"Big" news

It's "D" Week in our home this week, meaning I have kids walking around on all fours barking and roaring like dogs and dinosaurs. I have beautiful pictures of Daniel and lions colored and a great "D" made in to a dinosaur.

They actually worked on this together, and you can sort of see their names. Hannah has a yellow "H" and purple "A" on the left, along with what looks like an M/N/W mixed. Zachary is at the top in black, spelled backwards because he insisted that's how he wanted to write it. Oh, and with an extra "H" thrown in. Not sure if this should concern me or not yet... But I was VERY impressed with how well he cut the shapes out, as he hasn't touched scissors in a loooooong time. (Like, over 8 months probably? They were hidden because of the 3 haircuts in 1 week sister did.) He found this sitting on my desk. I had told him what we WERE going to do with it yesterday, and today I found him cutting it all out. I pulled up the original on the computer and they'd run and look at it, then run back and put theirs together. I was so impressed with how well they were working together, and how well they did with it. The neck is on top of the head because there was no neck in the one online, so he glued the head down first. He asked where that was suppose to go and when I said it was the neck, this is what he did ;-)

My husband even read several "D" books to them tonight, about ducks, and dalmatians and other great things.

Luke 6:31- Do unto others as you would have them do to you- is getting repeated often. And I've even used it a few times in the "Would you want your sister to do that to you? Remember our "D" Bible verse? Let's not do that then!"

But I'll be honest. I haven't done nearly as much as I'd hoped. It's been a CRAZY week. Monday we walked to MOPS (as my husband is at school with our vehicle every day.) Tuesday I had two friends over to make bath salts for our Catholic Women of the Chapel meeting (CWOC), and one stayed until hubby got home. Wednesday I had another friend whom I hadn't seen in over a month over, and really enjoyed her company.

Today we walked again, this time to Bible study, and I became the "THIS HOUSE MUST GET CLEANED!!!" Mom. Ok, so it really just got picked up. And kind of swept. In fact, half of the dirt is still sitting in a pile under the broom, because I had hoped to finish sweeping it all eventually, and never did. Maybe tomorrow right? I did run the dishwasher and handwashed a few other dishes! Now that's a rarity for me. And then spent the evening reading homeschooling blogs. Well, I take that back. That was my PLAN, until I got a nice coupon from Joanns with FREE SHIPPING, and ended up purchasing some craft supplies, well, a lot of craft supplies, for the kids... then read a few blog posts, then decided to update mine!

And here we are. Then tomorrow, I'm watching my friends' kids for her in the morning. I'm praying that maybe it's warmish outside, (You know, a warm "high of 40") because man, my kids are going insane inside!! But today was pretty cold. I did NOT enjoy walking in the cold. It's suppose to rain tonight though, so we may not make it out :-( We'll have to see.

Oh, and the BIG news? Tomorrow is our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! WAHOO! I NEVER would have thought we'd be celebrating our 5th Anniversary with 3 kids between 1 and 4, having lived in SC, CO, FL, and now Germany, with a year long deployment in there, having lived in 5 apartments/houses (6 if you count the month in the hotel ;-)), become Godparents 3 times, been blessed to be aunt and uncle so many more times, see 6 of our siblings get married since us, gone to Rome, umm... yeah, not sure what else. As I said in my New Year Post, I'm excited to not have anything planned for 2012. (Should I knock on wood haha?)

Anyway, I am sooooooo thankful and blessed for the man in my life, my husband, my love, my companion and partner, my helpmate, my support, my world. God has taught us so much, and blessed us so much and all I can say is I am eternally thankful for the man God has given me.

Linky Link

Today is going to be a heavy link day, because I've been browsing around the internet a lot lately. If you're looking for homeschool preschool links, stay til the end, because I'm planning on posting what I've been using!

I recently read this article, which is AMAZING. Seriously, everyone should read it. Especially moms. It then led me to the writer's blog, Momastery. This blog is awesome. Like, I can't stop reading. She's real, she talks about motherhood like it really is. Like this post. It's perfect, and I couldn't stop laughing at it. And finally, she had this post in the Huffington Post about the SAHM vs the WOHM. Well worth the read too. Anyway, enough about her blog, but I'm sure I'll be reading it more in the future.

Then there was also this lovely piece by a woman some women I know, know. How's that for complicated haha? To the Mother With Only One Child. And my final non-homeschooling link is this one. It's about Mary, the Mother of God. It's a new site I've heard, and it talks all about Mary. I honestly haven't looked at it much, but I've heard it's awesome, so am kind of putting it here to remind myself to come back and look at it. ;-)

Now... homeschooling. I've been posting lots of pictures with our homeschooling on Facebook, and many people have asked me what websites I'm using, so here's a run down of a lot of them.

