in between times

So what do you do when you are living in a hotel?  Or, living in a house with extremely minimal toys and furniture and dishes? Well, let me give you a few examples from our lives from August 1st-November 9th....

 

You go to local fests.  

I think this was the Herbstfest in Wiesbaden. We also went shopping a lot- for food, clothing, and looking for a few furniture items we knew we would need for the house.

 

Good thing our kids don't suffer from hay fever.

 

You take walks.

Soooooo glad we brought this double stroller on the plane. I wasn't sure it would be worth it, but it made it possible for me to get out and explore much more while we waited for our truck to get here.

 

You encourage your children to produce evening entertainment for you.

Charlotte, Toby, and Jake wrote and performed several "plays" for us with improvised costumes and hilarious story lines.  Way better than 95% of what Hollywood puts out. I also had them memorizing bits of poetry and scripture.  If they could recite it from memory for Rob when he got home, they got a piece of candy or a quarter.

 

You write letters, draw pictures, and take time getting to know your belly button.... and then show it to absolutely everyone you meet in the hope that they will show you their belly button as well.

 

 

You play way more video games than you are normally allowed to, and you finish potty training the toddler while you have an empty house and loaner furniture. (No couches were harmed in the taking of this picture.)

 

You play some music and DANCE!

 

 You take a lot of selfies.

 

You read a stack of books, and when you are done with those you download some on the Kindle and you borrow some more from the library, and you just keep reading.

 

You build elaborate things out of Playdough. 

And Lincoln Logs. And random bits of tile, sticks, and rocks that you find in the yard. And construction paper and tape.

 

So, in conclusion, you give your imagination a really good workout.

 

And you take a lot of selfies.

(This one taken just after our furniture arrived!  Yippee!)

Halloweeners

Happy Halloween! What? It is almost Thanksgiving? Yeah, well, our Autumn has gone by in a blur, and I am just now getting these cute photos up on the blog to share. So here it goes.

We HAD grand plans for this Halloween... but when the time came to actually pull all of the pieces together, we had just moved into our house and none of our things had arrived yet (sewing machine, costume parts we had already bought, etc.) So one day I took the kids to the store on base and pointed to the three racks of Halloween costumes and said, "go ahead and pick whatever you want."  It was a novel experience for us, and didn't go that smoothly as Jakey only wanted a costume that did not fit him, and Charlotte and I had our first in-store discussion of what is and is not appropriate attire for a little girl. But we did manage to leave the store with four little costumes.  

The kidddos wore them to our church's Halloween party and trunk-or-treat and had a great time.  We did not go trick-or-treating on Halloween this year... Last time we lived in Germany for three years we had exactly ZERO kids come to our door, so I wasn't really expecting our new neighbors to trick-or-treat either.  We did however hear our doorbell ring just as we were sitting down to dinner, and saw four boys in semi-costumes at our front gate.  Charlotte ran out and gave them candy from our stash.  And that was it.  Our landlord says that word will spread and next year we will have 50 trick-or-treaters.  I say bring it on.

 

Amelie the adorable lady bug.

 

Jake as Leonardo- teenage mutant ninja turtle.

This costume did not fit him at all!  see how short the sleeves are?  So I cut it in half and added that teal "belt" from an old t-short of Jakey's that just happened to be the right color.  It worked out okay, but was still skintight.

 

Toby the Ninja Lord. 

 Not just a ninja... I was corrected many times on that one.

 

And Charlotte as Hello Kitty.  Cute, and a wee bit more grown-up than the princess choices I tried to steer her toward, without being too grown-up like the fishnet stockinged ghoul girls that also came in her size.

Eight is great!

Welcome back y'all! Guess who FINALLY bought a new laptop? Yeah, that was a whole big mess, but now we are back online for real, and most of our boxes have been opened and the contents put away, and I am ready to catch up on the ol' blogeroo. I put all the photos at the end this time, so stick around.

Way back in October, we celebrated Charlotte's eighth birthday. Rob took the three big kids to one of our favorite haunts from last time we lived in Germany- Miramar.  This is an indoor pool complex with water slides, a wave pool, outdoor heated pools, indoor hot tubs, etc. I stayed home with Amelie because she was running a fever, and baked a birthday cake. When everyone got home we ate dinner, sang happy birthday, and gave Charlotte her gift- a cloth doll that she had seen on Amazon and had wanted for some time.  She has named her Bella.

