Gut Feeling

Well, I am as packed as I could ever hope to be, the only things that aren't packed are the things that I will need in the morning. I managed to get everything that we need in three large pieces of luggage! The third one is even about 20 pounds underweight! Unfortunately, I am having to maximize the amount of carry-on luggage because it takes a whole lot to entertain children for roughly 20 hours (from the time we leave my house until the time we arrive at my Grandma Kay's). I am not looking forward to lugging those bags around all day long...

So, everyone is in bed but me. The kids got their baths tonight and I even had enough time to give James a haircut. He just had one about ten days ago, but if he had to wait four more weeks (which is when we will be together again in California), he would be looking pretty "out-of-control".

After everyone went to bed, I got on the computer and I decided to check out the airline website, curious about the plane size and layout. Then, I got a gut feeling that our seat assignments had been messed up. Particularly, that the "Snow" seats were no longer with my mom. I called the airline and got an extremely rude woman (you know the kind where you think, OK, obviously, you HATE your job so it's time to move on now) who wasn't determined not to help me but was going to talk down to me the entire time...she was giving me a hard time because our reservation numbers are not the same so she would only confirm that we were in the seats that I had already said we were in but wouldn't comment at first about my mom's. But when I told her, "look, my mom's name is this......and I believe she is in seat......, and that is not where we want her to be, we want to be all together." I continued, "I know you would have no way of knowing this right off, but I wouldn't have flown her out three days ago just so she could turn around and fly back and not sit by us. She flew here to help me with my children." At this point, there was still no real sign of compassion but at least the total rudeness level was decreased. She was willing to change the seats for a $15 fee and we almost went there until she told me I could do it online by myself or wait until we got to the airport. I hung up with her and moved my mom's seat myself, luckily there was an empty seat on the other side of Thomas!

Boy, am I glad I followed that gut feeling and you better believe that I am going to check on those seat assignments again in the morning!

Until later,

Emily

The Price of Gas

Today, James filled his car up and mid-grade was $4.25 a gallon!

Until later,

Emily

Nuremberg, Germany--Day 2 (Playmobil Funpark)

Playmobil Funpark

(commentary added later)

I really cannot say enough good about this place. Kids have a blast! You can bring in your own food. They also have decent food to buy there and ice cream around every corner. Kids get dirty. Kids get wet. Kids can be kids (whoa I LOVE that!). We felt that the price was fair. If you live in Wiesbaden, you could easily do this as a day trip, but it would be a long day.

http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Link-Page?cid=START_ZIRNDORF

(later on this same year we bought one of these for Thomas)

They have two areas with water tables, one for little, little kids and one for older kids. This is for the little kids, at first we had this area to ourselves.

I LOVE this face!

A full-size pirate ship! How fun!

Rafts in deep water (well, deep enough that a child could drown)...

no life jackets...another example of what would

never in a billion years happen in the good ol' USA!

We stripped him down...he was getting so wet and it was a warm day but not warm enough to walk around in soaking wet clothes.

However...watch him in "slow motion" and see what he was up to...

"No Toby, no Toby, Toby...."

And there he was right in the middle of the water table!

These giant clams were a hit! You had to pay a little extra to have a turn at the

clams. Not much maybe a euro. They had plastic sea creatures

that children could gather up for a few minutes.

Again, this was before he could walk, so when there was water, he easily was soaked in two seconds flat. Luckily, this was at the end of our visit.

No, no that's right, this was at the end. We stripped him down and let him play in this splash area one last time.

Until later,

Emily

I'm Alive...This is a Random Post

We went on a 3-day trip to Nuremberg, Germany over Memorial Day weekend. Since returning home, I have been busy unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning and setting aside piles of clothes to go to the States with us. As a side note: I've re-thought my packing strategy. I'm going to try to only pack 10 outfits or at least 10 shirts for everyone. I know I'm going to buy a lot while we're there and you know how it is, once you have new stuff you don't want to wear the old stuff! My mom arrives in the morning...Thomas has two more days of preschool. One more soccer game. His practice tonight got cancelled due to a "family emergency" that the coach is dealing with. I hope it's nothing too serious but it couldn't have come at a better time for me! I have lots of pictures to post from our trip but no time to sit down and do it now.

Until later,

Emily

Stocking Up, Cleaning Up, and Packing Up!

