December 25th (Saturday) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pacey got his first tooth last Sunday on the 19th! He's almost 9 months old! I can't believe he didn't get a tooth until now! But, everything at his own pace.

Rich and Roxane got in late Sunday night (at midnight). We went to a Christmas Market on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. On Wednesday we went to Rottenburg to a Christmas Market there. Then we stayed in Wurtzburg. It was a very cool city! We were walking to dinner, and Elee started crying and screaming. He kept saying his pee pee hurt. He ended up pooping his pants. We got to a restaurant and I went to the bathroom with him. It went all the way down his leg. We threw away his underwear and socks and cleaned him up. I ran to a store to buy him some new clothes and then we joined everyone for dinner. It was really good Chinese food.

Then next day we did some shopping in Wurtzburg. Then went to Bamburg. Richie and I took the two little ones and went to his favorite brewery for about a half an hour. We had an Urbach. It was a really good smoked beer. Roxane and Rich did some shopping with Josiah and Elee and went to a church. They lit a candle for Great Grandpa Frank, Great Grandpa Bill, and Grandma Judy. We got home late that night.

Today was a great day!!!! Merry Christmas! We opened presents this morning and just had a lazy day. The kids played with their legos and toys and Lincoln logs. Luna found my mascara and put it all over her face. She looked like Bert from Sesame Street with a huge black uni-brow. It was hard to get mad when she looked so funny and cute. We had a birthday cake for Jesus. Josiah helped me make a blueberry pineapple dump cake but he didn't have a bite. I thought he would like this since it wasn't really like cake, but he didn't want it.

Rich and I are getting ready for Venice tonight. We leave tomorrow about 11:00 AM. We are taking Pace with us and Richard and Roxane will be watching Josiah, Elee and Luna Jane. Looking forward to our trip. I really hope the weather is okay for us.

December 20th (Sunday)

We went to pick Roxane and Richard up at the airport today but their flight was cancelled because of the weather. We've been checking online to see if the next flight they were supposed to get on was cancelled too but apparently it was supposed to get here at 10pm. Richie left for the airport and the roads are really bad. I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk after he left. I haven't heard from them yet. It's midnight now. Hope everything is okay.

December 15th, 2010

My call to Dell computers last night was about an and a half long. They kept transferring back and forth. Part of my conversation went like this,

me: "my computer caught on fire last week & i had to put it out with a fire extinguisher".
guy from dell (in india) says, "is there a gray light"?
me: "no, there is no light on my computer. it caught on fire".
guy from dell: "what is the error message"?
me: "there's is no error message! MY COMP-UT-ER CAUGHT ON FIRE & THERE IS A HUGE HOLE IN MY COMPUTER. IT DOES NOT WORK"!

niiiice.


Richie is still sick and has a fever. He took the day off of work. We're supposed to get lots of snow tonight.

Insurance man for the house came today. Looks like they are going to replace the carpet. Everything else I think can be cleaned.

December 9th (Thursday) FIRE!

So....long day today.

Took Josiah to the bus stop this morning because there was so much snow! It was up to his shins, so he asked me to drive him. I dropped him off to wait with the other kids and then had him walk home if the bus didn't come. The bus didn't come so he came home shortly after. The boys were watching tv upstairs and I was getting ready for the day downstairs when Elee came down the stairs crying. He said "mom come here, it's an emergency. There's sparks and smoke". So I booked upstairs to the third floor to find the laptop sparking every where and smoke filling the room. So I ran down and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Ran back up and finally managed to yank the ring out. By this time the smoke had filled the room and the computer was on fire so I put it out. I called a friend here in town who is German to call the Fire Department. Then, the computer popped again and started another fire from one of the sparks. Then I put that out. I took the kids downstairs, and had the boys take the little ones outside. Josiah moved quick because he was on the back patio with no boots. So I threw him his boots, ran up to get their coats and came back down and we walked up to the front of the house from outside. By this time the village fire sirens were blaring and the village fire department was here in no time. As well as our friend Stephen (the couple I called) and his neighbor. We had about a foot of snow. The buses couldn't even get back here to pick the kids up so there was a lot of snow. And it's hilly where we live too! But they managed to get here really fast!

They fire department helped air out the house and hooked up a machine to draw out the smokey air. The kids got to wait in the fire truck and did such a good job. They were great and well behaved! Then the fire department from Bad Schwalbach came (that's the larger town near us). The chief checked everything out and then came to talk to me. Then he said, "next time just throw the computer out the window". I was like, "really? the computer was on fire"!! Maybe a language barrier or something but that didn't make sense to me at all. And even the others don't know how he said that. Duh!!! I know in theory that would've prevented the whole 3rd floor from being ruined with the fire extinguisher residue but my kids are safe. And no one got hurt! This is what is important!

I'm so glad that we were home and the kids had the snow day. I was planning on going to my friend Selma's house. So glad we were home or else it's possible the house could've burnt down! There are NO FIRE DETECTORS IN THE HOUSE! And now after this happening I realize that. It's funny that the fire department didn't even really make a big deal of that!! But I am going to buy a whole bunch this weekend!! We are renting through the military and I'm very surprised that isn't a requirement by law.

Richie is in the Atlanta, Ga and I called him and woke him up. I knew I had to call when he was in his hotel room or else I wouldn't have been able to reach him at all. He called his work and they managed to get him a flight back home tomorrow morning. It'll be good to have him help with this. I feel very anxious still.

