Traveling

Well it has been a crazy month! And there is so much to update and because of that, I keep procrastinating. But that doesn't make it any better. It makes it worse. And with Christmas in 5 days, I don't want to feel more overwhelmed, so I am going to try and get some of these written now.

It all started a few weeks ago when my Mom and my sister, Coleen came to visit. We did a lot of traveling and that made me overly tired. So I am going to try to briefly (as briefly as I can) tell ya everywhere we went.

First we went to Amsterdam. We went and saw the Anne Frank House. There are a lot of stairs and they were *very* steep. Too steep and some too high for my mom. She has screws in her feet and they really bother her. And she needs knee replacements as well. So she decided to turn around and go back and Coleen and I finished off going through the house. It was amazing to see the House and to see that part of History. But what I was expecting and what I saw were two different things. The House was totally empty. Just walls and floors. And then there were pictures on the walls or videos on the walls playing to help inform you about the house and the people who lived there.

Amsterdam itself, I decided was the bike capital of the world. We kept joking about it because there were so many people on bikes riding through the streets. We have a lot of bikes here in Germany, but in Amsterdam, it was flooded with bikes.

The next day we drove out to Brugge, Belgium. Oh My! This was one of my favorite places to visit. It was so pretty. I would of loved to spend more time there and plan on going back. We took a canal boat tour. It was real cheap, I think only 6 Euros and it lasts 1/2 hour. I highly recommend it. They also have Horse Drawn Carraige tours. We wanted to do that, but in the end, we did not. My mom would never of been able to get up in the carraige due to her bad knees. And she offered to just sit and wait for us. But it started raining. So we decided to just leave. I also heard that a bus tour through the city is nice. It doesn't stop for you to get out and take pictures. But for the History of the city, the bus tour is the way to go.

Another place we went is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Another great place. It is a walled in city. A city with a wall all the way around it. The whole entire city is cobblestone, which proved to be a problem with my mom and the screws in her feet. She took 3 steps on the cobblestones and decided it was not going to work. Luckily, there was a very nice lady who had a store and my mom sat in her store for two hours while Coleen and I tried to see what we could of the city. It has so much to offer and I definately need to go back. One thing that Rothenburg ob der Tauber is known for is something you get from a bakery. It is called a "Schneeballen" . You will have to get one if you ever stop to visit. I couldn't pin point what it reminded me of. But coleen said it reminded her of a pie crust in a ball with powder sugar on it. (she bought the powdered sugar one, and there is a variety to choose from).

We also went to Heidelberg, Germany. WOW, there is a castle there that is so amazing to see. And overlooking the city, it is incredible. Another one of those cities that I would definately recommend.

And there is Dortmund, Germany. They have the worlds tallest Christmas Tree. It was very pretty.

Kevelaer, Germany. It is a small village. There were three churches. And something that set this small village apart from the other places we went to was the Christmas Markets. Normally, the Christmas Markets are focused on selling items and then food to eat and hot drinks like Gluehwein. In Kevelaer, instead of a Christmas Market, they had a Nativity Market. They had a large nativity with live animals. I would of loved to see real people as well. And then the things that were being sold at this Market were mainly nativity sets and candles.

We went and saw the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. It is such an amazing site! I actually have seen this a few times before. But Coleen had not. We got there when it was getting dark and couldn't get any great pictures of it.

We went to Hattingen, Germany. I was able to get my Christmas Presents from Santa for the kids there. Woolworth was having an amazing sale on toys and I just happened to walk in.

Went to Venlo, Netherlands to do some shopping. We found some very amazing shops there and it is said to be a lot cheaper for shopping than in Germany because there are no taxes in the Netherlands. And I was even able to find Candy Canes in the Netherlands for Santa to hang on our tree. I was so very excited.

Also, visited the Frankfurt Temple and The Hague, Netherlands Temple.

It was so much fun to just walk up and down the streets of all these different places. It is amazing to see them. There was a lot of laughing between Coleen, my Mom and myself during the driving on all these days. It was also fun to introduce my Mom and Coleen to the different foods here. And I got a kick out of introducing them to the Autobahn the first day they arrived. My mom freaked out at my 90 miles an hour driving. But by the time she left, When I was driving 110 Miles per hour, it felt normal.

