Morning Cuppa

I am sitting here this morning drinking my morning cup of tea, except that this is my first caffeinated tea in about 5 1/2 years! Too many late nights and far too early mornings have taken their toll. My mind goes into overdrive whenever I get into bed and I lie awake for easily a couple of hours thinking, praying, rabbit-trailing.....then right around 5am my baby wakes up crying to be fed and by 6am my big girl has come in for her morning cuddles and never goes back to sleep. I am not a morning person and I am living my worst nightmare!!!!

On top of it all, last night James worked from 5pm until midnight or 1am and came in at 2:30am, so my sleep was further disturbed and this morning I decided I needed something, anything, to help me to get through the next few hours.

So I pulled down my box of PG Tips, brought over from England (we always request chocolate, Marmite, and before I stopped drinking it, PG Tips) and had my first cup in a very long while. Now we'll see if my day starts out any better.

Craziness...

Today we took the kids to play crazy golf, or miniature golf, for the first time. They had a lot of fun, although I think they enjoyed it more when they played their own version of it. More and more we wonder whether Arran may be left handed, or maybe he's just ambidextrous.

After a few holes, Bryttain decided that she liked it best when she could just place her ball an inch from the hole and knock it in. After all, why waste all that time dealing with all the obstacles and distance?
There's something fun about getting competitive with James. Of course he 'kicked my butt' as they say over here, but give us a game of Scramble and it's another story.

Mad Hatters?

Ever since our pastor's wife hosted a little kids' tea party earlier this year, my little munchkins have been way more interested in tea than ever before. I have severely cut down on my tea intake, since moving to the States and don't even drink caffeinated tea anymore (gasp!) - yup! I cut that out when we were trying to get pregnant the first time and just never went back. I also decided I didn't really need the sugar so whenever the kids have tea at these parties and they get to put sugar in their tea they get very excited.

Well we were visiting friends yesterday and they had a little tea party out on the deck, complete with little pieces of cake (which were soon devoured). They were so cute, pouring their own tea and milk and gouging out every last scraping of sugar into their tiny cups. Fun times!

My Girl

I adore this little girl.

Sometimes I look at her and she takes my breath away.

I am flooded with emotion.


She is fun and enthusiastic and passionate and crazy, and the crazy thing is, she is my daughter.


I don't think I could possibly love her more.

Riding an alligator...

Bryttain has an amazing grasp of language; at only two years old she speaks in full sentences and can explain and describe and communicate beyond her years. I often expect so much more of her because I forget how little she really is. On occasions, however, she still makes the cutest mistakes, like today at the mall.

She asked if we could go on the 'alligator'!!

Who knows whether she meant elevator or escalator, they both sound so similar...and when we asked her which she was referring to, she said 'yeth' to both (she has the most adorable partial lisp ever!)

Not for those with a weak disposition - you have been warned!

I still vividly remember meeting my son for the first time, the ride home from the hospital (he hated being in that car seat), the awe and wonder of having a child after being a couple for so long. It boggles my mind when I look at him today and see a boy. Not a toddler or a little boy, but a big boy! He has a phenomenol memory that continually floors us. I love his imagination and his sensitivity and the fact that he still loves to cuddle and hold my hand when we're out somewhere. He is my firstborn, my only son and he will always be so special to me.

He also has a fascination with poop!!!! Not any poop, but his poop. He likes to describe it to us, whether it be a 'giant, giant poo, up to the ceiling' or as in last night's case 'a scissor poo'? Yes, I did ask (I had to!) and apparently a scissor poo is 'sharp coming out of my bottom'!!!!!

I had to laugh. He said it in all innocence and it made perfect sense. He really is a lovely boy :)

Baby baby...

My baby is barely a baby anymore. She's crawling everywhere, she pulls herself to standing, she has almost a mouthful of teeth! The teeth really get me...it seems quite ludicrous how many she has. Arran got his first tooth at 7 1/2 months, and at the same age Asia had her sixth already.

She is so animated, she loves to bounce and clap to music and does this scrunched-up-nose-smile that just melts me. My other two were skinny little babies but she is my chunky monkey, complete with thunder thighs and short stubby legs. She has brought me SO much joy, as have all my children, but I think I'm cherishing her in a different way, just knowing (that unless something miraculous happens) she's our last baby. Of course she's the one that is doing everything early and seems to be growing and changing the fastest, I just wish I could slow it all down. I already find myself thinking about the fact that the next time I'll be this close to a baby and have anywhere near this sort of a bond, is when I'm a grandma! Is it crazy to be thinking that way at my age? I don't know, but these thoughts run through my head every now and again.

