Grey.

The English weather is about as quick changing and temperamental as my moods. One hour it is sun shining and blue skies, the next it is pouring and there is not a patch of blue to be seen.

I've decided I should just plan on being cold for 2 years.

This morning when we were walking out of our house Livvy stopped and said "Mommy it's grey!"

The past few weeks, oh who am I kidding, the past month has been cold, wet, and awful. I keep wondering if those spring clothes under my bed are ever going to come out from hiding. Hopefully in July.

It really doesn't help to read my FB Newsfeed and here about the 80 degree weather in my hometown.

What is even more bizzare then this freezing weather is how the English don't even bat an eye! On Saturday it was cold and rainy, but my ever-so-determined husband decided we would brave the weather and see a castle.

I thought we would be one of a handful of people that would be so undeterred. Wrong-o. We parked in the over-flow parking. Mom's with their rain-covered buggy's are tropping up sidewalks mid-downpour. It's mind baffling.

Amid this puzzlement I realized that maybe this is how it always is here and life goes on.

Alright, Brits, I'll go buy myself some wellies and get used to it.

Our pet the fox.

 We have a fox friend that comes into our neighbor's garden almost every afternoon.

Our cute British neighbors call me when he's around, just to make sure Livvy can see him.

My neighbor's feed him and recently told him that he's sick so they give him "drops". Whatever that means.

I guess it's cool to have a fox friend around, but I don't know if it's a good idea to feed this little guy.

...

That fox should be glad our neighbors are so hospitable. 

Hogwash.

This week I killed 5 bumble bees and one wasp inside my house.

They weren't the California kind of bees. They were GIANT. Big. Black. Furry. 

One day it was beautiful (SUNNY!) and Livvy was running around in the garden. I left her windows open to let some fresh air in the house and to allow me to hear the little miss yelling "Mom are you there?!?!" 

Mistake number 1. 

They don't have screens here in golly ol' England. So even though I only let the windows stay opened for about an hour we welcomed some buzzing friends into the house. 

The scary thing is that we didn't find and kill these friends until the next day and then more the day after that. 

I was laying in bed with Jude snuggled on one side and Livvy crawling under the covers on the other side of me when Lincoln yelled "Vindie come here!" 

...I slowly made my way out of bed and heard his story of hearing a buzzing sound and then ripping off his work jacket to find a bumble bee making camp. 

Big whoop I thought. Glad it wasn't me! 

Mistake number 2. 

Thinking that was the only encounter with a bee. After Lincoln had left for work I walked into our living room to find not one, but two big bees crawling across the carpet and in the curtains. 

Never fear, I manned up and killed both of those tyrants. And continued to kill more the next day. 

Can I please stop having to deal with bugs? I really don't feel the need to get over my fear of them. 

...

This American is glad that the US decided screens were a good idea. 

The non-weekend snapshots.

Just in case you think all we do is look at the towering spires of old castles and churches  This is my view Monday through Friday.

 Livvy decided she would be Jasmine and Jude could be Aladdin on her magic carpet. (Followed by a conversation about why she could not marry Jude.)

...

This momma is glad that my day-to-day "sites" are a giggling baby and crazy toddler. 

Love week.

 I love Valentine's Day. Livvy and I made Valentines for Lincoln and then Lincoln wrote us some in return. Complete with cut out hearts. 

I love having kids running around my house again. We had 7 kids (and 7 half-eaten sandwiches) at a playdate with our new friends. Livvy is the most outgoing person. She plays with all the kids and then if any mom has an open lap she plops down for a snuggle. 

I love the view from my front door. Our front garden is enclosed by an ancient moss-covered gate engulfed in bushes and Livvy can play in the mud and find leaves and sticks to her hearts content. 

But most of all, I love my new nephew Raylan Richard.

 For weeks I'd been trying to get my home Internet up and running in hopes that I could see my new nephew when he was born. I was convinced after MANY phone calls with no results that it was hopeless and I wouldn't be able to see my sweet nephews face. But 5 hours before Raylan was born my Internet miraculously turned on. And a few hours after his birth, there he was on my computer screen. 

And even though I was in a different country, I felt the quiet, sacredness of a new sweet baby in our family. While I am so sad that I couldn't be there to hold him, I am so glad that I was able to see his tiny face and talk to his beaming father the day he joined our family.

...

This aunt is glad that I have a new sweet nephew to love.