Fine time to leave me

Just kidding. James had quite an odyssey flying to England. You could read at the end of my last blog how Thursday started.
James had been re-booked on a flight just after noon to JFK and then London. So I brought him to the airport around 11 am. After that text messages came From him that his flight schedule was "up in the air" (pan intended) except that he was not in the air. The plane to take him didn't arrive because of bad weather in Chicago. So he was re-routed again. Finally he flew to Dallas TX and barely got his connection to London Heathrow where he arrived at the same time as his brother from Dubai so all was well.
William was in school most of the day and Helen had come over because she wanted to try desperately to finish her "Block Lotto 2012 Sampler Quilt" top so it could go to the longarmer (quilter) with mine next day.
For more info about Block Lotto, go here!
It will be so stunning!
She was almost done but William needed to be collected from school and we were debating how to do it. Finally we thought it best if she would get him and then I could play with him while she did the little bit left. We promised William a trip to the DQ for ice cream to celebrate. Oh the best plans ...
It was bitterly bitterly cold, we drove to the DQ and found the sitting part closed for renovation, we decided on take-home (that part was open) but while we were in the drive-through and tried to decide and order several calls came in ... from Ben with results of the blood tests from his doctor ... from James that he just barely had made his connection and asked me to send arrival info to his brother ... etc ect. It was almost comical except poor William and we were hungry ... and it was sooooooo cold.
Finally we did get take-out, made it back home into our relatively warm place and with the small blizzards the blizzard-like temperatures were forgotten.

 

Friday January 9th

We had such big plans for this day all along. The two quilts were to be dropped of at the longarmer in the Goodlettsville RiverGate Mall and we wanted to shop, mainly William needed shoes and pans and tops and Helen and I wouldn't have minded finding a few new pieces of clothing too.
We did good to get going early. And we went in two cars just in case news came from Ben concerning his situation. Those were wise decisions. Ben was admitted to the hospital to have his gall bladder removed and Helen of course went into his direction. William and I went towards the townhouse. At least we got the quilts done.
Of course even very young children know when "something is going on". I had some convincing to do for William to be happy. We stopped at Kroger to get ice cream (mainly) and a few other things.

Omi found another Kinderei (no more now) which had an ugly little man in it (no idea what you do with it). He had fun with that though for a while.

And then Papa called from England and we did FaceTime. Here is the screenshot.

We were really proud to find a way to improve the train trucks. That is a great bridge!

Omi finally came out with a new toy bought at the VMFA in Richmond. Wooden blocks with magnets in them. William knows magnets from his trains. That was good fun.

He took these pictures with my phone (and another 176?) which was fun too. He likes to take pictures and look at them.

 

Saturday

After a good nights sleep we started all over again with all the playing and toys. The first thing though was to make a card for Pops. Who knows when he can visit his Dad so we took also a photo and texted it to Ben.

We played this game with the ugly little man from the Kinderei and were busy with it for a while. We also tried to make a video to explain it for Pops.
VIDEO

Then William found coins in the bottom of a bowl with some of Papa's golf balls. He asked whether I had a piggy bank. He likes doing this and now I have to pay in cash and give up my coins afterwards.

 

William could visit his Dad in the hospital which made both happy. It was dark when I drove home with him and I had a heck of a time keeping him awake all the way home.
Time for bed. He likes his bath and doesn't mind his hair washed at all. I have never seen a child so patiently sit there while water is poured over him. He didn't mind his hair dried either ... as long as I did it only on low. It is way too noisy on high. He hates noises.

And a picture came from England. The 5 siblings around the kitchen table in Windsor. I bet they have a great time (I was told they are discussing how Jane will sew on Catherine's girl guide patches onto her blanket).

 

Sunday

Another picture from England. All siblings in the church they grew up in (but they are not in birth-order). I love this picture!

Helen had not come for this night. The dogs had to be taken care of and she had to get up very early because Ben's operation was supposed to be at 7:30 am.
William and I were awake in good time that I managed to get us to their church in time for Sunday school at 9 am. Service was at 10:30. William picked our pew to sit in. He is very good in church. His favorite is the passing of the peace and he makes sure to go to everyone in the church if possible.
After church we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. I knew he likes Wendy's. I figured out now that it is not so much for the food but the toy. That's o.k. I think he was out of sorts the whole day. He knew something was going on. All that texting etc. James asked, Sarah asked, everybody asked how Ben was and at noon the 7:30 operation had not happened yet.

 

After lunch he wanted to play with his skeleton. We read about each organ in the great little book which came with it. It's not really Omi's thing but he was so into it. (Papa, where are you? Omi needs help.)

 

Finally word came that Ben was through it and fine. And late afternoon he wanted his son to visit again. William was very excited. After a good visit Helen, William and I went and had dinner close to the hospital. Waiting for the food William is pressing the button for a selfie.

When we parted after dinner William was not happy to leave Mommy. He wanted Mommy, he wanted Pops and he wanted to be in his own house. Helen had to promise to come and sleep in Omi's house too. It is amazing though what the promise of ice cream can do too.
William and I played very nicely until Helen finally came and it was bedtime.

