Intention.

     A few months back, Josh and I set out to make the upcoming weekend intentional. After reading an article that numbered the Saturdays I had left with my children before they leave the house for college, my eyes were opened to the small amount of time I have to make an impact in their lives before they are on their own making adult decisions and trying to find their own place in the world. I'm so distracted by social media and cleaning my darn house...mostly social media, who am I kidding?!
     I was completely pms-ing and sat crying on the couch pouring my heart out to Josh about how we need to be more attentive, less distracted and more focused on what we were going to teach and pass on to these precious girls in the small amount of time they are on loan to us.
From the start of kindergarten when they ask what you want to be when you grow up, well, I wanted to be a mommy. Along with a rockstar and a nurse. God has charged ME..lowly ole me, but righteous and loved and completely made new in Him, ME to be their rockstar mommy and nurse when needed. I've put more bandages and seen more blood from the dog than the kids at this point, so maybe that was God's way of fufilling my veterinary aspirations which got squashed the minute I had to perform surgery on a rat in college. I digress.

     So I've been gifted this job of mommy and I'll be darn if I'm going to let it pass me by. Hopefully you won't find this completely morbid, but, I want my kids to say things at my funeral that mirror the accolades of the things said at Josh's grandmother's funeral. Man did that lady love Jesus, and she wasn't afraid to tell you that she did, and that He loved you too. Just like Paul the apostle, she wasn't going to let it be her fault for YOU not making it into glory, because she wasn't going to let you out of earshot without telling you about her Lord and Savior and she was going to tell you BOLDLY...just like Paul did. She also woke up every morning as her kids were growing up and going to school to make them eggs for breakfast. At first, you may think that may not be that big of a deal and Dang! That is alot of eggs...she had 5 kids. But to her kids.....it meant something.  My guess is, she was thinking.."God is too great, to waste these precious moments and not show HIS love to these kids before they go off to school. Dont. waste. time. 

     How many times do I get stressed out in the morning, speaking unkindly, harshly, or irrationally, because the world will end if Mallory misses the bus, or her teeth aren't brushed before she goes out the door, or she didn't eat her breakfast quick enough, or didn't get out of bed when I told her too. Or I get frustrated that she forgot to bring her socks downstairs for the 100th time, and she complains again about having to go up to get them, or getting distracted with some toy, when I specifically told her to brush hair and teeth when she was done with breakfast. I'm sure the picture looks the same if not more hectic in your house. If you are calm, cool, and collected every morning getting your kids ready for school, I want to know what you are putting in your coffee, sister! I've been more aware of my attitude that is for sure. In the morning, I try, to the best of my ability to speak calmly, and not be stressed about being late, which we never have been late to school thus far. I hate being late and rushed, but of course, that is usually how it is. Typically, I usually leave enough time to walk her out to the bus, kiss her, tell her to have a great day, and when we have extra time, say a prayer over her before she hops on the bus. Mental note: need to make time for that every day! I don't want to throw those priceless minutes down the drain, because I'm not in control enough of my own emotions, and I resort to the hurry, hurry, and the raised voices. That isn't how I want my baby to head off to school. I want her washed in kindness and love, and jumping on that school bus, covered with the protection of the Almighty. 

So, I was convicted of not being present enough and intentional enough. This particular weekend I write about was all about intention.
Friday night, I had basically thanksgiving dinner on the table when Josh got home from work. This was in early October, mind you.  The girls gushed over how yummy it was and "OHhhhhhh the mashed potatoes!" 
"Mommy, next time..don't put so many potatoes in the mashed potatoes" 

There were a few chunks apparently that were not appreciated. I just appreciated they liked them at all (They were terribly gummy for some reason...probably because my milk went bad and so I didn't add any. OK. I lied...I did add some and then realized the milk was bad. MOTHER OF THE YEAR!. Nobody got sick, just so you know.
We then did a fire pit...the girls' favorite. We only had one piece of wood left over from last weekend's fire pit...but we lit that baby up like the Fourth of July,and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. 

We have improvised the

S'more here. No graham crackers are available for a decent price,but I found these cinnamon cookies which are oval shaped and don't crumble like graham crackers. Way better if you ask me. Then we proceed to spread nutella on our cinnamon cookies. Best. Smore. Ever. Period. I was present, I was focused. The girls were glowing from the flickering of the fire, but their hearts were glowing too.

S'more Bite!

      Saturday Josh golfed in the morning. I got up with the girls and made family breakfast. Mallory loves family breakfast. Everyone sitting down together eating breakfast. Simple.  But she loves it and requests it. Even before she started kindergarten this year..we would do family breakfast on the weekends. This Saturday's  breakfast consisted of strawberries, cheesy scrambled eggs and fresh baked croissants. While I cleaned up breakfast Mia worked on a puzzle with Mallory, then I asked Mallory if she wanted to do some school work. She almost exploded with enthusiasm. Mallory sat and worked independently on math and science while I cleaned up. After I was done I found the girls working on the puzzle together. I sat to check Mallory's work and called her over to point out some things she missed.Then Mia started whining and complaining about how she wanted to do school work. I got the preschool workbook for Mia. Smarty pants Mallory rocked that 1st grade workbook and learned about liquids and solids and greater and less than. When Mallory finished the things she hadn't done before, I went over the concepts again just to make sure she got them and we practiced counting by 2s 5s and 10s and we covered place value too. I was calm, present and focused. I ran upstairs to shower and Mallory said she would help teach Mia and go through her workbook with her. Mia was doing things like which object is taller,  smaller, shorter...etc. I came down to an exasperated Mallory who said, "Mommy, Mia isn't very good. She keeps drawing lines instead of circling and she just isn't very good at this." Believe it or not...there was probably a time when Mallory wasn't good at it either. :) 

When Josh got home, we headed out to grab lunch on a rare beautiful day. We ate outside at an Italian restaurant where an accordion player serenaded us with his musical stylings and refused to take money. A nice change from those that don't leave until you pay up. We followed lunch with ice cream from their favorite ice cream place...and only ice cream place. :) Josh took Mia with him to get a haircut right where we were in town and Mallory and I went shopping for a birthday present for the party we were attending on Sunday.  I said no to a million requests to get this or that because she NEEDED it. Josh's grandma would have said..."no honey...what you really need is Jesus"

We went without naps this day. We didn't get home to nearly 4. We rested on the couch had a snack and watched a movie. Josh and Mia snuggled on one side, Mallory and I were on the other. There were a few two many requests for goldfish and copious amounts of snacks that were hindering my slumber...which never comes easy, and I may have spoken tersely. No more snacks...it will be dinner time soon. Dinner was 

Dominoes pizza. We had a coupon :)
The girls gobbled it up...we got baths and did our bedtime routine...to which I obliged Mia in reading an extra book and rocking her for a few extra minutes. I was present. I was focused, on that sweet smelling, silky haired, footy pajama'd 3 year old.  I gladly welcomed those extra baby cuddles.

