Oh, the things that kids say (and do!)...

So I have to blog about some of the funniest things my kids say, because I am scared that if I don't, I will never remember them in years to come... so here are some of the latest ones.

Sam and Abby were sitting at the breakfast table and were having a heated discussion about something, although I didn't hear what as I have a tendency to drown out any bickering that occurs in our house (one of my many talents), however, fortunately I did hear Abby's last retort to Sam being "hmmm I smell your antipathy". I swear she said it, and when I pressed her as to where she had heard it, she said at school! I didn't even know what it meant and had to look up the meaning in the dictionary!

Anyway, last night, Mimi was here and Abby decided that she couldn't sleep, so came down and planted herself on Mimis lap, which was only supposed to be a 5 minute deal, but we forgot she was there and proceeded to watch the movie that we were heavily into which was called Two Much! Anyhow, half way through the movie Antonio Banderas and his female co-star decide they are going to kiss and it wasn't just a peck let me tell you, so Abby turns around and says "why are they are eating each others faces?". Mimi and I fell about laughing, but it gets worse, I tried to change the channel to another movie and the people in THAT movie were kissing too, so I finally find a respectable channel and send Abby on her way to bed, except the goodnight peck on the cheek that she normally gives me was a full on tongue and mouth kiss!!! yuk... she picks up waaay too much waaay to quickly...

Citizenship Update...Part III

So here I am, an American citizen - yay - November 7th was a surreal bitter sweet sort of day for me starting with a two hour drive down to Roanoke to get sworn in at the District Court. Sweet because of course I was becoming a US citizen, and was about to be awarded the same rights and freedoms as everyone else in this country and bitter because of the realization that I would have to forego all allegiances to my country of origin...my native Great Britain, a country I love and where all my roots are tied to.

"8.30am prompt" was written in bold type on the invitation to attend the ceremony. Unfortunately, prompt to the courts means 'get here on time to wait in a huge long line of people to sign in'. So a few hours of waiting follow, in which time I make friends with a very sweet Vietnamese girl sitting to my right, and hash out the weeks political 'goings on' with anyone who wanted to listen or had an opinion.

The judge decided to make a very formal appearance at 11am and the ceremony began, starting with us all being introduced to the judge individually (and we had to stand up one at a time). Once standing we all gave our commitment oath and our pledge of allegiance (which I knew all the words to as I have said it at the kids' school a thousand times, although I probably shouldn't have as I wasn't a citizen at the time... :-) - oh well)... and then followed a few speeches from the judge and his fellow court people, the INS representatives, the families (some tearjerkers) and even from some of the people becoming citizens that day. There was a real feeling of gratitude amongst the people sitting in the court that day, friends, families, court workers, soon-to-be-citizens, with the humble feeling that we shouldn't take the liberty this country offers us for granted. So many people becoming citizens that day grew up with oppression, communism or simply a poor quality of life in their native born countries and were just so grateful for the chance of freedom, it was overwhelming. It's really hard to visualize someone else's life unless you have walked a mile in their shoes, but that day I felt like we were a "unified people" with only one goal... "Liberty and justice for all..."

Sikora / Lassen Sleepover

Haha, I just realized that from the sound of the title, it sounds like Erika and Matt came to sleepover with Dave and I....hmmmm :-)

Anyway, Sam and Abby had their first sleepover (at our house) the other day with Colby, Dallin and Angela, it was a lot of fun... Here are some pics of the skittles ice cream I made them (by the way, Skittles turn rock hard when you stick them in ice cream - who knew?), and of course they got to watch T.V., so they were all in complete bliss...

Citizenship Update...part two...

So I finally had my interview with the INS on September 19th and all went well. Passed all the little English and civics tests they gave with flying colors. I memorized 100 civics questions in all, only to be asked 6! Oh well, at least I am savvy on some American history - haha...

So all in all for anyone reading this that is just trying to find out when they might get their interview date for citizenship, it took 10 months as I applied in November 2007, thinking that would give me plenty of time before the 2008 election to become and citizen and vote - not to be.... now I am waiting to get sworn in by the Harrisonburg Courts, so I am waiting for yet another letter in the mail. The final registration date for voting has been...and gone... so I guess I won't be voting this year...oh and just because you have passed all the interview and tests, it doesn't mean you are a citizen yet... not until you get sworn in.... so this has been a very frustrating process to say the least...oh well, I guess I can always vote in 2012!!! and of course, once I get sworn in, I can apply to be on The Amazing Race...watch this space for all of you who think I am joking...

Martins

So I am a little 'blog happy' tonight after making my $58 at the yardsale... but I do want to pass on a little bit of friendly advice...

