Sibling Love

I got up this morning, had breakfast with the kids, did Austin's "learning lesson" with him, made beds, straightened the house and got the kids dressed. Well, I finally got in the shower and when I got out this is what I found.

Moments like this make me so happy to be a stay at home mommy. They can be so sweet with each other!! After this we walked to the grocery store, brought home and unloaded the groceries, ate lunch, cleaned some more and went out to the playground for HOURS of fun. When we were walking in from the playground John drove up and we all came in together, John bathed the kids while I was cooking dinner and then Belle joined me and Simona on our walk while John and Austin had some father son bonding. It was such a nice enjoyable day.
I am sure you are wondering why I feel the need to share our days details. I am just so happy for normal days like this. I think we all take advantage of being together so often and I sometimes think back on last year when John was deployed and I am just so very thankful to have him here. It is amazing how some of the smallest things are such a big deal to our little family. In some ways I sometimes think of last year as a blessing in the way that we really don't take advantage of our time together. We cherish every moment.
Sorry for my dramatic blog tonight. I guess I am just getting excited about spending the 4th of July as a family this year.

Mainz Festival

We went to a Festival in Mainz last Sunday. We are loving all these festivals. It seems like we have one every weekend. Sorry it has taken so long to get it up on the blog. Here are some pictures.

One More Thing

I forgot I also had a few pics of Belle and Brady riding there bikes. Look at Brady's bike. She just bought it this week and it is the bike all the German children ride. There are no pedals. They use there feet and glide. Really neat.

Busy Friday!!

We had a "berry" busy Friday. We took the kids Strawberry picking!! It was so neat. I have only done this once before and it was a first for the kids. The other pictures I am posting are of Flippy's birthday. Flippy is Austin's bunny he bought when we went to the Frankfurt Zoo. My friend Jen made a cake and asked told him she made Flippy's birthday cake. He was so excited. So we had a celebration, of course. The rest of the pictures are of Annabelle's room. It is still a work in progress but i got her pictures in the mail and hung them and she is so excited about it. But, she is most excited about the flower light on the wall.

Annabelle's Snack

Belle decided to make herself a snack tonight. I thought it was photo worthy. She is a silly little girl.

Frankfurt Zoo

John left us for a few days so we are keeping very busy. We went to Frankfurt zoo yesterday with my friend Simona and her three girls. We had a nice time.
Best story of the trip. We were standing in this building looking at the hippopotamus. Well, they let you get really close. They are in there "cell" with there jail bars and about two feet from them is a little rail. So, you are really close to them. Anyways, Simona and all the kids walk over to see the Rhino and Belle and I were still looking at the Hippo(Belle was in the stroller). The hippo slowly turns around and begins pooping. Well, I don't know if you have ever seen a hippo poop but when they do, they spray it with there little tail. I don't think I have EVER run so fast in my life. It was disgusting. He shot it at least 8 feet in both directions. UUGGGHHHH!! Belle can't stop talking about it. Luckily it didn't hit us.

Austin Soccer Spring '08

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is a video I have put together for Austin of some pictures and videos from this season. He really enjoyed playing and did an awesome job. Hope you enjoy his video.

Taunus Wonderland Pictures

I am going to try to make a link for my slideshow of photos. Erin D. was kind enough to explain this to me. So, here goes nothing. Click here to see the pics.
Well, I guess we will see if it works. If it does, please enjoy the photos and if not, I will do my best to try again.

Taunus Wonderland

We went to an amusement park here in Wiesbaden yesterday with our friend Simona and her three girls, Laura, Greta and Erica. It turned out not to be a day full of great weather(cold and rainy) but we had a GREAT time anyway. Austin was also not feeling to good but wasn't about to miss the day that had been talked up for so long. They had all of the great rides including roller coasters, the big swinging pirate ship(made mommy a little queasy), the log ride, slides, animals, bumper cars and lots of kiddie rides. They also had a magic show, water balloon tossing, a neat ride where you pull on a cord to lift yourself up and it goes about 40 feet up, trampolines, ball pits, a helicopter simulator and much more. On top is a video of Austin on a roller coaster and below is Annabelle doing her dance on the stage where the magic show was held. She and I also went on the roller coaster but no one was off to take our picture. She loved it!

