How are you and how is your German?

I really don't understand why strangers are so interested in how my German is coming along. I am now annoyed with the question. I went for a follow-up visit today to see the dermatologist or Hautartz. I had been to this office once before for my initial check-up and was now returning 6 months later to follow-up on a suspicious looking mole. I'll save the initial check-up and the Germans love of being naked for another post.

Anyway, the doctor walks in says hello and ask me how I am doing and why am I here. I remind her, in English of course, that we need to look at a suspicious mole. Instead of asking me about the mole and if I have noticed any changes, her next question is, "So how is your German coming along?" Really? I didn't realize your were Dr. Berlitz! Caught off guard I simply relpy, "It's fine thank you."

Dr.-"Then we can speak German now?"

Me-"We could, but we wouldn't get anywhere."

Dr.-"Why is it so hard for you to learn German?"

Ok, this is where I bit my tongue and almost needed stitches. WHY? Let's see... It's a fricking crazy language for starters! There are words longer then our English alphabet. And don't get me started with Der, Die, Das. It's THE! Simple one word, no gender needed! And why do you break up verbs and split them in a sentence? And only one of them? How do you know which one? Uggh! Too many rules and then too many exceptions to the rules. But I digress. Back to the doctor.

Me-"Do you really want to know? Really?"

Dr.-"Is it that everyone speaks English to you? It is isn't it? I would really like to know."

Now I understand that every family has it's challenges and I am by no means complaining how hard I have it compared to any other mom. I am very fortunate and blessed, but like everyone, life can be a bit overwhelming. So here was my response.

Me-"Let's see. I have two kids that go to two different school 1 hour apart. So I spend 4 to 5 hours a day driving someone somewhere. One kid has special needs and I take him to therapy 3 times a week. Then I have to work with him at home, everyday. My daughter has piano and dance. Oh, yeah and they both have school work. My husband is always working and last time I checked, I do not have a driver, nanny, maid, tutor or any family support here. Somewhere in between being taxi mommy and care giver, I also need to grocery shop, clean my house and do all the other things to run a household. And no, not everyone speaks English to me, which makes the above mentioned take, I don't know, 20 times longer! I would LOVE to speak German! More then you know! But when you look at the big picture, my kids are doing great, everyone is fed, my house has not been taken over by dust bunnies and mold, and I even managed to make this appointment and get here on time. I'd say my German is pretty damn good!!"

Dr.- "Okay, so let's have a look at the mole..."

Our Thanksgiving

We were fortunate enough this year to celebrate Thanksgiving twice. Of course neither of the celebrations happened on the actual day, but let's not be picky.

Our first celebration was in the states and we called it Thanksoweenie as we celebrated both Halloween and Thanksgiving together. It was actually one of the best Thanksgivings ever. The kids ate in their Halloween costumes and we went to the cider mill, ate carmel apples, went bobbing for apples and the like. My sister had her house all decked out for Halloween and we ate our turkey with our spider friend looking over us!

Our 2nd Thanksgiving celebration was celebrated with our friends Anna, Felix and Kyle. This was Anna and Felix's first Thanksgiving and first ever pumpkin pie! Anna and I had a little trouble finding the right size turkey (we could only find a 17 lb. one!) so we opted for 2 smaller turkey breasts we named Wolfgang and Helmut. Since they were skinless and we wanted gravy, I decided to try something at my mom's suggestion. Using cheese cloth like skin, I covered the turkey with a herb paste and then covered it with the cheese cloth that had been soaked in butter and herbs. It turned out great! I'm thinking of writing a cookbook for how to improvise as an expat in Germany! I was able to put together a yummy dinner without all the normal Thanksgiving necessities. But no matter how much improvising I was able to do, Wolfgang became our problem child and refused to cook! He was only 4 lbs. but he took all of 4 hours to cook! Luckily Helmut made us proud and we ate him while Wolfgang continued to cook.

In the end we've had a great Thanksgiving season and as always, so much to be thankful for. We are a very blessed family and we try to remember that every day, not just once a year.

If I can just get him to 5...

Ever since Landon was a baby I would tell Larry, "If I can just keep him alive until he's 5 I'll be amazed!" He was always putting things in his mouth, climbing on things and somehow always putting himself in some sort of danger. Every time I tucked him into to bed I would thank God for keeping him safe one more day. So now that 5 has arrived, I can rest a little easier? Not if Landon has his way! He continues to challenge his guardian angel and keep me on my toes. My little guy is full of energy, loving and caring, funny and a blessing. Every year that passes he continues to surprise and amaze me.

This past weekend we had his 5th birthday party. It was a great day and by far his best birthday yet! We were joined by two other families (Landon's 2 best friends) and spent the day at the Glessener Mühlenhof. We started with brunch and since 5 year olds don't sit long, we quickly moved outside. Pony rides, zip line, Kettler cars, hay stakes and underground tunnels, kept the boy entertained for hours! Yes, hours. For 4 hours they laughed and chased each other around only briefly stopping for birthday cake. The boys cried as we left because they didn't want the day to end.

So Happy Birthday to my sweet Landon! May the Lord bless and protect you for yet another year and I pray your guardian angel never takes a vacation!