Funny side story. Mia and I were talking about my friends son and how he was going to be a big brother soon. She asked if he was still a baby and I said no..he is getring to be a big boy. "Does he go pee pee on the potty? " You know, because babies don't pee in potties, they pee in diapers. 
"Um I think he is starting to use a potty."
"Well, I use the potty. ..but I'm still a baby,  because I still have baby buns, right?"

Haha. Yes Mia...you are still my baby...because you are my little baby buns. Nothing cuter than bare baby buns streaking through the house. Amiright?! 

All in all, now that it is December, and I've had this particular blog in the queue for over 2 months. I have to say I have been more aware of the fleetingness of time and the urgency of instilling Godly greatness in our girls (and my marriage) I can't do that with my head glued on Facebook, browsing the news, or plotting my next crafty adventure on Pinterest. 
Make an assessment, whether you have kids or not. Are you distracted from the good stuff in life, the people around you, your relationships, because you are too focused somewhere else? Find balance. Be present.  

Until Next Time,
-L

A few thoughts on this kindergarten thing...

Like many other parents, I am preparing to send my first child off to kindergarten in a matter of days. I have seen so many other mommies (mostly) posting on Facebook and other news related articles popping up regarding this subject. There are tons of tidbits on advice on how to prepare your child and how to keep from losing all your marbles and looking like a big cry baby on the first day. 

I am very bipolar on this major life event. One part of me is jumping for joy. I know I'll get to spend some one on one quality time with my almost 3 year old, who still naps. And you know what that means?! Mommy time! For things like working out, working on organizing my digital photos, writing my blog, running my home businesses, and maybe showering. I also know that my kindergartener is more than prepared for this big year. She can read, write, do some basic math, shares most of the time..you know...kindergarten stuff. She can't tie shoes yet, but like all the articles I've read, I'm taking their advice. Ever hear of Velcro?

 On the other end of the spectrum...well, it isn't as pretty. It is actually kind of messy, drippy with tears, a little angry, disappointed even. I'm getting real here. 

The common feeling of 'boohoo, my baby is going to school' is there, sure. But I am also dreading getting her to bed at a decent hour every night, and getting two, very picky dressers ready to go out the door for our mere 10 minute walk to school, in probably what will be rain about 80 % of the time. We live in the Nethrrlands, you know? The younger one is especially picky. This kid changes her clothes at least 4 times a day! Now, after all my research, I have anticipated this dilemma and have a plan, for the older one at least. I may need to implement this for the younger one if necessary.

The plan: a hanging organizer with 6 slots. One for each day of the week and one extra. On Sunday evening, we will, together, pick out 5 outfits and place one in each slot. Now, to empower and still give the power of choice, I am going to tell her that she can choose any outfit from any one of the slots for the days outfit for school. Now if I could get away with taking the youngest one in footie pajamas every day, that would be awesome, but chances are she is going to want to wear something just like her sister, even if she isn't getting out of the little bike pod I have so cleverly purchased to cart them to and from school. Maybe I can make up time getting to school after wardrobe meltdowns, by pedaling really fast! I also know Mia, is going to miss her big sister and I am going to miss how they keep eachother occupied and entertained for hours on end. I'm not really going to miss tearing them apart when they've had enough of eachother. 

     I am also a bit angry about this whole school thing. I'm angry because, this kindergarten thing is going to take my baby and change her. She is going to grow up so quickly and learn at the speed of light, and that ain't right people! 

I'm disappointed. For quite sometime, I thought and prayed long and hard about homeschooling. I figured I couldn't screw kindergarten up for a kid who is already reading chapter books and spelling things out to me so her little sister doesn't understand. 

"Momma, can I have some B-u-b-b-l (pause) -e?" I nod

" I can?!" 

" No, I was just saying yes to the "e" not to the 'b-u-b-b-l-e g-u-m." 

I wanted to be able to travel and take advantage of our living situation here in Northern Europe, and not have to worry about pulling her out of school. I remember it being pretty strict when I was in school and my parents wanted to take us to Disney, or the Bahamas. I'll never forget the solemn, disapproving head hang my geometry teacher gave me for going on a vacation the week before finals. She was just jealous.

Now I know it is slightly different in elementary school, but I still hear horror stories about taking your kids out of school and it will be especially different at a private school in which you PAY to go to their school. I also wanted to just be able to be home with her another year or two. I'm pretty sure I'd screw up from 3rd grade on. My art skills haven't progressed since then, and I'm not sure much else has either. 

     With the small amount of research that we did do to look into making this happen this year, there were more closed doors  than open windows. And everything seemed to be saying it wasn't going to happen. So, needless to say I'm a little down about that, but excited for her as she is going to get access to lots of things I couldn't provide for her and if I did, it would take a lot of work and energy, and I do mean a lot, to giver her the same opportunities she is going to have at this great school. Even the opportunity to build up her immune system. I don't look forward to the runny noses, fevers, and doctor visits that I know come along with being around other germy little people all day. There is nothing worse than a sick child.

Speaking of germs, we had an appointment with the school counselor and the school nurse so we could all meet them and feel comfortable should the time come we needed assistance from either one of them. We took our seats in the elementary sized chairs at the kidney shaped table in the counselor's office, equipped with a laptop and a box of tissues. Germs! Those must be for the sneezy ones, I thought. Where is my hand sanitizer?

A weird feeling washed over me as we walked in. I've been to counselors before, mostly when my parents divorced, so I put on my best counsel-ee hat and let her ask the questions and let Mallory answer. 

Reading from our child inquiry form we had filled out, the counselor says in a sweet, motherly, smiley, voice, with her eyebrows raised really high,

"So Mallory, I hear you like to dance and sing and that you love to read! Is that right?" 

I stared at my baby girl, tears filling my eyes as she began to have a very adult conversation about singing and dancing to Frozen and her love of reading.

I did the whole eye widening thing, trying to give my tears more room to go, trying to buy some time before they eventually fell from my eyes to my cheeks. Then it occurred to me........DANG IT! Now I know why those tissues are there, and I WILL NOT grab one. Maybe I'm not the only one who has come in here a blubbering mess. The counselor asks me a question. What exactly, I don't remember. But I look up. Eyes all watery, can't see a thing and stumble through an answer. I also happened to look at Josh, and he too looked a little glassy eyed. 

I confirmed with Josh that he would be coming with me to take Mallory to school on her first day. He assured me that of course, he would be there. I know Mallory will appreciate him being there, but I'll certainly need him to hug me after she leaves. I'll also need dark sunglasses, and waterproof mascara. Maybe I should go see the counselor :)

In these weeks leading up to school, I've been more aware of the conversations and behavior going on around the house. Things that may seem funny and innocent at home, might be taken...ummmmmm, the wrong way. Here are a few examples. 