Two people from Richie's work came to our house to see if we were okay and we weren't home. They tried using their cellphones to realize they can't get a reception out here, they got stuck in our driveway and had two ladies help push them out, asked around and then found where we were. So they found us at our friend Stephen and Sabrine's (who let us hang out at their home for several hours to let our house air out a bit). The people from his work came in the terrible weather just to see if we were okay!! I guess they will come again tomorrow too to check out the damage. Mainly from the smell of the smoke and the fire extinguisher.

So, we made some cookies tonight. The kids are all in my bedroom, except Pace. Elee made a cool bed for him and Luna on the floor and Josiah is in the bed with me. I'm so proud of the boys! They came and got me right away and told me there was an emergency! They even took care of the little ones. I'm so proud of them! I told Elee and Josiah that we'd take them out to dinner this weekend and Elee was like, "ooh, out to dinner?" It was so cute!

All this, I have to say that GOD IS GOOD!!!! Richie was in a car accident where he was rear-ended two weeks ago , totaled his car and he was OKAY! Then the fire, and we are all OKAY!! Thank you Jesus!! I'm leading worship this Sunday and earlier this week was thinking on sharing Psalm 100 as a scripture passage. I wonder if this was God preparing my heart to be thankful in all things? I am so thankful that we're all okay. The Bible sitting on the couch reminded me of the verses this week.......

A Psalm for(A) giving thanks.
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

6 December (Monday)

I drove Richie to the bus stop this morning. He was taking the bus to the train station in Wiesbaden and from there to the airport. He left for Atlanta, GA. Should be there by anytime now. Took Pace to the doctor after dropping Richie off. He has a really bad cough. The German doctor (the same one I took Josiah to) prescribed an Herbal Cough Syrup (yay) and something to take at to stop the coughing so he can sleep.

We went to Ramstein yesterday after church and bought a fake Christmas tree. So I put it up tonight and also some LED lights that I bought in Bad Schwalbach today. The tree looks nice. Maybe I'll get the ornaments on later this week.

Talked to my brother Aaron for the first time in since we moved here. I also called my nieces in Germany. I haven't talked with them in a very long time.

December 2nd (Thursday)

Had the ladies breakfast at our home today. It was great. luna and pace were so good. pace took his normal time nap around 9:45 and slept the whole time and luna watched some veggie tales.

It was snowing today off and on all day. I told Luna Jane she was "my girl" and she'd say, "i'm your girl" and then she finally said "i'm luna jane girl". it was so cute. her big thing when we call her something other than luna is to say, "no, i luna jane".

the boys played outside a little bit today. they went "sledding". elee fell in the snow and came home crying so i laid with him on the couch for a little bit. then josiah came home. elee didn't take a nap but josiah ended up falling asleep in his room. they play hard!

22nd- 30 November (Tuesday) Elee's bday, car accident, Thanksgiving!

~Last week Nov 22nd (Sunday in the middle of the night): terrible migraine. Puked. Took Imitrex TWICE....finally kicked to let me sleep. Richie took Monday off of work to take kids to school.

~ Nov 23rd: Skipped my Deutsch class on Tuesday.

~Nov 24th Wednesday: Elee's 6th birthday!!! First day of SNOW for the year. And It stayed! Richie and I wrapped his presents with newspaper the night before.
~ Richie got in a car accident on the way home from work and the grocery store. He was rear ended on the autobahn. He was okay! Thank you Jesus! When he came home Elee opened his presents. He got a big plush shark and shark puzzle from us. He LOVED the huge shark. It's as tall as him! He also opened A HUGE box of legos from Aunt Susie. A card with money from gma Rox, a card with money from great gma marion, and a card w/ money from gma margaret. he felt very special!!

~Nov 25th (thanksgiving): So much to be thankful for! We went to the chowhall on base for thanksgiving meal. Lots of food! AND dessert! The best thing....no dishes! It was great! The funniest thing was that Elee ate Lobster Tail and a whole HUGE Orange Glazed Cornish Hen leg. We sat near a tv where they were playing cartoons. It was a very relaxing meal. :)Talked with Richie's family on the phone and also my Papa Don. I sure miss him.

~Nov 26th (Friday): Richie took this day off and we cleaned the house! Got ready for Elee's birthday party!

~Nov 27th: Elee's birthday party was from 12-3pm. It was great! We ordered pizza and had it delivered. I made some other food to go with it. His shark cake turned out GREAT! I drew on parchment the outline of the cake pan and then drew the shark on the paper to use as my template. I used candy corn as the shark teeth.

There were about 20 kids that came and he had a fun time running around the house with his friends.







~Nov 28th: Helped lead worship at church this morning. I love being able to do this. Thankful for Richie for watching the kids during this time. He's the best!
Skyped with Carrie Hurst for the first time! YAY! It was so cool that she got to see all the kids! Skyped with Lolly and Chad and boys and also Clinton and the boys.

~Nov 30th (Tuesday): The roads were bad today. More snow! I drove to Walluf (about 20 minutes...today it took 40 minutes) for my 'Mama lernt Deutsch kurs'. Not many ladies were in the class today.
~Richie got a new rental car today. The one they gave him yesterday was super small and didn't have winter tires. We have snow here and that wasn't going to work living where it's hilly. So he got a nice BMW rental for two weeks.

