This and That

My life seems to be at a stand still since I last wrote. I should not complain that there is not much new happening in our lives right now.

The kids went back to school yesterday. They all seemed happy about being there. It was just the homework after school that drove me crazy. I say it drove me crazy, because I am the one that has to hear the whining and crying. Shantal is so terrible when it comes to homework. She complains so much and it takes more time than actually just doing it. For example, yesterday, Shantal came home from school at 1:30. She finished her homework around 5pm. She really had less than an hour of homework. But she just complains the whole time instead of doing it. And now, Spencer is starting in on it. It grates on my nerves.

Hannah did really well yesterday going back. She does not tend to talk to the teachers while she is at school. But she does to the kids. But yesterday, she did say "Tchuss" (good-bye) to 2 of the teachers. Today she said "Tchuss, bis morgan" (good-bye, until tomorrow). The one teacher was real excited today when she left. Hopefully that little progress will continue and she will say something more than good bye to them everyday.

I have had a hard time with Ian these past few days. Or should I say Ian has had a hard time with me. He had 3 days where he was bottle fed and coming back to me was not easy. We are getting back on track though. Unfortunately, tomorrow night I have to stop feeding him for 3 days again. We have to do the lice treatment one last time to complete the cycle. And when I do that, I can not breastfeed for 3 days.

Thankfully, I have not seen any new lice yet. I say yet, because I still have not ruled it out about it not being fully gone. I am still not caught up on all the laundry and I will have sheets, pillow cases, blankets and towels again tomorrow. I really am almost there.

One thing I wanted to say, is that Gardner got a photo-radar ticket. We knew that he was caught but had not seen the ticket. It happened before Christmas. Well, the ticket showed up the other day. It cost 20 Euros. Luckily, he was not going all that fast over the speed limit. But photo radar is the major thing they have here in Germany for patrolling and controlling how fast everyone goes.

We also found out how much Hannah's Kindergarten costs us each month. It is all based on your income. We thought we would be paying around 150 Euros a month. But it is actually 115 per month. So that was a pleasant surprise.

I started scrapping again. I got 6 pages done this last week plus 20 thank you cards for people who attended Spencer's Baptism. It was really fun to work on recent photos. So much, that I am going to be doing that more often. Plus it is harder to know what I scrapped already and what I have not since all my scrapbooks are in Gardner's parents basement. The next thing I really want for my scraproom is a sewing machine. I know people will probably read that and wonder if I typed it right. And yes, I did. I actually sew on paper. It brings a nice look to the page.

Oh yes, Yesterday around 5am, I was going down the stairs to get Ian as he was ready to eat. Well, I fell once again. Luckily I caught myself on the railing. Otherwise it would of been an 8 stair fall. It was bad enough though that it woke Gardner up. These marble stairs are dangerous! And I don't think my toes can take much more. As for last weeks fall, my toes are getting a little smaller. My one toe does not sit on top of the other toe anymore. But it is still a little swollen, still bruised and still hurts when I do something without thinking or when one of the kids step on them. OUCH.

The weather here is rainy. I am so tired of the rain right now. Seems like we barely have clear enough skies for the kids to go out and play. And I really want them to be able to go out.

Emma sat on the toilet for the first time the other day. I got a picture of it, and she looked really cute. I don't know if she is totally ready yet. But I believe she is almost ready. She always wants her diaper changed. She can't stand being wet or poopy. When she is in the process of going, she holds her diaper as if it is going to leak or something. I think she is really close! And I pray this will be an easy child to potty train.

Tonight I made Lasagna for dinner. I had not made that in YEARS. It was actually pretty good. Of course, my pickiest of eaters (Hannah) did not even think about trying it. But I did boil her some lasagna noodles and she ate those plain. Shantal would not try it, but after I put it away and told her what was in it, she wanted some.

Last night I made Schnitzel for dinner. A very German thing. I told my kids they were chicken nuggets. Well, I usually buy the mini ones. But this time, they were really big. After my kids talked about how much they loved them, I enlightened them on what they really were. They just kept saying how much they like them and wanted me to make them again.