Happy 4th Birthday Landon!

I can't believe my sweet little boy is 4 today! He has grown up so much in the last year, but he is still my baby. He is such a sweet boy, loves to give hugs and kisses and he brightens our day. Landon loves to play with airplanes, he has a lot of them and it is his favorite toy right now. Today we had his 4th Birthday party at a place in Oldmeldrum (about 15 minutes away) called Hoodles Playbarn with about 15 of his friends from school. There is an indoor playscape with slides that my kids just love. We had pizza and sandwiches and ice cream and cake. Today it was so pretty all the kids were able to play outside with their tricycles and play area. It was a gorgeous day and Landon and his friends had a great time.

Our New Friend

The boys had a fun St. Patricks Day and wore there green to school. We have been having fun with our new friend lately, our neighbor's cat. He comes over to visit us everyday after school and hangs out for a while in our front yard. The boys have been throwing ball with him and chasing him, Trent even decided we needed to make a house for him for when he comes over to visit :) 

We received a package in the mail from Aunt Katy and Uncle Clark yesterday, filled with toys, cheetos, cheezits, Ranch dressing, goldfish, skittles and other snacks which aren't found over here in Scotland. They were so excited. Thanks so much!

Just One More Time!

After a couple of beautiful sunny weeks here in Aberdeen, today it has been snowing all day here at our home. Trent and Landon have been asking for it to snow just one more time this winter. So they got their wish. I really enjoy watching the snowfall out the window and the fact that Trent and Landon love playing in the snow, but I must admit it is something that I would rather not live with. I think this could be the last of the snowfall this year, so we decided to make the most of it and got to do a little sledging this afternoon. Not as much snow as we have had of course, but I'm glad that my kids got to have another day in the snow this winter. 

Trent and Landon have been staying busy with school, playing at the park, golf lessons and football (soccer). We will start swim lessons again soon and we just found out that they will be able to play T-Ball this Spring at their school. They are very excited as this is one thing we thought we would miss from home. Trent has had a mild case of Chicken Pox for the past 11 days even after he had been vaccinated back home! He has had the spots but other than that he has been fine. He has been back at school though because he is past the contagious phase. We were surprised but children here in Scotland are not vaccinated for Chicken Pox like in the US and it is going around here. On Monday Landon got hit in the mouth at school which knocked his two front teeth out of alignment (they were pretty crooked) and the whole part of the inside upper lip was purple and so swollen! With all the blood I had to find a Dentist so that he could be seen. Not being registered with a Dentist here, I was a little concerned because it usually takes months to get in to see one. I called the 24 hour Emergency Dental Hotline here with the National Healthcare System and they were able to get me in (although across town) within 30 minutes. It was a relief that it wasn't anything serious. The swelling was so bad the 2nd day and poor Landon didn't even look like himself, he had bruising now on the outside of his mouth! The following day the swelling went down so much and he looked so much better. Amazingly, his teeth even straightened back up! 

 This past weekend Jon and I attended our first AWA (American Woman's Group) event together, the Mardi Gras Party. We are lucky to have found a wonderful babysitter named Fiona, the boys love her! That night we had a great time eating Cajun food, dancing and even joining in on the Mardi Gras Mambo song line dance.  That week I also attended my first AWA meeting in which I met several more other American women living in Aberdeen. It was nice to meet so many wonderful ladies and I hope to start doing a few more activities with the group. Christi and I went Scottish Antique shopping on Thursday and went to a few stores we found here in Aberdeen. I would like to find a few things to take home with me in the next couple of years so it will be neat to see what I can find. Some of our finds included tartan plaid items, antique golf clubs, and gorgeous handcrafted grandfather clocks from the 1800s from Scotland, England and Wales. I can't wait to go visit some other stores nearby. On Friday I had lunch with some of the other moms in the Preschool ISA. One of the moms hosted at her home and each person brought a dish. There were so many different things to try and I hope to get all the recipes! We had a great time. 

February Winter Break Week

This week Trent and Landon had their Winter Break from school. Luckily we had a few nice days outside as the weather was sunny and a bit warmer! On Friday the temperature reached 55 F which is the warmest day since we have been living here. This week we have been trying to stay busy playing both inside and outside and visiting a few fun kid places here in Aberdeen. The boys have been enjoying bike riding through the neighborhood most days. The terrain here with all the hills makes it a little more interesting. We've had several falls with scrapes and bruises but they always get back up and are ready to ride again. They enjoy riding their bikes to the park or playground and to get snacks at the "Coop" which is like a convenience store in our neighborhood. Its really close to our house. We played at an indoor play area called "Hoodles Playbarn". On Thursday Trent and Landon had their first golf lesson at Kippie Lodge here in Aberdeen.  Coach Craig was a lot of fun.They really enjoyed it and can't wait until their lesson next week! Scotland is the birthplace of golf and with so many amazing golf courses here we all hope to start playing some in late Spring. Today we went to a birthday party for their friend Brantley Hollis at the "Foam Factory". This was their first time to go to attend a party where you shoot foam balls everywhere. It was lots of fun!

We have some new pets in the house! This week Trent and Landon convinced us to get a fish tank and fish. On Thursday we bought the tank and set it up and had to wait a couple of days to add the fish. So today we went to Dobbies Garden Centre and picked out some fish that we were advised would be easy to care for and would last for a while. The boys named them Jack, Cleo and Leopard. They came up with these on their own. The fish are very active fish so they are already having lots of fun watching them.

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Football in the house...this has become an evening routine

Painting...this day we stayed in our pajamas all day

Coach Craig