The Conderman's Life Less Ordinary

I Know!!! It's Been A While! (Sorry ...)

2011-05-23T00:38:00.009+01:00

OK let us have it! But in our defense we've been REALLY busy! So busy in fact that I'm just going to address these pictures! (Cuz I'm so tired that I don't even have the energy to attempt humor!)
The kids are still very into TKD. They went to State Championships. They both did very well and we are so proud of them. And they both placed high enough to go to Nationals this summer but they are in Texas and so we're not going this year. BTW Eli is getting tougher all the time! This kid hit Eli illegally straight in the nose about 4 times (not exaggerating) and even though he cried each time, he kept fighting and took this kid into overtime. Well Done!!!!!
After they were all done we all went out to eat! Here are some of the kids in their TKD school.

OK so the work on the interior of the house has slowed down as of late. Ever since the weather became nice my time has been spent in landscaping projects. Trust me ... the outside looks way nicer now! But the master bedroom is slowly being worked on. I thank my wife for showing patience in getting moved in here!
This is what it looks like to smooth out the newly re-done ceiling. Once I finish it then we can paint the ceiling and walls, then sand and re-surface the floor, and lastly re-wire the room (because it is SOOOO jacked up). Then we can finally move in.
We also had a birthday party for Grandma Potash. Due to the birth of Lara's baby boy Hunter we now can proudly say that here our family has a 5 generation photo!!!

What a cute girl!

A good time was had by all!

Grandma seemed to really enjoy the day! And the weather was perfect for her birthday.

Ness did Ava's hair "old school" curly. And even though the product the next day was very impressive, Ava did not seem to be too enthralled with the method that night!

Here are our two angels the night before Easter!

We invited many people over to our house for Easter. After service we had a nice meal followed by a HUGE Easter egg hunt. There were 250 eggs out there to find, and Bailey even dropped one in my lap last week! But those kids sure did their best to find each one.

I love this photo!

See? Big changes. And there are even more changes now than there were when this photo was taken! But if you want to see what's been done, just compare this photo to our picture on top of the blog!
And the rest of the blog will be to show how the Conderman's roll. All four of us took belt tests yesterday and passed with flying colors!!!!! So we are all now "Green Tips" - the intermediary step toward green belts.

Look at the form! Eli has really excelled in forms.

Here is a fantastic picture of Ness kicking my butt. Of course I let her do it, right?

We all broke boards at the end.

Ness did great too!

Ava broke boards too I promise!

Here is one formidable family! Give us a couple years and nobody will want to mess with us!
So I apologize for not posting earlier. We will try to do better but for now realize that all is going very well and if you don't hear from us for a while it is only because we have no tails left as we will have worked ours off!

Just A Few Improvements

2011-03-15T23:53:00.002Z

Well ... life continues to move forward at Casa Conderman. Lots of changes in the air! First of all, Eli and I are doing a daily school day together. His reading is very improved, but it's his handwriting that deserves praise. It puts my and Ness' to shame! You should just see how carefully he writes every letter and how hard he is on himself whenever a letter does not meet his expectations. It's impressive.

On another note, Ness and I have also joined our children in TKD. (That's Taekwondo everyone :) ) We all are testing for new belts this Saturday, and Master Gerber is letting us older people double-test. It's fairly easy on this first step ... I wouldn't think of doing it for later belts! But hopefully by Saturday afternoon we should all be the same belt.

Ness continues to work at Open Door and I am all set for returning to work in 2 weeks. And of course Ava and Eli are wonderful. The dogs are crazy, the kitten won't stop attacking us at night, and we kicked Circe outdoors to pal around with another orphan kitty we've acquired (who's also a calico and a good mouser!) In other words, life is wonderful. And that just leaves an update on our Beautiful Monster. Ahem ...
I finally got around to completely redoing this sink Ness purchased about a month ago. And she found this antique and wanted me to turn the antique into a counter. I would NOT recommend trying to cut holes through shifting boards that were built to last, but 7 hours later (I'm not kidding and omg did I learn a lot about plumbing) it was all re-assembled with new parts. Looks pretty nice and Ness is pleased. Tomorrow I plan on taking the drawer and greatly shortening it so it fits but of course doesn't hit the pex or PVC.
And there has also been a lot of work done on the master bedroom. All that has really been done is the walls and ceiling, but it was so cracked and ugly that it took 9 buckets of mud and an entire bag of plaster to smooth it out. But it's done. next step ... sanding, a thin second coat of mud, and lots of paint!

And so we feel as if we are ALMOST ready to have people see the house. Almost ...

Some Randomness

2011-02-28T14:41:00.004Z

Well, Eli and I have started slowing down a little on working on the house now that it is really starting to come around! And so Ness put together this AWESOME folder for working on schoolwork. Below is an example of Eli's work on day 1. What a smart guy!
Why put a picture of a thermostat? Because it is an example of what we are dealing with when fixing a home "with character". Old thermostat with wires going through the register ... absolutely no space between inner wall and outer stone ... three holes bored into the wall to learn this ... wiring completely redone and thermostat relocated ... one Saturday completely wasted. But at the end of the day a project that should have taken about 15 minutes took 3 hours and no less than 13 different tools used. "Character"? Yeah ... whatever.

Animal Love

2011-02-24T14:36:00.004Z

We recently got the opportunity to be a 7 pet family (for one day only), and although we were more than happy to do it, it made us realize that the four permanent members of the family are just enough for us! At this time, only one of them is borrowed, and that is Sir Reginald. If you read the previous blog, you would know that he quickly ate into his brand new sleeping pillow. What we didn't tell you was we caught him early enough to do just a little damage ... until the next day!
Of course, it probably was tag-teamed with Bailey, but I'm prejudiced! But they tag team a lot! They have become such good friends that it makes me sad to think of them splitting up. But Bailey and Reggie love to frollick through the woods bringing us dead animal parts (NOT pictured although I could if you want). And it's true ... Ness LOVES having to step over half eaten 'coon skulls on her way to the car.
Then there's poor old Circe. She has become the "Phantom of the Basement". Her food and litter box are down there. She does come up whenever not eating, but she can't seem to figure out where all these other animals came from! But she is a mature adult in the midst of kitten/puppy hell. They always want to play. She wants to be left alone. Makes for one GRUMPY cat.
I included this (out of order of course) because it's a really good picture of him! But we can't seem to feed him enough lately! His Year 5 clothes are NOT small on him, and his typical food intake usually goes like this (he eats like a hobbit):

Breakfast - 2-3 bowls of cereal
2nd Breakfast - PB&H sandwich ... and a glass of milk
Lunch - another PB&H sandwich ... with more milk
Tweensies - a banana and some Goldfish crackers
Dinner - whatever has been made - often 2 helpings and then a dessert
Before Bed - an apple and a piece of buttered bread - with water
Before Bed #2 - "Mommy ... I'm hungry"

Back to the animals! Well ... Bailey had his last appointment at the vets this year (until the snip but don't tell him it's coming), and he weighed in at 45 lbs at 16 weeks. He is very gentle though so don't be scared! Yesterday Ness wasn't feeling so well so she laid down for a nap. And Bailey spent the whole nap with her. Oh ... and we weighed Ava yesterday too ... 44 lbs. Sorry kiddo!

But she's not upset. I think she's a cat person because although she loves Bailey, she LOVES Molly. And it's mutual. This is a normal pose for them, and if you know cats, you know this is not how they usually enjoy spending their time. She had her last visit yesterday too - 3.5 lbs and very healthy. And getting curious about the outdoors. It's getting hard to keep her indoors but we actually want her to make some mousers for us. That barn out back looks LOADED with them. The way we figure it is lots of cats to keep the mice away and one (or two) big dogs to get the Raccoons.
Oh, and the kitchen is all done (minus new cabinets but that's a little down the road)! Looks good too. We learned the hard way you can't re-use someones leftover tile adhesive but we've fixed all that and now all is right in the world. But sadly Donnie's words concerning our attempts to fix up an old house are coming true ... "I think you'll call me 100 times a week and I think everything will take you 10 times longer than you think it should." Sadly, very true. Luckily, Ness and I have all the time in the world.

And so FINALLY, the upstairs master bedroom is next! Just us and bags of plaster/buckets of mud and a dream! Corny I know :)

Your Wish Is My Command

2011-02-11T16:44:00.002Z

If you already read yesterday's post, then you know that Ness gave this beautiful sink a very short lifetime left on Earth.
I always have said (and my father-in-law can confirm) that I prefer destruction to construction. Very helpful to the psyche after a solid week of tiling. And again Eli was a great clean-up helper. And YES Ness he washed AND sanitized afterwards.
Now Ness gets to do the fun part - going to Meynards to shop for the replacement ... once I identify the mossy substance that is growing around all the fixtures. (I'm not sure if I should leave it, remove it, or call the EPA.)
And just so you know, Carissa, we truly do love your dog. And we are very grateful for your monetary contribution to replace doggy beds. But Reggie was caught red-handed (note the mouth) less than 12 hours after purchase. I believe we're just going to go with the whole "sleeping on a blanket" idea for now :)

Our house is a deconstruction zone

2011-02-10T14:36:00.006Z

In the last week, our house has been a jumble of pets, floor tiles, kids, grout, and other fun stuff! Due to Reggie the Wonder Dog's sudden urge to eat the kitchen linoleum, we have decided to tackle the Kitchen Floor Tiling Project. Like every other project we have taken on when it comes to our Beautiful Monster, everything is about 5X harder than we think it will be. Eric finished off his attic cleaning project right before we started the kitchen. Poor lil' Reggie managed to get himself stuck in the pile of "attic disaster". God gave that dog a much bigger heart than brain I'm afraid...
...case in point: Reggie stands by as the Scrappy Molly Cat eats his food. What a gentleman Sir Reginald is!
Eric wanted me to point out that he was unable to figure out this puzzle, even after 30 solid minutes of trying...Ava had it figured out in about 5. I think she has her...um...Mimi's spatial ability:)
So...on to the kitchen. Poor Eric tore up 15x15 feet of Linoleum and adhesive. Reggie and Bailey helped a little too!
Here you see three of the seven doors in and out of the kitchen. I have begun to wage war on the wall paper...which is covered by paint....and another layer of wall paper. I am currently down to a layer of lime green shiny lead paint in a few spots. The Lord only knows what is under that...
Just in case you Susie Homemakers needed an image to keep you awake at night. And believe me, you scrape this wall paper long enough and you begin to dream in pears and plaid!
Just a closer look at all that adhesive. My husband has some seriously raw, cracked, callous hands after this job people! We should buy stock in Eucerin.
And here is tomorrow's victim...in case you haven't been to our house, the downstairs family/guestroom has a tiny half bathroom that includes a toilet and shower. The sink is located outside the room between the family/guest room and the kitchen. (Oh the joys of owning a Home with Character!) Needless to say, the sink failed the Ness test and therefore, must go. Eric has his hack saw sharpened and ready. All of the floor construction has given Eric quite the appetite for a little destruction! Good bye ugly vanity, your hours are numbered...
I doubt there are many seven-year-olds in the world with as much wall paper removal experience as this one! Give this kid a scrapper and a bottle of hot water and watch the magic happen!
Yeah, a few spots still need grouted, but WOW! My hubby is worth his weight in tile...um gold...isn't he??
And let's not forget the Fastest Spacer Picker in the House...Eli little man has been an amazing helper to Eric in the whole process. The kid has picked up every piece of linoleum that Eric has scraped up.

Bye Bye ugly linoleum...you are no match for the Conderman Men!!

Going Green...

2011-01-21T01:50:00.002Z

Just a little update on our "Monster Makeover"...this room is fondly called the "Star Wars Love room". Every picture on the wall is of a kiss or someone we love...and its the room the kids get to watch star wars in on Friday night. Taking votes on what color I should paint it...
Consider this a "before" dining room picture. I am quickly coming to the opinion that anyone that wallpapers this many square feet of house with repulsive wallpaper should suffer a thousand years of purgatory scraping gooiness off of plaster walls. This roughly about how long its going to take me to get all of the paper off of these walls I believe:) Our kitchen cabinets are even wall papered...but I digress...
Here is the color we chose, "Army Vehicle Green". Not many people would walk into Menard's and request that color for their living room (or so the sales associate told me), but we aren't most people...
So now that we've gone green, on to the next project. Tonight it will be setting our new toilet...ah the thrills of living in Casa Conderman...stay tuned till next time. I need to sign off for tonight. The kids are eating cereal in the bathtub and I need to wash the green paint off of the dogs head.

