Halloween Party

So Luke dressed up as "Spiderman" for Halloween, by putting on his Red Sox attire (hat and shirt) and the pumpkin glasses. He shot webs out of his wrist with great enthusiasm.
Andressa (from Brazil) is a very good friend who moved into Summertown House with her family at the same time we did. She and I met doing aerobics the first January we were here---we were on the back row totally confused together. She had a much better excuse than I did as she was still mastering English as a second language. I'm still mastering coordination!

Anyway, she's in the red shirt in the picture above, and was trying to help all the kids make ghosts out of balloons and toilet paper. This is immediately after my "find the hidden pumpkin" game failed because I forgot how dark it would be at 5:30 PM (we had daylight's savings time a week ago). She and I had planned this party together.
Caleb in the "Trick-or-Treat" shirt Sweetie gave Luke 3 years ago.
In the end, the party was a bit crazy. About double the people Andressa and I thought were coming showed up (which was okay, but just unexpected) and with the age gap being what it was between the children---the games we'd come up with didn't work so well. And, some of the older kids wanted to turn out the lights and tell scary stories which totally terrified the little ones (especially Luke) who lost all confidence and wouldn't leave our sides.

In the end, both of our kids crashed from their sugar highs and went to bed early. Maybe Halloween's not such a raw deal for parents, eh? :)

Baseball in the Rain

So, it was raining the other day (can you believe it???) and Chris had just gotten home from work. He said, "Let's get these guys all suited up for the rain and I'm taking them out to hit the baseball." Envisioning 20-30 minutes of quietness sitting in my bed reading a book, I said, "OK!!" So, we got the kids totally waterproofed and out they went.

I ran back to my bed, jumped under the covers, and had just opened my book, when I heard the front door open and, "Do you think Big Papi hits every single ball when it's pouring down rain outside?" Oh well......he's a sweet dad and husband for trying!

Celebrating the Red Sox

We've been in baseball celebration mode around here. Luke is convinced the outcome of the world series is due to his loyal dress code the past few weeks. He has worn his Red Sox shirt every other day (and slept in it at night as well), alternating only with his Batman shirt (which also gives the Red Sox extra power, of course.)

This is not to imply that Luke really likes baseball at all. Here Chris is trying with all his might to teach Luke to hit the ball.
When successful, Luke LOVES it!!
Second swing of the day, however, is a miss......so we're back to, "It's okay. I'm still Batman. But I don't want to play anymore."

Patience is a virtue, but it is not to be found in our household. :)

Saturday in Hay-on-Wye

We drove 2.5 hours to a little town on the Welsh-English border called Hay-on-Wye (quickly re-named Ham-on-Rye by this uncultured American!). It is known as "the book town" and has TONS of used book shops and antique shops. It was great fun walking around and peeking in the stores. This is the castle on top of the hill....it now has a book shop inside it.
My favorite guys and my favorite colored fall leaves.
The town was a bunch of streets like this.....very narrow and not made for all the cars that were there.
A typically overcast day, but we managed not to get wet. This is the view from the castle's hilltop. The countryside is incredibly gorgeous.

More pics from Hay-on-Wye

Luke's in the background admiring a statue of a dragon. Caleb loves to walk while holding hands.
The fam

Cute little buildings that house floors and floors of books

Gorgeous countryside all around the town....

Cute Boys & Gorgeous Leaves

Caleb models...

... Luke's old overall's. So cute....such a nice Sunday outfit.
...Mollie's homemade hat. He looks like a little Hershey's kiss (with drool all over his shirt)! :)
...all the softness bedtime can offer. Sweetie's pj's, Nana's blanket, Mama and Daddy's eleFANTE.

Roll Tide

As shocking as it may be to some, I actually went with Chris (& the boys) to a football party tonight to watch Alabama versus Tennessee. In trying to get into the spirit, Luke and I set out to make a cake.
Luke REALLY likes to help with the icing and the sprinkles.
Faimon and Austin dancing---good, quality half-time entertainment.
Abbey, like me, was DEEPLY engrossed in the game. But, she managed to read a bit to Caleb when she wasn't cheering loudly.

Christa also managed to steal her eyes away from the game to play with the kids.

As for Clark, he was locked in on his own football game.....on Sega (or whatever it's called).

