The Burke Family

Colton's Birthday

2011-04-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

Colton turned double digits on March 11th. I was supposed to be the one to whisk him off to Disneyland Paris for the day, having fun, going on rides and spoiling him rotten. The only problem with my idea was that I had surgery three days before his birthday. I thought I'd be fine to drive the four hours and ride the big rides, surgery or not. I was wrong. I was still super sore a few days later and there was no way I was going to be able to be jostled and shuffled around three days later. So, Sean came to the rescue. He already had the day off from work, so as soon as Colton was done with piano lessons Thursday afternoon, Sean and Colton drove off to Paris. I was so glad Sean could take him, but I really wished I could have gone. Sean was under strict orders to spoil Colton just as if I was there, (I tend to spoil the kids just a tad more than my husband). Sean agreed and off they went. They spent all day Friday at the park and had a great time. They didn't get home til almost midnight. It was soo strange and a bit sad to not have Colton around for his birthday, but they had a great time and we celebrated again when he got home. We celebrate brithdays for at least a week around here, so we had Colton's birthday on Saturday when we got home, then a week later again at a birthday party with his friends. Here he is Saturday morning after getting back from Disneyland:

Colton only wanted Lego's for his birthday. We discovered Lego.de which is awesome! We can order lego sets from the German lego store and they arrive at our door in about three days. Plus its really cool to try to translate the German emails that they send us.

Colton had a cool 'Knight's Training' birthday party the next Saturday with his friends from school and church. Sean organized an obstacle course in the backyard for the knights to work their way through, with Jaxon, the Black Knight, being the biggest obstacle they had to face. They practiced shooting a bow and arrow, threw a javelin, and battled with Nerf weapons.

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Fire Pit

2011-03-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

I like our house. So does Mason. The other day, he went around saying, "I love my house. Mom, I love this house. Did you know I love this house?"
Me too, it's pretty nice. One of the cool features about this house is the backyard. I probably won't think it's that cool when it takes me 3 hours to mow it while using a riding lawn mower, but for the moment, I think it's great. About a month ago, Jaxon had his friends Spencer and Dallin over. It was still chilly outside, although Jaxon refuses to wear a jacket on most days, and the boys asked if they could start a fire in the fire pit. Well, they are boy scouts, and the hose extended over there in case things got out of hand, so, ok, sure, you can build a fire. They spent about 1/2 hour trying to get one started. They were never able to get a roaring one going, but it was fun watching them try. They gathered sticks, twigs, leaves, anything they thought would burn well. Jaxon even grabbed antibacterial hand sanitizer because he read "flammable" on the label and thought that might get stuff going. We tried to roast a few marshmallows and hot dogs, but the fire didn't last too long. They had a great time trying and it was fun to see the possibilities for smore-making that are in our future. Mason and Ella LOVED being out there, watching the action. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the pit:

Mason liked eating his marshmallows off of a skewer. Even though he didn't want to waste time roasting his, but rather dig in and eat them right away, he wouldn't just put the marshmallows in his mouth. He had to stick them on the skewer, then eat them off the stick. Funny kid.

Ella Turns 6!!

2011-03-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Princess Ella turned 6 on February 8th. We celebrated a few days early since Sean had to work all day on the 8th and we wanted to celebrate the WHOLE day, so we pretended that Saturday the 6th was Ella's birthday, too. We opened presents, Ella decorated her own cake, and we went to the ice skating rink. Here is the birthday girl with her brothers:

Here's Ella with her cake that she decorated all by herself:

Ella loves dolls and was so happy to get some new ones from her grandma:

Batman and Robin

2011-03-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

Mason and Olivia are an amazingly awesome dynamic duo. They are faster than a mini cooper on the Autobahn, more powerful than the Euro compared to the dollar, and able to leap tall bunkbeds in a single bound. I love when Olivia comes over. Cookies are baked, toys are played with, and adventures are had. She helps Mason get in touch with his inner super hero, and fun is had by all.

Finally!!!

2011-03-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! I waited and waited and waited to see if I could finally upload pictures to the blog so I could keep all of you on the edge of your seats to find out what we've been up to the past few months. And, it took forever, but I was able to add a picture!! Which means....I'm back!! I probably won't be able to upload as many pictures as before for each post, but that's ok. So, let's catch you up: In January, Sean and I escaped for 48 hours to London to see a couple of plays. We had a 'Wicked' good time seeing the true story of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the next night we were thrown back into revolutionary times as we watched (and Sean quietly sang along to) Les Mis. It was his second time seeing that one, my first. I am a girl at heart and although I thoroughly enjoyed Les Mis, my favorite was....

Yup, Elphaba won me over. I loved the plot and the twist at the end (go see it, I won't ruin the surprise for you!) and the MUSIC!! I downloaded the music a few days after getting back and guess which child LOVES to dance and sing to the Wicked soundtrack in the kitchen on a daily basis? You guessed it, MASON!! We have been singing 'Popular' so much that it is always running through my mind, morning, noon, night, middle of the night...
Well, Sean and I had a great time and a big shout out THANK YOU to the Turner's and the Creer's for watching our kinder so we could enjoy London as just a couple. Fun. Here we are on the Big Bus tour, driving around London, with Big Ben in the backround:

We went to the Tower of London and took a Beefeater's Tour. What is a Beefeater? Go to London and find out!! Here we are with the London Bridge behind us after touring the Tower:

We got caught in a rainstorm Friday afternoon. The closer we got to Buckingham Palace, the worse it rained. I think the Queen may have been a little bit threatened by our awesomeness and caused the rainstorm in a feeble effort to drive us away. Didn't work. We got drenched, had to go to the nearest department store (thank you Gap) to buy me new boots since my shoes were completely squishy, warmed up with some hot chocolate from Starbuck's, (delicious, I might add), and dried off before setting out to see Wicked. The rain storm made for some amazing views as the sun started to set:

All in all, a fabulous weekend getaway!

Super Heroes

2011-01-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

So who do you call when there is trouble in your neck of the woods? Who do you turn to when there is no one else around?

"I need a hero............I'm holding on for a hero til the end of the night........he's gotta be strong.....he's gotta be fast.........and he's gotta be fresh from the fight......................."

(Flashback for all those of you who grew up in the 80's and remember Footloose)

Here are my favorite heros:

No one is messin' with the Burke Household when these superheroes are on duty!

Sibling Affection

2011-01-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

My kids love each other. They don't always like each other, but they do love each other. The other day it was heart warming to see Jaxon return from an outing and the other kids swarm him with hugs. I think he was even touched by their outpouring of affection. Usually they are physical, but not in the 'hug and kiss' sort of way. More of the 'attack and wrestle' sort of way. So, luckily I had my camera handy and was able to remember this moment in time, because I have a feeling it will be a LONG time before such outward expressions of affection are displayed.

Can't believe it

2011-01-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Sean and I don't have the best of luck. It's not like we are UNlucky, we just don't really have the best of luck. As long as we and the children are healthy and safe, that's all that matters. When we moved to Germany, I thought we would get a really cool house. Well, we weren't unlucky, we found a house that is big and works well for us, but we didn't find the dream home we were kinda hoping for. When our landlord informed us a few months ago that he is trying to sell the house, we figured we wouldn't worry too much quite yet, and if the perfect house opened up, we would jump on it. Well, since we don't have the best of luck, we have just been patiently waiting and hoping that our house wouldn't sell. A few weeks ago we started inquiring about our friends' house that they are moving out of this month. This house is amazing; basically, my dream German house. I didn't think there was any way we could afford it, so I didn't think too much about it. Then things started to happen miraculously. The house was appraised in our price range, the landlords are amazingly wonderful, our friends who are moving out helped us tremendously, so now, I can't believe the LUCK we are having, because we are moving into a really awesome house. So, allow me to indulge for a minute as I shamelessly brag about the new house and show a few pictures. It is in the quaint little village of Elschbach, about 15 minutes from base. The backyard is the size of a football field. No, I'm serious. There are livestock in the neighboring field: Mason couldn't be more excited. We have a fire pit. The kitchen is BIG. 6 bedrooms. A basement. A pink princess room for Ella. A blue room for Colton and Mason. A new stainless steel refrigerator, a deep freezer, and the best part: A RIDING LAWNMOWER!! So, now, if Jaxon starts up with some pre-teen attitude, I can say: "Go mow the lawn!" and we'll see him in about 3 hours. Ok, Ok, I know, you want to see pictures, so here they are:

The backyard:

Ella in the fire pit:

The living room:

Entryway:

Kitchen:

Mason in his new blue room:

Extra bedroom:

Ella's bedroom with huge closets to fit all her clothes:

Toy Room/Office with door that open to the patio and back yard:

And last, but not least, Sean getting the low down on our new riding lawnmower:

New Year's Eve

2011-01-11T01:03:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve, we headed over to the Turner's for some good food, good friends and good times. Christy made an amazing assortment of appetizers, I made a few desserts, and our friends the Bowser's made awesome smoothies and salsa. We played some fun games and the kids ran around wildly having a great time. Around 10 pm, we headed outside to start lighting the many fireworks we had all purchased. In Germany, "Sylvester", or New Year's Eve, is a huge deal. This normally quiet, reserved society gets a bit crazy. We started hearing fireworks earlier in the evening, but by 10 things were starting to pick up. My boys LOVED LOVED LOVED setting off the fireworks, especially Jaxon. He turned into a bit of a pyro that night and couldn't get enough of lighting the fireworks. Ella loved the sparklers the best. And Mason? He was cold. And tired. He lasted til about 11, then fell asleep in my arms. Here are the kids having a 'blast' with the fireworks:

Frohe Weihnachten

2011-01-01T02:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.We started out the 24th with some holiday dancing. Mason and Jaxon rocked out to Jingle Bell Rock in the dining room:

We had more snow today so Sean had to spend some time shoveling outside:

Look at Santa's favorite elves:

We spent Christmas Eve at the Turner's, eating the most delicious food in the world and acting out the Nativity story. Here we are eating dinner:

Here's the "kid's table". Look how happy Mason is to be sitting down and eating:

If you know Mason at all, you know he LOVES his juice. A lot. So here he is with his 'juicy' while Sean is downing his favorite 'juicy' as well.

We tried acting out the Nativity Story. Mason refused to be Joseph. He insisted he was Sarah. Still no idea who this Sarah is, but Mason channels her sometimes and pretends he is her. So, we had Mary (Ella) Joseph/Sarah (Mason) some wise men, shephards, and an inn keeper. Guess who played the role of the innkeeper? For which of my children is it NOT hard to be rude and slam a door in someone's face? Yup, the pre-teen.
Here is our cast:

We exchanged presents with the Turner's. Ella LOVED her candy making jewelry set almost as much as Mason loved playing with it too.

And this is how we ended the night, with Colton handcuffed to the stairs with the new set of handcuffs I bought Aedan:

On Christmas morning, our children slept in!! They didn't wake up til after 8:00 am. WOW! Here are our blurry eyed children walking into our family room to check out what Santa left:

Polly Pockets and Princesses were high on Ella's list this year.

We were privileged to have Batman and Robin show up for a few minutes Christmas morning to share in our festivities:

Colton had only one big thing on his list, a Lego castle. His list slowly got longer over those last few months, but this was the one big ticket item he really was hoping to get.

Mason was happy to get a new Batman jacket and some fun Playmobil sets:

Jaxon already got his big Christmas present early, an Alienware computer. But you know me, I couldn't have him opening NOTHING on Christmas morning. So, he ended up with some history books, a computer game, and some board games.

Rudesheim

2011-01-01T01:56:00.001-08:00

What do you get when you add a German Christmas market, your bestest friends, no kiddos and kinderpunch? A great day!! Last Thursday Sean and I had our first date in over 6 months as we traveled to the quaint town of Rudesheim along the Rhine River with the infamous Turner's. We love those guys!! We left around lunch time and traveled the nearly hour drive in the comforts of Dennis' cool Volvo talking and catching up. No Disney movie playing in the backround, no snacks being passed around, no fighting, no whining. Pure bliss. It was a bit chilly, but who cared!! We were together in a gorgeous Christmas market with endless supplies of kinderpunch and hot apple cider. The Germans make a warm alcoholic beverage called gluhwein that is quite popular at these markets. The vendors couldn't understand why grown adults would ask for the nonalcoholic version of their popular drink, but we were goofy and silly on our own, no alcohol needed to add to our crazy behavior.
Here we are:

And here are the coolest people with their kinderpunch in hand:

Christy and I found humor in the fact that there was a giant Santa statue right outside the Torture Museum. Maybe Santa had to put himself on the Naughty List for drinking too much gluhwein and driving a sled at the same time:

There is this amazingly cool little street that reminds us of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. There are old, like hundreds of years old, buildings on each side of this narrow little road along a cobblestone pathway. We found some fun stores along the way to duck inside of and shop for a few minutes while we warmed up.

What happens when you ask some people to take a picture you that have had a little too much gluhwein? One of them insists on being in the picture with you. This guy is supposedly a local German celebrity who gives wine tasting tours. He spent a few minutes trying to convince us that we should take one of his tours. Maybe he couldn't tell that our cups weren't reeking with alcoholic beverages so he kept asking us. We were finally able to shake him.

I had to take a picture of this store's front window. This is a total Jaxon store. He would have spent the whole time in this store had he been with us. It was in this store that I found a cool Roman/Greek chess set for him for Christmas.

Look how much fun we're having! I love this lady!

Here we are in front of a sign for our new favorite town: Inside joke, don't ask!

We ended the day with a wonderful meal of duck and German potato soup. The soup was served in the coolest little jars with lids:

We took a picture of the duck since Jaxon has a new found fascination with eating duck so we had to show it to him:

Mannheim Christmas Market

2010-12-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday, we loaded up the kids and drove in the rain to a town about 45 minutes away, Mannheim. Many of the villages and cities here have had wonderful Christmas markets throughout the month of December which have booths displaying and selling traditional German food, goodies, clothing, decorations, and gifts. Mannheim's Christmas market was really great because it had a lot of fun rides for the kids. Even though it was raining, we arrived in high spirits and started off with a ride for the kids. Mason, Ella and Colton rode around a track in different vehicles while listening to Christmas music.

We went on a ferris wheel next. At first, Mason wanted nothing to do with the ferris wheel, he just wanted to be an observer. But as he watched his siblings going around and around, he decided it looked pretty fun so I went with him on the ride the next time and we got to see the whole Christmas market from up above.

Next we went on the German's version of the Polar Express, a little train that took us around in circles and instead of showing scenes of winter wonderlands, we saw big beer barrels and unidentifiable sausage products: Christmas German Style.

By now the boys were getting hungry, so we sought out a bratwurst stand and Jaxon and Sean found some good 'brats'.

We tried to pose for a family picture in front of the water tower, and almost everyone was looking happy:

We bought crepes: (zucker and zift: sugar and cinnamon ones)

The kids rode ponies:

I gotta tell you what happened when the kids were getting ready to ride the ponies. A German lady approached me and started talking to me in German. I had no clue what she was saying, but I could tell she was upset. Her tone of voice let me know that if I could understand her, I probably would be getting in a fighting stance and putting up my dukes for her to meet "thunder" and "lightning". But, since I had no idea what she was saying, I just smiled and kept saying, No Clue. I was worried at first that she was Anti-American and was criticizing us for something. When we lived here before, every once in a blue moon we would run into someone who didn't like Americans. I know, crazy, but true. So, I feared this lady could just sense my red, white, and blue blood and was giving me an earful. But no, I finally figured out what the deal was: she was ticked off that the animals were being used as a ride. She thought it was cruel to let the kids ride on ponies. She started yelling at the people who worked at the ride, and I just stepped back and thought that a German Jerry Springer would probably pay big bucks if I was recording this on my I phone. Oh well. The kids didn't notice and had fun. We went on a merry go round to end our Christmas market experience:

By then, Mason was cold and couldn't feel his toes very well, so we figured we would call it a day and go back home. We had our first 'schneeballs': a German pastry consisting of pie crust rolled in a ball and dipped in sugar or chocolate. Yum. Double yum. We ate them on the way home, making a huge mess but enjoying every minute.

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

2010-12-22T11:24:00.001-08:00

We have been having a Winter Wonderland here the past three weeks. It has snowed A TON, literally, over the past few days. School was delayed twice three weeks ago, cancelled twice two weeks ago, cancelled on their last day before Christmas break, and even Church was cancelled on Sunday. We were literally snowed in. We had the necessities: food, water, and fudge, so we were fine. We've been playing lots of games, shoveling loads and loads of snow, and watching lots of movies. The kids have had numerous snowman building competitions, snowball fights, and sledding expeditions. Sean has shoveled more snow than he ever imagined was possible. There is now a new P90X workout: the snow shovel. He is more sore from all the shoveling than from Tony's pull ups. The main roads get plowed, but we live off of the main road, so we are on our own. The Germans, once again, are amazing and such hard workers, so everyone is out there morning, noon, and night shoveling snow. The only problem is, there is sooooo much snow, there is no where to shovel it!! You are supposed to shovel your sidewalks and driveways, but the piles on the side of the road are HUGE!! There is no where to put all the snow.
This is the view out my kitchen window:

Here's Sean pushing Ella for a ride:

Here's Jaxon and Ella going for a ride down our street:

And here's Colton with the awesome cake he made for his class but never got to give them because the last day of school was cancelled due to the snow! So, we 'took one for the team' and ate it ourselves. We are so SELFLESS!!

