First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school for the kids. Abby came home and was ready to home school. She had a rough first day, the buddy that she was paired up with already had a good friend in the class and they kept hanging out together. However her teacher called and wanted to check in with me and I made her aware of the situation. She let Abby pick her buddy the next day and it went much better. So thankful for the call from her teacher! Abby has kids in her class from Egypt, Japan, Australia, U.S., France and India. She loves learning things from the other kids but does say it is hard to understand some of their English.
Colin got in the car and said he loved it and had a great day. Colin is considered middle school here and he thinks that is the coolest thing. He however does not get to do some of the things that the 7th and 7th graders get to do. He has kids in his class from Latvia (which is thrilling to him since one of his classmates from Grand View was Latvian), Egypt, France, Japan and U.S.
Kaden did not have a great day either. His buddy did not show him around and in Kaden's words "just didn't care." Breaks a moms heart when they are starting a new school and don't have a good day. I have introduced myself to the teachers and chatted with the counselor in the middle school. All very lovely people and willing to help Kaden with his transition. Kaden has classmates from Russia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Nigeria, Jamaica, Turkey and U.S.
The boys have block scheduling with an A week and B week so that will be new to all of us and will take some adjusting to. Colin and Kaden will both be taking a full year of Spanish this year which is amazing! In the U.S. I don't believe they start languages soon enough. Colin really wanted to take French but 5th graders have to take one year of Spanish and then they can choose.
When I dropped my kids off on Monday I felt like a big piece of me was gone. I missed them terribly but I had a good distraction. I was invited to coffee with some moms that live in the same area as we do. All of them have been there for a year or more except one other lady and I. I greatly enjoyed their company and getting to know them. They are very down to earth and fun, not the snobbish kind. Three of them are military wives and one other was civilian like me. I can't wait to continue to go to coffee and do other things with them, a fun bunch.

Abby 2nd Grade

Colin 5th Grade

Kaden 7th Grade

Our three lovelies. Colin was a little irritated with Kaden here and they just got in trouble for pestering each other. Gotta love their faces!

School Orientation

On Thursday we had to go to School to have Kaden tested for Math and Spanish so that he would be placed in the correct class. While he was testing Colin was able to meet another new student and went off to play with him and his brother. This family was coming from Connecticut where they resided the last 11 years. Their mother was born and raised in France, their father in Ireland and they lived in London for a few years and moved to America. They just arrived a few weeks ago for the husbands job (a 3 year stay). Abby also met a little girl and was off to play with her. Her family came from Portugal, so Abby said she didn't talk a lot. Well you know Abby, she didn't have a problem doing the talking. :) They were moved here because her mom is in Pharmaceuticals. I also had the pleasure to meet a lady that just arrived a week ago with her two kids from Michigan and her husband works for Bosch and they will be here for 3 years. The last person I met was a man that works for the US Embassy and he just moved his family here from the Netherlands, he was raised in Arkansas and joined the military. All very lovely people and really neat to see all the different languages and countries that people come from.
Friday was Orientation day for all new families. We were greeted by teachers, principals and student ambassadors. Each class had a couple student ambassadors that took 4th grade on up through 12th grade new students around the campus, answered questions and ate lunch with them. It was such a neat way to get all the students to talk and know that they were not the only new kid in the class. They actually have 138 new students this year! We had to stay with Abby and they gave her a piece of paper where she had to find her classroom, library, principal, several rooms and places she would go and collect stickers from those places. Very fun for her and Dad! Randy said she is full of energy. During that time I got all the papers and information overload for PTSA (Parent, Teacher, Student Association). I have already been asked to do several jobs, excited to be a part of them.  Not sure if I will take up the secretary offer or not. :s
The best part of the day was meeting a new family we had heard about in March when we came to visit the school. They have a world map up in the hall and there are pins as well as students names that are new and it shows you where they are all coming from. In March when we came to visit we saw this board and noticed there was a family by the last name of Woodbury, yes spelled exactly like ours that came from California. They also have an Abigaile Woodbury but they add the "e" on the end. When we moved into our house we were told by our neighbors that there was a family down the street that had girls and they go to ACS Hillingdon also. We have watched all summer for them to walk by or be out and have never seen them. Well, today we met the Woodbury family and realized it was them that lived down the road with the girls! Wow, we were so excited and so amazed at God's greatness! The mom is involved with spirit wear in the PTSA, which I would love to help with, the Dad is with NATO and they are here for 3 more years. We are headed to their house this evening to have a BBQ.
The kids are more than ready to start school, I think they are excited for their new adventure. Kaden is going to start running with me a couple times a week and doing a little strength work to get prepared for Rugby try outs. Hopefully their first day on Monday will go well. You can pray for Colin as he is a little nervous about his Science class, his teacher is an evolutionist and that worries him. We told him that it is good to learn why we believe the way we do and hear other peoples opinions. One friend said when I asked her for prayer "tell him he shouldn't be worried because he knows what the truth is and writing answers on a piece of paper doesn't mean that is what you believe." Very true, at this age I just want him to stay strong and be a light and not confuse the poor thing.

 

London Home Pictures

Now that we are finally unpacked and have the bedrooms and kitchen done, I promised some pictures. However, we are still working on some rooms.

Nook where our table is. Lovely place to eat and enjoy the weather.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Family (Kaden's) Bath (Also guest bath)

Family (Kaden's) Bath (Also guest bath)

Guest Room, awaiting any visitors!

