The Nature of Baden

Baden was three years old when Katerina came home. For the first few months whenever Kat would cry Baden would tell me that she's crying for her Mommy. I would always tell him that "I am her Mommy," but I knew what he meant.

He's at the age now where he's trying to make sense of it all. We were having a conversation about how kids in Ethiopia become orphans when he asked quietly, "So Kat's Mommy gave her to the orphanage?" I nodded. "Oh," he said sadly with his lip quivering. Then (again) mournfully, "Kat's Mommy gave her to the orphanage?" "Yes." I said. And then he was completely broken up over it.

I don't know all that was going through his young mind because he didn't share any more thoughts. I just held him and loved him, thinking about what an amazing capacity for empathy my little boy has. At his core he is compassionate, loving, and sensitive. I am so blessed to be his Mommy.

A Story Better Left Untold

Over the summer my neighborhood book club read Pillars of the Earth (a 1000 page, depressing novel set in Medieval England). We met last week at my home to discuss the book and as I was hosting I decided to serve snacks that hail from England. We were using the table for something else, so I put the yummies on a counter in the kitchen. After a while one of the girls asked me about the cheeses, so I started explaining that they all came from England and was pointing out which one was my favorite (Double Gloucester with Chives) when I noticed a million ants swarming all over the cheese plate! Mortified Much??! There were like 5 other women all standing around staring at the "peppered" cheese. With the speed of a puma I dumped the cheeses in the sink and drowned the ants, then threw it all away. The girls were nice, saying there were only a couple ants and that I should have just cut off the part of the cheese that they had crawled on - but please would you eat it?! I would NEVER - NEVER!

I don't know what is up with these ants. They are tiny little things that are barely noticeable; the smallest ant you've ever seen - which is odd for Texas because everything is so over sized here. At least I'm consoled with the knowledge that many people are battling these little creatures around here and at least they know these little guys are nearly impossible to get rid of, but still the Pest Man is practically camped out in our kitchen these days!

No pictures. please!

A Silly, Immature, Way Way Beneath Me Pun

Get it?? Hee Hee

The "Perfect" Messenger Bag

It Really Happened -

The kids went back to school. Getting up was as bad as I thought it would be, but the rest of it was fine. We fell right back into our morning routine and everyone seemed happy with it. May and Baden wanted to ride the bus to school, so I didn't drive them (walk them in, say good-bye, big hugs and kisses, waves from the door...). May was concerned that I would be disappointed, but I'm handling it just fine! :-/ I got a few really great pictures while we waited for the bus, but I just noticed that our street sign was also in the pictures. So now I have one . . .



And the one of me putting Baden to work before going to school - not quite like morning chores on a farm, but at least we're trying!



Kitty was NOT happy that she didn't climb on the bus behind the kids!





Finally I got her talking about the black fingernail polish that she convinced Gabby to bring over and apply. She perked right up. The girl is a fiend for fingernail polish!

Say It Ain't So!

The kids go back to school tomorrow and ARGH, I just set my alarm for dark-thirty! I can't do it . . . please, please be June again...

But Wait, There's More!!

After we spent a fantastic time with the Pidgeon's and the Codrai's in London, we went to Sussex and stayed at Pekes Manor with the Chinn family. Bill's cousin, Jim (aka CJ), rented this wonderful house for all of us to stay in for the week. The house was built in 1550, so we were totally living in Tudor England! Bill hit his head on the beam in our room like 50 times! So funny . . . I mean, not funny. Click on the highlighted words "Pekes Manor" to view pictures of the interior. Warning: You may turn green with envy!

This is a picture from the front. It really doesn't do it justice. The house and grounds are so beautiful!

This is the side of the house and the building in the background is the indoor swimming pool. All the flowers were so pretty.





Okay, so this is the back of the house. You can start to imagine now just how amazing this place is!





Look at the ducks! Can you believe we stayed here??!!



Now enough with the amazing . . . I have included some pics of the bathroom (unfortunately they were loaded sideways). I have no complaints about the accommodations because I'm just grateful that bathrooms were added, but with that said let me tell you that hygiene was a struggle.



Bill came across Baden "flushing" the toilet repeatedly. Pull...pull...pull.



And this is the world's smallest sink! I couldn't rinse my hands without squishing them up against the side of the sink. And I'm such a wimp - the cold was too cold, so when I washed my face I would put some cold water in my hands and then quickly dash them under the scalding hot water and then splash my face with the now luke warm water. Maybe too much information?



Well, I wanted to show you the Manor House. I absolutely loved it. As amazing as the house was though, the Chinn's were the best part. Meeting them was very special, so stay tuned for Part 3.

