Our Smiling Grace

Just a quick post with pictures of Grace, who is all smiles at two months. Okay, maybe not all smiles... she does her sharing of crying as well but such is life at two months!

She recently started napping in her crib for the first time in her life as it just arrived last week. She seems to really like it and her brother Samuel was enjoying seeing her in it for the first time in one of the pictures I'm posting. The boys really adore their sister and are good helpers with her too.

There's a 5 Year Old in the House

We have been keeping busy around here to say the least. I have a bunch of blog entries floating around in my head but actually finding the time to sit down and put them into words here is another story.

Last week, Don was traveling within Germany some and returning many days of that week after the kids were in bed. Benjamin turned 5 during that time frame. We had celebrated his birthday back in Illinois with family and friends when we were there this summer but the actual birthday did not go unnoticed! Benjamin and I picked up a cake for him at the commissary. And, since Daddy wasn't home we used the Internet's www.skype.com to "skype" (or teleconference over the computer) with Grandma Pat and Pappa Harry. We all enjoyed that they were able to partake in the singing and opening of presents they had sent. Too bad they couldn't enjoy the yummy cake as well. According to Benjamin, he was not actually five until he had his cake. Now, apparently, it's official... we have a 5 year old in our house! Which is actually pretty amazing to even type. Where have the past 5 years gone and when did he

turned into such a smart, witty and charming young man? It seems like just yesterday that we were cradling him our arms.

Besides being Benjamin's birthday, last Monday some of our things arrived! We have two shipments arriving... the first was the "Hold Baggage" which included some things that may be used on a daily basis... kitchen items, linens, bikes, a few of the kids toys, some tools and Grace's crib. So, now we are living with a few more of our things versus stuff that we have borrowed from the service called "The Lending Closet" which is awesome but just not the same as having our own. The kids were thrilled to watch the movers unload stuff off the truck. Samuel had been talking about his scooter's arrival for days and as soon as it was off the truck he was on it and on his way.

So, after the movers unloaded our stuff we were on a mission to get Benjamin to school. Don's vehicle is not here yet so we are relying on our one car and the bus route. Don had left for work at 4 a.m. that morning and left our vehicle parked at his work. We weren't sure what time our stuff was arriving but since it showed up in the morning then there was still time to scarf down lunch and make the bus that would take us to get our car. It was a short bus ride but I think the boys actually

enjoyed it! I think they had kinda gotten used to riding it. Since I now have a camera on my phone I was able to snap a few pictures of them waiting for the bus that day.

Benjamin ended up being later than usual for school but still made it there in time to enjoy some of his school day. And, NOW I am thrilled to report that I am CARPOOLING!!! Yippeee!!! There are three of us that live near each other with kids in the same class. So, we meet everyday and one of us drives for that week. Next week is my turn. But for this week...

I must say I have been totally enjoying the extra time and the nice nap time the extra time has allowed for my children! Next week when I squeeze one 5 year old, two 3 year olds, one 2 year old and an infant into my car and have to haul them into the preschool I will continually remind myself how much I have been enjoying my time to myself on my off weeks.

Samuel's Piggy Toes

Mom to Samuel as I show him my toes: "These are my toesy woesies. Do you have toesy woesies, Samuel?"

Samuel as he lifts his foot in the air: "No. I have piggies."

Collar Bones, Driver's Exam, and Preschool Pics

Last night, Samuel fell off of Benjamin's bed during story time. I have told the boys a gazillion times NO jumping on the beds in fear that they will get hurt. Well, last night Samuel was NOT actually jumping on the bed and still managed to get hurt. ugh. We often refer to Samuel as our "accident waiting to happen child" because he is so accident prone but this is his first broken bone (but he's already caught up to Don and I who have each only had one bone broke in our lives).

