The Birthday Festivities

The birthday girl had a "wonderful" and "lovely" day, she says. She woke up on Tuesday excited about her special day. She could not wait to get to school and so she could hand out fairy cakes to her classmates during snack time.

She was happy about our "American" biscuits for breakfast (not cookies!) and scrambled eggs. The biscuits were not as fluffy as I would have liked, but they were okay. I think I rolled the dough out too thin.

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My mom was on Skype with us while we sang and blew out candles. I just love technology! She was able to sit and watch Cerys open all her presents. My dad was at work, or I know he would have loved to watch too. Marc's parents were not near a computer or they would have joined in as well.

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Overall, it was a fun day. Some of our gap year girls came over to eat cake with us and it made it a very special day for Cerys. She is really going to miss these girls!!!

I just need to end by telling you that we found out today that Chili's has closed all of their UK restaurants. I really can't even think about it right now. Good thing I'm headed that way in 4 weeks!

Happy Birthday, 5 years old

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Dear Cerys,

Tears are welling up inside me right now just thinking about the day you were born. I can hardly believe it has been 5 years since God gave you to us. Those first few hours were so scary, not knowing if you were going to make it or if you would be healthy if you did survive. I was so scared. I remember the first time I saw you, many hours after you had been born, and how swollen you were. I could not wait to get you home! Daddy and Gigi spent many hours with you too in the NICU, and after just one week you were able to come home! It was Thanksgiving Day and I could not have been more thankful and relieved. God has a plan for you child! God has sure used you Cerys to teach me many things about myself! Your first year was a huge learning curve for your Mommy. I remember being in tears at your 1st Birthday- not only because I could not believe how sweet you were, but I was so grateful to God that I had survived my first year of motherhood!

You have such a lovely sense of humor and you always have something to say. I love that you are so witty, I love that you like to dress up and play "teacher." You are a girly girl, that's for sure! Daddy and I are so proud of you and who you are becoming. We love you so much, sweetie!

Happy 5th Birthday, Cerys.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

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Dear Cerys,

You are a good big sister. Thank you for helping me make my bed this morning. I'm too little sometimes. You are fun to play with. I love you.

Love,
Bailey

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Dear Cerys,

You always make me smile and laugh. Thanks for playing with me and helping me learn to crawl. I'm sorry I ate your baby doll's foot last week. I love you.

Love,
Addison

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The Weekend Happenings!

Marc and his friend, Dave, went back to the stadium for another Wales rugby match on Friday. I stayed home with the girls and cleaned house. Fun. We were suppose to go out for a nice meal with Dave and Anna, but the boys found out you could still get cheap rugby tickets to this match, so us girls were gracious enough to let them go and we changed our meal for Saturday night. I also found out later that Marc and Dave were on TV at the start of the match. I felt really bad for not having the TV on. I missed their 30 seconds of fame!

So, Saturday night Dave and Anna took us out for a meal at a fancy hotel. It was so yummy, and I ate waaayyyy to much. We were laughing because it must have been senior citizen's night, we were the youngest ones by far! The hotel lobby had a dance floor and live music, so it was fun to watch the old couples dancing together, they were so sweet! It's so great to have good food with good friends! Anna commented during dinner how it was so nice to be out with just adults- no sippy cups, faces wipes, etc. It was really nice. However, while we were sitting in the lobby watching the dancing, I reached down to feel my boot and just started laughing. While I was getting ready earlier, I had to take my boots away from Addison because I saw she had one in her mouth. She must have had it quite a while and I never noticed because I had little teeth marks and holes all over the top of my boots. I could not stop laughing. I've had these boots for several years and they are nothing special, but I could not believe the little teeth marks. I told Marc, nothing beats going on a hot date in a minivan with 3 car seats and teeth marks on your boots.

Here is the evidence:

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Sunday afternoon was fun too. We had about 18 gap year students in our home! They either brought their own sandwiches or ordered a pizza and we just hung out till about 5pm. The girls had a blast of course and I just love having them around! I've started choking up at the thought of them leaving in 4 weeks. Which of course means we leave in 5 weeks, which then helps me feel better. They really are great though and will be greatly missed by our little family!

