Happy Birthday, Handsome boy...

This post was supposed to start out with a picture of my sweet boy with his new ID card...he's been looking forward to this milestone for 6 months, turning 10 and getting his own military ID. We prepared a power of attorney to get this done months ago in preparation, knowing Dennis would be gone for his birthday. Unfortunately, the best laid plans....


We celebrated his birthday yesterday, knowing that today would be super busy with activities and errands, went to dinner for his favorite, gnocchi...opened gifts. Blew out the candles on his cupcakes.
Today, his actual birthday, the one thing to look forward to was getting his ID. I called yesterday to verify their hours and what I would need to bring. I told them I was bringing him in after school today, as it was his birthday. He wore a special shirt, he was contemplating whether to smile or not..."did dad smile in his?" he asked me. He cleaned out his wallet when I picked him up from school in preparation.


When we get there, they were CLOSED...early today for a squadron function. Do you think that would have been something she would have mentioned to me yesterday? Saved a special trip to base and all of this disappointment? I walked my dejected child back to the car feeling so sad that the one thing special thing he was doing today was snatched from him.


So, we'll try again later this week...and they are going to get an earfull...or comment card-full. Happy birthday, anyway...sweetheart.

Dad, where are you?

My friend, Leslie's husband is deployed in an Air Force band. She gets all these cool pictures of him rocking out for the troops. Dennis is in a band, too...

He had the opportunity (ha, ha...dragged into it) to be in a talent show as one of his all-time favorite bands, KISS. They took 3rd place. That's him rockin' the drums...

He also sent this picture.

I think he's been gone too long...I showed it to Hayden...said "Hey look at your dad." He pointed to the guy in the front in the blue shirt. No....Ok, how about the red shirt? Noooooo. Try again. Better get home soon, your son's forgotten what you look like already.

Spring has sprung...

Today ended spring break. It went entirely too fast, as always. Didn't it used to be 2 weeks when we were kids?

This is how Hayden and McKenna kicked off Spring Break. He called it her spa day, but before Daddy freaks out, consider that he was charging her-- typical Hayden...

Then, with the upcoming move, I had a plan...clean up and clear out. So, the first three days were spent packing up winter clothes (won't need THOSE in Hawaii) and clearing all of our bedrooms of stuff that we didn't absolutely need or LOVE. (Sabrina pointed out that she LOOOOOOVED it all! Sorry, babe...what exactly is the purpose of the "blue box"? It holds all of your blue stuff?) One day I enlisted help...I thought maybe an impartial third party may help Sabrina cut some of those ties...and they did get a lot done! Thanks Melanie!

We took a day off and went to a hands-on science museum in Pirmasens with some friends...the kids had a blast checking out all of the displays. But, I think the tall slide was the favorite:

Friday we attended a going away party for the Post kids, as they will be leaving here in a few weeks. It was the perfect day to be out running around with squirt guns, and they had a blast! They sure will miss their friends.

Another fun photo op of spring...McKenna is 4 1/2, yet has never done well with Santa or the Easter Bunny...this year with some maneuvering...and under much duress, I got this great picture. The consumate professional model, you'd never know she was stuck to my leg, and I had to peel her off and put her on the bench just moments before!

I so look forward to spring, even with the two weeks of sneezing and itching eyes. At least I get to hunt for the perfect Easter dresses, and this year was no exception...It's no easy task finding matching dresses with the age difference between my girls. I got so lucky with these! Here are my little sweeties on Easter morning. Maybe I shoulda waited until the sun moved a little...sorry McKenna...

And McKenna actually took this one of me and Sabrina. She's a natural!

Well, that's a week's worth of news and hope you enjoy the pictures. It's never easy celebrating a holiday without daddy, but we'll have him home soon. Happy Easter and blessings of joy to all of our family and friends...we miss you, too!

Language barrier...

