A Big, No HUGE Announcement!

I found out some wonderful news a couple of weeks ago. It is that kind of news that is life changing. When I found out, I was amazed, shocked, and just couldn't believe it. I've been waiting for a long time for this news, that I just almost couldn't believe it. The evening went kind of like this.

I was sitting at my computer after getting the kids to bed. I got a message on my Facebook to call my sister. This isn't uncommon since no one really calls me from the US. I have an international number, and it is free for me to call home, but not the other way around. I think everyone I know is about saving money, and we are in the same place. Why pay for another phone service just so we can have a US number?

So I picked up the phone and called her. I was thinking it was about a Mario Kart date or something. Instead I got some really awesome news. I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE! I have been waiting for a long time to enter into Auntie-hood. So, congrats to my sister and her husband. I can't wait to hold that lil darling and spoil them only the way an Auntie can.

How Momma Got Her Groove Back

So I have finally got into the groove of life with my husband gone. It is always a learning curve for me at the first. Those of you that know me in real life know I am not always the most motivated person when it comes to housework. I do it because I have to, but I never WANT to do it. I'm sure 90% of people out there agree. I have a hard time staying motivated to do it though when my husband is gone (you know the whole no one to be accountable to). So today I think I have kind of got back into my groove.

Now my kids aren't living in filth or anything like that. However, I do not put away toys every night. I do not load and wash the dishes every night. I get them done once a day, and the dishwasher has yet to fill up. I think it is just something that is hard to keep up with when you are playing a role as a single mom. For me, I choose my battles and limits.

All that said, I have started to pick up on the number of things I feel like doing. Today I have done several loads of laundry (including the sheets that are in the dryer as I type), dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and did some light cleaning. Tomorrow I need to get a bit done. I have friends coming over for soup, and I need to vacuum and things like that.

Now onto soup :) I love soup. I don't make a lot of soup in the summer months due to the heat. However, it is cold enough now to really make soup. There is something about soup that really just makes me feel all warm and cozy inside. So since it has been colder, I have been in the mood to make it. I can't eat a whole pot myself, so I asked a friend, her sister, and her two kids over for soup this week. I can't wait to pull out my big pot and start making it. There is just something about a pot of soup that simmers on the stove all day.

So pretty pointless tonight. I just am glad that I'm getting the hang of things, and that I'm going to make soup this week. That's all :)

My Tuba is NOT Playing

Have you ever read that poem by Shel Silverstein called What A Day? That poem pretty much has summed up my day today. The link has a cute picture to it, but if you don't want to click, here is the poem.

What a day,
Oh what a day.
My baby brother ran away,
And now my tuba will not play.
I'm eight years old
And turning grey, Oh what a day, oh what a day.

So today was a mess. It started pretty good, but real quick. It seemed like when we got up, we were hitting the road running. We had to go pay the phone bill this morning so we just decided to get a few things at the PX there. While at the PX, Samuel decided he wanted to step up on the diapers in the cart and over the side he went. Thank goodness he had his big winter coat on, and he didn't hit his head. It took us a bit to calm down, but it turned out okay.

Due to lunch out, running errands, and an unexpected gate check, Genevieve was late to school this afternoon. She seemed to just go right in and do her daily routine alone. When she gets to school she has a routine they do. First she goes in and goes to the bathroom, then she must wash her hands, answer the question of the day, and then she signs her name. After all those things are done, she can sit down at the tables and play or do the activities on them. As a mom who likes having a schedule for her children, I like that she knows what to expect when she gets there.

After school was over, we had a pretty relaxed evening. It was completed with dinner for the kids and bath time. They both went to bed without too much of a fight. They both go to hourly care late morning tomorrow. I'm looking forward to running the errands I have to alone :) Grocery shopping is always better when I don't have to drag the kids along with me. Here's to a great night and a better day tomorrow!

Lack of Updates, Trips, and BFFs

So I know it has been forever and a day since I have been on here updating everyone to the mundane things going on in my family's life. It's been a crazy few weeks, and maybe things will slow down for at least a little bit. I doubt it though. This is the time of the year when life just seems to fly by. I think that is true for just about everyone with the holiday season, but I also have both kid's birthdays in there too. It's a crazy time of year.

So since I have updated last, I have made a huge step in life. I went on a trip back to the US for the MOPS convention. The best part of the trip...no kids. That's right, I went on a trip without my kids. The woman I went with and I were so excited about our first flight without our kids, we chatted the whole first 3/4 of the flight. Then we got in a movie before they served the snacks and turned off the movie system. The convention itself was amazing. I had a great time, and I got so much useful information. It was great to get away, and it was even better to see that the kids, husband, and house could survive without me. It makes me ready to plan my next trip.

