bubbles

The other day we got the girls little bubble whistles. Jim wasnt sure I would like having the noisy things around, but they have turned out to be the perfect way to keep the kids in line. I over used it while we were at the hospital. "Be good or we arent going to blow thomas bubbles when we get home". It totally rocked!!

Well, this afternoon I finally had to follow with my promise. And it turned out to be alot of fun for all. The girls enjoyed the simple pleasure of creating bubbles and I enjoyed their laughter. Its the simple things in life right?

I took a video and a couple of pictures. You can find the pictures here

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeniferlawson0117/Bubbles?feat=directlink

German Doctors

As you all know, Carmen has some issues. Well we finally met her primary physican the other day. She said the the first neurologist we met was close, but not a pediatric neurologist, which is what we really need for Carmen so she switched us. No big deal right? They just did a German EEG last month, simple deal.
Not really, the new guys wanted their own one and they wanted Carmen to fall asleep.. well you know her, she freaks out at the EEG's and she sleeps.. well never! So they said to expect to spend the night. I told them that I had another child and they were like... can you leave it at home? LOL... yeah... sure why not?
So, Monday morning I get a call that they want me in at noon for an EEG for Carmen and prepare to spend the night in case it doesnt work well and they have to sleep deprive her. Fun times.. let me tell ya. So I through her paperwork, my trusty gps and a change of clothes and off we go.
Now the new guys are in Nuremberg which is about an hours drive away, its in the east side of the oooollllddd downtown. So I got lost a couple of times, this is where I love my gps, it didnt yell at me this time, it just treated me like a stupid person and kept recalculating my directions everytime I took a wrong turn.
We get there and do the first EEG, of course she didnt sleep so they call upstairs and order us a room. After dealing with wiggly screaming kids, trying to understand broken up english with thick german accents, following nurse after nurse around an NON-AC'ed hospital I was ready to cry by the time we made it to our room. I called Jim to let him know we would be staying the night and he got to hear the whole thing through my tears (poor guy). The german mothers that we shared a room with where staring at me when I hung up and turned around.. Germans are totally cool with getting nosy in your business... so I learned... and they were probably wondering what was wrong with the freaky american in their hospital.
After things settled down I took a short video of our room and situation, its below.

The afternoon was rather uneventful. Other than my bright idea to bring my laptop so the girls can watch movies.. I forgot that my power source is an USA power source and doesnt work in german outlets.. so they got to watch about a movie and a half.

That night we settled down and I tried to get the girls to sleep. Unfortunately there were people in and out of the room, monitors beeping and it was 87 degrees.. no wind.. oh and i packed for cold weather because it was chilly when we left the house and in US hospitals its always on the cool side.. yeah note to self, plan to sweat when at the hospital.

The next morning we were woken up at 3am. Carmen and I played "go fish" for two hours before Rose woke up, we had breakfast and then Carmen went off to have her bloodwork done. That is a whole nother blog unto itself... lets just say that it got done. :0)

So Rose finally fell asleep while watching "Bob der Brewmeister" and yes that is pronounced how it is spelled... hahaha its the german version of bob the builder.

Carmen did take her EEG and she slept, I was so releived when the nurse told me she actually slept that I teared up.. (now remember i had been up since 3am, stressed out from trying to keep my kids under control so the other truly sick kids could rest, and the whole situation at large, oh and the language thing) We waited around for the results and our "consult" with the head doc of the hospital.

All in all, its the same prognosis that we had in the states. We keep doing what we are doing and hope that it helps. There is a 30-40% chance that she will never get rid of her seizures, that she will continue to try to control them, but for now we are just gonna pray that it will all work out.

So long long story short, we made it alive through that adventure. And if any of you write me and tell me its all an adventure and to enjoy every minute, I might have to get on a plane, come home just to slap you!! ;0) The last two days was not an adventure, it was a nightmare that I dont wish to repeat anytime soon. We got through it because we had to, but it doesnt mean I have to like everything that happens to us out here. But please enjoy my moment of zen.. I sure did.... (aka, the picture below)

Breakfast of Champions

When we got to Germany I had so many hopes and plans for what I would do with my experiences and how I would go about teaching my girls in the process. Much, well lets be honest, all of that has changed, notiably my hopes for a large garden out here. I have been forced to rethink my priorities and get creative. So, I created a small retreat for myself on our balcony. And well, I am adding to it all the time. But my happiest moments are in the mornings when I go out to water my plants and pick off herbs for scrambled eggs at breakfast time. Both girls know which plant is which, what they taste and smell like (and whether they are willing to eat it or not). They also know if they decide to pull them out I will have to kill them. But back to the story.

I also am having to accept that there arent any drive thru coffee shops out here. No, starbucks hasnt made it this far. There are good "mom-n-pop" shops, but they are all located downtown and you have to walk into to them for service. Now before you start writing and telling me I am lazy, think of it this way. The times I want coffee the most is in the mornings, before I accomplish much else. Plus I have two little kids.. very energetic kids... so ordering anything is difficult add to it the language barrier, yes I dont speak german yet.. I know, slacker, I have been here all of two months, what have I been doing with my time?? To save Jim and myself from killing each other from lack of caffine we purchased an espresso machine, we are still working out the finer points of the perfect cup of coffee, but let me say it has saved lives and our marriage many times over!

