The List

So the list has reappeared ( pretty sure Chris wasn't psyched to see it come out again). The "List" is everything I want to see or do in England before we leave.
The First year we hit the List hard ( to be fair too hard at one point we had been to London and Cambridge one too many times that one of the kids asked why we keep going on double decker tour buses)- So we took a break and got in the mode of normal non tourist living- well the list is back with limited time on this side of the pond-we need to start checking some sights off. So we headed to Hampton Court Palace (e.g Henry the VIII palace and grounds- weather cooperated- kids cooperated ( helped that they loved the maze of hedges on the grounds ( me of course only could think of "The Shining" while in the maze. I'm big fan of that period of history so the palace was fun to wander around and check out life in the Tudor Time.

Other news we had the most positive conference with CJ's teacher. We of course had some shortcomings to work on ( "his handwriting is still too LARGE for joining, and sometimes he is too "keen" to participate) but overall she exuded warmth. I mentioned being a little nervous about starting a new school in the fall back in TX for CJ and she cut me off mid sentence and said "With Christopher, There is nothing to worry about." (most affectionate moment we've had! The conf was so nice I won't try to send dried fruit in for a snack the rest of the year)
Other good fact- I again get to celebrate 2 mother's day. The British one today- I was greeted by handmade cards and coffee in bed and no trekking to swim class or doing homework with the kids today. Alas, the American and the English Father's Day is the same day:)

Oscar recap (the good, the bad , the ugly)

So I am 48 hours late but that's what u get when u have to wait 24 hours to watch the taped version. (which btw I cheated and I checked my iphone at 7 am to see all the winners but managed to coerce a few friends with American salsa and chips and champagne to watch the coverage)

A few comments

1-Haven't seen the Hurt Locker- so I was at quite a disadvantage for the awards show. How anti climatic was the introduction by Tom Hanks of "Best Picture".
Red Carpet- due to watching the British version at the red carpet I now miss Ryan and Gialiana (she looks like a bobble head and is so annoying). The British red carpet crew was so pathetic they only could get Colin Firth and Colin Farrell to acknowledge their questions. ( we got the E version of the red carpet as well but I basically used up all our DVR by taping 8 hours of coverage)

2. SJP- Okay I am going to be HARSH- Sarah Jessica Parker looked so old- older than Meryl Streep- she needs eye work done pronto. Her hubby looked middle age and fat.
BTW I almost started crying when they did the John Hughes dedication- All of the stars looked so old (Ringwald, Broderick, Judd Nelson)- this translates into WE ARE OLD. (seems like yesterday I was watching 'pretty in pink"- I am sure it will be remade with Miley Cyrus next year.

3-Baldwin and Martin- funny liked a few of the bits but bring Mr Jackman back- I like song and dance by an Ozzie hottie.

4.Best Dressed- Penelope, Winslet, Clooney and girlfriend, Bullock (xcept that lipstick was a little too red for me ( I hate red), girl from Avatar in lavender

5. Worst Dressed- Matt Damon's wife (she just annoys me for no good reason), Kristen Stewert from twilight (could she snarl more in an annoying way), R Downy JR, SJP, Sigourney Weaver, Vera ( it lady from Up in the Air), Charlize Theron, Morgan Freeman (little known fact he broke up with his wife of 24 years and is dating his 26year old step granddaughter)- to say he lost points with me is an understatement.

6. Speeches all were awful- no vengeance or humor just boring shout outs to agents and lawyers.

Recap

1- Yes- I woke up at 3am and stayed up until 6 am watching the women's figure skating on Thurs night- The girl from Korea AMAZING!!!!
The Canadian girl awesome story about fighting through tragedy but both Chris and I think the American California skated better than her. (seriously no doubt in my mind ). Still miss Kwan and they hey day of debi vs katrina- they just don't make skating divas like they use to.

2-I HATE how they keep track of the olympics in Europe- they only track gold medals- Hello weighted average for the medals standings. (It really annoys me)

3-My friends here threw me a bday bash where everyone was suppose to wear pjs and drink champagne and watch the Oscars ( alas I was 2 weeks off on that). Out of the 10girls that came only 2 of us were in pjs- it seems that request was way out in left field and caused much distress to which I sent a text saying dress code is now comfy casual ( still 2 people in skirts???)- (the best was one of my very shy/quiet friends called to tell me she DOES NOT OWN pjs. Not sure how she does that in winter here but power to you.

