Zähne

Teeth!  Zähne!

Our first German dental experience was perfect.  It was Bella's first time to the Dentist at all so we had Maddie go first...

Ewwwww....look at all that purple plaque!

She escaped the dentist's chair with one cavity...we go back for a filling in August.

Next up was Bella...
 
She was a little nervous at first, but thought it was cool that she was allowed to climb up on the table all by herself.
 

Open WIDE!  And she did!

John thought he was funny playing with the dental props...until he said, "hey...take a photo of me," and I responded, "Sure...SMILE!"
 
ha ha ha...about as corny as it gets.
 

I can check the dentist off my list of things to do now...our Zähne are magnifique!

Space A Part 3 - Walking 3 miles at 3AM

Sorry it took me longer than a day to get back to you.  Things got in the way...life started getting busy again...I'm occasionally stopped in my tracks with the knowledge that in less than THREE WEEKS my husband will be home for good. 

Yeah...I find myself wandering around in a daze thinking about it when I should have been doing more important stuff like...updating my blog!

But...let me just tell you the story of our 3AM stroll through Andrews Air Base...

It all started around 12:30AM when our flight arrived, taxied, parked and we all got off and went to find our bags.

I thought that just maybe someone would be there waiting...there was nobody there.

A nice man named Hugh, who was waiting until 7AM for a flight out to Indiana, offered me the use of his cell phone.

So, I called my sister, Jenna.

No one answered. 

I called her cell phone.

No one answered.

So I called her husband Jason's cell phone.

No one answered.

Hmmmm.....ok...so I thought *maybe* they just were sleeping or missed the calls and I'd call back in about 20 minutes.

1:00AM - I call again...all three phones.  No one answers.

1:30AM - I call again...all three phones.  No one answers.

2:00AM - I call again...all three phones and I leave the message that I'd try one more time in 1/2 hour and if I still didn't reach anyone we were going to bed down in the "children's room" for the night.  (They had these awesome bean bags that were calling my name.)

2:30AM - I call for the last time and the phone is answered...

Me:  "Who is this?"
Garrett: "Its Garrett."  (Garrett is 10 and should NOT have been answering the phone at 2:30AM!)
Me:  "What are you doing answering the phone at 2:30AM?!"  (I can't believe I scolded him!  He saved us some serious drama!)
Garrett:  "I just heard it ringing so I went to pick it up."
Me:  "You should be in bed!  But nevermind...go give the phone to your mom."
Garrett:  "I'm sorry, but she's asleep right now and I don't want to wake her up."
Me:  "Garrett - I promise she won't be mad...go give your mom the phone."
Garrett:  "No, really I can't do that.  She's sleeping really deeply."  (Love that kid for protecting his mom's sleep so vehemently.)
Me:  "GARRETT GIVE YOUR MOM THE PHONE.  I promise it will be ok."

Jenna comes on the line and informs me that Jason has been waiting for us since 12:30AM at the front gate because they wouldn't let him on post!

ARE  YOU KIDDING ME?  WE WERE 3 MILES APART FOR THE LAST 2.5 HOURS AND DIDN'T KNOW IT?

So starts the "how to get to the front gate" part of the trip...

My options: 
#1.  Call a taxi to come from off post (45 minute wait) - have the taxi drive us 3 miles to the front gate.
#2.  Wait until 4AM for the nice soldier manning the terminal help desk to get off work and he would drive us to the gate.
#3.  Walk.

"Pack it up girls!  We're headed out!" 

So, Maddie put on her backpack and grabbed a roller bag in each hand.  I strapped Bella in the stroller, threw on a duffel bag and my diaper bag over my shoulders and we started walking.

At 3AM.

To the front gate.

Oh what a sight we must have been.  I wish I had a photo.

We'd only gone about a mile when an MP pulled up next to us and asked, "Uhm...where are you going?"

He offered us a ride the rest of the way. (Thank you MP!!!!)

Poor Jason celebrated the first 4 hours of his birthday sitting in the visitor's center parking lot of Andrews Air Base.  I don't know if I was able to adequately explain our gratitude or my thanks!

