E & E's Visit to Germany!

Our friends, Erin and Ethan Sea came to visit us February 10-15. We met Erin and her husband, Dan, back in late summer 2002 when Erin and I were in our second trimesters of our first pregnancies. They bought the townhouse right next to ours. As it turned out, our sons were born 11 days apart. It was a really special time. She stayed at home, as did I, and so we did a lot of things together, helped each other out, kept each other company, and a strong friendship was formed. Unfortunately when our boys were not quite two years old, Dan's work relocated to PA. Which was great for them because they could buy a lot bigger house there then in MD and as it turns out, they bought in Erin's home town where her mom and dad still live, but it was sad for us to see them leave. However, over the next three years we managed to still see each other every few months, the drive is only a couple hours long. They now have three children. As we have lived in Germany, Erin had mentioned coming to visit, possibly bringing Ethan. As our time here is coming to an end, I thought it might not happen, but then at the end of 2009, Erin emailed me and said she thought she could make something work out. Dan travels quite a bit for work and had a lot of airline miles that could be transferred to family members. Essentially, they flew over here, round-trip, for the both of them for about $150! Dan took work off to take care of the younger kids and Erin and Ethan came to see us for a few days! The weather was not great. OK it was downright freezing and snowed almost every day but we had a great time. Of course, time always flies when you're having fun and this was no exception. And I always hate goodbye's but we plan on seeing them in August when we move back to MD, so I reminded myself that this was only a "see you later" not an actual "goodbye".

Here are a few pictures:

I arranged to pick up Thomas from school right before lunch. Here

we are walking to his classroom.

Reunited after 2 1/2 years.

Let's fly how many thousand miles over the ocean so we can sit down and play the Wii?!

(kids!)

Rudesheim, Germany

Windy, freezing and nearly everything was closed.

Waiting for traditional German cuisine at the Brauhaus in Mainz Kastel.

Kinderfasching in Mainz.

Ramba Zamba--one of many indoor play places that have SOOOO many attractions that you would never find in the US.

We told Ethan we were going to see a castle. He didn't seem too excited. It wasn't until we arrived that he let on that he thought we were taking him to a "girly princess castle" like his sister would like. As it turned out, this was pretty cool! Too bad it was closed...so we could only walk around the entrance just a bit. This is the St. Goar castle.

The original four--back then life was easy, only we didn't know it at the time.

Nothing compares to Nintendo DS...not even cool castles all along the Rhine River!

Thomas had to go to school the day that E & E went home. So we woke

up Ethan right before Thomas left.

Outside of my house. There was apparently a snowflake on my

camera's lens.

Bidding them a final farewell!

Until later,

Emily

Handsome & a Little Stinky...

I can't believe it, but the time has come for Thomas to start wearing deodorant! I "Googled" it because I know I didn't start wearing it until the beginning of the sixth grade (11) and he's only 7...and a 1/2...but basically what I found was when children start to stink, and that bothers you (it does), it's time for deodorant! I don't want him to be the stinky kid in class...so I bought him some Axe deodorant spray and he thinks it's the coolest thing! And it does the trick.

Until later,

Emily

PS: This decision was after we made sure he never skipped bathing one day and was diligent with pit-washing...so, there you go, it's time!

Alice in Wonderland

Last night, James and I took our kids to see the new "Alice in Wonderland" movie. Johnny Depp is in it, he's probably tied with Jack Nicholson as my favorite actor so I was excited. And, actually, the whole family currently likes Johnny Depp because of a certain pirate character that he plays...

The movie was a fun movie. Both my kids were fully engaged the whole time. It was directed by Tim Burton, so you know it is a little dark and odd.(Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar.) I thought it might be a tad scary for my kids but it was not. Yes, the do keep up with the "Off with your head" line and there is one scene in particular that dealt with decapitated heads (Alice has to step on the floating heads to get across the moat) and James & I both winced. But, it went right over both of our kids' "heads" if you will. At the very end, there is a battle with a dragon which ends in bloodshed...but I plan on letting them watch it again and will purchase it on DVD when it comes out.

Until later,

Emily

Brothers

Fontainebleau, France--February 25, 2010

My family and I are a bunch of "pale-faces" right now (a "Twilight" reference), we really need a little sun right now!

Until later,

Emily

Goodbye Afternoon Naps

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that Toby is making it through more and more days without an afternoon nap. It is to the point where I think his body only really "needs" a nap about twice a week now. Unfortunately, I have no idea when those days will occur. In the afternoon, we come home from our errands and/or appointments and he typically just "wants to watch a movie" for a while. Sometimes that results in him dozing off on the couch for a few minutes, but more than often, it does not.