It is a weird feeling to know that you are leaving your home for two months and leaving your husband behind. I have been busy trying to clean and organize a little so life will be easier on James while I am away. A major undertaking has been stocking the house so that he hopefully will not have to shop for anything but perishables while I am away. I have made sure that there is plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, cat food, kitty litter, light bulbs, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, water softener...the list goes on and on...the house is pretty stocked and I'm getting there with the clean part. When you have kids, it's always kind of a "work in progress". And before I leave, I need to show him how the house "works" i.e. how to turn on the oven, the dishwasher, where to add the salt in that each month, the washer (and how to do a load of wash since we use water softener here and he has no clue what to do) where the emergency shut off button is for the power, in other words, all the little things that I take care of and he never has to think of. I also need to go over the recycling calendar because heaven help him if he misses a pick-up date!

Then there's the packing. My mom will be horrified to know that I have not started. But, I do have a plan. I'm bringing a lot of clothes...and shoes. And my camera and video camera and prescriptions and my contacts and glasses and pretty much anything else can be bought if needed. I can't do the normal thing and bring a week's worth of clothing and wear those outfits all summer! I'm not staying three weeks or even five...no, it's eight weeks! I also can't do that with my kids...they have a lot of clothes that they will only wear this summer. They'll both be in different sizes next summer. And, by the time we return to Germany, we'll probably be wearing fall clothes again! But, it's a nice feeling to know that I should basically pack almost everything. Both kids are ticketed and because it's an international flight, we still get two bags each. I think my mom is only bringing one checked bag for her three-day jaunt over to Germany...but still seven bags in the back? Plus all our carry-ons (which we will be taking full advantage of)? Probably not! When we return from Utah, however, I'm sure we'll have our maximum amount of baggage (there is MUCH shopping to be done!) along with James' two bags...so we'll probably have two trips from the airport that day! Luckily it's fairly close.

How comforting it is to know that whatever I forget I can honestly go out and buy it! I'll buy doubles of a lot of things once I get to Utah and keep a set at my mom's and the other at James' mom's. That way I won't have to pack up quite as much every time I take a trip up or down the Wasatch front.

Until later,

Emily

My New Diaper Bag!

The Pottery Barn Baby/Pottery Barn Kids catalog arrived sometime last week. On the cover was the cutest navy polka dot diaper bag...I thought it was the cutest until I turned the page and saw that it came in chocolate! I thought about it for a few days and then I decided that I really needed it. After all, my current diaper bag (also chocolate) has seen it's better day and I will be carrying a diaper bag for at least another two years! So, I got online and ordered it (and of course, had it monogrammed with my initials with blue thread--what else?) and had it sent to my mom's with specific orders that she is to bring it with her when she flies here next week. Wouldn't you know it...it already arrived at her house! That was incredibly fast...maybe I should have had it sent here...but sometimes things take a super long time to arrive here...especially when you really want them! I can't wait to see if it's as cute "in person" as it is on paper and the computer screen!

Until later,

Emily

Congratulations David Cook!

I haven't actually watched the show yet...I could have gotten up at 2 AM to watch it live, but I like/need my sleep way too much. So, I will watch it tonight at 7 PM for entertainment purposes but it's all over the internet so I already know David Cook won! Which makes me really happy, he has been my favorite for a while!

Until later,

Emily

The Price of Gas?

Today, when I decided to "top off" my car...mid grade was $4.00 a gallon! Unbelievable!

Until later,

Emily

Life Isn't Fair!

Life isn't fair. Period. A concept that even a three-year old can grasp a hold of. Yet, we get to learn this lesson over and over again in life. That, isn't fair, either (in my own opinion).

The Snow family got to learn it again yesterday. James had a "All-Hands" meeting in the morning, meaning everyone that works in his office, in Germany, was present. All they were told was they would be discussing "some of the upcoming changes". It was a good thing that James didn't tell me until Sunday night, because my mind was racing: ARE they going to send us home this summer? Or, WILL they really still send us to K-town (Kaiserslautern) next summer? Or, Maybe they're going to take away the schooling benefit?

James called me yesterday afternoon and the first thing out of his mouth was, "It's worse than I ever imagined..." (long pause). In which, I jumped in, "Hello? Are you still there?" James: "Yes, I'm still in such a state of shock...I just didn't see it coming..."

Well, I won't bore you with the whole transcript of our conversation but the gist of it is that half of his team is moving this summer and fall. Not that they're being sent home early, but their time is up, they've done their 2 or 3 years and it is time for them to move on. BUT, those team members will NOT be replaced until after the move next July, which will probably be to Frankfurt. Meaning James will work on a half-staffed team for his second year, or according to him, as of last night, my last year in Germany. This is the team that even I, from the very beginning, has said is already desperately understaffed. They have way too much work thrown at them and it is a very stressful environment. James worked 25 hours of overtime this weekend...yet, they're going to cut the team in half by the end of October. In the meeting, it was stated that their workload will be scaled down, which James doesn't believe for a second!

