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Playdate Photoshoot

The same day the Reeds were over and we painted my belly, we took a few pictures before hand.  We might try again with Leevi when he gets back Easter weekend (if it's not too late!)  :) 

The Dark Side

We have turned to the dark side and purchased something I said we'd never own....A MINIVAN!  We were constantly having a car discussion even before we were pregnant with this baby...we wanted a larger vehicle for traveling around Europe...there are sooooo many exciting places that we can drive to but the Mercedes is a tight squeeze with two kids, a dog and luggage.  We debated about buying a used Tahoe or Surburban but even old ones are close to $10,000 and do we really want to be investing money into that old of a vehicle and take it on long distance trips??  I was opposed to a new car because of a 2nd car payment AND mostly the fact that I didn't want THREE kids messing up a new car!  I had found 3 carseats that could fit across the back of the Mercedes and we were ready to make it work!!!!!  Or we also thought we wanted the new Explorer or Durango or something along that size because driving/parking is a nightmare over here with tight, tight spots!  Had we been in the States this conversation would have never taken place...it'd be a no-brainer that we'd go for something big, BUT.... Leevi went to the military car lot to look at an Explorer for us and kept getting drawn back to a Chrysler Minivan...he would not stop talking about it when he got home and wanted me to check it out the next day.  

Once you look at the Explorer and Town & Country side by side there really is NO comparison in terms of space especially since we'll have 3 carseats/boosters for at least the next 2-3 years!!  And the T and C was about 5 grand cheaper!  We took about a week or two to decide...not necessarily if we wanted the minivan but if we wanted a new car in general.  You obviously know our decision! 

The girls are SUPER excited and I'm waiting and waiting for the novelty of all of the buttons they can push to wear off!  :)  This was the sign Hailey made after school on the day we went to pick it up!

It really is the fanciest car we've ever owned....power everything, heated everything, stow-n-go seating, cargo storage in floor, and the media center alone is ridiculous with a 40 GB hard drive!!!!   As of now, Hailey has claimed the back row to herself and has her sunglasses and ipod in the cubbies and we've stowed one of the middle row captain's chairs to add extra room for backpacks, diaper bags etc.  I plan on moving Kai to the back with Hailey once the baby arrives.  And we've already installed custom fit floormats from www.weathertech.com that cover every inch of the floor with lipped edges to catch liquid spills (that is IF I ever allow them to eat in the van)  :)  I also bought a dust buster!  :)  It really is a living room on wheels!!!  We love it and the "ridiculously practical factor" definitely won out over the "cool points factor". 

One quick funny story....I was testing out the remote start one morning and Kailee was already outside waiting on the other side of the van to get in (she couldn't see me).  When I started it with the remote she started screaming because she thought I was getting ready to drive away without her!  :) 

Egg Belly

Hailey has seen quite a few friends of mine with painted bellies incorporated into their Halloween costumes but since I didn't have much of a belly at Halloween I told her maybe we could do an Easter egg when Spring comes.  And of course, she remembered!  I was worried that we might not make it to Easter weekend when Leevi will finally be home, so the Reeds were coming over for a playdate and I asked  Rebecca to bring her camera.  The four girls had a blast and would have painted and painted and painted all afternoon if we let them.  It didn't turn out exactly "Easter Egg" like, but they had a blast.  Hailey wanted to draw an egg design and then paint it in, so I'll see if we have time in the next two weeks to let her have a go at it alone.  Thankfully the weather was nice because that paint was cold!

This set cracks me up where you just see a big belly peeking in the picture!

Round two...We opted for a "Spring Scene" but even that eventually became just a blob of colors!  :)  Can you see the face they made in the bottom right picture?

And the artists signatures...

Bobby's Visit

The girls have been talking about Bobby Kownack's visit (long-time family friend) since we found out last summer that he'd be studying abroad in London for his Spring semester during his junior year of college.  The concept of time is so hard for them to grasp so it was always put in terms of big events....after Christmas, after Hailey's 6th birthday, but before the baby!  Finally the time arrived and it was so good to see him!  It's crazy how the timing was perfect with us being stationed in Germany and him being just a plane hop away in London.  I was worried that the girls would be overwhelming for him and he wouldn't be able to relax on his Spring Break but they spent a ton of time with him on our trip to Virginia last Summer that I felt he knew what he was in for!  :) 

The week flew by but we were able to squeeze in quite a few things that I didn't seem to document with photos at all...with the girls (or just Kai if Hailey was in school) we took him to Ladenberg, Weinheim, Buffalo Park, Heidelberg, and the mall and then just Bobby and I made a few long road trips to Trier and a concentration camp (thanks, Brandy, for babysitting Kai). 

The rest of our free time was spent playing countless games of Sorry (where Bobby ruthlessly beat up on my kids) :) , Go Fish, soccer in the house (I was cringing for my chandelier...inside joke that really isn't a joke!!!), and Barbies....Kai told Bobby once (I can't remember what he did to her) "If you don't say you're sorry then you can't play Barbies with me anymore!"  :) 

I really don't have any sympathy for the tormenting my girls put Bobby through because I endured the same torture from him and his sisters for countless years as documented below!  :) 

Don't know how I knew where this picture was, but here's proof....I was a horse!

Such a good sport......I just now noticed his wrist corsage...hahaha

Ladenberg

Playground in Ladenberg

Crazy tire swing contraption where the motion of one tire caused the other tires to swing and bounce

The Windeck Castle in Weinheim

Baby Shower!

