Darren saw the queen on Thursday when he was in Windsor for his day off. He said they were basically within 5 feet of each other, of course with a car window in between and that as she was approaching people were discussing what she might be wearing. Oh the flurry of the queen! It was quite entertaining when, after he had told us of his brush with royalty, the kids were intent on making things and wrapping them for us to give to the king and queen. I'm glad that they have now forgotten of it. I can't imagine how I might have to tell them that the queen is not interested in seeing them or personally corresponding by post.

I was piddling around the house the other day when I stumbled upon the kids in the yard slinging mud against the back fence. I got some hilarious video footage of them singing and slinging. I can thoroughly enjoy this kind of playfulness as long as it's not every day and doesn't involve numerous outfit changes. It was bringing all of us such joy.

Luci still can't pronounce a lot of her words correctly--I love that she says lelling for yelling and that yesterday she paused, and smiling, said "what is that word?"

I hadn't gotten around to fully unpacking my luggage from SF til tonight. That was after Darren came down to report that Jesse had sleepily walked to the bathroom but in his stupor sat down on the luggage that was partially open. Luckily the luggage will fare quite well as I had enough clothes in their to absorb most of the liquid.

Being home in London has been great. The weather has sustained most of its wonderfulness. I have found a downside to it being light until 10 though--I think it's 7:30 when it's really 9:30 and then I get myself to bed way too late every night. To be honest, I am having a terrible time getting up in the morning.

Too ready for bed right now to fix the layout of this blog but this is a description of each picture: 1) Luci sleeping on couch with favorite doll (right now) that she calls Mango--this is significant because she loves everything mango--lassis, ice cream, etc. It's so perfect. 2) Luci with her school friend Rowan laying in front of her house. As a sidenote, Luci has no problem claiming instantaneous fatigue and laying down on the city sidewalks. 3) Jesse using a stick he found, and yarn, to make first a cross and then a bow and arrow. He's just churning out the art these days.

Resettling

D and I had a fabulous time in San Francisco. I saw lots of friends and was inspired to be around IC's summer interns as well. I'll have to give an update on how my artisan bread turns out--turns out 2 of my friends I saw are into this aritisan bread in 5 minutes a day thing! The kids did fine, if not great here, as well as Jennifer my wonderful friend who was willing to come and stay with the kids. I will have to post some pictures from before l left when I had some Jennifer time but who has time for that now? Still sharing computer with D. I almost forgot to say that we got to see the Prince family in So. California before we left. So great getting to hang with my nieces and nephews, without my kids actually, to get to know them. I now feel especially bonded to Gavin and Ben, the next oldest little people after Jesse. I won't mention to J what a good time I had with them though. And what a workout I had in the pool considering my body is not fit for exercise in the water at all.

Upon returning, we bestowed new toothbrushes (not that we can't buy them here) upon our kids and after a bit of inner working out, Luci was able to release the pink one that Jesse wanted into his hands so to speak. It hadn't been singled out for her though we knew what she would want but she was able to accept Jesse having it. What a big move for a girl who says she wants pink hair, and said today she wished the whole world was pink.

Yesterday night, the kids and I watered the tomato plants (will they survive?) and then stirred the compost and added dry stuff to that. I found that after the initial opening of the composter, I enjoyed the gradual disappearance of the ever present fruit flies. And Jesse enjoyed looking in there and dropping stuff in. Luci looked especially cute in her wellies and underpants in the garden. When I went in the kitchen, I realized that virtually all of the fruit flies from the composter had taken up residence in my kitchen. And we are still having fun with them today. Anyone know how to reduce the amount of fruit flies in my composter?

Bedtime is Coming!

It is so peaceful here....It is now after me painting some more walls yellow (such a beautiful cheerful success, thanks for your advice Deanna), , after cleaning up for my friend Jennifer who was coming, after she arrived, after we went on a date with Lu and Pea to Mudchute farm, after Lu got gently knocked over by a cow (she's fine and positive), after dessert at the cafe there that was way too heavy all around on the cream, after fabulous pasta that D made with our box's leeks and kale, after dishes, after a 25 minute run with Pea. And here I sit loving the relatively cleaned-up flat looking at my tomato plants and thinking of bed with the Saturday morining newspaper that never happened. I am so pleased that it is a quiet evening, just me and the newspaper. Darren is at a friend's show, Jennifer and kids fast asleep, and I must jump the next hurdle of a shower to get to my newpaper.

