A little this. A little that.

We've been back from England for sometime and were able to enjoy July and August in Iowa. Okay, okay, that sounds ridiculous. Who really enjoys the Midwest in the dead of summer? Despite the sticky heat we had a fabulous summer filled with parties, parades and da pool. We also managed to have another ER/hospital visit during our annual July trip to visit the grandparents. Yep, 2nd year in a row but this year was Lily's turn. Poor thing got a ton of mosquito bites on her ankle and somehow an infection set up shop and was only evicted following a 2 day hospital stay with serious antibiotics. She was AMAZING and through the IV, multiple lab draws, foot x-rays, removal of IV she did better than most adults. Lily also recounts her hospital stay as the time she got pretty spoiled. Our dear family visited and brought cuddly presents to make her smile and well...it worked.

Harrison turned 3 last week. Since he was 3 before school started we planned to enroll him in Lily's Montessori Preschool but this was contingent on him potty training since they don't accept diapers. We tried a few times over the past few months, nothing serious, and he amused us with peeing a few times and even pooping in the potty once. We reluctantly gave up his spot at Montessori. A week before he turned 3 he was home from daycare with pink eye (we've had our fair share of ear infections and tonsillitis, heck we've even had hand, foot and mouth so WHY NOT pink eye?) and was watching Elmo's Potty Time video when he DECLARED OUT LOUD that he didn't want to wear diapers anymore. What did I do? I RAN and got him big boy underpants and never looked back. He tried to look back once or twice and even requested a diaper when he needed to do some serious business. I rejected his request all the while questioning if I was a really horrible mom or really smart. Apparently, I'm really smart. :)

Potty training Lily was very easy since I knew exactly what steps to take and how to position oneself, etc. Potty training a boy, when I'm not a boy, well that is rather difficult. There are so many positions one could use but which is really the best? Stand up...but he's not tall enough. Sitting...can lead to pee all over. Sitting backwards...works pretty well but requires removal of big boy underpants and shorts. Stand on potty...not ideal. Clearly we've tried them all and he still likes to mix it up daily but whatever position he decides it's WORKING! And seamlessly I might add.

My blog goal is to produce some additional posts to wrap up our England trip and highlight my baby turning 3 so stay tuned (and if you've learned your lesson previously you'll check back in approximately 6 weeks). CIAO!

Tea Party!

Lily's first REAL tea party was a few days ago. It was complete with real tea cups, hot chocolate and biscuits (and aero bubbles which are delicious!). I surprised her with the first tea party when Harrison was napping (she napped earlier) and she LOVED it. She loved the tea party but I think she also loved the time alone with me. She requested another girl tea party but Randy and I talked her into letting Harrison join us. For some reason, this tea party turned into a very improper tea (imagine burping and toasting to a "Fantastic Pee Party") party but we had many laughs about how improper it was.:) Today's tea party will make our 4th consecutive tea party.

Toolin' around Ivinghoe, England

The village we "live" by is a small village called Ivinghoe. It has a few pubs, library, tea room, a great park and a gorgeous church. The last picture is of the post office. Pretty cool looking post office, I think.

The Dairy Cottage

Currently we're staying at The Dairy in Town Farm in Ivinghoe in Bedforshire. Can you understand why it takes me a while to read a map? The cottage is a barn conversion in the middle of a farmyard. It's located at the foot of the Chiltern Hills and has sheep and chickens. Apparently there is a pick your own fruit and vegetable area that we plan to explore today. Since it's June there won't be too much ready but hopefully some strawberries at least. We're also going to buy some free range eggs from the farm chickens. Fun. :)

We didn't plan to stay in 3 different locations for our 3 weeks here but it's working out rather well. Since our current cottage is on a farm we can't walk to anything beyond the farm. The town of Ivinghoe is pretty close, about a 2 minute car ride but the path isn't ideal for 2 little ones and I envision carrying both of them while juggling an umbrella (been raining intermittently a lot this week). Since the forecast called for rain all day yesterday we dropped Randy off at work and played at an indoor playground. We went here last Sunday and the kids loved it then and loved it now. They had the usual huge play structure but also had a race car track, carousel, kid's kitchen, vet pretend center, lego area and outdoors they had arm paddle boats and big sandbox. Yesterday, the kids got their faces painted.























I'm assuming this was once the main house but now it's separated living quarters. Still gorgeous. I took this picture from the tennis court. Prior to playing tag with the kids and Lily scraping her knee and hand. Ouch!