I'm going to miss My Mom doing the laundry. That was really nice to not have to worry about it. Coleen and my Mom helped out a lot with the kids. It was nice to be able to run to the school or to the store and not have to drag the two small ones with me.

Moving Back to America

This post is a little late in coming.  But I needed to write this to finally cap off and finish our big adventure in Germany.

In March of 2012, Frau Plassmann, our Landlord, came and visited us and told us that she wanted to sell the house we were living in.  After thinking about what to do, we decided to move back to America.  It was so hard to find a house the first time around with having 5 kids.  And I personally did not want to go through that again.  And even if we found a place to live, would the kids have to switch schools?  I did not want that.  And how long would we still stay?  One maybe two years?  Well, then it was not worth the financial part it would of taken to move, as that is also very expensive in Germany.

The draw back:  Not all of us were going to move to America.  Without a job, Gardner needs to stay behind.  Gardner decided it would be best if we moved to Utah.  With me being alone with the kids, I would have family support there.

The end of April, I flew out to Utah to house hunt.  Ended up not finding anything in our price range that was decent enough or big enough.  Everything that was big enough had major damage to the house.  So I looked at new homes, one that still needed to be built.  Ended up deciding to build a home with Richmond American Homes in West Jordan.  And ended up building a home right next door to my sister, Julie. 

In July, I took Shantal, Spencer and Hannah to Paris.  It is somewhere Shantal wanted to visit since we lived in Germany and we never made it there.  So the day school got out, we drove to Paris and spent 2 nights there.  We climbed the Eifel Tower, saw Notre Dame,and got rained on the whole time.  It would of been nice to see the Eifel Tower when it was dark out and it was all lit up.  But our hotel was so far away, and after long days, I was just too tired. 

Shantal and Spencer spent two weeks in Sweden for a Youth Temple Trip.  They both came home and said it was not the last trip they thought it would be.  

The kids and I moved to America on August 19th.  We flew on Air Berlin from Dusseldorf to Las Vegas.  In Las Vegas, we had a 5 hour layover.  In Las Vegas while waiting for our next flight, almost all the kids were sleeping.  And once we were on the plane, every single kid was out.  The flight attendant came by and was shocked.  But by that point, the kids had been up almost 24 hours. 

We spent the first three months living with Julie and Roger while our house was being built.  And finally on November 7th, we closed on our house and we were able to move in.

The kids are thriving at school and adjusting really great.  We skype and talk with Gardner as often as we can.  And Gardner came out at Christmas for three weeks where we had a great time together.  We surprised the two younger kids at school when Gardner arrived.  They were so surprised to see him.  Emma ran up to him, with a huge grin on her face, and jumped up on him.  Just melts my heart to watch the video.

We are hoping that Gardner will find a job soon and join us here in America.  It is just not the same having him there. 

There are things we all miss from Germany.  Our friends, chocolate, the autobahn to name a few.  But I am so excited that my kids have the opportunity to get to know their cousins and their Grandmas and Grandpas.  

Moving Truck

Dusseldorf Airport

Kopal's, DeWendt's, and Hammacher Families

Going away party with the DeWendt's and the Kopal's

Last Family Picture in Germany

On the airplane

Sleeping in Las Vegas

Our New House

Am I Finally Back?

Well, Here I am, almost a year later, writing again. Sometimes I have missed writing on my blog. Other times, I felt like it was just too time consuming. And then there are times I feel like sharing things, but did not like the fact that the world can read what I am writing.

We are now in Summer Vacation here in Germany. We got out of school on July 22nd. That is so late in the year, but we finally made it.

We just spent a few days at the temple. We took Hannah, Emma and Ian. Shantal and Spencer were on a Youth Trip for the week, so we took advantage of the time and went to the Temple. It was one of the best experiences I have had up until now at the temple. The three kids were old enough that we left them alone in the Hostel. We left them with Movies, Games and Coloring things. Not to mention a few snacks. Gardner and I were able to go to the temple together three different times. We did Sealings twice and an Endowment Session once.

One thing that happened at the temple, is I recognized an older couple that was there. Their last name is Villwock. They live in Dortmund and is someone I knew from while I served my mission in Dortmund 20 years ago. We were able to talk about certain people. And floods of memories came back from my time there. Things I have not thought about for a very long time.

