One Kernel At A Time

It's that time of year again for the elementary classes to be planting various seeds and such to see just what grows. And this came home with us yesterday . . .

Apparently all it takes for a popcorn kernel to sprout is to put it in a cup with some water soaked in to a paper towel and a good sturdy window sill. Should be interesting to see what this grows in to.

Sprechen Sie Spanischen oder Deutsches?

Do you speak Spanish or German? Because, well I have to today, and, um.........I speak very little of either one. In my complete absence of mind after dealing with rude 7th and 8th graders for three days I somehow agreed to teach Spanish and German today. What a hoot!

Will let you know how the day goes. I'm sure the kiddos will probably be talking about me in Spanish and German. Maybe I better study up as much as I can before that 7:50 a.m. bell rings. :)

Please say a little extra prayer for me today that I will have the patience to deal with these kiddos. I have found that the middle schoolers are REALLY testing me lately. Also, please pray that I don't mess up and call someone a purple spoon or something in another language. Man, oh man, what was I thinking!?!

What Are You Reading?

We love reading Max Lucado's books at our house!

Neeley got these in her book order this week and we have read them several times. In fact, she is doing her book report this week on them. So sweet!

Thought To Ponder

I read today on the helpamilitarywife.com site that there are over 1 million American children with at least one parent serving active duty in the United States military. That's RIGHT NOW! Wow, that's a lot of "brats!" :)
_________________________________
We're still fighting the cold bug at our house, hopefully we can rest some this weekend and get it out of our systems. Note to self: BUY MORE LYSOL! LOL

Happy Wednesday to ya!

Updates And Such

Happy Tuesday to you!

It's definitely heading towards winter here in Germany. Brrr... it's cold outside!

This is what lil miss looks like on the mornings she walks to school. :) Don't know how much more she will be able to stand of this walking business.

I'm teaching most of this week so that always makes our household interesting. This is the first week that I have been there nearly every day. I taught a half day last Thursday and helped with school pictures Thursday afternoon and all of Friday. Let's just say that after this week I'll be fine if I don't have to come up to the school for a while. I am glad that I can volunteer and it is always nice to get the sub pay but still.

My own classes end November 14th and I couldn't be more ready. That Ethics class is killing me! I will be taking a managerial econ class and human resources mgmt for the 7 week term that begins in January. Thankfully I have a month and a half off in between semesters. I will be about halfway finished by the end of the winter term that ends in late February. Yay! I think if I have it calculated correctly I will be finished with everything completely by next fall, and maybe even earlier! Yay!

We have some news on our next whereabouts in this world but can't share them just yet until it's made "official." So be waiting for that announcement . . . let's just say we're a lil less than thrilled. It's not too terribly awful but we just want to get settled here and not have to move in . . . oh just a bit. Will share when I can.

Neeley was invited to a Halloween themed birthday party at our bowling alley this past weekend. It was for the cutest lil 4 year old girl and let me tell you, she is definitely a girly-girl all the way. I thought mine could be bad at times. LOL We had a blast! Neeley is a "vampiress" this year but I am making her call it a vampire princess or something better. :) We normally do the princess theme and she was a "diva" one year but I tend to stay away from the devils and such. I just don't like it, but let me tell you...these military kids apparently don't care and their mommas and daddies don't either. We have seen it all so far! And they go all out on their costumes. I've never seen anything like it! I'll have to share some pictures when I get them uploaded.

An update on our friends I asked you to pray for...he has colon cancer. Please continue to be thinking about them. He had surgery last week but I don't know the outcome just yet.

We're still fighting colds and trying to avoid the what we have dubbed the "zoo flu" at our house. Next we'll hear about dog flu, hamster flu, and who knows what else. But so far we don't have it!

More to come soon . . .

Beware Of Those Needles

I am so thankful I have a kid who loves to try new things. She tends to be very crafty, well if you can even tell what she has made after it's all over and done with. :) Is that a horse or a harp? LOL

She has taken up another new hobby apparently. She at first had an interest in it oh about a year or so ago so we set out and bought a few things to help get her started. Well, my lil left handed girl found out it wasn't so easy but she tried and she tried. Then life got crazy and 2nd grade ended and well, we moved halfway around the world and those things got put to the side.