More Pics from London Trip

BIG BEN




















London street performers. These were CRAZY! They would be soooo still and once you put money in their cup they moved. The gray lady gave fortunes, another angel (not pictured) gave the kids fairy dust and the others just posed with the kids. We probably spent more money here than anywhere else in London but the kids loved it. :)



























My favorite part of London is the Tower of London. We didn't go inside but ate lunch on the steps outside. Nice view for a picnic. :) Harrison had just woken up from his nap (which lasted the entire boat cruise tour, he would have loved that!) so that is why he has the confused look. :) At least he let Lily console him, which she was more than happy to do.

Our digs

The first place we stayed was in downtown Milton Keynes. We stayed in a "serviced apartment." It was definitely more geared toward young single adults and not so much for families with young kids as evidenced by open windows with no screens (we on the 5th floor!!) and glass tabletops. But it was a very clean and nice place to stay. The apartment was located in the Hub, which is the central part of town. We were surrounded by nice resturants, COFFEE!, a supermarket and water fountains. In case you can't guess which perk the kids loved...


The apartment had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and all the necessary items to live in. Hotels seem silly after this place. It was even cheaper than a hotel!















Since we ARE in England we wanted to experience England so we moved to the countryside. Randy has to drive 30 minutes to work so we'll only be here for a week and move to a different cottage with a shorter drive for Randall. But it's lovely and I'm excited to spend our days here.

Here is a video of our cottage in the countryside.




Our amenties remain the same with 2 bedrooms, washer dryer, etc. but we are no longer surrounded by supermarkets, coffee :(, and resturants. Instead we have chickens, sheep and a trampoline. In case you can't guess which perk the kids loved...

London

On Saturday we took the train to London. It was about a 35 minute train ride. Both Lily and Harrison enjoyed initially before requesting to play iphone games. Oh kids.
















Kids in a English phone booth and Lily in front of the London Eye (large ferris wheel).


















A family picture with an uncooperative 2 year old boy. At least Big Ben is in the background.

Windmill, British accent and London!

Tonight at dinner (which was at a windmill, don't get to say that much) Lily said something in a British accent! Too funny. I can't remember what she said but it was quite noticeable!

Off to London tomorrow. Thinking double decker bus tour. Mostly because they look cool but also we won't have to walk about London holding kids.

Greetings from England!

We're on a bit of a holiday. Well, myself and the kids anyway. Randy is working and that is why we are here in the first place. My company agreed to reduced hours which means I get to hang with the kids all day and work in the evenings once Randy is home. Currently "home" means a serviced apartment in the middle of the city which is quite lovely. We'll be here for 3 weeks so we plan to stay at another location or 2 to explore our surroundings. Plus, staying at cottage in an old barn sounds rather fun. :)

In an effort to maintain sanity some friends and I have started a monthly get together. We drink wine, eat yummy food and discuss...cough cough...books. Yeah, I'm probably not fooling anyone but saying "book club" sort of sounds dorky. And my friends and I are far from dorky. :). We have read a couple great books and a couple good books. I always like recommendations so I thought I'd share them:

must read:
The Help (you can shut your computer down right now and go buy it NOW.)

should read:
The Other Boleyn Girl (never ever see the movie if you read the book first)
The Reliable Wife (not much to say but it's good)
Guernsey Potato Peel Pie something or other (makes me want to visit Guernsey but the thought of a potato peel pie makes me a bit sick or maybe all this blogging while driving is causing that)

Read if you want to be sad and depressed:
Sarah's Key (good book but you've been warned)

Not from the cool girl club but also recommended:
The Alchemist

Not from the cool girl club and not recommended:
Eat. Pray. Love (heard good things but i can't even get past India. Will see movie though. Will never pass up Pretty Woman)

Are we there yet?

Cows, grain bins, miles and miles of fields. Yep, we're driving through Iowa. We're coming to visit you, my dear blog readers (ie my family). Kids are watching a movie (awww quiet moments, if even just a moment, is appreciated). Just as I was finishing that last sentence lily whined "Are we there yet?". We just left.

I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Tonight, in the middle of dinner, Harrison stood on his chair, turned and stuck his butt out and asked if we liked his big butt.

Wow. I can laugh now because he's sleeping.

Date with a blog

So yeah...right...I'm supposed to be a blogger. Ummmmhmmmm. Right.

There have been some rough patches in the past few months with myself, family and a friend. I like to think of myself as a positive person but for a while I encountered some sad times and even the most positive person would be down for the count. On a rare occasion when I thought about my blog I feel the pang of guilt but it came down to one saying. If you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all.

Now the dark clouds are clearing and the sun is shining (well, not at this very moment since it's 10PM but you get the idea) so I'm back to blogging. For now. No promises. Just roll with it.