I started off with the idea from a letter a week, doing just that. However, I really wasn't a fan of everything there, even though many said they loved it. So I decided to stick with the idea of a letter a week, but do my own thing. First, I wanted to include scripture memory in for each letter. These are the two sites I found that had fabulous scripture help for children. Impress Your Kids and I Can Teach My Child.

Everyday, we talk about what our letter is, the scripture, and words that start with that. With "C" I gathered a bunch of things from around the house that started with "C" and put them in a 'grab bag' and let them pull them out and talk about how they started with "C". Then, because they LOVE writing on the dry erase board, I let them practice writing the letter on the board. My 4 year old definitely writes them better than the 3 year old, but I'm not going for perfection yet at all.

I also printed out cards with site words, from this website. I colored all of them, and hung them on the wall. We are only on "C" and my site word wall is very full, so we may have to figure out a different plan eventually. We also have a "learning wall", that we hang all of our Bible verses on, and the things they've made, like cotton ball clouds for "C".

I also like to throw in a Bible story or Saint story, or both, if I can. This site is great for Bible stories. The Catholic Toolbox. and if you're Catholic and never checked out her blog, Catholic Icing is FABULOUS for Catholic ideas and crafts, for Saints, Holy Days, Feast Days, etc. She also has a Catholic preschool Curriculum, but I didn't want to be tied in to one curriculum, and wanted flexibility for the preschool years. (Ut oh, what does that say about me and homeschooling in the future?? I've always said I'll use a curriculum when we get in to the serious years. ;-))

This site is AWESOME for craft ideas for kids. I mean, AWESOME. Preschool Alphabet.

Someone also told me that "Confessions of a Homeschooler" was a good website, but i haven't checked in to it yet.

Anyway, I hope you found some of these links helpful! In all honesty, I take one night on the weekend, and sit down with my computer and start googling for ideas. For example, I found this days of creation mini book just by googling. Not sure if this was the site I used, but it was the same book. The kids colored it and can easily read it to you and tell you what was made on each day. It's amazing to see a 3yo and 4yo tell the story of creation!

Frustrations and Family Fun

Well, life in a foreign country definitely has it's frustrations. I've had several lately. Our cable (Tv and internet) provider just decided to go digital. They emailed everyone saying swing by and pick up the new box you need for your cable. (We had the very small package, just €20 extra a month, so we could have Disney, National Geographic, a few extras since tv is different here.) We go to pick it up, and it costs €90 to get! No where in the advertisements/communication did it say that. I let them know that was ridiculous, and instead canceled our cable and sent an email to their customer service, although I don't expect a reply. I'm still furious about it.

Then I went to the Post Office to pick up a package. After waiting in line for 45 minutes, I got told we didn't have a package. Either they gave me two slips for the package I already picked up, or they miss placed it, but I could just wait until I got a second notice. That's the second time in a month it's happened! GRrr.. I wish I could just have mail delivered to my house.

Then I went to the grocery store. Strawberries were on 'sale' for $1.99! That's great compared to the $3.36 they've been (or at one point, $8.11!!!). So I went to check out, and they ran up as $3.36. I noticed and complained and the woman said "Oh yeah, it's been ringing up wrong." Umm... then why isn't it getting changed if I'm not the first to complain? And the part that gets me, that happens ALL.THE.TIME. here!!! Seriously, I can tell you at least 5 stories of things being marked one thing and ringing up the wrong (more expensive) price in the past two months. Sometimes they honor the marked price, other times they don't, and you have to catch it. So that means you have to make sure you're watching every thing as it's being rung up. And this is only on the base.

Oh, and there's the issue that the government still owes us a few grand, and then, for some mysterious reason, our paycheck this week was a few hundred dollars short. But can we check our "paystub"? no, because we only get it at the end of the month. And can we call finance? No, because they only do communication via email here, and we've only been emailing them for 3 months with no reply.

So, these are a few of the frustrations. In happier news, my husband actually had today off for MLK Day. Normally he never gets a 3 day weekend because his job can't afford people to be off for 3 days in a row. But, because he's in school and not at work for a few weeks, he got it off! Wahoo! So what exciting things did we do? Nothing. Well, we got a few random things done I've been needing my husband to do, and today went on a huge walk, including some jogging for the kids and I. My middle child is a great motivator. She loves to run and says "Hurry mommy, don't stop! We've gotta beat the boys!" Loved it heheee.

Also, we've been homeschooling finally. This is why I haven't had the time to blog. Every time I sit down to work on the computer, I'm usually looking up stuff for preschool. We just began letter "C" this week. Maybe I'll write more about that later, if I get time. ;-)

And in final news, I'm considering participating in a 3 month "Biggest Loser" program on base. I can either participate, or pay to possibly win. I'd be SHOCKED if I won, but hey, maybe it'd motivate me even more. Either way, maybe if i do it, it'd give me the push I really need to lose weight. MAYBE. ;-)

German doctor

I had my first endocrinology (for T1 diabetes) appointment the other day with my new doctor, a German, off-base doctor. I was so nervous, was 15 min late, cried climbing the stairs to find the office. I finally figured HUGE letters across the door might be a doctor's office and went in. It was. I still don't understand why "PRAXIS" was across the door, when that means surgery according to my translate book... Endocrinologists don't do surgery that I'm aware of, or at least, never in the 26 years I've dealt with one have I had surgery... Although Google also says it translates "Practice".

