Week of Sept. 1st, 2013

Sunday we got up and got ready for church.  We got there and all the doors were locked.  I see on the board outside the church it says as of July we have moved to a church downtown.  What?  We went to church the beginning of June and then I went to Poland and then we came home and they never said anything about this then.  In fact in the spring there was a big to do b/c the European Church group was giving the English church this church.  I don't know if it was just for Sunday mass or what.  So I was quite surprised that now they can't have church there anymore.  The church is really run down and in need of a lot of repairs so I don't know if that had something to do with it.  So I called my friend and asked where was this other church.  Her husband was just leaving to head to church so he drove by the parking lot of the old church where we were and we followed him.  We drove downtown and parked in a different garage then we are used to.  And then the church is just around the corner.  It is a really neat, pretty, big church.  It is too bad Sean's Communion couldn't have been here.  But I guess this one is only temporary until they find a new one.  So we enjoyed mass here today.  After mass since we were already downtown we just went out to lunch.  Jacob was at an amusement park with a friend all day so we took the other 2 to McDonalds for lunch. 
Then back at home I spent most of the day doing the blog for summer and the first week back here and downloading all the pictures.  It takes awhile.  So I got that all done. 
I also finally finished unpacking and sorting everything from returning back here.
Amber's friend came over in the afternoon to spend the night. 

Jacob got home about 8:30.  He was pretty tired.  So I got everyone to bed.

Monday the girls slept into 8am so that was good. 

And Jason was still able to take Jacob in this week to school so that was good too.  Then later in the morning Amber also had another friend over to play and for lunch.  Then the friend that spent the night, her mom and siblings came over for lunch and then the girls went to a painting class after lunch.  It was cute.  The lady who did Amber's jewelry party also does some craft workshops and today was painting.  So they could pick out a design and then paint it.  Amber did a seahorse.  It turned out really cute.  While she did that Sean and I ran to the store and we may have gotten some ice cream cones there too!
We went and picked up Amber and then ran home to unload groceries and then to school.  Jacob was starting cross country today.  So we took all his 3 other bags he had and gave him his running clothes and then he had a meeting about cross country and went for a run.  Since it was Labor Day at home Jason was able to leave work at a descent time and was able to pick up Jacob after cross country.  We BBQ out just like we would have at home today! 

Tuesday, last day of summer for Sean and Amber.  Jacob today decided he should just shower before school.  I was cracking up!  He is showering before bed b/c of sports and being sweaty but then in the morning his hair is all over the place.  The last 2 years he would just spray it down every morning and put on a hat.  He wore a hat to school every day for 2 years!  This year he hasn't worn a hat at all!  He did leave his favorite hat at home.  So we don't have that back yet.  But still surprised about the shower.   Jason dropped off Jacob and the other 2 got ready for their playdates.  One of Sean's friends came first around 9:30 and the mom stayed to chat a bit.  Then one of Amber's boy friends came over and then another friend of Sean's came.   So the kids were busy all morning.  The 3 boys played nerf guns I think for an hour and Amber and her friend played with the barn and animals for an hour!  I made a big thing of pasta for everyone with some cut up fruit for lunch.  After lunch the 3 boys each took a bowl and went and picked the blackberries across the street.  They came in and washed them and then the one friend said he eats them with milk and sugar, so the boys thought they would try that too.  Sean just wanted the sugar on his. 
A bit after lunch Amber's friend got picked up, then we dropped off one of Sean's friends on the way to school.  Today we had Amber's tour of the school and her area she will be in.  So Sean and his friend had to join us since I wasn't meeting his mom until after the tour when the older boys got out of school.  So they were trying to sit and rest on all the couches that we would come across b/c they weren't interested in seeing the kindergarten area!  Ha! 

The area looks great with lots of space.  There will be 4 classes and they each have no more then 18 kids in them with 2 teachers.  Next to the classrooms there is a big space for reading with tables and books, chairs and other things if small groups want to use this space.   It is shared by the 4 classes.  The class rooms themselves have a little tree house like thing that you can climb the stairs and go into a play area and then there is a play area under the tree house thing too.  The kids were so excited.  After the tour Sean's friend left with his mom and we met Jacob and his friend that was coming over after school.  We went home and they all played.  I got everyone and their things ready for school tomorrow! 

Wednesday was the other two's big day, first day of school!  I got everyone up early so we had time to take some pictures and get to school early- they weren't excited about the getting up part!
Over the summer I finally bought a tripod and so we finally took our first family photo by ourselves!  Most of the rest of our photos throughout Europe have only Jason or I in the picture and the other one is taking the picture.  Sometimes I would let a stranger take it.  But this is great.  The camera has a timer on it and so this is nice!  I looked into a remote for the camera but for some reason my camera is not compatible with any of the remotes out there!  So we got a nice family photo for the first day of school!