19 November (Friday)

Today was a good day. I had a bad headache last night and had to take Imitrex but today was good! No headache!

When I was changing Pace's diaper this afternoon, Luna said, "ooh chocolate"! Well, it sure wouldn't taste like chocolate!

The boys broke the floor lamp upstairs. Elee was 'sitting' on the edge of the couch and somehow Josiah 'accidently' pushed him and Elee fell into it. I was glad Elee wasn't hurt but I sure got after them. I didn't have to too bad though because they were trying to be my little helpers and saying 'yes ma'am' without any prompting. Hahaha.

Luna has gone poopoo in the potty twice this week. She wanted to wear big girl Dora panties so I put those on her. At nap time I put a diaper under her panties and when she came out after nap she had the diaper off AND the panties back on. She needs to use the toilet ALL the time if she can manage that! So while I was cleaning up the hundreds of pieces of glass from the lamp (on the third floor), Luna pee'd all over the kitchen floor on the 1st floor. So I raced down to clean that up. Gave her a bath, mopped it up. When back up to finish the lamp mess and then got dinner ready right after that. It was a long day.

I also managed to post three things on German ebay. Not sure if they'll sell but I'm hoping.

Richie comes tomorrow! Halleluiah!

November 15 (Montag)

I had my last Volksschula Deutschkurs tonight. I learned a lot there! Hopefully I can continue in February! The same teacher will teach a course then at the same school. It's a nice drive for me, only 20 minutes.

Richie leaves for the States tomorrow morning early. I'm not looking forward to it one bit. But I know he needs to go. I have not been complaining to him this time and just trying to accept it.

November 12-14 (Friday-Sunday), 2010

Richie took Friday off of work. Josiah had a doctor's appointment in the morning so I took him. the appointment was for a physical for soccer. Richie made his first batch of beer here while we were gone. He had a difficult time with the two little ones but he managed to do it. Josiah's doctor appointment was long but went well. The doctor noticed that Josiah's legs are different lengths (about 1/2" to and inch). No other doctor has noticed this before. I thought it odd that he was staring at Josiah at such length. He recommened that we see an Orthopedic doctor and referred us to someone in the city. Josiah was really worried about this because the doctor mentioned scoliosis and him getting an 's' in the back if it goes untreated. I reasuured Josiah that it's so good that he found it now! He seemed to be okay with that. I hope everything will be alright.

I was home for about an hour to eat lunch and feed Pace and then went to the commissary with my friend Nelle. We got some things for our Thanksgiving dinner for church. There's gonna be some good eats there! Right after that I went and got gas and picked up Josie. She watches the kids for us sometimes and is so good with them. They love her and Luna likes saying, "my Josie". It's so cute. We got home about six and then Richie and I went on a date about 7:30. We were so tired form our long day that we just wanted to sleep (hehe). I ended up getting a migraine so I took some imitrex and that helped.

Saturday I really took it easy. I ate well in the morning. We went to a friends house that we hadn't seen since last summmer. Si and Shane and their two kids. I knew them back when I was in the military in Texas. She had a room next to mine! We ran into them last summer and stayed connected. What a small world. So we hung out with them for a short while and then Richie went to Beer World where they have a large selection of beers.

We had some friends over tonight for dinner. The boys have wanted a play date with Asher from church so him and Alica and Tom came over. It was a good time!

Sunday I woke up and did Yoga with Richie. I drank lots of water and stayed hydrated! Richie went jogging. It was a beautiful day out today!!!! We went to a birthday party for a daughter of Richie's friends from work. I'm so glad I didn't get another headache this weekend. I just took it easy and took baths had Richie rub my neck and shoulders and I think that helped.

11 November 2010 (Thursday) JOSIAH ASKED JESUS IN HIS HEART!

The best thing that happened today.....Josiah asked Jesus to come into his heart and be his Savior! He was asking Richie questions in the car on the way home from a cancelled soccer practice. He asked where people go when they die. And Richie and Josiah talked back and forth and josiah said that when he died he wanted to go to heaven and be with Jesus. So when they got home we prayed with him. It was so cool.

The past several weeks Richie has been reading the book of Samuel at bed time to the boys. They love the history/stories of that book. They just finished the part about David playing the harp for King Saul when Saul would get sad. They wanted Richie to keep reading....it's so cool for them to have that special time at night!

Richie had today off of work today because of Veteran's Day. We copied all my files from my CPU to an external hard drive. I've been wanting to do that for months.

I walked Josiah to the bus stop this morning. It was really nice. Got to hold my 7 year olds hand and he didn't care. These moments for me are priceless. We got to the bus stop at 7:40. A girl in Josiah's class at the bus stop told me in Deutsch, "Josiah viel mache in die Schule". Something like that which means Josiah does a lot at school. Then she said Josiah is gut in die Schule. (Josiah is good at school). That was really neat to hear from one of his classmates.

Richie took Elee to the bus stop at 8:20. So he got to have some time with Elee.

Yesterday Richie went to parent/teacher conferences for Josiah. Frau Arlt (his teacher), said that Josiah is doing great. He got an A- on a test. His first grade ever. She says that he's really good at math and that he even helps the other kids. He speaks good Deutsch but only in one sentences. So she said that he just needs more playdates. We are so proud of him!

