Parker Family Pic

Christmas Week Quotes

Having a fun week with the cousins!  Today we went to the Tracey Aviary.  Yesterday, we visited the Air Force Museum, and saw all the big planes.  Aarons favorite color is green, so he particularly liked the 2 BIG green planes.

The kids have been having a great time playing together, with lots and lots of toys, and some fun movies.

Aaron: "Mom!  I don't touch Wuke's fings"  (Mom - I'm not supposed to touch Luke's things)
He learned this the hard way yesterday after pulling apart two intricate Legos of Lukes, and made Luke really sad.

Timmy: "I want to donate my Star Wars!"
We made some donations today to House of Hope.  Timmy said he wanted to keep his Star Wars plush toy when we arrived, but after he got such a great response from the worker collecting our family donations, telling us how much the children would love the new toys and books, he decided that he really wanted to donate more!

After I asked him what things we should buy to donate to the homeless shelter, and suggesting warm things like socks, hats, gloves....Timmy said "How 'bout we buy them a house?"
"Very good idea, but we don't quite have enough money for that in our donation budget"
"How 'bout we build them a house?"
"Also a little pricey...."
"How 'bout we build them a roof?!"
"All good things.....maybe when you are big enough, you can build some houses for some people who need them."

Sweet Lil' TT

I wanted to write this down, because I thought it was so cute.  Timmy's Macha took him to the Aquarium with Aaron and Liam.  Afterwards, she said he took her hand and said "Macha, thank you for taking such good care of us."

Preschool

WOW!  The preschools in Germany have a regulated price and are subsidized by the state.

To put both our boys in preschool in Germany, will be only 128 Euros per month for 25 hours a week of school!  158 Euros a month for 35 hours, and 242 Euros for 45 hours of preschool!
Crazy!

I was paying $220 per month for one child to go to school for 6 hours of preschool each week last year!

Hopefully, we will find a school that is really good for that price!

Epiphany of Obviousness

Moving is not fun...

Moments of 2011

My sister scrawls funny lines from her kids every year and sends us a Word document with them all typed up.  I die laughing!  So this year, now that my kids can both talk, I tried to write down when they would make us laugh.  Here are a few notes from this year:

January-
Aaron:  "C'mon Timmy!  Let's go wrestle!  No - let's go wrestle NOT....sawwy, sawwy mom"

Timmy is constantly asking me:
"Should we wrestle??  Should we wrestle, mom?"

Timmy when he tried to pick up a pokey ball:
"That star is too pokey!  (trying to take it) No!  That star is yowd (loud)!  The star is pokey NOT, it's yowd!"

Timmy singing to himself to the tune "Do you know the muffin man?"
"Do you know awiawa, awiawa, a hot dog dance..."

Timmy and Aaron like to get and give raspberries on their bellies.
Aaron will lie down and lift his shirt, "asking for it" and lie still while Timmy blows on his tummy.  They'll both laugh.  Then, Timmy will lie down and wait for Aaron to reciprocate, and he wants it, but he is ticklish and squirming....can hardly stand the anticipation.... before Aaron even gets near him.  I have to hold Tim's arms down to let Aaron give Timmy a raspberry without getting reflex hit by Timmy.  And then they do it again!

February-
At the (urgent care) Dr.'s office - there were lots of cool fish.  Timmy started telling me their "names"
"A dalmation fish" (spotted)
"A Dori fish" (blue)
"A Nemo fish" (orange)
"A master Shifu fish!"  - (a catfish) because it had long feelers on the sides of it's mouth like master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda.

Timmy has started giving me a play-b-play while he is watching TV.  "Panda's eating!"  "Pandas gonna fall down!"  "He's gonna get 'im!"

I wrote down this story Timmy made up today word for word:
"Daddy says, 'I want a Cars and Toy Story Bandaid, Timmy.'
Timmy says, 'OK - you need 5 smiley faces.'
And Daddy gets 5 smiley faces, and Timmy gives him 5 Bandaids and daddy says, 'Thank you, Timmy!'"
Then the story continues...
"'Daddy says, 'Can I have a Bandaid Timmy?'
Yeah, you gonna have a Bandaid
You get 5 smiley faces, OK Dad?  OK?
And dad says, 'OK'
You get a Bandaid!"