Jacob went to school normally today and I walked the other 2 over to the new building.  The main area is covered and that is where grade 1-5 meet and wait for their teacher in the morning.  Amber I have to walk around the side of the building and go to her playground and that is where they will let those children in. 

 

 Sean being interviewed! 

 

Here is a picture of the cupcakes the kids all got for snacks today.

Good way to start the day!

So today I was able to stay with Amber for a bit and I went in and we got her stuff put away in her cubbie and went to her classroom. 

 

 

Her teacher and aide seem nice.  I had to fill out some forms in the class and while I am doing that Amber is back and forth between playing and checking on me and telling me that if I am done I can go and kept giving me kisses!  So funny, so this is Kindergarten so for some kids it could be the first time they go to school and may be sad.  This is Amber's 4th year of school already!  She was so excited and ready to be there!  Love it!  So off I went to the store kid free!   When I get home from the store I see some men across the street putting up a fence around the block in front of me.  Yuck that means construction is coming.  There go our blackberry bushes ):

Amber gets done at 12 on Wednesdays so I just packed a picnic for us and after I picked her up some moms and kids went to the park close by for a picnic.  It was a lovely day!

Then back to school to get Sean, and then home for a bit and back to school to get Jacob.  On Wed. Sean gets out an hour earlier then Jacob so will be a tricky day!  After we got Jacob we ran back home again for him to change and get a snack and then we went to this new basketball program he may join.  It is a local group so he was a little nervous about going, but one of his friends from school was doing it as well.  Well my GPS can't find it and the road it is on is under construction and part of it is closed so I wasn't sure where it was.  There was another building around the corner that I thought might be it so we park and go in and it is a gym.  We hang out for like 5 min. and no one is there so I thought we must have the wrong gym.  I get ahold of the other boy's parents that know where it is and we started just walking over there.  It wasn't too far and with that street under construction there wasn't really anywhere to park anyway.  So once we found it I started talking to the coach praying he speaks English and he did!  So he seems nice and Jacob joined them.  His friend brought Jacob home.  Jacob said he loved it and knew like 7 kids!  Other kids from school are doing it.  I think it is mostly a 7th-8grade team.  The boys are quite tall.  The boy who signed us up has a Dec. b'day so hopefully Jacob can stay on the team even though he wasn't born until a bit later.  One kid on the team went to school with Jacob last year.  This year when school started Jacob was asking around for him and no one knew but one friend that he transferred schools.  What do you know he plays basketball here too!  So Jacob was excited to see him.  So hopefully this works out ok.  B/c since it is a club they are suppose to practice 2 times a week and then games on Sat, but we only want the practice 1 time a week b/c of cross country. 

Thursday I parked and walked to the drop off points for the younger 2.  Jacob knows where he needs to be.  They are allowed to just walk in school and start getting ready for their first class.
Sean knows where he needs to be and is fine.  For Amber we walk to the playground and then when it is time they let them in to their cubbies area and they drop everything off and then head to their room.  I am not sure when I will decide to just drop her off.  There were some kids that got dropped off by car but still a lot of parents around today.  It is not like the drop offs at home.  Here younger years kids get dropped off next to the area were they go in.  So someone has to be standing out there and walk them over to the playground where they can play until they get let in the school. 
Afterwards I came home and straightened up the house and started getting lunch ready as I was having a back to school lunch for some friends at the house today.  It ended up being really hot today and I was making soup, and cornbread.  One friend brought a salad and one brought some French bread to go with it.  Then I made a blueberry cobbler and we had ice cream with that for dessert.  It was hot in my kitchen.  I had the windows, they open like doors, so I had the doors open and then I had flies and bees coming in so I had to close the doors and just open them like windows.  But everything tasted good!  Amber is still getting out at 12 this week, so my friend picked her up on the way over here so we had 4 kids for lunch too! 
It was nice to get together again!  I missed our champagne lunches over the summer!  We were sitting in the dining room and the big window looking out faces those bushes that were across the street, well all of a sudden this big backhoe just comes through and starts tearing down all the bushes.  So lovely to look at! 
Everyone stayed until school pickup and then we went and got Sean.  Jacob had cross country so we picked him up before dinner.  He seems to be doing a good job of keeping track of what he needs to do for each class and bringing home the right materials for it.  Lets hope this continues.

Friday morning after I got Amber in class I went to a meeting about volunteering for 6th grade.  It went well and they don't really have room parents just activities they have arranged and then volunteers to help with them.  So I signed up to help with some things.  Then after that I ran home for a bit and then back to school for a meeting in Amber's classroom.  The kids showed the parents around. 