Then this past week, Charlotte was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In our church, you must be at least eight years old to be baptized.  We do not believe in original sin, we believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and that little children are innocent and do not yet fully understand the difference between right and wrong.  However, by the time you are eight years old, you are beginning to really understand when you have done something wrong, and can be accountable for your own choices.

So anyway, Charlotte decided to be baptized and we were thrilled to help her make that happen.  A lovely lady, Julianna, offered to make Charlotte a baptism dress!  Charlotte got to draw a picture of what she wanted the dress to look like (puffed sleeves! big butt bow!) and then we went shopping and bought the fabrics and gave it all to Julianna. And she made this dress, which Charlotte loves so much.  What a memorable keepsake for her to have from her special day. Charlotte received other special gifts as well.  Grandma and Grandpa Anderson sent a book called "My Baptism Memories" with spaces to record guests, the program, and other items, and a sweet little necklace.  And Rob and I gave Charlotte my mom's scriptures that have her name on them. I think she would be happy to know Charlotte is reading them, rather than having them sit on a shelf. (She is rapidly plowing through Genesis.)

After church on Sunday, Charlotte and Rob dressed all in white. We had a short service in the chapel where Toby said the opening prayer and we sang Baptism from the children's songbook.  Then I gave a talk on baptism and then Rob and Charlotte went into the font where Rob baptized Charlotte. Afterward the guests listened to some piano music played by a woman in our ward while Rob and Charlotte got dried off and changed.  Then we had a talk by Charlotte's Sunday school teacher about the Holy Ghost. After that, Rob and Brother Boyer (from our Bishopric) placed their hands on Charlotte's head and confirmed her a member of the Church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost and a special blessing.  We believe that any person in the world may feel the influence of the Holy Ghost at times in their life, but receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost means that you may always have the Spirit to be with you- to help you make good choices, to comfort you, and so on- as long as you keep yourself worthy of that gift.  In other words, if you ignore them enough, you can stop noticing those quiet promptings in your life, whereas if you try to recognize those moments of inspiration, or premonition, and act on them, they can become more noticeable in the future.

After the blessing, we sang the hymn I am a Child of God and had a closing prayer.  Then we had brought some light refreshments to share, planning on roughly 50 people.  Well, I should have brought twice as much food.  It was a stampede!  All of the food (curried chicken salad wraps, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a fruit and veggie platter, chips, pretzels, drinks, and about a hundred Kit-Kats) was gone in the blink of an eye, and Rob and I came home and made pancakes because we didn't even eat anything.  It was amazing how many people came to support our Charlotte, when we have only lived here for less than three months.  We felt the love for sure!

So Charlotte girl, we are so proud of you.  You are growing into a kind, compassionate, smart, talented, hilarious, and beautiful young lady.  Some days you and I butt heads, but I am really thankful for your strong will and determination, as I am sure they will serve you well in this world as you need to stand up for yourself and to do what you know is right. We love you little Peanut.

 (Check out our awesome loaner furniture and dishes by the way... more about those in a future post.)

 At home before church.

 Just before her baptism.

 With the amazing Julianna.

After Charlotte's baptism.

 

With Daddy.

birthday buddies

The past two weeks we celebrated two birthdays in our family. Toby and Amelie's birthdays are just one day apart! We celebrated Toby a little early, and Ami a little bit late in order to have some breathing room in between.
 

 

Toby turned six years old!  This is my big kindergartener at school.  The littles and I brought in powdered doughnuts for his class on the Friday before his birthday.

 

Then Saturday morning we went to Ramba Zamba for lunch and to have a fun time.  This is a bounce house type of place in Mainz with big slides, trampolines, and so on.  Charlotte and Toby had been there before when we last lived in Germany, but I think they enjoyed it more now that they are a bit bigger.

 

All the kiddos got to ride the dino-karts.

 

Even the big Rob-kiddo back there!  ;)

 

It was a fun family day out.

 

For dinner, Toby requested mac & cheese & peas.  Gourmet, right?  I made easy mac in our hotel room microwave and the kids were all very happy.  Even Ami with her plate of peas.  (She doesn't know she's a baby.)

