Easter Package

Thanks Grandma!

Grandma's Easter

Colin got an Easter package from his grandma and grandpa in the mail. Grandma had told me when it arrived to just get the box started and then let Colin open and tear into it. That thoughtful granny….she had stuffed it full of presents and candy filled eggs and Easter grass! First came a handful of the grass, then another, of course it was all over the carpet now and that was fun. Then out rolled a plastic egg, I know every parent thinks this, but my kid really is a genius! He knew exactly what to do with that egg even though he hadn’t seen one before and within seconds he had it open and was shoving the marshmallows inside it into his mouth. He shoved the whole eggful of marshmallows into his mouth at once and his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. He grabbed another egg and crammed those marshmallows in his mouth too. Now he was on a hunt to pull the eggs out of the box and paid no mind to the other stuff inside it.

When he was full of marshmallows he started feeding them to his Daddy. I even asked if I could have one and he said no and walked right on past me and gave one to Shelby! I didn’t mind though once we realized that for some reason Colin must think they taste better if he puts them in his mouth and then feeds them to Daddy. LOL He would get one out of the egg and as he walked to Shelby to feed it to him he would stick it in his mouth real fast and then pull it out again and shove it in Shelby’s. Yea Mom is glad she wasn’t on the share list afterall. After Dad and Colin had eaten at least 10 eggs full of marshmallows I started to steal the unopened eggs and hide them as Colin was feeding Shelby. Perhaps just before bedtime was not the best time to open Grandma’s Easter package…if Colin ever does get to sleep tonight he’s liable to die of a sugar overdose in his sleep!

Aside from candy Colin’s package had a fun magnetic book with animal heads on the pages. Then there are little face part magnets (like eyes, ears, noses, etc…) that you can arrange on the pages to make animal faces. Mom decided that was a good restaurant toy and we’d put it in the dining out bag for a while. He also got a really cool book his grandma made that has all kinds of manipulatives on the pages. Things like snaps, zippers, laces, shapes, colors and other fun things for him to play and learn. His favorite page so far is the one with little pockets sewn on the page and a popsicle stick slides into each pocket. He liked putting the sticks in the pocket and taking them out again. It is a great little idea, if only I could sew and I would make one for all my friends and their babies!

Poor kiddo got more of an Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa than he’s getting from Mom and Dad! We looked at baskets and decided he was too young to understand and didn’t need any new toys…and after all he did just get a rabbit! I also decided not to dye eggs with him. After trying to paint a few times I am fairly sure that eggs would be a disaster and no way am I letting the kid near me with egg dye. I considered the crayons or stickers that you use to put on the eggs instead of dying them but I don’t think he has the coordination for that either. So perhaps a few plastic marshmallow filled eggs in the yard are the way to go :)

The Easter Bunny already?

Rabbit

Yes the Easter Bunny came early...and he brought a relative instead of candy. Yep we now have a pet rabbit just in time for Easter. He is an adorable brown and white fur ball that is about 6 months old and super sweet. He is very tame and loveable and doesn’t scare too easily, perfect for Colin.

Colin’s babysitter has a rabbit and Colin adores it. The first thing he does when I set him down is go to the rabbit food because he knows he gets to feed the rabbit. He promptly waves goodbye and says “tchuss” (German slang for goodbye) to me as soon as hit feet hit the floor and then he’s off to see the rabbit. The Germans are very serious about their rabbits, they have elaborate homes and cages for them, play yards to take them outside, and the rabbits are litter trained so they get to run around outside the cage and snuggle up with you on the couch and all. The pet store has a huge section of stuff devoted to rabbits and guinea pigs.

So anyway…the angry hamster is very timid and doesn’t come out of the house much, I think the silly thing is nocturnal too. He’s not much fun, of course Shelby named him Bill so he must just want to live up to his boring name (sorry to any Bill’s out there reading). Shelby decided Bill was easy for Colin to say and therefore the hamster’s name became Bill. We don’t see him much, hence the need for something bigger and more social. We do not have time for a dog, I’d love a cat but I’m allergic and not too fond of cat hair on all my stuff, so a rabbit seemed like a logical choice.

Colin was beside himself to see a bunny in our house when Shelby brought him home. He was so excited and was saying “rabbit” and trying to pet him. I kept Colin awake to see the bunny so after he greeted him it was naptime for Colin. When Colin woke up we went shopping for bunny supplies and when we got home and put him in his proper cage and made it homey the bunny was quite happy. As was Colin who was so very proud of himself as he showed us how to feed the bunny and how to use the pooper scooper to scoop out rabbit pellets, lol. I guess he’s ready for a rabbit.
Later that night the rabbit came out of his cage to hop around and Colin was soooo stinkin cute with him. He would pet him so gently and then lay down on the floor next to him and give the rabbit kisses (on the nose) and the brave little rabbit was cool as could be while all this was happening. He is very, very tolerant and the noise doesn’t seem to scare him either. We still don’t have a name for the bunny yet and don’t have any ideas either. I never thought I’d be one of those crazy parents who gets their kids chicks or bunnies for Easter….so much for that!

