So...what happened? Where'd they go?

What happened?! Well, it's been a rawther busy couple of seasons. I do apologize for not updating Le Blog. Let me tell the story in a few words and smallish pictures, eh?



Lily and her schoolmates had a lovely sunny day for their sponsored Toddle, and raised over 800 pounds!!! That's 1600 dollars, these days, and thanks to you all for a BIG percentage of that. We're well on the way to the amount we need for the new turf...here are some of the kids, taking a breather on the walk...





My mom arrived in early July, which was fabulous. She went right to work improving the garden with me as her able henchperson, and making life fabulous. Overgrown corner before (left) and after (right). Sweet!!

David and I even got to take a few days to celebrate our 10th anniversary in Berlin! Right after the World Cup finals, I might add - thank goodness we didn't overlap with those thousands of tourists...



David the younger got his yellow stripe belt in Tae Kwon Do and did lots of things with his Beaver pack as well (like smaller Cub Scouts). In with all that was the Sandringham Flower Show, where we raised MORE funds for Lily's school selling cakes and elderflower cordial. Elderflower cordial ROCKS when it's 90 degrees out. David's school displayed their nifty art projects and Prince Charles and Camilla visited the display. We didn't see them when WE stopped in, though.





Then it was time for David the Elder to deploy to the Sandbox again.

Plans were made for field trips by the rest of us...fun summer of travel ahead, maybe as far north as Scotland, even...

Ummm, not so much. Mom took a horrid fall down the stairs, the night that David was leaving. As a result she broke both wrists and got to sample the National Health hospital system for several days, including some major surgery to put pins in there.




Here's mom the day after she got out of hospital, pretty well doped on codeine but not well enough not to hurt. It's awful not being able to use either arm; she couldn't even pick up a coffee cup herself for several weeks.

As you can imagine, that was a pretty awful time. Enter our heroine Jill, who flew out to stay with us until Mom was a tad more mobile. She helped with everything from soup to nuts, arranging a bedroom on the ground floor, cooking some awesome food, making us laugh a LOT, and being here to help with everything that was needed. She even introduced Lily to the fabulousness of Princess pull-ups training pants. God bless her.



Once mom was feeling a little bit less groggy and painkiller-filled, we did a couple of very short side trips while she slept. We managed to take Jill to the local castle, to Sandringham (see the pic at right) and even the beach (hah!! See England, see the rainy, windy, cold beach...) and a day in London right before she left (which was RIGHT after the airplane troubles this summer). I can't say thanks enough for Jill's help and company at an awful time for us.

By the time Jill left us, mom was up and around quite a bit, although she was still cast to the elbows and hurting a lot.



Each week it got better, and we were even able to visit a Roman dig two villages away, where the kids saw excavations, FOUND Roman tiles in the field, and got to help scrub them off (see picture at left). We also made it to a medieval festival, another medieval reenactment at the local castle, a not-quite-so-local castle and priory, and various trips into town, etc. One bit at a time.


We headed to London several times over the summer, both before AND after mom's accident. Highlights for the kiddies were visiting the Victoria and Albert, the Museum of Natural History (twice), Harrod's, Covent Garden, and Kensington Gardens Diana Memorial Playground (Peter Pan-themed and AWESOME; also twice).


The kids were TERRIFIC over summer, and enjoyed every minute we were able to do fun things, but they were also happy to get back to school and their buddies. Lily in particular thought her new optional "schooliform" looked very smart. David got a back-to-school surprise of sorts, when he failed his vision screening! A few weeks later, he was sporting some hip wire-rims and reading all kinds of far-away signs...









Come early October, David came home (wheeeee!!) and he was here for Halloween, when Lily dressed as a (bundled-up) fairy and David IV made an awesome Doctor Who. We took a road trip back to York and its fabulous Viking museum and to Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall.






Thanksgiving was lovely, and quiet, with just 5 of us here. The next weekend mom headed to Pennsylvania and Sheila's for the winter, after helping the kiddies make a gingerbread house. I hope it's lovely and warm at the Yellow House, and wish I could come too. Maybe someday soon.




Now we're heading into Christmas, and the 24/7 webcast of Christmas songs is playing. A couple of evenings ago was David's Christmas Fayre at the village hall by his school. I was roped into manning a raffle table, and Dadster took the kids about, to visit all the fun games and stop at Santa's grotto too.





Yesterday we picked a tree at the Sandringham sawmill, and it's a beauty. At a little over 7 feet high, it actually fills the corner and the treestand, unlike last year's somewhat smaller version. The kids did a lovely job decorating it, and the pine smell is just right.

So, there you have it - half a year in a nutshell. It's been a little crazy, a little horrible, and a lot wonderful. More soon, my friends...