Good morning, all. Although, I woke up this morning feeling a little like I was hit by a truck. A raging flu from our Raging Waters adventure, I’m sure. But Kimberly’s morning (on top) looks like it is going to lead to a stellar day. My usual morning (on bottom) is my favorite time of day. I like getting up early, alone with my thoughts, the crunch of my sneakers, and the unspoiled dew drops. It’s a good way to hit the day running.
Despite the promises of more updates and blogging, and the fact that it was Crafty Tuesday, it has been a little quiet around BC Chaos this week, no?
(cue the crickets – chirp. chirp.)
But we have been busy RAGING. We were invited to Raging Waters today by our sweet friends Jamie and Audrey…so we spent the day getting very, very wet and full of sunshine.
4 Moms, and 15 kids. Yes. 15. Thankfully Em, Ad, Emma Jean and Audrey were the only “littles” who needed constant supervision – the rest of the kids were off and running doing the “big kid” slides and rides.
And the day was perfect, only marred slightly by the near-concussion.
Yeah, we had not even been there 15 minutes, and Addie came out of the kiddie pool screaming with a HUGE, purple, goose egg growing out of the top of her forehead. She kept insisting that she hit her head on the slide, but a little boy said that he had actually hit heads with her. We’ll never know the real story.
As for the rest of the story…I was pleased that I was able to maintain some form of calmness because I was FREAKED out. After an ice pack and an exam by the paramedic, it was determined that she was going to live. And after some cuddling and a little timeout – she was up and ready to go, like it never even happened.
We are up and ready to go, too. Precious few weeks til school starts and I’ve got a web project that I need to finish this week, so I’m not promising anything – but we’ll be back real soon.
In the meantime, “hang ten!”
These photos have been calling from my hard drive for the past two weeks. I arrived at the realization that the photos are not going to get edited any time soon, so I’m putting them all up on flickr if you are interested in perusing them. But, be forewarned…there are many.
I just can’t believe it was only two weeks ago that J. and I were gallivanting our way across London sans children. So how was it, you ask?
AH-mazing! It was so very much fun. And a timely little anniversary present to ourselves. (Happy 17 years to us today!)
It did take me a few days to look at a menu and not automatically think “what should we get the girls to eat.” And I would wake up and sort of listen for them before realizing – “Ha! They are not even here!”
But, once I got out of mom-mode, it was very relaxing and fun. I was on my own while J. worked for a few of the days and I just wandered around, gave my camera some love and visited all the museums I wanted to. I pretty much didn’t say anything to anyone unless I stopped for a coffee or lunch somewhere – and nobody said anything to me. It was kinda nice. For a day or two.
Then I had J. all to myself and we did all the things that would have bored the girls to tears.
Like visit Stamford Bridge, home to the Chelsea Football Club…
We took the tour, so we got to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff…
And The Shed End…
We also went up and visited Lord’s – the Home of Cricket…
And got to watch a match…
AND, lucky us! The day we visited they allowed the spectators down on the field, which they haven’t done in like 10 years. You can’t see it here, but we are walking on the historic grass of Lord’s, barefoot…
Let’s see. We also visited Abbey Road…
Yep…that is THE crosswalk…
We had pasties (which were a very, VERY close second to the pasties Aunty used to make – they were so good!)…
We had a few pints at a few pubs…
We stayed here…
And here…
J. indulged me while I swooned in love with London phone booths…
And flowers…
And churches…
And cute little streets I must live on someday…
We visited my old stomping grounds…
And tried to peek in the windows admired the window treatments of the flat we lived in…
We did some shopping at the Portobello Road market…
We got in trouble for taking photos of this street (outside Kensington Palace – but it was still worth it)…
We may or may not have sung a round of ‘Chim chiminey chim chiminey chim chim cher-ee!’ – I mean, tell me this doesn’t look like a scene straight out of Mary Poppins…
We pretty much enjoyed the best of London…
Continually falling in love with the architecture…
The history…
And all the beauty…
I can’t wait to go back and share it with the girls.
The two most unlikely subjects for the Moody theme this week, eh?
I mean – YES! Kimberly’s photo is incredibly moody – the lighting and the blackness, but that smokin’ Mama? I find it hard to believe that she is moody.
Now the bottom half, that sweet little angelic face? Why would I put that sweet face up here for moody? Well, let me tell you – I can attest that girl is M-O-O-D-Y. Seriously. She is perhaps the moodiest child I think I have ever met. We have black…and over on this side, white. Happy one minute, and a complete 180 degrees the very next. I know someday I am going to admire her extreme stubbornness and her determination and that “self-confidence” is going to take her far.