Timmy keeps asking me for a Bandaid on his "fumbs", which is what he calls all of his fingers.  He even asked me for one on his neck today!

After an particularly and incredibly ornery and whiny morning, Timmy ended the day with this sweet little moment.  I had put him to bed and I heard this little voice politely ask "Will you snuggle me, Mom?"  How could I say "no" to that?  We snuggle for a minute, then when I think he's asleep I hear "Can I have some milk mom? "No, but you can have some water." "Yeah.  I'd like some water."   I get it for him and then he quietly goes to sleep.  Such a difference from the morning!

Today I got a "Hey Mommy! Guess what!"
"What?"
"I LOVE YOU!"

One morning I gave Scott a hug.
Timmy says "Guess what?!"
Scott answered "What"
"Daddy loves Mommy!"
"Yep!" I say and I give Scott a kiss.
Timmy yells "NO!  Mommy is mine!  No kissing!"

I gave Timmy a waterproof band aid on his finger that was clear.  "Is that cool?!" I said, hoping that he wouldn't ask for a Toy Story band aid that I knew would fall off after 5 minutes.
"A window band aid!" he said excitedly.
"Oh good!" I thought "he thinks it's cool!"
About 3 minutes later, Tim says "I take it off!  I try a Toy Story band aid and a Cars band aid!  We can buy a more special band aid.  Yellow, red, yellow, red."
Darn.

March-
Aaron pointed to the Priesthood passing the sacrament excitedly yesterday and said "Dada! Dada, mamma!  dada!  It seemed to me that he was saying "Look at all the daddies, mommy!  Daddies!"

Timmy says a lot lately "Should we play, mom? or "Should we watch a show, mom?" as his way of asking. (Obviously, this is copying the way I ask him to do things)

Scott showed the boys part of Star Wars for the first time last night and they were HYPER after.  Aaron was running back and forth as fast as he could and Timmy was pretending to fight with a light saber.  Scott was elated!

April-
Timmy "bonded" with Anna today.  They were enjoying running around together and Anna (our adult friend) was super excited to tickle Timmy's face. He was soaking up the attention!

Aaron's phrases
"I 'unt dass, mama!"  (I want that, mom!)
"I 'unt mehr, mom!" (I want more, mom!)
"Na, na, na, na, na" (no, no, no, no, no)
Nil = Milk
ooo = spoon
I 'unt ooo = I want a spoon

May - 
Aaron has learned to LOVE the Plasma cars!  He scoots around and around in a circle on the sidewalk in front of the apartment.  He also LOVES to push the doll stroller around, slide on the slides, and JUMP off anything that is a few inches tall.

Aaron has a little demanding voice, that he likes to use when he really wants something.  We find it super-amusing, and darling to see him use it, with his little two year old body and face, getting red in the face and stomping his feet.  He'll say "I 'unt RIGHT NOW!" while he shakes from the intensity of it all.

Scott raised Timmy's chair so he could eat more comfortably on a BIG chair.  Timmy said "Thank you Daddy!  You are a good helper! You are a good boy! Mmmm (kissing)"

Timmy was making fish motions with his hands.  I said "Are you a shark?"  He said "No, I'm a fishy"
"And what do you eat little fishy? Oranges?"
"No - I eat, I eat, PENGUINS!  Little tiny penguins"

Scott's rinsing Timmy's back in the tub.
"Now my nudder back!"
"Your other back?  You mean.....your front?"
"Yeah! My front!"

July-
After kissing Scott with a beard, Timmy exclaimed "Ewwww!!! It's Sparky!!"

While Timmy and Scott were wrestling Timmy said "You have a rope in your nose!"
"A hair?"
"Yeah, that's right!  A hair!"

Oct-
I was speaking to Timmy in an English Accent while we were in Windsor, Canada one day:
"Here we are at the Queen Elizabeth Gardens!"
Timmy "No!  Auf English!"
(That is what he frequently says when I speak to him in German)

Aaron says "No Hanks!" a lot (No thanks)
and "Nough yegh!"  (Not yet)...which he says instead of saying No Thank you.

