tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39538569280330029192009-12-18T10:17:39.756ZThe Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-65085868863007282982009-12-14T07:00:00.003Z2009-12-14T07:00:04.164Z

Tabby and I were reading/singing her new book The Twelve Days of Christmas when we came upon the fourth day and its four "colly" birds. What?! Isn't it "calling" birds? Was it a misprint?Of course, I turned to Wikipedia for answers and, to my shock/horror, it IS "colly" birds - originally. A colly bird is another name for a blackbird, apparently. But nowadays most people sing the "calling" bird

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-80798483712529426422009-12-12T20:00:00.012Z2009-12-13T19:06:33.066Z

For the past couple of months Tabitha has been simultaneously attending two different ballet classes to determine which one she prefers.Her Monday class has proven to be more popular than her Saturday class - especially for Mommy, who is not a fan of getting up early on the weekend if it can be helped.So it was with a thankful heart today that Edward and I attended her final Saturday ballet class

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-59872595998170986392009-12-11T10:20:00.003Z2009-12-11T13:09:53.515Z

Apparently, during the holiday season, sales of premium toilet paper go through the roof as people try to impress their guests with the good stuff.This fact surprised me because, when it comes to toilet paper, I've spent the majority of my life in blissful ignorance. I mean, what kind of geek contemplates TP for more than two seconds?A geek like me, that's who! At least nowadays. But it wasn't

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-12374386124293136242009-12-09T16:57:00.006Z2009-12-11T10:39:33.555Z

This year Tabitha was Angel Gabriel in the kindergarten Nativity Play - just like last year. But she had a lot more lines this time. Luckily, she was allowed to read them. She did a brilliant job! And looked so... angelic!

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-81872188275825664432009-12-06T18:02:00.013Z2009-12-07T21:15:48.948Z

Today the kids and I headed over to Rochester for our annual visit to the Dickensian Christmas Festival.Dickensian characters, fake snow, Christmas carols......great music, booths, parades......Santa, shopping and the smell of Christmas in the air. What more could you ask for?I love this festival!But not everyone was in such a festive mood. Dakota was having another "teenage moment" (as Tabs and

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-88519386887890963412008-12-07T12:37:00.029Z2009-12-06T18:12:14.418Z

Every year in Rochester (25-30 mins from our house) they put on a fantastic Charles Dickens Christmas festival. It's a two day event where people dress up in Victorian costumes or as Dicken's characters and have a good old fashioned street party. There are all sorts of antiquated activities going on like roasting chestnuts, caroling, a candle-lit parade, handbell ringing concerts, food booths,

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-13258600974071242092009-12-04T14:44:00.005Z2009-12-06T17:29:08.404Z

Two words I never thought I'd see together; Sexy and Wigs!I love how this packet of Pickled Onion Monster Munch (don't knock it till you try it!) has "New" in its upper left hand corner crossed out and replaced with "Old"!Trust a schoolboy to find a sign in a museum with the word shag on it! Sorry about the quality of this photo - though it does kinda add to the whole druggy theme on "Cokayne Ave

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-75731943657885116342009-11-26T23:17:00.009Z2009-11-29T15:13:37.548Z

Pros:Grocery stores aren't packed Cons: No days off There's no such thing as pumpkin pie (not even Libby's!) Only had two relatives over (Edward has a severe lack of relations) People look at candied yams with disdain (though not as much as pumpkin pie)Except for "no day off", Edward thinks all my Cons are Pros!All the Lanyons except me hate candied yams, green beans and pumpkin pie, so last year

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-46547776010105361152008-11-27T01:00:00.013Z2009-11-29T14:55:18.807Z

Thanksgiving Past:Thanksgiving back in Ashland was a lovely time for our family to come together and reminisce, eat, laugh and be subjected to one of the most vile European movie ever produced (and that's saying a lot). Every year my Mom would force us watch the 1971 Swedish movie, Utvandrarna (The Emigrants) to make us feel thankful for what our ancestors went through! If you haven't seen the

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-20331346088949455472009-11-21T23:44:00.029Z2009-11-23T09:58:34.681Z

Without Thanksgiving to look forward to, the holiday season gets underway a bit earlier in Britain than in the States. And every year thousands of Brits invade Lapland in Northern Finland to soak up the festive atmosphere of the mythical homeland of Father Christmas. But it's expensive, freezing cold and bad for the environment (since people often just fly out for the day).So, a few years ago,

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-12524947641050231502009-11-20T23:39:00.006Z2009-11-22T13:49:49.515Z

You know Christmas is on its way when they start handing out the parts for the nativity play. With no separation of church and state in the UK, nativity plays are pretty standard. In fact, all the grocery stores carry their own line of costumes to cope with demand. This year Tabitha landed the part of Angel Gabriel - again. At least we've already got the costume from last year!Today was Children

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-34948494640413407012009-06-05T23:49:00.025+01:002009-11-18T00:14:05.799Z

I adore my husband!And that's it. That's as gushy as I'm going to get this year.Instead, I've decided to do that really annoying thing all long-running TV shows do when they're being lazy and running out of material - put together a little montage of past episodes to create an entirely new "best of" show.So if you're in the mood for something gushy click here to read my lovey-dovey post from our

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-80508798112584658282009-11-17T10:17:00.001Z2009-11-17T14:41:50.234Z

Sick of always smelling like some kind of flower, herb or girly perfume, Dakota put his foot down last time I was shampoo shopping and insisted that we search for something a bit more manly.But, to my surprise, there was NOTHING! Sure there were studly soaps and macho body washes but EVERYTHING in the shampoo department was girly in one way or another. Feminists rejoice - womyn have most