Since I have been back, I have been busy trying to get the kids to realize I'm not going away again. Genevieve has been really bad. She has been waking up in the middle of the night just to make sure I'm there. I think she is getting better about it, but it was rough going for a bit there. Samuel was extra clingy, but he's also calmed down. I think it was good for both the kids and their Dad. He seemed to come away with a new respect for what I do around here. It's always nice to hear that. Since I have been back, he's also been really good about helping out more. Double score!

Genevieve has been doing good in school. She has her routine set, and loves it. She has also found her very first BFF. :p Her and her friend are always together. Out of that, her mom and I have also become friends. It has been nice having someone else to talk to and hang out with.

So in a nut shell nothing amazing has been going on, but life has been going full force. Now that I'm home and have time in the evening, I hope to update more.

The Week's Over?!

So it seemed like one of those weeks. Everything was busy and everything crazy. I can't even remember how the week started, but I'm sure it was crazy :) I remember needing to go to a store on Tuesday but having an appointment for Samuel. I was so very thankful that Ms. Carol (his speech therapist) called that morning to ask if it was still a good time to meet. Thankfully we rescheduled to the end of the week.

Wednesday started very quickly. I had a meeting at 9 that morning. I woke up a little late (hit the snooze one too many times). In the rush to get everyone ready, I pulled off Genevieve's nightgown to find a nice big rash all over her stomach and back. If you know how my insurance works, you have to call in and make an appointment on a central number. They book for everything. If you call in to book something that you need looked at, you better hope they have something. They usually only schedule appointments for the day that it is. I have been able to talk my way into getting appointments the next day if it was less than 24 hours out. When they picked up the phone, they let me know they had an 8:45 or a 11:00. I knew that she shouldn't be in childcare at my meeting without knowing it was okay. So I took the early one. Little did I realize I only had 20 mins to get there and get checked in. Where we live, it takes at least a good 15 mins to get there.

The doctor was sure it wasn't contagious, but said it would be best to keep her out of the CDC for her preschool class just because of how bad it looked. I agreed, and we all took naps that afternoon. The next morning the kids both had appointments for their CDC renewal. The doctor we saw is the "rash expert" at the clinic, and he said it was indeed only Hives. He gave us a note so she could go back to school that afternoon. SCORE!

Yesterday I spent the day trying to get the stink out of Samuel's Diaper Champ. I love the Champ, but I can't stand how yucky it smells. A friend of mine who is OCD cleaning lady gave me a few options. I mixed a couple of them. So I spent the afternoon rubbing the Champ down with Odor Eraser Dawn and letting it sit. After 3 goes at that, and used some cleaner with bleach on it. If I stick my nose down the hole the diapers go in, you can still smell a hint of the nasty that was there. However, his room doesn't stink anymore, and the bathroom we have it in doesn't either. I'm guessing it is as good as it is going to get.

I also spent the day trying to get a jump start on the cleaning I know I need to do next week before my trip. I always try and keep things going in the week, but I always try and do a bit more when I'm going to be gone. However, when I go I usually take the kids. This time I am having to think about diapers, food, etc. It should be and has been a learning experience.

Our weekends are pretty lazy, and today wasn't any different. I tried to stay in my PJ pants as much as possible. We went over to the PX to grab a few things, but it didn't take more than an hour. We had pizza for dinner, so no cooking involved. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because there will be a good breakfast followed by time lounging on the sofa. The only thing that is going to really stink about tomorrow is all the laundry I have to fold. I sure wish the laundry folding fairy would show up tonight and surprise me.

What Has the World Come To?

If you know me, you might know that I really don't care for Halloween. I did as a child growing up, but since, not so much. As the years ticked away into my adulthood, I became upset by the "kids" who would be out. It didn't seem so much like there were children out roaming around wanting to fill their bags, but it seemed more like older teens who just wanted to cause problems. I had passed out candy on a few occasions only to get looked at like, "this is it lady?!" I spent Halloween in Chicago, and it was bad. My roommate and I sat out on our stairs (you had to be buzzed in to even get to our door, so we sat outside to pass out candy) that year. As we were out there, the cute little kids came by, but there were more of the big kids out. The public transportation was covered in toilet paper, eggs, etc. As the eggs started coming our way, that was it. No more Halloween for me.

With that said, I have never even thought about my kids going out for Halloween. When we lived in Oklahoma, she was really too little. She was less than 2, and I didn't think she needed to be out. She didn't understand or care. It was also bedtime, so we just skipped it. Last year however, her Daddy told me that I really needed to take her out. Against everything in me, I agreed. We didn't really dress her up too much. We got one of those princess dress up dresses from another family, and we put her in that. It wasn't a Halloween costume by any means. She didn't get a choice. She just had to go in that or not at all. She didn't really get it at first, but then when she realized what was going on, she totally got into it. It was nice for her, but I still could have cared less.

