Happy Birthday to our "Tween!"

It's happened in the blink of an eye. We officially have a "tween" on our hands. I'm not sure how it got here so quickly! Landen is 10 years old as of 3:13am eastern time. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I cried as we left the house because I thought my dog wouldn't love me anymore. I went in the hospital to be induced on Sunday evening and he didn't arrive until Tuesday morning. It was long, but worth it. He's a super sensitive, athletic, forgetful, never met a stranger, great big brother, well rounded kid and I love him to pieces.

We celebrated over the weekend with a bowling party and had a lot of fun. He had about 9 friends show up which was just about a perfect number. They bowled, ate, played songs, danced, and ended with some video games. I saw visions of the teen years coming... i-pods, cell phones and flirting. These kids are only in the 4th grade! It's going to be so different from when Matt and I were growing up with all this technology. What will they think of next?

He got lots of nice presents - well, mostly money and gift cards. The shopping is slim around here. Regardless, he was happy because he's been saving his money to buy an i-pod touch. He's really into music so Matt and I bought him a guitar and a book to see what he can learn. We are trying to get him some lessons set up this summer. He ended the night with one of the boys spending the night with him.









Happy 10th Landen. We love you and have enjoyed every year with you!!

I failed to mention one thing I learned this week. Helium is EXPENSIVE in Germany. I had a guitar balloon that I had ordered and took to have it filled up. It wasn't all that large... they wanted $25 for helium. Can you imagine? No thank you. It's evidently considered an environmental hazard around here. I stuck with the regular balloon bouquet for $20.

Mmmmm....Schokolade

(I thought this was a cute picture of Matt and the kids waiting on the train.)

Yum! We went to Koln to the chocolate (schokolade) museum this past weekend with the kids. We've been there several times, but have just recently started riding the train a few places. It's a litte more costly than driving, but it's nice to have 2 adults to help with the kiddos and it's much more stress free than trying to find parking, etc. The train ride is very scenic along the river along with many castles appearing in the distance.



Anyway, I won't bore you with pictures from Koln that I've shared several times. I'll share a few of the chocolate museum though, since this was new to us. It was nice, but not just out of this world fascinating. The kids loved it, but Matt and I were a little disappointed after all the hoopla we had heard. We went on a self guided tour and then of course, we all picked us out a treat at the end of the tour.







Jordyn was so excited - a PURPLE cow!


Overall, the day was fun and the sun was shining which made it so much more enjoyable. We even got to take our jackets off for about an hour while we were walking around.... Sunshine, we love you! Please come back. I'm sitting here typing and looking out the window at it snowing and a white ground. UGH! Oh wait, I have one more picture.



Aren't these the cutest pretzel bunnies ever?

Still A Southern Girl

Today I got to go help Hayden's kindergarten class out. They had a potato dig for St. Patrick's Day. I took them out in groups of 4 or 5 and let them dig away to find their very own potato in the dirt. Then, they got to take them inside and wash them and cook them to eat for a snack that afternoon. They had a blast and I had a few laughs myself.







One little girl continually asked me if I was Hayden's mom. She repeated a number of times...."Are you sure? You don't look like Hayden. " Then, the one that made me really laugh.... "I think you must be a cowgirl!" Get this, his name was Billy. ha, ha!

Once a Southern Girl, always a Southern Girl.

Sing, Sing a Song...

Where, oh where is my wedding ring?
Oh where, oh where can it be?
My ring guard is in my jewelry box,
but my diamond is somewhere it shouldn't be!!!!!!!

My grandmother used to sing that song to me. Of course, it was about a dog in her version. My ring has to be somewhere in this house. I've offered the kids $5 and a bag of candy if they find it. They are downstairs playing their PS2. Maybe I need to up the offer?!

Please pray I find this thing! I'm beginning to lose hope - it's been almost 24hours. While you are at it, say a prayer for my grandma too.

***UPDATE - I FOUND IT!!****

Off Road!

I'm continually learning things in my adult life. This weekends lesson, don't drive off the pavement into the grass if it's muddy. Yep... after Matt and a friend tried for about an hour to pull me out of the mud with no success, we had to resort to calling a German Tow Truck to come to our rescue. 120 Euro later, I was able to drive my car again.

It happened on base at the Middle School. The boys had back to back basketball games, so of course I was in a hurry to get from one game to the next. There were not spots left open in the parking lot, so I decided to swing around to the back. That's when the trouble came in. I had done this before, with no problem. But, that's when I decided to park 1/2 on the pavement and 1/2 on the grass. For some reason, on Saturday, the sun was shining and I was feeling good... I decided I would make a big loop around in the grass and be able to pull straight out after the game. Yep... I didn't realize how wet it was! As soon as my tires started spinning, I knew I had done it. Matt wasn't to happy with me but he kept his cool and rescued me. He dealt with the "car" while I headed to the basketball party with the kids. Of course, I had offered to take the cake and had to find a way to get to the commissary to pick it up and get us to the party. Luckily, my good friend was there and she rescued us as well.


On another note, I walked into the bathroom last night and Hayden and Jordyn were taking a bath. Jordyn was the dentist, and Hayden was the patient. It was cracking me up! Hayden was a really good sport. She also loves to brush his hair and anyone else who will let her. Though, I warn you... it hurts.