Last Day of Summer Break :-(

I took the kids to meet their new teachers this morning. Baden is excited to be in First Grade and May May is nervous about Fourth because they'll be changing class rooms during the day and she also doesn't have any of her BFF's in class with her. I think we're really going to like their teachers, though, so I'm very happy about that.





After the meetings, we went in search of the perfect messenger bag for Baden. I think I have a major devo on my hands! I mean how does a 6 year old know that messenger bags even exist??

I'm really going to miss hanging out with them so much. Here is a conversation we just had:

Baden: "Is Daddy stronger than skin?"
Me: "Um, yeah...So am I." (Threw me in for good measure!)
May: "I heard that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body."
Me: "Really?"
May: "Yeah, so I tried to lift a water bottle with my tongue, but I couldn't so I must be wimpy."
Baden: "It's because you don't work on your balance."
May: "Balance isn't in your tongue, it's in your ears."
Baden: "You need balance."

We leave no stone unturned at the Chinn House!

Thursday Three

New Favorites:

1. New Favorite Song: American Boy, by Estelle (feat. Kanye West) I can't hear it and not dance! Can't figure out how to load it on here, so check itunes if you want to shake, shake, shake...


2. New Favorite Show: Mad Men (AMC, don't know what night because TIVO catches it. I recommend this for all ya'll that can find it)


3. New Favorite Site: http://www.photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Breaking Dawn - Favorite Quotes

If you read Breaking Dawn, then you may enjoy these quotes. If you haven't finished it, then you might not want to read any further:

1. "Why am I covered in feathers?" -Bella

2. "And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays." -William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Nights Dream

3. He smiled the kind of smile that would have stopped my heart if it were still beating. (Bella)

4. Alice: "No one will dare to call you plain when I'm through with you."
Bella: "Only because they're afraid you'll suck their blood."

5. "I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty." -Bella

6. Alice: "I'll play you for it. Rock, paper, scissors."
Edward: "Why don't you just tell me who wins?"
Alice: "I do. Excellent."

Kitty and Albert vs. The Hill

Wordless Wednesday

London Calling - A Train, A Bus, A Boat, and An Eye

Call us crazy, but we took our family to England for a couple weeks. The first two nights we stayed in London and May and I went to see Hairspray in a beautiful theater not far from our hotel. The show was fabulous and May and I had a blast! The auditorium was beautifully done in cremes and golds with rose and white marble and there were 4 statues around the side boxes representing Comedy, Tragedy, Poetry, and Music. The next two nights we stayed in a pretty boutique hotel outside of London (think Jane Austen). While there Bill's moms family met us for dinner. It was so nice to see everyone and how grown up the kids are now. The next day we took the train (we're so City!) into London and wore ourselves out...



Here are our lovely tour guides, Jackie, Jean, and Roger (Jean & Roger from the now infamous Queen Victoria debacle). I doubt we missed even one Tourist Locale, which was great for May and Baden - having never been to London.

May and Baden's first priority once we met up with everyone was to ride a double decker bus with no top on it. They had been talking about this for weeks and were absolutely thrilled to death when we got on -







Apparently they were "knockered." Don't know if I'm spelling that right, but it means they were totally spent. :-)

We saw lots of fun sites -







And even caught a glimpse of the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace.



(Ooops, randomly placed photo of Cousins Jenny & Jackie. I really need to figure this blogging thing out!)





The London Eye...


May loves Big Ben so we took this picture of them together when we were about 135 meters in the air. It takes about 30 minutes to get around and the wheel doesn't stop to let you on and off - you just kind of jump! The capsules we rode in were pretty neat and the views were spectacular.





After the Eye we took a boat down the Thames.





The dreaded Tower! I could have spent hours here, but I think I'm the only one, so I'll have to do that next time.



A super huge Thanx to Granny and Grandpa for keeping Kitty entertained at the hotel while the rest of us played Tourist!

Breaking Dawn

We are home from England - with mixed feelings. We have a case of Jet Lag, the kids slept all through Sacrament Meeting this morning and Bill ended up taking Baden home. They keep waking up ready for the day, but it's the middle of the night! Yuk-a-do! It's good to be home for all those being home reasons, but we're really missing our family and want to go back.

I'm consoling myself with Book 4 of the Twilight Series. I'm crazy for this story!!! It came out while we were living in 16th Century England, but Cousin Jim braved the 21st Century World and came back with the best present ever - Breaking Dawn. When I manage to take a break from the Cullen Family I will post some pics from our trip. Cheerio!