Nov -
Timmy was in his first Primary Program at church today.  When I said this morning "Timmy!  Are you excited for your Primary Program today?!"
He responded immediately by saying "I can be a missionary now, by being an example of Christ, and by telling people about the Book of Mormon!"  (his part)
Whoa!  He is ready!

Dec- 
Aaron likes to say
"OK! Just a minute!"
"C'mon Mom!" (and pulls my arm!)
"Help me Mom!" (and pulls my arm!)
"I wuv you!"
"Mom - I go downstairs!"
"I need 'a go da basement and pay wiff my choo-choos!"
He likes to talk really loud, but when I remind him he can speak in his "quiet voice" really well.

Little Ninja

Today, I decided to forgo any more packing for the afternoon, and take the boys to Extreme Bounce.  We were the only people in the whole place for an hour!  So, you can well imagine 2 little boys in a bounce house playland, with 7 different inflatable slides and houses to play in...all to themselves.  They were in heaven!

Aaron would come over and say "Help me, Mom!" grab my hand and pull with all his might to get me to to help him on the big slide.  He can do everything except get up initially on the bouncer and needed me to open a space for him to climb next to a wall that was taller than him.   He can climb the 15 ft walls with stairs, weave himself over and under all the obstacles, and slide off the exits that are just a few inches shorter than he is!  We love Aaron!  He is such a spunky kid!

After 2 hours, I started asking, "should we head home? Are you tired?"
"NO!!!" and off they run to climb up another wall, turn around and yell loudly "Set, GO!" as they slide down backwards at 10 mph.  I got to play with them, slide and bounce, and read my book too, for about an hour.

They kept it up for 3 HOURS 15 MINUTES!  And would have gone longer, except that we went to the Little Ninjas class next door right then.  Timmy got to wear a real Tai Kwon Do outfit, that had pictures of "Little Ninjas" on the back, and a white belt and all.  The teachers took his class through some drills and they talked about "Control."  The class was for 3-4 year olds, and had 5 other kids that looked like Timmy replicas.  Totally cool.  He felt really comfortable.

It also seemed good for him because they had him practicing kicking and punching with both his right and left hands and legs (something he still needs to learn).

I found a note today where I scrawled his words when he was just 2 years old:
yay-yay (his special blanket)              piwow (pillow)
nee-nup (clean up)                             yaytet (blanket)
nanitashun (imagination)                     yight (light)
sun (fun)                                            meen (dream)
cacaca (crocodile)                             nanas (pajamas)
efeffa (elephant)                                sussel (puzzle)
nitent (pretend)
nana (banana)

He can say them all perfectly now, of course, and is growing up to be such a great kid.  He is such a good boy, and so affectionate and kind.  We sure love Timmy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!!

Timmy turned 4 today!  We can't believe it's been 4 years since he was born.

He was excited this year about his birthday.  He really "gets" the it's-your-special-day idea now.  So, even though we are moving and have lots to do, on Friday I decided I was going to go for it, and do the party thing.  I'm glad we did, because Timmy was so happy, and felt so special.

Here are some photos of his day and party:

We had some dressups for the kids.  Timmy's favorite is this Mortal Combat outfit WITH an Incredibles mask. :)

Our sweet friend, Lisa, sang some welcome songs for the kids, and made a darling little bunt cake for Timmy, a special Germany family recipe.

 Aaron was spider man, and liked the "obstacle course."

 Sunyoung took photos for us, which was fantastic, because at the end of the party, I only had 2 videos and 1 picture on my camera!

Our friends, the Brashers helped set up food and hang the sign up HIGH.  Thank you!!

 Singing Happy Birthday to Timmy.  

I've never seen him so happy! We got a good reaction from him when he found out that all these friends came just to wish him a happy birthday. He was beaming. 

He was so thrilled about his cake and birthday cupcakes, that got upset when all the kids started eating "his" cake. Uh-oh. :)

After a lite dinner, cake and ice cream, we tried to do a little lantern walk outside.  The lanterns were so pretty, but it was cold and snowy.  So, we huddled by the door and Lisa told us the story of Sankt Martin (the patron Saint who shared his cloak with a poor man who had none) and about the lantern symbolizing hope, and treating others as we would treat Christ.

