Monday, July 13

Hello All!!!

Hope everyone out there is having a great day. I've been having a case of the blahs lately (which is another reason for a lack of posts...). Not sure why I'm in a slump - but hopefully, it won't last long.

Dustin went out of town today - he comes home late tomorrow only to drive off on a long day trip on Wednesday. Bummer that he is traveling so much before we leave, but hopefully he will have a break before he heads back to the US. Brenna and I had german class this morning and then an early lunch. After her nap, we took the dog for his walk, went quickly to the store (it looked like it was going to storm all afternoon, but it really didn't do to much - but it is really humid and warm outside (o.k. - and in our apartment too, lol)), finger painted (what a mess my daughter was after that one - she put the paint on her arms up to her armpits...), and made some frosting peanut butter playdough (which I'm sure that Dustin will help eat when he gets home!). We didn't get a chance to play with the playdough - I gave Brenna a choice between painting and playdough and she chose the painting. But, I went ahead and made the playdough today (really, I was trying to clean out some items in the fridge before we leave in a little over a week - it is going to be bad for our family diet - but this stuff is really, really yummy - poor Dustin will have an empty fridge by the time we leave, lol).

I thought I would share a few more pictures from our weekend (and our day of cleaning last week). Brenna really loved my scarf on Sunday (she also really loves necklaces - most of mine get kissed each time that I wear them :-) - I wrapped it around her to get her to be in the picture - can you tell how beautiful she thought she was (and of course she is, lol - I love it when she does something and then says "I'm beautiful now..."). We had to take several pictures of Brenna's swan family - she loved them! I had to take a picture of Brenna's line up in the bathroom (can you tell that I always have too many products around the bathroom sinks!).

Well, I better get to bed! Take Care!

Sunday, July 12

Hello All!!!

Not sure that I will be writing much today - I am really tired after our travels today (not sure why - maybe I just ate too much in the car...).

We went to visit castles today :-) It was a nice weather day as far as temperature - not too warm, but a little rainy as we visited our first destination. The first castle we visited, Schloss Johannisburg, was destroyed during World War II - it was a big castle, but Brenna just wanted to speed right through it. We walked over to the building that is an idealized replica of a Roman villa next - I think Dustin liked that the most. Then, we drove over to Schloss Schönbusch - I think Dustin, Brenna, and I liked the grounds the most - the building (palace) tour was hard for us to follow as it was given all in German (and the tour guide went into great detail on the tables, decor - it was all original - but not sure why all the wall paper needed to match exactly to the furniture..., and pictures). Brenna really liked the swans that she saw here - but it was past nap time, so we were all ready to get back on the road again.

Yesterday, we just stayed around home and did some errands. I bought Fudge-a-mania in German - I never read it in English - maybe one of my nieces or nephews would like to read the English version with me and then we can talk about it, lol!! Also, I'm starting to get things around for the trip back to the US - can't believe that we only have one more weekend before we fly!!! They are calling for rainy weather here this week which will be a real bummer as Dustin is out of town Monday - Wednesday this week... Brenna has her kindergarden visit on Thursday - hope that all goes well :-)

I can't believe how many days I went without posting - we cleaned on Thursday and Friday (although there is still a lot to do on that front - the dog hair is never ending...). We did some errands on Friday - it was really cute when we were out, a little girl about Brenna's age just came up to her and grabbed her hand to hold - not sure why, but it was cute!! Brenna loves to shop with her purse and usually has to take one of her pets along in the bag - I'm thinking she may be one of those girls with a small dog in a purse some day!! We went to the mall on Saturday morning - Brenna couldn't wait to go and enjoyed going to the electronic store there (she loves the kitchen and pretend playing there - she gets to open the ovens and play with the knobs and open all the fridge doors). Brenna seems like she really wants one of the Stieff stuffed animals, but as they are really expensive (even here where they are made...) we are trying to hold off buying it for her (although we continue to spoil her with other stuff) (maybe Santa will bring her one for Christmas if she continues to be really attached - I could buy a real dog for the price of the toy one though - but at least there wouldn't be any clean-up!!)

Well, I'm off to an early bedtime! Take Care!

