The Royal Wedding

My mom text me this morning at 8:30 asking me if I had be watching the wedding and I'm glad she did because I totally forgot about it being on today!!!! I don't get to watch morning news TV since the kiddos dominate the AM with PBS kids programming. But I did turn things on just in time for Kate and Will to step out on the balcony and have their first public kiss.

It was so surreal watching all the footage and knowing that I have stood in that street and in front of that magnificent palace several times before. Now watching it from so far away and wishing so badly to be there to witness this history. I started thinking about all of my friends gathering in the Green in Glinton having a big old party. Everyone would be off work as it would be a national holiday and the weather would have just been amazing to have a great day with friends and celebrate English traditions.

Absolutely loved seeing The Mall loaded with people and the Union Jacks flying high.

I know I was crazy to take pictures of the TV but it's the closest I could come to actually being there. The fun thing about the morning was that I got phone calls from my mom, my sister and my mother-in-law all wanting to share their excitement with me of their memories of visiting London with us and recognizing all the sites they had been watching on TV for hours that morning. That in itself was so rewarding to me that we had a little help in fullfilling such experiences for them!!!!

Nature Walk and Art

Apartment living has not been easy on my soul as the kids and I love to be outdoors. Now that the weather has turned cold again it's been tough to keep motivated, but today I thought we'd fight the elements and try to do a nature walk around our apartment to see what we could see. We grabbed a little grocery sack and picked up leaves, sticks, flowers, grass, even a chunk of asphalt shingle. We were even able to go to a little open lot across the street to find dandelions in all different stages from the little buds all the way to "wish" stages (with the white fluff).

Then we headed back up stairs and broke out the glue and some sheets of paper. Each one of the kids put together their own collage of nature.

They had loads of fun but once they were done (in about 10 minutes) they were wanting to do something else....I need my craft idea books before too long or these guys are going to go crazy with me.

I Need to Sew Something

To really start feeling a bit normal and useful, I had a total urge to sew something. Yes, I know I am totally weird but I'm one of those people who like to see physical results to feel satisfied at times. I'm glad I have some useful hobbies that can achieve this with. I had purchased this fabric and pattern to make a dress for Addison last October so that I could have it ready for a trip to Singapore for the spring. Well, the trip to Singapore didn't pan out but the summer is getting started early here so I thought it would good to finally get it made.

I was really happy with how it turned out and Addison loved it. She's been in the phase where all she wants to wear is dresses and I thought if I could make up a few of these little cuties she would be set for the summer. The problem is that I really like this dress as well and wish I had a pattern to make one for myself!!!

Happy Easter in Iowa this Year

Easter morning is here and what a glorious day to celebrate the miracle God showed His amazing love for us all.

Yet again we are in a different country for Easter morning and yet again the Easter bunny found us and filled up our eggs with sweeties and our baskets with special gifts. This year the British Easter bunny sent over some goodies and movies to the US for us to enjoy along with treats from the America Easter Bunny.

And not only did the Easter bunny bring eggs with goodies hidden all around the inside of the house, but he pop some around the outside of Grandma's house too. So after an amazing breakfast the kids got dressed up to pick up eggs outside as well.

It was a wonderful Easter weekend and it was great to get back West. Granted now instead of a flight back home we had a 6 hour drive....welcome back to America!!!!

Getting Ready for Easter

With Easter finally here we made our first big trip out of Peoria back to Grandma Sally and Grandpa Mike's house. To break up our big drive we spent the night at Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jeff's house and brought Addison to a special dentist appointment at the University of Iowa Dental School on Thursday. Then on Friday morning we headed to Minden for a fabulous Easter holiday.

Grandma Sally had loads of fun Eastery things lined up for the kiddos. First on the agenda was a treasure hunt that the kids had insisted on during a Skype conversation weeks ago, but she followed through with it and the kids had a blast following the map. The first found Easter baskets and then as I navigated the map the kids found special gifts on the route like bubble blowers, sweeties, and egg dying package.