I went to Martins to get some groceries this afternoon and of course I had my kids with me as Dave was working... why does it always happen like that anyhow, the day you run out of everything is never on a day when the kids are at school, when I could do a quiet grocery shop??? OH NO... anyhow, I thought "If I go to Martins, at least I can put the kids in the treehouse and have a quiet shop, even if I have to pay a little more than Walmart prices, its worth it for the sanity as a week ago I did a Martins shop and the treehouse was closed, so I had to drag my kids around for an hour and a half (because I don't know where everything is in Martins still), which was a nightmare...theres only so much "go and find some go-gurts kids" you can do before they get bored of "helping" and start to play tag around the store, much to every shoppers annoyance... so anyhow, when I went to Martins today, lo and behold the "closed" sign on the treehouse was up again.... I nearly lost it and was about to walk away and just "deal with it" when a little fuse inside me went off and I decided the best course of action was to 'complain'... so after waiting 5 minutes for a manager to finally appear, I told him what a friggin nightmare it was to shop with 2 kids and the ONLY reason I come to Martins is for the treehouse sanity or I might as well go to Walmart and drag my kids around, at least it is cheaper... I couldn't believe I was quite that blunt, but it worked... he was very sorry and immediately pulled the "treehouse girl" from one of the registers to look after my kids (I guess they make her work the registers if they are really busy and seeing as its Saturday...well you know) In fact she was relieved too because she said she needed to keep her hours up in the treehouse and hates being on the register...

So about an hour later, after trying 5 different tasters throughout the deli and carefully selecting which Brie I wanted to get, I still had only got about 3/4 of the way through my grocery shop and I pass the register area at the front... there are HUUUUGE long lines at the registers because they are obviously short staffed and they pulled 'treehouse girl', so I felt a twinge of guilt, but then I caught a glimpse of Sam and Abby playing in the treehouse and realized that they were having way more fun than if they were shopping with me, and I was having fun too... hey, its not my job to manage the place, I am only a consumer after all... tee hee... so my advice to anyone who sees the closed sign on the treehouse - complain, and they will open it up just for you (and your sanity)!

Yard Sale Madness

So Erika, Mildred and I had a yard sale today, which was full of laughs...of course... how else do you get through a yard sale where people are trying to bargain the absolute bottom dollar from you for all your nice junk? So after getting up at 6am, I finally swan over to Erikas with the kids for 7am, of course all the early birds are out poking through everything, even though it wasn't supposed to start until 8am... anyhow, Erika and Mildred were practically giving their stuff away.... I had to vocalize a price of one of Erikas toys when someone asked as I could see her just about to say "10 cents" and we didn't have change for anything less than a quarter, so I shouted "thats a quarter" to the lady who still went ahead and bought it... I love making my friends money ;-), what are friends for?

When I think of the hundreds of dollars we all must have spent to buy all this stuff new (and Mildred had some really nice name brand clothes), it is kind of horrifying, but hey that's the wonderful world of yardsales... one mans junk is another mans treasure.... I took my $58 that I made, went to Martins and bought Brie cheese and all the food 'treasures' that I don't normally get in a regular shop.... so while I am pigging out, I would like to thank all our yardsale customers for making it possible!

Citizenship Update...

So I finally had a letter through from the INS saying that my interview date is on the 19th Sept. I am thrilled because it actually means that if I pass the civics test and seem like I can somewhat comprehend the English language, I can get sworn in that day, renounce my green card, become a citizen of the United States and actually be able to vote in November for one of the muppets running for election this year... I need to get studying...

I got a taggin'

So I have recently been tagged by Jayme.

How To Play This Game of Tag?: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog .

Ok so here goes:

3 joys:
- My children (& hubby)
- Golf
- My friends

3 Fears:
- 'Dry drowning' or any type of drowning for that matter...
- My dads health
- Taking financial risks

3 goals:
- To be able to hold a great grandchild in my arms
- To see my children be successful
- Right now? to get a bigger house

3 Current Obsessions/collections
- To be a better golfer
- my computer, Facebook, blogging, ebaying, you name it...
- shopping

3 Facts
- I absolutely love to laugh, it is a great healing power...
- my hair is colored... yeah... sorry guys, I know you all thought it was natural... no more blond jokes for me then...
- I am a pretty good Wii tennis player, haven't been beaten yet!

I now tag Erika, Missy, Emily, Ashley and Jarrett, because they are my only other 5 bloggin' friends...

Abby is growing up waaay too fast...

My little baby girl is just not so much of a baby anymore. This week she experienced her first sleepover with her friend Kwisten. She had been begging us for months to have a sleepover with Kwisten and finally Amy (Kwistens mom) and I arranged a night of a fun cookout and a 'sleepover' for Abby. Anyway, we didn't leave their house until 11pm last Sunday, apparently Abby went to sleep 1/2 an hour later, woke up the next day with a smile on her face for being next to her friend and then ate things for breakfast I know she would never eat in our house...but of course if Kwisten is eating it then I know she will too... Me? I woke up at least 3 times in the night with the worry that she was "dry drowning" (as we had been in Kwistens pool all night till 10.45pm)... so everytime Abby asks if she can have a sleepover now, I have to think it means "sleep deprivation" for me... it's fine though, just to see the excitement on her face is enough gratification for me....

She also started swimming by herself a couple of weeks ago. So now she is jumping off the diving board in the deep end and swimming to the sides... you would think she has just ran a marathon each time she does it as she is panting so hard, but she so wants to keep up with her brother and friends... I have to pinch myself that she is still only 4 years old.... it is only when she comes for her snuggle or wants a "milky bot bot" at night that I am reminded that she really is "my baby" and always will be, no matter how grown up she acts....

Just For Missy...

... and thanks Erika for taking such beautiful pictures!

A Monumental Day...

..so I should have written this blog on Tuesday as THAT was the monumental day of firsts for us...not today...but I had procrastinator writers syndrome...so here it is...