Also, While we were there at the temple, I had a feeling of coming to the Temple with Gardner when we are the age of Brother and Sister Villwock. Not just any Temple, either. What does that all mean? That we will be here in Germany forever? Who really knows. I certainly do not. But I do know that I enjoyed being at the Temple for the first time in a very long time.

Allergic Reaction

I once again took Emma to the doctors today. This time, it was due to an allergic reaction she is having to misquito bites. She has 4 different bites, all the sizes of ping pong balls to a base ball. The baseball size one freaked me out a bit and that is what made me decide to take her in.

While we were walking from where I parked my car to the doctors office, I noticed her ankle was swollen. So upon getting in a room and waiting for the doctor, I started looking at it and decided she had yet another one on her, and it was big too. The one on her ankle is infected. The doctor ended up drawing around it so that in the morning, I will know if it has grown or not. She also wrapped it to help stop Emma from scratching it. Thing is, I don't think it was from Emma scratching it. I think it was from her shoes. She wore flip flops that had straps yesterday and sandals today. Both of which lies right were it is "scratched". Anyway, if it has grown, she has to go back in and they will start taking action to kill the infection. For now, they gave her some syrup that I want to think is like benadryl for allergies.

I swear, the doctors office is my 2nd home right now. The pharmacy just laughs now when I walk in with a prescription letter.

Hello Out There

Well I am a bad blogger. And as much as I think I should write at times, I feel like I lead a very boring life and what is the point. Gardner assures me my life is anything but boring. He tells me I had over 500 hits to my blog last week alone, and I have not written for months. So what is a girl to do? Write, I suppose. To appease the one who says I should write. :)

School is winding down here in Germany. We still have a month left, but all the end of the year activities are in full swing. It enough to keep one busy and feel insane on days. July 15th can't come soon enough for me. Every year, the school year goes longer and longer into summer. Next year, it is July 27th.

Emma had her 5 year check up yesterday. She did really great at the beginning. But then the nurse left and we were waiting for the doctor to come in. She started playing with something and the Doctor came in ready to do his thing. Well, Emma did not want to stop playing. So we dealt with an Emma melt down where the doctor left. Not just once, but twice. I handled the first walk out in stride trying to talk Emma into doing what we came there to do and she could finish playing afterwards. But the second time he walked out, I got angry with her. There was no more playing with the toy. And the bakery stop that was promised was also taken away. The end result of the doctors appointment was she is growing great. She weighed 19.3 Kilos and was 110 Centimeters Tall. She can hear the quietest of whispers (better than the average kid), but her eye sight was not so good. We get to see an Eye Doctor in August. This will be a new adventure for us here in Germany.

Since it has been awhile since I posted, I will add a few recent pictures.

We went to the Netherlands in May to play at the beach. Had to get our "standard" Beach Photo.

Gardner and I went to Dublin, Ireland for a few days the end of April.

Spencer and Gardner went to their first Pro Soccer Game here in Germany in April.

Took the kids to a Park called Blauer See. No one wanted to go on our little family outing on this day. But once we got there, they were all happy.

Fall Gymanstics Meet

On November 17, Hannah had another Team Gymnastics Meet. We were not sure that Hannah would be able to participate. Her Gymnastics Meet ended up being on a Sunday, and it was on the very same day as the Kids Program at Church, which she had to be at.

Lucky for Hannah, it ended up being in the afternoon. So she was able to do both the Kids Program and her Gymnastics Meet.

So I finally figured out how they score the Teams. And it is very interesting to me. There are 6 girls on the team. Each girl does each station. They take the three highest scores and that is the team score for that event. For example, six girls did the floor routine. Only the top three scorers on the floor counted towards the teams point total.

As usual, I took all the pictures of Hannah during warm up. During the actual event, I video taped her. So some of the pictures are real dark, from being so far away. And she always has her black pants on during the warm ups.

In the team competition, Tus Homberg (Hannah's Team) always has taken 3rd place. And Hannah's team had 2 girls out sick. So they had two girls who were brand new to Gymnastics take their place so they could still compete.

When it was all said and done, the kids were standing there waiting to hear the results. As they called 5th place, then 4th place, you could see the girls just nervous to hear what the result was. Finally, 3rd place was called and it was not Hannah's team. The girls were so excited. They were all giggly and smilie and they new they had done something they had never done before.

