Pumpkin Carving 2009

Tonight, we carved pumpkins. As in five days before Halloween we carved pumpkins and James is quite certain that they will all rot before that night! Nevertheless, I stuck to my guns and we carved them tonight! After all, he is working late tomorrow night and Wednesday night is the night before our house guests arrive so I nixed that suggestion. I also didn't like the idea of carving them while they were here, although I know they would have gone for it, but to tell you the truth I feared that we'd have too much going on Thursday and Friday night and the pumpkins wouldn't end up getting carved at all.

So these were some rather fond memories of our night tonight:

James: "Why did you have to buy four pumpkins?" "Couldn't you just buy one and call it 'good'?"

Thomas: Thomas whined for about 6-7 minutes about how slimy his hands were and he wanted to go wash them. I was adamant that he was not going to go in and out of the bathroom every minute just for the sake of having clean hands. Eventually he got used to it, and did a good job at cleaning out his pumpkin.

Toby: I cleaned out a lot of Toby's pumpkin ahead of time. He didn't quite get the concept of cleaning out pumpkins so he took the "I will spoon some of those seeds in that big bowl, back IN my pumpkin" approach. At least this year, he wasn't trying to eat the pumpkin "guts".

Emily: I ended up getting the tough pumpkin. James carved faces into his and the boys' pumpkins before I could finish mine. Mine was literally like carving a gourd! My arms will be sore tomorrow from my carving--and it didn't even turn out that great!

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' 7th Birthday!

We started celebrating Thomas' birthday a little early. Since his birthday is on Saturday, he got to celebrate it at school on the 23rd. The great thing about living here, is that we still get to send in cupcakes. Then, last night, we had a birthday "late-over" with two of Thomas' friends. We took them out to dinner, then to see "Where the Wild Things Are" (which I don't recommend), then we came home and let Thomas open their presents to him. We had cupcakes and took the friends home at 9:45 PM. Today, it is a dark and rainy day, the kids actually slept in until a little after 8 AM. Thomas opened up his presents and has been perfectly happy playing with all of his toys and watching movies (he got Transformers the cartoons and the set of older Star Wars movies) all day. Tonight, we'll order pizza from the neighborhood joint (if only they delivered!)

Until later,

Emily

Seven Years Ago...

Seven years ago tonight I was trying to go to sleep. It was the first day in about a month that I hadn't taken a nap in the afternoon (I quit work 1 month before my due date), and I was exhausted. It was also the first day in a month that I went to bed with a messy house (or what I used to call a messy house--I'd kill to have that as my standard now!). But, I just could not settle down, I thought I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me and kept having to spend time in the bathroom. A little before 10 it occurred to me that I may have been in labor...so I started timing the cramps and they were 3-4 minutes apart. But, for some reason (maybe because this is what the doctors hammer in your heads), I stayed at home for one hour before I picked up the phone and called my doctor's office. The contractions were mostly 3-4 minutes apart, although there were some that were 2 minutes apart. At exactly 60 minutes, I picked up the phone. I managed to make that call in between contractions and I sounded calm. Nevertheless, the mid-wife told me to meet her at the hospital (or rather, once the nurses checked me then they would call her if I was really in labor). James and I left and made our way to the hospital which is about an 8 minute drive from our house. I didn't make it through the brief check-in process (although I had already pre-registered), the lady at the front desk seemed to recognize the urgency in my breathing. So, I was wheeled up (while James was trying to find parking), quickly undressed and discovered that I was dilated to an 8! Then things were very hectic and I discovered that there would be no epidural and that my mid-wife had been called and lived only one exit away from the hospital (she later told me that night that "it was a good thing that she lived so close". James arrived. I quickly went through transition, which was really scary to me. Jeannie (my mid-wife) arrived, I was dilated to a 9 1/2, she broke my water and I immediately dilated to a 10. That was somewhere around 1:10 AM, I had Thomas at 1:23 AM. On his due date, no less.

So, I will say one thing for myself, I may not have a body that likes to get pregnant, or be pregnant but my body is fantastic at having fast babies! (I was even faster the 2nd time around).

Until later,

Emily

Funny Faces

"I told you, I don't want my picture taken!"