On Tuesday Sam came running in from the waterslide shouting "mommy, mommy, I have lost my tooth". It turns out that indeed Sam's very first tooth had come out and boy was he proud...it was kind of a sad moment for me though as I remember that exact tooth was the first tooth he ever got when he was a baby...another realization that my kids are growing up fast... so he put it under the bed in a ziplock bag and waited for the tooth fairy to come. "I think I will get $10 for this tooth mommy," Sam said.. I had to gently let him know that times are hard for the tooth fairy and that she only gives $1 per tooth! So Dave and I scrummage 4 quarters together as we had no cash on us at the time (typical - why couldn't he have lost the tooth on payday), and Dave crept upstairs late at night to do the "switch"... the next morning, Sam came down and was jumping for glee saying that the tooth fairy had left him $0.75 cents! I told him to go upstairs and look again as the tooth fairy always leaves $1, but alas, no last quarter was ever found... we still don't know what happened to it...maybe the tooth fairy really did come and took the money instead of the tooth! Sam was happy though...

To top off our monumental day of firsts, Abby started to read 2 letter words all by herself... a very proud moment for me as a mom to see my 4 yr old reading with no help at all...on to the 3 letter words now...good job Abby!

4th July 08

So the 4th July is a funny celebration for me... If I had a dollar for every person that asks "so do you celebrate the 4th July?", I would be rich... I want to say 'listen, the yanks beat the Brits in the war...but it was a looong time ago ya know'... but most of the time I just hold my tongue and say a polite "of course I do" type of comment... seriously though, like I would be harboring a grudge that America gained independence from Britain... the U.S. wouldn't be the magnificant country that it is today if it was under Biritsh rule.

Anyway, we had a lot of laughs and giggles at Jarretts parents house with the Lassens and Golds, playing a Pirates of the Carribean dice game and playing tricks on Erika... All 10 (plus 2 babies) of the kids played really well together, apart from Sam getting 'shanked' (by accident) by Colby. I have never heard him scream quite so much, I thought he was dying and when I ran over to the clubhouse to see what was wrong and expected to see blood gushing from somewhere, it turns out that Sam was screaming with embarrassment as he had just had his swim shorts pulled down! Kids....

So after eating way too much, we roped Erika to take some family pics of us (which she did quite obligingly as she loves to take pics... especially of us as we are so photogenic, lol ;-), see below. After leaving the Golds, we headed home for smores (a Graham cracker, chocolate and roasted marshmellow sandwich for all you Brits out there) on our firepit and watched our neighbors fireworks which was cool... so we had a very mellow day really, just as I think 4th July should be...

pics...

A few choice words...

So as some of you are aware, I have been known to have a pretty bad memory sometimes... but there are a few things my kids say that I will never forget...

I was in the bath the other day, and Abby happened to walk in and saw me shaving (under my arms, not anywhere else!) and she looks toward the plughole and says "mommy, where does all your fur go?".... I nearly died laughing... and quietly explained in simple terms that people dont have fur, they have hair (I swear my armpits weren't THAT hairy)...

Then in the car yesterday, Sam and Abby are watching Shrek 2 on their DVD player and Sam says "mommy, what does sexy mean?"... it's just one of those words you don't want to have to explain to a six year old...so I asked him where he had heard that word, and he said there is a song at the end of Shrek 2 called "I'm too sexy for my hat"..."hmmm, it means beautiful, but it is an adult word Sam, so please use the word beautiful when singing that song"... why oh why does Shrek have to spoil a perfectly good movie with "adult" words... So Sam sung "I'm too beautiful for my hat" (which doesn't quite have the same ring to it), all the way home, he added a few sexy's in their too, just because I told him he shouldn't use that word...and he was being rebellious... so if he ever slips that word out in front of your kids, I can only apologize now, but at least you know where it came from...lol.

My road trip from hell...

So we went to PA last weekend (just me and the kids and my Mother in law, Mary) for a cousins grad party which turned out to be a blast... however, on the way home my brother in law, Mark was supposed to be taking Sam, Abby and I the 5 hours back to the Boro... but he had been having some car problems, losing power etc... so we head off in my MILS rental car back to the boro, but she has to go home to Fairfax as she has a heavy work week this week, so the plan was that we would travel with Mark in his car the rest of way. Anyhow, half an hour into the trip, Marks car brakes down on the side of the road, we pull up behind only to find out that now he has no power... not sure if you know PA at all but it is full of little boonie towns in the middle of nowhere, so we head off in search of our nearest redneck to ask where a Walmart or battery place might be...

It wasn't long before we found our local redneck with tattoos all the way up both arms, who directed us (in the strangest accent I have ever heard, it almost sounded Irish) to the nearest Walmart, so we jump start Marks car and off we go. All is well for about 5 miles until we start to go up a large hill with dual lanes either side and a concrete barrier in the middle, and it turns out to be right before the Walmart turn!! Typical... So instead of pulling the car off into one of the driveways beforehand, Mark decides to pull off onto the hard shoulder, and tells me to park alongside him and jump start his car again... but this hill has cars flying up it, who were barely catching the fact that I was stationary in the slower lane. Mary by this point is standing behind the car in her bright pink top, trying to direct traffic travelling going at around 60 mph around me. Abby is squeaking something in my ear, I am trying to concentrate in my mirror to make sure I don't get rear ended and all in 100 degree heat!!! I was a little agitated to say the least and mad that my kids were put in danger like that...

