Monday, April 30, 2007

Swim Meet and Courtyard

Andrew had a swim meet tonight and did really well considering they really don't practice for these meets except the one day a week the go swimming during PE. This meet was against the other schools in the area...I think there were 12 or so teams. Andrew swam the 50 free and placed 5th, then he was on two relays and they placed 3rd {so he received 2 medals}.
The garden in the courtyard is looking better and This is a how it looks as of today. We planted 2 rhododendron bushes and 2 fuchsia plants. There are a couple of hanging baskets as well which helps add color to the area. It is starting to take shape and should really look nice in a few weeks when everything blooms.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

S'More Fun & Birdie Update

Tonight we broke out the marshmallows, graham crackers {both brought back from Florida} & chocolate and made s'mores. They are SOOOOOO good when you have not had them for AGES. The kids have eaten so many I am surprised their stomachs are not hurting yet. Mine hurts after eating two :-}



A quick update on the birdies in the nest. There is only 1 in it so either two have disappeared etc or there was only 1 to begin with. Anyway, it is growing and looks pretty good ~ luckily the mother has not abandoned her nest after we inadvertantly disturbed it earlier in the week.


Hope you are having a great day and even better weather wherever you may live.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Back To School....

Well the kids FINALLY went back to school today and I think they were ready {I know I was}. Maggie was awake bright and early as she was excited to wear her summer uniform to school. I love the panama hats that they wear in the summer term :-}
The boys wear the same thing all year so no change in uniform for them.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Boys...Do A Happy Dance

Well since Andrew has told me that living without his game system for 6 weeks is SOOOOOO long and that Nicholas would be upset as well, I did some investigating. It was going to cost about $250 to ship the console to the US for the warranty repairs and then to send it back to us {about the cost of a NEW system}. SO I have found a console repair place here in the UK and it will cost $75 to repair it, send it back and it will have a new 12 month warranty!! SO boys....do a happy dance!! It will take a week and you can be back online playing games by May 5th.

ps...yes we are looking at mulch too for the garden area!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

RIP

I know 3 posts in one day but we have had a death in the family. Yes it is true. Andrew has suffered the loss of his beloved Xbox 360!! We 'think' we know what the problems is ~ the disc tray is not spinning when you put a game into the system. We have called customer support and since it is still under warranty {lucky for us} we need to send it to them for repair. They will then send a new system...what stinks is instead of the free shipping offered in the US we need to pay to send it to them and then for a family member in the US to send it to us and HOPE we don't get hit with import tax.

Update #2

Here is how the area looks as of this evening. The transformation in person is amazing ~ I don't know why I waited 2 years to have this done. There is still alot of work to be done but it is progress. {not sure about the tree in the middle but it will be ok once other things are put in} The next step is to select the flowering bushes to put in as well as some bulbs. I think we may also go with some sort of rock ground covering as well.

As for the status of the young birds, I was able to get this picture of the mother resting in the nest so that is a GREAT sign they should be OK.


Monday, April 23, 2007

Update #1

Well the landscaper has finished for the day and WOW is all I can say about the improvement already. The burn pile in the back yard is HUGE...guess I know what Tim and the boys will be doing this weekend :-}

Another photo of the birds from earlier today.

The mother has been flying to the nest so that is a good sign she is not rejecting them {yet}.

The Next Project ~

Now that we have cleared up the one part of the driveway area we are starting on the other side. This part REALLY needs help and luckily we are not doing the work ~ a landscaper is :-} The inside part is all dead and the entire area is just overgrown.It will be cut back to where new growth can start and hopefully it will not be such an eye sore. Not really sure what will go into this area so we will live with it somewhat empty for a while.
He started today on the side wall to just trim the hedge to about the 4.5 foot level but had to STOP because he found a birdsnest with 3 babies in it. By the looks of the in the photo they are quite young as they have few feathers. He will finish that part in a few weeks once the birds leave.

Friday, April 20, 2007

A Few More Photos

Here are some more photos from our trip :-}


It is amazing how different everyone looks with a tan....so healthy and happy!



We have a bit of jet lag {the reason why I am up at 1 am} but that will hopefully go away soon.