And I can’t help but keep thinking, “it can only get better.” I mean like in ten years from now. When she is fifteen…oh my God. I’m so in trouble, aren’t I?
Well, let me just say that I have only been crafty out of necessity this past week.
Addie HAD to wear a dress that was a good two inches too short to be wearing out in public. So I rounded up all of her old holey or grass-stained leggings and chopped and hemmed them. Voila. Five new pairs of under-skirt shorts. She is very happy.
Jamie HAS about three more pair of pants that need to be hemmed, so they are next up on my sewing table.
Emma’s old bear NEEDS a new nose. She so very sweetly decided to give her “extra” bear to her best friend Audrey so they could have friendship bears.
And she graciously decided to keep her original bear (from Aunt Meesh) which is a little worse for wear and has lost his nose somewhere along the way. So new nose for bear. And the “extra bear” has a new home with Aud.
And most of last week was spent preparing for the little grown-up tea party we had over the weekend to honor my new sister-in-law, (to be), JB!
We were going for an Anthropology-esque garden tea party. And I think we got pretty close. At any rate is was a very fun afternoon with our favorite Mary!
I really hope to tackle my project pile this week. Any inspirations for me?
Hey there, internet friends. I kinda miss you all a little bit.
Granted I clearly didn’t miss you enough to post more than a Team-Up Thursday here or a Crafty Tuesday there lately, but I do have all kinds of stuff to post. Things are happening and I’ve definitely got photos to share.
It’s just, well…I guess it is just summer, and we all kind of need a break. It isn’t you…it is me. Since coming back from our trip, the realization that it our summer is almost over has hit, and it has hit hard. In 24 days the girls go back to school already.
So we have just been trying to chill and enjoy what is left of our summer.
Today we roamed the flea market a bit and then came home to our hammock and front yard and a pile of books…
Can you believe I get to celebrate 17 years with this guy this week? I sometimes have to give a little pinch to remind myself how very lucky I am…
And you had better believe that this will be printed and hanging somewhere in our house by the end of the week. My new favorite photo of Addison…
Sometimes, it really is hard to do “nothing” but just sit back and enjoy life. I’m really making a conscious effort to do just that before all chaos hits in a few weeks.
And for me, part of enjoying life is writing this here little ‘ol blog. So hopefully I can sit down and do a little more of that, too.
Kimberly’s moody, atmospheric and lovely photo is on the left, I’m on the right this week. I can’t even tell you where in London this is. That was the beauty of having alone time and my camera, I just wandered around and took shots of anything that struck my fancy. I am particularly fascinated with doors, so when Megan announced the theme was Doors, I was thrilled. (Also happy that we didn’t have to come up with a theme on our own!)
Make sure to check out more doors over at –
I think I may still have some jetlag. Is that even possible after five days? All I know is that it is 9:00pm and I am trying to decide if I can just sleep on the sofa so I don’t have to make the trek upstairs. Just so tired.
And Miss Addie’s apparent allergic reaction to her mosquito bite? After a trip to the ER, a doctor visit and an appointment with a dermatologist it has been decided that she will not be scarred for life, and her face/neck/arms are nearly cleared up.
We got to spend a nice long afternoon with friends complete with lots ‘o swimming. Very good for worn out kids. Not very good for my to do list…including the pile of photos and recaps of camping, London and Michigan.
But none of that is going to happen tonight. I think we can score this evening: jetlag – 1, Carrie – 0.
I’m still in the midst of unpacking and tackling the mountain of “we-were-out-of-town-for-two-weeks” tasks that had piled up. But a very special best friend of Em’s turned 7 over the weekend, so I had to try this tutorial.
And…ta-da! A bike basket for our sweet girl.
Notice the use of the chalkboard fabric! It is so very handy for lots of things.
And we have a new little pet in our household. Emmy and Daddy brought this little Owly home for me from ComiCon this past weekend. (OH, yes…J’s comic nerdiness has indeed worn off onto Em!)
How cute is he, though? See why I have to learn how to felt? Next on the ever-expanding list of things to do…
So…Kimberly suggested Lights this week and I knew instantly what I wanted to shoot. I am in love with the architecture in London. All of the buildings are so beautiful, especially the pubs. Especially when their lights come on…
I found this pub on our last night in London. It was not one of the ones we sampled when J. and I had our pub crawl. Next time.