The Best Sleep Ever Because ...

Yes ... never in our wildest dreams would Ness and I think that changing sleeping arrangements into this setup would be soooooooooo nice. Apparently, not being able to see each other and easily get out of bed greatly contributes to the kids peacefully going to sleep at the end of the day. Ava has princesses and Eli has Cars. They have agreed to switch places every month, but I don't see Ava easily giving up the high ground next week.

This morning, the kids took advantage of the presence of the baby seat (Kenny, Kate, Logan, and Lilly were over last night) to play "MOMMY/BABY". Ava fed Eli a nice breakfast of Goldfish cereal and then put him to bed. (Apparently, Eli thought it quite delicious!) Even as I write, Eli is "Crying" in "Bed" asking for "Mommy".

Next week, Ness and I are going to Amsterdam SANS KIDS! So there should be an entertaining blog when we return.

Lovin' autumn

Today the kids and I made leaf collages... we collected pretty fall leaves, dried and pressed them, and used paint, crayons and glue (along with the leaves) to each create our own interpretation of autumn.... at least that is how I choose to remember it. The real story.... I made Eric stop the car full of crying hungry children so that I could dash around grabbing the prettiest leaves from someone's yard. We held up traffic and the kids were not impressed. I pressed the leaves and then drug out every craft supply we owned and told the kids to go to it. Eli and Ava gracefully shared the watercolors for, ohh, about 3.7 seconds. Fighting, tears, and some mud, um, paint slinging ensued. I glued Eli's leaves for him. While my back was turned, Ava painted the floor blue. Eli spent 10 minutes squalling because he couldn't get the safety scissors to work while Ava repeatedly glued her hands together and pulled them apart with rubber cement. I called the project to an end when crayons began to get thrown and Ava was crunching and "sprinkling" her leaves. I gave them a snack and made my own leaf collage. Maybe we'll try again when they are 28 and 30.
Chocolates from Amsterdam to the first person to correctly guess Eli's "pumpkin" (yes he insisted on having a gourd this year... such a nonconformist!)
Ava and her pumpkin (carved by Daddy- and no, there is no prize for guessing that one!) And in the background is my leaf collage...oooooo, ahhhhhh.....
Yeah, we finally broke down and bought a wii. Ava picked up on the bowling pretty quickly!
Yeah, I guess I forgive them for not being the best leaf collage makers... they're still the best kids ever.

The Wedding

Yeah, I know I am dirtbag blogger extraordinaire... but here is the rest of our Florida trip. My sister got married, we played at the beach until we were sunburnt between angry red and magenta, and ate our weight in yummy American food. Enjoy...

A few days pre-wedding... they look a little like bats don't they? Around 730pm they start acting a bit like bats too...
My beautiful sister on her wedding day... I have to admit that I was a little, um, uncertain about having "watermelon" and "tangerine" as wedding colors, but it was lovely and perfect!
Ava and her Grammy pretending to be sand pipers on the beach...
We clean up pretty good, I think... even the sand piper...
A close up of the beautiful flower girl. I see so much of Grandma Conderman in her in this picture! The beach was very windy during the wedding so every handful of flower petals she threw were blowing away... so Ava lengthened the wedding by half burying each individual petal in the sand so they wouldn't blow away... so resourceful!
The happy bride and groom... Mr and Mrs Murrell!
yeah, I know, out of order like always! Just a little side story... Last year Carissa and Ryan came to visit me in England. I booked their tickets over her, and, as a joke, I requested special mid eastern meals for the two of them. (You probably don't ever want me to book your airline tickets... I once requested a seeing eye dog for one of my girl friends...but I digress (even further). So Carissa and Ryan show up at the bus station "hungry enough to gnawl their own arms off" because all they had gotten to eat on the 10 hour plane flight was some brown stuff and an olive. They were a little mad. The story went on involving more cold Kosher food, angry flight attendants, and flatuance. So, I couldn't be too angry about my sister making me memorize lines for her wedding... maybe a little payback...?

She most definitely looks "up to something"!
Me and my little man!
Happy little beach baby! (Actually this was a rare smile... Eli doesn't like to be dirty... so you can see how the beach would be a little unsettling for him... if I had a nickle for everytime I had to rinse him off in the shower just to let him head back to the beach... jeez...)
Ickle Michael dancing with mom at the wedding.
Eli found a nice nap spot!
Mimi and Ava telling secrets...

Always a tear jerker... the bride dancing with her daddy! I certainly remember being in the same place just a little over 7 years ago... still get choked up when I hear "Three times a lady"...

Well, I will try to be a bit more "blog conscious"... so tune in a day or two to enjoy more everyday randomness, such as "Bunk bed wars" and "more free horse poo"... a thrill a minute...

Disney World

So, the kids and I just arrived back to England after an amazing fun filled week in Florida. Poor old Eric couldn't go (due to work), so I put on my game face and loaded both kids up for an international flight, day at Disney world, and a family reunion in honor of my sister getting married! And I'm a little too exhausted from the whole thing to tackle the entire trip in one sitting (the flight home was, um, indescribable... Eli and I are still barely speaking) So, for today, here's the day at Disney World...
Yes, of course its out of order... you've read my blog before, right?
All the favorites.. the kids were mesmerized!
We rode the coaster, like, five times... they just never got tired of it!
Shooting the aliens on the buzz light year ride... the kids would barely give me a turn!
Eli lovin on the princesses... such a little prince charming!
Eli and Ava agreed the Cinderella was the mostest "bu-ful"!
Ava went chasing after a little lizard, talking a mile a minute to it, when 4 bees flew out of a hedge and stung her in the mouth and on the lip... only my kid...


Who goes to Disney without riding the flying dumbos? Not us... we rode it twice!
As soon as it was our turn to meet Ariel, Eli took off his shirt and handed it to me... that might work when you're two baby, but once you turn 3 or 4, it's just pretentious!
The kids liked the teacups a lot more than mommy!
Riding the rockets in Tomorrow land... it was pretty sweet.


This was actually on the train on the way into Disney... they aren't excited or anything!
Ready to hit the rides! We never actually waited longer than 5 minutes to ride anything... Disney in October (on a weekday) is definatly the way to go!
Me and my handsome prince!
My happy, bu-ful baby girl. Disney really is the happiest place in the world...