So after spending an hour and a half in walmart, Marks car finally has a new battery, but we are still not sure if it could be the alternator, so after driving about 10 more miles, we decide to pull off and check the battery with the tester, sure enough it was charging fine, so after much consideration and heel dragging on my part, because we are about to get in a car that does not have air conditioning and travel 3-4 hours home, we finally decide to let Mary go home and me and the kids will just tough it out, after all what did people do before cars had AC? we would be fine....right?..... hell no... it was a nightmare... it was soooo hot and we had all the windows down travelling at around 80 mph on the highway, you couldn't hear each other speak, and the kids could not watch their DVD player (you know, the thing that keeps kids quiet on long road trips), so we are getting blown to bits by this point and the heat tops over 100 degrees on the temp gage... and we can't even talk! So I sat there sulking the whole way home eating a bag of sunflower seeds and throwing the shells outta the window which Mark scolded me for as he said they would "land on someones window screen, kinda like a cigarette butt". He wanted me to spit them on the floor, but you know when you are eating sunflower seeds and the shells get all mushed in your mouth sometimes? you just don't want to spit them on the floor, so I just threw the clean shells on the floor and threw the mushed ones out of the window... hey I compramised!

So then Marks philosophy of driving is to not slow down the traffic on the outside passing lane, even if the person in front of you cuts you up, so we proceeded to sit right on peoples tails if they got in front of us, which I just had to mention was extremely dangerous to say the least... we were so close to them I could read writing in their cars... so we had a heated (literally) discussion about that too! lol... I love my brother in law, but he can sure drive me nuts sometimes... I think we bicker more than Dave and I do! it's hilarious, like we really are siblings...

Bless his heart though, he knew I was mad about getting into his car in the first place, so he was really trying to make amicable conversation the whole way home. the sorry part is though that he has now lost his voice from trying so hard, I kinda feel bad... but not much... ;-)

Disney Princess - that's me!

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Golf - Athletic Ability Or Wild Swing?

So I have started to learn and play the game of golf as my motto has always been, if you can't beat them, join them, and seeing as my husband is at the golf course sooo much, I figured him giving me a lesson every week is a great way to get to see him... Hasn't quite turned out like that as he is too busy to give me a lesson sometimes, so he sends me off with 100 golf balls to the driving range thinking that will "keep me quiet" for a while... ;-)

Anyhow, whilst hitting on the range the other day, I finally seem to have the hang of this golf swing now. My driver hits around 150 yards and I can hit my 5 iron about 125 on a good day! Not too shabby considering... but a few 20 yard skidders still slip out sometimes... so one of the board members and ex golf professionals was down on the range giving his mother a lesson with a new club. Later, he approached me and tells me "you have a very athletic swing Rachel". OK, so I immediately consider this as a compliment and thank him. But, after a lot of consideration, I am now not so sure if he really meant "you have a very wild swing rach" and that was just a nice way of putting it... I started to think "OK did he see my 20 yard misses or my 125 yard 5 iron?" I guess I will never know... and until I am CONSISTENTLY hitting over 100 yards with any iron/club, I am inclined to think he meant the latter...

hmmmm

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 70% Spider-Man 65% The Flash 65% Iron Man 65% Wonder Woman 52% Superman 50% Robin 50% Hulk 45% Supergirl 32% Catwoman 30% Batman 10%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

So uncool....

So today, I lost every ounce I ever had of being cool...

Basically, I was driving Sam to school this morning and my friend Amy and her kids Kristen and Jake were behind us on our way into the drive thru. So Abby and Sam are so excited about this that they are bouncing up and down waving and shouting "Kwisten, Kwisten, Kwisten is behind us". I guess the excitement got to me as well as I went to frantically stick my head and arm outta my window and wave, only to find that my window was closed, and yes, you guessed it, I smashed my head against the window. At that point all you can think about is "ok, who saw me do that?" and I looked at the line of parents behind me and it seemed like EVERY SINGLE ONE was looking my way... needless to say I drove away as fast I could with what little dignity I had left and a very sore head!

oh, I am sooo uncool sometimes...

FREE PEDICURE GIFT CERTIFICATE!!!

OK, so Missy has not taken up the free gift certificate to Nail Art for a pedicure, so I am going to give it away to the first person that tells me they want it... It is dated Dec 2006 and says that it expires in 6 months, but I have used outdated gc's in there before and they take them just fine. Its worth $20, so you could have a manicure if you choose, but I will not be using it as I am a germaphobe (sp?)... and after having read Missy's links in her blog, there is just no way I will ever step foot in one of those places again... my loss is your gain, so hurry!

American Cancer Society Relay For Life

So I am part of the Annese Martial Arts walking team for the Relay for Life this year at Beverly Manor school on 16th and 17th May. Should be a lot of fun as long as it doesn't rain... this event means a lot to me after having watched my dad battle cancer all year. He has a deadly and very aggressive type of lung cancer that has spread around his aorta making it unable to be operated on. He has had 4 rounds of chemotherapy already and is due to start his much more aggressive 6 week chemo/radiation everyday therapy on May 5th. My dad is remaining positive, but still needs a lot of prayers, and a lot of crossed fingers for the cancer to shrink and the surgeons to be able to operate.

