dino diggin'

Andrew has a new project. He received a Dino Dig kit for Christmas and has decided to try it out. I can't tell you how diligent and patient he has been through the process! The kit comes with a block of plaster and several excavating tools specially sized for little paleontologists. The idea is to work like a paleontologist carefully scraping and brushing away debris to expose bones. It isn't easy for him to understand the process; he was expecting to be done within 2 minutes hopefully having had scraped all the bones free in prep for assembly. He started yesterday afternoon, did a little last night, and even got up this morning and had a go at it. I never thought he would make it this far! What patience the little guy has. The block is extremely hard and can't be broken into pieces with any of the tools included so he really is forced to scrape and brush. As of this morning he has exposed 3 different dino bones though none are freed from the rock. We will keep you informed of the progress.



We have a vistor this weekend. This is Sparkle the cat. He came home from school with Andrew for the week. We are supposed to document our days, much like a diary, to share with the class on Monday. Of course, Sparkle comes home the week that the Dames' have nothing exciting planned....really nothing. So we decided we might as well include him in the dino dig project. I was surprised to see Andrew playing with him in his bedroom earlier this week. Of course, he was showing Sparkle his Hot Wheels collection and outlining which cars were the fastest, coolest, etc... (and big brother wasn't home to make any comments.)

Christmas past

We got an email from GaGa HoHo who asked about our gingerbread house project. (The email was sent back in December. Sorry, my fault!) So, even though they have gone to the great gingerbread house city "in the sky" I took photos before they were sent. This is Andrew's. He was especially pround of the marshmallows on the candy canes. That is a sandbox in the front, for the kids to play in. (can you see any missing pieces? Andrew was our culprit if we found any candies missing!)



This is Alex's. He did a double. By the way, all of the candies were imported from Houston. Poppa Ed and GaGa HoHo and Aunt Steph brought in a suitcase full of candies for us to use. It was difficult to find candies here in London. Even candy canes were hard to find.

This is Christmas eve dinner with Grammy and Grandpa Dames. They visited us over the Christmas holidays. On the menu: tortellini soup, antipasta, and a green salad. We are wearing our paper crowns from our Christmas crackers. Did you know that the origin of Christmas crackers is from right here in England? Tom Smith came up with the idea and you can find crackers everywhere all over London at Christmastime. (Don't you feel lucky to have your own personal conceirge of British Christmas traditions??)(Unfortunately, that is the extent of it.)

This is a picture of our tree. The photo really doesn't do it any justice. It really was beautiful! However, it too has gone to the Christmas tree farm "in the sky" and this pic is all we have left.

Whoops. Sorry this is out of order..... I am still learning how to upload pics. Anywho, this is John's creation. It's a church. My favorite part is the rose window! (my London townhome is in the background.) We ended up with quite a nice gingerbread city, a.k.a. ginormous (british term for gigantic and enormous) super-secret snacking post for some kids who will remain nameless.

This is Andrew's gingerbread house he did at school. Before the Thanksgiving break the teachers requested that if anyone was going home to the states for their T-giving holiday, please bring back candies for the gingerbread house project. Needless to say, they ended up with more than enough and lots of variety.

Hampton Court Palace

Over the holidays we made a trip southwest to the London borough of Richmond upon Thames to see Hampton Court Palace which once was residence for King Henry the VIII (among others). This is the front/north entrance. (as you can see from the scaffolding it is under refurbishment inside.)



We were lucky enough to get tickets to ice skate there on the palace grounds. An ice skating rink is set up during the month of Decemeber and January. Here is Silly Chap #1........(notice the bridge over the Thames River in the background!)

Here is Silly Chap #2 clinging to the wall. Both boys caught on quite quickly and did amazingly well for their second time on ice skates!

Around the backside/south side of the palace are beautiful gardens. Even in winter they are green and groomed. This is a Yew tree with both Silly Chaps standing underneath. See how big those trees are? And better yet, they are not pruned or trimmed. This is their natural growing shape or at least that is what we were told. I have tried to find them via Wikipedia and have come-up with nothing though to confirm these facts.

They line the walkways like soldiers! We learned from one of the docents that these trees are only 1/3 through their life span, and they were planted back in 1690. They are slow growing trees and provide medicinal components used in current cancer treatment drugs. For more great information and pictures visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Court_Palace

S.A.D.

Ever heard of S.A.D.? Otherwise known as "seasonal affective disorder"? Well, we heard it is quite common around here and let me show you why...........

This is outside our mansion flat, AT 4:00 P.M.! It is this dark when I drive to pick-up Silly Chap #1 from school at 4:15! I didn't believe those who were telling me that it starts to get dark around 3:30 in the winter. It seems to be quite true. (It does make it easy to put the little ones in bed though!) However, we are now on the upside after the winter solstice and the daylight hours will be getting longer very soon. Just in time........as we get really "s-a-d" around here some days!

Platform 9 3/4

For all those "Muggles" out there.....we made a stop at Kings Cross tube station and found the Holy Grail for Harry Potter fans. Yep, it really is there - Harry's luggage trolley stuck halfway through the platform wall - and it really is at Platform 9 3/4!! Imagine that. (we weren't the only ones taking photos, either!)

Night Cap

"...and momma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap."

I think Silly Chap #2 has been contimplating this seasonal rhyme too much recently, (though it definitely hasn't been his mother or father reading it to him...) for this is what I encountered when I went in to his room for a goodnight kiss.

I asked him why he had his "big boy" pants on his head. His simple matter-of-fact reply was, "it's my night hat, mom." "Your night hat?" I said. "Yes. My night hat. Dad said I could wear it to bed!" Well, allrighty then, I thought to myself. (those just happen to be Halloween skull and cross bone briefs) And then as I adjusted his sheets to cover him up I saw the next surprise...

He had decided to complete the ensemble, therefore making himself part Batman as well. (why they are on backwards, I have no idea!) And the scariest part.............he had no problem "modeling" for me. Ugh. Sweet Dreams!

Finally!

Ever since our arrival in London, I have wanted to get a photo of the boys with one of the Royal Guards. I was always "out voted" when it came time to pick an outing. My vote was always for a trip to Buckingham Palace to get a photo. Isn't that the ultimate? Of course, we are still somewhat "touristas" here so it really wouldn't be that ridiculous! Well, over Thanksgiving break we made a trip out to Windsor Castle with the Hogan Grandparents and Aunt; and guess what...they have "guards" there too!!! Ha. Now they had no way to vote me down! Sooooo here is the result. Not too bad, I say. Andrew was the funniest. We had to push him closer and closer to the fella. (We think he may have been a bit intimidated by the weapon.) The photo has also prompted a research project for me. I just can't tell you the number of times I have asked about the ER insignia.....and yet I continue to forget what it means. ALSO, I want to confirm that this is the winter uniform for the guards, rather than the typical red coats along with the 'fuzzy" black hats. So, I'll get back to you on those................