Back Online...FINALLY

I had no idea why it took so long but on the 30th of April we FINALLY got a home phone and internet. The installation took almost the whole morning and some help from our landlord. I had only ever seen one phone socket in the house but for some reason that one wasn't working. Thankfully our landlord was at home that morning and helped the technician find the working outlet as well as the wiring in the attic/garage. By mid day we had a working phone line. Then later that afternoon the mailman brought us our broadband modem/router. While I had made it through the last three and a half weeks with no internet, I was definitely glad to be back online. Alas, it didn't last long. After a few hours, the internet and phone both stopped working. BT had stated everything would be working by midnight the following day so we decided to give it some time to come back online. Finally Wednesday morning I called in a outage and received a text that it could be up to two weeks for it to be resolved. ACK!!! Another two weeks without internet did not sound fun but I decided to be patient. Luck was on our side and the following day a technician came and fixed the phone and internet and we were back up and running again!! Then the next day, another technician came and though the issue had been resolved, he ran some more tests just to make sure. Thankfully we haven't been without internet or phone again since then. Once it was up and running, it was time to get all the computers, TV and Wii's all connected to the network so we could start streaming Netflix again. Jude was definitely happy to have Barney back again and I was happy to be able to watch my TV shows online again.

Our First Visitor(s)

During the second week of school, we had our first visitor(s). Brian texted me Tuesday afternoon the Darren's flight was delayed and that he would be stuck in London for the night. Brian would pick him up from the airport afterwork and then he would be spending the night with us. I would give him a ride to the airport in the morning for his flight to Houston. This was just the thing I needed to get the guest room in order. It was the one room I hadn't unpacked and was still full of boxes and random stuff. I got everything cleaned out, the bed made, and bathroom ready before they got home in the evening. We had a nice time catching up and then headed off to bed. In the morning, Darren came with me to drop the boys off at school and then we went back home to relax a bit before heading to the airport. Thanks to my trusty Tom Tom we made it there in one piece and right on time. I got out of the car to say good-bye to Darren and when I went back around to the driver's side of the car, there was my best friend, Kristen!!! I was in complete shock. I had no idea she was coming! It was the BEST SURPRISE EVER!!! Darren put his suitcase back in the trunk along with Kristen's luggage. They were staying with us the whole weekend!!!

We headed back to our neck of the woods stopping for lunch at the Toby Carvery near the Asda. It was the first time I had ever been. It was like Thanksgiving dinner. There were four different types of meats and then a bunch of different sides and gravies. We then headed home to relax before going to pick up the boys from school. Both James and John were excited to see Aunt Kristen!! It was a surprise for them as well. They had really enjoyed seeing Darren the night before and were so happy to see Kristen as well.

Thursday morning we got up and went to a coffee morning at the home of one of John's classmates. It was so nice to meet some of the mothers and chat for longer than the brief hello during drop off and pick up. After that, we made the hour drive out to Stonehenge. It was crazy windy and super cold that morning. We didn't spend much time out at the monument because of the weather. We stopped in one of the little towns on our way home for lunch. Then it was home for late afternoon naps.

Brian took off work Friday so we could spend the day all together. After dropping the big boys off at school, we loaded up in the van and headed to Windsor castle. Again, it was cold, windy and rainy but we enjoyed a nice walk through the castle and lunch at a pub across the street. Thankfully it stopped raining just after lunch so we had a pleasant walk back to the parking garage. We headed home to rest up for our big London outing the next day.

Saturday morning we were up and out the door bright and early. We made the 30 minute drive down to the train station in Farnborough to catch our train into London. The boys had a great time on the 30 minute train ride into London. Again, it was cold and rainy and for some reason, incredibly crowded. The lines to get into places were crazy long. Instead we kind of did a walking tour of some of the major sights. We first walked to Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. Right next to that is Westminster Abby. Then we were off to Buckingham Palace. We arrive just before the changing of the guard which explained the huge crowds. We got some great photos and then started walking to Trafalgar Square. There was some sort of big bicycle ride going on so they had a lot of the square closed off to traffic. This allowed us to let Jonah down to run around for a bit. We boosted the boys up onto the monument and took photos with the lions. Then we walked just down the street to The Texas Embassy for dinner. This was the first place we ate in London when we took our backpacking trip to Europe back in 2001. The food was fairly good but a bit overpriced. It was quite nice to get out of the rain for a bit and rest our feet. After lunch we did a bit of shopping and then began our walk back to the train station. It was a bit far for our tired boys so we hopped on the Tube (underground subway) which made the trip back to Victoria station a lot faster. We arrived back home mid-afternoon and everyone took a nice long nap.

Early Sunday morning we said good-bye to our friends (thankfully there were no tears this time) and Brian drove them to the airport for their flight home. It was so wonderful to see them and I can't wait to see them again when their baby is born later this year.  

Let the Clubs Begin!