 

Then we had the birthday cake! 

Since I have no oven, and Toby had a grand request for a MarioKart themed cake that the commissary could not fulfill, I found a lady on base (via facebook) who bakes cakes.  She came through in a big way with this super fun cake.  We blew out candles in the smoking area outside (so as not to set off sprinklers in the hotel,) then brought it into the breakfast area to enjoy and share with some fellow hotel dwellers and staff.

 

Toby is such a wonderful little boy.  I continue to love his gentleness and empathy.  He is making a pretty smooth transition to kindergarten, though he does complain sometimes about having to do things he doesn't want to do, and he needs to continue to work on controlling his emotions.  (Welcome to school, buddy.) His teacher told me the other day that she asked the class to use a sight word they had been learning in a complete sentence.  She said that no one seemed to know what a sentence was, until Toby raised his hand and said, "I am going to the park." He used four of the sight words they had been learning and made an excellent sentence.  He also stuns us nearly daily by explaining math ideas that are much more complex than what he is doing in school.  For example, "10 rows of 9 plus 1 row of 9 would be 99, right?" We think he definitely has a talent for numbers and visual mental construction- if that makes sense.

 

But most of all, Toby is our sweet gentleman.  Every evening when he reminds me that he needs to give me hugs and kisses and tells me that he loves me, I melt again for my little heartbreaker.

 

And then we have this girl!

Amelie turned one year old last week! She is the smiliest, happiest baby we have ever had.  She is seriously a fully mobile ray of sunshine in our family. Yes, Ami took her first real solo steps in the Charlotte, NC airport on our way to Germany on Aug. 23rd. Now she is a speedy walker and climber!

 

Despite the fact that Alarm-elie still wakes up at least twice a night to nurse (normally I would have weaned her completely by now, but with having her in our room these past three months, and having the other kids in our room as well, I still get up with her to keep her quiet,) I still think she is adorable when she sleeps.  She has two lovies that she sleeps with- her seahorse from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, seen here,  and a Lambie from Pop-Pop and Grandma Linda, which is under her belly in this picture.

 

Ami and Mommy- a birthday selfie.

This girl loves her momma, and the feeling is totally mutual.

 

For Ami's birthday dinner I made vegetable (not)fried rice.  Amelie is fiercely independent when it comes to her food these days.  Someone feeding her is an insult to her, and so while she figures out how to use utensils, we clean up the mess.

 

Sometimes she gives up on the utensils and dives face-first into her food.

 

Our first birthday family tradition has been chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  In order to make that happen, I borrowed the oven of a friend on base and made a batch from a box mix.  We sang happy birthday to Ami outside and the big kids helped her blow out her candle.

 

Rob tried to take the wrapper off of the cupcake before handling it to Amelie.  She was not willing to wait, so dove in face-first again.

 

Clever daddy decided the best thing was not to come between the girl and her chocolate.

 

She really didn't make that big of a mess, but I was glad we set her in the grass outside to do it anyway.

 

Soooooo yummy fu manchu.

 

We adore this baby.  She is far too spoiled and doted on by mom, dad, and older siblings.  She is just irresistible!  I love walking places with Ami- everyone smiles and says hello to me, and then I realize that it is because she is sitting in the stroller, or grocery cart, grinning from ear to ear and princess waving to the world.  She really knows how to make friends and influence people. 

 

Her favorite place in the world is sitting between mom and dad.  She will scream and complain until one of us picks her up and puts her between us, and then she is as happy as a clam.  She doesn't talk much, and I don't think we have added many real new words to her vocab, but she understands many things and considers herself one of the big people in every way. I am so thankful for our little Ami. I can't imagine our family without her.  Since she was born, we have really felt that our family is complete.  What a fantastic, crazy first year she has had!

 

Happy birthday Toby and Amelie!

and the winner is....

House #1- the garden house!

