Link-a-dee-link

It has finally stopped raining, and it might even be starting to get warm, huzzah!!!!!!

So a run down of our week

Tuesday - We went to our good friend Liene's house.  The boys were able to play out in the garden, we had a delicious strawberry cake for lunch and a good time was had by all.  If you get the chance to read her blog, do so, it is awesome....  Oliver had a baseball game in the evening.  He played well, but this is the first game in which he has effectively 'struck out'.  He has developed a good swing, so his hand eye coordination is not quite as good as it was with cricket, though it is improving.  Just as the final innings was beginning it started to pitter patter with rain.  By the time the game was over, it was chucking it down, and most of the adults were sheltering in the dug out, before making a mad dash to the car.

Boys in a Dodge Viper

Wednesday - Instead of meeting at the zoo, we decided to go to our friends house.  They have a massive back yard, so the boys were able to play out.  They was another lady who I met when I first got here, but haven't seen since.  It was nice to catch up.  Isaac even got to drive a car, ok a mini one, round the garden which he LOVED.  We have not told Oliver yet, he would be sooooo jealous.  From here we headed to get Oliver, then back down the interstate to the BMW Performance Centre.  Paul and many of his work colleagues knew about an event taking place that afternoon, where the One Lap of America cars where coming on their epic drive to set a lap time in a time trial.  I just skim read the history of this event, and it is fascinating, thought up by the guy who wrote the screen plays for Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit II.  The boys loved the cars stationary, and got even more excited to see them on the track.  I thought Seb would freak at the noise (he had not slept, and had been scared by the sound of the mini car at my friends), but oh no, he loved it.....  Probably more than the other 2 put together.  Their concentration levels go very quickly.  We stopped for some fast food on the way home.

Thursday - We met up with Christy and Edmund at Conastee park.  That was fun, and very hot.  The boys played in the park before we decided to walk down towards the lake, and do some of the trails.  Just as we were getting near, a gentleman warned us that he had just moved a cottonmouth snake off one of the trails.  We risked it, and walked for a little, but we were ever so aware and observant of what was around us.  Seb held my hand, and Isaac and Edmund walked very near us.  Oliver had another baseball game in the evening.  This was a rain make up game from earlier in the season.  Only 8 players from Olivers team showed!!!! It was a bit of a shame, but they managed to get 3 innings in, which was good.  It also meant the game lasted an hour rather than the usual 40 minutes.

Friday - We were off to the zoo to meet our friday morning group.  I was feeling brave, and decided to let Seb walk.  As I drove in to the car park, I was struck by the amount of school buses.  There were at least 5 parked up, and while we were waiting for out friends, at least another 5 pulled up.  I have never seen the zoo so busy.  It was a madhouse.  Admittedly, most of the kid were well behaved, and a lot of our group had buggies, or 4 year olds.  Seb was good as gold walking, he did pretty much the whole zoo, and held my hand for most of it.  As I had knackered Seb out in the morning, he went straight to sleep when we got back from getting Isaac.  Isaac and I had a relaxing afternoon watching Cars 2 an playing computers.  I **may** have fallen asleep on the sofa.....  Oliver had yet another baseball game. The heavens opened 20 minutes before it started, just a short sharp shower, and 2 minute before we got an email to say it was cancelled.  At this time, 11 players from Oliver's team were warming up on the field.  They decided to play the game anyway, and Oliver's team sportingly gave up some players to the other team, who were decidedly lacking in players.  We all went to watch this one, which resulted in wet and muddy Sebastian and Isaac...

So the weekend... I was not feeling to good yesterday. Paul indulged in some yard work and put my washing line up.  We went out for dinner. I was able to put my first load out today, it was dry in about 2 hours.  The ground is very soft from all the rain, and seeing as it is mainly clay, we have had to put some extra support for the pole in.  I have every faith that it will stay up.  I am almost looking forward to doing more washing, so it can dry cheaply and fast.....  We had a BBQ for lunch today, very tasty, and I didn't have to cook, seeing as it is Mothers Day out here.  I got some flowers, picked from the garden by Isaac and Paul.  Oliver had a little decorated pot, some soil and a packet of seeds, all nicely wrapped up for me.  It was very thoughtful.  After the BBQ, we headed to the pool.  It opened yesterday, and we got the gate code from the landlord.  As it is not a heated pool, the cover has been off for a couple of weeks in an attempt to get some heat in to it.  It kinda worked.....  It was chilly, but nice to sit on the edge and assist small boys in and out.  I did not go further done the steps than my knees....  I am looking forward to when it is really hot (yes I really am!!!)  as it will be sooooooo refreshing....

