Wildcat Prayers

Last night we had just finished our prayers...apparently P wasn't quite done...
P, "I'm praying for the game."
Me, "You're praying for the game?"
P, "Yes, they need to show Willie...I need to make sure he's ok."
ha, Amen little man!

School number two...

We visited a second school.  Town Close Hall is in the middle of Norwich, and according to everyone we ask, the best private school in Norwich.  I was prepared to be critical and to try not to like it as well as Taverham (what can I say...I go for the underdogs), but I loved it.  We had a hurried tour because I apparently wrote the date down wrong and they didn't expect us yesterday, but they were still very friendly and the facilities were beautiful.  The only problem is that P would not be able to start school here until 2013.  His birthday falls one month after the cut-off so he would start one month before his fourth birthday and have to go everyday, all day.  I just really want him to have a transition period.  I think we might send him to Taverham for a year and then hopefully, he will get a spot at Town Close.  Decisions, decisions...:)

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the school.

Just a few pictures of P to get the grandparents and family through to CHRISTMAS!!  The camera on my iPhone has finally given up 3 months after I dropped it in water so I haven't been taking as many pictures (lets face it, the convenience factor is huge).  We have also all been sick and P is just now getting over his cold.  Here are just a few.

Don't worry, he had just woken up after sleeping (hence the plug).
As you can see, it is about time for a haircut.

Mom, stop!

And this is how we walked home from Gymboree today.
 I have to love that Hug-a-Monkey I used when he was
 only 11 lbs and now again at 35!  I'm not going to
lie...my shoulder felt like it was going to fall off by the time we got home!

So I got pulled over...

...and had to take a breathalyzer.  Did I mention that it was 10:00 AM and I was on my way to the gym?  Did I also mention that the reason I got pulled over was because I took the bus route (that I had seen other people take) to get there?   Ok, so I can't lie...it is faster and I was wondering why more people didn't take it.  Anyway, the police officer pulled me over, in the gym parking lot, made me sit in her car (yeah, that was embarrassing), took my information, made sure my car wasn't stolen, told me she wasn't going to give me a ticket, and then gave me the breathalyzer.  I guess they are really cracking down on drunk driving (which, for the record, I am all for), however, I was surprised she would give it to me without just cause (especially in the morning while I was wearing gym clothes).  Just thought you would like to know.  At least I didn't get pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the road!

Darn it...

...I was rude to someone last night.  I feel really badly about the situation and wish I could take it back.  Not only that, but I feel like I am probably going to give her a bad impression of Americans in general...darn.  Here's what happened...

Last night was late Thursday.  In Norwich-speak, that means that all of your favorite stores are open until 7PM, YAY!!!  Brady and I still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do so we trekked out right after dinner and went to Jarrolds (an independent department store in the UK).  As soon as we walked in, Parker said he had to go to the bathroom so I took him downstairs.  Once we got there, we saw a sign that said she was cleaning and to use the bathroom two floors upstairs.  Parker and I high-tail it to the lift, but while waiting, P starts dancing in my arms and kind of whimpering about how badly he has to go...then I notice that he is starting to dribble a bit in his trousers.  Oh shoot.  We run back to the bathrooms that are being cleaned and I ask if my toddler can please use the restroom because we are not going to make it upstairs.  She says no, that she's cleaning and we can't use it.  I say, "please, please, please" mainly because my side is starting to feel a little bit warmer.  Finally, she lets us use it (luckily P saved most of it for the toilet).  Once we were inside, she finished cleaning, literally, within 30 seconds and began removing all of her signs.  I was mad.  Really, really mad.  Mainly because I could have avoided an embarrassed little man if she would have just let me use it instead of being short.  Well, when we left, I meant to say, "sorry for the inconvenience," but instead "thank you for the inconvenience," came out.  Shoot.  My intentions were to be as polite as possible even though she hadn't been too much so to us, but I did not succeed.  Shoot.

Parker-isms

Again, these are just random things Parker told me this week...don't worry, I know that all kids say funny things, but I post these to make the grandparents feel closer!

Parker has not been sleeping very well lately.  I feel like I am getting paybacks for bragging about what an amazing sleeper he was as a baby.  I really just want to sleep for a whole night again.  Lately, he hasn't only been waking in the middle of the night, but has also had trouble even falling asleep.  Here are my favorite sleepy P-isms from the last few days.

Me, "Goodnight Parker, I love you."  (this was like the fourth time putting him to sleep including three trips to the potty in an attempt to stay awake)
P, "Can you lay with me?"
Me, "Just for a little bit."
P, "Let me tell you a story...once upon a time...hmmm...duck and friends went to the park to play,"  he then tried to recite Hit the Ball Duck (his favorite book of the week).

This morning he woke to find me in his bed after I moved there around 4AM in an attempt to get him to sleep...
P, "Hi mommy!  Did you have trouble sleeping in your own bed?"  Yes Parker, that is exactly why I'm in your bed, ha.


 Yesterday, Parker was playing with the tree and accidentally dropped and broke an ornament.
P, "I'm so sorry I broke it Mama"
Me, "It's ok, accidents happen, but we can't play with the ornaments."
Parker then went to the room I am keeping the extra Christmas stuff in and brought me back a new ornament.  "Here you go Mama."
I hope that he always stays such a sweet boy.  I can't lie, he made me tear up a little bit when he did that, but he noticed that too...
P, "are you sad mama?"
Me, "no Parker I'm so, so happy."
P, "come here mama, come here," in his best mama bear voice while stretching his arms out to me.

Then...about two hours later, he came over to me...
P, "come here mama, come here," in his stern mama voice.
Me, "what is the matter?"
P, "you need to sit in time out.  You broke the Christmas tree."
Me, "oh, ok"
Oh well...

This week, I've been trying to teach P to say "trousers" instead of "pants" because here, "pants" mean underwear.  This was the other day when Brady had just changed into jeans...
P, "I really like your trousers, Daddy."  So proud, ha.

And for the bad parenting moment of the century...a while ago I sent P on an errand with Brady.  When they came back Parker walked in saying, "I sesy and I know it, mommy."
Yes, you guessed it, he was trying to say, "I'm sexy and I know it."  They play the new LMFAO song here all the time.  Well, then Brady decided to download the song and the front of the album cover is three people and only shows their mid-sections.  One of them is a women and her belly is showing.  Now anytime P hears the song he says,
"I want to see her belly.  Can I see her belly?"  Seriously, we are in so much trouble!

Choosing a School

I'm back!  I have been spending all of my free time working on Brady's family's calendar and our photo books so that I could take advantage of the discount I could get if I finished them by yesterday.  Yes, I am extremely cheap so they were definitely sent in on time!  I usually always make time to blog about something (yeah...sorry about that) mainly because I know that it makes our families feel closer.  I apologize for not keeping you up to date!  

School here is a little bit different.  At home, Parker would have started preschool  at 3 or 4 and kindergarten around 5.  Here, he has to start going all day at 4 (or the month before he turns 4).  So, we want him to get used to going at least a few half-days a week in September, at the latest.  Plus, he asks to go to school daily so we think it will be good for him.  Choosing a school will be hard.  Almost all of the private schools have a waiting list and most of them try to make sure there is an equal girl/boy ratio.  Unfortunately, there are a lot more boys than girls and that means that you might be waiting for a while if you are a boy.  Anyway, here are some pictures of the first school we visited.  It is Taverham Hall Preparatory School.  They are a forest school which means that they do a lot of extra outdoor studies (P would love that!)  We actually loved this school and we can't wait to visit the next one on Tuesday!

The land around the school.

The main hall.