Three Busy Boys

Cheers England!

2009-05-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Our house is packed up. The temporary furniture will be picked up tomorrow...and then we are off to the U.S. I can't believe our time here was up so quickly. I am so happy though. It is bittersweet. Anyone that knows Lakenheath knows how demanding the work is on your spouse. Luckily, we scathed by without a deployment which is unheard of. The Bolars just all returned home safely to their loved one's. Praise God. All except one of our dear friends who should return in a few weeks. Shifty and Amy, we love you and hope our paths cross again soon. Thanks to all of the wonderful Bolar ladies. You have been a great group of women to know. I feel very blessed to have been a part of such a wonderful operational squadron with such a wonderful support structure. I will miss each of you.
Keep checking back as I update with our new Armitage adventures!
Cheers.

The Force

2009-04-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

As if this isn't any indication that my son watches too much Star Wars...

Campbell: "Mommy, I have this pain in my side. Maybe it's because I have been practicing The Force so much. I hope it doesn't last forever, the pain I mean. I'll keep practicing The Force."

Ireland

2009-04-20T09:25:00.001-07:00

Cliffs of Moher

Our last big trip while living in England was to Ireland. We took the ferry from Wales across to Ireland and drove from the south east to the west and back across. It was beautiful. I'm not quite sure what I expected but was not disappointed. We spent our time in different B&B's which was the way to go with children. The breakfasts were great and the people were so nice. I enjoyed my share of Guinness. So wonderful. Enjoy the pic's...

The view from our B&B in Dingle

David kissing the Blarney Stone

Blarney Castle

Growing Up!

2009-03-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that whilst on my trip to Florence....my oldest lost his first tooth. March 1st at school while eating his lunch. :( Sorry I missed it. He wants to save his tooth until we go to Texas so he can show his cousins.

2009-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

I have been a bad blogger. Sorry. Here is February in a nutshell...
Reagan turned 4 on February 8th. Of course he is still very much into Batman so we had a Batman birthday party. We are so blessed with such wonderful friends who all have children around the same ages that could join us.

Next, on February 24th Brennan celebrated his second birthday. Can you believe it. I was pretty proud of myself with the train cake. It took some googling but I think I did a pretty good job. My dear friend Amy has set the bar high with birthday cakes.

At the end of February, I traveled to Florence and Pisa with some dear friends for some shopping. What an amazing experience. The architecture is just amazing. Loved it.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Duomo in Florence

Our 10 year anniversary trip to Rome

2008-12-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

So we spent this past weekend in Rome celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Hard to believe it has already been 10 years....and 3 children later. Our dear friends watched our children for us while David and I flew to Rome for a wonderful 5 day getaway without our children. It was absolutely amazing. To actually stand in and see the famous coloseum was surreal. The food was amazing!!!! There is one word to describe it all...creamy. I know that sounds weird but it was. The wine was smooth and creamy, the latte's were smooth and creamy. The food was smooth and creamy. Everything was wonderful. We stayed in the cutest hotel that consisted of only 6 rooms. Very quaint and quiet. It was absolutely amazing seeing all of the history you always hear about.

Seriously?

2008-12-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

Today Reagan and Brennan got their flu shots. Heartbreaking really! Anyway...now Reagan says his legs won't work so I am having to carry him everywhere.

Housekeeper?

2008-12-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today Campbell told me he is Wall-E and is picking up trash. Needless to say my house is so clean. I hope this lasts a while.

Our Thanksgiving....a few days late.

2008-11-30T12:46:00.000-08:00

Addie's birthday cake

Me, Brennan, Kathy (my wonderful neighbor) and Addie

The spread

We celebrated Thanksgiving today with some of our dear friends who opened their home up to about 20+ adults and about 15+ kids. Mind you they have the same floorplan as we do so it is a tall house but not a wide house. We also were celebrating her daughter, Addies, 2nd birthday. It was such a great experience because we introduced most of them to our American Thanksgiving. Their was a mix of South African, Danish, Singaporan, American and British. Everyone enjoyed the turkey, green bean casserole and don't forget the pumpkin pie. I will never forget this day in which I was surrounded by so many wonderful friends.

