Goody Box

Today Colin got another box of goodies from Iraq. In them was more klecha, which Colin promptly snuck off with telling me "for Colin Mommy, not yours!"


He also got a soccer jersey and shorts set for FC Barcelona. Shelby's friend in Iraq, Tammar, is a big FC Barcelona fan and sent Colin the outfit. FC Barcelona is a very good team and they currently hold the European Cup title...I'm sure Deutschland is not so fond of them as rivals.

Colin was excited to get his goodies and didn't take long to eat half a bag of klecha. He actually tried to take the bag into the bathtub with him. I had to explain that would ruin it and then it would not be any good to eat, he finally agreed to hand it over to me so he could bathe.


After his bath he was a wild man. Hopping around like a frog and making "ribbit" sounds. Trying to get his PJs on and teeth brushed was like trying to tame a stallion. After we managed to get him dressed he discovered his Mickey Mouse flashlight on the floor. I went to my room to get some stuff picked up and ready for the morning and he came into my room and demanded I follow him into his room. He proceeded to tell me to sit on the floor, then turned out the lights and closed the door so it was dark. He quietly tiptoed around the room shining the light on things and whispering to me what it was. Anytime I tried to talk or move he would hush me and shoo me back to my spot on the carpet, frantically whispering, "Mommy SHHHHHH, lion sleeping. Don't wake up lion Mommy!" He speaks of these invisible lions often, he is always telling me the lion is sleeping or the lion is hungry...I'm not exactly sure what the deal is, but thankfully they don't scare him into not wanting to sleep in his room at night. Crazy child is always good for a laugh!

Dino Park Visit

Gartenschau Memorial Day

Today was HOT! 80+ degrees called for some kind of water fun. This afternoon the breeze picked up some and I decided to head to the Gartenschau for a little while. Colin was super excited as always. Today instead of checking out all the dinos he just wanted to go straight to the water area. Good thing, I did too! He played with the water pumps and drills for a long while. He gathered rocks and threw them all in the puddle, then fished them all out again and piled them up so he could throw them all back again. After that he moved over into the creek and wadded downstream some to where some kids where building a dam. It was nice to see kids of all ages working together so nicely. The big kids were patient with the little guys and the little ones were respectful of the goal and didn't try to wreck what was being built. Colin loved it because gathering up rocks is one of his very favorite things to do, he definitely found the right group to play with!

After the water he went to the playground for a bit, climbed some big rocks and then it was time to head home. I always bribe him to leave with ice cream, it works so well. He doesn't try to fight or run off and play and he willingly follows me right to the ice cream stand for his treat. He eats while we walk back through the park to the exit and on to the car. On the way out of the park he discovered a small dinosaur statue right near the exit. When it caught his eye he ran screaming towards it "MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY ALADAR!" If you've ever seen the old Disney movie Dinosaur you know Allodar is the main character, this just happens to be one of Colin's favorite movies ever. The dino statue looks to be the same kind of dinosaur and looks a lot like him. Colin ran to him and gave him hugs and tried to climb on top of him before I fussed at him to get down. He said "Dinosaur for Colin Mommy, name Aladar" and then "please get for Colin Mommy, take it home." LOL I had to explain it wasn't for sale and we couldn't buy it, that he lived there in the park and we'd come visit him again. It was precious. It was a fun time, I can't wait for school to be out so we can spend more time there.

Little Bit of Yard Work

Today Colin and I got out in the yard for a bit to do some long overdue weed pulling and mulching. Colin is not so good at helping me pull weeds, he much prefers to pull the heads off flowers. I usually tell him to pull the weeds in the yard and I pull the ones in the flower beds. Except that yesterday I mowed and all the weeds in the yard are now cut low, so I had to let him help in the flower bed. After watching him murder a few flowers I quickly redirected his attention to watering them and offered up a watering pail. He was content with that while I pulled the remaining weeds from the planter at warp speed.