Decorating the Tree

2010-12-22T11:13:00.001-08:00

There has been a whirlwind of fun and business since Sean has been home. The first order of business was decorating the Christmas tree. We had gone the night before he came back to pick one out. It was freezing outside, literally below freezing, and the kids were tired, so it didn't take us long to find one. Most of the trees were still wrapped in the netting, so we found one, uncut the netting to see if it was ok, looked at it for .2 seconds in the freezing cold, deemed it 'acceptable' and quickly bought it so we could head home. Mason had slipped and fell in some ice, so he had already headed back to the car with Jaxon to take off his wet shirt and watch a movie. Colton has 1% body fat, so he needed to hurry home too. Our church Cub Scout troop was selling the trees that night, so nice Bro. Jensen tied the tree to our car roof and we were off! On Monday night we decorated the tree as part of Family Home Evening. Mason and Ella had been waiting so long for this to happen, they each took a section of the tree and hung every ornament they could find in that one section. The tree fairy came later that night when they were asleep and magically rearranged the ornaments in a more aesthetically pleasing lay out. Sorry, the tree fairy can be kinda 'Type A' when it comes to ornament-hanging.

Ice Skating

2010-12-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ella has been asking to go ice skating for a while. That was the one thing she really wanted to do when Sean got back, so things worked out nicely last Saturday when we were invited to Kaitlyn Turner's birthday party at the ice skating rink. The last time we lived here the rink was a temporary structure set up under a tent: translation: COLD. This year they built a rink inside a building that is right by our church and the infamous Dino Park, so we were happy to be inside and not super cold. I had gone a few days before with the Young Women and Young Men in our church for an activity, and Jaxon went ice skating that night for the first time. He fell 12 times and loved it. He kept getting back up and trying again, and by the end of the night, a possible future ice hockey player was born. On Saturday, he and his buddy Spencer had fun skating around the rink. Remember Colton's first time roller skating a few months ago? Ice skating for Colton was a similar experience: lots of arm flapping and waving to try to keep himself upright. A few falls, but lots of laughs. He had a great time too. Ella went around one time and said she was done. Really? No way, she had been waiting MONTHS for this moment! She took a little break and told Sean she was ready to try again! That's my girl!! She ended up loving it too and doing great. And what about Mason? He was found playing with Aedan most of the time, not really excited about trying out the ice. Maybe next time. He did play with the little penguin guy that beginner skaters can rent to hold onto, so that's a start. Here are some pictures of the ice skating adventure:

Mason with his beloved juicy cup and new found friend, the Penguin.

SEAN IS HOME!!! OH HAPPY DAY!!

2010-12-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

I know I am a week behind, but Sean is back so we have been so happy and busy that blogging hasn't been a priority, sorry. Sean called last Friday night and told me he was on his way to the airport in Georgia to fly to Frankfurt. He had left Camp Shindand in Afghanistan on Monday, the 6th and caught the first flight out of every place he had to go to, so he ended up coming home earlier than we had expected. I dropped the younger three kids off at Christy's on Saturday and told them I was going caroling with the Young Women. I drove up to the airport and figured out where to park and where his flight was coming in. That alone was a feat in itself. Then I saw the bad news: his flight was delayed. First it was delayed an hour, then two hours. Yuck. I waited and waited, hoping that if I kept staring at the flight information screen the news would somehow change. It didn't. His flight finally reached "APPROACHING" the runway status. Then "LANDING" status. It told me which gate he would be arriving at, and I quickly ran over there. Silly me. It still took another 40 minutes before he came through the doors and I was rewarded with the sight of my best friend and eternal companion that I've been missing for the past 182 days. Oh happy day!! We hugged, kissed, and cried. No pictures of the actual reunion, some things are private, sorry. It took another half an hour to get to our car and drive home. I called Christy and asked her to bring the kids to our house for a little surprise. I had rented a Santa suit so that he could surprise the kids as Santa when he came back. I thought he would arrive when they were at school, so I thought it would be fun for Santa to come into Ella and Colton's classrooms and pass out some candy canes, then pull down the beard in front of our kids and expose his true self. Reality was slightly different but just as fun. Sean was dressed as Santa, sitting downstairs next to our tree as the kids came down the stairs. I told the kids I had brought Santa home with me from caroling. Sean gave some good "ho ho ho"s, then pulled the kids on his lap and asked them what they wanted for Christmas. After Ella recited her list, he asked her, "How about your Dad? Don't you want your Dad for Christmas?" Then he pulled down the beard, took off the wig, and showed his true self. YEA!!! The kids were so happy and we all stayed up late talking to Sean and telling him about our last 6 months.
Here's Sean as Santa:

For Jaxon, we did something different. I came in the house first, telling him that the caroling took forever. Sean was outside on my cell phone calling our home phone. I told Jaxon that the phone was probably dad, so could he please answer it for me? Jaxon started talking to Sean, and a minute later, in walks Sean with the cell phone, still talking to Jaxon, and then Jaxon realizes it's his Dad walking towards him, talking to him at the same time. Don't have a picture of it, but I have it on video, give me some time to figure out how to download the video, and I'll post it, it was great.
Here's Jaxon with Santa Sean:

Snow Days

2010-12-09T04:11:00.000-08:00

So, last week the kids had late starts for school on Tuesday and Thursday. This week, they had school cancelled completely on Tuesday and Thursday because of the snow. It is cold, but it is absolutely beautiful, and truth be told, I am enjoying having everyone at home for some extra time together. Cookies have been baked, Christmas movies have been watched, and lots of snowballs have been thrown. It snowed all day Monday. I don't remember it stopping once. So, of course they cancelled school on Tuesday and we had a good day. Ella and I ventured out for a while to deliver some movies to some friends that were in need of Frosty, Rudolph, and some chocolate chip cookies. The roads were fine, just slushy. Then Wednesday night, it started again. Lots of snow. I sleep horribly so I checked the road conditions and school reports at 3 am, and the roads were condition red, but the schools were listed as being open. Then at 5, the roads switched to amber, but the schools were closed. Now, the boys were excited on Tuesday when there was no school. I was under strict orders from Jaxon to check the weather report before waking him up at 7 to see if there was indeed school that day. The funny thing is he woke up on his own. Jaxon and Colton were a bit too optimistic on Wednesday that school would be cancelled again, or at least delayed. I tried to prepare them that they would most likely have school again, but they didn't believe me. Then again they woke up early to ask, "Is there school?" to which I had to bust their bubbles and say, "Yes". They were super excited as the snow fell last night. Colton started asking around 7, "So, will school be cancelled?" I tried to tell him we wouldn't know for sure til the morning, but he wanted answers right then and there. My door opened around 6:45 with Mason coming in first, asking if he could sleep with me. Then in came Colton. "Is there school?" I said, "Jump on in bed with us, cuddle up, and enjoy the day. NO SCHOOL!! Let's do some baking and movie watching!!" Well, I could have been Santa with all the good news I was delivering today. Jaxon was upstairs a minute later: "No school? YES!!!" Then they all went downstairs and watched A Christmas Carol. I started the second round of snowball fighting last night as I went outside to move my car into the garage. I brought in a few snowballs, and went around saying "Hee Hee: SNOWBALL!" and pummeling the kids with snow. Mason and Ella were in the bath and squealed with delight as the snowballs melted right away in the warm water. Jaxon tried to protect himself with his notebook, but even throwing left handed, I got him. Colton was an easy target. But then, so was I. They retaliated, and we all got a little wet. It was fun. Here are pictures from the past few days. I finally broke down and got a cheap little digital camera since I am STILL WAITING for my nice new camera to come in the mail, and if you can keep a secret, I'll let you know that I need a camera REALLY SOON to take some wonderful pictures of a happy reunion. More details on that later as they become available, back to the pictures:

Here's our budding Picaso with one of his latest masterpieces:

And here is our new reward system in the Burke Household: THE MARBLE JARS. The kids each have a marble jar and are rewarded at the end of the day with a certain number of marbles, depending upon their attitude for the day and whether or not they completed their daily chores. Extra jobs earn extra marbles. When the jar is full, they get a reward that we agreed upon earlier. Colton already filled his once, and earned two new Lego figures. Ella is working on hers to get a trip to the ice skating rink. And Mason just likes playing with the marbles. Jaxon is still working off his computer.

St. Nicholas Day

2010-12-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Did you leave your shoes out last night so St. Nick could fill them with a few goodies? Well, if you are in Germany, it is almost a requirement. Although it was touch and go for a few minutes last night whether or not a certain Burke child would be receiving goodies in their shoe or a stick (the traditional naughty child's gift), everything ended up alright and all kinder were pleasantly surprised in the morning. Here are the shoes all lined up and ready:

So, how was church yesterday and Young Women's, you ask? Great! I taught the lesson, on creating an uplifting environment. Hopefully the girls left with a better idea on how to create a good, nurturing, loving atmosphere in their homes (and then let me know how to make it last cuz I am DONE with the fightin' around here!!)
I had my own private German lesson today because I was the only one who showed up for class. I think that makes me the teacher's pet and I get to big ol' gold star. We went over our homework, which I must say, kept me up for two hours Saturday night cuz it was dang hard!! What fun did you have Sat night? Date night? Movie? I did German homework! Aren't I reckless and carefree? Does the rebel in me just scream "HAVE FUN!" or what? We went to see Tangled Friday night and it was adorable. I am going to take Aedan and Mason to see it again tomorrow during the day. What fun!
It snowed all day today. Big, beautiful flakes. It hasn't stopped once. It is warm enough that most isn't sticking to the roads, so it is fine to drive in (thank goodness!) but I'm curious to see if they delay school tomorrow. I braved a German store today in order to get a cool tree stand. I went to Toom, and asked the saleslady in German where the tree stands are. Except I told her I was visiting for a tree stand, instead of looking for a tree stand, but I think she understood and even rewarded me with a two syllable "Tschuss!!" when I left the department. I love speaking German. I stink at it, but I love trying. My goal is to order all our food at McDonalds one day in German and have the McDonalds person speak back to me in German. Right now, I speak to them in German, and they laugh when their mike is turned off and speak back to me in English. I won't give up though.
Here's Mason trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue as we left Toom:

Ich friere

2010-12-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

That's I'm freezing for you monolingual folks. It's been mighty chilly round these here parts this past week. At this time I'd like to pause and take a moment to thank the person who invented space heaters. You Rock!!! Radiators are ok, but nothing beats sitting in front of a space heater with a mug of hot cocoa. We've been busy. What else is new. Christmas cards had to be addressed, German classes had to be attended, homework had to be checked, and gingerbread houses for our ward Christmas party had to be assembled. The kids stayed out late Tuesday night since I had to go to Mutual and Christy was kind enough to watch Ella and Mason while I was with the Young Women. The problem was picking them up afterwards. It had snowed that day and the temperature dropped, so the little hill in front of her house became a huge ice skating rink. I couldn't get up her hill. I had to wait at the bottom and send Jaxon to her house to retrieve the kids. Before leaving for Mutual I had to get Ella's Daisy outfit ready for her meeting tomorrow. More patches!! Remember how much I LOVED sewing Jaxon's on to his scout shirt? I started getting the shakes before I realized Ella's patches were iron on ones. YAY!!! So, I started ironing them, before I realized, Hey, Ella can do this!! So I put the girl to work. And she loved it. She asked for more to iron afterwards. Unfortunately we had to leave, otherwise I would actually have ironed clothes for once this decade.

On Wednesday, we had more snow. It got COLD!! Look at the temperature on my car dashboard:

The kids were tired from being out late Tuesday night, but I had no problem getting them up? Wanna know why? Two words: ADVENT CALENDARS!! Wednesday was the first of December, or otherwise known in our house as the start of advent calendars. The kids were so excited to start opening the little doors and seeing what treasures were behind them. Ella ended up opening three doors instead of just one, and Mason opened two. Oh well, it's ok if they run out a few days before Christmas.

Ella has a Polly Pocket calendar, Mason has a Playmobil one and the older boys both have a Lego calendar.

It started snowing pretty hard by the time the kids were being dismissed from school. I was on base so I went over to Ella's class to see if she still wanted to go to her Daisy class. I thought it might be cancelled because of the snow. I was secretly hoping it was so I wouldn't have to drive back on base in the snow when it was almost dark. No such luck. Her leader is a trooper and had the meeting. Ella had a great time and that's all that matters. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the kids had a two hour delay of school TWICE this week. Both on Tuesday and Thursday, the start of school was delayed two hours due to the icy roads. It wasn't too bad getting out of our little neighborhood and driving to the bus stop, but the extra two hours were fun for the kids. They were a little bummed this morning when they found out school was actually starting on time. On Thursday, we had German class here. We practiced conjugating verbs and answering some basic questions. Then Christy and I got down to business: building gingerbread houses for our church's Christmas party this Saturday. We decided that it would be easier to come with a whole bunch of little houses already assembled so the younger kids can just decorate them, and not get frustrated with trying to stick the sides together. We spent three hours working on them and got 60 finished. I was gonna help Christy today finish up another 40, but that girl has the work ethic of a serious CEO and knocked out a bunch this morning before I could even get over to help. Last night was piano lessons. Again, COLD!!! Since the only parking for piano lessons was in European Country Living's parking lot, we parked there and ran inside to look at their Christmas decorations, which, I must say, are GORGEOUS!!! The only problem is that the decorations are in a garden room that is partially outside, so it was freezing while we were picking out some fun decorations. I'll have to return when it is not in the 20's. Here are a few of the fun things we found:

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

2010-11-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend we started taking out the Christmas decorations and getting ready for the Main Event. The kids have been so excited for Christmas for the past few weeks, and loved opening boxes and pulling out decorations. It was especially fun since we haven't seen these things in two years. I found a bunch of Christmas piano music on line for Colton and he has been practicing every day in preparation for a Christmas eve concert. Information on ticket sales is coming. The kids all played together with legos. Nicely. For a whole half an hour. Wow.

We had another Thanksgiving dinner at Christy's house Saturday night and all I can say is, That girl can cook!!! She brined a turkey and it was scrumdeliumptious. She is kinda like a cooking King Midas: everything she touches turns delicious. I picked up Jaxon Saturday night from his campout. Remember how I thought they were going to be camping in a cabin? WRONG!! My son turned mountain man for the night and braved the sub freezing temperatures in a sleeping bag and tent. Take that Bear Grylls!! Needless to say, Jaxon's teeth were still chattering when I picked him up. But, he had a great time, got to take down the flags at Patton's gravesite, and saw the Battle of the Bulge site. He is destined for a tweed jacket with elbow patches with all this history he's been soaking in.
On Sunday, we all slept in. Yes, even me. And it was GLORIOUS!!!!! I can't remember the last time I slept in til 8:30, but it was fabulous. I just need to keep the kids out late eating Christy's yummy food in order to lull them into a food induced sweet slumber.
Church was good, my first week in young women's and it will be wonderful getting to know these amazing ladies a bit better over the next few weeks.
Monday morning was a SHOCK!! We woke up to some serious white powder, EVERYWHERE!! The snow was falling when we awoke and didn't stop all day. Here's Excited Mason as we got in the car to take the kids to the bus stop:

I drove Sean's car, which was a big mistake, since the Durango has rear wheel drive. Can you say "Fishtail?" Can you say, "Slip and Slide?" Well, that's what I did as I drove Mason to the Bishop's house so his sweet wife could watch him during my German lesson. I can't count the many prayers I offered up this afternoon as I drove to and from German class. I thought, wouldn't it be ironic, as soon as I get the minivan back from the repair shop, I need to take the Durango for repairs thanks to the wonderful snowy road conditions. The kids were soooo excited about the snow when I picked them up. Their number one wish is that school will be delayed tomorrow, since their teachers were talking about this possibility in the afternoon. Mason started eating the snow as soon as we got home, and I quickly reinforced the number one snow eating rule:
DON'T EAT YELLOW SNOW.
All the kids played outside in the snow, throwing snow balls (at me through the window), making snow angels, and sledding down the street. Between you and me, I am a bit shocked that it is snowing already. It's only November. We are in for a LONG winter. But, I say, BRING IT ON!!! I'm ready with gloves, scarves, boots, chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.

For FHE we talked about the four foundation stones of our religion: The First Vision, The Book Of Mormon, Temples, and the Priesthood. Then we built a gingerbread house. Each wall of the house stood for one of the four foundation blocks. We are big into recycling here in Germany, so we pulled out our leftover Halloween candy to finish decorating our Knusperhaus, which, I must say, turned out fabulous. If I was Gretel, I definitely would have been tempted by this one:

Thanksgiving and SNOW!!!

