Happy Thanksgiving

For some reason this didn't want to publish last night so here is take 2......

I hope that everyone has had a happy Thanksgiving!  For the first time in my entire life, I actually had to go to work today.  Since I work at an international school Thanksgiving day is not a celebrated holiday;however, since I  did have to work I was "thankful" for the double pay that I received ;)  Allan had a comp day saved up so he decided to cash in and take today off and kept the boys home from school today as well.  When I came home this evening the house looked and smelled fantastic!  They had worked all day on cleaning up the house and making a wonderful little feast.  Those boys are my world and I'm so thankful for them each and every day.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and love to all!  

Finally feeling like home

I feel like we have been doing nothing except working in this house every weekend.  Come to think of it I probably feel that way because that is exactly what we have been doing.  But alas, this house is finally becoming too feel more like home.  Here are some pictures of the boys' rooms. 

First 3 pics are z's room.  He was really excited about this move because for the first time ever he got first dibs on the bedroom!  That's a huge deal! then the next 3 pics are of m's room.  The last 2 pictures are of one of my favorite rooms...our walk-in closet.  There are only 2 closets in our house, which are 2 more than we had last time we were in Germany.  

Worker bees

Today marks the end of my first week of being a working mommy!  It's been a big change in our family, and is taking some adjusting, but no big complaints so far.  I'm working at the school so I still get to see the boys throughout the day which is great. 

Zachary has also been busy working around the house.  He has been fixing things for an achievement towards a cub scout badge.  He has fixed a wobbly toilet seat and put up a new small vanity mirror.  Then the next night he put together a small shelving unit (we have quite a few of these to make up for the lack of closets). 

I also had a doctor appointment in the city of Aachen at the largest hospital in Europe.  It looks like a factory on the outside (picture below).  The place is crazy busy and super confusing.  We do have patient liaisons at our disposal on base.  He met me at the hospital and took me to the doctor's office and waited with me the whole time to help with any language barriers.  It was a great tool to have.

E-8

Today Allan was promoted to Senior Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force!  We could not be more proud of him!  It's such a huge accomplishment, especially since only being in the service for 14.5 years. He's done exceptionally well for himself and he is such a dedicated Airman.  Just thought I would brag on him for a bit :)  The boys got to punch on daddy's stripes too! 

I also included a picture of the boys in their Halloween costumes (Molly too)

Organization

We finally received our household goods last Thursday and Friday and since then we have kept ourselves very busy unpacking.  Since it's been two and a half months since we have seen our belongings it was like Christmas morning around here.  The kids were on fall break last week so they were thrilled to be home for the big delivery.   They busied themselves playing with all their "new"toys, but then came the realization that everything needed a home.  Those little boys worked hard too!  Maybe a little to hard because Z said to me," Mom I'm done cleaning my room." " oh really?  Already?" I asked.  Z responds, "You know when are are eating dinner and you don't want anymore?  I'm that kind of done!" Oh that boy can make me laugh! 

So, here we are on Tuesday and things are still all over the place.  Imagine trying to shove all your stuff somewhere, in an manner, with no closets!  No place to hide anything. So my mission is to try very hard to organize the chaos.  I did a little project today and organized my spices with these super cute containers.  I have one nice shelf and the rest of my house looks like a disaster area.  Tomorrow is another day though! 

Another fun filled weekend...

Yesterday (Saturday) we all anxiously awaited a visit from our friends Cameron and Christina and their little boy Landon.  We were stationed with them at Buechel and they are now down in the Ramstein area which is about a 3 hour drive from here.  So they took the trek up to see us and we couldn't have been more excited!  Matthew and Zachary were entertaining themselves outside in the backyard and then I heard M come inside crying.  I look at his head and he has a small hole in it.  Apparently M was climbing in the tree and Z was taunting him one way or another and M fell out of the tree onto the bricks underneath =(  Poor baby boy.  Not only did he get scratched up on his leg, arm, back, and ear but now a hole in the head too!  So our friends were only about 25 mins away and M and I had to head off to the hospital.  I have to say though, they were pretty great.  We spent longer in the car driving to and from then we did in the emergency room.  They shaved up his head a bit and then glued it up and we were good to go.   He was really calm about it and so it was a nice experience, not that I want it to happen again any time soon, but it was nice that he was so laid back and that they were so quick on their end.  

After we were done with our quick trip to the ER we went back home and our friends were waiting for us!  I was so very excited to see their faces again after 4 years!  Christina and I headed into The Netherlands real quick real quick to grab some things at the farmer's market and then we all went to dinner to a Greek restaurant in town.  They started us off with these filled with ouzo.  

Then we had some wonderful food and fantastic conversation.  At the end of the meal I was given the check to pay and our total was 57.70 euro.  So I reached into my wallet to pay and then I tell the waiter that he can keep the change.  He looks at me and says "Oh, thank you!  How about another drink on the house?  Another round of ouzo?"  I'm thinking wow I only gave him an extra Euro or so tip, but since Germans don't usually tip here that must be a big deal.  It wasn't until after he left that Allan pointed out that I gave him 77 euro, not 57!  WHAT??!!  No wonder he was so gracious and then wanted to bring us another round of drinks.  I felt like a huge idiot and I'm not sure what I was thinking, but one thing is for sure, next time we go there we will be remembered.

Tour of Europe?

Just a fun little fact... the kids ride on tour busses to and from school.  Talk about riding in comfort!