It's beginning to look a lot like...

December 8, 2014

It’s a cold, rainy Monday (welcome to England), but we’re feeling all sunshiny with Dad home!!!! YAY! This whole week was a blur of joy, knowing we were at the finish line… well, for the first term anyway.

Most of this week was spent working on Christmas. Rachel and I did lots of coloring for cards, and we made some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread! (My dad makes it every year, and although it wasn’t quite as good as when he makes it, we took a close second.) Paul and I may or may not have consumed a ginormous loaf by ourselves. In one day. Oops.

My big adventure of the week was grocery shopping. Ha! That sounds kind of pathetic. But it was just me and the girls and the stroller-no Carol, Paul, or form of transportation. It’s a good twenty minute walk from our door to the store, and it’s a nice uphill push with two babies and a car seat in the double stroller. Luckily the way home is mostly downhill-with all the groceries in the bottom. There’s another store about 10 minutes away, but it’s slightly more expensive. And there’s a little gas station type store around the corner, but it’s even more costly.

Here’s a little video:

Anyway, we had fun picking out a few small things to ship to our families in America. It will be a very small Christmas this year, but it’s giving us an opportunity to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. I’ve found that when we have less, we are grateful for more.

Last night (Sunday), we had the opportunity to sing in the Stake Christmas Carol Concert in conjunction with the Salvation Army. Paul and I sang a duet of “Still, Still, Still” and Bishop Ward played the piano for us. We don’t have a piano or keyboard here, so we didn’t get to really practice… at all. I was actually really nervous, but we decided to simplify some of the harmonies and it was alright in the end. I really appreciated the opportunity to sing with my husband. We usually default to me at the piano and him singing, but this time, we got to hold hands and sing together! The whole evening was so nice-really helped me get in the Christmas spirit. Several friends came to our aid to watch the girls while we sang. (Special shout out to Jonathan Mace who not only rocked Alice, but shuttled us back and forth to church and home!) When we finished, they showed a beautiful short film about the birth of Christ. During the film, Paul took Rachel out to change her nappy, and she yelled over his shoulder “Bye Bye, Jesus!” Love that kid.

We missed Ggie’s birthday on Friday, so we had a little celebration here and splurged on some Papa Johns Pizza! It’s the ONLY pizza that actually tastes like American pizza. Today is Uncle Jikky’s (Jacob) birthday, so I’m thinking we need to have some cake and ice cream?? Yes…

Speaking of food, Rachel and Paul decided to start a tradition called “Chicken Nugget Tuesday”. It all started when we didn’t know what to make for dinner about three weeks ago, and Paul took Rachel on a walk. Somehow they ended up at KFC and got some chicken nuggets. Rachel decided we should have chicken nuggets every day, and we compromised with once a week. Not gonna lie, I’m becoming a fan of Chicken Nugget Tuesday.

Here’s another little video:

Paul had his performances for Merchant of Venice this week, but I wasn’t allowed to see it according to the school’s policy. He said it went well, and he felt good about his final interviews with the tutors. He’ll receive his marks later this week. Apparently, they are A LOT harder on grades here. It’s essentially like they grade on a scale of 0-80. Passing is 40%. If you get a 65 or above, you’re basically brilliant! They have a tier system as well, but I can’t remember or explain all of it. Honestly, as long as he passes (which he will), I am happy. (Now I sound like those kids in college: “D’s get degrees!” Ha!) He has a lot of research to do over the break, and next term will be a full work load again, but we’ll try to soak up every minute we can!

Rachel’s Corner:

-Started potty training herself! She asks me at least once a day if she can use the potty. She pretty much just sits on it, but it’s good practice for now.

-She is still 1. I sometimes forget that she isn't even 2, and I just expect her to know or understand things. But she's just one! What a smarty.

-When we are leaving someone or someone says good-bye, she yells out a combination of “Love you! Bye! Have fun! Gee later!” (Gee later is her version of “see ya later”)

-She took a big fall off the bed this week and bit her lip. I think I cried more than she did.

-Loves eating the chocolates from her Peppa Pig and Frozen advent calendars

About Alice:

-This little muffin is up to 14 pounds. FOURTEEN POUNDS!!! She’s massive

-She eats every 4 hours and sleeps most of the time in between. Sometimes, she will go 5 hours at night… I’m getting enough sleep, but I sure do miss those consecutive hours.

-Starting to like bath time!

-Her favorite place is lying flat on the changing table and looking around at all of us with those big blue eyes