Lunch and pictures

The boys and I (and Megan who skipped school after a dentist appointment) went over to a friend’s house for lunch today.  The kids painted and played with Timothy and Linnéa while Joanna and I made lunch.  Then we used the awesome natural lighting in her living room to take some pictures of the kids since we’re both interested in photography.  Such a fun afternoon.

Luke – Age 5

Matthew is a serious crack-up… always trying to be funny in pictures these days.  I just love this one.

More silliness.

Look at this cute boy.

And isn’t she such a sweetheart?  Totally crawling at 6 months old.  Could hardly keep her still to get a picture.

Megan’s Piggie Treats

One of Megan’s school projects this quarter was to read a book and do a CEREAL BOX  Book Report.  She had to make up a cereal title, design the cover, make a game on the back side,  put a book related prize inside, fill out the ingredients with all the different characters and descriptions on the side, fill the other side with a book summary and rate the book on the top.  It was a LOT of work but she was determined and we got the box done in one extra long night. 

Then she had to come up with a costume.  She really wanted to be Mercy Watson (the pig) and was getting worried about it.  The night before I finally turned my attention to Megan’s costume and made ears and a nose in about 4 minutes.  She was THRILLED.  We even made a tutu (not pictured) and she was ready for the big day. 

Part of her presentation was to perform a commercial for her cereal.  The funniest part about this was that most of the second graders didn’t know what a commercial was.  The kids who have American TV have AFN which is the military channel which has some American programming but only military spots in between.  We don’t have any channels at home and just watch things downloaded without commercials.  Mrs. Dysinger had to show the kids what commercials were on line so they could make their own.

Megan did a great job at the Cereal Presentations.  Luke, Matt and I went to see her and Emily’s class wandered through at the same time.  We walked around to hear several kid’s commercials and listened to Megan’s a couple of times.  Such cute ideas they have for projects.  We’ve loved having Mrs. Dysinger for Megan’s teacher for the last 2 years!

Awards

Emily with her latest award from this quarters’ award ceremony.  Such a great student and daughter!

Our German Kitchen

Countless times we’ve heard people say… “Wow, you have a big kitchen!”  and we nod.  It appears we have the largest kitchen in Germany.  While this can’t possible be true,  no one that we know has seen one larger.  And for this, we feel incredibly blessed.  Most German kitchens are lovingly referred to as ‘one-butt kitchens’ large enough for only one person.  I guess this kitchen is an ‘eight-butt’. 

Our landlords are an Irish family who spent some time in the United States before building this house in Germany, therefore it has an ‘American inspired Kitchen.’  We are lucky to have quite a bit of storage, an amazing amount of counter space, and a door leading from the kitchen into our dining room area.    The German parts of our kitchen are the small cupboard sized fridge, the ‘Easy-bake’ sized oven and the no garbage disposal, which is a ‘no-go’ here in Germany.   

Since Europeans buy their groceries fresh every couple days – this sized fridge  is really all they need.  For us it gets REALLY packed and then REALLY empty weekly.   Below the fridge is a very very small freezer.  Two small drawers that can hold a bag of chicken, a container of ice cream, and a few packages of vegetables.    Luckily we were issued a small ‘American sized’ refrigerator which is downstairs in the basement.  It basically holds all our drinks and extra milks (which by the way can only be purchased by HALF gallons) and holiday leftovers (which is a lifesaver).  Having a second freezer is really helpful as well.

My little oven is square so my cookie sheets don’t fit… but I have a big round pizza pan which fits perfectly so that’s what I use for cookies.

{ Things I’m looking forward to in an American kitchen… a garbage disposal… a big fridge… a big pantry… a built in microwave so it’s not on my counter… a large oven… a stove with TWO large burners instead of just one… and, since I’m dreaming… even more storage! }  Can NOT believe it’s only 3+ months.  Time is flying by!  More on all that later.

Getting ‘glued’

9:30 on Thursday morning Matthew slipped on some water on the bathroom floor and fell straight onto his chin.  I was right there but didn’t exactly see it.  I just heard the cry and looked back clenching my teeth preparing for what I might find.  Yep, blood… and a cut that was a straight, a half inch long and wide open.  I called Chris and asked if anyone over at the clinic could do stitches because Matt needed them.  The Heidelberg Clinic is no longer a hospital and hasn’t had an ER for over a year now.    Nope.  If only Chris were still doing IR cases then he’d have everything he’d need… but, as it was, we had our first (and hopefully only) trip to the local Heidelberg German hospital. 