Then they called the 2nd team...Tus.....but it wasn't Homberg. They got first place. It was so amazing. The girls were so excited, especially Hannah and her best friend Debbie.

Hannah and Debbie were the top two Gymnasts at the Meet on that Day. Not just from their team, but from every girl there. We got a list of all the girls scores that day, and if it had been an individual competition, Debbie would of taken first place and Hannah would of had second place, with a difference of .10 . That is it. So close between Debbie and Hannah.

And her is another brag about Hannah. She once again got the highest score on the bars. There is a 15 point possibility. She got 14.70. She seriously has some talent. And I am glad she has something that makes her happy.

Gymnastics Meets are only two times a year here. Sometimes I wish they were more often.

But I have to add, that as a Mom, there is so much sitting around and waiting involved on these days. We were there for almost 5 hours. And of that time, I watched my daughter for perhaps 15 minutes.

Oh and I just remembered one more thing. It was very cute. So Hannah got a Gold Medal on that day for winning first place. She also has a Bronze Medal for winning third place last year. She says next year they need to win 2nd place so they can have a Silver Medal. Her logic of thinking was just too cute.

St Martin's

This years St Martin's was a little bit more Special for our family. It is the first time that Emma and Ian got to enjoy it too.

Emma and Ian are in a new Kindergarten this year, and they do a little St Martin's walk as well as the Elementary School. They created their own lanterns in Kindergarten. This years theme was a fish.

We gathered at the Kindergarten and headed out walking through the streets of South Homberg singing St Martin Songs. Afterwards, we were back at the Kindergarten where the kids were able to eat some Weckmanner and drink some Hot Kids Punch.

A few days later, our city, Homberg, actually celebrated St Martins. Spencer and Hannah participated in the Lantern Walk. Afterwards, all five of the kids went door to door singing their St Martin's songs to get their candy.

Ian loved getting the candy. But Emma was sure to tell the people handing out the candy that what kind of Candy Ian would not like. As they would go to put in black licorice, Emma would quickly say, "Ian doesn't like that kind." I was a bit embarrassed, but Emma was just trying to help Ian.

As we came home, the kids dumped everything out. They made their piles: Definately keeping, don't care if we keep, and lastly, get rid of it. All the kinds the kids did not like, got baggied up and taken to the candy drop. And the ones they were indifferent to, got split in half. Half we kept, half we got rid of. It is part of the St Martin Tradition.

St Martin gave part of his cape to a beggar in the cold in hopes to keep him warm. So the kids give part of their candy to the poor.

OK, so maybe my kids should be giving more than just the candy they don't like to others. But, I am proud of them just for giving up some of their goods. Coming from America, where they get to keep all their Halloween Candy, it was a very hard thing for them to learn.

I failed to get pictures on the actual St Martin's Day. I had all 5 kids and Gardner was not around. I was too stressed out to even think about it. But at least I have pictures from the Kindergarten Celebration a few days before with Emma and Ian.

Shantal Turned 12!

Shantal turned 12 on November 10th. So amazing to think there is a 12 year old in our family.

I remember back so long ago and thinking we could never have children. After trying for so many years with nothing working out, we had all but given up on ever having our own Children. Adoption was the route we were looking into taking.

And then out of the blue came such a fabulous blessing. I was pregnant. I was very sick. But I was pregnant. And even though I hated almost every minute of being pregnant, I loved knowing I was going to have a baby.


Here Shantal is on the morning of her Birthday!





And she opened up her present from Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler. An Ipod.




Now Shantal has had many problems making friends here in Germany. And since she moved to a new school in August, I was very hopeful that she would make friends. Well, she did make some. But I was a little shocked to know they were all boys. So when it came time to have her birthday party, the invited list consisted of only boys. And with it being a boy party, the slumber party could no longer happen. So, she decided to go swimming instead.

Gardner took Shantal and the four boys that came to Dusselstrand. We were quite shocked on how inexpensive it was to do this. Gardner payed 12 Euros for 5 kids and 1 adult to swim for 3 hours. Duesselstrand is an indoor water park, with water slides, lazy river, ect.

After the swimming, everyone came back here for Pizza and Cake.

It was a fun party for Shantal. So much fun, that Spencer decided he wanted the same party for his birthday.

Yes, I'm still Blogging

OK, so I usually have good intentions on writing. But I don't prioritize well enough to get everything done. And I end up playing stupid games on facebook and neglect a few things that I should not.

