Back to Spain... more picts

Remember back when we were moving, I said I had more pictures from our trip to Spain? Well, I still have them and I'm finally getting around to posting some of them, even though they're now VERY old news. That doesn't mean they're any less beautiful and interesting, right? So, here are some more memories from our trip to Grenada, Malaga, and Cordoba, with little commentary:

CORDOBA

Oranges in January!! I tasted an orange that I stole off a tree. It was extremely bitter... apparently they are not ripe in January, even if they are orange.

We toured a fabulous villa, set up as a family would have lived in the 1300s. It was gorgeous, with a waterfall courtyard right in the middle of the house! Brian loved this artsy shot of me reading papyrus poetry in the mirror.


RHONDA

Rhonda is a picturesque little village set at the top of a winding gorge. We drove up winding, cliffside roads for an hour to get there. Sam, of course, loved the park at the top of the overlook. The other children were so cute, helping her on the slides and taking turns with her. Rhonda has its own bullfighting arena and is said to be the bullfighting capital, who knows? Here's the bridge over the gorge, built sometime in the 1700s, I think. The picture doesn't do it justice for how deep that gorge is!
We ate at a little restaurant where the waiter took Sammie's bottle of baby food, warmed it on the stove, and brought it back in a china bowl! Posh!

MALAGA and SPANISH COUNTRYSIDE

I already showed you the gorgeous view from our hotel in Malaga, way back when. Did I mention how much Sam loved our balcony? She would step outside and yell whenever she got the chance. But she hated the beach and the water... cried the whole time we were there, both times.

This is an olive grove. They were everywhere, as we drove along. I got really curious about how they harvest olives and came home and looked it up online. They have a big machine that shakes all the olives from the trees and then they gather them off the tarps they spread on the ground to catch them. At least that's what I read. If you look close at the second shot, they're growing olives all the way up the steep hillsides!

This is Santa Clause. No joke. We saw several different Santas on the sides of people's houses, and some for sale in the stores too. I guess if you don't have lights to decorate, at least you can get a Santa. Also notice the blanket doors. We couldn't decide whether they hid the wooden doors underneath to keep the cold air out, or whether the blanket was the door??
How many of you have seen Nacho Libre? Well... Chancho?

In the meat section of the grocery store, you can buy your own smoked pig leg... hoof and all!

GRENADA

We happened into Grenada on yet another holiday weekend! They had lights and music and fireworks and a parade just at the end of the block from our hotel. We watched the parade for a few minutes... they were floating along to "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" sung by Mormon Tabernacle Choir, seriously! The Mack Wilberg rendition! It was on repeat. Sam hated the parade because of the confetti fireworks, so we didn't stay too long.

In conjuntion with the holiday, they were selling these round cakes with toys baked inside as a special treat for kids. Brian bought one, but it was very bland and we didn't eat much of it. The toy inside was soggy, if I remember right.

Just a weekly update

Not too much to report this week. Our camera batteries died and Brian's the one who normally recharges them. Well, he's been working like a .... very devoted husband and father... and only realized he was remiss in this duty when I brought it to his attention last night when he came home at midnight. Hopefully that is a tolerably suitable explanation for the lack of pictures in this little blog.

So, I'll try to capture some highlights of the week, in bullet format for y'all:

• A very funny youtube video, for those who haven't already seen it. This one goes out to all you Moms with minivans, called "Mom My Ride": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFE3B0Rje0
• I made some very good tomato soup from scratch this week, full of peppers, onion, celery, garlic, and just enough olive oil to taste. I garnished it with fresh cilantro and sour cream (they call it soured cream over here, just emphasizing that the cream is actually soured, I suppose.)
• I also made some really nice curried carrot soup that exploded in the blender all over my kitchen, just hours after I had scrubbed all the floors on my hands and knees! Lucky for me, there was enough left after the explosion to take to the family who was having a new baby this week.
• Book club this month was successful -- that is if you call four people sitting around talking about "Jane Eyre" successful. I do! Especially since a very thoughtful friend watched Sam so I didn't have to bring her along.
• We have reservations at a hotel near the Lake District for tomorrow night, so we can enjoy a relaxing G.C. weekend, watching the sessions (which air at 5 and 9 pm here) from a cosy hotel room, taking in some walks and drives in the country and some swims in the pool in our spare time. yay!
• One week from right now, we'll be in the air somewhere over the Medditerranean Sea (and who knows how to spell that Mediterrrrranneenana word, anyway?) descending to Cairo in just over an hour!
• Brian said he'd be home by midnight tonight, which means I should see him in just 20 minutes! Very exciting, I assure you!