Kaden's Room

Kaden's Room

Abby's Bath

Abby's Bath

Abby's Room

Abby's Room

Colin's Room 

Colin's Room (walls are awaiting a few fathead's that are coming)

Our Bedroom

Our Bedroom

Our Bath

Pool & Park Fun

On Tuesday our neighbor once again invited us to join her, her husband and grandsons to go swimming. They assured us that it was an indoor pool. :) We were happy to hear that since it was chilly here. It was a small pool with three indoor chutes (slides). The kids had a lovely time and after we were done we headed to a park. I had heard of the outdoor gym parks but have never seen or been. We explored one that day and the kids enjoyed it. Colin missed out on it because he had gone back home with our neighbors and grandsons. Once we arrived back home Ben and Jude came over to play with Colin and Kaden at our home. The boys thought it was funny that we offered them a soda because here they call it a fizzy drink. They also thought it humorous that I thought flapjacks were pancakes. They were talking about making flapjacks with their Granny the next morning and I assumed it was their word for pancakes. They did bring me some flapjacks the next morning and they are delicious! To bad they are headed back home and we start school on Monday. Where did the summer go!

Outdoor Gym Park

Kaden & Abby challenging to see who can work longer.

Working the arm muscles.

Abby

These are flapjacks, almost like little granola oat bars.

Go Ape

Black Park County Park is set in 530 acres of beautiful woodland with a centre-piece lake. One of the best days out in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Go Ape features their classic experience in the trees where you can fly down zip wires through the forest, leap off the Tarzan Swing and tackle the high ropes crossings. You can rent segways and also rent bikes to ride through the beautiful park. We were invited by our neighbors to go yesterday with them and their two grandsons who are 13 and 15 years and rent bikes. It was great for Kaden and Colin to get out and do some boys things with others. Abby and I rode around by ourselves because the boys were crazy going through other paths in the forest and muddy places. They had a cafe by the lake that you could stop for lunch or tea and enjoy the view. There was also a big green area we came across where families were picnicking and playing ball. They greatly enjoyed themselves and were tired afterwards. We will definitely be going back to try the zip wires and do some more biking.                                                     

Abby

Kaden, Ben, Colin & Jude

Forest 

Lake

Lake 

WICKED

On Saturday, August 15th we surprised the kids with tickets to the performance WICKED. If you are not familiar with WICKED here is a little synopsis from their website.
       
"When Dorothy famously triumphed over the Wicked Witch, we only ever heard one side of the story. Gregory Maguire's acclaimed 1995 novel, 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West', re-imagines the Land of Oz, creating a parallel universe to the familiar story written by L. Frank Baum and first published as 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' in 1900.
        Wicked tell the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University: the blonde and very popular Glinda and a misunderstood green girl named Elphaba.
        Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda's unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba's determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future.
        Their extraordinary adventures in OZ will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. "

The kids greatly enjoyed it as well as Randy. I had seen it before but it it by far my favorite broadway of all that I have seen. It was a great conversation starter at dinner to talk about what we can learn from it too.

Elphaba & Glinda

Visit to U.S.

On July 25th we boarded a plane to go back to the U.S. for two weeks. One of those weeks would be spent tying up loose ends and letting the kids see a few friends. The next week would be spent at Family Camp with many of our good friends.
The first two days we were there we were pretty tired but then everyone adjusted well and quickly. We were able to do some school shopping and each kid was able to have a play date with one of their classmates from Grandview that would not be at Family Camp. However, my oldest informed me that it was not a play date it was a "bro meeting." I guess in 7th grade they don't want play dates anymore. :) We were able to have dinner with our Pastor and his sweet family, who we greatly miss. We had some chiropractic adjustments which were wonderful after sleeping on air beds for a month. The humidity and sun were well soaked in as we do not see the sun often and do not have that humidity here. This week has been a high in the upper 60's low 70's and we feel like we are freezing after being in the U.S. :s We were able to see both sets of parents as we stayed with Randy's mom and then my parents, sister and family came down to visit us at camp for a day. We were very blessed by a couple of our friends that loaned us their car while we were there and then hauled all our stuff to family camp in their truck, HUGE blessing! I was also able to go to my old workout classes with my workout buddy at 5:00a, loved it! It was so encouraging to be surrounded by believers and people that love us. Many memories made those two weeks! When we left the U.S. on August 8th to come back to London it was much harder this time knowing we had no plans to return until next summer. Many tears were shed but also excitement to start school here and meet some friends. It is always hard leaving Family Camp anyway after spending time with those close to you. We arrived here in the UK on Sunday and Monday morning I had to wake my kids around 11:30a so they would go back to bed that evening. This week they have all slept in and two of them have had to be woke up everyday by 10:00a. For those of you that don't know my kids well, that is unheard of in this family. Our kids are always up by 6:30 ready to tackle the day! Thankfully we have one more week before school starts to get them back on their schedule. Looking forward to how God will use us in our new school.

Abby and one of her best buddies Tay all ready for the zipline.

Abby and Tay

Colin climbing up the wall.

Big brother Kaden cheering his little brother to the top.

Tennis with Dad

Daddy/Daughter golf.

Abby and Randy

Colin with his two buds Daniel and Nathan ready to race their duct tape boat.

Abby and her friend Julia.

Colin and his best bud Nathan chilling with snacks and a game.

Pirate Abby ready for the Carnival.

Pool fun with all our friends. Seeing how many kids it takes to keep Scott Reger down.

Kaden and his best friend from Kindergarten, Linden. He was do thrilled to be able to spend the week with him and another classmate.

Morning run with Kristin, love the lake!

Abby and her whale.

Kaden, our comedian.

Colin and his friend Caleb tubing.

Kaden and two of his good friends, Linden and Austin.