The New Family Member

2011-01-15T03:55:00.003Z

His name is Bailey. Ness and I were looking for a puppy for the family. You know, a "loyal fun-loving yet will protect the property from mean destructive teen-agers" kind of dog. And we found this guy in Anderson.
We are also currently keeping Sir Reginald AKA Reggie (AKA "Tard"). He is Carissa's dog and we got to have him for a little while. They are now the best of friends - constantly fighting but also playing outside. At first, Reggie was dominant, but the bigger Bailey gets the more that dominance is in question. I think it's just a matter of time. Cuz Bailey is just going to double Reggie's size by the time Critter takes him home.
Did I mention BIG? Look at those paws!!!!! Doctor said if he grows at 2.5 lbs/week (which would be normal) he should max out at about 80 lbs. Well, 3 weeks later and he has put on 10.2 pounds! And he is NOT overweight. Vet now says we should expect closer to 100! AWESOME!
But he is also very sweet. I worry about his being a protector since he doesn't bark at anyone. But I suppose his sweet disposition is better than having a mean dog. And as we now have 2 parents, 2 children, 2 dogs, and 2 cats, we are officially done making our family. (Until Ava wants a snake!)

The "Doctor" is in...

2011-01-14T02:32:00.002Z

On Tuesday, Eli got to go to work with me in Richmond due to the weather. He happily watched movies on my laptop, "did homework" in his preschool work book, and even answered the occasional phone call (fortunatly my patients had a sense of humor about that!). While I was in my triage room talking with a patient, Eli wandered in. He struck up a conversation with my patient (Eli never knows a stranger!) and told her that he was going to be a doctor when he grew up. "Really?", my patient asked. "Yeah", said Eli, "But not the kind of doctor mommy is. I'm actually gonna help people." He then turned on his heel and marched back to my office. I'm pretty sure my patient didn't stop laughing until she got home. Makes me wonder...what do my kids think I do at my clinic all day....?

Playing catch up

2011-01-13T00:41:00.007Z

So...yeah...it's been awhile. Life is at full tilt in the Conderman house(s). In November we celebrated birthdays, bought a 104 year old house, and introduced Eric to the joy and mystery of Black Friday Shopping. The kids have been Obsessed with Star Wars. I made not one, but two Luke Skywalker costumes for Halloween and created a Jedi training camp themed birthday party to celebrate my little padowans' birthdays. This particular picture is of all the newly trained Jedi's attacking Darth Vader...
And yes...I dressed as princess Leia...but there will be no pictures of that...
It's a light saber cake...don't worry...not too many other people knew what it was either...
At some point the kids decided that beating Darth with their foam light sabers was just not punishment enough...so they stole his evil cape and mask as well. And the empire is safe once again...
I would love to say we are completely moved into our new home, but the heap of summer clothes on the back porch, couches in the garage, and eclectic collection of other things taking up most corners of the house would tell a different story. However, we are moved in enough and enjoyed celebrating our first Christmas in our Dream Home.
While my very clever husband was insulating the attic, he took the time to create a lovely skylight from the bedroom into the attic. All joking about Eric's "multi-tasking" abilities aside, he has become an excellent ceiling repairer and quite the ace with the mud and trowel.
Consider this the "before" picture of our master bedroom. The "after" picture does not have a release date as of yet...
The pretty hard wood and pocket doors are part of what made us fall in love at first site with this house. The pink walls, odd wall paper, and The Chandelier are all part of the "fixable charm".
So much potential...this house is meant to be a lifelong project, just like our marriage and family.
Give these kids a scrapper and a license to destroy and no ugly wall paper stands a chance!

So...I do solemnly promise to be a more reliable blogger as I chronicle the story of us and our beautiful monster of a house and beautiful gift of a family. Enjoy!

I Don't Even Know What To Call This

2010-09-11T15:25:00.011+01:00

Well ... I warned you.
But things are wonderful around here. The kids are making the world's largest train track with a friend of Eli's from pre-school. (Playdate = dad can get stuff done ... like a blog!) Ava is of course helping (directing), Ness is unfortunately working L&D but as most know by now has finished school and will soon be operating a clinic as a NP, and I am as always procrastinating from doing my grading of schoolwork. All is well :) So I just decided to add some pics for you all to enjoy.

Trees are still fun to climb. This one happens to be located near a really cool all-stone house in Pendleton.
And NO I (at 38) am not too old to climb with 'em.
The Children's Museum is still fun to go to. They have a new section on Rock N Roll. Lots of Elvis stuff donated by a "Jim Irsay" ... whoever that is.

The whole family went to a high school football game at my school. Shockingly, it was cold enough for sweatshirts. Where did the summer go?

Eli had fun! Hotdogs, M&M's, popcorn, and soda help.
Oh and lollipops. There were lollipops too. (Don't judge! Football games are special circumstances.)
For those who are not aware, the kids are into a new hobby. One day Ness went to Papa Johns to get a pizza when she noticed a promotion for a free week of martial arts lessons. Next thing we know, both kids are so into it, have both tested for their first belt, and are breaking boards. And they are developing body control believe it or not.
I just hope they learn that "with great power comes great responsibility". Especially this one who is regularly pitted against green belts and occasionally wins!

But seriously Master Gerber (5thDan TaeKwonDo and 5thDan Ju-Jitsu) is very good with them. A nice combo of fun and no nonsense.

After receiving their belts. Way to go!!!!!!

In Case You Haven't Heard ...

2010-07-28T16:03:00.002+01:00

... yup :)

Why Can't All The Famiy Live In Florida?

2010-06-28T18:52:00.007+01:00

Every time I go to Florida, I always come home fantasizing a life enjoying the beautiful days there. As my parents say, "Just another day in paradise!" There are so many stories to tell that this blog will mostly be pics. And sorry but i had some fantastic videos but for some reason they won't post!
The real reason we come to Florida - the beautiful beach. Four visits in one week. And i'm just kidding M&D - we come for the food too :)
Eli started off a little nervous about the waves but was soon slamming into them with glee on his face. It made dad laugh a lot and grandma a nervous wreck!
Ava learned how to boogie-board fast! It wasn't too long until she would sit upon the board out in the ocean and let the waves just rock her back and forth. Looked like a surfer.
Here she is catching a good wave!
The one thing i will say about the ocean is that it wears the kids out! BTW doesn't Ava have such a "I'm thinking of bad things to do" look on her face?
You want proof that the kids were awesome for the trip? 30 hours in a car and tons of sugar-filled activities and this was the only time out done by either child. (And if you know me you know i'm not shy about doling them out when deserved - Roman Ruins and Irish Pubs to name a few have all felt their noses!)
Playing a great new game - hide the hoola-hoops!
We took another trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. There is supposed to be a video of Ava the snake charmer here but Google doesn't like me at this moment. (It's mutual.) But there was this Komodo Dragon.
Even zoos feel the need for rock walls these days!
The silverback must have been put on Prozac since our winter visit because he seemed quite calm. (See that blog for the reference.)
The big attraction for the zoo these days - a 3 week old giraffe!
Look at that tongue! Almost makes shelling out $4 for two twigs worth it. Almost.
Grandpa and grandma ... still lookin' good.
Both kids got the opportunity to buy one toy. They got matching snakes - Ava's is green. I'm sure mom was thrilled!
Here Ava and grandpa are designing a new ... something. I never caught onto what it was :)
Eli has mastered the art of monkey-barring.
The story of the magic ring. A shell that perfectly fit and had the ability to remove the pain of monkey-bar caused blisters that hurt in the ocean. This ring is the only reason Ava got into the water!
Eli and I flew a kite!
And so did Ava. Funny story - While Eli and I were swimming and his kite was tied off a teenager accidentally knocked it loose. Rather than letting it go, she got her boyfriend to go off into the sticks and finally chased it down. Renews my faith in youth somewhat. And Eli got a nice little hug from the girl when he thanked her :)
For those who don't know ... Eli has turned into the master of Stratego. He handily beat grandma 3 times and regularly beats mom. Dad's still a challenge though.
Ness was so nice to arrange a trip to a water park for the kids. Due to a ... let us say malfunction ... most of the pics are missing. But here's the wave pool!
And here's the kids saying good-bye. It was a great day for all and a huge thanks goes out to Ness - the best mother i know :) (BTW - ask Ava about the "White Ride" and think "vertical drop" when you do.)
But though it all ... the kids couldn't wait to see mom again. And i think the feeling was mutual.
On a side note, thanks also goes out to Codey and Julie for letting us crash their house on the way back. It's common for good friends to separate and lose touch but we just keep on truckin'. And our kids got the opportunity to hang for the first time in almost 4 years!

Ava and Xavier have been arranged for marriage since she was born and they hit it off nicely. I almost think I saw flirting :) And tell me if you have ever seen a better smile on Eli's face.

Summer thrills

2010-06-17T01:31:00.005+01:00

Our first summer home from England has been rough, let me tell ya! No castles, Shakespeare, historic trips, or ancient ruins to keep us entertained; no rain and lack of sunshine to keep us pasty white and skin cancer free. We've had to re-learn the art of sun cream application (almost an Olympic event when it comes to Eli!) and find joy in the local entertainment. Last week was fair week. All of the classy people of Middletown dress in their summer best to come down and sample all things that should and should not be fried, try to win a sickly goldfish or albino rabbit, and pay out the nose for rides held together by bailing wire and prayers. We did not win any unfortunate prize animals, but we did fork over some hard earned cash for cheap thrills that wound up our kids and made them happy. At one point, I think Ava was actually levitating from the jumbo 4-foot high bag of cotton candy...but I digress....

See the face radiating joy in anticipation of the thrill of a summer carnival ride...and Ava looks pretty happy too.
And because the fair was such a swell time, the kids and I decided Daddy should come with us to Kings Island for an early father's day gift! The day was perfect; the promised thunderstorms did not hit until 9pm at night...which meant the park was warm and uncrowded. Here we are on the log ride...for about the 12th time (no joke!). Eli always protected his sister during the scary parts! What a fantastic little brother he is!
Eli and his dad take on the Tree Eating Kite or something like that. It was a two-year-olds version of a drop tower.
Eli the flying ace! We are hoping he will follow in Aunt Ellen's footsteps and become an air force pilot. (Actually, most days, we just hope he lives until college! Such a berserker that child is!)
Mommy and Ava on the "real" drop tower...you should of heard the world breaking scream that, um, Ava let out during the drop....
Kids on a ride back at the fair...sorry pictures out of order...as usual...

Papaw swears in his little deputy in training. Eli looks so serious!

Ava on a coaster...it is sideways which is appropriate since most of the time our lives are too! Enjoy!

School's ... Out ... For ... Summer!

2010-06-10T17:11:00.001+01:00

It's hard to believe that the kids have completed a full year of school! It seems like yesterday that I took the kids to their first day of school. Not only did the kids survive school - they really excelled. Must be their mother's genes!

Above is their first day of school ...

... and here's the big 2nd grader!

Eli finished his year too! He really liked his pre-school, but since we don't use it for the summer, they now have an opening. We hope that it doesn't fill up so he can resume in the Autumn. But Mother Goose doesn't have frequent trips to the local pool like their new summer group does!

A big thanks to Miss Donna - she did a wonderful job watching our little one. And NO Eli was not responsible for breaking her hand. Although I'm positive there were times that he attempted to use the Dark Side of the Force for something like it. (I know he uses it on his mother and me!)

OK now don't call CPS - they both got stern lectures and a garunteed "one strike and you're off" rule put in place. But they asked if they could join me and in a fit of insanity I said yes. But they were perfect. By the way, Ava LOVES heights if you weren't already aware. And just yesterday she finally climbed to the top of the rockwall at the Children's Museum - not an easy task. "Daddy of the Year" didn't have his camera to capture the moment.

See? Eli was up there too - I think only because Ava wanted to do it so badly. He wasn't nearly as thrilled to be on the roof but he man-ed up and joined us.

There's so much more to tell so I'll try to get one up about Stratego and new kittens before the 3 of us attempt to make it to Florida and back in a car older that some of my students. Well ... almost as old.

Homage To Little Ones

2010-06-01T15:12:00.004+01:00

Summer is officially here! And with it come the numerous activities that one can do that actually tires out these little ones. Plus with a vacation to Florida around the corner, we all need to get our base tan on!

I wish we could take Mikayla with us. Times are always better when we have her good-nature around.

What a happy pose :) Ava is almost done with 1st grade and is more than ready to start summer vacation. Although, bless her soul, she also wants to spend the summer learning everything she can about snakes and tornadoes.

