We are the Champions

On Saturday I competed in a stake netball tournament with my ward. The best way I can explain netball is if you take volleyball, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and soccer and put them together you'll get netball.

You use a ball similar to volleyball which you pass from player to player down a court at the end of which you shoot it through a hoop. Once you have the ball you can't move other than to pivot. Each team has seven players which have specific areas on the court they can occupy.

My ward has been anticipating the tournament for months and have been practicing once a week since July. Just for fun we got team t-shirts.

(Back Row: Ruth, Louise, Kristin, Hayley, Vanessa, Emma, Tilly, 

Kim, Rachel, Shannon Front Row: Marie, Louise, Helen, Ros)

We played twelve minute matches, which is an abbreviated game. This was the only way we could play all eight teams, get a break between matches, and not spend all day on the netball court.

Here we are in action! When I played (because we had so many players we rotated) I was Goal Defense or GD, which is exactly like what it sounds; I defended our goal from the other team scoring. I took my job seriously too, we had several matches where the other team did not score at all. Woohoo!

I had such a splendid time playing in the tournament...it doesn't hurt that my team won the tournament either. Here we are at the end receiving our trophy, a cup full of candy.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

It is that time of year in England where it is cloudy and rains every single day, which is an accurate description of 10 out of the 12 months. Today however there was a little sunshine on my cloudy day when I found out this afternoon that my niece, Sophia has finally arrived.

Sophia Todd

8lbs 6oz

September 27, 2010 - 4:39PM

I know a lot of people were anticipating your arrival little Sophia. We are so happy you made it here safely.

Congratulations Todd family, she is perfect.

Momma you look great! Good work. We know delivery is no easy business.



Daddy you look like you fell in love...She is going to have you wrapped around her little finger for the rest of your life...


Four Generations Picture

Grandpa Jerry Todd, Great Grandma Dorothy Todd,
Proud Daddy Jared Todd, and Little Sophia Todd

Spencer Crawling

This is actually a bit of late news but Spencer is crawling! Real hands and knees crawling. Now that he can get around quickly I feel like I am constantly on the move trying to stop him from getting things he isn't allowed to have.

In this video he is playing in the cupboard. He used to have a toy box he could pull things out of but the movers took it away so I moved our food to the lowest shelf so that he would still have something to play with.

In the video when he "trips" and falls down, it is because he was too fast and grabbed ahold of my leg. When I yanked my leg out from under him he fell but it didn't seem to slow him down any.

Zuckerman's Famous Pig

Do you remember the story "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White? It is about a pig named Wilbur who befriends a spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let Wilbur live.

Well, minus the pig and the farmer and this story is about us. We have the most amazing spider residing in our front yard. He, or she has spun a web right in the middle of the yard, about five feet from the house and eight feet from the tree...all anyone can say is "wow, that's amazing." And it truly is.

I am sure that if we had a pig, he and this spider would be best friends. And before long our intellegent spider would start writing things in its web like "Best Pig Ever" and "The Lamar Pig Rules." I just know it.

Okay, I'll be good...

When it comes to putting Spencer down for bed momma is a pushover and daddy lays down the law. For this reason, when momma has a hard time getting Spencer to sleep she'll call daddy to come do it. Tonight was one of the those nights.

Spencer has been fussy for the past few hours but has refused to take any naps so when 6:00 rolled around we immediately started getting Spencer ready for bed. We went through the whole routine of brushing his non-existent teeth and changing him into his jammies. Mom took him upstairs for a few songs and a final cuddle. When it came time to put Spencer down in his bed he started throwing a huge fit. So I called down the stairs...

Me: Daddy, I need you...

Adam: Be right there....

As soon as Adam walked through Spencer's bedroom door Spencer stopped crying and laid his head down on my shoulder as if saying "Okay, I'll be good, just don't give me to daddy..."

But to daddy he went and not even five minutes later he was fast asleep.

Daddy: 1
Spencer: 0

Splish Splash

Spencer took a bath in the bathtub for the first time last night. Although Spencer was too big for his infant tub I still continued to bathe him in it up until the movers packed it and took it away on Tuesday. The smaller tub was simply more convenient for me...

It is probably for the best though. Spencer loved the bigger tub. He had more room to kick and splash the water. Bigger splashes led to more delighted screaming which seemed to endlessly echo around the bathroom. He was one happy boy.

I definitely struggled with the new environment. Spencer was sliding all over the place. I didn't know the best way to wash his hair and ended up getting soap in his eyes. Then after the bath I didn't know where to put him to dry off and put on pajamas. I would love any and all parental wisdom/tricks for executing a perfect bath time routine. I'm sure I'll get better with practice but I'm curious what you do/did with your little ones.

We Hate the Pack-n-Play...