Elee is making more progress at school and is gradually making friends. Yay. I've been taking him to his kindergarten two days a week now and communicate with his teachers and I think that is helping. Just being a presence there.

November 7th (Sunday)

We went to church this morning. We just finished up Chapter 5 of Ephesians. It was really good. We went out to lunch afterwards at a new Mexican restaurant and the food was surprisingly pretty good! We met our friends Michelle and Marcel there. It was great!

We had a chill night. After our weekend last weekend I'm trying to keep our weekends simple. Only one plan/outting a day. I had a string of migraines from last saturday until really today. I had two days with no headache but this weekend I had to take 800mg of Ibuprophin too. At least it's not as bad as the imitrex. I took that 3 times this past week. Hopefully I'll feel great in the morning!! I hope so!

I weighed myself today and I'm 130 pounds! I've lost 5 pounds in the past month. Probably from less snacking. But it's hard for me to tell. Once the winter is over I'll be ready to start jogging again. Finally, after 4 kids and 7 years of asking and then not asking anymore, Richie said he would buy me a jogging stroller. He was so sweet to look at strollers today online. He was checking out reviews from Runner's World and is going to get me the best one. Yay!

November 6th (Saturday)

Today was a chill day. We just hung out around the house. Richie went running. We had a large lunch. We cooked steak on the grill. We also took naps which was so nice. We had a worship/prayer night at church that I got to lead worship for. There were a lot more people there than I expected. Some of the youth were there that don't usually come Sunday morning so I got to meet them. Richie stayed home with the kids. It's so cool that he supports me with leading worship and watches the kids while I do that.

November 5th (Friday) Celebrating St. Martin's Day

Today Josiah came home and said he got his first grade. An A-!!! It's so cool that he's doing great in his class. We have teacher/parent conferences this coming week. It'll be neat to talk with the teacher. However only one of us (Richie) will go. I will stay home with the other kids.

In Germany they have a St. Martins Day. A saint who gave to the poor. We had a St. Martins Day walk in our village tonight. The kids make lanterns and they walk through the neighborhood and sing songs. One of the kids in the town rides on a horse and wears a long robe. All the lanterns were lit and it was so cool. Afterwards there was a bonfire and Gluwine (german mulled wine) and brots. It was a lot of fun. Josiah and Elee had fun getting chased by all the girls. They are outnumbered here in our village.

Oktober 31, 2010 (Sunday)

We went to church and then about 4pm we went to our friends Sabrines and Stephen's house. The live in our village. They made Roqulette which many German's do for special occasions like New Years or Christmas. It's a table top stove that you use to heat up your own dish of meats, veggies and cheese. It was pretty cool! Afterwards, we took the kids 'Susus oder Saurus' ~'sweet and sour'ing'. Trick or Treating here in Germany is fairly new and just started the past few years. We went to about 11 house and the kids got more candy from our neighborhood than from base. It was nice to go to the houses in our neighborhood. Next year we will do that instead of going on base.

Josiah ended up wearing the M&M because we forgot his present costume. The kids had a great time going through their candy when they got home!

October 30th, 2010 Trick or Treating!

We went trick or treating on base with our friends Josie and Bernice. The kids had a great time. They didn't get much candy. Most of the houses were all out by the time we got there. Their were a lot of kids trick or treating.

After that we went to our friends Nelle and PJ's for a Harvest Party. It took Richie an hour to find parking after dropping us all off.

Josiah was a present that we made ourselves. Elee was Spiderman and Luna was a princess. I was an M&M and Richie even made a Nacho Libre appearance at our friends party. We didn't buy costumes this year but next year we will.

We got home about 10pm and the kids were out! So much candy and so tired!

Oktober 29, 2010 (Friday)

Richie fixed the vans on the brakes after work today. He still needs to order some parts and replace the others now too. Pastor Ron helped him with it. They went to an auto spot on base to do it.

Josiah and Elee went on a play date with a boy from Josiah's class. They had a lot of fun! Our friends Simon and Sara came over for dinner. We had a great time and enjoyed a fire.

Oktober 24, 2010 (Sunday)

Richie and I woke with the boys bringing us breakfast in bed. It was so cute! They brought in cereal, yogurt, a mint, water and a yellow sticky on each tray with our names on it and a heart. It was really the sweetest thing.

Our friends PJ and Nelle & their two kids came over today after church. They have a tortilla press so we made homeade tortillas for our tacos. It was sooo good. We definately will be getting a tortilla press. And the tortillas are super easy to make!

Oktober 23, 2010 (Saturday)

I went shopping with my friend Selma today. It was so nice to just be without the kids hanging on me. I love them so much, but after Richie being gone a couple days I just needed a break. We had a really nice lunch. She took me to a Vietnamese restaurant called Qoi. It was so good. I came home and the kids were playing rough with daddy. He is so great with them. I love it!!!

Richie made a really good lentil, apple, celery soup. I made some cornbread muffins to go along with it. Yum.

Oktober 22, 2010 (Friday)

Richie came home about 4pm today. YAY!!! So glad for him to be home.

Oktober 20, 2010 (Wednesday)

Richie left for the Netherlands this morning. He is going for two nights with work. I had some girls from church over for a girls night! It was a lot of fun. We played games, ate some food and watched a movie. I am so thankful for all the people God has put into our lives here.