So these stories bring us to the main point of this particular post. I had the best breakfast last week, scrambled eggs with fresh herbs, and a lovely cup of carmel cappucino (sp?), it made for a productive day of unpacking, and avoiding learning German. :0)

Grafenwohr Picnic

Well last Sunday we were allowed to go and visit the soldiers up in Grafenwohr Training area. Now Graf is about a two hour drive northeast of where we are. I got to drive on the autobahn for most of that time. And let me just say, my car liked it ALOT!!! heehee. I did get lost on the way up there, my GPS wanted to take me off onto this "unmarked gravel road" in the mountain side.. I was like.. I dont think so. And turned around, thank goodness for a photographic memory or I would have been completely lost because my GPS kept screaming at me to turn around and go back. Long story short, we made it safely and thuroughly enjoyed the day. It was truly blessed. It was sunny and about 75 degree's and a nice cool breeze. We took a bunch of pictures that you can see at our picasa site.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeniferlawson0117/GrafenwohrPicnic?feat=directlink

I took a short video below, and then Carmen took over, so I will add one of the few that she took.

After our lovely lunch we went for a drive to the local PX, which was HUGE!!!! And we got coffee... aaahhhh its the little things in life I tell ya. We ended up driving around and parking in a parking lot because the girls fell asleep, so Jim and I got to talk, which is always nice. He had to go back to work, so we left around 5pm and headed home.

The trip back was less exciting, but much needed. The girls slept most of the way.. well other than the part about crying for daddy.. but thats another topic for another day.

All in all, well worth the drive and headache. I was really happy we went!

SuperKids Resale (take 2)

a modern day fairytale

In a distant land, in a time not so far from now sat a princess. Not a princess from lineage, but more from her attitude, demeaner, and outlook on life. She sat, shut up in a cement tower, slowly growing deaf from the constant rumble of her mechanical aerobatic watchmen.
She sat there because she was mad, mad at the world and the hand it delt her. The circumstances that led her to this solitary tower were all of good intention. But, alas, she sat lonely and bitter, seemingly cursed by desicions that were not in her power to make but shaped her life non the less.
It would seem our poor princess was thwarted at every turn by the King that ruled her one true loves life. Yes, she was one of the lucky few who felt they had found their soulmate, as cheesy as that might sound. She loved him, simply put. For the good, and especially for the bad. They were determined to make their lives better and to do it together. But the King wouldnt allow it.
As any self deserving princess would have it, she fell in love with a knight. Not a prince, please, she didnt want to fight anyone for primping time, and all princes were good for was looking pompous and saying the right thing at the right time. No, she wanted someone who fought for what he believed in, someone who would do the dirty work, and then bring her wild flowers he had found while at work. That was the man, the simple warrior to stand next to her for the rest of her life.
The King wasnt really all bad, but he didnt see the toll he was putting on his knights everytime he sent them into battle. These battles were long and grueling, and many good knights never made it home. They were fighting for something better, something bigger than themselves, but it still hurt everytime the lovers had to say goodbye.
As we join our princess, in her lonely tower, in a distant and unfamiliar land, she is realing from the news that once again she must say goodbye to her knight. They have a happy little life, content to make each other smile and to look after their two little ones. Pumpkin Pie and Snickerdoodle. These two little beauties completed the happy union, but being young, they didnt understand what it meant to have to say goodbye to the knight and no amount of reasoning would make it easier for them to grasp this.
So our princess sits in her tower worrying, worrying for her knights safety, for her little ones quality of life and for herself. How was she going to pull this off? She has never had her knight leave her alone in a foreign land, she didnt understand the natives and was rather overwhelmed with the situation at the moment.
He would be leaving her in a short three months, half of which he would be gone, training for battle. How was she going to keep her little ones happy and healthy, keep their tower running smoothly, and not let her knight worry about her? So many questions and no answers to be found.
We will catch up soon with our princess when she might have more answers, and hopefully not more questions.

Birthday Hopes

So, this is kind of a long story, but the short version is that Jim and I planned on taking the girls to the Gummy Bear Factory in the town about 30 minutes away to give us something fun and kid oriented for Rosemarys second birthday. We cruised their site before going trying to find times it was open and if they did tours. No such luck, we decided to just wing it.

So with that in mind we headed out this morning, breaking in our new GPS system, which totally rocked. We didnt get lost at all, which is a first for us. But, alas, the factory is closed on the weekends... yeah... I was surprised to. So where do we go from there? Well, we ended up grabbing lunch and taking the long way back home.

Yeah, it was less than impressive, but I got some pretty pictures of the local scenery.

Once home we headed out to the playgrounds that flank the back of our apartment buildings. I think we wandered through about 4, playing a little at each one before we decided to take the plunge and head inside for cake. I took random video of the playground too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alj7arwH0Gc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2KIPz53Vh4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJo3DPIVT00

This is completely random, but its a cute one of the girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pE9yniP7os

We videotaped Rose's birthday "party" and have some pictures from it too. She is so adorable, and so grown up!!! amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcOKx7LeaFw

Happy Birthday my little Rosemary!

fly-by's and other such loud things

Some random pictures of the girls in the playground behind our apartment.

As you know we live right off the landing strip for the local helicopters. They actually fly a circle around our house (so both sides are equally noisy) and land right out our balcony. I took some video of the girls and I hanging out on the balcony the other day and, of course, drills were being run.

They do some interesting things, come in all nice and smooth, come in like their ass is on fire and then the multiple helicopter take-offs and landings. Those are the most interesting by far. I took some video of that also.