Soccer

Unlike the other people around here I just can't call it football. That does a huge injustice to American Football. Kicking is one of the skills they asked me on his developmental questionaire and I couldn't think of a time he kicked so I said no. I figure I better try it now. We set up the laundry basket as a goal. At first he was more the goal keeper but then he got the hang of it. Of course I yelled GGOOOAALLL every time the ball went in the goal. Chase loved that.

He was moving too fast for me to take a kicking picture. Look at that face - I would say he was enjoying it!
Finally got a kicking picture! GOAL!!

What's Missing?

This post has been in my head for a while so I figured it was finally time to get it written. We have enjoyed living overseas and it has been good for me to get out of my comfort zone but things are definitely a little different - even in countries where they speak the same language.

So in each of these pictures is something(s) missing that we have had in every other house we have lived in. A disclaimer is that we live in an old english cottage some of the newer houses might have a few more things.

So what's missing?

The main thing I miss is a water spicket (we have one in the back). I can't really wash the car. We also don't have any electrical outlets or doorbell.



This one might not be obvious- thermostat! That's right we don't have a thermostat. The heat is either on or off. So we leave it off when we go out and we come back and it is freezing!

Refrigerator

Just kidding - there is our little dorm fridge! Thank goodness the base gives us a regular size refrigerator with a freezer!

There are two things in this one...

A screen (you would think a country that doesn't have AC would have screens on their windows) and a driver vent. We have to run the dryer house out the window to dry clothes. Brrr!

Outlets and lukewarm water. Yep there are no outlets in the bathrooms. So forget nightlights, straighteners and electric shavers! There is one tap for hot and one for cold. You have about 3 seconds of hot water before you burn yourself!

Finally- a showerhead! We do have a small shower in our room but it is not uncommon to just have a bath in one or more bathrooms!

18 months and Inspired

We had Chase's 18 month appt. last week. He weighs 26lb 2oz and was 32 inches tall. That is approximately 25% for both. There is one slight concern that the lead level in his blood is kinda
high (but still in the normal range). They tested him at 1 year. The doctor asked if we lived in an old house that has been remodeled. Yep to both. I guess when they renovate and sand down the walls the lead from the paint gets everywhere. Its a little scary and we are praying for wisdom if we should move or not. I already cleaned all his toys and need to do a better job of washing his hands.
Anyways, Chase was also a little slow on the development side. I can easily just use the excuse "he's a boy!" but that's not fair so I've been inspired by this and several friends to try new activities with Chase. My goal is to try at least one new activity a week and blog about it. For those that are getting a little bored of Chase posts - we have a med cruise coming up in several weeks and will have lots of new places to show you!

My first try was around snacktime. We got out a spagetti noodle and tried to put cheerios on it. At first Chase just wanted to eat everything - the cheerios and noodle but he eventually got the hang of it.

He seemed to enjoy it and the best part was after about 15 minutes of this one on one interaction he played great on his own with his toys. More motivation for me to come up with some good activites. Check out my friend Jen's blog (Mommy, play with me on the side bar) and let me know if there are other good websites or blogs with ideas!

Chase's Chore

This gives me a 5 to 10 minute break in the morning and evening! Poor Wagner is now used to getting fed a handful of kernels at a time. I love how he gives up on the scoop and just grabs it with his hand!

Oh Boy!

I am getting out of the bathroom this morning and Chase has done a number on my clothes. I start cleaning up and can't find him, then I go to the bathroom and...

So I put him in his room while I try to finish getting ready and he has gotten into his books. I really don't mind that but it is just one more mess to clean up...

I have been taking him to a music class since he was 6 months and he is finally starting to do some of the motions. Here he is singing peek a boo!

Just to make sure I am ready to leave the house he makes one more mess while getting our snacks ready.

All this before 9am - oh boy! Can anyone else relate?

Surprise!

Over a week ago now (where does time go?) we threw my good friend Julie a surprise party for her 30th birthday. I worked with her husband and was so thrilled that we pulled it off! She was very surprised and blessed! I am also enjoying playing around with photoshop elements that I got for Christmas.

Family Picture

In case you didn't get our Christmas Card here is my favorite family picture from our photo session in September.

Our Family Christmas

I figured I better post these as we are already several days into 2010! We had our family Christmas on the 29th after we got back from Germany. We started with reading the Christmas story. Chase wasn't too keen on sitting on Dada's lap and after a long day of traveling we didn't push it.

We then finished our advent calendar and put Baby Jesus in the manger. He started say baby after that which was cute.

Then to the gifts. He has so many toys that we didn't want him to get more but he sure did appreciate the ones he got. Here is a play nativity set that he can play with every year.

He loved his new train!

Wagner with his Christmas bone.

I finally got some tall boots!

Brad got his Blu-Ray player. He has been asking me to open this early for weeks. I am glad I didn't give in.

The result - we had to clean up quick as 2 dogs were coming over that we were dogsitting.

We explained to Chase that we already received the greatest gift when God sent his Son into the world to live a perfect life and die for our sins. We pray daily for Chase's salvation that he would come to realize this precious truth!

Christmas in Germany

We had a great 5 days in Germany over Christmas. We went with some good friends that we knew from training in NC. We flew into Munich on Christmas Eve and our first stop was the Hofbrauhaus for lunch.
Our wonderful timing, the Christmas markets were closing up as we were leaving lunch. I got an idea of what is was like but would have liked to shop a little more.

We tried sledding with Chase on Christmas Day. They hill wasn't that great and it was raining but I think he enjoyed it. After we got back we also took him to the pool. He loved that!

They had a kids festival so we let Chase try a few games. He is getting so big!

Christmas Dinner

Someone was ready for bed!

We want to take the trip the hotel offered to go to Neuschwanstein Castle (the one that the Disney Castle is modeled after) but didn't have a carseat for Chase so we had to go via public transportation. One train and two buses later and we made it!

We took a horse and carriage ride to the top.

Mad King Ludwig sure knows how to pick great locations. I guess he is know for his extravagant taste.

I have to admit that I didn't get the "wow factor" that I thought I would from seeing the castle but it was still cool none the less.

See the next post for the rest of our trip...

Germany: Dachau and Skiing

This wasn't part of our initial trip planning but last minute we decided to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was very sobering walking around and seeing the terrible conditions. This is the good sleeping conditions. At the end people were sleeping on straw with one blanket for 2 to 3 men. About 1600 men were living in buildings that were designed for 250.

The Crematorium

We walked through the waiting room where they were supposed to undress to go "shower" but it was really a gas chamber. They even had fake shower heads so there wouldn't be any resistance. Here is where they would burn the bodies.

I love this series of pictures. Again Chase had no clue what was going on. They wouldn't even let him in to see the video (no kids under 12) but I hope when he realizes he was here he will appreciate the history even more.

They are walking along where the rows of barracks used to be.

We took all the pictures in black and white since it just seemed more fitting.

The survivors want people to visit to make sure we never forget and this will never happen again.

Our family standing by the memorial - it looks like barbed wire but it is also human bodies.

The entrance - Work Will Set You Free

On to a lighter note - we put Chase in the Child Development Center so we could go skiing. (We stayed at Edelweiss in Garmisch which is a US Army Resort)

Brad and I have never skied together before and this was a true test of our marraige :) I don't like going fast and he does so we didn't last long together. Shanna and I are more the same speed so we hung together for most of the day.

Only Brad could bend his ski poles going up the ski lift.

Beautiful Views. We didn't make it quite up to the highest point in Germany where you could see 4 countries. We were going to ski that but there weren't enough intermediate slopes.

We were both very happy every time we made it down a run!

We all survived and still love each other!