That wraps up the highlights of my week. If I posted highlights from Samantha's perspective, we might get some of the following:

• This week I learned that if I push my highchair toward Mom or bring her the tray and my bib, she will feed me. Mom seems to respond better to this approach than to my constant reaches toward food items on the counter that she pushes out of my view as soon as I reach for them.
• Mom let me walk all the way home from the park around the corner, except for that one part when we were almost home and I refused to hold her hand and she picked me up even though I was screaming for her to let me down again. At least she didn't put me back in the stroller.
• I've successfully persuaded Mom and Dad to keep EVERYTHING off the kitchen table. I kept climbing up to give them hints that there was too much stuff on that table, and they finally obliged. It looks so much cleaner now with nothing on it, thank goodness.
• I learned that Mom does NOT want my help when she's changing my diaper. Rude.
• The washing machine is the best place to hide toys and things. If I'm lucky, Mom won't notice, and she'll wash my toy items -- like the AA batteries she washed this week for me.
• It's probably better not to wave goodbye to Daddy, because almost every time I do, it seems like he doesn't come back for a verrrry long time.
• When Mom is in the shower, I can do WHATEVER I WANT... that includes eating half a box of raisins (like today), tearing apart a bookshelf (like yesterday), and rifling through the mail (like earlier this week). I'm glad she allows me these three minutes of free time to explore my surroundings.
• I'm going for a record in the afternoon nap department. Wednesday it was from 1pm to 5pm. Maybe next week I'll try for four and a half hours?

Well, folks, as you can tell, we're doing well over here. Hope everyone else is doing fine, too.

One Year and Counting...

Samantha had her one year developmental check up with the doctor yesterday. I know, we're a bit late on this one. What, with our move, our trip home for Christmas, our trip to Spain, etc, it was hard to book an appointment. Then it took three times going down there to get the right appointment at the right time with the right doctor. (They messed up the first two times, not me.)

Soooo... our girl is growing up, just as we suspected! At 15 months and 1 week, she weighed in at 21 pounds and nearly 1 ounce. According to The Charts (I'm so curious to know exactly WHO designed The Charts and how?!), she's right below the 50% mark, which means she's completely average in her weight. Her height -- 32.6 inches -- is at 98%, meaning we've got a very TALL girl on our hands! No wonder she's already climbing every chance she gets... she can finally see over the furniture. (Aside: Sam hated being measured and weighed! She cried and kicked almost as hard as when she got her shots last month. She must have remembered the shots, since it was the same doctor and room, poor girl!)

Since we don't have a lot of new pictures to share right now, I thought I'd include a little group of photos from her first year and three months... enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, that's right... it's Mother's Day here in England. Not sure why they celebrate in March; it seems like the rest of the world celebrates in May. But March it is, and today has been a lovely one for me. Brian surprised me with the most BEAUTIFUL bouquet of roses, all colors. They're all opening up tonight and smell wonderful. He also gave me a very sweet card with some very kind words to me. What a nice way to start the day.

At church today our Primary children sang a little musical number for their mums (that's what they call moms over here, fyi), and gave them the cards we made for them last Sunday. It turned out really nicely! Plus, one of the girls and her mom sang a little duet -- Mother, Tell Me The Story -- and I played for them. I didn't even make a mistake, whew! When they were finished, I looked around and there were several mothers wiping at tears, quite a touching meeting and song. Primary was less chaotic than usual today, which was like a little "Mother's Day" gift to me. Plus when we got home, we had delicious leftovers from a party last night so I didn't have to cook and neither did Brian. Perfect day, I'd say!

One quick little shot of me and the little cutie who makes this Mother's Day thing so much fun to celebrate...

New Toys!

Samantha got a couple of new toys this week, thanks to our friends, Joyce and Abby. Sam inherited Abby's old push car and plastic slide (both pictured below, the slide in the reflection of the window). Sam's loving both, making good use of the car as a new, dangerous kind of step stool in the house! She wants to push it up to the piano or table or counter so she can climb up. Hasn't figured out why it wheels away from her so easily.
We've been taking advantage of some GORGEOUS spring days, enjoying the toys outside in the back garden. Yes, those are friendly yellow daffodils waving in the background in this picture. And yes, Sam rolled backward off the deck and fell off her car in the muddy grass two seconds after this picture was taken.Brian and I also got a new toy a couple weeks ago... our very own cross trainer! Yahoooooo! We decided both our bodies are such that we need some extra exercise capacity. And yet, both our schedules are such that we need something easily accessible. So, we bought a LifeFitness Ellyptical Cross Trainer. (I'd do official "before" and "after" pictures of us, if I were brave enough... skinnyness, here we come!!) These pictures are during the assembly process. Samantha's quite impressed with the new BIG toy.