Thank you for all the cards and gifts!  Timmy LOVED the stickers the Vocanas sent, and shared them with all his friends.  Everyone was requesting "I want an Elmo one." "I want a Cookie Monster one!"  And he loved reading his cards, and the shirt Macha and Papa Tim sent.  He also got a Cars game, two star wars figurines, some M&Ms, and dinosaur sponges in capsules.  He is in heaven!

Timmy had a great time, and felt really special for his birthday.  Thanks to all his friends and family for remembering him and for celebrating with us!

Craigslist

So - after having a little scare on Saturday with a Craigslister...being a little pushy and wanting free stuff, and better price, and...well....freaking me out, I'm a little hesitant about it now.  At least now I know - meet people in the parking lot, not at your house!

Then I hear from 2 different people "Did you hear about the guy killing people in Ohio from Craigslist ads?"
and "I heard about some guy in Detroit who was using Craigslist to kill people!"

Uh - SCARY  Anyway, at least now I have homes for all our extra furniture!

We are close....close....and will be happy when all this chaos of a house is boxed up!

William, the creepy lonely guy

For those of you much more organized and on top of their lives than we are, you might have some grand plan to send us a Christmas card.  We'll be really happy to get it, and we'll say, "How cute..." or "Wow, they look like they're doing good..." or even an occasional "Man honey, I'm really glad my face doesn't look like that..." (ooooh, general populace burn!!!).  After this initial reaction, we will then have a wave of guilt for not sending Christmas cards of our own.  Then I'll wish my face did look like that.  The guilt will build up until we send one of those tacky yes-I-know-it's-February-but-I'm-a-total-failure Christmas cards, and we'll be all good for another year.

Now, one thing that could upset this whole cycle is if you send the card to our Ann Arbor address.  These will probably end up in the dumpster, and some creepy lonely guy named William will pick it up and prop it up on his nightstand and talk to your family every night as he cries himself to sleep.  He will have big plans to meet you and yours someday, and will conveniently have your address to help guide him in his pursuits.  To prevent the awkward "reunion" that must inevitably come, I would suggest that you not send Christmas cards to our Ann Arbor address.  We are moving.  We will be temporarily living with our family in Utah, so you can send them to our parents address and we'll eventually get it.   So both of you who read our blog and send us cards, take note.

This is William, the creepy guy who will get your Christmas card if you send it to our Ann Arbor address.

Tips

I'm sorting through the miles of papers I've saved from the last 5 years worth of Relief Society Activities and other conferences, and I keep seeing some great tips.  But....I've got to get rid of my papers!

So - I'll record a few good tips here to remember:
Nutrition:
Add flax seeds to yogurt (or a smoothie) for more Omega 3's
Have everyone help plan the menus for dinner at Family Home Evening on Mondays.  Even though everyone will have different tastes, make sure each person will have at least 1 thing on the table that they like (broccoli, rolls, etc.)
For good conversation at the dinner table:
1.Ask each night "What was the worst thing that happened today? and What was the best thing that happened today?"  You might also ask "What do you know now that you didn't know yesterday?"
2. Have a conversation jar with topics or questions to spur on discussion.
3. Teach a principle (love, thoughtfulness, forgiveness, etc)
Table Manners:
Teach your kids table manners by having a set of "bunny dishes" (special  dishes)  Only bring out those dishes when you have a "romantic dinner" and everyone gets to practice using their very best manners.
Financial:
You are entitled to One Free Credit Report from each credit reporting company per year.  (Advertised credit reports are NOT free)  Check once a year at Experian.com (TX), Transunion.com (PA) or Equifax.com (GA).
Spiritual:
Focus on having a soft heart.  Someone with a soft heart wants to understand, takes time to connect with people, is patient and peaceful.  Someone who has a hard heart is defensive, easily offended, wants to justify themselves and their actions, and are unable to be truly happy for others.

As Sands Through the Hour Glass.... :)

As the time approaches for us to say goodbye to our Northwood Community, I'm thinking of all the great memories I've had here.  When we first arrived, we were only 2 people.  Now we are 4!  I was expecting Timothy.  We were greeted by many ward members and neighbors to welcome us.

