7 May, Saturday

Sooo much has happened since my last entry on here. We've moved, I completely weened Pace (sniff sniff), Luna had her 3rd birthday, Josiah started at his new school, grandma Margaret got here, and I started running!

We offically moved the 23rd of May. We had a huge moving party come and help us. Thank you to everyone from Richie's work and a couple people from church who came to lend us a hand. We couldn't have done it without you! It's hard work moving, and with four little kids it seemed especially difficult. Wish I would've taken more pictures of the move.


This is the morning of the 23rd of April...our big move...and a picture of our not so big moving truck. :) We had to make several trips.


This is Kinga, one of the gracious girls from church who helped us watch the kids. She took Luna on a long walk here.


Just after we moved here, Luna turned three! She is such a Princess and we had a great time watching her open her presents from all the family. She got TONS of beautiful dresses from Grandma Marion and Aunt Susie, A pretty Carter's outfit and princess dress and money from Grandma Margaret all in this pretty box for Luna to store stuff in, some money and some princess crowns and stickers and stuff from Grammy Rox and Papa Richard. Richie and I got her a Melissa & Doug shopping cart and some legwarmers and some cute bins for all her dresses.











I took Josiah to his new school this Monday after Easter break. He didn't start because we forgot a towel for his swim class. Yes, they haver swimming every other week! We got to meet his teacher and she was very nice. She had a couple hours of break so she took us to the classroom and we got to see where Josiah would sit and talk with her a little bit. We talked all in German. It was amazing. If there was something I didn't understand then we'd talk a little English, but then switch back to German. She wanted to be the first to introduce him to the class, so he started on Thursday, the second hour, when she was there. I dropped him off and left the other three in the car. The classroom was right next to the parking lot. I let the kids watch a movie while I went in with Josiah. ;) They of course loved that. The teacher called me that afternoon and told me Josiah had a hard first day. Only because some boys (seven of them) tried forcing Josiah to kiss a girl and even pushed him down. I guess the other boys got in trouble. She talked to all their parents and they had to write on the chalkboard. But she said Josiah had kissed her earlier that afternoon, which she said was okay because the girl didn't mind. I really don't like how in Germany that seems okay. I know back home, at the Montessori school, they would make sure to say that school was an inappropriate place for that. So I just iterated that to Josiah as well as saying not to rush into kissing.....what every mother would say. His new teacher, Fray Groeber is great though. I was impressed that she called me on the first day to tell me what happened. Yay for Frau Groeber!!!! Josiah seems to like his new class and so far, his first two days seemed okay. He has after school programs here. For 100 Euro he stays there until 3:30pm and gets to do sports and art. Very excited about this opportunity for him!

Grandma Margaret got here yesterday afternoon! Woohoo! She took a nap after lunch. It is such a long flight and she wasn't able to sleep on it. We all went to bed about 10pm and woke up at 7am.

I went running this morning!!!! For the first time in over a year and a half....almost two years. Can it really be that long????? The last time I went running was just before we came to Germany last time...when I found out I was pregnant with Pace. It felt GREAT! I planned on running for 15 mintues or one mile, whichever came first. I ended up running a mile in 12 minutes and ran 1.4 miles in 16 minutes. I signed up for a half marathon in October several weeks ago. So now my training begins. Very excited about this. I'm ready to get back into shape. Shed some pounds on my legs and tighten my stomach muscles! Two things I plan on buying in the near future...1.) my own Garmin for running (richie's is so large and looks like it came out of a time capsule) and 2.) A new pair of shoes. I might even try switching from my tried and true New Balance to something different. I'm thinking I could switch to Five Fingers like Richie has....or...any suggestions?

We are leaving for France this morning. Now time for my shower and packing snacks. We are going to the town where Grandma Margaret's grandfather is from. On the border of France and Germany. Just a quick day trip...2 hour drive.

