Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

It's the summer holidays here, which explains why I have been absent from my blog a good bit. My time has been consumed by my constant companions, two little girls who have a love-hate relationship with each other. (Cue the Haynes Sisters singing..."Sisters, Sisters, There were never such devoted sisters...") The weather hasn't exactly been stellar either. Yesterday I read an article that said British weather forecasters were revising their predicitons of a "barbeque summer." Now, they say, it is likely to rain throughout July and August. George and I thought it was a bit funny that they were making predictions about what July's weather would be like during the last week of July. So... the girls and I have been trying to stay busy and entertained in the unpredictable British weather. We are often inside together all day. We are often getting in each other's space and on each other's nerves. (Don't forget I've got the hormones working on m...

Last month George and the girls planted carrots, lettuces and two varieties of pumpkins. We have been enjoying watching the veggies' progress in our back garden. We've eaten a few young lettuce leaves, but the rest of our produce won't be table-ready for a while longer. Above Sophie and Emma are proudly posing with their Atlantic Giant Pumpkins.

I'll admit she doesn't look thrilled in the photo below, but this is the price she was willing to pay to be fabulous. Emma has been asking to have her ears pierced for many, many months now. George and I both agreed that she should wait until the summer holidays, which have arrived very quickly. The experts at Claire's knew it was best to do both ears at once. That way there could be no backing out if the first snap was too traumatic. My camera caught the expression on Emma's face just before the earrings went in... Emma orginally selected some sparkly clear crystal earrings, but they were out of stock, so she settled for some lovely "ruby-esque" studs. The good news is the whole ordeal was over very quickly, and Emma was all smiles when she saw herself in the mirror... Big girl back at home with her new red baubles... Sophie was feeling a bit left out of all of the photography, so Emma took this photo of the two of us in our green dresses in front of ...

I spent my birthday and the preceding weekend in a beautiful little 300 year old cottage in West Wales. George quickly learned, after banging his poor head several times on the low door frames, that people WAS shorter back then!! Here are just a few of my favourite photos from our journey... Above Emma and Sophie are enjoying the lovely garden at the cottage where we stayed. They LOVED this garden, and who could blame them?! We spent a blissful day in St. David's exploring the cathedral, castle, local cuisine and seaside. Sophie is a girl after my own heart. We dined in lots of lovely restaurants and, since it was my birthday weekend, we sampled desserts or puddings with every meal. Sophie is pictured above with a heavenly, warm sticky toffee pudding from the Stackpole Inn . Other favourite puddings included a banana toffee and fresh ginger pavlova, lemon lime cheesecake, and hot apple and rhubard crumble with ice cream. Stick a fork in me, y'all! This picture just makes me s...

We are off to West Wales for a few days tomorrow. I am told this is one of the most beautiful places in the world. So I hope to return with a slew of beautiful memories and photographs. Hooray for the summer holidays!

What has happened to our supposed " barbeque summer"?? I think every year Britons excitedly proclaim that this summer will be different; this summer the weather will be hot and sunny in Great Britain. If we say it enough, we believe it, and then it must happen, right? Well, things were looking good for a few weeks, and now, as we approach the summer holidays, it all seems to be falling apart on us. Just when I had bought all sorts of cute maternity sundresses and skirts, the temperamental, cloudy atmosphere returns. Yesterday when I went to collect the children from school, the sun was shining when I got out of the car, so I left my coat and umbrella behind. By the time I walked up to the schoolyard, however, the rain was tipping down. Typical. There are only two more days of school, and we are planning a getaway to West Wales this weekend. The weather forecast suggests there is a 70% chance of rain every day we are away. This, of course, makes this mama want to cuss, but...

Yesterday after helping me make a fantastic lunch of grilled cheddar cheese & apple sandwiches, I found Sophie sitting on her own with The Very Hungry Caterpillar game. I apologized and told her that I couldn’t play right then since I needed to have my lunch and clean up the kitchen. “No, it’s okay,” she replied, “I’m just playing this with Jack and Toby.” Jack and Toby are Sophie’s imaginary friends who have been en absentia lately. “Oh,” I said, “Jack and Toby are back? They’ve been away for a while. Have they been on holiday?” “Yes,” she told me, “They’ve been to Egypt.” “Wow! Egypt sounds exciting. What did they see there?” I queried. “Oh, just some camels.” “Did Jack behave himself?” I asked since Jack tends to be naughty by nature. “Yes, Toby was looking after Jack, so he didn’t get into any trouble. Toby has to really look after Jack because he is a little rascal.” And so the conversation continued. How I love having creative little girls around the house. I think ...