Happy Birthday Jason! ( ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...I'm sure he was laughing on the inside.  :)  )

Kid's Day!

Maddie is quite the little writer.  I plan on taking full credit for it because I require her to write essays when she gets in trouble (for those of you who know my mother...and I her daughter or WHAT?!)  So, yeah...Maddie is a good writer.  And creative.  She writes in her journal daily...she makes up songs...she's really quite a storyteller.

A couple of months ago her teacher asked all the kids to invent a holiday.  They had to write a persuasive paper about the holiday and read it in front of the class.  The kids were then allowed to vote on whose holiday was the "best holiday" based on the persuasive paper. 

Maddie chose a holiday and named it Kid's Day.  She read it to her class and WON!  Woohoo! 

I won't spoil it before you get to read Maddie's persuasive paper...

KIDS DAY
By Madeline Larson


Hey! There's a holiday that I'm dying to tell you about! It's called Kids' Day! Its August 1st because celebrating on a warm summer day sounds so fun, and we can celebrate on the beach. We kids hardly get noticed with all that homework so we much get a time to get noticed!


Our colors should be purple, pink, red and blue. We should have these colors because a lot of girls like purple and pink a lot of boys like blue and red! Don't you think? Also boys are like all cool and hip so I choose a skull and cross bone for a symbol. Oh, wear your pajamas.Who wantst o get dressed in the morning? I don't like it! That's why I chose the comfortable source of clothes, pajamas!


When we see each other the girls should say "Hi!" and the boys should say "What's up?" Most kids say that so, those are the greetings. Raise your hand if you like sweets. People who are raising your hand get ready to feel the thunder! We'll eat candy, cupcakes, chocolate and fruit. We'Il drink Sprite, Fanta, and all sorts of soda. Even better, the smells are cookies, brownies, and cakes baking! We'll eat the cakes, cookies, and brownies when their done baking. I chose those becauseI only know one person who doesn't like sweets.


Well, the traditions are popular kid doings. We'll draw, talk, dance, read, play, and, EAT! We'll tell stories of our life and family. You should hear the story of "The Grape Flavored Ice Cream." It is so funny! Now who wants to start baking?



So, on April 1st her entire class went to school in their pajamas and played games and ate junk food pretty much the entire day.  No schoolwork, no homework.  It was play all day.

Bella and I took in some "ants on a log" and frosted brownies right before lunch/recess so the kids wouldn't have a lack of suger to keep their energy going all day long.  We got there just as the kids were eating...Here is what Maddie looked like..

Can you see the crazed sugar look?  The pouch of her belly from all the food she'd eaten?  She told me, "Mom...you didn't tell me I couldn't have as much as I wanted so I pretty much ate treats all day long."  Her little friend pipes up...."Yeah...we were amazed at how many brownies Maddie can eat!"

So, I had to put up the stop sign...allotted her 2 more treats in the afternoon, but as many "ants on a log" that she wanted.

Crazy kid...when she got home she said she ate about 15 "ants on a log."

Not surprising...she had a bellyache that night...

But isn't that what kid's day is all about?!

Happy 9th Birthday Maddie!

Oh what a day!  And now its officially over since I'm posting this blog at 12:07AM!

Maddie turned 9 today!  She has been sosososososososososo excited for this birthday.  She has decided that at 9 she is finally a "grown up lady."  My oh my...I've got a grown up lady on my hands now.

We started the day out much like we normally do...getting up late...eating breakfast late and then rushing Maddie out the door to make it to school before the second bell rings...

Of course on one's birthday you must stop to pose for a "rainy birthday" photo...  Please note the awesome "Today is my birthday" sign I made for her and she was so excited to wear... (I love those ages where kids WANT that kind of attention.)  Also please note the rockin' outfit.  Maddie's art teacher told me once that Maddie dresses the way she creates...I totally see that.

Now that the birthday girl was off to school I donned my working clothes and got straight to work on one of her presents.  I painted and decorated her room... FINALLY.

The finished product turned out simply adorable.  She wants to paint a sunshine and some bumblebees as the finishing touches.