Eli is also doing really well. He continues to be a gentle loving kid. And he has made a huge leap in his schooling. All of a sudden, he is adding, reading, and making connections that he wouldn't have made a month ago. But he would still rather spend his time watching "Toothless"! (He's on his towel for those not in the know.)

Marshmellows by the fire. Yum!!! And yes I realize that I am taking the trash out here - that's what ya do here! (That's for the East Coasters.)

And camping. These kids are insane by the way. But like their daddy, they were hoping the lightning storm predicted by the meteorologist would come in fast and furious while we were out there! Didn't happen. But I am beginning to realize that I can't sleep on the hard ground much longer - gettin' old :(

And one last anecdote. We have been having the children do prayers as often as the parents. Here is Eli's prayer last saturday:

"Dear God. Thank you for this food. But I don't like it. Amen."
... quote ... unquote

The Little Things

2010-05-08T17:04:00.005+01:00

Isn't it just the little things that make life worth living? Here are three things that make the family work:

1. Kittens . . .

And little girls with kittens. We have a mini-crisis going on here. Ava wants the Ginger. Eli wants the Black. But Ness wants the Calico. And so all family energy is directed towards getting the kids to realize that the Calico is just too cool to refuse :)

2. STAR WARS! For those not "in the know", all Birthday/Christmas gifts to Eli with a Lucas theme will probably be very successful.

3. BEST FRIENDS. Ava truly has one now and her name is Makayla. She is a very sweet girl. They spend a couple days every week after school at Ness' and even spent last night over my house for a sleep-over. A good time had by all building fairy houses and more!

So remember to see the little things that make life livable. And of course Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there.

So Much To Tell ... An Apology

2010-04-20T21:03:00.005+01:00

Alright alright everybody. There is no excuse for the lack of posts. Well ... none that I plan to offer here. But life continues to go forward for the Conderman crew regardless of all the craziness that is our life.
First of all, let me say Thank G%D that the winter is over. There is sunshine and warm temperatures. The children are getting tans. I didn't mind mowing my huge lawn. And thank goodness the trees are climbable again!

Little Man is slowly turning into Little Smart Man! Check out the mad writing skills. Not to mention the fact that he is playing real games with Ava in the backseat of the car (without involving Dad :) - that will be nice for the trip to Florida this summer!)

Easter came and the weather was beautiful ... but only half as beautiful as my little girl. And all decked out with fancy gloves too!

Eli looked very handsome too! It was a nice day had by all ... especially since it included a visit to Grammy's and some play time.

You think I was able to do her hair that well?!?!? Not a chance. But if this picture doesn't describe Ava in a heartbeat I don't know what does. You see, Ava wanted her hair out of the way and she didn't even bother to ask for help. She went away ... found a mirror ... found some ties ... and did this all by herself.
The obligatory "Dad was there!" picture.

Eli had great fun with the relatives. Who might be giving him immense pleasure hanging himself upside down?

UNCLE MICHAEL!!! Or "Ukle Mikle" as he is better known. Thanks for playing with them for so long. Eli and Michael seem to be kindred spirits - I think Eli actually wore Michael out. But I think that their shared birthday might have had some effect on them both.

OK lets get real. Ava is now able to play much more adult games. And so ... she was introduced to Monopoly recently. There was no cheating, she made all her own decisions (some of which her Daddy disagreed with but let her do anyway) and here was the result. She DESTROYED me. Yes that is all her money. Yes those are all her hotels. And YES (grrrrr) if she needed to roll a 5,7,8 to hit my hotels she rolled a 6. Again ... and again ... and again. Maybe I can beat her in Stratego. Less luck involved. Lol

And lastly we have a message from Ava. Ahem ...

"This is Ava's fairy house. And ... um ... it is beautiful and covered with flowers. Ummm ... Watch out the bees might be coming! That's it!"

Oh Those Imaginations!

2010-02-20T19:56:00.005Z

I know ... I know, Ness and I are so busted for not posting lately. But everything is moving along. And for some updates. Winter is officially kicking our butts. I met my neighbor because he got my car out of ditches ... twice! In one day! I am seriously considering talking to Ness about moving to Jacksonville :) And the kids are great. Ava is really excelling in 1st Grade and Eli is beginning to read words. And so ...
Eli very well might be the engineer in the family after constructing an entire airport including shuttles and parking spaces. And I think he might actually be getting the whole "smile for the camera" thing too!
With all the snow lately Ava has been in outdoor heaven! And unlike most kids, Ava doesn't make snow forts or snowmen. Oh no ... Queen Ava made an Empress Couch suitable for Cleopatra ... with a slide to get down!
Here's Eli building the earlier mentioned airport in its beginning stages. While Ava and I were outside trying (unsuccessfully albeit) to gain enough speed on the sledding path to crash into the bushes, Eli spent HOURS constructing the blueprint. Grandpa would be proud.

And here is a video of Ava going down a slide. To Eli's credit, he did go down a handful of times and once even flipped and landed on his head ... only to get up with a smile and head back up the hill! Way to go Little Man!!!!!!

A few more Christmas pictures

2010-01-13T00:31:00.002Z

So Indiana is under a perpetual blanket of snow and ice...known in kid-speak as school-stopping-snow-man-medium-sledding-weather...and they are loving it! (And I'm loving my ancient tracker with the fantastic four wheel drive!) The kids and I are going skiing with my step mom and sisters this weekend and I can't wait! Finally am going to have two little skiing buddies just like I always wanted.
Here is picture of my princess Ava on Christmas day. She got a flute, new clothes and boots, a million toys, a new sled, and a kitten that she named Angel Frost. I'm pretty sure Angel Frost is deaf because she is calmly sleeping through the two wild Stegosauruses that are currently feuding through my living room...
I don't have the heart to tell my kids that a Burly Forest Nymph actually puts presents under the tree...not Santa....
The "before" picture...another year of breaking the "we will not go overboard" promise...
Eli got a train set for Christmas (among many other goodies) and it has bought us all hours of peace! The kid can spend hours putting that thing together and actually has enough track to stretch from his bed room all the way into the kitchen. I always have to check with the "engineer/conductor" before making my way through the train station...um...living room.

By the way, I am back in grad school to finish my clinical hours...so if my posts are a little sparse...that would be my excuse! And now...off to put my little dinos to bed and crack down on some homework:)

We Miss Florida Already

2010-01-04T14:12:00.005Z

First off let me say that it was a big eye-opener to return to Indy and feel the 12 degree/snow covered reality that we have here. But it just makes one appreciate the beauty that is Florida. A BIG THANKS to Grandma and Grandpa (aka mom and dad) for being such wonderful hosts! But there is so much to tell about our trip I'll not bore you with lots of reading. So here goes ...

Great Grandma came too! It was really nice having her come with us :)

The kids enjoyed their 5th Christmas of this season! I think by the end of this one they were finally X-Mas'd out.
Funny story. We went to an Elementary School that had a fantastic play park. Now ... it was available all summer when we last visited but upon arriving at the gates we saw this. So I tried finding a different gate in when I turned around and saw THIS ...

Yes ... they climbed the fence. Ava was over it before I could even blink. These are pics of getting back over cuz they were both playing before I knew what happened. So I figured we'd all do some B&E. (Great parenting I know)
This BTW is Daphne. Ness and I gave her along with her sister Chloe to my parents since we couldn't take them with us to England. Daphne is loving life in Florida. And without 2 kids chasing her everywhere she has FILLED OUT!
Of course we took a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo and of course the kids had to see the snakes. I liked the Mambas but Ava thought this Python was pretty cool!
The kids got the opportunity to feed giraffs. Pretty cool, huh?
I must admit but it was creepy seeing the gorilla because he just stared at you. And you could totally read his mind. It said, "You are so lucky you are behind that gate because if I ever got these hands on you I'd rip your arms off." Not kidding. Also, a neat story. Before we could see the gorilla Ava had to wedge her cute self in between a group of 5 large very in-shape men wearing Florida State gear. Turns out that Bobby Bowden (coach) gave his team the afternoon off on the day before their Gator Bowl. The WHOLE TEAM was at the zoo. One guy with a #3 on his jacket was asked for an autograph right in front of Ava. The next day we're watching the game and I mentioned to Ava "You remember that guy who was being asked to write his name?" "Uh huh." "Well there he is!" Quarterback. Player of the Game. And yes Ava thought it was super cool that the nudged him aside to see a gorilla :)
Here's grandma making M&M cookies with the kids while dad was out on errands with grandpa. Apparently, letting the kids have cookies and dough for lunch is a grandma's privilege and there's nothing I can do about it! Well, I was alright with it until about one hour after this pic. Use you imagination.
A BIG THANKS to my Aunt Laurel who is just about the coolest great-aunt these kids could ask for! Always giving of herself. She also mentioned that Jacksonville does a PolarBear Plunge every New Years Day. In a fit of insanity ...
I did it. No I don't know why, but it was actually fun.
Grandma got Ava a jewelry making kit where you can write messages. Ava insisted on making a bracelet that said I LOVE YOU and a choker that said I MISS YOU for her mom. What a wonderful girl.
Both kids went to the beach on the last day. Although the water was only 50 degrees they got soaked up past the knees. And they loved every minute of it ... until it was time to go and they realized that they couldn't feel their feet! Don't worry. After a little love and a hot shower all 20 toes were saved!

So a wonderful time was had by all. And I can't wait to go back (but maybe in the summer). Thanks again to all the family, friends, and airline pilots who made the trip a complete success!

Making every moment count

2009-12-21T14:28:00.005Z

Between jobs and school and all of those other "have to's" in life, it can be hard to find time for those "want to's" that make life so good. We may not have as much time as we would like to enjoy all of our holiday traditions, but I think we did a pretty good job of enjoying our favorites...especially the Decorating of the Christmas Cookies! And thank you Kiley for letting us destroy...no utterly massacre...your kitchen!
My pretty little cookie designer/icing taster/sprinkle sampler extraordinaire
Brooke and Ava enjoy some candy coated happiness!
The next morning I woke up to find that I had been invaded by kitchen monkeys. Beware of these creatures, they crawl all over your counter tops and sneak inside your cupboards looking for tasty snacks.
Saturday we visited the Children's museum to see the Jolly Days of Christmas. And what kid doesn't love a nice long ride down the Christmas slide?
Good for Momma's too!
Unlimited carousel rides! What fun!
A rare shot of Eli's "real" smile....what a cutie pie!
Every time we go, the kids (Ava) has to listen to Buckey talk about finding his T-Rex on his farm in Montana. She knows the answer to every question he asks and the story by heart. Yet she must listen every time! Eli was hungry and wanted Ava to leave the presentation and go have lunch. She said "please be patient Eli" and gently pulled him onto her lap where he sat quietly for the rest of the talk. What a little Momma she is!
Later the kids and I made Christmas wreathes and more cookies to take to all of the neighbors. My little Elves had a ball and Ava insisted singing the 12 Days of Christmas to each household we visited. The whole thing. Start to finish. Now every house in our neighborhood is decorated in Griswold type fashion, except for one. When the kids asked about it(weeks ago), I explained that the man that lived there had lost his wife this year and did not much feel like decorating. So, imagine my mortification when Eli greeted the man with "are you sad about your wife dying" instead of Merry Christmas. Fortunately the man was very understanding about the Bluntness of Children.
The wreathes that the kids and I made. Not too shabby eh? Their crafty grandma's would be proud I think...
In order to squeeze in all of that holiday fun, Ava and I were up late making snow men by the light of the neighborhood Christmas lights. I believe a recent argument with Eli may have inspired this...
Having dinner with my old friend Sah who just graduated from nursing school. Way to go girl!
Kids digging for dino bones at the children's museum....and I will have another post up soon about the newest addition to our family...

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-17T15:52:00.004Z

Yes Christmas is certainly just around the corner now! And so life has been very busy! But with each successive Christmas the kids seem to get it more and more. And the Christmas songs get louder and a little more accurate! (But "Deck The Halls" still goes fa ra tooo la moooo ba shi sha shooooo!)

Who's that coming to the window? Whoever it is certainly has the kids attention! These four are 2nd cousins BTW but I think they're more like best friends after only one overnighter.

That's right. Santa was in town. Here Ava is telling Santa to give her a trumpet. Luckily, a parental intervention has that changed to a flute ... maybe. But I think she was also negotiating a level of naughtiness that would still entitle her to presents.

I'm not even going to joke about Eli- because he was one serious dude up on that lap! He sat there very comfortably and told (yes - told not asked) Santa everything he wanted. He was very emphatic about it too. Cracked me up. Hand gestures were involved and everything. When he got off Santa's lap he was obviously very confident he got his message across!