2010-11-27T02:01:00.000-08:00

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning to a glorious sight: SNOW!! We hadn't looked outside as soon as we woke up; working out took priority so it was about an hour later that the kids and I came upstairs and looked outside to the marvelous scene of snow. The kids were so excited. They rushed to put on boots and coats and play outside; for about 5 minutes, until they realized that it was REALLY cold and wanted to come back inside and warm up. Ella lasted outside the longest:

We (I mean, I) finished the last minute baking and cooking for our Thanksgiving feast and headed over to the Wilkenson's house for dinner. The food was fabulous, the friends were fantastic, and most importantly, the desserts were divine. We ate, talked, ate, joked, ate, and hung out around the gorgeous new dining room table for about 3 hours before realizing that we needed to go. The kids ate so little so I felt it was my parental duty to make up the difference and eat enough for all 5 of us. Only Jaxon ate a worthy plate full of delicious food. We rolled our way out of the door and headed home. I am very thankful for wonderful friends who have adopted me while Sean has been gone and treated me like family, maybe even better. I am so thankful for my children who make life worth living. I am excited that this is the last holiday we'll be celebrating for a LONG time without Sean. He better be back in time for the jolly fat guy to make his appearance. On Friday, there were no stores to go to at 3am for Black Friday deals. We're in Deutchland: no Walmart, Target (moment of silence) or Best Buy. There's online shopping, but it isn't the same. But that's ok. I will take living here over super special deals on stuff that I really don't need but end up buying because it is such a good deal that I must need it somehow, sometime, right? So, I saved a bunch of money, which I will later put to good use at ECL or another favorite German store. German stores have awesome Christmas decorations. Friday morning, my cleaning lady came and I got to practice my German with her a little bit. That was fun. We dropped Jaxon off at the commissary parking lot for another fun filled Boy Scout camping trip this weekend, this time to Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge site. We bundled Jaxon up as much as he would let me, loaded him up with chocolate, and sent him on his way (with his toothbrush and toothpaste, which he keeps 'forgetting' to pack). We started to take out Christmas decorations in the afternoon and the kids were sooooo excited to see things we haven't had in two years. That is one of the biggest downfalls of moving at Christmas time, we kinda miss out on Christmas every third year. I took the kids over to Christy's in the evening so Colton could go sell Christmas trees on base with Cameron and Dennis for the Cub Scouts. Danielle watched Ella and Mason while Christy and I escaped, I mean, went shopping at some German stores for some final Christmas presents. All in all, a great last few days, and a few extra pounds that will have to be taken care of pretty quickly. Curse that extra helping of fudge!!
Here's some fun pictures from the last two days:
Mason calling Batman on the phone:

Ella learning to read and reading some words for me:

And a picture of the white stuff outside my front window:

It's Beginning to Smell A Lot Like Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T11:18:00.001-08:00

So, what have I been up to these past few days? BAKING!! Yup, our kitchen has transformed into a German bakery with yummy desserts being produced almost hourly. Yesterday we mastered fudge and a pumpkin pie, today was pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, chocolate caramel bars and brownies, and tomorrow morning we are scheduling an oatmeal cake. Aren't you getting hungry just reading this? I don't need one of those Yankee Candles that is scented for the holidays, like pumpkin pie or sugar cookies. My house is smelling like that for real for the past two days and it's awesome. I think I'm gaining weight just through my nose. I love to bake and this is such a fun time of year. Last night, Colton wanted to make something special for his class for Thanksgiving. Since he has a male teacher, the idea of a Thanksgiving feast or party wasn't gonna happen, so we decided to make today a little more festive for his class by sending in some Pilgrims' hat cupcakes. Here's Colton with his cupcakes:

On Monday, Ella and I worked on a project of hers for Kindergarten. Each student needs to decorate a box that will become their special treasure box to carry reading books to and from school. Thanks to my artistic and creative friend Christy who loaded us up with cool craft supplies Sunday night, we were prepared for this project. Here's Ella, Mason and I working on her box:

Yesterday I was lucky enough to borrow Aedan for a few hours to come over and play. Mason stayed in boy clothes for a majority of the time, which I consider a step forward in the progress department. I found Mason at one point, hiding in his closet, dressed at Batman, but with a pink purse. I asked him who he was. The answer? Baby Bat Girl. I know the picture isn't great, (I'm STILL waiting for my new camera) but here is Baby Bat Girl:

The best part of the past two days was this morning when I caught Mason chasing Colton around the house, wearing a Santa hat, wielding a toy knife, shouting "I'm Evil Santa!! Watch out!" Here's Colton before the attack:

I wasn't fast enough to catch a picture of Evil Santa on the loose. I put out an APB for him and eagerly await his return. So, tomorrow we are off to the Wilkenson's house for some serious turkey eating. I learned how to say turkey today in my TWO HOUR German class. Class was cancelled on Monday so we had a two hour session today. My head still hurts from trying to understand and speak German for that long. The class was small though, which was great, and I really like learning the language, although I feel I am making very S L O W progress. Oh well, guten abend!!

Happy Monday!!!

2010-11-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

I've got to backtrack for a moment and share pictures of the birthday party Colton, Ella and Mason attended on Saturday. It was at Kinderspiel, an indoor German playground with trampolines, inflatable slides, a ball pit, electric cars, and tons of things to climb on and fall from. The kids were in heaven! Of course, they spent half of their time looking at the things they couldn't do, like the climbing part that is for kids over a certain height or the train and swings that weren't running at the moment. How come we can't just be happy with the 4 million things we CAN do, and not focus on the three things that aren't available at the time? We brought along a little girl, Katie, who hit it off right away with Ella.

The kids all loved riding around on the electric cars the best. Mason was perfectly content sitting behind Colton and being chauffered around the track. Katie held on to Ella and perfected the princess wave as they did their laps.

I know Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but not in this house. I put Colton to work helping me make a cake for Mr. Dennis. I needed egg whites whipped and knew Colton was the man for the job. He was a little disappointed when he found out he wouldn't be using an actual whip on the eggs, but he was a trooper and did a great job with the beater.

The Primary Program was fabulous. My personal favorite part was when Mason ran up to the Primary chorister, Bro. Price, who was trying to get his music stand situated in the aisle way, and didn't notice Mason for a moment who had run up to him and was waving frantically up to him saying "Hey! He's my teacher!!" (Side note: Mason loves singing time in Nursery. It is his favorite part of the experience.) And, I might add, isn't it cool that our ward has a male Primary chorister? We are so out-of-the-box here in Germany!

And the new calling is.......

2010-11-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Have you been up all night wondering what my new calling is? Have you been so in touch with the Spirit that you knew what it would be and didn't have any moments of nail biting wonder and anxiety? Well, put your mind at ease because all is right with the world again: I am back home, where I belong, in Young Women's. I was called as the first counselor in the Young Women's Presidency and I couldn't be more thrilled or excited. I LOVE LOVE LOVE working with the young women. They are awesome. They rock. I love it. I must have bribed the right person or delivered homemade goodies to the right house to get this sweet calling. I can't wait to get to know the girls better and serve them. Now Jaxon has no excuse for not going to Young Men's on Tuesday nights because his good old mom will be there to drag him with her. The only problem is, I am so out of the loop on what is cool in the mind of a 12-17 year old girl. I don't know the cool musicians, actors, tv shows, or movies. I'm not up to date with the latest slang phrases or text messages. I will just have to show up and wing it for a while, with a big ol' smile on my face, and a batch of homemade brownies to make up for my un-cool-ness. I'm a quick learner so hopefully in no time I will be dishin' with my girls and sharing personal secrets. Wish me luck!!
I have some cute pictures from the first of our two birthday parties that we attended on Saturday, but since I just devoured half of an Italian Creme cake that I baked for Dennis' birthday but personally ate most of, I will just roll over to my bedroom, read some scriptures and call it a night. I will post pictures tomorrow. Oh, I get to go share lunch with my favorite girl, Ella, and her classmates as they have an Italian Thanksgiving Feast for lunch. Aren't you jealous? As you sit down to a boring pb&j sandwich, I will be sharing stuffed shells, (that I personally made) with the cutest 5 year old around. Stop by Mrs. Waldrup's Kindergarten tomorrow around 11:30 if you're not doing anything. I'll try to save you a shell.

NEWS FLASH!!!!

2010-11-20T01:04:00.000-08:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast with this important announcement:
I have been extended a new calling at church. Yes folks, Sister Friendly is retiring. The Bishop nabbed me in the commissary parking lot this morning while dropping Jaxon off for the temple trip. He asked if this was ok, instead of asking me to come in tomorrow for a meeting. SInce my last calling was extended to me in European Country Living, which in my opinion can be a very spiritual place, I had no problems talking in a parking lot. NOW, what, you may ask, have I been asked to do?

I shouldn't say anything til tomorrow, when the call has officially been extended and I've been sustained. So..............

you're just gonna have to wait!! Or call Christy, since you know I called her as soon as I drove off base and could reach my phone. Hee hee! Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of:

AS THE WARD TURNS or
THE OLD AND THE RESTLESS or
ALL MY KINDER

Happy Friday

2010-11-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

We had a good day on Friday. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was Friday. Maybe because I got to talk to Sean. Maybe because my cleaning lady came and made my house sparkle. Maybe because I was able to almost have a conversation with her in German. Maybe because I got to pick up Mason's best friend from preschool and he shouted "Miss Angela!!!" with a big smile on his face that would warm anyone's spirits. Maybe because Mason spent at least half of the day in boy clothes. It's all good. Here are my favorite two chefs this morning, helping me make some cupcakes:

I found at the commissary a new squirting canister of frosting that looked fun, so Olivia and Mason liked frosting their cupcakes. I had extra cupcakes, of course, and shared with Aedan when he came over to play later with Mason. Here's Aedan replicating a gross sneeze with his green frosting:

And here are my boys directly spraying the frosting into their mouths post-dinner for a little sugar high:

We have two birthday parties on Saturday, both involving Ella. Yup, she's excited. I'm dropping Jaxon off at 9:30 am in the commissary parking lot to meet up with church members for a temple trip this morning. He gets to do baptisms. Sweet. It's Dennis's birthday tomorrow, so I think that ensures an adequate quantity of cake consumption between his party tomorrow night and the two parties today. All I can say is, it better be buttercream frosting on the cakes, none of that whipped cream/Cool whip junk.

Wednesday and Thursday

2010-11-18T10:35:00.001-08:00

Ich brauche eine pause. Translation: I need a break. Things have just been busy. Busy is good. Busy is also tiring. I want a day where we have to do nothing and go no where. No cleaning, no driving, no picking up clothes and toys, no laundry, no whining, no dishes, no cooking, no whining, no folding, no washing, no wiping, and no whining. That to me is the celestial kingdom in a nutshell. But for now, I will keep in constant motion. Yesterday, Mason hung out at Amy's while I went to German. Which is getting harder and harder. Curses to the stupid doctors who told my mom to stop speaking German to me. After German I took Mason to get mail, where I found two packages returned to me that I had just mailed on Monday to Sean. First thought: The postal police caught me sending clothes to the Afghanis. Oops. WRONG! I was just silly and wrote the wrong zipcode on them. Oops. Hope I didn't do that to all the packages I sent out. We will see. Then Mason and I headed over to the middle school for an awards assembly. Jaxon is on the honor roll and there was a big assembly honoring all the kids who earned good GPA's. Honestly, I wasn't gonna go. There were a ton of kids getting an award, I didn't think it was a huge deal, and Jaxon said not to worry about it, but Christy went and told me I should go, so off we went. Plus, I thought it might provide me with a good opportunity to embarass Jaxon somehow. What cute pet name could I shout out to him? He came in the auditorium along with scores of other seventh graders, and I finally caught his attention. I gave him a big smile and wave. He looked shocked. His eyes got huge and he shook his head fervishly. Translation: Not cool MOM! I'm with my friends. Don't acknowledge me.
Well, that made me want to embarrass him even more. But then I realized that one day, he may be deciding which assisted living home I end up in, so I was nice and no longer tried to stare him down and smile. We waited for him to get his award and clapped loudly when he received it. Here he is among the masses going up to the stage and receiving it:

Here's Mason waiting patiently for the assembly to start:

Then we walked over to Ella's class to make sure she got to the flagpole alright. Today was her first day of pre Girl Scouts: Daisies. Every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wednesday of the month she will meet her Daisy troop at the elementary school flag pole, walk over to the girl scout hut, and have a cool meeting. She was soooo excited to start today. We were all invited at the end of the meeting for a special ceremony, kind of like an induction ceremony. They got a certificate and lit a candle, all held hands and sang something like Cumbaya. Here's Ella during the ceremony:

And here's Mason and Colton at BK using their kids' meals toys as forks to spear their french fries:

SO, Thursday is German at my house day. We had three ladies show up to practice German. We actually did pretty well for a good hour before we broke down and just started talking about pregnancies and kids. Mason has been, well, a bit difficult these past few days. We are probably doing too much and need to just slow down and spend more time together at home. Here's Mason starting off his Thursday:

I could have taken at least 5 more pictures of him today just like this one, but at different locations and times. He had a beautiful temper tantrum at the commissary, all because he wouldn't say please for some water. And, if you happen to be the commissary baggers and checkers who kept trying to get him to stop crying, you obviously don't have kids of your own since you don't realize that talking to kids while they are throwing a huge temper tantrum doesn't work. Trying to get them to smile and poking fun at them, doesn't work. Asking them "What's wrong?" doesn't make the 3 year old stop his insistent crying and fussing to explain in detail the reasoning behind his fit. It just ticks him off even more. Just sayin'. So, Mason didn't have the best day today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I know it will be for me. My cleaning lady is coming at 9am. Woo Hoo. Here's a good picture to end on. Ella's diva fashionista self coming through as she bundled up to take the boys to piano tonight:

Making Lists and Checking Them Twice

2010-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Monday and Tuesday have been busy. On Monday, Mason and I left the house at 9:30 and didn't return til 6:30. We went to the BX three times in one day. That is three times too many. I am determined to be completely done with Christmas shopping and shipping before Thanksgiving. I want to enjoy December and focus on the true meaning of Christmas, instead of buying, buying, buying. Mason and I started off at the post office, mailing Sean packages for the Afghanis. Last time I got caught because you are not supposed to mail humanitarian aid through the mail, or at least not through the Military Postal System (aka the free way to ship things from one APO to another APO). The mailman said, "Uh, just FYI, you can't do this next time", and I said, "OK, no problem, these clothes are all for my husband who is very very cold". The mailman said, "RIght, good thinking". SO, on Monday I shipped the boxes to different people in Sean's unit so it wouldn't look so suspicious. Am I honest in all my dealings? Well, sure!! What is more important? Being completely honest on a customs form or clothing cold poor people? Yeah, I thought so, the latter. So, if any postal employees are reading this: SORRY!! Come and get me with the cuffs!! I'll be waiting with warm chocolate chip cookies to bribe you. Here's Mason on the dolly going to my car to pick up all the packages:

After the post office, I took Mason to Sister Adams house so I could go to German class. Class was hard. We learned how articles change depending on their role in a sentence, subject or object. Only masculine articles change though. Hmmmm....I'm sure I could say something biased about that, but I'll be good. After picking up Mason, I took him out to lunch. Nothing too fancy for this guy!!

Yup, Burger King. Then we went back to the BX for more Christmas shopping. We picked up the kids in the rain:

Look how excited Mason was to pick up Punky Brewster, I mean Ella, from school!
He couldn't wait to hug her.

We went BACK to the BX to see the new movie, MegaMind. Yeah, it was cute. The kids enjoyed it. Here's Ella eating her dinner from Subway. Can you tell what she's eating?

She would make Atkins proud!! Bacon and ham. That's it. No bread, no veggies, just MEAT!
We picked angels from the angel tree so we could count the evening as FHE and add a little moment of selflessness to the evening. I let each kid pick an envelope and we'll buy them each a present and return them to the tree in a few days.

Now, on to Tuesday...
I had packages to finish and needed some time to wrap them up, so I enlisted the help of my favorite four year old: Aedan Turner. He came over to play with Mason and keep him happy while I settled down to work. They played well all day, unfortunately most of the time Mason was in a dress. Even Aedan referred to Mason as "she" at one point. They played superheroes and I tried to explain that Batman is most comfortable in pants, not a dress. Here's Mason and Aedan in Ella's room:

On the way to return Aedan to his rightful owner, I followed a German truck for a while. And guess what? I could translate what it said on the back! Not too exciting, but I was happy. Here's the truck:

I know you're dying of curiosity, so I'll tell you, it was a window and door truck. Exciting, huh? Do YOU know the German words for window and door? No? Go look it up and get back with me...
Oh, here's a picture of Pinkerella this morning getting ready for school. Do you have that book about a little girl who only wears pink? Ella channeled her today in her clothing selection:

On the way home from Aedan's, Mason and I stopped off at Wasgau to purchase some chocolate for our packages. Here's our loot when all was said and done:

And here's Mason trying to scale the kitchen cabinets in order to get a Kinderegg that was denied him since he didn't finish (or really touch) his dinner:

Miss Me?