Oktober 18, 2010 (Sunday)

We met up with our friends Selma and Stephan and Etan after church. We met at Kranzplatz where the kids could play at the playground. Richie ordered a pizza and some Indian food and we ate there. It was cold out today but it was nice to get outside!

Oktober 17, 2010 (Sunday)

Today we went to church. We all drove in the Volvo station wagon because we're not driving the van until it gets fixed. It was funny to see our family of 6 all piled into the car. Wish I could have a picture of that! hahha

After church we met up with our friends Selma and her family at a park. They are so great! The are just amazing good people and we love hanging out with them. Her husband acutally reminds Richie and I of my oldest brother Clinton.

16 Oktober, 2010 (Saturday)

We cleaned the house up today. Richie organzied our kitchen~ walk-in pantry room. It looks great.

Luna got locked into our bedroom for about an hour. We have keys in the doors here. She went into our bedroom to secretly eat some chocolate and locked herself in. We were unable to unlock her ourselves. We had to talk to her for about a half hour (she was already in there for an a half hour before we knew she was actually lockin in) for her to turn the key again to let herself out. So, we now took the key out of the door.

Our friends Sabrine, Stephan, and their three kids came over around 4. We hung out with them a bit and had dinner. They are such nice people. They live in our neighborhood so I see them everyday at the bus stop with the kids. We had a really nice time!

Oktober 15, 2010 (Friday)

Didn't do much tonight. Richie went to the commissary after work to get groceries. Richie did my hair for me while we watched a movie. I really need Grandma Margaret here or Stephy to do my hair. They did it so well and Richie yanks it and complains the whole time. hahaha. But we enjoyed the movie and spending time alone.

Oktober 14, 2010 (thursday)

Today we went to the Opel Zoo. It was cool! We met up with our pastor and his family, and our friend Michelle. They have kids about Josiah and Elee's age. We really had a great time! The sun was shining all day although it was a bit chilly. The boys got to ride on camels and Luna rode on a pony. It was so cute to see them riding. :)

The brakes on our van are very bad. Richie went to the base today to see what parts he needed to order to fix them. He doesn't want me driving it until it's fixed. Hopefully we will get the parts he ordered tonight soon. The boys are off of school all next week so at least I don't HAVE to drive anywhere.

Oktober 9-13, 2010 PRAGUE

We went to Prague, Czeck this weekend/week. We left Saturday and just got back tonight. Saturday was rough because we got there right in time before they closed (5:30). When we went to park our vehicle in the parking garage, our van didn't fit. So we spent at least an hour trying to find another secured parking lot. Apparantly cars get broken into all the time there. We went to a Chinese restaurant and there were about 30 asians there. They wanted to take their pictures with the kids. Josiah loved it. He stood there and smiled and we told him he was a moviestar. He mentioned afterwards how he loved being a moviestar. It was really funny.

The apartment that we stayed in had two rooms and a kitchen. It was really nice for our size family. They had cribs all set up when we got there.

On Sunday we walked around Prague all day. Richie took the boys up to the watchtower (a very old building) with a clock on it and these figures that move when it goes off. It took about 15 minutes for them to get to the top. They waved down to me from up there and it was cool. Then we went to a park for them to play at. Again, the kids got to be moviestars when the asians wanted to get their pictures taken with them. So funny. Not just once today, but two times. So finally, I got my camera out and took a picutre as well. It was just too funny. I uploaded a picture of it...

The next day we drove to the Prague zoo. It was neat. The gorillas were my favorite. It was interesting to see the momma nursing her baby and how she got some straw to make a bed for them while she nursed him. So cool. The boys favorite part was playing at the playground. They played for about 2 hours. Josiah wanted me to take a lot of pictures of him.



Then we went to get some Pho at a Vietnamese Market on the outskirts of Prague. I heard all about on online but it was a pretty shady place. There was lots of massage parlors, and cassinos and stores selling bulk items. But we finally managed to get some Pho. I also got 4 pairs of arm warmers for $15.00. What a deal.

On the way home Richie had a work meeting in Amberg, Germany (Bavaria). We stayed there for one night. It was really interesting. It was a walled city and a very neat small town within a larger city. We went to dinner the night we got there and we had such a nice time with the kids. I bought some Crayola clay and the kids played with that the whole time. We made Veggie Tale characters. We sat and enjoyed our meal for over two hours. Richie got two beers during the meal and I even got a coffee after we ate. The kids did great! I will definately be buying more of that clay the next time we go go out to a dinner like that. Well worth the $5!!





The brakes on the van were making bad noises on our way back home. Hopefully we can take it in this Friday to get fixed. The kids were very excited to get home today. Luna found her rainbow bright doll and was saying, "my princess" and twirling her around. The boys were saying, "yay we're home" and went to their rooms to play.

Feels good to be home from vacation.

Oktober 7, 2010 (thursday)

This morning Luna put on her 'Strawberry shortcake' shirt. It's just a pink shirt with a strawberry on it. It's one size too small, where her belly pops out of the shirt a little bit. She was watching Strawberry Shortcake on tv so she wanted to wear her 'Strawberry Shortcake' shirt. It was too cute.

The boys didn't have soccer tonight. Tomorrow starts Josiah's Herbst (Autumn) break for two weeks. He only goes to school for two hours tomorrow.