On March 11th, a few ladies from our dwendling community got together to shower Baby Mac #3!!!!  My neighbor, Rebecca, who moved about an hour from here last May and my neighbor, Pam who lives behind me, teamed up for the Grand Affair down the street at the Community Center.  I can't thank them enough for their time, money, and efforts spent to put together such a lovely afternoon!  We had a brunch menu with delicious waffles, quiches, and fruit (I could eat breakfast foods all day any day!)  

Making the Community Center come to life is no simple task!!!!!!!!!  Rebecca's creative eye makes it look easy!

There are two group pictures because we couldn't get the timer setting to work.....one with each Hostess with the Mostess on the left, Rebecca and Pam

The GERMAN baby food was a hit which included meals like Spaetzle, (a traditional german noodle) Parsnip, and Chocolate Pudding!  

Guess the German baby food game...some excited looking samplers! 

The only halfway decent picture of me with my hostesses is on the top left....I think my eyes were closed in at least 50% of the pics!!!

Guess the size of my belly game!

Present time....we received tons of diapers, wipes, lotions, gift cards, etc....the perfect essentials!  I was given so many hand-me downs of clothes, bouncers, toys, etc for this blessed baby.  It's funny because with Hailey I wanted everything brand new and matching, with Kai I traded some of those things in for more "practical" items and with the 3rd one you realize the brief time that the item (swing, bumbo, etc) gets used that you'll take what you get!  :)  We still have the same pack-n-play and crib I used for both girls! 

"Showering" the baby!

 And I just had to squeeze this pic in because everyone LOVED these lanterns! 

Rebecca explaining where she got her Steal of a Deal lanterns!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came and for all of the wonderful gifts!  We can't wait to meet the new bundle of joy!!!!!

Happy First Day of Spring

I suppose in the past we haven't necessarily dressed up for the first day of Spring, but since we actually live in a climate with seasons now and because Hailey has been learning about it in school, she talked me into allowing her to wear her Easter dress to school today!  The day started at a brisk 30, but it's a gorgeous 55 right now around lunchtime.  I'm glad we got the one snow that we had in December and by February I was still wishing for one more, but now I'm glad to see sunny skies and our days get up into the high 60's.  But this perfect weather leads to more time outside and less time inside to get work done (or get myself caught up again on the BLOG!)  I'm not complaining though!!!  Happy Spring!!!!

Seriously?!?!

The pinker and poofier the better...it also has to pass a "twirl" test! 

You're a Grand Ole Flag

Hailey's school had another performance (Patriotic Day?) during the Bobcat Assembly  Here's a video of the two first grades and two kindergarten classes singing part of Yankee Doodle and then You're a Grand Ole Flag...pretty cute...sorry about the shakey camera...I blame the wiggle worm who was sitting on what's left of my lap!  Again, I LOVE that her school is so small!!!  Today when I volunteered in Hailey's class there were only 10 kids (3 were out sick)....TEN!!!!!  Ten kids and 3 adults....crazy!!!  :) 

"Reading" and Reading!!!!

With all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Leevi traveling, and Hailey's birthday, I forgot I had this video of Hailey.  We were watching old videos one day and we found one of Hailey "reading" Go Dog Go at age 2...she knew that she could now really read Go Dog Go, so we recreated the video.  :)  Those Dr. Seuss books are sooooooo long, so I've spared you and cut the movie to just a few pages.  She also found another "reading" video where Kai was only a few days old and she made Kailee come lay on her lap to recreate that one too!  Too funny!!!! 

We are so proud of Hailey's reading progress this year and LOVE to hear her read us her bedtime stories!  :) 

Silly Sally Day

On Tuesday last week Kailee's class had a Silly Sally day during the week they were learning about the letter "S".  We found out about it before the four day weekend and that's all she asked about everyday!  She picked her own outfit of crazy hair, inside-out-backwards pajamas, and mixed match boots.  They read Silly Sally by Audrey Wood and did some fun activities. 

Since then, we've actually had to say goodbye to her teacher, Ms. Kitty!!!  Sniff, sniff....with our post closing down we knew she was job hunting and we are so happy for her that she found a new school in Wiesbaden, even though it means she had to leave us early.  With that being said, we have decided to pull Kai from school too for the remainder of the year...with everything downsizing rapidly here, her class had been combined with the Full-day Preschool kids and into a large room with divided sections of babies, toddlers, and Preschoolers.  Even though the numbers are small, it got a little too nutty for me and I felt like it was becoming more social hour than a rigorous preschool curriculum :)  Ha!  Which I suppose is actually ok considering she's only 3 and because of her September birthday she will have two more years of preschool anyway.  I think we'll adjust fine...my day won't be so choppy with dropoffs and pickups and Hailey is super excited that she can start riding her bike to school again (that 30 min gap in the mornings between H and K's school start time really threw us off during the cold winter) And it's actually easier and just as quick to walk/bike to school because of the walking path vs. the driving path and the in and out of the car.  Kai does GREAT playing independently so I think I'll still be able to get things done during the day and we'll still set aside time for "school work".  And I'm banking on her being just as helpful with the baby as Hailey was with her!  :) 

On a side note, I was searching for ideas of an easy way to gather up the girls "memories"....Kai's journal she brought home from school, random photos or copies of their photo birthday invites/thank you cards, special artwork, report cards etc. and I think I'm going to attempt storing them in this large scrapbook box I found on Amazon.  It's perfect because it's a wide box and hopefully it will serve it's purpose and it will be something they can take from home when they leave the nest...yikes!  :)