My Seasonal Tree is still going strong. We were able to decorate it appropriately for Easter. Now I have to think of how to decorate it for a period of time with no holiday. I was thinking fimo and felt. Caterpillars, peas, strawberries, gardening tools and lady bugs would be good decorations to make.
Another item I have begun making obsessively are these little felt birds. They are so easy and once I was able to feel my finger, I wanted to be able to make something simple.
Another candy holiday is upon us, Easter. Easter and Valentine's Day seem to be "sugar holidays" in my mind. Mixed chocolates, jelly beans and (in England) HUGE CHOCOLATE EGGS.
In England, it is customary to give everyone a huge hollow chocolate egg that is filled with one kind of candy or another, like a huge chocolate egg filled with M&M's or a huge chocolate egg filled with smaller Cadbury eggs with the goo in the middle). This is a far removed tradition for me, as because I am American, any hollow chocolate item means really bad tasting, cheap chocolate. In England this is not the case, they take their chocolate seriously and therefore all these chocolate eggs are worth eating.
The thing is, when you are a little kid, you may end up with 3-4 eggs (or more!), because EVERYONE gives you one. When I was little, my Easter Bunny gave me a basket full of plastic eggs filled with jelly beans and M&M's, some of the little solid chocolate eggs (yummy chocolate), and maybe a Cadbury Egg. There was also a soft toy, a little bit of cash (the GREEN egg) and the hard boiled eggs we decorated.
This is the first year we have taken the Easter Bunny on board. Knowing that the Sprout would get at least one chocolate egg, I had to steer away from the chocolate. I went with some jelly beans and gummy candy in plastic eggs (it is hard to find plastic eggs here). We also got a stuffed toy and a spade for the garden (the Easter Bunny wants the Sprout to plant him some lettuce). Of course, within an hour all of the jelly beans and gummy candy was gone, and the chocolate hollow bunny his great nan gave him (Smatries) had been gutted. Needless to say I have a pixi on crack running around the house.
What I would really love to do, is make my own hollow chocolate Easter Egg as our holiday tradition. it would be a fun thing for all of us to do and to give them to each other.
We have taken the plunge into potty training. In the past few months we have been doing it on and off, but yesterday marked the beginning of "hardcore" potty training. The Sprout is helping by refusing to wear a diaper, which is a bit annoying.
Yesterday, he spent the whole day naked and did quite well. He even pooped. Last night he refused to wear a diaper to bed, so I loaded up his mattress with towels and cloth diapers. He was dry for most of the night, which was impressive and when he woke up, the bed wasn't as wet as I had expected, or at least the layers had done their jobs.
Today was a bit different. The Sprout had to wear clothes as we had to go out in the morning. We went through 3 pairs of pants before we had a poo and then he refused to wear clothes any more. It seemed that when he was wearing clothes, he had no interest in using the potty. It seems that we need to work on wearing clothing, at least underwear, and using the potty.
Again tonight he refused to wear a diaper to bed and before he fell asleep, he had already wet the bed, but I don't think there is a need to push it. I am just happy we had to buy a new washer/dryer, which is the most awesome thing ever.
Other big boy things:
I must also add that the Sprout has become quite the little helper around the house. He loves to sweep up messes and help with the vacuuming.
We have been keeping up our seasonal tree and have just started decorating it for Easter.
I will bite and wrote about the Project Blog question of the week.
Project Blog: Question One.
Where would you chose to live if you had to leave this country?
Well let's just get this out of the way...we all know that if I am getting out of England, I am going home to the US, but let's just say that I don't have to worry about American family or English family and I am just leaving it all behind. It is really hard to choose a country that I haven't been too. I have so many romantic ideas of places like Thiland and Spain, So really I am limited to places I have been...Holland, Australia, Antigua/Barbuda, Ireland, Scotland and Canada.
I really loved Antigua and I wasn't there for a holiday either. I was working hard on the beach digging up a skeleton. Gotta love the laid back "Island time" and the fact that their money is worth less than ours. So if I wanted to treat the rest of my life as an island getaway, I would go with the Caribbean.
These were taken in 2001 way before I had a digital camera,
so these were all scanned in.
This is of 2 ft bay in Barbuda, where we found the skeleton I was excavating.
This is the terrain inside the island.
Wonderful tropical desert, that is the only way to describe it.
However, if I wanted to pick up sticks to start again, I would go with Australia. Many English people have a thing for Australia, and I know why. The people are so friendly and, like the States, they have all of the climates you could ask for, sun, surf, desert, jungle and they have winters in the southern end.
My brother and I in Sidney 2003 (we were having a better time than it looks).
