In case you didn't see this crazy family today....

(This is the tree Todd chased the squirrel up)


For being such a private person, today was a day full of drawing attention to ourselves, so I thought I would write about them here for all the rest of you who didn't get to witness the entertainment we provided London today.

As we are headed out for the day together, Timothy is screaming "MY SCOODER" all the way from our home to the bus stop. He is offended, of course, because though he is learning to ride his "scooder" he is not able to take it into the crowded streets and it had to stay home. Ok, so that is minor.

We walk up Richmond Hill and down into the Terrace Gardens, have an enjoyable walk and time exploring the mud, sticks, trees and rocks with the boys. We stop and have lunch on a bench where we are approached by a very aggressive gray squirrel. Todd throws a piece of bread past it and it goes and eats it and then again approaches us. At this point Todd unleashes his blue umbrella, opens it and charges at the squirrel shouting (with his mouth full of turkey sandwich) "YAH...YAH...YAH..." at which the squirrel dashes up the tree. Meanwhile a very proper, probably very upperclass, British couple rounds the corner and walks past our very strange family.

Next on the list today, we head down to a green patch in front of the statue of Old Father Thames, and Ethan picks Tim up lays him flat and tries to get him to roll down the hill. Then Ethan chases what remaining squirrels there are in the area up trees with a YAH, YAH, YAH!

Follow this up with a fairly normal afternoon walking along the Thames. Todd has to leave for the afternoon, and we head to a playground. At the playground Ethan sits in a yellow saucer that spins, and very loudly makes delighted sounds of "whoa, whoa, whoa" while I change Timothy's cow print cloth nappy. Then Ethan's sounds change to HELP, HELP, HELP. There is a chinese family nearby watching him and they begin to look uncomfortable...

For the bus ride home we are the last ones on at our stop, I get on in a bit of a huff, at this point carrying Ethan's scooter, pushing the push chair up and searching for my oyster card, I finally am able to pay for the ride and of course people are blocking the aisle with their feet. This point is very annoying to me. We can easily fit down the aisle if people keep their feet in front of them, but it is impossible if they are in the aisle and any amount of trying to get by and apologizing for bumping will only be met with coughing, eye brow raising or sighing...so I get off the bus and go through the back door. Because the bus is parked in such a caddy-whompas way, I can't get the push chair on to the bus from the curb, so I have to pick the whole thing up and carry it up to the bus. The whole time I am thinking, now everyone just relax, don't everyone get up at once to help the american with the small children. Ahhhh.....

So on the bus Timothy screams until he falls asleep, which I tell myself is what he would have done had he been in a car seat. People keep turning to stare at me, and I think what? He's a toddler, what do you expect? Once he is asleep I sit with Ethan who is looking out the window with his face pressed up against the glass. Ethan likes to write on the windows with his finger when there is condensation. Today there isn't and I get suspicious of his face pressing, I see him with a spit bubble and I say, "what are you doing?" I thought he replied, "Just licking" I say, "Don't lick." And then Ethan indignantly yells, "I didn't say LICK I said, LOOK! Why would I say LICK, don't tell me not to LICK IT, I said, LOOK!"

After a brief respite at home we take Ethan's bike and Tim's beloved scooter to the nearby park. Before we get there, Ethan falls off the bike and cuts his hand fairly badly. He of course screams and cries and we have to go home to put a plaster (band aid) on it. So there we are again, headed down Colonial Avenue with Ethan screaming and holding his hand out, Timothy screaming because we don't get to go to the park and then there's me...head held high, I am the mother of these two delightful boys, wife of this wonderful man, and I have been so blessed!

Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." I sense God has been dealing with my heart over my pride and how easily I am embarrassed. Hopefully it won't take too many more days like today to break me of it!

Signs of spring and I think it is getting easier!

