A few snaps of London daytrip from the phone files. This was during the paralympics. You'll see the symbol hanging from the bridge.
We have only made the London (downtown) trip in various small combinations of family members and I haven't been one of those members yet. It's nerve wracking to me to think of taking the littles on the underground so we are practicing in smaller groups and getting our bearings. Dh went first with the bigger kids. <g>
This is for Asher, my boy around the world. Ok actually, I have three boys around the world from me at this moment. (pause to weep) This is for my boy in Korea who tends to skim through my blog saying to himself "blah blah homeschool, blah blah food, blah blah…. Hey! 7 Quick Takes!"
(more links at Conversiondiary.com!)
I have to add an 8th take here. I cannot connect to the net reliably to save my life here so I uploaded the pics for this post to Instagram if you'd like to see them. (I can compose these posts on the phone but not add pics) I am starryskykim over there. Come join us! I hope we can fix the net at home, but it may not be meant to be. Solves the whole excess surfing danger!
1.
We got a second car – this one British specs. Which means I am on the other side now.
Can I say to all the people who said this would be easier – you were right. WAY right. We only lost one seatbelt in capacity but it is much smaller making maveuvering the back roads much easier. Visibility is much better over near the center of the road. And yes, after a certain number of weeks habit does kick in. I still hit the windshield (wind screen) wipers occasionally instead of the turn signal. I missed a fairly high percentage of exits on roundabouts today while driving friends to a larger city. But all in all – it's going better.
2.
We visited the ENT/Audiologist to discuss options for Brendan's ear. He was born with a mild microtia and we have been weighing the pro's and con's of surgery. (Still weighing.) But while he was in the audiology clinic I was fascinated by the decibel chart. Did you know that ranked right below the level at which you should not be exposed for more than 15 minutes you have "baby crying"? Ranked right by motorcycle and just below jack hammer and rock concert.
I knew it.
3.
Random British grocery factoid:
Eggs are not refrigerated in this country. They weren't in Germany either. This may totally wig out American friends. No one seems worse for wear however.
4.
Random British grocery bit #2: PG Tips come in cereal box sized packages here. They are not playin'.
5.
While shopping today I saw this awsome art work. It was a series of framed prints, the design created from reducing pages of classic lit and fitting every page of the book into the frame. Colin would love this. (do check this on Instagram because I have no other link. If you know where to find this to buy online please share!)
6.
I mentioned we have made a lot of pie this week. We have eaten a fair amount of pie this week but we also gave some away. Friends were moving into their new home this week as well and I wanted to bring them a meal. Great intention, but often requires more than one take around here. The afternoon of the planned dinner I realized the chicken had been frozen rather than in the fridge. After calculating the window of time I had to make the delivery I knew we weren't going to finish in time. We rainchecked til the next day which always makes me feel bad.
Next day we had the appt for B above. I traded kids back at the house and took others to the Shakespeare class, while moving food into and out of the oven. Then traded them back again for the football practice kids and grabbed the dinner Alannah had helped finish. We pulled it off. By late that evening I was a little tapped but happy. I woke up in the morning to find a neighbor at the door bringing cinnamon rolls. The circle of hospitality continues. It is so good to be part of it both in the blessing and being blessed.
And a PS to my neighbor: when I see you next I hope to have run a comb through my hair, be wearing an outfit with more redeeming attributes besides "4 Way stretch," and maybe even have waved a wand of mascara. No promises though. ; )
7.
On that note, a loaves and fishes story.
The other appts we had this week involved the Red Cross. Alannah has been doing her own discerning and determined that her biggest priority right now was not income but service and experience. All she ever wanted to do was help people. She is getting her chance. She is training with the Red Cross.
This whole thing got me thinking. For so many years I have had my hands more than full at home and physically just wasn't able to push any harder than I was. But God knew my heart. The children did too.
My scope has been necessarily home-based. It was not to remain there however because home is a training ground for future citizens of a bigger world who have now gone out to give back in the unique ways they are gifted. One has worked in a soup kitchen, one is coaching inner city kids, one is serving in the military, one in the Red Cross. Many small hands here with us are shaping pie crusts, making cards, saying prayers, and preparing for bigger things.
Moral of the story. You can multiply your efforts many times over. This is how. You give them your all, they pay it forward. You don't "spend" time with your kids. You invest it. It reaps major dividends.
So a big thank you to my big kids for taking your candle out into the world.
Light it up. Love you. : )
What a difference a couple weeks makes. It is the difference between short sleeves and stadium blankets. Between sunscreen and umbrellas. This is the way of it every autumn. Early in the season the sun beats down and by the end we are shivering on the sidelines. Rain or shine they are on the field however, a fall tradition in this family for nearly two decades now.
I hope you are playing hard this weekend. What says fall fun in your family?
We hosted our first dinner party at the farm today and it felt really, really good to have friends around the table(s) again. It was also good incentive to get the last things done around here that we had put off.
The menu was pretty simple as usual – steak and hamburgers for the grill, baked potatoes, BLT salad (we skipped the turkey this time).
The girls made two kinds of cupcakes which were less simple – chocolate fudge cherry vanilla and raspberry-filled lemon. Both went fast! New favorite game around here – Cupcake Wars, the home edition. ; )
Ed and his family have newly arrived in England. He and Allen have worked together different times over many years and were deployed together when I was expecting Brendan.
He is like the Pied Piper and the children were drawn to him magnetically. Abbie didn't let him out of her sight and insisted he sit next to her during dinner.
She does actually have coordinating clothing, fwiw, but has ideas of her own and usually reworks her wardrobe throughout the day.
Tomorrow is Cambridge again the girls tell me. So we better go finish night two of our Jack Black movie weekend and get those dishes done. I hope your weekend is full of good friends, good weather, and good food. : )
It's moments like these that make you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore…. and that your boy needs a haircut. (where DID the good clippers end up?)
Brendan caught sight of these beauties while we were walking down the street. He is a fan of all things Matchbox but seeing the British cars was exceptionally cool.
My girls are posting snapshots of London to their Facebook walls at this moment while I do…. as little as I possibly can, actually. It is the day of rest after all. : ) So far that has consisted of fishing an old cricket bat out of the kids' bathtub where it was soaking. (No idea. It wasn't there when I walked by last time) I finished Pioneer Woman's Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Best read in a looooong time. You might need to be a sanguine sort to appreciate as much as I did. Can't remember when I laughed so hard. When I wasn't wiping the tears from my eyes I was reading exerpts to anyone close by so they could laugh too. But just to show that I do think big thoughts here and there I've also begun one of my new library books so chosen because a) the base library is small and b) it has a couple shelves of brand new books and I have grabbed some unlikely combinations. Then again, maybe not so unlikely. I read like people watch tv. I need several channels to choose from at a given time.
In between I have edited a lot of pictures, watched Winnie the Pooh in the original with the littles, and eaten some chocolate. There was a freak accident involving the tragic amputation of the princess Polly Pocket's arm. Abbie said I should just help her put on her plastic gown anyway because she was pretending that arm was invisible. Girl after my own heart. We keep calm and play on.
Oh that all crises were resolved so easily.
So, pictures. These are from our horsing around the other day after fishing the kids out of the pool. (hence the pool hair ; ))
I made an awesome simple strawberry shortcake with fresh cream, thanks to a daughter who actually enjoys whipping it by hand. Pretty sure it came from Food Network here because we have enjoyed everything we have made from there.
With any luck that will be all the breaking news from this end. Uneventful is good. <g> Hope your holiday weekend (for you American friends) is restful and full of family fun. And some cake. There should be cake.
Starry Sky Journal 