I had saved the address of the hospital into my GPS just in case… but in retrospect I should have driven there right when we moved here and figured out where to park etc. just in case of an emergency.  Instead I picked up Chris, since his schedule is getting lighter, and brought him along for the ride.  I’m very used to having him with me for all my medical adventures.  Matthew had stopped crying in the car but was still in his blood stained pj’s and definitely still aware that he was hurt. 

The Heidelberg hospital is a large medical campus with different buildings all over the place.  It took us awhile to find the Kinder Clinic and once we finally did, the front desk gal looked at it and said, ‘we don’t do that here, go find the “ ? “ which was the German word for surgery clinic which we asked them to spell for us since there was no WAY I was going to find the sign without it written in front of me.     Then back in our car and over to the surgery building where Chris dropped Matt and I off while he and Luke parked.  They don’t really have Emergency Room’s like in the States, which I thought was interesting.  You go to the specialty that you need.  I suppose if it was REALLY an emergency you’d call for an ambulance and they would know where to take you – likely surgery.

I just love the universal language of pointing.  When approached by a couple of people anxious to help me I just pointed as his chin while Matthew instinctively stretched out his neck and then they pointed a couple of rights and lefts and I was off again.    After we met with the insurance and check in office they directed us to which clinic would see us and then we waited in the waiting room.  The boys were very excited when two ladies pushing a cart full of drinks and snacks gave them free Capri Sun’s and packages of gummy bears to eat while we waited.   Like most Germans, the Doctor told us she spoke only a little English and then began to speak perfect English.  She had Matthew ‘glued’ in a jiffy and kept calling him ‘Superman’ because he was such a champ and laid so perfectly still. 

Then we decided to complete our day’s adventure by going to our favorite Thai place for lunch right down by the Heidelberg Old bridge and Gate. 

Weekend

We had a great weekend.   Friday as soon as the kids walked in the door Ryan grabbed a few (like 20) last minute things for his Winter Campout and we loaded the van with all his supplies and all the kids and headed to meet up with Chris.  My friend had called to warn us about the Stau on the 5 so we headed through Walldorf and met at the Esso where Chris grabbed him and all his stuff and took him the rest of the way to the church while I took the other five to get their passport photos.  Their travel passports are expiring… yikes.  $660 to get them all replaced, oh and more for the pictures.  Chris got home before me and unloaded the van of Eagle Scout pick ups and put a pizza in the oven for Friday Night Movie Night.  The girls were so excited that we got to watch TWO episodes of ONCE UPON A TIME.  Chris worked on taxes… with the sale of two homes last year our taxes are just a bit trickier – but nothing that my man can’t handle.

Saturday we slept in.  At 8:30 I woke up to the distant sound of kids running around and my mind started to make lists and flow in all different directions and I just laid there... wide awake.  I’m turning into my mom.   I figured that this was ‘bonus’ time and that I could use it to go edit pictures so I got up, got showered and ready, grabbed a yogurt and headed to the computer.  

The kids love a good Saturday where we don’t go anywhere.  I hardly saw them between Wii games and organizing all the doll clothes and playing house and setting up play tents to completely cover the floor in Megan’s room.  Katie got some project work done and played Wii with the boys since they always want her to play with them and she never has time.

Meanwhile Ryan had a blast camping in 28 degree weather.  Chris had told him to pack all of his clothes and then when he was finished to think about what Mom would want him to wear and pack again.   I had spent Thursday night sitting on his bed while he packed just so I could be sure he’d be warm enough – and because I hardly see him these days and actually miss him.  He was warm enough, thanks to extra socks and blankets and had a blast eating his tin foil dinner, playing capture the flag, exploring the ‘haunted preschool’, and playing tons of MAFIA.  They had camped in this same location before so when I came up to Ryan’s room on Thursday night he had already been telling Matt about the haunted preschool… an abandoned building with tables and chairs and even a Monopoly junior game left half played… and told Matt not to worry because our house is protected from ghosts because of this super big flag with a Y on it which sits above his bed.   Oh my, what kinds of crazy things is Matt learning from this guy.  Thanks for that, Ry.

