Week of June 17th, 2012

Sunday was Father's Day!  So Happy Father's Day to all the fathers!
After our late night out, Amber was in my room at 6:30 poking me that she was hungry for breakfast.  I tell her we never eat breakfast at 6:30.  So she goes back to her room for 1/2 hour and the whole time I could hear her talking and then she came in at 7 and just climbed over me and fell back asleep for an hour.  Silly girl! 
So when the boys were making a lot of noise and woke us up after 8am  Amber and I got up and started making a nice Father's Day breakfast for Jason.  We made pecan rolls, scrambed eggs and fruit slushies.  It was very yummy! 
The kids gave Jason his gifts and then we decided to head out a visit a castle, what else would we do!  It was a nice and sunny day today, too.  So the one we went to today was about 25 min. away but was having a craft fair there as well.  It was very busy.  It was people selling a lot of jewerly, hats, scarfs, wood things, etc.  There were booths set up along this stone cobbled walk up to the castle.  It was neat.  We had packed a lunch and just ate it walking around.  Amber and I got some jewerly and the boys got a wood bow and arrow set.  Here is a picture of them in the grass next to the castle with them.

Then at the castle there is a really nice expensive restaurant and then a normal priced restaurant which has a great view out over the town/country side.

The castle has been restored and is very pretty. 

Inside there were more exhibitors selling things.   So you could just walk through some of the rooms in the castle, but you had no idea what they used to be.  I like it when they tell you what this room and that room used to be used for.  From here we walked back down and up another street in the town that had more exhibitors and then we stopped for some ice cream. 
For dinner we ate my expensive kabobs!  They were good, though!  And green bean casserole and then we grilled potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and Jason added some garlic with his new garlic press.  Everything was very good.  Oh, and Jason made garlic bread with his garlic presser too.   Can you guess what the kitchen smelled like?  So we sat outside and have a wonderful BBQ.
We have garlic coming out of our pores!

Monday Jason got up early and headed back to the states.
Today was Amber's preschool class Princess and Knight party.  So they came to school wearing their costumes.  The room parents brought in a special snack for them.  I got up at 6 am to cut out finger sandwiches with cream cheese and cucumbers into shapes for them.
The kids looked so cute.

This morning as I turned on the car I only heard the end of the news and this guy was saying that there is a road closed between these 2 towns.  The towns are where I need to drive to get Sean to his Ortho appt. this afternoon.  Great. 
So here I literally know one way how to get places and when they close a whole road it is frustrating.  You can't just go around the block, you have to go to another town and try and find another road over.  So there are 3 ways to get to the ortho. from my house as I am googling it.  Of course the road I know is the one that turns out to be closed- ugh!  So of course I am just following other people as my GPS just keeps telling me to turn around.  We finally make it there.  The ortho tells us that we are only the 2nd person to make it on time today b/c of the road being closed everyone else was late and her day has been a mess.  We were going to be early, but by the time we got there it was time for his appt.

Tuesday I got home after running an errand in the morning and I walk in the kitchen and there is water all over the counter, running down the counters and all over the floor.  I actually was looking around to see if something had leaked and then I realized what had happened.  Jacob was taking an extremely long time this morning to come down to the car.  And I figured he went to fill up his water bottle and must have spilled it.  He didn't even tell me.  Then I found the rag he had tried to wipe up some of it with,  which I can't believe there was more and he hung the rag bag up so there was a huge puddle under the rag.  The water had even run inside the drawers and cabinets- ugh!
Amber and her friend had their gymnastics class today.  Her friend's mom had dropped off some cupcakes for the girls so they enjoyed those before class!
I was talking with a friend who is from Norway, and they bought a summer house in Norway on a fjord.  Ok I have no idea what this is.  So she is explaining it to me and then my other friend didn't know what it was either so I didn't feel so bad!  But it is a long, narrow, deep inlet of sea between high cliffs, as in Norway or Iceland, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley.




They look beautiful!

Wednesday morning we had to be at school by 7:45 for Jacob to practice with the band.  So the rest of us went to the cafeteria.  Also this morning I had to cut up a bunch of apples to bring for Amber's preschool field trip, but surprise, surprise it was raining today.  All of her field trips that have been outside we have been rained on.  So they canceled the trip for today and moved it to Friday.   They had an indoor picnic with all the snacks the room parents had brought in.  The 2 preschool classes had it together.  I had organized a last preschool morning coffee out at my favorite place in the mall for Friday morning, so now I had to cancel it and we will try and do it next week.
So now I had a free morning.  So my lawyer friend is in the process of moving into a new house not too far from me so she showed me her house.  It is nice and similiar to ours here.  But things are so expensive she said it cost a little under 2 million Euros.  For that price it should be mansion! 
Then I got some other things done with my unexpected free time!
After I picked up Amber we went to a friend's house for lunch.  We had a good time! 
The boys had their last RE today and Jacob had his last guitar practice tonight.  I got some chocolates and cookies from one of my favorite bakeries for these teachers today.
This afternoon the relocation lady had gone to the commune for me and gotten me the sticker that goes on my car letting me park around town on the streets for 2 hours free with the sticker and then a little time card I put in the windshield.  I was very happy we finally have all the car stuff done!  So now I don't have to keep looking for a parking machine to buy a ticket.
Sean had his friend over tonight with the cast on.  They had to find calm activities to do.  I feed all the kids dinner and then for dessert we had brownies. When we were at my friend's house for lunch she sent us home with some brownies.  Jacob opened them and says "American Brownies!"  They all dug in and they were gone.  Too funny he has labeled the brownies!

