happy independence day

After waking Emma Shea up at 11:30 (she was wiped out from the fireworks the previous night) we made cupcakes and a cake for Emma's school carnival--with no better theme--America!!!! There were American flags all over the school grounds and the children wore red, white, and blue (No uniforms--Mufti Day). After school we headed down to the events. Emma had a great time on the 75 foot bouncy castle, getting her face painted, and riding the teacups! Our cake was a hit and the dozen cupcakes we made sold in about 25 seconds--nothing better than American store bought frosting and cake mixes--they LOVE them here!!!!

Yes, I know it is one stripe short!!!!

After school, Michaela spent the night with a friend, so Steve, Emma and I went to a block party with some of our friends without her. There was lots of food; lots of music; lots of fun!

Our last UK 4th of July was filled with happy times with friends, with the shadow of sadness knowing that we will not be here next year celebrating with them:(

then and now

Our first UK 4th --2005

Our final UK 4th--2008

happy 'almost' 4th of July

***This post was actually done on July 3rd, but due to an awful internet connection it did not post until the 4th***
The base had the annual 4th of July celebration tonight, July 3rd.
It was fun to spend the evening with friends, but bittersweet knowing that this was our 4th and final 4th of July in England.

We did the normal...rides, bull riding (Michaela did anyways), jousting, and of course, FIREWORKS. What could be better than songs like 'Sweet Home Alabama', 'I'm proud to be an American, ' Wide, blue Yonder'...being blared across loud speakers with fireworks exploding in the air for the neighboring British families to share in the celebration with us!!! Oh yeah, and we bundled up in our coats and blankets to watch the fireworks...because after all, it is July!!!!! Gotta love the British summer.

emma' shopping list

Emma was writing her shopping list last night on her white board. She wanted me to share it with you. pen--she wants a thin-tipped dry erase marker for her ABC sheets
batteries--for her camera
drink--because she had just gone into the kitchen to get a fruit water
swimming--because Michaela was at the Brackley Pool (indoor) swimming and Emma was not allowed to go!!

what????????????????????????

We had a survey done last week to see how much shipping our antiques back to Kentucky was going to cost.

We had inquired two years ago before I began buying and was unofficially quoted L800.00 for half a crate. We were estimating around $2000.00 for the 13 or so pieces we have and a few boxes of china and Polish pottery. So needless to say, when I opened the quote and saw L3382.00 ($7000.00) I was SLIGHTLY shocked.

What does this mean....it means I will be mailing the china and pottery and the antiques will be going into storage until one of our friends PCSes back to Washington DC next year.

How depressing:(:(

mac and mom night

Last Thursday, Michaela and I drove up to RAF Mildenhall for a mom and daughter evening out. We had a great time weaving a basket together. Michaela did most of the weaving--letting me do the more difficult beginning and ending!

Emma and Steve had a bowling 'date' while we were out. Emma was very excited because she did not use the slide to bowl!

***My friend Holly has had my camera, so not much to post. More soon!!!!

a royal anniversary...

June 14th was Stephen and my 17th wedding anniversary--WOW!!! Because our anniversary fell on Steve's weekend to work , we decided to celebrate it this weekend.

Friday morning, we got Michaela off to school and dropped Emma Shea off with Ms. Holly. Once we were children-less, we headed north to Walworth Castle Hotel in Darlington.

The Walworth Castle

We had a great time stopping along the way when we saw an interesting 'tourist' sign, eating at a historical pub----without the usual "parent" talk!!!!, driving three hours without hearing, "I have to go potty." and talking without hundreds of interruptions:):) And of course, we LOVED our hotel suite. We stayed in the King James suite--he stayed in what was our lounge (living room) in the 1600's. Our bedroom was in the tower--2nd window up.

And while I usually do not take pictures of the hotels we stay in....I have added some because I usually do not stay in a castle from 1066!!

Our royal chamber

The fabulous jacuzzi

Our lounge--King James stayed here (without the plasma tv of course:))

This morning we woke up and went horse back riding--that is what we did on our first date. Can I just say, English saddles are not comfortable and riding a horse was alot less painful 21 years ago! We then headed back to pick up the girls with a few sightseeing stops in the rain on the way home.

This is how you keep them in line!!!!

Thank you Chuck and Holly for watching the girls for us!!!!!

let's go fly a kite....

Finally....a windy day. (We had the air conditioner in our van worked on yesterday, so of course it was grey, windy and cold today:)

Steve walked in from work and asked who wanted to go outside with him to fly a kite. (which is why he is in uniform still). Emma, who had been playing dress-up, jumped up and down and said, "I do! I do!" She ran to the garage to get her kite and headed to the field--with Steve and Michaela trailing behind.