At 1:30 Chris and I left for the afternoon and evening while Katie and Emily babysat for 9 hours.   We headed to K-town and met Ryan, whose coach/YM president had picked them up from the campout and taken them to their basketball game.  It was such a fun game to watch.  They’ve had some close games and some really not close games, but no wins.  But they are a team of guys who (for the most part) have really not had a lot of experience playing and thought they’d give it a try together.  It’s been a fun season.  They’ve all learned a ton and they played a great game, gaining their first win.  Ryan shot and scored his first 3 pointer but usually he plays right under the net.  Go figure that Ryan would be one of the bigger guys on the team.  

From there Ryan showered at the gym and got ready for the Seminary Super Saturday/Dinner and Dance at the Stake Center.  Brother Aston took him over there as Chris and I needed to head to President Adams house for a Bishops and Wives dinner with President and Sister Adams.  They are just fabulous.  It was a fun night with soup and sandwiches, some training and some games.  After the dinner we headed back over to the Stake Dance and danced the last couple of slow songs together before we divvied up the Heidelberg youth and took them home.   It was nice that our three K-town events were all in one Saturday and that Katie and the kids are so content at home.   Making money so she can finally buy the iTouch she wants is quite a motivation… but she just generally likes to take care of the kids and comes up with the best activities for them.

Sunday night Katie and Emily gave us a family home evening that they had prepared together on SERVICE.  They had looked up what FAITH IN GOD requirement and which VALUE EXPERIENCE would work together for a good lesson.  They each played the piano for our opening and closing song, we read some scriptures, acted out a story from the bible, played hang man, and pulled situations out of a jar to talk about how we could serve others.  Then the girls made brownies for us, for Chris and Ryan’s home teaching family and for our German neighbors.  Those girls are something.  It was completely planned without me knowing a thing about it.    So fun.   We’re having to have our Family Home Evening’s on Sunday Nights these days since Chris and Ryan head off to Basketball practice on Mondays.

Thoughts for Today

A couple times lately I’ve found myself reading old blog posts and reminiscing about the funny things the kids have said, that I’m positive I would have forgotten if I hadn’t written it down.  And although I love pictures, I also really love all the journaling.  Anything that gives more details of the kids and our family relationships at a specific time.  So many times in the middle of all the commotion I wish I could just record all of it.  The funny, the crazy, the frustrating, the pouting faces, the sweet hugs, all the talks at the kitchen counter, the noise (well, maybe not the noise).  But I can’t… I’m doing the dishes, getting dinner ready, helping with homework, listening to the piano songs coming from the other room and asking kids if their jobs are done. 

I think, ‘oh, I need to remember to write about what a great kid Ryan is… how hardworking he is and diligent.  How he’s an example to his friends.  How excited he is to be almost taller than me.  How much fun I have teasing him.  How hard he’s working on his Eagle Scout Project.  How I like when he’s laughing at me because I’m being ridiculously goofy. How sad I’m getting that he really only has 3 more years hanging out with us before he’s on to other great things.’

And then Katie comes in the kitchen to mark something off her chart and I think, ‘oh, I need to remember to write about that Katie girl… how her young women’s group is reading the Book of Mormon in 100 days and she is absolutely positively right on track and is 55 days in.  How diligent she is.  How cute she dresses with her favorite skinny jeans and red TOMS.  How she just got another Principal’s Award for straight A’s and how she deserves it because she works HARD and is constantly ahead of the game.  How she organizes the most amazing and elaborate games and charts when she’s babysitting the kids.  How she longs to watch family movies or ‘Mom’ movies with me.’

And then I see Emily organizing the hall closet (the only closet our house has) on her own accord and I think, “oh, I need to remember to write about that Emily girl… how she’s about the most organized 10 year old I’ve ever met.  How her shirts are in perfect piles and are perfectly rotated so they have equal chance to be worn.  How she loves her hair long right now.  How she still loves to play dolls with Megan.   How she’s just finishing Harry Potter 7 and has bonded with Ryan over every detail.  How she smiles and needs a good hug every day.’ 