Bondi Beach
These were the only pictures I had scanned on my computer of Australia.
I have tons of animal pictures spread throughout the house.
He loves to put balls in his little cups. He is excellent at it.
He also loves to play catch.
Here is a video.
He also says "mamamamamamama" when he is frustrated or needs something. E decided he was indeed calling for me.
The nursery plague
The problem with nursery is that it breeds sickness. The Sprout has come down with his first nursery related illness, the ever disgusting Pink Eye, or conjunctivitis. And it was too bad too because he had it while we were camping. Not a fun thing when you have limited washing facilities.
Camping
We finally got to go camping. It went really well, only a few minor irritations. E and I managed to put up a huge family tent with two rooms all by ourselves in an efficient manner while a bouncy dog and an exploring baby played in the mud.
The Goredale campground is beautiful. Set in a valley with the path to Goredale Scar cutting through the campground and a small river that flows from the Scar and along the edge of the campsite, it is really peaceful. Sheep ran freely and no-see-ums flying grouping annoyingly above, it was awesome.
Although the weather was drab and cold, we had some sun and only a few showers. The big tent was a good idea, it kept us dry and we could still look out on the river and green hillside.
The Sprout had allot of fun playing in the tent and occasionally in the muddy grass. He spent most of the time in the sling because we didn't really have anywhere else to put him when we were outside the tent. Surprisingly he slept well (I must have done a good job keeping him warm) but he would wake up to find his eyes wouldn't open because they were glued shut by the puss of Pink Eye.
We didn't really do much because it was hard to do too much hiking and shopping with a dog and a baby, but we went to Janet Foss, which was next to the campsite and took a trip into Settle as well as had dinner in Malham.
2 days seemed to be enough time considering the Sprout won't let E have him without me there and the dog won't let me have her without E there. However, I would love to do more camping and if Richard had been there, we could have stayed longer.
Man, I can't believe it has been 2 months. No wonder I am not tired anymore, I am used to doing everything in 3 hour intervals. I get anxious when it has been more than 3 hours.
Let's see what has the Sprout achieved...
He smiles allot, but still not long enough or predictable enough for a picture.
He fixes his gaze on things and on Richard and me.
He can finally fully breast feed.
He is awake more during the day.
He can almost hold his head up.
He has stopped being so cranky when we change him or give him baths.
He gets his first round of shots on Monday.
He has the beginnings of a laugh going and makes little coo noises.
He fits into size 0-3 month clothes.
Last week Miki finally inducted the Sprout into the family by giving him a head rub on his head. It was really sweet. He is now a full fledge member of the family and is now allowed to worship her as she sees fit.
We are going down South to the Osborne's for Christmas next week. We will be staying for a few days. It will be the last Christmas at the house, because they finally sold it.
Richard and I attended the Pace Christmas Party on Friday. It was the first time we had been away from the Sprout at the same time. Richard's sister was kind enough to babysit. She also took me to White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. It was actually fun and it was the first time I had taken the Sprout on a real outing. It was a little intimidating, but he slept the majority of the time, except when the 3 hours was up and I had to feed him. I opted to feed him with a bottle because it was our first time out and I am not quite ready to breast feed in public, or in a bathroom for that matter.
The Sprout will officially be an international traveler at the end of the month. We will be flying to Seattle on the 31st for New Year's and to spend time with the parents. I am so excited to go home, it has been a year!!! The longest I have ever gone...EVER.
We finally got around to having our 5th Thanksgiving!! It was super fun. This year we had 7 people, our biggest turn out since the first Thanksgiving at the University of Bradford. As planned we had:
How cool to do a TAT on Thanksgiving! Now I have extra pressure to turn up an excellent TAT, I don't know if I am up to the challenge this year. Last year I turned out a good one, but I will have to try extra hard this year.
While I think of something...
What the Sprout is thankful for:
Yesterday was the Sprout's real due date. We had him weighed and he is now 6lbs 11oz (he gained a pound and 3oz in 2 weeks)! almost a real birth weight! Very exciting, he is still very tiny though. So we all know the Sprout is thankful for "Mommy Milk" (copyrighted by my mom). He also seems to be thankful for Michael Buble and the shadows on the wall next to the kitchen, as well as his mommy singing "Skylark" when he is sleepy-awake and disposable didies (also copyrighted by my mom).
I am still thinking...
Random thoughts on mommy hood:
Mommy hood is really tiring, especially with Richard at work. During the day it really does feel like I am single mommying it. Every other thing that has stressed and overwhelmed me in life does't even come close to the stress of being the only one who can feed a tiny being. And I must say that this week I finally hit the breaking point...there is no other exhaustion that can compare, not even the days where I would go for 4 days without sleep because of my horrible insomnia. In fact, I thought that annoying condition would help me, but it doesn't because I have no trouble sleeping, but having to personally produce food is so physically exhausting, like having the stomach flu exhausting.