Emma thought flying the kite was fun, but she was still in her dress up clothes so she was COLD!!! When it began sprinkling, she climbed into the van and sat until it cleared up.

The princess staying dry

Michaela enjoyed getting her box kite up..and even had both kites for awhile.

Of course Steve had to get in on the fun

The real fun was when the string flew out of Emma's hand and the kite flew away!!!! Steve ran for 1/2 mile before the kite finally came down---on the street next to our house. That is some kite!!!!!

Daddy saved the day--he brought the kite back AND a fleece to wear!!!!!!


***I actually flew the kite also. I was the only one to get it stuck in a tree!!!

emma's new joys

Today after lunch at Taco Bell (our treat after church each week!) we walked through the BX and Emma found a pink baseball mitt that she 'needed'. (She wants to play T-ball, but the base requires you to be 5 years old--silly rule). So Steve bought it. We also bought two kites because I have been promising Emma a kite flying day.

She and Steve had a good time throwing the ball back and forth to each other!

I found it hysterical that Emma kept coming in to wipe out the hand opening of her mitt because it was sweaty!! What a girly girl :)

After about an hour of tossing the ball, Emma came in and asked if we could fly the kite. We tried to explain that there had to be a good wind for the kite to fly... but she wasn't accepting that until she saw for herself. (Wouldn't you know the day we buy kites in England is a sunny, beautiful summer day with NO wind!)

We took the kite out to the field and what do you know--Mommy was right (the pic of Emma looking sad is when she realized I was right.) There has to be wind to fly a kite!!!!

should we be worried!!!

On our drive home from London last night, I asked the girls what their favorite part of the trip was. Michaela said, "Walking up the steps, the mosaics of the dome, the chocolate from Harrod's..." Emma thought for awhile finally said, "Swinging on the pole in the Tube!" (We were the only one's left on the Tube when she was doing this.)

SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

final farewell to london

St. Paul's Cathedral

Yesterday, despite the forecast for rain, we loaded in the car after Michaela's dance practice and headed to the tube station for our final trip to London. We had only two things on our agenda--St. Paul's Cathedral and Harrod's Department Store!

Our favorite seats on the Tube!!

St. Paul's was beautiful. We climbed the 500+ steps to the top of the dome and got a great view of London. (And you can tell school is out in the States because there were Americans everywhere!)

View of Shakespeare's Globe theatre across the river

After St. Paul's, we headed back to the tube station to visit Harrod's. We went two years ago on Boxing Day--and so had 3/4 of the UK--so we headed back to walk through with a few less people! We loved walking through the food shops--Emma was repulsed by the seafood shop that had SNAILS for sell. She sees those all over the place while we are outside, so she was appalled that people eat them!!!! Both girls LOVED the chocolate cafe and I was quite taken with the jewelry departments:)! We bought some chocolates and a Harrod's tote bag--last of the big spenders!!!! Michaela did see a large glass ball she wanted. I told her I had not brought enough pounds to pay for it, but to ask her daddy if he had a spare L20,000 ($40,000.00) he could spare!!!!!! HAHAHA

Emma reminding us it is important to stop and smell the roses And then of course we had to head to the original Hard Rock Cafe for one last time. We decided to walk the two miles to the restaurant. There are 124 HRCs around the globe--Steve has decided we should visit them all! (If he gets the State Department job, we can eat at a good bit of them!

Orange smiles after too much food at HRC St. Paul's has been crossed off the list of places we have to go to before we leave. Unfortunately, the list is longer than the time we have left allows--but we will make the most of every minute we have!!!!!

***No photography is allowed in the cathedral***

a night at the ballet

A few months ago, Michaela and I went to London to see the Royal Ballet perform The Sleeping Beauty. The next day, Emma Shea asked if she and I could go to London to see a ballet also.

I got online and began searching for a ballet that would not be too much for her to sit through. What did I find???? The National English Ballet performing Angelina Ballerina in The Sleeping Beauty!!!! What could be better!!! I called the box office, reserved three seats (Emma wanted Michaela to go with us too.) and the night finally arrived!!!

Emma had the best time and her facial expressions and excitement were worth twice the pounds we paid!!!!

She crashed on the way home and is now tucked in bed dreaming of dancing mice:)

***Photography was not allowed, so these pictures are off the website.

jousting at leeds castle

This is the girls' final half term for the year --one week off and then 6 more weeks of school! Of course, half-term means extra kids at our house--8 extra actually. What fun!!!!!

