Happy Halloween

On wednesday evening we particpated in our ward's Halloween Party. We had a great time and got plenty of candy. Tonight we are headed up the Landstuhl Housing area, for some more Halloween fun.


Greg's mom sent these toddler scrubs for Micah years ago. All of our kids have been a doctor at least once. Taylor makes a cute one.

All I needed was a hat to complete the witch outfit.

Take it all away

Getting rid of garbage can be tricky here in Germany. It is required by law to recycle. Some Americans don't do well with sorting garbage and end up taking things to the dumpsters on base. We haven't done that yet, okay...well our fake Christmas tree ended up there somehow......and we did hide a toilet seat in the German trash....shhhhh...don't tell.

However, there is one good thing about the German garbage system: bulk garbage day. Once a year, you can put anything out in front of your house and it will get taken away, old cabinets, electronics, old clothes....etc. Yesterday was such a day. We got rid of a few things that have been piling up in our basement.

The funniest part about bulk garbage day are the white vans with Polish plates. Before the local garbage pick up takes the trash away, Polish junk collectors drive around looking for great finds and take them away, to be fixed up and sold over the boarder. It was fun to see how long our stuff lasted. One van pulled up to our house, when the driver saw the bike we just put out. He waited while we unloaded our basement. He left pretty pleased (he scored a couple of old bikes and strollers). We were pretty happy too. One person's junk is truely another's treasure.

Playing Army Guy

For the last two weeks I've been in Hohenfels, Germany doing Field Training with the 212th Combat Support Hospital (CSH). This is the same idea as the old M.A.S.H. (Mobile Army Support Hospital), but bigger. We practice setting up the hospital and running through pretend mass casualty scenarios and take care of real patients as needed.

Succinctly, I'm on a really big campout.

I'll admit that the theme song of M.A.S.H kept popping in my head every time I walked around the CSH and saw helicopters flying around.

These are the Male Officer Barracks that I stayed in. It was re-named "The Plague Barracks" due to the Type A Influenza virus that swept through... as if the orchestral snoring of 20 grown men with borderline sleep apnea wasn't enough.

These are the ICU and ER tents

And my favorite, of course, the Operating Room with two beds. This is where I spent my time.

These two locations are noteworthy.

First, the Male Latrine. Notice the fantastic tile accentuating multiple shower heads reminiscent of WWII Germany. If you look closely, you'll see accent colors on the floors and corners. I'm not sure exactly what color they are, so I'll just call them the color.... petri dish.

Secondly, the internet cafe. This is the exact room where I'm sitting right now. No frills needed to attract soldiers eager to email... or blog... whatever your fancy.

Oh, yes. It snowed.

The first photo is from the 212th CSH hospital tents looking down to the barracks.

The second photo is of me smiling.

Why not.

BYE BYE BINKY

My first two kids made it through their infancy without a binky addiction, not my third. He slept so well with his little soother, we didn't take it away. Now he is over 2 years old and still loves those things. We just put him in his bed, hand him a blanky and his pacy. Usually he wave good night and lays down to go to sleep without a peep. Well.....it is time to move on.

And I am a flake....a weakling.

I cut the tip off of one of his binkies the other day. He noticed immediately and declared "yucky binky, broken binky, fix it now!" throwing his pacifier back to me. On the way to bed I handed it to him again and explained that it was time for him to be a big boy. Unfortunately, I failed to noticed another binky in his bed. He sure noticed it. Okay......attempt failed. Next time I need to search the house to find all the binkies.

Now we are down one binky and only have one that "works." I just put him down for his nap and could not find his binky. I put him to bed with the "broken" one and again he said, "fix it now!" I explained the other binky was lost. I suggested he try sucking on his blankie.

Well, he is now in his bed moaning...."binky, binky, binky," and I am currently looking for that silly thing.

I am so weak.

Attention to Detail

This is Greg. I am unwillingly bound by my occupation to pay attention to minute details. Here's a great example: Yesterday I was watching the kids while Nic had some errands to attend to. I was in the kitchen and noticed Taylor by the front door intermittently glancing at me while testing the door handle. With ease, I figured that he had intentions of trying to get outside. Next, Micah was looking for paper to make a snowflake, and it was a simple task for me to remember where I had noticed paper lying around that he could use. Sadie was third, and she was looking for a toy that she had misplaced. Searching through my databanks of "Lost Toys", I was able to point her in the right direction. Then, I noticed a draft in the house. Easy. A window must be open. Shortly thereafter, I heard the huffing and puffing of a 2 year old boy coming b ack through the open front door (oh... not a window). Hmmm... Taylor clearly had negotiated his way outside. I brought him back inside and locked the door and told him that Daddy needs to be outside with him while he plays in the front yard. Later that day we took a trip to the park. After we had gone out the door, to the street, down the sidewalk, to the top of the very steep stairs, I noticed Taylor's little blue bike sitting there... aimed to be ridden down the stairs... hmmmm.... that little piece of minutia was a little disconcerting...