Here Brian and Sam work on putting the cross trainer together. Actually, Sam works on eating the screwdrivers and sitting in the toolbox, while Brian works on putting it together.

Redhead Bedhead

Just had to post a quick picture of Samantha, waking up after a very restful nap.

Around the House

Just thought I'd add a few cute pictures of Samantha hanging out around the house. She is quite familiar with her new home now and loves finding different things to play with.

Look how grown-up she looks in this one! She definitely looks more like a toddler now, not a baby anymore (except when she's sleeping). She carries her sippie cup around with one hand; Brian calls it her "grog." One of Sam's favorite things is to pull everything out of her dresser drawers. On one occasion, she climbed into the bottom drawer after emptying it. She got scolded, because that can be dangerous. But she also got to mug for a picture, first!

In the late afternoons, while Mom is cooking dinner, Sam has determined the best place to be is right in the kitchen next to Mom. (How nice for me, right?) After Mom repeatedly refuses to hold her, Samantha chills out, laying on the kitchen floor. I have several shots similar to this one (below), with Sam relaxing, playing with a small toy, right under my feet.
She also loves to put on clothes of any variety... pajama bottoms on the head, socks on the hands, and Mom's cardigans are some of her favorites. She doesn't really pose when she's trying on clothes, so I snapped this one as she ran by in my new cardy.

After my recent car washing expedition, I accidentally left the buckets out two minutes too long. Samantha immediately confiscated them as her own personal toys. She likes to walk around with the bucket over her head or draped over her shoulders. It makes a great helmet!

Sam is also becoming quite the good little helper girl. Here she is "helping" to unload the dishwasher. She pulled out this green bowl, walked off with it for a few seconds, and came back with Sox Bear in it... apparently he needed a good washing, as he ended up in the dishwasher a few seconds later.
Several of Sam's favorite things are captured in this one... 1. the glasses. she loves them and walks around with them around her neck most days. 2. the sippie cup, which I already mentioned. 3. The bottle of bath bubbles sitting in front of her. She always steels it from the bathroom and puts it in her toy box. 4. Macaroni and cheese (in the bowl on the right). 5. Being on the counter. She's almost adept enough to push a chair over and climb up herself, but we highly discourage it, of course. 6. Mom! :)

Walk Like an Egyptian!

Ahem... have I mentioned we're going to EGYPT??!?! yeayaayay! Brian has been talking about planning a trip to Cairo ever since we got married. It's finally happening and we're finally putting together all the details. As you can imagine, we're very excited about this, especially Brian! Talk about easy to plan, when Brian already knows everything we should see and do, and how to get around. (Remember, he lived there for a year before we ever met.) He's eager to share some of his past with me, and I'm very curious and excited to see it all.

So, the plan is to fly to Cairo for Easter week, meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law, who are fulfilling their own lifelong dreams by joining us for the trip (Lisa cried for joy -- literally-- when she heard they got their tickets). We'll see the pyramids and ruins in Cairo, then go to Luxor and possibly Aswan. We might throw in a trip to Alexandria, or possibly a hike up Mt. Sinai, or a trip to an owasis, if time permits. For those who don't know the geography behind the names I've just thrown out there, don't worry -- I didn't either until we started making plans!

We just wanted to share the exciting news, since it's a top priority for us right now and we're very excited about it! My only question is... will Samantha like Egypt?? We'll see!

Lovely day out

I wish I would have had my camera... but I forgot it! Last Thursday we had such a lovely day out, I have to tell the little details, and hopefully you can imagine how nice it was, even without pictures. My friend, Jenny, is from Ipswich, on the coast about two hours east of London. Since she was not working, she offered to take Samantha and me for a visit to her home town and surrounding area. It was so much fun!

First, we drove to the small town of Felixstowe to go swimming. The indoor pool is right on the beach, with big windows facing out to the sea. It was so fun to be swimming in a nice warm pool while we looked out at the ocean. Samantha especially loved the kiddie pool! We taught her to go down the slide, and to hold her breath going under the water. She didn't want to leave, even when it was past her naptime and we'd been there so long. And yes, we did use the cute little red suit -- she looked adorable.