Anyway, almost everyone has been affected by cancer somehow, whether a loved one has had it or someone they know. This is a really wonderful cause to help fight cancer. If anyone would like to donate, please go to my pledge page at

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeSouthAtlanticDivision?px=6403894&pg=personal&fr_id=9188

thanks for your support....

Green Fingers

Have I ever told you that I love to garden?... I find it very therapeutic and I just love to see pretty flowers everywhere... must be the English rose side of me ;0)

So here is part of the garden that is overflowing with phlox that I planted 4 or 5 years ago. They come back in abundance every year.

Abby pulled a Britney Spears!

So I love our dinner times when we can all sit down as a family and tell each other about the things that went on in the day. Last Friday nights' dinner was no exeption...

To cut a long story short (or not), I went for lunch at the Purple Foot on Friday with my good friend Sara, actually she was treating me to lunch as a late birthday gift, so while contently sitting there trying to calmly control our kids, I suddenly noticed (when Abby kept throwing her legs in the air), that she had no underwear on, and seeing as I had just picked her up from school, the horrible realization of her having no underwear on all day at school suddenly hit. What her teacher Mrs Cooke must have thought, I'll never know, but I do know that she went to the outdoor playground that day and must have ended up showing her jewels to most of the preschool. Anyhow, I will not take blame for it as every day I get her out her clothes to wear and that morning I had gotten underwear out for her also, she had just forgot to put them on under her dress... who would have known? Its not like I check under her dress everyday.

So that leads us onto our dinner conversation that night about embarassing moments... I guess I made such a fuss about Abby's lack of panties that she became embarrassed... a healthy emotion if you ask me... But to make her feel a little better about herself, we proceeded to remind her of Sam's ebarassing moment last month when he put on Abby's jeans and went to school. You would have thought that between Dave and I we would have managed to catch the fact that they were 2 inches too short and they had bootlegs... but oh no, mornings in our house are hectic to say the least... the blame? well Dave folded up clothes the night before and put the jeans into Sam's drawer and I pulled them out that morning for him to wear, so I guess we are both to blame... why is it we have to blame someone for embarassing moments anyhow?

So the conversation ended with me retelling my most embarassing moment of sitting in a pub with my boyfriend and best friend when I was around 16. Now I wasn't the tidiest or cleanest of 16 year olds, always something better to do than clean, but the night before, I had undressed for bed and dumped my jeans and underwear on the floor, exactly how they peeled off my body... the next day, I pulled the same jeans on and yes you guessed it, I didn't realize that my 'day before underwear' was still in the jean leg, until my best friend Emma saw them sticking out the end of my pant leg at the pub and not so quietly (so my boyfriend could hear) said "what's that popping out of your jeans?"... I immediately rushed to the ladies' and flushed that pair of underwear down the toilet, I just couldn't bear to see them again... of course I was ridiculed all night, and needless to say I never dumped my clothes on the floor again, I did dump my boyfriend though (not because of this)... and to this day Emma and I are still great friends...

So when asking daddy at the table what his most embarassing moment was, it took him a while to respond like he had never had one!!! In the end he recalled a story about once he was in a nativity play and the only line he had to say was "the sheep are getting restless". So all night on performance night he is waiting to say his line and when it finally comes to his moment of glory he ends up saying "the sheep are getting reckless", much to his embarassment. I guess the audience thought it was amusing though.

Hmmm, not sure if this was as embarassing as all our underwear stories (or lack of), but the kids were amused...

Top Ten Things I Like About Myself

OK, so in answer to Erika's tag, here are the top ten things I like/love about myself... which I found a little harder to do without sounding like I blow my own horn! But actually, this was very uplifting to write about and reminded me of all the things I should be more grateful for every day that I probably take for granted!

1) I love that I have found my soul mate in my husband, I traveled 4,000 miles across the world to find him... After nearly 8 years of marriage, we are still as happy as the first day we met, if not happier and are totally each others support in life.

2) I always dreamed as a kid of having one cute boy and one adorable girl, a near perfect husband and a white picket fence... OK so the picket fence is kind of a reddish brown stain, but everything else is right... who says dreams can't come true?

3) I love that I don't see people through color, age, ethnicity or religion... I see people for who they are as a person and am extremely blessed to have friends from Japan, China, Israel, England, Spain, America, Philippines, Germany and Puerto Rico. I cherish my true friends, they mean a lot to me.

4) I love that I have traveled a lot... I had itchy feet growing up, I could never settle anywhere, had to keep traveling. Well all that traveling paid off because not only did I meet my husband, but I became more at peace with settling down and starting a family. Now I have some great memories of the 'places I've been' and the 'people I've met' to tell my kids when I get old and start repeating myself!

5) I love that I am a proud Brit and always will be, but that I have the opportunity to enjoy the more laid back American way of life...

6) I love that I have horseback riding in my life still after all these years... and that I am actually qualified to teach such a great sport/hobby.

7) I like that I like to help people either through actions or words, (and even if they don't want it sometimes - lol) and that I stand up for my beliefs (even if it means I'm backing the underdog).

8) I like that I am organized (if you don't venture into my office) and have a place for everything...

9) I love that I grew up in small very close family and that I now have a wonderful much larger, (but still close) extended family.

10) I love that I am STILL dreaming and continuously believing....

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Awww Come On....

