Making friends

Isabella just started preschool a few weeks ago...actually on February 5th.  I just realized I didn't put the date on her sign.  whoops!

Anyhow...she started school and within the first week had a best friend.  Brianna.  When I asked her what she likes about her and this is what I got...

"I just love her, mom."

"Why do you love her?"

"Because she wants to be my friend!" 

Is it that simple?  I want to be your friend therefore we are now friends.

Huh....one of those crazy things about moving around as much as we do is that you have to start over with friends everywhere you go.  I had awesome friends in Germany and maybe I'm just a little pouty that I had to leave them.  Of course...at some point most of them will also leave Germany so the pouting is a little ridiculous.

And so this time around I actually got "involved."  I went to a spouse event and met a bunch of ladies (and one man) who are spouses of soldiers. We chatted over a game of bowling.  I discovered many of them worked in the same unit as John.  I was glad I went.  And, I specifically connected with two of them. 

And they couldn't be more opposites! 

One is just down the street from me.  She's funny...a little crazy and loud.  She's got energy and gets a little spazzy about stuff and extra bonus...has kids about the age of Bella. 

The other is quiet and reserved and has an older daughter (as in over the age of 20) who she still drives to school every day. 

But, they are my friends and I love them because they want to be my friend!  I'm lucky to have a couple of those. 

Happy New Year 2012!

Yes, I'm incredibly late in this post, but they DO say better late than never.  And I'm never a no show...just usually late.  I blame my father for that character trait since my mother has a cardinal rule that if you aren't 5 minutes early you are late.  I can admit right now that I am rarely 5 minutes early.

Anywho...for New Years we had our best friends here in Vilseck who also just happen to be our neighbors come over with their daughter...who also happens to be Bella's best friend.  And then of course our family "unit" which is how our neighbors describe us because we always have our friend Christina with us.  She's a single soldier that we adore...

So...we all had a great time on New Years.  Playing games, setting off some simple fireworks and waving around sparklers, grooving to Just Dance on the Wii.  Yeah...it was a partay!

The girl's celebrated New Years at 9PM GMT+1.  We adults celebrated all the way until Midnight.  Party animals we are! 

PROST!

Sparklers!

The whole group minus John who was taking the photo.

My virgin Pina Colada.  It was delish!

Alyssa's "midnight" toast

Bella's "midnight" toast!

Christina and Kim's "midnight" toast.  :)

Just Dance on the Wii DANCE PARTY!  Woohoo!

Tis' the Season...

Tis the season of hot chocolate...

Finding the perfect dress to see Santa...

Sitting on his lap and asking for a PUPPY.

Finding the perfect tree...(and teaching a 3-year old how to saw...)

Laughing with family and friends...and the man you are madly in love with...

Decorating...

Remembering why certain ornaments are around...

Teaching a 3-year old the story of Jesus' birth...

Letting that same 3-year old decorate her own tree (branch)...

And feeling happier than you have in a really really long time.  Tis' the Season...

Pure joy...

found in a pile of leaves.  I recently raked up the backyard leaves...like I was supposed to have done during fall cleanup a month ago....whoops... 

Anyhow...our little neighbor girl came out to play and before you knew it we had 2 hours of jumping in a pile of leaves fun.  I remember those days...now I'm a big humbug...its too dirty...its too itchy...bah humbug.

Ok...maybe I did do a "hop or two" into the pile...but I made sure THAT wasn't caught on camera.

Oktoberfest 2011

As per my promise of a few blogs ago....I can say that I have officially survived Oktoberfest.  So...while I had a great time...I must say that the rumors about what Oktoberfest is (drunken fest with idiots running rampant - just in case you didn't hear the same rumors as me) well, anyhow...all those rumors are absolutely true. 

Yep...true.

But...its also a great big party with people who belt out songs and laugh a lot and cheer each other on and meet new friends from all over the world.  So, like I said...I had a great time.

First...the outfit.  Yep...John and I wore our traditional Dirndle and Lederhosen and felt quite Bavarian that day.

Second...I think I may have said this already, but Oktoberfest is all about the beer and the boobs.  I think you'll find the photos reflect this for the most part. 

We walked around the fest and I had to take some photos just to show how many people and how crowded and how HUGE this place is...

 

And our friends, Christina and Matt...who wore their dirndle and lederhosen too!

And then the party itself.  We ended up trying to get into the Lowenbrau fest tent, but that was a big joke...We were squashed together trying to get to the door...we waited for about 1/2 hour before deciding it just wasn't worth it.

This is the photo John took of me waiting in the squashed line...he said he had to take it from above because it was so crowded...

...squashed or not that didn't stop John and Matt from getting a hostess to serve them their first beer of the night...

I was starving so we all got sandwiches...mine was less than satisfactory.  I was disappointed...ended up eating the salami and cheese and dumping the rest.  Oh well...they never did say Oktoberfest was for the food.  :)

We ended up going to the Paulaner tent and ran into friends of John's that he works with.  They scootched over and we spent the next 5 hours hanging out there.

...and making friends with the Brits...

and the belgians...

...and some Germans until someone said the word Nazi and then security came and started throwing people out.  Yeah.  Fun.

Then there was a girl at the Belgian table that lifted her beer stein and hit herself in the nose and gave herself a bloody nose.  That was actually quite funny.

Overall...it was an experience I won't soon forget....plus I got to wear my dirndle and that totally made it all worth it.  :)

Just keep swimming...

Bella and I decided we were going SWIMMING!  So, we asked our neighbor and her daughter to join us and headed out to the Weiden Schwimmbad to spend a few hours in the pool. 

Here is what I LOVE about German swimming pools.

1.  Kids don't pay until they are 6 years old.

2.  There are always multiple pools (lap pool, kids pool, non-swimmer pool, wave pool, lazy river pool, pools with waterfalls, hottubs, etc.)

3. They have fun slides...like the enclosed tube slides as well as regular slides.

4.  They are just the right temperature.

5.  They have chairs deckside that you can lounge in and even tan under sunlights if you want.

6.  They are always connected to a spa.

Its like a bigAmerican waterpark only its not crowded beyond belief because just about every good sized town has one.  I love it so much that I think the USA should adopt the German schwimmbad plan.

Anywho...we took a few photos from our fun few hours at the pool that I can't resist posting...The other two in the photos are our neighbor, Kim and her daughter Alyssa. 

Alyssa just turned 4 and her and Bella have become good friends...In fact they regularly call each other "best friends" (which I love because these two girls are so cute together!)

    

Awww...Bella's first "best friend."