And then I hear music and I think… “oh, I need to remember to write about Megan and how much she loves to have music on.  How she’s teaching Luke to lip sync and do dance routines to her favorite songs.  How she can navigate through the iTunes and movies like no one else.  How when she hears music she forgets everything she’s supposed to be doing and just dances a bit.  How she has to sleep with a lamp on, otherwise she’ll get scared and come find Dad in the night.  How she’s a TOTAL Daddy’s girl and how much Chris just loves it.  How she asks if she can go to Ryan’s basketball practice every time, even though it’s always ‘no’.  How she’s such a cute big sister to those little brothers of hers and has them easily entertained for hours.’

And then Luke asks for a snack as he sees me pulling dinner from the oven and I think… “oh, I need to remember to write about how Luke really doesn’t like dinner and asks me why I always make the food he doesn’t like.  How he’s learning that he can’t play Super Smash Brothers on the Wii with Matt because he always ends up freaking out and spending some quality time on the Repentance Bench with no more Wii privileges.  How he likes to color.  How I really love having both of them home with me still and how I can’t believe that the three of us have been the only ones at home for almost FOUR years now.  How he longs for Ryan to get home so he can play with him.  How his faces make us laugh and his prayers make us smile.’

And then Matt, silently eating away, will suddenly add something to the conversations and I think… “oh, I need to remember to write about how Matt is really starting to say some funny stuff – which at the moment I can’t even remember.  How he loves corndogs and cereal and refers to Cinnamon Toast Crunch as ‘mine cereal’.  How he still says ‘mine’ all the time and we think he’s cute.   How he knows when we think he’s cute and he smiles a goofy smile for even more attention.  How he loves to be tickled and have piggy back rides.  How he loves Little Einstein.  How he can’t help but dance when he hears a great beat.  How he knows how to write his name.  How he starts most of his sentences with ‘well…’   How I can’t believe that when we moved here he couldn’t crawl down the stairs and didn’t talk at all and what a big boy he’s turning into.

Believe me I’ve wanted to write down an essay of thoughts of each of these sentences, but life is busy busy.  I just know that whatever I do get down, I’ll read and re-read again and again and treasure every detail.

Our Last Seiffen Trip

Melissa and Sam picked us up on Friday morning and we were on our way to Seiffen, Germany…  5 hours northeast right on the Czech border.  I’ve been there three other times but Chris had never been there.  Neither had Sam, and we girls were excited to take them.  I knew Chris would love it.  He’s just a Christmas guy and the whole village is nothing but German Christmas stores.  I told him that we would go into 15 stores to look and then do them all over again to buy, and it went exactly like that.  It takes a while to look at everything and get a feel for what you want. 

After unpacking our light luggage in the hotel we headed back to the main street, parked and started at the bottom of the street and worked our way up from about 2:00pm to 5:00pm when all the shops closed.  Bummer.  We thought they’d be open until 6:00 and we hadn’t quite seen them all.  At 5:00 we went over to the German restaurant attached to our favorite hotel and met Heidi and Mark for dinner.  We ate delicious food (mine was tender chicken with a white sauce and creamy herbed potatoes) and talked and laughed for hours.  I love that about a European restaurant.  You have the table for the whole night.  If someone has reserved a table at 8:00 and you come at 6:00 and want to sit, they won’t offer you the table… it’s booked for the night.  Finally at 10:00 we headed back to the hotel. 

The next morning we met Missy and Sam for a German sandwich breakfast down in the hotel restaurant.  Chris LOVES a good German sandwich and  intends to bring it back with him to the States.   By 10:00 we were at the door of a store that Yvonne had told us about but none of us been to before.  Oh my goodness… what a selection of nutcrackers!  Not only was the store pretty great, but their nutcracker woodshop was right down the wide hall and it was fun to see the process and how they were being put together, which I hadn’t seen before.

               

 

          

I knew I would actually by buying more if Chris were with me.  I’d say ‘this one or this one’ and he’s say ‘BOTH’.  It was pretty funny.  We did most of our buying from that first store.   Chris parents and my grandparents had given us some money for Christmas and we were saving it for ‘souvenirs’ from Seiffen.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

We split up from Missy and Sam and ran around picking out our favorite things.  Then at the end we met back up thinking we were done… until Missy starting picking out the cutest LITTLE wooden family at a German Christmas Market.  Then I wanted one too! They didn’t have enough little girls, though, so Chris and I raced around town trying to remember which stores had these same wooden figurines.  It was pretty funny… but we found them.  I have no idea where I’m going to put them but it was a memorable last half hour rushing around just to make it perfectly match our family at the markets.  Thanks Melissa for the cute idea.   We stopped at the Italian place and ate delicious bruschetta and pasta and then drove the 5 hours home.  Good times with good friends. 

