Memorial Day 2009

Presidents Day

Until 1971, both February 12 and February 22 were observed as federal public holidays to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and George Washington (February 22). In 1971 President Richard Nixon proclaimed one single federal public holiday, the Presidents' Day, to be observed on the 3rd Monday of February, honoring all past presidents of the United States of America.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! It's usually very low key around here, but we have one very fun tradition. We play Uno! We love Uno and we buy every new version of it. I'm headed out right now to play the newest version of Uno with my Uncle. I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun.


I am so thankful this year. I know that's what everyone says but thankfulness is something that I love practicing. I can't stand it when people are constantly negative, and I think if I didn't really think about it, I would be one of those people. So, whenever something terrible happens, I always look at what there is to be thankful for. This year, I think we are especially thankful. We didn't loose any people, animals, or things of value in the fire. We have amazing insurance and have been taken care of financially. McKenzie was born and is beautiful and doing so well. We are so thankful for her and her health.

I think that despite all the stress and the chaos of the last month, we have nothing but thankfulness for where we are.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Celebrating Independence From England, in England, with the English!

I just want to say that I find it beautifully ironic that I'm in England celebrating Independence Day. Not only that, but many of the Brits are joining us on base for the celebrations! If only the Founding Fathers could see it. I doubt they ever fathomed such a thing.

Happy Memorial Day

My Mother's Day

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a glorious Mother's Day weekend.

I, for one, did. After church Tim and the kids took me to the beach, which is only about an hour from our house but we had never been. It was a balmy-for-England 75 degrees, and the British take full advantage of whatever sun the Good Lord allows to shine on them. There were many swimsuit-clad people on that beautiful beach, even though it was rather chilly. S from church told me that the Brits pull out all the stops when it gets warm because they never know when it will be warm again.

We let the kids play in the water, and Zach did what he does best: got naked ASAP! If ever one of my kids becomes a nudist, it will be him. He topped off the whole au naturale experience with a pee in the North Sea. Ah, the joys of childhood.

At The Smuggler's Cave I came across some wood carvings from Indonesia. I've seen work like this before but this time it caught my fancy and I was hooked. I bought The Lovers. Here it is from all sides:

But my favorite was the one that seemed appropriate for Mother's Day. Here she is in all her glory:

According to the salesclerk, this is an East Asian interpretation of Western women. I'm not sure if they think we're all naturally endowed like this, or if they think we all get augmentation surgery! I am going to find a small piece of cloth and tie it over her bosom so as not to offend my children's moral sensibilities. I think she's really has my teenage son uncomfortable.

One thing I loved about this sculpture is that the mother is either dark or fair depending on which side you look at. She's a representation of not only motherhood, but all mothers the world over. I'm tired of hearing race brought up, especially in the current election campaign. This sculpture is refreshing to me; it acknowledges color differences without making them an issue. I frankly don't care what color a person's skin is; we are all made in God's image. It's one of the most ridiculous things imaginable, if you really think about it, that the color of anyone's skin should be a factor in anything.

While at The Smuggler's Cave Tim bought another didgeridoo. He's fascinated with them, as well as African bongo drums, rain sticks and other odd little instruments made with things like goat toenails and tree nuts! They really are interesting and the kids have a blast with them. Here is a very talented man playing a didgeridoo:



I'm going to find a bra for my Mama sculpture! Cheers!

~Reese

Happy Mother's Day!

When the wise God planted His garden,

scattering the seeds from above,
The choicest seed in His packet
Was the flower of Mother-love.
Carefully watched o'er and tended,
Nurtured by sunshine and shower,
Ever growing sturdy and stronger,
It blooms-a beautiful flower.
A flower so sweet and entrancing,
Dazzling and shining and white,
A love that guards us and guides us
Through life~our beacon light.
A love that steadies our footsteps,
That stretches a helpful hand,
That comforts our sorrows and heartaches,
That always will understand.
Mother-love, God's gift to His children,
With heavenly fragrance fraught;
The brightest flower in God's garden,
His truest forget-me-not.

