Happy 2009!

(This one is right over our rooftop.)

It's already the New Year here in Germany.  We were very low-key this year.  James and Thomas played the Wii all night long while I worked on updating my blog on both of our laptops (I got my own--a MacBook about a month ago). Toby pretty much went to bed at a normal time.  I didn't get it all done, but I got a lot done.  At midnight, we went out, met our American neighbors outside and watched the neighborhood fireworks, which went for about 45 minutes.  Once again, Toby slept through the whole thing! I had his fan turned up higher than normal and a sound machine on, but still there were bottle rockets going off over our house! I should add that I have been listening to a German radio station all night that was playing quite a mix of "New Year's Eve" songs, I'm not sure if they know the difference between Halloween and New Year's? It was entertaining all the same! Happy 2009! I'm going to bed!

Until later,

Emily

Fields of Gold

May 6, 2008

This spring, there were fields and fields of these yellow flowers all over Germany. I have no idea if this is a weed or a desirable plant, but they smelled good and were so pretty. At about this time, I acquired a jogging stroller from a friend who was PCSing back to the States for $15. We started going on a lot of walks as a family, exploring our town. On this particular night, we looked down to find Toby fast asleep.

Until later,

Emily

Nurenberg, Germany--Day 1 (Touring the City)

May 23, 2008

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' Last Day of Preschool

May 30, 2008

Until later,

Emily

Take Notice!

I've added the best quote I've ever seen in my life to the right.  I got it from my friend MW's blog.  I just loved it! Think about it.  It's sooo true!

I have also added a new "gadget" to my blog.  It's right under our family picture. It is a weather tool for all to see how cold/warm/RAINY it might be in my part of Germany.  It's set for Frankfurt. Frankfurt...Wiesbaden... well I don't really live in either place but my town wasn't an option! Also, FYI...it's set in Fahrenheit although they use Celsius here.  No, I'm still not converted to the Celsius system, so I don't expect you to be either!

Until later,

Emily

Holed Up

James and I got hit with something yesterday.  We are both still quite sick. Sore throats, headaches, body aches (the worst aches and pains in my feet and calves that I can ever remember), coughs and stuffed up heads.  I also had a fever of 102* but that seems to have passed. Thomas was complaining of a tooth ache on Christmas Day which I think was actually a molar coming up, but he seems to be OK now. We have even caught a glimpse of our little "Mischief Man" aka Toby over the past couple days.  Toby has been sick for so long that we kind of forgot what a little devil he can be!  Yesterday, he was full-force, but today he seems to have relapsed a little.  Thomas has been happy to play and play and play the Wii.  Toby has been sleeping a lot, just like Mommy.  I just can't seem to get enough sleep!  In fact, the past two days, I have bathed and then just put on clean pajamas. I'm not even going to mess with "comfy clothes", I'm going straight for pajamas right now! James has been relaxing, and actually got to set up one of his war games.  That's the nice thing about having a ginormous table like ours, you can set up a project on half of it, and still feed a family of four on the other side! I can't remember the last time he played a war game.  I thought for sure that today James would go out, at least go to the commissary.  But, I was wrong.  That's when I know he really is sick because he's not the type to stay in...he gets too antsy. The boys and I will go early Monday morning! Thank goodness for shelf milk!

Until later,

Emily

Christmas 2008 Pics

The present that Santa must have dropped.

A pic to prove that I was there, too!

Toby literally fell to the ground at this point like he was wiped out by all the unwrapping!

My (almost) 2-year old didn't have a "list" for Santa. So, Santa had to find a good gift on his own. He did!

Handsome Thomas! He loved every minute of Christmas this year!

James was playing the Wii at this moment, and couldn't look up even for a second!

Until later,

Emily

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve, I told Thomas that we were not going downstairs to open presents until 7 AM.  He came into our room (a very regular occurance) at 5:30 AM, I told him to go back to sleep because it wasn't 7 AM yet and he complied, but before he did, he said, "Mom, I think I heard Santa downstairs as I was walking from my room to your room!"

I had set my alarm at 6:30 AM so I could have a few minutes to pull myself together in the appearance category.  We were having friends over for breakfast so I knew "it was now or never." Toby woke up at about 10 minutes before 7 AM, and then I woke Thomas up at 7:00.

We waited upstairs for a few minutes while James finished his shower, I let the kids stay in their new Christmas pajamas from my family (they did the "Twelve Days of Christmas").

We came downstairs and Thomas quickly noticed that there was a present in our fireplace! Santa must have dropped it! We started opening our gifts.  We'd have to pause the festivities for a minute while I checked on something in the kitchen.  Once I got the cinnamon rolls baked, I didn't have to worry as much.

Not for the lack of trying but Santa didn't bring everything that Thomas had asked for.  That's what happens when you change your mind a week before Christmas!  So, he got the things that he asked for a month ago, and luckily, Santa brought the whole family a Wii so that made up for the fact.

Toby was more into Christmas and unwrapping presents this year. Although Thomas felt that he still needed to help.  Actually Thomas unwrapped some of everyone's presents! Thomas let us all know that we all got far too many "clothes" and not enough "toys".

We had plenty of time to unwrap presents and clean up a bit before breakfast.  We had our friends, the W family, over for Christmas breakfast.  They are our next-door neighbors and our really good friends.  There's just something about having someone who grew up in Pennsylvania as a neighbor I guess (this is the second time for us!) I made James' mom's Christmas Casserole, cinnamon rolls, and a fresh-fruit salad.

