Oh bother!

Sorry about the lack of posting...or pictures!! I have tried, honestly! Our router keeps disconnecting me from the main computer! I type something and click to review...offline. *Sigh*.

I was able to upload a few pictures, but now the folder is unavailable.....argh! Hopefully it will behave itself.....(insert stomping and fist waving). I just need the "computer guy" (i.e. husband) to have a few hours to fix it, but activities and daily life keep interfering.

Six Seis Sechs Seven Siete Sieben Sept

I was tagged by Anne at "Anne's Blog" do a "Six" Meme, and by Hilary at "My Own Little Circus" to do a "Seven" meme. Ever the multi-tasker, I am combining these. Nah-nah-nah-na-nan-nah!


Here are the rules of the meme:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on the blog.

3. Write six (or seven)random things about yourself.

4. Tag six (or seven)people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know they have been tagged

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

7. Uh-oh. Make up your own rule.

1. I cannot, most days, leave the house a mess (or the kitchen at night before I go to bed). This generally results in late nights and being late, which I don't enjoy. My husband is always questioning, "Why are you picking up toys or flufffing pillows before we leave? Who's going to see it?". Ugh.
2. I am quite a germ-a-phobe. I believe that this stems from working in hospitals and watching MRSA work its way down the hall. That and watching so many people walk of of restrooms without washing the hands! Ugh. My kids wash their hands immediately upon returning home because I know school is a germ playground-that and the bus that brings them home.
3. I have traveled in fourteen countries: Belgium, Scotland, England, Crete, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg , Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Mexico, and Wales. We are planning a trip to the Netherlands in the spring, and hopefully the Czech Republic and Italy (again) before we leave. No wonder I feel so out of place! I have no home :(.
4. I have a love for magazines! I have a hard time parting with them. It seems that I think I will have time to pull out useful recipes, decorating ideas, articles, etc. My favorites are Real Simple, Country Living, Southern Living, Oprah, Martha Stewart ( wink, wink Mamaneena) and Nick Jr. (great kid party ideas, crafts and recipes).
5. When I was a child we had animals as pets-doves, rabbits, parakeets, dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, lizards (my brother), turtles (again-my brother)......but I refuse to let my kids get a pet. I know they are fun and that they teach important lessons, but I just can't convince myself that I will have the time and patience for another thing to care for....
6. I have never baked a turkey. Shameful! I know. I have always been blessed to have friends or a husband who take on this monumental task. Maybe it's something about touching the raw bird.....
7. I have a pet peeve of almost used-up items....almost empty tubes of toothpaste, one piece of bread in the bag, the sliver of soap, only bubbles left in the shampoo bottle, one candy in the dish, one storage bag left....use it up already!! :D

There you have it-random things from the top o'my head. These are late, but at least I followed through! I am not tagging anyone-play along if you wish or leave a random comment about you or your day.

Great Giveaways!

I am not the "giver-awayer", but Allison at "Life in Germany" has found some fancy, true-to-life, German Christmas decorations that she is Giving away!! So, head over there and have a look!

Just guess

Guess where we are going this weekend?

Clues: it is not too far away; it is a very Halloween-ish place; monsters run amuck here!

Leave a comment and de-lurk! You know that you want to!?! Besides, I am interested in the variety of ideas. We just might think it is a great idea!

Leaves!

We found a great park with tons of leaves! I will post more later. This is the fifth time I have uploaded and lost them. Oh! If you are on our Christmas card list...don't look too closely. You just might see them again :D

Finally!

This past week has been a blur of activity. Besides the normal school and after school activities, we have had a day off (Colombus Day) to recover from the Legoland weekend adventure. I was part of a group hosting a baby shower for a very deserving mother expecting her fifth baby. We had a great morning of fantastic food, interesting chat, ahhhing over baby clothing, and fun friends. Before we knew it we had to rush off to collect children, have sports photographs and attend the Fall Festival at the school.



Ashlyn had a game (cheering) on Saturday, and then the rest of the weekend was spent cleaning out our third floor storage room. We have been putting it off since we moved in, and the situation was deteriorating, quickly. Nothing is so humbling as watching every single item that you own being crammed into crates (for an overseas move), and then now getting rid of so many items in the storage room that you are wondering why you have moved, stored, and kept these items as long as you have!!! There are children's clothes galore. Now that it has been cleared out --the storage room looks so much better! You can actually walk in! I now need to sort out the clothing for selling, donating, tossing, etc. Blech.



Today is catch up day...laundry, blogging, e-mails, housework. Logan is happily playing with blocks and I am finishing an episode of Lost in Austen. I also planned on finishing another post with some pictures and putting up Legoland pictures, but have a roadblock. Since installing a new router for the upstairs computer, the stored pictures are unaccessible. Aaccckk! That will have to wait, I guess.

Overheard during the car trip

It took us quite a while to get to Legoland. We encountered quite a bit of constructiuon in multiple areas along the autobahn, but thankfully did not have the six kilometer (at least) staus (traffic jam) that we viewed on the opposite side of the motorway.

During that time we made multiple bathroom stops, passed out goldfish crackers, small packets of Haribo gummy bears, and water.

Lauren soon noticed that Nick had saved over her Imagine Teacher DS game.
Lauren : "Nick! I can't believe that you did that! I am going to write in my journal that you are a bad boy!"
Nicholas: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" (As if this has some bearing on his future).

Ryan "Dad, it's lunchtime and we haven't had lunch yet! All we have had is goldfish and water". We are such mean, uncaring parents, aren't we? How dare we starve our kids as we take them on a Legoland adventure, when we would love to take a trip to a warm, sandy beach....sans offspring?

