Another photo drop

Apologies again for being a very slack blogger.  We are just living life at the moment, nothing strange and startling happening, but we are having fun.

Here is a rough outline of what we have been up to.

We had our friends Rachel, Riley, Layla, Christy and Edmund round to play a few weeks ago.  It was so much fun, and the kids all played so well together, making it a nice time for the mummies to chat.

I have been throwing myself into my Uni work lately, doing my best to stay ahead, especially as we have the holiday coming up (more on that to come).  But something popped up in my Facebook feed on Wednesday morning, and I was taken with it straight away.  Basically it was a pack of preprinted c-v-c cards, perfect to assist Isaac in the first steps to reading and writing.  So I spent the morning cutting and laminating them.  Isaac and/or Seb have done these at least once a day since I made them.  Not always properly, but they are practicing pen control.

Yesterday was Isaac's International Festival.  Paul took the day off, so we all went along.  We did not dress Isaac up, as we don't really have any costumes to represent England.  Last year he wore his Liverpool shirt.  According to his teachers, he got quite upset when he saw everyone else dressed up, so they found this for him to wear.

He looks so cute, and so pleased with himself.  The festival was to the usual standards, and i bought some plants for the garden after (more to come on that too....).  We went out for lunch after, and both Seb and Isaac fell asleep on the way home.  Isaac slept for about an hour and a half, Seb for about 45 minutes.

I get a little worried about Seb sleeping in the day unpredicatably.  He is now potty trained!  In the weeks leading up to Easter, he had loads of nappy off time.  Rachel had sent me a really good book to assist in potty training, so over Easter we went for it.  Friday and Saturday were nappy off days, Sunday was pants only, Monday was pants and shorts.  Tuesday he went to school in pants, and held his wee all morning.  The Wednesday he went twice at school.  We are now 2 weeks in, and he is doing pretty good.  Very few accidents, and even doing number 2's on the toilet.  He is waking up in the morning dry, and the same if he falls asleep in the car.   I am so proud of him for doing this, particularly as he doesn't tell us.  He just takes himself to his potty when he needs to go, admittedly his pants are normally the other side of the room, but at least the liquid is in the potty.....  The next step is to get him a bed, then we will be completely over the baby stage.

Sob, sob.....

My birthday shenanigans

Hey!

So we are on another winter weather watch, tomorrow morning till Thursday.  Anything between 1-8 inches of snow, depending where you read it.  I think school will be on tomorrow, but possibly not Wednesday.  There is a big fear of cold weather here, a bit weird, coming from the UK....

It was my birthday last Wednesday.  I started the day opening my presents which consisted of beer, chocolates, work out tops and more Pandora charms.  Isaac was off last week, so we went to Gravatopia to meet up with some friends.  This place is awesome, loads of trampolines, and pits full of foam you can jump into.  Here is a photo of Isaac about to jump in to the big pit. 

 It took him a while to work up the courage, and would only do it holding my hand.  Gravatopia is reasonably priced, they do a session 9-10am where kids are usual price, and adults jump for free.  This  is a place I am sure we will be back to.  I spent the rest of the day relaxing and letting the boys play too much computers......  I cooked a lovely meal for Paul and I, and enjoyed my first beer in a month (followed by a few more)

Thursday I went to Rachel's.  It was nice for Isaac to get the chance to lay with Riley.  They get on so well.  Anna was also there.  All these guys were just getting over sickness bugs....

Friday we took Isaac to get his haircut.  Seb was supposed to get his done too, but he point blank refused, and I was not going to force the issue.  I was supposed to be going to the Free Zumba and the Kroc centre in Greenville in the evening, but got a last minute text from Anna asking if I wanted to go to the cinema instead, as a late birthday treat.

So off we trundled, Anna, myself, Rachel and Clare.  We saw American Hustle.  An alright film.  I won't be going out of my way to see it again though.... As this was not a stupidly long film like the one previously, we decided to go for a few drinks after.  We ended up at Sherby's in Simpsonville.  This was the first time any of us have experienced the bar scene here, and I think we all rather enjoyed it, given the time we got home.... Thanks ladies for an excellent night out.  Looking forward to the next one.