So Sam has this funny little thing (not quite a tic but close) that he does right now. Every time I say no he can't do or have something, he says "awww, come oooon", which cracks me up so hard I eventually end up giving in. Not even too sure where he got it from, I am presuming school, as that is where we are picking up quite an interesting vocabulary these days.

The other day at the dinner table, Abby was struggling with her food (mainly because she had eaten 2 cookies waaay too close to dinnertime), so when I asked her to eat her mac and cheese (it was a healthier homemade mac, not the processed stuff which she would have gobbled up), she turned around and said "I don't like that" to which I replied "don't like is not in our vocabulary." "Why do we have to eat vocabulary mom" she said... we were all laughing so hard, we forgot all about her uneaten mac and cheese...

Car Flatulence...

Just a quick update on the car situation... I DID sell the Corolla, for the full price I was asking, to the same guy who promised he would come back on Saturday... the transaction couldn't have been any smoother and hopefully that great little car will serve him well, it did great for me...

Anyhow, someone has a very cute sense of humor as the new car we bought has some strange noises occurring when we turn the wheel more than 180 degrees! It sounds like a mix between a duck quacking and the sound of someone passing gas - so if you are ever in my car, please don't give me a strange look like it was me, now you all know... and Jarrett, if you have any crashomatic ideas as to what this could be, I sure would like to know...

Why don't these things ever show up when you are test driving a vehicle???

Inspirational People and Slurpees...

So I was dying of thirst yesterday and decided to venture into 7 eleven to try out the famous Slurpees that everyone has talked about - yes, it's sad, I have lived here 7 years and have not yet tried a Slurpee - anyway I am faced at the machine trying to decide which one to get (I almost called Erika but my cell phone was in the car) and eventually decide on the orange one. So I fill my cup and then realize that it seems to be going down rather rapidly like the fizz is disintegrating or something, so I keep filling. Then I have this brainwave to put the cone shaped lid on and keep filling the cup, just so I get a little more... all was going well and the Slurpee was delicious (I am officially a fan), and I am standing in line waiting to pay and the cashier is taking ages to serve people because she keeps answering the telephone which is ringing constantly, so the lady behind me and I start talking about the slow service and according to her it is always like that in this 7 eleven (the one on the corner of King/Ivy). Anyhow, by this time the Slurpee has decided that it can seep out the edges of the lid (as I had really overfilled it) and down onto my arm and hands. By this time the cashier is ready for my money and I am fumbling around in my wallet, my hands sticking to everything I touch including the $5 note I hand her, which was kinda embarrassing. So I walk out the store and hear my name being called and lo and behold its from a friend of mine, Michelle Annese, who has her own Karate school off of Ohio.

So we sit in her sweet Mercedes SUV, which makes my new Toyota Camry look cheap, and chat about life and such... Michelle is a really sweet person who, with her husband came to Waynesboro to open up a Karate school 8 years ago. They took some huge financial risks to make the school work and I am sure made a lot of errors along the way, not to mention raising 3 children around it all, so it has been a tough road, but their business is at a point where I would say they have the "financial freedom" we all long for. They have worked very hard to obtain this and obviously not without sacrifice, but they are their own bosses, running a very successful school, doing something they both love doing and have watched it grow from nothing. They have recently revamped the whole place too, and it looks fab.

Then there is my masseuse, Ann Coman, who also has built her massage business up from scratch and is also very successful, (she has built her business up in a small room in the Karate school) and has also came from nothing - literally - her and her husband had $100 in their pockets when they moved to Waynesboro, and things went horribly wrong for them both immediately after arriving (long story)... now, she is a flourishing masseuse, and sometimes my shrink!

All around me there are inspirational people, the Golds, striving hard to make their tax offices work while sacrificing all the time, the Lassens, about to finish their education to fulfill their own employment pursuits - and maybe kill a few more mice along the way! My neighbors, Jess and Sonya who have their own successful painting business, even though Jess does not enjoy job, Cindy and Bob Mutscheller who have their own window cleaning business, just to name a few.

Dave and I would love to have our own business and if the opportunity ever came our way, we would definitely try. Not sure if we are as brave as everyone mentioned above to live in debt doing it, which is probably why we don't MAKE the opportunity happen... but for now, it is just nice to sit back and admire others who put so much on the line everyday and sacrifice so much in order to make their dreams happen, you are all very awe inspiring people who I am blessed to know...

A Miserable Night...

So not to try to top Missy's blog about Apsen and the pencil sharpener, but last night after working out, I came home to find Dave holding an icepack on Abby's head and blood everywhere. It turns out she has been testing out her gymnastics out on the couch downstairs and her Star wars somersault did not quite go according to plan, leaving her cutting her eyebrow open on the coffee table and bruising her nose (she was lucky not to break it). So after careful consideration as to what to do, we opted to take her to the hospital to reduce the scarring seeing as the last time she cut her leg open and we took her to the doctors he said "a butterfly bandaid is fine because the wound is on her leg but if the wound was on her face she should be getting a stitch to reduce the scarring".

So off we go to the hospital. Now, Abby is fine in spirit and certainly not concussed but the blood is still seeping from her wound. After doing all the necessary paperwork/insurance discussion at the hospital whilst Abby is still dripping blood, we are doomed for a miserable 2 hour wait amongst children and adults alike throwing up, groaning and looking deathly pale around us. We got in a constant battle with our kids to stop licking the seats and putting their fingers in mouth!