Coming up blank...
This year's Thanksgiving festivities:
This year's Thanksgiving festivities will be taking place on December 5th. It seems to be really hard to get 8 people together at the same time in November. Auntie Cathy made a really cool Turkey bib that the Sprout will be sporting for the occasion. This year will be the 5th Thanksgiving I have hosted, meaning I have spent 5 Thanksgivings away from home, but also that I am becoming awesome at making Thanksgiving Dinner...So in 25 years, the Allen's will have their new Thanksgiving person. All of us Allen cousins find our place eventually.
I am getting it...
What I am thankful for:
This year I have a special place in my heart for family. Last year I considered this one of the generic "Thankful fors" but this year family is especially special. Not only can I say that I have my own family to be thankful for, but I can say that I am insanely grateful for my preexisting family of about 40 strong. This thankfulness comes from years of layers that have been glimpsed under only to be kept hidden and left to mold and stink. This year however, there was finally a deep cleaning and the carpet was replaced and the dirty laundry taken out, and because of this, the family has gotten stronger. Oh, there are still tiny holes in the fabric that are being decided whether or not they should be mended or if the garment should simply be thrown away, but finally we are all on the same page and can now start with a fresh coat of paint. And this is what I am truly grateful for this year.
I wanted to add some random stuff as well as deliver the Friday Lolcats.
Anyone looking for some crafts? I came across a great blog called The Long Thread, they have some pretty cool projects that look pretty easy. I really need a sewing machine.
I found out why our cellar is so damp...the neighbours have a leak. The water guys were out to fix it yesterday (that is why I know what happened), so I am hoping Richard calls the property management people to at least let them know it isn't our fault and we may find that the landlord has a dehumidifier we can use. If not we may buy one...I like them because they help my back..
Has anyone checked out the new FOX show Glee? It is on FOX Wednesdays at 9. Hilarious. It is about a high school glee club, adult humour and worth a look.
I am very excited for the movie Zombieland to come out. It comes out here in the UK next weekend, I think it comes out this weekend in the US. We are definitely going to have to spend the money to go see it. Infact I am so excited I am adding the trailer below:
At the end of each week, I am going to try to give reviews of the horror flicks I saw as part of my Horror Movie-Thon. I will be rating the originality of the villain, killings, and story; the continuity of the plot; the horror, gore and creepiness factors; and the sequel potential: and of course how watchable it was. I may have some gaps. I haven't decided if I should review classic horror flicks and movies I have seen a million times. I might just write a little on why I decided they should be watched every year.
And now the moment you have all been waiting for...man this week was difficult, too many good ones:
It's easy to be thankful for the good stuff, can you be thankful for the not so good?
(as serious or light-hearted as you like)
Finally October 1st! Now I can begin my horror movie-thon...it has been so hard to wait and I haven't even decided on what to watch first.
I don't really have anything to say that doesn't involve the typical whine about how much my body hates me and how I am thankful anyway because of the Sprout... I am a little tired of using the Sprout as my positive focus when I hurt and feel it becomes the politically correct thing to say. So this week I am not saying it (although I just kinda did).
I am interested in the fact that I didn't receive any comments on my gay marriage opinion piece. Very interesting...either no one agrees, everyone agrees or I have more people not talking to me than I thought...or it could be that the issue is worn out (kinda like healthcare...although I don't think either issue could EVER be warn out).
This last weekend Richard had to move all of our storage from the cellar to the living room because it all began to mold. Richard said he found black, white, grey, orange and yellow mold. Fun times.
I guess I can say I am thankful that I have a husband that could take care of all that because I wouldn't have been able to bring the boxes upstairs and I shouldn't be inhaling that stuff (neither should he, but he has a strong immune system). What bit I did breathe in made me want to vomit it was so strong. I have had the doors open for 4 days now, luckily it hasn't been too cold. Now we will just have to see how long it takes for us tocontact the property people to tell them about it (this link is good for people who rent in Washington State). You'd think it was something they would want to know, but property management people are a strange breed.
Here are some things I am thankful for (not thankful anyway) this week:
Scented Candles...thank you Ms. Molly for the reminder that candles smell good.
People who said they are sending me packages
Richard's paycheck and job
LolCats
Halloween
Zucchini Bread
Peep Show (a really funny British TV series)
So far I have 22, so I need some help. Does anyone have any suggestions? Keep in mind I have seen a ton of horror movies, but I am willing to watch good ones again.