I went to Elee's class tonight for a parent meeting. It was good. All in German. I drove with Sabrine, a girl from our town who has a girl in the same class as Elee. I asked the teachers how Elee was doing and they said he is not doing well and that he needs help. I'm glad my friend that I rode with was there to help translate for me. Afterwards, we actually had to go to her house where her husband could translate what she said since her husband speaks better English. Apparantly, his behavior is getting worse and he's made no friends. I feel so bad for him. So I need to go there and be with him for several days or weeks. Sabrine offered to watch Luna and I will take Pace. I think Elee not knowing the language has been a huge hurdle for him but he starts lessons after break. If you pray, please pray for him and his transition with his kindergarten class. And also that he'll make some good friends. Before they kept telling me to give it time, but I'm very frustrated that they haven't made any suggestions until now and that's only because I asked. So now I will go to his school to be a presence there and help him get familiar with his class. I really hope it helps and I'm so thankful for my friend Sabine and her husband and their caring hearts.

Oktober 4, 2010 (Montag)

I made reservations this afternoon for next week for an apartment in Prague, Czech Republic. Josiah will be on school break so we are going there for 3 nights and then going to Graffenwoehr in Germany where Richie has a work meeting. Luna got into my Carmex chapstick today. It was no wonder she was quiet. She had a lot of fun, smearing it all over her face and neck, legs and who knows where else. She smelled like Carmex for hours. hhahaha.

Richie took the kids on a walk tonight while I went to German class. They saw a wild boar! As they were coming up to the field, they saw one a little ways away, and the boys started chasing after it. Richie told them not to.

This German class is really hard but doing the homework I learn a lot. I love google translate because it makes it easier for me to translate words.

October 3rd, 2010 (Sunday)

Our first time having church service in the morning. We liked it! We went to lunch afterwards with Simon and Sara, the couple who we went to the soccer game with yesterday. The kids were kind of crazy and it was a little difficult. BUT, we sat outside because it was 75 degrees today! I love it when the sun is shining! The kids played in the water fountains near where we were eating. They love getting wet!

We bought plane tickets tonight (for December) for Richie and I and Pace to go to Venice, Italy while Papa Rich and Grammy Rox are visiting for Christmas. We are only going for 3 nights but it should be a nice time! It'll be nice too to give Josiah, Elee, and Luna some special time with their grandparents.

We played Wii with the kids tonight and had popcorn and fun snacks. It was a lot of fun. Pace had fun playing on the floor. Luna kept wanting to take a turn, "my turn", she would say when we were playing bowling.

October 2nd, 2010 (Saturday)

I went to an Organic Farm in Taunnestien to pick up some Raw Milk. It costs 1 Euro per litre. I took Elee with me and Pace. Pace cried the whole time we were there and also on the ride back which was a half hour car ride. It was really foggy out today. At some spots you could only see about 20 meters in front of you. Richie cleaned the house while I was gone.

When I came back I went and picked up Josie. Richie and I went to a soccer game with Pace. It's really hard to get tickets to these games but a friend from church had two extra tickets. We went with him and his fiance and his roommate. It was a great time. Fans here are crazy! It was Mainz against Hoffenheim and Mainz won. They are undefeated this season! We were in the standing section. There was a lot of smoking and I felt so bad for Pace.

When we came home we had a late dinner and then put the kids to bed. Josie and I watched 'Remember Me' and Richie went to our village's Oktoberfest. He got to meet some of the neighboys which is good.

September 29th, 2010 (Wednesday)

Talked with Elee this morning about his choice of potty words at school. I told if he continues to use those words at school then there will be no t.v. monday through friday. I think he got the point because when I picked him up today, he said he didn't use any bad words. :)

Met with two moms from church this morning at a bakery in Bad Schwalbach. Mopped the kitchen floor. Folded lots of clothes and put them away. Richie brought home Chinese food. It was good! Went to German class. Learned a lot!

September 28, 2010 (Tuesday)

Today was a hectic day. Dropped Josiah off at the bus stop and drove Elee to school early to get Etan to school on time. As luck would have there was a STAU (traffic jam). It was dead traffic for about a half an hour. After Selma dropped Etan off at school, we went and went to the bakery and I got some stuff to go for breakfast. On the way home I stopped at an organic farm where they have cows and bought some Raw Cow milk! It was 1 euro for a litre. Plus .60 cent euro for the glass jar. The cows were eating beautiful GREEN grassy-something.

When I went to pick Elee up, a daughter of one of the mom's said that the van was running 15-20 minutes late. So the mom invited me over for a coffee for a minute. They had some cats so Luna had a lot of fun. The bus ended up being over a half hour late. Apparantly the van broke down. When I came home, Josiah was already home. He was fine and was playing with his toys.

As soon as Richie got home, he took the boys to their soccer practice. We decided to let the boys try it out. Richie sent the coach an email and the coach said it would be fine if they played even if they don't know German that well yet. I think it will be great for them.

When they got home from that, I went to a parents night at Elee's school. It was for the parents of kids going into school next year. The meeting of course was all in German. I got about 25% out of it. I got the gist of what they were talking about. I stayed to ask the head of Elee's school how he's doing and she said he's having problems adjusting but that it will just take time. She said that in January we'll meet and talk about that. I'm glad I asked though, because she said that he's talking about POOP and caca and will scare kids and stuff because of the language barrier. I got home at 10:20. Long day and exhausted.

