One task near the top of my 2011 'to do' list is GRADUATE.

FINALLY.  School has been a thorn in my side for the last couple of years.  I've been almost done for forever it seems, but not able to finish the job.  Pretty frustrating.  So, Rockstar and I have become good friends lately.  Totally not healthy, full of caffeine and other junky stuff, and probably habit forming... but the orange one tastes pretty good and helps me stay AWAKE to study after long days of  playing with kids, running errands, and chores.  Good stuff.   

Oh, and Ella, this next picture is for you.  I'm thinking you will enjoy seeing artwork from your toddler days when you are older.  Here's one of many drawings I have found in my textbooks lately.  Little stinker.

So that I can look back and see what a typical weekday was like a la' January 2011 for our family, it has looked something like this...

6:30 AMish... Wake up to Ella yelling, Mama I need some bwekfas!!  Get Ella's breakfast. Mine too. Usually she requests Wogurt. Her favorite is the apricot Froop.  Jake has usually left for work by now.  He starts seeing patients at the clinic at 7.
7 AMish...  Get dressed for the gym and get the kids clothes for the day together while Ella watches one of her shows.  Dora is a favorite in the TV dept. now.  Pack Luke's lunch for school.  His 'usual' is a plain cheese sandwich (wheat bread with a big slice of cheddar or monterrey jack inside or that nasty processed Kraft singles stuff... he loves that.), fruit, and some crackers. 
7:30 AMish...  First attempt to wake up Luke.  He likes to roll over and go back to sleep for a while.  Usually he wakes up for good on his own terms about 15 min. later.  In the meantime I make sure his backpack is ready to go to school with the stuff he needs. 
8 AMish... Make sure Luke has his clothes on for the day.  Help him do his hair.  Go downstairs for his breakfast.  Unlike his sis, he hates yogurt.  90% of the time he requests Eggos.  Large meltdowns occur when we're out of them. 
8:30 AMish... clean up breakfast mess, unload dishwasher from night before.  Brush teeth.  Try to find missing shoe/sock/hat/whatever is lost that we need to leave the house.  Seems like we always have to find something.
8:45 AMish....  In the car heading to school.  El and I Walk Luke to his classroom and then by  
 9 AMish...  we're headed over to the gym on base.  Try to beat other gym rats to the treadmills in the 'parent and kid' area of the gym. 
10:30 AMish... leave the gym.  Pick up mail on the way home.  On Wednesdays Ella has had gymnastics at 10.  We're taking a break from gymnastics for a few months starting in Feb. 
11 AMish... Home again.  Find something for Ella to do while I get ready for the day.
12 ish... Eat lunch with my girl.  leave at
12:45 PM to pick up Luke.
1PMish... Carry a sleeping Ella from the car to Luke's classroom.  Go home with the kiddos (Ella is still sleeping 95% of the time) and Luke and I find something to do.
2 PMish... After El wakes up (she'll usually sleep for an hour or so)  time for running errands, playing, friends, cleaning, and other everyday things. 
4 PMish.  Start thinking about dinner.  Thinking that is.  Most of the time I procrastinate for another hour, maybe two, before actually starting to make something.  Usually Jake is home by
6 PM ish and we eat then.  Trying to be better at eating early this year.  And at eating healthier.  Jake has been trying new recipes and cooking for us every now and then.  He's a good chef.  One of his recent creations...

Don't remember what this one was called.  It was super good and involved feta, bacon, and lots of parsley.  Here's my chef:

7 PMish... Clean up dinner mess. 
7:30 PMish... plop kiddos in the tub.  Get PJs on.
8 PMish... family scriptures.  Then Luke gets his reading practice time in for a bit.
8:30 PMish... Kids in bed.  Err.. um... try to have the kids in bed.  We've been trying to get them in bed at a normal early time lately.  Our kids have never been good sleepers so we are working on that.  Things are slowly improving in that department :)
9 PMish... my free time.  Ahhh.  Time to bust out the caffeine and hit the books until my brain turns to mush. 
Sometime hopefully before midnight it's time for sleep. 

