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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pop Goes the Wiggles

Anyone who has spent any time at our house with Ella knows that she LOVES The Wiggles! I do not even want to take a guess at how many times we have watched The Wiggles movies. Well, The Wiggles finally came to Birmingham! As you can imagine, Ella loved, loved, loved it! When they first came out she was almost in shock, she did not know what to do. Then she started waving to all The Wiggles saying, "Hi Jeff" "Hi Anthony" "Hi Murray" "Hi Greg". She danced and sang during the entire concert! But, I don't know who had more fun Ella or Murray and me. It was so much fun to see Ella so excited. Murray's comments about the concert, "That was the best concert I have ever been to, even better than Willie Nelson." And that is saying a lot for Murray! It is amazing how your perspective changes once you have kids!



Toot Toot Chuga Chuga Big Red Car

Ella did not know what to do when The Wiggles came out. She was in shock!

Ella waving to The Wiggles as they came out.

Ella dancing like the ballerinas.


Thursday, July 24, 2008



It has been awhile since I have posted anything about the kids, which I am sure is the main reason most of you read this blog. So, back to the important Lee Household news...

Miller had his first big boy bath last night. I was very nervous about how he would like it since he absolutely hates the pool, baby pool and lake. I was afraid he would associate the open water of the bath tub to the open water of the baby pool, but he did not! He loved it! He is growing up so fast. As soon as he becomes a little more steady and sure of himself, he and Ella will be taking baths together! That will be the day!

At Least He Admits It...

Murray has finally just become ok with the fact that he is a Spiller. He spills something on himself almost everyday and has a stain on almost everything. Now that he has admitted that he is a Spiller, he is a little more aware and there have been fewer spills. However two nights ago he just could not help himself. As Murray opened one of the big olive oil tin cans, he squeezed the can and olive oil shot out everywhere including all over his t-shirt. This stain is much too big to pass off, but Murray really loves the t-shirt. So, I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for getting an olive oil stain out?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Oh the Memories...

As many of you know, Murray and I fell in love in London while studying abroad with Samford University. This trip was the first time we have been back and it was just as wonderful as I remembered, if not better. As soon as we exited the tube station at Gloucester Road, we felt at home.

On the door steps of the Daniel House, 12 Ashburn Gardens

"The Bridge" where Murray and I had our first kiss! I have quotes because as we were on the bridge I kept saying this just does not seem right. And low and behold as we were walking along the Thames and it was the wrong bridge. So, our reenactment was on the wrong bridge:)

We ate lunch at The Gourmet Pizza Kitchen which is where we had our first date! Oh the memories!

The door to The Backpage. We went here almost every night and threw arrows. We went back for one last match, but sadly it had closed.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Culture Shock

(We are now home! but I did not have a chance to post this once we arrived to London. Pictures from London to come).

Our time here has actually been pretty smooth, but there is a big difference. This is a good story that shows the difference of American and Irish view of time.

Allie Butler, one of the college students on the trip, was asked to perform at a theatre about 45 minutes from Dublin. Murray, Mary and I went with her Saturday night as her groupies/safety net. We were told that Allie was to go on at 8:00. We decided being responsible Americans we should get to the theatre at least 45 minutes early so Allie could have her sound check. Because of train times we arrived about an hour early. The first thing we did when we arrived in Greystones was check the train time. The last train to Dublin was at 9:30 which we thought would be cutting it close, but if Allie performed at 8:00 we should be fine. When we got to the theatre Murray went to talk to the manager to make sure he knew that we needed to catch the train at 9:30. He said oh, no one will even get here until around 10:00. We though Allie would go on around midnight. When Murray asked him about the original 8:00 time he just said oh, well yea, 12:00 would be better. So, the laid back Irish man compromised with the rigid Americans and Allie performed at 11:00 and a taxi was called for us. It was a very cool experience and Allie was awesome. Because of the mix up in times we got to eat dinner in a very posh restaurant in our own private dinning room.

Our Private Dining Room

Murray's Dinner - It was sooo good!