Of course, things could change. But this is a slap in the face. And James is stuck. We are stuck. And there is essentially nothing that we can do except live through it. His managers sympathize and are actually upset by this decision but it's not a decision that was made by them. It was a call from DC... So, no matter how many conversations James has with the managers, it doesn't really matter and it will do nothing to change things.

Oddly enough, I am now the optimist in this situation that I was the pessimist about just one year ago and I've already argued that, "If you can get through the second year of what seems like will be pure hell...you may as well sign up for the third year, it can only get better, right?" James didn't seem convinced.

I see trials all around me. There is illness, injury, death, deployment, financial problems...the price of gas is a trial of it's own...but this is our big trial right now. I realize it could be worse. Yes, I realize this all too well. But, this is still huge to us, but that's life.

And life isn't fair.

Until later,

Emily

Leggings

All of my skirts are either to my knee cap or longer, yet with constantly bending down, chasing, entertaining, or saving Toby from whatever danger he has just discovered, I feel like a disheveled mess 95% of the time when I am wearing a skirt.

Today, I decided to wear leggings under my skirt. They are black and go just below my knee cap...OK more like they go to the top of my calf muscle...but let me just say I think I might be wearing leggings under my skirt from now on! I doubt anyone even detected that they were under my skirt (I was wearing a long skirt with slits almost to my knees) but they made me feel so much more confident! Like wearing a Shade shirt under my skirt! I have been giddy ever since I tried this and found that it worked so well for me!

Until later,

Emily

Scary Mommy

After Thomas' soccer game (he made 3 goals), we hurried home for a little snack, since we ate dinner before his game because he had a late game, before baths and bedtime. James had to work late into the night (and consequently, this entire weekend). I got them both bathed and in bed and decided that maybe I wanted to take a bath too. Toby has resisted going to bed lately, which usually results in about five minutes of crying, and then he gives in and goes to sleep. I took a quick bath and knew he was crying but by the time I got out his crying had gotten progressively louder. I threw my robe on and rushed into his room. I hadn't combed out my hair nor wiped off the mascara rings under my eyes. In other words, I was looking pretty scary! Well, when Toby saw me, he DID stop crying...his eyes opened wide and then he backed into the corner of his crib and would not let me touch him. I guess I was way scary and going to bed was the better choice then letting "Scary Mommy" touch him, so I shut his door and didn't hear a peep from him again!

Until later,

Emily

Playing Hostess

Besides having my Visiting Teachers over and two very low-key play dates, I haven't had people over to my house. Then, last week, I had the brunch. On Monday, I decided to invite one of the families that were moving (they actually flew out yesterday) over for dessert, on Tuesday I had the other family that is moving next Monday over for dinner. Then, yesterday, I invited three other girls and their families over for a more formal play date during the day. So, in one week, I had four little events at my house! It was fun, but I'm kind of exhausted! I'm done entertaining until we come back to Germany at the end of the summer!

Until later,

Emily

Two Hours Later...One Clean Car!

So, today, it was my main goal to get my car washed. Not do-it-myself car wash (you are not allowed in Germany to wash your car in "your yard" because it isn't good for the environment), but just take my car through an automatic car wash. There is one on the Mainz Kastel base and I have been driving by there for the past two weeks, but the line has been so long, I have gone "Nope, not today!" many times, but today, I was determined to wash my car no matter how long the line was! You could no longer tell it was a steel gray color.

I got in the back of the line, which had six cars ahead of me. Thomas was at school and I had an hour and a half until I had to pick him up. I turned my car off and rolled down the windows like any good person living in Germany should do (because it is against the law to let your car run while parked--bad for the environment, you know!) Let me tell you, nearly 80 degrees in an almost black car gets pretty hot! I waited 45 minutes until it was my turn. I bought my car wash card and drove the car in...and nothing happened...I drove back and forth to engage the car wash and still nothing. By this time, two of the patrons immediately behind me were trying to help but we couldn't figure anything out. I was out of $1's and $5's which is all the car wash card machine will take so I couldn't buy another card. The line was getting longer so I had no choice...I had to drive out of the line with a still-dirty car.

I went to the gas station to get a refund. The gas station attendant didn't know that they could give refunds so he sent me to the Auto Parts store. I hauled Toby in there and the Auto Parts guy said, "Oh, you have to go to gas station for that." I told him, "OK, the only problem is that guy just sent me over here." He was nice enough to get on the phone and tell him what to do. So, we walked back across the parking lot and got my new car wash card. Unfortunately, by this time, I had twenty minutes until I had to pick up Thomas. No time to sit in that line again!

