Happy New Year

Here is a link to a slideshow of the Dunne Year in Review...

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=4986d88b5ee3637beed96b&skin_id=406&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url


Enjoy and All of the Best for 2008!
Brenda

Happy boxing day! (and Happy Birthday to my sister Kathy!)

Thought you might like to see some pictures of Christmas at the Dunne household... So here goes!

This is George. Our Christmas tree. We decided to be earth-friendly and bought a potted tree this year. He was the best of a slightly sad looking lot.

This is George on Christmas morning. Zeke is thinking that the doggie stocking on the table is smelling might tasty.

We went to midnight mass and got home at 1:30, so the kids managed to sleep in until 6:45. Considering we had told them 6:30 at the earliest, it was pretty good. Unfortunately Tom and I hadn't managed to get to bed until 3:00 a.m., so we were dragging a bit.

Here is Tom in his brand new lounge suit. Thanks Mom and Dad Corey!

Delaney had asked Santa for a 'Maplelea Doll', which apparently is the Canadian version of the 'American Girl' dolls. Much to my surprise, Santa found the European version and left it for her, along with a complete set of doll sized English riding clothing. Delaney was thrilled.

Another big hit at our house was Delaney's 'Twister' game. We had a hoot playing last night and again today. Unfortunately I think I need a physio to help me recover from the strain. Maybe 'Twistersize' should replace the pilates craze...

All in all it was a great day. We're having a great time lounging in our new pj's, eating 'chili cheese roll' and yorkshire puddings, and taking a break from the business of life in England. We are very thankful for all of the wonderful things that have come our way, and hope our gifts got to you in one piece. We're hanging out here for a few days, and then will be off to France for a well deserved family vacation.

Much love to you all, and if I don't speak to you before, Happy New Year!!

Brenda and the Dunne Family

xo

(photo taken on Whitehorse hill Sunday afternoon)

Parties and Pantomimes, Ice Fog and Insulin

Christmas Eve

Amazingly, it's Christmas Eve day here in England. I cannot get over the speed at which time is moving along while we are here. It has now been almost five months since we touched down at Heathrow! The past few weeks, as always, have been filled to the brim with new experiences and family adventures. Some good, some not so good. Always adventurous though! Since my last blog Delaney has officially turned nine, we've gone to too many school related Christmas events to mention, we've delved into the topsy-turvy world of having a child with type 1 diabetes, and above all, we've had lots of fun! Downstairs our tree is almost hidden with all of the trimmings and presents, and the lights on tree and garland are sparkling happily. The kids are very excited, but not too boisterous. We have alot to be thankful for.

Kate Update

For those of you who didn't get a chance to read our last blog, I very hurriedly mentioned at the end that Kate, our 5 year old sweetie, had just been diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. I'm afraid I was a bit frazzled when I was blogging as we had just returned from two days in the hospital. She was diagnosed on the 5th of December, and it was a bit of a shock. Thankfully our little princess has made quite a remarkable recovery since beginning her insulin regime. She has gained back all the weight she had lost, but more importantly, her sunshine-y disposition has returned full force. You can just tell she feels soooo much better. She is currently on 4 insulin injections a day, and has accepted it like a real trooper. I won't deny that the past few weeks have been a bit draining. With all of the busy-ness of the pre-Christmas build-up, fitting blood testing, injections, diabetes community nurse visits and weekly diabetic clinic appointments in has pushed my organizational skills a bit!! I have been going to school at lunch time to do her blood tests and injections... I knew there was a reason for me not to go to work while I was here!

I'm sure there will be trials ahead, but for now we're just happy to have our girl happy and healthy. I would like to thank all of our 'military family' here in England for their wonderful help and support. I'd also like to say a special thank you to Kathy, Geoff and especially Austen for their open, honest accounts of living with juvenile diabetes. Its good to know we have someone who's 'been there' to call if we've got a question. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You can be sure we'll be at the mo-gi next year!!!!

