December

Well I forgot to submit my last post but I was trying. Now it is December...

Ryan is doing well, enjoying the amazing snow we have right now. Let it snow more! Ryan and Jakob had recent hair cuts due to the neighbors investation of head lice. We had warned the children to stay away until they had were clear of all lice. Of course they didn't listen and as a result we had to deal with the nasty critters. We shaved heads and washed, combed, pulled, etc. Being a mom is so much fun:P

Right now we are wondering if keeping Ryan in the German system is the best for him at this point. We want him to feel great about school and to have success in school--that is a struggle right now. Communication is key and it is very difficult with the German school. Report cards come out in January and we will need to make a decision then.

Jakob has his glasses now and he is going a great job with them. Occasionally he "forgets" to wear them but for the most part does pretty well. We have to get used to seeing him with them and our friends are really helping making him feel better about wearing them.

I will update some more photos soon. The Christmas market is going on right now so we want to update some photos from that as well. I am trying to find a better site that it a bit more user friendly with more options as well. Hopefully one that friends and family can join in as well. I'll keep you updated...

In the meantime....MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! We think of you often and try to keep tabs through your sites. If you ever happen to be in this area again, stop by! We would love to have you as guests. Take care!

I'm back!

Well a week later isn't bad for me to update again:) A couple of months ago we went to get new glasses for Jeff. While there I decided to go ahead and have Ryan's eyes checked. Of course with two kids, what one does the other must also. I had wanted to ensure that Ryan wasn't having any problems that hinder him in school. Turns out, he is fine but Jakob wasn't. We went to a specialist last week, what fun. When I took him, they explained that in his right eye he is far-sighted. They use percentages to explain the level of sight loss. They said he only has 50% vision in his right eye. We had to come back two days later for more tests. Unfortunately Jeff had to do it this time and from what I hear it was less fun than the first visit. Jakob later beseeched me to never take him to a doctor again, especially if they had to put eye drops in his eyes. Jeff walked out with a prescription for Jakob to get glasses.



As anyone can imagine, this was the least expected and least desired. I can't begin to imagine how difficult this will be to keep Jakob in glasses. Just the mention of it created quite a disturbance. He cried about how unfair life is that he must wear them but not Ryan. We bribed him with chocolate today to get him to just try some different frames on. First he was dead set on blue, then when the desicion time came, he changed to red, then back to blue. We finally decided on two different pairs that they will order for him to try next week. Then we have to get the prescription and get him to wear them ALWAYS!! Of course insurance only covers the cost of the lens, not the frames. Given his age and general boyness, we decided it was safer to go with a more flexible, can handle jumping off tall mountains and stay on his face, frames. More money but hopefully a wiser choice.



Ryan was a bit freaked that he too was getting glasses and didn't want to go with us. Now he has calmed down but if my own brother was any indication of teasing, I fortell arguments over the glasses in the future.

Starting Over

Okay so I have gotten really bad at keeping my blog updated and several people tell me this or send me messages to update....I am going to start over in an attempt to catch up.

To begin with the boys are growing like weeds! This picture was taken this summer.

Ryan is now in the third grade! He is sometimes too smart for his own good:) He is still in karate and had to learn how to use it in action this summer with a bully. I never thought I would have to tell my kid to fight back but have learned that some kids come by it honestly and the only way to stop it is to fight back. Hilarious stories as a result but for another time.

Jakob is as hilarious as always thinking the world was creates for his pleasure and manipulations. Doesn't go well when it isn't his plan:) He is now a Vorschulekind which translates to the American Kindergarten. However he is also taking a language immersion class that is in Ryan's school for two days a week and in his Kindergarten two days a week. This is a great transition for him as he still has much to learn about following the rules even when he doesn't want to. He is interested in soccer (see the shoes) but when I went to go ask about it, he decided he wasn't ready to do this alone. Maybe a bit longer.

For those of you who didn't know...we bought a house in January and moved in the following month. Lots of demolition for rennovations but we are now done with that horror and trying to get things organized. This summer we had lots of visitors. First was my brother, then Jeff's dad and Marilyn, and last my parents. We had a wonderful time with everyone.

Next time I will try to upload a short video of our house to show all that was done.