Rob thinks I was a little disingenuous with the info that I posted on the two houses, or more people would have chosen the first house.  I suppose that is true, but I wanted to make it look like it was a contest of some sort.  The truth is, we made appointments to visit three houses.  We went to visit the first one and FELL IN LOVE with it.  The garden is something I have been wanting for a long time, but didn't think would be possible in Germany, or as renters for that matter.  The house gives us more space than we imagined we could afford, with two rooms and a bathroom set aside for visitors (start making your reservations now!) The town is one I am familiar with as our dear friends used to live here and it is an easy walk to a large park and petting zoo.  The owner is an older German gentleman who carries dog biscuits in his pocket and was happy to hear we have four children... I know that sounds crazy, but we had such a fantastic landlord last time we were in Germany, and have heard so many horror stories from others, that feeling good about the landlord is important. 

The second house we visited was TINY! I don't know how they calculated that square footage!  I could stand in the kitchen and touch every cupboard and appliance without moving my feet.  Seriously, the one bedroom apartment I was in as a single person had a larger kitchen. The dining room wasn't big enough to seat four, let alone six.  The yard and sunroom were lovely, but the interior just could not compete.  And as a bonus, house #2 sits on the flight path to Frankfurt and while we were there no less than 10 planes flew overhead- low and loud.  It was awful.  We got in the car and called the owner of the first house and that was that!  We didn't even go visit the third house on our list.

We have since been back to visit the house once more now that it is empty and we feel really good about our decision.  This house will promote the lifestyle we like to live in Germany- more time riding bikes, walking, gardening, and playing outdoors.  It will allow the kids to each have their own room.  The bus ride is long, and that is unfortunate, but from what I hear from other parents, unless you live on base, you have a long bus ride.  We'll see just how bad it is next month.  I'll post more photos when we are eventually settled in, for a virtual tour. 

Househunters International

We have been busy since we arrived here in Germany, and one of the first jobs on our list was to find a new home! We had some extensive criteria I suppose, but I don't think we are super hard to please.  Below you will see photos of our top two contenders, please comment with you vote on which house we chose, and in my next blog post I will tell you the winner!

Wishlist:
4+ bedrooms
2+ bathrooms
2000+ square feet
located between Rob's work and the kids' school
outdoor space to play
space for visitors
a nice big kitchen and playroom would be awesome

House #1- the garden house

 

Located fairly close to Rob's work (possible to bike ride when the weather is nice) but an hour bus ride for the kiddos.  The chimney in the photo is for an outdoor wood burning fireplace on the patio off of the living room space. 
7 bedrooms
3 1/2 bathrooms
2800 sq. ft. (which includes the finished basement)
1 car garage

The kitchen isn't my dream kitchen, but has space enough to work.  Those "cupboards" at the far left are the refrigerator and freezer. There is a separate pantry on this level.  Current tenants were in the process of packing when I took these photos, so the house is pretty messy, but the floors are in good shape.

Front yard has a small patch of grass, rose bushes, and a shrubbery shaped like Wilson from the movie Castaway (far right.)

Main level/ master bath.

One full bath on each level, plus a half bath in the foyer.

(cat not included)

This bedroom and the next one share a balcony off the side of the house.

Nice, but possibly a safety hazard for the little ones.

2nd upstairs bedroom

upstairs bathroom

3rd upstairs bedroom

The master bedroom plus one more are on the main level, plus there are a couple more in the basement level. The upper level also has a mini kitchen area- kinda awkward use of space.

The backyard is occupied by an established garden.  This photo is of raspberry canes, there are also blackberry bushes, other berry bushes, a composting bin, and ample space to grow veggies.

 

 

House #2- The winter garden house

4 bedroom

2 bathrooms

2100 square feet

1 car garage

 



 

This house is located closer to the kids' school, but still has a 45 min bus ride, and is a bit farther from Rob's work (no longer bike-able.) Located on a corner, this house has more lawn space (fully fenced, as is the other home,) and grape vines growing over the back wall.

 

Main floor bathroom. 

Upstairs bathroom is nearly identical.

Main floor bedroom

The winter garden. 

In the US we would call this a heated sunroom, looking out on the backyard.

 

Dining room with small wood burning fireplace.

 

Large master bedroom upstairs as well as two other smallish bedrooms.

 

Kitchen. (Fridge on the left, with freezer below.)

 

So, I realize I didn't take pictures of every single room, but either home would work for our family.  I will tell you that it was no contest.  One of these homes we looked at and really, really loved. We looked at the other and thought, "uh no."  What do you think?  Take a guess in the comments and I will let you know our choice and reasons in my next blog post.  :)