Fasching!

Fasching is like the Germans equivalent of Mardi Gras. It's a time to dress up and party. This year our stake primary presidency put on a fun Fasching party. Our ward had a great turn out:

This is my favorite picture. Ever.

A year in pictures: Week 23

Monday 14 February

Erick miraculously had the day off for Valentine's day (Thanks DeShane!) We sent the kids off to school, handed David over to a friend for the morning, and went to breakfast.

This was not our breakfast. This is the treat we purchased a few hours later.

I spent the entire day with Erick. It was fantastic.

Now I have to confess: This week, I only took pictures on Valentine's day. So that's what I'm going to show you.

Monday 14 February

My husband bought me flowers. Simple. Beautiful.

Monday 14 February

Our dear friends Eric and Bobbi sent the kids handmade Valentine's cards. Two of them showed up on Valentine's day. TJ's showed up a few days later. The surprise made the kids' whole day.

Thanks Eric and Bobbi!

Monday 14 February

This is my Valentine. How can I not love a face like this?

Monday 14 February

The kids were showing each other all kinds of love.

Monday 14 February

Bailey wanted to be sure that the grandmas all saw her with missing teeth. Exciting stuff!

A year in pictures: Week 22

Friday 4 February

American soldiers are not the only ones who train at our base. It's fairly common to see soldiers of other nationalities marching around or even shopping at the PX.

Friday 4 February (again)

I had a girls night with these two fantastic girls. We ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant in Nuremburg. Thanks for a great time ladies!

Monday 7 February

 

Bailey lost two teeth today. I took this picture moments before the teeth came out.

Tuesday 8 February

This is David at the health clinic. Shortly after this picture was taken, he was diagnosed with a double ear infection and an eye infection. Poor kid.

Wednesday 9 February

The "S" on this sign stand for Sparkasse, which is a bank. When I see it, I know there is an ATM nearby.

Thursday 10 February

It's that time of year again. The girls are getting their Valentine cards ready for their classmates at school.

A year in pictures: Week 21

Saturday 29 January

This is Sadie. She fell asleep on our stairs. Like this.

Monday 31 January

I can't get over those random, long, wispy hairs on David's head. I cut them this day, but not before I took a picture.

Tuesday 1 February

I attend church with all of these fantastic women.

Jody (in the green shirt) is going to have a baby soon, so we got together to celebrate.

Wednesday 2 February

Little boy blue...

David and Joey are bundled up ready to walk to the bus stop.

Thursday 3 February

I took Mary Anne to Kaufland today. Kaufland is a large grocery/everything store. Several two-story stores  in our town have these flat escalators that accommodate shopping carts.

Bailey is seven

Bailey turned seven. To celebrate this exciting birthday, we had some friends over. We sang happy birthday, we ate cupcakes, we made ice cream sundaes, we created amazing things with Bendaroos, and Bailey opened presents. It was a fun day!

Ice cream sundaes:

Bendaroos:

Presents:

A fantastic birthday for a fantastic girl:

A year in pictures: Week 20

Friday 21 January

I received a gift in the mail from my mother. It was this little Swiffer vacuum thing.

I love it. I use it every day. My poor rugs thank my mom every day for rescuing them from their sad, dirty, child-filled world.

Monday 24 January

This is Daisy. I took this picture at the request of a friend. Said friend later bought this van from us. I'm kind of sad that our little Venture is gone. She was a good car.

Tuesday 25 January

We got a package in the mail from Grandma B. In that package, TJ found some dinosaurs that he loves. He was especially thrilled that the dinosaurs could double as building blocks.

Wednesday 26 January

Joey was recognized as a Super Star at school today.

Of course, I'm not surprised. She is always a super star in my eyes.

A year in pictures: Week 19

Friday 14 January

This is one of those booster chairs that you attach to a regular dining chair. My thoughtful neighbors gave it to us. But this one stays on the floor. David loves to sit in it to play with toys. He can't sit up on his own yet, but I think he likes to be up where he can see the world.

Saturday 15 January

Tide was on sale at the Commissary. $3.50 off each bottle. We stocked up.

Sunday 16 January

Dad and the boys stayed home from church today. They were all sick. They were not too sick to watch football, however. This is poor sick David craning his neck to see the game on TV.

Tuesday 18 January 

I got a new computer last week. It's a touch screen. My finger is touching the comments link. It's very cool. I have been a bit lost since my laptop died a few months ago. Now, all is well in the world.

Wednesday 19 January

 This is Nicole and Lucas. They hosted a Spartan Spouse pot luck. I am a Spartan Spouse. I wear many different hats I guess. I love getting together with the other spouses from my company.

Thursday 20 January

Today was Erick's birthday. This is not Erick.

I was not going to see Erick on his birthday because he and most of his company were out training in the field this week. While I was at the Commissary, I ran into Thompson, one of the guys from the company. I asked Thompson to wait for me while I picked up this very manly gift. Thompson was more than happy to forward it on to 1st Sgt, who successfully humiliated Erick in front of the guys.

Happy Birthday Erick!

A year in pictures: Week 18

Friday 7 January

My girls with their eyes shut making a wish on a wishbone. This was a first for both of them.

Saturday 8 January

I have a very happy boy. That's why I had to capture this rare moment of anger.

I know.

A good mom would have picked him up rather than enjoying his misery.

I picked him up right after I took the picture.

Really.

Sunday 9 January

I love that my girls get along. I also love their red Crystal Light-stained mouths.

Monday 10 January

We still had friends staying with us. Three of them. They joined us for Family Home Evening. Here we are singing and doing actions to a fun song. I think they enjoyed the "fun songs" the most.

Tuesday 11 January 

This was left out over night. It was part of our lesson for Family Home Evening on Monday. We learned that every member of the family is important to help keep our family "on track." This morning our family train looks like it's struggling a bit.

Wednesday 12 January

With our husbands out training in the field, a few wives from our company got together. While we played games, Baby David had time to play with his buddy, Lincoln.

Thursday 13 January

I am a Lady Lion.

So are these four lovely ladies. We get together monthly to socialize.

On this night, we played Bunco.

Have I told you that I love being an Army wife?

A year in pictures: Week 17

I"m back. I paid the $5 for more blogger space. So let's do some catch up.

Friday 31 December

We attended a small party with a few friends. This beautiful little girl was there. She always makes me smile.

Saturday 1 January

Happy New Year! These are the parents of the little girl above. They are watching the sky light up from all the neighborhood fireworks. The Germans definitely know how to shoot fireworks.

Tuesday 4 January 

This is a star hanging in my front window. It is a very popular Christmas decoration in Germany. I love it so much I can't bear to take it down yet. All my other Christmas stuff is down, just not this star.

Thursday 6 January

I have three extra munchkins living in my house this week. I'm so grateful that they get along so well with my kids. It has been much easier than I had anticipated.