Then it was time to mulch. I knew this would be right up Colin's alley and he would love throwing mulch around. He had a blast, he was so excited when I put on his gardening gloves and explained to him what we were doing. When I stopped to take a couple pictures he got VERY annoyed with me and shouted "NO cheese Mommy. Put cheese away NOW! We workin Mommy!" LOL. I quickly snapped one last picture and got back to work before I really upset the little tyrant.
Flower beds after new mulch



We also brought Rabbit outside for a while to enjoy his nice new cage. Colin and I put it together a couple weeks ago and Rabbit was in it once last weekend. I'd been waiting to put it out in the yard until I mowed so I didn't have to move it all over. Now that I've mowed, and because it refuses to rain here anymore, I should be good for several weeks with the house out in the grass and the exercise pen set up around it. Colin had fun playing with his bunny for a while too. After that we pulled some more weeds and while we were working there was a bird in a tree near us fussing like crazy. I'm pretty sure we must have been too close to her nest or something. Colin said to me "Mommy you hear dat birdy? He speakin Deutsch!" LOL Where does he come up with this stuff?


We spent the afternoon with the neighbors at Dschungelino (pronounced june-guh-lee-no) indoor playground. Colin and Christian had lots of fun running around and playing for several hours. Colin was exhausted when we got home and started with the tired meltdowns as soon as we got home before even getting out of the car. He calmed down once we got some dinner, tired and hungry was not a good combination. I'm so glad tomorrow is a holiday and we can sleep in again. So far Colin is two for two with sleeping in this weekend. I probably should not jinx myself by mentioning this on here, but I'm thinking after the long day he had it could be three in a row!

Heat Wave

It's been warm and perfect here, high 60's low 70's and sunshine. Anything in the low to mid 70's feels pretty warm to me, but it's tolerable. Iraq on the other hand...
Shelby sent me the 5 day forecast for his base today, yikes!

Good thing he has air-conditioning. I haven't had to pull the bedroom A/C out of the attic yet here. I'm really hoping that day doesn't come. I hate it when the house is that hot, I'm not used to the noise of the machine running at night, the cold air hurts my throat when I sleep, and my husband is a sick freak who seems to take pleasure in pushing the machine to the lowest possible temperature setting and turning our room into an igloo. As much as we miss him, I could totally do with him spending an extra month in Iraq so that he would be home after the potential need for A/C in the bedroom has passed and I wouldn't have to fight that war and suffer for 2 months. Here's to hoping the weather stays pleasant all summer!

Preschool Trial Run

I've known for a couple months now that Colin's current babysitter, the fabulous Miss Christa, would be closing up the daycare as soon school is out for the summer and I no longer have to work every day. She loves daycare, but it isn't a job you do as your sole means of income...it just doesn't pay that well. You either keep a few kids and provide quality care, thereby not making near what you are worth...or you are in it for the money and follow the philosophy "the more the merrier" and your kids don't get the care and attention they deserve.

Anyway, knowing about this I've had to look at different options for care for Colin and it's been a grueling process. I looked at the CDC on base and that is not for us. No actual learning takes place there, it's essentially supervised playtime for 10 hours a day. The big kicker for me was hearing 24 3 year olds to 2 adults in a room and they are not allowed to punish or use consequences, only redirect the kids. So no time out or anything, just "here let's go play with this super fun truck toy instead of hitting your friend and having a fit." Um, NO. I want my kid to learn certain behaviors are just not tolerated anywhere, home or school. Next option please.

I really want Colin to attend some kind of preschool where he can learn and play. He's a smart kid and I think a little bit of time being made to sit and pay attention to things would do him good. German Kindergartens are wonderful and cheap, but due to a change in the laws here requiring them to accept children as young as 2 now, there are very few spots not taken by German children and most of the American children have been forced out. Unfortunate as it may be for me, I completely understand we are guests here and considering they pay taxes to ensure their children get spots and cheap care they have every right to boot us if they don't have the room. So that is not an option.

There are a few privately run American preschools here that are sort of co-op type places, where you pay a crapload of money to be a part owner and your kid can attend. There are also a few churches that offer preschool. However, my dilemma is that the few preschools that are here operate from 9-3 daily, and I need care from 7-4 so I can work. The only preschool that offers before and after care is kind of a snobby preschool and it's pricey. It's one of those competitive parent places where they all get together and one up each other with their overachieving kid stories. The four year old curriculum mirrors the standards and expectations of what DOD schools require of kindergarteners in elementary school. In my opinion it's a little too "academic" for 3-4 year olds. Then there is the cost, which would run me roughly 750 Euro A MONTH for before and after care and preschool. With the crap ass exchange rate at the moment, it's roughly $900-$1000 A MONTH for PRESCHOOL. That's not even getting into the hundreds of Euro it costs just to enroll the kid. Yea, I considered it briefly because I was running out of options, but thankfully I passed.

