The Score

Nic gave me permission to write on her blog, so for my first post I would like to enlighten readers that she is losing. To date, I have received approximately 4 speeding tickets and she has had 1 that we have paid. We're pretty sure she has 1-2 more coming in the mail and I have probably two more. Now here's the issue: the police don't pull us over. There are little cameras all over that take pictures... you get "blitzed". I have many expensive pictures of me in my car and Nic has a particularly good one with a scowl on her face. Priceless... ok, not priceless, it cost us 25 Euro each. Needless to say, I feel good that we are doing our part to improve the German economy, increase Polizei salaries, and give those little roadside cameras a sense of purpose and meaning. I feel like a dumb B.F Skinner rat that just isn't negotiating the maze very well.

We have been working with the kids on not waking us up in the mornings. They have a digital clock in their room and have been instructed on not leaving their beds until 7am. For us 7am is sleeping in.....lame, I know. After a couple of times trying to wake us up before 7 and getting in trouble, Micah starting sending Sadie in to do the dirty work. We put an end to that.

Last sunday we heard foot steps bounding up the stairs. The door flew open and a folded piece of paper glided into the room and then we heard foots steps running down to the kids room. I opened up the note and this is what it said:

Mom, Meet me in my bedroom right now.

Signed Micah P. Jensen

Too cute to ignore. Okay Micah, you win. You succeeded in getting me out of bed.

The perfect saturday

The last weekend was very pleasant. It was the perfect balance of relaxing and eventful. We started with morning with exercise (basketball for Greg and I jogged). After getting the kids ready we headed to Homburg, where Greg managed the kids while I shopped for clothes. Yes...that right I finally bought some new clothes. It worked out great. The kids were happy. I had a little time to myself and actually have something new to wear. I have been feeling kind-of cute the last few days. (It has been a long long time since I felt cute).



We came home and had quiet time, aka family naptime. After a nice rest, our friends called and invited us to go to a new outdoor natural pool. We quickly got the kids ready and headed out. The pool is more like a man-made lake. It is very kid friendly, with a large shallow area. The kids dug in the pebbles and splashed in the water, while I chatted with the ladies and Greg with the guys.



We came home and fed the kids a quick pancake dinner and bedtime came right after. We watched an episode of the Office and the Sarah Conner chronicles. The day ended perfectly.

going buggy

While walking in the woods, Taylor and I discovered an ant nest. He was fascinated by the crawling and scurrying and bent down to investigate. He pointed to an ant, which then crawled up his arm. He imediately started screaming. He felt very violated by the little guy. Now everything is a bug, pieces of fluff, specks of dirt. After eating a sticky treat, Taylors hands became covered with carpet fibers. I heard this babbling and screaching from upstairs. I came to the rescue and tried to show him that the carpet fluff was not out to get him. Poor kid.

The last day of School

Taylor acting like I felt.

Making footprints in the sand.

Sadie and Josephine.

A happier Taylor.

Before he jumped with both feet into the water.

So I thought we would kick off the summer with an outing after school today. Doris came up with the idea of going to a Reptile zoo about an hour away. Things didn't go as planned. The event started out with me thinking Micah's school got out an hour later than it did. We hit a detour on the way there and decided to go to a science museum, which was a little closer. After being in the car for two hours, we were primed for a grumpy time. Micah and Sadie did well, Taylor and I were ready to lose it. After a German man cut infront of me in the food line, I told Doris we have got to go home. On the way out we found this nice sand box and water area. We ended the outing on positive note. Overall, I think the kids had fun.

The nightwatchman's rounds

Doris invited me to go on a tour of Homburg, a town near our village. The walking tour focused on architecture from the baroque period. It started out with an hour lecture about the time period. Apparently, there was a regiment of soldiers from this area that fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary war. They were part of the group of Germans, recruited by the French army that arrived in Yorktown at the end of the war. We got to see some period uniforms, weapons, and eat some food from that time.

We then moved outside for the walking tour. It was nice to see Homburg through history's eyes. I didn't realize how old that city is. Many of the buildings in the old part of town are from the 1600s-1700s. We walked the path the Nightwatchman walked and it was easy to imagine what it might have been like back then. Of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without a stop at the ice cream shop, two scoops of Italian ice cream, dark chocolate, and hazelnut.

This picture was of one of the tour guides in costume. We were out until 11pm walking around time....crazy.

How I know that I am closer to 40 than 30

• When I don't wear make-up, my face disappears.
  
• Dying my hair is not about the cute highlights anymore.
  
• While struggling across the floating lilypads at the water park last summer, a couple of college aged lifeguards started yelling, "go, mamma, go mamma.".........Mamma?
  
• skinny jeans?
  
• The party starts at 8pm and ends at 9pm.
  
• While listening to the radio a Smith's song came on. The DJ suggested buying the CD, "for your Parents for Christmas." Since when do 7 year olds listen to the radio?
  
• I used to worry about having white legs. Now I worry about having purple ones.

Speyer

On Saturday we met with some friends (Dorris, Amelie Sophie, Josephine, Juerg) and headed out to Speyer. We went to the Technilogical museum again. This time the weather was beautiful. The outside activities were a lot of fun, now that it was above freezing. We spent most of the time playing at the park and climbing in and out of huge locomotives, airplanes, helicopters, submarines, etc. Taylor regretting the handful of sand he tasted.

Micah ascending the boat launcher.

Micah posing on the lion.

Exercising is it's own reward

That is what I keep trying to tell myself, or convince myself. After three weeks of regularly exercising, the scale hasn't budged. Maybe it is the ice cream for a snack when the kids are napping, or the cookies for breakfast.....do you think? It is time to cut back. I was hoping that jogging three times a week would do it and cutting back on evening snacks. I guess shifting around my calories to earlier in the day, doesn't do anything.