My baby is growing up. However, he is still not potty-trained. I gave it a really good try in December and he showed absolutely no interest. I have noticed a few of the "signs" over the past couple of weeks but I really would like to have a few days where I can stay at home to try to tackle this again. For some reason, I really have a hard time ever doing this. But then, we are going to Italy at the end of this month...should I even pursue this when we are planning a major trip where the three truly potty-trained people in our household may have a hard time with the whole "finding a toilet" situation? Maybe all four of us should just wear Pull-Ups?! Maybe that's the solution!

Until later,

Emily

Still Blogging

February 2010 goes down as my worst month ever for blogging. No I have not abandoned this hobby...one of the only things in my life that I can truly call a hobby. Sometimes there just isn't enough time to do everything. We had our friends Erin & Ethan come and visit us, they were here for about 5 days and we made the most of it. A week later, James, the kids & I went to Paris and spent 6 days. I love Paris and I can't believe we never went the first 18 months of our assignment here. But I guess we sort of made up for it by going three times in the past 12 months! I will post pics of both soon.

Until later,

Emily

And Back Goes the Baby Gate!

About 3-4 weeks ago, I took the baby gate down, the baby gate that kept Toby out of the kitchen. We had grown tired of having to hoist ourselves over it each time we want to exit and enter the kitchen (it's just a pressurized gate) and we figured he was old enough "to be trusted".

Well, after a few weeks, I have had it! He has turned the stove top on, melted my favorite cupcake carrier lid, broken our only Frankfurt Christmas market mug, taken far too many utensils out (thus me having to wash far too many kitchen utensils), stolen my drinks, made far too many dishes, been underfoot when I am cooking in the tiniest kitchen and today, he shattered the glass lid that belonged to my favorite sauce pan. Luckily he wasn't hurt, but when I say shattered, I do mean shattered. As in into a million little tiny pieces. Our floors are tile and the glass didn't have a chance.

For safety's sake and my sanity's sake that gate is back up and I don't know when we'll take it down again.

Until later,

Emily

Perspective

My mom emailed this to me and I found it to be very profound.

Perspective

One day , the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip , the father asked his son , "How was the trip?"

"It was great , Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked..

"Oh yeah , " said the son.

"So , tell me , what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us , but they serve others.

We buy our food , but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us , they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added , "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have , especially your friends!

"Life is too short and friends are too few.

Until later,

Emily

Christmas 2009 Pics

Such excitement & anticipation as they waited to find out if it was

"all clear" for them to go downstairs.

I don't know if it was James or Thomas that thought Toby should wear

a red bow on his back, but he had no idea that it was there.

I love this picture!

"Awesome!"

Our family loves anything with skulls and crossbones!

Toby also got one that is quite similar.

A total surprise (because he had no idea they came out with the new game),

the NEW Wii Super Mario game!

Toby was funny this year, he got into the unwrapping of the presents, but once he unwrapped the boxes, he wasn't very interested in what was actually inside the boxes!

(Wish we would have known, it would have saved us a lot of money

AND time spent shopping!)

Merry Christmas!

Until later,

Emily

"Winky is Watching!"

This year, my friend, Erin sent us this cute "Elf on the Shelf". The story goes that he is a magical elf from the North Pole...a helper of Santa Claus. He watches what is going on in the house and every night he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa. The kids know he flew back because the next morning, sure enough, the elf was back but was in a new location. Oh what fun!

Each family has the opportunity to name their own elf. After much thought and discussion, Thomas & I decided on "Winky". It has a great ring to it...."Winky is watching!"

Winky didn't come into our home until just a few days before Christmas so he took more than one magical flight to the North Pole each day. Thomas was also quite sure that his eyes and legs sometimes moved. Winky was quite effective and I was sad to see him go.

Until later,

Emily

Naughtiness is the Three-Year Old Living in my House!

I have had a baby gate to keep Toby out of the kitchen. Really, it's the lazy way of "baby-proofing". Last week, I decided it was time to start "trusting" him and take it down. The first couple of days I found myself chasing him out of the kitchen quite a bit but then the novelty of this new room seemed to wear off and he wasn't all that interested.

Today, Toby & I stayed home. I cleaned and did a lot of laundry. I have not done laundry in 11 days--so I had a lot to do. I had folded three loads and had taken them upstairs to put them away. And that's when I smelled the smell and new instantly that my little stinker had gone into the kitchen and turned on the burners or the oven, I wasn't sure which but I knew something was burning or melting that shouldn't be.

I came downstairs to find that Toby had turned on not one, not two, but three of the burners on the stove top! Unfortunately, I had set my nice (plastic) cupcake holder on top of the stove top just an hour before so that it could dry the rest of the way (I had just washed it). For a split second I thought maybe I had arrived before the damage was horrible. But then I lifted the lid and the whole middle of the lid stayed on my stove top. It is ruined. I loved my cupcake holder and hope they still sell the same kind at Real, where I bought it last year.