4-I don't want to count my lucky stars but baby girl is behaving So well we are concerned there has been an alien abduction. (we have please and thank yous, blue track suit being placed on with no complaints, smiles, can I please practice my jolly phonics requests, staying dry at night, no thumb sucking, requesting more vegetables) I am going to enjoy while it lasts.

5- Mini Boden I heart you. I like you even more since I get all my little girl hand me downs from friends that wear 100% boden. (I heart free clothes as well)

Smiles despite gloomy grey weather

Things I Heart

1. The Olympics- love it all from opening ceremony to closing. Even though I am stuck watching Europe's broadcast (which btw they are pathetically updating us on Team GB curling team on a minute by minute basis)- I love it all including all the sappy background stories.

2. Chocolate - received a large block of chocolate from (Hotel Chocolate) Chris- need to eat it all by wed since I am giving it up for lent. No doubt a 1 lb block can be consumed in 72 hours.

3.Oh Vampire Diaries I like you a lot. I think I like you better than by Team Edward obsession. Actually had some girlfriends over on friday and we drank coffee and stared at the screen.

4.Cards, Kisses, superhero drawings all handmade by my petite picassos.

5.Chris offering to do breakfast for the kids- take CJ to swim lesson , and attempt to do baby girl's intricate braid request( btw she calls braids - plaits). So much better than $90 roses.

6. School break- no school runs, soccer, tennis, dance, swimming, homework, snack packs, lunch boxes, uniform washing, shoe shining ( I know chris and I don't shine OUR shoes but we have to shine 5 year old shoes).

Thoughts

1. Well we are back to square one- CJ's snack got sent home from school (it appears I made an error and sent raisins instead of fresh fruit in)- got to love the English(hint:sarcasm); they made a 5 year old not eat anything during snacktime to prove a point. Did I mention I am breaking all the school rules the last week we are here !(yes- I am starting my rebel list- sad that dried fruit is a rulebreaker)

2. Not sure if anyone out there is a crazy internet dr like me. But I SWEAR that every time I type in a sympton on mayoclinic.com it comes back with some scary disease- I need to ban myself from the internet and for that matter Grey's Anatomy (yes, I am that girl that watches Greys and swears I have the current affliction.

3.Helpful parenting tip- if you are having trouble with your kiddos eating vegetables (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower)- cut it up and give it to them while they are watching tv. My kids have been treating the veggies like movie theatre popcorn when I give it to them during their show (yes- they get one 1/2 show while I make dinner daily)-don't worry they watch alot more of it on the weekend:)

4.I have taken zero photos since Christmas- sad to admit- but grey wet weather needs not to be photographed-but my cute kiddos do:)

5- Baby girl miraculously stopped sucking her thumb- (I literally showed her pictures of kids with braces.) Weird fact is I use to make fake retainers out of paperclips in middle school. Anyhow- since the thumb sucking has stopped the going to bed BADLY had begun. So like a parenting fable- you lose one bad habit and get another.

Free puppy and Espresso

So we had a big day yesterday - CJ came home from school on cloud nine. The headmistress of the school called him to the front of the assembly and wanted him to talk about how he wanted to help Haiti- so CJ shared his plans of building a HUGE crane to drop off food and supplies in Haiti- (he of course has a prototype lego version at home)- For the last weeks CJ has been harassing his teacher meet with the headmistress (he would come home everyday dejected and say "She is still in meetings"- not a big deal but it was starting to annoy me that she couldn't pop in his class and listen to him for a nanosecond. (I know totally being a helicopter mom) Well patience and persistence has paid off- he was a bit disappointed that the school can't build a HUGE crane but they are going to do a mufti day for charity.

Other news- John Edwards- Hate him- think he is slime and AM so glad Elizabeth wised up and left him and his lies in the dust. Saw the movie "Brothers" with chris this past weekend- good flick if u want to be depressed about the war we are fighting in Afghanistan. Other news my friend that did that Bollywood dance-a-thon with me has purchased sari and headdresses for us to sport when we perform our live routine (I am assuming she is referring to a night in the future when I have consumed mass quantities of vino and all of sudden thinks tequila sounds good at midnight)

I leave you with a sign I purchased at Christmas that prevents people from dropping their kids off for lengthy neverending playdates (like ALL playdates in England)- did I mention that some of the nursery kids are having sleepovers (they are 4!!!!)- seriously it all makes sense why people here love boarding schools. To think that I may be camped out on the quad when I take CJ to college and folks want to let their 4 year olds sleep over. CRAZY