So of course our next activity was egg dying. I hadn't dyed eggs since I was probably in high school so this was a real treat for me to and totally foreign to my kids.

The were very methodical and messy but they had a lot of fun, especially watching mommy try to make multicolored eggs.

Next their curiosities went to the outdoors because Daddy and Grandpa had made their way back from Tony's house with a big tractor to help pick up a few loads of dirt. Here are three generations of Dea men and boy working on the farm together. Later on we kind of made a discovery that Harrison is the only true Dea great-grandson to John and Helen....all the other boys belong to the girls of the family so they don't have the Dea name, so right now Harry is the only one in his generation to carry on the Dea name...weird. Well, maybe he won't be the only one as Ryan and Lindsay are expecting a little one come July so we'll see if we get another boy or not!

While I went along with the guys to bring the tractor back to Tony, the kids helped Grandma make an Easter bunny cake. They were so proud to show us their creation.

Saturday morning there was a Easter egg hunt in town that Sally and I brought the kids to. Addison was all about getting up close and personal with the Easter bunny while Harry didn't even want to get close...silly boy.

Inside the church they had loads of super cute Easter goodies (totally an American spread) and things that looked like they belonged in the Taste of Home magazine. The kids quite enjoyed their sugar fix at 10:30 the morning before going out to get loads more.

The broke the kids up into age groups, so Addie and Harry were in the younger group which had a free for all to pick up as many eggs that would fit in their wee baskets. I finally took a few for them so they could get more as there were loads left over.

Then we sat down on the grass and emptied out all the goodies into our baskets so we could return the eggs to be used for next year.

The kids had such a wonderful time and were happy to share some quality time with Grandma Sally.

Amazing Discovery at Schnucks

Grocery shopping since we've gotten back has been a rude awakening to me. Having to completely restock pantry items and household necessities really adds up and I was having a bit of sticker shock to how much prices have gone up on items in the US. Now granted I've really probably been spending the same amount of $US the whole time I was in England but the prices look so much better in GBP. Since I didn't look at the US credit card bills I didn't really see how much we were paying in dollars, but now I'm freaking out! Since we were living on the west side of Peoria, my closest grocery store was actual the Walmart on Allen Road so I have gone there a couple of times. I soon found out that while some things at Walmart are obviously cheaper the things that I thought were pretty important like fruits and veg were much more expensive.

So I started checking out the other grocery stores in town to remember what they were all like and it was just mind boggling trying to get re-acquainted with their layouts and products. Kevin and I made a trip to Hy-Vee which was amazing because we LOVED Hy-Vee all throughout our college days in Ames and Hy-Vee is an Iowa based company so of course we love it! Then the kids and I made a trip to Schnucks and we hit the jackpot for finding some very special things that had been near and dear to our hearts for the past 4 years....British foods!!!! Yes, in the international cheeses section we found Red Leicester cheese but for the same sized packet that I would pay 2 GBP for in England was priced at $7.50 here. After winding through the store I saw a sign that said "International" then there it was the "British Foods" section!!!!!! I felt like I was back at Tesco. I saw McVities Digestives, Heinz Baked Beans, Spotted Dick, Lyle's Golden Syrup, Jaffa Cakes, Ribena Black Current juice, and Robinson's Orange Squash. I was sooo excited but then I looked at the prices and about died. The litre of squash like I would buy in the UK for 1 GBP cost $5.39!

Yikes, guess that would be a special treat for the kiddos if I bought some, but they were so used to drinking it like it was a daily staple that I decided against getting anything right now. I will return though to stock up on a few favorites, but when I know we are going to do something special. I know now that we have reversed the tables from what we had in the UK when US items were expensive and hard to get, but very much cherished. But for now I am still struggling to find a few items that I don't think I'll ever be able to find replacements for over here....crispy duck pancakes, Double Cream, and Tesco pork sausages. Silly, I know, but they were regular items at our dinner table.