I am teaching first grade again this year but moved to the new school built in the new housing area called Netzaberg. This was created to support the large groups of soldiers now stationed here at the US Army Garrison Grafenwoehr and the Joint Multinational Training Command. Translates to LOTS of people here with MANY more kids! Huge school but good light so it feels open and spacious. Check out our new school site for pictures. www.netz-es.eu.dodea.edu

Well I do hope that all is well with everyone else. I need to do a few things before we take off for bowling. Keep in touch!

Updating my Blog

Hello! I am finally getting a chance to update my blog. Several people have commented on how lax I have been so here goes. I am actually at home ill with little voice which is why I have this opportunity. :)

So much has happened since my last post that I will try to give a summary.

In June my dear grandmother, Marie Jeffers, passed away. My whole family flew to the states to be there for her funeral. It was so good to see everyone and sad that it takes something such as someone dying to bring people together again. But that is life.



We spent two weeks in the midwest and then flew to the west coast for my RAT travel (to non military that means my return travel to the states that I recieve every two years at the governments expense). We went to Disneyland which was a first for me and the boys. We had a great time there, also Hollywood.
Then we flew to San Fransisco to visit Grandpa "Bear" (Jeff's dad) and Grandma Marilyn. They had a birthday party for Ryan which was really nice and we were able to meet up with many of Jeff's old friends.
Next we flew to Seattle to visit with Great-Aunt Sis. We only had four days there and it was a whirlwind of a time trying to find a dog for Jeff, family photos, and finally a chance to shop for things we cannot easily find here.

Before we had left Jeff and I had joined the community softball league. Upon our return we had lots of practice to get ourselves ready for the upcoming games. At the end of the season the Men's league didn't do to bad but the Women had struggled the entire season just finding enough people to play and no coach. Oh well....maybe we will have better luck next year.

Jeff found a dog in the Netherlands and flew there to pick him up. He is a red tri Australian Shepard named Mackenzie River - "Mac".

Ryan finished first grade with quite a bit of drama due to the fact that we had pulled him out for three weeks. We had to go to truancy court and deal with that. It finally worked out but we learned that the German system is much less lenient than the American system.

School began for me in August where I was told I would get to teach Kindergarten again. I was very excited but have since questioned the greatness of this descision. It took 10 weeks for them to hire an aide and it has been quite a rocky ride. Things are settling down now but because of my switch and the downsizing of our school next year as the new school opens, I have now been informed that I will most likely be excessed. This means I will have a job but we are not sure where or what I will teach.

Ryan began second grade in September. He has been doing awesome this year and we are so proud of him. He is a happier child who now participates in Karate twice a week and guitar lessons once a week. He just finished a four month program through his school where he learned to ice skate. He has several classmates living very close to us so he has playmates close by.

Jakob is still going to Kindergarten and has found a talent in his art work. He loves to draw pictures and they are quite impressive if I may say so. For a four year to include such detail in his work would impress anyone I would think. Of course I compare him to what I have at school where so many 5 year olds are still drawing tadpole people. Maybe I will scan in some of his work to share:)

Jakob has not yet begun sports full time as he doesn't have much of an attention span for such things yet. If we can work it out in our schedule we would like for him to begin indoor soccer here in our town.

Jeff is still working at POV shipping. Right now he is trying to find a newer older car to replace the hooptie he currently drives. It never bothered him until he got to drive our NEW car. We just bought an Opel Zafira. It is so nice that now Jeff dreads driving the older car. He was somewhat excited that I have been absent for two days allowing him to drive the NEW car to work.

Well I think that pretty much updates you to today. For Thanksgiving we went to Garmisch with friends and had a very enjoyable time. My parents are flying in next Monday to spend Christmas with us. It has been about 6 years since we have spent Christmas together so this will be nice. The boys are very excited! Jeff and I went to the ball on Friday night. Jeff says he hates those things but you should hear him when the time comes and he is getting ready. You might think he is more excited for a grand night out than I!