BLACK FRIDAY

2008-11-29T13:27:00.001-08:00

All I can say is thank God I don't live in the states for Black Friday! England is just such a different pace of life. I don't know how many times I have said that but it is true. You would never hear of someone getting trampled at Wal-Mart. That is just insanely sad. It just seems that there is little respect for human life. It is all about who can get in first to get the best deal and screw whoever gets in the way. I would rather pay the extra money than deal with that. I hope that everyone that was brave enough to venture out is at home safe now.
On a lighter note...David and I have a date tonight so I must go and get ready!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday with great food and great company. We have chosen not to celebrate today because we are celebrating with friends on Sunday. So, the boys are in school and David is at home and it is nice and quiet. This time of year gets a little challenging because we have no family near us and it gets a little sad. This is when you realize how important your military family is and the one we have over here in England is fabulous. I must say I am very sad to leave them. So many come and go but you know most likely your paths will cross again.

Cookie Monster

2008-11-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

So I decided that since we weren't having a Thanksgiving today I would at least make do something a little special with my boys and make cookies. Of course they were the ready to bake kind with Christmas trees on them. I wasn't ready to get the mixer out and deal the flour everywhere which is what happened last time. They thought it was more fun to throw flour at each other than to put it in the mixer. Anyway, look who is super smart and pulled a chair all the way across the kitchen to sneak up and get a cookie. Luckily, they were cooled by then.

Well...it's that time of year again!

2008-11-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

Poor Brennan woke up at 3am on Friday with 104 degree fever. Of course I called pediatrics to book and appointment and they didn't have any. I spoke to a nurse and he some how found a magic appointment on Monday. So we would have to wait it out over the weekend unless of course it got so bad to warrant a trip to the ER. Luckily it didn't. He continued with the high fever over the weekend and was pretty miserable. We went yesterday and low and behold he has another ear infection....or so they say. She said merely that his ear was a little red. I guess I'm all for antibiotics if it will make the fever stop. Plus he isn't on antibiotics all the time but I still hate that I'm not sure if that is what is really going on. Then today, I wake up with my left eye stuck together. Hello.....I have conjunctivitis. Are you kidding me! I love the holiday season but I hate the holiday bugs.

Let it Snow....

2008-11-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

They couldn't wait to get outside to play in the snow. Unfortunately it was never thick enough to build a snowman. They sure had a great time though!

Watching the snow!

Now....trying to slow down!

2008-11-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

This week has been crazy busy, or so it feels. David is working late nights again this week which I am so done with at this point. If he goes to work at 5:30 am he doesn't get home until late and if he goes to work at noon he doesn't get home until late. So I guess I am happy when he is home to help me in the mornings. It feels like we haven't seen each other in ages. The boys are upset because he isn't home to tell them goodnight and tuck them in. Colorado Springs is starting to sound better and better. A set schedule with no guessing about when he will be home. How nice will that be! Does anyone else have the problem of always having to pull the information out of your husband about his schedule and then he gets all sarcastic like you should know it? Ok that is enough of my complaining. I must go because the couch is eating more crackers than my boys are. Time to hoover again.

Dear Friends

2008-11-15T13:42:00.001-08:00

Last night I helped to organize a birthday party for two of my dearest friends in England who aren't militarily affiliated. I have never thrown such a big dinner party so I was very happy that it ended up being at my other friends house who is much better equiped to handle 14 people. The food was fabulous and the company GREAT. I am going to miss this group of girls so much when we move back to the states.
Happy Birthday Annie and Lil. You know I love you and will miss you!

All of my Batmen

2008-11-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Daddy & Brennan with a sucker

Mommy and her little bat

Reagan, Charlie, Harry, Campbell

Campbell

Halloween was fun. We took two of Campbell's friends from school to the base to trick-or-treat. They loved it since Halloween is still trying to catch on here in England. They were all so cute and had so much crazy energy. Not to mention it was crazy crowded on the base. It gets dark now at 4:30ish since the time change so we got an early start.

Edinburgh, Scotland

2008-10-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

just kidding:)

We just took a fabulous trip to Edinburgh. Hey, why not? We have to move in 6 months so we are trying to cram as many trips in now as we can. We went to Scotland with some of our great friend Jason and Amy and their two kids. We stayed in a 4 bedroom apartment which IS they way to travel when you have kids. It was freezing cold...about 5-10 degrees Celsius. It made the trip a little less enjoyable since we walked everywhere but we had a great time nonetheless. We saw the Britannia, Edinburgh Castle, the gorgeous coastline, the crown jewels, bagpipers and, oh yes, don't forget the pubs!

OK...so where do I start?