Anyway, aside from being stressed, it was okay. Although, not much of an "appointment". More a meeting with the doctor where she told me "I dont understand any of these (convenient) printouts. Here's a logbook, write down a week's worth of sugars and bring it in next time." I HAVEN'T USED A LOGBOOK IN 10+ YEARS!!! Ugh, outdated Europeans.... And it's really easy to understand if you look at them. You have minimed patients, since you assumed that's the pump I use, why don't you understand the minimed software???

So they took blood for my Hemoglobin A1C, and made me two appointments for the future, one to come in and do lots of labwork-fasting, ugh- and an ultrasound (!?!?). Apparently to look inside, like at my bones from what the nurse tried to say when trying to find the English word... I'm still uncertain. Then I have to go back a week after that. Unfortunately, I made the appointments for a bad time, so need to call and try to reschedule. Like bad time as in my husband will have our one vehicle and there's no way to get there.

Which is another fun thing we're about to deal with. The husband will be in a very special 'school' for about 6 weeks. This is awesome and i'm very proud of him. However, it will be about 20 minutes away, and we only have one vehicle... this will be a BLAST! :)

Fun times, fun times. Now to dishes and then I'm determined to sew something I desperately need today. Pics to follow if i get it done! :)

Kids pondering the Holy Family

Today during lunch, my older two were admiring a Holy Family scene that was on the table. The conversation went something like this:

Zach: Mommy, Mary used her scarf to wrap Jesus up. Why?

Me: Well, he was probably cold....

Zach: Mommy, why don't they have any children?

Me: They do! They have Jesus!

Zach: No, they need two more kids. They need 3 kids!

Me: Oh? They do?

Zach: Yeah! They do. They need 3 just like us. Two more girls.

Me: Well, next time you pray to Jesus, let him know.

Zach: Mommy, why don't they take Jesus to Church?

Me: They do.

Zach: But I've never seen him. (He's thinking BABY Jesus, as opposed to Jesus on the cross)

Me: Well... ::thinking:: Well, Jesus isn't alive anymore, to where we can see him. He's in heaven. But he's in church. Remember on the cross?

A few moments later. Zach: But? Jesus became God?

Me: Well, kind of. He's the same person. Like you call Daddy "Dad, Daddy, Father, and I call him Jon", well, Jesus and God are the same.

Zach... no more words, just quietness. After about 2 minutes, I notice it's completely quiet from the two kids. I asked them why they're being so quiet.
Zach: Because, it's nice. Let's all be quiet. No talking.

Hannah: Yeah, because Abby is asleep.

Wow! For a four year old, this kid threw me some tough Spiritual questions today! I love seeing his mind work, but man, I'm not quick enough on my feet!! Looking back, I could have said things better, but oh well. I have years to continue to form him. It's also hard to try to give an answer on a 4 year old level.

First Day of 2012

The first day of 2012 was overall good. I wasn't a "good" Christian. I did lots of housework. I got the dishes done, finally put away TONS of laundry and cleaned my shower. I disassembled the drain outside our tub and took out a HUGE chunk of hair because it kept overflowing, getting water a foot away from the drain. My husband and I moved the bookcase in to the office-well, I guess it's the spare room now- and my desk in to the den. I was struggling using it in the spare room because I couldn't keep an eye on the kids and be in there to work on things. I took some stuff to the basement storage room, and brought up a box and packed a few Christmas things. I sat down and put all my new recipes I've printed in my food notebook, and wrote down several meals to cook through the week. I really thinking having a list of meals I could cook will help me be more organized about cooking. I also figured out how to download my pump to my computer- good thing since I've had it about 10 months, and have a new doctor appointment with a German doctor on Tuesday. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to that.

The bad part of today was mass. Oh.my. BAD. Our kids apparently have horrible cabin fever and are bouncing off the walls because it's so wet outside. Clearly I need to let them go out and play in the mud anyway, because they were HORRIBLE in church. After mass, Jon made them kneel and say 3 prayers with him. Then somehow, we still went to Burger King for dinner. Why? Because I did NOT want to go home and make dinner, so it was a treat for me lol. We were going to go to Chili's, but since it's New Years Day, it was closed. So, Burger King it was.

I also decided to try again and do the 365 day picture challenge like I did last year and failed in May. Here's today's picture- The 'best' of the 20 or so I took. Abby didn't want to sit still. They're all in red because it's still Christmas, and they didn't go to mass on Christmas, so I wanted them to get to do the Christmas dress up. :)