Chrismas Plays and Parties

As I've already mentioned, we've been overwhelmed with school and activity related parties and events. In Britain they divide elementary school children into 'Key Stages' Kate is in Key Stage 1 and Shane and Delaney are in Key stage 2. Their plays and parties were divided this way, resulting in double the amount of 'mandatory attendance' events for parents!! Kate was a lovely 'Angel 4' in her school play 'The Bethlehem Bootee Company', and Delaney and Shane participated in the school choir/chorus of 'Cinders' a play on Cinderella set in Victorian times. They all did marvelously well, and the plays were funny and well produced. I'm afraid I got quite teary watching our healthy little Kate glowing in her angel costume. Shane and Delaney really enjoyed singing in the choir--they also got to participate in the ecumenical carol service held in the base chapel. Tom and I were very proud to see all of our bambinos doing so well.

They take their school Christmas parties quite seriously here. There were magicians, movies, Christmas crackers and TONS of junk food (making blood sugar management a bit interesting...) I helped out for both 'Key Stage' parties, mainly setting up for the 'Christmas tea' (junk food, junk food and more junk food!) and watching the sugar intake. To make things even more organizationally complicated, the parties lasted an extra hour after normal school time.

Then there was the 'Christmas Disco', again separated into two Key Stages on the same night. Dress for this event was 'Fancy Dress' which is Brit-speak means 'wear costumes'. If you remember from my Halloween blog, I can't take costumes lightly...but had no choice for this event as there was just no time!! Kate went as an ice skater, Shane as an elf and Delaney as an ice-princess. They all had a great time, danced like maniacs and ate lots more junk food.

The Canadian kids all worked together to present a 'Canadian Dance' at the school talent show on Friday. They worked really hard practicing and choreographing. I'll admit there wasn't much 'Canadian' about the dance as the music was a Hillary Duff Christmas tune and the dancing was...how shall we say... original? artistic in a Hollywood way? But the main thing is that they had a great time getting ready for it and spending time with their friends the Lutes kids. Although parents weren't invited to the show, I hear that the presentation went well and the applause was thunderous.

Delaney is 9!

December 16th was Delaney's birthday. Our beautiful girl is nine! Wow, do I feel old. We celebrated the day in a different sort of way this year. Our good friends, the Zioupos family, had invited us for an early dinner at their house. We had cheesecake, banoffee pie, and ice cream after the meal, and then (a surprise to the kids and a gift from the Zioupos-es) we all hopped in our cars and headed to the Wyvern theatre in Swindon to see their pantomime of 'Cinderella'. This was a true experience. Having not been to a British pantomime, I expected the usual--the audience sits and the actors act. Not so. A pantomime requires full audience participation. It was an absolute hoot. The actors were constantly asking 'Did you see him do that?', the kids would scream 'YES!', the actor would say "Oh no you didn't!", "OH YES WE DID!!", until the theatre was vibrating with noise. There were all sorts of silly jokes and gags, some so British we didn't even get the joke, but for the most part making fun of the British-ness we find funny. It was great fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Zioupos family for introducing us to another aspect of British culture we might have missed.

Soccer news...

Our little guy has been playing his heart out in soccer. Yes, we're still playing soccer here! Shane persists on wearing shorts to all of the games/practices, as he's a hot guy and a true Canadian! Last week, as a real treat, he was presented with the 'Man of the Match' trophy!! He was absolutely beaming as he has been working so hard. Soccer is so much part of the culture here that most kids are kicking before they can walk, I think, so he's had to do a bit of catch up. He's been loving it though, and will likely continue to play when we return to Canada. Congratulations Shane!

Ice Fog

Yesterday we walked to church in the morning. As has been the case for several mornings lately, the world was wrapped in a beautiful misty frost. I've attached a picture. I guess this is the closest thing to snow we'll likely get here!