We drove over and picked up Thomas. Then, we headed back to Mainz Kastel to try again. Luckily, by this time of the day, while it was still quite warm, there was a shadow cast by the building nearby so it was shady. When we arrived, there were five cars ahead of us. There was a vending machine with cold drinks so I bought three cold drinks for us and we waited. Finally, it was my turn to drive in the car wash and about five minutes later, I had a sparkling clean car! The whole process took two hours!

It's calling for rain tomorrow.

Until later,

Emily

Never Be Too Quick to Judge!

This morning, I was upstairs just getting out of the bathtub when I heard a child crying outside. The temps are warm enough that I have all the windows open and fans in each room buzzing along...but I could hear this child outside at the park crying. And he/she kept crying and I thought to myself, "What kind of mother would just let their child cry like that?" "He/she is really crying and I don't hear anyone trying to console that poor kid!"

And that's when I realized over all the fan buzz...it was poor little Toby crying downstairs!

Oops!

Until later,

Emily

Mother's Day 2008

Once again...so proud of his selection to give to Mommy!

Up-close look! Notice they even have UV glow!

Then there's Toby...no presents...but he's just so darn cute! Don't you agree?

These two boys love each other! And I love them! I'm so glad I get to be their Mom!

Mother's Day for me started out a little rocky as any Sunday because we have 9 AM church, but for some reason, I thought because it was Mother's Day, it should be smoother. Nope, it wasn't.

I left James in charge of making dinner. James grilled hot dogs and had Doritos and asparagus as side items. He also made strawberry pie with real whipped cream. I had to give him a little bit of a hard time since I absolutely HATE asparagus and strawberry pie doesn't even make my top five favorite desserts, and I definitely prefer Cool Whip over whipped cream...I said, "Oh, is this Father's Day?" He reminded me, "Hey, my cooking abilities are limited and at least you get the day off!" He was right. He cleaned up. He let me take a nap without even giving me a sigh and just kind of gave me the day off. All in all, it was a good day.

Then, there were the presents. I had picked up for myself the Intimately Beckham perfume last week for my present because I didn't know if James would have enough time to get me something since work has been quite hectic for him lately. But, he surprised me on Saturday when he took Thomas shopping. They came home with a potted lily that will go outside sometime but for right now it smells so darn good that I am enjoying it too much inside! He also let Thomas pick something out...you might see a trend here (Valentine's Day). To James' credit, he told me that this time he tried to persuade Thomas into choosing something else, but once he saw the beautiful flip-flop earrings it was all over! James also picked out for me a cute pair of earrings and a matching necklace!

Until later,

Emily

Nine Months in Germany--14 or 15 More to Go...or will it be 26?

Today is our 9-month anniversary of our arrival in Germany. Technically, we left on August 9th, but with the travel time and time difference we arrived on August 10th. We can't believe it's already been nine months and how quickly we will be approaching our "year" mark.

I don't often blog about James' work but since things at work have been effecting the family lately, I am going to do just that!

It has been five weeks of pure drama! The day after my parents went home, James came home from work and told me that his boss "unofficially asked him if we were going to extend the third year" and told him to "go home and talk about it with your wife and come up with your decision because you will be asked officially in two weeks." Not that this is new subject matter, we talk about it probably on a daily basis...but it literally made me sick to my stomach in a matter of 30-seconds to think that this decision was actually upon us.

So, we talked about it and decided that we should probably extend the third year. We have the option of coming home one month early, so we would try to return to Maryland around July 9, 2010, (but not any earlier). If anything, we were driven to make this decision this way because we want to get out and see more of Germany and of Europe. Well, James never got the opportunity to make anything official... because all gears shifted about ten days later and now the focus is on something else entirely:

You may recall that James' work is going to relocate in the summer of 2009, July to be more exact. They were going to move down to the Kaiserslautern area which would most likely mean we would move too. Well, that looks like it is not going to happen. But, they absolutely have to vacate their building by July 1, 2009. So the question is, where are they going to go? Unfortunately, this isn't a problem that is easily solved. So, they are working on one possibility but are doing a cost study on it that will take 3 to 4 months to complete. The location would be close enough that we would not have to move, Thomas could continue school at the international school and we could stay in our ward, so for me and the kids, everything would essentially stay the same.

I should also throw in there that about 2 1/2 weeks ago, there was even mention that they "might just shut the whole place down THIS summer and send everyone home"...it has been a major roller-coaster ride, to say the least.