1. We teach proper body part names mostly. One Mallory loudly proclaims is Nipple. We talk about how I nursed both her and her sister and how that works, and we've talked about cow udders being nipples for baby cows and that is where milk comes from. She gladly points hers AND mine out, as casually as she would say," momma you have Ears! Ears, ears ears, ear, ear, ears!" in a sing song voice. Now replace ears with Nipples. Now you know why I am a bit nervous. Ha!

I can hear the conversations in kindergarten now....

Mallory might say or do....... And here is why.

1." Well, my mommy and daddy are naked ALL the time"

She might say this because, she sees us naked for one, and two, the one day we were both naked in the hallway outside of her room. "Why are you both naked?" She questioned with a grimace. 

"Uhhhh....well mommy was about to get in the shower and daddy hadn't got dressed yet, and the hot water wasn't working so daddy came up to show me where to go to push the button for the hot water to work, and we are just....here.....naked. That is why." True story. 

2. "Poop scoop!" "Crapuela!" "Crapballs"  "crapbuckets"

These things may or may not come out of her mouth. I don't usually say "bad words" and most certainly never in front of my children, but this is what I DO say instead. Im not sure what would be worse, MY curse words or the real four letter words.

3. Mallory will be hanging upside down off her chair with her feet on the table in the cafeteria at school. Every kid does this at the dinner table right? We don't condone it, and we most certainly tell her to sit up and keep her buns in her chair, but despite our best efforts, she ends up hanging upside down which then for some reason the force she exerts to sit back up straight in her chair, pushes out a toot or a string of toots, to which she then starts giggling uncontrollably, because the sound they make reverberating off the wooden chair, well you just can't help but laugh at those. And again, although we do not condone farting at the dinner table, it happens. I hide my face behind my hand and try not to laugh as well, but encourage her to excuse herself if she must pass wind and to at least say 'excuse me.'  We had the conversation, that although that might be funny at home, other kids may find that gross, so we should be respectful and try to keep our tooting to bathroom areas, or cough loudly to cover up the noise. Haha. Just kidding. 

Are any embarrassing things coming to mind that your child may blurt or do at school, I'd love to hear them! 

Best of luck to all of you moms and dads out there doing the back to school thing. Hang on it is going to be a wild ride!

Until next time, 

L.

Ps. I promise the next blog will have pictures, and maybe even cute back to school pictures from a very creative photo shoot I have up my sleeve! Thanks for reading.

The move!

July 28, 2014

I am preparing to move to the "Neverlands" as my girls once called it. I've got one suitcase maxed out and packed and 5 more to go! For those that wonder why in the heck am I moving...AGAIN.....? 

In short, we move for Josh's job. He is an engineer and is on a team working on a project being engineered in the Netherlands and built/constructed in Belgium. So, you know what that means? Ill tell you. It means another move! So don't be totally surprised in about a year, when I say we are house hunting and moving to Belgium.  :)

Back to the suitcase issue. If I were to take a picture of the contents of some of my suitcases...it would totally scream "EXPAT" 

Here are some necessities found in my suitcase, usually in large quantities.

Goldfish crackers: to keep the kids happy

Dry roasted edamame, protein bars, and a stock ton of Herbalife products and Tastefully Simple Seasonings : to keep me happy

Crafty stuff: because it is cheaper in the US and I'm planning a killer 6th birthday party for Mallory and Halloween costumes.

2 complete new children's wardrobes: because it is cheaper and Mallory starts Kindergarten.

Mia's birthday presents, all Frozen themed of course

Toothpaste, deodorant,face wash, mascara: Usually, I use these things daily, and I like what I like.

The scrub daddy. Get one and then you'll understand. 

Shout color catchers, because washing machines are super small and take forever and sometimes if you need those jeans washed, you throw them in with your whites.  Gasp...I would never do that. But whites and mediums, I might have to succumb to my mothers pressure, that mediums are whites. I have a bit of OCD about doing laundry.

Turkey gravy packets: because I know my kids will never starve because they'll always eat Turkey Stoup as we call it. 

Candles, candles, candles....I may have a problem.

Just a glimpse into my suitcase. 

What is an expat?

An expat is short for expatriate. Someone who leaves all that is familiar and goes to a place where you have no family, no friends. the food is different, the clothing styles different, the language different, schools are different, customs are different. Most everything is different.

As an expat, though not nearly as experienced and travelled as some, I've come to learn, that your new friends become your family, you learn the language, and learn to love the food, even picking up a few new recipes along the way and you adopt the customs and they become a prt of you forever. 

7/31/4

Ok, so I'm on a plane now headed for London with our final stop being Amsterdam.  We're all fancy in Business class with reclining seats and all the wine we can drink, champagne and caviar too....seriously. Now before you go all believing that we really are fancy...the company "makes" us fly business class when making our initial relocation. We don't have to pay for it, thankfully. For elective trips home for vacations and things, it is on us, and you better believe we are flying coach with the rest of the "coach folk". 

Hot towel?...why yes please. Are we arriving on sshhhhhhedual? Fantastic....time for tea? Fabulous. 

These girls of mine.  It isn't me spoiling them. But Mallory says . "Mommy where are the bags they give us on the airplane? She is of course referring to the spa bags complete with socks, Chapstick, lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, collagen firming lotion for all of her wrinkles, ear plugs and sleep mask. " Mommy on our next airplane can we lay down too?" 

"No, honey. We will have regular seats on the next airplane because it is a smaller plane. 

"REGULAR SEATS??! " 

OH THE HORROR!

For dinner, my lavish menu says we have Filet of beef or seared flounder both with some sort of brandy Demi glaze I'm sure, or black truffle risotto.  I wasn't looking to closely....I b lined for the wine list. 

8/4/14

It seems we have come out of our jet lag fog. Up at the usual hour 7:45 am instead of the 11 am we have been averaging the past two days. The girls are entertained with all of their toys. Yesterday we went to the beach, and my sweet little Mia braved the sand. She put her hands in it and everything. She is getting used to it.  Previously, she woldnt let so much as a big toe touch the sand! The beach is very close to us, just a 10 minute drive maybe. We can even ride our bikes there. It is a nice big wide stretch of beach. The water isn't clear like my girls are accustomed to. Mia was born Italy, what do you expect?! She has seen so e of the most beautiful beaches. The water didn't bother them, just me. Luckily, I was cold rather than hot and didn't need to get in to cool off. I too, am a clear water snob. Next time we go back, we are doing it right and taking our sport-Brella to block the wind and a full days worth of food, so the girls can just play and play. Oh and the travel potty. The potette plus potty is the best. It has these absorbent litte trash bags you attach to it and them just toss. An adult could use it in a real pinch if need be! It can also be used on regular toilets. It folds flat and fits in a backpack, great for the car, or as we will also find the Beach!  Pretty cool to live so close to the beach. 

