oh shoot...

...like when you hear your son playing with Woody and telling Jessi to "hurry up woman," and you honestly can't say whether he learned it from Madagascar 2 or his dad...
...or when you lift up the blinds on the second floor for the first time in a few days and realize the mold (or mould as they would say here) is back again...time to start leaving the windows open during the day again...ugh...
...like when your wake up call is your son coming into your bed and singing, "we beat the bears, we beat the canes, we turned the mean green blue, stomped the hawks, killed the clones, dominated OU..."  in his best twang...we didn't realize he knew so much of the song...
...or when you realize you may never sleep past 5AM again...the person who came up with daylight savings obviously did not have small children...
...like when you realize you have made three batches of sugar cookies and one batch of cupcakes (all for other people...with a few for us) and you still find yourself making chocolate concoctions to satisfy your insatiable sweet tooth...
...or when you're pulling the wagon and you turn to reply to a smart remark from a passerby and you realize that you've poured out all of the water that you have in your other hand in the process...
...like when you have a 'near-miss' with a biker in a round-a-bout (in the dark...crazy bikers) and he stops, slams his fist on your hood and yells, "What the F*** are you on!" seriously...
...or when you tell yourself you've been good all day so you have dessert and you don't remember the six oreos you had at lunch until the last bite...

Oh yes?
...when you pick up your son from school and he tells you this story...
Me, "who did you sit by at lunch?"
P, "some girls but I don't know their names."
Me, "were they nice girls?"
P, "one was nice, but the other one was not nice...but I was a nice boy."
Me, "what did she do?"
P, "Annabelle got hurt and I was just trying to check her heart, but the girl told me 'no!'"

hahahahahahaha, oh goodness, my little doctor Parker...

fireworks

I don't know if you realized this, but here, we have fireworks in November.  I'm not going to lie...I kind of love it.  I know that it defeats the whole purpose of Independence Day, but it is so nice to be able to go and watch the fireworks at 7PM and still have your little one in bed on time.

Friday was Taverham's annual fireworks and bonfire fundraiser.  We had a great time.  We ate hamburgers, kept warm by the bonfire and then watched some pretty spectacular fireworks.  Not to mention that Parker left going, "I love my school!"  Worth it.

Parker's school...main hall...

cheapest entertainment ever

school days

Deciding to start Parker in school was a really hard, tough decision.  He still seems so young and because I am staying home, I really felt like his education at this age was my responsibility.  However, we live in a place where we have no family and few friends nearby and I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child.  Because of this, we felt like we needed to provide Parker with another constant.  Another safe place with familiar faces that he would look forward to going to when we come back at Christmas (leaving Wichita gets harder for him every time).  Plus, in a year, he will be required to go to school so we wanted to make sure he could ease into it (if we are still here).

So, with that said, we decided to find a school that we were comfortable with and worked for us.  We decided on Taverham.  It is a forest school with tons of outdoor activities.  Here, Parker either has to go three half days a week or two full days (at least)...we chose the three half days option.  The school is about five miles from our house and I drop him off between 8:30 and 9:00.  There are between 8 and 12 kids in his class (depending on the day), three constant teachers (with a couple coming in and out to help as necessary), and more activities and toys than you can imagine.  P stays there until 1:00 which means that he has lunch there.

I have to admit, I had lots of grandiose plans of working out, scrubbing floors, volunteering and blogging more during my time...not so much...Monday, I managed to run for an hour (the first time I have worked out for an entire hour in three years), go to the grocery store, shower, get ready (we're talking half-wet ponytail with no make-up), and eat a bowl of cereal while I balanced our account and folded clothes.  I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the time went, but also a little disappointed that I didn't get more done.  Honestly, I do prioritize running because it is on thing I do completely for myself and if I don't do it during the day, chances are, I won't do it at all (brady works out in the morning and gets home late from work).  So, yes, if I took out the running, I could probably get more done...but right now I'm not willing to let it go...

Anyway, the answer is yes...we are both adjusting to our new schedule and I think this is going to work out just fine:).

Just a typical...

British Tuesday!

first day of school

Our conversation on the way to school today pretty much sums up how the drop off went...

Parker, "mommy, are you going to cry?"

Me, "no, but I am going to miss you while you're at school."

Parker, "ok, but don't cry."

In other words, P did great and could not wait to go play with all of the kids and toys.  Actually, mommy did surprisingly well too...no tears...I think the 'practice day' is more for the parents than the kids, and definitely helped prepare me for today.

When I picked up Parker, he seemed a little sad.  Apparently, Parker was repeatedly told to sit in his seat during mealtime and then started crying when the teacher had to put him back.  I'm not going to lie...I was not that surprised...we have been having meal-time battles for the last month or so...hopefully, between us and his teacher, he will start listening...hopefully...

Once we were back in the car, he told me that he had fun, but then he told me this, "Mrs. Rose asked me if I was happy or grumpy and I said grumpy."  Oh geez...later as we were having hot chocolate and a biscuit at Costa he told me all about not sitting at lunch and crying.  I was so glad to hear it from him.  Plus, he promised to sit next time...we shall see...

Don't judge, I was going to work out right after...

quick trip

We love London...seriously, it is one of our favorite places and now that our friends, Tom and Kat, have moved there, we have one more reason to visit.

Parker and I took a train down on Friday afternoon and met Kat.  Thoughtful as ever, she had bought tickets for the aquarium....we had never been...it.was.awesome.

I apologize for the picture quality...I forgot my camera and I'm pretty sure the frequent drops are beginning to have an effect on my iphone camera....shoot.

Even better?  We spent part of Saturday at the Natural History Museum.  This is pretty much P's favorite place and he was so excited.  The only thing that could have made our visit better was a shorter line to see the dinosaurs...poor P had to miss them this time.

Thanks for such a great weekend Tom and Kat!!

Ssshhhh...kiki's sleeping

Parker definitely has us wrapped around his fingers...no argument here. Unfortunately, this means he knows exactly how to soften us up (or make us laugh) when he is in trouble. Here are his favorites...

'Mommy, can you smile at me?' He then gives me the 'I'm an actual angel' smile.

'Mommy, can you laugh at me? Hahahaha!'

'Just calm down guys...can you calm down?'

'Give me a high five!' This usually happens after I've tried to be stern...shoot...

And my favorite...
'Ssshhhh....kiki is sleeping. Can you be quiet so you don't wake him up?'

I know, I know...we are in trouble...