This, everyone, is Ava's 2nd cousin Mackenzie. After one day together they were absolutely inseparable. They spent the night together. They got their ears pierced together. They laughed. They cried. And when we had to go Ava WAILED for almost a whole hour about missing her. And she is already counting down the days until their reunion. 9 days and counting!

Did anyone ever tell these people in Indiana that it gets COLD here?!?!? But with the cold weather come some perks like playing in snow and then having hot chocolate with marshmellows. Almost makes the sub-zero wind chill worth it ... almost.

Here's the tree. It's real so it smells very nice and the kids dressed it up real pretty. So here's Eli after finishing the last touches. (I believe Ava is very closely analyzing the composition of the wall in a corner of the house somewhere.)

It's not a fireplace mantle but it'll do.

And what would Christmas be without a children's Christmas concert. I was very impressed with Ava and her fellow first graders. They sang 3 songs and it was honestly pretty good. And poor Ava tried soooooo hard to stand still while performing! Wiggled the whole time. That one has so much energy it must have been hard, but she did it. And the whole evening went off without a hitch.

And so Merry Christmas to all, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. And get ready for the next post early next year when the kids and I will attempt to see how tan we can get spending five days in Florida.

Countdown to Christmas!!!

2009-12-03T02:57:00.003Z

So, in case there is any confusion, four and six are the BY FAR most fun ages ever! The kids are sooooo excited about Christmas! We count houses decorated in lights every time we drive anywhere and the kids turn lights off as fast as I can turn them on so that the house is dark (so as to enjoy the full effects of the Christmas tree and Christmas village). I braved Walmart on Black Friday and have already made Christmas wreathes and planned out this years baking agenda...so I guess the apple doesn't fall far....
Just a cute random shot of the kids reenacting trick-or-treating (why they are tied together by a jump rope is anyone's guess!)
Eli had taken a looooongggg nap at daycare on this particular day...so (at 930pm) he was up holding a dinosaur meeting. He assured me that it was highly important that he empty the game closet, toy box, and his sister's underwear drawer in order to do this.
Yet he was full of, um, something by 630 am the next morning. Mommy's little insomniac! Kids sure are exhaustingly delightful, huh?

More Birthday Treats

2009-11-16T19:53:00.005Z

Well, snakes and all the kids had great birthdays!! And of course the gifts didn't end with the reptilian fiesta. As I am sure Ness did, I had a special "less ordinary" present for them! Both children got the opportunity to paint a section of their bedroom wall. And as always, it wouldn't be a Conderman blog with the pics in order!

One of the benefits of living in the country. Gorgeous sunsets just about every night.
Ava - ever the expert climber - has a resting place in this tree. It is so perfect for her that she can practially take naps up there. But on this particular night she seemed content to enjoy the sunset as well.
We have had an Indian Summer this week. And so we had a last fire outside. Marshmellows eaten and yet the sugared up kids managed to stay relatively calm. Except all the stick throwing. Oh well ...
Here is the picture of their art area before the paint was flung. I would be lying if I said I was completely confident that it would work without a hitch. And yet it did. Yeah :)

This is Eli's masterpiece. He calls it his rocket. As he finished it, he declared (and I quote) "Oh this is SO AWESOME!" On the abstract art market I'm sure it would fetch a large prize. And as for the rocket ... I see it Little Man. Oh yes, I see it.

And here is Ava's masterpiece. It has everything she thinks is important. A T-Rex, flowers and a sunrise, and love. Well done sweetie.

Note the detail on the T-rex. Monet would be proud.

And so the kids are now officially 4 and 6. I don't know where the time goes, but if everyone is telling the truth, they will be 14 and 16 before we all blink our eyes. Sigh ...

Snakes alive! Birthday kids!

2009-11-10T23:12:00.005Z

Last week we raked up the "worlds biggest pile of leaves". The kids in true Tasmanian devil form were very quick to "redistribute" them around the yard!
Kinda forgot to post Halloween pictures. So, for those of you who don't have a little girl, Halloween is really just an excuse to get another princess costume. So, for the 3rd year in a row, Ava went as a pretty princess. Eli is a dragon. He insisted trick-or-treating in dragon speak. RRRRRAAWWWRRR he would growl at each door, startling old ladies and scaring small children. Darling aren't they?
So....on Saturday we had a joint birthday party for my birthday kiddos...Because I only have to have one birthday party a year, I try to make it good! The kids are enthralled by snakes right now and begged for a snake-themed birthday party. I combed websites, newspapers, and picked my friends' brains to come up with ideas....
Ok, so the yellow python that may or may not have slight facial deformities was not my plan A...not really my plan B either. But, through a combination of unfortunate events, this is what we ended up with. Thankfully my kids aren't too harsh of critics!
Anything with candles and frosting is okay in their book! Whew...praying Ava doesn't ask for a Hannah Montana cake next year....
So, I found the MOST AMAZING entertainment for my group of 3-7 year olds. This guy brought 7 snakes, a baby alligator, a funny bird, rabbit, albino skunk, sticky frog, and lizard for the kids to play with. And I do mean play with! Yes that is my daughter convincing my step-mom to hold a little snake...and she did!
I just adored the little crocodile (or maybe alligator?) that would let you hold him on his back like a baby!
Ava, Aunt Ellen, and one of the snakes!
Daddy helps Eli keep his hands on a bull python. That was Eli's favorite animal!
Grammy sits behind Ava to learn about some of the snakes.
Karyn and I not to freak out when one kid drops the big black rat snake on my garage floor. It was amazing how good all of the animals were with the kids. No one got bitten, but the bird did leave a nasty gift on my garage floor...
This guy was hysterical. If he thought he was being left out, he would hop up and down on his perch yelling HELLO HELLO PRETTY BIRD PRETTY BIRD!
So creepy!
I wanted to steal this little guy...so cute!
All of the kids with their eyes on the snakes!
Ava's favorite animal turned out to be the bunny...but Eli loved the ball python! Don't get any ideas little man!
Sweet Ava with her favorite snake. Happy Birthday Babies! I can't believe how old you are...seems like just the other day we were having our "one is fun" parties...sniff....sniff....

Counting the days till Halloween!

2009-10-28T00:29:00.005Z

One of my favorite memories was going to Conner Prairie for the "Haunted Hayride"...creepy noises, well placed Halloween spookiness as you ride through the woods at dusk. Would the Headless Horseman make an appearance? I prepped the kids with Disney's Ichabod Crane and really built up the whole experience. When we got to Conner Prairie, the kids made bats and, um, acquired balloons to "scare" the Headless horseman away. Fortunately, out wagon crossed the bridge just in the nick of time...and we all kept our heads:)
Ava chillin with the "scare-pros"
Eli, with his bat, is ready to check out the rest of conner prairie!
Ava prepares to scare off any "headless horses" that come her way!
Yummy s'mores after the hayride
Kettle corn for the little man
Tonight we did our annual pumpkin carving. The kids let me off easy this year, requesting only "scary faces". We dabbled in pumpkin cannabolism and appendages. I mean, they have to expect me to take some creative liberties....
Thank you Papaw for assisting with the gutting. This nurse can deal with all kinds of gross, but pumpkin guts are just so icky...

Autumn antics

2009-10-20T03:30:00.003+01:00

Last weekend I was a little more than a little sleep deprived due to some hectic night shifts/kid shifts. At one point the kids had emptied the freezer of ALL of the ice cubes. They then stuffed them in Eli's socks and hung them all over the house....something about an ice age...and i was so tired that it almost made sense. Even the wooden sword and large stuffed monkey...
Tree full of goofballs!
Last night the kids and I decorated the front yard for Halloween, complete with "cobwebs" and pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.

So, yesterday, we visited Stoneycreek Farm to find the perfect pumpkin. We took a hayride down to the punkin patch where my own little punkins found the LARGEST pumpkins they could for their mama to drag back to the wagon. But look how happy they are!
Kiddos jumping on the giant bouncy pillow at the pumpkin patch. I still couldn't get em to sleep before 9!
Such a beautiful fall day!
Ava with her perfect pumpkin!
Me and my favorite people on the pumpkin hayride! Afterwards we went to pick out Halloween costumes. My dragon and sugar plum fairy are counting the days until Halloween!

So, never mind that the day started rough (I was forced to return our kitty to my parents house after she destroyed one too many curtains, nibbled my toes while I slept, and made my house smell like the devil's armpit. I loaded both kids and cat into the car, running late as usual, and headed to Ava's school. The cat felt that the best place for her to ride was right in front of the steering wheel like an evil little hood ornament. I kept pushing her aside so that I could see and she would go sliding down the dashboard, then wobble back down right in front of the steering wheel. Amazingly we made it to the school in one piece. Cat had attached herself to Ava's backpack, which I had accidentally buckled into Eli's seat belt. Foot hooked under the dashboard as I tried to twist myself into the backseat in a move that would make a Pilate's instructor cringe, I tried to detach the backpack, cat, and Ava from each other. Eli sneezed...and it was a "good" one. He screams for a tissue which, of course, I don't have. In a moment of pure desperation, I ripped off his shoe, pulled off his sock and hand it to him. Wipe. Holding down cat and encouraging Ava to bolt out of the car while further contorting into the backseat to keep cat at bay. Car behind me is honking. Cat has claws set into Ava's backpack. She jumps out of the car. There is a brief tug of war between her an the cat over the backpack which she wins. On the drive to my parent's house, the cat resumes her "hood ornament" position. I dropped her off, left a "Dear Oscar" note, and tried not to squeal my tires and laugh maniacally as I drove away. Our next pet will most likely be a sea monkey or imaginary unicorn. Can't decide.)...the day ended great...except for Eli overflowing the toilet in the carpeted bathroom. Why anyone would put carpet in a bathroom is beyond me...

Some Things Come ... and Some Things Go

2009-10-03T14:35:00.003+01:00

Well ... life goes on and these two have two new friends. Yes, Circe renewed her relationship with a solid black cat in England before we moved home. Then one day she took off and was missing for two days. Then I saw her running home from across the street where there was a sizeable forest. And so I turned to Ava and said, "Let's go kitten hunting!" And that's where we found momma and babies doing well under a tree root.
There were three but one didn't make it (sadly) by the time we discovered their home under that tree. And so Ava learned all about the realities of death ... and of course Kitty Heaven. But the other two are very healthy. They look almost identical - one has a tiny white circle on his lower lip and that's really about the only difference (because that all black tomcat back in England wouldn't let ANYONE near Circe).
The boy was named Toto by Eli and the girl was named Miss Rosie by Ava. Where Eli got his name I have no idea, but those who have spent substantial time with Ava should know immediately where her name came from! And so things come into the lives of these two ...
... and some things go! (For those curious, the going rate for one tooth from the fairy is one dollar and two chocolate coins.)

Ausfahrt to America

2009-09-23T04:29:00.003+01:00

Ok, ok, so we weren't stationed in Germany, but Ausfahrt is a way better word than exit, escape, flee...etc. Due to some misplaced electronics and sanity, I'm a little behind the power curve with my posts. So, if you don't mind a quick trip back in time as the Conderman kids have one last hoorah at destroying the ambiance of European cities...the date was 11July.... and I fed the kids doughnuts for breakfast...because...i....never...learn....
So, on July 11th, the kids and I wake up to catch a cab to the bus to take us to a Hotel near Heathrow. I watched my daughter lapse into a perfect cockney British accent while speaking with the cab driver only to turn around and yell at Eli in perfect Midwestern American Drawl. My sweet little bilingual angel...so we arrive at the hotel, spend the day swimming, and then we decided to dress up fancy and go have one last meal in a British hotel before flying home the next morning. Eli has had enough fancy at this point....
My kid after way too much chocolate!
Yummy....some days I really hate my 30 year old metabolism! The fruit salad just wasn't as...um...fancy.
Ava channels Grandpa Conderman for this picture...
So, (out of order as usual), here we were waiting for the bus before the yummy chocolate meal. The kids entertained themselves by putting together puzzles at the bus stop!
Yes, it took a few tears of the damsel in distress variety, but I got all you see in this picture home to Indiana by myself...ok, maybe more than a few tears;)
We actually did really well on the flight home right up until the last hour. Eli hadn't had a nap so, he decided to take off his shoe and fling it at the people across the aisle, who were eating. While I was giving Eli "what for" in the airplane bathroom , 30 thousand feet in the air, the kid looks at me deviously, and licks (yes licks) the toilet seat...of the airplane bathroom. Eli also got to taste airplane bathroom soap for dessert...poor kid. No more international flights until they are safely addicted to some kind of handheld video game. More to come on tooth fairies, dinosaurs, and tree climbing:)

A Story of a Little Boy ...