2008-10-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

refueling the jet from the kc-10

Campbell with the boom operator refueling the jet on our way to the states

I'll just back track a bit. Back to the summer. July to be exact. We flew back to the states on a military hop which was a great experience. Campbell got to go back while the tanker refueled the jets. The boys were able to sit in the cockpit during take-off. It was so exciting for them. Thank God I had David with me because it is very difficult to maneuver with 3 car seats, a double stroller, carry on's, snacks, diaper bag...did I miss anything. We must have looked like a joke.
Anyway, we spent 6 weeks with family in Texas. David and I were able to take a vacation, without kids, with our dearest friends Hunter and Rachel to St. Lucia. We had a great time. Oh yes, I became scuba certified the week before we left. Talk about cramming it all in. David has been certified since he was 11.
We had great visits with family and friends, great shopping and great food!
We returned to England at the end of August for Campbell to start school.
Now fast forward....

Trying to Catch Up...

2008-10-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I just want to give up when I realize how long it has been since my last post.....but then too many good things have been happening lately.
Does it ever amaze you how good God is? It does me. I wonder "why is he so good to me?" All I do is go to church on Sundays and that is it. No daily fellowship in the word, barely pray anymore, no light in anyones life spreading the good news but then God does something amazing to let you know he is still there. What happened you ask???? I was standing in the kitchen while my boys were eating dinner and I was on the phone. I guess one of the boys heard a knock at the door because then next thing I heard was "is your mom home?" I went to the door and saw my friend and neighbor Emily standing there with a brown paper grocery bag in hand. She said "I brought you dinner. I know it must be difficult sometimes with 3 and I wanted you to not have to worry about dinner tonight." It may seem insignificant to you but I am getting choked up just thinking about it. It is those little things that people do, and expect nothing in return that show you God's love. Thanks Emily....you are such a bright light.

Ollie...

2008-10-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

So, we had the pleasure of keeping my dear friends son, Ollie, while she and her husband traveled to Rome...crazy you say! Not us, in return they have agreed to keep our 3 boys in December while David and I head to Rome for our 10 year anniversary. Who is getting the better end of that deal? Anyway, Ollie was such a pleasure to have. He fit in so well to our family. I just love this little boys temperament. He is so easy going. I was hoping my boys would pick up some of his characteristics. His mother says that is only because he is at our house but I think I might have to disagree.

One morning I awoke to find Ollie playing in my make-up. A problem I have never had with any of my children. I still have no idea how he got to it. He had a great time with my mascara especially.

I am so looking forward to December:)

2008-07-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

4th of July.....

We had a wonderful 4th. We had a little bbq get together at our house with some friends. Food was good, company was great and to top it all off we drove to the base for fireworks at 10pm. Yes, 10pm as that is what time it is getting dark around here. It did get rather cold that night so we bundled up in sweaters, watched some fireworks and ate candy floss as they call it here(cotton candy).

The wonderfully delicious cake my friend Amy made.

Adam, the most patriotic one of us all. Isn't he cute?

Little Brennan just hanging out.

Jason holding Sean's new baby girl Caroline Grace.

Mollie and Kim

2008-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Brennan sliding down the slide by himself

Today we went to a birthday party at a park on the base. They had a bouncy castle and tons of food. The boys had so much fun. Brennan wants to keep up with the big boys so bad. He was climbing up all of the play equipment and sliding down the big corkscrew slide all by himself. He doesn't want any help. I think he is going to be my daredevil. Well...he and Reagan. The weather wasn't quite as nice as yesterday, quite windy but still somewhat sunny. Too bad the weekends go by so fast. I can't wait for our vacations. Poor David worked 16 hour days last week. Let's hope this week is somewhat better for him.....and us!

2008-06-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

It is a gorgeous day here in England finally. We rode our bikes to the Abbey gardens today and had a picnic with the boys and let them play. Then we walked around the market. All I bought was some blueberries. I love it here. It is so great that you can just walk around town on Saturdays and buy whatever you want.....fruit, vegetables, hats, vacuum cleaner, fresh fish, cheese, bread, clothes, gardening stuff, oh and the best part...flowers. And to top it all off we had ice cream cones.