The kids go back to school late next week so they have a few more days of Spring break left. {I still think 3 weeks is entirely TOO long}

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Back To Reality....


We are back from our trip to Florida and it was GREAT!! The weather was warm and sunny all but 1 day but we are not complaining. Our flights home were uneventful but one of our bags did not make it back so we hope it will be here tomorrow. Of course it is the bag with all the boys' new clothes in it :-{ Luckily, it isn't exactly shorts weather here at the moment.




Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Trespassers!!

Yep we have trespassers :-} After dinner tonight we looked out the window to find these creatures roaming the back yard. While the young ones are very cute as a whole they STINK plus they are making a mess in the yard {if you know what I mean}. Tim and Chris have been running around the yard trying to corral them and so far all but 2 have been let back into the field. We have NO idea how they got into the yard in the first place.

Off To The Beach

The kids and I will be leaving tomorrow for Florida and the sunny beach. Tim and the dog will stay behind ~ well someone does need to work in this family :-}
I am not sure if I will be able to update while we are away but will do so upon our return.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Whose Idea Was It Anyway??


The boys' school has a summer ball at the end of each school year and it is a formal event. Well the past few years the invitations have been photocopied papers sent home {TACKY}

When you are spending £80 {$150} per couple to a black tie event the least they can do is send out decent invites.

To get to the point, myself and another mom 'volunteered' to do the invitations this year.
{what were we thinking?? ...we weren't}
We decided on the style, format etc and then we cut, printed, taped, glued and tied each invitation ~ all 200 of them. We even finished them sooner than we said they'd be done. They will be going out in the mail this week.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter

It is a beautiful morning here ~ the sun is shining, the birds are singing and we are eating CHOCOLATE!! Maggie was awake bright and early to see if the Easter Bunny remembered to come to our house....and would you believe it he DID.

Maggie decided to put her Easter bonnet on in order to enjoy her gourmet breakfast of chocolate and MORE chocolate!! There are no photos of the boys yet this morning as they are both still asleep ~teenage boys can't be bothered to be awake this early.
{I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Andrew was up until 3am playing a game online with Nicholas} wink

Friday, April 06, 2007

Burn Baby Burn....

With all of the landscaping that has been done around the yard, the burn pile was VERY big so Tim and the boys had a bonfire today. There was so much junk they had to move it to another section of the yard so they would not catch the trees on fire :-) It is now completed and ready for more yardwaste.




Here are few other pictures from today as well...

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Sunny Weather



The weather today has been wonderful....mid 60's and sunny.

In honor of that, Maggie had her swimsuit on all day while outside :-)

She also had her hair cut and she really likes the shorter look.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

In Her Easter Bonnet

Maggie had her Easter bonnet parade at school today and this is her creation!! {Maggie SO loves it} They made the bonnets at school so luckily I didn't need to help with this project. Each class had 1 design so every girl in her class had the same general concept.

I am not sure where we are going to store this creation.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Check These Out....


Yep, I am making cupcakes again! This time for the staff meeting at the boys' school tomorrow. I think they came out really cute.

The cupcake itself is spice with vanilla frosting and toasted coconut. Then I used bunnies and chocolate eggs as accent pieces.

The kids break up for the Easter holidays at then end of classes tomorrow...they are off until April 26th. Yes I know...that is a long Easter/Spring break!!

Monday, April 02, 2007

Easter Goodies


We received a special Easter delivery today and it was full of YUMMY goodies from the US from the OUTLAWS!!

The kids are thrilled to have chocolates and candies from home {their parents are too}.

I was only able to put a few things in the bowl as the kids were getting tired of me trying to set up a good photo.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

April Fool's Day

Basically no one knows exactly where, when, or why the celebration began. Today, it is just a reason to try silly pranks and jokes on those we know. Not much happened here in our house besides the jokes that Maggie thought were funny {in no way were they actually funny}.

Things have been busy here but nothing of much importance has been going on.

Andrew did get new glasses this week ~ he is looking so much older these days.


He actually stopped playing the Xbox 360 online with friends long enough for me to take his photo this evening {that was a SHOCK}.

ps....look how he has changed from the post on March 29th ~ that photo was taken less than a year ago! Where has the time gone??