So, there are no definite answers right now. There are some days when James hears about all the transition that will have to go on if they move to the one-and-only other option that he says he's not sure he wants to stick around for that...and perhaps they will send everyone all home next summer when the lease in Darmstadt is up, so we'll never have the option. And then there are days when I think about extending another year and that seems so L-O-N-G. Because I really do miss the US (thankfully, I'll be on a plane heading there in three weeks!), and everyone there.

But, then I look out my back yard and around the neighborhood that I live in and realize how hard it is going to be to give it up. Yes, we live in a duplex (as opposed to a townhouse) so we are still attached to another residence but we have a bigger back yard and the playground right next to us and a little soccer field above that to kick a ball around. There are lots of walking trails that we have been using lately and last weekend, we discovered that we could walk to the woods in 10 minutes...walk...not drive in the car and then walk. It's more of the neighborhood that I think James and I have always wanted to live in (except we don't understand 90% of what is spoken to us and the houses are shaped peculiarly and in the summer you really hope that the adults don't lift their armpits because they don't use antiperspirant!...but those are just pesky details!)

I'll keep you posted when I know something more!

Until later,

Emily

A Moment of Silence...

After a very brief battle with lung cancer, my Aunt Michelle passed away on Wednesday. She is leaving behind her husband and son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. My grandma, my parents and most of my aunts and uncles will be traveling to Illinois very soon. May peace and comfort be with them at this very difficult and emotional time.

Until later,

Emily

Success!

It took staying up until almost midnight and getting up at 6:30 AM, but I pulled off a very nice brunch for three of my friends, three of their children, my children and myself! I quickly fed Toby breakfast and he (surprisingly!) went down for a very early nap at 10 AM. All the other kids actually sat down and ate a fair amount at the "kids table" and then played very quietly while the mommies ate and enjoyed some adult conversation! It was a lot of fun!

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

In our house, Fruity Pebbles are called "Krispie Petals" by Thomas.

Until later,

Emily

Confirmed Suspicion

I had originally suspected that our neighbors had moved because they split up (they were not married, but living together). Because I had not seen Jurgen for a long time and had seen Doris around. But, then I saw the two of them moving out, so I thought I was wrong.

So, today, I was spraying weeds again and had some leftover spray...I wanted to use it up because I was going to mix up another kind of weed killer... but I needed an empty sprayer first. Since I know who the next renters will be (or at least hope, I haven't told any of the other neighbors that I know yet, I don't want to jinx things!), I thought I'd use the last little bit to kill a few of the dandelions adorning their front yard. Anyway, as I am doing this one of the neighbors across the street returned home and we started to talk. Today, I found out she speaks a lot better English than I originally thought...we usually converse through our neighbor that speaks English really well...but Simone wasn't there so she spoke to me. Turns out that Doris and Jurgen split up! Doris couldn't afford the rent so that's why she moved. Jurgen moved out at least two months ago, from what I could gather.

So while I am sad that their relationship didn't work out, they both seemed like really nice people and seemed to make a lovely couple, I am relieved to find out that that was the reason for their move. It wasn't us after all!

Until later,

Emily

Beautiful Days

The past two weeks, we have been blessed with nice weather. It has been slower to warm up than I had expected, since everyone told me last year April was the "hottest month". But, I know each year can be different...no matter where you live. I've brought out the short-sleeved shirts, and I've even been daring and wore capris twice. I removed my black fingernail and toenail polish and replaced it with a pretty, shiny, deep tulip pink color. Thomas wore shorts to school yesterday.

Today promises to be the warmest day of the year so far...predicted to be around 75 degrees. We actually haven't had too much rain lately (the only day it rained was 30 minutes after I washed my car--go figure, right?). My little flowers in the front yard need a drink today, I think I'll give Thomas a chance to do that while Toby takes his morning nap. He always loves it when I give him permission to play in the water. I still need to finish mulching, but didn't make it to the garden store yesterday... but, I'll mow the lawn again today.

We'll have to get a walk in and some park time for Thomas. Toby likes to go down the slide with Thomas and a few other things but right now he is such "high maintenance" as far as going to the park goes. Our park has mulch all over it, not the best thing for a toddler who still prefers to crawl! About that--he took two steps on his own this past weekend and is getting really good if he's holding one hand of someone else. The balance thing just hasn't come together for him yet.

Other than that, today will be a major "clean house" day. I am having a brunch over here on Thursday morning for my VT sisters and my VT partner. We thought we'd mix it up a little this month. Tomorrow I will be able to pick up the house and prepare the food but since I will be gone from 11:30 until 6:45 or 7:00 (because we have a play date before preschool) today is the day to get the place presentable. I'd like to say "get the place shining", but I know I'm going to have to be OK with presentable.