So I probably failed to mention any mind blowing moving stories. One reason being, I wasn't there for the actual move in day. My wonderful hubby orchestrated the whole thing! Well, lets not give him ALL the credit. Haha. I did send him with a floor plan and where I wanted things placed, and what room was what. Despite all of his awesomeness, there is still a ton to be done. Boxes of clothes that I had previously organized and put away for the girls because they were too small etc....got unpacked and just laid in piles. Not Josh's fault, the movers were doing their job and unpacking boxes. So now I have piles of clothes all over the place and now very disorganized because Mia went through every pile today and smelled each piece of clothing and then insisted I do the same. I let her continue, because I was trying to get Mallory's clothes put away and she was distracted....for a LONG time. There were a lot of clothes to sniff. 

We had quite a few things broken on this move, and one thing missing, then found. 

Lots of picture frames were busted, a wedding gift from a good friend was broken, Mia's dresser was in shambles, a very nice piece of original artwork and the glass was broken and the artwork scratched from the glass, oh and we had a missing queen sized mattress. 

Now this is peculiarly annoying for multiple reasons. 

1. How do you misplace a queen sized mattress?

2. European sized mattresses are different sizes than American ones....so now we have an American queen box spring and headboard/footboard, but no queen mattress. Anything that we get will be smaller than the queen box spring we have. 

3. The mattress was a NICE mattress, not ourTempurpedic, for which I am ever so thankful! But the mattress was 8 years old, but only used for 5 years, and was in perfect condition and was our comfy guest bed.

I keep thinking of how I am going to work this out in getting a new mattress, what we do with the box spring, do we store the box spring and just get a whole new European bed....my mind is in overdrive. Then we get word the mattress has been found and is en route for delivery. Yay...I don't have to think about those things anymore and thank goodness, Because I was getting nowhere fast with a solution.

Then...we get an email that the mattress is undeliverable because it isn't in useable condition. Are you serious?! Now I'm back to square one. 

We do get reimbursed for our material losses, but not for our loss of sleep or time spent de-conundruming these conundrums. 

Still don't know what we are going to do. My sister is coming to visit in a few short weeks and we do have other guest accommodations thankfully, but we will need to figure all this out soon. I foresee a trip to IKEA on the horizon. 

The house is awesome sauce. I already love and it doesn't even have air conditioning. This is very typical of the  Netherlands. It just doesn't quite get hot enough to warrant AC. The days are beautiful though, temperature wise. It rains quite a bit from what I hear, but over the past few days there hasn't been any rain, except for one evening while we were sleeping. That is the best time for it to rain if you ask me. 

We have plenty or room for guests (once we get the guest room bed thing figured out) or you may need to travel with your own aerobed.....we provide the box spring! 

We have quite a bit of space and really a peaceful back garden. The house is open and bright and it really is just perfect. It is the only place that our awkwardly shaped sectional would fit. I have a love hate relationship with my couch. It really has held up nicely over all these years and moves, two kids and a dog, so I can't complain. 

Here are a few pictures....

"Tot Ziens" for now! (Goodbye in Dutch)

Stay tuned for the summer prequel.....

Thanks for reading and sharing. 

Mommy Moment: Bedtime drama and sticky hugs

My in laws are watching the girls tonight and I am ever so thankful, but I still miss those little princesses.

However, there is still this looming sense of paranoia, that after we've read, prayed, and listened to two songs together on her nightly bedtime lullaby routine, that out of the dark a little ninja will appear from out of thin air and whisper 'mommy' and it will scare the crap out of me while I sit watching tv. It happens. Multiple times a night. 

Even on the off nights when miraculously she stays in bed after she is put there, I still find myself looking over my shoulder every now and then, just to see if she is standing there waiting for me to notice her. 

There are two things I can take away from this situation and what I assume, is a common struggle in any household with small children.

1. My constant frustration with this nightly saga hasn't gone unnoticed. 

     Sadly, my 4 year old is scared of my reaction when she gets out of her bed. She has recently said, " Mommy I was scared to ask you if you could tuck me back in." 

To hear that my child is scared to ask me the simplest of questions about putting her back to bed breaks my heart. What is going to happen when it comes time to ask REAL questions? Boys, drugs, sex, and 'Mom can I have a Facebook account?' Riiiight, like that is ever going to happen! I see an attitude adjustment in my near future. 

     I have been praying for patience, gentleness, and kindness over this nightly battle. But it seems that frustration, freaking out, and failure win every time. I'll keep praying.

And......2. No matter where my children are, I'll always be looking over my shoulder for them. 

As most any mother will tell you, your children are a part of you, another appendage if you will. I leave for a small respite, only to find myself speeding home from a hair appointment, quick shopping trip, or girls night, just to see and kiss their sweet sticky little faces. And the welcome home hug?! It is pure bliss. Now I know how Josh feels when he comes home from work everyday. 

It's great to get away, refresh renew, even if for just a few hours, but it's never as great as the welcome home. 

Kiss 'em, hug 'em, love 'em. 

Until next time, 

L

Last day in Sicily.

While Mia is napping in the hotel, and Mallory is enjoying her last day at Italian preschool, I figured I take some time to blab about my thoughts regarding my last day in Sicily. 

It is difficult to describe a place and people that have meant so much to you over the past  two and a half years. Italy is a very special place for us. Of course it is, because Mia was born here! Thinking about it, Mia will spend more time living abroad than she will in the states probably up until age 10. Living long term in the US for her will be a whole new experience. 

There are just some moments you hope stay with you forever. 

Here is just one of them. Sitting outside by Marina corta in Lipari at a guitar bar, sipping wine, listening to 2 Italian guys playing the guitar and singing beautifully in Italian. I remember thinking, 'who does this.?' It was a surreal moment for me. I was a tourist, but I wasn't. I live here in Sicily, yet I'm American, surrounded by Italians, and blending in just enjoying life. I won't forget it. 

The usual anticipation that comes about with going back to the states isn't as highly anticipated as past trips back to the states for holidays, or vacations have been. This time, I feel like I am leaving Disneyland. There is just magic here. Some may not feel this way. There IS lots to complain about and a lot that is different and hard to get used to, but overall, the beauty and magic of Italy and Sicily just rocks your world. And if you live near Mt. Etna, it literally rocks your world. We have been so incredibly blessed to see the beauty of this active volcano express itself in many eruptions over the past year. For the longest time, I didn't believe our neighbors when they told us, it rained ash. All I could picture was fluffy ash falling from the sky. No, my friends, it rains rocks here. It is the strangest thing, and another experience I won't ever forget. 