A wise friend told me that I should think of writing my blog like I am writing to just one friend, so today i am writing this post like I were writing to my good friend Patti in Annapolis, Maryland.
We are coming up on our first Easter here in England! It has been so exciting to see all the changes that have come with spring. Many of the parks and green spaces have daffodils planted in large quantities, so its like looking at a blanket of yellow! Its wonderful on a grey, rainy, chilly day to see all the yellow. In our back garden we have a small garden pond that is home to an enormous frog and many, many tadpoles. Our boys love to check on the frog, and have tried to feed it worms. Beside the pond is an area that is covered in small pebbles and stones, with a slide. The boys spend many afternoons digging in the stones and pouring them down the slide. this is also followed with a pitcher or bucket full from the pond. Losing all track of time, they live so completely in the present when they are back there. I find myself enjoying cleaning out the flower beds, scraping moss off the bricks and stones and preparing the garden for the spring.
Todd has been in a very busy season with his work. He recently hosted the school Bible exhibition week at the church, where over 250 students from local schools were able to come and learn about what the Bible says! Todd led a group of volunteers to be actors for the various Bible stories, prepare food and offer hospitality to these school groups. Many students were eagerly asking questions and showing some understanding of the presentation. My friend who had played the role of Mary with her own baby playing Jesus had a student ask, "So after the fairy came to visit Mary..." and she was able to say, "well it wasn't a fairy it was an angel..." What an amazing week it was! In follow-up to this week he was invited back to 2 schools, at one school he gave a 45 minute discussion and follow up, and the other he did a presentation about the message of Easter using the "resurrection eggs" activity.

After a 3 month bout of not making it to Bible study due to illness of the boys or myself, or being in the states, or Christmas holidays, I have been able to attend regularly recently. We are studying the book of Hebrews and it has been most encouraging. The group is called "Mum's the Word". Between 15-20 mums faithfully come and study the word together. Most of these women are from the church, but one or two have been coming from the community. We have wonderful helpers for the children. Todd and I were humbled to be asked to lead a session on raising a godly family. It was quite interesting putting our thoughts together, and many times we thought of you and Chris and all the wisdom that you had shared with us in our small group!

At times we pop in for a bit to the weekly play group called "Little Laughs". There is a gate that opens to a small parking area and the glass doors that lead to where the group meets. When I open that gate for Little Laughs, the brick-lined parking area is completely filled with push chairs, prams and buggies (what Americans would call strollers) from all the mums/care givers who have brought their little ones for a play. There are a few faithful ladies who set up this area with toys in an inviting manner--teddies with books and teacups, train tracks with the trains ready to make their journeys, dinosaurs facing one another for a battle, playdough ready to be cut and molded. I stay for a few minutes, then Timothy stays with Todd while I take Ethan to the cafe (There is a cafe in the lower part of the church where anyone from the community can come and enjoy a cup of tea and a bite to eat) to have some time for home school. We will read books or play games while Tim is enjoying playing.

Often after one of these mornings we will have lunch in the cafe and then go walk along the River Thames, feeding the geese (Canadian Geese here!) swans, ducks, pigeons. We might go to a play ground if the weather is okay or head home and stop at our local library. The libraries aren't the same as the ones in Annapolis, but we can always find something exciting. When Ethan gets home with those books, he will sit for long periods of time looking at the pictures and noticing every detail. Tim has really just begun to listen to stories and he will request books again and again. His attention to the story has really grown and he is able to sit and listen to every page now!

On Thursdays we enjoy getting together with some other friends who are home schooling. The children are playing together quite nicely and it is always encouraging to be with other moms who are doing the same thing. When the weather allows we have been able to get outside more. A couple weeks ago we went to a park and while the kids had to have their sticks and do their pretend sword fighting at the beginning, by the end, they were all completely enjoying themselves digging in the dirt, being creative and full of life. We had to pry our selves to leave that sunny warm afternoon!

All in all, I do feel like I am adjusting more to the culture here. I know I am not fully there but certain things are not so noticeable as they first were. I even have started thinking in terms of centigrade, not Fahrenheit! Though I do think I am still a long way off from really understanding people from another culture, and I find I have my blatantly obvious American moments. I still miss having a dryer, but the warmer weather means that even inside my house the nappies (diapers) will dry within 30 hours. Sigh....