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And the last thing, Addison's 3rd tooth finally came through. However, it's on the bottom too! I always thought that babies got the bottom teeth, then their top teeth first. At least the other girls were like that, so I just thought that was normal. But no, Addison is proving once again she will do things on her own terms. :) She has a third tooth on the bottom. I do think it's pretty cute though.

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I hope you all have a great week! There are little birthday fairies running around everywhere- someone has a 5th birthday tomorrow!

Funny Girls

Funny things the girls have said this week:

Bailey: I'm happy today Daddy.

Marc: Great, why are you so happy today?

Bailey: Because my sad is not here.

Cerys: singing Christmas songs she is learning at school

Me: Those are nice songs Cerys.

Cerys: stops mid-sentence, "Mummy, I'm afraid I can't remember the next bit of the song."


While playing at our friends' house last night, Cerys wanted to dress up in play clothes. She chose a red HSM cheer leading outfit to put on. I helped her get into it and then she looked at herself and said, "What kind of dress is this?" When I told her it was a cheer leading outfit, she asked, "What is a cheerleader?"

In The Shadow of Your Wings

I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done before our stateside time, which by the way is in 5.5 weeks. Crazy. I shouldn't feel this way probably, but there just seems to be a lot to do between now and then. Since I like to plan in advance and have a nice list of things to do (because I love crossing things off!), here is a list of some things that will need to be done or will happen in the next 5.5 weeks. Other than just living life and keeping up with relationships, here it is-

*Meeting with the Head Master at the school to explain why we are leaving, praying for favor with him and that there will be a place for them in this class when we come back in June. (You apply for every school and they can not hold places)

*Cerys' 5th Birthday next week

*An afternoon in Cerys' classroom

*dentist appointments for everyone and teeth cleanings for me and Marc

*Thanksgiving lunch for us and our gap year students (will be held on Saturday since it's business as usual that week)

*Bailey's class Christmas trip one day

*Going Public gap year Christmas party

*Christmas concerts at the school

*buying Christmas gifts before we leave

*packing up things in our home that we do not want left out or being used (this is kind of a biggie)

*deciding what needs to be packed for 6 months, into the smallest number of suitcases possible

I know everyone is busy this time of year, so it's not like my list is any crazier than yours. I just have a lot on my mind right now. I'm thankful I am memorizing Psalm 63:7-8 right now-

"Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me."

My prayer for us as a family over the next few weeks is that we can have patience with each other as we carry on daily life but also planning for the next 6 months in the states. It's exciting to think about being back in Dallas, but also knowing that we are leaving here right at a time where some relationships have really taken off and some have gone to a deeper level. We just trust those into the capable hands of our Father.

Here are some recent pictures- it's gotten MUCH cooler here. It's been in the low 40's this past week, which calls for hats and gloves!

Ready to walk to school!
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Addison was pretty bundled up, it was a hoot! She could not move her arms at all.
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"This is what I do while my sisters are at school!"
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"I work my way into their room and eat their baby dolls, Shhh,don't tell them!"

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The Match

Marc and I had a lovely time at the rugby match on Saturday. Apart from the potty-mouth behind us, it was a fabulous atmosphere! I'm so pleased to say that I've now been to a Welsh rugby game!

Kick-off was at 5:15pm, this was about 4:30pm. Getting nice and dark already.

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We had incredible seats, 5 rows from the pitch. (field) This huge sign says it all- "Protect This House". Rugby is serious business here!

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We got our Welsh face paint on and we are ready to go! (We also had about 4 layers of clothes on!)

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The national flower is the daffodil and I am wishing I would have gotten a lovely hat like this lady! It was quite popular to be dressed as a daffodil.

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Rugby players up close. They are not small people.

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We didn't win, but it was still fun! I did get lots of video, but as I mentioned, there was a man behind us that liked words that began with the letter F, and that was before the alcohol kicked in. So I'm not sure I can post any videos, if the one of the National Anthem is clean I will post it later.

*Marc has definitely caught the rugby fever, he and his good friend Dave are going to Wales vs. Samoa next weekend.

