So this is happening...

This post is a Nick mobility update.  Let's just say....he's a busy little man.

He has started to crawl up the stairs.  Still can't go down - which is terrifying.  It's a whole family affair when he attempts..which is adorable.  Well, it's a whole family affair except for last night.  I was on a zoom primary meeting while Christopher and the kids played downstairs.  As I walked out of our bedroom I saw my little 11 month old on the stairs - 9 stairs up - with out ANYONE nearby.  I carefully get behind him while trying not to have him turn around and fall down the stairs.  Everyone was shocked he had made it so far up the stairs without anyone noticing.  Chris said Ben was watching him, Ben said Andrew, Andrew said Zack - sooooo no one ;)

He loves to crawl around and tries to get into rooms he isn't supposed to (aka the bathroom.)  He found the game room unblocked (the kids normally make a barrier out of a laundry basket and big diaper boxes) screamed happily and proceeded to pull out every.single. kleenex out of the kleenex box.  He was so proud of himself.

One this day he was helping me make dinner.  He loves to play with the broom while I cook.  He was really quiet and happy - so I was getting lots done.  Then I turned around and found out why he was so quiet....he had found a chocolate wafer bar in the cupboard, opened the bar, and ate it.  He was a complete chocolate bomb.

On this day I was baking - couldn't leave the stove- so I opened this cupboard for him.  He had never explored this cupboard before and happily did a wonderful job of emptying the whole thing.  He is a very hard worker.  Also this is one of the first times he pulled himself up.  He normally can't reach the upper shelf.  Double proud of him!

If Nick is upset all you have to do is pull out your phone and start watching videos of Nick.  He loves watching himself!

As previously stated - the game room is normally off limits.  It has more to do with the older boys leaving batteries in Nick reach than with Nick.  The other day while Zack was playing with Nick, I went to check on them and found this sweet site.  How am I so lucky to have such amazing kids?!

Stinging Nettle Soup

Yes, it's a thing.  Who knew right?!  Last year, when we found out you could eat this stinging plant that is everywhere, Christopher and Kallie had grand plans to cook up a batch and try it out.  Thanks to COVID-19 we get another spring/summer here and you know what that means....Stinging Nettle Soup opportunity!  Can't miss it this year!

Christopher, Kallie and Andrew went on a little hike and collected the wild stinging nettle.

Christopher donned gloved and started to clean the nettles

Kallie stayed busy and made some chocolate chip cookies...

They cooked down a bit, had to rest, and then the next day they became soup!

Final verdict?  It was good.  The soup was very, very bright green - and tasted like.....not much.  The kids say they would eat it again - however no one ate the leftovers except Christopher.  But hey...bucket list item crossed off!

Andrew Turns 12!!!

This amazing young man turned 12.  I can't believe how quickly 12 years has gone by.  Andrew is so creative, inventive, loving, and smart.  I love watching all the creative things he comes up with and his inventions.  This kid is going to do great things in this world.

Andrew's gifts this year included throwing knives, sharping stone, gaming headset, butterfly knife, video games, bamboo sticks, books from his favorite author, and lots of twine and hanging wire.  

He also got nunkucks!  He had us dying laughing trying to use them.  He hit himself so many times and would yell ouch!  I have so many videos of him attempting to use these.  We finally put on youtube how to use them.  Kallie turned out to be a ninja master...who knew!?!?

We started the day off with a delicious breakfast Christopher made.  Andrew's request was his favorite french toast bake.  Of course we had to put our firecracker candles in them!  Andrew, of course, wanted to light his own candles and did so the flame almost singed his eyebrows!  Oh this kid...

Andrew spent his day doing whatever he wanted.  I'm sure it would have been more outside stuff...but today was very rainy so it was lots of video games, the Office, and iPad time.  His birthday....his choice!

He requested chicken pot pie for dinner.

Of course we had to light it up!  Making fun of Andrew's lighting attempt from this morning....

This kid is such a pyro....

You see this match?  He was so proud he re-lit it with the smoke of the extinguished candle.  Ben is very impressed. 