Fast forward to today. Today we officially bought our kids first Halloween costumes. I'm glad I decided to pull them out and try them on the kids. Genevieve has decided to be a ladybug. It's a very cute ladybug at that. I am needing to find a long sleeved leotard to put under it. Other than that, it is going to work out nice. We picked out a pirate costume for Samuel. We got the 24 months to 2T. The hole they expected him to fit in to put it on wouldn't even fit around both his legs. So I will be off tomorrow morning to exchange it for the bigger size. Good thing we decided to try them on tonight instead of waiting.

So there will be pictures to come in the next month. I have put them away though because Genevieve wants to play in her's really bad. I don't mind that, but I don't want anything to happen to it before. After the big night, she can play in it until the cows come home. I guess now my husband can leave me alone. I'm not a downer anymore. My kids have costumes, and they are going out on Halloween night.

Wow!

Can you believe we have lived in Germany a year now?! I was thinking about it the other day. A year ago we had loaded up our van and headed to Dallas. My wonderful cousin Mandi had opened her home to us and let us use it as our last station before the big flight. I remember so well the night before. I remember the calls to DFW, and all the planning we had done. I remember the nerves of that night. The fears and wondering what a 10 hour flight with the kids would be like. I also remember how it all turned out to not be a big deal at all. The trip to the gate (with Mandi's help) was very easy. The kids did very good on the flight, and we made it safe and sound. A couple of things I want to really reflect on though.

First I remember what it was like to get off the plane and head out of the airport for the first time. The smells were so different than anything I had smelled at airports around the US. Smells always seem to be something that strike me when visiting some place. It's the first of my senses I use. I remember that the weather was a bit warmer than I had planned for. I had wore a long sleeved jacket, and I had to take it off when installing the car seats into the van. I remember how foreign the landscape looked. The tree covered hills and mountains to the right were not something I was use to seeing. All the signs on the road in German scared me to death. I knew I'd have to recognize them so I could drive sometime. I remember thinking about being on the Autobahn was crazy. Then I saw a Toys R Us and thought "They have one of those here?"

Our first time on post was kind of the same. It was so different to see how things were set up overseas as compared to back home. Things were split up, and it was weird not to have total access to everything in one area. I remember wondering if I would feel at home soon or not. I remember how crazy our jet lag was that first week living in the hotel. I also remember how big our 1000 sq ft apartment looked with nothing in it.

It's hard to believe that it has already been a year. I have made several trips to the airport on my own now. While I still look out the windows from time to time the landscape is nothing new. I love the tree covered hills, but they have lost their wonder. The roads are not scary to me any more. I am pretty comfortable driving anywhere as long as I have my GPS. Since getting my license over here I have driven in not only Germany but also Austria. I still can't tell you what all the German signs mean, but I know the basic idea.

We have been to festivals, theme parks, castles, and much more in the year that has past. We have made ourselves at home in a place that isn't home at all. I use to think that Germany was probably a lot like the US, and I no do not think that at all. I'm thankful that from time to time someone does speak English. I'm thankful we can find people to work on our van and help us with other things. We have embraced the local food and have grown fond of it. However, we do miss our favorite US places (Texas Roadhouse, Arbys, etc). Our lives have changed so much from just a short year. It is so cute to hear Genevieve to tell everyone she lives in Jer-oh-ma-knee (it use to be Jeremy).

On the day we left Dallas to move here we met a family. We didn't think anything of it at the time because we met a lot of people there who were coming this way. There were probably about 6 or 7 families we met in the airport. This one family though said they were moving to Heidelberg too. I wondered that day if we'd ever run into them or even if we'd get along with them. We saw them on the flight, but after that, we never saw them at the airport in Frankfurt again. Everything was so crazy and busy.

At inprocessing we ran into them again. I asked how they were adjusting, and we talked for a few seconds before we had to run to the next thing. It was a couple days later I wished I would have asked their name or something. My husband said he had run into him on the bus a couple of times and thought that they lived close, but nothing really more than that.

It wasn't until about a month and a half after being here that I ran into them again. I was walking home from getting something to eat with the kids, and they were outside on the sidewalk. I was so excited to see them. I hurried Genevieve up and we caught up with them. We didn't visit for long, but I did find out that they lived in our stairwell. It was then that I realized that we probably should become friends. What were the chances of all those meetings? The next day I packed up the kids and headed over to her apartment to visit with her.

Since that day we have become really good friends. Their family is great to us. I know that if I needed anything they'd be there for me, and the same goes for us. It's amazing how it all worked out. We always joke about how we met and how long it took us to realize that we should be friends. It's been a great year with them though.

I guess you can say we had a good year. We have had family visit, I've been home, and we have seen a lot of things. I just hope that the remaining years will be just as good. Here's to another year as a family living overseas!