We are looking forward to doing so much while back in the states. For one, I can't wait to make a pot roast. Yes, a pot roast. 

More things we are looking forward to that we can't really do here in Italy. 

1. Go out to dinner before 8 pm. 

2. Go to the movie theater

3. Go to the park, or a playground

4. Take the kids to the library 

5. Feed the kids something other than pasta or pizza (Mallory is addicted to pasta...this will be a hard habit to break)

6. Seeing family and friends

On the contrary, things we may no be able to do in the states that we do here in Italy.

1. Enjoy an entire pizza all by myself

2. Get fresh pasta from the pasta store

3. Know the produce guy by name and get a free lollipop or some other treat for the girls almost every time you go in.

4. Drive 5 minutes to see a beautiful view of the sea

5. open your back door and see a volcano erupt

6. Enjoy the company and fellowship of awesome neighbors, friends, and clients. 

The people here are irreplaceable. I am so greatful and thankful for them all. I may have only gotten a little misty eyed saying goodbye, but know I'll probably be crying as I fall asleep tonight (if I even fall asleep) and most certainly as we get on the airplane tomorrow morning  and leave for good. 

Knowing I won't return to Sicily leaves me with a pit in my stomach, for it will always hold a piece of my heart.

Ciao a tutti.

View from the room. A beautiful day in Sicily.

Mommy tales

Dare I start this blog with 5% remaining on my iPad battery and 2 FULL glasses of wine down the hatch. Ummmm..  YES, I consider that a challenge. I fully expected my next blog to be about the abscence of Internet in our house over the past two weeks, and I may get to that, but first let me ramble, stand on my soap box, shout from the mountain top..what have you etc, etc, etc.

I have HAD a day. It all started when I decided to go to the grocery store to you know...feed my family. I approached the grocery store knowing full well, Mallory, my 4 year old would ask for everything in sight and rack up the bill with her big beautiful blue eyes. I decided to provide an incentive. If she could make it through the store without saying " I feel like I want one of these" or "Mommy, I need this" or " Can I PLEEASE have some chips, gum, chocolate shake,ice cream etc" that she would indeed get a treat at the end of the grocery store run. She almost made it (with a few warnings) and she did indeed get a treat to enjoy AND share with her sister on the way home. Are you dying to know what it was? I'm going to tell you anyway. She got croutons. The Italian version of croutons. These buttery delicious crunchy oval things have more fat in them, than any woman pushing 30 should indulge in, but I had 4... Ok 6....of them when I confiscated them after she had plenty on the ride home. I was also saving her appetite for lunch, which would be prepared shortly after we got home and I got the small amount of groceries put away. Let me stop here to explain that I have a VERY small refrigerator and freezer. I mean shoebox sized freezer, and my fridge..it is like 1 1/2 times the size of a dorm room fridge. This all to hold food for the four of us...2 of which never stop eating....."the little ones." I'm not complaining...well...maybe a little. 
    "Mommy, when we get home, may I PLEEEEASE have some water?" She sounds like she might die any second from dehydration.
"Yes, dear, when we get home you can have some water"
     So we get home, I unload the car and the kids, drop the grocery bags at the front door, open the front door and proceed inside to get Mallory her water, because she is truly dying of thirst. I come back out to where I left my grocery bags, and Mia is digging in the bags for " yogey" aka "yogurt."
There also happens to be a half dozen eggs rolling around outside the door because she threw them over her shoulder...digging for the "yogey."
"Mia, Mia, Mia! The yogurt isn't even IN this bag!!"

I pick up my eggs and usher her and the groceries inside.
"Mommy can I have some more crunchies?" Crunchies is what we call the buttery delicious croutons.
" Yes, Mallory, in a minute. I need to get the cold stuff put away."
Meanwhile Mia is back to digging in the grocery bags.
"Mommy, awan yogey" ( Mia talk for "I want yogurt")
Everything is about to be pulled out of the bag, including my eggs. I proactively think...'HA! I'll put the bags on the island and she won't be ale to get in them anymore! I'm so smart.'
Operation 'Get lunch in the oven and unload groceries...so I can get them down for naps and have a moment to breathe, do laundry, workout, shower etc.'........is under way!
Fish sticks and French fries in the oven, check. Need something healthy...applesauce for Mallory. Plum for Mia, check. Unload groceries..I am on it! I pull out the soy milk, milk, and diapers from my non refrigerated/items that don't need refrigeration bag. Wait. just. one. second. Did she just say she pulled MILK from her NON refrigerated bag?
I read your mind, right? I'm good like that. Yes, my milk is not and does not need refrigerated until opened. I don't know how they do it. But I try not to think about it....K? Moving on. As I pull my millk and diapers out of my non refidgerator bag, I turn ...wait , let me clarify. The diapers do not BELONG to ME. I do not require diapers..just to set the record straight. So, as I was saying, I turn to place them on the counter and the shift of goods within the bag led to its toppling off the island and onto my very hard tile floor. The sound is what caught me, and the spray of wine and glass, immediately following. My wine............was in the non refidgerator bag! And now it was all over my kitchen floor, rug, and cabinets.
Ahhhh! Where do I start to clean up? Big pieces first. No, wait. Barricade the dog. The girls are still eating lunch and will be fine for a bit. I clean up the big pieces of glass first, then sop up the wine. Next, blot the wine from my rug, which just 4 days ago had been scrubbed clean and looked brand new. I'll  remove the rug from the kitchen, hang outside over chairs until I can rinse and scrub once Mia is napping and hopefully Mallory too. Now I can sweep the entire kitchen floor. Aaaaand....the dog escaped my chair barricade and is now licking up my crum/glass piles in the kitchen. I scream and shoo her back into the barricaded area with a treat. She eats it and then looks at me like I am a horrible person and begins to bark at me. "No, Kowa. Dop it!" Says Mia.
That's right Mia, you tell her.
Ok lunch is over, I throw dishes in the sink so the dog doesn't jump up on the table and tell Mallory I'll be back down, I am going to put Mia to bed. I read a quick book to Mia, secretly thinking all the while about mopping my floor and scrubbing my rug. 

I get Mia down and put Mallory on Kota patrol behind the chair barricade.

I sweep everything, twice. Vacuum everything, twice, and then my favorite part, mopping. Ahh sweet glorious, clean floor. 

While the floor dries, I go to put Mallory down for a nap, so I can scrub my rug, and then hopefully myself. I smell like I've been boozing all morning. Mallory gives me the usual hard time for rest time, so I say yes to any requests, door cracked, air on,  27 books in bed, etc. 

I leave the door cracked, my final sign of farewell, and I am off to scrub my rug. I get out the proper detergents and I am gettin'r done! 

