Windsor Castle

A couple of weeks ago, we ventured out to Windsor Castle. An easy train ride (that Wiley loved!) from Paddington, it was such a perfect day trip. We could have spent a lot more time wandering around the little town. The Castle itself was incredible. Hearing about the knights was so cool. And all over the city they have exhibits about Henry VIII, including one at Windsor. So, we saw paintings, sketches, old books of his, and even portraits of Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, etc etc. (and if you read any of Philippa Gregory's books, you are fascinated by it even more!) St. George's Chapel is there as well, where Catherine of Aragon (Henry's 1st wife) used to sit for services. Henry is also buried there (along with some other monarchs) with Jane. It is barely noticeable, and I almost literally walked right over the plaque without noticing it! Moral of the story, go to Windsor Castle. It has been my most favorite thing we have done so far, and we have done some pretty great things.

Obviously, you have to take a picture with the guard.

And one with your son who is wearing guard-printed pants (thanks Barnes Boys!) and standing at attention.

My boys outside the castle. St. George's Chapel is on the left.

Close up of St. George's. So pretty. And notice the blue sky!

Picnic lunch on a beautiful fall day, gazing at fall colors and a castle, yes please!

Marching...duh.

And this is why I love London.

Sounds like Someone has a Case of the Mondays

to lighten up your "case of the Mondays," live (kind of) from London...

Um Wiley, did you say you wanted to go to Buckingham Palace?

I feel certain that you just said you wanted to go to "Buckling-ham Palace."

oh, and I have to add, I am the happy owner of these happenin' kicks.

You will either:

a) be proud of me because you know how I have wanted to add these to my shoe closet/rack

or

b) laugh, thus continuing our feeble effort to ease your "case of the Mondays."

or

c) all of the above.

["case of the mondays , trademark Office Space, see memorable quotes]

In the great green room

Who doesn't love Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. Recently when we have read it at night, Wiley has been fascinated with "mush."

"And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush."

"Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush."

So. We made mush this morning for breakfast. Mush, as in porridge oats, as Tesco calls it. Wiley was so fascinated, he wanted to see it, smell it, and then obviously taste it!

On a rainy morning with a bit of brown sugar, the mush was surprisingly comforting (particularly with hot tea and pumpkin bread). (Although it reminded me a bit of Camp Nakanawa's oatmeal.) And, Wiley actually liked it!

"mmm...mush!"

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Oh. My. Goodness.

You there, with the Sainsbury's delivery truck. Yes, you bringing crates of food to my door. That's right, you, as you carry my bags of groceries up 3 flights of stairs (first time order, only). Are you sure you are not Santa Claus?

Today has been brilliant.

Just look at this:

And look at this:

And then look at this:

My kitchen is coming together. There is something more than Nutella and Peanut Butter, both of which are almost gone and both of which I forgot to order. I have beer (keeping it real here, Michelob Ultra, duh.), Diet Coke in my spare refrigerator, along with extra apple juice. Considering our main refrigerator is about the size of the one you might have had in your freshman dorm room, I am beyond thankful for the extra space. I think it will come in handy when I cook at Thanksgiving and Christmas when our families are here!

I ordered my groceries on Monday night and today they are here (note to self: order ahead of time, so you don't have to go to store before groceries come). Delivery was free. And all of my items arrived. I checked them off, sort of like when I worked at Table Matters and was making sure all of our precious Tag items and beautiful Good Earth and Juliska items arrived in good order. I did not have to lug them in the stroller (buggy), the Tube, or the bus.

So here I am, doing something so London-y, or at least big-city-ish.

I tried to find a fun kitchen quote on thinkexist.com, but had trouble finding one I love. (However, the blog title is taken from my new coffee mug and apparently from Harry S. Truman as well!) There were some hilarious ones that were not quite appropriate for the blog, some sentimental ones, and a couple (one from John Piper) reminding me that my identity and satisfaction is not tied up in my well-stocked shelves, appliances, and gadgets--that my identity is instead based in the Lord who has so graciously continued to be faithful to us in our journey here whether it be in finding a place to live, a place to shop, a kind neighbor, or welcoming people at a Woman's Bible Study.

He is so good...or as the British might say: He is so brilliant!

Not much to say...

Hello!

I wish I had lots of fun things to say, but sadly we have been a bit dull here. We have made the trek a couple times to Oxford Street to buy things for our flat. Yes, we are moved in. Maybe I will put some pictures up here once I have it looking nice, but right now, I have 2 full trash bags in the kitchen, about 5 boxes in the hall, and a very bare reception room. But I do have a pumpkin. I found the pumpkin near our High Street (the main street with stores in the different areas of town). As soon as I walked in my building's door with Wiley in tow, my sweet neighbor (an American) and her friend (also American) exclaimed that I had found this grocery store and that it was probably the most expensive pumpkin in all of London! Hooray for the London learning curve! I have found that at times like that I just cannot get stressed out about how much I paid for the pumpkin, and must just laugh. It is a nice pumpkin. I now know where to avoid shopping (although when desperate for American brands, they have a nice selection).