Spencer still doesn't sleep through the night. On his good nights he is up two or three times but those only come around once every few weeks...he is usually up four or five times during the night. Well last night was the worst night ever and I blame it on the pack-n-play (it probably doesn't hurt that he is teething as well).

One problem with the pack-n-play is that the mattress is so low to the ground. It doesn't matter if Spencer is fast asleep, he will without fail wake up and throw a fit as we are lowering him down into the cot.

The other problem with this particular pack-n-play is that it is too small.

Trying to squeeze Spencer into this cot last night and expecting him to stay asleep was just a nightmare. Which is why friends are so wonderful, my friend Sophie is loaning us her travel cot for the next few weeks. We will still have the "lowering down" issue but at least we wont be bumping his head or legs on the siding during his descent. We are still interested in getting a crib if you have one or know of someone that has one that is not in use (and you live in the UK), let us know, we'll take it off your hands for a few weeks.

Goodbye Household Goods

We had movers come today and take away all our household goods (bed, crib, couch, dishes, table, tv...).

But Rachel, you say, aren't you staying in England until the end of October? Why yes we are. Then how, you may wonder, are you going to survive the next month and a half with no furniture or eating utensils? Well, we aren't really going without...we did set a few things aside we didn't want the movers to take.

We just saved a few bits and bobs, items like silverware and hot pads, only the bare minimum...as for furniture we did receive some temporary furnishings from the near by base. We've got a bed, a love seat, and a table with four chairs. We also requested a crib for Spencer...I was a little disappointed when the movers showed up with a pack-n-play bed...Spencer does not sleep well in pack-n-plays, but maybe he'll learn to like it in the next month and a half.

Goodbye Car

Adam took the car yesterday and dropped it off to be shipped. Sigh. It was a big day for Adam. He left the house at 6:30am and started driving three hours to the drop off destination. It took a little longer than three hours to get there because he hit some traffic and a few work zones.

When he got there he went to check in and the gas tank was too full. Two hours and 60 miles later the gas tank was at an appropriate level and Adam was back where he started, getting checked in...

The process was long...and then there was another three hour drive home. Adam walked through the front door about 5:30pm, glad to be home.

On The Move

(I have been trying to get some good video footage of Spencer for this post but I haven't been able to for one reason or another. I finally decided just to publish this post before it got more outdated...I guess I'll keep trying with the video and it will come later.)

Spencer has made some big strides developmentally this past week. Back on the 28th he started scooting forward. He now army crawls across the floor with incredible speed and determination. He also is pulling himself up on everything. The other day we went into his room to get him after his nap and he was standing up in his crib much to our surprise and dismay.

If he wants something he is going to get it and that makes me nervous. I am learning that baby proofing is more than just putting covers on electrical outlets. I have been wishing for a while Spencer would start crawling but now that he is I'm not sure if I am ready.

Big Boy Seat

Spencer is outgrowing his infant car seat. He only has another pound to go before he is "too big." It could be argued that he is already too big seeings how his feet hang over the end, so we bought him a new "big boy seat." It just arrived.

Boy is this new car seat heavy. We hope that Spencer will stay in his infant seat until after we get back to Maryland so we do not have to lug this big new chair around the airport and on the plane.

We've tested it out (in the living room) and it is Spencer approved.

Our Epic Road Trip

Have you felt like we've been ignoring you lately or have you thought we've been hard to get a hold of the past few days? We have been on the road. We are shipping off our car September 8th so we wanted to do a whirlwind tour of England before we lost our wheels. Adam put together our site seeing agenda...

Everywhere you see a green bubble we visited, starting and ending with "Q." What an adventure! We took off on Sunday and we got back Thursday night.

Spencer is a very good traveler and he did really well on our trip, although, I think he was just as happy as his parents to be back home sleeping in his own bed. He didn't like sleeping in the hotel pack 'n play beds. We had a few rough nights. By the third night we started sleeping him in his car seat and he slept so much better.

Sunday we headed off to Coventry where we saw the statue of Lady Godiva and Coventry cathedral.

As the story goes, Lady Godiva's husband had the people of Coventry under a very heavy taxation. She submitted to her husband to lift their burden. He told her he would if she would ride through the town naked...so she did.

After walking around Coventry and grabbing lunch at Greggs we took off to our next destination. The Nine Ladies Stone Circle.

We had the hardest time finding these lovely stones. We drove around for a good part of an hour as our GPS tried to figure out how to get us to the right location.

Legend has it that nine ladies were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. The stones are a part of an embanked stone circle built around 4000 years ago. This stone circle was used for rituals and ceremonies concerning life and death.

After the Nine Ladies we were going to visit Peveril castle...unfortunately we spent too long trying to get to the stone circle that we didn't have enough time to visit the castle. We weren't too broken hearted though, we were pretty tried and ready to find our hotel and call it a night.