A sheepish, "Mommy?" Comes from the front door. I am half way through scrubbing my rug. The look of disappointment must have been all over my face, because Mallory quickly said, "but it's a poopy emergency!" 

My eyes were as wide as saucers thinking the next thing I'd be cleaning up was poop! 

"I have to go poopy." 

"Go ahead, holler when you are done." Relief filled me that it really wasn't a "poopy emergency."

I escort Mallory back to bed, and go to scrub the other half of my rug. 

Then I spotted blood dripping down my thigh.

"Did I cut myself shaving? No," I think. I haven't done that in a week! Why am I bleeding?! Upon further inspection, there is a shard of glass in my upper thigh. That little sucker probably jumped off the carpet and attacked me! No. Probably what really happened is my makeshift power washer (me and my thumb over the hose spout)  released a missed shard of glass from the carpet and it flew off and landed on my leg, thus causing the blood. I pulled that little bugger out and called it a war wound from my battleground morning. 

The rug is clean and I do a little general cleaning of the patio while the hot sun beats down on me and dries my rug at the same time. 

     Shower time! I grab Mia's monitor to take it into the bathroom with me turn on the shower and within seconds, water stops coming out of the spigot. 

From experience I know, the breaker has flicked off, because both girls are napping with their air on, the air is on, on the first floor, and well now.... the house is just mad at me that I want to try to use the hot water heater too, so it shuts everything down. I streak across the lounge to the breaker box, flip the breaker and go to take my hot shower. There is no hot water. When the breaker flips, I usually have to go outside on the balcony to make sure the pilot light on the water heater is lit..or there will be no hot water. I didn't do this. My neighbors can thank me. I was 2 stories up, and a towel just wouldn't cut it. I took a cold, invigorating shower and halfway through, my shower curtain opens.

"Mommy...I was looking at my one year book, and a lot of the pictures of me look like Mia...he he. See look right here, doesn't this look like Mia?" She is astounded.

"Ugh...nap is not going to happen today is it," I think.  I smile anyway, because of the sweet sound in her voice, and I know she is expecting me to shoo her off to bed, but I don't. I tell her I'll be done in a minute. Shaving will have to wait for another day, although, I wasn't too thrilled to do it in the cold water in the first place. I hop out of the shower, get dressed, and decide I am going to dry my hair. If I'm not going anywhere I don't dry my hair. I don't do it because for one, it is usually too hot, and for two, it saves my luscious locks from excess damage. But today..I am going to dry my hair. I am going to actually LOOK like I have taken a shower and done something with myself. 

At that thought, Mia awakes. I'll still dry my hair, but I'll go to get Mia first. I bring her downstairs into my bathroom where she is usually content to pull everything off the shelf, play in the bidet, or open up every wrapper to every tampon she can get her hands on. But today..when I would have gladly given her a box of tampons to open to keep her occupied, she wants nothing to do with it. She won't even let me put her down. She pulls her legs up as high as she can and has the death grip on my arms. I insist in setting her down to dry my hair. She screams, and screams, and screams. There is snot and tears and stomping of feet and flailing of her body on the floor. This is a full blown temper tantrum, all because I won't hold her, so that I can dry my hair for 5 minutes. I don't get the full blow out complete, but it is close enough. And even though the hair dryer was drowning out most of her screaming, I could still hear her ear piercing squeals, and I knew the moment I stopped and picked her up, she would be fine. Andd she was. I wiped her snot and tears, before they got all over my clean shirt and in my clean, freshly blow dried hair. 

Mia says with a smile and a bobble of her head, "Mommy, awan yogey." 

Yogey it is.

My crazy day didn't stop there. But there were plenty more tears (from not napping) and a few more temper tantrums to top it off. Josh got home from work. I kissed him, grabbed a glass of wine and said, I need a few minutes and walked upstairs and out onto the back patio. Minutes before he walked in the door, I was on the verge of tears. it was just a rough day. Everyone has them, but not everyone has someone as amazing as Josh to pick up the slack when you need it most. He took over without question, bathed the girls, and attempted to put them both to bed while I enjoyed some wine. I say attempted, only because while he was putting Mia down, Mallory snuck down the stairs and puppy dog eyed me and asked me so nicely if I could put her to bed. Of course I could. After all of the yelling and threatening I felt like I had resorted to throughout the day ( I spared you the details of the biggest hissy fits of the day and the complete and utter melt down we all had at dinner which was caused by Kota snatching Daddy's piece of bread off the table that we were saving for him. Don't mess with a little girl's daddy's bread!)

I snuggled her close and sang to her and prayed she wouldn't have any bad dreams. Then I came downstairs and started to laugh about my day and write this blog. Only after writing half of the blog, did I let Josh read it to discover how my day really went and why the bottle of wine was nearly empty. Let it be known I don't usually resort to drinking wine under stressful situations nor do I condone it, but had there been a pill available with fewer calories...I would have taken that in an instant! :)

     So my readers, I hope you have laughed at my misfortune on this tragic morning, and despite having to soak up a decent bottle of wine off the floor, I also managed to soak up some sweet moments with my girls between the chaos that ensues around here. 

The blog about our lack of Internet entitled "The Internet made me fat," is written on the back of a sudoku book, so I'll have to transfer that at some point. Look for it....no time soon. I only get to blogging every not so now and then.

Until next time

-L

Way overdue update

Original Draft I never finished...from SEPTEMBER 2012!
Now that the dust has settled, literally, I think I can manage to share a bit about our move to Sicily. I am in a much better place NOW, than I was the first 2 weeks into our Sicily adventure. It was stressful to say the least.

To arrive in Sicily, we took an overnight Ferry from Genoa to Palermo. The whole family, Josh, me, Mallory 3, and Mia 10 months, PLUS the 100 lb dog packed into Fiona the Fiat and we boarded a smaller version of a cruise ship, only it wasn't quite exactly up to cruise ship standards. I had low expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised there was a POOL aboard this ship, but then, not so entirely surprised that there wasn't any water in the pool.
We had a cabin, where we ALL slept. Kota was quite the attention grabber on a ship with mostly tea-cup sized dogs. The room next to us, sounded like it had at least 2 dogs in it. During the night as they howled and  their tails whipped against the paper thin wall that was the only thing that separated my head from their butts. The next morning as we are leaving our room, not 2, not 3 not even 4, but FIVE dogs piled out of that room as if it were a clown car. These were not small dogs either. THREE of them were greyhounds, and the other 2 were medium sized mutts. I had to pick my mouth up off the floor. We are pretty sure this cabin was PAID for just for these animals, judging by the dog raucous all night and the lack of human voices.