Worth the wait & a little late...here's your Wordless Wednesday

The weekend that went too fast

Saturday was the first day of spring so we were determined to get out in the yard and do something. It was warmer than it has been, but was still fairly cool and not as sunny as it should have been. We didn't care and we went to Hörnbach (German equivalent of Home Depot) and stocked up on bulbs and fertilizer and seeds. We came home and did some planting and some yard work before the rain hit and it was time to pack it in.



Colin loved the time outdoors and got himself good and dirty. We decorated the bush outside with Easter eggs and he undecorated it. Then I redecorated it and he again undecorated it. Finally he moved on to tossing rocks in the empty rain barrels in the back yard and I was able to get the eggs back on the bush once and for all. We trimmed rose bushes and cleaned up part of one of the gardens out back.
Colin is fascinated with airplanes outside and he loves listening and watching for them in the sky. He points to the sky and says "airplane" at least two dozen times. Here is a video of him, he isn't saying it as clearly as usual here but you get the idea...


Yesterday morning he was dancing on the dining room table in the living room and laughing about it. He thought he wasn't supposed to be up there so whenever he would see me looking he would lay down and whine. He was pretending to get down while complaining about it, but he had no real intentions of getting off the table. Here is a video of him on the table and the whining when he thinks he might have to get down...


Now that the hamster is more used to his surroundings he's not quite so angry. He still doesn't care to be touched but at least he doesnt fly at you baring his teeth when you attempt to open the cage door. Here are some pics of the little thing who still doesn't have a name.

Wordless Wednesday

The post I don't have a catchy title for

Finally, I think I can faintly see a few specks of light from the end of the tunnel shining through the mountain of work I have ahead of me. Ten weeks down and 6 more to go. I reviewed my list of ridiculous crap assignments that must be completed in order to graduate the other day and made a list. I have four and a half more normal papers to write. By normal I mean the usual 10 pages or so. One beast paper to write. By beast I mean I am slightly over halfway done writing it and I am currently on page 36, it will be 50+ pages when it's completed. And lastly I have 18 rationales to submit. That means I have to go back through my work over the last two years and find 18 papers that show my competence as a teacher and that my school wants me to upload to this professional portfolio thing. Then I have to write a rationale explaining why each paper fits the professional standards they require. I've already done about 15 or so, the 18 is what I have left. At the end of this semester this silly portfolio thing with all my papers and rationales gets evaluated, and if it's good I can graduate, and if they don't like it I get to kill someone. However, I did get some exciting news this week. It seems there is some discrepancy in the end dates for the student teacher thing I am doing. Originally the paperwork I was given said I would be done student teaching on May 5th. Now the date of April 23rd is being thrown around by the university and the students are confused. A counselor is checking on it for us and there is a possibility that I could be done with the student teaching part sooner than excepted. I'm ALL for that!

In other news we acquired another mouth to feed this week. Notice I didn't call it a family member. Remember that trip to the zoo? The one where my son was glued to the rodent cages staring in wonder? Well Shelby thought Colin would like to have pet and has been scouring ramsteinyardsales.com for something suitable. Yesterday he came home from work with a cage and said there was a hamster in it. Inside the cage is a tiny little plastic house. Inside the plastic house is a bunch of straw and hair and the literal definition of a rat's nest. I poke around at the ball of bedding, still waiting to see something that resembles a hamster, when this squealing, chattering noise starts. Then I saw it, well I saw it's teeth and the inside of it's mouth anyway. Whatever it is....it's ANGRY! Apparently it's a dwarf hamster, which is maybe the size of half a kiwi. It's a pretty little thing, but I'm fairly certain no one is ever going to get close enough to touch it. The lady he got it from claims she held it and it ate out of her hand, I'll take her word for it.



Colin was very interested in the cage when he woke up from his nap. He layed there very patiently waiting to see something, but the angry hamster never came out of his house so Colin lost interest.



This morning I tried to get the hamster to come out of his house and took the top off and moved the bedding around some. Again I was met with angry chattering and teeth. Colin thought it was funny, I put the house back together and left the damn thing alone. I think Colin needs something a little more sociable and durable. He loves the sitter's rabbit and gets to feed him every day at her house. Shelby says no rabbits though. I'm not suggesting anything, the last thing I need is something else to clean!

Then, I must not have been excited enough about the hamster because my insane husband took me to see a dog last night. No, I take that back, not a dog...a horse. I am not kidding, this thing didn't even have to try lick my face while keeping all four paws on the ground. It was a beautiful, blue merle German great dane. This thing is a MONSTER, they said he weighs 180 pounds right now and he's down a bit and needs a little weight put on him. Colin was standing behind him, the dog was wagging his tail and it was totally above Colin's head. His head was well above kitchen counter height. HUGE. Beautiful but a handful, more dog than I think we need right now. I've badly missed the boxers every day since we gave them away, but I'm not sure this problem child is a good fit for us.
Since I'm on the subject of dogs, I heard from Kalia's new owner this weekend. She updated us and told me how well Kalia is doing with her and their other dog (a sheltie) Prince. Clearly we were just not a good fit for Kalia anymore and she seems to be much happier and better adjusted than she was here. As hard as it was to give them up, I think they are better off living in separate homes and with the families we chose for them.

