Paris

Here is the view from our room

I love her little feet.

The crowd around the Mona Lisa is a lot more interesting than the painting itself.

Em might not be able to pull Excalibur out of the stone, but he is still a Knight. He told me so. And, it is on his birth certificate.

This is the ONLY nice part of the Snow White ride. AKA the scariest ride in Disney. Poor kids were both crying when it ended because it was so freakin scary.

Just words today...

I am too tired to post pictures. I wish I could just drag and drop them in this window--maybe blogger will get that feature going soon.
Not a whole lot going on lately...yet it seems like everything is constantly going on!
Augi is amazing me every day. It is really fun to watch her learn to read. She is learning all of the sounds of the letters and she has a little stack of words that she can read. She has some simple reader books that she brings home. She is very proud of herself and so are we. She has friends at school and she will be attending her first British birthday party this weekend. There is a little bully at the school, though. Jasmine is her name. She hits, kicks, and name-calls. I asked Augi if she would like me to come to school and kick the little girl's bum. She paused, then said, "Could you come after lunch?" That's my girl. She gets that from Sarah. Of course she wants me to kick the little girl's bum. She just needed to plan the best time.
We are having some four year old behavior issues. Lots of arguing and mouthiness. We will get through it. She has a bike now, so she thinks of herself as all grown up.
Em had his two year check up today. We decided to use the pediatrics office on base. The doctor was ok. Not Dr. K--but acceptable, I guess. Em is right on track. Still short, chunky, and big-headed. He loves knights, trains, pooh-bear, and bugs. He was playing "library" with Chris the other day. He would hand Chris a book and Chris would pretend to scan the book to check it out for Em. He would say, "Here yibrary yady (i.e., library lady)...check out." I am going to start calling Chris "Yibrary Yady" from now on.
I think Chris is finding out that caring for the kids is a full time job. There is very little time left for grown up work. The kids are definitely benefitting from their time with him. Em is his little buddy. I am very proud of him. He takes Em all over town and they go on outings. They made a craft frame to hang up the other day. I am envious of him staying home, but I really love my job and they are getting to spend more time with their daddy each day than other children ever get. We will put Em in a playgroup in the fall so Chris can have some time for grown up work.
We have it made here right now. We have a hard time deciding what to do on the weekends because there are so many options! Last weekend we were busy with the boot sales, street festival, beer festival, and base fair. This weekend is all about friends--we actually have plans Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. The next weekend is Disneyland Paris. Then I think we will need a break!

Big Boy.

When I ask Em if he is a Big Boy or a Baby, he usually replies--"No Mama. I Emmett." However, if he is in the stroller and wants to walk, he says, "Walk Mama. I Big Boy." But, if he is lying in bed at night and he wants me to snuggle him, he says, "Emmett. Baby."
Today was my baby boy's birthday. He isn't a baby anymore. He is a big boy. Even though he tries to convince us both that he is still my baby, we both know he is growing up.
Two years ago the best gift ever came on Mother's Day. When he was born, it was so completely different than Augi's birth. I got to snuggle him for an hour after birth, before they took him away to be cleaned up. I swore I wouldn't let them take him from my room even though so many people told me to send him to the nursery and use the time to rest. But that first night, I had him in the bassinet next to me and I couldn't sleep a wink. He was so noisy! He kept making little humming and cooing sounds as he slept. So, I actually rang the nurse and asked her to take him to the nursery. She said she would come right in, but she never did. Every single night since then, he has slept next to me. He is in his big boy bed now and we are working on it. I still wake up every morning next to him, though. When I am completely tired from playing musical beds all night, I try to remind myself that this time really is short. It won't be long before he is having his 4th birthday. Then his 10th. Then his 20th. He doesn't coo in his sleep like he did when he was newborn. It won't be long before he learns to say his "L"'s and I don't hear, "i wuv ooo mama." Eventually he will stop walking around the house calling out, "weebee...where are yooooo?" as he looks for his favorite blankie. He might stop belly-laughing every time someone says fart, poop, or butt (maybe). He won't always run up to me and give me spontaneous big hugs. Someday that won't be cool, I'm sure. He has already stopped putting the corner of his weebee in his ear as he falls asleep. He will stop insisting that he is my baby, but I won't.
Here he is. My Big Boy.

This birthday has made me feel very homesick. I miss having Em's family and friends around to celebrate his day with them. When we Skyped with Sarah and the gang tonight, Em kept running around grabbing his stuff to show them. Who knows how long we will be here? The familiarity of home and family is nice.
We tried our best to make his birthday special. On Saturday, I couldn't stand the suspense any more so we gave him his present early. He loves Knights and Dragons, and he has spent hours playing with his new playmobil dragon castle. On Sunday, we reserved the park on base and rented a bouncy castle. We had pizza and cupcakes. The weather looked foreboding in the morning, but it was fine by the time of the party. Just before we left Augi wrapped up Em's new soccer ball and set it on the sofa. We were all in the kitchen and Em came running in yelling, "My birthday! My football!" We didn't get to see him open it, but he enjoyed it anyway. 6 other children came to the party. A good turn out, I think. Perfect for a little guy.  I was talking to a patient at work today about feeling isolated when it is time to have a birthday party and she told me that she has seen mothers advertise for party guests on the base website to increase attendees at their child's party! Wow. Augi has made some friends at school and hopefully we can arrange some play dates and they will come to her birthday party. (All except "Jasmine", but that is a story for later...)

Happy Birthday Em. I wuv ooo.

Em's Birthday Present From Us

The Road to Work

I took a camera with me on my way to work the other day and snapped some shots. Not really the safest choice and the pics are a little blurry, but it was fun!

We live on a fairly busy road. There are no designated parking areas for most of the houses, so the streets are lined on both sides with cars. We have to take turns driving down the center of the road.

Hi Piggies! They oink with a British accent.

So, notice the tiny sign in the distance with the black slash. This indicates the beginning of the

National Speed Limit= 60 mph.

However, they forget to tell you that there are no shoulders, the lanes are slightly more narrow than my car, and a tractor is coming my way.

I love this sign. WTF? What the hell do I do if a car comes at me in the middle of the road?

One little thatched roof cottage after another...

The fields are so pretty.

Loads of old churches.

This sign is announcing an upcoming double round-a-bout. Freakin gives me a heart attack every time.

The all important pub.

Oooo...here's my sign. I am getting close to work!

So, that was a little tour of my daily commute. Not so bad, eh?

Safari Saturday

What better way to spend a Saturday than on a Safari?

Just about a 90 minute drive from home and we were on the African Safari. OK. Not really, but it was cool. It is called Woburn Safari. You drive your car right through and get an up close looks at all kinds of animals.

We went with a coworker friend of mine, and she has the PERFECT vehicle for the trip.

The kids thought it was terrific!

Em was a little scared of the monkeys. They jumped all over the car. He said,

"No yike monteys. Yike yions."

That's because the lazy lions just lied around. He would have felt differently had they came charging up and jumped on our car!

Obviously not all the animals were from Africa. They had a nice mix.

In addition to the drive-thru, they had a walking section where little squirrel monkeys were roaming free. We weren't supposed to touch them. They kind of creep me out with their sharp little teeth.

She definitely takes after her Auntie Tammy

All British sites seem to have wonderful playgrounds. This one was a little challenging, but the kids loved it.

Scary Monkeys: