Things that cheer me up

1. Since we left chicago- I haven't gotten a newspaper - so I am use to reading my news online- I started recently reading the wonderful world news bytes on msnbc.com Short news stories of amazing/positive things going on all over the world- definitely a brighter outlook then the rest of the news.

2.Karate Kid- chris and I just watched it tonight- nothing beats the tournament scene- where Ralphie wins the match and gets the girl ( still not sure on how I feel about Will Smith's son playing the remake of karate kid- this may be my conspiracy theory but I think both will and jada are hanging out at the Scientology center way too much)(btw I still love Elisabeth Shue- she just rocks and is so cute)

3.Slip and Slides- just got back to froma childrens bday party where besides putting water on the slip and slide -they drenched it in dish soap- so every time casey flew down it - she was covered in bubbles.

4.Pizza crusts dipped into Hidden Vally Ranch- have to make it until Oct with the 3 bottles I brought back. U have to be on mama's good side for em to share.

5. New playlists- Just got 3 awesome playlists for my shuffle- love the fact that I get a weird insight into my friends song choices ( all 3 of them were lacking in 80s tunes and pop for my taste) but so nice to have "new" music to listen to.

6. Sunshine, beer, flip flops, guacamole, summer vacation,- oh and I am so addicted to the True Blood HBO series- ( definitely is a sexier version of the Twilight)- Chris hates it- which means I have to watch it by myself which wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't such a scaredy cat.

Swiss Miss

The trip started off rocky- jet lag set in with the kids and they didn't go to sleep until midnight and then I woke them up at 4:30 am to get to the airport.
Things picked up- I bribed them with a Krispy Kreme donuts if they made it thru check in and security w/o fighting. Flight was uneventful besides being seated by a 50 year old guy who let me know he has 8 kids ranging in age from 27- 2 1/2 years old. Story would be charming if he wasn't on wife #4- (who btw looked 25 from the photo he showed me)- he at least carried some bags for me and kept me laughing on the school bills and weddings he has to pay for.

We then got picked up to make the 3 1/2 hour trek from the airport to the town in Switzerland we were headed to. Praise the Lord- both kids slept the entire way- these roads were so CURVY- CJ would have been sick in a nano second if he was awake.

The hotel was unbelievably pretty and the sun was shining and we were greeted by a HUGE chocolate bar on each of our pillows (seriously what's not to love)

Basically we didn't see Chris for 2 1/2 days while he worked - the kids actually loved taking trams up the mountain and checking out different spots ( yes I resorted to gummy bear and toblerone bribes when Casey would complain about walking. We ate cheese fondue at night and stayed up way too late. Yes, the kids had moments of awfulness (CJ is in an annoying temper tantrum phase) but when we needed them to behave they did ( we took them to a work event dinner in Italy where I was so paranoid it was going to be a nightmare and it turned out so much better than expected.(got to love low expectations) (plus I ditched the kids with chris and his work colleagues and went shopping for an hour (fresh pasta, olive oils ,and candles were purchased).

So yes, it was one of those trips that made me thankful for being on this adventure (don't worry we were greeted by Rain as we flew back to England)- Seriously, the summer weather here sucks- such a joke that all these Brits always predict an amazing summer weather and my 2 summers here have been varying degrees of Rain.

Repack

So no sooner do I land and I am unpacking a bag to repack another piece of luggage. Definitely crazy- it seems 2 months ago it seemed like a good idea to fly back from the states on Monday and then rally the kids to fly and meet Chris in Switzerland on wed. Yes- I know I need to save for therapy as well as college for these kiddos. Picture the therapist's couch and CJ saying "I woke up in Michigan one day and the next day it was England and the next day it was Switzerland". Or maybe he can just have great dreams of candy in each country and some pretty damn good chocolate in Switzerland ( I am SO not above the bribe to get thru travel)

So we shall see how pressing my luck with jetlag and preschoolers goes tomorrow. Perfect world we will be climbing the mountains (I am sure I will have to carry 35lb Casey Jane) Heidi style up and drinking hot chocolate in style and singing edelweiss. Or reality style would be swimming in a hotel pool that resembles every other hotel pool- ordering chicken tenders and fries and forcing the kids to don some leiderhosen and heidi ensemble for which I can only hope to show their prom dates in years to come. A mom can dream can't she.

rebel

Ok I rebelled a little and the blog has taken the backburner. I think I was so schooled out since we didn't get out of school until mid July- that I needed a break.
So let's see what has been happening- am stateside with the kids- had a memorable flight where we were on lockdown in our seats for 3 hours and we hit so much turbulence both kids got sick- (note the barfing in the air at least didn't let me think that there was anything wrong with the flight- got to love kids for keeping your mind on the priorities like trying to find a barf bag ( which thank god I had some ziplocks of goldfish crackers)

I have shopped quite a bit- still haven't lost the patheticness of acting so delighted to be wandering aimlessly around Target with my big icyfull (should be a word) glass of Diet Coke. Just finished watching Twilight again- still a fan of Mr. Pattinson , he definitely smolders the screen (even the tv), saw relatives/friends answered questions with more positivity than 6 months ago about living in England. I noticed a trend with CJs british accent- it seems our little man loses some of its authenticity when he gets tired.

Time change makes it hard to reach Chris but he seems to be surviving without us- had to leave him typed up instructions/diagram of how to operate the made in Germany washer/dryer. Tried to update myself on US news- whole another blog on how when we return from England this country may seem a little more like England (can u tell I'm not a fan of socialized medicine). But I am so happy to be home- (yes - chris and I both agree, we have some great friends in England, and do some pretty cool things, but it ain't home). I actually get teary eyed when the Passport Control agent says "welcome home"- (or maybe I am just so relieved to have survived the flight:)

Lil Bro

So we had A LOT of fun with my brother here.
I escaped 2 days to London kid free and got to enjoy the sunny weather sightseeing.
First day I picked the sights and as expected jam packed the day that we were running from subways to trains and completely wiped out. Second day my brother insisted on seeing only 2 things and not running around the city like a chicken with a head cut off. For the record it was so much more relaxing his way! I did get kicked out of the Holocaust exhibit at the War Museum. I failed to read the no cell phone signs and was responding to a text. (to be fair it was a friend watching Casey Jane who needed to find barbie Thumbelina pronto or a tantrum was brewing)- my little brother thought it was immensely hilarious to have me being escorted out for a small period of time. (note the exhibit is very powerful and of course barbie texts should not be allowed)
We shopped -( yes, my metro sexual brother likes to shop) we ate (sushi and Sapporo), we took dorky tourist photos (okay that's just me), watched the MJ tribute (I mentioned Chris and I are huge fans- we found the gloves for the family a bit much and why or why was Louis Farrakhan there! okay and Jesse Jackson),
Photo contains my new purchase- a beautiful Radley bag (30% off- thankyouverymuch)

Why I love teachers

Cute little end of year notes accompanied by a photo album of my daughter every month of the school year. Made my day!
(Please note spirited was not even mentioned!!!)

So I passed my drivers test- and yes I almost hit the curb during my parallel park and yes I was freaking out during the 40 min exam. (Note- I had the same grumpy test giver as before but he seemed a lot better since I was driving a piece of junk driving school car (cost me $75 to rent the car) and not my own car- I also kept my american accent mouth shut for most of the test)

Other news- remeber how I said how I love small schools- well one bad thing when you have less than 200 kids in a school is sickness Spreads. Our school has been closed all week due to SWINE FLU- we haven't fallen and have actually enjoyed being out and about ( since I was kind of getting sick of working on spelling words in summer)
We supposedly go back Monday- will see.

Baby Brother is headed in for a visit- hope the sun keeps shining (you know it will rain as soon as his 747 hits the tarmac but one can dream) . Love the fact that this 83 degree weather has heat warnings in England - I think when its 83 in Texas everyone is outside doing things:)