Then she went home with a friend for a playdate.  I went back home for lunch and then a bit later back to school for another meeting about the after school activities that the school will have.    Then picked Sean up, and Jacob and his friend and we went over to pick up Amber at her friend's house.
By the end of the day today they had finished clearing all the land.  No more pear trees, blackberry bushes or privacy!

 
Tonight was the kids back to school celebration dinner.  They like the Japanese restaurant down the street.  We can walk to it.  I got my sushi again.  I love it!  Jacob really likes it too.  Then we came home and had movie night.  So an end to the first week and off to a good start of school!

Sat. for breakfast Jason did omlets.  They were tasty!  Then for lunch we met some friends at a Medieval Festival in another town.  So we did what everyone else does to find this place.  It is on a street in a town that leds to the fields and half of the festival is down the street and the other half in the field.  So we put the town in the GPS and that takes us to the town, but it is really on the outskirts of the town almost in another town.  So once you get to the town you have to start looking for the handmade signs that someone puts up that guide you to the fields to park in down the street from the entrance.  So the signs aren't always at all the intersections.  So sometimes you have to guess.  We guessed wrong once and turned around.  Then you end up in an industrial park area and if you keep following the road it dead ends.  They missed putting a sign before the dead end that would say to exit here and get you back out on the road that goes to the field, crazy.  The lack of addresses to put in the GPS here drives Jason crazy!  So we finally found it and went in.  They have people dressed from Medieval times here and are selling all sorts of medieval attire or things you would have needed or wanted then.

So us and another family found a table and got lunch.  They had hotdog like things and brats and fries.  Then for drinks we couldn't find any bottled water.  A lot of beer and wine were here though!  So I ended up having to buy the water in these cups and then you can keep the medieval looking cups.  Jason found the elephant ear like cart and then we got some fried apple crisp things too.  The whole narrow street here is covered in straw.

Then the path turns into the field and we walked down there.  Jacob and Amber did archery! 

 

 

Then they all did a little shooting game with cross bow like thing with nerf darts. 

It was a lot of fun.  We had gone last year too.

The tall ladies.

 

The parade

 

Jason and I rented the Gatsby movie and watched that tonight.  I liked it and remembered reading the book in school.

Week of August 25th- First week back at school!

Sunday when we woke up it was quite chilly and raining.  So we went and visited the Jakob's Church which was beautiful and then walked along the wall. 

This house is leaning/sagging.

 

 

 

It was a perfect thing to do b/c it is covered!  We walked on it for most of the way that it is possible to walk.  Very narrow passage.  So it was maybe 30-40 min. or so.  When we finished there was a neat turret, big round one, so we walked around and in there.  Then it started pouring so we quickly found a restaurant and just ate lunch there.  We were starting to feel wet from the rain.  After lunch we walked back to the hotel and then just decided to pack up things and head back.  We had booked a second night but we had pretty much done everything and with the weather we thought we would just head back.  Some of us didn't sleep too well at the hotel so we just went home. 
It was a 3 hour drive on Sat. to get here, but a 4 hour drive today to get home with traffic. 

Monday morning we had a few errands in the morning.  Jason went into work late, and started cleaning out the ice box that had like 5 lbs of frozen ice attached to it!  So we had chunks of ice in the sink all day. 

After lunch Amber's friend from up the street came over to play, and then Jacob's friend came over to play and spend the night. 
Today we were looking up Jacob's schedule online and they somehow signed him up for social studies in French!  So I called and had him put back into social studies in English.  The French one is suppose to be for fluent French speakers.  That isn't any of us!  Jacob will take French and German language classes.
After we ate dinner Jason came home and we went to the fair that is in town.  It is like the 670th some year of this fair here!  The boys had a great time on the rides and Amber on her rides!  It wasn't too crowded so that was nice.

 

 

 

Tuesday we had a few more things to do in the morning and then Jacob's friend went home and Sean went to a friend's house for the rest of the afternoon.  Later Jacob had to go to school b/c they asked if he would come in and help walk around with new 6th graders during new family orientation.  So he was looking forward to seeing the changes they made at the school and seeing the new kids!  He enjoyed it and then they also asked him if would be a buddy to a new student that is in his class.  So he well do that as well once school starts tomorrow.
Tonight we just got all his stuff ready for school.  He was a little nervous, but also excited!  I made some banana bread tonight for him to have with cereal for breakfast.  And also some chocolate chip bars to bring to lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday, big day, Jacob started Middle School, 6th Grade! 

