I love to bake things, so this morning after breakfast Amber and I made some pumpkin bread and then after lunch I took the kids to the indoor play area. It was so crazy. We stayed for about 2 hours and then came home and made some Reese's Peanut butter cookies- yummy.
Today Sean and I did his b'day invitations for his party.
Before bed Jacob and I played a game of checkers and he was trying to convince me that I couldn't double jump him unless I was a King. Of course the instructions aren't in English so I am going to have to look this up for next time b/c I thought you could jump 2 in a straight line normally.
Monday I drove out the the chiropractor's new office. He moved all the way to the other side of town from me. He was over on this side but it was in a house where the bottom of the house was his office and the top his family lived in. And with 5 kids I think they were running out of room. So his new place is nice, but longer to get to and only street parking available so harder to park. From here I went out to Ikea. It cracks me up that they won't allow these in Luxembourg and it takes me 15 min. to get there. So everyone drives across the border to Belgium or the other countries that have them too. I picked up some small items and then some food.
This morning the dryer was making funny noises and I emailed Jason that I think the dryer was breaking. The next load that went in the dryer lasted about 2 min. before the dryer died. So next email- dryer now broken. Here I had heard that is it so expensive to pay the cost of someone to repair an appliance with the added tax and then the labor on top of the visit and parts, that it is sometimes cheapier just to buy a new one. Not saying that I wouldn't mind that! Ours are probably about 6 years old as we bought them from someone moving. I have never seen a laundry mat here, so we are going to be doing the old fashioned way of drying now. Hope no one needs any items soon!
I got another package dropped off with me to give to my neighbors. What will they do if I am not here!
Tuesday I barely made it back from the store before the French teacher got here and I couldn't even get all the stuff I needed done, done. I told her today that I will not be able to do lessons after this week for a bit due to Jason's parents will be visiting soon and with our activities that my schedule won't allow it (:
Amber's class made chocolate chip cookies today. Amber had saved me a bite, not sure on purpose or she didn't have enough time to eat it all (: It was yummy. They used the toll house chocolate chips from the states too!
The light that is broken in the bathroom was suppose to be repaired today. They said they would come at 1pm. So I waited 45 min. and they never showed and then we had to leave for class. The relocation lady said they must have showed up right after I left and then called her to complain that no one was here- ugh!
Amber had fun at gymnastics but is sad we always have to leave a little bit before the class ends to go back to school to pick up the boys.
I am still doing wash and trying to air dry things. But the wet clothes are taking over the laundry room.
Jacob had fun doing his tennis class and then after that, I made him shower of course, he had to be back at school for a French play tonight put on by the 4th grade. It was nice. Some of the kids spoke French so well and fast that I couldn't even understand what they were saying. Jacob said that the kids that had the speaking parts were in the higher up French classes then him. I said I think they are in a class higher then me! Jacob was in the chorus and did a nice job singing the songs in French and doing the motions to go with it.
Everyone was tired from running around this afternoon so after the play I made popcorn and got the kids ready for bed.
Wednesday morning I tell the boys while they are eating breakfast to remind them that they have RE after school and all of a sudden Sean stands up and goes to his bag and pulls out his RE notebook and remembers he had to research something. Nothing like googling something at 7 in the morning for homework due that day!
This morning we decided to cancel our coffee this week ): Althought I have had to stop eating so much bread so it was good for that reason only. So I ran around to a few stores and checked out prices on the dryers. We decided to just get a new one instead of paying to get this one repaired. The lower end ones are not that expensive. One store I found a 9kg capacity dryer! I don't know what I have at home, but that is big for here. Most are 7kg which is probably what I have now. So I said I should get the 9kg one and then if the washing machine would just break then I could get a 9kg washing machine! Ha.
I also got a car wash today. First time I have done it here, so about 6 months overdo. But why wash a car when it rains all the time! Anyway it was looking pretty dirty so I thought I would try this out. It is called the American Car Wash. So you drive up to it and there is a guy there and you tell him which one you want. They have 5 choices. I did the middle of the road and it was about $12. Then you pay him and he gets your car wet and takes a brush and rubs soap all over the car with a brush. Then you go on an automated belt and it pulls your car through the wash. It is with those soft big brushes that go all over you car. It was a good thing Amber wasn't with me as she would have been freaking out in the dark car with those brushes all over the car. Then after you go through the dryer, it did a pretty good job drying it, I pulled over to pull the plastic off my back windsheild wiper that the guy put there. So now my total car is cleaned! Now if I could keep the kids out of it then it could stay clean (:
The other thing I have been looking for are peanut free chocolate eggs. Very hard to find here. The preschool classes need 3 little eggs/child and 1 big egg per child. So most all of the eggs here either have nuts in them or say at the bottom may contain traces of nuts. So I can't do either of those. Some big eggs I found today were maybe about the size of my hand and to buy 36 of them would have been like $200! Crazy, so I went down a size for the large egg and they are getting more medium eggs. But this brand- Kinder eggs where they have a surprise inside was one of the only brands with no nuts. Either that or they didn't write it on there as traces. But these eggs are not allowed to be sold in the US due to they don't allow non-nutritive items to be placed in sweets. Interesting!