Wow, this was not meant to be epic.....  Here are next weeks highlights.....
Monday, to a friends.  Tuesday, the neighbors round.  Wednesday, the zoo.  Thursday-Sunday off to the coast!!!!  Can't wait to get away.  Should be good fun...

Right, I am off to watch Wicked Tuna (so awesome.......)

Fireworks and Elections

It is cold and wet outside, almost reminds me of the UK....  What better way to avoid housework by updating this blog!!!!

We had a fairly relaxing weekend last weekend.  Isaac had a birthday party to go to on saturday at Playnation in Greenville.  It is basically just loads of garden play equipment set up inside.  He seemed to enjoy it, and it was nice to speak to some of the other parents from his preschool.  I also got to meet the one person who he says is his friend, Maxim.  There was also a German gentleman there with his son.  He also works for BMW and has been over here for 2 years.  Lots of parents, and the party was good.  The food was catered for the kids and the adults, Isaac barely ate anything!!!!  They had a balloon modeler and a couple of girls  doing glitter tattoos.  Took me about an hour to persuade Isaac that he wanted anything.  In the end he chose a balloon model of a sword and a shield, so he could fight with Oliver.

The clocks went back on Sunday.  Its like Isaac knows.....ever since Saturday he has been waking up at 5.30am, not good.  Sunday we went out for lunch to Applebees on the Woodruff Road in Greenville.  Our waitress was from Aberdeen, Scotland, but has been over here since she was small.  That was one mixed up accent!!!!  We then went and checked out Kohl's.  It is another big department store.  They had a good toy department, which seemed to carry a lot of end of line stuff, as well as the usual suspects.  This will be a good place for Christmas shopping.

Monday evening we went to a Bonfire party.  Yes, thats right a Bonfire Party, here in the good ol' U S of A....  It was held by a lovely lady called Tracey, a Northerner who married an American, Michael.  They have a huge back yard, with a big play set and they had an inflatable bouncy castle thingy set up.  The kids loved it, though Oliver and Isaac both refused to go down the 'scary' slide.  Tracey had laid on loads of delicious food, which Paul Seb and I really enjoyed, but the other 2 were being stubborn and wouldn't eat.  The bonfire was lit, it was very high, and Michael got the hose out to bring it under control, which he did a good job of.  Tracey's dad then began letting off the fireworks.  The kids freaked..... The Fire Department and Sheriff arrived about 20 minutes later.  Some neighbours had called them, due to the size of the fire, and the sound of gun shots......  The Firemen came and checked out the fire, while a lot of the kids checked out the fire engine.  They ok-ed it, and the party continued.  We left just after Michael had put on the British National Anthem on the projector screen on the shed.  Kinda strange, being in a garden in South Carolina, listening to our National Anthem, all 3 verses of it....  Thanks again to Tracey and her family for hosting this wonderful event.  Our family really enjoyed it.

Yesterday was election day, I am sure you all know the outcome by now.  We were talking about it in the car on the way to school yesterday, when Oli pipes up to tell us he voted on Monday, I asked him who for, and he answered 'Barack Obamamama'.   When I picked him up, he had a sticker on that stated 'I voted'.  Again I asked him who he had voted for, and he responded 'Mitt Romenly'.  It transpired that he voted for him as that is who everyone else had voted for.  He was adamant that 'Romenly' was now president.  Still haven't told him the truth......  AS it was election day yesterday, Isaac didnt have any preschool.  We went to the mall to meetup with some friends.  There is a small soft play area in there. We did not get to stay long, as both Seb and Isaac were tired, and it really showed in their behavior.  I drove the scenic route home from the Mall, and both boys fell asleep.  I took Seb upstairs, but left Isaac in the car in the garage.  I got him after 45 minutes, he woke up, so I lay him on the sofa, and the blighter went back to sleep!!!!  Seb woke about 2 hours later, and Isaac kept on sleeping.  He slept for over 3 hours in the end.  He must have really needed it.  He awoke about 20 minutes before we had to get Oli, so he shoved some lunch in him, and off we went.  Paul and I spent a lot of last night watching the election results come in.  Makes the UK coverage of our elections look very poor, I must say!!!!!

