A month of family and friends... and more friends

I shouldn't be surprised

On Friday (Freitag according to David's onesie), the students of our elementary school attended their first assembly of the year. At each assembly, a handful of kids are selected to receive a "Star Award." The award represents excellent behavior.

I shouldn't be surprised that my Bailey received this award during her first month of school. She is definitely a "Star" in my eyes. Here she is with her principal:

At the assembly, we were surprised that Joey also won a prize. This one works a little differently. Every time a teacher sees a student demonstrating good behavior, he/she places that child's name into a bucket. At the assembly, they draw names from the bucket. Joey's name was drawn, and she selected a book, of course:

I brought the two boys along with me to the assembly. Happily, both were very well behaved:

After the assembly, we joined Dad for a community fest. It was a big event that included both Americans and Germans to celebrate our good relations in the area. There were tanks and other big military vehicles out for the kids to see and explore. There were jumping castles, pony rides, food, games, and much more.

The part that was most exciting to my kids was the face painting:

Joey really is happy. She was just worried that smiling would ruin her incredible face paint.

It was a good day!

A year in pictures: Week 2

Friday 17 September

I drive on this road at least a few times a week on my way to the Army base.

Saturday 18 September

These flowers grow in the flower bed by my front door. They are fading fast with the cold weather, so I had to take a picture of them while a few were still alive.

Sunday 19 September

This building used to be a dance club/bar. Elvis even performed here back during WWII when his Army unit was stationed in Grafenwoehr. It is now being used as a meeting house for my church.

Monday 20 September

The sunset was beautiful this evening. This picture doesn't do it justice, but I had to try to catch it before it was gone completely. I couldn't see a place to pull over, so I pointed my camera at the rear view mirror and hoped for the best.

Tuesday 21 September

This is TJ by the fountain in downtown Weiden. This is the part of the evening when he was being really good and happy. I won't mention the other part. :)

Wednesday 22 September

"I know that my Redeemer lives!" - the words to one of my favorite hymns.

This is a bust of Christ that I have in my home.

Thursday 23 September

It was time for bed and I hadn't taken a picture yet, so I took a picture of the old American flag hanging on my wall. I feel so blessed to belong to a country that allows so many freedoms. And I am honored to be married to a man who is willing to sacrifice himself to fight for those freedoms.

A good morning

When I got up this morning, there was a basket full of clean laundry sitting on the dining table. It's just one of many reasons why I love this man:

And last night when I got home from a meeting at church, the dishwasher was loaded. He makes my life so much easier than it would be without him. Thanks Erick. I love you!

-- Don't you just love the blue steel look he's giving?

More for the grandmas: Catching smiles

For some reason, I have been concerned about turning this into a "baby blog." I have tried really hard to keep my baby photos to a minimum. But since Grandma W (and a few others) claimed to feel gypped by my last baby post, I thought I would share just a few more pictures. (Thanks for that by the way. It's always nice to think that friends and family want to see more of me and my family.)

David feels an awful lot of love here in Germany. The first photo shows my neighbor, Liliana, holding him. He is always being held by someone. Talk about a spoiled kid. :)

The rest of the pictures are from this morning when David was giving us some quirky smiles. He tends to smile on only one side, which forces one eye to close and makes him look like a pirate. I love it! I wonder if he will take after my sister, Tracy, and have a crooked smile. Only time will tell.

I also wanted to show off his hair color. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? I see quite a bit of red in there. I wonder if it will stay...

Introducing: A year in pictures

For Christmas last year, Erick bought me a really nice camera. I love it, and I feel that it has captured our exciting travels here in Germany better than a point-and-shoot ever could. But I don't feel that I have taken sufficient time to truly learn how to use the camera with all of it's amazing features. I also feel as though I don't have a good eye for photography.

So how can I improve on such things? By practice, of course!

My talented friend Pam has improved her photo-taking abilities, in part, by taking at least one photo every day. I have decided to follow her example. I will attempt to take at least one photo per day for an entire year.

Don't expect sight-seeing pictures. Right now, I'm a mom with three kids in school and a newborn at home. Please enjoy Week 1 of my 52 week challenge.




A year in pictures: Week 1

Friday 10 September

I call this Portrait of a Mother. 

It is the mirror in my entryway. Is it obvious that I have kids? 

I have to clean it at least a few times a week. I cleaned it Friday, but not until after I took this picture.

Saturday 11 September

This is Pam, the friend that has inspired me to begin this photo-taking challenge. I took this picture during the awesome group baby shower that I attended last weekend. It was so much fun!

Sunday 12 September

Bailey. I love this girl. 

After church on Sunday, she pulled out the masking tape and taped her eyes shut. I drew eyes on the tape, and for the next half hour or so, we had this creepy girl walking around the house...giggling.

Monday 13 September

Happy Anniversary to me and Erick! 

After we put the kids to bed, Erick cooked crab legs. We sat on the floor in the living room and devoured this delicious treat while watching Lord of the Rings (the first one).

Crab legs and a movie have been stay-at-home date night traditions for many years. 

I love it!

Tuesday 14 September

Last weekend, we attended a dinner with Erick's battalion. 

To welcome Baby David to the battalion, they gave him this pewter mug with the Black Lions crest. 

It has his name and birthdate on the other side.

Wednesday 15 September

It's time for me to get in shape! 

This is the day I dusted off my road bike and attached it back onto the trainer. I still don't have a front tire  wheel support, so I opted to use my dictionary. 

It suddenly seems wrong somehow for a technical writer, like myself, to use a dictionary in such way. hmmm.

And yes, my rear-end is very, very sore.

Thursday 16 September

When Joey got off the bus today, she was only wearing one shoe. She had the other one in her hand. She handed it to me like this. Less than two weeks of school, and her new shoe has been completely destroyed. 

I have never met a girl who goes through shoes as quickly as she does. Plus, I thought Keds-brand shoes would last a bit longer than the cheaper ones. I was wrong.

Warning: baby photo overload intended for the grandmas

This month has been pretty eventful for the newest addition of our crew. I do not wish to bore you with all these pictures, but I will claim they are only for the grandmas who live so far away (and secretly hope you all oooo and ahhh over them).  Ha ha!

David was blessed by his father in church this month. He wore the same blessing outfit that TJ wore, which was made using my wedding dress. My awesome neighbor, Pam, took pictures of David in his outfit:

David is literally smothered with love in our house. The other kids can't get enough of him. They are always holding him and trying to get his attention. I absolutely love having two extra little mothers who help me take care of him any chance they get:

Last weekend, Erick and I attended a dinner with Erick's battalion. At the dinner, they presented Baby David with a pewter baby mug engraved with his name and birth date. It also had the battalion lion on the front. Very cool:

At church there are several women who have had or are going to have babies within a few months of each other. I am one of those women. A very thoughtful friend from our congregation decided to throw a baby shower for all of us. We had a great time. 

I loved socializing with all the other women and meeting all the other babies. In this picture, I am goofing around with Lydia, a friend of mine who should have her baby any day:

While I was in the hospital preparing to deliver David, Erick picked up some onesies. He got a package of them that have the days of the week in German. I love them. I think they are so cute. Plus I get to practice my German skills every time I get the boy dressed. (Sonntag is Sunday by the way):