The New Forest

For our final weekend getaway we decided to head toward Winchester and Southampton and enjoy the surrounding areas. 

Saturday we spent the day in The New Forest National Park. It was awesome! There are wild ponies that wander everywhere throughout the park. Seriously you could walk up and touch them (if it wasn't against the rules).  Jude and Livvy were in heaven. 

At one point we were driving out of a car park and we were stopped by 6 ponies that decided they were comfortable in the middle of the road! Thankfully, a forest ranger was behind us and came and literally pushed them off the road. 

After we wandered around the ponies we headed to a little hiking trail nearby. 

The fall colors were gorgeous and Livvy was so excited to go hiking. She kept saying she needed her tent and a flashlight. =) 

We bought a little hiking back pack a few months ago and finally broke it in for our little non-walker. He loved it and had fun grabbing leaves on trees with Lincoln. 

The only way we keep Livvy walking is by providing her a "walking stick". She was so entertained with it and the mud that she could "squelch and squirch" through (go read We're Going on a Bear Hunt). 

Lincoln also found me a Christmas tree. Thanks, sweets. 

Jude discovered the fun of crunching leaves.

 Family time is the best. 

Halloween Night

After the long day of partying, we were all so tired that we didn't carve our pumpkins until about 5 pm! 

Livvy was excited to color her face and was very upset when I cut into her beautiful faces!

After we finished carving, we got ready for Lincoln to come home so we could Trick or Treat!

Jude the Hunter, with his hunting spoils

Livvy the Princess (she had a bigger more obvious princess dress, but due to an earlier accent we found a back up dress that fit her princess needs)

We went to a few houses close by (where we encountered a man who gave Livvy a pound to buy some sweets). We learned fast that only people who put pumpkins out are participating in the American-imported holiday of Halloween.  After a block, Jude was done, so I headed home.  Livvy, however, was determined to find more suckers. So thanks to an amazing Dad (who still hadn't eaten dinner yet), they walked all over our neighborhood and looked for houses with pumpkins. 

Overall, Halloween was a success. I had heard it would be so lame and I was so dreading it here. But I have to say, it felt very much like a good, candy filled Halloween in the States!

P.S. Sorry for the lame quality of my pictures. I really want to invest in a good camera someday! Until then...automatic flashes and blurry photos will have to satisfy the grandparents! =)

Oxford

On the same trip that we went to Windsor Castle we stopped in at the University of Oxford.

Because we got there pretty early and it was still cold we meandered around the Natural History Museum with the kids first. 

Jude seriously couldn't stop pointing at things. He wanted to touch everything and was so excited! Livvy loved it too, although she was really hesitant to stand underneath that T-Rex and take a picture! 

After the museum we wandered around the campus and saw some of the beautiful architecture. 

It was definitely very impressive, although I told Lincoln BYU may not be as impressive, but our landscaping has it beat! 

On our way back to the car park we walked down this random cobblestone street and right through filming of the movie Belle.

I think we literally passed the main characters in a carriage as we first walked in and they were setting the scene. We had a few minutes to hustle down the road before they closed it for the shot. It was pretty cool to see all the details that filming takes to create realistic scenes. Largely though, the scene was already created for them, thanks to the beautiful architecture that Oxford has.

Halloween Party 2012

My wonderful American friend of mine, Rebecca, and I were moaning about the lack of Halloween in England when we decided to fix it by throwing a party. At first the party started out just being a few of our kids friends but soon it grew to a ward party, including 40ish kids.

Yikes.

It was so much work, but it all paid off and it was a blast. We started the party with crafting monster plates, Oreo spider cookies, amazing gingerbread Halloween cookies, and Halloween cut outs. Friends showed up with cookies to decorate and cupcakes to frost. It was incredible to have so much unexpected help!

After all the crafting (and eating) we split the kids up into teams and started rotating between four different games, including: Pin the Tail on the Cat, Mummy Wrap, Marshmallow Ghosts on a string, and a Ghost Hunt.

 While I was helping with the games, Jude's biggest fan at church, Hugo, swooped in a took him for me. I am so thankful that we had so many helping hands. We had to do the party on Halloween (Wednesday) so we didn't have many hubbies around to help with the kids.I later found this cute photo of apparent evidence of what the Jude Dude was up to!

The last game (which I was so excited about!) was the Witch Relay. The kids had to ride on a broom and run around a witches hat and then tag the next team mate. It was such a blast!