2010-11-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm sorry, once again, I'm a few days behind. To say we've been busy is like saying German chocolate is ok, or ECL is just a store, or Tony Horton is kinda in shape. So, where were we? Oh yes, Saturday! I had a cold: Boo! No fun! But I got a call from my sweet friend who recently lost her house in a fire. She was moving into her new house and wanted to know if her daughter could play with Ella for the day. SURE!! Lea is a sweet little girl and was a joy to have here. Ella, on the other hand, was unfortunately taken over by a stinker spirit for a few hours. Once we banished the stinkerness, peace and joy returned to the household and the girls had a great time together. We baked cookies, watched a Barbie movie, and they dressed up as the Three Musketeers all afternoon with Mason being the third musketeer (you know how he loves dress up). At night, I took Mason and Colton to the high school to watch a bunch of kids from our church perform in the musical Peter Pan. They thought it was fun to stay up late and do something different. Except Mason kept saying "Where's the movie?" He didn't understand the idea of a play. He sat through it very nicely though. The funniest part was when some of the cast came down to the front of the audience and danced with the children sitting on mats on the floor. My kids hadn't wanted to sit there, but when the dancing started, Mason started taking baby steps closer and closer to the front. By the time he made it to the mats, the actors were done, but he was so proud of himself for walking up there, he sat down on the mat and kept turning around every 2 seconds, smiling, and waving at me, two rows behind. Everyone on my side of the audience was giggling at how cute he was. By 9 pm the play was done so we did a quick run through the BK drive through for essentials: french fries and milk shakes.
On Sunday, we weren't off to a great Sabbath start when my eldest took out all his weapons and was found chasing his younger brother downstairs. I got tough. I confiscated all weapons, and the new computer. Ohhhh, I know, Tough Mom. His behavior quickly improved. I don't want my kids to dislike Sundays or think they can't be fun. We have to find a calm level of fun that doesn't involve screaming, chasing, or sword fighting. How do you keep the Sabbath holy with little kids but still have a good time? Well, I pulled out a new game ( I know, I know, that's TWICE I've dipped into the Christmas stash), but it changed the whole mood in the house. I had recently bought the game CREATIONARY for the family. It's a Lego game where you try to use pieces to build different objects while the other players guess what you built. Well, it was a huge success and everyone had a good time building and guessing. Especially Jaxon and Colton. Jaxon easily gets bored on Sundays with no electronics allowed, but he had a wonderful day trying to build things and having me and Colton guess what they were. I played too and let's just say my building skills could easily be surpassed by just about any preschooler. Here are Jaxon and Colton with two of their creations at lunch:

Here's Mason as Cowboy Batman, totally unrelated but nonetheless very cute:

And here's Ella working on her latest masterpiece:

Gotta wake the kids up...I'll tell you about Monday later....

Friday

2010-11-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Today we were busy. I woke up and could tell I was getting sick, so I figured I had one good workout left in me. So I hurried downstairs and did legs and back with Tony. Towards the end, Mason and Ella came in and cooled down with me. Here's Mason and Ella finishing the workout with me and getting a few pull ups in:

Here's Ella doing her Karen Pot Stirring Stretch:

Here are some pull ups:

I had a new cleaning lady come at 9 to help me out with the housework. It's a little silly since I've survived the past 23 weeks without any help, but when a friend of mine found a 'putzfrau' that was very reasonably priced and did a great job, I couldn't resist. So, she came for the first time yesterday and was wonderful!! She did a fabulous job, and although she doesn't speak English and I speak very little German, we were able to communicate and figure out what needed to be done. Four hours later, my house was sparkling. How long did it stay that way? About 30 seconds. But those 30 seconds were wonderful!! I went to parent teacher conferences at 10 and 10:30 at Colton's and Ella's schools. I met with Mr. Johnson first, who had nothing but positive and glowing things to say about our 9 year old. He said Colton is doing great, works hard, and is progressing well. Nothing needs to be fixed here, so I was off to Ella's conference. This, I admit, I was a little nervous about. See, Ella can sometimes be a little, shall we say, strong willed? Opinionated? Defiant? I was concerned she may have displayed some of this behavior at school, but, lucky me, she reserves it just for me at home and is awesome in school. Mrs. Waldrup had only positive things to say about Ella. Yah!!
I put Jaxon to work for a little bit, cutting back the rose bushes outside. I thought he would enjoy using big dangerous shears to chop something. He was fine until a rose branch whacked him in the face, resulting in numerous cuts. Ouch.

The boys had piano lessons this afternoon so we took off for downtown Lanstuhl, which has become one of my favorite places.

All within walking distance are my favorite places: European Country Living, Parisenne (cool Parisian store with awesome clothes), my new hair salon, and a fabulous German toy store. So, while the boys had piano lessons, I ran into ECL, spent way too little time inside as I quickly picked up a Christmas present for a friend, oh, and a cool canister set for me that was 40% off (thanks Sean for the early Christmas present). Then I dashed into Parisenne for a fabulous scarf for a friend. Then over to the Toy Store for an advent calendar for my nephew. Here are Ella and Mason leaving the toy store, of course with a little present for each of them:

Then we went to get Ella's hair cut at my hair salon. She LOVES sitting in the big chair and getting her hair cut. She loves the way her hair smells afterwards.

After a hair cut, we met Christy in the parking lot so I could grab her boys and take them to the movies, but it was sold out! Bummer! So, we took everyone home and let the kids run around crazy with Nerf weapons. All in all, a successful day.

Mittwoch

2010-11-11T00:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Wednesday. Mid-week. Or Mittwoch for all you Deutsch speaking friends. Ella, Colton and Mason were home today while Jaxon still had school. Colton and Ella's schools have parent teacher conferences today (mine though are on Friday). So, with 75% of my kinder home, how did we spend the day? Well, we tried to cram in as much fun as we could before I had to leave for German and the little ones went to Amy's house. Colton wanted to earn some extra money, so he vacuumed:

We found some Toy Story play doh that we hadn't opened yet, so that provided about 20 minutes of entertainment:

We're getting serious about Christmas preparations. We pulled out all the presents we've bought so far, then started to organize them. Ella and Mason found some fun French cookie cutters I had bought at Cora and decided they would make great designs if we traced them. Then we baked cupcakes to bring to Amy's and let the kids frost and decorate them.

I dropped Mason and Ella off at Amy's, and Colton didn't want to stay there. Of course because he loves his mom so much, he didn't want to be separated from her and chose to come to German class with her. He was a P.A. (perfect angel) during my class while I earned the title of Star Student for the day by using inverted word order in one of my answers. No applause, really, no big deal...After returning to Amy's to retrieve my children, Mason jumped into the car but Ella begged to stay longer and Amy willingly agreed to keep her for a few more hours. She already had a houseful of kids, so at this point, one more didn't make too much of a difference. Mason, Colton and I headed off to the BX for some lunch and some shopping. So, how are you doing on your Christmas purchases? Haven't thought too much about it yet? Well, I am just about done! Yup, DONE. And it feels good! Jaxon is 100% done, Colton is 90 % done, Mason is 90 % done, Ella is, well, if she gets off the naughty list, 50% done, and presents for extended family: Finished! It's a beautiful thing. See, I don't want to be scrambling at the last minute, especially when Sean is coming home, having to worry about sending out packages, ordering things or going to the store (especially the BX). Here are my two favorite shopping buddies as we check out with all our loot:

We picked up Ella and went back to the school to pick Jaxon up from Military History Club. It was 49 degrees, raining, and here's Jaxon walking to the car, still dressed as if we were back in good ol' Hawaii:

I made a Texas sheet cake, yup - from scratch ( I'll save you a piece but you better hurry, it's going fast!) for the boys for dessert while I put Ella and Mason to bed. Scriptures, journals, cleaning, laundry, blah blah blah and finally bed! Woo Hoo!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2010-11-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I caved. I didn't think I would cave so soon, but I did. Sorry. I couldn't help it. See, this morning the kids all wanted hot chocolate, which was fine, but two of them wanted the same mug. Uh oh. Since it was 7 am and I didn't want any fussing so early in the morning, I caved. I brought Mason out an early Christmas present. I know, PATHETIC! But it was a Toy Story hot chocolate mug set and it made him so happy and kept peace and harmony for a little longer in the early morning hours, so I think I can justify it. Sort of. Here he is with his new mug:

Our day was good: I had German class here but only two ladies could make it, so we really just sat around and talked. In English. Oops. But we had fun. Then Mason and I went grocery shopping. He loved sitting in the big back part of the cart and having me pile the groceries on top of him. We picked up the kids from the bus stop, did some homework, and had a very elaborate dinner. Since Sean's been gone, my culinary skills have just skyrocketed. Tonight I served a rotisserie chicken that the commissary prepared and a loaf of french bread I picked up in the deli. Wow. Emeril would be amazed. But they ate it; sort of.

Then the most amazing change came over Ella. I don't really know how it started. But she went from being normal 5 year old to AMAZING GIRL all within the space of a few minutes. She started being really sweet and helpful. She helped clean up Mason's room. Then she cleaned up her room, all of it, even though she didn't make the mess (you'll never guess who did). Then she cleaned up some paint on the floor from her and Mason's art project. Without being asked. Then she gave everyone hugs. Then she told me if I needed help making my bed tomorrow to just ask her. Wow. Here are the kids' rooms after Angel Ella had swept through them:

Here's Ella with her best friend:

My very own Picasso and his artwork:

And me squishing my favorite girl:

WIll Angelic Ella return tomorrow? Stay tuned...

Happy Monday

2010-11-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

Usually Mondays aren't the greatest day of the week. But, truth be told, today was actually a good day. Now, I know I just jinxed myself by saying that and probably guaranteed myself a year's worth of yucky Mondays from here on out, but here are some good things that happened today:
1) The kids went to school. See, in the month of November, the kids only have one full week of school. Thank you Veteran's Day, Teacher Work Days (yeah right, can you say three day weekend so we can travel?), Parent Teacher Conferences and Thanksgiving, my kids are pretty much off for the month of November. So the fact that they actually had school today is a good thing.
2) We didn't miss the bus. Not catching the bus was almost a done deal as we waited to turn left onto the hauptstrasse this morning behind four other cars that refused to turn unless there was no other car anywhere around for miles and miles. We made it to the bus stop with a whole minute to spare!
3) I worked out with Tony before any kids woke up and didn't die. That's always a plus. I will be sore tomorrow, but no death occurred while doing countless push ups and pull ups. I didn't even curse at him for putting me through heck before 6 am on a Monday.
4) Mason went to a new friend's house to play while I went to German class, he had fun, no tears, and all went well. Yea!
5) We went to the local German grocery store on the way home, Wasgau, and loaded up on clementines, chocolate, and pretzels: essential after school snack food. Here's Mason pushing his own little cart in the store:

6) I talked to Sean twice today, and saw him, on Skype. Usually I don't even get to talk to him twice in a WEEK, but today, we got to talk twice. Cool. Oh, and if you're reading this Sean, SHAVE THE 'STACHE!!! (He grew a mustache folks, I know, "When in Rome"...but he has approximately 40 days to find a good razor and put it to good use before I pucker up for his return).
7) The people who were stalking my house as I pulled up to it with Mason after Wasgau aren't interested in kicking me out and moving into my house. YEA!! Everyone pause and do a happy dance for me!! I'll wait.....

Ok, see, I don't really mind moving, IF I FOUND THE PERFECT HOUSE, but guess what? That probably won't happen, and I don't want to be forced into moving especially at this time of year. So, if this nice German couple who speak very little English want to buy this house and keep renting it to this lady who speaks very little German, I think we have a match made in heaven! So far, so good.
8) We had a short and sweet FHE on gratitude. I made a gratitude jar:

We talked about gratitude. I told the kinder that happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you have. Oh...I know, very profound. We talked about having an attitude of gratitude and then we wrote down things we are thankful for, put them in the jar, and I challenged the kids to keep adding things to the jar over the next 2 1/2 weeks that they are thankful for. We will read them on Thanksgiving. Here's Ella and Colton filling out their thankful leaves:

And here's Mason with two of the things he is most thankful for:
JUICY AND BLANKIE!!!

Rhine River

2010-11-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

So what did you guys do today? Or I should ask, what would you guys do if you had four kids, a free Saturday, rainy weather, and some awesome friends? A trip along the Rhine River to see some amazing castles? Well, ME TOO!! That is how we spent our day today, following the greatest people in Deutschland up to some beautiful sights along the Rhine River. We started off taking a ferry to get from one side of the Rhine to the other. Castles line both sides and we wanted to get to the other side to see Marksburg castle. The cool thing about the ferry is that we got to drive our car on it, and stay inside the whole time. All for 5 euros! Very cool. The kids thought it was so fun to be in our car, on a boat. The ride took a whopping five minutes, but it was great. We found the castle, climbed up the stairs, (do you ever notice how all castles are built up on something and to get to them, stair climbing is involved?), bought tickets for all All German tour since that is the only kind of tour they have, and waited patiently in the rain to be admitted to the castle. The kids were running around while we were waiting. I kept losing one or another of them. Then the little old lady with the big key came and unlocked the castle doors and let us inside to start the tour. Great, right? Yeah, except I had lost one of my kids by this point and couldn't find him. We were ushered into the castle and the tour started and I still didn't have one of my sons! No, not Mason, no, not even Colton, it was the big one! JAXON! Yup, the one who is supposed to be Mr. Responsible, Mr. I Will Help My Mom, Mr. Don't Worry About Me Because I'm So Grown Up, was not with us!! The tour was almost an hour, and the whole time I am worried about where Jaxon is. Now, after 12 1/2 years, I can kinda think like that kid, so I knew he was fine, just wandered off, and was probably waiting down the hill at the car for us. So, we tour the castle, see some cool stuff, especially the armory, and then leave. No Jaxon. Not outside the castle doors, not in the restaurant, souvenir shop, no where. At the car? Nope. Dennis goes back to search for him. 5 minutes later, guess who comes down the hill all by himself? Jaxon.
Mom: "Uh, WHERE WERE YOU?"
Jaxon: "I took the tour of the castle."
Mom: "There was no other tour. They only have one every hour! What tour?"
Jaxon pointing to two tour buses: "I went on a tour of the castle with the people from those buses. The armory was COOL!"
Mom: "So, you didn't have a ticket, and just walked in with some German people for a tour?"
Jaxon: "Yup!"
By this point, Mason was crying because he thought Jaxon was missing, and that I was going to kill Jaxon if he ever showed up for leaving us. But, all is well that ends well, Jaxon was safe, realized he should probably keep me in his field of vision when we are miles away from home, and we had cookies waiting for us in the car, so everything worked out alright. Here we are following the Turner's onto the ferry:

Bottom of the castle hill:

Mason looking out one of the tower windows while Mom is ready to grab him any second since Germans don't believe in safety nets, fences, glass coverings, or anything to prevent immanent death from occurring while looking out castle holes or over castle walls:

Mason and Colton sharing an umbrella during the tour:

Picture of the Rhine from on top of the castle:

Ella and Colton in the armory:

I tried to take a picture of Marksburg castle as we were driving away because it is a really cool looking castle but it didn't really turn out. So, do me a favor: google Castles Along the Rhine River so you can get a feel for what we saw today, and a sense of intense jealousy that I get to live in this awesome country!!

Then we were off to Rheinstein Castle.
But first, you're probably asking, hey Angela, since you went on an All German tour of the castle, and have been taking German lessons for the past two months, did you understand anything?
Well,
NO!! And I am mad about it!! I understood three words: schlafzimmer (bedroom), essen (eat) and Sie (you). Pathetic!! I want a refund for my German lessons!
Ok, back to the next castle. This one was really cool because you could just walk around it on your own, no tour required. After bothering the lady who sells the tickets and souvenirs because one of my children touched a sword in the shop (guess which one, no...not Colton... YUP! JAXON! Again! Making mischief!) we were off to explore the castle and its grounds. Very cool. This is the stuff boys live for! My boys were in heaven climbing around, exploring, looking at different things and pretending to be princes and knights hundreds of years ago. And, of course, Ella was ready to assume the role of princess of the castle.
Here are some pictures of us storming the castle:

Yes, I went back inside the souvenir shop on the way out, spoke in German to the lady and bought my kids some cool things that probably require consent forms and waiting periods if purchased in the US. But Jaxon was so happy and Colton was ecstatic, and every one but Mason was all smiles on the way home. (Mason wanted to shoot Colton's cross bow, uh, sorry, no). And Jaxon, my way too cool and laid back preteen said he had a great day and LOVED exploring the castles. Yup folks, memories are being made. Family ties are getting tighter. And hopefully no ER visits are in the near future because of the weapons I bought my sons this afternoon.