Anyway another mom and I have been visiting different stores to try and find peanut free eggs so the kids can have an Easter egg hunt next week. I said I think we are the ones doing the egg hunt, just looking for them!
I also decided we needed a few flowers outside to look springy. Here no one really does anything with their houses. I went to a store that is like Home Depot. Even has orange as it main color. So this is a big hardware warehouse, right, well the parking spaces are for tiny little cars! Give me a break, you go to a place like this to buy big items but with the tiny parking spaces and tiny cars I don't know what people do. The lot lanes are so narrow to try and get down the lanes and in and out of the lot, crazy!
I bought an inexpensive coffee pot today for guests we have coming. I bought it b/c I saw that the instructions were in English. I have no idea how to work a coffee pot. I made it once at my house a few years back and it overfload all over the counter. It was a mess. So we will see if I can handle this one. What I had at home that I love is that K-cup machine, Keurig Coffee maker. So you can stick one cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate in the machine and it will make that. So you can do multiple different things on it. I love it! Due to the outlet/voltage difference here we couldn't bring many things that plugged in.
This afternoon Amber and I made her Easter Bonnet she needs for school next week. We had fun with it and it is definately an Amber hat! We took a plain white hat and glued a bunch of spring things on.
Today I washed some sheets, what a mess to try and air dry sheets!
After we picked up the boys from RE we headed to the Dr. office for Amber, surprise, surprise. She has now been coughing for 6 weeks. This is driving me crazy that she can't seem to get better. I wrote down all the cough syrups that she had been trying at different times of course, and nothing is working. Plus she was doing that breathing tube with the spray in it. The Dr. didn't really think anything was wrong but said continue doing the breathing tube and if she is still coughing in 2 more weeks come back and we will do a chest x-ray. Ugh! How can coughing for 6 weeks be nothing is wrong? I want to go home and take her to the dr!!
Today at recess Jacob was playing the goalie in soccer, and got a ball to the face and a bloody nose. This kid needs a face mask to play goalie!
Tonight Jacob had guitar lessons and there was also a 6th grade science fair going on, so it was crazy at school.
Sean passed out his b'day party invites to his friends today. He is so excited for his party.
Thursday I went to a butcher's shop in my area that a friend had referred me too. I am looking for a nice Ham for Easter. They look very different here. So this place my friend said the guy spoke English. I ordered some nice looking shish kabobs to grill out this weekend with beef and chicken and then I ordered a Ham. So his English was ok. And I am not really sure what I am going to get. I told him the number of people and he said he will cut off the big end bone and take out the bones. Then I cook it. Ok. This was also an organic butcher so I don't even think I want to know how much this is going to cost. In the grocery store they sell ham, but they are these big things on a bone hanging and they are smoked maybe so very red inside. I have no idea what to do with that. So we will see what I get. I will pick it up on Sat. before Easter and pray we can figure it out!
Then I went another store for dryers but didn't like anything and then ran home for my last French for a bit! I think I am regressing, either that or I just can 't concentrate on it.
After Amber and I got back from school the electrician came back to fix the light again. It is working now, so we will see how long this lasts!
After the boys were done with school we stayed on the playground for about 1/2 hour with a friend so the kids ran around. Then one of Sean's friends came over for a playdate. His mom had some other things with another sibling going on so she couldn't come back and get him until a little bit after 7pm. So he just had dinner with us then.
Friday morning Amber had come down with a fever during the night and more coughing so she stayed home from school today. We dropped off the boys and then had to get to the store for a few things and then buy a dryer. I stopped and got her a little pastry roll to eat and keep her happy in the store.
So we put our groceries in the car and I drove over to the place where I wanted to buy the dryer. I got a Whirlpool one and it is 8kg capacity so a little bigger then the previous one we had. Now it seems that a lot of the things we had bought used we have already had to replace with new. If only the washing machine would break next! Anyway so I find a guy in the dryer section and he speaks ok English and so I ask him, ok this dryer is the one I want and I only plug it in right? Here the dryers are high maintance. They are electric so all you do is plug them in and then you are responsible for emptying the water container after each load and then at the end of the day you need to empty and rinse out this condenser thing in the bottom of the dryer.
So he tells me yes.
Then he says "You want to take home in your car?" "What" I said "You want me to put the floor model in my car?
"You have big car, right? My colleage put it in for you"
"The floor model?" I asked
"No, one left in back you go to Depot number 2 and pick up."
