the 4th

Amazingly enough, I did not take any pictures on the fourth of July. We still had a really great day though. We started off with a farewell picnic for Madi's preschool. It was really sweet. All of the kids who will be leaving for reception or 'big school' were invited. We played games and ate a lot. It was really nice to see who would be in the class next year. I love that Madi already knows the majority of the kids. I think that will make it a really easy transition for her. Madi felt really special and grown up while we were there! She is growing so fast!


Then I swapped kids to take Emi to a birthday party. But not just any birthday party. It was for her best boy friend, Elio and she was in heaven just thinking about it. It was the highlight of her year I would say! Emi tells me all the time that he is not just a friend but a 'boyfriend'. Luckily, that means that they only sit by each other and play together. So that works for me!


Next we went to a barbecue at our friend and neighbors house. And they know how to throw a party! They blocked off the back courtyard and set up several tables, grills, and bikes. Two back gardens with pools were open for the kids to run in between and there was a TON of food. We had a really great time! I did have to keep the kids away from the jello shots as they looked really tasty:) Funny thing was that of the thirty or so people, only six of us (excluding kids) were even American! Our British friends did enjoy our Independence Day!


Then about 10:30 or a bit later-whenever it was finally dark enough, we set off the fireworks. We had bought quite a few so it was a pretty good show! As usual, they were too loud for Em and she kept her ears covered the entire time. But she loved holding the little sparklers! Afterwards we headed home with extremely filthy and tired children. Overall, it was a spectacular holiday!

Oops and Daisy

This weekend we are babysitting the school's guinea pigs, Oops and Daisy. The kids are fascinated with them! They want to hold them, pet them, and feed them all the time! (By the way, there is a shot of Terry in his knee brace:)
They really want to let the pigs out into the yard so they can run around but I haven't let them do it yet. I know that they will run under the bushes and hide and then I'll have to drag them out so for now they are staying in their box.
Thanks to Oops and Daisy, we've even found a new time out space for Timmy! Well, that is wishful thinking but they all love to climb under the cage and pretend that they are animals. So far, it has been fun to have pets for a few days!

Heat wave

AAAHHHHH, it is freaking hot over here! It has been at least 30 (about 86F) degrees for a few days now and Thursday it is supposed to be up to a possible 34 degrees. I am dying! For those who are unaware, we have no air conditioning! Anywhere! No one I know lives in a house with a/c. Most businesses including restaurants do not have a/c. The only relief that I have is getting in the car and driving somewhere but I don't want to waste my gas to cool down. The good side to this is that I hung my laundry outside to dry and they were dry within two hours. I saved money and kept the house cooler. Speaking of keeping the house cooler, I now totally understand why people have light meals in the summer-they can't bear to turn the oven on! All of my menus have changed so that I can keep as much heat out of the kitchen as possible.

It really wouldn't be so bad but after I walk to get the kids, I'm sweating a lot and then to come home to a house that is the same temp. inside as it is outside is torture! And sleeping at night! Oh my goodness, when I went to bed at 11 last night, my thermometer read 81 degrees in my bedroom. That is with the fan on and the windows open. And the poor kids-I don't even open their windows because it is a straight drop to the cement below. Oh yeah, and they are terrified of spiders creeping in the windows while they sleep.

And did I mention there are no screens? So every single window and all of the doors are open in my house which invite the bugs to just come on in. Oh my gosh the bugs are everywhere! Greenflies, wheat bugs, damselflies, spiders-my house is a freaking insect nest! I've got to admit that I'm not near as skittish as I used to be about bugs. You just get used to it.

This heat is what I would expect back in the states. However, when we arrived one year ago, I had to go buy pants and jackets because it was so cold! I want those days back! And just one more interesting tidbit for you. The fourth of July is on Saturday. The sun doesn't go down completely until around 10:30/11 at night. So fireworks are not even planned to begin until then. It is going to be a late, late holiday!

Fun facts

Since Terry has had the operation, he has kept the computer that I normally use with him. So it has been awhile since I have really done a good updating on the blog. So here are a few tidbits I thought were noteworthy.

First off, I was really impressed with Em's reading lately. She sits down and reads entire books to herself. I love finding her deep in a book especially because Terry and I were both really big readers as kids. It is nice to see that Em enjoys books as well. We were even reading a book about how to make ice cream and Em pointed out a few words that are spelled differently here in England as opposed to the states such as favourite, colour, and flavour. Such a clever girl!!!!

Today Madison did the sweetest thing. We have banned the kids from going to the back garden through the dining room. They are slamming the door and a crack has developed so the door is off limits now. So today Em wanted to go outside but she didn't want to be the first because she was afraid of spider webs when she passed by the bins. So Madi jumps up and says, "I'll go first! I"ll protect you Emilie! In fact, I would do anything for you even get spiders on me." That about melted my heart-she is such a sweetie!

Terry is also doing much better. He is up and about. The PT gave him a string of exercises to do and it is giving him a much greater range of motion. It is still painful but it is good for him to be moving as much as he can. They said that as early as two weeks post op, he could be walking around without crutches. He has actually started to hobble around the house. So he is looking good!

As for me, I have a little atta boy to myself. I forgot to write the other day, that I ran four miles! First time that I've done that in one sitting and it felt really good. I was recently asked to run a 10k and a half marathon with a friend and I'm really considering it. I think that I'll do the 10k but not sure I'm motivated enough for a half marathon-there is a lot of training involved in that one! But you never know. We'll see.