So then I decided to start looking for home-school preschools. Smaller in home places run by providers only taking in kids from 3-5 years old instead of all age ranges. I was so happy to find a lady that offers just that, the curriculum is great, she is super nice and she is certified and monitored by the base as a provider. I met with her last week and I think Colin will do great there. She follows The Learning Box Preschool Curriculum which looks really fun and it teaches letters, shapes, colors and numbers. I'm so excited for him and I hope he does well there in the fall when he starts.


Today we got a trial run at the preschool because Miss Christa wanted a 4 day weekend and asked if I could make other arrangements for Colin for today. So I asked the new sitter/preschool if he could come today for drop in care and she had room so she said sure. She said Colin did pretty good, got along well with the kids and had fun. He wasn't too interested in circle time or sitting at the table for "school" time when asked, but once he saw what the other kids were doing he ran right over to join them and participated. She said he would leave the table and go off for a minute, but then come back and participate again pretty quickly. I was happy to hear that because the concept of being made to sit and work as part of a group is completely foreign to him. He and I will sit and color and do projects, but he usually loses all interest pretty fast and wants to go play with toys. So it will take some getting used to for him. Colin was so proud of his art work today. The kids made flags for Memorial Day and they made a mosaic rainbow. I pulled it out of his bag when we got home and he was all smiles showing it off to me and then he proudly hung it on the fridge for me when I asked. So sweet! My little boy is getting so big!

Wordless Wednesday

Strawberry Picking

The fields are open and Colin and I went today for our first trip of the season. Of course I totally forgot to bring my camera, oops. Colin had a blast, he was so excited when I told him what we were doing. He had a big bucket and he picked and picked and picked some more and after I had filled my bucket I went to check on him. He didn't have a single berry in his bucket! He had eaten everything he picked and was so proud of himself. All the way to the car he told me "Colin hold bucket in car Mommy." I am pretty sure an army couldn't have pried that bucket from his hands. All the way home he told me "Mommy no take bucket Colin" and when we got to the house he told me 10 times without a breath in between "Colin take bucket in house, Mommy no touch bucket, okay?" When we got inside I attempted to take the bucket and put some strawberries in a bowl for him, that did not go well. He demanded the entire bucket (full of strawberries and a few hotwheels cars) sit with him on the coffee table. He must have eaten a whole pound of strawberries! Crazy kid!


**Note the cars in the bucket, lol!

Klecha

Colin and I got a package with some Klecha in it. Klecha is kind of cookie thing in Iraq, it's pretty darn delicious! Colin loved it and shoveled it into his mouth by the handfull. He was super excited to get mail and even more excited when it contained food. Shelby has an Iraqi friend, Tammar, who introduced him to Klecha and he loved it so much he had Tammar get us some to try.

Wordless Wednesday

Day at the Lake

Today the neighbor came over and asked if we wanted to go with them to a little lake not far from here and let the kids play. Of course we did! It was perfectly sunny when they came by to ask and she said we'd go in an hour. Colin and I got ready and one hour later the sky was looking a bit ominous. We walked next door and as soon as we got there the rain started. We decided to go anyway because you cannot tell two little boys they are going to ride boats and then not take them to ride boats. So we went and it rained the whole ride there. It stopped for about 10 minutes as we unloaded the cars and the kids and then as soon as we started walking towards the lake it started again. The kids didn't seem to care and we had umbrellas so we figured what the heck.