When he was asleep I could look and found some more pictures from James. Lunch after church in a pub (aaahhhhh) and Jane sewing on the girl guide blanket.

 

What a day! Thanks to the Lord all is good!

 

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Bitterly cold

Tuesday

 

William has preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays so Helen brought him there and then she and James met at her house to work more on the kitchen cabinets. She sent this picture to me. Yes, James, let's remodel our kitchen in Virginia. You are doing great!

 

 

I did work for our church on my computer but, grrrrrr, why is everything always so difficult. It doesn't let me email the statements. A different server seems to make the difference.

William loves to be picked up by Papa. In the evening Helen has a meeting so William joins us for spaghetti dinner. He is very good twirling the noodles.

 

 

 

Eagle-eye-William has spied a Kinderüberraschungsei on the top-shelf. It is a bit "aged" but that doesn't bother him. It's fun. He knew exactly what it was. Must be his German heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday

 

Really? Thank goodness it is not getting any worse then this.

 

 

The view out the back. With the leaves down there is a little more to see of the golf course.

 

 

We also can see the work of a beaver across the creek. Could this become a problem for us? It's a big tree. You could not put your arms around it.

 

 

Helen has a luncheon meeting so James is taking care of driving William this morning. They are back for a late lunch and William is hungry. O.k. Leftover spaghetti and for dessert Omi's homemade applesauce.

I used the time while I was alone and tried my luck on the computer again. No luck!

Wednesday evening means supper and service at their church. Guess what was for supper? Yup, spaghetti. William didn't mind. I was not fast enough to take a picture with evidence of that and a chocolate cookie around his mouth before he used his napkin. The boy is fast.

 

 

Every day it is bitterly cold. You can't really be outside. Can't go for walks. Don't forget to leave the doors under the kitchen sink and dishwasher open in the nights! I don't like winter.

 

And now it is Thursday morning at 4 am and we can't sleep. We set the alarm clocks for 3:50 am before we went to sleep because James had a plane to catch VERY early in the morning. At 2:30 his phone announced the arrival of an email. His flight from Nashville to Chicago was cancelled and he was re-routed. Turning the alarm off doesn't make me fall asleep again though.

 

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How the New Year starts

We wish our family and friends a wonderful blessed New Year!

 

The first day of 2015 was very cold but with blue sky and the sun shining. We bundled up and went for one of our fast walks in the neighborhood. In some streets it was lovely but then you turn a corner ... brrrrr. Still, it felt good even if it was shorter then usual.

 

 

Friday January 2nd

Yes, we even set the alarm to get going. As William knows, you have to drive and drive and drive and drive. We were surprised that there was more traffic than we had expected but it wasn't bad and the weather was not bad either. Only at the end was there some fine mist but no heavy rain or slick roads.

Helen said that William was up early and was looking out the window for us. She texted this picture.

 

 

We arrived shortly after 3 pm and soon were on the floor playing . We got wonderful hugs. Omi had brought "her" train tracks so we have something to play with in the townhouse. The new little rug doesn't work as we thought it would.

 

 

 

Helen and William disappeared into the kitchen for a while. He had picked out lemon cake for the cupcakes and happily wears the apron Sophie had mailed for Christmas.

 

 

 

Later Ben joined us too and we all went mexican for dinner. Back at the townhouse I understood why the baking had to be done earlier. William had baked a birthday cupcake for Omi. So cute. Thank you all!

 

 

Saturday

William had a birthday party to go to but at 11:30 Papa and I met him and Helen at the Bouncy House and he came home with us. Helen wanted some time for work in her household. She wanted to do some sorting and throwing and was very happy with her success.

We did serious playing at the townhouse. Unfortunately it is just too cold for anything outside. Brrrrr.

Hot wheels

 

 

 

Trains

 

 

This was in the birthday party goody bag.

 

 

Helen and Ben came later for a simple dinner. William wanted to spend the night though. Helen showed us how to play with color-changing hot wheels in the bathtub. Then William slept for 11 hours.

 

Sunday

William woke up with a smile and crawled into our bed. We had plenty of time for a good breakfast and then were at church for the 10:30 service.

Of course it is still Christmas season. William leads us to sit close to the front on the left. St John's Christmas tree looks beautiful. It is "real" and every so often I can smell it. I am flooded with childhood memories. William was one of only two children going forward for the children's sermon but to everybody's joy he had a good conversation with pastor.

 

 

 

Back at the townhouse for lunch and then Helen and William are baking cornbread for the "room in the inn" charity tonight at their church.

 

For dinner Ben had invited us to an Italian Restaurant. A great place. James and I shared a delicious pizza. 16 inches. Nobody can eat that by themselves.

 

 

Monday

Helen and William arrive around 11. After lunch Helen and James go to her house to work on kitchen cabinets. William and I do some serious playing. First we "improve" the train trucks by building a bridge. How come there is always one certain piece missing for what you want to do?

 

 

 

Then we got really inventive with the hot wheels. We tried things and added and added.

 

 

 

In between we tried out the drinking straw building set.

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow William has school. Omi will try to catch up with her work.

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