Thursday Jacob had to be back at school early to get ready for their concert they were performing this morning for the lower school.  Amber had an assemble as well today. It was just the 4 yr. old preschool class and maybe Kindergarten and she did her dance they are going to perform for the parents next week!  Busy music day!
This morning I went to this one store that sells just a bunch of different things, no food.  Well they actually have a small parking lot and it is closed, figures.  They were doing something there.  So next to it is another little grocery store kind of like an Aldi I think.  I haven't been in it.  So I try and park in their parking lot, what a mess!  Their parking lot is tiny and there is a line of cars waiting to try and park and another line of cars trying to leave, but there are big semi's and trucks around blocking the lanes.  I drove around for about 10 min. trying to see if there was any other place but there wasn't so I went back in the car line to park.  When a spot opened I backed the car all the way in to make sure I wouldn't get my front end hit with all the cars everywhere.  When I go to get my bags out of the trunk there is a huge bush/tree that is in the way and I get it opened but can't get it closed.  So I close it the best I can but now part of the bush is stuck in the trunk. 
I go to the store and try and buy 36 bucket/shovel sets for the 2 preschool classes that the room parents will give out to the kids for the end of the year.  What a mess!  Since the buckets have the shovels and things in them you can't stack them so I was trying to pile them in a cart and the bags I had with me.  When I go to check out I tell the lady that I have 36 buckets and here is one to ring up.  She said, well I don't know exactley what she said but here is what she did,  I needed to seperate them by design and she had to ring up each design separte.  I had princess, hello kitty, toy store, Nemo and Winnie the Pooh.  Are you kidding me!  You should have seen me in the check out line totally backing up traffic trying to go through them and put them in piles- ugh!
Then I go back to the car and I am just throwing buckets in the car while people are fighting over my spot.  I can't get the bush out of my trunk so I just drive away and part of the bush came with me too!  Ugh.  Missing Target!
Once I got home I had to take the bush out of the car, what was inside and out! 
Tonight at school was Jacob's concert for the parents. 

The school has a really strong music and art program here.  This year Jacob did a musical and 2 concerts.  Sean did a musical and a play.  Amber did a musical, a play and some mini concerts.  Tonight it was 3rd and 4th grade. They sung songs, played their recorders, came up in groups and played different instruments like the bongo drums, bells, shakers, etc.  Jacob played the sticks.  Then the band played some songs and Jacob joined them for this so he was exicted!  They ended the concert with a few kids from band playing and the rest singing the Bruno Mars song, You Can Count on Me.    They did a great job overall!
It was a long concert for Amber.  Sean was sitting in the back with some friends.  Amber did well. I brought the Ipad in for her so after about 45 min. of the concert she was fading so she got to watch a movie.  Near the end of the concert she made a big sigh thank goodness only the people around me could hear her!

Friday was the day that Amber's canceled field trip was rescheduled for.  The boys had their sports day today and were excited!
So for Amber's field trip we took a bus to a big park area in another town that also had some animals in a fenced in area that you could walk around and see.  Well the bus driver got lost and only spoke German.  Thank goodness one of the mom's with us was German.  It took us almost a half an hour to get there.  And a lot less time to get home. 
The kids enjoyed seeing the animals, but there weren't too many.   It was cold outside today.  I put my mittens on.   Middle of June!

There were deer, a pig, and big wild boar/hog things,

 ducks, chickens, geese, a buffalo looking cow.  I guess they are from Scottland. 
After this we went to the park part of this area and the kids had their snacks and then on to the big playground.  The kids had a great time and some of them were falling asleep on the way back to school.

There are no yellow school buses here like at home.  All coach busses.
I went back to the dr. today b/c I have again for like the 2 or 3rd time this school year a bad sore throat and cough.  He said that the acid problem looks like it isn't going away so I can either take pills or go get it check out to see what is wrong.  So put that on my to do list!  In the mean time I got some medicine to hopefully clear things up.
The Dr. office was running late and so I wasn't going to get to school in time to get the boys so my friend picked them up for me.  When she dropped them off she was picking up Amber for her 1st big sleep over at a friend's house!  Amber was so excited.  She had to put on a pretty dress right after lunch to be ready to go to her friend's house. We got her bag all packed.  When my friend pulled up Amber just ran out and hopped in the van (after the picture).  Too funny!