Looking back and seeing my last blog post was on November 6th, really makes me sad. So much happened since that time.

• Shantal turned 12
• St Martin's
• American Thanksgiving
• St Nikolaus
• Spencer turned 11
• Gardner and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary
• Trip To Venice, Italy
• Christmas
• New Years
• Lots of Snow Fun

As you can see, so many things. And yes, I am hoping to blog about all of it. Better late than never, right?

Random Update

Here are a few pictures of things that happened in September and October.

Ian rode his "laufrad" for the first time. He did really good.

Emma is a pro with her laufrad.

I guess Ian was tired.

Hannah got retainers. She has to wear them 16 hours a day.

Shantal got braces up top. The highlight, is choosing the rubberband colors.

I'm Coming to America!

During the Spring/Summer, we thought we were moving back to America. It was a really fast thing that turned into nothing. But before we found out if fell through, I was working hard to get things in order for a quick move. But, at the same time, I was working hard to get things in order here, just in case it didn't work out. And I am so glad I did that.

When that happened, I told Gardner I deserved a trip back to America. I had earned it with all that just happened. I have to say, my heart was broken that we were not moving back. I was really looking forward to it. But hey, I got a trip out of the ordeal.

So in September I flew out to America. I flew to Wisconsin to meet a group of Scrapbooking Friends. We come from all over America (and me from Germany) and meet up in Wisconsin to Scrapbook, laugh, hang out and just enjoy being with each other.

But I had a secret. I bought my ticket the end of May and flew in September. And during that time, I did not tell my family I was coming. I decided it would be really fun to Surprise my mom. Time passed and I decided I needed to let Coleen, my youngest sister, in on the secret. And I did so. We planned a family dinner, which was supposed to be a surprise to everyone at that dinner, when I arrived. I was only to be in Salt Lake for three days. Three days is not very long at all.

Well, as it got closer, I decided I needed to tell my siblings who would be coming to dinner with us about the trip. I had a fear that their lives would be too busy and they wouldn't come. But if they knew I would be there, then they would show up. I was right. I made phone calls and made them promise not to tell anyone. Not even to discuss it with other siblings. I couldn't take a chance of it slipping at all.

I flew in Sunday and got in around 10pm at night. Coleen picked me up from the airport and drove me to my parents house. She and her husband are living there, so it made it practical. I got out of the car to get my suitcase and I saw my dad looking out the window. I thought I was busted. I thought he saw me. But he didn't. WHEW.

Coleen went into the house while I continued to get my stuff out of the car. I gave her a pack of my moms favorite candy bars from Germany. And she took it into my parents room. I could hear the conversation. And my mom asked what was behind Coleen's back. She shows her. And my mom asks, "Where did that come from?" And Coleen responded, "Where do you think it came from?" Then my mom asks, "Who sent that to you?" I guess Coleen has access to great chocolate from someone else besides me.

Anyway, at this point I literally ran in her room, jumped on her bed and said, "From me, of course!" I don't think I have ever seen my mom's jaw dropped for so long. She kept asking what I was doing there. It was seriously PRICELESS! I loved it. And I doubt I will be able to do something like that again. Plus, it wouldn't have the same effect the second time around.

While I was in Utah, The first night I went to dinner with the family. The second night, I went to dinner with a few friends from High School. The third night, I went to dinner with two of my companions from my Mission. Afterwards, I went to the movies with Coleen and Matt and then two of my High School Friends joined us.

After being in Utah for a few days, I went back to Wisconsin to enjoy another scrap weekend with friends from Wisconsin. These were the girls I used to scrap with when I lived there.

I ate out every single meal, every single day for almost two weeks. I was sure I had gained 10 pounds. I was very excited to get home and find out it was only 2 pounds.

I also got real sick while in America. I spent one whole week there coughing. And then came home and coughed for another week. I had Bronchitas. Too many airplanes and too much air conditioner. I forgot what an air conditioner felt like. COLD.

I loved every minute of my time in America. And I plan on doing it again in September 2010. And if I am really lucky, and prices for airline tickets are good, I will be able to go out in March 2010 with Hannah during Easter Break.

Here are a few pictures I have from my time in Utah. All my friends have pictures of me from Wisconsin. I have to try and get them to send them my way.

