Marnie, yes I am so sorry. The Vans got here the first week we were here. Jane absolutely loves them, all of her friends love them and I kept meaning to tell you when I would go to the library to post. I'm sorry. Jane wanted to write herself but they had time limits and so we weren't able to let her. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and please forgive me for totally spacing it.

Now that I have once again displayed my total lack of competence to the Stinchfield clan I will give you a little news from the other side of the ocean. We might have taken some beautiful pictures and enjoyed an afternoon of peace and quiet but that was IT for about three days. Ellyn had a mild fever and so all weekend if she was not sleeping or trying to watch whatever movie SHE felt like watching ( a bit tricky to guess in the midst of hysterical screaming) she was, that's right- screaming. Finally, Monday morning I discovered that while she appeared to be feeling better she was covered in a lovely rash. So... we took her into the medical clinic where she continued to scream and after being forgotten and two and a half hours later we came out with a bag full of medication and a positive strep culture (which they had to do twice). The poor kid. Mike and I were at a loss during the weekend. We knew a lowgrade fever was going around and lasting for about two weeks. Saturday night Ellyn finally fell asleep at four in the morning after we had been up all night and Mike took her for a forty five minute drive while I was frantically reading about how to deal with melt downs with autistic children. So slowly but surely she has been doing better. Our biggest problem is that she now thinks that watching tv 24/7 is a good idea. While there is alot I could get done if I let her veg, we have been doing our best to wean her away. She has been pretty happy almost all day today, which is a relief. Do you ever think that your ornery, sick, child, or self for that matter, will never be the same again? That's how I was feeling.

Sadie played a soccer game last night in the pouring rain. I ran over to the car to get the treats and as I'm leaving Sadie runs across the whole field to give me a kiss. Too funny. Mike was torturing her today, chasing her through the house with these gummy fingers we bought at the PX this morning. After he left I took out all the misc. body parts and attempted to desensitize my four year old for when daddy gets home tonight. It should work. By the way, I'm fully aware these aren't the best sentences in the world. I am having difficulty finding the correct words, phrases etc... Just bear with me.

Jane has so much homework our whole family is going crazy. Mostly, it's because math takes her a long time but honestly, it is taking the whole night. We've postponed piano lessons until next month when soccer is over and hopefully we have a better handle on our homework technique. We'll see what happens.

Don't get me wrong. Life is not doom and gloom, it's just been really exciting the last few days. We all have a four day weekend coming up and we're thrilled. I think we're going to do a couple of day trips so that Ellyn can stay on her sleep schedule for another week or so. We'll keep you posted.

Love, Brooke