Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the preparations for Shaylee's birthday party. She has been SOOO excited about her party....counting down the days. Her actual birthday isn't until next week, but it worked out better to have her party this weekend - now she gets to have fun twice over, today and on her actual birthday as well - lucky girl!

First things first - we got that room spic and span! Not sure how long it will stay this way -but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Shaylee wanted a unicorn themed party. So in preparation for one of the games - I drew a unicorn and colored and glittered it...now for the girls to pin the horn on the unicorn.

I also set the table in preparation for a little snack (kids are always hungry when they come home from school) and with unicorn pictures for the girls to color.

And of course - Shaylee's unicorn cake.

The Great Pumpkin Disguise

Shane's 4th grade class participated in a festive family project called The Great Pumpkin Disguise. Basically each child had to take a pumpkin of their choice and disguise it. We worked together as a family and disguised our pumpkin to look like a snail. I thought Slimy turned out really great!

The other 4th graders did an awesome job disguising their pumpkins. There are some really creative kids in Shane's class!

A box of apples, a hamburger happy meal (complete with ketchup and mustard), a penguin, jack-in-the-box, Betty Boop, witch, bird...

lamp (pumpkin was the lightbulb), snail, elephant, octopus, another penguin, M&M guy...

disco guy, puffy haired dud, and a ball and chain.

Aren't they GREAT!!! It was a really fun project. The 3rd and 5th graders voted for the best pumpkin in the categories of Best Disguised, Most Creative, Most Original, Scariest, Funniest, and Cutest....who would you vote for??

Messy Room

This post is dedicated to my friend Megan -you are not alone when it comes to kids who when told to go pick up their rooms end up getting no where or making more of a mess. We've got quite the messy room over here...or maybe we should call it well played in?!? - see proof below!

We are in the process of trying to get Syd and Shaylee's room cleaned up before Shaylee's birthday party, because all her friends are coming over. I told Shaylee it would be way more fun to play in her room if you could actually see the floor, and find the toys! We started this past weekend with some basics (dirty laundry, dress up clothes, baby doll stuff) but it's going to take another day or two to get it to where I'd call it presentable!

Tuesday Morning Coffee

A little over a month ago (I can hardly believe its been that long ago already) my good friend Verena was back in Germany for her brother's wedding. She was here for 3 weeks and I was fortunate enough to get to see her 3 different times during her short time here. You see, Verena and I use to get together for coffee every Tuesday morning (for almost a year). We started shortly after her son Lucien was born. We'd get together and just talk, drink coffee, and watch Silas interact with baby Lucien...oh how time flies! Lucien is no longer a baby - and now we were watching him interact with baby Shelby! I treasured those Tuesday morning coffee times with Verena and I'm so glad we could just pick up right where we left off when she was back here visiting. I can't wait til we move back to the US and I can visit her in Louisianna and have her come up and visit the Midwest! She is a true friend for life - hugs and kisses to you and yours Verena!!

Trying to get 4 kids to look at the camera and smile...

Verena and Shelby

I found this old picture I had taken of Lucien when Verena and I first started getting together...boy how he's grown!

And I also found this one of Silas (2) and Stella (3) - Stella has grown up so much in the past months as well!

Thanks for taking the time to see us when you were here - we miss spending time with you!!!

More on Shelby

Just a few more photos of Shelby taken in the last month...

Shelby can often be found either sucking on her tongue or sticking it out or playing with it with her fingers in/or up by her mouth.

The older kids are really great with Shelby - they are always wanting to hold her or entertain her - which is actually very nice for this busy mommy. Here Syd is with Shelby - lots of loving going on!

A Day on the Farm

A few weekends ago we spent a day on the farm - not grandpa's farm - but a real German farm! A co-worker of Jeremy's invited us to spend the day with him and his family at his father's farm. We had a fun-filled day and gorgeous weather to make it all the more enjoyable! The kids enjoyed tractor rides and feeding the cows. It was so interesting to see how different they farm here. It was a great experience for us, did I mention how much we enjoyed this day!