Jason got back from the states this afternoon and he had flown through Paris and they lost his luggage.  I had heard that this happens with connections through Paris all the time.
So since we didn't have Amber we decided to go downtown and walk around and have dinner at this yummy Chinese place by the Palace I had been to with friends.  Tonight downtown the big festivaties were starting.  Tomorrow is Luxembourg's National Holiday, they call it the Duke's b'day.  It isn't the current Duke's b'day but one Duke a long time ago it must have been (:
So we went down early since our reservations weren't until the restaurant opened at 7pm.  All the bars were setting up shop in the streets.

There were DJ's and bands all over.  We walked around and then went to dinner.  When we finished dinner the bars on the streets were open and it was getting crowded.  We stopped and got some ice cream and then came home.
Tonight at around 10 or so was a big parade and then the grand fireworks were at 11:30pm.
I talked to Amber before bed and she was doing good and having fun!  She said "This is the best sleep over ever!"  My friend was like "Amber where else have you had a sleep over!"  Too funny.
They were all asleep before 9:30- best sleep over ever!
Around 11:40 I woke up to the fireworks and was able to see them great from Amber's room.  They lasted for about 20 min. and were neat.  They had some shaped like, hearts, smiley faces, airplanes going up, and ones that looked like floating lanterns.   The rest of my family slept through them.

Sat. morning I went back and picked Amber up.  Here are some pictures of the drive there and back by back roads to my friends house.  She lives outside of the main town in another small town.

The girls had a great time and no problems at all with the sleepover!  She was just so happy and had so much fun!
Today I spent a lot of time working on pictures.  Downloading them from my phone, to computer, to the website and then ordering them.  A lot of pictures to go through!
Jacob had a b'day in the afternoon.  Amber took a 2 hour nap!
After dinner we had tickets to go to the Circus that was in town. It was a tiny circus.  Really just a pitched tent and bleacher seating.

It was a really neat and a great show, but the kids were asking where were the elephants?  This one is quite different then the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus that we normally go to.  It was more of amazing acts by people.  The only animals they had were a dog, some ponys and a Clydesdale horse which looked huge in this small stage.

The show started at 8pm and we didn't get out of there until almost 10:45.  A long show! 

Week of June 10, 2012

Sunday was Mother's Day here.  I was woken up by Amber poking my back saying she needed a bandaide for her foot.  At least it was a little bit after 8am.  Jason took the kids to the park in the morning to play.
The handyman came back today to finish up the shower.  All looks good.
In the late afternoon Jason left for Paris.
We made our own pizzas tonight and had a relaxing evening with a movie night!

Monday morning I ran out to the mall to pick up the last of Jason's Father's Day gifts.   So we had picked up a T-shirt for him in Amsterdam, then I got him a little tray thing for potatoes or vegetables that can go on the grill, and then a garlic press, ha.  He loves garlic and we have never had one! 
After Jacob's lunch today for most of his recess, here they get 30 min. for lunch and 30 min. for recess, he went and met with the school music teacher.  She is friends with Jacob's guitar teacher and had told him to teach him the song that the band will be playing for the concert next week so she wanted to hear how he is doing with it and then told him to join the band practice on Wed. mornings.  So we have to be at school by 7:45 on Wednesdays.  But he is excited and we are looking forward to seeing him play at the concert.  The only thing is he has never played along with anyone else.  So we will see how this goes!
When I went in to pick up Amber it wasn't raining and the sky was sort of blue.  So I am only in there maybe 20 min. or so.  And so I left the window down a little bit in the car.  Well when we go to leave the school it is just pouring rain and of course I left my umbrella in the car too.  At least Amber had her rain coat on, umbrella and rain boots on!  I got soaked.  It went through my coat and my pants, socks everything.  We took my friend and her son home and we just couldn't believe the downpour and of course the front car seat was wet b/c I had left the window cracked open.  When we got home from dropping my friend off the sun was out and no rain, lovely!  Amber had to change her pants, but I had to change everything!
When I go to school to pick up the boys I see Sean's friend that was over on Friday afternoon and he is in a cast.  Oh no.  The boys were on the trampoline and this boy had just fallen wrong and said his ankle was sore when they came in from playing.  So I had him prop up his foot and ice it.  Then about 10 min. later it was time for his mom to pick him up so he went home.  It turns out I guess he fractured his foot/ankle and has to wear this cast for like 10 days or so.  I felt horrible.  I had emailed the mom over the weekend, but hadn't heard back about this.  So tonight we made him some cookies and Sean made him a get well card and I think I will pick him up some legos to keep him busy since he can't do too much.  I hope he can get it off before their summer break starts here.