"Wow, my mom gave me my own ice cream cone (and I kind of don't know what to do now)."

"But italian ice cream is YUMMY!"

(Note: This was on my birthday, and while James and his mom & dad were trying to find a bathroom, the boys and I stayed behind to finish our ice cream, but the ice cream was SOOO good and since it was MY birthday, I went back in and bought the three of us each another cone!)

"Hee-hee, I'm riding on the top of a double-decker bus, without a car seat or even a seatbelt!" "Rome is cool!"

"Why does my mom keep following me around?" "I'm NOT going to smile!"

"Seriously?"

Until later,

Emily

Like Father, Like Son!

Thomas and James sitting on ancient toliets in Ostia, Italy--October 8, 2009.

Until later,

Emily

Ostia, Italy--Oct 8, 2009

By some miracle I actually caught Toby smiling last week AND my camera took the pic at exactly the right millisecond! Thomas is a smiler but he can also have an attitude or be silly about his smile. It's always something. At least I think they both have clean faces and clothing. And this is what they really look like. I think these two pics will be my 2009 pics in my frames at home--good enough!

Until later,

Emily

One by One

The whole Snow family has managed to get sick to one degree or another this week. Toby was first, and now he is definitely on the mend. I was next, and while I wouldn't say I feel good now, I can honestly say I feel better than Sunday/Monday. The body aches I experienced were awful! Now, I'm just dealing with major sinus pressure and a nasty sore throat. How sad is that when that is relief? Some where in there James said he wasn't feeling well, either but I would say his symptoms are the mildest. He's a big baby when he's sick and he hasn't been too bad. Thomas came home yesterday from school fevered at 102℉, spent the entire evening on the couch but was back to normal this morning, all except for a nasty cough. So, I think we've successfully been sick and now today I will clean and sanitize everything because tomorrow Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Sherry are coming to visit us for 10 days!

Until later,

Emily

Quiet as a Mouse...but at Times Barking Like a Seal!

On Friday, Toby was diagnosed with Croup. His German pediatrician is on holiday so I had to take him to the general practice doctor in my neighborhood. (I tried seeing the base docs but they weren't taking civilians that day.) The nice thing was that we literally walked there. The bad thing was the language barrier was great. I was able to learn that he has croup, he is contagious and he offered to write me out a prescription for ibuprofen (yes, you have to have a prescription to get it here, luckily we have "base rights" so that is not an issue for us) and a prescription for something to help with the symptoms, which turned out to be an herbal concoction of Thyme and Ivy. Thank goodness for friends and family that have experienced Croup and for the internet. I really, really hate living here when we are sick.

He has been fevered, and when he coughs, he sounds like a seal. He lost his voice Saturday afternoon. He wants to watch movie after movie, which is just not like him.

Tonight, we are seeing glimpes of naughtiness in Toby, so we are hoping that he might be on the mend. However, I am also not feeling the best, with a fever and really bad body aches. Oh, the fun of cold & flu season begins!

Until later,

Emily

Ten Months in Frankfurt

While James was on his TDY, his office finally relocated to the Frankfurt Consulate. The move has been a long time coming. For a while they were thinking about moving to the Kaiserslautern area and if that would have happened, there would have been a good chance that we would have moved into a different home. But, then, they decided that renovating the building available was going to be a nightmare so that was shelved. So then they found out that there was space at the consulate. The date kept getting pushed back all summer long but it finally happened last week.

Now James will be driving a little bit longer drive to Frankfurt (because we did not have to move) with heavier traffic and will also spend quite a bit time commuting back and forth from Frankfurt to Darmstadt to support the US military team that he works with (they didn't move to the consulate). In other words, his productivity is going to go way down due to driving and the fact that his work station isn't just an elevator ride away any more. I think it will prove to be a VERY long 10 months... (for all).

Until later,

Emily

And...He's Back!