Yes, it is a horrible thing that I am thinking about Halloween...I don't even think the stores have their stuff up yet. This year, however, it will be extremely exciting because I am throwing a Spooky Thanksgiving party on Halloween. This party will make October the most festive month I will probably ever manage and it will celebrate the 5th Thanksgiving I have hosted. I am having Thanksgiving on Halloween for a couple of reasons: A) The Sprout is due to arrive on t he 25th of November; B) No one in Britain seems to celebrate Halloween so my friends seem to be free; C) Halloween is on a Saturday.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but I have a strictOctober/Halloween ritualof a daily horror movie for the month of October and specific festivities on the day of Halloween. This year my Halloween day traditions will be different but the month long movie fest will not be. I am still working on which movies will be incorporated into the marathon, but luckily I blogged about it last year, so I have a list of movies I managed to forget about or would like to see again.
Every year I have to find a horror series (i.e. Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween) to incorporate into my film festival. My choices are getting a little thin so this year I am making it a Hammer Horror October. I will watch selected movies that were made by theHammer Film Corporationthat brought us such classics asThe Horror of Dracula(and many other Dracula movies),The Curse of Frankenstein(and many other Frankenstein films), and theTwo Faces of Dr. Jekyll. These movies usually star Peter Cushing and /or Christopher Lee and many of you have probably seen at least one of them. I know that people my parent’s age were raised on them at the theatre.
I am excited that I am having a party because I will get to decorate, make party favours and cook food. Last year I got a Martha Stewart Living magazine for the month of October, so I have been looking over it to see what cool ways I can decorate the house. Herwebsitehas tons of stuff on it too.
I already have the menu planned (which wasn't hard because I usually make the same thing every year):
After dinner I am going to offer a horror film marathon if people are up to it, and while we are waiting for food to be ready we are going to carve pumpkins andturnips(because I don't have a TV to watch sports on.)
This is the first year I have not been home for the 4th of July. My friends and I have decided to call this day "Go Screw Yourself Britain" Day...so it isn't just me being mean.
Richard and I didn't do much, as an afterthought, we could have gotten a couple of fireworks as you can buy fireworks whenever you want here. The most common use for them is for Muslim and Hindu weddings. At our old house in Bradford, we got to watch large fireworks displays almost every weekend.
I did insist that we bar-b-q some hamburgers and watch some Disney American Legends cartoons which we were able to find on YouTube.
Around 11 pm, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to see a really small firework display near the city center...I assume it was some fellow Americans.
As you can see it was cloudy and a little rainy...just like it USUALLY is at home.
I was watching a programme called Would You Save a Stranger? Many of us like to think that we would, but would you really? I can honestly say "Absolutely." I stick up for people all the time, I speak up when people cut in line, when people give me dirty looks, I ask if people are ok when they are passed out on the street and have even asked a woman who was crying if she was ok...heck even when a prostitute was being beaten outside my house, I called the police. There are many situations I have been in where I probably shouldn't have said anything, but have. Bradford is one of those places where being mugged and stabbed is an occurrence that one might be faced with, and I have definitely had my share of chaves yelling things at me while I walked home (and let me tell you, they didn't get away with it...an instance I have been told I should have let go).
What I found so interesting about this programme was 2 instances that involved people on a crowded bus witnessing abusive behaviour. The people on the bus did nothing. For me, confronting bullies on a crowded bus is a no brainer. There is mob mentality being observed here. No one is doing anything because the people who want to do something, aren't...as soon as you get that one person to stand up and shout "stop," everyone else who wanted to do something will stand up. The most appalling thing about these bus instances was that they involved pre-teens being beaten and harassed by a large group of older teens. Now, if kids are involved, I definitely feel obligated to do something, I don't care how many there are (as long as there are people to back me up).
In another example on the show, a guy tried to wrestle a robber with a gun at a quicky-mart and was almost stabbed to death. In this particular scenario, I did not agree with the man's actions because the girls who were in charge would have opened the safe, or if they didn't have keys, would still give the men the money from the register...I just thought that the risk involved did not warrant a "hero's" response. This seemed to be more about a man feeling it was his duty to protect the women in the store...good for you man, but unnecessary.
I am not saying that if you are in trouble, call me, because when I really reflect on any given situation, there have to be other people present for me to get involved (I am a small girl after all) and if there is a visible weapon, then I am pretty sure I am not going to be a hero...however to call the police post-haste is a given and providing help after the threat has passed, you bet.