After dinner clean up we decided to surprise Andrew with a little silly string fight.  He didn't get a can....opps...

Then it was time for the pinata!!  We decided to put our new nunchcks to use.....His face kills me....

Everyone was too lazy to get the sleeping mask.....so we used the hammock.  Chris also used the hammock frame to hang the pinata.  It was an interesting choice...but it worked.

Seriously the time it took to put this hammock on we could've gotten the mask 10x over.

Oh these boys are so mean to Kal.  They had her swinging those things around and no pinata hanging.

They were loving it.....

After we broke one of his new nunchucks we decided to get out the cricket bat.  The poor things died quickly after that.  Poor Nick was so confused....

Cake time!  Kallie made his favorite, Texas sheet cake, with oreos and oreo ice cream.  See the 12?!

And of course....more fire.....

Then the highlight of every birthday....the TREASURE HUNT!!!  This years theme was Show me the Money and he got showed!  I asked him if he wanted me to put it in his bank account and he told me he really loves to just have lots of money in his wallet.  15 minutes later he is frantically looking around the house.....for his money.  ugh.

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!!

COVID-19

We are living History right now and this is so I NEVER forget..... April 3, 2020

- Diesel price at Morrison’s was £1.10
- School cancelled
-GCSEs cancelled
- A-Levels cancelled
- Self-distancing measures on the rise.
- Tape on the floors at shops to help distance shoppers (2m) from each other.
- Limited number of people inside shops, therefore, lineups outside the doors.
- Non-essential shops and businesses mandated closed.
- Pubs, theatres, restaurants are closed.
- Entire sports seasons cancelled.
- Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
- Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.
- Churches are closed. Graveyards are shut.
- Don't socialise with anyone outside of your home.
- Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
- We are to distance from each other.
- Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
- Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
- Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitiser.
- Bread, pasta, flour, eggs, chicken and chopped tomatoes are sold out everywhere
Shelves are bare.
- Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitiser and PPE.
- All non-essential travel banned.
- Fines are established for breaking the rules. - Police patrolling the streets.
- Arenas open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
- Press conferences daily from the government.
- The government throws money at businesses to try to keep the economy from imploding. Grants and loans.
- The government to pay 80% of employees wages where businesses cannot continue to do so.
- Daily updates on new cases and deaths.
- The dead are denied wakes or funerals and barely anyone is allowed at the graveside.
- Barely anyone on the roads.
- People wearing masks and gloves outside.
- Essential key workers are terrified to go to work.
- Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this status?

One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

The above was copied from a post I saw on Facebook.  We were supposed to move back stateside on March 28th, but a week or two before we were told all moves were on hold until May.  Our new date is the end of May.  The whole world is at a standstill. I normally keep our house pretty stocked, but since we were only a few days from packing up we were using up our stock and not rebuying.  Thankfully I was able to get out early and get what we needed.  Here are a few pictures of that experience.  

The check out line in costco.  Took over an hour to wait through it.  The line went from the check outs, all the way back to the produce in back, then wrapped around.  It was crazy.  There was another line for toilet paper and paper towels.  Still not sure why people are hoarding those.

The shelves at our local tesco.  These racks are normally covered in bread.

The line to get into Tesco.  They only let a select number in at one time.  You must wait 6 feet apart.  Most people have masks and gloves on.  They sanitize your cart before you get it.

Bean aisle.  Rice and pasta are also completely gone.  It's been a month and Tesco still doesn't have flour - neither does Costco.  Thankfully Christopher found some online so we can make bread.  

The meat aisle

All those racks normally hold 50 liters of milk.  Totally empty.  You now can only buy 3 of any item.  It is crazy.

The weather has been beautiful and it is strange to see no one out enjoying it.  They have put road tape across the entrances so you can't park your car.  You can get a ticket if you don't stay home.  I'm so grateful we came to England when we did.  The poor people in our program who just got here won't be able to travel and see all the amazing things we have.  To be honest though, I've loved being in quarantine.  I'll write about that next.