James returned last night from a 9-day TDY to Norway, Moldova and Norway again.   He was on an inspection...and now he's exhausted.  All went mostly well at home, I got an intestinal virus last weekend, but the kids were as close to angels as they could be so that was a good thing.  It was a busy, busy week but everything worked out.  Sometimes I don't mind it when he travels a bit because I have a little more flexibility in the evenings only because I don't have to cook real dinner.  The kids couldn't care less if they have pizza, waffles, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs...and if I feel like eating at 5:00 we can or push it back to 7:00 that's OK too.  I also really like reading in bed.  James gets irritated. 

So, he arrived home last night at about 10 PM, as I said exhausted.  Today, I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend G, only it wasn't at my house (those are the BEST kind to co-host!), this has been my mental "reward" for getting through the past 9 days...I knew when the 9 days were up I would basically get a day with the girls.  Good food, good times and the kids had bonding time with James!

Until later,

Emily

My Grease Monkey!

I can't believe I didn't take pictures of this...but I didn't! (It had to do with me not wanting him to get anything on me, the cat, clothing, etc...)

Last night, I could hear Toby playing with his toothbrush.  I thought he was trying to brush his teeth, it kept hitting the sink in the "guest bathroom" where we keep Thomas and Toby's toothbrushes and there is also a step-stool.  Mind you, I was in my bedroom 20 feet away.  But the sounds sounded familiar and at this point in the evening I really didn't care if his clothes got wet...he was getting bathed soon.

So a few minutes later, he came hopping into my bedroom, proud as can be and said, "Mommy, Mommy, look at my hair!" all the while patting the top of his head and still be very confidant and proud in what he had done.

What had he done?  He got into the vaseline and applied it to the top of his head. Probably 1/3 of a jar just smeared into his hair!  Not his forehead, but his curly blonde locks.  He has had his hair washed 8 times already, 3 times with salon clarifier and baking soda.  I think it will probably take another 8 times until it is normal.  At least now, it just looks like it should be crunchy, it's only when you touch it that you realize that it's actually very greasy.

Until later,

Emily

Our Weekend Getaway!

This weekend, James and I left our kiddos with our good friends, and neighbors, the W family.  We share a duplex with them.  We took their little boy the weekend before so they could get away. So this was our turn for a getaway!  It was sort of our belated anniversary trip, which we celebrated 11 years on August 21st, by the way! We even drove the Mini...we felt so European zooming around in our little car!

We went down to Luxembourg on Saturday and then spent the day in Trier, Germany on Sunday.  I don't think either of us cares if we ever go to Luxembourg again but this was our second time to Trier and we liked it.  James especially loved touring the remains of the gladiator coliseum.

On our way there AND on our way back, we also swung in to the Ramstein Air Base and checked out their new mall.  Truth be told, it's not all that impressive, there isn't a whole lot of new selection that we haven't been able to get except now the stores are bigger and brighter but the inside of the mall looks like a real mall and not a run-down Kmart!  There is also a decent food court and best of all (the real reason we stopped) a fully-functioning Macaroni Grill!  It did not disappoint and I can tell you right now I will most likely gain some poundage when we move home...I'm so ready for eating at restaurants again!  Eating at restaurants over here is such a drag.

Anyhow, it was fun to spend some time alone and realize that when the every day stress is peeled away, we really do get along rather well.

Until later,

Emily

I Remember...

Today is September 11th.  It has been eight years since the terrible terrorist attacks.  I think this day will always be somber day for me and I will always remember those hours that I wondered if James was safe (James worked in the DC area) and not being able to get  through to him because all cell phones were out and I didn't know if he ever made it to work or not (I later found out the building was evacuated) and thinking, now he never said anything about having to go to the Pentagon today did he? And trying to reassure myself that he didn't so he wasn't there.  But still your mind does crazy things at times like these. And still, I continued on with my day (looking back I honestly don't know how I didn't just tell my boss I was going home!)...eventually James walked into my place of work and I was relieved.  I think that thankfulness will always be intertwined with the thankfulness that our good friend, Rebeccah's, brother was also spared from harm or death that morning, he worked at one of the WTC buildings and his train was running late that morning.

Until later,

Emily

"You Heet Me!"

Last week, the first week of school, I couldn't find Toby's beloved brown crocs one morning.  We were out-of-time  so I threw on some boat shoes that haven't had a lot of wear because the brown crocs are so gosh darn beloved!