We got to the lake area and the boys ran off to play on the playground. Which of course is all sand. Which, when wet = muddy mess/little boy paradise. They had a blast and within minutes Colin and Christian were muddy and soaked. Soon the rain passed over and you could draw a line where the dark sky of doom ended and the clear blue sky butted right up next to it...should have taken a picture. We had a good 30 minutes of sunshine, so we quickly threw the kids in the paddle boat and took advantage of the opportunity. After riding the boat the kids played some more and then the rain came back. Poured again for a good 20 minutes or so and then, just as if someone had flipped a switch the rain was gone and the sun was shining. It reminded me of the part of the movie Horton Hears a Who when Horton moves the clover in and out of the shade and the Whos are going back and forth between night and day. This continued on pretty much the rest of the day. Sunshine and blue sky and then a half hour later dark grey sky with rain, then sunshine again, and then rain...welcome to Germany!


After playing some we all ate lunch and then it was sunny so we decided to take one more paddleboat ride. As soon as we got away from the dock the switch flipped again and the sky opened up to rain on us. They boys thought this was pretty funny, Nicole and I were less amused. It was a fun time despite the rain, which I do believe made the day that much better for two dirty little boys.

Birthday Party

Colin had a birthday party today at Yabadoo. He ran nonstop for four hours and was BEAT when it was all over. He crashed in the car as soon as I strapped him in. Here are a few pics of him having fun.
Sailing down the giant tower...


And climbing back up again.


Shooting Mommy with the ball cannon


Don't let Daddy see he's a "Pony Girl!"


Shoveling in the cake


What 4 hours at Yabadoo will do to a kid the second he hits the carseat!

Smarty Pants

Conversation from this morning at 6am:
Colin: "mommy wake up, get out bed"
Me: "No, it's too early, go back to bed!"
Colin: "Mommy get up! Sun up!"
Me: "Colin, let me tell you about summer in Germany. The sun goes down at 10pm and comes back up at 4am, the presence of the sun does not mean we should be awake."
So he goes to the clock, looks at it and tells me "Clock says get up Mommy!" I gave up.

Then while I was getting the bed made he picked up my phone and started pushing buttons and told me "I got to check my minutes Mommy." LMAO I haven't said that since Shelby left because I've been using his iphone that is on a monthly plan. I haven't used my pay as you go in months! Who knows where he picked that up.

Wordless Wednesday

Colin met a little lamb

Colin met a little lamb

One of our neighbors has sheep and they all have babies right now. He offered to let me bring Colin by to see them and I knew Colin would love it. Today our friend Lina came over and we all went to see the sheep. Colin had a blast. There were many rabbit cages there from someone that keeps rabbits. There was also a kitten there that Colin was very fascinated with. The lambs were adorable, little black babies who all stuck pretty close by momma's side. Colin played with and petted the kitten and then the kitten realized he had a new friend and starting playing with Colin. Colin was a little scared of the kitten once he started bouncing around and jumping at him. He caught a claw here and there and then was skittish and would run anytime the kitten would charge him to play.

After the kittens he took to helping the owner of the rabbits care for them. He was petting them and helping water and feed them. Then he was carrying the hay around to put in their pens. The adult rabbits were huge, people think our rabbit is big...these are giants! There were lots of babies ranging in age, we saw some that were 4 weeks old and some that were just a couple of days old! The sheep were skittish until we found the food. Then they came running once we started shaking the food cup. The little lambs were so sweet and the big sheep made me laugh. When they would "baaaaaaaaa" they would open their mouths and stick out their tongue as the sound came out. Colin had a great time and it was a nice little way to get him out of the house without getting him all worn out and worked up. He's still spiking fevers when the meds wear off and feeling lousy off and on. He is eating much better today though, so I think the antibiotics and allergy meds are kicking in.

Flowers anyone?

On Monday while I was at work I got paged to the office. This only ever happens for two reasons, they need me to come sign/pick up something or my sitter has called to tell me Colin is sick. After the weekend I'd had I just knew it was going to be bad news. When I got there it was a very nice surprise instead! Gorgeous, amazing, HUGE flowers delivered from Shelby as a get well/I love you. It is pretty much impossible to receive such an obscene display of flowers and not instantly be cured of all illness. Definitely made my day better. They are so huge I had to empty out a gummi bear tub to put water in at work and I had to buy a vase to put them in at home! The arrangement itself is about 2' across by 2'6" high! Here are pics from the day I got them, all the lilies were still closed...


And here they are later that week when the lilies have opened...BTW, the orange and yellow flower in the next picture is the size of my hand and the lilies are bigger than my hand...for reference.