Next day: repeat.

What we've been up to so far this January...

* School!  Luke went back to school last week.  Now, he's in reception (British kindergarten).  Until now he had been going to the nursery school which is like preschool at the primary school.  All the kids that turn 5 in the next six and a half months start reception now.  He's got a new teacher (Mrs. Chilestone) and a new class, has to wear the school uniform, and stays longer during the day.  I like that they let the kids adjust gradually to staying at school all day.  For now he eats lunch at school and then I pick him up at 1:00.  After Easter holiday he will stay until 3:15.  He really enjoys school.  Some mornings he doesn't want to physically GO, but once he's there he has a great time.  Here he is modeling his awesome uniform on his first day.  At Great Heath Primary school, they have to wear navy polo shirts with the school emblem on them and then grey or black trousers.   I think it's funny people call pants trousers in England.  And I thought wearing a navy shirt with black pants was a no-no?!  Guess it isn't here.  If it's chilly they wear these tealish green sweatshirts with the school name on them. 

This next picture was taken the last day of school in his 'apple' class before the Christmas holiday.  Luke with Mrs. Dootson and Mrs. Ashworth.  They were really great wtih him.

 

*StarWars!  When he's home,  Luke has been going crazy lately with his legos and other StarWars Christmas toys.  They have taken over the dining room table.  Trying to figure out where to store and play with these things!  He doesn't like taking them apart once they are put together.
   

*Luke gave his first talk in primary today.  He did awesome.

*Jake has been busy working.  Top producer at the dental clinic lately (I don't brag about him enough so I'm going to do it now), so he's working hard! 

*Ella is loving dressing herself.  She entertains me during the day with the crazy things she wants to put on.  If she isn't putting something on, she's taking off something that I had put on her.  Her clothes, her hair accessories, shoes, etc.  Not only does she want to pick it out, but she insists that she dress herself a lot of the time.  Took some pictures of her the other morning in one of her fabulous outfits.  She wanted all of those flowers on her headband.  So stylish :)

 *Trying to get Ella interested in going potty in the toilet.  She just doesn't really care if she has a dirty bum though.  Whoever said potty training girls was easier is totally wrong.  haha.  Luke was so much more interested at this point then her.  Actually, he was just about potty trained by now.  Oh well.

*I've been trying to get our family on a better schedule.  With sleeping, how Ella and I spend time during the day, etc.  Still trying to nail down what exactly my new years resolutions are going to be.  It's looking like 2011 will  be a busy but fun year!

*Kristen and Aaron had their baby girl this past week.  She's adorable!  Another fun thing about Jan. so far!  Hope we get to meet baby Emmy before she's too big! 

Christmas! 2010 Edition

We got home Christmas Eve from our little getaway.  We had planned to cook some fun things with friends that evening, but since we left Bath later then expected,  ended up at RAF Croughton in Northhamptonshire at dinner time.  To be more specific, the Croughton bowling alley of all places.  Haha.  It was the ONLY place open on that little base when we stopped to fill up with gas around 4:30.  We still had a couple of hours before home and the kids needed a break from the car.  The bowling alley burgers were actually pretty good though!  I'm glad there are so many military bases in England.  We've spent money at British petrol stations (as they call gas stations) once so far.  That's just because the car was running on fumes one night.  We just put in £5 that time.  Totally worth filling up on military bases since gas is so much cheaper.  It's around $55 to fill up on base (for around 65 liters).  Off base gas is £1.30 per liter... around £84 to fill up the Highlander  (like $130).  Yikes.  Anyway, enough talk about gas.  We ate our burgers and then headed home.  Oh, and we are glad we didn't end up being stationed at Croughton.  It was one of the possibilities for us.  Not only is it teeny tiny, it's in the middle of nowhere.

