Just a bunch of rambling...next one will be better!

Hey Everyone! Ok so I just have been so busy lately that I have neglected this whole blogging thing. Im not sure what this will end up saying. Lots of the times I will think "Oh I have to remember to blog about that" but it never happens so here we go :). SO I guess the first thing is right before we moved I bought a brand new fancy camera because HELLO we are going to travel Europe for the next 3 years & we needed a good one. Well once we got here & moved into the house the charger broke. After waiting & waiting on a new one to come from the US it finally arrived. The anticipation growing greater every moment until BAM! the camera is GONE!!! What you ask?!? Oh yes, we looked & looked & looked to no avail. Colin has a BAD habit of throwing things in the garbage (especially if he is finished with it or its all gone, its broken or doesnt work anymore) so all we can figure out is he got it down (from obviously not a high enough place) it wouldnt work & there it went into one of the moving boxes that eventually went to the dumpster. SO after all of that hoopla we bought yet another camera & as nice as it is I still have a little animosity each time I use it! I HATE re-buying things! Anyone who knew me after Katrina knows this very well! I didnt even want to buy new underwear & I only had 2 pair! Ok too much information I know! So since then we have been looking at preschools for Charley because every morning she wakes up, gets dressed, puts one of her little backpacks on & says "OK Mom Im a big girl now Im ready to go to school". Most of you also know that I have always thought sending Charley to school would greatly alleviate a lot of headaches even though I never dreamed of doing so but since we have moved here she & Colin have just become even more my very best little friends! We do everything together & our house is so big now we rarely get in each others way unless we want to. We can all go pitch our fits throughout the day in separate rooms & then come back downstairs for a game of tag or a snuggle on the couch. We have found THE BEST PRESCHOOL I have ever seen. It is a Montessori School which all by itself is AMAZING but it also has ponies, goats, chickens, pigs, rabbits, fish, an aviary, even alpacas & so much more. It is on 10 acres with its own garden that the kids get to grow their own fruits & veggies in. But as amazing as this place is I am just having a hard time losing my baby for even a couple days a week. She is so much fun, the sweetest little angel on earth & I WILL MISS HER INCREDIBLY! On top of that I guess I am suppose to put Colin in a couple days a week too (so everyone says that way I can do something without dried jelly on my forehead & 2 shoes that actually match) but I need to take baby steps...maybe next year...or not!Daniel & I worked ALL WEEKEND as hard as we could & FINALLY finished the house...almost. The only thing left is painting our peach room, not peach! Soon I will put up pictures of the almost finished product. I also got to go to my very first antique auction last weekend (WOW so much fun!) & we visited 2 more castles here in England (Orford - our favorite so far & Framlingham). We also live one village over from the horseracing capital of England so we went to our first horserace on Sat. It was so neat! It was not nearly the Alabama Football atmosphere but as close as we will ever get in the UK. Everyone from everywhere was there, drinking & eating of course either wine or tea with brandy. Surprisingly or not so much, these Brits can handle their alcohol better than the rednecks on college football Saturday. You would never know they are drinking if they didnt offer you some :). The track is just about 5 minutes from the house & they had all kinds of bouncy castles, kids bouncy horse races & jungle gyms set up for the kids who care nothing about their parents losing their money. It is also again surprisingly a very big family atmospere. Everyone takes their picnic lunches & sits out on the green the whole day with the entire village full of kids playing around them. Everything stops when the horses race & then its back to socializing. It was a great day with a lot of cultural observations to be had. We also went to the British pumpkin patch & let the kids pick pumpkins. During the 15 minutes we were in the garden the temperature dropped 20 degrees so we got the heck out of dodge & back in the van pretty quickly so no pictures...sorry! The other day Daniel's SQ had a BBQ & they had a pie in the face contest which of course Daniel won by a landslide. He had over 2000 votes for him & they auctioned who got to throw the pie in his face & it finally sold for $160 if you can imagine!!! Charley woke up that morning so excited that Dad was going to get a pie in his face but then when it happened Colin cried uncontrollably (sp?) because he thought Daddy was hurt! We are now gearing up for the Holiday season English style with a huge Southern Thanksgiving meal planned for all of the Airman without family here in Daniel's squadron. Then shortly afterwards on Colin's birthday we are going to Disneyland Paris where Colin will have his birthday party with Mickey & friends. Neither of the kids have any idea so that should be awesome to see their faces when Mickey brings in his cake & sings Happy Birthday! The Friday before Christmas my Mom & Sister are flying in to spend a week then the day they leave Daniel's family is coming in for the New Year in London! We have a busy, busy couple of months coming up but it should be a one of a kind with hopefully lots of great pictures for all of you stateside residents! Hope this blog catches you all in the middle of the best Monday ever! Love you all & miss you!