Tuesday I ran to the store in the morning to pick up a little lego set for Sean to give to his friend that is in the cast.   Then got a quick workout in and then French.
Today at gymnastics Amber's class did a show for us.  So it was cute.

We stayed until the very end today since they gave out the kids medals at the end.  So then we boogied very quickly over to school to try and find a last minute spot left in the garage and there weren't many.
After school Sean gave his friend the lego gift and cookies. 
After we got home Jacob got to do his experiment he is writing about for an assignment and he chose which soda would have more force when opened after being shaken.  He chose Coke light, Sprite and Ice Tea.  And the winner was, Sprite!  We thought the Coke light would have had a greater force when opened.
He had tennis tonight and no holes in his shoes!

Wednesday morning we got up even earlier since Jacob was going to practice with the band with his electric guitar to perform for the end of the year school concert.  His guitar teacher had been working with him on the song.  So the rest of us just went to the caferteria and got a muffin with some other friends that have kids in band. 
Today was Amber's sports day. 

So I brought in the carrots for part of the snack and then volunteered with them in the morning.  I did the baskball station, that had 3 hoops of different heights.  We had balls flying everywhere!  Then the kids got to go back and have their snack we had brought in and a special treat of ice cream!
Amber had her friend over today after school and he was he until a bit after 7pm as his mom had to have a procedure done.
So it is almost the middle of June and the temp. today is suppose to be 58 degrees and raining.  We had 2 good weeks in May of 70 degree weather and now this is what summer is like here, yuck!  I guess it is normally in the 60's and sometimes higher in the 70's later in the summer.
Tonight Jacob had his guitar practice.  He got a lot of practice in today!
Tonight it was light out until 10:20pm!

Thursday morning after preschool started I walked over to Sean's room to help the kids get dressed in their Roman costumes for their play today.  They looked great!  They were performing for some of the other lower school classes today.  Good thing it wasn't the real play as I forgot Sean's sandals for his costume.  So he had gym shoes.  He was an advanced Roman for his time today!  We got them packed for tomorrow, now.
It was a very interesting unit, with learning about the Romans.  I actually learned a lot from the book Sean was studing from.   And it was nice that we had just visited Rome in the fall and seen a lot of the sights!  One of Sean's things he learned about the Romans that he likes to tell is that they liked to eat a lot at dinner parties.  So they would be laying down on these couches and these meals could have like 10 courses to them.  So when they felt like they were full they would tickle their throats with a feather.  This would make them throw up and then they could eat some more.  Yuck!
After helping the kids I went to the mall and met my friend that is moving and another girl joined us as well.  It was sad, as it will be our last coffee.  So this morning I got a dessert instead of a pastry, yum!  It had mixed berries on top, and then in the yummy shell was a berry flavored mouse like pudding, custard thing.  And the girl that joined us has only come just maybe a handful of times as she has a young baby and she said within the next year they may move back to Switzerland.  This coffee group is doomed!  Maybe this could be a good thing for me and we have to move back too! 
Sean had his last basketball class today.  Things are starting to wind down for the year.

Friday after dropoff my preschool mom group had coffee.  So that was nice.
Here I took some pictures of the pictures they had on the wall so they aren't great shots.  But Amber's class was acting out the Princess and the Pea story and she got to be the Queen and her good friend was the King.  The teachers got costumes for the whole class and everyone had a part.  Here is a picture of it.

Today they made Pea soup to go along with their theme.  And the teacher said they loved it.  Amber had 2 helpings of it and only a few kids barley ate it.
Today they also celebrated 2 birthdays and they had celebrated 2 other birthdays this week in class as well.  Everyone is trying to cram in their celebrations.  A lot of cake and cupcakes this week for them.
After coffee I ran to the butcher close to me to pick up some kabobs for Father's Day.  Normally they have some already made and I can just point to them and say how many in French.  Well today they don't have any.  So I am trying to say what I want and he takes the filet and asks how many I want.  So I am thinking great he will just make them for me.  I say 5 so he cuts 5 pieces off the filet and starts wrapping it up.  No, I say I wanted it cut up and on a stick and start doing the cutting motion.  So he cuts them up and then wraps them up again.  No, no I say I want them on a stick with veggies and pineapple.  So he gets the sticks to give to me.  No, no can you please make them.  So then he gets the head guy that speaks a bit of English to figure out that I want him to make the kabobs for me.  So he goes in the back and makes them and comes back like 15 min. later.  And I ended up with like 9 or so of them b/c of all the meat he had cut.  And since this one is the organic shop it is already double the price of the store so it ended up being very expensive.  We will just have to tell Jason he is eating his present for Father's Day!
After the butcher I ran home and dropped off his edible present and ran back to school as I was helping the 2nd graders get their costumes on again for their Roman performance for the parents at 11am.  Everyone looked great, and I remembered Sean's sandals too!