After scolding him (no reaction), and spanking him (barely a flinch) I put him in his room, in his crib to be exact (he hasn't tried to climb out and I am avoiding buying him a real bed until we move back to the States). This is when he said "I sorry, I be a good boy, I be a good boy."

He eventually fell asleep. Right after that, I decided to pull back my curtains in my bedroom to let in some natural light. That's when I noticed that my heavy, insulated curtains now have "fringe" down one side of them. Yep, he found my fabric scissors and wasn't afraid to use them. The sad thing is, I'm pretty sure he did it right under my nose this morning and I didn't realize it. I thought he was playing with cars along the ledge of my window sill, not giving my curtains a new, updated look! (The scissors are now WAY up, I found that he pushed the step-stool in the bathroom to my bedroom where they were so that her could reach them).

Tonight, at dinner, I gave James the full report. When James turned to Toby to ask him about all of his naughtiness, he admitted to everything in a "very matter-of-factly" manner, there was no shame, no remorse. The more I get to know Toby, the more I think he will be our little "free-spirit"...but he's so deceptive because I think he often times looks like he's so sweet. Believe me, he is NOT!

Until later,

Emily

Toby Turns Three!

Unwrapping presents while Skyping with Grandma Arleen, Grandpa Dan & Kurt.

We were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Toward the end, he joined in.

Yum, a cupcake and a big bowl of ice cream!

Thomas

Pretty serious about the unwrapping.

A phone call from Kate.

More unwrapping.

Today was Toby's birthday. He is three years old now. Or the way he pronounces it "I free!" Today was pretty much a normal day for Toby, but he did have two requests: he didn't want me to take him to daycare and he didn't want me to take him to a friends and leave him there. And, I didn't. We did go see a friend (VT), but when I left, so did he. We made a trip to the commissary where I filled a cart all the while only having approximately 10 items on my list. He had a meltdown while checking out because I wouldn't let him have any candy. Since it was his birthday, I probably should have given in, but I don't often reward meltdowns and tantrums like that. I bought him a new booster seat, as opposed to giving him Thomas' old one. This morning, I gladly swapped the booster seat for the car seat.

Toby fell asleep in the car on the way home from the commissary. I think he is hitting the point in his life where he will not always take an afternoon nap, but will probably still need one a couple times a week. Today was one of those days. He napped for quite a while and then Thomas came home from school. Thomas has been out of school for the past 3 weeks for Winter Break and today was his first day back at school, so Toby did ask about Thomas quite a bit today. He missed him.

Toby and Thomas played this evening while I picked up the house and made dinner. He got to Skype my parents and Kurt (my brother) while he opened their presents to him. I love modern-day technology. After that, he got a phone call from Grandma Sherry (James' mom) and Kate (my sister) Later on, we had our neighbors, the W family come over and have cupcakes, brownies and ice cream. Then our boys and their oldest son played together. Toby got a cool Hot Wheels track and some more Geo Trax train so our living room has been taken over!

Until later,

Emily

Deep Thoughts by Toby

Today, seemingly out of nowhere, Toby came up to me and said this:

"Mom, don't be sad and don't get burned."

And then he left the room. That was all he had, I guess. But, when I thought about it, that really is some pretty good advice.

Until later,

Emily

Redecorating

I wish redecorating in real life was as easy as giving your blog a new look (and as cheap!)

Until later,

Emily

2010...a 50/50 Year

I have pics and commentary to post later, but since I posted it on Facebook but I know not all my "readers" are on Facebook....we have exactly 6 months left in this crazy German adventure. We're leaving Germany on July 1, 2010. We are flying straight to UT (and to the "Snow" side of the family, yes that means we'll be joining you in Newport but be forewarned we will be dealing with major amounts of jet lag!) but will be back in MD about a month later. It's weird to say but I feel some sort of relief now that we have hit that milestone. I know six months will go by fast. And, I'm not really wishing the 6 months away either. We have had a lot of wonderful experiences and made some great memories while living here that I am thankful for. We have events to look forward to over the next 6 months and life to live. But I am sure looking forward to living in the US again, and I will not lie or feel bad about that.

Until later,

Emily

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Two cute boys in their brand-new pajamas courtesy of my side of

the family and their "Twelve days of Christmas" presents.

(Thomas is SOOOO excited, I don't think he'll even sleep half the night!)

The stockings were hung...

(and our monogrammed names have been edited out!)

Check out all those presents!

(And, no, Santa has not been here yet!)

Until later (and Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!),

Emily

Gingerbread House Kit

My mom sent our family a gingerbread kit to put together this year (thanks, Mom!). Thomas & I put it together this evening, we had an early dinner, so we had some time to do a project before bed time. Toby didn't want much to do with it, but while we were assembling it and decorating it, he sat next to Thomas and watched and snuck candy. I love the idea of the kit and highly recommend them. We did add our own M&M's.

Until later,

Emily