Easter

Easter was more wonderful this year as some friends tried to make it extra special for the boys. A boy at Roll's school informed him that there is no such thing as the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, or Santa Claus. It is instead just the parents. Roll was a bit bummed to hear this but at the same time feeling very grown up in sharing his revelation. Of course we want the boys to know the true meaning behind celebrations such as Easter and Christmas but we also enjoy sharing in their joy as they envision a visit from mystical characters such as leprechans and Easter bunnies. I know many have differing views about this and I have no problem with parents teaching their children the facts of life but I really wish they would also teach thier child that all families are different and it isn't their job to inform the world of the facts they have learned. So a friends daughter who just loves our little boys decided she wanted to help put the magic back into the Easter bunny. We took the boys for a long walk with our friends family and ended up back at their house which has been visited by the easter bunny with all the wonderful eggs, candy, and chocolate bunnies to boot! I could see the wheels turning behind Roll's eyes as he tried to figure out how all that stuff got their to include their baskets when mom and dad never left his sight:)

Thanks Dunn Family!!

To our suprise there was another visit to our house when the boys got home. We have an idea where they came from but it was nice to hear the boys exclaim with merriment that the Easter bunny had visited their house as well!

Camping indoors

J really made Rock and Roll's night Saturday. I was out with the girls and when I came home, I saw this....

J really made some brownie points with not only the boys but me. He sure is a great dad! The boys really enjoyed the indoor camping experience and wanted to make their "tent" their new bedroom:)

Here she is!

Sophie is now 13 weeks old! She is a little pirahna with a toy chest of her own:)
We do so adore her though and she is growing so fast! She is getting heavy as well which makes it difficult for the late night bathroom breaks:( She also thinks my pants need more venilation so I have several new stylish holes in the ankles:)

CHECK OUT THOSE BEAUTIFUL BABY BLUES!

I will keep adding photos and of course more of my two favorite boys!

Sophie is growing!

Well I promised some updates on Sophie so here they are. Her coloring is deepening. She is a little pirahna with a toy chest of her own:) I have several pairs of pants that she felt needed venilation holes.

Family Update

Sorry it has been awhile since I have updated. Our new puppy joined us about three weeks ago and she is adorable! Roll was blessed with naming her and he chose Lady Sophia. We call her Sophie. The whole house has been turned upside down but you would find the way J acts quite hilarious. It is truly as if a baby girl has joined our family. We have had pups before but J was never so caring, patient, or willing to take the 2 am nature calls. Wait a minute, he didn't do that with the boys either! :)

Roll is doing very well at his studies and I am very proud of him. He decided to stop with Boy Scouts as that was adding a bit too much pressure with so much to learn at school. I hope that he will have more interest next year but I think it would help if we start to "play" with some American boys as well. The weather has broke finally so Roll is out on his skate board and roller blades. I hope he will finally let me teach him how to ride his bike.

Rock is entertaining as always. He takes the world by force and sometimes it isn't always pretty but usually he brings a smile to those around him. Rock loves to do what his brother does and this causes quite a bit of trouble between the two of them. Some times I think he is growing up so fast and then I catch him when he is tired twisting his hair and sucking his thumb. (Yeah that is a future battle.)

J is doing well but as most know him he likes to complain:) Present complaint is that I am on the computer rather than folding laudry. I just so hate housework and I am much better at finding other things to do. J will begin softball season soon and we are about halfway through our winter bowling league.

I began community level volleyball. Right now the team is a bit disorganized and I hope it will be straigtened out before our first competition. School is crazy with class sizes in the mid twenties and counting. We are currently over enrollment by about 120+. I have received a new student each month for the last 5 months. Last week I started a new student and was supposed to get another on Thurs. I dodged by a lucky colleagues generousity but I am expected to get one next week. We are drowning in kids while waiting for the new school and more teachers to arrive.

Well I not uploading photos but I will try to make time to update more often. It always brings me to check out my other friends blogs and see what they are doing. Sophie has grown so much that I will put on a new photo but I need to upload it from my camera later.

C-ya!

We're Adopting!!

By the time we bring our little girl home we will have waited nine months! Much as if we went through a pregnancy ourselves. We haven't decided on a name for her and she doesn't get to come live with us for another week. We have visited her often though and she is very adorable, energetic, and a bundle to be loved. We have had to work with our schedules, educate the boys and ourselves, and really prepare for her presence in our family and the changes she will require of us. We know that she will will try our patience through her baby/toddler and later teenage years but she will also bring us much joy. Please welcome our newest addition!