We had one incidence that one little boy accidently ripped another little boy's costume so we had a few tears and I tried to staple and tape his costume back together and it looked fine for the performance.

 This was Sean's favorite part of the play.  He got to fight with his sword!

By the time the show was over I had to wait just a bit and then Amber was out of school. 
The kids got their yearbooks today.  They are really nice.  It is a big hardcover book in color and with their individual picture on the front of it.  Amber and I spent the afternoon going through hers.

Jason got home from Paris last night so he was able to come to the play today and then after the play he headed back to the dreaded transportation station.  This week we finally got that document back and signed by the previous owner which I think we asked him to do in Jan.!  So Jason took everything over there.  We crossed our fingers and said a prayer!  He got there and one person was working and there were 22 people in front of him.  I am thinking please let this go well or he will never go back again, right!  He didn't even bring a lunch or his computer, etc.  After about 1 1 /2 hours 2 more people came in to work, and he got what we needed done!  Hallelujah!  So I now actually have my car registered.  It only took 9 months! 
Now I need to figure out how I get the sticker on the front of my car with my neighborhood on it so I can park for free around town.  It is always something!
At school pickup Jacob and his friends were signing each others yearbooks and then he had a friend come over to play.  And then my friend that is moving next week her son came over to spend the night so the boys all had a good night!
I was on the school website today and it said that since next year the lower school will be moving into their new building they are building, they are finishing up the 3rd school building next year, school next year will get out one week earlier in June and not start until after Labor Day!  That will be nice!

Sat. morning Jason drove the little boy that spent the night over to the friend's house they are now staying with since they moved out of their house.  Then the boys got their hair cuts. 
After lunch Amber had a b'day party to go to and from there Jason picked us up and he had his company summer BBQ party.  But since it was raining all day, of course, it was inside.  So they had a couple bouncy things, a magician, a balloon maker, a face painter.  Amber got a ladybug on her face.  They had some BBQ food and we saw some families we know.  And again they served I think it was just beer, but at the company picnic!
By the time we got home we had about 15 min. before the sitter arrived. 
I was asking the sitter how was prom this year.  She is a junior but went to take pictures since it was only for seniors.  She was saying that since the drinking age is 16 here for beer, wine and champagne they were serving that!  Could you imagine that at home! Ha!  It was at a hotel and after prom people just walked into the city center and went out I guess. 
She said even at graduation which was only about 70 kids.  It is a big school b/c of so many grades, but each grade level only has about 80 or so kids in it!
So we went out and were meeting friends for drinks for my friend's going away party at this cozy hotel bar between our house and the city center.  This place they liked b/c they said it just looks like someone's living room!  There were 5 couples.  From here we walked, in the rain, to dinner.  Dinner was so good.  It was a French restaurant and most of us got the menu of the day.  So it was a shrimp salad like starter, then the main course was sea bass.  And here you don't get these huge portions so it was a normal amount of food.  Then the dessert we didn't really care for was some apricots with ginger on them and then good strawberry ice cream and a crumble like bottom.  From here we went back to one of the couples house for a bit and then home.  After I dropped the sitter off I pulled up back in front of our house and there was a fox staring at me from the forest/bush area we have across the street.  I called Jason from inside the car and told him to unlock and open the front door.  I was going to run in.  That fox was creeping me out! 
So we had a fun night out but very sad to see another good friend go.  I told her she is the 3rd person this year I have had to delete out of my phone ): 
The only good thing is that her husband works with Jason so they are moving back to the states where we will probably be going as well.  So we hope to see them again!

Week of June 3rd, 2012

Sunday the sun was replaced by clouds and rain.  Our 2 weeks of sunny weather was great, but over!
Now back to low 60's, clouds and rain.
We went to church in the morning.  Then in the afternoon Jason took the boys to see Men In Black 3 and Amber and I went to her friend's going away party.  They live on the other side of town, so it was about 25 min. to their house.  And the route my GPS took me was through forests and out in the middle of nowhere it seemed.  Then you exit the forest and you are at the top of a subdivision and then their house is just around the corner. 
Amber had a fun time at the party.  The girls had costumes they brought, so Amber brought her Aurora costume.  We are going to miss this family.  The mom and I are the only ones left who had been meeting all year once a week for coffee.  The kids play together well when we have gotten together too.  So we will be sad to see them go.  Here is a picture of Amber and her friend with their costumes on.

After the party my friend had to come pick up her son over by my house so I just followed her.  She took me through another forest road and this one was like just a bigger bike path, only room for one car! Yikes!  Glad no other cars were coming the other way!
One of Jacob's favorite restaurants is Subway and there is one at the movie theater so they brought that home for dinner for everyone. 