We finally hear her name called and it is like we have just won the lottery, although we still know we are going to have to wait in the next room for a doctor. Admittedly, the doctor was very nice to Abby when he came in, but by this time his humor was lost on me as I just kept thinking "do you know how long we have had to wait" and "if I were getting paid as much as you were, I would be calling every little girl 'as cute as a button' and 'adorable' too. Only to find he glues her wound back together (and half the creases above her eye) with dermabond. Now I have liquid seal at home which would have done just a good a job, it might have stung a little when initially applied, but that sting is short lived in comparison to the sting of waiting 2 hours amongst some of the sickest people in Augusta County, high medical expenses, and a feeling of of being in an overpaid cattle market.

Needless to say when I asked the doctor if liquid seal would have done the job at home, his answer was "Hmmm, I don't know that product, it might have." Skechy answer to say the least... but it does him no good to promote over the counter medications, when we can pay $100 for his drug companies' Dermabond glue, does it?

Highs and Lows..

So we bought a new car on Wednesday, she is a beautiful Toyota Camry, and I am thrilled. I finally have the keyless entry I have always yearned for instead of having to physically LOCK all 4 doors each time we get in and out... but god is definitely playing a joke on us as now I have to OPEN all 4 doors for the kids to get in, as the doors on the new car are too heavy for the kids to open by themselves!!!!! Anyway, it drives like a dream and lo and behold patience IS a virtue as I have basically held out on my price for my old car (after being low balled by 2 people) and have hopefully got a buyer who is more than willing to pay the price I am asking.... he is due to come tomorrow to seal the deal - watch this space....

So by Thursday we have some bad news from Daves work and then Friday (today) I am helping a frantic neighbor whose dog (that they have had for 10 years) gets run down and I have to be the one to go and tell her and help her stretcher the dog to car so she can take it to the vets. Unfortunately for that little dog, her time was up and she is now resting peacefully with god...

This week has sure been a mix of highs and lows... I am just waiting for the next curveball to be thrown my way...

Sweet Surprises...

So we ate McDonalds tonight as we were all starving and running late and after dinner Sam asked for a go-gurt, his usual dessert. When he reached into the fridge, there was only one go-gurt and I knew there was only one ice-cream pushup in the freezer (their favorite that they are only allowed once or twice a week), so I threw a curveball at them saying "well you have to decide between you who has which", and thought I would just sit back and watch the fireworks fly in the fight for the push up, like my sister and I used to do when we were given such options. When I was a kid, I would have scratched my sisters eyes out to get the ice-cream over the go-gurt, but Sam put me in my place when he calmly said "you can have the push up Abby, I will take the go-gurt". Tears started welling up in my eyes. Sweet little moments of generosity like that from my kids are just so precious. I was a very proud mom tonight.

"Free Knowledge and Free Gas"...

I sometimes believe that god sends down little tests for us to see how we handle them and then evaluates us accordingly...

A prime example of this was when yesterday a friend of mine called to see if there was any way I look after her friends' little boy after school for a couple of hours each day. Of course, I love to help people, (and she was going to pay me money to do it) so just before I was about to say "yes" I thought I had better ask what the child's age was. The answer was 6, "perfect" I thought, Sam's age, they can play together...

Now there is one "child" who shall remain nameless for his sake, that Sam or another child in their class has a problem with every day at school. Yesterday, this "child" hit Sam right above his eye because Sam touched his easter bunny and the "child" thought sam was going to take it. The principal dealt with this one and told me what happened when I went to pick Sam up. The day before that this "child" kicked a little girl and got sent to the principals office and the day before that the same "child" nearly poked Sam's eye out with a pencil...

So going back to the conversation with my friend... after delving further for information about her friends' "child", it turns out to be, yes... none other than our little trouble maker at school. What do I say? I have told my son to stay away from this "child" numerous amounts of times, how can I possibly look after him after school and let them play? Argggh.

Most of the people who know me well, also know that I am a terrible liar and follow the "honesty is the best policy" rule for everything... so I told my friend the truth and apologized for saying "no". She completely understood and filled me in with a little more detail about this "childs" background, which includes being from a broken home and his mother being a drug addict, which would explain why he behaves like he does at school. So now, the "test" from god seems a little clearer, it wasn't a test at all, but merely a way to inform me of what this child is going through, so I can be a little more tolerant of his behavior.

I still have a meeting with Sam's teacher tomorrow though to try to keep Sam away from this "child" as he has to sit at the same table as him at lunch... but at least now I can state my case with a little more compassion for what he must be going through...


The second test happened a couple of weeks ago at a gas station. I pulled up at Fishersville Sheetz to fill my car with gas and realized that it was $0.20 per gallon more expensive than the newly opened Sheetz in W'boro, so I decided to put $8 only in my car just to let me finish running my errands for the day and then I would fill up at the other station.

So I whacked it on the credit card and went inside Sheetz to use the bathroom. As I am sitting on the potty (sorry for the visual) I look down and see a rolled up bunch of dollar bills on the floor. When I have finished my business, I reach down and pick up the notes, looking around me in the bathroom as I do so like someone could be watching me...