And while I mention groceries, that is one comfort from home I think I will miss. I really love shopping at the grocery store. I love coupons, I love BOGOs. I love finding the deals. It is a game. But here, it is like a survival game when I go shopping. I feel so out of sync, as different products have different names, and it is confusing and frustrating when I can't find something I am accustomed to having (Ranch dressing powder packets and Lipton onion soup packets) for cooking. There are not any big grocery stores in walking distance that I know of, so we go to these little "express" ones which is basically like shopping in a gas station with slightly more selection of fruits and veg. I miss loading Wiley in my grocery cart with a rocket on it and casually walking down the big, wide aisles. However, hope is on the horizon, as I have a load of groceries (including basics like flour, sugar, oil, etc) being delivered (yes, delivered) tomorrow. There is also a Costco here. I think I would like to just spend my day in that Costco.

The picture above is Wiley playing putt-putt--a frustrating experience for Wil and a fun one for Wiley. Wiley preferred playing with the spinning wheels, etc than putting the ball in the hole. It was a neat little course in a courtyard of an office building in The City. Businessmen would come and play I guess as a break from their work.

We have also started a behavior chart for Wiley. It is rudimentary and basic. It is simple. If he obeys, is sweet, general good behavior in the morning, he gets a smiley face in pen. Then, at the end of the day, if he had a good afternoon (and good morning) he gets to put a sticker below that day. If he gets 5 stickers (out of 7 days) he gets a surprise. He is working towards an airplane, as he broke the little plastic one we got him Saturday about 10 minutes after we put it together. I think this is helping him. However, he doesn't understand that I won't give him 5 stickers in one day. Maybe after this first week he will understand. He was so excited though last night about getting to put his first sticker on.

Well, I suppose I did have something to say! Just wanted to let yall know we are still well. London is really nice in the fall (I have beautiful trees turning colors outside my window), we have great neighbors, and once I have a grip on my kitchen I think I will feel much better (although I feel great now!). Isn't it funny how important feeling "at home" in a kitchen can make such a difference?

Maybe the saying should be "Home is where my tupperware, aluminum foil, baking sheets, and 9 x 11 pyrex are."

Pigeons

A short post because, well, we are just taking it easy and don't have too much to share. (Although we think we are moving to our flat on Saturday, but I won't make it official until we are actually in it.)

There a pigeons everywhere. EVERYWHERE. They come dangerously close to hitting you in the head, too. These birds are fearless. However, thankfully, I have 2 wonderful (and handsome) pigeon chasers who have been going everywhere with me.

As seen in previous post, the stroller (buggy) is often the best line of defense as one drives and the other tries to use a dinosaur toy to snap at them. Yesterday, the process evolved into using a stick.

Sitting in Regents Park, a whole bunch of pigeons kept coming to our picnic table. It may have been because Wiley was spitting out/throwing up an apple turnover he did not like. Wil continues to try to get Wiley to swallow some apple turnover (to avoid him being a picky eater). Pigeons are circling. Tensions are rising. A nearby stick is suddenly grabbed by the father. Boy continues to spit out apple turnover. Pigeons make a bad choice and come too close.

THWACK!

Father whacks 2 pigeons with stick.

Mother is laughing too hard at this whole scene and forgets to grab her camera to document the experience.

The pigeons were fine and returned about 2 seconds later. Father was very proud. Very very proud. He recently got a fabulous coat for his birthday that is technically a hunting jacket. He informed me that the pocket in the back (literally the very bottom, on the back of it) is for birds when you go bird hunting. Now if he says he is taking Wiley to the park and wears this "hunting" coat I will be very suspicious. Particularly if he has a stick in his hand.

So now, in addition to fending off pigeons with the stroller, and dinosaur toy (they are really quite afraid of Dinosaur Dinosaur, as Wiley named him, and if you so much as point Dinosaur Dinosaur in their direction they fly away. His pigeon chasing skills are legend in London, apparently.), we can add sticks to our arsenal.

Life Lately (in pictures)

{Professional pigeon-chasers}

{British sweater, American boots.}

{Kensington/Hyde Park from our park bench}

{Souvenir from Museum that goes with us everywhere; he eats leaves, chases pigeons and the occasional passerby.}

{Picnic in the Park}

{Elephant at the Natural History Museum}

{Natural History Museum: T-Rex}