I think in order to avoid some of the chaos that 10 kids in a small house can create, Steve decided to take Michaela and Garrett (both 11) to Leeds Castle near London for a jousting tournament and a tour of the castle. Garrett's sister, Brenna, also ended up going and Emma decided at the last second she wanted to go also. (If we could have fit all 10 kids into one vehicle, we all would have gone). So Steve took off with the four kids and I stayed behind with the 6 younger kids.

They got rained on, but all had a great time!!

happy memorial day

Thank you to all of our friends and fellow Airmen who have fought or who are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan--for the freedom of Americans and the freedom of others who cannot obtain it for themselves!!!

Freedom has it's life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree. ~ Thomas Campbell

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. ~Abraham Lincoln

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. ~Dick Cheney

a trip to torquay

HAVING FUN IN THE SEA

We are in the process of obtaining quotes for shipping our antiques back to the States, so of course that means...buy more to make sure we get our monies worth!!!! I was lucky enough to purchase a church pew from the mid 1800's last week. Unfortunately, it was located on the southern coast---3 hours away (+ another hour added on because it was a bank holiday and every Brit was on the road with their caravans). We left at 11:30, after Michaela's dance exam practice, and drove down to Torquay (pronounced Tor-Key). We arrived at 3:30, ate lunch, and then the girls and I walked the boardwalk and watched a boat race while Steve went to pick up the pew. When Steve got back, we walked around the boardwalk and looked at the boats and then headed to the beach. Let me point out here--it has not been above 70 degrees in a few weeks and we are wearing our long sleeves and light jackets. This fact did not stop the girls from going in!!!!!! They played in the sea for about an hour. I put my feet in for about a half a second and Steve survived for a few more than me!!!! We then headed back to the car for the 300 mile trip to Lakenheath where we stayed at lodging so we would be closer to church on Sunday!

SITES OF TORQUAY

aaahhh!!!!

I have been sitting here filling out the enormous pile of forms needed to register the girls for school in Kentucky.

Many things have gone through my head as I have been filling them out...but the main thing that has just popped into my head was.......

NO MORE UNIFORMS!!! WE HAVE TO BUY SCHOOL CLOTHES!!!!!

Uniforms have been so great.

We fly in on a Thursday evening, Friday will be spent trying to adjust back to America-time, Monday is a holiday, so the girls will begin school the following Tuesday--{Emma's 5th birthday}.

I guess I will be in the mall on Friday!!

Any chance Boone County has gone to uniforms??????

oops!!!!

Saturday, Emma and I were doing a craft at the table when all of a sudden she looks over into the kitchen and begins stammering and calling, "Mommy!!! Mommy!!!" I looked over to where she was pointing to find that the suds from my load of laundry where spewing all over the floor!!!!

So of course you laugh and you take a picture!! My floor needed scrubbed anyway!!!!!

***A cultural note....

...wash machines are in 90% of kitchens in the UK--where Americans dishwashers would be

...most Brits do not have dryers

...a cycle is between 90 minutes and 2 hours

all of the above are why this is only the second load I have done with his machine. The laundromat is cheaper and I can dry my clothes!!!

kids fun run!

PRE-RUN

Today was the Fun Run for the bases throughout the world.

The weather was a bit if-y, but the girls and I got up and got ready. We arrived at the base at 8:30 (Steve was at work). Signed in and got the t-shirts. The run began at 9:00am.

SOME OF THE GANG

The weather was still holding out--could we make it before the torrential rain storms?

The runners stretched and did a short warm up....

and then they were off!

Michaela's age group ran 2 miles.

2 MILES AND STILL SMILING

She did very well. She wanted to run without stopping. She stopped a few times BUT....she finished!!!!!

WELL DONE MICHAELA!!!!

My thoughts with Emma and her 1/2 mile were that she and I would run it together. I guess she had other thoughts. She took off like a rocket. I kept telling my friend that surely she would slow down/walk soon. I said this about three times before I realized Emma was not going to be stopping--or slowing down!!!! I cut across a field and met her as she came down the last leg--still running!!! She finished 1st!!!! (in the 5-6 yr. old age group).

THE BIG FINISH!!!!

YEAH EMMA!!

Then, can you believe, the little goober looked at me and said, "I want to go again!". So off she went--running two more laps around the course--1 mile!!!!!! A total of 1.5 miles!!! Never stopped!! To be 4--oh yeah, and in better shape:)!!!!

THE EXTRA MILE BIG FINISH!!!!!