It was 18 years ago today that Cory kissed me for the first time. :) Although he and I don't have a date planned for today it has been a really nice day. Maybe we will go out tomorrow or just watch a movie tonight. He bought me chocolate covered strawberries. My favorite. I already have flowers so he didn't have to buy more. I had a brunch at my house yesterday for the other American ladies I know and I had bought some flowers and one of my friends brought me some too. They are so pretty.
Tristan said he wanted to give a girl at school a valentine so I helped him make a card. Then Aiden said he wanted to make one too. So they both went off to school today with a valentine to give. I wondered if they would be brave enough to give them. After school I found out that although they were nervous they did it and they were warmly received. Aiden said that Katelin gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He said it was the best day ever. Katelin has been a good friend to him. She is American too and will be moving to Japan this summer. All of my kids will miss her. Tristan gave a valentine to a girl at school named Maeph (pronounced mave, celtic name). She gave him a hug. A girl named Grace gave him a valentine. He knows she likes him but he doesn't really feel the same. He was nice but she asked if she could give him a kiss on the cheek and he said no thanks. It sounds like anyone who was brave enough to give a valentine was very much appreciated. There is no school exchange of valentines in the UK. It is considered a romantic holiday. Tristan's year had a karaoke disco(they call dances discos here) at school today. He said he had fun and he and his friend Jacob went up on the stage and did YMCA and everyone joined in. They were awarded house points for being good participants. Aiden and Lidia are at a church dance in Bristol tonight. Lidia didn't get a valentine at school but she didn't give one either. She always says the guys are creeps but I'm sure she has a little crush on someone. I dared her and Aiden to ask someone new to dance tonight but they didn't seem keen on the idea. The youth here are not very good at that. They just stick to who they know and mostly just fast dance.
The weather here has been horrible, so much wind and rain. There are a lot of towns with flooding and a lot of wind damage. Part of our fence blew down. Despite the dreary weather I got out today and took the sisters to have afternoon tea at the Well Walk Tea Room in town. They had never had a proper English tea so it was a real fun experience for them. We were stuffed with sandwiches, scones, cakes, and cherry cinnamon tea. Cory took chicken enchiladas to work today. They had a pot luck lunch. I went to Avery's school at the end of the day because he wanted me to watch his class do their robot dance in pe. They were cute and wanted me to judge them. His teacher said they should have an audience more often, they were much more focused and determined with someone watching. So now they are going to practice a bit more and then perform for the school. Avery took Hershey kisses to school to give all of his classmates. Tonight Tristan and Avery had Faith in God activity night skating and scootering in the gym. The kids had so much fun. I am enjoying watching the Olympics. I always love it. No one else at home seems so into it. I love seeing the happiness of all of the athletes who have worked so hard to achieve their goal.
Lidia and I went to London Tuesday with my friend Laura and we went to the Bristish Museum and saw lots of artifacts including the Rosetta stone. Then we got dinner and headed over to the O2 for the Taylor Swift concert which was amazing. She really puts on a good show and seems very genuine. Lidia said it was way better than the Weird Al concert which is the only other concert she has been to. They did like that Weird Al concert though. Cory and I are going to see Katy Perry in May. Luckily the tube trains we needed to get back to our bus home were not cancelled like some others were due to a strike. The Vamps opened for Taylor and Ellie Goulding came out and did one song with her. Before it starts Taylor's mom walks around greeting the crowd and she chooses a few fans to go back and meet Taylor. So many girls were dressed up just like Taylor and had big signs with lights and all hoping to be chosen. We just observed. I had no idea who she was until others told me. Lidia was telling Aiden about it after and he said that must be a lot of pressure to have to chose a few from so many in the crowd. Then he said it must be even harder than when he had to chose a classmate to get to go with him to the form rep lunch. He is the boy form rep for his class and each rep got to chose a friend. He said he chose Sam because he's a nice guy. As form rep he goes to meetings once in a while and helps plan when it's their years turn to do assembly I think and he gets to wear a cool badge on his blazer.
The kids are out of school next week for half term break and Cory is off Monday. We don't have any plans except the kids want to go to Magicland again and to see the Lego and the Mr Peabody movies. If the weather brightens up maybe we can go to a park or something. Tomorrow night we are having a ward quiz night. It should be fun. Quiz nights are popular here. I have not been to one yet fearing I would not know any British answers. We'll see.
