Spiderman, Snow White and a Fairy

Benjamin was off to preschool today where they were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes or dress as their favorite character from a book. Benjamin had been looking forward to this all week!

And last night he received a huge surprise from our dear old neighbor in Ashburn, Virginia. Ms. Katie sent Benjamin the Spiderman gloves he was dreaming of having to make his Spiderman costume. They came just in time and he could hardly wait to try them on as soon as he opened the package. (THANK YOU Ms. Katie!)

So, off to meet the little girls that are in our carpool... one of them was Snow White and the other was a Fairy (whose wings were going to be attached at school). They were so cute and of course, I had camera in hand!

More photos of our Halloween adventures coming soon...

Pumpkin Carvin' Time

All of our housing goods arrived last Friday and we are still living amidst lots and lots of boxes but slowly the amount of boxes is diminishing. But even with the boxes and the mess around our house we are happy to have our things... and life must go on.

Last night we did our annual pumpkin carving!

Don was on baby duty while I carved and scooped the pumpkins with the boys. The boys were not excited about dipping their hands into the pumpkins and pu

lling the insides out but otherwise we had a good time.

The boys were happy with the way their happy and scary pumpkins turned out.

Things Are Getting Batty

Halloween is right around the corner and the kids are getting excited. Benjamin has been saying all year long that Halloween is his favorite holiday. (With all the candy the kids end up with from trick or treating-- who can blame him?)

Grandma Pat and Pappa Harry send them some Halloween cards that were more than just cards... there was a cut out on them which turned into these batty glasses. The boys had a blast with them!

I'm also posting a picture of our happy lil Grace showing off some of her seasonal attire. She is such a ham these days as it's so easy to get her to smile.

Gracie Jo

All our stuff arrived on Friday. It's been crazy with boxes literally everywhere but we're slowly unpacking. It may be a good while before I feel motivated to spend a lot of time back on the blog but thought I'd post a couple cute pictures of our sweet baby girl.

Tee Hee

I took this picture of Grace recently and it makes me smile every time I look at it. She is always sticking out that little tongue of hers and you can tell she's about to really stick it out here.

Our lil Grace turned 3 months old on Monday. She is growing and changing more and more each day. I saw a two week old baby recently and I looked at our "little" Grace and she looked huge. Wasn't she just 2 weeks old? hmmm. Well, she is weighing in at 14 pounds and her personality is growing leaps and bounds. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and bursts out into a huge smile when she sees herself. She eats up all the attention she gets from her big brothers and has turned them a little ga-ga over her as they talk and sing to her, wave toys for her, etc. to get her to smile. And she does and then we do... it's contagious... that smile of hers.

Brotherly Love

Moving to Germany has really opened my eyes to what great friends my boys are to each other. We haven't had many toys for the boys to play with the past month and a half but they continue to amaze me by what they come up with to entertain themselves with. They invented a game they call "Slippery Socks" and that's just them running around the place, acting silly and sliding around on their "slippery socks." So, I often hear them saying "Wanna play Slippery Socks?" to each other. They also love to rearrange the borrowed furniture and come up with new ways to entertain themselves just by pushing the chairs together (like in the posted photo). One day I noticed them being awfully quiet which always makes me suspicious so I headed back to one of the bedrooms to see just what they were up to. I heard a lot of giggling once I got closer but my boys were out of sight. I opened the closet door in one of the bedrooms and there I found two lil boys coiled up like snakes in shelves in the closet... just giggling away with excitement at their new found hiding spots.

All in all, they get along

great... they entertain each other and they love to laugh, be silly, hug on each other and tell

each other that they love one another... BUT they do have their moments... like any brothers. There is usually not a day that goes by that I don't hear Samuel crying and banging on the bedroom door because his big brother is declaring that he wants to play by himself. Then a

fiasco usually ensues and Samuel starts swinging... and Benjamin starts swinging... more crying, etc. Such is life with boys! Overall, I cannot imagine making this move to Germany with them not having one another to entertain each other, wrestle with and laugh with.

And now they are working on that everlasting bond with their little sister.

As I often find them confessing their love to her, singing her songs, giving her bottles, dangling toys in her face, etc. At the end of

the day, their love for one another and their love for life makes being their parent so rewarding.

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."