There's no place like Rome

This past week we visited Rome, and some of the areas around it, to celebrate Valentine's Day (and the extra day off Rob had for President's Day.) Hang in there for a looong post (or two.)

We were so excited to eat a LOT of Italian food! After we checked in at the hotel, we went right out for dinner. (Eventually we also went out for Chinese and doner, just for a change of pace.)

We walked past the Hotel California-- Rob insisted on a picture, and I agreed as long as he didn't go in the door- because "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

The next morning we were up and ready to stand in line at The Vatican. It was surprisingly cold and wet! All those people in blue hats are Croatian tourists. They loved Toby and Charlotte.

After we made it in, it started to snow! A lot!! Charlotte was the only one of us who was excited about that, and ran out in the courtyard for a quick snack of real Italian ice.

The Vatican is MASSIVE.

This is Rob in the map room. All of those paintings on the wall are big, historic maps. And Rob loves a good map. ;)

Overstim, overstim, overstim!!!

This is the Room of the Immaculate Conception. Huh.

Michaelangelo's famous ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. :D

With two little kids in tow (and Toby fighting a cold) we went out to eat and to bed early after the Vatican and headed out again in the morning to see some Roman ruins. This is one view of The Forum. This was kinda the center of Roman politics and everybody had their own temple for hanging out with their peeps. Now it's a mess of ruins and fun for tourists.

Family photo in front of the Colosseum.

Back to the Forum-- this is on the opposite side of the previous picture.

We did a TON of walking in Rome.

Charlotte posed as a Roman statue on a pedestal. Notice the mud all over her leg and shoe... why is mud sooo irresistible to kids? AT least the weather was nicer on this day!

Inside the Colosseum.

After the Colosseum, we hiked off to the Pantheon. And we grabbed some french fries at McDonald's to keep the kids from passing out.

Walking (or shuffling) down the crowded, narrow streets of Rome to the famous Trevi fountain.

Kisses in romantical Rome. ;)

They say if you throw a coin into the fountain, it guarantees a return trip to Rome. (We decided not to toss a coin!)

Rob and Toby on the Spanish Steps- just before dusk. This was our last stop for the day and we were all exhausted.

Charlotte was super excited to get her face painted by a street artist before we headed off to dinner. And we were all excited to go eat and get tucked into bed before heading out for another busy day.

Hump Day!

Today marks 18 months since we arrived in Germany!

So, that is half way through our three year commitment!

Woo-hoo!!!!

(If you hurry, you still have time to plan a visit.)

Allen's progress

I've already posted this on Facebook and commented on it on YouTube... but I am so blown away by Allen's determination & hard work.

(A few miracles along the way haven't hurt either.)

You're amazing Twerp! Keep it up! :)

Did I mention it's been snowing?

This winter has been CRAZY for snow! Last winter, we hardly had any, and this winter it flurries, at least a little bit, most days. We've been having some fun getting the kids out to play, but I have to admit that I am way over winter right now. I am ready for some warmth and sunshine BIG TIME. (Hopefully we'll have some nice weather when we visit Rome in a few weeks.)

So here are a few pictures of us enjoying the snow- and a few of us going stir-crazy as well. ;)

Toby sledding with Daddy down the hill at the playground.

Mommy, Charlotte, & Toby (in the middle) coming down.

(Next year I think we need to get a sled that fits adult-size bums a bit better.)

Some days we get a little snow... some days we get a LOT, but there has been snow on the ground almost continuously for about 6 weeks now.

I've been doing yoga a lot lately- Toby's got mad yoga skillz. ;)

At first he was afraid of the vacuum,

but now he insists on having a turn every time I use it.

Did I mention 'stir-crazy?' (lol)

And last, but not least, Charlotte moved up from Nursery into Primary at the beginning of January. Here she is with Anton having lunch at her first Primary activity. She is having a HARD time with this adjustment-- she has to sit still much longer, and she misses her Nursery teacher. Thankfully, her good friend Anton is with her (and Sandro too) and while they may be the 3 rowdiest Sunbeams EVER, at least she is getting used to it. AND they have a fantastic teacher.

Charlotte-isms

I've had a few recent requests to share some more of the wisdom of our three year old Yoda. Enjoy. ;)

"Boys and girls are different... because of the pee-pees."

"You are naughty because you don't go to work. You don't have a job."

(While pretending to be Santa- to me.)

"Are you ready to be nice again?"

(To me again- as she is getting out of time-out.)

"These are your choices."

(Anytime she disagrees with us. Yes, I know where she gets this.)

"Mommies get together to talk... without kids? That's weird."

(As I'm leaving for book club.)

"I was a baby, but now I'm growed up. But I'm still growing. I'm going to be taller than Daddy."

(Gee, I hope not.)

oh shoot!

We've been having lots of fun shooting pictures of the kids with the new Sony Cybershot camera, and getting used to some of the features. Here are some of my favorites since Christmas.

Big shoes to fill.

"Cheeeeeese!"

The weather has been very cold lately,

Toby all bundled up in the car.

Charlotte is obsessed with eating snow. This day, she first smashed it on the glass door to the patio and then ate it off. Lovely.

Sweet Snow White and Little Polar.

Toby climbed up in the chair with his favorite Froggy and "Lisa," that he hauled down from the loft, and snuggled in with a blanket all by himself.

(He loves taking care of baby dolls.)

16 months old and irresistible.