April 15-19 (Friday-Tuesday)

The past few days went by in a blur! Richie has been sick. So it's been very difficult trying to get ready for the move. Friday, after Elee went to Kindergarten and Josiah went to his class, I took Luna and Pace with me to buy some furniture at the American Arms. They closed the old one and opened up a new hotel for the military and government employees so they were selling all the furniture. It was so hard to lug a small refrigerator, and two nightstands to the first floor with them. But I managed it somehow. The nightstands are real wood and were only $5 each. The small refrigerator was $10 and then I bought a two door tv cabinet for $20 which will be perfect for the basement. I picked Richie up at work and we unloaded the van with the three small things into his car and went back to get the entertainment center.

The boys had their last day at school Friday. They were both excited and Josiah is on break for two weeks for Easter. He will start at his new school the beginning of May.

Richie and I went to our first German wedding on Saturday! Simon and Sara got married and it was such a beautiful day and beautiful wedding. the reception was kind of like a shower because German's don't throw showers like they do in the States. After the ceremony at the church, we went to the reception hall. After the meal, their friends would do skits and play games, and sing them songs. It was very personable. Their weddings last longer than in the States too. The dancing started about 12:45AM. We stayed the night at a nearby hotel (just 3 minutes away). So glad that we did. Josie was watching all the kids and stayed the night with them. The kids were excited because they got kids cuisines. :)

Sunday, we got home about 11am and Jaime, our landlord wanted to show the house at noon. So we went as fast as we could to pick up the house as much as we could. They were there shortly after noon. We left and went to visit one of Lizzie's friends Keren. She just moved here from the States and is from Israel. It was really neat to meet her and her family. Her two kids are about Josiah's and Elee's age. I think they enjoyed playing together. Luna was happy too because her daughter had lots of princess things. we got home about 11 that night.

Monday, we went to our friend, Constance's birthday party in the park. It was great for the kids to play. Although it was a little tough with Luna and Pace. Luna kept wanting to play at the playground which was a little ways away and I wanted to eat and feed Pacey. Thankful for a friend who took Luna to go run around. :) Richie wasn't there most the time becasue he had dropped us off and went to the doctors office for the first time in a long time. FINALLY! The doctor said he has bronchitis and gave him antibiotic. I think he's feeling better already just after one day of being on it.
Favorite saying today~ after getting back into the car from trying to find the park~ Richie: "One of us stepped in dog poop......oh i did".

Today Richie stayed home from work to get some extra rest. The doctor recommended it. I was glad that he did. He took two naps today and it was good for him. He had a little bit of energy tonight and we worked on boxing up the kids rooms. He took apart the boys bunk bed too. We ate dinner really late tonight...about 7pm. The kids went to bed after that.

I still have a kink in my neck but it sure feels better than yesterday. Hoping it will be better by this weekend. So much to do!!

April 14 (Thursday) tooth

Pace got another tooth! He has three teeth now. One on top just broke through the skin. He has three more coming in on top too. He keeps putting his whole fist in his mouth. So funny to watch that.

I went to Josiah's school tonight for a parent/teacher meeting. Josiah is doing really well in German and math. The teacher said that it's good that he's getting a 3 (C) in German since he just moved here. She says he understands everything she says and understands what they are doing in the classroom. She said that a 3 is really good for the first year. He's getting a 2 (B) in math. Considering all the lessons are in German, that's pretty good! He's a quick learner so I'm sure he'll do even better next year. He doesn't like those marks so I'm sure he's going to want to try harder, but I'm so proud of him. I probably would've gotten all 5's. :-)

Tomorrow is Josiah's and Elee's last day of school & kindergarten. Then they are on break for two weeks during which we move. We will be moving over Easter weekend. Crappy time to move but we don't have any other option. When their Easter break is over which is two weeks long, then Josiah will start at his new school. Elee will stay home with me and the little ones.

Richie is still feeling sick. His allergies are really bad and his back is messed up. He went to the chiropractor yesterday and he said he had a bulging disc. Is disc with a 'c' or a 'k' in this case? Anyways, I'm worried about him and his cough. I'm trying to twist his arm to go to the doctor tomorrow. It seems like it might be more than allergies to me. What are the symptoms of pneumonia? Hopefully he will go since he's rarely sick and he even came home from work early one day this week.