3 years to the day

3 years ago today we embarked on our German adventure. Our contract was to end today and we would be moving back to the USA. But because we are a.) a little crazy b.) enjoying ourselves c.) not finished with Larry's work assignment, we have agreed to stay for one more year.

We are happy to be staying, although missing our families makes staying a lot less fun. But we will be going home for a visit in the fall and some of our family will be visiting us. We are trying to make the most of our last year here. There are still many places on our "to see" list. We still won't make them all, but it nice to know we have another year to see some.

3 years into our adventure and it's interesting to look back at how the three years went by. The first year was getting our feet wet. Learning our way around, learning the language and customs, making friends and just plain figuring it all out. It was exhausting. The second year we were settled, but not rooted. Ford started sending people home early and for the longest time we didn't know if and when it would be our turn. Then half way through the second year we were evicted from our home and for 3 months we were in a temporary living space and even more unsure with what would happen next. Then the 3rd year began and we quickly went from talking about moving home to possibly extending our stay. That went on until May. So now finally it is our 4th and final year and hopefully we can just relax for a least the first 6 months, because I am sure that after Christmas we will have to start planning for our move home.

I have to say I am a little scared about moving back home. While I still don't feel rooted here, there is a comfort level here. I dread the thought of buying a house and the stresses that go with it. Then finding one fast enough to get the kids into school on time. School alone is a scary idea. While I'm sure bullying happens here, it doesn't to the extent of what it seems to be in the US. Reading the news about US schools would turn off any parent. And then all of the economic cuts happening in the schools. We are so blessed here with our schools and all of the accompanying programs. Then there is getting Landon situated once again with new therapists and all of the insurance worries that go along with that processes. I'm stressing out just writing about all of it!

So where will we go this year? Northern Italy this summer, Michigan this fall, hopefully family will come here for Christmas and we still need to figure out our one last hurrah before we leave. In between we will have short car trips including one to see a Woman's World Cup Soccer match.

So that's it for now. I did ask Larry to post some of his thoughts about the past 3 years, so stay tuned for his post.

Paris 2.0

This past week Germany celebrated Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ and a Western Catholic feast). In doing so we had the luxury of a long, 4 day weekend. And as typical American's we packed up a suitcase and hopped in the car. We won't be here forever and we need to see all we can!

Where did we go? Back to Paris! It is about 4 1/2 hours south of us if traffic isn't too bad. It's hard to think that in the time it would take us to drive to Traverse City we can be in Paris. We went back because we enjoyed it so much the

first time around, but mostly because we didn't really see much. This time we were better prepared! We knew how the train system worked, which bus was the best to take and most importantly we remembered to get lunch before the restaurants closed for the afternoon. Happy belly's = happy kids. Plus Larry and I enjoyed a little more wine to take the edge off of the kids whining.

We started our first day with the hop on-hop off bus. It was a beautiful sunny day and the kids loved sitting on the open topped double decker bus. Larry and I could relax a little from making sure Landon didn't run off anywhere. It was great! We saw the Arc de Triomphe, Champes-Elysees and other sights along that route. We shopped a little and ended our evening eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Burger's and fries for the kids, a Corona for me and Larry and everyone was happy!

The next day the kids slept in! We missed breakfast (really not a bad thing) and headed back to the bus. This time we took a different routing and saw the Moulin Rouge. It's really perfect timing for us as a family since Ali is currently learning sex education at school ;) I really enjoyed our special chat at we passed by some great stores with interesting window displays! Good times! We ended the evening in the Latin Quarter for dinner with a stroll past the Notre Dame.

On our last day we headed to see the Statue of Liberty (yes they have one too!), eat the best Falafel ever! and the kids played in the Luxembourg garden before getting in the car again for the drive home.

We had our fair share of meltdowns along the way (yes, all of us at one time or another) and we never saw a single museum or actually walked into a tourist attraction, but we enjoyed Paris in a way we have become accustomed to. We travel to the beat of a stubborn 4 year old and the interest level of an 8 year old. If you don't fight it and remember to be thankful you're even on a vacation, it can be quite enjoyable.

It's great to be Alianna

Again, time has flown and I am behind on the blog. Better late then never.

The Rondall Circus was a great success! Alianna was an acrobat and trained hard all week for her big performance. All the kids did great and it amazes me that she has now had this opportunity twice in her lifetime. I wish the schools in the US could experience such a week. These kids are amazing! The confidence it instills them and the pride of accomplishment is wonderful. They worked as a team and shined under the light of the big top. What an experience!

Alianna is also very excited because she earned her bronze swimming badge. She had to swim 200 m in under 15 mins. (11:53 min. was her time), dive from a 1m high platform, dive 2 m deep to pick up an object and take a written test of the swimming rules. She had been working very hard and is super excited especially since she only gets to swim once a week. Way to go Ali!

Next up for Alianna is her field day this Thursday and then next week she will attend a Women's World Cup soccer match with her teammates. Following is her class trip. It's a great time to be Ali!!

