January 2015

In January:

• we bought a car - and couldn't believe it took three weeks from the time we chose the car until we could finally take possession of it! 
  
• we braved driving on the other side of the road, which was quite harrowing at first
• we nursed (and nursed and nursed) kids and mommies with colds, coughs, ear infections, etc. 
• we played at home and took walks in town. When we walked, we often passed the office for our temporary housing management place, and J loved to look at the photos of our house - "Dat's MY kitchen!" :)
  
  
  
   
• January was the month that L really became a reader! I often found him in his favorite spot - sitting in front of the warm radiator with a book.
  
  
  
  
  
• we looked at lots of houses and debated the pros and cons of the various options
• we chose a house and prepared to move
• The cutest thing that happened was a trip to Wick Grange Farm, which is about 45 minutes north of us in Worcestershire (they really do pronounce it woo-ste-sure). Isobel, the owner of the farm, plans lovely days throughout the year for home educated children, and I'm so glad we found her! On this particular day, we got to feed baby lambs.
  

First they mixed up the lambs' milk. These particular baby lambs were orphans, so Isobel fed them by bottle three times a day. 

L climbed right in there, and the lambs crowded around. They couldn't wait for their own bottles!

J hung back a bit, a little wary of the lambs. Not wary at all, however, of this John Deere tractor.

After a while, we took the lambs up the hill to play and chase each other, and J warmed up to them here.

After we brought the lambs back to their place in the barn, Isobel saw J staring longingly at the tractor and offered to let him sit inside. It made his whole day!

• we took a beautiful drive to the nearest Air Force Base where we shopped at the commissary and went bowling. Somehow J won, beating the runner up by 9 points and the loser by 21! :)
  
  
  
  
• we spent a Saturday visiting Tewkesbury Abbey and a cute little railroad
• we took a weekend trip to London to see a few of the sights
  
  
  
  
   We splurged on room service, since our room was covered by points.
  
  
   We took a river cruise to get to the Tower of London.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Changing of the guard.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  No pictures of the jewels are allowed, but we did get to photograph this crazy dragon made out of armor!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• we celebrated M's 34th birthday!