Next, we got fish and chips at a little shop and ate them on the beach. Samantha ate more sand than fish, but she didn't seem to mind. Maybe there's some kind of protein in sand?? Sam finally fell asleep after that, as we drove back to Jenny's parents' house for a quick tour and visit. They live in a cute red brick house across the street from a charming old church, built in the 13th century. Very picturesque.

We took Jenny's two younger sisters (8 and 7 yrs), and went to a different little coastal villiage near a small castle. We walked around the castle grounds, then past the charming cottages and stone houses, down to the sea for a bit of a rest. It was so refreshing to be out of the city, in the peace and quiet of a little country village.

As we were driving back to drop Jenny's sisters at their house, one of them, Anna, asked, "Jenny, is this your car?"
Jenny: No, it's Kamber's.
Anna: Then why are you driving it.
Jenny: Because Kamber doesn't have a driving license.
(thoughtful pause, and a small groan from Kamber)
Anna: Then why does Kamber have a car?

Ah yes, the proverbial question... which came first, the car or the license? I thought it was a funny little conversation, even though I cringed as Jenny had to explain that I DO have a US license, but I haven't passed the UK test yet. Arrggg.... I'm taking it (again) this week. Wish me luck!

Anyway, that's a quick description of our fun day out in the country last week. If I'd had the camera, you would see the following pictures:
Mom with Sammie in the pool in her cute new suit (Mom holding Sam strategically to hide Mom's swimming-suit body)
Sammie eating sand on the beach
Jenny's sisters sitting in the back seat with Sammie, sharing jaffa cakes and getting chocolate all over all three faces.
Jenny and Kamber on the beach, a little lopsided from being taken by one of Jenny's sisters.

Two Suits! -- Time to Vote

Is there anything more adorable than a baby swimsuit?? Well, how about TWO baby swimsuits?! (Aside: over here they call them swimming costumes, instead of suits)Well, so Samantha needs a new swimsuit (there's NO WAY she would fit in the one she wore last summer... maybe on her thighs or something?). We went shopping last week and found a very cute little red one. Then, yesterday we were at H&M (my personal favorite store most of the time) and found another very cute little pink one. I bought them both, because I couldn't decide which one was cuter.

So, now it's time to vote -- which one should we keep? Samantha modeled both of them to give you an idea what they'll look like on those sunny days this summer. (Oh, and we'll fix the front up a little higher on whichever one we keep). What fun!

Car Wash

I just washed our car, first time since last summer. I know some of you are cringing in disgust. Yes, it's true, you are within your rights to cringe. It was a sorry sight, to be sure. The car is green, but one might wonder, I suppose? Some neighborhood hoodlums wrote graffiti in the dust several months ago and no amount of daily rain had been able to erase their handiwork or my handprinted erasing over the top.

I would have taken it to a carwash ages ago, except the last time I did that I ended up with a crack across the front windscreen (aka windshield in the US) that cost us 150 pounds to fix. You might wonder why I didn't just get myself a bucket and wash it earlier. Well, we had to wait till we moved because it was too many stairs to be hauling water buckets up and down to our on-street parking spot.

So, anyway, today is the special day. Dark, threatening clouds hovered overhead, the sun went down half an hour ago, and passers-by sniggered at this crazy lady with two buckets (no hose, mind you) trying to wash her car in the dark. I don't care. The car is clean (I think?). And green (I think?). And I will once again take pride in it and hope that I soon pass my UK license test so I can legally drive it!

New-found toy box!

A few weeks ago we found a really good deal on a nice seagrass chest that's the PERFECT size for a toy box! We snatched it up and brought it home for Samantha's nice collection that sits in the far end of our dining room. The first couple of days, Sam seemed to wander around the house as if she was looking for the thousands of toys she used to have. Then she discovered she can open and close it on her own. After that, it didn't take her long to discover she can also climb in and out on her own (only hit her head on the floor once, getting out and only got stuck inside once, smart girl). She LOVES the toy box!

Here she is enjoying her toys on several different days. Thought you'd enjoy seeing how happy she is and how many innovative toys she has.
Notice Dad's basketball and the empty 7-up bottle in this one below. We also found a large plastic serving spoon from the kitchen, Mom's make-up bag, several cardigans and pajama pants (she loves clothes), and some bubble bath that she swiped from her own bath.

Fully immersed in toyhood!!