Until later,

Emily

A Season of Good-Bye's

I live in a military ward, so obviously, it's like we have a revolving door going at all times... but right now, that door is moving fast! With the school season wrapping up we are now losing families each week. Three families have left within the last month, including our Bishop and the Seminary teacher. Another family leaves this week. Two more go the next week... Three more leave in June... at least one in July.

We only know of three families moving in this summer...but that was two more than I was aware of until this morning. As small as our numbers are, the number of Brethren is even smaller. Luckily, two just came home from a deployment. But, one will go out this summer (they have five kids all under 12 years old) and another in November (four kids under six). There goes that revolving door again... Four more will return from 18-month deployments in December/January. James was at a EQ meeting a week and a half ago and he made the comment, "I don't know how we can stay a ward and not go to branch status!" someone told him there are 11 "key" callings and we have exactly 11 Brethren to hold those callings!

And so, next week, I will say goodbye to two women that I would say I have become close to. Because of various reasons, I have chosen to hold back on making "deep" friendships with anyone, but I would say there are four or five women that I have somewhat become friends with...friendship beyond small talk...two of these women belong to that group. Their husbands are both military. One husband recently signed up for another five years and another finished 10 years and is getting out now. How different the next chapter in their lives will certainly be. I will miss them both.

Until later,

Emily

A Saturday at Home

Both of my beautiful children decided to wake up this morning at 6:30 AM! Anything before 7:30 AM is torturous to me! It was really surprising, too, because they both went to bed late last night because Thomas had soccer and after soccer there was still the need for nourishment and baths! And then, Thomas, had a hard time falling asleep once he was in bed...and Toby only got one 20-minute nap the whole day...so they've both surprised me and I know what will happen tomorrow--the day we HAVE to wake up early--they will want to sleep in! Grr.

Today, James felt that he needed to go to work. He tells me there is something big going on right now that is really important that he stays on top of... he might have to work tomorrow as well. He apologized 100 times but, in a way, I welcome a Saturday at home. Of course, I could make it not a Saturday at home, but I really need a day to do the boring stuff--laundry (I haven't done ANY since last weekend), general cleaning, tidying the bedrooms, clean out my car, I also got asked to sub in Primary tomorrow, so I'll need to sit down and look at that lesson sometime today (I found out what the lesson is last night). A big part of me would like to finish mulching my yard, but that would mean another trip out for mulch...a 30 minute drive just to pick that up...so I think it would be a better idea to wait until Monday when I am nearby anyway because of preschool. So, today, we will stay home and be boring.

Until later,

Emily

Let the Gardening Begin!

Today, I began my gardening for the season. Last year, when we arrived here, it was already August and we had a lot of other things that needed to be done so we got by with the bare minimum of pruning the very overgrown hedges and killing the outrageous weeds. This year, I am hoping for more. But, I've got to be quick about it since I will be leaving here in just over a month!

Many of my neighbors have all started to "tinker" out in their yards as it has become bearable to spend a lengthy amount of time outside this past week (in the mid 60's). I know it couldn't be helped last year, but this year, I don't want my house to be viewed as "one of the American renter homes".

As I've said in the past, I live in a duplex. When it comes to our backyards, they are partitioned off by a portion of privacy fence and the other part a half fence all adorned by grapevines and ivy. In other words, if we are both out on our patios, we cannot see each other, but if we are out on the grass, we can see into each other's yards but we'd have to do the high-jump to get into each other's backyards. But, there's a clear line as to what is ours and what is theirs.

The front yard is not partitioned off. But, you can visualize a "line" where my house ends and their house begins. Only problem is, I think everyone has always just visualized that line and now there is a two-foot area that is all moss, grass and weeds! So, with the move of our former neighbors and our new neighbors not coming for two more months, I have decided to take advantage of this time and do what I want with "our side". Actually, I AM going to make it more obvious where the "line" is. I am going to pull up all the moss, grass, weeds, ground cover etc and lay down mulch. On my side, I am going to mulch around everything and yesterday I already started thinning out the bushes--there are nine of them--they are all about my height. I think they are all too wild looking, they are too bushy and no one has bothered to prune underneath them in what looks like forever. I also weeded and planted 30 flowers around my steps. With all the bushes there really isn't that much area to plant flowers. However, with the weeding that I did yesterday I discovered a few more areas that could use some perennials. I just don't know what kind yet.