The second week of school brought the beginning of after school clubs. This term James is giving Judo a try and John is doing Performing Arts. Judo is on Monday afternoon from 5-6. He goes to creche (after school care) from 3:45 to 5 and then on to Judo. Brian picks him up from school on his way home from work. John goes to Performing Arts on Thursday afternoons right after school from 3:45 to 4:45. In order to not do two pick ups one hour apart, James goes to creche for an hour and I pick them both up at 4:45. There was a bit of a mix up the first week of clubs. John was on the list for Cricket and went there instead. Thankfully we got it resolved and he started Performing Arts the next week. Thursdays are extra busy as the boys do Beavers and Cubs (scouts) just after dinner. I pick up the boys and we head straight to the scout house in Crowthorne. Brian brings us dinner from Subway and we eat in the car before Beavers starts at 5:45. After dinner, Brian takes the older boys on to scouts and the little boys and I head home for baths and bedtime. So far the boys are enjoying their after school activities. James just got his Judo uniform and white belt. I'm hoping he will stick with it over the terms and graduate to the other belts.  John is enjoying the acting and singing they do in Performing Arts. He's also started to go to Choir during the school day with some of the kids in his class. John loves to sing so I'm not surprised he wanted to join in. The boys were recently invested into their scout groups so I've gotten to break out the sewing kit again and get all of their patches sewn onto their new uniforms (sweatshirts). Both boys have camp outs and overnights coming up in the next few weeks. I know Brian can't wait to get the camping gear out again.

Our First Few Weeks in Our New Home

Our first few weeks were very busy ones. We made many, many trips to the store in order to stock our pantry and fridge as well as outfit our house with everything from trashcans to a vacuum cleaner. Poor James and John haven't run errands like that since starting school and were both worn out by all the running around. I also spent a lot of time getting boxes unpacks, clothes put away and everyone's rooms and beds ready.

Besides getting the house up and running, we also had to get the older boys ready for school. Thankfully Brian and I had gone to Jackson's while I was here looking at houses. We did well with the shorts and shirts but missed the mark on the sweaters and blazers. The sizes we chose for John fit James and thus had to make a trip to Jackson's over the weekend for some exchanges. Our last fews days before school started were spent getting school shoes and hemming up the boys' blazers and boiler suits.

The boys started Summer Term at St. Neot's Preparatory School on Wednesday, April 18th. Thankfully they were all up early so we had lots of time to eat breakfast and get dressed. I didn't know how long it would take us to get to school so we left really early and had to sit in the parking lot a while before school started. We first walked James to his class and got all of his things put away. Once he was settled in his room with his teacher, we took John to his classroom. Again, we got everything put away and him settled in with his teacher before heading back home. The first week flew by and it was the weekend again before we knew it.  

Our Journey Across the Pond

Well I left off the weekend before we left home. The monday we left was spent doing last minute laundry, packing and one last lunch at Lupe Tortilla with our friends, the Weatherwaxes. The food was so yummy and the boys had a blast playing the in sand boxes with Keira and LJ. We said good-bye to our friends and headed back to my parents house to load up the SUV. We barely fit all 6 of us and my dad along with all of our bags. I was really worried how we would get everything in the the new minivan. We arrived at the airport super early and managed to be one of very few people checking in at Terminal E. It took 3 of those luggage carts to get all 11 bags and four carseats into the terminal. I was so thankful it was empty because it meant the boys could wander around a bit without bothering anyone. We got all checked in and then headed to security. We managed to get the carry on bags and carseats through security and up to the gate area. The only disappointment was the food selection in the terminal. There was only one restaurant and a couple little stands that sold sandwiches and drinks. Again, it was fairly empty since we were early and the boys were able to run around a bit. We got the boys all changed into their pajamas and ready for bed before boarding the plane.

We were allowed to board just after First Class because we were traveling with children. We all got down the ramp and into our seats. Unfortunately Jude's carseat didn't fit in the seat and had to be checked. We managed to get Jonah's carseat installed but he was really iffy about sitting in it. He actually sat in my lap for take off and until he fell asleep for the night. James and Jude both stayed up really late and didn't sleep much during the flight. Jonah slept off and on in his carseat and cried for a little while a few times during the flight. Brian and I hardly slept as we were busy getting Jude and Jonah settled. We were all extremely glad when we landed at Heathrow. We let everyone else off the plane before us out of necessity. We couldn't get the belt unlatched from Jonah's carseat and had to wait for a flight attendant to help us.

Once off the plane, it was off to border control. We filled out our paperwork on the plane so that was taken care of. Alas, since we were the last off the plane, we were also the last in line. Poor Jonah was so tired and was not cooperating (wanting to sit in the stroller and be quiet). Thankfully an older woman who was working at the time took pity on us and moved us to the front of the line. It took quite a long time for our family to get through corder control as they had to look over the visas for the four boys as well as get fingerprints for the older two. Once that was finally done, we were able to claim our baggage and head out to the car. Again, it took 3 carts to get everything out to the car. It was definitely a challenge to get four carseats installed in the car (well two carseats and two booster seats) while in the parking lot with four boys. Thankfully everyone and everything made it safely into the car and we headed to our new home.  

Catching Up

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted a single thing to the blog since we left home almost 2 months ago. I guess that's because we've been busy getting settled in, seeing the lovely English countryside, and in general, enjoying life in our new home. Plus we didn't have internet for almost a month so that definitely impedes blogging. I guess I'll start at the beginning and get all caught up here over the next week or two.