2008-06-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

AFTER A YEAR OF LIVING IN ENGLAND....

we finally went to see Cambridge with some friends and their kids. We had so much fun. First we went to a fair with lots of crazy fun slides Campbell had a great time going down. Then we ate at Chili's....yes, I said Chili's. Not some place we usually eat at in the states but were so excited nonetheless to eat there. It was pretty much the same menu and was fabulous. After a huge lunch, we walked all over Cambridge to see the sites. What a beautiful place with such amazing architecture. We also went "punting on the cam." What is that you ask....see picture. We had a punter which we were glad about in the end because it was crowded and there were lots of people who didn't know what they were doing. It was such a great time.

Our Punter, Toby. Whose parents sent him to boarding school when he was 8. He said from 8-10 he hated it and then after that he loved it. Is that a viable option while David is deployed? Probably not. And mom, if your are reading this....I am just kidding:)

2008-06-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day. Everyone woke up in a good mood. The weather is still crap but we knew that would happen. David surprised me with an hour long massage today. My neighbor came over to watch my kids while I went to be pampered. When I came home we had ice cream and popcorn and watched a movie. Then we played games. I was worried but it isn't so bad. I doubted myself but I feel like I am doing a great job by myself. I don't know that I want to do it for 4 months during the deployment but a few days isn't so bad......so far! Maybe that is the relaxed me after my massage talking.

2008-06-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

ALL BY MYSELF....

is the lonely tune I am singing today. David left very early this morning for the states until
Tuesday. This is the first time that I have been completely alone with all 3 of my kids. The weather here is awful so I am trying to think of what to do since I know we will be stuck in the house. Luckily, Campbell is in school today and then the weekend....which I am actually looking forward to since I won't have to rush around in the morning getting everyone ready. We are going to "First Friday" tonight at David's work. This is a get together the squadron has every first friday (duh) of the month. People bring food and it is purely socializing. It is quite fun! Hopefully I can keep an eye on all of my kiddos.

2008-05-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

Today we went back to the mountain biking place but took a different route so I didn't get as car sick. It was so much fun but crazy hard with kids on the bike. David had Reagan and Campbell in the bike trailer and I had Brennan in a seat on the back of my bike. It was an 8 mile trail mostly uphill which is extremely difficult with the added weight of children. Even though the lady said that route was the easiest with bike trailers, I found it extrememly challenging. I was off of my bike walking up most of the hills. We had about 2 miles to go when Reagan decided he wanted to ride with me so we switched Reagan and Brennan. We took a break and had a granola bar and for some reason David decided to check the bike seat. We were so lucky he did because we found that all of the screw but one had rattled off. The seat was barely being held on. What a blessing it was that God inspired David to check that. Poor David had all 3 boys in the bike trailer pulling them uphill and downhill the last couple of miles. I had it easy. Oh and by the way, just as we started off and were heading down a hill the whole seat fell off so he had the added weight of that on top of the bike trailer. Can you imagine if we hadn't checked that and Reagan was in there. I don't even want to think of what could have happened. God is good!

2008-05-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today we went to see a real steam train. It didn't hurt that it was painted blue like Thomas. The kids loved it. It was about a 15 minute train ride to the next station where we got off and had a pot of tea. Again, the scenery was beautiful!

2008-05-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today was uneventful. The weather isn't very nice so we decided just to go to the indoor pool with the kids. It is more like a lazy river type thing with a small rapids area they had fun floating through. The good news is they all love the water....the bad news is there is only two of us. It gets difficult keeping up with all of them. After the pool we took a car ferry to the other side of the lake for a drive to check out a mountain biking place we planned to go to. Unfortunately, I got crazy car sick. It was these winding, barely wide enough for one car roads which was kind of scary. I was thinking "there is now way I am coming back here to go bike riding." On a more positive note, the scenery was just beautiful. I love it here.

2008-05-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

We have decided, somewhat last minute, to drive 5 hours to NW England to an area called the "lake district." We rented an apartment at a marina for the week since Campbell is on his term break. This is the view from the road near the marina. Just beautiful. The weather isn't great....overcast and chilly. Hopefully it will get better for us.

2008-05-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Fifteen Months Old....

Can you believe it? Brennan is 15 months old today. What a surprise how fast it flies by. I am done breastfeeding him as of 3 days ago, and am now suffering from the crazy hormone changes. He is still not walking, only says Mama and Dada, still not sleeping through the night however, the night before last he did. He has been teething like mad though so I am hoping that is why he wakes up in the night crying. He has four teeth to go and then it will all be over. I hear the eye teeth are worse than the molars though. I can't remember who told me that but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Brennan and now I am thinking "how would they know?" He enjoyed a waffle with powdered sugar this morning and then Campbell enjoyed taking some pictures of him. Campbell is such a great big brother. I am so proud of all 3 boys.