We miss and love all our friends and family, and Patti my house is full of signs of your imprint on my life! We have the quilts you made for the boys, the quilt our small group gave us. I think of you when I set out my one or two Easter decorations, and how you always had your house dressed up for every holiday. Miss you dear friend, Happy Easter!

A day out in London...

I admit I have had trouble blogging. Lots of excuses, some of them good, most of them not. So here I go.
I have been reading through various Little House books aloud to Ethan. I love all the detail about their daily life, and I think there isn't anything so interesting about our daily life. Maybe there is and maybe you would want to read it, but if you get bored there are plenty other places to go on the internet! I've used initials for our boys, E is 5 years old, T is 2. My other disclaimer is that these pictures are from when we went out to the sciene museum in December. I forgot to charge my camera batteries. Now that I have figured out how to include pics in the blog itself (duh, not that hard afterall!) you can hope to look forward to more!
After a morning of making, eating and cleaning up from oatmeal and eggs, playing chase and hide and seek, looking at books, snuggles and tickles, doing a load of wash and hanging it to dry on the drying racks, getting dressed, changing nappies (diapers), packing for a day trip, consulting the train schedule, visiting the hamster that is residing in the bathroom (the downstairs is too cold right now), shoes and jackets on, debating which push chair (stroller) to bring --ah yes, it will rain this afternoon better bring the one with the rain cover--and out the door in time to make the 9:55 train. E is walking the whole way to the train station, and once we pass our usual bus stop and he realizes he has to walk another 1/4 mile he is waling "I CAN'T WALK ANY MORE" I patiently take his hand and keep walking. We stop for a moment, and I say " I know you are tired of walking, but if we don't keep going and get to the train station we will miss the train and have to wait 30 minutes for the next one." We made it with 2 minutes to spare.
We saw some friends at the train station. In a bustling place, we don't often see people we know, so it was quite pleasant to see them. they were headed to the V&A museum as well, only to meet up with other older home school students for a scheduled outing. On the train E wanted to use the loo, we happened to be in the one coach with a toilet. It was occupied the entire ride, Todd wondered out loud if the occupant might be doing drugs, I don't know about that, but our eldest was crying as we got off the train, because he didn't get to go. We stopped to go at the next station where we had to change trains, by the time he got back with Todd, we had missed the next train.
The following train we got on and the boys enjoyed looking out the windows at the buildings and other trains. When we went through tunnels, T would say "lights off" and E would say, "Who put that baby out there?" (this is a joke in our family, when babies are little and they look out a window at night or into the dark glass of the oven, I say, "Who put that baby in the oven" or "Who put that baby outside?")
We finally get to the south kensington station, and make our way to the museums. I am carrying T and the back pack (I don't let him walk in the train station, it scares me that he could fall in front of a train or that someone else might snatch him, but really he would just be in other people's way a lot) Todd is carrying the push chair up and down the stairs (and there are a lot of them) and E is hustling to keep up with us.
The South Kensington station is big, and there are tunnels leading away from the platforms. We walk through a long tunnel that was built a couple hundred years ago. It has brick work on the walls and arched brickwork on the ceiling. There is a man playing a Duke Ellington song on his saxophone, and the music slides down the tunnel. There are posters for the various museums and upcoming shows along the walls. We pass the exit for the Natural History museum. We have been there before, it is a beautifully built museum with a fantastic dinosaur exhibit. today we are headed first to the V&A museum. We pass by an iron divider with rows and rows of little fans. The fans are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with little blades on them, there are about 15 rows, and about 70 fans per row. When you pass the fans they move, and when you stop they stop.
We enter and pass the securuity guard to come into an enormous selection of statues carved into stone. Its breath taking, and this is only one room! It goes on and on! At the base of the stairs there are about 40-50 mirrors. They are small rectangle mirrors are little stands that rotate. If you step close to them, they all move in unison to reflect your face! So if you move from side to side, they move with you!
We go up the stairs and past some galleries to an overview gallery where we see this huge pillar.
