World Conker Championship

Yep you read the title right... World Conker Championship. Conkers are the British version of acorns. The roads to Brittney & Sophie's school is lined with Conker trees, so in October we spend our walk time to & from school picking up Conkers. And supposedly spiders do not like Conkers, so if you line your window seal with conkers the spiders won't come into your house. Now I am no fan of spiders, but I am not lining my window seals to find out if this works.

Sunday the roads in our village were closed due to a marathon so our church service was cancelled as well. Kevin & I were determined NOT to be stuck at the house all day so we got up early (well early for a Sunday morning) and headed off before the roads closed at 10:30am. We were off to the World Conker Championship in Ashton UK.

Last years winner paraded around with a huge conker necklace and a conker cane which came complete with a beer holder.

The participants and their supports dressed in some pretty interesting fashion (keep in mind this is a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween...)

We even got to see the Incredible Hulk

To participate in the event you have your own conker threaded onto a string. You then take turns striking the opponents conker with your conker. The winner smashes the other's conker (of course the MC kept talking about nuts and smashing nuts, etc...). Since the actual conker event can be a little boring to watch (oops, I shouldn't have said that) the girls found some other activities to fill their time. They had archery, bouncy castles, and a guide dog demonstration.

Brittney is actually pretty good at archery

Sophie following in her sister's footsteps

The guide dog demonstration was all of our favorites. The trainer talked to us about how they train the dogs, how they pick the dogs, and how they introduce them to their owners. Then he allowed the girls to take turns going through an obstacle course with the guide dogs while the girls were blind folded. He then talked to the girls about what it is like to be blind and how important the dogs are... it was really cool.

All in all it was a wonderful day! Oh, the winner of the conker championship was a mechanic dressed as something...

Sunday naps... or NOT!

Today was Kevin's first full day back in the UK. He is still on the wrong time zone (8 hours ahead); so this morning very early he was up watching last week's Pittsburgh game. The only problem with that, the girls heard him get up & wanted to be up with him... I was able to get them to stay in bed until 7am. Now we all know if this was a school day they would have slept as late as possible. Oh well, they were excited to see their dad.
Church was really good today. The main Vicor gave the message today. George is from Canada & has a wonderfully familiar accent! At the end of the service, much to my surprise, the music leader had me sing the final song as a semi- solo. At first I thought I wasn't supposed to be singing & then he looked at me & said go ahead. It felt like I was home again; I am so thankful for the opportunity this church is giving me!
Surprise, Surprise ~ this morning it was raining & a little on the cold side so we drove our car to church versus walking or riding our bikes. After church ends the congregation stays around for coffee, tea, and biscuits. The girls love this time because they get to play with their friends; we get to meet more of the members, etc. Well as this time came to an end today I told Sophie it was time to go - so she headed off for the front door. Brittney was sitting near me with some friends so I made eye contact with her. About that time someone comes up to Kevin & I to introduce themselves and get to know us. Well, about 10 minutes later I realize I haven't seen Sophie... I head to the door to see some of the older women in the congregation standing by the front door talking about the girl "who is going to catch her death" ~ yep, you guessed it, Sophie had been standing in the rain this whole time. She was soaked! I tried to explain to the women who were starring at me but I gave up. Instead, I went back & told Kevin to deal with his daughter!
Once we got home I was ready for a nap. Isn't today supposed to be a day of rest. Well someone needs to teach that to my daughters. As normal, Kevin & I were napping on the couch and the girls were playing around us. I guess we all got to do what we wanted :-)
Okay, that is enough of an update for today. I don't want you all to get too used to me updating the post :-) Besides, the kids need baths, spelling words reviewed, and final bed time stories read. Sweet Dreams Everyone!

So much time, yet so little time...

So much time has passed since my last post but yet in the scheme of what we have actually been doing... so little time has passed. Some have speculated the reason for no posts is because I have dropped off the side of the earth, others figure I am too busy for a post, and others just haven't even noticed the lack of posts... well the truth is I just haven't been in the mood. Ever since returning to the UK a month ago I have just been feeling blue - not for any particular reason just blue. Oh well, enough about that, let's get down to the facts of the last month.