* I tried to convince Jake that we should go see the royal family walk to church at Sandringham Christmas morning.  It's close to where we live, and the children there get to hand the queen a flower.  I guess it ended up being a good thing that Jake wasn't up to going though.  With Luke being sick it probably would have been miserable.  One of these years before we move I want to go!

*Here are the kids in their Christmas PJs before bed.  We read lots of the kids' Christmas books, the Christmas story from the bible, and watched the Nativity movie.  Luke was feeling sick.   Sick + Christmas Eve excitement + being scared that he would wake up to see Santa or that Santa wouldn't come because he was awake with D on the toilet made for a very VERY long night.  The kids were pretty cute in their PJs though!   

*Santa came!  He did it.  Somehow he snuck in without Luke seeing him.  Luke was up around 6 to open presents.  We had to wake Ella so we could go downstairs and check it out.  All of us were pretty lucky and got what we asked for this year.  We scored Star Wars stuff, lots of babies, toys, a camera lens, a kindle, clothes, and other fun things.  Thank you Santa!  And grandmas and grandpas!  Another Christmas morning surprise was snow.  It melted a little before Christmas, but was back Christmas morning. 

*Ate a tasty breakfast casserole and some orange rolls for breakfast.  Jake made some meatballs that night.
 

*Ella eating some of her stocking loot...

*Christmas day was spent vegging out.  We talked to family in the states on Skype and watched new movies.  Luke didn't really leave the couch since he still wasn't feeling well.  Poor kid!  Ella was in heaven taking care of all her new babies.

 

                                                

It was the first Christmas with just the four of us.  We missed our extended family, but had a fun day at home.

A few other Christmas related things I want in the blog book...

*We made a gingerbread house again this year.  Luke just couldn't wait to put it together, so we did this the first week of November.  Jake and Luke did the decorating. 

*Christmas cards are a huge thing here.  Kids at school pass them around, so Luke would bring home a bunch every day.  It's kind of like passing valentines in the states.  You get tons of them, and most have candy attached.  It's fun.  A few that Luke got...

*Luke gave  Lego Christmas cards to his classmates.  I asked him to show the camera the cards he picked out and he decided to make a silly face.  Reminded me so much of the squishy face he used to make as a baby.  (click here to see the old squishy)  haha

*I didn't send out half as many Christmas cards this year as we have in the past.  I was a slacker.  Jake and I have a million aunts, uncles, and cousins between the two of us.  (So many people in our extended family that we love!  We're lucky that way....)  I only sent cards to immediate fam this year.  Call me lazy. 

Think I'm going to do a big send out every other year from now on.   For the record, here's what this year's card looked like!  We used a family picture I posted on here already.  (Ely post) Luke designed the card at school and I think they turned out cutie.

front and back:

The inside was blank.  Ok, so I think that's all the Christmas stuff I was going to include!  

*I should mention New Years on this post too.  We got together with the Smiths and did fondue!    Also watched movies and played games.   

*Another fun thing about New Years Eve 2010... my dad turned 50! Happy Birthday dad!! :)

Christmas Week Travels 2010: Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath, and Warwick Castle.

Jake was off work last week so we got to do a little traveling! 

First up on our little getaway was Stonehenge.  The kids will agree that rocks aren't the most exciting things to look at, and that outdoor activities in England in December are freezing!  The history of the place is pretty neat though.  Just the fact that the beginnings of Stonehenge started around 3100 BC, and the part still standing today was most likely completed around 1500 BC is pretty cool. 

So, here it is.  Looks just like it does in the textbooks...  

Some nice guy there offered to take a picture of all of us.  The kids were frozen by this point and my eyes are shut.  Oh well.

Cool painting on the wall of what the place looked like long ago...

After leaving Stonehenge, we took off for Salisbury to see the cathedral.  It was quite the feat getting there since our phone gps systems stink and weren't working.  Once we got there it was easy to spot the cathedral though!  Here's what it looks like when you first drive into Salisbury...

The Salisbury cathedral from the motorway (freeway)...

A picture from up close.  More history... this cathedral is home to the best preserved original Magna Carta.