Monday, Amber had her weekly friend over for lunch and a playdate and his mom was going for her ob check up.  Well it was not good and they ended up having to go to the hospital and lost the baby.  She was almost 3 months along.  Her son stayed with us until almost bed time.  I feel horrible for her.  We pray for her and her family.

Tues.  I had to go to the mall/grocery store to pick up a handful of gifts for kid's parties and friend's birthdays coming up and then home for French.
After school today I drove Amber to her friend's house and she had lunch there and that mom took them to gymnastics today.  So that was nice of her.  I came home and baked some things for a lunch I am having tomorrow.
Jacob had tennis after school and since it is finally warmed up he can play on the outside courts.  We are in the car coming home from tennis and Jacob looks at the bottom of his shoe, which are the same shoes he wears to school, and there is a hole almost the size of a quater all the way through his shoe, and sock to his foot!  Dude how did you not feel this!  Ugh!  The shoes aren't even that old. 
Later Amber and I baked some yummy blueberry muffins for us tomorrow and for some friends.

Wednesday I stopped by my friend's house this morning to see how she was doing.  I brought her some blueberry muffins, a salad for lunch and then her b'day gift as she was going to have a b'day dinner tomorrow night but then canceled it due to the circumstances.  We chatted for a bit so that was nice.
Then I came home and got things ready for lunch as Amber was having a friend from school and his mom was coming too.
The lunch was nice.  The mom is so different from me so it was interesting to chat with her.  She is a very successful lawyer and her life is so different from mine.  She told me she could never do what I do and I said "Thats ok b/c I would never want to do what you do!"
After they left before I went to pick up the boys from RE Sean's teacher calls me and said there was an altercation on the playground today and Sean and another boy had to go and chat with the principle- lovely!
So when I pick him up I ask him what happened and he said that he went to ask this other boy to join them for soccer and he hit Sean in the stomach and then pulled at his pants and saw his underwear.  So then Sean hit him back and then the boy started hitting Sean a couple of more times.  So they both had to write down what happened in the principles office and she talked with them about not fighting.  I don't really understand why this started so...
So after school Sean had plans with his good friend and they went and saw Madagaster 3 which came out in English here today. Then after the movie she took them to McDonalds.  So that was very nice of the mom. 
When Jacob had guitar tonight at school I saw that the principle was still there so I went and talked to her and she showed me what the boys wrote on their papers and Sean wrote down just what he had told me, a little paragraph about what happened and the other boy wrote "I was fighting".  So hopefully it won't happen again and we had a little chat with Sean.


Thursday I met my friend that is moving for coffee and I had helped her with some things she needed printed out so I brought those for her.  Then had French.
Amber went home with a friend which worked out well as today was the Room Parent Luncheon.  It was nice.  It was in the newer part of the cafeteria which is surrounded by windows.  They had a salad starter, and then you could choose a beef or salmon dish and then for dessert you could choose a mouse with strawberries or creme brulee.  So everyone enjoyed their lunch, but it was late.  1:30-3pm.  So I think it was 2pm before we started eating.  Then I picked up Jacob, Sean stayed for bball, and we went and picked up Amber who was dressed like a little bumble bee when I got to her friend's house.  She looked so cute!
I talked to my friend today and she sounded much better.
It was pouring rain when I had to run back to school and get Sean.  Since it is not like school pickup it doesn't take long.  So Jacob convinced me to let him stay at home.  So he sat in the sitting room and worked on his homework for the short time I was gone.  I said if the phone rings you can answer it if it is me.  There is a phone in that room.  So once I get to school I can't find my phone, lovely I thought.  When I get back home I am walking around the house saying that I can't find my phone and Jacob says "Well I took it so if you called I would answer it"  "Jacob how can I call you if you have my phone"  Oh dear!
While Sean was in baskeball he and another friend left their sweatshirts in the locker room.  Well the cleaning lady must have come through while they were in the gym and took everything out of there and locked the door.  So of course there is a big sign on the door not to leave anything in the locker room and all the other kids had hung their stuff on the coat racks outside the gym.  So the coach gets a key and of course their stuff is not there anymore.  We look in the lost and found there and can't find it either and we couldn't find the cleaning lady to ask about it.  We will have to come back tomorrow and try again.