Onto the actual move. Wow, where to start? Let's just throw it all out there. Our house, which was brand new and had never been lived in was nowhere ready for us to move into on the first day of our lease. There was NO kitchen or refrigerator, NO air conditioning, NO washer or dryer,  and NO hot water. Maybe I should have said what they did have done...it would have been a shorter list :)
Instead of spending the planned 2 nights in a hotel and moving into our new house, we spent close to an entire week in a hotel, had to switch hotels, because of our first hotel being completely booked, but the other hotel didn't allow dogs, so we had to find other arrangements for Kota. Thankfully, Josh's co-worker's family (who moved in on the same street a few days before us) agreed to keep Kota for us until we could "live" in our house.
So, as the movers are unloading boxes and boxes, and boxes, and more boxes, I can barely tell them where to put them, because air conditioners were being installed and a kitchen was being put in, there was dust everywhere, cleaning was fruitless, it was HOT.

Josh's 2 co-workers and their families live on the same street as us and we all moved in around the same time.  This extra use of power, I believe caused an unforeseen issue by property management. We couldn't run more than 2 air conditioners at one time without the breaker blowing out. One night I was up 7 or 8 times flipping the breaker, just so the girls could have air in their rooms, while I slept nearly in my birthday suit because it was so HOT. My mom was here and she spent the first 2 weeks on a mattress in Mallory's room, because we couldn't run the air in all the rooms at once at night.
It was completely frustrating and very stressful. We couldn't get terribly angry, as things got done pretty quickly once we arrived. Why they weren't done before we got here...I still have no idea.

So now that all of the drama is out of the way, we are into this thing about a month and a half, and I love it. I really do. Our neighbors ROCK. I hope they read this. They really do rock. There are multiple American/English speaking families that live on our gated street. There are tons of kids, always out riding bikes, running around, swimming at the pool, playing in the soccer field behind the house..etc. It is nice to have neighbors that speak English and that do things together. They had a welcome BBQ for the new families that moved in and have they have all just been fabulous.  We've been showered with movies, American Coffee, Creamer, homemade muffins, tiramisu, eggplants, a full on Sunday Brunch Spread, candles, and Josh's favorite, Doritos. They are generous and giving and we couldn't be happier.

We are attending church on the military base, thanks again to our awesome neighbors. What a nice change to be in fellowship, after spending a year, holed up with watching church online. Not that we didn't enjoy that, it is just nice to actually be with other people in a church setting. Praise the Lord.

My sister was here for 2 weeks at the end of August, just as all the boxes were unpacked (for the most part) We had some superb sister time touring Taormina, and the Aeolian Islands. HOLY MOLY. I have never seen more beautiful water in my life. No offense to those on the East Coast (US), but I don't think I will ever step foot in that brown, mucky water EVER again. I have said that before after visiting Mexico, Aruba, Pensacola, Miami, Barbados, etc. But I am FOR SERIOUS, when I say you are in 60 feet of water and you can see straight to the bottom! Just gorgeous. END OF SEPTEMBER DRAFT.

Since it has been so long...Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day...and being practical and thinking ahead...Happy Easter. (just in case this draft doesn't get finished before then!)

Wow, where to begin. Still loving Sicily. The neighbors and the community STILL rock. We got actually neighbors in the house next to us..and I can't say THAT rocks. We can hear everything. I'm sure they are thrilled to hear babies in the middle of the night and toddler squeals and screams all day long. For your future reference....if you have neighbors...DON'T bounce a basketball in the house. They will hate you.

We had our first Christmas away from home. I was positive I would be missing the chaotic family Christmas in PA..and I was...but not as much as I expected. We had an amazing Christmas. All Mallory wanted for Christmas was a horse and a mouse. Not living breathing ones thank heavens...but stuffed ones. The mouse, specifically from IKEA..which is really a rat. She wanted one to complete a Mouse family of the other 2 "mice" she got at IKEA from Grammie Charmaine. This was the easiest request on her list. The horse however put us through the ringer. All the rocking horses we found here were too small for her, so I went to ordering one online. Though they didn't ship overseas..we got free shipping, were having it shipped to Josh's parents who would then ship it to us. (This was all after I found out Target had cancelled my order. GRR. Good thing I LOVE TARGET...if stock has dropped at all over the past 2 years..I'm convinced it is my fault, because I am no longer there 3...ok...FIVE, times a week) Long story short...Christmas EVE..I asked Josh to stop on his way home from work to grab some batteries for another toy...and he comes home with THE PERFECT rocking horse! Josh saved Christmas!! I had devised an entire plan and letter from Santa explaining that the elves got ELF-fluenza and were behind, so the horse would be delivered later. Josh put that horse together in the living room...in full view of little creeping 3 year olds coming down the stairs. I felt like I was robbing a bank..keeping an eye out for her to come down the stairs. I was all sweaty and nervous that she would see DADDY putting together her Rocking Horse! Oh Heavens...Christmas would have been ruined! We wrapped every square inch of it in wrapping paper..and it was so worth it for her precious face on Christmas morning. It was magical.

Fast forward 3 months..(literally I blinked and 'Hello March')
Mia turned 1 back in October.Yes, she is nearly 18 months old now and as cute as a button. What a ham, and such a loving kiddo. She adores her big sister, and loves her daddy..and me too. She has been walking since the beginning of December and is saying new words every day. Elmo, eyes, baby, and mommy and daddy instead of momma and dada. Oh, let's not forget she says "iPad" too. Too funny.

Mallory is enjoying school. She attends an Italian school where they only speak Italian. She is picking up Italian...singing in Italian all the time and always asking me how to say things in Italian. I usually have to look it up. She loves having kids to play with in the neighborhood even though there isn't anyone exactly her age. But she hangs with the bigger kids, and then comes home and says stuff..like "Ok mom...whoa." She is quite the entertainer. Singing and dancing, doing funny voices with her dolls and toys. We recently had a dance party featuring Footloose songs, and Billy Currington, "That's how country boys roll." It is her jam! She also loves her sister, but runs for the hills when Mia comes at her with her mouth open. Houston, we have a biter! Mia will bite just about anything, and when she is frustrated or not getting what she wants..her little chompers come out. She has even bit herself when Mallory has squeaked out of the way. I thought maybe she would learn after that, that it doesn't feel good, but, no. Mallory is very apologetic. "Mommy, I'm sorry for throwing that hissy fit" (30 minutes later) "Mommy, I'm sorry I have a runny nose" "Mommy, I'm sorry your back hurts, do you want me to rub it? You should lay down and rest" Those words seriously came out of her mouth, and what did I do? I let her rub my back and I laid on the couch and took a rest! Daughter's orders! What a sweet girl she is. One night as we were getting ready for bed, we were exchanging I love yous. She said, with a smiley smirk on her face," You want to know who I love?" to which I replied "Who?" She whispered back "Jesus!" That made this momma's day.