2009-09-09T22:58:00.001+01:00

Every day one walks into this educational center there is something to read. You can see what it says! And so Elijah is going to the Mother Goose Pre-school and Daycare Center. And he seems to be loving it. Miss Donna is a certified Early Childhood Development Teacher and already has them on a vigorous program of education. Today the letter "a", tomorrow nuclear physics!
Excellent work from Little Man! He seems to be really loving it too. He has numerous friends and a huge play area to enjoy after school is over (9-11:30). And he is doing the Pledge of Allegience just like Ava. (Not so accurately I might add - Ava has something about a "public" on which "Richard stands".)
Here is the classroom. Don't bother looking for Eli. He was ready to leave to go see Ava who was studiously doing her homework back at the house. For as much as he loves going to school, it pales in comparison to his love for being with his sibling (with whom he can't seem to stop fighting - I don't get it!!!)
And so as you can see Eli is transitioning nicely from England. (If there is one thing I am sure about these two, it's that they should grow up able to adapt to new situations.) So rest assured, he is happy and VERY 3 with all the joys that come with it!

I Don't Think Ness Will Like This!!!

2009-09-08T02:24:00.003+01:00

But the kids are going SNAKE crazy!!! Ava and Eli got the opportunity to see a snake show at Church. They had already been reading about them and I think they almost have replaced dinosaurs in importance. But then this show sealed all our fates.

The handler brought a bunch of snake skins too! Here Ava is displaying them for all to see.
This was the pride and joy of the handler - Chiquita - an albino python. Thankfully, he told the kids that snakes can make good pets, but NOT one that gets as big as this one!

And yes, Eli is just as interested in them as Ava. (Because anything Ava likes Eli just HAS to like too!!)

Then, if fate didn't make this too easy, Ava and Eli were out walking with their Grammy talking about ... yes ... snakes when they came across two Garter snakes. And sadly, no fear from either of them :(

And so ... snakes are the animal of the month. One can only hope that this too shall pass, because you all know that if the kids want a snake for a pet (in the FFFAAARRR future) then it is definitely going to fall on daddy to house it. Because if any of you know Ness - pigs will fly and hell will freeze before she lives in a house with Chiquita.

Man Is She Smart!

2009-08-31T14:56:00.004+01:00

Well, life in America is sure sweet. You don't know what you're missing until you get back to it. Right side driving. Lots of shops. And the schools. Where the kids wear what they want!

Of course it wouldn't be a Conderman blog with the pictures in order! But here they are on their first day of school. This is Ava's school, but Eli sure thought he was going there too! He thought wrong. But not to worry, Eli is going to Mother Goose Pre-school. It is a fantastic place that serves as a pre-school from 9-11:30 and a daycare for the rest of the day. And like Ava, he is loving it! (Pics of his place need to be taken but don't worry ... they're coming!)

I can tell one of Ness' biggest pleasures was going to shop for cute clothing for this cute girl. Note the little balls on the socks!

And so here they are in front of the school. East Elementary in Pendleton, Indiana. BTW, for those who may not know, Ava came into the school a few weeks earlier to sit with the Principal and take a battery of tests. The results of the tests were that she is WAY too smart to enter Kindergarten with the rest of the 5 year-olds. And so she is the smallest kid in Mrs. Cornejo's 1st Grade class. And she is loving it.

Which is good. Because with the way Social Security is tanking, it would be good to have a doctor or nuclear engineer in the family.

More pics coming up.

Ok - A Life More Ordinary

2009-08-31T14:41:00.004+01:00

And so it turns out that our life is a little more ordinary after all. (About 50% more ordinary actually.) But not to worry! For the 3 people that may still actually follow this blog, it will turn into the story of these 2 buggers! So don't go away folks. Any need of following the lives of Ava and Eli will be satisfied or your money back. (And yes I realize I don't have the wit of others who write these things. But there will be lots of pictures! Becuase THAT I can do!)

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:30:00.002+01:00

These two kiddos have a pretty great Dad. Poor guy spent father's day taking apart things like a 14 foot trampoline and spackling all the holes we have managed to put in this house! Our movers arrive on Friday and the kids and I will be flying home to Indiana on the 12th of July! Of course we are completely prepared and organized for our trans Atlantic move...especially the flying pigs...
Our last Circe spawn is awaiting his new home...we waits loudly, especially at night when we are trying to sleep. The kittens have been a fun experience for the kids but this momma is a little fed up with Ava's arms looking like she perpetually lives in a thorn bush!
I told the kids to "dress up like Daddy" for father's day pictures and this is what they came up with! Pretty cute huh?
So Happy Father's Day Eric! And Happy Father's Day to our Dads! Hope it was full of golfing/sailing/good food and family!

LIttleport Fayre

2009-05-27T12:37:00.005+01:00

Every spring, Littleport puts on a small fair with all the usual overpriced food, games, and rides. But my secret love of candy floss (cotton candy) and watching my children enjoy riding the air planes makes the trip a must!
Hangin out on the Harley and eating the rest of the cotton candy! Yummy! And why is there a statue of a Harley in the middle of our quaint little British town? Well, Littleport is the birth place of Harley of Harley Davidson. Who knew?
Poor little Ava is now the proud owner of her own pair of glasses. And just let me tell you...trying to keep those things on her face is no small task!
Oh yeah...the sixth food group...and trust me, I had my own too!
Riding the chopper
Sissy bug too!
I had to wake little man up to bring him to the fair. Sometimes he wakes up like a little ray of sunshine, and sometimes a little thunder cloud....we were leaning more towards stormy that day.
Takin on the fun house!
And the very favorite...the swings. Those smiles are priceless aren't they?

And here is a little bath time song...just for you!

Day of the Dinosaur

2009-05-16T22:33:00.005+01:00

Today we took the kids for a last hoo-ra of dinosaur park...when we got home Ava took a "series" of shots with my camera. Not a good day for T-rex
I found these amazing kid chop sticks yesterday, so I had to order Chinese take out today so the kids could try them out...Eli ate about 30 pieces of rice (one at a time) and sent the "naughty" chopsticks on a flight across the room...
Ava did better but insisted she was eating "Chinese kangaroo"...mkay....
Ava and Lily in the Norfolk lavender at dinosaur park...I swear they could be sisters!
Me and little man...we are so photogenic today aren't we...
The three musketeers off in search of a T-rex
Hangin with me mates on a dino foot...brilliant...
My beautiful little girl...so grown up since the first time we came to dinosaur park!
This peacock stood and gave the Triceratops in the back ground "what for" the entire time we were there...I finally got it to turn around so I could get a picture and then it went right back to scolding those cheeky Triceratops!
A little too cheerful to be in time out-huh?
Ava had a case of hyper mouth the entire way to dinosaur park...all 62 minutes...the kid doesn't even need to draw breath...
If you ever need to wear your kids out before bed...push up and sit up competitions...its amazing!

On a silly little side note...I wanted to see if I could create a garden cupboard for under 20 pounds...so I bought this old thing at the junk shop for about 10 quid...added some left over house paint and a few creative touches....
Ok...so really it was just cheap therapy disguised as a place to store wellies!

The Family Grows By One .. Two ... Three!!!!

2009-05-07T07:50:00.002+01:00

What is this you say? I new tent for the kids? Dad's new hideout? No ... it ended up being the location Circe decided to have her kittens. Unlike most soon-to-be-moms, Circe did not pick out a nice quiet place to have her kittens in advance. She just became super-affectionate followed by super crazy. And then she just went to this corner and had a black kitten. This was Tuesday afternoon, so Ness decided to make the place "labor friendly". (Yes that is a candle that she lit ... and she played mood music for her as well.) Apparently that wasn't what Circe wanted because she held the others in until we all left for work yesterday.

But when we got home yesterday there were two more surprises - one more black cat and finally a orange cat. (Strange thing about that ... the English don't understand using the word orange as a color ... they didn't understand at all until I remembered to use the word ginger.)

Proud momma is taking good care of the kittens.

Mommy and babies doing well.

Of course the one fantastic thing about having them is the pure joy on the faces of Ava and (less so but still there) Eli. They are being very gentle and obeying all the rules about the new children.

And so ... 3 kittens. One ginger, two black. Any suggestions for names?

Enterprising ducks and dead weasels

2009-05-04T16:05:00.002+01:00

Do you think the ducks accept Visa...? What really gave me an all day giggle about this picture is that they covered up the "Free Horse Poo" sign with "Duck Eggs 4 Sale".....
So, it has been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks...Ava finally got her dead weasel...I mean cast...cut off today! And what a relief! Those things stink after a while! Her arm is healing well and she will be back to performing amateur parkour in no time I'm sure...
Such a beautiful little stinker!!
Eli is perfecting the art of puzzles, annoying his sister, and overall goofballness! He is such a future class clown!

Eric has a really rough couple weeks coming up with school and I am losing my mind between clinicals, statistics, work, and being a momma to these two little monkeys! If anyone has a spare Mary Poppins in their back pocket...send her our way!

Easter, Dinosaurs, and fractures...oh my...

2009-04-19T19:04:00.004+01:00

Nothing says Happy Easter (a week late) than a picture of my kid's wrists. Wanna take a gander at which one is broken? And lets not talk about how many days it took her Mama to finally take her to the ER...
The yearly Kitchen, I mean, Egg coloring party!!
I'm not sure why we even bother with the little wire thingy...half the fun is seeing what shade of colorful we can turn Mommy's fingers!!
Now, for weeks, Ava has been hiding anything she can find to help Eli "practice" egg hunting so that he will be able to "do it right" at game time...and it seems like the student became the master as Eli found the most eggs! Ava did find the empty egg (symbolizing the empty tomb) so that made her happier than anything else!
Poor little Lily got a bit stuck under the table...but that girl did score herself some eggs!!
On the hunt!
Eli...yeah...I don't even know... I think he was excited about the prospect of all that candy.
Okay, now I must relate an Ava/Eli story from today...

I was trying to catch up on a little housework since this is the ONE day I have had off this week (between work and school)... you know, wiping up only those things you can see from at least 5 feet away... Anyway, I was letting the kids watch "Dinosaur Alive" clips on You Tube while I attempted to de-con the living room. I heard the following conversation....

Ava: Eli, this is going to be scary...the Allosaurus is going to bite the Brachiosaurus. Just hold my hand ok?

Eli: Oooo, there's T-Rex!

Ava: Now Eli, see the red spot on his head? And count his fingers...see? He has three fingers. That makes him an Allosaurus, not a T-Rex. You really need to learn your Allosauruses from your T-rexes. We will work on this.

Eli: Ok...this getting scary. What those dinosaurs doing now?

Ava:.....Huh....well, I guess they just have to climb on each other sometimes...huh....

Me: Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.....different video kids! (Apparently "Dinosaur mating habits" quickly follows the "Allosaurus Attacks"...who knew?)

Happy Spring!

2009-03-22T15:38:00.004Z

For the last two summers, Ava and I have started the "not too cold" season by building a fairy house for Buttercup, Ava's fairy. The last two days have been over 60 degrees (which is July weather!) so up went the best fairy house yet! Ava makes a pretty cute fairy doesn't she?

Eli came in while I was making dinner last night to inform me that his sister was on the roof. Nah, I thought...
Oh yeah. And because she looked in no danger of falling, I went ahead and took some pictures before ordering her to carefully climb back down...which she did with the speed of a spider monkey.
So, because I lay claim to more curiosity than common sense, I told her to do it again so I could video it. She scaled the fence, shimmed down to the shed, jumped on the roof of that and scaled the garage roof... ground to rooftop in just over 2 minutes. By then half the neighborhood had turned out to watch this crazy mother videoing her 5 year old climb a garage roof. Ava, enjoying the attention, sits up, waves, and starts to blow kisses. That was it. I told her to quit showboating and get off the roof before someone calls the cops or CPS.
So, she now has to settle for fence tops. At least that limits the audience...

St Paddy's Day!!!