Jason dropped him off b/c the other 2 don't start until next week b/c they are still completing the new building.  So he brought all his school supplies in.  They first had an assembly for an hour and then they got to go have cake!  It was the schools 50th year anniversary.  So the cake was enough for 500 people!  Good way to start out the school year!  Then he went to homeroom.  His teacher was Sean's teacher last year and we really enjoyed her so he was excited to have her this year.
Amber went to a friend's house this morning and then I dropped off Sean at another friend's house and stayed for about an hour catching up with her.  So that was nice.  Then I ran to the store and picked up a few things I needed to bring to lunch.  I went home and cut up the fruit and got the dessert and went back and picked up Amber and on to another friend's house for lunch!  I missed our lunches and chats over summer!  So we had lunch at our friend's house and another friend and her kids came too.  So good to catch up with them! 
Amber and Sean got their class lists today and they both got really good teachers.  Sean doesn't have any close buddies in his class but will be fine and Amber has her best girl friend in her class plus other good friends too so she was happy!
When school ended I went back and picked Jacob up.  He had a great day and was excited about this.  He was also excited that this year he got a phone and was busy trying to get friend's numbers into his phone after school.  From here we went and picked up Sean.  He was so busy all day at his friend's house!  Then back to pick up Amber from lunch!  Lots of driving everybody around!
The cleaning lady came today which was good to help get the house cleaned up from the whirlwind we bring home.  I still haven't gotten all the suitcases unpacked!

Thursday Jason took Jacob to school which is nice to not have to drag the other 2 either out of bed or just into the car to drive him and then come home. 
I took the other 2 to Germany later to help me do my big shopping trip out there.  I still have one more week of no exercise or lifting anything heavy from my surgery.  So Sean was my man!  We hit the toy store and loaded up on presents for fall b'day parties!  Then the other 2 stores.  Sean did a great job lifting all the juices, we buy 8 juices in a case at a time so it is quite heavy.  We also buy milk which is a little over 1/2 a case.  I think it is 6 or 7 cartons.  Remember all my containers here are just 1 liter. 
Then this afternoon Amber had a friend's b'day party at the park to go too. 

It was a lovely day so the kids had a great time running around.  I had a good time catching up with more people and Sean even had a friend to play with too.  So we enjoyed that.  Jacob went home with a friend after they organized their lockers.  And then I picked him up there once the b'day party was over.  So that worked out perfect! 

Friday we had to go downtown and get our yearly residence cards, so Jacob missed most of his first class today.  We dropped him off at school after that and then Jason dropped the rest of us back at home and he went to work. 
Jacob had asked for some bball shorts for the school PE uniform.  So I went to the store that sells the school's PE uniforms and they discontinued those shorts!  So I had to get him the regular shorts and some bigger shirts.  He was so disappointed.  Amber still doesn't need the PE uniform yet and Sean just gets Jacob's. 
In the afternoon we had the 4th grade tour of the new school.  So we saw a lot of Sean's friends and enjoyed seeing the new school!  It is huge.  But not all really finished.  So he has a very nice area.  We saw where his room will be and his teacher too. After the tour Sean went home with a friend who's house he was going to spend the night at.  When the tour ended it was the end of school for Jacob so it worked out well.  He had a lazer tag b'day party to go to so I dropped him off there and then Amber and I came home for a bit and I got ready to go out.  We went back and picked him up and got home and I feed the kids dinner and then our friends picked us up and we went downtown for dinner.  We went to a place my friend and I had eaten at before but the guys hadn't been yet.  The guys had steaks and we had sushi.  It was very good. 

Sat. Jason took Jacob for a run to get him ready for cross country.  And Amber and I drove over to pick up Sean and then we drove downtown and met the boys at the market.  We got some fruits and vegetables.  Then we went over to my favorite China store and picked up some Luxembourg coffee mugs.  Jason's boss quit his job here over the summer and tonight was a little going away party at their beautiful house here.  Then we went to the Olive Oil store to see about more oils/balsamic vinegar.  Then we walked by the Chocolate House and it said the Soup of the Day so we stopped in for some soup and hot chocolate.  Then home.  Before dinner Jason drove Jacob over to a friend's house for a sleepover.  He was joining the family and going to another person's house for a BBQ.  Then tomorrow Jacob and his friend and his friend's dad were going to go to Europa Park!  It is like a Great America.  Jacob was super excited!
After dinner the babysitter came over and we went to the party.  His old bosses house was beautiful.  It was an Italian villa built by an Italian family.  This is a huge house but especially for here!

We had a nice time and said goodbye to them and wished them good luck with all the moves.  He is moving to another company close by so I imagine we will still see them in the states when we are home.