Saturday I got to go shopping on my own, which was lovely.  I visited Old Navy, and could have spent so much more than I did.  I also visited Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW), and finally found some boots!  Unfortunately they didn't have my size and tried to order them for me, but alas their stockings did not have my size.  The manager did however manage to put some life into my old boots with a special lanolin cream.  They look almost like new now...  I did invest in some decent Clakes flip flops for the summer.  I then checked out TJ Maxx next door, and was so not impressed.... I took a quick trip into the mall and spent my gift card for American Eagle.

Saturday night we were lucky enough to go out.  Thank you to Anna for babysitting.  We headed into Greenville, and after trying to get into nearly every decent restaurant on Main Street, we ended up at Roost.  It was pretty good (I hope to blog about it soon).  It was a good night, but Greenville was very busy.

It has been a long time since I have been out on a Friday and Saturday night.  Thanks to my friends for taking me out, and babysitting, and thanks to my lovely husband for taking me out!

Sunday, Oliver had a birthday party at Sky Zone.  This is a lot like Gravatopia, but on a grander scale for bigger kids. This was the first birthday party Oliver has been invited to this year, and he even let me leave him this time!  I think he had a good time, and this could be a good place for him to have a birthday party.....

Back in to routine

It has been so nice to be home.....

Monday, Isaac was back at school. Oliver and I took Seb to Gymboree, as Mondays usual routine.  It got very cold on Monday, to the point that Greenville school district put a delay on schools starting 2 hours later on the Tuesday.  Oliver's wise headmaster sent an email Monday afternoon saying that school would begin as usual on Tuesday.  The school district encompasses such a large area......Isaac's however decided to start 3 hours later on the Tuesday.  Monday night the temperature went down to -13 centigrade.  It was cold, very cold.  The water in the boys water table froze solid, 3 inches thick

Tuesday, I took Oliver to school.  It was most noticeably icy on the roads near the house, but once you go on to the main highways it wasn't too bad.  Traffic was fairly light, and he got to school early.  Isaac, Seb and I returned home and played till it was time to take Isaac to school.  If Isaac had not been doing lunch and learn, he would not have been going in.  It was cold again on Tuesday night, but only about -7....

Wednesday Oliver had an ENT appointment at Greenville Hospital.  This is the first time we have been to one of the main hospital buildings, and it went well.  We were seen fairly quickly by Dr Cooter. Turns out he has 3 kids in the upper school of Oliver's school, he recognized the uniform straight away.  He took a swab from Oliver's recurring ear infection to send away to be cultured.  He then proceeded to vacuum Oliver's ear.  All is can say is yuck, there were some big chunks of disgustingness coming out. How it has not been causing him pain, I do not know. He has been given drops and an oral antibiotic (it tastes disgusting), to try and fight the infection. Dr Cooter wanted Oliver to get his hearing checked ASAP, but we were only able to get an appointment over in Greer next week.  We also have to see Dr Cooter again in 10 days time.  I dropped Oliver back at school, and headed home.  The afternoon was spent with Isaac not really knowing what to do with himself....

Thursday morning, I went and looked at a preschool for Seb.  I have spent the week sending emails and arranging visits to local day care/ preschools.  I started with a list of about 8, whittled it down to about 5 using their websites.  Only 3 got back to me, 1 I called and left a message, the other I called and arranged a visit for Monday.  One didn't do a half day program for Sebs age.  

So the first one I saw on Thursday I quite liked.  It is convenient, the room is nice and spacious, they have a good out door area and water play area.  Seb freaked when he first went in, but settled eventually.  We took a little tour to the gym, where Soccer Shots was taking place.  Seb went and joined in, with no instruction from anyone.  He loved it!!!  I took him back to what would be his room, and he was fine, and even went off to play.  We spent longer than anticipated here, and were late for a meet up group.  We met at Acrosmiths Gymnastics.  This is a cheerleading/gym place where they had a big springy mat, a running trampoline, beams and lots of other equipment laid out for kids to play.  Seb loved it.  It was good fun, and there were loads of mums with kids all different ages.  I spoke to lots of different people, which was nice.

Friday I checked out another day care.  This one is located on Woodruff Road, so a little further than I would like to travel.  It was laid out quite similar to the preschool the boys went to in England.  The rooms are all open, and they also have a play area, half of which Sebs age is not allowed on.  They make all their meals on site, and there were plenty of staff.  But it just didn't feel right......  From there we went to Rachel's house.  So nice to catch up with a good friend, while the kids played nicely.  