2009-03-20T14:28:00.005Z

I was lucky enough to get to go to Dublin with a girl friend from work for St Paddy's day...and wow, we had a blast!
Here's Temple Bar on St Patrick's Day night...crazy busy! Crazy fun! Funny enough, there weren't a lot of Irish people running around. It was mostly tourists...but it was still a great time!
Having a pint in the glass tower at the Guinness factory.
Somewhere in all that chaos, there was a parade going on... no way was my five foot tall self gonna see it!
Rachael (on the right) and I met up with a couple other people from Lakenheath while we were there!
Nothing says happy St Paddy's day like a dude dressed as an Irish chick...rock on man...
This is Trinity college where the Book of Kells is kept.
Me and Rachael LOVE cotton candy. I think we waited in line for almost 30 minutes...yummy...it was worth it!
I thought this was Dublin Castle...it isn't. I don't really know what it is. Funny enough though, while I was out running one of the days we were there, I got lost and kept finding this place. It took me an hour to find my way back to the hotel. That was some run!
St Stephen's Green...isn't it pretty?
This little girl was no older than Ava and she could dance this amazing Irish jig...it was incredible!
Shopping on Grafton Street...not that we could afford anything!
The view off the O'Connell Bridge at sunset.
On our last day, we took a day tour up to Belfast. The city was just like any other charming European city... except for the crazy political unrest...
Here I am writing on the 20 foot high "hate fence" separating the Protestants from the Catholics.
This is a mural in the Protestant projects. Here, the police just let the people rule themselves... kinda like Marshall law (by the people). Our guide said that every person in these homes gets their money illegally. Funny, there were bikes and kid toys and flower boxes at almost every house... but I guess thugs and dealers have families too...
Downtown Belfast. What an awesome trip!!!

My little auction buddy

2009-03-10T17:16:00.003Z

Last weekend, Eli stayed home with Daddy while Ava went with me to an antiques auction. I showed her how to bid by holding up the paper as we weaved between people and furniture looking for things we might want. I have wanted a glass front book case secretary for ages, but they are usually so expensive in stores!
But, there it was. The perfect one at the auction house, just begging me to bid on it. So I did. And won! Ava was so impressed that she wanted to start bidding on everything. A life size (and I do mean life sized!) Buddha statue, an antique bed pan, a naked nymph garden statue... we settled on some pretty Egyptian plates that she bid on and won! And, in winning those plates, my girl was hooked! We talked about artwork, how to tell Victorian from Jacobean furniture, and dovetailing. I'm pretty sure I lost her somewhere around the wood oxidization talk...but no matter. Ava spotted a set of 6 porcelain dolls that she wanted, so I told her to bid. She did...and...
...now I have a troop of creepy little dolls that like to turn up in strange places in my house. A couple of days ago, I came upon her scolding Eli's dinosaur for scaring her babies. Dinosaur spent much of his day with his nose pressed into the corner in time out. Eric and I finally got tired of the dollies running free through the house so they have been banished to Ava's room where they usually are suffering from various and horrific ailments that Drs Ava and Eli treat by giving them medicine, sticking socks on their hands and feet (bandages?), and hanging them from the blinds (traction maybe?). Just as long as they don't start practicing obstetrics... I don't think I can handle too many more dollies sharing our house!

The Germany excursion!

2009-02-17T18:50:00.004Z

The last four days of my family's visit, we piled everyone in the car to go to Germany and Luxembourg. Of course these are in reverse order (as usual!) but this is the inside of the cathedral in Trier Germany. It was very beautiful and the kids and I played our usual game of ghost hunting in all the the nooks and crannies. At least it keeps them from disturbing too much of the peace!
Grammy braves the cold!
One of the buildings in the town center. My camera died at this point... so I didn't get pictures of Kelly and her family (my friends from DC that are stationed in Germany now)... but they were here and we had a great time with them! Ava bonded with their daughter over pink highlights they had put in their hair. Yes my daughter is a little punk rock chick!
The outside of the cathedral in Trier.
Trier is one of the oldest cities in Germany and one of the few that was taken over by the Romans... who left this lovely ruin for us to ohh and ahh over!
We visited the American cemetery in Luxembourg... which believe it or not is not so easy to find! Luxembourg is probably the only place in Europe that I have been to that speaks pretty much zero English. And my French is sketchy at best. (Eric says it sounds like I have made up a new language when ever I try to speak it. And wild gestures, foot stomping and speaking English with a bad French accident does not help the bridge the language barrier... just for the record.)
Behaving ourselves at the cemetery.
It was pretty awe inspiring...
So, one of the themes of our trip was me parking, putting us on a bus to the town center, we miss the stop, and wind up in the middle of nowhere, where we are kicked off the bus (in french) and left to hope that a new bus would come for us. This happened twice. My family were very good sports about it... bless em! Luxembourg was one of the most clean and beautiful cities I have seen. If only I could have figured out the transportation system..
Here we are stuck in the middle of a pretty little town hoping a bus will come back for us! It did...eventually!
Me and my boy!
Pictures of lovely Luxembourg!
The boat ride across the channel has a great play area for kids... it offered Eli endless opportunities to creatively torture his sister. She is pretty far south of pleased in this picture!
And oh yeah, i turned 29 in Germany... at least that's what I have the kids trained to say!

The Grammys come to visit!!

2009-02-04T15:13:00.004Z

For the last couple weeks, my mom and Grammy have been here (and we've been busy traveling thus the lack of blog entries!) I think we ran them nearly half to death but they were good sports about it! I have about 5 million pictures... but here's a few to get started! This one is the kids taking the Grammys to visit Bury St Edmonds. They are climbing on the Abbey ruins...and we are letting them...
Grammy Marilyn Rose, Grammy Rose, and Ava Rose!
Here we are celebrating Christmas in January with the Grammys. They went way overboard... of course! The kiddos are now thinking it is Christmas anytime anyone comes to visit!
Poor Grammy! In my mind, she is perpetually about 55 years old, so I forget that walking about 10 miles in the cold while a bouncy child hangs on you, might be less than her idea of fun! She was very patient with us though and we had a great time showing her around "our" England.
We went to the British museum and saw the Rosetta stone! Forgive me, but you know, I'm just a nurse. So I thought that the Rosetta stone was a computer program to help you learn foreign languages. You'll never believe it, but that was actually named after a REAL stone that helped people decipher hyrogliphics or latin or something. AND THIS IS IT! Pretty cool huh?
And here we are back to opening Christmas gifts. Eli was actually a heck of a lot more excited to get this than you would think by the look on his face. It just takes a LOT of photographic genius to capture it...
Opening gifts... my kids are maniacs with the wrapping paper... it's awesome!
And we are now back to London in the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese having dinner. I so love this place and very few people seem to grasp how cool it is. This is the oldest pub in London and the fish and chips are amazing... well, at least above average! Anyway, the Grammys seemed to have fun!
Back in the British Museum... I really should have photo shopped myself out of this picture...yikes!
In front of the British museum. We had a great time in the Cotswalds and more than one adventure in Europe... I will try to have that up in the next few days! For now, I have a paper to write, a floor to mop, and an hour or two of sleep to grab!

"Hei" from Oslo

2009-01-12T21:26:00.004Z

This past weekend, Ava and I took a quick trip to Oslo, Norway. Although the hope was to see Northern Lights, that did not happen. After all, it is hard to see solar radiation if you can't even see stars in the sky.
The websites for Oslo tourism stated that their city's reputation for being expensive were not really true. I don't know about that, but I do know that a Kids Meal for lunch cost $16.50. (6Kr=$1)
One of the sites one is supposed to see is a park that is filled with sculptures. But what I didn't know was that every one was naked.
As you can see. We actually have several pictures of the park, but this is the only one not rated "R". Ava actually really enjoyed the park as many of the statues were pictures of mothers and fathers playing with their children ... naked.
The highlight of the trip. There was a huge ice skating rink complete with a central area where Norwegians were playing hockey ... well. After Ava fell for the 63rd time (to get around the rink once), we went back inside to rent a helmet. It was a full blown hockey helmet with face mask and once Ava had it on she never fell again. By the end of two hours of skating, I would skate (yes Donnie and Karyn I was getting the hang of it too) out about 20 feet and Ava would skate to me in about 20 seconds.
She was so proud of herself and even though her leg was so tired she still kept smiling!
The obligatory "we were both there" pic.
OK - here is a funny story. On Saturday we walked through the main street of Oslo and I was noticing that one out of every dozen shops or so had smashed windows. When we ate lunch on the strip, the waitress warned us that there was a planned demonstration about the Israel/Palestine saga at 2:00 and that we should probably not be around as the demonstration on Friday got out of hand. Well, we went to the park (naked statues) and skated, and then we started heading back towards our hotel to eat at the local Burger King. All of a sudden, we came to a police barrier, and I was afraid we were going to have to go around the whole mess. Not so. A police officer (in full riot gear) saw us and came to help. He explained that this area contained a rather violent protest and some of the kids had even been run off and had reportedly smashed up a McDonalds nearby. Thanks to the officer, we got through the danger area by going through the police tape, jumping over the police barrier, and cutting through the backyard of the King and Queen's home palace (where they actually live)!

We then found a more peaceful protest (pictured above). Ava and I actually went right up to it and we were about 5 feet away from Arabs dressed in full-gear Palestinian "terrorist" garb chanting in Arabic. Pretty neat. When we finally got to the Burger King, we discovered that it was the unfortunate "McDonalds" that the officer had mentioned. It was completely wrecked. So we went to a Middle-Eastern restaurant across the street and ordered food from a nice Arab. It seemed appropriate.
On Sunday the whole city shut down, but at least the museums were open! What would a vacation be for Ava without some visit to see a T-Rex?
And so we came home. For a quick trip, we had a great time. And now Ava can't wait to go to Cambridge and show off her mad skills on the ice to mommy.

Blast from the Past

2009-01-09T19:10:00.005Z

Eric and Ava just jetted off to Norway today (they hope to see the northern lights, I hope they don't get frostbitten!), and, as Eli and I cuddling on the couch with a movie and a bowl of popcorn doesn't exactly seem like riveting blog material, I thought I would give you this little "blast from the past"...
In March of 2007, Eric and I took the kids to Cork, Ireland. We visited the beach (the water was really warm for March!). Now, I honestly have no idea if southern Ireland borders on the north sea, Irish sea, umm, or the Adriatic sea (to name the one's I know...I spent seventh grade geography daydreaming about boys and clothes...but I digress...) Anyway, whatever the formal name for this particular body of water, I remember the kids having a great time playing in the sand and throwing rocks in the water!
Out on a little island off the coast, there was this amazing zoo where the animals had so much more room to roam than in a regular zoo!
Some of the animals got a little close... I guess Llamas aren't dangerous enough to put behind the wooden fence!
So, here we are on the grounds of Blarney Castle. Ava, ever the mountain goat, climbed just about every rock on the property. Eli tried to eat a few rocks, then fell asleep.
Ava posses on the "Witches Stone". There was also a Witches oven, and Witches stairway...kinda makes you wonder about the previous owners, huh?
Father and Daughter mountain goat
Eli looks just thrilled to pieces to be sitting in a tree doesn't he?
Ava so badly wanted to kiss the "Baloney Stone", and I did drag both her and Eli all the way to the top of the castle to do just that. (It was pretty scary too...no guard rails or anything!) But the "rock kissing monitor guy" wouldn't let me dangle my 3 year old daughter over the edge of a castle to kiss the stone....no sense of adventure, that one! So, we had to find an alternative rock for Ava to kiss as her very own "Baloney stone"!

Blarney Castle
It was quite a ways up, I suppose. But, both my kids can say they have been to the top!
It was a pretty great trip. Seems like just the other day too....

Pictures for the Grandparents

2009-01-02T11:45:00.004Z

It has been brought to my attention (by several of the grandparents) that there have been no recent "professional" pictures of the grand kids sent their way. Since I have been off the last few days, my goal was to take some nice "professionalish" pictures of the kids. After 72 shots, I finally got a passable photo of each kid as well as one of them together. These aren't them... they are the "out-takes". In the first picture, Eli has turned into his alter-ego "kitty", and is trying to lick the camera.

Disqualification on account of "show-boating" (no I didn't pose her this way...)

"I so mad at you Mommy"

Channelling his inner Ray Charles

"I feeling so sad, sniff, sniff"

"I sad cause I honrey"

"See now I happy" (At this point, I had to ask Eric to jump in and give Eli some inspiration to smile. He was just having way to much fun watching my blood pressure climb while Eli showed off his repertoire of mood faces.)

"I tree"... and this was about the 2nd or 3rd best shot of him...

I actually really love this picture of them... Eric (who has finally decided to stop laughing at my efforts and help) is bouncing around the kitchen acting like a baboon. The things you'll do...

Not quite the look I was going for...

Sorta looks like we shined a spotlight on them; Ava had the sense to close her eyes... Eli pretended to be a deer.
More "monkey business" from Dad...

