Bike Rides and Parties

I need a light-hearted post I have decided, so here we shall talk about bike rides and parties, our normal life stuff. :)

Recently, my husband somehow convinced me that my bike was junkie, and I needed a new one. Low and behold, after I got the new one, my other one WAS junkie in comparison.

My husband rides his bike to work most days. We bought him a cheap, used, $50 bike when we first moved here almost a year ago, because I said before we spent a lot of money on it, he needed to show he was going to actually use it. (This sounds very "mommy" like, but it was agreed by both of us ;-)) So, he has, and he recently convinced me he also needed a new bike. He is 6'3, and a 16" bike is just difficult for him, so he got a new 18" to 21" bike. Today, we went on a bike ride with our new bikes, and the kids. Oh! Now's the perfect time to show you what our family bike ride looks like, minus me. :)

 This picture was last weekend, on his old bike. It's not a great one because Jon was wanting to go and getting frustrated I wanted to take a pic. But, he has Zach on the tagalong behind him, and the girls in the trailer behind that! He's amazing I tell you!!

After our 8 mile bike ride today, we headed to the park for our good friends' 3 year old's birthday party. Hannah was so excited and insisted on carrying her present, and took her "birthday book" with her to read to B. It was a book of prayers, and on one page, there as a cake, and Hannah really wanted to share the book with B.

I love Hannah's heart. She is almost always seeking God in some sweet, child-like way. She is often looking for Jesus in her play, loves to pretend her cups are the Blood and Body of Christ, loves to pretend she's in mass, puts her blanket on her head to be Mary, etc. She will tell us "I did XYZ because that's Love mommy, and Jesus likes it when we love others." I have been trying lately, when she's screaming a bloody fit about something, to think about her sweet, Christ-like moments and ponder them during the rough times.

The other normal thing we did was go to pick flowers the other day. In Germany, there are Blumen fields, and you go pick whatever flowers you want, and they cost €0.60 for each one you pick. So, for €4.20 I got all of these beautiful flowers.

**Disclaimer... they're prettier than they look, I just don't know how to arrange flowers well apparently, and it was 10pm when I took the picture. Oh, and they look like they're dying already, because I've inherited my mother's black thumb. My friend told me today to put sugar in the water, so I did. We'll see how they look in the morning.

This week was busy as well. On Tuesday, Jon had Schola practice, and then a Knights of Columbus meeting. Wednesday was the Feast of the Assumption, so we went to mass at 11:30, and then Jon returned at 7pm for the first Latin Mass at our parish, where he lead the Schola (Latin choir). There was some humor there, because of all days, he woke up with his voice partly missing. Therefore, he wasn't able to do all he was suppose to, but it still ended up okay. Apparently, they had 117 people there, which was more than at the other two masses! Rumor has it Father hopes to make it happen more often. I'm very proud of Jon and do enjoy seeing the enthusiasm he gets from the Latin mass.

Thursday night, my good friend and neighbor and I went out for her birthday. Her husband is deployed, and we've never gone out together, so I decided it was time! Jon was wonderful and watched all 5 kids. I took her to one of my favorite restaurants, an Italian place called Gabriella's. Her reply was "Why have I been putting up with the Macaroni Grill for a year?? This is delicious!" We enjoyed a glass of wine, Spatsele I believe it was, that we both thought was delicious. (I'm not a huge wine fan) I had Tortellini, and her a pasta and shrimp dish. Both were fabulous. Then they gave us a free shot of Apple Schnapps I think she said... Apple something. It was DELICIOUS so my friend asked where we could get it. It was homemade and they didn't sell it. Bummer! Then we decided I needed to show her around some areas off base, as she knows almost nothing of the villages. We ended up at Globus, a German grocery store, at 9:30. She hadn't realized they were opened until 10. There we bought several bottles of different Spatslese wines to try, yet we haven't drank them yet. Another night :)

Tomorrow, I am going to a baby shower for a dear friend here, who many would say is pregnant with a miracle baby. I don't feel comfortable sharing her story without her permission, but many are rejoicing in this little boy she is carrying. I can only stay for an hour, but I'm thankful I get to go. I have to leave early because one of the Legionary of Christ Brothers is coming in to town, for a short stop over at our house for the night. My husband knew him in high school and we got to spend time with him in Rome during Fr. Nathan's ordination. We're very excited about seeing him for a bit and going to mass with him tomorrow evening.

So, there you have it, a bit of the normal "What is going on in our lives."

God bless!