Well, the shoes ended up giving Toby a blister, a pretty big one at that.  The blister was sore and that scab on it has been disturbed more than once, so it starts to bleed and I know it hurts.  However, Toby has been on a shoe strike and now he likes to say, "You heet me!" to everything, not just my attempts at putting on shoes, but also combing his hair, brushing his teeth, putting on his clothes, etc, etc.

Until later,

Emily

Blondie

(A very tired Blondie)

Just like last summer, I keep getting comments about Toby's blonde hair.  Yep, it's still blonde--and he's 2 1/2! Where did it come from? Well, I was blonde when I was little and each year it got a little darker and darker.  As his is doing. (Scroll down to the bottom of my blog to see his hair a year ago, in the "Blue-eyed boys" pic.)  He also won't wear a hat...I know, GASP, so his hair is very, very sunbleached.  No, I don't "help it out to make it that way" nor do I something special to make his hair go curly...sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.  Humidity and sweat bring out the curl.  Oh, I do leave it long on the top--that's a sneaky trick!

Until later,

Emily

All My "Kids" Like to Play with Trains!

July 21, 2009

Until later,

Emily

Inevitable!

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' First Day of First Grade

(For more info about the strange-looking gigantic cone that Thomas 

is holding, please see my post below this one!)

Thomas started first grade today. He was excited, he woke up 45 minutes earlier than he needed to, even 15 minutes earlier than I needed to! I am involved in a carpool with my neighbor that lives across the street. Although it was technically her day to drive, I decided to take Thomas on my own to make sure he got settled in OK, afterall, the first day of school can be kind of chaotic. 

So Toby and I walked Thomas into school. It was a piece of cake. He was the first boy to arrive and it was funny to see how he went to a set of tables all alone, and waited for the other boys to arrive. By the time I left he had three other boys hovering around him and they were playing with some sort of lego-like pieces. All the girls were at some other table doing something girlish, I have no idea what.

I went next door and wished Tristan (our neighbor) a nice first day at school and then peeked in at Thomas one last time (we had already said good-bye), he caught me, smiled but then gave us that look, you know the one--the "Mom what are you guys still doing here?" look.

And so, that was that. Not a tear was shed and all was well. He'll be home in an hour and fifteen minutes. Toby sleeps and the house is silent all but the ceiling fans.

Until later,

Emily

Schultüten

In Germany, it is tradition to give your child that is entering the first grade a "Schultüten" (school cone).  It typically has school supplies and "sweets" in it.  Although Thomas doesn't actually attend a German school, I was prepared with his own Schultüten so he wouldn't be the "only kid" in the class without one.  Turns out he was one of two that did have one, and actually we left his in the car with the understanding that I would go back and get it if it seemed like most of the kids also had one. He decided it was OK if we left it in the car, I guess this was one of those instances where it was "better to be safe then sorry" and we were safe!  Just a little history on this funny, yet cute, little traditon:

The tradition dates back to 1810, when the first candy cones made the children’s eyes sparkle in Thuringia and Saxony. According to the legend, at the teacher’s home there stands a tree which is decorated with a candy cone for every child. Once the tree has matured, it is time to begin school and the candy cones are handed out to the children. In those days, the godparents gave the children the cone-shaped, colorful packages, which were filled only with sweets. In eastern Germany, the kindergarteners even had a candy cone party, at which the soon-to-be first-graders were promenaded before the families before being allowed to remove a candy cone from a beautifully decorated tree. Nowadays, candy cones can be bought in all shapes and sizes, decorated in a wide variety of patterns, and are filled with school materials, small trinkets, toys, and sweets.

My neighbor, Simone, suggested I give Toby a small Schultüten of his own.  It was a great idea!

Back-to-School!

Tomorrow morning, Thomas goes back to school.  He will be in the First Grade.  Yesterday, someone asked me, "How does it make you feel to think that he'll be in the First Grade?" I answered him honestly when I said it's not that big of a deal because last year, when he was in Kindergarten (although his school calls in "Primary") he went all-day, so we kind of went through all the "big deals" all in one year.