My calendar shows that when we arrived,  I was:
Tending at the church, attending a BBQ, babysitting Eva, babysitting Joshua, having midwife appointments every 2-4 weeks, getting glucose tested, setting up for Enrichment and "Super-Saturday" at the church, and walking at 8 am with another pregnant woman and a mom with her 1 year old.

Scott was playing Volleyball at the church on Wednesdays, we were both serving as ward missionaries, we attended a new ward member dinner at the Insititute, a welcome dinner at the bishops house, choir on Sunday afternoons, teaching a free English Class at the church with Ben Pence (I was the organizer, and Scott and Ben were the teachers) and were being hosted for dinner and hosting dinners to get to know people in the ward and neighborhood better, especially on Sundays.

These days, my schedule has been:
Running at 6:30 am with Sam and Janel, getting Timmy off to the bus, doing the Jillian Michaels workout video with Becky, cleaning and organizing while Aaron is at the sitters, or taking Aaron and Andrew to the Hands on Museum, getting the kids lunch, taking them to play or at the library or socializing outside with the other moms in the neighborhood, scraping a dinner together, cleaning up dinner, getting the boys to bed, and either working on projects at home or attending an evening activity.  Evening activities like baby showers, girls night out, global learning lectures at the Community Center, free events on campus, or doing laundry while watching hulu.

Some of my favorite places to take the boys have been the Matthai Botanical Garden (conservatory in winter), the library storytime, the Hands-On Museum, Greenfield Village and the Ford Museum, the U of M Natural History Museum, several Cidar Mills in the fall, and the Leslie science center.

We also took visits to the Toledo Zoo (to see Christmas Lights last week!), the Potter Park Zoo, the Detroit Children's Museum, Belle Island, Windsor, Dexter Cider Mill, Domino's Petting Farm, Huron Hills Metro Park, Kensington MetroPark, raspberry and blueberry picking, and many other great places!  There are lots of fun places to go here, and we will miss the friendly environment and great resources Ann Arbor has to offer!

Sundays this semester have been working in the nursery together, taking a Sunday nap, Skyping or telephoning family, and perhaps taking a little hike in the woods, or inviting someone over for dessert.

It's been a social, fun, busy, supportive, and fantastic environment.  We couldn't ask for better friends and neighbors here.  Scott's professor, Anthony Waas, has been so supportive, and was the means by which we were connected to the University in Aachen in the first place.  We feel very blessed to have met him back in 2005/2006, which started our journey here to Michigan as well.

Question Resolved!

I love Canada!
No - I haven't spent much time there at all, but after talking to my Canadian friend, I was informed that they have another rail system (the VIA train rather than Amtrak) which has a GREAT connection from Windsor to Toronto.  Only a 4.5 hour train ride, with a train connection right to the airport.  It's WAY faster than Amtrak, and actually reliable.

So, we will do a 4.5 hour train ride, a 50 minute train ride, an 8 hour flight, followed by a shuttle to the train station terminal, then a 2.5 hour train ride to Aachen.

Still no picnic - but we can have our cake (shorter travel) and eat it too (good price)!

Travel Question

I pose a travel question for you.
(This is a legitimate question....I do not know the answer.)

Which is better?
1. Traveling 16 hours by plane + 2.5 hours by train and paying $2000 more
or
2. Traveling 14 hours by train, 8 hours by plane, and 2.5 hours by train and paying $2000 less?


Keeping in mind that all of this travel is going to be lame anyway, because you will have 2 children with you.  :)

Then the next question is (in case flights change)....at what price does your answer change??

Putting all doubts to rest...

Sometimes, I think that after meeting me, people go back to their respective abodes and have the following conversation with their spouse/roommate/cat:

"So I think that guy's kind of weird.  I'm not sure, but it seems that he's a few bricks short of having any bricks at all."  

To which their spouse/roommate/cat replies:

"Why yes, I doubt his sanity too.  Meow."  

Well let me me put your doubts to rest once and for all.  I am quite strange.  There, I said it.  Now, let me illustrate the sobriety of this conclusion with an anecdote.   Back in February, KT got some totally weird movie from the library about "alternative housing".  It was a propaganda hippy-movie.  These guys were talking about our housing being unnatural and killing our Mother Earth, and that we shouldn't buy into the system of working all the time just to pay house payments for shelters which are an absolute abhorrence to nature herself.  