Paul has got friday and next monday off work.  He still has 8 days holiday left over from Rolls Royce to use before the end of the year.  Think we are going shopping for Isaac's birthday presents on Friday, not sure about the monday yet.  We don't have a lot of cash till Paul gets paid, so we can't really go anywhere.  Its a bit of a shame, but we keep remembering that we are here for 3 years, and we will get lots of opportunities to travel.....

House hunting day 2

The boys in the Zentrum

So we began the Tuesday with a trip to the Zentrum, the BMW factory visitor centre in North America for a meeting with the international HR manager.  She was lovely, very nice, straight to the point lady.  Our friendly German was also there.  It always amazes me to hear people conversing in two languages, one after another.  I have much respect for people who can do this, would like to also be able to do this someday.  The boys sat brilliantly through this, playing iPods, again.  Paul then had to go into the main building for his health check so me and the boys were left to kill half an hour looking around the Zentrum.  It is a pretty cool place for car enthusiasts, like my children.  All sorts, cars, motor bikes, engines they really enjoyed it.

After we went for some lunch then on to meet out relocation company realtor.  We had arranged to meet at a show home for a house that has not been completed yet.  The show home layout was fab, and we were quite interested, so we went to see the incomplete house on the plot.  First thing that put us off was the distance to the communal pool.  Then it was the dog barking in the house behind.  It was quite overlooked too.  So this was another no no.  We the went to see the neighbourhood of a house the realtor seemed pretty keen on, but we could not get to see inside till later that afternoon.  All of the houses on this day were quite near each other, and all in our advised area of Simpsonville/ Five Forks.  We drove to the next house.  The realtor took us on a little tour of the area before pulling up at the house we were looking at.  All we  could think while driving the neighbourhood was "bloody hell these houses are massive". When we pulled up, we were impressed.  It was big but not too big.  Greeted by a lovely tenant who showed us around, first thing for the boys was the toys belonging to the tenant's children.  They were happy.  The tenant was so helpful, answering questions, she had things laid out well.  The house was lovely.  Big entrance hall with formal dining room one side office space the other.  Small bonus room next to the downstairs toilet and big open plan living room/ kitchen/ diner.  Large fenced in back garden, but a manageable size.  Upstairs the master bedroom has a den to one side plus built in wardrobe, full ensuite.  There is another bedroom with ensuite, then down the other end of the hall 2 further large bedroom with built in storage areas.  There is another bathroom between these two bedrooms.  This was by far the best house we had seen.  The tenant asked questions about school and preschools, she advised not going to see one of the ones we had down to visit, but highly recommended another which we had planned to visit, just a couple hundred metres down the road.  We thanked the tenant, and headed to the next house, which was even bigger. It was over 3 floors. It had 5 bedrooms a massive living space leading onto a decking overlooking the lovely grassed fenced on back garden. The only way to access this garden was through the basement, so we went and checked it out. It was a massive granny annexe with its own kitchen, bathroom and living space. It was huge, but too big for us. The realtor Said she had in provisionally line dip for a German family coming next month with 6 kids!!! We then went and checked put the previous house to see inside.  Again, it was totally amazing, huge, with a mega basement.  But the garden was a no go, there was no fences on the side, and it dropped off to a steep incline at the very back.

We concluded that there was only one house we wanted to go back and look at the next day.  The agent said she would arrange it, and true to her word she did.  After we left her, we went to the supermarket, bought some more food for a nibbly dinner and headed back to the hotel,for an early night for all concerned.

Recent developments...

A big HELLO to all the netmums from February 2011, and my friends/ family who have been guided or have inadvertently found this blog. Please keep following me, it will get more interesting.......

So since yesterday..... Paul received 3 emails, one from the visa people, one from the relocaters, and one from the private school. The visa people need Paul to fill out lots of 'interesting' forms to get the visa process started. The relocaters will arrange our look and see, our first travel, and everything else! The school (Christchurch Epicospical School, look it up if you feel inclined) have sent us some forms to fill in to begin the admissions process for Oliver. It's quite funny, as 2 of these forms are in German, obviously for those coming from BMW in Germany. They are expecting Oliver to go into Grade 2, the English equivalent of year 3. They will test him first to see which grade his ability is. I have done a bit of research on this, and I think he will be ok in this academically, but we will see!

Isaac's first attempt at writing his name

I also want them to test Isaac, as although he is not meant to start kindergarten till the September after he is 5 (2014!!!), I think they will take him in September 2013, especially as he is being paid for. He has been practicing writing today, copying words, I am really pleased with how clear they are for one of his first attempts. I swear Oliver could not write this well at 3 1/2! I have also booked Oliver and Isaac's hepatitis B vaccinations.