Our Anniversary!

OK, so it isn't our wedding anniversary or anything terribly exciting. But Ian's birthday always sparks many memories. Ian's birthday marks how long we have been in Germany.

We moved here to Germany on September 21, 2006. This comes just three weeks after Ian was born. Ian being born just marks the craziness that happened to get us out of the country.

We had plan tickets already bought. We had to get a birth Certificate, a Social Security number and A passport picture so that we could get Ian's passport rushed back to us in order to move. This was no easy task. I remember Ian being born at 1pm and Gardner leaving that very afternoon to start the process.

Three Years in Germany. It is weird. Because when we first talked about moving here, I thought it would be for 18 months. I've lived in Germany for 18 months before. I can do that. But talking it over with Gardner one night back in Wisconsin, all of a sudden, he told me three years. OK, it just doubled.

We moved here and decided five years. It was too much of a hassle to get us moved over here. So now we are going to be here five years. After doing all the financial math, we decided we will probably be here 7 years. Notice it has already more than doubled, again.

Well, one night, Gardner mentioned we might not ever move back. And I had to think about it. And honestly, if that was to happen, it isn't the worst thing that could happen to us. But I immediately put a price on that. I told him I get to go back to America every year if we stayed indefinately.

Well, the forever got changed back to seven years. And then seven years eventually got moved to five years. And here we sit at three years in Germany. And all I can say is, I have no idea how much longer we will be here. Could be three months, could be a year, could be three years. Who knows.

Ian's 3rd Birthday

So today, I am starting my catch up on the blog.

Ian had his 3rd birthday on August 31st. We had fun celebrating a day early. Very bad luck here in Germany, to celebrate early. But Spencer was going to be on a class trip the next day. And we just could not celebrate with out him.

We had the Becker's come over for dinner after Church. Uwe and Ursula are like the Kids Grandparents here in Germany. The kids love them and they love the kids. It is so nice to know we have someone even when our families are so far away.

After dinner, Ian opened his presents. Of course, Legos were the in thing again this year. But to make it even better was Bob the Builder Legos.

I made an attempt at making a cake Ian would like. Without box mixes here, I went online looking for a cake recipe. And I have to say, taste wise, the cake was very good. I had a vision of what I wanted to do with the cake. But as you know, visions always look better in your mind. On the cake, it turned out ok. But definately not what I had planned.

I crunched up Oreo Cookies to make a road. And I bought some Hot Wheels Cars to put on the cake. Ian LOVED this so much. The moment he blew out the candles (and it did take him a few tries), he snatched the cars right off of it.

He celebrated his birthday at school the next day, which was actually his birthday. We took in Chocolate Chip Muffins. He got to make himself a birthday crown, with Emma's help of course. And he wore that crown all day long. It even had some streamers in the back hanging down. He still wears that crown, more than two months later.

It Can't Be!

Oh My Gosh! I am so shocked to see that the last entry to my blog was on August 20th. How can that be?

So many things I didn't share:

*Ian's 3rd Birthday
*My Trip To America
*Surprising My Mom, as she had no idea I was coming to America until I was standing in her bedroom.
*Herbst Ferien (Fall School Break)

And I am sure there is more. So be on the look out for pictures, stories and such in the next few days. I have to get caught up before next week. As next Tuesday Shantal turns 12, Wednesday is St Martin's and Saturday next week Shantal is having a birthday party. That is only the beginning of the business that comes with this time of year for our family.

First Week of School Stories

OK, so with the first new week of school and all the changes that are happening with the kids, I wanted to share some of the things the kids have shared with me as they have come home from school.

*Monday was the first day of School. And Shantal and Spencer have to ride the public bus to school as there is only an Elementary School in the city we live. They have to leave the house at 7am to catch their bus and be on time to school. Shantal's bus stop is just one stop before Spencer's. And their bus stop is on a one way street. So to go home, they have to walk to a different bus stop on a different street, one that goes the opposite direction. Well, as Shantal came home on Monday, she was tired and about collapsed in my arms. She said she did a lot of walking. And it is true, the bus stop is about a 10 - 15 minute walk from our house. But then she went on to tell me she couldn't find the bus stop to come home. Her whole class has signed up to eat at the school except her and one other person. Everyone was eating lunch before they went home, part of learning the routine at the school. So Shantal got to leave early since she wasn't signed up for that. Well, back to not finding the bus stop, she just kept walking. She saw a bus stop, but thought it wasn't the right one. Finally she got on a bus. A few stops later, all the kids from her class got on the bus. No wonder she was tired. I asked her if we needed to go and practice so she would know where to go the next day, and she said no. (She had practiced once before, but went to the bus from Spencer's School, not hers. So she was a bit disoriented). Well, Tuesday, it happened again. All the other kids got on the same bus as her after they had all eaten. But, Wednesday, she had it all figured out. She is happy to know the "shorter" way to the bus stop.

