Decorating the Tree

The last couple of years, we have eaten sugar cookies while decorating the tree. I bought the pre-made cookies this time around, we were just too busy to make them from scratch. Although I did make, according to Dave, the absolute perfect Christmas cookie on a different weekend. I don't know whether we can share that creation or not, it might be patent pending... It is a seriously good cookie. OK - back to the task at hand. Here is Phinn sampling the cookies while we wait for daddy to come back home with the tree. Guess if he liked them...


The tree went up remarkably easy this year, and was decorated fairly quickly, with some re-decorating after the kids left the room. Phinn was completely enthralled with the lights and our silver bell ornaments. He also loved to pull ornaments off the tree when given half a chance. Hilde has developed an affinity for some of the ornaments and remembers them from the past, it was fun to see that. Enoch was just happy, happy, happy - pretty much like normal.

The final product. It was quite an impressive tree. The next day when we came back from church the kids ran into the living room to see it again. E came running back yelling, "mommy, the tree fell down!" It was a mess, and not quite as much fun the second time around, but we (ok, really just Dave) got it back up again. Luckily it stayed up this time.

Wriggly Nativity

Dave and I decided to enroll our kids in the local public English school because we wanted them to really experience England. The US Department of Defense school on base is quite good from what I hear, but in the English system our kids were able to start a full year early, and they get a super cute English accent, how could we turn that down? All schools in England have Religious Education as part of the curriculum, which was fine with us. So the kids often tell us what they learned about during RE - and much of the time it is about non-Christian faiths. Hilde even visited a Sikh religious site. All of this is to say, that in England, primary schools put on a nativity play. Since they do these every year, some of them can get quite creative. This year, Darley did Wriggly Nativity. The younger kids did the nativity play for about 45 minutes, then there was a break followed by the older kids singing Christmas carols. Enoch was a shepherd in the nativity. He was very excited, and this was a play especially made for him. I can imagine his teachers looking through all the options and when coming across this title, saying aloud - "THIS is it!" Enoch knew all the words to the songs and he sang nice and loud so we could actually here him, he was super proud of himself. Naturally, we were proud of him too. However, as soon as we got home and asked him to sing some songs and say his one line "We are following our sheep", he refused. I guess I can't have it all, all of the time.... We only have a few pictures of the night, and the ones that were during his part are blurry, but you can get the idea of how cute he was just the same.

Leeds Armoury

When my brother and his son were visiting us 2 years ago, Dave and Enoch went with them to the Royal Armoury in Leeds. It took us 2 years to visit again as a whole family. I only have these two pictures of our trip, but it is worth posting about anyway, because I want to remember this trip. Have you ever seen a suit of armor for an elephant? Have your kids fired a cross-bow? Have you seen pieces of Henry VIIIs armor up close (from when he was lean and mean)? Have you seen more rifles than you ever wanted to? Those are just a sampling of what we saw and did. We might have to go back again when we have a lazy Saturday on our schedule. There was a lot that either wasn't open or that we didn't get to as well. Or, if you are one of our lucky visitors in the next few months - we might just drag you there.

My Grand Day Out

Ever since we moved here, I have wanted to visit the Bronte Parsonage. Living here in North Yorskshire, I re-read Wuthering Heights. It came to life much more as I now know what the windswept moors look like and how utterly eerie and forlorn they can be. I re-read Jane Eyre, and found myself picturing MY countryside as she walked about. I have read most of what the Bronte sisters wrote at one point or another, and it is simply amazing to see how tiny their house was. They didn't live in the lap of luxury, but the area is so inspiring.
The church graveyard and the church where the Bronte's father was parson.
This is the view from their street. Honestly, this is one amazing place. I am going to leave a piece of my heart here in England.

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Happy belated Bonfire Night! We celebrated by going on a walk into Harrogate to gather some Christmas present ideas, and heading to the Stray for the big bonfire. We hadn't been before, and this was our last chance. We all had a great time.


These pictures are from quite a ways away from the actual bonfire. It was quite huge. There was a radio station broadcasting from it and TONS of people. We knew a whole bunch of people that were there, but didn't run into anyone we knew.

A little closer to the bonfire. The fence was about 8-10 feet tall. Enoch loved the fireworks, Hilde was a little scared of them. Phinn fell asleep. I loved all of the Chinese lanterns people were setting off into the dark night sky on the stray. It was a little magical. Maybe next year we will have to find a way to celebrate in the US.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !

A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol'Pope is dead.

Phinn's First Haircut

On 5 November, it was finally time to get Phinn's haircut. His little curls were adorable, and we miss them a whole lot around here. For some reason, that first haircut seems to mark the end of babyhood. Dave would have preferred to have it a few more months along the road, but Phinn loves ZhuZhu pets and he kept putting it up near his ear. We didn't want his hair to get tangled in the wheels, so it had to go. Dave didn't come, he couldn't bear to watch. I held him still since he was very scared at the beginning. Soon after the above picture, he settled down and didn't make a peep. It helped that she only used scissors so there weren't any loud noises. And when it was over, he looked all grown up.

Grocery Shopping

I think I mentioned before that English grocery stores have several varieties of shopping carts (or trolleys as they are called here). Enoch loves going to either Sainsbury's or Asda, because he can ride in the cart with Phinn. He begs for it, he loves it so much. Then he smothers Phinn with more attention than the little guy can handle. Or he sits still and lets Phinn pull on his ear in complete contentment. But when they look like this, shopping is a breeze.

Halloween

Halloween was an extended affair for us. We had the Darley Primary School Halloween Disco, the Base Halloween party and trick-or-treating on our street Halloween night. Hilde was a witch this year. Enoch had three separate costumes for each event. We bought him the first costume, the Barbarian. The others were in his dress-up clothes and he insisted on wearing them. Phinn was unfortunately sick for the whole thing so he never even dressed up. Better luck next year P!
This was on our way into the Halloween disco. Enoch wore the Barbarian costume we bought him, but it turned out to be pretty itchy so this was the first and last time he wore it. The kids and I won the "best family dance" contest - but you already suspected that I am sure.


Event #2 and Enoch sports his second costume. Buzz Lightyear. And Hilde added a different hat, pink wig and broom. She didn't use the black rose.


Hilde helped make the kids haunted house, she did some of the painting and setting up. She was really proud of it. Since we couldn't find the purple hood for the Buzz costume, Enoch asked the lady to paint his whole head purple. We compromised with this instead:

Costume #3: Peter Pan. I can't believe how cute these kids are.
Trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Our kids made quite the haul this year. In fact, we have tons of candy still today, 3 months later. Do you want some?

Whitby

Enough already, it is time to do some serious catching up. Are you ready? I am. Let's start back in September. Back on 4 September, Hilde had a Tang Soo Do test in Redcar, a city on the Eastern coast of England, close to Whitby. I had not been to Whitby yet, so while she was busy rocking her test, the little boys and I headed to Whitby. It was cold, windy, and beautiful. Enoch would have stayed there all day, but Phinn was freezing and I needed to get him back to some warmth. It was Phinn's first time at a beach, and he was thrilled with everything, except mom keeping him from running straight into the waves. No fun, mom! Here are a few pictures from the day:
That is the best, most heartwarming smile I know of.
Enoch would love a future career running into the waves to throw shovelfuls of sand in. I wonder how much that would pay...


I looked up and all of a sudden there seemed to be countless sailboats in the water. I love this shot.