RUGBY

So my friend Joyce reminded me that it's not a game, but a MATCH. You are so right Joyce!! I forgot that bit of lingo. So, tomorrow Marc and I are going to the big rugby match. :)

Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure: The first one is the Haka and the showdown between Wales and New Zealand last year. I LOVE how Wales (in red) just stood there and the crowd goes wild! The second video is the Welsh National Anthem that is sung before each game- it's going to be awesome. Too bad I don't know Welsh, but I will sing like I do! :) I have no clue why I'm so excited, but I can NOT wait till tomorrow afternoon! Go Wales!



Addison would like to tell you...

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that she is feeling better! Our house is well (mostly) and we are so thankful. I am tired, but I think it's just all of last week catching up with me! Addison is feeling good, except this pesky bottom tooth that hasn't broken through yet. I'm trying to get her in to see all allergist, but haven't heard anything back yet. If it means getting a referral from our GP, I'm not sure it will happen since they don't think she needs to see one. I would just feel better about it if she did see one, so it may have to wait until we are back in Dallas.

We have an exciting weekend coming up- Marc and I are going to a big rugby game. Not just a rugby game, but a good one! I have no idea why I'm so excited about Rugby, but I do enjoy it. It's quite barbaric, but it's such a good sport and fun to watch. We've never been to one of the "big" games, so this year instead of eating for a week we decided to get tickets to the one of the games. (Just kidding.) So, on Saturday we will be at Millennium Stadium with around 75,000 other people watching Wales vs. New Zealand! I am going to try to find a video to post from last year's game. The New Zealand All Blacks do a chant before each game called The Haka. It's basically grown men taunting each other, but it's cool. Last year the Welsh team lined up in front of them with stone-cold faces and did not budge, it was so awesome. I hope they do it again when we are there on Saturday!

Go Wales!

Update on Addison

Thank you all so much for your prayers during the night. I am so thankful that people, some who I don't even know, are lifting us up.

After I blogged last night I went to check on Addison and she was still wide awake, wheezy and just generally uncomfortable. I decided to google Amoxicillin and see if there were any side effects- and there were! (Just for the record, if you know me, then you know that Marc pretty much banned me from googling any kind of illness. But he was in bed sick, so I got away with it!) So they side effects included a rash, insomnia, no wet diapers and other nasty things. Addison had what I thought were 3-4 of the symptoms so I knew I could not rest. I called our out of hours service and was told to take her to the hospital to be seen, at 12:40am. Lovely. We were both wide awake anyway, so I loaded her up in the car- even though we only live a few hundred yards from the hospital. I was not about to walk up there in dark with my baby at that time of night, or morning. (I prayed the whole way up there and out loud in the car park! Ha!)

I was not impressed with the doctor at all. She was very strange. She told me to stop the antibiotics, that her chest was all clear and her eczema was really bad. She said there are no allergic reactions to Amoxicillin and there was nothing she could do for us. Alrighty then. We got home around 1:30am and she was finally asleep around 2am. I could not sleep much and kept thinking that this information did not sit well with me. This morning I phoned our doctor and explained the situation and just asked if it was okay to stop her medicine like that. She told me to come in at 11am, so that's where I've been!

The Lord worked it out that we got in to see the same doctor who prescribed her the medicine last Monday, so I didn't have to go into all the history of the week! He agreed her skin was looking worse, but was not sure it was related to the medicine. She has some type of rash on top of the eczema so it was hard to tell. He listened to her chest and neither lung is cleared up, contrary to what the doctor last night told me! He was kind of shocked that I was told her lungs were all clear and to stop the medicine. Thank you Lord that you gave me the wisdom to get her back in to the doctor!! So, we are now on new medicine and new lotions. The new antibiotic is a double whammy he said, it's good for chest infection and skin problems. So, I'm praying she is feeling better soon! (Is it wrong to say that I'm ready for school to start again next week?)

Oh, and you can pray for me and Addison to avoid the tummy bug. The people on both sides of us last night in the hospital waiting room were puking into a bucket while we waited. I think one guy was just drunk, but the other one was in cold sweats and all. Lovely.

TGIF.
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