Birthday Sleepover

 Over the last few weeks, we have been meeting with Ethan's school regarding his progress.  Last week, he moved up to third grade!  His teacher is fantastic and he LOVES it!  His birthday is this upcoming weekend.  We thought this would be a great opportunity for him to get to know someone in his class better so he had his first sleepover!

 We took the boys bowling and then came home for some cupcakes and lots of playing!

 The boys started out sleeping in the guest room.  I heard Chase around 10:30 and sent Nate into Ethan's room to check on him.  He had moved downstairs and was in Ethan's bed.  Ethan woke up around 6:00 scared that Chase was gone.  So, he crawled in bed with Nate and me!  

 Do you think they had fun?

I think that both boys had a good time!  Ethan didn't want Chase to leave and 

Chase didn't want to leave!  

Second floor

It's been FOREVER, but we finally have the second floor in pretty good shape! 

(At least good enough to take pictures and put on the blog)

 This is our bedroom.  We have a few pictures that we would like to put up.  I have a collage from when Nate and I went to Paris that I want to switch out some of the pictures from when we went a few weeks ago.  Our bedroom has been the "Paris" room since our honeymoon.

 A big selling point were these wardrobes or shrunks as the Germans call them.  The one on the far left is one of the ones that the military loans us.   

(Notice how I opened Nate's to show you.  Mine is not near as organized!!!)

 No master bathrooms here!!!  We all share this big bathroom.  There is a double sink on the left and a shower in the right corner.

 This is Ethan's room.  

We just added the game shelf to his room.  His room is big enough for us to sit and play games as a family in here.  You can also see the size of the wardrobe in the corner.  

 This side of Lincoln's room is nice and neat.  He has a toy box and another box filled with costumes!!!

 Since the boys don't have closets you can see what we have to do with all those awkward sized boy toys....shove them behind the door in the corner!!!

Opposites Attract

 Lincoln was determined to wear a tie to church today!  

 He has been begging me to let him "make" a shirt.  He actually wanted to cut up fabric and make his own shirt.  We settled on him coloring on a white shirt and then we would cut it up to look like a pirate shirt.  

Ethan is so the opposite!!  He has been making paper airplanes.  He always gets on the computer and finds an actual plane and then colors it EXACTLY like the picture.  I told him today to just design your own plane.  He says, "Mom, you know me!  I have to copy it!!!"  

We bought a book shelf from IKEA yesterday. Ethan pretty much put the whole darn thing together today.  If it has directions, he can do it!!

Super Saturday

 We started off this cold Saturday morning with simultaneous 9:00 am soccer games!

 Nate and I were running from field to field to watch both boys. 

 Hitscherof Farms had a pumpkin festival today, so we headed that way after the games.

 The farm had pumpkins, a terrible corn maze, a hay bale jumping area, and lots of local booths.  

 The corn maze shared its entrance with its exit.  So basically, you went to the middle, got lost, and then found your way back.  

 The festival had lots of local specialty foods.  We tried their Flammkuchen, which is a flat bread with cheese, onions, and ours had ham.  We had their bratwurst on a bun.  We also tried their steak with salad (potatoes and coleslaw), and their delicious pumpkin soup!  The soup was so yummy!

The fellas did a little more jumping and then we headed over to do some shopping.  I found some local honey and a handmade cherry wood cutting board.   

My current bamboo cutting board doesn't fit in our miniscule sink very well!

This week has been HARD on everyone.  Tomorrow, we plan on going to church and then laying around in our jammies all afternoon!!

Tattle-Tell

    Lincoln is such a tattle-tell.  The crazy thing is that he tells on himself!!!  Each day his teacher sends home a paper with a number corresponding to his conduct for the day.  One is a great day.  Two is that he needs a reminder.  Three he needed a few reminders, and four is a not so great day!  So far, he has had ones everyday.  Last week, he told on himself by letting me know that he had to move his name to yellow, but he did a great job and was able to move it back to green.
    Yesterday, he came home and had a two.  Before his feet hit the ground off the bus, he yelled, "Mom, I got a two today.  Sorry!"  When I asked him why, he said, "I don't remember, but I think I was talking too much.  My teacher doesn't like it when you talk during circle time."  We had a few reminders this morning about being quiet in circle time.  Unfortunately, I can relate.  I think all 13 of my report cards said TALKS TOO MUCH!
   As I was making lunch this morning, he told me that he doesn't like the sandwich rounds I put his sandwich on.  So, I put his lunch meat on a tortilla.  As I was asking him if that was ok, he says, "You know what I do with that bread (sandwich rounds) that you give me?  I throw them in the trash. haha!" Oh that boy!  Hopefully, he keeps tattling on himself.
   Guess what he is saying in the above pictures...........ARHHHHHH!!

Potzberg Wildlife Park

One morning few weeks ago, we went to Potzberg Wildlife Park.  They have a huge park, but the animals are your typical farm animals....goats, horses, deer, and rabbits.  In my opinion, not worth the 17 euro for the three of us.  We learned that they have a birds of prey show at 3 pm, but we were not about to stay that long.  Since the boys got out at half a day, we went back for the birds of prey show.  

 We got there early and the boys played on the few playground items.  

 I can't believe this kids is almost eight years old and has never been on a trampoline.

 Yes, they are cute, but look at the view from behind them! The park is on this gigantic hill overlooking the countryside!

 This sweet little guy came over for some loving!  I felt bad walking away!  He was so cute!

 We decided to sit on the FRONT row.  Again...the view!  WOW!

 Once the show started a beautiful eagle started flying around us.  I thought this was amazing.  Apparently, this was just the warm-up!