Life Goes On

2010-11-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, last night I got a knock on the door. There were two Russian guys standing on my doorstep, attempting to speak English to me. Since I speche Deutsch ein bisschen, I was able to figure out what they wanted: my house. They asked if it was for sale and if I had the landlord's number. Yes to both of those. I was so nice and friendly to these two guys (brothers in law) who may be the reason for me getting kicked out of my house in the near future. If they buy the place, we have to move. I liked them, but don't think I'd like to live WITH them, so a new house would be in the cards for us. I asked them in, told them they could look around, and then started calling realtors. This is a stinky time of the year to move. If they buy the house and want to move in, I have 30 days to find a new place. Not really too much of a problem as long as I use a realtor. The only yucky part about that is the realtor's fee: one month's rent. If the house sells and we have to move, the Army takes care of the move. If I move on my own because I don't want to keep showing the house or like the fact that I may have only 30 days to vacate, I pay for all moving expenses. Yuck. So, I will start looking around and if I find THE perfect house, I'm outta here!! Floor heating and a bigger kitchen definitely are calling to me on certain days. We'll see. I'm not worried about it really, there are a lot of good things about this house, but it's not perfect, and I would love to be closer to Christy. So, maybe this is for the best. On to other topics.....
Jaxon has been joining us for breakfast these past few days and it has been so nice. Usually he just eats a Cliff bar downstairs as he gets ready and we don't have a Jaxon sighting til we are loading up in the car to say a prayer and go to the bus stop. He found something growing on one of his bars, and that was all it took to forsake them and head upstairs for some good old fashioned cereal. But I'm happy to have him around for a few more minutes every morning, so yesterday I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and this morning he wanted bacon and hard boiled eggs. No problem. Here are all four kids eating breakfast together:

After getting the kids on the bus, Mason watched a movie while I got ready. We had some friends over for German class, then we read stories. Mason LOVES to read stories, especially at the table while he is eating. No meal is complete unless a book is being read to him at some point. So, today as he was eating chicken nuggets and I was reading The Way I Feel, he showed me who every picture in the book is in our family. The last page has a picture with five cooky animated kids, and today he told me that I was the African American girl with frizzy hair. Cool. I need a tan. Jaxon got the best part: he got to be the little Asian girl with crossed eyes. Here's Mason pointing out the pictures in the book and telling me who each picture represents in our family:

The best was yesterday when we were reading Lunch Bunnies. Ok, only Sean will get this, or someone who has read the book. Guess who Mason said Jaxon was in that story? Jaxon got the part of Gloria, the mean ol' lunch lady. I laughed pretty hard about that. After reading stories, we were pleasantly rewarded with a visit from the garbage man. Here's Mason watching the German sanitation department at their finest:

You probably can't tell what Mason is wearing from the picture, but he spent the whole day in jammies. I tried to explain to him that his pants were actually jammies and he might want to wear some real pants so he could run around with his friends when they came for German class, but these aren't just any jammie pants. They are BATMAN jammie pants, so in his mind, they are worth their weight in gold, or at least Sour Patch Kids. They are a size 7, so a tad long, so he wore them around his feet all day, and was as happy as could be. Don't you wish you could just stay in your jammies all day and get away with it? Heck, even be considered cool? After the garbage man, we picked up the kids from the bus stop. Here is one of my favorite sights in Germany:
I know the picture is far away, but remember I only have my phone camera now so I couldn't zoom in to get a closer picture, and I didn't want to scare the old lady by going right up and taking a picture of her, causing a potential heart attack in the sweet little old thing. This is a picture of an old lady, dressed nicely, sweeping her front walkway. Everyone is so neat and clean here. I love it. Most 80 year olds in America are sitting in front of day time soaps, and here is a little Oma cleaning her front yard. Maybe if she has some extra time I can see if she is willing to walk the few blocks over to MY front yard.....nah.....

Piano lessons were up next, thanks to daylight savings we now drive home in the dark. Yuck. But not without a quick stop through the golden arches drive thru for some McFlurries and sundaes:

And here are my favorite two goofballs as we get ready to start the bedtime process:

Tomorrow I get to sit still for 2 hours with a book while I get my hair done (hee hee) then off to Christy's for Indian cuisine for dinner. She told me she loves Indian food and should have been named Punjab. I thought that was funny. Then I told her I love sweets so I should have been named high fructose corn syrup. Oh well, maybe I can change my name later...

Terrible Tuesdays

2010-11-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

I just realized that the past two Tuesdays have been bad news for us. Last Tuesday, I scratched the front bumper of the car pulling out of my driveway. Stupid mistake, I was hurrying to pick the kids up from the bus and didn't see how close the front bumper was to the cinderblock planters. Not a horrible scratch, but enough to make me feel bad. Since we already had a gash taken out of the underside of the bumper, I decided to let the perfectionist in me take over and look into getting it repaired. I love getting things accomplished (see previous post) so I called the body shop the next morning and brought the car in that afternoon for an estimate. Not too bad, actually less than I was planning, so the part is being ordered, and we are waiting for a date to bring the car back to the shop. Now, onto this Tuesday. I had to take Colton to the doctor's. He has a bump on his arm that has been getting redder, harder, and more painful over the past two days. So I took him into the doctor's, she squeezed it and make it pop pus ALL OVER her (YUCK!!), gave him some antibiotics, and we were on our way. In the afternoon, Colton wanted to show me something on the computer, so he started to carry it over to me. He didn't realize our camera was plugged into the camera. It dropped. On the floor. The tile floor. oops. Yup, the camera body cracked. It kinda takes pictures still, but not well. Shoot. The poor kid felt horrible and went into his room to cry. I told him its just a 'thing', not important, no one was hurt, and things could be a whole lot worse. So, these past two Tuesdays have cost me some serious money. I think I am going bubble wrap us next Tuesday, lock the doors, and stay inside all day, away from anything worth any money. I am trying to stay positive, thinking that we have enough money so it's not the end of the world, possessions aren't important and don't matter, and as long as the kids are healthy and safe, we are doing fine. So, I guess this is just to let ya'll know that I hope no one's expecting great Christmas presents from us this year, since these past two weeks have been a bit expensive.

This is all that matters: these four guys, healthy and happy!

Checklists

2010-11-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE finishing things and checking off my imaginary boxes to show that I've completed my various tasks. Here was my checklist for today:
Wake up at 4:15 am (thank you daylight savings): CHECK
Work out with Tony and do 135 push ups (on my toes, folks, that's not counting the ones one my knees): CHECK
Make lunches: CHECK
Wake kids up that aren't already awake (thanks to daylight savings): CHECK
Make breakfast: CHECK
Drive kids to bus stop: CHECK
Do laundry: CHECK
Get ready: CHECK
Order advent calendars on line for boys: CHECK (Half way done with my Christmas shopping folks, how are you doing on that?)
Go to Amy's house and check out her putzfrau: CHECK
Hire putzfrau to start cleaning my house next week: CHECK
Do happy dance that putzfrau starts next week: DOUBLE CHECK
Go to post office, mail letters, and send Sean a package of clothes for Afghanis: CHECK
Pick up lunch for Colton: CHECK
Eat lunch with Colton: CHECK
Go food shopping: CHECK
Buy way too much stuff that I don't need because Mason is with me: CHECK
See my visiting teachee in the commissary and check in with her: CHECK
Put all the groceries away: CHECK
Clean up Mason after he goes to the bathroom: Ewww, CHECK
Take care of recycling: CHECK
Read Mason stories: CHECK
Clean Mason AGAIN after he goes to the bathroom since he obviously has too much fiber in his diet: CHECK
Pick kids up from bus stop: CHECK
Help with homework: CHECK
Peel numerous clementines for Mason since he absolutely loves them and won't stop eating them: CHECK
Make doctor's appointment for Colton due to his big bug bite/bump/red thingy on his arm that won't go away: CHECK
Make dinner: CHECK
Have FHE: CHECK
Stop numerous fights: CHECK
Clean up dinner: CHECK
Vacuum floor since more rice ended up there than in kids' mouths: CHECK
Read scriptures: CHECK
Put away laundry: CHECK
Make second dinner since kids are hungry again: CHECK
Read stories: CHECK
Brush kids' teeth: CHECK
Sing songs: CHECK
Tell kids goodnight: CHECK
Read my own scriptures: CHECK
Study German: CHECK
Tell Ella to get back in bed: CHECK
Fall into bed ready for a repeat tomorrow: CHECK

Here's some fun pictures from today:
Mason, helping me bring in the groceries: (only carrying the bag with the candy canes in it though)

Mason dressing up as 'Sarah' (no idea who Sarah is, but that's who he pretends he is when he plays with Ella)

Colton, all smiles, even though he had a killer headache and his arm was hurting him:

Tiara and a Hair Cut

2010-10-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

So we actually had some plans today, and ended up just staying home and enjoying the cold weather outside by eating Halloween candy and watching movies inside. There was trick or treating on base, and we thought about going, but the kids were happy here; Colton was playing with some friends from up the street and Mason and Ella were playing nicely together. (Jaxon was somewhere in France still). So, we stayed here and I got a lot of organizing and 'putting away' done. This afternoon, Ella pulled out an arts and crafts book and asked to make tiaras. Sure! Mason, Ella and I got the necessary materials, sat down and created some lovely tiaras/crowns, good enough for any princess (or prince). Here are my royal children donning their new headwear:

Here's Ella decorating her tiara:

With these crowns they are now officially a prince and princess, but they still are under the supreme authoritative rule of their Queen Mother who doesn't need a crown, but maybe a slightly larger diamond in her wedding ring (hint hint Sean).
We rented some movies (I LOVE itunes and downloading movies right away) , popped some popcorn, and had a nice afternoon:

Jaxon called around 4 and said he was on his way. I know he was only gone for a whopping 23 hours, but I missed him. Things just don't feel right when one of the kids isn't here. We picked him up, tried to get some details about the trip from him, and came back home to resume candy eating and book reading. Overall, a successful day. Oh yeah, I cut Mason's hair.
The curls are pretty much gone, and it has started to look kinda scraggly. Kinda like Shaggy Rogers from Scooby Doo. So, I pulled out the scissors and went to work. I am by no means a professional barber, so I will probably have to take him to the barber shop within the next few days to fix it, but I think it's ok for the moment. He looks so much different. OLDER! Where is my baby??

Friday

2010-10-29T23:05:00.001-07:00

On Friday, I had planned for Mason and Olivia to decorate spider cupcakes. I had everything ready and they were excited to make them. But then, they just started having fun. They decorated their cupcakes with lots of yummy candies and didn't care if the final result was a spider or just a bunch of cool candy smooshed on top of a cupcake. I was reminded of an important lesson: have fun and enjoy the process, the final product isn't always what is most important.

After cupcakes, Olivia and Mason played so well together that I called Amy and asked if I could keep Olivia longer. I was on a roll and getting some serious cleaning done. After cleaning, Mason and I took off to Kaufland because I knew if we stayed in the house it would get messy again and I wanted to keep it clean for at least a few hours. Even if I wasn't home to enjoy it, just the thought of a clean house put a smile on my face. What is Kaufland, you ask? A cool German store. There is a German Payless shoe store right outside Kaufland and we scored with some cool new shoes for Mason. Did we really need anything at Kaufland? No, but once inside we found lots of stuff that we immediately couldn't live without. Like glow sticks, and German waffles, and knee high socks for Ella that she saw someone at church wearing and now totally needs desperately, and a space heater since it is COLD here and radiators just don't cut it folks. We got Ella and Colton from the bus, picked up Jaxon from his Military History club, and got ready to send Jaxon on a Scout camp out. Jaxon reluctantly agreed to attend this latest camp out even though it will be very cold there and no fires are allowed. I purchased the warmest sleeping bag that the BX stocked, loaded him up with chocolate (because everyone knows chocolate wards off dementors and keeps you warm) and sent him off with a bunch of young men and leaders tonight. They are going to Verdun. Yeah, that's in France. Is it SO COOL that he gets to go camping in France, two hours away, and tour WW I sites? Yeah, I think so. Let's not read about history, let's live it and visit it! Since he is a history buff, I figured this trip was right up his alley, but he doesn't really like camping. Camping = no electronics in Jaxon's book. So, it was a bit weird not having him around Friday night. But Mason and Ella had huge temper tantrums and fits and made lots of craziness, so it felt like I definitely had at least four kids. Do your kids go hog wild crazy as soon as you get on the phone or is it just mine? Oh, here's a picture of Ella in her Halloween/fall outfit this morning, all ready for school. No Halloween parties at school, but I convinced her to wear orange today.

Final note: look how pretty the sunrise was this morning:

I love living in Germany!!

What We've Been Up To

2010-10-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I'm getting bad about posting. I really really really would love to post something every day. But then this little thing called LIFE butts in, and things get busy. And crazy. So, what have we been up to? Well, two trips to European Country Living within 24 hours to pick up the new book/toy shelf that I bought last week. I wanted to save money on the delivery charge so Christy and I went over there to pick it up on Monday with some friends and their big truck. German construction blocked the path to the warehouse, so we returned the next day. Our big muscles were no match for the height and weight of this piece of furniture. We did such a good job bringing it in I almost tipped myself a few euros. I put all of Mason's big toys in it, and his room is starting to look much better. What do you think?

We made a book nook in the corner of their room and Colton spent some time tonight organizing his book. Man, that kid is definitely mine. He loves to organize. A man after my own heart!

Mason has had a little bit of a bloody nose all day. He has not been very receptive to the idea of me wiping his nose. But I cannot, in good conscience, have my kid's nose bleeding all day long. So, in comes a tissue. Here he is after I tried to clean his nose:

For all you Captain Underpants Fans: "ME NO LIKE TISSUE!!"
Remember that line from Attack of the Bionic Booger Lady?
Quality literature, folks, that's all I read...
So, what did we do yesterday? Well, we vacummed a little...

(I think wearing Ella's dresses helps Mason get in touch with the domestic diva persona which helps him clean better)
we made mini pizzas for dinner and watched them bake in the oven...

we cleaned out the kitchen cabinet with all our yummy baking supplies in it......

and let Colton have free reign in the kitchen while he used the aforementioned baking items he discovered hidden in the back of our cabinet to create his own perfect cookie: Sugar cookies with heath bar, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and white chocolate chips, decorated with Halloween frosting and icing:

He was so proud of them he took a picture of them while they baked:

On a serious note, please keep our friends, the Moyers, in your prayers. They lived in a duplex and the other half caught on fire two nights ago. They had to leave their house in just their jammies. All their belongings are either wet or damaged by smoke. Just when I think things are a bit hard or frustrating for me, something like this happens and knocks me back in place. They are safe and sound, but their lives just got turned upside down. Right before the holidays. Yuck. So, say an extra prayer for them, hug your family one extra time tonight, and count your blessings as you go to sleep.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to the chapel to partake of some good ol' fashioned Halloween fun. The Primary had a Halloween party in the Primary rooms with games and prizes for the kids. I personally baked 24 adorable bat cupcakes for the cake walk, and watched my kids have a good time at that game, along with the bowling game, fishing game, and ball toss. After a parade, a round of games, and some serious adrenaline, we got down to the business of trunk or treating. Since I wanted to take Ella and Mason around to the different cars, I let Jaxon be in charge of passing out candy at our car. Big mistake. I came back to find him throwing candy at certain children, one of which was his brother. UGH. Mason was done pretty quickly. He just wanted to go home and start eating his cornucopia of candy. His batman bucket was quickly getting filled with enough sugar to put any diabetic in a coma. Ella was all about seeing her friends, saying hi, figuring out what everyone else was dressed as, etc. Colton was all about seeing if he was the scariest kid at the whole activity. He LIVES for Halloween. This one day a year means a lot to Colton. He starts prep work months in advance: research, development, the whole 9 yards. We slacked a little this year and didn't do a dry run before hand. We waited until to night to do a full dress rehearsal. I had fun making him look as gruesome as possible. The only problem was Mason. Colton scared Mason. Colton's costume and make up were a little too good. Mason started to cry when he first saw Colton. But Colton, being the awesome big brother that he is, did everything he could to make Mason realize that it was really him underneath the make up and tried to be cute and funny with him. So, are you dying for some pictures? I thought so. Here are my wonderful pirate princess, Batman, and gruesome zombie!!!

Here is Batman and his fearsome twin, Batman II. The inseparable duo fought crime, protected citizens and devoured candy all evening long.

And what was I, you ask? Well, since I've got being a 'witch' down pat, I figured I might as well put on the costume and make it official for the night!

Here are the kids during the parade:

And getting candy from the trunks:

Family Home Evening

2010-10-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

For FHE tonight I thought we would get back to the basics. We have been pretty good about hitting spiritual topics lately, getting ready for General Conference, reviewing the basic gospel principles, etc., so I thought tonight we would focus on some other important issues that have been rising up lately. I figured it was not fair of me to be the only member of this household to possess certain knowledge. I have a responsibility to share my vast wealth of information with my children. So, tonight I taught them the following:
1) How to replace a roll of toilet paper on each of our toilet paper holders.
2) How to fold clothes in your drawers, rather than shove them inside.
3) How to use a certain 'magic wand' to remove certain discolorations, aka 'skid marks' from an unnamed porcelain bowl.