Friday I had coffee at school with another mom, one that I don't see too much so that was nice.  Then over to my hated Friday store. 
When I picked Amber up before lunch I had finally brought a flower in for us to plant in the garden by their playground.  So that was nice.  They wanted all the kids to plant a flower by the end of the year for the garden.
Amber and I came home and had lunch and she was so chatty about school and things today.  I am wondering since she had a playdate everyday after school this week it was never just the 2 of us for lunch so she must have been saving her stories.  She also told me that I had dressed her like a zoo keeper today!  I was cracking up.  She had on a grey button down front dress.
Sean had a friend over after school and we went back and looked in the sports building for his sweatshirt and couldn't find it, so I was able to use my portuguese and ask the cleaning ladies if they had seen it yesterday and they told me where it was and voila we got it!
Then tonight just Jason and I went out and tried a Brazilian restaurant we hadn't been to yet.  It was good.  They had my caprioskas, my favorite drink, that I like from Brazil so that was yummy!  I had feijoada, which is a typical Brazilian dish mostly of black beans and rice and in Brazil it is more of a soup and then there are meats chopped up in it.  Well here it was a huge piece of ham, pork and a steak on top of the beans with rice on the side.  It was ok.  The dessert was great.  It was a chocolate cake with that pudding in the middle that comes out when you break into it. And then vanilla ice cream.  The boys would be sad if they knew we went to a Brazilian restaurant without them!

Sat. morning the handyman came over to work on fixing the boys' shower and our fence in the front yard.  He was back and forth to the store/stores for a part and finally ran out of time since we had to leave in the early afternoon.  So he came back later and fixed the fence and then would have to return tomorrow to fix the shower piece.
The boys and Jason spent the morning weeding the side of the yard.  We have a huge hedge that goes along the grass for privacy from the street.  But beyond the hedge is a huge mess of bushes and weeds.  So they were busy with that.
Then after lunch my friend, that is moving back to the US and her husband works with Jason too, had their going away BBQ.  It was fun, but sad since it was the last time we will be at their house as the movers come tomorrow.  Jason said he will miss their BBQ's since the guy always grills out steaks for everyone!  By the time we left and got home it was 10pm and the kids were wipped out.
The next morning Sean opened the front door and Jason's keys were still in the outside door.  Last night he was carrying Amber in the house and had given his keys to Sean to open the door and I guess Sean never took them out.  They had the car key on there as well- so lovely!

Memorial Day Week 2012

Sunday was another gorgous day.  We got things ready for the BBQ for tomorrow.   Here is a picture of my red, white and blue cake I made!

So here only one store sells ice- I am not joking!  This is also the only store open for a few hours on Sundays, every other store is closed and since Monday is a holiday here everything will be closed on that day.  Can you beleive it 2 days of not being able to go to any store! 
I was there on Thurs. I think and they had some ice bags but my small freezers were full so I had to wait until today to buy the ice so I could take the stuff out of the freezers to defrost. 
Today when I went they don't have any more ice.  Gas stations don't sell it either.  Lovely!  So I come home and ask Jason if he can go to the other 2 of this chain of stores in town and look for ice otherwise we are going to be having some warm drinks.  The second one of these stores he goes to he gets the last 4 bags of ice.  We don't have ice makers either.  So we did the best we could with those ice bags and freezing water bottles and such. 
In the afternoon Sean went to a scuba diving party.  It is at this indoor place where the kids snorkle and then one by one they take them and give them a diving lesson.  It was pretty neat and Sean enjoyed it!
After they got home we had a quick dinner and went downtown to see the American music festival they were having in the city center.  Just a stage set up with a bunch of tables in the middle of one of the plazas.  They had a beer station and champagne station and I think a candy station.  We got ice cream from a store and then just walked around.  Here are some pictures of neat parts of town.

Just city streets downtown in the city center.


Monday was a holiday here as well- Whit Monday so no school or work.  So we decided to host an American BBQ!  We invited 4 other families over for an afternoon BBQ.  I got Oscar Meyer hot dogs from the woman's club, which they just happened to have.  We did hamburgers and then the local sausages.  I had made some appetizers to start out.
I made American baked beans, which we had to buy from the import store online that sells some things here.  I made a fruit salad and put it in a pig shaped watermelon.

My friends brought potato salad, pasta salad, deviled eggs, and a dessert.  I made mac and cheese to go with the kid's meals, imported from the states as well. Other things I had that we imported were, smores so marshmellows and graham crackers, ranch packets to make dressing with, Root Beer and Mountain Dew (we order online from the local import store) and a lot of ingredients for the cakes, cookies and a few appetizers.
Everything was a big hit and everyone was going to be on that american website ordering food later!
I made all the desserts on the table except for the strawberry cheesecake muffins that my friend brought and they were yummy too.

The red, white and blue cake was a favorite and here is what it looked like on the inside of the last piece!

We had great weather and all the kids mostly played outside.

It was a great time and nice to spend it with friends eating our American foods!
Here is a picture of Amber no more then 20 min. after everyone left!