Sooo...here I am on a Friday night with my laptop in bed. Hey, it's a blog date. My date for the night...a mildly snoring yet severely adorable 4 year old snuggled asleep next to me. Yes, she made it back into our bedroom but only because her feet were dangling over her toddler bed. Bunk beds have been ordered but they are taking their sweet time.

In the past few months we have taken a family trip to Hawaii. Lily's statement on the last day in Hawaii can sum up the trip..."I don't want to leave." Can anyone travel to Hawaii and NOT have an amazing time? Refrain from saying yes because that is just a travesty. I'll post more about Hawaii later.

A few weeks after our Hawaii trip I accompanied Randy to Holland/Netherlands and England. He worked most of the time so me, a small town South Dakota girl, wandered around 2 foreign countries trying to get lost. I really only got lost once but my goal was to walk and take pictures of everyday life in a different land. I loved seeing the gorgeous architecture and people watching foreigners (haha, jokes on me since I was the foreigner). I'll post more about Holland/England later.

Kid Updates:
Lily...is a 4.5 year old that loves school, can "read" books without knowing how to read (inheriting her father's seasonal allergies=not so great; inheriting her father's photographic memory=very, very good)and she loves to draw. Her drawings are getting more detailed but 99% of the time involves a princess. Now the princess has longer hair, shoes, 3 fingers on each hand, a crown AND a necklace. If that princess is really lucky her long princess dress might have flowers on it. When we potty trained Lily it was a breeze. A light, airy, fresh breeze. However, 2.5 years later she's been having tinkle accidents. I suppose she's busy playing and makes every attempt to postpone that darn interruption but her bladder isn't big enough yet. So...in an effort to encourage dry panties we started a new reward chart. A star for each day her panties were dry...only needed 7 and she would get a bike. Yes, a B-I-K-E. Pretty good deal, right? Well it took about 12 days but she finally got her bike. The nice thing about the reward charts and Lily...once she reaches her goal she keeps going and doesn't even notice she's not getting a NEW reward. Cool. Next reward chart might have to be an encouragement to FIND her toys. She'll stand in one spot and whine that she CAN'T FIND HER HIPPO. Nope, she won't move an inch. She might turn her head around but surprisingly she STILL CAN'T FIND HER HIPPO. She won my heart on April's Fools Day. I know I didn't play ONE SINGLE joke on ANYONE. But Lily loved it. Her first joke..."Momma, I can't get my straw to work" and when I tried to help her she April Fooled me. That makes me happy.

Harrison, oh Harrison. My baby is growing into a boy. Just a few days ago Randy and some friends went boating/fishing. When Harrison asked where they went I replied "To do boy things." He proudly proclaimed he was a boy too. But the tone of his voice meant he should be doing those boy things too. He is talking a ton. Actually he doesn't stop. Lily wasn't a "WHY?" kid, Harrison is. Big time. I attempt to answer each and every WHY? question in detail, even knowing it will lead to another WHY? I have tried to respond with "Because" a few times but it doesn't work because then we start the battle of "Because why?" He is still in his crib and I've been in no rush to get him out. He seems to enjoy it and doesn't plan his escape after we close his door at night. He will scream, let me emphasis that a little more, he will SCREAM in the morning for us to come get him. It's usually "MOM, WHERE.ARE.YOU? MOOOOOMMMMMMM. WHERE....ARE.....YOU????? MMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!" When the bunk beds arrive we plan to have Harrison and Lily share so that should be another blog post or 10. Harrison is still in love with Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear. He'll "fly" around the house (or the mall) with his arms out front screaming "To infinity and beyond!!!!!" I can't leave out his love for the outdoors. He would prefer to play outdoors for hours over anything. Even food. He would never eat again if we let him play all day and night outside. He's loving his daycare, Appletree. He's learning so much as evidenced by reciting his numbers...in Spanish...while sleeping. :) He slept in our bed (2 kids in bed=no sleep and stiff necks) when he was sick last week and I awoke to his foreign language sleep talking. Too funny.

Randall is great too. He's working hard as always. I know he gives his work 100% and his family 100% and that is not easy. But he does it and wouldn't have it any other way. Have I ever mentioned just how good this guy is? Seriously, he does everything. Okay, maybe he won't readily clean the toilets but that's about it. He does baths, takes care of dinners/breakfasts, does daycare drop off/pick up, cleans the house (minus the toilets) and tends to the ridiculous amount of house work and yard work. Then he'll massage me. Hint hint..my neck is straining from all this blogging. ;) We're coming upon 10 years of marriage this August and 16 years of being together. I just love him with my entire heart. That's about all I can really say....I love him.

My blog date is coming to an end. It's been a good one...we'll go out again soon. No good night kiss though.