Now that the room is done it was time to bake the cake.  I nearly had to call FEMA considering the disaster that I ended up with.  Maddie wanted strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and strawberries and sprinkles on top.  Is your mouth watering?  (yeah...mine's not either...UGH.) 

So...I cook the dang cake and it literally falls apart on me.  So I glued it back together with frosting.  Then the strawberry fell apart and I glued it back together with frosting then I just covered the whole lumpy mess with strawberries and sprinkles. 

It was a hit.  (Again...thank goodness for nine year old simplistic desires...)

We had a party for our "extended family" that we have come to love and adore while being here in Vilseck while our soldiers have been deployed.  They all came over and helped us devour the entire cake...yes, I'm serious.  The entire cake was G.O.N.E.  And then Maddie opened some presents...

Now for the really fun part of the party...  We'll call him "A" for short.  He's the little boy that Maddie has had a crush on since the first day she met him in September at soccer practice.  She's liked him the entire year.  And if there is any boy a mother would LOVE for her daughter to crush on...this kid is it.  He's so incredibly sweet and funny and he adores both Maddie and Bella...  Do you see that grin on Maddie's face...thats the face of 3rd grade true love.

And he plays dressup.  In fact...this kid will be an actor someday.  He was so funny.  Maddie can't even do her poses she was laughing so hard at him...

And the best thing of all...  He spent the entire weekend working on a present for Maddie.  It was this giant card...

Some candy, some blank poster paper for art projects and two dollars...  Yep...two dollars...the greatest two dollars ever.

Does it get ANY cuter?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE YOU MADELISHIOUS!

Junie B. Jones

Red Hot...

Sizzlin'...

Smokin'...

Its Red Hot Reader's month at the elementary school here.  Basically all the kids have to read a certain amount and if they do then the principal does something crazy.

Maddie's been reading up a storm.

And to keep the momentum going they have all these different "spirit days..."  Like crazy sock day and wear a hat day, etc...

Well, the best one so far was dress like a character day. 

Maddie wanted to be Junie B. Jones...Captain Field Day. 

She marched downstairs in this outfit for breakfast and I thought I was going to bust a gut laughing.  She was by far the best dressed up character in her school. 

Seriously funny....

May I present...Miss Junie B. Jones Captain Field Day....

The switcheroo

Well, today I did something I've been thinking about for awhile.  I'm calling it the switcheroo.

Are you intrigued?  It sounds like some kind of sneaky double cross thing....unfortunately, my life is way too boring...

So, before I build this up anymore only to let you down with a roll of your eyes...the switcheroo happened in the girl's rooms.  When we moved here, Maddie got the biggest room because of all the "stuff" she had...toys, books, clothes, stuff...  Bella was a wee baby and didn't need much space anyhow...

But, ever since Madmad McGee and the trouble she's been in...all the toys were removed from her room and I created a playroom downstairs...but its a small playroom for two girls of such drastic different ages...because they don't really play much with the same toys.  Plus...when we are home during the day and I need to be upstairs there is nothing up there for Bella to do...so she gets into my clothes and shoes and drawers and before you know my "drawers" (quite literally) are strung from one end of the house to the other.

SO...I switched the girl's rooms and now Maddie has the cozy littler room...and Bella has the larger room where I'll be creating her own little playspace.  I'm quite excited about it.  Both rooms look really good.  It makes more sense so that we can best use all the nooks and crannies in our little house.  Both girls like their new rooms and with just a few more touches they will be perfect.

Maddie's room needs paint and decor and a desk.  Paint, because right now there is a large, Isabella painted on her wall.  She loves her sister, but I don't think she wants her name painted on her wall. 

As for decor...I just got a little note from her grandma that she's shipping me some wall decals.  I had picked them out for her new room and grandma was looking for something for Maddie's birthday...these will be perfect!

And I'll be looking for a desk for her on the yard sale site...she is getting to that age where she wants to sit at a desk and do homework and craft and write letters... **sigh** She's growing up so fast!  I know I complain sometimes, but I'm gonna miss that "little girl."

Bella's room also needs some paint and I ordered her wall decals as well...