We ate, exchanged gifts, and hung out for a while.  Then it was time for Toby to take a nap, their little one to take a nap and G and I decided we were going to nap, too!

The afternoon was spent napping, and playing with new Christmas gadgets.  Then the calls from Utah came in, followed by Skyping. Somewhere in there we also had a nice Christmas dinner, which was half appetizers and dips and half turkey dinner!

Our Christmas day was not white, nor frosty like last Christmas.  I guess I told our families that it was mild outside, but James informed me that it was actually quite cold, I just hadn't been out since the 23rd when it was jacket weather!

Once I pull the pics off my camera, I will post some here!

Until later,

Emily

Merry Christmas to All!

The children and husband are snug in their beds while mom is still busy, busy, busy--but I'm going to "call it a day" soon!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Until later,

Emily

The Coughing Brothers...in Stereo!

Toby and Thomas both have coughs.  Last night, it was like they were in stereo.  Toby is a mess, he's coughing, snot is pouring out of his nose and his eyes are irritated.  Thomas is only battling the cough but he definitely coughs more often and his coughs are more severe. Which means Toby takes the purple Triaminic strips and Thomas takes the red! When is it going to end? I already know the answer...March.

Until later,

Emily

We're "Tired"

Well, we did it.  We ordered snow tires for both of our cars.  We ordered them from the States.  It cost $30 for shipping for each tire.  Of course, we could have purchased them in Germany, but it would have been a lot more money, even with the added expense of shipping.  I still think it's funny that tires come by Priority Mail, yet there have been so many things that companies won't ship here due to their size.  The boys had a blast playing in the tires this afternoon.  Alas, all things must come to an end and they are now in the basement.  The Mini will get it's new tires put on on Tuesday and the Rondo...well, who knows since there is no change in it's status.

Until later,

Emily

Winter Break Here We Come!

Tomorrow is Thomas' last day of school in 2008.  He is getting excited for Christmas, even though there are no gifts under the tree.  I have to get wrapping!  But, I'm still not going to put them under the tree until December 24th.  I finally got around to hanging the stockings tonight.  This year it would not be wise nor safe to hang them "by the chimney with care" due to our Toby. Which also explains why less than half of our Christmas tree is decorated this year.  He is quite the kid, have I mentioned that before? I think maybe I have... Back to the stockings...my stocking holders could possibly kill him if he tugged on a stocking and one of the holders came tumbling down. So they are on some of my wall shelves instead.  I decided to keep the Christmas decorating to a minimum this year.  With the kids being sick, and me getting sick, I have honestly only felt like I am getting back in my game just this week and even with that, I am barely breathing!  There are no Christmas cards, not even a Christmas picture.  I was even thinking of not making Christmas sugar cookies but both James and Thomas hit me up on that one, separately, today...so I guess I'll do cookies this weekend! But definitely not a quadruple batch as I have been known to make...probably only a double batch! Oh, and "Sweet Stuff" with green and red M&M's but that is super-easy.  I am looking forward to not having to drive Thomas to and from school for the next two weeks.  The days are really short here in Germany right now and it is still quite dark when we leave at 8:25 AM (dark enough that you need them to see, not just to be seen) and when I leave the house at 2:55 PM to pick him up, the headlights have to go on because it is already dusk. Not that that has much to do with why I am glad to have a break from driving Thomas to and from school, but I thought I would mention how short the days and long the nights are here.  Hard to believe that in another six months I will be complaining about how it gets light before 6 AM and not dark until almost 10 PM!

Until later,

Emily

I Yawnt to Ea Fwies!

Today, after I dropped Thomas off at school, Toby and I continued on with my morning errands.  I actually made pretty good progress and was on my way home at about 11:15 AM when it occurred to me that I had one little gift to buy at the PX and I really should just go pick it up.  So, I made a right turn instead of staying straight and made my way through security.  As I was pulling into the parking lot, Toby starts yelling "Ea, Ea" (Eat!), because there is a food court next to the PX and he's no dummy.  I started to tell him, "No, we're not going to eat, we're going into the PX for 10 minutes and then we're going home and we'll eat lunch there."  He persisted, "Ea, Ea!" and I said, "No" once more.  Then he got all quiet, I thought maybe he got it through his head, when all of the sudden I heard, "I Yawnt to Ea Fwies!, I YAWNT to Ea FWIES!" Well, with a full sentence like that, I figured the little guy deserved some fries.  So, I got him a small order to go at Burger King and we went shopping at the PX!

Until later,

Emily

Still No Car

It's been three weeks and two days since my beloved Rondo left our home.  She sits in a muddy parking lot awaiting parts from the States.  They were thought to be arriving about a week ago.  But that wasn't the case.  James called today, there is no way of tracking the parts and all that can  be done is to wait some more. That and continue to drive the piece-of-crap Dodge Neon that smells like smoke, has a "check engine" light on and has a big vinyl logo of the autoparts place that is fixing our car.  Yeah, I feel so stylish in it! 

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' Primary Class Christmas Party (school)

Over here in Germany, it is still called a "Christmas Party" and no one thinks anything of it!  The parents were invited, but most of us realized that really meant the mom's...all but one poor dad who quickly exited.  The kids decorated an ornament, ate goodies, played "SANTA" (bingo) and exchanged small gifts.  Then the mom's gave the teachers and the aides their Christmas baskets.

Until later,

Emily