We wanted to get to Bath to check into our hotel, so we didn't stay in Salisbury for long.  Sitting in the passenger seat of the car there's only so much to do, so I took some pictures out the window on the drive.  Supposedly "it doesn't snow in England."  Due to a crazy phenomenon caused by global warming though, it has snowed the past 3 years, and each winter has gotten colder.  Hot talk radio topic around here!  Anyway, I think England looks pretty in the snow.

Almost to Bath...

Bath is so cute and old.  It's has a lot of hills too which is unique around here.  It's a really European looking city and most of the buildings look a lot alike.  Here's when we first drove into town.  It took us forever to find our hotel once in Bath since our GPS wasn't working!   More pics from the car while we were trying to find our hotel...

We finally found the hotel.  Jake got a great deal on our room at the Windsor and we stayed for two nights. 

We ate dinner at Sally Lunn's.  The oldest house in Bath.  It's famous for buns!  We tried a cinnamon one.  I tried ratatouille for the first time too.  People back in the 1400s must have been so much smaller.  Super narrow hallways and low ceilings in there.  A fun place to eat!  Ella noticed the mirror behind our table and stood up to check herself out and said super loud, "Hey!  There's a beautiful pwincess in there!"  Cutie.  I love her hat hair :)

                                              Random pictures from walking around the town...

There's some great shopping in Bath.  Lots of little shops everywhere.  Streets were pretty busy since Christmas was coming!

Ella couldn't get enough of the pigeons.  She would have stayed there all day to bird watch.

We went to the Roman Baths.  The Romans occupied this area around AD 43 and believed the hot springs here had healing powers.  They built a temple at this location and these baths.  Most of the stones on the ground and the stones in the baths are the old Roman ruins.  You can see other baths like this one there that are just the old ruins without the hot springs running through them.  Guess I didn't take pics of those.

The stone mason told us some cool stuff about the area and the baths.  Here's Ella yelling a loud cheese!  and Luke loved listening to the audio guide.  As long as there were buttons and those audio things at the museums he was happy.

Some cool old gems and money that have been found in the baths...

Random tourist picture..  Phone booths are everywhere and everyone that comes to England gets at least one picture in one!.

After the Roman Baths we went over to the fashion museum. I wanted to see Diana's dresses. They are on display there until mid January.   So fun to see!  

They have clothing in the museum from every decade, and some really old pieces that are centuries old.  No cameras allowed in most of it though. 

                             Got these next pics off of their website since there were no camera signs...

Biggest let-down of the trip would be the Jane Austen center.  I really like her work, but this place was pretty boring and over priced.  Just a little place where you listen to her history and information about her family life, and mannequins are dressed as characters in her novels.  Jane lived in Bath for a while, and in her novels the characters come to Bath on occasion to socialize. 

       A picture of the back side of the Pulteney bridge and the river Avon. The bridge was built in 1773 and is a national monument.

That wraps up the Bath excursion!  We had a great time despite the freezing weather, GPS not working, Luke getting sick, and Ella's eye infection coming back!  I would like to go back sometime in the summer months. 

Next up:  Warwick Castle.  Its history goes back 1,100 years. 

I knew it would be cold so I bundled up the kids really well!  Thought that we would be set.   They both managed to set down their water bottles upside down with the lids open in their car seats though!  So, they both had wet bums and pants from the time we left the car to walk up to the castle.  Ugh. 

The castle is full of cool old weapons, uniforms, and creepy wax figures.  There's a dungeon but I guess it's too scary for kids so we didn't do that. 

                                                     Wax figures of Henry VIII and his wives...

                                                                Bedroom in the castle...

                                          
                                                    Me and Miss Ella!  Overlooking the courtyard...

               Cool view from the towers... The gardens in the spring and summer are amazing I hear.

Luke riding the Helter Skelter...

And that concludes our Christmas time travels this year.  Phew!  This post has taken forever!  Good times.  Next post will be Christmas.