As I started gardening, what I hoped would be two large parts of two of my days looks like it could take much, much longer. The yard has been greatly neglected for a long time.

Where were the kids during all of this, you may wonder...Toby took a nice, long nap and when he woke up, I opened the front door, and blocked him off with a baby gate. Thomas was with me the whole time, either digging in the dirt or examining bugs and worms and basically torturing them until he would declare, "oh, I think I killed them". Which is actually saying a lot because even a year ago, if he would have saw the bugs or worms, he would have screamed and probably wanted to go indoors! But, Thomas was also my "good helper", making the pile of branches and weeds as I cleaned out the flowerbeds.

Until later,

Emily

New Neighbors!

Believe it or not, a new co-worker of James' has decided to rent out the other side of our duplex! He, his wife, and their baby (who I hear will be about 8 0r 9 months old when they arrive) will move here at the end of June. Unfortunately, I will not be here when they first arrive...nor will the other wives of the coworkers that also live in this town--somehow we've all decided to go back to the States this summer--but she will have a good support system when we get back and it will be nice to have one more American in our neighborhood.

Apparently, the wife is really dragging her feet about this move...she'll have a good friend in me that will empathize with what she's going through and hopefully see that once you get adjusted it's not all that terrible. And, hopefully, she'll let me help her so that her adjustment will be even easier and faster than mine was! I, of course, am hoping for a friend who will want to do stuff together occasionally...or more than that...but we'll see!

Until later,

Emily

Flowers from Thomas

I know it's not a unique thing for children to pick flowers for their moms...but I think it's cute and tender all the same that Thomas does this for me! (These were picked from my lawn and from one of the shrubs in the front of my house).

Until later,

Emily

Saturday Adventure

Cologne (Koln), Germany

Today, we ventured out to Koln, Germany. Us Americans call it Cologne. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to drive there. We spent almost as much time looking for a parking space once we arrived! Koln is the 4th largest city in Germany and is the home to the most famous cathedral in Germany--a Gothic cathedral.

After finally finding a parking space and a bathroom (James & I walked into a ritzy, private, spa and just pretended that we knew where we were going--desperate times take desperate measures). We decided to ride a cable car over the Rhine River. On our way back, as we were descending, we were right over the spa when suddenly, James shouted, "Oh my heck! There's a totally naked woman getting into that swimming pool!" it wasn't half a second later when I got the glimpse of 3 or 4 naked men sunbathing... Our eyes are burned for life! After that, we attempted to get closer to the cathedral, this time finding a parking garage. The cathedral was so huge that my camera couldn't fit the whole thing in it.

By the way, sometimes our kids act really good on these adventures...today was not one of those days! On our way home Thomas asked me "who was better today?" and I told him "neither of you, you were both naughty little boys!" You win some, you lose some, I guess!

Until later,

Emily

Just a Cute Picture of Toby

Until later,

Emily

Thomas and his "Mini" Game

Ever since we ordered our Mini last fall, and especially since we have had it, Thomas has been consumed with Mini Coopers. They are extremely popular over here, so we see a lot of them every single day. Thomas has created his own game out of all the Mini's on the road. Sort of an "I Spy" if you will. We will be driving along and he will spot a Mini and he will say, "Mom, I see a Red Mini with white stripes and a white top!" "Is that a cool Mini?" My answer always remains, "Yes, Thomas, I think all Mini's are cool." He remains as enthusiastic as the first day that he started it. He gets the most excited when he sees a Mini similar to James'. There are a lot of white ones with black tops, but not quite as many with the black stripes. However, there is one that is identical to James' that we pass quite often on our way back from preschool. When we pass that Mini it is like hitting the jack pot!

Until later,

Emily

Another Toby Word

Toby says "Aye-Nye" for "Night-Night". And it's usually accompanied with a wave, but his waves are kind of turned around so it looks like he's waving to himself. Both his new word and his gesture are so cute!

Until later,

Emily

Social Worker vs. Mom

Yesterday, Sheila asked a lot of questions about Toby's daily activity. A lot of the things that he probably "should" be more proficient at are because I am not giving him the opportunities such as:

1. "Is he able to feed himself with a fork and a spoon?" At this point in his life, he feeds himself almost entirely with his hands--because he eats mainly finger foods. Toby will still eat 2 or 3 jars of baby food during each meal, too. A fact that I could tell boggled Sheila's mind (you STILL feed him baby food?) I feed him finger food/table food first, finishing up with the baby food. There's NO WAY that I'm handing him the spoon to feed himself and also, I am taking advantage of the fact that I can still get lots of good fruits and veggies in him by feeding him the baby food. I also felt compelled to tell her that, sure I could let him have his finger food/table food until he started throwing it on the floor (which he is really good at) and let him down, but he'd be back for more 1 to 1 1/2 hours later OR I can continue to feed him baby food and we go about 4-5 hours! It works for me!