Hopefully, after seeing these, y'all won't be too underwhelmed with the "winning" pictures that we will be sending out! Happy New Years!

Christmas Excitement

2008-12-30T18:38:00.006Z

This is the first year that the kids have both really grasped the concept of Christmas.... and by grasped I mean that if you ask either child what Christmas is about, they will mechanically respond, "ItwasthedayJesuswasborn". All. one.word. The presents make a little more sense in their young concrete minds... Here are pictures of the kids "excited-cause-it's-Christmas-eve-so Santa-is-coming-to-bring-presents" faces. Ava obviously feels very intensely about the arrival of Santa and those long awaited presents!
Eli is happy because I let him lick all the frosting off his cookie without giving him a hard time!
Each one picked out the cookie they thought Santa would like best, sprinkled "magic" reindeer dust on the front walk, and Ava spent a good amount of time leaving this for Santa...
And,um, Santa really enjoyed those Cooces too!
Doesn't it all look so pretty? I can tell you it only took the kids about 4.2 seconds to turn the living room into a swimming pool of wrapping paper, bows, gifts, and debris from the Great Lionel Train "crash" of '08. Amazingly no presents were harmed in the frenzy!
"Can we Puh-Lease come down yet???!!!" (Eli wakes up a little rough doesn't he?)
One of the kids' gifts was steering wheels and a racing game for their wii... in my often delusional tired Mommy state, I thought they could take some of their arguments to the race track... um, yeah...
While I was in Prague, I had picked up some little garnet earrings for Ava.
The kids always love books, and the grandparents sent books about dinosaurs (with puzzles included!) the kids were in heaven! Some other favorites were: Ava's fairy princess game for Wii (a video game involving dressing up a doll and helping her pick flowers... she's addicted of course!), Eli's weasel ball (the most annoying toy ever and the battery never, ever dies!), their fleece pants, Ava's slinky (that she found one too many inappropriate uses for... leading to demise of poor slinky), Don't break the ice (which Ava is scarily good at!), and their digital cameras.
Eli contemplates the possibilities of having his own camera... better watch out Ava... little brothers have been known to blackmail...I should know!

Oh yeah

I also had an amazing Christmas... Eric got me perfume, a rockin fun video game (complete with sword and shield attachments!), and I also got smell good stuff, videos, clothes, more Wii accessories (because who needs family board game night when we can all be mesmerized by the glowing lights of the TV?), and loads of other good stuff!
Oh, the remote control cars! The remote control car that, when they smash into something, will make a screaming noise and eject the driver. We had to wait for the kids to go to bed so we could have a go with them!
You may remember the "Woe Christmas Tree" story from a few posts back... I still have a hard time talking about it. Eric was kind enough to make it disappear from the yard today...
Speaking of "ole' Dad", he had a pretty good Christmas too! He is at the driving range right now trying out his new golf driver, has enough books (as do I) to last the entire year, new clothes to fit his slender 20-something-esque- physique, toys and games too! Here the three of them are playing with the rocket stomper... which if you jump on will in fact launch a rocket over the fence...
Hope everyone else had an awesome Christmas too!!!

Escape to Prague

2008-12-20T22:18:00.002Z

Ever since we moved to England, I have wanted to visit Prague... and, finally, I got my wish! The kids expressed their desire to NOT go spend 3 days in the cold shopping for garnets and crystal and taking in the sites, so Eric was nice enough to stay home with them. (Bet he didn't really want to shop for pretty stuff either!) So, I went with my friend Racheal... and it was fantastic!
What happens in Prague, stays in Prague...
Now, I have been to quite a few European cities by now... and I have to say that Prague is by far the most beautiful!
Nativity at the Christmas market
Racheal and I found this amazing store right next to the man hanging from the pole... and we spent hours trying to re-find it to buy hand painted pottery. We never could. It's like it didn't even exist. We walked miles combing every side street of the city...nope...no pottery store... or hangy man. Weird huh?
And this city isn't just beautiful; it smells amazing! Probably not so much when it isn't Christmas market time.... but during the Christmas market it is a combination of hot spiced wine, German sausages, chocolate, gingerbread, and, just Christmas!
The famous clock tower. Legend has it that the clock was made by the most famous Clockmaker in Europe, Mikalus, (who was from Prague) who spent an entire year locked in his room creating the beautiful clock. When the greedy council saw how beautiful it was they had Mikalus' eyes gouged out so that he could never create such a beautiful clock again...
That's me... I am shopping without any interuptions... could my smile be any bigger?!

Seriously, I have been to London, Paris, Rome, Edinburgh, Brugge, Dublin... and quite a few other places. But Prague? Wow. Blows em all away!

Just Another Day In Paradise

2008-12-14T17:29:00.004Z

Well, another rainy, drizzly day in cold England has passed, but we try to make the most of it. So today was "Cutout Cookie Day". As you can see, the kids were excited as always ... for the decorating of one cookie. As the story was told to me, they each decorated one cookie, ate it quickly, and then went away to play "Mommy and Baby". Which left Ness all alone to make all the others. I doubt she minded actually.

Here's Ava overly excited. But it is still true that she would rather clean and detail the muddy cars than bake cookies.

Here's Eli eating cookie number one. It took quite an effort to keep him from eating cookie number two. And it is still true that he would rather bake and eat cookies with Mommy than help Daddy clean and detail the cars.

What an amazing effort. I still don't know how she does it, but we needed to use the last of the icing from all three colors to decorate the last cookie. Now that's talent folks.

Another little story about our darling Ava. At times she is so smart. She reminded me that her dress says New York - which is the state in which I was born. (I think I told her that once about 16 months ago.) And she let us know that monkeys like Boots (Dora reference) can pick things up because they have "a-poisonous" thumbs. And Ness and I think "This girl is going to be a doctor or scientist after going to Harvard or Yale." And then she does this.

The Lion King!

2008-12-10T21:26:00.002Z

So, for the couple people that haven't given up on my sparse blogging... you may remember that I took Eli to Ireland for a medieval banquet a few weeks ago for his birthday. Today Ava got her "special day" with mom. We went to London to see The Lion King. She did pretty well considering the play was almost 3 hours long! We had awesome seats right close to the front and by the aisle... so Ava's little face was priceless when all the animals paraded down the aisle and onto the stage for the "Circle of Life" number. When she saw the elephant (which was huge), she got a little freaked out and stayed on my lap for the rest of the show. I did have to do a lot of explaining but she clapped enthusiastically after each song and claims she loved it!

Here we are after the show... other than to pose for this picture the kid did not hold still for a single second after the lights came on... I guess 3 hours of sitting still was a little much for her! So, I "bounced" her through Covent garden to look at the Christmas lights for about an hour before we got on the train to come home! I would have taken a picture of the Christmas lights... but I was using all my hands and wits to keep my daughter from launching herself into space (did I mention I let her eat an entire bag of chocolates while sitting still for 3 hours?)
Ava in her awesome seat at Lion King!
The "Mom was her too" picture!
Ava likes to play "guess the animal", "guess what I'm thinking", or "You're ignoring me some I'm going to count to 119 really loud" whenever we are out and about. So, realizing that I have a finite amount of patience, I loaded a new Dora episode onto the iPOD. It kept her busy for about 20 blissful minutes... until Boots the Monkey reminded her that she would rather play guess the animal with me...

tradition

2008-12-09T23:37:00.002Z

Before we had kids, Eric and I always bought "real" trees to decorate at Christmas. The fear of your one year old eating/climbing/catching fire to a real tree was enough to send us to the store for one of those real nice artificial trees...oh... about 4 years ago... and we have used it ever since. It never seemed real, smelt like plastic, and I couldn't wait till the kids were old enough that we could get a real tree again and be rid of the ugly artificial one! This year (since we officially have zero babies in our house), we were excited to buy a real tree again. So we did. It was a beautiful, full, um British? tree, and it looked so lovely as we placed it in our tree stand in the living room. We screwed it to the tree stand...it fell over and scared the cat. No problem... that tree stand is old and we need a new one. So we bought one... a really nice one.

After a solid hour of positioning and repositioning the tree into the tree stand, we finally had to come to terms with the fact that it looked like it was leaning back and to the right, but at the same time the angel on the top looked like it was about to jump off...hmmm.

Tonight... we were sitting on the couch about one minute and seven seconds after the kids went to bed... just commenting on how the angel looked particularly suicidal tonight... when the whole thing just fell over. We grimly cleaned up the forest of pine needles, the lake of sappy water running across the floor, and several broken ornaments. We took all the ornaments off, spent a good half hour re-attaching the tree to the tree stand, I combed the pine needles out of my hair and washed the sap off my face and we re decorated the tree. We hadn't been back on the couch 5 minutes before the whole mess fell over again.

The ornaments are now all in a box, I would have thrown the tree into the backyard ( and very likely set fire to it) if the branches hadn't dropped to where it would no longer fit. It is now propped against the door and I refuse to give it more water. If it wasn't dark and spidery in the shed, I would retrieve the clippers and make a wreath out of the doggone thing! In the morning, Eric and I will be collecting our beloved artificial tree that fits so nicely in its tree stand, and God bless me if I EVER consent to buying a "real" tree again...

And if anyone knows what will take tree sap out of hair.. .please let me know...

I was going to write about Ava and I making dog biscuits tonight... but the tree distracted me... sorry...

Eli does Ireland

2008-11-24T19:44:00.004Z

My kids have everything... really everything. So, instead of adding to the army of toys and the closets of clothes, I decided to take each kid on a special day with mom for their birthday present. So, for Eli, we decide to hop a plane to Shannon Ireland and see some castles and go to a medieval banquet (in Bunratty Castle). Eli loves planes, loves castles, and doubly loves food so it seemed like a pretty good plan! And it pretty much was.... Oh, and try not to look too closely at any Eli face shots... unless snot doesn't bother you!
After an hour long plane ride, we rented a car and drove 20 minutes to Limerick to see the town, eat some lunch and see Limerick castle. Such a happy little man!
That's Limerick castle... have no idea how old it is or if anybody lived their... too busy trying to keep Eli from launching himself off a tower...
Eli asked for "chips and ketchup" for lunch... and since "chips" are fried potatoes and we were in Ireland... rock on Eli...
He was trying to talk me into dessert using "the Force". Not gonna happen young Padawan...
Just in case the first booger picture just wasn't enough!
So here we are at Bunratty castle... Eli had endured about 30 minutes of me shopping at the woollen mills where my little shopping trip was cut short when Eli hijacked the stroller and took a fast lap around the Waterford Crystal section. Sorry, not many of you will be receiving Christmas gifts from Ireland this year...
Our hotel was right next to the castle so we walked on over and where invited in to start our dinner!
People greeted this lady and the "young lord" and showed us up a tiny winding staircase to the upper great room of the castle. They gave me a glass of mead and "lord Eli" a glass of juice... I think...
... this picture makes me a little concerned about that "apple juice"...
Anyway- We spent 3 hours eating with our hands (no silverware) and being entertained by about 15 lords and ladies all dressed in 16th century costume. They sang Irish songs, threw a few audience members in the dungeon, and doted on Eli. Eli had one particular lady that he really liked (probably because she kept bringing him extra bread... the way to a little man's heart....)
Both of us gorged on the awesome food and had a great time! I am going to try to forget the plane ride home the next morning.... Eli's "spirit" and "energy" touched all of those sitting near us... I tried to pretend like I didn't know him either, but he just kept calling me mom...loudly... Too much Apple juice I guess!

How About Some Snow In Winter!!!!!!

2008-11-23T11:13:00.003Z

Well, today is November 23rd, and around 8:00AM Ava ran to me excitedly to tell me ...

Now it's not going to stick I don't think, but the last time the family got excited because snow was falling was on Easter Sunday - and that was the first and last time it snowed all last year.

Doesn't England know that it's supposed to snow in Winter?!?!?!?!?!?

Happy Birthday Ava and Eli!!!!!!!!

2008-11-19T18:29:00.005Z

And so the birthday came and went and as usual it provided unending fun, excitement, and just a pinch of "What the ... ?!?!" But seriously, what could be more fun than having your favorite meal under a piano bench? Because Ava got to eat whatever she wanted wherever she wanted. And nobody got upset when she spilled her Sparkling Apple Juice 3 times. Yes, it was the start of a great birthday weekend.

Ness made Ava a Flower Cake. Well done as always. Ava blew out all the candles in 3 blows. Not bad for a 5 year old!

The theme for the party on Sunday was "Jungle". Putting the party together was quite fun, and the kids did their part to make everything look great.

I don't think the kids really appreciated the level of detail in the party, but the adults all were impressed!