Building towers is a new favorite pastime around here.

We have enough mega blocks to build a tower as tall as Rob! :)

vocab update

Toby is a man of few words.

He says "Mama," "Daaaaaaad," and "Bubba" for Charlotte and for a long time those have really been the only intelligible things coming out of his mouth besides yes/no head movements. This past week his vocab has blossomed though. :) He now says "juice" which is also what it sounds like when he says "shoes." He says "janku" (thank you) and most recently "tow" (rhymes with now) for tower-- aka he wants to play with blocks. It's fun to listen to him try to communicate with us FINALLY!

Charlotte, on the other hand, is so verbal, she has her own dialect.

She has developed the habit of saying things like "here my are!" And "I'm is!" (As in, 'Charlotte, eat your dinner'- 'I'm IS eatin'!') While Rob and I still think she's adorable when she makes these proclamations, I thought today maybe we should work on correcting them a little. Boy, that was more challenging than I thought it would be! I offered her a penny for her bank to say "here I am." That was impossible. (She was completely bewildered and embarrassed as the words kept coming out "I'm is" or "my am.") Slowly I said "I. Am." over and over. "I'm am." she finally replied. It'll have to do for now. Anyway, she's still the only 3 year old I know who uses words like "astute, usually, perhaps, exception, and fascinating" correctly. :)

Warning

Dearest children,

If you ever take all of the DVDs out of their cases and shove them under the guest room bed (especially in the five minutes it takes me to unload the dishwasher) again... "nice" Mommy might disappear forever.

I love you, Mommy

Dizzy Dazzling December

Merry (belated) Christmas!

We have been very much enjoying all of the festivities of this time of year... here are a few snapshots.

**Santa brought me a new camera (yippee), so I have been taking a LOT of pictures the past two days, but the first of these are from the old camera. Can you tell the difference? (I can.)**

Early in December, the kids and I started collecting pine cones on our walks in the woods to make some crafty ornaments. Then one night Charlotte and I glued silver glitter on them, and I tied some ribbon on, and Voila!

Toby has been REALLY interested in the workings of the woodstove this winter. No burns yet, thankfully.

I put icing on all of the sugar cookies, but let the kids do their own sprinkles. This was Toby's very own creation. :)

Charlotte's cookie masterpieces.

Of course, I like to decorate cookies too.

(Notice the blur? Guess which camera.)

In mid-December, we went to a Christmas concert and party at our church.

Rob and Toby looked dapper in their green shirts.

Charlotte is such a shy and retiring child. HA!

And finally, the main event!

Christmas morning was VERY exciting for Charlotte. She LOVES the dollhouse Santa brought her. (And all of her new toys, dress-up clothes, and books!)

(Blur, blur, grainy, blur.)

Toby also really enjoyed Christmas (though it took him 2 hours to open his presents.) Santa brought him a wagon and blocks and he received many other cool toys, (which he has had a lot of fun with already,) but he is just so cute taking care of the babies in Charlotte's dollhouse.

(Crystal clear photo = YAY!!!)

Today has been full of more fun with new toys and also with the new camera. :D

Crazy fairy princess in the foreground, singing Toby (with a spoon as usual) in the background.

I love this wild child.

(Fun new camera!)

Tickling and wiggling and giggling with Daddy.

(And not a blur in sight.)

Contrary to popular belief, Charlotte does actually stop moving from time to time, and always enjoys a good book.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

(See ya in 2010!!!)

Warms my heart

It's a cold day in Germany... so it made me feel very warm inside to hear Charlotte say, "Come on Toby, you're my best friend forever."

These two have their rocky moments (like when Charlotte nearly drowns Toby in the tub, or when Toby pulls Charlotte's hair in frustration) but it is my HOPE that they will have a close relationship and always look out for one another.

I grew up in the same house for the first 18 years of my life. I am still friends with many of my childhood neighbors. (Shout out to the Meadowlake Gang!) So, I feel bad that we move around on our kids-- and that the nature of the community we live in now, means that the friends we make here are also very transient.

The only upside of this, I think, is that in the absence of other long-term friends, Toby and Charlotte will be "best friends." Hopefully forever. :)

Rothenberg ob der Tauber

On Saturday we went to Rothenberg to visit the Christmas market there. Every town in Germany has a Christmas market of some sort-- but I wanted to visit this one because it is in Bavaria (it's like they invented Christmas here or something) and we hadn't been there yet (due to my goof-up back in June of getting directions to a different Rothenberg) and I really wanted to see what I had heard was the cutest little medieval walled city around. :)

Very life-like (almost creepy) Santa Claus sculpture.

This is one of the gates in the wall around Rothenberg.
It really is like an enchanted place from a fairy tale.

The view over the edge of the wall on one end of town.
(You can see the wall continuing to wind around the town.)

The ultimate "time out" chair. ;)

Music playing in the square near the giant Weihnachtsbaum. It was around the time we got here that the snow started falling! It was very Christmas-y magical. :)

Brats for everyone!
(Rob made an attempt to get us some non-alcoholic apple cider, but kept getting drinks that smelled (and cost) like the alcoholic ones and so we finally gave up on that.)

Happy little madchen--
with a Santa hat and a giant gingerbread cookie necklace.

One ride on the mini-carousel before we leave, as promised to the kiddos.

Toby was ECSTATIC about this.
He threw a fit when I pulled him out at the end of the ride.

Medieval German cuteness.