Ok I said.
So I buy it and then drive around back looking for Depot number 2. I don't see it, so I get out and go up to the desk at Depot number 1 and they tell me that number 2 is down the road a bit. Ok
So I drive down the road and find number 2 and this big dude picks it up off the docks and puts it in my car. Thank goodness I got the seats folded down, sometimes they stick and I physically can't get them down!
So now I am wondering how am I going to get this out of my car?
I manage to back the car down my steep narrow driveway after 3 tries to line it up so I don't hit the rock wall on the sides. The dryer wasn't too heavy. So I kind of drag it out of the car and then the laundry room is the same floor as the garage so I just slid it in there. Then I pulled the old one out. And found a spot in the corner for it, cleaned the floor around it, and then that turned into cleaning the whole laundry room. You know how dusty it gets behind the washers and dryers. I plug it in and voila I have a dryer now. I asked if it came with instructions in English and he said yes, but of course it didn't. The dryer buttons I think are in German and then French. So I think I have everything working correctly.
When I go to take the second load out of the dryer, I open it up a big rock falls out. Are you flipping kidding me? It left dings all over the inside of the dryer, I couldn't believe it. So much for that nice new dryer!
It is a bigger dryer and once I looked at the inside of it compared to my washer I think my washer must only be like 5 or 6 kg, b/c it is no where near as big as the dryer.
Unfortunately it doesn't dry the clothes all the way either. One neat feature it has on it is that 6th sense where depending on how wet the clothes are it will adjust the time of the dryer. But since they still come out damp it must be missing a sense!
After lunch Amber put herself down for a nap.
After we picked up the boys we went to a town about 10 min. away to a little strip mall. Here they have some cheapier stores. Jacob needs new shoes badly, and Sean wanted some but he has some here that Jacob didn't use much that he can wear. The shoes at this place were still so expensive. Some of the ones Jacob liked were anywhere from $80-$100. Ok I don't even spend that much on my shoes. So we looked for some lower priced ones, not much to choose from. But he found ones that he liked and we paid only around $40. So much better. There was nothing in that price range for Sean, and Amber was mortified we were in a shoe store and she couldn't get any shoes. I had loaded up for her at home so she doesn't need any. The boys are so rough with their shoes they just don't hold up as long. We walked in a few other stores, they have a toy store and then a paper type store and a housey store. After this I took them to Quick, it is like a McDonalds, that was over there. Since Jason still wasn't home and it was Friday I wasn't cooking! This is a big place, 2 stories and has a play area. So at 5:30pm on a Friday night we were the only ones there besides 4 adults sitting together. Crazy! The food isn't as good as McDonalds. But these are popular here, and there are only I think 3 McD. around town. At 6pm I think maybe 2-3 families had started to come in. And not too many people in the drive through either.
After this we came home and got ready for bed and watched a movie and Amber and I played some games.
I was pooped. I got everyone, including myself in bed before Jason even got home tonight from his trip.
Sat. morning Amber was up at 6:30am (why early on Sat. of all days) and then Jason got up too. So by 6:45 she is back in my room, "Mommy, mommy, daddy brought me a panda bear in China and he brought you a qaprise, but I am not going to tell you what it is." I tell her thanks for letting me know, but I am not getting up. 15 min. later she is back.
"Mommy, Daddy brought you a qaprise back. It is some chocolates. When are you getting up to get me some breakfast?"
"Thanks for not telling me what the qaprise is Amber!" Ugh now 7:02 and out of bed! But I must admit Amber's little babyish voice is still so cute!
We sat down to breakfast and Sean is as white as a ghost and says he doesn't feel well so he goes to lay down. Soon after he gets sick. It just happened once and soon after his coloring came back and he ate lunch and played outside. He only ate part of his dinner, though so we will see what happens, but he doesn't have a fever.
Once I got up and felt Amber I knew her fever had gone up. So I called the Dr. office again! We saw a new dr. we hadn't ever seen before like the last 5 times we have been there since last month! And Amber actually coughed while we were in the office, and hallelujah we got an antibotic. I really hope this helps her. She is up at night coughing and during the day as well. 2 of her friends last week from school were diagonised with acute bronchitis and pneumonia, so you know she is close to one of those. And it only took me 6 weeks of her coughing and going into the dr. office to finally get something that hopefully will help her!
This afternoon Jacob was going to a friend's house to spend the night. The boy lives close to Germany so it is about 30 min. away. It was a pretty drive. And they live in a small subdivision but with houses size wise close to home. And they had a wonderful back area, with a built in pool, green area for boys to play soccer, swing set and then room for quite a big garden. And then just fields behind them. So peaceful!
We came home and BBQed the shish kabobs I had gotten from the butcher and they were excellent!
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