Later in the afternoon we decided to go for a drive to Whitehorse hill to take Zeke for a walk. As the sun was already setting (it's full dark by about 4:30pm here) the fog was already lying in some valleys. The views from the hill were stunning. The full moon was rising on one side, and the sun was setting on the other. You could see why the hill has been inhabited/visited for thousands of years. It was beautiful. Again, I'll attach some pics.

Christmas Plans

So, for the next few days we are going to take a well deserved break. The tree is trimmed, the chicken (we're not turkey people) is thawing, the presents are wrapped and school is over for a few weeks. Yay! Tom is downstairs playing Christmas tunes on his trumpet with the kids. We'll be going to a carol service and mass tonight, and then spending the day relaxing tomorrow. If all goes well we'll be off to France in a few days, to spend some time in a 'Gite' (cottage) and do some sight-seeing with the kids. I'll let you know how it goes!

Merry Christmas!!

As expected, my Christmas cards are all happily sitting in their boxes, awaiting my time and hen-scratch. I may get to them over the holidays, but to tell the truth, I think it's unlikely. In lieu of cards this year, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to you all via blog. I sincerely hope that you and your family, wherever you may be, have a happy, peaceful Christmas, and a fun-filled new year. God bless,

Brenda

December is here!

Hello again from England! Things are starting to look a little bit Christmas-y around here, and the Christmas preparations are in full swing. The children are all in some sort of Christmas production, I've been doing a bit of Christmas shopping, and there seems to be less homework coming back from school. I've even managed to get a few parcels in the mail. The Christmas cards are a little slower going though. Hopefully I'll get to them in the next few days...

Before I go any further I'd like to say a quick hello to my Grandmother, Evelyn. I know she has been faithfully reading our blog from her hospital room, as she's been recovering from a few things. I hear that she is being well taken care of, and there's a physio paying her a regular visit. So... Hi Gram!! Hope you are doing well! We've been thinking of you lots and lots, and saying good words to the Big Guy Upstairs for you. The kids, Tom and I send our love, hugs and kisses to you and hope you'll be up and about again soon. (picture to right is 'Nana' with my nephew Zachary)

We had a visitor of a different sort at our house over the past few weeks... Mr. Influenza came to call. Kate was sick for four days, then a week later I was down for 2, and while I was recovering Shane caught it. Needless to say we were all a bit miserable, and our daily routine was knocked off kilter for a few weeks. The laundry never seemed to end (does it ever??). I'm happy to say that we're all healthy now, and are glad Mr. Influnza has moved on!

As some of you know, Delaney's 9th birthday is fast approaching. As the Christmas season is so busy, we decided to hold her birthday party a little early this year. On Nov 24th, our house transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and 8 first years made it onto Platform 9 3/4 and entered the school. We paid a quick visit to Olivander's Wand Shop where the students made their very own wand (see pic above), and played Sorting Hat Sillies (my version of 'Gossip'). After a game of 'Who's Hedwig' we went by the 'Fat Lady' to potions class (see pic to right). Finally we were off to the Great Hall for Potter's pizza and Hogwart's cake. There were Bertie Botts' beans, and cauldrons filled with real quills, spiders and Harry Potter sitckers. Everyone had a great time, especially Delaney. Even Tom and I got into the spirit and were dressed as professors!

While I was languishing on the couch with the flu, Tom was off with the college on a trip to Poland to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was part of the Ethics component of his course. As you can see by the photos it was a stark, bleak place. According to Tom, the anguish of millions of victims of the Nazi regime is still very palpable as you walk around the grounds. Although depressing, it's something everyone should see, and no one should forget.

On a lighter note, the morning after Tom returned from his trip I was up and en route to Germany on a Christmas Markets (Weinacht markts)tour. Thankfully I had recovered from my bug and ready for a little holiday on my own. The coach bus took us from London down to Dover area, and then onto the Eurotunnel train. This was really cool. The entire bus just drove into the end of a train car, and then down through the cars to where we were to stop. Then the train closed up, and the entire train was off. Down below the English Channel we went, and half an hour later up we popped into France. Quick and easy, but a little unnerving if you're claustrophobic.