It turns out that there is exactly $8 (yes, the same amount that I put in my car) in the bundle... So as I am walking out of Sheetz and back to my car feeling all smug that I just basically got "free gas", I look down at the neatly folded bunch of notes, that look like they have just fallen out of some old lady's pocket, and suddenly a guilt wave passes over me. I must have sat in my car for a good 5 minutes contemplating what to do as I knew that most probably if I took them back into the gas station, the money would end up in some employees' pocket... but at the same time "why should it end up in mine"?

So I decided to take the money back in - after all it isn't about someone else's actions that god was testing me on... it was mine - and handed the wad of notes to the gas attendant, who answered "oh great, thanks very much", like I had just given him a tip or something... but at least I was clear of guilt and who knows, I like to think that some nice little old lady did go back to that gas station and get given her money back... it is a nice thought... as for me? well I think (hope) that I passed that test.

Kids are so creative...

So the thousands of toys in my house are just not enough entertainment for my kids, they have come up with two new games to play which they absolutely love...

The first is called "Monkeys jumping off the bed" which involves just that, my two little monkeys jumping off the bed into one of our arms. we had many giggles playing this last night, so I recommend to all with strong arms, but be quick, as soon as one has jumped, the other will jump, so you almost have to throw the other one to the ground real quick or it could get ugly...

The second is called "tummy ski-ing" and involves sliding on your tummy down carpeted stairs (do not try if you are pregnant!). The kids wanted to do it down the stairs to our basement which has no carpet, I just made it in time to stop them as I knew it would be disastrous!

So next time, your kids say "I'm bored", you will know of two more exciting new games to play...

Car Buying

So we are in the process of buying a new car and it is turning out to be a bit of a headache... We have seen one in H'burg that we like, especially the price but it has been in 2 mild rear end accidents which is putting us off a little. We went to try a similar one out today at McDonaugh Toyota in Staunton and that has the worst thumping noise we have ever heard and when we sat idling in it, we could smell burning!!@!! Got out of that one as fast as we could... but it did look nice... might go back... lol....

I had my car detailed today, so it would be all nice and clean for a prospective buyer, and it came out looking fab... no more 5 year old McDonalds fries lingering under my car seats, the perpetual odor of sour milk has virtually disappeared and my "oil explosion" under the hood is nearly untraceable. So why am I getting rid of it? After looking at all these ringer cars, I am beginning to ask myself that same question...

Age is just a number.... right?

So it has been brought to my attention more than once recently that I might be getting old... and after just having had probably the most forgettable birthday ever, I am not sure that age is just a number anymore... You know you are getting old when:

... your youngest asks you on your birthday if you are now older than Grandma.

... a friend asks how old you are going to be and you have to refer back to your year of birth to calculate...(yes it happened to me)...

... you rethink about buying a car you like because it has a "young" looking spoiler on the back... gotta stick to that stay at home mom family mobile...

... one of your best friends buys you Garnier anti wrinkle firming moisture cream with "ultra lift" for you birthday and you love it!

... your love handles start to creep out of your jeans and you have to wear a belt to flatten them back down again...

... asked what I want for my birthday from my husband, I pick kitchen knives instead of jewelry!

... you start receiving a lot more birthday cards that poke fun at your age!

... you don't wear half of your wardrobe because it would look better on a teenager...

... your teenage niece wants to steal your favorite Aeropostale hoodie!

and finally... when you won't step out of the house without your usual minimal amount of makeup... yes, au natural is finally out of the window.

And so it begins...

So I have decided to create a blog, to share the sometimes meaningful? everyday goings on in my life with my friends and family and because I have waaay too much time on my hands, especially since I am joining the Ebay strike happening from 18th - 25th Feb!

Anyhow, USA and UK readers please bear with me as there might be words/phrases in my blogs that you might not understand, seeing as this is written straight from my thoughts... in Englerican, hence the title of my blog...

Anyways, Abby has the flu and I went to Rite Aid to pick up her prescription the other day of Tamiflu. Now, we have never had the flu in our house, so I had no idea of the cost of medication for it, which turned out to be $50. I was shocked at the cost and shyly asked the pharmacist if it was absolutely necessary that we give her the medication, "won't this virus just go away on its own?", only to be told that "a lot of young children still die every year from the flu, so it is just not worth the risk." Suddenly $50 seemed like $0.05 cents to me and I swiftly ran the credit card.

Turns out this drug is like a miracle drug. Abby was running 103 degree temperatures until we gave it to her on Monday night. Tuesday she woke up feverless and remained so for the rest of the day and today. However, Abby is now wild... Although I am not sure if her hyperactivity is a side effect of the drug or due to the fact that she has been cooped up in the house for so many days... the doctors are probably sick of me calling as I have called every day this week with questions... I don't really care though as I believe in getting my moneys worth...

So I take her out today as I have to run an errand and she NEEDS to get out. I thought I would treat her to McDonalds as we haven't had that certain junk food for a while now, only to suddenly smell this horrible burning oil odor. It turns out that when I filled my car with oil earlier at home, I had failed to put the oil cap back on, so when I opened the hood (bonnet to all you brits) of my car, oil had exploded everywhere all over the motor. Luckily the cap was still there, so like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, I put the cap back on and proceeded to try to clean the mess up with a rag. By the time I had finished, I had oil in my hair, on my clothes and all over my hands.... Luckily Abby was sleeping through the whole thing in the back... oh to be a child...