A picture of the outside. Even though the party started at 5:00PM, it was completely dark. Actually, it was completely dark by 4:00PM. Luckily, weather was on our side. It rained Saturday all day and all of Sunday until about 2:00. And then the clouds parted, the sun shone, and everything looked A-OK.

The kids were told that Dumbo was carrying a huge basket of peanuts as he flew overhead. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew the bag out of his trunk and the peanuts fell all over our yard. The kids scattered throughout the land and gathered them all up. The kid with the most nuts won a prize. A fun game.

There was also a pinata filled with treats. Again, the ground was picked clean!!! I'm telling you ... if you've ever seen hyenas take down a zebra in the African Savannah, then you have a good idea of what took place.

After 2 fantastic cakes, Ava and Eli seemed fine with cupcakes.

Something we learned about kids parties here. Even if the children are 3-5 years old, apparently in England the parents are expected to just drop off their kids and pick them up when the party is over. With almost 20 kids present, 4 parents took pity on us and stayed. That's not a good ratio people!!!

But between the balloon/bubbles activity and the trampoline outside, everything went smoothly. The kids had a great time and the parents didn't scream in terror once! A good day. I just don't know how Ness is ever going to top this one. And I don't even know if we'd want to try.

Again, Happy Birthday to Ava and Eli and a big thanks to everyone who called, sent gifts, e-mailed, and mailed cards to tell them how much they are loved.

more birthday madness

2008-11-14T00:56:00.002Z

Hello from England...land of the red telephone booth, eternal rain, and slugs as big as our cat... truly it's a magical world... So, birthday week is in full swing. Eli (who claims he is 10...for whatever reason) just turned 3 and Ava will be 5 tomorrow! The big party is on Sunday. I will be attempting to turn the backyard into a magical jungle for a birthday luau... which is kind of an insane thing to do in England in November....but should provide plenty of blogable material!
So, as usual, in backwards order, here are some pictures of the kids opening their gift from Mimi and Papaw. They sent them a huge chest full of every dress up outfit imaginable...and the kids have come up with some pretty interesting combinations! Grammy sent doctor outfits in her birthday box... so it isn't uncommon for a princess doctor (complete with tool belt and cat ears) can be found giving shots to an extremely ill fireman with an affinity for bling.
Because when vampires go to luaus they must always wear safety glasses...
So, as soon as the kids opened the "trunk of wonder", Ava immediately pulled out a gun and squealed, "A gun!"...Eli (at the exact same second) grabbed some pearls and screamed, "I got a necklace"...can't even make this stuff up...
It's like you're going back in time... amazing isn't it? Check back later for more birthday craziness!

Happy Birthday Eli!!!!!!

2008-11-09T08:16:00.000Z

Unbelievable as it sounds. Yesterday was Eli's (and therefore Michael's - Happy Birthday!) birthday. And as usual, Ness did an incredible job making a birthday cake just for him. As you can see, it is a little more impressive than other attempts. See A Tale of Two Elmos

Eli got to open many of his presents today. (For those not aware, we are attempting a very detailed and large event for both of their birthdays next week.) And he loved them!!! So ... thanks very much to Grammy for the Doctors Outfit and Kit, and the book about Boas. (You know Ness is just HOPING that her children cultivate a love for snakes. Maybe they'll even ask for one as a pet someday.)

And thanks also to Grandma for making Eli his "Conderman Quilt". It is very nice and he was very excited to see all the boats. ("Ooohhhh - boats - look mommy ... boats. There's 1 boat, 2boats, 3 boats ...")
And yes, we had Ava open some of her gifts too. After dressing up as a doctor, Ava insisted we all looked sick and insisted we all had check-ups. Wouldn't you know it? All of us had a "beaver" (fever of course) and needed shots ... lots of shots. She'd give us one and ask us if it hurt. Then she proceded to give more and more shots. Sadistic girl that Ava.
So again, HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY to Eli. We can't wait to see what you will do in your 4th year. And by the way, we received yesterday a large rather heavy box from Papaw/Mimi that will be opened today, so there will most likely be another post tomorrow. (Probably done by Ness i.e. much funnier.)

Pink Ink

2008-11-04T19:51:00.000Z

Anyone want to wager a guess which one of these household items will take red ink off of children....
Well, if you guessed...

Start with baking soda on a wash cloth, scrub vigorously while child howls, look at washcloth and notice it is pink, look at child, notice it is still red. Move onto vinegar (mixed with some baking soda) attempt to get pink ink off of face. Accidentally get some in mouth of howling, protesting child. Child begins to wretch and squeal but ink begins to come off. Move onto peanut butter as child is now attempting to drown herself. Child attempts to lick peanut butter off of arms (that still have vinegar and baking soda on them). More howling, retching, and splashing. All parties concerned are now soaking wet and covered in a peanut butter, vinegar goo. Desperation. Mother debates the wisdom of just adding nail polish remover to the bath water. Decides against. Scrubs howling, flailing, sputtering children with soapy water vowing to lock up craft supplies with the cleaning supplies. Decides pink tinged children really don't look too bad. Gives up.

If that's what you guessed, you would be mostly right... I left out a few of the bad parts...

Amsterdam and Halloween

2008-11-03T07:46:00.000Z

Last week, Eric and I left the kids with Kate (yeah, we owe her big!) and went to Amsterdam for a couple of days. The city was beautiful and "clean". By clean I mean the streets were swept and no one littered. No one really drives in Amsterdam, they all bike... really, really fast. Nothing is off limits to bikes- roads, sidewalks...anywhere. It can make being a pedestrian a little scary! And all you have to do is window shop to gain quite and education on...well...many things...

So, I have chosen the least "educating" pictures possible in a city full of just about everything- including Ann Frank's house which is where we were when I took this picture. We waited for about a half hour in freezing pouring rain to get in but it is one of the things tourists should do!
I don't really know what this is. It kinda looks like a church, but I almost find it hard to believe that there is one in Amsterdam. Anyway we passed this building often while wondering around (usually half lost) in the city.
Waiting to get into Ann Frank's house... you can see how much I love to be cold and wet...
See how fast these bikers go? He's practically a blur!
Central station where we picked up our dinner cruise
The dinner cruise was really good and we got to see the whole city at night going from one canal to another.
Yeah, something was missing from our bathroom...let me see... yeah... when you book a room with "en suite bathroom" isn't fair to assume a toilet is included... Yeah, lesson learned...
After we left Amsterdam, we stopped at Delft (where all the hand painted dutch pottery comes from). After discovering that we could afford a thimble and pretty much nothing else, we headed home. The town was very pretty though and I bought my second pair of boots on the trip. (The first pair was from Amsterdam and they are red and beautiful and completely not practical.)
For Halloween, Ava was a snow princess and Eli was Superman. The shivered and froze through 2 solid hours of trick or treating with determined looks on their little faces!
Mommy had to work, but they finished trick or treating off by coming up to see me at work and show off all their candy.
Aren't they adorable?!
Trick or Treat!

The Best Sleep Ever Because ...

2008-10-25T11:00:00.001+01:00

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

2008-10-20T16:41:00.000+01:00

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

2008-10-16T23:05:00.000+01:00

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

2008-10-07T19:42:00.000+01:00

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...

The london eye

2008-09-21T07:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we decided to take the kids to the London aquarium...it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and the kids were wired from sitting still on the train. So, we decided that spending $80 so that we could yell at/time out our children in side a crowded aquarium rather than for free outside, was a silly idea. So, we played at a park and rode the London eye...much better idea! First we gave them jelly beans, because we have no learning curve as parents. They spent the first 15 minutes pinging from one window of the "capsule" to the other like flies in a window sill...
Eli kept lifting his shirt to show his belly button to the "little cars and little peoples". Ava kept trying to climb the wall when we weren't looking...a barrel of laughs these two!
Eric loves heights...the kids definitely got the from him!
Look kids, there's big ben!
One more boring scenic picture

Riding the train...before the trip and after (guess which one is after!) Sisters can be so mean....

Me and the kiddos on the Millennium bridge.
Here are the kids at the park. All the kids stepped and climbed all over each other to get to the top. All the other kids were bigger, but ours were scrappier!
This was right before we fed the kids lunch...the smiles are fake, attitudes are slipping....must...have...french fries....
A really good day all in all!

This every happen to anyone?

2008-09-11T19:04:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I left work, tired and carrying my lunch (that I hadn't had a chance to eat!), through the same set of double doors I always use. The first set of automatic doors opened, I walked through, and waited expectantly at the second set of double doors. Nothing. I waved my arms, jumped up and down...wouldn't open. So I turned my tired self around and drug my feet back to the first set of doors...wouldn't open. I repeated the arms waving, stomping motion several times at each set of doors with no success. Rats, I'm trapped in a little glass foyer in the hospital. Everyone is gone for the day and my phone will no longer dial out. (Several trips through the washing machine, dropped about 50 million times, and one incident involving a two-year-old and the toilet, and the phone will do nothing but randomly hiss at me.) Anyway, after several minutes of "dancing" in front of the doors, a small temper tantrum, and a few choice words, I did manage to get one finger in between the doors and force them open...free at last! Anybody else this "talented"?

"Little Man" No More

2008-09-04T17:33:00.001+01:00

It just does not seem appropriate to call him that anymore - now that he is in school!!! Yes, Eli "Little Man" went to school this morning with great excitement. ("I so 'cited!") This was the picture of him before we went out the door.

And so we can now correctly state that both of our children attend public institutions. Ava begins Kindergarten next week and Eli has one day of Pre-school behind him. (It should be noted that Eli thinks that he is going to "Pretty-School". Apparently Ness thinks so too, because he went to his first day with toe and nail polish - bright blue. Very pretty.)

Nettles and peanuts

2008-09-02T20:48:00.000+01:00

My kids are awesome, they really are. Today I had to wrestle the military bureaucracy with both kids in tow...often a recipe for disaster! In the 20 minutes it took me to get a new drivers license, my children had to go to the bathroom no less than three times (complete with vivid description of what needed to go on in there...I really need to teach them to just say "one" or "two"...) In between trips to the bathroom the kids entertained themselves by drawing very anatomically correct dinosaurs (and describing these as well...loudly). Nothing turns the wheels of the painfully slow bureaucratic system like two little children discussing the size of a T-rex's "peanuts" for all to hear!
The rest of the day went like that...
So, I really needed my three mile run tonight. Feeling brave, I took a new route...bad idea. I went quite a long way down a footpath in a field behind our house before realizing that the path would never cut back over to where I could get home. It was getting cold and starting to thunder...things were looking desperate. I ran a little further, following a creek full of green slime...no bridge over the creek of green slime. At this point, it was dark and I had lost all feeling in my frostbitten legs and arms...so I decided to jump the "creek of slime". The "foilage" that grows along the creek of slime is mostly nettles...quite unfortunate for the girl in the short shorts and tank top. But I slid down the creek bed and leaped the creek...probably would have cleared it too if not for the short, now numb, legs. The really fun part was then tromping through a freshly plowed field (did I mentioned it had rained buckets today?). Needless to say, I arrived home covered head to toe in mud, shivering, and numb from cold...which may have been a blessing. Apparently I'm a little allergic to nettles and now that the feeling is back in my red, swollen, hive covered (sexy huh?) legs, I sorta wish they were numb again. I think tomorrow will be a treadmill day....

And a bonus picture...
If you tell your naughty four year old to go to her room, she just might take out every baby outfit she has ever worn, attempt to try them on herself or her dinosaur (which is now apparently a girl). Maybe I should shorten time outs...

What the ... (part 2)

2008-08-26T18:37:00.001+01:00

Yeah, I don't get it either.

What Happened to Summer?

2008-08-26T15:20:00.001+01:00

Here in the lovely UK, we are slowly seeing the end of summer. The days are getting rapidly shorter and the nights are getting downright cold. But this is also the time that the blackberry bushes that grow near our house ripen. Every year we have taken a trip down to pick the delicious berries and eat them all the way home.

Ava (and Circe not pictured although she followed us there and back) thoroughtly love picking the fruit - even though it results in numerous scratches from the bush.

Ness got really creative this year though. Blackberry pie from scratch!

We also decided to do some camping replete with smors (with fire) and tent! By the way, doesn't it look like Ava just HAS to have the camera's eye? Look closely - Eli IS there.

Here's a game for you. Where's Ava?

And so life does indeed go on. But I often wonder (as Eli tells me again that he "don't want to" and Ava is scaling anything climb-able) what ever happened to these two angels? (Picture is from June 2007.)