NEW VIDEOS!!

If you click on the video link on the right, I have uploaded some new videos from the festival this past Saturday. There are some cute ones of the kids chasing the ducks and one of Belle running through a mud puddle. At the end of the video of Belle you will here me calling John over. I wish I would have left the camera on because he flipped out. He wasn't aware that I had an extra outfit including shoes for her in the bag. He looked over and said "JENNIFER what are you doing? Do you see your daughter? All three of us girls were hysterical b/c we set him up and were right on key with what he would do and say. He took her over to the lake and washed her feet off. It was pretty funny. There is also a video of us squeezing underneath umbrellas trying to get out of a hail storm. We walked downtown for the festival and so we didn't have cars to get home. So, we were hiding until it stopped. We were 2 to 3 miles from home at the time and going home is uphill. Well, the hailstorm stopped but about 2 hours later a big thunderstorm rushed in and it wasn't going anywhere. So, we all booked it home as quickly as we could. It was a blast, we were soaked from head to toe but actually had a great time. I luckily had my plastic cover for the new stroller so Belle and my friends newborn were in my stroller covered up. Okay that is all for now. Hope everyone is doing great!!! We miss all of you!! Oh,by the way, WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR VISITORS. I think we are going to make a deadline and no visitors after the deadline has been crossed. HA, I am so very funny.

Fasanarie Zoo

We went to the Fasanarie Zoo last Thursday with four of my girlfriends and there children(minus the school-age kids). It was a lot of fun for all of us. They had a giant playground, lots of animals and you are walking through the wilderness to see them all. They also had a little place where you could eat but we brought a picnic lunch. Here are some pictures from our time there.

Belle

Here are some pics of Belle. She has been growing like a weed. She is wearing one of her new lily dresses her Nonnie sent her. She looks so cute!! This morning the lady at her school went crazy over her. She said she has never seen a little girl as much as a diva as the belle. She was talking about the way she is always dressed. Her teachers just love her too. On Wednesday she went over to hug her teacher before we went home like she does everyday. Only, this time when she got over to me she ran back over to the teacher and gave her a big ole kiss right on the lips. whoops!! She really loves her. She always is talking about Miss LaJulia. I will have to take a picture of them together and put it on here. Belle also talks a mile a minute and is truly the funniest child I have EVER known.
I have a funny for you all. Every morning after I get her dressed, she asks for her bow and helps pick out some shoes. Then, she goes directly to the mirror and checks herself out. She looks at her dress, then touches her bow, looks down to her shoes and then turns around and lifts up her dress to see if her name is on her panties. She has all of those cute panties to cover up her diaper and they have her name monogrammed on her hiney. It is adorable.

Last Day of School

Today was Austin's last school for this year. We had a picnic at his school with the parents and students. All of the kids were able to dress up in an outfit of what they want to be when they grow up. He OF COURSE wore his flight suit. It was really sweet. He also made mommy a beautiful necklace!! I am so proud of him!!! I got emotional this afternoon thinking about what a great kid he is. He has already been through so much in the four years he has been alive and has also been able to see so much of the world. He seems to always point out the best things and is always right there to make sure everyone is happy. For example, I asked him if he would like to go do something special after school. Explaining to him that it was the last day and I was so proud of him. I suggested we go get an ice cream. He looks up at me and says, "How about just some snuggle time with Mommy." Are you serious? Snuggle time with mommy over ice cream.
I am sorry for my sappy email today but I am just so proud of him and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful boy!! So, LET THE SUMMER BEGIN!!!!!!!!!