2. "When you hand Toby a crayon, does he just draw lines (as he was doing at the exact moment) or can he scribble too?" Honestly? I don't give Toby crayons if I can help it! Why? Well, the top of my toy box tells it all! I guess he can scribble...and well! And I don't like it! And if he's not scribbling on things that should not be scribbled on...he's breaking them or eating the tops off. Crayons and Toby...he's not ready...and neither am I!

3. "Does he try to dress and undress himself?" I was able to answer honestly that he does try to dress himself or at least he mimics it and he does help me by pushing his arms through the arm holes and giving me his feet for the shoes and socks. Then she got more specific about the undressing part, asking "Well, does he try to at least take his shoes and socks off?" I pointed right at the Robeez and told her, those things are made so they can't be taken off easily by a toddler, that's the point of them! Now that I think of it, if I don't have the Robeez on Toby, he does always pull his socks off (why didn't I remember it that yesterday?!). We call him the "one-sock wonder".

Until later,

Emily

So Long EDIS!

Toby had his second assessment with EDIS this afternoon. He performed well today. (You know how a lot of times when you're at doctor's appointments or what not and you want your kid to do a certain thing and they won't and you feel really stupid--well we didn't have that kind of day today.) He did everything almost on cue and was cute as can be! He was "talking" up a storm and his facial expressions were extra animated, for whatever reason.

Anyway, after the assessment, it was determined that he is "fine" in all areas except his gross motor but that was no surprise. Because, he is not walking! Sheila said that toddlers really should be walking by 15 months (Thomas walked the week he turned 15 months) but since he was premature, there is a little gray area with when he is 15 months (if he was born on time, he'd still have a month to go). But, as we were talking, he almost took a step and she saw that so she laughed and said, "looks like he'll be walking very soon, so don't worry too much!" Not that I was worried about him not walking...I know it's coming. I see it every day. If we were at home more and not in the car (i.e. he spends a lot of time in the car seat and stroller), I'm sure he'd be walking by now. Honestly, I was more worried that there would be another return visit. Turns out there won't be.

Until later,

Emily

Sad But True

When your very nice, kind, helpful neighbors that you count your lucky stars that you live next to, move away without so much as a "goodbye", it's safe to assume they didn't feel the same way about you!

Until later,

Emily

American Idol

James & I have finally jumped on the American Idol band wagon this season. It plays here just a day late, so our show dates are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:00 PM, but we generally watch both hours on Saturday night instead. I usually find out on accident who got voted off, but I don't tell James. If you have followed this at all, you will completely agree with James when he said that "It was a good thing you used those code names in your blog, rather than your real name, because can you imagine how many times your blog would have been 'Googled'". How true.

So who are our favorites? We both think David Cook will take it...but David Archuleta is awesome too and he has that sweet, teeny-bopper element going for him. He is so likeable. However, I'd buy a CD from David Cook though, not so sure I would from David Archuleta. Or I guess the thing now is to download...yeah I need to figure that one out too, since James brought me home an Ipod a few weeks ago (he won it as an "award" at work) and I've yet to even take it out of the package.

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' First Soccer Game!

Tonight, Thomas played his first soccer game. After the past couple practices being a "bust" with Thomas pining away at his friend R's team, more concerned about what R was doing rather than concentrating on his own team, I was kind of expecting the worst. R's team played first, so we cheered him on and then it was Thomas' team's turn. At this point, I either expected Thomas to melt down because R wasn't staying for the whole game or stand back and refuse to play. I was completely surprised when he ran right in with enthusiasm! Not only that, but he ran and kicked his little heart out during the 30-minute game--he even made two goals! He had a blast! We're so proud of him! (James made it to his game!)

After Thomas' game it was time for some dinner. There is a Pizza Hut located on the Hainerberg housing area that is carry-out/delivery only, but we have never gone there. It is actually located inside the high school cafeteria, where they sell personal pan pizzas at lunch time. We went in, ordered some pizza and bread sticks and decided to just rough it on the cafeteria tables because we were hungry and the pizza smelled g-ood! (when I say rough it, I mean it, this place isn't intended to be a dining area when it's not being used by high school students), we ate on napkins that I discovered in the bathroom and poured our 2-liter of Diet Coke into the little water cups I had for the soccer game. Mmm...it was SOOO good!!

Until later,

Emily

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