Nick, after asking every two minutes, "How many minutes until we get there?"......and being told about two hours......replies, "I think I am going to say it will be ten minutes since I like that number better".

Yeah, if it only worked that way!

We are home, unpacked, and ready to begin the work/school week. We will post pictures soon!

Holiday plans

I hope that everyone is enjoying their long weekend and that you have fun no matter if your plans include a fun location or just staying at home. One friend of ours even had a sweet baby boy over the weekend!

While some we know are visiting places like thisor this ........

We can be found here. I guess that comes with the territory when you have kids. You have to visit these places every so often and spend lots of euros on foam swords, low nutrition meals, bags of sweets and pictures!

Boy Heaven

I got a glimpse of boy heaven this week. We ventured out on a gray day to a pumpkin patch near Landstuhl with our MOPS group. I was as prepared as I could be-wellies, those cool matschhose for Logan, coats, my big IKEA bag to carry pumpkins and muddy gear, euros, umbrellas, snacks and camera.

We were immediately greeted by the farm cows. They wanted to know if we had snacks-and could we share. We decided that the small bag of pretzels would not last long, so we declined and went straight for the patch. Keep in mind that it has been raining quite a bit recently. The pumpkin patch was ooey gooey with fresh, cold mud. The boys immediately began picking up all of the pumpkins and trying to stack them. It was a good thing that Logan was covered from shoulder to toes in rain gear since he spent much of the time laying on his back like a turtle with his boots tangled in the vine saying "tuck! tuck!" ("stuck" in 20 month-old language).

After shelling out ten euros for five semi-small pumpkins, and putting our goods back in the van, the group

loaded onto a trailer that was being pulled by a tractor. How cool is that for boys? We stood in the back (30+ people) and made the 400 meter trip (or so) to the farm. Logan screamed loudly at first, but was happy to try and open the gate as we drove. I didn't take a picture of the tractor since I was afraid it would leave us if I took too long.

At the farm we were able to check out the cool tractors, the farm dogs, the cows in the barn, the chickens, the pigs, the geese and more mud. Oh, and lots of animal poo. Good times. Logan was not afraid at all. He explored all venues, whether he was invited or not. Ryan was more hesitant, but when he finally touched the cow, he was not amused. "Mom! it snotted on me!". Sure enough-----a big thick string-y thing.

Surprisingly, I had no wipes, so we made do with a piece of hay and went on. Secretly, I was thinking "Eww, eww, eww", but I didn't want him to dwell on it.

This is where the photo experience ends. Of course, as with any photo op, the camera batteries died.

We rode the bumpy trailer back after a while and tried to de-mud before getting in the van. Daddy just cleaned the whole car, so I didn't want to leave too much evidence.

We bought lunch and went home for a nap. What better way for boys to enjoy the morning? Outside with mud, animals and gooey stuff. Mommy didn't even freak out with the grubbiness of it all.

I put the pumpkins out on the front step. I still haven't washed the mud off of them. Since we don't have a hose outside, I am hoping that future rain will do the job. If not, they will remain "all natural" until the BCD (BIG carving day).

Overheard at our house

A conversation took place in the basement where my husband was painting Ashlyn's furniture. Since he was able to hear the commotion (kids yelling, me yelling at the kids, kids arguing and whining, etc.) above him. I am not quite sure why he asked-

Husband-"Is everything o.k. up there?"

Me- "No, the kids are so loud and crazy this afternoon. I am never giving Nick a Cinnabon again if he is going to act crazy like this."

(The box of Cinnabons were calling my name last week. We had them for breakfast. They were so yummy! We eat them maybe once a year, and now I know why.... Evil Cinnabons).

Husband- "Do you ever feel like you are in over your head?"

Me- "Um, yes-daily." (insert *sigh* and aggravated facial expression here)

Husband- "Well, at least we know they will move out some day, but that will be a long time from now".

Me -"Yeeeeaaah, okay....thanks for the encouraging words".

Autumn Adventures

Here are some fun things that we have enjoyed this season:



Watching the fog cover the hills. Isn't that beautiful!?!
Participating in the Breast Cancer 5K Walk! Cheerleading!!!
Choosing the perfect pumpkin
Visiting a local pumpkin patch
Playing at the farm Getting to know nature

Picking apples in your back garden
Deciding which apples are okay to eatEnjoying the outdoors!
Meeting my new friend! :)
Decorating the house for autumn. Here is my German bread bowl that I found at the bazaar for my birthday! I love the stuffed pumpkins also-they have the best cinnamon scent.

Enjoying the living room decor

Here is the entryway table. Can you see the sled that I found at the bazaar? It is actually one from a German kindergarten (Southeast area). Supposedly the children can actually use this when it snows!

Sampling the sweets and lebkuchen hearts at the Herbstmarkt (fall fair)
Having fun on the rides at the fall fair
Playing in the town fountains before they are turned off for winter!
Going back to school (or starting school)! !!

Begging to ride this huge ride at the herbstmarkt. Uh, no.

Today

I don't know if I have shared this, but because of our location, our children attend an army community school. This has given us a different view of military life. As an Air Force family, we have experienced few deployments, and when my husband has been away it is usually for air shows or training.

The army families experince very long 15-month deployments and they are often working in very volatile areas. When many troops left for a deployment this year I knew this day would come. Ashlyn came home with news that a first-grader at her school learned that their dad was killed today. We don't know this child, but my heart aches still. I also hate that my children have to experience this. I want to shield them from this sadness that their school community is experiencing, but this is a part of life. I just have to accept it.

It still stinks.

Please keep their family, as well as the many others in your thoughts and prayers.