The next day we got an early start and went to Bolsover Castle. 

It was Bank Holiday Monday and Bolsover was hosting several family friendly activities. One of which, "The Clash of the Knights," (Knights fighting) we were particularly interested in....unfortunately this festivity wasn't to be held until 3:30pm and we were hoping to be off to our next site by 12 or 12:30...so we didn't get to see the knights. BUT, arguably better (Adam wouldn't agree) we got to see some adorable children.

Most parents dress their wee ones up as knights and princess when they visit castles and I can't resist the urge to take their pictures. Adam says it is weird and creepy to take pictures of other people's children, and I agree...I feel weird and creepy when I do it...but they are just so cute I can't resists. Here is what I mean...

I feel a little awkward posting pictures of other people's children without adding a photo of my own child, so here is a picture of Spencer for good measure...

When we finished up with Bolsover we head off to Conisbrough.

It was a chilly day so we had Spencer bundled up. He had socks on his hands and feet. At this castle Spencer lost the socks on his feet three times. We'd look down and they'd be gone. He had us going all over the grounds retracing our steps looking for them. Fortunately we never lost them for good. It was at this castle that we established the "sock check" which we continued to use throughout our entire trip. Every so often one of us would call out "sock check" then we would both stop what we were doing and make sure Spencer was still wearing his socks. Sometimes we got lucky but sometimes we went hunting.

Next on the list was Clifford's Tower.

Not much to this place....just a bunch of rule breakers....After the Tower we drove to Scarborough and got ourselves a hotel. Our hotel was right on the coast. Gorgeous!

This is the view from the front of our hotel. The view from our room was less desirable...our room was at the back of the hotel and we had a nice view of a brick wall.

In the morning we went to Scarborough Castle.

I would love to live on the coast. It is so peaceful and beautiful. Spencer likes the coast too...

Tired yet? Not us, we were just getting started. Straight from Scarborough we went to Whitby Abbey.

This building was beautiful. Whitby Abbey was one of my top favorite sites visited on our trip. We took an audio tour of the grounds. It was enjoyable to learn the history of Whitby Abbey and of the life of the Monks and Nuns that lived there. That's right, both Monks and Nuns lived there at the same time, but in separate parts of the Abbey... I didn't realize that was allowed.

We saw Pickering Castle next...

I'm not sure what to say about Pickering Castle...it was just another castle. To finish off our Tuesday we went to Helmsley Castle.

There was a little museum at this castle that held harvested artifacts. Here are my favorite pictures from Helmsley.

We were ready for a good nights rest after Helmsley Castle. Seeing four places in one day was a site seeing record for us.

Wednesday morning we started off at Barnard Castle. Barnard is unique because it was once ruled by the King of England and the King of Scotland...not at the same time of course.

I like the picture on the right of the leaning wall, it looks like it could fall any day. There was only one other family at Barnard while we were there which was kind of nice. It felt like Barnard was our own personal castle.

When we finished up with Barnard it was back to the coast for Tynemouth Priory and Castle.

There was so much fog when we first arrived. Boats were blowing their fog horns and we got to see some lighthouses in action.

But enough about the fabulous coastline. Here is the priory and castle...

and here is another picture of someone else's child...I just can't help myself.

After Tynemouth we grabbed a quick lunch for the road and drove to Belsay Hall. This was another one of my top favorite sites. I don't have many pictures from this site though, photographs were restricted...:(

This site housed some of most phenomenal art work by artists Ron Mueck and Slinkachu. Mueck is known for his realistic sculptures with fantastic detail in large and small proportions. Here is one of his sculptures below:

I wish I could explain better. You can see more of Mueck's work here, but just to warn you, his work isn't appropriate for all ages. You can also go here, there aren't as many photos but there also isn't any nudity.

Slinkachu on the other hand is known for his miniature sculptures. Here is an example of his work:

It is a miniature man with an ice cream truck.The building in the background is the museum featuring Mueck's work. See more Slinkachu here. Belsay Hall was such a fun place to visit. I've never seen anything like it.

For our last day of site seeing we visited some Roman Forts and Carlisle Castle. We started with Housestead and Birdoswald Roman Forts...

From these fort sites we got a good look at Hadrian's Wall.

This wall was built as fortification between England and Scotland. There is so much history here. These fortifications must have been phenomenal back when they were built because the ruins are still fantastic today.

Last but not least before the four hour drive home we ventured to Carlisle Castle.

By the time we got to this point we knew we were at the end and we were getting a little burned out. Carlisle was a good castle but we were ready to go home.

I like this picture and I couldn't resist putting it on the blog...Is that Spencer's left hand or Adam's? :)

Well, thanks for sticking with us on our whirlwind tour of England. If you just skimmed through and looked at the pictures I will completely understand. We are so happy to be home and recovering from our travels. We are going to miss England.