I wasn't necessarily convinced of their particular viewpoints, but then they suggested a course of corrective action: we all move to the woods and make houses out of mud.  The supreme "dudeness" inside of me (which I try to suppress most of the time) thought: "Mud house, whoa, that would be sweet."  These people were buying plots of land and building their own houses out of cob, which is a mix of straw, clay, and sand.  I had heard of this being done throughout history, but couldn't conceive why someone in this modern era would chose to ignore all of the technical housing developments over the past centuries and make a mud house.  However, my utter frugality laughed gleefully at the thought of getting away with no house payments. I imagined myself saving up for a few years, then quitting my job working for "the man" (like I actually work, but stay with me here) and escaping society in the woods.  I could sell dreamcatchers and dried corn on the side of the road whenever funds ran low, and life would be grand.  Just grand.  On top of that, my research deals with composite materials, and these earthen composite are the Adam and Eve of modern day advanced composites.

Well, when I get an idea in me, I want to put it into action ASAP.  I obviously don't own any land, and I don't plan on being anywhere long enough in the next few years to want to root down and build a house with my own blood, sweat, and tears.  Nor do I ever take myself seriously enough to believe that I would start a crazy plan like this and actually see it through.  I have to face it, I'll be workin for the man for a while.  

Well, I eventually decided to make a little bench in the woods.  I thought that this would be a very simple thing, my boys would get involved, I would enjoy the time in the woods, and I'd get a feel for whether mud could actually be a suitable building material.  I wanted to be as cheap as possible, and mostly use things that I found around the woods. It was march at this point, but I was pretty excited to start.  So, I picked my site and started digging a foundation (so that the freezing/thawing of the ground wouldn't shift my structure too much and cause cracking).  I dug down a couple feet into the  partially frozen ground with a little hand shovel and some sticks.  I collected rocks for a few weeks that I carried about 1/4 mile through the woods on my way home from school.  It probably wasn't the most efficient way, but I felt like I was growing my muskles at the same time, so I might as well.  Here is the finished foundation:

The next step was to check my soil for clay content.  You can actually put a sample into a jar of water, and shake it up.  It naturally settles into separated layers, which shows you how much sand/silt/clay is in your sample.  Mine was basically all clay, so I needed some sand.  I bought some straw ($5) and started making test samples with different ratios (which was kind of stupid, because I didn't end up measuring portions anyway).  

Then I just got to work.  It was super-slow going.  I brought bags with me to school, then filled them with clay from the river and carried them the 1/4 mile every day.  I took the clay to my house, mixed it with a drill and paddle mixer, added sand from the sandbox (settle down, there is so much sand in that thing that you can't even tell), and mixed it all up with some water.  I let the concoction sit overnight, then I added straw and mixed it by foot.  Surprisingly, the kids weren't really into stomping out in the mud.  Then I slopped it onto the foundation.  This is how far I had gotten by the time I left for NASA in May.  Not very far.  Carrying the dirt all over the place wasn't very effective.  Also, it rained a ton, which isn't very good for cobbing.  So I put a tarp on the whole thing, and taped the words "don't move" on it so that the neighborhood kids would leave it alone.  They didn't.

June and July was when I did most of the work.  The kids came down with me, and they just called it "playing with mud.  I got a lot of looks from neighbors as I walked across the sidewalk with mud up to my calves carrying two buckets full of mud with my two boys in tow.  I think they figured out that I was weird before I did.  When you are weird, you are always the last to know.  

Well, here's how it looked at the end of July.  Pretty ugly.  My neighbor's daughter Brooklyn said it looked like a poo-chair.   Strangely enough, my wife was still supportive.  

Then I put a layer of plaster, and the thing started to look decent.  As we were packing up the car to go to Germany, I went to say goodbye one last time.  Low and Behold, some kids had graffiti-ed my bench already.  This was easy to do with sticks, because the plaster was still drying.  I had to leave anyway, so I just let it go.  When I got back, both arms of the chair were knocked off, and someone had scratched "SEX" into the back of the chair.  Real mature.

But, this story has a happy ending.  Guess how easy it is to fix a mud bench?
I made new arms, another layer of plaster, and a lime wash: good as new.