Ok, so we've lived here almost 6 years...plus counting our tour to Germany when we were first married, and it's nearly 9 years. And, I still can not get the grasp of the German language. It is so difficult for me to understand, plus when they add words to words that changes the meaning entirely...I just don't get it. I have taken classes, too. Even Dennis has taken college language courses, and he still can't read our electric bill. It comes down to vocabulary for him. I have, in all this time, been able to eat and shop...

But, I can't tell you how excited I am to go back to the land of understanding my repairman...

We have an OLD house...with OLD fixtures...and OLD appliances. So, when something goes "kaput" (I've got that word down...) I tell my landlord that speaks barely any English, with lots of hand gestures and am not quite sure what will translate to the repairman.

Enter clogging toilet. For the past few weeks we have been required to plunge even the smallest amounts of toilet paper. It's a little embarrassing when company uses the toilet, so I told the Landlord. She sent two guys...one of which barely speaks English, the other none at all...that flushed and hosed and removed the toilet, then put it back on and it worked. For 1 day.

So, I called back...said it's still clogging and leaking around the base "It's good?" she asks (She has no idea what I just said...) "NO! NOT GOOD!" I tell her. She says she'll send them back on Monday.

So, they show up and proceed to flush, and say..."see, water goes down". I balled up some toilet paper and flushed, said "see, toilet paper still there..." So, he holds the flushing handle a REALLY long time, and it all flushed (they are different here...the longer you hold them the water just keeps flowing...not like tank ones back home)...ok. if my kids held it down that long, I'd yell at them to stop playing in the bathroom.

They think I'm crazy, I can see it isn't completely blocked, but obviously some flow problem if the "stuff" in there doesn't disappear. I look distraught so they took the toilet off again, did some more hose work and said it was fixed when they left...see....(flush) 1 mississippi, 2 mississippi....18 mississippi...toilet paper all gone! Imagine that! They said they'd come back today...he motioned around the floor, so it seems they are coming back to mop the bathroom? I have no idea....

Spring cleaning and a surprise...

You may recall an earlier post about a cruel trick by Mother Nature...snow after a tease of spring. Well, I'm so glad the real thing seems to be here. I was telling my dad how nice it was that it was 60 degrees yesterday, and unfortunately he had a chilly 29. Poor thing! I thought we had it bad!

But, it's spring...and to me that means spring cleaning...bustling, organizing, brighter days and capris. With the impending move and the kids on Spring Break, I am in full clean out mode this week. It's good timing to switch out wardrobes and pack away the winter clothes for three (ghast! Will I even want any of it by then?) years. That has kept me from making this overdue post.

Every year when we do our taxes, we are glad to get some back, even though we have it worked that we don't have lots of extra taken out through the year (why give Uncle Sam need a tax-free loan?). But, it is nice to make a double bill payment and maybe get something fun. This year, with Dennis gone, I made a decision to get something big and surprise him.

We were grateful to get my parent's dining room set when we needed one years ago. It was a sturdy oak pedestal set with 6 chairs. But, over the years, I have grown to dislike the oval shape (can NEVER find table cloths) and it seems to take a large amount of space for the seating available. So, we talked about leaving it here and getting a new set at our next station.

Well, I was told that furniture selection isn't so great, so I started to look around here and found this set...I liked the idea of a bench seat (you can slide a lot of kids in on that one) but had not pictured this set in my mind at all. I had imagined cloth seats with wood backs, a more solid color, medium stain table. This is so completely not my style. Way more modern than I imagined. I did, however, fall in love with it instantly. Especially those deep chocolate high back chairs. I got 5 of them, plus the bench...that's a minimum of 8 seats (and more if your hineys are small!). I found it on the German economy, was able to use a VAT-relief form, and got a GREAT deal. I've received good feedback from my girlfriends...here it is:

Plus, doesn't it look pretty with the polish pottery settings? And, with a spill already of strawberry milk by one daughter and gum between the legs of another daughter (I'll let you guess which is which) that I was able to clean off of both chairs, I am so glad I found these! I hope Dennis will be too! Surprise! What do you think, hunny?