"Isabella Knievel"

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Katherine may not look it in this picture, but she REALLY is in the Christmas spirit!


This is our little European fridge overflowing with food awaiting Mike, Hope, Veronika and Lauren's arrival.

Master Sergeant!

Mark just found out this morning that he's been selected for Master Sergeant! More later...

Toys for Tots

Here's all the loot that Mark and his fellow Marines collected for Toys for Tots.

Here's Isabella singing " 'Way in a Manger."

Are we to become video bloggers now?

Ooooh Julie! What have you started?! Now that I saw Noah's video on your blog, I had to do the same. Here's Isabella and Katherine. Sorry so short...it takes a while for me to upload.

L,C

Family Portrait

Here is a family portrait drawn by Isabella. Front row is Isabella, Dad, a kitty cat and Mom. Back row is Opa, a dog, Oma, and Katherine. Oma and Opa, she talks about you a lot since your visit! (Cat and dog are imaginary. I wish we had pets!)

Our window...

Here's our front window ready for Christmas. We ought to do decorating for Macy's. Isabella loved it and I think she wanted to get inside and play with it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few pictures of our Thanksgiving at the pub. We all had roast pork, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables. So good! The cook, Bill, chatted us up as we ate. Isabella chased the pub's cat around, while Katherine mostly slept. Mark took a picture of me, which was awful. I'm not Photoshop savvy enough to shave off 30 pounds from my picture, so I'll leave that one out.

Fixin' Things

Yay! A seamstress is in the house! Elly teaches Isabella all about hemming curtains.

What?!!

Ha Ha! The English get a chuckle out of this too.

The Kitchen

Now that I've got the kitchen clean, after tidying up for Nick and Elly's arrival, I can post some pictures of it. It will probably never be this clean again--well until Mike, Hope, Veronika, and Lauren arrive. Here are some pictures...

This is Isabella's bean plant that is growing wild. She started it from a seed at school a couple of weeks ago and it's about to strangle my begonia.

Pretty in Pink

Katherine's 7 weeks old today!

She's Smiling!

Katherine is smiling now!

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

This is our neighbor's mountain of trash...um, I mean wood, ready to be lit for Bonfire Night. They celebrate the thwarting of Guy Fawkes' plan to blow up the Parliament about 400 years ago. See the little stuffed "Guy" to be burnt in effigy? Long live King James! For a brief history and to purchase souvenirs, go here...
http://www.bonefire.org/guy/index.php

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Carving the pumpkin...

Our window...

Don't worry, Isabella's got it under control. (I snapped the picture quickly). Thank you Tom and Rose for Katherine's pumpkin sleeper!

At the Halloween party for the playgroup...

Ready for trick-or-treating...

Mark Cook Thai. Mark Cook Thai Very Well.

Last night Mark cooked Thai food again. We are addicted to this stuff now. Mark had it a few times when he was deployed while we lived in Okinawa. He would tell me how great Thai food was, but I just didn't get it. It's the world's best kept secret. This dish below is chicken and bamboo shoots in curry. (The main ingredients are chicken, bamboo shoots, red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime leaves and red peppers). Who knew?!!

Mark's re-enlistment

Yesterday was Mark's re-enlistment ceremony.

Katherine's 3 weeks old!

What a difference a few weeks makes!

Breastfeeding...

I'm on day four of trying to breastfeed. This is how I feel...

She's here!

She's here! Katherine Anne Buonaugurio! Born Sept. 27 Weight 8 lbs. 9 oz.

Going to a party!

Here is Isabella getting ready to go to Joshua's birthday party. Joshua is a boy from her class. Doesn't she look grown-up?

Deer

This morning we saw a small deer in the backyard eating our blackberries.

Baby Shower

This weekend Patti, one of the Marine wives here, threw us a baby shower. I didn't realize how much weight I had put on 'til I saw the pictures. Anyway, we had a great time, got lots of goodies for the baby and Isabella made some new little friends.

I like this picture because she looks like she wants to say, "You'd better not swat my balloon!"

Blackberry Cobbler

Hi Everyone!
The blackberries behind our house are starting to turn ripe. Isabella and I picked some today to make blackberry cobbler. Yum!

New Playhouse

Isabella's playhouse just came in. Here is a picture of her and Mark putting it together.

Almost There!

Here I am at 31 weeks. Only 9 more to go!

Trip to Stonehenge

Hi Everyone!
Last weekend we took a trip to Stonehenge to see "the big rocks," as Isabella calls it.



Long bus ride down there. It took three hours down, and of course three hours back. Isabella did great! Mom did okay.

Cheers!

Here's my latest design. It's a Baker Santa ornament and it's in the August issue of Just Cross Stitch.

Crackin' the Code

Here's the book I'm reading at the moment and it's hilarious. If this doesn't help me crack the code of English behavior, nothing will.

Visit to Cambridge with Tom, Rose and Angela

A picture of King's College above.


Cambridge shopping area.

Mark and Isabella.

The River Cam.

The Round Church in Cambridge.

Us having lunch at a tapas restaurant in Cambridge. I'd photoshop my big arse, but don't have the computer skills. Hey, I'm 25 weeks now...and it shows!