Finally, in an attempt to get it ready for the harsh Michigan winter, I put boiled linseed oil on it ($8.00: the most expensive purchase for the bench).  I applied it with a rag, and it ended up wiping off a lot of the lime, making it look rather drippy and sad.  But, it seems pretty water-resistant.  When I come back to graduate in the spring, I'll be curious to see if it's still in one piece.

So the bottom line is this: I think I might be able to build a house.  Of course, I'd have to learn other key skills like plumbing, roofing, electrical wiring, etc., but other than that I have it covered.  So if you just get sick of workin for the man, give me a call.  It probably wouldn't take much convincing to get me out in the woods building a humble little mud house.  Don't worry, I could teach you how to make Dreamcatchers...

Nice pictures Scott took

 Porto, Portugal

Monschau, Germany

Matthai Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Peso da Ragua, Portugal 

Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Aachen, Germany

Happenings

First, we had a mouse episode.  We had a space around one of our pipes in our basement, and a little group of mice decided to move in on a nice cold day.  I grew up in a house bordering an empty field, so mice in the house is not an entirely unheard of concept.  However, KT had some serious issues.  Serious.  I thought the whole woman-jumping-up-on-a-table thing was just an anecdotal exaggeration, but I have now witnessed such actions.  She had the hole foam-filled, house sanitized, and 6 mousetraps set up within the hour.  Amazing.  

Anyway, these mice were obviously new to the whole people thing, so they weren't particularly stealthy or anything.  Just a bunch of country bumpkins trying to make it in the big city.  Within an hour or two of setting traps, we had one.  I caught this little guy the following morning.  It wasn't all that difficult, which was personally disappointing.  KT wouldn't allow me to send him to his maker, so I hiked out into the woods and let him go a considerable distance away.  We caught another later that same day, and haven't seen any signs of any more since, no matter how much the little ones wish it otherwise.

There's been a lot of Greenfield Village'n goin on with us, KT is trying to get her $'s worth out of her season pass.

Are we surprised that I stuck in a forest shot?  I'm really going to miss living next door to the woods.

Finally, I had to include this little shot of dinner with the two guys who carried me through the dark part of my life known as Prelim Preparation.  Nate (on the left) won the Baby Poll when Aaron was born, so we owed him a feature on the blog.  I know it's a little late, but congratulations on successfully guessing the birth time of my second son.  Very skillful of you.

Halloween came and went, and we still have all of our teeth.  We got a nice big bag of used costumes recently, and the kids have been enjoying it immensely.

Finally, we went to our friend Lisa's Festival of Lights party the other night, and a fireman made a cameo with his truck.  You know your party's pretty sweet when the fire department has to come!

As a side note (if anyone's still actually reading) we accepted a job in Aachen, Germany.  Kind of a significant side note, huh?  With a side note like that, you would expect much more substance in the rest of the post.  Sorry to disappoint.  

Summer Photos

I wanted to post a couple of these shots that our friend Janel took for us.  So cute!  Thanks Janel!

 These are particularly memorable because they were taken in our typical "hang outs" in the woods behind our apartment, and at the Matthai Botanical Garden...2 places we will miss so much when we move!

 This one I love because Aaron is making his shy face. :)

Sicky Week

This week was a total bummer.  Timmy got sick on Monday, continued Tuesday.  Then Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday he did great!  Until.....Friday night 2 hours after he went to bed...he threw up...while our dear friends Stacey was babysitting no less.  We owe her big time.  I told her she gets a "free clean-up" when a kid throws up at her house next time.  So, we stayed home....again on Saturday and Sunday (today).

Aaron had a moment of illness on Thursday night, but it was fleeting and seems to have completely unaffected him otherwise.

So the only photos we have are from last Sunday when we played Bocci Ball at the Wave Field with the Richards.

 It was cold, but the sun was out and the leaves changing....and the field dry! Which we learned the hard way from Papa Kent, is a MUST!

STEAM ROLLER!!!

 Scott put another layer on his mud bench.  It was vandalized while we were in Germany, and he repaired it.

TO INFINITY.....AND BEYOND!!!

(Aaron is obviously feeling pretty good)

Sleeping Bear Dunes

It was a beautiful weekend last week, and we thought we should just leave our work and head out for sleeping bear dunes, to enjoy the last great-weather weekend of the season....we suspect.