I was thinking, why am I like this? The stories where people did nothing made me so angry and tear up even (please don't blame the hormones). My epiphany about my decision came when I tried to picture what my dad would do. Can I see my dad turning a blind eye to someone who was in trouble? The answer is NO, not by a long shot. There is not one scenario I could run through my mind where I could picture my dad turning away and pretending he didn't see anything...and to me I think that is an interesting in site to how I portray my dad and what he means to me.
So thanks Dad...even though you didn't know it, I do look up to you and you have passed down admirable personality traits that I find heroic. There is something there that I know in my mind that you will always be there no matter the risk...Respect (sorry, it was getting too mushy).
Well I have been neglecting my blog, but there hasn't been much to say. I moved house, which has been really nice. I am really enjoying it. I can't wait for it to be warm and I can sit in our back "yard."
Miki is starting to get a taste for the outdoors, but for a cat that is so feisty, she is certainly unsure if the outside is somewhere she wants to be. I am sure that once we can keep the door open longer, she will eventually inch her way further out.
Work is utterly frustrating, they don't give me enough hours. I need to find a new job.
Richard and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week by doing nothing. Richard made me spaghetti for dinner and we watched our Tuesday TV shows. We also got a big surprise when I found out that I was pregnant...November 27th, write it down.
I am due to renew my visa soon, £400 for a 2 year extension.
I hope everyone will have a good Easter, I think we will probably just sit and do nothing. I haven't quite decided.
Oooh look, the temp has finally reached 11 degrees Celsius outside...woo hoo!
We were very fortunate to be able to get to see ALL of our families this Christmas, in the UK and in the US.
Richard's sister was nice enough to shuttle us down to Beaconsfield so we could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas at the Osborne's house where we opened presents and had a big feast which was followed by a Murder Mystery Game.
Boxing Day we headed to Heathrow to begin our non-stop journey to SeaTac. The flight was uneventful, although Richard was annoyed at the guys getting drunk at the back of the plane.
The trip was only 9 1/2 hours long and we were surprised to see all the snow on the ground that was left from the blizzard at the beginning of the week. Danny and Molly picked us up from the airport and we began the next 10 days of Christmas.
The festivities played out as:
Dec 26th: Mom's House.
Dec 27th: Dad and the Girls at Mom's
Dec 28th: Grandma and Grandpa's House and the Allen Family Christmas
Dec 29-30th: Dad's house with the Girls
Dec 31st-Jan 4th: Sandpiper Resort.
Jan 4th and 5th: Time with D. (who was so nice to drive up from Eugene to see us).
Jan 6th: Back to the UK. We were delayed in SeaTac because of a Blizzard in Paris, but we were only delayed for 3 hours, which gave us less of a lay over in Paris...so that was ok.
As you can see we were really busy, but we had a really good time and I miss everyone.
Please see our pictures up at the top of the post...just click on it.
I just wanted everyone to know that we will be getting cards out late this year because we can't afford postage for 40 people (yes 40 people will be receiving Christmas cards), so most of you will be getting your cards with your presents at Christmas, but in the mean time, here are our Christmas pictures:
As we were doing these pictures I was wondering...why do we take pictures of ourselves in front of the Christmas tree? Almost everyone does it, and when you start to ponder it, it is incredibly strange. We don't only take the picture but then we share it with everyone...very strange indeed.
Late Tuesday night, Nativity sheep lost his life to what appears to be an annual attack by a one year old cat. As the footage below indicates, a calico female appeared from the bushes and attacked ruthlessly.
The coroner found that this was not not the first time the sheep had been attacked. Many healed lesions were found on the sheep's body that indicated that the sheep had been tormented by felines throughout it's life.
Police have yet to contact Shepard John, who is not due to return to his flock until December 23rd where he awaits the Saviour every year.
CCTV was able to catch the vicious attack on Nativity Sheep but the only eye witness was Nativity Donkey who reported the attack. "Every year this happens," Donkey sobs. "Why is it always Nativity Sheep?" Nativity Donkey reports that these attacks have been carried out for the past 27 years, always by a kitten, perhaps in some kind of rite of passage for the cats. It seems that only Nativity Sheep is attacked while Nativity Donkey is left untouched. "We try to hide Nativity Sheep, but he is always found and tortured."
Services will be held for Nativity Sheep once Shepard John is located. It is believed that Angel Jessika will be creating new Nativity Sheep to replace this Nativity Sheep.
I don't know what the others are bringing, if anything. This will be the first year I will be doing a stuffing. I don't really like stuffing and in the past years, stuffing balls made from a mix has been popular. This will be the first time I will make a Yam Casserole, my friend Johnny is pretty excited about that.
I am very excited that we will be have the party at Emma's new house in Bentley.