(Now before I go further i have to explain what going through musems with a 5 and a 2 year old means to me) For me going to museums has a few purposes. One is that I get to spend the day with my family. Two is that I get to see some exciting things, that especially, living in London, I want to take every opportunity to get to see. Three is that I feel for at least an hour or 4, that there is something bigger happening in the world around me. Fourth is that the kids get sort of exposed to the same idea as number 3. Fifth, they get to let some energy out during these cold dreary months, and even though they whine and complain or misbehave a bit, they are not couped up. So going to museums in this way means I don't get to read much of anything. I may remember a few things about what I saw, but it mostly just leaves an impression. My impressions of the V&A museum is that I want to find a babysitter to watch the kids so I can go enjoy it with Todd! I did like all the carvings and statues. We saw some fabulous iron work, bronze and clay. We saw a huge Chulluly chandelier, which was fun because E recognized it as a Chulluly! Plus its just cool to look at.
Its fun to people watch too. There are the serious people who bring their sketch pads and are busy sketching the things they see. There are people speaking many foriegn languages! There are school groups in their uniforms. There are a lot of moms with children and I wonder if they home school too. There was a strange woman wanderng around asking for the time, repeatedly.
The bathroom had these funky rectangle sinks that were only an inch deep. The water just ran to the sides. The bathroom attendants were speaking Polish. Oh, and of course it wasn't called bathroom its called "toilets"
We saw some Rapheal work of Peter and Paul, and we saw some Muslim artwork. We left there and walked back through the tunnel to the Science Museum.
We ate lunch in the science museum, this is how cheeky we are about eating lunch in the museums. I bring pack lunch for everyone and a plastic plate, and todd goes and buys everyone water bottles. We eat at the table in the corner of the cafe. I rationalize its because we have food allergies, which we do, but its also just cheaper that way!
Afterwards the boys have more energy and run around in front of this giant circle with a light going around it. We make our way to the lift (elevator) to go to the basement. I get confused because here in England, the ground floor is the main floor. So the sign says ground floor, but there is still the basement. T pushes the up button as well, so we end up going in an up "lift" and ride to the top to get back down. We go use the toilets again. Again people are speaking various foriegn languages, there are swarms of kids from school groups. They all have on their uniforms. I find it so interesting to see them all in their uniforms, and I think of the USA and how the kids all dress for school. I see now how that helps them have their own individuality.
We head to an interactive area for 3-6 year olds called "the garden" Its nothing like a garden, but it is geared for 3-6. First of all it is so LOUD! Kids are screaming and running everywhere. There is a really great water exhibit. The kids put on smocks to keep from getting wet. Then they can go play at any point along the water way. They can push buttons to make bubbles go up through the water, pump water through canals, place blockades to build dams, put boats in and out, etc. T and E play there for 20 minutes or more. T is hoarding all the boats. He tries to pick up 6 boats but can't carry them all. E is facinated with the blockades and controlling the water. There are probably 15-20 other children playing here too, and the adults are watching from the sides. After they are finished we head to the construction area. This area is a bit over run with kids from school groups who have their own plans going. We start to build and dodge their bean bags, helmets and cones that are being thrown from above. I give one boy a don't do that agian look. Todd says, why didn't you say something? I gave him a look! Well, he didn't do it again anyway. We build a huge structure with oversized soft legos and the boys enjoy crashing it down. They play for a while throwing bean bags down the shute, and going though the shadow and sound area. Finally its time to leave and T cries as he's put back in the push chair. A little snack keeps off the whining. On the way back through the museum we glance at the space section. My heart does a little whining cry for missing the air and space museum in DC. E had so many questions last week about space shuttles...Its raining and E wants his buzz lightyear umberella. T is mad that he has to have the rain cover on.
Someone is playing the guitar in the tunnel on the way back.
We just miss the train and wait for the next one. T falls asleep on the train, E is very mellow and is enjoying his snack. He complains and dilly dallies and we miss the next train, but we make it home eventually. Todd stops at Tesco for some salmon for dinner. I like to cook fish on the night the trash goes out.
While I am getting dinner ready, I try to play a game with E. I have him count cards and hide thrm around the room, then I find them. I hide them for him, but he is not so good at finding things. A bit like his daddy in that regard I must say! Could be staring him in the face, and doesn't see it. Todd plays with the boys, until dinner is ready. E had made some place cards for everyone using a pen he made from a feather. His writing is not that steady, but getting better.
After dinner, we clean the hamster's cage out. The boys pet "Conker" (named after the medium sized chestnuts, called Conkers), we put her in her excercise ball and I fiddle with the cage. I do a brief is this worth it analysis in my mind. I suppose it is, but it does seem like a lot of extra work.
The boys have their story time, extra drink of water, pillows situated, lights off, and the day is done!