It was a good time had by all. Roll Tide!!!

Does anyone know who won the game??

Fun in the mornings....

Here we are ready to take Luke for his last day of school before "half term" which is one week off (sandwiched by teacher work days). Caleb is ready for the cold in Luke's old hat....he wore it for 3 whole hours straight---longer than Luke EVER wore it.
I love Luke's face in this one! Chris was being goofy trying to get all of us to look at the camera at the same time. Luke was saying, "What on ERF are you doing Daddy?"
Chris gets stuck trying to get out of the tent!! Funny that Luke was still inside it.

After school...

We had one of Luke's classmates over to play after school today. Bradley is the 4th boy in a family with 5 children!!
Someone in our household has convinced Luke he is a good luck charm for the Red Sox and that they need all the help they can get. He very faithfully would not take off his shirt or hat all day.

Slug and ant cookies

So it rained and rained and rained and RAINED today. If we hadn't lived here 2+ years already, I would say that I've never seen so much rain. But today may have actually held the record for "most in one day" (at least in my book). So, after playing "hide-and-seek" and doing some "arts and crafts" (yea, right) and lining millions of little cars up into traffic jams......I asked Luke what he'd like to do. He brilliantly said, "Let's make slug cookies!" (His nursery class made gingerbread snakes one day last week; and this morning we had walked in the rain counting all the slugs we could find so he put the two together.)

Just what is the recipe for slug cookies??? 1 cup of peanut butter (we prefer crunchy), 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg. Voila! Delicious!

Spiderman in training.....

Spiderman takes a break from fighting the evil forces of the world to get a little practice on his webs.
After a few moments, he finds himself tangled.
But have no fear---DADDY, the superhero of all superheros, comes to his rescue (while Mama just sat clicking the camera!).

Caleb is out standing in the field

I can stand all on my own.
But wait, Guys!!! It doesn't mean I want to walk yet!!

Caleb took his official first steps today. He walked about 4 feet and collapsed into my arms clapping along with the rest of us. However, he definitely thinks this walking thing is over-rated. Crawling is just so much more efficient!

A morning at Rectory Farm...

We walked all over the farm looking at (and sampling in some cases) red currants, strawberries, potatoes, and pumpkins.
Caleb liked crawling around in his water proof pants, but he really wanted Daddy to hold him most of the time.
Luke just might be a farmer someday. He was in his element. (Notice the Batman shirt---this is day 3 in a row!)

A nice fall afternoon.....

After a week of tummy troubles, we had a really nice afternoon in the park. It's amazing how good the sun on your face and a crisp breeze can feel, and what it can do for your spirit.
Luke, in his Batman shirt (the ONLY thing he'll wear right now), is riding his tricycle.
Caleb (in too many layers) loves to walk along this fence holding on for dear life.

When sick......

Luke likes:
to be picked up and held tightly; to be told he is brave; to be rewarded for getting the throw up in the toilet; to drink water out of a medicine teaspoon; to cuddle up and watch tv; to wash his hands and face often; to prop up with lots of pillows; to wear his favorite underwear backwards so he can see the picture on them; to lie on the floor in each room in the apartment just to get out of his room for a bit; crackers rather than potatoes; toast rather than crackers; to be cool; and to have Caleb nearby.


Caleb likes:
to crawl off on his own and then back to you so he can climb in your lap; to be held and walked around; to be sung to; to practice funny sounds with his mouth; to make silly faces; to drink from several different cups---each time with the hope that it's something other than water; to throw food on the floor (this is pretty much sick or not sick!); to sleep in his bed with Fante (his elephant); to be warm; and to have Luke nearby.

The School's Autumn Walk

Luke's being in school is really getting us more into the culture here than anything else has. He is correcting our English all the time now ("Mom, it's 'cah' not 'car.'), and he fits right in with all the other welly wearing kids! (that's a rain boot, by the way)

We went for the Cutteslowe School Autumn Walk in the park today. Here are all the kids in Luke's class (nursery) along with the Willow class---which is pre-K in Ameri-speak. Luke's head teacher, Kim, is in the bright pink coat, and Luke is just beside her.
What an amazingly diverse group of kids. It's a wonderful opportunity to be with people from all over the world.
How is my kid ALREADY one of those boys on the back row??!!