September 27, 2010 (Monday)

Richie left this morning for Munchen (Munich). He took the train to meet up some people from work for Oktoberfest. It's about a three hour train ride. I went to pick up my friend Selma and Etan around 4:30. They are staying the night! It's hard to put all the kids to bed by myself in this house. It took about 45 minutes. :) Luna was asking for daddy. Selma and I watched part of The Holiday before going to sleep. She is such a cool, chill person. Glad I have a friend that will come over like that and I can wear my pj's around. Very refreshing.

September 24-26, 2010 (friday-sunday)

Richie took half of the afternoon off on Friday so that we could take Elee to the school to register him for next year. Then Josie came by bus to Bad Schwalbach and she watched the kids while we picked up our friend Catherine at the train station. We went to dinner at our Pho place. I had a REALLY bad migraine and felt so sick. I thought I was going to get sick several times.

The next morning Richie went to the men's breakfast at church. When he came home around lunch time, Catherine and I went downtown to the Stadt Fest, had lunch and walked around. It was great and miraculously my headache went away! When we came home, Richie started a fire and it was so nice to chill with the kids and read books.

Sunday morning we dropped her off at the train station and hung out in downtown Wiesbaden all day. We walked around the fest a little bit and played in a park. Long weekend. It seems like it takes me forever to recover from a migraine.

September 23, 2010 (Thursday)

I just wrote a post for today and it got deleted. rrrrr.

I passed my drivers test. Yay! 93 out of 100.

Luna was fussy tonight. Could be she didn't take a good nap. When I went in her room to get her after nap time, she was on the floor with her pillow, quilt and cow and the light was on. She was sound asleep. It was too cute.

We went out for eis tonight in Bad Schwalbach. It was in the 60's today. It is supposed to get colder this weekend and rain. Luna dropped her eis at the playground. Pace had a few licks of mine (cocunut and cinnamon) and he liked it!

Pace is great. He was crying really hard when we were putting the other kids to bed. I knew he needed to eat. So I went upstairs to feed him. Just looking at him, he stopped crying and just smiled at me. He is such a happy baby.

22 Sept, 2010 (Wednesday)

Elee found 2 euro under his pillow from the tooth fairy. Although he says there is no tooth fairy. He said he prayed to God and God told him that the tooth fairy is me and daddy. He is so clever. haahaha.

Some moms from church came over today for breakfast. I made a zucchini bake, and also a mango fritata. Luna watched a little t.v. and Pace slept for much of the time. It was a nice time. Makes the week quite a bit better.

I had German class tonight. It is so hard but I feel that I'm learning a little bit. Richie took the kids on a walk tonight while I was gone. I take my drivers test tomorrow. I hope I pass!

September 21, 2010 (Tuesday)

I had a headache today. I took phenergen and it took away my headache but made me super sleepy. I took a nap today. Elee last another tooth. He woke me up from my nap and I had to yank it out cuz it was just hanging there. Richie took the boys to Hettenhan which is where Elee's kindergarten is. They had soccor start up tonight. The boys seemed to like it okay. Richie said the coaches treat the kids as if they are training for the Olympics. It's a real bummer.

September 19, 2010

We just chilled out yesterday. We walked to our Burgerhaus and thought there was going to be a small fest. There wasn't. Richie read the dates wrong and it was last weekend. So we came home and had leftovers for lunch. Pace had conked out on the way home (he was in the Babybjorn) and then Richie put him in the crib all bundled up still and he took a really good nap. It was so cute to see him with his hat on and sweater and blanket sound asleep in his crib.

We went to church (starts at 3:30) and then afterwards we went out for Indian food. It was good. We've been there several times before.

September 18th, 2010

I sold stuff at a Flomarkt today in Hettenhain. It was good. I made 100 Euro which is about 130 dollars. It was in the country so I need to do one in the city, because I still have a lot of stuff left over! I'm going to use this money to save up for a family trip!

We had our friends Selma, Stephan and Etan over for dinner. It was a really nice time. We had steaks on the grill and Richie cooked them perfectly. So tired now. I took Imitrex for a migraine and it makes me sleepy. Going to sleep!

Today is dad and mom's anniversary. They would've been married 39 years? Dad, I thought of you and am thinking of you today!

September 16th, 2010

We flew kites tonight after dinner. It was kind of cold and breezy, but perfect for flying kites. Elee preferred to pick flowers and jump in the big holes that were in the field. But when Luna flew the kite he wanted to as well. It was a lot of fun!

September 15, 2010

It was drizzling this morning. Pace woke up at 3:30am and Richie got up and gave him his pacifier and he went back to bed until 7am! Luna got up EARLY, when Richie was putting on his clothes for work and said, "watchya doin' daddy"?

Last night I was telling Richie that Luna can be so cute and yet so difficult at times. Richie said sarcastically, "Where do you think she gets that from? From you and Judy". Then he told me how my dad told him the story about what Papa Don told him when he married my mom. How "when she's sweet she's sweet, and when she's sour she's sour". That put a smile on my face last night, remembering how my mom WAS that way. I miss her.

I went to Wiesbaden today for a lady's breakfast at Nelle's. My first time driving into the city without a GPS, although that wasn't intentional. I had accidently left the GPS in Richie's car. So, no GPS, no handy (cellphone), and no watch. My watch broke yesterday. I made it there with no problem and it was great.