All children in the US are vaccinated for this as part of their routine vaccinations from birth. And we thought we put our kids immune systems through a lot.... So 11th July, jabs for the big boys, just before school. The way to make a good day, NOT! I am not doing Sebastian, as in theory he will be 4 when we come home, so should not need them. If he ends up in daycare/ preschool out there, then I will get them done in the US, at the companies expense.

I am beginning to sell a lot of baby stuff form around the house. I plan to add more stuff to my page when I need too. Hopefully I can make a little bit of money, so we have a bit extra before we go and do not need to ship anything unnecessarily. If you are on Facebook please look for the Goslings Great House Clearance page. No doubt I will be posting again soon, so look out for it. Much love xxx

Time to tell.....

My weekend was a resounding success. The boys were goodish for nanny and grandad, other than seb being really unsettled going to bed, then waking in the night and having to go in with mum and lee! Oli played the wii loads. They all fell asleep in the car on the way home, and are still awake and being absolute monkeys.....trying my best to ignore them, but if I have to go up again, I will take away all their computer time (evil mummy.....)

Annas party was great fun. It was nice to catch up with Anna, Kirstie and Maria. There was not as many people as expected, which meant more woowoo's! Everyone who was there had a good time, and the Jagerbombs were lovely, thanks Anna. Was also nice to chat with Emma, she was another of Anna's bridesmaids, and I have not seen her since the wedding. Nice to catch up... I told my friends of the grand plan, so I think it's time I put it down here....

Paul has managed to secure a transfer from Rolls Royce in Chichester to BMW in Spartenberg, America. He has had telephone meetings with the guys over there, and although it is more of a side step than a promotion, It will be a fantastic opportunity for him (and us!). I believe it is a job in power train analysis of diesel engines in the X3 model, basically he gets to drive cars round a test track listening for squeaks rattles etc, then analysing them. I think it is probably most men's dream job! His boss in the US ideally wants him to start on 1st September, but realistically knows, given the visa situation that it is more likely to be 1st October. Until Paul speaks to US HR on Wednesday, we don't know much more than that. Paul has spoken to quite a lot of his American colleagues, so we know a bit more. He has also accessed some info on the BMW intraweb, so we have a rough idea of a few details. They are 2 cars (that's new BMW's), as we have a large family we will have a rental allowance of $1850 a month, Oliver's school can (and will) be paid for, not sure about preschool yet for Isaac, as kindergarten does not start till the September after he is 5 (that's September 2014!!!!). There is medical cover, need to look into the full details of that, given my diabetes. We also get 1 flight home a year each. Paul is on a minimum contract of 3 years, so the earliest we will be back is September 2015, the longest we can stay is 5 years. I also receive a training allowance, which should enable me to complete my OU degree out there. I have already checked this out, and I am fully able to take my exams out there, I just need an address in the UK to send all my books to. We also have to partake in a 'look and see' trip about a month before we go. This will take place during Paul's normal working week, we will all go over to South Carolina and check it out. We will choose a house, and look for a school for Oliver.

Now the things I am going to speculate on. I have been using a great website called British expats, which has given me so much info. I think BMW must have a blanket visa to enable all their employees to travel at short notice. Paul will go out on a L1 visa, me and the boys on a L2 visas. Passports need to be valid for 6 months after the time your visa expires. Paul's, isaac's and my passports all run out in 2014, so we may need to renew our passports before we can even think about visas. We will have to go to the US embassy in London for visa interviews, I think we will do this before the look and see week. Given that I have a OU residential school 14-20 July, then we are supposed to be going to my mums mobile in France 31st July till the 20th August, fitting these things in could be interesting....

We have checked out using google earth where the factory and the school are, and I now have realtor.com on my iPad to look for houses within our budget. I feel like a kid in a candy store, lol! I could write sooooooooo much more on the things I could speculate on/need to think about, but until Paul has the chat with US HR there is no point. This post was not meant to be this long, but it is nice to get it down, and nice to be able to tell people, after keeping it to ourselves for months. After Wednesday i will start telling a lot more of my friends around here, the people i see regularly. I will probably also start giving out this blog address too. Not sure I want to put it on Facebook yet, still don't want to jinx it completely. I will probably message people this blog. I also need to figure out how to add photos. Might have a play in a bit.... Right, that will do for now. Will update more on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on how the phone call goes x