FAMILY RULES

1.) No hitting
2.) No yelling (including momma)
3.) No spitting
4.) No peeing in undies
5.) Stay in time out
6.) Take turns with toys
7.) Clean up toys
8.) Listen to mom and dad
9.) Be nice and say nice things

I got the idea of a big poster of family rules from my neighbor/friend Shauna. The kids helped me create the rules and we have the poster hanging in the kitchen. The rules are hanging on the patio door and have been hidden by the curtains since it's cold and the curtains help keep drafts out. Apparently, having the rules hidden must mean they are not valid.

I would like to publicly apologize to the nurse that attempted to take my 2 yo son's temperature. I regret to say that he violated #3 and spit at the nurse. Thankfully it was more of a "sherbet" spit and no secretions went flying but still. I would also like to publicly apologize to my 2 yo son's swim instructor. He violated #2, #8 and #9 for the entire 15 minutes of his swim lesson.

We discipline with time outs and they mostly work (unless he violates #5 but then he's put right back on the time out mat [over and over if necessary]). He did apologize to both the nurse and swim instructor. In addition to discipline I keep hoping these behaviors improve as he ages/matures/learns to communicate better. But another mom just mentioned that age 3 was worse than age 2 for her son. Yikes! We could be in trouble here.

A ball invitation

The ball is tonight. Every girl must be there. Even a princess. But the queen will come in the middle of the ball. Before you can kiss she will put a spell on the princess.

The End

Bringing the snow indoors

Dawn had a great idea to bring the snow indoors for the kids to play. Lily and Harrison had a blast and we found some raisins and old carrots to complete the world's smallest and cutest snowman ever.

Silly Lily

Fish, Part II

Lily's dear roommate fish, Sunny, has died. Unfortunately his time with us was too short but hopefully he's moved onto a happier place. Since Lily has talked about her school fish, whom also died, I thought she would be "okay" with Sunny's passing. I was wrong. She was...heartbroken. It was very hard to watch as her eyes filled with huge tears and her lips quivered. We held a small ceremony and Lily, speaking through a cracked voice, told Sunny how much she loved him.

Since having a fish seemed to make her transition to her own room go easier we decided to invest in a (hopefully) more robust and longer lasting fish, a beta. His name...Sunny Funny. A day later he assumed another part to his name...Sunny Funny Dunny. The girl likes to rhyme.

True Love

I love my kiddos. I love when they let me hold their hand. I love when they give me a really good hug (and I feel their body shaking they are squeezing so hard). I love feeling their chubby cheeks against mine. I love hearing "I love you mommy" whether it be in response or out of the blue. I love to see their faces brighten and their smiles widen when I come into the room. I love the excitement in their voice when they say "Mommy!"

Being a mommy to Lily and Harrison is the best job in the world. I have a lot to be thankful for. And I am. Very thankful.

The house is quiet. Randy is asleep. Harrison is asleep. Lily's asleep. Both dogs are asleep. The house hasn't been so calm the past few days....

Two weeks ago Lily was sick with a higher fever (102) that only went down with tylenol/ibuprofen but crept back up as the meds wore off. At her dr. visit they said it was a virus and may last 5-7 days. It did, the full 7 days. The same day the fever broke she started complaining of ear pain. The dr. couldn't quite tell if the ear drum ruptured but it was definitely bulging with white secretions inside. Antibiotics it was.

Harrison was a bit fussy the day before we checked Lily's ears. He's had a few ear infections over the past year and really, his first symptom is being crabby. But let me remind you he's 2. For good measure the Dr. checked his ears too and sure enough, ear infection. Treated with antibiotics.

A few days later Randy started feeling lousy and was diagnosed with strep throat. Another dose of antibiotics; however, this wasn't the end. His symptoms continued and he began to have bad neck pain as well. The Dr. was worried about meningitis so the they sent us to the ER. Randy underwent a lumbar puncture that, thankfully, ruled out meningitis. His antibiotics were switched and he was given a dose of steroids that helped the size of his tonsils (imagine nickel size with green and white goo). But that's not where the story ends...the following day he felt MUCH better. He showered even. But then started to feel really bad. The strep symptoms were gone but in place was a pounding headache once he sat up. This is called a lumbar puncture headache. No fun. No fun at all. During our 2nd trip to the ER he was given IV caffeine but unfortunately, this didn't help the headache go away. So...the 3rd trip to the ER, this morning, resulted in a blood patch (they take his own blood and inject the site that was previously poked during the lumbar puncture, hoping his blood will clot the site oozing cerebral spinal fluid). It worked! It worked! His headache was gone and we're now at home. Where it's quiet. And calm. And I'm thankful.