After lunch at a local restaurant the guys took the kids (in the tractors) up to a lookout point. There was a tower there they could climb. Afterwards the kids told me it was a good thing

I hadn't gone along because I wouldn't have like the climb up the tower...apparently it was just a wee bit dangerous (at least it would have been according to mommy) obviously not to daddy! Great view though.

Probably the highlight of the day was getting to ride in a real LAMBORGHINI!!!! A Lamborghini TRACTOR that is. Apparently before they were famous for making cars - they made tractors :) All of us posing in front of the Lamborghini tractor.

Notice in the above pictures that they do own a John Deere tractor too (of course). They also own a John Deere combine - but for some reason I didn't take any photos of it, nor of the farm setup. I really should have, since the combine was in a shed behind the house, and I'm not exactly sure how they actually get it in and out, since everything is so narrow. This farm is basically in the center of town, with the town church being just down the street. It was such a neat experience and such a great farming community! I think we missed home just a bit after our day on the farm!

Just in case you were wondering...

I thought I'd post these two lovely pictures for you....just in case you were wondering why I haven't been doing such a great job with updating the blog lately....I seem to be overwhelmed with LAUNDRY! I am happy to report that at the moment, the ironing is done and all those clothes that are taking over the bed in the picture - have been folded and put away - thus the reason I'm actually posting to the blog!!! Isn't this last picture a beautiful site (proof that I did actually fold them, and didn't just hide the mess a take a picture of an empty bed). Now if I could only figure out a way to keep the laundry from taking over again!

Exersaucer Time

I decided it was time to pull out the exersaucer for Shelby. First picture was the first time I put Shelby in it....within minutes she was bombarded with toys from her siblings....I think she actually looks a bit overwhelmed in the second photo!

However - shortly there after her siblings decided to dance in front of her - and finally she was at a level where she could see what was going on around her - and she absolutely LOVED it! She was so happy...full of laughs and giggles.

Don't you just love Shaylee's hair? She was bouncing around and I just happened to capture her "heart-shaped" hairdo, we got quite a few laughs from that one. Shelby is ALL smiles!!!

Making Spelling Fun

Most often you'd hear me telling the kids NOT to play with their food...but sometimes we break the rules in order to making learning fun!!! Sydney enjoyed writing out her spelling words with cooked spaghetti. Got kids?? Try it - it's fun!!

5 months

Time keeps flying by and Shelby is already 5 months old! And at the rate I'm getting this blog updated - she will soon be 6 months. She has been sick the past few weeks and I had her in to the doctor twice. She ended up having Bronchitis and had to have breathing treatments periodically throughout the day for 2 weeks. Fortunately she didn't seem to mind the treatments, and if I was lucky she'd sleep right through some of them (see photo). I'm glad to report she is finally over her coughing and appeared to be back to normal health for about 4 days...but now seems to be coming down with more cold symptoms again!

At one of the appointments the doctor did her normal checkup (all except the shots). She weighs 5650 grams (12.5 lbs) and is 61 centimeters long (24 inches). She is growing - but is still on the lower end of the percentiles.

3 Years Ago Today

October 13 - Today it has been 3 years since Jer's mom passed away. I know without a shadow of a doubt that she is rejoicing with Jesus and that brings joy in the midst of sorrow. But oh how I miss her! She loved Jesus with all of her heart and wanted each of us to have a personal relationship with Jesus as well. She wrote letters to us before she died, and this evening we will pull them out and read them once again. I treasure those letters and her words of insight and wisdom to each of us, but especially the words she wrote to my kids. Above all she told them to ask Jesus into their hearts, so that one day they would join grandma in heaven. How awesome! She is still being a witness for Christ. Oh that I may be able to follow in her footsteps and show Gods love through my actions as she did. We love you mom and grandma! In Loving Memory of Willie.