April 9, Saturday (started the move)

Today we left the house around 10:30AM to take the first load of things to the new house. We took all the bikes so the kids could ride them in the driveway while Richie and I put our new Kleideschrank together. We got a huge three closet one for our bedroom. The houses in Germany do not have any closets so you essentially have to buy them. I also assembled a little shelf from IKEA for Luna's room.

That's about all we were able to do today. I knew it would be a lot of work moving with the kids but after today, it's realized for me. We had to stop about every 10 minutes to do something with the kids and it just took forever to get something so small done. I don't know how we are going to get this move done on time. I haven't stressed about it at all, but just the other day I realized it's coming up pretty quick. Our deadline to be out if this house and into the new one is 1st of May.

The day we want to do our big move is on Easter weekend too so it looks like we may not get much help. Richie hurt his back and it's really hard for him to even bend over. Not sure what we're going to do. I feel like I want to go back to our original plan and hire a company to do it. Time will tell. I'm hoping Richie can get to a chiropractor this week. With him not feeling well it's hard to get much done. Be praying for us!!!!!!

April 8th (Friday) TUTU picture

Here's a picture of the tutu I made for Luna today. She is so excited to wear it, but I had to wash it because the glitter was coming off and making a huge mess. Hopefully washing it will help with that. I'm very excited in how it turned out and I want to make more!! It took about an hour and a half to make it from start to finish. Next time I'm buying the tulle with no glitter.



When Richie came home from work today, he picked Josiah up and they went to his school for a parent afternoon. They had project week this week and it was all about recycling and the environment. Josiah got to show Richie what they worked on this week so that was pretty neat. After dinner, Elee went with me to the commissary. We really had a nice time and took our time in the store. A couple times in the store and walking to the van he said, "you're a cool mom". It was so sweet. And I know he meant it because he was holding my hand. I bought him a yogurt drink and he really liked it. He drank it all on the way home. I like having dates like that with my kids. Makes them feel special, not to mention mommy getting some one on one time with them makes her feel special too.

April 6 (Wednesday)

Today was nice outside! About 65 degrees! I started packing the first boxes today for our move. Didn't get too far, but at least it's started.

Favorite kid saying of the day: When Josiah came home from school, he said, "I have good news, bad news and funny news. The good news is we were all on the bus and okay. The bad news is there was a truck that tipped over. The funny news is, the bus driver peed on the side of the bus". hahhahaha

We went to the park after dinner tonight. Julian from across the street came over to the park and played soccer with Josiah and Richie. Luna sat in the swing most of the time and Elee played with Luna and pushed her and then sometimes played soccer. Pace crawled around and did really good. He didn't put any of the grass in his mouth. :) Probably because it wasn't sand. He likes his sand.

April 4th, (Monday)

Richie went to Stuttgart today. He left from work about lunch time and will be staying the night there. He has a meeting there in the morning. He'll be back tomorrow around dinner time.

I forgot to pick Elee up from the bus-stop today! The doorbell rang around 1pm and I answered the phone downstairs and still didn't realize who it could be. Then as I was walking upstairs I realized I forgot to go get him. One of the neighbor moms dropped him off at the house. I usually have my alarm set on my watch but it wasn't set because of vacation. I felt so bad. Elee didn't seem to mind too bad. He was quick to show me what he made at school today; two of the pearler bead shapes. He loves those!

Pace is doing great with drinking from a sippy cup now and drinking formula. I'm nursing only about once a day now and giving him the bottle during his meals and before bed.

Favorite saying for the day: Luna went poo poo in the potty tonight-a LOT! She didn't eat much dinner and now I know why! She was maxed out on capacity! She sat on the potty for a long time and just kept going. She said she had "snake poops", then "alligator poop", then it was baby poops. I just sat on the floor next to her and we'd talk. Finally she said with a shortness of breath, "I'm tiired". She was really working hard for about 15 minutes!! Hahahah.