Not much to report on Timmy. He is talking all of the time now and I really love to hear his little voice. He has been enjoying all of his play dates while I've taken Terry to the doctor. We've also learned that he was accepted to the preschool and will go three days a week starting in September. Our little man is growing up so quickly!

Em's sports day

Last Monday Em's class had their Sports' Day along with the Reception and Year 2 class. It was a lot of fun! There were probably 12 different heats of 6-8 kids and they ran each race. I loved watching them! Here is Em quick off of the line in a race where they jumped through hula hoops.
Next was the egg and spoon race. Em had a strategy. She walked very carefully and not all of that quickly. As a result she never dropped her egg like many of the others.
I loved how much she concentrates in the picture. She did a great job!
Next was the potato sack race. Emi really liked this one and did really well!
Finally, they had a straight running race. Em is pretty fast but unfortunately she didn't hear the start whistle and began a bit late. Luckily, she is a good sport and brushed it off fairly easily. Especially because at the end of the day, Em's team won the entire day!!!! Emilie won the race or finished in the top three all but once and helped her team to victory! It was especially nice because her team hardly ever wins the weekly competitions but now they are the Sports' Day champions!

Dragons and Butterflies

A week ago we hosted a slumber party and went to the school's end of summer fayre. The kids loved it! They jumped in a bounce house, played mutliptle games which won them loads of candy, and got their faces painted. Madi and Hannah are butterflies and Madison and Emi were dragons. Pretty good artwork I thought!

Surgery re-cap

It feels like a long time since I have sat down to blog. I have just been super busy! Terry's surgery went really well. They discovered that his knee was a lot more damaged than they had thought. Luckily, they were still able to repair it all. Unfortunately, he will need full knee replacement in roughly fifteen years.

Terry seems to be doing well. He sleeps and dozes a lot due to the pain killers he is on. When he is not dozing, he varies between a narcotic induced high or very contented playing his computer game. I think overall he is doing well with the surgery. He has another twenty doses of meds before we switch to Tylenol so I'll have to update you then. Terry might be really feeling it then! But until then, he is pretty comfortably laid out in a bed downstairs within easy reach of the TV and toilet-two necessities!

I have to admit that it is hard work helping a post op patient. I am happy to take care of him but it is a lot of work! I almost feel like he is a newborn because I have been setting an alarm (every four hours) to wake me up in the middle of the night so that I can administer his meds! Terry really is a great patient though. He is so grateful for every meal that I bring him, or for replenishing his ice bucket that cools his knee, or for helping him to the bathroom. I will be happy though when he is off the meds so that we might chat again like we used to! Right now, he just doesn't have the energy to really do anything but lie down which is just what he needs. Rest and recuperation.

I too have been really tired. Nursing Terry and taking care of the kids, cleaning, shopping, and everything else is wearing me down. It has been awhile now since I've had to do this on my own and I temporarily forgot just how hard it can be. Terry is a really big help and his presence is missed! And the kids notice it too. They go in and check on him and give him hugs and kisses. Timmy keeps going in to his room and pointing to his knee and saying, "Daddy hurt." Last night, Em came down to read with him before bed. These little things are good at keeping Terry connected!

Tomorrow is Terry's post-op appt. and they will remove the dressings and see how it is healing. He is still in for a long recovery but little by little we will get there:)

A date and surgery

Thanks to Bobbie and Dan, we were able to go out tonight for our anniversary! We have been trying to go out for at least two weeks and it has been constantly foiled. Not from a lack of trying though! So tonight we dropped the kids off for a sleep over and headed over to Cambridge. It was a really nice night to walk around: slightly chilly and overcast which actually made for a nice evening. We found a little hole in the wall restaurant and had a nice time. While the food wasn't the best, the company was and I enjoyed every minute! After dinner, we did some more walking and it was great. It was so nice to be able to linger and explore without constant requests for the toilet or snacks. Thanks again Bobbie and Dan!

The kids are even spending the night over at our friends' house which is a huge help. Tomorrow morning, we will be out the door at o'dark thirty to drive Terry to the hospital at Lakenheath for knee surgery. He was scheduled first thing in the morning so we will be up early to make it on time. Terry has had knee problems for a long time so the surgery will eventually be a blessing. However, we've been told that the immediate recovery is very painful and that it takes a while to heal. So we've set up a bed downstairs for him and I'll be his servant until he can be up and about on his own again. So keep Terry in your thoughts and prayers tonight and tomorrow please! Pray that everything goes well!!!!

Sleep over!

Tonight the girls are having a sleep over! Our friends Hannah and Madison are going to be spending the night! We have a really fun evening planned which will hopefully end with tired and sleeping girls:)

I'm looking forward to it. It will be a good distraction for the kids while I get some baking done. To be done tonight: eggplant and zucchini lasagna, overnight cinnamon rolls, and a lemon blueberry cheesecake. Yummy!

Happy news

We have been having some car trouble lately. But today we finally got good news! We thought that we were in need of a totally new transmission for the van. Luckily, it is only a wheel bearing! Hooray! (And don't ask how we could be so off:) It was such a relief especially because to get a car fixed out here, you first need to order the part from the states, then wait for it to get here, then hope to get in to the auto hobby shop in a decent amount of time to get the work done. So hooray that it is not too serious! I was thinking that we would be buying a new car-not an easy thing to do over here!