The girls started school without a hitch. Brittney is in year 4, and Sophie is in year 1 ~ wow, these girls are growing up soooo fast. I am helping in Sophie's class once a week regularly and whenever else the teacher needs a helping hand. Sophie's class is made up of 30+ VERY rambunctious kids. Surprisingly I am really enjoying working in Sophie's class. I get to do all kinds of different stuff - listen to reading, help with projects, art time, toilet patrol, and basic crowd control. It is amazing to see how much the kids appreciate you being in the classroom. I would never won't to be a teacher full time but it sure is fun for a few hours a week.

This past week I spent a day with Brittney and her class at Flag Fen. This is a local sight that was home to the Celts and then the Romans 2000+ years ago. There are artifacts on sight from that long ago; I was amazed to see that the museum lets the kids handle actual artifacts. It was really neat to watch the light go off in the kids eyes - we got to walk on an actual Roman road, make some pottery, listen to a story in the round house (made from Waddle and Cow Poo). The weather was pretty good most of the day - it didn't turn cool & wet until the end of the day.

Speaking of weather, just within the last week the weather has turned quite chilly. We were enjoying a really pleasant Indian Summer but somewhere along the line we changed straight into winter. We got out our winter coats, gloves, hats, fleeces, etc. The heater has been on and I even had a quick fire last night to take the chill out of the air. Brrrrr

Back to the girls, on Tuesdays after school they are going to gymnastics. They are both really enjoying this. Interestingly the main teacher & co-owner is American. He and I joke periodically about the differences between the US & the UK. Sophie is a natural on the balance beam. She loves it, and most of the time they can't get her off of it. Brittney's class is a little longer than Sophie's but she doesn't seem to mind. She is constantly practising.

Brittney is continuing with her piano lessons and doing well. She has also started flute lessons and has her own flute. She practices every night for about 15 minutes, and believe it or not, it actually sounds pretty good. I was so shocked (that sounds awful of me doesn't it). Sophie likes to watch Brittney practice her flute - she just sits there kinda mesmerized.

Otherwise, the girls have stopped all other activities (swimming & trampolining) so they can enjoy time playing with local friends. They like to take the dogs on a walk to the back of the neighborhood where all their friends congregate. It is a safe location, and I can easily check on them. They can ride their bikes, play tag, you name it... The minute Brittney gets home from school she is out the door - Sophie doesn't always go down; the Barbies are just too appealing :-)

Kevin has been in Japan the last 10 days. Most of the time was spent with work obligations, but he was able to spend some time with our friends Pam & David. They moved to Japan 6 weeks ago and are currently going through culture shock. Don't think I could be as brave as them... According to Kevin he has eaten sushi, cow tongue, and cow intestines during his Japan visit but since he won't touch hardly any vegetables I'm doubting his claims. I am still searching for witnesses....

Last week I started singing with the Praise Band at our church. I didn't realize just how much I missed it until I got the chance to sing again. We practice on Friday nights for a few hours and then sing on Sunday morning. Some of the songs I have never heard of (time to sharpen my sight reading skills) but most of them I am familiar with. The band reminds me of Right Turn back home. I really, really enjoy singing!

My classes start back in a few days. I was really questioning whether to continue with school after meeting with my pastor back home in August. It seems like I may need to do this all over again with a Methodist Seminary (particularly Garrett-Evangelical) once I return home, but I will cross that bridge then. I also started questioning the whole thing because it seems more & more unlikely that I will be able to work in the capacity I was originally planning - oh well, I guess I don't need to know all the answers to the question(s) "why" yet, God will reveal them in due time... So until then, I will (with much less stress) continue on the path I am on and learn as much as possible. Besides, how often does someone get to hang a degree up that is written in Welsh & have the Queen of England come to their graduation (of course I am getting way ahead of myself).

Well, I guess that is enough for now. Please pardon the long delay in posting and the lack of information regarding our trip home in August. Sometimes it is just easier to keep moving forward.... Love you all & I will try to write more often!!!