The Eccentric American Mama in Cumbria

Our Trip to Tenerife was warm, funny, eventful and filled with all kinds of hilarious stories. Here are 7 of our favourite memories from this trip. Cyril peed on us. One afternoon as we thought both kids were asleep we noticed the gutter above our heads was dripping with what I thought was water. However, it hadn't rained in 6 days so I thought this rather odd. Josh being the smarty pants that he is immediately remarked, "Cyril just peed on us." He quickly ran upstairs and sure enough Cyril was on the master balcony peeing on the floor. It ran down into the gutter and landed perfectly into our bowl of crisps. It also splashed out of the bowl onto the banana I was feeding Sage. When Cyril came down he said he wanted the banana, I said, "Well you just peed on it so maybe you should get a different one." He grabbed it out of my hand and shoved it in his mouth. I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself. The donut men on the beach had a fist fight over our he...

Just because I'm a glutton for punishment I thought I'd post again today to lighten the mood over here, only kidding, I love all my readers and my previous post was meant to be about me making positive changes in my life to be happier but as usual I dug a massive hole and then made it deeper. Apologies once again but let's not forget the reason this blog started. It began all because of this cutie right here and my desire to keep my friends and family in America informed about what was going on in our lives. So although I want to cut back on my posts I don't want to cut out my friends or family so I'll do my best to keep you up to date without causing controversy. One thing the Brits do better then the Americans in my opinion is the school uniform. Not only does he look unbelievably adorable but it also cuts out the hassle of picking out clothes in the morning and I'm pretty sure every mother and father would rejoice about this. Another pro to living in Engl...

Well here we are three whole years in the thick of it and I can honestly say I have no idea what the hell I used to do with all my free time. Actually I constantly find myself wondering what I did when I only had one child because two is a whole different level of chaos and exhaustion. To help eliminate some of this chaos I have streamlined things a bit, learned to say no, left dishes unwashed and clothes in the washing machine and cut back massively on screen time, which is why blogging is kind of a thing of the past. At this point I want to keep it up for the sake of my children's memories but struggle to find the time or motivation to write. I realised things were spiralling out of control about a month ago at our swimming lesson. I suddenly thought to myself, "Why the hell am I driving to swimming on two different occasions when I could bring both kids on the same day, save multiple showers and bathing suit changes and free up another day for hiking and climbing?...

Technically you turned 3 ten days ago but your sister has made Mummy very sleep deprived and that, combined with her constant need for Mummy's arms, has left me exhausted! Nevertheless there is always time to tell you how much I love you Cyril Tuolumne. Your personality is the best. It drives us absolutely bonkers but it will serve you very well in the future. You have a zest for life, are full of energy, and are very intense about everything. You love hard, play hard, tantrum hard and squeeze life into everything you see.  I'm sorry for having to tell you to love gently when all you want to do is squeeze everything you love, like your sister. No joke you squeezed the poop out of her a week ago before our bath, it was horrendous, Daddy was away for the night and Mummy was left bathing two children and scrubbing poop off the floor. As much as I tell you to breathe and be gentle I totally know how you're feeling, every time I see a puppy I grit my teeth and want to ...

Well my little Sagey Pagey you're six months in just over a week so I'm posting early because I may never get another chance! At six months you ... can roll from front to back and back to front but you'd really just prefer to lay there and socialise with anyone or anything that comes near you. cry whenever I put you down and leave the room. spend most of your waking hours on my back and are extremely happy there. I however would prefer it if you'd keep the milk inside your tummy, we had 4 outfit changes in 15 minutes yesterday morning. I should have learned my lesson after the first milk spit up but no I just assumed you couldn't possibly have anything left in that little  big tummy! sleep through the night most of the time. You have been sick for a week and I've been up twice a night with you for extra cuddles but usually you sleep 6pm until 6am. have tried mashed banana, and although I thought you loved it at first, the instagram video I post...

At baby yoga we start off each week with a few words on how we're feeling. It's supposed to be brief but you all know I don't do brief so I just said I've had several epiphanies this week without elaborating. The first of these was while Cyril was doing a puzzle. He sat down and became frustrated because he needed one more piece but the only piece he had left didn't belong, it got mixed in with the puzzle somewhere along the way, and no matter how hard he tried to make it fit the piece wouldn't, it just became more damaged around the edges. This is how I feel much of the time. The giant puzzle representing England and I'm the tiny piece that got mixed in along the way. I've tried to fit in the best I can but each time I step away from who I truly am I become a little bit damaged. Going with this line of thinking I began to question a lot of things namely that I'm not meant to fit in at all. Perhaps I can bring something to the table just by...

One of my favourite things to do is go back and re-read my blog posts from when Cyril was Sage's age. Sadly, with my schedule bursting at the seams and my other less than desirable house wife tasks I have little time left for blogging and hence the scarcity of posts about Sage. However, before this time vanishes into oblivion I want to do a little snapshot on each child at this age. FIVE MONTHS Sage, my little buddha, I love you more and more each day. You give so much back with your giggles and smiles and the love in your eyes runs deep. When you look at me your eyes light up and my soul melts. I already have a glimpse into your future personality and it brings me so much joy. I'm convinced if you lived in Tibet you'd be the next Buddha. You already make me a better person everyday and I'm so happy to call you my own. You are rarely sad, love to socialise and laugh, and rolled over for the first time two days ago at the start of yoga. You sleep 12-13 hours at n...