Whew! What a Week!

If heart attacks are caused by stress I should be due any day now. Last Thursday I seemed to be getting over my allergies. Then Friday afternoon, one minute I was fine and the next minute it was like someone had slapped my face with a sick stick. I got horribly congested and my sinuses ached. Sinus headache and runny nose too. I took Nyquil and went to bed but didn't sleep at all. I was in so much pain (let me remind you I slept through a tattoo on my wrist...I can do pain!) and the drainage on my stomach caused me to start throwing up. That continued most of the night and by morning I felt like death. I dropped Colin off with a friend to go to the ER and beg for some relief. A few hours later I had some heavy antibiotics and some phenergan to calm my stomach and I headed home to sleep. By Monday I was a little better, still felt sick, but not like death so that was a plus. All week long by about lunch time I was exhausted and wanted to nap in my office during my lunch break and planning time. Unfortunately, this week was so busy I had to run errands on my lunch break every day in order to keep up.

Wednesday afternoon Colin went to his very first dentist appointment. He did great and she said his teeth look good. I can't believe what a big boy he is now! She did tell me to only give him milk and juice with meals and water in between because his teeth are very close together. Since they don't start doing x-rays until about 5 years old we could miss a cavity in between the teeth since they are close together. Colin will not be pleased with this new change.

Thursday morning I took a half day to attend a passport expo in an attempt to get myself and Colin a tourist passport before our cruise this summer. We have the free no-fee passports the military provides us since we live abroad, and they work to get us around for the most part. However, technically they are only to be used to go between the US and Germany and there is a small possibility the boat could give us a hard time about taking a vacation cruise on the no fee passports. Doubtful, but this is my luck we are talking about here... So we were up bright and early to be there so we could get in and get out and I could get back to work. The morning started off rocky with some trouble getting money orders. Bank branches closed, not a member of other banks, leaving me no way to get a money order before 10am when I need one at 9. However, after that things went off without a hitch and we got it taken care of. With that done I was actually able to work at work and stay late to get some lesson plans written for next week. Relief!

Friday however...ugh. Colin felt warm to me Thursday night and complained of his tummy hurting. Friday morning I woke up to him screaming "mommy something in Colin nose!" and totally freaking out. Turns out he had a GIANT wad of thick, green, sticky snot hanging from his nostrils that he didn't know what it was. I cleaned up his nose and he was burning up. He told me his sinuses hurt when I touched them. Fantastic. So I started calling the appointment line on my drive to work, right at 7 when they supposedly opened. I called for over 40 minutes during my drive to the sitter, dropping him off, driving to base and until I eventually just arrived AT the damn peds clinic on base. I was livid. This is NOT the first time they have not answered their phones on time, such BS. I went in and they informed me the line was not working properly...really? Because the "we are currently closed" recording from the night before seems oddly suspicious. At any rate, what do you know no appointments on base so I get referred off base to my favorite German guy, Dr, Schmidt.

I rush back to the sitter to get Colin to make it to the appointment in time. (You know had I just waited to take him to the sitter the doc couldn't have seen me until 3pm or something. Because he was already there and I had to go get him...earliest possibly appointment of the morning!) Turns out my little man is pretty sick :( Sinus/upper respiratory infection, bronchitis and allergies. Doctor recommends we test his allergies to see what is triggering them, we know it's pollen of some sort, he's had them bad for a month since the pollen hit hard, just like his mama. I haul him back over to the sitter because he's not contagious and because everyone needed the day off today and there are NO subs left to work at school. My classes have been doubling up with the other host nation teacher all morning to allow me to go to the doctor and come in late. 40 kids in one room...sorry Barbara! I made it through about an hour at work before the sitter was calling me to come get Colin because now he's throwing up. Great. I don't think he's really throw up sick, my guess is maybe Motrin on an empty stomach this morning and then snot draining didn't make a good combination. Christa claims he threw up three times there and then she gave him some Vomex she had and he has not thrown up again since. He does seem to feel pretty lousy and his fever has spiked back up when the Motrin wears off. Hopefully he gets better this weekend so I am not missing anymore work next week. I hope we can both just rest and relax this weekend. After this week we need it!

Wordless Wednesday