Wednesday, July 8

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. Not too much went on today - Brenna and I baked a small (think mug size) pineapple upside down cake this morning (she loved helping with that) and then played with her stuffed animals (oops - we should have cleaned today - I'm a terrible housewife on that front...). She loves the pound puppies - so we had "adoption" day here with all her stuffed animals (and she included herself - did you know that my daughter thinks she is a dog at least 50% of the time? - it is worse when she is tired - all I get as communication then is "whining and whimpering"). We did some coloring - she was more interested in my page than hers (especially when my "treat" last night decided it didn't agree with my stomach and I spent a significant amount of time in the bathroom). At least I did get kisses from her for my ouchy tummy!!

It was rainy today, so we didn't spend a lot of time outdoors - just a short (really, really short walk) for the dog (but at least our rain boots are coming in handy! - best purchase I made over here - besides my cool new rain coat, lol). I was going to make french fries for supper, but my potatoes were shot (of course I didn't discover that until it was pouring down rain and 5:30)- so Brenna and I shared some soup and she had some cheese on her English muffins ("mom - I want pizza without sauce" - what is that??). Dustin wasn't too late, but went off to play volleyball (wished I would have realized he was going to do that earlier - I would have done my day a little differently...).

Well, I still have to do my German homework (although they are getting ready to end those for me :-( - gotta love the promises of "no, it won't be difficult to get your classes extended" (before we left the US), to "um, you can have 10 more classes and that is all we can do for you"... Can you tell I'm a little frustrated on that one...

Well, Take Care!

Monday, July 6th (Post 2)

Brenna's cookie above - can you tell how much fun she was having - she was covered in flour when we were done!

How Brenna and Dustin feel about all my picture taking - I thought this picture was hilarious!!

Well, I just couldn't finish out today without putting up some more pictures and wishing Chad a happy birthday (I don't know how I forgot to put that up with the first post today - I was thinking about it then - honest!!).

I have been dying to see a rainbow over here - I knew they would be great and I got my wish this evening - hope you like my picture of the view from my balcony. I had to catch the picture quick so this was just hand held with my camera, but I think you can see how beautiful the scenery is :-)

We made some cookies this afternoon - Brenna had lots of fun cutting them out (although after all the playdough that we eat she really thought we should just eat the dough and not bake it!). I gave her the last of the dough and set her free - I love all the dog bones she cut in and decided not to try to seperate them (yes, I baked it that way).

Well, take care!

Monday, July 6

"Mom, Dad - I want to go explore my castle now..."

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. We had a very nice (hopefully relaxing for Dustin) weekend. We went to the Rhine river yesterday here in Germany. We decided to go to one of the towns that you can get on the boats and ride to various locations (I really liked this trip, Dustin thought it was just o.k.). We got to the boat just in time (lucky for us they were not running exactly on time - but just pretty close) and hopped on the boat that we would ride for the whole day. Our first stop was a very pretty town, but our adventure started with a ride on a sky car (Brenna and my first) up to the top of the hill. I had Brenna on my lap as you can see in the picture - can you see the death grip I have on her??? Maybe I should check her stomach today for bruises, lol!! I know I held her so tight on the way down that her necklace left marks on my arm - on the way up I had the necklace on top of my arm which was a much better idea! She loved it and really enjoyed waving to the people in the other cars as they passed us (I think several people were very amused by her on this - she can put smiles on so many people's faces). I think her favorite cars were the ones with other kids in them - they really liked shouting out "Hi" to her. Dustin took some video with our camera - hope you enjoy it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxsSFo5v5VI

We hopped back on the boat then and went to visit one of the nearby castles (there are a bunch of them - how cool is that!!) I really enjoyed the castle we visited as it was all explore on your own (which is nice when you have a tired child). There was a climb up the hill to the castle and Brenna enjoyed "pulling" me up and down the hill (this worked out great to get her moving up the hill - she passed a ton of people as she "bull-dozed" her way up the hill - she made lots of people smile doing this - she is just such an entertainer). Brenna really enjoyed the castle and liked how much you could explore (and as a princess herself - she felt right at home!).