So, as the boys sat listening to me read them stories, Samuel apparently got too close to the edge of the bed and fell backwards off the bed... as if doing some sort of backwards flip in slow motion. And BOOM... WWAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! He cried for quite a bit (in Samuel standards because he usually takes a fall and keeps on truckin). But once we got him calmed down he seemed to be doing just fine... only he kept grabbing at his neck. At the time, Don was comforting Grace as she has been a bit fussy lately (she must have read my blog post bragging on what a good baby she is). So, after tucking Benjamin into bed I said to Don, "Do you think he could have broken his collar bone?" (I remember my cousin as well as my nephew breaking their collar bones about this same age). So, Don felt around his collar bones comparing the two sides to each other and declared "Yep, it's broke."

That realization is not one you generally want to make. But then you compound it with the fact that it's almost 9 p.m. which is well over the hours that the clinic on the military

installation here has closed... which leaves the German hospital. Don made several calls to figure out our next step... should we take him in? would they do anything? do we wait til morning? then, where do we go? how do we get there? will they speak English? While Don figured all this out, I packed up a diaper bag and got things in order for their venture out.

Before we knew it... he was heading back from the ER with confirmation that his collar bone was broken. Don reported that all went well, he found the hospital fine (thanks to our new GPS), they took an x-ray and that the doctor did speak English. They sent Samuel home with a little sling that they made out of some strips of gauze and told Don to follow up at the clinic today.

So, this morning we leaped into a busy day...

Although Grace slept until 10 a.m.! A new

record! I had been impressed when she slept through the night for the first time on Sunday and then Monday slept until 8:30 a.m. But 10:30? hmmm. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

We got Samuel into an 11:00 a.m. doctor's appointment. The clinic is close by (on the same military installation that Don works at). The doctor confirmed the break but said he wouldn't do anything for him. He should heal up nicely on his own in a few weeks although the bump he has on his collar bone will get bigger before it heals up. But the doctor said if they were to take an x-ray, a year from now that you probably would not even be able to tell that he ever broke the collar bone. He is doing well and doesn't seem to be in much discomfort (although he is tired and crabby today after staying up late for his trip to the ER last night!).

I took the driver's test so it's officially legal for me to drive here! (Although, we will be sharing the car until Don's car arrives). I was a little nervous because I have heard that some people do not pass on their first try and that you only get three attempts to take it before you have to wait a period of time to take it again. Don only missed 4 questions out of 100. The pressure was on! I was hoping to do that well but I missed 8 questions. You are allowed to miss 15 questions. Phew! Mission accomplished. My next challenge is to actually drive here... that will happen tomorrow when I take Benjamin to preschool.

Benjamin had picture day today at school. Our things have still not arrived so we're a little limited on clothing selections but I was able to put something together for him and he looked pretty cute. He told me he looked "handsome but not cool." I told him that "sometimes it was good to look handsome and that he didn't always need to look cool." He was okay with that.

While I was taking the drivers class and test (from 12:30 -3:30 p.m.) Don dropped the three kids off at Child Youth Services where Benjamin attends preschool and where the younger two are able to go for hourly care. It was Samuel and Grace's first stay there and they did fine. Samuel had been so excited to go to "school" for days now and was asking every time his big brother went if he was going to get to go too. So, although it was hard to think about him staying since he wasn't 100% today, I think he was glad to go.

Overall, our day seemed a bit crazy. But everything seemed to fall into place. Tomorrow is a new day with new challenges but hopefully a lot more low key than today.

God Bless America Rap

Don recently gave me a new Apple Mac Book Pro (laptop computer). It has a lot of fun features including a program called Photo Booth. The boys love seeing themselves and tonight they were their own entertainment as they danced and sang and watched themselves on the computer monitor.

My mom had recently given them a book with the words to "God Bless America" in it and it has become a fast favorite here. Both the boys have it memorized and request the book nightly at bed time.

Here is their rap version of "God Bless America..."

All Smiles

Here's a photo of our happy little Grace that I took yesterday morning. She's been such a trooper with everything going on around her. We have been blessed with such a good baby.