As soon I mentioned what we would be doing tonight, Jaxon smirked, then vanished. Colton, Ella, and Mason, however, were fascinated to find out how to unscrew the toilet paper holder and put another roll on, fold clothes to make the drawers look beautiful enough to make Martha Stewart proud, and they actually fought over who could use the toilet scrubber first. After FHE, Ella actually spent the next hour refolding all her clothes in her drawers and making them look beautiful. Great, now I made her OCD. Just kiddin', she did a great job straightening out her drawers and we'll see how long it takes to make them messy again. I'm starting the stop watch right now...
Here are the kids happily learning the basics of Home Maintenance 101:

Slowing Down

2010-10-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I am trying to slow down a bit these past two days. Once I was done with my book report for Relief Society Thursday night, I vowed to relax a little and enjoy things more. So, after frantically cleaning most of the house on Thursday, I was able to enjoy Olivia and Mason Friday morning while we baked and decorated these:

After watching Olivia, Mason and I played superheroes. Being in his room and seeing his big toys all over the floor made my final decision for me: I had to get the bookshelf at ECL that has big enough cubby holes to house all his jungles, castles, Batcaves and Toy Story Landfills. See, it's really a matter of following the commandments. In D&C we are admonished to have a 'house of order', so I want to be a good little Mormon mommy and have a house that is organized and orderly. I can't have order if toys are all over. And if I finally find a shelf that is tall and wide enough to hold Mason's obnoxiously large spielzeug (that's playthings for all you mono-lingual readers), I think I should jump at the chance and realize that I am not just caving into the carnal desires to visit ECL on a weekly basis, but rather uphold my duty to organize an orderly home. That said, Mason and I strolled on over to ECL. Guess what? They are having a sale!! (Yeah, I knew that already, I'm on their mailing list, are you??) I was a little disappointed that they still haven't completed my preferred customer parking spot, so I had to drive around the block before parking in a sort of legal spot in their parking lot. I am a serious, conscientious shopper, so I even brought my tape measurer to make sure that the openings in the shelves would fit his toys. I measured, I consulted, I pondered, and then I PURCHASED! Wanna hear something cool? I had enough euros in my wallet to buy this thing with cash. Christy and I didn't blow the wad of cash I had taken to France, so I had left over Euros burning a hole in my pocket that needed to be spent before the dollar drops any father down. So, armed with a VAT form, cash, and a Mason who gave the purchase two thumbs up, we bought the shelf and will be back on Monday to pick it up. (You have to give the store time to remove all their decorations from the shelves. Surprisingly, when I bought the shelf, they didn't just throw in everything that was ON the shelves too; weird.)
We went to the post office afterwards and IT had arrived. Jaxon's computer. He has been waiting and wishing and hoping and saving for this thing for MONTHS. I told him he had to earn half the money before he could have it, then as long as he kept his grades up (straight A's at the moment and it better continue), is kind to his siblings, and does his chores, he can keep the computer. So, when he got in the car from the bus stop, he told me that he has almost called me earlier to pick him up since he was feeling sick. Runny nose, stuffy head, etc. I turned to him and said, "Shoot, if you're sick, you won't be able to go home and open up your new computer."
I should have brought the video camera because the look that came over his face was priceless: pure joy meets happiness meets excitement. I dropped him off at home, left him alone with his new favorite possession, and took Colton, Ella and Mason to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I like NIcholas Cage. Yup, we've seen it before, but it's a good show. Plus, it is FREEZING outside, so that limits our choices for Fun After School Activities.
Here is Jaxon with his computer. He let the younger kids choose what color his keyboard would be.

This morning Jaxon woke up at 6:25. Funny thing: I can't get him up at 7:00 am on a school day, but now that he has his new computer, he is wide awake at the crack of dawn. We stayed home today, cleaned, played and took things nice and easy. Everyone needs a laid back, lazy day every now and then. We baked (or course) chocolate chip muffins for Colton and blueberry ones for Jaxon. The kids helped change their sheets and make their beds.

I even got help folding laundry and matching up socks. Very cool. The biggest thing we are going to worry about today, is what's for dinner. Any suggestions?

My Life

2010-10-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

My life lately has been consumed with two books:

I made the mistake of answering "yes" when asked if I like to read. A lady from our ward asked if I liked to read and if I was willing to read a great little book for the next enrichment meeting and give a short report on it.
"OK, sure" I thought. No big deal. Well, I LOVE to read, and do it every night before going to bed. But, I have been reading fiction, just fluff stuff to let me escape into another world for a few minutes. I had just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy, so Katniss and Peeta were fresh on my mind. Then I was given Three Cups of Tea to read. Now, to be honest, it is a good book. Probably even great. But it is non fiction, not exactly an easy read, and with more names and places than even a PDA could keep track of, I quickly got lost as to who is who in the book. That said, Greg Mortenson rocks, is a true hero, and helped me see that education is a gift, I was lucky to be educated in America, and I need to step out of my comfort zone and help others. Enough said. Now, anyone have another fluff book that I can read since I did my humanitarian reading for the decade?
Then, if I wasn't reading Three Cups of Tea, I have been studying this:

I know, the picture's sideways, I tried to turn it, but you know what? It's a German book, so chances are you couldn't understand it anyways! So, I'm doing you a favor by keeping it crooked so you don't even have to try to translate the title. I have been trying so hard to learn a little bit of the language. Three classes a week should be getting me up to speed, right? WRONG!! German is a hard language, heck, I can barely speak English, who am I kidding that I can learn a different language? But, I will persevere and not give up!! I will go, I will do, the things that my German teacher commands.....I know that she'll provide the way she wants me to obey.....I won't give up. I can now say "I'm clueless" in German, so really, I think I have all the phrases down that I'll need for a while.

And here is my sweet daughter....no wait....that's my son. He played all morning with other kids and I guess it was just a little too much to stay in boy clothes for such a long period of time. So, as soon as Ella came home, he changed into her clothes and felt much better. I love him, with or without make up and pantyhose on.

And here is my sweet Ella. She has been loving drawing pictures lately. And, you know what? She is getting GOOD!! She has already surpassed me in the ability to draw people. I have been stuck on stick figures for the past 35 years, and Ella has already graduated to drawing people with real bodies: arms, legs, necks, hair, and even fingers and toes. She is fantastic and I think I will soon be able to fund her future college education by auctioning off her artwork on Ebay.

And here is my wonderful Colton. Notice anything different about his face? Maybe his lip? Do you see the blood on it? That would be from his older brother. Last night, while I was trying to have a conversation with their father on Skype, I heard what sounded like a stampede upstairs. Then crying. A battle turned bloody when Jaxon started shooting crayons at Colton with his crossbow. No more medievel weapons for the preteen. UGH!

France or Bust

2010-10-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

MY best friend is cooler than YOUR best friend. She convinced her husband to take care of our little ones while she and I assumed the roles of Thelma and Louise and took off for a day of shopping in France. Living 45 minutes from the French border definitely has its advantages. The rain could not damped our spirits as we set off early this morning for some serious French shopping. Here we are as we took off in Dennis's cool Volvo, leaving him with the minivan (hee hee). Since neither of us have an international driver's license, we thought it best that we try to blend in with French traffic, not calling too much attention to our American selves. Big White Durango screams I'm American: Pull me over for no reason and give me a ticket!!

Here we are crossing the French border: (they must have just taken down the Happy Belated Birthday Angela sign underneath)

We hit a store called Cora, which is like a French Super Walmart. Everything from clothes to shoes to toys to food. And ohh laa laa, THE FOOD!! Rows of bagettes, cheeses, and PASTERIES!!
Look at all the yummy food:

Of course I bought more for the kids than for me. But I can totally justify everything. Colton really needed a better winter jacket. 36 degrees this morning folks. That's cold for us post-Hawaiians:

I found a cool Roman galdiator helmet at an antique store that we stopped off at on the way home. I thought it would be the perfect gift for Jaxon. My hope: I would get a huge "Cool Mom! Thanks!" Reality: "Oh, yeah, that's cool.."

I set all the yummy food on the table for the kids to dig into when they got home from school: eclairs, fruit, bagettes, and of course, for all of you who have seen the Princess and the Frog, MAN CATCHING BIGNETTES!!

On a side note, Ella was so upset when I told her the night before that I was going shopping in France the next day. I think she assumed that I was taking off for an extended trip and wouldn't return for ages. Here she is when I told her of our shopping plans:

She asked me in the morning if I was still going. I told her, "I am not driving to France. Don't worry." So, I did a Korihor and acted like a Nephite lawyer. Techinically, I didn't drive to France; Christy did. I just came along for the ride. She was a little upset when she found out I went, but quickly changed her mind when she saw the jacket and princess stuff I found for her. I know, I know, not totally honest, but it was SHOPPING IN FRANCE for pete's sake!!

Heidelberg

2010-10-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to Heidelberg with the Turner's. It was a bit chilly but nothing could slow down our adventurous spirits and desire for fun, not even temperatures in the 40's. We started off the day by going to the zoo. Once again, animals were the second attraction, the playgrounds were the biggest hit. The kids could have just played at the playgrounds the whole time; we had to force them to see some of the animals. They loved feeding the goats, even Colton fed them this time. He had a run in with a goat about 4 years ago and is still tramatized by the experience. He suffers from Post Tramatic Goat Disorder.

If there was something to climb IN or climb ON, my kids are all over it.

My favorite part was seeing the lions. There were about four female lions with one male. Nice odds. They weren't very far away and they were wide awake and active. It was so cool to see them just staring at us, like we were their own personal Happy Meals just a little too far out of their reach.

There was a place to see how far you could jump, and compare the length of your jump to the length of an animal's jump. Ella and Colton can jump as far as a frog, Mason jumped as far as a flea.

Then we were off to the Heidelberg castle. We finally were going somewhere that peaked Jaxon's interest. He LOVES military history, castles, battle, strategy, and anything weapon related. He was born in the wrong century. He found some amazing replicas of weapons in a gift shop but was smart and decided to save all his money for his new computer, instead of a cool weapon that most likely I would have to confiscate within minutes of bringing into our house. Here we are in front of the castle:

It had started to drizzle a bit by now, but we didn't care. We were having fun!!! We found a huge pile of leaves for the kids to throw around and play in:

Then I tried to take a good picture of Mason to count for his official three year old photo, but I didn't get a perfect shot. Good ones, but not a perfect one:

The colors of all the leaves were gorgeous around the castle grounds so I had to take a picture of the kids in front of some cool leaves (even though Mason protested the picture taking):

There was, of course, play sword fighting on the castle grounds:

As we left, we found a great wall that the kids felt necessary to attempt to scale. Perhaps all the talk of knights storming castle walls and attacking the castle inspired them to try to recreate an ancient attempt at overtaking the castle:

And here's one last picture of Mason. Ain't he a cutie?

Happy Birthday

2010-10-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

If you asked Mason, he would have told you that it was HIS birthday coming up, not mine. He has been saying that his birthday is in two weeks, for about three weeks now. He is also 5 years old, if you ask him. Don't know what happened to number 4, he just was done being 3 and figured 5 sounded good. On Wednesday we went over to Christy's for dinner because Christy ROCKS and her hubby was gonna help Colton and their son Cameron get started making their space ships for the Space Derby race in Cub Scouts. If not for Mr. Dennis, I was just planning on keeping Colton home from Scouts next Tuesday, taking him to a movie, and accidently forgetting that the Space Derby was going on.
"Oops! Really? The Space Derby was tonight? We were supposed to make a space ship out of wood? Sand it? Paint it? Assemble it? Shoot! I TOTALLY forgot!"
But thanks to Dennis, my kid won't be the only one missing that night. He will have a rocket in hand and be able to participate. I am right now in the process of bribing judges with chocolate chip cookies to secure Colton a spot in the top three winners of the night. Besides working on their rockets, we made individual pizzas for dinner. The kids LOVED rolling out their dough and topping them. Had it been my house, the kids would have been asking to top theirs with chocolate chips and marshmallows, but we were a little better at Christy's and actually put sauce, cheese and the occasional vegetable on ours.

Thursday was my birthday. My kids forgot and no one said anything about it til Sharshe called and asked Ella if she knew it was my birthday and had wished me a happy birthday. I got a few happy birthdays out of them, a fabulous picture/card from Colton, and the realization that birthdays aren't as much fun when you are older than when you are still single digits. I spent most of the day with Christy and we had fun. We had German class here in the morning, and spewed out German phrases while chowing down on Brown Sugar Pound Cake. Then we headed off to European Country Living to pick up Christy's new entertainment center. Very cool. I tried to convince her that it would make a GREAT birthday present, but I think she might have some explaining to do to Dennis if she didn't come home with it. Here is my favorite store:

After picking up the kids from the bus, we headed over to Landstuhl again for piano lessons. Remember that cute little Parisian shop right around the corner from ECL and piano, well, it was open, so I thought I better just pop my head in, since I walk by it all the time and don't want to be rude. The clothes were beautiful. The owner said they are all from Paris or Italy. Mason touched everything and deemed all clothing articles as "pretty". Ella loved the scarves. And purses. I tried one a few things, grabbed a purse and a scarf while the nice owner was feeding French chocolates to my kids, and ended up with some fun new winter clothes. Way overpriced, yes, but they're FRENCH! Everything in France is overpriced. Plus, it was my birthday, so price tags don't count today, right? Here are the kids in the store:

Ella admiring the scarves:

And me and my favorite girl outside our new favorite clothing store:

So, how does it feel to be 29 again? I think I've got this year down pat. Maybe next year I actually will let myself turn 30. Since I have the best husband, wonderful kids, am healthy and can kick anyone's hiney since I'm in the best shape of my life, I think I am happy with my age and don't mind getting older. Except for the wrinkles...

Retail Therapy

2010-10-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

So, since I spent much of yesterday driving in a car, I probably should have stayed out of my car today. But, by 11:00am, I heard it calling.......

"Angela..........."

"I miss you..........."

"It's been so long.............."

"Where are you????????"

I could stand it no longer and listened to the promptings of the ECL spirit, grabbed Mason, and off we headed to Landstuhl and my favorite store: European Country Living. You see, you cannot break the bonds of true love. Although we may be separated at times, it will always hold a special place in my heart. No sense of tiredness, lack of funds, or whining children can keep me away too long from my favorite store in the whole wide world. (Sorry Target, now that you are so far away, I must succumb to the fact that the distance between us is growing farther and farther and my love has turned to the readily accessible and available form of true happiness in retail form found within the walls of ECL. )

So, since my birthday is in two days, I figured a trip to ECL was justified, even called for. I was on a special mission this time too: I already have a lot of big furniture, so I was looking for some fun little accessories to brighten up our home and get us in the autumn spirit. Well, mission accomplished! I found some great decorations and Mason found balloons, so we were both happy. Here are some pictures I took while I was shopping just to help inspire me to decorating greatness when I get back home and try to recreate the ECL atmosphere with the items I bought:

And here is Mason actually walking on his own back to the car ( I had been holding him for the past hour so this was a rarity):

And here is a cute little outfit at a French store right on the way to ECL that may need to come home with me next time I'm nearby. Like on Thursday, during piano lessons, since Mr. Mark is just across the street...hmm.....

Opel Zoo

2010-10-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Opel Zoo with some fun friends, the Wilkenson's. Michelle is my long lost twin: we were both born in October of the same year, grew up in Southern California, got married in August of '92, and have 4 kids, three boys and one girl. Cool, huh? Germany has amazing zoos and parks. Germans don't have many kids, but it seems that they really go overboard designing parks and playgrounds for the few kids they do have. We got a bit of a late start, and with a stau (traffic jam), we got to the zoo a little before noon. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect but I was impressed. Truth be told, we didn't actually see a ton of animals, we spent most of the time at the playgrounds. Some of the equipment they had were sure to be banned in the US, or at least multiple consent forms required and age and height requirements adhered to before any child would be allowed to go on one. My kids had a blast. Even Jaxon got in on the fun and chased and played with the others.
Here are the kids at the first exhibit we saw, some giraffes, zebras and buffaloes:

Probably the highlight of the experience was camel riding. Unfortunately, Mason was too young to saddle up on a camel, but Colton and Ella took a spin around on the back of one. Last time they rode a camel, the pyramids were behind them. It had been a while, but they held on, had fun, and looked good while doing so!

So, are you feeling sorry for Mason yet? I was too, until I figured out the German sign and realized that Mason could ride the ponies. Ponies! Those are cool! Not as big as camels but still fun! That will work! So off we went. After explaining to the German pony worker that I only speak a little German, he found someone to translate for him and we figured out that he was asking Mason which pony he wanted to ride. Mason isn't too picky in his pony selection, so he picked the first one, appropriately named "Princess". I was handed the reigns, so I guessed it was up to me to lead these guys around the corral. Sure, no problem. I can walk a horse, take pictures, and keep Mason from falling all at the same time. I even threw in a piece of gum and chewed on top of everything else.
Here's Mason in all his cowboy glory:

Remember those cool electric cars from the Devil's Table park that the kids loved riding around and Jaxon even popped a tire on one of them? Well, they had some more of those cars at this zoo and all the kids loved going around the track, feeling the need for speed.