These are links to the museums we were at: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk, www.vam.ac.uk

Look at all this!

8 miles from our home we drove over a "temporary" bridge (built over 50 years ago) with our friend, driver and tour guide Liam. The bridge felt paper thin and as though it might collapse at any moment, it all added to the excitement of going on a tour of the city of London at night. I cannot describe how surreal it was to see the sights of London this way! From the stately and impressive, the garish and modern, the ancient history, the culture, I was entranced (sorry, so entranced I didn't take any pictures!) Liam made it seem so easy to zoom around the city, as he told us about all the sights! Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the bank of England, St Paul's Cathedral, St Stephens Tower (with the famous Big Ben bell) the 1,000 year old Tower of London, the London Eye, St James Palace, the financial district with its skyscrapers, Prince Albert's hall, the US Embassy (hmmm...not so impressive, but it was nice to see the stars and stripes) Harrods, and on and on and on....Over the River Thames we could see the city all lit up, it was breath taking! Liam also showed us the church John Newton had preached, the church where George Whitefield preached (and Shakespeare worshipped at) a statue of David Livingston, and much much much more.
Back to the day to day life today, my kids were watching Mary Poppins, which of course takes place in London. Bert says of the view of London, "Look at all this, and who gets to see it, but the birds, the stars and the chimney sweeps." I never imagined that I would be here and able to see these sights...my cup runneth over!
Even in the midst the bustle of the city, there are so many opportunities to be surrounded by nature! Today we were visiting with a family in Teddington, and afterwards we made our way to Bushy Park for an afternoon outing with the boys. The boys ran through green spaces with nearby grazing deer, enjoyed lunch and relaxed by a stream with ducks and swans. I truly enjoy these times with them, being free to explore and enjoy (without fear of them being run over!)

Heavy Plant Crossing

HEAVY PLANT CROSSING reads a sign on the bus ride home. What? Is a heavy plant crossing the road? Might it sit on me?
Another piece of life that I am trying to understand here in the UK!

Culture shock for me is like being trapped in a children's picture book--where all the pictures have hundreds of things that are not the way they are supposed to be. A car with three tires, a tree that's upside down, a dog walking a person. There is still so much that I don't understand! Everyone else understands everything, but it is all so new to me. Of course the hilarious part is that I am the odd one as I stare at the 5 X7 sign that reads: People who allow their dogs to foul pavements are bad tempered, unhygienic and ill mannered--will be fined. Does it really say all that? Yes, and I wanted to take a picture of it to prove it.

These are the little daily issues, but some issues are bigger. As I try to adjust to this, and help my children adjust I can feel quite overwhelmed. Until I remember my savior who left a beautiful glorious home, where he enjoyed perfect togetherness to come down into our lonely world and take on a body that can get tired, hungry, sick and die. He came to a place where he would feel lonely and would one day be rejected and die for the purpose of one day bringing me back to his home. I find strength knowing that the one who called me here, will give me strength. My home country wasn't perfect, this country isn't either--but we are being strengthened for this task!

