ODE TO TAYLOR!!
Today Reagan decided he would change his own dirty diaper. Much to our dismay he didn't do a very good job. What is it with kids and poop? Luckily my nephew Taylor is now successfully potty trained so there is hope. I hope this kid doesn't decide he wants to create a masterpiece on our walls with his poop like Taylor did!

I can't believe today has come and gone already. I totally forgot the 24th was Brennan's 11 month birthday. Can you believe next month he will be 1? My heart melts when I think of him. I just love him so much. Anyway, on the 24th. David left on an overnight trip and of course I got a migraine. I am still unable to take my prescription because I am still breastfeeding. So..in between throwing up I fed my children, bathed my children and put them all to bed before 7. A first in this house. The only downside was that Campbell woke up at 4:45. I couldn't get him to go back to sleep. Well, at 12:30 his school called me to come pick him up because he couldn't keep his eyes open and was falling asleep at lunch and asked the lunch lady to hold his hand. When I got there he was burning up...oh yes, 103 fever. He was complaining that his ear hurt. Great!! He is still a little under the weather but we are all doing much better now that Daddy is home.

Campbell the "Speed Demon" on the sled in Garmisch, Germany

TODAY....
we missed gymnastics again because this Tuesday another one of my children spiked a temp. I took Brennan to the doctor for a high fever. When they checked him at the doctor he was 103.8. How scary! It turns out he has an ear infection. I'm partly glad about it because we know what it is and it can be treated. As I was changing Brennans diaper in the exam room he peed all over his socks and shoes so we made a trek through the rain with Reagan hanging on the side of the stroller to the exchange to buy some new sock and shoes.
After school we took Campbell to football (soccer) training and quickly found out how even at 5 years old he is already behind. He did great though and had fun. He did say that he didn't want to go back because "it is way too cold outside."

Rhinos in England

As I was driving Campbell to school this morning he asked "mom, why does it rain in England all the time?" Good question! David and I were just commenting on how the streets are always wet. If you know my husband you know he hates to have a dirty car! Even the neighbors have commented on how it is 40 degrees outside and my husband is out washing his car.

Sometimes 5 year olds have such perspective.

Attack of the Monkey

YESTERDAY WAS THE FUNNEST DAY EVER....
So we are finally getting connected here in England. We found out about a drive-thru safari zoo about 1 1/2 hours from our house. It was awesome. First we drove in and immediately were in a battle of chicken with 3 rhino's. They won of course but our other friends car....not so lucky. Then onto the tiger area where we saw 2 tigers strolling about. Next it was onto Campbell's favorite animal....the "daddy lion." There was clearly one Mufassa and 8 Surabi's sitting on Pride Rock. We were even there for a special treat....the big daddy lion decided he wanted a little something from one of the females and gave us quite a show, which of course my husband had to record. They had one other male lion off in the distance with two other females. Then onto the monkeys. What fun....they were all over our car. The boys had such a great time. They also had a great indoor play area where I sat with a friend and enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate and watched the kids play. We all had a great time.

TONIGHT...
We finally found a sitter and went out on a date. Who is this David guy I have been living with? It was nice to spend some time together. We went to a great Italian restaurant here and had appetizer, main course and dessert. Wow, we haven't been able to do that in a long time. It is usually main course then rush to get out the door before any tantrums erupt. We have made a goal of twice a month having a date night. We'll see!!!

So, today my baby is 5 years old. I cannot believe it. Where does the time go? He is absolutely amazing. I can't believe how smart he is. The things he says are just amazing to me. We had a small get together with some of his friends this evening. David had to fly tonight so it was kind of sad that he wasn't here. We are planning a much bigger celebration at the end of the month with some of his other friends and possibly incorporate Reagan's birthday with it. I have finally found some fun places here in Bury to potentially have a party. Fun gifts he received were two transformers, a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle from Reagan, a TMNT tower (I couldn't figure out how to put it together so I will have to wait for David to do it), a spiderman toy, some really fun Thomas socks (which Reagan has quickly snatched and put on to sleep in). Many thanks to Dean, Addie, Daniel and Miss Kathy! And...also thanks to Miss Kathy, Annie and Lilian for the adult conversation and helping me get everything together for all of the kids. We had a fun time.

Happy New Year to everyone. We decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Warwick Castle and Stonehenge and needless to say ended up in a truck stop on the M25 on New Year's Eve. On the plus side we were with some dear friends of ours and their 2 children so that made it somewhat enjoyable. Not quite the celebration we dreamt of but with 3 young boys what do you expect. We just have to realize that this is our life now. Don't get me wrong we adore our children but sometimes we would just like some adult time. We have been very lazy on the part of finding a "child-minder" as they call it here in England. Campbell started school full time today. It was bitter-sweet. I was so happy to have only 2 children to take care of. It seemed much easier today with only 2 but I sure did miss Campbell. He is so darn cute in that school uniform though. Reagan was so happy to see him. He gave him a big hug when he came out of his classroom. It was sleeting today. They were predicting snow but that never happened. It was in the low 30's and very overcast. The boys are really hoping for snow since they had so much fun in it while we were in Germany. (I'll post those pic's soon)