The temperatures were in the 80's with night temperatures at 58.  Perfect camping weather!

Fall Festivities

We went to the Jenny's Farm Cider Mill with Holland, Beckett and Chrissy last week.  We got their delicious donuts and apple cider, played on the Straw Maze and saw the animals.  It was a beautiful day!

There was a rabbit in these flowers, as well as goats, cows and horses to pet.

Holland showed the boys how to crawl through the straw maze, and they loved it!  I had to get in to encourage Timmy to try (I barely fit on my hands and knees!), but he did go in, which made me awfully proud.  Aaron, of course, went right in, even though it's completely dark for a second.

 Lisa had her Autumn Party, where we had a potluck, a scavenger hunt, and played with the parchute and yard toys.  So fun!

Go Away Mom!

Timmy and Aaron are playing fantastically together these days.  They just love to go in the basement toy room and play together.  Timmy still wants me to play with them all the time, but Aaron says "Go away, mom!"

If I would, Timmy would always have me snuggle with him at night before he goes to bed.  Aaron has never been much of a snuggler, but last night I thought I'd give it a go.  After his story, I stayed there and said "Let's snuggle."  After 3 seconds, he pushes me out of his bed and says "Go away, mom!"

Timmy started preschool this week.  I think that Aaron really misses him.
Aaron says "I want my Wa-Wa (Timmy)!"  every morning when we drop him off.  "I want to way (play) wif Wa-Wa!"

General Conference

I just love that we can listen to general conference these days by clicking a link!  It's so amazing!
http://lds.org/?lang=eng

Great talks today!  It's always so motivating to hear the Prophet and Apostles talk about the most important things in life.  It really helps me focus on what I can do to be a better person, and to prioritize my time

New Temples in Paris, South Africa, Congo, Columbia, Wyoming and Provo announced.  Very exciting!

The Power Outage

Aaron: " I geeking....I geeking da milk, mom!"  (I'm drinking the milk, mom!)
"I aaahh done!  I done too.  I pay in da basement"
Timmy: "I'm comin' wiff ya!"

They really like to play in the basement together this week.  Since our power was out a couple days this week, Timmy got really interested in playing in the dark.  So, I hear him from the basement steps, creep up the stairs, turn off the light and exclaim, "It's a party Aaron!  It's a party!"
Then they both play in the basement while faking little screams about the darkness, and play by the faint light coming through the little basement windows on a rainy day.

By the way - when the apartments turn the power off for 6 hours a day for 3 days to make repairs, but give you a free all-you-can-eat lunch buffet each of those days, it means that the moms around here are pretty happy!  We ate so much food! I didn't have to cook at all for 3 days!

"Th"

The "Th" sound in English is a difficult one.  I love it though, because it always makes me laugh when my kids say "Thanks"  
Aaron says it "Hanks!"  or "Hanks you!"  (The Hanks...with an s, is my favorite thing!)
Timmy says it "Danks!" or "Dank you!"

I'll be sad when they say it correctly, along with:
"I dot my yay-yaya"  (I have my lamby)
"I hold you!" (hold me!)
"Wa-Wa TUM!"  (Timmy come here!)
"I dot a choo-choo, mom"  (I have a train, mom)
-Aaron
"I got my fings"  (I have my things)
-Timmy

Brussels and London

We had a great trip to Brussels and London on our way home from Germany last week.  In addition to the notes below, we also got to tour the Tower of London and see a British musical play: Blood Brothers.  It was a fantastic trip, and we enjoyed SO MUCH getting to spend time with our friends, the Allreds, who were so wonderful and generous to us while we were there!   We are so blessed to have such great friends!       

          

Farewell to Aachen and our lovely hosts Bernd and Mechthild.

Excavation from 1200 in Brussels

The Brussels Main Square

Toting our luggage around.  

3 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 1 carry on, 1 shoulder bag, 1 double stroller, 2 children, and a purse.  

Try keeping all that together!

Aaron at St. Paul's Cathedral

London Bridge

Liecester Square and the National Gallery

The Allreds beautiful South Kensington Home

Saying goodbye to Grandma Cookie at the Train Station.