Here are a few of our spoils…

A big ‘chubby’ Santa Nutcracker. 

These 3 might be my favorite.   I’d never seen the night watchman one before and instantly fell in love with him… especially since we’ve been on the Rothenberg’s Night watchman tour so many times.  The blue one on the left I pointed out to Chris mentioning that we had the Red one exactly like it.  He said, “You don’t have the blue?  Oh, you need the blue.”  See what I mean.  He’s a fun shopper.  Now we have entirely too many nutcrackers!

These are more natural wood.  Chris LOVES these ones…

I love these little chubby ones.  Aren’t they so cute?

Chris fell in love with these Santas – which are not German at all, of course.  But since we were in a Christmas city we thought we’d grab them.   Our favorite is the O Holy Night.

When we got home the little boys were asleep and the big kids were excited to see all the fun things we got.  Then we had to watch a dance routine/lip sync.  So nice that we can leave the kids in charge overnight.  (Their second time).  They did great!!

Valentine’s Day

At 3:00am Chris heard noises in the hallway and our bedroom door close.  Unaware of the time he figured Ryan was getting ready for seminary and had thoughtfully closed the door.  Then he looked at the clock.  What?  3:00am.  He got out of bed, opened the door and saw Megan standing in the hallway.  “MEGAN?  What are you doing?”  Then he saw Emily and Katie.  “GIRLS!  It’s 3:00am – Go back to bed.”    “We’ll only be up for a minute Dad” they said, holding secret Valentine hearts behind their back.  Without further questioning Chris headed back to bed.  In the morning we found  that our door had been HEART ATTACKED.  The girls had secretly made all kinds of cute Valentine hearts with messages for us the previous Saturday and had carefully planned their middle of the night secret.  How cute is that?  Thanks, girls.  You guys are so awesome!  What a fun surprise.  Emily and Megan took their Valentines and candy to school for their class party.

For lunch, the boys and I visited Katie and her friends in the Middle School lunchroom.  The school had planned a great ‘Valentine’s Day – Eat with your Student LUNCH’.  The lunchroom was all decorated.  The choir was singing embarrassing love songs to students who’s friends had paid for them to be sung to.  And all the parents and siblings got cake and drinks.  It’s always fun to hang out with Katie and her friends.  They are such good girls.  All the girls decided to pay for Emily to be sung to (Rebecca’s twin – not pictured) but she was sick that day so Katie and Mercedes went up and changed her name to Rebecca’s.  She was pretty shocked when her name was called but was a good sport to be sung to while her friends all giggled at the table.

Ashlenne, Rebecca, Mercedes, Amanda and Katie – 7th Grade

Once back at home I heart attacked the dining room, set the table with my new RED plates, made Valentine’s for each of my kids and sweet hubby and got everything ready for Belgium Waffles with strawberries and whip cream for dinner.  Just before dinner Katie emptied the pink Valentine mailbox and handed out the Valentine’s that had been written to each other throughout the last week – all of which I didn’t get a picture of.  Then after dinner I gave each kiddo their bag of sweet treats to snack on for dessert.  Lots of pink and red Valentine’s love around here.

Our evening turned to homework, eagle scout project stuff, more homework and all things non-romantic.  Good thing Chris and I had a Valentine’s Weekend trip starting the next morning.

And I just have to write down the words on the card I bought for Chris because they are amazingly perfect… and I really do love him more than anything.

“My definition of happiness is really pretty simple.

It’s being with you, my partner and best friend,

sharing the everyday moments that shape our lives,

the someday dreams that fill our hearts,

and the remember-when conversations that tell the history of our love.

My definition of happiness is us.”     SO TRUE.  I love ya, babe.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ward Valentine Party

We just had a fun Ward Couple’s Valentine Party.  Lots of fun people, fun games, fun newly wed type questions, lots of desserts, lots of dancing and lots of laughs. I should have taken a picture of the food table but it was delicious thanks to everyone who helped.  Good times.   I missed a few couples throughout the night… Tillets and Velezs