Campbell has been getting really good at taking pictures. He took this picture of Reagan in his Batman costume. Isn't he cute!

2008-05-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

BATMAN has finally arrived....

So, Reagan is REALLY into Batman....pajamas, capes, t-shirts, underwear, band-aids, umbrella, he has everything so we made a deal with him that once he went to the bathroom on the big boy potty we would buy him a new batman costume (seeing as how his old one fell apart because he never took it off). This has been months of trying to get him to go and just suddenly a few weeks ago he decided he was ready and he has done great! I am so proud of him. His batman costume was ordered, which he picked out off of the internet himself and it arrived yesterday. Let me tell you it has already been a battle just to take it off to shower. Thanks goodness it is term break next week or he would be wearing it to school. This is the kid who I let wear his batman pajama top and cape to school because it is too much of a battle in the mornings that I just don't have time to deal with....besides....who is it hurting anyway. So he's into superhereos! I guess there could be worse idols, right?

2008-05-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

So I have really been enjoying reading everyone elses blog that I have forgotten about my own. Sorry. So much has happened in the last month....
My sister in law, Emily, and my two nephews, Jacob and Taylor came for a visit for two weeks. It was just fabulous having them here. We had so much fun just hanging out. Campbell and Reagan really enjoyed having their cousins here and still talk about them. We are really missing them. We had some crazy fun adventures.
We went back the safari park where I finally slid down the vertical drop slide with my heart in my throat mind you! I am not an adrenaline junkie but would love to be. Emily of course had to show me up and slid down the even taller vertical drop slide....several times! We also saw more lion porn which again my husband had to record. Saw a monkey on a car where the driver was teasing it with a banana so the smart little monkey bent their antenna. We went to Bath, saw a few castles and ended up in London where we met up with my brother who was there on business. All in all we had a great time. So much so I am trying to convince them to move here while David is deployed:)
I went to Venice on a girls weekend trip the weekend before last. What fun we had. We had enough Vino Rosso to intoxicate a small island and great Italian food. You just can't get it like you can in Italy. Did some shopping and sightseeing and best of all relaxing with no kids. I thought David would have Brennan sleeping through the night but no such luck. He is getting better though.
Last week was my 35th birthday which I spent in the A&E (ER) with Brennan who decided to try and eat a dishwasher tab. Who is the idiot that left that cabinet open.....only for a split second:) He was ok though. The doctor said it was just a really concentrated soap so he would be okay. Maybe an upset tummy at the worst. Praise God.
OK....now that this is the longest catch up blog in history....I will end for now and try to be better about keeping everyone up to date. Cheers!

2008-04-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

Grammy and Grandpa left today after a nice two week visit. It was so nice having them here to help out and the boys had a great time. We did some travelling to York and Chester. Beautiful places that I would like to visit again. We only had one day at each so there wasn't time to see everything. We took them to the National Railway Museum which they loved and the Chester Zoo. Now things are getting back to normal. One more day of holiday and then school starts again tomorrow. Thank God.

2008-04-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

This is my sweet Brennan. Who decided he actually was not ready to sleep through the night. David and I had a night away in London and my neighbor stayed with the boys. I thought I would finally get a good night sleep but....note to self, don't stay in a hotel that is one block from a hospital. Ambulance sirens all night long! Not what I had in mind. We saw the the musical Wicked, which was fabulous and had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant by the theater. We went to Harrods....a bit overwhelming to say the least and the British Museum. The olympic torch was coming through London today so it was difficult to maneuver amid all of the protesters. We now are home and my neighbor took this sweet picture of Brennan on her rocking horse.

2008-03-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah Yeah Yeah...Finally

Last night was the first night Brennan slept through the night. From 11pm to 7am. I can't believe it has been over a year since I have had a decent nights sleep. We will see how tonight goes. Keep your fingers crossed.
Also yesterday I had a girls day. I had a day at the spa. Then came home to a quiet house. David took the boys to see a movie and then to a friends house for a BBQ. I didn't know what to do with myself so I rearranged furniture. Then I went to dinner and a movie with some girlfriends. We saw 'The Other Boleyn Girl.' I figured it would be neat to see since we are living in England. What an eye opener. Was that really the way life was? Sad, sad story....and strange too!