Tuesday Amber's friend came over after school, and then after lunch we went to gymnastics.  We always have to leave about 5-10 min. early to go get back to school for the boys and we meet her mom there picking up her sisters.  So Amber's friend asked why we always have to leave early and I told her and she says " I wish they could just take the bus!"  So funny!
Sean had a friend over after school and Jacob's tennis was canceled b/c of the holiday yesterday I think the local schools had today off too, maybe even the whole week?

Wednesday once I got home from drop off I called a friend and see if she wanted to meet.  So I walked and we met up at a cafe for about an hour.  Then I went and walked to the city center.  I just walked all around down there.  There are so many shops and places I have never seen since we normally only go to certain areas.  Then I walked back home and picked up a sandwich at a bakery and ate it on the way home.  Amber went to a friend's house after school so I didn't have to pick her up. 
I went back to school later in the afternoon and got Amber and the boys from RE.  Sean went to a friend's house.  So when I dropped off Jacob for his guitar lesson I drove over and picked up Sean.  This boy lives across town, so I drive through/around the downtown area and then over to his house.  As we are going there I see people closing the street going the other way.  I don't know if there was a bike race or run tonight or what.  But the bridge I needed to cross to get back to my side of town was still open.  So I pick up Sean and am driving back to school to get Jacob.  I get across the bridge ok, but then I normally stay to the left and go back around town and now the police are there saying no.  So they are having everyone go to the right which is a tunnel that I have never taken and now have no idea where I am going and Jacob is almost done with his lesson.
The tunnel ends up taking us heading to the north of the city into the business district which has a major traffic jam.  I figure out how to get back, but we are totally late picking up Jacob.

Thursday my French teacher couldn't meet so I got some things done and exercised.  Then Amber went over to another friend's house today after school, so my friend and I met for our lunch!  We went to a restaurant that is in the big park between my house and the school.  It was sunny, and then rainy so we didn't sit in the sun just outside on their covered deck area.  We sat down and ordered our champagne and then 2 other friends just happed to come there for lunch as well, so they just joined us so it was a nice lunch.  I had a quiche that comes with a small side salad.  The quiche was so thick! 
Sean had basketball after school.  The temperature really dropped this late afternoon and tomorrow it is suppose to be cooler as well. 
Tonight it was light out until 9:50pm!

Friday I ran some errands in the morning and then we had one of Amber's friends over for lunch and a playdate.  The mom came over at the end with her 7 month old baby.  She was so cute just rolling around the family room and Amber was enjoying giving her things to play with!
Jacob went to a friend's house to spend the night, so it was a little quitier at home with one less!

Sat. morning Jacob came back home and we went to the post office to pick up Sean's Roman costume I had ordered from a German website.  I kept going back and forth between google translate and the website.  Luckily I got it all figured out and got what I needed. 
The post office was crazy this morning.  So if you aren't home when they try and deliver your package they drop it off for me at the main post office across the street from the train station.  It is a very busy place and not much parking unless you probably go to a garage down the street.  So Jason drove and dropped me off and I think I waited almost 1/2 hour.  I also wasn't sure which button to press to get me ticket to wait for my number to be called.  So I got one ticket and then realized the people with the other ticket numbers where the ones getting packages so then I went back up and got the other ticket.  When the first of my numbers was called it was just the regular ticket line, but she still got my package for me.  Sean was excited to see his costume.
After lunch Jacob had a party to go to at the indoor climby play area, so Jason took the other 2 so they could play there as well.
Sat. night we got a sitter and we went out with 2 other couples to celebrate making it through almost our first year here!  For another couple it is their first year too and the other couple it is their 2nd year.  So we went to an Italian restaurant in the Grund area.   Dinner was yummy and then after dinner we walked over to this outdoor area with a bunch of restaurant/ bars.  So we sat outside there for a bit too.  It was a very nice evening!

The sitter we had we have used once before.  She is very nice and in high school at the same school as the kids and she lives close to me. 
When I walked in the door coming home the house smelt like burnt toast, ugh ok I thought.
Then the next morning I find that she had broken the handle off of our tiny ice box freezer.  The kids couldn't have done it b/c none of them can reach it and it already was half broken so Jason and I would just open it very gently but she didn't know so when she grabbed it it must have just broken off.  I can't even find the handle anywhere and she didn't mention it.  My ice box, aka freezer, door won't stay closed.  As soon as you open the fridge the ice box on top there opens too (it is actually inside the fridge).  I can't imagine this is going to keep our food frozen, crap!!
When I was looking for the handle in the top part of the trash I saw a box of Macaroni and Cheese, so I asked the kids if they ate this for a snack and they said no.  This is something we have to bring back in our suitcases from home and I can't believe she ate the whole box! There was a few noodles in the trash but that was it.  And she had cleaned up the kitchen from it.
Then in the dining room on the rug it looked like someone had stepped on a craker and just smashed it into the rug- lovely!
I love going out, but sometimes it is just more of a headache to deal with these things when I come home then if I had just stayed at home!