Oktoberfest 2010

Saturday, September 25 - Jeremy and I and little Shelby took the train to Munich to enjoy Oktoberfest. Our neighbor girl was nice enough to watch the other 4 kids for us :)

All dressed in our Dirndl and Lederhosen and ready to go! Shelby in her dirndl - isn't she cute!! But guess what took place right after I took that picture of her... I had waited to get her dressed until we were on the train - due to us getting up early, I figured it'd be easier to not worry about getting her dressed and such until we were comfortably on our way. Well, I had just put on her dirndl and tights along with 2 shirts and a onesie- and she looked so adorable that I had to get a picture. She was sitting comfortably by daddy and she decided it was time to do her morning business. It must have been the way she was sitting because it went straight up her back. It soaked her onesie, tights, and one of her shirts. Fortunately it didn't get on her dirndl!!! I couldn't believe it. Can you imagine what it was like to change that mess in a train bathroom (they are similar to airplane bathrooms) which are VERY small...plus with the motion of the train...not easy!! I ended up throwing away her onesie - because I didn't want to deal with the mess of rinsing it out. Fortunately I had brought another onesie along as well as some purple pants she could wear under her dirndl to keep her warm. Luckily I also had one pair of socks for her too, since originally I figured she'd just have her tights on. I tried to rinse out her tights and dry them in hopes that she could wear them - but gave up on that idea. Oh, the adventures of traveling with a baby!!! I was sure hoping our day would get better from here on out!

When we arrived in Munich it was pouring rain. We decided to grab a cab to get to the Oktoberfest grounds. This was much better than waiting for the tram along with most everyone else or getting soaked walking. (The above picture was actually taken before we left, not as we entered, due to the pouring rain when we first arrived.)

We arrived early enough to get in line at one of the big tents. We couldn't believe that we actually got in!!!! It is basically impossible to get in if you don't have reservations (which are extrememly expensive on the weekend) or arrive at like 6am to be the first in line. It was packed inside - loud and festive - but we were in! We soon became the tourist attraction (Jer had Shelby in the Bjorn at this point) as most people were amazed that we'd be crazy enough to bring a 4 month old baby to Oktoberfest! Unfortunately we couldn't find a place to sit, and the security guards weren't too keen on us being in there with a little baby. They stated to us that this really wasn't the place for a baby as it could get a rowdy and would be loud and dangerous for her. So we opted to leave the tent - in hopes of finding another smaller restaurant that would take us in :(

Jer standing outside in the rain (with Shelby) in front of the tent we just left.

We ended up in a smaller restaurant - but we were only allowed to stay one hour - we didn't care - we were just glad to be warm and dry again. We ordered the traditional Bavarian meal of Beer and Weisswurst. It was a nice little place, but shortly after our arrival water started dripping on Jeremy from the ceiling above!! There was just too much rain - fortunately it was only drips - and he had a hat on!

Next we ventured to another restaurant that we had been to last year with Mike and Renee. This place has all crazy stuff hanging from the walls and ceiling!

At first we sat by a family with 2 boys and their friend with another little boy. We were glad we weren't the only people bringing kids to Oktoberfest! When they left we were joined by an Italian couple, Giulio and Veronica. We spent the next hour or so having a great time talking with them. Giulio liked to talk (so much that he didn't even touch his food he had ordered) and Veronica was just so sweet! They adored Shelby and couldn't believe we had 4 more kids back home! We may even make another trip to Italy just to visit them:)

Finally the rain stopped and we enjoyed a few festivities outside. Jer wanted to test his strength, but first he had to help the guy running the booth fix the platform. All the bolts were coming loose and it wasn't working properly. Maybe from all the hammer-hitting!?!

Afterwards Jer stated the mechanism was still not working properly - but he did take home 5 roses for helping!!!

Next we headed to the Wildstuben restaurant. Jer took a photo of me in front of the building - check out the guy behind me in the photo - he apparently wanted to get in the shot as well! Hilarious!!!!

We also met a great bunch of people here (we shared a large table with them). That is one of the best things about Oktoberfest - hanging out with people and having a good time!