The Kid's First Trip to Dairy Queen

Tonight we finally had our first home cooked meal all together as a family in our apartment and for a special treat afterwards we went out for something special. Yes, we took the kids for their first trip ever to DAIRY QUEEN!!!! It was a rainy stormy night but we all just needed to get out and what a special place to enjoy one of our most favorite American treats. The kids each got this monsterous vanilla ice cream cones, while Kevin and I got our favorite Blizzards.

Air Shipment Arrives!!!!

Today was a very early starting day but for a very, very good reason....our air shipment was being delivered to our apartment. Bright and early at 7:30 AM the Federal truck shows up with our boxes of goodies that we packed up over a month ago to have available to us when we started to get settled in Peoria.

With our accommodations being the CAT apartments, this was not an unusual sight to see. It was actually one that everyone shared a bit of happiness for each other as special things get re-united with their families. So far we've met three ISE American families that have moved back from Belgium and two being from China and one family actually moving here from India. Even though there are not as many ISE's still out and around the world as there used to be, there are still a lot and it's fun to encounter new people who have just gone through an amazing experience like we just did, but are now back trying to re-situation their lives, just like we are trying to do.

The boxes all got lined up in our dining/living room waiting to be unwrapped like at Christmas time. My heart lept as I started pulling out kitchen items that I had been missing...it is funny how little things can really put joy back in your heart in a time when you feel like you are in pure chaos.

The kids were soooo excited to get more toys to play with and things to do. Addison immediately got dressed up and we pulled out all the playdough toys and got to messing around.

Starting to feel a little more normal....

A Truly American Dinner

With still trying to get settled in to an absolutely new routine, I hadn't been able to really cook a proper meal with all the running around that we've been doing. Tonight Kevin and I dined on the most comforting of all American foods....Kraft Mac and Cheese with hotdogs!!! Yes, a simple and common meal for many people in America. Probably one that most people really take for granted but this once a very special treat for us to enjoy while in England as we only imported a few boxes at a time when we would come back and forth. Now that we can have it abundantly we still treasure these moments that flash us back to our childhood and when times were so much easier.

80 F and Sunny the first week of April!!!???

The kids and I made our way back to Peoria to hook up with Daddy. It was good to have us all back together again after being apart for almost a week after such a big move for us all. After it being much cooler weather when we first got back into the US, it was now almost 80 F just a week later. Too bad for all of us that I didn't pack any shorts in our luggage. Most of the summer stuff was in our air shipment which was in Peoria over 2 weeks ago but we haven't gotten in delivered yet.

It was so warm...this would be very warm summer day in England it was only the first week of April. Just another reminder that I had a lot of getting re-acquainted with the weather patterns of the mid-west, but I can't complain about sunshine!!!

Time with Cousins

I got to spend a few days back in Iowa before I have to head back to Peoria with the kids, so I spent them with my mom and sister. Addie and Harry just love spending time with their cousins Bo and Brock and they all love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. Today they all got a bit anxious and really pushed Grandpa to get to sit up in his little tractor. No rides in the tractor today but plenty of rides in Grandpa Jeff's buggy to see the new land my mom and dad just acquired. It's absolutely amazing...loaded with trees that just keep going and going. If we could build a house there I would in a heart because because it's just perfect, but sadly enough CAT doesn't have any engineering facilities around and it would be a 400 mile round trip commute for Kevin.

Bo was horribly sad on the day we left from playing at my sister's house. He's finally getting old enough to know what's going on, but we tried re-assuring him that we lived back in America now and that we would be back more to see him. He just kept saying that he "loved his sister Addison" and "didn't want her to leave". How sweet! It will be very nice to be much closer to our family and actually call them up and be in the same time zone...still trying to get my head around that one.

