The Day After

OK, let's face it...school shopping for three kids at one time is no picnic. First let me say that all three kids were very well behaved during the ride up there, the extra stop in Mannheim, and the ride home. They even had to wait for a late lunch until after we finished shopping at kaiserslautern. Sierra and Madison LOVED picking out shoes and clothes and even trying them on. They are so MY girls. Little Michael hated the trying on part and made it seem like we were torturing him-especially when we made him try on multiple styles of jeans in the same size. Try explaining to a boy that different styles/designers fit differently. He just didn't get it or didn't want to get it. He made it through OK though.

Now for the bad part. I woke up Saturday morning feeling like someone was twisting a knife in my stomach and a mild fever. I mean I felt horrible! Michael told me that I could stay home and he would take the kids; however, I just didn't think it was right for him to take all three with him and do all that shopping. Let's be clear on just how much he HATES shopping...I mean hates it. So I went. I also know that school starts on the 25th so we really can't put it off any longer.

I slept nearly all the way there and arrived there feeling worse than when we left the house. Then we made our way through a couple of hours shopping and took the kids to lunch at around two pm. We got most of the clothing for the girls and some for Michael at the first stop. We left and Michael decided to stop in Mannheim "on the way" home. I told him that was fine. I slept all the way there and had a higher fever when we arrived. Although we got everything we needed there, I still had to use the basket as a walker and felt like I had been gut punched. We finished up there and drove home about $1,000 poorer, mom feeling sick, tired kids, and dad holding it all together. I swear he gets the "Great Dad" award for yesterday. I slept all the way home, woke up when he needed me to hand him my ID right before the gate, helped carry in the stuff, took a NyQuil/Theraflu Bedtime cocktail that he gave me and slept from about 7pm last night until 9am this morning without interruption. I love him for helping me do that and the kids for being quiet enough while they bathed and got ready for bed.

Dinner With Friends

Today was a rainy, chilly day just begging for me to cook. Julia felt the same so we decided to have dinner at my house. Julia made Meatballs with a bbq sauce to be served over rice, a broccoli cheese dish that I loved and will be making again, and a chocolate yummy that we all loved. Supposedly there is peanut butter fudge at the house, but I'll believe that when it is in my belly :) I made homemade chicken pot pie, and green bean casserole. I didn't eat the former, but the latter turned out very good. I am ashamed to say that I ate myself sick on the casserole and the broccoli dish.

In my defense, I don't eat the meat dishes so it's ok right? Ok, not really and I am paying for it with a sore tummy as I type. When I was getting the table ready, Anna came over with her daughter Nikki and ended up staying for dinner too. Normally, that might have bothered me because it was unexpected, BUT it really didn't because there was SSSSOOOO much food. I had also invited Cindy with her family, but she loves her neighbors more than me so she probably went across the street.

LAUGH CINDY YOU KNOW IT'S FUNNY! There was so much left over, we all wished that Cindy would have come too. We did however end up having a nice relaxing evening just eating and hanging out with friends. Tomorrow we will be taking the kids to Kaiserslautern to shop for school clothes. We will pick up a few things at least because I would like to get most of it for cheaper online. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Good Day To Go To Town

Well, we picked a really neat day to go down town. The odd thing is that I brought my camera, which I haven't done in years. That meant I got to take pictures when I might not have otherwise. There were many of the large bear sculptures from different countries around the world. Some of them were creepy, some of them were cool. They were called "Tolerance Bears" and you can buy VERY small versions of them for 20 euro. Steep price for a small ceramic bear, BUT it's the idea that makes them cool. The paintings on them are supposed to represent their country of origin. They really were neat, and Lianne and I felt it necessary to be silly. It's OK though...many people were so we weren't the only ones.

We went shopping through a few stores, but H&M isn't near as cheap when you consider the exchange rate so you know I wasn't too excited. We did buy our kids something small at Nanu Nana, I also got big Michael a HUGE coffee mug and JennyP a little something I know she will like. Finally, we had really bland Chinese food that would have been good if it had flavor. I guess I won't eat there again. It was 20 euro for both of our food and drinks, but when it doesn't taste all that great...I would have been happier getting a tomato, mozzarella, and cucumber sandwich at the bakery and an iced coffee from Starbucks. Oh well, live and learn.

Out On The Town

Well, it's been a while, but I am going down town today. I get to go shopping-something I love-and just hang out for the day. Michael is going to watch the kids and I am going with Lianne. Of course it's cloudy out and will probably rain because that is just my luck, but it's OK. JennyP was going to go with me, but her hubby is going to go with her and the kids to the pool. I hope he follows through with that. I know for sure we are hitting the craft store, Karstadt, H&M (OH HOW I MISS THEM), Nanu Nana, and as many others as I can get her to go into. Then we are going to lunch. I am not sure whether I will buy anything other than lunch, BUT I do believe that I will have fun looking. Oh, I have also tried my hand at a longer bodied dragonfly with no antennae and I think I like them. Let me know what you think.



I know for a fact that I like the wings best with the seed beads because they are delicate and prettier that way. Also, I can get a GREAT deal on seed beads from Fire Mountain so that makes me smile. Take a look at my display at the store. I think it looks pretty good. My thanks to JennyP for taking pictures of it for me. I don't have any of the crabs in the store yet, but JennyP says she thinks I should have a couple of those too. I am just not sure how they will sell or if they will. honestly, the spiders are my favorite.