Because Trick or Treating is a bit shoddy here we decided to have parents go into rooms around the church and let the kids Trick or Treat. They loved it and many "mums" told me that their kids had never had the chance to do that before and they were so excited to be able to finally experience it!

We ended the party with an amazing pot luck lunch (again thanks to so many people that helped so selflessly) and a little movie time featuring Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin.

The whole point of this extravaganza was for that little miss to get some good ol' Halloween fun with her friends. Even though I felt like I'd been hit by a truck at the end of the day, it was all worth it to see this little miss (and every kid there!) so excited to spend time together having fun!

Windsor Castle (the famous one)

A few weeks ago Lincoln booked our last couple weekends away before the weather gets unbearable. I couldn't have picked a better time to get away from house work and making food for a few days. 

Saturday morning we woke up to the coldest morning since last winter. So we grabbed everything we could think of to keep us warm and Lincoln punched in "Windsor Castle" in the "Points of Interest" category of our GPS. 

After an hour of driving and feeling bewildered about the lack of signs pointing us to the second most visited site in England, we pulled up to the following restaurant in the completely wrong direction called "Windsor Castle."

Woops! Just for the record I was the one driving not navigating...

So after another hour of driving we arrived in freezing cold Windsor. I love how Jude is bundled! He can't move, but he is warm!

Windsor Castle is the Queen's preferred weekend residence and houses many state events. The rooms and the decorations were over the top. They were gorgeous.

Despite it being freezing, the kids did great. At one point in the day Livvy said "Mommy, Jude told me he wants to go to the hotel and go swimming." That girl is a sly one.

After stuffing ourselves with amazing hamburgers and fries we made it to the hotel that was way too fancy for us and Lincoln and Livvy went swimming in a low-lite pool in the middle of a restaurant and bar. Lincoln is one good dad.

Life with the four of us

I like to write about my life at home with the kids periodically. I think someday I'll look back and think wow that was so easy. Or wow, I'm glad that phase is over. Or please teenagers stop sassing me and be sweet babies again!

We've had quite the sick October, which presented a new challenge for me as a momma. The stomach flu is a beast that I had avoided until a few weeks ago. The kids are over it, thankfully, and we survived and now I know that I can deal with some pretty gross stuff, because I am their momma.

On to the cute stuff though.

Jude Dude: 14 months old of cuddly goodness

This little boy is such a sweet heart. He's always so cuddly and loves to have someone's lap to scoot over to.  He can walk across the room, but is still not confident enough to walk completely on his own.

This boy LOVES his dad. Every night when we here Lincoln knock on the door, he starts screaming "DA! DA!" and scooting as fast as his little bum will take him over to the door. As soon as Lincoln comes in he holds his arms up for him and once he's being held starts yelling "BALL! BALL!" because he wants Lincoln to go play ball with him. Seriously it is the cutest thing in the world.

Livvy Alice: almost 3 1/2 years old of sisterly love

Livvy LOVES school. She didn't for a few weeks and it was really hard for me to leave her so upset. Thankfully though, she has made a friend, "Ronnie" and they play house together. She is the mommy and he is the daddy and he brings her a baby...or so she says. Her teachers tell me they are inseparable and they follow each other around just gabbing away. I am so glad that she is happy and now she only cries when I come to take her home.

She is constantly making me laugh...here are a few things she has said lately.

 (While helping me shred a whole chicken)
"Mommy did this chicken die so we could eat him?"
"Yes."
 "That's so nice! He will live again, huh mommy?"

After taking a big drink of water "Gorgeous!"

"Livvy who did you play with at school?"
"Batman."
"Oh the toy batman?"
"No, this boy that looked like batman."

These two kids have become such good buddies. Livvy is always making Jude crack up and they love tackling each other.

Two little kids keeps me busy and sometimes I feel like all I do is fulfill their every need, but I have so many moments like the one I caught above, that makes me so grateful I have their little needs to fill everyday.

Lincoln turns 30

Despite wanting to throw him an outrageous dinner party, Lincoln declined and we ended up with what my quiet, understated man wanted. His favorite dinner and an apple pie.

Lincoln is such a great dad and husband. Last night I literally could not stopping for like 2 hours straight and he listened the whole time and pretended to be truly interested.

He loves to see the kids at night and is always so sweet and attentive to them. Despite all my gripping about living in this country, I am so glad that he has been around more and not had busy seasons.

Happy Birthday, old man. I'm so glad you robbed the cradle and married me! ;) Love you! `