Tonight she discovered where they had been hiding in her closet for the past few months, and I found myself looking at this scene on the couch once again...

Yes, she is teaching herself to knit. Ronnie and I are both so right-handed it's pathetic and have tried to help her but since she's a lefty, she's on her own on this one. I tried to teach myself the left handed instructions using that crazy thick "manual" they give you but just couldn't get it. My horse/harp/snowflake/whatever was just turning out to be a big blob of sorts.

I think she's got the hang of it this time. Will keep you all posted as she continues on this work in progress . . .

New Look

Our house is FINALLY coming together. We got our wall stencil put up in our bedroom so I put the bedding on. I can't stand putting on my bedding until I feel like the room is coming together. Weird I know, but I've always been that way. My curtains are okay but nothing to really showcase, we are still trying to pick out new bedroom furniture, and I am about to order the canvases for the far wall in the room, but this is what we have so far and we couldn't be happier!

I didn't realize the picture wasn't of very good quality until I posted it. :( At least you get the idea. I love the red, white and black theme.

Just Because...

I love "just because" gifts, don't you? I got this the other day and it is beautiful! :)

What girl doesn't love receiving flowers? :) Thank you to my sweet hubby!

Our Flavor Of The Week

Some of you wanted to know what was in lil miss' mug I posted yesterday. This is what we have been enjoying.

We HIGHLY recommend it! :)

Um...Um...Good

After spending this past Saturday morning out in the rain and freezing temperatures for a soccer game that probably should not have been played, we've been seeing a lot of this around our house.

Seems that our lil miss has inherited our love for hot teas and coffee. Yum! :) I cropped out the big ol' box of tissues we've been going through, though. It may be a rough rest of the week! Let's just get to the weekend, please!?! :)

Bless Her Heart!

This is what Neeley looks like on Tuesdays now.



She has her Strings Ensemble after school on Tuesdays and has to carry that stinkin' violin back and forth on those days. We had to switch her to an older backpack just for these days so she can carry everything. You have no idea how much stuff we have tucked away in that backpack. That holds all of her school work, her lunch box, snack & drink, an extra change of clothes, and who knows what else she put in there. Please say an extra little prayer for her on Tuesdays. With this colder weather, she will be bundled up even more on those days and the poor girl has to walk to school. The walk takes about 15 minutes if you are walking at a rapid pace, but she putts along at a snail's pace most often. I had to add a shoulder strap to the violin case just to try to help her a bit. Poor girl! :)

Fun At Volksfest

As promised, here are our pics from Volksfest, Stuttgart's own version of Oktoberfest. We wore our tennies and got all muddy and wet from this crazy weather but we didn't care. :)

Look at all those booths!


Trying to catch up with Daddy...


But he's too fast!


Lots of yummy treats...








Silly girl!


I don't think Neeley was too sure about this one at first.




They had just about everything for sale there...


We had a good time just seeing what all was there. There was tons of food, the rides looked so clean and well-kept. Now if I could just relive that scary bus ride down there to tell you about it. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! :)

Out And About In Stuttgart

As we travel here, we are always amazed at how different everything looks here. Even the trees and grass are different! LOL

Here are some random shots taken as we travelled this past weekend.

Enjoy!

Wow, The TV Tower

The same day we spent at the park we also went to see the TV Tower. Wow! It takes you up high (I will have to ask Ronnie for the specifics-I just know it was HIGH!) in an elevator and lets you out to take a look all around Stuttgart and the surrounding area. I forgot to tell my family-and well frankly forgot to prepare myself as well-that it would be a negative 4 million degrees up there so yes we are in hoodies only with the wind about to knock us down. Well, so much for my OCD preparation but we enjoyed it anyway. The view was spectacular!

The Tower also has a gift shop, a restaurant, and a biergarten in it. The building itself was interesting but very neat.

Hope you enjoy the view too!

This is where we were headed...








Look at that view!


We were freezing!


Wow!


Another tower


There was a soccer complex right next door...


How many people live here again? LOL


Beautiful!




So cold! Gotta love that wind! :)


Neeley wanted to make a penny (euro) in the crank machine.