Sweet Sophie perched in the window reading us a story... She's going to make a great big sister. Sophie has been developing a lovely fondness for the little girl growing inside me. She often lifts my shirt and whispers into my tummy, "Hello, baby. This is Sophie, and I love you!" She also often whispers, "Stay in there. I don't want mom to have to go to bed." Sophie also likes to put her ear to my tummy to see if anyone ever answers back. Unfortunately Sophie has the attention span of...well, a five year old, and she hasn't yet been able to feel the baby kicking. Anytime she is around and I feel big movements, I call her over and have her put her hand on me to feel. Inevitably the movement instantly stops, and after about thirty seconds, Sophie is completely bored with waiting. I am reminded of the Warner Brothers singing/ dancing frog who always clams up and croaks anytime his owner tries to show him off. Sophie has another theory as to why she's ne...

This morning Emma and I were both getting dressed and chatting in my bedroom. I pulled out a rather enormous pair of maternity underwear and commented to her, "Check out my giant pregnancy knickers." Emma replied, "They match your big pregnant bottom." Nice, right? Not one to leave things alone, I asked, "Do you really think my bottom looks bigger? Dad says when he's walking behind me, he wouldn't even know I was pregnant." Emma looked at me with a face as serious as a heart attack and said, "Mom, I think Dad's just saying that to be nice." So...there you go. If you really want the truth, ask a kid. I still think I prefer my husband's assessment of my derriere, but to be honest, after shopping for a bathing suit this morning, Emma's assessment appears to be more dead on. Yikes!

I feel quite stupid posting this today, but I have come to a very profound conclusion in the last couple of weeks. I feel stupid because the conclusion is not really profound at all, and it has taken me years of marriage to wrap my brain around it. I always thought I was a pretty clever girl, but this one has taken me a while. I have discovered the secret to a happy marriage. Don't get me wrong; the last eight years have been mostly very happy ones. My husband and I enjoy each others company. We appreciate the other's sense of humour. He "gets" me, and I "get" him. But I have secretly been driving him crazy for years. You see, George is rather tidy, and I am a bit more free spirited. I fail to notice that my nightgown has been hanging on the bedpost for three weeks or that I have left the drawer in the kitchen open again. When I look into the room, my eyes don't even focus on the cereal box on the table or the book that I was reading left lying on the fl...

We started off our Fourth of July at a British Medieval Faire at Christ Church in Radyr, and why not? Later on in the evening, we did it up right with hot dogs, hamburgers, fife and drum music and even our own fireworks show. My American friend Kim and her family were among our guests, and we all enjoyed watching her two-year-old Kyle respond to the fireworks. It was a pretty even blend of excitement, delight, and terror. Emma and Sophie also enjoyed palling around with little Kyle. By the end of the evening Emma had decided that, as much fun as he was, she is glad I am having another girl. "Little boys are a LOT of work!" she said, "I cleaned up everything he wrecked, but it wasn't easy!!" (The kids are pictured above cheering for the fireworks in our back garden)

I am posting this one after the fact since George finally got the scanner working. I know they aren't the clearest photos, but this is basically what Sophie and I saw last Tuesday when we went for my scan.

Ho hum. Miss Sophie had a pretty good day on Wednesday, but was obviously not herself again yesterday. We really knew something was up this morning when we found her sleeping on the rug in the bathroom. It didn't even occur to me, but George suggested that I take her to the local surgery since there is not much in the way of after hours care on weekends apart from the hospital emergency room. So... after taking a less-than-thrilled Emma to school on her own again, Sophie and I trotted over to Radyr Medical Centre where I was surprised to find a young doctor who was very concerned about the peanut's condition. So...now she's on yuck anti-biotics for a chest and ear infection. I'm sure my remedies of soup, popsicles and rest would have eventually done the trick, but hopefully she will be back to her usual self even quicker now. On the walk from the surgery to the pharmacy, we enjoyed counting all of the garden snails stuck to the stone walls along the way. For the reco...