Looking Toward San Francisco!

On Monday, D and I will fly together on a 10 hour date to SF! I am excited to see my good friends. As I think about the pleasure that will be, I also find that I am stressed out a bit. Not to leave the kids but just in thinking about details. There's not much to cover here since my friend Jennifer is so competent and reliable, it's just that I didn't think that SF would come before the getting my garden into my garden (back yard), finishing my painting jobs, decluttering, making sure J's current on MMR, and the list goes on. Silly but yet pestering me interiorly. Hoping my tomato plants survive before they get replanted.

On another note, we had beautiful weather today, worthy of sunscreen. We had Lu's friend Rowan over for lunch and had lunch out front as the kids chatted and played with the big toy items, little tikes car, bike, soccer ball, not so big. When J came home from school, Luci and he were outside asking everybody going by, "Are you my neighbor?" The conversations and smiles it generated were so great.

Jesse told me not to kill a spider in my house today because they would eat all the evil bugs. Now must go, must share this computer, and I've already been on for a while discovering Facebook, something that will have to limited in my computing diet.

Recent Happenings

Seems my computer again is dead and this may likely be due to Cranky the Crane, a Thomas toy. Seriously, watch out for magnets that may approach your hard drive. I never saw Cranky make a connection with my hard drive but Luci was playing with it across from me the very day my computer bit the dust. Praying for a miracle, though D may be praying he gets to pass s on to me and get a new snazzier one.

Luci--always the princess, seems developmentally she is looking from real affirmation from the people important to her. I still don't wear much make-up or fancy clothes (and glitter/sparkle really appeals to Lu) but it is just crazy to me as I realize that Luci in some ways adores me for my grown-up princessness. This is evidenced in how she squeezed me so much last night at the dinner table adoringly going on with loving comments. She also seems to like to stroke my hair and when allowed into the "What should I wear" conversation she always votes for my dress-like blue shirt with gold trim.

Jesse--so full of laughter that guy is, which made half-term (one-week holiday from school) last week fabulous. We did not get sick of the kids at all, Darren was flexible with his work, and it was a fabulous time. We hung out with our IC friends and their kids, Zoe and Peter, and Jesse developed potentially a new crush. Well, let's just say he had a great time with Zoe romping on the amazing Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Hyde Park. It has all these seperate, sort of mystical little play areas all connected and thanks to the older Hayes girls, Savannah and Alexandra, the adults were able to chat for a long while pretty uninterupted. Jesse, as of last week was learning to not point with his middle finger (which really reminds me of my Dad for some reason....hmmm) and instructing Luci on his new knowledge. Jesse has also made an effort to follow Jesus in a more articulate, substantial way, and this is exciting. We felt his attitude was better last week and he was able to consciously connect it sometimes to God making his heart better. The teeny-tiny, yet important, milestones of faith and youth. Both children though began swimming lessons yesterday at a pool nearby. They had been much requested yet this did not spur either of them to overcome their fears or shynesses to get in the pool. To J's credit, all the kids were totally swimming in the class he was supposed to be in, which was Beginners for his age group. He cannot swim, yet the teachers hesitated to put him the easier class just because of his age. However, my hope is that next time the teachers and children will cooperate and that Jesse and Luci will be in the same class, which is just really about being comfortable in the water.

me--I love my outdoor life here. The air is humid, and even if it is not particularly warm, I can smell the growth of plants/flowers, and hear the birds singing--I love it. I love having the rythym of the farm every Monday--it is so helpful for me to be around the farm animals every week. I was thinking yesterday about how they are all so sweet. And this may sound sappy but they really are despite the signs saying "Animals my bite" and how far removed from farm animals we are that we tend to thing they are wild. I love that the sheep and pigs, and all of them are so simple and easy to be with. Peanut was being butted in the head by a little lamb and did not like it very much. It was funny to see Francesco yelling at the lamb to stop (he never did) instead of the usual situation of me yelling at Pea to stop chasing the goats.

Darren--he is enjoying blogging again and seems to enjoy Facebook. I peer over his shoulder and think, "I will do that someday". I'm sure there is much more to share about D but can't think of it just yet and will hand his computer back to him. But I can say that he LOVES biking around and we are extremely excited to be heading to San Francisco with no kids on Monday. And that is preceded by some time with our friend Jennifer who will take care of our kids while we are away.