We cleaned the upstairs guest bedroom a bit. Richie vacuumed the living room upstairs. The kids helped put away their toys. It's amazing how nice it looks when the floor is picked up!

I went to German class and the teacher was there! She was actually really nice. There were seven other students and I think I know the least amount of German. I was the only American there. There are several people from Poland, a guy from Peru, a girl from Russia, and a girl from Kenya. This is not for beginners, but because I was the only one that signed up for the beginner class they put me in this one. We'll see how I do. I already learned quite a bit tonight. Bis morgen (until tomorrow).

September 13, 2010

I started getting a cold and last night I was up coughing a bit so I ended up sleeping propped up on two pillows. That always helps. This morning Pace woke up at 5:30. I was able to go back to bed until 7 after I fed him.

Luna and I cuddled on the couch a little bit. I ended up falling asleep for about 10 minutes and then we had to leave to pick Elee up from the bus stop. Pace was 'playing' on the floor. I had him on his belly but he rolled over onto his back. He is getting so big. Still no teeth. I LOVE his toothless smile. My favorite!

Elee had a better day at school today. They went on a walk and he picked some flowers. One was even a sunflower. He was so excited to give them to me. He pulled them out of his bag as soon as he got off of the bus.

Josiah said his first German sentence today at dinner. He said "A girl helped me with my homework on the bus". Aine madchen helpe mich mit hausaupgabe..." something like that. We were really excited.

The plumber came today to put insulation on the pipe that was leaking. He had fixed it a few weeks ago and had to let it air out and dry. He said something to me in German and Josiah said "he's finished". Josiah knew what he meant. It was so cool. They are supposed to come tomorrow to repair the rest of the ceiling.

I went to class tonight and the teacher didn't show!! At least there was another girl there, and then another guy came too. The girl called the school and they said that they cancelled the class because the three people that came last week didn't pay for the class. The other girl and I did pay! And I had told the school that I wouldn't be there last Wednesday because my husband was in the States. She told this to the school, and they said to come Wednesday and there would be class. This is very frustrating to me since this is the second time I've showed up with no teacher.
We'll see how it goes on Wednesday.

Pace ate two containers of food tonight. Organic peas and organic bananas. He LOVED the bananas and I had to give him a spoonful of peas and then a spoonful of the bananas to keep eating. I hope because he ate well that he'll sleep through the night.

September 12, 2010 (Sunday)

I slept ALL through the night last night!! This was the first time I can remember in a long time that I have done that. Pace slept until 7:30. Luna didn't wake up at all, and Richie didn't wake up to go to the bathroom which usually wakes me up. Maybe because he is still jetlagged from the flight that he didn't get up. At any rate, I was so excited to get a FULL nights sleep. I felt good today.

I led worship today. It was good. I really need to learn some songs in German. Richie took the kids to the park while we practiced. After church, we got eis for dinner and a salad. Then we went to the commissary for groceries. It started raining so Richie stayed in the van with the kids and they watched a movie.

We got home and it was time for the kids to go to bed. I fed Pace organic sweet peas for the first time. He wasn't really into eating tonight. Richie and I watched a doncumentary all about Corn. It was very interesting.

Sept 11, 2010 (Saturday)

Richie got home early this morning, about 7 AM. I made a big breakfast of fried potatoes, eggs, and bacon. Then we took Michelle back home into the city. We stopped at OBI (the German version of Home Depot) and bought a replacement bulb for the light in the kitchen (kuche). Afterwards we went to Fasanerie which is a free animal park and playground. We had a great time. The weather was perfect today. 70 degrees. It has been cold lately so this was a nice change.

For dinner we went to Rich and Tammi's house. They made tacos which was great. Tacos are hard to get here in Germany. The kids are in bed. I had a headache for the second part of the day. I'm feeling a little better now after taking some medication. Richie just started a fire so now we are going to go relax. Goodnight!

Sept 10, 2010 (Friday)

A girl from our village came over today. It was nice to have some company. She brought her two kids (Luna's and Pace's age). She has one in Elee's class too who is 3 years old. In the evening she came with me to a Flomarkt that she told me about. Her friend was working it and also she knows the person who heads it up. I'm working one next weekend in Hettienhan where Elee's Kindergarten. It's kind of like a mom 2 mom sale in the states. I got some good German books for the kids for 1 euro each.

On our way back, we picked up Michelle from the bus stop in Bad Schwalbach. We went over some songs for Sunday and had a nice time hanging out. She is staying the night. Richie gets home tomorrow morning.

10.9.2010 (tHURSDAY)

This is how they write the date in Germany. Day, then month, then year. Maybe I should start doing my blog this way for practice. Today was a much better day. I got Josiah and Elee off to school on time. After dropping Elee off at the bus stop, I met with two friends from church for breakfast. We met in Bad Schwalbach. I had to pick up some medications there for my migraines. It cost me 181 Euro (which is close to $250). I sure hope my insurance will cover this.
Seeing Nelle and Uli this morning really cheered me up. It was nice to get out of the house.

For dinner we had pot pies but Luna had 'oatmere' (oatmeal~Quaker Oats Simple Harvest..yum!). She asked for 'oatmere' , so hard to say no to that. I ate her pot pie. :) I went to check on the boys last night and they were so cute. They were both on the top bunk sound asleep. I took a picture but it didn't turn out. Josiah woke up saying the light hurt his eyes.