*Hannah and Spencer both got stung by bees in the first few days of school.

*I went to pick up Ian from Kindergarten early on Wednesday. He is currently going 2 1/2 hours a day. Emma gets to stay 4 hours, but chooses to come home with me when I pick up Ian. I am happy about it because then I don't have to go out a second time. Well, on Wednesday, I get there and the kids are outside, like normal. And I can a lot of the kids playing in the water in their underwear. Some are even nekid. And low and behold, there is Emma in her underwear all wet. It makes me giggle because it is never something one would see in America. But here in Germany, it is totally normal.

*Wednesday after school, Shantal came home and decided to go to the Library. The library is in Ratingen Mitte (the city center). You have to take a public bus about 15 minutes to get there and then walk another 10 minutes to the library. After I drew her a map of the city and how to get from the bus station to the library, gave her a cell phone to call if she had problems and then gave her a list of all the times the bus came back out to our house, she was off. And as I watched her leave, I realized that my daughter is growing up. She is almost 12. And I just invisioned her going off to meet friends and doing things like teenagers do. It is amazing how fast time goes. I know she will be so much happier having this freedom to go off and do things. And maybe i need to explain something else. The two older kids have bus passes for the public busses because of school and they can travel a great distance with that bus pass. So Shantal's ability to go places alone has definatley expanded and I am happy for her.

*Tuesday when I was picking up Ian from Kindergarten, I asked how he did. And the report was really good. They said there was one instance when Ian was starting to have a melt down. Ian doesn't really talk yet. So it is hard to figure out what he wants. He was playing with the trains but didn't want to anymore. And as soon as they figured out he wanted to play in the dress up corner, life was good again. It was just a matter of figuring it out. Poor Ian, wish he would just talk already.

First Day of School 2009

Monday the kids had their first day of school. And it was a big first day for most of the kids. Four of the kids started new schools. So it was an exciting day, to say the least.

Shantal started the 5th grade at the Gesamptschule Heiligenhaus. Spencer started the 5th grade at the Gymnasium in Heiligenhaus. Hannah started the 3rd grade in the same Grundschule she has been in for two years. Emma changed Kindergartens and is now in the Ulmen Strasse Kindergarten. And Ian started in the Kindergarten with Emma.

It was a big day! We had to divide and conquer because of all the changes. Spencer had a special first day at his school where they do a Mass at the church first. Then they went to his school and there was a special program for the kids in the 5th grade. Afterwards, they found out who their teacher was and who was in their class. While they were with their teacher, the parents had some information given to them about the school. School for Spencer started at 9am and was out at 12 Noon. This was a family event, and Gardner went with Spencer. Normally spencer has school from 8am until 1:20pm.

Shantal had her little opening ceremony at her school back in June. She found out who her teacher was and met all her classmates then. So school for Shantal started at 8am, but she got out at 11:45. Normally, Shantal's school is an all day school. She will go from 8am until 4pm. But they are working them into the all day program.

Hannah went to school at 8am and was finished at 10:45am. First day in the Elementary School here is always short. Hannah's normal school hours are 8am until 12:30 or 1:20, depending on the day.

Emma and Ian both went to Kindergarten. I was very scared of how Ian would do. I was thinking if he would stay just 1 hour without me, that was a fabulous start. I didn't care if he cried the whole time, I didn't want to be called in the first hour. But, Ian did not cry. I was in shock but excited about that. He said Goodbye to me and blew me a kiss. We found the trains and the cars for him to play with, as he loves these items. He let me go. And I was gone for 2 hours, not one. Emma did have to comfort him one time, 10 minutes before I came back to pick him up. Emma and Ian are going to be good together in the Kindergarten, I just know it.

Here are some pictures of their first day!