Bank Holiday Weekend

Monday is a Bank Holiday here in the UK. When I asked my landlord exactly what a bank holiday is, he looked at me funny and answered, "It's a holiday when the banks are closed."

Oh.

So, this is the Early May Bank Holiday Weekend. The only differences I saw when I was out and about today were that there was more traffic and the Tesco parking lot wasn't as full as usual. I guess everyone's headed somewhere else other than where they would normally be for this weekend. I've still got to figure out where that place is so I can check it out too, but I suspect at least a few of them were on the way to the beaches. We live only about an hour from the beach, though I still haven't had a chance to go there yet.

On the way to base today (I had a little quiet time to myself!), the DJ on Radio 1 shed some UK light on this particular Bank Holiday. She reminded listeners that this is the "traditional bonk holiday weekend". For those of you unfamiliar with UK terminology, "bonk" means to know in the Biblical sense of the word. Apparently the Brits get rather amorous around this time of the year, so they've made a holiday of it! Click here for a link to a recent article, but I must warn you that the ads on British news sites are racy, to say the least. If you choose to click, do so with caution.

~Reese, who's off to find her Tim and celebrate this Holiday the traditional way! ;)

Happy Easter!

What a crazy day! We woke up to snow! About 2 inches by the time it had finished falling. By mid-day it had all melted, then it started up again in the evening. It was a first for me; in all my 32 years I've never tramped through snow on Easter!

We attended church with our new church family and were blessed beyond words as usual. There is a sweet woman there who is like a grandma to me already. She kissed me on the cheek when she saw me, hugged me several times during the hours we spent there, and made a superb bread pudding to boot! She has an amazing heart and I love her to death.

In the evening we went to a family's home for dinner. They are also from church. We ate a traditional English roast dinner, complete with Yorkshire pudding. After dinner we played The Big Taboo. We haven't played board games much since our early married days when we used to get together with Dan and Heather and play Uno, Uno Stack-O, Taboo, and... I'm not sure what else. It was one our favorite pass times back then. This was quite fun and brought back memories. Our silly Little Boys put on a little show for our hosts and their other guests, singing Amazing Grace, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and You Give Love A Bad Name, among others. I'm sure our new friends think Americans are odd!

It's very late here and I've been having some issues with insomnia again, so I guess I'd better call it a day. A cold, snowy, happy, blessed day. Good night!

posted by Reese

Valentine's Scrooge!

Yep..that is me. I am anti-Valentines. It seriously drives me crazy. I want my husband to show me daily how much he cares, not on a day that society tells him too. So, as a rule, we absolutely do not celebrate Valentines. But, tonight we did have an awesome family night. We took the kids to the gym and played racquetball for an hour. How fun is that!!

There is nothing like watching the kids smack their dad in the head with a raquetball! It's almost as good as smacking your hubby over the head with a limp dead fish when you are mad at him...nothing says love like that!

Despite the fact that I can't stand it....

HAPPY VALENTINES EVERYONE!!!

Post by Heather

Pancake Day

Halfway through a day of "in-processing" at our new base, Tim informed me that today is Pancake Day in the UK.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"I don't know," he answered, "I guess they eat pancakes today."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Have you seen anyone eating pancakes?"

"No, but they said if we go off base we'll find everyone eating pancakes."

"I went off base," I said. "I didn't see anyone eating pancakes."

"Huh." He replied.

And that would have been the extent of our first celebration in the UK if not for Wikipedia. A quick search (click here) informed me that Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the tame British way to celebrate the day before Lent, just as the Germans have Fasching (a wild, drunken, national party that I have personally witnessed) and New Orleans has Mardi Gras. According to Wikipedia: The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before Lent. The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.

You learn something new everyday!

We Begin!

Today begins a new year and a new challenge for Reese & I. We are going to try and do a post everyday for this year! Tonight is just a post to get it done. One of my children has a 102.3 fever and I need to go to tend to her.

Happy New Year!