Maybe, if we ever move back to England, nieces and nephews (whenever they start to arrive) will be able to help fill the void too. But who knows how big that 'if' is?

Waffling on again...

About once or twice a month, normally on a weekend when we're all around and it's less of a rush, we'll have waffles for breakfast. I knew that James was going to have today off, so last night I suggested that we might have waffles this morning. Last night was a tough one with Asia though and I was so exhausted this morning that I was having second thoughts. Unfortunately the seed had already been sown, and there was no escaping. When I suggested to James that we just do our regular breakfast he told me that Arran and Bryttain had been talking about it already. Bryttain had told him that waffles were her favourite! He also said that I had promised to make them! I guess in their little minds, a suggestion is as good as a promise.

I really don't mind too much. It's not like making pancakes where you have to stand over a frying pan making them individually, the waffle iron does all the work for me. I pour in the batter, close the lid, set the timer and pull them out when they're done. We didn't have waffles when I was growing up, not very British really, so they're still somewhat of a novelty for me.

An old friend of mine gave me our waffle iron and I love it. It had belonged to her grandmother and it may not look like much, compared to some of today's fancy schmancy gadgets, but it makes the best waffles. I think one of the reasons is that it can reach high enough temperatures to get the waffles nice and crispy on the outside, which today's ones, with their non-stick plasticky lining can't do in the same way. Mine doesn't stick either (we spray between batches with butter spray) and what starts out as white gooey batter, ends up as golden waffles. Deeeelicious!

Now if it had been a weekend and we'd planned better, I'd have had some berries and cream on hand, but with it being a last minute, mid-week, spur of the moment treat, we just made do with butter and maple syrup. Very yummy nonetheless.

We also took a trip to San Francisco Zoo today, but it was INSANE, so I didn't get many pictures. I have never in all the times we've been there, seen so many people. Just trying to get anywhere with the stroller felt like a battle. To be honest, our trips to the zoo are always a little disappointing. I always have such high hopes and love the idea of the kids getting to see real animals that they wouldn't otherwise, but I have to say that it never lives up to my expectations. Now if we could ever afford to go on safari (hah!) then I'm sure I'd have more success :)

Mmmmmm

I love living here. I love this old, spacious house, full of character (even if the kitchen is somewhat lacking), where the kids can run and play, even inside! I love that we have so many great friends here, real friends that I can actually be myself with. Friends that have kids that are my kids' friends. For as long as we get to stay here, I will appreciate and enjoy it.

Yesterday, one of my good friends came by for a visit with her little ones. She and I have been through our three pregnancies together and she has been a great encouragement and support to me. She's one of those people you can't help but like. She's genuine and honest and always has a great attitude and a smile on her face. She doesn't hide the hard stuff, she doesn't pretend life is perfect, she's just real!

I always enjoy our visits together, even if we're just watching the kids do their thing. Sometimes we'll get into deep and meaningful discussions and sometimes we just drink tea, too tired to do much else...well actually I'm normally the one who's too tired to do much else!

Behind our house are some fields, as this used to be a ranch, and the blackberry bushes are laden right now, so we took the kids out to pick berries. I used to love picking berries when I was younger and to have them right here is perfect. The kids were all so excited to 'help' but approaced it from very different angles. The four-year-olds, I think were more intent on filling their buckets, while our two-year-olds were more interested in eating every berry in sight.


Here are the two-year-olds after about 20 minutes of picking, berried faces and empty buckets :)

Before and After

Arran's hair grows way too fast and has been hanging over his sunglasses for far too long. So it was time to get out the scissors and clippers and fix it (as best as I can manage anyway). I really have no clue what I'm doing and make it up as I go along and fortunately his hair is very forgiving and after about a week doesn't look too bad at all.

Here is his before and after.

Of course, even though we're trying to grow Bryttain's, she still likes to get in on the act. She doesn't want to miss out on anything her brother is doing, so I normally just trim her fringe (bangs, if you're in the U.S.). If anyone could tell me why on earth they're called bangs here, I would be very grateful, it just does not make any sense to me!

Here is her before and after.

Asia doesn't need any haircuts yet, and James manages to buzz his own head!