She continues to get up about once a night which is actually usually just very early in the morning. Some days I am just getting back to sleep when the boys are waking up at around 6:30 or 7 a.m. It can make for some long tiring days but such is life with little ones. Overall, she's such a delightful happy lil gal which makes it all so worth every lost wink of sleep.

The Preschool Adventure

Benjamin started preschool yesterday! It has been somewhat challenging to get him enrolled due to the fact that we haven't had a car yet and hauling three kids on a bus is not ideal. But we did it! There is a bus that goes from each Army installation here and stops nearby the Child Development Center (where he will attend preschool). He is enrolled in an afternoon preschool 5 days a week from 1 - 4 p.m. The center also offers hourly child care so I plan to take advantage of that as well. We have both Samuel and Grace enrolled in the center so that I can drop them off from time to time and get a little break when I need to! I'm excited about this prospect (for me, of course) but also look forward to Samuel having interaction with other kids his age.

So, in order to take the bus over to where the preschool is we leave the house around 11:35 a.m. to catch an 11:46 a.m. bus. Thankfully, the bus stop is close by to where we live. Where we live is a housing area and, apparently, was blended with the Germans until after the events of 9/11 eight years ago. After that, they fenced in the housing and we are in, let's say, a gated community! The housing we're in is manned by security 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I have to say, it does give me a good sense of security even though our place is right along a busy road.

As I mentioned earlier, Benjamin's preschool does not start until 1 p.m. however, the bus arrives there around 12:15 p.m. So, we have a little bit of time before school. There are numerous playgrounds nearby though and yesterday we had an orientation to take up some of the time before he started. It is also about a 10 minute walk (with 3 kids) to the center.

The biggest challenge right now is that the buses don't run as frequently during the time frame of Benjamin's school. So, Samuel, Grace and I are kind of stuck there at Patrick Henry Village (the installation where the preschool is at). Fortunately, there is a lot to offer at Patrick Henry Village (PHV). So, after dropping Benjamin off yesterday, we hiked over to the commissary which was actually a short

distance. We were able to pick up some non-refrigerated groceries and haul them in the basket under the stroller. After a brief stop at a playground, it was time to pick Benjamin up. Phew! He got out at 4 p.m. and the LAST bus of the day runs at 4:16 p.m. So, we picked up the pace and headed back for the bus.

The kids do not seem to mind taking the bus and probably are actually amused by it in a lot of ways. While we wait for the bus, Samuel loves to shout out "Motorcycle!" every time he sees one. And during the bus ride, Benjamin pointed out corn fields and a pumpkin patch.

This all happens during Samuel's nap time! ugh. He tends to get a lot more energetic and unruly when he hasn't napped. But once on the bus he passed out! He slept for about 15 minutes on the bus ride and I tried to wake him before our stop. But he was out cold. So, I managed to get the stroller stocked with groceries, Grace and Benjamin off the bus then hopped back on and carried Samuel off as well. Luckily, people on this bus are all in the same situation (well, most are not hauling around 3 young kids) but they have just arrived here and are awaiting their personal vehicles. So, people riding these buses are usually very helpful and jump up to assist with the stroller or ask how they can help.

Today we will head back to preschool shortly... and today there is a play group at the center from 2 - 4 p.m. for Samuel's age group! He may be tired but I'm sure he will enjoy having the playtime.

While Benjamin was attending preschool yesterday, Don was taking his drivers license test! And, he passed! Just in time, because we just got word that our Ford Expedition arrived and he has arranged to pick it up tomorrow. So, ideally, I will get my license next week and things will go much easier. But, in the meantime, we will keep busy with our bus adventures!

Benjamin did report that he likes his new school and that he made two new friends. His teacher said he enjoyed playing blocks and didn't want to finger paint. That doesn't surprise me! Later I asked him why he didn't want to finger paint and he said that his fingers would get too dirty.

Today, I have requested that Benjamin bring us home some new artwork for our refrigerator so we'll see how that goes!