We spent the rest of the day winding our way through the pouring rain down through France, in to Belgium and then across into Germany. Our main stopping place was Trier, on the Moselle river. Over the next two days we visited Markets in Cochem(see photo, below right), Bernkastle(above,right), Koblenz and of course Trier. You can see views of the Trier Market at: http://www.trierer-weihnachtsmarkt.de/en/ . As the markets tend to be up for several weeks, the stalls are generally made out of wood and decorated with pine boughs and lights. Even though we were getting rain instead of snow, they were all very pretty to see. We also had a wine-tasting experience at a small winery (see left), and a city tour of Trier. Trier is an old Roman city, and although time and war have taken their toll, there are still huge 2000 year old city gates as you enter the pedestrian streets, ruins of Roman baths, and portions of the city wall still standing. Everywhere we went to see the markets we saw beautiful churches, half timbered buildings and cobblestone streets. Lovely.

On the way back from Trier we spent the morning in a small town called Monschau. It was beautiful, nestled in between steep hills, with lovely market stalls and good food. I would highly recommend a visit if you're ever nearby. There's also a glass factory there with exhibitions of glass blowing techniques. http://www.monschau.de/tourist-information/ver_weihnachtsmarkt.php . Check out the pictures on the website to get an idea of the setting if you get a chance.

In kid news, Shane was chosen as one of 8 school children commissioned by the Defence Academy to make an angel for the large tree in the

Academy's forum building. He was very proud to be chosen as he loves crafting. The presentation ceremony was on Monday, and all of the 8 children were in attendance. I've attached a photo of them holding the angel. Shane is the only one in a light blue shirt and shorts (yes, he's still wearing shorts...)!

Delaney had entered a Christmas Card design competetion a few weeks ago. Her picture was picked as a 'highly commended' runner up, and was on the back of the cards with a few other runner ups. If I can get a copy I'll try to scan it and pop it on the blog. Both Delaney and Shane had successful auditions for the school choir and will be singing in several events over the few weeks. Kate was selected as 'angel 4' in her school play, which will be presented next week. All three children have been working very hard at all of their school work, coming home with more 'house points' than we can keep track of. All of them have been stepped up in both literacy and math work levels, and seem to be more challenged lately. They love school and continue to be happy there.

Unfortunately, we had a bit of a shocker this week. On Wednesday (two days ago) I took Kate in for a check up as she had been loosing a bit of weight, which for Kate is concerning. The doctor had us do a urine sample before we left the clinic, just to be sure. Shortly after I got home and she was at school, I got a call from the doctor telling me to take her immediately to the hospital. We went, she had a few more blood tests, and by mid afternoon she had been positively diagnosed with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes. Needless to say it's been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. She is now home (well, at school right now...) and requires four insulin injections a day, and blood testing at least 4 times a day. For those of you who aren't familiar with this type of diabetes, it's a permanent, life long disease-- there is no known cure. She will always need the injections.

Kate has taken it all in stride, and we have adopted the 'nothing-we-can-do-about-it-so-let's-just-get-on-with-it' attitude. The blood testing is virtually painless, but she's not very keen on the needles. Nothing major, just a little anxious for a minute or so. The staff at the hospital were absolutely amazing. Kate didn't want to leave!! She did crafts, watched a magician show, and loved the hospital food. We have been hooked up with a diabetes care team at the hospital and have had tons of support and information. British national health care pays for all of the supplies, so that has been one less worry for the time being too. Our friends and family (at least those who we've had time to tell) have been incredibly supportive. Our local 'military family' have done everything in their power to help us, and we've been overwhelmed by offers of help and support. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

So, there is our life in a nutshell for the past few weeks! Life is never dull, that's for sure. I think we're all looking forward to a little break over Christmas. I haven't had time to even start decorating(let alone clean...) so that's what's on the agenda for the next few days. I hope you are all well, and are enjoying the preparations for the holiday season.

Cheers,

B