 Once the show REALLY started, the bird-man host (I have no clue what to call him) unleashed six of the most beautiful eagles!  They were flying all around us!  The disgusting part was that in his pouch were tons of dead baby chicks that he was feeding them.  And by feeding, I mean he would throw the dead chick up right above our heads!  The birds were flying inches above our heads and landing inches away from us!  

 This guy scared the mess out of me!  The red shirt is Ethan's back!!!!  Notice how the bird man is not phased by the fact that his bird is inches from my child!  ONLY in GERMANY!!!

Here he is right behind me!  At one point this bird flew from his perch on my left to the bird man on my right. He flew so low that his wings flapped my ear.  Of course, I screamed!  Again....ONLY IN GERMANY!

So, right after he puts the eagles up, he brings out the falcons and hawks (not sure which was which because the show was in German).  This time he had chunks of raw meat.  I think he thought it was funny that I screamed earlier (and he probably knew I was American and didn't understand him), so he stood three feet in front of me and threw a chunk of meat at my head.  A split second before it hit my face, a hawk swooped in and grabbed it in midair!  Of course, I screamed again!  

The show was about an hour and like I said early, it was in German.  So, I had no clue if there were instructions on getting up or anything like that.  About 45 minutes into the show Ethan had to go to the bathroom.....BAD!  I thought he was going to cry.  I was so scared to get up and have one of the birds land on us!  I kept trying to tell Ethan that I don't think we should get up!  But....he had to go!  I waited until all the birds were on their perches or flying far away and we took off!!!!  I am sure this bird man thinks we are crazy Americans!!!

A Fine Sunday

 I think that the fellas are getting caught up on their sleep.  They are getting used to being a school five days a week.  This weekend was much easier than the past few days!  

I don't think anyone had to be sent to their room!  

 Look at those sweet faces!  We are going to the Contemporary Service on base for church.  The kids go to the Youth Center (which is next door).  They have a great Children's Church group.  They love it!  A boy in their class made them paper airplanes a few weeks ago and they have been asking us to make them one almost everyday.  Earlier in the week, I showed Ethan a website that teaches you how to make them!  I figure he can make his OWN!

 After church, I took them to the playground to get some energy out!  They brought their planes and tried them out in the field nearby.  Here Ethan is showing Lincoln how to throw it properly.

 They flew ok, but not as successfully as Ethan or Lincoln would have liked.

 I have a feeling they will be perfecting them this week.

I got bored of the boy stuff and took a ride on the zip line!  

Lincoln thought it was funny and took my picture!

Kulinarische Wanderung

Two neighboring villages held a "Kulinarische Wanderung" which is a culinary hike.  It was an eight kilometer hike through trails on fields.  Along the trails, were eight culinary stops.  The boys and I went late this afternoon and made it to three stops.  As we saw the welcome flag, I realized that the batteries of my camera were dead.  DARN!!!
The first stop was an Italian stop.  It was about 4:00 pm so we had fried rice ball with bolognese inside.  It was a yummy appetizer!
The walk was on a loop, so we turned and went to the last stop.  It had burgers and a huge bouncy house.  The boys bounced until they were sweaty and beat!  We ate most of our burgers (which were definitely German and not American), then I got the boys some ice cream.  As they were eating ice cream, our neighbor came by and told us that the next stop had a delicious dessert.  We couldn't pass up a delicious German dessert!!!!  So, we trekked a bit to the next stop and it was well worth it!  It was a yummy cinnamon and sugar pastry with a vanilla cream sauce.  The boys and I were fighting over it bite after bite!
With our bellies full, we started back to the car.  I don't know what distance we walked, but it took us 25 minutes to get back to the car.  After researching this walk on the internet, it looks like they do these a few times a year.  The boys and I enjoyed it so much I think we will do this again!

School Days

This kid LOVES school!  I have to make him stay in his bed until 6:30 every morning.  In fact, last week, we found out that he slept in the clothes that I set out for him the previous night.  

 We walk down the bus stop at 7:20.  He starts in about 7:00 asking if we can go early!  He loves it! 

 This fella is not enjoying school as much.  I usually get "ahhhhhhhhh" when I tell him that it's time to start walking down to the bus.  He asks every night if he HAS to go tomorrow.  He was sick last Friday and I don't think he is 100%, yet.  He is also WORN out!  They are working him, and I love it!

I had to remind Lincoln of when we were in Alabama and he was mad that his friends could go to school and he couldn't!  He said he doesn't remember that! :)

The Village

 Our village, Erzenhausen, has so many walking trails.  Today, I took a walk/run (I am so out of shape) on a new trail.  As I was huffing and puffing up a really steep hill, I came to the top and this awesome view of the village.  

After I stopped staring at the view, I turned and saw this old bench with an awesome view behind it.  Of course, I sat down and caught my breath!  I brought the fellas back this afternoon.  I can definitely see myself coming back up here with a good book on a nice afternoon! 

Soccer 2012

The boys had their first soccer game today!

 We started off the morning with opening ceremonies.  The two bases combined their opening ceremonies along with combining the sports (cheerleaders, football, and soccer).

 Ethan's team is called the Bullet Breakers.  They couldn't decide between Ice Breakers and Silver Bullets, so the diplomat, Ethan, suggested combining the names.  

 Their team is really good!  Ethan scored the first goal today! He was so excited!  He also wanted to play the entire game.  His coach kept asking us if he was ok out there.  His cheeks were so red!

 Lincoln helped choose his team's name, also.  They couldn't decide between the Pirates or the Sharks, so they are the Pirate Sharks!

He started the game out as Goalie.  He did a great job!  He stopped every ball!  He also did a great job on the field.  Both boys have gotten so much better!  They are really enjoying playing this year!