I'll be moving some of the toys up from the playroom so she has something to do while I handle incredibly important homemaker tasks....like shower.

And last, but not least...I changed her bed from a crib to a big girl bed.  **sniff sniff**

She was SOOOOO excited that she played in her bed all day long.  She read stories to her stuffies, pretended to sleep, got some barbies in there...it was a regular all-day slumber party.  She even dressed up for the occassion...yes, those are her swimsuit bottoms over her pants...yes, they are on backwards.  The scarf is from John....today it was a shawl, head wrap, baby blanket, skirt, tent and trampoline. 

Love the imagination.

Me, well I smiled and laughed and tried not to burst into tears at what a big girl she is.  She wanted to tell Daddy about it so we made this video... 



P.S.  I just checked on her and she's sound asleep in her big girl bed.

A successful switcheroo day.

Kristall...with a K

My stuffed up nose and chest congestion has mostly gone the way of the kleenex...so today we decided to pack up our swimsuits and hit the beach.  Thats right...a giant indoor waterpark in Nurnberg called Kristall Palm Beach.

It rocked...

John, Madmad and Bella with the giant Crystal...except they say Kristall...I don't know if that's how you say it in German or if they are just being "cool" with their spelling - like Fat vs Phat or Cool vs Kool  or Ye Ole' Tavern vs The Tavern.  ha ha ha

Maddie immediately needed to drink from the healing waters of the stone dragon water fountain...  Actually, I think she just likes to stick out her tongue. 

Wave pools, waterslides, kiddie pool, lazy river....while the rain pounded down outside we spent our time playing in the water.

Unfortunately I never got any wave pool photos...  Cameras have become items of opportunity for me these days...  So, basically what I'm saying is that it wasn't until Bella and I went to the kiddie pool while Maddie and John went down the waterslides that I thought about getting it out of the bag.  *sigh* So...I did get some cute ones of Bella girl playing in the kiddie pool.  :)

And then when John and Maddie came back we made sure to get a photo under the giant mushroom because hey....who DOESN'T want a photo with a giant mushroom.

Ha ha...I just looked at the above photo and realized you can't even see that it IS a giant mushroom. 

Regardless...I jumped in for one last family photo.

We packed our stuff up and went into the changing rooms.  **Cultural difference note** - the changing rooms were not gender-separated.  They had little individual rooms you could use to change in, but there were little old ladies and little old men running around in their underwear.  We made sure to alert Maddie to the possibility beforehand so she was prepared and we didn't have to remind her to stop staring. 

And then....the sadness hit.

LET ME BACK IN THE POOL!

Luckily it was quickly fixed with fruit snacks.  All hail the Kellogg fruit snack gods. 

Thanks Kristall with a K Palm Beach for a fun day at the beach.

My little klepto...

When I was 8 years old one of my parents took me along with them to Neil's Fine Foods in the thriving metropolis of downtown Vale, Oregon.  As we wandered along getting what we needed I saw a pack of butterrum lifesavers that I dearly and desperately wanted.

So I took them.

Yup, I was a little thief at the tender age of 8. 

I wasn't a very smart thief, though.  As soon as we got home I was munching on those delicious butterrum lifesavers when one of my siblings...asked for one.  Of course I refused.  These were MY treat.  I'd been the one to go to all the trouble of sneaking them out of the store...

Well, what do kids do when their sister won't share?  "MOM!  Anna won't let me have any of her lifesavers!"

Oops.  Mom wanted to know where I got them from.  It didn't take much.  A stern look and I already knew I was toast.  I fessed up and apologized, but that wasn't enough.

My dad marched me back to Neil's fine foods with money from my piggybank.  We marched in the store and right up the big tall staircase to Neil's office.

I was terrified.

And Neil was probably pretty kind about the whole thing, but I'd built up the situation so much in my 8 year old mind that in my recollection he roughed me up some, threatened to break my barbie if I ever did it again and gave me a death glare that I'll never forget.

And I never did.  Stealing is a BIG no-no in my house.  Period. 