Allie performing (this picture does not capture how cool the theatre was)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

De Ja Vu

It has been such a neat experience being back in the same places with Murray that we were 7 years ago while studying abroad. Two days ago we did the hike in Glendalough (pictures later, I had the wrong camera with me). The last time we were in Glendalough, it was October which is definitely not high tourist season in Ireland. I remember thinking we had discovered a gem that no one knew about. This trip we realized how popular it was. But as we hiked up there were less and less people. It was everything you would imagine Ireland to be. Truly beautiful.

Today the group went to a small costal town, Greystones. We provided music for worship this morning and then a concert this evening. In the afternoon break, we hiked along the coast from Greystones to Brey. Murray and I had also done this hike. We just have such sweet memories and it is so great to be back. Tomorrow we head to London where we will celebrate our 6th anniversary by reliving our first date!

We started the hike out by eating lunch in a field on the Greystones side of the trail.

Group Pic

The train headed from Brey to Greystones. If you look closely you can see the ledge were the trail is that we walked.

Monty (Pastor of Greystones Presbyterian Church) looking very contemplative.

Our reward at the end of the hike.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Ireland

This is the third day here in Ireland and Murray and I are having a great time. Surprisingly, we have gotten over the jet lag very quickly. Although it is 1:30 a.m. here and we are both still awake (which is very unusual for us). The hardest adjustment has been with the light. Tonight we were walking back to our hotel at 11:45 and it was still not dark outside. At 9:30 it seems like it is about 5:00. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to try to get kids to bed at 7:30 here! I am sure it just does not happen. We are here with a group of musicians, mainly college age. The church that we are working with is putting on a musical festival which the group we are with is playing at and promoting during the day on the streets by "busking" (playing on the streets). It has been a great experience so far. It has been amazing to see more people come to the coffee house each night. Our prayer is that people would come and get connected with someone at the church. That people are stepping into a church is a huge deal here! There is definitely no "church" culture in Dublin.

Here are some pictures from our journey so far:

Murray's Pub is on the next block down from our hotel. Good food, great drinks and fun times so far!

This is Murray's first breakfast in Ireland at Murray's. This is a full Irish breakfast. And yes, those are baked beans and french fries (chips).

The group busking on Grafton Street

Monday, July 7, 2008

The Lee Family headed to Lake Martin for the 4th. As always we had a blast. It is so fun this summer because Ella loves everything about the lake. It was a little crazy getting out the door on Wednesday because I was trying to do as much finalizing for Ireland (Murray and I are now in Ireland, more to come on that later) as I could before we left for the lake. On top of that, I had a doctor's appointment Wednesday afternoon. Murray could not get home in time so our sweet neighbor came over to watch the kids until Murray got home. When Ella woke up from her nap, our neighbor did not change her diaper. Then when Murray got home, he did not change her diaper. In the rush of getting everyone and the dog out the door I forgot to change Ella's diaper. So when we pulled up to the lake at 10:30p.m. Ella's diaper was just a little full! Murray went to pick Ella up and said "Oh Ella". Ella finished his sentence saying "I'm soakin wet Daddy." Her shorts were soaked, the front of her top was soaked and the car seat was soaked. Oh it was awful. For a second I had the panic thought that I had actually forgotten to put a diaper on. Oh, but no it was just so full that it was literally disintegrating! Fortunately that is the only awful parenting story or funny/disastrous story of the weekend.

Oh, except maybe the sparklers...

I thought Ella would love sparklers this year and oh she did...

for about 5 seconds before the sparkles got too close to her hand and she totally freaked out! This is an action shot of Murray grabbing the sparkles so Ella would not. What a great Daddy!

Ella and MIller in their 4th of July attire. I can only dress them matching for a short time and you better believe while I can I will!!! So cute!

I know, I know, we have the entire lake and we swim in the baby pool. Ella just loves it so much.

Miller on the other hand did not like it so much.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

6 Months Old

It is hard to believe that Miller is 6 months old today! My how time flies. He are some pictures of our handsome little man, well maybe I should say big man. He just had his six month appointment and he ways 20 lbs 6 oz! This is what Ella weighed at 9 months and if you remember, we all thought Ella was a chubby baby. Murray is already planning out Miller's football career!