Sunday Afternoon

It Sunday afternoon and Alianna has a friend over. They are playing at the creek and I am just waiting for their very wet and muddy return. Of course they told me that won't be the case, but it has never not been the case. Her friends are always sent home with a bag full of wet clothes. But they have fun and kids need to get dirty. I just wish it wasn't in my house!

Landon and Larry are also outside playing. It is chilly and wet today compared to the past several weeks, but Landon NEEDS to be outside! They will play on the swing set and Landon will terrorize the ducks. Landon has a new game on the swing set. While pushing him he likes it if you guess his name. It goes something like this... "Are you Lucus?" "Hee!Hee! No mommy!" "Are you Friedrick?" Belly laugh, "Noooooo!" "I know are you Miss Jessica?" And we continue the game until I finally say, "Are you Landon?" and he says, "Yes!" and I say, "Landon who?" and he says, "Landon Margaret Groth!" He won't believe me that his middle name is different then Alianna's.

As for me, I am working on several things at once. Laundry is currently spinning, I am uploading Flip videos, trying to figure iMovie, and trying to decide if we should buy a new swing set that doesn't look like it is going to fall apart in any minute. Later yet today I need to pay some bills and write out my weekly plan so I can at least pretend like I thought it might all actually happen. Oh yeah, and I really need a coffee!

Circus week is coming up in two weeks at Alianna's school. I can't wait to see what act she will participate in this year. Her performance is on the 27th in case anyone wants to fly over here to catch it. But for those of you who can't, no worries. My Flip will work for a least another year.

After circus week, Germany celebrates it many spring holiday's. We will head back to Paris on one of the weekends and see something other then the Eifel Tower. Maybe Landon will be a little more willing to sightsee this time. If not, I'll still be in Paris. Who needs to actually see the Louve?

With summer gearing up, kids finish school JULY 22, we are starting to plan where we will vacation to next. This will be our last full summer so we still have several places to mark off our list. The Canary Islands and Alps are looking to take top billing. I'll keep you posted.

Pictures as promised

My new haircut.
Landon's new glasses.

Carnival pictures to come soon!

February Update

Wondering what's up with us? Not a whole lot which is why I haven't posted anything. After everyone being sick, it has been nice to take it a little slower over the past couple of weeks. Larry and I had a date night last weekend and we went to the movies! First time together since we moved here and lucky for us it was a good movie: Love, Sex and Other Drugs. We also enjoyed the having a beer with our popcorn option! There are somethings the German's do better then us and beer whenever, wherever is one of them!

Ali has started piano lessons again and she is now playing soccer. She is enjoying both, but pretty tired by the end of the week when you mix in gymnastics and school. Landon had a fun Wednesday at school as he and his class performed a storytelling telling time for the parents.

Landon also had is first Cranial Sacral Therapy session. He did very well considering he had to let a stranger hold is head still for 30 minutes! We go again next week and will continue for a few session to see if it helps his concentration and focus. Landon will also go tomorrow to pick out his first pair of eyeglasses! Yes, our little man is just like daddy and is starting young. I can only imagine how many pairs we are going to go through! I just hope they help his lazy eye because if they don't he will need to wear a patch and that won't go over well with him either. I am hoping that the glasses will make such a big difference that he will WANT to wear them. A mother can dream! I told his teacher today and she is already trying to figure out how she is going to keep track of them since she has a hard enough time getting him to keep his house shoes on. It's a good thing he is so cute and cuddly and it makes up for the hard work he creates.

I finally got my haircut! It has been since August last year! I'll post a picture soon.

Larry says Hi.

That's it for now. Looking forward to the weekend!

Christmas Morning 2010

This was our Christmas morning - although it was Dec. 26. We arrived home late on the 25th from Austria so Santa sent his elves that night to bring the gifts for the kids.

Austrian Christmas 2010

Here is a slide show of our skiing trip to Serfaus, Fiss, Ladis- Austria

The New Years Eve Video

Hope you enjoy the video! This is looking out our bedroom window. It was a great show and the fireworks were by neighbors just setting them off. Happy New Year!

New Years Eve Video

Ok, so the video didn't load. I'll have to try a different way. But anyway...

So New Years Eve was once again a wonderful sight! Homemade schnitzel dinner, family movie and popcorn and then the midnight fireworks display out our bedroom window! I love that the German's celebrate with fireworks. And these fireworks are from our neighbors. This display is not from a special group. Once a year they sell big fireworks to the general public. So as we slide into the New Year I can only imagine what is in store for us this year. Will we come home or extend one more year...that is the big question at the moment. The answer won't come until spring.

Let's recap last year...

1. Spent Christmas and New Years skiing in Austria.

2. Celebrated carnival

3. Evicted out of our apartment and moved into temporary housing

4. Spent Easter with Jan at Center Parcs in the Netherlands

5. Moved back into the apartment after 3 months of construction.

6. Went to Heidelberg with friends

7. Visited home for 4 weeks in the summer

8. Landon started a new school.

9. Went to Rhodos Greece for fall break.

10. Drove to Eisenach for a long weekend.

11. Celebrated Thanksgiving with a crock-pot turkey.

12. Christmas market began

13. Celebrated Christmas with Grandma in Austria skiing.

I hope everyone is off to a good start.