So what do I do with my little 8 year old klepto?  I can only "be" Neil so many times before the death glare gets old.  She knows the consequences and still does it.  Right now its treats...candy, fruit snacks, etc.  I've decided I'm going to have to put a lock on a cupboard to keep her out.

Unless someone out there has a different brilliant suggestion?

When I grow up...

Madmad - "Hey mom...can you watch me for a minute?"

Me - "Sure."

I turn and see this...

Me - "What are you doing?"

Madmad - "I'm practicing being a mime.  Can't you tell?  Don't I look just like a mime?"

Me - "Oh Yeah, you look just like a mime.  Why exactly are you practicing being a mime?"

Madmad - "Well, when I grow up I want to be a mime.  If I can't be a mime I want to be a ventriloquist.  If I can't be a ventriloquist I will see if I want to be a veterinarian.  And if THAT doesn't work out then I guess I'll just have to be a lion tamer....." 

Long pause (while I try my hardest not to laugh outloud)

Madmad - "...or a chef.  I suppose that would be ok too."

When I was her age I was dead set on being a truck driver.  I figured that was the best way to see the world.  I really thought driving the big rig was a glamorous life.  I would get to go through all the states in the USA!  I would be my own boss!  I would get to drive large machinery.

Which is still a fascination today.  I've driven a big rig truck...I've steered a cruise ship...I've driven tractors...I actually considered going on a date with a scary guy while living in DC because he promised me he'd let me drive one of the Metro trains.  (I quickly came to my senses when he smiled and I realized he had no teeth.)

Still on my list include a zamboni, digging with a backhoe and a train. 

In the meantime I'm going to practice being a mime...

Art Therapy

I signed Madmad up as a test subject for a college student's master's thesis on art therapy.  Essentially all she had to do was draw three pictures and then answer a few questions about them.  The idea behind the thesis is whether there are similarities in children of deployed soldiers in the themes that might be found in the drawings - thus leading to similar psychological issues found in children of deployed soldiers...

First, Maddie got to draw whatever she wanted...she chose to draw a sick elf.  HA!  I can just imagine what THAT says about the psychosis of our family.  ha ha ha

"Dear crazy family,

Your daughter's idea of something to draw was an elf with the chicken pox.  Have you ever heard of counseling?"

Second she had to draw a picture of our family doing something together.  She drew John in an airplane waving at Maddie, Bella and I  who were on some green grass playing soccer.  Veeeerrrrryyyy interesting.  At least, when I put on my armchair phychology hat...why wasn't John part of our family activity?

Instead of kicking a goal he was up in a plane waving at us while WE played.  Its a definite sign that he's not "here" in the sense that he's an active part of our family.  At least he was hovering around in mid-air in an airplane and not with angel wings or some sinister thing like that.

And at least we were out doing something active and not sitting around the latest episode of Elmo's world...which seems to be all we watch these days on the tube.  That could have been embarrassing, but it would have been harder to have John in an airplane while we're sitting around snacking on popcorn watching a little red furry monster sing la la la la...la la la la....Elmo's World!

Third, she got to choose what she wanted to draw again.  She chose to draw a princess with a bunch of hearts around her...fairly standard fare for an 8 year old girl, I think.

I don't get to know the results until the master's paper is written, but I'll be interested to learn what she has to say about the mind of children of deployed soldiers.  I think Maddie is pretty well adjusted as far as that goes, but when you add in that I'm STEPmom ...then you start to think that this kid is far away from BOTH her birth parent. 

I can't bring myself to say "real" parents...because the truth is I AM her real parent.  Now I could embark on a long lecture on stepmoms (and dads) and the recognition they deserve for playing a parenting role regardless of the stupidity of the court system or the negativity in birth parents toward stepparents and vice versa...  I don't want to undermine how HARD it can be for us adults to get along, but the truth is that if you allow a stepparent to be a parent it will almost ALWAYS be a good thing for your kids.  They will feel loved and cherished and secure in both homes and by both sets of adults in their lives...  And yes, I know there are always exceptions...just like there are birth parents that I could point out that have never been allowed to reproduce.  Ok...off my soapbox and enough said.
Just know that I love that little girl.  I'm glad she knows that.


C'mon...give me some love clicks...