2008-03-06T13:29:00.001-08:00

Today is a very special day. Happy birthday to my wonderful sister-in-law Emily! I love you girl! You have been such a wonderful blessing in my life and I miss you dearly.

Well it is time for round two....or is it three or four? Brennan just finished his antibiotic two days ago and already has a nasty runny nose and green gunky eyes. What is it with the bugs in this country! I feel helpless and I don't like it.

Today Reagan got to dress up for school. He wore his Buzz Lightyear costume and was so adorable. Sorry....I can't find the camera to capture these precious moments.

2008-02-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

LATELY...
Campbell has been speaking with a British accent. It is so freakin cute though. Today when I picked him up from school he said "Mummy, I made a lovely picture in computer class." What 5 year old says lovely. They say that over here all of the time...lovely, cheers, brilliant, fancy. We are still trying to figure some things out though. After hearing the word "fortnight" several times I finally asked what it meant...two weeks! Would you have ever thought that? Car boot means trunk. Bonnet means hood. Windscreen means windshield. Torch means flashlight. Squash is a drink not a vegetable. Aubergine is eggplant. Corgette means zucchini. That is all I have figured out so far.

2008-02-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

So Brennan is finally on the upswing from his stomach bug. He ate a few crackers today. This is how my conversation with Reagan went:
Reagan: I don't like it when my tummy hurts!
Me: Your tummy hurts?
Reagan: (emphatically) Yes!
Me: Do you feel like you are going to throw up?
Reagan: Blahhhh (all over the floor)
This conversation occured after he threw up all over the car seat as well.
So here we go again. It starts off as vomiting and then progresses to diahrrea. (I hate that word. Who decided to name it that)

2008-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

Wow! Can you believe a month has come and gone already and today Brennan is one year old. We had a wonderful birthday party for all three boys. Yes, all three. We are going to try to get away with it as long as possible. They had so much fun. We had a bouncy castle and lots of kids and pinatas, cake. I made a lion cake for Campbell and a Batman cake for Reagan. Unfortunately, Brennan has been sick AGAIN so I didn't make the special little cake I had planned for him. He hasn't eaten since Wednesday. He has a horrible stomach bug. Luckily he is on the upswing. We will probably celebrate his birthday again just so he can tear into his cake and make a mess =) They are all absolutely precious.

2008-02-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

So today sweet Reagan is 3 years old and still just as precious as ever. We are not doing anything special today because we are having a big party for all 3 of them in a few weeks. I know, I know...you're thinking that sucks right. Hey, we won't be able to get away with doing this for much longer so we will enjoy only stressing out about 1 party rather than 3 all within a month time span for as long as we can.

2008-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

2008-01-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

2008-01-14T02:05:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

2008-01-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-01-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-01-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

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)

2007-12-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

okay...so I said I was going to do this to keep family and friends up to date as to what has been going on in our lives. Well, as you can see my last post was back in November. So much for keeping up! November was a busy month for us. We flew back to the states on a long but thankfully uneventful 9 hour flight. The boys did great. David's sister was married and we were able to spend Thanksgiving with family. It was so nice to see everyone. I caught up on my shopping since it is way too expensive over here in England. We are still liking living here but we are now starting to miss the everyday conveniences of America ie...drive thru's. Anyone with kids knows that those are a must! Needless to say we don't eat out nearly as much which has been a nice break on our credit card bills. Brennan started crawling while we were in Texas and since we have been back in England is now pulling up. We have had to lower his mattress to the lowest setting. He is growing up way too fast. We just returned from a week long trip to Germany where we met up with some of our dear friends and their 3 children. We had a great time. David snowboarded and I just stayed at the apartment and did absolutely NOTHING. The children went to the child development center. Reagan and Campbell for 3 days and Brennan only for 1 day. They had to call us to come pick him up because he was not at all consolable. Most of you know he will absolutely not take a bottle and is very stubborn when it comes to a sippy cup. We arrived back in England in time to spend Christmas with some of our other dear friends who are stationed here with us. Now we are just settling back in and unpacking from our trip. Well that is a quick update. All of the kids are sleeping now so I am heading off to bed to sleep on my new mattress that we just picked up today. I hope I wake up pain free for the first time in....I don't even remember how long!

My First Blog

2007-11-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

After being invited to view so many blogs, I have finally decided to create my own. It seems as if time flies now and I have no time to scrapbook so this seems the only logical way to keep track of events in our lives.