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-67606318485503705692009-11-10T18:22:00.004Z2009-11-16T22:39:03.671Z

I LOVE a good cookbook. I'm building up quite a collection - well, enough to merit a kitchen bookcase anyway. But I'm not actually a serious cook, I'm just a wannabe - so it's really all just gastroporn for me. And, though I love my gastroporn, I've just given every, single one of my Italian cookbooks to the charity shop. No, I haven't gone off Italian, it's still my favorite, I've just found the

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-23896381280482660292009-05-19T11:31:00.009+01:002009-11-15T19:37:33.875Z

Can you guess which one Edward preferred?But then again, I've never met a man who hasn't been obsessed with brownies. Speaking of brownies, I've finally discovered the perfect bake-at-home mix; Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix. They're lipsmackingly more-ish.And their cookie mix is my favorite too! I'm seriously never going to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch again. Whenever I

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-76017587757091106612009-11-15T09:00:00.010Z2009-11-15T09:21:53.914Z

When you think of those little plastic toys that come from McDonalds, words like tyrant, usurper or dictator probably don't immediately spring to mind. Yet, six months ago, Tabitha reached into her Happy Meal and pulled out a... Napoleon?!The only thing she liked about Napoleon was his horse, which she promptly yanked out from underneath him. The poor guy was left to stand in this permanent,

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-82708039444167725362009-10-14T19:19:00.004+01:002009-11-15T08:35:36.310Z

Edward and I try to keep the kids guessing. We like to think the element of surprise gives us an edge. Punishments are a particularly enjoyable aspect of this parenting style because they give us a chance to get really creative. It's especially fun with our teenager. So much so that it's almost hard to wait until he re-offends!Dakota's misbehavior regularly results in adorable little things like

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-70031922513837061292008-12-06T14:12:00.000Z2009-11-13T13:41:35.055Z

I've been collecting all the classic kiddy Christmas cartoons I used watch every year growing up. These include:How The Grinch Stole ChristmasA Charlie Brown Christmas Frosty The SnowmanRudolf the Red-Nosed ReindeerMickey's Christmas CarolThe Muppet's Christmas CarolI wanted my kids to feel the love but I'm afraid this sentimental journey turned into a bit of a train wreck. It hurts me to say

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-15318180533364853892009-11-12T23:08:00.010Z2009-11-13T13:36:05.514Z

Edward and I have never been to a pop concert together... until tonight! And to make up for lost time Edward got us tickets to a mega-concert. It was a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment with 14 different acts, three famous comedians and two celebrity presenters!The whole evening took place at The Royal Albert Hall and was in aid of the British charity Children in Need. Demand for tickets was

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-91706718341460548752009-04-16T23:29:00.008+01:002009-11-11T19:37:00.525Z

Wednesday - Sunglasses, Haircuts & The Great Lasagna DebateI have this thing where every time I go on a trip I break my sunglasses. So this time I thought I'd outsmart fate by bringing two pairs; one cheapy pair to wear until the inevitable breakage occurred and one nicer pair to wear afterwards.It worked brilliantly! My stupid faux blingy pair broke just a few days after our arrival leaving me

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-3302459343687565872008-06-14T11:30:00.008+01:002009-11-11T16:29:49.853Z

Birthdays, Christmas, Anniversaries, whatever the occasion, one thing remains the same; Edward is impossible to buy for. What do you get a guy who says he doesn't want anything (except an Aston Martin!)? In one way it's nice, at least he's happy as he is, but in another way it's OH SO ANNOYING!To get around this problem I had to get crafty! So I began making homemade voucher books. This started 6

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-9868601062051491772008-05-26T15:30:00.001+01:002009-11-11T16:28:59.874Z

We’re huge fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade but LOATHE the stinkin’ Temple of Doom (mainly because of the stupid screamy girl), so when The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opened on Dakota’s birthday weekend we were dying to throw him a big Indiana Jones party complete with jungle décor, a treasure map and themey food like ‘bad dates’.We made a whole day of it. We started with a

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-45469242971232119932008-05-07T21:45:00.007+01:002009-11-11T16:28:59.874Z

So Dakota, who is still only 12, has been taken with cooking, of late. He prepares these elaborate meals with crazy stuff like "caramelized onion and balsamic vinegar gravy" and... he's actually pretty good! The only downside to this otherwise brilliant hobby is the mountain of dishes and hurricane of splattered debris he leaves in his wake. He's been known to use every pot and pan in the house -

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-69737179217527586462008-12-24T12:07:00.015Z2009-11-11T16:28:59.873Z

We started the morning off with pancakes then spent the rest of the day having a Christmas film-fest then, because Edward's parents are doing Christmas dinner tomorrow, we did our Christmas dinner today. I wanted it to be really traditional so we got a GOOSE!Here's our menu and how it went:Roast Goose - Edward usually makes our roast chicken every Sunday but as soon as he realized giblets and a

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953856928033002919.post-64687115136512052652008-12-05T17:54:00.008Z2009-11-11T16:28:59.873Z

So we made our gingerbread house tonight.I bought a kit this year because the gingerbread house I made from scratch a couple of years ago (see photo right) ended up looking a bit wonky. In fact, when one of Edward's friends saw it, he asked if it was a leftover haunted house from Halloween!So this year I was banking on the kit to save me, but it still turned out pretty bad. Just moments after

The Lanyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590956965327416981noreply@blogger.com3