As it was the second Friday of the month, it was Free Community Zumba at the Kroc Centre in Greenville.  I was supposed to be meeting some friends, but I was the only one from our group who showed up.  Didn't matter, I love these sessions, it is a good work out and lots of fun, just how zumba should be.

Today we did the costco shop (ouch), then went to the mall for some lunch, and to return some Christmas presents.   The rest of the day had been spent at home relaxing, and enjoying our time together.

I have decided to take January off from drinking.  I had my last alcohol on Sunday night, and have not touched a drop since.  I am proud of myself.  My drinking was not out of hand, but after a heavy trip back to England, and the run up to Christmas, I think my body needed a break.  So far so good.  One thing I am noticing is how tired I am, but I am putting this down to recovering from travelling, and sorting out things here.  I feel like I have done so much paper work and general family up keep this week.  I have also made a start on my course, which doesn't start till next month.

So that's the catch up..... Sorry for the lack of photos, but we have not taken any this week!  

Next week will be spent seeing friends, getting Oliver's hearing tested (the culture grew a bacterial infection, just in case you were wondering), and doing at least 2 maybe even 3 Zumba sessions.....

Quick hello

I thought I better do a post before the craziness of the next 2 weeks kicks in…..

This week has pretty much been spent preparing for our journey.  It has been a cycle of washing (to be sure we have enough warm clothes), cleaning (no one likes coming home to a dirty house), and packing.  Progress report:  All washing is done, all beds are clean, only the kitchen to hoover, most of the packing is done bar the boys presents.  All in, I am pretty confident we are ready…

Isaac finished school on tuesday.  He had a party, and took in gifts he had made for his teachers.  These were pretty basic, tree ornaments made out of cinnamon scented salt dough, painted by him, with his name on the back.  A nice keep sake for his teachers.

Wednesday morning we went to Rachel's house.  The boys had a great time playing with the toys, and Layla and Riley.  Sebastian was even introduced to his first slot car set.  To say he loved it is an understatement… once he found it, he spent the rest of the time playing with it.  I was surprised how careful he was with it.  The boys even got donuts, so they were very happy

Wednesday night I was lucky enough to get to go out with my friends.  We went to Bacon Brothers on Pelham Road.  All I can say is yummy.  The food was good, the company was better, and the beer was cheap (2.50 for a pint! won't get that in England…)  A big thanks to Rachel for driving me, hope I didn't gabber too much on the way home!!!

This morning Paul went into work a little late, so I could go to Oliver's end of school service.  They is no photography in Chapel, so I could not get a photo of him doing a cute little dance with his friends to a Jewish song.  The service was lovely.  All the grades, kindergarden to 4th, did an awesome job.  The school presents so many opportunities to the kids and they really step up to the plate.  Oliver had requested a trip to the zoo afterwards.  Oliver never asks to go to the zoo, so off we went. The boys loved it.  It was nice and quiet, and not too cold, though big coats were still needed.  I took loads of photos of all 3 boys together.  They are rarely in the same shot, so this was a rarity….

After, we headed to meet Paul for lunch.  We ended up at Firehouse Subs, despite Oliver's protests, he really enjoyed it.  We even managed to get Isaac to eat most of his grilled cheese sandwich. Any one who reads this blog regularly will know what an accomplishment that is! 

We came home, Seb did not go for a sleep, but I did!  All this prep has made me quite exhausted.  Same with Paul.  but we think we are ready.  Ready for the sitting in the airport for 3 hours (got the boys some mini lego kits, they should be happy), being on a plane for 9 hours (hopefully they will sleep for half of it), landing at 7am UK time (thats 2am our time) then driving the hour and 30 minutes to my dads.

I am so looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!!  I will try and blog while I am away.  I am super excited for christmas in small houses with the people we love, letting the boys be spoilt, and even spoiling them ourselves.  I am looking forward to seeing my friends.  I know it won't be for long, but it will be so lovely to see everyone.  I am even looking forward to a trip round Tesco!  And doing some sale shopping.

This time tomorrow we will be on a plane…..

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So the Expat blog competition is still live.  I am currently leading the USA entries!  We are well down on total comments per country, so will probably not win any money.  But the way things stand, I am hopeful I can get a GOLD badge to put atop this blog.  That would look so cool.  A big THANK YOU to those that have commented, shared my link on Facebook and retweeted the link on Twitter. I am exceptionally grateful. Here is the link in case you missed it! There is only  a day left to comment

Did I ever mention how much I love Gold…...