Getting New Cars

After a few days in Peoria with Kevin to start sorting out our apartment and do some more house hunting I was getting anxious to finally get my own wheels. Since the only thing we really had sorted out was our cars coming back I was happy to finally have something to get excited about. Kevin actually picked this out for me but the Chevy Equinox was our choice for our family vehicle....not quite a full sized SUV but definitely a lot bigger than my VW Passat. We were both quite keen to the mocha brown color and I can tell you that we had a tough time finding this little guy. My mom is a salesperson at the local dealership in my home town so she worked really hard to track down what we wanted and get us a pretty sweet deal. I have to say that I am cursed when it comes to getting new vehicles as each time I got brand new company cars, I ended up leaving that position after 3 months of getting the car, so in turn lost the new car. Hopefully I won't have the same luck with this guy.

I think it's a fun little car as it looks like a brown rugged sneaker with chrome!!! It has a camera in the back so I can see what's behind me in a picture on my rear view mirror and I can hook my iPod inside and the rear tailgate lifts on its own with a touch of a button....I was just excited to finally have a car with cruise control again.

I think I'm really going to like this thing but it's just getting used to a whole new life...all new things...all new places with some familiar faces. Right now, I am honestly feeling like I would trade this thing back if I could just get back to England to normal life...I know that's probably bad to say, but I really wish we had a home sorted and that's been really tough on me.

A Wonderful Welcome Home

After a long, exhausting and emotion final trip back to the US we were greeted with the most amazing welcome. Our arrival time into Cedar Rapids was delayed due to our crew being in Indianapolis when we were supposed to be taking off from Chicago (oh the joys of air travel). Since it was April Fool's Day my mom thought I was joking, but I was dead on serious and with two exhausted children I just wanted to get home.

My parents, my sister, brother-in-law, nephews and the biggest surprise, Kevin's parents, were all there to greet us as we got off the plane. They made these amazing posters, loads of balloons, and signs saying "No more Sleeps" as we counted down our days to move back with the kids by the number of "sleeps" we had left and the grandparents got kicks out of that terminology.

They were all also wearing these ridiculous mustaches and glasses. My brother in law, Heath, was getting all worked up about our delay and kept asking the people at the counter what was up and where was our flight. Crazy enough our flight wasn't due in to Cedar Rapids until 6PM but Kevin's parents drove 4 1/2 hours from the other side of the state to get there and after seeing them for about 45 minutes they drove all the way back home. What an amazing gesture of them and such a special treat to us for all of them to be there.

The crazy and probably as amazing thing about the trip home other than the welcome was that I had an awesome celebrity sighting. As we are finally get on our plane in Chicago, I look up and see an oddly familiar face. Once I put it together in my mind, I whipped around to Kevin and said...hey, that's that chick from "House." He told me I was crazy but then her friend stood up front and yelled, "hey, Amber do you want to sit up here with me?" and then it was confirmed, Amber Tamblyn was on our plane. The other passengers around me were all trying to figure out if it was really her and we were all freaking out. Then we all had to question "Why was she going to Cedar Rapids???" When we finally landed, I immediately text my mom and told her that this gal was on the plane and get a picture of her when she got off as I wouldn't be able to with waiting with the kids in the back. They obviously didn't really know who she was because they didn't take any pictures, but it's hilarious to watch back the little bit of film my mom took of us getting to the gate as I was commenting on how wonderful it was to see everyone and then I turn a 180 and start asking if they saw Amber!!! It looks totally awful of me when I watch it back but I was sooo tired and it's totally what redeemed the delayed flight for me.

Later on I found out that she was actually heading to Iowa City for a literary festival to perform...how flipping cool was that!!!

Mom and Dad brought Kevin's new pickup truck to the airport for him to drive back to their house. We loaded up their Expedition with the kids and some bags and threw the rest in the bed of the pickup. We rode together and watched the sun set as we were now finally back in the US for good (well at least until they let us go on another assignment). I was too tired to be sad or glad, but a sense of relief that this leg of the trip was done. Now to start sorting out a place to call "home" was our next challenge.