Thomas was able to meet his new teacher on Friday and got to see which kids were in his class.  He was hoping that Calvin, Tristan and Ben were in his class.  Calvin is.  Tristan's in the other class and a huge surprise--Ben's parents pulled him out of the International school and enrolled him in the local German school instead.  But, the disappointment didn't last long because after all the silly boy Calvin is in his class so all is well.

Thomas has his bright orange t-shirt with Transformer's on the front along with the jeans with the skulls on the pockets picked out for the first day of school.  I have his gym bag packed. And his backpack and lunchbag all ready to go.

So, tomorrow, we start a new school year.  One that doesn't seem all that different from last year.  Thomas isn't nervous...he told me himself it's not that big of a deal--it's the same school and a lot of the same kids are in his class, the only thing that is different is that he has a new teacher.  My carpool days are the same and Thomas is thrilled to be riding with Tristan again all year.  Truth be told, I would have put him on the bus this year but it helps out Tristan's mom on the days that she works (those are my "permanent" driving days) and Friday's we alternate--sort of.

I am sure Toby will wander around most of the week, missing his big brother.  His schedule will have to be adjusted somewhat because he is generally still sleeping during the time that we will have to leave to pick Thomas up from school.  In September, I am going to start hitting the gym a couple times a week and he will go to daycare.

Speaking of Toby, I have had two different people (they were German) ask me within the past two weeks "If I'm going to put him into the German kindergarten this year?"  you see in Germany, they start attending "kindergarten" at age 3.  Toby WILL be three (where does the time go) in January...but I'm not interested in sending him to the German kindergarten (it's nothing more than daycare).  He can go to daycare (US military) this year when I need to do something without him (gym, doctors appointments, hair and nail appointments or any other thing that a 2 1/2 year old shouldn't tag along to) but that will be enough for this year.  I'll probably want him to start attending some kind of preschool next year when he's 3 1/2...and that is soon enough for him, in my own opinion.

Until later,

Emily

It's Been Two Years!

Two years ago today we boarded that plane to Germany.  As most of you know, we "put in" to leave 30 days early next summer so we should be leaving sometime around the 2nd week in July.  For months now, I have been counting down to July 9, not that that is the exact date that we'll leave but it should be close.

So, we reached July 9 and I was filled with joy and thrilled for about two weeks and then it hit me...this is coming to an end and as hard as it has been, it hasn't been all bad and I will miss some things, some people and I hate goodbyes and change.  I know where I'm going back to and certain aspects of that won't change but I know many things will.  Three years is a long time to be away.  There are also a couple of huge trials that we will be facing almost immediately when we hit the DC area...things that we can't worry too much about over here so we try not to.

James' position has been posted and we are starting to hear "bits and pieces" about the time off he has earned when we leave here and the fact that we don't have to fly to DC first after all.  So, my MD friends, looks like we're going to fly right over and join our families in Utah before eventually making it to MD sometime mid-August. Please don't take it personally.

Until later,

Emily

Taunus Wunderland

July 11, 2009

We went to Taunus Wunderland with our friends the W family. In Germany, amusement parks are a little different. This park was kind of amusement park/county fair/I've never seen anything like it...except that I had seen something similar when I went with Thomas to Lochmülle in May. They did have some "real" rides, they also had rides that had no operator (that is odd), you just load your kids up and then go press a green button. The safety standards are also quite relaxed. I found it interesting that you could take a 18 month old toddler on a ride where in the States they would probably have to be 8 or 9--just hold on tight! I also found it quite interesting that the bumper cars didn't have an operator so your kid could ride as long as he or she wanted and you just had to wait for said kid to get bored (consequently Thomas didn't get to drive the bumper cars!). It was an interesting day, but we all ended up having a fun time!
































Until later,

Emily

Spoiled Children

Today, for lunch, I served Thomas and Toby leftover mac-n-cheese from yesterday. Thomas declared that, "I don't like this mac-n-cheese today, it doesn't taste so good." To which I replied, "Well, that's probably because it's leftover from yesterday." To which Thomas replied, "What's 'leftover?'"

Until later,

Emily

All Thomas Wants for Christmas...

May 22, 2009




May 25, 2009




Until later,

Emily