Colin's latest obsession is with his shoes. He wants them on all the time and asks for them constantly. That is because with his shoes on he can get enough traction on the back of the couch to climb over it and get into the tv/couch area and play with all the electronics and pull the dvd collection out of the drawers. Yep that kid is no dummy. His other new thing is outside. He knows how to say it and he knows what it means. He asks 150 times a day, while pointing, for "outside." If only spring would hurry up and get here so I could take the kid outside.

Sorry no fun pictures from the weekend, Shelby worked and I had to write papers, nothing fun to photograph. Next weekend we were supposed to go TDY to Belgium for 4 days. He was tasked with going over there to evaluate another control tower and telling them what they need to do to get ready for their inspection coming up. He obviously doesn't need 4 days to do that so Colin and I were going to tag along on this little all expenses paid trip and see Brussels. Unfortunately manning sucks right now and when someone had to take emergency leave back to the States Shelby had to put himself on the schedule to cover shifts and there is not enough man power to allow for the TDY to happen right now. Oh well, it was a nice plan anyway.

Wordless Wednesday

Penicillin and parrots

Yesterday morning I woke up fine, tired...but healthy. After lunch I started noticing my throat was a little sore. By dinner time it hurt like hell. By bedtime I felt like I'd been trampled by elephants and swallowing hurt worse than child birth. I did not sleep all night and luckily Shelby was on a mid shift. He didn't get any sleep at the tower either, but at least this way he can't blame me for it :) By the time morning rolled around I really just wanted to die, I haven't been this sick in a long time. Thank God Colin slept until 9:30 this morning and was content to eat his breakfast and watch a movie as I lay on the couch to die.

I prayed all night for the snow storm to be bad enough for the powers on base to close Chilis and get me out of work the easy way. We did get about 4" of snow, but they did not close Chilis and I was not off the hook. Damn it. I only work one day a month to stay on payroll and calling in sick on the only day I have to work all month makes me feel like a total lame-o slacker. There was no way in hell I could have worked though.

Finally about noon Shelby woke up and was ready to drive me to the ER. That's how sick I am, I couldn't even drive! Yuck. They swabbed my throat and said it was strep. Of course it was, three kids in my class were out with it this week! Germ-y little shits darlings. A penicillin shot, a bandaid for my butt and I was on my way home. I can't believe I have strep throat. Adults aren't supposed to get strep. I always get the wacked out illnesses...like the time I had scarlet fever. Only dehydrated children from the ancient computer game Oregon Trail get scarlet fever!

Colin was pretty upset that he was banned from snuggling with mommy on the couch when we got home. Shelby kept trying to tell him I was sick, but I don't think Colin understood his SARS and swine flu jokes. Clearly he doesn't know just how contagious strep is and that he's next...in a few days the joke's on you!

I'm finally feeling a teeny bit alive and less miserable this evening. I don't know if the antibiotic is already kicking in, or if the chicken soup Shelby made from scratch for dinner helped. But something seems to be working.

Colin has learned a new word in the last day or two. He now says "Sheeeeeeellllllll" nonstop. He knows it means daddy and he doesn't just say it, he yells it. All. The. Time. He thinks it's funny because Shelby will reply back "Colin". I can't imagine where he learned that from :) He says it just like I do when I'm yelling for Shel from another room. Shelby pointed out that he picked that one up pretty fast and so I should probably drop a few choice words from my vocabulary now that we have a little parrot on our hands. Shit. (hey the kid can't read, yet)

Family Pics

Today I got an email from the photographer that she was done editing our photos and I could pick up the disk. She shared a few of our pics that she put on her website and I was pleasantly surprised with those and eager to see the rest of them. Given the rambunctious, moody subject she was given, I think she did pretty good. I got what I wanted/needed and that was some decent pics of the family and of Colin to update the frames on the wall.

18 Month Family Pics

You can hardly tell from the pictures that we were holding him down in just about every family shot. That I had to wipe the snot from his nose in between every picture. That in the pics of him alone Shelby and I were both jumping around like monkeys trying to get his attention and make him laugh. He did laugh, lots in fact...just NEVER with his face towards the camera. He would give his mischievous little laugh as he'd run away from the camera or off the backdrop entirely. When we had to resort to buttloads of candy it was time to give it up. The photographer suggested going outside to see if we can get a few more family and individual shots. At this point I figured why not. The plan was to do indoor studio shots with us in bare feet. I didn't plan for shoes in the pics so my lovely New Balance sneakers look fabulous in the outdoor shots. I also have to mention that it was about 48 degrees outside, and despite the sun shining, the wind was whipping. It was freezing and I was in a tank top, so much for plans! LOL It was worth it, I got what I needed, it may have been pure torture for Colin but he will love pointing to new pictures of us as we walk past them every time we go up and down the stairs.