Let's see...recent travels and upcoming craziness
We recently went to Germany to visit my cousin Doug and family. I had been so looking forward to this week long vacation complete with SNOW! Yes, I was most definitely without a doubt, looking forward to snow and bitter cold temperatures. We had a nice relaxing trip, with only 1 visit to the hospital. Leave it to us. Poor Mia had a stomach bug...and within a few hours of it's onset had become severely dehydrated, so Mia and I spent a night in the hospital. She was such a good little patient. Mallory then had a bit of the bug, but after a good nap, she woke up exclaiming she felt better.
     Josh did some skiing, which was great, because he hadn't been since we got married. And well, if you know anything about me....I don't ski. A broken shoulder and a few cracked ribs later...I hung up my skis for good. I did hit the slopes on a sled though. I just made sure it was clear of trees and small children before going down.
We took Mallory to ski school. She was pumped to go skiing with another little girl we had met there. We got her all decked out in her ski gear, even bought her a cool pair of ski goggles. Everything was going fine until the instructor tried to put her boot into her ski. Oh, let me back up. I should have taken a hint when she waddled out of the ski shop in her ski boots and made her daddy carry her over to ski school because she couldn't walk. She couldn't walk, I didn't want to make a scene...so daddy carried her. So the instructor I notice, is trying to put her into skis that were not hers. I had been standing way off to the side away from the kids and instructors, but I had to intervene. This is what is going through my head "Those aren't her skis, they are not going to fit..and if they did fit and they get mixed up and we return the wrong skis, what a mess that would be. They would probably charge us an arm and a leg for losing her skis, we'd have to wait around to see if the other ones got turned in..when they didn't we'd go to ski jail....." I dunno. Anyways, I stepped in to explain they weren't her skis, as he is trying to jam her boot into her ski. As soon as I stepped in...I had a child attached to my leg, and one attached to my front at the time as well. Mia was in a front carrier with me. We got the ski situation figured out and I could not pry my child off of my leg. Screaming ensued and there I was; all alone, in the cold, with 2 kids hanging on me. I tried to encourage Mallory to do what the other kids were doing with just 1 ski on. Told her it was like riding her scooter at home. Bloody murder. She was in complete meltdown mode, hysterics, hyperventilating, dead weight, the whole shebang. I drug her around for what felt like eternity trying to get her to just use her one ski so she would feel comfortable. I used bribery to it's fullest extent. Candy, stuffed animal, candy AND stuffed animal. I got nowhere.We were 'that' family. The family that you politely smile at and sympathize with because their child looks like a complete monster, and you can't help but thinking...Boy, am I glad that isn't MY KID! Yes, that was us. I just kept thinking...there goes 60 Euro right. out. the. window, as I too, politely smiled back at the sympathetic parents. It was making me even more frustrated. Alas, I spotted Josh in the ski lift line ready to go skiing for the first time in 6+ years. I flag him down giving him the "DECAPITATION" signal, meaning it is O.V.E.R. He runs down, and I assure him I'll be fine and get the girls back to the hotel and that he needed to ski his way back to the hotel, because I was surely not coming back to get him! I had had enough and it wasn't even 10 am!
     I drag Mallory to the ski shop, Mia on my front, no exaggeration, dragging Mallory with one hand while she hobbles in her ski boots, and carrying skis, ski helmet, a diaper bag, and my nice camera in the other hand. This was the nice camera I had intended on taking so many awesome pictures of her first ski experience. WOMP WOMP. We get to the ski shop and Mallory is still teary eyed and showing signs of having just been screaming for an eternity. I tell the lady at the counter..."Uh...yea...this didn't quite work out," throwing my eyes dramatically toward the huffy puffy 3 year old. Thank goodness she gave us our money back. We spend another eternity trying to return the rental equipment. We head back toward the car, she is still catching her breath from her meltdown and about half way to the car she says,"Mommy, I'm sorry for throwing that hissy fit" I lost it. My eyes filled with tears. I had been so frustrated with her and most certainly spoke in a manner I shouldn't have. I told her I was sorry she got so upset, and that I was frustrated. I wasn't sorry that I made her try it, because it is good to try new things,but I was just sorry she didn't enjoy it, and just simply didn't like it. I told her trying new things sometimes is scary, but you have to do it enough so that it isn't scary anymore. We agreed she could try it again when she was older if she wanted to.
     So back to the hotel for us, and the girls crashed. They took great naps, and that, is Mallory's first skiing experience.
We did some sight seeing while we were in Germany. We went to see the Neuchweinstein Castle (the one that the Disneyland castle is modeled after) and also saw the Linderhoff Castle. Both Castles belonged to King Ludwig the 'some number or another.' I'm not really that good with History. It snowed for 3 days straight and I loved every second of it. We had a great time with Doug, Sandy and Tori. Mallory loved getting to hang out with Tori. They are just adorable together.

   My mom arrives in one week for another extended stay. Josh and I are planning date nights once a week and at least a mini trip or two while she is here. We don't get to be "just the two of us" ever, so be thankful, if you are surrounded by family that is willing to pitch in and help so you can get some you time. Don't take it for granted, that, and Target :) We've got an impromptu trip to Rome coming up. Meeting a high school buddy of Josh's and his wife and some of her family in Rome over Easter weekend. 2 nights in Rome, just the two of us...could be another Hunking on the way! Ok..maybe not. I'm not quite there...yet. Could be kinda cool though...the baby could have a onesie that said, "Made in Rome" Too much? I digress. We are looking forward to that, just being together and catching up with some friends. Nothing planned after that, at this point.
    The weather is starting to warm up here. I am ready for it to be flip flop weather...like yesterday! I've planted strawberries, and lettuce and I'd still like to plant some tomatoes, basil for sure. Fresh pesto here I come! I walked into the little grocery store up the street the other day and it was 65 degrees and sunny and I had a T-shirt on. The guy in the store said, "Americana?" I told him, yes I was an American. He pointed to my sleeves. I clearly stood out, from all of the other Italians who are still in winter coats, hats and scarves. I got a good chuckle out of that one. Wait till I whip out the flip flops...that will turn some heads!

I always include a little business blurb. My Tastefully Simple Business is still in business thanks to my millions of loyal clients around the world :) Please find me on FB www.facebook.com/TSbyLibby for recipes and specials. Go there...like the page, and see the special I have going on right now! Thank you for continually eating and for your support!

Thanks for reading. I know it is long...but it has been nearly 6 months since my last blog. Just recently, I've heard from 2 people asking about my blog..so you can thank my friend Susan and my Aunt Laura for encouraging me to get back to it. If you didn't enjoy the blog...you can blame Susan and my Aunt Laura.

Until next time...
-L