Brenna had her typical ice cream treat at the end of the tours - I wish she ate them a little quicker - we nearly had a chocolate mess after her cone, but luckily she had her bib on. Brenna had her first outing (all day) with only her underware (I think she is more ready for this than Dustin and I are for her to do it). She did great :-) Brenna was exhausted after pulling me up the hills (hey - who wouldn't be - I'm no light weight!) and fell asleep in the car as we drove out of town.

We had German class this morning and now we are getting ready to go play (and then have nap time). The weather is supposed to cool off after today - maybe I will get lucky and not have the really hot days here this summer - only 2 1/2 weeks before Brenna and I go back to the US. Brenna is really enjoying her new barbie dolls - they had a tea party this morning together and then they napped while she had lunch :-) (sorry, Dustin, but I think your daughter is going to be a girly girl!)

Well, that is it for now! Take Care!

Saturday, July 4

Hello All!!!

Happy 4th of July to everyone. We are just having a quiet day in today (although we must go to the grocery store later). No cooking or baking going on in our house as the weather is warm (although not unbearable yet - I'm crossing my fingers that I will be in the US if the temperature spikes too hot - an attic apartment is too hot for me already). I wish in some ways that Brenna was old enough to remember more of our time over here (especially the no air conditioning part - I think it is good character building, lol). The weather was cooler here on Thursday and Friday (and rainy in the afternoons) - so we stayed in for the most part. Brenna and I took Justice out for some walks on Thursday between the rain storms - she loves walking her dog (although she wishes she could walk him all by herself). There is a snail attached to one of the garage doors on the house - so Brenna has enjoyed visiting her new outside "pet" (wonder how many days he will be there before he is either not alive anymore or gets hungry and moves on??).

Today and yesterday I did some embroidery projects - I made Dustin a towel with a football hanger and the football helmet on the bottom and I made Brenna a princess castle (although I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to claim both - I'm pretty sure she thinks all project embroideries are hers now, lol). Yesterday, Brenna and I both put on some fake tattoos - this was her first experience with them (they are really cute little animals). About 5 minutes after she had it on, she wanted it off - but I managed to convince her to leave it on so that Dustin could see it. Brenna has two on her belly - a unicorn and mouse rider and a turtle (a girl after her mommy's heart for sure). I tried to get some pics of these, but they didn't come out the best - the tattoos had lots of glare to them. Dustin didn't make it home in time to see Brenna last night, so she is very attached to him today. We are planning to do a boat trip tomorrow - I'm sure Brenna will have a blast with that and the weather should be pretty nice for it :-)

Well, I must go get the laundry - at least it should dry well today (it is amazing how long it takes stuff to dry over here!). Have a great holiday!

Take Care!

Wednesday, July 1

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. Brenna and I had a busy day today - we cleaned up in the apartment first this morning (how can one dog have so much fur???) and then went to the pool to cool off. Brenna loves the little kid areas that they have at the pools and our small town has a nice one. The pool is only about ankle deep where the water runs down (from the top)- but fun for the kids as it has sprinkler and is on a hill so it has lots of little waterfalls (I know I'm not doing a great job explaining it). Brenna likes to go up and down the steps, but doesn't like to go near the sprinklers yet. We had a picnic lunch at the pool and then came home for naptime. We tried out a new waterproof sunscreen for the kids that goes on blue and then becomes clear - Brenna really liked that aspect of it :-) It was amazing how many naked kids we saw running around at the pool (most of them were little boys about Brenna's age) - glad she isn't too curious about that one yet, lol.

Brenna loves pretending to be a princess or a mermaid. Not sure that it is a compliment to always end up as Princess Fiona (for any Shrek fans out there) - but I'm pretty sure that Brenna intends it as one, lol :-) The weather continues to be warm here during the day, but at least it is cooling off at night and making sleep comfortable. Brenna is such a little warm body, I let her spend the day in the apartment in just her underware - (yeah - most days I am getting her to wear her underware :-) Hopefully, we will be rid of the pull-ups very shortly - she is only wearing them for bedtime right now and I don't think that she really even needs them then as she wakes up dry in the morning :-)

Well, Dustin is out of town, so it is just Brenna and I for the next few days.
Take Care!