There was a swing to ride around on, jungle gyms to climb on, and of course, lots of french fries to consume.

I bought some bags of carrots when we entered the zoo, not knowing what we would be able to feed, but since they were selling them, I figured they'd come in handy at some point. We found some goats to feed, and even an elephant. Do elephants eat carrots? This one did. It was a little bit tricky to get Mason and Ella to throw one far enough so that the elephant could reach it with his trunk, but he ate all the ones we got near him.

And here are Mason and Ella riding an elephant. I know, its not a real one, but we can't be too picky now, can we?

Ok, now is when the fun starts. See, I had to leave the zoo kinda early since we had been invited to eat dinner at the Jensen's house at 5pm. I figured if we left at 3, that would give me half an hour to get lost, and still be ok to arrive on time since the zoo is 1 1/2 hours away from our neck of the woods. Did I mention yet that I forgot my GPS back home? I was a little worried about this the whole time I was at the zoo, and since the Wilkenson's weren't leaving yet, I knew it was up to me to find our way back. Well, I have a spiffy I phone with built in GPS. That should work just great, right? WRONG!! Bro. Wilkenson tried to give me directions before I left, I checked the map on my phone, looked at the directions it displayed, and still felt totally and hopelessly clueless. Oh well, I had enough gas, I would probably at least remain inside the country. I took off and right away discovered the directions on the phone were useless. It was telling me to do stuff that didn't match up with my surroundings. German streets aren't labeled well, so the fact that I was supposed to turn on Albergstasse meant pretty much nothing to me. I drove for about 1/2 hour, then saw a freeway. Up until this point, we were just cruising through pretty villages and wooded areas. I got on the freeway and within a few minutes, Michelle called.
"How ya doin?" she asked.
"LOST!!" I replied.
She was wonderful, figured out where I was and guided me to keep going a little further til I found the freeway I needed. She stayed on the phone til I was on the right freeway. THANK YOU MICHELLE!!! (The fact that I had her 12 year old son in the car might have added to her sense of wanting to make sure I reached home eventually and that she saw her son again before he turned 13).
So, I was zooming on the autobahn so I would be late for the Jensen's. We got there only fashionably late (10 minutes) since going 100 miles an hour really speeds things up for ya. We ate a delicious dinner, delightful dessert and then went Boo'ing.
We made goodies and delivered them secretly to her neighbors. Her kids went all out, dressing in black and even camouflaging their faces. Luckily, I love black, Jaxon wears tons, and Mason was wearing a black Halloween shirt, so most of us were appropriately dressed for the occasion. My kids LOVED trying to be sneaky and running up to people's doors, ringing bells, and running. Jaxon especially took it to the extreme as he pretended he was in the field, running a special ops mission, and barking orders to his soldiers to "Fall back!!" or "Stand down!!!" or "Proceed with caution!!"
Here are the LDS Ninjas, as we affectionately named them, getting ready for some business:

Awesome Ella

2010-10-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Ella was truly angelic on Saturday. She woke up on the right side of the bed and was wonderful and helpful all day. I took just her with me to the commissary to get some food. We talked shop: recipes, hair color, shoes, and accessories. She helped me pick everything out, push the cart and load up the belt at the check out stand. She even carried in the grocery bags faster than her two older brothers could grab them. You go girl! So the following is definitely NOT a picture of Ella sitting on my lap driving the car down the last few feet of our street to our house.

She was so excited to wear a new shirt from Christy to school on Friday. I told her I had the perfect necklace and bracelet to go with her outfit and she couldn't have been more happy to wear real jewelry to school.

After putting away the groceries, Ella got down to serious business. Decorating the pumpkin we picked out at the commissary. I bought these fun little shapes that fit into the pumpkin to make a face, no carving required. Now, I have nothing against carving, but in a house with three boys, I really think the less I take out sharp objects and show cool things I can do with them, the better. Plus, my pumpkins always go bad so soon and then the whole mold issue becomes a factor I hate to deal with. Here's Ella decorating the pumpkin with Jaxon:

And this is what happens when you buy a new electric toothbrush for your daughter. She is so excited to use it as soon as she gets home, that she brushes her teeth even though she hasn't eaten anything:

Peace and Quiet

2010-10-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

At 9:00 pm last night, I reflected on the past few days. I was thinking about some peaceful moments over the past few days when we just hung out, doing homework, or eating dinner, or reading scriptures, and enjoyed ourselves. I need to have more of those peaceful, quiet moments mixed in with all the craziness. I love to watch my children sleep. It is one of the only times they are quiet for longer than a few seconds. I feel peace as I watch them and hope for them and pray for them. They are wonderful kids and deserve the best the world has to offer them. I know Ella is dreaming of princesses and kitty cats right now:

Mason is dreaming of playing Playmobil with Aedan while calling someone a poopyhead (whether or not this term is technically a bad word is still being fiercely debated between certain members of this family. We have put it before the Supreme Court and will let you know the results as soon as possible):

And Colton, I'm sure he is dreaming about what he wants to buy his sweet mom for her birthday next week. Speaking of birthdays and getting older, Ella came into Mason's room today and asked me, "Mom, are you 59?"
Me: "Uh, NO! Do I look 59?"
Ella: "Oh, I thought you were 59. I told everyone in my class you are 59."
Me: "Awesome Ella. I keep telling you I'm 29, not 59! I better make a visit to your classroom to show the kids how great 59 looks."
Ella: "So, how old are you? Really?"
Me: "38"
Ella: "58?"
Me: "Forget it"

And a highlight of our day was making oatmeal raisin cookies for Sean. Mail seems to be getting to him in about a week, so we'll see if these guys make it there alright, individually wrapped in plastic and stored in a Pringles can. Hopefully not too stale.

And yes, to answer your next question, we DO bake pretty much every day.
Tschuss!

Going For A Walk

2010-10-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

The weather was gorgeous yesterday so Mason and I decided to pick the kids up from the bus stop and walk home. Then bus stop is about 3 blocks away and usually I meet the kids in a side parking lot with my car and drive them home. I know, they're spoiled. Remember the days of walking to and from school, uphill both ways, in the snow? Well, I don't, because my mom spoiled ME and drove me to school and picked me up, even when my school was a mile away. But yesterday the sky was blue, the birds were chirping and the sun was shining, which is a rarity here in Deutschland, so we took advantage of it and went for a walk. Here is my favorite house in the neighborhood that we walked by. It is always filled with beautiful flowers in the front yard.

One incredible thing about Germans is their strong work ethic and their extreme sense of cleanliness. Their outsides of their houses are as clean as their insides, which are ready for a photo shoot from Better Homes and Gardens at any moment. I don't think you can see in this picture, but this house's owner is in the front window, cleaning the rolladins. (Big cool metal plates that roll over windows for protection and darkness). I have never even thought about cleaning my rolladins. Ask me the last time I washed the windows. It rains all the time here. Doesn't that count for washing them? And, as far as the inside of the windows goes, I tell the kids not to wipe stuff of them, so that kinda keeps them clean, right? Ok, I'll grab the Windex and be right back......
Better now.
Mason was excited to go on a walk. Here he is at the start of our walk, excited to watch a cool construction truck pick up a dumpster full of rocks and load it in the back of its bed:

And here's a cool sight we get to see every day: a hundred year old church that's right around the corner from the bus stop:

Oh, you don't have a neat old church in your neighborhood? Really? Only recently contructed, prefabricated generic looking buildings? Oh, too bad. You should move to GERMANY!!
Here's Mason as we are getting close to the bus stop. Look at the gorgeous yellow leaves on the tree behind him. Oh, you can't see Mason? His head is down? Well, that's because he is already burned out from the walk. Or the ride I should say, since he wasn't even walking, I was pushing him. And since that beautiful sun was shining, the poor kid had the sun in his eyes and was getting cranky from the brightness. I lost Super Mom points for forgetting his Diego sunglasses in the car, which he repeatedly told me to turn around and get, so he wasn't happy about any more pictures at this point:

Here are the kids as they get off the bus:

I didn't take of picture of Colton complaining when he found out that I had walked to the bus stop, thereby requiring him to walk home on his own two legs.
"Aww Mom!! I have a lot of homework!!!"
Ella even grumbled about having to sit in the stroller; she didn't even have to WALK home:
"I'm tired!! The sun's in my eyes!"
So much for my wonderful idea about getting some sun and fresh air! Heaven forbid we have a nice day here and enjoy it. I think we are all sunned out from three years in Hawaii. Bring on the clouds and rain! We welcome gloomy weather!! Cloudy days=chocolate chip cookie baking.
Here we are rounding the last corner to our house. Can you see the garbage cans and recycling bags already lining the curbs? Since garbage is only picked up every other Thursday, we get excited early and by mid Wednesday everyone has their stuff out on the curbs already.

Homework, dinner, stories, laundry, a little cleaning, more stories, bedtime, singing, more stories, and then I got to practice German with my new textbook that finally came after 2 1/2 months. Crazy postal system. Hey Sean, guess what MASON asked me last night?
"What dreams am I gonna have?"
See, Ella asks me this question EVERY night, and I am always trying to think up fun and wonderful things to tell her that she will dream of. Like Mermaids and Fairies riding unicorns with her and going on a picnic. But since she's been asking this question for years now, I am running out of cute ideas. So now that Mason is starting to ask, I am gonna have to elicit the help of some professionals to think up some cool dream ideas. Brandon Mull is my friend on Facebook (author of Fablehaven). Maybe he can help...

Gratitude

2010-10-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

We listened to President Monson's talk on gratitude for FHE last night. It was awesome. Perfect. The prophet rocks. The end. Well, there's a little more I guess....so in lieu of his talk, I am going to reflect on some things I am grateful for:

I am thankful for my eldest
who is teaching me much about being a mom
He needs more than kisses and brownies
More like world knowledge and pearls of wisdom
He is growing up too fast
right before my very eyes
He is already a young man
quite mature and extremely wise

I am grateful for my son who scored the highest in his class on a test
For his hard work and diligence, always striving to be his best
For the ice cream we ate as we celebrated his score
And his love of education, always wanting to learn more

I am thankful for a daughter who teaches me each day
To enjoy the little things and be kind in what I say
Whose enthusiasm for life is infectious and contagious
And who keeps us smiling as she continues to wear outfits that are outrageous

And for a little one who loves me and wants me to hold him all day
since he hurt his foot and refuses to use it in any way
He makes me feel, on a scale, like I'm a 10
So I never put him down and feel like I'm pregnant all over again

I'm thankful for clothes
they keep us dry and warm
Even though Ella never puts them away
And her room looks like its been hit by a tropical storm

I'm thankful for a washing machine
How I'd hate to scrub clothes on a rock
Though it takes forever for me to put them all away
And there is always that one extra sock...

I'm thankful for delicious food
and having always enough on our plate
Though it is a pain to wash and dry them
So ending up in the rack seems to be their fate

I am thankful for fun FHE treats
that the kids couldn't wait to do
Painting Halloween pictures on brownies
Kept them happy and smiling too

And last but not least
I'm thankful that the PX is starting to put Christmas decorations on display
Since that means the holiday is coming soon
And Sean's return is a little closer every day!

24 hours

2010-10-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing the difference 24 hours can make? On Sunday, we watched General Conference in the comforts of our own living room. Since we are 8 hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time, we enjoyed the Saturday morning and afternoon session a day late. Things started out smoothly. I had activity packs for each of the kids to work on while I studiously listened and took notes on the conference addresses. Here's Ella matching up the apostle talking at the moment with his picture that we had hanging up:

And here's Jaxon actually singing along with the choir:

Ich singe nicht. Ich singe schlecht. (Translation: I don't sing. I sing badly.)
We all loved loved loved President Uchtdorf's talk. He inspired us to slow down and enjoy the simple things a bit. So, since he was a pilot and got us thinking about flying besides simplifying, the kids all went outside after GC to fly paper airplanes.

We had a good night and then it happened. Monday morning. Within minutes of two certain children waking up, there was whining. Then tears. Then more whining, this time with a side order of talking back. Then a dash of obstinence, a pinch of crankiness, and a teaspoonful of stubbornness. Mix it all together, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, and wah lah! Presto! Look what you end up with:

Are these the same children who were joyfully playing together yesterday after listening to Conference? Who listened to the Prophet's voice? Who listen to scriptures every day? Really? Oh well. Repeat cycle again. And again. We'll get it right eventually.

Fun with Food

2010-10-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

Ella came home from school so excited. She went to her first Deployment Buddy meeting. Since the kids go to school on an Air Force base and most of the students come from military families, deployments are a common practice and the school tries to help make them a little easier for the students by doing something fun once a month for the kids with a deployed parent. So, Ella went to a special class today and got a fun package with papers, stickers, envelopes and other things to help her write letters to her dad. She also got a cool new teddy bear that was welcomed into her room with open arms. Here she is with all her goodies:

And, totally unrelated, here is Mason when he dresses himself:

Watch out all you cute Nursery chicks: Mason is on the move!
On Thursday, we go to piano lessons. It was raining, so I parked and let the kids watch a movie while I practiced my German. The first clue that something was wrong was when I tried to open Jaxon's door automatically for him to get out, and nothing happened. Oops. I hadn't turned the car headlights off for the past half hour. Now, that really shouldn't be a big deal, right? But my battery stinks so it was pretty much kaput. We had lights, could run the movie, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Darn. I had half an hour til Jaxon's lesson was over. We were warm, safe, and no one had to pee (thank goodness) so things could have been a whole lot worse. So, who do I call? Again? "CHRISTY!!!" She drops everything and comes to rescue me in the rain. She jumps my car and we are off in no time. THANK YOU CHRISTY!!! By now Jaxon was done, the kids were hungry, and I was thinking about trading in my car. We hit the drive thru at McDonalds since it has been a few weeks since the Golden Arches have been visited by us, and little did I know how educational french fries could be. Look at Ella practicing her spelling with her pomme frites:

On Friday, I watched Olivia for a while. We are going to start swapping kids so I can add one more German class to my week and her mom can do Pilates by herself. I have decided Friday mornings will be our baking mornings, (how that is different than most other mornings, I don't know, since I love to bake any day, any time, any where) but I thought it would be fun for Mason and a little friend to make something fun once a week together. And since this is the start of October and the official start of Halloween season, we started off with Halloween cupcakes. Here are the budding chefs decorating their cupcakes:

Friday afternoon was dry for a little while so we could play outside a few minutes. The weather has been getting colder and the rainy season has definitely begun. We took advantage of the break in the wetness to run around a bit:

Our petunias are on their last breath and need some serious CPR to revive them. Ella and Mason started picking them and playing with them. Here's Mason bringing one to his favorite girl. Oh, why yes, that would be ME!

And here's Ella reminiscing about her Hawaiian days, trying to remember how to luau:

On Saturday, Christy and I headed off in the rain to go to the Homburg Flea Market. We die hards were there, looking for a great deal. Christy found some fun things, I found a fun wooden rocking horse for Mason and a wooden doll bed for Ella. Oh, yeah, I guess I found a little something for me too:

Isn't it cool? Doesn't it make you want to be a pioneer just so you can load this bad boy up and start trekking through the woods? Or maybe throw some kids in the back and go for a stroll? Or put a few beautiful plants/flowers in it and enjoy the whole vision? Endless possibilities...
Ella showed us a fun snack this afternoon. Her class has been learning about apples, so the other day they had some fun with apples, peanut butter and marshmallows. The ingredients were alright in my book, so we tried to replicate it at home. Here are Ella and Mason making 'mouths' out of the apple slices and 'teeth' out of the mini marshmallows:

Typical Bedtime

2010-09-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

So, we try to have the same bedtime routine every night: scriptures, stories, songs and bed. We got our old rocking chair back from storage and the kids have loved sitting on my lap each night while we read stories. Sometimes there is a bit of a fight over who gets my lap. It seems that although I have two legs, so technically two kids can sit there, only one child wants to sit there at a time since sharing is just a concept reserved for Disney movies and sunday school lessons. Here is Ella happy to have won a spot on my lap while Mason cries because she beat him to it:

Then Ella went to brush her teeth so Colton sneaked up and took her spot:

9 year olds are NOT too old to sit on their mom's lap.
Then Mason finally got up and we were ready for some serious book reading. Or silly face making.

