many others. I will keep a list and make a whole seperate post.

80 DAYS W/ NO REVERSE!!

IT HAS ARRIVED!!! Isn't reverse GREAT! In fact, it is fabulous, wonderful, and exciting. Did I mention that my van is so pretty, I LOVE IT!!

A couple funny stories as they relate to not being able to reverse. I will do the readers digest version of each. No reverse takes skill, planning, and patience. All of which I can have when needed. If someone happens to park to close you are either pushing or waiting. I found myself waiting many times.

*The kids and I were meeting Mike after school for a couple things that needed to be done. He was not back from a tour of the flight line that he was doing for the trainees. I had parked in a spot where I knew a little push by Mike would be fine. Thinking he would be there for course. After waiting 30 minutes for Mike the kids were getting restless and we needed to get out of there. His office was cleared out of anyone that could help, so it was just us. I got out thinking I could push with my legs, leaning against the door frame of the drivers side while steering out of this spot. I didn't notice that we were on just enough of an incline that I pushed and it would roll right back those 3-4 inches. So after many efforts failed I thought Carter might be the missing link. Yes, I did make my 5 year old help push the van. So he got in front I remained where I was. He was very excited, but the van didn't move. I think it was then he realized that he had to really get into it. He said he wanted another go and we got started. This time the van leaped forward at an alarming speed. I looked up to find he was using the license plate of the car in front of us as leverage. It was quite amusing. So here we are pushing the van. I see this man coming up toward the car park and just think, "Boy, how ridiculous do we look? Maybe he will offer to aide my 5-year old son." The guy looks at Carter, looks at me, smiles directly at Carter and then gets in his car and drives away. I was a little taken back that he clearly noticed us and didn't even have a care in the world to offer assistance. It was then I told Carter that is he ever saw people in need he better stop and help. He promised he would. A few seconds later a couple of guys saw us from about 50 yards away and came running. They were very sweet and finished the task. Upon entering the van Carter said, "Those men were sure gentlemen, not like that first guy. I am always going to be a gentlemen and help people." Fine lesson learned!!

* A about a week ago Brennan had his check-up at the doc. I had Mason that day and so him, Taylor, and the baby with me. Taylor sudden says, "I have to pee." As a mother, i do not take that lightly. So I am trying to figure out where to go knowing that I can not get all three of the children out and to a toilet in time. I find this off the road parking and pull in. Do not judge on the next thing I tell you. Taylor peed right there on the cement and was quite proud of herself. Dont' worry it was raining that day and it was cleaned quickly. Back to the story at hand. I start pulling out and realize that in a haste to help my daughter I have got myself stuck diagonal, wall in front of us, two cars on either side. REVERSE!! Where are you?? I have to push the van myself, pulling muscles, straining parts of my body that I have not used in forever! I was able to get us unstuck and to our appointment on time. However, when I got in the van Taylor says, "mom, get Mason help push van." Little actions and all were included in this statement. I looked at Mason and asked, "Sorry, should I have had you push." He looks at me and if he could I'm sure his answer would have been, "Sure mom, have me push, sounds brilliant. HELLO!" He then starts laughing out loud and can't stop for a few.

Things you notice without reverse. The smallest little decline on a road means you can roll back, you notice those. You learn just how close you can get behind another car and still be able to pull out without waiting for them. Your children learn not to tell you just to go backward, they know better by now.

I am very surprised our van didn't fall apart at the joints. The ignition was slipping and the van would just turn off randomly while driving. Carter learned about saying prayers that can get answered very quickly. He said many of them. The brakes crumbled on the day we were going to sell it to www.webuyanycar.com and they do my friends, they do! After fixing the brakes and then driving an hour to their office it was well worth our time and no one was sad to say, "Bye, Bye old crappy van!"

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO MIKE V, MATT, AND DAD MASON. THANK YOU FOR DRIVING TO CALIFORNIA AND HELPING US GET OUR VAN HERE. WE LOVE IT AND WE LOVE EACH OF YOU. YOU ARE FABULOUS, YOU ARE WONDERFUL, WE LOVE YOU!!

Kids new hut

The kids are very excited about their little hut that dad made out of wood he got for free from a

skip(dump). They have been busy playing outside when they can.

Marie Curie Cancer Care

This whole year Carter's school have been busy raising money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care foundation. They provide in home care for patients with terminal cancer. This last autumn some of you might remember Carter calling around for donations. In return they got their own pot and bulb to plant. Carter is so proud of his and all the hard work he did. He covered all the drawing he did, but he was certainly pleased with his work of art!

Being daddy

Now there is no need to wonder why Mike's back is so broken.

TA-DA!!

We finally had hair long enough to even it all out after many of Taylor's own attempts at cutting. She was very good at sitting still and was quite pleased about her new do. Taylor is the one that said yes to the idea. I know, I know, she is two, but she still agreed. :) We love it. It totally fits her. I was reading our side bar description of her and it really doesn't fit. While she does like pink she is anything but 'girly' as the world would see it. She is fun spunky Taylor. She loves to run around, wrestle, sword fight, scream, yell, Kung Fu around with her brothers. She will wear her high heels only occasionally, but wants to run, jump and climb in them. Maybe she is mine after all?

Our decision

This was our decision on the marker moment in our house. Let me answer a couple questions. It was a blue crayola washable marker, thank heavens!! He was apparently making a trail for Brennan(although this kid can come up with just about anything on the spur of the moment to cover his tracks). Yes, that blue is through our ENTIRE downstairs, then completed in his room upstairs. Needless to say a good spanking did come to mind. Mike was not home, I was feeding Brennan and on the computer doing bills. It was PJ/Book time. After resisting all temptation to solve the problem with a physical reminder of why we do not draw on carpet! He sat at the table and did not speak a word while I explained that he would be apoligizing to our landlord(who he knows lets us 'borrow' the house) and earn money to pay for the cleaning. He also had to go straight to bed. It was earlier than normal and he did not get out of bed, that's for sure.

So this is our list and his jar. On the jar I taped pictures to remind him why he is working very hard to earn money. He has to do a money chore in the morning before school and one after school. We still need to arrange going over to the landlord's, he lives around the corner, but I think Carter gets the point that this is going to be hard work. Those of you looking at the list of chores might have questions. Carter helped us make the list. His idea was the following, he said, "I could, you know, help dad get stuff when he is working, do things for him, get a tool, whatever he wants. That's what they call a servant you know." We both died laughing, it was great. So he does have a chore of 30 min servantry work. :) Tonight he was mom's servant while helping with dinner. He then said he could mow the lawn or clean out the van. I will let you know if he actually gets those done. The life lesson will hopefully be, work hard to fix what you have broken, DON"T EVER DRAW ON MOM'S FLOOR!! Also, whatever you do your mom and dad still love you because you are still part of our family and we let you stay even after this. :)