As we continue to adjust to our life in the UK, the highs and lows are beginning to calm. We continue to be perplexed at how we ended up here, but we are thankful.

This past week our family visitied Kew Gardens and explored this lovely retreat away from city life! We enjoyed being apart from city life (except for the jet engines roaring overhead as the planes fly into Heathrow airport). The morning sun, the autumn colors, the perfect weather...what a splendid day!
First off, the kids wanted to see the Xsterra walkway, which is 18 meters above. Timothy and Ethan gladly left the stroller behind and climbed up 6 flights of stairs to walk the walkway around the trees. What a spectacular view! Tim and Ethan threw Conkers off the side. We could also spot the green Richmond Parakeets, which are as "British as Curry" . They came from the Himalayas for a theater presentation and escaped! We also loved exploring the temparate house, the children's play area, the lake and walkway. Ethan played under different trees while Timothy slept in the stroller. I was amazed at all the different trees thriving there--palm trees, a California Redwood, "monkey puzzle" from Chile, London Plane trees, and Sweet Chestnuts. There was a Sweet Chestnut tree that was over 300 years old, the sign read "survived 9 monarchs and bombing raids from World War II, please don't walk on its roots!". There was also an enormous Cedar of Lebanon. We all enjoyed it and stayed all day!

We are getting used to some things about living here---we call the toilet, the loo. Our stroller is a push chair. Ethan used the term "lovely" today. Seeing the cars on the left side of the road. Not giving eye contact and smiling as much to everyone we see. Realizing that everyone knows we are American before we even open our mouths.

Things that I still am not used to: the ease with which people unabashedly use words that in America would be considered curse words, the co-ed changing area at the swimming pool, people calling strangers "luv" (even men call men luv.) Knackered means tired, not something else...Paying with a debit card that you insert instead of swipe, and don't insert it until the cashier is finished ringing up your order!

We feel we are starting to make some connections, though we still are just beginning. I try to remember what it was like saying good bye to all our loved ones in America before moving here, wondering who of the people we are now meeting will we part with and miss dearly? I wonder for what reason have our lives come into contact at this point, what is happening in their story and my story that is all part of a bigger story?

We do feel that we are starting to relax and settle into a routine. We didn't realize how living in transition and the stress of the last year had affected us. We didn't realize how much culture shock would hit us like a wall in our face! So, I know that it will continue to be hard for the next few months but we do feel better, and we are truly thankful for all the ways God has provided and led us.

A very full week! We have been busy getting to know as many people as we can, and this has been so much fun. I have had conversations with British, Irish, South African, American, Norwegian, and Polish people. Having the boys with me has been a very natural conversation starting point. We are trying to understand the cultural differences while also recognizing the similarities in humanity. A tremendous amount of activity is going on at the church, reaching out to the community and offering moms and children a chance to connect with others. We've enjoyed play dates, music class, MOPS, Little Laughs ( a free play time for children and mothers/carers). In the afternoons, we have been busy exploring Richmond and walking along the river. The weather has been unusually pleasant and we have soaked this in--letting the housework take a rest while we have explored.
Todd has been busy getting settled into his new position. This has kept him very busy, and is very exciting as we have glimpses of what the future holds for us here.
Our boys have been very happy. Ethan says, "I love England!"
We are truly thankful to be in this place at this time. It has been a difficult road, but life is settling into a pattern and routine. Its getting easier to do the shopping (a friend from church has offered to take me so I don't have to struggle with the bags and the stroller). I am finding more of the special food items that we need, (but I did send Trader Joes an email requesting they open a location here :)
I have been teaching Ethan a hymn, and this weeks lyrics really underscore how we are feeling...
"Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wonderously reigneth,
Shelters thee under his wings, yes so gently sustaineth.
Has thou not seen, how thy desires have been
Granted in what he ordaineth."