Mason

2010-09-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

Mason has really started to come into his own lately. Maybe because he is branching out from being in Ella's shadow, playing with other kids more and growing up a bit. Now, don't get me wrong, he still loves Barbies and can't walk past a pair of high heels without trying them on, but he is playing Super Heros more and more and roaring and growling much of the time too. We are still working on expanding his dietary habits. He seems to eat the same four things over and over: grape nuts, french toast, chicken nuggets, clean pasta. Oh, and he loves fruits. What's clean pasta? Well, pasta that hasn't been contaminated with anything horrible like sauce or taste. Just butter and salt. So, the other night I made chicken and rice. Pretty boring and bland. I thought I wouldn't have too much trouble convincing him to eat. WRONG! Mason didn't want to eat it. There were Halloween cupcake holders on the table from us going through Halloween boxes earlier in the day. He grabbed them and said he wanted cupcakes. I said, "No can do. How about we put the chicken and rice in the cupcake holders? Will you eat it then?"
Mason: "SURE!"
So, I put the chicken and rice in the cupcake holders, poured some dinosaur and star sprinkles on the top, and he ate it. Yeah. Then of course Ella wanted the same, so, we scooped up some for her too.
Guess who was the first one ready for school this morning?

Yup, Mason!! The only problem with that is that Mason is the only one who doesn't go to school yet. So, while the other kids were still getting dressed and getting all their stuff together, Mason was heading out the door.

Ella's Project

2010-09-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

Don't you love when teachers assign a project that their students are supposed to do with their parents? Do teachers actually think that the student and parent will be joyfully sitting down at the kitchen table one Saturday afternoon while classical music plays in the back and we snack on wholesome goodies fresh from the oven and together design and assemble this wonderful project as we build lasting memories and giggle over long forgotten funny tidbits? WRONG!! When a teacher assigns a project that the student and parent is supposed to work on together, it ends up being a project that the parent does mostly by him/herself while the student runs around the house spraying all the creative art materials you scrounged together all over the house. Usually while holding a pair of sharp scissors. So, Ella's kindergarten class was assigned to do a family project, using four pieces of paper to show their family members, using pictures, stickers, drawings, etc. (you get the idea) This project had been looming over my head for the past four weeks and finally on Sunday I got serious and took Ella upstairs to look through all my stamps, stickers, and art supplies from my past creative scrapbooking days. Left alone, she would have stamped every inch of the walls and poured glitter all over herself in an attempt to look glamorous. I intervened and tried to direct the flow of creative juices to just the paper we were given. I printed out some pictures on the computer, let Ella choose which stamps and which colors to use, and we ended up with some fun pages depicting our family. Here's Ella with the final project:

And here's Mason playing hide and seek in a blanket while Ella and I finished her project:

Crepes, Apostles, Super Heroes and Halloween

2010-09-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the title sums up the past three days. Although Sunday was Fast Sunday for me, I don't make the little ones fast, and tortured myself by offering to make them crepes using Sean's new crepe pan that he hasn't even seen yet. Thanks Sean. It works great. You'll love it. I still can't make them as well as Sean can, but my clients aren't too picky. The favorite was sugar crepes, followed by strawberry jam ones. Here are the kids enjoying their breakfast:

Then I got a call from Mason's nursery leader asking if I was going to bring in cupcakes for Mason's birthday. Well, sure, I'd love to. Even though I'm fasting and I LOVE cake batter more than the finished product, I am strong and can bake without test tasting, if I really have to. So then in walks Jaxon with a brilliant idea.
"How about cake batter crepes?"
LIGHTBULB!!
Sounded delicious to me, so we made a few, and I saved one to eat when I broke my fast later on.

Church was good, then we went to our home teacher's house for dinner. My vegetarian son, Colton, ate two servings of chicken. Wow, I better get the recipe.
On Monday, we had a great Family Home Evening. I wish I could take credit, but Christy rocks and lent me the pictures of the prophet and apostles along with fun fact cards about each of them. Then, on line, I found a fun song to sing that teaches you the names of the first presidency and the 12 apostles. Google LDS PROPHET AND APOSTLE SONG. It is to the tune of an old hick tv show theme song, I can't even remember the name, but it makes you want to pull on some cowboy boots, stick a piece of straw in your mouth, and belt out the names of all the apostles. Very fun. Even Jaxon who, upon hearing it for the first time said, "You've GOT to be kidding me!!" sang loudly as we learned all the names. Here's Ella pointing to the pictures of the prophet and apostles as we sang:

Here's Jaxon getting in touch with his inner Halloween self wearing a sweet witch hat while singing:

After FHE we were privileged to be visited by our favorite Super Hero. Who's faster than a German tractor on a one way priority road? Who's stronger than a former East German wrestler when powered with enough juicy and sugar? Who's able to leap off bunk beds and trampolines with a shout and a roar? Yes, it's SUPER MASON!!!

After rescuing Molly from a perilous situation, Super Mason was rewarded with pumpkin bread for dessert. He graciously shared with his fans.

Roller Skating

2010-09-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I hurriedly assembled the last of the salads that I needed to bring to the Stake Relief Society meeting. I attended some great classes before whisking off to the kitchen to help with the lunch preparations. They had planned on about 110 sisters attending, but more and more tables kept being put out and we were running out of food. I think they fed about 140 sisters. One of my friends was worried about being able to feed everyone, and then said we should just put out two fishes and five loaves of bread and say to everyone, "Ok, if you want to eat, let's see how great your faith is and if we can make this food miraculously grow." Long story short, I think everyone ate except the people in the kitchen putting together all the food. Anyways, I had to leave early so I rushed back home to take the kids to birthday party number 1. It was a party for my German teacher's two kids so I thought we better go in case she was taking roll. The party was at the roller skating rink on Vogelweh. We have never been there before so it was my kids' first time on skates. I should have brought the video camera. Everyone put skates on, even me. Just standing up in them was a feat for Mason. I held him for a while as Ella clung for life to the wall as we slowly made our way around the rink. Colton took off looking like he was trying to swat a swarm of bees off of him as he jerked and flinched and tried to keep himself upright on his skates.
Here we are as we attempted to skate around:

As I flash backed to my junior high days and waited for a Cyndi Lauper song to play, I secretly prayed that I wouldn't fall down on my rear while I was skating around holding Mason. It seemed my worrying was for nothing as Colton did my share of falling for me. I should have strapped a pillow to that kid's rear because he kept going down hard and I worried about his skinniness factor. There is not an extra ounce of paddling anywhere on him. Ella fell a few times but was a trooper and kept going. Next time though, I think I'll bring bubble wrap for them. After skating we went to Kid's Zone for birthday party number two. This one was for one of Ella's friends from her class. The kids had fun, even Colton who had boycotted going earlier in the day, so we stayed a while and played some of the games.

Dick and Jane and Angela

2010-09-24T05:47:00.000-07:00

Meet Angela.

Angela wants to be great.
Angela is 38.
Angela wants to reach a celestial state.
Angela misses her eternal mate.
Angela likes to help people in a troubled state.
So Angela volunteers.....

Volunteer, Angela, Volunteer

But soon there is too much on Angela's plate.
Angela's day reaches a stale mate:
There is too much to do and no time to wait!

Faster, Angela, Faster

Angela watches other children to try and be nice
Although wiping other's bums is considered her vice

Wipe, Angela, Wipe

Angela counts membership forms for the PTSA
She tallies and reports numbers in an efficient way

Count, Angela, Count

Angela grills chicken for a RS luncheon tomorrow at noon
She is worried she'll poison the sisters by taking the chicken off too soon

Grill, Angela, Grill

Angela buys groceries and hurries to put them away in their place
German kitchens are small and have limited cupboard space

Shove, Angela, Shove

Angela got no sleep since her daughter woke her up at 2
Angela is tired and feeling a bit blue

Yawn, Angela, Yawn

Angela's daughter has two birthday parties tomorrow and presents must be bought
Off to the BX we go, though their present selection ain't so hot

Shop, Angela, Shop
Wrap, Angela, Wrap

Angela's eldest is going to a school dance tonight
The thought of Jaxon and girls gives his mother a fright

Find a happy place, Angela, Find a happy place....

Dinner, scriptures, stories and off to bed
Angela will soon be ready for another day ahead....

Sleep, Angela, Sleep

My newest son

2010-09-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have a new son. No, no, no need to throw me a shower or send flowers. I am just borrowing him for as long as I can. He has been adopted into the Burke household over the past weeks and is adjusting quite nicely to our routine. He used to be Aedan Turner, but now he is Aedan Burke. I still can't get him to call me mom, he will only say "uh, Mason's mom?" when he needs something, but we're working on that. Yesterday Aedan's old family got their household goods delivered, so we stole him for the day. He and Mason played great together. Aedan is exposing Mason to the world of legos, Play mobil, knights and pirates. Quite successfully I might add. We all went to piano lessons together and the kids had a fun time playing tag at the little park by the piano teacher's house. I don't know what I'm going to do when it starts getting dark and we have to sit in the car for the whole time. Oh, wait, ECL is right around the corner...never mind.
Here's Aedan showing us how tough he is:

And here's Ella showing me she learned how to skip. Wow. Just like that. She couldn't do that a week ago. She's also been singing songs in German and Spanish around the house. First tying shoes, then skipping, what's next? Driving? Algebra? Maybe.....CHORES!!! Hee hee

And here's what happens when you wake up too early and get frustrated that you can run fast because your shoe got wet:

After piano lessons, we walked over to the eis shop and ordered some ice cream. Yup, all in German since I started hosting German lessons in my house today. Every Thursday, 10:30-11:30. Kids are welcome. You're invited. A sweet sister in our ward is a native German and after I explained to her my duress about not being able to master the pronunciation of the German alphabet after taking German classes and finding it hard to leave Mason so I can take a German class, we worked out this great arrangement and now we have Micaela teaching us German once a week in the comforts of our own home. Those umlauts better watch out! I will be pronouncing you with perfection in no time!
Here are the kids on their first round of ice cream cones:

And here they are on their second rounds:

They all ordered erdbeer (strawberry) the second time. Sean, they are definitely your kids.

Ich bin hier (I am here)

2010-09-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

I'm here, I'm back, I know I'm a few days behind, but I've been busy with life. One house, four kids, church callings, service opportunities and school volunteering can all add up ya know. On Monday we were privileged to have Tyler over again. No naked bum shots this time, sorry. I borrowed Aedan for a few hours too since the three of them seem to have more fun together. We went to see Despicable Me. Now, I had just taken my kids to see it on Saturday, but it's a really cute movie so I thought it would be a good way to spend some time on Monday with the boys. For those of you who have seen it, Mason and I have been yelling "It's So FLUFFY!!!!!!" to each other all afternoon. Tyler fell asleep in the movie, but the other two stayed awake and totally enthralled the whole time. After the movie, I met up with Christy and we watched the kids play at the food court playground for a while.

Things got interesting when a fourth little boy started to invade Tyler, Mason and Aedan's play turf. At first, stern looks were exchanged. Then air kicks were placed near but not touching each other. Then things came to a stand off when the other boy started doing karate moves to Aedan. Quickly Mason took one side of him and Tyler came on the other. The three Ninjas stood poised, ready for any battle scenario that might occur.

Negotiators, (aka moms) were quickly called in and the stand off was resolved with no blood shed. The boys quickly moved on and played all together once again.

We came home and spend the rest of the afternoon playing Super Heroes, playmobil and legos.
So how was FHE on Monday?
Well, thanks for asking!! No screaming or crying fits to report for this week. We talked about prophets in anticipation for General Conference in two weeks. We sang the Latter Day Prophet song and tried to learn all their names. Being a convert is my excuse for not knowing all the Primary songs still, but I think after 22 years, I probably have to lay that excuse to rest. Ella kept calling Joseph Smith 'John' Smith, but she could tell me about him so that's what's important. We colored some prophet pictures...

had some yummy ice cream for a treat...

listen to Jaxon prepare for an Ebay bid he is going to place on a used Alienware computer tomorrow morning at 2:51 AM (yup, he's gonna wake up in the middle of the night and try to win one).....

and see Mason as cute as can be, once again, in Ella's clothes.....

Put another dollar in the therapy jar, and call it a night!

Crepes and Shoelaces

2010-09-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to Stake Conference. For some of you, the thought of two hours, four kids, hard metal chairs and no spouse may seem a bit daunting, but for me, I say, BRING IT ON!! I was adequately prepared for this event with M&Ms, mini oreos, water bottles, sippy cups,crayons, coloring books, and a box full of new activity books from Deseret Books. Things didn't look too good as we got there early and the only seats available were in the very back row of the gym. Maybe it was a good thing we were way in the back since we aren't known for our ability to sit quietly and reverently throughout church meetings. Except when the bag of M&Ms spilled, I rather wished we were in the carpeted chapel section rather than the noisy gym floor section. Oops. The kids did pretty well, I only had to give the stink eye to Ella once or twice when she got a bit antsy. The new books kept Colton totally enthralled the whole time, and even Jaxon who prides himself on his level or maturity, broke down at the end and did a few word searches. Mason spent 99% of the time on my lap with his blankie, trying to figure out how he can unravel my skirt since it resembles the crocheted edging of his beloved blankie and he has picked all the stitching apart over the past few months. I'm glad he had no luck taking apart my skirt, as things might have gotten embarrassing as I tried to make a subtle exit in just my slip. After Church, we went to the Turner's house for crepes. I bought an official crepe pan yesterday at the Bazaar and thought I better try it out to see if it's any good before our official crepe maker, Sean, returns home. I even bought one of those little rolly things that spreads out the batter evenly on the pan. It was cool. Christy and I cooked up a ton of crepes, set out all different toppings from berries and nutella to syrup and sugar and let every one dig in. They were well received.

When we got home from Christy's, Ella was determined to learn how to tie shoe laces. Remember all those shoes I got for her yesterday? One pair of shoes had laces and she really wanted to figure out how to tie them all by herself. So, we sat outside on the front steps for a few minutes while I tried to show her how the bunny went around the tree, threw the hole and then you have to pull him out by the ears. I don't know if that's the official shoe-tying story, but it seemed to help her visualize the whole process. Within minutes she was a pro. We moved to the wintergarten where she continued to tie and untie her shoes for a while. Then she turned to her family members and asked one and all if she could tie their shoes. This morning she was still on a shoe tying kick and had to tie and untie my workout shoes for me. Here she is during and after a successful shoe tying experience:

After shoe tying, we moved onto the game portion of the night. Lo and behold, all on their own, the kids played some games together. Nicely. No fighting. Happily. They had fun. Together. No bribing. It was AWESOME!!!

And to finish off our evening, Colton turned into ManBat. You mean Batman? No, he called himself ManBat and went around chasing Ella and Mason. Although the noise level reached maximum heights at some points, they all had a good time.

Flea Market Finds

2010-09-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

I admit, I am one girl who loves a good deal. I love flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales. So, I was excited to go to the monthly flea market at Rhine Ordinance Barracks this morning. Of course it was made extra fun because I met Christy there, and she is my favorite shopping partner (besides you Sean). I struck gold at one booth with three ladies selling girl clothes, sizes 6 + 7: Ella's size: PERFECT!!! Now, one might ask, does Ella need new clothes? But to me, that is like asking, does one really need to eat every day, or can you skip a day here and there? Or does one really need to shower after a grueling workout, or can't an extra squirt of perfume cover things up? WRONG!!! Ella is my only daughter, and by holding that title she is guaranteed the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of super cute clothes on sale. I found some great pants, jeans, and sweaters for her, which she genuinely needs since winter is fast approaching and the girl really only wears dresses right now. And then I turned the corner and saw them.........................shoes. All for either $1 or $2 a pair. Yes folks, the clouds actually parted, angels came down and played trumpets as I made out like a bandit and scored some sweet deals on fabulous foot wear. I found a cool air hockey table for Colton and a play gun for Mason, but who am I kidding, Mason loves Ella's clothes as much as she does, so I knew he'd be wearing those clothes and shoes too. Here is my sweet girl with her new stash of stuff:

And this is how I found Mason when I came back from the flea market:

And that toy gun I got for him? Guess who picked it up right away and used it on his younger brother?

Here's Ella in one of her new outfits which she modeled for us in an impromptu fashion show:

And probably my best find of the day was a box of these:

There was a Krispy Kreme fund raiser going on today so I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to help support the Fisher House by not buying some glazed donuts for the kinder. Yes they were old and a bit stale, but 10 seconds in the microwave can do wonders with them, not to mention it's been over nine months since we've had the real deal, so we're not super picky.

Super Heroes

2010-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS PARTIAL NUDITY!!! VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!!!

On Friday I was lucky enough to have two super cool kids come over for the day to play with Mason. Aedan and Tyler graced our house with their super hero presence. Within minutes, Aedan had transformed himself into Spider Man, Tyler assumed the identity of Mr. Incredible, and Mason was morphed into our personal favorite, Buzz Lightyear. Here are the super heroes busy fighting crime, ensuring justice and preserving peace in our neighborhood:

They roamed the street in pursuit of bad guys, only to discover a quiet German neighborhood with a low crime rate. Darn. Off to the back yard in search of some action:

After a clandestine meeting in their secret club house, one super hero realized something and made a quick exit:

Their secret lair did not have indoor plumbing. What's a super hero to do???

Not only do they fight crime, they water gardens, for free!!